For those who believe that aliens are of the devil ....

[MariaRegina]

Have you ever read works written by the admitted agnostic James Blish who also wrote original stories and screenplays for the Star Trek series?

In 1968, Blish wrote, A Case of Conscience, New York: Ballantine Publishing Company 2000, and is available from www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

I just finished reading this book and it was a great read. I will not spoil the story by revealing the plot and climax, but will say that A Case of Conscience questions whether aliens are demonic. The main character is a Jesuit Priest who undergoes a crisis of faith in trying to resolve the dilemma he experiences. However, I feel that Blish does an excellent job of researching the Catholic and Christian Faith. His book seems to be a parallel to CS Lewis' Space Trilogy, and who knows, perhaps he also read CS Lewis and was affected by him.

After reading this work, I have to pray that Blish experienced a death bed conversion.

[buzuxi02]

I dont know what the consensus the book reached, but it is better to think that if aliens landed they are demons rather than God. We seen how some native americans thought the conquistadors were gods, and gave their wives over to them and tried to please them hand and foot. People would become pagans worshipping the creature rather than the creator.
If people think there demons, they wonr be lead astray and apostasize. This is also the reason why I dont like some christians who completely reject the idea of intelligient life elsewhere. Because if there is and if someday they land, these people will be the first to think Elijah has returned or that Christ has returned and start worshipping an antichrist.

[Michael the Iconographer]

Have you ever read works written by the admitted agnostic James Blish who also wrote original stories and screenplays for the Star Trek series?

In 1968, Blish wrote, A Case of Conscience, New York: Ballantine Publishing Company 2000, and is available from www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

I just finished reading this book and it was a great read. I will not spoil the story by revealing the plot and climax, but will say that A Case of Conscience questions whether aliens are demonic. The main character is a Jesuit Priest who undergoes a crisis of faith in trying to resolve the dilemma he experiences. However, I feel that Blish does an excellent job of researching the Catholic and Christian Faith. His book seems to be a parallel to CS Lewis' Space Trilogy, and who knows, perhaps he also read CS Lewis and was affected by him.

After reading this work, I have to pray that Blish experienced a death bed conversion.

How can you have a deathbed conversion to Orthodoxy when the closest you came to learning about Orthodoxy was studying Roman Catholicism?

[MariaRegina]

I dont know what the consensus the book reached, but it is better to think that if aliens landed they are demons rather than God. We seen how some native americans thought the conquistadors were gods, and gave their wives over to them and tried to please them hand and foot. People would become pagans worshipping the creature rather than the creator.

When Eric the Red landed in Peru, the Inca Indians thought that he was a god, but he tried to convince them otherwise and told them about the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith (that was preschism).

From those teachings, apparently their religion was modified, and so they did believe in an incarnate God.

This made them more receptive to Christianity, but on the other hand, it also made them more vulnerable to the conquistadors who only wanted their wealth and source of gold.

Unfortunately, we are always at risk of worshiping the creature rather than the Creator. This story has been repeated throughout history where men become so infatuated with themselves that they begin to think of themselves as a god.

If people think there demons, they wonr be lead astray and apostasize. This is also the reason why I dont like some christians who completely reject the idea of intelligient life elsewhere. Because if there is and if someday they land, these people will be the first to think Elijah has returned or that Christ has returned and start worshipping an antichrist.So, if aliens do land on earth or are already here and suddenly make their presence known, yes, that would be scary.

Yes, the people on earth could arrive at four or more choices:

(1) They could believe that these aliens are Elijah and Christ and worship these aliens as Gods thinking it to be the end time scenario, as you suggested.

(2) They could continue to believe that these aliens are demonic manifestations or demonized people or that they must be hallucinating.

(3) They could believe that these aliens are for real, and think that the Bible lied and then lose all faith and hope.

(4) They could believe that these aliens are for real, and realize also that the Bible does not tell the whole salvation story, and never intended to. Here the church should play an important role in guiding us into the truth.

[Kreikkalainen]

Eric the Red didn't land in Peru but in Greenland. He wasn't a Christian but a Norse pagan. How on earth could Eric the Red reach Peru from Norway or Iceland in the 10th century :doh:. Please forgive me for my tone, but also please take a look at a world map to appreciate what a journey that would involve (hint: the Panama canal didn't exist yet).

His son Leif Ericson did indeed convert to Christianity & probably reached America, but that was in Canada. Nothing to do with the Incas or Peru. The Inca empire did not even exist yet in the late 10th - early 11th century.

The Incas never believed in a God incarnate, but worshipped the Sun as god when Pizzaro reached them & "converted" them to Catholicism using fire & blood.

The analogy with ETs (if they exist, which I doubt) landing on Earth, or us visiting their worlds (if physics and technology ever allow us, which I doubt even more) is theoretically valid though.

[MariaRegina]

Eric the Red not only traveled to Greenland, but he also reached Peru too.

He was a seasoned world wide traveler. The viking told the Inca Indians that others would come and teach them about the Incarnate God.
They believed that their Inca God was incarnate and they identified him with being Christ when they became Christians.
They believed in a Creator God too. And also in a God that was identified as being the Holy Spirit.

When the Christian Misisonaries discovered this similarity, they used it to their advantage.

I did undergrad research on him as part of my course in Spanish history and culture.

Not only that, it was mentioned here I think that the Irish missionaries came to North America before the 10th century A.D.

[Kreikkalainen]

OK, I give up.

[Michael the Iconographer]

OK, I give up.

LOL! :clap::clap::clap:

[Michael the Iconographer]

I guess my earlier question will go unanswered!

[MariaRegina]

We have gone off topic, so I would like to repeat the original OP and then add a related question.

In 1968, Blish wrote, A Case of Conscience, New York: Ballantine Publishing Company 2000, and is available from www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/)

I just finished reading this book and it was a great read. I will not spoil the story by revealing the plot and climax, but will say that A Case of Conscience questions whether aliens are demonic. The main character is a Jesuit Priest who undergoes a crisis of faith in trying to resolve the dilemma he experiences. However, I feel that Blish does an excellent job of researching the Catholic and Christian Faith. His book seems to be a parallel to CS Lewis' Space Trilogy, and who knows, perhaps he also read CS Lewis and was affected by him.When did Lewis write his Space Trilogy?

According to Wikipedia, Lewis wrote the Space Trilogy during these years with these settings.



Out of the Silent Planet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Silent_Planet) (1938), set mostly on Mars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_%28planet%29)
Perelandra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perelandra) (1943), set mostly on Venus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_%28planet%29). Also known as Voyage to Venus
That Hideous Strength (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Hideous_Strength) (1945), set on Earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth). In 1958, the publishing house Avon (now an imprint of HarperCollins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarperCollins)) published a version called The Tortured Planet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tortured_Planet) from which they had cut one-third of the book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Trilogy

However, others claim that CS Lewis was not only influenced by Tolkien but by H.G. Wells when he wrote his Space Trilogy.

Anyway, bringing that back to Blish. It is indeed possible that he was influenced by H.G. Wells, Lewis, and Tolkien as well as many other authors of that period.