Buried deep within the heart of man, there’s a longing to know that we’re not alone in this universe. We want to be assured that Someone greater than us not only has all of the answers but actually knows and cares about us. For those of us who believe in God, our answers come from our particular belief system. (While recognizing the truths present in other religions, Catholics believe that the fullness of Christ’s teaching and the means of grace he intended for his people are found in the Catholic Church alone.) But even those who reject traditional religious belief continue searching for truth, meaning and transcendence. It’s not surprising then, that so many are fascinated with the possibility of aliens. After all, extra-terrestrials can easily become a substitute for belief in a higher power: mystery, superior intelligence, and even a concern for humanity.
Over the past year or so, the question of whether intelligent life exists beyond Earth has taken on new significance. Congressional hearings have been held featuring powerful testimony from intelligence officials and military personnel. Major news outlets have covered the topic of aliens more seriously than in previous years. And scientists continue to discover more exoplanets, some of which are habitable, and make the possibility of extraterrestrial life more realistic. Not only that, but it has become increasingly more plausible that “something is out there” after three batches of classified video footage of UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon) were released recently by the US government, with more on the way. In addition, an important documentary was released last year, called The Age of Disclosure, investigating a supposed cover-up by Uncle Sam of alien life for almost a century. And then there’s the recent film Disclosure Day, about a cybersecurity whistleblower and a meteorologist who race to broadcast government secrets about extraterrestrial life to the world. It seems with all of this activity, the issue may be coming to a head.
As evangelists, all of this increased interest could provide possible opportunities for conversations about extraterrestrial life. Furthermore, conditions might be right for mentioning humanity’s need for a Being greater than ourselves, going beyond merely pondering if life exists on other planets. Beneath all the speculation about extraterrestrial life lies a deeper human longing that Christians have recognized for centuries.
You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
St. Augustine of Hippo
Throughout history, humanity has looked beyond itself for answers. Ancient civilizations imagined many gods dwelling in the heavens. Today, some imagine highly advanced civilizations among the stars. While the imagery has changed, the longing remains the same: we desire someone wiser than ourselves who can explain our existence and rescue us from our failures.
Many of the hopes that believers project onto the possibility of alien life are hopes ultimately fulfilled by God alone. It’s not surprising that many depictions of aliens are of wise beings who want to save humanity from themselves … almost giving them a quality of divinity. In fairness, some of these depictions are based on what a number of people claim are actual experiences with other-worldly beings. Whether these reported encounters are genuine extraterrestrial experiences, psychological phenomena, deliberate hoaxes, spiritual deception, or some combination of these possibilities, they speak to humanity’s enduring longing for the transcendent. And that longing never goes away, even if someone rejects belief in God. It just seeks out fulfillment in something else. The human heart was made to worship. If it does not worship God, it never really stops worshipping. It simply looks elsewhere.
Let’s be clear. This doesn’t mean that intelligent life doesn’t exist beyond planet Earth. While the Catholic Church doesn’t teach dogmatically on the topic, her silence arguably allows room for belief that God created beings beyond just the human race. Also, if intelligent aliens are discovered to exist tomorrow, that doesn’t do anything to change what we know about creation or salvation. This fearless openness shows the Church’s confidence that faith and reason ultimately point toward the same truth. Pope Benedict XVI himself wrote:
Without faith and science informing each other, ‘the great questions of humanity leave the domain of reason and truth, and are abandoned to the irrational, to myth, or to indifference, with great damage to humanity itself, to world peace and to our ultimate destiny.
Pope Benedict XVI
Christians, then, don’t need to fear whatever astronomy or biology may discover. If intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, it would simply be another part of the created order. This is a testament to the limitless creativity of the same God who fashioned the heavens and the earth. Fr. Jose Gabriel Funes, SJ, former director of the Vatican Observatory and appointed by Pope Benedict, agreed, stating, “This is not in contrast with the faith, because we cannot place limits on the creative freedom of God.” He took it a step further, and asked the provocative question: “Why can’t we also speak of an ‘extraterrestrial brother’?”
This openness to the possibility of life beyond Earth has found expression not only in secular science fiction (War of the Worlds, Ender’s Game, Three-Body Problem, Project Hail Mary), but also in Christian literature. C.S. Lewis explored the idea in his celebrated Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength). Rather than treating extraterrestrial life as a threat to Christianity, Lewis imagined other worlds as part of God’s created order, using science fiction to explore profound questions about sin, redemption, and humanity’s place in the cosmos. His novels remind us that the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth need not diminish the Christian story, but can instead deepen our sense of wonder at God’s creative power.
It’s worth noting, however, that faithful Christians have arrived at divergent conclusions about reports of extraterrestrials and alleged encounters with them. Some, like Fr. Funes see no theological obstacle to the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in creation. Others, including many thoughtful Catholics and Protestants, have argued that at least some alleged alien encounters may actually be demonic phenomena rather than visitors from another planet. The Church has not issued a definitive teaching on these claims, leaving room for legitimate discussion while urging prudence and discernment. Whatever one’s position, Christians should avoid both gullibility and fear. As Jesus instructed His disciples, we are to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” testing every claim in light of reason, sound evidence, and the truths of the Gospel (Mt. 10:16; 1 Thess. 5:21–22).
…test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thess. 5:19–22
Beyond seeking answers to the big questions about life, some hope that aliens could reveal secrets or truths that humanity may have missed or is too limited in intelligence to understand. But Christianity claims that the greatest truth about existence has already been revealed by God Himself coming into human history in the person of Jesus Christ. Christianity proclaims an even more astonishing mystery than the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence: that the infinite God became one of us. The Christian faith doesn’t claim to answer every scientific question about the universe. It does claim that God has revealed what matters most: who He is, who we are, and how we’re saved.
If someone expresses interest in aliens or extraterrestrial life, resist the temptation to debate evidence for UFOs. Instead, ask what they hope humanity would learn from discovering intelligent life. Their answer may reveal deeper questions about meaning, truth, or our place in the universe. Those questions naturally open the door to the Gospel. If you’re comfortable doing so, leave your contact information with them and let them know you’re open to talking if they ever have questions.
Suppose tomorrow scientists announced that intelligent extraterrestrial life had been discovered. It would undoubtedly rank among the greatest scientific discoveries in history. Christians would hopefully welcome this discovery with wonder, seeing it as another glimpse into the vastness and creativity of God’s creation. Yet the most important truth about the universe would remain unchanged. Before humanity ever searched the heavens for signs of intelligent life, Heaven had already reached down in search of us. God didn’t merely send us a message from heaven; He physically entered history in the person of Jesus Christ. The Creator of hundreds of billions of galaxies took on our humanity, revealed the Father’s love, and offered His life for our salvation. No discovery, however astonishing, could surpass that revelation.
Regardless of the possibility of aliens actually existing or not, we are not alone. And perhaps that can be the parting thought you can leave someone with. God, who created the stars, knows each of us by name. He who made the universe and all within it loves us and wants a relationship with us.
That’s more mind-blowing than anything science fiction could ever come up with.