The public infatuation with the Star War films of George Lucas has lasted a quarter century. It has produced not only millions for those who have taken advantage of the craze, but also has generated a multitude of questions regarding life beyond Earth, the New Age and the hereafter. [link: http://www.icr.org/newsletters/afmar04.h
Now, the last of the Star Wars films has been released in 3,661 theaters. What does the Bible teach regarding galaxies and life far, far away, "The Force" and other Star Wars generated questions?
Many secular scientists are convinced that “someone is out there” and years ago formulated a project called SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), started by the late Carl Sagan. Active for over four decades, and now called Project Phoenix, this effort involves thousands of volunteers combing millions of radio frequencies seeking information-coded signals from the depths of space. Have these cosmic listeners discovered transmissions from otherworldly civilizations? No. Nothing, not a thing, has been discovered during these decades of patient seeking and listening (not to mention the millions of fruitless dollars spent).
Conversely, for a century, Earth has been leaking out radio and television waves since the discovery and use of broadcasting and wireless techniques. If there was intelligent life out there, they could in theory pick up Earth’s errant transmissions. But once again, there has been absolutely no indication that anyone out there is seeking to respond to our broadcasts (and one could argue they wouldn’t want to after intercepting many of the programs!).
Outside of our own Sun, the nearest star is Alpha Centauri, 30 trillion miles away. It would take five years traveling at the speed of light (which Albert Einstein said could not be achieved) to reach this star system. Since man has no spacecraft approaching light speed, it would take thousands of years and generations of people to reach. And for what? There is no compelling evidence that Earth-like planets are in that stellar neighborhood.
Christians should be aware of the subtle and not-so-subtle, anti-Biblical new age messages the Star Wars films present. Scenes from these movies show bizarre, “highly evolved” beings (that somehow usually speak the King’s English) and civilizations. This implies, or even flaunts, the evolutionary paradigm. Time and again, the message is clear evolution, not the God of the Bible, has produced this amazing diversity of aliens. Are they sinless? If not, then they too, needed a Savior. But the Scriptures clearly teach it was the Lord Jesus who came to Earth (not multiple planets throughout the universe) to live and die a sinless life and then rise again from the grave.
The irony of these intergalactic discussions is that there is Someone out there, an Intelligent Being who actually contacted Earth 2000 years ago. This Man came to Earth to say and do the most amazing things in history. Indeed, history has been called “His Story.” The coded message some scientists have been seeking is found in the Bible the Book of Life that answers where people come from and where they are going. There is also a sophisticated coded message in the living creation called the DNA molecule clear evidence of design from an all-powerful Designer (Romans 1:20).
Finally, the reader should understand that from the very first step the origin of life evolution is impossible.
"These are tumultuous times in the study of the origin of life. The early ocean may have been even less hospitable for prebiotic chemistry than previously thought, and claimed evidence for the earliest signatures of life on Earth is being strongly challenged. Now a 30-year, albeit shaky, consensus on the nature of the early atmosphere may have to be reexamined, and the geochemical implications of an H 2-rich early atmosphere will need to be scrutinized. This turmoil makes it a great time for young scientists to enter the field, but it also reminds us that some humility regarding our favorite models is in order. As Jacob Bronowski noted, 'Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible.'"1
There is no scientific evidence that shows organic life spontaneously arising from inorganic non-life. If this is true, then civilizations on Earth or outside of this solar system could not have arisen through time, chance and natural evolutionary processes.
Life only comes from the Creator, the life-giver, Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
1 Chyba, C. F. 2005. Rethinking Earth’s early atmosphere. Science 308:962-963, accessed at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/fu
