World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is teaming up with a Russian billionaire to advance the search for life on other planets. What does the Bible say about intelligent beings beyond the earth?
Many scientific organizations are dedicated to finding extraterrestrial life—beings that do not originate from our planet. SETI, which stands for search for extraterrestrial intelligence, is a collective name for several activities and groups who use the latest technology to monitor the skies for transmissions from civilizations from other worlds.
This last week, the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking teamed up with Yuri Milner, a venture capitalist, to advance the “Breakthrough Initiatives” project, which has two components. The “Breakthrough Listen” initiative will search more than a million stars for artificial radio or laser signals. The “Breakthrough Message” plan involves transmitting signals outbound from Earth.
Milner calls it the “most comprehensive search program ever” and claims the project will gather more information in one day than in a year of previous searches. Using the innovations of Silicon Valley to sweep the skies for signs of life, they will use the world’s best telescopes in their work.
Hawking, an outspoken atheist, believes this program is critically important. He states that knowing about atoms, stars, galaxies, and black holes do help us understand the universe. “But that is not enough,” he adds. “These ideas cannot explain everything. They can explain the light of stars, but not the lights that shine from planet Earth.” Hawking goes on to say,
“To understand these lights you must know about life, about minds. We believe that life arose spontaneously on Earth so in an infinite universe there must be other occurrences of life. Somewhere in the cosmos, perhaps, intelligent life may be watching these lights of ours aware of what they mean. Or do our lights wander a lifeless cosmos, unseen beacons announcing that here on our rock, the universe discovered its existence? Either way, there is no bigger question.” [1]
We would agree there is no more important question. While many scientists limit their search to understand if there is life beyond our world, there is a source of truth that explains both our existence and intelligent life beyond our planet. Planet Earth is neither the center of the universe nor the only source of life. There is a Creator who even the skies tell us about.
King David once wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1, 2). Everywhere around us the voice of God shouts truth. “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (verses 3, 4).
Can you see the fingerprints of God in the skies? Can you hear the voice of the Creator? You do not need state-of-the-art radio telescopes with giant antennas. The heavens and the earth provide visible beacons that announce to every human on our “rock” that there is an Intelligent Designer who is the foundation of our existence.
How did we get here? There is no bigger question. Learn more right now about life in the universe by listening to this sermon by Pastor Doug:
Is There Life on Other Worlds?