Alpha Omega |
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Not of This World
Some people believe in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life forms. Some people even believe that these beings have visited earth in the past and that they are still, secretly watching mankind. In fact, many individuals claim that the “gods” of ancient man were highly advanced extraterrestrial beings who landed on earth in their “flying chariots.” According to this belief, these alien beings then left, after supposedly building various structures, leaving ancient man with only vague memories to worship. Some individuals even claim that Jesus Christ was an extraterrestrial being from another world who landed here, tried to teach man how to live in peace and was then murdered for His efforts. All similar to that portrayed by the actor Michael Rennie in the classic 1951 science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Some individuals also quote the Holy Bible, pointing out the above verse, in order to prove their claim that Jesus Christ was nothing more than an extraterrestrial being. These individuals further claim that Jesus was then raised from the dead with highly advanced medical technology, just as in the classic science fiction film. Finally, these individuals claim that Jesus Christ then left the earth after realizing that He could not teach man how to live in peace. Again, just as portrayed in the classic movie. There are many other biblical passages that are claimed by many to be visitations by advanced alien societies. God’s fiery descent upon Mt. Sinai to speak with Moses (Ex.19:16-19), the taking of Elias into heaven by a flying, flaming chariot (4Ki.2:1-11) and the vision of God by Ezechiel (Ezch.1:3-28) are only a few examples. Now that the opening chapters of Genesis are proved to be true, it is just possible that some individuals will use the explanation of the creation as presented in Genesis as conjecture for the supposed existence of extraterrestrial beings, claiming that one or more of them landed here thousands of years ago and gave this explanation to some long forgotten sage. All the above teachings, particularly the belief that the opening chapters of Genesis were given to mankind thousands of years ago by a scientifically advanced society, undermine Christianity’s teaching that man’s soul needs salvation from his sins by a personal, loving God. If the above beliefs are true, then it is only a matter of time before Christianity and all other religions die, to be replaced by a rational society’s ethical, impersonal science. However, the above beliefs and teachings are founded upon quicksand! Such claims are a great distortion of the truth. First of all, if they do exist, these alleged extraterrestrial beings have never been to earth, nor will they ever get here. The vastness of space is far too extreme for one person, or even a large group of people, to travel beyond their own solar system. This is to say nothing of intergalactic space travel. It is doubtful that the logistics of such a trip could be maintained. Secondly, and most importantly, it is highly doubtful that an intelligent life form comparable to — or superior to — man even exists in this universe. In order to perceive this, one only needs to study the origin of life on earth, for living organisms throughout the universe will be subject to the same natural laws and will follow the same evolutionary paths as the life forms here on earth. The complex processes of life are too well known to believe otherwise. Life is too well known to believe that it can be based on some exotic chemistry, living in some outlandish environment, and feeding on some bizarre nutriment. It is a statement of truth that if intelligent life on the earth owes its existence to a catastrophic, accidental event, then one can assume that intelligent life does not exist elsewhere in the universe. This is because such events are a one time occurrence — or at the very best extremely rare occurrences. Indeed, when one studies the proliferation of life, one learns that there have been a number of unique, catastrophic, accidental events in the history of life on earth, including at least five mass extinctions, each of which are events that ultimately led to man’s evolution. One of the first catastrophic events in the history of life was the creation of the moon. As it was stated in the chapter entitled Star World, it is now believed that the earth obtained its only natural satellite from a ring of debris surrounding the earth that had been thrown into orbit by the collision of the earth with a gigantic asteroid. This was a catastrophic, accidental event not only because of the event itself, but also because of the time it struck the earth. Had it come earlier in earth’s developmental history, it might have had negative, inhibiting effects on the subsequent evolution of life on the planet. If it had come later, then it might have killed all life forms on earth. One knows these latter two statements to be true because of the strong influence the moon had on the subsequent origin and proliferation of life on the earth. What comes to mind first is the question of the oceans of the world. There can be no doubt that this collision caused the primitive earth to loose a large amount of its crustal material. This loss had a direct link with the subsequent formation of Panthalassa. One has every reason to believe that had the asteroid not struck the earth, then there would have been no large “hole” in which Panthalassa could later form around Pangaea, the single super continent of the primitive earth. The earth’s surface would then have been covered with a lot more water, as the continental crust would have been more evenly spread around the globe, instead of riding on the oceanic crust like a large plateau. An “island dotted” water world earth would have had a strong inhibiting influence on the origin of vertebrate life onto dry land, especially on the origin of primate life and thus man. Secondly, some scientists believe that the moon had an influencing role on the ability of earth to even be inhabitable with advanced life forms. This is because of the stabilizing effect the moon has on the tilt of the earth’s rotational pole. They have theorized that this wobble would be greater – too great to support advanced life forms – if it were not for the moon. That is, a large wobble would produce wide, rapid climatic swings. These large, frequent shifts in the earth’s climate would then inhibit the evolution of advanced life forms. Because of the influence of the moon, many scientists have asked what the likelihood is of moon forming impacts with earthlike planets happening elsewhere in the universe. Some have concluded that while impacts between asteroids in the development of a solar system are frequent, giant impacts of this type are rare. There is some debate among the scientists whether life originated in tide pools or in deeper water. If it originated in tide pools then the mere existence of the moon makes life itself unique to the earth. Without the moon there would be no tides, as the sun does not have near the effect on bodies of water as does the moon. Without tides there would have been no periodically dried environments in which the precursors of life could form. But even if life originated in deeper water, then the existence of the moon was an influential factor in the origin of vertebrate life onto land. For the earth would not have had a large land mass on which the vertebrates could diversify. Without this diversification the evolution of the amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammal-like reptiles and mammals would have been restricted. This would have limited the evolution of an intelligent life form on earth. Another catastrophic event that paved the way for the rise of intelligent life on earth was the Paleozoic/Mesozoic Era extinction. Scientists are not quite sure what brought about the extinctions. (Some scientists believe that an asteroid struck the earth and triggered large scale disruptions in the environment, which then led to mass extinctions.) Never-the-less, whatever it was caused an almost complete change in the types of life forms between the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras; almost 90% of the flora and fauna were pushed into extinction. Those organisms that were plentiful and dominant became scant and servile. While many of those organisms that had been unobtrusive and insignificant in the Paleozoic Era, became dominant and plentiful in the Mesozoic Era. It was these latter organisms from which man’s ancestors eventually evolved. Had the changes between the two eras not occurred, then the evidence suggests that those organisms that were the dominate animals of the Paleozoic Era (such as the trilobites), would possibly have maintained their dominate position. Since these organisms are not on man’s family tree, then one can conclude that had the Paleozoic/Mesozoic Era extinctions not occurred, then intelligent life on earth may not have evolved. A third catastrophic event was the extinction of the dinosaurs. Such an event had to be unique and catastrophic, because nature does not kill every animal weighing over 25 kg (55 lb) in just a few years, and this is to say nothing about the many species of plants that also became extinct at this same time. Since it is true that the mammals and hence man would not have come into dominance as long as the dinosaurs maintained their dominant position, one can therefore conclude that the catastrophic Mesozoic/Cenozoic Era extinctions paved the way for the rise of intelligent life on earth. There have been other mass extinctions on earth, not mentioned here, each of which ultimately proved favorable to the rise of man’s ancient ancestors. For the past twenty million years Africa has been acting like a gigantic rocking chair, raising and lowering, widening and closing sections of the earth’s crust. Volcanoes have been spewing lava onto the surface; earthquakes have been creating wide fissures; vast environmental changes — encroaching and receding forests, savannas and deserts; expanding and decreasing streams, rivers and lakes — all proved to be favorable to the rise of man’s ancestors. Then there were four successive, catastrophic ice ages within the last two million years with which man’s immediate ancestors had to contend. Each of these events forced man’s ancestors to develop better hunting skills, better tools and better living conditions. These skills in turn helped man’s ancestors to better cope with the environment and helped produce a more intelligent species. Each of these ice ages brought man’s ancestors closer and closer to the intelligent species man is today. Just as a master chess player can “force” his opponent to make certain moves, so too did the harsh environment force man to increase his acuity and augment his ability to survive. Each of these periods of glaciation brought man closer to his Homo sapiens sapiens status. Had the ice ages not occurred, then one has every reason to believe that man may not have evolved beyond the Australopithecus stage of development. If any of the above seven catastrophic events had not happened (earth has had many other catastrophic events not mentioned here) or if they had happened at a different time or in a different sequence in the evolution of man’s ancestors, one must conclude that man probably would not have evolved. A different environment would have produced a different line of descent, because such would be more favorable to a different species. This is a fact that cannot be denied. For example, if a large asteroid, similar to the one that killed the dinosaurs, struck the earth when the australopithecines were dominant, such an event would have killed all of them — they weighed more than 25 kg — and man therefore would not have evolved. There have been trillions of evolutionary developments in the physical environment, in the flora and in the fauna, that preceded man and led to his evolution. From the very first life form to man can be viewed as one long chain and each species may be seen as one link in this chain. If there is any “missing link” in this chain, if just one species on man’s ancestral tree in this chain did not evolve, then all its descendants, including man, would not have evolved. Also, if any one of them did not evolve at just the right time and in just the right place, then man may not have evolved. These are facts that cannot be denied. Nor can a person claim that the dinosaurs, or some other type of life on earth, would eventually have produced an intelligent species if the primates had not done so. Because of all the life forms that have ever lived before man, each had ample opportunity to evolve into an intelligent species, yet none of them have done so. For example, the dinosaurs roamed the earth for more than one hundred forty million years and in all that time they did not produce an intelligent species. The fish have ruled the seas for more than four hundred million years and have not produced an intelligent species. The invertebrates have lived on the earth for more than three billion years and have not produced an intelligent species. No other phylum, class, order, family or genus has produced an intelligent species except the genus Homo. This was done in only a couple million years — a blink of an eye on a geologic time scale. No other animal produced an intelligent species because no other animal had the ability to do it. They did not have the life history or ancestry. They did not occupy the correct life habitat or ecological niche. Finally, they did not have the right physique to evolve into an intelligent species. Once an organism begins to evolve along a certain path it cannot turn back; regressive evolution is extremely rare and in most cases impossible. No other animal had ancestors that followed evolutionary paths similar to the paths taken by all the ancestors of man. Hence, no other organism produced an intelligent species. For example, man’s primate ancestors evolved from the ground to the trees and then back to the ground again. A dinosaur or dinosaurian ancestor evolved into the birds. Then some transitional species evolved back to the ground. But the few birds that came down out of the trees did not evolve into intelligent species. They remained birds! It is a statement of truth that any and all ecological niches will be filled as soon as it is possible for a life form to evolve a physique able to fill it. It is also true that no other life form filled the ecological niche of intelligent species except man. One can therefore conclude that man is the only species able to fill the ecological niche of intelligent species. If an earlier species had the ability to evolve into the ecological niche of intelligent species, then man would never have evolved into it. This is because two species cannot occupy the same ecological niche at the same time — one of them will be pushed into extinction. A classic example of this is Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. They both competed for the dominance of Europe. Homo sapiens sapiens, being more intelligent, pushed Homo neanderthalensis into extinction. Had the Neanderthals not become extinct, then modern man might not be here. This is because the Neanderthals are not a direct ancestor of man. Homo sapiens sapiens is modern man’s immediate ancestor. One cannot claim that just because life evolves there will therefore be intelligent life. In order for an intelligent life form to evolve on a planet there are certain prerequisites that must be met and if all of these conditions are not met, then there will be no intelligent life. If a planet is missing just one of the requirements for intelligent life, then such will not evolve. As noted above, each ancestral environment and each ancestral species of the intelligent life form that does evolve on a planet may be likened to a link in a great long chain. If just one environmental change is different or if just one ancestral species does not evolve, then the intelligent life form will not evolve. (The same may be said of any life form ever to have evolved.) An analogy may be drawn between man and his ancestors and the DNA molecule. If just one purine or one pyrimidine — which form the chains of amino acids that make up the DNA molecule — is missing or out of place, then the organism will not be born. A mutant will be born and such usually die before leaving offspring. The same is true in the chain of ancestors and environmental changes that make up man’s family tree. If just one species is missing or out of place, if just one environmental change is missing or out of place, then man would not have evolved. The evolution of intelligent beings is not a necessary process in the evolution of life. Nor is the evolution of life a necessary process in the development of a planet or solar system. Studies of the moon, of Mars and of Venus have produced no evidence of even the simplest form of living organism. Recent discoveries of possible extinct life on Mars only clarify that intelligent life is not a necessary process in the evolution of life. One should note that most scientists believe that these “fossils” are only traces of life’s precursors. Nor have studies of the other planets and their satellites produced the remotest resemblance to life. For example, on Jupiter the atmosphere is too unstable for life. Simple organic chemicals could never have settled in one place long enough to develop into the complex, pre-biological molecules that are necessary for life. Comparable hostile environments exist on all the other planets and their satellites. As stated above, certain conditions must be met before there is life on a planet. The star around which the planet revolves must be the right size, neither too small nor too large. It must be a stable, long-lived star. The planet itself must have the right mass and must be the right distance from the star. It must rotate in the star’s “Green Belt;” the area where temperatures are suitable for life. The planet cannot have a rotation that is synchronous with its revolution, as is Venus. Its axis of rotation must be approximately perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic and not parallel or nearly parallel as is Uranus. The planet must have a plentiful atmosphere, a large amount of liquid water, and it must have a large land mass if it is to have intelligent life. The environment must be constantly changing so that any mutations will have different environments in which to adapt and evolve. These are only ten prerequisites to life that a planet must have before it has any type of life. When one studies the evolution of the planet earth he is able to learn that it was a very hostile environment billions of years ago when the first simple, delicate bacteria inhabited this planet. By the time the planet settled down to what one could call a stabilized environment, the seas were already teaming with all kinds of bacteria and other life forms. Thus, there was only a relatively short interval of time — a few tens of millions of years at most — in which the first life came into being. If environmental conditions had not been just right for the reception of these first life forms, then life would be nonexistent on earth. Hence, the time element in the development of a planet is another factor that must be considered when discussing the possible existence of life elsewhere. There are many other requirements that a planet must have before it has life on it. Each time another prerequisite is added to the list, the chances of there being a life form elsewhere in the universe decreases. This is because the more prerequisites there are for life here on earth, then the less likely are the arithmetical percentages of such life existing elsewhere in the universe. For example, giving each of the above characteristics a 10% probability of existing in a galaxy of one hundred trillion stars, one has reduced the number of stars, with their solar systems, that will have all eleven prerequisites to a mere one thousand stars. Another three requirements and the number drops to one star per galaxy. When one considers that there are hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of prerequisites that a planet must have before it has an intelligent life form, then one must conclude that even by giving all the prerequisites a 99% probability of existing elsewhere, then the total number of stars with planets that will have all the characteristics is reduced to, at most, a mere handful of stars out of all the stars in the universe. There are two variables working together in evolution: Environmental changes and mutations or variations within the species. If both variables are not present, then there will be no evolution. There have been billions of environmental changes and billions of species have evolved since the first life on this planet. One must ask: Could these exact same succession of events happen elsewhere? It is doubtful! Some of them maybe, but surely not all of them and surely not in the same sequence as here on earth. Such would not be like looking for one needle in one haystack. It would be like looking for a second needle lost in one hundred trillion hay stacks. The arithmetical probability for such to happen is too high to believe that it could happen more than once. One is forced, by the law of averages, to conclude that the exact same succession of events that brought man into dominance on earth cannot be repeated again. Thus, it is doubtful that an intelligent life, comparable to or superior to man, exists anywhere else in this universe. Nor can a person theorize that a life form may arise that is based on some rare, exotic chemistry, living in an alien, outlandish environment and feeding off unusual, bizarre foods that would enable it to take a different evolutionary path to intelligence — a road not taken by the ancestors of man. For example, life arising on a planet with oceans of liquid mercury (Hg). The chemistry of life is too well known to hypothesize such a myth. When one studies the origin of the elements and then compares this with the relative abundances of the elements in the atmosphere of a primitive planet, then it is fairly easy to perceive which elements will be the precursors of the various life forms on a planet. One can assume that life will be composed of the active elements because inert elements do not readily combine with other elements. Also, life will be composed of the most abundant elements because any life form that is made up of the relatively rare elements will not win in a battle for dominance with life forms that are made up of the abundant elements. Thus, the law of natural selection dictates that life, no matter where it exists, will be composed of the most active elements and the most abundant elements in the atmosphere of a primitive planet. These elements are the same chemicals that makeup life on earth: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Some may argue that the vast complexity of the carbon atom insures that exotic life forms are able to evolve. But the law of natural selection demands that only those organisms that are best adapted to the environment will be the ones to survive. Various studies have shown that the earth was a very hostile environment in which the first life forms arose. Studies have also shown that there was a very short period of time in which conditions were just right for the appearance of life. For the first few millennia of earth’s evolution, there was a very thick cloud of debris enveloping the planet. The evidence of meteorite and asteroid impacts, and their subsequent effects on life, keeps pushing the beginning of life later in earth’s history, while the fossil evidence from the geological record keeps reducing this time period even more. One knows that the length of time it takes for microscopic, unicellular organisms to evolve from one species to another is a very long period of time, placing more limits on the life form that will exist. Finally, the first carbon base type of life that will evolve will be dominant to any later carbon based life forms and will probably eat them. This will ensure that any type of carbon based life to evolve will be very similar to life here on earth and will follow similar evolutionary paths as life here on earth. One also knows that any life that arises too early in the development of the planet will be killed by the inhospitable conditions and any life that arises too late will be eaten by life forms already present. Thus, one can conclude that the law of natural selection demands that the only type of life that will arise on a planet is one that will have the exact same chemical make up as life on earth. The same law says that it will follow evolutionary paths similar to those paths taken by the ancestors of man. For example, among the primate ancestors of man, those that evolved out of the trees too early in the history of life became the ancestors of the baboons. Those that came down too late (did not come down at all) became the primogenitors of the orangutans. But those primates that came down at just the right time and place were the ancestors of the genus Homo. They were upright walkers, which is something that no other animal does. There is no other animal with ancestors that walked upright except man. (For example, dinosaurs and birds are bipeds; they do not have an upright posture.) The same may be said of every animal on man’s ancestral tree. They each had to evolve at just the right time and place or man would not have evolved. One can further conclude that any intelligent life — if it is to exist elsewhere — will be very similar to the genus Homo and will be subject to the same limitations as man. Thus, by studying the events in the evolution of the universe, the earth, life and man, and by taking into consideration the arithmetical percentages of the same sequence of events being reproduced more than once, one comes confronted with the undeniable fact that man is not only alone and unique on the planet earth, but also alone and unique in the entire universe. Therefore, it is impossible for the narrator of the story in Genesis to have received his knowledge from anyone except our Lord. God was the only being in existence at that time with such an advanced knowledge of the creation process. Before leaving the subject something must be said of all the exotic organisms that have been found on the bottoms of the oceans and in other exotic places around the world. Some may say that the existence of these life forms proves that evolutionary paths not followed by man’s ancestors could lead to intelligent life on other planets, in other solar systems and in other galaxies. But the problem with such a hypothesis is that these life forms have never produced an intelligent species, even though they have had ample time to do so. They do not have the physique to do so. This is because their ancestors have not had a life history similar to man’s ancestors. Finally, one should note that all this is in no way an attempt to discredit either the actors or the actresses who appear in science fiction movies and plays. Nor is this an attempt to discredit science fiction stories or the authors of science fiction stories. In fact, one should be encouraged to interest himself in science fiction as it is possible to learn from them. For example, one learns in the novel and 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clark and Stanley Kubrick, that man began with nothing, barely able to survive, and, after a battle with the forces of evil that would try to destroy him, has climbed to a lofty peak of knowledge. One also learns that man would not have made it to this vantage point without the assistance of a highly intelligent being. But even at his present summit of knowledge, man has only just begun to touch understanding. Man has only just begun to be “master of his world.” Man has so much more to learn. Truly, man is but a baby, a Star Child, who has just begun his voyage of discovery.
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