Thursday, July 24, 2008

Does the Bible offer any clues regarding the significance of UFOs?

"Crackpots" aren't the only people interested in UFOs. Even the famous German psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961) wrote a book about UFOs. He concluded that since physical evidence is almost always lacking in such occurrences, UFOs fall into the category of psychic experiences. In other words, people who see UFOs may experience things that seem vividly real, but which aren't really there in a physical sense.

Science has been moving toward a consensus that life in the universe is much rarer than was once supposed. Even if alien life were common, however, the distances between the stars (even within our own galaxy) is so immense that there is little likelihood of visitors. Up to this point, significant physical evidence of actual visitations from inhabitants of other planets is lacking.
On the other hand, the Bible supports the concept of "alien" contacts. It affirms the existence of spiritual beings -- angels and demons -- who are engaged in a struggle for our souls. Ephesians 6:12 declares: Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

There are many examples in the Bible of angelic encounters and demonic power ( Daniel 10:13 ; Matthew 4:24 ; Mark 5:1-17 ; 2 Corinthians 11:14 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 ). Given the nature of the evidence, we are inclined to believe that some UFO phenomena may be demonic by nature. Other occurrences may be the result of subconscious psychological factors, quartz compression, or other natural phenomena.

While this opinion is admittedly open to question, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the subject of UFOs. Experts in ufology say that there is a cycle of rising and waning interest in UFOs and we are reaching a peak of interest once again.

---Resource from RBC Ministries