The recent discovery of water resources of Mars, revived hopes to discover life on this planet. Scientists suggest to detect a simple bacteria that live deep underground. But anyway, even one single bacterium discovered outside of Earth, will make us reconsider our own understanding of the nature and our place in the overall space system. We are facing a deep spiritual identity crisis, at least comparable to that tragedy happened in the early 1500's due to the fault of Copernicus, who said that the Earth was not the center of the universe.

Are we alone or not? Today it is one of the most serious existential questions. Perhaps it was our emotional coloration that makes the people so excited to follow the search for life beyond Earth. Because of this interest, NASA revised its research strategies and created NASA Astrobiology Institute, a study of extraterrestrial life. Proximity of Mars has long been a reason for the interest of researchers to this planet in the search for extraterrestrial life. However, many post-flight "Viking" in 1976, dropped his hands. Two spacecraft passed through the ultra-thin atmosphere of the planet, landed on the surface and found the parched desert cold, ultraviolet radiation permeates. But today's situation is much more hopeful. The renewed interest due to the discovery of organisms that can survive in extremely adverse conditions on Earth. Scientists now believe that Mars once had a denser atmosphere, higher temperatures and widespread volcanic activity, there were rivers, there were floods - that is, all the conditions were which are considered favorable for life. Chances of finding living organisms on Mars, of course, is still very small, but even traces of past life came to the opening of an unprecedented scientific value. But before you can make a revolutionary philosophical or theological conclusions we will have to determine whether this was a source of life.

In his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin gave convincing scheme of life for billions of years, but deliberately avoided explanations about the origin of life itself. "Somebody probably already thinking about the source of all this" - he wrote to his friend. It took a half century, but scientists are still not well understood, as there was the first living organism. Nekotorye believe that life on Earth as such - a unique phenomenon, the result of intricate chemical accident. Since even the simplest of known germs actually surprisingly difficult, they say, the chances of its occurrence as a result of a blind clash of two molecules is vanishingly small, and so the probability that it will happen twice in two different locations, can be neglected. This view was defended by French biochemist and Nobel laureate Jacques Monod. "In the extreme, people learned that alone in the dead of the vastness of the universe, from which we emerged by chance," - he wrote in 1971. Such a harsh assessment of the situation he has served as a springboard to advance their atheism and belief in the absurdity and meaninglessness of existence. According to Mono, we are just chemical accidents in the grand, but impersonal cosmic play, random side story that does not pertain to the general course of events. But suppose that things were different. Many scientists believe that life - not just a bizarre phenomenon, but a phenomenon inherent in the laws of nature. "In a sense, the universe must have known that we appear" - sounded so famous statement by physicist Freeman Dyson. No one can say exactly in what sense the universe was pregnant with life, or how the prospects for the future, said Dyson, could escalate into a physical process at the molecular level. Perhaps, matter and energy are always rushing on the path to life thanks to the so-called "self." Perhaps the power of Darwinian evolution is somehow captured and prebiotic molecular stage. Or maybe something powerful, but still described the physical processes (quantum mechanics?) Made the necessary gear to rotate, and then we know of organic life has taken over the management of the necessary machinery. In any of these scenarios, life is fundamental, and not a random product of nature. In 1994, another Nobel Prize winner, the Belgian biochemist Christian de Duve, wrote on the same subject: "I see this not as a joke universe of space, but as a meaningful entity created so as to form life and mind, designed to generate thinking, the ability to discern the truth, to appreciate beauty, to feel love, to strive for good, fight evil and explore the mystery. "In these approaches, the miracle is not mentioned. The attribution of the origin of life merit divine miracle - not only anathema to scientists, it is doubtful and theologically. Mocking the phrase "God gap" has arisen because of gaps in the theories of explanation of the divine will. The problem here is that science moves forward, the gaps are filled, and God slowly squeezed out of the history of nature. Theologians have long been resigned to the fact that trying to fight with science in its territory forced them to retreat further and further to the rear. Trying to prove the existence of God on the basis of the origin of life - a tactic that leads to an inevitable collapse, and the collapse will happen as soon as be able to create life in a test tube. A suggestion that God acts spontaneously, for no apparent reason by moving atoms from one place to another in an attempt to compete with the forces of nature, creates a frankly unattractive image of the Supreme Architect. Atheists tend to first, and people of faith go much further than the second, but these differences are very general, in any case, is not exhaustive. Of course, you can be an atheist and believe that life was cleverly built into the very nature of the universe. Likewise, you can be religious and believe that God created all life on one planet, a miracle or not.

Although the Martian microbes might cause fiery theological debate, the most difficult issue is the prospect of the existence of advanced extraterrestrial beings possessing intelligence and technology. Since our solar system in comparison with the universe as a whole is rather young, any alien civilization would have been probably much older and presumably wiser than ours. We could have reach our level of science and technology, millions and even billions of years ago. Needless to consider the possibility of existence of such advanced alien civilization confronts the new religion of tough questions. All the major religions of the world originated in the pre-scientific era, when it was taken for granted that the Earth was the center of the world, and mankind - the pinnacle of creation. Over the past 500 years, the accumulation of scientific discovery our status went down with increasing speed. First, it was demonstrated that the Earth - just one of the planets revolving around the sun. Then the solar system itself has been relegated to the level of the far outskirts of the galaxy and the sun recognized invisible dwarf among billions of others like him. Evolutionary theory suggested that people - only a small branch of a complex evolutionary tree. The process continued in the twentieth century, when our vaunted intelligence itself is under threat. Computers began to surpass ourselves. Now, genetic engineering has created a frightening specter of a specially designed infant - owners superintelligence, significantly outpacing ours.
We can imagine aliens more wise and perceptive than we are, but the primitive spirit, or even the epitome of evil. But it's much more likely that any civilization surpassed us scientifically, would morally superior than us. It is even conceivable that advanced alien society would sooner or later destroy the propensity to evil at the genetic level, by creating a race of saints. Now let's assume that a certain civilization much faster than us, not only in science and technology, but also in the spiritual aspect. Where, then, will be the alleged special relationship between man and God? This puzzle is a particular challenge for Christians in mind the unique nature of the Incarnation. Among all major world religions, Christianity is the most focused on specific species. Jesus Christ was the savior and redeemer of the sins of the human race. He did not die for the dolphins and gorillas, and even more so - for the infamous little green men. But what about the highly spiritual aliens? Can not they be saved? Can we seriously consider a universe in which there are probably trillions of worlds inhabited by saints, but the only beings who deserve salvation, inhabit the planet teeming with murder, rape and other atrocities? Those few Christian theologians who asked this painful question, divided into two camps. Some postulate the existence of multiple incarnations and even multiple acts of crucifixion. God puts little green flesh to save the little green men, said one prominent Anglican priest. The majority of such an idea seems shockingly absurd.

Eventually, the Christian vision of the world suggests that Jesus was the only Son of God. Would the Lord to make one and the same person to be born, die and resurrect an infinite number of times on one planet after another? This scheme was subjected to ridicule by Thomas Paine in 1974. In his "Era of Reason", he wrote that "... the Son of God, and sometimes God himself would not find themselves better to do than hang around from world to world, experiencing the infinite sequence of deaths among short lives." A further Paine argued that Christianity as a whole is completely incompatible with the existence of extraterrestrial life, saying: "He who says that he believes in the one and the other, not thinking enough about any, or of another." Catholics tend to consider the idea multiple incarnations almost a heresy, not so much because of some of its comic aspects, but because of its properties represent a routine event, which is perceived as a unique gift of the Lord. "God has chosen a very special way to the salvation of the human race" - wrote George Coyne, a Jesuit priest and head of the Vatican Observatory, whose own research, among other things, related to astrobiology. - He sent Jesus to him, his only Son, Jesus sacrificed his own life to save mankind from their sins. Did the Lord has done the same for aliens? ... "

In addition to this article, I will show you some impressive collection of ancient icons and graphics. This one made me think several times.

















































































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