NASA takes the question of extraterrestrial life, its existence in the universe and possible contact with them at any time very seriously. The director of the organization, Bill Nelson, is a firm believer in life on other planets and in the possibility of human beings running into them.
In any case, NASA’s position is so great as to bother to create divisions within its structure dedicated solely to this matter. Not only for its mere discovery, but also to analyze the impact that a news story of this caliber would have on society.
Thus, NASA worked with a group of theologians –Among which is a British priest, professor at the University of Cambridge– who had the mission of analyzing what would happen to the beliefs of the human being in case of coming into contact with extraterrestrial life.
Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, or Shinto. What impact would the confirmation of extraterrestrial life have for these 5 great world religions? The group of 24 theologians analyzed the pillars of the 5 great beliefs regarding a finding of this caliber.
The project, which took place in 2016, has now been known to one of those who made up the study group. For a year, Princeton University became the epicenter of the impact of extraterrestrial life on the pillars of the societies that make up the planet.
The role of faith in a possible extraterrestrial life
Reverand Andrew Davison, through his blog from the Divine Faculty of the University of Cambridge, announced that he was one of the members of this study group. One that continues to work to answer the question of extraterrestrial life.
“Where is religion to be found in the burgeoning science of astrobiology?” Asks the theologian on his blog. At a time when the discovery of exoplanets is part of the daily life of astronomers, understanding the social implications of astrobiology has been a NASA mission for a few years. Beyond the role that Jesus, Muhammad or Buddha would have in the equation of extraterrestrial life, the theologian points out that the objective is to determine if the response to the news would be taken from a theological point of view and if the question of reincarnation and creation would have an answer under the dogma of faith.
Also the possible answers to the question – in the case of the Christian – about the possibility of more reincarnations of Christ in the universe. A whole list of details that the priest will include in his book Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine planned for next year.
Your conclusions? With a planet that little by little is relegating religious beliefs to the background and rejects, for the most part, creationist theories, the group concluded that at least in the spectrum of faith, practically nothing would change. If extraterrestrial life were discovered everything would continue as before with perhaps a faith as a resource to face the new doubts of the universe.