MAKING
SPORT OF THE POWERS: THE BIBLE AND UFOS
Prepared
for MUFON Pennsylvania
October
2009
Dr.
Barry H. Downing
[Author’s
Note: This lecture was prepared at the request of John Ventre to be
presented at two multi-speaker UFO conferences, sponsored by the
Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) of Pennsylvania. The lecture was given at
Montgomery Community College, north of Philadelphia, on October 10,
2009, and at Westmoreland Community College, south of Pittsburgh, on
October 17, 2009.
James
Carrion is International Director of MUFON; headquarters are in Fort
Collins, Colorado.]
I
am here to talk to you about possibilities, religious possibilities
in relation to UFOs. I have been a theological consultant to the
Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) since 1972. MUFON of course does not have
a theology, it is an organization devoted to the scientific study of
UFOs. But very early MUFON recognized that UFOs have both scientific
and religious implications.
I
want to talk about UFOs from my point of view as a Protestant
Christian pastor. Roman Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and
Buddhists, not to mention atheists, may have other views. But here I
am presenting my interpretation of what the UFO situation is about.
We live in a time when no one trusts religious truth. Everyone has a
point of view, and in religion in particular, we now assume,
especially in our universities and colleges, that there is no such
thing as religious truth, there are only religious opinions, or
religious beliefs. I believe that in our UFO story, religious and
scientific truth are linked in a way that challenges our modern
assumptions about the difference between science and religion.
I
concede that I can at this time only give you my religious beliefs.
But notice how the relation between belief and truth work. Before
the last Presidential election, some people believed that Hillary
Clinton would be the next President of the United States, others that
John McCain would be, and still others that Barack Obama would be.
But when the election was over, some beliefs were shown to be false
and some to be true. Those who believed Barack Obama would be
elected turned out to believe in the truth.
So
here is how I want you to consider my point of view. Yes, I hold one
of many possible religious points of view. But how do you tell which
point of view, on Election Day, is going to be the truth? On what
basis do you suppose that my point of view might not be true? I
assume that when you leave this conference, you will want to cast
your vote for the truth on Election Day.
UFOS,
CHURCH AND STATE
First,
let us consider the current official view of UFOs. By official, I
mean the public position of the United States government. That
position is that we are not being visited by beings from another
world, and that there is nothing flying in our skies posing a threat
to our national security. By and large, this point of view goes
unchallenged by our university communities, our scientific leaders,
our religious leaders, or by the main stream American media.
Recently, the media has become a little more open to the UFO reality.
Larry King has given TV time to people who are protesting the UFO
cover-up, without trying to ridicule them. That is a step forward.
But still, the official position is still official. No aliens. I
cannot think of a major religious leader who has said something like
this: “There is growing evidence that our government, and other
world governments, have lied to us about the nature of the UFO
evidence. If we are being visited by aliens, religious leaders need
to have this information in order to consider what this means for our
faith tradition.” I wish religious leaders had said this, I have
encouraged religious leaders to say this, or something like it. But
it has not happened.
The
late Roman Catholic priest Msgr. Corrado Balducci has gone on Italian
television saying he believes UFOs are real, but I do not know of any
American Catholic leader who has made similar statements. (Unlike
myself, however, Balducci does not believe UFOs have anything to do
with the biblical tradition.) I know of no major Protestant leader
who has spoken out about UFOs, either here or elsewhere. There are a
few scientists who have put their reputations on the line, and joined
organizations like MUFON, but they are very few, and they perhaps
have done so because they are not involved in scientific work that
requires a national security clearance.
So
here we are, more than 60 years after Roswell, and the lid of secrecy
is still in place. So long as the United States government continues
to say, “No aliens,” then there is no need for religious leaders
to ask the question, “What do aliens mean for our religion?” On
the basis of the religious people I have talked to, religious leaders
are happy to leave it this way.
I
believe our government has lied from the beginning, and I admit that
lying makes sense within the framework of how all governments of the
world work: truth is dangerous and powerful, and governments have
power when they have information you do not have. Exactly what power
our government’s UFO lies protect is of course an interesting
political, scientific, and religious question. But keep this in
mind, lying is what government leaders often do. President
Eisenhower lied about U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union;
President Johnson lied about Vietnam; Nixon about Watergate; Clinton
about Monica; Bush either lied about, or maybe just dreamed about,
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Alan Greenspan said there was
no housing bubble, and Ben Bernanke said the sub-prime mortgage
problem would not spread to the rest of the economy. As heads of the
Federal Reserve, and High Priests of the American dollar, were they
lying, so as not to panic the Stock Market, or were they just
incompetent?
Our
government leaders would say that they only lie for good reasons, and
sometimes it is their duty to lie to protect national security.
What might be national security reasons to lie about UFOs? Issues
could include fear of financial collapse, protecting military and
technological secrets, loss of respect for human authority, or the
spread of religious fanaticism, such as that of Marshall Applewhite
who led 39 people to suicide in his California “Heaven’s Gate”
UFO cult during Holy Week of 1997. UFOs frighten and mystify our
government, which is more than enough motive to lie. I suspect our
government has two problems: they know more about UFOs than they dare
tell us, but they also know a lot less than they want to know, which
may be even worse.
But
it also appears the UFOs themselves help keep our government lie
going. UFOs have the power to appear to us, or not, as they choose.
UFOs play “peek-a-boo” with us. What this means is, the UFOs
have the power to expose our government lie any time they want to.
Up to the present time, they are glad to play peek-a-boo, and keep us
wondering, keeping their existence on the margin of our public
consciousness, perhaps just out of reach of our cultural panic
button.
If
you need evidence about both our American, and the worldwide
cover-up, read books by those like Timothy Good (Above
Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover- up )and
Richard Dolan (UFOs and the National Security
State, Vol. One: 1941-1973; Vol. Two: 1973-1991 ),
or read Stanton Friedman’s regular “Perceptions” column in the
MUFON UFO Journal, or
George Filer’s column on the latest UFO sightings. Be that as it
may, our government lie about UFOs has enabled religious leaders to
avoid questions like: did a UFO part the Red Sea? Were the beings
reported in the Bible as angels what we now call aliens, and did
these beings take part in the Resurrection of Jesus? No high status
religious leaders are dealing with these questions. Of course, if
you are a high status religious leader, you have your reputation to
protect, and perhaps the seminary or denomination you represent. I
understand that. But the first commitment of any religious leader
with integrity ought to be to the truth. If the truth is not
obvious, but rather buried treasure, than we should get digging.
It
is not as if religious leaders do not know that these questions are
kind of out there, hanging in space, like a UFO, soundless. After
all, my book, The Bible and Flying Saucers ,
was published more than 40 years ago, there are something like
300,000 copies in print. I have sent articles on UFOs to leading
religious journals, articles which have been rejected. The History
Channel program “UFOs in the Bible,” of which I was a part, has
been run many times. So religious leaders know the issues are there,
but they will not even publish the possibility that we have a
problem. In short, if our government is lying about UFOs, our
religious leaders are very glad about the lie, which of course is a
strange position for religious leaders to be in, because we suppose
that religious leaders would be the first to stand up to Pharaoh’s
lies, to Caesar’s lies. When Jesus was raised from the dead,
religious and political leaders agreed to spread a lie, that the
disciples came by night and stole the body of Jesus. (Mt.28:13) That
is how the lie works—put out a cover story, because the story of
the resurrection is just as bad news to religious leaders as it is to
political leaders. It means we are dealing with a power that is
beyond our control. Our UFO cover stories are Venus, swamp gas, cloud
inversions, or advanced secret American aircraft. Cover stories
work, in part because we would rather believe the cover story than
the truth. If aliens are here, we are dealing with a power that
neither our political nor religious leaders can control, or perhaps
even understand. In other words, like it or not, UFOs represent a
god-like power. (See my article, “The God Hypothesis,” MUFON
UFO Journal , October, 1988) Then the question
is, is that power good or evil, angelic or demonic? Or a mixture of
both? And how do we decide, how do we weigh the evidence? We want to
vote for the truth on Election Day.
UFOS
AND DIVIDED PROTESTANTISM
People
often ask me, “If this is what you really believe, why hasn’t
your church tried you for heresy?” My tongue in cheek answer is,
“Just lucky I guess.” But the larger answer has to do with where
American Protestantism now is. Protestantism does not have a Pope to
herd liberals and conservatives into the middle of the road.
American Protestantism is now badly split between left and right,
liberal and conservative. I am a member of a liberal Protestant
denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA). Liberal Protestants are
not just Presbyterians, but also Methodists, Lutherans,
Episcopalians, United Church of Christ, and others who suspect many
of the miracles in the Bible are mythology, miracles such as the
parting of the Red Sea, and the Resurrection of Jesus. Some (but not
all) liberal seminary professors would say these miracle stories
represent the thinking of a pre-scientific world view, and we should
not take these stories literally. Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong,
in books like Why Christianity Must Change or
Die , expresses this liberal agnosticism well.
He says that people who still believe in things like the Parting of
the Red Sea have parked their brains at the church door. If there
was no resurrection of Jesus, it kind of takes the joy out of Easter,
of course. Some liberal clergy find it easier to talk about their
Easter hope than their Easter faith.
If
I were to be tried for heresy, one would have to deal with the fact
that I believe in a literal resurrection of Jesus, in fact, I affirm
all the articles of the Apostles’ Creed, so that by today’s
liberal standards, I am quite orthodox. My views introduce the
possibility that some biblical miracles are the result of advanced
technology, which modern theology has never considered, and is in no
mood to face. (See my article, “Biblical Miracles as
Super-technology,” The Encyclopedia of
Extraterrestrial Encounters , ed. Ronald D.
Story) Even more, a heresy trial would have to test the truth of
American government statements about UFOs, and if there were evidence
that our government is lying, this would raise huge questions about
separation of church and state. Are UFOs a national security issue,
or do UFOs pertain to the God of the Bible, the God of the “pillar
of cloud and fire” of the Exodus? (Ex.13:21,22) I know some of my
fellow clergy thought I ought to be tried for heresy, they told me
so, but it would not take long to discover that any trial of me for
heresy would create one big Presbyterian public mess. The newspaper
headlines would not be good: “Presbyterian Church Tries Minister
for UFO Heresy.”
So
here I am, untried. Uncensored. But not necessarily loved.
Although I have received good support from my former congregation
Northminster Presbyterian Church in Endwell, New York, and some of
my fellow clergy, nevertheless some of my best clergy friends think I
am way off base, or crazy. If any high status Presbyterian leader
has publically voiced support for my work, I do not know who he or
she is. But there has been no heresy trial, nor do I expect one.
CONSERVATIVE
PROTESTANTS AND THE DEMONIC THEORY
But
if I had been a member of a conservative denomination, I almost
certainly would have been tried for heresy. Conservatives do not
mind looking foolish in public. I will give conservative Protestants
credit: many of them have taken UFOs seriously, unlike liberals. Of
course they do not complain loudly that our government and military
leaders are lying, because conservative Protestants love American
military power, and believe American military power is important as a
defense against Islamic Fundamentalism. But many American
conservative Protestants believe UFOs are real, and that UFOs are
demonic. If UFOs are demonic, then it would be a good thing if United
States Air Force jets could shoot them down. But if UFOs carry the
angels of God, then shooting them down would not be such a good idea.
(Heb. 13:2)
There
are many internet sites dealing with the religious dimension of UFOs,
and the web site “Strong Delusion,” administered by James
Cunningham, is one of the best. Cunningham has made a good effort
to present a broad point of view on his site, including mine,
although the majority of those writing on his site would condemn me.
One writer has called me a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” another
charges that I am guilty of “hermeneutical rape,” a phrase I did
not hear used when I was attending Princeton Theological Seminary.
Conservative Protestants hold an annual UFO conference in Roswell,
New Mexico, this year called the “Ancient of Days” conference,
proclaiming that UFOs are real, and demonic. MUFON Florida state
section leader Joe Jordan is part of this effort to interpret UFOs as
demonic, which of course some of them may be.
The
conservative demonic argument is basically this: in UFO abduction
reports, the aliens do terrible things to abductees, conducting
sexual and other tests on them. The aliens have the power of thought
control which shows this is a paranormal/demonic power.
Conservatives argue that if the aliens were God’s angels, they
would not do these terrible things, causing the victims nightmares,
and sometimes serious health problems. Secular UFO researchers often
complain the aliens treat us like laboratory animals. I have no
desire to be abducted, and I am glad for the good research work of
Joe Jordan, with others, who have investigated cases where people
were in danger of being abducted, and they shouted out, “Jesus save
me,” or prayers to that effect, and the abduction did not happen.
If I am ever in danger of an abduction, I plan to shout out, “Jesus
save me.” (Jordan is a state section director for MUFON in
Florida, part of their CE4 Research Group, and author of Unholy
Communion. For a summary of his work, see
the Strong Delusion articles, “UFO-alien Christian ‘smoking
gun,’” parts 1 and 2, March 13 and 24, 2009. For a summary of
concepts of the demonic in relation to UFOs, see my article, “Demonic
Theory of UFOs,” The Encyclopedia of
Extraterrestrial Encounters , ed. Ronald D.
Story.)
But
I do not conclude that Jordan’s UFO research proves UFOs are
demonic, or at least, that the aliens are not obeying the will of
God. I believe it makes much more sense, biblically, to say that
many UFOs carry God’s angels of judgment, rather than demons. The
Bible refers to judgment angels as “destroying angels.” (Ps.
78:49; also see Gen. 19:1; Acts 12:23; Rev. 8:1-9:21) Let us
remember the Exodus. The Exodus story says that the last plague,
killing the first-born of Egypt, was an act of God. (Ex. 12:39) This
would of course appear demonic to the Egyptians, but angelic to the
Jews. At the same time, the Jewish first-born could be saved by
putting the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their home. The
Bible says killing first-born Egyptians was a divine action of God’s
judgment, modern UFO abductions may also be part of the divine
judgment, but “Save me Jesus” may have the same purpose as the
blood of the lamb on the doorposts of Jewish homes, protection from
God’s angels of judgment. It may be that “chosen people” may
be saved from what is a divine process, a process that may be
necessary from God’s point of view, in dealing with our modern
Pharaohs. “Save me Jesus” may be the blood of the lamb that
leads to an Abduction Passover.
When
we read about modern abduction reports, however, we should also
remember modern medicine. A doctor will give chemotherapy to a
cancer patient. The patient will become sick, his or her hair will
fall out. Do we call the doctor demonic? A woman who cannot
conceive may have medical treatment that is sexually invasive. Do we
call this demonic? Before surgery, persons are often given
anesthesia, which makes them unconscious during surgery. Is it
demonic that patients suffer memory loss after surgery?
There
is much in modern UFO abduction reports that seems more medical than
demonic, abductions may not be as evil as they appear, and may not be
the work of “destroying angels.” Until we have a better
understanding of the purpose of the UFO reality, I think the
“demonic” explanation of abductions is weak.
Although
I am skeptical, the demonic interpretation of UFOs must be
considered, and books like Alien Intrusion:
UFOs and the Evolution Connection , by Gary
Bates, The Millennial Deception ,
by Timothy J. Dailey, and Alien Encounters
by Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman, explain the demonic, or fallen
angels point of view (see Genesis 6:1-4, concerning the Nephilim).
Others, such as Lynn Marzulli, Michael Heiser, Stephen Yulish and Guy
Malone publish regularly on Strong Delusion and other web sites. My
sense about conservative Protestantism is that it is so focused on
the Second Coming of Christ that it finds it difficult to see how God
may have purpose in continuing what I call “God’s Faith Game”
on earth. I believe in the Second Coming, but it should be obvious
2000 years later, that God is in no hurry about it, and that not even
Christ knew when the Second Coming would happen. (Mt. 24:36)
There
are several biblical problems with the Conservative Demonic/Fallen
Angel theory. I know of no case in the Bible where either demons, or
fallen angels, are reported to be seen flying around in craft. There
is nothing like the “chariot of fire” of Elijah reported to be
carrying demons, or fallen angels. Biblical UFOs—the pillar of
cloud and fire of the Exodus, the chariot of fire, the wheels of
Ezekiel, or the “clouds” in the New Testament that carry Christ
and the angels (Mt. 24:30), are all signs of divine power, not
demonic power. Where did the demons or fallen angels suddenly come
up with space craft, and why did God allow demons to have this
up-grade? Are UFOs, even if they are demons or fallen angels, doing
the will of God, in the manner of Satan in relation to Job? I have
not seen the conservative answer to these questions stated clearly.
My
point of view creates stress for conservative Protestants.
Conservative Protestants believe in the infallibility of Scripture,
and believe it should be interpreted literally, not as mythology,
like the liberals. I fall somewhere between. The Bible is not one
book, it is 66 books written by dozens of authors and editors,
covering a period of more than 1000 years. I believe much in the
Bible is story, not history, such as the early Genesis material. Adam
and Eve were not there to observe the creation of the universe, but
the Jews were present to observe the Parting of the Red Sea. I
believe the Parting of the Red Sea is history, not story or
mythology, like many liberal Christians. Thus conservative
Protestants believe—no questions asked, that the Red Sea really
parted, like the Bible says, and that Jesus was raised from the dead,
like the Bible says. One might think that conservatives would love
me—here I am, saying we may have evidence flying in our skies, that
the Red Sea parted, that Jesus was raised, that the angels of God are
still with us. But alas, conservatives do not love me, and never
have. When the conservative magazine Christianity
Today reviewed my book in 1968, the main
hope of the reviewer was that no one would read my book.
POSSIBILITIES
AND UNCERTAINTY
Even
though I take the parting of the Red Sea and the resurrection of
Jesus literally, the way in which I do it raises all kinds of
possibilities, and conservatives do not like possibilities, they want
everything nailed down. I will certainly admit that things are not
nailed down. If UFOs are real, and piloted by aliens, then we have
many possibilities. How long have these aliens been flying in our
skies? Since 1947? Since biblical times? Or maybe for millions of
years? If our modern abduction reports are true, then it appears
the aliens have advanced biological and medical powers. And why
wouldn’t they? Look at where we are now scientifically. We may
soon have the power to fly to another planet, and start life on that
planet. We know how DNA works. Theologically, we have been made in
the image of God, “partakers of the divine nature.” (Gen. 1:26; 2
Pet. 1:4) Perhaps our divine destiny is to go to other worlds, to
create or redeem beings in our own image, or at least to join the
angels in this creative/redemptive process. (Jn. 14:12) Suppose that
life on earth has been created by the alien reality flying in our
skies. The idea of linking the Bible, creation, and UFOs has already
been explored in the larger culture, if not in your local church or
synagogue, in movies like “Knowing” staring Nicolas Cage.
Notice
what the UFO reality does to our scientific theories of evolution.
Scientists who are atheists, like Richard Dawkins and the late Carl
Sagan, both of whom promoted atheism in the name of the theory of
evolution, would suddenly have to face the possibility that life on
earth did not just evolve all by itself. That may be one reason
Carl Sagan would not take UFO evidence seriously—it threatened his
life’s work. Sagan was happy to imagine future alien contact, but
not current contact. (See Sagan’s article, “UFO’s: The
Extraterrestrial and Other Hypotheses,” published in UFO’s:
A Scientific Debate, edited by Carl Sagan and
Thornton Page.) If the United States government now holds information
that indicates that aliens have designed biological life on our
planet, there goes our high school text books, not to mention the
Dover Pennsylvania court ruling of Judge John E. Jones that
“intelligent design” is not science. (The United States District
Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Tammy
Kitzmiller, et. al., Plaintiffs v. Dover Area School District, et.
al., Defendants, Case No. 04cv2688, 2005) If
aliens have created life on earth, then intelligent design is better
science than the theory of evolution now being taught to our
children. A lot of scientific reputations could go up in smoke if
the truth about UFOs were released.
But
at the same time, this theory—that aliens created life on
earth—brings no joy to religious conservatives. One of my sharpest
critics—who calls me a wolf in sheep’s clothing—not only does
not believe in evolution, he does not believe the universe is more
than about 6000 years old. What is the basis for this belief? His
chronology of the age of the earth is based on the Bible, not on
modern science. He believes in a literal Genesis, not in a
universe that is 13 billion years old. So even though the existence
of aliens could embarrass many of our world’s scientists, their
existence also threatens the faith of many Christian conservatives.
Conservative Christians are divided between the “New Earth”
proponents, like Gary Bates, who read Genesis literally, and the
“Intelligent Design” advocates, like Phillip E. Johnson, author
of Darwin on Trial ,
who oppose evolution, but do not read Genesis literally. They believe
the universe is billions of years old, but that God created different
species over a long period of time.
Christian
conservatives will let aliens exist only as supernatural demons, or
perhaps fallen angels (Genesis 6), who are trying to create confusion
on planet earth. They suggest God has let these demons loose, to
prepare the way for the Second Coming of Christ. I admit this is
possible, but it is no sure thing. The other possibilities worry
Christian conservatives a lot.
THE
ALIEN AGENDA
A
basic pressing issue is: what is the alien purpose, the alien agenda,
and how do the governments of the world fit into this agenda? Most
of the theories about the alien agenda take on a science and
technology flavor. Some believe the aliens are here because they
need some of our DNA to save their dying planet—Budd Hopkins
(Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at
Copley Woods ), has put forth this
speculation. Or perhaps the aliens are here because we have now
advanced enough to join the equivalent of the United Nations of the
stars. Soon the aliens will land, and welcome us to the
interplanetary brotherhood. Or maybe the aliens are here because we
now have atomic weapons, and the aliens are worried that we will
disrupt the space/time continuum of the universe. Maybe the aliens
have made a pact with our government, and are sharing technological
secrets of new energy that will not pollute the environment. By and
large, the speculation about alien purpose sees the aliens as a
little more advanced technologically than we are, and maybe more
morally advanced, because, after all, they have not blown up their
own civilization. But do the aliens have a spiritual purpose in
their relation to planet earth? That is a different kind of
question.
When
Eric von Daniken published Chariots of the
Gods? , one of his arguments was that the
beings in the Bible that we call angels were not angels, they were
just ancient astronauts, landing to pick up soil samples or
conducting experiments. The biblical people fell down and worshipped
the aliens as gods, because they did not know any better. Von
Daniken says he believes in God, but the Bible, for von Daniken, is
no special source of divine revelation. I understand this. One can
take my whole argument for the Exodus, and suppose that it is some
kind of extraterrestrial experiment, whereby aliens gave the Jews a
set of moral laws in the laboratory of the Sinai wilderness. The
aliens insisted on being worshiped, “You shall have no other gods
before me” (Ex. 20:3), in order to establish their authority. In
our scientific age, this possibility has sold very well. But I do
not see it as von Daniken sees it. I believe the Exodus story is one
way divine reality has been revealed to us. The God of Moses was the
God of Jesus. Jesus compared the process of divine revelation to a
woman hiding leaven in a lump of dough. (Mt. 13:33) God is hidden,
and revealed, in our Exodus history, in our Jesus story, and in our
modern UFO encounters.
Not
only do some look at aliens as ancient astronauts, but also there are
those who see UFOs as New Age religious spirituality. Books like
Shirley MacLaine’s Out On a Limb ,
or the late Dr. John Mack’s book, Abduction:
Human Encounters with Aliens , suggest that
UFOs are a sign that a new form of world consciousness is growing.
Those presenting a New Age point of view do not try very hard to
understand alien purpose in light of the Bible, but that is what I am
trying to do.
GOD’S
ANGELIC AGENDA
Here
is what I want you to consider with me. That the aliens are real,
they are part of a larger divine purpose in relation to planet earth,
they may not be demons, but rather the guardian angels who have
guided the development of life on earth. (Mt. 18:10; 26:53 etc.)
These angels are not only advanced spiritually, but technologically.
Theology has never thought about angels and technology because when
Ezekiel saw the “wheel within a wheel” (Ez. 1:16), he did not
say, “Wow, what a fine example of advanced technology,” rather,
he said he had visions of God. Ezekiel knew about God, but he did
not know about technology. Our age knows about technology, but we do
not know about God. There is nothing in the Bible that says the
angels do not use technology. The word “supernatural” is not
even a biblical word. The Bible affirms that God created the
universe , and that all things were made through Christ (Jn. 1:3;
Col. 1:15-20). There has been little theological discussion about
the extent to which the angels of God might have participated in the
creation process. Early in his ministry, Jesus sent out his
disciples by twos, and “gave them authority over the unclean
spirits.” (Mk. 6:7) Jesus believed in power sharing. The church is
part of the New Creation, and Christ delegated the creation of his
church to human authority. [“Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations.” (Mt. 28:19)] This authority was divinely confirmed
at Pentecost. (Acts 2) If God is willing to share his divine power
with human authority, then we ought to wonder to what extent God has
shared his divine power with angelic authority in creating life on
earth.
The
“cultural” development of life on earth, whatever that may be, is
not yet complete. Humanity is God’s main harvest, and the angels
not only participated in the Resurrection of Christ, the beginning of
the New Creation. (Mt. 28:2; Rev. 21:1) The angels will also
participate in the final harvesting process, transporting humans to
God’s heavenly kingdom. (Mt. 13:39) The Bible does not give us the
physics, chemistry or biology of the first creation, or of the New
Creation to come, only the affirmation that God has done the
creating, and we do not even have proof of that, we only know it by
faith. (Heb. 11:3) There is no biblical statement that the angels
have participated in shaping biological life on earth, but I do not
know of any direct biblical evidence that rules out this possibility.
The Bible tends to see God, and God’s angels, as in some sense
identical (Ex. 3:1-6), as Jesus shares his identity with God (Jn.
14:8-11), and as believers share the identity of Jesus (Jn. 15:1-11).
If modern aliens seem to be doing “biological” things, how do we
know this is not divinely “authorized” angelic activity? If we
consider the plagues reported during the Exodus, plagues of flies,
frogs, locusts and boils, we are faced with an apparent biological
control of the environment, with the angels of God exercising this
power. (Ex. 3-12) In other words, the book of Exodus reports that
some kind of extraterrestrial power waged biological warfare against
Egypt. Killing the first-born of Egypt in some sense was a
biological act, timed with engineering precision. Of course the
healing miracles of Jesus, as well as his resurrection, point to
biological power. What the Bible suggests is that the angelic
reality has the biological knowledge and power to have created life
on earth, not to mention, eternal life to come. Did the angels
reported in the Bible create the ecology of the earth, over a period
of millions of years? Is it the task of the angels to monitor human
abuse of the environment? I believe modern UFO reports challenge
theology, and science, to wonder about these possibilities. The
view that the angels of God may have been involved in the shaping of
the biology of the earth is more biblically speculative than I would
like, but I believe we need to be careful not to close too many doors
until our government becomes more honest with us about what UFOs seem
to be doing. Theologically, we also need to remember that with God
all things are possible. (Mt. 19:26)
Let
us suppose that the power that led the Exodus in the Bible, and
parted the Red Sea, and later raised Jesus from the dead, is the same
power we see flying in our skies now, what might this mean? You do
see the problem for Protestant conservatives here. The very same
powers conservatives are calling demonic I am calling angelic. I am
calling them guardian angels, which includes angels of judgment.
Calling the UFO aliens demonic could be a bad call when the election
results are announced. After all, the leading religious leaders
during the time of Jesus said he was demonic. (Mt. 9:34; Lk. 7:33;
Jn. 7:20; 8:49; 8:52)
But
if the alien/angelic reality had a purpose in biblical times, and has
a similar purpose now, what is it? The best purpose I can now name is
to Make Sport of the Powers.
Make sport of political leaders, embarrass scientific leaders, make
sport of religious leaders, embarrass the wise in our universities
and in our media, the editors of the likes of the New
York Times, and Time
magazine, who have consistently joined our government leaders in
making fun of the whole idea of UFOs and aliens. One thing the God
of the Bible likes to do is to make sport of the establishment
powers. Hear these words from the book of Exodus. They explain God’s
purpose for the Exodus. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go in to
Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants,
that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell
in the hearing of your son and your son’s son how I have made sport
of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them; that you may
know that I am the Lord.’” (Ex. 10:1,2, RSV) God made sport of
the Egyptians, embarrassed them. In other words, one of God’s main
tactics is to strike at human pride, not just at an individual level,
but also at a political level, at a national level. God sent plagues
of frogs, flies, locusts, hail and boils, among the many troubles for
Egypt. Finally the angel of God killed the first-born of Egypt, but
spared the first-born of Israel. Jews celebrate this saving event as
Passover. In terms of modern ideas of religion, of course, this
killer God of the Exodus seems out of step with the God of love that
most clergy proclaim. In fact, I am sure many liberal theologians
not only do not believe the Exodus story, they pray that it is not
true. Nevertheless, the angels in the Bible often seem to be a kind
of military power. (2 Kings 6:17; Mt. 26:53)
After
Passover, God’s angels crush Pharaoh, making sport of Pharaoh’s
chariots in the Red Sea. Not surprisingly, modern UFOs have made
sport of our technology, and our advanced jet fighters. Why won’t
American military leaders just announce that modern UFOs fly circles
around our fighters? Because this is embarrassing. UFO truth
crushes our military pride, our Pharaoh pride.
In
the New Testament, the evidence is similar. The religious leaders
were humbled by the teaching of Jesus, who told them they were
hypocrites. (Mt. 23) Jesus sided with the poor and the oppressed,
just as God had sided with the Jews against the oppressor Egyptians.
The preaching and healing miracles of Jesus made sport of the powers,
which is why religious and political leaders joined to kill him, and
why the resurrection of Jesus is such a good way to make sport of
those who killed him. Embarrassment required the resurrection
cover-up. The Apostle Paul was religiously devoted to destroying
Christians, but was humbled, in his religious pride, by that bright
UFO on the road to Damascus, with the voice that said, “Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me? ” (Acts 9:4) Paul explained this divine
humbling process very well. “For it is written, ‘I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will
thwart.’” (1 Cor. 1:19; Is. 29:14) “For the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
(1 Cor. 1:25) Making sport of the powers is God’s game, and I
think we are in the midst of a wonderful spiritual Super Bowl, the
real World Cup, God making sport of human pride. It is God’s
favorite game, and it is human pride that keeps religious leaders
from recognizing the significance of UFOs for the biblical tradition.
Because in “seeing they do not see.” (Mt. 13:13) Why do I
believe I see when others do not? Beats me.
UFOS
AND THE RESURRECTION OF GOD’S FAITH GAME
If
I am right, what happens next? An Associated Press poll in 2007
indicated that about 14% of Americans (one in every eight) believe
they have seen a UFO. This amounts to over 40 million Americans.
(Angela K. Brown, Associated Press, January 14, 2008, “Dozens in
Texas Town Report Seeing UFO.”) My cousin saw a UFO fly at treetop
level over her house in rural Delaware County, New York. The
sighting was at night, the light from the UFO was strong enough so
that she could have read a book. The only noise was a slight hum, as
she watched this UFO fly for five minutes at walking speed. What
does my cousin know, that 40 million other Americans know? She has
seen with her own eyes that our government has hidden the truth from
us, our modern Pharaohs have been exposed for the liars they are.
All the UFOs have to do is keep showing up—they do not even have to
land, and eventually, all our modern Pharaohs will be emperors with
no clothes, walking out of the Red Sea with their bathing suits
missing.
When
will we reach the tipping point? Here is the downside risk in the
UFO lie to both American political leadership, and to the American
press. If one in every eight Americans has seen a UFO, how long
before government lies are no longer believable? Other countries like
Great Britain and France are releasing their UFO files. China is
fairly open about UFO issues. The political leadership of other
countries realizes they have to release UFO information or they will
lose their credibility. America almost stands alone in denial.
When
and however the UFO truth is finally admitted, then the arrogance of
our scientists will be crushed. So much for Richard Dawkins’
certainty about atheistic evolution, and his popular book The
God Delusion . And what about our religious
leaders? How could they be silent about UFOs for 60 years?
Religious leaders will be exposed as blind leaders of the blind. (
Mt. 15:14) The leaders of the media will be exposed for burying
their head in the sand, blind to the biggest news story of the past
1000 years, having betrayed their guaranteed Constitutional freedom
to expose government lies.
God
is making sport of all the powers. Writing from a scientific
perspective, Foster Morrison has said, “The only identifiable thing
the UFO phenomenon is doing is discrediting the scientific and
political establishments.” ( See Morrison, “UFOs—Science and
Technology in the Service of Magic,” MUFON
UFO Journal , June, 1988)
How
will this process of making sport of, or discrediting the
establishment powers end? Will UFOs land and finally show themselves
openly? Will we have a friendly exchange of scientists as in the
film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” or will the landing be
the Second Coming of Christ?
If
the biblical pattern of divine UFO behavior holds, then UFOs will not
land on the White House lawn and say, “Take me to your leader,”
as our scientific culture expects, nor will the Second Coming happen,
as religious conservatives expect. Rather, I expect UFOs to just
keep showing themselves until everybody knows they are real, but we
will not know their purpose. What if UFOs just kind of hover there
in our skies, what if our government leaders do not know what UFO
purpose is, what if our scientists do not know either, then what?
Then we are back to wondering, wondering why we are here on earth,
wondering if those aliens in the sky made us, and if they did make
us, when we die, do we go join them? Do we then become like the
angels, as Jesus said? (Mt. 22:30)
We
must also wonder if the ethical decisions we make, the decision we
make to love God, or not love God, the decision to love our neighbor,
or not love our neighbor, have eternal consequences. We may wonder
if the earth is kind of a greenhouse, where God starts us on an
eternal journey to a heavenly, extraterrestrial home. Life on earth
then becomes a test of our worthiness to be given the freedom of the
children of God. (Rom. 8:21) All this is basic biblical teaching,
of course. The existence of UFOs can resurrect us from the atheism
of our scientific age if we want to be resurrected, or we can
continue to deny God in the name of science, if that is our choice.
Ours is a Doubting Thomas Age demanding proof, but Jesus says
believing without seeing is more blessed. (Jn. 20:29) That is what
I believe, but I do not have scientific proof that my faith is the
truth. From my point of view, if UFOs make sport of our modern human
powers with embarrassment, just by showing their existence, but do
not land openly, then as a Protestant I go back to the Bible and
wonder, back to the Bible because I believe this is where God has
chosen to bury the treasure of his plan for the kingdom of heaven,
and by digging in the Bible, we uncover God’s purpose for humanity.
(Mt. 13:44) Others will wonder with me. We will wonder knowing we
are not alone in the universe. But we will not have scientific proof
of what our purpose is, deciding what our purpose is will require an
act of faith, and faith has always been a big part of God’s Game.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) It is through faith that we have the
freedom to choose good or evil. Because we do not have proof of our
divine purpose, we are free to choose to believe in God, or not, free
to choose evil, or good.
UFOs
are an attack on the scientific atheism of our culture. Whether
Richard Dawkins likes it or not, the God of the Bible is alive and
well. UFOs are also an attack on blind religious faith. Religious
leaders are in for a shock. Not only are the angels of God alive and
well, but they are scientifically very advanced. Religious leaders
have to wake up and smell the wonder. God is redeeming his Faith
Game.
I
believe in Election Day, a day when everyone’s faith will be shown
to be true, or false. You have a lot of UFO theories before you,
possibilities scientific, political and religious. I hope I have
been given the wisdom to understand what I believe is God’s UFO
Game, and that I have explained that wisdom as clearly as I can.
Until Election Day, thank you for wondering with me.
Barry
H. Downing
Endwell,
New York
For
MUFON Pennsylvania, October, 2009
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