Challenge in the Heavens

The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men. --Psalm 115

While man is taking new steps into the heavens, religious thinkers are pondering again some of the issues that space travel raises for faith. In churches and synagogues, the flight of Apollo 8 was a favorite topic for sermons, particularly because of the astronauts' reading the opening verses of Genesis as a Christmas Eve message to mankind.* A number of clergymen feel that growing knowledge of the immensity of the universe may prove to be a stimulus to renewed faith in God the creator. Contemplating the sight of the earth seen from thousands of miles in space, observes Episcopal Chaplain Malcolm Boyd, "might open up new dimensions in conceiving of God, of dealing with the enhanced mystery." Whether or not this is a vain hope, a number of churchmen have suggested that the time has come for Christianity to produce an up-to-date "astro-theology."

Certainly one of the biggest spiritual problems posed by man's conquest of space is the new perspective that he will have from which to contemplate himself and God. Although the question is not a new one, man's journey in the cosmos raises again the issue of whether he and his planet enjoy the special favor of God, as set forth in Scripture. Space exploration, suggests Dr. Bernard Loomer of Berkeley Baptist Divinity School, "may reinforce the idea that man may not be the most important thing in creation. Say that out there we find persons superior to us, as we consider ourselves superior to dogs?"

Imperialism. The Rev. Jules Moreau, professor of church history at Seabury-Western (Episcopal) Seminary in Evanston, Ill., suggests that the moral issues of imperialism and religious elitism, which were raised by Europeans when they began colonizing the rest of the world, also confront modern man as he prepares to colonize space. A modest but perplexing dilemma would result from the discovery of intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe. The question then would be: Should Christians attempt to convert their celestial neighbors? Extraterrestrial evangelism might not be necessary, suggests Dr. Per Massing of the Boston University School of Theology. "If God has revealed himself to people on another planet," he says, "that revelation must be essentially in agreement with that which he revealed to us--given the assumption that the Christian faith in its essence is true."

Jesuit Theologian Paul Curtin of Boston College asserts that there is no authority for man's spiritual proselytizing outside the earth. "The only theology I know or can know," says Curtin, "is that of a revealed God in relationship to the children of Adam. If there are beings on another planet, then they must be the object of another Providence. They are not the children of Adam, and so they are not a part of our salvation history, which is that of a fallen and redeemed race."

Space-Capsule Communes. Many theologians are asking whether it is ethical for man to transport bacteria from earth to other planets without knowing what the biological effects might be. Some clergymen suggest that prolonged space travel might result in new forms of family--sort of space-capsule communes. "When you have ships with a dozen or so people on them," says the Rev. Edward Hobbs of Berkeley's Episcopal divinity school, "I would presume that there would be some sort of heterosexual community formed."

Father Clifford Stevens, executive editor of The Priest magazine and former Catholic chaplain at California's Edwards Air Force Base, suggests that "theological think tanks" ought to be established to help theologians cope with the spiritual and moral problems of space. He has even consulted the Rand Corporation about the possibility of setting up a "theology fellowship." The theological think tank, as Father Stevens envisions it, would enable a theologian "to carry on dialogue with the scientists. He would take the problems of aerospace and other sciences and try to evaluate them in the light of the theological vision of things."

*An act that was publicly denounced by Professional Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair as a violation of church-and-state separation. NASA, however, has received more than 800 letters approving the Scripture reading--many of them also proposing that Mrs. O'Hair be rocketed to the moon and left there.

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