Cosmic Theology

[American Deist]

Many people don't understand just how massive the universe really is. Light travels at 671,000,000 mph and it takes light anywhere from 100,000 to 180,000 Earth years to cross our galaxy, the Milky Way. Our little galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars, with each star potentially containing several planets in orbit around it, just like our Sun. On top of it, there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the known universe. Some of those galaxies are so far away that light has been traveling from them for billions of years and is just now visible to us.

On Earth, our years are approximately three hundred sixty-five days and six hours long. That is why every four years we have a "leap year;" to account for those accumulated twenty-four hours. Other planets have a different length of time that makes up a year, which is simply how long it takes for a planet to orbit its star. For example, Mars takes six hundred eighty-seven days to orbit the Sun. Obviously Mars would not have the same calendar as Earth. Bear that in mind as we think on a cosmic scale.

We know that there are other galaxies with planets. Science and technology allows us to see the shift in brightness when a planet passes in front of its star. The ancients that wrote the Bible did not have such luxuries. Early mankind had Earth centered religions because of the lack of science and technology. The belief that Earth is the center of creation is called geocentricity. The Roman Catholic Church held that belief for centuries, and even put Galileo on trial for challenging it. The Church was eventually proven wrong...again.

Now think about life on other planets. I am of the opinion that we are not alone in this universe. The odds that Earth is unique with sentient beings is astronomically small. How small are those odds? Well, let's say each star has 1 planet, and each galaxy has 100,000,000,000 stars (VERY conservative estimate). We know that the Hubble has tracked at least 100,000,000,000 galaxies. Whew! What does all of that mean? If only 0.0000001% of those planets have alien life, there are 1 billion alien civilizations!

[(100,000,000,000 x 100,000,000,000) x 0.0000001%]

Those other planets, whether in our galaxy or one that is billions of light years away, do not follow our Earth based calendar. They do not share our history, culture, theology, or language. If other planets have intelligent beings, and those beings developed religions just like we did, do you think that they would use the same stories, names and dates? No, of course not! Their holy books would differ greatly from ours.

Just because we lack the means to visit those planets does not mean that life is nonexistent elsewhere in the cosmos. It is asinine to even think that, especially if your opinion is based off archaic writings written by people that thought the Earth was the center of creation. Heck, our own Sun is not even the center of our galaxy; we're on one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way.

The birth of Jesus is celebrated throughout Christendom on December 25th, of the Earth calendar. Why December 25th? Well it is not because that was Jesus' actual birthday! That day was selected during the reign of the Roman Empire. Not only did the Romans hold a Saturnalia festival in late December, but northern and western pagans throughout Europe also celebrated various festivals around the same time. To top it off, Emperor Aurelian established the feast of the birth of Sol Invictus on December 25th. Rome controlled much of the world during the time of Jesus and for several centuries after. The dates and festivals were already in place, so the simplest thing for Christians to do was to adopt what was already in practice and make it their own.

The concept of a creator deity is most likely not unique to Earth. That can be inferred because civilizations across the world, that did not have any known contact with each other, came up with the idea of gods and goddesses. If it happened here, it could happen elsewhere. Interestingly enough, that very concept would be the common denominator between planets with intelligent life. The name of the deity is merely based on the language spoken. For example, in English one might say God, but in German it would be Gott. In Arabic it is Allah. The name is irrelevant, it is the belief that matters.

Does it all sound crazy? For many people I am sure it does. But for those that think outside of the box, especially on a cosmic scale, it not only makes perfect sense, but it also expands your religious outlook. Suddenly, our pettiness on Earth seems rather silly.

[William]

[Replying to post 20 by bluethread]

Not sure why you have brought in that label. Empirical rationalist? In what way does it add to the argument? Are you claiming that the so-called 'supernatural' actually exists as something which can never be explained in relation to this natural universe, no matter how knowledgeable consciousness within this universe becomes?

[Kenisaw]

There will always be a most natural explanation to any such thing.

In the opinion of the empirical rationalist.

And based on history so far...

Again, as viewed from the prospective of the empirical rationalist. One can view history from many perspectives.

When you take rational thought and logic out of the equation, anything is possible...

[William]

There will always be a most natural explanation to any such thing.

In the opinion of the empirical rationalist.

And based on history so far...

Again, as viewed from the prospective of the empirical rationalist. One can view history from many perspectives.

When you take rational thought and logic out of the equation, anything is possible...

I have never seen a rational, logical explanation for any definition of 'supernatural'...none that I remember anyway...and I think I would have remembered something like that.

Mostly these come from the idea that another universe exists in relation to our own, and interacts with our own and these interactions are seen to be 'supernatural'. But even if that were the case, no one has yet explained why the other universe would have to be spoken of as being 'supernatural'.

Even taking the other universe concept out of the equation, it is easy enough to explain a miraculous event as an act of an advanced species, where science is involved.

Which is what I was saying further back regarding magicians and their tricks.

Even if it was mind over matter, this still couldn't be said to being 'supernatural.'

"Non-ordinary"- would be as far as I would go in labeling any supposed unnatural event or unusual personal experience.

Perhaps for some, the idea stems from thinking of GOD as a 'supernatural' being?

But anyway, claiming 'supernatural' for anything which cannot be readily explained doesn't achieve much, and tends toward cultivating superstition, as far as I can tell.

[bluethread]

[Replying to post 20 by bluethread]

Not sure why you have brought in that label. Empirical rationalist? In what way does it add to the argument? Are you claiming that the so-called 'supernatural' actually exists as something which can never be explained in relation to this natural universe, no matter how knowledgeable consciousness within this universe becomes?

It is the nature of empiricism to include the explained in the column of "natural". What empiricists used to see as "supernatural" is now "natural", because we now have an empirical explanation for it. For example, the idea that matter is energy was seen as a "supernatural" explanation, until modern physics established the link. Now, it is "natural".

[William]

[Replying to post 24 by bluethread]

Okay - thanks for clarifying.

In relation to what I am saying, I consider all things (explained or unexplained) to be natural. There is no need for the term 'supernatural' as we should now understand that there really is no such thing. Just because something is not explained does not mean it should be regarded as 'supernatural'. 'Unexplained' it far better and need not imply the need for superstitious undertones to creep into the equation.