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Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?
By: Mac Date: September 27, 2014, 8:23 am
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When this book comes out Oct. 18, I think I plan to give it a
go. The topics sound fascinating.
[glow=red,2,300]Pope Francis Asked ‘Would You Baptize an Alien?’
Here’s the Answer.[/glow]
[quote]In a new book, the Vatican’s top astronomer and a fellow
Jesuit scholar say they would: “If she asked.”
Forget all the arguments about evolution versus creationism and
the natural versus the spiritual. Science and religion share
plenty of middle ground, according to two priests who have just
penned a book called Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? due
to hit bookstores in October.
The authors are Rome-based, American-trained Jesuit brother Guy
Consolmango, head of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, and
philosopher of science Paul Mueller, who serves as the superior
of the Jesuit community that occupies the papal villa at Castel
Gandolfo. Both are strong advocates of the integration of faith
and science. Their book is a fascinating compilation of
conversations focused on six main questions “from the inbox” of
the Vatican Observatory with somewhat irreverent answers written
as often humorous dialogue between the two Jesuit priests. It
reads a bit like a play, or what one might imagine is standard
conversation at the Jesuit scientists’ dining room table.
In one passage Brother Consolmango explains the setup of daily
life as a science priest. “We get to live and work with a group
of Jesuit scientists who take both science and faith very
seriously,” he writes. “We all work together in the lab, but we
also pray together in the chapel. In our daily lives, we don’t
feel any particular conflict or tension between science and
faith.”
[center]
HTML http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/articles/2014/09/26/pope-francis-asked-would-you-baptize-an-alien-here-s-the-answer/jcr:content/body/inlineimage.img.800.jpg/1411724721952.cached.jpg[/center]
[size=10pt]The topics include the Big Bang Theory—first
theorized by Jesuit priest Georges Lemaitre in 1927 and later
expanded by the secular scientific community; the demotion of
poor planet Pluto; the controversy surrounding the Church’s
treatment of Galileo; the scientific explanation for the Star of
Bethlehem; and the end of the world. The book ends on the
question of extraterrestrial life and whether or not the
Catholic Church would baptize aliens, which, according to
Consolmango, it would, “if she asked.”
Pope Francis first posed the alien question in May during a
sermon on acceptance in which he said the Church should not be
so judgmental. “If—for example—tomorrow an expedition of
Martians came, and some of them came to us, here... Martians,
right? Green, with that long nose and big ears, just like
children paint them... And one says, ‘But I want to be
baptized!’ What would happen?” he asked parishioners. “When the
Lord shows us the way, who are we to say, ‘No, Lord, it is not
prudent! No, let’s do it this way...’”
The chapters of the book are each set in different places over a
period of six days, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the
Antarctic Ice Plateau, the Tower of the Winds in Vatican City
and at a dining room table on the day the world ends, which give
the priests a vehicle around which to shape their conversations.
The quirky chapter on extraterrestrial life is set at Los
Angeles International Airport.
In an interview with the Jesuit magazine America, the
scientist-priests say they wrote the book both for people who
are interested in science but dubious about faith, and for those
devout Catholics who feel a bit at sea regarding science and how
it relates to faith. “We’re not trying to convert the
unbeliever,” says Mueller. “We’re trying to help the
intelligent, well-read Catholics to enjoy their faith in a
deeper and more integral way, and to see the truths they already
hold in many different new lights.”
The toughest questions in the book are in the chapter entitled
“Biblical Genesis or Scientific Big Bang,” which is a topic that
many Catholics struggle with who subscribe strictly to the Adam
and Eve theory. But the scientific priests do a good job
breaking down the facts of the matter. They pose the question,
“If you believe that God speaks to us through Scripture, then
why don’t you accept the story of Creation given to us in the
Bible?” Consolmango writes that the Bible actually contains
several contradictory Creation theories. “Maybe the people who
ask us that aren’t getting that there’s more than one way to
look at the picture,” he writes. “The Bible contains several
different Creation stories. It just isn’t possible for all of
them to be literally true—they disagree with one another! Since
they can’t all be true in the same way, that means you need to
be able to develop some way to flip back and forth between
different descriptions even within the Bible itself.”
On the chapter about alien life, Consolmagno, who is a 2014
recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for excellence in public
communication in planetary science, is tongue in cheek, but
ultimately says he believes aliens exist. Consolmagno presented
his theories on alien life at a symposium called Preparing for
Discovery: A Rational Approach to the Implications of Finding
Microbial, Complex or Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” hosted by
NASA and the Library of Congress symposium on September 18-19.
He has long held the theory that alien life exists, and that
aliens could be future Catholics. “Any entity—no matter how many
tentacles it has—has a soul,” he has said numerous times in his
long career.[/size][/quote]
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