One Incarnation or many?
I have always been a big fan of science fiction. Growing up I religiously followed all the latest science fiction shows, from Star Trek to Star Wars to V. I loved to consider the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and humanity’s interaction with it.
However, now that I am an adult, I don’t really think intelligent life exists outside this planet. I obviously don’t hold to this belief dogmatically, as I cannot prove it one way or another. I just think that man is unique in all of creation: a physical species with the ability to think and choose.
But what if I’m wrong? What if on another planet there is intelligent life? This is now being debated at the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Before debating what it would mean if intelligent life exists outside our planet, I think we have to first take a step back. We first have to define “intelligent life” itself. I would define it in the classical Catholic sense: a being with a mind and a will; i.e. someone with the power to think and to choose. The only intelligent life on this planet is humanity (aside from angels), so finding animal or plant life on another planet does not constitute “intelligent life”. If we found animal or plant life on another planet, it could easily be considered part of creation which has been placed under the dominion of man.
But how would we determine if extra-terrestrial life is “intelligent”? How would we know if a species could in fact think and choose?
It could be obvious: if an alien species had developed a culture in which people engaged in art, music, philosophy and other such activities, we would know that they could think. If the species showed an understanding of love between them, we would know that they could choose. And more ominously, if the species had a history of violence and injustice, we would know that it had fallen, which would also show that it was “intelligent”.
Personally, I do not think it will be difficult to ascertain if a life is “intelligent” as I do not think such life would be very dissimilar to human life. Mankind is made in the image and likeness of God, and it is that very image and likeness which makes us “intelligent”. It follows then that any intelligent species would also be in God’s image and likeness and therefore would in some way be similar to us. So it seems to me that it would be obvious. If we encounter intelligent life on other planets, we’ll know it.
But what would that mean to our theology? I think that the big question revolves around the Fall and God’s response to the Fall. In our world, God became man to save us from ourselves. This was His solution to our Fall. Could He also incarnate Himself as another species? Someone in the article I linked above stated that “multiple incarnations is a heresy in Catholicism”. I don’t think that is true; at no time has the Church definitively ruled on such a doctrine. But it is a troubling thought nonetheless. Does it diminish the power of The Incarnation if it was instead just one incarnation among many? Or does it show God’s power even more clearly?
Watching our politicians of all stripes makes me wonder if there is much intelligence on this planet.
To me, since scripture specifically states that there would be “a new heaven and a new earth” as the result of Christ’s Second Coming, it seems obvious that Christ’s salvific act on the cross truly is Catholic in the widest possible sense of the word… it’s genuinely Universal. Also, the fact that the Church has defined the Second Person of the Trinity’s nature as being both fully human and fully divine, it does seem to exclude the possibility of a non-human Incarnation elsewhere… though I suppose one could argue that the 2nd person could be fully human, fully divine, and fully something else, (and fully something else, etc.), but I don’t see how that would be necessary.
Ours is a God of Revelation as well as of Incarnation, so I don’t see why it would even be necessary to become incarnate elsewhere in the universe. To the extent that other intelligent creatures need saved, God may appeal to their reason through revelation, I should think.
Also, I think it’s worth pointing out that the effects of original sin in human souls have obviously extended beyond our species: we train animals to be cruel; plant and animal life beyond our direct range of influence still suffer indirectly through our pollution and such; viruses (like AIDS) take advantage of their evolutionary potential by adapting to themselves to thrive under our sinful conditions. Who’s to say that the spiritual effects of original sin don’t likewise reverberate through the (potential) intelligent species of the universe?
It seems to me that humans brought sin into the universe, Christ came as a God among men to remove it, the final result of that process is the renewal of heaven and earth, and that should be sufficient for ALL OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, regardless of what other species exist out there. I imagine they will participate in the beatific vision to the extent that they participated in God’s design in the universe. I’m not sure they need “their own” Incarnation to do that.
Of course, this is all assuming there even IS any such life out there…