I wonder how many fiction writers believe in what they write. Does J. K. Rowling believe in the wizarding world? Does Stephanie Meyer believe in vampires? My book, BLACKWELL, is about an alien encounter, which begs the question: Do I believe in the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life?
Before I give my official answer, I want to make a few statements. First, I am a Christian with a conservative perspective. That means my view of God, the world, and the universe is based on a fairly straight forward reading of the Bible. Second, I am very curious. That means I am not opposed to considering unconventional ideas. Third, I do not believe these two ideas are incompatible. After all, the Bible is full of unconventional ideas. And it was a conventional understanding about the Messiah that prevented the Jewish religious leaders from embracing Jesus as the Christ.
Now to the questions at hand:
Do I believe in extraterrestrial intelligent life? Yes.
Do I believe Earth has been visited by extraterrestrial beings? Yes.
Do I believe we will ever have undeniable proof about the existence of extraterrestrial life? Yes.
Now before my Christian brothers and sisters panic and those critical of the Christian faith get too excited, let me explain. The term extraterrestrial literally means beyond this world. Thus extraterrestrial intelligent life includes all life forms that are not native to this terrestrial globe we affectionately call Earth. My acceptance of the Bible as truth requires me to believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, heavenly beings called angels, and their fallen counterparts known as demons. All of these beings are from beyond this world. They are extraterrestrial. They are certainly intelligent and they are alive. The Bible also describes numerous visitations. Angels have appeared to humans, demons have possessed and harassed humans, and God Himself came to Earth in the form of a man named Jesus. Finally, the Bible teaches that Jesus will return with the host of heaven in such a way that the whole Earth will know it.
This does not mean I believe every UFO sighting and claim of alien encounter is actually angelic or demonic in nature. Although I would not be surprised if some of them were. Nor does it mean that I believe Earth is the only inhabited planet in the universe. I hope it is not.
I believe God is more powerful and creative than we realize. I believe the universe He created is much bigger and more interesting than we could ever imagine or describe in our stories. The notion of intelligent beings or creatures on others worlds is well within the realm of possibility with such a Creator of such a Universe. If they do exist, and we ever have the honor of encountering then, I hope they are more like Klyvians than Klingons.
