Did you catch the news recently that NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered the first known system of Earth-like planets around a single star? It gets even more intriguing in that three of the planets are located in the declared “habitable zone” (or what’s known as the “Goldilocks zone”) a zone determined by the size of the planet and its star along with the distance from its star. It gets even MORE intriguing in that NASA has discovered only one other planet like this and that was just a couple years ago.
These discoveries add a little punch to the question, “What if?” Yes, to ponder the theology of life on other planets is an exercise in pure conjecture. But, the pondering is a helpful thought exercise for theological concepts we stake our faith on: the incarnation, redemption, the Fall, God’s revelation, etc. Applying these vital concepts to another world deepens our personal understanding. It’s like creating a 3-D model of a theological concept and looking at it from angles we can’t see from the 2-D printed page.
Download this free exercise to help your group process the “What if?” question from the perspective of faith.