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When you see earth from an "outside" perspective, you see that we are just a tiny speckle in this gigantic vast universe. Our universe is just one of MANY universes out there.
We spend so much time focusing on how God plays a role on earth and in our universe but what about zooming out and thinking about on other planets....other universes....
What makes earth so special? Is God ignoring the other planets and universes? What if there is another earth that has not been discovered yet? Maybe they have their own religion and think that THEY are the planet that God focuses on.
The universe is all there is. "Other universes" is from the "Department of Redundancy Department." If there's something we've not discovered yet, it's still in the same universe.
For thus says Yahweh, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
When it comes to the ancients, they had a three tiered cosmology. That is the ocean(waters/seas), the land, and the sky (heavens). God filled the ocean with sea creatures, He put us on the land (along with all the land creatures), and He filled the heavens with the stars. Today with our knowledge, we know the stars are balls of gas and all their planets etc, etc. Yet back then, to the ancients, the stars were heavenly creatures, divine bodies. In fact, they probably didn't see much difference between a star, and spirit beings such as angels.
Yet going back to that Isaiah verse, we see God formed this planet to be inhabited. It's just one verse, and there are probably many that reverberate this, but so far this will tell us earth is the only planet with life. When I look at Genesis and God forming the earth, doesn't that sound like terraforming? And then we see in Genesis 1:2 how the earth was formless and void, doesn't that sound like the rest of the planets in our solar system? The gas giants are formless, and the other three rocky planets are void. Will God do something special with other planets in eternity to come?
That said, the universe seems to currently be the domain of the heavenly beings. Going back to that three tiered cosmology, stars were seen as heavenly creatures. (Just like God made creatures in the sea, and creatures on the land)
All the ancients knew was earth, and had a very limited understanding of even that. It wasn't thinkable to them that there were other worlds (apart from the underworld and heaven).
Between that and the fact that religions have to sell themselves to the only available customers, it's no surprise that they are all earth-centric.
I take a pragmatic view here; I think it highly likely there is life elsewhere, and in a small percentage of those other places, it has probably attained sentience. But there are so few of them, and the distances so vast, that it isn't worth giving a lot of bandwidth to thinking about it.
FWIW I subscribe to the Great Filter hypothesis, if you're wondering why I think there are very few and scattered other civilizations. Personally I am of the view that humanity has achieved technological sophistication that it isn't capable of responsibly handling, and will end up destroying itself. However as the article points out, there are many other possible "great filters".
Where religion fits into this is that other civilizations would surely have their own gods and associated beliefs and in the unlikely event we were to have first contact with such a species, the very fact of such contact would probably be very challenging to the religious beliefs of both races.
When you see earth from an "outside" perspective, you see that we are just a tiny speckle in this gigantic vast universe. Our universe is just one of MANY universes out there.
We spend so much time focusing on how God plays a role on earth and in our universe but what about zooming out and thinking about on other planets....other universes....
What makes earth so special? Is God ignoring the other planets and universes? What if there is another earth that has not been discovered yet? Maybe they have their own religion and think that THEY are the planet that God focuses on.
While it is by no means certain, many theoretical physicists believe that it is possible that there are other universes. In fact, some cosmological models, such as the eternal inflation model for example, predict the existence of other universes and that our own universe is just one of many or countless pocket universes existing in a multiverse.
In the vastness of our own universe which is far larger than our observable universe, I think it probable that there is life, either simple or complex, or both, elsewhere. If God created the universe than it seems likely that he is not ignoring all but our earth.
One thing to think about is that if our own universe is infinite in size, then because matter can only be organized in a finite number of ways, it is logical that there would be an infinite number of everything that exists. For instance, there would be an infinite number of exact, near exact, and not so exact copies of us.
When you see earth from an "outside" perspective, you see that we are just a tiny speckle in this gigantic vast universe. Our universe is just one of MANY universes out there.
We spend so much time focusing on how God plays a role on earth and in our universe but what about zooming out and thinking about on other planets....other universes....
What makes earth so special? Is God ignoring the other planets and universes? What if there is another earth that has not been discovered yet? Maybe they have their own religion and think that THEY are the planet that God focuses on.
I believe that God created worlds without number, and that He cares deeply about the inhabitants of all of them.
.................What makes earth so special? Is God ignoring the other planets and universes? What if there is another earth that has not been discovered yet? Maybe they have their own religion and think that THEY are the planet that God focuses on.
No, God is Not ignoring other planets, etc.
First, the ' sin issue ' has to first be settled here on Earth before there will be intelligent life on other planets.
Because there was No faithful life elsewhere before Adam is why the ' sin issue ' has to be settled here first.
If there already was faithful life elsewhere there would be No need to settle the issue here on Earth.
Faithful life elsewhere could be pointed out so No need to settle it here on Earth.
This is why God's focus is here on Earth. Once the issue of 'who governs best' (man or God) is settled then there very well could be intelligent life then elsewhere, but Not before things are settled here on Earth.
I believe that God created worlds without number, and that He cares deeply about the inhabitants of all of them.
I can agree to the extent that the possibilites exist caring about the inhabitants such as: lower life forms.
In other words, there could be the possibility of 'animal life' elsewhere, but Not intelligent life as we have here.
Faithful intelligent life elsewhere would show No need to settle the ' sin issue ' Satan and Adam started on Earth.
I believe that God created worlds without number, and that He cares deeply about the inhabitants of all of them.
Definitions, again.
Seems to me we already have a term to designate all of reality, whether known or unknown. What is "reality?" "All that is, or can be." Where does all that stuff reside? In the totality of creation which we call the (singular) universe.
Are we on the same page? You used the term, "worlds." ........?
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