Summary and my comments: At the time this was written, I was at a point of knowing about ET existence, both as biological entities and inter-dimensional beings, and was very bothered by the "aliens are demons" camp and associated damning of any "souls" they may have. Since then, I have discovered an astounding explanation for the soul that clears up many of my questions on "how saving souls works," and subsequently, answers how individual non-Homo Sapiens can, and do, live eternally. Want to explore for yourself? Try reading about it here. I hope to post exclusively on that topic at some point...ironically, what I found "over my head" a couple years ago pales in comparison with my latest findings...
Originally posted 10-6-15 on my blog Jesus and Aliens.
Do aliens have souls?
What do we mean by “aliens?” Simply any and all of the intelligent and highly conscious entities in the diversity of dimensions and biological forms that are known to co-exist with human beings in this universe, from the well-documented “Grays” to the immaterial creatures we know little about. What exactly do we mean when we speak of the “soul?” If you have several hours, you can get an extensive answer according to just about every ethnic and religious group known to humans at the Wikipedia site.
Since I didn’t have several hours, I admit I skimmed it. Frankly, most of it feels over my head. The general idea is that the soul is the part of us that is invisible, without physicality, and may or may not be immortal. I’ve always understood that it is also tied to what makes you “you,” like having specific ancestry, gifts, opinions, personality type, etc. Apparently I’ve been influenced by the the 8th Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 869 C.E. that degreed that instead of body, soul, and spirit (trichotomy), we are just body and soul (dichotomy), as the church officials agreed that in the Biblical Scriptures, “spirit” and “soul” are interchangeable.
Why even ask the question? It’s part of our human response that wants to compare ourselves with other created creatures. If we have souls, then what about them? The question also has implicit in it the concern with the good or bad nature of other entities and whether or not there is some eternal nature to them like many of us believe we have, after our biological body dies - and there is the concern with the fate of the soul after physical death.
If you say “yes,” you presume something about the universal nature of existence. For the Christian, this also opens the question of the moral state of other entities’ souls, and then one can either conclude that yes, ET souls can be “saved (in the Christological sense)”, or that they can’t be “saved”. Or, you might acknowledge the diversity of entities in regards to soul and don’t generalize one way or the other - maybe because some souls just don’t need “saving,” or at least not saving by the humanly-incarnated Christ.
If you answer “no”, you are either of the camp that concludes they are on the level of angels/demons and soul is irrelevant, or you could be assuming that what we understand to be “soul” is not a universal trait of highly intelligent created beings and so the very question, Do aliens have souls? is irrelevant. In either case the “no” camp obviously holds that Christological “saving” is irrelevant.
Of course you could go the safe route and say, “maybe.” This would admit we are still far from understanding much about all the ETs in existence. If it depends on something, what would it depend on? For instance, Western, Christian background folk generally don’t attribute souls to inanimate objects, let alone highly intelligent animals such as dolphins, chimps, and parrots. But many animist and other Eastern traditions do. So what does humans’ possession of a soul depend on? The right amount of intelligence? A specific set of DNA? The Creator’s choice? The amount of biological material you are (in the case of a fetus)? And how do the answers to these questions relate to the rest of the entities in the universe?
Turns out I may agree more with the Vatican and Eastern Religions on this issue than my Protestant/Evangelical brothers and sisters. As would be expected, this question has crossed the minds of many Christians, and I include two responses below.
The late David Flynn on his "Watcher Website" has, at the very top of the home page, the following quote in response to the headline that VATICAN SPOKESMAN BALDUCCI SAYS "ALIENS ARE REAL"... AND WE SHOULD TURN THEM INTO CATHOLICS. The headline turns out to be linked not to a presumed news story but to the "Above Top Secret" website containing a series of video excepts from various sources quoting the late Father Corrado Balducci, the Vatican official on demonology and exorcism at the time. The videos do show him presenting his belief that ETs are real but nowhere (that I could find on that site) does he state “we should turn them into Catholics.” None-the-less, here is what David Flynn writes in response:
“Jesus Christ is called the KINSMAN REDEEMER. Jesus did not come to save the apes & dolphins, He did not come to save the puppies & kitties, and He certainly did not come to save the Zeta Reticulans or the Alien Grays.The atonement work of Jesus was only to save His kinsman, the sons of Adam. If a being is not a descendent of Adam, this being -- no matter how intelligent-- will not take part in the promise of Jesus Christ. Watcher 's research confirms that there are beings who are genetically similar to the race of Adams, but have been genetically tampered with by rebel angels, or engineered to be superior humans in some illuminated laboratory. These hybrids are not capable of "being saved" by the grace of the Kinsman Redeemer, for they are not His kinsman...This increase in seemingly humans who are not genetically sons of Adam is a symptom of the end times, just as in the days of Noah when Nephilim walked the earth among humans.
If Christians are speculating whether or not aliens can be saved, they are just adding to the confusion. "Aliens" are really disembodied angels -- the rebellious angels who according to Jude left their God-given habitation to dwell in genetically manipulated hybrid bodies just prior to the Flood...the Nephilim of Genesis 6.”
Well, I’m happy to add to the confusion. I speculate that Mr. Flynn had (in life) drawn his conclusions prematurely. I think he’s on to something, though, about the particular nature of the terrestrial human. I’m just not ready to state so conclusively that that nature involves the exclusive soul-saving component, and am willing to live in some state of questioning while we learn more about these other entities. Apparently I am not alone in being willing to sow “confusion” on this issue, as the Vatican official quoted below also seems to have allowed himself to ask the question, “Can aliens be saved?” Here’s an excerpt from an interview I found (from on or around May 13, 2008; it’s unclear) at educating humanity.com.
In an interview entitled "Aliens Are My Brother", granted to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Father Gabriel Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory, stated: "In my opinion this possibility (of life on other planets) exists"; "intelligent beings, created by God may exist in outer space" and "some aliens could even be free from original sin" concluding "there could be (other beings) who remained in full friendship with their creator". Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, another astronomer working at the Vatican Observatory, told the BBC, in relation to the search for Earth-like worlds about to be embarked upon by the Kepler Space telescope, that "we Jesuits are actively involved in the search for Earth-like planets….
…The idea that there could be other intelligent creatures made by God in a relationship with God is not contrary to traditional Judeo-Christian thought. The Bible has many references to, or descriptions of, non-human intelligent beings; after all, that's what angels are. Our cousins on other planets may even have their own salvation story – including other examples of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity. We are open to whatever the Universe has for us."
Going back to that abovetopsecret.com site I mentioned above citing Father Balducci, the commentator (who does not seem to be identified by name) questions why a demonologist, of all the Vatican officials, would herald ET existence, and states his/her answer that it is because the ETs are “fallen angels.” Why would they not choose a spokesman from their observatory or astronomical department? the commentator asks. To which I respond that Jose Gabriel Funes, Director at the Vatican Observatory, whom I quote above is all but confessing acceptance of ET existence, to the point of speculating about their eligibility for salvation.
What has become crystal clear to me in my research is that generalizations made about a topic as massive as that of ET existence and the related phenomena are (generally!) ignorant. Saying “Aliens don’t have souls” is so temptingly simple, but is laden with not only arrogance but potentially dangerous ramifications. What moral constrains are there towards a soul-less entity? What easier way to “demonize” the unknown other?
Heaven knows we don’t have a particularly good track record respecting even those we know to have souls - our fellow humans. For the sake of our own souls’ morality and a clear conscious, I urge my fellow humans to err on the side of assuming ETs have souls until such a time comes that we have definitive answers regarding each and every species known to the universe.
