Dear Friends,
I am sorry you didn’t hear from me last week. It was bound to happen eventually—a week so demanding that I simply didn’t have the time or ability to write a newsletter. I was busy grading exams and papers for my graduating seminary students and so I had a very firm deadline. Problem? For starters, I have fifty-five students set to graduate. Second problem? Like a crazy person, I assigned 5,000 word research papers. Do some quick math. Yes, in the course of a week I had to grade approximately 1,100 pages of academic writing, not to mention the exams, which included essay questions.
I am not complaining. It was demanding, for sure, but also extremely edifying. I know things look bleak for Christianity and the church, but you should consider that there is always more going on than what we see in public view; it is far more than just scandal and conflict. Aslan is “on the move,” and there is, I am happy to report, a crop of godly, dedicated, energetic, insightful and wise people—men and women of every ethnicity—ready to serve the body of Christ and the world in a variety of roles.
Now, if we grown-ups can just prevent the church from chewing them up and spitting them out, that’d be good.
ExtraTerrestrial
This week brought a couple of news bulletins from realms (possibly) outside our little planetary neighborhood.
The first delighted me because, believe it or not, the Voyager 1 Space Probe is still transmitting after more than four decades. What a triumph of human ingenuity is that little space probe! If you’re not aware, in recent years Voyager has actually left our solar system and entered “interstellar” space, meaning that it is completely outside the influence of our sun (the realm known as the “heliosphere.”) It is still cruising along, 14 billion miles from home.
And even with its primitive technology (by today’s standards), Voyager is still contributing to our scientific knowledge. Most recently, it has discovered that the universe suffers from some kind of tinnitus. It is recording a persistent “hum” in interstellar space. Not really audible (although is anything “audible” in interstellar space?), more like a “vibration” of some kind. Scientists don’t know what to make of it yet, but I like to think of it as the heavens declaring the glory of God and “pouring forth speech” (Ps.19).
The second “news” item isn’t really news, but it got a big boost when 60 Minutes decided to run a story on it. The gist is that UFOs are real. The military calls them “UAPs,” Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. A few years ago the Pentagon declassified some gun camera footage from Naval aircraft showing these inexplicable objects, but nobody really took it very seriously.
Now, the United States Senate wants some answers, and has asked the Pentagon for a full report, due next month. You can watch the 60 Minutes episode here. It is pretty sensational and compelling.
What to make of it? Well, here is someone who thinks all of it has easy explanations. He’s way too glib and didn’t really convince me.
So what are these vehicles? I have no idea, but I think the most likely explanation is that it is a State-sponsored, very secret research and development program. It isn’t unprecedented that military programs can keep a tight lid on things. In the mid-1980s you might recall that one day we all woke up to news headlines that the United States had developed a “stealth” aircraft—one not visible to radar. That was big news, but not the biggest news; the biggest news was that the U.S. had had an entire squadron of F117A Nighthawks fully operational for the previous five years. That was an impressive network of secrecy.
So somebody in the Pentagon may just be “playing” dumb. That seems like the simplest explanation.
Or maybe these vehicles really are “extraterrestrial.” I don’t think it can be ruled out, but it seems weird that they would just spy on us for the last twenty years and still be here. Don’t you think they’d take a good look at humanity and decide that they want no part of this drama?
Some people are very uncomfortable with the idea of extraterrestrial life because it causes for them some kind of theological crisis. And I get it. Something that momentous would definitely spark a lot of re-thinking about a lot of things. But there is no reason it would spark a revision of the first things. There isn’t anything in the fundamental Christian confession that would need revision. It would mean that Hamlet was on to something: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than is dreamt of in your philosophy.”
But didn’t we already know that? The Bible talks about a lot of “extraterrestrial” things: angels and archangels and cherubim and seraphim and “thrones” and “dominions” and “authorities” and “principalities” and “powers.” And Jesus is Lord of them all. And sometimes they are depicted as actually intersecting and interfacing with our world. It seems to me that Enlightenment “scientism” has dulled our imaginations to a great degree. At very least, a study of the Bible and the natural world around us tells that the God who created all things loves—absolutely loves—diversity. He created a lot of different kinds of beings, and if some of them unknown to us possess rationality and intelligence, that doesn’t change who we are one bit: imago Dei, God’s image.
Some broadly Christian writers have explored these topics, of course. C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy is a good example. What if there are other inhabited worlds God created? What would that mean? Madeline L’Engel’s A Wrinkle in Time trilogy, while more theologically problematic than Lewis’s, in my opinion, treads similar territory in brilliantly creative ways.
We don’t really live in the “closed box,” purely material cosmos we imagine. After all, our basic creed says that “We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” We can be sure that whatever else there is in heaven and earth, whatever our philosophies have failed to dream, God Almighty—Father, Son, and Spirit—rules it all.
Or there’s the cheerful thought that it’s just the Chinese military and we’re all doomed.
Miscellany
If you’d like to read a mesmerizing long-form essay on someone who got disenchanted with the Enlightenment, then dabbled with every form of pagan enchantment known to man, and finally realized that Christianity is true, check it out here.
My buddy P. Andrew Sandlin wrote an excellent reply to David French on the topic of Christendom.
I haven’t had the chance to sit down and read this whole essay by Andrew Wilson, but since most of the people I know are raving about it I surely will. And so I also pass it on to you.
For some reason Richard Rohr keeps popping into my social media feeds. He’s a very popular teacher, but I need to remind you to steer clear. Fred Sanders wrote an epic book review that explains why. Friends don’t let friends “flow” with Richard Rohr.
I’ll send you off with Andrew York performing his phenomenally difficult composition, “Jubilation/Sunburst.” Stick to the end. You’ll enjoy it!