NASA Hires 24 Theologians to Assess How World Would React to Discovery of Alien Life on Distant Planets
December 25th, 2021In other news… James Webb Space Telescope Launch
Via: Daily Mail:
NASA is looking to the heavens for help with assessing how humans will react if alien life is found on other planets and how the discovery could impact our ideas of gods and creation.
The agency is hiring 24 theologians to take part in its program at the Center for Theological Inquiry (CTI) at Princeton University in New Jersey, which NASA gave a $1.1 million grant to in 2014.
CTI is described as building ‘bridges of under understanding by convening theologians, scientists, scholars, and policymakers to think together – and inform public thinking – on global concerns.’
The program aims to answer questions that have baffled us since the begging of time such as what is life? What does it mean to be alive? Where do we draw the line between the human and the alien? What are the possibilities for sentient life in other places?
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The Rev Dr Andrew Davison, a priest and theologian at the University of Cambridge with a doctorate in biochemistry from Oxford, is among 24 theologians, The Times reports.
‘Religious traditions would be an important feature in how humanity would work through any such confirmation of life elsewhere,’ Davidson shared in a blog post on the University of Cambridge site.
‘Because of that, it features as part of NASA’s ongoing aim to support work on ‘the societal implications of astrobiology’, working with various partner organizations, including the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton.’
Davison is set to publish a book next year, titled Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, which notes he believes we are getting closer to finding life on other planets.
