ET's, Saints and Devils

Scripture and Extraterrestrials 

© Brian Allan 2004

Word count: 3,648

Foreword

At first reading it may appear that this article contains undue and unfair negative emphasis on Christianity and the bible. This is unavoidable, and is due to the fact that the bible is unique in that much of what it contains, especially in the Old Testament, can readily be construed as descriptions of a range of extraterrestrial (ET) entities and their craft. In addition, I have attempted to demonstrate how, not only apparent reference to ET's can be found, but sacred texts from various streams of religious thought can be interpreted to justify any act one cares to mention. No insult or slight is intended to any particular faith and what is presented here comes directly from the texts associated with each religion and the individual sources are annotated.

ET's, Saints and Demons

Many of the views expressed by fundamentalist, Christian, religious groups regarding the subject of extraterrestrial (ET) entities often appear to describe Satanic or demonic beings. In addition, the Bible also specifically mentions sentient beings, both good and bad, other than humans, who are usually portrayed as much more spiritually advanced and powerful than human beings. It is probably fair to point out that prior to the New Testament Satan existed alongside several other demonic entities and did not become the sole focus of evil until after it was written. As we shall see, early biblical texts are littered with references to arial phenomena, supernatural beings and aircraft; e.g. shining clouds, balls of fire, wheels and flaming chariots etc. However, as fundamentalist sources quickly point out, these entities are not described as 'little green men' or flying saucers, instead they are classified as angels (Hebrews 1:13,14), elders (Rev 19:4), ghosts (Deut 18:11, Luke 24:39), departed spirits in Sheol (Deut 18:11, demons (Luke 4:33), Isaiah 14:9-20) living creatures (Rev 19:4), righteous men made perfect and living in heaven (Hebrews 12:22-24) and of course martyrs (Rev 6:9-11). They all inhabit different realms, an observation that appears to support the theory suggesting that ET entities may not originate in other star systems at all, but instead arrive here from alternate continuums. Recent discoveries in quantum science indicted that this is strong possibility and it was one of the conclusions reached by 'The Scole Group' during their five-year-long experiment to establish proof of an afterlife. It is also interesting that each description drawn from scripture precisely depicts almost every category of ET entity and encounter, from fleeting glimpses of the bizarre life forms to full blown alien abduction. Christian groups validate most of their opinions directly from scripture, irrespective of how ambiguous it is, and reason that since, in their view, whatever is written in the bible is the literal word of God, therefore by their lights, His revelations of the existence of non human (not extraterrestrial) beings must also be literally true.

There are several problems with this particular paradigm, not least being the bible itself which has been through many translations to suit a variety of agendas, most of them to suit prevailing cultural and social mores and therefore the accuracy of any given interpretation may be flawed. In addition to 'legitimate' scripture, many of the books used to support their interpretation of the Bible fall into no particular canon of belief, which is indicated by the descriptive terms apocryphal and pseudepigraphical. Although the latter term specifically refers to works, commentaries and revelations allegedly written by a biblical character, both terms indicate works of dubious authenticity.

On a more sombre note, various religious factions, Christian, Jewish and Islamic, have over the centuries used the literal translation of various early scriptural texts to justify horrific barbarism in the name of God. For example, the infamous quote from Exodus 22:18 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live', helped Christianity validate the inhuman cruelty of medieval witch-hunts. This was particularly true when the Dominican monks Kramer and Spengler used the text as a springboard to concoct and justify the notorious 'Malleus Maleficorum' or 'Hammer of the Witches'. Due to the prevailing climate of ignorance, fear and superstition, this evil and misogynistic work gained the official blessing of the Catholic Church and became a standard treatise of torment and torture used by the inquisition to inflict its perverse brand of spiritual cleansing on thousands of innocent people accused of witchcraft, particularly women. Misuse of this particular fragment of scripture was of course not confined to Roman Catholicism, it was also eagerly seized upon in Puritan Britain by the likes of Matthew Hopkins the self styled 'Witchfinder General', to blaze a trail of murderous fervour across much of southern England during the Middle Ages.

ET's and Cults

Although not directly ET related, biblical passages are also used to rationalize the bizarre practice of various, mainly Protestant, Pentecostalist and charismatic sects who, among other things, claim the ability to heal, handle both fire and snakes and drink poison. Not surprisingly, they claim immunity from their actions by quoting the following passage, among others, from the King James Bible; "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:18). These actions are designed to conclusively demonstrate the power of the Lord and His ability to protect His faithful from harm. This, although a remarkable testament to their capacity for unquestioning faith, is also an act of almost criminal stupidity and has often killed the practitioners. It also seems astonishing that a deity, any deity, would tolerate being repeatedly and deliberately invoked by its adherents who persist in putting themselves in harms way in order to be saved by its timely divine intervention. Those who fail in their attempts to invoke the protection of their God are deemed to have not been sufficiently fervent in their belief, with of course no fault attributed to the divinity. Regrettably, other attempts to justify the existence of ET's through the bible led to the suicide of 39 people belonging to Marshall Applewhite's 'Heavens Gate' UFO based cult. These unfortunate people evidently fully accepted the proposition that to attain the next (presumably spiritual) level of existence, the so-called 'Level Above Human', they had to travel to a spacecraft hidden in the tail of the Hale-Bop comet, the fact that to do so they first had to die is in this context, although horrific, probably irrelevant. This was not so much the doing of extraterrestrials, but total belief in the delusions of one charismatic man and when so much paranoia is present, according to fundamentalist belief, the Devil is not far off. Before leaving this aspect of the UFO mythos, there is a nagging familiarity about Applewhite's philosophy and methods. It has been suggested that the only way to traverse the voids of space is by the transmission of consciousness. Since none of the cult members is likely to return, and ex-cult members are unwilling to discuss the matter, we shall never know. However, work currently being conducted by several scientists and psychologists tends to support the reality of consciousness existing remotely from the brain; a concept well understood by Eastern religions.

This type of splinter movement is typical of syncretistic Christianity where Christianity is mixed with and adapted to fit into another philosophy (in this case a belief in extra-terrestrials). UFO's, extra-terrestrials, angels, demons and the Bible have been mixed together since at least 1882 when the book 'Oahspe' was first published. This rather unusual work whose full title is 'Oahspe, A Kosmon bible in the words of Jehovih (sic) and his angel Embassadors' (sic), was written in trance by an American dentist, John Ballou Newbrough, using a mediumistic technique called 'automatic writing'. Nowadays this type of communication is called 'channelling', although in essence it is identical to the process by which mediums traditionally obtain their information, only the source is claimed to be different, i.e. not from the spirit, but communicated by extraterrestrial entities and/or 'ascended masters'. Oahspe, which has almost four times the content of 'The Book of Mormon', was followed by several other examples from different writers once again obtained using automatic writing including, 'The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ', and 'Clothed with the Sun'. In parallel with The Book of Mormon, Oahspe attracted many believers who formed a system of belief called 'Faithism', which even now still has a number of adherents, although they claim not to take the work literally, but use it more as an inspirational text. The appearance of works like these should of course be taken in the context of the burgeoning popularity of spiritualism at the end of the 19th century.

It was not until the 1960's with the publication of Erich Von Daniken's alternately praised and vilified, "Chariots of the God's" that interest in the biblical/ET/human interface was renewed. In spite of becoming one of the best known of the UFO/Bible related theories, some of Von Daniken's claims in the book were exposed as both unfounded and misleading. While true, this however does not detract from the impetus created by this particular book and its successors, nor does it neutralise or negate any of the historical enigmas uncovered by von Daniken during his research.

Sharing Common Ground

Paradoxically, Christians and UFO devotees both share the outlook and belief (although for different reasons) that 'something is out there', although this apparent similarity can be quite deceptive. Where they differ is in their belief of the reality or otherwise of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and it is at this point that their ideas separate irreconcilably. Where adherents to the ETH (Extraterrestrial hypothesis) might accept the reality of Christ, they see him as a purely ET entity, and those who embrace the bible as truth regard Him as divine and worship Him. This in itself creates a peculiar sense of unreality; on one hand the ET paradigm is willing to accept an ET entity for what it is, but those whose views are religious view Christ as an entirely magical, supernatural being who is worthy of veneration and they see no dichotomy in this whatsoever. While in addition, proponents of the ETH can and do hold religious beliefs and worship in whatever manner suits them, the overtly religious have little time for any ET entity that contravenes their narrow world view and doctrine. When confronted with the argument that ET's may not recognise the existence of a God of any description, their standard response is that it would be their duty to convince the ET's of the necessity to accept the reality of a supernatural being existing outwith the confines of time and space as their creator. From a purely objective viewpoint, if one reads the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), and substitutes the term extraterrestrial for the word God, then it actually makes much more sense. In fact it is even possible, by extension, to refer to God directly as an extraterrestrial because He fits the all accepted criteria to be one.

Non-Christian References

UFO's are apparently also represented in the Jewish Torah where extracts read; 'Behold, he (Yahweh) shall come up as clouds and his chariots shall be a whirlwind' (Jeremiah 4:13). 'Behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud', (Isaiah 19:1). 'And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night' (Isaiah 4:5). There are several other examples squirreled away in the text of the Torah, but unlike the Christian bible, like those already mentioned, they are less clearly defined and open to other interpretations.

In the case of Islam, one of the very cornerstones of this particular system of belief is genuinely extraterrestrial in origin; this is contained in the Holy Ka'bah in Mecca. The structure housing this focal point of Islamic tradition is a large, square, edifice constructed of cinder building blocks and swathed in a black cloth decorated in rich, golden texts from the Koran, including; 'We have rendered the shrine (the Ka`aba) a focal point for the people, and a safe sanctuary. You may use Abraham's shrine as a prayer house. We commissioned Abraham and Ismail: "You shall purify My house for those who visit, those who live there, and those who bow and prostrate' (Koran; 2:125). The nature of the relic itself is almost certainly meteoric and as such can genuinely be said to have fallen from heaven (when tradition implies that heaven is above and hell below). This is probably the most tangible association and contact with artifacts that have come from above and it is found in other religions and cults where objects associated with beings from the sky are venerated. This is best illustrated by the many 'Cargo Cults' that came into being on the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean during the Second World War. These cults came to worship and venerate the aircraft that brought supplies to the troops engaged in combat with the Japanese. The 'God' in this case was known as 'John Frum' which, as it turns out was a version of 'John from America', which was a phrase frequently used in greeting by the military personnel. While the object of their veneration was not extraterrestrial, nevertheless, it shows how, to an unsophisticated race unfamiliar people and technology (especially aircraft) become associated with magic and power. Incidentally, the entity of John Frum was allegedly frequently glimpsed at night in the flickering light around cooking fires etc, which rapidly moves both 'cargo cults' and Frum into a social and cultural phenomenon. Before leaving this section it is as well to demonstrate that it is not only Christianity that legitimized the excesses of the inquisition by quoting scripture, worryingly, Islam has for centuries justified its ways by quoting directly from both the Koran and a variety of Hadiths, which are documents interpreting and defining Koranic values. While it is understood that war and turmoil were accepted as a part of life during much of the first millennium, recent use of the following quotations has been used to justify the actions and inflame the ardour of a range of fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups. It was certainly behind the horrendous acts perpetrated on September the 11th 2001 at the World Trade Center and the joyless, oppressive regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan. One of the quotes used during the indoctrination of those responsible for piloting the aircraft read; 'It will be the day, God willing, you spend with the women of paradise...Know that the gardens of paradise are waiting for you in all their beauty, and the women of paradise are waiting, calling out, "Come hither, friend of God".' Also typical of inflammatory statements in the Koran are the following; 'The People of the Book' (referring to the bible, Jews and Christians) and the Pagans will burn forever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures". (Koran 98:6). The Koran also states: 'Enmity and hatred will reign between us until ye believe in Allah alone.' (Koran 60:4). Specific exhortations state; Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush. (Koran, 9:5), and Take him and fetter him and expose him to hell fire. And then insert him in a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits. (Koran 69:30-37), last but by no means least 'I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, Smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips of them'. (Koran 8:12) Examples from the Hadiths include; "I (Mohammed) will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslims," (Hadith, 4366). Mohammed made good on his word by slaughtering Jews in Medina, and giving their wives and children to Moslems for slavery, (Hadith 4364) also, The person who participates in (Holy battles) in Allah's cause ... will be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will be admitted to Paradise (if he is killed in the battle as a martyr). (Hadith Sahih Bukhari, Vol 1 Book 2 Number 35).

Associating ET's With Evil

While illustrating the ultimate, underlying hypocrisy and intolerance of all religion and the gullibility of its adherents, nevertheless, it is from such depths of fundamentalist belief we are assured that both UFO's and their occupants do not originate from the depths of space or from alternate realities, but instead from the very pits of hell. Surprisingly and although they would never accept it, in one sense they may even be correct. To the secularist believer in standard UFOlogy these claims are ridiculous, but on the face of it, hardly any more unbelievable than the idea that sightings of unidentified flying objects and their occupants are, by comparison, any more acceptable. Although both beliefs are on the fringes of mainstream thinking, evidence for the possible existence of demons/UFOnaughts and their domains is, as previously mentioned, slowly emerging from the theories of quantum physics. This branch of the sciences has produced revelations concerning the existence of extra dimensions required to allow String Theory and M-Theory to function; are these the 'pits of hell' referred to in the bible? Even although these two apparently irreconcilable beliefs are slowly integrating, one of most difficult feats to achieve is the seamless amalgamation of science and scripture. Perhaps even more astonishing is the manner in which scientists can rationalise their profession, which is of necessity both testable and provable, with religion, which is neither. However, by rationalising that God placed their discoveries for them to find through their own efforts they can and they do. However, while permitting a glimpse into the mindset of convention, it still does not explain why UFO's and their occupants should of necessity be the agents of Satan.

The answer to this opinion lies in the argument that the UFO related organizations like the Raelians, who claim to interact with ET's, particularly through their leadership, are actually contacting Satan in another form. They reason that since Satan is the father of lies then one of his main strategies is deception. Therefore, it is in his interests to 'sell' the ET tradition to as many people as possible and encourage them to believe in its reality when, in fact, they are contacting malignant entities from his domain. From this mindset it logically follows that any evidence of higher intelligence displayed by these beings is only another ploy to draw us into closer contact with them. A favourite quotation to justify this stance comes from Corinthians 11:13-15 'For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. {14} Satan himself now transforms himself into an angel of light. {15} Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into 'ministers of righteousness', whose end will be according to their works'. Therefore, the intelligence contacted by UFO believers is in fact the demonic realm of dark 'principalities and powers of the air' that control this present evil age. This is a key phrase because it precisely defines the connection between Satan and UFO's.

They go on to insist that the Christian church comprises God's 'resistance movement' here on earth. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and when the church has done its job Jesus will return with His heavenly armies to 'retake the earth' (Jude 1:14,15). This interpretation carries many nuances of the non-scriptural ET theory that the earth is already a battleground between two alien species fighting for supremacy. According to the fundamentalists, Satan tries to portray the hosts of heaven as 'alien invaders' as part of the deception that gathers mankind in a war against God. (Rev 16:13,14) This is very similar to the type of end times/Armageddon, doom-laden message commonly prophesied at the start of the new millennium, which, fortunately has yet to materialise. It is also particularly striking that it is from passages like these that the Christian bible runs exactly in parallel with the Koran in claiming to be the only source of salvation for humanity; 'The only way to my father is through me' is a quote attributed to Jesus Christ. It is little wonder that there is such widespread mistrust and enmity between faiths when each one arrogantly claims to be the only one offering salvation.

Conclusion

All the above references appear to suggest that only the monotheistic faiths apparently refer to UFO and extraterrestrials but this is manifestly not so. As far as pantheistic mention of ET's etc is concerned, there is ample evidence in Hindu scripture that they too appear to have had contact with, and experience of, ET entities and their craft. It is even arguable that their references are much more detailed and descriptive than those in the bible, with not only frequent mention of Vimana's (flying machines) and wars, but the use of nuclear devices and beam weapons. So, the phenomenon is not new and is present in all races and beliefs, even in animistic beliefs; the Native Americans for example have legends of 'sky people' arriving in antiquity along with the 'Thunderbird'. Again, this finds another direct parallel with the original inhabitants of the Australian continent, the Aborigines, with their myths and legends of 'The Dreamtime' that preceded the appearance of humanity. Whatever the reality of the connection between scripture and ET's, it is demonstrable that this belief is not confined to 'conventional' religion and has existed in mankind's psyche since the beginning of time. While it is impossible to conclusively prove the link, it will not prevent people from trying; perhaps it is the last refuge for faith and a tangible glimpse of a God who will come to save mankind from itself.