4 replies to this topic

[Yung]

Suppose that we make contact with an alien race on a distant planet and discover that they, like us, worship a divine being who has revealed himself to them in a set of holy writings. Suppose that when we finally learn how to translate their language into ours, it turns out that their holy writings and the New and Old Testaments say roughly the same things. Would that prove that there is a God? Suppose, on the other hand, that they have no cultural practice that looks even remotely like religion. Would that undermine the claims of our religion? Why?

Edited by Yung, 19 August 2012 - 09:44 PM.

[NapisaurusRex]

Suppose that we make contact with an alien race on a distant planet and discover that they, like us, worship a divine being who has revealed himself to them in a set of holy writings. Suppose that when we finally learn how to translate their language into ours, it turns out that their holy writings and the New and Old Testaments say roughly the same things. Would that prove that there is a God?

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam say roughly the same things now, and the majority of creation stories have recurring themes. Does that prove there is a God now? Why would aliens having a similar story make a difference?

Suppose, on the other hand, that they have no cultural practice that looks even remotely like religion. Would that undermine the claims of our religion? Why?

What is 'our' religion?

[Yung]

What is 'our' religion?

Referring merely to humanity as a whole has roughly the same generic idea in terms of religion. Atheists generally think of religion as monotheistic and generally speaking most of the world that is religious follows a monotheistic religion, you named the major ones in that already.

[Drakonid]

Suppose that we make contact with an alien race on a distant planet and discover that they, like us, worship a divine being who has revealed himself to them in a set of holy writings. Suppose that when we finally learn how to translate their language into ours, it turns out that their holy writings and the New and Old Testaments say roughly the same things. Would that prove that there is a God?

http://en.wikipedia...._monkey_theorem

[HannahElizabeth]

It would prove that the Alien lifeforms are as gullible as the human race. You can't prove a negative; the only thing that would prove the existence of "God" would be an actual revelation. The heavens open and the invisible man in the sky suddenly descends in corporeal form - or something like that. Even then I, personally, in that highly unlikely scenario, would have my doubts about the existence of God. Seeing is believing, as the old cliche goes.