Did the holy bible say (or hint) anything about life outside planet Earth and our solar system?

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Not in the physical plain.

But, this concentrates on a virtual world (the Bible) which was written by and for our ancestors, and their understanding of the greater world/solar system, much before the 1900s, was extremely limited.

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Did the holy bible say (or hint) anything about life outside planet Earth and our solar system?

No.

Only if you indulge in some creative interpretations of Angels as aliens.

No reference is made to any world other than Earth.

The Old Testament refers only to the Earth and the Heavens and does not imply that stars are merely distant suns with other potential worlds in orbit, indeed, it does not even imply that there are other worlds in orbit around our own sun.

In fact, the Bible suggests that the Earth is flat and supported upon foundations or pillars made by God. Reference is made to the "four corners" of the Earth and also the "ends" of the Earth. Because the Bible had many authors (all humans, as imperfect as any of us), it's not necessarily consistent in its explanations about the Earth. The Earth is also described as circular. It is not, however, described as spherical.

Did the holy bible say (or hint) anything about life outside planet Earth and our solar system?

No.

Only if you indulge in some creative interpretations of Angels as aliens.

No reference is made to any world other than Earth.

The Old Testament refers only to the Earth and the Heavens and does not imply that stars are merely distant suns with other potential worlds in orbit, indeed, it does not even imply that there are other worlds in orbit around our own sun.

In fact, the Bible suggests that the Earth is flat and supported upon foundations or pillars made by God. Reference is made to the "four corners" of the Earth and also the "ends" of the Earth. Because the Bible had many authors (all humans, as imperfect as any of us), it's not necessarily consistent in its explanations about the Earth. The Earth is also described as circular. It is not, however, described as spherical.

I have read the Bible plenty times and never found anything about a "flat" Earth.

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I have read the Bible plenty times and never found anything about a "flat" Earth.

Maybe you didn't look closely enough.

"The devil took him [Jesus] up into an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them."
- Matthew 4:8

How could one see all the kingdoms of the world from an exceedingly high mountain unless the world was flat?

"I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth."
- Daniel 4:10-11

Not only is it stated that the Earth has an "end", but again, it's not possible to have a sight of "the end of all the earth" no matter how high a tree grows unless the Earth is flat.

From Revelation:
"I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth" (Rev. 7:1)

"There was a great earthquake... and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind." (Rev. 6:12,13)

The fact that stars can "fall down" onto the Earth is keeping in line with the notion that the stars, the sun, and the moon, were fixed in a firmament above the Earth. ...of course, it also suggests that stars are not spheres of hot gas like the sun and are not incredibly larger and more massive than the earth.

"Who shut the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?" Job 38:8-11

It is implied God has made doors and bars at the edge of the Earth to keep the waters of the world from overflowing.


How about this passage?
"He can command the sun not to rise" (Job 9:7)

But since the Sun doesn't actually rise, it's just an effect of the Earth's rotation, wouldn't the passage have been more accurate if it said "He can command the earth to stop moving."

That the Earth is set upon pillars and is FIXED and unmoving:

“He has fixed the earth firm, immovable.”
- 1 Chronicles 16:30

“Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm ...”
- Psalm 93:1

He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter, forever and ever.
- Psalm 104:5

The world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
- Psalm 93:1 & 1 Chronicles 16:30

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth??Who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof?
- Job 38:4-6

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he set the world on them.
- 1 Samuel 2:8

It is I who have firmly set its pillars.
- Psalm 75:3

Who stretched out the heavens...and established the world.
- Jeremiah 10:12

Of course we know today that not only does the Earth rotate, but that it orbits the Sun and that Solar System itself orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and that the Milky Way Galaxy moves as well...

Furthermore, the Bible states that the heavens, the stars, the moon and the Sun are fixed in a solid firmament surrounding the Earth and that when God shakes the Heavens, the whole Earth shakes too.

The earth quaked, the foundations of heaven were trembling.
- 2 Samuel 22:8

The earth quakes, the heavens tremble.
- Joel 2:10

I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place.
- Isaiah 13:13

The greatest theologians and Christian philosophers in history all felt that the Bible clearly indicated that the sky and stars were fixed in a solid firmament above their heads:
Ambrose, commenting on Genesis 1:6, said, "the specific solidity of this exterior firmament is meant" (Hexameron, FC 42.60). And Saint Augustine said the word firmament was used "to indicate not that it is motionless but that it is solid and that it constitutes an impassable boundary between the waters above and the waters below" (The Literal Meaning of Genesis, ACW 41.1.61).

Martin Luther, a brilliant man and the father of protestantism, shared their beliefs that the Bible was *CLEAR* about this:
"Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were placed in the firmament of heaven, below and above which heaven are the waters...We Christians must be different from the philosophers [astronomers] in the way we think about the causes of things. And if some are beyond our comprehension like those before us concerning the waters above the heavens, we must believe them rather than wickedly deny them or presumptuously interpret them in conformity; with our understanding."
- Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis, Vol. 1, Luther's Works, Concordia Pub. House

He was referring to this passage:
"God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,' and God made the firmament, and separated the waters which were below the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament... Then God made the two great lights...(and) the stars also. And God set them in the firmament to light the earth." - Genesis 1:7,16-17

Have you ever considered that almost all which is written in the Bible was written and meant figuratively, to meet the poor knowledge and the understanding of the simple folks the preachers and prophets spoke to thousands of years ago? When you explain things to children you too choose the simplest of language and the most placative allegories to meet their understanding, I suppose.

But to get back to the question at hand "Did the Bible say anything about life outside planet Earth?", I tried to find something in The Bible (but the short time given I was only able to scan through - didn't want to use Google) but the verses which sprang into my memory weren't in the Bible but in another religious work: "The Pearl of Great Price" (Moses 1:33 through 35) which is used by the Mormons.:

33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

Also in the "Pearl of Great Price", (Moses 7:30):

30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;

I will search through my King James Bible for the cross references given (- and even Google a bit) - and when I found some interesting verses I'll post them later.
Then there is something in the Kabbala, in the book Sohar; and even the Q'ran mentions other worlds with inhabitants on them (iirc).
But anyway, even if there nothing can be found in the Bible but in the Apocryphs for example (I didn't go as far as looking in there yet) don't forget: the early church took many things out of the Bible and changed others when they decided what should become the canonical Scripture at the First Vatican Council (when was it? some time in the 4th century I think)

I have read the Bible plenty times and never found anything about a "flat" Earth.

Maybe you didn't look closely enough.

"The devil took him [Jesus] up into an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them."
- Matthew 4:8

How could one see all the kingdoms of the world from an exceedingly high mountain unless the world was flat?

"I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth."
- Daniel 4:10-11

Not only is it stated that the Earth has an "end", but again, it's not possible to have a sight of "the end of all the earth" no matter how high a tree grows unless the Earth is flat.

From Revelation:
"I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth" (Rev. 7:1)

"There was a great earthquake... and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind." (Rev. 6:12,13)

The fact that stars can "fall down" onto the Earth is keeping in line with the notion that the stars, the sun, and the moon, were fixed in a firmament above the Earth. ...of course, it also suggests that stars are not spheres of hot gas like the sun and are not incredibly larger and more massive than the earth.

"Who shut the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?" Job 38:8-11

It is implied God has made doors and bars at the edge of the Earth to keep the waters of the world from overflowing.


How about this passage?
"He can command the sun not to rise" (Job 9:7)

But since the Sun doesn't actually rise, it's just an effect of the Earth's rotation, wouldn't the passage have been more accurate if it said "He can command the earth to stop moving."

That the Earth is set upon pillars and is FIXED and unmoving:

“He has fixed the earth firm, immovable.”
- 1 Chronicles 16:30

“Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm ...”
- Psalm 93:1

He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter, forever and ever.
- Psalm 104:5

The world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
- Psalm 93:1 & 1 Chronicles 16:30

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth??Who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof?
- Job 38:4-6

For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he set the world on them.
- 1 Samuel 2:8

It is I who have firmly set its pillars.
- Psalm 75:3

Who stretched out the heavens...and established the world.
- Jeremiah 10:12

Of course we know today that not only does the Earth rotate, but that it orbits the Sun and that Solar System itself orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and that the Milky Way Galaxy moves as well...

Furthermore, the Bible states that the heavens, the stars, the moon and the Sun are fixed in a solid firmament surrounding the Earth and that when God shakes the Heavens, the whole Earth shakes too.

The earth quaked, the foundations of heaven were trembling.
- 2 Samuel 22:8

The earth quakes, the heavens tremble.
- Joel 2:10

I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place.
- Isaiah 13:13

The greatest theologians and Christian philosophers in history all felt that the Bible clearly indicated that the sky and stars were fixed in a solid firmament above their heads:
Ambrose, commenting on Genesis 1:6, said, "the specific solidity of this exterior firmament is meant" (Hexameron, FC 42.60). And Saint Augustine said the word firmament was used "to indicate not that it is motionless but that it is solid and that it constitutes an impassable boundary between the waters above and the waters below" (The Literal Meaning of Genesis, ACW 41.1.61).

Martin Luther, a brilliant man and the father of protestantism, shared their beliefs that the Bible was *CLEAR* about this:
"Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were placed in the firmament of heaven, below and above which heaven are the waters...We Christians must be different from the philosophers [astronomers] in the way we think about the causes of things. And if some are beyond our comprehension like those before us concerning the waters above the heavens, we must believe them rather than wickedly deny them or presumptuously interpret them in conformity; with our understanding."
- Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis, Vol. 1, Luther's Works, Concordia Pub. House

He was referring to this passage:
"God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,' and God made the firmament, and separated the waters which were below the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament... Then God made the two great lights...(and) the stars also. And God set them in the firmament to light the earth." - Genesis 1:7,16-17

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The greatest theologians and Christian philosophers in history all felt that the Bible clearly indicated [snip]

Then the Qur'an came along and put all their 'worldly wisdom' to shame... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Did the holy bible say (or hint) anything about life outside planet Earth and our solar system?

It is all in the "interpretation"...

Using the language and metaphor used at the time of the writing, there is good everyday common sense and Earthly history in there.

Add whatever interpretation and you can interpret it all to mean anything you wish, including the "Churchly" unrealistically "literal" interpretations imposing meanings that were surely never intended.


All from a devout Scientist ;-)

Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The greatest theologians and Christian philosophers in history all felt that the Bible clearly indicated [snip]

Then the Qur'an came along and put all their 'worldly wisdom' to shame... ;)

And that is another world of interpretations that are interpreted according to present day politics...

Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

And that is another world of interpretations that are interpreted according to present day politics...

That might work with the Bible, but not with the Qur'an... In Arabic, the interpretation is crystal clear...

People don't like the Qur'an because it's so blunt compared to the watered down Bible... ;)

(As for present day politics, they would like nothing more than to see that book go away.)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

... with the Qur'an... In Arabic, the interpretation is crystal clear...

People don't like the Qur'an because it's so blunt...

Unfortunately, it is still (re)interpreted depending on the politics that are required by those assuming power.

One very easy example to give is that of the oppression of women. Anything specific in the Qur'an that directly states that women are lesser to men?...


Regards,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Anything specific in the Qur'an that directly states that women are lesser to men?...

You mean like this:

I Timothy 2:11-14
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

This thread is about the Bible, not the Qur'an... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Anything specific in the Qur'an that directly states that women are lesser to men?...

You mean like this:

I Timothy 2:11-14
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

This thread is about the Bible, not the Qur'an... ;)

Yeah..Timothy was a bloke wasn't he?

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Reality Internet Personality

ok..here is another take on the bible.

THE WOMAN'S BIBLE.
By Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Revising Committee
[1898]

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Reality Internet Personality

Yeah..Timothy was a bloke wasn't he?

You should know my position on this by now... I'm not a 'chauvinist' nor a 'hypocrite'...

Gods rules are Gods rules, but they only apply to those who choose to follow them...

People might think they are fooling God by changing His rules, but they are only fooling themselves... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

ok..here is another take on the bible.

THE WOMAN'S BIBLE.
By Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Revising Committee
[1898]

Scanned thru this page and saw some very bad flaws (gently spoken: misunderstandings). These ladies should have read the Bible more than once before attempting to re-interprete it...

- and this is not meant to be anti-women, but rather hinting at the first verse that came into my mind:

Deuteronomy 4:2 (New International Version)

Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

- in other words: change anything in the Scriptures and you are skewed.




But I still haven't found a thing in the Bible regarding extraterrestrians (as long as you count out the Giants {like Goliath}, and the Angels and the Demons, and even God himself from being extraterrestrians) which couldn't be re-interpreted into another meaning nowadays.

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I believe the Bible might have said something about it. The god of the Old Testament, Yahweh, seems such a humanoid god. And there's lots of references to him leading the Jews across the wilderness and making regular contact with them through Moses.
I can see lots of passages in the Old Testament which might relate to alien involvement in human affairs. So it's quite possible to me.

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'No one can make you inferior without your consent.'
Eleanor Roosevelt.

I believe the Bible might have said something about it.

My answer to this question has always been: 'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth'... We know what's on the earth, but we have yet to discover what's in the heavens...

Other books such as the Qur'an and the Book of Mormon provide us with clearer information, but our leaders have become so wise in their own eyes that they will NEVER admit their folly... So the fighting will continue, and we'll never get off this rock... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Yeah..Timothy was a bloke wasn't he?

You should know my position on this by now... I'm not a 'chauvinist' nor a 'hypocrite'...

Gods rules are Gods rules, but they only apply to those who choose to follow them...

People might think they are fooling God by changing His rules, but they are only fooling themselves... ;)

uh huh...but Timothy..who wrote that was a bloke.

I could easily claim that god spoke through me when i wrote my post. Doesn't make it true. I think Timothy probably had his own agenda when he wrote that.

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Reality Internet Personality

Yeah..Timothy was a bloke wasn't he?

You should know my position on this by now... I'm not a 'chauvinist' nor a 'hypocrite'...

Gods rules are Gods rules, but they only apply to those who choose to follow them...

People might think they are fooling God by changing His rules, but they are only fooling themselves... ;)

uh huh...but Timothy..who wrote that was a bloke.

I could easily claim that god spoke through me when i wrote my post. Doesn't make it true. I think Timothy probably had his own agenda when he wrote that.

No, the Jewish society back 1970 years ago (and the early Christians were nothing else than a Jewish sect) really was that male-oriented. Women were little more than living inventory in the household of the man (see the 10th commandment), and the man only needed to say: "I dismiss you" and they were divorced - while a woman had to fight for being divorced (and then fight to survive alone without being sued for adultery)

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