1. Travis Perry says:

    I keep in mind that the Scripture states that “eye has not seen nor ear heard” what God has prepared for them who love him. The New Earth in Revelation is probably only the beginning of God’s eternal plan for the redeemed. I don’t regard it as ruling out travel between the stars.

  2. alexanderpres20 says:

    Good thoughts, Mark. I actually did a blog post last month on a similar topic. Just my two cents. http://alexanderprestonauthor1.blogspot.com/2017/02/faith-and-final-frontier.html

  3. Zack Russell says:

    “Mankind was not meant to live among the stars; we were meant to live in the world that God created for us.” // This is an argument from silence. While it’s true that Earth is humanity’s home, and the end of Revelation specifically details how God will remake the Earth for us to live and reign on, it never says humanity will *only* live there. The Bible is very narrow in its focus, so its silence on some matters should not be taken as a negation or prohibition on those issues.

    Perhaps our resurrected bodies will be able to travel instantly to other worlds, as Jesus appeared instantly to Thomas. Or maybe without the restrictions of sin, we will be able to create technology like nothing we can imagine.

    What’s going to be very interesting in the next 18 months is when the next generation of telescopes are able to tell us whether or not these Habitable Zone planets have habitable atmospheres. They will also be scanning for biomarkers like methane or even CFCs. Whether or not life will ever be detected is a fascinating question, and our Biblical worldview should be able to provide an answer to either possibility.

    Back to the original point, I really enjoyed reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Aurora,” for its exploration of how exoplanet colonization may not go as intended. It very much has the tone of realism that you shared about.

    • Mark Carver says:

      I’m not saying that humanity shouldn’t try to reach the stars (though I am very doubtful that it will actually happen). I’m just saying that mankind’s ultimate destiny is to live on Earth, which will be made new. Perhaps we will travel to other worlds, teleport, etc., but that is frivolous speculation. I’m just going from what I see in the Bible. But until the end of creation comes, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t explore it.

  4. Kessie says:

    What? Nobody’s arguing that since Randy Alcorn says that 1 Peter is wrong and the New Earth is just our old Earth getting recycled? I’m shocked!

    I personally think that all those planets out there would have been our worlds to live on before the fall. I outline this argument on my blog here: https://kmcarrollblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/09/my-personal-theory-about-aliens-and-the-universe/

    • Zack Russell says:

      Great thoughts about the Fermi Paradox, Kessie. I just started reading “The Lamb Among the Stars” books, and that seems to be the author’s framework as well.

  5. Autumn Grayson says:

    This is where it can get complicated, especially since back then they didn’t necessarily think about these things the same way. Translations and language can be a tricky thing. Earth may not literally mean our world, planet earth, but may instead refer to the physical realm itself.

    • Mark Carver says:

      That is always possible, though the text does seem to indicate a planet beneath the “heavens.” Rev. 22 seems to indicate that things will be restored to how God originally intended before the Fall, with Eden being some sort of garden city. I suspect that our “heavenly” life will be a lot more terrestrial than we imagine.

What do you think?