Extraterrestrial intelligence and original sin

C.S. Lewis

These speculations may seem irrelevant, since we do not know if extraterrestrial intelligence exists. In fact, the probability of its existence is 50%, as I explained in a previous post, by which I mean that we know nothing, that we might as well flip a coin to decide. However, some serious theologians and science fiction authors have raised this question, so it may not be absurd to discuss it here.

Jean Jacques Rousseau asserted that man is good by nature, but society makes him evil. All the evidence we have refutes him. In every attempt made to correct this situation by modifying social structures, for example, in the French Revolution (which introduced the guillotine); in the Russian Revolution (which introduced the Gulag); and in German National Socialism (which introduced gas chambers); things have gotten worse. It is clear that we are prone to evil by nature, although we may also be capable of great heroism. That inclination to evil is a consequence of what we call original sin.

We are discussing the following question: Granted that human beings on Earth are subject to the effects of original sin, what can be said about hypothetical extraterrestrial intelligences? Are they also subject to original sin? Or are they exempt from it? In other words, are they naturally good, or are they inclined to evil, like us?

Two different answers have been proposed to these questions:

1. The situation of human beings, here on Earth, is a purely local phenomenon. Original sin is a consequence of something that happened a long time ago, among our distant ancestors. For hypothetical extraterrestrial intelligences, the following three possibilities could have taken place:
1. 

   That their remote ancestors were not subjected to trial and therefore did not fall, so their descendants would not be subject to original sin. This is the situation of the intelligent species populating the planet Mars in the novel Out of the silent planet, by C.S. Lewis. It also applies to some of my novels in the solar system series, which does not mean that I have adopted this solution to the problem.
2. That their remote ancestors were subjected to trial, but did not fall into temptation, so their descendants would not be subject to original sin. This is the situation of the intelligent species in the planet Venus in the novel Perelandra: a voyage to Venus, by C.S. Lewis.
3. That their remote ancestors were subjected to trial and fell into temptation, so their descendants were subject to original sin. This is the situation of the intelligent species populating planet Earth, in the novel That hideous strength by C.S. Lewis, which completes the trilogy.



Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

2. The situation of human beings, here on Earth, is the result of a global phenomenon. Original sin is a consequence of something that infected the whole universe, which took place long before there were intelligences inside the universe. Consequently, human beings on Earth and any hypothetical extraterrestrial intelligence must be subject to original sin (i.e. we are all prone to evil). This was the solution adopted by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in two notes that were sent to the Superior General of the Jesuits and were not published until half a century later in the collection Comment je crois. These notes probably caused him to be removed from teaching at the Catholic Institute of Paris and forbidden from publishing his books, although he was allowed to publish many scientific articles. According to Teilhard’s proposal, the universe was created in a state of initial disintegration, and was subject later to a process of evolution that led to an increase in complexity until it produced intelligent beings, at least on Earth. Original sin would not have been the personal fault of one or more individuals, but would consist, precisely, in the state of original dispersion of the world. This solution cannot be accepted by Catholic doctrine, since it places the blame for original sin on the Creator of the universe. However, not all interpretations of original sin that fit this line of thinking make the same mistake as Teilhard.

What does Catholic doctrine say in this regard? We will get to it in the next post.

The same post in Spanish

Thematic thread on Life in other Worlds: Preceding Next

Manuel Alfonseca