For those new to “Christian Ufology,” AlienResistance.org is a Christian ministry whose mission is as follows:
Our mission is to provide orthodox biblical perspectives on the modern UFO and “alien” phenomenon, exposing proven deceptions, and equipping the church to minister truth and freedom to those currently deceived by experiences and/or strongholds related to now-popular belief systems of aliens actively visiting humanity.
I’ve known the folks behind AR for a number of years and appreciate their ministry. Guy Malone recently sent me the link to a sort of “reverse position paper” — a list of “What We Don’t Believe” in regard to Christian interest in all things ufological. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of teaching about UFOs, alleged aliens, nephilim breeding and eschatological conspiracy, etc. circulating on the web by Christians whose concern is admirable, but whose thinking on these and other related subjects is flawed and misguided. I’ve read through “What We Don’t Believe” and am in complete agreement with what AR rejects. I would, however, add one caveat to this line:
[We do not believe and do not teach] That any humans (save those on the Ark) or nephilim survived the flood of Noahs time, whether by taking refuge in a hollow earth, the second heaven, outer space, or anywhere else.
My caveat is that I think a local flood is certainly biblically defensible, and so the question of human “survival” in other parts of the world would be moot should the biblical flood story reflect a localized, not a globalized, event.
I hope readers will take a look at AR’s list of what they don’t believe, especially if they consider themselves Christians and believe Christians need to be thinking about UFOs and their impact on what people believe in terms of worldview and religion.
Any hints on “local flood is certainly biblically defensible”?
I could not find any reference to that topic on Naked Bible either, so I assume ou have not blogged on it.?
I’m pretty much in agreement with that list except I wonder about this part:
“That human giants who lived after the flood, including human beings with gigantism today, are nephilim.”
Are you saying that there were no nephilim after the flood? The way I read Genesis 6:4 and the “and also after” part, I’ve always taken that to mean there were nephilim after the flood, too.
The biblical text clearly has nephilim/giant clans after the flood. I think the point of the AR post was that there are no nephilim TODAY.
Mike,
Have you changed your view about giants after the flood–“and after?” I’m thinking of something like Numbers 13:32-33 and supposedly other nephilim references. I’m sure you write on this somewhere, but I’m afraid I missed it.
See my note to Rollie.
Concerning the flood and other interesting topics,Hugh Ross researches this topic
exhaustively>
http://www.reasons.org/articles/exploring-the-extent-of-the-flood-part-one
It is not a Salvation issue,so i can take the best evidences and lean my veiws to the most compelling truths.
http://www.reasons.org/
Well then, what are greys?
Until there is physical biological evidence that they are tangible/physical, then one of the several other explanations has to take priority. For example, the well known abduction researcher Leah Haley, formerly of the opinion that the grays were real, now believes they are implanted images, or some sort of mind control technology. Leah is not a peripheral researcher in this area; she’s been in it for many years. You would be wise to not simply accept an ET view. Check her thoughts at the links below:
http://ufotrail.blogspot.com/2011/09/leah-haley-on-alien-abduction-it-doesnt_17.html
Interesting. I’ve never seen this side of the story. Perhaps they are paraphysical, which could give the elusion of “implanted images?” However, I do not believe these things to be ET.
Thank you for this new and interesting view Mike.
you’re welcome; I’m trying to keep my eye on Haley’s thoughts.
Here is a quote from Spyro, on David Flynns forum. I think it makes sense, what do you think Mike?
“But no matter what we decide they are, they are here, they are not here to help us, they are here only to carry out their agenda; And that seems to be hybridisation/production, that is all we know.
In regards to what they might be… Until we have tangible evidence that these beings are physical we can only speculate, and speculating about something we don’t understand will lead to infinite amounts of speculation. No man can say “I know what they are,” if they do I will throw the Carl Sagan card on the table.”
I don’t believe hybridization in any real sense is at all in view. However, the notion of making a modern person *think* that is the case is, in my view, more on target.
But you do believe from the abduction research that some sort of genetic alteration is going on here? I find it hard to just dismiss the many cliams made by abductees that babies have been removed from their wombs by these beings after 10 weeks. We even have some people describe children that look like crosses between “alien” and human. Why would someone be made to “think” that?
No, I don’t believe any sort of genetic alteration or breeding is going on. The evidence you cite isn’t actually evidence, much less proof. It would be hearsay in a court of law. Anecdotes aren’t physical evidence, which is what is needed for a *BIOLOGICAL* claim.
OK, I understand what you’re saying Mike.
Hello, all –
I have been involved with the UFO community for many years. I am also the author of the blog cited by MSH above and referencing the thoughts of Leah Haley. I would like to add a few comments.
I first contacted Haley, a former self-described alien abductee, in 2009. She quickly informed me she had revised her perspectives to conclude there were no aliens in her past. Haley proved herself to be quite willing to thoroughly and openly address my many questions, leading to what became a series of posts located on my blog. Perhaps some will find them of interest.
The more I evaluated alleged alien abduction, the more apparent it became that there is virtually nothing to support such fantastic perspectives. While there may indeed be select cases in which answers are not readily available, there is nothing to allow us to draw extreme conclusions. I therefore have a personal appreciation for what I have read so far of MSH’s measured and rational approach to the subject matter.
As far as tales of alien-human hybrid beings go, I delved into such subject matter rather lengthily in a three-part post titled, The Bizarre World of David Jacobs: An Interview and Review. Concerning some of the issues brought up here, I particularly recommend reading Part Three, in which the literal logistics and possibilities of an alleged alien hybridization program (as purported by Jacobs) are critically reviewed by retired process design engineer Frank Purcell and Professor of Microbiology Dr. Tyler Kokjohn.
Thank you for including me in your discussion. I wish all of you great success in your quests for answers and spiritual understandings.
I agree with the interpretation that somehow there were Giants/Nephilim in the world after the flood to at least the time of David. However, there does not appear to be any evidence that any are existing today. If there were and they had any physical dexterity whatsoever, they would have made it onto someone’s basketball team by now.
On the other hand, even though there may not be any real abductions or alien hybridization occurring, there is a lot of genetic experimentation and research occurring. None of it is of the alien kind, but geneticists are splicing all sorts of different earthly genes into all sorts of different earthly creatures. In this country, we have Human Research Committees (HRCs)that are supposed to prevent any unethical research. But in other countries where human life is not as valued, does anyone think there would be any qualms about messing with the human genome?
Current hybridization (gene therapy) programs are specifically for the purpose of alleviating human disease and suffering. But, any tool can be used for good and evil. Given that some people believe the nephilim are returning, how long will it be until someone attempts something hideous? Or, someone attempts something good that turns out hideous?
On the second and third paragraph, here’s the problem: that gene splicing and xeno-transplantation and other such technologies exist and are in current development does NOT mean that nephilim have been produced or are planned. In other words, the existence of a technology says nothing about what it has produced or what people would eventually think of producing. For example, we know how to make very good artificial limbs (there’s a guy in this summer’s Olympics who is a double amputee who apparently has permission to compete against “whole” athletes). But the fact that we know how to make artificial limbs that are good enough to work for an Olympic runner doesn’t mean that there is a secret government plan to deliberately replace the limbs of thousands of people with the artificial ones, or that the people currently using such artificial limbs were part of a government program. The existence of a technology and its use or planned used are NOT the same thing.
Dr. Heiser, thank you for response. It is appreciated! Actually, I agree with your theological position, I am more concerned about the others who believe in the existence of modern nephilim and the logical conclusion of that belief that there are some people ineligible to receive salvation from Christ.
Admittedly, the existences of a technology and its planned use or misuse are not the same thing. However, for the sake of brevity, I was probably not clear; all men are subject to the curse, born with a sin nature, and all men born after Jesus have the olive leaf of redemption and justification held out to them. All humans, including any of those with genetic adaptations, are Sons of Adam in that all of us have inherited Adam’s sin nature and propensity to sin. In this case, there is historical precedent demonstrating man’s ability to go astray in the area of human genetics. From the ancient Spartan Greeks, to the Romans, to the modern eugenics movement most closely pictured by the Nazis in Germany during the 20th Century, leaders have been trying in various ways, both good and bad, to improve the vitality of the stock of their peoples. Adolf Hitler and the SS’ attempt to distill the purity of the Aryan race and create the übermensch as envisioned by Nietzsche in the previous century is the most overt example that comes to mind.
Again, the one thing all of these attempts at human selective breeding and genetic engineering have in common is that their results, all of them, in their entirety, are Sons of Adam. All of these babies have been born with the same human sin nature and corresponding promise of the availability of redemption through Jesus Christ as did their fathers before them. For those of us in Christ, we have become new creatures; there is no Jew, no Greek, no Gentile, no Scythian, etc. in Christ.
My concern is the belief in the return of the Nephilim has caused some people to believe they have been infused with some sort of alien DNA, and as such, these people believe that they cannot be saved. I know of at least one case of this type of thing happening with one the children resulting from the SS’ experiment. For six years, I taught in the classroom next to one of these children. I shall not name her, but she was the little blonde-haired girl with the pretty dress in the well-known picture shown handing Adolf Hitler a flower. One of her acquaintances was convinced for most of her life that Jesus could not save her from Hell because her birth was a result of this program. She was almost eighty years old before she came to the realization that Jesus Christ could extend salvation to a person like her.
In the coming years, I am convinced that we will see more and more gene splicing with the human genome either in the womb or before the womb, and possibly even the creation of chimeras. Although no gene alteration took place, the technology itself has been in use for over three decades. The first test-tube baby who is now married with a son of her own, has stated that she appreciates the actions of her mother, who passed away last month of unrelated causes. Ostensibly the purpose will be to cure diseases such as diabetes or Tay-Sachs disease, but someone is surely going to be attempting things such as life-extension or creating super-athletes. As with anything in science, some experiments will be more successful, and some will be less successful than others. The point is that the technology is currently in use for this purpose.
As such, the one thing all of these babies will have in common is that they will all be Sons of Adam, subject the curse of the Fall of Man and recipients of the blessings available to them through grace and redemption by Jesus Christ. As in your example, I believe that every double-amputee, including those participating and not participating in the olympics, can come to have a personal relationship with Jesus. What about the clones? Identical twins are natural clones; every one of them has a soul. What about gene-spliced babies? They are still sons of men. These are men who have taken what God has created and assembled it inside the human genomenotice, it is still the framework human genome, not some biologically different species. These people will still have souls; they can still be saved. So, as a hypothetical, what if the alien abductee babies were real? If they are real, they are still creatures of God. If I read correctly and am rightly dividing scripture, in this age of grace from Christ Jesus, things have changed. He says in Mark 16:15, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. I see no exceptions, if there are baby space aliens, we are to preach to them also!
Again, I would like to express my appreciation for your work. It is a great encouragement to me, and would urge you to continue and be not weary in well doing. For I am sure that in due season, He will make known the purpose of your work to a lot of people. Best blessings!
No doubt some of your fears may become realities in the future. I would agree that the human species actually can have variation, but that’s a bit different than what you are describing. The recent mapping of the Neanderthal genome and the related demonstration that many humans (perhaps most – I can’t remember the % off the top of my head) have from 1-4% Neanderthal DNA in them shows that homo sapiens and neanderthals could breed. That means they are both human, but not exactly the same (Neanderthal is being referred to as a sub-group — but I can’t remember the proper biological terminology or nomenclature). Biologically, different species cannot breed naturally. This *suggests* that any cross-genetic thing spliced with a human which could not otherwise share its genetic makeup would not be human (i.e., it would be a different species). One would have to ask whether “percentages of humanity” = humanity (how much?) in such cases. When we realize how LITTLE genetic difference there is between say, chimps and humans, that in turn suggests that a high degree of “sameness” still wouldn’t be logically adequate to justify calling the said biological entity “human.” The wildcard here, though, is whether non-human DNA can be merged with human DNA in such a way that it is only utilitarian (e.g., the idea of limb regeneration [the merging stops there, having met its goal] in the recent Spiderman movie). That goes beyond pig veins for transplantation and other such things currently done in medicine. But perhaps such precision need not involve changing the subject’s genetic code, but adding something that merely attacks a problem without changing the code. To me, changing the code is the Rubicon (at least it feels that way now). The people in favor of this sort of thing like to talk of creating “more than human” humans, without realizing that the thing created could justifiably be called “non-human” for biological reasons (like the breeding note above).
I tend to think they were human as well — it seems interbreeding requires that from a biological perspective; i.e., a human that wasn’t homo sapiens.