Photograph by Pioneer Venus Orbiter Cloud Photopolarimeter, collected 5-14-88. 10th anniversary release Venus image 7540. NASA ID: ARC-1988-AC78-9461.
By Karen A. Bellenir
Last month, scientists reported detecting a chemical called phosphine (PH[sub]3) in the Venusian clouds (Greaves, J.S., Richards, A.M.S., Bains, W. et al. Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus. Nat Astron (2020)). Phosphine also exists elsewhere in the solar system. It occurs on Jupiter, for example, produced by that planet’s deep, highly pressurized atmosphere. On Earth, with its different planetary structure, the chemical can be produced by biological processes. The study’s authors claim that phosphine’s presence in the clouds above Venus could be the result of “unknown photochemistry or geochemistry, or by analogy with the biological production of PH[sub]3 on Earth, from the presence of life.”
In other words, they found something they can’t explain. Further investigation offers an exciting opportunity to expand scientific understanding.
Some Christian pundits claim that extraterrestrial life cannot exist because the Bible doesn’t mention it. By this logic, Australia doesn’t exist. Neither did any of the ancient Far East or Mesoamerican civilizations. Baseball might be possible, thanks to the joke about what happens “in the big inning” (go ahead and groan) but certainly not tennis, soccer, or croquet.
The logic of the assertion against extraterrestrial life is faulty. The Bible itself never claims to be all inclusive. In fact, it seems to state precisely the opposite. John’s gospel concludes with this note: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were everyone of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25 ESV). Whether this statement refers only to Jesus during his incarnation or to the entire spectrum of divine action, it seems to acknowledge that the written record inscribed on pages we can hold in our hands represents only a tiny glimpse at what God has done.
Future scientific research may or may not detect life elsewhere in the universe. From the perspective of astrobiologists, both outcomes remain possible. Before rushing to hasty conclusions, I encourage contemporary theologians to remember that their predecessors who insisted on a geocentric model of the solar system ended up on the wrong side of reality. If today’s Christians hope to offer a meaningful message to the world, they might have more success if they refrain from putting artificial limits on what God can do.