ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608160025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: THE BACK PEW
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
"And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
"And God saw the light, that it was good ... "
The first few verses of the Bible, the book of Genesis, are as familiar to most of us as our own names. The King James Version - though it may have some shortcomings in translation of the oldest Hebrew versions available - is poetically accurate and for many of us bears the advantage of familiarity.
As the book progresses, we hear the comforting stories of creation - two distinct ones, most scholars insist - and the ancient, powerful and continuing yearnings of human beings to know their Creator.
For most of the history of human beings on this planet, we have believed that we live at the center of the universe, a distinct spot of earth, water, fire and wind where a unique thing called "life" exists.
Some might argue that our need to believe in other living things outside the realm of Earth really dates back not just centuries but millennia. That the stories we have believed and passed on about God, Satan and angels are really an attempt to populate the unknowable universe around us.
That argument aside, people have long speculated, hoped, dreamed, that there might be living creatures - at least a little bit like ourselves - on far-off worlds.
Mars, based on its proximity and its popularity with science fiction writers, always has been a primary focus of our speculation.
And now, it seems, there is the possibility that we might have been right about that conjecture.
Scientists say that there is strong (though still inconclusive) evidence that some form of life may exist - or may have existed some time in the ancient past - on the Red Planet.
Although that understandably triggered all kinds of questions about our scientific assumptions, it also immediately prompted the pundits to raise questions of faith.
It didn't seem to matter that Christianity long ago gave up its insistence that the universe revolves around the earth; some believe that most Christians still live in a world in which science is the purview of the antichrist and that religious revelation must evaporate in the glaring light of scientific revelation.
And for some reason, most interviewers for national news services apparently didn't bother to ask Jews or Muslims what the discovery might have meant to their faith.
News reports in the last couple of weeks have included some stories that focused on the musings of academically cloistered theologians on the meaning of this latest discovery. The answers range - predictably - from the view that the potential discovery of life on Mars means nothing theologically, to the position that it changes everything.
As valid and valuable as their opinions may be, we want to know your opinion - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan or atheist - of the discovery.
Does evidence of life on Mars change your perception of God? Of Creation? Of Christ? Of yourself?
Does the real possibility of life elsewhere make the Bible any less important to inhabitants of this sphere in this solar system?
What implications does this discovery have in your religious congregation?
Let us know what you think this week by calling InfoLine at 981-0100 in Roanoke or 382-0200 in the New River Valley and leaving a message in category MARS (6277).
You also can e-mail me at clowexc2roanoke.infi.net, or even rely on the old, reliable U.S. Postal Service to deliver your letter to The Back Pew, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491.
In any case, make sure I get the message by Aug. 26 - that's a week from Monday. I'll write a column based on your replies and share your wisdom with the known universe. Or at least that part of it The Roanoke Times reaches.
Weigh in on Mars and the Bible
Call InfoLine at 981-0100 in Roanoke or 382-0200 in the New River Valley and leaving a message in category MARS (6277).
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