100 Billion Planets in our Galaxy

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CurtisHouse

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There are, at the very least, around 100 billion planets in the Milky Way Galaxy. Do you ever wonder why the Earth is so important and the human race in general? I understand how amazing the human race is due to God creating us all but how could there only be one planet out of the hundreds of billions (and probably even trillions) in the entire Universe with God’s people on it? Nothing of this is church teaching but definitely falls in the philosophical category. Do you think God could have made other children out there in the vastness of space? Anything is possible by God of course. It is very difficult to fathom that we are the only ones out there when you compare this pale blue dot (as coined by Carl Sagan) to the enormity of the Universe.
 
CurtisHouse said:
There are, at the very least, around 100 billion planets in the Milky Way Galaxy. Do you ever wonder why the Earth is so important and the human race in general? I understand how amazing the human race is due to God creating us all but how could there only be one planet out of the hundreds of billions (and probably even trillions) in the entire Universe with God’s people on it? Nothing of this is church teaching but definitely falls in the philosophical category. Do you think God could have made other children out there in the vastness of space? Anything is possible by God of course. It is very difficult to fathom that we are the only ones out there when you compare this pale blue dot (as coined by Carl Sagan) to the enormity of the Universe.
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Seems like a waste to me.
 
Yes sin and suffering were brought into the World through man. I don’t know of any church teaching that states that sin was brought into the Universe by original sin. I think there is a huge difference.
 
I see the vastness of the universe as proof of God’s love for mankind. Remember, He gave us full dominion over all of creation. Not just the earth but ALL of creation, including outer space. The fact that there is an entire universe that belongs to us just waiting to be explored is like one big gift to mankind God has given to us out of pure love.

As for if there is extraterrestrial life that is intelligent and rational as us out there, I cannot say with any authority. But if there is extraterrestrial life that isn’t hostile you can bet your bottom dollar Jesus would want them converted to the one true faith.
 
It makes me think of something else. What if before the Fall, the almost uncountable planets were teeming with life and everything was, well, perfect. Then, after sin entered the Universe, we not only destroyed the perfection of Earth but also the perfection of the entire Universe. Makes you think about how unimaginably horrid sin truly is. Not only a sin against God (which is amazingly appalling) but truly a sin against the entire Universe.
 
@CurtisHouse, All predicated on the theory that material size is significant to God as it is to man. There is no reason at all that this is the case. Nothing we know about God indicates material size would matter one iota.
Freddy said:
Seems like a waste to me.
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Why? Because we cannot access it and use it? It’s a waste to whom? Is the ice on Antarctica a waste? What about the water at the bottom of the ocean? Note: pertinent definition of waste:

material that is not wanted; the unusable remains or byproducts of something.
 
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tafan2 said:
@CurtisHouse, All predicated on the theory that material size is significant to God as it is to man. There is no reason at all that this is the case. Nothing we know about God indicates material size would matter one iota.
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Freddy:
Seems like a waste to me.
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Why? Because we cannot access it and use it?
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I have something here for you. I made it. Do you find it of any use?
 
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So, the Universe is a waste because God made it for us and we have no use of it?
 
CurtisHouse said:
Nothing of this is church teaching but definitely falls in the philosophical category. Do you think God could have made other children out there in the vastness of space?
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That’s a scientific question, isn’t it?

A philosophical question might be…If there are other forms of life on other planets would they be capable of attaining salvation, or of accepting God’s grace, and if so, how would that determination be made?
 
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IMO, the preoccupation with extraterrestrial life is, in large part, a 20th century novelty. It “roughly” coincides with cinema - science fiction movies in particular. Are there isolated cases in history? Sure, but nothing like the hundreds of millions who have seen man-made extraterrestrial life on a screen.
 
CurtisHouse said:
how could there only be one planet out of the hundreds of billions (and probably even trillions) in the entire Universe with God’s people on it?
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There’s nothing that says this is the only planet with rational life on it.

If I’m being honest, I kinda think it is, but it wouldn’t bother my faith any if aliens stopped by later today. What we know is that God has revealed Himself to us and opened the path to salvation for us. That is the primary concern of scripture.

I think He created the universe the way He did to showcase something of His grandeur and creative powers. I look at it the same way I look at dinosaurs. They’re something neat, they’re something He knew a lot of us would be fascinated by, and they’re there to showcase His creativity. There doesn’t need to be any more reason to it.
Freddy said:
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tafan2:
@CurtisHouse, All predicated on the theory that material size is significant to God as it is to man. There is no reason at all that this is the case. Nothing we know about God indicates material size would matter one iota.
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Freddy:
Seems like a waste to me.
Click to expand...
Why? Because we cannot access it and use it?
Click to expand...
I have something here for you. I made it. Do you find it of any use?
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Depends. Am I able to view it? Am I able to study it? Am I able to infer the nature of its creator, or marvel at the scope of it? Does the level of intricacy and delicacy in it tell me something about you?

I don’t have to be able to use something to be able to make use of it.

I honestly doubt we’ll make it very far outside of our solar system, but that doesn’t make the universe a waste because it tells us about God’s nature. (I hope I’m proven wrong, and that we spread out across the galaxy and beyond, but I doubt it.)

Incidentally, I also think it’s there for after the resurrection. It’s not for us now, it’s for us later. An anticipation of the glories of the New Creation.
 
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ProdglArchitect said:
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Freddy:
I have something here for you. I made it. Do you find it of any use?
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Depends. Am I able to view it? Am I able to study it? Am I able to infer the nature of its creator, or marvel at the scope of it? Does the level of intricacy and delicacy in it tell me something about you?
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No. None of the above. So do you find it of any use?
 
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Freddy said:
No. None of the above. So do you find it of any use?
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In that case, no, it wouldn’t be of much use to me, but then, that’s not the case with the universe.

We can do all those things with the universe, so your example object no longer applies.
 
ProdglArchitect said:
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Freddy:
No. None of the above. So do you find it of any use?
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In that case, no, it wouldn’t be of much use to me, but then, that’s not the case with the universe.

We can do all those things with the universe, so your example object no longer applies.
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‘The universe’ is more accurately described as ‘the observable universe’. That is, the bits we can see. So you can’t do those things outside of the observable universe. Which is quite probably infinite.

So it’s a bit like my present to you. Pretty much useless. You can’t view it. You can’t study it. It tells you nothing about who made it. You have no idea about its intricacy or delicacy.
 
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Freddy said:
So it’s a bit like my present to you.
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No, it’s not, at all. You’re making the mistake of conflating what we’re currently capable of with what is possible. Given enough time, there is no reason we couldn’t explore the entire expanse of the universe.

Even if that is impossible, that itself can tell us something about it’s creator, namely that He is beyond full comprehension.
 
ProdglArchitect said:
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Freddy:
So it’s a bit like my present to you.
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No, it’s not, at all. You’re making the mistake of conflating what we’re currently capable of with what is possible. Given enough time, there is no reason we couldn’t explore the entire expanse of the universe.

Even if that is impossible, that itself can tell us something about it’s creator, namely that He is beyond full comprehension.
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Yes, it’s physically impossible. And we aren’t talking about the creator. We’re talking about what you say He created and whether it serves any purpose. But you don’t know what it is, you can’t access it and it could possibly be infinite. So we have an infinite amount of something which you know nothing about.

Seems useless to me.
 
tafan2 said:
Is the ice on Antarctica a waste? What about the water at the bottom of the ocean?
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Not sure. But I don’t see the purpose of some things. For example, there are many different types of mosquito. Why should there be a aedes aegypti mosquito which carries a terrible disease. Or why would planets outside of our solar system have a moon. Such as for example, Kepler-1625b.
 
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