Here is some interesting information about the known/unknown universe. It requires careful reading.
Dr Natalie Batalha, Kepler mission scientist at Nasa’s Ames Research Center in California, said, “If you ask yourself where is the next habitable planet likely to be, it’s within about 11 light-years, which is very close.” (Unfortunately, as stated, “Kepler-186f resides in the Kepler-186 system, about 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.” How long will it take man to invent a vehicle that could travel at half the speed of light?)

Dr Batalha said the new finds Kepler 1638b and Kepler-1229b were intriguing targets in the search for habitable planets.

The Nasa Ames researcher said the Kepler mission was part of a “larger strategic goal of finding evidence of life beyond Earth: knowing whether we’re alone or not, to know... how life manifests itself in the galaxy and what is the diversity”.

She added: “Being able to look up to a point of light and being able to say: ‘That star has a living world orbiting it.’ I think that’s very profound and answers questions about why we’re here.”

“We know of just one planet where life exists -- Earth. When we search for life outside our solar system we focus on finding planets with characteristics that mimic that of Earth,” said Elisa Quintana, research scientist at the SETI Institute at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and lead author of the paper published today in the journal Science.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36256725

http://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/nas...-planet-in-the-habitable-zone-of-another-star

 

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of Orion?
“Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her satellites?
“Do you know the ordinances of the heavens,
Or fix their rule over the earth?
( Job 38:32-33 NASB )

First; read all of Job 38. Then;
See the amazing creation of Jehovah God and his Son Jesus.

Invisible Universe Revealed by Hubble NOVA HD

 

What are your thoughts, @Tsaphah ? Surely you have some on this topic.

—Timothy

 

It’s funny you should ask. Not “funny ha-ha but, funny peculiar”. I was thinking about this a few days ago. I have two friends that I have slowly been teaching the Bible. They are quite knowledgable of the known universe but are thinking in terms of “aliens, flying saucers”, etc.

I introduced the idea of beings that do not have physical bodies. We (humans = Homo sapiens, Anthropos) are evident, along with other animals (earthlings = “inhabitant of the earth”). For all we know or don’t know, there are other beings in this universe. The Bible speaks of angels (Aggelos ang'-el-os); a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God. In Hebrew, there are two different words, malak and shinan, which are translated as angel. There is also the Aramaic (malak) similar to Hebrew. They are all described as a messenger, or representative. Malak is from an unused root meaning to dispatch as a deputy.

There are the other forms that exist, which are named demons/devils. There are two words, shed (shade) which is translated as devil or demon. The other word is sa’iyr (saw-eer) which is where the goat type image of a hairy goat represents Satan. It was actually hairy goat used as a sacrificial animal to false gods.

Is there other life forms in our universe? I don’t know! WE don’t know! There will come a time when it all will be revealed. At this time WE should only be concerned with OUR belief in the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Any other philosophy is a waste of time and effort, with no answers.

 

We can't say whether physical creatures exist or not elsewhere in the cosmos I wouldn't rule it out but while there is a fair chance there are microbes it seems highly unlikely that multicellular life is present beyond earth that didn't have it's origin here at this time.

Naturally a lot of people have the impression the existence of aliens would be a strong blow to the notion of a creator not so much while War of the Worlds popularized the concept of aliens Christians including John Milton and Gallileo among others speculated there might be intelligent life on other planets centuries before the idea was popularized and they saw no incompatibility with their faith.

There are arguments that the pre-flood world and the post flood world until the famine in Joseph's day were far more technologically advanced than they are generally given credit that Babel may have been as tall as 16,000 feet if it had been successfully completed or that it was a spaceport it's also fairly conspicuous that there was a planet or moon in the solar system several thousand years ago where the asteroid belt is situated. The case that nuclear weaponry was utilized in several ancient cultures contemporaneously is fairly strong. It could be a lot of the finds on the moon and mars are the result of our ancestors poking around.

In a way things played out the best they possibly could it was virtually inevitable the issue of universal sovereignty would come up and as far as we know Satan did it at the very earliest opportunity that it could involve physical creation if it had come up after humans had a couple milleniums under their belt or even at a point where there were multiple intelligent physical species it would be a lot more complicated.

While skeptical without ruling out intelligent physical aliens in our past and present day I am firmly convinced that Jehovah will develop new forms of intelligent life whatever there nature in the future not many people give thought to that after the final test is concluded day 8 the beginning of the second creative week begins with the issue of universal sovereignty out of the way those that make it past the final test will get to witness and perhaps even participate in infinite creative weeks.

Moreover one insight our father blessed me with years ago was the awareness of a fractal pattern in Jehovah's creation of intelligent life what is this pattern? First Jehovah created Jesus/Michael and as a result the parent/child relationship/dynamic came into existence, then the angels were created as a result Christ had peers the sibling dynamic, then humans were created they could have easily been made to reproduce asexually but our father invented gender with his physical creations and as a result the husband/wife dynamic. Each of these enabled a new and unique form of expression and manifestation of Jehovah's nature/dominant quality love in this fashion God is an artist of sorts there is an element of truth to the common belief God creates to "communicate his goodness."

Because of this fractal pattern/theme of his creative works it's very likely that over the course of the upcoming creative weeks this pattern will repeat with new intelligent creations we cannot imagine innovatively fashioned to manifest love and God's image in new manners.

 

Greetings Abdiel7,
Most humans can only think of themselves as being “special” and at the top of the food chain. Most humans fail to recognize our smallness and frailties. Sometimes it is like not being able to see beyond the tip of our nose. Yet, at the same time, they believe we are the only intelligent life form in the universe. If there were other intelligent life forms, Jehovah would have told us about them. The only types we humans are told of, are the “angels” who reside in the “third heaven”. (2 Co 12:2)

There are many who misinterpret this mention of the “third heaven”, and the “man”, spoken of. As far as the Bible is concerned, there are “three heavens”. There are six Hebrew words, and one Aramaic word for heaven. The main word is “shamayim”, as is the Aramaic. The “first” heaven is the sky; the area from the ground to the upper atmosphere. This is where birds fly and clouds form. The “second” heaven is from the upper atmosphere to outer space where the planets and stars reside. The “third” heaven is the residence of Jehovah God and the other spirit creatures. It is likely beyond our universe. All of these are “shamayim” in Hebrew and Aramaic. Strong’s definition is:

Shamayim (shaw-mah'-yim)
1. heaven, heavens, sky
a. visible heavens, sky
1. as abode of the stars
2. as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc
b. Heaven (as the abode of God)

The heavens in Greek is ouranos (oo-ran-os’ ), which include everything from the ground up and beyond. Strong’s definition is:
1. the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it
a. the universe, the world
b. the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
c. the sidereal or starry heavens
2. the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings.

A good example of the Greek meanings are at Mt 6:26; “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Both places translate ouranos as air, and heavenly.

 

Would it be appropriate to share a personal theory that (while it doesn't go against any biblical teachings, also has no particular biblical basis)?

I'm of the opinion that angels are not only "not from earth" but that heaven would be described in modern terms as a higher dimension. If heaven is another dimension, there's no telling how many infinitely large dimensions/realms may be part of Jehovah's Kingdom.

If we think on that large of a scale, the verses about the meek inheriting the "earth" -could- apply not only to our little rock, but to our entire physical universe. It seems an "awefully" big and beautiful expanse for only one speck to be used. And if, when Jehovah reclaims and restores the earth, I'm sure it would be entirely within his power to restore any number of planets and perhaps help people get from one to another without the need to manually travel the distance ("higher dimensions" could be useful that way). So, even if there isn't currently life elsewhere in our earthly universe, "being fruitful and filling the earth" could be a much larger project than originally expected.

(Obviously, not saying "this is right"... just something that seems reasonable)

 

Hey Tricky Sam,
AJ (Joshuastone7) and I have a similar take on the first lines of Genesis. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” ( Gen 1:1 NKJV ) That “beginning” is a generalized statement about a specific “time period”, before God started creating everything that exists. Verse 2, then focuses on the earth and it’s local surrounding “heavens”. I’ve always been curious about verse 5b; “So the evening and the morning were the first day.” ( NKJV )

I believe that is associated with verse 2, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” This is where it is important to read and understand the original language. Unlike many “Christians”, I believe there was a “Big Bang”. In other words, a sudden beginning. And, there were other things being created in “our universe” which is just a small part of of what exists. So, the darkness represents evening and light represents day. There was darkness, nothing seen, then light, objects seen. “And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” ( Gen 1:4 NJKV ) “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” ( Gen 1:4 NJKV ) In Hebrew, this is called “one day”.

Many people strongly believe this is a 24 hour period. It is not! The Hebrew word used here is yowm. It is used to designate a “period of time”. It can mean: a period of time, a day, a working day, a year, a lifetime, or more. So, each creative “day” can vary in time. They are not all 24 hour periods of time. Each “day” could be millions of years. To Jehovah God time is relative. Yowm comes from an unused root word meaning to be hot. “Uuuuuhh, that’s Hot!”

Yes, there was a period of time when the earth was a “void”, formless mass of molten material.
Then, after a period of time, when conditions were right, God decided to make living creatures to inhabit this “earth”. In Hebrew, it is ‘erets (eh’-rets), meaning firm. We have fossil records of many of these ancient experiments.

Well, could there be other life forms outside of earth? Yes. Maybe No. We may never know. It will all depend on Jehovah God’s plan. I know one thing he is concerned about. That is moving Satan, the demons, and especially evil humans. Once the earth is cleaned, we may be allowed to see what God have planned for us.

 

I agree with you. Verse 2 is the beginning of the history of the earth and it's solar system.