From Christian Roots

Abstract

The religions of Unitarian Universalism, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Christian Scientism, Seventh-day Adventism and Jehovah’s Witnesses all have roots in protestant Christianity. All, however, have grown in very different directions from those original roots. The belief systems of these five religions cover a broad spectrum in terms of how different religions might offer a variety of approaches for handling the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Though neither the Unitarian Universalists nor the Quakers appear to have anything to say, explicitly, about life in the universe beyond the Earth, they both fully accept the discoveries of modern science. Thus, followers of both religions likely would easily embrace the discovery of life beyond Earth. In contrast, Christian Scientism rejects significant aspects of modern science; followers of Christian Science even nominally reject the notion that the human body is real. Given the Christian Science belief that the human mind is real but the body is not, Christian Science believers probably would reject claims that extraterrestrial beings are anything other than illusions. In stark contrast, the prophetess of Seventh-day Adventism, Ellen G. White, claimed to have encountered living beings on Saturn, and so extraterrestrial life is intimately associated with her prophesies and with Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. Finally, Jehovah’s Witnesses, like many fundamentalist Christians, believe in the absolute centrality of Earth in God’s purpose and for this reason most likely would reject the possibility that beings created by God could exist anywhere else.