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Do UAPs/UFOs Undermine Christian Theology?

Do UAPs/UFOs Undermine Christian Theology?

Last updated on: August 6, 2026 at 7:29 am by Larry Jordan

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Do UAPs/UFOs Undermine Christian Theology? 2026-08-06T07:29:33-05:00 Larry Jordan

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Does Christian theology make sense in the modern world? What if Earth is NOT the center of the universe and human beings are NOT the only intelligent beings?

Why would aliens hate our religions (or one of our 45,000 religions) or fear our God (or one of our 3,000 gods)? Image from Gemini/AI-generated, in the public domain

Would aliens think that our religions and our gods are tribal myths? Why would aliens hate our religions or fear our gods? Image from Gemini/AI-generated, in the public domain

Recently, I watched “The Age of Disclosure,” a 2025 documentary film about Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). UAPs were once known popularly as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The film features current and former officials of the U.S, government. They include Marco Rubio, Kristin Gillibrand and Mike Rounds, as well as numerous whistleblowers.

The whistleblowers allege that the U.S. government has withheld evidence that confirms the existence of UAPs. They contend that we possess the remains of alien pilots and alien craft crashes. They say the evidence is so secret that it has not been shared with top government officials, even the President. Critics of the movie say that “Nothing is proven, so nothing can be refuted.”

Whether we have encountered alien life or not, astronomers estimate that there are 40 to 60 billion inhabitable planets in the universe. So it is highly unlikely that we are the only intelligent life, whether we ever encounter them or not. Does Christian theology make sense in the modern world? What is the significance of the earthly Jesus in a universe with 40 billion inhabitable planets?

Do UAPs/UFOs Undermine Christian Theology?

Recently, I read a book by a Catholic theologian about the possibility of alien life. The author was NOT concerned about it. He did NOT think that the possibility of intelligent life on other planets would undermine our earthly Christian theology of original sin, incarnation and atonement. I had never considered the question, so I had an open mind about it.

But the theologian’s attempt to reconcile Christian theology with extraterrestrial life seemed apologetic and defensive, even preposterous, more rationalization than explanation. He surmised:

Perhaps aliens resisted the alien serpents’ temptations, refused to eat the alien apples, and avoided the alien original sins. Since there was no original sin, there was no need for atonement. Therefore, perhaps God reveals Himself as two persons (NOT three persons) wherever Jesus’ sacrifice is unnecessary.
Perhaps aliens did not eat any apples, since the earthly Adam and Eve sinned for everyone in the universe. The earthly Adam and Eve damned the aliens, and the earthly Jesus saved them. Therefore, perhaps the alien Bibles look to our earthly history, rather than their own histories, to explain their situations.
Perhaps aliens ate their alien apples and met their alien Jesuses, who died for their alien sins. Perhaps all of these Jesuses were the “real” Jesus, appearing in different places and times. Therefore, perhaps Jesus dies over and over again, atoning for the sins of everyone, in every place and every time.

A Christianity without Christ? A savior from another planet? A Jesus who lives and dies on other planets? Do any of these “explanations” make any sense to you? Me neither.

Does Christian Theology Make Sense in the Modern World?

Why would anything that ever happened on Earth be relevant to anyone living on another planet?

Remember human history. Judaism began in a henotheistic culture, where worshipers of one god acknowledged the other gods. Eventually, as the Israelites encountered other cultures, other religions and other gods seemed like tribal myths to them. If aliens encounter our culture, will our religions and our gods seem like tribal myths to them?

Remember human history. Our Western theology does NOT translate well to Eastern cultures. Pew Research Center estimates that 2 percent of people in China are Christians, despite 1,400 years of evangelization. Will Christianity’s speculative beliefs and supernatural doctrine make any more sense to our interplanetary neighbors than they make to our international neighbors?

This discussion of Adam and Eve, apples and talking snakes assumes a literal interpretation of the Bible. But the theory of evolution suggests that human beings evolved over 4 billion years. And geneticists tell us that there was no Adam and Eve who begat the human race. And evolutionary biologists tell us that there was no Eden, no original perfection. Animals always ate each other.

Even if our creation myth was historical, how could it have been preserved? Scientists tell us that human beings have existed for 200,000 years, but language has only existed for 150,000 years. Writing has only existed for 5,000 years. Were our stories preserved for all of that time, before human beings acquired speech or writing?

As I wrote in The Way, “Those who think that we are the culmination of creation or that we were singularly created in God’s image should take a longer view—only 50,000 years ago, homo sapiens were climbing trees for food, communicating in grunts, and coupling with Neanderthals.” Singer Tom Waits explains, “We are monkeys with money and guns.”

Imagine that you are an alien meeting a human being for the first time. Do you think they will see us as “monkeys with money and guns,” rather than”the culmination of creation”? Me too.

Why Would Aliens Hate Christianity?

My friends, Karl Forehand and Stuart Delony, recently released an AI summary of an upcoming episode of The Unlearning Curve podcast, titled “Why Do Aliens Hate Christianity?” In the episode, they discuss an article by Joseph Jordan (no relation), who argues that abduction experiences are not physical events. Rather, they are visions intended to deconvert people from Christianity.

Jordan believes that calling upon Jesus is the only way to repel these experiences. Jordan, an Evangelical Christian, is a UAP researcher associated with the CE4 Research Group. AI reports that, from the perspective of secular science, psychology, and medicine, the group’s methodology and conclusions lack academic credibility.

Forehand and Delony ask, “Are aliens truly targeting Christians, or is this a reflection of broader fears about belief and control?” They contend that Evangelicals have historically been skeptical of anything that challenges the literal interpretations of scripture.

Why would aliens hate our religions or fear our gods? Imagine that we abducted aliens. Would we hate their religions or fear their gods? Are aliens primarily interested in debating our theology, rather than examining our technologies, exchanging our resources, or exploring our cultures?

In The Way, I ask, “When we encounter a reality that conflicts with our theology, do we conform our ‘reality’ to match our theology or do we conform our theology to match our reality?” Obviously, if aliens exist, then humans are NOT the only intelligent beings in the universe. Our scriptures might convey myth, NOT history, and our stories might seem tribal, NOT universal, to others.

Does Christian theology make sense in the modern world? What if Earth is NOT the center of the universe and human beings are NOT the only intelligent beings?

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About Larry Jordan

Larry Jordan is a follower of Jesus with a Zen practice. He wrote “The Way,” informed by the Eastern religions, the mystics, and the quantum physicists. "The Way" won a 2024 Nautilus Book Award. You can read more about the author here.

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