Hi Aaron
This is one of the classic theological SF stories. It was best in in original
novella form. Blish later extended it into a novel which went down hill from
where he added material. Other than the Lewis triology, another classic fictional
works that deal with these issues from a positive perspective are the People
stories of Zenna Henderson. Most science fiction tends to operate from the
naively positivist assumption that Christianity will be disproved by space travel
(eg Clarke's "The Star" or "The Fountains of Paradise".
GB
Jonathan
"Aaron J. Romanowsky" wrote:
> You might be interested in the classic science fiction novel, "A Case of
> Conscience", by James Blish. It's been a long time since I read it, but I
> think the basic story was as follows: an ET civilization is discovered,
> and a Jesuit priest who has contact with them discovers that these aliens
> have no concept of God, and therefore no souls. He decides that their
> entire species was created somehow by the Devil to corrupt humanity...
>
> Regards,
> Aaron
>
> On Sat, 9 Dec 2000, Darryl Maddox wrote:
> > A similar question has haunted me since I was in my early teens but no one I
> > asked ever seemed to want to talk about it. Since this is a group composed
> > of people who are concerned with both religion and science someone in this
> > group has some thoughts they would care to share. The question is: If we
> > discovere intelligent life in or from outer space, and if they have no
> > concept of God and then of course have never heard of, and perhaps can not
> > even conceive of a being such as Jesus, what effect might that have on our
> > own belief systems? While George's question about our obligation to
> > proclaim the gospel to them is an interesting one it seems to me it skips an
> > essential point - How do we determine if they have a "soul" which needs
> > saving? If they have no soul, such as some peole argue for animals on this
> > planet, are they then either doomed do a temporary physical existance, or if
> > they have souls are all who could not accept Christ because they had never
> > heard of him until they ran into us doomed to condemnation? I know it is
> > trivial but I have asked the same question about native cultures on this
> > planet prior to their contact with the Christian tradition and have never
> > gotten much of an answer to it either. I know someone had to have asked it
> > before I did and I would bet with anyone that someone has written
> > significantly on the question, I just don't know where; so if anyone knows
> > any good sources I would appreciate that information also.
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