These are somewhat random thoughts, and in need of much more contemplation.

The universe we know today is radically larger, both temporally and spatially, than that which the authors of the Bible knew, than that which the Church Fathers knew, than the medieval theologians knew, and the theologians of the Reformation and early modern era.

Yet, if we look at theologies that have been created since then, since the burst of information that has become available in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, current theological models seem stuck in a geocentric, small-scale universe.

What adjustments must be made in our understanding of God and the Bible thanks to quantum and relativistic physics, astronomy, geology, biology and neurological and computational science? Those who reject the existence of God would of course see the question as entirely nonsensical, as would much of fundamentalist Christianity which continues to think that the universe is 6000 or so years old. Atheists will laugh, imagining that the questions are just further proof of the silliness of any belief in God in general or Christianity in particular, while the fundamentalist will be tempted to pick up stones or worse, simply fail to comprehend that there is any problem at all that matters.

But for the rest of Christianity—the bulk of Christianity—what things need to be considered? As odd as the questions may seem—some readers, particularly those lacking much science, may think it’s fanciful or science fictional; but in reality, they are serious and real questions and have an impact on our understanding of theology.

Issues that need addressing:

1. The inevitable discovery of both life and intelligence elsewhere in the universe. The Milky Way Galaxy alone contains around 400 billion stars. With current technology, we have found over 800 other stars that contain planets. Our ability to find extrasolar planets is no longer limited to odd solar systems unlike ours, with hot Jupiters swinging dangerously close to their stars. Now we’ve found more than 30 planets in their stars’ habitable zones. What percentage of stars actually have planets and of those, how many are earth analogues: rocky worlds of similar mass at a similar distance from their suns? If even one percent come in that way, that’s 4 billion earth-like worlds just in the Milky Way. Then, what percentage of those will have life, and what percentage of those intelligent beings capable of asking questions of their universe and building civilizations?

And that’s just for one galaxy—ours. What of the hundreds of billions of others just within the observable universe, each of which contains 4 billion earth-like worlds or more?

Are other intelligent species likewise “fallen” and in need of redemption? If so, does the Son of God become one of them and die for their sins? How many times does this happen? And how do we reconcile all that with Hebrews 9:25-28? Will it be necessary at some point in the future to do “comparative” Christianity–the similarities and differences of the incarnation on other worlds and the resulting religion? Should we plan for that eventuality?

2. Neuroscience, computers, and the question of the soul? What are we going to do when strong AI becomes a reality. I’d suggest that those who imagine HAL 9000 or the equivalent isn’t ever going to happen are naïve. We need to think about this and come to grips with it now, before Star Trek’s Data appears and starts wondering about the eternal destiny of his soul.

3. How does God function? Does the conservation of energy and other laws of physics have an effect on him? And if not, what is He exactly? We assume God is real; Jesus became a human being. As real, there are true and false statements that can be made about him. Things he will do and things he won’t do. Are there any testable hypotheses that bear on increasing our understanding of Him?

4. Given the age of the universe and its future history, how does the eternal kingdom fit into it? If the universe is moving toward infinite entropy, how does God reverse that? When? And how does he create more energy or matter in the first place, or later, when it all runs down? Or does he?

5. What is God’s relationship to the universe? Free will versus determinism? Micromanaging? Iron hand of the free market? Does God get bored?

6. Given the size of the universe, why “is God mindful of man”? Are we alone special, or does his mindfulness extend to all sentient beings in the universe. If not, why not?

7. How does resurrection work? What happens at death? How does God restore us? Does our experience with computers help us understand that? Is the universe like a computer simulation, but with much better graphics? Does he “save” our running programs—our souls—to his flash drive? Is the resurrection thanks to the fact that God has created a backup of each of us?

8. Thinking of eschatology, at least as popularly conceived, how does the second coming work? If we “meet him in the air” what are the logistics if I’m on the International Space Station, or on the moon, or Mars or in interstellar space? How does the resurrection work if my body is buried on the moon or in orbit? After all, Shoemaker’s ashes are already on the moon, and the ashes of several others are currently in orbit. This is not just a theoretical problem: it is a real one. Most theological treatments of the resurrection and second coming are hopelessly geocentric and naïve, it seems to me.

What I’m doing here is just thinking out loud. Asking crazy questions. But that’s what theology is really all about: asking questions and then looking to see if there are answers–and then finding even more questions.

In doing theology, there is more to it than just understanding the Bible, since for quite some time, most theologians have recognized that God’s revelation to humanity is not limited to just His special revelation (the Bible), but includes His general revelation as well (the universe, history, and so on). Modern theology must therefore address some modern ramifications of what wonderful new things we’ve learned through general revelation. With each new discovery, God becomes bigger. When the Psalmist commented that the “heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19) the first millennium BC poet would have been able to perceive about 3000 stars and only five planets with his eyes as he looked up into the darkness. Thanks to modern astronomy, the psalmist’s words are now even more powerful and profound than they were when they were composed. We now know we live in a universe filled with more stars than all the grains of sand on all the seashores and deserts of the world–and that there are probably even more planets than there are stars.

Theology becomes ever harder, the questions ever multiply, and we are ever more in need of greater interdisciplinary work. As in all fields of study, ever increasing specialization will become the norm. We need astronomers and physicists who do theology and theologians who do astronomy and physics—and computer science, and mathematics, and so on. Theology is in its infancy.

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