Did God Create Life on Other Worlds?
Featuring Prof. Roger Wiens and Rev. Dr. Charles Arand
Presentation Summary
It is only in the last century that we have come to understand the enormity of the universe both in space and time. God’s creation is vast beyond our imagination. Even before the extent of creation was understood, people pondered whether other planets in our solar system might harbor some kind of life, from the martian canal builders imagined by Percival Lowell at the turn of the 20th century (spawning the science fiction genre) to the more recent idea of creatures in a subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa. We have also considered whether planets around other stars harbor life, and if so, whether we might hear from them with the SETI program. Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote about these profound questions in his Space Trilogy and in his essays. This presentation will cover all of these topics from a Christian, Biblical, and historical point of view, concluding with the question of how this might affect our lives.
There is no cost to attend, but please let us know that you’re planning on coming.
About the Presenters
Prof. Roger Wiens
Roger Wiens has made a career of inventing instruments for NASA’s robotic missions and using them to explore the solar system. He graduated from Wheaton College and received his PhD from the University of Minnesota studying meteorites from Mars. His first NASA mission (“Genesis”) returned materials from the Sun, revealing key details of the creation of our solar system. Subsequently, he developed the ChemCam laser instrument for NASA’s one-ton Curiosity rover that has been exploring the red planet since 2012. He also developed the SuperCam instrument that is operating on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Wiens was knighted for “forging strong ties between the French and American scientific communities” and for “inspiring many young, ambitious earthlings.” He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Toulouse and is the namesake of Asteroid 41795 WIENS; he has received many awards from NASA. A professor of Planetary Science at Purdue University, Wiens is the faculty advisor for a campus organization that holds monthly meetings on the interaction of Christianity and science. Professor Wiens is an active member and occasional organist at Covenant (Ev. Presbyterian) Church near Purdue.
Dr. Charles Arand
Dr. Charles P. Arand has taught at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, since 1989, where his teaching and writing have focused on Lutheran confessional theology and the doctrine of creation. He is the author of That I May Be His Own: An Overview of Luther's Catechisms and coauthor, with Robert Kolb, of The Genius of Luther's Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church. He also served as the primary drafter of Together with All Creatures: Caring for God's Living Earth for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod's Commission on Theology and Church Relations.
His work explores how the Christian confession of God as Creator shapes the way we understand our lives alongside other creatures. Through the Science for Seminaries project, he has participated in conversations about astronomy, cosmology, and their theological significance, including work with Anton Koekemoer of the Space Telescope Science Institute. He is particularly interested in what it means to view the vast universe revealed by modern science as creation and to consider humanity's place within it.