Preface

In order to be a scientist, one must be willing to make observations. Scientists make tremendous efforts to build telescopes so that they can see great distances into space, or electron microscopes so that they can observe minute structures. Scientists construct all kinds of instruments such as voltmeters and oscilloscopes so that they can observe the invisible.

Scientists want to look at the evidence. I think that there are probably many reasons why we would rather not look at the evidence which suggests that there may be a relation between the Biblical religion and flying saucers. But I believe that the time has come when it will be worth our while to begin to make careful observations concerning the Biblical view of the universe and our presently emerging view of the universe.

Walter Sullivan's book We Are Not Alone is not a book about flying saucers, but rather, an account of how the history of science has led us up to our present search for life in space. Even apart from the idea of flying saucers, modern science now seems quite convinced that man is not alone in the universe. In all probability there is life on many planets throughout the universe; civilizations may have begun space travel long before men began to venture above the surface of the earth.

What does this have to do with the Biblical religion? Modern theology, such as the 'death of God' theology, is based on the assumption that many of the Biblical reports are mythological - make-believe. Included in Biblical mythology was the belief that the Biblical people were frequently visited by superior beings from another world. Theologians who demythologize these beings - often called angels, or messengers - do so in the name of modern science. It is not clear to me how we can demythologize the Biblical material in the name of science when in fact modern science seems quite convinced that in all probability there are in the universe many advanced civilizations involved in space travel.

We cannot begin our Biblical studies with the assumption that the Biblical people were not visited by superior beings from another world; at least we cannot do so in the name of modern science.

Furthermore, we do have the problem of flying saucers with us, and if they exist, we cannot be sure how long an advanced civilization may have been observing our life on earth. We might have to think in terms of an entirely different time scale for such a civilization: a thousand years might be like a day. Consequently, we really should look at the Biblical material and try to discover what the beings from another world were reported to have done.

The heart of the Old Testament religion is the Exodus, which reported that something resembling a space vehicle a 'pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night' - led the Hebrew people out of Egypt up to the 'Red Sea' hovered over the sea while it parted, and then led them into the wilderness, where an 'angel' proceeded to give them religious instructions. The fact that some sort of Unidentified Flying Object - UFO - was reported to have been present at the Red Sea at the time of the parting should cause us to desire a closer look.

The parting of the sea was, of course, in itself unique - so much so, in fact, that we should think seriously about the outside force reported to have been present at the time of the parting. I personally find the suggestion that the parting of the Red Sea was deliberately caused by intelligent beings in some sort of space vehicle to be the most persuasive explanation available at the present time.

There are other parts of this book which I believe are less credible, including some of my speculations concerning the relation between Einstein's theory of relativity and the existence of heaven. I am not an authority on Einstein or on heaven, and I hope I can be forgiven where I have misrepresented both. But modern theology has argued that we must take the results of the physical sciences seriously, and with this I agree, provided we remember the basically tentative nature of most scientific statements. Yet while modern theologians have said that we must pay heed to the physical sciences, these same theologians have mainly been absorbed in the psychological and social sciences.

From what I observe concerning the beliefs of modern science about space and about the universe, and the Biblical beliefs about the universe, aside from the fact that the Biblical language is not technically orientated, it appears to me that the relationship between these two world views is still quite open. This book is an attempt to place the world of the Bible and our "world of space travel, flying saucers, and relativity theory side by side and observe any relationships between the two worlds. Our conclusions about what we see may be tentative, but it is still scientific to look.

I wish to thank those who have helped, directly or indirectly, with this book. The idea for the manuscript germinated during my last year of study at the University of Edinburgh, New College, in Scotland. During this period I was involved in an examination of Biblical and scientific concepts of space under the supervision of Professor John McIntyre and Professor T.F. Torrance. This manuscript was written after I returned to the United States, so that neither Professor McIntyre nor Professor Torrance has seen it, and yet without the background I received in Edinburgh this book would not have been written. I am very much indebted to both men for their time and advice in the past, although they can in no way be blamed for the ideas or errors in this book.

I am indebted to Dr. James M. Boice for his long friendship and for his willingness to read the manuscript, as well as to the Reverend Charles G. Harris for his evaluation of the manuscript, and to the Reverend George M. Rynick not only for his discussion of the manuscript, but also for his encouragement in seeking publication.

I have sought advice concerning modern concepts of relativity from Dr. William Rodgers, have discussed the mathematical problems of space topology with Mr. David Andersen, and have received assistance from Mr. David Schrader in the collection of material concerning flying saucers. I am also indebted to my in-laws, the Reverend and Mrs. T. A. Schrader, for their support while I was writing the manuscript, and to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Downing, who have long encouraged my studies, and who listened patiently while I read the manuscript to them. Finally, of course, I am indebted most to the person to whom this book is dedicated - my wife, who supported me during three years of seminary study at Princeton, encouraged me to take on further study in Edinburgh which often did not appear to be bearing fruit, and aside from all this has been a good wife and mother.

B.H.D.