The flurry of excitement surrounding the Nasa announcement of possible fossil micro-organisms in a meteorite provided Christians with media opportunities. No sooner than the first headlines appeared, Christians were being asked to comment on  whether the new "find" was a challenge to their faith.

In an editorial in The Times, it was suggested that if the discovery is of fossil life from Mars, the implication is that life is not special and that it could have arisen anywhere

"Once the idea of a benevolent Creator is abandoned, such conclusions are mathematically inevitable. If life emerged from the primaeval soup by a  series of steps that turned chemistry into biology, molecules into proteins, and  single-celled amoebas into Einstein, there is no reason to suppose that the process was unique to our planet." (8th August 1996, page 17). 

Dr John Peet, Travelling Secretary of the Biblical Creation Society, and Geoff Chapman, of the Creation Resources Trust were both given space to present their views in a piece entitled "In the beginning, did God also create aliens?" (The Times, 8/8/96, page 3).

The following Sunday, I am aware of there being three radio opportunities - and there may have been more. Peter Butterfield of BCS was interviewed on Radio Nottingham; I appeared on Radio 4's "Sunday" programme, also representing BCS; and the above- mentioned Geoff Chapman appeared on Radio Bristol.

What did we say? In my own case, I wanted to get across the message that life does not just "pop up" when conditions are "right". Life exists only because of the purpose and will of God. The Bible goes to some length to show that the earth is a planet which has been designed to be filled with life. Life makes sense on earth - but it would be a mystery why God should create life on Mars, which has such an inhospitable environment. Finding microbes on Mars would require some rethinking by Christians, but there are no insuperable problems. More importantly, something must be said about finding intelligent life. Why are humans self-conscious? Why are we intelligent? It is because we are imaging God: we are intelligent because God is intelligent; we are creative because He is creative. Since the Bible presents the creation of man as something unique in the Cosmos, we can be confident that there are no other non-human intelligent life forms. It follows that the search for extra- terrestrial intelligence is a waste of resources. On the radio programme with me was Rev Dr John Polkinghorne of Cambridge University. He contributed the thought that no finds, either of intelligent life or non-intelligent life, are challenging to Christianity. Indeed, the Bible does not say that we are the only creatures made in God's image. If there are intelligent life forms "out there", and if they are in need of redemption, it is to be expected that the Word would take their flesh and die for them as he has died for us. However, discussion was terminated then, and there was no opportunity to give a biblical response. Such is the nature of media interviews! 

David J. Tyler (September 1996)

Martian image source 
Hubert Yockey on the evidence of life from the Martian meteorite

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