I was asked this question by a pastoral search committee once. The question was “How would I respond to the church if it was reported by the news media that life had been discovered on Mars?” Recently this issue was brought up by National Geographic Magazine on September 14th. The article title was “Possible sign of life on Venus stirs up heated debate” by Nadia Drake. She wrote: "Something deadly might be wafting through the clouds shrouding Venus: a smelly, flammable gas called phosphine that annihilates life-forms reliant on oxygen for survival. Ironically though, the scientists who today announced of this noxious gas in the Venusian atmosphere say it could be tantalizing, if controversial, evidence of life on the planet next door."
On the same day New York Times ran this article: Life on Venus? Astronomers See a Signal in Its Clouds by Shannon Stirone, Kenneth Chang, and Dennis Overbye. They wrote: “The detection of a gas in the planet’s atmosphere could turn scientists’ gaze to a planet long overlooked in the search for extraterrestrial life.”
Here is how Albert Mohler responded to these two headlines and the possibility of intelligent life on other planets: What would it mean theologically that some form of say biosis or biological life was found on another planet, either inside our solar system or outside? The bottom line is, it would not change anything theologically at all. There is nothing in the scripture that says that biosis is limited to planet earth. That's not a biblical claim at all. What the Bible does tell us is that in this solar system, in this galaxy, on planet earth, a sovereign creator, self-existent God, had created one creature made in his image. Mohler continued: But there is no indication in scripture that other than God himself and the creatures that he has made and told us about, there's no reason to think that the cosmos understands us or any part of the cosmos has any understanding of us or any intelligibility at all.[1]
BioLogos is a theistic evolutionist organization. Their belief is stated in their Core Commitments:
1. We embrace the historical Christian faith, upholding the authority and inspiration of the Bible.
2. We affirm evolutionary creation, recognizing God as the Creator of all life over billions of years.
The response of BioLogos (click to open) to this question includes the possibility of life being on other planets as it originated on planet Earth, that is, through an evolutionary process:
On Earth, single-celled life formed soon after the planet cooled, but it took billions of years before multi-celled life got going. Intelligent life arrived only 200 thousand years ago. Based just on Earth’s history, it seems more likely we will find planets with simple life than with complex life. Conscious, intelligent life could be much more rare.
Biologos, however, does not rule out the possibility that evolution could have produced non-angelic intelligent life on other planets.
BioLogos has written much on the subject, so they think it is a significant theological question they attempt to answer.
Regarding the salvation of non-angelic life on other planets, Biologos gave four possibilities.
1. Aliens are not fallen and thus do not need redemption. This was C. S. Lewis’s view in the space trilogy.
2. Aliens are fallen, and they have their own relationship with God that is different from ours. This could be similar to the situation of angels in Scripture. So, there is more than one way of salvation contradicting John 14:6.
3. Aliens are fallen but included in Christ’s redemptive work on Earth. Supporters of this view argue that Christ’s redemptive work was done only once, on Earth. They reject the idea that the second person of the Trinity is dying over and over on millions of worlds .... Perhaps they receive some special revelation from God about the redemption paid by Christ on Earth, [the canon of Scripture is closed] or perhaps they know Christ in some other way and refer to him by a different name [There is none other name whereby any person can be saved: Acts 4:12]. Our responsibility as humans may even be to bring the gospel to them across cosmic distances.
4. Aliens are fallen, but Christ’s incarnation and redemptive work are repeated on their own worlds. In this view, Christ was not only incarnate on other planets, but died on those worlds for the sins of alien creatures.
My answer to the search committee question was that I did not think such a report from the news media would be announced.
If life was discovered on another planet did evolution cause life to spring out of non-life?
Did God start the evolutionary process as in theistic evolution (which I believe contradicts the six 24 days in Genesis One?
Did God create aliens out of 900 degrees Fahrenheit dust of Venus who are totally unlike humans to survive in inhospitable conditions to human existence (Venus's atmosphere is carbon dioxide)?
Did Jesus die on the cross for these aliens?
Did God create these beings without the chance of hearing the gospel and being saved?
Does God have a different plan of salvation for them which would contradict the doctrine of the exclusivity of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ?
[1] Albert Mohler. “Life in a Venusian Cloud? What Would it Mean if Life were found on another planet?” in The Briefing (September 15, 2020). (click to open).