. . . Mr Spielberg -- who is a believer in UFO's, ET's etc -- himself being on record that it challenges the views of the Christian Faith. As, Jubileecast reports:
The movie, which opens in theaters on June 12, examines how such a revelation could affect public trust in institutions, including government and religion.
Spielberg suggested that confirmation of intelligent life beyond Earth could force many people to reconsider long-held assumptions about faith.
"If this truth were just known overnight, if the government announced, 'Yes, we have been keeping this from you since 1947,' that would mess up a lot of people," Spielberg said during the interview. "And the movie also takes the position of the church. What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God our God only on this planet, or is God a God for every system where there's civilization, intelligent life, and even developing life?"
The article is less than straightforward (given, "church" above) as it discusses the controversy that has begun to brew:
The comments quickly generated discussion online, with some social media users accusing the director of attempting to undermine Christianity. However, Spielberg did not specifically reference Christianity during the interview. Instead, he raised broader theological questions about how faith traditions might respond if intelligent extraterrestrial life were discovered.
Further, as we may see from a trailer, the movie portrays what would be recognised as possession states -- altered voices, changed eyes etc -- and so this underscores that we must address the link to the UFO Contact Movement as has come up in our previous posts 1, 2:
So, we are about to see the ongoing US Government disclosures amplified by a potential blockbuster by a leading movie producer, who in a CBS interview went on record:
"Based on the circumstantial evidence of everything that I've gathered throughout my whole life, everybody I've listened to and every documentary I've ever watched and all the testimonies in Congress that I've heard, I absolutely think that they have been here, and they are here," Spielberg said. "And who knows, maybe they've always been here."
This puts the known teachings of many in the UFO Contact movement on the table. As we noted in an update to the first post in this emerging series:
[A] sitting congressman—reportedly Eric Berles of Missouri—participated via speakerphone and delivered a chilling warning. He told the assembled pastors to prepare their congregations because, according to inside sources, the government was on the verge of dropping a reality-shattering narrative: that humanity was created by interdimensional beings, not God, and that Jesus and the entire Biblical story were fabrications masterminded by these entities.
Thus, it is fair for us to point out the apologetics responsibilities of the church and its leaders, as on observation, too often we are disinclined to take them seriously. Let us start, with the underlying warrant-base for the gospel, which is shown to be a yardstick for truth:
With that base in mind, we again draw attention to 1 Jn 4:1 - 4:
1 Jn 4: 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
So, already, we know that some of what we are dealing with is of questionable spiritual value and truthfulness. As we noted in that same first post:
This framework is of course rooted in the good, structural reasons we have to believe in and know the reality of the good, loving God, and to receive the gospel of his crucified, risen Christ. Obviously, any intelligent being that rejects – as opposed to is ignorant of -- God and Christ, then, we have reason to see as in grave error, including the possibility of being an agent of a false, counterfeit spiritual message, the spirit of antichrist.
Let us assume, our putative extraterrestrials exhibit moral struggle, much as we do. In that case, the gospel is for them, too! (Perhaps, as with the Narnians in Lewis’ Chronicles, in another form, as with Aslan.)
If they are open to God and the gospel, fundamentally, all is well; but, we must be aware of the dangers of first contact, and must manage the process prudently.
If they do not have or are not open to the good news of the Kingdom of God, then, we are in a different situation.
One, where, we would have to take some readings of the early chapters of Genesis and related passages in the Revelation, etc., far more literally and seriously than we may be wont to. Which, would also be a strong sign of how late it is on the Biblical prophetic clock.
That remains the position. END
