Author’s Note: This article is also available in video format on YouTube in English here and in Spanish here, and in audio format on The Alberino Analysis on Charisma Podcast Network.
In the first installment of this series, I would like for us to contemplate our place within the universe from a theological perspective—that is to say, within context of the biblical narrative.
This contemplation is important for Christians living in our time considering the UFO controversy is over. As you have noticed, the Pentagon has been rolling out a kind of soft disclosure regarding the reality of UFOs, which is no longer a topic relegated to the realm of conspiracy theory but a stone cold fact now frequently appearing in the headlines of the New York Times and other major news outlets. Scientists are also beginning to openly acknowledge the UFO reality. Baylor University astrophysicist and Pentagon consultant Eric Davis recently made the astonishing claim that he had personally examined exotic materials from a UFO crash retrieval which he maintains could not have been manufactured by human beings. Based on his analysis of said materials, Davis denominates UFOs in his Defense Department briefings as “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.” It is of interest to note that the Pentagon has not refuted Davis’s claims. We will discuss the topic of UFOs and alien abductions at length in a later installment of this series.
In light of the Pentagon’s ongoing disclosures, Christians can no longer afford to ignore the UFO reality or hand-wave it away as a purely supernatural phenomenon. The nuts-and-bolts corporeality of UFOs demands a better explanation. In order to arrive at such an explanation, it is imperative that adherents to the biblical narrative immediately disabuse themselves of erroneous perceptions inherited from medieval times.
If we are to properly comprehend our place within the universe, then we must surrender our need to be the center of it. The truth is that man was not conceived with the universe, and the universe was not created for man. We were born into the cosmos, not with it—thrust into the fray of a complex political, societal, and martial conflict involving intelligent agencies of ancient origin.
Many Christians are inadvertently hamstrung with an anthropocentric perspective of the universe. The term anthropocentric means human-centric. In this worldview, if the universe is like a bicycle wheel, mankind is the hub of the wheel where all the spokes connect. Anthropocentrism places man at the center of all things, making him the principal protagonist and primary purpose of the universe. All other sentient beings in the cosmos of created order are ancillary characters in the story of mankind. In other words, everything revolves around us. And this is precisely how the solar system was envisioned in the Middle Ages by Catholics everywhere until the Copernican revolution, which introduced the heliocentric model and dispelled the notion that the earth, and by extension the human race, is at the center of the universe. Although the geocentric model of the solar system has been long discarded, the anthropocentric perspective from which it was derived is still prevalent among Christians as it pertains to questions of theology.
It is often presumed, for example, that the biblical narrative depicts the creation of the universe, the earth and the human race as a simultaneous event that transpired over a period of seven days—as if the universe were created for the earth, and the earth for mankind. This perception exalts the human race as God’s crowning achievement and the reason for which He created the universe. I believe this to be a fatal flaw in the cosmological paradigm of many sincere Christians who simply cannot fathom the universe getting on without us. As we will see later on, the opening scene of Genesis does not, in my opinion, portray the primal creation of the universe and its planetary bodies; rather, it describes the sequential renewal of the earth in the aftermath of utter ruin, which culminates in the creation of Adam who was appointed to govern it. This view removes mankind from the hub of the wheel, so to speak, and makes him an accessory in the story of creation, which was already unfolding for untold eons before he graced the stage.
If we relinquish the anthropocentric perspective and surrender our need to be the center of the universe, we can formulate a much more expansive biblical paradigm that accommodates not only the UFO phenomenon but the existence of other worlds inhabited by nonhuman extraterrestrial beings. As Christians, the first step in this exercise is to determine if the Scriptures support the doctrine of anthropocentrism. Does the biblical narrative convey the notion that mankind is at the center of creation?
Surprisingly, the answer is a resounding no.
Rather than convey an anthropocentric perspective of the universe, the Scriptures unequivocally convey a Christocentric—Christ-centric—perspective. In fact, Christocentrism is a doctrinal pillar of the New Testament. The apostles of Jesus Christ were adamant in portraying Him not only as the center but the very source of the universe and the reason for which it was created. In the first chapter of Colossians, Paul articulates the doctrine with supreme elegance where he writes concerning Christ,
“He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col.1:15-17).
It is essential to recognize that the universe was not only created by him and through him but for him. By making ourselves the center of all things, we supplant the Son of God, who is not only the primal source of the universe but its primary purpose.
In Romans 11, Paul reiterates the doctrine to the church in Rome, where he declares,
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever!” (Rom. 11:36).
Christ is the first cause, the initial singularity, and the intrinsic purpose of the universe. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. The universe was not made for the earth, and the earth was not made for man. It was all made for Jesus, the firstborn and beloved Son of the Father—the apple of his eye.
From the Christocentric perspective we may disassociate the creation of the universe with the creation of mankind, as man was not its purpose. This perspective opens up a whole new panorama of pre-Adamic history and allows us to contemplate a scenario in which mankind is a latecomer to the stage in the theater of the universe and a secondary character in the story of creation—a story that was not written for us, but for Christ.
The Christocentric perspective will serve to inform and expand our paradigm as we engage some of the most fascinating and controversial subjects of the biblical narrative in forthcoming articles.
If you wish to further explore the topics featured in this article, I encourage you to get my book, Birthright: The Coming Posthuman Apocalypse and the Usurpation of Adam’s Dominion on Planet Earth. {eoa}
Known as a modern-day Indiana Jones, Timothy Alberino is a writer, explorer and filmmaker whose inquisitive mind and intrepid spirit have led him all over the earth in search of lost cities, lost civilizations, hidden treasures and legendary creatures. His appetite for adventure was manifest at the age of 18 when he dropped out of high school in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to the Amazon jungle in Peru. Alberino is an accomplished autodidact and scholarly researcher. After years of rigorous study, he has garnered an expansive knowledge base that allows him to dissertate with authority on a wide variety of topics.
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