Profound and Staggering: The Impact on Religion of the Potential Discovery of Life Around Other Stars - Livestream

Astronomers have now discovered thousands of planets in orbit around other stars. Dr. Weintraub will discuss those discoveries, and predict the progress astronomers are likely to make in their more detailed studies of these planets over the next fifty years. Then he will consider the consequences of those potential discoveries for Roman Catholicism, Mainline Protestantism, Christian Creationism, Seventh Day Adventism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism -- for all of which the discovery of a planet with life on it may be profound. The 20th century visionary Buckminster Fuller said, “Sometimes I think we’re alone. Sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the thought is staggering.”

This presentation is built on the ideas published in Weintraub’s book Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It? (2014) -- in which he interviewed leaders of all these faiths.

Dr. David A. Weintraub is Professor of Astronomy Emeritus at Vanderbilt University.

Click here to watch the lecture