NEW BOOK ON EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CONSEQUENCES FOR CHRISTIANITY
Exotheology: Theological Explorations of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life
Joel L. Parkyn, Ph.D; Wipf & Stock Publishers, 348 pgs.
ISBN 978-1-7252-9148-5/paperback/$39/www.wipfandstock.com
Hartford, CT, December 8, 2021 – The much-anticipated report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) sightings documented by the U.S. military from 2004 to 2021, and analyzed by the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was submitted to Congress on June 25. According to the report, all but one of the 144 flying objects studied remains ‘unexplainable’ and the U.S. Director of National Intelligence would not rule out an extraterrestrial origin. In response, the Department of Defense is creating a new investigative body to track and analyze "unidentified aerial phenomena" as concerns grow about national security risks posed by UFOs. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, in a memo released Tuesday, announced the creation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group "to assess, and as appropriate, mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security."
If these objects are indeed otherworldly, as many believe, people are concerned what proof of extraterrestrials would mean for religion. Would Earth religions be destroyed? Would there be mass panic? What are the implications for Christianity given evidence of, a contact event with, or government disclosure of an extraterrestrial reality? Dr. Joel L. Parkyn carefully examines these questions in scholarly detail in his newly released book, Exotheology.
“The central questions of this discussion contend with the inevitable consequences of a final abandonment of theological anthropocentrism, representing the end of theology’s extended geocentric and homocentric adolescence and its coming to terms with a greater reality. These can be summarized as follows: what aspects of our theology would require reformulation and how would they be conceived to accommodate intelligent extraterrestrials? What is the significance of the singular, terrestrial, historical Jesus and resulting Christian faith within an incomprehensibly vast physical universe, and the possible discovery or disclosure of a superior and possibly extremely ancient race? How can the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence be reconciled with the notion of the universality of God’s redemption of all creation within the cosmos, as mediated through the Old and New Testaments of the ancient near East?” (Exotheology, Introduction., p.xi)
⦁ Visit the author’s webpage to order a discounted copy and more information at www.exotheology.space
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⦁ Promotional YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h7nbFFVrvQ
Dr. Joel L. Parkyn is author of Exotheology: Theological Explorations of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life (Wipf & Stock, 2021) and is an Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, CT.
Contact information for interview requests:
Dr. Joel L. Parkyn
(860) 833-2428
website: www.exotheology.space