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00:00 It's said that God created the universe in six days, that Jesus, the son of God, performed

00:05 miracles during his time on earth, that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the supreme forces driving

00:11 reality, or that Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, can lead us to spiritual nirvana.

00:16 Figures and stories such as these are the foundation for humankind's most widely followed

00:20 religions.

00:22 But since the coming of the space age, and with our rapidly growing cosmological knowledge,

00:26 could a revolution of faith take hold?

00:29 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question; is God an alien?

00:38 Do you need the big questions answered?

00:40 Are you constantly curious?

00:41 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?

00:44 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!

00:50 Exotheology emerged as a budding academic field in the 1960s and 70s.

00:54 In general, it represents a major meeting point between science and religion.

00:59 Scientists are tied up in trying to achieve an understanding of religious concepts in

01:03 relation to potential extraterrestrial intelligence.

01:06 How would our belief systems cope should alien life be found?

01:10 Would they prosper or fail?

01:11 Could religion ever account for aliens in itself?

01:14 And would an extraterrestrial lifeform have religion of its own?

01:18 At around the same time as exotheology was establishing itself, the "ancient astronauts"

01:22 theory was started up.

01:24 Peddled most notably by the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken in his 1968 book, Chariots of

01:29 the Gods, plus several follow-ups.

01:31 While exotheology is generally considered a valid pursuit, von Däniken's ideas are

01:36 typically deemed controversial and unfounded.

01:39 For instance, his claims towards various ancient monuments as having been built by aliens rather

01:43 than humans.

01:45 Critics say that there was never any evidence for such claims, and modern research has continually

01:49 shown that sites such as the pyramids in Stonehenge were built by human hands alone.

01:54 But nevertheless, the wider merging of humanity's ideas about divine figures with the search

01:59 for alien life has continued into the modern day, although in different directions.

02:04 The Reverend Professor David Wilkinson, Principal of St. John's College at Durham University

02:09 in the UK, is one high-profile figure with variously perhaps controversial views on record.

02:15 In 2013, he published the book Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

02:21 On the one hand, Wilkinson is a Methodist minister, but on the other, he's an astrophysicist

02:26 and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

02:30 Speaking to The Northern Echo again in 2013, he tells of keeping an open mind, and on the

02:35 subject of the vastness of the universe, he says, "Surely there must be another Earth-like

02:40 planet out there, and surely there must be other life."

02:43 Toward the end of the article, he's quoted as saying, "Often we find a God who's more

02:47 surprising and extravagant than we ever imagined."

02:51 Professor Wilkinson's comments are generally more concerned with how we might tally the

02:55 discovery of alien life with long-held religious views.

02:58 He never insinuates that God himself is an alien, however others have done.

03:03 For example, the Reverend John Polk, from North Carolina in the US, published in 2015

03:09 a book called "Yahweh the Biblical God is an Alien".

03:13 It weighed in at more than 200 pages, with variously repeating claims that all of our

03:17 god-like figures are actually alien beings, and that Polk had been selected as a "seer"

03:23 to channel the true message.

03:24 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the book, which has been criticised as "made-up" and "poorly

03:29 written", has never been taken seriously on anything close to a wider scale.

03:33 There have been other occasions, however, when similarly subversive views have caught

03:38 on - and sometimes in a big way.

03:41 Probably the most infamous example is in the Church of Scientology, which features the

03:45 figure of Xenu in its particular legend as to how life came to Earth.

03:49 According to Scientologists, Xenu was an ET ruler - an alien overlord, if you will - who

03:54 populated Earth with intelligent beings 75 million years ago.

03:58 Of course, none of that checks out in mainstream science, but it also flies in the face of

04:03 conventional religion.

04:04 So, while Scientology is vague on the concept of God itself, it might be said that it suggests

04:10 that yes, God is an alien.

04:12 But as New Age as Scientology might seem, it actually isn't that new of a concept.

04:17 The Aetherius Society was founded by George King, a London cab driver, in 1954, after

04:24 King claimed to have received a message telling him to "prepare yourself, you are to become

04:29 the voice of interplanetary parliament".

04:32 From that point, King claimed to have been able to channel what the Society refers to

04:36 as "Cosmic Masters", and here's where our particular question comes into play.

04:41 In short, a Cosmic Master is a supreme alien being.

04:44 Aetherius itself is said to be one - an advanced extraterrestrial that King had a direct line

04:50 of telepathic communication with.

04:52 However, and according to the Society, most of the most well-known and widely followed

04:57 religious figures are Cosmic Masters, too.

04:59 Jesus, the Buddha, Krishna… there's a long list of deities and prophets that are

05:04 said to be somehow involved.

05:06 From belief systems all over the world.

05:08 Many of the key moments and symbols of religious belief were also redrawn by King and his followers,

05:13 such as the Star of Bethlehem, which gets rethought of as a UFO.

05:17 Again, perhaps predictably, the Aetherius Society has faced heavy criticism over the

05:22 years.

05:23 King claimed that he held variously superior titles, including an obscure form of knighthood

05:28 in the UK, but most of those have been discredited.

05:31 The sceptic James Randi, among others, has spoken out against the Society before.

05:35 Meanwhile, its apparent teachings have seemingly struggled to keep up with contemporary scientific

05:40 knowledge.

05:41 For example, followers are told that most key figures come from planets and places within

05:46 the solar system, such as Jesus and the Buddha who are said to come from Venus.

05:51 But there has been little to no evidence so far that this could be true… of anything,

05:56 let alone of Jesus and the Buddha, specifically.

05:58 Instead, it might be argued that King's original story was limited by the scope of

06:02 what was known at the time, and is let down by the wealth of what is known today.

06:07 Nevertheless, the Society does still exist many decades on.

06:12 King died in 1997, but members believe that he is now a cosmic master as well.

06:17 In terms of numbers, it's thought that the Society today is a small but international

06:21 group.

06:22 So, is God an alien?

06:24 Clearly, it's a question wrapped up in all manner of other questions before and after

06:28 it.

06:29 Does God exist?

06:30 Whose God is the right one?

06:32 Do aliens exist?

06:34 How advanced could any one alien lifeform ever become?

06:37 There have been, and are still ongoing, numerous controversial attempts to suggest that yes,

06:43 what we know as a God could actually be an ET.

06:47 From the Aetherius Society to Scientology, there are groups that seemingly bow to the

06:52 higher knowledge of an off-Earth force.

06:54 In many cases, however, the line between alternate belief and dangerous cult is pretty thin.

07:00 What's your verdict?

07:02 Let us know in the comments.

07:04 Meanwhile, there are those such as Reverend Professor Wilkinson who are busy mulling over

07:08 slightly less blockbuster notions.

07:10 Because the relationship between our understanding of aliens and the idea we have on divine beings

07:16 is certainly an interesting one.

07:18 Wonder for a moment if an advanced alien civilization does exist somewhere in the cosmos - a Kardashev

07:24 Type Three or higher.

07:26 If we were to somehow cross paths with that group, they would certainly appear godlike

07:30 in many ways.

07:32 Such an event would surely rattle the faith of many followers of any religion, and for

07:36 some, it would shatter their beliefs entirely.

07:39 But on the other hand, an advanced alien group could never really be a god - at least, not

07:44 to those in monotheistic religions.

07:47 They would be more than one - god is the only one.

07:50 Jump up something like the Kardashev Scale to Types Five or higher, however, and eventually

07:54 you might get to a level that isn't really a civilization anymore, but rather it's a

07:58 supreme force.

08:00 An indefinable but also unbeatable quantity that knows and understands and sees literally

08:05 everything.

08:06 At that point, is it a god?

08:08 Maybe.

08:09 Is it still an alien?

08:10 Maybe not.

08:11 Again, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

08:14 Since the mid-twentieth century especially, humankind has looked to the stars with new

08:18 vigour.

08:19 In ancient times, those twinkling lights were understood by some to directly correspond

08:25 with the gods that they followed.

08:26 Of course, that's no longer the case, and even our most entrenched beliefs have somewhat

08:31 moved on.

08:32 But might the universe still one day reveal a greater link?

08:35 Or, as lowly humans, are we always destined to wonder what's out there, but never know

08:40 for sure?

08:42 What do you think?

08:43 Is there anything we missed?

08:44 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you

08:48 subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

Is God An Extraterrestrial? | Unveiled

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