Creation, Creationism, and....Aliens?

Yes, aliens.

Ken Ham, one of the leading proponents of Creationism, recently wrote a blog post on whether aliens exist and why we keep searching for aliens.  Ken Ham's main point was that all that Earth is special among the universe which God created; therefore, we should not expect to find created life elsewhere in the universe.

What has drawn a great deal of attention to Ken Ham's post, however, is this statement:

And I do believe there can’t be other intelligent beings in outer space because of the meaning of the gospel. You see, the Bible makes it clear that Adam’s sin affected the whole universe. This means that any aliens would also be affected by Adam’s sin, but because they are not Adam’s descendants, they can’t have salvation.

Many are seizing upon this statement to say that Ken Ham has condemned aliens to Hell.  Ken Ham has responded by saying, in short, "Well, aliens do not exist; therefore, they cannot go to Heaven or Hell!"

I agree with Ken Ham in part.  I do not believe that aliens exist in the universe.  Too many things must line up in the absolutely perfect way and must remain aligned for too long of a time for life to spontaneously develop elsewhere in the universe.  Then, too many random proteins must link together without contamination from other proteins to form DNA.  I just cannot believe that this randomly happened once, much less multiple times around the universe.

Could God have created aliens?  Of course!  God can create whatever God wishes to create.  As a proponent of Intelligent Design, I proclaim that all that exists on Earth and, by extension, within the universe was created by God.  However, we have nothing to show or tell us that God has created life elsewhere in the universe.  While I am open to the possibility that life could exist elsewhere in the universe, I am not holding my breath and waiting for us to discover it.

Here is where I disagree with Ken Ham: if aliens do exist, I believe that aliens can have salvation.  I believe that God will act to redeem all forms of creation, including any alien life forms that may exist, at the end of the age.

Will everything and everyone enter into the New Jerusalem?  God tells us through the Bible that this is not the case.  We can argue as to how wide open the gates of Heaven will be.  I believe that the Lord will bring into the Kingdom more of Creation than we might expect, but I cannot say with any certainty who or what will or will not enter the New Jerusalem.

I also admit that I could be wrong in everything I have said in this posting.  Where do you agree or disagree?  What has you clapping in support or pounding the table and screaming "I object!"?  Leave your response in the comments and let's see where the discussion takes us.