Article 11: What lies beyond Maturity

Rule Three of the Firmament:

All intelligent races in existence likely stand within one or more of these states

*Primordial
–Made New and Blameless
-Corrupted and Afflicted:
- Recipients of Passive Wrath
- Promised and Waiting
- Justified or Judged
- Made Blameless Anew
-Maturing and Blameless
-Mutually Interactive
Authoritative and Blameless

Mutually Interactive

The heart of Mutually Interactive is the idea that a race of sufficient maturity would be allowed to communicate with other races as freely as we do our own. This is an important distinction, because while the bible contains numerous interactions with both angels and demons, those communications can hardly be called mutual. They can instigate contact with us, but no amount of chanting, praying, or meditating can ensure a response from them. We can call out, but their capacity to reply reliably remains to be experienced. If it was, we could have scientifically approached the topic and found a way to consistently communicate. We know that the Angels populate heaven, and while I think it’s fair to suspect we can communicate more freely with them there, that would represent a personal state, not a racial one.

In fiction, particularly Science Fiction, it’s easy to see this stage play out. In Star Trek, for instance, there exist countless worlds with intelligent life. But this narrative contains strict policies about contacting or elevating underdeveloped worlds. Rules accounting for the level of technology, as well as civil peace, govern the Federation’s options during a “First Contact”. Mutually Interactive is much like this. A universe filled with Blameless (potentially star-fairing) races would likely have as many rules and restrictions for interacting with races still growing in relationship with their creator.

There exists a wide universe with who knows how much intelligent life, but our ability to communicate with creatures one solar system to the left is as certain as our ability to pray for an angel to appear. We can blast all sorts of radio waves into the cosmos, but we can’t force a reply. I would suggest that this is for the good of them even more so than the good of us. If we accept all that I have discussed on the intentionality of God’s creative works, then it’s vital we realize our corruption is unlikely to be the norm. If that is the case, then our corrupt race would be the cancer of the stars. Without a divinely maintained separation what would stop us from doing to the New and Blameless races what Satan did to us? We would be corrupt people, corrupting otherwise blameless races who are as of yet unexposed to the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Much safer for all, I would think, to deny us interaction until all parties are mature enough to do so righteously.

But what biblical evidence might I have for this assertion? Certainly not much, as the very nature of the interaction I have been describing would preclude it. It is all well and good to say that we can access angels more readily in heaven, but our knowledge of the precise nature of heaven, and certainly New Heaven and New Earth, make that limited revelation at best. While I think my argument above, from a perspective of logic, holds weight, I do at least want to provide some biblical context for the ideas.

Firstly, let me briefly touch on the Seraphim and the Cherubim. Mentioned by name (or perhaps classification) at various times in Genesis, Isaiah, and Revelations, these two groups are shown as spiritual beings that exist in the presence of God. Perhaps they are only types of angels, scripture doesn’t make it decisively clear. They are certainly present in heaven. But if they are different to the point of being entirely separate races then they would indeed seem to be Mutually Interactive. As the Firmament represents an exploration of “Speculative Theology”, this uncertainty gives me space to wonder how this interpretation might be classified at a racial level.

The second piece of evidence I have deals with something called “The Divine Counsel”. The Divine Counsel is something that is referenced rarely in scripture, and there is not much we know about it. As best as we have been able to determine, it is a collection of spiritual beings, created and given certain authorities, presided over by God. Now, this may come close to what might be considered a pantheon, but that word has some deeply incorrect cogitations in this context. The members would not contain capricious pagan deities. In fact, its members would be wholly different in nature. For example, they would not ever accept any kind of worship or kingship among mankind. Nor would they seek to subvert, supplant, or usurp God. They would be as you could by now expect, in a loving relationship with him. As far as we know they do not likely represent any kind of idea, element, or natural law as you might see in the Greek, Norse, or Egyptian pantheons. Most importantly to my point, however, they are indeed Mutually Interactive. They speak with one another, with God, and assumably with other spiritual creatures. Whatever the reality, it is clear that among the different forms of life, there are different forms of Authority, and of course discussion and interaction therein.

Now, I admit there are other mitigating factors beyond a stage of racial development. Location, for example. As I’ve said, our presence in heaven might well cause a certain level of mutual interactivity. The Garden of Edan might also, as we seemed to freely interact with the Snake there. Additionally, I admit it is possible that the interactivity of the races might only have to do with the limits of form. Perhaps all fully spiritual beings can interact mutually, and it is our physicality that prevents us as much as anything else. However, neither of these factors precludes the possibility of a divinely controlled interactivity related to the maturity of a Race. Since it is still possible, I think it deserves a place in the Rule. Without it, we are forced to conclude that our lack of interaction with alien life comes only from a level of physical advancement. This seems a bizarre stance, as it would also mean that the denizens of our universe are avoiding us (a plant where God himself came down and died as one of us) for a similar lack of technology. Possible, certainly, but narratively boring and unnecessarily assumptive. Further, it wouldn’t stop eventual advancement from bringing us to a state where we must, with wisdom, decide whether or not to interact with others. It seems highly unlikely to me that, given our Christian creative framework, the lack of intergalactic travel is the only thing keeping us from corrupting life in our physical universe. We should at least be open to the idea that our limits in interactivity come from a purposeful orchestration of God, such as when he banished us from the Garden of Eden.

I think it is a fair assumption that in this vast universe, there might well be sections with intelligent alien life all interacting with one another. A race with space travel and no restrictions on their realms might move freely among races who have reached this stage. That does not mean all will, but it certainly would represent its own distinct state of racial maturity.

So will humanity ever reach such a stage? My main reasoning to think so actually takes a slightly different approach to the nature of our universe from what I’ve postulated above. While it is still possible that it is mainly distance that separates us from other intelligent life, there is another important possibility. This additional theory I wish to explore with you ties some ideas together into what is at the heart of speculative theology; what is possible, but not contrary to, scripture.

The New Heaven.

Heaven is referenced throughout scripture. Sometimes it means the dwelling place of God, but also often means literally all that is above the land (Earth), specifically the firmament that holds the stars. Although they had no concept of Outer Space as we understand it now, the Heavens are certainly how they referred to this space around and above our planet (Genesis 1: 14-15). Certainly; it is how John would have classified this space when recording his revelatory vision. Once we understand this concept, it leads to some curious implications about something that happens at the end of his book of Revelation; the coming of a New Heaven.

Why is there any need for a New Heaven? Heaven (as the dwelling place of God) is revealed by scripture to contain no evil or sin, so what possible use could a New Heaven have? Certainly not the same as a New Earth, which is to wipe away all our corruption. Could it be that this New Heaven is a truer Heaven above and around our world, a cosmos now open to exploration where the lives of all God’s blameless creation dwell? To be clear, I am not saying with any certainty that it IS a new version of Outer Space, only that it would not be a misuse of the scriptural word or understanding of Heaven to interpret it as such. Given that this event coincides with a return to the Garden of Eden, it further begs the question of what sort of cosmos we might have experienced had we not been expelled in the first place. Perhaps we have been living on a limited Earth along with the devils (also said to be expelled from “Heaven”). Similarly, perhaps all the hosts of heaven share some version of this limitation. The Angels also eagerly await the end of things, and so it would not be at all impossible to conclude that the heaven they and the departed saints dwell within now is a limited Heaven, and that the last days represent a New and un-experienced Heaven for them as well.

If these things are so, then the events coinciding with the coming of New Heaven (such as the judging of the living, the dead, and the demonic) would most assuredly speak to a change caused by our stage of development as a race. Now Made Blameless Anew*, having potentially bypassed Maturing and Blameless, we would quite naturally have greater access to God’s outer “Heavenly” creations. This coming of a New Heaven might hint at exactly that. What is left of Humanity and the Angelic are given access to an unlimited Heaven in a Mutual Interactive way because of the presence of a Heaven that is wholly New for them both.

Whatever the case may be, I think we can say with certainty that for now, our race ought to be kept separate from uncorrupted races. The damage we could do to them is horrible. Certainly, the damage done to us was. I also think that we can safely say that, because of these dangers, other races ought to be limited in some way from each other as well. After all, a race in the Maturing and Blameless category would still be learning the dangers of Evil. Considering that God shows himself to be one that encourages exploration, maturity, and relationship with his people, it seems unlikely that we will hit a cap on our ability to experience all He has created. Rather, I think we can look forward to an eternally growing experience of what his universe contains, and as we advance, take part in his increasingly complex cosmic works.

* www.pjbenjamin.net/article-9-beginnings-that-come-anew/