Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Are Aliens Demons, Our Cosmic Neighbors, or Something Stranger?
Host Curtis Chang and author Andy Crouch explore the theological implications of UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and the possibility that humans are not the only created beings in the cosmos. They ask whether aliens should be understood as material creatures, angels and demons, image bearers, or cosmic neighbors—and what Scripture, Christian theology, and even Aquinas suggest about our human uniqueness. Along the way, they consider whether first contact would reveal Christian love, humility, and wonder—or our instinct toward fear and domination.
00:47 - Introduction to Alien Life and Declassified UFO Reports
02:19 - Do Aliens Exist?
08:32 - The Value of Pondering Alien Life
13:02 - Aliens vs. Angels and Demons
23:18 - God's Mysterious Creatures in Scripture
27:42 - The Octopus Dilemma and Human Specialness
38:26 - Missional Work and Alien Life?
44:26 - The Nature of God's Love
48:49 - Domination or Love : The Human Response to Aliens
50:58 - Andy Imagines Worshipping with Cosmic Neighbors
Sign up for the Anxiety Opportunity Course Use the code: Goodfaith: goodfaith.org/product/the-anxiety-opportunity-course/?utm_source=ShowNotes&utm_medium=PodAd&utm_campaign=AnxietyFreePod
Scriptures Referenced:
Job 1–2 (ESV): esv.org/verses/Job+1%E2%80%932
Job 38–41 (ESV): esv.org/verses/Job+38%E2%80%9341
Genesis 1–2 (ESV): esv.org/Genesis+1
Genesis 4 (ESV): esv.org/Genesis+4
Ephesians 2 (ESV): esv.org/Ephesians+2
2 Peter 1:4 (ESV): esv.org/verses/2+Peter+1:4
Romans 8 (ESV): esv.org/verses/Romans+8
Isaiah 11 (ESV): esv.org/Isaiah+11
Romans 10 (ESV): esv.org/Romans+10
Mentioned in This Episode:
UFO-related declassified files: war.gov/ufo
UAP disclosure: archives.gov/research/topics/uaps
Meghan Sullivan and Notre Dame’s DELTA project: https://ethics.nd.edu/programs/delta/
What is the Fermi paradox? space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html
Eleanor Stump’s Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering: amazon.com/Wandering-Darkness-Narrative-Problem-Suffering/dp/0199277427
C.S. Lewis’s Perelandra: amazon.com/Perelandra-Space-Trilogy-Book-2/dp/074323491X
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary: A Novel: amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir/dp/0593135229/ref=sr_1_1?crid=131X53EUBLILM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TU9TJG3FtWWwIR_QSKd7ya4zqHn_xW2-0FufjTEl8hDKp5seA-vRdWPtLSnU9dx0YNkD_FFGxeP5Lz_g30p1Uc6O8HHfTC3qMtIZu2ojU1wGZkWRpjYkmsnobfUMwyLathUSy-_wY1MeqryfbKVarBmyU5OX1zNAcIAiKrcZ91epVDJTW4K-2FqaECQCeECNYtOvS4B7DgN9rm7fP4PmvOVGUnwZOutq7svlQiWX6nicp_iLC94go4kSJZXAbhqPPkEh0rSKHG5wnxtb_OqAoGYbkGhS9cKYTihjMjlvBNI.STOqU1rGuDs_GHI1Ih6Xj9iKlVEBazx71XfXr1JMHYk&dib_tag=se&keywords=Project+Hail+Mary&qid=1779913616&s=books&sprefix=project+hail+mary%2Cstripbooks%2C192&sr=1-1
A scene from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind: youtube.com/watch?v=WX2QOW_dFsA
A scene from Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: youtube.com/watch?v=E5T4TAK5agc
A scene from Denis Villeneuve's Arrival: youtube.com/watch?v=12BIfTgmSm4
St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica: reason / will / dominion: ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.SS_Q66_A1.html
Salvation as Theosis: The Teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy (article): thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/salvation-as-theosis-the-teaching-of-eastern-orthodoxy
Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom: https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/articles/isaiahs-vision-peaceable-kingdom
Thunderbird in Native American traditions: legendsofamerica.com/thunderbird-native-american
Do octopus brains work like humans’? (article): nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01302-4
Pythagoras and Johannes Kepler’s Musica Universalis or the Music of the Spheres: voiceoversandvocals.com/blog/research/music-of-the-spheres
More From Andy Crouch:
Check out Andy’s website: andy-crouch.com
Check out Andy’s work at Praxis: praxislabs.org/people/andy-crouch
Read Andy’s book: The Life We're Looking For: amazon.com/Life-Were-Looking-Relationship-Technological/dp/059323734X
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram: instagram.com/goodfaithnetwork
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/_good_faith
Good Faith on Facebook: facebook.com/goodfaithpod
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.
Are Aliens Demons, Our Cosmic Neighbors, or Something Stranger?
Host Curtis Chang and author Andy Crouch explore the theological implications of UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and the possibility that humans are not the only created beings in the cosmos. They ask whether aliens should be understood as material creatures, angels and demons, image bearers, or cosmic neighbors—and what Scripture, Christian theology, and even Aquinas suggest about our human uniqueness. Along the way, they consider whether first contact would reveal Christian love, humility, and wonder—or our instinct toward fear and domination.
00:47 - Introduction to Alien Life and Declassified UFO Reports
02:19 - Do Aliens Exist?
08:32 - The Value of Pondering Alien Life
13:02 - Aliens vs. Angels and Demons
23:18 - God's Mysterious Creatures in Scripture
27:42 - The Octopus Dilemma and Human Specialness
38:26 - Missional Work and Alien Life?
44:26 - The Nature of God's Love
48:49 - Domination or Love : The Human Response to Aliens
50:58 - Andy Imagines Worshipping with Cosmic Neighbors
Sign up for the Anxiety Opportunity Course Use the code: Goodfaith: goodfaith.org/product/the-anxiety-opportunity-course/?utm_source=ShowNotes&utm_medium=PodAd&utm_campaign=AnxietyFreePod
Scriptures Referenced:
Job 1–2 (ESV): esv.org/verses/Job+1%E2%80%932
Job 38–41 (ESV): esv.org/verses/Job+38%E2%80%9341
Genesis 1–2 (ESV): esv.org/Genesis+1
Genesis 4 (ESV): esv.org/Genesis+4
Ephesians 2 (ESV): esv.org/Ephesians+2
2 Peter 1:4 (ESV): esv.org/verses/2+Peter+1:4
Romans 8 (ESV): esv.org/verses/Romans+8
Isaiah 11 (ESV): esv.org/Isaiah+11
Romans 10 (ESV): esv.org/Romans+10
Mentioned in This Episode:
UFO-related declassified files: war.gov/ufo
UAP disclosure: archives.gov/research/topics/uaps
Meghan Sullivan and Notre Dame’s DELTA project: https://ethics.nd.edu/programs/delta/
What is the Fermi paradox? space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html
Eleanor Stump’s Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering: amazon.com/Wandering-Darkness-Narrative-Problem-Suffering/dp/0199277427
C.S. Lewis’s Perelandra: amazon.com/Perelandra-Space-Trilogy-Book-2/dp/074323491X
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary: A Novel: amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir/dp/0593135229/ref=sr_1_1?crid=131X53EUBLILM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TU9TJG3FtWWwIR_QSKd7ya4zqHn_xW2-0FufjTEl8hDKp5seA-vRdWPtLSnU9dx0YNkD_FFGxeP5Lz_g30p1Uc6O8HHfTC3qMtIZu2ojU1wGZkWRpjYkmsnobfUMwyLathUSy-_wY1MeqryfbKVarBmyU5OX1zNAcIAiKrcZ91epVDJTW4K-2FqaECQCeECNYtOvS4B7DgN9rm7fP4PmvOVGUnwZOutq7svlQiWX6nicp_iLC94go4kSJZXAbhqPPkEh0rSKHG5wnxtb_OqAoGYbkGhS9cKYTihjMjlvBNI.STOqU1rGuDs_GHI1Ih6Xj9iKlVEBazx71XfXr1JMHYk&dib_tag=se&keywords=Project+Hail+Mary&qid=1779913616&s=books&sprefix=project+hail+mary%2Cstripbooks%2C192&sr=1-1
A scene from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind: youtube.com/watch?v=WX2QOW_dFsA
A scene from Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: youtube.com/watch?v=E5T4TAK5agc
A scene from Denis Villeneuve's Arrival: youtube.com/watch?v=12BIfTgmSm4
St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica: reason / will / dominion: ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.SS_Q66_A1.html
Salvation as Theosis: The Teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy (article): thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/salvation-as-theosis-the-teaching-of-eastern-orthodoxy
Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom: https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/articles/isaiahs-vision-peaceable-kingdom
Thunderbird in Native American traditions: legendsofamerica.com/thunderbird-native-american
Do octopus brains work like humans’? (article): nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01302-4
Pythagoras and Johannes Kepler’s Musica Universalis or the Music of the Spheres: voiceoversandvocals.com/blog/research/music-of-the-spheres
More From Andy Crouch:
Check out Andy’s website: andy-crouch.com
Check out Andy’s work at Praxis: praxislabs.org/people/andy-crouch
Read Andy’s book: The Life We're Looking For: amazon.com/Life-Were-Looking-Relationship-Technological/dp/059323734X
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram: instagram.com/goodfaithnetwork
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/_good_faith
Good Faith on Facebook: facebook.com/goodfaithpod
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.
