For onto you another child is born

Typically, a bunch of geeky scientists picked Christmas week to make a blockbuster announcement in a field of study that could eventually force millions of Christians - and many of their co-religionists - to confront some very disturbing questions about their faith.

A team of astronomers sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) revealed this week they have discovered two Earth-sized, rocky planets.

The telescope crowd has already tallied about 100 planets orbiting other stars.

But all the previously discovered planets had been gaseous or giants, unfit for habitation by either human beings or Republicans.

Finding the pair of Earth-sized, rocky planets brings the search for extraterrestrial life one step closer. Unfortunately, the newly named Kepler 20e and Kepler 20f are both too hot to sustain life.

So scientists continue to search for an Earth-sized, rocky planet that lies within the so-called "Goldilocks" zone - not too hot and not too cold, and thus able to provide that necessity of life, liquid water.

Shedding light

Of course, astronomers needn't find alien life forms resembling characters in "Star Wars" to prompt people to ponder their place in the universe.

You look up at the night sky and, if you're in an existential mood, you're almost forced to wonder what God was thinking.

OK, He created Heaven and Earth ... fine, but what's with all those billions and billions of stars? Why are they there? Were they really necessary?

If mankind is indeed beloved by God, and is sort of His special project, why did He feel the need to sprinkle the sky with uncountable stars?

Did He do it because He knew we would think it was pretty?

Was it because He knew the stars would be helpful for trans-oceanic navigation, enabling a significant portion of mankind to escape the hellhole of Europe?

God could have created just the sun and the planets, but no, He had to go and complicate things by creating not only the Milky Way, with its 200 billion stars, but billions of other galaxies to boot.

There is a simple explanation, of course. He created the entire universe to test our faith.

You look up at all those shimmering lights, and you're tempted to think we're not so special after all, in the endless expanse of the cosmos. Tricky fella.

Intergalactic goodwill

The nerdy scientists on the NASA research team seem convinced they are on the verge of discovering alien life. One guy from Harvard said he thinks it will happen within his lifetime.

Whether or not he's being overly optimistic, he's right about one thing: if and when it happens, the discovery of alien life will be one of the most dramatic events in human history.

It will challenge philosophical notions held for millennia. It will reverberate through the human psyche with a blast far more powerful than when Charles Darwin scribbled down his ideas about evolution in "The Origin of Species."

Millions of believers will drop to their knees - some metaphorically, some literally - and ask the Almighty, "OK, we get the thing about the stars, but what's up with those other civilizations?"

Never mind the science. It is the social questions that will be captivating, and possibly unsettling. Are there wars on those alien planets? Do their leaders send other people's children off to die for highly suspect causes? What do they do with their poor?

Perhaps they have their own Bible story. Maybe a child was born unto them, grew up, became a saviour and was crucified.

If so, God is going to have some mighty big explaining to do.

Brian Jones is a desk editor at The Telegram. He can be reached by email at bjones@thetelegram.com.