WOULD YOU BAPTIZE AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL?

So what would happen to religion if aliens landed on Earth? Two Vatican astronomers shed provocative light on some of the strange places where religion and science meet.

Could you really baptize an extra-terrestrial? In WOULD YOU BAPTIZE AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL? Br. Guy starts with seven deceptively simple questions in astronomy, questions asked of Vatican astronomers all the time that illustrate areas where religious and scientific sensibilities overlap: • How do you reconcile the scientific version of The Big Bang with the Genesis account of creation? • Is there really life after death, and will the universe eventually die? • Does the Vatican know something regular people don't about an imminent end of the world? • Why isn't Pluto a planet, and why was the Vatican involved in that decision? • Was the Star of Bethlehem just a pious religious story, or an actual description of astronomical events? • What really happened with the Church and Galileo? Could it have been avoided? Or was it inevitable? • Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? These questions from two serious scientists will be explored in a book that will certainly shock and provoke readers from all walks of life. This is a fun and accessible read for science and faith readers alike. Brother Guy Consolmagno worked as a post-doctoral fellow and lecturer at Harvard University's Department of Astronomy, and MIT's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; served in the US Peace Corps, teaching physics at the University of Nairobi; and was a physics professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, before entering the Jesuits as a brother in 1989. At the Vatican Observatory since 1993, his research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies. Father Paul Mueller earned a degree in physics at Boston University before entering the Society of Jesus in 1982. As part of his Jesuit training, he earned degrees in both philosophy and theology, along the way developing an interest in religion-science issues. After being ordained a priest in 1993, he attended the University of Chicago, where he completed a third masters degree (in physics) and a doctorate in the history and philosophy of science through the interdisciplinary program in Conceptual Historical Studies of Science.