Dr Nick Spencer – Science, Religion and Alien Life
What would the discovery of (intelligent) alien life do to our idea of human uniqueness and to religious belief?
The prospect of intelligent alien life has always been seen as vaguely challenging to humanity, and especially to religious belief. Quite apart from any actual threat aliens might pose, they bring a more general existential anxiety. What if humans are not unique? What if we are nothing like as special or as intelligent as we like to think? And what, in particular, would that mean to religious belief systems, such as Christianity, that place a singular emphasis on humans as made in “the image of God”? The search for extraterrestrial life is hotting up, with potentially life-supporting exoplanets being discovered by the dozen each year. In this talk, Nick Spencer will look at the prospect of alien life, what it would and wouldn’t mean to religious and spiritual beliefs, and why this is not as new a question as we sometimes think.
This event will consist of a talk which will be followed by a live Q&A.
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About the speaker:
Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the think tank Theos. He is the author of a number of books, including Magisteria: the entangled histories of science and religion (Oneworld, 2023), Playing God: science, religion and the future of humanity (SPCK, 2024), and most recently The Landscapes of Science and Religion: what are we disagreeing about (OUP, 2025). In addition to this focus in science and religion, he hosts the podcast Reading our Times, and has an active interest in the history and future of ideas.
TICKETS
Please note: This event is included in the Season Ticket.
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Speaker
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Nick SpencerAuthor, Podcast HostNick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the think tank Theos. He is the author of a number of books, including Magisteria: the entangled histories of science and religion (Oneworld, 2023), Playing God: science, religion and the future of humanity (SPCK, 2024), and most recently The Landscapes of Science and Religion: what are we disagreeing about (OUP, 2025). In addition to this focus in science and religion, he hosts the podcast Reading our Times, and has an active interest in the history and future of ideas.
