A rabbi, a priest, and an imam walking into a research program funded by NASA to explore how world religions might respond to extraterrestrial life was humorously described by Business Insider after the agency allocated over $1 million to Princeton’s Center for Theological Inquiry. Scholars from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism gathered to ponder a question that felt distinctly modern: What happens to religion if Earth is not alone? However, Indiana University scholar Paul Gutjahr argues in his book Faith in Space: American Religious Belief in Extraterrestrial Life that Americans have been contemplating extraterrestrial life for centuries—long before NASA’s involvement.
Gutjahr’s study features a diverse array of American figures, including Puritan ministers, Yale presidents, Benjamin Franklin, Mormon theologians, Spiritualists, Theosophists, Scientologists, and Nation of Islam leaders. While their beliefs varied widely, their fascination with the cosmos remained constant.
Cotton Mather, an 18th-century Puritan minister, was among the first Americans to consider the possibility of life on other worlds. In his 1721 work The Christian Philosopher, he speculated about life on the Moon and comets. Mather saw no conflict between such ideas and Christian faith; he believed an inhabited universe would offer more reasons to marvel at God’s creation.
Mather was not alone in this thought. Benjamin Franklin recorded his belief in multiple worlds in 1728, writing that “the INFINITE has created many Beings or Gods … and that Each has made for himself one glorious Sun.” Ezra Stiles, a Yale president, believed other planets could host moral beings, while Timothy Dwight imagined vast numbers of inhabited worlds. Henry David Thoreau also pondered the inhabitants of distant stars.
Thomas Paine took a different approach in The Age of Reason, suggesting that if God created countless worlds, Christian redemption might require Christ to be incarnated on each.
The 19th century brought further speculation: Spiritualism promised communication with the dead, and the famous 1835 “Moon Hoax”—a fabricated story about lunar inhabitants—showed public eagerness to believe in extraterrestrial life.
Technological advancements also fueled imagination. The telegraph enabled instant long-distance communication, and the Civil War left many grieving for lost loved ones. These developments made the idea of communication with the dead seem more plausible.
Mormonism developed an elaborate cosmic theology envisioning a universe filled with worlds and intelligences. Meanwhile, Theosophists under Helena Blavatsky built their own spiritual hierarchies, and Transcendentalists reflected on humanity’s place in creation.
By the 20th century, extraterrestrial speculation had taken unconventional religious forms. L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology placed humans within an intergalactic history involving the Galactic Federation and Xenu. The late 20th-century UFO phenomenon rebranded these age-old questions with new vocabulary, influenced by the atomic bomb, Cold War, rockets, and the space race.
The Nation of Islam developed an extraterrestrial cosmology centered on the Mother Plane, and Louis Farrakhan later incorporated UFO experiences into his religious worldview.
Gutjahr’s book traces a thread from Cotton Mather to 20th-century cults, demonstrating that Americans have been pondering questions about their place in the cosmos for centuries.