The United States is Returning to the Moon Permanently with Artemis II and III: How the Bible Justified and Enabled the Expansion of the Human Species to Other Celestial Bodies

Something historic is happening today: NASA is sending astronauts around the Moon, echoing the 1968 Apollo 8 mission—the one where astronauts read the creation story from Genesis and broadcast it via radio and television to the people of Earth. This also marks the first time since the Apollo 17 missions in 1972 that humans have returned this close to the Moon. These flights are essentially preliminary preparations for the upcoming Artemis III mission, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface, much like the Apollo 11 through 17 missions between 1969 and 1972.

However, this is not just a nostalgic return to the one-off space flights of the Cold War era. This time, the United States intends to return to the Moon permanently—to establish a life-sustaining base that would be inhabited year-round.

A permanent base on the Moon is also the first step toward a long-term goal: a mission to Mars and the establishment of a permanent base there as well. Over time, that base could expand into a full-scale colony or city. A one-way trip to Mars takes at least six months; therefore, a brief “flag-and-footprints” visit like the Apollo missions wouldn’t make much sense without staying on the planet—even though the challenges are immense, considering how hostile the Martian environment is to life. Yet, the Moon is an even more hostile celestial body than Mars, and we still managed to visit it six times using technology that is now over 50 years old (despite what conspiracy theorists might claim).

Living in the weightlessness of space is the most hostile environment for a human being. Nevertheless, we have continuously inhabited Earth’s orbit since the turn of the millennium, thanks to the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). While no individual astronaut has lived in space for longer than 15 months yet, humanity as a species has no longer been tied solely to the Earth’s surface in the 21st century. In fact, we could say we have already transitioned from a terrestrial species to a spacefaring species, as our entire modern civilization is now largely dependent on infrastructure placed in space—such as satellites that power our timing systems, navigation, global communications, weather forecasting, economy, logistics, and security.

In this sense, it shouldn’t require a massive quantum leap of the imagination to think that the next natural step in civilizational development is the transition from a spacefaring species to a multi-planetary species. This means a species that lives on multiple solid celestial bodies, rocky planets, and their moons—or one that expands its civilizational influence across several planets, as we have already begun to do on a small scale with Mars rovers. In this bold, far-reaching vision, Mars would be just the first step toward inhabiting our entire solar system.

If we dare to stretch our imagination even further, the colonization of our solar system would be followed by expansion into other star systems and the settling of the Milky Way—our home galaxy. We see this in sci-fi classics like Star Wars, where humans have spread across various planets and star systems, establishing a galactic civilization that eventually evolves from a democratic Galactic Republic into a Galactic Empire, mirroring the historical development of the Roman Empire.

Such futuristic hypotheses may sound completely utopian to many right now, but the concept is known as the Kardashev Scale, developed by Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in the 1960s. According to the scale, a civilization’s technological advancement can be measured based on whether they harness the energy of their own planet, their solar system, or their entire galaxy. The Kardashev Scale thus describes three different levels of civilization:

Type I: A civilization capable of harnessing the energy of a single planet.
Type II: A civilization capable of harnessing the energy of a single star or solar system.
Type III: A civilization capable of harnessing the energy of an entire galaxy.

Table of Contents

The Biblical Perspective

I previously touched upon this subject in Chapter 9 of my book, Adam 2.0 or Beast 6.66? – Transhumanism in the Light of the Bible. However, I want to expand on these thoughts here, as this topic fascinates me—specifically from a biblical viewpoint. Does the Bible justify this vision of humanity’s collective mission and purpose—a vision championed in recent years by the world’s wealthiest billionaire (soon to be history’s first trillionaire), Elon Musk, and driven forward by SpaceX’s Starship rocket? Or is this merely a modern-day attempt by a prideful human mind to build a contemporary Tower of Babel?

From a more cynical and pessimistic perspective, it is perhaps easy to see this as the megalomania of an inflated human ego, reminiscent of the biblical account of Lucifer’s fall:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” – Isaiah 14:12–14

Another passage often cited in this context is Psalm 115:16:

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men.”

This is often interpreted to mean that humans do not even have the permission to rule over celestial bodies, as only the dominion of the Earth was granted to the descendants of Adam. However, this is a somewhat flawed interpretation of Scripture, as other passages state the following:

“Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.” – Deuteronomy 10:14

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” – Psalm 24:1

“The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them.” – Psalm 89:11

Ownership, therefore, is not a divided matter where man owns the earth and God owns the heavens. Heaven and Earth alike belong to God’s sovereign domain; He owns the heavens just as He owns the earth. If God’s sovereignty over the Earth does not exclude the fact that He entrusted Adam and his descendants with the responsibility of ruling it (Genesis 1:28), then why would it exclude the heavens? In biblical anthropology, man is described as God’s co-regent, whose role in His creation is akin to that of a steward on lands owned by his Master.

This is also the foundation of Christian environmentalism, as opposed to pagan or misanthropic environmentalism, where man himself is seen as the environment’s ultimate problem. Man does not possess absolute or unconditional power over nature; therefore, our Master will one day hold us accountable for how we have cared for His creation and governed His creatures.

Pro-Human vs. Anti-Human Philosophy

Techno-billionaires like Elon Musk and sociologists such as Steve Fuller have emphasized that various political and religious ideologies can be divided into two opposing camps. On one side are those who view the human race with hostility and seek to limit its potential, dominion, growth, and numbers. On the other side are those who love humanity (despite its flaws) and believe in our potential to transcend our limitations—expanding our consciousness and dominion beyond this planet and growing, both as individuals and as a species, beyond our current biological and mental constraints.

This idea is at the very core of transhumanism (moving beyond humanity). Fuller, a proponent of transhumanism, distinguishes it from posthumanism, which belongs more to the aforementioned misanthropic group. Posthumanism (meaning after humanity) is a philosophy that advocates for a world after man, where humanity itself no longer functions as the dominant force shaping the world.

For example, Musk and Fuller link radical environmentalism—which is often rooted in pagan nature worship—to the first group. Its perspective on humanity is deeply pessimistic and anti-human because it fundamentally rejects the idea that humans possess any special value compared to other organisms in nature. The reports from the Club of Rome, which describe humanity as a “cancer” on nature whose population should be limited and whose economic growth should be stifled to conserve resources, are prime examples of this misanthropic thinking.

The pro-human camp, which believes in humanity’s potential, does not deny that human activity has caused many problems on our planet or that we are eventually depleting Earth’s natural resources and energy sources. However, this camp also understands that man is not merely a consumer of Earth’s existing resources, but also a producer of new resources and an inventor of new energy sources (the “tiller and keeper” of the Earth, as Genesis declares).

This is where the previously mentioned Kardashev Scale comes into play. If our civilization reaches a point where we are exhausting our own planet’s energy and resources, the solution is not to reduce the human population or establish a global environmental dictatorship. Instead, the solution is to increase freedom so that we can achieve greater innovations in science and technology. This allows us to expand beyond our own biosphere and utilize the resources found on the Moon, Mars, and throughout the entire solar system to fuel our civilization.

NASA’s Artemis missions and Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars—driven by his massive Starship rocket—signal that we are now at a historic turning point: humanity is transitioning from a Type I to a Type II civilization on the Kardashev Scale.

Pessimistic voices might argue that the hostile environment of space proves God never intended for it to be inhabited. Yet, in the same way, Siberia and Antarctica are extremely hostile to life, and still, humanity has asserted dominion over them and established permanently inhabited settlements. Mount Everest is a lethal environment, yet countless thrill-seekers and adventurers have scaled its peak.

The same applies to the oceans, which humanity mastered during the Age of Discovery, and now we are moving toward mapping and occupying the depths of the sea. When has a civilization ever advanced by being content to stay within its comfort zone, doing only what requires no risk, no courage, and no rising above “impossible” circumstances? This same question can be asked of every individual. The idea of ascending into space and reaching the Moon once sounded nearly impossible, yet we succeeded. As President John F. Kennedy said in his famous 1962 speech at Rice University:

“The eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal?

One might as well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

Space Colonies and Terraforming

Another common misconception regarding space travel is that it is some sort of escapist attempt to flee our Earthly problems. While these ideas are sometimes fueled by Elon Musk himself or post-apocalyptic sci-fi series on Netflix, the notion is quite absurd when you realize that Earth remains a literal Paradise compared to the Moon or Mars. No one escapes from Paradise into a wasteland. Earth’s environmental issues are negligible compared to the conditions on the lunar or Martian surface.

There is no breathable atmosphere on the Moon or Mars. A lunar day and night each last about 15 Earth days; during the day, surface temperatures can soar to a scorching 266°F (+130°C), while at night they plunge to a frigid –328°F (–200°C). Without an atmosphere to regulate heat, the typical temperature fluctuation on the Moon is around 540°F.

On Mars, the length of a day is nearly identical to Earth’s (only 40 minutes longer), but even there, nighttime temperatures can drop below –148°F, even if it is possible to enjoy 86°F (+30°C) temperatures near the Martian equator during the summer. I still wouldn’t recommend going out in a T-shirt; the Martian atmosphere is incredibly thin—the pressure is only about 0.6% of Earth’s. In such conditions, your blood would boil almost instantly, your oxygen would be depleted in seconds, and your lungs would rupture if you tried to breathe, regardless of how “comfortable” the temperature might momentarily be.

In short: even if it felt warm during the day, without a full pressure and oxygen suit, you wouldn’t last more than 10 to 30 seconds before losing consciousness. Death would quickly follow from ebullism (the boiling of body fluids at low pressure), asphyxiation, and tissue damage. Furthermore, because the Moon has no atmosphere and Mars has a very thin one, inhabitants would be constantly exposed to cosmic solar radiation—roughly 200 to 700 times higher than on Earth—significantly increasing the risk of cancer for astronauts.

The low gravity of the Moon (about one-sixth of Earth’s) and Mars (about one-third) also presents numerous physiological challenges, causing muscle atrophy, heart issues, vision impairment, and fluid buildup in the upper body. This is why astronauts on the ISS must exercise for two hours daily to minimize these health risks. Additionally, there is highly toxic dust, and on the Moon specifically, micrometeoroids constantly bombard the surface, which could prove fatal to astronauts.

It is clear that there is no extraterrestrial life on Mars, as many believed in the early 20th century. The same applies to most other celestial bodies in our solar system, though we cannot say the same for sure about other star systems in our galaxy or the universe. However, this does not mean that humanity cannot make these hostile environments hospitable through our superior intelligence and technology. We can, for instance, modify conditions in a controlled and localized manner—first through shielded habitats and later through broader technological solutions. We can build pressurized dwellings, utilize local resources to produce water, oxygen, and fuel, protect ourselves from radiation using soil and structures, and create closed ecosystems that mimic Earth’s life-sustaining processes.

We already know how to produce oxygen, water, and fuel from local lunar and Martian resources by utilizing local ice, minerals, and atmospheric compounds through electrolysis, chemical synthesis, and energy storage solutions. Some of these technologies are already in use in space, and some have been tested in analog environments on Earth; it is no longer a matter of theory, but of engineering and scaling. This means that future human settlements will not rely solely on constant resupply missions from Earth, but on local production and a gradual increase in self-sufficiency—the very principle upon which all sustainable civilizations in history have been built.

It would be entirely possible to build a small, self-sufficient city on the surface or underground on both the Moon and Mars, featuring many of the same modern comforts as cities on Earth. The only difference would be that you couldn’t go for a walk outside without a spacesuit. Living in these cities would, of course, be a very different experience due to the lower gravity. Longer-term visions have even contemplated the terraforming of extraterrestrial bodies—the process of “Earth-shaping” their climate and environment.

In these plans, for example, the thin Martian atmosphere could be gradually thickened by releasing carbon dioxide and other gases from the planet’s own reserves—perhaps by bombarding the Martian poles with nuclear weapons—raising the planet’s temperature and improving its radiation shielding. Over the long term, this would create a more stable and hospitable environment on Mars. Such terraforming would not be a project for a single generation, but a process lasting centuries or even millennia, where small, localized habitable zones would gradually expand.

Ultimately, it is essential to understand that this would not be an arbitrary distortion of nature, but the unlocking of creation’s potential through technology. This follows the same principle by which humanity has turned marshes into farmland, deserts into habitable land, and hostile environments into life-sustaining ones. The cities of the Moon and Mars would be the first steps in this evolution, not the endpoint; they would serve as laboratories for how far human responsibility, ingenuity, and stewardship can extend beyond the borders of Earth.

Planetary Engineering and Climate Modification

A project of such magnitude would require an entirely new field of science called planetary engineering. This would be a broader application of the climate modification techniques already applied to our own planet today, where we aim to artificially manipulate Earth’s atmosphere. This is already in use, for example, through methods like cloud seeding, where aircraft “seed” clouds with chemicals—typically silver iodide—to accelerate the precipitation process, causing the cloud to rain sooner than it naturally would. (This practice is often conflated with anti-government right-wing conspiracy narratives regarding so-called “chemtrails”).

At this point, many readers typically begin to recoil, spreading conspiracy theories about a secret club of “mad scientists” and techno-billionaires trying to destroy planet Earth, reduce the human population, and escape to Mars. The truth, however, is quite the opposite: those who oppose the modification of Earth’s climate often belong to the same circles that advocate for a reduction in the human population. Behind this opposition lies a neo-pagan notion that man should not rule or reshape his environment at all, as this very act is supposedly why “Mother Earth” is now angry with us and seeks to wipe out half the human population through floods and other natural disasters.

The idea of governing nature, however, is deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. When God created man, He said:

“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:28

When speaking of the “earth,” the Bible does not merely mean the soil we stand upon, but our entire planet—its environment and its ecosystem. Therefore, the term “earth” includes our planet’s atmosphere and climate, which we are permitted to bring under human dominion. When man has cleared forests, tilled the soil, or diverted waterways, it has all been a form of managing the Earth’s ecological system on a small scale. Seeding clouds to produce rain or modifying the genetic code of crops to improve their productivity and quality are examples on a slightly larger scale. Planetary engineering is an example of exercising dominion over creation in the largest possible sense.

In planetary engineering, we would not manage nature only locally, but as a holistic system where the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geological processes are interconnected to form a life-sustaining whole. In this context, “dominion” would not mean arbitrary manipulation or short-sighted exploitation, but long-term planning, foresight, and taking responsibility on a global scale. In the long run, planetary science would eventually grant us a better understanding of how to manage our own planet’s climate to create more stable living conditions here.

This is the only way we could truly defeat “climate change.” And I do not use that term in the same apocalyptic sense as Greta Thunberg, nor am I referring solely to post-industrial global warming (whether man-made or not). I am referring to the instability of our climate, which has caused real problems since the days of the first human couple. The entire Earth was cursed as a result of Adam’s sin; therefore, frost, extreme heat, drought, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and various diseases have caused immense destruction and death—even though none of these were part of God’s original intent for His creation. This is why Paul taught in the 8th chapter of Romans:

“…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” – Romans 8:21–23

A better understanding and management of the systems regulating our own planet’s climate would also help us better manage the climates of other planets, such as Mars. We could then learn to reshape the Martian atmosphere to more closely resemble Earth’s. Now, I do not believe that Mars is destined to become some “Earth 2.0” where humanity flees when “Earth 1.0” faces an existential catastrophe. But I do believe that humanity has the capacity to expand its civilization’s reach and dimension to other planets. The space probes, helicopters, and rovers we have sent to other planets or their moons are merely a foretaste of what is to come.

Why Should We Reach for the Stars?

One crucial perspective is that even if a reader has no personal desire to ever visit the Moon, Mars, or even Earth’s orbit, space exploration benefits every inhabitant of Earth in the long run. It forces the brightest minds of humanity to invent innovative solutions to the challenges of space travel and habitation—solutions that then lead to technological breakthroughs benefiting everyone on Earth. We have already seen this clearly: despite the astronomical costs of space exploration, the resulting “spin-off” innovations have trickled down into our daily lives in ways few even realize.

Satellite technology, precision navigation, advanced materials, energy-efficient systems, medical imaging and monitoring, and closed-loop life-support systems are all examples of solutions originally born from the demands of space that now directly serve terrestrial society. Even more significant, however, is that space exploration serves as an inspiration and a roadmap for a collective human purpose: it sets shared, long-term goals for humanity that transcend the boundaries of individual generations, nations, and ideologies. In this sense, space exploration is not an escape from Earth, but an investment in it—an investment in knowledge, capability, and a future whose fruits will endure far longer than any rocket.

From a sociological standpoint, this is a vital perspective because humanity needs a meaningful narrative for why it exists in the first place. We need this as individuals and as communities alike. We require answers to fundamental existential questions: Why are we here? Where are we going? What are we striving, suffering, and building for? If no one offers a positive direction or meaning for our existence, we eventually drift toward nihilism, hedonism, and self-destruction—or we begin to seek that communal meaning in destructive political ideologies, cults, and secular religions.

While Christianity addresses these existential needs—which can only truly be fulfilled through a connection with our Creator through His crucified Son, Jesus Christ—it was never intended to be detached from history, creation, or man’s concrete mission in the world. The Christian faith does not merely answer the question “How am I saved?” but also “Why do I exist, how shall I live, and toward what end am I building?” It is anchored in time, place, and action: in love for one’s neighbor, in exercising responsibility over creation, and in nurturing a hope for a future that is not closed off.

In this precise sense, Christianity is capable of providing a positive and constructive meta-narrative—one based not on fear, enemies, or apocalyptic dread, but on the trust that history is in God’s hands and that man has a meaningful role within it. Such a narrative does not compete with science or human progress; rather, it provides them with direction and an ethical framework: man’s task is not to flee the world, but to participate in its restoration. Without this comprehensive vision, Christianity easily shrinks into mere private consolation or escapist hope. At its best, however, it serves as a counterforce to the very destructive ideologies into which a person searching for meaning might otherwise drift.

Indeed, it can be argued that if Christianity loses its historical and eschatological anchors to this reality and this age—becoming merely a message of comfort regarding the hereafter—it leaves behind a vacuum for “political religions” that offer their own messages of hope and salvation for this world. This phenomenon can largely explain the rise of figures like Adolf Hitler; Nazism was much more than a political movement—it was a political religion that promised a thousand-year Third Reich and the coming of a “New Man.” These were concepts borrowed directly from Christian eschatology but twisted into their satanic opposite.

The Bible in the Light of Modern Physics

While it is easy to fall into the trap of reading the Bible as if it were a textbook on natural science or physics—which it is not—the Bible and our current scientific understanding of physics are in no way in conflict. Let’s consider two examples:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.” – Psalm 104:1–2

“It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in… Lift up your eyes on high, and see: Who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing.” – Isaiah 40:22, 26

In both passages, God is described as having “stretched out” the heavens—the entire universe with its billions of galaxies—like a tent or a curtain. Until the first half of the 20th century, most astronomers and physicists took it for granted that the universe as a whole was static and eternal, with no definable beginning. As the AI model Grok explains:

This idea was a deeply rooted prejudice that extended from antiquity through Newton and into the early 20th century. The following points illustrate the situation:

Late 1800s – 1910s: In Newtonian physics [though Newton himself believed the Biblical God created the universe], the universe was assumed to be infinite, static, and eternal. Astronomers viewed the Milky Way as practically the entire universe, and neither expansion nor contraction was seriously considered.

1917: Albert Einstein created the first cosmological model based on general relativity (Einstein’s static universe). He forced a cosmological constant (Λ) into his equations to keep the universe static—because without it, the universe would either collapse or expand. Einstein viewed this as perfectly natural because “everyone” believed the universe had to be unchanging.

1917 – early 1920s: Willem de Sitter also proposed a static model (though one consisting of empty space). Most regarded staticity as nearly self-evident.

1922–1927: Alexander Friedmann and Georges Lemaître found mathematically expanding and contracting solutions to Einstein’s equations, but these were viewed primarily as mathematical curiosities and did not immediately convince anyone.

1929: Edwin Hubble’s observation (redshift increases with distance → the universe is expanding) began to shatter the static paradigm.

1930–1931: Einstein visited Hubble, admitted his error, and abandoned the cosmological constant (he later called it his “biggest blunder”). The static model was gradually abandoned by the scientific community in the 1930s.

In summary: until the early 1930s, a static and eternal universe was the dominant (or at least the overwhelmingly prevalent) view among nearly all authorities in the field. It wasn’t until the popularization of Hubble’s observations and Lemaître’s “primeval atom” (Big Bang) theory in the 1930s—and later the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation (1965)—that the static model was finally relegated to the dustbin of mainstream cosmology.

In other words, to most physicists living in the early 1900s, the claims in Psalms and Isaiah that the universe was “stretched out like a curtain,” or that it had a moment of beginning as Genesis 1:1 and John 1:3 claim, would have looked like mere ancient poetic nonsense. But today we know—thanks in large part to the Roman Catholic priest and physicist Georges Lemaître—that the universe is expanding and galaxies are receding from one another at an accelerating rate.

British astronomer Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) was the first to coin the term “Big Bang” as a derisive description of Lemaître’s theory, which is now widely accepted and confirmed by observation. Atheists like Hoyle had difficulty accepting the theory because it brought physics too close to metaphysics and the biblical creation account. An expanding universe cannot be eternal; it must have had a beginning point when all matter and energy began to move away from one another.

There is another curiosity in the books of Psalms and Isaiah that is highly relevant to Albert Einstein’s theories. The Psalmist says: “Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.” The Hebrew verb used here for “stretching out” is נָטָה (natah), which can be translated as “to stretch, extend, spread out, incline, or bend.” The same word appears in Isaiah: “Who stretches out [natah = bends/inclines] the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out [mathach = stretches/expands] like a tent to dwell in.” According to the Hebrew prophets, God has bent or curved the heavens. Given that light is mentioned in the same context, the Psalmist’s implication seems to be that light curves above a mass like the Earth.

This is precisely what Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity asserts: that mass and energy do not simply move through space, but actually shape the geometry of space-time itself, causing the path of light to bend. In General Relativity, light does not curve because of some traditional force acting upon it, but because it follows the “geodesic” of curved space-time in the vicinity of massive objects. This very idea—that the “heavens” are not a rigid, unchanging stage, but a stretchable, expandable, and curving reality—resonates surprisingly well with the language used by the Psalmist and Isaiah.

Relativity revolutionized the Newtonian conception of gravity. According to Einstein, there isn’t a “pulling” force beneath our feet dragging a falling apple or a person toward the Earth’s core. Instead, the curved space-time above us—which warps near a large mass like Earth, much like a trampoline sags when a heavy bowling ball is placed on it—effectively pushes us downward. We feel the sensation of gravity only because the hard ground beneath our feet resists that downward push; without it, we would be in a state of continuous free-fall, much like the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).

The space station and the Moon stay in orbit and don’t come crashing down on you because their lateral velocity is high enough to maintain their trajectory. If you had “Superman” strength, you could theoretically throw a ball so high and with such acceleration that its falling arc would match the curvature of our planet’s surface, meaning it would never hit the ground. Isaac Newton was the first to realize this phenomenon, and it explains why ISS astronauts are in a state of perpetual free-fall around the Earth without falling to the surface like a skydiver.

Biblical Passages Supporting the Inhabitation of the Cosmos

While Psalm 115:16 is often misused as an argument against space colonization, the Bible contains numerous passages that support the expansion of our dominion to cosmic proportions—not in the pride and rebellion of the heart, but to bring glory to the Name of Him who created the heavens, the earth, and everything within them. The most significant of these is Psalm 8:

“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels [or God as NASB translates the verse”], and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen—even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!” – Psalm 8:1–9

In this passage, David praises God because, despite man’s smallness, God has created him as a near-divine being to rule over the works of His hands, placing all things under his feet. Since, according to the Psalmist, the moon and the stars—through which God demonstrates the majesty of His power above the heavens—are also the work of God’s fingers, the natural conclusion is that the moon and stars were also placed under human dominion.

This Psalm was cited by the 19th-century Russian Orthodox theologian Nikolai Fyodorov in his book The Common Task, where he urged humanity to rise toward becoming a Type II and Type III civilization, spreading across many planets and star systems. Fyodorov wrote this before humans had even built the first airplane, let alone a space rocket. I discussed Fyodorov’s ideas in greater detail in my book Adam 2.0 or Beast 6.66? Transhumanism in the Light of the Bible. When NASA’s current Administrator, Jared Isaacman, was appointed in November 2025, I sent him a tweet quoting the Psalmist’s words and Fyodorov’s far-reaching visions of the future. My tweet broke through the X algorithms, so it’s possible Isaacman saw it himself, though there’s no way to know for sure.

Another intriguing passage is Isaiah 40:22, which I quoted earlier:

“It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”

Note the end of the verse: “spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” The verse does not say God created only the earth to be inhabited, but that He also created the heavens to be inhabited. And that this refers to more than just the atmosphere where birds fly is made clear in verse 26:

“Lift up your eyes on high, and see: Who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing.”

The New American Standard Bible translates “host” as “stars,” and most biblical commentaries confirm that this refers specifically to the stars, which in biblical imagery are often associated with angels. A third passage that could refer to the occupation of our solar system during the millennial reign of Christ and His saints is the prophecy in Daniel chapter 7:

“Then the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [the Antichrist’s] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” – Daniel 7:26–27

The “heavens” (shamayim in Hebrew) often refers to a broad concept including the atmosphere, the starry sky, and God’s dwelling place. Since the expression used here is “under the whole heaven,” it cannot refer only to Earth’s atmosphere, but more broadly to the entire universe. However, the phrase “under the whole heaven” makes little sense in light of modern cosmology if we interpret it only against the backdrop of Earth. In medieval Aristotelian cosmology, Earth was understood to be at the “bottom” of the universe (not necessarily the center, as is often misunderstood). In other words, Earth was the lowest place in the visible universe, reflecting its imperfection compared to the “divine” celestial bodies above it.

In a geocentric model, we could say Earth sits “under the whole heaven,” but in modern cosmology, there is no universal “up” or “down.” Direction is determined entirely by where you stand. If you stand on Earth, the center of the earth is “down,” and the stars are “up.” If you stand on the Moon, the Moon’s center is “down,” and Earth and the stars are “up.” The same applies to Mars or Venus.

In other words, Earth is not the only celestial body that can be said to sit “under the whole heaven.” Since space-time curves with mass, every massive element in the geometry of the universe sits at the “bottom” of that structure’s curvature—much like bowling balls on a trampoline sit in the lowest depressions of the fabric. Therefore, Mars and the Moon sit “under the whole heaven” just as much as Earth does. From this, we could conclude that the dominion of the saints is not limited to this planet but extends to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and perhaps beyond. Regarding Venus, Jesus himself gave this enigmatic prophecy in Revelation:

“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” – Revelation 2:26–29

The “morning star” here refers to the planet Venus, which Jesus also uses to describe Himself (Rev 22:16). But could this also be a literal reference to the governance and inhabitation of the planet Venus by the followers of Christ during His 1,000-year reign? Venus is, of course, a fiery furnace with a surface temperature of 887°F (475°C), where no living thing could survive. However, the clouds of Venus have very ideal temperatures. Many have envisioned the colonization of Venusian clouds because at an altitude of about 30–37 miles (50–60 km), the temperature is a pleasant 68–167°F (20–75°C), atmospheric pressure is similar to Earth’s surface (about 1 atm), and gravity is nearly identical (about 0.9 g). This makes conditions surprisingly suitable for human habitation without pressurized suits or artificial gravity. In such an environment, airships or aerostats could float, using breathable air (an oxygen-nitrogen mix) as lifting gas—since it is lighter than Venus’s carbon-dioxide-heavy atmosphere, just as helium lifts balloons on Earth.

The Ascent of Man to the Abode of the Gods

Finally, we must consider Romans chapter 8, where Paul taught:

“And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now… even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” – Romans 8:17–23

In this passage, Paul uses the Greek word κτίσις (ktisis) for “creation,” which encompasses the entire created order, including the whole visible universe. When Paul says the entire creation eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons of God to be liberated from the bondage of corruption brought about by Adam’s sin, he is not speaking only of our planet, but of the entire cosmos. The Moon, Mars, and the brightest “star” in the sky, Venus, are just as much a part of the ktisis as Earth is.

Today, we know that stars and planets are not divine or eternal; they are transient and temporal, just like man. In the ancient world, however, the stars and planets—referred to as “wandering stars” (cf. Jude 1:13)—were worshipped as gods. In the writings of Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Plato, they were regarded as divine and eternal beings. Paul’s message constitutes a “declaration of war” against this ancient paganism, asserting that the entire cosmos belongs to a perishable and imperfect world order. As the AI model Grok explains:

Paul’s claim in Romans 8 represents a radical theological challenge to Greco-Roman cosmology:

The Perishability of Creation: In ancient thought, celestial bodies were eternal and composed of “aether,” a substance superior to earthly matter. Paul collapses this dualism. By stating that the whole creation (the entire universe) groans in bondage to corruption, he implies there is no separate “divine sphere.” Everything is created by God, affected by sin, and in need of redemption.

Human Dominion as Sacrilege: In antiquity, exalting man above the divine celestial bodies would have been seen as the ultimate hubris. In astrology, the planets ruled human destiny; in Paul’s vision, this is inverted. The redeemed human—in Christ—rises to rule over the creation that contains those “gods.” This wasn’t just a philosophical difference; it was a theological provocation that shattered the traditional cosmic hierarchy.

Today, when humanity sends robotic rovers to the surface of Mars (named after the Roman god of war) or treads with “unclean” feet upon the Moon (worshipped as the goddess Artemis, whom Acts 19:27 says “all Asia and the world worship”), we are committing what ancient peoples would have seen as the ultimate sacrilege. Many fundamentalist Christians misinterpret this entirely, suspecting an occult agenda behind NASA’s use of these names.

In reality, NASA is—perhaps unintentionally—mocking the ancient pagan gods. In paganism, mortals could not govern the immortals; the heavens ruled the fates of men. When modern science and technology send machines to celestial bodies that were once deemed divine, it turns ancient cosmology upside down. What was once divine and insurmountable becomes a human objective: Mars is no longer a god, but a “Red Planet” where rovers analyze rocks; the Moon is no longer Artemis’s sacred realm, but a landing site where human footprints have already left their mark.

It is an ironic twist: NASA’s choice of names like Apollo and Artemis is not a secret occult ritual, but rather a (perhaps unconscious) cultural victory march. They borrow ancient mythology for its romantic and epic power—heroism, light, the hunt—but in doing so, they empty those names of their original divine content. The gods no longer rule; they are mere brands and metaphors for human ambition. An ancient person would see this as the pinnacle of hubris: a mortal entering the abode of the gods, assuming their names, and claiming dominion over the eternal. As I wrote in my book, Adam 2.0 or Beast 6.66:

In pagan religions, man’s place and role were seen as subordinate to the forces of nature, whereas in Judeo-Christianity, the unpredictable and capricious nature was seen as subordinate to man… In short, in pagan religions, the earth and the heavens ruled over man, while in the Judeo-Christian faith, man was tasked with ruling both the earth and the heavens. By entrusting this sacred mission—authorized by the Creator—to man, the Bible dethroned the idols of the ancient world and exalted man to their heavenly glory. Man thus became a god-man—Homo Deus, as the title of Harari’s book proclaims…

As I formulated in the previous chapter, the scientific revolution and the Judeo-Christian faith that inspired it cast these nature-gods, exalted by pagan nations, from their thrones. Man thus rose not only above the gods of the Earth but also ‘into the heavens, higher than the stars of God,’ to make himself the equal of the gods. The fact that man today sends his robots to the surface of Mars and speaks theoretically of colonizing Mars or the (clouds of) Venus, and of conquering other star systems in the universe, would have been seen in the eyes of ancient pagan peoples as the ultimate insolence and a desecration of the gods. For how could a mortal investigate the divine or bring it under his dominion? The god Mars must rule the destinies of men, not the other way around. But the Creator of heaven and earth Himself exalted man to this honorable heavenly position when man bowed and humbled himself before His Holy Name.

Conclusion

A central message of my book is that both the humanism born during the 15th-century Renaissance and the transhumanism of the 20th century were natural heirs to Judeo-Christian anthropology. Only the Judeo-Christian faith provided the human race with an unprecedented elevation by raising man to be the image of the Creator of heaven and earth—or in the words of the Psalmist, making him “a little lower than the heavenly beings” (Psalm 8:5)—destined to one day rule over heaven and earth as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

Over the past 500 years, this view of humanity has inspired the scientific, industrial, and technological revolutions. These movements were all built upon the premise that nature is not a playground for capricious gods beyond human reach, but a created reality subjected to human reason, understanding, and dominion. It was precisely this biblical foundation—man’s status as the Imago Dei, carrying the mandate to subdue and rule over creation (Genesis 1:26–28)—that empowered Western civilization to systematically study, manipulate, and reshape nature without the paralyzing fear of divine retribution or the breaking of “sacred” boundaries.

In the pagan cultures of antiquity, the Greco-Roman world, or Eastern traditions, nature and celestial bodies were often seen as divine forces or their manifestations. Man, at best, could only adapt to or appease them—but never govern or alter them for his own benefit without committing sacrilege. The Western culture shaped by Judeo-Christian faith turned this entire dynamic upside down. It allowed us to understand that creation is governed by mathematical and physical laws. By deciphering these laws, we were eventually able to build the first airplanes and space rockets, defying the very pull of gravity.

Furthermore, the vision for the conquest and inhabitation of the cosmos was championed by theologians like Nikolai Fyodorov, whose writings significantly influenced the rocket scientists of the 20th century, as I have detailed in my book. For this reason, the Bible does not merely justify space exploration; it was a direct catalyst for why such a feat became possible in the first place.