Theology: Challenge in the Heavens

The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men. —Psalm 115

While man is taking new steps into the heavens, religious thinkers are pondering again some of the issues that space travel raises for faith. In churches and synagogues, the flight of Apollo 8 was a favorite topic for sermons, particularly because of the astronauts' reading the opening verses of Genesis as a Christmas Eve message to mankind.* A number of clergymen feel that growing knowledge of the immensity of the universe...