Do Earth-Like Planets Exist? A Jewish Perspective on Life Beyond Our World

“There is a planet similar to Earth. How does Judaism view this? Isn’t there a position that denies the existence of intelligent life outside of Earth? Thank you very much.”

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No life of any kind has ever been discovered on another planet.

The information you’ve seen is theoretical, not factual. Astronomers cannot photograph such planets directly, and only estimate their possible conditions. In fact, every couple of years, astronomers announce the discovery of a new planet that might be able to sustain life. However the data is far too theoretical and not solidly proven from a scientific standpoint.

About a decade ago, researchers found that our sun is actually quite unique in the type of radiation it emits, which makes life possible. By contrast, most other stars in the universe do not provide conditions that would allow life to exist. There may be countless other factors, unknown to us, that are absolutely necessary for life.

God prepared all the conditions on our world to make life possible. It is highly doubtful that all those conditions would be perfectly in place on other planets.

Judaism does not categorically deny the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but it also does not affirm it.