24 theologians worked with NASA to examine how religions would react to aliens

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A religious leader and doctor in the United Kingdom is getting international attention after revealing he and other faith leaders worked with NASA to examine how religions would react to finding alien life.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Davison is both a theologian and a scientist who teaches at the University of Cambridge. Speaking to The Times UK this week, Davison said he and 23 other theologians took part in a NASA-sponsored program at the Center for Theological Inquiry in the United States to "assess" how the world's major religions would react if alien life was discovered on other planets.

The revelation came just days before the Christmas Day launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope will give humans the first glimpse into the beginnings of our universe and could answer the question: is there life on other planets?

The telescope will travel a million miles past the moon and collect data for the next decade.

Davison is apparently just as surprised so many have taken interest in his work, stating on Twitter "I never thought my work would be in @thehill. But then, I didn’t think my work on theology and extraterrestrial life would be covered in 68 news outlets at once, in 5 or 6 scripts and 15+ languages. It’s been quite a week."