This material is also mentioned in “Raelianism in a nutshell,” but it is presented here with a more detailed look at its interpretations of the Bible.  Like many new religious movements, Jesus is often claimed to be one of their members.  The Raelian movement is no different.  In the book, “The Message Given by Extra-Terrestrials,” Mr. Claude Vorilhon was given a new interpretation to the Bible.  In his book, on page 19 under the chapter titled “The Truth,” many new concepts are woven into the biblical account.  The following are some of them.

The Raelian interpretation of creation

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God [elohim] created the heavens and the earth.”  According to the interpretation of the alleged extra-terrestrials, the word Elohim (which is the Hebrew word for “God”) means “those who came from the sky” (p. 20).  Thus, the aliens from another planet discovered earth and thought it would be a suitable habitation for their experiments on the creation of artificial life.

Genesis 1:2 which says, “And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters,” really means that “the scientists made reconnaissance flights and what you might call artificial satellites were placed around the earth…” (p. 20).

Genesis 1:4 where God says that “the light was good,” means that the alien scientists discovered that our sun was correctly heating the earth without sending harmful rays.  The “day” mentioned in Genesis 1:5 was about 2,000 years long on earth.

Genesis 1:7 where God divided the waters below from the waters above, this means the alien scientists stayed between the clouds and the water on earth in their studies (p. 21).

Genesis 1:11 is where the Bible says that vegetation was growing.  This means the alien scientists produced plant cells from chemicals.

Genesis 1:14 mentions the separation of the light from the day and night for seasons.  The alien stated that the scientists studied the days and months and years in order to regulate the new planet with the new life on it.

Genesis 1:20 describes how the alien scientists developed aquatic life first and then birds.  Some of the alien scientists created “frightful animals” known as dinosaurs.

Genesis 1:24 is about animal reproduction, and the Raelians teach that this means the alien scientists created land-based animals, with meat-eating animals created last.

Genesis 1:26 where the Bible says “let us make man in our image,” really means that some scientists, who were the best at creating life among all the aliens, created an area on earth that was “paradise on earth.”  The humans created there were the most intelligent and were kept in ignorance lest they should become greater than their creators.  Therefore, they were forbidden from eating of the tree of good and evil (Gen. 2:17), which means that the created people could read as much as they wanted except for the scientific matters; otherwise, they would die.

When Adam named only animals in Genesis 2:19, this means the alien creators taught humans the names and powers of all the animals in the plant and animal kingdom they had created.

The Raelian understanding of the fall of man

In Genesis 3:1-5, the Bible speaks about the serpent entering the garden and deceiving Eve.  On the Raelian interpretation, this means the alien scientists had loved their creatures so much that they wanted them to be as educated in science as they were.  So, they told the humans they could pursue scientific studies.  Thus, their eyes were opened, which meant they understood they could also become creators.  But this made the humans angry, since they now realized they had been kept in ignorance.  Therefore, “Yahweh Elohim” damned the serpent — which was really a small group of creators who only wanted to tell the truth to Adam and Eve. This upset the research and development on earth, and these scientists were forced to leave.  Because the people had now become like their creators, the tree of life needed to be guarded; that is, the scientific knowledge of how to make humans physically immortal was guarded.  Therefore, their life spans were shortened.  And finally, “soldiers with atomic disintegration weapons were placed at the entrance to the creators’ residence to prevent human beings from stealing more scientific knowledge.”

The Raelian view of the flood

According to the Raelian interpretation of the flood narrative in Genesis 6-8, some of the creatures were in exile on earth and under military surveillance.  They urged the humans to bring them food and water in order to demonstrate their superiority over them and to persuade the humans to agree to never turn against the creators again.  This enabled some of the creators to get permission to grant access to “the tree of life,” which resulted in many people living for hundreds of years.  But then, some of the creators who were living in exile took the most attractive women of humanity as their own wives.

The offspring of the unions between the aliens and human women were exceptional children, and they seemed too dangerous for the people, according to the distant planet.  These offspring further desired to become equals with the creators in knowledge and scientific ability.  This greatly concerned the aliens on the distant planet who considered this to be “evil.”  That is when the government decided to destroy all life on earth.  This destruction would take place with nuclear weapons.  But there were creators who had been exiled to earth, and they asked Noah to build a spaceship (the ark) and to collect genetic information from all the animals and all types of people.  Noah did this, and he and the animals left the earth in the spaceship, hovering above it while the destruction went on below.

After the radioactive levels dissipated sufficiently, the spacecraft built by Noah descended and released various people which had been gathered from all the races.  From the stored genetic information, animals were reconstructed and dispersed throughout the continent.

The Raelian interpretation of the Tower of Babel

The Raelians understand Genesis 11 to mean that the people of Israel were the most intelligent and progressive.  It was believed that they would be able to undertake spaceflight with the help of the exiled creators.  These exiled aliens had a plan.  They wanted the Jews to build a large spacecraft in order to reach the planet of origin and there request pardon. So, they built an enormous spaceship which was called the Tower of Babel.  But this disturbed the aliens on the distant planet, so they came and took all the Jews who had the most scientific knowledge and scattered them all over the continent, thereby confusing their language and abilities.

The Raelian view of Sodom and Gomorrah

According to the interpretation of the Raelians, the exiled creators were allowed to return to their original planet, but many of the humans left on earth became very angry.  They gathered in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with their few scientific secrets they prepared an expedition aimed at destroying their creators.  But the creators sent two spies into the cities.  The people tried to harm these spies (the angels) and were blinded by a “pocket atomic weapon.”

The Raelian interpretation of Moses

After the destruction of human technology via the flood (the nuclear destruction), further contact was initiated by aliens.  Exodus 3:2, where the Angel of the Lord appears in a flame of fire, is reinterpreted to mean that a rocket landed in front of Moses.  Thus began the procedure for restoring dignity to the people of Israel.  The Israelites were led by a pillar of fire through the wilderness.  This fire is not described, but it is said that the Egyptians progress in pursuing the Jews was slowed down by a curtain of smoke.  The manna of Exodus 16 is nothing more than “pulverized synthetic chemical food.”  When Moses struck the rock in order to bring forth water in Exodus 17:6, this was nothing more than him using a water detector which provided a location for the Israelites to dig for water.

When the commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, this was really an encounter when the aliens arrived in a flying vessel.  It doesn’t stop there. Various interpretations are given for biblical events surrounding the Exodus and Mount Sinai that rip verses out of their historical context and are reinterpreted to mean aliens were involved.  Thus, we later find out that Sampson was a “telepathist,” the product of sexual relations between an alien and an earth woman.  The reason that Sampson was not to cut his hair is that hair and the beard are the antennae that help transmit human thoughts to make telepathy possible (p. 38).  In 1 Sam. chapter 3, we find Elijah initiating Samuel into telepathy.  The account of God speaking to Elijah is, of course, more aliens doing the talking.

To continue slightly, The Ark of the Covenant was an apparatus containing its own atomic power (p. 39).  Therefore, in 1 Sam. 5-6 when the Philistines stole the ark and then became sick, it was because they suffered radiation burns.

And so on and so on

The book goes on and on to reinterpret anything and everything possible in terms of aliens, atomic power, disintegration arrays, flying saucers, etc., and in doing so it ignores historical and cultural contexts.  Here are some more examples of the Raelian’s forced interpretation:

• Satan was an alien who opposed the initial creative work of the aliens, p. 54.
• Wisdom of Proverbs 8 is really about intelligence and science, p. 55.
• The Jewish seven branched candlestick was originally a metaphor: “In the beginning at the creators’ headquarters, there was a switchboard with seven lighted switches enabling them to stay in contact with the other bases and with the interplanetary vessel orbiting the Earth,” (p. 58).
• In Psalm 147:4-5 where it says that God calls each star by name and that His understanding is infinite, it means “Human beings were also able to understand telecommunication,” (p. 59).
• Micah 5:1-2, which prophecies the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, is because “they decided to send a Messiah who would be able to communicate worldwide what the people of Israel were then the only ones to know. This was in preparation for the day when the original mystery would be explained in the light of scientific progress – that is to say, the revelation,” (p. 59).

This should give you a good taste of the method and purpose behind this belief system.  It uses God’s Word but twists it for its own purposes.  The Raelian movement is, of course, not Christian.  It is anti-Christian, for it seeks to obliterate biblical truth by hijacking the Bible to suit its own twisted interpretation.