His tradition had taught him, though, that you do not approach the Other as you would approach your own kind. The physicist John Polkinghorne, who resigned his post at Cambridge to seek ordination as an Anglican priest, points out a major difference between knowing science and knowing theology. First Ptolemy, then Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein. Each of these scientists built on the foundation of those who preceded him, so that an ordinary scientist today has a more accurate conception of the physical world than was ever possible for Sir Isaac Newton. Knowledge of God proceeds in an entirely different manner.
Every encounter is unique and individual, just like any meeting between two persons.
Yet not even Sagan stayed immune from the desire to connect with the Other. His novel Contact tells of governments willing to spend half a trillion dollars to send a messenger to another world. That messenger, played in the movie by Jodie Foster, did indeed make contact and then returned to find her report discounted by scientists and welcomed by the masses. Sagan's novel revealed more than he may have intended. Christians claim there are times, though perhaps less frequent than we would lead others to believe, when we do make personal contact with the Creator of the universe.