The Origin of Life - A Scientific or Philosophical Debate?

I'm currently reading the book, "Origins of Life" by Dr Fazale Rana and Dr Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe. Early in the book Dr Rana traces the various theories that have been considered throughout history concerning the origin of life. It fascinates me that some of the most prominent scientific minds have presented some of the most unscientific explanations. With the near impossibility of defending the theoretical position of life coming from non-life some have made up very interesting arguments. One of my favorites is Directed Panspermia which credits alien life for seeding the earth. Very interesting...

So that makes me think a little.... When we argue about the origin of life aren't we stepping outside of the realm of science and entering the realm of philosophy? It's impossible to observe and impossible to test life's origin so it cannot be evaluated using The Scientific Method. Hence, this debate really does come down to the simple question; "What do you believe?" Once we establish what we believe we may then use any observable evidence to strengthen or weaken our belief. Now let's use some brain power.

Excerpt From Faith Science;

Here are three crucial quotes from the Chicago Tribune article “Fermilab Test Throws off More Matter than Antimatter and this Matters” on May 29, 2010. I cited it earlier as the number-three headline that followed the D-Zero Collaboration announcement. It highlights comments made by Joseph Lykken, a theoretical physicist at FERMILAB.

“It’s like looking back to the instant where everything began,” said Joseph Lykken.

The question of existence is something that humans have wondered about ever since there were humans to wonder: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” as the seventeenthcentury philosopher Gottfried Leibniz put it.

This discovery someday could have practical spinoffs, but it could have immediate implications, among them is the clamorous intersection of politics and religion. Lykken hypothesized that proponents of “intelligent design” could seize upon the new findings to further support their argument that the laws of nature are so fine-tuned, they must be the handiwork of a creator.

—Fermilab Test Throws off More Matter than Antimatter and this Matters—Particle collision thought to replicate Big Bang forces, may help explain how things exist by Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2010

So what did they expect to happen? Is it by chance that ultra highspeed collisions support the notion of super symmetry resulting in consistently more matter than antimatter? Could this process have simply replicated itself to result in the highly detailed physical realm in existence today?

It’s actually much more challenging to believe that there is no Creator than to believe that there is. With each new discovery, scientists find answers that result in more questions. This perpetual process of experimental analysis will continue until the truth is accepted.

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

Romans 1:18–23 nlt

One of the worst decisions a Christian can ever make is to get into an argument with atheists or agnostics about the Theory of Origins. Even if they are presented with the conclusions of respectable scientists, they will not listen. They know the truth in their hearts and cannot deny the impossibility of chance in proven scientific processes like CP violation. It’s not supposed to happen that way; that is, unless it was really supposed to happen that way. Why is it so hard to believe there’s more to our existence than random scientific reactions? The truth is not always hard to believe, but most times it’s hard to accept.

In the Chicago Tribune article cited earlier in this chapter, Ron Grossman said:

One of physic’s foundation stones is the concept of a symmetrical universe. Everything has its mirror opposite, like humans’ left and right hands. As schoolchildren learn, Newton said every action has an equal and opposite reaction. “A good example is the Big Bang,” Lykken said, putting his colleague’s discovery into context. “The universe began as a perfectly symmetrical object, a ball of energy.” The problem lies in what happened next. That energy condensed into matter but also its opposite, antimatter. The two being mutually destructive, they should have canceled each other out. Instead, Lykken noted, matter joined together in ever larger concentrations—nuclei, atoms, stars, galaxies.

Fermilab test throws off more matter than antimatter and this matters—Particle collision thought to replicate Big Bang forces, may help explain how things exist by Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2010

An atheist could probably continue the quote with, “ … water, trees, humans, dogs, etc.” Once again, let’s take a look at Romans 1:23: “Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.” Those who argue on the side of chance claim to be wise. Why does anything exist? Their wise answer is “the Big Bang.” Why are humans developed beyond the rest of the animal kingdom? Their wise answer is “evolution.” What will happen when they die? Their wise answer is “nothing.” The more we discover about our existence, the more we need to discover. The search for truth cannot end if those who are searching don’t intend to accept it.

When times get bad, people cry out for help. They cry for relief from being kicked around, But never give God a thought when things go well, when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts, When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom, using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.

Job 35:9–11 msg

God is our science teacher, and the universe is his classroom. This probably explains why several scientists and writers for scientific publications are quick to mention God after major scientific breakthroughs. Why don’t they say that the experimental results prove that there is no God and there was no creation? Isn’t that supposed to be the goal of many of these educated theorists?

They come up with complicated explanations for life’s intricate details while God uses birds and beasts to teach wisdom. Then they see experimental data that points them to God and they struggle to accept it. The good news is that God knows how to trigger a response out of even the most stubborn hearts.

Can Scientific Evidence Prove The Bible is The Word of God?

I received the following question from Alicia;

What are the scientific truths/proofs that the Bible is the Word of God?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the scientific method as, “principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.”

Scientific proof is testable. For me to present scientific truths/ proofs that The Bible is the Word of God I have to confirm using scientific evidence (not scriptures) the existence and true identity of God Himself. I then have to confirm using scientific evidence (not scriptures) the true source of The Bible in it's original form.

I may believe as a Christian that The Bible is The Word of God but which Bible are we referring to? Definitely, not the one we have in our hands right now. Why? I have about 20 versions of The Bible at my house alone and they each say different things. That's not just because they're different translations from the same original source.

They actually were translated from different manuscripts which said different things. In fact, some of my Bibles have notes which list several sources of information which they selectively chose to use for the same scripture. As a Christian, it doesn't really bother me because The Bible is just a tool which helps me to develop a relationship with God. As long as I can understand God's intention in what's being said, I am fine. However, as a scientist I cannot ignore the specific details.

I then have to confirm using scientific evidence (not scriptures) that God gave us The Bible. Not only that, I'll have to use scientific evidence to prove how God did it and why it could not have come from another source. That's a tall task that cannot be done at this time.

However, I do have some exciting news. I present to you some ambitious research out of Jerusalem by The Hebrew University Bible Project. At the rate they're going, they expect to have a definitive version of the Old Testament in about 200 years.

An article by AP writer Matti Friedman called "Scholars seek to correct 'mistakes' in Bible" published on August 12, 2011 says the following;

A dull-looking chart projected on the wall of a university office in Jerusalem displayed a revelation that would startle many readers of the Old Testament: The sacred text that people revered in the past was not the same one we study today.

An ancient version of one book has an extra phrase. Another appears to have been revised to retroactively insert a prophecy after the events happened.

Scholars in this out-of-the-way corner of the Hebrew University campus have been quietly at work for 53 years on one of the most ambitious projects attempted in biblical studies — publishing the authoritative edition of the Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible, and tracking every single evolution of the text over centuries and millennia.

And it has evolved, despite deeply held beliefs to the contrary.

For many Jews and Christians, religion dictates that the words of the Bible in the original Hebrew are divine, unaltered and unalterable.

For Orthodox Jews, the accuracy is considered so inviolable that if a synagogue's Torah scroll is found to have a minute error in a single letter, the entire scroll is unusable.

But the ongoing work of the academic detectives of the Bible Project, as their undertaking is known, shows that this text at the root of Judaism, Christianity and Islam was somewhat fluid for long periods of its history, and that its transmission through the ages was messier and more human than most of us imagine.

The Hebrew University Bible Project team at work.

If you visit my website and read many of the articles there, they provide proof that the source of information in The Bible is supernatural in nature. Why can I say that?

The scientific research that would have been necessary to provide some of the information that's presented in The Bible was only recently completed. For them to know what to write would have been impossible on a natural level.

For example, the meticulously ordered universe mentioned in Genesis 1:1 could not have come into place from random processes. In other words, the source of highly complex order cannot be chaos. According to The Big Bang Theory, as stated in my article "The Big Bang in The Bible" there was a singular point from which all time and space came into existence. It was something called the primeval atom.

Scientific evidence results in theoretical conclusions that can point as far back as the primeval atom. However, it can go back no further. Why? Scientific evidence can only operate in time and space which did not exist before The Beginning. We cannot test anything that's outside of this realm using tools that are of this realm. The Bible agrees that there was a beginning in Genesis 1:1, however, it goes a step further to say that God caused The Beginning. There is no way to prove that statement with science.

Science proves that there was a beginning but cannot identify The Beginner.

Genesis 21:33
Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he worshiped the Lord, the Eternal God.

According to The Bible, God is eternal and transcends time and space. Therefore, He transcends the boundaries of scientific evidence.

As a Christian, I believe that the supernatural source of the information in The Bible is God. I cannot use science to prove that because scientific research cannot identify God. It can only observe His handiwork within time and space.

 

Romans 1:18-23 (NLT) - But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.^{[i] 19} They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. ²⁰ For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

²¹ Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. ²² Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. ²³ And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

 We don't prove The Bible! The Bible proves us!

"Ageless" Earth - Was Earth Originally A Watery Mess?

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:1–2 kjv

Have you ever considered the feasibility of the gap theory? It proposes that there was a major time lapse between the first two verses of the Bible. In Genesis 1:1 the Scriptures posit that the creation of the heavens (direct translation from the Hebrew language) and the earth took place at the beginning of time. However, there is good reason to question that God created the earth the way it was described in the next verse.

In Genesis 1:2 the Hebrew word hayah was translated into the English word was, which also means “became” or “came to pass.” In other words, God started time with the creation of the heavens and the earth, but something happened. The earth became without form, empty and dark. What happened? Since our basic assumptions concerning this issue come from the Bible, then let’s stick with it to find our answers.

This is the fourth installment of our blog series, "Ageless" Earth. You can read the other installments by clicking on the following links;

1. "Ageless" Earth - Part One
2. "Ageless" Earth - How The Earth Was Once Destroyed
3. "Ageless" Earth - Ice Ages

From Faith Science;

God could not have created the earth formless and void.

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.

Isaiah 45:18 kjv

I know God’s ways are past finding out, but would he create the heavens and earth in complete darkness first before declaring light? Would you go to work in darkness and after completing some of your most important tasks then turn on the light? In fact, now that I think of it, I have an idea. If we use that reasoning, I guess that’s why the earth was a dark, watery mess at first. Maybe God only noticed what he did when he turned on the light in Genesis 1:3.

Of course, that doesn’t make sense. Take a look at what Isaiah 45:18 says. When God created the heavens and the earth, he made it inhabitable, and nothing was wrong with it. Now look at how this same verse is stated in the New Living Translation.

For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.

Isaiah 45:18 nlt

There is no chaos in God, so even if some Bible scholars believe it to be part of the creative process, I don’t. He remains a God of order. The Bible clearly states in Genesis 1:2 that the earth was formless and empty, which means it was a place of empty chaos, directly contradicting Isaiah 45:18. On that account, there is some room for reasoning here.

Since the character of God is consistent throughout the Scriptures with order and purpose, I would have to assume that Isaiah 45:18 is correct. Hence, something must have happened after God created the earth in Genesis 1:1 for it to become formless and void.

As I stated at the beginning of this chapter, that scenario is exactly what the Bible states in its original language. The earth wasn’t created formless and void; it became formless and void.

Unlocking The Scientific Mind

Donnell Duncan spoke from his new book, "Faith Science" at Georgia Institute of Technology on September 8th, 2011.

"Mr. Duncan makes a clear case on how science and the Christian faith go hand in hand... God is displayed from the smallest of atoms, to the largest of galactic systems and beyond!" - Steve "Dr.Sky" Kates, Radio and TV Personality

Mr. Duncan meticulously analyzes the scientific process and shows how it can be very effectively used to understand Christian faith..... --Shanta Whitaker, PhD, Associate Director of the Health Professions Advisory Program, Yale University

For more information visit; www.faithscienceonline.com

"Ageless" Earth - Ice Ages

Evidence of arctic life discovered in temperate or tropical areas has caused scientists to point to Ice Ages. Large surfaces of the earth were covered with ice sheets (large continental glaciers) during those time periods. An exhibit on the Ice Ages from the Illinois State Museum shows some interesting facts. On their Web site is the quote, “If a type of animal lives in a certain type of climate now, we may infer that its ancestors lived in that type of climate, too.”

Ice Ages occurred due to changing continental positions, uplift of continental blocks, reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere, and changes in the earth’s orbit during four approximate time intervals:

• Late Proterozoic (800 to 600 million years ago),

• Ordovician and Silurian (460 to 430 million years ago)

• Pennsylvanian and Permian (350 to 250 million years

ago)

• Neogene to Quaternary (4 million years ago to present)

 

The earth was frozen solid because God stopped the sun.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:1–2 kjv

I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.

Jeremiah 4:23 niv

In keeping with the gap theory, the earth was flooded during the destruction between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. This explains why Genesis 1:2 says it was covered with water. The massive earthquakes could have resulted in tsunamis that submerged dry land. Like he did with the flood of Noah, God could have also caused the underwater springs to burst forth. In Job 9:1–7, God practically turned mountains upside down and shook the earth out of place. The heavens and earth as they now appear were restored in Genesis 1:2.

Place your focus on the way the Bible describes the beginning of creation. Did you notice the statement “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”? In other words, is it outrageous to think that the earth was covered in water? Isn’t it clear that the earth was flooded? Yet, this is nothing like the flood of Noah because the heavens were also destroyed and there was no light. There was no sun, and since the sun provides light and heat, the water covering the earth had to be frozen solid. So when the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, he moved over solid ice. Did you notice that?

Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

Job 38:29–30 kjv

The Ice Ages have been touted by scientists as historical facts but clearly have no place in the six thousand years that have passed since the process of creation was completed in Genesis 1. Maybe it’s just me, but as an intelligent Christian, I find no comfort in sticking my head in the sand like an ostrich, pretending not to notice scientific evidence. For that reason, if the entire earth was frozen at some point in history, shouldn’t there be some kind of biblical evidence?

According to Job 38:29–30, it’s quite likely that the waters of the earth were once frozen solid. The book of Job is by far the most scientific book in the Bible. As God declared his glory and authority in Job 38, he revealed some of the most intriguing mysteries of the universe. Could he have been speaking of the Ice Ages, or could he just have been speaking of the north and south poles? None of us were alive then, so we can only imagine.

 

Then Job answered and said, “I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.”

Job 9:1–7 kjv

God stopped the sun, ending the source of energy and light. So the Ice Ages could fit into biblical history right there. Job could not have been talking about the flood of Noah because the sun never stopped shining. He could not have been talking about the future destruction of the earth because Peter clearly states that it will happen by fire, and Job would not have overlooked an important detail like that. He could not have been talking about any other major event in human history. There’s no trusted record of the entire sun and all the stars being extinguished simultaneously.

I’ve heard doubters attempt to construe that this is just a volcanic explosion and the volcanic ash blocked out the vision of the sun. Let’s assume it is, just to make a point. When did this super volcano explode? If any volcano in recorded history shook the entire earth out of its place, I haven’t heard of it. Obviously, this is describing a completely different incident in history that is consistent with the gap theory. God personally triggered a massive explosion that shook the mountains and turned them over in a rage. It also shook the earth, which completely agrees with the thoughts expressed in my first point based on Jeremiah 4:23–27.

The question is not whether or not natural phenomena can be used to explain these circumstances. The question is the magnitude. I wouldn’t be surprised that God used a natural disaster of biblical proportions to cause the destruction. Didn’t he create the heavens and the earth? Isn’t he the master of all of its processes? Then he can use whatever he wants to get the job done. Science shows a record of something happening, and the Bible supports that. If there was no sun, then there was no heat, so there was nothing to prevent an Ice Age from occurring. There’s also nothing like that recorded during the last six thousand years, so where is the confusion?