How did life on earth begin?

Most living people at some point in their lifetime ask, how did life on earth begin? It seems to be one of those basic fundamental questions that we all have buried within our psyche.

If we ask the scientific community or the engineers surely they would be able to tell us the answer because they seem to have answers for pretty much everything else?

If you do a google search for their answer you will likely find that they will say that they don't know for a certainty the answer but can offer some "speculation" on the topic.

Some suggest that life began in "hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor .... these vents provided a source of heat, liquid water, minerals, and chemicals—all the right ingredients for creating life. When these components combined, a chemical reaction occurred that sparked an energy that may have created the molecules of early life. This theory is still unproven, Miller notes ...." These quotes taken from an article MIT School of engineering https://engineering.mit.edu/engage/ask-an-engineer/how-did-life-on-earth-begin/

There are many theories along these lines. In a general sense they claim that a small chemical reaction over a very long period of time turned into a simple cell and then over another very long period of time this simple cell changed into something more and more complex with more and more time .... etc etc. you get the idea, the theory of evolution at work.

Do you personally think this could happen by itself? Would it be feasible to think that a chemical reaction can change by itself to a cell and then keep changing and advancing to finally becoming a functioning human person, this being the latest and greatest development in the 'natural world of evolution'?

If that is how life on earth began then we need to see some proof or logical evidence for it, right? Should we not see a trail of the links leading from basic to advanced? How did so many life forms that support each other come into existence at near the same time? How was it decided upon as to which would come into existence? Why are humans so different from animals, plants and insects? Why are some animals a lot stronger than us, yet we are smarter? Why are humans the only ones whom think about their existence? Why are we the only ones whom wonder if there is a purpose to life? There are many more questions that can be asked along these lines. The point is that the current scientific theory of how life began on earth, to many, just does not provide a satisfying answer along with evidence.

Lets now consider an alternative view to the question of how did life on earth begin?

Non-scientific view?

Actually, a non-scientific view of how life began on earth is not really correct because just because this alternative view is expressed in mankind's oldest book the bible, it does not make it non-scientific. The bible's explanation does actually agree with science. So lets take a look at this alternative view.

Firstly, the bible starts off by stating that God (Jehovah is his personal name) created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1. The account does not state when they were created, just that they were created "in the beginning", so no human really knows the age of the earth or the universe. Some geologists estimate the earth could be about 4 billion years old, while some astronomers estimate the age of the universe could be about 15 billion years old.

To understand the basic process of how the barren earth "formless and desolate" as Genesis 1:2 puts it was transformed into a habitable planet with humans and animals, chapter 1 of Genesis explains how God did this with the help of his 'active force' (Also known as holy spirit) Genesis 1:2, and also with the help of someone else (Assumed to be Jesus Christ) Genesis 1:26 where the account says, then God said: "Let us make man in our image, ..."

The best way to understand the account and see how genuine it appears to be is to read it yourself from your own bible or if you don't have one, from the internet.

The Genesis account was written by Moses some 3,500 years ago. The only way Moses knew that the universe had a beginning and that planet earth started off as barren and that life appeared in stages over large periods of time would only be possible if he were provided with that information by God. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that the bible is "inspired of God".

It should be noted that the six creative periods of time, also known as the 6 days of creation referred to in the Genesis account does not mean that 1 day is equal to 24 hours. The original Hebrew word translated "day" can mean any length of time, not just a 24 hour period as most church's believe. So how long could a creative day then be in the Genesis account? Nobody really knows, one day could be thousands of years in duration?

It is important to understand too that the fossil record does agree with the bible account where it says at Genesis 1:24 "... let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds ..." Researchers say that the fundamental categories of plants and animals have changed little over large periods of time.

Do you want to consider this topic further in a lot more detail? You can by reading the brochure - The Origin Of Life Five Questions Worth Asking.

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