WShaun.com

Chapter 9 ORIGIN OF LIFE from GOD Exists! Second Edition

Darwin presented no hypothesis on the origin of life, and after 154 years, scientists today have yet to come up with a plausible explanation of how life originally formed on earth. I believe that I have now solved this age old question on the origin of life.  I present this as the Non-evolving DNA Argument.

Let us first review the story of life on earth. We know that simple life first began on earth about 3.8 billion years ago, followed by multicellular life 2.7 billion years ago, and then a more complex life 570 million years ago[1]. Fish evolved 530 million years ago. Land plants appeared 475 million years ago, and then mammals only 200 million years ago. It is interesting that advanced life forms are a relatively recent development, compared to the age of earth.

There have been many attempts of creating life in the laboratory by mixing the various chemicals of DNA, under various environment conditions, but none of these attempts have come close. Such activity reminds me of the alchemist of an earlier time trying to make gold. Dr. Frankenstein (in fiction) came closer, but he, at least, started with something that once lived. I believe the problem is one of information. DNA is not just a molecule composed of chemicals; it contains complex information in a coded format.

What might we expect this source of information to be? How could it spontaneously occur in nature and have meaning? The only known information in nature is that contained in DNA. If we look at all life on earth, then we realize there is an astronomical amount of information contained in the DNA. If information can be generated so easily in nature, why are there no other examples of information in nature? Perhaps DNA has some special significance.

The origin of life question can be answered with one well known and accepted fact and three simple logic steps:

• FACT: All forms of life on earth (except for some viruses that use RNA) use the same complex DNA coding system. While the cells of plants and animals are different, they both contain the DNA molecule in the nucleus.
• Step 1: Once branching started in the tree of life, there could be have been no changes or evolution in the coding system which defined the species and the reproduction instructions. The reason is that if there were a change in any one branch, then all branches would have had to change in exactly the same way and that is impossible, at least once there was significant branching. This is of major significance since I estimate there have been in the range of a trillion generations from first life to the present life, all with no change in the DNA system.
• Step 2: If there has been no evolution in the DNA coding system, then the same DNA system we have today must have been present in the original life on earth.
• Step 3: Now how could this complex coding system have been present at the origin of life? There can be no natural explanation for such an event other than it was put there; therefore, it was a supernatural event – God initiated life on earth

It might be hard to believe such a simple solution is the true solution to the origin of life question. However, keep in mind that the simple answer is usually the true solution. What is amazing is that this solution has not been expressed before, as far as I am aware.

If this is the true answer to the origin of life question, and I believe it is, then is it any wonder that scientist, who do not allow the supernatural as a solution, have not come up with a naturalistic solution to the origin of life?

Some researchers have hypothesized that the initial life forms started with RNA, which is a component in the cell replication process and looks similar to the DNA molecule split down the middle as it occurs in cell division. This hypothesis says that we start with RNA, and then have one evolutionary step to DNA, and all evolutions stop. Even starting with RNA does not solve the problem, because an RNA/cell model is also very complex. I believe a more reasonable explanation is that we started with DNA (as the above facts support), and then because the complexity was not needed in things like the viruses mentioned above, the system simplified itself to RNA.

One desperate explanation offered for the origin of life is that it is the result of panspermia, the theory that microorganisms from outer space are responsible for originating life on earth. A recent paper describing algae-like structures found in meteorites seems to provide such evidence[2]. But is this not just transferring the event of the origin of life to another place. Are we to believe that the life coding system evolved to the complex DNA at some alien world; was transferred to earth and then stopped evolving? Furthermore, how could any biological entity have survived the heat of meteorite formation and then the heat of entering our atmosphere?

The referenced paper does provide alternate explanations of the apparent presence of microfossils. One that is most plausible is that the samples are of terrestrial origin, a remnant of one of the many asteroid impacts with earth in which rocks containing biological material would have been ejected into outer space only to return as a meteorite. Another explanation offered is that the samples are not actually biological.

So, what we do know is that all living entities use the same DNA coding system, which leads to the fact that it did not evolve and must therefore have been present in the earliest life forms. This, combined with the theory of irreducible complexity from the previous chapter, brings us to the same conclusion.

The Christian God is theistic in that He not only created the universe, but is actively involved with ongoing events. If there is any event in earth’s history where you would expect God’s involvement, it surely would be in the creation of life. Furthermore, it seems that only God could have designed such a robust system as the DNA. I believe this evidence of God is one of the strongest of all the evidences presented. It is the most plausible answer, supported by the secular evidence and what we would expect from a spiritual perspective.

However, what might be more significant is the fact that the question of the origin of life has been answered with clarity and simplicity never seen before. I would also note that those who believe in God already knew this truth, just as they also knew that the universe had a beginning, long before scientists realized that fact.

Therefore, this is evidence that God does exist and furthermore, answers the question about the origin of life.

Reflections and Questions for Discussion

• What do you think of the fact that Darwin had no idea how life initially formed?
• Does the fact that scientists have not come up with a good theory for the origin of life tend to support the view that God intervened and initiated life?
• Go through the author’s logic on how DNA had to be at the beginning of life, and explain it until you understand it.
• Does this not answer the origin of life question for you?
• Do you understand, and does it make sense?

Wallace (Shaun) Shaunfield Copyright 2013

Return to Excerpts from Books