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How did life begin?

By David

Science is often looked at as the search for truths and religion is looked at as being the search for ideals, therefore making them very different topics. I do not look at it like this, however, as I think that the two intertwine and cooperate to produce what people think of as ‘the truth’.


The first question you need to ask when looking at the origins of life on earth is, ‘Is God necessary?’ In my opinion, no, he is not. In order for life to start, scientifically speaking, the right chemicals need to come together and form in the correct way. This then leads to the first building blocks of life that can evolve into what we see today. However, exactly the right chemicals must come together in the right amounts and in the right conditions. Primitive life forms must then evolve for millions of years before we get to the stage of life that we are at today. To me this seems very coincidental if left to chance. The probability of all this happening is minute, yet not impossible.

Just because I think that the scientific theories don’t hold up, however, does not mean that I believe God played a helping hand. Many who do say God started life on earth claim that they are correct as science can’t prove otherwise. This, I feel, is not a suitable argument. Just because we cannot explain something naturally or scientifically does not mean that we can just blame God. If this were so then religion would be worthless, just an escape from difficult questions in life.

I do not, though, rule out God having something to do with the start of life on earth. Even if he didn’t directly start life on earth then where did the materials come from? This infinite regression leads back and back to the point where there has to be an ultimate creator. No science can make something from nothing.

Overall my position is that at this current time neither religion nor science can actually prove how life on earth started, yet they cannot prove the other wrong either. I believe that at the moment this topic is way beyond our comprehension and that perhaps life is far too complicated to explain, but I am open to the fact that this may change with time. I believe in God but this does not mean I believe he is responsible for the start of life as I cannot prove this, or even that he exists. All we know is that life has started by some mysterious means.

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© 2011 LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion)