Science Behind Things

Origin of Life

September 25, 2008 on 3:37 pm | In Bible, Creation Science | No Comments

“Science News” (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080925102706.htm) reports in a recent article titled, “NASA Identifies Carbon-rich Molecules In Meteors As The ‘Origin Of Life’ “, that NASA has “explained” how polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) supposedly account for the origin of life on earth.  Note the following excerpt from Wikipedia is below, talking about PAHs:

…from spectral analyses, organic molecules are known to be present in comets and meteorites. In 2004, a team detected traces of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) in a nebula.[61] Those are the most complex molecules so far found in space. The use of PAH’s has also been proposed as a precursor to the RNA world in the PAH world hypothesis.[62] … PAHs have also been found all over the surface of galaxy M81, which is 12 million light years away from the Earth, confirming their widespread distribution in space.[63] … 61 Discovery of Blue Fluorescence by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Molecules in the Red Rectangle. A. N. Witt, et al 62 Battersby, S. (2004). Space molecules point to organic origins. Retrieved January 11, 2004 from http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994552 63 Astrobiology Magazine [3]Accessed 26 April 2008

 

Let’s break down the above quote, and see the following observations about that article:

• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) are found in several places in the universe

o   “comets and meteorites”

o   “in a nebula”

o   “PAHs have also been found all over the surface of galaxy M81, which is 12 million light years away from the Earth, confirming their widespread distribution in space.[63]“

• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) are “the most complex molecules so far found in space”

What scientific conclusions can we legitimately draw from the above facts?  Remember, what is science?  Science is the field of knowledge gathering that is supposed to employ the scientific method, which requires using the following steps:

• Observation/Research – researching everything that you can find about whatever it is that you are studying
• Hypothesis – a possible solution to a problem, based on knowledge and research
• Prediction – your general statement of how you think the scientific phenomenon in question works
• Experimentation – test your hypothesis
• Conclusion – summary of the experiment’s results, and how those results match up to your hypothesis

Let’s focus on the last two elements of the scientific method, “experimentation” and “conclusion”, since the first three (“Observation/Research”, “Hypothesis” and “Prediction”) have been employed by NASA.  Can the hypothesis that the origin of life is from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) be tested?  And are there any competing theories to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) for the origin of life on earth?

Let’s look at those two questions.

Can the hypothesis that the origin of life is from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) be tested?

No.  Such testing requires polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to be used to result in actual observation of life.  Such experiements have been supposedly done, but under strictly controlled (protected and unrealistic) conditions, and resulting in extremely fragile products that don’t resemble life, but only different molecules that still fall far short of what we see all over earth today and call “life”.  And if it really takes millions of years to create life, it will take millions of years to prove that life has arisen from naturalistic, undirected processes (no God or supernatural involvement).

Are there any competing theories to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) for the origin of life on earth?

Yes.  One in particular is the Genesis account from the Bible.  Although the Bible is generally thought of by some as a “religious” book, it is also a book that contains truth about everything it says, including science.  Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:12, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”  Interestingly, everything that Jesus or the Bible says has either:

 

• been shown to be true
  • through archaeology
  • abundant and nearly original-age manuscript evidence
  • accurate prophecies foretold in Scripture and fulfilled long after the death of its writers
  • dramatically changed lives of some who have believed on the Lord Jesus
  • and resistance to harshest attacks from enemies of the Bible for 2,000 years
• or not shown to be not true (remember that no evidence of a claim is not evidence against that claim).

 

According to Genesis 1 and 2, the origin of life is not a mystery, but rather spoken into existence by God.   That may sound to some like a fairy tale deserving mocking and ridicule by those with preconceived notions who reject it without even considering it, but it has withstood serious investigations by those willing to look into it.  I invite you to seriously study the Bible, even if you don’t want it to be true.  Feel free to send your serious questions here.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life

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