Origin of Life

The characteristics of life are well known to bioscientists. The topic of the origin of life is often posed in connection with the wonder of life’s characteristics. How did these wonders originate? The question is answered in one of two ways: (1) life evolved, or (2) life was divinely created.

Following are the frequently publicized characteristics of living things.  (1) Organized into cells  (2) Capable of metabolism  (3) Responsive to stimuli  (4) Possess homeostasis  (5) Able to grow and develop  (6) Able to reproduce, and  (7) Able to adapt. This list highlights a set of characteristics impossible to explain except as a result of the creative action of God described in the Book of Genesis, chapters 1-2.

Some science journalists include ability to evolve in their lists of characteristics of life. The authors of these lists should not include the controversial theory of evolution as a characteristic of living things.

The theory of organic evolution of Earth’s millions of different species is relentlessly promoted in the literature of science. A majority of professional scientists endorse the  theory of naturalistic evolution of life. They have developed a complex theory, especially since the publication of Charles Darwin’s epic The Evolution of Species in 1859. Darwin acknowledged that life’s origin presented a knotty problem for bioscientists of his day. He conceded that life probably originated by unknown natural causes. Scientific literature is replete with expressions of uncertainty or ignorance concerning the origin of life. Conservative theologians rely on the first few chapters of Holy Scripture to develop their concept of theo-history, an account proposing that the biblical Creator is the Author of life on this planet—an example of a transcendent miracle.

Genesis 1 gives a brief theo-history of the origin of life. The Earth was a formless void, “and darkness was over the face of the deep.” In just a few words, we are given minimal detail about the initial creation event which may have occurred suddenly. This was followed by a formless mass, later to become a water world swathed in darkness. Then God said “Let there be light,” and there was light (verse 3). Verses 6-8 may refer to the beginnings of a stable water cycle.

Modern scientists know that life soon appeared in the water world in the form of bacteria. One form of bacteria was cyanobacteria. We have discovered fossilized cyanobacteria in Australia. This form of bacteria needed light for its existence and its ability to produce oxygen. Note the reference to the fossil cyanobacteria discovery by paleobiologist J. William Schopf in this link:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2008/05/earths-sudden-life-enigma.html

A more recent post speaks of the role of water in our primordial Earth’s “Water World”:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2012/02/earth-water-world.html

The initial eight verses of the Bible briefly outlines millions of years of events on Planet Earth. During this interval plentiful cyanobacteria appeared in the water of our oceans. Cyanobacteria use light energy plus water to synthesize their own food. This process is known as oxygenetic photosynthesis. The oxygen first eliminated the poisonous methane atmosphere and ultimately supplied an atmosphere of life-giving oxygen in preparation for life forms which later populated the Earth. This is known as the “Great Oxygenation Event” which prepared Planet Earth for a profusion of advanced life known as the Cambrian Explosion beginning about 530 million years ago. Many phyla appeared on Earth with relative suddenness. Most of these phyla still exist today.

 

Today’s life on Earth would be impossible without the element oxygen—21% of Earth’s atmosphere. Even though most advanced life originated at the onset of the Cambrian explosion, we might say that life originated with ancient bacteria. How did ancient bacterial life begin? We propose bacterial life began in a transcendent, divine miracle.  

The Apostle Peter quoted Genesis 1 in II Peter 3: “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished…but do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day” (II Peter 3 ESV). These verses in II Peter refer to the ancient water world from which sprang life-giving atmospheric oxygen which later resulted in the Cambrian Explosion of animal and plant life we still enjoy in our day. These verses also refer to our timeless Creator. His creative activity has extended back many eons in the past.

We believe that Genesis 1:2 provides an occasion for worship: “…the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” This historic event is affirmed by inspired scripture as well as by scientific discoveries concerning the history of cyanobacteria. Holy Scripture and paleo history both speak about the origin of life!

  

 

    

Shedding Light on Sight

A letter from a missionary couple recently arrived at our home. They began their letter with a fascinating story. The couple drove over a hill on their way home from their workplace venue. They were amazed by a unique sight—a rainbow displaying its spectral colors. The author of the missionary letter stated, “I sometimes geek out (emphasis mine) about the never ending rich and vibrant colors and types of birds, fish, flowers, and butterflies. And how God created our bodies to receive and process these amazing wavelengths of colorful light. It is to his perfectly wonderful creativity that we owe the joy of light and color. They point to and praise our Creator…..”

Topics of light and sight were highlighted in the missionary letter. Light and sight are scientific concepts often used in scriptural illustrations and metaphors. Let us fill the remaining space in this post with a brief discussion of (1) Light, and (2) Sight.

Light is a form of electromagnetic energy in which we are immersed each moment of our lives. Visible light is only a tiny portion of what is called the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. Spectral colors are produced by different wavelengths of EM energy. Direct or reflected red light wavelengths are almost twice as long as violet wavelengths.

At the beach we may define wavelength as the distance between successive wave crests. Longer or shorter wavelengths have different effects on swimmers. Likewise, different electromagnetic wavelengths affect human observers differently, observable as different spectral colors. Electromagnetic wavelengths range from extremely short and energetic to extremely long and less energetic.

What is electric and what is magnetic about EM waves? Electricity and magnetism are

related. James Clerk Maxwell discovered this relationship in a burst of God-given insight during the 19th century. Our world is alive with electric and magnetic fields interacting with each other to produce physical phenomena sustaining our lives moment by moment. The complete range of electromagnetic waves (radio, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays) is known as the electromagnetic spectrum. The color spectrum of visible light is but a tiny segment of the entire range of the EM spectrum. For your more extensive reading:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2015/03/electromagnetic-reality.html

The EM spectrum is easier to describe than to explain. How does it work? In the New Creation, also known as the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, we might conclude that divine laws governing events in the new heaven (Rev. 21:1) may be altered substantially. The operating system may be vastly superior to anything we experience in our current sphere. Manifestations of energy such as the electromagnetic spectrum in our present world, however, inspire awe at God’s creative power. 

We conclude with expressions of wonder and awe not only in reference to physical light, but also in reference to human ability to perceive and process the light. Our Creator has gifted us with sight. Vertebrates possess the most highly developed sense of sight but lower biological phyla also possess ability to sense light, color, and shape. When God created living things, He created them with ability to connect with, enjoy, and even revel in their environment.

Human sight organs process information laden electromagnetic waves and send visual information about the environment to our brains for interpretation. Visual scientists have informed us about the eye and humanity’s complex visual system—a component of our central nervous system. The information processing system of the human eye and brain is awe inspiring. 

Electromagnetic light waves pass through the cornea, aqueous humor, lens, and vitreous humor before striking the retina at the back of the eyeball. Retinal tissue is analogous to a screen in a movie theater. In more recent times the tissue is analogous to photographic film or an image sensor in modern digital cameras. Visible light striking the retinal image sensor initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical events. The electrical events are sometimes called action potentials—explosions of electrical activity. In our digital age, we might say that the electrical activity is either digitally “on” or “off.”

Millions of neurons carry digital signals to the brain’s visual cortex, the body’s visual center. The human brain “figures out” what the billions of digital signals mean and imprint the results on our human consciousness.

In 1844, Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph, sent his initial electronic message between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. The message contained a phrase from the OT Book of Numbers which affirms the creative ability of God: “What Hath God Wrought?” (Numbers 23:23) Our treatment of light and sight in this post barely scratches the surface of our current knowledge of light and sight. We link a past post dealing with the topic of sight:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2012/12/getting-picture.html

      

   

    

   

 

 

2024 Olympics---Citius, Altius, Fortius

 In our day few events draw the nations of the world together in unity and agreement. An important exception is the quadrennial modern Olympic Games. The 2024 Olympiad athletic spectacle has recently concluded. For two weeks the attention of many millions of people was riveted on the grandeur of worldwide athletic competition. The Olympic Games provided a unique opportunity to celebrate multi-dimensional athletic talents of people from nearly every geographic region on our planet. Of 195 countries on Planet Earth, 184 countries sent 10,500 athletes to Paris.

The three-word motto for the Olympic Games until 2021 was Citius, Altius, Fortius. The Latin translation of that motto is Faster, Higher, Stronger. The original motto originated with a Dominican monk who suggested the motto for athletes at a French school in 1894, two years before the world celebrated its first international Olympic Games in 1896. In 2021 the IOC decided to emend the motto, adding a fourth Latin word—communiter—meaning together. The Olympic symbol of five interlocking rings reminds  residents of the world’s five major continents to work together to stage the Olympic Games.  

In several places Scripture refers to dimensions of speed, height and strength. For example, in John Chapter 20, the Apostle John outran the Apostle Peter to the tomb on the day of Jesus’ resurrection. In I Kings Solomon’s temple was 30 cubits high. Many Old Testament tabernacle dimensions were measured in cubits. In terms of strength, there are multiple references to strength, both physical and spiritual: “Be strong and courageous…” (Joshua 1:9) or “The Lord is my strength and my shield…” (Psalm 28:7)

During Olympic athletic competition, several body systems are highlighted more than others, even though properly integrated organ systems are all necessary for optimal athletic performance. For example, the circulatory and respiratory systems keep oxygen supplied to body cells and remove waste products such as CO2 from body tissues during strenuous activity. Athletes’ muscular and skeletal systems must function at peak levels. While all of these systems are working together, the nervous system is sending bio-electrical signals to the brain in order that athletes are able to see and hear.

Beyond the miracle of eleven properly functioning body organ systems, we highlight other important factors: (1) Genetics—top performing world athletes are more genetically gifted (2) Conditioning—the world’s best athletes are among the best physically conditioned humans (3) Attitude—the most successful athletes believe in their own ability to perform physical and mental tasks; this demands traits such as perseverance, courage, and self-confidence.  

Our science/faith blog quotes scripture passages which apply not only to Christians but also to secular individuals. The Creator of All Things is the creator of all human beings! The Creator supplies and sustains the skills of Olympic athletes regardless of their diverse national origins or religious preferences. This is an example of the theological concept of common grace: God bestows blessings on all mankind.

The just concluded Olympic Games supplied many opportunities to give glory to outstanding athletes. All living things are miracles produced by God, the Creator of life. Our Olympic athletes possess physical body systems able to achieve performances at the highest skill levels. As we watched the television broadcasts we were reminded once more of Psalm 139:14: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” We honor and respect the Olympic athletes’ achievement. Even more, the Olympic spectacle supplied us with occasions to give glory to the Creator.  

    

  

      

Perspectives on Evolution and Creation

In our last post we connected the topics of evolution and creation to our personal worldview. As Christians, the issues of evolution, creation, and personal worldview are related and intrinsically important to our faith. Whether we are evolutionists or creationists, our personal world view is interlocked with those beliefs. Our current post extends and clarifies issues from our previous post. Since posting https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2024/07/evolution-inquiry.html many thoughts came to mind relating to the topic of worldview. 

Is it possible to hold two diverse worldviews at the same time? Specifically, could one person have a worldview of naturalism and a worldview of theism at the same time? We believe that such dualism is impossible. A coherent sense of truth about the realities of human life, including accurate understandings of human origins, is a truth we must embrace. People uncertain whether to believe in evolution or creation may suffer from a form of cognitive dissonance.

Christians are frequently counseled to “Get on board with science,” or to “Come to peace with science.” This counsel originates with both theistic and naturalistic evolutionists who posit that scientists have long ago settled the question whether evolutionary theory is true. People do not wish to confess a disrespect for science. Many citizens do not investigate the scientific credibility of evolutionary theory if they are convinced that bio-scientists are correct when they pronounce evolution to be true beyond any doubt. Many creationists possess doubt because some the main pillars of evolutionary theory seem to be weakening. We raise a few doubts in our remaining paragraphs.    

We distinguish between naturalistic evolutionists and theistic evolutionists. When we discuss topics such as evolution we note differences between two worldview categories: naturalistic and theistic. Naturalistic evolutionists claim God should not enter our discussion at all, because the process of evolution proceeds without any involvement from a Deity who may not even exist. In contrast, theistic evolutionists believe God endowed living entities with the potentiality to utilize constructive (beneficial) mutations to transition into new species. Through these constructive mutations and with the help of natural selection, a new species appears and increases the diversity of life on our planet.

What is natural selection? It is a natural process whereby a mutated (genetically altered) organism is better adapted to their environment and has a better chance of survival. The phrase “survival of the fittest” comes from this Darwinian concept.   

According to evolutionary theory, the original living entity possessed the potentiality to transition to a new species. The original living entity was called LUCA, the last universal common ancestor. LUCA existed several billion years ago. It possessed DNA molecules able to transfer genetic information to its descendants. LUCA was a cellular entity from which all of the millions of different species alive today on Planet Earth originated. LUCA was the evolutionary ancestor of every human being alive today, according to evolutionary scientists.

Evolutionists are unable to explain how life originated. The origin of life is a serious problem for evolutionary bio-scientists. Another acronym has been proposed in evolutionary literature: FUCA…the first universal common ancestor. FUCA is a cellular entity which must precede LUCA. RNA, ribonucleic acid, a component of FUCA, is a messenger molecule necessary for most biological functions. As we read evolutionary literature, we encounter the phrase “the RNA world.” Without FUCA and its RNA there would be no LUCA.      

According to believers in theistic evolution, the supernatural Creator observed the naturalistic process described above, but the new living entity was not created by Him. The new entity evolved from biomatter already in existence. To a naturalistic evolutionist the process of divine fiat creation does not exist with respect to the production of living things, including humanity. Most professional scientists do not subscribe to creation; rather, they endorse the theory of (naturalistic) evolution.

J. R. Miller is a visiting scholar and fellow at the Reasons to Believe ministry. In his 2024 volume Set Apart—How Genesis Stands Alone, Miller writes, “The Hebrew story of creation in Genesis is neither myth nor mytho-history. Genesis 1-11 is a form of theological storytelling (theo-history) that God used to reveal material origins, moral duties, and destiny of humankind.” Scripture in both the New and Old Testaments has many creation passages. The Bible frequently refers to the topic of creation. Conservative theologians describe these divinely inspired creation passages as literal truth. Liberal theologians envision many scripture passages as mythical. These theologians promote the concept that the Hebrew worldview converges with other neighboring cultures. In contrast, conservative theologians state that the Judeo-Christian creationist worldview diverges from other naturalistic worldviews.

Old and New Testament terms—bara in the Hebrew scripture and ex nihilo in the language of the New Testament are terms used to describe divine creation events. In both cases, God created entities that did not previously exist. This truth is the foundation for our creationist belief system. Evolution posits development of living entities from a succession of events involving previously existing matter. We worship the God of Creation rather than a God of theistic or naturalistic evolution.   

 

Evolution Inquiry

 The concept of evolution has a firm cultural grip on our population. Our personal worldviews are substantially impacted by personal beliefs on the to[pic. The subject of evolution is frequently addressed in our culture and especially in our science classes. In  previous posts we quoted a well-known scientist whose statement has become a “given” in our modern times: “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” We link a previous post where we discussed this statement in more depth:

https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2008/08/nothingmakes-sense.html

The term worldview is an important personal issue for members of our society. We find many definitions and descriptions of worldview. Here is a definition offered by J. R. Miller in his 2024 book Set Apart—How Genesis stands alone. “Worldview is used to describe the lens used to interpret the world and focus our observations into a clear narrative that answers the questions of origin(s)…..” We believe Miller refers to the origin of life, especially human life. Author J. R. Miller further states worldview answers questions such as “How did I come into being?”

Two important worldview categories are theism and naturalism (or materialism). Believers in divine creation of life have a theistic worldview: God created living things, including humans, by an act of fiat creation. In Latin, fiat means “Let it be done.”            This term indicates God spoke life into existence, as well as all physical things, and “it was done.”

The process of evolution, in contrast, is incorporated as part of the naturalism worldview. Evolution does not depend on action by the Creator. According to the theory life develops naturalistically by the process of natural selection and mutation, boosted by other natural mechanisms identified by evolutionary scientists.

We repeat the well known acronym in frequent use by evolutionists—LUCA—the last universal common ancestor. According  to naturalistic evolutionists the LUCA of all modern humans is a single cell, perhaps billions of years in the past. The following passage is from a Wikipedia article titled “Last Universal Common Ancestor”:  (LUCA appears to have been a small , single-celled organism. It likely had a ring-shaped coil of DNA floating freely within the cell. Morphologically, it would likely not have stood out within a mixed population of small modern-day bacteria.)

Our blog positions clearly identify with a theistic worldview. God, however, works through natural laws as well as fiat creation. He establishes natural processes to govern our daily human activities. For example, if a rapid physical healing occurs from a nearly fatal infection, this may or may not be due to a transcendent miracle. The healing may be a transformational miracle or a sustaining miracle. Both of the last two mentioned “miracles” occur frequently as part of the operating system God has created for humanity. Natural bodily healing frequently occurs as do many other wondrous natural events. For reference, see https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2017/11/our-miracle-immersed-planet.html

Our belief is clear regarding creation and evolution. We do not endorse evolution as described in relation to the hypothetical LUCA. Rather, we believe living things, especially humans, are the product of divine fiat creation. We believe evolutionists, even theistic evolutionists, gravitate to a naturalistic worldview, even though many claim to have a theistic worldview.

The discussions pitting evolution v. creation are unending in certain circles, even though many bio-scientists pronounce the theory of evolution “unequivocally true.” Speaking from my personal perspective, a friend challenged me in 2009 to record my beliefs concerning evolution. Here is a link to my article on evolution. We acknowledge the evolution/creation issue is multidimensional and exceedingly challenging:

https://jashow.org/articles/science-evolutions-missing-link/