Creation of Life On Earth: By God?

Introduction The topic of the creation of life on earth is a difficult topic to discuss without touching on many different areas; possibly one that might be a little difficult/deep for a few readers to want to stay with. If this is the situation in your case, please do not give up on the article, but just move on to the next highlighted (bold text) topic. You can always go back and review your bypassed topic once you have finished the article. I would hope, though, that you try to cover all of the topics contained herein, as I feel there is valuable information within each topic. Below, are the topic areas for your review: 1) Origin of DNA - The requirement for all life. 2) Creation of the first form of life.

3) Complexity of life forms.

4) The Earth: Young vs Old? 5) Creation accounts in the Bible. 6) Do fossil finds support evolution. 7) Conclusions.

Origin of DNA - The requirement for all life.

The DNA molecule is the essential element and requirement for all life. A single DNA molecule has the most sophisticated computer, computer programming language, and storage and retrieval system imaginable, and far beyond anything developed by man today. It is so complex that it is truly beyond man's ability to fully comprehend. It has been stated that the DNA data storage and retrieval system used in all living organisms is so far superior to anything that has been developed by man to-date that today's scientists are looking to use this digital technology to store all data in the very near future. Mike Murphy, in an article for Quartz says, "Scientists say all of the world's data can fit on a DNA hard drive the size of a teaspoon." Murphy is not alone. There are several articles that mention that this amazing 3-D storage system is the wave of the future. Bill Gates (renowned founder of Microsoft) in a statement made with regards to DNA said that DNA is “like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created.” So, where did all of this intelligent and highly sophisticated code come from, since the DNA molecule itself has no intelligence? It definitely did not come from an unintelligent source, or even an evolutionary process.

The DNA molecule is not only responsible for replicating itself within a living organism, but also responsible for the storing and retrieving of all of the genetic instructions required for reproduction. Additionally, it also manages the storage and use of the very complicated instructions required to create the new proteins and cells necessary for the body to grow and survive. A single DNA molecule contains 3 billion characters of information. Since there are 46 DNA molecules in each human white blood cell (one for each of the 46 genetic chromosomes of the body), this means that each cell contains an amazing 138 billion characters of information.

No DNA molecule has ever been known to exist outside of a living organism. DNA molecules are only created from other DNA molecules inside an existing living organism. Since this intelligent code would be needed from the earliest of times, it would seem like there had to be an Intelligent Designer from the very beginning of the creation story.

Creation of the first form of life.

To date, no one has ever observed the natural creation of a single cell outside of a living organism, which is required by all living creatures to exist. As a matter of fact, no one has ever observed the creation of any form of life coming from a non-life source such as chemicals or organic compounds.

Living cells are only the product of something living, and they are created and reproduced within all living organisms by DNA and RNA molecules. To create just one living cell requires some very key and incredibly complex events to happen. To give you some idea of this complexity, just three of the many steps required will be discussed below. Before launching into these discussions, though, it would be important to know what some noted scientists/authors have to say about this topic. Henry M. Morris (engineer, author, and one of the founders of the Institute for Creation Research) states that “any event with a probability figure of a 1 with over 50 zeroes in it cannot occur.” So, if the probability of an event not occurring is a 1 followed by 50 zeroes we know that this is an incredibly high number. To give this figure relevance, a 1 followed by 12 zeroes equals the number one trillion (1,000,000,000,000), and a 1 followed by 18 zeroes is equal to the total number of all the seconds in time for a 30 billion year period. Now, let's see what scientists/authors have to say about the probability of the lowest level of life being created through a natural process. Robert Shapiro (professor of chemistry and noted DNA specialist at N.Y.U.) estimated that the probability of the smallest form of life (a one-celled organism) originating by random trials or naturally, without Divine intervention, is a 1 followed by 40,000 zeroes. Shapiro felt that nothing could create the intelligent code necessary for the creation of a single cell. Chandra Wickramasinghe (professor of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy from University College in Wales) and Fred Hoyle (noted mathematician, astronomer, scientist and author) also agree with this probability figure. So, it would seem that there is absolutely no chance of this lowest level organism being created naturally, given scientists own estimates. For a 40,000 zero number compared to a 50 zero number is not even close.

Complexity of life forms.

Just to give you some idea as to the complexity of even the smallest of living life, some one-celled organisms could require for life 2,000,000 (two million) proteins in its one cell. All living cells require proteins for their life, as proteins are considered the building blocks of a cell, and cells are the building blocks of life.

Now, for this one-celled form of life to become a reality all of these two million proteins required must be sorted by an unintelligent source by the bodily functions that each protein belongs to. Then they need to be folded into a 3-D pattern so that they can connect successfully to other proteins in the protein chain. Further, this natural unintelligent environment must know how many of each different protein is required for any given cell, and how may proteins are required over-all. In other words, this creator of life must know when to turn the protein assembly on and off. It cannot add any proteins not required for the cell, and cannot create more or less of any of the proteins that are required. Now you get the idea of the complexity of even the lowest level of life. Man, by contrast, has approximately 1 to 3 billion proteins in each of its 37.2 trillion total cells.

The Earth: Young vs Old?

I will start this subject by stating the obvious - evolution requires an old earth and solar system. Without it, evolutionary theory is not supportable. Therefore, to have a reasonable discussion on evolution it is imperative to understand, as best as possible, if the earth and solar system are young or old. For if the earth and solar systems are considered young, then there might seem to be a real problem with either the belief in a long term evolutionary process, or the aging methods used to justify a young earth.

Let us start with the dating methods used to date the earth and our solar systems. Walt Brown, in his book In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, he discusses various dating techniques used to date the earth and solar system. He states, “most dating techniques indicate the earth's crust and solar system are young – possibly less than 10,000 years old.” He mentions specifically that “helium studies indicate that the Earth's crust is less than 10,000 years old,” and that studies of magnetic decay indicate an age of less than 20,000 years old. In fact, there are over 20 different techniques or dating methods that he discusses that attest to a young earth and solar system.

In the book The Young Earth: The Real History of the Earth: Past, Present, Future". by John D. Morris, Ph.D he states, “Of all the dating techniques available to us, only a few tend to give ages on the order of millions or billions of years, namely, those radioisotope dating techniques (with the exception of carbon-14) and a few others." He then continues on to state, "There are, however many other dating techniques available to date the earth and its various systems, many of them based on much sounder science than radioisotope dating. The vast majority of these dating methods give maximum ages for the earth which are much too low to have allowed for evolution to occur."..."Some of these alternative dating techniques point to an age of only thousands of years, while others give ages in the low millions. Remember that all of these techniques involve assumptions which largely exclude the possibility of Creation by an Intelligent Designer, and Noah's global flood." He goes on further to state that "the weight of the evidence is much more compatible with the young-earth position than with the old-earth position.”

When looking at the age of the earth, many scientists ignore the fact of a catastrophic global flood and what its effects could have had on the aging of the earth. Those scientists that do believe in a flood, only believe in a local flood.

The biblical view is that Noah and the global flood were a reality that occurred approximately 4,370 years ago. It is an account of a global flood that covered the whole earth and attained heights higher than the highest mountains in the world. In recent times many marine, animal, and plant fossils have been found in many of the highest mountains around the world. For example, many fossils were found in the sedimentary rock layers of the higher parts of the Grand Canyon, and also very high in the Himalaya mountains of Tibet. To support this last statement, in 2008 an international research team led by Yang Wang of Florida State University, doing research at 15,000 feet (almost 3 miles high) in the Himalayan-Tibetan plateau area in Tibet, found thick layers of sediment filled with plant, fish and animal fossils; usually found at much lower levels. These are just two of the stories that testify to the fact that this was a world-wide phenomenon. According to the Bible, as a result of this phenomenal amount of water from this flood event, Noah and his family and all of the animals on the ark were unable to embark from the ark for a period of one full year. Some believe that this catastrophic flood, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions across the earth, could have been the catalyst for the breaking apart of the world's single land mass at the time of creation into the continents that we see today. This type of catastrophic flood that covered the entire earth's surface for approximately one year could have made drastic changes to the earth's features, so that thereafter it could very well give the appearance of an ancient age.

Creation accounts (in Bible).

The biblical account of the bible, specifically Genesis chapter 1 versus 21-28, details how God was responsible for the creation of life. Below, is an account of His creation: 1) God created the plants and fish of the sea (including the great sea creatures like the whales and dolphins), all according to their kind. 2) God created all of the winged birds, according to their kind. 3) God created all domestic animals (cattle, etc), according to their kind. 4) God created all of the creeping things of the earth (mice, reptiles, insects, etc), according to their kind. 5) God created all of the beasts of the earth (wild animals), according to their kind, 6) God created man and woman in His image, to have dominion over all the creatures of the earth.

What is interesting to note is that in the Old Testament of the Bible (Job 40: 15-18) God tells Job the following about a beast that He created along with him. Could it have been the dinosaur? God tells Job

"Look now at the behemoth which I made along with you; He eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength in his hips, And the power in his stomach muscles.

He moves his tail like a cedar tree;

The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

His bones are like beams of bronze,

His ribs like bars of iron.

Additional to God's Old Testament account of His creation of life on earth, there are also a few comments in the Old Testament by some of the greatest prophets with regard to God being the creator of human life. In Jeremiah 1:4-5 Jeremiah states that 'the word of the Lord came to me saying "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." A second reference relates to the famous and revered prophet David, where the famous prophet talks to God in Psalm 139 about His wonderful creation of him. He states, "You created my innermost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise you because I am wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know full well."

Do fossil finds support evolution.

If the Genesis story is true, and I believe it is, this is probably the reason why there seems to be no solid fossil evidence found that clearly demonstrates the transition of life from one group of animals to another (i.e. fish to amphibians, amphibians to reptiles, reptiles to mammals, and mammals to birds and wales). Across all of these groups of animals, one would expect to find numerous fossils who died during this long transitioning phase to another group and species. One would expect to find the fossils of many incomplete creatures that have one or more partially developed features - features like incomplete feathers, wings, tails, fins, stubs for arms and legs, intestines, veins, arteries and other partial bodily features and organs. What scientists actually find are completely formed organisms, and little to no intermediate/transitioning ones. Further, many of the claimed transitional/intermediate fossils found over the years have later been found not to be as previously believed, or were found to be hoaxes or frauds. One of the most interesting and best statements I have read about this transition topic came from Creation.com. They stated, "one of the most famous and widely circulated quotes was made a couple of decades ago by the late Dr. Colin Patterson, who was at the time the senior paleontologist (fossil expert) at the prestigious British Museum of Natural History." Patterson had written a book for the British Museum called Evolution. When queried about why he had not shown one single photograph of a transitional fossil in his book, he responded, "I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would have certainly have included them."

Conclusions.

The creation of the first living organism by a natural process seems to be impossible by scientists own estimates. As a matter of fact, the probability of the creation of initial life by a natural process, as quoted by three separate scientists, is so astronomical that it would indicate that there must have been an Intelligent Designer (God) who made this all happen. I just do not see any other option than either a natural, or an Intelligent Designer solution to this issue.

It is my hope that you will take this information and verify it for your own edification. Further, I would hope that you seek out additional information on this topic beyond what I have presented herein. One path you might want to pursue (and it is just a suggestion) is to look into the complexities of life - the brain, the eye and some of life's complicated bodily systems. These complex systems will also raise questions as to how these complex systems might have come into play.

To give you just one example, the brain of even the lower levels of life are amazingly sophisticated, but the human brain is truly remarkable. The human brain has approximately 10 billion neurons (nerve cells) that can each connect to another 10,000 different types of neurons (neurons that perform different functions within the human body) to form a total of 100 trillion nerve connections in an adult brain. These connections serve specific functions, and are not just random connections. The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) states that “a single human brain has more switches and connections than all of the computers, routers and internet connections on earth.” The brain is not only complex because of its incredible number of connections, but also because of its incredible memory storage capacity, processing speeds, and over-all efficiency. For example, it has been stated that the human brain's memory storage capacity is equal to that of all of the data contained in 4.7 billion books, and it's processing speed as many times faster than the fastest supercomputers available today. To support this statement, John Staughton on the site scienceabc.com states, "the fastest supercomputer in the world has a processing speed not even close to the brain's speed of a billion billion calculations per second." This would indicate, like the DNA molecule, that there is someone behind creation with an intellect far superior to the greatest minds on earth. I think that once you look at the brain's complexity you will start to see the improbability of such an organ being produced through any natural or evolutionary process.

It is my belief that God was responsible for not only initial life, but also the life of every major group of animals (including man). Further, it is my belief that the earth is not 4.6 billion years old as many scientists claim, but rather a young earth as many dating methods indicate. I believe that the reason why many scientists and others believe the earth is old is because of the many successive layers of different fossils found in sedimentary rocks, and also because of the many diverse number of successive rock layers (layer upon layer) found. Further, I believe that this belief by many scientists and others is due to the fact that they do not view the global flood of Noah as a viable/real event that may have caused this situation to exist. I, on the other hand, very much do believe in this historical account of Noah and the flood in the Bible, and hope you will go back and read the third article on the website that addresses this global flood event. It is a very factual account that I think could change your view on this controversial issue.

TO HOMEPAGE

References

1. New King James Version of Bible

2. Donald De Young, “Thinking About the Brain,” Institute for Creation Research (icr.org)

3. Thomas Heinze, “Did God Create Life as a Protein,” creation.com 4. “About Proteins,” wikipedia,com

5. “Human brain can store 4.7 billion books-ten times more than originally thought," telegraph.co.uk

6. Bill Gates, “The Road Ahead”

7. Juliette Simpson, “10,000 Types of Neurons,” neurochampions.com,

8. Michael Murphy, "Scientists say all the world's data can fit on a DNA hard drive the size of a teaspoon," Quartz, Feb 17, 2015

9. John Staughton, "The Human Brain VS Supercomputers...Which One Wins," scienceabc.com 10.Walt Brown, "In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood" 11.Gary Bates, "That quote- about the missing transitional fossils," Creation.com

12.John D. Morris, Phd, "The Young Earth: The Real History of the Earth: Past, Present,Future"