Page 76 - The Courage of the Faithful

THE COURAGE OF THE FA I T H F U L

The First Insurmountable Step:
The Origin of Life
The theory of evolution posits that all living species evolved fro m
a single living cell that emerged on the primitive Earth 3.8 billion years

ago. How a single cell could generate millions of complex living species
and, if such an evolution really occurred, why traces of it cannot be ob-
served in the fossil re c o rd are some of the questions that the theory can-
not answer. However, first and foremost, we need to ask: How did this
"first cell" originate?
Since the theory of evolution denies creation and any kind of su-
pernatural intervention, it maintains that the "first cell" originated coin-

cidentally within the laws of nature, without any design, plan or
arrangement. A c c o rding to the theory, inanimate matter must have pro-
duced a living cell as a result of coincidences. Such a claim, however, is
inconsistent with the most unassailable rules of biology.

"Life Comes From Life"
In his book, Darwin never re f e r red to the origin of life. The primi-
tive understanding of science in his time rested on the assumption that
living beings had a very simple stru c t u re. Since medieval times, sponta-

neous generation, which asserts that non-living materials came to-
gether to form living organisms, had been widely accepted. It was
commonly believed that insects came into being from food leftovers,
and mice from wheat. Interesting experiments were conducted to pro v e
this theory. Some wheat was placed on a dirty piece of cloth, and it was
believed that mice would originate from it after a while.
S i m i l a r l y, maggots developing in rotting meat was assumed to be

evidence of spontaneous generation. However, it was later understood

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