The Bigger Picture on Creation
THE
3/28/13
MYSTERY OF LIFE’S ORIGIN
FAZALE RANA
WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS CARE ABOUT
ORIGIN-OF-LIFE RESEARCH?
! ULTIMATE questions of life
THE BIGGER
PICTURE
ON CREATION
TWO VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
! Life is the product of EVOLUTIONARY
processes
! Life is the product of a CREATOR
TEXTBOOK ORIGIN-OF-LIFE MODEL
WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS CARE ABOUT
ORIGIN-OF-LIFE RESEARCH?
! ULTIMATE questions of life
! Students need ANSWERS
about naturalism.
TEXTBOOK ORIGIN-OF-LIFE MODEL
+
PREBIOTIC
compounds formed.
© 2008, Reasons To Believe
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The Bigger Picture on Creation
3/28/13
TEXTBOOK ORIGIN-OF-LIFE MODEL
TEXTBOOK ORIGIN-OF-LIFE MODEL
PREBIOTIC soup formed.
Building blocks of life formed.
TREE OF LIFE
LUCA =
Last Universal Common Ancestor
Bacteria
Eukarya
Archaea
LUCA
LUCA
Prebiotic chemistry
Prebiotic chemistry
MILLER-UREY EXPERIMENT
Building blocks of life
Proteins
Amino acids
Prebiotic materials
© 2008, Reasons To Believe
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The Bigger Picture on Creation
3/28/13
Origin of Life:
A Theory in Crisis
GENESIS 1:2
Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the
surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over
the
waters.
(
Earth formed
!  4.56 billion years ago
Hadean era
!  Hades = hell
End of Hadean era (3.9 billion years ago)
!  Late heavy bombardment
NIV)
END OF HADEAN ERA
!  Late heavy bombardment
!  Rocks melted
!  Oceans evaporated
!  Magma ocean
~3.9 BILLION YRS. AGO
© 2008, Reasons To Believe
WHAT SCIENCE IS TELLING US
! Life appeared early.
! Life appeared suddenly.
! First life was chemically complex.
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The Bigger Picture on Creation
3/28/13
MILLER-UREY EXPERIMENT
Earth s early conditions:
! Water vapor
! Hydrogen
! Ammonia
! Methane
WHAT SCIENCE IS TELLING US
! Life appeared early.
! Life appeared suddenly.
! First life was chemically complex.
! No evidence for prebiotic soup.
MILLER-UREY: IRRELEVANT
Earth s early conditions:
! Water vapor ! Carbon dioxide
! Hydrogen
! Nitrogen
! Ammonia
! Water
! Methane
So far, no geochemical evidence for the
existence of a prebiotic soup has been
published. Indeed, a number of scientists
have challenged the prebiotic soup
concept, noting that even if it existed,
the concentration of organic building
blocks in it would have been too small to
be meaningful for prebiotic evolution.
Noam Lahav, Biogenesis
THE CREATOR
S FINGERPRINT
GENESIS 1:2
Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the
surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over
the
waters.
(
NIV)
© 2008, Reasons To Believe
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The Bigger Picture on Creation
3/28/13
DEUTERONOMY 32:11
EARLY EARTH AND THE BIBLE
! Dark
! Covered with water
! Desolate environment
…like an eagle that stirs up its
nest and hovers over its
young.
ISAIAH 45:18
Why life so early?
For this is what the Lord says -- he
who created the heavens, he is
God; he who fashioned and made
the earth, he founded it; he did not
create it to be empty, but formed it
to be
inhabited.
(NI
V)
PREPARING EARTH FOR HUMANITY
For more information
! Early life transformed Earth by
creating a high level of oxygen.
www.reasons.org
1-800-482-7836
© 2008, Reasons To Believe
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The Bigger Picture on Creation
3/28/13
PHOTO CREDITS
! 
! 
! 
Illustrations:
!  Miller-Urey Experiment : Phil Chien, © 2008
All other images from clipart.com
Some images excluded due to copyright restrictions.
© 2008, Reasons To Believe
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