No Chance of Life by Chance
By Bruce Malone
In the 1700’s many scientists believed that life spontaneously
generated from non-living matter (such as raw meat or sewage). In
the 1800’s, using careful experimentation, Louis Pasteur proved this
concept wrong and verified that life only comes from previously
existing life. Ironically, many scientists have once again returned
to the belief that life came from non-life… in spite of the fact
that there is no experimental evidence to show how that could have
happened. The reason this unsupported belief has returned is that
science has been defined to eliminate the consideration of the only
other alternative – the creation of life by an intelligent designer.
Even the simplest living cell is an incredibly complex machine. It
must be capable of detecting malfunctions, repairing itself, and
making copies of itself. Man has never succeeded in building a
machine capable of these same functions. Yet most scientists accept
the belief that life arose from non-life (in spite of the evidence
clearly indicating that it did not and could not happen). This
incredible belief is as absurd as the finding a complex chemical
manufacturing facility on Mars and assuming that it built itself.
One classic experiment that is used to support the belief that life
“built itself”, is an experiment by Stanley Miller in 1953. In this
experiment sparks were discharged into an apparatus, which was
circulating common gases. These gases reacted to form various
organic products, which were collected and analyzed. The experiment
succeeded in producing only a few of the 20 amino acids required by
living cells. Yet the results have repeatedly been heralded as
evidence that life could have arisen by itself. Furthermore, the
dozens of major problems with this experiment as an explanation for
the formation of life are seldom reported.1
For instance, our early atmosphere was assumed to have no oxygen
because this would stop amino acid formation. However, with no
oxygen, there would be no ozone shield. With no ozone shield, life
would also be impossible. Furthermore, oxidized rocks throughout the
geologic record indicate that oxygen has always been present. In
addition to this, the same gases that can react to form amino acids
undergo known reactions in the presence of sunlight, which removes
them from the atmosphere. The required gases would not have been
around long enough for life to have developed! In addition, a cold
trap was used to keep the reaction products from being destroyed as
fast as they formed.
The biggest problem is that the amino acids formed in this
experiment are always a 50/50 mixture of stereotypes (L and D
forms). Stereotypes are like a drawer full of right-hand and
left-hand gloves, identical in every way except a mirror image of
each other. Life contains only L stereotypes of these randomly
produced amino acids. Yet equal proportions of both types are always
produced. How could the first cell have selected only L stereotypes
from a random, equally reactive mixture? No answer to this has ever
been found.
These are just a few of the problems with the fanciful idea that
life generated itself. The linking of these randomly produced amino
acids into the required proteins is an even more overwhelming
impossibility. No experiment has ever shown that matter has the
ability to come alive. The best explanation for life is still that
“life only comes from pre-existing life”. As you search for the
truth, perhaps you should consider the possibility that the source
of all life... Is God.
1. Thaxton, C.B., Bradley, W.L., Olsen,R.L., The Mystery of Life’s
Origin, Chapter 4, Philosophical Library, 1984.