by Steven J. Wamback

Created on: April 06, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

And God said, "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life; and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." (Genesis 1:20)

Since prehistoric times, humans have attempted to explain much of that which they could not understand by relying upon traditional tales, myths, superstition, and religion. Among the most perplexing of mysteries have been the origins of the Earth and of the life which inhabits it. Various religious dogma and cultural myths have suggested these beginnings as ranging from the oral issuance of mighty celestial dragons to the verbal command of a nameless god who commanded, "Let it be..." Great debates and even bloody wars have been waged, and continue to be waged, between groups of people who espouse differing systems of beliefs, with most incorporating explanations for the mysteries of life. Thus, it appears that the mystery of the origin of life has held, and still holds, a position of great importance to many of the world's people.

Throughout the ages, humans have acquired much of the knowledge and skill that is necessary to explain the things and forces of the universe in an accurate, orderly and, therefore, rational fashion. This is what is called science. It is science that objectively attempts to draw us closer and closer to that perfect but unattainable truth. The myths, superstitions, and religious dogma of our ancestors have purported to have already attained that truth and have not generally been subject to change, even when contradictory evidence is in plain view. A growing number of modern progressive religions, however, have accepted the fact that science and religion are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In this paper we will approach the subject of the origin of life from the scientific point of view with the understanding that evidence and data, yet to be accumulated, can be used to refine, refute, and even replace any currently-accepted or proposed models.

The primordial seas consisted of liquid water with dissolved minerals and possibly some simple organic molecules as evidenced by their presence in some meteorites from outer space. This early aqueous environment was bombarded by a variety of energy types that included the remaining radioactivity in the crust, lightning from the tremendous atmospheric disturbances, cosmic rays from space, and ultraviolet rays from the Sun. Owing to the lack of the ozone layer, since large quantities of molecular oxygen had not yet been formed,

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