[QUOTE]Originally posted by Quetzal:
[B]Apologies in advance for the length of this post. Enjoy!
Even though abiogenesis — the origin of life from non-life — is not related to the validity or falsehood of evolutionary theory, it is an interesting subject in its own right. Although evolutionary theory does not rest on the truth of abiogenesis, creationists in particular seem to demand that a non-supernatural origin of life be proven before evolution can be accepted.
I suppose your right, there is theistic evolution. But surely, if, hypothetically, it becomes clear that abiogenesis is not feasible by natural means, then there is no reason to accept materialistic evolution. Once a Creator is established as a neccessary condition for life, would not Creation make a lot more sense than evolution?
Quetzal: The modern chemical composition of the Earth is mostly Fe, Mg, Si, and O, with the other elements contributing 5% of the total. Life originated as a result of chemical reactions occurring (largely) in the atmosphere followed by reactions in the primeval oceans and lakes. The atmosphere at the end of the Hadean Period (~4-4.2 gya) is primarily composed of variable amounts of CO2, N2, SO2, H2S, S, HCl, B2O3, and smaller quantities of H2, CH4, SO3, NH3 and HF (but no O2), due partly to outgassing from volcanoes, and partly to the reaction of condensing water vapor (formed as the Earth cooled) with minerals such as nitrides (hence NH3), carbides (hence CH4, CO, etc.) and sulfides (hence H2S). There was no free oxygen (any free O2 ...
Bart007: What if there was free O2, would that have any adverse affect on the formation of life's molecules, or are you simply pointing out that there simply was not any O2 in the prebiotic atmosphere?