This week, we continue our look at evolutionary theories of the origin of life and the extreme challenges they face. One of the major hurdles concerns the amount of time available for the random mechanisms of evolution to occur. The evolutionary process, dating back to Darwin, is said to occur very slowly over extremely long periods of time. In fact, Darwin told of this slow process, “We see nothing of these slow changes in progress until the hand of time has marked the long lapse of ages.” Since evolution is a slowly repeating process of random trial and error, it is best to think of it in these terms: the greater the change, the greater the time required. However, time presents a significant problem. Based on the most recent dating of Earth, it is about 4.6 billion years old. Even so, during the 'rst 700-800 million years, the surface of Earth was too hot and too hostile for life to develop at all. By the time the Earth had su#ciently cooled, there was a relatively short 3.5 billion years left for evolution to work with.
Not to be deterred, committed evolutionists and origin-of-life researchers have proposed new models, intent on extending the time available for the natural evolutionary process to have generated the first life. One such “loophole” solution to this problem is to appeal to a class of bacteria called thermophiles, which thrive in extreme conditions. As the name suggests, thermophiles could have withstood the initial high temperatures early during Earth’s existence. In this model, thermophiles in the Earth’s crust or at hydrothermal vents could have withstood the extreme temperatures on the surface as the Earth cooled, eventually evolving into complex mammals and human beings. This scenario could then push the timeline back to about 4.5 billion years, giving more time for evolution to do its thing —or so they say. However, all such “extremophilic models” create more issues than they solve. If thermophiles are to represent the first life form, at some point, they had to significantly evolve in order to thrive in the moderate to cooler temperatures on Earth. However, this is a tough transition. Beyond mere survival, reproduction in such extreme conditions is also greatly challenged. Researchers have found that RNA molecules lose their structure and functional capacity at both low and high temperatures. Inhibiting RNA and DNA function means that any origin-of-life scenario cannot be predicated on the self-assembly of RNA in hot or cold environments.
But never fear; some evolutionists are attempting to skirt the limited timeframe that could support evolution on Earth by driving the problem out of this world, literally. The theory of transported panspermia has attracted attention because it appears to address the limited time available for evolution on Earth by suggesting that the Earth was “seeded” by microbialinfested meteorites that crashed early in its history. Once seeded, it is claimed that the microbes evolved into humans over the 4+ billion years available. Although the concept of transported panspermia is straightforward, it too faces the same problems as thermophiles. First, the hitchhiking microbes had to withstand the extreme heat (3,272 °F) of entry into Earth’s atmosphere, and even if they could survive, they faced the same hurdle of adapting to much colder conditions. In the end, attempts to sidestep the short evolutionary time available on Earth by theorizing that seed microbes from out of this world come crashing to Earth fail at multiple points. It would seem that even kicking the evolutionary problem into outer space is of no real help either.
Still, origin-of-life researchers continue to seek new and ever more remote options to keep the Darwinian origin-of-life model on life support and in a state of perpetual question. But here is the interesting thing about it all: God never changes. The story of God never has, nor ever will need to “evolve” into something else in the future because Christians lack a viable answer in the present. For thousands of years, Christians have stood on the belief that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Though we can never place God in a test tube and scientifically prove His existence, we see His 'ngerprints all over the created universe if we only would open our eyes. The apostle Paul once said to the Romans that what can be known about God is clearly visible in the things that have been made. If we fail to recognize that, we are without excuse (cf Rom 1:18-23).
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.