So you are asking...is there life on other planets? As a man of faith, I say...why would there not be? Surprised by that answer?

 

I, like you, am sometimes afraid to get into that kind of discussion with people, especially with some at church who just unequivocally belief there is no other life beside us. Why is that I ask? if one believes this, are they saying it's impossible for God to have put life on another planet? And if so, isn't one then putting God into a box and defining his power?

 

Why should we be so earthly ethnocentric as to think God wouldn't want life somewhere other than just earth? And just because the bible has nothing to say on the matter doesn't make it a false premise. The bible was written to speak to us, not to life on KXR 9.

 

I say there is other life out there. And I also say I believe that it's...how do I put this...kind of silly to think that there isn't. My opinion, and I'm sure some will completely disagree.

 

Excellent post in my opinion!

Why do other planets need water or oxygen for there to be life?

 

Because our understanding is so limited. I would say anything is possible. There are even experiments aimed at creating organic life in computer systems.

Our Universe may be just one of billions and billions. Think of kernels of corn on a cob.

 

There's one theory out there that suggests that in some form of exterior multiverse, there are countless planes of existence and that what we know to be "The Big Bang" is the consequence of a contact point between these two larger planes resulting in a huge burst of energy.

 

It's one of my favorites.

I've asked the same question many times over the years, and although many try to do their best to come up with an answer, I've never heard one that makes any sense to me.

 

I am being dead serious, I don't see how there can be an answer.

 

Using this logic, it is much more plausible life is a result of billions of years of evolution.

There's one theory out there that suggests that in some form of exterior multiverse, there are countless planes of existence and that what we know to be "The Big Bang" is the consequence of a contact point between these two larger planes resulting in a huge burst of energy.

 

It's one of my favorites.

 

And do black holes lead us to those other universes? And what is inside black holes?

We are starting to do that little by little. Again, I am not an expert but we are starting to study Exoplanet signatures that show their composition.

 

Yessir. We have methods for detecting the composition of exoplanets by studying the ways light refracts around and through them during transits between Earth and the stars those planets orbit. Even still, given that we don't know how to seek out the life on those planets, most of our energy will be to find planets comprised of high oxygen and nitrogen atmospheres and study those most closely.

And do black holes lead us to those other universes? And what is inside black holes?

 

Fascinating stuff. We just don't know.

 

It would definitely be fun if they did.

I am being dead serious, I don't see how there can be an answer.

 

Using this logic, it is much more plausible life is a result of billions of years of evolution.

While evolution may be proof of change over time it in no way proves the creation of said life.

 

Science seems to say that all life came from one initial being. If so how did plant life evolve from animal life? How did Man, Great White Sharks, Elephants and Ants all evolve from the same start in life as science dictates?

 

If all life came from a single spark as suggested by science wouldn't there just be one evolved species of life and not the 1,000's and 1,000's that there actually are?

 

If man is a direct descendant of a Chimp for example and there are currently men and chimps walking the earth what happened to all of the others in between?

Guru on this I am with you on I have never heard anything that makes sense beyond faith, which is fine. Faith, as stated before, is something we all have in something and every day. Faith that my kids will wake up in the morning, faith that the store I walk in won't have an attacker come in and start shooting people. Faith that there is a God and that there is eternal life for whatever the specific religion claims. But there are no guarantees in any of these that I can tell. I then must ask. If I have faith there is a God, then I will have eternal life, if I accept Jesus Christ as my savior? If not I will be dust shortly after death. I believe that is what people that have faith in God are dealing with. Is the Bible the Word of God or just great teachings and examples of ways to live your life? Humans wrote them and decided what would be included and not and all humans are fallible. But I see no guarantees, because there are none, in my mind. I am more of the mindset to believe there is a God, but I will never be able to guarantee anyone there is. It is an individual decision, therefore, and the consequences, if there are any, was the individual's choice.

 

The only problem I have is telling me that if I don't believe I am destined to hell. Don't judge me on my religious or non-religious beliefs. No human is the judge for my destiny after death. I will respect what decision you make and always have, because you not me or anyone else have the choice and there is no hard evidence in anything concerning God.

 

So is creationism valid or science? I have no clue and have resigned myself to think I never will. My mind tells me science makes more sense, but I am no where near an authority on either, thus my constant confusion.

 

You and I think a lot of alike.

 

At the end of the day if the only answer is Faith, then all the claims about this religion being better than that one, going to hell, heaven, do this, don't do that, men are meant for women only, 87 virgins for suicide bombers, etc. all make real nice stories and nothing more. After all, if there is no proof, only faith, no one can possibly know any of those things.

 

So faith is fine, Dogmatism is not.

I feel that religion is man's interpretation of God.

Science seems to say that all life came from one initial being. If so how did plant life evolve from animal life? How did Man, Great White Sharks, Elephants and Ants all evolve from the same start in life as science dictates?

 

Plant life did not evolve from animal life. The plant life came first. Looking at a human being and a dandelion it's difficult to imagine that plant and animal have a similar origin but if you compare, say, a growth of coral with say, certain mosses... animal and plant life don't seem so distant.

 

If all life came from a single spark as suggested by science wouldn't there just be one evolved species of life and not the 1,000's and 1,000's that there actually are?

 

We know that genetic mutations happen all the time. Biodiversity is a function of those mutations, environment and countless other factors.

 

If man is a direct descendant of a Chimp for example and there are currently men and chimps walking the earth what happened to all of the others in between?

 

They died out. Estimates suggest that over 99 percent of all the species that have ever existed on earth are already extinct.

 

And humans are not descendant of chimps necessarily, though humans and chimpanzees may have had a common ancestor. Studies have shown that humans and bonobos, for example, share as much as 99.5 percent of DNA in common. There was even a movement a few years ago to have bonobos reclassified to the genus "homo" given the degree of similarity. Bonobos also have body proportions and features remarkably similar to the genus "australopithecus", one of the groups of distant hominids believed to be an ancestor to modern man.

Plant life did not evolve from animal life. The plant life came first. Looking at a human being and a dandelion it's difficult to imagine that plant and animal have a similar origin but if you compare, say, a growth of coral with say, certain mosses... animal and plant life don't seem so distant.

So there was a Big Bang and an amoeba start all life in the ocean while all of the plants also began? Did all plant life evolve from a single cell plant or did grass, trees, vegetables flowers and other plant life all start independently of each other?

 

 

 

We know that genetic mutations happen all the time. Biodiversity is a function of those mutations, environment and countless other factors.

Does that even make sense that EVERY single living thing began with that first amoeba...an elephant and a bumble bee are mutations from the same original source? I would say that is quite a "Leap of Faith" for science to make. I understand that many want to dismiss a Creator because a Creator can't be proven to their personal satisfaction but evolution from one cell to all living beings does add up and also CAN NOT be proven.

 

They died out. Estimates suggest that over 99 percent of all the species that have ever existed on earth are already extinct.

Kinda inconvenient that the "Missing Link" can't be found or proven.

 

And humans are not descendant of chimps necessarily, though humans and chimpanzees may have had a common ancestor. Studies have shown that humans and bonobos, for example, share as much as 99.5 percent of DNA in common. There was even a movement a few years ago to have bonobos reclassified to the genus "homo" given the degree of similarity. Bonobos also have body proportions and features remarkably similar to the genus "australopithecus", one of the groups of distant hominids believed to be an ancestor to modern man.

OK then, if men descended directly from Bonobos where is a single mutation in between the two. It is hard to believe that Bobobos survived all these years and Humans survived but none of the links in between survived. If the links in between were so weak they couldn't survive how in the world did they survive long enough to evolved who knows how many times to get to man.

So there was a Big Bang and an amoeba start all life in the ocean while all of the plants also began? Did all plant life evolve from a single cell plant or did grass, trees, vegetables flowers and other plant life all start independently of each other?

 

No one knows. At this point the evidence points to the formation of complex strings of amino acids that began to come together into the earliest forms of life some 3,500 million years ago. It was just those little one-celled organisms for a VERY long time.

 

Does that even make sense that EVERY single living thing began with that first amoeba...an elephant and a bumble bee are mutations from the same original source? I would say that is quite a "Leap of Faith" for science to make. I understand that many want to dismiss a Creator because a Creator can't be proven to their personal satisfaction but evolution from one cell to all living beings does add up and also CAN NOT be proven.

 

Nothing is or has to be taken on faith. This is the best guess we have based on the evidence as it currently exists. Those theories have changed a lot in just the last century and they will continue to change as new theories are advanced and new evidence for them is discovered. "Can not" be proven? That's just your own theory. But they certainly "have not" been proven.

 

Kinda inconvenient that the "Missing Link" can't be found or proven.

 

There are lots of "links". We've found a great many of them.

 

OK then, if men descended directly from Bonobos where is a single mutation in between the two. It is hard to believe that Bobobos survived all these years and Humans survived but none of the links in between survived. If the links in between were so weak they couldn't survive how in the world did they survive long enough to evolved who knows how many times to get to man.

 

It's unlikely that men descended from bonobos. Rather, it's more probable that humans and bonobos come from a common ancestor, like australopithecus. There are also probably plenty of links between. Not every single mutation within a species results in a new species. But a series of mutations certainly can.

I guess we will agree to disagree...this is a discussion that is much harder to have typing back and forth than in person. Have a good day and Happy Birthday again!

I guess we will agree to disagree...this is a discussion that is much harder to have typing back and forth than in person. Have a good day and Happy Birthday again!

 

Fair enough. And I didn't do any of that because I want to shoot you down or ridicule your beliefs. But there is a lot of misinformation out there about the current science on evolution and the origins of life. It's an interesting topic that we certainly can't resolve here... and for many reason, not the least of which is that I'm a lawyer and not an evolutionary biologist, astrophysicist, or organic chemist. My knowledge of these processes is pretty limited.

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes.