Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off (Hardcover)

by Fazale Rana (Author), Hugh Ross (Author) "Almost every individual recognizes that humanity is a part of the web of life on this planet..." (more)
Key Phrases: contemporary cell membranes, silicate erosion, biblical creation model, Stanley Miller, South Africa, Leslie Orgel (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Convinced that "creation is a testable idea that can fall within the domain of science," biochemist Rana and astrophysicist Ross do not shrink from scientific findings about the long and tumultuous history of the earth. Conceding that "the beginning of life (relative to cosmic history) under hellacious conditions poses initial problems for creationists and evolutionists alike," the authors argue that the origin and survival of life on earth over the past 3.8 billion yearsâ€"now seen by most researchers as an awesomely improbable set of eventsâ€"parallels biblical models of God "hover[ing] over early earth like a mother eagle brooding over her young." Although Rana and Ross are Christian apologists with the "Reasons to Believe" organization, their forays into theology are generally modest and brief. Their primary focus is compiling results from biology, chemistry and geology that illustrate how deeply puzzling the origin of life has become. Discussions of the "primordial soup" of prebiotic chemistry, the enigmatic origin of cell membranes and homochirality (the unexplained preponderance of left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars essential to life) all take readers further than is typical in the creation/evolution literature. Whether or not Rana and Ross quite prove a creation modelâ€"proof being in the eye of the beholderâ€"they certainly tell a compelling story of the early history of life that inspires curiosity and a sense of wonder at what is still, for all we know, a unique habitable and inhabited world.
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Product Description
Two researchers reveal a testable creation model for life's earliest beginning that makes sense of the scientific evidence.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: NavPress Publishing Group; 1st edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576833445
• ISBN-13: 978-1576833445
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #373,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally, some needed balance, June 17, 2004

By	Walter Rothe (Carrollton, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

I would highly recommend this book to science tearchers that are concerned that their students have not been given a sense of the number and type of problems that the current state of research into the origin of life has failed to solve. Its also a great resource to help someone without previous knowledge of the field get an idea of what types of articles to follow to determine how things are going in the major areas of origin of life research. There is an extensive bibliography. The book is a first attempt at comparing a scientifically integrated (general in addition to special revelation) biblical model with the evolutionary models for the origin of life. While it is a high level non-rigorous approach, it does however awaken one to big picture tests that should be taken seriously before quickly discounting the possibility of a supernatural designer. It was good to see that the simplistic probability arguments used by creationists in the past have become more sophisticated. While still not perfect (e.g. the allowed protein sequence space reference used to support Yockey's Cytochrome C analysis only considers the space of alternate side-chains and their conformations without allowing the backbone conformation to change), it still carries substantial weight.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creationism presented as a scientific model seems compelling, May 7, 2004

By	White Rider (Quad Cities, IL USA) - See all my reviews

One of the most common reasons for the rejection of the Creation viewpoint has been the so-called "argument from ignorance" which basically assumes Creationists invoke a Creator to make up for lack of (or the inconclusiveness of) evidence. However, many recent books (including this one) make it quite clear that the Creationist viewpoint can be presented intelligently, with a great deal of evidential support.

One of the most interesting discoveries I learned is the "evolution" (pun intended) of hypothesis' that the naturalist proponents have gone through as the evidence mounts. What was once assumed to become easier to explain over time and as science advanced has become more difficult from the naturalistic viewpoint: the search for the origin of life on Earth has become frustrating to the point where extraterrestrial origins have become more vigorous.

Similarly, history seems to be repeating itself: once, Copernican's Principle changed our viewpoint from that of Earth as unique and special to that of Earth as a mundane ordinary planet, but more recently we have begun to realize, again, that Earth is indeed a special planet with fine-tuned conditions meant to support life - and according to the authors, all life and conditions prior to the introduction of man were designed especially for a technologically advanced civilization that we have become.

At times, the position of creationism as presented in the RTB Model in this book seems a bit all-encompassing: whereas they eloquently show that the evidence invalidates many of the naturalists' evolutionary predictions, the Creator model does give the appearance of being a "catch-all". Meaning, of course the Creation model is going to account for it because a Creator can do whatever He wants through miraculous intervention. However, when you dig a little deeper, the RTB Model's precitions do satisify scientific investigation and can be falsifiable as well. Some of the scientific evidences presented in the book are very recent, which dates the book.

What's important is what makes sense over time as more discoveries are made and more evidence in presented. It's clear to me, at least, that Creation makes more sense now that we know much more about the universe we live in. While this book easily coincides with some of the ID (Intelligent Design) books by Behe, Dembski, and some of the other ID folks, its main concern is solely on the Origin of Life, not the evolution of man which is addressed in more complete form elsewhere.

Highly recommened!

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book That Needed To Be Written, May 3, 2004

By	J. M Millam "john34479" (Kansas City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have a background in science (PhD in theoretical chemistry) and an equal and abiding interest in theology. As such, I've always been interested in areas where these two passions of mine intersect. This subject of origins is one such subject and is an area of incontrovertible importance to all people. But sadly, most of the books on this subject (on both sides of the debate) shed more heat than light. Finally, here is a book that moves the reader past hostile debate toward meaninful dialog and hopefully resolution. This is a book that has needed to be written for a long time. I'm glad that this book is finally available. Whereever you stand on this issue of origins, you will find this book helpful and informative.