Abiogenesis and evolution of genera comes out of ancient mythology. The first-century BC Greek historian, Diodorus wrote the origins of paganism concerning the Queen of Heaven and like gods. In this record, Diodorus presented one of the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians concerning the origin of life, which is abiogenesis and the evolution of humanity. In Diodorus’s work, “Universal History,” he reported this:
When in the beginning, as their account runs, the universe was being formed, both heaven and earth were indistinguishable in appearance, since their elements were intermingled: then, when their bodies separated from one another, the universe took on in all its parts the ordered form in which it is now seen; the air set up a continual motion, and the fiery element in it gathered into the highest regions, since anything of such a nature moves upward by reason of its lightness (and it is for this reason that the sun and the multitude of other stars became involved in the universal whirl); while all that was mud-like and thick and contained an admixture of moisture sank because of its weight into one place; and as this continually turned about upon itself and became compressed, out of the wet it formed the sea, and out of what was firmer, the land, which was like potter’s clay and entirely soft. But as the sun’s fire shone upon the land, it first of all became firm, and then, since its surface was in a ferment because of the warmth, portions of the wet swelled up in masses in many places, and in these pustules covered with delicate membranes made their appearance. Such a phenomenon can be seen even yet in swamps and marshy places whenever, the ground having become cold, the air suddenly and without any gradual change becomes intensely warm. And while the wet was being impregnated with life by reason of the warmth in the manner described, by night the living things forthwith received their nourishment from the mist that fell from the enveloping air, and by day were made solid by the intense heat; and finally, when the embryos had attained their full development and the membranes had been thoroughly heated and broken open, there was produced every form of animal life. Of these, such as had partaken of the most warmth set off to the higher regions, having become winged, and such as retained an earthy consistency came to be numbered in the class of creeping things and of the other land animals, while those whose composition partook the most of the wet element gathered into the region congenial to them, receiving the name of water animals. And since the earth constantly grew more solid through the action of the sun’s fire and of the winds, it was finally no longer able to generate any of the larger animals, but each kind of living creatures was now begotten by breeding with one another. […]
Concerning the first generation of the universe this is the account which we have received. But the first men to be born, he says, led an undisciplined and bestial life, setting out one by one to secure their sustenance and taking for their food both the tenderest herbs and the fruits of wild trees. Then, since they were attacked by the wild beasts, they came to each other’s aid, being instructed by expediency, and when gathered together in this way by reason of their fear, they gradually came to recognize their mutual characteristics. And though the sounds which they made were at first unintelligible and indistinct, yet gradually they came to give articulation to their speech, and by agreeing with one another upon symbols for each thing which presented itself to them, made known among themselves the significance which was to be attached to each term. But since groups of this kind arose over every part of the inhabited world, not all men had the same language, inasmuch as every group organized the elements of its speech by mere chance. This is the explanation of the present existence of every conceivable kind of language, and, furthermore, out of these first groups to be formed came all the original nations of the world. Now the first men, since none of the things useful for life had yet been discovered, led a wretched existence, having no clothing to cover them, knowing not the use of dwelling and fire, and also being totally ignorant of cultivated food. For since they also even neglected the harvesting of the wild food, they laid by no store of its fruits against their needs; consequently large numbers of them perished in the winters because of the cold and the lack of food. Little by little, however, experience taught them both to take to the caves in winter and to store such fruits as could be preserved. And when they had become acquainted with fire and other useful things, the arts also and whatever else is capable of furthering man’s social life were gradually discovered. Indeed, speaking generally, in all things it was necessity itself that became man’s teacher, supplying in appropriate fashion instruction in every matter to a creature which was well endowed by nature and had, as its assistants for every purpose, hands and speech and sagacity of mind. […]
Now the Egyptians have an account like this: When in the beginning the universe came into being, men first came into existence in Egypt, both because of the favourable climate of the land and because of the nature of the Nile. For this stream, since it produces much life and provides a spontaneous supply of food, easily supports whatever living things have been engendered; for both the root of the reed and the lotus, as well as the Egyptian bean and corsaeon, as it is called, and many other similar plants, supply the race of men with nourishment all ready for use. As proof that animal life appeared first of all in their land they would offer the fact that even at the present day the soil of the Thebaid at certain times generates mice in such numbers and of such size as to astonish all who have witnessed the phenomenon; for some of them are fully formed as far as the breast and front feet and are able to move, while the rest of the body is unformed, the clod of earth still retaining its natural character. And from this fact it is manifest that, when the world was first taking shape, the land of Egypt could better than any other have been the place where mankind came into being because of the well-tempered nature of its soil; for even at the present time, while the soil of no other country generates any such things, in it alone certain living creatures may be seen coming into being in a marvellous fashion. (emp. added)
Naturalists cannot claim myths are science and remain honest.
- Science is observable and testable.
- Abiogenesis and the evolution of genera are not observable and testable.
- Therefore, abiogenesis and evolution of genera are not science.
Reblogged this on Deep Thoughts and commented:
This is a fascinating article on how evolution is indeed a religion–literally. A religion in the guise of the secular; in the guise of “science.”
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This is not evolution. This is standard elemental application from this time. Nowhere does it describe natural selection and common ancestry. Calling this explanation the religion of ‘evolution’ is like me calling a hockey stick another kind of religious cat. It’s utter nonsense.
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I find the spontaneous generation and the cavemen to be accurate. Their speculations had yet to evolve into Darwinism, so as to specify “common ancestry” and “natural selection”.
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What you find is irrelevant. What matters is what you can prove, which is nothing. This is simply presenting fiction as fact.
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Exactly, the Egyptians believed the fiction of evolution was fact.
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“Exactly, the Egyptians believed the fiction of evolution was fact.”
How have you proved this statement Scott?
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Diodorus Siculus records their beliefs via witnesses.
Evolution was embedded in mythology and the Egyptians believed the fiction of evolution to be fact.
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Other than this mythology is not descriptive of evolution at all, I’m sure you’re really on to something.
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Evolution is spontaneous generation.
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No, evolution is not spontaneous generation.
How can you exist in a world so full of easily accessible knowledge and get stuck on this kind of confusion? What does this say about your approach to the reality we share when you don’t seem to care – at all – finding out what’s true about it?
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I’m sorry that this is upsetting to find out.
According to Darwinian conjecture, there was a time when the nonliving produced something that was living. Certainly, they would have to speculate that life much simpler than e. coli had to exist, since today the simplest bacteria has 10 billion bits of data in its genetic code. For such to simply form by accident is beyond the Law of Probability.
It is strange how the idea of evolution has evolved, but lies do grow and evolve. It is amazing how some would confuse the reality of the Law of Biogenesis with the contradicting idea of Darwinian evolution.
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I don’t find this upsetting in the least; the world is full of marvelous creation stories. What I find disappointing is when people capable of critical thought with almost unlimited access to good information choose to maintain an astounding ignorance about a core scientific field upon which you now have access to therapies and technologies and applications that work for everyone everywhere all the time. Yet in spite of this you are willing – nay, committed – to misrepresent facts about this core science to maintain a willful ignorance. You have no excuse to not understand evolutionary theory thoroughly. None.
I don’t care what your religious beliefs may be (unless they infringe upon the rights of others); they do not excuse disrespecting reality enough to post a creation story and pretend it’s ancient evolution. It’s not. The point of abiogenesis revealed in this story has nothing whatsoever to do with or offers any relevant commentary on evolutionary theory and you know this (or, at least, you should know this if you aren’t scientifically illiterate). But you try to pretend it does. That’s an intentional breaking of the ninth commandment and you should be ashamed not just of yourself for willing doing so out of some warped sense of piety but be ashamed of the religious motives that have led you to promote such a falsehood. This is the lie that continues to evolve (yes, I note the recent shift to describing genetic information as evidence for POOF!ism and the need for a magical Designer) and you are playing your part to help it spread.
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