Why is life special?

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What I mean by life is life in general, so I am not restricting to human life so I am not asking for a discussion about abortion. As in a previous thread, I learned it is best for me not to discuss that topic.

I do not see life itself as special, I see life as an accident. All we are is a self-sustaining system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution (the Joyce definition of life) .

I also read a lot of Joyce’s work; at least 12 papers and I have some more on my to-read list. scripps.edu/mb/joyce/publications.html He has influenced me profoundly.

More about my thoughts about this are here: creationontheweb.com/content/view/4537
 
For the sake of clarification, what do you mean here by “special”?

Do you mean special as in “good,” or as “unique”? Thanks.
 
Fidelis said:
For the sake of clarification, what do you mean here by “special”?

Do you mean special as in “good,” or as “unique”? Thanks.
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What makes life more than a natural process or merely a product of the laws of nature?
 
You’re asking a tall question. Have you ever wondered where all the matter in the universe came from? Where did all the atoms, proton, neutrons, electrons, and quarks come from? If you answer “From the Big Bang”, then where did that event get its matter?..If a another celestial event occurred before that…where did that energy and matter come from?

The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths have an answer for that (one of the blessed moments of agreement). God, out time of time and space, created all matter and energy from nothing. Time has a beginning and has an ultimate end.

If there is a design, there is a designer!

This is not a scientific answer, and I fully expect that you will find the answer initially unfulfilling. I do hope that a seed is planted and grows within you and blossoms into a full faith in God.

God be with you!
 
You don’t have to have an active life to love, you don’t have to be married, you don’t have to have children, you don’t have to be dating, you don’t have to be a “contributing” member of society (in the world-ly sense)… And even if you can’t consciously love for some reason - YOU just may be the motivation for another person to exercise love.
 
ribozyme said:
What I mean by life is life in general, so I am not restricting to human life so I am not asking for a discussion about abortion. As in a previous thread, I learned it is best for me not to discuss that topic.

I do not see life itself as special, I see life as an accident. All we are is a self-sustaining system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution (the Joyce definition of life) .

I also read a lot of Joyce’s work; at least 12 papers and I have some more on my to-read list. scripps.edu/mb/joyce/publications.html He has influenced me profoundly.

More about my thoughts about this are here: creationontheweb.com/content/view/4537
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Ahem…Darwin believed in God…and that life was created by God
 
ribozyme said:
Nope, wiking this page shows otherwise.
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From that page:
After Charles Darwin’s death it was claimed that he too underwent a deathbed conversion to Christianity. Beyond being a common story frequently applied to famous non-believers, the claim can be dismissed by his never having left the church. The claims were refuted by Darwin’s family, but resurfaced several times, often by those said to be agenda-driven.
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Darwin’s views on God are a complicated subject, and his faith was affected by far more than Darwinism - he lost a daughter when she was very young. As much as everyone would like to ‘claim’ Darwin for one side or the other, one point is clear - he did have a faith at one point, and he never made any kind of formal leap from faith to atheism. Agnosticism, you can debate.

Doubt != denial.
 
We believe human life is special (intrinsically good) because it is made in the image and likeness of God.

We image God because we love and love is the defining chararacteristic of the Trinity. We have a likeness to God in that we have an intellect (ability to understand our world), memory (our thought persist long after the initial impulse) and will (we make choices in how to use our faculties).

Now we have these gifts but only partially, God has them in their fullness.

As an aside for much of my adult life I was a material atheist. Your questions do have answers but they are not easy answers and many of them you will have to ask the one who is the ultimate answer Himself to guide you.

We will try to help you but if you really want the answers you will have to pray to God to give them to you. It doesn’t matter that you don’t believe. He is waiting for your will to turn tword Him. Ask…with an open mind and you may find more answers than you knew were out there.
 
ribozyme said:
What I mean by life is life in general, so I am not restricting to human life so I am not asking for a discussion about abortion. As in a previous thread, I learned it is best for me not to discuss that topic.

I do not see life itself as special, I see life as an accident. All we are is a self-sustaining system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution
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This is a very good question. I think the answer lies not so much in the manifestation of physical processes as it lies in the physical laws that govern these processes. God made the rules. If you believe in the Big Bang (and I do), it all came in one package. When the explosion took place and space itself started to roll out, the matter/energy it contained began to obey preexisting laws. Although the laws of physics apparently changed the further the universe progressed from the singularity of the beginning and are very mathematically different now, there were/are still laws.

A2 + B2 = C2 is true throughout the universe even if no one ever draws a right triangle. It is part of the fabric of creation ordained by God.

We can marvel at the beauty of the supersonic Concord. But this beauty merely reflects the inherent order and beauty of the atmosphere that it must fly in. It must look like it does in order to fly at supersonic speeds in the atmosphere that exists. It is, in a sense, a photographic negative of the natural, physical world.

God made all the matter/energy but also gave us the great stage of space and time along with the wondrous laws that set it all in motion.

Very cool.

“Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.” -Blaise Pascal
 
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