Thank you for the response!

I actually agree with just about everything you said... let me take a moment to point out that this thread wasn't created to tout or refute any religion, nor to dispute the validity of evolutionary theory. Since this thread is aimed at atheists, it was created with the assumption that most (if not all) of those responding would probably be in acceptance of the theory of evolution, and also in opposition to the idea of a supernatural God.

Though I don't consider myself an atheist, I actually share these opinions myself; however, these aren't the points I'm trying to emphasize.

The problem is that time, by itself, can't explain how unconscious, unintelligent dead matter evolved into conscious, intelligent life. Where in time can you point out where this transition occurred? At what moment did dead matter suddenly become alive? When, in a universe of mindless mechanical dead matter, did life suddenly and miraculously begin? At what moment did life become conscious, and at what moment did it become intelligent?

These questions are, of course, rhetorical. I'm not asking anyone here for a literal explanation. No one on earth, not even the most adroit scientists, knows the exact process by which the first cell or cells came into being, though many have theories. However, the precise mechanical process by which these cells formed (and for that matter the point in time at which they formed) is inconsequential to the point I'm trying to make, which is this:

How can life emerge from something dead? How can consciousness come from unconsciousness? How can intelligence arise from non-intelligence?
afghooey Reviewed by afghooey on . For all o'you atheists out there... I have a proposition for you. Consider this carefully: If we're not creations of a 'supernatural' God who put us into the universe, it would follow that we naturally came out of the universe, and that we are therefore a natural expression of the universe, correct? If you agree to that, then consider this: In a universe of purely mindless mechanisms, how can the mind exist? In a universe that is composed of purely unconscious, unintelligent, 'dead' matter, how can life, Rating: 5