September 25 – The Spontaneous Generation of Life?

From the time of the ancient Greeks, up through the middle of the 19th century, it was widely taught that life formed all by itself via the “spontaneous generation of life.” Scientists throughout this period insisted that observation confirmed this “fact of science” as they watched mold appearing on food and maggots crawling out of raw dead meat. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), the father of microbiology, proved spontaneous generation was wrong- dead things do not make living things.

Pasteur showed that it was invisible microorganisms that explained things like the formation of alcohol within beer, the spoilage of milk, and the spread of disease. As a result, he developed pasteurization of milk, vaccinations for the prevention of diseases, and sterilization procedures. Literally millions of lives have been saved because of his work. Louis Pasteur performed experiments that proved that microorganisms can never create themselves. From his experiments with boiled broth in flasks, he discovered the Law of Biogenesis, that life comes from life. Nothing developed in sterilized, sealed flasks while open flasks developed microorganisms. Dead, sterile broth is dead; it can not make a living microorganism. You can still see one of his sealed flasks of broth on display at the Pasteur Foundation in Paris; nothing has grown in it since the 1860s.

But what was the inspiration behind his developments? Pasteur realized that life could not have made itself but only exists as a result of the creation by God. It is ironic that Pasteur proved the spontaneous generation of life wrong in the same year that Charles Darwin published Origin of the Species, 1859, that said spontaneous generation was right. Darwin spent the last decades of his life campaigning to convince others that life developed and advanced all by itself without God. Pasteur used reproducible experimentation to develop a law of science, the Law of Biogenesis – that life comes from life, just as God said in Scripture. Darwin used unobserved speculation to convince a world, anxious to get rid of accountability to their Creator, that life made itself and bacteria turned into people while Pasteur used the scientific method. Be very careful which side of this controversy you find yourself supporting.

1 Kings 4:33, 34

KJV: And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

NIV: He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.

Reference

Glass flask used by Louis Pasteur, France, 1860-1864

Learn More

Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)

Recommended

DVD: Unlocking the Mystery of Life, Illustra Media