Paper 58 Overview: Life Establishment on Urantia

This paper explains how life began on earth about 550 million years ago. The Life Carriers, who are responsible for bringing life to planets, visited earth and started life in three locations in the oceans when conditions were right.

The paper describes how the continents moved, how the atmosphere formed, and how plants came before animals. It shows that establishing life on a planet requires careful planning and the right physical conditions like ocean saltiness and proper temperature.

In the Satania system, earth is one of only sixty-one planets where life was modified from standard patterns. The Life Carriers were allowed to experiment with life forms on these special planets, which are called decimal planets.

Life Carriers can only start life on a planet when conditions are right for evolution to begin. On earth, they had to wait for the oceans to become salty enough since the first life forms need salt to function properly.

About 600 million years ago, Life Carriers from Jerusem came to earth to study if it was ready for life. This was their 606th planet in the Satania system and their 60th chance to make changes to life patterns.

The Life Carriers planned a sodium chloride (salt) pattern of life, so they had to wait for the oceans to become salty enough. They waited for more inland seas and sheltered bays to form because these provide ideal conditions for early marine life to develop and eventually move onto land.

earth's atmosphere filters sunlight and protects life from harmful radiation. A special layer of ozone about ten miles up blocks dangerous ultraviolet rays while letting helpful ones reach the surface.

The atmosphere also keeps the planet warm at night and creates weather in its lower layers. Without these protective functions and the "lucky" combination of many factors, life on earth would not be possible.

Space contains huge hydrogen clouds that can form new matter. These clouds and other space conditions produce many types of energy, including short space rays which are very powerful.

The Life Carriers designed earth's life to resist these short space rays. All these cosmic conditions had to develop properly before life could be started on the planet.

The Life Carriers didn't bring life from elsewhere but created it directly on earth. About 550 million years ago, they returned to start life in three different ocean locations so it would spread as the continents drifted apart.

About 500 million years ago, primitive sea plants were well established, and the continents were slowly drifting to their current positions. The Life Carriers had placed life strategically so it would spread with the moving land masses.

The center of earth is very dense and hot due to pressure. The outer thousand miles consists of different types of rock, and the continents float on a layer of molten lava that helps stabilize the crust.

The continents are lighter than the ocean floors, which is why they remain above water. The pressure differences cause the continents to slowly move toward the ocean beds in what we now call continental drift.

About 450 million years ago, life changed from plants to animals. This happened in the shallow waters along the coasts of the separating continents through many small transitional stages.

New species appeared suddenly rather than evolving gradually from one form to another. The early life forms had to adapt to changes in ocean saltiness, and only those that could adjust to changing conditions survived.

Rock layers from the early life period contain fossils of the first plants and animals. These ancient rocks now appear at the earth's surface in certain places around the world.

Places like Lake Superior and the Grand Canyon show these old rock layers clearly. The fossil record in these rocks tells the story of early life on earth, showing how plants spread through the seas and simple animal forms began to develop.