Weeks ago, a reporter and photojournalist were killed in the Moneta area. The shooting happened on live TV at Smith Mountain Lake. WDBJ’s general manager identified the victims as Alison Parker and Adam Ward; both were in their 20s and worked for this television station based in Roanoke.

In a Rasmussen poll conducted on Sept. 2, 58 percent of the respondents believe that there is a war on police in America today. With officers murdered in Texas and Illinois in just the last few weeks, a majority of Americans thinks that our police are under attack.

Human life came about in one of two ways: by chance or by design. Brian Cox believes that life came about by chance. He takes the unscientific position that life can come from non-life.

There are four basic steps in the scientific method process: accurate observation and description of a phenomenon; formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon; test (replicate) the hypothesis through experiments and if experiments do not confirm the hypothesis, it must be rejected and a theory must be established based on repeated verification of the results.

It is absolutely necessary for the results of a scientific experiment to be confirmed by repeated reproducibility. The position that human life can come from non-life is not reproducible in the laboratory.

The law of biogenesis states that life comes only from life. Spontaneous generation has been disproven many times by such authorities as Redi, Spallanzani and Pasteur.

Now, what are some possible reasons for a decline in respect for human life in our society?

Life came about by chance, not a divine Creator; therefore, life is nothing special. There is no supernatural realm (God) from which the natural realm was created. Materialists have no persuasive answers to the questions: From where did the first physical matter come? From where did life come?

Chapters one through three of Genesis offer cogent answers to questions concerning the beginning of life and the origin of man. Genesis teaches that there is an eternal all-powerful “God who formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Yes, the physical world, including living man, came from an eternal God, who is the source of creation, both organic and inorganic. It is He who gave His Son to shed His blood on the cross of Calvary to cover the confessed sins of man.

There is eternal hope for those who believe on Jesus Christ, the One who demonstrated His power over death through His resurrection from the grave.

The Rev. FILLMER HEVENER Ed.D., has lived in Buckingham County for 49 years. He has taught English at colleges and universities in Uganda, Maryland, California and Virginia. He is the pastor of Guthrie Memorial Chapel in Cumberland. His email address is fhevener@oilart.com.