From TalkOrigins: Probability of Abiogenesis FAQs
"biogenesis is the field of science dedicated to studying how life might have arisen for the first time on the primordial young Earth. Despite the enormous progress that has been made since the Miller-Urey experiment, abiogenesis is under constant attack from creationists, who continually claim that the origin of life by random natural processes is so unlikely as to be, for all practical purposes, impossible. Following are some articles that challenge this claim and demonstrate the fundamental misconception at the core of the creationists' arguments.
As I said, this comes up in nearly every thread. Please remember that evolutionary theory is only an attempt to explain the diversity of life, but not the origin of life.
"Darwin did not propose a theory of the origin of life in the beginning... Evolutionary theory was not proposed to account for the origins of living beings, only the process of change once life exists. However, many have thought that the theory of evolution logically requires a beginning of life, which is true. Of those, many have thought that a natural account of the origin of life is necessary, and some have proposed models which have borne up or not as research proceeds. " [emphasis mine] Spontaneous Generation and the Origin of Life
You can't have it both ways.
Cordially,
Darwin did not propose a theory of the origin of life in the beginning... Evolutionary theory was not proposed to account for the origins of living beings, only the process of change once life exists.
The study of how life might have arisen is not the same as the study of how life changes over time, just as I and others have been saying all along.
However, many have thought that the theory of evolution logically requires a beginning of life, which is true. Of those, many have thought that a natural account of the origin of life is necessary, and some have proposed models which have borne up or not as research proceeds.
Sure, it's an interesting question and one that deserves study, but hypotheses and theories surrounding a naturalistic origin of life is not the same study of evolution. Evolution is the study of the rates of change in patterns of genes in populations of creatures that occur over time.
You can't have it both ways.
I welcome your most cordial accusation of hypocrisy. :\