Who appointed you chief interrogator?
Do you beleive that ALL species THAT EVER EXISTED lived SIMULTANEOUSLY???
Do you belive modern man was contemporaneous with dinosaurs and Cynodonts??
“Do you believe that all life on this planet is derived from one original living cell/organism?”
Probably.
“Is all life trending toward diversity?”
All life forms evolve into different populations and sometimes species as time goes on. SOme populations and species beccome extinct and new ones evolve. So I don’t think that you can generalize with that statement.
“Just as a side note, do you think science can explain “consciousness”?”
What is “consciousness”? The ability of an organism to be aware of its existence??
I’m not trying to be combative. I am just curious how a biologist looks at an average cell and thinks it came into being by evolution. You, of all people, should understand the intricacies of even the most common cell and yet you think it is a product of chance? Or perhaps the term is evolution.
I think that most people who believe this origin of life have inherently taken an atheistic approach to begin with. Their intent belief that there is no God imposes upon them that evolution can be the only way.
Regarding your questions, I believe that all creatures and living things are created by God. How and when they were created is a bit more speculative. I don’t have any scientific evidence to support that man was contemporary with all living species but I am not sure it has been disproven either.
And yes, consciousness is the ability to be self-aware. Most plants and creatures do not have it although there are some people who claim monkeys/apes have consciousness (I am quite skeptical on that).