[Woahhs]

For example, it would be entirely within the bounds of MN if a natural law were discovered tomorrow that absolutely prohibits the formation of self replicating life from what appears to be its constituent parts, ie. chemicals, amino acids, proteins etc. We would then know for certain that some agency from outside the laws of nature, a supernatural agency, had to have created life in the universe.

This is a fantasy law, because it would be proving a negative. As such it would be summarily dismissed.

[yendu bwam]

Mr. Woahhs is right. Just as mathematical proofs are available which show that consciousness cannot arise from purely algorithmic functions (i.e. computer programs), it is certainly possible that we might be able to show that life cannot spontaneously arise from its consituent parts. That is not proving a negative. It would be simply showing, as Mr. Woahhs points out, that there must be another explanation.