I, for one, believe the evidence most logically supports a combination of geyser and clay theory. It stills begs the question of why the first proteins broke the laws of thermodynamics to replicate, but it's the best theory we have. If I could explain it to someone thousands of years ago before our modern understanding of biochemistry and earth sciences, I'd probably have to use poetic wording. Think about, "a special polar oxygenated liquid was trapped in the clay interlayers and the phosphate began to form complex chains" just wouldn't make any sense to anyone back then. I'd probably say something more, the driving force of the universe breathed life into the dirt.
But that's just me