check out the following link...

http://www3.cricyt.edu.ar/biocell/vol/pdf/26/01.pdf#search=%22the%20evolution%20of%20meiosis%22

It's a good question, but a very complicated one. Most people who ask questions about how did really basic stuff evolve into really complex stuff aren't going to be likely swayed much by the information in articles/reviews like these. This is mostly because of the uncertainty involved in the arguments.

If they aren't convinced by the overwhelming evidence compiled about what's known, then convincing them about what's not known so well is going to be hard.

That's a HUGE question with no cut and dried answers. What came first - replication or the replicator? We most certainly say that the first things that we would call life or the precursors to it were certainly not nearly as comples as the loliest bacteria we see on earth today.

I can point you in the right direction though, I think.

From my IG ask the evolutionist thread:

It is theorized that cells developed from the incorporation of organelles into lipid capsules. Lipids form spherical capsules when placed in water due to them having an end which is hydrophobic (repels water) and and end which is hydrophillic (has an affinity for water). So for example, a lipid sphere could encapsulate a self-replicating molecule and something like this was probably the earliest thing we could call a cell. This replicator would now be protected from its environment to a degree, giving it a selective advantage. Other structures could then be incorporated that would provide mutual benefits to one another within this protected sphere. Again, giving an additional selective advantage.

There are two types of cells, prokaryotes which lack nuclei, and eukaryotes which have nuclei. Prokaryotes are the more primitive of the two and it is believed that eukaryotes evolved from them. The first eukaryote was likely a colony of prokaryotes that became incorporated.

Organelles, like mitochondria and chloroplasts, are the internal components of the cells, they are similar in function to your body's organs - they carry out chemical and catalyic reactions.

As an example, the mitochondria and chloroplasts of modern eukaryotes have features similar to whole prokariotic cells. They contain their own DNA, which is circular, wheras nuclear DNA is linear. They also contain ribosomes for example. If these structures were incorporated into another cell, it would allow the new cell to perform aerobic respiration on its own - greatly increasing its efficiency and giving it a strong selective advantage. It would be a mutually beneficial arrangement - the "host" giving the mitochondria or chloroplasts organic material and the mitochondria or chloroplasts converting it into energy in the form of ATP. Eventually the resulting structure evolved to the point where the individual structures could not function properly without one another.

Check out::

Martin, W. and M. J. Russell. 2003. On the origins of cells: A hypothesis for the evolutionary transitions from abiotic geochemistry to chemoautotrophic prokaryotes, and from prokaryotes to nucleated cells. Philosophical Transactions, Biological Sciences 358: 59-85. (technical)