Design Arguments
Evidence
Let’s start here …
Design Arguments
We are currently examining various arguments for the existence of God. Our second discussion, called the “teleological” argument takes various forms, but is an argument from design. It was neatly illustrated in the 17th century by William Paley and was summarized by a sort of story about a watch.
Suppose you were wandering around a field, and came upon a watch. Aside from the obvious questions, “whose watch is it”, “how did it get here”, it is unlikely that you would ever think that it somehow got there on it’s own, that some cosmic accident somehow created the parts, and assembled them in precise order to make this watch. You would know instinctively that a watchmaker was involved somewhere along the line.
Did some combination of wind and blowing sand create Mt Rushmore? A great painting? The St Louis Arch? Of course not. Design shows an intelligent designer.
The world - the intricately fine tuned universe or the stunning complexity and interconnectivity of biological life, shows much more evidence of design than a watch. (In the 1990’s, a large movement called “intelligent design” was started - not by “Bible thumping Christians”, but by very brilliant scientists from a variety of religious backgrounds. We will cover the ID movement later, but for now, the gist of the movement is that there is no way that the complexity we observe could have occurred without a designer. I only point this out to show that many highly educated individuals are questioning the blind chance narrative.)
So, the argument concludes, that if the watch implies a designer, then the world’s designer must possess an even greater intelligence, and must have done it on purpose. That intelligence can not be chance, but must point to God.
Reason
What do you think?
The Blind Watchmaker
One of the world’s favorite atheists is Richard Dawkins. He has made a lot of money selling books trying to convince himself and his followers that God doesn’t exist. He is a biologist, so his arguments are about biology, but since we are talking about design, let’s hear what he has to say.
In his book, The Blind Watchmaker, he says, “…any engineer can recognize an object that has been designed, even poorly designed, for a purpose and he can usually work out what that purpose is just by looking at the structure of the object.” He goes on to say, “natural selection is the blind watchmaker, blind because it does not see ahead, does not plan consequences, has no purpose in view. Yet the living results of natural selection overwhelmingly impress us with the illusion of design and planning”
We will get off into the weeds of “natural selection” later, but he seems to see overwhelming evidences of design and planning in biology, but says that is an “illusion”, that it really happened (without evidence) by chance. I am also not sure how design can be an illusion.
Francis Crick, one of the co-discoverers of the DNA molecule had this to say to his fellow scientists, “Biologists must continually keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved”!
Hey you guys, when you are doing your work, and see intricate, purposeful design every where you look, keep in mind it’s not design, it evolved. !!
Faith
Something else to consider ...
So why are we afraid of design?
Quite simply, design arguments lead to a Designer, and that is a very unsettling place to be.
I don’t think there are many true atheists. Why? Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “…Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart,” We all know, deep down, that there is something else.
Atheists aren’t born, they are made (usually in college biology courses). There is a joke about a new mom who just gave birth to twins. Everyone was congratulating her, but she was still depressed, because even though they were healthy, they were both born atheists.
I think an overwhelming amount of “atheists” say they don’t believe God exists, but what they really are saying is that “I hope God doesn’t exist”. Bringing God into the picture brings the uncomfortable (or terrifying) notion of accountability. Hebrews 9:27 says “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement”.
If there is any way they can get God out of the picture by trying to point to some other process of creation, they have to try. That is why I will point out evidences for God, such as design arguments!
Hopefully, I’ll see you back next week.