The previous couple of posts have examined some of the logical arguments for God's existence. In this post, we will use common sense to draw our conclusions. Specifically, we're going to look at how the universe points to a Creator.
Let's begin by looking at what is called "The Argument from Design" or "The Teleological Argument." This argument is pretty simple in that its premise states that the complex, physical universe that we live in bears elements of incredible design. It concludes, then, that because of these design elements, the universe must have been designed by a Designer.
Think of this in terms of William Paley’s (1743-1805) “Watchmaker Argument.” Simply put, if you examined a watch, its intricate functions would lead you to believe that a watchmaker had designed and built the watch. It would be absurd to think that the watch just happened to exist, evolved into its current state, or was formed by a series of random accidents. You wouldn’t even consider any explanation besides that it had been designed and created. Similarly, it’s even more unbelievable to believe that the intricate universe, earth, human body, brain, cell, and atom (to name a few) – with their astounding complexities and functions that not even the greatest scientists or computers or even watchmakers can come close to replicating - were brought into existence solely through natural causes. Is it not far more reasonable to think that a Designer made this universe?
At this point, I’m going to pick on the idea of evolution a bit to emphasize this point. Evolution at its core seems to make out the entire universe to be an accident with no Mind behind it. Consequently, with no guiding force, everything that we see in the universe is a result of accident after accident and the result of random chance after random chance. With no Thinker behind the universe, everything just happened in no particular way and – “poof” – here we are. Doesn’t that sound a bit… strange? This is farther-fetched than the claim that the watch was formed without a watchmaker or that something like a fully functioning car was created after a tornado ran through a junkyard. All of these ideas are obviously preposterous. Yet, evolutionists hold that random chance is what made the awesome, complex, beautiful, and amazing world that we find ourselves in today. Frankly, it doesn’t make sense.
The notion isn’t even scientific. What qualifies as scientific is what’s observable, testable, and repeatable. We’ve observed, tested, and repeated the natural processes that form rocks, trees, and the like; but we have not been able to test, observe, or repeat the process of a universe leaping into existence. Be sure to think twice before you believe that the idea of the origin of everything via evolution, big bangs, and random chance is scientific and reasonable.
In order to keep these posts reasonably short, the next one will contain some specific examples of our amazing universe that will cause you to stand in awe of its amazing design and hopefully come to a realization that the only reasonable explanation for our existence and the complexities around us is that God Himself created it all. For now, keep in mind how simple thinking and common sense points toward the truths that Scriptures proclaim.
