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Articles
The Argument from Design
Did God make the world? Nick McDonnell explains why he doubts it.
Of the three standard ‘proofs’ of God’s existence, the argument from design is the most popular and the most likely to actually sway opinion. Who could fail to be moved by the words of the hymn ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’? It conjures up an image of a country church, blue skies, daffodils in bloom, birds singing; of a place where God’s in his heaven and all’s right with the world. And yet, interestingly enough, the argument is the least able to withstand critical scrutiny.
It was given its classical form by William Paley in 1802:
In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer, that, for anything I knew to the contrary, it had lain there for ever: nor would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer which I had given before, that for all I knew, the watch might have always been there.
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