Design of God

Design of God

Design of God

The key theme of design arguments is that God must exist because of the way things are set up (or 'work') in the world, or that the world cannot have come to be the way it is without some input from a higher intelligence. Design arguments are very much concerned with showing that God is the Creator of the world. In Christianity, design arguments are considered to be an aspect of natural theology. This is the idea that we can have a basic knowledge of God, from looking at the world around us. Natural theology is also associated with general revelation, in that it is supposed to be available to all people, at all times, and in all places (for more on this see Arguments for the existence of God (Part 1): Introduction and design).

It is important to speak of design arguments (plural), rather than 'The Design Argument'. This is because there are several different types of 'design arguments', explored in the philosophy of religion.

Some design arguments are known as teleological arguments. In Greek, the word 'telos' means end, or purpose. This type of argument suggests not so much that there is evidence of design in the world, but that the world has been set up (or 'designed') for a specific purpose. Many people who believe there is evidence of purposeful design in the world, believe that things have been set up so that human (intelligent) life might flourish.

Finally, design arguments tend to work on the basis of drawing analogies with the way things are in the world. For example, a famous design argument suggests that because a watch is a complex and ordered thing, and the world and the universe equally so, that as a watch-maker made the former, so a world and universe-maker ...