The Existence of God
1. Interests
“Sixthly, he would be surprised to hear that the mechanism of the watch was no proof of contrivance, only a motion to induce the mind to think so.” (Page 56) William Paley confidently suggests that there must have been a designer to make such a complex piece of machinery due to the undeniable fact that, to make something so complex, a well thought out plan is needed. A watch has intricate components that have a distinct shape and position within the watch. According to Paley, all of these parts have not come together by chance because it would be unnatural for something with such a particular combination to occur. Based on this, someone must have used their intellect to plan the exact arrangement of these parts so that it comes together to serve a purpose. A watch is a complex device, but nature is even more intricate. With this in mind, nature must have a designer because everything regarding nature is complex and it is very unlikely to be created without contrivance. Convincingly, Paley came up with the notion that there must be a God or transcendent being that created the universe, as well as all of the nature within it due to the fact that it seems implausible for something so complex to have been created with no thought or planning.
In chapter eight, Pascal writes, “…for nothing is certain, and that there is more certainty in religion than there is as to whether we may see to-morrow; for it is not certain that we may see to-morrow, and it is certainly possible that we may not see it.” I found this to be a good argument and it caught my interest because I have never taken this into consideration before. There are many things that people do even though they are uncertain of them. Religion is another example of how we can act on uncertainty. We are certain that tomorrow may never be seen, but we cannot be certain that God does not exist. Even though we are uncertain that we will see tomorrow, we still work for it. With religion, there is an
“Sixthly, he would be surprised to hear that the mechanism of the watch was no proof of contrivance, only a motion to induce the mind to think so.” (Page 56) William Paley confidently suggests that there must have been a designer to make such a complex piece of machinery due to the undeniable fact that, to make something so complex, a well thought out plan is needed. A watch has intricate components that have a distinct shape and position within the watch. According to Paley, all of these parts have not come together by chance because it would be unnatural for something with such a particular combination to occur. Based on this, someone must have used their intellect to plan the exact arrangement of these parts so that it comes together to serve a purpose. A watch is a complex device, but nature is even more intricate. With this in mind, nature must have a designer because everything regarding nature is complex and it is very unlikely to be created without contrivance. Convincingly, Paley came up with the notion that there must be a God or transcendent being that created the universe, as well as all of the nature within it due to the fact that it seems implausible for something so complex to have been created with no thought or planning.
In chapter eight, Pascal writes, “…for nothing is certain, and that there is more certainty in religion than there is as to whether we may see to-morrow; for it is not certain that we may see to-morrow, and it is certainly possible that we may not see it.” I found this to be a good argument and it caught my interest because I have never taken this into consideration before. There are many things that people do even though they are uncertain of them. Religion is another example of how we can act on uncertainty. We are certain that tomorrow may never be seen, but we cannot be certain that God does not exist. Even though we are uncertain that we will see tomorrow, we still work for it. With religion, there is an