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[ Editor's Note: The myth of evolution is accepted in most government schools where children
are fed daily doses of infidelity from a humanistic perspective. The basis and consequence of
this evolutionary/humanistic religion is that there is no God. For that reason, we are pleased
to present a series of four articles by W. B. West, Jr on the existence of God. This is the
second in that series. ]
The word "teleological" has its parentage in the Greek language, being derived from telos which is defined as "end or purpose" and logos as "the reason for." The teleological argument is closely related to the cosmological — the original meaning of the noun kosmos being "order." The verb is kosmeo and means "to arrange," and it is akin to the Sanskrit root, mand, ornare meaning "adorned or ornamented." A kosmos cannot be conceived without a telos. The world and all that is in it must be for some end or purpose. Evidences of a purposeful universe are so numerous and clear in all the realms of nature and life that space will permit the naming and discussion of only a small number. Let us mention the order and purpose of the heavenly bodies. The mathematical astronomers say that the more carefully they investigate the movements of the heavenly bodies, the more certainly do they know that they show order and obey law. Sir James Jeans, the great physicist, said, "The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine." Centuries before modern science, Socrates expatiated on the orderly movements of the heavenly bodies, on the blessed gift of sunlight, and on the silence of the nocturnal hours designed as if to invite repose. Concerning the reason for all this, Samuel Rogers said, "The very law which moulds a tear/And bids it trickle from its source/That law preserves the earth a sphere/And guides the planets in their course." As revealed in the first chapter of Genesis, all creation shows marks of design — light and darkness, day and night, the collecting of the waters and dry land, seed time and harvest, the sun, moon, and stars, the animal kingdom, and man. Everything in the universe is adapted to a purpose. Let us think of the realm of the living, where design, end in view, aim to be had, order, method, and system are clearly evident. It is singularly characteristic of some animals that they are adapted for life on dry land, others for life in the air, still others for salt water, brackish water, and fresh water. Some fish never leave the unlighted abysses of the ocean, others leap into the sunlight foam of tropical seas. A common animal like the mole is adapted to the ground beneath the surface of the earth, where it lives much of its life. Its barrel-like body, its pointed snout, its shovel-like hands, its athletic breast muscles, its well protected eyes, and its rapid digestion attest to the adaptation of the mole to life under the ground. The chicken is well adapted for its purpose in the universe. More than 2,000 years ago Plato studied the development of the chick within the egg, and his observations are good for today. A story is told of the visitor to London, who could not be persuaded to leave the shop window in Regent Street where chick incubators were for sale, with the young chicks often scrambling out of the egg shells. He said to his companions: "That's a thing to have seen. After that there ain't no use telling me that there is no God." I wish there were space to tell of all the wonderful revelations of the telescope and the microscope, to say nothing of the most obvious observations of the eye, all of which would testify to their teleology. It is difficult not to use Paley's illustration of the watch, which is as good now as ever, to prove that there must be a Designer for every design, but space forbids. In the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians Paul says that members of the body have different functions. This will be the final illustration of the teleological argument for the existence of God, using the human eye as an example of the marvelous adjustment of means to ends. There are many marvelous things that could be said about the eye, but only a few will be mentioned. The eye is adapted to perceive objects at different distances, varying from inches to miles. In telescopes this would be accomplished either by putting in another lens, or by some focusing arrangement. We do not know exactly how the eye can see objects at different distances, but we know that it can and does do it with amazing correctness. A landscape of a number of miles is brought within the space of half an inch in diameter. At least the larger ones of the multitudes of objects it contains are all preserved, and can each be distinguished in its shape, color, size, and position. And what is even more amazing is that the same eye that can do this can read a book at a distance of a few inches! Again, the eye can see objects in different directions, for it is constructed to turn right or left, up or down, without moving the head. To keep it moist and clean, both of which are essential to its utility, a special fluid is supplied constantly, the superfluous moisture passing through a hole in the bone to the nose, where it is evaporated. This valuable instrument is in duplicate, the two eyes being so arranged that while each one can see separately if the other should get injured, they can usually see together with perfect harmony. Our admiration for the eye is further increased when we know that it was formed before birth. It has been called a prospective organ being of no use at the time that it was made. This shows design more plainly than anything else. In view of all this and much more that could be said, the eye is an optical instrument of ingenuity. The conclusion is that it must have been made by someone and that someone must have known and designed its use. Whence all the order and intelligent purpose in the universe which we have been discussing? Surely no reader will agree with the atheist who says,
We would not say that intelligent order in the universe is here by chance. The best thinkers of the ages have ascribed out teleological world to Supreme Intelligence, to a loving Planner and Designer. The Greek philosopher ascribed the movement and order of the world by analogy to nous or "mind". Socrates not only developed the proof for the purpose of the world but gave it a definite theistic reference. Despite Charles Darwin's pseudo-science, the best scientists of the ages have seen God behind our world. The Bible produced by the Holy Spirit, through the greatest minds of the ages, abundantly testifies that all creation has purpose and that behind this creation and purpose is the Great Creator and Designer of the universe, who is none other than God. |