Brad Alles

Continuing to deal with the issue of God’s existence, we turn to another argument: teleology.  Teleology is the study of design and purpose. Every design has a designer. A car or laptop doesn’t just appear out of nowhere—they are conceived in the mind of a designer and constructed out of materials. So it is with the universe and everything in it. All things are designed and constructed.

Recall what John Polkinghorne, a professor at Cambridge University said, “When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it.” Who is the Designer? God is.

The previous blog dealt with another argument for God’s existence, cosmology.  These two concepts, cosmology and teleology, are important to remember. Everything has a beginning. Every design has a designer. God designed and created all things. All people can know that God exists. That’s why Romans 1:20 says the following: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”  Paul is saying that God can be known clearly from the natural world around us.  His power and ability to form everything is witnessed from the complexity of all things in their design–from atoms and cells to solar systems and stars.   Everything has a design, so God is the Designer.