Thoughts on William Paley's Watchmaker analogy?

[Rararapu10]

I pooed and peed and shidded and farded



Edit: I camed in my pant

[FredVegrox]

Hi, @Not The Real Jreg! Very interesting topic. Here are my thoughts:

A very good refutation of the watchmaker analogy can be found in the writings of David Hume, who in fact was not responding to Paley but to similar analogies before Paley had even developed his argument.

Hume observed that even if these arguments prove the universe was designed, there is no evidence from it that it was designed by the Christian God, as Paley claims it was. The designer does not have to be all-good, all-powerful or all-knowing. There may have been many designers, in fact.

That refutation really falls short. With this you want to refute the Christian God, it does nothing for refuting there is God, so it is not effective. Everything came from somewhere, there was never just nothing, because everything can't come about if there was ever nothing, nothing could come from there being nothing. So what there was, always is, and this is necessary being. Being necessary this being is not limited in any way, so there is no division into a number, as this is artificial to necessary being, which always is, without limit. Anything like power, which must be there to make anything, is then unlimited. These things with all being unlimited is very much already like what we would call God.

Then you have to say Christian expectations of how God is do not correspond at all to any reality. That's another argument to make if you want to try.

[FredVegrox]

God in Christian view is compassionate and caring, even while giving demands for living right. But God having made us, with purpose given to us, can do that, right? The problem is with others telling us what that is. There is basis still, seeing design and provision indicating intelligence and caring, with God being unlimited existence, to view God that way, being compassionate and caring, as God would not be limited in that. So, no creature God made is without God caring for that one. Christians do not really have logical basis to not be vegan, they should be considering it.

[FredVegrox]

The existence there is without any necessary existence has no explanation for existing, and so it shouldn't. There is God needed for it, which God is irrelevant if we understand that God is necessary existence and therefore unlimited in anything. If there is design and there is provision we benefit from, it indicates God is unlimited in intelligence and caring.