These are images of a Boeing 747. How many people do you think it would take to build one of these? How much time would it take?

What is the chance of a tornado sweeping through a scrap-yard and assembling a Boeing 747? UNLIKELY! We discussed how much effort would go into making one of these things, it wouldn’t just happen by chance would it?

You continue your walk and happen to find a watch lying in the middle of the desert. Would you suspect that a windstorm somehow threw these pieces together and randomly created a watch? Somebody made that watch. It didn't just happen. Design implies designer. You are walking in the desert and find three rows of stones piled up in a brick-layer fashion. Chances are you would quickly surmise that someone was here and arranged these stones in this manner. It didn't just happen.

The Teleological Argument or ‘The Argument from Design’ William Paley (1734-1805) introduced the idea of design in the world and based his theory on the watchmaker analogy. - If you were walking along and saw a watch you would assume that its parts had not come together by chance, because it is too complicated. Therefore someone must have made it. Because the universe is so complicated someone must have made this too and that someone was God.

http://kids4truth.com/watchmaker/watch.html Watch this short animation to help you gain a better understanding of the design argument.

DID THE UNIVERSE HAVE A DESIGNER? The intricacy of design in our world is staggering -- infinitely more complex than a simple brick wall or a watch. There are 10 billion nerve cells in the brain. Each of the 10 billion cells sprouts between 10,000 to 100,000 fibers to contact other nerve cells in the brain, creating approximately 1,000 million million connections, or, 10 to the 15th power. If you spilled ink on a blank piece of paper, what are the chances that letters would form themselves from this random spilling of ink? If you found a piece of handwritten work on a blank piece of paper, you would assume that someone wrote it and not that some ink had randomly spilled.

How could something so intricate come about by chance? The Universe is far more intricate than a watch so surely the world didnt come about by chance? This watch had a designer. So must the Universe.

Look at the complexity of a leaf cell. Surely something so complex didn’t happen by chance? It must have had a designer. This is basically what Paley was saying. He argued that the world came about by design.

Isaac Newtons thumb The thumb is cleverly designed to allow us to grab things No two thumbprints are the same This uniqueness of each person, even identical twins suggests a designer This designer is God

William Paleys Paley said that the universe showed evidence of design He said that if you look at the mechanics of a watch, you will see evidence of design If you look in a leaf cell you will see how intricately it is designed Design implies a designer This designer is God

Tasks. Design a revision poster to summarise Newton and Paleys arguments. The aim of this poster is to summarise the arguments in a clear and concise way but still containing enough detail to be a useful piece of revision material.

Criticisms of the design argument If God is perfect why did he create an imperfect world with natural evil and humans who are capable of moral evil. Scientific evidence suggests creation was a chain of cause and effects not needing a designer. There could be many God’s not just one. The design argument is also known as the ‘Teleological Argument’ Exam Question Explain how the appearance of design in the world may lead to or support a belief in God. (8 Marks)

More tasks…YAY! 'No one can prove that God exists.‘ How far do you agree with this statement? Try to bring in the First Cause Theory from last lesson and also the Theory from this lesson. Explain two or three of the arguments which are used to 'prove' that God exists. Say which of these arguments you think is the most convincing and why. Consider whether any of these arguments would convince someone who said that they did not believe in God. Write a concluding sentence saying whether you think that the statement in the question is true or not.

Outline the argument for the existence of god based on the first cause argument (4marks) Explain the objections to the design arguments of both Paley and Newton (4marks) Why do some people object to the first cause argument? (2marks) “A loving god would not create a world where people suffer” Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing that you have considered another point of view