A brief review of design in the cosmos

Abstract

Arguments for the existence and attributes of God based on the order, complexity, and apparent purposefulness of nature go back to antiquity. These apologetics were used in apostolic times, and they have re-emerged repeatedly during Christian history. At various times these arguments appear substantially to have carried the day in intellectual circles, while at other times they seem to have withered under savage critique, only to reappear in other incarnations, like the mythical phoenix. They have been presented by theists in a number of different, sometimes conflicting, forms, and it is apparent that Christians have often seriously disagreed over just how nature’s attributes can best be mustered in support of the idea of a Creator-God. The gradual appearance of modern science in Western Europe from the sixteenth century appears to have increased this diversity of viewpoints. In this chapter, some of the most substantive developments in the long history of the design argument are documented, right down to the present day.