I was listening to a message this morning, and it got me thinking about beginnings.
The argument behind intelligent design (ID) is that the universe is so intricately woven together that it requires a design. A design, of course, requires a designer.
And yet, there are those who will say that it was all chance. It was a random sequence of events.
“Now, wait,” some will object. “It isn’t truly random. Once certain events occur, then the results are predictable.”
Oh, really? Tell me just how that makes any sense at all. If the results were predictable, then you are appealing to some type of natural law. Laws require a lawgiver.
You cannot have it both ways. If it was “chance”, then by definition, it was a random event that caused the existence of all we know.
Perhaps it would help to borrow from game theory. Let’s assume a game that has a possibility of 2 outcomes. I’ll set aside the point for the moment that we know it only has 2 outcomes because it was designed that way. At any rate, random chance means that there is a 50% chance of outcome A and a 50% chance of outcome B. In either event, the outcome is still random.
Even if the universe had a million possible outcomes given the known laws of physics, it either happened by accident or design. It was either random or intentional.
Now, I could cheat and force one of the outcomes of this hypothetical game. Of course, it is only cheating if I’m violating some given ethical rule. In a game, such things are usually construed as cheating, but even in that case, I am shaping an outcome by designing a known solution.
In actuality, we “cheat” every day by flying heavier than air machines through the atmosphere. In that case, it is simply shaping a desired outcome. The airplane was designed in order to circumvent the law of gravity for a short period of time.
However, in the game called “the universe”, why shouldn’t someone cheat? When you consider it, even the laws that make up the game are either random or intentional. Who says there should be a law of gravity? Why should light go a certain speed?
Without those laws, nothing could exist, at least not for long. Everything would be chaos and eventually it all would break down.
Laws require a lawgiver.
Order does not come from chaos.
Law and order requires intelligence.
Intelligence does not come from non-intelligence.
If the source is not intelligent, then neither are we.