Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site denelcor.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!denelcor!neal From: neal@denelcor.UUCP (Neal Weidenhofer) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: anti-religious flame Message-ID: <374@denelcor.UUCP> Date: Tue, 27-Mar-84 21:40:56 EST Article-I.D.: denelcor.374 Posted: Tue Mar 27 21:40:56 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 28-Mar-84 00:43:24 EST References: <324@ih1ap.UUCP>, <607@pucc-h> Organization: Denelcor, Aurora, CO Lines: 34 ************************************************************************** >As I recall the story about Newton, the argument was: If it is so absurd to >think that a simple orrery came to exist by itself, why isn't it absurd to >believe that the whole sidereal universe with all its variegated motions, >not to mention the functions of even the simplest life, came to exist >spontaneously? I will judiciously apply Occam's razor and say that it is >unnecessary to postulate levels upon levels of creation. However, when I >consider the beauty and ingenuity of the universe, the earth, and the >denizens thereof--the painstaking creativity that is displayed to anyone who >will not refuse to see--I find it more difficult to believe that the universe >just happens to exist, than that it was created by a highly intelligent >creator. The same old argument deserves the same old counter-argument: If the universe is too complex to "just happen to exist", why doesn't the same argument apply "a fortiori" to something sufficiently complex to create a universe. Sorry, Occam's Razor or not, if you have any regard for consistency, you can't just postulate away levels of creation and also postulate that the complexity of the universe implies that it has a creator. Actually, having written that, I do see one possible hole. If something more complex could be created by something less complex, your argument might hold. That's the proposition I would find hard to believe. I suspect that you wouldn't go along with your God being less complex than the universe either. Regards, Neal Weidenhofer Denelcor, Inc. !denelcor!neal