Design Argument In William Paley's Natural Theology

At the start of the 19th century, the Church of England was the governing authority. Therefore, the predominant beliefs and principles that the Church held, were also the main viewpoint of the people. Any individuals who opposed the religious norms, were criticized and given a title of an infidel. William Paley’s argument in his book Natural Theology, was naturally favored at that time because he argued, that there must be a “designer,” which is to be held accountable for the design, the creation of such complex and precise design of organisms can only mean that designer is God. The focus from religion to science shifted as more scientific advances, such as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution challenged religious orthodoxy by undermining William Paley’s design argument. Darwin’s rejection of the divine

Paley presents contradictory views, stating that a design must have had a designer however that designer to us is unknown and that we have never seen a watch being made, we have just seen the ultimate product having not witnessed the process of how that design came to be, he argues that, there must have existed a “principle of order,” a timeline of things that made the parts of the watch into their present form. However, he does not present the readers with a rational explanation behind the process just acknowledges that there was a process. How can we confirm if the design is due to an omnipotent presence or if it’s just a process of natural selection? Darwin refuted to the idea that such complex species just came to be as a product of a higher being, rather he believed that complexity of species is a long-term product of a cumulative natural selection process, and not a product of God. In Paley’s Natural Theology he states, “and that