Adventures In Christian Living

By: Keith Newell

In celebration of our 14th Anniversary, last week Tina and I went to see the watchmaker. This wasn't some kind of journey to get my watches fixed. (Before I continue, I must confess that I own three wrist watches and not one of them are working. The truth is that they all function fine...they just need new batteries. In this age of cell phones, I find it's just as easy to look at my phone to check the time.)

Instead, the watchmaker we set out to see was God Almighty. To do that, we booked a two-night stay in Elk County, PA. We stumbled across a lodge a few years back while celebrating a previous anniversary. We enjoyed it so much, we knew we'd want to go back some day. It was nice to have some quiet time alone (no kids, no work, no phones), just us and the watchmaker.

If you're confused as to why I keep referring to God as "the watchmaker," then you've most likely never heard that analogy before. Cicero, a Roman philosopher (106 BC- 43 BC) was the first person to use a variation of this analogy (aka, the teleological argument) to prove the existence of an intelligent creator.

Other great men used the same basic analogy, refining it and using it to prove the existence of God for many, many years. The simple break down of the watchmaker analogy is as follows: The complex inner workings of a watch necessitate an intelligent designer. Along the same lines, the complex inner workings the earth, the structure of the solar system, DNA, and many other things we see (and sometimes can't see) all around us must come from an intelligent creator.

Despite the efforts of men and women much wiser than I, there are still numerous people who doubt the existence of God. They claim that we're all here "by chance" or that we "evolved" into what we are today. To them I'd say to open your watch and observe all the gears and gadgets that keep it working properly. See how precisely it was put together.

Now, what are the odds of a windstorm blowing through a junkyard and picking out every piece needed to make the very watch you just looked at? Not only picking out the pieces required, but upon blowing out of town, leaving that same watch lying on the ground...completely functioning with no creator ...performing the job it was meant to do...all by chance!

I believe Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." However, if my faith were a little weak, after spending time recently with my wife witnessing the majestic elk, the powerful rolling rivers and the beauty and enormity of the colorful autumn mountains- - there is just too much evidence for me to doubt an intelligent creator…a watchmaker…an All Powerful God.