EVOLUTION vs CREATION, a la Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton is generally recognized as one of the two greatest scientists of all time. He clearly saw the deeper implications of celestial mechanics and the intricately designed wonders in the sky as pointing to intelligent design.

"One day, as Newton sat reading in his study with his [large telescope] mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. Scientist that the infidel was, he immediately realized what was before him. Stepping up to the fantastic mechanism, he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration studied the heavenly bodies.

Standing off a few feet he exclaimed [pointing at the telescope], 'My! What an exquisite thing this is! Who made it?' Without looking up from his book, Newton answered, 'Nobody!'

"Quickly turning to Newton, the infidel scientist said, 'evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?' Looking up, Newton solemnly assured him that, "nobody made it, but the aggregation of matter so much admired just happens to assume the form it is in."

The astonished infidel replied with some heat, 'You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it! He is a genius, and I'd like to know who he is?'

"Laying his book aside, Newton arose and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. 'This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system, whose laws you know,—and here I am, not able to convince you that this mere toy before you is without a designer and maker! Yet, you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?" —The Minnesota Technolog, October 1957.

"If the universe is a universe of thought [structured in a planned, thoughtful manner], then its creation must have been an act of thought." — *James H. Jeans, Mysterious Universe (1932), p. 181.