From the Collaborative International English Dictionary we get the following definition:

teleological:
– Of or pertaining to teleology, or the doctrine of design.
– Showing evidence of design or purpose, especially in natural phenomena.
– Of or pertaining to teleology; showing evidence of design or purpose.

The Christian account of reality claims that: (1) the Universe is designed, (2) the signs of design are evident, and (3) these signs point toward a Designer. It does not claim that all the structures and processes of this designed creation now exhibit perfection (because of the Fall and subsequent curse on creation [Gen 3:17-19; Rom 8:20-22; Heb 6:8]).

To claim that anything—whether a computer, a living cell, a watch, a car, an airliner, a spacecraft or the entire universe—is designed means that it cannot explain itself. Its features indicate an intelligent agent outside of itself who is responsible for those features. We readily make distinctions all the time between what is and is not designed. We can discriminate between a nest that has fallen out of a tree and a clump of brush at the base of a tree. If I walk into the kitchen and find alphabet cereal perfectly spelling my name and address, I don’t assume that the cat knocked over the cereal box.

William Paley’s “Natural Theology” appeared in 1802 and is a classic statement of the argument for intelligent design. He used the famous watchmaker argument. If we find a beautiful pocket watch lying on the ground, we don’t assume it is the result of an explosion in a junkyard . . . or the result of sunlight shining on iron ore on the surface of the earth for eons of time . . . or that it spontaneously popped into existence from nothing on its own. As we open the watch and observe the intricate gears, spring, and movement, we immediately assume its origin lies with a skilled, intelligent watchmaker. See here to grasp the complexity of a fine mechanical watch.

Upon visiting Mount Rushmore, we don’t conclude that the faces of the American presidents appeared in the rock through patterns of erosion caused by wind and rain. While natural law and weather can certainly explain the surrounding hillside, the faces of the presidents cannot be so accounted for. Common sense tells us that the faces in the rock are the result of an intelligent and skilled designer.

One of the twentieth century’s leading atheist philosophers—a man not reluctant to debate Christians publicly—renounced atheism in 2007 on the basis of the evidence for a Designer and a Creator. Antony Flew chronicled the reasons for his conversion to theism after half a century of atheism in his bestselling book There Is a God. The reason he came to believe in “a divine Source” is that the “world picture” that has “emerged from science” is best understood in these terms. Flew made no leap of blind faith; he simply was a philosopher who wanted to “follow the argument whereever it leads.” The evidence led him to a Creator and Designer of the Universe.

The teleological argument and its corrolary of The Fine Tuning Argument are powerful apologetic arguments. I will address the Fine Tuning Argument in a future blog.