by Neal Stone

Christians love to use the watch maker analogy to prove God exists because it takes an intelligent being to create something complex. I guess Christians don't watch much Red Green and if you've ever watched it you know what I am talking about.

Let's take a look at a watchmaker shall we?

A watchmaker can be proved to exist. We only need to go to the nearest mall to find one or evidence of his work. The evidence isn't questionable and left for us to interpret for ourselves either. His stamp is clearly marked on all his creations. We can also talk to the watchmaker and get a clear answer to our questions and problems we may have about our watch.

After all, only the watchmaker knows right because he works in strange and mysterious ways right? WRONG!

God is all guess work and theory. Even creation as proof can be questioned.

Take a watch, broken or working, to any watch repair shop and each one can correctly diagnose the problem or tell you CLEARLY how the watch works. Try that with the Bible and church!!!

First a watchmaker creates using pre-existing materials and parts. These parts are carefully selected and placed together to create a complex machine that works like, well... clockwork.

God created man then let's him run on his own resulting in him malfunctioning and failing on a regular basis to the point he is about to destroy his own world and home. Oh, and did I mention he did it all from nothing?

A watchmaker cares about his creation and makes sure that it is functioning perfectly. He repairs any damaged watches and makes any adjustments to keep them running smoothly and imperfect harmony.

Whereas God... um... well... err. Hmmmmm.

When a watch fails to operate correctly the watchmaker deals with that one (and only that one) watch! He does not punish the rest of the watches for the failure nor does he destroy his entire shop because he was disappointed in what he created.

Whereas God... um... Well, you know.

When the watchmaker is not around he makes sure and lock up (and has a guard or security system) the shop so all the watches and clocks are safe from harm and theft. He also tries to find the best neighborhood to build his shop. After all, the watchmaker cares about his creations.

God... well we know how this story went, don't we?

There is a big difference between a watchmaker and God. One is intelligent.

So as you can see, the watchmaker analogy is a poor example of proof of God.