So the method adopted by Law is that the universe was made by God. If
we look intently into the verse pertaining to this subject we shall
see that the method adopted is that of divine solicitude, which we
know to be one of those which prove the existence of God. When a man
sees a thing made in a certain shape, proportion and fashion, for a
particular advantage is derived from it, and purpose which is to be
attained, so that it becomes clear to him, that had it not been found
in that shape, and proportion, then that advantage would have been
wanting in it, he comes to know for certain that there is a maker of
that thing, and that he had made it in that shape and proportion, for
a set purpose. For it is not possible that all those qualities serving
that purpose be collected in that thing by chance alone. For instance,
if a man sees a stone on the ground in a shape fit for sitting, and
finds its proportions and fashion of the same kind, then he would
come to know that it was made by a maker, and that he had made it and
placed it there. But when he sees nothing in it, which may have made
it fit for sitting then he becomes certain that its existence in the
place was by chance only, without its being fashioned by any maker.
Such is also the case with the whole of the universe. For when a man
sees the sun, the moon, and all the stars, which are the cause of the
four seasons, of days and nights, of rain, water and winds, of the
inhabitation of the parts of the earth, of the existence of man, and
of the being of all the animals and the plants and of the earth being
fit for the habitation of a man, and other animals living on it; and
the water fit for the animals living in it; and the air fit for birds,
and if there be anything amiss in this creation and edifice, the whole
world would come to confusion and disorder, then he would come to know
with certainty that it is not possible that this harmony in it for the
different members of the universe--man, animals, and plants--be found
by chance only. He will know that there is one who determined it, and
so one who made it by intention, and that is God, exalted and magnified
may He be. He would know with certainty that the universe is a created
thing, for he would necessarily think that it is not possible that in
it should be found all this harmony, if it be not made by some one,
and had come into existence by chance alone. This kind of argument is
quite definite and at the same time clear, and some have mentioned it
here. It is based upon two principles which are acknowledged by all.
One of them being, that the universe, with all its component parts, is
found fit for the existence of man and things; secondly, that which is
found suitable in all its parts, for a single purpose, leading to a
single goal, is necessarily a created thing. So those two principles
lead us naturally to admit that the universe is a created thing, and
that there is a maker of it. Hence “the argument of analogy” leads to
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