pchapman
What was Newtons version of how the universe was made?
Isaac Newton
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readingrobot
Replied to: What was Newtons version of how the universe was made?
Who made it?
Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist; but he was an infidel, while Newton was a devout Christian. They often discussed their views concerning God, as their mutual interest in science drew them much together. Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large gilded ball representing the sun, and revolving in proper order around this were small balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These bails were so geared together by cogs and belts as to move in perfect harmony when turned by a crank.
One day, as Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. Scientist that he was, he recognized at a glance what was before him. Stepping up to it, he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies all move with their relative speeds in their orbits. Standing off a few feet he exclaimed,
"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 said, "Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?"
Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in. But the astonished infidel replied with some heat, "You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it, and 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 larger system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a design 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 infidel was at once convinced and became a firm believer that "Jehovah, He is God."
Told to prove the existence of God, this tale is a parable illustrating the classic "argument from design," and is often invoked to support "Intelligent Design" theory and to refute evolution. What it really provides is a case study of a story that might be characterized variously as "urban legend," folktale, or "meme": an apocryphal story that listeners or readers believe and want deeply to be true. Such stories spread quickly, propagating like viruses. Our story also provides a revealing look at the design argument itself--its logic, function, and appeal--and offers a good example of an evangelical "witnessing" tool--a story used to prove the faith and convert doubters.
Quite often the tale is printed without any reference or source, but when a reference is cited, it is most often Marshall and Sandra Hall's 1974 book, The Truth: God or Evolution? (1) In this stridently creationist book the Hails also argue for geocentrism, insisting that the Earth doesn't revolve around the Sun, but remains motionless (as the Bible authors supposed), with the Sun revolving around the fixed Earth. The Halls present a version largely identical to that quoted above, though slightly reworded and with added flourishes of wishful thinking, such as that Newton was "enjoying himself immensely no doubt." The Halls cite their source as Minnesota Technolog, the student engineering journal of the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology. (2) Many versions of the tale that don't cite the Halls instead copy this reference from them, often mis-citing it as "Minnesota Technology." I checked the original Technolog issue; it is the version quoted above.
Among printed versions, Pentecostal evangelist Dennis Gordon Lindsay, head of Christ for the Nations, included the story in his 1991 book, The Origins Controversy, volume 3 of his 15-volume Creation Science series. Our Daily Bread, a publication of Radio Bible Class Ministries, printed a version in 1977, in which "a friend of who did not believe in the biblical account of creation stopped by for a visit" with Newton. This version is repeated in the Oct. 5, 1996 edition (also available online at www.gospelcom.net). It is also the source of a retelling in Decision, the magazine of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. (3)
Carl Baugh, who runs the Creation Evidences Museum, includes the tale in a page from his website devoted to "evidence for design and recent creation." Baugh is best known for advocacy of the Paluxy River "manprints": footprints--supposedly human--alongside dinosaur tracks in Cretaceous deposits in Texas supposedly proving that humans and dinosaurs coexisted, thereby demolishing the geological chronology on which evolution is based. Another Internet version comes from a Christian-Jewish husband-and-wife evangelical team who promote vegetarianism. (4) As on many other sites, the tale is assumed to be true though the source is listed as "unknown."
Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Jewish convert to Christianity imprisoned by Communist authorities for evangelical proselytizing, presented the story in his 1975 book Answer to Moscow's Bible. (5) Fundamentalists still quote Wurmbrand's claim that Karl Marx was a dedicated Satanist. In the 1980s I heard televangelist Jimmy Swaggart preach about a Soviet professor of evolution confronted by a creationist Christian student who brought in a "model of the Universe." Swaggart's version (possibly influenced by Wurmbrand's account) combines our tale with another theme of evangelical witnessing tales: the courageous student believer confronting his arrogant atheist-evolutionist teacher in the classroom.
Though Newton is the most common hero of the tale, there am numerous other variants, like Swaggart's, which feature other scientists or inventors, both old and new. Here is one from the Genesis Chronicles website starring Benjamin Franklin:
The idea that "where there is a design there must be a designer" was so strong that even those who did not love God had a hard time dislodging it from their view of the universe. In the eighteenth century there was a popular belief called Deism, which says that God created the universe, but then went away and hasn't been seen since. Benjamin Franklin was a Deist, meaning that he believed in an inactive, impersonal God
Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist; but he was an infidel, while Newton was a devout Christian. They often discussed their views concerning God, as their mutual interest in science drew them much together. Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large gilded ball representing the sun, and revolving in proper order around this were small balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These bails were so geared together by cogs and belts as to move in perfect harmony when turned by a crank.
One day, as Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. Scientist that he was, he recognized at a glance what was before him. Stepping up to it, he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies all move with their relative speeds in their orbits. Standing off a few feet he exclaimed,
"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 said, "Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this?"
Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in. But the astonished infidel replied with some heat, "You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it, and 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 larger system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a design 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 infidel was at once convinced and became a firm believer that "Jehovah, He is God."
Told to prove the existence of God, this tale is a parable illustrating the classic "argument from design," and is often invoked to support "Intelligent Design" theory and to refute evolution. What it really provides is a case study of a story that might be characterized variously as "urban legend," folktale, or "meme": an apocryphal story that listeners or readers believe and want deeply to be true. Such stories spread quickly, propagating like viruses. Our story also provides a revealing look at the design argument itself--its logic, function, and appeal--and offers a good example of an evangelical "witnessing" tool--a story used to prove the faith and convert doubters.
Quite often the tale is printed without any reference or source, but when a reference is cited, it is most often Marshall and Sandra Hall's 1974 book, The Truth: God or Evolution? (1) In this stridently creationist book the Hails also argue for geocentrism, insisting that the Earth doesn't revolve around the Sun, but remains motionless (as the Bible authors supposed), with the Sun revolving around the fixed Earth. The Halls present a version largely identical to that quoted above, though slightly reworded and with added flourishes of wishful thinking, such as that Newton was "enjoying himself immensely no doubt." The Halls cite their source as Minnesota Technolog, the student engineering journal of the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology. (2) Many versions of the tale that don't cite the Halls instead copy this reference from them, often mis-citing it as "Minnesota Technology." I checked the original Technolog issue; it is the version quoted above.
Among printed versions, Pentecostal evangelist Dennis Gordon Lindsay, head of Christ for the Nations, included the story in his 1991 book, The Origins Controversy, volume 3 of his 15-volume Creation Science series. Our Daily Bread, a publication of Radio Bible Class Ministries, printed a version in 1977, in which "a friend of who did not believe in the biblical account of creation stopped by for a visit" with Newton. This version is repeated in the Oct. 5, 1996 edition (also available online at www.gospelcom.net). It is also the source of a retelling in Decision, the magazine of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. (3)
Carl Baugh, who runs the Creation Evidences Museum, includes the tale in a page from his website devoted to "evidence for design and recent creation." Baugh is best known for advocacy of the Paluxy River "manprints": footprints--supposedly human--alongside dinosaur tracks in Cretaceous deposits in Texas supposedly proving that humans and dinosaurs coexisted, thereby demolishing the geological chronology on which evolution is based. Another Internet version comes from a Christian-Jewish husband-and-wife evangelical team who promote vegetarianism. (4) As on many other sites, the tale is assumed to be true though the source is listed as "unknown."
Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Jewish convert to Christianity imprisoned by Communist authorities for evangelical proselytizing, presented the story in his 1975 book Answer to Moscow's Bible. (5) Fundamentalists still quote Wurmbrand's claim that Karl Marx was a dedicated Satanist. In the 1980s I heard televangelist Jimmy Swaggart preach about a Soviet professor of evolution confronted by a creationist Christian student who brought in a "model of the Universe." Swaggart's version (possibly influenced by Wurmbrand's account) combines our tale with another theme of evangelical witnessing tales: the courageous student believer confronting his arrogant atheist-evolutionist teacher in the classroom.
Though Newton is the most common hero of the tale, there am numerous other variants, like Swaggart's, which feature other scientists or inventors, both old and new. Here is one from the Genesis Chronicles website starring Benjamin Franklin:
The idea that "where there is a design there must be a designer" was so strong that even those who did not love God had a hard time dislodging it from their view of the universe. In the eighteenth century there was a popular belief called Deism, which says that God created the universe, but then went away and hasn't been seen since. Benjamin Franklin was a Deist, meaning that he believed in an inactive, impersonal God