Natural Theology

work by Paley

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June 18, 2026

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Natural theology is the study of God through the observation of nature, independent of religious texts or revelations. William Paley, an English Anglican priest and philosopher, is well-known for his work Natural Theology (1802).12

Paley argued that the complexity and design found in nature, such as the human eye, demonstrate the existence of a creator, much like finding a watch implies a watchmaker. He used detailed biological knowledge of his time to illustrate this "teleological argument" for God's existence. His work significantly influenced later thinkers, including Charles Darwin.32

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William Paley
…until the 20th century; and Natural Theology (1802), based on John Ray’s Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691). In Natural Theology, Paley used the analogy of the watch: both the world and the watch presuppose a maker. The book strongly influenced Charles Darwin.
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…until the 20th century; and Natural Theology (1802), based on John Ray’s Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691). In Natural Theology, Paley used the analogy of the watch: both the world and the watch presuppose a maker. The book strongly influenced Charles Darwin.
Read More

evolution
Intelligent design and its critics
William Paley’s Natural Theology, the book by which he has become best known to posterity, is a sustained argument explaining the obvious design of humans and their parts, as well as the design of all sorts of organisms, in themselves and in their relations to one another…
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William Paley’s Natural Theology, the book by which he has become best known to posterity, is a sustained argument explaining the obvious design of humans and their parts, as well as the design of all sorts of organisms, in themselves and in their relations to one another…
Read More