Natural Theology Themes

Natural Theology Themes

Religion

In this persuasive book, William Paley tries to convince readers that God, or some other kind of deity, does indeed exist. He uses the example of a watch to explain this, saying that no one really knows how a watch works, just like no one really knows how God works. Despite this, everyone admits the existence of watches, but not everyone admits the existence of a deity. Though the work is not fully persuasive, instead explaining the natural existence of a deity in human culture, it certainly comes off as a persuasive piece, likely to the intent of Paley.

Trust and Faith

Paley is asking readers to make a bit of a leap in inference when referring to his analogy of a watch. He claims that, because people don't know how a watch works but believe it exists, the same should be true of God. This analogy lacks any real evidence that can be proven, and seems more like a pattern discovered by someone than a law of nature.

Human Nature

A main point of this argumentative piece is that believing in some sort of deity is simply part of human nature. So, not only is this a point that Paley wants to prove, but a theme of the book. For sure, humans have distinctive qualities about them - for the most part, we are eerily predictable. History seem to repeat itself over and over, and Paley is building on yet another predictable human aspect - faith. Even if something is not there, humans need an explanation or a comforter for themselves. For this reason, Paley explains, it is only natural for a religion to emerge from human society.

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