Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who was a scientist like himself, but he was an atheist. Newton was a devout believer, and the two men often had long discussions over this question, since their interest in science often threw them together.
Newton had a skilled mechanic make him a miniature replica of our solar system. In the center was a large gilded ball representing the sun. Revolving around this central ball were smaller balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying length. They represented Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (Pluto had not yet been discovered), in their proper order. These balls were geared together so as to move in perfect harmony by turning a crank.
One day as Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his atheist friend stopped in to visit him. He recognized at a glance what was before him. Walking up to it, he slowly turned the crank. With open admiration he watched the heavenly bodies all move at their relative speeds in their orbits. Standing back 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 atheist said, “Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this thing?”
Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter which he so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in. At this the astonished friend answered hotly, “You must think I’m a fool! Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius. I’d like to know who he is.”
Laying his book aside, Newton rose. Putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder, he said, “This is only a weak imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know. I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker, yet you profess 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 can you reach such a conclusion?”
The atheist was convinced, and acknowledged that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:11In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1).)
“Shall mortal man be more just than God?
shall a man be more pure than his maker?”