A human being is an adequate "cause" to explain the "effect" of the existence of a mechanical watch. A team of men with appropriate skills and equipment are an adequate cause for a computer operating system such as Windows XP (in Colson's illustration). No one would buy that either of those complex systems just came into being, and yet neither of them approaches even remotely the complexity and sophistication of the universe, life, or human beings. Clearly, man is not nearly adequate as a cause to explain the existence of the universe, nor is anything that is intrinsically smaller or younger than the universe, or anything dependant on the universe for life or existence. The cause of the universe must be considerably greater than man, and considerably greater than the universe itself. The cause of the universe cannot be constrained by time, because that cause either must have been able to foresee through time and beyond to set a working universe in motion so that it would continue to behave according to predictable boundaries (natural laws), including the incredibly intricately balanced system that sustains life on earth, or else that cause had to be able to sustain the universe throughout time with no diminished effectiveness produced by size or distance, or both. God is presented Biblically as being unbound by time in both ways. Intelligence is a prerequisite for the planner and designer of the unimaginably sophisticated system of matter and of life. Life and personality are necessary corollaries of the intelligence and planning. The implication of an infinite, personal, transcendant God is reasonable, and I think compelling as the explanation of the existence of a universe that is vast, but not infinite and a design that is incredibly intricate and sophisticated, but not incomprehensible or erratic. Man's nature as a communicator implies that the intelligent cause of his existence is a communicator as well. The God of Biblical fame fits the bill in all respects of what would be required as a first cause behind the effect of the material universe and living persons within it.

Clearly, not everyone accepts the design hypothesis, but it is a powerful and compelling argument. People will recognize a hand of purpose behind a stone with chips flaked from it, and then stumble at the implication of the mind and purpose behind mankind and the universe. A million monkeys equiped with a million word processors and a million years will never produce the equivalent of one of Shakespeare's plays. Random or uncontrolled events simply do not work that way. Design does speak of a designer.