Did God stick around? The Clockmaker Theory
After conclusively proving God’s existence, it is incumbent upon us to deal with a subject in philosophy called the “Clock Maker Theory.” This theory advanced by leading philosophers asserts that God created the universe, but is not actively involved in its operation, just as a clockmaker makes a clock that then operates independently of him. Judaism claims otherwise – God is actively involved in running the universe and shaping history.
The meaning is outside the creation!
How do we know that God runs the world? Is there an objective, scientifically valid proof that God is orchestrating history? Or, is there perhaps legitimacy to the Clockmaker Theory.
In the words of famed nuclear physicist, Gerald Schroeder:
I recently met in Jerusalem with Professor Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize winning physicist. We were talking science, obviously. And as the conversation went on, I said, “What about spirituality, Leon?” And he said to me, “Schroeder, I’ll talk science with you, but as far as spirituality, speak to the people across the street, the theologians.” But then he continued, and he said, “But I do find something spooky about the people of Israel coming back to the Land of Israel.”
Interestingly Lederman found nothing spooky about the Eskimos eating fish at the Arctic Circle. And he found nothing spooky about Greeks eating Musika in Athens. But he finds something real spooky about Jews eating falafel on Jaffa Street. Because it shouldn’t have happened. It doesn’t make sense historically that the Jews would come back to the Land of Israel. Yet that’s what happened.
…. there is some monkey business going on with history that makes it not all just random. That there’s some direction to the flow of history.[1]
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King Frederick the Great once asked his Lutheran pastor to provide him with a visible proof of God’s existence. The pastor answered with just two words: The Jews.
Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, wrote in 1898:
If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.
He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?[2]
Between 250 CE and 1948, a period of 1700 years, the Jews were expelled from more than eighty countries. That’s a new country approximately every 22 years. To provide a few examples, the Jews were expelled from England, France, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, and Moravia. History shows that a people expelled from its land assimilate into the new land within three to four generations. How is it possible that the Jews have continued to survive as a distinct nation for over 2,000 years, and this despite not one, but eighty expulsions?
The Torah predicts that the Jews will be expelled from the Land of Israel, which will then become barren and desolate, but that the Jews will later return to Israel. Both parts of this prediction fly in the face of the norms of world history.
The Land of Israel is located at the meeting point of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In ancient times, it was a highly prized trade route, leading all the successive ancient empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, etc.) to give high priority to conquering it. It was also rich in olives (used for olive oil), grapes (used for wine), and other agricultural crops. It is in the interests of conquering powers to colonize and develop the lands they conquer, especially a land that is so geographically important. Yet, after the Jews were expelled by the Romans, the land fell into desolation for nineteen centuries, just as the Bible prophesized.
Mark Twain traveled to Palestine in 1867. He described the utter desolation and barrenness that he witnessed there:
A desolate land whose soil, though more than sufficiently rich, produces only thorn bush and thistle—a silent mourning expanse. There is such desolation; one cannot even imagine that life’s beauty and productivity once existed here… The Land of Israel dwells in sackcloth and ashes. The spell of a curse hovers over her, which has blighted her fields and imprisoned her mighty potential with shackles. The Land of Israel is wasteland, devoid of delight.[3]
Remarkably, as soon as the Jews returned, starting in the late 19th century, the land became fertile and reinvigorated.
The return of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland after 1900 years is unprecedented in history, and can only be described as miraculous. Moreover, the achievement of the Jews of Israel since the establishment of the modern State of Israel fifty-five years ago is beyond the norm of reason or logic. It is the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, yet it boasts accomplishments that have changed the world:
The cell phone, which today is viewed by most of the world community as “indispensable,” was developed in Israel by the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
Every contemporary computer has Windows NT or XP. Most of these operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed, and produced in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. Four young Israelis developed the technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ in 1996.
According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined. Israel’s GDP ranks number third among developing countries, following behind only Hong Kong and Singapore. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
