When identifying the ultimate causes of events in the universe, there are only three possibilities:

(1) Necessity, (2) Chance, or (3) Intelligence.

Some events happened in nature because they must always happen i:e they are naturally predestined to happen. Such events are always regular and unavoidable. This is what we meant by necessity.


Again, some events in nature just happened by luck.They are not naturally predestined to happen. Such events managed to happen by accidents. This is what we called chance


Lastly, some events are neither naturally predestined to happen nor just happened by accidents. However, they happened through deliberate intentions in the minds of conscious agents.This is what we referred to as intelligence


Think very well, you will discover that there is no any other way through which an event can happen in nature. In other words, there is no fourth alternative.



(1) Necessity

To say that an event exist by “Necessity” requires that its existence has been predetermined by some fixed physical or chemical laws of nature
.Therefore, such a law-like event must always exist and the manner of its existence cannot be changed from its normal way. In other words, constant regularity is always observed with events that are caused by necessity.


The following are all examples of events that exist by "Necessity" ( i:e they exist by obeying some fixed natural laws):

(i) revolution of the earth round the sun in an an anticlockwise direction (earth cannot sometimes
be stationary or revolve round the sun in a clockwise direction).

(ii) falling of a stone from a height due to earth's gravity (stone cannot sometimes
hang in the air without falling)

(iii) Evaporation of water into the atmosphere ( water cannot sometimes remain the same without being vaporized).

(iv) All things gradually become old and eventually wear out with the passage of time ( things cannot sometimes remain the same with the passage of time)

(v) rusting of iron in the presence of air and moisture ( unprotected iron cannot sometimes remain the same without rusting)

(vi) Water always freezes at 273K (water cannot sometimes freeze below or above this value).

In our universe, all these events exist by necessity (i:e they exist by obeying some fixed physical or chemical laws of nature and hence the manner of their existence cannot be changed from their normal way)



(2) Chance

For an event to exist by "Chance" requires that its existence does not follow a fixed natural law. Therefore, the manner of its existence ALWAYS CHANGE without forming any regular pattern. In other words, the rule of the events that are caused by chance is constant variation . This is unlike events that are caused by necessity whose rule is constant regularity

Hence, "chance" and "necessity" directly CONTRADICT each other. Therefore, both of them cannot just exist together in the same event. One must leave for the other to exist.

The following are all examples of events that exist by "Chance";

(i) coming up of "six" while tossing a fair die ( other options like "five", "four" or "three" can also come up).

(ii) a particular shape formed by the water that spilled on the floor ( there are many other possible shapes that can be formed)

(iii) appearance of a particular pattern in the midst of clouds in the sky ( clouds can form many other patterns in the sky)

(iv) direction taken by the flowing of winds ( it can be east, south, or west etc)

(v) picking a particular letter from a sack of letter tiles in a scrabble game ( there are many other letters that can be picked from the sack).

(vi) killing a particular person by a strayed bullet in the midst of a running crowd ( there are many other people that can be killed by the strayed bullet )

In our universe, all these events exist by chance ( i:e the manner of their existence does not follow a fixed natural law and therefore always subjected to change).



(3) Intelligence

In order to attribute an event to intelligence, it requires that its existence is neither by necessity nor by chance but by complex and specific activities deliberately intended in a conscious mind

The following are all examples of events that exist by "intelligence" ;

(i) writing of information on a sheet of paper

(ii) appearance of image on a screen

(iii) movement of a vehicle on the road

(iv) solving a mathematical problem on the board for the pupils.

(v) flying of aeroplane in the air

(vi) dialling of numbers on a telephone.

All these events are neither caused
by necessity nor by chance but by intelligent activities performed by a conscious mind


A simple example that illustrate the concept of necessity, chance and intelligence
is the arrangement of letter tiles. You will notice that there are basically THREE major ways through which letter tiles can be arranged;

1. The letter tiles can be arranged to follow a particular law. That is to say, one specific letter must be followed by another specific letter. E.g
APZ-APZ-APZ-APZ-APZ-APZ
This is an example of necessity.

2. The letter tiles can be arranged randomly without following any particular law.
E.g
ATZ-NGH-PHQ-FRA-XDC-JUSL
This is an example of chance.

3. The letter tiles can be arranged neither to follow a particular law nor randomly but to form a complex and specific pattern
E.g
WHY-DID-YOU-EAT-THE-FOOD
This is an example of intelligence

You will discover that there is no any other way through which letter tiles can be arranged apart from these THREE modes.


Again, here's another simple example that illustrate these three concepts.
Let’s assume that you win the lottery. Depending on the circumstances, your "win" could be the result of necessity, or chance, or intelligence:

1. You were the ONLY PARTICIPANT in the game of lottery; thus, you had to win by necessity.

2. There were MANY PARTICIPANTS, the lottery was conducted fairly, and you just happened to win at random by chance.

3. There were also MANY PARTICIPANTS but your friends RIGGED the lottery so that you were chosen the winner by intelligence.


Again, you will discover that there is no any other way you could win the lottery apart from these THREE causal possibilities.


Here is another simple example: you can become a wealthy person by THREE major ways:

1. You can become a wealthy person by simply inherit the wealth from your parents. This is an example of necessity.

2. You can also become a wealthy person by luckily came across a huge amount of money kept inside a bag in a bush. This is an example of chance.

3. Similarly, you can also become a wealthy person by serious labour through engaging in business, employment or theft . This is an example of intelligence.


Again, you will discover that there is no any other way you can become a wealthy person apart from these THREE major ways.

Now having perfectly understood the three possible ultimate ways ( necessity, chance or intelligence) through which any event in nature can exist, consider the following premises of argument:

PREMISE ONE: transformation of a fertilized egg into a beautiful new born baby in the womb of a mother is an event in nature which must exist either ;
(i) by necessity or
(ii) by chance or
(iii) by intelligence.

There is no fourth alternative.


PREMISE TWO: as explained above, if an event ( like earth's revolution round the sun in anticlockwise direction) exist by necessity (i:e predetermined by fixed natural laws of physics or chemistry), then such an event cannot be changed from its normal way. Constant regularity is always observed with such event . Therefore, if the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby also exist by necessity (i:e exist by some fixed physical or chemical laws of nature), then deviations from the norms ( like birth defects or congenital anomalies) sometimes observe in the newborn babies would never be observed.
In other words, deformities from birth should be completely absent in nature if the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby exist by necessity ( i:e predetermined by fixed natural laws in the universe)


OBJECTION:

Some regular events (like earth's revolution round the sun) may actually be caused by fixed natural laws. However, the physical or chemical laws of nature controlling the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby are not fixed but subjected to variations ( caused by genetic mutations)

REPLY :

if the physical or chemical laws of nature controlling the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby are not fixed but always subjected to variations ( caused by genetic mutations), then this very transformation can no longer be caused by necessity.

Therefore, "necessity" would be completely exempted from our consideration. So we are left with either "chance" or "intelligence" (follows from premise one) to explain the transformation of a fertilized egg into a new born baby.

PREMISE THREE: As explained above, if an event ( like patterns formed in the midst of cloud in the sky) exist by chance, then the rule of such event is constant variation. Therefore, if the complexity involved in the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby also exist by chance, then due to constant variation inherent in events caused by chance, every new born baby must posses one serious birth defect or the other . In fact, giving birth to a normal baby without any deformity would be a very great exceptional luck. But this is not the case


But could the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby be the work of necessity and the work of chance combined together ?

If an event is a work of necessity
, then constant regularity is always observed with such an event. Hence, such an event cannot be based again on a work of chance where the rule of the events is constant variation. Therefore, work of necessity and work of chance directly contradict each other. Hence, both of them cannot just operate together in the same event. One must leave for the other to exist.

Therefore, to assert that transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby is the work of necessity and the work of chance combined together is nothing but contradiction
in terms.

CONCLUSION: follows from premise one, if the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby is neither the work of necessity nor the work of chance, then it must definitely be the work of intelligence.

Since intelligence always originate from a conscious mind and nature is not a conscious entity that possessed a mind, such intelligent mind must exist outside nature

This very supernatural intelligent mind is what many theists depicted as God.


OBJECTION :

If the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby is truly the work of a supernatural intelligent agent, then why does this very intelligent agent sometimes allowed some babies to be born with birth defects or congenital anomalies ?

REPLY:

As explained above in premise two
, if birth defects or congenital anomalies sometimes observed with newborn babies were to be completely absent in nature, then transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby would no longer be the work of intelligence but the work of necessity whose rule is constant regularity.

Therefore, in order to show that the transformation of a fertilized egg into a newborn baby is neither the work of necessity (whose rule is constant regularity) nor the work of chance (whose rule is constant variation) but the work of intelligence (which can allow for regularity at one time and variation at another time), this supernatural intelligent agent maintained a middle way between the two extremes(i:e constant regularity and constant variation) by allowing for a great number of normal births and a very few number of birth defects.

Your premises are flawed because you allow for no interaction amongst all 3 which is exactly the case we find in nature. The idea that it is one or the other is just not to be had anywhere in this universe.

A bit logical