Teleological argument

===Jewish philosophy===
An example of the teleological argument in [[Jewish philosophy]] appears when the medieval Aristotelian philosopher [[Maimonides]] cites the passage in [[Isaiah]] 40:26, where the "Holy One" says: "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number:"<ref>{{Cite web |title=King James Version of the Bible |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40%3A26&version=AKJV}}</ref> However, Barry Holtz calls this "a crude form of the argument from design", and that this "is only one possible way of reading the text". He asserts that "Generally, in the biblical texts the existence of God is taken for granted."<ref>Holtz, B., ''Back to the Sources'', Simon and Schuster, 2008, p. 287.</ref>

Maimonides also recalled that [[Abraham]] (in the [[midrash]], or explanatory text, of [[Genesis Rabbah]] 39:1) recognized the existence of "one transcendent deity from the fact that the world around him exhibits an order and design".<ref name=Koch/> The [[midrash]] makes an analogy between the obviousness that a building has an owner, and that the world is looked after by God. Abraham says "Is it conceivable that the world is without a guide?"<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Genesis Rabbah'', 39:1 |url=https://archive.org/stream/RabbaGenesis/midrashrabbahgen027557mbp#page/n359/mode/2up}}</ref> Because of these examples, the 19th century philosopher [[Nachman Krochmal]] called the argument from design "a cardinal principle of the Jewish faith".<ref name="Koch">Harris, J.M., ''Nachman Krochmal: Guiding the Perplexed of the Modern Age'', NYU Press, 1991, p. 45.</ref>

The American orthodox rabbi, [[Aryeh Kaplan]], retells a legend about the 2nd century AD [[Rabbi Meir]]. When told by a philosopher that he did not believe that the world was created by God, the rabbi produced a beautiful poem that he claimed had come into being when a cat accidentally knocked over a pot of ink, "spilling ink all over the document. This poem was the result." The philosopher exclaims that would be impossible: "There must be an author. There must be a scribe." The rabbi concludes, "How could the universe ... come into being by itself? There must be an Author. There must be a Creator."<ref>Kaplan, A., ''The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology: Illuminating Expositions on Jewish Thought and Practice by a Revered Teacher'', Volume 1, Mesorah Publications, 1991, p. 114.</ref>