Signs of Transcendence: Rumors of Angels

Does the universe point beyond itself? This month the North Florida Forum takes on that question from two directions. The first looks outward. The design argument, from Thomas Aquinas to William Paley's famous watchmaker, holds that the order and apparent purpose in nature point to an intelligent mind behind it. Today its strongest form is the "fine-tuning" argument: the physical constants of the universe fall within a strikingly narrow range that allows life to exist. Critics from David Hume and Charles Darwin to modern multiverse theorists answer that natural processes can produce the look of design without a designer.

The second direction looks inward. In \A Rumor of Angels\ (1969), sociologist Peter Berger argued that ordinary human experiences point beyond the material world: our trust that reality is ultimately in order, the timeless joy of play, our hope in the face of death, our conviction that some evils deserve damnation, and our laughter at the limits of our condition. He called them "signals of transcendence." Berger also challenged the modern assumption that materialism is the neutral default, arguing that secular outlooks are as socially shaped as the religious ones they replaced.

Together, these arguments raise the question at the heart of our discussion: is the material world the whole story, or are the cosmos and the human heart both hinting at something more?

Mijal Bitton, "The BEST: A Rumor of Angels" (Tradition Online, 2021) A 3-Minute read on the Signals of Transendece and Berger's "relativizing the relativizers" turn against secular thinking.

Christian Century, "Peter Berger's rumors of Transcendence" (2017) Names all five signals clearly.

Intelligent Design: Crash Course Philosophy 11 - Covers the teleological argument: Paley's watchmaker\, Hume's critique\, and the challenge from evolution.