Abrahamic Reflections on Randomness and Providence

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Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Part I: Introduction Chapter 1: Randomness and Providence: Is God a Bowler or a Curler? 1.1 How Does God Do It? 1.2 The Bible Tells Me So 1.3 Modern Science 1.4 Is God a Bowler or a Curler? 1.5 Randomness and Providence 1.6 Conclusion Bibliography Part II: The Problem(s) Stated Chapter 2: The Many Faces of Randomness 2.1 No Single Definition 2.2 Purpose 2.3 Probability and Statistics 2.4 Physics 2.4.1 Statistical Mechanics 2.4.2 Chaos Theory 2.4.3 Instability and Singular Points 2.4.4 Norton’s Dome 2.4.5 Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking 2.4.6 Quantum Mechanics 2.5 Biology Bibliography Chapter 3: Randomness and Providence: Defining the Problem(s) 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Ontological Randomness 3.2.1 Randomness as Indeterminism 3.2.2 Randomness as Purposelessness 3.3 Divine Providence 3.3.1 Super Meticulous Providence 3.3.2 Meticulous Providence 3.3.3 General Providence 3.4 The Problems 3.4.1 Power 3.4.2 Knowledge 3.4.3 Goodness 3.5 Conclusion Bibliography Part III: Science Chapter 4: Randomness in the Cosmos 4.1 Introduction 4.2 What Is Randomness? 4.3 Randomness in the Early Universe; Galaxy Formation 4.4 Randomness and Chaos in the Formation of the Solar System 4.5 Stability of the Planetary System 4.6 Formation of the Moon 4.7 Randomness in the Bombardment of the Earth by Meteoroids 4.8 Randomness in the Sun’s Activity 4.9 Randomness, Order in the World, and Divine Providence Bibliography Chapter 5: Randomness, Providence, and the Multiverse 5.1 The Indifferent Universe of Materialism 5.2 General and Special Providence 5.3 Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life? 5.4 Debates on Fine-Tuning 5.5 The Cost of Each Option Bibliography Chapter 6: Can a Muslim be an Evolutionist? 6.1 Religious Authority 6.2 Creation: Processive or Instantaneous Creation? 6.3 Creation in Six Stages (Days) 6.4 Creation of Man from Clay 6.5 Human Dignity, Common Ancestry 6.6 Nafsi Wahida: Descent from Adam and Eve? 6.7 Theological Agnosticism 6.8 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 7: Chance, Evolution, and the Metaphysical Implications of Paleontological Practice 7.1 Evolutionary Metanarratives 7.2 Chance and Contingency Versus Convergence and Predictability in the History of Life 7.2.1 Contingency 7.2.2 Convergence 7.2.3 Contemporary Coda 7.3 Chance and Selection in the Fossil Record: Successful Paleontological Practices 7.4 Potential Implications for Divine Providence? 7.5 Conclusion Bibliography Part IV: The Abrahamic Faiths Chapter 8: Judaism and Providence 8.1 The Basics of Judaism 8.2 Providence and Randomness 8.3 The Question of Providence and Five Answers 8.3.1 Answer 1: Particular Providence Over Everything 8.3.2 Answer 2: Particular Providence Over People Only 8.3.3 Answer 3: Particular Providence Over Righteous People Only 8.3.4 Answer 4: Particular Providence in the Land of Israel Only 8.3.5 Answer 5: Philosophical Transcendence 8.4 An Idealist Interlude 8.5 Radical Reductions 8.6 Idealism and Providence 8.7 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 9: Randomness and Providence in Christian Thought 9.1 Goals and Orientation 9.2 Introduction to Christianity 9.2.1 The Person of Jesus 9.2.2 Early Christianity 9.3 Christian Thinking on Divine Providence 9.3.1 Providence in Scripture 9.3.2 Fathers of the Church on Divine Providence 9.4 What About Randomness? 9.4.1 Grappling with Preexisting Thought 9.4.2 The Augustinian Model of Providence 9.4.3 Enter Aristotelianism 9.4.4 Modern Science 9.5 A Possible Solution Bibliography Chapter 10: God, Cosmos, and Humanity: Muslim Perspectives on Divine Providence 10.1 What Is Islam? Or Inferring Providence from Scripture 10.2 Avicenna: Divine Creative Agency and the Mediation of the Prophet 10.3 Mullā Ṣadrā on Providence, Evil, and Love 10.4 Concluding Remark Bibliography Part V: Providence and Chance Chapter 11: Reconciling Meticulous Divine Providence with Objective Chance 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Six Failed Reconciliations 11.2.1 Determinism 11.2.2 Molinism 11.2.3 Thomism 11.2.4 Divine Luck 11.2.5 Multiverse 11.2.6 Peter van Inwagen’s Model 11.3 Pruss’s Solution: A Theistic Version of Lewis’s Best-Fit Model 11.3.1 Lewis’s Best-Fit Model 11.3.2 The Explanatory Weakness of Lewis’s Chance 11.3.3 Saving the Principal Principle 11.3.4 Pruss’s Reconciliation of Providence and Chance 11.4 Some Objections to Pruss’s Account 11.4.1 The Gambler’s Fallacy 11.4.2 The Credence/Chance Conceptual Gap 11.5 A Divine Command Theory of Rational Credence 11.5.1 The Model and Its Advantages 11.5.2 Objections Bibliography Chapter 12: Creatio Continua and Quantum Randomness 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The Christian Traditions 12.2.1 Nicolas Malebranche 12.2.2 René Descartes 12.2.3 Jonathan Edwards 12.3 The Islamic Traditions 12.3.1 The Ash’arite Worldview 12.3.2 Motivation and Justification 12.3.3 Implications 12.4 The Common View 12.4.1 Conservation Without Determinacy 12.4.2 The Equivalence Thesis 12.4.3 The Edwards-Ash’arite Thesis 12.4.4 The Bottom-Up and the Determinacy Theses 12.5 Continuous Creation and Quantum Mechanics 12.6 Objections and Replies 12.7 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 13: Causality, Indeterminacy, and Providence: Contemporary Islamic Perspectives from Said Nursi and Basil Altaie 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Said Nursi: Causality, Laws of Nature, and Indeterminacy as Signs of God 13.2.1 Nursi’s Approach to Natural Causality in the Context of Contemporary Theories of Causation 13.2.2 Nursi on Laws of Nature 13.3 Quantum Physics Interpreted: Altaie on Laws of Nature, Indeterminism, and Causality 13.3.1 Genuine Indeterminacy in Nature 13.3.2 Altaie on Laws of Nature 13.3.3 Causality: First and Second Level of Analysis 13.3.4 Re-creation: An Interpretation of Indeterminism 13.4 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 14: Divine Action and the Emergence of Four Kinds of Randomness 14.1 Modes of Divine Action 14.2 The Metaphysics of Emergence 14.3 The Emergence of Meaning, Intentionality, and Mathematical Knowledge 14.4 The Emergence of Phenomenal Qualia 14.5 The Emergence of Life 14.6 The Emergence of Thermodynamics and Chemistry 14.7 Downward Causation in Modern Quantum Theory 14.8 Some Theological Reflections Bibliography Chapter 15: God et al.— World-Making as Collaborative Improvisation: New Metaphors for Open Theists 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Classical Theism and Its Metaphors 15.2.1 The Bird’s-Eye View 15.2.2 God as Instantaneous Author 15.2.3 God: The Lone World-Artist 15.2.4 Problems with the Metaphors 15.3 Metaphors for Open Theists 15.3.1 The Shrinking Tree 15.3.2 More Dynamic Metaphors: ‘Books-in-Progress’ and the ‘Growing Block’ 15.3.3 God as Collaborative Improvisational Director-Participant 15.3.3.1 Example 1: Jazz Band Leader 15.3.3.2 Example 2: Improv Troupe Director-Participant—Christopher Guest’s Model 15.4 Salutary Upshots 15.5 Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 16: Saadia on “what is in the hearts of people when they reach the limits of endurance in a trial” Bibliography Chapter 17: Randomness, Causation, and Divine Responsibility 17.1 Augustinian Approaches to Evil 17.2 Zimmerman on Shared Responsibility 17.3 Conclusion Bibliography Index