Description
What if all events—big and small, good and bad—are governed by more than just blind chance? What if they are governed by God?
In this theologically informed and philosophically nuanced introduction to the study of probability and chance, Vern Poythress argues that all events—including the seemingly random or accidental—fall under God’s watchful gaze as part of his eternal plan. Comprehensive in its scope, this book lays the theistic foundation for our scientific assumptions about the world while addressing personal questions about the meaning and significance of everyday events.
Contents
Introduction: Experiences with Unpredictable Events
Part 1: The Sovereignty of God
1. The Bible as a Source for Knowledge
2. God’s Sovereignty
3. Unpredictable Events
4. Disasters and Suffering
5. Human Choice
6. Small Random Events
7. Reflecting on Creation and Providence
8. God’s Sovereignty and Modern Physics
9. What Is Chance?
Part 2: God as the Foundation for Chance
10. Regularities and Unpredictabilities
11. Trinitarian Foundations for Chance
12. Responding to Chance
13. Chance in Evolutionary Naturalism
14. Chance and Idolatry
Part 3: Probability
15. What is Probability?
16. Predictions and Outcomes
17. Theistic Foundations for Probability
18. Views of Probability
19. Subjectivity and Probability
20. Entanglement of Probabilities
21. Probabilistic Independence
22. Independence and Human Nature
23. Is God Probable?
Part 4: Probability and Mathematics
24. Pictures of Probability
25. Mathematical Postulates for Probability
26. Theistic Foundations for Some Properties of Probability
27. Limitations in Human Thinking about Events and Probabilities
28. Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix A: Why Gambling Systems Fail
Appendix B: The Real Problem with Gambling
Appendix C: A Puzzle in Probability
Appendix D: Interacting with Secular Philosophical Views of Probability
Appendix E: Permutations and Combinations
Appendix F: The Birthday Problem
Appendix G: Diseases and Other Causes
Appendix H: Proofs for Probability
Appendix I: Statistics
Appendix J: The Law of Large Numbers versus Gamblers
Endorsements
“The prolific Dr. Poythress has gifted us with a unique and uniquely needed work that is both mathematically adept and theologically deep. I know of no other work that so thoroughly addresses the modern sense of chance in a deeply Reformed and philosophically oriented way.”
—Douglas Groothuis, Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary; author, Walking Through Twilight: A Wife’s Illness—A Philosopher’s Lament
“Is this the go-to book for a biblical theological perspective on chance, coincidence, randomness, risk, probability, prediction, and gambling? You bet it is! Dr. Poythress has hit another one out of the park. This book will transform the way you think about everything from quantum physics and weather forecasts to life insurance and card games.”
—James N. Anderson,Carl W. McMurray Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte
About the Author
Vern S. Poythress (PhD, Harvard University; ThD, University of Stellenbosch) is Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has taught for four decades. In addition to earning six academic degrees, he is the author of numerous books and articles on biblical interpretation, language, and science.
