What is chance? The word is used in different senses, for example: a) as a shorthand for "the causes are so complex that we can't determine them." b) "no cause at all; it just happened." c) quantum-mechanical indeterminacy, which limits measurement precision at the microscopic level of the universe.
In the sense of complex processes, there is assumed to be definite cause, but it is unknown. In the other senses, the cause may be unknowable in principle or may even be said not to exist at all. But this is absurd; every effect has some cause. So R. C. Sproul argues that "chance" in the latter sense is not a thing, i.e. nothing. (Not a Chance, 1995).
The Bible rules out blind chance, even in the case of inscrutable processes: "The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is entirely from the Lord." God -- the First Cause -- is sovereign over all things, even quantum processes, but we humans may be unable to identify the second causes involved.
"What we call natural causes may also be called examples of [God's] ordinary providence. It is when we conceive of these secondary causes as being independent of God that we commit a form of idolatry....
"There are times when scientists overstep their bounds and seek to exalt nature over God. Sadly, sometimes this stems in part from a reaction to a religious community that persecutes and oppresses scientists for pushing back the frontiers of mystery."
R. C. Sproul, "Providence, Science, and the Sovereignty of God", in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 41(2), June 1989).
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