God, Chance and Purpose: Can God Have It Both Ways?

273 Pages·2008·0.87 MB·English

by  David J. Bartholomew

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GOD, CHANCE AND PURPOSE
Scientificaccountsofexistencegivechanceacentralrole.Atthe
smallestlevel,quantumtheoryinvolvesuncertainty,andevolution
isdrivenbychanceandnecessity.Theseideasdonotfiteasilywith
theology,inwhichchancehasbeenseenastheenemyofpurpose.
Oneoptionistoargue,asproponentsofIntelligentDesigndo,that
chanceisnotrealandcanbereplacedbytheworkofaDesigner.
OthersadheretoadeterministictheologyinwhichGodisintotal
control. Neither of these views, it is argued, does justice to the
complexityofnatureorthegreatnessofGod.Thethesisofthisbook
isthatchanceisneitherunrealnornon-existentbutanintegralpart
ofGod’screation.Thisviewisexpounded,illustratedanddefended
bydrawingontheresourcesofprobabilitytheoryandnumerous
examplesfromthenaturalandsocialworlds.
David J. Bartholomew isEmeritusProfessorofStatisticsat
theLondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience.Hisnumer-
ouspublicationsincludeMeasuringIntelligence:FactsandFallacies
(2004).

GOD, CHANCE AND
PURPOSE
CanGodHaveItBothWays?
DAVID J. BARTHOLOMEW
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521880855
© David J. Bartholomew 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-38620-6 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-88085-5 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-70708-4 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Listoffigures page vii
Preface ix
1 1
Whatistheproblem?
2 16
Whatischance?
3 28
Orderoutofchaos
4 55
Chaosoutoforder
5 67
Whatisprobability?
6 77
Whatcanverysmallprobabilitiestellus?
7
CanIntelligentDesignbeestablished
97
scientifically?
8 116
Statisticallaws
9 136
God’sactioninthequantumworld
10 156
Thehumanuseofchance
11 173
God’schance
12 196
Thechallengetochance
v
vi Contents
13 211
Choiceandchance
14 223
Godandrisk
243
References
248
Furtherreading
250
Index
Figures
3 1
. Theformoftheexponentialfrequency
35
distribution page
3 2
. Theformofthenormalfrequency
37
distribution
81
. Thefrequencydistributionofthetwo
122
outcomesinasingletossofafaircoin
82
. Thefrequencydistributionofrunlengthin
123
successivetossesofafaircoin
83
. Thebinomialdistributionofthenumberof
124
headsinfourtossesofafaircoin
vii