Alice Murray

The Theological Significance of Chance: Temporal Divine Action Discerned Through Probability and Complexity Theory Alice Murray

Chance is an important element in our experience of reality, be it expressed in coincidences, unpredictability, natural variation within a population, or the uncertainty principal of quantum physics. However,chance is not purely random it is constrained by an envelope of possibilities. Apart from pure coincidence where two or more series of causal chains intersect to give an unpredictable result, most chance events are governed by probability distributions (e.g.actuarial tables). This book embodies a rational reflection on divine mysteries, in which the rationality of investigation does not diminish the ultimate mystery of divinity. The research underpinning this book had its origins in the attempt to understand the significance of the Trinitarian nature of God with respect to the way that God has created the cosmos. Does the revelation of God in Trinitarian terms tell us something fundamental about the methodology and structure of God?s creative act? Therefore, the Christian affirmation of one creator God manifest through revelation in Trinitarian terms is a fundamental assumption of this book.