Chance and Randomness

“I consider myself a pretty devout Christian—I’ve centered not only my career, but also my life around Christ and the Church. Many times I still wonder is my faith really as strong as I think it is, or do I lead others to believe that it is. Many things in the world still don’t make sense to me, whether it is my own shortcomings or the disappointing things that go on in society. I wonder about God’s “master plan” and what role I play in it. Sometimes I wonder if there really is a plan or if He allows things just to happen at random.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)

“Nothing, whether it is good or bad, happens to a person by blind chance. There is a provident God who steers the affairs of the world, and with each one of us there is a Guardian who does not miss anything, and whose watchfulness never relaxes or grows weak.” (St. Isaac the Syrian)

“Do not say, ‘This happened by chance, while this came to be of itself.’ In all that exists there is nothing disorderly, nothing indefinite, nothing without purpose, nothing by chance … How many hairs are on your head? God will not forget one of them. Do you see how nothing, even the smallest thing, escapes the gaze of God? ” (St. Basil the Great)

“…we know there are no coincidences—only providential encounters….There are no random encounters: either God sends us the person we need, or we are being sent to someone by God unbeknownst, to us." (Constantina R. Palmer, Father Alexander Elchaninov)

“If we have come from random insignificance and when we die there is nothing but insignificance, then there is no significance in between.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)

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