Possible ways of divine action

In the previous post, we saw that chaotic determinism, quantum indeterminism and free will can be considered the three vertices of a bi-dimensional triangle that, together, define the material-immaterial coordinates of the world. God in his Providence can interact with the world through the three vertices of the triangle.

• Upon the deterministic vertex, God can act by manipulating the initial conditions of the universe. For God, such conditions would not be affected by chaos theory: He would be capable of setting them to an infinite number of decimal figures. Also, the restriction of the principle of uncertainty is applicable to us, but not to the Creator. Given that God is also outside time, He would be able to use his global knowledge of the cosmos to settle the initial conditions in such a way that certain events may take place in any subsequent future. This possibility was offered by C.S. Lewis as a solution to the problem of the efficacy of prayer.

The problem of Free-Will

In the current image of the world provided by physics, we have at one side, an apparent fuzzy determinism, because the universe is chaotic; at the other end we get indeterminism. What can we say about human freedom?

Free-Will, as envisioned by classical philosophers, is incompatible with determinism. But it would be a mistake to assume that it is the same as quantum indeterminism. When a radioactive atom disintegrates, it is not free; it is subject to the influx of probability. One atom may disintegrate ten times later than another, but its longevity has not been chosen individually, it is the result of the play of blind forces which, on the average, produce the effect that one half of the atoms must disintegrate in a perfectly defined time.

Determinism or indeterminism?

Modern science has revolutionized our vision of the world. In the eighteenth century, Newton's theory of gravitation could be considered established, and gave rise to a materialistic-deterministic vision of the universe which can be personified in one of the most significant scientists of the time, Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace (1749-1827), whose fields of study covered mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and biology. The success of his studies on the dynamics of the solar system moved him to state that, if we knew the exact initial conditions of the universe, it would be possible to predict all its past and future development. This gave rise to materialistic determinism, so successful in the nineteenth century and still a part of the popular vision of the world, in spite of the three devastating attacks it has suffered during the twentieth century.