On Mon, 5 Feb 1996 11:09:38 -0500 you wrote:
>Abstract: A continuing discussion of how God might work through 'random'
>chance to provide undetectable intervention in natural phenomenon. In
>particular, I am trying to clarify my ideas further in response to Stephen
>Jones 1/20/95 post. (Sorry I am so slow in responding--I have been very
>busy.)
[...]
>SJ>Here again is the conundrum. How does God "lets one such event
>happen every 30 gazillion years" and and at the same time "he didn't
>make any exceptions to the rule." If the rule is "only once every 30
>gazillion... years", then choosing to allow it "to occur in the
>first 2 billion years of the earth's history" is (if words mean
>anything), making an exception to the rule.
>[..deleted rest..]
EO>Let me try again. You're getting hung up on probability and
>causation. Let's make our life easier and just talk about rolling a
>single fair die for the moment. We expect the probability of rolling
>a 3 to be 1/6 for a single roll. All this means is that if we roll
>the die many times, on average 1/6 (~17%) of the throws will yield a
>3. If we roll the die five times without obtaining a 3, what is the
>probability of obtaining a 3 on the next roll? 100% or 17%? The
>probability is still only 17%. We cannot predict the outcome of
>individual rolls; the only thing we can say is that ON AVERAGE a 3
>will turn up once in a set of six rolls. Sets of six rolls without a
>3, or a sets of six throws with two 3's are less probable, but
>they're not impossible. Probabilities are not guarantees (as any
>gambler can tell you). :-)
Eddie I am well aware that 1 million to 1 chance can happen in the
first second of spinning a roulette wheel. Those are normal rules of
probability and God need have no direct choice in the matter except
the normal laws. If you say God chose to let it happen is equivalent
to saying it happened by chance. But if you mean something different
from letting it happen by chance, then please distinguish it from
this meaning.
EO>Now, let's say God determines the roll of a fair die. (Pr 16:33)