Abrahamic Reflections on Randomness and Providence.

• Author: Clark, Kelly James.
• TeilnehmendeR: Koperski, Jeffrey.
• Place / Publishing House: Cham : : Springer International Publishing AG,, 2021.; ©2022.
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (381 pages)

Table of Contents

• Abrahamic Reflections on Randomness and Providence
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Notes on Contributors
• Part I: Introduction
• Chapter 1: Randomness and Providence: Is God a Bowler or a Curler?
• 1.1 How Does God Do It?
• 1.2 The Bible Tells Me So
• 1.3 Modern Science
• 1.4 Is God a Bowler or a Curler?
• 1.5 Randomness and Providence
• 1.6 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Part II: The Problem(s) Stated
• Chapter 2: The Many Faces of Randomness
• 2.1 No Single Definition
• 2.2 Purpose
• 2.3 Probability and Statistics
• 2.4 Physics
• 2.4.1 Statistical Mechanics
• 2.4.2 Chaos Theory
• 2.4.3 Instability and Singular Points
• 2.4.4 Norton's Dome
• 2.4.5 Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
• 2.4.6 Quantum Mechanics
• 2.5 Biology
• Bibliography
• Chapter 3: Randomness and Providence: Defining the Problem(s)
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Ontological Randomness
• 3.2.1 Randomness as Indeterminism
• 3.2.2 Randomness as Purposelessness
• 3.3 Divine Providence
• 3.3.1 Super Meticulous Providence
• 3.3.2 Meticulous Providence
• 3.3.3 General Providence
• 3.4 The Problems
• 3.4.1 Power
• 3.4.2 Knowledge
• 3.4.3 Goodness
• 3.5 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Part III: Science
• Chapter 4: Randomness in the Cosmos
• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 What Is Randomness?
• 4.3 Randomness in the Early Universe
• Galaxy Formation
• 4.4 Randomness and Chaos in the Formation of the Solar System
• 4.5 Stability of the Planetary System
• 4.6 Formation of the Moon
• 4.7 Randomness in the Bombardment of the Earth by Meteoroids
• 4.8 Randomness in the Sun's Activity
• 4.9 Randomness, Order in the World, and Divine Providence
• Bibliography
• Chapter 5: Randomness, Providence, and the Multiverse
• 5.1 The Indifferent Universe of Materialism
• 5.2 General and Special Providence
• 5.3 Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?.
• 5.4 Debates on Fine-Tuning
• 5.5 The Cost of Each Option
• Bibliography
• Chapter 6: Can a Muslim be an Evolutionist?
• 6.1 Religious Authority
• 6.2 Creation: Processive or Instantaneous Creation?
• 6.3 Creation in Six Stages (Days)
• 6.4 Creation of Man from Clay
• 6.5 Human Dignity, Common Ancestry
• 6.6 Nafsi Wahida: Descent from Adam and Eve?
• 6.7 Theological Agnosticism
• 6.8 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Chapter 7: Chance, Evolution, and the Metaphysical Implications of Paleontological Practice
• 7.1 Evolutionary Metanarratives
• 7.2 Chance and Contingency Versus Convergence and Predictability in the History of Life
• 7.2.1 Contingency
• 7.2.2 Convergence
• 7.2.3 Contemporary Coda
• 7.3 Chance and Selection in the Fossil Record: Successful Paleontological Practices
• 7.4 Potential Implications for Divine Providence?
• 7.5 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Part IV: The Abrahamic Faiths
• Chapter 8: Judaism and Providence
• 8.1 The Basics of Judaism
• 8.2 Providence and Randomness
• 8.3 The Question of Providence and Five Answers
• 8.3.1 Answer 1: Particular Providence Over Everything
• 8.3.2 Answer 2: Particular Providence Over People Only
• 8.3.3 Answer 3: Particular Providence Over Righteous People Only
• 8.3.4 Answer 4: Particular Providence in the Land of Israel Only
• 8.3.5 Answer 5: Philosophical Transcendence
• 8.4 An Idealist Interlude
• 8.5 Radical Reductions
• 8.6 Idealism and Providence
• 8.7 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Chapter 9: Randomness and Providence in Christian Thought
• 9.1 Goals and Orientation
• 9.2 Introduction to Christianity
• 9.2.1 The Person of Jesus
• 9.2.2 Early Christianity
• 9.3 Christian Thinking on Divine Providence
• 9.3.1 Providence in Scripture
• 9.3.2 Fathers of the Church on Divine Providence
• 9.4 What About Randomness?
• 9.4.1 Grappling with Preexisting Thought.
• 9.4.2 The Augustinian Model of Providence
• 9.4.3 Enter Aristotelianism
• 9.4.4 Modern Science
• 9.5 A Possible Solution
• Bibliography
• Chapter 10: God, Cosmos, and Humanity: Muslim Perspectives on Divine Providence
• 10.1 What Is Islam? Or Inferring Providence from Scripture
• 10.2 Avicenna: Divine Creative Agency and the Mediation of the Prophet
• 10.3 Mullā Ṣadrā on Providence, Evil, and Love
• 10.4 Concluding Remark
• Bibliography
• Part V: Providence and Chance
• Chapter 11: Reconciling Meticulous Divine Providence with Objective Chance
• 11.1 Introduction
• 11.2 Six Failed Reconciliations
• 11.2.1 Determinism
• 11.2.2 Molinism
• 11.2.3 Thomism
• 11.2.4 Divine Luck
• 11.2.5 Multiverse
• 11.2.6 Peter van Inwagen's Model
• 11.3 Pruss's Solution: A Theistic Version of Lewis's Best-Fit Model
• 11.3.1 Lewis's Best-Fit Model
• 11.3.2 The Explanatory Weakness of Lewis's Chance
• 11.3.3 Saving the Principal Principle
• 11.3.4 Pruss's Reconciliation of Providence and Chance
• 11.4 Some Objections to Pruss's Account
• 11.4.1 The Gambler's Fallacy
• 11.4.2 The Credence/Chance Conceptual Gap
• 11.5 A Divine Command Theory of Rational Credence
• 11.5.1 The Model and Its Advantages
• 11.5.2 Objections
• Bibliography
• Chapter 12: Creatio Continua and Quantum Randomness
• 12.1 Introduction
• 12.2 The Christian Traditions
• 12.2.1 Nicolas Malebranche
• 12.2.2 René Descartes
• 12.2.3 Jonathan Edwards
• 12.3 The Islamic Traditions
• 12.3.1 The Ash'arite Worldview
• 12.3.2 Motivation and Justification
• 12.3.3 Implications
• 12.4 The Common View
• 12.4.1 Conservation Without Determinacy
• 12.4.2 The Equivalence Thesis
• 12.4.3 The Edwards-Ash'arite Thesis
• 12.4.4 The Bottom-Up and the Determinacy Theses
• 12.5 Continuous Creation and Quantum Mechanics
• 12.6 Objections and Replies
• 12.7 Conclusion.
• Bibliography
• Chapter 13: Causality, Indeterminacy, and Providence: Contemporary Islamic Perspectives from Said Nursi and Basil Altaie
• 13.1 Introduction
• 13.2 Said Nursi: Causality, Laws of Nature, and Indeterminacy as Signs of God
• 13.2.1 Nursi's Approach to Natural Causality in the Context of Contemporary Theories of Causation
• 13.2.2 Nursi on Laws of Nature
• 13.3 Quantum Physics Interpreted: Altaie on Laws of Nature, Indeterminism, and Causality
• 13.3.1 Genuine Indeterminacy in Nature
• 13.3.2 Altaie on Laws of Nature
• 13.3.3 Causality: First and Second Level of Analysis
• 13.3.4 Re-creation: An Interpretation of Indeterminism
• 13.4 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Chapter 14: Divine Action and the Emergence of Four Kinds of Randomness
• 14.1 Modes of Divine Action
• 14.2 The Metaphysics of Emergence
• 14.3 The Emergence of Meaning, Intentionality, and Mathematical Knowledge
• 14.4 The Emergence of Phenomenal Qualia
• 14.5 The Emergence of Life
• 14.6 The Emergence of Thermodynamics and Chemistry
• 14.7 Downward Causation in Modern Quantum Theory
• 14.8 Some Theological Reflections
• Bibliography
• Chapter 15: God et al.- World-Making as Collaborative Improvisation: New Metaphors for Open Theists
• 15.1 Introduction
• 15.2 Classical Theism and Its Metaphors
• 15.2.1 The Bird's-Eye View
• 15.2.2 God as Instantaneous Author
• 15.2.3 God: The Lone World-Artist
• 15.2.4 Problems with the Metaphors
• 15.3 Metaphors for Open Theists
• 15.3.1 The Shrinking Tree
• 15.3.2 More Dynamic Metaphors: 'Books-in-Progress' and the 'Growing Block'
• 15.3.3 God as Collaborative Improvisational Director-Participant
• 15.3.3.1 Example 1: Jazz Band Leader
• 15.3.3.2 Example 2: Improv Troupe Director-Participant-Christopher Guest's Model
• 15.4 Salutary Upshots
• 15.5 Conclusion
• Bibliography.
• Chapter 16: Saadia on "what is in the hearts of people when they reach the limits of endurance in a trial"
• Bibliography
• Chapter 17: Randomness, Causation, and Divine Responsibility
• 17.1 Augustinian Approaches to Evil
• 17.2 Zimmerman on Shared Responsibility
• 17.3 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index.