45. Chance
45. CHANCE
Does anything happen by chance?
It is written (Wis 14:3): But Thou, O Father, governest all things by Thy Providence. . .
Certain ancient philosophers denied the government of the world, saying that all things happened by chance. But such an opinion can be refuted as impossible in two ways.
First, by observation of things themselves; for we observe that in nature things happen always or nearly always for the best; which would not be the case unless some sort of providence directed nature towards good as an end—which is to govern. Wherefore the unfailing order we observe in things is a sign of their being governed; for instance, if we enter a well-ordered house we gather therefrom the intention of him that put it in order.
Secondly, this is clear from a consideration of divine goodness, which . . . was the cause of the production of things in existence. For as it belongs to the best to produce the best, it is not fitting that the supreme goodness of God should produce things without giving them their perfection. Now a thing’s ultimate perfection consists in the attainment of its end. Therefore it belongs to the divine goodness, as it brought things into existence, so to lead them to their end; and this is to govern (I,103,1).
When Christianity came into the pagan world, it added many categories, many ideas that the pagans never had: for instance, the creation of the whole universe out of nothing, the Incarnation of God in Christ, the Trinity, a God of perfect love, and every man as created in His image and intrinsically valuable. But there was one pagan category that Christianity subtracted: chance. In a universe in which God knows literally every hair that falls from our head and every sparrow that falls from the sky, nothing, not the slightest motion of the slightest subatomic particle in the farthest galaxy, is unknown and left to chance. “Chance” is nothing but an expression of human ignorance. We don’t know the reasons and causes and design of all things, because we are not God. But God does, because He is!
Therefore everything, including your reading this book at this very moment, is designed and planned by God. Trust Him absolutely and totally with every detail; He is the storyteller and you are one of His beloved characters in His story, which is history.
St. Thomas deduces the reality of a universal divine providence both from below and from above. First he deduces it from sense observation of the many examples of it in the universe, the many ways it is ordered (and modern science multiplies these things by the millions). (This is technically induction, not deduction.) Second, he deduces it from the revealed dogma that God is perfectly good.
God is even now governing all things. This is more than just keeping them in order, conserving their order. He does that too, as a “cosmic conservative.” But He also is moving them forward to their end, their fulfillment. He is also a “cosmic progressive”. The fulfillment and end and purpose of all the other things God created in the universe is to aid you to attain eternal life with Him. The universe is like a womb, or a placenta: it exists to produce us. And then it is like a cathedral: it exists to sanctify us. God didn’t make galaxies for the sake of galaxies but for us. Galaxies can’t marry God. We can. The universe is just the temporary house God made for His bride. The permanent house will be even bigger and more wonderful.