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SUBJECT: Chance
QUESTION: Is it logical to assume there is a reason for
every action/reaction or does blind chance enter into the 70
or
so years we are here on this planet.
ANSWER: There is no such thing as chance. There is no
Hebrew word for chance. Notice the following verse that is
often used to argue that there is a such thing as
"chance"...
Ecclesiastes 9:11
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to
the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread
to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet
favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to
them all.
The word "time" here is actually best rendered "death". The
word "chance" is best rendered "opportunity". So it should
read "death and opportunity happens to all men (and
women)."
Use logic here. If things just happened then how could God
finish His work with you? God never says, "Opps". Clearly
He allows things to happen. Read the book of Job. Satan
had to ask permission for everything he did to Job. Such is
the case with you. God is in complete control. What we
call accidents and sudden death and disasters and the like
are not chance happenings. Look at these quotes:
By the word chance we merely express our ignorance of the
cause of any fact or effect--not that we think that chance
was itself the cause.--Henry
Fergus
The doctrine of chances is the bible of the fool.--Simms
Chance is but the pseudonym of God for those particular
cases which he does not choose to subscribe openly with his
own sign-manual.--Coleridge
Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a
cause.--Voltaire
There is no such thing as chance or accident; the words
merely signify our ignorance of some real and immediate
cause.--Adam Clark
---end of quotes-------
There is a science called the Science of Coincidence. I
have a whole file on this science and have studied it myself
and given a speech on the subject. The conclusion of the
scientists is that there is no such thing as coincidence.
So leave nothing to chance...leave it to God.
Word of caution: You will get lots of arguments on
this. I believe that it is human nature to want things to
happen by chance and therefore you will get all kinds of
arguments. It is not worth arguing with them. Prove these
things for yourself.
Notice the commentaries:
Ecclesiastes 9:11
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to
the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread
to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet
favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to
them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11
[But time and chance] `Eet (OT:6256), time or opportunity,
and waapega` (OT:6294), incident or occurrence,
~from Adam Clarke's Commentary
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Chance-seemingly, really Providence. But as man cannot 'find
it out' (Eccl 3:11), he needs 'with all might' to use
opportunities. Duties are ours; events, God's (Ps 31:15, "My
times are in thy hand") Chance is not a power independent of
God; but is that which happens to man independently of his
control. If God be our friend, the powers arrayed against
us, however formidable they look, cannot destroy us. If it
depended on human strength, the people of God could not
withstand their foes.~from
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary
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