Q&A: Exceptional Events
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Exceptional Events
Question
Hello.
I’d be happy if you could help me understand your view on this matter better (I hope I’m quoting your positions correctly):
- Regarding creation—you explain that it is not plausible that so many coincidences would just happen for no reason, and therefore it is very likely that there is a Creator of the world who planned it.
- Regarding the “miracle in Gedera,” you say that there is no reason to see it as proof of individual divine providence, because it is possible for a very unusual event to happen. (Even though we don’t have organized statistics for such events, we can break the case down into several parts and say: when have I ever met some neighbor somewhere, when has he ever happened to drive in that direction with an empty car, when has he ever gotten confused on the way—and conclude that this was a very unusual case.)
- Regarding historical events, you say that if a prophet predicts them in advance, that proves that it was under providence. But that too could be coincidence: many prophets said various things, and this time he just happened to get it right.
I’d be glad to understand the distinctions between these cases better.
Thank you
Answer
1–2. Creation happened only once, so the Gedera consideration is not relevant to it. In Gedera we are dealing with an event of a kind that has happened very many times, and therefore it is possible that once this particular combination of circumstances would occur.
3. Anything can be coincidence, but the probability drops dramatically.