Q&A: Direct or Indirect Cause
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Direct or Indirect Cause
Question
Hello.
Can a sick or injured person attribute the reason he remained alive to a supervising and existent divine power, or is this a false feeling (with everything operating according to the laws of nature, genetics, free choice, and the like)?
(I’d even be glad for a reading reference if you’ve in fact discussed this topic.)
Answer
In my opinion, there is no basis for this. Even when there is no medical explanation, there are phenomena of spontaneous recovery, diagnostic error, and so on. I don’t see what there is to write about here. It’s simple.
If you want, search here on the site for divine involvement in the world, and regarding errors in inference from isolated cases, see Column 38 and more (search here: the law of small numbers).