Q&A: God’s Intervention Disguised as Randomness
God’s Intervention Disguised as Randomness
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I find a strong similarity between the question of how free will intervenes in the laws of nature and the question of how the Holy One, blessed be He, intervenes. Why, in your view, can’t one say that the Holy One, blessed be He, intervenes in a way similar to how choice intervenes?
One could propose a mechanism similar to that ball traveling through a topological space (the laws of nature). In your book you argued that free choice is one of the factors affecting the ball’s motion, and similarly one could argue that prayer also affects its motion.
If I understand correctly, the main motivation for supporting the existence of free will is our strong intuition that it exists. In the same way, if a person has an intuition to pray in a time of distress, doesn’t he have strong support for the idea that there is something to prayer?
Answer
This question has already been asked here several times. In principle, the Holy One, blessed be He, can intervene in the laws of nature. My claim is not that He cannot, but that in practice this is not done, at least not routinely. Rare (sporadic) interventions cannot be ruled out. Therefore I don’t need models that make this possible. This is a factual question: does it happen or not?
The comparison you made is unfounded. Intuition regarding free will is based on an immediate sensation, since you experience your own mode of action. Intuition regarding God’s involvement is just baseless speculation, because you have no way of knowing it. There is no event that happened to you or to anyone else that you can determine was the result of divine involvement. Therefore it is only a result of religious education, nothing more.
Discussion on Answer
The fact that many people feel a need to pray really does not mean that prayer has an effect. In the same way, one could infer from the fact that many people want to eat chocolate that chocolate is healthy.
The fact that many people like chocolate may be an indication that there is something about it that makes it worth eating—for example, that it tastes good.
I think that all the outreach seminars for bringing people back to religion are based, among other things, on the feeling/need people have to pray. That’s why many turn to religion in times of distress. It’s not only a projection of religious education.
Are there any proofs that could settle the question of whether prayer has an effect?