Chance and the Sovereignty of God: A God-Centered Approach to Probability and Random Events

by Vern Sheridan Poythress

What if all events―big and small, good and bad―are governed by more than just blind chance? What if they are governed by God? In this theologically informed and philosophically nuanced introduction to the study of probability and chance, Vern Poythress argues that all events―including the seemingly random or accidental―fall under God’s watchful gaze as part of his eternal plan. Comprehensive in its scope, this book lays the theistic foundation for our scientific assumptions about the world while addressing personal questions about the meaning and significance of everyday events.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Philosophy, Science, Religion, Christianity, Mathematics

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2014

About the author

Vern Sheridan Poythress was born in 1946 in Madera, California, where he lived with his parents Ransom H. Poythress and Carola N. Poythress and his older brother Kenneth R. Poythress. After teaching mathematics for a year at Fresno State College (now California State University at Fresno), he became a student at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he earned an M.Div. (1974) and a Th.M. in apologetics (1974). He received an M.Litt. in New Testament from University of Cambridge (1977) and a Th.D. in New Testament from the University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa (1981).

He has been teaching in New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia since 1976. In 1981 he was ordained as a teaching elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evangelical Synod, which has now merged with the Presbyterian Church in America.

More information about his teaching at Westminster can be found at the Westminster Seminary website.

Dr. Poythress studied linguistics and Bible translation at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman Oklahoma in 1971 and 1972, and taught linguistics at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in the summers of 1974, 1975, and 1977. He has published books on Christian philosophy of science, theological method, dispensationalism, biblical law, hermeneutics, Bible translation, and Revelation. A list of publications is found on this website.

Dr. Poythress married his wife Diane in 1983, and they have two children, Ransom and Justin. He has side interests in science fiction, string figures, volleyball, and computers.

The family lived on a farm until he was five years old. When he was nine years old he made a public commitment to Christ and was baptized in Chowchilla First Baptist Church, Chowchilla, California. The family later moved to Fresno, California, and he graduated from Bullard High School in Fresno.

He earned a B.S. in mathematics from California Institute of Technology (1966) and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University (1970).

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It started out reminding my of Jonathan Edwards on the decrees of God but soon struck out on a different path. I must caution, for the truly averse, the book does contain a lot of math. The purpose of the math was to show that even what we call chance or random can be seen to involve order and points to the Creator.

In some of the chapters, where Poythress is working out his proofs, you could always skip to the end of the chapter where he summarizes his findings. If you read nothing else in this book, it's worth reading the two chapters on chance where he reveals the erroneous thinking and actual idolatrous nature of the way we often approach chance.

He spends a lot of time on probability and makes application of probability to gambling. The material on gambling is also well worth the time to read.

If you haven't studied much of the sovereignty of God, this probably isn't the place to start. Overall though, I believe it is an important contribution to the study of God's sovereignty.

[Nicholas A. Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Poythress immensely. He is a fantastic writer with a deep mind that in turn makes his readers think deep. This book accomplishes that.
It was a bit repetitive in the details. However, this would be a great supplement to a Prob and Stats class perhaps in a Christian School/ Homeschool setting.

He has great things to say about the sin of gambling, why it is wrong, and why it is designed to fail.

Needless to say, like the other books of his I’ve read, it provided great insight to the topic and stirred deep thoughts.

[Craig Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is easy to think that much of the activities in our lives are nothing more than a string of random chance events that have no significance beyond their occurrence or connection to the bigger picture of our lives, let alone the lives of others. Further, when it comes to the good events in our lives we are quick to attribute them to God. But what about the bad events? Is God in those somewhere? Did He ordain them? Allow them? Is He indifferent to them?

Chance. Randomness. Unpredictability. Is there such a thing? What do they look like in everyday life? How would they work with a sovereign God? Is there a place for them within the Christian worldview? Seeking to answer these questions and more, Vern Poythress has written Chance and the Sovereignty of God: A God-Centered Approach to Probability and Random Events. This book is a continuation of his previous books like Logic and Redeeming Philosophy in which Poythress seeks to understand these sciences in light of Scripture and the the existence of God as the foundation for all of life.

Overview

The book can be broken into two essential parts. In the first half of the book Poythress establishes the sovereignty of God as laid out in Scripture. From texts like Heb. 1:3 and Col. 1:17 it is established that God ‘s continual sustaining of the universe places God in sovereign control of it. From Scripture Poythress shows how God in involved in many kids of events:

Coincidences – The arrow that kills king Ahab in battle (1 Kings 22:20-22), Abraham’s servant finding Rebekah at the well (Gen. 24), and the two spies sent into Jericho finding Rahab (Joshua 2).
Disasters and Suffering – The book of Job, natural disasters (Isa. 45:7; Amos 3:6), and the unjust death of Christ (Acts 2:23).
Human Choices – Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt (Gen. 50:20) and Jesus’ death (Acts 2:23).
Small Random Events – Lives of animals (Matt. 10:29), growth of grass (Job 38:26-27), everyday needs of humans (Matt. 6:25-34), and the casting of lots (Prov. 16:33)
From these passages, and many more, we can see that God and the Biblical writers saw God as sovereign over all things that happen in the universe – no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

So if God is sovereign over all things then how does, or can, chance play into the Christian worldview? Poythress presents two views of chance from Websters Dictionary:

something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause,
the assumed impersonal purposelessness determiner of unaccountable happenings.
Essentially, Christians should not be afraid of the first definition but should reject the second. Christians can, Poythress says, accept the first definition because from the perspective of the person in a random event, such as Abraham’s servant meeting Rebekah at the well, both parties see their meeting the other person as unintentional. They do not see the cause of their meeting at the time. There is no “discernible human intention or observable cause” at the time of the event, and for many events, the causes may never be known, and therefore, leaving the event shrouded in the mystery of chance proper.

What the readers of Scripture see when they read events like Abraham’s servant meeting Rebekah at the well is a view of the event and the entire story from hind sight. In this case, hind sight is 20/20 when it comes to seeing the providence of their meeting. It becomes part of redemptive history.

So a proper understanding of chance can be embraced by Christians (the first definition) while at the same time realizing that the sovereign God has intentions and purposes behind everything whether we know it or not. Luck (the second definition), on the other hand, is to be rejected because to embrace it would mean a denial of the existence of God, and therefore His sovereignty. Poythress is wise to suggest that “chance is properly used to describe the limitations of human knowledge, not the limitations of God’s power.” (121)

Further, because God is sovereign over all he is involved in the inner workings of unpredictable and predictable events.

Unpredictable events arise in the midst of predictable irregularities. For example, the well to which Rebekah regularly walked had water in it. She could predict that she could find water when she arrived. She could not predict that she would meet Abraham’s servant. Unpredictable and predictable go together. (101)

As is common for Poythress, he uses the analogy of the trinity to explain and apply God’s involvement in and explanation for everything. He does so by applying it to the “random” flip of a coin:

God the Father plans the flip and its result. He speaks through the speech of God the Son, sending out his command to govern the coin. The Holy Spirit is present, applying the word of command to the coin. The coin comes up heads, according to his plan and his speaking and his power. According to God’s wisdom, the process and the result for the coin cohere with all other events in his plan. (108)

But Poythress is keen to the fact that mankind makes a god out of chance through idolatry. When we apply the definition of luck to chance, chance replaces God. This is true whether it is referring to astrology, sorcerers, or games of chance like Black Jack or 21. (see chap. 14)

The second part of the book deals with probability, and its varied aspects, and how it relates to mathematics. If readers are not familiar with logical formulas and probability, the second half of the book will prove some hard reading. The reading is good if you can wade through it but it is definitely slower reading. One does not have to grasp all of it to benefit from it.

Essentially, Poythress argues that despite the seemingly randomness and unpredictability of many events in the universe (coin flip or atoms moving), it is only possible because of God’s sovereign presence and control. God makes them possible and actual.

Some of the best reading in the book is Poythress’ discussion of gambling it its utter foolishness. Most gamblers think they can beat the house. But because of the existence of probabilistic independence (PI), there is no system one can learn or master to beat the house. PI is used to describe events in which no amount of knowledge can have an influence on the outcome of a given situation, event or act. Applied to the game of roulette, this means that the outcome of 100% of the throws a person makes are 100% independent from one another. There is no system to master that will enable a person to influence the ball to fall on the number they have bet on. The house has the advantage – and it knows it. Casinos only exist because of the law of PI.

Conclusion

Chance and the Sovereignty of God is a great addition to the ever growing books by Poythress on various scientific fields. Poythress is well qualified to address the issue of chance and probability, not only from an education standpoint, but also from a Biblical standpoint. He interprets all of life through the lens of Scripture, as every Christian should.

I recommend this book for Christians looking for a biblical view of chance and probability. This is not an exhaustive book but it will get readers feet wet and lay a foundation for further reading and study. While readers will not always agree with Poythress’ conclusions, there is much to be learned and agreed with.

I received this book for free from Crossway for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Steven Carpenter · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 100 pages are good – after that – we get lost in a lackluster Probability 101 course.

His argument from the Bible that chance/luck does not exist is strong, but then he makes no attempt to address objections from proponents of alternative theological perspectives (open theism, process theology, Molinism, etc.). Another case where Poythress argues without anticipating objections is his chapter “Trinitarian Foundations for Chance”. He makes an interesting, but in my opinion, weak argument, only dedicating a mere 7 pages to an essential point to his book.

In general, this book takes a low view of those who would disagree with Poythress’ view. He quotes some portion of Romans 1:18-23 over a dozen times to demonstrate those dissenters are simply “suppressers of the truth.” It seems he uses this scripture as a trump card rather than engaging the arguments of opponents head-on.

[Matthew Weathers · Rating 5 out of 5]

He successfully combines probability with theology. I enjoyed the book.

[Michael Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

The question of God’s sovereignty is a perennial point of discussion both among those who oppose God and even within the body of Christ. Does God truly control every single element of every single thing each and every millisecond or is there room for random chance in the eternal equation? Dr. Vern Poythress in his latest book Chance and the Sovereignty of God: A God-centered Approach to Probability and Random Events takes an in-depth look at this issue of sovereignty and chance.

First let me provide you with a bit of a warning. This book is not a quick read given the manner in which Dr. Poythress engages this subject matter. Additionally, this is not a book that simply says “Well the Bible declares God is Sovereign so that is enough for me.” Dr. Poythress clearly affirms God’s sovereignty and the Biblical message provided therein; however, he takes great pains to demonstrate how believers can respond to claims against God’s sovereignty made by those who reject God as well as providing the reader with a plethora of tools by which to engage in conversation with those who affirm sovereignty yet have questions as to the true extent of how far God’s sovereignty exists both past, present, and in the future.

Dr. Poythress divides this book into four parts interspersing throughout a number of helpful tables and illustrations to help the reader grasp the rather heady concepts he discusses. Part one rightly begins with an engagement of the sovereignty of God proper as it is outlined in Scripture. Since “The Bible indicates that God is the ultimate source for knowledge”, what better place to start a discussion on sovereignty and chance than God’s Word. Poythress aptly notes that while some things can be certain, at least for the believer, such as God as Creator and the One who knows all things from beginning to end, there are some issues that seem to continually boggle our finite minds, namely those often attributed to chance.

Since God created everything, believers should then affirm as Scripture clearly states that “He upholds the universe by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).” God’s providential rule as Creator and sustainer thus has some very practical implications. Poythress rightly notes “our trust in God should extend to all areas of life…we should trust when we are afraid…We should trust in him for the security of our lives.” This placement of trust implies that we are not randomly throwing that trust to the wind; conversely, we can have confidence that the One we place our trust in is completely sovereign and knows what He is doing.

The question remains as to whether there is any such thing as random events and if there are such events, does God control them, allow for them within His divine plan, or does God not worry Himself with certain minutia? What about disasters? Does God control each and every disaster meaning was Hurricane Katrina as some evangelicals asserted a judgment by God on America or are natural disasters simply a result of the natural processes of planet earth post sin? Poythress spends the remainder of his excellent book addressing answers to these questions and to which I will now point out a few standout areas for consideration.

After building a solid foundation for the reader concerning God’s sovereignty as outlined in Scripture as well as providing an excellent working definition of chance, Poythress next examines the reality that God is involved in even the minutest elements of everyday events. In fact, we can see that “God the Father has a plan, which he articulates through the speech of God the Son, and which he brings into realization by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This Trinitarian element to sovereignty reveals that despite our perspective that some things just appear to random or unimportant to be included under the umbrella of God’s control or concern, in reality, “In the midst of the diversity of possibilities”, we can actually see consistent patterns and regularity. Such regularities as noted by Poythress demonstrate that “He maintains the general pattern that says that a coin will come up heads roughly half of the time (50%). He is faithful in his sustenance of the world as a whole and coin flips in particular.” Furthermore, “The very unpredictability of the flip of a coin shows the unique greatness of God. God knows the result from all eternity, but we do not know until it happens. God controls the outcome, while we cannot control it.”

Poythress also presents a very strong response to those who affirm chance as a replacement for God, namely through the avenue of evolutionary naturalism. He aptly comments “The addition of Chance does nothing to improve meaning. If anything, it makes our situation worse. The equations of physics can at least have a kind of wonderful beauty and harmony to them, but Chance represents blank meaninglessness.” Thankfully, as believers, we have great confidence in the fact that God is fully in control of all things and moreover, as Poythress salienty notes, “God as a personal God has created human persons in his image. Therefore, human beings have personal significance” unlike the purposeless approach of evolutionary naturalism.

The final sections of this excellent book dive into aspects of mathematical probability which admittedly was very much over my head and ability to understand. Statistics, while interesting to me, was just one of those subjects in school that made my eyes glaze over. With that said, Poythress again presents a strong position using the tools of mathematics to once again demonstrate that rooted within concepts such as probability and chance, there still remains the overarching structure of purpose with that purpose serving the divine plans of an almighty and sovereign God.

I highly recommend this book for all believers, in particular those with an interest in the topic of sovereignty and how it relates to the concept of chance. This book would be especially helpful to those who interact with individuals of the evolutionary persuasion as the information provided by Poythress will be of great assistance in responding to their incorrect theories that the universe is nothing more than a collection of particles that came together due to random chance. Poythress thoroughly demonstrates in this book that we serve a God who is Creator and Sustainer and who cares so much about His creation that He meticulously and methodically oversees each and every event that takes place in His creation. That very fact should give us hope and confidence that we serve a loving and sovereign God and more importantly, it should cause us to praise Him and to tell all the world about the God we serve.

I received this book for free from Crossway Books for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[James Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, this book probably isn't for everyone. But it would be well worth your time and perseverance to read this book. The book is divided into four sections:

1. The Sovereignty of God
2. God as the Foundation for Chance
3. Probability
4. Probability and Mathematics

There are also 10 Appendices that cover a range of topics, including gambling and why you can never win and a variety of topics on statistics and probability.

The first two sections lay a great foundation using scripture for the premise of the book, that God is sovereign over ALL and is still active in the world today, in both the good and the bad. The last two sections get more in depth into the mathematics of proving the truths of the first two sections.

Some of it gets a bit heady, especially if you're not really into math and science, but there are gems in this book that can only be discovered if you're willing to persevere to the end. I'll close with this quote from the conclusion.

"It is important for us to see God's hand in chance and probability, because it deepens our respect for him and our worship. It is also important because chance and probability play a key role in our lives through the influence of science. Virtually all of modern science rests on ideas about chance and probability. And these ideas inescapably reveal God."

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of gems within this book, but quite honestly my brain stopped comprehending a lot of the equations 3/4 of the way through.

I did really like the repeated emphasis of how our understanding should lead us to see more of God's character, which should turn us to praise God. We have formed certain ways of knowing and calculating how things work in our world, but we can only do so because of God's faithfulness to us in sustaining this world. This was such a helpful reminder.

The book is a bit dry/dense for some due to the equations involved, but would be good reading for those who are more mathematically inclined. I'd recommend certain chapters of this book to everyone though, particularly towards the beginning where Poythress lays the foundations of our understanding of "Chance" and towards the end around gambling.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't understand what this is trying to be.

The first half or so of the book discusses, from a Christian view, philosophical concepts of probability, discussing topics such as the theistic origins of fundamental mathematics, God's sovereignty over indeterminate events, and theodicy. The second half is an equation-heavy overview of high school level probability theory, covering basic axioms and applications including the gambler's fallacy, the Monty Hall problem, and the birthday paradox.

There is certainly great potential in these pages, but it just could have been integrated much better. A second edition with heavy reorganization, many more exercises, and even formatting improvements like separating out the equations from the paragraphs, would go a long way to making this a fine book for a Classical or homeschooling math course.

[Laurent Dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van Tilian/neocalvinist analysis of probability and chance. Explains how to integrate chance in a christian worldview : men can know regularities (seasons for example) but cannot know unpredictibalities (when it will rain for example).On the other hand, God know both, he is sovereign, he controls chance. In fact the triune God of Scriptures is the only right presupposition for chance and its meaning.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book.
A more appropriate title in-line with his others might be "Redeeming probability".

This would be more for those who are at least a bit interested in mathematics/probability.
I would definitely recommend this to those who are considering studying mathematics/statistics at college.

[Alan Kahn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a mathematician so this was very difficult for me. But if i was this book would be mind blowing!! :)

Some really fun thoughts in here!

[Emmanuel Boston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vern Poythress sets out to instruct (mostly) Christians in the coherence and randomness God has given us in this world. I say ‘mostly Christians’ because he allows room for unbelievers to read and follow his arguments, but his book is quite explicitly theistic; and while Poythress offers sound mathematics and logic, this book is only an Apologetic, not an Evangelistic—and although I was convinced of the Theo-centricity of his arguments concerning chance, probability, coherence, and harmony, I am also in his same camp and cannot properly evaluate how ‘an outsider’ would respond to his depictions.

Book thesis: We need to look at the nature of chance not only to address personal questions that we have about the meaning of everyday events in human life, but to address the issue of what confidence we should have in the sciences and their claims. (15)

Poythress includes several common reasons people are interested in the idea of chance and the sovereignty of God as a stimulant: “Why did my family escape the mountain highway accident? Why did another person suffer from a ‘chance accident?” “Is God in charge of these ‘accidental’ events or not?” Of course, these are excellent questions, and fortunately I believe Poythress well answers them—at least to the extent of which our human knowledge is capable, a point Poythress is astute to frequently return to. In fact, there are several ideas Poythress often elucidates that could be said form the core of his presentation:

God is infinitely knowledgeable and wise.
Man is finitely knowledgeable and wise—patterned after God’s own.
There is harmony between the world and our thoughts because God created it, and we think his thoughts after him.
God has created laws of chance and probability which he controls.
We cannot expect God to alter outcomes for personal benefit/detriment, though he can.
If God does not control chance, then another god must—whom materialists call Chance.

Of course, with nearly 350 pages, Poythress fills in all the gaps, supports, and draws further conclusions such as the probability that God exits—a mathematical question; the futility of gambling—though many of us want to doubt his veracity; classic math problems like the game show and the same birthday questions; and the ‘just so happens’ serendipity that influences so much of our life.

I’m aware that some reviewers have claimed that the mathematical portions are too full of calculations and not for the average reader. While it’s true that the math will not make sense to all, I believe Poythress made the math as accessible as possible. In other words: if you failed your college math class and aren’t willing to spend time trying to understand, the math sections will be disappointing; and since the math sections are what give support to Poythress’ claims, you will be left slightly unconvinced.

Poythress is thorough. In fact, that’s the only thing I would have had changed. Poythress offers equation after equation after equation and chapter after chapter after chapter elaborating on the major principles time and again. By the end, no one will have said he left anything out; but some will never get to the end for that very reason. I’m aware that in mathematics, it’s necessary to prove everything in ways that logic might mistakenly call “circular,” but it may be too much for the non-mathematician to handle with perpetual excitement. That being said, I believe the book is excellent in all categories, and it certainly deserves some time: perhaps just not all that it requires.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in mathematical philosophy, as well as any apologist in a collegiate setting. And perhaps the pastor in a college-city.

10/10 in Theology, in Math, in Accessibility, in answering Thesis

Comparable to no books of which I’m aware, though it’s closely related to a series by Poythress on the sciences: “Redeeming…”

I hope that you walk away with deeper assurance in the loving hand of our sovereign God and delight in the mastery of his creation.

[[This review is crosslisted on Amazon|dot|com and ejboston|dot|blogspot|dot|com]]
[[[This book was received through Crossway's Beyond the Page program]]]

[Laura Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mathematicians, scientists, and analysts will find a smorgasboard of material to chew on and savor in Vern S. Poythress’s April 2014 release, Chance and the Sovereignty of God: A God-Centered Approach to Probability and Random Events, published by Crossway. The book presents a biblical worldview of chance and probability, filled with detail and countless examples.

First off, Chance and the Sovereignty of God by Vern S. Poythress is not an easy read. It’s very academic, as it should be, since it deals with the math and science of probability and chance. As a non-mathematician, I found myself taking frequent brain breaks as I read! Quite honestly, I didn’t understand everything I read, tending to get a bit bogged down in some of the details and explanations. But this one thing is true: I came away from Chance and the Sovereignty of God with a renewed sense of awe for who God is and how creative He is.

In the book, Poythress deals with a variety of topics including happenstance, disasters and suffering, human choice, random events, chance, probability, predictions and outcomes, gambling, and astrology. Throughout Chance and the Sovereignty of God, Poythress affirms the greatness of God and our inability to completely understand God and His ways because they are higher than ours (Isaiah 55). Acknowledging God’s control over all, Poythress urges readers to praise God for His unsearchable ways. He says, “In every chance event, God provides for us an example of His greatness. We should respond with worship. We should praise Him for His power, his wisdom, His love, His faithfulness, and His creativity”

It seems clear that one of the author’s purposes in Chance and the Sovereignty of God is to help readers see God’s greatness as evidenced in His control over chance, probability and random events, and, as a result, to worship and praise God because of that new discovery. Though I had difficulty wading through some of the explanations because I’m not a mathematician, I definitely came away with a new appreciation for God’s greatness and a desire to worship Him for who He is.

I found the author’s tone to be inviting, honest, and academic. I appreciated the clear examples Poythress gave throughout the book, helping make abstract concepts more understandable. Additionally, I appreciated the book’s special features, including many figures and illustrations throughout the book that added to the clarity of the author’s main points. The appendices delve deeper into some of the topics, such as gambling, diseases, and statistics, giving readers even more to chew on. The general and scriptural indexes make the book an easy reference, helping readers to pinpoint specific topics and references quickly and easily.

Vern S. Poythress is professor of New Testament interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he has taught for over three decades. He has six earned degrees, including a PhD from Harvard University and a ThD from the University of Stellenbosch. He is the author of numerous books on a variety of topics, including biblical interpretation, language, and science.

*I received a copy of the book from Crossway for this review; however, the opinions expressed are my own.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vern Poythress has done much to encourage Christians to embrace the truth that God is God of all of creation and Christians are called to pursue excellence, not just in the “sacred” things like Bible study, learning worship choruses, and coming up with clever sayings for church signs and youth camp bracelets, but also the “secular” things like art, science, math, and literature. His newest volume sets out to look at the topic of chance, statistics, probability and mathematics in the light of God’s sovereign reign over all of everything. I decided that this would be a good introduction for me to Poythress on a book-length level. That turned out to be true…and maybe not so true.

One of the first things I found was that Poythress is a very approachable and engaging writer. He has the gifting to be able to take a subject that might not be that interesting and get you interested in it….that actually turned out to be a good thing. It would appear that I am less interested in probability than I thought I was. Beyond that, some of the technical aspects of this work were over my head (apparently my community college “C” in Statistics a couple of years ago has not prepared me to be much of a statistician). But, Poythress did an excellent job maintaining my attention and explaining it where I understand 3/4(or 75%, or .75 or 3 out of 4) of what he was writing about.

Poythress unpacks the difference between chance and Chance and the reign of God over all of his creation. While his language of sovereignty at times felt like fatalism (and I would be very interested to read more of his teaching on human choice/accountability and sovereignty) this is a very encouraging book for the Christian who either has an interest in mathematics and statistics or someone who is taking a course on probability/statistics and would like some encouragement in dealing with the all-too-present naturalism that pervades much of academia. His moral claim about gambling seemed to be an overstatement (both in emphasis and conclusion) and did not differentiate clearly enough between games of pure chance (i.e. roulette) and games of skill that involve aspects of chance (i.e. poker).

So, would I read this again? …No. But, that has everything to do with the subject, not the author. Mathematics in general just does not interest me much at all. However, this work has increased my desire to dive into Logic and Redeeming Science by Vern Poythress, two works I have wanted to read but felt hesitant due to not being familiar with Poythress and being concerned that they/he might be overwhelming to read. The chapters were short, his teaching was clear and simple, and his style was entertaining. I look forward to investing time in some more of his works!

I received a review a complimentary copy through Crossway’s Beyond the Page review program.

[Mark Nenadov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially, this book seeks to apply the Biblical worldview to topics like chance, happenstance, and probability. Poythress is fascinating thinker and really has a great way of communicating his ideas.

I began this book with a great deal of excitement, having recently listened to the author's interview on the Reformed Forum. It's a highly ambitious project. I would say that not only did he avoid failing, he succeeded in bringing forward a highly readable and helpful resource on the subject.

Poythress seeks to show how a proper view of chance and probability is bound up in the nature of God and the worldview which most accurately reflects the universe God created. For instance, Poythress says that "the very concept of probability depends on the relationship of God’s faithfulness to his creativity"

Poythress is relentless at bringing the Bible to bear on these topics. He reveals the breadth of Biblical revelation on the subjects and presents it all in a very digestible format, even with many helpful diagrams!

If you really dig the rest of the book, don't forget the appendices! It's loaded with material. The essays there, especially the one on the probabilities of gambling, are worth the price of the book. The appendices are probably almost 1/4 of the book!

One caution: If you don't have a strong mathematical background, you may find certain parts of this book rather overwhelming and will need to skip through some parts. I found certain parts a bit "over my head", though I generally stuck through with it. I simply don't have a strong enough math background to be able to digest the top 1% of this book in terms of complexity. I sort of wish he simplified some of it, or perhaps pushed it into the appendix, though I must say that the appendix is so loaded that that probably wasn't be an option. Don't get too worried about this, though. You could basically skip half of this book and still find a ton of meat to "chew on". There's so much to this book beyond the most complex mathematical parts. The handling of the instances of "happenstance" in the Biblical narratives is excellent.

As one other minor critique, I feel like the "Alternatives are not really better" section in the "Disasters and Suffering" chapter could have used some further development. It seems like Poythress sort of rushed through that part.

All in all, this is a unique, momentous book, and Poythress has done a valuable service to Christians who want to think thoroughly through issues like probability and chance.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into this one. The first third of the book is largely an argument for God's sovereignty. It's well done, but it's a dry presentation of a case that's made elsewhere.

Much of the second third is Intro to Statistics, which is unnecessary for people who know the theory and probably too quick to take root for those who don't (though Poythress's clarity makes it easy to follow the bigger argument). The problem is that the chapters in this section too often boil down "Isn't it cool that God made that possible? We should praise Him for that!" I'd have enjoyed more theology and more philosophy in it. Poythress made a number of good points -- particularly relating to God's permanence and creativity as viewed in both irregularities and regularity -- but I'd have enjoyed more of that and less explaining how probability works (or more integration of the two).

The final third is actually a series of appendices, which vary from good (a clear working of the Monty Hall problem) to skimmable (depending on your interest in learning stats).

Given the high rating of this book and the frequency with which Poythress is cited in contemporary writing, I suspect I'm not part of the target audience, although I'm not sure I could define who that would be. I'm glad others are enjoying it and finding it to be edifying.

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poythress' view of chance and the sovereignty of God is basically identical to mine, but that doesn't make this a good book. Why he didn't stop at page 100 is beyond me. He has the incredible ability of saying something in two paragraphs when a sentence or two would have done the trick. And when he branches into mathematics and probability, it's basically Statistics 101.

The good 100 pages are worthwhile. Poythress points out why "chance" does not and cannot exist in a world governed by a sovereign God. He draws a few good conclusions, and then the dry rot sets in. A couple of his 10(!) appendices are good, concerning the Monty Hall problem and Bayes' theorem, but the rest look like they're ripped right out of a high school math textbook.

[Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flipping coins for the glory of God... I wrestled between giving this a 3 or 4 star review and decided in the 4 star purely because of the appendices. Poythress is clear and thorough in his writing but I would only recommend the book to those who really enjoy math BUT are not mathematicians. Too heavy and dry for those who don't enjoy math BUT too light for the professor of your discrete mathematics course!
But no matter who reads it you will learn to see the glory of the Trinity in the minutia... Who knew flipping coins could be so glorious!

[Mark A Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chance. Randomness. Are these genuine occurrences in an unpredictable world? Not in light of God’s sovereignty, Poythress argues. This book explains how God has created and designed a universe in which the study of probability and chance leads us to Him. Honestly, much of the math in this volume escapes me, although Poythress does a good job of “dumbing it down” as much as possible for the average reader. Sound theology and argumentation abound here.

[William Parr Jr]

This is an excellent read.