CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

Thomas W. Woolley, Jr.

Templeton Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity

In July of 1991, several years after my family and I had moved to Alabama, a commuter flight from New Orleans crashed on its approach to the Birmingham International Airport. All but two aboard that plane perished; the lone survivors were the pilot, who was thrown through the front windshield into a nearby house, and a local attorney. After his recovery I heard this attorney recount his story of having survived the accident. He recalled looking out the windows and seeing treetops and roofs of houses. All the while he was holding the hand of his law partner who was sitting across the aisle from him. Later, as he lay recovering in a hospital, he ruminated over why God had plucked him from disaster while allowing his friend and colleague to die. After careful consideration of at least half a dozen archetypes for the kind of God that could reign over such an event, he concluded that although the universe had been created by an omnipotent being, this same God stood back and now watched the progress of a creation governed by chance. He supported his contention by reference to scientific evidence of a universe seemingly designed around chance (e.g., evolutionary processes and quantum theory) as well as biblical passages such as, "…for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45, ESV).

Shortly after hearing of this man's spiritual journey through hardship and doubt I found my way to a small book written by David Bartholomew entitled, "God of Chance" (SCM Press: London, 1984) as well as his paper, "Probability, Statistics and Theology" (Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, A151:137-178, 1988). At the time of the writing of his book Bartholomew was an accomplished and well-respected Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the London School of Economics (now retired) and soon-to-be president of the Royal Statistical Society. In the current worldview science is the benchmark against which truth is measured. Within this context certainties once accepted by many Christians have been replaced by doubt. Bartholomew's contention is that a rational person's belief must rest upon uncertainties. It is probability theory that provides the methodology for measuring uncertainty and therefore provides the Christian with the best opportunity for fashioning a rational basis for belief. Richard Swinburne and others have explored related themes.

As a statistician and an evangelical Christian, I found Bartholomew's suggestions provocative, and evocative; his words rekindled feelings that had been dormant within me for decades. Though having seriously considered entering seminary during my high school and college years, ultimately I did not sense the call and rather pursued an education in the sciences, initially biological and subsequently statistical. I was drawn to the applied statistical sciences in part because of the opportunity they afford to collaborate in discovery across a variety of disciplines and problems. Though my background in the biological sciences led me to begin my career as a biostatistical researcher, I have taught and worked with researchers in fields as disparate as business, criminal justice, education, and medicine. It was that 1989 event, however, that reignited a serious personal quest for a deeper and fuller faith through an understanding of the interface of science and Christian theology, particularly the ambiguous notion of "chance" and its interpretation from a more orthodox, creedal Christian perspective. In 1993 I opted to move to a Christian university whose mission would support explicitly my growing intellectual curiosity about science and religion.

Since my move to Samford University I have spoken before professional and lay audiences about my ideas concerning chance and Christian theology. During the spring and summer of 2001 I took 23 undergraduate students (pursuing areas of study as diverse as art, religion, biology, French, journalism, theater, business administration, political science, philosophy, and English literature, among others) to London where we engaged in an in-depth study of the topic. The students and I had the privilege of meeting with the Rev. Dr. Arthur Peacocke, the Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne and Dr. David Bartholomew for extensive lecture and discussion opportunities. It was during this time abroad that I became involved with the Science and Religion Forum (U.K.), with Dr. Bartholomew's support and encouragement. As a result of Dr. Polkinghorne's affirmation I enrolled in a Master of Theology program upon my return to the States.

Given the central role that randomness plays in many of the most substantive theoretical propositions of the natural, physical and social sciences, it can be argued that uncertainty rather than order is the hallmark of science. Yet there is much to be explored concerning chance or uncertainty in science and Christianity, particularly from the perspective of the evangelical mind. Other than Bartholomew I know of no one with professional training in chance, through the study of statistics and probability theory, who has examined its theological implications. It is my desire to spend considerable time over the remainder of my academic career actively pursuing this avenue of inquiry.