Are There Accidents in God's Realm?

A Catholic priest mentioned the other day that the word "accident" is not mentioned anywhere in the King James Version of the Bible. This is true. You can find the word in the New American Standard and other versions with reference to accidental deaths covered by law in the Old Testament, and in First Samuel 20:26 regarding Saul's observations about David. The exact Hebrew term is "miqreh" in the Saul passage which means happenstance or chance occurrence [modern Hebrew "incident"], but the King James Bible does not use the word "accident."

A theological discussion arose about whether accidents are possible considering God's divine nature. Christian theology teaches that God either "ordains" [establishes by appointment, decree or law] or "allows"

The term accident according to the dictionary means "an event that takes place without foresight or expectation especially one of an unfortunate character." There are also "contingent" accidents or what legal courts call the "but for" doctrine. For example, in Workmen's Compensation litigation - "but for" a worker being required to install irrigation pipes on a golf course during his normal 8 hours of business in a storm, lightening would not have struck him. Although his employer did not cause the lightening (Act of God) and therefore is blameless, "but for" the employee's requirement to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the employee would not have been struck. Therefore, the employer and employee are contingently responsible to some degree for dangerous working conditions.

Physics professor and Anglican priest John Polkinghorne tells us that the cosmos is not the result of some "happy accident." By this I believe he means that there is design and intent to the universe (planets, stars, laws of nature) which would be the antecedent or contrary to a term such as accident which is an act or event without foresight or expectation.

I have taken this question to prayer since the outcome of the answer was most disturbing to converts such as myself. I was upset to think that mankind's dumb actions and the pollution of the environment which causes DNA recombination and birth defects as well as self-destructive diseases like the African Eboli virus would have been "ordained" or "allowed" by God. Then it occurred to me that allowance does not necessarily imply foresight or expectation. We know that God is omnipotent (all powerful) and also all-seeing and all-knowing, however an existence without surprises and other beings of free will, even unpleasant ones, would become rather boring over time. The greatest minds of humanity experiment and exercise artistic license. Maybe struggle and fortitude are part of a learning and creative process. However God's essence is very different than our own. The most interesting theory I have heard so far is that God wills without choice and knows without thinking (God's thoughts are not our thoughts). That said, let us turn to some Biblical passages and see what they uncover.

Genesis 6:6 "And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He grieved in His heart." This passage affirms that God is creator who ordains and allows, however it does imply a certain sense of regret over the original creation which could suggest God had unexpected or unpleasant results - sin in mankind. The gift of free will suggests that acts contrary to God's will did arise.

Many scientists today consider the world an "anthropic" universe, a world so finely-tuned for mankind that this proves the case for a designer God. But we cannot forget that many species and insects have proliferated and survived on earth longer and more successfully than we have, and they are without sin. Also, if one is going to make the claim for intelligent design, that would include those unpleasant parts of nature which we wish had rather not been created by design, accident or otherwise.