Matthew asked:

With occurrences like the miracles at Medjugore not being commonplace nowadays but nevertheless
evident, fate seems to be justified. Some people believe that if I was to do something totally out of the
ordinary (like grow wings — bear with me here) that it would be totally unpredictable. However, it's
highly improbable, not impossible. Do you believe in fate, even if to an extent, or that anyone is in
control of their own conscious thought? What makes you believe this?

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A miracle presupposes a world where anything is possible. Fate presupposes a world where there
are inexorable laws. The former case is that of early Christianity in which, as Mark has it, "for God all
things are possible". In other words, anything could happen, and lots of strange things did, not least
the historical survival and ascendancy of the Church. The latter case is that of ancient Greece, say
the plays of Sophocles, where, like Oedipus, you cannot escape your destiny. As Tertullian said,
'What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?' In their extreme forms, little or nothing. But there is overlap
between Athens and Jerusalem in the notion of Providence. So in the Wisdom of Solomon
(chs.10-12, 16-18) there are long chapters on patterns in history i.e. there is a perception that history
is far from arbitrary. In Ecclesiasticus, (chs.10-18) the way in which 'God governs the world' is
explained in prudential terms, and so on. In Greece, strict fatalism gave way to 'logos' or reason, due
to the influence of the philosophical schools.

The ontological ideas of fate and freedom are not coherent but they inform Western thought and our
modern selves in various ways. While I do not 'follow my stars' I do believe that to some extent 'you
reap what you sow'. However, this belief is based on experience, that if I over-indulge myself, the
consequences will not be to my liking. I do not however, extend my belief that 'I reap what I sow' into
a belief in karma, which is the logical corollary. Therefore, I do not believe we get the illnesses we
deserve. I do not believe that this life is a punishment for a past life. In that way I sympathise much
more with Job than with his comforters.

Matthew Del Nevo

www.sicetnon.com