Accidents and Divine Intervention 

The first humans were confused about the causes of accidents, illnesses, and death. Without objective reason and factual knowledge to control irrational fears, they attributed everything unexplainable to invisible ghosts and malevolent spiritual forces. They created rituals and made sacrifices in an effort to appease those spirit entities whom they believed caused accidents and bad luck. For much of our history, we attempted to bargain with imaginary spirits, offering foods, animals, and even other humans to gain favor.

Fearful people without realistic science or revealed religion naturally gave their imaginary ghosts human qualities like envy, jealousy, anger, and revenge. Magicians, shamans, and clever deceivers used superstition to manipulate people. It required many millennia to loosen the grip of superstition and assert logic regarding the cause of mishaps, sicknesses, and fatalities. Superstition about the reasons for accidents ruled humankind right up to the 20th century, and still does as present in the minds of many.

Today, scientific rationale prevails where superstition once reigned. Science assures humanity that there are good and provable reasons for accidents. Can divine providence and scientific rationality ever be harmonized? If we grant science, ideas, and spirituality their rightful position in thinking, education, and theology, they can indeed coexist. Scholarship, philosophy, and religion are essential parts of holistic understanding, each having something to contribute to the ever-accumulating body of human wisdom.

Providence does not mean that God has decided all things for us and in advance, nor does our future hinge on ritual or sacrifice. The Universal Father's providence is not a myopic sentiment that would indulge and spoil his children.

If God knows "the end from the beginning," then blind and unforeseen accidents do not occur in the cosmos. Humans, not having the foresight of God, call some occurrences accidents even though most of them are foreseeable and preventable. While we are sure to encounter what are commonly called accidents and misfortunes, they are often the result of predictable events in combination with unwise choices.

Accidents and divine intervention are complex topics that require deep contemplation and broad understanding, augmented by honest science. We may not fully comprehend the reasons behind every tragic event. But, with an objective and clear-eyed view of apparent accidents, we can observe that, over time, they often lead to progress and growth in the affected individuals and society as a whole. And not all accidents are tragic. Many beneficial discoveries have come accidentally; penicillin, matches, and smoke detectors are well-known examples.

Should God prevent any or all accidents? Should God’s unlimited power of providence insert a saving hand in every instance of danger, slight or great? Can our guardian angels not live up to their title?

An omnipotent all-knowing God could prevent all so-called accidents, but would that be wise? If God or the angels step in before every decision that will lead to an "accident," it would negate our prime gift which is the ability to freely choose. God loves us too much to do that, for that would be nothing short of cosmic tyranny. Even a caring human parent will sometimes permit a child to do an unwise thing so that the child acquires wisdom. Isn’t the parent’s decision based on the actual danger to the child versus the potential for the quality and quantity of the wisdom acquired?

How many times should God insert a providential hand when the same mistakes occur over and over? And if divine providence is asserted every time humans make a poor decision, would those saved then begin to rely on providence and make presumptions based on this reliance? Would this promote the idea that God will save us even if we intentionally choose to do something dangerous?

Humans often refer to the term "luck" in relation to accidents and misfortune. Is luck, good or bad, a real or reliable factor in life? What seems lucky may not always be so and what appears to be an accident may be the very thing that helps a person grow through their experiences. Isn’t growth and experience two of the primary pursuits of living?

These questions and many others could be asked about apparent accidents and the assertion of providence. You can think of a thousand and one things – catastrophic physical events, appalling accidents, horrific disasters, painful illnesses, and world-wide scourges – and ask whether such visitations are God’s doings. But careful exploration of the phenomena of life sooner or later destroys belief in chance, luck, so-called accidents, and a punishing God. True religious insight reveals a loving God who is fierce only in the wise and compassionate watchcare of his children. Reason, revelation, and wisdom combine to uncover a universe of law and order where all effects are preceded by natural causes, and on occasion, modified by providence.

Religionists sometimes teach that faith is accident insurance, but is it? Broad-based experience proves that tragedy strikes believers and non-believers alike. People who profess to have faith often believe in such an insurance plan. But it does not pay off until after mortal death. There is life after this life where accident victims who die can resurrect and resume their eternal career. Jesus alluded to this when he said: "In my father’s house there are many mansions …I go to prepare a place for you." Trusting the wisdom and omnipotence of God is part of authentic and living faith. Accidents may sometimes serve as the supreme test of that faith.

Wise religionists will teach that providential intervention indicates the importance of the function of a person as concerns the evolutionary progress of the whole. It is the importance of the life mission of the person that brings providential intervention, not the importance of the person. Divine providence is all-wise, even perfect, and it is the manifestation of the will and purpose of God who guides the cosmic panorama of the universe.

The world, by design, is not a perfect place. All sorts of apparent accidents are bound to happen. No one who has reached adulthood has escaped being injured by what is commonly called an accident.

When Jesus was a small boy in his seventh year, a sandstorm came while he was descending the stairs from his home’s rooftop. With no handrail in place and the blinding sand, the wind blew him off the staircase and he suffered an injury. Nothing life threatening, but enough to cause his mother to keep him by her side for many months. Subsequently, his father installed a handrail to help prevent it from happening again.

God could have prevented this painful episode and steadied the boy until he reached the bottom step, but that would have preempted the lessons and experiences that followed. Consider also, as a result of this apparent accident, Mary learned how unwise and impossible it is to keep a child under her wing day and night, especially an active and curious one such as Jesus.

Perhaps, if the fall was potentially fatal, providence would have exercised its prerogative and saved young Jesus. And perhaps not, depending on destiny. God knows all things and knowing Jesus had a mission, he may have deemed it best to intervene if the fall would have been fatal. A child without such a destiny might have been killed and would resume on a higher, safer, sphere in the father's many mansions. Providence, being the choice and function of an all-wise God, is applied according to the unique circumstances of each situation. God has employed providence many times in human affairs, as when Lazarus’ life was restored, but never in the creation of religious dogma, superstition, or imaginary miracles.

Jesus’ apostle Thomas once asked him about accidents. He replied: "You may chance to fall victim to one of the accidents of nature, one of the mischances of men, knowing full well that such occurrences are in no way prearranged or otherwise produced by the spiritual forces of the realm." Jesus encouraged his followers not to let fear or excessive caution hold them back while also being mindful of the dangers that attend everyday life. "Fear not" was one of his sayings, but it was not a directive to behave recklessly.

An honest exploration of the phenomena of life progressively diminishes the importance and preoccupation with chance, luck, and so-called accidents. We live in a universe of law and order where effects are preceded by definite causes and modified by providential intervention only when divine wisdom deems it appropriate. Once this is understood, the fear of accidents, illness, and death is replaced by the joy of living.