# Perry Marshall: What is Random?

**URL:** <https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/perry-marshall-what-is-random/1419>\
**Category:** Side Conversation\
**Created:** [August 30, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/perry-marshall-what-is-random/1419 "2018-08-30T22:20:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 127

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**Author:** ![CLAVDIVS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/clavdivs/32/3676_2.png) [@CLAVDIVS](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/CLAVDIVS)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/perry-marshall-what-is-random/1419/127 "2018-12-20T01:41:26Z")

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I think this bears repeating …

According to Aquinas:

> The effect of divine providence is not only that things should happen somehow, but that they should happen either by necessity or by contingency. Therefore, whatsoever divine providence ordains to happen infallibly and of necessity, happens infallibly and of necessity; and that happens from contingency, which the divine providence conceives to happen from contingency.

This is mirrored in the 2004 document _Communion and Stewardship: Human Beings Created in the Image of God_ issued by the Catholic International Theological Commission.

So according to Catholic doctrine, events that we perceive as random certainly do not necessarily appear so to God.

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