4th May 2025
Jerry Carr-Brion
We Cannot Know the Future
It is a common human desire to want to know what the future will bring. Many people crave certainty and fear an unknown future. Online astrologers and assorted gurus are read by millions, while the so-called ‘prophecies’ of Nostradamus continue to attract new interpretations. Of course, none of this has any scientific validity. The movements of the planets do not influence our personal lives. Quantum mechanics tells us that on an atomic scale, the future is indeterminate. We can only speak about probabilities, rather than absolute certainties. God does indeed play dice with the universe.
In the context of religion, prophets of one sort or another are traditionally believed to possess the power to foresee future events. The Old Testament prophets often foresaw the destruction of hostile cities. For example, the prophet Zephaniah spoke (Chapter 2, verses 13 and 14):
‘So let him stretch out his hand over the north
and destroy Assyria,
make Nineveh desolate,
arid as the wilderness.
Flocks shall couch there,
and all the beasts of the wild.
The horned owl and ruffed bustard shall roost on her capitals.
The tawny owl shall hoot in the window,
and the bustard stand in the porch.’
Some years later, Nineveh was destroyed by the Babylonians and Medes. However, a sceptic might observe that most ancient cities were destroyed at some point, either by fire, earthquake, or hostile attack, so any prophesy of destruction was likely to come true eventually.
There are several passages in the Old Testament that are supposed to foretell Jesus, but all of these are ambiguous and probably refer to somebody else entirely. Jesus himself may have been unimpressed by such things, judging by the Gospel of Thomas (Saying 52):
‘The disciples said to him: “Twenty-four prophets spoke to Israel, and they all spoke of you.” He responded to them: “You have deserted the living one who is with you, and you spoke about the dead.” ‘
The point is that it the present which matters, not whether ancient prophesies are applicable. We must learn to live with the uncertainty of the present, for we can never be 100% sure of success or failure. As the author of the book of Ecclesiastes wrote (chapter 9, verse 11):
‘One more thing I have observed here under the sun: speed does not win the race nor strength the battle. Bread does not belong to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor success to the skilful; time and chance govern all.’
As we try to practise Free Religion, I would suggest that we should be glad that the future cannot be completely certain. There may be opportunities we have not yet considered. We can say ‘Yes’ to freedom as well as ‘Yes’ to life.