In our scientific age, we’re inclined to emphasise the idea of cause and effect. Without a theological understanding of reality, it’s easy to fall into the trap of viewing the world in purely materialistic terms, thinking that it is the past — rather than God — that dictates our present moment experience. Scientific materialists often view the world in terms of a long chain of causes and effects that find their origin in a ‘big bang’ event that brought the universe into existence.
Occasionalism is a philosophical idea that challenges this belief. It is the idea that an event will only happen on a particular occasion because it is willed by God to happen. While I might drop an object 100 times and watch it fall to the floor, occasionalism says that there’s nothing that would prevent God making the object rise upwards rather than fall on the 101st occasion.
The miracles associated with the Christian story lend weight to the idea of occasionalism. Jesus performed many supernatural acts which defied the laws of nature, such as walking on water and turning water into wine. If we view God as the supreme being who manifests reality in the present moment, we can appreciate that His omnipotent power allows Him to overrule the laws of nature in any instance He chooses.
For an in-depth discussion of occasionalism and the associated idea of divine conservation, please see the relevant chapter in my book God’s Grand Game, available as an eBook, paperback and hardback from https://books.stevencolborne.com.