Petitionary Prayer-Caught in the Chaos of Strange Attractors: A Study of Divine Action in the Writings of John Polkinghorne

In the field of science and religion, divine action, or how God acts on the world, raises complex questions. The goal of this research is to investigate whether a belief in the efficacy of petitionary prayer, evidenced through a particular model of divine action, is warranted. In particular, I will assess whether John Polkinghorne's model of divine action is sufficient to sustain a belief in petitionary prayer. In the end, I conclude that Polkinghorne's model is inadequate to account for petitionary prayer due to Polkinghorne's kenotic theology and the nature of chaotic systems.