Children of a Fertile Universe: Chance, Destiny and a Creator God

Did we come about by chance or by necessity in the evolving universe? According to our best scientific knowledge the question is not formulated adequately. It is not just a question of chance or necessity because, first of all, it is both. Furthermore, there is a third element that is very important. It is what we might call the "fertility" of the universe. A universe which is about 14 billion years old and contains about 10,000 billion billion (10^22) stars is so fertile in offering the opportunity for the successful