Shows that a religious understanding of illness and health persisted well into post-Enlightenment early America The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the power of narrative during times of sickness and disease. As Americans strive to find meaning amid upheaval and loss, some consider the nature of God’s will. Early American Protestants experienced similar struggles as they attempted to interpret the diseases of their time. In this groundbreaking work, Philippa Koch explores the doctrine of providence—a belief in a divine plan for the world—and its manifestations in eighteenth-century America, from its origins as a consoling response to sickness to how it informed the practices of Protestant activity in the Atlantic world. Drawing on pastoral manuals, manuscript memoirs, journals, and letters, as well as medical treatises, epidemic narratives, and midwifery manuals, Koch shows how Protestant teachings around providence shaped the lives of believers even as the Enlightenment seemed to portend a more secular approach to the world and the human body. Their commitment to providence prompted, in fact, early Americans’ active engagement with the medical developments of their time, encouraging them to see modern science and medicine as divinely bestowed missionary tools for helping others. Indeed, the book shows that the ways in which the colonial world thought about questions of God’s will in sickness and health help to illuminate the continuing power of Protestant ideas and practices in American society today.

God is always looking over our lives, caring for us and providing us with guidance. And while this kind of divine providence can often be felt in our daily lives, it can also be seen in the people and in the events that shape our destinies. In The Role of Divine Providence in My Life: Why I Am a Christian, author Chia Tasah shares the story of the incomprehensible love he has received from God, and he explores the Lords many interventions in his life from conception to adulthood. Born in poverty-stricken Cameroon, Tasahs fortune turns to blessings when as a young fourteen-year-old he meets a Peace Corps benefactor, Mr. Alan Lakomski, who sympathizes with Tasahs underprivileged background and sponsors his secondary education. With the help and love of other Peace Corps sponsors, Tasah furthers his education at the University of Buea in Cameroon, paving the way for his journey to the United Stateswhere he eventually becomes a citizen. Not only a story of his journey across the globe, The Role of Divine Providence in My Life is also a story of faith and of hopeeven as Tasah is struck with illness and dies before being both literally and spiritually resurrected. Join his inspiring journey as he shares the remarkable divine intervention that was his death and rebirth, all of which testifies to the goodness of God.

Divine Providence and Human Agency develops an understanding of God and God's relation to creation that perceives God as sovereign over creation while, at the same time, allowing for a meaningful notion of human freedom. This book provides a bridge between contemporary approaches that emphasise human freedom, such as process theology and those influenced by it, and traditional theologies that stress divine omnipotence.This book argues that it is essential for Christian theology to maintain that God is ultimately in charge of history: otherwise there would be no solid grounds for Christian hope. Yet, the modern human self-understanding as free agent within certain limitations must be taken seriously. Jensen approaches this apparent contradiction from within a consistently trinitarian framework. Jensen argues that a Christian understanding of God must be based on the experience of the saving presence of Christ in the Church, leading to an apophatic and consistently trinitarian theology. This serves as the framework for the discussion of divine omnipotence and human freedom. On the basis of the theological foundation established in this book, it is possible to frame the problem in a way that makes it possible to live within this tension. Building on this foundation, Jensen develops an understanding of history as the unfolding of the divine purpose and as an expression of God's very being, which is self-giving love and desire for communion. This book offers an important contribution to the debate of the doctrine of God in the context of an evolutionary universe.

In Medieval Theories of Divine Providence 1250-1350 Mikko Posti presents a historical and philosophical study of the doctrine of divine providence in 13th- and 14th-century Latin philosophical theology. In addition to offering a fresh and engaging reading of Thomas Aquinas’s ideas concerning providence, Posti focuses on Siger of Brabant, Peter Auriol and Thomas Bradwardine, among others. The book also provides an extended treatment of the relatively little-known 13th-century work Liber de bona fortuna, consisting of Latin translations of chapters found originally in Aristotle’s Ethica Eudemia and Magna moralia. In their treatments of Liber de bona fortuna, the medieval theologians provided philosophically interesting explanations of good fortune and its relationship to divine providence. See inside the book.

We ask God to involve himself providentially in our lives, yet we cherish our freedom to choose and act. Employing both theological reflection and philosophical analysis, the author explores how to resolve the interesting and provocative puzzles arising from these seemingly conflicting desires. He inquires what sovereignty means and how sovereigns balance their power and prerogatives with the free responses of their subjects. Since we are physically embodied in a physical world, we also need to ask how this is compatible with our being free agents. Providence raises questions about God's fundamental attributes. The author considers what it means to affirm God's goodness as logically contingent, how being almighty interfaces with God's self-limitation, and the persistent problems that arise from claiming that God foreknows the future. Discussion of these divine properties spills over into the related issues of why God allows, or even causes, pain and suffering; why, if God is all-knowing, we need to petition God repeatedly and encounter so many unanswered prayers; and how miracles, as ways God acts in the world, are possible and knowable. Throughout, the author looks at Scripture and attends to how providence deepens our understanding of God and enriches our lives.

This particular work by Gifford contains six pieces now updated into current modern print. The first work is worth the cost of the volume itself. It is his treatise on The Great Mystery of God’s Providence, on Genesis 45:8, concerning the historical narrative of Joseph coming to power in Egypt by God’s providence. He particularly deals with the question, “To what degree does the holy and righteous God make use of the evil actions of wicked men and devils, without any impeachment of his righteousness and holiness?” This is a wonderful and masterful treatise that will expand your view of the great mystery of God’s providence in the world, not only in Joseph’s time, but throughout all of redemptive history, including our own time. In his second piece, he covers James 2:26, “…so faith without works is dead,” while comparing both Paul’s use of justification by faith, and James’ use of justification by works. In his third sermon on James 3, he covers the manner in which the Christian’s speech ought to glorify God, and how, very often, that it does not. This is especially proven out by dealing with Christians in the church, where out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. In his fourth piece, he demonstrates the need and virtue of true fortitude to the glory of God. In this, he considers the strength and vigor of the Christian in all they do in zeal for the glory of Christ. In his fifth piece on Psalm 133:1 he covers the need and commendation of unity in the church, the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace, as set down by David in the Psalm, and echoed in Ephesians by Paul. His final piece is an explanation of the parable of the sower from Matt. 13:1-9, teaching that in the innumerable multitude that came to hear Christ’s heavenly doctrine, the Savior shows that out of this great number of people that were so zealous and traveled so far, there were three groups out of four that did not profit by his teaching and were therefore still creatures under damnation. Only one group of the four were true hearers. In all these works Gifford is very easy to read, yet, exegetically sound and practically deep.