667 - The Vigilant God Providence in the Thought of Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin and Barth

The Vigilant God Providence in the Thought of Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin and Barth
By Horton Davies
New York, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1992.171 pp. $35.95.

Aware of the major difficulties that the doctrine of providence poses for many people today, Horton Davies, Professor Emeritus of the History of Christianity at Princeton University, provides compact, readable, and balanced accounts of the understandings of this doctrine in Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, and Barth. The author helpfully identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of these classical teachings.

In his own constructive statement, Davies argues that an adequate doctrine of providence for the twenty-first century will not make pretentious claims to resolve all mysteries but will, nevertheless, continue to confess that God does indeed rule the world and that, in Christ, there is light and comfort in the most agonizing of human experiences. In addition, Davies expects that future interpretations of the doctrine of providence will benefit from new knowledge obtained from modern science as well as from biblical study, will insist on affirming both divine direction and human freedom, and will offer new understandings of the attributes of God such as omnipotence in the light of God's decisive self-revelation in Jesus Christ.

While limited in reinterpretation, Davies' book nevertheless offers readers a generous taste of the rich fare of reflection on providence in the classical theological tradition.

Daniel L. Migliore
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, NJ.