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About Providence in the Story of Scripture
An interview with Adamson Co
EV: What led you to write this book? What problem or issue(s) are you seeking to address?
AC: In my years of teaching theology, I noticed that the doctrine of providence has often become a source of contention rather than as a source of consolation for the saints. To those who want to go deeper into the subject, unfortunately, they get stuck in the quagmire of endless controversy (usually on the debate of divine sovereignty and human free will or on the problem of evil) rather than the discovery of a wider vista of God’s providence, which enables us to thrive despite life’s circumstances and which enables us to become effective followers of Jesus Christ in this world.
evIn the book, I try to rehabilitate our approach to the doctrine of providence. I propose ways in which the theological debates on providence can be addressed in a responsible and fair-minded way, not just polemically. But the proposed ways are drawn primarily from the Bible’s own meta-narrative as the theological framework for dealing with this (and other) theological issues. In other words, it taps into the biblical lens of Creation, Fall, Redemptive and New Creation to properly approach divine providence.
By approaching the doctrine of providence this way, a rational account of God’s providence is provided to the honest inquirer but without sacrificing the “dramatic”, “holistic” and “existential” qualities of the way Scripture often addresses difficult theological issues. Thus, the honest inquirer’s intellectual questions on providence are satisfactorily answered but, more importantly, the inquirer’s life is also uplifted as he or she responds positively to this approach’s invitation to inhabit in the Bible’s account of God’s gracious providence. The book makes the strong contention that one must inhabit (not just understand)
Scripture’s portrayal of divine providence that the doctrine truly becomes life transforming.
EV: What is the thesis of your book?
AC: The thesis of the book is that, despite all the theological debates that, unfortunately, obscure God’s providence toward us, we can actually observe and inhabit His gracious providence every day of our human existence. We do this by retrieving what the early church fathers designated as “the 7th and the 8th days of creation” (concepts drawn from the canon of Scripture). By understanding how God’s providence works along the 7th and 8th days of creation, we gain both the wisdom and the impetus to truly live in light of God’s gracious providence for us in this world.
EV: Who’s your target audience, and what are you most hoping they hear from it?
AC: My intended audience are those want to know more about the doctrine of providence and to those who may be disillusioned or are desperately searching to know if the God of the Bible is really the providential God that He claims to be. In the book, I hope to give a cogent biblical presentation that He is the God of providence. But, more importantly, I want to invite the reader to inhabit in the biblical meta-
narrative so that their lives might be transformed through God’s providence.
EV: Did you have any “aha” moments while writing the book?
AC: There were many “aha” moments. But one such exhilarating “aha” moments for me is when I was writing about “prolepsis” (the idea that we can draw upon God’s eschatological blessings today). In that
biblical concept, I saw ever deeper the magnificent way God’s providence is at work in the lives of His people. His providential love for us is truly mind- boggling and breath taking. I could only wish that we have eyes to constantly and consistently see how marvellous God’s proleptic provision for us is in Christ!
EV: What was the most challenging part of the book to write?
AC: The topic of God’s providence is so vast and so deep. I find myself, very often, unable to fully articulate or do justice to all that is there in Scripture. There’s so much to say that there are not enough pages to put all of them down in writing. Even more challenging is that there’s so many marvellous things about God’s providence that my words fail me in describing what’s there. My saving grace is that this book is pitched merely as an “introductory” book on providence. So, as introduction, I take comfort in knowing that I did not over promise the reader. There is truly more to God’s providence that can be but is left unsaid at this time.
EV: If your book was made into a movie, what actor/actress would play the lead role?
AC: The book requires the reader to constantly traverse the whole scope of God’s work in providence—past, present and future—zooming back and forth, as it were, through the Bible’s meta-narrative of Creation, Fall, Redemption and New Creation. If the book were turned into a movie, it would involve some kind of “time travelling” ability to account for the process the book requires of the reader. So I would think that it might have the basic plots of Back to the Future I, II & III. If that’s the case, then, a young Michael J. Fox from Back to the Future would be ideal to play the leading actor in such a movie.
EV: What kind of seminary/church classes should assign your book?
AC: My book can be used for a class on providence and its related issues. The book is also suitable for general theology classes that want to go deeper in specific areas of theology such as providence, biblical
anthropology, sanctification, pneumatology, eschatology, and ethics, to name a few.
In a church setting, in addition to helping the person in the pew understand and appreciate the doctrine of providence more, the book helps the lay person, especially young adults getting ready for their
career, find greater purpose and courage to live out their vocation. In expounding on God and His providence, the book emphasizes the importance of God’s intended partnership with humanity in the imago dei: we as the junior partner and God as senior partner. In His role as our senior partner, we are to constantly see and rely on God’s providence working all around us.
About the Author
Adamson Co (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is a professor of theology at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. Prior to academia, he practiced law for several years as an attorney. He has also served as a pastor in the Chicago area and Southern California, including as English congregation pastor at Mandarin Baptist Church of Los Angeles.