Providence in the Story of Scripture: The Work of God through Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation by Adamson Co is an exciting new book that brings a lot to the table, but ultimately attempts to do too much in too short of a space and ultimately leaves a disjointed and disappointing product. Co in this short book begins with the simple thesis that modern Protestantism has largely abandoned the doctrine of God’s providence and live their lives absent from the realities of God’s control. However, after he spends the first two chapters critiquing both classic Arminian and Calvinist views on Providence, he sets forth his new model, a narrative theological approach to God’s providence. Co utilizes the long-neglected theological motif of the “seventh and eighth day of creation,” originally set forth and used by Augustine, but largely ignored in modern theological conversations. His use of this seventh and eighth day of creation motif that utilizes the proleptic backings of “the Day of the Lord” and what may be called the “here-but-not-yet kingdom”, is helpful but lacking. His basic thrust is that we must learn to view Providence not as a series of set doctrinal statements, but instead as a lived reality of God’s sustaining and guiding power that reaches its fulfillment at the “eighth day of creation” in which God will “create again”.
The general thrust of Co’s work is fair and well-reasoned, but disjointed. His discussions on Arminianism and Calvinism are thoughtful (even if Co is highly suspicious and uncharitable towards the extremes of Arminianism). Co reutilizes a largely ignored theological motif that provides a narrative explanation of God’s proleptic work. He even provides a fair desire to see Providence come back into prominence in theological discussion. What he does not do is tie these themes up nicely into a coherent package that is easy to follow and logically proceeds. There is a lot of good in this book, but it would have needed several hundred more pages to fully flesh his ideas. His attempts to create an accessible textbook fall flat in his insistence of technical jargon, and attempts to pack too much into a small book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, but all views and opinions expressed are my own.