Providence: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Account

by Mark W. Elliott

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2020

Overview

Addressing a topic of perennial interest in Christian theology, this volume offers a constructive account of the doctrine of providence. Mark Elliott shows that, contrary to received opinion, the Bible has a lot to say about providence as a distinct doctrine within the wider scope of God’s acts of salvation. This book by a leading scholar of Christian theology and exegesis is a capstone of years of research on the history and theology of the doctrine of providence.

Elliott explains that providence operates outside the range of knowledge and full comprehensibility, eluding faith and transcending revelation. Therefore, readers must look for traces of God's action in the stories and philosophies of the biblical authors, which appear in the biblical corpus in such themes as the hand of God, the face of God, the kingdom, the plan of God, blessing, life, breath, enduring order, judgment, protection, and the hidden God. Elliott explores these themes in such a way that the entirety of the Bible across both Testaments bears witness to the theme of providence. He concludes by showing how the findings of his analysis speak to the concerns of systematic and practical theologians.

Key Features

• Examines the history and theology of the doctrine of providence
• Offers a constructive account of the doctrine of providence
• Explores related themes of life, judgment, protection, and the plan of God

Contents

• Is Providence Topical or Even Biblical?
• Alternative Themes to Providence in the Bible
• Providence and Divine Action, Viewed Biblically
• Finding Providence across the Old Testament Genres
• Providence as Set Forth in the New Testament
• Systematic Considerations in the Light of Biblical Theology

Top Highlights

“Creation is providence in the sense of God using things for the benefit of humanity according to an original plan” (Page 10)

“God’s actions toward Israel and applying them to humans and the wider world more generally, and more abstractly” (Page 10)

“(1) I commence with looking at why some might object to the idea that providence has any relevance in modern times.” (Page 1)

“agency for their responsible service are often people who ascribe” (Page 3)

“God,’ ‘the blessing,’ ‘the kingdom,’ ‘the plan of God,’” (Page 1)

Endorsements

Mark Elliott has always championed the bridging of biblical scholarship, church history, and systematic theology, overcoming disciplinary boundaries and facilitating theological discussion between scholars of different disciplines. This remains true for his Providence, which is a fresh approach to a challenging topic. Putting the Bible into conversation with many scholars from the past and present alike, Elliot explains the possible biblical and theological dimensions of what Deus providebit means.

—Konrad Schmid, professor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism, University of Zurich

Mark Elliott's latest study completes a remarkable trilogy of works on divine providence. Fluent in biblical studies, historical theology, and systematics, he shows the ways in which Scripture is permeated with a broad range of providentialist notions. This sustained discussion of providence as a central biblical theme and of its reception in the history of theology is set to become an indispensable point of reference for future scholarship on the subject.

—David Fergusson, professor of divinity, University of Edinburgh

Ranging through ancient and modern theology, the sweep of the Bible, and, most pressingly, the breadth of human experience in pain and joy, Elliott opens us to a reflection on divine providence that is astonishing in its richness, challenge, and, finally, mystery. Does God order our lives? Accompany them? Heal them? Inhabit them? Demand them? Elliott's synthetic study shows how all these questions, which rumble so deeply in most hearts, can be fruitfully pursued along the threads of the most sophisticated and sometimes exquisite reflection of scriptural readers, doctrinal expositors, and religious critics. This is a book for mature, but searching, souls, gracefully written by a master among them.

—Ephraim Radner, professor of historical theology, Wycliffe College

Product Details

• Title: Providence: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Account
• Author: Mark W. Elliott
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Pages: 276
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Providence and government of God › Christianity
• ISBNs: 9781493426089, 9781540960405, 9781540962782, 9781493422180, 1493426087, 1540960404, 1540962784, 1493422189
• Resource ID: LLS:PRVDNCBBLCLCCNT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:27:15Z

About Mark W. Elliott

Mark W. Elliott (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of divinity and biblical criticism at the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland, and the author or coauthor of several books. He previously taught at the University of St. Andrews, where he directed the Institute for Bible, Theology, and Hermeneutics.