PURPOSE AND PROVIDENCE

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Vernon White is Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey UK and a Visiting Professor in Theology at Kings College London UK. Prior to his appointment at Westminster Abbey he was Principal of STETs (Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme).With the rise of secularism has come a querying of meaning and purpose in peoples lives: this work addresses thisWhites analysis of providence in relation to significant modern literary texts expands into an exploration of the wider philosophical ramifications of theory on faithOffers a model of how providence can be reimagined without reductionismVernon White is Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey and a Visiting Professor in Theology Kings College London UK.Do our lives have purpose? Despite the rise of secularism we are still confronted by a sense of meaning and direction in the events of history and our own lives something which is beyond us and not our own creation/imagination. Using the novels of Thomas Hardy and Julian Barnes Vernon White tracks this belief in intellectual history and tests its resilience in modern literature. Both novelists portray modern and latemodern scenarios where although the idea of an objective purpose has been deconstructed it still haunts the protagonists.Using literature as the starting point the discussion moves on to an exploration of this belief in its theological form through the doctrine of providence. White critically reviews the classic canon of providence and its pressure points the problems in divine causality the metaphysical assumptions required in its acceptance and the contradictions to be found between Gods purpose and the metanarratives of history. Using Barth and Frei White suggests new ways of reimagining divine providence to take account of these issues. The credibility of this redefined providence is then tested against scripture experience and praxis with the result being an understanding of providence that does not rely on empirical progress.Vernon White discusses the persistence of purpose in Western thought and its theological expression in doctrines of providencePrefaceIntroduction: something lost and found1. Mapping meaning and purpose: a brief history of ideas2. Loss love and recovery: a literary story3. Purpose and providence in theology: roots and developments of a core belief4. Some theological reimaginings5. Credibility in scripture experience praxisConclusion: providence lost or regained?BibliographyIndexWhites book is both sensitive and intelligent resting on wide reading and thoughtful interpretation.We are guided surefootedly across the terrain which opens before us in this book with clarity economy and strength of expression. ... This is a most welcome and helpful book on these themes [of purpose and providence] as well as a substantial achievement of theological reflection.This is a brave book that begs a response from the poets.A charmingly lucid and stimulating account of an often enigmatic doctrine ... Purpos

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