How in the World Does God Act?

Book excerpt: As the title promises, this book investigates the philosophical treatments of the actions of God. Opening with a chapter tracing the history of the theme of divine activity, the author then pursues explanations of key concepts in chapters two and three, including deism, primary and secondary causation, double agency, and the causal joint. The work of Alfred North Whitehead is explored throughout chapters four and five. The rest of the book deals with how scientific theories affect the understanding of divine action. Both the large-scale and the small-scale world are examined, with sections ranging from natural laws to the chaos theory. In conclusion, Gruning plots different positions on a graph, in order to illuminate new relationships between each. A thorough treatment of the question of God's activity, How in the World Does God Act? will be of value to graduate level philosophy students, as well as scholars interested in the intersection between science and philosophy.