All Things Wise and Wonderful: A Christian Understanding of How and Why Things Happen, in Light of COVID-19

by E. Janet Warren

Overview

The Covid-19 pandemic provoked many questions. It is human nature to want to know how and why things happen. The sovereign God has created a beautiful, intricate world in which multiple factors interact to cause an event. We are called to properly understand creation, but often fail because we tend to be lazy, fearful, and self-serving. We make judgments based on (often incorrect) assumptions about cause-and-effect relations, and we seek reassuring explanations for both trivial and serious events. Christians have the added complication of figuring out God's role in making things happen. All Things Wise and Wonderful examines what the Bible and Christian theology say about cause and effect, how science views causation in the world, and how human mind-brains judge causation. Using illustrations from everyday life, it offers guidance for Christians to think and act wisely with respect to how and why things happen in creation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725292055
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

E. Janet Warren is an interdisciplinary scholar whose vocations include theology, medicine, and psychotherapy. She is past president of the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation and a fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation.

E. Janet Warren is a family physician with an interest in psychotherapy, and an independent theological scholar.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Challenging times prompt thoughtful people to ask challenging questions. For believers in God, Covid-19 prompts many to wonder why a loving God doesn’t prevent the death, sickness, and harm so many experience. Janet Warren offers a plausible answer. Drawing from science, theology, and plain common sense, Warren provides an account of providence that portrays God as loving in a pandemic. I recommend this book!”


—Thomas Jay Oord, author of The Uncontrolling Love of God and God Can’t





“Set against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic, this unusual and important book is about causation and how causation affects our everyday life of experience. Using information from many different disciplines, the author’s approach is thoughtful and carefully nuanced. Too often Christians arrive at over-simplistic conclusions about what happens in their lives, sometimes leading to outcomes that are pastorally damaging. This book is full of practical wisdom for the general reader and is warmly recommended.”


—Denis Alexander, Emeritus Director, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, and Emeritus Fellow of St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University





“If you are realizing that much of life’s complexities cannot be easily answered on black-and-white terms but are not quite sure where to look, Janet Warren will be a sure guide. The wisdom we need exceeds the technical rationality that is useful for some things but cannot solve our big problems while such wisdom also provides us with a grounding to appreciate what is wondrous about God’s creation as we attend in faithfulness to the important things that matter in our various stations—this is the gift of All Things Wise and Wonderful that I commend to you!”


—Amos Yong, Dean of the School of Mission and Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

Editorial Reviews

Challenging times prompt thoughtful people to ask challenging questions. For believers in God, Covid-19 prompts many to wonder why a loving God doesn’t prevent the death, sickness, and harm so many experience. Janet Warren offers a plausible answer. Drawing from science, theology, and plain common sense, Warren provides an account of providence that portrays God as loving in a pandemic. I recommend this book!”


—Thomas Jay Oord, author of The Uncontrolling Love of God and God Can’t





“Set against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic, this unusual and important book is about causation and how causation affects our everyday life of experience. Using information from many different disciplines, the author’s approach is thoughtful and carefully nuanced. Too often Christians arrive at over-simplistic conclusions about what happens in their lives, sometimes leading to outcomes that are pastorally damaging. This book is full of practical wisdom for the general reader and is warmly recommended.”


—Denis Alexander, Emeritus Director, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, and Emeritus Fellow of St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University





“If you are realizing that much of life’s complexities cannot be easily answered on black-and-white terms but are not quite sure where to look, Janet Warren will be a sure guide. The wisdom we need exceeds the technical rationality that is useful for some things but cannot solve our big problems while such wisdom also provides us with a grounding to appreciate what is wondrous about God’s creation as we attend in faithfulness to the important things that matter in our various stations—this is the gift of All Things Wise and Wonderful that I commend to you!”


—Amos Yong, Dean of the School of Mission and Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

From the Publisher