Purpose and Providence: Taking Soundings in Western Thought, Literature and Theology by Vernon White (review)

The popular stereotype of academic writing is that it is sterile, laden with jargon, and ultimately inconsequential for common life; unfortunately, this stereotype is all too often founded upon the truth. What a refreshing experience, then, to find oneself drawn in by the warm yet erudite prose of Vernon White's Purpose and Providence: Taking Soundings in Western Thought, Literature and Theology. White manages to explore the complex questions around divine providence with scholarly rigour while continuously anchoring his work in the common experience of day-to-day life. This is scholarship that matters.

The shape of White's essay is organic rather than systematically structured; he questions the sense of providence that stubbornly sticks with each individual, despite its felt absence. After a short introductory chapter, White begins with a sketch of the ways a sense of purpose and providence has been lost in Western thought and why this might be the case in his chapter "Mapping Meaning and Purpose: A Brief History of Ideas." He then moves from "taking soundings" in the novels of Thomas Hardy, who, White argues, displays the sense of providence lost in his work, to the author Julian Barnes, who White sees to have never experienced the sense of providence in the first place; this all happens in chapter two, "Loss, Love, Recovery: A Literary Story." In the third chapter, "Purpose and Providence in Theology: Roots and Developments of a Core Belief," White moves into the realm of theology proper: he views the classical doctrine of providence through a historical sweep that begins with Scripture and ends with Barth and Frei. In the last two chapters, "Some Theological Re-imaginings" and "Credibility in Scripture, Experience and Praxis," White offers his own critical review of providence and some suggestive paths forward. Basically, White argues for a theory of providence that requires belief in God's radical transcendence, that purpose and meaning are found in historical events through their figural relationship to Christ, and, finally, that history has a telos that will be summed up in Christ. Until this final reconciliation comes to fruition, particular readings of providence in history are possible, but they must be tentative, provisional, given God's transcendence and his continuing work of redemption. White then tests his theory empirically, making sure that his ideas cohere with Scripture, experience, and practice. He concludes by affirming God's providential activity in history while still affirming God's transcendence; he suggests Christians adopt a healthy, humble apophaticism in their interpretation of events.

I thought the strength of White's work was his ability to weave a rich tapestry through history, literature, and theology to answer questions that are at once worthy of serious scholarly engagement and are of eminent importance to anyone who would think deeply about the meaning of their life, and life more generally. While the book is likely not much use to specialists trying to eke out a niche in one particular discipline, White offers a general discussion of providence that is accessible for its many touchpoints in literature and theology; in this sense, the work is quite eclectic, and happily so. While it may not serve to deepen knowledge in Augustinian or Barthian studies, it provides a leisurely tour through each figure's thought, keeping providence at the forefront. It is just this gathering together of disparate sources that makes it easy for readers to jump into White's text from any of these vantage points.

On a more critical note, this is a slim volume for the steep price tag, and so may prohibit readers who do not have easy access to a good theological library. This is a shame really, because the questions that White explores and his wide taste in reading come together to form an essay that will no doubt appeal to a wider audience than seminary students and professional theologians.