In our fifth episode on divine providence, we tackle the question of why the omni-instrumental model of divine providence doesn’t make God the cause of evil despite saying that he causes all things through nature. Ultimately, the answer relies on an understanding of evil in terms of privation (which we explore at length) together with an understanding of the different ways instruments can limit the causal influence of agents.

00:00 - Introduction and recap

07:56 - Clarifying the present question

12:44 - Evil (or Badness) as the privation of the good

25:04 - Evil actions and privation

30:30 - Inherent vs privative limitations of instruments in general

36:19 - Limitations applied to divine concurrence

39:08 - Does this imply that we’re overpowering God?

42:06 - God wills the good and permits evil

49:16 - Conclusion

Works mentioned in this episode (or on topics discussed):

- David Oderberg, “The Metaphysics of Privation”, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7SKlRTfkUiebE9RM1pOTkZ6dFU

- Brian Davies, The Reality of God and the Problem of Evil, https://www.amazon.com/dp/082649241X

- Roland’s blog post, “God causes evil actions without causing the evil in actions”, https://thinkingthoughtout.com/2021/12/08/god-causes-evil-actions-without-causing-the-evil-in-actions/

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

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In our fourth episode on divine providence we explain how our omni-instrumentality model understands free will, as well as the relationship between our freedom and God’s control.

00:00 - Introduction and recap

01:47 - What are free will and choice?

10:24 - Is there freedom to choose bad things and freedom in heaven?

23:33 - Getting at divine providence indirectly through isomorphism/analogy

26:54 - The analogy of cooperation

40:05 - How does God control our free will?

41:30 - Dealing with mystery in a principled way

46:30 - Conclusion

Works mentioned in this episode (or on topics discussed):

- Sebastian Walshe, “Predestination: Some Questions and Misconceptions”, https://www.thomasaquinas.edu/sites/default/files/media/file/2008-walshe.pdf

- Steven J Jensen, Sin: A Thomistic Psychology, https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813230330

- Eleonore Stump, “Augustine on Free Will”, https://tinyurl.com/4n2w9wj8

- Eleonore Stump, “Sanctification, Hardening of the Heart, and Frankfurt’s Concept of Free Will”, https://philarchive.org/archive/STUSHO

- Roland’s blog post series: https://thinkingthoughtout.com/larger-projects/omni-instrumentality/

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKz8PlM8nC5Vnwvx_e2HmESdKBQq2exoe

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fsu_southafrica

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In our third episode on divine providence we start to unpack the philosophical model we call “Omni-instrumentality”. At the heart of this model is a conception of divine concurrence as God’s essential cooperation with nature. Before we get to explaining this in detail, then, we must first explain what we mean by essential cooperation and nature, which we do in this episode.

00:00 - Introduction

00:41 - Anti-fragile faith?

03:49 - Framing the puzzle of divine providence

07:40 - Omni-instrumentality, or the Lonergan-McArthur model

10:04 - Concurrence as the middle-ground between Occasionalism and Conservationism

13:07 - Concurrence as God‘s essential cooperation with nature

17:48 - The three modes of cooperation

36:46 - Nature vs artifice vs aggregation

44:46 - Returning to our definition of concurrence

Works mentioned in this episode:

- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Anti-fragile: www.amazon.com/dp/0812979680

- Bernard Lonergan, Grace and Freedom: www.amazon.com/dp/0802083374

- Ronald McArthur, “Universal in praedicando, universal in causando”: https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ltp/1962-v18-n1-ltp0960/1020019ar.pdf

- Thomas McLaughlin, “Nature and Inertia”: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Nature-and-Inertia-Mclaughlin/486b9ab089974b5a4adcdc3d2b1cebd431cad288

- Roland’s blog post series: https://thinkingthoughtout.com/larger-projects/omni-instrumentality/

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKz8PlM8nC5Vnwvx_e2HmESdKBQq2exoe

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/faith-seeking-understanding/id1681648478 Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZmFpdGhzZWVraW5ndW5kZXJzdGFuZGluZy5jby56YS9wb2RjYXN0P2Zvcm1hdD1yc3M

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fsu_southafrica

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In our second episode on divine providence we survey the biblical teaching on both human freedom and responsibility on the one hand, and God’s control over us on the other.

00:00 - Introduction

01:55 - Human Freedom

11:50 - Divine Providence

23:51 - Summing Up

Works mentioned in this episode:

- Biblical Passages Dealing With God's Providence: https://thinkingthoughtout.com/2013/05/16/biblical-passages-dealing-with-gods-providence/

- Aaron Sherwood, The Word of God Has Not Failed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1577996623

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKz8PlM8nC5Vnwvx_e2HmESdKBQq2exoe

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fsu_southafrica

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After a long break, we’re back with a new series of episodes on Divine Providence. In this episode, we introduce the topic by talking through our own journeys in thinking about it, listing some models that have been proposed, and discussing the method we’ll be taking in approaching this question in future episodes.

00:00 - Introduction

01:35 - First encounters with divine providence

11:29 - Some models of divine providence

22:05 - The underdeterminative nature of the biblical data

26:57 - Responding to concerns about moving beyond scripture

35:36 - Conclusion

Works mentioned in this episode:

- Four Views on Divine Providence. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310325129

- Terrence Tiessen, “My compatibilist proposal”. https://www.thoughtstheological.com/my-compatibilist-proposal/ Other posts by him: https://www.thoughtstheological.com/?s=%22Hypothetical+knowledge+Calvinism%22

- William Lane Craig’s website: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/ (search for “Molinism” for many resources on the view)

- Jonathan Kvanvig, “An Epistemic Theory of Creation”, in Destiny and Deliberation. https://academic.oup.com/book/2239/chapter-abstract/142321273

- Robert C Koons, “Dual Agency: A Thomistic Account of Providence and Human Freedom”. https://www.academia.edu/33469980

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKz8PlM8nC5Vnwvx_e2HmESdKBQq2exoe

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

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In our fifteenth and final episode on Wisdom in the Old Testament, we look at Qoheleth’s closing thoughts as well as the closing thoughts of the book of Ecclesiastes. In doing so, we come face-to-face with the fundamental unpredictability of reality, and consider Qoheleth’s advice for how to live in the presence of this. We close by thinking about the relationship between the author of Ecclesiastes and Qoheleth: Do they agree with one another? Are they the same person?

00:00 - Introduction

02:35 - Many examples of incongruity (9:11–10:20)

10:04 - What do we do in the face of incongruity? (11:1–10)

18:39 - Qoheleth’s closing words (12:1–8)

22:44 - The Author’s closing words (12:9–14)

34:28 - Conclusion

Works mentioned in this episode:

- George Athas, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs: The Story of God Bible Commentary 16

- George Athas, “Qohelet in his Context: Ecclesiastes 4,13-16 and the Dating of the Book”, Biblica 100.3. https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?id=3286872&url=article

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

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In our fourteenth episode on Wisdom in the Old Testament, we look at Qoheleth’s extended discussion of wisdom in the context of death. He argues that while there is definitely value in wisdom it can nevertheless be over-estimated, and that doing so is bound to lead to disappointment. Wisdom can be corrupted or overpowered by those with power, and Qoheleth challenges us to reckon with the fact that things don’t always go the way they should. Rather than rely on wisdom to make us better off, he suggests we fear God, even when it’s not clear how he is working things out.

00:00 - Introduction

03:38 - Shift in focus to death vs wisdom/righteousness (7:1–9:10)

11:22 – Don’t be over-righteous or over-wise (7:15–18)

22:46 – Wickedness and the fear of God (8:10–13)

29:14 - The sword is mightier than the pen

34:49 — Conclusion

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

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In our thirteenth episode on Wisdom in the Old Testament, we follow Qoheleth in the second stage of his investigation into happiness. This time he returns to the question of pursuing happiness by following our heart, ushering in more reasons why this fails, showing how his alternative account of happiness is better, and throwing in the occassional piece of advice that we can follow if we give up on the way of folly.

00:00 - Introduction

02:04 - Hevel arising from Unrest

08:33 - Oppression and insecurity (4:1–3)

10:03 - Over-exertion (4:4–6)

15:31 - Pursuit of goods without sharing (4:7–12)

15:53 - Hopeless regime changes (4:13–16)

18:18 - Empty promises and words (5:1–7; 6:10–12)

23:11 - Endless pursuit of wealth (5:8–12; 6:7–9)

27:14 - Riches without enjoyment (5:13–17; 6:1–6)

30:27 - Joyful toil in the fear of God (5:18–20)

36:25 - Polysemy in Ecclesiastes 4–6

41:06 - Conclusion

Works mentioned:

- Stuart Weeks, Ecclesiastes 1–5: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary, ICC

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

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In our twelfth episode on Wisdom in the Old Testament, we continue our journey in Ecclesiastes and consider how Qoheleth begins the second stage of his investigation into happiness. After previously having argued that happiness cannot be found in being better off, he looks for a different principle to guide his investigation and finds the following: there is a season for everything.

00:00 - Happiness is not about better off

05:36 - The structure of Qoheleth’s argument

10:24 - Some initial thoughts about chapter 3 vs chapter 1

13:16 - The new principle: a season for everything

20:01 - The history of God and Israel in 3:1–8

23:21 - The fundamental agreement between Qoheleth and the Author

27:49 - Qoheleth in the context of the covenant

32:46 - Conclusion

Works mentioned:

- Jennie Barbour, The Story of Israel in the Book of Qohelet: Ecclesiastes as Cultural Memory

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

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In our eleventh episode on Wisdom in the Old Testament, we continue our journey in Ecclesiastes and take a look at Qoheleth’s argument against trying to gain happiness by our own power. The result, at least at the end of chapter 2, is a disappointed resignation to the fact that we need to somehow receive happiness from God rather than trying to grasp it for ourselves. This alternate approach will be explored in episodes to come.

00:00 - Introduction

00:50 - Poetic introduction to hevel (1:2–11)

06:01 - Prosaic introduction to hevel (1:12–18)

15:55 - The hevel found when following your heart (2:1–11)

28:06 - The hevel found in pursuing wisdom (2:12–17)

34:36 - The hevel found in pursuing the fruit of wisdom (2:18–23)

37:52 - The pursuit of happiness will fail (2:24–26)

42:26 - Closing

Works mentioned:

- Stuart Weeks, Ecclesiastes 1–5: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary, ICC

- Jennie Barbour, The Story of Israel in the Book of Qohelet: Ecclesiastes as Cultural Memory

- Knut Heim, Ecclesiastes: An Introduction, TOTC

The Faith Seeking Understanding podcast is also available on the following platforms:

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Faith Seeking Understanding is a ministry aimed at providing deep dives into theology. To find out more, visit our website or follow us on social media:

Website: https://www.faithseekingunderstanding.co.za

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fsu_southafrica

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