The Divine Action Debate

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the divine action debate and establishes its central category, special divine action (SDA). The chapter begins by examining the historical roots of the debate, a critique of the Biblical Theology Movement, and the initial challenge that sparked the controversy. Next, the chapter delineates two extreme positions in between which the debate has unfolded, uniform and universal divine action, and explains the theological pushback on a particular kind of divine action on the basis of what has come to be known as the ‘liberal modern worldview’. The chapter finishes by carving out the concept of SDA as a reaction to these two positions.