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The Vigilant God (Revisited) is a reassessment of the theology of Providence, in the thought of four major Christian theologians, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin and Barth, of their views on predestination, theodicy and free will, leading the author to a consider the role it might have for the future of humanity.

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The Vigilant God by Horton Davies, a non-conformist minister who taught in the Religion Department of Princeton University and attended church regularly, is a reconsideration of the belief that God is still active in history. It is a reassessment of the theology of Providence in the thought of four major Christian theologians (Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, and Barth) and of their views on predestination, theodicy, and free will, leading the author to consider the role it might have for the future of humanity.

The book starts with a sketch of the biblical sources relating to Providence, predestination, election, and reprobation. Davies sees Augustine´s doctrine of Providence and his view of evil as privatio boni, as greatly influenced by Plato and his followers. He dwells on Aquinas the man, his life and his character, open to Aristotle and his Jewish and Arab commentators, before plunging into the structure of his encyclopedic thought and works. Davies appreciates Calvin´s regard for Scripture as a means of illumination of the Spirit, but rejects the pastor´s views on predestination as tyrannical and unjust, and believes that Barth´s positive insistence on God´s universal mercy is necessary against the horrors perpetrated in the twentieth century.

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David B. McIlhiney: Foreword - Acknowledgments - Introduction - Biblical Sources for the Traditional Doctrine of Providence - St. Augustine´s Doctrine of Providence - St. Thomas Aquinas´s Doctrine of Providence - Calvin´s Doctrine of Providence - Barth´s Doctrine of Providence - Conclusion.

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"This welcome new edition of The Vigilant God , a title invited by Psalm 121, is not without a touch of irony, at any time, least of all in our own. Horton Davies declares, ´...in these days of our confusion.´ The concern is theodicy in terms of the doctrine of Providence in Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, and Barth. Davies boldly, unpretentiously, and wisely offers the approachableness of the giants."-David Cain, University of Mary Washington

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