It's rare these days to hear discussions about God being engaged with in mainstream media, in the workplace, or in social situations. But why should this be? According to Steven Colborne, author of more than a dozen books related to the philosophy of religion, God is just as relevant as ever. Part of the solution to our neglect of God in public discourse, Colborne believes, is to explore and understand how easy it would be to restore language that acknowledges God to the heart of our everyday conversations. This is the motivation behind Colborne's book
God Willing.
The book's title is inspired by the following Bible passage:
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15)
According to Colborne, who is a first-class BA (Hons) graduate with a PG Cert in Philosophy and Religion, nothing can happen outside of the will of God, and there are various ways we might change our use of English to reflect this truth.
God Willing contains fourteen short chapters, each one presenting a different reflection related to the language we use and how this might evolve to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and other divine attributes.
With real-life examples and an abundance of theological insight,
God Willing will both entertain readers and make them think differently about the way they interact with friends, family, and colleagues. After reading the book and engaging with Colborne's arguments, readers will feel equipped to begin restoring God-honouring dialogue to the heart of their everyday conversations.
