ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part explores Christian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophers have typically agreed that God created the world and continues to keep it going after the moment of creation. God created things and their powers, but also keeps these created things and their powers in existence. Philosophers who have agreed about that have disagreed about two related issues. Those are: mere conservation and divine concurrence. When the creature causes something, the creature is the sole direct and immediate cause of that effect. God is causally involved only indirectly, in keeping the creature and its power in existence. God keeps created things in existence but also is directly involved in their activity in some way. Typically, both the creature's activity and God's concurrence are said to be full causes of the effect.
