ABSTRACT
The Introduction sets out the theme of the book–the modes of interplay between the divine plan and human action in several narrative episodes in the Book of Genesis and one in the Book of Exodus. Noting the recent flourishing of philosophical theology and its application to the biblical narrative which lay the groundwork for this project, the introduction proceeds to some of the philosophical assumptions and theories underlying the narrative which sustain human freedom within the context of God’s design. These are drawn primarily from the contemporary analytic tradition in philosophy–the tensions between human freedom and divine foreknowledge, moral accountability and inevitability, and the demands of morality and those of destiny. A major motif is the tension between the autonomy of the agents and their subordination to God’s plan–their being in circumstances over which they have no control–which, from their point of view, are a matter of luck. That so many different aspects of their lives are governed by providence gives rise to the paradoxes of moral luck, epistemic luck and religious luck, which are encountered throughout the narratives.
