Eyes to See: Recognizing God's Common Grace in an Unsettled World

by J.P. Moreland, Tim Muehlhoff

When we encounter human suffering or personal tragedy, Christians and non-Christians alike utter the same refrain: Where is God? If God exists, then where in the world is he? Why doesn’t he show himself? And how can we tell if God is really working or not? Tim Muehlhoff gives us insight into recognizing how God is at work in the world. He unpacks the doctrine of common grace to uncover how God works in ways that we don't always realize. If we have a limited idea of what divine action looks like―dramatic answers to prayer, healings with no medical explanation, financial needs being met unexpectedly―then we miss seeing how God acts through common grace in ordinary, everyday ways such as antibiotics, financial planners, and thoughtful friends. Muehlhoff offers dozens of illustrations from contemporary culture to help us understand and communicate how God is present and acting in the world today. Discover how God cares for our troubled world as he gives you the eyes to see.

Genres: Christian Living, Christian, Spirituality, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

Published December 14, 2021

About the author

J.P. Moreland is the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has four earned degrees: a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Missouri, a Th.M. in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, an M. A. in philosophy from the University of California-Riverside, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California.

He has co-planted three churches, spoken and debated on over 175 college campuses around the country, and served with Campus Crusade for Christ for 10 years. For eight years, he served as a bioethicist for PersonaCare Nursing Homes, Inc. headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

His ideas have been covered by both popular religious and non-religious outlets, including the New Scientist and PBS’s “Closer to Truth,” Christianity Today and WORLD magazine. He has authored or co-authored 30 books, and published over 70 articles in journals, which include Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Metaphilosophy, Philosophia Christi, and Faith and Philosophy.

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: An exploration of how God acts in the ordinary elements of everyday life, the idea of common grace, and how we may be encouraged as we recognize these ways of God at work.

When we think of the idea of God at work, we often look for the extraordinary, and we may wonder why we do not see more of that. Tim Muehlhoff believes in this extraordinary work, but he also wants to help us recognize the ordinary, yet beautiful ways God is at work in everyday life. Classically, this is the idea of common grace, the goodness God pours out on all creation: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

Muehlhoff goes beyond the sun and the rain in exploring God’s everyday goodness. He begins with inventions and the instances when human beings arrived at similar solutions to problems, for example the stethoscope. He considers a number of human inventions, and while not arguing this as a proof for God, proposes that there are many instances of this hidden goodness meeting the needs of the world.

In subsequent chapters he turns to different realms in which we see this goodness. In science, we understand the incredible fine-tuning of the universe and our particular location on earth that makes life possible, and also the wonderful breakthroughs to sustain life, such as the accidental discovery of penicillin and the developments of antibiotics and vaccines to complement our amazing immune systems. He calls our attention to the power of art to help us recognize both providence and fallenness in our world when we are otherwise oblivious to it. He weighs the power of words and communication not only to hurt but to heal and illumine with quotes from Hinduism, Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Luther Standing Bear, and even atheist Sam Harris. He does not shrink from addressing the horror of war and even discusses Israel’s war against the Canaanites, drawing on the work of Paul Copan. He observes strong tradition of just war, the Geneva Conventions, and the beginnings of the Red Cross. Amid evil, goodness remains and eventually triumphs.

Throughout the book, he addresses objections and comes back to this in the final chapter, preceding his epilogue. He addresses:

Is everything common grace?
How can we know for sure?
Why doesn’t God act sooner?
Does common grace limit God’s activity?

Muehlhoff offers a discussion that is concise, carefully reasoned and illustrated with numerous examples from contemporary culture. He concludes the book with the hope that knowing God’s abundant work in everyday life will cause us to “see the world with wonder as we encounter good gifts daily” and fill our mouths with telling the deeds of this God.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Amy Minard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read this book, the more excited and hopeful I became. Here is a mind that goes way deep and combines old history and new happenings with an eye to a positive and hopeful future. It isn’t a very long book and only 6 chapters to answer some of the most pertinent questions of today. Tim has the ability to open your eyes to engage your mind and show just how the Lord is working today as always. I had never heard the term common grace, but this sharp thinker shows us how God has always been present in the discoveries of science, space, and throughout our lives. He never belabors a point but just in simple terms unveiling the possibilities in our troubled world.
Time and time again, I wanted to underline and remember his illustrations. He uses the Bible, modern movies, modern violence and in a moving look at the fact that God is just as present today, as he was in the parting of the Red Sea. Blaise Pascal and Martin Buber are right along side Tom Hanks. You will be on the edge of your seat trying to understand it all. He asserts that God is good in the midst of our turmoil of Covid 19, racial unrest, a contentious presidential election and uncertain financial times.
Thoughtful questions in attempting to understand God’s disposition toward a fallen world. Romans 5:20 “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” When it is sin versus grace, grace wins every time.
God wants to partner with us, be our mentor, be the great encourager. Sure, we have problems, BIG ones, but he will see us through. Try to cultivate the seeing eye, the listening heart, be in community with each other. This would be a great book to spark discuss in groups of believers and non-believers to see the common ground and common grace, where our trials have produced our scientific discovers.
Tim won the 2018 Christianity Today book award in apologetics/ evangelism. God’s healing power can heal our communities of grieving, abused and oppressed human beings. Open your eyes!

[Nicole Brockwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard the author on one of my favorite podcasts and he was fantastic. This book is reminding us and showing us how God most commonly moves through ‘common grace’ not through major miracles such as sea partings. It’s a short read. Only two hours in an audiobook but I absolutely recommend it.

Listened to audiobook via Scribd

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after Tim’s interview on theology in the raw and I probably could have just ended with the interview. A very helpful thought about looking for common grace in every day life, but this book didn’t add much more than what was offered on theology in the raw.

[G. Salter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear exploration of what common grace is, what it can't explain, what it can't explain, and delivers much better examples than typically appear in "God's hand in the world today" type books .
I also appreciated how it took a very humble approach to discussing illness and medical disabilities, which is usually the point where these kind of books become condescending.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first chapter was great, but each chapter after that could have been shorter. Would be good as an essay or shorter book.

[Liz Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Common Grace