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God's Grand Game: Divine Sovereignty and the Cosmic Playground Paperback – March 18, 2019

by Steven Colborne (Author)

3.6 51 ratings

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“This provocative book takes a wide-ranging look at religion and its place in our past, present, and future — and challenges readers to rethink God’s true nature.” (BookBub editorial)

Author Steven Colborne is on a mission to awaken people to the reality that a sovereign God exists who is actively unfolding all events in creation. A first-class graduate with a postgraduate certificate in Philosophy and Religion, Colborne is the author of more than a dozen books in the philosophical theology genre.

God’s Grand Game is Colborne’s bestselling book to date having sold more than five thousand copies - an impressive feat for a niche work of philosophical theology. The book is the result of more than ten years of study and reflection by the author in relation to the divine sovereignty versus human free will predicament.

In the book’s eight parts and forty-five short chapters, and with reference to leading contemporary philosophers and theologians, the following questions are addressed:

• How can we be sure God exists?
• Do we have free will?
• Is God in control of evil and sin?
• Why would God cause severe suffering?
• Is it logical to be a Christian if God is the cause of suffering?
• Is God’s plan for there to be religious pluralism, or is Christianity the only true religion?
• What will be the religious future of humankind?
...and many more questions besides.

Aside from his authorly career, Steven Colborne is well known for his website Perfect Chaos. The site was recognised by FeedSpot as a Top 10 UK blog in both the Philosophy and Theology categories in 2018 and has an ever-growing readership of subscribers in more than 200 different countries.

God's Grand Game is the most comprehensive and articulate exposition of Colborne’s philosophical perspective to date, and as a radical and controversial book containing concisely worded and carefully reasoned argument, is essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy, religion, or spirituality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Steven has a fascinating and knowledgable perspective on all things related to spirituality... this work will surely get you thinking about how one can understand and come to know the divine" (David Robertson, author and blogger)

"It is stimulating to engage the author's arguments and their implications as he is very well read and articulate" (David Lorimer, editor of Paradigm Explorer magazine)

"God's Grand Game presents an insightful, counter-cultural worldview, inviting us to not only reconsider our relationship with the divine, but also with each other... The message of God's Grand Game is one we need to hear" (Logan Noland, Pilgrimage to Somewhere)

About the Author

Steven Colborne is a British philosopher and author living in London, England. He has written extensively on the divine sovereignty versus human free will problem, as well as a wide range of other philosophical and theological subjects.

Colborne is a first-class graduate of the University of Westminster and holds a PG Cert in Philosophy and Religion from the University of London. He has spent much of his adult life immersing himself in the spiritual practices of a diverse range of faith groups, from Hinduism and Buddhism to the New Age movement, as well as various denominations of Christianity.

Some of Colborne's most popular books include the spiritual memoir The Philosophy of a Mad Man, the groundbreaking work of interfaith theology Christianity, Islam, and the One True God, and his chief philosophical work God's Grand Game: Divine Sovereignty and the Cosmic Playground.

Colborne is also known for running the popular and award-winning philosophy blog Perfect Chaos, which has a readership of over 7000 subscribers from more than 200 different countries. Colborne's books have been read over 15,000 times and he is considered by many to be a leading thinker in the field of contemporary philosophical theology.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tealight Books (March 18, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 266 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1999369300
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1999369309
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.6 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #7,094,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,968 in Free Will & Determinism Philosophy
- #8,876 in Comparative Religion (Books)
- #9,695 in Religion & Philosophy (Books)

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3.6 51 ratings

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Steven Colborne

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Steven Colborne is the author of many books in the philosophical theology genre. His work offers deep insights into all of the big problems of philosophy and theology, with a focus on the divine sovereignty versus human free will predicament, especially as it relates to the Christian, Islamic, and Hindu worldviews.

Steven is a first-class BA (Hons) graduate of the University of Westminster and holds a postgraduate certificate in Philosophy and Religion from Heythrop College, University of London. He was born in Cambridgeshire, grew up in Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and currently lives in London, England. The son of an English father and a Dutch mother, Steven has had a remarkable spiritual journey which has involved immersive explorations of both Eastern and Western spirituality, as well as several spells in psychiatric hospital. He currently works full-time as a Personal Independent Counsellor in London.

Among other books, Steven’s catalogue of releases includes a groundbreaking work of interfaith theology (Christianity, Islam, and the One True God), a compilation of academic essays (A Collection of Essays by Steven Colborne), and a systematic presentation of his philosophical perspective (God’s Grand Game: Divine Sovereignty and the Cosmic Playground). As well as being a prolific author, Steven also runs the popular philosophy blog Perfect Chaos.

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What a playground

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2021

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It surely is a.fun book contemplating on all that has been written and lived by past years it would be a great.World as you describe non your last chapter

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Matthew Rapaport

Summed up in five words: God made me do it!

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2020

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In this short book, Steven Colborne offers us a complete, if shortened, theology, a "theory of God". It is, in my opinion, the worst theory of God I have ever read, not merely because it is wrong (no human thinker gets everything right about God), but because its error amounts to God being evil. Why then three stars and not two or one? I appreciate the scope of Colborne's effort. He covers a lot here, and he writes well. Beginning from reasonable premises he makes one grand logical error and from that he courageously drives his theory to its conclusion. He is honest about all of this effort, carefully distinguishing between what he claims must follow from his idea, and what amounts to further speculation. Mostly, his conclusions (while wrong thanks to the big error) follow from his premises, until the last chapter where he fails to stay consistently within the boundaries he himself sets (see below). The problem is that some of what falls out of his analysis makes God a whimsical child who, for his own entertainment, puts both pleasure and pain into creation!

The theory is not entirely new. It has within it a theological idea called "occasionalism" which holds that everything that happens is "occasioned", that is made to happen, by God, personally and directly. Colborne also folds in an 18th Century idealism popularized by George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne in the first half of the 1700s. In Berkeley's idealism, every perception we have of the physical world is put into our mind's by God. Nothing of the physical world exists independently of God's keeping it before (or in) our mind's directly. This includes also all our thoughts, beliefs, desires, and so on. Everything we call consciousness is put there, moment by moment, by God himself. Colborne is not an idealist (if God wants a mind-independent world he can create one), but the way his theory comes out it doesn't really make any difference. Is the tree we both see in front of us really there or does God put it into both our heads? Given his radical occasionalism we cannot tell the difference.

Colborne begins reasonably enough. God must be infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and possessed of unconstrained free will save for the creation of logical impossibilities (like square circles). He affirms what is called the "doctrine of divine conservation" which means that God must, at every moment, uphold all of universe reality. Put simply, if God blinked, there would be nothing and not something! Colborne errs in assuming that divine conservation entails occasionalism. He goes from "God could do everything that happens" (true) to "God does do everything that happens" (false) and on to "God must do everything that happens". In this last move, Colburne declares free will impossible, like a square circle, completely forgetting that since God is infinitely free, he can uphold, and he can permit or allow, without actually doing everything. God can be the upholder without being the only doer in the universe. Who are the other doers? Well among others perhaps, at least us!

The evil in the theology really gets going here. To Colborne, nothing anyone does has anything to do with any freedom they think they have. He denies he is a pantheist, but his idea amounts to pantheism. Everything is God and God is everything, not merely in the sense that God everywhere upholds it all, but that he is personally doing it all. If I save a child from drowning, really God did it. If I murder you, really God did it. No matter what, good or bad (Colborne denies God is a source of the moral direction -- a pointer to the true, beautiful, and good), physical, or mental (all of your thoughts, pains, pleasures) are really God playing at being a you. Colborne recognizes that human beings appear to themselves to be free willed agents, particularly in the moral domain. We cannot freely fly, but we can choose that which we perceive as more (or less) true, beautiful, or good. Indeed there seems to be no bounds on our moral freedom. But all of this is illusion according to Colborne. God is a deceiver by his lights, itself a violation of the principle of God's consistency and unity! I have never used the term blasphemy in a review, I don't even believe in the concept, but I think it might fit this book.

After driving at all of these conclusions based on his fundamental mistake (failing to see that while God could do everything, his freedom permits him not to have to do everything), Colborne offers us an analysis of various world religions pointing out that we didn't invent any of them, they are all God literally "playing around", and yes, even contradicting himself! But in a final chapter, he suggests that his idea, it's all only God, would be a sound basis for inter-faith dialogue. But that inter-faith dialogue has any value at all presupposes free will which Colborne denies exists. If we talk, it is only God talking to himself. If we kill one another, it is only God messing around with his puppet soldiers. God's whim either way, nothing more.

Unless you are just curious about Colborne's extreme and morally vacuous theological idea, I cannot really recommend this book!

12 people found this helpful

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Ricky Pierce

Thought-provoking for a Bible-believing Christian

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2020

As a Christian, I cannot fully agree with Colborne's foundational belief that God orchestrates everything, literally. For one to believe in concepts like repentance and salvation, one has to believe in free will. However, as I've gone on a journey over the last few years of diving deep into scripture, I've seen that the free will issue isn't exactly "black and white." Many times in the Old Testament, and even occasionally in the New, writers imply or outright say that God orchestrated attitudes and/or events. Even with New Testament ideas like guidance from the Holy Spirit, there is an essential question--what is the overlap/relationship between God's will and free will? Because that is a pertinent question for Christians, this book did make me think, even if I can't buy into Colborne's theology completely. In particular, the chapter on prayer sticks with me. In it, Colborne begs the questions of why we pray for God to do certain things, like enable us to get a promotion at work, unless He has the power to do them. Much of what we pray for would involve God directing people/things. Fair questions! I read this a while back, but when I taught a course on Christian leadership recently, a student incidentally made this comment while describing his life journey: "We have free will, but God orchestrates everything." Just goes to show that, even if you disagree with everything in this book, its subject matter is certainly relevant.

3 people found this helpful

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Sofia Petrovna

Why?

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2022

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I have a feeling the author wrote this book to help us fund his newly founded church. There are enough opinions on God and everything, I have no need to pay for another one, sorry.

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Brian Lee Shea

Challenging Modern Theology Theories

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021

This book is written in a serries of thought provoking essays. Each one leading into the point of the next in an attempt to open your mind and view Christian Theology through the eyes of complete Sovereignty. The persuasive book challenges modern theory of Sovereignty and our relationship with God through "free will." What is free will, and how it has shaped Christian Theology. This book will open your mind to the love of God and offer an understanding of our interfaith relationships with others around the globe. Easy read and very interesting. Open your mind and your hearts to this book.

One person found this helpful

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J. Fernandez

Ego, Arrogant and misinformed ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2020

Pompous, arrogant, misinformed and limited ... That is the kindest way to put it! This man's ego, his belief that his view alone is the TRUTH, enlightenment doesn't exist... and everyone else is wrong, but him ... That about covers the contents of his premise, this book, his blog, his videos! He uses paper tiger arguments, circular reasoning, and false premises, based on his limited views and understanding of any subject he has chosen to focus on ... Greater minds can be found, I suggest any of Ken Wilber's books for one ... This man's arrogance and ego are more impressive than his understanding of GOD, TRUTH, or ENLIGHTENMENT! I am basically pretty open to all views, and I rarely leave reviews, but this book truly deserved one, due to the author's grandiose claims! If one is going to discuss any of these subjects, one must first start from a place of humility, not ego! Arrogance, delusion, and self importance don't make one's view right or righteous, it makes for a house of cards built on sand! When the blind lead the blind ...

6 people found this helpful

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Collin Cooper

Insightful Philosophical Theology

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2021

This is a very insightful book filled with many unique ideas from the author. As an avid reader of philosophy and theology, this book was refreshingly new. It is contemporary, yet incorporates the understanding of the historical context of the ideas that the author puts forth. I would definitely recommend this book!

One person found this helpful

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J.C Lynch

Keep your mind open.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2019

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For work such as this, there is no need for worries of spoilers, as rather it is less a narrative and more philosophical. However, I implore you to read the work in-depth as my musings on the subject may be contrary to the views of others. Even that of Colborne himself. However, as he says in his work, this is how God wanted it. Some knowing of his existence, and those of us waiting in the wing for divine interaction.

So Colborne introduces himself first and his story was not an easy one to read. In his contemporary life, he has discovered a type of stasis, however, with illnesses inherent to him, he proclaims this may be taken away at any time. Such is the will of God.

It is also important to me that you do not mistake Steven for a man of blind faith, who have never known anything else. From reading his blog alone you would know this, and in his introduction, he explains his deep interest with all things spiritual since his teens.

In Part 1 we are introduced to the nature of God. Which can be summoned up by His omnipresence. He states his case quite clearly through the lens of scientific endeavours:

“Even scientists, who are very successful in describing how things happen, generally agree that they cannot say why things happen.”

The argument here for Colborne is linked with the philosophical paradigm of determinism. God is all there is, we are a part of God, however, he exists outside of us. Therefore he is all-powerful and knows how our lives will play out.

In Part 2 we are guided through the human experience, in which Colborne is certain is curated by God. Why he is certain of this is simple. We are used to experiencing things in a certain way, through a certain set of laws.

When something outside of these perceptions happened, rather than chalking them down to anomalies or mistakes, Colborne assures the reader that this is through the desire of God. It is because God is a higher being, that we cannot experience everything he does. In certain cases, he allows us a small window into his nature. Colborne asks that rather than dismiss these anomalous experiences we should accept them as God’s outer life.

Scientist have grappled for centuries with the concept of ‘thought’. Where does ‘thought’ come from? How does it arise? Now with modern science researchers have pinpointed the moment the brain sends the signals to, for example, move an arm. They have not, however, pinpointed the decision or the why.

Colborne makes it quite simple, this is God’s will. He is managing our every movement.

“If we consider the nature of God, particularly His attribute of omnipresence, it makes sense that He is controlling our conscious experiences because His being permeates every atom in existence and every cell of our bodies.”

For someone who has studied anthropology and humankind so closely, I cannot help but agree with Colborne to an extent. Although humans have spread ourselves across the planet, we have things that are so unique to us as a species that it appears wherever we are. The concept of God is universal and in favour of Colborne’s argument, this may be God’s own way of showing himself to us.

In our modern world, the war between science and religion has gotten us nowhere. I have often been an advocate for the inter-disciplinary cooperation of scientists and theologians. For many centuries now, scientists have been doing the work philosophers in ancient Greece once had the pleasure of.

Now more than ever we need to listen to, and read about experiences had by human beings such as Steven Colborne. In my opinion, his belief in God is not a dirty secret or an unfortunate quirk. There are many people I love who both believe in God and many who do not. With all the varieties in between.

There is no denying that Colborne has done his homework, and he entertains the philosophies of those who would be considered his opposite. In Part 4 he discusses the American Philosopher Sam Harris, who is a prominent figure surrounding materialism and free will. Harris believes that all we are is physical, and this matter is calling the shots. Whereas of course, Colborne argues this is nonsensical. How can inanimate matter create the diverse realms of thought that humans enjoy?

“How something that is purely material could create awareness of the kind that human beings experience is an area of ceaseless confusion for neuroscientists.”

There is also the espousal of the major world religions, (not discounting the thousands of others he would not have had time to mention). Colborne is not dismissing your version of God. His simple truth is this. God is omnipresent and God is our creator (at birth and each and every moment of our lives).

Colborne wants what I think is lacking in the Christian faiths (among others) of the day. A modern church were a scientific debate is not only welcomed but part of the general practice of religion. A church of God which has thrown off the shackles of the cruelness of human doctrines, and allow only love to flow. An inter-faith dialogue, a safe place for everyone, in which to look at God from all unique perspectives and experiences of the human condition.

There is room for everyone in the debate so I would ask for the comments to be respectful, and I implore you to read this book. There is more benefit here than you realise.

8 people found this helpful

craddockwalmley@aol.com

Weak

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2020

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Shallow and bordering on the incoherent

2 people found this helpful

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