Sanders began to reflect on divine providence after one of his brothers died in an accident. He says he first wondered why God orchestrated his brother's death. Yet, later when some Christian friends suggested that God had ordained his brother's death so that Sanders would get closer to God, he rejected that idea. Yet, later when some Christian friends suggested that God had ordained his brother's death so that Sanders would become a Christian he rejected that idea. Additionally, in college he read some theology books which asserted that God was strongly immutable and impassible such that our prayers never affect God. This made Sanders wonder whether his understanding of prayer (prayers could affect God) was correct. He spent a good portion of the next twenty years seeking to resolve such issues. Eventually, he became a proponent of open theism and contributed to the scholarship on the topic along with other open theists such as Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd, and William Hasker.