God’s Providence
- God’s Providence References:
- The Doctrine of Evil
- To understand the Orthodox view and practice of exorcism, one must know the Orthodox presuppositions of evil and its doctrine of Satan.
- The patristic evidence points to the fact that the cause of evil in the world is the devil.
- The devil was created by God as an angel, who was free, and as a free agent chose to oppose the plan of God.
- That is, the devil is a fallen angel.
- Satan is not evil by nature, but by will and action.
- In Satan there is no truth whatsoever; he is absolute falsehood and deception.
- Satan is not just a negation or deprivation of good, but a positive force with free will that always chooses evil.
- The devil has the ability to recognize divine power, as in the incident of recognizing Christ as the Son of God (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-3).
- Satan has under his leadership legions and invisible powers, with their own “satanic teachings.”
- The devil and evil spirits know that God exists and recognize true and devoted Christians, but pious Christians discern the plans of the devil.
- The devil, however, constantly employs every method of deception to enslave man to satanic forces and causes rebellion against God.
- He is the cause of corruption and disorder, a parasitic power in the world that will ultimately be destroyed by the power of God in the “last days.”
- Because there is no compromise between God and the devil, the struggle will continue until the end.
- The Orthodox doctrine of God is that He is eternal, uncreated and incorporeal (Lacking material form or substance).
- All other creatures, both visible and invisible, were created by God as free.
- The power of the devil will ultimately be destroyed by the resurrection of the dead and the renewal of creation.
- Salvation from all evil will be attained by obedience to God and His plan.
- This world is a battleground between the acceptance of good and evil.
- It must be pointed out that the world as the creation of God is not evil.
- What is evil is the satanic power, destroyed by the power of the cross and the resurrection of Christ.
- Another orthodox reference
Calvin Theology
- The Westminster Confession of Faith :
- Westminster Confession of Faith is a reformed confession of faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition
- CHAPTER V: Of Providence
- 1. God the great Creator of all things doth uphold,[a] direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things,[b] from the greatest even to the least,[c] by His most wise and holy providence,[d] according to His infallible foreknowledge,[e] and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,[f] to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.[g]
- [a]. Neh. 9:6; Ps. 145:14-16; Heb. 1:3
- [b]. Dan. 4:34-35; Ps. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 38:1-41:34
- [c]. Matt. 10:29-31, see Matt. 6:26-32
- [d]. Prov. 15:3; II Chron. 16:9; Ps. 104:24; Ps. 145:17
- [e]. Acts 15:18; Isa. 42:9; Ezek. 11:5
- [f]. Eph. 1:11; Ps. 33:10-11
- [g]. Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 9:17; Gen. 45:7; Ps. 145:7
- An exposition (setting forth of meaning or intent) to the Westminster Confession of Faith is found here
- John Drury
- a PhD student in Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.
- Writing of Calvin’s thoughts on God’s Providence
- Calvin reiterates his previous position here with regard to the problem of providence and evil.
- He unabashedly attributes to God’s secret providence all acts of evil.
- This is just a logical extension of the argument thus far.
- What is added is Calvin’s rejection of the distinction between active and permissive will.
- This distinction is usually employed to acquit God of complicity in evil.
- Calvin does not see the need to acquit God of anything, since that would both put us in the position of judging God and would ignore the fact that God always brings good out of evil.
- Calvin rejects the scholastic distinction “between doing and permitting” (229).
- God does not merely permit, but wills all acts, including evil ones.
- He states clearly “that men can accomplish nothing except by God’s secret command, that they cannot by deliberating accomplish anything except what he has already decreed within himself and determines by his secret direction” (229).
- He substantiates this claim by offering a number of Old Testament references as well as the New Testament accounts of the foreordination of the death of Christ (230).
- Calvin notes that even Satan works within the boundaries of God’s providence: “I confess, indeed, that it is often by means of Satan’s intervention that God acts in the wicked, but in such a way that Satan performs his part by God’s impulsion and advances as far as he is allowed” (232).
- The crux of the matter is that God does not have two wills (233).
- God has one will, one plan, one law, one decree.
- There is no confusion in God as to what he desires and enacts in his creation.
- Calvin cites Augustine at length to argue that God’s executes his singular will though it mysteriously includes the disobedience of his will (235).
- The key for Augustine, as well as Calvin, is that this is a mystery.
- Calvin concludes his entire discourse on providence with an admonition to be attentive to Scripture: “For our wisdom ought to be nothing else than to embrace with humble teachableness, and at least without finding fault, whatever is taught in Scared Scripture. Those who too insolently scoff, even though it is clear enough that they are prating against God, are not worthy of a longer refutation” (237).
- This is a crucial reminder that Calvin intends his account to be received as a comment on Scripture and not an independent theory of providence.
- It also allows his readers to place his understanding of providence under the careful scrutiny of Scripture.
- Also check the Vatican website: 309, where the catechisms of the Catholic faith are laid out in detail
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Catholic Church
- Providence in general, or foresight, is a function of the virtue of prudence, and may be defined as the practical reason, adapting means to an end.
- As applied to God, Providence is God Himself considered in that act by which in His wisdom He so orders all events within the universe that the end for which it was created may be realized.
- That end is that all creatures should manifest the glory of God, and in particular that man should glorify Him, recognizing in nature the work of His hand, serving Him in obedience and love, and thereby attaining to the full development of his nature and to eternal happiness in God.
- The universe is a system of real beings created by God and directed by Him to this supreme end, the concurrence of God being necessary for all natural operations, whether of things animate or inanimate, and still more so for operations of the supernatural order.
- God preserves the universe in being; He acts in and with every creature in each and all its activities.
- In spite of sin, which is due to the willful perversion of human liberty, acting with the concurrence, but contrary to the purpose and intention of God and in spite of evil which is the consequence of sin, He directs all, even evil and sin itself, to the final end for which the universe was created.
- All these operations on God’s part, with the exception of creation, are attributed in Catholic theology to Divine Providence.
- The question of Providence in the Fathers is almost invariably connected with the problem of evil.
- How can evil and suffering be compatible with the beneficent providence of an all-powerful God? And why especially should the just be allowed to suffer while the wicked are apparently prosperous and happy?
- Patristic solutions to these problems may be summed up under the following heads:
- * Sin is not ordained by the will of God, though it happens with His permission. It can be ascribed to Providence only as a secondary result (Origen, “Contra Celsum”, IV, lxviii in “P.G.”, XI, 1516-7; St. John Damascene, “De fid. orth.”, ii, 21 in “P.G.”, XCIV, 95 sq.).
- Sin is due to the abuse of free will; an abuse which was certainly foreseen by God, but could have been prevented only by depriving man of his most noble attribute (Tertullian, “Adv. Marcion.”, II, v-vii in “P.L.”, II, 317-20; St. Cyril of Alexandria “In Julian.”, IX, xiii, 10, 11, 18 in “P.G.”, LXXIV, 120-1, 127-32; Theodoret, “De prov. orat.”, IX, vi in “P.G.”, LXXXIII, 662).
- Moreover, in this world man has to learn by experience and contrast, and to develop by the overcoming of obstacles (Lactantius, “De ira Dei”, xiii, xv in “P.L.”, VII, 115-24; St. Augustine, “De ordine”, I, vii, n. 18 in “P.L.”, XXXII, 986).
- One reason therefore why God permits sin is that man may arrive at once at a consciousness of righteousness and of his own inability to attain it, and so may put his trust in God (Anon. epis. ad Diog., vii-ix in “P.G.”, II, 1175 sq.; St. Gregory the Great, “Lib. moral.”, III, lvii in “P.L.”, LXXV, 627).
- For sin itself God is not responsible, but only for the evils that result as a punishment of sin (Tertullian, “Adv. Marc.”, II, xiv, xv in “P.L.”, II, 327 sq.), evils which happen without God’s will but are not contrary to it (St. Gregory the Great, op. cit., VI, xxxii in “P.L.”, LXXVII, 746, 747).
- Had there been no sin, physical evil would have been inconsistent with the Divine goodness (St. Augustine, “De div. quæst.”, lxxxii in “P.L.”, LX, 98, 99); nor would God permit evil at all, unless He could draw good out of evil (St. Augustine, “Enchir.”, xi in “P.L.”, LX, 236; “Serm.”, ccxiv, 3 in “P.L.”, XXXVIII, 1067; St. Gregory the Great, op. cit., VI, xxxii, XVIII, xlvi in “P.L.”, LXXV, 747; LXXVI, 61-2).
- All physical evil, therefore, is the consequence of sin, the inevitable result of the Fall (St. John Chrysostom, “Ad Stagir.”, I, ii in “P.G.”, LXVII, 428, 429; St. Gregory the Great, op. cit., VIII, li, lii in “P.L.”, LXXV, 833, 834), and regarded in this light is seen to be at once a medicine (St. Augustine, “De div. quæst.”, lxxxii in “P.L.”, XL, 98, 99; “Serm.”, xvii, 4, 5 in “P.L.”, XXXVIII, 126-8), a discipline (“Serm.”, xv, 4-9 in “P.L.”, XXXVIII, 118-21; St. Gregory the Great, op. cit., V, xxxv; VII, xxix; XIV, xl in “P.L.”, LXXV, 698, 818, 1060), and an occasion of charity (St. Gregory the Great, VII, xxix).
- Evil and suffering thus tend to the increase of merit (XIV, xxxvi, xxxvii in “P.L.”, 1058, 1059), and in this way the function of justice becomes an agency for goodness (Tertullian, c. “Adv. Marc.”, II, xi, xiii in “P.L.”, 324 sq.).
- Evil, therefore, ministers to God’s design (St. Gregory the Great, op. cit., VI, xxxii in “P.L.”, LXXV, 747; Theodoret, “De prov. orat.”, v-viii in “P.L.”, LXXXIII, 652 sq.).
- Hence, if the universe be considered as a whole it will be found that that which for the individual is evil will in the end turn out to be consistent with Divine goodness, in conformity with justice and right order (Origen, “Contra Celsum”, IV, xcix in “P.G.”, XI, 1177-80; St. Augustine, “De ordine”, I, i-v, 9; II, iv in “P.L.”, XXXII, 977-87, 990, 999-1002).
- It is the end that proves happiness (Lactantius, “De ira Dei”, xx in “P.L.”, VII, 137 sq.; St. Ambrose, “De offic. minist.”, XVI, cf. XII, XV in “P.L.”, XVI, 44-6, 38 sq.; St. John Chrysostom, “Hom. xiii in Matt.”, n. 5 in “P.G.”, LXVII, 216, 217; St. Augustine “In Ps.”, xci, n. 8 in “P.L.”, XXXIII, 1176; Theodoret, “De prov. orat.”, ix in “P.G.”, LXXXIII, 727 sq.).
- In the Last Judgment the problem of evil will be solved, but till then the workings of Providence will remain more or less a mystery (St. Augustine, “De div. quæst.”, lxxxii in “P.L.”, XL, 98, 99; St. John Chrysostom, “Ad eos qui scand.”, VIII, IX in “P.G.”, LII, 494, 495).
- In regard to poverty and suffering, however, it is well to bear in mind that in depriving us of earthly goods, God is but recalling what is His own (St. Gregory the Great, op. cit., II, xxxi in “P.L.”, LXXVII, 571); and secondly that, as Salvianus tells us (“De gub. Dei”, I, i, 2 in “P.L.”, LIII, 29 sq.), nothing is so light that it does not appear heavy to him who bears it unwillingly, and nothing so heavy that it does not appear light to him who bears it with goodwill.
from Michael Youssef sermon 11/27/07 -”The Sovereignty of God. Part 2″ :
- God gave us free will but our will cannot affect God’s plan
- Our will will affect our own eternal destiny
- It is God’s will to have a heaven and a hell and for us to choose (11:42)
