theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, divine providence, or simply providence, is

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

's intervention in the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which refers to God's continuous upholding of the existence and natural order of the universe, and "special providence", which refers to God's extraordinary intervention in the life of people.

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s and even retribution generally fall in the latter category.

Etymology

"Divine" evolved in the late 14th century to mean "pertaining to, in the nature of or proceeding from God or a god". This came from the Old French , with a similar meaning, and that from the Latin , meaning "of a god", in turn from , with similar meaning, which was related the Latin , meaning god or deity. The word "providence" comes from Latin meaning foresight or

prudence Prudence (, contracted from meaning "seeing ahead, sagacity") is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four cardinal virtues (which are, ...

, and that in turn from "ahead" and "to see". The current use of the word in the secular sense refers to foresight, or "timely preparation for eventualities", or (if one is a

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

or an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

) "nature as providing protective care".

Theology

Jewish

Divine providence () is discussed throughout

Rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...

, and in particular by the classical Jewish philosophers. These writings maintain that divine providence means that God is directing (or even recreating) every minute detail of creation. This analysis thus underpins much of

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

world view A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. However, when two parties view the s ...

, particularly regarding questions of interaction with the natural world.

Roman Catholic

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

is often associated with the doctrine of divine providence in the

Latin West Greek East and Latin West are terms used to distinguish between the two parts of the Greco-Roman world and of medieval Christendom, specifically the eastern regions where Greek was the ''lingua franca'' (Greece, Anatolia, the southern Balkans, t ...

. Augustine held that the universe is under the continuous control and unifying governance of a single Supreme Being, since God's governance takes place over a vast multitude of relatively independent individuals differing in nature, function, and end. Christian teaching on Providence in the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

was most fully developed by

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

in the ''

Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main t ...

''. The concept of providence as care exercised by God over the universe, his foresight and care for its future is extensively developed and explained both by Aquinas himself and modern

Thomists Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed questions ...

. One of the foremost modern Thomists, Dominican father

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language meaning "king". Etymology and history The name Reginald comes from Latin meaning "king" and "ruler" symbolizing authority and leadership. It comes from combining Latin “ rex” meaning ...

, wrote a study of providence entitled ''Providence: God's loving care for men and the need for confidence in Almighty God.'' In it, he presents and solves, according to Catholic doctrine, the most difficult issues as related to Providence. However, Jean Pierre de Caussade (7 March 1675 – 8 December 1751) was a French Jesuit priest and writer. He is especially known for the work ascribed to him known as Abandonment to Divine Providence, and also his work with the Nuns of the Visitation in Nancy, France.

Eastern Orthodox

The doctrine of providence in

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

is set out by St.

John of Tobolsk John of Tobolsk (; 1651–1715, born as Ioann Maksimovich Vasilkovskiy (, , ''Ivan Maksymovych Vasylkivskyi'') was a teacher, writer and clergyman of Ukrainian Cossack origin, who served as the Orthodox archbishop of Chernihiv and Novhorod-Siv ...

Lutheran

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theology, divine providence refers to God's preservation of creation, his cooperation with everything that happens, and his guiding of the universe. While God cooperates with both good and evil deeds, with the evil deeds he does so only in as much as they are deeds, not with the evil in them. God concurs with an act's effect, but he does not cooperate in the corruption of an act or the evil of its effect. Lutherans believe everything exists for the sake of the Christian Church, and that God guides everything for its welfare and growth. According to

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, divine providence began when God created the world with everything needed for human life, including both physical things and natural laws. In

Luther's Small Catechism Luther's Small Catechism () is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Bapti ...

, the explanation of the first article of the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

declares that everything people have that is good is given and preserved by God, either directly or through other people or things. Of the services others provide us through family,

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, and work, he writes, "we receive these blessings not from them, but, through them, from God." Since God uses everyone's useful tasks for good, people should look not down upon some useful vocations as being less worthy than others. Instead people should honor others, no matter how lowly, as being the means God uses to work in the world.

Reformed

The concept of divine providence is an integral part of Reformed theology, which emphasizes the

total depravity Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all h ...

of man and the complete sovereignty of God. Article 13 of the

Belgic Confession The ''Confession of Faith'', popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a confession to which many Reformed churches subscribe as a doctrinal standard. The Confession forms part of the Three Forms of Unity, which are the official subordinate st ...

, a Reformed

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: ...

, first outlines the doctrine, then explains why it does not entail that God is the author of evil, finally exhorting its readers to humility for this doctrine, which is said to afford great consolation to Christians. The Confession draws from many biblical proof-texts, including ("For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done"). This text in particular is taken as illustrative of the concept of ''concursus dei'' ('divine concurrence'), which Reformed theologian Louis Berkhof defines as "the cooperation of the divine power with all subordinate powers, according to the pre-established laws of their operation, causing them to act and to act precisely as they do". In the case of

Acts 4 Acts 4 is the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke ...

, this means that the sinful doings of Herod, Pilate and others were permitted by God according to what his "counsel" had "determined before to be done". Divine providence and human free will are thus not regarded as contradictory; rather the former is said to be the very ordering principle of the latter (and furthermore, evil cannot be attributed to God, as his permitting of evil to occur was only in view of a greater end, which is the redemption of the elect in Acts 4). This has two implications: Firstly, that: "the powers of nature do not work by themselves, that is, simply by their own inherent power, but that God is immediately operative in every act of the creature." Secondly, that secondary causes "are real, and not to be regarded simply as the operative power of God. It is only on condition that second causes are real, that we can properly speak of a concurrence or co-operation of the First Cause with secondary causes." The first implication, that God is "immediately operative in every act of the creature", and steers the course of creation according to his will, distinguishes the Reformed faith from

deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

which states that God created the world but leaves it as if it were a mere mechanism, without intervening. The second implication, that secondary or contingent causes exist, refutes the opposite extreme of deism, which is

occasionalism Occasionalism is a philosophical doctrine about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God. (A related concept, which has been called "occasional c ...

pantheism Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arisesAnn Thomson; Bodies ...

; the idea that God is the only agent or cause that exists. The Confession then takes a turn towards humility regarding this doctrine, "And as to what He doth surpassing human understanding, we will not curiously inquire into it further than our capacity will admit of;" while also proclaiming the "unspeakable consolation" that it affords for believers, who may be assured that nothing befalls them by chance but by the will of their Father. This is proved by the words of Christ in : "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." Finally, the article rejects

Epicureanism Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

, an ancient philosophy which taught that the world is ultimately chaotic, and that there is no underlying order or predestination, rather that everything is subject to

luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at a ...

or random chance. The doctrine of providence, and its implications regarding the immanence of God in all secondary causes, and the fact that nothing can come to pass without his divine foreordination, stands in direct contradiction to Epicureanism, as it asserts that nothing is chaotic or random, but rather that everything is absolutely dependent upon the necessary will of God. Calvin gives the metaphor in the ''

Institutes of the Christian Religion ''Institutes of the Christian Religion'' () is John Calvin's seminal work of systematic theology. Regarded as one of the most influential works of Protestant theology, it was published in Latin in 1536 at the same time as Henry VIII of England's ...

'', that Creation is a great theatre, in which the epic drama of human history and redemption is played out, all according to the direction of the divine will.

Arminian

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch theologian

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Jakob Hermanszoon'' ; 10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609) was a Dutch Reformed Christianity, Reformed minister and Christian theology, theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views ...

formulated

Arminianism Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was origina ...

and disagreed with Calvin in particular on

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

and

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

. Arminianism is defined by God's limited mode of providence. This mode of providence affirms the compatibility between human

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

and divine foreknowledge, but its incompatibility with

theological determinism Theological determinism is a form of predeterminism which states that all events that happen are pre-ordained, and/or predestined to happen, by one or more divine beings, or that they are destined to occur given the divine beings' omniscience. Th ...

. Thus predestination in Arminianism is based on divine foreknowledge, unlike in Calvinism. It is therefore a predestination by foreknowledge. From this perspective, comes the notion of a

conditional election In Christian theology, conditional election is the belief that God chooses for eternal salvation those whom he foresees will have faith in Christ. This belief emphasizes the importance of a person's free will Free will is generally underst ...

on the one who wills to have faith in God for salvation.

Swedenborgian

''Divine Providence'' is a book published by

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...

in 1764 which describes his

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics ...

regarding providence, free will,

theodicy In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...

, and other related topics. Both meanings of providence are applicable in Swedenborg's theology, in that providence encompasses understanding, intent and action. Divine providence relative to man is 'foresight', and relative to the Lord is 'providence'. Swedenborg proposes that one law of divine providence is that man should act from freedom according to reason, and that man is regenerated according to the faculties of rationality and liberty.

Latter Day Saint (LDS)

There is little theological literature on the term ''providence'' in LDS studies. As stated above, Reformed theology relates these terms to predestination, which does have more prominence in LDS theology, if only as a

polemical Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

term. One particular text that could be interpreted as being related to such terms is in the

Book of Abraham The Book of Abraham is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1842 by Joseph Smith. Smith said the book was a translation from several Egyptian scrolls discovered in the early 19th century during an archeologic ...

. As Abraham is shown the heavens, he is also shown the pre-mortal spirits of mankind: The "making of rulers" above is explained as foreordination (in the chapter summary) as opposed to "predestination". This differentiation balances free will (or free agency in LDS theology) against

divine intervention Divine intervention is an event that occurs when a deity (i.e. God or gods) becomes actively involved in changing some situation in human affairs. In contrast to other kinds of divine action, the expression "divine ''intervention''" implies that ...

. LDS scholar

Richard Draper Richard Draper (1726–1774) was an early American Boston printer and an editor of ''The Boston News-Letter''. Together with his father and his nephew Draper printed and published ''The News-Letter''. In the years leading up to the American Revo ...

has described the church's position thus: However, this does not imply a passive God. LDS theology favours a more active, interventionist God. In a General Conference, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...

articulates this: "Our lives are like a chessboard, and the Lord moves us from one place to another". Rasband continues by citing a well-known text from in the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

in which Nephi finds his nemesis unconscious from inebriation in front of him, he concludes, "Was he fortunate to just happen upon Laban? Or was it by 'divine design'?" Although the text itself limits the interaction of the divine to the "Spirit" to commanding Nephi to "Slay him." God also limits his involvement. Rasband interprets one particular passage from the Book of Mormon as saying that God (through his Spirit) will only intervene based on righteousness. Rasband concludes that, "When we are righteous, willing, and able, when we are striving to be worthy and qualified, we progress to places we never imagined and become part of Heavenly Father's 'divine design'."

Islam

When Moses () and Aaron () arrive in the court of

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

, the Pharaoh begins questioning Musa about the God he follows. The Quran narrates Musa, answering the Pharaoh:

Text of Scripture

Those who believe in the inerrancy of the original

biblical manuscript A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see '' Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi- ...

s often accompany this belief with a statement about how the biblical text has been preserved so that what we have today is at least substantially similar to what was written. That is, just as God "divinely inspired the text", so he has also "divinely preserved it throughout the centuries". The

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it becam ...

states that the Scriptures, "being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical." This is an important argument in the " King James only" debates. Edward F. Hills argues that the principle of providentially preserved transmission guarantees that the printed must be the closest text to the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

autographs An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

Politics

In the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

, it is cited, "with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor".

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

* * * 3 vols.

External links

Divine Providence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Divine Providence Attributes of God in Christian theology Jewish philosophy Metaphysics of religion Philosophy of religion Religious terminology Divinity