IXDivine Providence

Chapter II. Of God as the Provider.

The Theology says of Adam that God aided him, leading him toward the good, but Adam, endowed with freedom, did not wish that good and so became unhappy. After the fall and after the redemption, God has not ceased cooperating with the good in all creatures; but the creatures, through the freedom which has been given to them, do not want that good, and commit evil.

Why has God created men who commit evil and so are unhappy ? Why, if God cooperates with the good in the creatures, does he cooperate so feebly that men, in spite of this cooperation, become unhappy ? Why does this condition, which leads man to misfortune, persist after the redemption, which was to free him from it, and why do men, in spite of the cooperation of God the Provider, again do evil and perish ? To all these simple questions there is no answer. The only answer is the word "allow." God allows the evil. But why does he allow the evil, since he is good and almighty ? To this the Theology does not reply, but carefully prepares in this chapter the way for the teaching about grace, about prayer, and, strange to say, about submission to the worldly powers.

Here is the exposition of the dogma :

"Section I. Of divine providence in general.

"96. Under the name of divine providence has since antiquity been understood that care which God has for all the beings of the world, or, as this idea is more circumstantially expressed in the Larger Christian Catechism :

* Divine providence is the constant action of the almightiness, wisdom, and goodness of God, by which he preserves the being and powers of the creatures, directs them to good ends, assists all that is good; but the evil that springs up by departure from good he cuts off, or corrects and turns to good consequences.' In this way three particular actions are distinguished in the general concept of the divine providence : the preservation of the creatures, the cooperation, or assistance, given to them, and the direction of them.

"The preservation of the creatures is a divine action by which the Almighty preserves the being of both the whole world, and also the separate creatures who are contained in it, with their powers, laws, and activities. The cooperation, or assistance, given to the creatures is a divine action by which the All-good, permitting them to make use of their own powers and laws, at the same time offers them his aid and succour during their activities. This is especially palpable in relation to the rational and free creatures, who are all the time in need of the grace of God in order to progress in the spiritual life. However, in relation to the moral beings the actual cooperation of God takes place only when they freely choose and do the good; but in all those cases when they according to their own will choose and do the evil, there takes place only the permission, but not the cooperation, of God, for God cannot do evil, and does not wish to deprive the moral beings of the freedom which he has granted to them.

"Finally, the direction of the creatures is a divine action, by which the infinitely All-wise directs them with all their lives and activities toward their predestined ends, correcting and turning, as far as possible, their very worst deeds toward good results. From this it can be seen that all the above mentioned actions of the divine providence differ among themselves. The preservation embraces also the existence of the creatures, and their powers and activi- ties; the cooperation refers maiDly to the powers; the direction, to the powers and actions of the creatures. God preserves all the creatures of the world; he cooperates with the good only, and allows the evil ones to perform their evil activities; he also directs all. Not one of these actions is contained in the other : it is possible to preserve a being, without assisting and without directing it; it is possible to assist a being, without preserving and without directing it; it is possible to direct a being without preserving and without assisting it. But, on the other hand, it must be remarked that all three actions of the divine providence are distinguished and divided only by us, according to their different manifestations in the limited and diversified beings of the world and in consequence of the limitation of our mind, but in themselves they are not separable and form one unlimited action of God, because God, who ' at the same time sees everything together and each in particular,' performs everything by one simple, uncomplicated action. He inseparably preserves all his creations, and assists and directs them.

"Divine providence is generally divided into two kinds : into general providence and into particular providence. General providence is the one which embraces the whole world in general, and also the species and genera of beings; particular providence is the one which is extended over the particular beings of the world and over each of the entities, no matter how small they may appear. The Orthodox Church, believing that God ' from the smallest to the largest knows everything precisely, and in particular provides for each creation,' apparently admits both these kinds of providence.

"The ideas of divine providence, as expounded above, exclude : {a) the false doctrine of the Gnostics, Manicheans, and other heretics, who, submitting everything to fate, or recognizing the world as a product of an evil principle, or recognizing divine providence as superfluous for the world, entirely rejected divine providence with all its actions; (h) the false teaching of the Pelagians, who rejected in particular the cooperation with rational and irrational beings, regarding this as incongruous with their perfection and freedom, and also (c) the contrary teaching of various sectarians, who, believing in unconditional divine predestination, to such an extent exaggerate the divine cooperation with the rational creatures that they almost destroy their freedom, and regard God as the true cause of all their good and bad actions; finally (d) the false teaching of certain sophists, both ancient and modern, who admit only the general providence and reject the particular, considering it unworthy of God." (pp. 515- 517.)

97. The actuality of divine providence.

98. The actuality of each of the actions of the divine providence. This actuality is proved by texts from the Book of Job, from the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, from the Psalms, and from elsewhere. These texts prove nothing except that all men who recognized God recognized his almightiness.

99. The actuality of the two kinds of divine providence. Besides the general providence there is described the particular providence about each being taken separately.

100. The participation of all the persons of the Holy Trinity in the act of providence. All the persons take part in providence. This is proved from Holy Scripture; then, in conclusion, the explanation :

"It is not difficult for a believer to explain why all three persons of the Deity take part in the act of providence. That is due to the fact that the providence of the world is an action of divine omniscience, omnipresence, all- wisdom, almightiness, and goodness, — of such attributes as belong equally to all three persons of the Holy Trinity." (p. 532.)

Then follows what pretends to be a solution of the question which naturally arises with the assertion of the existence of the providence of a good God : whence comes the moral and physical evil ?

101. The relation of divine providence to the freedom of the moral beings and to the evil which exists in the world.

"(1) Divine providence does not impair the freedom of the moral beings. Of this we are assured both by the Word of God and by our own conscience and reason, which also assert that we are all the time under the influence of divine providence (cf. Arts. 81, 93), and that we are all free in our moral actions (Arts. 97, 99). In what manner divine providence, with all its effects in the moral world, does not violate the freedom of the spiritual beings, we are not able fully to explain, but we can to a certain extent approach its comprehension."

This is the way God with all his effects does not violate the freedom :

"(<x) God is an unchangeable, omniscient, all-wise being. Being unchangeable, he, having deigned to endow the rational creatures with freedom, cannot change his determination so as to oppress or entirely abolish it. Being omniscient, he knows in advance all the desires, intentions, and actions of the free beings. And being infinitely allwise, he will always find means to arrange his actions in such a way as — "

What you expect is : "not to impair the action of his providence," but that is far from the mark :

"As to leave inviolable the freedom of the actors." (p. 532.)

In a book which treats of God and of faith in him, suddenly enter the basest tricks !

God is unchangeable, and so he cannot change his determination about the freedom of man. But, in the first place, unchangeableness means something quite different. Unchangeableness means that he remains always

232. CRITIQUE OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGY one and the same. If in the determination of the attributes of God it is added that he does not change his determinations, this false definition is evidently given in order later to fall back on it. But let us admit the impossible, for we know from the Theology about the changing of his own determinations, that the unchangeableness of God means the unchangeableness of his determinations; still, we have no proof of it, and all that is left is a miserable rascally deal.

Among the number of God's attributes, according to the Theology, there are almightiness, completest freedom, endless goodness. The admission by God of moral evil and the punishment for it, due to the freedom of man, contradicts his goodness; and the necessity in which God is placed to arrange things in such a way as to leave the freedom of the actors inviolable contradicts his freedom and almightiness.

The theologians have themselves tied the knot which it is impossible to untie. An almighty, good God, a Creator and Provider of man, and an unfortunate, evil, and free man, such as the theologians acknowledge him to be, are two concepts which exclude each other.

"(h) Divine providence in respect to the creatures is expressed in this, that God preserves them, cooperates with them or allows them to do as they please, and directs them. When God preserves the moral beings, he preserves their existence and their powers; then he, no doubt, does not embarrass their freedom : that is self-evident. When he cooperates with them in the good, he also does not embarrass them in their freedom, because they are still left as the actors, that is, to choose and perform a certain action, and God only cooperates with them, or assists them. When he allows them to commit an evil act, he still less embarrasses their freedom, and permits this freedom to act without his aid, according to its will. Finally, in directing moral beings, divine providence prop- erly directs them toward the aim for which they are created; aud the regular use of their freedom consists in striving for the last aim of their being." (p. 533.)

What ? Was it not said that he allows them to commit evil acts ? How, then, does he direct them toward their aim for which they are created, when their aim, as was said before, was their good ?

"Consequently the divine direction does not in the least embarrass the moral freedom and only assists it in its striving toward its aim.

"(c) We know from experience that quite frequently we are able with our words and motions, and in various other ways, to turn our neighbours to this or that act and to direct them without embarrassing their freedom; how much more easily the infinitely All-wise and Almighty is able to find means for directing the moral beings in such a way that their freedom shall not suffer by it ?... "

The periods are in the book. This whole chapter is striking in that, apparently without any visible necessity, it raises again the question of Adam's fall, transferring it now from the sphere of history to that of actuality. One would think that the question as to whence the evil, both the moral and the physical, came, was decided in the Theology by the dogma of the fall of man. Adam was given freedom, and he fell into sin, and so all his posterity fell into sin. One would think that all was ended, and that there could be no place left for the question of freedom. But suddenly it turns out that after the fall man remains in the same condition that Adam was in, that is, capable of doing either good or evil, even after the redemption, so that again man, the creation of the good God, who is eternally providing for him, may be bad and unhappy; as it was with Adam, just so it remains in relation to men after the fall and after their redemption. Apparently the Theology needs this contradiction of the good God and the bad, unhappy and free Adam and man.

Indeed it needs it. The necessity of this contradiction will be made clear in the teaching about grace. After this follows :

102. The moral application of the dogma. It consists in (1) singing praises to God, (2) hoping in him, (3) praying, (4) complying with God's providence, and (5) doing good to others, even as God does it. With this properly ends the teaching about divine providence. The next section is only a justification of the coarsest superstitions which are connected with this teaching.

Here is what the Theology deduces from divine providence. About divine providence in relation to the spiritual world.

103. The connection with what precedes.

104. God cooperates with the good angels. Proved by Holy Scripture. The angels serve the all-satisfied, allperfect God.

105. God directs the good angels : (a) their serving God.

106. (h) Angels in the service of men : (aa) in general "they are given for the preservation of cities, kingdoms, districts, monasteries, churches, and men, both clerical and lay — "

107. (bh) Angels as guardians of human societies. There are angels of kingdoms, nations, and churches.

108. (cc) Angels as guardians of private individuals.

109. God merely allows the activity of evil angels. God only permits the devils to act.

110. God has limited and still limits the activity of the evil spirits, directing it, withal, toward good results. In this chapter there is an account, confirmed by Scripture, of all kinds of devils, of how to protect oneself against them with the cross and with prayers, and what the devils are good for : they humble us, and so forth.

111. The moral apphcation of the dogma about the angels and devils is this, that it is necessary to worship the angels and fear the devil :

"And if we fall in the struggle, if we sin, let us not be frightened before the evil, let us not give ourselves over to despair : we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John ii. 1). Let us call him, with sincere repentance for our fall and with sincere faith, and he will raise us up, and will agaia clothe us with all the weapons, that we may be able to oppose our eternal foe." (p. 575.)

112, 113, 114 impress upon us, with confirmations from Holy Scripture, the idea that God rules the material world, and that therefore the moral application of the dogma is, to pray God for rain, good weather, and healing, and not to risk our healths too much.

116. God's especial care of men.

117. God provides for kingdoms and nations. The essence of this article, confirmed by Holy Scripture, is as follows :

"The health of kings causes our peace — For God has established the powers for the common good. And would it not be unjust, if they bore arms and waged war that we might live in peace, while we did not send up prayers for those who were subjecting themselves to dangers and waging war ? Thus this matter (the prayer for the kings) is not merely a graceful act, but is performed by the law of justice." (p. 585.)

And in another place : "Destroy the places of justice, and you will destroy all order in our life; remove the helmsman from the ship, and you will send it to the bottom; take the leader away from the army, and you will give the soldiers into captivity to the enemy. Thus, if you deprive the cities of their chiefs, we shall act more senselessly than the animals which cannot speak, — we shall bite and devour one another (Gal. v. 15), the rich will devour the poor, the strong the weak, the bold the meek. But now, by the grace of God, nothing of the kind happens. Those who live honestly, naturally have no need of the correctionary measures by the chiefs : law is not made for the righteous man (1 Tim. i. 9). But if vicious people were not restrained by fear of the chiefs, they would fill the cities with endless calamities. Knowing this, Paul said : There is no power but of God : the powers that be are ordained by God (Eom. xiii. 1). What the crossbeams are in the houses, the chiefs are in the cities. Destroy them, the walls will fall to pieces and crumble : thus, if the chiefs and the fear which they cause were to be taken away from the world, the houses, and cities, and nations would with great boldness fall upon each other, for there would not be any one to restrain and stop them and by the threat of punishment to compel them to keep the peace." (pp. 585 and 586.)

118. God provides for indi\iduals. Proved by Holy Scripture.

119. God provides mainly for the righteous: solution of a perplexity. The perplexity is, why are the righteous unhappy ? The answer is, that they receive their rewards beyond the grave.

120. Manner in which God provides for man, and connection with the next part. There are two methods of divine providence : natural and supernatural.

121. The moral application of the dogma:

"Himself ruhng the kingdoms of earth, the Highest himself puts kings over them, by means of a mysterious anointment imparts power and dominion to his chosen ones, and crowns them in honour and glory for the good of the nations. Hence it is the duty of each son of his country : (a) to stand in awe before his monarch, as before the anointed one of God; (h) to love him as the common father, given by the Highest for the great family of the nation, and weighted down with cares about the happiness of one and all; (c) to obey him as one who is clothed in power from above, and ruling and guided by God in his affairs of state; (d) to pray for the king that the Lord may grant him, for the happiness of his subjects, health and salvation, success in everything, victory over his enemies, and many years of life (1 Tim. ii. 1). Through their kings, as their anointed ones, God sends to the nations all their inferior powers. Consequently it is the duty of every citizen : (a) to submit to all authority for the Lord's sake (3 Peter ii. 13), for whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; (h) to render to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour (Eom. xiii. 7)." (pp. 597 and 598.)

Thus ends the First Part of the Theology. "With this moral application of the dogma ends the Simple Theologyo