Teaching God’s Providence In History
In a recent church service, my pastor referred to a quotation in which Abraham Lincoln was called “one of the greatest theologians of America.” At first I was taken back by this statement. Over the decades, Lincoln’s fame has won him many accolades, but “theologian” was not one I had heard before, not one I would have given to him.
My pastor continued, “Lincoln did not earn this title because he produced some system of doctrine or defended a particular denomination’s teaching, but because he saw the hand of God immediately in the affairs of nations.” Now this meaning of “theologian” made sense. From what I had studied about Lincoln , he constantly referred to God’s providential leading and control in history. This illustration prompted me to think about the teaching of history. Would that every teacher of history be such a “theologian,” constantly settling before his students the great truth of God’s providence in history.
“History, when rightly written, is but a record of providence and he who would read history rightly, must read it with his eyes constantly fixed on the hand of God.” This statement of a nineteenth-century historian sums up the responsibility of the Christian teacher of history, for “he who would teach history rightly, must teach it with his eyes constantly fixed on the hand of God.”
For more information on this topic, see The Providence of God in History, a booklet available from BJU Press.
by David Fisher. Updated October 21, 2015.
What Is Divine Providence Is It Biblical
Several years ago I spent over four years as part of my doctoral dissertation researching the writings of Americas founders to see what they believed about the Bibles role in a free society and our republic. What I found was quite astonishing. I found that their writings and letters were full of Scripture that was part of their everyday conversation. I also saw that the phrase, providence or divine Providence, was used quite often. Further study revealed that this phrase was not something that they invented, it was something they inherited from their ancestors. This led me to research what is divine providence and is it Biblical?
The Testimony Of The Fathers
The Testimony of the Fathers is, it need hardly be said, perfectly unanimous from the very outset. Even those Fathers and they are not many who do not treat expressly of the subject use the doctrine of Providence as the basis of their teaching, both dogmatic and practical . God governs the whole universe . It extends to every individual, adapting itself to the needs of each , and embraces even what we think is due to our own initiative . All things are created and governed with a view to man, to the development of his life and his intelligence, and to the satisfaction of his needs . The chief proof of this doctrine is derived from the adaptation of means to an end, which, since it takes place in the universe comprising a vast multitude of relatively independent individuals differing in nature, function, and end, implies the continuous control and unifying governance of a single supreme Being . Again, from the fact that God has created the universe, it shows that He must also govern it for just as the contrivances of man demand attention and guidance, so God, as a good workman, must care for His work . In addition to this, Tertullian and St. Cyprian appeal to the testimony of the human soul as expressed in sayings common to all mankind while Lactantius uses a distinctly pragmatic argument based on the utter ruin that would result to society, were the Providence of God generally denied.
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Our Response To Gods Providence
What should be our response to Gods providential care and guidance for our lives?
Praise and thanksgiving. We praise God for his gift of Jesus Christ and the salvation he has provided for us, for the Holy Spirit and the way that he guides us through life.
Trust. We can trust God with our lives. Jesus taught us that God supplies for the birds and the flowers of the field and that our lives are much more important to God. As Jesus trusted his heavenly Father, we also can trust him.
Joy. We can rejoice in our God, who is with us always, caring for us, guiding us and shaping us. As Jesus delighted in his heavenly Father and lived a life of joy, we too can live with the joy of the Lord.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.
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Two Methods Of Providence
Can we be any more specific? Here we may introduce two useful distinctions, which are frequently misunderstood or confused. Theologians distinguish first between ordinary and extraordinary providence. This distinction is about the method of providence. Ordinary providence perhaps sounds boring, but it doesnt necessarily indicate something humdrum: the term comes from the Latin ordinarius, which means according to rule. In this case the rule is Gods own, which we find established in the divinely given laws of nature. In his ordinary providence God works through and according to creaturely means. For example, your birth was hardly a boring or everyday event, but it was very much part of ordinary providence.
Your birth was hardly a boring or everyday event, but it was very much part of ordinary providence.
Extraordinary providence, on the other hand, is outside, above, or against regular, creaturely means. We see this in the biblical miracles. When Jesus walks on water, that is outside or beyond Gods normal way of ruling over the physics of water. The really key thing to remember is that, whether Gods providence is ordinary or extraordinary, it does not change the fact that God is always working, and his work is always praiseworthy. All Gods works praise him, and should lead us to bless his name .
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Sometimes God Does Miracles
We certainly see God at work in all the miraculous ways he acted in history. Some examples in the Bible include God parting the Red Sea for his chosen nation Israel , sending a worldwide flood , and saving Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from being burned alive when they were thrown into a Babylonian furnace .
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Examples Of Providence In A Sentence
providenceprovidenceprovidenceEW.comprovidence New York Timesprovidence VarietyprovidenceWSJprovidence ForbesprovidenceEW.comprovidenceThe New York Review of Booksprovidence ABC News
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word providence. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Is Synchronicity A Good Sign
When working with the Law of Attraction, the meaning is slightly different. Specifically, synchronicity signs are things that you see or experience that have a common meaning, helping to guide you toward a particular path. Theyre commonly thought to be signs from the universe that foster your personal development.
Providence Is The Hand Of God
What is providence? Here’s a theological definition: Providence is the means by which God directs all things both animate and inanimate, seen and unseen, good and evil toward a worthy purpose, which means His will must finally prevail. Or as the psalmist said, “his kingdom ruleth over all” . In Ephesians 1:11 Paul tells us that God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Our God is running the universe today, friends, even though there are some who think that it has slipped out from under Him.
There are three words we need to keep in mind before we can properly understand the providence of God in relationship to the material universe and to man in particular.
The first word is creation. We understand by “creation” that God, by His fiat word, spoke this universe into existence. The only way that you and I, certainly as Christians, will ever understand how this universe began is by faith. We understand that God brought this universe into existence, and the only way that we know this is by revelation. “…Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” .
The third word is providence. Providence is the way that God is directing the universe. He is moving it into tomorrow He is moving it into the future by His providence. Providence means “to provide.” God will provide. On Golgotha the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. He was the Lamb that God provided. He was “the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” .
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What Is Providence And How Does It Work
Providence is not itself a word found in the Bible. But it is a theological term that sums up Scriptures teaching about one particular work of God. This work includes the biblical concepts of Gods purpose , foreknowledge , and predestination . The word providence itself is sometimes linked to the introduction of God as Jehovah Jireh or the Lord who sees/provides in Genesis 22:14.
The thirteenth-century theologian Thomas Aquinas defined providence as Gods ordering of all things towards their end. He further distinguished two parts to this ordering: Gods eternal arrangement of all things, and his temporal execution of that order by means of his government of the universe . After the Reformation, many Protestant theologians basically accepted Aquinass definition, commonly discerning three elements of Gods work of providence in the world: preservation, concurrence , and government. Its important to notice that providence encompasses all things: in the most basic sense, if something is , it is providentially.
Gods Plan Of Salvation
This balance between Gods providence and human responsibility is best seen in the death of Gods Son, Jesus, who died for the sins of the world. One of Jesus followers, Peter, explained this to a group of Jews:
Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by Gods deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Here too we see God using something terribly evil to bring about something wonderfully good.
While wicked people willfully put the innocent Jesus to death, their actions were part of Gods providential planthat through Jesus death and resurrection, anyone who believes in him for forgiveness of their sin, and turns from it, can and will be saved from Gods just and eternal punishment, and enter into a peaceful, loving relationship with the Maker.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
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What Does It Mean When You Keep Seeing The Same Word Everywhere
Baader-Meinhof is the phenomenon where one stumbles upon some obscure piece of informationoften an unfamiliar word or nameand soon afterwards encounters the same subject again, often repeatedly. Intuition tells us that Baader-Meinhof strikes with blurring accuracy, and too frequently to be explained away so easily.
The Providence Of God
GODS PROVIDENCE
The word providence is found only once in the Bible, a usage which refers to human providence , and yet Divine Providence permeates the pages of Holy Writ from Genesis to Revelation! This great truth ought to cause all of Gods children to shout Hallelujah! Our God Reigns! Amen. Indeed a healthy understanding of Gods providences should produce praise from His people, for as John Piper rightly said
In all the setbacks of your life as a believer,God is plotting for your joy.
Louis Berkouwer challenges the modern churchs belief in divine providence observing that
: Berkouwers question should challenge all of Gods children Do we really believe and have firm, unshakeable confidence in the great doctrine of divine providence? May we study the Scriptures diligently for the answer and as we do, may the Spirit lead us into all truth regarding the Providence of God. Amen.
William Graham MacDonald observes that providence is
Providence is defined in our English dictionaries as the act of seeing and providing or preparing for the future, and Biblically refers to Gods foresight and power to watch over and protect and provide for His creatures . Listen to the words of Jesus that give us a wonderful description of divine providence
PROVIDENCE:OF THE UNIVERSE
Ray Pritchard writes that providence is
Deep in unfathomable minesHe treasures up His bright designsAnd works His sovereign will.
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Don Stewart : : What Is The Providence Of God
The providence of God refers to God making all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill His original design.
There Is A Difference Between God’s Creating, Sustaining, And Providence
We need to make the distinction between God creating the universe, His sustaining the universe, and God’s providence in the universe.
Creation Has Ceased
In the past, God created the universe. Creation has ceased. It is never spoken of in the Bible as something that is continuing. Thus creation has to do with the beginning of things.
Preservation Of The Universe Continues
Preservation, or sustaining, has to do with the continuance of things that God created. God has not only created the universe in the past, He is active in keeping it running.
Providence Deals With The Fulfillment Of God’s Plan
Providence has to do with the development of and fulfillment of God’s original plan that He devised. Providence fulfills the plan that God created
Stated another way, creation has to do with the existence of the universe, preservation the maintaining of the universe, and providence the care and control of the universe.
All Things Are For God’s Purpose
Scripture speaks of God providing for humanity. He designs all things and guides events according to His perfect purpose. This is known as God’s providence. Both great things and small things are under His care. There are no exceptions.
This Is Not The Same As Fate
Providence Is Not The Same As The Laws Of God
Summary
Bible Verses About Providence
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,And His sovereignty rules over all.
Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.read more.Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
The Lord is righteous in all His waysAnd kind in all His deeds.
Can you discover the depths of God?Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?They are high as the heavens, what can you do?Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?Its measure is longer than the earthAnd broader than the sea.
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,But He does according to His will in the host of heavenAnd among the inhabitants of earth And no one can ward off His handOr say to Him, What have You done?
You alone are the Lord.You have made the heavens,The heaven of heavens with all their host,The earth and all that is on it,The seas and all that is in them.You give life to all of themAnd the heavenly host bows down before You.
For not from the east, nor from the west,Nor from the desert comes exaltation
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The Free Will Defense
That all of sin and so much of suffering counts as moral evil isadvantageous to free will theodicy, for according to the free willdefense moral evil is not to be blamed upon God. It is entirely ourfault that is, entirely the fault of rational beings whoemploy their wills to pursue evil. This is because we have freewill, which is to be understood here in what is known as thelibertarian sense. We exercise libertarian freedom in formingor executing an intention only if our deciding or willing is not theproduct of deterministic causation that is, provided there isno set of conditions independent of our exercise of will which,together with scientific law, make it certain that we shall decide orwill as we do. Independent conditions our motives and beliefs,for example may incline us toward one or another intention oraction. But they cannot guarantee it, because what we decide and whatwe strive to achieve is finally up to us. Were it not so, we could notbe held accountable for our actions. We would be no more responsiblethan someone who acted out of a psychological compulsion such askleptomania, or who was a victim of addiction, hypnosis or thelike.