Part 40
S.V.). Its earliest appearance, and the onlyone except in the introductory section (Prov 18 1 ) , is where the man who separates himself from others' opinions and seeks his own desire is said to quarrel with all tushiyah. The word seems to designate Wisdom in
its subjective aspect, as an authentic insight or intuition of truth, the human power to rise into the region of true revelation from below, as distinguished from the prophetic or legal word spoken directly from above. Outside of Prov and Job the word occurs only twice: once in Mic 6 9, and once in Isa 28 29, in which latter case the prophet has deliberately composed a passage (vs 23-29) in the characteristic mashal idiom, and attributed that strain of insight to Jeh. Evidently there came a time in the culture of Wisdom when its utterances attained in men's estimate to a parity with utterances direct from the unseen; perhaps this explains why Agur's and Lemuel's words could be boldly ranked as oracles (see above, 6 and 7), At any rate, such a high distinction, an authority derived from intimacy with the creative work of Jeh (8 30.31), is ascribed to Wisdom {hokh7nah, rTaDli)
is no quarrel with the law or the word ; they simply supply the third strand in the threefold cord of instruction (cf Jer 18 18). From this basal presumption other principles, scarcely less axiomatic, come in view: that the fount and spring of wise living is reverence, the fear of Jeh; that the ensuring frame of mind is teach.ableness, the precluding attitude perverseness ; that it is the mark of wisdom, or righteousness, to be fearless and above board, of wickedness, which is folly, to be crooked and secretive. These principles recur constantly, not as a system, but in numerous aspects and applications in the practical business of life. For their sanctions they refer naively to the Heb ideal of rewards on the one hand—wealth, honor, long life, family (cf Prov 11 31)—and of shame and lass and destruction on the other; but these are emphasized not as direct bestowments or inflictions from a personal Deity, rather as in the law of human nature. The law that evil works its own destruction, good brings its own reward, is forming itself in men's reason as one of the fundamental concepts out of which grew the Wisdom philosophy.
in the introductory section; "counsel is mine,'' Wisdom is made to say, "and tushiyah" (8 14)- Thus the Book of Prov reveals to us a philosophy, as it were, in the making and from scattered counsels attaining gradually to the summit where the human intellect could place its findings by the side of Divine oracles.
IV. Considerations of Age and Literary Kinship.—To get at the history of the Book of Prov, several inquiries must be raised. When were the proverbs composed? The book, like the Book of Ps, is confessedly an anthology, containing various accumulations, and both by style and maturing thought bearing the marks of different ages. When were the successive compilations made? And,
From times long before Solomon sagacity in counsel, and skill to put such counsel into maxim or parable, gave their possessor, whether man or woman, a natural leadership and repute in the local communities (cf 2 S 14 2; 20 16); and Solomon's exceptional endowment showed itself not merely in his literary tastes, but in his ability.
2475 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Proverbs, Book of
finally, when did the strain of literature here represented reach that point of self-conscious unity and coordination which justified its being reckoned with as a strain by itself and choosing the comprehensive name Wisdom? What makes these inquiries hard to answer is the fact that these proverbs are precepts for the common people, relating to ordinary affairs of the village, the market, and the field, and move in lines remote from politics and dynastic vicissitudes and wars. They are, to an extent far more penetrative and pervasive than law or prophecy, the educative literature on which the sturdy rank and file of the nation was nourished. 'Where there
religion and citizenship, and representing views of
life which were not only Hebrew, but to a great extent international among the neighbor kingdoms. Understood so, these Solomonic proverbs furnish incomparably the best reflection we have of the religious and social standards of the common people, during a period otherwise meagerly portrayed. And from it we can understand what a sterling fiber of character existed after all, and how well worth preserving for a unique mission in the world, in spite of the idolatrous corruptions that invaded the sanctuaries, the self-pleasing unconcern of the rulers and the pessimistic denunciations of the prophets.
is no vision, the people let loose,' says a Hezekian proverb (Prov 29 18) ; but so they are also when there is no abiding tonic of social convention and principle. Precisely this latter it is which this Book of Prov in a large degree reveals; and in course of time its value was so felt that, as we have seen,
For the point in the Heb literary history when these scattered Solomonic proverbs were recognized as a homogeneous strain of 2. The thought and the compilations were Concentramade and recommended as Wisdom, tive Point we can do no better, I think, than to name the age of Israel's literary prime, the age of Hezekiah. The "men of Hezekiah" did more than append their supplementary section
it could rank itself as an asset of life by the side of vision. It represents, in a word, the human movement toward self-directiveness and self-reliance, without supine dependence on ruler or public sentiment (cf Prov 29 25.26). When and how was this sane and wholesome communal fiber developed ?
(chs 25-29); the words "these also" (nbX"D5, gam
'elleh) in their heading imply it (see Hezekiah, The Men of).
When Solomon and his court made the mashal an elegant fad, they builded better than they knew.
I apprehend the order and nature of their work somehow thus: Beginning with the classic nucleus (10 22 16) (see above, II, 2), which may have come to them in two subsections (clis 10-15; 16—22 16), they put these together as the proverbs most closely associated with Solomon, without much attempt at systematizing, substantially as these had accumulated through the ages In the rough order of their developing form and thought; compiling thus, in their zeal for the literary treasures of the past, the body of educational literature which lay nearest at hand, a body adapted especially, though not exclusively, to the instruction of the young and immature. This done, there next came to their knowledge a remarkable body of " words of the wise " (22 17—24 22), which had evidently been put together by request as a vade mecum for some persons in responsible position, and which were prefaced by a recommendation of them as "words of truth" designed to promote "trust in Jeh" (22 19-21)—which latter, as we know from Isaiah, was the great civic issue of Hezekiah's time. With this section naturally goes the little appendix of "sayings of the wise" (24 2.3-34), added probably at about the same time. These two sections, which seem to open the collection to matter beyond the distinctive Solomonic mashal. are, beyond the rest of the book, in the tone of the introductory section (chs 1-9), which latter, along with the Hezekian appendix (chs 25-29), was added, partly as a new composition, partly as incorporating some additional findings (cf for instance the completion of the poem on the sluggard, 6 6-11). Thus, by the addition of this introductory section, the Book of Prov was recognized as a unity, provided with a preface and initial proposition (1 1-6.7). and laimched with such hortatory material as had already, on a smaller scale, introduced the third section. This part not only contains the praise of Wisdom as a human endowment, sharing in the mind and purpose of the Divine (8 22-31), but it has become aware also of the revelatory value of tushiydh (2 7; 3 21; 8 14), or chastened intuition (see above. III, 3), and dares to aspire, in its righteous teachableness, to the intimacy or secret friendship of
They gave to the old native form of the
1. Under proverb and parable, as reduced to the Kings epigrammatic mold and polish, the Mat of a popular literature. This was done orally at first (Solomon spoke his proverbs,
1 K 4 32.33) ; but the recording of such carefully expressed utterances could not be long delayed; perhaps this brief style coupi was the most natural early exercise in the new transition from the unwieldly cuneiform to the use of papyrus and a more flexible alphabet, which probably came in with the monarchy. At any rate, here was the medium for a practical didactic literature, applied to the matters of daily life and intercourse to which in Solomon's time the nation was enthusiastically awake. There is no valid reason for denying to Solomon, or at least to his time, the initiation of the Solomonic mashal; and if, as has been suggested, the name "proverbs of Solomon" designates rather literary species than personal authorship, the title of the whole book (1 1), as well as the headings of sections (10 1; 25 l),may be given in entire good
faith, whatever the specific time or personal authorship of the utterances. Nor is there anything either
in recorded history or the likelihood of the case to make improbable that the activity of the "men of Hezekiah" means just what is said; these men of
letters were adding this supplementary collection (Prov 25-29) to a body of proverbs that already
existed and were recognized as Solomon's. This would put the composition of the main body of the proverbs (chs 10-29) prior to the reign of Hezekiah. They represent therefore the chief literary in-
Jeh ("nio. sodho, 3 32). All this indicates the holy self-consciousness to which Wisdom has attained.
I see no cogent reason for postponing the substantial completion of the Book of Prov beyond the time of Hezekiah. The words of Agur and of King Lemuel, with the final acrostic poem, may be later additions; but their difference in tone and workmanship is just as likely to be due to the fact that they are admitted, in the liberal spirit of the com-
struction available to the people in the long period
of the Kings from Solomon onward, a period which otherwise was very meagerly supplied. The Mo-
saic Law, as we gather from the finding of the Law
in the time of Josiah (2 K 22), was at best a sequestered thing in the keeping—or neglect—of
priests and judges ; the prophetic word was a specific message for great national emergencies; the accumulations of sacred song were the property of the temple and the cultus; what then was there for the education of the people? There were indeed the
pilers, from foreign stores of wisdom. For spiritual
clarity and intensity they do not rise to the height
of the native Heb consciousness; and they incline
to an artificial structure which suggests thatthe
writer's interest is divided between sincere tushiyah and literary skill. For the sake of like-minded
folk-tales and catechetical legends^ of their heroic
history; but there were also, most influential of all,
neighbors, however, something may be forgiven.
these wise sayings of the sages, growing bodies of
It is too early in the history of Wisdom to regard
precept and parable, preserved in village centers,
this Book of Prov as an articulated and coordinated
published in the open places by the gate (cf Job 29
system. It is merely what it purports to be, a col-
7), embodying the elements of a common-sense
Proverbs, Book of Providence THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2476
PROVIDENCE, prov'i-dens:
lected body of literature having a common bearing and purpose; a literature of reverent and intelligent
I. Providence Defined
II. Different Spheres of Providential Activity Distinguished III. Biblical Presentation of the Doctrine of Providence
self-culture, moving among the ordi-
3. Its Stage nary relations of life, and not assuming in Progresto embody any mystic disclosures of sive truth beyond the reach of human Wisdom reason. As such, it has a vocabulary and range of ideas of its own, which distinguishes it from other strains of literature. This
1 The Doctrine ot Providence in the OT
(1) The Pentateuch (2) The Historical Books
(3) The Psalms
(4) The Wisdom Literature
(5) The Book ol Job
is seen in those passages outside of the Book of Prov which deliberately assume, for some specific purpose, the Wisdom dialect. In Isa 28 23-29, the prophet, whom the perverse rulers have taunted with baby-talk (vs 9.10), appeals to them with the characteristic Wisdom call to attention (ver 23), and in illustrations drawn from husbandry proves to them that this also is from Jeh of hosts, 'who is transcendent in counsel, preeminent in tushtydh' (ver 29)—teaching them thus in their own vaunted idiom. In Mic 6 9-1.5, similarly, calling in tushiyak to corroborate prophecy (."the voice of Jeh," mn-' bip, mVahweh, n^W^rri, w'thushlyah,S 9), the prophet speaks of the natural disasters that men ought to deduce from their abuse of trade relations, evidently appealing to them in their own favorite strain of thinking. Both these passages seem to reflect a time when the Wisdom dialect was prevalent and popular, and both are concerned to
(6) The Prophetical Writings
2. The Doctrine o( Providence in the NT
(1) The Synoptic Gospels
(2) The Johannine Writings
(3) The Acts, and Other Historical Writings ol
the NT (4) The Pauline Epistles
(5) The Petrine Epistles, and Other NT Writings 3. OT and NT Doctrines ol Providence Compared
(1) The New Emphasis on the Fatherhood and
Love of God (2) The Place of Christ and the Holy Spirit in
Providence
(3) The New Emphasis upon Moral and Spirit-
ual Blessings IV. Discussion of the Contents of the Biblical Doctrine 1. Different Views of Providence Compared
(1) The Atheistic or MateriaUstic View
(2) The Pantheistic View
(3) The Deistic View
(4) The Theistic or Biblical View
(5) The Divine Immanence 2. The Divine Purpose and Final End of Providence 3. Special Providence
call in sound human intuition as an ally of prophecy. At the same time, as prophets have the right to do, they labor to give revelation the casting vote; the authentic disclosure of truth from Jeh is their objective, not the mere luxury of making clever observations on practical life. All this coincides, in the Wisdom sphere, with what in Isaiah's and Micah's time was the supreme issue of state, namely trust in Jeh, rather than in crooked human devices
(1) Spiritual, Not Material. Good to Man the End Sought in Special Providence
(2) Special Providence and "Accidents"
(3) Special Providence as Related to Piety and Prayer (4) Special Providence as Related to Human Cooperation
(5) General and Special Providence Both Equally Divine 4. Divine Pro^'idence and Human Free Will
(1) Divine Providence as Related to Willing Wills (2) Divine Providence as Related to Sinful Free Will 5. Divine Providence as Related to Natural and Moral Evil 6. Evil Providentially Overruled for Good 7. Interpreting Providence 8. Conclusion Literature
(cf Isa 28 16; 29 15); and it is noteworthy that this is the venture of Wisdom urged by the editors of Prov in their introductory exhortations (cf 22 19; 3 5-8). In other words, these editors are concerned with inducing a spiritual attitude; and so in their literary strain they make their book an adjunct in the movement toward spirituality which Isaiah is laboring to promote. As yet, however,
/. Providence Defined.—The word "provide" (from Lat proiddere) means etymologically "to foresee." The corresponding Gr word, wpdvota, -pronoin, means "forethought." Forethought and foresight imply a future end, a goal, and a definite purpose and plan for attaining that end. The doctrine of final ends is a doctrine of final causes, and means that that which is last in realization and attainment
its findings are still in the peremptory stage, stated as absolute and unqualified truths; it has not reached the sober testing of fact and interrogation of motive which it must encounter in order to become a seasoned philosophy of life. Its main pervading thesis—that righteousness in the fear of God is wisdom and bound for success, that wickedness is fatuity and bound for destruction—is eternally sound; but it must make itself good in a world where so many of the enterprises of life seem to come out the other way, and where there is so little appreciation of spiritual values. Nor is the time of skepticism and rigid test long in coming. Two psalms of this period (as I apprehend) (Pss 73 and 49) concern themselves with the anomaly of the success of the wicked and the trials of the righteous; the latter pointedly adopting the Wisdom or mashal style of utterance (Ps 49 3.4), both laboring to induce a more inward and spiritual attitude toward the problem. It remains, however, for the Book of Job to take the momentous forward step of setting wisdom on the unshakable foundation of spiritual integrity, which it does by subjecting its findings to the rigid test of fact and its motives to a drastic Satanic sifting. It is thus in the Book of Job, followed later by the Book of Eccl, that the Wisdom strain of literature, initiated by the Proverbs of Solomon, finds its OT culmination.
is first in mind and thought. The most essential attribute of rational beings is that they act with reference to an end; that they act not only with thought but with forethought. As, therefore, it is character-
istic of rational beings to make preparation for every event that is foreseen or anticipated, the word "providence" has come to be used less in its original etymological meaning of foresight than to signify that preparation, care and supervision which are necessary to secure a desired future result. While all rational beings exercise a providence proportioned to their powers, yet it is only when the word is used with reference to the Divine Being who is possessed of infinite knowledge and power that it takes on its real and true significance. The doctrine of Divine providence, therefore, has reference to that preservation, care and government which God exercises over all things that He has created, in order that they may accomplish the ends for which they were created.
"Providence is the most comprehensive term in the language of theology. It is the background of all the several departments of religious truth, a background
John Franklin Genung
2477 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Proverbs, Book of Providence
mysterious in its commingled brightness and darkness. It penetrates and flUs tiie whole compass of the relations of man with his Maker. It connects the unseen God with the visible creation, and the visible creation with the work of redemption, and redemption with personal salvation, and personal salvation with the end of all things. It carries our thoughts back to the supreme purpose which was in the beginning with God, and forward to the foreseen end and consummation of all things, while it includes between these the whole infinite variety of the deahngs of God with man" (W. B. Pope, Compendium of Christian Theology, I, 456).
ing, both intensively and extensively, than it ever had before. The minutest want of the humblest individual and the largest interests of the worldwide Idngdom of God are alike embraced within the scope of Divine providence as it is set forth by Christ and the apostles.
(1) Providence in the Pentateuch.—The opening sentence of the Scriptures, "In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth," is
1. Divine a noble and majestic affirmation of Providence God's essential relationship to the in the OT origin of all things. It is followed by Scriptures numerous utterances scattered throughout the sacred volume that declare that He who created also preserves and governs all that He created. But the Israelitish nation was from the beginning of its history, in the Heb conception, the special object of God's providence and care, though
//. Different Spheres of Providential Activity Distinguished.—The created universe may be conveniently divided, with reference to Divine providence, into three departments: first, the inanimate or physical universe, which is conserved or governed by God according to certain uniform principles called the laws of Nature; secondly, animate existence, embracing the vegetable and animal world, over which God exercises that providential care which is necessary to sustain the life that He created; and thirdly, the rational world, composed of beings who, in addition to animate life, are possessed of reason and moral free agency, and are governed by God, not necessitatively, but through an appeal to reason, they having the power to obey or disobey the laws of God according to the decision of their own free wills. This widespread care and supervision which God exercises over His created universe is commonly designated as His general providence, which embraces alike the evil and the good, in addition to which there is a more special and particular providence which He exercises over and in behalf of the good, those whose wills are in harmony with the Divine will.
it was declared that Jeh's lordship and government extended over all the earth (Ex 8 22). The Deuteronomist (10 14) uses language which implies that Divine possession of all things in heaven and earth carries along with it the idea of Divine providence and control; and he also regards Israel as Jeh's pecuhar possession and special care (32 8).
This special providence that was over the elect nation as a whole was also minute and particular, in that special individuals were chosen to serve a providential purpose in the making of the nation, and were Divinely gmded in the accomplishment of their providential mission. Thus Abraham's providential place in history is set forth in Neh 9 7.8. Jacob acknowledges the same providential hand in his life (Gen 31 42; 48 15). The life of Joseph abounds in evidences of a Divine providence
CGen 45 5.7; 50 20). The whole life-Ustory of Moses as it is found in the Pent is a study in the doctrine of Divine providence. Other lives as set forth in these early narratives may be less notable, but they are not less indebted to Divine providence for what they are and for what they accomplish for others. Indeed, as Professor Oehler remarks, "The whole Pentateuchal history of revelation is nothing but the activity of that Divine providence which, in order to the realization of the Divine aim, is at once directed to the whole, and at the same time proves itself efficacious in the direction of the life of separate men, and in the guiding of all circumstances" (OT Theology).
///. Biblical Presentation of the Doctrine of Providence.—The word "providence" is used only once in the Scriptures (Acts 24 2), and here it refers, not to God, but to the forethought and work of man, in which sense it is now seldom used. (See also Rom 13 14, where the same Gr word is tr"" "provision.") While, however, the Bib. use of the word calls for little consideration, the doctrine indicated by the term "providence" is one of the most significant in the Christian system, and is either distinctly stated or plainly assumed by every Bib. writer. The OT Scriptures are best understood when interpreted as a progressive revelation of God's providential purpose for Israel and the world. Messianic expectations pervade the entire life and
(2) The historical books of the OT.—In a sense
all the books of the OT are historical in that they furnish material for writing a history of the people of Israel. See Israel, History op the People. The Pent, the Poetical Books, the Wisdom Lit., the Prophets, all furnish material for writing OT history; but there is still left a body of literature, including the books from Josh to Est, that may with peculiar fitness be designated as historical. These books are all, in an important sense, an interpretation and presentation of the facts of Heb history in their relation to Divine providence. The sacred historians undertake to give something of a Divine philosophy of history, to interpret in a religious way the facts of history, to point out the evils of individual and national sin and the rewards and blessings of righteousness, and to show God's ever-present and ever-guiding hand in human history—that He is not a silent spectator of human
ht. of the Heb people, and the entire OT dispensation may not improperly be regarded as the moral training and providential preparation of the world, and esp. of the chosen people, for the coming Mes-
siah. In the apocryphal "Book of Wisdom" the word "providence" is twice used (14 3; 17 2) in reference to God's government of the world. Rab-
binical Judaism, according to Jos, was much occupied with discussing the relation of Divine providence to human free will. The Sadducees, he tells
us, held an extreme view of human freedom, while the Essenes were believers in absolute fate; the
Pharisees, avoiding these extremes, believed in both the overruhng providence of God and in the freedom and responsibility of man (Ant, XIII, v, 9; XVIII, i, 3; BJ, II, viii, 14). See Pharisees. The NT begins with the announcement that the "kingdom of heaven is at hand," which declaration
alTairs, but the supreme moral Governor of the universe, to whom individuals and nations alike owe allegiance. To the Heb historian every event in the
life of the nation has a moral significance, both because of its relation to God and because of its bearing on the providential mission and testing of
carries along with it the idea of a providential purpose and design running through the preceding dispensation that prepared for the Messiah's coming. But the work of Christ is set forth in the NT, not only as the culmination of a Divine providence that preceded it, but as the beginning of a new provi-
Israel as the people of God. The Book of Jgs, which covers the "dark ages" of Bible history, and
is an enigma to many in the study of God's hand
in history, shows how far God must needs condescend at times in His use of imperfect and even sensual men through whom to reveal His will and accomplish His work in the world. While therefore He condescends to use as instruments of His providence such men as Samson and Jephthah, it is never
dential order, a definite and far-reaching plan, for the redemption of the world, a forethought aiid plan
so comprehensive that it gives to the very idea of Divine providence a new, larger and richer mean-
Providence THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2478
10 AV; 2 7.8; 12 2.21). There cannot be, in OT terms of faith, any stronger statement of the doc-
through these that He does Hia greatest work, but through an Abraham, a Joseph, a Moses, an Isaiah, through men of lofty moral character. And this
trine of Divine providence than that given by the Wise Men of Israel in the following utterances recorded in the Book of Prov: "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths"
is one of the most notable lessons of OT history if
it be studied as a revelation of God's providential methods and instrumentalities. Among these historical writers none has given clearer and stronger expression to God's providential relation to the physical world as its preserver and to the moral world as its Divine Governor than the author of Nehemiah. "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them" (9 6.19.20 AV). His words reflect the views that were entertained by all the OT historians as to God's hand in the government and guidance of the nation. Heb history, because of the Divine promises and Divine providence, is ever moving forward toward the Messianic goal.
(3 6); "A man's heart deviseth his way, but Jeh
directeth his steps" (16 9); "The lot is cast into
the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of Jeh"
(16 33); "A man's goings are of Jeh" (20 24); "The king's heart is in the hand of Jeh as the
watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will"
(21 1); "The horse is prepared against the day of
battle; but victory is of Jeh" (21 31). See also
3 21-26; 12 2.21. The conception of providence
that is presented in the Book of Eccl seems to reflect the views of one who had had experience insin and had come into close contact with many of life's ills.
All things have their appointed time, but the real-
ization of the providential purposes and ends of creaturely existence is, wherever human free agency
is involved, always conditioned upon man's exer-
cise of his frpe will. The God of providence rules and overrules, but He does not by His omnipotence overpower and override and destroy man's true freedom. Things that are do not reflect God's perfect providence, but rather His providence as
(3) The Psalms.—The poets are among the world's greatest religious teachers, and the theology of the best poets generally represents the highest and purest faith that is found among a people. Applying this truth to the Heb race, we may say that in the Pss and the Book of Job we reach the high-water mark of the OT revelation as to the doctrine of Divine providence. The Psalmist's God is not only the Creator and Preserver of all things, but is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God, a Being so full of tender mercy and lovingkindness that we cannot fail to identify Him with the God whom Christ taught us to call "our Father." Nowhere else in the entire Scriptures, except in the Sermon on the Mount, can we find such a full and clear exhibition of the minute and special providence of God over His faithful and believing children as in the Pss—notably such as Pss 91, 103, 104 and 139. Ps 105 traces God's hand in providential and gracious guidance through every stage of Israel's wondrous history. Thanksgiving and praise for providential mercies and blessings abound in Pss 44, 66, 78, 85, 135. While the relation of God's power and providence to the physical universe and to the material and temporal blessings of life is constantly asserted in the Pss, yet it is the connection of God's providence with man's ethical and spiritual nature, with righteousness and faith and love, that marks the highest characteristic of the Psalmist's revelation of the doctrine of providence. That righteousness and obedience are necessary conditions and accompaniments of Divine providence in its moral aspects and results is evidenced by numerous declarations of the psalmists (1 6; 31 19.20; 74 12; 84 11; 91 1; 125 2). This thought finds happiest expression in Ps 37 23 AV: "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and he delighteth in his way." The inspired poets make it plain that the purpose of Divine providence
affected by human free agency and as marred by man's sin (Eccl 3 1-11). "I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor,
is the gift of God"^ (vs 12.13; see also ver 14); "The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are
in the hand of God" (9 1) ; "The race is not to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong" (9 11). The same conclusion that the author of Eccl reached as to how human life is affected by Divine providence and man's sin has found expression in the oft-quoted lines of the great poet:
"There's a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how Ave will."
(.5) The Book of Job.—The greatest of all the inspired contributions to the Wisdom Lit. of the OT, the Book of Job, demands special considera-
tion. It is the one book in the Bible that is devoted wholly to a discussion of Divine providence. The perplexities of a thoughtful miad on the subject of Divine providence and its relation to human suffering have nowhere in the literature of the world founil stronger and clearer expression than in this inspired drama which bears the name of its unique and marvelous hero. Job. Job represents not only a great sufferer, but an honest doubter: he dared to doubt the theology of his day, a theology which he had himself doubtless believed until experience, the best of all teachers, taught him its utter inadequacy to explain the deepest problems of human life and of Divine providence. The purpose of this book in the inspired volume seems to be to correct the prevailing theology of the day with regard to the subject of sin and suffering in their relation to Divine providence. There is no more deplorable and hurtful error that a false theology could teach than that all suffering
is not merely to meet temporal wants and bring earthly blessings, but to secure the moral good of individuals and nations.
in this world is a proof of sin and a measure of one's guilt (see Affliction). It is hard enough for the innocent to suffer. I'o add to their suffering by teaching them that it is all because they are awful sinners, even though their hearts assure them that they are not, is to lay upon the innocent a burden too grievous to be borne. The value in the inspired Canon of a book written to reveal the error of such a misleading doctrine as this cannot easily be overestimated. The invaluable contribution which this book makes to the Bib. doctrine of providence is to be found, not in individual and detached sayings.
(4) The Wisdom Literature.—The doctrine of providence finds ample and varied expression in the Wisdom Lit. of the OT, notably in the Book of Prov. The power that preserves and governs and guides is always recognized as inseparable from the power that creates and commands (Prov 3 2126; 16 4). Divine providence does not work independently of man's free will; providential blessings are conditioned on character and conduct (Prov 26
2479 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Providence
striking and suggestive as some of these may be, but rather in the book as a whole. Statements concerning God's general providence abound in this inspired drama—such as these, for example: "Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jeh hath wrought this, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?"
language which an inspired writer puts into the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar, the heathen king, is an expression, not so much of the gentile conception of God and His government, as it is of the faith of a Heb prophet concerning God's relationship to men and nations: "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Dnl 4 35). The providential blessings which the prophets promise to the people, whether to individuals or to the nation, are never a matter of mere omnipotence or favoritism, but are inseparably connected with righteous conduct and holy character. The blessings promised are mainly spiritual, but whether spiritual or material, they are always conditioned on righteousness. The Book of Isa is esp. rich in passages that emphasize the place of moral conduct and character in God's providential government of the world, the supreme purpose and end of which are to establish a kingdom of righteousness in the earth (Isa 33 13-16; 35 8-10; 43 2; 46 4; 64 14-17). Divine providence is both personal and national, and of each it is declared in varying terms of assurance that "Jeh will go before you; and the God of
(Job 12 9.10); "Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world?
.... He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead" (34 13.24 AV).
But the special contribution of the Book of Job to the doctrine of Divine providence, as already indicated, is to set forth its connection with the fact of sin and suffering. Perplexed souls in all ages have been asking: If God be all-powerful and all-good, why should there be any suffering in a world which He created and over which He rules? If He cannot prevent suffering, is He omnipotent? If He can, but will not prevent suffering, is He infinitely good? Does the book solve the mystery? We cannot claim that it does. But it does vindicate the character of God, the Creator, and of Job, the moral free agent under trial. It does show the place of suffering in a moral world where free agents are forming character; it does show that perfect moral character is made, not by Divine omnipotence, but by trial, and that physical suffering serves a moral end in God's providential government of men and nations. While the book does not clear the problem of mystery, it does show how on the dark background of a suffering world the luminous holiness of Divine and human character may be revealed. The picture of this suffering man of Uz, racked with bodily pains and irritated by the ill-spoken words of well-meaning friends, planting himself on the solid rock of his own conscious rectitude, and defying earth and hell to prove him guilty of wrong, and knowing that his Vindicator liveth and would come to his rescue that is an inspired picture that will make every innocent sufferer who reads
Israel will be your rearward" (52 12). Each of the major and minor prophets confirms and reenforces the teachings of this greatest and most truly representative of all the OT prophets.
(1) The Synoptic Gospels.—The Synoptic Gospels furnish the richest possible material for a study of
the doctrine of Divine providence.
2. Divine They recognize in the advent of Christ Providence the fulfilment of a long line of Messi-
in the NT anic prophecies and the culmination of providential purposes and plans that had been in the Divine mind from the beginning and awaited the fulness of time for their revelation
in the Incarnation (Mt 1 22; 2 5.15; 3 3). In His private and personal life of service and prayer Christ is a model of filial trust in the providence of the heavenly Father (Mt 11 25; 26 39; Mk 1 35; 6 46; Lk 3 21; 11 1). His private and public utterances abound in declarations concerning God's ever-watchful and loving care for all His creatures, but above all for those creatures who bear His own image; while His teachings concerning the Kingdom of God reveal a Divine providential plan for the world's redemption and education extending of necessity far into the future; and still beyond
it stronger until the end of time. See also Job, Book of.
(6) The prophetical writings.—Nowhere in all
literature is the existence and supremacy of a moral and providential order in the world more clearly recognized than in the writings of the OT prophets. These writings are best understood_ when interpreted as the moral messages and passionate appeals
that, in His vision of Divine providence, comes a day of final judgment, of retribution and reward, followed by a new and eternal order of things, in which the destiny of every man will be determined by his conduct and character in this present life
of men who were not only prophets and preachers
of righteousness to their own times, but students and teachers of the moral philosophy_ of history for
all time, seers, men of vision, who interpreted all events in the light of their bearing on this moral and providential order, in which Divine order the
(see Our Lord's parables concerning the Kingdom: Mt 13 24-50; Mk 4 26ff; Lk 14 16ff; also Mt 24 and 25). The many familiar utterances of Our Lord, found in the Synoptic Gospels, contain the most essential and precious of all the NT revela-
Israelitish nation had no small part, and over which
Israel's God was sovereign, doing "according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabit-
ants of earth." While each prophetic message
tions concerning the providence of the heavenly Father (Mt 5 45; 6 26-34; 10 29-31; Lk 21 16-18).
takes its coloring from the political, social and rnoral
conditions that called it forth, and therefore differs from every other message, the prophets are all one
(2) The Johannine writings.—St. John's Gospel
in their insistence upon the supremacy and Divine
differs from the Synoptic Gospels in its mode of presenting the doctrine of providence chiefly in that
authority of this moral order, and in their looking forward to the coming of the Messiah and the
it goes back to the mind and purpose of God in the very beginning (Jn 1 1-5), whereas the Synoptic Gospels simply go back to the Messianic prophecies
setting up of the Messianic kingdom as the provi-
dential goal and consummation of the moral order. They all describe in varying degrees of light and shade a coming time when One born of their own
of the OT. Both the Gospel and the Epp. of John
in their presentation of Divine providence place the greatest possible emphasis on Divine love and
oppressed and down-trodden race should come in power and glory, and set up a kingdom of righteous-
filial trust, the latter rising in many places to the
ness and love in the earth, into which kingdom all
point of positive assurance. The Book of Rev
nations shall be ultimately gathered; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. God's providential government of the nation was always and everywhere directed toward this Messianic goal. The
is a prophetic vision, in apocalyptic form, of God's
providential purpose for the future, dealing not so much with individuals aa with nations and with
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good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom 8 28 AV). Any true exposition of the NT doctrine of Divine providence that may be given can only be an unfolding of the content of this brief but comprehensive statement. The greatest of the Pauline Epp., that to the Rom, is a study in the divine philosophy of history, a revelation of God's providential purpose and plan concerning the salvation, not merely of individuals, but of the nations. These purposes, as Paul views them, whether they concern individuals or the entire race, are always associated with the mediatorial ministry of Christ: "For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things.
the far-reaching movements of history extending through the centuries. God is revealed in St. John's writings, not as an omnipotent and arbitrary Sovereign, but as an all-loving Father, who not only cares for His children in this life but is building for them in the world to come a house of many mansions (Jn 14 1-20)
(3) The Book of Acts and other NT history.— The historical portions of the NT, as contained in the Acts, and elsewhere, while not eliminating or depreciating the element of human freedom in individuals and nations, yet recognize in human life and history the ever-present and all-controlling mind of that God in whom, it is declared, "we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17 28). The career of the first distinctive NT character begins with these words: "There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John" (Jn 1 6). But not only John, the forerunner, but every other individual, according to the NT conceptions, is a man "sent from God." The apostles conceive themselves to be such; Stephen, the martyr, was such; Paul was such (Acts 22 21). NT biography is a study in providentially guided lives, not omitting references to those who refuse to be so guided—for such is the power of human free agency, many who are "sent from God" refuse to go upon their Divinely appointed mission. The Day of Pentecost
"To him be the glory for ever" (Rom 11 36).
(5) The Petrine Epp. and other NT writings.— The Epp. of Peter, James, and Jude, and the Ep. to the He, are all in entire accord with the teachings of the other NT writings already considered.
St. Peter, who at first found it so hard to see how God's providential purpose in and for the Messiah could be realized if Christ should suffer and die, came later to see that the power and the glory of Christ and His all-conquering gospel are inseparably connected with the sufferings and death of the Messiah (1 Pet 1 11.12). No statement concerning God's providence over the righteous can be clearer or stronger than the following utterance of Peter: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of thatwhichisgood?" (1 Pet 3 12.13). The purpose and end of Divine providence as viewed in the Ep. of Jas are always ethical : as conduct and character are the end and crown of Christian effort, so they are the end and aim of Divine providence as it cooperates with men to make them perfect (Jas 1 5. 17.27; 2 5; 5 7). The apologetic value of the Ep. to the He grows out of the strong proof it presents that Christ is the fulfilment, not only of the Mes-
is the revelation of a new power in history—a revelation of the place and power which the Divinehuman Christ and the Holy Spirit are to have henceforth in making history—in making the character of the men and the nations whose deeds are to make history. The most potent moral force in history
is to be, from the day of Pentecost on, the ascended incarnate Christ, and He is to be all the more influential in the world after His ascension, when His
work shall be done through the Holy Spirit. This
is the historical view of providence as connected with the person of Christ, which the NT historians present, and which we, after 19 centuries of Christian history, are warranted in holding more confidently and firmly even than the Christians of the 1st cent, could hold it; for the Christian centuries have proved it true. What God is in Nature Christ
sianic prophecies and expectations of Israel, but of the providential purposes and plans of that God who at sundry times and in divers manners had spoken in times past unto the fathers by a long line of prophets (He 1 1.2; 11 7-40; 13 20.21). It would be difficult to crowd into one short chapter a more comprehensive study of the lessons of history that illustrate the workings and the retributions of the moral law under Divine providence than is found in the Ep. of Jude (see esp. vs 5.7.11. 14.15.24). From this brief survey of the teachings of the OT and NT Scriptures concerning the doctrine of Divine providence, it will be seen
is in history. All history is becoming Christian history, thus realizing the NT conception of Divine providence in and through Christ.
(4) The Pauline writings.—No character of whom we have any account in Christian literature was providentially prepared for his life-work and providentially guided in accomplishing that lifework more truly than was the apostle Paul. We find, therefore, as we would antecedently expect, that Paul's speeches and m-itings abound in proofs of his absolute faith in the overruling providence of an all-wise God. His doctrine of predestination and foreordination is best understood when interpreted, not as a Divine power predetermining human destiny and nullifying the human will, but as a conception of Divine providence as the eternal purpose of God to accomplish an end contemplated and foreseen from the beginning, viz. the redemption of the world and the creation in and through Christ of a new and holy humanity. Every one of the Pauline Epp. bears witness to the author's faith in a Divine providence that overrules and guides the life of every soul that works in harmony with the Divine will; but this providence is working to secure as its chief end, not material and temporal blessings, but the moral and spiritual good of those concerned. Paul's teachings concerning Divine providence as it concerns individuals and is conditioned on character may be found summed up in what is perhaps the most comprehensive single sentence concerning providence that was ever written: "And we know that all things work together for
3. OT and that, while the NT reaffirms in most NT Docparticulars the doctrine of Divine trines of providence as set forth in the OT Providence Scriptures, there are three particuCompared lars in which the points of emphasis are changed, and by which new and changed emphasis the doctrine is greatly enriched in the NT.
(1) The fatherhood and love of God in providence. —The God of providence in the OT is regarded as a Sovereign whose will is to be obeyed, and His leading attributes are omnipotence and holiness, whereas in the NT God is revealed as the heavenly Father, and His providence is set forth as the forethought and care of a father for his children. His leading attributes here are love and holiness—His very omnipotence is the omnipotence of love. To teach that God is not only a righteous Ruler to be feared and adored, but a tender and loving Father who is ever thinking of and caring for His children, is to make God lovable and turn His providence into an administration of Almighty love.
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dence of wisdom and skill on the part of the maker. God according to deism has never wrought a miracle nor made a supernatural revelation to man. The only religion that is possible to man is natural reUgion ; he may reason from Nature up to Nature's God. The only value of prayer is its subjective influence; it helps us to answer our own ?rayers, to become and be what we are praying to be.
(2) The plarc of Christ and the Holy Spirit in prouiitence.—The doctrine ol providence in tiie NT is connected witli tlie person of Ctirist and tlie administration of ttie Holy Spirit, in a manner tliat distinguishes it from the OT presentation of providence as the worli of the one God who was there revealed in the simple unity of His nature witliout distinction of persons. If it be true, as some theologians have taught, that "God the Father plans, God the Son executes, and God the Holy Ghost applies," then it would follow that providence is the work exclusively of Christ and the Holy Spirit; but this theological formula, wliile it has suggestive value, cannot be accepted as an accurate statement of Bib. doctrine with reference to Divine providence. Christ constantly refers creation and providence to the Father. But He also said, "My Father worketh even until now, and I work" (Jn 5 17), and the NT writers attribute to Christ the work both of creation and providence. Thus Paul: " For by him were all tilings created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principaUties, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by tiim aU things consist" (Col 1 16.17 AV). Although this and other passages refer to Christ's relation to general providence, including the government of the physical imiverse, yet it is only when the Divine government is concerned with the redemption of a lost world and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the hearts and lives of men, that the full extent of Clu-ist's part in Divine providence can be realized. The saving and perfecting of men is the supreme purpose of providence, if it be viewed from the NT standpoint, wliich is that of Christ's mediatorial ministry.
f the Divine Being is a prayer-hearing God, He is at least not a prayer-answering God. The laws of Nature constitute God's general providence ; but there is no other personal and special providence than this, according to deism. God, the deists afBrm, is too great, too distant, too transcendent a Being to concern Himself witli the details of creaturely existence.
(4) The theistic or Biblical conception of providence teaches that God is not only the Creator but thePreserver of the universe, and that the preservation of the universe, no less than its creation, implies and necessitates at every moment of time an omnipotent and omnipresent personal Being. This world is not "governed by the laws of Nature," as deism teaches, but it is "governed by God, according to the laws of Nature." "Law," in itself, is an impotent thing, except as it is the expression of a free will or person back of it; "the laws of Nature" are meaningless and impotent, except as they are an expression of the uniform mode, according to which God preserves and governs the world. It is customary to speak of the laws of Nature as if they were certain self-existent forces or powers governing the world. But shall we not rather say that there is no real cause except personal will—either the Divine will or created wills? If this be true, then it is inconsistent to say that God has committed the government of the physical universe to "secondary causes"—that is, to the laws of Nature—and that these laws are not immediately dependent upon Him for their efficiency. The omnipresent and ever-active God is the only real force and power and cause in the universe, except as created wills may be true and real causes within their limited bounds. This view of God's relation to the created universe serves to distinguish the Bib. doctrine of Divine providence from the teachings of material-
(3) The new emphasis upon moral and spiritual blessings.—The NT not only subordinates the material and temporal aspects of providence to the spiritual and eternal more than does the OT, but Christ and the apostles, to an extent that finds no parallel in the OT, place the emphasis of their teaching concerning providence upon man's moral needs and eternal interests, and upon the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, the establishment of which in the hearts and lives of men is the one great object for which both the heavenly Father and His children are ceaselessly working. To be free from
sin, to be holy in heart and useful in life, to love and obey God as a Father, to love and serve men as brothers—this is the ideal and the end for which, according to the NT, men should work and pray, and this is the end toward which God is working by His ceaseless cooperative providence.
ists and deists, who eliminate entirely the Divine hand from the ongoing of the universe, and in its stead make a god of the "laws of Nature," and hence have no need for a Divine preserver. Bib. theism makes ample room for the presence of the supernatural and miraculous, but we must not be blind to a danger here, in that it is possible to make so much of the presence of God in the supernatural
IV. Discussion of the Contents of the Biblical Doctrine.—There are four distinct conceptions of
providence as it concerns God's rela-
1. Different tion to the ongoing of the world and Views of to man, the rational and moral free Providence agent whom He has placed upon it,
(revelation, inspiration, and miracle) as to overlook entirely His equally important and necessary presence in the natural—which would be to encourage a deistical conception of God's relation to the world by exaggerating His transcendence at the ejcpense of His immanence. That is the true theistic doctrine of providence which, while not undervaluing the supernatural and miraculous, yet stedfastly maintains that God is none the less present
viz. the atheistic, the deistic, the pan-
theistic, and the theistic or Bib. view. See also God, I, 4. The last named view can best be understood only when stated in comparison and contrast with these opposing views.
(1) Atheism, or materialism, stands at one extreme, affirming that there is no God, that the material universe
is eternal, and that from material atoms, eternaUy endowed with certain properties, there have come, by a process of evolution, all existing forms of vegetable, animal and rational life. As materialism denies the existence of a personal Creator, it of course denies any and every doctrine of Divine providence.
in, and necessary to, what is termed the "natural."
(5) The Divine Immanence.—This idea of God's essential relation to the continuation of all things in existence is perhaps best expressed by the term "immanence." Creation emphasizes God's transcendence, while providence emphasizes His immanence. Pantheism affirms God's immanence, but denies His transcendence. Deism affirms His transcendence, but denies His immanence. Bib. theism teaches that God is both transcendent and immanent. By the term "transcendence," when applied to God, is meant that the Divine Being is a person, separate and
(2) Pantheism stands at the other extreme from atheism, teaching that God is everything and everytiung
is God. The created universe is "the Uving garment" of God—God is the soul of the world, the universe His existence form. But God is an infinite It, not a personal Being who can express His existence in terms of selfconsciousness—I, Thou, He. Providence, according to pantheism, is simply the evolution of impersonal deity, differing from materialism only in the name which it gives to the infinite substance from wMch all things flow.
(3) Deism teaches that there is a God, and that He created the world, but created things do not need His presence and the exercise of His power in order to continue in existence and fulfil their functions. The mate-
distinct from Nature and above Nature—"Nature" being used here in its largest signification as including
rial world is placed under immutable law; while man, the rational and moral free agent, is left to do as he wills. God sustains, according to deism, very much the same
all created things. By the Divine Immanence is meant that God is in Nature as well as over Nature, and that the continuance of Nature is as directly and immediately dependent upon Him as the origin
relation to the universe that the clock-maker does to
his timepiece. Having made his clock, and wound it up. he does not interfere with it, and the longer it can run without the maker's intervention the greater the evi-
of Nature—indeed, by some, God's preservation of
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sacrificing service to their fellow-men. This everpresent and all-dominating moral purpose of Divine providence determines its methods and explains, in part at least, what would otherwise be its mysteries. With this conception of Divine providence the general trend of Bib. thought is in entire accord. In the light of Christ's revelation of God as a holy and loving Father who regards all men as His children and whose chief concern is to develop holiness and love in those whom He loves, we may define Divine providence as Infinite Wisdom, using
the created universe is defined as an act of "continuous creation." By the Divine Immanence is meant something more than omnipresence, which term, in itself alone, does not affirm any causal relation between God and the thing to which He is present, whereas the term "immanence" does affirm such causal relation. By asserting the Divine Immanence, therefore, as the mode of God's providential efficiency, we affirm that all created things are dependent upon Him for continued existence, that the laws of Nature have no efficiency apart from their Creator and Preserver, that God is to be sought and seen in all forms and phases of creaturely existence, in the natural as well as the supernatural and miraculous, that He is not only omnipresent but always and everjTvhere active both in the natural and the spiritual world, and that without Him neither the material atom, nor the living organism, nor the rational soul could have any being. He not only created all things, but "by him all things con-
infinite power to accomplish the ends of infinite holiness and love. The originating and determining cause of Divine providence is, in the NT conception of it, always to be found in the love of God, while the final cause is the glory of the Father as realized in the holiness and happiness of His children.
By the doctrine of special providence, according to tlie best use of that term in theological Uterature, is meant as already indicated, that minute care 3 Special ^^^ ever-watchful supervision which God
sist," that is, by Him all things are preserved in being.
T5* .J exercises over His obedient and behoving JrTOViaence children in things, both small and great, which are designed to secure their everincreasing holiness and usefulness. God's general providence is and must be special, in that it descends to particulars—to the minute details of creaturely existence and is always and everywhere active. But the Scriptures teach that there is a more special care over and ordering of the lives of the spiritually good than pertains to the wicked, who have not the fear of God before their eyes. The following Scriptures set forth in unmistakable terms the doctrine of a special providence exercised by the heavenly Father over and in behalf of the righteous: "A man's goings are established of Jeh; and he delighteth in his way" (Ps 37 23); "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths" (Prov 3 6); "There shall no mischief happen to the righteous " (Prov 12 21);" But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Mt 6 33) ; "To them that love God all things work together for good" {Rom 8 28). The follomng points seem to be plainly involved in any statement of the doctrine of special providence that can claim to be faithful to the teachings of the Scriptures;
What, then, let us ask, do the Scriptures teach as to the purpose and end of God's providential government of the world? Back of
2. Purpose this question is another: What was and Final the Divine motive and supreme End of thought in the creation of the uniProvidence verse, and what the final cause and end of all things in the mind and purpose of God ? If we can think God's thoughts after Him and discover this "final cause" of creation, with even approximate accuracy, then we shall find a principle that will illuminate at least, if it does not fully explain, the methods and mysteries of providence. We venture to affirm that the controlling thought in the mind of God in establishing this order of things, of which we are a conscious part, was to create a race of beings who should find their highest happiness by being in the highest degree holy, and who should, in proportion as they attain their highest holiness and happiness, thereby in the highest degree glorify their Creator. The Creator's highest glory can be promoted only by such beings as are at once rational, moral, free, holy. There are unconscious, unthinking, unmoral forms of existence, but the motive and meaning of the universe
(1) Spiritual, not material, good to man the end souoht in special providence.—A mistaken and hurtful notion has long been prevalent to the effect that special providence is designed to secure the secular and earthly good, the material and temporal prosperity, of God's children. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Material blessings may indeed come as a special providence to the child of God (Mt 6 33etal.), but that "good" which all things work together to secure for them that love God is mainly spiritual good, and not financial, or social, or intellectual, or temporal good, except as these may secure ultimate spiritual good. Indeed, God's special providence may take away wealth and bring poverty in its stead in order to impart the "true riches." It may defeat rather than further one's worldly hopes and ambitions; may bring sickness rather than health, and even death instead of life—for sometimes a Christian can do more good by siclcness or death than by health or continued life and when that is the case, his sickness or death may well be interpreted as a special providence. "Every branch that bearcth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Many of the OT promises do. it is true, seem to have special reference to material and temporal blessings, but we should remember that tho best interpretation of these is to be found in the NT, where they are
is to be found, not in the lower, the physical and animal, but in the highest, in the rational and moral. The lower exists for the higher, the material and animal for the spiritual and moral. A being whose character is formed under the conditions and laws of intellectual and moral freedom is higher than any being can be that is what it is necessitatively, that is, by virtue of conditions over which it has no control. Character that is formed freely under God's government and guidance will glorify the Creator more than anything can which is made to be what it is wholly by Divine omnipotence. These things being true, it follows that God's providence in the world will be directed primarily and ceaselessly toward developing character in free moral agents, toward reducing sin to the minimum and developing the maximum of holiness, in every way and by every means compatible with perfect moral freedom in the creature.
(as, for example, when quoted by Christ in the Temptation) interpreted as having mainly a spiritual significance. When Our Lord speaks of the very hairs of our heads being numbered, and declares that if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without the Father's notice, surely we, who are of more value than many sparrows, cannot drift beyond His love and care. His words might be interpreted as teaching that God will save us from physical suffering and death; but such is not His meaning, for in tho very same context He speaks of how they to whom He thus pledges His love and care shall be persecuted and hated for His name's sake, and how some of them shall be put to death; and yet His promise was true. God was with them in their physical sufferings, but the great blessing wherewith He blessed them was not physical, . but moral and spiritual.
The possibility of sin in a world of free agents and in a state of probation is unavoidable, but to say that sin is possible does not mean that it is necessary. See Choice; Will. The final cause and end, the purpose and motive, of Divine providence, then, are not the temporal, material and earthly happiness of men, but the highest ultimate moral good of free beings whose highest happiness
(2) Special providence and "accidents."—Another Still more mistaken and hurtful notion concerning special providence is the association of it with, and the limitation of it largely to, what are caUed "accidents," those irregular and occasional occurrences which involve more than ordinary danger and risk to life. The popular notion of special providence associates it with a happy escape from visible dangers and serious injury, as when the house catches on fire, or the horses run away, or the train ia
is secured through their highest holiness—which means first, their obedience to the holy will of God as their Father, and secondly, loving and self-
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wrecked, or the ship encounters an awlul storm, or one comes in contact with contagious disease or the terrible pestilence that walketh in darkness. A happy escape from injury and death on such an occasion is popularly designated as a "special providence," and this regardless of whether the individual thus escaping is a saint or a sinner. We cannot too strongly emphasize the fact that God's special providence is not a capricious, occasional, and irregular intervention of His love and power in behalf of His children, but involves ceaseless—yea infinite thought and care for those that love Him, everjTvhere and in all the experiences of life.
prefers to affirm that there is but one general providential order over mankind in the world, that the distinction is in man and not in God's providence, his position cannot be seriously objected to, provided he does not thereby moan that the world is governed by impersonal and immutable laws, but
will affirm with clearness and confidence that the world is governed by the all-loving, all-wise, omnipresent, and everywhere-active God. For, indeed, the only thing that is really "special" and out of order is the limitation which sin imposes upon the workings of Divine providence in so far as the selfwill and opposition of men prevent the realization of the providential purposes of God concerning them. But, unfortunately, sin is now, and has long been, so prevalent and dominant in the world that we have come to regard God's providence as affected and limited by it, as that which is regular and general^, and His more perfect and complete providence m behalf of and over the good as the exceptional and special. But whether we call Divine providence, as related to believers, "general" or "special," is of little consequence, provided we believe that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Ps 37 23 AV), that "all things work together for [spiritual] good to them that love God," and that to those who, duly subordinating the temporal to the spiritual, seek "first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," all things needful "shall be added" by the heavenly Father.
(3) Special providence as related to piety and prayer.— God's special providence is conditioned upon piety and prayer, though it far transcends, in the blessings it brings, the specific requests of His children. While we may properly pray for things pertaining to our temporal and physical life with the assurance that God will answer such prayers in so far as He deems best, yet the Scriptures encourage us to mako spiritual blessings the main object of our prayers. "Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness." is the essence of the N'T teaching on this subject: but we should not overlook the fact that this Divine injunction is both preceded and followed by the strongest assurances of the most minute and ceaseless provision for all our temporal and physical wants by the loving heavenly Father. "Therefore take no thought saying. What shall we eat? or. What shall we drink? or. Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? . . . . For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you," AV. In keeping with this Scripture, the poet has written: "Make you His service your delight: