Meticulous Providence Definition

God`s providence is the work of His power to maintain, guide, and nourish His creation. Some theologians have described this as a continuous creation, contrary to the idea that God created the world and then withdrew from it. God`s providence leaves no room for chance or competition between God and any other power. God, as the first cause, causes everything, but this does not eliminate the ability of creatures to cause or act. On the contrary, God grants all creatures their power to act as causes in the world. God`s providence differs from predestination in that the latter focuses particularly on the salvation of the elect, while providence is general. We cannot know all the details of God`s providential plan; Only God knows how all things will work together. Finally, Christian prayers should be an expression of the aspirations of Christ`s followers in the presence of God, not lists of requests. The person above, who said he was a Calvinist but did not believe in meticulous providence, did not think well about Calvin`s words.

The day he does (and the day so many self-proclaimed Calvinists do), they will all realize that they are not Calvinists. God`s providence is the work of God`s sovereignty to constantly maintain, guide, and nurture His creation. Did God arrange your steps to cross paths with your spouse so that you would meet, fall in love, and eventually get married? Why did you grow up in the neighborhood where you grew up as a child, was it a coincidence, or was it arranged by God`s providence? What about the traffic problem you had on your way home from work that caused you to be late for dinner last week, why did it happen? Lol Believing that God exercises meticulous control over all events so that He has a justifiable reason to allow bad events to occur is not a reason to remain idle when evil happens. Calvin`s words here about animals, natural phenomena, etc. are less disturbing than his words about divine providence in relation to humanity: does the doctrine of providence lead to quietism in the face of evil? By quietism, I mean a state of inaction in the world, especially in the face of moral evil, due to a belief in God`s providential management of all affairs (not to be confused with 17th century French quietism). As mentioned in the third point of the summary of Openness Theology at the beginning of this post, Open Theism states that “the only wise God has chosen to exercise general rather than meticulous providence by giving us the space to act and God to be creative and resourceful in working with us. God`s plan is not a detailed script or plan, but a broad attention that allows for a variety of options on exactly how these goals can be achieved. What God and man do in history is important. You can say, as we often see in the Psalms, why did God allow such pain in my life? Why do God`s enemies seem to triumph over me? We must trust that God is wise and good. Even in pain, we must trust God. Never doubt that God accomplishes all things according to His sovereign will, both in joy and in pain.

His providence directs and governs all things for His glory. When we pray, we should pray with confidence that God is able to turn our grief into a song, similar to what we see in the Psalms (see Psalm 13 for example). Calvin says above that if someone falls among thieves, if a person dies because a tree or house falls on him, events are meticulously ordered by God. That is, God causes every death, even death, that many of us attribute to accidental causes. He quotes some verses of the Bible to make his claim, but he neglects other verses. Consider the following example of Jesus himself in Luke`s Gospel: The work of providence is an aspect of God`s sovereignty over His creation. Not only did He create the universe, but He sustains and governs it. And if it is true that new galaxies are forming, and that these are not natural effects of galaxies that already exist, then the work of creation continues. Some theologians, such as the eminent theologian William Ames (1576-1633), called divine providence a creatio continua. Those who articulated the doctrine did so in the face of various objections from pagan and sub-theistic notions of God`s care.

For example, Aristotle`s providential idea is that God exerts a general concern over creation, against which it has been argued that God`s care includes both the smallest and the greatest. The hair on our head is all counted, as is waking up and falling asleep every day. Unlike deists, who believe that God`s creation is activated by an inherent impulse to physical movement at the creative moment, creation depends on God`s immediate power. Providence is detailed, “meticulous,” and God constantly exercises His power to sustain His creation in existence, without which the creature would become nothing. Thus, to distinguish the biblical view from the alternatives, there is, as mentioned earlier, a sense in which God`s preservation of His creation through time involves continuous creation. According to general providence, God establishes general structures and brings about things, good and bad, that He has not expressly foreseen. After careful providence, God ordains everything that happens. Even actions that we consider evil happen because God wants them to happen and serve a good purpose in God`s plan. There are no accidents or tragedies.

A clear consequence of this meticulous providence is the banishment of “happy” events or actions as the operation of happiness from our thought. There is no other source of events, however surprising and capricious they may be for us, than the will of Almighty God, who “does all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). James warns us not to take for granted events that now seem to be subject to our own will (James 4:15). Even Satan and the other fallen angels are subject to God`s will (Job 1). Christian theology is monistic, not dualistic. It was a surprise to Joseph`s brothers to see the Midianite caravan appear, and equally surprising that instead of murdering it, they sold Joseph to them during their trip to Egypt. But as they would discover, “You want to say evil against me, but God willed it for good” (Genesis 50:30). Reason 2: Preventing an evil makes it a counterfactual evil. Let`s say you see a man trying to kidnap a child, and you act according to natural law to prevent that man from carrying out his heinous intentions.