Providence from NBD

Providence . No single word in biblical Hebrew or Greek expresses the idea of God's providence. pronoia is used for God's purposive foresight by Plato, Stoic writers, Philo, who wrote a book On Providence (Peri pronoias), Josephus, and the authors of Wisdom (cf. 14:3; 17:2) and 3, 4 Macc.; but in the NT pronoia occurs only twice (Acts 24:2; Rom. 13:14), both times denoting, not God's care and forethought, but man's. The cognate verb pronoeoœ, too, is used only of man (Rom. 12:17; 2 Cor. 8:21; 1 Tim. 5:8).
    Providence is normally defined in Christian theology as the unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill (Ps. 145:9 cf. Mt. 5:45–48), he upholds his creatures in ordered existence (Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3), guides and governs all events, circumstances and free acts of angels and men (cf. Ps. 107; Jb. 1:12; 2:6; Gn. 45:5–8), and directs everything to its appointed goal, for his own glory (cf. Eph. 1:9–12). This view of God's relation to the world must be distinguished from: (a) pantheism, which absorbs the world into God; (b) deism, which cuts it off from him; (c) dualism, which divides control of it between God and another power; (d)indeterminism, which holds that it is under no control at all; (e) determinism, which posits a control of a kind that destroys man's moral responsibility; (f) the doctrine of chance, which denies the controlling power to be rational; and (g) the doctrine of fate, which denies it to be benevolent.
    Providence is presented in Scripture as a function of divine sovereignty. God is King over all, doing just what he wills (Pss. 103:19; 135:6; Dn. 4:35; cf. Eph. 1:11). This conviction, robustly held, pervades the whole Bible. The main strands in it may be analysed as follows.

a. Providence and the natural order
God rules all natural forces (Ps. 147:8f.), all wild animals (Jb. 38–41), and all happenings in the world, great and small, from thunderstorms (Jb. 37; Ps. 29) and plagues (Ex.7:3–11:10; 12:29ff.; Joel 2:25) to the death of a sparrow (Mt. 10:29) or the fall of a lot (Pr. 16:33). Physical life, in men and animals, is his to give and to take away (Gn. 2:17; 1 Sa. 1:27; 2 Sa. 12:19; Jb. 1:21; Pss. 102:23; 104:29–30; 127:3; Ezk. 24:16ff.; Dn. 5:23, etc.); so are health and sickness (Dt. 7:15; 28:27, 60), prosperity and adversity ('evil', Am. 3:6; cf. Is. 45:7), etc.
    Since the regularity of the natural order is thought of as depending directly upon the divine will (cf. Gn. 8:22), the Bible finds no difficulty in the idea of an occasional miraculous irregularity; God does what he wills in his world, and nothing is too hard for him (cf. Gn. 18:14).
    God's providential government of the created order proclaims his wisdom, power, glory and goodness (Pss. 8:1, RV; 19:1–6; Acts 14:17; Rom. 1:19f.). The man who in face of this revelation does not acknowledge God is without excuse (Rom. 1:20).
    The Bible presents God's constant fulfilling of his kindly purposes in nature both as matter for praise in itself (cf. Pss. 104; 147) and as a guarantee that he is lord of human history, and will fulfil his gracious promises in that realm also (cf. Je. 31:35ff.; 33:19–26).

b. Providence and world history
Since the Fall, God has been executing a plan of redemption. This plan pivots upon Christ's first coming and culminates in his return. Its goal is the creation of a world-wide church in which Jew and non-Jew share God's grace on equal terms (Eph. 3:3–11), and through this the reintegration of the disordered cosmos (Rom. 8:19ff.), under the rule of Christ at his second coming (Eph. 1:9–12; Phil. 2:9ff.; Col. 1:20; 1 Cor. 15:24ff.). Through Christ's present reign and future triumph, the OT prophecies of God's Messianic kingdom (cf. Is. 11:1–9; Dn. 2:44; 7:13–27) are fulfilled. The unifying theme of the Bible is God's exercise of his kingship in setting up this kingdom. No foe can thwart him; he [980] laughs at opposition to his plan (Ps. 2:4), and uses it to his own ends (cf. Acts 4:25–28, quoting Ps. 2:1f.). The climax of history will be the overthrow of those who fight against God and his kingdom, as the book of Revelation shows (Rev. 19, etc.).
    Paul analyses the steps in God's plan in terms of the Jew-Gentile and law-grace relationships in Gal. 3; Rom. 9–11; cf. Eph. 2:12–3:11.

c. Providence and personal circumstances
God told Israel as a nation that he would prosper them while they were faithful but bring disaster on them if they sinned (Lv. 26:14ff.; Dt. 28:15ff.). The attempt to understand the fortunes of individual Israelites in the light of this principle raised problems. Why does God allow the wicked to prosper, even when they are victimizing the just? And why is disaster so often the lot of the godly?
    The first question is always answered by affirming that the wicked prosper only for a moment; God will soon visit them and take vengeance (Pss. 37 passim; 50:16–21; 73:17ff.), though for the present he may forbear, in order to give them further opportunity for repentance (Rom. 2:4f.; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rev. 2:21). The NT identifies the day of God's visitation with the final judgment (cf. Rom. 2:3ff.; 12:19; Jas. 5:1–8).
    The second question is tackled in several ways. It is asserted: (i) that the righteous will be vindicated when the day of visitation for the wicked comes (Ps. 37; Mal. 3:13–4:3); (ii) that meanwhile suffering is valuable as a God-given discipline (Pr. 3:11f.; Ps. 119:67, 71); (iii) that suffering, faithfully borne, even if not understood, glorifies God and leads to blessing in the end (Jb. 1–2; 42); (iv) that communion with God is the supreme good, and to those who enjoy it outward impoverishments are of no ultimate importance (Ps. 73:14, 23ff.; Hab. 3:17f.).
    In the NT the fact that believers suffer ill-treatment and adverse circumstances is no longer a problem, since it is recognized that fellowship in Christ's sufferings is fundamental to the Christian vocation (cf. Mt. 10:24f.; Jn. 15:18ff.; 16:33; Acts 9:16; 14:22; Phil. 3:10ff.; 1 Pet. 4:12–19). This recognition, in conjunction with the OT principles mentioned above, completely disposed of the 'problem of suffering' for the first Christians. Knowing something of their glorious hope (1 Pet. l:3ff.), and of the strengthening and sustaining power of Christ (2 Cor. 1:3ff.; 12:9f.), they could contentedly face all situations (Phil. 4:11) and rejoice in all troubles (Rom. 8:35ff.), confident that through adversity their loving Father was disciplining them in sanctity (Heb. 12:5–11), developing their Christian character (Jas. 1:2ff.; 1 Pet. 5:10; cf. Rom. 5:2ff.), proving the reality of their faith (1 Pet. 1:7), and so ripening them for glory (1 Pet. 4:13). In all things God works for the spiritual welfare of his people (Rom. 8:28); and he supplies them with whatever material things they need throughout their earthly pilgrimage (Mt. 6:25–33; Phil. 4:19).
    Belief in providence determines many of the basic attitudes of biblical piety. The knowledge that God determines their circumstances teaches the faithful to wait on him in humility and patience for vindication and deliverance (Pss. 37; 40:13ff.; Jas. 5:7ff.; 1 Pet. 5:6f.). It forbids them to grow despondent or despairing (Pss. 42–43), and brings them courage and hope when harassed (Pss. 60; 62). It inspires all prayers for help, and praise for every good thing that is enjoyed.

d. Providence and human freedom
God rules the hearts and actions of all men (cf. Pr. 21:1; Ezr. 6:22), often for purposes of his own which they do not suspect (cf. Gn. 45:5–8; 50:20; Is. 10:5ff.; 44:28–45:4; Jn. 11:49ff.; Acts 13:27ff.). God's control is absolute in the sense that men do only that which he has ordained that they should do; yet they are truly free agents, in the sense that their decisions are their own, and they are morally responsible for them (cf. Dt. 30:15ff.). A distinction, however, must be drawn between God's allowing (or 'giving up') sinners to practise the evil that they have preferred (Ps. 81:12f.; Acts 14:16; Rom. 1:24–28), and his gracious work of prompting his people to will and do what he commands (Phil. 2:13); for in the former case, according to the biblical rule of judgment, the blame for the evil done belongs entirely to the sinner (cf. Lk. 22:22; Acts 2:23; 3:13–19), whereas in the latter case the praise for the good done must be given to God (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10).
    BIBLIOGRAPHY. Arndt; A. E. Garvie, in HDB; A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology12 1949, pp. 419–443; L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology4 1949, pp. 165–178; Calvin, Institutes, 1. 16–18; K. Barth, Church Dogmatics, 3. iii, E.T. 1960, pp. 3–288; A. S. Peake, The Problem of Suffering in the Old Testament, 1904; O. Cullmann, Christ and Time, E.T. 1951; G. C. Berkouwer, The Providence of God, 1952; P. Jacobs, H. Krienke, NIDNTT 1, pp. 692–697; J. Behm, TDNT 4, pp. 1009–1017.
J.I.P.