Required reading
Systematic Theology Volume 1 by Charles Hodge (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude Chapter 11 (Providence).
My summary
Today Hodge teaches us the Scriptural doctrine of providence.
Firstly we learn about the providence of God over the material universe. Hodge affirms that:
(i) there is an external world;
(ii) matter is active.
Secondly we hear about the providence of God over rational creatures. We see that:
(i) the mind is essentially active;
(ii) God controls the use which free agents make use of their power to act;
(iii) the providential agency of God in the government of free agents is not to be confounded with the operations of his grace..
What grabbed me
I liked Hodge's closing words today on the relationship between humans and God's providence: 'Such are the general principles involved in this most difficult doctrine of Divine Providence. We should be equally on our guard against the extreme which merges all efficiency in God, and which, in denying all second causes, destroys human liberty and Providence. responsibility, and makes God not only the author of sin, but in reality the only Being in the universe ; and the opposite extreme which banishes God from the world which He has made, and which, by denying that He governs all his creatures and all their actions, destroys the foundation of all religion, and dries up the fountains of piety. If this latter view be correct, there is no God to whom we can look for the supply of our wants, or for protection from evil ; whose favour we can seek, or whose displeasure we need dread. We, and all things else, are in the hands of blindly operating causes. Between these equally fatal extremes lies the Scriptural doctrine that God governs all his creatures and all their actions. This doctrine admits the reality and efficiency of second causes, both material and mental, but denies that they are independent of the Creator and Preserver of the universe. It teaches that an infinitely wise, good, and powerful God is everywhere present, controlling all events great and small, necessary and free, in a way perfectly consistent with the nature of his creatures and with his own infinite excellence, so that everything is ordered by his will and is made to subserve his wise and benevolent designs. '
Amen!
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 12 (Miracles).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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