Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic X
James Dodson
CHAPTER X
Of the Providence of God
I. The other external work besides creation is providence, which is, as it were, continued creation.
II. The word “to provide” is read in Gen. 22:8: “God will provide יראה [will see/provide] Himself a lamb,” etc.; and Abraham called the name of that place—
[Page 131]
—Jehovah יראה [will provide]: Heb. 11:40, τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένου [God having provided some better thing for us]. Elsewhere other words are used for this work: vivify, bear, etc. But here we are not treating of foreknowledge or eternal providence, which is God’s decree, but of actual providence.
III. That providence exists has been commonly known even by philosophers from nature, except the Epicureans. This is clear both a priori from many attributes of God, even immutability; and a posteriori from the stable course of all things, and from unexpected events.
Objection 1. In this way things would be less perfect.
Reply: The perfection of independence must never be attributed to them.
Objection 2. God’s rest is thus removed.
Reply: Since God does all things by no new act of will, His blessedness cannot be interrupted.
Objection 3. Commonly it goes badly with the good and well with the evil.
Reply: The true place of ἀποδόσεως [recompense] is only hereafter; nor are all really good or evil who seem such, nor are those things good or evil which are judged to be such.
IV. Providence is defined as the external action of God, by which, by the powerful command of His will, He preserves all things created by Him with respect to their essence and given perfections, moves them in acting, and governs and directs them in all things, unto the praise of His glory and the salvation of the elect.
V. Providence is the work of God: Neh. 9:6, “and Thou preservest them all”; Isa. 45:7, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I Jehovah do all these things,” etc. For infinite power is needed for this work, so that He can be known from this very work: Acts 14:17, καίτοιγε οὐκ ἀμάρτυρον ἑαυτὸν ἀφῆκεν [nevertheless He left not Himself without witness]—
[Page 132]
—Therefore there is no place for fortune or chance, unless we wish to look at secondary causes; likewise none for the influence of the stars, as if care of sublunary things had been committed to them; finally none for fate, such as is commonly attributed to the Stoics, which consists in a necessary chain of secondary causes under which God Himself is subject. Otherwise, the name fate may agree well with ῥῆμα [word], Heb. 1:3, and λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ [word of God], 2 Pet. 3:5.
VI. Providence, because it is concerned with existing things, does not exclude means, which God uses from the abundance of His goodness: Hos. 2:21–22, “and it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.”
VII. Providence is indeed chiefly attributed economically to the Father: Matt. 11:25, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth”; yet it also truly belongs to the Son and the Holy Ghost: Col. 1:17, καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε [and by Him all things consist]; Ps. 104:30, “Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created: and Thou renewest the face of the earth,” etc.
VIII. It is done by the sole command of the divine will: Ps. 147:15–16, “He sendeth forth His commandment upon earth: His word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool,” etc.; Rev. 4:11, διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου εἰσὶ καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν [for Thy will they are and were created]. Nor does this work bring any mutation into God. If some call it an omnipotent force, the exercise of a most powerful command is meant.
IX. The act of providence is threefold: preservation, cooperation, and government. Preservation, which refers to the existence, essence, and perfections of things, is asserted in Neh. 9:6, “Thou preservest”—
[Page 133]
—“them all”; Ps. 36:6–7, “O Jehovah, Thou preservest man and beast”; Rom. 11:36, ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα [of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things]; Col. 1:17, τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε [by Him all things consist]; Heb. 1:3, φέρων τε τὰ πάντα τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ [upholding all things by the word of His power]. And it is altogether a positive act, as annihilation is a mere negation of preservation: Job 6:9, “that He would let loose His hand, and cut me off”; Ps. 104:28–29, “Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled,” etc.; for otherwise things once created would then be independent.
Furthermore, preservation is mediate or immediate; ordinary or extraordinary; in the individual or in the species. Preservation is still an action of God so free that, by His absolute power, He can annihilate creatures, since no creature exists necessarily.
X. Cooperation, otherwise called concurrence, refers to the operations of creatures, of which God is the first cause: according to Isa. 10:15, “shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?” etc.; Jer. 10:23, “I know, O Jehovah, that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps”; Acts 17:28, ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα [for in Him we live and move]; Eph. 1:11, τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ [who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will]; and according to the reality of actions, which must all be from God.
Yet cooperation does not consist merely in preservation of powers, or in the simple giving of a common law, or in a general motion to be determined by creatures, or in a simultaneous act of God flowing into the action and not into the agent; but in an immediate, prior, and predetermining impulse and motion of creatures unto operating. This must be maintained against all Pelagians, who—
[Page 134]
—and the independence of other things by these various evasions. Although, meanwhile, the same action belongs to God as the first cause, and to the creature as the second cause, yet every defect must be attributed to the creature alone.
XI. Government denotes the ordering of creatures and of all actions to proper objects and ends: Ps. 105:3; and Dan. 4:24, 35, “for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and according to His will He doeth in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,” etc.; James 4:15, ἐὰν ὁ Κύριος θελήσῃ καὶ ζήσομεν, καὶ ποιήσομεν τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο [if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that], etc., even though creatures do not know many things, or even strive against them. Nor does God fall short of His end.
XII. God is not so bound to second causes, to their natural powers, and to ordinary operations, that He cannot either do things without them, or not allow them to act, as in miracles; or works not so much above reason as those whose reason and cause cannot be rendered by us, and which are done above, beside, and contrary to second causes. Miracles certainly cannot be denied, since Scripture recounts very many of them, and sets them forth as miracles, indeed as signs of divine power, whereby the truth of a mission is to be acknowledged; unless, under pretext of divine constancy, the whole of Scripture is set forth as ridiculous, and at the same time the seeds of atheism are sown.
XIII. All things are subject to God’s providence. Among these are the greatest things: Dan. 4:35, “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants”—
[Page 135]
—“of the earth”; Job 12:2, “under the whole heaven it is Mine”; Dan. 2:47, “of a truth your God is God of gods, and Lord of kings”; Acts 17:26, 28, ἐποίησέν τε ἐξ ἑνὸς αἵματος πᾶν ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων... καθορίσας προστεταγμένους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς ὁροθεσίας τῆς κατοικίας αὐτῶν... ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν [and hath made of one blood every nation of men… having determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation… for in Him we live, and move, and have our being]; Ps. 104:21, “the young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God,” compared with Job 39 and 40, etc. For nothing created is so great that it is independent.
XIV. Then, the smallest things: Matt. 10:29–30, “are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Matt. 6:26, 28, 30, ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ... καταμάθετε τὰ κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ... εἰ δὲ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ... ὁ Θεὸς οὕτως ἀμφιέννυσιν [behold the fowls of the air… consider the lilies of the field… if God so clothe the grass of the field]; Ps. 147:9, “He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry,” etc. These very things most require divine sustenance, and aptly declare the power of God.
Objection 1. These things are unworthy of God’s care.
Reply: By no means; since it was not unworthy of Him to create them, and God can care for the greatest and the least at the same time.
Objection 2. God does not care for oxen: 1 Cor. 9:9.
Reply: Not for them alone, nor more than for human ministers.
Objection 3. The individual smallest things scarcely contribute to the perfection of the universe and the glory of God.
Reply: They do so altogether, even though, because of our dullness, we do not understand the whole manner of the thing.
[Page 136]
XV. Third, necessary things, which are such by the will of God; hence they can sometimes be restrained by God. Compare Ps. 74:16–17, “the day is Thine, the night also is Thine: Thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter”; Jer. 31:35, “thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,” etc.; Matt. 5:45, ὅτι τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς [for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil], etc.
XVI. Fourth, contingent things, as appears in storms: Ps. 147:16–18, “He giveth snow like wool, He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes, He casteth forth His ice like morsels: who can stand before His cold?”; in accidental homicide: Deut. 19:5, compared with Exod. 21:13, “who lay not in wait, but God delivered him into his hand,” etc.; in the lot: Prov. 16:33, “the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah”; and in examples: Gen. 22:8, 13, “Jehovah will provide Himself,” etc., “and behold, a ram behind him caught in a thicket by his horns,” etc.; 1 Kings 22:17, 34, “and a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness,” etc.
Objection 1. In this way contingency is removed by divine determination.
Reply: Contingency is very wrongly placed in absolute indifference.
Objection 2. In this way there is no need for any means to be used.
Reply: God’s providence is commonly mediate; and since the event is not known to us, means must be used by us.
XVII. Fifth, free things, according to Prov. 16:1, 9, “the preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from Jehovah,” etc.; “a man’s heart deviseth his way, but Jehovah directeth his steps”; Prov. 21:1—
[Page 137]
—“the king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will”; Phil. 2:13, ὁ Θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἐνεργῶν ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ τὸ θέλειν καὶ τὸ ἐνεργεῖν [for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do]; and according to manifest examples: Gen. 45:8, “so now it was not you that sent me hither, but God Himself,” etc.; Acts 4:27–28, “for of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together,” ποιῆσαι ὅσα ἡ χείρ σου καὶ ἡ βουλή σου προώρισε γενέσθαι [to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done], etc.
If it is objected that liberty does not stand together with the necessary determination of God, it must again be said that liberty does not consist in absolute indifference, but in rational liberty, which God operates as the first cause. The phrases which are sometimes urged here from more recent philosophy are also too Pelagian to be capable, or worthy, of defense.
XVIII. Sixth, all good things, especially spiritual things: 1 Cor. 4:7, “what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” James 1:17, πᾶσα δόσις ἀγαθὴ καὶ πᾶν δώρημα τέλειον ἄνωθέν ἐστι καταβαῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτων [every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights]; Phil. 2:13, “God is He who worketh in you both to will and to do,” etc. Yet this is produced in men in a rational manner: by commanding, persuading, enlightening, and finally bending the will.
XIX. Lastly, evils, both of punishment: Isa. 45:7, “forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I Jehovah do all these things”; Lam. 3:38, “out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good?” Amos 3:6, “shall there be evil in a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?” etc.; these are all from God, mediately or immediately. Also evils of fault: Exod. 10:1, “for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants”; 2 Sam. 16:10—
[Page 138]
—“Jehovah hath said unto him, Curse David”; Isa. 6:9–10, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes,” etc.; Ezek. 20:25–26, “wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; and I polluted them in their own gifts,” etc.; Rom. 1:24, 26, 28, διὸ καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς... εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας... εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν [wherefore God also gave them up… unto vile affections… to a reprobate mind], etc.; 2 Thess. 2:10, “for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,” etc.
This is also taught by the examples of Christ betrayed and of Joseph, not apart from God’s providence; and also by the judgments of God, which He executes by sins themselves: Isa. 10:15, “shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?” etc.; Ps. 73:18, “Thou didst set them in slippery places; Thou castedst them down into destruction,” etc.
XX. In the manner of divine concurrence concerning evils, these must be avoided:
1. Libertinism, by which every sin is held to be an imaginary fancy of man.
2. Manichaeism, by which God is made the author of evil. The unstained holiness and truth of God in no way permits this; and we detest it from the heart, though this is charged against our doctrine by calumny.
3. Pelagianism, by which God is regarded as a naked and idle spectator. This agrees neither with the nature of God, nor with the most effective phrases of Scripture.
[Page 139]
XXI. Therefore God:
1. Produces the action itself in which the defect, by man’s vice, is found; as the progress of a limping horse proceeds from the rider’s impulse, and the extraction of foul vapors from the sun.
2. He does not produce the malice; He permits it physically, by grace denied and withdrawn because of unworthy abuse; He increases it by judicial handing-over, and by presenting occasions of sinning, which in themselves are good; He limits it as to objects, measure, and duration; finally, He directs it unto ends glorious to Himself and salutary to the elect. And in this sense the permission of God is altogether effectual.
XXII. The end of providence is the glory of God: Prov. 16:4, “Jehovah hath made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil”; Rom. 11:36, ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα [of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things], etc. It is also the salvation of the elect: Rom. 8:28, οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν Θεὸν πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν [and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God]; 2 Pet. 3:9, μακροθυμεῖ εἰς ἡμᾶς μὴ βουλόμενός τινας ἀπολέσθαι [He is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish], etc.
XXIII. The adversaries wrongly deduce absurdities from this doctrine of ours.
1. That the liberty, rest, majesty, justice, holiness, etc., of God are thus injured. But constancy in acting does not remove liberty; nor does God’s enduring operation remove His rest; nor does care for created things remove His majesty; nor temporal punishment of the good before others remove His justice; nor does the wise permission of sin remove His holiness, if we attend piously.
2. That the carnal security of men and the fatal necessity of all things are introduced. But since God’s providence acts through means, we ought to order ourselves according to the revealed will of God. And the necessity here is not from second causes in man, but from the first cause; therefore these things vanish of themselves.
[Page 140]
XXIV. On the contrary, from this doctrine, we see many perfections of God alongside the very many imperfections of creatures; and we have, according to it, consolation and reason for patience in adversities: Job 1:21–22, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah”; Ps. 139:14, “I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” etc.; in prosperity, an argument for humility and gratitude: Gen. 32:10, “I am less than all the mercies, and all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant,” etc.; and in all future things, an occasion of hope, diligence, and prayer: Job 13:15, “behold, He slayeth me; shall I not hope?” Ps. 71:16, “I will go in the strength of the Lord Jehovah.” Ps. 90:16–17, “Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of Jehovah our God be upon us: and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it,” etc.