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dangers of both Deism and Pantheism. But while we distinguish three elements in providence,
we should remember that these three are never separated in the work of God. While
preservation has reference to the being, concurrence to the activity, and government to the
guidance of all things, this should never be understood in an exclusive sense. In preservation
there is also an element of government, in government an element of concursus, and in
concursus an element of preservation. Pantheism does not distinguish between creation and
providence, but theism stresses a twofold distinction: (a) Creation is the calling into existence of
that which did not exist before, while providence continues or causes to continue what has
already been called into existence. (b) In the former there can be no cooperation of the
creature with the Creator, but in the latter there is a concurrence of the first Cause with second
causes. In Scripture the two are always kept distinct.
3. MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING THE NATURE OF PROVIDENCE.
a. Limiting it to prescience or prescience plus foreordination.
This limitation is found in some
of the early Church Fathers. The fact is, however, that when we speak of the providence of God,
we generally have in mind neither His prescience nor His foreordination, but simply His
continued activity in the world for the realization of His plan. We realize that this cannot be
separated from His eternal decree, but also feel that the two can and should be distinguished.
The two have often been distinguished as immanent and transeunt providence.
b. The deistic conception of divine providence.
According to Deism God’s concern with the
world is not universal, special and perpetual, but only of a general nature. At the time of
creation He imparted to all His creatures certain inalienable properties, placed them under
invariable laws, and left them to work out their destiny by their own inherent powers.
Meanwhile He merely exercises a general oversight, not of the specific agents that appear on
the scene, but of the general laws which He has established. The world is simply a machine
which God has put in motion, and not at all a vessel which He pilots from day to day. This
deistic conception of providence is characteristic of Pelagianism, was adopted by several
Roman Catholic theologians, was sponsored by Socinianism, and was only one of the
fundamental errors of Arminianism. It was clothed in a philosophic garb by the Deists of the
eighteenth century, and appeared in a new form in the nineteenth century, under the influence
of the theory of evolution and of natural science, with its strong emphasis on the uniformity of
nature as controlled by an inflexible system of iron-clad laws.
c. The pantheistic view of divine providence.
Pantheism does not recognize the distinction
between God and the world. It either idealistically absorbs the world in God, or materialistically
absorbs God in the world. In either case it leaves no room for creation and also eliminates
providence in the proper sense of the word. It is true that Pantheists speak of providence, but