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their so-called providence is simply identical with the course of nature, and this is nothing but
the self-revelation of God, a self-revelation that leaves no room for the independent operation
of second causes in any sense of the word. From this point of view the supernatural is
impossible, or, rather, the natural and the supernatural are identical, the consciousness of free
personal self-determination in man is a delusion, moral responsibility is a figment of the
imagination, and prayer and religious worship are superstition. Theology has always been quite
careful to ward off the dangers of Pantheism, but during the last century this error succeeded in
entrenching itself in a great deal of modern liberal theology under the guise of the doctrine of
the immanence of God.[Cf. Randall, The Making of the Modern Mind, p. 538.]
4. THE OBJECTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
a. The teachings of Scripture on this point.
The Bible clearly teaches God’s providential control
(1) over the universe at large, Ps. 103:19; Dan. 5:35; Eph. 1:11; (2) over the physical world, Job
37:5,10; Ps. 104:14; 135:6; Matt. 5:45; (3) over the brute creation, Ps. 104:21,28; Matt. 6:26;
10:29; (4) over the affairs of nations, Job 12:23; Ps. 22:28; 66:7; Acts 17:26; (5) over man’s birth
and lot in life, I Sam. 16:1; Ps. 139:16; Isa. 45:5; Gal. 1:15,16; (6) over the outward successes
and failures of men’s lives, Ps. 75:6,7; Luke 1:52; (7) over things seemingly accidental or
insignificant, Prov. 16:33; Matt. 10:30; (8) in the protection of the righteous, Ps. 4:8; 5:12; 63:8;
121:3; Rom. 8:28; (9) in supplying the wants of God’s people, Gen. 22:8,14; Deut. 8:3; Phil. 4:19;
(10) in giving answers to prayer, I Sam. 1:19; Isa. 20:5,6; II Chron. 33:13; Ps. 65:2; Matt. 7:7;
Luke 18:7,8; and (11) in the exposure and punishment of the wicked, Ps. 7:12,13; 11:6.
b. General and special providence.
Theologians generally distinguish between general and
special providence, the former denoting God’s control of the universe as a whole, and the
latter, His care for each part of it in relation to the whole. These are not two kinds of
providence, but the same providence exercised in two different relations. The term “special
providence,” however, may have a more specific connotation, and in some cases refers to
God’s special care for His rational creatures. Some even speak of a very special providence
(providentia specialissima) with reference to those who stand in the special relationship of
sonship to God. Special providences are special combinations in the order of events, as in the
answer to prayer, in deliverance out of trouble, and in all instances in which grace and help
come in critical circumstances.
c. The denial of special providence.
There are those who are willing to admit a general
providence, an administration of the world under a fixed system of general laws, but deny that
there is also a special providence in which God concerns Himself with the details of history, the
affairs of human life, and particularly the experiences of the righteous. Some hold that God is
too great to concern Himself with the smaller things of life, while others maintain that He