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of God as the faculty of self-determination with which we are concerned at present. It may be
defined as that perfection of His Being whereby He, in a most simple act, goes out towards
Himself as the highest good (i.e. delights in Himself as such) and towards His creatures for His
own name’s sake, and is thus the ground of their being and continued existence. With
reference to the universe and all the creatures which it contains this naturally includes the idea
of causation.
b. Distinctions applied to the will of God.
Several distinctions have been applied to the will of
God. Some of these found little favor in Reformed theology, such as the distinction between an
antecedent and a consequent will of God, and that between an absolute and a conditional will.
These distinctions were not only liable to misunderstanding, but were actually interpreted in
objectionable ways. Others, however, were found useful, and were therefore more generally
accepted. They may be stated as follows: (1) The decretive and the preceptive will of God. The
former is that will of God by which He purposes or decrees whatever shall come to pass,
whether He wills to accomplish it effectively (causatively), or to permit it to occur through the
unrestrained agency of His rational creatures. The latter is the rule of life which God has laid
down for His moral creatures, indicating the duties which He enjoins upon them. The former is
always accomplished, while the latter is often disobeyed. (2) The will of eudokia and the will of
eurestia. This division was made, not so much in connection with the purpose to do, as with
respect to the pleasure in doing, or the desire to see something done. It corresponds with the
preceding, however. in the fact that the will of eudokia, like that of the decree, comprises what
shall certainly be accomplished, while the will of eurestia, like that of the precept, embraces
simply what God is pleased to have His creatures do. The word eudokia should not mislead us
to think that the will of eudokia has reference only to good, and not to evil, cf. Matt. 11:26. It is
hardly correct to say that the element of complacency or delight is always present in it. (3) The
will of the beneplacitum and the will of the signum. The former again denotes the will of God as
embodied in His hidden counsel, until He makes it known by some revelation, or by the event
itself. Any will that is so revealed becomes a signum. This distinction is meant to correspond to
that between the decretive and the preceptive will of God, but can hardly be said to do this.
The good pleasure of God also finds expression in His preceptive will; and the decretive will
sometimes also comes to our knowledge by a signum. (4) The secret and the revealed will of
God. This is the most common distinction. The former is the will of God’s decree, which is
largely hidden in God, while the latter is the will of the precept, which is revealed in the law and
in the gospel. The distinction is based on Deut. 29:29. The secret will of God is mentioned in Ps.
115:3; Dan. 4:17,25,32,35; Rom. 9:18,19; 11:33,34; Eph. 1:5,9,11; and His revealed will, in Matt.
7:21; 12:50; John 4:34; 7:17; Rom. 12:2. The latter is accessible to all and is not far from us,
Deut. 30:14; Rom. 10:8. The secret will of God pertains to all things which He wills either to