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| Concerning Providence.
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Chapter XXIX.—Concerning
Providence.
Providence, then, is the care that God takes over
existing things. And again: Providence is the will of God
through which all existing things receive their fitting issue1887
. But if Providence is
God’s will, according to true reasoning all things that come into
being through Providence must necessarily be both most fair and most
excellent, and such that they cannot be surpassed. For the same
person must of necessity be creator of and provider for what
exists: for it is not meet nor fitting that the creator of what
exists and the provider should be separate persons. For in that
case they would both assuredly be deficient, the one in creating, the
other in providing1888
. God
therefore is both Creator and Provider, and His creative and preserving
and providing power is simply His good-will. For whatsoever
the Lord pleased that did He in heaven and in earth1889
, and no one resisted His
will1890
. He willed
that all things should be and they were. He wills the universe to
be framed and it is framed, and all that He wills comes to
pass.
That He provides, and that He provides
excellently1891
, one can most
readily perceive thus. God alone is good and wise by
nature. Since then He is good, He provides: for he who does
not provide is not good. For even men and creatures without
reason provide for their own offspring according to their nature, and
he who does not provide is blamed. Again, since He is wise, He
takes the best care over what exists.
When, therefore, we give heed to these things we
ought to be filled with wonder at all the works of Providence, and
praise them all1892
| 1892 The words
πάντα
ἐπαινεῖν are
wanting in Cod. R. 2 and in Nemes., ch. 44. | , and accept
them all without enquiry, even though they are in the eyes of many
unjust, because the Providence of God is beyond our ken and
comprehension, while our reasonings and actions and the future are
revealed to His eyes alone. And by “all” I mean those
that are not in our hands: for those that are in our power are
outside the sphere of Providence and within that of our
Free-will.
Now the works of Providence are partly according
to the good-will1893
(of God) and
partly according to permission1894
. Works
of good-will include all those that are undeniably good, while works of
permission are……1895
| 1895 There is a
hiatus here in Edit. Veron. and in Cod. R. 2927. Various
readings are found in other mss., some with no
sense and others evidently supplied by librarians. It is best
supplied from Nemesius, ch. 44, τῆς δὲ
συγχωρήσεως
πολλὰ εἴδη,
“but there are many forms of concession.” | . For
Providence often permits the just man to encounter misfortune in order
that he may reveal to others the virtue that lies concealed within
him1896
, as was the case with Job1897
. At other times it allows
something strange to be done in order that something great and
marvellous might be accomplished through the seemingly-strange act, as
when the salvation of men was brought about through the Cross. In
another way it allows the pious man to suffer sore trials in order that
he may not depart from a right conscience nor lapse into pride on
account of the power and grace granted to him, as was the case with
Paul1898
.
One man is forsaken for a season with a view to
another’s restoration, in order that others when they see his
state may be taught a lesson1899
, as in the
case of Lazarus and the rich man1900
. For it
belongs to our nature to be cast down when we see persons in
distress. Another is deserted by Providence in order that another
may be glorified, and not for his own sin or that of his parents, just
as the man who was blind from his birth ministered to the glory of the
Son of Man1901
. Again
another is permitted to suffer in order to stir up emulation in the
breasts of others, so that others by magnifying the glory of the
sufferer may resolutely welcome suffering in the hope of future glory
and the desire for future blessings, as in the case of the
martyrs. Another is allowed to fall at times into some act of
baseness in order that another worse fault may be thus corrected, as
for instance when God allows a man who takes pride in his virtue and
righteousness to fall away into fornication in order that he may be
brought through this fall into the perception of his own weakness and
be humbled and approach and make confession to the Lord.
Moreover, it is to be observed1902
that the choice of what is to be done is in
our own hands1903
| 1903 Cf.
Nemes., c. 27; also Cicero’s statement on Providence in
the Academ. Quest. | : but the
final issue depends, in the one case when our actions are good, on the
cooperation of God, Who in His justice brings help according to His
foreknowledge to such as choose the good with a right conscience, and,
in the other case when our actions are to evil, on the desertion by
God, Who again in His justice stands aloof in accordance with His
foreknowledge1904
| 1904 See the reference in
Migne. | .
Now there are two forms of desertion: for
there is desertion in the matters of guidance and training, and there
is complete and hopeless desertion. The former has in view the
restoration and safety and glory of the sufferer, or the rousing of
feelings of emulation and imitation in others, or the glory of
God: but the latter is when man, after God has done all that was
possible to save him, remains of his own set purpose blind and uncured,
or rather incurable, and then he is handed over to utter destruction,
as was Judas1905
. May God be
gracious to us, and deliver us from such desertion.
Observe further that the ways of God’s providence
are many, and they cannot be explained in words nor conceived by the
mind.
And remember that all the assaults of dark and evil
fortune contribute to the salvation of those who receive them with
thankfulness, and are assuredly ambassadors of help.
Also one must bear in mind1906
| 1906 See
Chrysostom, Hom. 1, in Epist. ad. Ephes., and Hom.
18, in Epist. ad Hebræos. |
that God’s original wish was that all should be saved and come to
His Kingdom1907
. For it was
not for punishment that He formed us but to share in His goodness,
inasmuch as He is a good God. But inasmuch as He is a just God,
His will is that sinners should suffer punishment.
The first then is called God’s antecedent
will and pleasure, and springs from Himself, while the second is called
God’s consequent will and permission, and has its origin in
us. And the latter is two-fold; one part dealing with matters of
guidance and training, and having in view our salvation, and the other
being hopeless and leading to our utter punishment, as we said
above. And this is the case with actions that are not left in our
hands1908
| 1908 These words
are wanting in two mss. | .
But of actions that are in our hands the good ones
depend on His antecedent goodwill and pleasure, while the wicked ones
depend neither on His antecedent nor on His consequent will, but are a
concession to free-will. For that which is the result of
compulsion has neither reason nor virtue in it. God1909
| 1909 This last sentence is
absent in one Codex. | makes provision for all creation and makes
all creation the instrument of His help and training, yea often even
the demons themselves, as for example in the cases of Job and the
swine1910
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