Sect. 116The Providence of GodThe Providence of God
I. A necessary consequence of the absolute dependence of the world on its Maker is that the world must be governed by God, and conducted by Him to its final destination. He owes it to His wisdom so to govern the world as to attain the end which He Himself has ordained for it. (Supra, pp. 219, 224.)
The government of the world by God is the function of Divine Providence, inasmuch as it consists in conducting all things to their end by providing for each and all of them the good to which they ultimately tend.
II. The existence of an all-governing Providence is a fundamental article of Faith. Our reason, our conscience, cannot separate the idea of an all-penetrating Providence from the idea of God. Holy Writ speaks of Providence almost on every page. (Cf., e.g., Ps. 138 and Matt. 6:25 sqq.) The Vatican Council has also defined it in outline: “God watcheth over and governeth by His Providence all things that He hath made, reaching from end to end mightily and ordering all things sweetly” (sess. iii., c. 1).
III. We subjoin some characteristics of the Divine Government of the World, in its bearing upon the natural order of things.
1. The government of the world by God is both general and special; that is to say, it affects the world as a whole as well as every creature in particular. It is not carried out by intermediate agents: God Himself directly watches over, leads, and controls every single thing and its every motion. He takes a special care of personal beings whose end is supreme felicity and whose duration is everlasting. In virtue of His Wisdom and Infinite Power, He not only establishes general laws and provides the means for obeying them, but also regulates and arranges the particular circumstances and conditions under which every creature is to act. Thus no creature can be placed in a position or subjected to circumstances not foreseen, preordained, or at least permitted, by Divine Providence, or not in harmony with the general plan of the universe. Hence God’s government of the world attains its end unerringly, with perfect certainty, in general as well as in particular: all things and events ultimately procure the glory of God, and nothing of what He absolutely intends fails to happen, nor does anything happen which He absolutely intends to prevent. This, however, does not interfere with the free will of rational creatures, because their freedom is itself part of the Divine plan and is governed by God in harmony with its nature.
2. Although God, in the government of the world, wills and promotes the good of every single creature, still, in order to attain the great final object of all, He permits and even intends individual creatures not to attain their own particular object, and thus to suffer for the general good. Even the greatest of evils, sin, which is in direct opposition to the glory of God, can be permitted by Him, because He is able to make it subservient to His ends and to glorify Himself by punishing it.
3. The action of God’s Providence appears most strikingly in the organization and harmonious working of material nature. It is not so well seen in the government of personal beings, because free will is a disturbing element which prevents us from discerning uniform laws of conduct.
4. The greatest difficulty arises from the permission of evil, for which, in our limited sphere of knowledge, we can hardly account. We know, however, that all events are in the hand of God and that nothing happens without His knowledge and permission. Although, therefore, in particular cases we fail to see the reason of God’s government, we must none the less bow down before His infinite Wisdom, Goodness, and Justice. Such humble submission and filial confidence are, in rational creatures, the best disposition for receiving the full benefit of God’s loving Providence.
I. A necessary consequence of the absolute dependence of the world on its Maker is that the world must be governed by God, and conducted by Him to its final destination. He owes it to His wisdom so to govern the world as to attain the end which He Himself has ordained for it. (Supra, pp. 219, 224.)
The government of the world by God is the function of Divine Providence, inasmuch as it consists in conducting all things to their end by providing for each and all of them the good to which they ultimately tend.
II. The existence of an all-governing Providence is a fundamental article of Faith. Our reason, our conscience, cannot separate the idea of an all-penetrating Providence from the idea of God. Holy Writ speaks of Providence almost on every page. (Cf., e.g., Ps. 138 and Matt. 6:25 sqq.) The Vatican Council has also defined it in outline: “God watcheth over and governeth by His Providence all things that He hath made, reaching from end to end mightily and ordering all things sweetly” (sess. iii., c. 1).
III. We subjoin some characteristics of the Divine Government of the World, in its bearing upon the natural order of things.
1. The government of the world by God is both general and special; that is to say, it affects the world as a whole as well as every creature in particular. It is not carried out by intermediate agents: God Himself directly watches over, leads, and controls every single thing and its every motion. He takes a special care of personal beings whose end is supreme felicity and whose duration is everlasting. In virtue of His Wisdom and Infinite Power, He not only establishes general laws and provides the means for obeying them, but also regulates and arranges the particular circumstances and conditions under which every creature is to act. Thus no creature can be placed in a position or subjected to circumstances not foreseen, preordained, or at least permitted, by Divine Providence, or not in harmony with the general plan of the universe. Hence God’s government of the world attains its end unerringly, with perfect certainty, in general as well as in particular: all things and events ultimately procure the glory of God, and nothing of what He absolutely intends fails to happen, nor does anything happen which He absolutely intends to prevent. This, however, does not interfere with the free will of rational creatures, because their freedom is itself part of the Divine plan and is governed by God in harmony with its nature.
2. Although God, in the government of the world, wills and promotes the good of every single creature, still, in order to attain the great final object of all, He permits and even intends individual creatures not to attain their own particular object, and thus to suffer for the general good. Even the greatest of evils, sin, which is in direct opposition to the glory of God, can be permitted by Him, because He is able to make it subservient to His ends and to glorify Himself by punishing it.
3. The action of God’s Providence appears most strikingly in the organization and harmonious working of material nature. It is not so well seen in the government of personal beings, because free will is a disturbing element which prevents us from discerning uniform laws of conduct.
4. The greatest difficulty arises from the permission of evil, for which, in our limited sphere of knowledge, we can hardly account. We know, however, that all events are in the hand of God and that nothing happens without His knowledge and permission. Although, therefore, in particular cases we fail to see the reason of God’s government, we must none the less bow down before His infinite Wisdom, Goodness, and Justice. Such humble submission and filial confidence are, in rational creatures, the best disposition for receiving the full benefit of God’s loving Providence.
Seção 40% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.