PROVIDENCE

prov'-i-dens:

—Harper's Bible dictionary

Providence, one of the most commonly held and most vigorously debated beliefs in both ancient and modern times: that there is a benevolent and purposeful ordering of all events of history. Nothing happens by chance; though not always perceptible to human understanding, there is a divine or cosmic plan to the universe, a reason for everything.
One philosophical version of this concept is ‘determinism’ or (its negative expression) ‘fatalism’: everything is determined by a higher power, destiny is a matter of fate, one can do nothing to shape one’s own destiny, what will be will be. Such a view results in human resignation (quietism/do-nothing-ism).

Another, somewhat more positive, version was the Stoic view that ‘world-reason’ permeated the cosmos and could be recognized in all natural and historical phenomena. Stoic philosophy was designed to put one in harmony with this principle of world-reason. The end result was the achievement of perfect serenity through oneness with what is and shall be.

Even less philosophical people have always asked ‘Why?’ when seeking to understand life and history. Reading the stars or the entrails of sacrificial animals or consulting the Delphic oracle were favorite means among ancients for determining the relationship of what is to what shall be. Such techniques provided a measure of reconciliation between learned response from normal cause and effect relationships and the bizarre, the paradoxical, the unexpected.

The communities of faith reflected in the documents of the Bible also held to a view of providence. In contrast to the foregoing, however, God the Creator was held to be personally responsible for preserving and regulating the created order. In this context, providence is related to the notions of ‘election’ and ‘predestination.’ This God has a plan and purpose for his world. Providence is not a principle of orderliness or reason; rather, providence is the will of the Creator who is actively involved in moving his creation to a goal. History is not a cyclical process of endless repetition; history is being moved toward the predetermined end.

In the ot and Jewish literature, the Book of Job and the Wisdom of Solomon represent two classical locations for this confidence regarding providence. Here, as in other texts, the key terms often translated ‘providence’ are really ‘foreknowledge’ or ‘foresight’ (which, indeed, is the etymological Latin meaning of ‘providence’). While humans see and judge from the limitations of time and space, even when able to lean on the recorded wisdom of prior generations, God sees the end from the beginning. In spite of evil and all that is perplexingly enigmatic in life, the message of the ot and subsequent Jewish literature is to trust in the providential care and good will of the Creator (Deut. 32:7-43; Job 10:12; Pss. 74:12-17; 104:27-30; cf. Wisd. of Sol. 14:3; 17:2; 3 Macc. 4:21; 5:30; 4 Macc. 9:24; 17:22).
In the nt, the basis for such an invitation to trust providence is Jesus Christ. He becomes, through his life, death, and resurrection, the guarantor that God’s providential goal is salvation rather than destruction. The belief that history has a saving goal is grounded in his coming. The earliest Christians believed and preached this understanding of providence in a great variety of verbal expressions and human situations (e.g., Matt. 6:25-33; 10:29-31; Rom. 8:28-39; 2 Cor. 4:11-18; 1 Pet. 1:3-9). J.E.A.

Achtemeier, P. J. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (Page 832). San Francisco: Harper & Row.