The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. The definition of Providence; the parts of it.
THus having proved that there is a Providence, I ſhall in the next place ſhew what it is, and what be the parts thereof.
Definit. of Provid. foreign. Greg Nyſſen. lib de Provident.Providence is Gods wiſe, perpetuall, and unchangeable diſpoſing and governing of all things that are, or come to paſs, as well in the Heavens as in the earth, and not only thoſe things that concern man, but alſo thoſe things that are put below him. As God made all things wonderfully at the firſt, ſo with no leſs admiration doth he govern, ſuſtain, and take the care of them even to this day: My Father worketh hitherto, &c. The eyes of all wait upon thee, or look unto thee, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, and thou giveſt them their meat in due ſeaſon, thou openeſt thine hand, and ſatisfieſt the deſire of every living thing, Pſal. 145.15, 16. It is a moſt abſurd thing, Theod. in 10. Serm. de Prov. Providentia eſt perpetuum & immutabile rerum univerſarum regnum & adminiſtratio. Szegedin. loc. com. de Provid.ſaith Theodoret, to ſay that God created all things, but that he hath no care of the things which he hath made, and that his Creature as a Boat deſtitute of a Steerſman, is with contrary winds toſſed to and fro, and knockt and crackt upon ſhelves and rocks. God is a great Houſholder, all Creatures are in his Family, and there is no Creature in this great Family neglected: the little Ant and the creeping Worm, have their allowance of God as well as man; he never gave life to any Creature, but he alloweth a convenient maintenance for it: he made all things by his Word, and by his Word and bleſſing in the means of their life are they upheld.
Now the Providence of God is compoſed of three heads;
Knowledge,
Diſpoſition and
Government.
1. Knowledge: he ſeeth and conſidereth all things; his Science is infinite and incomprehenſible; he moſt diſtinctly beholdeth all things which have been, are, ſhall be, and may be in their proper eſſence, which is the efficient, finall, exemplar and fundamentall cauſe of them. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth, 2 Chron. 16 9. which knowledge of his thus in Verſe expreſſeth Homer:
— The Suns clear light,
Homer.Which neer'theleſs to pierce
Th' earths entrals hath no might.
Nor Sea with his weak rayes,
But th' worlds Creatour great
All things ſurvayes
From forth his dwelling Seat.
Earths Maſs doth not withſtand
Nor dark night letts, but he
Things preſent and to come,
And paſt at once doth ſee.
Hereof it is called by the Grecians foreign,Baſting. Catec. de Provident. that is a power whereby things are foreknown, and foreign, whereby the ſame are foreordained and ruled, as one noteth: God knoweth all things ſimply together by one act, and not ſucceſſively, Heb. 4.13. Mat. 7.23. God is ſimplex actus, and as he moſt perfectly knoweth himſelf, 1 Cor. 1.10. ſo alſo he knoweth all other things beſides himſelf, Gen. 1.31. Rom. 11.36. This is called by Ariſtotle and Anaxagoras, intellectus purus. foreign ab α privativa, & foreign fugio, quia illam nihil fugit. Chryſip.In this reſpect did Chryſippus call providence foreign, ignorant of nothing. God hath not only a generall and common, but a proper and peculiar, yea (and that) a perfect knowledge of every thing, and by this diſtinct knowledge he knoweth ſingular things to come, even contingent; for to him their firſt cauſe they are neceſſary, though in reſpect of ſecond cauſes contingent. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good; and if it were not ſo, God would have only the bare title of governing the world, and the thing it ſelf ſhould belong to ſecond cauſes; even as among men, many things are done in the names of Kings and Princes, and ſaid to be done by their command, when in the mean time, what they are, and how they are managed, becauſe done by their Miniſters, they ſcarce at all know or underſtand.
2. The ſecond head of Providence is diſpoſition, which ordaineth the connexion of parts, and maketh one correſpondent with the other. Saul in ſeeking his Fathers Aſſes had no expectation of a Kingdome, 1 Sam. 9.3. he by the advice of his ſervant goes to Samuel to enquire about the Aſſes, but it is ſaid; the Lord ſent him thither; God ſo diſpoſing of it by his Providence. The Lord had told Samuel a day before in his ear, ſaying, To morrow I will ſend thee a man out of the Land of Benjamin, and thou ſhalt annoint him to be Captain over my people Iſrael. Ver. 16. So the Lord ſaith of the King of Aſſyria; I will ſend him againſt an hypocriticall Nation, and againſt the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down as the mire of the ſtreets: howbeit he meaneth not ſo, neither doth his heart think ſo, Iſa. 6.7. But moſt remarkeable is that Providence of God, in diſpoſing of all things according to the prayer of Abrahams ſervant,Gen. 24. bringing forth and ſhewing him the Damſell that was to be a Wife to his Maſters Son, by the ſame token which he had expreſly deſired; which was this, that if the Damſell that he deſired to draw a pitcher of water for him, ſhould anſwer, ſaying, I will, and I will give thy Camels drink alſo, then that ſhould be ſhe whom God had appointed for Iſaacs Wife, and ſo it came to paſs. Gods wiſe dispoſition is ſuch, ſaith Cauſin, Cauſin. de Provident.that all the whole Univerſe in all its parts, is ruled like a paper with Muſick lines, Syneſius Hymn. 4.which made Syneſins ſay, The world was the Harp of God, and the divers orders of nature were the ſtrings of it. All things are overruled and ſwayed by the great arm of Providence: he ordereth, directeth, and diſpoſeth of all things to the ends that he hath appointed them, viz. his own glory, and the good of his Elect.
3. The third head of Providence is Government: he governeth all things according to the counſell of his own will. God is not confined by any externall Law, nor ſtraitned by the courſe of nature; he acteth with great freedome and ſoveraignty. Now I argue thus: if the world and all things therein be not governed by God, either it is not governed at all, or it is governed by ſome other, or elſe it governeth it ſelf.
1. It cannot be, that there can be no government of the world, becauſe the conſtant order and viciſſitude in nature and naturall things, the mutuall intercourſe and interchangeable ſucceſſion of day and night, winter and ſummer, heat and cold, and a thouſand ſuch like, proveth the contrary: of all which, and their like,Clem. Alex. Stromat. Clemens of Alexandria ſaith, It were a moſt wicked thing not to think them effects of Gods Providence.When all things are created of nothing, and many things are compounded of contraries, and by a naturall enmity ſeek the ruine of one another, none but God can preſerve them, for who elſe is able to govern ſo great a Maſs but an infinite power? Stock. on Mal. 3.
2. It cannot be governed by any other but by God himſelf: for if there were another to govern the world, he muſt be either ſuperiour or inferiour to God; if ſuperiour, then God were not God, but he is called a great God, and a great King above all Gods, Pſal. 95.3. In his hand are all the deep places of the earth, the ſtrength of the hils is his alſo; the ſea is his and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Ver. 4. He is called the moſt high God, and ſaid to be higher than the higheſt, therefore there is none above him, none equall unto him: and if he were inferiour to God, then could he not be ſufficient to govern the world, becauſe no leſs than an Almighty power is required to the government thereof.
3. If the world be not governed by God, either he doth not know how to govern it, or is not able to bear the weight thereof, and to go through with the management of that work, or is not willing to undertake ſo great an imployment upon him:Deus liberrimum agens, qui à nemine cogitur ad hanc rerum omnium adminiſtrationem. Polan. Syntag. de Provid. but God is omniſcient, and therefore he well underſtandeth rationem adminiſtrandi, how to govern the world, and that in the beſt manner: he is likewiſe omnipotent, and therefore able to bear the government thereof upon his ſhoulders, and to manage it exactly and powerfully, becauſe he is at no labour in the execution of his will and pleaſure, but whatſoever he willeth, that alſo he effecteth with eaſe: he is likewiſe ſummum bonum, the chiefeſt good, and therefore he willingly undertaketh this work; he is a moſt free Agent, and is compelled by none to the government of the world; the manner of his governing is very good, becauſe he alwayes doth well; yea even when inſtruments do evil, as Joſeph tells his Brethren; As for you, ye meant evil againſt me, but God meant it unto good, Gen. 50.20.
If God made the world, then was he without the world, and hath wiſdome and ability enough to govern it: the knowledge of all objects in the world cauſeth no wearineſs in God, becauſe all therein is finite,Sic mundum regi à Deo dicimus, ut à rectore provinciam cujus apparitores nemo ſocios eſſe in regenda provincia dixerit, quamvìs illorum miniſteriores geratur: & hi tamen poſſunt aliquid praeter juſſa rectoris, per ipſius ignorantiam, quae eſt conditionis humanae. Ille aurèm praeſes mundi, & rector univerſi qui ſcit omnia, cujus divinis oculis nihil ſeptum eſt, ſolus habet rerum omnium cum filio ſuo poteſtatem, nec eſt Angelis quicquam niſi parendi neceſſitas. Lactant. l. 2. c. 17. Si Deus fecit mundum, fuit ergo fine mundo: ſi regit, nòn uti que ſicut mens corpus regit, ſed tanquam dominus domum, navim que gubernator, auriga currum; nec tamèn miſti ſunt iis rebus quas regunt. Lactant. l. 7. de divino praemio. c. 3. but his knowledge is as his eſſence is, infinite: he governeth the world not as the mind the body, but as a Maſter governeth his houſe, as the Stern-man governeth his Ship, a Charret-man his Chariot, who are not mixt with the things governed by them. And as God governeth all things, ſo he doth nothing obitèr, raſhly or inconſiderately: he is well adviſed in every thing that he doth, elſe it might be thought that all things came to paſs by chance and fortune, and ſo the Providence of God ſhould no way differ from them. We are raſh and heady, and many times carried on with more paſſion than reaſon, and no corruption tranſporteth us ſo far as violent paſſions; but whatſoever the Lord doth in his government, he doth it with exact judgement.