Providence

Definition and Meaning

Providence refers to God's work of upholding and preserving the world he created, governing it, and guiding it toward the purposes he has appointed. The term translates the Latin providentia, which carries the sense of "foreseeing and making provision in advance." Protestant theology commonly explains providence in terms of three aspects:

• Preservation: God's upholding of creatures so that they exist and continue in being
• Concurrence: the operation of creatures' activities within the power of God
• Government: God's directing of all things toward the ends he has appointed

A distinction is also sometimes drawn between "general providence," by which God governs the world as a whole, and "special providence," which concerns individuals or particular events.

Biblical and Historical Background

Passages frequently cited in support of the doctrine of providence include the following:

• Genesis 50:20: Joseph tells his brothers, "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good."
• Matthew 10:29: Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from God's will: "one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."
• Romans 8:28: "All things work together for good."

Augustine interpreted human history within the framework of God's providence. During the Reformation, John Calvin treated providence at length in the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Chapter 5 of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Questions 27–28 of the Heidelberg Catechism also confess the doctrine of providence.

Theologically, the principal points of debate concern the relationship between providence and human freedom, as well as the problem of evil and suffering. The Calvinist tradition emphasizes God's decree (his foreordaining) and his sovereign rule. The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions emphasize God's foreknowledge and permission together with the free response of human beings. These questions are treated in more detail in the article Predestination and Free Will.

Practice in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, "the providence of God" is a phrase frequently used in preaching, prayer, and testimony. Church members accept and confess events in their personal lives, such as school admissions, employment, illness, or moving, as providential. Sermons that interpret events in the nation's history, such as the arrival of missionaries or Korea's liberation in 1945, as providential are also common.

Emphases differ among denominations:

• Churches in the Presbyterian tradition adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith as their doctrinal standard. They emphasize God's sovereign rule and explain providence in close connection with the doctrine of predestination.
• Denominations in the Wesleyan tradition, such as the Korean Methodist Church and the Holiness Church, also confess providence. However, they speak of human responsibility alongside it and emphasize prevenient grace, the grace that God first extends to all people.
• Pentecostal denominations tend to associate providence with God's intervention as experienced in daily life, such as answers to prayer and divine healing.

At the same time, voices both within and outside the church have cautioned that hastily explaining suffering or harm as "the providence of God" can amount to pressuring those affected to accept their pain. In addition, the Christian Gospel Mission is known to refer to itself as "Providence," so the group should be distinguished from providence as a doctrinal term.