Chapter III, Section 2: Divine Providence

Pohle, God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural, Part I, Chapter III, §2 (pp. 91–95)

1. Definition of the Term

St. Thomas defines Divine Providence as the all-regulating and stable plan by which God, as the Supreme Ruler of the universe, ordains all things.¹

This definition postulates the existence of two divine operations, one of which is proper to the divine Intellect, viz.: foreknowledge of all, especially the conditioned events of the future,² whereas the second, viz.: a preordainment of whatever is to happen or not to happen, with due regard to the free will of rational creatures, belongs to the divine Will. In a wider sense Providence is called the divine government of the world (gubernatio mundi), in as far as it is the successive execution of the divine plan in time.

Providence, therefore, is related to the divine government of the world as a design is related to its execution. Providence is eternal, while the divine government of the world is exercised in time.

Nor are “Providence” and “divine disposition” synonymous terms. What is usually called a divine disposition (dispositio) has reference to the ordering of things to one another, while Providence ordains things to their final end. Because of their intrinsic relation to the final object of the universe, the various divine dispositions must be conceived as necessary functions of Providence. The same is true of the divine Preservation of the universe and also of divine Concurrence, with both of which we have dealt in a preceding chapter.

2. The Dogma

The existence of an all-governing Providence was formally defined as an article of faith by the Council of the Vatican: “Universa vero, quae condidit Deus, providentia sua tuetur atque gubernat, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter et disponens omnia suaviter; omnia enim nuda et aperta sunt oculis eius, ea etiam, quae libera creaturarum actione futura sunt” — God protects and governs by His Providence all things which He hath made, “reaching from end to end mightily, and ordering all things sweetly.” For “all things are bare and open to His eyes,” even those which are yet to be by the free action of creatures.³ This definition excludes the pagan notion of “fate” (εἱμαρμένη), which had already been rejected by the Council of Braga (A.D. 561), and also modern Deism, which either denies Providence point-blank, or represents God as an idle, uninterested spectator of mundane affairs.

For the Scriptural argument we must refer the reader to our work entitled God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, pp. 260 sqq.

Among Patristic texts we would call special attention to Theodoret’s ten beautiful discourses on God’s Providence in the government of the world,⁴ and to the last of St. Chrysostom’s three books to Stagirius, a treatise of consolation written for the benefit of a sorely tried and nearly despairing friend.⁵

3. Deism

By Deism we understand a conception of the universe which acknowledges the existence of a personal Creator, distinct from the world, but holds that He does not care for the universe which He has created, simply letting it shift for itself. Deism differs not only from Christian Theism, but likewise from Pantheism and Materialism, and consequently also from Atheism. It may be fitly described as an incomplete, defective, and halting Theism.⁶

Deism originated in the seventeenth century, in England, by way of reaction against the Episcopal Church. Under the leadership of Toland (1696), Collins (†1724), Tindal (1730), who is called “the great apostle of Deism,” Thomas Morgan (1737), and other notorious Freethinkers, it began by attacking the supernatural truths of Christianity and, under Dodwell (1742) and David Hume (†1776), sank deep into the quagmire of religious scepticism. German Rationalism (die Aufklärung), whose leading champions were G. E. Lessing and Immanuel Kant, like the Freethought of the French Encyclopedists, was merely an offshoot of English Deism. In Germany Deism ultimately developed into Pantheism. In France it engendered Atheism, which celebrated its terrible triumphs in the Revolution. At present Deism is leading a shadowy existence in certain Freemasonic lodges which have not yet adopted rank Pantheism. It is a comfortable creed, for, while freely acknowledging the existence of a “Grand Architect of the Universe,” it cares not how He is worshipped or whether He be worshipped at all. The God of the Deists allows the mighty engine of the universe to run at rovers and permits the droll little creatures called men to disport themselves as they please.

Of course, if the universe is ruled by immutable laws and left to itself by its Creator, there can be no room for miracles; supernatural Revelation is impossible and the Christian world-view must be set down as a chimera. In its last analysis, therefore, Deism is pure Naturalism, or Rationalism, and utterly incompatible with revealed religion. It cannot even keep up the appearance of a “religion of pure reason” upon which it loves to plume itself. Having cut loose from God it has lost all semblance of religion and must lead to rank Atheism. Thus the most effective refutation of Deism is its own history.⁷

Notes

Readings

St. Thomas, Contr. Gent., III, 64–97 (Rickaby, Of God and His Creatures, pp. 235 sqq.). Ruiz, De Providentia Dei, disp. 1–4. Lessius, De Perfect. Moribusque Div., l. XI. Idem, De Providentia Numinis, etc. Chr. Pesch, Praelect. Dogmat., t. II, 3rd ed., pp. 173 sqq., Friburgi 1906. Wilhelm-Scannell, A Manual of Catholic Theology, Vol. I, 2nd ed., pp. 372 sqq., London 1899. B. Boedder, Natural Theology, pp. 381 sqq., 2nd ed., London 1899. A. Lehmkuhl, Die göttliche Vorsehung, 5th ed., Köln 1906. K. Gutberlet, Gott und die Schöpfung, pp. 106 sqq., Ratisbon 1910. F. Aveling, art. “Deism” in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IV.

Note on this transcription: two Greek titles (Theodoret’s discourses on Providence, and Chrysostom’s treatise to Stagirius) and one Greek term (εἱμαρμένη, “fate”) were reconstructed from garbled OCR characters. German titles had umlauts restored (Aufklärung, göttliche, Schöpfung, Köln).

This completes Part I, Chapter III — and with it, all three chapters of §§1–2 covering Creation, Preservation and Concurrence, and the Final Cause and Providence. The source text moves to Part II next.