Providence. [part of #3724]
Providence derives its name from the verb provide. Primarily, it looks backward, to the ways in which God has provided. It is also an expectation — that God’s kind character, which characteristically provides rain on the fields of both the just and the unjust, will continue to order the world so as to provide for the needs of his creation. This grace undergirds everyday life.
Common grace is not automatic or mechanical, however, and if we think so, we presume on God. Nowhere does God guarantee that he will divert disaster no matter how we behave. Just the reverse: human ingenuity, planning, and creativity are part of God’s providence. They are a way in which he characteristically provides to our needs. We are meant to be part of God’s providence.
Human creativity thrives on problems. It is the normal way for God to provide for us — to use creative people to solve the dilemmas of life, to find cures for terrible plagues, to grow better crops to meet famine. contraception can be understood as part of this pattern — a provision of God, through human means, to choose well how many children to bring into the world. Contraception enables us to plan a family life, so that to the best of our abilities we avoid privation and seek the best conditions for thriving.
Will life get steadily better and better? Nothing in the doctrine of Providence says so. Are we doomed by the inevitable conflict between human aspirations and a limited planet? Providence suggests otherwise: our lives are in God’s hands. Providence does not predict the future. It does not tell us which problems are most significant, or how to overcome them. It does provide a sense of hopeful confidence, reminding us that God’s world is not capricious or malignant, reminding us also that we are not gods who depend only on ourselves. Providence states that God will provide what we need until God himself brings this era to a close.
Providence, therefore, dilutes the extreme moods of both optimists and pessimists. It enables us to live on a more secure foundation — where we rely on God, rather than on our human capabilities and our changeable predictions of the future.
Eschatology.
If providence is the biblical understanding of the short term, eschatology is the biblical view of how things will end up.