Systematic Theology 1

God’s providence is the care and benevolent guardianship by God for his creation or a specific instance of this. It centers on God’s involvement and sometimes “intrusion” into the natural order to preserve, protect, or guide certain situations and people. His providence can use supernatural intervention or human systems (family, government, etc.) to accomplish his will for the world and humanity. Gunton comments that “God does not merely uphold but actively directs and involves himself in the day to day life of his creatures” (21). He also expounds his claim that “providence is bound up with God’s promise: the good world waits for its human inhabitants to make it more able truly to praise its creator” and that “providence takes shape in a fallen world which God purposes both to continue to uphold, and to perfect, so that it takes the form of both conservation and of a movement towards redemption” (29). Gunton seems to imply a connection between providence and the phrase “the Lord’s ebed”—a member of the Lord’s household. An ebed is cared for by his or her lord but also has a task to do. The fathers of the church, reading the New Testament, spoke the totus Christus meaning the risen Christ including and included in his community, and thus they are the Servant and the community to be served by the Servant (81). Jenson quotes Ezekiel 37:13-14 to show that God’s intervention into humanity is “the very ground of eschatological hope that the Lord give Spirit, and so is the God of life and not of death” (81). Williams asserts that although God is “sublimely and eternally happy to be God, the fact that this sublime eternal happiness overflows into the act of creation is itself a way of telling us that God is to be trusted, that he has no private agenda” (13). For him, providence is seen in the very existence of creation, for which God had to spatially decrease in order just to make room for—an act of genuine love and looking toward human care.

The common definition of God’s providence would be something around the neighborhood of God intervening in and throughout our lives. God is just not some Supreme Being living far away from his creation; he is here with us. Gunton states that providence is God “not merely [upholding] but actively [directing] and involves himself” in our daily lives (21). This means that God is acting upon daily life not from afar, but more near than we think. That plays along with what the common definition of providence has become to be defined as. As Jenson points out, we see that God intervened, showed his “providence,” to the people of Israel. Jenson states that God’s providence was shown by the coming prophet that would bring both “eschatological peace and righteousness within which Israel will be redeemed” (80). This has become known as the Suffering Servant, which would be the one to redeem Israel, thus the term God’s providence. Williams takes another avenue in which he talks about God’s providence. He comes from the view of being able to trust God. He states that God is almighty and that “almightiness…becomes another reason for trust” (16). He also states that his love never exhausts “whatever may happen in the universe in general or in [our lives] in particular” (16). If God intervenes in our daily lives, ultimately displays “providence,” we have nothing to worry about because we can trust God. His providence was displayed throughout the Old Testament into the New Testament and now into our very lives. 254

Gunton addresses the idea of “Providence” most directly of the three authors thus far in our readings. In unpacking his doctrine of Creation, he follows to a corollary discussion of the doctrine of Providence. Gunton postulates that God created creation to be distinct from Himself; that in creating the world, He made that which is apart from His own being. According to Gunton, God made the world and its creaturely inhabitants—humans included—that it might be complete in being entirely distinct from Him yet entirely with Him, which occurs through a progression of redemption to God. This is not a return to God after the Fall, but rather a push toward Creation becoming fully God’s—fully in God and yet fully distinct from God. God’s Providence is Him actively working through His “Two Hands,” by the Son representing His work within Creation as a unifier and by the Holy Spirit representing His work over against and along the progress of the world through time as a diversifier and one who grants identity. His Providence is thus eschatological: His guidance of the world to its fulfillment in Himself by working by His “Two Hands.”

Jenson’s approach to “Providence” is less direct; however, his stance is implicitly similar to Gunton’s in that Providence is predominantly eschatological. However, Jenson’s claims are fundamentally grounded in the notion that, because of the hypostatic nature of the Trinitarian Christian God, He has invested himself in the particularities of time and people in time. As Jenson builds his argument, he essentially argues that God’s identity is still being revealed through the course of His relationship by and with Creation. God, like people, has contingencies in Creation, because He has inextricably bound Himself to it; in other words, in the words of Eliot, all time is unredeemable. Therefore, God’s Providence takes shape in His relating to His Creation—specifically the people of Israel, with whom He has made covenant—and working out the eschatological through the temporal. In short, as God works out his identity in the temporal, He identifies with man and experiences time at all poles and thus works out his eschatological promise, the fulfillment of which occurs through the sacrifice of His Son and the unifying and working of the Holy Spirit. Through these, the “righteousness of proper community” amidst the Holy Trinity and Creation can be accomplished—that is, Creation brought into the Divine Nature by Providence’s guiding actions within time and God’s self-revelation.

Williams says little directly to the point of Providence, except for implications in his opening chapter through his apologetic on why God is trustworthy. Essentially, God is trustworthy precisely because of Providence and the fact that God is entirely self-sufficient and content. Therefore, Creation is entirely an altruistic act which leaves no indication of a will to folly about with an “other.” He wants to create something to share in His divine contentment/happiness, and thus results our being. God’s Providence is therefore His working in Creation, not that He might establish his tyrannical authority, but that He might have fellowship with that which He has created through worship and praise. It is His working out of the reconciliation of all things to Himself.

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When one asks any question concerning the providence of God they are really asking about His character. The definition of providence is putting care into something or preparing for something beforehand. The fact that God is provident shows that he is not some far off God who is uninvolved with our lives. His providence shows that he truly loves his creation and wants to see it fulfill its purpose no matter what other forces (sin) may try to throw it off track. In reading Jenson we see this as the primary way that God shows his providence. He intervenes in mans sinful world and thereby redeems all of mankind putting them back on track to spend eternity with Him.

Gunton and Williams however choose to look at the idea of Gods providence a little differently. When Gunton is attempting to identify the source of God’s providence he states that: “ God provides, that is to say not for a spatial ascent out of the material world, but for a temporal movement in and with it.” This is Guntons general definition of the providence of God. He later states that the specific revelation of God’s providence is found in the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Finally Williams addresses the idea of God’s providence in a slightly more unique way than Jenson and Gunton. In his book “Tokens of Trust” Williams seems to be saying that the manner in which God uses his all powerfulness is what proves his providence. God created everything for a specific purpose, but that does not mean that he needs that purpose fulfilled. Williams paints this idea when he says: “We must get to grips with the idea that we don’t contribute anything to God, that God would have been the same God if we had never been created.”

Williams believes by the work of reconciliation of all things to Himself, He has acted as our providence. Willams thinks that God never intended to act as a dictator with his people but rather through worship, praise, and constant communion is His providence to his people. In his own words he says, “Because of Jesus we can now see that what God has always meant to happen is- to pick up two centrally important words in the Letter to the Ephesians- peace and praise. This and this alone is God’s ‘agenda’: the world in which he has made is designed to become a reconciled world, a world in which diverse human communities come to share a life together because they share the conviction that God has acted to set them free from fear and guilt. And this in turn is the only one facet of a reconciliation that somehow affects the whole cosmos, that draws the diversity of the created world itself together so that it works harmoniously.” As far as Gunton, he states that, “we must take account of the fact that providence can be understood in our world only in respect of the fact that its present shape is now distorted, so that within God’s providing are embraced acts devoted at once to maintaining the direction of the universe to its perfecting; and to redirecting its movement away from dissolution to its proper destiny.” Basically he believes that along with the perfect work of God’s Creation overseeing us as well as us overseeing His creation, we achieve His providence. Jenson, coming from a more indirect and eschatological emphasis, seems to emphasize the difference from God and His creation, it is almost seen as a circle and another circle put together, they are different but yet alike or sharing attributes. God uses His creation to also fulfill his promises and demonstrate His character via His way of providence for the people.

Provision is God’s way of making a way, providing a way, and giving his creation all that is needed to do the unique work that we are called to do. Lacking nothing, but understanding that provision only is active in the parameters of what He has called us to do. Anything outside of that, will not be provided for.
On the other hand, Jenson agrees that providence does include man. There must be man involved, to be able to provide to. One also must be able to pray to God, in order to line up with His Will. This is to say, that one remains in the boundaries of His provision. There is a way that man can get out of God’s provision. Jenson also says that God takes shape in the relation to His creation. There is Predominantly eschatology that is seen.
Gunter suggests that God interacts and intervenes with humans only a daily basis, in which becomes part of His provision. God also has great and precious promises in which are attached to the provision that He provides. God has also made a provision that the world is awaiting on to be seen through the people of God. Humans are cared for through provision, but there also lays a responsibility for us.
Williams states that God is self-sufficient and content. He is all in all, that is how He is able to be able to provide, “I believe”. He is one that can be trusted and is patient with humans. God will come through with what is needed that we are sustained. God also requires a worship from humans and He is not a dictator. This is a requirement, in which maybe a requirement that provision is made. “Maybe”. There is also a direction in purpose through His provision.
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Williams presents the topic of God’s providence in an almost roundabout way by approaching it through the vein of why we should “trust Him.” Williams brings up the point of God’s complete self-sufficiency and rather cleverly proves his point as to why God only does good for humanity. He states that if God is self sufficient and not lacking anything in any way, then why would he ever do anything selfish for himself? The answer is, he wouldn’t. Therefore, it becomes clear that the point of our existence in correlation to God is purely based on our own benefit, his providence for us.

Gunton takes a different approach discussing God’s providence. He, like Williams, uses the example of God’s creation to help prove his point but uses a different view not discussed by Williams. Gunton states that creation is separate from God and yet paradoxically connected with him. He uses a metaphor of “God’s hands” in saying that Christ and the Spirit are the two workers within creation which are bringing creation more to a state that is distinctly like God, Himself.

Finally, Jenson approaches God’s providence in a similar way that Gunton does. He also states that God’s providence is based on His involvement with creation. It is assumed Jenson implies the Son and Holy Spirit, but Jenson also emphasizes God’s relationship with Israel.

Word count (including the word count) is: 232