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Providence |
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Thursday, 09 August 2007 |
Hotly debated throughout the ancient and modern European
world have been the proper concepts for the Latin word "Providence" (videre, to see). The debate is
whether there is a divine or cosmic plan to the universe or whether the cosmos
happened by chance. To the Afrocentric, "Providence"
refers to God's benevolent and purposeful ordering and regulative action in the
world. Nothing is allowed to fall outside God's sovereignty. By contrast,
Atheist say the cosmos has happened by chance. Agnostics believe nothing
happens by chance and that there is some cause which is beyond human
understanding. Debated issues have included the nature and the effects of Providence. Whereas some
say Providence is a principle of orderliness or reason which results in a
cyclical process of endless repetition, others say Providence is the will of
the Creator actively involved in moving all real creatures and creations to a
goal-toward a predetermined end of universal salvation. Since God sees the end
from the beginning, in spite of evil and all that is perplexing, the Old
Testament urges trusting in the providential care and the good will of the
Creator (Deut. 32:7-43; Job 10:12; etc).
A major issue: "If Providence
is an act of divine wisdom, then why is there evil?" The Catholic Church says
God allows his creatures to choose freely-even to choose moral evils. No sin or
physical defect can obstruct God's plan. Furthermore, not only is the general
course of nature sustained by God's providence but the moral order and its
logical consequences as well: "Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"
(Gal. 6:7,8). Divine Providence
sustaining the moral order is the principle theme of the book of Proverbs
(which is Ancient African based). A second issue concerns the role of the
Mechanistic "World-Reason," said to permeate the cosmos and is recognizable in
all natural and historical phenomena. To get in harmony with the "World-Reason"
is to achieve perfect serenity through "Oneness" with what is and shall be. Two
other issues are "Determinism" and "Fatalism"-that everything is determined by
a higher power who makes human beings' destiny a matter of fate so that one can
do nothing to shape one's own destiny and therefore "what will be, will
be." Although "Fatalism" was not
believed by Ancient Africans, it is self-destructively embraced by many struggling
Black Americans who have bought into Western religion. Hence, they respond by
"Being about nothing," resignation, Quietism, and Do-Nothing-ism-as the way of
coping with their racism-derived problems. Those believing in "Determinism" are
not as severly burdened but still tend to accept more than they need of
problems which are not God-made.
Spinoza (1632-77) stated that Providence is nothing else than the striving
which we find in the whole of Nature and in individual things in order to
maintain and preserve their own existence. From this arose a Christian theology
distinction between General Providence (achieved through the action of the
general laws of the universe) and Special Providence (achieved either through
which God provides for each individual according to his/her needs or the striving
of each thing separately to preserve its existence as a whole in itself) (Rom.
8:28). To both ends, God apparently moves in unrecognized events and processes
(Isa. 40:1-5; 44:28-45:4), especially in the grace and help given to a person
when that person calmly pursues his/her labor.
website: www.jablifeskills.com
Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
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