Providence of God

In theology, divine providence, or just providence, is God's intervention in the world. The term "Divine Providence" (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which refers to God's continuous upholding the existence and natural order of the universe, and "special providence", which refers to God's extraordinary intervention in the life of people.Miracles generally fall in the latter category.

The word comes from Latin providentia "foresight, prudence", from pro- "ahead" and videre "to see". The current use of the word has the sense of "knowledge of the future" or omniscience, understood as an attribute of God.

Augustine of Hippo is perhaps most famously associated with the doctrine of divine providence in the Latin West. Augustine held that since God's governance takes place in the universe comprising a vast multitude of relatively independent individuals differing in nature, function, and end, this implies the continuous control and unifying governance of a single supreme Being.

However, Christian teaching on providence in the High Middle Ages was most fully developed by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica. The concept of providence as care exercised by God over the universe, his foresight and care for its future is extensively developed and explained both by Aquinas himself and modern Thomists. One of the foremost modern Thomists, Dominican father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, wrote a study of providence entitled "Providence: God's loving care for man and the need for confidence in Almighty God." In it, he presents and solves, according to Catholic doctrine, the most difficult issues as related to providence.

This term is an integral part of John Calvin's theological framework known as Calvinism, which emphasizes the total depravity of man and the complete sovereignty of God. God's plan for the world and every soul that he has created is guided by his will, or providence. According to Calvin, the idea that man has free will and is able to make choices independently of what God has already determined is based on our limited understanding of God's perfection and the idea that God's purposes can be circumvented. In this mode of thought, providence is related to predestination. This concept remains prominent among many Protestant denominations that identify with Calvinism, the Reformed churches.

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