The NT takes for granted the teaching of the OT on Providence. Jesus teaches a beneficent
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PEOVINCE
Providence to all men, good and bad (Mt 5^') ; and encourages His disciples to trust in and pray to God as Father (Mt 6"). As God cares for the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, so will He care for tliem (Mt e^'**). Nothing can befall them without God's knowledge (Mt lO**- »*). The prayer of faith will be answered (Mt 7''" = Lk ll'-is, >llc ll^-« = Lk IT"). Even for daily bread
grayer is to be made (Mt 6"). This is not a new octriue of God's Providence, only a more imme- diate application of it to individual believers than is found in OT, which is mainly concerned with the chosen nation. Jesus' miracles are also to be regarded as sigtis of God's Providence. St. Paul in Romans sketches the course of God's dealings with the individual believer from the beginning in fore- knowledge to the end in glorification (Ko S^*", cf. Eph l"*"") ; and affirms as the law of Providence that ' aU things work together for good to them that love God ' (Ro 8^). On the wider stage of human history he traces the fulfilment of a Di\ ine purpose in the inclusion of Jew and Gentile alike in sin, that righteousness might be of faith only (Ro 1-3) ; and in the temporary rejection of the Jew result- ing in the call of the (ientile first of all, and followed finally by the restoration of the Jew also (9-11). In the Ep. to the Hebrews an independent inter- pretation of God's Providence is given, in which the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ in relation to OT ritual especially is proved. Finally, in the Apoe. the course of contemporary history, pre- sented in symbolic forms, is for the comfort and hope of persecuted believers interpreted as God's immediate action for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. See, further, artt. EssKNES, Pharisees, Stoics.
Literature. — Oehler or Schiiltz, OT Tkeolorjy ; Weisa or Beyschla^, NT Theoloqy ; Wendt. l^eaching of Je^us ; Sabatier, Apontie Paul; PUeiderer, Paul in ism ; Coiiim. on Romans, Hebrews, Apocalj-pse, Job, Ecclesiastes, ad locc, eit. supra.
A. E. Garvie.
PROVINCE (Lat. provincia, Gr. 4i!-apxia).—The technical term used to describe the administrative divisions of the Roman empire ; so Ac 23^^ ' And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was ' ; Ac 25' ' Now when Festua was come into the province.' The original mean- ing of the word was the sphere within which a magistrate (whether consul or prajtor) exercised Ills imperium or sovereign power ; so it could be used of the division between the two praetors of the difl'erent classes of le^al business ; so again we get such phrases as the following : Consulibitx Italia provincia decernitur, where Italy is described as the sphere within which the consuls are to exercise their jurisdiction. It was only in B.C. 227, with the acquisition of Sardinia and Sicily, that the word^ro- vincia acquired its later sense, and the definition of a province came to be a division of the Roman empire with definite boundaries, under a standing chief magistrate, paying tribute in taxes to the s^upreme power. Under the Republic these pro- vinces had been governed by proconsuls or pro- prietors under the supervision of the senate ; on the establishment of the empire the proconsular imperium over all provinces was vested in the emperor, and by an agreement which he made with the senate the provinces were divided into two classes. The older, more peaceable provinces, where there was no need of any large military force, called i\\e provinciw inermci, were left in the hands of the senate ; the frontier provinces, where military operations were necessary, were governed directly by the emperor through his lieutenants.
The governors of the senatorial provinces were appointed by lot from those who had held the office ot prator or consul, or as they were technically called the consulares and prcetorii, or in some cases from
those who had not yet attained that rank. Two pro\inces, Asia and Africa, were ' consular,' i.e. held bv ex -consuls, the remaiiider were 'prae- torian, but all senatorial governors alike bore the name of Proconsul. The governors appointed by the senate were in theory the most distinguished and honourable ; they were allowed 10 or 12 fa-sces ; they had higher rank and larger salary; but tlieir appointment was only for a year, they had no military command, and practically possessed only the appearance of power.
The governor of an imperial province is called by historians incorrectly propnetur ; his proper title was legattis Aur/usti, lieutenant of the emperor, or more inWy hrjatus Augusti ])ro praitore, jrpc<T^evTris Ka.1 dvTiffTpdTTiyos toO ^e^aaroO. They were of two classes — those of consular rank or consulares (vra- TiKol), and prcrtorii, those who possessed only prae- torian rank. The latter were appointed to provinces wliere there was only one legion, the former to the larger and more important commands.
'i'lie arrangements concerning the provinces were liable to be changed according to the needs of the empire. If rebellion or invasion threatened any senatorial province, or if its finances fell into disorder, it would be transferred to the emperor, at any rate temporarily, and the emperor would very likely compensate the senate by giving them some other province in return. Instances of change wOl be given below.