7. Durandus, in the 1 lib century, proposed the me- chanical theory, which affirms the independent activity ol Coil's creatures in the use of powi rs given tothi m at their creation — like a wound-up clock which goes of it- self. It has been advocated by Scotus, Richard Baxti r, and others, closely akin to ibis is the theory of such writers as Prof. Tyndall, Dr. II. Hence Jones, and Dr. Bastian, concerning -molecular attractions and repul- sions communicated to matter at the creation." It- ex- treme pantheistic development is found in the "self- evolving powers of nature" of Owen, Huxley, and Ba- den Powell.
8. Another view represents God as an all-perfect be- ing, the upholder of all things, but denies his interfer- ence with the laws of nature in miracles, and maintains thai bis only interposition is by using natural causes to
' effect his purposes. Thus providence is law. and no in- terpositions are possible unless provided for in the nat- ure of the uniformities. Thus Hippocrates, the con- temporary of Socrates, regarded all phenomena a- both divine and scientifically determinable. Anaxagoras, in his "Arranging Intelligence," held substantially to ibis view. Duncanson (JProvidena of God) is a strong modern advocate of this theory.
9. The Mind-efSciencj Theory denies that there are any physical forces apart from mind, cither divine or created. The only efficiency in the material universe is the ever-operating will of Cod. Dr. Samuel Clarke, Dugald Stewart. John Wesley, Nitzsch, Mtlller, Chal- mers. Harris. Young. Whedon, ('banning. Martineau, Hedge, Whewell, Bascom. Prof. Tulloch, Sir John Her- schel, the duke of Argyll. Mr. Wallace, Proctor, Crock- er, and many among the ablest recent writers have de- fended this \ iew.
H). The true doctrine represents God as a being of infinite perfections, upholding all things by a direct ex- ercise of his potency : the uniformities of nature as his ordinary method of working; its itTegularities his method upon occasional conditions: its interferences, his method under the pressure of a higher law, which law is the necessary manifestation of his own nature. 1 1 i bus adopts the Judaic view of God's perfections, and
the complete subservience of nature lo his w ill : admits
the general concursus, especially as relates to the free- dom of the finite will, accepts the Law theory in its application to miracles, and sustains the Mind-efficiency theory, w ith tin distinct disclaimer of pantheistic lean- ings in the admission of the separate existence ol mate- rial substance.
V. Special or Particular Providence. — Providence has been defined :i- the wisdom and power which God continually exercises in the preservation and govern- ment ol the world for the ends which he- proposes t„
PROVIDENCE
11
PROVINCE
accomplish. Special providence consists in such par- ticular exhibitions of his wisdom and power in emer- gencies as are calculated to awaken the conviction of his interest in and guardianship over Ids creatures.
1. Proof.— The doctrine in question is proved by the follow in -'considerations: (1.) It is necessarily included in the general providence already established. (See above.) The whole is made up of parts. If God has no care of the whole, he has none of the parts. If he has for the whole, the parts are included. Further— the end which he proposes to accomplish in providence is the revelation of himself as infinitely worthy of the love of his creatures. This needs a special providence. Moreover, a God who does not care for us as individuals is tantamount to no God.
(2.) Special providence is implied in the doctrine of prayer. Prayer is an instinct. The Scriptures direct that instinct by coupling with the encouragement to pray the announcement of a special providence that watches over the very hairs of our heads, thus making special providence the complement of prayer. Prayer without a special providence to note and reward would be a mere mockery of our impotence. Moreover, the enlarged charter of prayer- privilege given to believers under the Gospel dispensation is a personal application of the Old-Test, doctrine of special providence over the Jewish nation. That providence had relation to the covenant detailed in Deut. xxvi-xxx; this privilege is conveyed in such promises as Matt, vii, 7—11 ; xviii, 19; xxi, 22; Mark xi, 24; John xv, 7; Heb. iv, 16; James v, 15; 1 John v, 14, 15; and, being such, it necessarily implies such special watch-care as was involved in the Mosaic covenant cited above. See Prayer.
(3.) The same doctrine is inferred from the father- hood of God. The denial of his fatherhood changes him into a desolate abstraction, the contemplation of which pours an ice-floe over the tide of human trusts, and causes us to feel that we are " orphaned children in a godless wrorld." But "As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him" comes to us genial with the warmth of a sympathy and care that we can appreciate and confide in.
(4.) It is involved in the atonement of Christ. The propitiatory sacrifice — as prefigured in the separate sac- rifices for each — was for men, not en masse, but as indi- viduals, thus furnishing the greatest possible evidence of care in the interests of utmost moment to the soul. The agency by which this sacrifice is conveyed to the mind— the Holy Spirit — is likewise personal in his min- istry of impression, and as personal in his communica- tion of the remedial efficacy of the one atonement, thus demonstrating in appeal and in succor the loving care of God.