A. Proof yf the Doctrine. This doctrine necessarily flows from the Scriptural idea of God. He is declared to be a personal being, infinite in wisdom, goodness, and power ; to be the Father of Spirits. From this it follows not only that He acts intelligently, i. e., with a view to an end, and on sufficient reasons, but that He must be concerned for the good of creatures rational and irrational, great and small. The idea that God would create this vast universe teeming with life in all its forms, and exercise no control over it, to secure it from destruction or from working out nothing but evil, is utterly inconsistent with the nature of God. And to suppose that anything is too great to be comprehended in his control, or anything so minute as to escape his notice ; or that the infinitude of particulars can distract his at- tention, is to forget that God is infinite. It cannot require any effort in Him, the omnipresent and infinite intelligence, to compre- hend and to direct all things however complicated, numerous, or mi- nute. The sun diffuses its hght through all space as easily as upon any one point. God is as much present everywhere, and with everything, as though He were only in one place, and had but one object of attention. The common objection to the doctrine of a uni- versal providence, founded on the idea that it is incompatible with the dignity and majesty of the divine Being to suppose that He con- cerns himself about trifles,^ssumgs_jha-t_God is^ a ljmite4.Jbei.^^ that because we can attend to only one thing at a time, it must be so with God. The more exalted are our conceptions of the divine Being, the less shall we be troubled with difficulties of this kind.
Proof from the Evidence of the Operation of Mind everywhere. The whole universe, so far as it can be subjected to our observa- tion, exhibits evidence of God's omnipresent intelligence and con- trol. Mind is everywhere active. There is everywhere manifest the intelligent adaptation of means to an end ; as well in the or- ganization of the animalcule which it requires the microscope to reveal, as in the order of the heavenly bodies. This mind is not in matter. It is not a blind vis naturce. It is, and must be the intelligence of an infinite, omnipresent Being. It is just as much beyond the power of a creature to form an insect, as it is to create the universe. And it is as unreasonable to assume that the organ- ized forms of the vegetable and animal worlds are due to the laws of nature, as it would be to assume that a printing-press could be constructed to compose a poem. There is no adaptation or relaticti
584 PART T. — THEOLOGY. [Ch. XL — Providenck,
between the means and the end. Wherever there is the intelhgent adaptation of means to an end, there is evidence of the presence of mind. And as such evidence of mental activity is found in every part of the universe, we see God ever active and everywhere present in all his works.
Argument from our Religious Nature. The Scriptural doctrine of a universal providence is demanded by the religious nature of man. It is therefore an instinctive and necessary belief. It is banished from the mind, or overruled only by persistent effort. In the first place, we cannot but regard it as a limitation of God to suppose Him absent either as to knowledge or power from any part of his creation. In the second place, our \sense of dependence involves the conviction not only that we owe our existence to his will, but that it is in Him that we and all his creatures live, move, and have our being. In the third place, our I sense of responsibility implies that God is cognizant of all our 1 thoughts, words, and actions, and that He controls all our circum- I stances and our destiny both in this life and in the life to come. This conviction is instinctive and universal. It is found in men of all ages, and under all forms of religion, and in all states of civili- zation. Men universally believe in the moral government of God ; and they universally believe that that moral government is admin- istered at least in part, in this world. They see that God often restrains or punishes the wicked. Did this man sin, or his parents, that he was born blind ? was the utterance of a natural feeling ; the expression, although erroneous as to its form, of the irrepressi- ble conviction that everything is ordered by God. In the fourth place, our religious natui'e demands intercourse wuth God. He must be to us the object of prayer, and the ground of confidence. We must look to Him in trouble and danger ; we cannot refrain from calling upon Him for help, or thanking Him for our mercies. Unless the doctrine of a universal providence be true, all this is a delusion. Such, however, is the relation in which the Scriptures and the constitution of our nature assume that we stand to God, and in which He stands to the world. He is ever present, all- controlling, the hearer and answerer of prayer, giving us our daily mercies, and guiding us in all our ways. This doctrine of provi- dence, therefore, is the foundation of all practical religion, and the denial of it is practically atheism, for we are then without God in the world. It may be said that these religious feelings are due to our education ; that men educated in the belief of witches and