1. Has God any care or providence over those objects which he has created?

That there is a Divine Providence, and that God takes care of those objects which he has created, is evident, first, from Scripture.

Jer. 10:23. The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

John 5:17. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Acts 17:25. He giveth to all life, and breath and all things.

Heb. 1:3. Upholding all things by the word of his power.

Secondly. This is evident also from the wonderful preservation of all created objects; but especially in the preservation of the church, and the pious, from the fury of the world and Satan. (Melanchthon.)

2. What is the providence of God?

Providence is that work of God, by which he not only knows all things which happen or are carried on, the good as well as the evil; but also sustains and preserves those objects which he has created, and especially furthers the salvation of those who are to be saved; commands, assists and promotes the good deeds of men; and prevents and rebukes their wicked deeds, or so restrains, or permits them, as in the end, contrary to the wish of the devil and the wicked, to use their deeds to promote his glory and the salvation of his elect. (Hunnius.)

3. Why do you say that Providence is not mere knowledge?

In order to distinguish providence from prescience. For prescience embraces only the knowledge of the future, and does not express the cause of that which is foreknown. But Providence, in addition to knowledge, embraces likewise an effective care, disposition, and ordination of future affairs.

4. Has divine Providence certain grades?

Three grades are usually assigned to it; the first of which is called general or universal Providence, because it is generally considered as occupied with that upholding of created objects, by which God preserves and sustains the order of nature, or its mode of action, such as the regular motion of the heavenly bodies, the change of seasons, the continued flow of streams, the fertility of the earth and of all living creatures, and other objects of like character.

Another grade called special, is that by which all creatures obey the commands and wishes of God.

The third, called peculiar, is occupied only with the elect; and its consideration belongs to the article which treats of predestination.

5. In what ways does God by his providence concur in the deeds of all men?

Especially in three ways. For first, God sustains the nature which acts; without this sustentation it would not only be unable to act, but could not exist even for a moment. “For in him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28.

Secondly. He grants motion, or the power of acting, by affording the sources of actions and organs for their performance, such as the mind, the will, and the other powers of the soul, and the members of the body.

Lastly. God concurs by directing the deeds of men, whatever their character may be, to certain good, useful, and salutary ends.

6. But must not God be regarded the cause of sin, when he grants the power of motion to those who perform wicked deeds?

By no means. For, in the first place, there is no conflict between these two things: that a being has been created and sustained by God, and that the wicked will of the devil and of man is the cause of sin. Then, there is also a very great difference between a motion in itself, and that sin which adheres to it. For a man’s soul is undoubtedly the immediate cause of his ability to extend his hand and grasp objects with it; but the remote and first cause is God himself, who created and fitted the soul for performing such actions by means of the organs of the body. But when a thief extends his hand towards a forbidden object, the impropriety of this motion is not to be ascribed to God, but to the perverted will of the thief.

7. But as Scripture in various places says that God hardens, blinds, hands over to a reprobate mind, must not God, still in some manner be considered as the cause of sin?

By no means. For in these and similar passages, God is introduced to us, not as the author and cause of sin, but as a just judge, who thus punishes persistent contumacy by withdrawing grace and the Holy Spirit from such a man, and leaving him to the power of Satan and his own will. In this manner the will of God concurs, not indeed in the sin itself, but in the end to which he directs the sin, as is clearly proved by the history of Pharaoh.

8. How are those passages of Scripture to be understood which declare not only that God, but also the devil hardens and blinds men, and even that man hardens and blinds himself?

The act of hardening is ascribed to God, the devil, and man, evidently in different ways. For God hardens, not by bestowing wickedness, but partly by witholding his grace and mercy; and partly by permitting men to become subject to the power of Satan and his own will. This he does according to his just judgment, thus punishing the persistent contumacy of man.

2 Thess. 2:10, 11, 12. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send upon them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

9. How is the devil said to harden?

The devil hardens and blinds, by urging, and persuading men to sin, and by affording occasion for sinning.

1 Chron. 21:1. And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

10. How is man said to harden himself?

By freely and eagerly obeying his own desires and the suggestions of Satan, and voluntarily turning away from God. Thus the devil suggests; man consents; God deserts.