De Moor X:2: The Term, “Providence”

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Cicero

The Latin term for Providentiæ is from providendo/foreseeing, which word with its derivative is transferred from the sense of visus/sight to the intellect, the eye of the mind, so that it is the same as to foreknow and foreknowledge, as it is in CICERO, pro Murena,[1] chapter II, It belongs to a good Consul, not only to see what should be done, but also providere, to foresee, what is going to happen.  In this theoretical sense, CICERO, in book II de Inventione, chapter LIII, distinguishes Providence from Memory, which concerns past things, and Intelligence, which concerns present things, saying, that Providence is that whereby something future is seen before it happens.  And, because concerning the things that we foresee, if indeed they concern us, we take care, providere also means to take care, likewise to provide for, to arrange; from which practical sense of this word, care, is derived the term Providence, in such a way that it is made obvious to us here, why such frequent mention is made of it, not only in Christian, but also in Stoic,[2] antiquity:  as in the works of SENECA[3] there is a tractate under this title, de Providentia.  CICERO, book II de Natura Deorum, chapter XXX, has this:  From this we conclude that which we wish to be true:  that the world is governed by the Providence of the Gods.

With the verb providere, used relatively to God in this sense of taking care, is able to be said to agree with the simple Hebrew verb רָאָה, to see, as it occurs in Genesis 22:8,[4] 14;[5] upon which text see WESSELIUS’ Dissertationes Leidenses II:  while the composite verb προβλέπεσθαι, which literally means to foresee,[6] is used of eternal Providence, Hebrews 11:40.[7]

Among the Greeks, πρόνοια, from προνοεῖν, to think beforehand, corresponds, which words in turn are indeed used in the apocryphal book Wisdom concerning divine Providence, Wisdom of Solomon 6:7, ὁ πάντων δεσπότης—μικρὸν καὶ μέγαν αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν, ὁμοίως τε προνοεῖ περὶ πάντων, the Master of all…hath made the small and great, and careth for all alike; 14:3, ἡ δὲ σή πάτερ διακυβερνᾷ πρόνοια, but thy providence, O Father, governeth it; 17:2, …ἄνομοι—φυγάδες τῆς αἰωνίου προνοίας ἔκειντο, unrighteous men…lay there exiled from the eternal providence:   and again occur in the New Testament, used not of God, but only of men; for example, πρόνοια in Acts 24:3;[8] προνοεῖν, 1 Timothy 5:8;[9] Romans 12:17.[10]  But in the writings of the Fathers the language of προνοίας is found everywhere concerning God’s care of created things, as DAMASCENUS also expressly describes πρόνοιαν, Concerning the Orthodox Faith, book II, chapter XXIX, page 148, Πρόνοιά ἐστιν, ἡ ἐκ Θεοῦ εἰς τὰ ὄντα γινομένη ἐπιμέλεια, it is God’s providence/care, which concerns those things that are.  Likewise, πρόνοιά ἐστι βούλησις Θεοῦ, δι' ἧς πάντα τὰ ὄντα τὴν πρόσφορον διεξαγωγὴν λαμβάνει, Providence is the will of God, whereby all existing things receive their fitting course:  see SUICER’S Thesaurum Ecclesiasticum on the term Πρόνοια.  But already in the writings of the Greek Philosophers the use of these terms had increased, among whom PLATO is first related to have called it the Θεοῦ πρόνοιαν, providence of God, by LAERTIUS[11] in his Vita Platonis, book III, segment XXIV, page 180.  ZENO, the father of Stoic Philosophy, afterwards similarly taught, Θεὸν προνοητικὸν κόσμου τε καὶ τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ, that God exercises providential care over the cosmos and over the things in the cosmos, in DIOGENES LAERTIUS’ Vita Zenonis, book VII, segment CXLVII, page 458.  This is so the peculiar doctrine of the Stoics concerning Providence, that Velleius the Epicurean[12] in CICERO’S de Natura Deorum, book I, chapter VIII, derisively called πρόνοιαν or Providence the prophetic old crone of the Stoics, for which in the same place he was reproved by Lucilius.  At the same time, it is to be considered, whether under the good terms of the Stoics a sound sense also lies hidden:  see BUDDEUS, de Atheismo et Superstitione; and LULOFS, ad Buddeum de Atheismo et Superstitione,[13] chapter VI, § 4, pages 336-340, chapter VII, § 1, pages 391, 399, 400 (296).

Concerning the provident Care and Government of God, three Hebrew terms coincide, all taken from sight, Psalm 33:13, 14, ‎הִבִּיט, to look; ‎רָאָה, to behold; ‎הִשְׁגִּיחַ, to look:[14]  while the Providence of God elsewhere in the Old Testament is signified by the language of vivifying, Nehemiah 9:6;[15] sending forth the Spirit, Psalm 104:30:  in the New Testament by the language of working, John 5:17; upholding or urging, Hebrews 1:3:[16]  moreover, by the language of κυριότης/dominion, our AUTHOR, following Œcumenius, thinks that God’s Providence and Government over all things is to be understood, 2 Peter 2:10;[17] Jude 8;[18] rather than that the same should be explained of Princes and Magistrates, in whose hands is dominion among men, Exercitationibus Miscellaneis, Disputation VII, text XIX, pages 359-366.

Among a great many other Synonyms, which are found among the Fathers and Philosophers, is also the term Fate; other senses of which the Fathers do indeed reject, but they do not altogether repudiate the term, when by it is understood either God’s Free Decree and Pronouncement, as it were, concerning created things; MINUCIUS FELIX in Octavio, page 40, For what is Fatum/Fate, except what God has fatus/spoken concerning each one of us? or God’s actual Government of things τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως, by the word of His divine power.  Even AUGUSTINE, book V concerning the City of God, chapter I, says:  Human kingdoms are constituted entirely by divine Providence:  if for this reason one were to attribute them to Fate, because that very Will or Power of God he calls by the name of Fate, let him maintain his opinion, but correct his expression.  But not everywhere is he found to be an equally rigid critic of this term, if you compare all things that MARESIUS gathered out of him, Systemate Theologico, common place IV, § 20, in the notes, pages 148, 149.

[To the extent that God decreed those things, this Providence is called Eternal:]  In which sense MARESIUS, Systemate Theologico, common place IV.  He distinguishes the Decree into General and Special; the former he calls eternal Providence, the latter Predestination.

[1] Cicero delivered this speech as part of the successful defense of Lucius Licinius Murena, elected consul for 62 BC; Murena was on trial for corruption.

[2] Zeno of Citium founded the Stoic school around 300 BC.  It passed from the Greeks to the Romans, and continued to flourish in the second century AD.  In brief, Stoicism teaches that true happiness comes from a disciplined focus on what is truly in one’s control (one’s own character and judgments), accepting everything else with equanimity, and living virtuously in harmony with the rational order of the universe.

[3] Lucius Annæus Seneca (c. 4 BC-65 AD) was a Roman philosopher (Stoic) and dramatist.

[4] Genesis 22:8:  “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide (‎יִרְאֶה, will see) himself a lamb for a burnt offering:  so they went both of them together.”

[5] Genesis 22:14:  “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh (‎יְהוָ֣ה׀ יִרְאֶ֑ה):  as it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be seen (‎בְּהַ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה יֵרָאֶֽה׃).”

[6] Πρό signifies before; βλέπω, to see.

[7] Hebrews 11:40:  “God having provided (προβλεψαμένου) some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

[8] Acts 24:2:  “And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence (προνοίας)…”

[9] 1 Timothy 5:8:  “But if any provide not (οὐ προνοεῖ) for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

[10] Romans 12:17:  “Recompense to no man evil for evil.  Provide (προνοούμενοι) things honest in the sight of all men.”

[11] Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of Greek philosophers, writing his Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers probably sometime during the third century AD.

[12] The Epicureans were atomists, believing that all reality is ultimately composed of small, indivisible units of matter.  The movements of atoms are determined by mechanical laws.

[13] Johannes Lulofs (1711-1768) was a Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and physicist.  He wrote Annotationes upon Buddeus’ de Atheismo et Superstitione.

[14] Psalm 33:13, 14:  “The Lord looketh (הִבִּיט) from heaven; he beholdeth (רָאָה) all the sons of men.  From the place of his habitation he looketh (הִשְׁגִּיחַ) upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”

[15] Nehemiah 9:6:  “Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest (‎מְחַיֶּה, makest to live) them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.”

[16] Hebrews 1:3:  “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding (φέρων, bearing or leading) all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…”

[17] 2 Peter 2:10:  “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government (κυριότητος).  Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”

[18] Jude 8:  “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion (κυριότητα), and speak evil of dignities.”