Providence and sustaining creation
Protestant accounts of providence vary. The Westminster Confession offers a Reformed account of God's preservation and government of creatures; it does not define every Protestant church's view.
Key points
- Providence includes God's sustaining care, not only extraordinary interventions.
- The existence of evil and suffering raises further questions; this brief guide does not explain a particular tragedy as God's direct intention.
Scripture
- Colossians 1:17 — In Christ all things hold together.
- Matthew 6:25-34 — Jesus teaches trust in the Father's care amid ordinary need.
Primary sources
Athanasius writes:
Athanasius describes the Word as present throughout creation, ordering it, giving it life, and revealing providence.
present in the whole of Creation, He is at once distinct in being from the universe, and present in all things by His own power — giving order to all things, and over all and in all revealing His own providence, and giving life to each thing and all things
Passage context and translation
Athanasius argues that the Incarnation did not confine the divine Word to a body or remove the Word's life-giving governance from the rest of creation.
Before the excerpt
the universe was [not] left void of His working and Providence
After the excerpt
including the whole without being included, but being in His own Father alone wholly and in every respect