John Calvin’s Exposition Of God’s Providence. Part 2/3
While Calvin’s treatment of God’s providence in his 1559 Institutes seems to give the impression that he is countering his opponents, his main purpose is to benefit his readers, many of whom would be Christians. “Ignorance of providence,” he says, “is the ultimate of all miseries; the highest blessedness lies in the knowledge of it.” In this talk/lecture, we get an idea of that blessedness. Acutely aware that despite his best attempts to present a Scriptural view of God’s providence, his readers may still have questions, Calvin goes on to address the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, the role of divine “permission” within God’s providence, and whether his view results in making God the author of sin and evil. In doing so, Calvin shows how on the one hand, we must employ common sense and human reason to try and understand these matters; on the other, he rightly cautions us to accept the limits of human reason, given the epistemological gap between God and man.
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John Calvin’s Exposition Of God’s Providence. Part 2/3