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The Providence of God: a Trinitarian Perspective The Providence of God: A Trinitarian Perspective Haydn D. Nelson BA DipEd BD(Hons) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Murdoch University 2005 I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work that has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. ……………………………… Haydn D. Nelson ABSTRACT The primary focus of this dissertation is the doctrine of the Providence of God and it is approached from a distinctive perspective – that of the doctrine of the Trinity. Its fundamental thesis is that the adoption of a trinitarian perspective on Providence provides us with a conceptual paradigm in which varying theological emphases, which often divide understandings of Providence, are best understood in a form of paradoxical tension or creative balance with each being correctly understood only in the context that the other provides. To demonstrate this, it addresses four issues of Providence that have on occasion divided understandings of Providence in the past and which have become significant issues of contention in the contemporary debate on Providence occasioned by a proposal known as Open Theism. These issues concern the nature of divine transcendence, sovereignty, immutability and impassibility and how each should be understood in the context of divine Providence. Through a detailed examination of three recent trinitarian theologies, which have emanated from the three main communities of the Christian church, it argues that a trinitarian perspective is able to provide significant illumination and explication of these identified issues of Providence and of the tensions that are often intrinsic to this doctrine. In relation to these identified issues of Providence, it affirms tensional truths in our understanding of the issues of Providence and an articulation that necessarily incorporates a binary form of language – that is, utilising language of both-and rather than either-or. In other words, it posits that divine transcendence ought to be held in paradoxical tension with divine immanence; divine sovereignty ought to be held in paradoxical tension with human responsibility; and divine immutability and impassibility ought not to be understood as immobility or impassivity but as affirming the paradoxical tension of active constancy. The articulation of these tensional truths is followed and completed by an examination of how they might be applied pastorally in the specific area of prayer and its relationship to Providence. Consequently, this dissertation not only constructively impacts our understanding of divine Providence but also significantly advances the contemporary debate on Providence concerning Open Theism. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE Introductory Considerations 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………2 1.1 The Doctrine of Providence…………………………………… 2 1.2 Trinity – A Perspective on Providence……………………….. 11 2. Methodology……………………………………………………………..29 PART TWO Tensions in Theology Advancing a Trinitarian Perspective on Divine Providence 3. The Providing God……………………………………………………... 36 3.1 The Concept of Providence…………………………………... 38 3.2 The Open Theism proposal…………………………………... 64 3.3 Excursus – The Centrality of God and the Necessity of Faith.. 76 4. The Triune God…………………………………………………………. 94 4.1 The trinitarianism of John Zizioulas…………………………. 103 4.2 The trinitarianism of Catherine LaCugna……………………. 118 4.3 The trinitarianism of Paul Fiddes……………………………. 136 PART THREE Tensions in Thinking Articulating a Trinitarian Perspective on Divine Providence. 5. Divine Transcendence and Immanence………………………………… 173 5.1 The Nature of Divine Transcendence………………………… 180 5.2 The Doctrine of Appropriations………………………………. 212 5.3 The Primacy of Christ………………………………………… 220 6. Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility………………………... 226 6.1 The Nature of Divine Sovereignty……………………………. 226 6.2 Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom……………………. 230 6.3 Divine Sovereignty and Concurrence………………………… 252 6.4 Divine Sovereignty and the Future…………………………… 272 7. Divine Immutability and Impassibility…………………………………. 295 7.1 Change and Hellenic philosophy……………………………… 296 7.2 Trinity and Active Constancy…………………………………. 309 7.3 Change and the Economy of Salvation……………………….. 334 PART FOUR Tensions in Living Applying a Trinitarian Perspective on Divine Providence. 8. Trinitarian Providence and the Christian life…………………………. 350 8.1 Toward an Integrated Theology of Providence – The Example of Prayer…..…………………………………. 350 8.2 Prayer and Divine Transcendence……………………………. 357 8.3 Prayer and Divine Sovereignty……………………………….. 367 8.4 Prayer and Divine Immutability and Impassibility………….. 381 PART FIVE Concluding Reflections 9. Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 390 Select Bibliography……………………………………………………….. 402 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of a doctoral dissertation is significantly enhanced if one is encouraged, advised and critiqued by significant people that God brings into one’s life. Consequently, love and thanks must go to my longsuffering family – my wife Belinda and children Simeon, Elizabeth and Jack – who have supported me and often coped with frequent absences during these recent busy years. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to my principal supervisor, Dr Michael Parsons of the Baptist Theological College of Western Australia, who has now guided me through both my graduate and post-graduate research studies. Also, Dr Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, Dr John Dunnill and Dr Alexander Jensen of the theology faculty at Murdoch University acted in supervisory roles at various stages in my research and provided helpful encouragement and advice. Thanks must also go to the faculty, staff and students of the Bible College of Western Australia for their support, encouragement and advice as I teased out my thinking on Providence and Trinity. Finally, thanks goes to the one and only God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who has provided me with the opportunity to study and develop the gifts he has given me to equip his people for ministry. Soli Deo gloria. PART ONE Introductory Considerations CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION THE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE The Christian doctrine of the Providence of God (de providentia Dei) concerns itself with the relationship between the Creator and the created – that is, between the reality of God and the reality of the cosmos. It is the theological explication of the point of encounter that exists between the actions of God toward and in his creation and the actuality of that creation before its God. Accordingly, the doctrine of Providence may be defined as the Christian understanding of God’s continuing action by which all creation is preserved and governed by God’s purposes and plans for that creation.1 This is the fundamental understanding of the nature of divine Providence that is adopted by this dissertation and assumed throughout.2 Furthermore, Catholic, Orthodox 1 This definition is a modification of, and may be compared with, the definition supplied by McKim: “The Christian understanding of God’s continuing action by which all creation is preserved, supported and governed by God’s purposes and plans for human history and for human lives” – see D. K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (Louiseville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), p. 226. The reason for my modification above is that McKim’s definition, although universal in its scope (“all creation”), betrays an inherent anthropocentricity in that it appears to limit the divine intentionality to human affairs only. I will argue in Chapter Three that the universality of the concept of Providence necessarily requires a divine intentionality that similarly encompasses both human and non- human creation. However, the particular focus of my research, which will shortly become clearer, is in fact concerned with the God-human relationship within Providence. Consequently, in this dissertation, it is unavoidable that there will be an emphasis upon the human, yet without denying the non-human, aspect of Providence. For an interesting perspective on anthropocentricity in relation to the doctrine of creation and, by implication, the related doctrine of Providence, see R. Page, God and the Web of Creation (London: SCM, 1996). 2 Of course, such an adoption and assumption requires justification and the early stages of Chapter Three will provide this. For now, though, it is presented in this introduction for the purpose of clarity. 2 and Protestant communities of the Christian church carry similar understandings concerning the essential nature of this doctrine although, and as we shall see, significant differences do exist both between and within these traditions.3 This dissertation’s focus is the doctrine of Providence. In particular, it seeks both to consider and illuminate the nature of God’s providential activity in the world and how that is related to human activity. Though affirming that the universality of divine Providence necessarily encompasses both human and non-human creation,4 our concern is more with the human dimension – that is, with the nature of the God-human relationship. As such, this research addresses profound and searching questions concerning both God and humanity. Some of these questions relate more directly to God: for example, how are we to understand the nature of God within himself and how is that nature reflected in his providential intentions and actions toward his creation?5 3 The content of these similarities and differences, and the possible implications
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