Basic concepts and scope

Qualities of the divinity

The concept of providence is rooted in the belief in the existence of a benevolent, wise, and powerful deity or a number of beings that are benevolent and that are either fully divine or, at least, appreciably wiser and more powerful than human beings (e.g., ancestors in many religions). Benevolence is the primary requirement. In northern Malawi, death in later life is usually ascribed to the will of the ancestors, but a miscarriage or the death of a very young child is not considered to be their work because such an act would be in contradiction to their benevolent and helpful attitude toward their offspring. The three attributes, however, are all essential for the concept of providence: the divine being or beings must be well intentioned toward humans, must have the necessary wisdom to know what is good for humankind, and must have the power to act on this intention and insight. Benevolence does not exclude the possibility of punishment in cases of transgression. There is probably no god in any religion who only rewards and helps and never punishes his believers.

Providence, however, need not operate in a direct way; it may operate through many intermediary beings—e.g., the ancestors and various kinds of spirits in several nonliterate religions or the angels in Christian and Islamic belief—or the concept may be implicit in and expressed by a fixed world order, a cosmic order that makes human life possible biologically, socially, and spiritually and that guarantees its existence in the future. Thus, providence may become a more or less impersonal principle of cosmic order as instituted and maintained by a divine being, but, if the starting point of a benevolent and just divine being is completely lost sight of or if it is consciously denied, then providence becomes fate.

Cosmic order

Notion of cosmic order

Although the introduction of intermediary beings brings no essential change in the idea of providence as the divine watchful care for the benefit of humankind, the notion of a cosmic order changes the picture profoundly. Even if the cosmic order is conceived as a benevolent order in which one is able to feel safe and whose very existence is reassuring, such an order is different from the personal relationship between an individual and his god or gods. The concept of an unchangeable world order requires a different reaction. A personal god may, perhaps, be moved by prayer and sacrifice to cause or to prevent events; when the order of the world is fixed, however, the course of events cannot be changed by these or any other means. There is probably no religion that acknowledges an all-embracing world order without any exceptions at all. Generally, human beings have such an important function in the order of the world that they also have a certain opportunity to manipulate this order, at least to a certain extent—for instance, by sacrifice or other ritual acts. One opening is presented by the fact that the cosmic order is valid for everything of a more general character, but as a rule the divine will, human free will, and chance operate on the level of the common occurrences and daily life of the individual. Though in theory the order may govern everything, a large field is left open for different concepts to function. In some cases even uncertainty and chance have their proper place within a determined order. In the Yoruba religion (Nigeria), for example, the god Eshu represents the principle of chance and uncertainty and of all that cannot be foreseen. He is one of the gods of the pantheon and has his own sanctuaries and priests.

Another possibility for combining the idea of a personal divine will with a fixed course of events is the concept of predestination, best known from Islam and some forms of Calvinism (derived from the thought of John Calvin, a 16th-century French Protestant Reformer) and also important in the theology of St. Augustine of Hippo, a 4th–5th-century Church Father. Although predestination essentially is concerned with salvation—the question of whether a certain individual will be saved or damned—it is a concept that easily lends itself to a more general application. In a few religions the idea that the individual chooses his own destiny before birth is encountered—e.g., the Batak of Sumatra and some West African tribes. In this conception free will and predestination merge.

In all religions that acknowledge the existence of a more or less impersonal cosmic order, human beings are expected to work with the cosmos by inserting themselves into the cosmic order. Human behaviour in all fields is governed by a set of rules that are all based on the same principle: to act and to be in harmony with the order of the world, which is natural and divine at the same time.

The cosmic order is given with the creation of the world, but it is possible to question the relation of the creator to the world after creation. On one hand, there is the belief that God will not abandon the world he has created; on the other, there is the belief that God created the world and the cosmic order in such a manner that to a great extent the course of the world is fixed from the first beginning and he is no longer involved in it. The latter was, in fact, the thesis of the 17th- and 18th-century Deists in Europe. The fact of creation helps humans to believe in providence because it would be inconsistent for the creator god or gods not to care for the further existence of the created world. Only persistent disobedience and open rebellion can then furnish a reason for the Creator to abandon or destroy the world. This situation is expressed in the myths of a great flood or some other form of destruction sent as a punishment. There is, however, never a total destruction of the world in these myths, although this final solution may be threatened for the eschatological (ultimate end) future. It may also be promised, if the eschatological events are construed as the definitive institution of a world order that is perfect for all eternity and will never deteriorate.

The cosmic order is often clearly contrasted with the disorder of chaos. The cosmic order is a total order; it comprises not only all natural things but also social and ethical rules. This does not mean that cultures and religions centred on a cosmic order have no clear idea of distinctive ethical principles but that ethics is considered as one function of the total cosmic order and as such can never be quite independent. The rules of ethics depend on and are derived from the more general rules that govern the cosmos in its totality; they are no more than special manifestations of these general rules. An example of this attitude can be found in the Greek hymns in praise of the goddess Isis. She is honoured as the queen of heavens; she divided the earth from the heaven, showed the stars their paths, and ordered the course of the sun and the moon. But the same hymn says that she ordained that children should love their parents, that she taught humans to honour the images of the gods, and that she made justice stronger than gold and silver. She established penalties for the people practicing injustice and taught that suppliants should be treated with mercy. She is also praised because she invented writing, devised marriage contracts, invented navigation, and watches over all those who sail on the sea.

Personal and impersonal forms

The cosmic order can appear in a personalized form, as, for example, the Egyptian goddess Maat, but this personification of the cosmic order is not general; the Iranian Asha and the Indian rita, for example, are all to a high degree impersonal. Maat represents truth and order; her domain includes not only the order of nature but also the social and ethical orders. She plays an important role in the judgment of the dead: the heart of the deceased is weighed against the truth of Maat. She is often called the daughter of Re. In this case, Re is the creator god who not only created the world but also founded the cosmic order as represented by Maat. Her importance is also apparent in the conception of the Maat sacrifice. In Egypt, sacrifice is not so much a gift of humans to the gods as a sacral technique that enables humankind to contribute to the maintenance and, if necessary, the restoration of harmony and order in the world. Not only must humans live according to Maat, but also the gods must live by her truth and order; according to Egyptian texts, the goddess Maat is the food by which the gods live.

The idea of a determined cosmic order that is natural as well as ethical is an important concept in the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism (also called Mazdaism and, in India, Parsiism), founded during the late 7th and early 6th centuries bce by Zoroaster (Zarathustra). This idea is called Asha and is the counterpart of Drug, which represents evil and deceit and the disorder connected with them. Asha is connected with the sacred element fire. The Indian concept of rita forms the Indian counterpart of Asha and was the precursor to dharma, a notion that encompasses not only the moral law of the universe but also personal virtue, ethical teaching (e.g., the Buddha’s dharma), and even religious tradition. The gods, especially the Adityas, protect the world against chaos and ignorance and maintain the world order, which, however, exists independently of the gods. Although the power of rita operates according to its own principles and laws, humanity is able, provided the right methods are used, to manipulate this power to some extent for its own benefit. The proper means for this manipulation is found especially in older Hindu sacrifice. The gods are generally benevolent and friendly toward humans who follow rita, and they punish their own enemies and those of the world order, which in India too embraces the social ethical rules.

Theodorus P. van Baaren The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Chinese tradition features three concepts that convey an impersonal cosmic order. The Dao, literally the “Way,” is both the source from which the universe is continuously generated and the cosmic order itself. Tian, often translated as “heaven” and literally meaning “sky,” is a term that refers to multiple concepts, often simultaneously. Tian once indicated a supreme deity (though not an ultimate creator), which could be spoken of both in personal and in impersonal terms. Yet over time it came to indicate an impersonal, cosmic moral order to which human beings should attune their personal behaviour. Mozi (flourished 4th century bce) held a sense of tian as a personal god; Confucius (flourished 5th century bce) and Mencius (flourished 3rd century bce) promoted aspects of both. To early Daoist and Confucian thinkers (4th–3rd century bce), such as Zhuangzi and Xunzi, tian also indicated the natural world.

A third term, ming, has played an important role in Chinese religious life for millennia. In its earliest uses, ming meant “decree” or “command” and indicated that the king or emperor had been granted by tian the mandate to rule. Yet the concept of ming, like tian, gradually became more impersonal and naturalistic. Confucius individualized the concept, speaking of tianming as the course of one’s life. Moreover, by the time of Mencius, ming had assumed the meanings of “fate,” “circumstance,” and “destiny.” In these senses, ming signifies all that is outside the purview of human effort to change. “Waiting for destiny” (siming) is the proper attitude through which a person lives life to the fullest while accepting those events outside his control.

Matt Stefon

Many related concepts exist. The Greek Moira, for instance, is comparable to Asha and rita. The Moira in classical Greek religion is not yet fate as this idea was found in Greco-Roman times. The concept of cosmic order may function either in a religious or in a philosophical context; e.g., the preestablished harmony (harmonia praestabilita) in the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a German rationalist, is the cosmic order that holds together and unifies the innumerable individual units, which he called monads.

Particular objects of providence

Although cosmic order is necessarily a general idea comprising the whole of the world and all that exists in it, the concept of providence may be more particular: the benevolent aspect of providence may be confined to a special group of people or at least be specially related to that group, or a number of patron gods or saints may watch over some specific activity or smaller group. This accounts for the idea of a chosen people watched over and led by a just and loving God. The ancient people of Israel are, perhaps, the best known example; the concept, however, is widespread. Patron gods and patron saints who are particularly charged with caring for some small group, craft, or activity or who operate in special circumstances, such as during illness or war, occur in most religions and are popular in many.

Although providence in most religions operates primarily for the welfare and the salvation of the community as a whole, it may also be experienced as personal guidance. This latter phenomenon is common in some diverse cultures—e.g., that of the Plains Indians of North America and in those forms of Protestantism in which generally each person is expected to have a private experience of divine guidance. In other cultures and religions, personal guidance is often a prerogative of some person or persons singled out for some reason by God or the gods.