Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
“Est deus in nobis; agitante calescimus illo.” For contrast
between Nansen’s ignoring of God in his polar journey and Dr.
Jacob Chamberlain’s calling upon God in his strait in India, see
Missionary Review, May, 1898. Sunday School Times, March 4,
1893—“Benjamin Franklin became a deist at the age of fifteen.
Before the Revolutionary War he was merely a shrewd and pushing
business man. He had public spirit, and he made one happy
discovery in science. But ‘Poor Richard’s’ sayings express his
mind at that time. The perils and anxieties of the great war gave
him a deeper insight. He and others entered upon it ‘with a rope
around their necks.’ As he told the Constitutional Convention of
1787, when he proposed that its daily sessions be opened with
prayer, the experiences of that war showed him that ‘God verily
rules in the affairs of men.’ And when the designs for an American
coinage were under discussion, Franklin proposed to stamp on them,
not ‘A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned,’ or any other piece of
worldly prudence, but ‘The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of
Wisdom.’ ”
(_d_) Christian experience confirms the declarations of Scripture that
particular events are brought about by God with special reference to the
good or ill of the individual. Such events occur at times in such direct
connection with the Christian’s prayers that no doubt remains with regard
to the providential arrangement of them. The possibility of such divine
agency in natural events cannot be questioned by one who, like the
Christian, has had experience of the greater wonders of regeneration and
daily intercourse with God, and who believes in the reality of creation,
incarnation, and miracles.
Providence prepares the way for men’s conversion, sometimes by
their own partial reformation, sometimes by the sudden death of
others near them. Instance Luther and Judson. The Christian learns
that the same Providence that led him before his conversion is
busy after his conversion in directing his steps and in supplying
his wants. Daniel Defoe: “I have been fed more by miracle than
Elijah when the angels were his purveyors.” In _Psalm 32_, David
celebrates not only God’s pardoning mercy but his subsequent
providential leading: “_I will counsel thee with mine eye upon
thee_” (_verse 8_). It may be objected that we often mistake the
meaning of events. We answer that, as in nature, so in providence,
we are compelled to believe, not that we _know_ the design, but
that there _is_ a design. Instance Shelley’s drowning, and Jacob
Knapp’s prayer that his opponent might be stricken dumb. Lyman
Beecher’s attributing the burning of the Unitarian church to God’s
judgment upon false doctrine was invalidated a little later by the
burning of his own church.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account