Wait a Minute: Objections to Providence and Sin

In yesterday's post I laid out several statements regarding the relationship of God's providence to sin and evil. This is an enormous topic that contains many difficulties; it is understandable, then, that some have objected on several grounds. Here are four common objections and some brief responses.

1. If God controls everything, then we are not responsible for what we do. This assumes that God's control over human actions forces individuals to act against their wills in order to do his. But according to Scripture we are responsible precisely because we do our own will when we sin. The example of Joseph's brothers again suffices.

2. If God controls everything, then things will turn out the same no matter what we do. This objection actually contains a contradiction. On the one hand, it supposes that God really is in complete control; on the other, it assumes that certain personal acts may happen in a random and uncertain way, saying effectively that if all things are fixed by divine decree then it makes no difference if events A, B, and C happen because we will still arrive at event D. But A, B, and C are just as much events as is D, and God controls them all.

3. If God controls everything, then he must be the author of sin. God has indeed ordained all things, including the fall of man and all subsequent sins--he has declared that these things shall come to pass. But his ordination of all things does not make him the author of all things, for evil and sin originate in his creatures who were created good but mutably so.

4. If God controls everything, then how may we account for the sins of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked? The former result from the residual fallen nature that wars against the new nature of the man in Christ. God permits this for reasons we will explore tomorrow. The latter is traceable to the persistent image of God resident in fallen men, marred though it may be by depravity and sin.

Tomorrow: God's providence regarding temptation and sin in his people.