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William Branham and the Providence of God: Difference between revisions

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Though the term '''providence''' is not found in Scripture, it has been traditionally used to summarize God’s ongoing relationship to his creation. When we accept the biblical doctrine of providence, we avoid four common errors in thinking about God’s relationship to creation:
Though the term '''providence''' is not found in Scripture, it has been traditionally used to summarize God’s ongoing relationship to his creation. When we accept the biblical doctrine of providence, we avoid four common errors in thinking about God’s relationship to creation:
#The biblical doctrine is not deism (which teaches that God created the world and then essentially abandoned it),  
#The biblical doctrine of providence is not deism (which teaches that God created the world and then essentially abandoned it),  
#nor pantheism (which teaches that the creation does not have a real, distinct existence in itself, but is only part of God),  
#The biblical doctrine of providence is not pantheism (which teaches that the creation does not have a real, distinct existence in itself, but is only part of God),  
#but providence which teaches that though God is actively related to and involved in the creation at each moment, creation is distinct from him.  
#Providence which teaches that though God is actively related to and involved in the creation at each moment, creation is distinct from him.  
#Moreover, the biblical doctrine does not teach that events in creation are determined by chance (or randomness), nor are they determined by impersonal fate (or determinism), but by God, who is the personal yet infinitely powerful Creator and Lord.
#The biblical doctrine of providence does not teach that events in creation are determined by chance (or randomness), nor are they determined by impersonal fate (or determinism), but by God, who is the personal yet infinitely powerful Creator and Lord.


We may define God’s providence as follows:  
We may define God’s providence as follows:  
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::''(2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and  
::''(2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and  
::''(3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 315.</ref>
::''(3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 315.</ref>


=Full Quotes of William Branham=
=Full Quotes of William Branham=