Divine Economy The Nicene Creed

Review of Creation God created the world God created the world from nothing Time started with the creation of the world Characters of the act of creation a. freedom b. goodness c. absolute power d. the goodness of the universe is relative (the world is not bad, nor it is perfect)

Review of Creation 5. The reason for creation a. God is complete in Himself; God is a family b. out of the fullness of His Being and His goodness, God willed to reveal it in creation c. God Himself is the destiny of creation, “for Him (the Son) everything is” (Hebrews 2:10) for the glory of God d. the creation of a human being was the reason of the rest of the creation “God’s glory is man fully alive.” 6. The days of creation- there are 2 directions in explaining the days a. thousands of years b. 24 hours

God’s Work in Creation Divine Providence: God’s knowledge of how existence of things should be to be good, then keeping and directing the order of existence with His will - first cause: God is the source of all goodness - secondary causes: the people and the created things that act as agents working with God Divine Keeping of Creation: it is the active direct and indirect intervention of God (through secondary causes) aiming at sustaining His creation Divine Economy of the world: the action of divine will by which God directs His creation. It is the execution of His plan. The divine economy negates what we call “fate” and “judgment.” there is no place for psychic or reading stars, hands, etc

God’s Work in Creation Divine Economy: Miracles Definition: a phenomenon that breaks usual, natural system and cannot be explained by the usual laws A miracle is directly related to the work of Divine Economy for a higher goal God’s miraculous work does not cancel the natural laws, but transcends it God’s miraculous work can be looked at as a creation and every new creation does not cancel the creations before, but adds to it Miracles does not mean change in God’s will, but it is included since the beginning Miracles will be completely denied by pantheism, deism or materialism

God’s Work in Creation Divine Economy: Miracles To be able to differentiate between miracles, works of magicians, and sorcerers, we should consider: Miracles are made by divine power that transcends the powers in the tangible world or the spiritual world True miracles glorify God. We need to look at the goal of the miracle

Divine Economy and Prayer To believe in the power of prayer and its effectiveness, does not mean to negate divine economy The effectiveness of prayer enters into God’s previous knowledge and economy God is the source of our prayers, if it is according to His will “when we call God, we don’t call Him to change things from what He had already ordained from eternity, but to actualize what He ordained, through our prayers” Descartes

Divine Economy & Human Freedom “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” Jeremiah 10:23 God created humans to have free will Human freedom, even if used against God’s will in serving it’s own, eventually would serve God’s will

Divine Economy & Human Freedom There are 2 kinds of evil: Natural evil that God permits with a disciplinary goal Moral evil that God hates, but God permits in respect to human freedom God’s economy is continually actualized even by moral evil Evil is not just the absence of good; this is called Neo-Platonism and tends to go towards dualism. Evil is active opposition to God. Sin is saying “no” to God

Divine Economy & Human Freedom Examples: Joseph and his brothers (Gen 41:39-44) Baby Moses and Pharaoh (Ex 1:7-12) St. Paul and the sea men (Acts 27:30-44) Elijah and the widow

Previous Knowledge, Predestination, & Permission “previous knowledge” is not a perfect term because it gives an impression of past, present and future in God’s knowledge. God has no past, present or future- only present The free choice of humans is the reason of God’s knowledge Because God knows the evil that humans can do by their free will, He sets a limit to their actions Sometimes God delivers, or give up, persons to their own wrong choices when they insist on it, in a way of discipline. Others are delivered to their own ways completely, when they reject God completely, ending in despair Romans 1:18,21,28