Catechesis · Inquirer
Providence
Catechesis · Inquirer
Providence
Orthodox theology answers yes — not in a way that removes our freedom or explains away suffering, but in the sense that God is never absent from His creation. He holds all things…
Question
Is God present in what happens to us?
Orthodox theology answers yes — not in a way that removes our freedom or explains away suffering, but in the sense that God is never absent from His creation. He holds all things in being, He acts within history, and He draws all things toward the good that He intends. This is what the Church means by Providence.
Providence is not the claim that everything that happens is good. It is the claim that God is present in everything that happens, and that nothing — not even the worst evil — falls outside His reach or His ability to bring good from it.
The teaching
God governs — without controlling, and without abandoning
The Church does not teach that God causes everything that happens. It teaches that God is present in everything that happens, and that He is always working toward the redemption of every situation. Suffering is real. Evil is real. God does not pretend otherwise. But He is in it, and He is working.
The cross is the ultimate statement of Providence. The worst thing that has ever happened — the murder of the Son of God — became the instrument of salvation. If God can work through that, He can work through anything. This is not a theory. It is the Church's experience.
Glory to God for all things. This was the last word of Chrysostom. Not: God has explained everything. Not: I understand why this happened. Only: glory to God for all things.
Chrysostom was not a naive optimist. He was a man who had lost everything the world values — his position, his comfort, his health — and who died in exile. His final words are not the words of someone for whom everything worked out. They are the words of someone who found God present even in what could not be explained.
St. John Chrysostom
Last words · c. 407 AD
Holy Scripture
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Romans 8:18
Suffering and Providence
Why the cross is the answer to the problem of evil
The problem of evil — why does a good and all-powerful God permit suffering? — is real. The Orthodox Church does not pretend to have a philosophical solution to it. What it has is a witness: God did not stay outside suffering. He entered it. The Son of God was tortured and killed. And from that, life came. This is not a proof. It is a Person. And the Church's answer to suffering is that same Person, present within it.