Providence - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Part 2)
In the first installment we considered how the Bible portrays God's providence as governing all his creatures and their actions, which includes both "the Good and the Bad." We saw how both Naomi and Job declare God's providential control even over evil events which they experienced. And we started to ask the question, how do those texts fit with the many declarations of God's holiness and his inability to be tempted by or to tempt anyone to evil. (See previous post here ) The Ugly Theologians have wrestled with these questions for years and the best explanation, in my opinion, is known as the Two Wills of God. At first glance the idea that God has two wills seems like theologians are accusing God of being bi-polar or something, but let's take a closer look at why this language has been used. Clearly it is God's will that people should not commit murder. This is, after all, one of the 10 Commandments - "You shall not murder" (Ex 20:13). Th