ABSTRACT
The divine plan for all creation is of more concern to the theologian than to the saint, but it used to be the fashion to speak, not only of Providence, but of special providences. Theology, so far as it was independent of revelation, used to rest on three main supports it was rather like a tripod. The first leg was metaphysical speculation about ultimate reality; the second was moral conviction. In a scientific age it is natural to suppose that when we ask what can reasonably be believed about God's presence in the world, we are asking what hypotheses can be verified or even what hypotheses can be established by means of experiment. This supposition is not confined to a scientific age: it is characteristic of primitive religion itself as when Elijah sought to prove that Jehovah was superior to Baal because He alone was able to set a sacrifice on fire.
