He created a voice for this
special purpose. Others will hold it more worthy of God to communicate
directly with man, from spirit to spirit, without the use of sensory
means; these will therefore take the Biblical description as figurative or
mythical. In fact, he who does not cling to the letter of the Scripture
will probably regard all the miracles as poetical views of divine
Providence, as child-like imagery expressing the ancient view of the
eternal goodness and wisdom of God. To us also God is "a Doer of wonders,"
but we experience His wonderworking powers in ourselves. We see wonders in
the acts of human freedom which rises superior to the blind forces of
nature. The true miracle consists in the divine power within man which
aids him to accomplish all that is great and good.

Chapter XXVIII. Providence and the Moral Government of the World

1. None of the precious truths of Judaism has become more indispensable
than the belief in divine Providence, which we see about us in ever new
and striking forms. Man would succumb from fear alone, beholding the
dangers about him on every side, were he not sustained by a conviction
that there is an all-wise Power who rules the world for a sublime purpose.
We know that even in direst distress we are guided by a divine hand that
directs everything finally toward the good. Wherever we are, we are
protected by God, who watches over the destinies of man as "does the eagle
who hovers over her young and bears them aloft on her pinions." Each of us
is assigned his place in the all-encompassing plan. Such knowledge and
such faith as this comprise the greatest comfort and joy which the Jewish
religion offers. Both the narratives and the doctrines of Scripture are
filled with this idea of Providence working in the history of individuals
and nations.(491)

2. Providence implies first, _provision_, and second, _predestination_ in
accordance with the divine plan for the government of the world. As God's
dominion over the visible world appears in the eternal order of the
cosmos, so in the moral world, where action arises from freely chosen
aims, God is Ruler of a moral government. Thus He directs all the acts of
men toward the end which He has set. Judaism is most sharply contrasted
with heathenism at this point. Heathenism either deifies nature or merges
the deity into nature. Thus there is no place for a God who knows all
things and provides for all in advance. Blind fate rules all