God, Creation, and Providence in Post-Reformation Reformed Theology

Abstract

This essay discusses the interrelated loci of God, creation, and providence in post-Reformation Reformed theology, focusing primarily on the Leiden Synopsis and the works of Gisbertus Voetius, Melchior Leydecker, Petrus van Mastricht, and Francis Turretin. The doctrine of God is about the triune God and his eternal, immanent acts or works, whether direct to God himself or ad extra, whereas the doctrines of creation and providence concern external acts or works of the triune God which are directed ad extra. The essay shows, among other things, that the Reformed scholastics distinguished within the doctrine of God between a necessary ad intra dimension and a free ad extra dimension, thereby ascribing the pivotal role to the divine will, in order to ensure that this doctrine allows for a free and contingent relation of the infinite Creator to his finite creatures and for human freedom under divine providence.