Divine Governance and the Arminian Idol of Free Will | John Owen

Deep Dive into A Display of Arminianism by John Owen - Of the Providence of God in Governing the World Diversely, Thrust from This Pre-Eminence by the Arminian Idol of Free-Will In Chapter 4 of "A Display of Arminianism," John Owen addresses the direct conflict between God's providence and the Arminian conception of free will, characterizing them as entirely incompatible. He defines providence as God's ineffable work of sustaining, preserving, and governing the entire created world, extending down to the smallest detail including sparrows and the hairs of one's head. This providence operates on all things, necessary, free, and contingent, moving them toward their foreordained ends in accordance with their respective natures. Owen divides providence into three components: God's eternal decree, His prescience or foreknowledge, and His temporal operation. He outlines four key actions of God's temporal providence: upholding all things by His power, working together with second causes, overruling all events including contingent ones, and predetermining human wills to specific actions. He asserts that God is capable of bending and inclining human wills freely, without force, to accomplish His divine purposes, which ensures the certainty of biblical promises and prophecies. In contrast, Owen argues that Arminianism elevates the human will into an independent idol of self-sufficiency. Arminians claim that the will is exempt from divine predetermination and that God's concurrence is merely a general, indifferent influence. According to Owen, this view makes God's sustaining power a purely negative act whereby He simply wills not to destroy things and reduces His governance of free actions to mere wishes or desires. Owen warns that this Arminian error ultimately robs God of His sovereign dominion, makes His foreknowledge fallible, and leaves the execution of His eternal decrees subject to human choices. By establishing an independent human will, Arminianism essentially reinstates pagan notions of chance and contingency in place of an all-ruling God. Thus, Owen rejects the Arminian framework as a form of sacrilege that places human desires above the Lord's active, sovereign providence. Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv... Youtube:    / @reformedexplainer   Worship Music: https://suno.com/playlist/3a498d0f-c9... https://buymeacoffee.com/edi2730