Panel: DISCERNING DIVINE PRESENCE: IN DIFFERENCE



12.6 - DISCERNING DIVINE COMMITMENT: CONCURSUS AND THE COVENANT

AUTHORS:
Van Den Belt H. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn ~ Amsterdam and Apeldoorn ~ Netherlands)
Text:
This paper proposes a covenantal reinterpretation of divine concursus. Within Reformed theology, the relationship between divine decree, covenant, and providence has long functioned as a pivotal nexus connecting the doctrine of God with creation, redemption, and history. Building on this tradition, I argue that providence is best understood as a concrete, covenantal commitment of God to his creation. Herman Bavinck's account of providence as grounded in God's covenantal relation to creation provides a crucial alternative to both pantheistic fate and deistic chance. But what does that covenantal perspective imply for the concursus of God's sovereign plan and human responsibility. Can the scholastic distinction of a divine first cause and human secondary causes be reinterpreted as a walking-together (con-cursus) of the living God with human beings as partners in His covenant? Can divine presence be discerned in the incomprehensible interaction of real human freedom and determining divine providence? On this reading, the divine decree is a promise to deliver creation from destructive powers, a promise that culminates in the giving of the Son to the death of the cross. Providence thus becomes intrinsically connected to redemption rather than merely providing its backdrop; the redemption of the cosmos hinges on the pactum salutis as covenantal promise.