elligent agent; that He is infinite, eternal, and
unchangeable in his being and perfections; that He is ever present; that
this presence is a presence of knowledge and power. In the external
world there is always and everywhere indisputable evidence of the
activity of two kinds of force: the one physical, the other mental. The
physical belongs to matter, and is due to the properties with which it
has been endowed; the other is the everywhere present and ever acting
mind of God. To the latter are to be referred all the manifestations of
design in nature, and the ordering of events in Providence. This
doctrine does not ignore the efficiency of second causes; it simply
asserts that God over-rules and controls them. Thus the Psalmist says,
"I am fearfully and wonderfully made.... My substance was not hid from
thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought (or embroidered)
in the lower parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance yet
being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in
continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them." "He
who fashioned the eye, shall not He see? He that formed the ear shall
not He hear?" "God makes the grass to grow, and herbs for the children
of men." He sends rain, frost, and snow. He controls the winds and the
waves. He determines the casting of the lot, the flight of an arrow, and
the falling of a sparrow. This universal and constant control of God is
not only one of the most patent and pervading doctrines of the Bible,
but it is one of the fundamental principles of even natural religion.

The second method of accounting for contrivances in nature admits that
they were foreseen and purposed by God, and that He endowed matter with
forces which He foresaw and intended should produce such results. But
here his agency stops. He never interferes to guide the operation of
physical causes. He does nothing to control the course of nature, or the
events of history. On this theory it may be said, (1.) That it is
utterly inconsistent with the Scriptures. (2.) It does not meet the
religious and moral necessities of our nature. It renders prayer
irrational and inoperative. It makes it vain for a man in any emergency
to look to God for help. (3.) It is inconsistent with obvious facts. We
see around us innumerable evidences of the constant activity of mind.
This evidence of mind and of its operations, according to Lord Brougham
and Dr. Whewell, is far mor