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519 The Thomist 78 (2014): 519-36 THE GOSPEL OF PRAYER AND THEORIES OF PROVIDENCE: A THEOLOGICAL DISCERNMENT FOLLOWING THOMAS AQUINAS EMMANUEL DURAND, O.P. Dominican University College Ottawa, Canada HE TERM ‘PROVIDENCE’ (pronoeô or pronoia) does not appear in the Gospels, even though the image of God underlying this word is revealed there in many aspects. In the New Testament, the verb pronoeô is used in Romans 12:17, 2 Corinthians 8:21, and 1 Timothy 5:8. The noun pronoia is found in Acts 24:2 and Romans 13:14. None of these occurrences carries a specifically theological sense. They simply evoke a human disposition or activity. And yet, in the Scriptures we learn that God knows in detail all that matters to humans. He looks after them, and their life has value in his eyes. Persecutions or misfortunes should not confuse the disciples, but rather invite them to steadfastness and to conversion, for they remain in the hand of God. Faith and trust in God ought to liberate the disciples from concern for riches, for God looks after them and their true treasure is in heaven (see Luke 12:4-7, 22-32). But they must also recognize that the quest for the Kingdom entails a concern for others, in their needs and in their trials. Instead of interpreting the woes of others as being due to their (imagined) faults, those who hear about these woes ought rather to let themselves be challenged and questioned by this kind of news (see Luke 10:29-37; 13:1-5). Moreover, through prayer that is persevering, the disciples are assured of being heard by God and can believe that justice will be rendered unto them (see Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8). Finally, and above all, the beneficent and provocative action of Jesus is a T 520 EMMANUEL DURAND, O.P. very concrete image of the way God deals with human needs, all the while giving priority to the Kingdom. If, therefore, we seek a theology of providence in the Gospel according to Saint Luke (for example), in the literal sense it is not to be found. But the very concrete teaching of Jesus about the disciples’ trust in God and about the efficacy of petitionary prayer is given weight by an acute perception of God’s solicitude at all times. This leads us to put forward our working hypothesis: the gospel of trust and prayer is the pedestal of faith on which one can build one or another theology of providence, which must, as it is elaborated, be evaluated in the light of the gospel itself. In dialogue with Thomas Aquinas, we shall test our hypothesis in three stages: (i) construing the hierarchy of truths as it involves the connection between prayer and providence, (ii) reconciling the efficacy of petitionary prayer with the immutability of providence, and (iii) answering the question, does providence really respond to petitionary prayer?1 I. HIERARCHY OF TRUTHS CONNECTING PRAYER AND PROVIDENCE The theology of petitionary prayer is often conceived, and rightly so, as the litmus test for a preliminary theology of providence. But we intend to show that the connection between prayer and providence is closer and actually cuts both ways. It is not enough to deduce consequences from a theology of providence for an understanding of prayer. The theory of providence should also be worked out in the light of the gospel teaching on petitionary prayer. Systematic theology more often than not tries to make a certain efficacy of petitionary prayer compatible with a preestablished notion of providence. This appears clearly in the study undertaken by the Evangelical theologian Terrance Tiessen on the many possible relations between providence and petitionary prayer.2 Through a typology consisting of 1 For a more extended proposal, see E. Durand, Évangile et Providence: Une théologie de l’action de Dieu (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 2014). 2 See T. L. Tiessen, Providence and Prayer: How Does God Work in the World? (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 363-64. PRAYER AND PROVIDENCE 521 ten models, he shows how a certain conception of providence determines a particular explanation of the way petitionary prayer operates in...

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