Wills of God

[Miller]

I'm curious on a Presbyterian view of the will/wills of God. It seems that Baptists generally believe in two wills: God's perfect will and his (something I can't remember) will. Have Presbyterians historically believed this same idea? How many wills does God have?

 

[SueS]

It's God's perfect will and His permissive will. I haven't been a Presbyterian long enough to know what the Presbyterian take on this is, although I would think that His sovereignty would have something to do with it.

 

[Rev. Todd Ruddell]

As Presbyterians, or as Reformed, (in either case as Bible believing Christians) we understand the Scriptures to speak of the Preceptive Will, and the Decretive Will of God. In the former, God's precepts (His statutes, judgments, commandments, etc) are set in Scripture as a statement of what he has commanded--and are therefore binding as His will, revealed to us as our duty. God's decretive will is how He prosecutes His eternal and unchangeable decree in time, and is often called His "secret will" that is, in which He has decreed whatsoever comes to pass, including the sinful acts of men.

These two then are not in conflict with one another--Our duty is always what God has commanded, and is called in Scripture His will. However, whatsoever comes to pass is also His will, and He is not bound to declare unto us what He would do in that regard. We however, are always bound to keep His commandments. (Deuteronomy 29.29)

 

[KMK]

See this thread: http://www.puritanboard.com/f15/c-hodge-god-s-will-25368/

 

[Jimmy the Greek]

Once you go beyond the distinction between Decretive and Preceptive (i.e. Secret and Revealed) you move beyond Reformed theology. You will find reference to such as the permissive will and the desiderative will (will of desire) in some places. In my humble opinion, defining these as additions to the secret/revealed distinction often leads to unbiblical concepts and contradictions regarding God's will.

 

[Miller]

So would y'all view the perfect will and the permissive will as wrong ideas?

 

[greenbaggins]

It's amazing. Two topics recently broached on the PB have coincided with my reading in Turretin. Turretin's take is that the decretive will can be distinguished further into the positive, proactive will that effects all things good, and the negative, permissive will that allows evil things to happen, while not directly causing them. We must simultaneously allow for God to be completely sovereign over all things, and yet not be the author of evil.

 

[CarlosOliveira]

I'm curious on a Presbyterian view of the will/wills of God. It seems that Baptists generally believe in two wills: God's perfect will and his (something I can't remember) will. Have Presbyterians historically believed this same idea? How many wills does God have?

Miller, our webmaster has masterfully dealt with this question in his book named "The Two Wills of God". I highly recommend it! You can purchase it through Lulu.com here

 

[Miller]

Alrighty, thanks for the responses, I'm getting it.

Now my next thought is when people talk about God's will for their lives and trying to find that will would our response be that we cannot know God's decretive will but we can know His preceptive will and that is through reading His word, is that right?

 

[greenbaggins]

We start with the preceptive will, that's absolutely right. God's decretive will is revealed bit by bit in God's providence. In other words, God's decretive will does not always remain secret. We cannot find that out ahead of time. But we can see it after the fact. Providence then "opens and shuts doors." But this is a far cry from saying that "God just told me that I could have whatever I want, etc."