Excerpt from Certitude, Providence, and Prayer I am accustomed to characterize the age as one of unsettled opinion; certainly not one of strong faith, nor yet of avowed scepticism, but of restless creed. There is a wide-spread impression that the advance of thought, and especially of natural science, has undermined old and fundamental truths both in philosophy and religion. I am endeavoring to show in this series of papers that it is not so. Some of these truths may have to be put in a new and more correct form; the defence of them has to proceed in a wiser way; but the radical principle remains as deeply and firmly established as ever. The doubts and difficulties issue from four quarters of the heavens, or rather of the clouds. I. From philosophy or metaphysics. There is a growing idea that all truth is drawn from experience, that innate ideas are dead and committed to the grave, from which it would be offensive to raise them, and that their heirs and successors, a priori principles, are waxing old and are ready to perish. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

God is to be found in the simplest of our daily activities and especially through total surrender to whatever is His will for each of us. That is the message of this 18th-century inspirational classic by Jean-Pierre de Caussade. Its encouragement to live in the present moment, accepting everyday obstacles with humility and love, has guided generations of seekers to spiritual peace and holiness. In this timeless spiritual classic, de Caussade presents the simple, profound gospel message that Jesus lived and taught: My meat is to do the will of my Father in heaven. The author states, The will of God gives to all things a supernatural and divine value for the soul submitting to it. The duties it imposes and those it contains become holy and perfect because everything it touches shares its divine character.This special volume of the famous spiritual treatise also includes the many insightful letters of Father de Caussade on the practice of self-abandonment. These numerous letters provide a great additional source of wisdom and much practical guidance for how to grow in abandonment and to deepen our union with God in our daily lives.De Caussade shows that this practice of self-abandonment to God's will is the key to attaining true peace and virtue, and that it is readily available to all people - from beginners to those well advanced in the spiritual life. He also shows how to determine what God's will is for us. He reveals that it is not extraordinary feats that God expects for our growth in holiness, but rather heroic attention to every detail in our lives and humble acceptance of our daily lot in life as coming from His hand. The rich spiritual lessons in this book have stood the test of time, offering real and practical assistance to all people because its message is simple and clear, one that the reader will find to be a rare treasure of inspiration and direction to be referred to again and again.

From the view that God does not intervene in the world to the view that God is the only effective agent in the working of his will, Terrance Tiessen identifies ten views of providence and adds his own.