Divine Grace / Providence and the Universe from the Perspective of Three Philosophers: Maimonides, Aquinas, Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

One of the issues dealt with in the philosophical theology of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is the ontological relationship between God and the universe. This issue which has been referred to as “divine providence” is in fact one of the important distinctions between the Abrahamic religions and Greek philosophy, as this relationship has been almost absent in Greek philosophy. Rather it is the lack of grace on the part of the superior being toward the inferior being which is considered the basic principle in Greek philosophy. The three distinguished philosophers in the Judaic, Christian and Islamic theology, with an eye on this principle and the religious texts, have provided a different interpretation of the relationship between God and the universe. Within the limits of available space, the present article deals with only four key questions in relation to God’s providence and tries to weigh the degree of success of each the three philosophers in their philosophical delineation of this issue and to present the similarities and differences of their viewpoints.