Will of God
Understanding what God wants is an important part of practical theology.
Interpretations
Christianity
In Christianity, some assert the Law of Christ, a supersessionist view that Jesus "commandments" superseded Jewish law. Leslie Weatherhead says that God's will falls into three distinct categories; intentional, circumstantial, and ultimate. God intends for people to follow his guidelines and do the right thing; God set the laws of physics and chemistry into play, and those circumstances will sometimes cause difficulties. That does not mean we should not struggle against circumstances to create God's ultimate will, a peaceful world dominated by love and compassion.[1]
Deism
As for Deism, it has been explained:
In general, the deists believed reason to be an innate faculty of all people. Reason, the very image of God in which all humans are created, makes possible knowledge of the will of God. By the exercise of reason, people possess the possibility of adopting a natural religion, that is, a religion grounded in the nature of the universe. At creation, God established this rational order, but although the prime and necessary cause of this order, God had become increasingly remote. The world, nevertheless, continued to function according to the laws that God had established at creation, laws that operate without the need of divine intervention.[2]
A similar formulation would apply to the subtype Pandeism, except that instead of becoming remote, God has become inaccessible and non intervening through its choice to fully become our Universe.
Islam
In Islam, submission and surrender are terms referring to the acceptance of God's will, while Sharia is a concept expressing Islamic jurisprudence, or an Islamic form of religious government, claims to be the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God.
Sikhism
Hukam is a Punjabi word derived from the Arabic hukm, meaning "command" or "order." The whole of the Universe is subject to the hukam of God and nothing ever happens without the will of God. This is accepted as one of the primary concepts of Sikhism.
It is by the command of God that we are born and we die. In the Sikh Scripture, the founder of the religion, Guru Nanak says:
O Nanak, by the Hukam of God's Command, we come and go in reincarnation. ((20))— Japji Sahib Stanza 20
See also
- Destiny
- Deus vult, a Latin expression meaning "God wills it", canonically expressed at the outset of the First Crusade.
- Divine law, any law that, according to religious belief, comes directly from the will of God, in contrast to man-made law.
- Divine will is the will of God, in contrast to human will.
- "God willing" is an English expression often used to indicate that the speaker hopes that his or her actions are those that are willed by God, or that it is in accordance with God's will that some desired event will come to pass, or that some negative event will not come to pass.
- Insha'Allah, an Arab-Islamic expression meaning "God willing".
- Karma
- Masha'Allah, an Arab-Islamic expression meaning "God has willed it".
- Luisa Piccarreta
- Plan of salvation, in general Christian concept.
- Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints) is the view of God's plan as described by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Predestination
- Providentialism is a belief that God's will is evident in all occurrences. It can further be described as a belief that the power of God (or Providence) is so complete that humans cannot equal fully understand it.