SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. The term “sovereignty” connotes a situation in which a person, from his innate dignity, exercises supreme power, with no areas of his province outside his jurisdiction. A “sovereign” is one who enjoys full autonomy, allowing no rival immunities.
As applied to God, the term “sovereignty” indicates His complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will or wills. The term does not occur in Scripture, although the idea is abundantly implied. The major metaphor employed is that of “ruler and subject.” The doxologies and prophetic exclamations bear much of the weight of Biblical statement of the divine sovereignty. To be noted are the following: “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever” (1 Tim 1:17); the words of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, “...till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will” (Dan 4:25); and “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation” (Jer 10:10).
God’s sovereignty is His omnipotence expressing itself in relation to the created world, with its inanimate structures and its empirical selves. He is declared to possess absolute authority, illustrated by the power held by the potter over the clay (Rom 9:19ff.). Nor is His intrinsic ability diminished by the qualities of holiness and righteousness which are integral to His nature (cf. Rom 11:22).
As sovereign, He is the everlasting God. Within time, He commands the forces of nature (Matt 5:45; 6:30). The exercise of sovereignty does not, of course, lead to the performance of the logically or the metaphysically absurd, nor of the morally contradictory.
The doctrine of divine sovereignty raises the problem of the relation of God’s sovereign action to man’s activity. Genesis 2:15 indicates that the first man received a conferred sovereignty over nature. Kings of the earth also rule by His mandate (1 Sam 15:11; 2 Chron 1:9). Human sovereignties are delegated and revokable. At the same time, the capability of men for the exercise of choices, whether affirmative or negative, suggests that while the divine sovereignty is itself not limited, God may for wise reasons restrain its exercise.
There has been, historically, theological perplexity at this point. In refuting the error of Pelagius, Augustine seemed at times to deny any valid human freedom. In conflict with Erasmus, Luther seemed to do the same. Calvin articulated a logical system of theology upon the basis of the doctrine of divine sovereignty; some Reformed writers feel that, with the best of intentions, Calvin carried the teaching to a point which seemed to do less than justice to human choice and human stewardship. In similar vein, Abraham Kuyper suggests, “Deze Souvereiniteit bestaat niet bij de menschen. Geen enkel mensch heeft eenig souvereiniteit: die heeft God de Heere alleen als de Almachtige” (Dictaten Dogmatiek, I, 417). Others, including Jacobus Arminius, sought to make place for the role of human choice within the context of the divine sovereignty, contending that God could foreknow genuinely contingent events, thus giving larger place to human free will than was implied by Reformed theologians.
(Translation of quotation from Abraham Kuyper, Dictaten Dogmatiek, I, 417, quoted in article noted above: [This sovereignty is not a property of mankind. No mere man possesses any sovereignty; this belongs to God alone as the Almighty One.]) See God.
Bibliography C. Hodge, Systematic Theology (1872), 440, 441, 535-549; J. Miley, Systematic Theology I (1892), 211-213; L. Berkhof, Manual of Christian Doctrine (1933), 70-74; H. O. Wiley, Christian Theology, I (1940), 329-343, 357-360; C. F. H. Henry, ed., Basic Christian Doctrines (1962), 21-34; J. O. Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, II (1963), 134-148; C. F. H. Henry, ed., Christian Faith and Modern Theology (1964), 69-93.