Magical Systems and the Soft Enchantments of Christianity

Part 4, Soft and Hard Providence

What I've been suggesting in this series is that the contrast between "hard" and "soft" magic, inspired by the novelist Brandon Sanderson, helps us recover some apophatic distance when we speak of God's actions in the world. Christian enchantment is a "soft" magical world rather than a "hard" magical world. By this we mean that our world is filled with supernatural wonder and awe. Life is miraculous. 

And yet, this enchantment is soft because we don't know how God "works" in the world. The "mechanism" of the enchantment is not available to us. Christian enchantment embraces the mystery of it all. 

In the last post I discussed how this mystery pushes prayer away from the magical and toward the relational. We know God answers our prayers, but God's answers are often shrouded in mystery. This mystery, which is often accompanied by lament, pushes prayer toward patience and trust. Prayer cannot be used as a tool or technique, as a form of magic, to accomplish our goals in the world. 

Beyond prayer, let me suggest in this post that the soft magical world of Christianity can also help us think about God's providential actions in the world. 

As I've shared before in this space, people often get triggered when the phrase "Lord willing" gets offered up as a petition. For example, we make travel plans and then append "Lord willing." We say, "We'll see you tomorrow. Lord willing." As I've shared, a lot of ex-evangelical types get triggered by such expressions. The complaint is that if God "wills" for us to make the trip safely does that imply that God "wills" for others to die in car accidents? Is God providentially picking and choosing who dies in a car crash today?

In response to these complaints I've shared how "Lord willing" isn't a theological argument about predestination but is, rather, a simple expression of humility. My life is not ultimately in my hands. I cannot control the future. I do not know what today holds for me. Expressions such as "Lord willing" bring my finitude into view, and keep me grounded in the moment I possess here and now. "Lord willing" isn't a theological argument, it's good mental and spiritual hygiene. 

But another way to look at this issue is through the contrast of hard versus soft magical worlds. In a soft magical world, we know that God is providentially guiding the world. We trust that God is working all things toward the good. And yet, there's a mystery here. We can't see clearly what God is doing or how it all works together. Call this view "soft providence." 

By contrast, when people get triggered by expressions such as "Lord willing" they tend to describe a hard magical world, where the actions of God are clear and transparent. God wills this person to arrive safely at their destination, and God wills this person to have a car crash. Call this vision of God's actions in the world "hard providence." 

My point here is that we need to take a soft view of God's providence. We trust that God is at work in the world, but don't envision God as a puppet-master pulling strings. Soft providence leans into the mystery of God's actions and care of the world. Hard providence, by contrast, assumes that the actions of God are clear and transparent to human understanding, and therefore feels at liberty to flatly declare what God is doing in any given situation. We've all seen examples of this hard magical thinking at work, where Christian leaders look upon some tragic event and name it, with absolute confidence, as the will and work of God. In such pronouncements there is no mystery, no demonstration of apophatic humility. A hard view of providence is being articulated. God is being described as a puppet-master pulling strings.

The better way of thinking about providence, I'm suggesting, is providence in a soft magical world. We trust and know God is at work in the world. But how God is at work, and how to explain tragic events, this is hazy for us. Like with a soft magical vision of prayer, soft providence pushes us alway from overconfident pronouncements about God's will and actions in the world toward humble silence, patience and trust. 

Phrased differently, when you say "Lord willing" in a soft magical world you mean something very different from those who assume a hard magical world.