This word is often used in a semi infidel manner for God, meaning a general presiding Care (without acknowledging a person), who keeps the world straight, and sends us fine days and good harvests. It is wrong for a Christian thus to speak of God, who has been revealed to Him in the person of Christ. Still there are such things as providential mercies, escapes, &c., which mean blessings that reach us by the good tare of God our Father. In this sense the word is rightly used as an attribute, not as a person.