God the Sustainer

God the Sustainer is a theological term referring to the conception of God who sustains and upholds everything in existence. It is used in Christian and Islamic theology. It is held that as the creator deity who gives being and existence to his creatures which he created from nothing, God continues to provide the same being and existence to his creatures which do not have being in themselves. Thus creatures are totally dependent on God and would vanish without his conserving action.

Christian theology

In the Christian theology, the described doctrine is supported by the following biblical and Deuterocanonical references:

Moreover, there are other relevant places in the doctrinal Christian literature, for example:

In Islam

God is known as The Sustainer (Arabic: ar-Razzaq) within His 99 names. Names of people with the name Abdul Razzaq also exist. One of the mentioned references in the Koran is:

"وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ"

"Wa yarzuquhu min haythu la yahtasib." (at-Talaq:3) “Sustenance is provided from where you never calculated, you never expected."

Pantheism and pandeism

In pantheism and pandeism (pantheistic deism) generally, God or some similar formulation is characterized as only needing to exist as a sustaining force, with no other aspect.

Hinduism

The conception of Deity in a sustaining/conserving/preserving mode is also used in Hindu theology where the Godhead, or Trimūrti in Sanskrit, consists of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver/Sustainer, and Siva the Destroyer.

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