What false idea is common today about the end or purpose of God’s providence? Today many people say they want to believe in a “democratic God” who does things, not for his own glory, but for the benefit of the majority of his creatures, or for the greatest good of the greatest number.

What should we think of this idea of a “democratic God”? (a) It is contrary to the doctrine of God revealed in the Bible. (b) It is idolatry, for it sets up a god made in man’s image as the object of worship. (c) It overlooks the truth that the glory of God includes the welfare of his creatures in general; not the welfare of all his creatures individually, but of his creatures generally. The non-theistic viewpoint that is dominant in the world today makes the welfare of the creatures, or of humanity, the end or purpose of all things. The theistic viewpoint of the Bible, on the contrary, regards the glory of God as the great end or purpose of all things. According to the Bible, the welfare of the creatures (including humanity) is not the main thing, but rather the by-product of the glorification of God.

J. G. Vos, The Westminster Larger Catechism Commentary, ed. G. I. Williamson, 46.