Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

De Providentia
V.
Add, now, that it is best for all that every good man
should, so to speak, be always under arms and in ac
tion. It is the purpose of Grod, just as if He were a
wise man, to demonstrate that those things which the
average man longs for, which he fears, are neither
good nor evil; but it will be evident that those things
are good that are sent upon good men, and those evil,
that fall upon the bad. Blindness
would be dreadful,
if nobody had lost his sight except those who deserved
to have their eyes put out. Accordingly, let Appius
and Metellus be deprived of eyesight. Riches are
not a good.
2. And so even the procurer Elius is rich in order
that money to which men have given a sacred charac
ter in temples may also be found in a brothel. In no
way is God better able to expose to contempt those
things that men covet than by bestowing them
upon the vilest and taking them from the
worthiest.
"But,"sayst thou, "it is unjust that a good man
should suffer mutilation, or be crucified, or be bound
in fetters, while the bad strut proudly at large and
live in luxury."
3. What then? is it not also unjust when brave
men are required to take up arms, to pass the night
in camps and to defend the outposts, though the
bandages are still on their wounds, while in the city,
eunuchs and debauchees by profession go about in
security. What further? is it not unjust that the
noblest virgins should be aroused at night to perform
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