Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
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De Providentia<br />
untouched, I shall undertake a case <strong>of</strong> little difficulty :<br />
I shall plead the cause <strong>of</strong> the gods.<br />
2. It is superfluous to show at the present time<br />
that so great a work does not st<strong>and</strong> fast <strong>and</strong> firm<br />
without an overseer; that the regular course <strong>of</strong> the<br />
heavenly bodies is not a fortuitous concourse <strong>of</strong> atoms;<br />
that those objects which chance puts in motion are<br />
subject to frequent<br />
disturbances <strong>and</strong> sudden col<br />
lisions; that this harmonious velocity is under the<br />
sway <strong>of</strong> an eternal law governing everything on l<strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> sea, no less than the brilliant luminaries which<br />
shine according to a prearranged plan; that this order<br />
is not the result <strong>of</strong> elements moving about at ran<br />
dom, neither can fortuitous aggregations <strong>of</strong> matter<br />
cohere with such art that the immense mass <strong>of</strong> the<br />
earth<br />
remains motionless while beholding the rapid<br />
gyrations <strong>of</strong> the heavenly bodies about itself; that<br />
the seas poured into the valleys to fructify the soil<br />
or that enor<br />
never feel any increase from rivers;<br />
mous vegetation grows from the minutest seeds.<br />
3. Not even those things that appear to be uncer<br />
I mean rains <strong>and</strong> clouds<br />
tain <strong>and</strong> without regularity<br />
<strong>and</strong> the bolts <strong>of</strong> lightning darting from the clouds,<br />
<strong>and</strong> fires poured from the cleft summits <strong>of</strong> mountains,<br />
<strong>and</strong> the quakings <strong>of</strong> the tottering ground, <strong>and</strong> such<br />
other disturbances <strong>of</strong> the earth about us are with<br />
out a rational explanation, unforeseen though they<br />
be. These things, too, have their causes, not less<br />
those which, when they appear in unexpected places,<br />
are regarded as prodigies, such as warm springs among<br />
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