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anyone wishing to collect them would extend the discourse to an infinite length. But if the same manner of refutations is not brought upon all who sin, but some even seem to escape, let no one deny providence on this account. For he does not exercise his care for men in only one way, but in many and various ways. Not least does the construction and proportion of bodies subject to generation and corruption, which is always preserved in the same way, show that providence exists. For in every part of the body the forethought of providence is apparent, which the industrious are able to gather from various writings. And the variety of colors in animals, which always preserves the same order, cries out that providence exists; and what is commonly agreed upon among all men, the need to pray and to worship the divine with votive offerings and precincts, is indicative of providence. For if the universe were without providence, to whom or for what would anyone pray? And the zeal for good deeds, naturally pursued by the uncorrupted, manifests providence. For awaiting the reward from it, we choose to do good even to those who are not able to repay us. But if providence is done away with, injustice is conceded to those who are able to do wrong, and mercy and the fear of God are done away with, and with these, virtue and piety are also done away with; for if God does not exercise providence, he neither punishes nor does he assign rewards to those who do well, nor does he prevent the injuries of the wronged. Who then would still worship a god, who contributes nothing to us in any way? And prophecy and all foreknowledge are also done away with. But these things do not agree with what is seen nearly every day. For many are the epiphanies of the divine in times of need, and many assistances are given through dreams to the sick, and many predictions have been brought forth in every generation, and many who have committed murder and done something of the unholy things are terrified night and day. Besides, God is good; and being good, he is beneficent; and if beneficent, he is also provident. Why must one speak of the works of creation and its proportion and harmony and position and order and the need which each part provides to the whole, and how it is not possible for it to be otherwise well than as it now is, and how it neither admits of addition nor can any of its parts be wanting, but all things are perfect and beautiful, wisely and providentially created? But let us postpone the exposition of these things to the discourse on creation, so that we may not suffer what many who have written about providence have suffered. For they praise creation instead of providence, though it leads us to the discourse on providence, yet differs greatly. For providence and creation are not the same thing. For it is the part of creation to make well the things that come to be; but of providence, to care well for the things that have come to be. But these do not by any means co-exist with one another, as it is possible to see from men in every art and method. For some of them stop at only making things well, and care no further, such as carpenters and painters and sculptors; while others only care for and provide for things, such as cowherds and shepherds; Therefore, we too, in the discourse on creation, might fittingly show that the things that have come to be were made well; but in the discourse on providence, that they also receive the necessary care after they have come to be. How then is man always born from man and ox from ox, and each thing grows from its own seed, and not from another, if providence is absent? For if someone should say that the matter proceeds by a chain of succession according to its original generation, he would be saying this: that providence by all means co-exists with creation. For the fact that what has been created proceeds by a chain of succession shows that providence was laid down together with creation. For the administration of things after creation belongs to providence; and thus he would be saying nothing other than that the same being is at once maker and provider for existing things. And who, seeing the forms of men in so many myriads differing and in no way coinciding in all respects, would not marvel at the work, and, considering the cause, will find

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τις βουληθείη συναγαγεῖν εἰς ἄπειρον ἂν μῆκος ἐκτείνειεν τὸν λόγον. εἰ δὲ μὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν ὁ αὐτὸς τρόπος τῶν ἐλέγχων ἐπάγεται, ἄλλ' ἔνιοι καὶ διαφεύγειν δοκοῦσιν, μηδεὶς ἀρνείσθω διὰ τοῦτο τὴν πρόνοιαν. οὐ γὰρ καθ' ἕνα μόνον τρόπον ποιεῖται τὴν τῶν ἀν θρώπων ἐπιμέλειαν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πολλοὺς καὶ διαφόρους. οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ τὸ εἶναι πρόνοιαν δείκνυσιν ἡ τῶν σωμάτων τῶν ἐν γενέσει καὶ φθορᾷ κατασκευὴ καὶ ἀναλογία διὰ παντὸς ὁμοίως φυλαττομένη. παντὶ γὰρ μορίῳ τοῦ σώματος ἐμφαίνεται τῆς προνοίας ἡ προμήθεια, ἅτινα τοῖς φιλοπόνοις ἔξεστιν ἐκ διαφόρων συγγραμμάτων ἀναλέγεσθαι. καὶ ἡ τῶν χρωμάτων δὲ ποικιλία τῶν ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ κόσμον φυλάττουσα κέκραγε πρόνοιαν εἶναι, καὶ τὸ κοινῇ δὲ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὁμολογούμενον, τὸ δεῖν εὔχεσθαι καὶ θεραπεύειν τὸ θεῖον ἀναθήμασί τε καὶ περιβόλοις, προνοίας ἐστὶ δηλωτικόν. ἀπρονοήτου γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ παντός, τίς ἂν ἢ τί τις εὔξαιτο; καὶ ἡ σπουδὴ δὲ ἡ περὶ τὰς εὐεργεσίας, φυσικῶς ἐν τοῖς ἀδιαστρόφοις σπουδα ζομένη, τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐμφαίνει. τὸν γὰρ ἐκ ταύτης μισθὸν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι καὶ τοὺς μὴ δυναμένους ἀμείψασθαι ποιεῖν εὖ προαιρούμεθα. προνοίας δὲ ἀναιρουμένης συγκεχώρηται μὲν ἀδικία τοῖς δυναμένοις ἀδικεῖν, ἀναιρεῖται δὲ ἐλεημοσύνη καὶ θεοῦ φόβος, συναναιρεῖται δὲ τούτοις ἀρετὴ καὶ εὐσέβεια· εἰ γὰρ μὴ προνοεῖ θεός, οὐδὲ τιμωρεῖται οὐδὲ τοῖς εὖ πράττουσιν ἔπαθλα νέμει οὐδὲ τῶν ἀδικουμένων τὰς βλάβας ἀπείργει. τίς ἂν οὖν ἔτι προσκυνήσειεν θεόν, μηδὲν εἰς μηδὲν ἡμῖν συμβαλλόμενον; ἀναιρεῖται δὲ καὶ προφητεία καὶ πᾶσα πρόγνωσις. ἀλλ' οὐ συμφωνεῖ ταῦτα τοῖς καθ' ἑκάστην σχεδὸν ἡμέραν ὁρωμένοις. πολλαὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ταῖς χρείαις ἐπιφάνειαι τοῦ θείου, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ δι' ὀνείρων τοῖς κάμνουσι δίδοται βοηθήματα, πολλαί τε προγνώσεις καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἐξηνέχθησαν, πολλοὶ δὲ μιαιφονήσαντες καί τι τῶν ἀθεμίτων πράξαντες ἐκδειματοῦνται νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν. ἄλλως τε ἀγαθός ἐστιν ὁ θεός· ἀγαθὸς δὲ ὤν, εὐεργετικός ἐστιν· εἰ δὲ εὐεργετικός, καὶ προ νοητικός. τί δεῖ λέγειν τὰ τῆς κτίσεως ἔργα καὶ τὴν ἀναλογίαν αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν ἁρμονίαν καὶ τὴν θέσιν καὶ τὴν τάξιν καὶ τὴν χρείαν ἣν ἕκαστον παρέχεται τῷ παντί, καὶ ὡς οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄλλως καλῶς ἔχειν παρ' ὃ νῦν ἔχει, καὶ ὡς οὔτε προσθήκην ἐπιδέχεται οὔτε τῶν ὄντων ἐπιλείπειν τι δύναται, ἀλλὰ τέλεια πάντα καὶ καλά, σοφῶς τε καὶ προνοητικῶς δεδημιούργηται; ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν τῆς δημιουργίας λόγον ἀναβαλώμεθα τὴν τούτων ἔκθεσιν, ἵνα μὴ πάθωμεν ὅπερ πολλοὶ τῶν περὶ προνοίας γραψάντων πεπόνθασιν. τὴν γὰρ κτίσιν ἀντὶ τῆς προνοίας ἀνυμνοῦσιν, ποδηγοῦσαν μὲν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸν περὶ τῆς προνοίας λόγον, κατὰ πολὺ δὲ διαφέρουσαν. οὐ γὰρ ταὐτόν ἐστι πρόνοια καὶ κτίσις. κτίσεως μὲν γὰρ τὸ καλῶς ποιῆσαι τὰ γινόμενα· προνοίας δὲ τὸ καλῶς ἐπιμεληθῆναι τῶν γινομένων· οὐ συνυπάρχει δὲ ταῦτα πάντως ἀλλήλοις, ὡς ἔστιν ἐκ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν καθ' ἑκάστην τέχνην καὶ μέθοδον ἰδεῖν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἄχρι μόνου τοῦ ποιῆσαι καλῶς ἵστανται, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔτι φροντίζουσιν, ὡς τέκτονές τε καὶ γραφεῖς καὶ πλάσται· οἱ δὲ μόνον ἐπιμελοῦνται καὶ προνοοῦσιν, ὡς βουκόλοι τε καὶ ποιμένες· οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν μὲν τῷ περὶ τῆς κτίσεως λόγῳ δεόντως ἂν ἐπιδεικνύοιμεν ὅτι καλῶς γέγονε τὰ γενόμενα· ἐν δὲ τῷ περὶ προνοίας ὅτι καὶ τῆς δεούσης ἐπιμελείας τυγχάνει μετὰ τὸ γενέσθαι. πῶς οὖν ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἀνθρώπου καὶ βοῦς ἐκ βοὸς ἀεὶ γεννᾶται, καὶ ἕκαστον ἐκ τοῦ οἰκείου σπέρματος φύεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἄλλου, προνοίας ἀπούσης; εἰ γὰρ λέγοι τις ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γένεσιν εἱρμῷ προβαίνει τὸ πρᾶγμα, τοῦτο ἂν εἴη λέγων ὅτι τῇ κτίσει συνυπάρχει πάντως ἡ πρόνοια. τὸ γὰρ εἱρμῷ προβαίνειν τὸ κτισθὲν δηλοῖ τῇ κτίσει συγκαταβεβλῆσθαι τὴν πρόνοιαν. προνοίας γὰρ ἡ μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν διεξαγωγὴ τῶν ὄντων· καὶ οὕτως οὐδὲν ἂν ἄλλο λέγοι ἢ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι ποιητὴν ἅμα καὶ προνοητὴν τῶν ὄντων. τίς δὲ ὁρῶν τὰς μορφὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐν τοσαύταις μυριάσιν διαλλαττού σας καὶ μηδαμοῦ κατὰ πάντα συνεμπιπτούσας, οὐ θαυμάσειε μὲν τὸ ἔργον, ἀναλογιζόμενος δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν, εὑρήσει