Ancient Testimonies #6

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DTK

Puritan Board Junior
Basil of Caesarea on Providence . . .

Basil of Caesarea (Ad 329-379):
In fact, it is not by acquiring knowledge of God with our carnal eyes that we believe in Him, but by the power of the mind we have perceived the invisible God through visible things. Therefore, ‘all his works are done with faithfulness.’ Even if you consider the stone, it also possesses a certain proof of the power of its Maker: likewise, if you consider the ant or the gnat or the bee. Frequently in the smallest objects the wisdom of the Creator shines forth. He who unfolded the heavens and poured out the boundless expanses of the seas, He it is who hollowed out the very delicate sting of the bee like a tube, so that through it the poison might be poured out. Therefore ‘all his works are done with faithfulness.’ Do not say: ‘This happened by chance’ and ‘that occurred accidentally.’ Nothing is casual, nothing indeterminate, nothing happens at random, nothing among things that exist is caused by chance. And do not say ‘It is a bad mishap,’ or ‘it is an evil hour.’ These are the words of the untaught. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And yet not one of them will fall’ without the divine will. How many are the hairs of your head? Not one of them will be forgotten. Do you see the divine eye, how none of the least trifles escapes its glance? Fathers of the Church, Vol. 46, Exegetic Homilies, Homily 15 on Psalm 32, §3 (Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1963), p. 232.
Greek text: Οὐ γὰρ σαρκίνοις ὀφθαλμοῖς καταμαθόντες τὸν Θεὸν, πεπι στεύκαμεν εἰς αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ νοῦ δυνάμει διὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων τὸν ἀόρατον καθορῶμεν. Πάντα οὖν τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἐν πίστει. Κἂν τὸν λίθον καταμάθῃς, ἔχει καὶ αὐτός τινα τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ πεποιηκότος ἀπό δειξιν· κἂν μύρμηκα, κἂν ἐμπίδα, κἂν μέλισσαν. Πολλάκις καὶ ἐν τοῖς μικροτάτοις ἡ σοφία τοῦ δη μιουργοῦ διαφαίνεται. Ὁ γὰρ οὐρανὸν διαπλώσας, καὶ τὰ ἄπλετα μεγέθη τῶν πελαγῶν ἀναχέας, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ καὶ τὸ λεπτότατον κέντρον τῆς μελίσσης κοι λάνας ὥσπερ αὐλὸν, ὥστε δι' αὐτοῦ τὸν ἰὸν ἀποχεῖ σθαι. Πάντα οὖν τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἐν πίστει. Μηδέν σοι ἀπιστίας ἐφόδιον ἔστω. Μὴ εἴπῃς· Ὡς ἔτυχε, γέγονε τοῦτο, καὶ αὐτομάτως ἀπήντησε τόδε. Οὐδὲν ἄτακτον, οὐδὲν ἀόριστον, οὐδὲν εἰκῆ γενόμενον, οὐδὲ ὡς ἔτυχε φερόμενον ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν. Ἢ, Κακὴ συντυχία, ἢ, Πο νηρὰ ὥρα. Ἀπαιδεύτων αὗται αἱ φωναί. Οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται; καὶ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ πεσεῖται ἄνευ τοῦ θείου θελήματος. Πόσαι αἱ τρίχες τῆς κεφαλῆς! Μία αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπιλελη σμένη. Ὁρᾷς τὸν θεῖον ὀφθαλμὸν, ὡς οὐδὲν τῶν μι κροτάτων τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ διαφεύγει; Homilia In Psalmum XXXIII, §3, PG 29:329.
 
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