Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VI/Arnobius/Adversus Gentes/Book II/Chapter VIII

by Arnobius

8. And since you have been wont to laugh at our faith, and with droll jests to pull to pieces our readiness of belief too, say, O wits, soaked and filled with wisdom’s pure drought, is there in life any kind of business demanding diligence and activity, which the doers^[1] undertake, engage in, and essay, without believing that it can be done? Do you travel about, do you sail on the sea without believing that you will return home when your business is done? Do you break up the earth with the plough, and fill it with different kinds of seeds without believing that you will gather in the fruit with the changes of the seasons? Do you unite with partners in marriage,^[2] without believing that it will be pure, and a union serviceable to the husband? Do you beget children without believing that they will pass^[3] safely through the different stages of life to the goal of age? Do you commit your sick bodies to the hands of physicians, without believing that diseases can be relieved by their severity being lessened? Do you wage wars with your enemies, without believing that you will carry off the victory by success in battles?^[4] Do you worship and serve the gods without believing that they are, and that they listen graciously to your prayers?

Footnotes

1. The ms. has a-t-tor-o-s, corrected by a later writer a-c-tor-e-s, which is received in LB. and by Meursius and Orelli.
2. Lit., “unite marriage partnerships.”
3. Lit., “be safe and come.”
4. Or, “in successive battles”—præliorum successionibus.