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Single Idea 2651
[filed under theme 28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / d. God decrees morality
]
Full Idea
God is not subject to obey the laws of nature. It is nature that is subject to the laws of God.
Gist of Idea
God doesn't obey the laws of nature; they are subject to the law of God
Source
M. Tullius Cicero (On the Nature of the Gods ('De natura deorum') [c.44 BCE], II.77)
Book Ref
Cicero: 'The Nature of the Gods', ed/tr. McGregor,Horace [Penguin 1972], p.155
The
20 ideas
from 'On the Nature of the Gods ('De natura deorum')'
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20814
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Eloquence educates, exhorts, comforts, distracts and unites us, and raises us from savagery
[Cicero]
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2645
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Why shouldn't the gods fear their own destruction?
[Cicero]
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2628
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Why would mind mix with matter if it didn't need it?
[Cicero]
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2627
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I wonder whether loss of reverence for the gods would mean the end of all virtue
[Cicero]
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2634
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It seems clear to me that we have an innate idea of the divine
[Cicero]
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2635
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The gods are happy, so virtuous, so rational, so must have human shape
[Cicero]
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2636
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Many primitive people know nothing of the gods
[Cicero]
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2638
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Either the gods are identical, or one is more beautiful than another
[Cicero]
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2640
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We have the death penalty, but still have thousands of robbers
[Cicero]
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2641
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Why believe in gods if you have never seen them?
[Cicero]
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2647
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It is obvious from order that someone is in charge, as when we visit a gymnasium
[Cicero]
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2650
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If a person cannot feel the power of God when looking at the stars, they are probably incapable of feeling
[Cicero]
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2651
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God doesn't obey the laws of nature; they are subject to the law of God
[Cicero]
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2652
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Some regard nature simply as an irrational force that imparts movement
[Cicero]
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2653
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If the parts of the universe are subject to the law of nature, the whole universe must also be subject to it
[Cicero]
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2655
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If the barbarians of Britain saw a complex machine, they would be baffled, but would know it was designed
[Cicero]
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2656
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Chance is no more likely to create the world than spilling lots of letters is likely to create a famous poem
[Cicero]
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2657
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If everything with regular movement and order is divine, then recurrent illnesses must be divine
[Cicero]
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2658
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The gods blame men for having vices, but they could have given us enough reason to avoid them
[Cicero]
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2659
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The lists of good men who have suffered and bad men who have prospered are endless
[Cicero]
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