ABSTRACT
Several Greek philosophers also contributed to the formation of the idea of providence. Plato (c. 427-347 B.C.) explained the orderliness of the world in the Timaeus. According to Plato, a godlike being, the Demiurge, molded preexisting matter into the world and its contents on the model of the perfect, eternal forms. The Demiurge is like a divine potter, using preexisting materials and modeling them to replicate the eternal forms, and thereby differs from the God of the Bible who creates everything ex nihilo. In a late dialogue, the Laws, Plato asserted that a World Soul guides the universe benevolently. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) agreed with Plato that the orderliness of nature flows from forms or essences, but he thought that these forms are intrinsic to individual beings, which are inseparable composites of matter and form. His philosophy of nature included a notion of finality but denied that finality was imposed by an external agent or god. The Stoic philosophers, following Zeno of Citium (334-262 B.C.), believed that the cosmos is one of divine and purposeful design, a view expressed in their concept of Logos, which at once refers to the interconnectedness and design of the cosmos and to its underlying rationality, which is accessible to human understanding. Opposed to any idea of providence, Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) claimed that the world originated from the random collisions of atoms in empty space. The Epicurean doctrine of chance became the perennial target for providentialist philosophers and theologians. Both Platonic and Stoic ideas appear in many early Christian writings and contributed to the formulation of a characteristically Christian conception of divine providence.
