Quamobrem si ab initio et instructa et certis exercendorum officiorum suorum rationibus dispensata universitas constitit, vacat ex hac parte causa adlegendae humanitatis in divinitatem, quia quas illis stationes et potestates distribuistis, tam fuerunt ab initio quam et fuissent etiamsi deos istos non creassetis.
Thus, if from the very beginning the universe stood there equipped and furnished with definite laws for the exercise of all its functions, from this point of view there really is no cause for electing men into the ranks of the gods; because the posts and powers you have allotted to them existed from the beginning, and as surely would have existed even if you had never created these gods.
final_alignments\Tertullian_Apology.json