The Word Governs the Whole Universe, Seen and Unseen

By a nod, and by the power of the divine Word of the Father, who governs and presides over all things, the heaven turns, the stars move, the sun shines, and the moon goes on its rounds. The air receives the sun’s light, and the ether its heat, and the winds blow. The mountains are raised on high, the sea is rough with waves, and the living things in it grow. The earth stays fixed and bears fruit. Human beings are formed, live, and die again, and all things whatever have their life and movement. Fire burns, water cools, springs gush up, rivers flow, seasons and hours come round, rains fall, clouds fill, hail forms, snow and ice freeze, birds fly, creeping things crawl along, and water creatures swim. The sea is sailed, the earth is sown and grows crops in their season, and plants grow: some are young, some are ripening, and others, as they grow, become old and decay. And while some things are vanishing, others are being born and coming to light. [a]

All these things, and more besides that we cannot mention for their number, are moved and ordered by the Word of God, the worker of wonders and marvels, who gives light and life. He moves and orders them by his own nod, and so makes the universe one. Nor does he leave even the invisible powers outside himself. Since he is their maker too, he includes them also in the universe, and he holds them together and gives them life by his nod and by his providence. There can be no excuse for not believing this.

By his providence bodies grow, and the rational soul moves and has life and thought. This needs little proof, for we see what happens. In the same way, the same Word of God, by his own power and with one simple nod, moves and holds together both the visible universe and the invisible powers. He gives each its proper work, so that the divine powers move in a more divine way, while visible things move as we see them move. But he himself is over all, as Governor and King and the power that sets everything in order. He does everything for the glory and the knowledge of his own Father, so that by the very works he brings about he all but teaches us and says, “From the greatness and beauty of created things, their maker is seen by comparison.”