Summary

Portrait of Lactantius Lactantius Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VI, On the Workmanship of God… (1885)

But when he saw that a wonderful system of providence is contained in all things which breathe, what vanity was it (O mischievous one!) to say that there had been animals of immense size, in which the system of production ceased!
Since, therefore, all things which we see are produced with reference to a plan—for nothing but a plan [2] can effect this very condition of being born—it is manifest that nothing could have been born without a plan. For it was previously foreseen in the formation of everything, how it should use the service of the limbs for the necessaries of life
Source: Wikisource

Portrait of Lactantius Lactantius Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VI, On the Workmanship of God… (1885)

For it is plain that this use could have no existence, unless all the limbs had been made with such arrangement and foresight, that they might be able to have their use.
For what if you should say, that birds were not made to fly, nor wild beasts to rage, nor fishes to swim, nor men to be wise, when it is evident that living creatures are subject to that natural disposition and office to which each was created? But it is evident that he who has lost the main point itself of the truth must always be in error.
Source: Wikisource

Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature