Nichil contra naturam, auctore Platone, qui
Nature as the Will of God
The author explores the Platonic view that nature is the expression of God's will, manifesting through hidden seminal causes.
He calls nature the will of God. If we follow Plato, who asserts that nature is the will of God, then none of these things happens against nature, since He has done everything He willed. Indeed, while He carries out the causes of things, He establishes divine goodness as the end of all things. He is the Best, he says; furthermore, all envy is far removed from the Best. Therefore, He consequently willed to bring forth all things similar to Himself, according to the capacity of each nature for blessedness; and if anyone posits that this will of God is the most certain origin of things, I would agree that he thinks correctly. And indeed, the wisdom and goodness of God, which provides the origin for all things, is most rightly called nature; nothing happens against it, because nothing empties the disposition of God or deprives of its effect those causes which have existed from eternity in the mind of Him who made the heavens in His intellect. Thus, the seminal causes of events and the original reasons are inherent in things, and they proceed into their effects at the preordained time; they are wonderful, not because they have no reasons, but because they have the most hidden ones. For moisture is drawn from the deepest recesses of the earth by the roots of trees or vines through a certain appetitive power; then it is digested through the members of the plants by a certain distribution of nature, and when it has progressed with its own decoction, it swells into shoots, and what it does not need for its own sustenance, it sends out into leaves and fruits, which, when they have matured, foam into must, and thus, through the intervals of time and by customary use, they bring forth wines.
The Mystery of Miracles
Miracles are seen as the acceleration of natural processes by divine providence, calling for human humility before God's wisdom.
If, however, by some hidden arrangement of God, moisture is digested and matured through certain natural channels and turns into wine without any passage of time, it is indeed a miracle, because the depth of divine providence transcends our understanding. But, as the wise man says, let the cloudy error of ignorance give way, and let wonders truly cease to seem so. I don't, however, undermine the faith or authority of God’s wonders; rather, with full humility, I venerate and admire the depth of the riches of His wisdom and knowledge, knowing that what is foolish in God is wiser than human beings. For it is human weakness to err in many things, just as it is angelic or divine perfection to perceive nothing otherwise than as it really is.
Read the original Latin
naturam dicit Dei uoluntatem. Si uero Platonem sequimur qui asserit naturam esse Dei uoluntatem, prof ecto nichil istorum euenit contra naturam, cum ille omnia quaecumque uoluit fecerit. Ille quidem dum rerum causas exequitur, finem omnium diuinam astruit bonitatem. Optimus est, inquit; porro ab optimo longe relegata est omnis inuidia. Itaque consequenter cuncta sui similia, prout natura cuiusqUe beatitudinis capax esse poterat, e£Bci uoluit, quam quidem Dei uoluntatem certissimam rerum originem esse si quis ponat, recte eum putare consentiam. Et quidem sapientia Dei et bonitas, quae rebus omnibus originem praebet, natura rectissime appellatur; contra quam utique nihil fit, quia dispositionem Dei nihil euacuat, aut xiausas quae in mente illius, qui fecit celos in intellectu, ab eterno constiterunt, suo priuat effectu. Insunt itaque rebus seminales euentuum causae et originariae rationes, quae praeordinato tempore in suos procedunt effectus, ex eo quidem mirabiles, non quod nullas sed quod occultissimas habeant rationes. Humor siquidem de intimis terrae uisceribus ab arborum uel uinearum radicibus appetitiua quadam uirtute attrahitur, deinde quadam distributione naturae digeritur per plantarum membra, et cum sua decoctione profecerit, turgescit in surculos, et quo ad sustentationem sui non indiget, in folia et fructus emittit, qui cum maturuerint in musta despumant et sic per interualla temporum consueto usu uina parturiunt.
Si uero occulta dispositione a Dei quibusdam naturae cuniculis digestus et maturatus humor absque temporis interstitio inopinatum uertatur in uinum, miraculum quidem est, quia altitudo diuinae dispensationis nostrum transcendit intellectum. Sed, ut ait sapiens, cedat inscitiae nubilus error, cessent profecto mira uideri. Non tamen mirabilium Dei fidem uel auctoritatem infringo, sed altitudinem diuitiarum sapientiae et scientiae suae plena humihtate ueneror et admiror, sciens quia quod stultum est Dei, sapientius est hominibus. In multis etenim labi humana infirmitas est, sicut in nullo aliter sentire quam res se habeat, angelica uel diuina perfectio.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
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