The Gods show us signs of future events; if we are occasionally deceived in the results, it is not to be imputed to the nature of the Gods, but to the conjectures of men.

All nations agree that there are Gods; the opinion is innate, and, as it were, engraved in the minds of all men.
The only point in dispute among us is, what they are.
V.Their existence no one denies.

Cleanthes, one of our sect, imputes the way in which the idea of the Gods is implanted in the minds of men to four causes.

The first is that which I just now mentioned--the foreknowledge of future things.

The second is the great advantages which we enjoy from the temperature of the air, the fertility of the earth, and the abundance of various benefits of other kinds.