Pagans and Christians on Providence

Abstract Beginning by contradicting Dodds’ remark about providence playing a similar role in Neoplatonism to predestination and grace in Christian theology, the essay explores the central role of providence in Greek thought, whether pagan or Christian. The Greek doctrine of providence, πρόνοια, is rooted in Plato’s thought, where it is a key doctrine, problems with which are put down either to the inherent lack of perfection in a changeable cosmos or to human choice. After Plato a distinction is made between providence and fate, which Christian thinkers radicalize: providence being affirmed, fate rejected. Nevertheless, Christian debate over providence and fate is in profound debt to pagan thinkers, even if not acknowledged. A key thinker in Christian reflection on providence is Nemesios of Emesa, whose On Human Nature seems to have been rediscovered by Maximos the Confessor and through John Damascene becomes well known in later Greek thought.