Why is our condition thus changed? Nothing on earth happens without a cause, yet all deny that they are the cause of this and find fault with Fortune, who turns all things upside down.
Cap. II. O thou who art called Fortune, why dost thou thus depress those whom thou didst once exalt? Once our country was everywhere honoured, all desired to be at peace with it: now our glory has departed and enemies attack us from all quarters. Reply, Fortune, and say if thou art the cause of this change. I think not, for I believe in God and not in Fortune; yet I will describe thee, as men think that thou art.
Cap. III. Fortune, hear what men say of thee, that thou hast a double face, and goest by double paths, that nothing in thee is stable or secure. No gifts may keep thee faithful, thou art lighter than the dead leaves which fly before the wind: now thou art bright and fair, now dark and lowering; thy love is more treacherous than that of a harlot, the prosperity which thou givest is very near to disaster.
Cap. IV. Fortune gives no honey without gall, she changes like the sphere of the moon. Her wheel is ever turning, and no tears or prayers will move her. Citizen and husbandman, king and rustic, rich and poor, all are alike to her. Ah! why was so much power given to such a one as she is?
Thus men say, believing that Fortune can overthrow the decrees of God, but in fact she is nothing, fate is nothing, chance has nothing to do with the affairs of men. Each one makes for himself his own lot: if the will is good, good fortune follows, if evil, it makes the fortune bad. Virtue will lead you to the summit of the wheel, and vice will bring you and your fortune down to the bottom.
Cap. V. God has said that the man who obeys his commands shall prosper in wealth and peace: the very elements are subject to the righteous man. Joshua caused the sun to stand still, Gregory stayed the plague, Moses divided the sea, Elisha caused iron to swim, the three children were unhurt by the fire, the earth rose to give a seat to Hilarius. Wild animals, too, serve the just man, witness Daniel, Silvester, Moses and Jonah.
Cap. VI. Again, the elements war against sinners: so it was in the case of the plague caused by David’s sin, in the case of the Sodomites, Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Lysias and others. The wicked man cannot enjoy good fortune, nor can the good man be deprived of it. It was guilt that caused the fall of Pharaoh and of Saul, the death of Ahab and of Eli with his sons. The Jews always conquered while they were obedient to God’s law, and were overcome when they transgressed it.
Cap. VII. It is God Omnipotent, the Three in One, who governs all things here. As fire, heat and motion are three things combined in one, so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons but one Godhead.
Cap. VIII. Christ, the Son of the Father, became incarnate in man, and yet remained what he was before, being less than the Father and yet equal to him, perfect Man and perfect God. As the frailty of the first Adam brought evil upon us all, so the strength of the second Adam healed our wound and restored our fallen state.
Cap. IX. We must submit our mind to the faith, for man cannot understand the things of God, and we must not examine too closely the mystery which we cannot penetrate. This we know, that life is given to all through the name of Jesus Christ.