351. Those who believe in the Divine working in all the details of nature are able, by very many things which nature shows them, to confirm themselves in favour of the Divine, as fully as those confirmed in favour of nature, indeed more fully. For the former pay heed to the wonders displayed in the propagation both of vegetables and animals. In the propagation of vegetables: that out of a little seed cast into the earth, a root goes out, by means of a root, a stem, and branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit, one after the other, even to new seeds; just as if the seed knew the order of succession, or the process by which it is about to be renewed. Can any rational being imagine that the sun, which is pure fire, has this knowledge, or that it can infuse its heat and light with the capacity to effect such results, or that it is able to fashion the marvels in them, and contemplate the use? The man of elevated reason, who sees and ponders these things, cannot but think that they come from Him Who has infinite Wisdom, thus from God. Those who do acknowledge the Divine see and think this also; but those who do not acknowledge the Divine do not see and think this, because they will not. Thus they allow their rational to sink down into the sensual, which draws all its ideas from the light of the region of the bodily senses, and confirms their illusions, saying, Do you not see the sun effecting these things by means of its heat and light? What is a thing that you do not see? Is it anything? Those who confirm themselves in favour of the Divine pay heed to the wonders displayed in the propagation of animals: for instance, this fact alone is remarkable in eggs; how the little chick lies in them hidden in its seed, or undeveloped state, with everything it needs until the hatching out, and also with everything for its growth, after hatching, until it becomes a bird, or flying creature, in a form like, the parent. And, if one observes the living form, it is such as to fill with amazement any one who thinks deeply. For, in the most minute just as in the greatest of them, and indeed, in the invisible just as in the visible, there are organs of the senses, namely sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch; also organs of motion which are muscles, for they fly and walk; and the viscera surrounding heart and lungs, which are set in motion by the brains. That common insects also enjoy the use of these organs is well known from their anatomy, as described by certain writers, notably by Swammerdam, in his Biblia Naturae. Those who ascribe everything to nature certainly see things, but have in mind only the fact that they exist, and declare that nature produces them. They say this because they have turned their minds away from thinking about the Divine; and those who have done this are unable to think rationally, still less to think spiritually, when they see marvels in nature. But their thought is sensual and material; and then they think in nature from nature, and not above nature, in the same way as those who are in hell. The only thing that differentiates them from the beasts is that they have the power to think rationally, that is, they can understand, and so, if they choose, can think otherwise.