This chapter discusses the Stoics’ views about God and Fate. The Stoics believe that every event that occurs in the cosmos was fated and determined to occur. When events are controlled by Fate — which is the same thing as Necessity, Zeus, and Providence — they are not influenced from a distance, or controlled from on high. Instead, Fate works on every portion of every object’s being. Thus, the Stoic understanding of fate was intended to play a role on helping individuals take a different view of their lives.
Keywords: God, Fate, Stoics, Stoicism, philosophy