04_Biblica_Collins_Layout 1 01/04/14 11:47 Pagina 74 74 C. JOHN COLLINS for that the Deity is uncreated and eternal, to be beheld by the un- derstanding and reason alone (nw/| mo,nw| kai. lo,gw| qewrou,menon), while matter is created and perishable. In the same context, he calls in the Greek poet Euripides as a witness to the trend toward monotheism in the best heathen writers (5.2): but Him [God] he [Euripides] did see by means of His works (avpo. tw/n e;rgwn), considering with an eye to things unseen the things which are manifest in air, in ether, on earth. This is reminiscent of the themes seen above in Pseudo-Aristotle 25, as well as Rom 1,20. Athenagoras declares that God “holds together (sune,conta) and superintends all things” (13.3) 26. And later he calls the universe a “total system” (su,stasij, 25.2-3), and shows the error of those who “thought that our universe was not put together [sunesta,nai] with any order” (25.3). Athenagoras certainly has a strong notion of God’s pervasive providence, upon which creation continually de- pends, though his vocabulary for this idea is varied, and he does not supply other examples of our words. Eusebius’ Preparation for the Gospel (ca. 315 C.E.) summarizes the Genesis creation account for a Hellenistic audience, using sunisthmi as the appropriate term for what God has done (in a con- , text that does not show dependence on Col 1,17) 27: (7.10) For not without design, nor as it chanced, nor by sponta- neous and irrational impulse, has this so vast system been put to- gether [sunesta,nai to.n thlikou/ton dia,kosmon]. 25 Athenagoras has the angels as intermediaries of God’s providence (24.3), reminiscent of Pseudo-Aristotle’s image of God as being like the Per- sian king, with numerous servants to execute his will (De Mundo, 397b, 20- 22). Another study can investigate how much this thinking lies behind Athenagoras’ views. 26 The ANF and Schoedel editions render sune,cw here as “preserve” or “con- serve”, but the context speaks of God making the parts of the creation work to- gether. See also 6.2, “all things were created and are held together by his Spirit” (dedhmiourghtai kai. tw/| parV auvtou/ pneu,mati sune,cetai ta. pa,nta). , 27 English translation based on Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel (E.H. GIFFORD, trans.) (Oxford 1903).