The early modern period inherited the doctrine of providence (Latin providentia) from the philosophical and theological tradition of Christian antiquity. It states that the course of the cosmos, nature, and history is determined neither by blind chance (the “Epicurean” theory) nor by an inevitable fate (the “Stoic” theory) but by the targeted, purposeful, rational, and provident action of God. At the beginning of the early modern period, various implementations of the …