means to secure one's livelihood, and a recourse to
reasonable precautions in order to ensure one's
personal safety. It does not justify carelessness or
presumption. The doctrine of the divine provi-
dence, which is implicit and explicit in the gospels,
is not a premium put on the recklessness even of
good men. A concrete example of this is afforded
by the refusal of Jesus to be deterred from His
mission by the reported threat of Herod to murder
Him ( Luke xiii. 31 f.). He replied, Go and tell that
fox, Behold I cast out demons and perform cures to-day
and to-morrow, . . . to-day and to-morrow and the
next day I must go on. The third day I shall be
perfected. The providence of God is over Him
until His mission is accomplished. But it is not
accomplished without suffering. With a touch of
deep irony, He adds: For it is impossible that any
prophet should perish except in Jerusalem. The Holy
City must retain its monopoly of killing the messengers
of God! Nevertheless, even this fate is part of
God's providence, since without it the divine work
of Jesus could not be accomplished. He believes
in this providence and has courage to face risks
in carrying out God's purpose, but at the same time,
as His withdrawal from Galilee and His precautions
before the Last Supper show, this is perfectly con-
sonant with a careful avoidance of needless dangers.
When they persecute you in one city, He told His dis-
ciples similarly, flee to another. ¹ But the clearest

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