"৳ From such extravagant principles,—that man has not the freedom of choice,—and that every event is disposed and constrained by Divine prescience,—we are forced to conclude, that all our vices ought to be ascribed solely to God... the source of every virtue, and of all goodness. Supposing this... it will be of no use either to hope or to pray... for why... do either, when all... is irreversibly predestined? Hope and prayer, becoming... ineffectual, the only intercourse betwixt God and the human race is cut off: for as by offering up our supplications with due reverence and humility, we merit the inestimable reward of the Divine grace and counsel; so it is by means of prayer... that we... associate... with the Deity, and to unite... to that inaccessible light. But if a fixed irrevocable necessity... is admitted, prayer can have no effect; and what other way is there then left, wherewith we can be connected..? Man therefore... being... detached and disunited from the source of his existence, must sink into nothing."