(fatum) denotes an inevitable necessity depending upon a superior cause. The word is formed a fando, "from speaking, " and primarily implies the same with effatum, vis. a word or decree pronounced by God, or a fixed sentence whereby the Deity has prescribed the order of things, and allotted to every person what shall befal him. The Greeks called it as it were a chain or necessary series of things indissolubly linked together. It is also used to express a certain unavoidable designation of things, by which all agents, both necessary and voluntary, are swayed and directed to their ends. Fate is divided into physical and divine.
1. Physical fate is an order and series of natural causes, appropriated to their effects; as, that fire warms; bodies communicate motion to each other, &c." and the effects of it are all the events and phenomena of nature.
2. Divine fate is what is more usually called providence.
See PROVIDENCE, NECESSITY.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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