Why can they not take it in, that their evils come from the Being whose goodness they have failed to recognize? They suffer at the hands of Him to whom they have been ungrateful. And, for all that is said, if we compare the calamities of former times, they fall on us more lightly now, since God gave Christians to the world. For from that time, virtue put some restraint on the world’s wickedness, and men began to pray for the averting of God’s wrath. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.48
In a word, when the summer clouds give no rain, and the season is a matter of anxiety, you indeed offer up to Jupiter your rain sacrifices. Yet, you are full of feasting day by day, and ever eager for the banquet, baths, taverns, and brothels, being always busy. It is true that you force barefoot processions on the people. You seek heaven at the Capitol, and you look up to the temple ceilings for the longed for clouds. Yet, God and heaven are not in all your thoughts. In contrast, we [Christians] are dried up with fasting. Our passions are tightly bound up. We hold back from all the ordinary enjoyments of life, as long as possible. We roll in sackcloth and ashes and assail heaven with our cries. Thereby, we touch God’s heart. Yet, once we have extorted divine compassion, why, Jupiter gets all the honor! Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.48