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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes
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preface.—of what great value the knowledge of the truth is and always has been.
Chap. i.— of religion and wisdom.
Chap. II.—That there is a providence in the affairs of men.
Chap. III.—Whether the universe is governed by the power of one god or of many.
Chap. IV.—That the one god was foretold even by the prophets.
Chap. V.—Of the testimonies of poets and philosophers.
Chap. VI.—Of divine testimonies, and of the sibyls and their predictions.
chap. VII.—Concerning the testimonies of apollo and the gods.
Chap. viii.—that god is without a body, nor does he need difference of sex for procreation.
Chap. IX.—Of hercules and his life and death.
Chap. xi.—of the origin, life, reign, name and death of jupiter, and of saturn and uranus.
Chap. xii.—that the stoics transfer the figments of the poets to a philosophical system.
Chap. xiv.—what the sacred history of euhemerus and ennius teaches concerning the gods.
Chap. xv.—how they who were men obtained the name of gods.
Chap. xviii.—on the consecration of gods, on account of the benefits which they conferred upon men.
Chap. xix.—that it is impossible for any one to worship the true god together with false deities.
Chap. xx.—of the gods peculiar to the Romans, and their sacred rites.
Chap. xxiii.—of the ages of vain superstitions, and the times at which they commenced.
Chap. iii.—that cicero and other men of learning erred in not turning away the people from error.
Chap. vI.—that neither the whole universe nor the elements are god, nor are they possessed of life.
Chap. viii.—of the use of reason in religion and of dreams, auguries, oracles, and similar portents.
Chap. ix.—of the devil, the world, god, providence, man, and his wisdom.
Chap. X.—Of the World, and Its Parts, the Elements and Seasons.
Chap. XI.—Of Living Creatures, of Man Prometheus, Deucalion, the ParcÆ.
Chap. XV.—Of the Corruption of Angels, and the Two Kinds of Demons.
Chap. XVI.—That Demons Have No Power Over Those Who are Established in the Faith.
Chap. XVII.—That Astrology, Soothsaying, and Similar Arts are the Invention of Demons.
Chap. XVIII.—Of the Patience and Vengeance of God, the Worship of Demons, and False Religions.
Chap. XIX.—Of the Worship of Images and Earthly Objects.
Chap. XX.—Of Philosophy and the Truth.
Chap. II.—Of Philosophy, and How Vain Was Its Occupation in Setting Forth the Truth.
Chap. III.—Of What Subjects Philosophy Consists, and Who Was the Chief Founder of the Academic Sect.
Chap. IV.—That Knowledge is Taken Away by Socrates, and Conjecture by Zeno.
Chap. V.—That the Knowledge of Many Things is Necessary.
Chap. VI.—Of Wisdom, and the Academics, and Natural Philosophy.
Chap. VII.—Of Moral Philosophy, and the Chief Good.
Chap. VIII.—Of the Chief Good, and the Pleasures of the Soul and Body, and of Virtue.
Chap. IX.—Of the Chief Good, and the Worship of the True God, and a Refutation of Anaxagoras.
Chap. X.—It is the Peculiar Property of Man to Know and Worship God.
Chap. XI.—Of Religion, Wisdom, and the Chief Good.
Chap. XIII.—Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of Wisdom, Philosophy, and Eloquence.
Chap. XIV.—That Lucretius and Others Have Erred, and Cicero Himself, in Fixing the Origin of Wisdom.
Chap. XXI.—Of the System of Plato, Which Would Lead to the Overthrow of States.
Chap. XXII.—Of the Precepts of Plato, and Censures of the Same.
Chap. XXIII.—Of the Errors of Certain Philosophers, and of the Sun and Moon.
Chap. XXIV.—Of the Antipodes, the Heaven, and the Stars.
Chap. XXV.—Of Learning Philosophy, and What Great Qualifications are Necessary for Its Pursuit.
Chap. XXVIII.—Of True Religion and of Nature. Whether Fortune is a Goddess, and of Philosophy.
Chap. XXIX.—Of Fortune Again, and Virtue.
Chap. II.—Where Wisdom is to Be Found Why Pythagoras and Plato Did Not Approach the Jews.
Chapter IV.—Of Wisdom Likewise, and Religion, and of the Right of Father and Lord.
Chap. VII.—Of the Name of Son, and Whence He is Called Jesus and Christ.
Chap. XI.—Of the Cause of the Incarnation of Christ.
Chap. XIII.—Of Jesus, God and Man And the Testimonies of the Prophets Concerning Him.
Chap. XIV.—Of the Priesthood of Jesus Foretold by the Prophets.
Chap. XV.—Of the Life and Miracles of Jesus, and Testimonies Concerning Them.
Chap. XVI.—Of the Passion of Jesus Christ That It Was Foretold.
Chap. XVII.—Of the Superstitions of the Jews, and Their Hatred Against Jesus.
Chap. XVIII.—Of the Lord’s Passion, and that It Was Foretold.
Chap. XIX.—Of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus And the Predictions of These Events.
Chap. XXII.—Arguments of Unbelievers Against the Incarnation of Jesus.
Chap. XXIII.—Of Giving Precepts, and Acting.
Chap. XXIV.—The Overthrowing of the Arguments Above Urged by Way of Objection.
Chap. XXVI.—Of the Cross, and Other Tortures of Jesus, and of the Figure of the Lamb Under the Law.
Chap. XXVII.—Of the Wonders Effected by the Power of the Cross, and of Demons.
Chap. XXVIII.—Of Hope and True Religion, and of Superstition.
Chap. XXIX.—Of the Christian Religion, and of the Union of Jesus with the Father.
Chap. XXX.—Of Avoiding Heresies and Superstitions, and What is the Only True Catholic Church.
Chap. II.—To What an Extent the Christian Truth Has Been Assailed by Rash Men.
Chap. IV.—Why This Work Was Published, and Again of Tertullian and Cyprian.
Chap. V.—There Was True Justice Under Saturnus, But It Was Banished by Jupiter.
Chap. VII.—Of the Coming of Jesus, and Its Fruit And of the Virtues and Vices of that Age.
Chap. IX.—Of the Crimes of the Wicked, and the Torture Inflicted on the Christians.
Chap. X.—Of False Piety, and of False and True Religion.
Chap XI.—Of the Cruelty of the Heathens Against the Christians.
Chap. XII.—Of True Virtue And of the Estimation of a Good or Bad Citizen.
Chapter XIII.—Of the Increase and the Punishment of the Christians.
Chap. XIV.—Of the Fortitude of the Christians.
Chap. XV.—Of Folly, Wisdom, Piety, Equity, and Justice.
Chap. XVI.—Of the Duties of the Just Man, and the Equity of Christians.
Chap. XVII.—Of the Equity, Wisdom, and Foolishness of Christians.
Chap. XVIII.—Of Justice, Wisdom, and Folly.
Chap. XIX.—Of Virtue and the Tortures of Christians, and of the Right of a Father and Master.
Chap. XX.—Of the Vanity and Crimes, Impious Superstitions, and of the Tortures of the Christians.
Chap. XXII.—Of the Rage of the Demons Against Christians, and the Error of Unbelievers.
Chap. XXIII.—Of the Justice and Patience of the Christians.
Chap. XXIV.—Of the Divine Vengeance Inflicted on the Torturers of the Christians.
Chap. I.—Of the Worship of the True God, and of Innocency, and of the Worship of False Gods.
Chap. II.—Of the Worship of False Gods and the True God.
Chap. IV.—Of the Ways of Life, of Pleasures, Also of the Hardships of Christians.
Chap. V.—Of False and True Virtue And of Knowledge.
Chap. VI.—Of the Chief Good and Virtue, and or Knowledge and Righteousness.
Chap. VIII.—Of the Errors of Philosophers, and the Variableness of Law.
Chap. IX.—Of the Law and Precept of God Of Mercy, and the Error of the Philosophers.
Chap. X.—Of Religion Towards God, and Mercy Towards Men And of the Beginning of the World.
Chap. XI.—Of the Persons Upon Whom a Benefit is to Be Conferred.
Chap. XII.—Of the Kinds of Beneficence, and Works of Mercy.
Chap. XIII.—Of Repentance, of Mercy, and the Forgiveness of Sins.
Chap. XV.—Of the Affections, and the Opinion of the Peripatetics Respecting Them.
Chap. XVII.—Of the Affections and Their Use Of Patience, and the Chief Good of Christians.
Chap. XVIII.—Of Some Commands of God, and of Patience.
Chap. XIX.—Of the Affections and Their Use And of the Three Furies.
Chap. XXI.—Of the Pleasures of the Ears, and of Sacred Literature.
Chap. XXII.—Of the Pleasures of Taste and Smell.
Chap. XXIII. —De Tactus Voluptate Et Libidine, Atque de Matrimonio Et Continentiâ.
Chap. XXIV.—Of Repentance, of Pardon, and the Commands of God.
Chap. XXV.—Of Sacrifice, and of an Offering Worthy of God, and of the Form of Praising God.
Chap. II.—Of the Error of the Philosophers, and of the Divine Wisdom, and of the Golden Age.
Chap. III.—Of Nature, and of the World And a Censure of the Stoics and Epicureans.
Chap. V.—Of the Creation of Man, and of the Arrangement of the World, and of the Chief Good.
Chap. VI.—Why the World and Man Were Created. How Unprofitable is the Worship of False Gods.
Chap. VII.—Of the Variety of Philosophers, and Their Truth.
Chap. VIII.—Of the Immortality of the Soul.
Chap. IX.—Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of Virtue.
Chap. X.—Of Vices and Virtues, and of Life and Death.
Chap. XI.—Of the Last Times, and of the Soul and Body.
Chap. XII.—Of the Soul and the Body, and of Their Union and Separation and Return.
Chap. XIII.—Of the Soul, and the Testimonies Concerning Its Eternity.
Chap. XIV.—Of the First and Last Times of the World.
Chap. XV.—Of the Devastation of the World and Change of the Empires.
CHAP. XVI.—OF THE DEVASTATION of the World, and Its Prophetic Omens.
Chap. XVII.—Of the False Prophet, and the Hardships of the Righteous, and His Destruction.
Chap. XIX.—Of the Advent of Christ to Judgment, and of the Overcoming of the False Prophet.
Chap. XX.—Of the Judgment of Christ, of Christians, and of the Soul.
Chap. XXI.—Of the Torments and Punishments of Souls.
Chap. XXII.—Of the Error of the Poets, and the Return of the Soul from the Lower Regions.
Chap. XXIII.—Of the Resurrection of the Soul, and the Proofs of This Fact.
Chap. XXIV.—Of the Renewed World.
Chap. XXV.—Of the Last Times, and of the City of Rome.
Chap. XXVI.—Of the Loosing of the Devil, and of the Second and Greatest Judgment.
Chap. XXVII.—An Encouragement and Confirmation of the Pious.
The Epitome of the Divine Institutes.
The Preface.—The Plan and Purport of the Whole Epitome, And of the Institutions.
Chap. I.—Of the Divine Providence.
Chap. II.—That There is But One God, and that There Cannot Be More.
Chap. III.—The Testimonies of the Poets Concerning the One God.
Chap. IV.—The Testimonies of the Philosophers to the Unity of God.
Chap. V.—That the Prophetic Women—That Is, the Sibyls—Declare that There is But One God.
Chap. VI.—Since God is Eternal and Immortal, He Does Not Stand in Need of Sex and Succession.
Chap. VII.—Of the Wicked Life and Death of Hercules.
Chap. VIII.—Of Æsculapius, Apollo, Mars, Castor and Pollux, and of Mercurius and Bacchus.
Chap. IX.—Of the Disgraceful Deeds of the Gods.
Chap. X.—Of Jupiter, and His Licentious Life.
Chap. XI.—The Various Emblems Under Which the Poets Veiled the Turpitude of Jupiter.
Chap. XII.—The Poets Do Not Invent All Those Things Which Relate to the Gods.
Chap. XIII.—The Actions of Jupiter are Related from the Historian Euhemerus.
Chap. XIV.—The Actions of Saturnus and Uranus Taken from the Historians.
Chap. XX.—Of the Gods Peculiar to the Romans.
Chap. XXI.—Of the Sacred Rites of the Roman Gods.
Chap. XXII.—Of the Sacred Rites Introduced by Faunus and Numa.
Chap. XXIII.—Of the Gods and Sacred Rites of the Barbarians.
Chap. XXIV.—Of the Origin of Sacred Rites and Superstitions.
Chap. XXV.—Of the Golden Age, of Images, and Prometheus, Who First Fashioned Man.
Chap. XXVI.—Of the Worship of the Elements and Stars.
Chap. XXVII.—Of the Creation, Sin, and Punishment of Man And of Angels, Both Good and Bad.
Chap. XXVIII.—Of the Demons, and Their Evil Practices.
Chap. XXIX.—Of the Patience and Providence of God.
Chap. XXXI.—Of Knowledge and Supposition.
Chap. XXXII.—Of the Sects of Philosophers, and Their Disagreement.
Chap. XXXIII.—What is the Chief Good to Be Sought in Life.
Chap. XXXIV.—That Men are Born to Justice.
Chap. XXXV.—That Immortality is the Chief Good.
Chap. XXXVI.—Of the Philosophers,—Namely, Epicurus and Pythagoras.
Chap. XXXVII.—Of Socrates and His Contradiction.
Chap. XXXVIII.—Of Plato, Whose Doctrine Approaches More Nearly to the Truth.
Chap. XXXIX.—Of Various Philosophers, and of the Antipodes.
Chap. XL.—Of the Foolishness of the Philosophers.
Chap. XLI.—Of True Religion and Wisdom.
Chap. XLII.—Of Religious Wisdom: the Name of Christ Known to None, Except Himself and His Father.
Chap. XLIII.—Of the Name of Jesus Christ, and His Twofold Nativity.
Chap. XLIV.—The Twofold Nativity of Christ is Proved from the Prophets.
Chap. XLV.—The Power and Works of Christ are Proved from the Scriptures.
Chap. XLVI.—It is Proved from the Prophets that the Passion and Death of Christ Had Been Foretold.
Chap. XLVIII.—Of the Disinheriting of the Jews, and the Adoption of the Gentiles.
Chap. XLIX.—That God is One Only.
Chap. L.—Why God Assumed a Mortal Body, and Suffered Death.
Chap. LI.—Of the Death of Christ on the Cross.
Chap. LIII.—The Reasons of the Hatred Against the Christians are Examined and Refuted.
Chap. LIV.—Of the Freedom of Religion in the Worship of God.
Chap. LV.—The Heathens Charge Justice with Impiety in Following God.
Chap. LVI.—Of Justice, Which is the Worship of the True God.
Chap. LVII.—Of Wisdom and Foolishness.
Chap. LVIII.—Of the True Worship of God, and Sacrifice.
Chap. LIX.—Of the Ways of Life, and the First Times of the World.
Chap. LX.—Of the Duties of Justice.
Chap. LXII.—Of Restraining the Pleasures of the Senses.
Chap. LXIII.—That Shows are Most Powerful to Corrupt the Minds.
Chap. LXIV.—The Passions are to Be Subdued, and We Must Abstain from Forbidden Things.
Chap. LXV.—Precepts About Those Things Which are Commanded, and of Pity.
Chap. LXVI.—Of Faith in Religion, and of Fortitude.
Chap. LXVII.—Of Repentance, the Immortality of the Soul, and of Providence.
Chap. LXVIII.—Of the World, Man, and the Providence of God.
Chap. LXIX.—That the World Was Made on Account of Man, and Man on Account of God.
Chap. LXX.—The Immortality of the Soul is Confirmed.
Chap. LXXI.—Of the Last Times.
Chap. LXXII.—Of Christ Descending from Heaven to the General Judgment, and of the Millenarian Reign.
Chap. LXXIII.—The Hope of Safety is in the Religion and Worship of God.
And the prophets had predicted that all these things would thus come to pass. Isaiah thus speaks:1514 Isa. l. 5. “I am not rebellious, nor do I oppose: I gave my back to the scourge, and my cheeks to the hand: I turned not away my face from the foulness of spitting.” The same prophet says respecting His silence:1515 Isa. liii. 7. “I was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” David also, in the xxxivth Psalm:1516 Ps. xxxv. 15, 16. See Instit., iv. 18. “The abjects were gathered together against me, and they knew me not: they were scattered, yet felt no remorse: they tempted me, and gnashed upon me with their teeth.” The same also says respecting food and drink in the lxviiith Psalm:1517 Ps. lxix. 21. “They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Also respecting the cross of Christ:1518 Ps. xxii. 16–18. “And they pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones: they themselves have looked and stared upon me; they parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Moses also says in Deuteronomy:1519 Deut. xxviii. 66. “ And thy life shall hang in doubt before thine eyes, and thou shall fear day and night, and shall have none assurance of thy life.” Also in Numbers:1520 Num. xxiii. 19. “God is not in doubt as a man, nor does He suffer threats as the son of man.” Also Zechariah says:1521 Zech. xii. 10. “And they shall look on me whom they pierced.” Amos1522 Amos viii. 9, 10. thus speaks of the obscuring of the sun: “In that day, saith the Lord, the sun shall go down at noon, and the clear day shall be dark; and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs into lamentation.” Jeremiah1523 Jer. xv. 9. also speaks of the city of Jerusalem, in which He suffered: “Her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath been confounded and reviled, and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword.” Nor were these things spoken in vain. For after a short time the Emperor Vespasian subdued the Jews, and laid waste their lands with the sword and fire, besieged and reduced them by famine, overthrew Jerusalem, led the captives in triumph, and prohibited the others who were left from ever returning to their native land. And these things were done by God on account of that crucifixion of Christ, as He before declared this to Solomon in their Scriptures, saying,1524 1 Kings ix. 7–9. “And Israel shall be for perdition and a reproach1525 See Instit., iv. 18, p. 121, supra. to the people, and this house shall be desolate; and every one that shall pass by shall be astonished, and shall say, Why hath God done these evils to this land, and to this house? And they shall say, Because they forsook the Lord their God, and persecuted their King, who was dearly beloved by God, and crucified Him with great degradation, therefore hath God brought upon them these evils.” For what would they not deserve who put to death their Lord, who had come for their salvation?
CAPUT XLVI. (Div. Inst. lib. IV, c. 18.) Probatur ex prophetis passionem ac mortem Christi praenuntiatam fuisse.
Quae omnia prophetae sic futura esse praedixerant. Esaias ita dicit: Non sum contumax, neque contradico: dorsum meum posui ad flagella, et maxillas meas ad palmas; faciem autem meam non averti a foeditate sputorum.1053C Idem de silentio: Sicut ovis ad immolandum adductus sum, et sicut agnus coram tondentibus sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum. Item David in Psalmo XXXIV: Congregata sunt in me flagella, et ignoraverunt: dissoluti sunt, nec compuncti sunt; tentaverunt me, et 1054Astriderunt super me dentibus suis. Idem de cibo et potu, Psalmo LXVIII: Et dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti mea potum mihi dederunt acetum. Item de cruce Christi: Et foderunt manus meas et pedes meos. dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea: ipsi autem contemplati sunt, et viderunt me; diviserunt vestimenta mea sibi, et super vestem meam sortem miserunt. Moyses in Deuteronomio:: Et erit pendens vita tua ante oculos tuos, et timebis die et nocte, et non credes vitae tuae. Item in Numeris: Non quasi homo Dominus suspenditur, neque quasi filius hominis minas patitur. Item Zacharias: Et intuebuntur in me, quem transfixerunt.
De solis obscuratione Amos ita dicit: In illo die, dicit Dominus, occidet sol meridie, et obtenebrabitur dies lucis; et convertam dies festos vestros in luctum, 1054Bet cantica vestra in lamentationem. Item Jeremias de civitate Hierosolyma in qua passus est: Et subivit sol ei, cum adhuc dies medius esset, confusa est et maledicta, reliquos eorum in gladium dabo. Nec frustra haec dicta sunt. Siquidem post breve tempus imperator Vespasianus Judaeos debellavit, et terras eorum ferro ignique depopulatus est, obsessos fame subegit, Hierosolymam evertit, captivos triumphavit, caeteris, qui reliqui fuerunt, terris suis interdixit, nequando iis ad solum patrium reverti liceret. Quae a Deo propter illam Christi crucem facta sunt, ut hoc in Scripturis eorum Salomon ante testatus sit dicens: Et erit Israel in perditionem, et in improperium populo, et domus haec erit deserta, et omnis qui transiet per illam, admirabitur et dicet: Propter quam rem Deus fecit terrae huic et huic domui haec mala? et dicent, quia dereliquerunt 1054CDominum Deum suum, et persecuti sunt Regem suum dilectissimum Deo, et cruciaverunt illum in humilitate magna: pro hoc importavit illis Deus mala haec. Quid enim non mererentur, qui Dominum, qui ad salutem ipsorum venerat, peremerunt.