Divine Institutes 3.16.1–3.19.25
Latin text: CSEL 19 (Latin text: S. Brandt (CSEL 19, 1890), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886).
Divine 3, chapter 16
3.16.1CSEL 19:224
Verum enim cum se perpetuae desidiae tradant nullamque uirtutem capessant et omnem suam uitam nihil aliut quam in eloquendo peragant, quid aliut quam inertes debent putari?
But since they give themselves to perpetual idleness, take up no virtue, and spend their whole life in nothing but speaking, what else are they to be thought but idlers?
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers, who only talk, are idle.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (hyphen left from a line break): nullam- que → nullamque.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.1 (CSEL 19:224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.2CSEL 19:224–225
sapientia enim nisi in aliquo actu fuerit quo uim suam exerceat, inanis et falsa est recteque Tullius ciuiles uiros, qui rem publicam gubernent, qui urbes aut nouas constituant aut constitutas aequitate tueantur, qui salutem libertatemque ciuium uel bonis legibus uel salubribus consiliis uel iudiciis grauibus conseruent, philosophiae doctoribus praefert.
For wisdom, unless it is in some action in which to exercise its force, is empty and false; and Tullius rightly prefers to the teachers of philosophy the statesmen who govern the commonwealth, who either found new cities or preserve founded ones with equity, who safeguard the welfare and liberty of the citizens by good laws, sound counsels, or weighty judgments.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom must act; Cicero rightly ranks statesmen above philosophers.
- Cf. Cicero, Rep. 1.2–3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): aut nonas constituant → aut nouas constituant.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Rep. 1.2–3 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.2 (CSEL 19:224–225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.3CSEL 19:225
bonos enim facere oportet potius quam inclusos in angulis facienda praecipere quae ne ipsi quidem faciant qui locuntur; et quoniam se a ueris actibus remouerunt, apparet eos exercendae linguae causa uel auocandi (animi) gratia artem istam philosophiae repperisse. qui autem docent tantum nec faciunt, ipsi praeceptis suis detrahunt pondus. quis enim optemperet, cum ipsi praeceptores doceant non optemperare?
For one ought to make men good rather than, shut away in corners, to prescribe what is to be done, which not even those who speak do themselves; and since they have withdrawn from real affairs, it is clear that they invented this art of philosophy to exercise the tongue or for the sake of diverting ⟨the mind⟩. Those who only teach and do not act take away the weight of their own precepts. For who would obey, when the teachers themselves teach disobedience?
Notes and citation
Summary: Teachers who do not practise what they teach empty their precepts of force.
- 'the mind' is the editor's addition.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.3 (CSEL 19:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.4CSEL 19:225
bonum est autem recta et honesta praecipere, sed nisi et facias, mendacium est, et est incongruens atque ineptum non in pectore, sed in labris habere bonitatem.
It is good to prescribe what is right and honourable; but unless you do it too, it is a lie, and it is incongruous and absurd to have goodness not in the heart but on the lips.
Notes and citation
Summary: Goodness on the lips but not in the heart is a lie.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.4 (CSEL 19:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.5CSEL 19:225
non ergo utilitatem ex philosophia, sed oblectationem petunt. quod quidem Cicero testatus est. profecto inquit omnis istorum disputatio quamquam uberrimos fontes uirtutis et scientiae continet, tamen conlata cum eorum actis perfectisque rebus uereor ne non tantum uideatur utilitatis adtulisse negotiis hominum quantam oblectationem otiis.
So they seek from philosophy not usefulness but amusement. Cicero indeed bore witness to this: 'Surely,' he says, 'the whole discussion of these men, although it contains the richest springs of virtue and knowledge, yet, compared with their deeds and accomplishments, I fear may seem to have brought less usefulness to men's business than amusement to their leisure.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero admits philosophy offers more amusement than usefulness.
- Cicero, probably Rep. 1 (fragment); source uncertain.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Rep. (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.5 (CSEL 19:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.6CSEL 19:225–226
uereri quidem non debuit, cum uerum diceret, sed quasi timeret ne proditi mysterii reus a philosophis citaretur, non est ausus confidenter pronuntiare quod fuit uerum, illos non ideo disputare ut doceant, sed ut se oblectent in otio. qui quoniam auctores sunt rerum gerendarum nec ipsi quicquam gerunt, pro loquacibus sunt habendi.
He ought not to have feared, since he spoke the truth; but, as if afraid of being summoned by the philosophers as guilty of betraying a mystery, he did not dare to pronounce confidently what was true: that they do not dispute in order to teach but to amuse themselves in leisure. Since they are advocates of action and do nothing themselves, they are to be held mere talkers.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers dispute for amusement and are mere talkers.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter; word split with stray digit): ut do-1 ceant → ut doceant; sunt i rerum → sunt rerum.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.6 (CSEL 19:225–226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.7CSEL 19:226
sed profecto quia nihil ad uitam boni adferebant, nec ipsi decretis suis obtemperauerunt nec quisquam per tot saecula inuentus est qui eorum legibus uiueret. abicienda est igitur omnis philosophia, quia non studendum sapientiae, quod fine ac modo caret, sed sapiendum est et quidem mature.
But surely, because they brought nothing good for life, they neither obeyed their own decrees themselves, nor has anyone been found in so many ages who lived by their laws. All philosophy, then, is to be cast aside, because one must not pursue wisdom, which is without end or limit, but be wise, and that early.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophy is to be discarded: one must be wise, not endlessly seek wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.7 (CSEL 19:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.8CSEL 19:226
non enim nobis altera uita conceditur, ut cum in hac sapientiam quaeramus, in illa sapere possimus: in hac utrumque fieri necesse est. cito inueniri debet, ut cito suscipi possit, ne quid pereat ex uita, cuius finis incertus est.
For a second life is not granted us, so that, having sought wisdom in this one, we may be wise in the other: both must be done in this. It must be found quickly so that it can be taken up quickly, lest anything be lost from life, whose end is uncertain.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom must be found quickly in this one life.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.8 (CSEL 19:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.9CSEL 19:226
Ciceronis Hortensius contra philosophiam disserens circumuenitur arguta conclusione, quod cum diceret philosophandum non esse, nihilominus philosophari uidebatur, quoniam philosophi est quid in uita faciendum uel non faciendum sit disputare.
Cicero's Hortensius, arguing against philosophy, is caught by a clever conclusion: while saying that one should not philosophize, he nevertheless seemed to be philosophizing, since it is the philosopher's part to discuss what should or should not be done in life.
Notes and citation
Summary: In Cicero's Hortensius, the critic of philosophy is shown to be philosophizing.
- Cicero, Hortensius, a lost dialogue.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Hortensius (fragment) (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.9 (CSEL 19:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.10CSEL 19:226
nos ab hac calumnia inmunes ac liberi sumus qui philosophiam tollimus, quia humanae cogitationis inuentio est, sophiam defendimus, quia diuina traditio est, eamque ab omnibus suscipi oportere testamur.
We are immune and free from this charge, who do away with philosophy because it is a discovery of human thought, and defend sophia because it is divine tradition, and testify that it ought to be taken up by all.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians reject human philosophy but defend divine wisdom.
- sophia is the Greek word for wisdom, used here in contrast to philosophia.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: h for b): nos ah hac → nos ab hac; eamque ah omnibus → eamque ab omnibus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.10 (CSEL 19:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.11CSEL 19:226
ille cum philosophiam tolleret nec melius aliquid adferret, sapientiam tollere putabatur eoque facilius de sententia pulsus est, quia constat hominem non ad stultitiam, sed ad sapientiam nasci.
He, when he did away with philosophy and offered nothing better, was thought to be doing away with wisdom, and so was the more easily driven from his position, because it is agreed that man is born not for folly but for wisdom.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hortensius lost because he offered nothing better than philosophy.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.11 (CSEL 19:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.12CSEL 19:226–227
praeterea illut quoque argumentum contra philosophiam ualet plurimum, quo idem est usus Hortensius, ex eo posse intellegi philosophiam non esse sapientiam, quod principium et origo eius appareat.
Moreover, that argument against philosophy which the same Hortensius used is also very strong: that it can be understood that philosophy is not wisdom from the fact that its beginning and origin are apparent.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophy's known beginning shows it is not wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.12 (CSEL 19:226–227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.13CSEL 19:227
quando inquit philosophi esse coeperunt? Thales ut opinor primus. recens haec quidem aetas: ubi ergo aput antiquiores latuit amor iste inuestigandae ueritatis? idem Lucretius ait:
'When,' he says, 'did philosophers begin to be? Thales, I think, was the first. That is a recent age. Where, then, among the more ancient did this love of investigating the truth lie hidden?' Lucretius also says:
Notes and citation
Summary: Hortensius noted that philosophy began only recently with Thales.
- Cicero, Hortensius (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Hortensius (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.13 (CSEL 19:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.14CSEL 19:227
denique natura haec rerum ratioque reperta est nuper, et hanc primus cum primis ipse repertus nunc ego sum in patrias qui possim uertere uoces.
'Finally, this nature and system of things was discovered but lately, and I myself am now found the very first who can turn it into our native tongue.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius says the knowledge of nature was lately discovered.
- Lucretius 5.335–337.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 5.335–337 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.14 (CSEL 19:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.15CSEL 19:227
et Seneca non sunt inquit mille anni, ex quo initia sapientiae mota sunt. multis igitur saeculis humanum genus sine ratione uixit: quod inridens Persius postquam inquit sapere urbi cum pipere et palmis uenit, tamquam sapientia cum saporis mercibus fuerit inuecta. quae si est secundum hominis naturam, cum homine ipso coeperit necesse est, si uero non est, ne capere quidem illam posset humana natura.
And Seneca says: 'It is not a thousand years since the beginnings of wisdom were set in motion.' So for many ages the human race lived without reason! Persius mocks this, saying, 'After wisdom came to the city with pepper and dates,' as though wisdom had been imported with the goods of flavour. If wisdom accords with man's nature, it must have begun with man himself; if it does not, human nature could not even receive it.
Notes and citation
Summary: If philosophy began recently, mankind lived long without wisdom, which is absurd.
- Seneca, fragment; Persius, Sat. 6.38–39 (no extrabiblical entry exists for Persius). The joke plays on sapere, 'to be wise' and 'to taste'.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca, fragment (Seneca; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.15 (CSEL 19:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.16CSEL 19:227–228
sed quia recipit, a principio igitur fuisse sapientiam necesse est: ergo philosophia quia non a principio fuit, non est eadem uera sapientia. sed uidelicet Graeci quia sacras ueritatis litteras non attigerant, quemadmodum deprauata esset sapientia nescierunt;
But since it does receive it, wisdom must have existed from the beginning; therefore philosophy, since it did not exist from the beginning, is not that same true wisdom. But the Greeks, evidently, because they had not touched the sacred writings of truth, did not know how wisdom had been corrupted;
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom existed from the beginning; the Greeks, lacking Scripture, did not know how it was lost.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.16 (CSEL 19:227–228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.16.17CSEL 19:228
et ideo cum uacare sapientia humanam uitam putarent, philosophiam commenti sunt id est latentem atque ignotam sibi ueritatem disserendo eruere uoluerunt: quod studium per ignorantiam ueri sapientiam putauerunt.
and so, since they thought human life empty of wisdom, they devised philosophy; that is, they wished to dig out by disputation the truth that was hidden and unknown to them; and through ignorance of the truth they thought this pursuit was wisdom.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Greeks invented philosophy to find a hidden truth and mistook it for wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.16.17 (CSEL 19:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-16-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 3, chapter 17
3.17.1CSEL 19:228
Dixi de philosophia ipsa quam potui breuiter. nunc ad philosophos ueniamus, non ut cum his decertemus, qui stare non possunt, sed ut eos fugientes atque deiectos nostro campo insequamur.
I have spoken of philosophy itself as briefly as I could. Now let us come to the philosophers, not to contend with them, since they cannot stand, but to pursue them, fleeing and thrown down, across our field.
Notes and citation
Summary: He turns from philosophy to the philosophers.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.1 (CSEL 19:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.2CSEL 19:228
Epicuri disciplina multo celebrior semper fuit quam ceterorum, non quia ueri aliquid adferat, sed quia multos populare nomen uoluptatis inuitat. nemo enim non in uitia pronus est.
The school of Epicurus was always much more popular than the rest, not because it brings anything true, but because the popular name of pleasure attracts many. For there is no one who is not prone to vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicureanism is popular because of its appeal to pleasure.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.2 (CSEL 19:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.3CSEL 19:228
praeterea ut ad se multitudinem contrahat, adposita singulis quibusque moribus loquitur. desidiosum uetat is litteras discere, auarum populari largitione liberat, ignauum prohibet accedere ad rem publicam, pigrum exerceri, timidum militare.
Moreover, to draw the multitude to himself, he speaks in terms suited to each kind of character. He forbids the lazy man to learn letters; he frees the greedy man from public largesse; he prohibits the idle man from entering public life, the sluggard from exercise, the timid from military service.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus tailors his teaching to each vice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.3 (CSEL 19:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.4CSEL 19:228
inreligiosus audit deos nihil curare, inhumanus et suis commodis seruiens iubetur nihil cuiquam tribuere: omnia enim sua causa facere sapientem.
The irreligious man hears that the gods care for nothing; the man who is unkind and serves his own advantage is told to give nothing to anyone, for the wise man does everything for his own sake.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus tells the irreligious and the selfish what they wish to hear.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.4 (CSEL 19:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.5CSEL 19:228–229
fugienti turbam solitudo laudatur, qui nimium parcus est, discit aqua et polenta uitam posse tolerari. qui odit uxorem, huic enumerantur caelibatus bona, habenti malos liberos orbitas praedicatur, aduersus parentes inpio, nullum uinculum esse naturae. inpatienti ac delicato dolorem esse omnium malorum maximum dicitur, forti, etiam in tormentis beatum esse sapientem.
To the man who flees the crowd, solitude is praised; he who is too sparing learns that life can be sustained on water and barley-meal. To him who hates his wife, the goods of celibacy are listed; to him who has bad children, childlessness is preached; to the man undutiful to his parents, that there is no bond of nature. To the man who is intolerant and delicate, pain is said to be the greatest of all evils; to the brave, that the wise man is happy even under torture.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus offers each temperament a doctrine to suit it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letters): solitudo Jt laudatur → solitudo laudatur.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.5 (CSEL 19:228–229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.6CSEL 19:229
qui claritati ac potentiae studet, huic praecipitur reges colere, qui molestiam ferre non potest, huic regiam fugere.
He who seeks fame and power is taught to court kings; he who cannot bear trouble, to flee the court.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambitious and retiring men are both accommodated.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.6 (CSEL 19:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.7CSEL 19:229
ita homo astutus ex uariis diuersisque moribus circulum cogit et dum studet placere omnibus, maiore discordia secum ipse pugnauit quam inter se uniuersi. unde autem disciplina eius tota descendat, quam originem habeat, explicandum est.
So the cunning man gathers a circle out of various and differing characters, and while he strives to please everyone, he has fought with himself in greater discord than all the others with one another. But where his whole teaching comes from, and what origin it has, must be explained.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pleasing everyone, Epicurus contradicts himself; he will explain the origin of his teaching.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.7 (CSEL 19:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.8CSEL 19:229
uidebat Epicurus bonis aduersa semper accidere, paupertatem labores exilia carorum amissiones, malos contra beatos esse, augeri potentia, honoribus adfici; uidebat innocentiam minus tutam, scelera inpune committi; uidebat sine dilectu morum, sine ordine ac discrimine annorum saeuire mortem, sed alios ad senectutem peruenire, alios infantes rapi, alios iam robustos interire, alios in primo adulescentiae flore inmaturis funeribus extingui, in bellis meliores potius et uinci et peru e.
Epicurus saw that adversities always befall the good, poverty, toils, exile, loss of loved ones, while the wicked, on the contrary, are happy, grow in power, and are loaded with honours. He saw that innocence is less safe, that crimes are committed with impunity. He saw that death rages without regard to character, without order or distinction of years: some reach old age, others are snatched away as infants, others perish when already strong, others are extinguished by untimely deaths in the first flower of youth; and that in wars it is rather the better who are defeated and perish.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus saw the good suffer, the wicked prosper, and death strike at random.
- The last word is garbled in the digital text ('peru e.'); translated as 'perish' (perire).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.8 (CSEL 19:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.9CSEL 19:229–230
maxime autem commouebat homines in primis religiosos grauioribus malis adfici, iis autem qui aut deos omnino neclegerent aut non pie colerent, uel minora incommoda euenire uel nulla; ipsa etiam saepe templa fulminibus conflagrare.
But what moved him most was that those who were especially religious were afflicted with heavier evils, while to those who either wholly neglected the gods or did not worship them piously, lesser misfortunes or none befell; and that even the temples themselves often burned from lightning.
Notes and citation
Summary: The religious suffered more, and temples were struck by lightning.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.9 (CSEL 19:229–230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.10CSEL 19:230
quod Lucretius queritur, cum dicit de deo: tum fulmina mittat et aedis ipse suas disturbet et in deserta recedens saeuiat exercens telum, quod saepe nocentes praeterit exanimatque indignos inque merentes.
Lucretius complains of this when he says of God: 'Then let him send thunderbolts, and destroy his own temples, and, withdrawing into deserts, rage there, exercising his bolt, which often passes by the guilty and kills the innocent and undeserving.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius complains that lightning strikes temples and the innocent.
- Lucretius 2.1101–1104.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 2.1101–1104 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.10 (CSEL 19:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.11CSEL 19:230
quodsi uel exiguam ueritatis auram colligere potuisset, numquam diceret aedis illum suas disturbare, cum ideo disturbet, quia non sint suae.
But if he had been able to catch even a slight breath of truth, he would never say that God destroys his own temples, since he destroys them precisely because they are not his.
Notes and citation
Summary: God destroys temples because they are not his.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.11 (CSEL 19:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.12CSEL 19:230
Capitolium, quod est Romanae urbis et religionis caput summum, non semel, sed saepius fulmine ictum conflagrauit:
The Capitol, which is the highest head of the city and religion of Rome, was struck by lightning and burned not once but several times.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Capitol was repeatedly burned by lightning.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.12 (CSEL 19:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.13CSEL 19:230
homines autem ingeniosi quid de hoc existimauerint, ex dicto Ciceronis apparet, qui ait diuinitus extitisse illam flammam, non quae terrestre illut domicilium Iouis deleret, sed quae sublimius magnificentiusque deposceret.
What clever men thought of this is clear from a saying of Cicero, who says that the flame arose by divine agency, not to destroy that earthly dwelling of Jupiter, but to demand a loftier and more magnificent one.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero explained the burning of the Capitol as divine demand for a grander temple.
- Source in Cicero uncertain.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.13 (CSEL 19:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.14CSEL 19:230–231
qua de re etiam in libris consulatus sui eadem dixit quae Lucretius: nam pater altitonans stellanti nixus Olympo ipse suas arces atque inclyta templa petiuit et Capitolinis iniecit sedibus ignes.
On this matter he also said in the books on his consulship the same as Lucretius: 'For the high-thundering father, resting on starry Olympus, himself attacked his citadels and famous temples, and hurled fires on the Capitoline seats.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's poem on his consulship says Jupiter himself struck the Capitol.
- Cicero, De consulatu suo (fragment), also quoted in Div. 1.19.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, De consulatu suo (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.14 (CSEL 19:230–231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.15CSEL 19:231
pertinaci ergo stultitia non modo uim maiestatemque ueri dei non intellexerunt, sed etiam inpietatem sui erroris auxerunt, qui templum caelesti iudicio saepe damnatum restituere contra fas omne contenderint.
So in obstinate folly they not only did not understand the power and majesty of the true God, but even increased the impiety of their error, striving against all divine law to restore a temple often condemned by heavenly judgment.
Notes and citation
Summary: Rebuilding the Capitol defied heaven's judgment.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.15 (CSEL 19:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.16CSEL 19:231
cum haec igitur cogitaret Epicurus, earum rerum uelut iniquitate inductus — sic enim causam rationemque ignoranti uidebatur — existimauit nullam esse prouidentiam. quod cum sibi persuasisset, suscepit etiam defendendum: sic in errores inextricabiles se ipse coniecit.
When Epicurus considered these things, led on as it were by the injustice of them (for so it seemed to one ignorant of the cause and reason), he concluded that there is no providence. When he had persuaded himself of this, he undertook to defend it as well; and so he threw himself into inextricable errors.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus concluded from apparent injustice that there is no providence.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.16 (CSEL 19:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.17CSEL 19:231
si enim prouidentia nulla est, quomodo tam ordinate, tam disposite mundus effectus est? nulla inquit dispositio est: multa enim facta sunt aliter quam fieri debuerunt. et inuenit homo diuinus quae reprehenderet.
For if there is no providence, how was the world made so orderly, so well arranged? 'There is no arrangement,' he says, 'for many things have been made otherwise than they ought to have been.' And the divine man found things to find fault with.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus denied order in the world and criticized its design.
- 'divine man' is ironic.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.17 (CSEL 19:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.18CSEL 19:231
quae singula si uacaret refellere, facile ostenderem nec sapientem hunc fuisse nec sanum. item si nulla prouidentia est, quomodo animalium corpora tam prouidenter ordinata sunt, ut singula quaeque membra mirabili ratione disposita sua officia conseruent?
If I had leisure to refute these points one by one, I would easily show that this man was neither wise nor sane. Again, if there is no providence, how are the bodies of animals so providently ordered that each of their members, arranged with wonderful design, keeps its own function?
Notes and citation
Summary: The design of animal bodies shows providence.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.18 (CSEL 19:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.19CSEL 19:231
nihil inquit in procreandis animalibus prouidentiae ratio molita est. nam neque oculi ad uidendum facti sunt neque aures ad audiendum neque lingua ad loquendum neque pedes ad ambulandum, quoniam prius haec nata sunt quam esset uidere audire loqui ambulare. itaque non haec ad usum nata sunt, sed usus ex illis natus est.
'No providence,' he says, 'contrived anything in the producing of animals. For neither were eyes made for seeing, nor ears for hearing, nor the tongue for speaking, nor feet for walking, since these came into being before there was seeing, hearing, speaking, walking. So these did not arise for use, but use arose from them.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus said organs were not made for their uses; use arose from them.
- Cf. Lucretius 4.823–842.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 4.823–842 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.19 (CSEL 19:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.20CSEL 19:231–232
si nulla prouidentia est, cur imbres cadunt, fruges oriuntur, arbusta frondescunt? non inquit animantium causa ista fiunt, quoniam prouidentiae nihil prosunt, sed omnia sua sponte fieri necesse est.
If there is no providence, why do rains fall, crops spring up, trees come into leaf? 'These things do not happen for the sake of living creatures,' he says, 'since they are of no use to providence; but all things must happen of their own accord.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus says nature works spontaneously, not for living things.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.20 (CSEL 19:231–232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.21CSEL 19:232
unde ergo nascuntur aut quomodo fiunt omnia quae geruntur non est inquit prouidentiae opus: sunt enim semina per inane uolitantia, quibus inter se temere conglobatis uniuersa gignuntur atque concrescunt.
From where, then, are they born, or how do all things that happen come about? 'It is not the work of providence,' he says; 'for there are seeds flying through the void, and when these are massed together at random, all things are born and grow.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus says all things arise from atoms colliding at random in the void.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter): j unde ergo → unde ergo.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.21 (CSEL 19:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-21).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.22CSEL 19:232
cur igitur illa non sentimus aut cernimus? quia nec colorem habent inquit nec calorem ullum nec odorem. saporis quoque et umoris expertia sunt et tam minuta, ut secari ac diuidi nequeant.
Why then do we not perceive or see them? 'Because,' he says, 'they have no colour, nor any heat or smell. They are also without taste and moisture, and so tiny that they cannot be cut and divided.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Atoms are invisible, without qualities, and indivisible.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.22 (CSEL 19:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-22).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.23CSEL 19:232
sic eum, quia falsum in principio susceperat, consequentium rerum necessitas ad deliramenta perduxit. ubi enim sunt aut unde ista corpuscula? cur nemo illa praeter unum Leucippum somniauit, a quo Democritus eruditus hereditatem stultitiae reliquit Epicuro?
So, because he had taken up a falsehood at the start, the necessity of what followed led him to ravings. For where are these little bodies, or where do they come from? Why has no one dreamed of them except Leucippus alone, from whom Democritus was taught, and who left the inheritance of folly to Epicurus?
Notes and citation
Summary: Atomism descends as an inheritance of folly from Leucippus through Democritus to Epicurus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.23 (CSEL 19:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-23).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.24CSEL 19:232
quae si sunt corpuscula et quidem solida ut dicunt, sub oculos certe uenire possunt. si eadem est natura omnium, quomodo res uarias efficiunt? uario inquit ordine ac positione conueniunt sicut litterae: quae cum sint paucae, uarie tamen collocatae innumerabilia uerba conficiunt.
If these little bodies exist, and are solid, as they say, they can surely come before the eyes. If all have the same nature, how do they produce various things? 'They come together,' he says, 'in various order and position, like letters, which, though few, placed variously make up countless words.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus compares atoms to letters forming words.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.24 (CSEL 19:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.25CSEL 19:232–233
at litterae uarias formas habent. ita inquit et haec ipsa primordia: nam sunt aspera, sunt hamata, sunt leuia. secari ergo ac diuidi possunt, si aliquid inest illis quod emineat. si autem leuia sunt et hamis indigent, cohaerere non possunt. hamata igitur esse oportet, ut possint inuicem concatenari.
But letters have various shapes. 'So too,' he says, 'have these first beginnings: some are rough, some hooked, some smooth.' Then they can be cut and divided, if there is something in them that projects. But if they are smooth and lack hooks, they cannot cohere. So they must be hooked, so that they can be linked to one another.
Notes and citation
Summary: If atoms have hooks, they can be divided; if smooth, they cannot cohere.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray digits): formas habent. 20 ita → formas habent. ita.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.25 (CSEL 19:232–233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.26CSEL 19:233
cum uero tam minuta esse dicantur, ut nulla ferri acie dissici ualeant, quomodo hamos aut angulos habent? quos, quia extant, necesse est posse diuelli.
But since they are said to be so tiny that no edge of iron can split them, how do they have hooks or angles? Since these project, they must be able to be torn off.
Notes and citation
Summary: Projecting hooks could be broken off, contradicting indivisibility.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.26 (CSEL 19:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-26).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.27CSEL 19:233
deinde quo foedere inter se, qua mente conueniunt, ut ex iis aliquid construatur? si sensu carent, nec coire tam disposite possunt, quia non potest quicquam rationale perficere nisi ratio. quam multis coargui haec uanitas potest!
Next, by what compact among themselves, by what mind, do they come together so that something is built from them? If they lack sense, they cannot combine in so orderly a way, because nothing can accomplish what is rational except reason. By how many arguments this emptiness can be refuted!
Notes and citation
Summary: Senseless atoms cannot produce rational order.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.27 (CSEL 19:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-27).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.28CSEL 19:233
sed properat oratio. hic est ille, qui genus humanum ingenio superauit et omnes restinxit, stellas exortus ut aetherius sol. quos equidem uersus numquam sine risu legere possum.
But my discourse hastens on. This is the man who 'surpassed the human race in genius and outshone all, as the heavenly sun, arisen, puts out the stars.' Those verses I can never read without laughing.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius's extravagant praise of Epicurus is laughable.
- Lucretius 3.1043–1044.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 3.1043–1044 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.28 (CSEL 19:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-28).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.29CSEL 19:233
non enim de Socrate hoc saltem aut Platone dicebat, qui uelut reges habentur philosophorum, sed de homine, quo sano ac uigente nullus aeger ineptius delirauit. itaque poeta inanissimus leonis laudibus murem non ornauit, sed obruit et obtriuit.
For he was not saying this even of Socrates or Plato, who are held as the kings of philosophers, but of a man than whom, sane and healthy though he was, no sick man ever raved more absurdly. So the most empty-headed poet did not adorn a mouse with a lion's praises, but buried and crushed it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius's praise of Epicurus is like praising a mouse as a lion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.29 (CSEL 19:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-29).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.30CSEL 19:233
at idem nos liberat metu mortis, de qua haec ipsius expressa uerba sunt: quando nos sumus, mors non est: quando mors est, nos non sumus. mors ergo nihil ad nos. quam argute nos fefellit!
But the same man frees us from the fear of death, about which these are his own words: 'When we are, death is not; when death is, we are not. So death is nothing to us.' How cleverly he has deceived us!
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus argued that death is nothing to us.
- Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus 125; cf. Principal Doctrines 2.
Extrabiblical texts: Epicurus, Ep. Men. 125 (Epicurus (sayings and fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.30 (CSEL 19:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-30).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.31CSEL 19:233–234
quasi uero transacta mors timeatur, qua iam sensus ereptus est, ac non ipsum mori, quo sensus eripitur. est enim tempus aliquod quo et nos iam non sumus et mors tamen nondum est, idque ipsum uidetur esse miserum, quod et mors esse incipit et nos esse desinimus;
As though death already accomplished were feared, by which sense has already been taken away, and not dying itself, by which sense is taken away! For there is a time when we already are not and yet death is not yet; and this very thing seems wretched, that death begins to be and we cease to be;
Notes and citation
Summary: What is feared is dying itself, not death once past.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.31 (CSEL 19:233–234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-31).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.32CSEL 19:234
nec frustra dictum est: mors misera non est, aditus ad mortem est miser, hoc est morbo tabescere, ictum perpeti, ferrum corpore excipere, ardere igni, dentibus laniari.
and not in vain was it said: 'Death is not wretched; the approach to death is wretched,' that is, to waste away with disease, to suffer a blow, to receive a sword in the body, to burn in fire, to be torn by teeth.
Notes and citation
Summary: The approach to death, with its pain, is what is wretched.
- The saying's source is unidentified.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.32 (CSEL 19:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-32).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.33CSEL 19:234
haec sunt quae timentur, non quia mortem adferunt, sed quia dolorem magnum. quin potius effice ne dolor malum sit omnium inquit malorum maximum est. qui ergo possum non timere, si id quod mortem antecedit aut efficit, malum est? quid quod totum illut argumentum falsum est, quia non intereunt animae?
These are what are feared, not because they bring death but because they bring great pain. 'Rather make pain not to be an evil.' 'It is,' he says, 'the greatest of all evils.' How then can I not fear, if what precedes or causes death is an evil? And what of the fact that that whole argument is false, because souls do not perish?
Notes and citation
Summary: If pain is the greatest evil, the approach to death must be feared; besides, souls do not perish.
- The first sentences are compressed and perhaps damaged in the text; they are taken as a brief exchange with Epicurus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.33 (CSEL 19:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-33).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.34CSEL 19:234
(minime) uero inquit; nam quod cum corpore nascitur, cum corpore intereat necesse est. iam superius dixi differre me hunc locum et operi ultimo reseruare, ut hanc Epicuri persuasionem, siue illa Democriti siue Dicaearchi fuit, et argumentis et diuinis testimoniis redarguam.
'⟨Not at all⟩,' he says; 'for what is born with the body must perish with the body.' I said above that I would postpone this topic and reserve it for the last part of the work, so as to refute this persuasion of Epicurus, whether it was his or Democritus's or Dicaearchus's, both by arguments and by divine testimonies.
Notes and citation
Summary: He defers refuting the soul's mortality to the last book.
- 'Not at all' is the editor's addition. The last book is Book 7.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.34 (CSEL 19:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-34).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.35CSEL 19:234–235
uerum ille fortasse inpunitatem uitiis suis spopondit: fuit enim turpissimae uoluptatis adsertor, cuius capiendae causa nasci hominem putauit.
But perhaps he promised impunity to his own vices, for he was the champion of the basest pleasure, for the gaining of which he thought man was born.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus's doctrine promised impunity for vice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.35 (CSEL 19:234–235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-35).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.36CSEL 19:235
quis cum hoc adfirmari audiat, uitiis et sceleribus abstineat? nam si periturae sunt animae, adpetamus diuitias, ut omnes suauitates capere possimus. quae si nobis desunt, ab iis qui habent auferamus clam dolo ui; eo magis, si humanas res nullus deus curat, quandocumque spes inpunitatis adriserit, rapiamus necemus.
Who, hearing this affirmed, would abstain from vices and crimes? For if souls are to perish, let us seek riches so that we can enjoy all delights. If we lack them, let us take them from those who have them, by stealth, fraud, or force; all the more so, if no god cares for human affairs; whenever the hope of impunity smiles on us, let us plunder and kill.
Notes and citation
Summary: If souls perish and no god cares, crime becomes rational.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.36 (CSEL 19:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-36).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.37CSEL 19:235
sapientis est enim male facere, si et utile sit et tutum, quoniam si quis in caelo deus est, non irascitur cuiquam. aeque stulti est bene facere, quia sicut ira non commouetur, ita nec gratia tangitur.
For it is the part of a wise man to do evil, if it is both profitable and safe, since if there is any god in heaven, he is angry with no one. Equally it is the part of a fool to do good, since, as he is not moved by anger, so he is not touched by favour.
Notes and citation
Summary: A god without anger or favour removes all motive for goodness.
- The theme is developed in Lactantius, On the Anger of God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.37 (CSEL 19:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-37).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.38CSEL 19:235
uoluptatibus igitur quoquo modo possumus seruiamus: breui enim tempore nulli erimus omnino. ergo nullum diem, nullum denique temporis punctum fluere nobis sine uoluptate patiamur, ne quia ipsi quandoque perituri sumus, id ipsum quod uiuimus pereat. haec ille tametsi non dicit uerbo, re tamen ipsa docet.
Let us then serve pleasures in whatever way we can; for in a short time we shall be nothing at all. So let us allow no day, not even a moment of time, to slip away from us without pleasure, lest, since we ourselves shall one day perish, the very time we live should perish too. Though he does not say this in words, he teaches it in fact.
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicureanism in effect teaches living for pleasure every moment.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.38 (CSEL 19:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-38).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.39CSEL 19:235
nam cum disputat omnia sapientem sua causa facere, ad utilitatem suam refert omnia quae agit.
For when he argues that the wise man does everything for his own sake, he refers everything he does to his own advantage.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Epicurean wise man acts only for himself.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.39 (CSEL 19:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-39).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.40CSEL 19:235–236
ita qui audit haec flagitia, nec boni quicquam faciendum putabit, quoniam bene facere ad utilitatem spectat alienam, nec ab scelere abstinendum, quia maleficio praeda coniuncta est.
So he who hears these outrages will think that nothing good should be done, since doing good looks to another's advantage, nor that one should abstain from crime, since booty is joined to wrongdoing.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such teaching discourages good and encourages crime.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.40 (CSEL 19:235–236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-40).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.41CSEL 19:236
archipirata quispiam uel latronum ductor si suos ad grassandum cohortetur, quo alio sermone uti potest quam ut eadem dicat quae dicit Epicurus?
If some pirate chief or leader of robbers were urging his men to their raids, what other speech could he use than to say the same things Epicurus says?
Notes and citation
Summary: Epicurus speaks like a robber chief.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.41 (CSEL 19:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-41).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.42CSEL 19:236
deos nihil curare; non ira, non gratia tangi; inferorum poenas non esse metuendas, quod animae post mortem occidant nec ulli omnino sint inferi; uoluptatem esse maximum bonum; nullam esse humanam societatem; sibi quemque consulere; neminem esse qui alterum diligat nisi sua causa; mortem non esse metuendam forti uiro nec ullum dolorem, qui etiamsi torqueatur, si uratur, nihil curare se dicat.
That the gods care for nothing; that they are touched neither by anger nor by favour; that the punishments of the underworld are not to be feared, because souls perish after death and there is no underworld at all; that pleasure is the greatest good; that there is no human society; that each looks after himself; that there is no one who loves another except for his own sake; that death is not to be feared by a brave man, nor any pain, for even if he is tortured or burned, he says he does not care.
Notes and citation
Summary: He lists the Epicurean doctrines a robber might preach.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.42 (CSEL 19:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-42).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.17.43CSEL 19:236
est plane cur quisquam putet hanc uocem uiri esse sapientis, quae potest latronibus aptissime commodari.
There is plainly good reason why anyone should think this the voice of a wise man, when it can be lent most fittingly to robbers!
Notes and citation
Summary: Doctrine fit for robbers is not wisdom.
- Ironic.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.17.43 (CSEL 19:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-17-43).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 3, chapter 18
3.18.1CSEL 19:236
Alii autem contraria his disserunt, superesse animas post mortem: et hi sunt maxime Pythagorei ac Stoici, quibus etsi ignoscendum est, quia uerum sentiunt, non possum tamen non reprehendere eos, quia non scientia, sed casu inciderunt in ueritatem. itaque in eo ipso quod recte sentiebant, aliquid errarunt.
Others argue the contrary, that souls survive after death; these are chiefly the Pythagoreans and Stoics. Though they are to be pardoned, because they think what is true, I cannot but blame them, because they fell on the truth not by knowledge but by chance. So even in what they rightly thought they went somewhat astray.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pythagoreans and Stoics rightly held the soul survives, but by chance and with errors.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.1 (CSEL 19:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.2CSEL 19:236
nam cum timerent argumentum illud quo colligitur necesse esse ut occidant animae cum corporibus, quia cum corporibus nascuntur, dixerunt non nasci animas, sed insinuari potius in corpora et de aliis in alia migrare.
For, fearing the argument by which it is inferred that souls must perish with bodies because they are born with bodies, they said that souls are not born, but rather slip into bodies and migrate from some into others.
Notes and citation
Summary: To escape the argument for mortality, they taught pre-existence and transmigration.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray digits): insinuari 20 potius → insinuari potius.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.2 (CSEL 19:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.3CSEL 19:236–237
non putauerunt aliter fieri posse ut supersint animae post corpora, nisi uideantur fuisse ante corpora. par igitur ac prope similis error est partis utriusque. sed haec in praeterito falsa est, illa in futuro.
They did not think it could otherwise come about that souls survive bodies unless they are seen to have existed before bodies. The error of both sides, then, is equal and nearly alike; but the one is false about the past, the other about the future.
Notes and citation
Summary: Both sides err, one about the future, the other about the past.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.3 (CSEL 19:236–237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.4CSEL 19:237
nemo enim uidit quod est uerissimum, et nasci animas et non occidere, quia cur id fieret aut quae ratio esset hominis nescierunt.
For no one saw what is most true, that souls are both born and do not perish, because they did not know why this should happen or what the purpose of man was.
Notes and citation
Summary: The truth is that souls are born and do not perish.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.4 (CSEL 19:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.5CSEL 19:237
multi ergo ex iis qui aeternas esse animas suspicabantur, tamquam in caelum migraturi essent, sibi ipsi manus intulerunt, ut Cleanthes, ut Chrysippus, ut Zenon, ut Empedocles, qui se in ardentis Aetnae specus intempesta nocte deiecit, ut cum repente non apparuisset, abisse ad deos crederetur, et ex Romanis Cato, qui fuit in omni sua uita Stoicae uanitatis imitator.
So many of those who suspected that souls are eternal laid hands on themselves, as if they were about to migrate to heaven: Cleanthes, Chrysippus, Zeno, Empedocles, who threw himself into the caverns of burning Etna in the dead of night, so that, having suddenly disappeared, he might be believed to have gone off to the gods; and among the Romans Cato, who throughout his whole life was an imitator of Stoic vanity.
Notes and citation
Summary: Many who believed in immortality killed themselves.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.5 (CSEL 19:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.6CSEL 19:237
nam Democritus in alia fuit persuasione, sed tamen sponte sua leto caput obuius optulit ipse, quo nihil sceleratius fieri potest. nam si homicida nefarius est, quia hominis extinctor est, eidem sceleri obstrictus est qui se necat, quia hominem necat.
Democritus was of another persuasion, yet 'of his own accord he offered his head to death'; and nothing more wicked can be done. For if a murderer is abominable because he destroys a man, he who kills himself is bound by the same crime, because he kills a man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Suicide is murder, since it kills a man.
- Lucretius 3.1041.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 3.1041 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.6 (CSEL 19:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.7CSEL 19:237–238
immo uero maius esse id facinus existimandum est, cuius ultio soli deo subiacet. nam sicut in hanc uitam non nostra sponte uenimus, ita rursus ex hoc domicilio corporis, quod tuendum nobis adsignatum est, eiusdem iussu recedendum est, qui nos in hoc corpus induxit tamdiu habitaturos, donec iubeat emitti. et si uis aliqua inferatur, aequa mente patiendum, cum extincta innocentis anima inulta esse non possit habeamusque iudicem magnum, cui soli uindicta in integro semper est.
Indeed, it must be judged a greater crime, since its punishment belongs to God alone. For as we did not come into this life of our own will, so we must withdraw from this dwelling of the body, which has been assigned to us to guard, only at the command of him who put us into this body to dwell in it until he orders us to be sent out. And if some violence is inflicted, it must be borne with an even mind, since the soul of an innocent person when destroyed cannot go unavenged, and we have a great judge, to whom alone vengeance always belongs.
Rom 12:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Deut 32:35 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Only God may release the soul from the body; wrongs done to us are for him to avenge.
- Cf. Rom 12:19 and Deut 32:35, 'Vengeance is mine'.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.7 (CSEL 19:237–238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.8CSEL 19:238
homicidae igitur illi omnes philosophi et ipse Romanae sapientiae princeps Cato, qui antequam se occideret, perlegisse Platonis librum dicitur qui est scriptus de aeternitate animarum, et ad summum nefas philosophi auctoritate conpulsus est. et hic tamen aliquam moriendi causam uidetur habuisse, odium seruitutis.
All those philosophers, then, were murderers, and Cato himself, the chief of Roman wisdom, who, before he killed himself, is said to have read through Plato's book written on the eternity of souls, and was driven to the ultimate crime by a philosopher's authority. And yet he seems to have had some reason for dying: hatred of slavery.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cato killed himself after reading Plato on immortality.
- Plato's Phaedo.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaedo (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.8 (CSEL 19:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.9CSEL 19:238
quid Ambraciotes ille, qui cum eundem librum perlegisset, praecipitem se dedit nullam aliam ob causam nisi quod Platoni credidit? execrabilis prorsus ac fugienda doctrina, si abigit homines a uita.
What of that man of Ambracia, who, having read the same book, threw himself headlong for no other reason than that he believed Plato? A doctrine utterly detestable and to be shunned, if it drives men from life.
Notes and citation
Summary: A man of Ambracia threw himself to his death after reading Plato.
- Cleombrotus of Ambracia, told in Callimachus, Epigr. 23; Lactantius calls him Theombrotus (3.18.10).
Extrabiblical texts: Callimachus, Epigr. 23 (Callimachus (hymns and fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.9 (CSEL 19:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.10CSEL 19:238
quodsi scisset Plato atque docuisset a quo et quomodo et quibus et quae ob facta et quo tempore inmortalitas tribuatur, nec Theombrotum inpegisset in mortem uoluntariam nec Catonem, sed eos ad uitam et iustitiam potius erudisset.
But if Plato had known and taught by whom, how, to whom, for what deeds, and at what time immortality is granted, he would not have driven Theombrotus or Cato into voluntary death, but would rather have trained them for life and justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Had Plato known the truth about immortality, he would have taught life and justice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.10 (CSEL 19:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.11CSEL 19:238–239
nam mihi Cato uidetur causam quaesisse moriendi non tam ut Caesarem fugeret, quam ut Stoicorum decretis obtemperaret, quos sectabatur, suumque nomen grandi aliquo facinore clarificaret: cui quid mali potuerit accidere, si uiueret, non inuenio.
For Cato seems to me to have sought a reason for dying, not so much to escape Caesar, as to obey the decrees of the Stoics whom he followed, and to make his name famous by some great deed; for I cannot find what evil could have befallen him had he lived.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cato died for fame and Stoic dogma rather than to escape Caesar.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.11 (CSEL 19:238–239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.12CSEL 19:239
Gaius enim Caesar ut erat clemens, nihil aliut efficere uolebat etiam in ipso belli ciuilis ardore, quam ut bene mereri de re publica uideretur duobus optimis ciuibus Cicerone et Catone seruatis. sed redeamus ad eos qui mortem pro bono laudant.
For Gaius Caesar, merciful as he was, wished for nothing else, even in the very heat of civil war, than to be seen to deserve well of the commonwealth by saving two excellent citizens, Cicero and Cato. But let us return to those who praise death as a good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Caesar would have spared Cato.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.12 (CSEL 19:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.13CSEL 19:239
de uita quereris, quasi uixeris aut umquam tibi ratio constiterit, cur omnino sis natus. nonne igitur tibi uerus ille et communis omnium pater Terentianum illut iure increpauerit: prius disce quid sit uiuere, si displicebit uita, tum istoc utitor.
You complain of life, as though you had lived or had ever grasped why you were born at all. Might not that true and common Father of all justly rebuke you with that line of Terence: 'First learn what living is; then, if life displeases you, use that'?
Notes and citation
Summary: One who complains of life has not yet learned what life is.
- Terence; the exact line is uncertain (perhaps Heaut. 971–972).
Extrabiblical texts: Terence, uncertain (Terence; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.13 (CSEL 19:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.14CSEL 19:239
indignaris te malis esse subiectum, quasi quicquam merearis boni qui patrem, qui dominum, qui regem tuum nescis, qui quamuis clarissimam lucem intuearis oculis, mens tamen caeca est et in profundis ignorantiae tenebris iacet. quae ignorantia effecit ut quosdam dicere non puderet idcirco nos esse natos, ut scelerum poenas lueremus: quo quid delirius dici possit non uideo.
You resent being subject to evils, as though you deserved any good, you who do not know your Father, your Lord, your King; who, though you gaze at the brightest light with your eyes, yet your mind is blind and lies in the depths of the darkness of ignorance. This ignorance has made some unashamed to say that we are born in order to pay the penalty for crimes; and I do not see what could be said more insane.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ignorance of God led some to say we are born to be punished for past crimes.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.14 (CSEL 19:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.15CSEL 19:239–240
ubi enim uel quae scelera potuimus admittere qui omnino non fuimus? nisi forte credemus inepto illi seni, qui se in priore uita Euphorbum fuisse mentitus est. hic credo quod erat ignobili genere natus, familiam sibi ex Homeri carminibus adoptauit.
For where, or what crimes, could we have committed, who did not exist at all? Unless perhaps we are to believe that silly old man who falsely claimed that in a former life he had been Euphorbus. He, I suppose, being of low birth, adopted a family for himself from Homer's poems.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pythagoras's claim to have been Euphorbus is ridiculous.
- Euphorbus is a Trojan in Homer, Il. 16–17.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.15 (CSEL 19:239–240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.16CSEL 19:240
o miram et singularem Pythagorae memoriam et o miseram obliuionem nostrum omnium, qui nesciamus qui ante fuerimus! sed fortasse uel errore aliquo uel gratia sit effectum, ut ille solus Lethaeum gurgitem non adtigerit nec obliuionis aquam gustauerit. uidelicet senex uanus, sicut otiosae aniculae solent, fabulas tamquam infantibus credulis finxit.
O wonderful and unique memory of Pythagoras, and O wretched forgetfulness of all of us, who do not know who we were before! But perhaps by some mistake or favour it came about that he alone did not touch the stream of Lethe nor taste the water of forgetfulness. Evidently the vain old man, as idle old women do, invented fables as for credulous infants.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius mocks Pythagoras's claimed memory of a former life.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.16 (CSEL 19:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.17CSEL 19:240
quodsi bene sensisset de iis quibus haec locutus est, si homines eos existimasset, numquam sibi tam petulanter mentiendi licentiam uindicasset. sed deridenda hominis leuissimi uanitas.
But if he had thought well of those to whom he said these things, if he had considered them men, he would never have claimed for himself so insolent a licence to lie. But the vanity of this most frivolous man is to be laughed at.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pythagoras lied to his followers as if they were children.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.17 (CSEL 19:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.18.18CSEL 19:240
quid Cicerone faciemus? qui cum in principio Consolationis suae dixisset luendorum scelerum causa nasci homines, iterauit id ipsum postea quasi obiurgans eum qui uitam non esse poenam putet. recte ergo praefatus est errore ac miserabili ueritatis ignorantia se teneri.
What shall we do with Cicero? Having said at the beginning of his Consolation that men are born to atone for crimes, he afterwards repeated the very same thing, as if rebuking one who thinks that life is not a punishment. Rightly, then, did he say at the start that he was held by error and a wretched ignorance of the truth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero too said men are born to atone for crimes.
- Cicero, Consolatio (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (fragment) (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.18.18 (CSEL 19:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-18-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 3, chapter 19
3.19.1CSEL 19:240
At illi qui de mortis bono disputant quia nihil ueri sciunt, sic argumentantur: si nihil est post mortem, non est malum mors; aufert enim sensum mali. si autem supersunt animae, etiam bonum est, quia inmortalitas sequitur.
But those who argue for the goodness of death, because they know nothing true, reason thus: 'If there is nothing after death, death is not an evil, for it takes away the sense of evil. But if souls survive, it is even a good, because immortality follows.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Some argue that death is either no evil or a positive good.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.1 (CSEL 19:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.2CSEL 19:240–241
quam sententiam Cicero de Legibus sic explicauit: gratulemurque nobis, quoniam mors aut meliorem quam qui est in uita aut certe non deteriorem adlatura est statum: nam sine corpore animo uigente diuina uita est, sensu carente nihil profecto est mali.
Cicero set out this view in On the Laws thus: 'And let us congratulate ourselves, since death will bring either a better state than that in life or at least not a worse; for if the mind lives without the body, it is a divine life; if it lacks sense, there is surely nothing evil.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero argues that death brings either a divine life or no evil.
- Lactantius cites De legibus; the passage is not in the extant books (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Leg. (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.2 (CSEL 19:240–241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.3CSEL 19:241
argute, ut sibi uidentur, quasi nihil esse aliut possit. atquin utrumque hoc falsum est. docent enim diuinae litterae non extingui animas, sed aut pro iustitia praemio adfici aut poena pro sceleribus sempiterna.
Cleverly, as it seems to them, as if nothing else could be the case. Yet both of these are false. For the divine writings teach that souls are not extinguished, but are either rewarded for justice or given everlasting punishment for crimes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture teaches that souls are either rewarded or punished forever.
Topics: Eschatology, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.3 (CSEL 19:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.4CSEL 19:241
nec enim fas est aut eum qui sceleratus in uita feliciter fuerit, effugere quod meretur aut eum qui ob iustitiam miserrimus fuerit, sua mercede fraudari.
For it is not right either that one who has been wicked and prosperous in life should escape what he deserves, or that one who has been most wretched because of his justice should be cheated of his reward.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justice requires that the wicked be punished and the just rewarded after death.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.4 (CSEL 19:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.5CSEL 19:241
quod adeo uerum est, ut idem Tullius in Consolatione non easdem sedes incolere iustos atque inpios praedicauerit.
This is so true that the same Tullius in his Consolation declared that the just and the impious do not inhabit the same abodes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero too said the just and the wicked have different abodes after death.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.5 (CSEL 19:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.6CSEL 19:241
nec enim omnibus inquit idem illi sapientes arbitrati sunt eundem cursum in caelum patere. nam uitiis et sceleribus contaminatos deprimi in tenebras atque in caeno iacere docuerunt, castos autem animos, puros integros incorruptos, bonis etiam studiis atque artibus expolitos leui quodam et facili lapsu ad deos id est ad naturam similem sui peruolare. quae sententia superiori illi argumento repugnat.
'For those same wise men,' he says, 'did not think that the same course to heaven lies open to all. For they taught that those stained with vices and crimes are thrust down into darkness and lie in mire, but that chaste souls, pure, whole, and uncorrupted, polished also by good studies and arts, fly up with a light and easy gliding to the gods, that is, to a nature like their own.' This opinion contradicts that earlier argument.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's Consolation distinguishes the fates of pure and stained souls, contradicting his other argument.
- Cicero, Consolatio (fragment).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.6 (CSEL 19:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.7CSEL 19:241
illut enim sic adsumptum est, tamquam necesse sit omnem hominem natum inmortalitate donari. quod igitur erit
For that argument was assumed as though every man who is born must necessarily be endowed with immortality. What, then, will become of
Notes and citation
Summary: The earlier argument assumed everyone receives immortality.
- The sentence continues in 3.19.8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period; the sentence runs on into 3.19.8): quod igitur erit. → quod igitur erit.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.7 (CSEL 19:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.8CSEL 19:241–242
discrimen uirtutis ac sceleris, si nihil interest utrumne Aristides sit aliquis an Phalaris, utrum Cato an Catilina? sed hanc repugnantiam rerum sententiarumque non cernit nisi qui tenet ueritatem.
the distinction between virtue and crime, if it makes no difference whether one is an Aristides or a Phalaris, a Cato or a Catiline? But this contradiction of facts and opinions is not seen except by one who holds the truth.
Notes and citation
Summary: That argument erases the difference between virtue and crime.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.8 (CSEL 19:241–242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.9CSEL 19:242
si quis igitur nos roget utrumne bonum sit mors. an malum, respondebimus qualitatem eius ex uitae ratione pendere. nam sicut uita ipsa bonum est, si cum uirtute uiuatur, malum, si cum scelere, sic et mors ex praeteritis uitae actibus ponderanda est.
If anyone asks us, then, whether death is a good or an evil, we shall answer that its character depends on the conduct of life. For as life itself is a good if it is lived with virtue, and an evil if with crime, so death too must be weighed by the past actions of life.
Notes and citation
Summary: Whether death is good or evil depends on the life lived.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.9 (CSEL 19:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.10CSEL 19:242
ita fit ut si uita in dei religione transacta sit, mors malum non sit, quia translatio est ad inmortalitatem: sin aliter, malum sit necesse est, quoniam ut dixi ad aeterna supplicia transmittit.
So it comes about that if life has been passed in the worship of God, death is not an evil, because it is a passing over to immortality; but if otherwise, it must be an evil, since, as I said, it sends one on to eternal punishments.
Notes and citation
Summary: Death is good for the godly and evil for others.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.10 (CSEL 19:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.11CSEL 19:242
quid ergo dicemus nisi errare illos qui aut mortem adpetunt tamquam bonum aut uitam fugiunt tamquam malum? nisi quod sunt iniquissimi, qui pauciora mala non pensant bonis pluribus.
What shall we say, then, but that those are wrong who either seek death as a good or flee life as an evil? Except that they are most unfair, who do not weigh fewer evils against more goods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seeking death or fleeing life is wrong.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.11 (CSEL 19:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.12CSEL 19:242
nam cum omnem uitam per exquisitas et uarias traducant uoluptates, mori cupiunt, si quid forte iis amaritudinis superuenit, et sic habent, tamquam illis numquam fuerit bene, si aliquando fuerit male. damnant igitur uitam omnem plenamque nihil aliut quam malis opinantur.
For though they pass their whole life through exquisite and varied pleasures, they long to die if some bitterness happens to come upon them, and regard it as though things had never gone well with them if once they have gone badly. So they condemn the whole of life and think it full of nothing but evils.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who lived for pleasure despise life at the first trouble.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.12 (CSEL 19:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.13CSEL 19:242
hinc nata est inepta illa sententia, hanc esse mortem quam nos uitam putemus, illam uitam quam nos pro morte timeamus: ita primum bonum esse non nasci, secundum, citius mori.
Hence arose that foolish opinion that this is death which we think life, and that is life which we fear as death; and so that the first good is not to be born, the second to die quickly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some said it is best not to be born, and next best to die early.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: e for c): hine nata → hinc nata.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.13 (CSEL 19:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.14CSEL 19:242–243
quae ut maioris sit auctoritatis, Sileno adtribuitur. Cicero in Consolatione non nasci inquit longe optimum nec in hos scopulos incidere uitae, proximum autem, si natus sis, quam primum tamquam ex incendio effugere fortunae. credidisse illum uanissimo dicto exinde apparet, quod adiecit de suo aliquid, ut ornaret.
To give it greater authority, it is attributed to Silenus. Cicero in the Consolation says: 'Not to be born is by far the best, and not to fall upon these rocks of life; but next, if you are born, to escape as quickly as possible, as from a fire of fortune.' That he believed this empty saying is clear from the fact that he added something of his own to embellish it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero repeated Silenus's saying that it is best not to be born.
- Cicero, Consolatio (fragment); the saying of Silenus is also in Tusc. 1.114.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.14 (CSEL 19:242–243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.15CSEL 19:243
quaero igitur cui esse optimum putet non nasci, cum sit nullus omnino qui sentiat: nam ut bonum sit aliquid aut malum, sensus efficit.
I ask, then, for whom he thinks it best not to be born, since there is no one at all to feel it; for it is sensation that makes a thing good or evil.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not being born cannot be good for anyone, since no one exists to feel it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): nullns → nullus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.15 (CSEL 19:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.16CSEL 19:243
deinde, cur omnem uitam nihil esse aliud quam scopulos et incendium putauerit: quasi aut in nostra fuerit potestate ne nasceremur aut uitam nobis fortuna tribuat, non deus, aut uiuendi ratio quicquam simile incendio habere uideatur.
Next, why he thought all of life nothing but rocks and fire: as if it had been in our power not to be born, or fortune gives us life and not God, or the course of living seemed to have anything like a fire.
Notes and citation
Summary: Life is God's gift, not fortune's, and not a fire.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.16 (CSEL 19:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.17CSEL 19:243
non dissimile Platonis illut est, quod aiebat se gratias agere naturae: primum quod homo natus esset potius quam mutum animal, deinde quod mas potius quam femina, quod Graecus quam barbarus, postremo quod Atheniensis et quod temporibus Socratis.
Not unlike this is that saying of Plato's, that he gave thanks to nature: first that he was born a man rather than a dumb animal; next that he was a male rather than a female, a Greek rather than a barbarian; lastly that he was an Athenian and born in the time of Socrates.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato thanked nature for being born a man, male, Greek, Athenian, in Socrates' time.
- The saying is also reported by Plutarch, Marius 46.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.17 (CSEL 19:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.18CSEL 19:243
dici non potest quantam mentibus caecitatem, quantos pariat errores ignoratio ueritatis. ego plane contenderim numquam quicquam in rebus humanis dictum esse delirius: quasi uero si aut barbarus aut mulier aut asinus denique natus esset, idem ipse Plato esset ac non illud ipsum quod natus fuisset.
It cannot be told what blindness of mind, what errors, ignorance of the truth produces. I would plainly contend that nothing was ever said in human affairs more insane: as though, if he had been born a barbarian or a woman or indeed an ass, he would be the same Plato, and not the very thing he had been born.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato's thanksgiving is absurd, since he would not otherwise have been Plato.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): si ant barbarus → si aut barbarus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.18 (CSEL 19:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.19CSEL 19:243–244
sed uidelicet Pythagorae credidit, qui ut uetaret homines animalibus uesci, dixit animas de corporibus in aliorum animalium corpora commeare. quod et uanum et inpossibile est: uanum, quia necesse non fuit ueteres animas in noua corpora inducere, cum idem artifex qui primas aliquando fecerat, potuerit semper nouas facere, inpossibile, quia rectae rationis anima tam inmutare naturam status sui non potest quam ignis aut deorsum niti aut in transuersum fluminis modo flammam suam fundere.
But evidently he believed Pythagoras, who, to forbid men from eating animals, said that souls pass from bodies into the bodies of other animals. This is both empty and impossible: empty, because there was no need to lead old souls into new bodies, since the same craftsman who once made the first could always make new ones; impossible, because a soul of right reason can no more change the nature of its condition than fire can tend downward or pour out its flame sideways like a river.
Notes and citation
Summary: Transmigration of souls is both needless and impossible.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.19 (CSEL 19:243–244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.20CSEL 19:244
existimauit igitur homo sapiens potuisse fieri, ut anima quae tunc erat in Platone, in aliquod mutum animal includeretur essetque humano sensu praedita, ut intellegeret ac doleret incongruenti se corpore oneratam.
So the wise man thought it could happen that the soul which was then in Plato might be shut up in some dumb animal and be endowed with human sense, so as to understand and grieve that it was burdened with an unsuitable body.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato imagined a human soul trapped in an animal body.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.20 (CSEL 19:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.21CSEL 19:244
quanto sanius faceret, si gratias agere se diceret, quod ingeniosus, quod docilis natus esset, quod in iis opibus, ut liberaliter erudiretur!
How much more sanely he would have acted if he had said he gave thanks that he was born talented and teachable, and with such means that he could be liberally educated!
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato should have been thankful for talent and education.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.21 (CSEL 19:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-21).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.22CSEL 19:244
nam quod Athenis natus est, quid in eo beneficii fuit? an non plurimi extiterunt in aliis ciuitatibus excellenti ingenio atque doctrina uiri, qui meliores singuli quam omnes Athenienses fuerunt?
For what benefit was there in being born at Athens? Did not very many men of excellent talent and learning appear in other cities, each of whom was better than all the Athenians?
Notes and citation
Summary: Birth at Athens was no special benefit.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.22 (CSEL 19:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-22).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.23CSEL 19:244
quanta hominum milia fuisse credamus qui et Athenis nati et temporibus Socratis indocti tamen ac stulti fuerint? non enim parietes aut locus in quo quisque est effusus ex utero, conciliat homini sapientiam.
How many thousands of men must we believe were born both at Athens and in the time of Socrates, and yet were unlearned and foolish? For it is not walls, or the place in which each is poured forth from the womb, that confers wisdom on a man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Place of birth does not give wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.23 (CSEL 19:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-23).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.24CSEL 19:244
quid uero attinuit Socratis se temporibus natum gratulari? num Socrates ingenia discentibus potuit commodare?
And what did it matter to congratulate himself on being born in the time of Socrates? Could Socrates lend talent to his pupils?
Notes and citation
Summary: Socrates could not give his pupils talent.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.24 (CSEL 19:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
3.19.25CSEL 19:244–245
non uenit in mentem Platoni Alcibiaden quoque et Critiam eiusdem Socratis adsiduos auditores fuisse, quorum alter hostis patriae acerrimus fuit, alter crudelissimus omnium tyrannorum?
Did it not occur to Plato that Alcibiades and Critias too were constant hearers of the same Socrates, of whom one was the fiercest enemy of his country and the other the cruellest of all tyrants?
Notes and citation
Summary: Alcibiades and Critias, pupils of Socrates, turned out badly.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.19.25 (CSEL 19:244–245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-16-1/#p-3-19-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).