Divine Institutes 3.28.1–4.4.11
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 28
3.28.1CSEL 19:264
Quapropter nihil est aliut in uita quo ratio, quo condicio nostra nitatur, nisi dei qui nos genuit agnitio et religiosus ac pius cultus: unde quoniam philosophi aberrauerunt, sapientes utique non fuerunt.
Therefore there is nothing else in life on which our reason and condition rest but the knowledge of God who begot us and his religious and pious worship; and since the philosophers strayed from this, they were certainly not wise.
Notes and citation
Summary: Human life rests on knowing and worshipping God; the philosophers failed here.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.1 (CSEL 19:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-1).
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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).
3.28.2CSEL 19:264
quaesiuerunt illi quidem sapientiam, sed quia non rite quaerebant, prolapsi sunt longius et in nobis errores inciderunt, ut etiam communem sapientiam non tenerent.
They did indeed seek wisdom, but because they did not seek it rightly, they slipped further and fell into such errors that they did not hold even common wisdom.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seeking wrongly, they lost even common wisdom.
- 'in nobis errores' is evidently a slip for 'in tantos errores' ('into such errors'); translated so, text left as printed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.2 (CSEL 19:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-2).
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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).
3.28.3CSEL 19:264
non enim tantum religionem adserere noluerunt, uerum etiam sustulerunt, dum specie falsae uirtutis inducti conantur animos omni metu liberare. quae religionis euersio naturae nomen inuenit.
For they not only refused to champion religion, but even did away with it, while, led on by the appearance of a false virtue, they try to free minds from all fear. This overthrow of religion found the name of nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: They abolished religion and put 'nature' in God's place.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.3 (CSEL 19:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-3).
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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).
3.28.4CSEL 19:264
illi enim cum aut ignorarent a quo esset mundus effectus aut persuadere uellent nihil esse diuina mente perfectum, naturam esse dixerunt rerum omnium matrem, quasi dicerent omnia sua sponte esse nata: quo uerbo plane inprudentiam suam confitentur. natura enim, remota prouidentia et potestate diuina, prorsus nihil est.
For since they either did not know by whom the world was made, or wished to persuade people that nothing was accomplished by a divine mind, they said that nature is the mother of all things, as if to say that all things were born of their own accord; and by that word they plainly confess their ignorance. For nature, apart from divine providence and power, is absolutely nothing.
Notes and citation
Summary: Nature without God's providence is nothing.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.4 (CSEL 19:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-4).
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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).
3.28.5CSEL 19:264
quodsi deum naturam uocant, quae peruersitas est naturam potius quam deum nominare? si autem natura est ratio uel necessitas uel condicio nascendi, non est per se ipsa sensibilis, sed necesse est mentem esse diuinam, quae sua prouidentia nascendi principium rebus omnibus praebeat, aut si natura est caelum atque terra et omne quod natum est, non est deus natura, sed dei opus.
But if they call God nature, what perversity is it to name nature rather than God? If nature is the principle or necessity or condition of being born, it is not sentient in itself; but there must be a divine mind which by its providence provides all things with the beginning of birth. Or if nature is heaven and earth and all that has been born, then nature is not God, but God's work.
Notes and citation
Summary: Either nature needs a divine mind behind it or it is God's work.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.5 (CSEL 19:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-5).
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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).
3.28.6CSEL 19:264–265
non dissimili errore credunt esse fortunam quasi deam quandam res humanas uariis casibus inludentem, quia nesciunt unde sibi bona et mala eueniant.
With no different error they believe in Fortune as a kind of goddess mocking human affairs with various chances, because they do not know from where good and evil come to them.
Notes and citation
Summary: They also invented Fortune as a goddess.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.6 (CSEL 19:264–265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-6).
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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).
3.28.7CSEL 19:265
cum hac se compositos ad proeliandum putant nec ullam tamen rationem reddunt a quo et quam ob causam, sed tantum cum fortuna se digladiari momentis omnibus gloriantur.
They think themselves matched against her for battle, yet give no account of by whom and for what reason, but only boast that they are fighting it out with Fortune at every moment.
Notes and citation
Summary: They boast of fighting Fortune without explaining her.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.7 (CSEL 19:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-7).
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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).
3.28.8CSEL 19:265
iam quicumque consolati sunt alios ob interitum amissionemque carorum, fortunae nomen acerrimis accusationibus prosciderunt nec omnino ulla eorum disputatio de uirtute est, in qua non fortuna uexetur.
Indeed, all who have consoled others for the death and loss of loved ones have torn the name of Fortune with the bitterest accusations, and there is no discussion of theirs about virtue in which Fortune is not harassed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Consolations and discussions of virtue constantly attack Fortune.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.8 (CSEL 19:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-8).
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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).
3.28.9CSEL 19:265
Marcus Tullius in sua Consolatione pugnasse se semper contra fortunam loquitur eamque a se esse superatam, cum fortiter inimicorum impetus rettudisset; ne tum quidem se ab ea fractum, cum domo pulsus patria caruerit: tum autem, cum amiserit carissimam filiam, uictum se a fortuna turpiter confitetur. cedo inquit et manum tollo. quid hoc homine miserius, qui sic iaceat?
Marcus Tullius in his Consolation says that he always fought against Fortune and overcame her, when he bravely repelled the attacks of his enemies; that not even then was he broken by her, when, driven from his home, he lost his country; but then, when he lost his dearest daughter, he confesses that he was shamefully beaten by Fortune. 'I yield,' he says, 'and raise my hand.' What is more wretched than this man, lying so prostrate?
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero confessed that the death of his daughter defeated him.
- Cicero, Consolatio (fragment), written after the death of Tullia.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Consolatio (fragment) (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.9 (CSEL 19:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-9).
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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).
3.28.10CSEL 19:265
insipienter inquit, sed qui se profitetur esse sapientem. quid ergo sibi uult adsumptio nominis? quid contemptus ille rerum, qui magnificis uerbis praetenditur? quid dispar ceteris habitus? aut cur omnino praecepta sapientiae datis, si nemo adhuc qui sapiat inuentus est? et quisquam nobis inuidiam facit, quia philosophos negamus esse sapientes, cum ipsi nec scire se quicquam nec sapere fateantur?
'He acts foolishly,' someone says. But he is one who professes to be wise. What then is the meaning of assuming the name? What of that contempt for things, paraded in grand words? What of the dress different from others? Or why do you give precepts of wisdom at all, if no one who is wise has yet been found? And does anyone reproach us because we deny that philosophers are wise, when they themselves confess that they neither know nor are wise in anything?
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers claim wisdom yet admit they have none.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.10 (CSEL 19:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-10).
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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).
3.28.11CSEL 19:265–266
nam si quando ita defecerint, ut ne adtingere quidem quicquam possint, quod faciunt in rebus ceteris, tum uero admonentur ignorantiae et quasi furibundi exiliunt et exclamant caecos esse se et excordes.
For whenever they have so failed that they cannot touch anything, as they do in other matters, then they are reminded of their ignorance and, as if in a frenzy, leap up and cry out that they are blind and senseless.
Notes and citation
Summary: When baffled, philosophers cry out that they are blind.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR): tura uero → tum uero.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.11 (CSEL 19:265–266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-11).
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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).
3.28.12CSEL 19:266
Anaxagoras pronuntiat circumfusa esse tenebris omnia; Empedocles angustas esse sensuum semitas queritur, tamquam illi ad cogitandum reda et quadrigis opus esset;
Anaxagoras declares that all things are surrounded with darkness; Empedocles complains that the paths of the senses are narrow, as if they needed a carriage and a four-horse team for thinking;
Notes and citation
Summary: Anaxagoras and Empedocles lamented human ignorance.
- Cf. Cicero, Acad. 1.44; 2.14.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen): cogita-ndum → cogitandum.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Acad. 1.44 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.12 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-12).
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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).
3.28.13CSEL 19:266
Democritus quasi in puteo quodam sic alto, ut fundus nullus sit, ueritatem iacere demersam: nimirum stulte, ut cetera.
Democritus says that truth lies sunk as in a well so deep that it has no bottom: foolishly, no doubt, like the rest.
Notes and citation
Summary: Democritus said truth lies in a bottomless well.
- Cf. Cicero, Acad. 1.44.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.13 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-13).
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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).
3.28.14CSEL 19:266
non enim tamquam in puteo demersa ueritas est, quo uel descendere uel etiam cadere illi licebat, sed tamquam in summo montis excelsi uertice uel potius in caelo, quod est uerissimum.
For truth is not sunk as in a well, where he might have gone down or even fallen, but as on the very top of a lofty mountain, or rather in heaven, which is most true.
Notes and citation
Summary: Truth is not in a well but on high, in heaven.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.14 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-14).
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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).
3.28.15CSEL 19:266
quid est enim cur eam potius in imum depressam diceret quam in summum leuatam? nisi forte mentem quoque in pedibus aut in imis calcibus constituere malebat potius quam in pectore aut in capite.
For why should he say it was sunk to the bottom rather than raised to the top? Unless perhaps he preferred to place the mind too in the feet or the lowest heels rather than in the breast or the head.
Notes and citation
Summary: Placing truth below is like placing the mind in the feet.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.15 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-15).
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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).
3.28.16CSEL 19:266
adeo remotissimi fuerunt ab ipsa ueritate, ut eos ne status quidem sui corporis admoneret ueritatem illis in summo esse quaerendam.
So far were they from truth itself that not even the posture of their own body reminded them that truth must be sought above.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even their upright bodies did not teach them to seek truth above.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.16 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-16).
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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).
3.28.17CSEL 19:266
ex hac desperatione confessio illa Socratis nata est, qua se nihil scire dixit nisi hoc unum, quod nihil sciat, hinc Academiae disciplina manauit, si tamen disciplina dici potest in qua ignoratio et discitur et docetur.
From this despair was born that confession of Socrates, in which he said he knew nothing except this one thing, that he knew nothing; from here flowed the discipline of the Academy, if indeed that can be called a discipline in which ignorance is both learned and taught.
Notes and citation
Summary: Socrates' confession and the Academy came from this despair.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.17 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-17).
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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).
3.28.18CSEL 19:266
sed ne illi quidem qui scientiam sibi adsumpserunt, id ipsum, quod scire se putabant, constanter defendere potuerunt.
But not even those who claimed knowledge for themselves could consistently defend the very thing they thought they knew.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even those who claimed knowledge could not defend it.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.18 (CSEL 19:266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-18).
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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).
3.28.19CSEL 19:266–267
qui, quoniam ratio illis non quadrabat per ignorantiam rerum diuinarum, tam uarii, tam incerti fuerunt sibique saepe contraria disserentes, ut quid sentirent, quid uellent, statuere ac diiudicare non posses.
Since their reasoning did not square, through ignorance of divine things, they were so varied, so uncertain, and so often argued things contrary to themselves, that you could not settle or decide what they thought or what they meant.
Notes and citation
Summary: Their views were inconsistent and contradictory.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.19 (CSEL 19:266–267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-19).
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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).
3.28.20CSEL 19:267
quid igitur pugnes aduersus eos homines qui suo sibi gladio pereunt? quid labores ut eos destruas, quos sua ipsos destruit atque adfligit oratio? Aristoteles inquit Cicero ueteres philosophos accusans ait eos aut stultissimos aut gloriosissimos fuisse, qui existimauissent philosophiam suis ingeniis esse perfectam: sed se uidere, quod paucis annis magna accessio facta esset, breui tempore philosophiam plane absolutam fore.
Why, then, fight against men who perish by their own sword? Why labour to destroy those whom their own speech destroys and casts down? 'Aristotle,' says Cicero, 'accusing the old philosophers, says that they were either very foolish or very vainglorious, who thought that philosophy had been perfected by their talents; but that he saw, since great progress had been made in a few years, that in a short time philosophy would be entirely completed.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle, quoted by Cicero, expected philosophy soon to be completed.
- Cicero, Tusc. 3.69.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated letters): philosophos os accusans → philosophos accusans.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Tusc. 3.69 (Cicero; quotation); Aristotle, fragment (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.20 (CSEL 19:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-20).
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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).
3.28.21CSEL 19:267
quod igitur fuit illut tempus? quando est aut a quibus absoluta? nam quod ait stultissimos fuisse, qui putassent ingeniis suis perfectam esse sapientiam, uerum est: sed ne ipse quidem satis prudenter, qui aut a ueteribus coeptam aut a nouis auctam [aut] mox a posterioribus perfectuiri putauit.
What, then, was that time? When was it completed, or by whom? For his saying that they were very foolish who thought wisdom was perfected by their talents is true; but not even he was wise enough, who thought it was begun by the ancients, or increased by the moderns, and would soon be perfected by those who came after.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle himself was wrong to expect philosophy to be completed.
- The editor deletes a repeated 'aut' ('or').
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.21 (CSEL 19:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-21).
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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).
3.28.22CSEL 19:267
numquam enim potest inuestigari quod non per uiam suam quaeritur.
For what is not sought by its own road can never be found.
Notes and citation
Summary: Truth cannot be found by the wrong road.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.28.22 (CSEL 19:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-28-22).
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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).
Divine 3, chapter 29
3.29.1CSEL 19:267
Sed repetamus id quod omisimus. fortuna ergo per se nihil est: nec sic habendum est, tamquam sit in aliquo sensu, siquidem fortuna est accidentium rerum subitus atque inopinatus euentus.
But let us take up again what we left aside. Fortune, then, is nothing in itself; nor is it to be held as though it had any sense, since fortune is the sudden and unexpected outcome of things that happen.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fortune is nothing but the unexpected outcome of events.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.1 (CSEL 19:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-1).
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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).
3.29.2CSEL 19:267
uerum philosophi, ne aliquando non errent, in re stulta uolunt esse sapientes: qui fortunae sexum mutant eamque non deam sicut uulgus, sed deum esse dicunt.
But the philosophers, lest they should ever fail to err, wish to be wise in a foolish matter: they change Fortune's sex and say that it is not a goddess, as the crowd does, but a god.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers made Fortune a male god.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.2 (CSEL 19:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-2).
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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).
3.29.3CSEL 19:267–268
eundem tamen interdum naturam, interdum fortunam uocant, quod multa inquit idem Cicero efficiat inopinata nobis propter obscuritatem ignorationemque causarum. cum igitur causas ignorent propter quas fiat aliquid, et ipsum qui faciat ignorent necesse est.
Yet they call the same one sometimes nature, sometimes fortune, 'because,' says the same Cicero, 'it brings about many things unexpected by us, through the obscurity of causes and our ignorance of them.' Since, then, they do not know the causes for which something happens, they must also be ignorant of him who makes it happen.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ignorant of causes, they are ignorant of the Cause.
- Cicero, Acad. 1.29.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Acad. 1.29 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.3 (CSEL 19:267–268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-3).
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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).
3.29.4CSEL 19:268
idem in opere ualde serio, in quo praecepta uitae deprompta ex philosophia filio dabat, magnam inquit esse fortunae uim in utramque partem quis nescit? nam et cum prospero flatu eius utimur, ad exitus peruenimus optatos, et cum reflauit, adfligimur.
The same man, in a very serious work in which he gave his son precepts of life drawn from philosophy, says: 'Who does not know that the power of fortune is great in both directions? For when we enjoy her favourable breeze, we reach the outcomes we wished; and when she has blown against us, we are cast down.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero told his son that fortune's power is great.
- Cicero, Off. 2.19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR): pritecepta → praecepta.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 2.19 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.4 (CSEL 19:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-4).
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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).
3.29.5CSEL 19:268
primum, qui negat sciri posse quicquam, sic hoc dixit, tamquam et ipse et omnes sciant. deinde, qui etiam quae clara sunt, dubia conatur efficere, hoc putauit esse clarum quod illi esse debuit uel maxime dubium: nam sapienti omnino falsum est.
First, he who denies that anything can be known said this as though both he and everyone knew it. Next, he who tries to make even what is clear doubtful thought this was clear, which ought to have been most doubtful to him; for to the wise man it is altogether false.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero the sceptic contradicted himself.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.5 (CSEL 19:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-5).
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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).
3.29.6CSEL 19:268
quis inquit nescit? ego uero nescio. doceat me, si potest, quae sit illa uis, qui flatus iste et qui reflatus. turpe igitur, hominem ingeniosum id dicere, quod si neges probare non possit.
'Who does not know?' he says. I for one do not know. Let him teach me, if he can, what that power is, what that breeze and what that contrary blast. It is shameful, then, for a man of talent to say what, if you denied it, he could not prove.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero cannot prove what he claims everyone knows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.6 (CSEL 19:268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-6).
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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).
3.29.7CSEL 19:268–269
postremo, quod is qui dicit adsensus esse retinendos, quod stulti sit hominis rebus incognitis temere assentire, is plane uulgi et inperitorum opinionibus credidit, qui fortunam putant esse quae tribuat hominibus bona et mala. nam simulacrum eius cum copia et gubernaculo fingunt, tamquam haec et opes tribuat et humanarum rerum regimen optineat.
Lastly, he who says that assent must be withheld, because it is the part of a foolish man to assent rashly to things unknown, plainly believed the opinions of the crowd and the ignorant, who think that it is Fortune that assigns good and evil to men. For they fashion her image with a horn of plenty and a rudder, as though she both assigned wealth and held the government of human affairs.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero, who urged withholding assent, accepted the popular view of Fortune.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.7 (CSEL 19:268–269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-7).
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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).
3.29.8CSEL 19:269
cui opinioni et Vergilius adsentit, qui fortunam omnipotentem uocat, et historicus, qui ait: sed profecto fortuna in omni re dominatur. quid ergo ceteris diis loci superest?
Virgil too assents to this opinion, who calls Fortune 'all-powerful', and the historian, who says: 'But surely fortune rules in every matter.' What room, then, is left for the other gods?
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil and Sallust made Fortune all-powerful.
- Virgil, Aen. 8.334; Sallust, Cat. 8.1 (no extrabiblical entry exists for Sallust).
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 8.334 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.8 (CSEL 19:269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-8).
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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).
3.29.9CSEL 19:269
cur non aut ipsa regnare dicitur, si plus potest, aut sola colitur, si omnia? uel si tantum mala immittit, aliquid causae proferant cur, si dea sit, inuideat hominibus eosque perditos cupiat, cum ab iis religiose colatur, cur aequior sit malis, iniquior autem bonis, cur insidietur adfligat decipiat exterminet,
Why is she not either said to reign, if she can do more, or worshipped alone, if she can do everything? Or if she only sends evils, let them give some reason why, if she is a goddess, she envies men and wishes them ruined, though she is worshipped by them religiously; why she is fairer to the bad and more unfair to the good; why she lies in wait, afflicts, deceives, destroys;
Notes and citation
Summary: If Fortune is a goddess, why is she hostile to her worshippers?
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.9 (CSEL 19:269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-9).
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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).
3.29.10CSEL 19:269
quis illam generi hominum uexatricem perpetuam constituerit, cur denique tam malam sortita sit potestatem, ut res cunctas ex libidine magis quam ex uero celebret obscuretque.
who appointed her the perpetual tormentor of the human race; why, in short, she has been allotted so evil a power as to make all things famous or obscure according to her whim rather than according to truth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Who gave Fortune such an evil power?
- Cf. Sallust, Cat. 8.1.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.10 (CSEL 19:269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-10).
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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).
3.29.11CSEL 19:269
haec, inquam, philosophos inquirere oportuit potius quam temere innocentem accusare fortunam: quae etiamsi sit aliqua, nihil tamen adferri ab iis potest, cur hominibus tam inimica sit quam putatur.
These things, I say, the philosophers ought to have inquired into, rather than rashly accuse innocent Fortune; for even if she is something, they can give no reason why she should be as hostile to men as she is thought to be.
Notes and citation
Summary: The philosophers accuse Fortune without reason.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.11 (CSEL 19:269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-11).
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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).
3.29.12CSEL 19:269
itaque illae omnes orationes quibus iniquitatem fortunae lacerant suasque uirtutes contra fortunam superbissime iactant, nihil sunt aliut quam deliramenta inconsideratae leuitatis.
So all those speeches in which they tear at the injustice of Fortune and most proudly boast of their virtues against Fortune are nothing but the ravings of thoughtless levity.
Notes and citation
Summary: Their speeches against Fortune are ravings.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.12 (CSEL 19:269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-12).
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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).
3.29.13CSEL 19:269–270
quare non inuideant nobis, quibus aperuit ueritatem deus: qui sicut scimus nihil esse fortunam, ita scimus esse prauum ac subdolum spiritum, qui sit inimicus bonis hostisque iustitiae, qui contraria faciat quam deus, cuius inuidiae causam in secundo libro explicauimus.
So let them not envy us, to whom God has opened the truth: we who, as we know that Fortune is nothing, so know that there is a depraved and cunning spirit, who is an enemy of the good and a foe of justice, who does the opposite of what God does; the cause of whose envy we explained in the second book.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians know that Fortune is nothing, but that a malicious spirit, the devil, opposes the good.
- See Book 2, chapters 8–9, on the devil's envy.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.13 (CSEL 19:269–270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-13).
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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).
3.29.14CSEL 19:270
hic ergo insidiatur uniuersis: sed eos qui deum nesciunt errore inpedit, stultitia obruit, tenebris circumfundit, ne quis possit ad diuini nominis peruenire notitiam, in quo uno et sapientia continetur et uita perpetua;
He, then, lies in wait for all; but those who do not know God he entangles in error, overwhelms with folly, surrounds with darkness, so that no one may attain the knowledge of the divine name, in which alone both wisdom and everlasting life are contained;
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil keeps unbelievers from knowing God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.14 (CSEL 19:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-14).
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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).
3.29.15CSEL 19:270
eos autem qui deum sciunt dolis et astu adgreditur, ut cupiditate aut libidine inretiat, ut peccatis blandientibus deprauatos inpellat ad mortem, uel si dolo nihil profecerit, ui et uiolentia deicere conatur.
while those who know God he attacks with tricks and cunning, to ensnare them with greed or lust, to drive them to death depraved by flattering sins; or, if he achieves nothing by guile, he tries to throw them down by force and violence.
Notes and citation
Summary: Believers he attacks with temptation or violence.
- 'force and violence' probably refers to persecution.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.15 (CSEL 19:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-15).
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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).
3.29.16CSEL 19:270
idcirco enim in primordiis transgressionis non statim ad poenam detrusus a deo est, ut hominem malitia sua exerceat ad uirtutem: quae nisi agitetur, nisi uexatione adsidua roboretur, non potest esse perfecta, siquidem uirtus est perferendorum malorum fortis atque inuicta patientia. ex quo fit ut uirtus nulla sit, si aduersarius desit.
For this is why, at the beginning of his transgression, he was not at once thrust down to punishment by God: so that by his malice he might exercise man for virtue. For virtue, unless it is stirred up, unless it is strengthened by constant harassment, cannot be perfect, since virtue is a brave and unconquered endurance of evils that must be borne. From this it follows that there is no virtue if an adversary is lacking.
Notes and citation
Summary: God allows the devil to remain so that virtue may be exercised.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.16 (CSEL 19:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-16).
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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).
3.29.17CSEL 19:270–271
huius itaque peruersae potestatis cum uim sentirent uirtuti repugnantem, nomen ignorarent, fortunae sibi uocabulum inane finxerunt: quod quam longe a sapientia sit remotum, declarat Iuuenalis his uersibus: nullum numen habes, si sit prudentia: nos te, nos facimus, fortuna, deam caeloque locamus.
So, feeling the force of this perverse power opposing virtue but not knowing its name, they invented for themselves the empty word Fortune. How far that is from wisdom Juvenal declares in these lines: 'You have no divinity, if there is prudence; it is we, we who make you a goddess, Fortune, and place you in heaven.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Not knowing the devil, they invented Fortune, as Juvenal saw.
- Juvenal 10.365–366 (no extrabiblical entry exists for Juvenal).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.17 (CSEL 19:270–271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-17).
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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).
3.29.18CSEL 19:271
stultitia igitur et error et caecitas et, ut Cicero ait, ignoratio rerum atque causarum naturae ac fortunae nomina induxit.
Folly, then, and error and blindness and, as Cicero says, ignorance of things and causes brought in the names of nature and fortune.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ignorance produced the names of nature and fortune.
- 'pt' is read as 'et' ('and').
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: p for e): caecitas pt, ut → caecitas et, ut.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.18 (CSEL 19:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-18).
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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).
3.29.19CSEL 19:271
sed ut aduersarium suum nesciunt, sic ne uirtutem quidem sciunt, cuius scientia ab aduersarii notione descendit. quae si coniuncta est cum sapientia uel, ut ipsi dicunt, eadem ipsa sapientia est, ignorent necesse est in quibus rebus sita sit.
But as they do not know their adversary, so they do not know virtue either, the knowledge of which comes from knowing the adversary. If virtue is joined with wisdom, or, as they themselves say, is wisdom itself, they must be ignorant of what it consists in.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not knowing the adversary, they cannot know virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.19 (CSEL 19:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-19).
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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).
3.29.20CSEL 19:271
nemo enim potest ueris armis instrui, si hostem contra quem fuerit armandus ignorat, nec aduersarium uincere qui in dimicando non hostem uerum, sed umbram petit. prosternetur enim qui alio intentus uenientem uitalibus suis ictum nec praeuiderit ante nec cauerit.
For no one can be equipped with true arms if he does not know the enemy against whom he must be armed, nor conquer an adversary who in the fight strikes not at the real enemy but at a shadow. For he who is intent on something else will be laid low, neither foreseeing nor guarding against the blow that comes at his vitals.
Notes and citation
Summary: One cannot fight an enemy one does not know.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.29.20 (CSEL 19:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-29-20).
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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).
Divine 3, chapter 30
3.30.1CSEL 19:271
Docui, quantum mea mediocritas tulit, longe deuium philosophos iter a ueritate tenuisse, sentio tamen quam multa praeterierim, quia non erat mihi propria contra philosophos disputatio.
I have shown, as far as my modest ability allowed, that the philosophers kept to a road far astray from the truth; yet I am aware how much I have passed over, since the dispute against the philosophers was not my proper subject.
Notes and citation
Summary: He has shown the philosophers' errors, though not exhaustively.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.1 (CSEL 19:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-1).
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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).
3.30.2CSEL 19:271
sed huc necessario deuertendum fuit, ut ostenderem tot ac tanta ingenia in rebus falsis esse consumpta, ne quis forte a prauis religionibus exclusus ad eos se conferre uellet tamquam certi aliquid reperturus.
But I had to turn aside here, to show that so many and such great talents were spent on false things, lest anyone, shut out from depraved religions, should wish to betake himself to them, as if he would find something certain.
Notes and citation
Summary: He refuted philosophy lest people turn to it after leaving false religion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.2 (CSEL 19:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-2).
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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).
3.30.3CSEL 19:271–272
una igitur spes homini, una salus in hac doctrina quam defendimus posita est, omnis sapientia hominis in hoc uno est, ut deum cognoscat et colat: hoc nostrum dogma, haec sententia est.
The one hope for man, then, the one salvation, lies in this teaching which we defend; all the wisdom of man consists in this alone, that he know and worship God: this is our doctrine, this our conviction.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man's only hope and wisdom is to know and worship God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.3 (CSEL 19:271–272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-3).
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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).
3.30.4CSEL 19:272
quanta itaque uoce possum, testificor proclamo denuntio: hic, hic est illut, quod philosophi omnes in tota sua uita quaesierunt nec umquam tamen inuestigare conprehendere tenere ualuerunt, quia religionem aut prauam retinuerunt aut totam penitus sustulerunt.
With as loud a voice as I can, I bear witness, I proclaim, I declare: here, here is that which all the philosophers sought through their whole life and yet never could track down, grasp, or hold, because they either kept a depraved religion or took it away altogether.
Notes and citation
Summary: Here is what the philosophers sought and never found.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.4 (CSEL 19:272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-4).
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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).
3.30.5CSEL 19:272
facessant igitur illi omnes, qui humanam uitam non instruunt, sed turbant. quid enim docent aut quem instruunt qui se ipsos nondum instruxerunt? quem sanare aegroti, quem regere caeci possunt? huc ergo nos omnes, quibus est cura sapientiae, conferamus.
Let all those be gone, then, who do not equip human life but disturb it. For what do they teach, or whom do they equip, who have not yet equipped themselves? Whom can the sick heal, whom can the blind guide? Let all of us, then, who care for wisdom, betake ourselves here.
Matt 15:14 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Leave the philosophers, who cannot help themselves, and turn to true wisdom.
- 'whom can the blind guide?' recalls Matt 15:14 / Luke 6:39.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.5 (CSEL 19:272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-5).
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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).
3.30.6CSEL 19:272
an expectabimus, donec Socrates aliquid sciat aut Anaxagoras in tenebris lumen inueniat aut Democritus ueritatem de puteo extrahat aut Empedocles dilatet animi sui semitas aut Arcesilas et Carneades uideant sentiant percipiant?
Or shall we wait until Socrates knows something, or Anaxagoras finds light in the darkness, or Democritus draws truth out of the well, or Empedocles widens the paths of his mind, or Arcesilas and Carneades see, perceive, and grasp?
Notes and citation
Summary: We need not wait for the philosophers to find truth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.6 (CSEL 19:272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-6).
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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).
3.30.7CSEL 19:272
uox ecce de caelo ueritatem docens et nobis sole ipso clarius lumen ostendens. quid nobis iniqui sumus et sapientiam suscipere cunctamur, quam docti homines contritis in quaerendo aetatibus suis numquam reperire potuerunt?
Behold, a voice from heaven teaching the truth and showing us a light clearer than the sun itself. Why are we unfair to ourselves and hesitate to take up wisdom, which learned men, having worn out their lives in seeking, could never find?
Notes and citation
Summary: A voice from heaven offers the wisdom the learned never found.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.7 (CSEL 19:272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-7).
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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).
3.30.8CSEL 19:272
qui uult sapiens ac beatus esse, audiat dei uocem, discat iustitiam, sacramentum natiuitatis suae norit, humana contemnat, diuina suscipiat, ut summum illut bonum ad quod natus est possit adipisci.
Whoever wishes to be wise and happy, let him hear the voice of God, learn justice, know the mystery of his birth, despise human things, take up divine things, so that he may attain that highest good for which he was born.
Notes and citation
Summary: To be wise and happy, hear God's voice and seek the highest good.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.8 (CSEL 19:272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-8).
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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).
3.30.9CSEL 19:272–273
Dissolutis religionibus uniuersis et omnibus quaecumque in earum defensionem dici uel solebant uel poterant refutatis, deinde conuictis philosophiae disciplinis, ad ueram nobis religionem sapientiamque ueniendum est, quoniam est ut docebo utrumque coniunctum, ut eam uel argumentis uel exemplis uel idoneis testibus adseramus et stultitiam, quam nobis isti deorum cultores obiectare non desinunt, ut nullam penes nos, sic totam penes ipsos esse doceamus.
Now that all the religions have been dissolved, and everything that used to be said or could be said in their defence refuted, and then the schools of philosophy convicted, we must come to the true religion and wisdom, since, as I shall show, the two are joined, so that we may champion it by arguments, examples, and suitable witnesses, and show that the folly which these worshippers of the gods never cease to throw at us is none of it with us and all of it with them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Having refuted false religion and philosophy, he turns to true religion and wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.9 (CSEL 19:272–273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-9).
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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).
3.30.10CSEL 19:273
et quamquam prioribus libris, cum falsas arguerem religiones, et hoc, cum falsam sapientiam tollerem, ubi ueritas sit ostenderim, planius tamen quae religio et quae sapientia uera sit liber proximus indicabit.
And although in the earlier books, when I refuted false religions, and in this one, when I removed false wisdom, I have shown where the truth is, yet the next book will show more plainly what religion and what wisdom is true.
Notes and citation
Summary: Book 4 will set out the true religion and wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 3.30.10 (CSEL 19:273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-3-30-10).
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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).
Divine 4, chapter 1
4.1.1CSEL 19:274
Cogitanti mihi et cum animo meo saepe reputanti priorem illum generis humani statum et mirum pariter et indignum uideri solet, quod unius saeculi stultitia religiones uarias suscipientis deosque multos esse credentis in tantam subito ignorationem sui uentum est, ut ablata ex oculis ueritate neque religio dei ueri neque humanitatis ratio teneretur, hominibus non in caelo summum bonum quaerentibus, sed in terra.
As I think and often turn over in my mind that earlier state of the human race, it usually seems to me both wonderful and shameful that through the folly of one age, which took up various religions and believed there were many gods, men came suddenly to such ignorance of themselves that, truth having been taken from their eyes, neither the religion of the true God nor the principle of humanity was held, since men sought the highest good not in heaven but on earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius marvels that humanity fell from true religion into polytheism.
- Book 4 treats true wisdom and religion, and centrally Christ.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.1 (CSEL 19:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-1).
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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).
4.1.2CSEL 19:274
quam ob causam profecto saeculorum ueterum mutata felicitas est. coeperunt enim relicto parente et constitutore omnium deo insensibilia digitorum suorum figmenta uenerari. quae prauitas quid effecerit aut quid malorum adtulerit, res ipsa declarat.
For this reason, surely, the happiness of the ancient ages was changed. For, having abandoned God, the parent and founder of all things, they began to venerate senseless figures made by their own fingers. What this depravity brought about, or what evils it caused, the facts themselves declare.
Isa 2:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: People abandoned God to worship man-made images, with evil results.
- Cf. Isa 2:8, 'they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made'.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): coeperunt. enim → coeperunt enim.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.2 (CSEL 19:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-2).
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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).
4.1.3CSEL 19:274–275
auersi namque a summo bono, quod ideo beatum ac sempiternum est, quia uideri tangi conprehendi non potest, et a uirtutibus ei bono congruentibus, quae sunt aeque inmortales, ad hos corruptos et fragiles deos lapsi et studentes iis rebus quibus solum corpus ornatur alitur delectatur, mortem sibi perpetuam cum diis et cum bonis corporalibus quaesierunt, quia morti corpus omne subiectum est.
For, turned away from the highest good, which is happy and everlasting precisely because it cannot be seen, touched, or grasped, and from the virtues that accord with that good, which are equally immortal, they slipped to these corrupt and frail gods; and, devoting themselves to the things by which the body alone is adorned, nourished, and delighted, they sought for themselves everlasting death together with their gods and bodily goods, because every body is subject to death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Turning to bodily goods and frail gods, they chose everlasting death.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.3 (CSEL 19:274–275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-3).
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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).
4.1.4CSEL 19:275
insecuta est igitur huiusmodi religiones iniustitia et inpietas, sicuti fuerat necesse. desierunt etenim uultus suos in caelum tollere, sed deorsum mentes hominum depressae terrenis ut religionibus, sic etiam bonis inhaerebant.
Injustice and impiety, then, followed such religions, as was bound to happen. For men ceased to lift their faces to heaven, but their minds, pressed downward, clung to earthly goods as to earthly religions.
Notes and citation
Summary: Earthly religion brought injustice and impiety.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.4 (CSEL 19:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-4).
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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).
4.1.5CSEL 19:275
secutum est discidium generis humani et fraus et nefas omne, quia spretis aeternis atque incorruptis bonis, quae sola debent ab homine concupisci, temporalia et breuia maluerunt maiorque hominibus ad malum fides fuit, qui prauum recto, quia praesentius fuerat, praetulerunt.
There followed the division of the human race, and fraud and every crime, because, despising eternal and incorruptible goods, which alone ought to be desired by man, they preferred temporal and brief ones; and men had greater confidence in evil, preferring the depraved to the right because it was nearer at hand.
Notes and citation
Summary: Preferring temporal goods, humanity fell into division and crime.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.5 (CSEL 19:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-5).
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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).
4.1.6CSEL 19:275
sic humanam uitam prioribus saeculis in clarissima luce uersatam caligo ac tenebrae conprehenderunt: et quod huic prauitati congruens erat, postquam sublata sapientia est, tunc demum sibi homines sapientium nomen uindicare coeperunt.
So mist and darkness seized human life, which in earlier ages had been passed in the clearest light; and, as fitted this depravity, only after wisdom had been taken away did men begin to claim for themselves the name of wise men.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only after wisdom was lost did men call themselves wise.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.6 (CSEL 19:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-6).
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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).
4.1.7CSEL 19:275
tum autem nemo sapiens uocabatur, cum omnes erant: utinamque nomen illut aliquando publicum quamuis ad paucos redactum tamen uim suam retineret.
But then no one was called wise, when all were; and would that that name, once common, though now reduced to a few, still kept its force!
Notes and citation
Summary: Once all were wise and no one was called so.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.7 (CSEL 19:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-7).
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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).
4.1.8CSEL 19:275
possent enim fortasse pauci illi uel ingenio uel auctoritate uel adsiduis hortamentis liberare populum uitiis et erroribus. sed adeo in totum sapientia occiderat, ut ex ipsa nominis adrogantia nullum eorum qui uocarentur appareat fuisse sapientem.
For perhaps those few could, by talent or authority or constant exhortation, free the people from vices and errors. But wisdom had so completely perished that from the very arrogance of the name it is clear that none of those so called was wise.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom had so perished that none of the so-called wise was wise.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.8 (CSEL 19:275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-8).
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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).
4.1.9CSEL 19:275–276
et tamen prius quam haec philosophia quae dicitur esset inuenta, septem fuisse traduntur, qui primi omnium quia de rebus naturalibus quaerere ac disputare sunt ausi, sapientes haberi appellarique meruerunt.
And yet, before this so-called philosophy was invented, there are said to have been seven men who, because they were the first of all to dare to inquire and dispute about natural things, deserved to be held and called wise.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Seven Sages were called wise for first inquiring into nature.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.9 (CSEL 19:275–276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-9).
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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).
4.1.10CSEL 19:276
o miserum calamitosumque saeculum, quo per orbem totum septem soli fuerunt qui hominum uocabulo cierentur! nemo enim potest iure dici homo nisi qui sapiens est.
O wretched and calamitous age, in which throughout the whole world there were only seven who could be called by the name of men! For no one can rightly be called a man except one who is wise.
Notes and citation
Summary: A sad age when only seven deserved to be called wise men.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.10 (CSEL 19:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-10).
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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).
4.1.11CSEL 19:276
sed si ceteri omnes praeter ipsos stulti fuerunt, ne illi quidem sapientes, quia nemo sapiens esse uere iudicio stultorum potest.
But if all the rest except them were fools, not even they were wise, because no one can truly be wise by the judgment of fools.
Notes and citation
Summary: Judged wise by fools, they were not truly wise.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.11 (CSEL 19:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-11).
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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).
4.1.12CSEL 19:276
adeo ab iis afuit sapientia, ut ne postea quidem increscente doctrina et multis magnisque ingeniis in id ipsum semper intentis potuerit perfici ac ueritas conprehendi. nam post illorum septem sapientium gloriam incredibile est, quanto studio inquirendae ueritatis Graecia omnis exarserit.
So far was wisdom from them that not even afterwards, when learning increased and many great talents were always intent on this very thing, could it be perfected and the truth grasped. For after the fame of those seven wise men, it is incredible with what zeal for seeking the truth all Greece blazed up.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even with much learning afterward, Greece never grasped truth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.12 (CSEL 19:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-12).
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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).
4.1.13CSEL 19:276
ac primum nomen ipsum sapientiae adrogans putauerunt seque non sapientes, sed studiosos sapientiae uocauerunt. quo facto et illos qui temere sapientium sibi nomen asciuerant, erroris stultitiaeque damnarunt et se quoque ipsos igno-
And first they thought the very name of wisdom arrogant, and called themselves not wise men but students of wisdom. By doing this they both condemned of error and folly those who had rashly taken for themselves the name of wise men, and condemned themselves of ignorance too,
Notes and citation
Summary: The philosophers rejected the title 'wise' and so condemned both the sages and themselves.
- The sentence continues in 4.1.14.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (hyphen left from a line break; stray period): asciue- rant → asciuerant; igno-. → igno-.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.13 (CSEL 19:276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-13).
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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).
4.1.14CSEL 19:276–277
rantiae, quam quidem non diffitebantur. nam ubicumque rerum natura ingeniis eorum quasi manus opposuerat, ne rationem possent aliquam reddere, testificari solebant nihil scire se, nihil cernere. unde multo sapientiores inueniuntur qui se (insipientes esse) aliqua ex parte uiderunt quam illi qui se sapere crediderant.
which indeed they did not deny. For wherever the nature of things had, as it were, set its hand against their talents so that they could give no account, they used to testify that they knew nothing and perceived nothing. So those who saw that they were ⟨unwise⟩ in some respect are found to be much wiser than those who had believed they were wise.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who admitted ignorance were wiser than those who claimed wisdom.
- 'unwise' renders the editor's addition (insipientes esse).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray digits): se 20 ( → se (.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.1.14 (CSEL 19:276–277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-1-14).
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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).
Divine 4, chapter 2
4.2.1CSEL 19:277
Quare si neque illi fuere sapientes qui sunt appellati neque posteriores qui non dubitauerunt insipientiam confiteri, quid superest nisi ut alibi sit quaerenda sapientia, quia non est ubi quaerebatur inuenta?
Therefore, if neither those who were called wise were wise, nor those later men who did not hesitate to confess their lack of wisdom, what remains but that wisdom must be sought elsewhere, since it has not been found where it was sought?
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom must be sought elsewhere.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.2.1 (CSEL 19:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-2-1).
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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).
4.2.2CSEL 19:277
quid autem putemus fuisse causae cur tot ingeniis totque temporibus summo studio ac labore quaesita non reperiretur, nisi quod eam philosophi extra fines suos quaesierunt?
And what shall we think was the reason why, though sought by so many talents over so long a time with the utmost zeal and toil, it was not found, except that the philosophers sought it outside its own bounds?
Notes and citation
Summary: The philosophers sought wisdom in the wrong place.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.2.2 (CSEL 19:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-2-2).
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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).
4.2.3CSEL 19:277
qui quoniam peragratis et exploratis omnibus nusquam ullam sapientiam conprehenderunt et alicubi esse illam necesse est, apparet ibi potissimum esse quaerendam ubi stultitiae titulus apparet: cuius uelamento deus, ne arcanum sui diuini operis in propatulo esset, thensaurum sapientiae ac ueritatis abscondit.
Since, having travelled over and explored everything, they grasped no wisdom anywhere, and it must be somewhere, it is clear that it must be sought above all where the label of folly appears: under that veil God has hidden the treasure of wisdom and truth, so that the secret of his divine work might not lie open to all.
1 Cor 1:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 2:3 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God hid wisdom under the appearance of folly.
- Cf. 1 Cor 1:21–25 (the folly of the preaching); Col 2:3 (the treasures of wisdom hidden in Christ).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.2.3 (CSEL 19:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-2-3).
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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).
4.2.4CSEL 19:277
unde equidem soleo mirari, quod cum Pythagoras et postea Plato amore indagandae ueritatis incensi ad Aegyptios et Magos et Persas usque penetrassent, ut earum gentium ritus et sacra cognoscerent — suspicabantur enim sapientiam in religione uersari —, ad Iudaeos tantum non accesserint, penes quos tunc solos erat et quo facilius ire potuissent.
So I often wonder that, although Pythagoras and afterwards Plato, fired with love of tracking down the truth, penetrated as far as the Egyptians and the Magi and the Persians to learn the rites and sacred things of those nations (for they suspected that wisdom lay in religion), they did not approach the Jews alone, with whom alone wisdom then was, and to whom they could more easily have gone.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pythagoras and Plato visited Egypt and Persia but not the Jews, who alone had wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.2.4 (CSEL 19:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-2-4).
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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).
4.2.5CSEL 19:277–278
sed auersos esse arbitror diuina prouidentia, ne scire possent ueritatem, quia nondum fas erat alienigenis hominibus religionem dei ueri iustitiamque notescere. statuerat enim deus adpropinquante ultimo tempore ducem magnum caelitus mittere, qui eam perfido ingratoque populo ablatam exteris nationibus reuelaret. qua de re in hoc libro adgrediar disputare, si prius ostendero sapientiam cum religione sic cohaerere, ut diuelli utrumque non possit.
But I think they were turned away by divine providence so that they could not know the truth, because it was not yet permitted that the religion and justice of the true God should become known to foreigners. For God had determined, as the last time drew near, to send from heaven a great leader, who would reveal it to the foreign nations, taken away from a faithless and ungrateful people. This I shall undertake to discuss in this book, once I have first shown that wisdom so coheres with religion that the two cannot be torn apart.
Notes and citation
Summary: Providence reserved the truth for the gentiles through a great leader sent from heaven.
- The 'faithless and ungrateful people' are the Jews, as Lactantius explains later in the book; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): ablatam. exteris → ablatam exteris.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.2.5 (CSEL 19:277–278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-2-5).
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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).
Divine 4, chapter 3
4.3.1CSEL 19:278
Deorum cultus, ut in primo libro docui, non habet sapientiam, non modo quia diuinum animal, hominem, terrenis fragilibusque substernit, sed quia nihil ibi disseritur quod proficiat ad mores excolendos uitamque formandam; nec habet inquisitionem aliquam ueritatis, sed tantummodo ritum colendi, qui non officio mentis, sed ministerio corporis constat.
The worship of the gods, as I showed in the first book, has no wisdom, not only because it subjects man, a divine living being, to earthly and frail things, but because nothing is taught there that helps to cultivate character and shape life; nor does it have any inquiry into truth, but only a rite of worship, which consists not in the service of the mind but in the ministry of the body.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan worship has no wisdom and no moral teaching, only bodily ritual.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split and OCR): pro- Sciat → proficiat.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.1 (CSEL 19:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-1).
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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).
4.3.2CSEL 19:278
et ideo non est illa uera religio iudicanda, quia nullis iustitiae uirtutisque praeceptis erudit efficitque meliores. ita philosophia quia religionem id est summam pietatem non habet, non est uera sapientia.
So it must not be judged true religion, because it instructs with no precepts of justice and virtue and makes no one better. So too philosophy, because it has no religion, that is, the highest piety, is not true wisdom.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan religion lacks wisdom and philosophy lacks religion; neither is true.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.2 (CSEL 19:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-2).
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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).
4.3.3CSEL 19:278
nam si diuinitas, quae gubernat hunc mundum, incredibili beneficentia genus hominum sustentat et quasi paterna indulgentia fouet, uult profecto gratiam sibi referri et honorem dari, nec constare homini ratio pietatis potest, si caelestibus beneficiis extiterit ingratus, quod non est utique sapientis.
For if the divinity that governs this world sustains the human race with incredible kindness and cherishes it with, as it were, a father's indulgence, it surely wishes thanks to be returned to it and honour to be given; nor can man keep the principle of piety if he proves ungrateful for heavenly benefits, which is certainly not the mark of a wise man.
Notes and citation
Summary: God, like a father, deserves thanks and honour.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.3 (CSEL 19:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-3).
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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).
4.3.4CSEL 19:278
quoniam igitur ut dixi philosophia et religio deorum diiuncta sunt longeque discreta, siquidem alii sunt professores sapientiae, per quos utique ad deos non aditur, alii religionis antistites, per quos sapere non discitur, apparet nec illam esse ueram sapientiam nec hanc religionem.
Since, then, as I said, philosophy and the religion of the gods are disjoined and far apart, since some are professors of wisdom, through whom there is surely no approach to the gods, and others are priests of religion, through whom wisdom is not learned, it is clear that neither is the former true wisdom nor the latter religion.
Notes and citation
Summary: Separated, philosophy and pagan religion are both false.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: e for i): religiones antistites → religionis antistites.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.4 (CSEL 19:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-4).
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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).
4.3.5CSEL 19:278
idcirco nec philosophia potuit ueritatem conprehendere nec religio deorum rationem sui, qua caret, reddere.
For this reason neither could philosophy grasp the truth, nor the religion of the gods give an account of itself, which it lacks.
Notes and citation
Summary: Neither could reach the truth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.5 (CSEL 19:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-5).
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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).
4.3.6CSEL 19:278–279
ubi autem sapientia cum religione inseparabili nexu cohaeret, utrumque esse uerum necesse est, quia et in colendo sapere debemus, id est scire quid nobis et quomodo sit colendum, et in sapiendo colere id est re et actu quod scierimus inplere.
But where wisdom coheres with religion by an inseparable bond, both must be true; because in worshipping we ought to be wise, that is, to know what we should worship and how, and in being wise to worship, that is, to fulfil in fact and action what we have known.
Notes and citation
Summary: Where wisdom and religion are joined, both are true.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.6 (CSEL 19:278–279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-6).
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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).
4.3.7CSEL 19:279
ubi ergo sapientia cum religione coniungitur? ibi scilicet ubi deus colitur unus, ubi uita et actus omnis ad unum caput et ad unam summam refertur, denique idem sunt doctores sapientiae qui et dei sacerdotes.
Where, then, is wisdom joined with religion? There, surely, where one God is worshipped, where life and every action is referred to one head and one sum; in short, where the teachers of wisdom are the same as the priests of God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom and religion are joined where one God is worshipped and his priests teach wisdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.7 (CSEL 19:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-7).
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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).
4.3.8CSEL 19:279
nec tamen moueat quemquam quia et saepe factum est et fieri potest, ut philosophus aliquis deorum suscipiat sacerdotium: quod cum fit, non tamen coniungitur philosophia cum religione, sed et philosophia inter sacra cessabit, et religio, quando philosophia tractabitur.
Nor should it disturb anyone that it has often happened, and can happen, that some philosopher takes up a priesthood of the gods; when that happens, philosophy is still not joined with religion, but philosophy will be idle amid the rites, and religion when philosophy is being discussed.
Notes and citation
Summary: A philosopher-priest does not unite philosophy and religion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.8 (CSEL 19:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-8).
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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).
4.3.9CSEL 19:279
illa enim religio muta est, non tantum quia mutorum est, sed quia ritus eius in manu et in digitis est, non in corde aut in lingua, sicut nostra, quae uera est.
For that religion is dumb, not only because it belongs to dumb things, but because its rite is in the hand and the fingers, not in the heart or the tongue, as is ours, which is true.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan religion is mute ritual; Christian religion is of heart and tongue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.9 (CSEL 19:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-9).
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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).
4.3.10CSEL 19:279
idcirco et in sapientia religio et in religione sapientia est. ergo non potest segregari, quia sapere nihil aliut est nisi deum uerum iustis ac piis cultibus honorare.
Therefore religion is in wisdom and wisdom in religion. So they cannot be separated, because to be wise is nothing other than to honour the true God with just and pious worship.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom is honouring the true God with just and pious worship.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.10 (CSEL 19:279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-10).
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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).
4.3.11CSEL 19:279–280
multorum autem deorum cultum non esse secundum naturam etiam hoc argumento colligi et conprehendi potest: omnem deum qui ab homine colitur necesse est inter sollemnes ritus et precationes patrem nuncupari, non tantum honoris gratia, uerum etiam rationis, quod et antiquior est homine et quod uitam salutem uictum praestat ut pater.
That the worship of many gods is not according to nature can also be inferred and grasped from this argument: every god who is worshipped by man must, in solemn rites and prayers, be addressed as father, not only for the sake of honour but also of reason, because he is both older than man and provides life, safety, and food like a father.
Notes and citation
Summary: Every god worshipped is called father.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.11 (CSEL 19:279–280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-11).
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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).
4.3.12CSEL 19:280
itaque et Iuppiter a precantibus pater uocatur et Saturnus et Ianus et Liber et ceteri deinceps: quod Lucilius in deorum concilio inridet: ut nemo sit nostrum, quin aut pater optimus diuum aut Neptunus pater, Liber, Saturnus pater, Mars, Ianus, Quirinus pater siet ac dicatur ad unum.
So Jupiter is called father by those who pray, and Saturn and Janus and Liber and the rest in turn; which Lucilius mocks in the council of the gods: 'so that there is none of us who is not best father of the gods, or father Neptune, Liber, father Saturn, Mars, Janus, father Quirinus, and is not called so, every one.'
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucilius mocked the many gods all called 'father'.
- Lucilius, fragment (the council of the gods, Book 1).
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius, fragment (Book 1) (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.12 (CSEL 19:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-12).
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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).
4.3.13CSEL 19:280
quodsi natura non patitur ut sint unius hominis multi patres — ex uno enim procreatur —, ergo etiam deos multos colere contra naturam est contraque pietatem.
But if nature does not allow one man to have many fathers (for he is begotten from one), then to worship many gods too is against nature and against piety.
Notes and citation
Summary: As no one has many fathers, worshipping many gods is unnatural.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.13 (CSEL 19:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-13).
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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).
4.3.14CSEL 19:280
unus igitur colendus est, qui potest uere pater nominari: idem etiam dominus sit necesse est, quia sicut potest indulgere, ita etiam cohercere.
One, then, must be worshipped, who can truly be called father; and he must also be lord, because as he can indulge, so he can also restrain.
Notes and citation
Summary: The one God is both father and lord.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.14 (CSEL 19:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-14).
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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).
4.3.15CSEL 19:280
pater ideo appellandus est, quia nobis multa et magna largitur, dominus ideo, quia castigandi ac puniendi habet maximam potestatem. dominum uero eundem esse qui sit pater etiam iuris ciuilis ratio demonstrat. quis enim poterit filios educare, nisi habeat in eos domini potestatem?
He is to be called father because he bestows many great things on us; lord because he has the greatest power to chastise and punish. That the same one who is father is also lord is shown even by the principle of civil law. For who could bring up sons unless he had over them the power of a master?
Notes and citation
Summary: Roman law too makes the father a master over his sons.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.15 (CSEL 19:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-15).
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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).
4.3.16CSEL 19:280–281
nec inmerito pater familias dicitur, licet tantum filios habeat: uidelicet nomen patris conplectitur etiam seruos, quia familias sequitur, et nomen familiae conplectitur etiam filios, quia pater antecedit. unde apparet eundem ipsum et patrem esse seruorum et dominum filiorum.
And not without reason is he called father of the household, even if he has only sons: evidently the name of father embraces the slaves too, because 'household' follows it, and the name of household embraces the sons too, because 'father' precedes it. From which it appears that the same man is both father of the slaves and master of the sons.
Notes and citation
Summary: 'Father of the household' covers both sons and slaves.
- pater familias: familia included the household's slaves.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.16 (CSEL 19:280–281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-16).
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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).
4.3.17CSEL 19:281
denique et filius manu emittitur tamquam seruus et seruus liberatus patroni nomen accipit tamquam filius. quodsi propterea pater familias nominatur, ut appareat eum duplici potestate praeditum, quia et indulgere debet, quia pater est, et cohercere, quia dominus, ergo idem seruus est qui et filius, idem dominus qui et pater.
Finally, a son is emancipated like a slave, and a freed slave receives the name of patron like a son. If, then, he is called father of the household to show that he is endowed with a double power, because he ought both to indulge, since he is father, and to restrain, since he is master, then the same person is slave who is son, and the same master who is father.
Notes and citation
Summary: The father's power is double: indulgent as father, restraining as master.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.17 (CSEL 19:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-17).
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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).
4.3.18CSEL 19:281
sicut igitur naturae necessitate non potest esse nisi unus pater, ita nec dominus nisi unus. quid enim faciet seruus, si multi domini diuersa imperauerint?
As, then, by the necessity of nature there cannot be more than one father, so neither can there be more than one master. For what will a slave do if many masters give different orders?
Matt 6:24 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: There can be only one father and one master.
- Cf. Matt 6:24, 'no one can serve two masters'.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.18 (CSEL 19:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-18).
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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).
4.3.19CSEL 19:281
ergo contra rationem contraque naturam sunt religiones multorum deorum, siquidem nec patres multi possunt esse nec domini, deos autem et patres et dominos nuncupari necesse est.
So the religions of many gods are against reason and against nature, since there cannot be many fathers or masters, and gods must be called both fathers and masters.
Notes and citation
Summary: Polytheism is against reason and nature.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen): -ergo → ergo.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.19 (CSEL 19:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-19).
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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).
4.3.20CSEL 19:281
teneri ergo ueritas non potest ubi homo idem multis patribus dominisque subiectus est, ubi animus in multa dispersus huc atque illuc diuagatur,
So truth cannot be held where the same man is subject to many fathers and masters, where the mind, scattered among many, wanders this way and that;
Notes and citation
Summary: A mind divided among many gods cannot hold truth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.20 (CSEL 19:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-20).
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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).
4.3.21CSEL 19:281
nec habere ullam firmitatem religio potest, quando certo et stabili domicilio caret.
nor can religion have any firmness when it lacks a fixed and stable dwelling.
Notes and citation
Summary: Religion needs a fixed foundation.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.21 (CSEL 19:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-21).
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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).
4.3.22CSEL 19:281
cultus igitur deorum ueri esse non possunt, eodem modo quo matrimonium dici non potest ubi mulier una multos uiros habet, sed haec aut meretrix aut adultera nominabitur: a qua enim pudor castitas fides abest, uirtute careat necesse est.
The worship of the gods, then, cannot be true, in the same way that it cannot be called a marriage where one woman has many husbands, but she will be called either a prostitute or an adulteress; for she from whom modesty, chastity, and faithfulness are absent must lack virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: Worship of many gods is like a woman with many husbands, not a marriage.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.22 (CSEL 19:281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-22).
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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).
4.3.23CSEL 19:281–282
sic et religio deorum inpudica est et incesta, quia fide caret, quia honos ille instabilis et incertus caput atque originem non habet.
So the religion of the gods is unchaste and impure, because it lacks faithfulness, because that unstable and uncertain honour has no head and origin.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan religion is unfaithful and has no source.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR): iupudica → inpudica.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.3.23 (CSEL 19:281–282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-3-23).
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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).
Divine 4, chapter 4
4.4.1CSEL 19:282
Quibus rebus apparet quam inter se coniuncta sint sapientia et religio. sapientia spectat ad filios, quae exigit amorem, religio ad seruos, quae exigit timorem. nam sicut illi patrem diligere debent et honorare, sic hi dominum colere ac uereri.
From these things it appears how closely wisdom and religion are joined. Wisdom looks to sons, and requires love; religion to slaves, and requires fear. For as the former must love and honour their father, so the latter must worship and revere their master.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom is a son's love, religion a servant's fear.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.1 (CSEL 19:282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-1).
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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).
4.4.2CSEL 19:282
deus autem, qui unus est, quoniam utramque personam sustinet et patris et domini, et amare eum debemus, quia filii sumus, et timere, quia serui. non potest igitur nec religio a sapientia separari nec sapientia a religione secerni, quia idem deus est qui et intellegi debet, quod est sapientiae, et honorari, quod est religionis.
But God, who is one, since he bears both roles, of father and of master, we must both love, because we are sons, and fear, because we are servants. So neither can religion be separated from wisdom nor wisdom be parted from religion, because it is the same God who must both be understood, which belongs to wisdom, and honoured, which belongs to religion.
Notes and citation
Summary: God as father and lord is to be both loved and feared, so wisdom and religion are inseparable.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.2 (CSEL 19:282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-2).
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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).
4.4.3CSEL 19:282
sed sapientia praecedit, religio sequitur, quia prius est deum scire, consequens colere. ita in duobus nominibus una uis est, quamuis diuersa esse uideantur: alterum enim positum est in sensu, alterum in actu; sed tamen similia sunt duobus riuis ex uno fonte manantibus.
But wisdom goes first, religion follows, because knowing God comes first, worshipping follows. So in the two names there is one force, although they seem different: the one lies in understanding, the other in action; but still they are like two streams flowing from one spring.
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowing God comes first, worship follows; both flow from one spring.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.3 (CSEL 19:282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-3).
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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).
4.4.4CSEL 19:282
fons autem sapientiae et religionis deus est, a quo hi duo riui si aberrauerint, arescant necesse est: quem qui nesciunt, nec sapientes esse possunt nec religiosi.
And the spring of wisdom and religion is God; if these two streams stray from him, they must dry up. Those who do not know him can be neither wise nor religious.
Notes and citation
Summary: God is the spring; without him there is neither wisdom nor religion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.4 (CSEL 19:282; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-4).
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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).
4.4.5CSEL 19:282–283
sic fit ut et philosophi et qui deos colunt similes sint aut filiis abdicatis aut seruis fugitiuis, quia neque illi patrem quaerunt neque hi dominum. et sicut abdicati hereditatem patris non adsecuntur et fugitiui inpunitatem, ita neque philosophi inmortalitatem accipient, quae est regni caelestis hereditas, id est summum bonum, quod illi maxime quaerunt, neque cultores deorum poenam sempiternae mortis effugient, quae est animaduersio ueri domini aduersus fugitiuos suae maiestatis ac nominis.
So it comes about that both the philosophers and those who worship the gods are like disowned sons or runaway slaves, because the former do not seek their father nor the latter their master. And as the disowned do not obtain their father's inheritance, nor runaways impunity, so neither will the philosophers receive immortality, which is the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom, that is, the highest good which they most seek; nor will the worshippers of the gods escape the punishment of everlasting death, which is the true master's sentence against the runaways from his majesty and name.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers lose the inheritance of immortality; idolaters suffer everlasting death.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.5 (CSEL 19:282–283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-5).
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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).
4.4.6CSEL 19:283
deum uero esse patrem eundemque dominum utrique ignorauerunt, tam cultores deorum quam ipsi sapientiae professores, quia aut nihil omnino colendum putauerunt aut religiones falsas adprobauerunt aut, etiamsi uim potestatemque summi dei intellexerunt, ut Plato, qui ait unum esse fabricatorem mundi deum, et Marcus Tullius, qui fatetur hominem praeclara quadam condicione a supremo deo esse generatum, tamen ei debitum cultum tamquam summo patri non reddiderunt, quod erat consequens ac necessarium.
But both groups, the worshippers of the gods as much as the professors of wisdom, did not know that God is father and also lord; because they either thought nothing at all should be worshipped, or approved false religions, or, even if they understood the power and might of the supreme God, as Plato, who says that there is one God, the maker of the world, and Marcus Tullius, who confesses that man was begotten by the supreme God in a certain excellent condition, yet they did not render him the worship due to him as the supreme Father, which was the logical and necessary consequence.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Plato and Cicero, who knew of one supreme God, did not worship him.
- Cf. Plato, Tim. 28c; Cicero, Leg. 1.22.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 28c (Plato (works); allusion); Cicero, Leg. 1.22 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.6 (CSEL 19:283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-6).
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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).
4.4.7CSEL 19:283
deos autem neque patres neque dominos esse posse non tantum multitudo, ut supra ostendi, sed etiam ratio declarat, quia neque fictum esse a diis hominem traditur neque deos ipsos antecedere originem hominis inuenitur,
That the gods can be neither fathers nor masters is declared not only by their number, as I showed above, but also by reason, because it is not recorded that man was fashioned by the gods, nor are the gods themselves found to precede the origin of man;
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods did not make man and are younger than man.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.7 (CSEL 19:283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-7).
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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).
4.4.8CSEL 19:283
siquidem fuisse in terra homines ante quam Vulcanus et Liber et Apollo et ipse Iuppiter nascerentur apparet; sed neque Saturno fictio hominis neque Caelo patri eius adsignari solet.
since it is plain that there were men on earth before Vulcan and Liber and Apollo and Jupiter himself were born; but the fashioning of man is not usually assigned either to Saturn or to his father Caelus.
Notes and citation
Summary: Men existed before the gods were born.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.8 (CSEL 19:283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-8).
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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).
4.4.9CSEL 19:283
quodsi nullus eorum qui coluntur formasse a principio atque instituisse hominem traditur, nullus igitur ex his pater hominis nuncupari potest, ita ne deus quidem. ergo fas non est uenerari eos a quibus non sit homo generatus, quia neque.... a multis generari potest.
If none of those who are worshipped is said to have formed and established man from the beginning, then none of them can be called the father of man, and so not even a god. It is not right, then, to venerate those by whom man was not begotten, because neither … can be begotten by many.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gods who did not make man cannot be his father or god.
- The digital text marks a gap after 'neither'; the sense is probably 'neither can one man be begotten by many'.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.9 (CSEL 19:283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-9).
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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).
4.4.10CSEL 19:283–284
unus igitur ac solus coli debet qui Iouem, qui Saturnum, qui caelum ipsum terramque antecessit. is enim necesse est hominem figurauerit, qui ante hominem caelum terramque perfecit.
One and only one, then, must be worshipped, who preceded Jupiter, Saturn, and heaven itself and earth. For he must have shaped man who, before man, completed heaven and earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only the Creator who preceded all things is to be worshipped.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.10 (CSEL 19:283–284; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-10).
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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).
4.4.11CSEL 19:284
solus pater uocandus est qui creauit, solus dominus nuncupandus qui regit, qui habet uitae ac necis ueram et perpetuam potestatem: quem qui non adorat, et insipiens seruus est, qui dominum suum aut fugiat aut nesciat, et inpius filius, qui suum uerum patrem uel oderit uel ignoret.
He alone is to be called father who created, he alone to be named lord who rules, who has the true and everlasting power of life and death. Whoever does not adore him is both a foolish slave, who flees or does not know his master, and an impious son, who hates or does not know his true father.
Notes and citation
Summary: God alone is Father and Lord; not to worship him is folly and impiety.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 4.4.11 (CSEL 19:284; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/3-28-1/#p-4-4-11).
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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).