Divine Institutes 5.21.1–6.3.18
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 5, chapter 21
5.21.1CSEL 19:470–471
Non ergo ideo aduersus nos insaniunt, quia dii non coluntur a nobis — a multis enim non coluntur — sed quia ueritas penes nos est, quae, ut est uerissime dictum, odium parit.
So they do not rage against us because the gods are not worshipped by us (for they are not worshipped by many), but because the truth is with us, which, as has been said most truly, breeds hatred.
Notes and citation
Summary: They hate Christians because truth breeds hatred.
- The saying is Terence, Andria 68, quoted in 5.9.6.
Extrabiblical texts: Terence, Andr. 68 (Terence; allusion)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.1 (CSEL 19:470–471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-1).
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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).
5.21.2CSEL 19:471
quid igitur existimabimus nisi nescire illos quid patiantur? pergitur enim caeco et inrationabili furore, quem nos uidemus, illi nesciunt.
What then shall we think, except that they do not know what they are suffering? For they are driven on by a blind and irrational fury, which we see and they do not know.
Luke 23:34 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecutors do not know what drives them.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.2 (CSEL 19:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-2).
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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).
5.21.3CSEL 19:471
non enim ipsi homines persecuntur, qui causam cur irascantur innocentibus non habent, sed illi spiritus contaminati ac perditi, quibus ueritas et nota est et inuisa, insinuant se mentibus eorum et instigant nescios in furorem.
For it is not the men themselves who persecute, since they have no reason to be angry with the innocent, but those defiled and lost spirits, to whom the truth is both known and hateful, worm their way into their minds and goad them, unknowing, into fury.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons drive the persecutors.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.3 (CSEL 19:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-3).
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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).
5.21.4CSEL 19:471
hi enim, quamdiu pax est in populo dei, fugitant iustos et pauent, et cum corpora hominum occupant animasque diuexant, adiurantur ab iis et nomine dei ueri fugantur.
For as long as there is peace among the people of God, these spirits shun and fear the just; and when they take possession of human bodies and torment souls, they are adjured by them and put to flight by the name of the true God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons are expelled by Christians in God's name.
- A reference to Christian exorcism.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.4 (CSEL 19:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-4).
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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).
5.21.5CSEL 19:471
quo audito tremunt et exclamant et uri se uerberarique testantur et interrogati qui sint, quando uenerint, quomodo in hominem inrepserint, confitentur. sic extorti et excruciati uirtute diuini nominis exulantur.
On hearing it they tremble and cry out and testify that they are being burned and beaten, and when asked who they are, when they came, and how they crept into the person, they confess. So, wrung out and tortured by the power of the divine name, they are driven into exile.
Mark 5:9 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Exorcised demons confess and flee.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.5 (CSEL 19:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-5).
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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).
5.21.6CSEL 19:471
propter haec uerbera et minas sanctos et iustos uiros semper oderunt. et quia per se nocere iis nihil possunt, publicis eos odiis persecuntur, quos sibi graues sentiunt, exercentque saeuitiam quam uiolentissime possunt, ut aut eorum fidem minuant per dolorem aut, si id efficere non quiuerint, auferant omnino de terra, ne sint qui possint eorum nequitiam coercere.
Because of these blows and threats they always hate holy and just men. And since they can do nothing to harm them by themselves, they persecute with public hatred those they feel as a burden, and exercise cruelty as violently as they can, either to weaken their faith through pain or, if they cannot, to remove them altogether from the earth, so that there may be none able to curb their wickedness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons, hating exorcists, stir up persecution.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.6 (CSEL 19:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-6).
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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).
5.21.7CSEL 19:471–472
non me fugit quid responderi e contrario possit: cur ergo deus ille singularis, ille magnus, quem rerum potentem, quem dominum omnium confiteris, haec fieri patitur nec cultores suos aut uindicat aut tuetur? cur denique qui eum non colunt, et opulenti et potentes et beati sunt et honoribus regnoque potiuntur eosque ipsos dicioni suae ac potestati sub-
I am well aware what can be answered on the other side: Why then does that one, great God, whom you confess to be the ruler of the world and Lord of all, allow these things to happen, and neither avenge nor protect his worshippers? Why, finally, are those who do not worship him wealthy, powerful, and happy, holding honors and royal power, and keeping these very people
Notes and citation
Summary: Objection: why does God let his worshippers suffer?
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.7 (CSEL 19:471–472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-7).
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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).
5.21.8CSEL 19:472
iectos habent? reddenda et huius rei ratio est, ne quid remaneat erroris. nam in primis haec causa est cur existimetur religio dei uim non habere, quod inducuntur homines specie terrenorum ac praesentium bonorum, quae ad curam mentis nullo modo pertinent. quibus quia carere iustos uident et afluere iniustos, et dei cultum inanem arbitrantur, in quo inesse illa non cernunt, et deorum ritus aestimant ueros, quoniam cultores eorum et diuitiis et honoribus et regnis fruantur.
subject to their rule and power? The reason for this too must be given, so that no error remains. For the first reason why the religion of God is thought to have no power is that people are misled by the appearance of earthly and present goods, which have nothing to do with the care of the mind. Because they see that the just lack these and the unjust abound in them, they think the worship of God empty, since they do not see these things in it, and consider the rites of the gods true, since their worshippers enjoy wealth, honors, and royal power.
Notes and citation
Summary: People judge religions by earthly prosperity.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.8 (CSEL 19:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-8).
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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).
5.21.9CSEL 19:472
uerum ii qui sunt in hac existimatione non perspiciunt altius uim rationemque hominis, quae tota non in corpore, sed in mente est.
But those who hold this view do not look more deeply into the force and nature of man, which lies wholly not in the body but in the mind.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man's nature lies in the mind, not the body.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.9 (CSEL 19:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-9).
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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).
5.21.10CSEL 19:472
nihil enim uident amplius quam (quod oculis uidetur, corpus scilicet. quod quia oculis manuque tractabile est, inbecillum fragile mortale est: cuius sunt illa omnia bona quae cupiditati ac miraculo sunt, opes honores imperia, quoniam corpori adferunt uoluptates, et ideo tam caduca sunt quam corpus ipsum.
For they see nothing more than what is seen with the eyes, namely the body. Because it can be handled by eyes and hand, it is weak, fragile, and mortal; to it belong all those goods that are objects of desire and wonder, wealth, honors, and power, since they bring pleasures to the body; and so they are as perishable as the body itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Bodily goods are as perishable as the body.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray question mark): oculis? uidetur → oculis uidetur.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.10 (CSEL 19:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-10).
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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).
5.21.11CSEL 19:472
animus uero, in quo solo est homo, quoniam subiectus oculis non est, nec bona eius aspici possunt, quae in sola uirtute sunt posita, et ideo tam stabilis et constans et perpetuus sit necesse est sicut ipsa uirtus, in qua est animi bonum.
But the soul, in which alone the human being consists, since it is not subject to the eyes, cannot have its goods seen either, which are placed in virtue alone; and so it must be as stable, constant, and lasting as virtue itself, in which the good of the soul lies.
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul's goods, in virtue, are lasting.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.21.11 (CSEL 19:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-21-11).
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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).
Divine 5, chapter 22
5.22.1CSEL 19:472–473
Longum est uniuersas uirtutis species promere, ut de singulis doceam, quam necesse sit sapientem ac iustum uirum longe ab illis bonis abhorrere: quibus quia fruuntur iniusti, deorum cultus ueri et efficaces esse creduntur.
It would take long to set out all the forms of virtue, so as to show for each one how necessary it is that the wise and just man stand far off from those goods; and because the unjust enjoy them, the worship of the gods is believed to be true and effective.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just must shun the goods that make idolatry seem effective.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.1 (CSEL 19:472–473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-1).
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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).
5.22.2CSEL 19:473
quod ad praesentem pertinet quaestionem, satis est si ex una uirtute id probemus quod intendimus. nempe magna et praecipua uirtus est patientia, quam pariter et uulgi publicae uoces et philosophi et oratores summis laudibus celebrant.
For the present question it is enough if we prove our point from one virtue. Patience is surely a great and outstanding virtue, which the common talk of the people, the philosophers, and the orators all alike celebrate with the highest praise.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience is a great virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.2 (CSEL 19:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-2).
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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).
5.22.3CSEL 19:473
quodsi negari non potest quin summa sit uirtus, necesse est iustum et sapientem uirum in potestate esse hominis iniusti, ut capiat patientiam. patientia est enim malorum quae aut inferuntur aut accidunt cum aequanimitate perlatio.
If it cannot be denied that it is the highest virtue, the just and wise man must be in the power of the unjust man, in order to possess patience. For patience is bearing with equanimity the evils that are inflicted or that befall.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience requires that the just suffer at the hands of the unjust.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.3 (CSEL 19:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-3).
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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).
5.22.4CSEL 19:473
ergo iustus ac sapiens quia uirtutem capit, habet in se patientiam: qua carebit omnino, si nihil patietur aduersi.
So the just and wise man, since he possesses virtue, has patience in himself, which he would lack entirely if he suffered nothing adverse.
Notes and citation
Summary: Without adversity there is no patience.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.4 (CSEL 19:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-4).
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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).
5.22.5CSEL 19:473
contra qui in rebus prosperis agit, inpatiens est et uirtute maxima caret: inpatientem dico, quia nihil patitur. innocentiam quoque seruare non potest, quae et ipsa iusto et sapienti uiro propria uirtus est,
On the other hand, one who lives in prosperity is impatient and lacks the greatest virtue; I call him impatient because he suffers nothing. He cannot keep innocence either, which is itself a virtue proper to the just and wise man,
Notes and citation
Summary: The prosperous lack patience and innocence.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.5 (CSEL 19:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-5).
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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).
5.22.6CSEL 19:473
sed et nocet saepe et concupiscit aliena et rapit quae cupierit per iniuriam, quia uirtutis expers uitio peccatoque subiectus est et fragilitatis oblitus animo insolenter elato tumet. inde iniusti ac deum nescientes et diuitiis et potentia et honoribus florent. haec enim cuncta iniustitiae praemia sunt, quia et perpetua esse non possunt et per cupiditatem uiolentiamque quaeruntur.
but he often does harm, covets what belongs to others, and seizes by wrongdoing what he has desired, because, having no share in virtue, he is subject to vice and sin, and forgetting his frailty he swells with an insolently exalted mind. That is why the unjust and those who do not know God flourish in wealth, power, and honors. For all these are the rewards of injustice, since they cannot be lasting and are sought through greed and violence.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wealth and power are the rewards of injustice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.6 (CSEL 19:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-6).
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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).
5.22.7CSEL 19:473–474
iustus uero ac sapiens quia illa omnia humana, ut est a Laelio dictum, sua bona diuina iudicat, nec alienum quicquam concupiscit, ne quem contra ius humanitatis laedat omnino, nec ullam potentiam honoremue desiderat, ne cui faciat iniuriam — scit enim cunctos ab eodem deo et eadem condi-
But the just and wise man, since he judges all those things human and his own goods divine, as Laelius said, neither covets anything of another's, so as not to harm anyone at all against the law of humanity, nor desires any power or honor, so as to wrong no one (for he knows that all, begotten by the same God and in the same
Notes and citation
Summary: The just man seeks neither others' goods nor power.
- Laelius in Cicero, On the Republic 3, quoted in 5.18.4. The sentence continues in the next section.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.7 (CSEL 19:473–474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-7).
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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).
5.22.8CSEL 19:474
cione generatos iure fraternitatis esse coniunctos —, sed et suo contentus et paruo, quia fragilitatis suae memor, non amplius quaerit quam unde uitam sustentet, et ex eo ipso quod habuerit inpertit etiam non habenti, quia pius est; pietas autem summa uirtus est.
condition, are joined by the right of brotherhood), but, content with his own even if little, since he is mindful of his frailty, he seeks no more than what sustains life, and from what he has he shares even with the one who has not, because he is pious; and piety is the highest virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: He is content and shares with the needy.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.8 (CSEL 19:474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-8).
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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).
5.22.9CSEL 19:474
accedit quod uoluptates caducas uitiosasque contemnit, quarum causa opes adpetuntur, quoniam continens est ac libidinum uictor. idem nihil tumoris atque insolentiae gerens non extollit se altius nec erigit superbum caput, sed placidus et concors et communis et planus est, quia condicionem suam nouit.
Besides, he despises the fleeting and vicious pleasures for whose sake wealth is sought, since he is self-controlled and conqueror of lusts. Likewise, bearing no swelling pride or insolence, he does not exalt himself nor lift a proud head, but is gentle, peaceable, sociable, and plain, because he knows his condition.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just man is self-controlled and humble.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.9 (CSEL 19:474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-9).
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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).
5.22.10CSEL 19:474
cum ergo iniuriam nulli faciat nec aliena cupiat nec sua quoque si ui auferantur defendat, cum sciat etiam inlatam iniuriam moderate ferre, quia uirtute praeditus est, necesse est iustum hominem subiectum esse iniusto et contumeliis adfici ab insipiente sapientem, ut et ille peccet, quia
Since, then, he does wrong to no one, does not desire others' goods, and does not defend even his own if they are taken by force, and since he knows how to bear with moderation even a wrong done to him, because he is endowed with virtue, it is necessary that the just man be subject to the unjust and the wise man be insulted by the foolish, so that the one may sin, because he
Notes and citation
Summary: The just are necessarily subject to the unjust.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Topics: Ethics, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.10 (CSEL 19:474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-10).
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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).
5.22.11CSEL 19:474–475
iniustus est, et hic in se uirtutem habeat, quia iustus est si quis autem uolet scire plenius cur malos et iniustos deus potentes beatos diuites fieri sinat, pios contra humiles miseros inopes esse patiatur, sumat eum Senecae librum cui titulus est Quare bonis uiris multa mala accidant, cum sit prouidentia. in quo ille multa non plane inperitia saeculari, sed sapienter ac paene diuinitus elocutus est.
is unjust, and the other may have virtue in himself, because he is just. But if anyone wants to know more fully why God allows the wicked and unjust to become powerful, happy, and rich, and lets the pious, on the contrary, be lowly, wretched, and poor, let him take up that book of Seneca's titled Why Many Evils Befall Good Men, Though There Is a Providence. In it he said many things, not with worldly ignorance at all, but wisely and almost divinely.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seneca's On Providence explains why the good suffer.
- Seneca, On Providence.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.11 (CSEL 19:474–475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-11).
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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).
5.22.12CSEL 19:475
deus inquit homines pro liberis habet, sed corruptos et uitiosos luxuriose ac delicate patitur uiuere, quia non putat emendatione sua dignos. bonos autem, quos diligit, castigat saepius et adsiduis laboribus ad usum uirtutis exercet nec eos caducis ac mortalibus bonis conrumpi ac deprauari sinit.
"God," he says, "holds human beings as his children, but he lets the corrupt and vicious live in luxury and softness, because he does not think them worthy of his correction. But the good, whom he loves, he chastises more often and exercises in the practice of virtue with constant labors, and does not allow them to be corrupted and depraved by fleeting and mortal goods."
Heb 12:6 (echo, medium confidence) · Prov 3:12 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Seneca: God chastises the good whom he loves.
- A paraphrase of Seneca, On Providence 1.5–6 and 2.5–6. Compare Prov 3:12; Heb 12:6.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.12 (CSEL 19:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-12).
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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).
5.22.13CSEL 19:475
unde nemini debet mirum uideri si pro nostris saepe delictis castigamur a deo. immo uero cum uexamur ac premimur, tum maxime gratias agimus indulgentissimo patri, quod corruptelam nostram non patitur longius procedere, sed plagis ac uerberibus emendat. ex quo intellegimus esse nos deo curae, quibus, quoniam peccamus, irascitur.
So it should seem strange to no one if we are often chastised by God for our sins. Rather, when we are harassed and oppressed, then above all we give thanks to our most indulgent Father, because he does not let our corruption go further but corrects it with blows and lashes. From this we understand that we are God's concern, since he is angry with us because we sin.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians thank God for correcting them through suffering.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.13 (CSEL 19:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-13).
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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).
5.22.14CSEL 19:475
nam cum posset populo suo et opes et regna largiri sicut dederat ante Iudaeis, quorum nos successores ac posteri sumus, idcirco eum uoluit sub aliena dicione atque imperio degere, ne rerum prosperarum felicitate corruptus in luxuriam laberetur ac dei praecepta contemneret sicut illi maiores nostri, qui saepe terrenis ac fragilibus his bonis eneruati aberrarunt a disciplina et legis uincla ruperunt.
For though he could have lavished wealth and kingdoms on his people, as he had formerly given them to the Jews, whose successors and descendants we are, he willed that they live under the rule and power of others for this reason: so that, corrupted by the happiness of prosperity, they might not slide into luxury and despise God's precepts, as those ancestors of ours did, who, often weakened by these earthly and fragile goods, strayed from discipline and broke the bonds of the law.
Notes and citation
Summary: God keeps his people from power so prosperity will not corrupt them as it did Israel.
- The author calls Christians the successors and descendants of the Jews of the Old Testament; stated as his view.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.14 (CSEL 19:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-14).
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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).
5.22.15CSEL 19:475
prouidit ergo quatenus cultoribus suis praestaret quietem, si mandata seruassent, et tamen eos emendaret, si praeceptis non obtemperassent.
So he provided how far to grant rest to his worshippers if they kept his commands, and yet to correct them if they did not obey his precepts.
Notes and citation
Summary: God grants peace to the obedient and correction to the disobedient.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.15 (CSEL 19:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-15).
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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).
5.22.16CSEL 19:475–476
itaque ne tam corrumperentur otio quam patres eorum licentia, premi eos uoluit ab iis in quorum manibus eos conlocauit, ut et labentes confirmet et corruptos ad fortitudinem reparet et fidos experiatur ac temptet.
So, lest they be corrupted by ease as their fathers were by license, he willed that they be oppressed by those into whose hands he placed them, so as to strengthen the wavering, restore the corrupted to fortitude, and prove and test the faithful.
Notes and citation
Summary: Oppression strengthens, restores, and tests believers.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.16 (CSEL 19:475–476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-16).
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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).
5.22.17CSEL 19:476
quomodo enim potest imperator militum suorum probare uirtutem, nisi habuerit hostem? et illi tamen aduersarius exsurgit inuito, quia mortalis est et uinci potest, deo autem quia repugnari non potest, ipse aduersarios nomini suo excitat, non qui contra ipsum deum pugnent, sed contra milites eius, ut deuotionem ac fidem suorum uel probet uel conroboret, donec pressurae uerberibus diffluentem corrigat disciplinam.
For how can a commander prove his soldiers' courage unless he has an enemy? And yet for him an adversary arises against his will, because he is mortal and can be defeated; but God, since he cannot be resisted, himself raises up adversaries to his name, not to fight against God himself but against his soldiers, so as to prove or strengthen the devotion and faithfulness of his own, until he corrects by the lashes of pressure a discipline that is falling apart.
Notes and citation
Summary: God raises up adversaries to test his soldiers.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.17 (CSEL 19:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-17).
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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).
5.22.18CSEL 19:476
est et alia causa cur aduersus nos persecutiones fieri sinat, ut dei populus augeatur: nec est difficile monstrare cur aut quomodo id fiat.
There is another reason too why he allows persecutions against us: that the people of God may increase. And it is not hard to show why or how this happens.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecution makes the church grow.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.18 (CSEL 19:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-18).
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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).
5.22.19CSEL 19:476
primum fugantur a deorum cultibus plurimi odio crudelitatis: qui enim talia sacrificia non horreant? deinde placet quibusdam uirtus ac fides ipsa. nonnulli suspicantur deorum cultum non sine causa malum putari a tam multis hominibus, ut emori malint quam id facere quod alii faciunt, ut uiuant.
First, very many are driven away from the worship of the gods by hatred of the cruelty; for who would not shudder at such sacrifices? Then some are pleased by the courage and faithfulness itself. Some suspect that the worship of the gods is not without reason thought evil by so many people that they prefer to die rather than do what others do in order to live.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cruelty repels, and martyrs' courage attracts.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.19 (CSEL 19:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-19).
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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).
5.22.20CSEL 19:476
aliquis cupit scire quodnam sit illut bonum quod ad mortem usque defenditur, quod omnibus quae in hac uita iucunda sunt et cara praefertur, a quo nec bonorum nec lucis amissio nec dolor corporis nec uiscerum cruciamenta deterrent.
Someone wants to know what that good is which is defended even to death, which is preferred to everything pleasant and dear in this life, from which neither the loss of goods or of the light, nor bodily pain, nor the torture of the inward parts deters.
Notes and citation
Summary: Onlookers want to know what good is worth dying for.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.20 (CSEL 19:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-20).
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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).
5.22.21CSEL 19:476–477
ualent haec plurimum, sed illae maxime causae nostrorum numerum semper auxerunt: audit circumstans populus inter ipsa tormenta dicentes non sacrificare se lapidibus humana manu factis, sed deo uiuo qui sit in caelo. multi hoc uerum esse intellegunt et in pectus admittunt.
These count for very much, but the following causes above all have always increased our numbers. The people standing around hear them saying amid the very tortures that they do not sacrifice to stones made by human hand but to the living God who is in heaven. Many understand that this is true and take it into their hearts.
Acts 14:15 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Martyrs' confession of the living God persuades bystanders.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.21 (CSEL 19:476–477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-21).
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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).
5.22.22CSEL 19:477
deinde, ut fieri solet in rebus incertis, dum inter se inuicem quaerant quae sit huius perseuerantiae causa, multa quae ad religionem pertinent diuulgata ac per rumorem uicissim aucupata discuntur: quae quia bona sunt, placeant necesse est.
Then, as usually happens in uncertain matters, while they ask one another what the cause of this perseverance is, many things that belong to religion, spread abroad and picked up in turn by rumor, are learned; and since they are good, they cannot but please.
Notes and citation
Summary: Curiosity spreads knowledge of the faith.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.22 (CSEL 19:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-22).
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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).
5.22.23CSEL 19:477
praeterea ultio consecuta, sicut semper accidit, ad credendum uehementer inpellit. ne haec quidem leuis causa est quod inmundi daemonum spiritus accepta licentia multorum se corporibus inmergunt, quibus postea eiectis omnes qui resanati fuerint adhaerent religioni cuius potentiam senserunt.
Moreover, the vengeance that follows, as always happens, strongly drives people to believe. Nor is this a slight cause, that the unclean spirits of demons, given license, plunge into the bodies of many; and when they have afterward been cast out, all who have been healed attach themselves to the religion whose power they have felt.
Notes and citation
Summary: Divine vengeance and exorcisms bring converts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.23 (CSEL 19:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-23).
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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).
5.22.24CSEL 19:477
hae tot causae in unum conlatae magnam deo multitudinem mirabiliter adquirunt.
These many causes, brought together, wonderfully win a great multitude for God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Together these win many for God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.22.24 (CSEL 19:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-22-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 5, chapter 23
5.23.1CSEL 19:477
Quidquid ergo aduersus nos mali principes moliuntur fieri ipse permittit. et tamen iniustissimi persecutores, quibus dei nomen contumeliae ac ludibrio fuit, non se putent inpune laturos quia indignationis aduersus nos eius quasi ministri fuerunt.
Whatever evil rulers attempt against us, then, he himself permits to happen. And yet let the most unjust persecutors, to whom the name of God was an object of insult and mockery, not think they will go unpunished because they were, as it were, the ministers of his indignation against us.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecutors will not escape though God permits them.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.23.1 (CSEL 19:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-23-1).
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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).
5.23.2CSEL 19:477
punientur enim iudicio dei qui accepta potestate supra humanum modum fuerint abusi et insultauerint etiam deo superbius eiusque nomen aeternum uestigiis suis subiecerint impie nefarieque calcandum.
For those will be punished by the judgment of God who, having received power, abused it beyond human measure, insulted even God himself too proudly, and put his eternal name under their feet to be trampled impiously and wickedly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Abusers of power will be punished by God.
Topics: Persecution, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.23.2 (CSEL 19:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-23-2).
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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).
5.23.3CSEL 19:477–478
propterea uindicaturum se in eos celeriter pollicetur et exterminaturum bestias malas de terra. sed idem quamuis populi sui uexationes et hic in praesenti soleat uindicare, tamen iubet nos expectare patienter illum caelestis iudicii diem, quo ipse pro suis quemque meritis aut honoret aut puniat.
So he promises that he will quickly take vengeance on them and destroy the evil beasts from the earth. But though he is accustomed to avenge the harassment of his people even here in the present, yet he commands us to wait patiently for that day of heavenly judgment, on which he himself will either honor or punish each according to his merits.
Lev 26:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ezek 34:25 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God will avenge his people and judge each by his deeds.
- "Destroy the evil beasts from the earth" echoes Lev 26:6 and Ezek 34:25.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): et.hic → et hic.
Topics: Eschatology, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.23.3 (CSEL 19:477–478; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-23-3).
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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).
5.23.4CSEL 19:478
quapropter non sperent sacrilegae animae contemptos et inultos fore quos sic obterunt. ueniet rabiosis ac uoracibus lupis merces sua, qui iustas et simplices animas nullis facinoribus admissis excruciauerunt.
So let the sacrilegious souls not hope that those they thus trample will be despised and unavenged. Their reward will come to the raging and ravenous wolves who have tortured just and simple souls that had committed no crimes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The persecuting wolves will receive their due.
- This passage was written in the persecution under Diocletian and his colleagues (303–311); Lactantius's account of their deaths is in On the Deaths of the Persecutors.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.23.4 (CSEL 19:478; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-23-4).
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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).
5.23.5CSEL 19:478
nos tantummodo laboremus ut ab hominibus nihil aliut in nobis nisi sola iustitia puniatur, demus operam totis uiribus ut mereamur a deo simul et ultionem passionis et praemium.
Let us only labor that nothing else in us be punished by men except justice alone; let us strive with all our strength to deserve from God both vengeance for our suffering and a reward.
1 Pet 4:15 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians should be punished only for justice.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.23.5 (CSEL 19:478; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-5-23-5).
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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 6, chapter 1
6.1.1CSEL 19:479
Quod erat officium suscepti muneris diuino spiritu instruente ac suffragante ipsa ueritate conpleuimus: cuius adserendae atque inlustrandae causam mihi et scientia et fides et ipse dominus noster inposuit, sine quo nec sciri quicquam potest nec explicari.
We have completed the duty of the task we took up, with the divine Spirit instructing us and truth itself supporting us. Knowledge and faith and our Lord himself laid on me the task of asserting and illustrating it; without him nothing can be known or explained.
Notes and citation
Summary: Book 6 opens: the defense of truth is completed with God's help.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.1 (CSEL 19:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-1).
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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).
6.1.2CSEL 19:479
uenio nunc ad id quod est summum operis huius et maximum, ut doceam quo ritu quoue sacrificio deum coli oporteat. id enim est hominis officium in eoque solo summa rerum et omnis beatae uitae ratio consistit, quandoquidem propterea ficti et inspirati ab eo sumus, non ut caelum uideremus et solem, quod Anaxagoras putauit, sed ut artificem solis et caeli deum pura et integra mente coleremus.
I come now to what is the chief and greatest part of this work: to teach with what rite and what sacrifice God ought to be worshipped. For this is the duty of man, and in it alone consists the sum of things and the whole principle of the happy life, since we were formed and given breath by him for this reason, not to look at the sky and the sun, as Anaxagoras thought, but to worship God, the maker of sun and sky, with a pure and whole mind.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man was made to worship God with a pure mind.
- Anaxagoras reportedly said he was born to observe the sun and heavens.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek omicron in a Latin word; stray period): sόlem → solem; integra. mente → integra mente.
Extrabiblical texts: Anaxagoras (Anaxagoras; allusion)
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.2 (CSEL 19:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-2).
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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).
6.1.3CSEL 19:479
quamuis autem praecedentibus libris pro ingenii mediocritate defenderim ueritatem, tamen ex ritu quoque ipso elucere uel maxime potest.
Although in the preceding books I have defended the truth as far as my modest talent allows, it can shine out most of all from the rite itself.
Notes and citation
Summary: The truth shines clearest in true worship.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.3 (CSEL 19:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-3).
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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).
6.1.4CSEL 19:479
nihil enim sancta et singularis illa maiestas aliut ab homine desiderat quam solam innocentiam: quam si quis obtulerit deo, satis pie, satis religiose litabit.
For that holy and unique majesty desires nothing else from man but innocence alone; whoever offers this to God will sacrifice piously and religiously enough.
Notes and citation
Summary: God desires only innocence.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.4 (CSEL 19:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-4).
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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).
6.1.5CSEL 19:479–480
omnes autem neglecta iustitia cum sint omnibus flagitiis ac sceleribus inquinati, religiosos se putant, si templa et aras hostiarum sanguine cruentauerint, si focos odorati ac ueteris uini profusione madefecerint.
But all, neglecting justice, though stained with every outrage and crime, think themselves religious if they have bloodied temples and altars with the blood of victims and drenched the hearths with sprinklings of perfume and old wine.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans think blood and wine make them religious.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.5 (CSEL 19:479–480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-5).
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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).
6.1.6CSEL 19:480
quin etiam sacras dapes apparant et exquisitas epulas quasi aliquid inde libaturis offerunt. quidquid aspectu rarum, quidquid opere aut odore pretiosum est, haec grata esse diis suis non ex aliqua diuinitatis ratione, quam nesciunt, sed ex suis cupiditatibus iudicant nec intellegunt terrenis opibus deum non indigere. nihil enim sapiunt nisi terram bonaque et mala solius corporis sensu ac uoluptate perpendunt.
They even prepare sacred feasts and offer choice banquets, as though the gods would taste something of them. Whatever is rare to see, whatever is costly in workmanship or fragrance, they judge pleasing to their gods, not from any understanding of divinity, which they do not have, but from their own desires; nor do they understand that God does not need earthly wealth. For they have no taste for anything but earth, and weigh good and evil by the sense and pleasure of the body alone.
Acts 17:25 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: They offer what pleases themselves, not knowing God needs nothing.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.6 (CSEL 19:480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-6).
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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).
6.1.7CSEL 19:480
huius arbitrio ut religionem ponderant, sic totius uitae suae acta disponunt. et quoniam se semel a caeli contemplatione auerterunt sensumque illum caelestem corpori mancipauerunt, libidinibus frena permittunt tamquam secum ablaturi uoluptatem, quam momentis omnibus capere festinant, cum animus ministerio corporis, non corpus ministerio animi uti debeat.
By its judgment they weigh religion, and by it they arrange all the acts of their life. And since they have once turned away from the contemplation of heaven and made that heavenly sense a slave to the body, they give their lusts free rein, as if they would take with them the pleasure they hasten to seize at every moment; whereas the soul ought to use the service of the body, not the body the service of the soul.
Notes and citation
Summary: Turning from heaven, they let the body rule the soul.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.7 (CSEL 19:480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-7).
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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).
6.1.8CSEL 19:480–481
idem maximum bonum iudicant opes: quas si bonis artibus adsequi non possunt, malis adsecuntur. fraudant rapiunt spoliant insidiantur abiurant, nihil denique moderati aut pensi habent, dummodo auro coruscent, argento gemmis uestibus fulgeant, auidissimo uentri opes ingerant, stipati familiarum gregibus per dimotum populum semper incedant.
They also judge wealth the greatest good; if they cannot get it by good means, they get it by bad. They defraud, rob, despoil, lay ambushes, forswear themselves, and in short keep no measure or scruple, so long as they gleam with gold, shine with silver, gems, and clothing, pile wealth into a most greedy belly, and always walk through a parted crowd surrounded by herds of servants.
Notes and citation
Summary: They seek wealth by any means for display and luxury.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter): nihil i denique → nihil denique.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.8 (CSEL 19:480–481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-8).
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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).
6.1.9CSEL 19:481
sic addicti et seruientes uoluptatibus uim uigoremque mentis extinguunt et cum uiuere se maxime putant, ad mortem concitatissime properant.
So, given over and enslaved to pleasures, they extinguish the strength and vigor of the mind, and when they think they are most alive, they are hurrying most swiftly to death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Slaves to pleasure, they rush toward death.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: a for d; OCR: i for l; OCR: m for ui): aaaicti → addicti; sermentes → seruientes; uoiuptatibus → uoluptatibus; mm uigoremque → uim uigoremque.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.9 (CSEL 19:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-9).
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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).
6.1.10CSEL 19:481
nam sicut in secundo libro docuimus, caeli ratio in animo, terrae autem in corpore est. qui bona neclegunt animi, corporis adpetunt, in tenebris ac morte uersantur, quae sunt terrae atque corporis, quia uita et lumen a caelo est. cuius quoniam expertes sunt corpori seruiendo, longe absunt ab intellectu rerum diuinarum.
For, as we showed in the second book, the principle of heaven is in the soul, that of earth in the body. Those who neglect the goods of the soul and seek those of the body dwell in darkness and death, which belong to earth and the body, because life and light are from heaven. Since, by serving the body, they have no share in it, they are far from understanding divine things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who serve the body live in darkness.
- Institutes 2.12.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.10 (CSEL 19:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-10).
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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).
6.1.11CSEL 19:481
eadem miseros ubique caecitas premit. sicut enim qui sit uerus deus, ita qui sit uerus cultus ignorant.
The same blindness everywhere oppresses the wretched. For as they do not know who the true God is, so they do not know what true worship is.
Notes and citation
Summary: They know neither the true God nor true worship.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.1.11 (CSEL 19:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-1-11).
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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).
Divine 6, chapter 2
6.2.1CSEL 19:481
Mactant igitur opimas ac pingues hostias deo quasi esurienti, profundunt uina tamquam sitienti, accendunt lumina uelut in tenebris agenti.
So they slaughter rich, fat victims to God as though he were hungry, pour out wine as though he were thirsty, and light lamps as though he lived in darkness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans treat God as hungry, thirsty, and in the dark.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.1 (CSEL 19:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-1).
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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).
6.2.2CSEL 19:481–482
quodsi suspicari aut percipere animo possint quae sint bona illa caelestia, quorum magnitudinem terreno adhuc corpore obuoluti sensu capere non possumus, iam se cum his officiis inanibus stultissimos esse cognoscant,
But if they could guess or grasp in their minds what those heavenly goods are, whose greatness we, still wrapped in an earthly body, cannot take in with our senses, they would at once recognize that they are utter fools with these empty services;
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowing heavenly goods would show their offerings foolish.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.2 (CSEL 19:481–482; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-2).
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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).
6.2.3CSEL 19:482
uel si caeleste lumen quod dicimus solem contemplari uelint, iam sentiant quam non indigeat lucernis eorum deus, qui ipse in usum hominis tam claram, tam candidam lucem dedit.
or if they were willing to contemplate the heavenly light we call the sun, they would at once perceive how little their God needs their lamps, who himself gave so bright and so pure a light for human use.
Notes and citation
Summary: The giver of the sun needs no lamps.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): nelint → uelint.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.3 (CSEL 19:482; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-3).
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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).
6.2.4CSEL 19:482
et tamen cum in tam paruo circulo, qui propter longinquitatem non amplius quam humani capitis uidetur habere mensuram, tantum sit fulgoris, ut eum mortalium luminum acies non queat contueri et si paulisper intenderis, hebetatos oculos caligo ac tenebrae consequantur, quid tandem luminis, quid claritatis aput ipsum deum, penes quem nulla nox est, esse arbitremur? qui hanc ipsam lucem sic moderatus est, ut neque nimio fulgore neque calore uehementi noceret animantibus tantumque istarum rerum dedit ei, quantum aut mortalia corpora pati possent aut frugum maturitas postularet.
And yet, since in so small a circle, which because of its distance seems to be no bigger than a human head, there is so much brilliance that the sharpness of mortal eyes cannot look at it, and if you gaze for a moment, dimness and darkness follow in the dazzled eyes, how much light, how much brightness must we think there is with God himself, with whom there is no night? He so tempered this very light that it would harm living things neither by excessive brilliance nor by fierce heat, and gave it only so much of these as mortal bodies could bear or the ripening of crops required.
Rev 22:5 (echo, low confidence) · 1 John 1:5 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If the sun is so bright, how much brighter is God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.4 (CSEL 19:482; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-4).
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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).
6.2.5CSEL 19:482
num igitur mentis suae compos putandus est qui auctori et datori luminis candelarum aut cerarum lumen offert pro munere?
Should anyone be thought in his right mind, then, who offers the author and giver of light the light of candles or tapers as a gift?
Notes and citation
Summary: Offering candles to the giver of light is senseless.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.5 (CSEL 19:482; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-5).
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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).
6.2.6CSEL 19:482
aliut uero ille a nobis exigit lumen et quidem non fumidum, sed, ut ait poeta, liquidum atque clarum, mentis scilicet, propter quod a poetis φῶτες nuncupamur: quod exhibere non potest nisi qui deum agnouerit.
He requires another light from us, and not smoky, but, as the poet says, "clear and bright": that of the mind, for which reason we are called phōtes by the poets. And no one can show this except the one who has acknowledged God.
Notes and citation
Summary: God wants the light of the mind.
- Greek phōs ("man") in the poets resembles phōs ("light"); the pun is the author's. The poet quoted is unidentified.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: wrong Greek letter and detached accent): Ϟω̃τες → φῶτες.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.6 (CSEL 19:482; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-6).
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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).
6.2.7CSEL 19:482–483
illorum autem dii quia terreni sunt, egent luminibus, ne in tenebris sint: quorum cultores quia caeleste nihil sapiunt, etiam religiones quibus deseruiunt ad terram reuocant: in ea enim lumine opus est, quia ratio eius et natura tenebrosa est.
But their gods, because they are earthly, need lamps, so as not to be in the dark; and their worshippers, because they have no taste for anything heavenly, bring even the religions they serve back down to earth: for there light is needed, since its nature and character are dark.
Notes and citation
Summary: Earthly gods need lamps because they belong to the dark earth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.7 (CSEL 19:482–483; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-7).
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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).
6.2.8CSEL 19:483
itaque diis non caelestem sensum, sed humanum potius adtribuunt ideoque illis necessaria et grata credunt esse quae nobis, quibus aut esurientibus opus est cibo aut sitientibus potu aut ueste algentibus aut cum sol decesserit lumine, ut uidere possimus.
So they attribute to the gods not a heavenly but a human sense, and therefore believe that what is necessary and pleasing to us is so to them: we need food when hungry, drink when thirsty, clothing when cold, and light when the sun has set, so that we can see.
Notes and citation
Summary: They attribute human needs to the gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.8 (CSEL 19:483; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-8).
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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).
6.2.9CSEL 19:483
nullis igitur ex rebus tam probari et intellegi potest deos istos, cum aliquando uixerint, mortuos esse quam ex ipso ritu, qui est totus e terra. quid enim caelestis in se boni potest habere pecudum sanguis effusus, quo aras inquinant? nisi forte deos existimant eo uesci quod homines aspernantur attingere.
So nothing can prove and show so well that these gods, having once lived, are dead, as the rite itself, which is wholly of the earth. For what heavenly good can the poured-out blood of cattle have in it, with which they defile the altars? Unless perhaps they think the gods feed on what people scorn to touch.
Notes and citation
Summary: Earthly rites show the gods were mortal men.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.9 (CSEL 19:483; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-9).
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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).
6.2.10CSEL 19:483
et quisquis illis hanc saginam praestiterit, quamuis ille grassator adulter ueneficus parricida sit, beatus ac felix erit, hunc diligunt, hunc tuentur, huic omnia quae optauerit praestant.
And whoever provides them with this fattening, though he be a bandit, an adulterer, a poisoner, a parricide, will be blessed and happy; him they love, him they protect, to him they grant all he desires.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan gods favor any criminal who sacrifices.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.10 (CSEL 19:483; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-10).
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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).
6.2.11CSEL 19:483
merito ergo Persius huiusmodi superstitiones suo more deridet: qua tu inquit mercede deorum emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis?
Rightly, then, Persius mocks such superstitions in his own way: "At what price," he says, "have you bought the ears of the gods? With lungs and greasy guts?"
Notes and citation
Summary: Persius mocks buying the gods with offal.
- Persius, Satires 2.29–30 (no id for Persius in the controlled list).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.11 (CSEL 19:483; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-11).
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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).
6.2.12CSEL 19:483–484
sentiebat uidelicet non carne opus esse ad placandam caelestem maiestatem, sed mente sancta et iusto animo et pectore, ut ipse ait, quod naturali sit honestate generosum.
He clearly felt that flesh is not needed to appease the heavenly majesty, but a holy mind, a just soul, and a heart, as he himself says, "noble with natural honor."
Notes and citation
Summary: Persius saw that God wants a holy mind.
- Persius, Satires 2.73–74.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: u for n): placaudam → placandam.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.12 (CSEL 19:483–484; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-12).
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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).
6.2.13CSEL 19:484
haec est religio caelestis, non quae constat ex rebus corruptis, sed quae uirtutibus animi qui oritur e caelo, hic uerus est cultus, in quo mens colentis se ipsam deo inmaculatam uictimam sistit.
This is heavenly religion, which consists not of corruptible things but of the virtues of the soul, which springs from heaven; this is true worship, in which the mind of the worshipper presents itself to God as a spotless victim.
Rom 12:1 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: True worship offers the mind as a spotless victim.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: i for x): constat ei rebus → constat ex rebus.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.13 (CSEL 19:484; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-13).
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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).
6.2.14CSEL 19:484
id autem ipsum quomodo consequendum, quomodo praestandum sit, docebit huius libri disputatio. nihil enim tam praeclarum hominique conueniens potest esse quam erudire homines ad iustitiam.
How this is to be attained and how it is to be performed, the argument of this book will teach. For nothing can be so excellent and fitting for man as to train people in justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: This book will teach how to worship rightly.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.14 (CSEL 19:484; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-14).
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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).
6.2.15CSEL 19:484
aput Ciceronem Catulus in Hortensio philosophiam rebus omnibus praeferens malle se dicit uel unum paruum de officio libellum quam longam orationem pro seditioso homine Cornelio. quae sententia non utique Catuli, qui illut fortasse non dixit, sed Ciceronis est putanda, qui scripsit, credo ut libros quos de officiis erat scripturus commendaret: in quibus ipsis nihil esse testatur in omni philosophia melius et fructuosius quam praecepta uitae dare.
In Cicero's Hortensius, Catulus, preferring philosophy to everything, says he would rather have even one little book on duty than a long speech for the seditious Cornelius. This view should surely be thought not Catulus's, who perhaps did not say it, but Cicero's, who wrote it, I suppose to recommend the books he was going to write On Duties, in which he testifies that nothing in all philosophy is better or more fruitful than giving precepts for life.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero valued moral precepts above oratory.
- Cicero, Hortensius (lost; fragment) and On Duties 1.4.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.15 (CSEL 19:484; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-15).
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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).
6.2.16CSEL 19:484
quodsi hoc illi faciunt quibus non est ueritas cognita, quanto magis nos facere debemus qui a deo eruditi et inluminati possumus uera praecipere! nec tamen sic docebimus ut quasi prima uirtutis elementa tradamus, quod est infinitum, sed tamquam docendum susceperimus eum qui aput illos iam perfectus esse uideatur.
If those do this who have not known the truth, how much more ought we to do it, who, taught and enlightened by God, can give true precepts! Yet we will not teach as though handing down the first elements of virtue, which would be endless, but as though we had undertaken to teach one who among them already seems perfect.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will teach advanced moral precepts from God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.16 (CSEL 19:484; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-16).
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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).
6.2.17CSEL 19:484–485
manentibus enim praeceptis eorum quae solent ad probitatem recte dare, ignota illis superstruemus ad perficiendam consummandamque iustitiam, quam non tenent.
For, keeping the precepts they usually give rightly for uprightness, we will build on them things unknown to them, to perfect and complete justice, which they do not hold.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christian ethics completes the philosophers' precepts.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.17 (CSEL 19:484–485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-17).
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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).
6.2.18CSEL 19:485
ea uero quae possunt cum illis esse communia praetermittam, ne quid ab iis uidear mutuari quorum errores coarguere atque aperire decreuerim.
But I will pass over what can be common with them, so as not to seem to borrow anything from those whose errors I have resolved to refute and expose.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will skip what is common with philosophers.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.2.18 (CSEL 19:485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-2-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 3
6.3.1CSEL 19:485
Duae sunt uiae per quas humanam uitam progredi necesse est, una quae in caelum ferat, altera quae ad inferos deprimat: quas et poetae in carminibus et philosophi in disputationibus suis induxerunt.
There are two ways by which human life must proceed: one that carries up to heaven, the other that presses down to the underworld. Both the poets in their verses and the philosophers in their discussions have introduced them.
Matt 7:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Human life follows one of two ways, to heaven or to hell.
- Compare Matt 7:13–14 and the Two Ways of the Didache.
Extrabiblical texts: Did. 1.1 (Didache; echo)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.1 (CSEL 19:485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-1).
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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).
6.3.2CSEL 19:485
et quidem philosophi alteram uirtutum esse noluerunt, alteram uitiorum, eamque quae sit assignata uirtutibus; primo aditu esse arduam et confragosam: in qua si quis difficultate superata in summum eius euaserit, habere eum de cetero planum iter, lucidum amoenumque campum et omnium laborum suorum capere fructus uberes atque iucundos;
The philosophers indeed held that one is the way of the virtues and the other of the vices; and that the one assigned to the virtues is steep and rough at its first approach, but that if anyone overcomes the difficulty and reaches its top, he then has a level road, a bright and pleasant plain, and reaps rich and delightful fruits of all his labors;
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers say virtue's way is hard at first, then pleasant.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.2 (CSEL 19:485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-2).
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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).
6.3.3CSEL 19:485–486
quos autem primi aditus difficultas deterruerit, eos in illam uitiorum uiam labi atque deflectere, quae primo ingressu sit quasi amoena multoque tritior, deinde cum in ea paulo ulterius processerint, amoenitatis illius speciem repente subduci, exoriri autem uiam praecipitem, nunc saxis asperam nunc obductam sentibus nunc gurgitibus intercisam uel torrentibus rapidam, ut laborare haerere labi cadere sit necesse.
while those whom the difficulty of the first approach has frightened off slip and turn aside into that way of vices, which at first entry is pleasant, as it were, and much more trodden; then, when they have gone a little further in it, the appearance of pleasantness is suddenly withdrawn and a precipitous road rises up, now rough with rocks, now overgrown with thorns, now cut by whirlpools or swept by torrents, so that they must struggle, stick, slip, and fall.
Notes and citation
Summary: The way of vice is pleasant at first, then ruinous.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.3 (CSEL 19:485–486; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-3).
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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).
6.3.4CSEL 19:486
quae omnia eo proferuntur, ut appareat in uirtutibus capiendis labores esse maximos, in perceptis autem maximos fructus et solidas atque incorruptas uoluptates, uitia uero quibusdam delenimentis naturalibus inlicere animos hominum et inanium iucunditatum specie captos ad acerbas amaritudines miseriasque perducere.
All this is put forward to show that the labors in acquiring the virtues are very great, but once they are acquired the fruits are very great and the pleasures solid and incorruptible; while the vices entice human minds with certain natural charms and, capturing them with the appearance of empty delights, lead them to bitter griefs and miseries.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue costs labor but yields lasting fruit; vice ends in misery.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.4 (CSEL 19:486; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-4).
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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).
6.3.5CSEL 19:486
sapiens prorsus disputatio, si uirtutum ipsarum formas ac terminos scirent. non enim didicerant uel quae sint uel quid eas mercedis a deo maneat: quod nos his duobus libris docebimus. hi uero quia ignorabant aut dubitabant animas hominum inmortales esse, et uirtutes et uitia terrenis honoribus aut poenis aestimauerunt.
A wise discussion indeed, if they knew the forms and limits of the virtues themselves. For they had not learned either what they are or what reward awaits them from God, which we will teach in these two books. But because they did not know or doubted that human souls are immortal, they measured both virtues and vices by earthly honors or punishments.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not knowing the soul is immortal, philosophers judged by earthly rewards.
- "These two books": Books 6 and 7.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.5 (CSEL 19:486; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-5).
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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).
6.3.6CSEL 19:486
omnis ergo haec de duabus uiis disputatio ad frugalitatem ac luxuriam spectat. dicunt enim humanae uitae cursum Y litterae similem, quod unus quisque hominum cum primae adulescentiae limen adtigerit et in eum locum uenerit, partis ubi se uia findit in ambas, haereat nutabundus ac nesciat in quam se partem potius inclinet;
So all this discussion of the two ways looks to frugality and luxury. For they say that the course of human life is like the letter Y, because each person, when he reaches the threshold of early youth and comes to the place "where the road splits into two parts," halts, wavering, and does not know to which side he should rather turn;
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers compare life to the letter Y.
- The Pythagorean letter Y. The quoted phrase is Virgil, Aeneid 6.540.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 6.540 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.6 (CSEL 19:486; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-6).
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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).
6.3.7CSEL 19:486–487
si ducem nactus fuerit qui dirigat ad meliora titubantem, hoc est si aut philosophiam didicerit aut eloquentiam aut aliquid honestae artis quo euadat ad bonam frugem, quod fieri sine labore maximo non potest, honestam et copiosam uitam disputant peracturum;
if he finds a guide to direct him, faltering, to the better way, that is, if he learns philosophy or eloquence or some honorable skill by which he may turn out well, which cannot happen without the greatest labor, they argue that he will lead an honorable and prosperous life;
Notes and citation
Summary: With a good teacher, a youth takes the better road.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.7 (CSEL 19:486–487; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-7).
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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).
6.3.8CSEL 19:487
si uero doctorem frugalitatis non inuenerit, in sinistram uiam quae melioris speciem mentiatur incidere, id est desidiae inertiae luxuriae se tradere, quae suauia quidem uidentur ad tempus uera bona ignoranti, post autem amissa omni dignitate ac re familiari in omnibus miseriis ignominiaque uicturum.
but if he does not find a teacher of frugality, he falls into the left-hand way, which falsely wears the appearance of the better, that is, he gives himself to idleness, sloth, and luxury, which seem pleasant for a time to one ignorant of true goods, but afterward, having lost all dignity and property, he will live in every misery and disgrace.
Notes and citation
Summary: Without guidance he falls into idleness and ruin.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: garbled letters): non muenent → non inuenerit.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.8 (CSEL 19:487; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-8).
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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).
6.3.9CSEL 19:487
ad corpus ergo et ad hanc uitam quam in terra ducimus fines earum uiarum rettulerunt. poetae fortasse melius, qui hoc biuium aput inferos esse uoluerunt, sed in eo falluntur quod eas uias mortuis proposuerunt. utrique ergo uere, sed tamen utrique non recte, quia oportuit uias ipsas ad uitam, fines earum ad mortem referri.
So they referred the ends of these ways to the body and to this life we lead on earth. The poets perhaps did better, who placed this fork in the underworld; but they are mistaken in setting these ways before the dead. So both are true, and yet both are not right, because the ways themselves should have been referred to life and their ends to death.
Notes and citation
Summary: The ways belong to this life; their ends to what follows death.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.9 (CSEL 19:487; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-9).
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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).
6.3.10CSEL 19:487
nos igitur melius et uerius, qui duas istas uias caeli et inferorum esse dicimus, quia iustis inmortalitas, iniustis poena aeterna proposita est.
We then speak better and more truly, who say that these two ways are of heaven and of hell, because immortality is set before the just and eternal punishment before the unjust.
Notes and citation
Summary: The two ways lead to immortality or eternal punishment.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.10 (CSEL 19:487; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-10).
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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).
6.3.11CSEL 19:487
quomodo autem hae uiae uel in caelum tollant uel ad inferna praecipitent explicabo, aperiamque quae sint uirtutes quas philosophi nescierunt; tum earum quae sint praemia, simul etiam quae sint uitia quaeue eorum supplicia monstrabo.
I will explain how these ways either raise to heaven or cast down to hell, and I will disclose what the virtues are that the philosophers did not know; then I will show what their rewards are, and at the same time what the vices are and what their punishments.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will explain the virtues and vices and their outcomes.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.11 (CSEL 19:487; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-11).
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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).
6.3.12CSEL 19:487–488
nam fortasse aliquis expectet ut separatim de uitiis ac uirtutibus dicam, cum de bono aut malo disserentibus nobis etiam quod est contrarium possit intellegi.
Perhaps someone expects me to speak separately of vices and virtues, although when we discuss good or evil, what is contrary can also be understood.
Notes and citation
Summary: Discussing good implies its opposite.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.12 (CSEL 19:487–488; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-12).
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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).
6.3.13CSEL 19:488
sine enim uirtutes inseras, uitia sua sponte decedent, siue uitia eximas, uirtutes ultro subibunt: sic bonorum ac malorum constituta natura est, ut se inuicem semper obpugnent, semper expellant. ita fit ut neque uitia detrahi sine uirtutibus possint nec uirtutes inseri sine detractione uitiorum.
For if you plant virtues, vices will depart of their own accord; or if you remove vices, virtues will come in unbidden. So the nature of good and evil has been set that they always fight and always drive each other out. So it comes about that neither can vices be removed without virtues nor virtues planted without removing vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtues and vices expel each other.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.13 (CSEL 19:488; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-13).
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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).
6.3.14CSEL 19:488
has igitur uias longe aliter inducimus quam induci a philosophis solent, primum quod utrique praepositum esse dicimus ducem utrumque inmortalem, sed alterum honoratum, qui uirtutibus ac bonis praesit, alterum damnatum, qui uitiis ac malis.
So we present these ways very differently from how the philosophers usually do. First, because we say that over each a guide is set, both immortal, but one honored, who presides over the virtues and goods, and the other condemned, who presides over the vices and evils.
Notes and citation
Summary: Each way has an immortal guide: God and the devil.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.14 (CSEL 19:488; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-14).
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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).
6.3.15CSEL 19:488
illi autem in dexteriore tantum uia ducem ponunt neque unum neque perpetuum, siquidem quemlibet doctorem bonae artis inducunt, qui a desidia reuocet homines et frugi esse doceat. sed neque ingredi faciunt in eam uiam nisi pueros et adulescentes, uidelicet quod artes in his discantur aetatibus.
But they place a guide only on the right-hand way, and not one, nor perpetual, since they bring in any teacher of a good art to call people back from idleness and teach them to be sober. And they have only boys and youths enter that way, evidently because skills are learned at those ages.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers offer only human teachers for the young.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: m for in): m dexteriore → in dexteriore.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.15 (CSEL 19:488; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-15).
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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).
6.3.16CSEL 19:488
nos autem (homines) omnis sexus et generis et aetatis in hoc caeleste iter inducimus, quia deus, qui eius uiae dux est, immortalitatem nulli homini nato negat. forma quoque ipsarum uiarum non ita est ut illi putauerunt.
But we lead people of every sex, rank, and age onto this heavenly road, because God, who is the guide of this way, denies immortality to no human being born. The shape of the ways, too, is not as they thought.
Notes and citation
Summary: God guides people of every kind toward immortality.
- "People" (homines) is the editor's supplement.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.16 (CSEL 19:488; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-16).
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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).
6.3.17CSEL 19:488–489
quid enim opus est Y littera in rebus contrariis atque diuersis? sed altera illa melior conuersa est ad solis ortum, altera illa deterior ad occasum, quoniam qui ueritatem ac iustitiam sequitur, is accepto immortalitatis praemio perenni luce potietur, qui autem ab illo malo duce inlectus praetulerit uitia uirtutibus, mendacium ueritati, necesse est ad occasum et tenebras deferatur (aeternas).
For what need is there of the letter Y in things that are contrary and opposed? Rather, the one, the better, is turned toward the rising of the sun, the other, the worse, toward its setting, since whoever follows truth and justice will receive the reward of immortality and possess perpetual light, while whoever, lured by that evil guide, has preferred vices to virtues and falsehood to truth must be carried to the setting and to eternal darkness.
Notes and citation
Summary: The good way faces the sunrise, the evil the sunset and darkness.
- "Eternal" is the editor's supplement.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.17 (CSEL 19:488–489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-17).
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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).
6.3.18CSEL 19:489
describam igitur utramque et earum proprietates habitusque monstrabo.
So I will describe each and show their characteristics and features.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will describe both ways.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.3.18 (CSEL 19:489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-21-1/#p-6-3-18).
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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).