Divine Institutes 5.5.1–5.10.18
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 5
5.5.1CSEL 19:413
Nunc reddenda est de iustitia proposita disputatio. quae aut ipsa est summa uirtus aut fons est ipse uirtutis: quam non modo philosophi quaesierunt, sed poetae quoque, qui priores multo fuerunt et ante natum philosophiae nomen pro sapientibus habebantur.
Now I must give the promised discussion of justice. It is either itself the highest virtue or the very fountain of virtue. Not only philosophers sought it, but also the poets, who were much earlier and were held to be the wise before the name of philosophy was born.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justice, the highest virtue, was sought by poets and philosophers.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.1 (CSEL 19:413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-1).
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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).
5.5.2CSEL 19:413
hi plane intellexerunt abesse hanc a rebus humanis eamque finxerunt offensam uitiis hominum cessisse terra in caelumque migrasse. atque ut doceant quid sit iuste uiuere — solent enim praecepta per ambages dare —, a Saturni temporibus, quae illi uocant aurea, repetunt exempla iustitiae narrantque in quo statu fuerit humana uita, dum illa in terra moraretur.
They clearly understood that justice was absent from human affairs, and they imagined that, offended by human vices, she withdrew from the earth and moved to heaven. And to teach what it is to live justly (for they usually give precepts in riddles), they go back for examples of justice to the times of Saturn, which they call golden, and tell in what state human life was while she lingered on earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: The poets said Justice left the earth after the golden age of Saturn.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: e for c; doubled period): hane → hanc; moraretur.. → moraretur..
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.2 (CSEL 19:413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-2).
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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).
5.5.3CSEL 19:413–414
quod quidem non pro poetica fictione, sed pro uero habendum est. Saturno enim regnante, nondum deorum cultibus institutis nec adhuc illa gente ad diuinitatis opinionem consecrata, deus utique colebatur.
This should be taken not as poetic fiction but as true. For in Saturn's reign, before the worship of gods had been established and before that family had been consecrated as divine, God was certainly worshipped.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the golden age, before the gods, the one God was worshipped.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped a letter): nctione → fictione.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.3 (CSEL 19:413–414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-3).
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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).
5.5.4CSEL 19:414
et ideo non erant neque dissensiones neque inimicitiae neque bella, nondum uesanos rabies nudauerat enses, ut Germanicus Caesar in Arateo loquitur carmine, nec consanguineis fuerat discordia nota, immo ne alienigenis quidem, sed neque ulli omnino gladii qui nudarentur fuerunt.
And so there were no dissensions, no enmities, no wars; "not yet had madness bared the frenzied swords," as Germanicus Caesar says in his poem on Aratus, "nor was discord known among kin"; indeed, not even with foreigners; there were no swords at all to be bared.
Notes and citation
Summary: In that age there was no war or discord.
- Germanicus, Aratea 112–113 (no id for Germanicus in the controlled list).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: p for e): nequp → neque.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.4 (CSEL 19:414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-4).
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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).
5.5.5CSEL 19:414
quis enim praesente ac uigente iustitia aut de tutela sui, cum nemo insidiaretur, aut de pernicie alterius cogitaret, cum nemo quicquam concupisceret? malebant tenui contenti uiuere cultu, ut Cicero in suo narrat: quod est proprium nostrae religionis. ne signare quidem aut partiri limite campum fas erat: in medium quaerebant,
For with justice present and strong, who would think about protecting himself, when no one lay in wait, or about ruining another, when no one coveted anything? "They preferred to live content with a simple way of life," as Cicero relates in his poem, which is characteristic of our religion. "It was not even lawful to mark out or divide the field with a boundary; they sought for the common store,"
Notes and citation
Summary: In the golden age people lived simply and held land in common.
- The first line is from Cicero's translation of Aratus; the second is Virgil, Georgics 1.126–127. The sentence continues in the next section.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; quotation); Virgil, Georg. 1.126-127 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.5 (CSEL 19:414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-5).
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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).
5.5.6CSEL 19:414
quippe cum deus communem omnibus terram dedisset, ut communem degerent uitam, non ut rabida et furens auaritia sibi omnia uindicaret, nec ulli deesset quod omnibus nasceretur.
since God had given the earth to all in common, so that they might lead a common life, not so that raging, furious greed might claim everything for itself, and so that no one would lack what was produced for all.
Notes and citation
Summary: God gave the earth for the common use of all.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.6 (CSEL 19:414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-6).
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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).
5.5.7CSEL 19:414–415
quod poetae dictum sic accipi oportet, non ut existimemus nihil omnino tum fuisse priuati, sed more poetico figuratum, ut intellegamus tam liberales fuisse homines, ut natas sibi fruges non includerent nec soli absconditis incubarent, sed pauperes ad communionem proprii laboris admitterent. flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant.
The poet's saying must be taken not so as to think that nothing at all was private then, but as a poetic figure, so that we understand that people were so generous that they did not lock up the crops produced for them or brood over hidden stores alone, but admitted the poor to share in the fruit of their own labor. "Now rivers of milk, now rivers of nectar flowed."
Notes and citation
Summary: The golden age meant generosity to the poor, not the absence of property.
- "Rivers of milk…" is Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.111.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.111 (Ovid; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.7 (CSEL 19:414–415; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-7).
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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).
5.5.8CSEL 19:415
nec mirum, cum promptuaria iustorum benigne paterent omnibus nec auaritia intercipiens beneficia diuina famem sitimque uulgo faceret, sed omnes aequaliter abundarent, cum habentes non habentibus large copioseque donarent.
No wonder, since the storehouses of the just stood kindly open to all, and greed did not intercept God's gifts and cause widespread hunger and thirst, but all had plenty equally, since those who had gave freely and abundantly to those who had not.
Notes and citation
Summary: When the just shared, no one went hungry.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.8 (CSEL 19:415; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-8).
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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).
5.5.9CSEL 19:415
sed postquam Saturnus a filio pulsus in Latiumque delatus est arma Iouis fugiens et regnis exul ademptis, cum iam populus uel noui regis metu uel sua sponte deprauatus deum colere desisset regemque pro deo habere coepisset, cum ipse propemodum parricida exemplo ceteris esset ad uiolandam pietatem, deseruit propere terras iustissima uirgo, sed non, ut ait Cicero, et Iouis in regno caelique in parte resedit.
But after Saturn was driven out by his son and brought to Latium, "fleeing the arms of Jupiter, an exile stripped of his kingdom," when the people, whether from fear of the new king or corrupted of their own accord, had stopped worshipping God and had begun to regard the king as a god, since he himself, very nearly a parricide, set an example to the rest for violating piety, "the most just virgin quickly left the earth," but did not, as Cicero says, "settle in Jupiter's kingdom and in a part of heaven."
Notes and citation
Summary: When Jupiter overthrew Saturn and was worshipped, Justice left the earth.
- "Fleeing the arms…" is Virgil, Aeneid 8.320; the lines on the virgin Justice are from Cicero's translation of Aratus.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 8.320 (Virgil; quotation); Cicero (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.9 (CSEL 19:415; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-9).
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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).
5.5.10CSEL 19:415–416
quomodo enim poterat in eius regno residere aut commorari qui patrem regno expulit, bello persecutus est, exulem toto orbe iactauit? ille malum uirus serpentibus addidit atris praedarique lupos iussit, id est odium et inuidiam et dolum hominibus inseuit, ut tam essent quam serpentes uenenati, tam rapaces quam lupi.
For how could she settle or stay in the kingdom of one who drove his father from the throne, pursued him with war, and tossed him as an exile over the whole world? "He added deadly venom to black serpents and bade wolves prey"; that is, he implanted hatred, envy, and deceit in human beings, so that they became as poisonous as serpents and as rapacious as wolves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter's reign brought hatred, envy, and deceit.
- Virgil, Georgics 1.129–130.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Georg. 1.129-130 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.10 (CSEL 19:415–416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-10).
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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).
5.5.11CSEL 19:416
quod quidem uere faciunt ii qui iustos ac fideles deo persecuntur dantque iudicibus saeuiendi aduersus innoxios potestatem.
This is truly what those do who persecute the just and faithful to God and give judges power to rage against the innocent.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecutors act like the serpents and wolves of the poem.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.11 (CSEL 19:416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-11).
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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).
5.5.12CSEL 19:416
fortasse aliquid eiusmodi Iuppiter fecerit ad expugnandam tollendamque iustitiam et idcirco efferasse serpentes ac lupos acuisse tradatur. tum belli rabies et amor successit habendi.
Perhaps Jupiter did something of this kind to attack and abolish justice, and that is why he is said to have made serpents savage and sharpened wolves. "Then came the madness of war and the love of possessing."
Notes and citation
Summary: Then war and greed entered the world.
- Virgil, Aeneid 8.327.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 8.327 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.12 (CSEL 19:416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-12).
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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).
5.5.13CSEL 19:416
neque inmerito. sublata enim dei religione boni quoque ac mali scientiam perdiderunt. sic hominibus intercidit communitas uitae et diremptum est foedus societatis humanae.
And not undeservedly. For once the religion of God was removed, they also lost the knowledge of good and evil. So the shared life of mankind perished and the bond of human fellowship was broken.
Notes and citation
Summary: Losing God's religion, people lost the knowledge of good and evil.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.13 (CSEL 19:416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-13).
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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).
5.5.14CSEL 19:416
tum inter se manus conserere coeperunt et insidiari et gloriam sibi ex humano sanguine conparare.
Then they began to come to blows with one another, to lay ambushes, and to win glory for themselves from human blood.
Notes and citation
Summary: Violence and bloodshed followed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.5.14 (CSEL 19:416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-5-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 5, chapter 6
5.6.1CSEL 19:416–417
Quorum omnium malorum fons cupiditas erat, quae scilicet ex contemptu uerae maiestatis erupit. non tantum enim non participabant alios quibus aliquid afluebat, sed aliena quoque rapiebant in priuatum lucrum trahentes omnia, et quae antea in usus omnium etiam singuli laborabant, in paucorum domos conferebantur.
The source of all these evils was greed, which burst out from contempt for the true majesty. For those who had plenty not only did not share with others, but also seized what belonged to others, dragging everything off for private gain; and what even individuals had formerly worked for, for the use of all, was gathered into the houses of a few.
Notes and citation
Summary: Greed, born of contempt for God, concentrated wealth in few hands.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and stray mark): quo- » que → quoque.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.1 (CSEL 19:416–417; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-1).
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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).
5.6.2CSEL 19:417
ut enim seruitio ceteros subiugarent, in primis necessaria uitae subducere et colligere coeperunt eaque firmiter conclusa seruare, ut beneficia caelestia facerent sua, non propter humanitatem, quae nulla in eis erat, sed ut omnia cupiditatis et auaritiae instrumenta conraderent.
For to subjugate the rest in slavery, they first began to withdraw and collect the necessities of life and keep them firmly locked up, so as to make the gifts of heaven their own, not out of humanity, of which they had none, but to scrape together every instrument of greed and avarice.
Notes and citation
Summary: The greedy hoarded necessities to enslave others.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.2 (CSEL 19:417; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-2).
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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).
5.6.3CSEL 19:417
leges etiam sibi iustitiae nomine iniquissimas iniustissimasque sanxerunt, quibus rapinas et auaritiam suam contra uim multitudinis tuerentur. tantum igitur auctoritate, quantum uiribus aut opibus aut malitia praeualebant.
They also enacted for themselves, in the name of justice, most unfair and unjust laws, by which to protect their plunder and greed against the force of the many. So they prevailed by authority as much as by strength, wealth, or malice.
Notes and citation
Summary: They made unjust laws to protect their plunder.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.3 (CSEL 19:417; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-3).
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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).
5.6.4CSEL 19:417
et quoniam nullum in iis uestigium iustitiae fuit, cuius officia sunt humanitas aequitas misericordia, iam superba et tumida inaequalitate gaudebant altioresque se ceteris hominibus satellitum comitatu et ferro et insigni ueste faciebant.
And since there was no trace in them of justice, whose duties are humanity, fairness, and mercy, they now delighted in proud and swollen inequality and made themselves higher than other people with a retinue of guards, with steel, and with distinctive dress.
Notes and citation
Summary: Without justice they delighted in inequality and display.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.4 (CSEL 19:417; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-4).
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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).
5.6.5CSEL 19:417
hinc honores sibi et purpuras et fasces inuenerunt, ut securium gladiorumque terrore subnixi quasi iure dominorum perculsis ac pauentibus imperarent.
From this they devised honors for themselves, purple robes, and the fasces, so that, relying on the terror of axes and swords, they might command the stricken and frightened as if by the right of masters.
Notes and citation
Summary: Offices and insignia arose to enforce rule by terror.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.5 (CSEL 19:417; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-5).
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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).
5.6.6CSEL 19:417–418
in hac condicione humanam uitam rex ille constituit, qui debellato ac fugato parente non regnum, sed impiam tyrannidem ui et hominibus armatis occupauit et aureum illud iustumque saeculum sustulit coegitque homines malos et inpios fieri uel ex hoc ipso, quod eos auertit a deo ad se adorandum: quod terror insolentissimae potestatis expresserat.
Human life was put in this condition by that king who, having defeated and driven off his father, seized not a kingdom but an impious tyranny by force and armed men, abolished that golden and just age, and forced people to become wicked and impious by this very act, that he turned them from God to worship himself, something the terror of his most insolent power had extorted.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter's tyranny ended the golden age and turned people from God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.6 (CSEL 19:417–418; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-6).
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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).
5.6.7CSEL 19:418
quis enim non metueret eum quem arma cingebant, quem ferri et gladiorum fulgor insuetus circumdabat? aut cui parceret alieno qui ne patri quidem suo pepercerat? quem uero metueret qui Titanum robustam et excellentem uiribus gentem bello uicerat, occisione deleuerat?
For who would not fear the one surrounded by arms, encircled by the unaccustomed gleam of steel and swords? Or whom of others would he spare who had not spared even his own father? And whom would he fear who had conquered in war and wiped out by slaughter the sturdy race of Titans, outstanding in strength?
Notes and citation
Summary: Everyone feared the armed parricide.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.7 (CSEL 19:418; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-7).
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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).
5.6.8CSEL 19:418
quid mirum si omnis multitudo insolito metu pressa in unius adulationem concesserat? hunc uenerabantur, huic honorem maximum deferebant.
What wonder if the whole multitude, pressed by unfamiliar fear, gave way to flattery of one man? They revered him, they paid him the highest honor.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fear made the people flatter and revere him.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.8 (CSEL 19:418; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-8).
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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).
5.6.9CSEL 19:418
et quoniam mores ac uitia regis imitari genus obsequii iudicatur, abiecerunt omnes pietatem, ne exprobrare regi scelus uiderentur, si pie uiuerent.
And since imitating the manners and vices of a king is thought a kind of deference, all threw away piety, so as not to seem to reproach the king for his crime by living piously.
Notes and citation
Summary: People abandoned piety to imitate the king.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.9 (CSEL 19:418; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-9).
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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).
5.6.10CSEL 19:418
sic adsidua imitatione corrupti diuinum fas reliquerunt et paulatim male uiuendi consuetudo mos factus est. nec iam quicquam ex antecedentis saeculi pio atque optimo statu mansit, sed explosa iustitia et ueritatem secum trahens reliquit hominibus errorem ignorantiam caecitatem.
So, corrupted by constant imitation, they abandoned divine right, and little by little the habit of living badly became custom. Nothing remained any longer of the pious and excellent state of the former age, but justice, driven out and drawing truth with her, left mankind error, ignorance, and blindness.
Notes and citation
Summary: With justice gone, error and blindness remained.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.10 (CSEL 19:418; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-10).
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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).
5.6.11CSEL 19:418
inprudenter igitur poetae, qui eam confugisse cecinerunt ad Iouis regnum. si enim saeculo quod uocant aureum iustitia in terra fuit, a Ioue utique pulsa est, qui aureum saeculum commutauit.
So the poets were unwise who sang that she took refuge in Jupiter's kingdom. For if justice was on earth in the age they call golden, she was certainly driven out by Jupiter, who changed the golden age.
Notes and citation
Summary: Jupiter drove out Justice rather than receiving her.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.11 (CSEL 19:418; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-11).
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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).
5.6.12CSEL 19:418–419
saeculi autem commutatio et expulsio iustitiae nihil aliut ut dixi quam desertio diuinae religionis putanda est, quae sola efficit ut homo hominem carum habeat eumque sibi fraternitatis uinculo sciat esse constrictum, siquidem pater idem omnibus deus est, ut dei patrisque communis beneficia cum iis qui non habent partiatur, nulli noceat, nullum premat, non forem claudat hospiti, non aurem precanti, sed sit largus beneficus liberalis: quas regias esse laudes Tullius existimauit.
But the change of the age and the expulsion of justice must be considered, as I said, nothing other than the abandonment of divine religion, which alone makes a person hold another dear and know that he is bound to him by the bond of brotherhood, since God is the same Father to all, so that he shares the gifts of the common God and Father with those who lack, harms no one, oppresses no one, does not shut his door to the stranger or his ear to the one who asks, but is generous, beneficent, and liberal, qualities that Tullius considered the praises of kings.
Notes and citation
Summary: True religion makes people brothers who share, help, and welcome.
- Tullius is Cicero; the reference is probably Pro Ligario 37–38 (uncertain).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.12 (CSEL 19:418–419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-12).
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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).
5.6.13CSEL 19:419
haec est profecto iustitia et hoc aureum saeculum, quod Ioue primum regnante corruptum, mox et ipso et omni eius progenie consecrata deorumque multorum suscepto cultu fuerat omne sublatum.
This indeed is justice, and this is the golden age, which was first corrupted when Jupiter reigned, and soon, when he and all his offspring were consecrated and the worship of many gods was taken up, was wholly abolished.
Notes and citation
Summary: The golden age ended with the worship of many gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.6.13 (CSEL 19:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-6-13).
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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).
Divine 5, chapter 7
5.7.1CSEL 19:419
Sed deus ut parens indulgentissimus adpropinquante ultimo tempore nuntium misit, qui uetus illut saeculum fugatamque iustitiam reduceret, ne humanum genus maximis et perpetuis agitaretur erroribus.
But God, as a most indulgent parent, as the last time drew near, sent a messenger to bring back that ancient age and banished justice, so that the human race would not be driven about by the greatest and endless errors.
Notes and citation
Summary: God sent a messenger to bring justice back.
- The messenger is Christ.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.1 (CSEL 19:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-1).
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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).
5.7.2CSEL 19:419
rediit ergo species illius aurei temporis et reddita quidem terrae, sed paucis adsignata iustitia est, quae nihil aliut est quam dei unici pia et religiosa cultura.
So the likeness of that golden time returned, and justice was indeed restored to the earth, but assigned to few; and justice is nothing other than the pious and religious worship of the one God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justice returned but only to a few: it is the worship of the one God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.2 (CSEL 19:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-2).
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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).
5.7.3CSEL 19:419
sed moueat aliquem fortasse, cur si haec sit iustitia, non omni humano generi sit data nec in eam multitudo uniuersa consenserit. magnae hoc disputationis est, cur a deo, cum iustitiam terrae daret, sit retenta diuersitas: quod et alio loco declaraui et ubicumque opportune inciderit explicabitur.
But perhaps someone may be troubled why, if this is justice, it was not given to the whole human race, and the entire multitude did not agree to it. It is a matter for long discussion why, when God gave justice to the earth, diversity was retained; I have explained this elsewhere, and it will be explained wherever it fits.
Notes and citation
Summary: Why justice was not given to all needs explanation.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.3 (CSEL 19:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-3).
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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).
5.7.4CSEL 19:419
nunc designare id breuissime satis est, uirtutem aut cerni non posse, nisi habeat uitia contraria, aut non esse perfectam, nisi exerceatur aduersis.
For now it is enough to point this out very briefly: virtue either cannot be seen unless it has opposing vices, or is not perfect unless exercised by adversity.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue needs opposing vice and adversity.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.4 (CSEL 19:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-4).
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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).
5.7.5CSEL 19:419–420
hanc enim deus bonorum ac malorum uoluit esse distantiam, ut qualitatem boni ex malo sciamus, item mali ex bono: nec alterius ratio intellegi sublato altero potest. deus ergo non exclusit malum, ut ratio uirtutis constare posset.
For God willed this distinction between good and evil, so that we may know the quality of good from evil and of evil from good; the nature of neither can be understood if the other is removed. So God did not exclude evil, so that the principle of virtue could stand.
Notes and citation
Summary: God allowed evil so that virtue could exist.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.5 (CSEL 19:419–420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-5).
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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).
5.7.6CSEL 19:420
quomodo enim patientia uim suam nomenque retineret, si nihil esset quod pati cogeremur? quomodo laudem mereretur deuota deo suo fides, nisi esset aliquis qui a deo uellet auertere? nam ideo potentiores esse iniustos permisit, ut cogere ad malum possent, ideo plures, ut uirtus esset pretiosa, quod rara est. quod quidem ipsum Quintilianus egregie ac breuiter ostendit in Capite obuoluto.
For how could patience keep its force and name if there were nothing we were compelled to endure? How would faith devoted to its God earn praise unless there were someone who wished to turn it away from God? For he allowed the unjust to be more powerful so that they could compel to evil, and more numerous so that virtue might be precious because rare. Quintilian showed this very point excellently and briefly in The Veiled Head.
Notes and citation
Summary: God lets the wicked be strong and many so virtue is tested and rare.
- Quintilian's declamation "The Veiled Head" (Caput obvolutum) is lost; no id for Quintilian in the controlled list.
Topics: Ethics, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.6 (CSEL 19:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-6).
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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).
5.7.7CSEL 19:420
nam quae inquit uirtus esset innocentia, nisi laudem raritas dedisset? uerum quia natura sic conparatum est, ut odium cupiditas ira in id quod incubuerunt agant caecos, supra hominem uidetur culpa uacare. alioquin si natura pares omnibus adfectus dedisset, pietas nihil erat.
"For what virtue," he says, "would innocence be, if rarity had not given it praise? But since nature has so arranged it that hatred, desire, and anger drive people blindly toward what they have set upon, to be free from fault seems beyond human. Otherwise, if nature had given all people equal feelings, piety would be nothing."
Notes and citation
Summary: Quintilian: innocence is praised because it is rare.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.7 (CSEL 19:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-7).
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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).
5.7.8CSEL 19:420
hoc quam uerum sit, docet necessitas ipsa rationis. si enim uirtus est malis ac uitiis fortiter repugnare, apparet sine malo ac uitio nullam esse uirtutem. quam deus ut absolutam perfectamque redderet, retinuit id quod erat ei contrarium, cum quo depugnare posset:
How true this is, the very necessity of reason teaches. For if virtue is bravely resisting evils and vices, it is clear that without evil and vice there is no virtue. To make it complete and perfect, God kept what was contrary to it, so that it would have something to fight against.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue needs evil to fight against.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.8 (CSEL 19:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-8).
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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).
5.7.9CSEL 19:420
agitata enim malis quatientibus stabilitatem capit et quanto frequenter inpellitur, tanto firmiter roboratur.
For when shaken by assailing evils it gains steadiness, and the more often it is struck, the more firmly it is strengthened.
Notes and citation
Summary: Adversity strengthens virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.9 (CSEL 19:420; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-9).
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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).
5.7.10CSEL 19:420–421
haec nimirum causa efficit ut quamuis sit hominibus missa iustitia, tamen aureum saeculum non esse dicatur, quia malum non sustulit, ut retineret diuersitatem, quae sacramentum diuinae religionis continet sola.
This, surely, is why, though justice has been sent to mankind, it is still not said to be a golden age: because he did not remove evil, so as to retain the diversity which alone contains the mystery of divine religion.
Notes and citation
Summary: The age is not golden because evil remains for virtue's sake.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.7.10 (CSEL 19:420–421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-7-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 5, chapter 8
5.8.1CSEL 19:421
Qui ergo putant iustum esse neminem, ante oculos habent iustitiam, sed eam nolunt cernere. quid est enim cur illam uel in carminibus uel in omni sermone describant conquerentes eius absentiam, cum sit facillimum bonos esse, si uelint?
So those who think that no one is just have justice before their eyes but refuse to see it. For why do they describe it in poems and in all their talk, complaining of its absence, when it is very easy to be good if they wish?
Notes and citation
Summary: Justice is present and easy to attain if one wills.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.1 (CSEL 19:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-1).
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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).
5.8.2CSEL 19:421
quid nobis inanem iustitiam depingitis et optatis cadere de caelo tamquam in aliquo simulacro figuratam? ecce in conspectu uestro est: suscipite si potestis eamque in domicilio uestri pectoris conlocate, nec difficile aut alienum a temporibus existimetis.
Why do you paint us an empty justice and wish it would fall from heaven, shaped as in some statue? Look, it is before your eyes: take it up if you can and settle it in the dwelling of your heart; and do not think it difficult or out of keeping with the times.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justice is at hand; take it into your heart.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.2 (CSEL 19:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-2).
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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).
5.8.3CSEL 19:421
estote aequi ac boni, et sequetur uos sua sponte iustitia quam quaeritis. deponite omnem malam cogitationem de cordibus uestris, et statim uobis tempus illut aureum reuertetur: quod aliter consequi non potestis, quam si deum uerum colere coeperitis.
Be fair and good, and the justice you seek will follow you of its own accord. Put every evil thought out of your hearts, and at once that golden time will return to you; and you cannot obtain it otherwise than by beginning to worship the true God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Worship the true God and the golden age will return.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.3 (CSEL 19:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-3).
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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).
5.8.4CSEL 19:421
uos autem manente cultu deorum iustitiam desideratis m terra, quod fieri nullo pacto potest. sed ne tum quidem potuit, cum putatis, quia nondum natis diis istis quos inpie colitis necesse est unius dei cultum fuisse per terram, eius scilicet qui execratur malitiam exigitque bonitatem, cuius templum est non lapides aut lutum, sed homo ipse, qui figuram dei gestat: quod templum non auri et gemmarum donis corruptibilibus, sed aeternis uirtutum muneribus ornatur.
But you want justice on earth while the worship of the gods remains, which can in no way happen. It could not happen even then, when you think, for since these gods you impiously worship had not yet been born, there must have been the worship of the one God throughout the earth, the God who curses wickedness and demands goodness, whose temple is not stones or clay but man himself, who bears the image of God, a temple adorned not with the perishable gifts of gold and gems but with the eternal gifts of the virtues.
1 Cor 3:16 (echo, medium confidence) · Gen 1:27 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's true temple is the human being, adorned with virtue.
- Man as God's temple echoes 1 Cor 3:16; the image of God, Gen 1:27.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.4 (CSEL 19:421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-4).
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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).
5.8.5CSEL 19:421–422
discite igitur, si quid uobis reliquae mentis est, homines ideo malos et iniustos esse, quia dii coluntur, et ideo mala omnia rebus humanis cottidie ingrauescere, quia deus mundi huius effector et gubernator derelictus est, quia susceptae sunt contra quam fas est inpiae religiones, postremo quia ne coli quidem uel a paucis deum sinitis.
Learn, then, if you have any mind left, that people are evil and unjust because gods are worshipped, and that all evils grow worse in human affairs every day because God, the maker and governor of this world, has been abandoned, because impious religions have been adopted against what is right, and finally because you do not allow God to be worshipped even by a few.
Notes and citation
Summary: Evils multiply because God is abandoned and his worship forbidden.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.5 (CSEL 19:421–422; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-5).
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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).
5.8.6CSEL 19:422
quodsi solus deus coleretur, non essent dissensiones et bella, cum scirent homines unius se dei filios esse ideoque diuinae necessitudinis sacro et inuiolabili uinculo copulatos, nullae fierent insidiae, cum scirent cuiusmodi poenas deus animarum interfectoribus praepararet, qui clandestina scelera et ipsas etiam cogitationes peruidet, non essent fraudes et rapinae, si deo praecipiente didicissent et suo et paruo esse contenti, ut fragilibus et caducis solida et aeterna praeferrent,
If God alone were worshipped, there would be no dissensions and wars, since people would know that they are sons of one God and therefore joined by the sacred and inviolable bond of divine kinship; there would be no plots, since they would know what punishments God prepares for the killers of souls, he who sees through secret crimes and even thoughts themselves; there would be no frauds and robberies, if they had learned by God's command to be content with their own, even if little, so as to prefer the solid and eternal to the fragile and perishable;
Notes and citation
Summary: Worship of the one God would end war, plots, and theft.
- The sentence continues in the next two sections.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.6 (CSEL 19:422; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-6).
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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).
5.8.7CSEL 19:422
non essent adulteria et stupra et mulierum prostitutiones, si esset omnibus notum damnari a deo quidquid adpetitur ultra generandi cupiditatem, nec feminam necessitas cogeret pudorem suum profanare, ut uictum sibi obscenissimum quaerat, cum et mares libidinem continerent et habentium pia et religiosa conlatio non habentibus subueniret:
there would be no adulteries, acts of sexual immorality, and prostitution of women, if all knew that God condemns whatever is sought beyond the desire of begetting; nor would necessity compel a woman to profane her modesty to seek a most shameful living, since men would restrain their lust and the pious and religious contribution of those who have would relieve those who have not.
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowing God condemns lust beyond procreation would end adultery and prostitution.
- "Sexual immorality" renders stupra; "adulteries," adulteria. Lactantius holds that God condemns sexual desire pursued beyond the aim of procreation; see 6.23.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.7 (CSEL 19:422; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-7).
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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).
5.8.8CSEL 19:422
non essent igitur, ut dixi, haec omnia in terris mala, si ab omnibus in legem dei coniuraretur, si ab uniuersis fierent quae unus noster populus operatur. quam beatus esset quamque aureus humanarum rerum status, si per totum orbem mansuetudo et pietas et pax et innocentia et aequitas et temperantia et fides moraretur!
So, as I said, there would not be all these evils on earth if all conspired together in God's law, if everyone did what our people alone does. How blessed, how golden the state of human affairs would be if gentleness, piety, peace, innocence, fairness, self-control, and faithfulness dwelt throughout the world!
Notes and citation
Summary: If all lived as Christians do, the world would be golden.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.8 (CSEL 19:422; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-8).
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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).
5.8.9CSEL 19:422–423
denique ad regendos homines non opus esset tam multis et tam uariis legibus, cum ad perfectam innocentiam dei lex una sufficeret, neque carceribus neque gladiis praesidum neque terrore poenarum, cum praeceptorum caelestium salubritas humanis pectoribus infusa ultro ad iustitiae opera homines erudiret. nunc autem mali sunt ignoratione recti ac boni.
Finally, to govern people there would be no need of so many and such varied laws, since the one law of God would suffice for perfect innocence; nor of prisons, nor of governors' swords, nor of the terror of punishments, since the wholesomeness of the heavenly precepts, poured into human hearts, would of itself train people to works of justice. But now they are evil through ignorance of what is right and good.
Notes and citation
Summary: God's one law would make human laws and punishments unnecessary.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letters): demque → denique.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.9 (CSEL 19:422–423; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-9).
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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).
5.8.10CSEL 19:423
quod quidem Cicero uidit. disputans enim de legibus sicut una inquit eademque natura mundus omnibus partibus inter se congruentibus cohaeret ac nititur, sic omnes homines inter se natura confusi prauitate dissentiunt neque se intellegunt esse consanguineos et subiectos omnes sub unam eandemque tutelam: quod si teneretur, deorum profecto uitam homines uiuerent.
Cicero indeed saw this. For discussing the laws, he says: "Just as the world holds together and rests on one and the same nature, all its parts agreeing among themselves, so all people, joined together by nature, disagree through depravity and do not understand that they are of one blood and all subject to one and the same protection. If this were held fast, people would surely live the life of the gods."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero saw that people, kin by nature, disagree through depravity.
- Cicero, On the Laws, a passage not found in the surviving books (probably from book 1; uncertain).
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.10 (CSEL 19:423; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-10).
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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).
5.8.11CSEL 19:423–424
uniuersa igitur mala, quibus humanum genus se ipsum inuicem conficit, iniustus atque inpius deorum cultus induxit. nec enim poterant retinere pietatem qui communem omnium patrem deum tamquam perfidi ac rebelles liberi abnegassent.
So all the evils by which the human race destroys itself were brought in by the unjust and impious worship of the gods. For those could not keep piety who, like faithless and rebellious children, had denied God, the common Father of all.
Notes and citation
Summary: Idolatry, the denial of the common Father, caused all evils.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark): +deum → deum.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.8.11 (CSEL 19:423–424; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-8-11).
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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 9
5.9.1CSEL 19:424
Nonnumquam tamen sentiunt se malos esse et ueterum saeculorum statum laudant et de suis moribus meritisque coniectant abesse iustitiam: quam obuersantem oculis suis non tantum non suscipiunt nec adgnoscunt, uerum etiam uiolenter oderunt et persecuntur et exterminare contendunt.
Sometimes, however, they feel that they are evil; they praise the state of former ages and infer from their own conduct and deserts that justice is absent. Yet when it is before their eyes, they not only do not take it up or recognize it, but even hate it violently, persecute it, and strive to wipe it out.
Notes and citation
Summary: People lament justice's absence but persecute it when present.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.1 (CSEL 19:424; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-1).
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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).
5.9.2CSEL 19:424
fingamus hanc interim non esse iustitiam quam nos sequimur: quomodo si illa uenerit quam ueram putant, eam recipient? qui laniant et occidunt eos quos et ipsi fatentur imitatores esse iustorum, quia bona operentur et iusta, cum si tantummodo malos occiderent, digni essent ad quos iustitia non ueniret: cui nulla fuit alia causa linquendi terram quam humani cruoris effusio.
Let us suppose for now that this justice which we follow is not justice: how will they receive that one they think true, if it comes? They mangle and kill those whom they themselves admit to be imitators of the just, because they do good and just works; whereas even if they killed only the wicked, they would deserve that justice never come to them, since she had no other reason for leaving the earth than the shedding of human blood.
Notes and citation
Summary: They kill those who do good, yet expect justice to come.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.2 (CSEL 19:424; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-2).
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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).
5.9.3CSEL 19:424
quanto magis, cum pios interficiant et ipsos iustitiae sectatores pro hostibus ducant, immo uero plus quam pro hostibus? quibus utique, cum animas eorum et opes et liberos ferro et igni adpetant, tamen parcitur uictis et est locus inter arma clementiae, aut si adeo saeuiri placuit, nihil plus in eos fit quam ut occidantur uel in seruitutem abducantur.
How much more, when they kill the pious and treat the followers of justice as enemies, and indeed worse than enemies? For even with enemies, though they attack their lives, wealth, and children with sword and fire, the conquered are spared and there is room for mercy among arms; or if it is decided to be so savage, nothing more is done to them than to kill them or lead them into slavery.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians are treated worse than enemies in war.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.3 (CSEL 19:424; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-3).
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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).
5.9.4CSEL 19:424–425
hoc uero inenarrabile est quod fit aduersus eos qui malefacere nesciunt, et nulli nocentiores habentur quam qui sunt ex omnibus innocentes. audent igitur homines inprobissimi iustitiae facere mentionem, qui feras inmanitate uincunt, qui placidissimum dei gregem uastant lupi ceu raptores atra in nebula, quos inproba uentris exegit caecos rabies.
But what is done against those who do not know how to do evil is indescribable, and no one is held more guilty than those who are the most innocent of all. So the most wicked of men dare to mention justice, men who surpass wild beasts in savagery, who lay waste God's most peaceful flock "like ravening wolves in a black fog, whom the shameless madness of the belly has driven out blind."
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecutors are like wolves ravaging God's flock.
- Virgil, Aeneid 2.355–357.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 2.355-357 (Virgil; quotation)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.4 (CSEL 19:424–425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-4).
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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).
5.9.5CSEL 19:425
uerum hos non uentris, sed cordis rabies efferauit nec atra in nebula, sed aperta praedatione grassantur nec eos umquam conscientia scelerum reuocat, ne sanctum ac pium nomen iustitiae ore illo uiolent quod cruore innocentium tamquam rictus bestiarum madet.
But these are made savage not by the madness of the belly but of the heart, and they rage not in a black fog but by open plunder; nor does consciousness of their crimes ever hold them back from violating the holy and pious name of justice with that mouth which drips with innocent blood like the jaws of beasts.
Notes and citation
Summary: They openly prey on the innocent while speaking of justice.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.5 (CSEL 19:425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-5).
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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).
5.9.6CSEL 19:425
huius tanti et tam pertinacis odii quam potissimum causam esse dicamus? utrumne ueritas odium parit, ut ait poeta quasi diuino spiritu instinctus, an erubescunt coram iustis et bonis esse nequam, an potius utrumque? nam et ueritas ideo semper inuisa est, quod is qui peccat uult habere liberum peccandi locum nec aliter se putat malefactorum uoluptate securius perfrui posse, quam si nemo sit cui delicta non placeant.
What shall we say is the chief cause of such great and stubborn hatred? Does "truth breed hatred," as the poet says, as though moved by a divine spirit? Or are they ashamed to be worthless in the presence of the just and good? Or rather both? For truth is always hated for this reason: the one who sins wants to have free room for sinning, and thinks he cannot enjoy the pleasure of his misdeeds more securely than if there is no one whom his offenses displease.
Notes and citation
Summary: Truth is hated because sinners want freedom to sin unrebuked.
- "Truth breeds hatred" is Terence, Andria 68.
Extrabiblical texts: Terence, Andr. 68 (Terence; quotation)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.6 (CSEL 19:425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-6).
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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).
5.9.7CSEL 19:425
ergo tamquam scelerum et malitiae suae testes extirpare funditus nituntur et tollere grauesque sibi putant, tamquam uita eorum coarguatur.
So they strive to root out and remove them entirely as witnesses of their crimes and wickedness, and think them burdensome, as if their own life were being rebuked.
Notes and citation
Summary: They try to eliminate the righteous as witnesses against them.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.7 (CSEL 19:425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-7).
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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).
5.9.8CSEL 19:425
cur enim sint aliqui intempestiue boni, qui corruptis moribus publicis conuicium bene uiuendo faciant? cur non omnes sint aeque mali rapaces inpudici adulteri periuri cupidi fraudulenti? quin potius auferantur quibus coram male uiuere pudet, qui peccantium frontem etsi non uerbis, quia tacent, tamen ipso uitae genere dissimili feriunt et uerberant. castigare enim uidetur quicumque dissentit.
"For why should there be some who are untimely good, who reproach the corrupt public morals by living well? Why should not all be equally wicked, rapacious, unchaste, adulterers, perjurers, covetous, and deceitful? Rather, let those be removed before whom it is shameful to live badly, who strike and lash the brow of sinners, if not with words, since they are silent, yet by their very different way of life." For whoever differs seems to rebuke.
Notes and citation
Summary: The good are resented because their lives rebuke the wicked.
- The persecutors' reasoning is voiced in their own words; compare Wis 2:12–15.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 2:12-15 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; echo)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.8 (CSEL 19:425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-8).
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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).
5.9.9CSEL 19:425–426
nec est magnopere mirandum, si aduersus homines ista fiunt, cum aduersus ipsum deum propter eandem causam insurrexerit etiam populus in spe constitutus nec dei nescius, sequiturque iustos eadem necessitas quae ipsum iustitiae uiolauit auctorem.
Nor is it very surprising if these things are done against men, since for the same reason even a people established in hope and not ignorant of God rose up against God himself; and the same fate follows the just which struck the very author of justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just suffer the fate of Christ, the author of justice.
- "A people established in hope": the Jews, in the author's account of the crucifixion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: h for fi): hunt → fiunt.
Topics: Persecution, Christology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.9 (CSEL 19:425–426; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-9).
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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).
5.9.10CSEL 19:426
uexant ergo et exquisitis poenarum generibus excruciant parumque habent interficere quos oderunt, nisi etiam crudelitas corporibus inludat.
So they harass and torture with refined kinds of punishment, and think it too little to kill those they hate unless cruelty also makes sport of their bodies.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecutors torture before killing.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.10 (CSEL 19:426; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-10).
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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).
5.9.11CSEL 19:426
si qui autem doloris uel mortis metu uel suapte perfidia caeleste sacramentum deseruerint et ad funesta sacrificia consenserint, eos laudant et honoribus mactant, ut eorum exemplo ceteros inliciant.
But if any, from fear of pain or death or by their own faithlessness, have deserted the heavenly sacrament and consented to the deadly sacrifices, these they praise and load with honors, to entice others by their example.
Notes and citation
Summary: Apostates are honored to lure others.
- "Sacrament" renders sacramentum, the soldier's oath, used of the Christian faith.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): mact.ant → mactant.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.11 (CSEL 19:426; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-11).
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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).
5.9.12CSEL 19:426
qui autem magni aestimauerint fidem cultoresque se dei non abnegauerint, in eos uero totis carnificinae suae uiribus, ueluti sanguinem sitiant, incumbunt et desperatos uocant, quia corpori suo minime parcunt: quasi quicquam desperatius esse possit quam torquere ac dilaniare eum quem scias esse innocentem.
But those who have valued faith highly and have not denied that they are worshippers of God, on these they throw themselves with the full force of their butchery, as if thirsting for blood, and they call them desperate, because they do not spare their own bodies; as if anything could be more desperate than to torture and tear apart one whom you know to be innocent.
Notes and citation
Summary: Faithful confessors are tortured and called desperate.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.12 (CSEL 19:426; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-12).
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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).
5.9.13CSEL 19:426
adeo nec pudor ullus aput eos superest a quibus abest omnis humanitas et retorquent in homines iustos conuicia sibi congruentia.
So no shame at all remains in those from whom all humanity is gone, and they turn back upon righteous people the insults that fit themselves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecutors hurl at the righteous the insults they deserve.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.13 (CSEL 19:426; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-13).
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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).
5.9.14CSEL 19:426
inpios enim uocant, ipsi scilicet pii et ab humano sanguine abhorrentes, cum si et actus suos considerent et illorum quos tamquam inpios damnant, iam intellegant quam mendaces sint et iis omnibus quae aduersus bonos aut dicunt aut faciunt digniores.
For they call them impious, they themselves being of course pious and shrinking from human blood! Yet if they considered their own deeds and those of the people they condemn as impious, they would at once understand how false they are and how much more deserving of all they say or do against the good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who call Christians impious are themselves guilty.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.14 (CSEL 19:426; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-14).
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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).
5.9.15CSEL 19:426–427
non enim de nostro, sed ex illorum numero semper existunt qui uias obsideant armati, maria praedentur, uel si palam grassari non licuit, uenena clam temperent, qui uxores necent, ut dotes earum lucrentur, aut maritos, ut adulteris nubant, qui natos ex se pueros aut strangulent aut, si nimium pii fuerint, exponant, qui libidines incestas nec a filia nec sorore nec
For it is not from our number but from theirs that there always arise those who beset the roads armed, who plunder the seas, or, if they cannot rob openly, mix poisons in secret; who murder their wives to gain their dowries, or their husbands to marry adulterers; who strangle the children born of them or, if they are very pious, expose them; who do not hold back incestuous lusts from daughter or sister or
Notes and citation
Summary: The crimes of society come from pagans, not Christians.
- The list continues in the next sections.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray colon): nec sorore nec: → nec sorore nec.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.15 (CSEL 19:426–427; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-15).
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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).
5.9.16CSEL 19:427
matre nec sacerdote contineant, qui aduersus ciues suos patriamque coniurent, qui nec culleum metuant, qui denique sacrilegia committant et deorum quos colunt templa despolient, et, ut quae levia sunt atque usitata dicamus, qui hereditates captent, testamenta supponant, iustos heredes uel auferant uel excludant, qui corpora sua libidinibus prostituant,
mother or priestess; who conspire against their fellow citizens and their country; who do not fear even the sack; who, finally, commit sacrilege and strip the temples of the very gods they worship; and, to mention what is light and common, who hunt legacies, forge wills, and rob or shut out the lawful heirs; who prostitute their own bodies to lusts;
Notes and citation
Summary: Incest, treason, sacrilege, and fraud are pagan crimes.
- "The sack" (culleus): the Roman punishment for parricide, being sewn into a sack and drowned.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.16 (CSEL 19:427; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-16).
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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).
5.9.17CSEL 19:427–428
qui denique inmemores quid nati sint, cum feminis patientia certent, qui sanctissimam quoque corporis sui partem contra fas omne polluant ac profanent, qui uirilia sua ferro metant et, quod est sceleratius, ut sint religionis antistites, qui ne uitae quidem suae parcant, sed extinguendas publice animas suas uendant, qui si iudices sedeant, aut inmeritos perdant mercede corrupti aut noxios inpune dimittant, qui caelum quoque ipsum ueneficiis adpetant, tamquam illorum malitiam terra non capiat:
who, finally, forgetting what they were born, compete with women in passivity; who pollute and profane even the most sacred part of their body against all right; who cut off their manhood with a knife and, what is more wicked, do so to be priests of religion; who do not even spare their own lives but sell their souls to be put out in public; who, if they sit as judges, either destroy the undeserving when bribed or let the guilty go unpunished; who even assail heaven itself with sorceries, as though the earth could not hold their wickedness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sexual vices, castration, gladiatorial self-selling, and corrupt judges are theirs too.
- Castration for priesthood refers to the galli of Cybele; selling their lives, to gladiators.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR dropped letters): qui demque → qui denique.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.17 (CSEL 19:427–428; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-17).
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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).
5.9.18CSEL 19:428
haec, inquam, et his plura scelera utique ab iis fiunt qui deos colunt. quis inter haec tot et tanta iustitiae locus est? et ego de multis pauca collegi, non ut arguerem, sed ut ostenderem.
These crimes, I say, and more than these, are certainly committed by those who worship the gods. Among so many and such great crimes, what place is there for justice? And I have gathered a few out of many, not to accuse but to show.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such crimes leave no room for justice among idolaters.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.18 (CSEL 19:428; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-18).
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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).
5.9.19CSEL 19:428
qui uolet scire omnia, Senecae libros in manum sumat, qui morum uitiorumque publicorum et descriptor uerissimus et insectator acerrimus fuit.
Whoever wants to know them all, let him take up the books of Seneca, who was both a most truthful describer and a most sharp attacker of public morals and vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seneca documents public vices fully.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.19 (CSEL 19:428; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-19).
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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).
5.9.20CSEL 19:428–429
sed et Lucilius tenebrosam istam uitam circumscripte breuiterque depinxit his uersibus: nunc uero a mani ad noctem, festo atque profesto, totus item pariterque die populusque patresque iactare indu foro se omnes, decedere nusquam, uni se atque eidem studio omnes dedere et arti, uerba dare ut caute possint, pugnare dolose; blanditia certare, bonum simulare uirum se; insidias facere, ut si hostes sint omnibus omnes.
Lucilius too painted this dark life concisely and briefly in these verses: "But now from morning to night, on holiday and workday, the whole people and the senators alike, all of them, throw themselves about in the forum and never leave it; all give themselves to one and the same pursuit and art: to deceive cautiously, to fight craftily, to compete in flattery, to pretend to be a good man, to lay traps, as if all were enemies to all."
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucilius describes a society devoted to deceit.
- Lucilius, fragment 1228–1234 (Marx).
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.20 (CSEL 19:428–429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-20).
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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).
5.9.21CSEL 19:429
nostro autem populo quid horum potest obici, cuius omnis religio est sine scelere ac sine macula uiuere?
But which of these things can be charged against our people, whose whole religion is to live without crime and without stain?
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians' whole religion is a blameless life.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.21 (CSEL 19:429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-21).
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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).
5.9.22CSEL 19:429
cum igitur uideant se ac suos ea quae diximus gerere, nostros autem nihil aliut operari nisi aecum et bonum, poterant, si quid saperent, ex hoc intellegere et illos qui bonum faciunt pios esse et se inpios qui nefanda committunt.
So since they see that they and their own do the things we have mentioned, while ours do nothing but what is fair and good, they could, if they had any sense, understand from this that those who do good are pious and that they themselves, who commit abominations, are impious.
Notes and citation
Summary: Conduct shows who is truly pious.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.22 (CSEL 19:429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-22).
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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).
5.9.23CSEL 19:429
neque enim fieri potest ut qui in omnibus uitae suae actibus non errant, in ipsa summa errent, hoc est in religione, quae rerum omnium caput est:
For it cannot be that those who do not go wrong in all the actions of their life go wrong in the highest matter, that is, in religion, which is the head of all things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who live rightly cannot err in religion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray colon): ut: qui → ut qui.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.23 (CSEL 19:429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-23).
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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).
5.9.24CSEL 19:429
inpietas enim suscepta in eo quod est summum per cetera uniuersa sequeretur. aeque fieri non potest ut ipsi qui errant in omni uita, non et in religione fallantur, quoniam pietas in summo regulam tenens tenorem suum seruaret in ceteris. ita fit ut in utraque parte de condicione rerum quae geruntur qualis sit summa ipsa noscatur.
For impiety taken up in what is highest would follow through everything else. Equally, it cannot be that those who go wrong in all their life are not also deceived in religion, since piety, holding the rule in the highest matter, would keep its course in the rest. So it comes about that on each side the quality of the highest matter itself is known from the character of the deeds done.
Notes and citation
Summary: Religion and conduct reveal each other.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.9.24 (CSEL 19:429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-9-24).
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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 10
5.10.1CSEL 19:429
Operae pretium est cognoscere illorum pietatem, ut ex iis quae clementer ac pie faciunt possit intellegi, qualia sint quae ab iis contra iura pietatis geruntur.
It is worth knowing their piety, so that from what they do mercifully and piously one may understand what the things are that they do against the laws of piety.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan "piety" reveals their impiety.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: ns for iis): ex ns quae → ex iis quae.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.1 (CSEL 19:429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-1).
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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).
5.10.2CSEL 19:429
ac ne quem uidear inclementer incessere, aliquam mihi personam poeticam sumam, quae sit uel maximum pietatis exemplum.
And so as not to seem to attack anyone harshly, I will take a figure from poetry, who is supposed to be the greatest example of piety.
Notes and citation
Summary: He takes Aeneas as the poets' model of piety.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.2 (CSEL 19:429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-2).
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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).
5.10.3CSEL 19:429–430
aput Maronem rex ille, quo iustior alter nec pietate fuit nec bello maior et armis, quae nobis documenta iustitiae protulit? uinxerat et post terga manus, quos mitteret umbris inferias, caeso sparsurus sanguine flammas.
In Maro, that king "than whom no other was more just, nor greater in piety, war, and arms": what proofs of justice did he offer us? "He had bound behind their backs the hands of those he would send as offerings to the shades, to sprinkle the flames with the blood of the slain."
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil's Aeneas bound captives to sacrifice at a funeral.
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.544–545 and 11.81–82.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 1.544-545 (Virgil; quotation); Virgil, Aen. 11.81-82 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.3 (CSEL 19:429–430; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-3).
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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).
5.10.4CSEL 19:430
quid potest hac pietate clementius, quam mortuis humanas uictimas immolare et ignem cruore hominum tamquam oleo pascere?
What could be more merciful than this piety, than to sacrifice human victims to the dead and feed the fire with human blood as with oil?
Notes and citation
Summary: Human sacrifice is no piety.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray dots): pietate... clementius → pietate clementius.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.4 (CSEL 19:430; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-4).
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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).
5.10.5CSEL 19:430
sed fortasse hoc non ipsius uitium fuerit, sed: poetae, qui insignem pietate uirum insigni scelere foedauerit. ubi est igitur, o poeta, pietas illa quam saepissime laudas? ecce pius Aeneas Sulmone creatos quattuor hic iuuenes, totidem quos educat Ufens, uiuentis rapit, inferias quos immolet umbris captiuoque rogi perfundat sanguine flammas.
But perhaps this was not his own fault but the poet's, who stained a man outstanding in piety with an outstanding crime. Where then, poet, is that piety you praise so often? "See, pious Aeneas seizes alive four young men, sons of Sulmo, and as many reared by Ufens, to sacrifice as offerings to the shades and drench the pyre's flames with captive blood."
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil himself shows 'pious' Aeneas taking victims alive.
- Virgil, Aeneid 10.517–520.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 10.517-520 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.5 (CSEL 19:430; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-5).
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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).
5.10.6CSEL 19:430–431
cur ergo dicebat eodem ipso tempore quo uinctos homines ad immolationem mittebat: equidem et uiuis concedere uellem, cum uiuos quos habebat in potestate uice pecudum iuberet occidi?
Why then did he say, at the very time he was sending bound men to be sacrificed, "Indeed I would wish to grant it to the living too," when he ordered the living men he had in his power to be killed like cattle?
Notes and citation
Summary: Aeneas's words of mercy contradict his actions.
- Virgil, Aeneid 11.111.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 11.111 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.6 (CSEL 19:430–431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-6).
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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).
5.10.7CSEL 19:431
sed haec, ut dixi, culpa non illius fuit, qui litteras fortasse non didicerat, sed tua: qui cum esses eruditus, ignorasti tamen quid esset pietas, et illut ipsum quod nefarie, quod detestabiliter fecit, pietatis esse officium credidisti; uidelicet ob hoc unum pius uocatur, quod patrem dilexit.
But this, as I said, was not the fault of him, who perhaps had not learned letters, but yours: though you were learned, you did not know what piety was, and you believed that the very thing he did wickedly and detestably was a duty of piety. Evidently he is called pious for this one reason, that he loved his father.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virgil confused piety with love of one's father.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.7 (CSEL 19:431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-7).
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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).
5.10.8CSEL 19:431
quid quod bonus Aeneas haut aspernanda precantis trucidauit? adiuratus enim per eundem patrem et spes surgentis Iuli, nequaquam pepercit furiis accensus et ira.
What of the fact that good Aeneas slaughtered men "praying for what was not to be despised"? For though adjured "by that same father and the hopes of rising Iulus," he did not spare them at all, "inflamed with fury and rage."
Notes and citation
Summary: Aeneas killed suppliants in rage.
- Virgil, Aeneid 10.524–525 and 12.946; the first phrase is from the same scenes (exact line uncertain).
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 10.524-525 (Virgil; quotation); Virgil, Aen. 12.946 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.8 (CSEL 19:431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-8).
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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).
5.10.9CSEL 19:431
quisquamne igitur hunc putet aliquid in se uirtutis habuisse, qui et furore tamquam stipula exarserit et manium patris per quem rogabatur oblitus iram frenare non quiuerit? nullo igitur modo pius, qui non tantum non repugnantes, sed etiam precantes interemit.
Would anyone think, then, that this man had any virtue in him, who flared up with fury like straw, and, forgetting the shade of his father by whom he was being entreated, could not rein in his anger? In no way, then, was he pious, who killed not only those who did not resist but even those who begged.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aeneas was not truly pious.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.9 (CSEL 19:431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-9).
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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).
5.10.10CSEL 19:431
dicet hic aliquis: quae ergo aut ubi aut qualis est pietas? nimirum aput eos qui bella nesciunt, qui concordiam cum omnibus seruant, qui amici sunt etiam inimicis, qui omnes homines pro fratribus diligunt, qui cohibere iram sciunt omnemque animi furorem tranquilla moderatione lenire.
Here someone will say: What, then, or where, or of what kind is piety? Surely among those who know nothing of wars, who keep harmony with all, who are friends even to enemies, who love all people as brothers, who know how to restrain anger and to soothe every fury of the mind with calm self-control.
Matt 5:44 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: True piety is found among peacemakers who love even enemies.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray asterisk): pietas?* → pietas?.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.10 (CSEL 19:431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-10).
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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).
5.10.11CSEL 19:431
quanta igitur caligo, quanta tenebrarum et errorum nubes hominum pectora obduxit, qui cum se maxime pios putant, tum maxime fiunt inpii? quanto enim religiosius terrenis istis simulacris inseruiunt, tanto magis scelerati aduersus nomen uerae diuinitatis exsistunt.
What darkness, then, what cloud of shadows and errors has covered human hearts, that when they think themselves most pious they become most impious? For the more devoutly they serve these earthly images, the more wicked they prove against the name of the true divinity.
Notes and citation
Summary: Devotion to idols makes people impious toward the true God.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.11 (CSEL 19:431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-11).
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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).
5.10.12CSEL 19:431–432
itaque pro merito inpietatis suae grauioribus malis saepe negantur: quorum causam quia nesciunt, fortunae culpa omnis adscribitur, et locum inuenit Epicuri philosophia nihil ad deos pertinere censentis nec gratia eos tangi nec ira moueri, quia et contemptores eorum saepe uideant beatos et cultores saepe miseros.
So, as their impiety deserves, they are often overwhelmed by heavier evils; and since they do not know the cause, all the blame is assigned to fortune, and the philosophy of Epicurus finds room, which holds that nothing concerns the gods, that they are neither touched by favor nor moved by anger, since people often see those who despise them happy and those who worship them wretched.
Notes and citation
Summary: Unexplained misfortunes lend support to Epicurus' view of indifferent gods.
Extrabiblical texts: Epicurus (Epicurus (sayings and fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.12 (CSEL 19:431–432; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-12).
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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).
5.10.13CSEL 19:432
quod eo fit quia cum religiosi uideantur et natura boni, nihil tale creduntur mereri quale saepe patiuntur. consolantur se tamen accusatione fortunae nec sentiunt quod si esset ulla, cultoribus suis numquam noceret.
This happens because, since they seem religious and good by nature, they are not believed to deserve anything like what they often suffer. Yet they console themselves by accusing fortune, and do not perceive that if there were any such thing, it would never harm its worshippers.
Notes and citation
Summary: They blame fortune for their sufferings.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: nt for fit): eo nt → eo fit.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.13 (CSEL 19:432; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-13).
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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).
5.10.14CSEL 19:432
merito igitur huiusmodi pietatem poena consequitur et offensa diuinitas scelere hominum praue religiosorum graui eos infortunio mactat: qui licet sanctis moribus uiuant in summa fide atque innocentia, tamen quia deos colunt, quorum ritus inpios ac profanos deus uerus odio habet, a iustitia et a nomine uerae pietatis alieni sunt.
Rightly, then, punishment follows piety of this kind, and the divinity, offended by the crime of wrongly religious people, strikes them with heavy misfortune. Though they live with holy morals in the highest faithfulness and innocence, yet because they worship gods whose impious and profane rites the true God hates, they are strangers to justice and to the name of true piety.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even upright idolaters are strangers to justice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.14 (CSEL 19:432; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-14).
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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).
5.10.15CSEL 19:432
nec est difficile docere cur deorum cultores boni et iusti esse non possint. quomodo enim sanguine abstinebunt qui colunt cruentos deos Martem atque Bellonam? quomodo aut parentibus parcent qui expulsorem patris sui Iouem aut natis ex se infantibus qui Saturnum? quomodo pudicitiam tuebuntur qui colunt deam nudam et adulteram et quasi aput deos prostitutam?
Nor is it hard to show why worshippers of the gods cannot be good and just. For how will they keep from blood who worship the bloody gods Mars and Bellona? Or how will they spare their parents who worship Jupiter, who drove out his father, or the infants born to them who worship Saturn? How will they guard chastity who worship a goddess naked, adulterous, and as it were prostituted among the gods?
Notes and citation
Summary: Worshippers imitate violent and immoral gods.
- The goddess is Venus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.15 (CSEL 19:432; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-15).
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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).
5.10.16CSEL 19:432–433
quomodo se rapinis et fraudibus abstinebunt qui Mercuri furta nouerunt docentis non fraudis esse decipere, sed astutiae? quomodo libidines cohercebunt qui Iouem Herculem Liberum Apollinem ceterosque uenerantur, quorum adulteria et stupra in mares et feminas non tantum doctis nota sunt, sed exprimuntur etiam in theatris atque cantantur, ut sint omnibus notiora?
How will they keep from robbery and fraud who know the thefts of Mercury, who teaches that to deceive is not fraud but cleverness? How will they curb their lusts who revere Jupiter, Hercules, Liber, Apollo, and the rest, whose adulteries and acts of sexual immorality with males and females are not only known to the learned but are even acted out and sung in the theaters, so that they are better known to all?
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods' thefts and adulteries teach vice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.16 (CSEL 19:432–433; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-16).
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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).
5.10.17CSEL 19:433
possuntne inter haec iusti esse homines, qui etiamsi natura sint boni, ab ipsis tamen diis erudiantur ad iniustitiam? ad placandum enim deum quem colas iis rebus opus est, quibus illum gaudere ac delectari scias.
Amid all this, can people be just, who, even if they are good by nature, are trained in injustice by the gods themselves? For to appease the god you worship you need the things in which you know he rejoices and delights.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods train their worshippers in injustice.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: m for in): hommes → homines.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.17 (CSEL 19:433; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-17).
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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).
5.10.18CSEL 19:433
sic fit ut uitam colentium deus pro qualitate numinis sui formet, quoniam religiosissimus est cultus imitari.
So it happens that a god shapes the life of his worshippers according to the character of his divinity, since the most devout worship is imitation.
Notes and citation
Summary: Worship is imitation, so worshippers become like their gods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 5.10.18 (CSEL 19:433; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/5-5-1/#p-5-10-18).
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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).