Divine Institutes 6.12.1–6.16.11
Latin text: CSEL 19 (Latin text: S. Brandt (CSEL 19, 1890), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886).
Divine 6, chapter 12
6.12.1CSEL 19:524
Haec est illa perfecta iustitia quae custodit humanam de qua philosophi locuntur societatem, hic diuitiarum maximus ac uerissimus fructus est, non uti opibus ad propriam unius uoluptatem, sed ad multorum salutem, non ad praesentem suum fructum, sed ad iustitiam, quae sola non interit.
This is that perfect justice which guards the human society of which the philosophers speak; this is the greatest and truest fruit of riches: to use wealth not for one person's own pleasure but for the welfare of many, not for one's own present profit but for justice, which alone does not perish.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wealth's true fruit is using it for others and for justice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.1 (CSEL 19:524; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.2CSEL 19:524–525
tenendum est igitur omni modo ut ab officio misericordiae spes recipiendi absit omnino: huius enim operis et officii merces a deo est expectanda solo. nam si ab homine expectes, iam non humanitas erit illa, sed beneficii faeneratio, nec potest uideri bene meruisse qui quod facit non alteri, sed sibi praestat. et tamen res eodem redit, ut quod alteri quisque praestiterit nihil ab eo commodi sperans, uere sibi praestet, quia mercedem capiet a deo.
So it must be held in every way that the hope of repayment be wholly absent from the duty of mercy; for the reward of this work and duty must be awaited from God alone. For if you expect it from man, it will no longer be humanity but lending a kindness at interest, and one cannot seem to have deserved well who does what he does not for another but for himself. And yet the matter comes back to the same point: what anyone does for another, hoping for no advantage from him, he truly does for himself, because he will receive his reward from God.
Luke 6:35 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercy must expect reward from God alone.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.2 (CSEL 19:524–525; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.3CSEL 19:525
item deus praecipit ut si quando cenam parauerimus, eos in conuictum adhibeamus qui reuocare non possint et uicem reddere, ut omnis actus uitae nostrae non careat misericordiae munere.
Likewise God commands that whenever we prepare a dinner, we invite to our table those who cannot invite us back and return the favor, so that every act of our life may not lack the gift of mercy.
Luke 14:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Invite those who cannot repay.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.3 (CSEL 19:525; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.4CSEL 19:525
nec tamen quisquam interdictum sibi putet aut communione cum amicis aut caritate cum proximis, sed notum nobis deus fecit quod sit uerum et iustum opus: ita nos oportet cum proximis uiuere, dummodo sciamus illut ad hominem, hoc ad deum pertinere.
Yet let no one think he is forbidden either fellowship with friends or affection for neighbors; but God has made known to us what the true and just work is. We ought to live with our neighbors in this way, provided we know that the one concerns man, the other God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Friendship is allowed, but the just work is for God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.4 (CSEL 19:525; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.5CSEL 19:525
praecipua igitur uirtus hospitalitas, quod philosophi quoque aiunt, sed eam detorquent a uera iustitia et ad commodum rapiunt. recte inquit Cicero a Theophrasto est laudata hospitalitas. est enim, ut mihi quidem uidetur, ualde decorum patere domus hominum inlustrium hospitibus inlustribus.
Hospitality, then, is a chief virtue, as the philosophers also say; but they twist it away from true justice and snatch it toward advantage. "Rightly," says Cicero, "hospitality was praised by Theophrastus. For it is, as it seems to me at least, very becoming that the homes of illustrious men be open to illustrious guests."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero praised hospitality only to the illustrious.
- Cicero, On Duties 2.64.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 2.64 (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.5 (CSEL 19:525; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.6CSEL 19:525–526
eodem modo rursus errauit quo tum, cum idoneis esse diceret largiendum. non enim iusti et sapientis uiri domus inlustribus debet patere, sed humilibus et abiectis: nam inlustres illi ac potentes nulla re possunt indigere, quos opulentia sua et munit et honorat.
He erred again in the same way as when he said one should give to the suitable. For the home of a just and wise man should be open not to the illustrious but to the lowly and outcast; for those illustrious and powerful people can lack nothing, since their wealth both protects and honors them.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just man's home should be open to the lowly.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.6 (CSEL 19:525–526; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.7CSEL 19:526
nihil autem a iusto uiro faciendum est nisi quod sit beneficum. beneficium autem si refertur, interit atque finitur: nec enim possumus id habere integrum cuius pretium nobis persolutum est.
Nothing should be done by a just man except what is beneficent. But if a benefit is repaid, it perishes and is ended; for we cannot keep intact that whose price has been paid to us.
Notes and citation
Summary: A repaid benefit ceases to be a benefit.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.7 (CSEL 19:526; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.8CSEL 19:526
in iis itaque beneficiis iustitiae ratio uersatur quae salua et incorrupta permanserint, permanent autem non aliter quam si praestentur iis hominibus qui prodesse nullo modo possunt.
So the principle of justice lies in those benefits which remain safe and uncorrupted; and they remain so only if they are given to people who can in no way be of use.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only gifts to those who cannot repay remain benefits.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.8 (CSEL 19:526; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.9CSEL 19:526
at ille in recipiendis inlustribus nihil spectauit aliut nisi utilitatem nec dissimulauit homo ingeniosus quid ex eo commodi speraret. ait enim, qui id faciat, potentem aput exteros futurum per gratiam principum, quos sibi hospitii et amicitiae iure constrinxerit.
But he, in receiving the illustrious, looked to nothing but advantage, and the clever man did not hide what profit he hoped from it. For he says that whoever does this will be powerful abroad through the favor of leading men, whom he has bound to himself by the right of hospitality and friendship.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's hospitality aimed at gaining influence.
- Cicero, On Duties 2.64.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: l for i; OCR: m for in): ille m recipiendis → ille in recipiendis; lnlustribus → inlustribus.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 2.64 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.9 (CSEL 19:526; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.10CSEL 19:526
o quam multis argumentis Ciceronis inconstantia, si id agerem, coargui posset! nec tam nostris quam suis uerbis refelleretur. idem quippe ait, ut quisque maxime ad suum commodum referat quaecumque agit, ita minime esse uirum bonum.
O by how many arguments Cicero's inconsistency could be shown, if I were doing that! And he would be refuted not so much by our words as by his own. For the same man says that the more anyone refers whatever he does to his own advantage, the less he is a good man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero contradicts himself.
- Cicero, On Duties 3 (e.g. 3.64; uncertain).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray parenthesis): argumentis (Ciceronis → argumentis Ciceronis.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.10 (CSEL 19:526; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.11CSEL 19:526
idem etiam negat simplicis et aperti hominis esse ambire, simulare aliquid et praetendere, aliut agere uideri, cum aliut agat, praestare se alteri fingere quod sibi praestet, sed malitiosi potius et astuti et fallacis et subdoli.
He also denies that it is the mark of a simple and open man to canvass, to feign and pretend something, to seem to do one thing while doing another, to pretend to be doing for another what he is doing for himself; rather it is the mark of a malicious, crafty, deceitful, and sly one.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero condemned pretense as crafty.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.61.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.61 (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.11 (CSEL 19:526; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.12CSEL 19:526–527
quomodo ergo defenderet quominus ambitiosa illa hospitalitas malitia esset? tu mihi per omnes portas circumcurses, ut aduenientes populorum atque urbium principes domum tuam inuites, ut per eos aput ciues eorum potentiam consequare, uelisque te iustum et humanum et hospitalem uideri, cum studeas utilitati tuae?
How then would he defend that ambitious hospitality from being malice? Are you to run around to all the gates to invite arriving leaders of peoples and cities to your house, so as to gain power among their citizens through them, and want to seem just, humane, and hospitable while you pursue your own advantage?
Notes and citation
Summary: Hospitality for influence is pretense.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.12 (CSEL 19:526–527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.13CSEL 19:527
uerum hoc ille non potius incaute, — quid enim minus in Ciceronem conuenit? — sed ignorantia ueri iuris prudens ac sciens in hos se laqueos induit.
But he did not do this carelessly (for what fits Cicero less?); rather, through ignorance of true law, he put himself into these snares knowingly and wittingly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero erred from ignorance of true law.
- The opening words (non potius incaute) are awkward in the digital text; translated by sense.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.13 (CSEL 19:527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.14CSEL 19:527
quod ut ei possit ignosci, testificatus est non ad ueram iustitiam, quam non teneat, praecepta se dare, sed ad umbram imaginemque iustitiae. ignoscendum est igitur umbratico et imaginario praeceptori nec ab eo ueritas exigenda est qui se nescire fateatur.
So that he might be pardoned, he testified that he was giving precepts not for true justice, which he does not hold, but for the shadow and image of justice. So we must pardon a teacher of shadows and images, and truth must not be demanded of one who admits he does not know it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero admitted he taught only a shadow of justice.
- See 6.6.25.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: u for n): uec ab eo → nec ab eo.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.14 (CSEL 19:527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.15CSEL 19:527
— captiuorum redemptio magnum atque praeclarum iustitiae munus est, quod idem ipse Tullius adprobauit. atque haec benignitas inquit etiam rei publicae est utilis, redimi e seruitute captos, locupletari tenuiores. hanc ego consuetudinem benignitatis largitioni munerum longe antepono, haec est grauium hominum atque magnorum.
The ransoming of captives is a great and splendid work of justice, which Tullius himself also approved. "And this kindness," he says, "is also useful to the commonwealth: that captives be redeemed from slavery and the poor enriched. This habit of kindness I put far above the giving of shows; this belongs to serious and great men."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero praised ransoming captives.
- Cicero, On Duties 2.63.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 2.63 (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.15 (CSEL 19:527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.16CSEL 19:527
proprium igitur iustorum opus est alere pauperes ac redimere captiuos, cum aput iniustos, si qui haec faciant, graues et magni appellentur: iis enim maxime laudis est bene facere quibus nemo sperauit esse facturos.
So it is the proper work of the just to feed the poor and ransom captives, since among the unjust, if any do these things, they are called serious and great; for the greatest praise belongs to those doing good from whom no one expected it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Feeding the poor and ransoming captives is the work of the just.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.16 (CSEL 19:527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.17CSEL 19:527–528
nam qui bonum facit uel consanguineo uel proximo uel amico, aut nullam aut certe non magnam laudem meretur, quia facere debet sitque impius ac detestabilis, nisi fecerit id quod ab eo et natura ipsa et necessitudo exigit, et si facit, non tam gloriae adsequendae quam reprehensionis uitandae gratia facit.
For one who does good to a relative, neighbor, or friend deserves no praise, or at least not much, because he ought to do it, and he would be impious and detestable if he did not do what nature itself and kinship require of him; and if he does it, he does it not so much to gain glory as to avoid reproach.
Matt 5:46 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Doing good to kin earns little praise.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.17 (CSEL 19:527–528; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.18CSEL 19:528
qui autem facit alieno et ignoto, is uero dignus est laude, quoniam ut faceret sola ductus est humanitate. ibi ergo iustitia est ubi ad bene faciendum necessitatis uinculum nullum est.
But one who does it for a stranger and an unknown person is truly worthy of praise, since he was led to do it by humanity alone. So justice is where there is no bond of obligation to do good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Doing good to strangers is true justice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.18 (CSEL 19:528; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-18).
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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).
6.12.19CSEL 19:528
hoc igitur officium benignitatis ne anteponere quidem largitioni munerum debuit: quod est conparantis et e duobus bonis id quod sit melius eligentis.
So he ought not even to have put this duty of kindness above the giving of shows, which is the act of one comparing and choosing the better of two goods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ransoming should not even be compared with shows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.19 (CSEL 19:528; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-19).
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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).
6.12.20CSEL 19:528
illa enim largitio hominum patrimonia sua in munera abicientium inanis et leuis et ab omni iustitia remotissima est. itaque ne dici quidem munera oportet in quibus nemo accipit nisi qui accipere non meretur.
For that lavishness of people throwing their inheritances away on shows is empty, frivolous, and very far from all justice. So they should not even be called gifts, in which no one receives except one who does not deserve to receive.
Notes and citation
Summary: Public shows are not true gifts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.20 (CSEL 19:528; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-20).
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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).
6.12.21CSEL 19:528
non minus magnum iustitiae opus est pupillos et uiduas destitutos et auxilio indigentes tueri atque defendere: quod adeo uniuersis diuina lex illa praescribit, quandoquidem boni quique iudices ad officium suum iudicant pertinere ut iis naturali humanitate faueant ac prodesse nitantur.
No less great a work of justice is to protect and defend orphans and widows who are destitute and in need of help. That divine law prescribes this to all, since all good judges judge that it belongs to their office to favor them out of natural humanity and to strive to help them.
Isa 1:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jas 1:27 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Protecting orphans and widows is a great work of justice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.21 (CSEL 19:528; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-21).
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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).
6.12.22CSEL 19:528
uerum haec opera proprie nostra sunt, qui legem, qui uerba ipsius dei praecipientis accepimus. nam illi sentiunt quidem natura esse iustum tueri eos qui tutela carent, sed cur ita sit non perspiciunt.
But these works are properly ours, who have received the law and the words of God himself commanding. For they feel indeed that by nature it is just to protect those who lack protection, but they do not see why it is so.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians know why the defenseless must be protected.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.22 (CSEL 19:528; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-22).
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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).
6.12.23CSEL 19:528–529
deus enim, cuius perpetua clementia est, idcirco uiduas pupillosque defendi ac foueri iubet, ne quis respectu ac miseratione pignorum suorum retardetur quominus mortem pro iustitia fideque suscipiat, sed incunctanter ac fortiter subeat, cum sciat se caros suos deo relinquere nec iis umquam praesidium defuturum.
For God, whose mercy is everlasting, commands widows and orphans to be defended and cherished so that no one may be held back by regard and pity for his dear ones from undergoing death for justice and faith, but may undergo it without hesitation and bravely, knowing that he leaves his loved ones to God and that they will never lack protection.
Notes and citation
Summary: Care for widows and orphans frees believers to face martyrdom.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.23 (CSEL 19:528–529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-23).
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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).
6.12.24CSEL 19:529
aegros quoque quibus defuerit qui adsistat, curandos fouendosque suscipere summae humanitatis et magnae operationis est: quod qui fecerit, hic uiuam hostiam deo adquiret et quod alteri dederit ad tempus, ipse a deo accipiet in aeternum.
To undertake the care and nursing of the sick who have no one to stand by them is also a mark of the highest humanity and of great good work. Whoever does this will gain a living sacrifice for God, and what he has given to another for a time he himself will receive from God forever.
Matt 25:36 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Caring for the sick is a living sacrifice to God.
- "Good work" renders operatio, used of charitable works.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.24 (CSEL 19:529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-24).
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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).
6.12.25CSEL 19:529
ultimum illud et maximum pietatis officium est peregrinorum et pauperum sepultura: quod illi uirtutis iustitiaeque doctores prorsus non attigerunt. nec enim poterant id uidere qui utilitate omnia officia metiebantur.
That last and greatest duty of piety is the burial of strangers and the poor; which those teachers of virtue and justice did not touch at all. Nor could they see it, since they measured all duties by advantage.
Notes and citation
Summary: Burying strangers and the poor is the last duty of piety.
- Compare Tobit 1:17–18.
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 1:17-18 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; echo)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.25 (CSEL 19:529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.26CSEL 19:529
in ceteris enim quae supra dicta sunt quamuis uerum limitem non tenuerint, tamen quoniam commodi aliquid in iis deprehenderunt, quasi odore quodam ueritatis retenti propius aberrarunt, hoc autem, quia nihil uidere in eo commodi poterant, reliquerunt.
For in the other things mentioned above, though they did not hold the true limit, yet since they found some advantage in them, held back as it were by some scent of truth, they strayed less far; but this, because they could see no advantage in it, they left aside.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers ignored burial because it brought no advantage.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.26 (CSEL 19:529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-26).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.27CSEL 19:529
quin etiam non defuerunt qui superuacaneam facerent sepulturam nihilque esse dicerent mali iacere inhumatum et abiectum. quorum inpiam sapientiam cum omne humanum genus respuit, tum diuinae uoces, quae id fieri iubent.
Indeed, there were some who made burial superfluous and said it is no evil to lie unburied and cast out. Their impious wisdom is rejected both by the whole human race and by the divine voices, which command that it be done.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some philosophers held burial unnecessary.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.27 (CSEL 19:529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-27).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.28CSEL 19:529
uerum illi non audent dicere id non esse faciendum, sed si forte non fiat, nihil esse incommodi. itaque in ea re non tam praecipientium quam consolantium funguntur officio, ut si forte id sapienti euenerit, ne se ob hoc miserum putet.
But they do not dare to say it should not be done, only that if by chance it is not done, there is no harm. So in this matter they perform the office not so much of those who instruct as of those who console, so that if it happens to the wise man, he will not think himself wretched on that account.
Notes and citation
Summary: They only console those left unburied.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.28 (CSEL 19:529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-28).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.29CSEL 19:529–530
nos autem non quid sapienti ferendum sit dicimus, sed quid facere ipse debeat. itaque non quaerimus nunc utrumne tota sepeliendi ratio sit utilis necne, sed haec etiamsi sit inanis, ut illi existimant, tamen faciendum est uel ob hoc solum, quod aput homines bene et humane fieri uidetur; animus enim quaeritur et propositum ponderatur.
But we speak not of what the wise man must bear, but of what he himself ought to do. So we are not asking now whether the whole practice of burial is useful or not; rather, even if it is empty, as they think, it must still be done, if only because among people it is seen as done well and humanely; for it is the intention that is sought and the purpose that is weighed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Burial must be done because it is humane.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.29 (CSEL 19:529–530; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-29).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.30CSEL 19:530
non ergo patiemur figuram et figmentum dei feris ac uolucribus in praedam iacere, sed reddemus id terrae, unde ortum est, et quamuis in homine ignoto necessariorum munus inplebimus, in quorum locum, quia desunt, succedet humanitas, et ubicumque homo desiderabitur, ibi exigi officium nostrum putabimus.
So we will not allow the image and handiwork of God to lie as prey for beasts and birds, but will return it to the earth from which it came; and even for an unknown person we will fulfill the duty of the relatives, in whose place, since they are absent, humanity will step in; and wherever a person is missed, there we will consider our duty required.
Gen 3:19 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians bury the unknown dead as God's image.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.30 (CSEL 19:530; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-30).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.31CSEL 19:530
in quo autem magis iustitiae ratio consistit quam in eo, ut quod praestamus nostris per adfectum, praestemus alienis per humanitatem? quae est multo certior iustiorque, cum iam non homini praestatur, qui nihil sentit, sed deo soli, cui carissimum sacrificium est opus iustum.
In what does the principle of justice consist more than in doing for strangers out of humanity what we do for our own out of affection? This is much surer and juster, since it is then done not for a man, who feels nothing, but for God alone, to whom a just work is the dearest sacrifice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Burying strangers is a sacrifice to God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.31 (CSEL 19:530; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-31).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.32CSEL 19:530
dicet aliquis fortasse: si haec omnia fecero, nihil habebo. quid enim? si magnus hominum numerus egebit algebit capietur morietur, ut haec facientem uel uno die patrimonio exui sit necesse, perdamne rem familiarem meo aut maiorum labore quaesitam, ut iam ipsi mihi aliena misericordia uiuendum sit? quid?
Someone will perhaps say: "If I do all these things, I will have nothing. For what if a great number of people are in need, cold, captured, or dying, so that one doing these things would have to be stripped of his inheritance even in one day? Should I lose the property acquired by my own or my ancestors' labor, so that I myself must then live on others' mercy?" What?
Notes and citation
Summary: Objection: such giving would impoverish me.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.32 (CSEL 19:530; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-32).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.33CSEL 19:530–531
tu tam pusillo animo paupertatem times, quam etiam uestri philosophi laudant nihilque hac tutius, nihil tranquillius esse testantur? hoc quod times sollicitudinum portus est.
Are you so small-minded as to fear poverty, which even your philosophers praise, testifying that nothing is safer, nothing more tranquil? What you fear is a harbor from anxieties.
Notes and citation
Summary: Poverty, praised by philosophers, is a harbor from care.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.33 (CSEL 19:530–531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-33).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.34CSEL 19:531
an ignoras quot periculis, quot casibus cum his malis opibus subiaceas? quae tecum bene agent, si sine tuo cruore transierint. tu uero praeda onustus incedis et spolia geris, quae inritent animos etiam tuorum.
Or do you not know to how many dangers and chances you are exposed with this evil wealth? It will treat you well if it passes away without your blood. You walk loaded with booty and carry spoils that provoke the minds even of your own household.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wealth exposes its owner to danger.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.34 (CSEL 19:531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-34).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.35CSEL 19:531
quid ergo dubitas bene collocare id quod tibi forsan eripiet aut unum latrocinium aut existens repente proscriptio aut hostilis aliqua direptio? quid uerere fluxum et fragile bonum facere sempiternum aut thesauros tuos custodi deo credere, ubi non furem praedonemque timeas, non rubiginem, non tyrannum? qui aput deum diues est, pauper esse numquam potest.
Why then do you hesitate to invest well what one robbery, or a sudden proscription, or some enemy plundering may perhaps snatch from you? Why do you fear to make a fleeting and fragile good everlasting, or to entrust your treasures to God as guardian, where you need fear no thief or robber, no rust, no tyrant? Whoever is rich with God can never be poor.
Matt 6:20 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Entrust wealth to God, where no thief or rust can reach it.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.35 (CSEL 19:531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-35).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.36CSEL 19:531
si iustitiam tanti putas, sequere abiectis oneribus quae te premunt, libera te ipse conpedibus et catenis, ut expeditus ad deum curras. magni et excelsi animi est despicere et calcare mortalia.
If you value justice so highly, follow it, throwing off the burdens that weigh you down; free yourself from fetters and chains, so that you may run to God unencumbered. It is the mark of a great and lofty soul to look down on mortal things and trample them.
Heb 12:1 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Throw off wealth to run freely to God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.36 (CSEL 19:531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-36).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.37CSEL 19:531
sed si hanc uirtutem non capis, ut diuitias tuas in aram dei conferas, ut fragilibus tibi conpares firmiora, liberabo te metu. omnia ista praecepta non tibi soli dantur, sed omni populo, qui mente coniunctus est et cohaeret sicut homo unus.
But if you do not have the virtue to bring your riches to God's altar, so as to gain for yourself firmer things in place of fragile ones, I will free you from fear. All these precepts are given not to you alone but to the whole people, which is joined in mind and holds together like one man.
Acts 4:32 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: These precepts are for the whole church, united as one.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.37 (CSEL 19:531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-37).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.38CSEL 19:531
si solus magnis operibus non sufficis, pro uirili parte operare usam, sic tamen ut quantum diuitiis inter ceteros, tantum opere praecellas.
If you alone are not sufficient for great works, practice justice according to your means, yet so that you excel others in good works as much as you excel them in riches.
Notes and citation
Summary: Do your share, in proportion to your wealth.
- The object of "practice" is garbled in the digital text (usam); it is translated as "justice" (iustitiam), which the sense requires (uncertain).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.38 (CSEL 19:531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-38).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.39CSEL 19:531–532
neque nunc suaderi tibi putes ut rem familiarem tuam minuas uel exhaurias, sed quae in superuacua fueras inpensurus, ad meliora conuertas. unde bestias emis, hinc captos redime, unde feras pascis, hinc pauperes ale, unde homines ad gladium comparas, hinc innocentes mortuos sepeli.
And do not think you are now being urged to lessen or drain your property, but to turn to better uses what you were going to spend on superfluous things. With what you buy beasts, ransom captives; with what you feed wild animals, feed the poor; with what you procure men for the sword, bury the innocent dead.
Notes and citation
Summary: Redirect spending on games to ransom, food, and burial.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.39 (CSEL 19:531–532; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-39).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.40CSEL 19:532
quid prodest perditae nequitiae bestiarios facere locupletes et instruere ad flagitia? transfer ad magnum sacrificium male peritura, ut pro his ueris muneribus habeas a deo munus aeternum.
What good is it to make beast-fighters of lost wickedness rich and equip them for outrages? Transfer what will perish badly to the great sacrifice, so that in return for these true gifts you may have an eternal gift from God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Turn wasteful spending into gifts to God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.40 (CSEL 19:532; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-40).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.12.41CSEL 19:532
magna est misericordiae merces, cui deus pollicetur peccata se omnia remissurum. si audieris inquit preces supplicis tui, et ego audiam tuas: si misertus laborantium fueris, et ego in tuo labore miserebor. si autem non respexeris nec adiuueris, et ego animum tuum contra te geram tuisque te legibus iudicabo.
Great is the reward of mercy, to which God promises that he will forgive all sins. "If you hear," he says, "the prayers of your suppliant, I too will hear yours; if you have pity on those who labor, I too will have pity in your labor. But if you do not regard or help them, I too will set my mind against you and judge you by your own laws."
Isa 58:9 (allusion, low confidence) · Matt 5:7 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 7:2 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God forgives the merciful and judges the unmerciful by their own measure.
- The quoted saying is not an exact biblical text (source uncertain); compare Isa 58:7–9; Prov 21:13; Matt 5:7; 7:2.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.12.41 (CSEL 19:532; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-12-41).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 13
6.13.1CSEL 19:532
Quotiens igitur rogaris, temptari te a deo crede an sis dignus audiri. circumspice conscientiam tuam et quantum potes, medere uulneribus. nec tamen quia peccata largitione tolluntur, dari tibi licentiam peccandi putes: abolentur enim, si ideo largiare, quia peccaueris.
So whenever you are asked, believe that you are being tested by God as to whether you are worthy to be heard. Examine your conscience and, as far as you can, heal its wounds. Yet do not think, because sins are taken away by giving, that you are given license to sin: for they are wiped out if you give because you have sinned.
Notes and citation
Summary: Almsgiving removes sins but is no license to sin.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.1 (CSEL 19:532; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.2CSEL 19:532
nam si fiducia largiendi pecces, non abolentur. deus enim purgari hominem a peccatis maxime cupit ideoque agi paenitentiam iubet: agere autem paenitentiam nihil aliut est quam profiteri et adfirmare se ulterius non peccaturum.
For if you sin trusting in giving, they are not wiped out. For God greatly desires that man be cleansed from sins, and therefore commands repentance; and to repent is nothing other than to profess and affirm that one will sin no further.
Notes and citation
Summary: Repentance means resolving to sin no more.
- "Repentance" renders paenitentia.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.2 (CSEL 19:532; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.3CSEL 19:532–533
ignoscitur itaque iis qui ad peccatum inprudenter incauteque labuntur, ueniam non habet qui sciens peccat. nec tamen si aliquis purificatus fuerit ab omni labe peccati, temperandum sibi ab opere largitionis existimet, quia non habeat peccata quae deleat.
So pardon is given to those who slip into sin unwisely and unwarily; the one who sins knowingly has no pardon. Yet if someone has been purified from every stain of sin, let him not think he should hold back from the work of giving because he has no sins to blot out.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the purified should keep giving.
- "Purified" may refer to baptism.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.3 (CSEL 19:532–533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.4CSEL 19:533
immo uero tum magis iustitiam debet operari, cum factus est iustus, ut quod ante in medellam uulnerum fecerat, postmodum faciat in laudem gloriamque uirtutis.
Rather, he ought to work justice all the more once he has been made just, so that what he formerly did to heal his wounds he may afterward do for the praise and glory of virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: The justified should do good for the glory of virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.4 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.5CSEL 19:533
eo accedit quod nemo esse sine delicto potest, quamdiu indumento carnis oneratus est. cuius infirmitas triplici modo subiacet dominio peccati, factis dictis cogitatione: per hos gradus ad summum columen iustitia procedit.
Besides, no one can be without fault as long as he is burdened with the garment of the flesh. Its weakness is subject to the dominion of sin in three ways: in deeds, words, and thought. Through these steps justice advances to its highest summit.
1 John 1:8 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sin affects deeds, words, and thoughts.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.5 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.6CSEL 19:533
primus est uirtutis gradus malis operibus abstinere, secundus etiam malis uerbis, tertius etiam cogitatione rerum malarum.
The first step of virtue is to abstain from evil deeds; the second, also from evil words; the third, also from thinking of evil things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Three steps of virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.6 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.7CSEL 19:533
qui primum gradum ascenderit, satis iustus est, qui secundum, iam perfectae uirtutis, siquidem neque factis neque sermone delinquat, qui tertium, is uero similitudinem dei adsecutus uidetur.
Whoever has climbed the first step is just enough; whoever the second, is now of perfect virtue, since he offends neither in deeds nor in speech; whoever the third seems truly to have attained likeness to God.
Jas 3:2 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The third step brings likeness to God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.7 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.8CSEL 19:533
est enim paene supra humanum modum ne in cogitationem quidem admittere quod sit uel factu malum uel inprobum dictu.
For it is almost beyond human measure not even to admit into thought what is evil to do or wicked to say.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pure thought is almost beyond human power.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.8 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.9CSEL 19:533
itaque etiam iusti homines, qui frenare se possunt ab omni opere iniusto, nonnumquam tamen ipsa fragilitate uincuntur, ut uel in ira malum dicant uel in aspectu rerum delectabilium cogitatione tacita concupiscant.
So even just people, who can restrain themselves from every unjust act, are sometimes overcome by frailty itself, so that they either speak evil in anger or at the sight of delightful things covet in silent thought.
Matt 5:28 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the just sin by word and thought.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.9 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.10CSEL 19:533
quodsi mortalis condicio non patitur esse hominem ab omni macula purum, debent ergo largitione perpetua peccata carnis aboleri.
If, then, the mortal condition does not allow a person to be pure from every stain, the sins of the flesh ought to be wiped out by constant giving.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constant giving wipes out sins of the flesh.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 3:30 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; echo)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.10 (CSEL 19:533; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.11CSEL 19:533–534
unum est enim sapientis et iusti et uitalis uiri opus diuitias suas in sola iustitia conlocare: qua profecto qui eget, licet ille Croesum aut Crassum diuitiis superet, hic pauper, hic nudus, hic mendicus putandus est.
For the one work of a wise, just, and living man is to place his riches in justice alone; and whoever lacks it, though he surpass Croesus or Crassus in riches, must be thought poor, naked, and a beggar.
Notes and citation
Summary: Riches placed in justice are the only true wealth.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.11 (CSEL 19:533–534; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.12CSEL 19:534
danda igitur opera ut indumento iustitiae pietatisque uelemur, quo nos exuat nemo, quod nobis sempiternum praebeat ornatum.
So we must take care to be clothed with the garment of justice and piety, which no one can strip from us and which provides us everlasting adornment.
Isa 61:10 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Put on the garment of justice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.12 (CSEL 19:534; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.13CSEL 19:534
nam si deorum cultores simulacra insensibilia excolunt et quidquid pretiosi habent in ea conferunt, quibus nec uti possunt nec gratias agere, quod acceperint, quanto iustius est et uerius uiuentia dei simulacra excolere, ut promereare uiuentem?
For if the worshippers of the gods adorn senseless images and lavish on them whatever precious things they have, though these can neither use nor give thanks for what they receive, how much more just and true is it to adorn the living images of God, so as to win the favor of the living God?
Notes and citation
Summary: Adorn God's living images, the poor, rather than idols.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.13 (CSEL 19:534; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.13.14CSEL 19:534
quae sicut usui habent quidquid acceperint et gratias agunt, ita deus, in cuius conspectu bonum feceris, et probabit et mercedem pietatis exsoluet.
Just as these use whatever they have received and give thanks, so God, in whose sight you have done good, will approve it and pay the reward of piety.
Notes and citation
Summary: God rewards good done to his images.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.13.14 (CSEL 19:534; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-13-14).
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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 6, chapter 14
6.14.1CSEL 19:534
Si ergo in homine praeclarum et excellens est bonum misericordia idque diuinis testimoniis et bonorum malorumque consensu optimum iudicatur, adparet philosophos longe afuisse ab humano bono, qui neque praeceperunt eiusmodi quicquam neque fecerunt, sed uirtutem quae in homine propemodum singularis est pro uitio semper habuerunt.
If, then, mercy is an illustrious and excellent good in man, and is judged the best by divine testimonies and by the agreement of good and bad alike, it is clear that the philosophers were far from the human good, since they neither taught nor did anything of this kind, but always held as a vice the virtue that is almost unique to man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers treated mercy, a chief human good, as a vice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.1 (CSEL 19:534; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.2CSEL 19:534
libet hic interponere unum de philosophia locum, ut illorum plenius coarguamus errores qui misericordiam cupiditatem metum morbos animi appellant.
I would like to insert here one topic from philosophy, so as to refute more fully the errors of those who call mercy, desire, and fear diseases of the soul.
Notes and citation
Summary: He turns to the Stoic view of the passions.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.2 (CSEL 19:534; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.3CSEL 19:534–535
conantur illi quidem uirtutes a uitiis distinguere: quod est sane facillimum. quis enim non possit liberalem a prodigo separare, ut illi faciunt, aut parcum a sordido aut quietum ab inerti aut cautum a timido, quod haec quae sunt bona fines suos habent? quos si excesserint, in uitia labuntur, ita ut constantia nisi pro ueritate suscepta sit, fit inpudentia.
They try indeed to distinguish virtues from vices, which is very easy. For who cannot separate the generous from the prodigal, as they do, or the thrifty from the stingy, the calm from the sluggish, the cautious from the timid, since these good things have their limits? If they exceed them, they slip into vices, so that constancy, unless taken up for truth, becomes shamelessness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtues become vices when they exceed their limits.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.3 (CSEL 19:534–535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.4CSEL 19:535
item fortitudo si nulla necessitate cogente aut non pro causa honesta certum periculum subierit, in temeritatem conuertitur. libertas quoque si alios insectetur potius quam insectantibus resistat, contumacia est. seueritas etiam nisi se intra congruentes nocentium poenas coerceat, fit saeua crudelitas.
Likewise courage, if it undergoes certain danger with no necessity compelling or not for an honorable cause, turns into rashness. Freedom of speech too, if it attacks others rather than resisting attackers, is insolence. Severity also, unless it confines itself within penalties fitting the guilty, becomes savage cruelty.
Notes and citation
Summary: Courage, frankness, and severity each have limits.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.4 (CSEL 19:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.5CSEL 19:535
itaque dicunt eos qui mali uideantur non sua sponte peccare nec mala potius eligere, sed bonorum specie lapsos incidere in mala, dum bonorum ac malorum discrimen ignorant.
So they say that those who seem bad do not sin of their own accord or choose evils in preference, but, misled by the appearance of goods, fall into evils, since they do not know the difference between good and evil.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers say people sin from ignorance.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.5 (CSEL 19:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.6CSEL 19:535
haec quidem falsa non sunt, sed ad corpus cuncta referuntur. nam parcum esse aut constantem aut cautum aut quietum aut fortem aut seuerum uirtutes sunt quidem, sed huius temporariae uitae. nos autem, qui hanc uitam contemnimus, alias nobis uirtutes propositas habemus, de quibus philosophi ne suspicari quidem ulla ratione potuerunt.
These things are not false, but all are referred to the body. For to be thrifty, constant, cautious, calm, brave, or severe are indeed virtues, but of this temporary life. But we, who despise this life, have other virtues set before us, of which the philosophers could not even suspect anything by any reasoning.
Notes and citation
Summary: Their virtues serve only this temporary life.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.6 (CSEL 19:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.7CSEL 19:535
itaque et uirtutes quasdam pro uitiis et uitia quaedam pro uirtutibus habuerunt. nam Stoici adfectus omnes quorum inpulsu animus commouetur ex homine tollunt, cupiditatem laetitiam metum maestitiam, quorum duo priora ex bonis sint aut futuris aut praesentibus, posteriora ex malis.
So they held some virtues to be vices and some vices to be virtues. For the Stoics remove from man all the passions by whose impulse the soul is moved: desire, joy, fear, and sorrow, the first two of which arise from goods either future or present, the latter from evils.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics would remove the four passions.
- Compare Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 4.11–14.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.7 (CSEL 19:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.8CSEL 19:535–536
eodem modo haec quattuor morbos, ut dixi, uocant non tam natura insitos quam praua opinione susceptos et idcirco eos censent extirpari posse radicitus, si bonorum malorumque opinio falsa tollatur.
In the same way they call these four diseases, as I said, not so much implanted by nature as taken up through wrong opinion; and so they think they can be torn out by the roots if the false opinion of goods and evils is removed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Stoics call the passions diseases born of false opinion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.8 (CSEL 19:535–536; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.9CSEL 19:536
si enim nihil censeat sapiens bonum, nihil malum, nec cupiditate ardescet nec laetitia gestiet nec metu terrebitur nec aegritudine contrahetur.
For if the wise man thinks nothing good and nothing bad, he will neither burn with desire nor leap with joy nor be terrified by fear nor shrink with grief.
Notes and citation
Summary: They think the wise man can be free of all passion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.9 (CSEL 19:536; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.14.10CSEL 19:536
mox uidebimus an efficiant quod uelint aut quid efficiant, interim propositum adrogans ac paene furios(or)um, qui se putent mederi et eniti posse contra uim rationemque naturae.
We shall soon see whether they achieve what they wish, or what they achieve; meanwhile their aim is arrogant and almost the aim of madmen, who think they can cure and strive against the force and order of nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoic aim is arrogant and against nature.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): fnrios → furios.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.14.10 (CSEL 19:536; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-14-10).
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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 6, chapter 15
6.15.1CSEL 19:536
Haec enim naturalia esse, non uoluntaria, omnium uiuentium ratio demonstrat, quae isdem omnibus quatitur adfectibus.
For that these are natural, not voluntary, is shown by the nature of all living things, which are shaken by all the same passions.
Notes and citation
Summary: The passions are natural.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.1 (CSEL 19:536; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.2CSEL 19:536
Peripatetici ergo rectius, qui haec omnia detrahi negant posse, quia nobiscum simul nata sint, et conantur ostendere quam prouidenter et quam necessario deus siue natura — sic enim dicunt — his nos armarit adfectibus: quos tamen, quia uitiosi plerumque fiunt, si nimii sint, posse ab homine adhibito modo salubriter temperari, ut tantum homini quantum naturae satis est relinquatur.
So the Peripatetics speak more rightly, who deny that all these can be removed, since they are born with us, and try to show how providently and how necessarily God, or nature (for so they say), has armed us with these passions; which, however, since they generally become vicious if excessive, can be healthily tempered by man by applying measure, so that only as much is left to man as is enough for nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Peripatetics say the passions are natural and should be moderated.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.2 (CSEL 19:536; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.3CSEL 19:536–537
non insipiens disputatio, si, ut dixi, non ad hanc uitam omnia referrentur. Stoici ergo furiosi, qui ea non temperant, sed abscidunt rebusque natura insitis castrare hominem quodammodo uolunt. quod tale est, quale si uelint aut metum detrahere ceruis aut uenenum anguibus aut iram feris aut placiditatem pecudibus. nam quae singula mutis animalibus data sunt, ea uero uniuersa homini simul.
Not a foolish argument, if, as I said, everything were not referred to this life. The Stoics, then, are mad, who do not temper them but cut them off and want, in a way, to castrate man of things implanted by nature. This is as if they wished to take fear from deer, venom from snakes, anger from wild beasts, or gentleness from cattle. For what has been given singly to dumb animals has all been given together to man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Removing the passions would mutilate human nature.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.3 (CSEL 19:536–537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.4CSEL 19:537
quodsi, ut medici adfirmant, laetitiae adfectus in splene est, irae in felle, libidinis in iecore, timoris in corde, facilius est interficere animal ipsum quam ex corpore aliquid euellere: quod est animantis naturam uelle mutare.
And if, as physicians assert, the passion of joy is in the spleen, of anger in the gall, of lust in the liver, of fear in the heart, it is easier to kill the animal itself than to tear something out of its body; which is to want to change the nature of a living being.
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions are rooted in the body's organs.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.4 (CSEL 19:537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.5CSEL 19:537
sed homines prudentes non intellegunt, cum uitia ex homine tollunt, etiam uirtutem se tollere, cui soli locum faciunt. nam si uirtus est in medio irae inpetu se ipsum cohibere ac reprimere, quod negare non possunt, caret ergo uirtute quisque ira caret.
But these prudent men do not understand that when they remove vices from man, they also remove virtue, for which alone they make room. For if virtue is to check and restrain oneself amid the rush of anger, which they cannot deny, then whoever lacks anger lacks virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: Without passions there is no virtue to restrain them.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.5 (CSEL 19:537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.6CSEL 19:537
si uirtus est libidinem corporis continere, uirtute careat necesse est qui libidinem quam temperet non habet. si uirtus est cupiditatem ab alieni adpetitione frenare, nullam certe uirtutem potest habere qui caret eo ad quod cohibendum uirtutis usus adhibetur.
If virtue is to restrain the lust of the body, one who has no lust to temper must lack virtue. If virtue is to curb desire from seeking what belongs to another, surely one who lacks that which the use of virtue is applied to restrain can have no virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue needs something to restrain.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.6 (CSEL 19:537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.7CSEL 19:537
ubi ergo uitia non sunt, ne uirtuti quidem locus est, sicut ne uictoriae quidem, ubi aduersarius nullus est. ita fit ut bonum sine malo esse in hac uita non possit.
So where there are no vices, there is no room even for virtue, just as there is none for victory where there is no adversary. So it comes about that in this life good cannot exist without evil.
Notes and citation
Summary: No virtue without vice, as no victory without an enemy.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.7 (CSEL 19:537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.8CSEL 19:537
adfectus igitur quasi ubertas est naturalis animorum. nam sicut in senes ager qui est natura fecundus exuberat, sic animus incultus uitiis sua sponte inualescentibus uelut spinis obducitur. sed cum uerus cultor accesserit, statim cedentibus uitiis fruges uirtutis oriuntur.
So passion is, as it were, the natural fertility of souls. For just as a field that is fertile by nature runs riot when left untended, so the uncultivated soul is overgrown with vices springing up of their own accord like thorns. But when a true cultivator comes, at once the vices give way and the crops of virtue spring up.
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions are like fertile soil that needs cultivation.
- The first clause is garbled in the digital text (in senes ager); translated by sense as "a field left untended" (uncertain).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.8 (CSEL 19:537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.9CSEL 19:537–538
deus itaque cum hominem primum fingeret, mirabili prouidentia ingenerauit ei prius istas animi commotiones, ut posset capere uirtutem sicut terra culturam, posuitque materiam uitiorum in adfectibus, uirtutis in uitiis. quae profecto aut nulla erit aut in usu esse non poterit, si desint ea per quae uis eius aut apparet aut constat.
So God, when he first formed man, with wonderful providence implanted in him beforehand these movements of the soul, so that he could take on virtue as the earth takes on cultivation; and he placed the material of vices in the passions and the material of virtue in the vices. Virtue would surely be nothing, or could not be exercised, if those things were absent through which its force either appears or subsists.
Notes and citation
Summary: God implanted passions so that virtue could grow.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.9 (CSEL 19:537–538; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.10CSEL 19:538
uideamus nunc, idem illi qui uitia penitus excidunt quid effecerint. quattuor illos adfectus, quos ex opinione bonorum malorumque nasci putant, quibus euulsis sanandum esse animum sapientis existimant, quoniam intellegunt et natura insitos esse et sine iis nihil moueri, nihil agi posse, alia quaedam in eorum locum uicemque subponunt. pro cupiditate substituunt uoluntatem, quasi uero non multo sit praestabilius bonum cupere quam [malum] uelle; item pro laetitia gaudium, pro metu cautionem.
Let us now see what those same people who cut out vices entirely have achieved. Those four passions, which they think arise from opinion about goods and evils and by whose removal they think the wise man's soul must be healed, since they understand that they are implanted by nature and that without them nothing can be moved or done, they replace with certain others in their place and stead. For desire they substitute will, as if it were not far better to desire good than to will; likewise joy for gladness, caution for fear.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics merely renamed the passions.
- The editor deletes [malum] ("evil") before "to will." In Stoic terms, cupiditas becomes voluntas, laetitia becomes gaudium, metus becomes cautio.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): nihil moneri → nihil moueri.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.10 (CSEL 19:538; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.11CSEL 19:538
at in illo quarto inmutandi nominis eos ratio deficit. itaque aegritudinem penitus id est maestitiam doloremque animi sustulerunt: quod fieri nequaquam potest.
But for that fourth one their method of changing the name failed them. So they removed grief entirely, that is, sorrow and pain of mind, which can in no way be done.
Notes and citation
Summary: They tried to abolish grief entirely.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.11 (CSEL 19:538; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.12CSEL 19:538
quis enim possit non dolere, si patriam aut pestilentia exhauserit aut hostis euerterit aut tyrannus oppresserit? potest aliquis non dolere, si sublatam uiderit libertatem, si proximos, si amicos, si bonos uiros aut exterminatos aut crudelissime trucidatos? nisi cuius mens ita obstipuerit, ut sit ei sensus omnis ereptus.
For who could fail to grieve if plague had emptied his country, or an enemy overthrown it, or a tyrant oppressed it? Can anyone not grieve if he sees liberty taken away, or his neighbors, friends, or good men banished or most cruelly slaughtered? Only one whose mind is so stunned that all feeling has been torn from him.
Notes and citation
Summary: Grief at great calamities is unavoidable.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.12 (CSEL 19:538; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.13CSEL 19:538–539
quare aut omnia tollere debuerunt aut inplenda fuerat curta haec ac debilis disputatio, id est etiam pro aegritudine aliquid reponendum, quoniam superioribus ita ordinatis hoc consequens erat. ut enim praesentibus laetamur bonis, sic malis angimur ac dolemus.
So they should either have removed them all, or this truncated and feeble argument should have been completed, that is, something should also have been put in place of grief, since that followed from the arrangement of the others. For as we rejoice in present goods, so we are distressed and grieve at evils.
Notes and citation
Summary: Their scheme is incomplete.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.13 (CSEL 19:538–539; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.14CSEL 19:539
si ergo laetitiae, quoniam uitiosam putabant, nomen aliut indiderunt, sic aegritudini, quoniam et ipsam uitiosam putant, aliut uocabulum tribui congruebat. unde apparet non illis rem defuisse, sed uerbum: cuius indigentia eum totum adfectum qui est uel maximus, contra quam natura pateretur auferre uoluerunt.
If, then, they gave joy another name because they thought it vicious, it would have been consistent to give grief, which they also think vicious, another word. From this it is clear that they lacked not the thing but the word, and through lack of it they wanted to remove, contrary to what nature allows, that whole passion, which is perhaps the greatest.
Notes and citation
Summary: They lacked only a word, so they removed grief altogether.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.14 (CSEL 19:539; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.15CSEL 19:539
nam illas nominum commutationes poteram coarguere pluribus et ostendere aut sermonis ornandi augendaeque copiae gratia multa nomina isdem rebus inposita aut certe non multum inter se illa distare. nam et cupiditas a uoluntate incipit et cautio a metu oritur et laetitia nihil aliut est quam professum gaudium. sed putemus, ut ipsi uolunt, esse diuersa.
I could refute those changes of names at more length and show either that many names are given to the same things for the sake of adorning speech and enlarging vocabulary, or at least that they do not differ much from one another. For desire begins from will, caution arises from fear, and joy is nothing other than gladness openly shown. But let us suppose, as they wish, that they are different.
Notes and citation
Summary: The renamed passions hardly differ from the originals.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.15 (CSEL 19:539; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.16CSEL 19:539
nempe igitur cupiditatem esse dicent perseuerantem ac perpetuam uoluntatem, laetitiam uero insolenter se efferens gaudium, metum autem nimiam et excedentem modum cautionem. ita fit ut ea quae tollenda esse censent non tollant, sed temperent, siquidem nomina tantummodo immutant, res ipsae manent.
Surely, then, they will say that desire is persistent and perpetual will, joy is gladness exalting itself immoderately, and fear is excessive caution beyond measure. So it comes about that they do not remove what they think must be removed but temper it, since they only change names and the things themselves remain.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics end up moderating, not removing, the passions.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.16 (CSEL 19:539; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.15.17CSEL 19:539
eo igitur inprudentes reuoluuntur quo Peripatetici ratione perueniunt, ut uitia quoniam tolli non possunt, medie temperanda sint. errant ergo, quia non efficiunt quod uolunt, et longo asperoque circuitu in eandem uiam redeunt.
So without realizing it they roll back to where the Peripatetics arrive by reason: that vices, since they cannot be removed, must be moderately tempered. So they err, because they do not achieve what they want, and by a long and rough detour they return to the same road.
Notes and citation
Summary: Stoics end where Peripatetics begin.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.15.17 (CSEL 19:539; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-15-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 16
6.16.1CSEL 19:539–540
At ego ne Peripateticos quidem accessisse ad ueritatem puto, qui uitia esse concedunt, sed ea mediocriter temperant. carendum est enim uitiis etiam mediocribus.
But I do not think that even the Peripatetics have come near the truth, since they grant that there are vices but temper them moderately. For one must be free even of moderate vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even moderate vices must be avoided.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.1 (CSEL 19:539–540; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.2CSEL 19:540
quin potius efficiendum fuit primum, ne uitia essent: nec enim quicquam uitiosum nasci potest, sed uitia fieri, si male utamur adfectibus, uirtutes, si bene;
Rather, it should first have been brought about that there be no vices at all; for nothing vicious can be born in us, but vices arise if we use the passions badly, and virtues if well;
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions become vices or virtues by their use.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.2 (CSEL 19:540; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.3CSEL 19:540
deinde monstrandum, non ipsos adfectus, sed eorum causas esse moderandas. non est inquiunt nimia laetitia gestiendum, sed modice ac temperate. hoc uero tale est, quale si dicerent non esse currendum concitate, sed gradiendum quiete. at potest et qui graditur errare et qui currit rectam uiam tenere.
then it should have been shown that not the passions themselves but their causes must be governed. "One must not exult," they say, "with excessive joy, but moderately and temperately." This is as if they said one must not run fast but walk quietly. But one who walks can go astray, and one who runs can keep to the right road.
Notes and citation
Summary: The direction of a passion matters, not its degree.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: r for f): adrectus → adfectus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.3 (CSEL 19:540; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.4CSEL 19:540
quid? si ostendo esse aliquid ubi non tantum modicum, sed uel punctum gaudere uitiosum sit, et aliut contra in quo uel exultare laetitia minime criminosum, quid tandem nobis ista mediocritas proderit?
What if I show that there is a case where rejoicing not only moderately but even for an instant is vicious, and another, on the contrary, in which even to leap with joy is not at all blameworthy? What good will that moderation do us then?
Notes and citation
Summary: Some joy is wrong even in small measure, some right in great.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.4 (CSEL 19:540; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.5CSEL 19:540
quaero utrumne sapienti laetandum putent, si quid inimico suo mali uideat accidere, aut utrumne laetitiam frenare debeat, si uictis hostibus aut obpresso tyranno libertas et salus ciuibus parta sit.
I ask whether they think the wise man should rejoice if he sees some evil befall his enemy, or whether he ought to curb his joy if, with enemies conquered or a tyrant overthrown, liberty and safety have been won for the citizens.
Notes and citation
Summary: Joy at an enemy's harm versus joy at liberation.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.5 (CSEL 19:540; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.6CSEL 19:540
nemo dubitat quin et in illo exiguum laetari et in hoc parum laetari sit maximum crimen. eadem de ceteris adfectibus licet dicere.
No one doubts that in the first case to rejoice a little, and in the second to rejoice too little, is a very great fault. The same can be said of the other passions.
Prov 24:17 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The object determines whether a passion is right.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.6 (CSEL 19:540; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.7CSEL 19:540–541
sed, ut dixi, non in his moderandis sapientiae ratio uersatur, sed in causis eorum, quoniam extrinsecus commouentur, nec ipsis potissimum frenos inponi oportuit, quoniam et exigui possunt esse in maximo crimine, et maximi possunt esse sine crimine, sed adsignandi fuerunt certis temporibus et rebus et locis, ne uitia sint quibus uti recte licet.
But, as I said, the principle of wisdom lies not in moderating these but in their causes, since they are stirred from outside; nor should reins be put chiefly on them, since even small ones can be a very great fault and very great ones can be without fault; but they should have been assigned to definite times, matters, and places, so that the things we may rightly use do not become vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions should be directed to proper objects and times.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.7 (CSEL 19:540–541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.8CSEL 19:541
sicut enim recte ambulare bonum est, errare autem malum, sic moueri adfectibus in rectum bonum est, in prauum, malum.
For just as walking rightly is good and going astray is bad, so being moved by the passions toward what is right is good, and toward what is wrong is bad.
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions directed rightly are good.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.8 (CSEL 19:541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.9CSEL 19:541
nam libido si extra legitimum torum non euagetur, licet sit uehemens, tamen culpa caret, sin uero adpetit alienum, licet sit mediocris, uitium tamen maximum est.
For lust, if it does not wander outside the lawful marriage bed, is without fault even if it is strong; but if it seeks another's, even if moderate, it is still a very great vice.
Heb 13:4 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sexual desire within marriage is blameless; outside it, a grave vice.
- "Lawful marriage bed" renders legitimum torum. Lactantius elsewhere (6.23) adds that sexual union is for procreation.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.9 (CSEL 19:541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.10CSEL 19:541
non est itaque morbus irasci nec cupere nec libidine commoueri, sed iracundum esse morbus est, cupidum, libidinosum. qui enim iracundus est, etiam cui non debet aut cum non oportet irascitur, qui cupidus, etiam quod non opus est concupiscit, qui libidinosus, etiam quod legibus uetatur adfectat.
So it is not a disease to be angry, to desire, or to be moved by lust; but it is a disease to be irascible, covetous, lustful. For the irascible person is angry even with one he should not be and when he should not; the covetous desires even what is not needed; the lustful seeks even what the laws forbid.
Notes and citation
Summary: The vice lies in the disposition, not in feeling itself.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.10 (CSEL 19:541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.16.11CSEL 19:541
omnis igitur ratio in eo uersari debuit, ut quoniam earum rerum inpetus inhiberi nec potest nec debet, quia necessario est insitus ad tuenda officia uitae, derigeretur potius in uiam rectam, ubi etiam cursus offensione ac periculo careat.
So the whole principle should have been this: since the impulse of these things neither can nor should be checked, because it is necessarily implanted for guarding the duties of life, it should rather be directed onto the right road, where even running would be free of stumbling and danger.
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions should be steered onto the right road.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.16.11 (CSEL 19:541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-12-1/#p-6-16-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).