Divine Institutes 6.17.1–6.20.36
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 17
6.17.1CSEL 19:541
Sed euectus sum coarguendi studio longius, cum sit mihi propositum ostendere ea quae uitia philosophi putauerunt non tantum uitia non esse, uerum etiam magnas esse uirtutes. ex his iis docendi gratia sumam quae pertinere ad rem maxime puto.
But I have been carried too far by zeal for refutation, since my aim is to show that what the philosophers thought vices are not only not vices but even great virtues. From these I will take, for the sake of teaching, those I think most relevant.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will show that some supposed vices are great virtues.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.1 (CSEL 19:541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.2CSEL 19:541–542
metum seu timorem in maximo uitio ponunt summamque inbecillitatem esse animi putant, cui sit contraria fortitudo; quae si sit in homine, locum timori esse nullum.
They place dread or fear among the greatest vices and think it the utmost weakness of the soul, whose opposite is courage; and if this is in a man, there is no room for fear.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers count fear a great vice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.2 (CSEL 19:541–542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.3CSEL 19:542
creditne ergo aliquis fieri posse ut idem metus summa sit fortitudo? minime. neque enim uidetur capere natura ut aliquid in contrarium reccidat.
Would anyone believe, then, that the same fear can be the highest courage? Not at all; for nature does not seem to allow something to turn back into its opposite.
Notes and citation
Summary: Can fear be courage?
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.3 (CSEL 19:542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.4CSEL 19:542
atquin ego non arguta aliqua conclusione, ut aput Platonem Socrates facit, qui eos quos contra disputat cogit ea quae negauerant confiteri, sed simpliciter ostendam summum metum summam esse uirtutem.
And yet, not by some clever syllogism, as Socrates does in Plato, forcing those he argues against to admit what they had denied, but simply, I will show that the greatest fear is the greatest virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: He will show that the greatest fear is the greatest virtue.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.4 (CSEL 19:542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.5CSEL 19:542
nemo dubitat quin timidi et inbecilli sit animi aut dolorem metuere aut egestatem aut exilium aut carcerem aut mortem: quae omnia quisquis non exhorruerit, fortissimus iudicatur. qui autem deum metuit, illa uniuersa non metuit.
No one doubts that it is the mark of a timid and weak soul to fear pain, want, exile, prison, or death; and whoever has not shuddered at all these is judged most brave. But whoever fears God fears none of these.
Matt 10:28 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever fears God fears nothing else.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.5 (CSEL 19:542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.6CSEL 19:542
ad quod probandum argumentis opus non est: spectatae sunt enim semper spectanturque adhuc per orbem poenae cultorum dei, in quibus excruciandis noua et inusitata tormenta excogitata sunt.
No arguments are needed to prove this: the punishments of the worshippers of God have always been seen and are still seen throughout the world, in whose torture new and unheard-of torments have been devised.
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyrs' sufferings prove it.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.6 (CSEL 19:542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.7CSEL 19:542
nam de mortis generibus horret animus recordari, cum inmanium bestiarum ultra ipsam mortem carnificina saeuierit. has tamen exsecrabiles corporum lacerationes felix atque inuicta patientia sine ullo gemitu pertulit.
For the mind shudders to recall the kinds of death, when a butchery worse than that of savage beasts has raged beyond death itself. Yet a happy and unconquered patience has endured these accursed mutilations of bodies without a groan.
Notes and citation
Summary: Martyrs endured horrific tortures without a groan.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.7 (CSEL 19:542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.8CSEL 19:542
haec uirtus omnibus populis atque prouinciis et ipsis tortoribus miraculum maximum praebuit, cum patientia crudelitas uinceretur.
This virtue has offered the greatest wonder to all peoples and provinces and to the torturers themselves, when cruelty was conquered by patience.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience conquered cruelty.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.8 (CSEL 19:542; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.9CSEL 19:542–543
atquin hanc uirtutem nihil aliut quam metus dei fecit. itaque, ut dicebam, non euellendus, ut Stoici, neque temperandus timor, ut Peripatetici uolunt, sed in ueram uiam dirigendus est auferendique sunt metus, sed ita ut hic solus relinquatur: qui quoniam legitimus ac uerus est, solus efficit ut possint cetera omnia non timeri.
And yet nothing else produced this virtue but the fear of God. So, as I was saying, fear should neither be torn out, as the Stoics wish, nor tempered, as the Peripatetics wish, but directed onto the true road; and fears must be removed, but in such a way that this one alone remains, which, since it is lawful and true, alone makes it possible for all the others not to be feared.
Prov 1:7 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fear of God removes all other fears.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.9 (CSEL 19:542–543; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.10CSEL 19:543
cupiditas quoque inter uitia numeratur: sed si haec quae terrena sunt concupiscat, uitium est, uirtus autem, si caelestia. qui enim iustitiam, qui deum, qui uitam perpetuam, qui lucem sempiternam eaque omnia quae deus homini pollicetur consequi cupit, opes istas et honores et potentatus et regna ipsa contemnet.
Desire too is counted among the vices; but if it desires these earthly things, it is a vice, while if heavenly ones, a virtue. For whoever desires to attain justice, God, perpetual life, everlasting light, and all that God promises man will despise wealth, honors, powers, and kingdoms themselves.
Col 3:2 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Desire for heavenly things is a virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.10 (CSEL 19:543; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.11CSEL 19:543
dicet fortasse Stoicus uoluntate opus esse ad haec consequenda, non cupiditate. immo uero parum est uelle. multi enim uolunt, sed cum dolor uisceribus accesserit, uoluntas cedit, cupiditas perseuerat: quae si efficit ut contemptui sint omnia quae a ceteris adpetuntur, summa uirtus est, siquidem continentiae mater est.
The Stoic will perhaps say that to attain these one needs will, not desire. On the contrary, willing is too little. For many will, but when pain reaches the inward parts, will gives way, desire persists; and if desire makes everything others seek contemptible, it is the highest virtue, since it is the mother of self-control.
Notes and citation
Summary: Desire for God persists where mere will fails.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.11 (CSEL 19:543; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.12CSEL 19:543
ideoque illut potius efficere debemus, ut adfectus, quibus praue uti uitium est, derigamus in rectum.
So we should rather bring it about that we direct rightly the passions, whose bad use is vice.
Notes and citation
Summary: The passions should be directed rightly.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.12 (CSEL 19:543; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.13CSEL 19:543
nam istae concitationes animorum iuncto currui similes sunt, in quo recte moderando summum rectoris officium est ut uiam nouerit: quam si tenebit, quamlibet concitate ierit, non offendet, si autem aberrauerit, licet placide ac leniter eat, aut per confragosa uexabitur aut per praecipitia labetur aut certe quo non est opus deferetur.
For these agitations of the mind are like a yoked chariot, in the right steering of which the chief duty of the driver is to know the road; if he keeps to it, however fast he goes, he will not come to harm; but if he strays from it, though he goes calmly and gently, he will be jolted over rough ground, or slide over precipices, or at least be carried where he need not go.
Notes and citation
Summary: The passions are like a chariot that needs the right road.
- The chariot image recalls Plato, Phaedrus 246a–254e.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato (Plato (works); echo)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.13 (CSEL 19:543; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.14CSEL 19:543–544
sic currus ille uitae, qui adfectibus uelut equis pernicibus ducitur, si uiam rectam teneat, fungetur officio. metus igitur et cupiditas si proiciantur in terram, uitia fient, uirtutes autem, si ad diuina referantur.
So that chariot of life, drawn by the passions as by swift horses, will perform its duty if it keeps the right road. Fear and desire, then, if they are cast down to the earth, will become vices, but virtues if they are directed to divine things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fear and desire aimed at God become virtues.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.14 (CSEL 19:543–544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.15CSEL 19:544
parsimoniam contra uirtutis loco habent: quae si studium est habendi, non potest esse uirtus, quia in augendis uel tuendis terrestribus bonis tota uersatur. nos autem summum bonum non referimus ad corpus, sed omne officium solius animae conseruatione metimur.
On the other hand, they count thrift as a virtue; but if it is zeal for possessing, it cannot be a virtue, because it is wholly occupied in increasing or guarding earthly goods. But we do not refer the highest good to the body; we measure every duty by the preservation of the soul alone.
Notes and citation
Summary: Thrift that serves possession is no virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.15 (CSEL 19:544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.16CSEL 19:544
quodsi, ut supra docui, patrimonio minime parcendum est, ut humanitatem iustitiamque teneamus, non est uirtus frugi esse: quod nomen specie uirtutis fallit ac decipit.
But if, as I taught above, one's inheritance should by no means be spared in order to keep humanity and justice, it is not a virtue to be thrifty; the name deceives and misleads by the appearance of virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: Thrift is not a virtue when mercy requires spending.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.16 (CSEL 19:544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.17CSEL 19:544
est enim frugalitas abstinentia quidem uoluptatum, sed eo uitium, quia ex habendi amore descendit, cum sit et uoluptatibus abstinendum et pecuniae minime temperandum. nam parce id est mediocriter uti pecunia quasi quaedam pusillitas animi est aut praetimentis ne sibi desit aut desperantis posse se illam reparare aut contemptum terrestrium non capientis.
For frugality is indeed abstinence from pleasures, but it is a vice in that it comes from love of possessing, whereas one should both abstain from pleasures and by no means be sparing of money. For to use money sparingly, that is, moderately, is a kind of smallness of soul, either of one who fears beforehand that he will lack, or of one who despairs of being able to replace it, or of one incapable of despising earthly things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Frugality springs from love of possessions.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.17 (CSEL 19:544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.18CSEL 19:544
sed illi rursus eum qui rei familiari suae non parcat prodigum uocant. nam ita liberalem distinguunt a prodigo, quod is liberalis sit qui et bene meritis et cum oportet et quantum satis est largiatur, prodigus uero, qui et non meritis et cum opus non est et sine respectu rei familiaris effundat.
But they, on the other hand, call the one who does not spare his property prodigal. For they distinguish the generous from the prodigal thus: the generous man gives to the deserving, when it is fitting, and as much as is enough; the prodigal pours out to the undeserving, when there is no need, and without regard for his property.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers distinguish generous from prodigal.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.18 (CSEL 19:544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.19CSEL 19:544–545
quid ergo? prodigumne dicemus eum qui misericordiae causa tribuat egentibus uictum? atquin multum refert utrumne scortis propter libidinem largiare an miseris propter humanitatem, utrum pecuniam tuam perductores aleatores lenonesque diripiant an illam pietati ac deo praestes, utrumne illam uentri et gulae ingeras an in thesauro iustitiae reponas.
What then? Shall we call prodigal the one who gives food to the needy out of mercy? Yet it makes a great difference whether you give to prostitutes for lust or to the wretched for humanity; whether procurers, gamblers, and pimps plunder your money or you give it to piety and God; whether you stuff it into belly and gullet or store it in the treasury of justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Giving to the poor is not prodigality.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.19 (CSEL 19:544–545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.20CSEL 19:545
ut ergo uitium est effundere in malam partem, sic in bonam uirtus. si uirtus est non parcere opibus quae possunt reparari, ut hominis uitam sustentes quae reparari non potest, uitium igitur parsimonia est. quare nihil aliut dixerim quam insanos qui hominem, mite ac sociale animal, orbant suo nomine,
So as it is a vice to pour money out in a bad direction, so it is a virtue in a good one. If it is a virtue not to spare wealth, which can be replaced, in order to sustain a human life, which cannot be replaced, then thrift is a vice. So I would call them nothing but mad, who rob man, a gentle and social animal, of his name,
Notes and citation
Summary: Spending to save lives is virtue; stinginess is vice.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: m for in): effundere m malam → effundere in malam.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.20 (CSEL 19:545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.21CSEL 19:545
qui euulsis adfectibus quibus omnis constat humanitas, ad immobilem stuporem mentis perducere uolunt, dum student animum perturbationibus liberare et, ut ipsi dicunt, quietum tranquillumque reddere.
who, having torn out the passions in which all humanity consists, want to bring him to an immovable numbness of mind, while they strive to free the soul from disturbances and, as they themselves say, make it quiet and tranquil.
Notes and citation
Summary: Stoics would reduce man to numbness.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.21 (CSEL 19:545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-21).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.22CSEL 19:545
quod fieri non tantum non potest, quia uis et ratio eius in motu est, sed ne oportet quidem, quia sicut aqua semper iacens et quieta insalubris et magis turbida est, sic animus inmotus ac torpens inutilis est etiam sibi, nec uitam ipsam tueri poterit, quia nec faciet quicquam nec cogitabit, cum cogitatio ipsa nihil aliut sit quam mentis agitatio.
This not only cannot be done, because the soul's force and nature lie in motion, but it ought not to be either. For just as water always lying still is unhealthy and more muddy, so a mind unmoved and torpid is useless even to itself, nor will it be able to preserve life itself, since it will neither do nor think anything, for thought itself is nothing other than the mind's activity.
Notes and citation
Summary: A motionless soul is useless, like stagnant water.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.22 (CSEL 19:545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-22).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.23CSEL 19:545
denique qui hanc immobilitatem animi adserunt, priuare animum uita uolunt, quia uita actuosa est, mors quieta.
In short, those who assert this immobility of the soul want to deprive the soul of life, since life is active and death is quiet.
Notes and citation
Summary: Immobility of soul is death.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): adsernnt → adserunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.23 (CSEL 19:545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-23).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.24CSEL 19:545
quaedam etiam recte pro uirtutibus habent, sed earum modum non tenent. uirtus est constantia, non ut inferentibus iniuriam resistamus — his enim cedendum est; quod cur fieri debeat mox docebo —, sed ut iubentibus facere nos contra legem dei contraque iustitiam nullis minis aut suppliciis terreamur, quominus dei iussionem iussioni hominis praeferamus.
Some things too they rightly count as virtues, but do not keep their measure. Constancy is a virtue, not so that we resist those who do us wrong (for we must yield to them, and why this should be done I will show shortly), but so that when people order us to act against the law of God and against justice, we are deterred by no threats or punishments from preferring God's command to man's.
Acts 5:29 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Constancy means obeying God rather than men, not resisting injury.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): quod. cur → quod cur.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.24 (CSEL 19:545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.25CSEL 19:545–546
item uirtus est mortem contemnere, non ut adpetamus eamque nobis ultro inferamus, sicut philosophorum plurimi et maximi saepe fecerunt, quod est sceleratum ac nefarium, sed ut coacti deum relinquere ac fidem prodere mortem suscipere malimus libertatemque defendamus aduersus inpotentium stultam uecordemque uiolentiam et omnes saeculi minas atque terrores fortitudine animi prouocemus.
Likewise it is a virtue to despise death, not so that we seek it and inflict it on ourselves of our own accord, as many and very great philosophers have often done, which is wicked and abominable, but so that when forced to abandon God and betray our faith, we choose to undergo death, defend our liberty against the foolish and senseless violence of the uncontrolled, and challenge all the threats and terrors of the world with fortitude of soul.
Notes and citation
Summary: Despising death means martyrdom, not suicide.
- Lactantius condemns suicide, which some philosophers practiced.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.25 (CSEL 19:545–546; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.26CSEL 19:546
sic ea quae alii timent, excelsa et insuperabili mente dolorem mortemque calcabimus. haec est uirtus, haec uera constantia, in hoc tuenda et conseruanda solo, ut nullus nos terror, nulla uis a deo possit auertere.
So with a lofty and invincible mind we will trample on what others fear, pain and death. This is virtue, this is true constancy, to be guarded and kept in this alone: that no terror and no force can turn us away from God.
Notes and citation
Summary: True constancy lets nothing turn us from God.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.26 (CSEL 19:546; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-26).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.27CSEL 19:546
uera igitur Ciceronis illa sententia est: nemo inquit iustus potest esse qui mortem, qui dolorem, qui exsilium, qui egestatem timet;
So that saying of Cicero is true: "No one," he says, "can be just who fears death, pain, exile, or want";
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero: no one who fears death can be just.
- Cicero, On Duties 2.38.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 2.38 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.27 (CSEL 19:546; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-27).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.28CSEL 19:546
item Senecae in libris moralis philosophiae dicentis: hic est ille homo honestus, non apice purpuraue, non lictorum insignis ministerio, sed nulla re minor, qui cum mortem in uicinia uidit, non sic perturbatur tamquam rem nouam uiderit, qui siue toto corpore tormenta patienda sunt siue flamma ore rapienda est siue extendendae per patibulum manus, non quaerit quid patiatur, sed quam bene.
likewise that of Seneca, who says in his books of moral philosophy: "This is that honorable man, not distinguished by the priest's cap or purple or the attendance of lictors, but inferior in nothing, who, when he sees death near, is not disturbed as if he saw something new; who, whether tortures must be suffered with the whole body, or flame must be taken into the mouth, or the hands must be stretched out on the gibbet, asks not what he suffers but how well."
Notes and citation
Summary: Seneca praises the man who asks how well, not what, he suffers.
- Seneca, Moral Philosophy (lost; fragment).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: garbled letters; OCR: n for u): Senecae m libus → Senecae in libris; rem nonam → rem nouam.
Extrabiblical texts: Seneca (Seneca; quotation)
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.28 (CSEL 19:546; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-28).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.17.29CSEL 19:546–547
qui autem deum colit, haec patitur nec timet: ergo iustus est. his rebus efficitur ut neque uirtutes neque uirtutum exactissimos limites nosse aut tenere possit omnino quisquis est a religione dei singularis alienus.
But the one who worships God suffers these things and does not fear; therefore he is just. From these things it follows that whoever is a stranger to the religion of the one God can neither know nor hold at all either the virtues or their most exact limits.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only the worshipper of God knows true virtue.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): nosse ant tenere → nosse aut tenere.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.17.29 (CSEL 19:546–547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-17-29).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 18
6.18.1CSEL 19:547
Sed omittamus philosophos, qui aut nihil omnino sciunt idque ipsum pro summa scientia praeferunt aut qui non perspiciunt etiam quae sciunt aut qui quoniam se putant scire quae nesciunt, inepte adroganterque desipiunt.
But let us leave the philosophers, who either know nothing at all and present this very fact as the highest knowledge, or do not see through even what they know, or, because they think they know what they do not, are foolish in a silly and arrogant way.
Notes and citation
Summary: Leaving the philosophers behind.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and stray period): per-. spiciunt → perspiciunt.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.1 (CSEL 19:547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.2CSEL 19:547
nos ergo, ut ad propositum reuertamur, quibus solis a deo ueritas reuelata et caelitus missa sapientia est, faciamus quae iubet inluminator noster deus. sustineamus inuicem et labores huius uitae mutuis adiumentis perferamus nec tamen, si quid boni operis fecerimus, gloriam captemus ex eo.
So let us, to return to our purpose, to whom alone truth has been revealed by God and wisdom sent from heaven, do what God our enlightener commands. Let us bear with one another and endure the labors of this life with mutual help; yet if we have done any good work, let us not seek glory from it.
Gal 6:2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Bear one another's burdens and seek no glory.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: i for x): captemus ei eo → captemus ex eo.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.2 (CSEL 19:547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.3CSEL 19:547
monet enim deus operatorem iustitiae non oportere esse iactantem, ne non tam mandatis caelestibus obsequendi quam studio placendi humanitatis officio functus esse uideatur habeatque iam pretium gloriae, quod captauit, nec praemium caelestis illius ac diuinae mercedis accipiat.
For God warns that the one who does justice must not boast, lest he seem to have performed the duty of humanity not so much to obey the heavenly commands as from a desire to please, and so already have the price of glory he sought and not receive the reward of that heavenly and divine payment.
Matt 6:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Boasting of good works forfeits the heavenly reward.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.3 (CSEL 19:547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.4CSEL 19:547
cetera quae obseruare cultor dei debet facilia sunt illis uirtutibus conprehensis. non mentiatur umquam decipiendi aut nocendi causa.
The other things the worshipper of God must observe are easy once those virtues are grasped. Let him never lie for the sake of deceiving or harming.
Notes and citation
Summary: Never lie to deceive or harm.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.4 (CSEL 19:547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.5CSEL 19:547
est enim nefas eum qui ueritati studeat in aliqua re esse fallacem atque ab ipsa quam sequitur ueritate discedere: in hac iustitiae uirtutumque omnium uia nullus mendacio locus est.
For it is wrong for one devoted to truth to be deceitful in anything and to depart from the very truth he follows. On this way of justice and all the virtues there is no place for a lie.
Notes and citation
Summary: There is no place for lying on the way of justice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.5 (CSEL 19:547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.6CSEL 19:547
itaque uiator ille uerus ac iustus non dicet illud Lucilianum: homini amico et familiari non est mentiri meum, sed etiam inimico atque ignoto existimabit non esse mentiri suum nec aliquando committet ut lingua interpres animi a sensu et cogitatione discordet.
So that true and just traveler will not say the line of Lucilius, "To lie to a man who is a friend and intimate is not my way," but will think it not his way to lie even to an enemy and a stranger, and will never allow his tongue, the interpreter of the mind, to disagree with his feeling and thought.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Christian lies to no one, friend or foe.
- Lucilius, fragment 953 (Marx).
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.6 (CSEL 19:547; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.7CSEL 19:547–548
pecuniam si quam crediderit, non accipiat usuram, ut et beneficium sit incolume quod succurrit necessitati et abstineat se prorsus alieno.
If he lends any money, let him not take interest, so that the benefit which relieves need may remain intact; and let him keep entirely from what belongs to another.
Ps 15:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 6:35 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lend without interest.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: a for u, and a stray period splitting the clause): at et beneficium sit incolume. quod → ut et beneficium sit incolume quod.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.7 (CSEL 19:547–548; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.8CSEL 19:548
in hoc enim genere officii debet suo esse contentus, quem oporteat alias ne proprio quidem parcere, ut bonum faciat: plus autem accipere quam dederit iniustum est. quod qui facit, insidiatur quodammodo, ut ei alterius necessitate praedetur.
For in this kind of duty he should be content with his own, since at other times he ought not to spare even his own in order to do good; and to receive more than one gave is unjust. Whoever does this lays a kind of ambush, so as to prey on another's need.
Notes and citation
Summary: Taking interest preys on need.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (period for comma inside a sentence): parcere. ut bonum → parcere, ut bonum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.8 (CSEL 19:548; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.9CSEL 19:548
at iustus numquam praetermittet quominus aliquid misericorditer faciat, nec inquinabit se huiusmodi quaestu, sed efficiet ut sine ullo suo damno id ipsum quod commodat inter bona opera numeretur.
But the just man will never pass up doing something mercifully, nor will he defile himself with such gain, but will see to it that, without any loss to himself, the very thing he lends is counted among good works.
Notes and citation
Summary: An interest-free loan is a good work.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.9 (CSEL 19:548; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.10CSEL 19:548
munus non accipiat a paupere, ut si quid ipse praestiterit, eo bonum sit, quod fuerit gratuitum. maledicenti benedicto respondeat, numquam ipse maledicat, ne uerbum malum procedat ex ore hominis qui colit uerbum bonum.
Let him not accept a gift from a poor man, so that whatever he himself has given may be good because it was free. Let him answer cursing with blessing and never curse himself, so that no evil word may come from the mouth of a man who worships the good Word.
1 Pet 3:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 12:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Take no gifts from the poor; answer curses with blessing.
- "The good Word" (uerbum bonum) is Christ, with wordplay on "evil word".
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.10 (CSEL 19:548; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.11CSEL 19:548
quin etiam caueat diligenter ne quando inimicum sua culpa faciat, et si quis extiterit tam proteruus, qui bono et iusto faciat iniuriam, clementer ac moderate ferat et ultionem suam non sibi adsumat, sed iudicio dei reseruet.
Indeed, let him take great care never to make an enemy by his own fault; and if anyone is so insolent as to wrong a good and just man, let him bear it mildly and moderately, and not take vengeance for himself but reserve it for the judgment of God.
Rom 12:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Bear wrongs mildly and leave vengeance to God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.11 (CSEL 19:548; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.12CSEL 19:548–549
innocentiam semper et ubique custodiat. quod praeceptum non ad hoc tantum ualet, ut ipse iniuriam non inferat, sed ut inlatam sibi non uindicet. sedet enim maximus et aequissimus iudex, speculator ac testis omnium. hunc homini praeferat, hunc malit de causa sua pronuntiare, cuius sententiam nemo effugere potest nec defensione cuiusquam nec gratia.
Let him guard innocence always and everywhere. This precept applies not only to not inflicting injury himself, but to not avenging injury inflicted on him. For the greatest and most just Judge sits, the observer and witness of all. Let him prefer this Judge to man; let him rather have Him pronounce on his case, whose sentence no one can escape by anyone's defense or favor.
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not avenge wrongs; God the Judge sees all.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: o for c, a for u; stray colon): innooentiam semper et abique → innocentiam semper et ubique; speculator: ac testis → speculator ac testis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.12 (CSEL 19:548–549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.13CSEL 19:549
ita fit ut homo iustus contemptui sit omnibus, et quia putabitur se ipsum non posse defendere, habebitur pro segni et inerte. qui autem fuerit ultus inimicum, hic fortis, hic strenuus iudicatur, hunc omnes uerentur, hunc colunt.
So it happens that the just man is despised by all, and because he will be thought unable to defend himself, he will be held lazy and sluggish. But the one who has taken revenge on his enemy is judged brave and energetic; all respect him, all honor him.
Notes and citation
Summary: The world despises the forbearing and honors the vengeful.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: nt for fit): ita nt ut → ita fit ut.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.13 (CSEL 19:549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.14CSEL 19:549
bonus uero ille tametsi prodesse pluribus possit, illum tamen suspiciunt qui nocere quam qui prodesse possit. sed iustum prauitas hominum deprauare non poterit, quominus deo studeat obtemperare malitque contemni, dummodo semper boni fungatur officio, mali numquam.
And though the good man could benefit more people, they look up to the one who can harm rather than the one who can help. But the depravity of men cannot deprave the just man from striving to obey God; he prefers to be despised, provided he always does the duty of a good man and never of a bad one.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just man prefers contempt to wrongdoing.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.14 (CSEL 19:549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.15CSEL 19:549
Cicero in isdem illis officialibus at uero si quis uoluerit inquit animi sui conplicatam notionem euoluere, iam se ipse doceat eum uirum bonum esse qui prosit quibus possit, noceat nemini, nisi lacessitus iniuria.
Cicero, in those same books On Duties, says: "But if anyone wishes to unfold the folded-up notion in his mind, he will at once teach himself that the good man is one who benefits whom he can and harms no one, unless provoked by injury."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero: the good man harms no one unless provoked.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.76.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.76 (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.15 (CSEL 19:549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.16CSEL 19:549
o quam simplicem ueramque sententiam duorum uerborum adiectione corrupit! quid enim opus fuerat adiungere nisi lacessitus iniuria, ut uitium bono uiro quasi caudam turpissimam adponeret patientiaeque, quae omnium uirtutum maxima est, faceret expertem?
O how he spoiled a simple and true statement by adding two words! For what need was there to add "unless provoked by injury," so as to attach a vice to the good man like a most shameful tail and make him devoid of patience, which is the greatest of all virtues?
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's exception spoils his definition.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.16 (CSEL 19:549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.17CSEL 19:549–550
nociturum esse dixit bonum uirum, si fuerit lacessitus: iam ex hoc ipso boni uiri nomen amittat necesse est, si nocebit. non minus enim mali est referre iniuriam quam inferre.
He said the good man will harm if provoked; by this very fact he must lose the name of good man, if he harms. For it is no less evil to return an injury than to inflict one.
Matt 5:39 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Returning injury is as bad as inflicting it.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.17 (CSEL 19:549–550; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.18CSEL 19:550
nam unde certamina inter homines, unde pugnae contentionesque nascuntur, nisi quod inprobitati opposita inpatientia magnas saepe concitat tempestates?
For where do contests among people, where do fights and quarrels arise from, except that impatience set against wickedness often stirs up great storms?
Notes and citation
Summary: Impatience answering wickedness breeds strife.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.18 (CSEL 19:550; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.18.19CSEL 19:550
quodsi patientiam, qua uirtute nihil uerius, nihil homine dignius inueniri potest, inprobitati opposueris, extinguetur protinus, tamquam igni aquam superfuderis. sin autem prouocatrix illa inprobitas inpatientiam sibi comparem nacta est, tamquam perfusa oleo tantum excitabit incendium, ut id non flumen aliquod, sed effusio cruoris extinguat.
But if you set patience, than which no virtue truer or more worthy of man can be found, against wickedness, it will be put out at once, as if you poured water on fire. But if that provoking wickedness has found impatience its equal, it will stir up such a fire, as if drenched with oil, that no river but only the shedding of blood can put it out.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience quenches wickedness; impatience inflames it.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.19 (CSEL 19:550; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-19).
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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).
6.18.20CSEL 19:550
magna itaque patientiae ratio est, quam sapiens homo ademit bono uiro. ut enim nihil malorum fiat, haec sola efficit: quae si detur omnibus, nullum scelus, nulla fraus in rebus humanis erit.
So great is the principle of patience, which the wise man took away from the good man. For it alone brings it about that no evils are done; if it were given to all, there would be no crime and no fraud in human affairs.
Notes and citation
Summary: Universal patience would end crime.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.20 (CSEL 19:550; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-20).
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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).
6.18.21CSEL 19:550
quid igitur bono uiro potest esse tam calamitosum tamque contrarium quam irae frena permittere, quae illum non modo boni, sed etiam hominis appellatione despoliet, siquidem nocere alteri, ut ipse uerissime ait, non est secundum hominis naturam? nam
What then can be so ruinous and so contrary to a good man as to give free rein to anger, which strips him not only of the name of good man but even of man, since harming another, as he himself says most truly, is not in keeping with human nature? For
Notes and citation
Summary: Anger unrestrained strips one of humanity.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.25 (see 6.11.2). The sentence continues in the next section.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.25 (Cicero; allusion)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.21 (CSEL 19:550; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-21).
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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).
6.18.22CSEL 19:550
et pecudes si lacessas, aut calce aut cornu repugnant, et serpentes ac ferae, nisi persequare ut occidas, negotium non exhibent, et ut ad hominum exempla redeamus, inperiti quoque et insipientes si quando accipiunt iniuriam, caeco et inrationabili furore ducuntur et iis qui sibi nocent, uicem retribuere conantur.
even cattle, if you provoke them, fight back with hoof or horn; and snakes and wild beasts give no trouble unless you pursue them to kill them; and, to return to human examples, even the ignorant and foolish, when they receive an injury, are carried away by a blind and irrational fury and try to pay back those who harm them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even beasts and fools retaliate.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.22 (CSEL 19:550; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-22).
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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).
6.18.23CSEL 19:550–551
in quo igitur sapiens ac bonus uir a malis et insipientibus differt, nisi quod habet inuictam patientiam, qua stulti carent, nisi quod regere se ac mitigare iram suam nouit, quam illi quia uirtute indigent, frenare non possunt?
In what, then, does the wise and good man differ from the wicked and foolish, except that he has an unconquered patience, which fools lack, and knows how to govern himself and calm his anger, which they, lacking virtue, cannot rein in?
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience distinguishes the wise from the foolish.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.23 (CSEL 19:550–551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-23).
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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).
6.18.24CSEL 19:551
sed uidelicet haec illum res fefellit, quod cum de uirtute loqueretur, in quacumque contentione uincere putauit esse uirtutis nec uidere ullo modo potuit hominem dolori et irae succumbentem et iis adfectibus indulgentem quibus debet potius reluctari, et ruentem quacumque inprobitas prouocarit, uirtutis officium non tenere.
But evidently this deceived him: when he spoke of virtue, he thought it virtue to win in any contest; and he could in no way see that a man who gives in to pain and anger, indulges those passions he ought rather to resist, and rushes wherever wickedness provokes him, does not hold to the duty of virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero mistook winning for virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.24 (CSEL 19:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-24).
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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).
6.18.25CSEL 19:551
qui enim referre iniuriam nititur, eum ipsum a quo laesus est gestit imitari. ita qui malum imitatur, bonus esse nullo pacto potest.
For whoever strives to return an injury is eager to imitate the very person by whom he was hurt. So one who imitates a bad man can by no means be good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Retaliation imitates the wrongdoer.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: m for ni): qui emm → qui enim.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.25 (CSEL 19:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-25).
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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).
6.18.26CSEL 19:551
duobus igitur uerbis duas uirtutes maximas bono et sapienti uiro, innocentiam patientiamque, detraxit. sed quia ipse caninam illam facundiam, sicut Sallustius ab Appio dictum refert, exercuit, uoluit hominem canino modo uiuere, ut remordeat lacessitus.
So with two words he took from the good and wise man two very great virtues, innocence and patience. But because he himself practiced that "canine eloquence," as Sallust reports Appius called it, he wanted man to live in a dog's way, biting back when provoked.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's "dog-like" eloquence taught biting back.
- Sallust, Histories, fragment (no id for Sallust in the controlled list).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.26 (CSEL 19:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-26).
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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).
6.18.27CSEL 19:551
quae retributio contumeliae quam perniciosa sit et quas edere soleat strages, unde oportunius petetur exemplum quam ex ipsius praeceptoris tristissimo casu, qui dum his philosophorum praeceptis obtemperare gestit, ipse se perdidit?
How ruinous such returning of insults is, and what slaughter it usually produces, where could an example be sought more fittingly than from the most tragic fate of the teacher himself, who, eager to obey these precepts of the philosophers, destroyed himself?
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's own death shows the cost of retaliation.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: i for x): quam ei ipsius → quam ex ipsius.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.27 (CSEL 19:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-27).
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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).
6.18.28CSEL 19:551–552
quodsi lacessitus iniuria patientiam tenuisset, si dissimulare, si ferre contumeliam boni uiri esse didicisset nec illas nobiles orationes alieno titulo inscriptas inpatientia et leuitas et insania profudisset, numquam capite suo rostra, in quibus ante floruerat, cruentasset nec rem publicam funditus proscriptio illa delesset.
But if, when provoked by injury, he had kept patience, if he had learned that it is the part of a good man to overlook and bear an insult, and if impatience, levity, and madness had not poured out those famous speeches inscribed with another's title, he would never have stained with his own head the rostra where he had once flourished, nor would that proscription have utterly destroyed the commonwealth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Had Cicero been patient, his Philippics would not have cost his life.
- The Philippics, named after Demosthenes' speeches against Philip; Cicero's head was displayed on the rostra in 43 BC.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter): lacessitus I iniuria → lacessitus iniuria.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.28 (CSEL 19:551–552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-28).
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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).
6.18.29CSEL 19:552
sapientis ergo ac boni uiri non est uelle certare ac se periculo committere, quoniam et uincere non est in nostra potestate et est anceps omne certamen, sed est sapientis atque optimi uiri non aduersarium uelle tollere, quod fieri sine scelere ac periculo non potest, sed certamen ipsum, quod fieri et utiliter et iuste potest.
So it is not the part of a wise and good man to want to fight and put himself in danger, since victory is not in our power and every contest is uncertain; but it is the part of a wise and excellent man to want to remove not the adversary, which cannot be done without crime and danger, but the contest itself, which can be done both usefully and justly.
Notes and citation
Summary: The wise remove the quarrel, not the adversary.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.29 (CSEL 19:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-29).
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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).
6.18.30CSEL 19:552
summa igitur uirtus habenda patientia est, quam ut caperet homo iustus, uoluit illum deus, ut supra dictum est, pro inerte contemni. nisi enim contumeliis fuerit adfectus, quantum habeat fortitudinis in se ipso cohibendo ignorabitur.
So patience must be held the highest virtue; and so that the just man might have it, God willed, as was said above, that he be despised as sluggish. For unless he has been subjected to insults, how much strength he has in restraining himself will not be known.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience is the highest virtue, proved by insults.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: l for i): summa lgitur → summa igitur.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.30 (CSEL 19:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-30).
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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).
6.18.31CSEL 19:552
si autem lacessitus iniuria laedentem persequi coeperit, uictus est: qui uero motum illum ratione conpresserit, hic plane imperat sibi, hic regere se potest.
But if, provoked by injury, he begins to pursue the one who hurt him, he is conquered; whereas the one who has checked that impulse with reason truly commands himself, he can govern himself.
Prov 16:32 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Retaliation is defeat; self-control is mastery.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for ri, m for ui): iniuna laedentem perseqm → iniuria laedentem persequi.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.31 (CSEL 19:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-31).
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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).
6.18.32CSEL 19:552
quae sustentatio sui recte patientia nominatur, quae una uirtus omnibus est opposita uitiis et adfectibus. haec perturbatum ac fluctuantem animum ad tranquillitatem suam reuocat, haec mitigat, haec hominem sibi reddit.
This self-restraint is rightly called patience, the one virtue opposed to all vices and passions. It calls the disturbed and wavering mind back to its own tranquillity; it calms; it restores a man to himself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patience opposes all vices and restores the soul.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: n for u): snstentatio → sustentatio.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.32 (CSEL 19:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-32).
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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).
6.18.33CSEL 19:552–553
ergo quoniam naturae repugnare inpossibile est et inutile, ut non commoueamur omnino, prius tamen quam commotio illa prosiliat ad nocendum, quod fieri potest maturius, sopiatur. praecipit deus non occidere solem super iram nostram, ne furoris nostri testis abscedat.
So since it is impossible and useless to fight nature so as not to be moved at all, yet before that agitation leaps out to harm, let it be put to sleep as soon as possible. God commands that the sun not go down on our anger, lest it depart as a witness of our fury.
Eph 4:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not let the sun set on anger.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.33 (CSEL 19:552–553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-33).
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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).
6.18.34CSEL 19:553
denique Marcus Tullius contra suum praeceptum, de quo paulo ante dixi, obliuionem iniuriarum in magnis laudibus posuit. spero te inquit Caesari, qui obliuisci nihil soles nisi iniurias —.
Finally, Marcus Tullius, against his own precept of which I spoke a little before, placed forgetting of injuries among the highest praises. "I hope," he says, "Caesar, you who are accustomed to forget nothing but injuries…"
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero himself praised Caesar for forgetting injuries.
- Cicero, For Ligarius 35.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.34 (CSEL 19:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-34).
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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).
6.18.35CSEL 19:553
quodsi hoc ille faciebat, homo non a caelesti tantum, sed a publica quoque ciuilique iustitia remotissimus, quanto magis id nos facere debemus qui immortalitatis uelut candidati sumus?
If he did this, a man very far removed not only from heavenly justice but also from public and civil justice, how much more ought we to do it, who are, as it were, candidates for immortality?
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians, candidates for immortality, should forgive all the more.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.18.35 (CSEL 19:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-18-35).
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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).
Divine 6, chapter 19
6.19.1CSEL 19:553
Stoici cum adfectus ex homine tamquam morbos conantur euellere, Peripatetici se opponunt eosque non modo retinent, sed etiam defendunt nihilque in homine esse dicunt quod non magna ratione ac prouidentia sit innatum. recte id quidem, si singularum rerum ueros terminos scirent.
While the Stoics try to tear the passions out of man as diseases, the Peripatetics oppose them and not only keep them but also defend them, saying that nothing in man is innate that is not there by great reason and providence. That is right indeed, if they knew the true limits of each thing.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Peripatetics defend the passions as providential.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: i for x): adfectus ei homine → adfectus ex homine.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.1 (CSEL 19:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.2CSEL 19:553
itaque hanc ipsam iram cotem dicunt esse uirtutis, tamquam nemo possit aduersus hostem fortiter dimicare, nisi fuerit ira concitatus.
So they say that anger itself is the whetstone of virtue, as if no one could fight bravely against an enemy unless stirred by anger.
Notes and citation
Summary: They call anger the whetstone of courage.
- Compare Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 4.43.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.2 (CSEL 19:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.3CSEL 19:553
quo plane ostendunt nec quid sit uirtus scire se nec cur homini tribuerit iram deus. quae si nobis ideo data est, ut ea utamur ad occidendos homines, quid inmanius homine, quid similius feris beluis existimandum est quam id animal quod ad communionem atque innocentiam deus fecit?
By this they plainly show that they know neither what virtue is nor why God gave man anger. If it was given to us so that we might use it to kill people, what should be thought more monstrous than man, more like savage beasts, than that animal which God made for fellowship and innocence?
Notes and citation
Summary: Anger was not given for killing.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.3 (CSEL 19:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.4CSEL 19:553–554
tres sunt igitur adfectus qui homines in omnia facinora praecipites agant, ira cupiditas libido. propterea poetae tres Furias esse dixerunt, quae mentes hominum exagitent: ira ultionem desiderat, cupiditas opes, libido uoluptates.
There are three passions, then, that drive people headlong into every crime: anger, greed, and lust. That is why the poets said there are three Furies that torment human minds: anger desires vengeance, greed wealth, lust pleasures.
Notes and citation
Summary: Anger, greed, and lust are the three Furies.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.4 (CSEL 19:553–554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.5CSEL 19:554
sed his omnibus deus certos limites statuit: quos si transcenderint maioresque esse coeperint, necesse est naturam suam deprauent et in morbos ac uitia uertantur. qui autem sint isti limites, non est magni laboris ostendere.
But God set definite limits to all of them; if they overstep these and begin to grow larger, they must corrupt their nature and turn into diseases and vices. What those limits are is not hard to show.
Notes and citation
Summary: God set limits to each passion.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.5 (CSEL 19:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.6CSEL 19:554
cupiditas ad ea conparanda nobis data est quae sunt ad uitam necessaria, libido ad subolem propagandam, irae adfectus ad coercenda peccata eorum qui sunt in nostra potestate, id est ut artiore disciplina minor aetas ad probitatem iustitiamque formetur: quae nisi metu cohibeatur, licentia pariet audaciam, quae ad omne flagitium et facinus euadet.
Desire was given us to obtain what is necessary for life; lust to propagate offspring; the passion of anger to restrain the sins of those in our power, that is, so that the younger may be formed to uprightness and justice by stricter discipline; for unless it is checked by fear, license will breed boldness, which will break out into every outrage and crime.
Notes and citation
Summary: Desire is for necessities, lust for offspring, anger for disciplining children.
- Lactantius assigns sexual desire the purpose of procreation.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.6 (CSEL 19:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.7CSEL 19:554
itaque ut ira uti aduersus minores et iustum est et necessarium, sic aduersus pares et perniciosum est et impium: impium, quod uiolatur humanitas, perniciosum, quod illis repugnantibus aut perdere necesse est aut perire.
So just as using anger against those under us is just and necessary, so using it against equals is ruinous and impious: impious, because humanity is violated; ruinous, because when they resist, one must either destroy or perish.
Notes and citation
Summary: Anger against equals is impious and ruinous.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.7 (CSEL 19:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.8CSEL 19:554–555
hanc autem quam dixi esse rationem cur homini sit irae adfectus datus, ex ipsius dei praeceptis intellegi potest, qui iubet uti maledicis et laedentibus non irascamur, manus autem nostras supra minores semper habeamus, hoc est ut peccantes eos adsiduis uerberibus corrigamus, ne amore inutili et indulgentia nimia educentur ad malum et ad uitia nutriantur.
That the reason I have given for why man was given the passion of anger is correct can be understood from the precepts of God himself, who commands us not to be angry with those who curse and hurt us, but always to keep our hand over those under us, that is, to correct them with constant blows when they do wrong, so that they are not brought up to evil by useless love and excessive indulgence and nourished in vices.
Prov 13:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:44 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God forbids anger at equals but commands correcting children.
- "Keep our hand over those under us" is not an exact biblical text; compare Prov 13:24; 23:13–14; Sir 30:1–13.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 30:1-13 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.8 (CSEL 19:554–555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.9CSEL 19:555
sed rerum imperiti et rationis ignari eos adfectus qui sunt homini ad usus bonos dati exterminauerunt et latius quam ratio postulat euagantur. inde iniuste atque impie uiuitur. utuntur ira
But people ignorant of reality and devoid of reason have driven those passions, given to man for good uses, out of bounds, and they wander further than reason demands. From this comes unjust and impious living. They use anger
Notes and citation
Summary: The ignorant misuse the passions.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period breaking a sentence continued in the next section): utuntur ira. → utuntur ira.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.9 (CSEL 19:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.10CSEL 19:555
contra pares: hinc discidia, hinc expulsiones, hinc bella contra iustitiam nata sunt. utuntur cupiditate ad congerendas opes: hinc fraudes, hinc latrocinia, hinc omnia scelerum genera exorta sunt. utuntur libidine ad capiendas tantum uoluptates: hinc stupra, hinc adulteria, hinc corruptelae omnes extiterunt.
against equals: hence divisions, hence banishments, hence wars have arisen against justice. They use greed to heap up wealth: hence frauds, hence robberies, hence every kind of crime have sprung up. They use lust only to seize pleasures: hence sexual immorality, hence adulteries, hence every corruption has arisen.
Notes and citation
Summary: Misused passions produce war, crime, and sexual sin.
- "Sexual immorality" renders stupra; "adulteries," adulteria.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.10 (CSEL 19:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.19.11CSEL 19:555
quicumque igitur illos adfectus intra fines suos redegerit, quod ignorantes deum facere non possunt, hic patiens, hic fortis, hic iustus est.
So whoever has brought those passions back within their limits, which those ignorant of God cannot do, is patient, brave, and just.
Notes and citation
Summary: Keeping the passions within limits makes one just.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray dash): illos -adfectus → illos adfectus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.19.11 (CSEL 19:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-19-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 20
6.20.1CSEL 19:555
Restat ut contra quinque sensuum uoluptates dicam breuiter: nam et ipsius libri mensura iam modum flagitat. quae omnes quoniam uitiosae ac mortiferae sunt, uirtute superari atque opprimi debent uel, quod paulo ante dicebam de adfectibus, ad rationem suam reuocari.
It remains for me to speak briefly against the pleasures of the five senses, for the length of this book already demands a limit. Since all of them are vicious and deadly, they must be overcome and suppressed by virtue, or, as I was saying a little earlier about the passions, recalled to their proper purpose.
Notes and citation
Summary: The pleasures of the five senses must be controlled.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.1 (CSEL 19:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-1).
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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).
6.20.2CSEL 19:555–556
ceterae animantes praeter unam uoluptatem, quae ad generandum pertinet, nullam sentiunt. utuntur ergo sensibus ad naturae suae necessitatem: uident, ut adpetant ea quibus opus est ad uitam tuendam; audiunt inuicem seque dinoscunt, ut possint congregari; quae utilia sunt ad uictum aut ex odore inueniunt aut ex sapore percipiunt, inutilia respuunt ac recusant; edendi ac bibendi officium uentris plenitudine metiuntur.
Other living beings feel no pleasure except the one that belongs to reproduction. So they use their senses for the needs of their nature: they see so as to seek what they need to preserve life; they hear one another and recognize each other so that they can flock together; they find what is useful for food by smell or perceive it by taste, and reject and refuse what is useless; they measure eating and drinking by the fullness of the belly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Animals use their senses only for natural needs.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.2 (CSEL 19:555–556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-2).
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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).
6.20.3CSEL 19:556
homini uero sollertissimi artificis prouidentia dedit uoluptatem infinitam et in uitium cadentem, quia proposuit ei uirtutem, quae cum uoluptate semper tamquam cum domestico hoste pugnaret.
But to man the providence of the most skillful Maker gave a pleasure that is unlimited and liable to fall into vice, because he set virtue before him, to fight always against pleasure as against an enemy in the house.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man's unlimited pleasure is a field for virtue's fight.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.3 (CSEL 19:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-3).
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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).
6.20.4CSEL 19:556
Cicero in Catone maiore stupra uero inquit et adulteria et omne flagitium nullis excitari aliis inlecebris nisi uoluptatis. cumque homini siue natura siue quis deus nihil mente praestabilius dedisset, huic diuino muneri ac dono nihil tam inimicum quam uoluptatem:
Cicero in his Cato the Elder says: "Acts of sexual immorality, adulteries, and every outrage are stirred up by no other enticements than those of pleasure. And since nature, or some god, has given man nothing more excellent than the mind, nothing is so hostile to this divine gift and present as pleasure;
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero: pleasure is the enemy of the mind.
- Cicero, On Old Age 40–42. "Sexual immorality" renders stupra.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.4 (CSEL 19:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-4).
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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).
6.20.5CSEL 19:556
nec enim libidine dominante temperantiae locum esse neque in uoluptatis regno uirtutem posse consistere. sed e contrario deus idcirco uirtutem dedit, ut expugnaret ac uinceret uoluptatem eamque egredientem fines sibi datos intra praescriptum coherceret, ne hominem suauitatibus delenitum atque captum dicioni suae subiceret ac sempiterna morte multaret.
for where lust rules there is no room for self-control, nor can virtue stand in the kingdom of pleasure." But on the contrary, God gave virtue precisely so that it might attack and conquer pleasure and, when pleasure goes beyond the limits given it, restrain it within what is prescribed, lest it subject man, soothed and captured by sweetness, to its rule and punish him with eternal death.
Notes and citation
Summary: God gave virtue to master pleasure.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.5 (CSEL 19:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-5).
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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).
6.20.6CSEL 19:556–557
uoluptas oculorum uaria est et multiplex: quae capitur ex aspectu rerum quae sunt in usu hominum uel natura uel opere delectabiles. hanc philosophi rectissime sustulerunt.
The pleasure of the eyes is varied and manifold: it is taken from the sight of things in human use that are delightful by nature or workmanship. The philosophers very rightly did away with this.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers rejected the pleasure of the eyes.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.6 (CSEL 19:556–557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-6).
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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).
6.20.7CSEL 19:557
aiunt enim multo esse praeclarius et homine dignius caelum potius quam caelata intueri et hoc pulcherrimum opus intermicantibus astrorum luminibus tamquam floribus adornatum quam picta et ficta et gemmis distincta mirari.
For they say it is much more excellent and worthy of man to gaze at the heavens rather than at engravings, and to admire this most beautiful work adorned with the twinkling lights of the stars as with flowers, rather than things painted, sculpted, and studded with gems.
Notes and citation
Summary: Better to gaze at the heavens than at art.
- The pun caelum/caelata ("heaven"/"engravings") is in the Latin.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.7 (CSEL 19:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-7).
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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).
6.20.8CSEL 19:557
sed cum diserte ad contemptum terrestrium nos exhortati sunt et ad caeli spectaculum excitauerunt, tamen spectacula haec publica non contemnunt.
But though they eloquently urged us to despise earthly things and roused us to the spectacle of heaven, they still do not despise these public spectacles.
Notes and citation
Summary: Yet philosophers attend public shows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.8 (CSEL 19:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-8).
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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).
6.20.9CSEL 19:557
itaque iis et delectantur et libenter intersunt: quae quoniam maxima sunt inritamenta uitiorum et ad corrumpendos animos potentissime ualent, tollenda sunt nobis, quia non modo ad beatam uitam nihil conferunt, sed etiam nocent plurimum.
So they both enjoy them and gladly attend them. But since these are the greatest incitements to vice and most powerful in corrupting minds, we must do away with them, because they not only contribute nothing to the happy life but even do very great harm.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians must shun public spectacles.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.9 (CSEL 19:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-9).
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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).
6.20.10CSEL 19:557
nam qui hominem quamuis ob merita damnatum in conspectu suo iugulari pro uoluptate computat, conscientiam suam polluit, tam scilicet quam si homicidii quod fit occulte spectator et particeps fiat.
For whoever counts it a pleasure to see a man, even one justly condemned, have his throat cut in his sight defiles his conscience just as if he became a spectator and partner of a murder committed in secret.
Notes and citation
Summary: Watching executions for pleasure defiles the conscience.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.10 (CSEL 19:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-10).
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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).
6.20.11CSEL 19:557
hos tamen ludos uocant, in quibus humanus sanguis effunditur. adeo longe ab hominibus secessit humanitas, ut cum animas hominum interficiant, ludere se opinentur, nocentiores iis omnibus quorum sanguinem uoluptati habent.
Yet they call these "games," in which human blood is shed. Humanity has withdrawn so far from human beings that when they destroy human lives, they think they are playing, being more guilty than all those whose blood they take as a pleasure.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gladiatorial "games" are bloodshed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and OCR: S for fi): inter- Sciant → interficiant.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.11 (CSEL 19:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-11).
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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).
6.20.12CSEL 19:557–558
quaero nunc an possint pii et iusti homines esse qui constitutos sub ictu mortis ac misericordiam deprecantes non tantum patiuntur occidi, sed et flagitant feruntque ad mortem crudelia et inhumana suffragia nec uulneribus satiati nec cruore contenti. quin etiam percussos iacentesque repeti iubent et cadauera ictibus dissipari, ne quis illos simulata morte deludat.
I ask now whether those can be pious and just who not only allow men placed under the stroke of death and begging for mercy to be killed, but even demand it and cast cruel and inhuman votes for death, neither sated with wounds nor content with blood. Indeed, they even order the struck and fallen to be attacked again and their corpses hacked apart, so that no one may cheat them by feigning death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Spectators demand death and mutilation.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.12 (CSEL 19:557–558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-12).
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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).
6.20.13CSEL 19:558
irascuntur etiam pugnantibus, nisi celeriter e duobus alter occisus est, et tamquam humanum sanguinem sitiant, oderunt moras. alios illis conpares dari poscunt recentiores, ut quam primum oculos suos satient.
They are even angry with the fighters unless one of the two is quickly killed, and, as if thirsting for human blood, they hate delays. They demand that others be given to them as matched pairs, fresher ones, to sate their eyes as soon as possible.
Notes and citation
Summary: Crowds thirst for quick killing.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.13 (CSEL 19:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-13).
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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).
6.20.14CSEL 19:558
hac consuetudine inbuti humanitatem perdiderunt. itaque non parcunt etiam innocentibus, sed exercent in omnes quod in malorum trucidatione didicerunt.
Steeped in this custom, they have lost their humanity. So they do not spare even the innocent, but practice on all what they learned in the slaughter of the wicked.
Notes and citation
Summary: The arena destroys humanity.
Topics: Ethics, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.14 (CSEL 19:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-14).
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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).
6.20.15CSEL 19:558
huius igitur publici homicidii socios et participes esse non conuenit eos qui iustitiae uiam tenere nituntur. non enim cum occidere deus uetat, latrocinari nos tantum prohibet, quod ne per leges quidem publicas licet, sed ea quoque ne fiant monet quae aput homines pro licitis habentur.
So it is not fitting that those who strive to keep the way of justice be partners and sharers in this public homicide. For when God forbids killing, he forbids not only robbery with violence, which is not permitted even by public laws, but warns that we should not do even those things which among men are held lawful.
Exod 20:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's prohibition of killing extends to lawful killing.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.15 (CSEL 19:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-15).
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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).
6.20.16CSEL 19:558
ita neque militare iusto licebit, cuius militia est ipsa iustitia, neque uero accusare quemquam crimine capitali, quia nihil distat utrumne ferro an uerbo potius occidas, quoniam occisio ipsa prohibetur.
So it will not be permitted to the just man to serve as a soldier, since his military service is justice itself, nor to accuse anyone on a capital charge, because it makes no difference whether you kill with the sword or with a word, since killing itself is forbidden.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just man may not be a soldier or bring capital charges.
- Lactantius's view that Christians should not serve in the army or bring capital prosecutions; stated as his own position.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.16 (CSEL 19:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-16).
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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).
6.20.17CSEL 19:558
itaque in hoc dei praecepto nullam prorsus exceptionem fieri oportet, quin occidere hominem sit semper nefas, quem deus sacrosanctum animal esse uoluit.
So in this precept of God no exception at all should be made: it is always wrong to kill a human being, whom God willed to be a sacred living being.
Exod 20:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 9:6 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Killing a human being is always wrong.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.17 (CSEL 19:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-17).
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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).
6.20.18CSEL 19:558–559
ergo ne illut quidem concedi aliquis existimet, ut recens natos liceat oblidere, quae uel maxima est inpietas: ad uitam enim deus inspirat animas, non ad mortem.
So let no one think that even this is allowed: to strangle newborn children, which is the very greatest impiety; for God breathes souls into them for life, not for death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Infanticide is the greatest impiety.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: l for i; OCR: n for xi; stray period): lliut → illut; enstimet → existimet; maxima. est → maxima est.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.18 (CSEL 19:558–559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-18).
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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).
6.20.19CSEL 19:559
uerum homines, ne quod sit facinus quo manus suas non polluant, rudibus adhuc et simplicibus animis abnegant lucem non a se datam.
But people, so that there may be no crime with which they do not pollute their hands, deny to souls still raw and simple a light which they themselves did not give.
Notes and citation
Summary: Parents deny their infants the light they did not give.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.19 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-19).
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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).
6.20.20CSEL 19:559
expectet uero aliquis ut alieno sanguini parcant qui non parcunt suo? sed hi sine ulla controuersia scelerati et iniusti: quid illi quos falsa pietas cogit exponere?
Would anyone expect those to spare others' blood who do not spare their own? These, without any dispute, are wicked and unjust. What of those whom a false piety compels to expose their children?
Notes and citation
Summary: Exposure of infants is also condemned.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.20 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-20).
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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).
6.20.21CSEL 19:559
num possunt innocentes existimari qui uiscera sua in praedam canibus obiciunt et quantum in ipsis est crudelius necant quam si strangulassent?
Can those be thought innocent who throw their own flesh and blood as prey to dogs and, as far as lies in them, kill it more cruelly than if they had strangled it?
Notes and citation
Summary: Exposure is crueler than strangling.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.21 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-21).
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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).
6.20.22CSEL 19:559
quis dubitet quin impius sit qui alienae misericordiae locum tribuit? qui, etiamsi contingat ei quod uoluit, ut alatur, addixit certe sanguinem suum uel ad seruitutem uel ad lupanar.
Who would doubt that he is impious who leaves room for another's mercy? Even if what he wanted happens and the child is raised, he has certainly consigned his own blood either to slavery or to the brothel.
Notes and citation
Summary: Exposed children end in slavery or prostitution.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.22 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-22).
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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).
6.20.23CSEL 19:559
quae autem possint uel soleant accidere in utroque sexu per errorem, quis non intellegit, quis ignorat? quod uel unius Oedipodis declarat exemplum duplici scelere confusum. tam igitur nefarium est exponere quam necare.
And who does not understand, who does not know, what can happen, or usually does happen, in either sex through ignorance? The single example of Oedipus shows it, confounded by a double crime. So it is as wicked to expose as to kill.
Notes and citation
Summary: Exposure risks unwitting incest, as with Oedipus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.23 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-23).
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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).
6.20.24CSEL 19:559
at enim parricidae facultatum angustias conqueruntur nec se pluribus liberis educandis sufficere posse praetendunt: quasi uero aut facultates in potestate sint possidentium aut non cottidie deus et ex diuitibus pauperes et ex pauperibus diuites faciat.
But the parricides complain of their narrow means and plead that they cannot afford to raise more children; as if means were in the power of those who have them, or as if God did not daily make the rich poor and the poor rich.
1 Sam 2:7 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Poverty is no excuse for killing children.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and stray period): possiden-. tium → possidentium.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.24 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-24).
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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).
6.20.25CSEL 19:559
quare si quis liberos ob pauperiem non poterit educare, satius est ut se ab uxoris congressione contineat quam sceleratis manibus dei opera corrumpat.
So if anyone cannot raise children because of poverty, it is better for him to abstain from intercourse with his wife than to spoil the works of God with criminal hands.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those too poor for children should abstain from intercourse.
- Lactantius's counsel: abstinence within marriage rather than infanticide or exposure.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.25 (CSEL 19:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-25).
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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).
6.20.26CSEL 19:559–560
ergo si homicidium facere nullo modo licet, nec interesse omnino conceditur, ne conscientiam perfundat ullus cruor, siquidem populo sanguis ille praestatur.
So if it is in no way lawful to commit homicide, it is not permitted even to be present at all, lest any blood splash the conscience, since that blood is offered to the people as a show.
Notes and citation
Summary: One may not even watch a killing.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.26 (CSEL 19:559–560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-26).
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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).
6.20.27CSEL 19:560
in scaenis quoque nescio an sit corruptela uitiosior. nam et comicae fabulae de stupris uirginum loquuntur aut amoribus meretricum, et quo magis sunt eloquentes qui flagitia illa finxerunt, eo magis sententiarum elegantia persuadent et facilius inhaerent audientium memoriae uersus numerosi et ornati.
I do not know whether corruption on the stage is not even more vicious. For comedies tell of the seduction of virgins or the loves of prostitutes; and the more eloquent those who invented these outrages, the more they persuade by the elegance of their sentences, and the more easily rhythmical and polished verses stick in the hearers' memory.
Notes and citation
Summary: The theater corrupts through eloquent depictions of vice.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: m for in, m for ni): m scaems → in scaenis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.27 (CSEL 19:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-27).
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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).
6.20.28CSEL 19:560
item tragicae historiae subiciunt oculis parricidia et incesta regum malorum et coturnata scelera demonstrant.
Likewise tragedies put before the eyes the parricides and incests of wicked kings and display crimes in buskins.
Notes and citation
Summary: Tragedy displays royal crimes.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.28 (CSEL 19:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-28).
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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).
6.20.29CSEL 19:560
histrionum quoque inpudicissimi motus quid aliut nisi libidines et docent et instigant? quorum eneruata corpora et in muliebrem incessum habitumque mollita inpudicas feminas inhonestis gestibus mentiuntur.
And what do the most shameless movements of actors teach and incite but lusts? Their emasculated bodies, softened into a woman's gait and bearing, counterfeit unchaste women with indecent gestures.
Notes and citation
Summary: Actors' gestures incite lust.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.29 (CSEL 19:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-29).
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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).
6.20.30CSEL 19:560
quid de mimis loquar corruptelarum praeferentibus disciplinam, qui docent adulteria, dum fingunt, et simulacris erudiunt ad uera? quid iuuenes aut uirgines faciant, cum haec et fieri sine pudore et spectari libenter ab omnibus cernunt?
What shall I say of the mimes, who display a school of corruption, who teach adulteries while they feign them, and train by imitations for the real thing? What would young men or maidens do when they see these things done without shame and watched gladly by all?
Notes and citation
Summary: Mimes teach adultery.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.30 (CSEL 19:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-30).
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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).
6.20.31CSEL 19:560–561
admonentur utique quid facere possint et inflammantur libidine, quae aspectu maxime concitatur, ac se quisque pro sexu in illis imaginibus praefigurat probantque illa, dum rident, et adhaerentibus uitiis corruptiores ad cubicula reuertuntur, nec pueri modo, quos praematuris uitiis imbui non oportet, sed etiam senes, quos peccare iam non decet.
They are surely reminded of what they could do, and are inflamed with lust, which is stirred most by sight; each pictures himself in those images according to sex; they approve these things while they laugh, and, with the vices clinging to them, they return more corrupt to their bedrooms; and not only boys, who should not be steeped in premature vices, but also old men, whom sin no longer befits.
Notes and citation
Summary: Spectators carry the vices home.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): senes,. quos → senes, quos.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.31 (CSEL 19:560–561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-31).
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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).
6.20.32CSEL 19:561
circensium quoque ludorum ratio quid aliut habet nisi leuitatem uanitatem insaniam? tanto namque impetu concitantur animi in furorem, quanto illic impetu curritur, ut iam plus spectaculi exhibeant qui spectandi gratia ueniunt, cum exclamare et efferri et exsilire coeperint.
And what does the business of the circus games contain but frivolity, vanity, and madness? For minds are roused to frenzy with as great a rush as the race is run there, so that those who come to watch make more of a show than the show, when they begin to shout, get carried away, and leap up.
Notes and citation
Summary: Chariot races incite frenzy.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.32 (CSEL 19:561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-32).
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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).
6.20.33CSEL 19:561
uitanda ergo spectacula omnia, non solum ne quid uitiorum pectoribus insidat, quae sedata et pacifica esse debent, sed ne cuius nos uoluptatis consuetudo deleniat et a deo atque a bonis operibus auertat.
So all spectacles must be avoided, not only so that no vices may settle in our hearts, which ought to be calm and peaceful, but so that the habit of some pleasure may not soothe us and turn us away from God and good works.
Notes and citation
Summary: All spectacles must be avoided.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.33 (CSEL 19:561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-33).
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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).
6.20.34CSEL 19:561
nam ludorum celebrationes deorum festa sunt, siquidem ob natales eorum uel templorum nouorum dedicationes sunt constituti.
For the celebrations of the games are festivals of the gods, since they were established for their birthdays or for the dedication of new temples.
Notes and citation
Summary: The games are pagan religious festivals.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.34 (CSEL 19:561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-34).
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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).
6.20.35CSEL 19:561
et primitus quidem uenationes, quae uocantur munera, Saturno sunt attributae, ludi autem scaenici Libero, circenses uero Neptuno. paulatim tamen et ceteris diis idem honos tribui coepit singulique ludi nominibus eorum consecrati sunt, sicut Sinnius Capito in libris spectaculorum docet.
And at first the hunts, called "gifts" (munera), were assigned to Saturn, the stage plays to Liber, and the circus races to Neptune. Gradually, however, the same honor began to be given to the other gods too, and individual games were consecrated to their names, as Sinnius Capito teaches in his books on spectacles.
Notes and citation
Summary: The games were dedicated to gods.
- Sinnius Capito, a Roman antiquarian whose works are lost.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.35 (CSEL 19:561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-35).
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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).
6.20.36CSEL 19:561–562
si quis igitur spectaculis interest ad quae religionis gratia conuenitur, discessit a dei cultu et ad deos se contulit, quorum natales et festa celebrauit.
So if anyone attends spectacles at which people gather for the sake of religion, he has departed from the worship of God and gone over to the gods whose birthdays and festivals he has celebrated.
Notes and citation
Summary: Attending the games is idolatry.
- Compare Tertullian, On the Shows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.20.36 (CSEL 19:561–562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-17-1/#p-6-20-36).
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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).