Divine Institutes 6.4.1–6.8.12
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 4
6.4.1CSEL 19:489
Una est itaque uirtutis ac bonorum uia, quae fert non in Elysios campos, ut poetae loquuntur, sed ad ipsam mundi arcem, at laeua malorum exercet poenas et ad impia Tartara mittit.
So there is one way of virtue and goods, which leads not to the Elysian fields, as the poets say, but to the very citadel of the world; "but the left exacts the punishments of the wicked and sends them to impious Tartarus."
Notes and citation
Summary: The way of virtue leads to heaven, the left way to Tartarus.
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.542–543.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 6.542-543 (Virgil; quotation)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.1 (CSEL 19:489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.2CSEL 19:489
est enim criminatoris illius, qui prauis religionibus institutis auertit homines ab itinere caelesti et in uiam perditionis inducit.
For it belongs to that accuser who, by establishing perverse religions, turns people away from the heavenly road and leads them into the way of perdition.
Notes and citation
Summary: The left way belongs to the devil.
- "Accuser" (criminator) renders the meaning of diabolos.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.2 (CSEL 19:489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.3CSEL 19:489
cuius uiae species et figura sic est conposita in aspectum, ut plana et patens et omni genere florum atque fructuum delectabilis esse uideatur. in ea enim posuit deus omnia quae pro bonis habentur in terra, opulentiam dico, honorem quietem uoluptatem inlecebras omnes, sed cum his pariter iniustitiam crudelitatem superbiam perfidiam libidinem cupiditatem discordiam ignorantiam mendacium stultitiam ceteraque uitia. exitus autem huius uiae talis est.
The appearance and shape of this way are so arranged to the eye that it seems level, open, and delightful with every kind of flower and fruit. For God placed in it all that is counted good on earth, I mean wealth, honor, ease, pleasure, all enticements; but together with these, injustice, cruelty, pride, faithlessness, lust, greed, discord, ignorance, falsehood, folly, and the other vices. The end of this way is as follows.
Notes and citation
Summary: The broad way looks delightful but holds vice.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.3 (CSEL 19:489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.4CSEL 19:489–490
cum uentum fuerit ad extremum, unde iam regredi non licet, cum omni sua pulchritudine tam subito praeciditur, ut non ante quis fraudem prospicere possit quam praecipitatus in altitudinem profundam cadat.
When one has come to the end, from which there is no turning back, it is cut off so suddenly, with all its beauty, that no one can see the trap before he falls headlong into a deep abyss.
Notes and citation
Summary: The broad way ends suddenly in an abyss.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.4 (CSEL 19:489–490; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.5CSEL 19:490
quisquis enim praesentium bonorum specie captus et in his consequendis ac fruendis occupatus non praeuiderit ea quae post mortem secutura sunt seque a deo auerterit, is uero ad inferos deiectus in aeternam damnabitur poenam.
For whoever, captivated by the appearance of present goods and busy acquiring and enjoying them, has not foreseen what will follow after death and has turned away from God, will be cast down to hell and condemned to eternal punishment.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who live for present goods are condemned after death.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.5 (CSEL 19:490; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.6CSEL 19:490
uia uero caelestis difficilis et cliuosa proposita est uel spinis horrentibus aspera uel saxis extantibus impedita, ut cum summo labore ac pedum tritu cumque magna cadendi sollicitudine sit cuique gradiendum.
But the heavenly way has been set out difficult and steep, either rough with bristling thorns or blocked by jutting rocks, so that everyone must walk with the greatest labor and wearing of the feet and with great anxiety of falling.
Matt 7:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The heavenly way is hard and steep.
- Compare Matt 7:14.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated word): uia uero uia caelestis → uia uero caelestis.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.6 (CSEL 19:490; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.7CSEL 19:490
in hac posuit iustitiam temperantiam patientiam fidem castitatem abstinentiam concordiam scientiam ueritatem sapientiam ceterasque uirtutes, sed simul cum his paupertatem ignominiam laborem dolorem amaritudines omnes.
In it he placed justice, self-control, patience, faithfulness, chastity, abstinence, harmony, knowledge, truth, wisdom, and the other virtues, but together with them poverty, disgrace, labor, pain, and every bitterness.
Notes and citation
Summary: The narrow way holds virtues along with hardships.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.7 (CSEL 19:490; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.8CSEL 19:490
quisquis enim spem suam porrexerit longius et meliora maluerit, carebit his terrae bonis, ut expeditus ac leuis difficultatem uiae superet. nec enim potest qui se adparatu regio circumdederit aut diuitiis onerauerit, angustias illas uel ingredi uel tenere.
For whoever has stretched his hope further and preferred better things will go without these goods of the earth, so as to overcome the difficulty of the way unencumbered and light. For one who has surrounded himself with royal pomp or loaded himself with riches cannot enter or keep to those narrow places.
Matt 19:24 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Riches hinder travel on the narrow way.
- Compare Matt 19:24.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.8 (CSEL 19:490; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.9CSEL 19:490–491
unde intellegitur idcirco malis et iniustis facilius prouenire quae cupiant, quia prona et decliuis est eorum uia, bonis autem quae optent difficile procedere, quia difficili et arduo itinere gradiuntur.
From this it is understood why the wicked and unjust more easily get what they desire, since their way is downhill and sloping, while for the good what they wish comes with difficulty, since they walk a hard and steep road.
Notes and citation
Summary: The wicked prosper more easily because their road is downhill.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.9 (CSEL 19:490–491; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.10CSEL 19:491
iustus ergo quoniam durum asperumque iter ingressus est, contemptui derisui odio sit necesse est. omnes enim quos cupiditas aut uoluptas praecipites trahit, inuident ei qui uirtutem capere potuit et inique ferunt id habere aliquem quod ipsi non habent.
So the just man, since he has entered on a hard and rough road, must be an object of contempt, mockery, and hatred. For all whom greed or pleasure drags headlong envy the one who has been able to acquire virtue, and resent that anyone should have what they do not have.
Notes and citation
Summary: The just are despised by those driven by greed and pleasure.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.10 (CSEL 19:491; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.11CSEL 19:491
erit itaque pauper humilis ignobilis subiectus iniuriae et tamen omnia quae amara sunt perferens, (s)et si patientiam iugem ad summum illum gradum finemque perduxerit, dabitur ei corona uirtutis et a deo pro laboribus quos in uita propter iustitiam pertulit inmortalitate donabitur.
So he will be poor, lowly, obscure, exposed to injury, and yet bearing all that is bitter; but if he carries his unbroken patience to that highest step and end, the crown of virtue will be given him, and he will be rewarded by God with immortality for the labors he endured in life for the sake of justice.
2 Tim 4:8 (echo, low confidence) · Jas 1:12 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Patient endurance wins the crown of immortality.
- "But" (set, for sed) is the editor's supplement.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.11 (CSEL 19:491; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.4.12CSEL 19:491–492
hae sunt uiae quas deus humanae uitae adsignauit: in quibus singulis et bona ostendit et mala, sed ordine praepostero atque conuerso. in sua enim monstrauit temporaria prius mala cum aeternis bonis, qui est ordo melior, in altera temporaria prius bona cum aeternis malis, qui est ordo deterior, ut quicumque praesentia mala cum iustitia delegerit, maiora et certiora consequatur bona quam fuerunt illa quae spreuit, quisquis autem praesentia bona praeposuerit iustitiae, in maiora et longiora incidat mala quam fuerunt illa quae fugit.
These are the ways God has assigned to human life. In each he has shown both goods and evils, but in reversed and inverted order. In his own way he showed temporary evils first with eternal goods, which is the better order; in the other, temporary goods first with eternal evils, which is the worse order; so that whoever has chosen present evils along with justice obtains greater and surer goods than those he spurned, while whoever has preferred present goods to justice falls into greater and longer evils than those he fled.
Notes and citation
Summary: God's way puts brief evils before eternal goods; the other the reverse.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.12 (CSEL 19:491–492; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-12).
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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).
6.4.13CSEL 19:492
haec enim uita corporalis quia breuis est, idcirco et mala eius et bona breuia sint necesse est, illa uero spiritalis quae huic terrenae contraria est quoniam sempiterna est, idcirco et bona eius et mala sempiterna sunt.
For since this bodily life is brief, its evils and goods must also be brief; but that spiritual life, which is opposite to this earthly one, since it is everlasting, has everlasting goods and evils.
Notes and citation
Summary: Earthly goods and evils are brief; spiritual ones eternal.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.13 (CSEL 19:492; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-13).
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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).
6.4.14CSEL 19:492
ita fit ut et bonis breuibus mala aeterna et malis breuibus bona aeterna succedant. itaque cum simul proposita sint homini bona et mala, considerare unum quemque secum decet quanto satius sit perpetuis bonis mala breuia pensare quam pro breuibus et caducis bonis mala perpetua sustinere.
So it comes about that eternal evils follow brief goods, and eternal goods follow brief evils. Since, then, goods and evils are set before a person together, each should consider within himself how much better it is to repay brief evils with perpetual goods than to endure perpetual evils for brief and perishable goods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Better brief evils and eternal goods than the reverse.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.14 (CSEL 19:492; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-14).
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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).
6.4.15CSEL 19:492
nam sicut in hoc saeculo cum est propositum cum hoste certamen, prius laborandum est, ut sis postmodum in otio, esuriendum sitiendum, aestus frigora perferenda, humi quiescendum uigilandum periclitandum est, ut saluis pignoribus et domo et re familiari et omnibus pacis ac
For just as in this world, when a battle with an enemy is set, one must labor first so as to be at ease afterward; one must go hungry and thirsty, endure heat and cold, sleep on the ground, keep watch, and face danger, so that with one's children, home, property, and all the goods of peace and
Notes and citation
Summary: In war one labors first to enjoy peace later.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.15 (CSEL 19:492; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-15).
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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).
6.4.16CSEL 19:492–493
uictoriae bonis perfrui possis, sin autem praesens otium malueris quam laborem, malum tibi maximum facias necesse est — praeoccupabit enim aduersarius non resistentem, uastabuntur agri, diripietur domus, in praedam uxor ac liberi uenient, ipse interficiere aut capiere: quae omnia ne accidant, praesens commodum differendum est, ut maius longiusque pariatur —:
victory safe, one may enjoy them; but if you prefer present ease to labor, you inevitably do yourself the greatest harm (for the adversary will overtake you when you do not resist, the fields will be laid waste, the house plundered, wife and children will become booty, and you yourself will be killed or captured; to prevent all this, present advantage must be postponed so that a greater and longer one may be won);
Notes and citation
Summary: Choosing ease invites ruin.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.16 (CSEL 19:492–493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-16).
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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).
6.4.17CSEL 19:493
sic in omni hac uita, quia nobis aduersarium deus reseruauit, ut possemus capere uirtutem, omittenda est praesens uoluptas, ne hostis opprimat, uigilandum, stationes agendae, militares expeditiones obeundae, fundendus ad ultimum cruor, omnia denique amara et grauia patienter ferenda, eo quidem promptius, quod nobis imperator noster deus praemia pro laboribus aeterna constituit.
so in this whole life, since God has kept an adversary for us so that we could acquire virtue, present pleasure must be given up lest the enemy overwhelm us; we must keep watch, stand guard, go on campaigns, shed our blood to the last, and in short bear patiently everything bitter and heavy, and all the more readily since God our Commander has appointed eternal rewards for our labors.
Eph 6:12 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Life is a campaign against the adversary, with eternal rewards.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.17 (CSEL 19:493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-17).
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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).
6.4.18CSEL 19:493
et cum in hac terrena militia tantum homines laboris exhauriant, ut ea sibi pariant quae possunt eodem modo perire quo parta sunt, certe nobis nullus labor recusandus est, quibus id adquiritur quod nullo modo possit amitti.
And since in this earthly warfare people spend so much labor to win for themselves what can perish the same way it was won, surely we must refuse no labor, by which we gain what can in no way be lost.
1 Cor 9:25 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No labor is too much for an imperishable prize.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.18 (CSEL 19:493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-18).
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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).
6.4.19CSEL 19:493
uoluit enim deus, qui hominem ad hanc militiam genuit, expeditos in acie stare et intentis acriter animis ad unius hostis insidias uel apertos impetus uigilare, qui nos, sicut periti et exercitati duces solent, uariis artibus captat pro cuiusque natura et moribus saeuiens.
For God, who begot man for this warfare, willed that we stand in the battle line unencumbered and, with minds keenly alert, watch for the ambushes or open attacks of one enemy, who, as skilled and experienced commanders do, tries to catch us by various arts, raging according to each person's nature and character.
Notes and citation
Summary: The one enemy attacks each person by suitable arts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.19 (CSEL 19:493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-19).
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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).
6.4.20CSEL 19:493–494
aliis enim cupiditatem insatiabilem inmittit, ut opibus suis tamquam conpedibus inligatos a uia ueritatis excutiat, alios inflammat irae stimulis, ut ad nocendum potius intentos a dei contemplatione detorqueat, alios inmoderatis libidinibus inmergit, ut uoluptati et corpori seruientes ad uirtutem respicere non possint, aliis uero inspirat inuidiam, ut suis ipsi tormentis occupati nihil cogitent aliut nisi eorum quos oderint felicitatem.
For on some he sends insatiable greed, to shake them off the way of truth bound by their wealth as by fetters; others he inflames with the goads of anger, to twist them, bent on harming, away from the contemplation of God; others he plunges into immoderate lusts, so that, serving pleasure and the body, they cannot look back to virtue; and into others he breathes envy, so that, occupied with their own torments, they think of nothing but the happiness of those they hate.
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil uses greed, anger, lust, and envy.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.20 (CSEL 19:493–494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-20).
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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).
6.4.21CSEL 19:494
alios inflat ambitionibus: ii sunt qui ad gerendos magistratus omnem uitae suae operam curamque conuertunt, ut fastos signent et annis nomen inponant.
Others he puffs up with ambitions: these are the ones who turn all the effort and care of their life to holding magistracies, so as to mark the calendars and give their name to years.
Notes and citation
Summary: Others he fills with ambition for office.
- Roman years were named after the consuls.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.21 (CSEL 19:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-21).
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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).
6.4.22CSEL 19:494
quorundam cupiditas tendit altius, non ut prouincias temporali gladio regant, sed ut infinita et perpetua potestate dominos se dici uelint uniuersi generis humani.
The desire of some reaches higher: not to rule provinces with a temporary sword, but to wish to be called masters of the whole human race with infinite and perpetual power.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some aim at universal domination.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: !! for li): tempora!! → temporali.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.22 (CSEL 19:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-22).
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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).
6.4.23CSEL 19:494
quos autem pios uiderit, uariis inplicat religionibus, ut impios faciat. iis uero qui sapientiam quaerunt, philosophiam in oculos inpingit, ut specie lucis excaecet, ne quis conprehendat ac teneat ueritatem.
Those he sees to be pious he entangles in various religions, to make them impious. And to those who seek wisdom he thrusts philosophy before their eyes, to blind them with the appearance of light, so that no one may grasp and hold the truth.
Notes and citation
Summary: He misleads the pious with false religion and the wise with philosophy.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.23 (CSEL 19:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-23).
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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).
6.4.24CSEL 19:494
sic hominibus obstruxit aditus omnes et obsaepsit uias publicis laetus erroribus. quos ut discutere possemus ipsumque auctorem malorum uincere, inluminauit nos deus et armauit uera caelestique uirtute. de qua nunc mihi disserendum est.
So he has blocked all approaches for mankind and hedged the roads, glad at public errors. So that we might dispel them and conquer the author of evils himself, God has enlightened us and armed us with true and heavenly virtue, which I must now discuss.
Notes and citation
Summary: God has armed us with heavenly virtue against the devil.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.4.24 (CSEL 19:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-4-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 5
6.5.1CSEL 19:494
Sed priusquam singulas uirtutes exponere incipio, determinanda est ipsa uirtus, quam non recte philosophi definierunt, quid esset aut in quibus rebus, quid operis, quid haberet officii. nomen itaque solum retinuerunt, uim uero et rationem et effectum perdiderunt.
But before I begin to set out the individual virtues, virtue itself must be defined, which the philosophers did not rightly define: what it is, in what things it lies, what its work and duty are. So they kept only the name, but lost its force, principle, and effect.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers kept the name of virtue but lost its substance.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.1 (CSEL 19:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.2CSEL 19:494–495
quaecumque autem in definitionem uirtutis solent dicere, paucis uersibus colligit et enarrat Lucilius, quos malo equidem ponere, ne dum multorum sententias refello, sim longior quam necesse est.
Whatever they usually say in defining virtue, Lucilius gathers and relates in a few verses, which I prefer to quote, lest, while I refute the views of many, I be longer than necessary.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucilius summarizes the definitions of virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.2 (CSEL 19:494–495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.3CSEL 19:495–496
uirtus, Albine, est pretium persoluere uerum quis in uersamur, quis uiuimus rebus potesse: uirtus est homini scire id quod quaeque habeat res, uirtus, scire homini rectum utile quid sit, honestum, quae bona, quae mala item, quid inutile turpe inhonestum: uirtus, quaerendae finem rei scire modumque, uirtus, diuitiis pretium persoluere posse, uirtus, id dare quod re ipsa debetur honori: hostem esse atque inimicum hominum morumque malorum, contra defensorem hominum morumque bonorum, hos magni facere, his bene uelle, his uiuere amicum: commoda praeterea patriai prima putare, deinde parentum, tertia iam postremaque nostra.
"Virtue, Albinus, is to be able to pay the true price for the things amid which we move and live; virtue is for a man to know what each thing holds; virtue is for a man to know what is right, useful, honorable, what things are good and likewise bad, what is useless, shameful, dishonorable; virtue is to know the limit and measure of acquiring; virtue is to be able to pay wealth its due price; virtue is to give what is truly owed to honor; to be the foe and enemy of bad men and bad ways, and on the other hand the defender of good men and good ways, to value these highly, wish them well, live as their friend; and besides, to hold the interests of one's country first, then those of one's parents, third and last our own."
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucilius' verses defining virtue.
- Lucilius, fragment 1326–1338 (Marx).
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.3 (CSEL 19:495–496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.4CSEL 19:496
ab his definitionibus, quas poeta breuiter conprehendit, Marcus Tullius traxit officia uiuendi Panaetium Stoicum secutus eaque tribus uoluminibus inclusit. haec autem quam falsa sint mox uidebimus, ut appareat quantum in nos dignatio diuina contulerit, quae nobis aperuit ueritatem.
From these definitions, which the poet briefly summed up, Marcus Tullius drew his duties of living, following Panaetius the Stoic, and set them out in three volumes. How false these are we shall soon see, so that it may be clear how much the divine favor has bestowed on us in opening the truth to us.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero's On Duties followed these definitions.
- Cicero, On Duties, based on Panaetius.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.4 (CSEL 19:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.5CSEL 19:496
uirtutem esse dixit scire quid sit bonum et malum, quid turpe, quid honestum, quid utile, quid minus. breuius facere potuit, si tantum bonum ac malum diceret, quia nihil potest esse utile uel honestum quod non idem bonum sit, nihil inutile ac turpe quod non idem malum. quod et philosophis uidetur et idem Cicero in tertio supra dicti operis ostendit.
He said that virtue is knowing what is good and bad, what shameful, what honorable, what useful, what less so. He could have been briefer if he had said only good and bad, since nothing can be useful or honorable that is not also good, and nothing useless and shameful that is not also bad. This is the view of the philosophers too, and Cicero himself shows it in the third book of the work mentioned.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucilius' list reduces to knowing good and evil.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.5 (CSEL 19:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.6CSEL 19:496
uerum scientia non potest esse uirtus, quia non est intus in nobis, sed ad nos extrinsecus uenit. quod autem transire ab altero ad alterum potest, uirtus non est, quia uirtus sua cuique est. scientia igitur alieni beneficii est, quia posita est in audiendo, uirtus tota nostra est, quia posita est in uoluntate faciendi boni.
But knowledge cannot be virtue, because it is not within us but comes to us from outside. And what can pass from one person to another is not virtue, because virtue is each person's own. So knowledge is a benefit received from another, since it lies in hearing; virtue is wholly ours, since it lies in the will to do good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue lies in the will, not in knowledge.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.6 (CSEL 19:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.7CSEL 19:496
sicut ergo in itinere celebrando nihil prodest uiam nosse, nisi conatus ac uires suppetant ambulandi, ita uero scientia nihil prodest, si uirtus propria deficiat.
So just as in making a journey it does no good to know the way unless the effort and strength to walk are present, so knowledge does no good if one's own virtue is lacking.
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowing the way is useless without walking it.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.7 (CSEL 19:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.8CSEL 19:496
nam fere etiam ii qui peccant, etsi non perfecte, tamen quid sit bonum et malum sentiunt, et quotiens aliquid improbe faciunt, peccare se sciunt et ideo celare nituntur.
For generally even those who sin perceive, if not perfectly, what is good and bad; and whenever they do something wicked, they know they are sinning and therefore try to hide it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sinners know they sin and hide it.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: u for ii): etiam u qui → etiam ii qui.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.8 (CSEL 19:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.9CSEL 19:496–497
sed cum eos boni et mali natura non fallat, cupiditate mala uincuntur, ut peccent, quia deest illis uirtus, id est cupiditas recta et honesta faciendi.
But though the nature of good and evil does not deceive them, they are overcome by evil desire and sin, because they lack virtue, that is, the right desire to do what is honorable.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue is the right desire to do good.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.9 (CSEL 19:496–497; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.10CSEL 19:497
ex hoc igitur apparet aliut esse scientiam boni malique, aliut uirtutem, quod potest esse scientia sine uirtute, sicut in plurimis philosophorum fuit. in quo, quoniam recte ad culpam pertinet non fecisse quae scieris, recte uoluntas praua et uitiosus animus, quem ignoratio excusare non potest, punietur.
From this it is clear that knowledge of good and evil is one thing and virtue another, since there can be knowledge without virtue, as there was in very many philosophers. In this, since failing to do what you know is rightly counted a fault, the perverse will and vicious mind, which ignorance cannot excuse, will rightly be punished.
Jas 4:17 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowledge without virtue deserves punishment.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and stray mark): philo-_ sophorum → philosophorum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.10 (CSEL 19:497; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.11CSEL 19:497
ergo sicut uirtus non est bonum ac malum scire, ita uirtus est bonum facere, malum non facere. et tamen scientia sic cum uirtute coniuncta est, ut scientia praecedat uirtutem, uirtus sequatur scientiam, quia nihil prodest cognitio, nisi et actio subsequatur. Horatius igitur paulo melius:
So just as virtue is not knowing good and evil, virtue is doing good and not doing evil. And yet knowledge is so joined with virtue that knowledge precedes virtue and virtue follows knowledge, because knowing is of no use unless action follows. So Horace put it a little better:
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue is doing good and avoiding evil.
- The quotation follows in the next section.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.11 (CSEL 19:497; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.12CSEL 19:497
uirtus est uitium fugere et sapientia prima, sed inepte, quod eam contrario terminauit, ut si diceret: bonum est quod malum non est. cum enim quid sit uirtus nescio, ne uitium quidem quid sit scio. utrumque igitur indiget definitione, quia natura rei talis est, ut utrumque aut intellegi aut non intellegi sit necesse.
"Virtue is to flee vice, and the first wisdom"; but foolishly, because he defined it by its contrary, as if he were to say, "Good is what is not bad." For when I do not know what virtue is, I do not know what vice is either. So both need defining, since the nature of the thing is such that both must be either understood or not understood.
Notes and citation
Summary: Horace defined virtue only negatively.
- Horace, Epistles 1.1.41–42 (no id for Horace in the controlled list).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.12 (CSEL 19:497; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.13CSEL 19:497–498
uerum nos faciamus quod ille debuit. uirtus est iram cohibere, cupiditatem conpescere, libidinem refrenare: id est enim uitium fugere. nam fere omnia quae fiunt iniuste atque inprobe, ab his oriuntur adfectibus.
But let us do what he ought to have done. Virtue is to restrain anger, to check greed, to rein in lust: for that is fleeing vice. For almost everything done unjustly and wickedly arises from these passions.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue restrains anger, greed, and lust.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.13 (CSEL 19:497–498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.14CSEL 19:498
si enim commotionis huius quae ira dicitur impetus retundatur, omnes hominum contentiones malae sopientur, nemo insidiabitur, nemo prosiliet ad nocendum.
For if the impulse of this agitation called anger is blunted, all evil strife among people will be laid to rest; no one will plot, no one will leap forward to harm.
Notes and citation
Summary: Restrained anger ends strife.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.14 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.5.15CSEL 19:498
item si cupiditas temperetur, nemo terra marique grassabitur, nemo exercitum ducet, ut rapiat et uastet aliena.
Likewise, if greed is moderated, no one will rob on land and sea, no one will lead an army to seize and lay waste others' property.
Notes and citation
Summary: Restrained greed ends robbery and war.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.15 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-15).
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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).
6.5.16CSEL 19:498
item si ardor libidinum conprimatur, omnis aetas et sexus retinebit suam sanctitatem, nemo quidquam pudendum aut patietur aut faciet.
Likewise, if the heat of lusts is suppressed, every age and sex will keep its holiness; no one will suffer or do anything shameful.
Notes and citation
Summary: Restrained lust preserves chastity.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.16 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-16).
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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).
6.5.17CSEL 19:498
ergo uniuersa scelera et flagitia his commotionibus uirtute sedatis ex hominum uita moribusque tollentur. quae sedatio commotionum et adfectuum hanc habet rationem, ut omnia recta faciamus.
So when these agitations are calmed by virtue, all crimes and outrages will be removed from human life and conduct. This calming of agitations and passions has this purpose: that we do everything rightly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Calming the passions removes crime.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.17 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-17).
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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).
6.5.18CSEL 19:498
omne igitur uirtutis officium est non peccare. quo profecto fungi non potest qui deum nescit, quoniam ignoratio eius a quo bona oriuntur, inprudentem inpingat in uitia necesse est.
So the whole duty of virtue is not to sin. And one who does not know God certainly cannot fulfill it, since ignorance of him from whom goods arise necessarily drives the unwise into vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Without knowing God one cannot avoid sin.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.18 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-18).
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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).
6.5.19CSEL 19:498
itaque ut breuius et significantius utriusque rei summa officia determinem, scientia est deum nosse, uirtus colere: in illo sapientia, in hoc iustitia continetur.
So, to define the chief duties of each more briefly and pointedly: knowledge is to know God, virtue is to worship him; in the former lies wisdom, in the latter justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowledge is knowing God; virtue is worshipping him.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.5.19 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-5-19).
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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).
Divine 6, chapter 6
6.6.1CSEL 19:498
Dixi, quod erat primum, scientiam boni non esse uirtutem, deinde, quid sit uirtus et in quo sit: sequitur ut id quoque ipsum, quid sit bonum et malum, nescisse philosophos breuiter ostendam, quia paene declaratum est in libro tertio, cum de summo bono disputarem.
I have said, first, that knowledge of the good is not virtue, and then what virtue is and in what it lies. It follows that I briefly show that the philosophers did not know even this, what good and evil are, since it was nearly made plain in the third book when I discussed the highest good.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers did not know what good and evil are.
- Institutes 3.7–12.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.1 (CSEL 19:498; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.2CSEL 19:498–499
qui autem quid esset summum nescierunt, et in ceteris bonis malisue, quae summa non sunt, errauerint necesse est: quae non potest uero iudicio examinare qui fontem ipsum non tenet unde illa descendunt.
Those who did not know what the highest good was must also have gone astray about the other goods and evils which are not the highest; for one who does not hold the very source from which they flow cannot examine them with true judgment.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not knowing the highest good, they erred about lesser goods.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.2 (CSEL 19:498–499; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.3CSEL 19:499
fons autem bonorum deus est, malorum uero ille scilicet diuini nominis semper inimicus, de quo saepe diximus: ab his duobus principiis bona malaque oriuntur.
The source of goods is God; of evils, that one who is always the enemy of the divine name, of whom we have often spoken. From these two principles goods and evils arise.
Notes and citation
Summary: God is the source of goods, the devil of evils.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.3 (CSEL 19:499; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.4CSEL 19:499
quae ueniunt a deo, hanc habent rationem, ut inmortalitatem parent, quod est summum bonum: quae autem ab illo altero, id habent officium, ut a caelestibus auocatum terrenisque demersum ad poenam interficiant sempiternam, quod est summum malum.
Those that come from God have this purpose, to procure immortality, which is the highest good; those that come from the other have this task, to kill a person, called away from heavenly things and sunk in earthly ones, into eternal punishment, which is the highest evil.
Notes and citation
Summary: God's goods lead to immortality; the devil's evils to eternal punishment.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.4 (CSEL 19:499; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.5CSEL 19:499
num igitur dubium est quin illi omnes quid esset bonum et malum ignorauerint, qui nec deum nec aduersarium dei scierunt?
Can there be any doubt, then, that all those did not know what good and evil were who knew neither God nor God's adversary?
Notes and citation
Summary: Without knowing God and the devil, one cannot know good and evil.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: u for n): ignoraueriut → ignorauerint.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.5 (CSEL 19:499; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.6CSEL 19:499
itaque finem bonorum ad corpus et ad hanc uitam breuem retulerunt, quam scilicet solui et occidere necesse est, non sunt progressi ulterius, sed omnia eorum praecepta et omnia quae inducunt bona, terrae inhaerent et humi iacent, quoniam simul cum corpore, quod est terra, moriuntur.
So they referred the end of goods to the body and to this short life, which must, of course, be dissolved and perish. They went no further; all their precepts and all the goods they present cling to the earth and lie on the ground, since they die together with the body, which is earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers' goods are earthly and die with the body.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.6 (CSEL 19:499; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.7CSEL 19:499–500
pertinent enim non ad uitam homini conparandam, sed ad quaerendas uel augendas opes honores gloriam potentiam: quae sunt uniuersa mortalia, tam scilicet quam ille qui ut ea sibi contingerent laborauit. hinc est illud: uirtus, quaerendae finem rei scire modumque.
For they concern not gaining life for a person but seeking or increasing wealth, honors, glory, and power, which are all mortal, just as mortal as the one who labored to obtain them. Hence that line: "Virtue is to know the limit and measure of acquiring."
Notes and citation
Summary: Their precepts aim at mortal goods.
- Lucilius, quoted in 6.5.3.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.7 (CSEL 19:499–500; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.8CSEL 19:500
praecipiunt enim quibus modis et quibus artibus res familiaris quaerenda sit, quia uident male quaeri solere. sed huiusmodi uirtus non est proposita sapienti: nec enim uirtus est opes quaerere, quarum neque inuentio neque possessio in nostra potestate est. itaque et quaesitu et obtentu faciliores sunt malis quam bonis.
For they teach by what means and arts property should be acquired, because they see that it is usually acquired badly. But virtue of this kind is not set before the wise man; for it is not virtue to seek wealth, whose finding and possession are not in our power. So it is easier for the wicked than for the good both to seek and to obtain.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seeking wealth is not virtue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.8 (CSEL 19:500; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.9CSEL 19:500
non potest ergo uirtus esse in iis rebus quaerendis in quarum contemptu uis ac ratio uirtutis apparet, nec ad ea ipsa transfugiet quae magno et excelso animo calcare ac proterere gestit, neque fas est animam caelestibus intentam bonis, ut haec fragilia sibi conparet, ab inmortalibus suis opibus auocari, sed potissimum in iis rebus conparandis uirtutis ratio consistit quas nobis nec homo ullus nec mors ipsa possit auferre.
So virtue cannot lie in seeking those things in the contempt of which the force and principle of virtue appear; nor will it desert to the very things it longs to trample and crush with a great and lofty mind. Nor is it right for a soul intent on heavenly goods to be called away from its immortal riches to acquire these fragile ones; rather, the principle of virtue consists chiefly in acquiring those things which neither any man nor death itself can take from us.
Matt 6:20 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue seeks goods that neither man nor death can take.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.9 (CSEL 19:500; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.10CSEL 19:500–501
cum haec ita se habeant, illut quod sequitur uerum est: uirtus, diuitiis pretium persoluere posse. qui uersus idem fere significat quod primi duo. sed neque ipse neque quisquam philosophorum scire potuit pretium ipsum uel quale uel quod sit. id enim poeta et illi omnes quos secutus est putauerunt recte opibus uti, hoc est frugi esse, non instruere conuiuia sumptuose, non largiri temere, non effundere in res superuacuas aut turpes rem familiarem.
This being so, what follows is true: "Virtue is to be able to pay wealth its due price." This verse means almost the same as the first two. But neither he nor any of the philosophers could know what or of what kind that price is. For the poet and all those he followed thought that using wealth rightly means being thrifty: not to lay on banquets lavishly, not to give away rashly, not to pour out one's property on superfluous or shameful things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans thought using wealth rightly meant thrift.
- Lucilius, quoted in 6.5.3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and stray period): sed ne-. que → sed neque.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.10 (CSEL 19:500–501; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.11CSEL 19:501
dicet aliquis fortasse: quid tu? negasne hanc esse uirtutem? non equidem nego, contraria enim uidear probare, si negem, sed ueram nego, quia non sit illa caelestis, sed tota terrena, quandoquidem nihil efficit nisi quod remaneat in terra. quid sit autem recte opibus uti et qui sit ex diuitiis fructus petendus declarabo apertius, cum de pietatis officio loqui coepero.
Someone may say: "What about you? Do you deny that this is virtue?" I certainly do not deny it, for I would seem to approve the opposite if I denied it; but I deny that it is true virtue, because it is not heavenly but wholly earthly, since it achieves nothing except what remains on earth. What it is to use wealth rightly, and what fruit should be sought from riches, I will explain more openly when I begin to speak of the duty of piety.
Notes and citation
Summary: Thrift is an earthly, not a true, virtue.
- See 6.11–12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen and stray period): decla-. rabo → declarabo.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.11 (CSEL 19:501; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.12CSEL 19:501
iam cetera quae sequuntur nullo modo uera sunt. nam inprobis inimicitias indicere, aut bonorum defensionem suscipere potest cum malis esse commune.
The rest that follows is in no way true. For declaring enmity on the wicked or taking up the defense of the good can be shared with the wicked.
Notes and citation
Summary: Opposing the wicked and defending the good can be done by the wicked too.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.12 (CSEL 19:501; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.13CSEL 19:501
quidam enim probitate ficta uiam sibi ad potentiam muniunt faciuntque multa quae boni solent, eo quidem promptius quod fallendi gratia faciunt. utinamque tam facile esset praestare quam facile est simulare bonitatem!
For some, by feigned uprightness, pave their way to power and do many things the good usually do, and all the more readily because they do them to deceive. Would that it were as easy to show goodness as it is to fake it!
Notes and citation
Summary: Some feign goodness to gain power.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.13 (CSEL 19:501; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.6.14CSEL 19:501
sed hi cum esse coeperint propositi ac uoti sui conpotes et summum potentiae gradum ceperint, tum uero simulatione deposita mores suos detegunt, rapiunt omnia et uiolant et uexant eosque ipsos bonos quorum causam susceperant insequuntur et gradus per quos ascenderunt amputant, ne quis illos contra ipsos possit imitari.
But when they have begun to attain their aim and wish and have reached the highest rank of power, then they lay aside pretense and reveal their character: they seize everything, violate and harass, persecute the very good men whose cause they had taken up, and cut away the steps by which they climbed, so that no one may imitate them against themselves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Once in power, the pretenders turn on the good.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.14 (CSEL 19:501; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-14).
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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).
6.6.15CSEL 19:501–502
uerum tamen putemus hoc officium non nisi boni esse, ut bonos defendat. at id suscipere facile est, implere difficile, quia cum te certamini congressionique commiseris, in arbitrio dei, non tuo posita uictoria est, et plerumque inprobi et numero et conspiratione sunt potentiores quam boni, ut ad eos superandos non tam uirtus sit quam felicitas necessaria.
But let us suppose that this duty, defending the good, belongs only to the good man. Yet it is easy to undertake and hard to carry out, because once you have committed yourself to a contest and conflict, victory lies in God's decision, not yours; and the wicked are usually stronger than the good in number and conspiracy, so that to overcome them one needs not so much virtue as good fortune.
Notes and citation
Summary: Victory depends on God and fortune, not virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.15 (CSEL 19:501–502; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-15).
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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).
6.6.16CSEL 19:502
an aliquis ignorat quotiens melior iustiorque pars uicta sit? hinc semper dominationes acerbae in ciues extiterunt.
Or does anyone not know how often the better and more just side has been defeated? From this, harsh tyrannies over citizens have always arisen.
Notes and citation
Summary: The better side is often defeated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: h for li): an ahquis → an aliquis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.16 (CSEL 19:502; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-16).
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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).
6.6.17CSEL 19:502
plena est exemplis omnis historia, sed nos contenti erimus uno. Gnaeus Pompeius bonorum uoluit esse defensor, siquidem pro re publica, pro senatu, pro libertate arma suscepit. idem tamen uictus cum ipsa libertate occidit et a spadonibus Aegyptiis detruncatus insepultus abiectus est.
All history is full of examples, but we will be content with one. Gnaeus Pompey wanted to be the defender of the good, since he took up arms for the commonwealth, for the senate, for liberty. Yet the same man, defeated, perished together with liberty itself, and was beheaded by Egyptian eunuchs and thrown aside unburied.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pompey defended the good and was killed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: m for ni): omms → omnis.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.17 (CSEL 19:502; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-17).
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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).
6.6.18CSEL 19:502
non est igitur uirtus aut hostem malorum esse aut defensorem bonorum, quia uirtus incertis casibus non potest esse subiecta.
So it is not virtue to be the enemy of the wicked or the defender of the good, because virtue cannot be subject to uncertain chances.
Notes and citation
Summary: Virtue cannot depend on chance.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.18 (CSEL 19:502; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-18).
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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).
6.6.19CSEL 19:502–503
commoda praeterea patriai prima putare sublata hominum discordia nihil est omnino. quae sunt enim patriae commoda nisi alterius ciuitatis aut gentis incommoda, id est fines propagare aliis uiolenter ereptos, augere imperium, vectigalia facere maiora? quae omnia non utique uirtutes, sed uirtutum sunt euersiones.
Moreover, "to hold the interests of one's country first" is nothing at all once human discord is removed. For what are the interests of one's country except the disadvantages of another city or nation, that is, to extend borders violently seized from others, to increase the empire, to make revenues greater? All these things are surely not virtues but the overthrow of virtues.
Notes and citation
Summary: Patriotic gain comes at others' expense and overthrows virtue.
- Lucilius, quoted in 6.5.3.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucilius (Lucilius (satires, fragments); quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.19 (CSEL 19:502–503; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-19).
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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).
6.6.20CSEL 19:503
in primis enim tollitur humanae societatis coniunctio, tollitur innocentia, tollitur alieni abstinentia, tollitur denique ipsa iustitia: quae discidium generis humani ferre non potest et ubicumque arma fulserint, hinc eam fugari et exterminari necesse est.
For first of all the bond of human fellowship is removed, innocence is removed, abstaining from others' property is removed, and finally justice itself is removed, which cannot bear the division of the human race, and wherever arms have flashed, it must be driven out and banished.
Notes and citation
Summary: War destroys justice and human fellowship.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.20 (CSEL 19:503; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-20).
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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).
6.6.21CSEL 19:503
uerum est enim Ciceronis illut: qui autem ciuium rationem dicunt habendam, externorum negant, dirimunt hi communem humani generis societatem, qua sublata beneficentia liberalitas bonitas iustitia funditus tollitur.
For Cicero's saying is true: "Those who say that account must be taken of citizens but deny it of foreigners break up the common fellowship of the human race; once that is removed, beneficence, generosity, goodness, and justice are utterly destroyed."
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero: favoring citizens over foreigners destroys justice.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.28.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.28 (Cicero; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.21 (CSEL 19:503; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-21).
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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).
6.6.22CSEL 19:503
nam quomodo potest iustus esse qui nocet, qui odit, qui spoliat, qui occidit? quae omnia faciunt qui patriae prodesse nituntur. id enim ipsum prodesse quid sit, ignorant qui nihil putant utile, nihil commodum, nisi quod teneri manu potest: quod solum teneri non potest, quia eripi potest.
For how can he be just who harms, hates, despoils, kills? Those who strive to benefit their country do all these things. For they do not know what benefiting itself is, who think nothing useful, nothing advantageous, except what can be held in the hand; and that alone cannot be held, because it can be snatched away.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who harm and kill for country cannot be just.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.22 (CSEL 19:503; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-22).
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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).
6.6.23CSEL 19:503–504
haec itaque ut ipsi appellant bona quisquis patriae adquisiuerit, hoc est qui euersis ciuitatibus gentibusque deletis aerarium pecunia referserit, agros ceperit, ciues suos locupletiores fecerit, hic laudibus fertur in caelum, in hoc putatur summa et perfecta esse uirtus. qui error non modo populi et imperitorum, sed etiam philosophorum est, qui praecepta quoque dant ad iniustitiam, ne stultitiae ac malitiae disciplina et auctoritas desit.
So whoever has acquired these "goods," as they call them, for his country, that is, whoever has overthrown cities, wiped out nations, filled the treasury with money, seized lands, and made his fellow citizens richer, is praised to the skies; in him highest and perfect virtue is thought to lie. This error belongs not only to the people and the unlearned but also to the philosophers, who even give precepts for injustice, so that folly and malice may not lack teaching and authority.
Notes and citation
Summary: Conquerors are praised as virtuous, even by philosophers.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray asterisk): imperitorum,* → imperitorum,.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.23 (CSEL 19:503–504; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-23).
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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).
6.6.24CSEL 19:504
itaque cum de officiis ad rem militarem pertinentibus disputant, neque ad iustitiam neque ad ueram uirtutem adcommodatur illa omnis oratio, sed ad hanc uitam moremque ciuilem, quem non esse iustitiam et res indicat et ipse Cicero testatus est.
So when they discuss duties relating to military affairs, all that speech is adapted neither to justice nor to true virtue, but to this life and civil custom, which is not justice, as the facts show and Cicero himself has testified.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers' military ethics serve civil custom, not justice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.24 (CSEL 19:504; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-24).
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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).
6.6.25CSEL 19:504
sed nos inquit ueri iuris germanaeque iustitiae solidam et expressam effigiem nullam tenemus, umbra et imaginibus utimur: easque ipsas utinam sequeremur! feruntur enim ab optimis naturae et ueritatis exemplis. — umbra est igitur et imago iustitiae quam illi iustitiam putauerunt.
"But we," he says, "hold no solid and clear likeness of true law and genuine justice; we use shadow and images. Would that we followed even these! For they are drawn from the best examples of nature and truth." So what they thought justice is a shadow and image of justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero admitted pagans had only a shadow of justice.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.69.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.69 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.25 (CSEL 19:504; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-25).
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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).
6.6.26CSEL 19:504
quid? sapientiam nonne idem confitetur in philosophis esse nullam? aut cum Fabricius inquit aut Aristides iustus nominatur, aut ab illis fortitudinis aut ab hoc iustitiae tamquam a sapiente petitur exemplum. nemo enim horum sic sapiens, ut sapientem uolumus in-
Again, does not the same man confess that there is no wisdom in the philosophers? "Or when Fabricius," he says, "or Aristides is called just, an example of courage is sought from the one and of justice from the other as from a wise man. For none of these was wise in the way we want the wise man to be un-
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero admitted no one was truly wise.
- Cicero, On Duties 3.16. The quotation continues in the next section.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.16 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.26 (CSEL 19:504; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-26).
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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).
6.6.27CSEL 19:504–505
tellegi, nec ii qui sapientes habiti et nominati, Marcus Cato et Gaius Laelius, sapientes fuerunt, ne illi quidem septem, sed ex mediorum officiorum frequentia similitudinem quandam gerebant speciemque sapientium.
derstood; nor were those who were held and named wise, Marcus Cato and Gaius Laelius, wise, nor even those Seven; but from the frequent practice of intermediate duties they bore a certain likeness and appearance of wise men."
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Cato, Laelius, and the Seven Sages only resembled the wise.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period): Ma.rcus → Marcus.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Off. 3.16 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.27 (CSEL 19:504–505; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-27).
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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).
6.6.28CSEL 19:505
si ergo et philosophis ipsorum confessione adempta sapientia est et iis qui iusti habiti sunt adempta iustitia est, omnes igitur illae uirtutis descriptiones falsae sint necesse est, quia quae sit uera uirtus scire non potest nisi iustus ac sapiens. iustus autem ac sapiens nemo est nisi quem deus praeceptis caelestibus erudiuit.
If, then, by their own confession wisdom has been taken from the philosophers and justice from those held just, all those descriptions of virtue must be false, because no one can know what true virtue is except the just and wise man; and no one is just and wise except one whom God has taught with heavenly precepts.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only those taught by God know true virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.6.28 (CSEL 19:505; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-6-28).
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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).
Divine 6, chapter 7
6.7.1CSEL 19:505
Nam illi omnes qui per aliorum confessam stultitiam sapientes existimantur, specie uirtutis inducti umbras et imagines adprehendunt, nihil uerum. quod ea fit ratione, quoniam uia illa mendax, quae fert ad occasum, multos tramites habet propter studiorum et disciplinarum uarietatem, quae sunt in uita hominum dissimiles atque diuersae.
For all those who are thought wise because others confess their folly are led on by the appearance of virtue and grasp shadows and images, nothing true. This happens because that lying way, which leads to the setting sun, has many paths, owing to the variety of pursuits and disciplines, which are unlike and diverse in human life.
Notes and citation
Summary: The false way has many paths.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.1 (CSEL 19:505; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.2CSEL 19:505
nam sicut uia illa sapientiae habet aliquid simile stultitiae, quod libro praecedente monstrauimus, ita haec cum sit tota stultitiae, habet aliquid simile sapientiae, quod adripiant ii qui stultitiam publicam intellegunt: et ut habet uitia manifesta, sic habet aliquid quod simile uideatur esse uirtuti, ut habet apertum scelus, sic imaginem quandam speciemque iustitiae.
For just as that way of wisdom has something like folly, as we showed in the preceding book, so this one, though it is wholly of folly, has something like wisdom, which those seize who understand the folly of the public; and as it has open vices, so it has something that seems like virtue; as it has open crime, so it has a certain image and appearance of justice.
Notes and citation
Summary: The way of folly imitates wisdom and justice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.2 (CSEL 19:505; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.3CSEL 19:505–506
quomodo enim praecursor eius uiae cuius uis et potestas omnis in fallendo est, uniuersos in fraudem posset inducere, nisi ueri similia hominibus ostentaret? deus enim, ut immortale illud arcanum eius in operto esset, posuit in uia sua quae homines pro malis et turpibus aspernarentur, ut auersi a sapientia et ueritate, quam sine ullo duce requirebant, in id ipsum inciderent quod uitare ac fugere cupiebant.
For how could the forerunner of that way, whose whole force and power lies in deceiving, lead all into fraud unless he displayed to people things resembling the truth? For God, so that that immortal secret of his might be hidden, placed in his own way things people would spurn as evil and shameful, so that, turned away from wisdom and truth, which they were seeking without any guide, they might fall into the very thing they wished to avoid and flee.
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil deceives with likenesses of truth; God hides his way under hardship.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.3 (CSEL 19:505–506; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.4CSEL 19:506
itaque illam perditionis ac mortis uiam multiplicem ostendit, uel quod multa sunt genera uitae uel quod dii multi qui coluntur.
So he showed that way of perdition and death to be manifold, either because there are many kinds of life or because many gods are worshipped.
Notes and citation
Summary: The way of death is manifold.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: ui for m): uiaui → uiam.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.4 (CSEL 19:506; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.5CSEL 19:506
huius dux praeuaricator ac subdolus, ut uideatur esse discrimen aliquod falsi et ueri, mali et boni, alia ducit luxuriosos alia eos qui frugi appellantur, alia inperitos alia doctos, alia inertes alia strenuos, alia stultos alia philosophos, et eos quidem non uno tramite.
Its guide, a deceiver and crafty, so that there may seem to be some distinction between false and true, evil and good, leads the luxurious by one road and those called thrifty by another, the unlearned by one and the learned by another, the idle by one and the active by another, fools by one and philosophers by another, and these not by a single path.
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil leads different people by different paths.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.5 (CSEL 19:506; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.6CSEL 19:506
illos enim qui aut uoluptates aut diuitias non refugiunt, ab hac publica et celebri uia modice segregat, eos autem qui aut uirtutem sequi uolunt aut contemptum rerum profitentur, per confragosa quaedam praecipitia trahit.
For those who do not shun pleasures or riches he separates a little from this public and crowded way; but those who either want to follow virtue or profess contempt of the world he drags along certain rough precipices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even philosophers are led down steep paths.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.6 (CSEL 19:506; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.7CSEL 19:506
sed tamen illa omnia itinera quae speciem bonorum ostentant non sunt aliae uiae, sed deuerticula et semitae, quae uidentur quidem ab illa communi dextrouersum separari, ad eandem tamen et ad unum omnes exitum sub ipso fine referuntur.
Yet all those routes that display an appearance of goods are not other ways but byways and footpaths, which seem to branch off to the right from that common road, yet at the very end all are brought back to the same single exit.
Notes and citation
Summary: All side paths rejoin the road to death.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.7 (CSEL 19:506; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.8CSEL 19:506–507
ibi enim dux ille coniungit omnes ubi opus fuerat bonos a malis, fortes ab inertibus, sapientes a stultis separari, in deorum scilicet cultu, in quo ille uniuersos, quia sine ullo discrimine stulti fuerunt, uno mucrone iugulat et praecipitat in mortem.
For there that guide joins them all together, where the good should have been separated from the wicked, the brave from the idle, the wise from fools: namely, in the worship of the gods, in which, since they were all fools without distinction, he cuts all their throats with one blade and hurls them into death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Idolatry joins all these paths in death.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.8 (CSEL 19:506–507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.7.9CSEL 19:507
haec autem uia, quae est ueritatis et sapientiae et uirtutis et usae, quorum omnium fons unus est, una uis, una sedes, et simplex est, quo paribus animis summaque concordia unum sequamur et colamus deum, et angusta, quoniam paucioribus uirtus data est, et ardua, quoniam ad bonum quod est summum atque sublime nisi cum summa difficultate ac labore non potest perueniri.
But this way, which is of truth, wisdom, virtue, and justice, all of which have one source, one force, one seat, is both simple, so that with equal minds and the greatest harmony we may follow and worship one God; and narrow, since virtue has been given to fewer; and steep, since the good which is highest and loftiest can be reached only with the greatest difficulty and labor.
Matt 7:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's way is simple, narrow, and steep.
- The last word of the list is garbled in the digital text (usae); it is translated as "justice" (iustitiae), which the context requires (uncertain).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.7.9 (CSEL 19:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-7-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
Divine 6, chapter 8
6.8.1CSEL 19:507
Haec est uia quam philosophi quaerunt, sed ideo non inueniunt, quia in terra potius ubi apparere non potest quaerunt.
This is the way the philosophers seek, but they do not find it because they seek it on earth, where it cannot appear.
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers seek the way on earth, where it is not.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.1 (CSEL 19:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.2CSEL 19:507
errant ergo uelut in mari magno nec quo ferantur intellegunt, quia nec uiam cernunt nec ducem sequuntur ullum.
So they wander as on a great sea and do not know where they are carried, because they neither see the way nor follow any guide.
Notes and citation
Summary: They wander without a guide.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.2 (CSEL 19:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.3CSEL 19:507
eadem namque ratione hanc uitae uiam quaeri oportet qua in alto iter nauibus quaeritur: quae nisi aliquod caeli lumen obseruent, incertis cursibus uagantur.
For this way of life must be sought in the same manner as a course is sought for ships on the deep: unless they watch some light in the sky, they wander on uncertain courses.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like ships, we must steer by heaven's light.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.3 (CSEL 19:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.4CSEL 19:507
quisquis autem rectum iter uitae tenere nititur, non terram debet aspicere, sed caelum et, ut apertius loquar, non hominem sequi debet, sed deum, non his terrestribus simulacris, sed deo seruire caelesti, non ad corpus referre omnia, sed ad mentem, non huic uitae dare operam, sed aeternae.
Whoever strives to keep the right road of life must look not at the earth but at heaven; and, to speak more plainly, must follow not man but God, serve not these earthly images but the heavenly God, refer everything not to the body but to the mind, and devote himself not to this life but to the eternal one.
Notes and citation
Summary: Look to heaven, follow God, and live for eternity.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.4 (CSEL 19:507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.5CSEL 19:507–508
itaque si oculos in caelum semper intendas et solem qua oritur observes eumque habeas uitae quasi nauigii ducem, sua sponte in uiam pedes dirigentur et illut caeleste lumen, quod sanis mentibus multo clarior sol est quam hic quem carne mortali uidemus, sic reget, sic gubernabit, ut ad summum sapientiae uirtutisque portum sine ullo errore perducat.
So if you always fix your eyes on heaven and watch the sun where it rises and hold it as the guide of your life as of a ship, your feet will direct themselves into the way of their own accord; and that heavenly light, which to sound minds is a sun much brighter than this one we see with mortal flesh, will so rule and steer that it brings you without any error to the highest harbor of wisdom and virtue.
Notes and citation
Summary: God's light guides to the harbor of virtue.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.5 (CSEL 19:507–508; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.6CSEL 19:508
suscipienda igitur dei lex est, quae nos ad hoc iter dirigat, illa sancta, illa caelestis, quam Marcus Tullius in libro de re publica tertio paene diuina uoce depinxit: cuius ego, ne plura dicerem, uerba subieci.
So we must take up the law of God to direct us on this road, that holy, that heavenly law, which Marcus Tullius, in the third book On the Republic, portrayed with an almost divine voice. To say no more, I have added his words.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero described God's law almost divinely.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: i for x): dei lei → dei lex.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero (Cicero; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.6 (CSEL 19:508; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.7CSEL 19:508
est quidem uera lex recta ratio, naturae congruens, diffusa in omnis, constans, sempiterna, quae uocet ad officium iubendo, uetando a fraude deterreat, quae tamen neque probos frustra iubet aut uetat nec inprobos iubendo aut uetando mouet.
"There is indeed a true law, right reason, agreeing with nature, spread among all, constant, everlasting, which calls to duty by commanding and deters from wrongdoing by forbidding; yet it does not command or forbid the upright in vain, nor does it move the wicked by commanding or forbidding.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero: true law is right reason, eternal and universal.
- Cicero, On the Republic 3.33, preserved chiefly by this quotation.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: i for x): uera lei → uera lex.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Rep. 3.33 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.7 (CSEL 19:508; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.8CSEL 19:508
huic legi nec obrogari fas est neque derogari aliquid ex hac licet neque tota abrogari potest, nec uero aut per senatum aut per populum solui hac lege possumus, neque est quaerendus explanator aut inter-
It is not right to propose a law against this law, nor may anything be taken from it, nor can it be repealed as a whole; nor can we be released from this law by the senate or by the people; nor need we seek an expounder or inter-
Notes and citation
Summary: This law cannot be amended or repealed.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Rep. 3.33 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.8 (CSEL 19:508; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.9CSEL 19:508–509
pres Sextus Aelius, nec erit alia lex Romae alia Athenis, alia nunc alia posthac, sed et omnes gentes et omni tempore una lex et sempiterna et inmutabilis continebit unusque erit communis quasi magister et imperator omnium deus: ille legis huius inuentor disceptator lator, cui qui non parebit, ipse se fugiet ac naturam hominis aspernatus hoc ipso luet maximas poenas, etiamsi cetera supplicia quae putantur effugerit.
preter of it, a Sextus Aelius; nor will there be one law at Rome and another at Athens, one now and another hereafter, but one law, everlasting and unchangeable, will hold all nations at all times; and there will be one common master, as it were, and ruler of all, God: he is the author, judge, and giver of this law. Whoever does not obey it will flee from himself and, having scorned the nature of man, will by this very fact pay the greatest penalties, even if he escapes the other punishments that are commonly thought such."
Notes and citation
Summary: One eternal law, given by God, binds all nations.
- Sextus Aelius was a famous early Roman jurist.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray parenthesis): maximas ( poenas → maximas poenas.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Rep. 3.33 (Cicero; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.9 (CSEL 19:508–509; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.10CSEL 19:509
quis sacramentum dei sciens tam significanter enarrare legem dei posset quam illam homo longe a ueritatis notitia remotus expressit? ego uero eos qui uera inprudentes loquuntur sic habendos puto, tamquam diuinent spiritu aliquo instincti.
Who that knew the mystery of God could describe the law of God so expressively as a man far removed from the knowledge of truth has expressed it? I think that those who speak truth unawares should be regarded as prophesying under the prompting of some spirit.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero spoke truth as if inspired.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: D for n): eDarrare → enarrare.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.10 (CSEL 19:509; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.11CSEL 19:509
quodsi ut legis sanctae uim rationemque peruidit, ita illut quoque scisset aut explicasset, in quibus praeceptis lex ipsa consisteret, non philosophi functus fuisset officio, sed prophetae.
But if, just as he saw through the force and principle of the holy law, he had also known or explained in what precepts the law itself consists, he would have performed the office not of a philosopher but of a prophet.
Notes and citation
Summary: Cicero did not know the law's precepts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.11 (CSEL 19:509; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of Brandt, CSEL 19 (1890); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF 7 (which leaves 6.23 in Latin).
6.8.12CSEL 19:509
quod quia facere ille non poterat, nobis faciendum est, quibus ipsa lex tradita est ab illo uno magistro et imperatore omnium deo.
Because he could not do this, we must do it, to whom the law itself has been handed down by that one master and ruler of all, God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians, who have God's law, must teach its precepts.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Inst. 6.8.12 (CSEL 19:509; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-institutes/6-4-1/#p-6-8-12).
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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).