On the Anger of God 23.1–23.14
Latin text: CSEL 27.1 (Latin text: S. Brandt and G. Laubmann (CSEL 27.1, 1893), 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).
Chapter 23
23.1CSEL 27.1:125
Verum quia plures, ut ostendi, Sibyllae a doctissimis auctoribus fuisse traduntur, unius testimonium satis non sit ad confirmandam sicut intendimus ueritatem.
But since, as I have shown, there are said by the most learned authors to have been several Sibyls, the testimony of one may not be enough to confirm the truth, as we intend.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since there were several Sibyls, one testimony may not suffice.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.1 (CSEL 27.1:125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.2CSEL 27.1:125
Cymaeae quidem uolumina quibus Romanorum fata conscripta sunt, in arcanis habentur. ceterarum tamen fere omnium libelli quominus in usu sint omnibus, non uetantur.
The volumes of the Cumaean, in which the fates of the Romans are written, are kept secret. But the books of almost all the others are not forbidden from being in common use by all.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Cumaean Sibyl's books are secret, but those of the others are freely available.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.2 (CSEL 27.1:125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.3CSEL 27.1:125–126
ex quibus alia denuntians uniuersis gentibus iram dei ob inpietatem hominum hoc modo exorsa est: ἐρχομένης ὀργῆς μεγάλης ἐπὶ κόσμον ἀπειθῆ ἔσχατον εἰς αἰῶνα θεοῦ μηνίματα φαίνω, πᾶσι προφητεύσασα κατὰ πόλιν ἀνθρώποισιν.
Of these, one, announcing the wrath of God upon all nations because of the impiety of men, began in this way: “As great wrath comes upon a disobedient world, I reveal the wrath of God to the last age, prophesying to all men city by city.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Another Sibyl announces God's great wrath coming on a disobedient world.
- Sibylline Oracles: these lines are not in the surviving books; they are known only from Lactantius (fragment; exact locator uncertain).
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.3 (CSEL 27.1:125–126; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.4CSEL 27.1:126–127
alia quoque per indignationem dei aduersus iniustos cataclysmum priore saeculo factum esse dixit, ut malitia generis humani extingueretur: ἐξ οὗ μηνίσαντος ἐπουρανίοιο θεοῖο αὐταῖσι πολίεσσι καὶ ἀνθρώποισιν ἅπασιν. γῆν ἐκάλυψε θάλασσα κατακλυσμοῖο ῥαγέντος.
Another also said that through the indignation of God against the unjust a flood had been made in an earlier age, so that the wickedness of the human race might be extinguished: “From the time when the heavenly God was wrathful with the cities themselves and with all men, the sea covered the earth when the flood burst forth.”
Gen 6:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Another Sibyl says God sent the flood in his anger at human wickedness.
- Sibylline Oracles 4.51–53 (probably; the flood that ends the first age of the Assyrians).
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. 4.51–53 (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.4 (CSEL 27.1:126–127; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.5CSEL 27.1:127
simili modo deflagrationem postea futuram uaticinata est, qua rursus inpietas hominum deleatur: καί τοτε γινώσκειν θεὸν οὐκέτι πραὺν ἐόντα, ἀλλὰ χόλῳ βρίθοντα καὶ ἐξολέκοντά τε γένναν ἀνθρώπων ἅμα πᾶσαν ὑπ ἐμπρησμοῦ μεγάλοιο. unde apud Nasonem de Ioue ita dicitur:
In a similar way she prophesied a burning to come afterwards, by which the impiety of men will again be destroyed: “And then you will know that God is no longer gentle, but heavy with wrath, and destroying the whole race of men together by a great conflagration.” Hence in Naso it is said of Jupiter thus:
2 Pet 3:10 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyl foretells a future burning of the world in God's wrath, as Ovid also says of Jupiter:
- The quotation is Sibylline Oracles 4.159–161. Naso is Ovid.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. 4.159–161 (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.5 (CSEL 27.1:127; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.6CSEL 27.1:127
esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur adfore tempus quo mare, quo tellus correptaque regia caeli ardeat et mundi moles operosa laboret.
“He remembers too that it is in the fates that a time will come when the sea, when the earth, and the palace of heaven, seized by fire, will burn, and the laboring mass of the world will be in distress.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Ovid: fate foretells a time when sea, earth, and heaven will burn.
- The quotation is Ovid, Metam. 1.256–258.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.256–258 (Ovid; quotation)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.6 (CSEL 27.1:127; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.7CSEL 27.1:127–128
quod tum fiat necesse est, cum honor et cultus dei summi apud homines interierit. eadem tamen placari eum paenitentia factorum et sui emendatione contestans haec addidit: ἆ μέλεοι, μετάθεσθε, βροτοί, τότε μηδὲ πρὸς ὀργὴν παντοίην ἀγάγητε θεὸν μέγαν. item paulo post: οὐδ ὀλέσει, παύσει δὲ πάλιν χόλον, ἤν ἄρα πάντες εὐσεβίην περίτιμον ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἀσκήσητε.
This must happen when the honor and worship of the supreme God has perished among men. Yet the same Sibyl, testifying that he is appeased by repentance for deeds done and by amendment of oneself, added this: “Ah, wretched mortals, change your ways, and do not drive the great God to all manner of wrath.” And likewise a little later: “He will not destroy, but will again cease his wrath, if all of you practice precious piety in your hearts.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The Sibyl also says God is appeased by repentance and will cease his wrath if people practice piety.
- The quotations are Sibylline Oracles 4.162–163 and 4.168–169.
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. 4.162–163 (Sibylline Oracles; quotation); Sib. Or. 4.168–169 (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.7 (CSEL 27.1:127–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.8CSEL 27.1:128
deinde alia Sibylla caelestium terrenorumque genitorem diligi oportere denuntiat, ne ad perdendos homines indignatio eius insurgat: μήποτε θυμωθείς θεὸς ἄφθιτος ἐξαπολέσσῃ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων βιότου καὶ φῦλον ἀναιδές. δεῖ στέργειν γενετῆρα Θεὸν σοφὸν ἀέναόν τε.
Then another Sibyl declares that the begetter of things heavenly and earthly must be loved, lest his indignation rise up to destroy men: “Lest the imperishable God, angered, destroy the whole race of men, their life and shameless tribe. One must love God the Begetter, wise and everlasting.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Another Sibyl urges love for God the Creator, lest his anger destroy mankind.
- Sibylline Oracles: these lines are not in the surviving books or in the fragments quoted by Theophilus; they are known only from Lactantius (exact locator uncertain).
Extrabiblical texts: Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.8 (CSEL 27.1:128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.9CSEL 27.1:128–129
ex his apparet uanas esse rationes philosophorum qui deum putant ἀόργητον et inter ceteras laudes eius id ponunt quod est inutilissimum, detrahentes ei quod est rebus humanis maxime salutare, per quod constat ipsa maiestas.
From these it appears that the reasonings of the philosophers are empty, who think God free of anger, and among his other praises place that which is most useless, taking away from him what is most salutary to human affairs, by which majesty itself stands.
Notes and citation
Summary: So the philosophers are wrong to praise God as free of anger, stripping him of what upholds his majesty.
- The Greek word, garbled in the digital text, is restored as ἀόργητον ("free of anger").
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter dropped in the digital text; words run together in the digital text): philosophorumqui → philosophorum qui; όργητον → ἀόργητον.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.9 (CSEL 27.1:128–129; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.10CSEL 27.1:129
regnum hoc imperiumque terrenum nisi metus custodiat, soluitur. aufer iram regi, non modo nemo parebit, sed etiam de fastigio praecipitabitur. immo uero cuilibet humili eripe hunc adfectum, quis eum non spoliabit? quis non deridebit? quis non adficiet iniuria?
This earthly kingdom and rule is dissolved unless fear guards it. Take away anger from a king: not only will no one obey him, but he will even be cast down from his height. Indeed, take this emotion from any lowly person: who will not rob him? Who will not mock him? Who will not do him injury?
Notes and citation
Summary: Without fear, earthly rule collapses; a king or anyone without anger would be robbed and mocked.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): soluit.ur. → soluitur..
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.10 (CSEL 27.1:129; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.11CSEL 27.1:129
ita nec indumenta nec sedem nec uictum poterit habere aliis quidquid habuerit diripientibus, nedum putemus caelestis imperii maiestatem sine ira et metu posse consistere.
So he could have neither clothing nor seat nor food, while others plundered whatever he had; much less should we think that the majesty of the heavenly empire can subsist without anger and fear.
Notes and citation
Summary: Much less can God's heavenly rule stand without anger and fear.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.11 (CSEL 27.1:129; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.12CSEL 27.1:129–130
Apollo Milesius de Iudaeorum religione consultus responso haec introducit: ἐς δὲ θεὸν βασιλῆα καὶ ἐς γενητῆρα πρὸ πάντων, ὃν τρομέει καὶ γαῖα καὶ οὔρανος ἠδὲ θάλασσα, ταρτάρεοί τε μυχοί, καὶ δαίμονες ἐρρίγασιν.
Apollo of Miletus, consulted about the religion of the Jews, included these words in his reply: “To God the King and Begetter before all things, before whom earth and heaven and sea tremble, and the recesses of Tartarus, and the demons shudder.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Apollo's oracle at Miletus says earth, heaven, sea, and demons tremble before God the King.
- An oracle of Apollo at Didyma, also quoted in Lactantius, Inst. 1.7.9 (compare Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.12 (CSEL 27.1:129–130; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.13CSEL 27.1:130
si tam lenis est quam philosophi uolunt, quomodo ad nutum eius non modo daemones et ministri tantae potestatis, sed etiam caelum et terra et rerum natura omnis contremescit? si enim nullus alteri seruit nisi coactus, omne igitur imperium metu constat, metus autem per iram. nam si non moueatur quis aduersus parere nolentem, nec cogi poterit ad obsequium.
If he is as gentle as the philosophers would have it, how is it that at his nod not only the demons and the ministers of so great a power, but even heaven and earth and all nature trembles? For if no one serves another unless compelled, then all rule rests on fear, and fear on anger. For if one is not moved against one who refuses to obey, he cannot compel him to obedience either.
Jas 2:19 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If God were merely gentle, why would all creation tremble at him? All rule rests on fear, and fear on anger.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.13 (CSEL 27.1:130; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
23.14CSEL 27.1:130–132
consulat unus quisque adfectus suos, iam intelleget neminem posse sine ira et castigatione imperio subiugari. ubi ergo ira non fuerit, imperium quoque non erit. deus autem habet imperium, ergo et iram, qua constat imperium, habeat necesse est. 24. Quapropter nemo uaniloquentia philosophorum inductus ad contemptum se dei erudiat, quod est maximum nefas. debemus hunc omnes et amare, quod pater est, et uereri, quod dominus, et honorificare, quod beneficus, et metuere. quod seuerus: utraque in eo persona uenerabilis. quis salua pietate non diligat animae suae parentem? aut quis inpune contemnat eum qui rerum dominator habeat in omnes ueram et aeternam potestatem? si patrem consideres, ortum nobis ad lucem qua fruimur subministrat, per illum uiuimus, per illum in hospitium mundi huius intrauimus. si dominum cogites, ille nos innumerabilibus copiis alit, ille sustentat, in huius domo habitamus, huius familia sumus et si minus obsequens quam decebat, minusque officiosa quam domini et parentis inmortalia merita poscebant, tamen plurimum proficit ad ueniam consequendam, si cultum eius notionemque teneamus, si abiectis humilibus terrenisque tam rebus quam bonis caelestia et diuina et sempiterna meditemur. quod ut facere possimus, deus nobis sequendus est, deus adorandus et diligendus, quoniam in eo est materia rerum et ratio uirtutum et fons bonorum. quid enim deo aut potentia maius est aut ratione perfectius aut claritate luculentius? qui quoniam nos ad sapientiam genuit, ad iustitiam procreauit, non est fas hominem relicto deo sensus ac uitae datore terrenis fragilibusque famulari aut quaerendis temporalibus bonis inhaerentem ab innocentia et pietate desciscere. non faciunt beatum uitiosae ac mortiferae uoluptates, non opulentia libidinum inritatrix, non inanis ambitio, non caduci honores quibus inlaqueatus animus humanus et corpori mancipatus aeterna morte damnatur, sed sola innocentia, sola iustitia: cuius legitima et digna merces est inmortalitas, quam statuit a principio deus sanctis et incorruptis mentibus quae se a uitiis et ab omni labe terrena integras inuiolatasque conseruant. cuius praemii caelestis ac sempiterni participes esse non possunt qui fraudibus rapinis circumscriptionibus conscientiam suam polluerunt quique iniuriis abominandis nefariisque commissis ineluibiles sibi maculas inusserunt. proinde uniuersos oportet qui sapientes, qui homines merito dici uolunt, fragilia contemnere, terrena calcare, humilia despicere, ut possint cum deo beatissima necessitudine copulari. auferatur inpietas, discordiae dissensionesque turbulentae atque pestiferae sopiantur, quibus humanae societatis et publici foederis diuina coniunctio inrumpitur dirimitur dissipatur: quantum possumus, boni ac benefici esse meditemur; si quid nobis opum, si quid suppetit copiarum, non uoluptati unius. sed multorum saluti inpertiatur. uoluptas enim tam mortalis est quam corpus cui exhibet ministerium, iustitia uero et beneficentia tam inmortales quam mens et anima, quae bonis operibus similitudinem dei adsequitur. sit nobis deus non in templis, sed in corde nostro consecratus: destructilia sunt omnia quae manu fiunt. mundemus hoc templum, quod non fumo, non puluere, sed malis cogitationibus sordidatur, quod non ceris ardentibus, sed dei claritate ac luce sapientiae inluminatur. in quo si semper deum crediderimus esse praesentem, cuius diuinitati secreta mentis patent, ita uiuemus. ut et propitium semper habeamus et numquam uereamur iratum.
Let each consult his own feelings, and he will at once understand that no one can be brought under authority without anger and chastisement. Where, then, there is no anger, there will be no authority either. But God has authority; therefore he must also have anger, on which authority rests.
Therefore let no one, led on by the empty talk of the philosophers, train himself to despise God, which is the greatest wickedness. We ought all both to love him, because he is Father, and to revere him, because he is Lord; to honor him, because he is beneficent, and to fear him, because he is severe: in him both persons are venerable. Who, with piety intact, would not love the parent of his soul? Or who could with impunity despise him who, as ruler of all things, has true and eternal power over all? If you consider the Father, he gives us our birth into the light we enjoy; through him we live, through him we have entered the lodging of this world. If you think of the Lord, he nourishes us with countless resources, he sustains us; in his house we dwell, we are his household. And though we are less obedient than was fitting, and less dutiful than the immortal merits of our Lord and parent demanded, yet it helps most toward obtaining pardon if we hold to his worship and knowledge, if, casting aside lowly and earthly things and goods alike, we meditate on things heavenly, divine, and eternal.
That we may be able to do this, God must be followed, God must be adored and loved, since in him is the substance of things, the principle of the virtues, and the fountain of goods. For what is greater than God in power, more perfect in reason, more brilliant in glory? Since he begot us for wisdom and brought us forth for righteousness, it is not right for man to forsake God, the giver of sense and life, and to be a slave to earthly and fragile things, or, clinging to the pursuit of temporal goods, to fall away from innocence and piety. Vicious and deadly pleasures do not make one happy, nor wealth, the provoker of lusts, nor empty ambition, nor fleeting honors, by which the human soul, ensnared and enslaved to the body, is condemned to eternal death; but innocence alone, righteousness alone, whose lawful and worthy reward is immortality, which God appointed from the beginning for holy and incorrupt minds that keep themselves whole and unviolated by vices and by every earthly stain. Of this heavenly and everlasting reward those cannot share who have polluted their conscience with frauds, robberies, and swindles, and who, by committing abominable and wicked injuries, have branded on themselves indelible stains.
Therefore all who wish rightly to be called wise, and men, ought to despise fragile things, trample on earthly things, look down on lowly things, so that they may be joined with God in a most blessed bond. Let impiety be taken away; let discords and turbulent and pestilent dissensions be laid to rest, by which the divine union of human society and the common covenant is broken, severed, and scattered. As far as we can, let us strive to be good and beneficent; if we have any wealth, any abundance of resources, let it be shared not for the pleasure of one but for the welfare of many. For pleasure is as mortal as the body it serves; but righteousness and beneficence are as immortal as the mind and soul, which by good works attain likeness to God. Let God be consecrated for us not in temples but in our heart: all things made by hand are destructible. Let us cleanse this temple, which is soiled not by smoke or dust but by evil thoughts, which is lit not by burning tapers but by the brightness of God and the light of wisdom. If we always believe that God is present in it, to whose divinity the secrets of the mind lie open, we shall so live that we shall always have him gracious and never need to fear him angry.
1 Cor 3:16 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 17:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mark 14:58 (echo, low confidence) · Heb 4:13 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Where there is no anger there is no rule; therefore let no one despise God, but love him as Father, fear him as Lord, live righteously, share wealth, and keep the heart as his temple, so as to have him always gracious and never angry.
- This passage includes chapter 24 (the edition's numeral "24." stands inside the text). The temple of the heart echoes 1 Cor 3:16 and Acts 17:24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter dropped in the digital text; letters misread in the digital text; stray letter in the digital text): mtelleget → intelleget; facere i possimus → facere possimus; uereamur ratum → uereamur iratum.
Topics: Ethics, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Ira 23.14 (CSEL 27.1:130–132; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-ira/23-1/#p-23-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.