Library / Lactantius

Lactantius

The Divine Institutes

c. 304–313

Divinae Institutiones

Lactantius against pagan gods as deified men, and for true wisdom and religion, including the generation of the Son. English by William Fletcher in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.

Translated by William Fletcher

English translation by William Fletcher, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VII (eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson; Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886). Public domain. Digital text via New Advent Church Fathers.

Contents

• Book 1, Preface
• Book 1, Chapter 1: Of religion and wisdom.
• Book 1, Chapter 2: That there is a providence in the affairs of men.
• Book 1, Chapter 3: Whether the universe is governed by the power of one God or of many.
• Book 1, Chapter 4: That the one God was foretold even by the prophets.
• Book 1, Chapter 5: Of the testimonies of poets and philosophers.
• Book 1, Chapter 6: Of divine testimonies, and of the Sibyls and their predictions.
• Book 1, Chapter 7: Concerning the testimonies of Apollo and the gods.
• Book 1, Chapter 8: That God is without a body, nor does he need difference of sex for procreation.
• Book 1, Chapter 9: Of Hercules and his life and death.
• Book 1, Chapter 10: Of the life and actions of Æsculapius, Apollo, Neptune, Mars, Castor and Pollux, Mercury and Bacchus.
• Book 1, Chapter 11: Of the origin, life, reign, name and death of Jupiter, and of Saturn and Uranus.
• Book 1, Chapter 12: That the Stoics transfer the figments of the poets to a philosophical system.
• Book 1, Chapter 13: How vain and trifling are the interpretations of the Stoics respecting the gods, and in them concerning the origin of jupiter, concerning Saturn and Ops.
• Book 1, Chapter 14: What the sacred history of Euhemerus and Ennius teaches concerning the gods.
• Book 1, Chapter 15: How they who were men obtained the name of gods.
• Book 1, Chapter 16: By what argument it is proved that those who are distinguished by a difference of sex cannot be gods.
• Book 1, Chapter 17: Concerning the same opinion of the Stoics, and concerning the hardships and disgraceful conduct of the gods.
• Book 1, Chapter 18: On the consecration of gods, on account of the benefits which they conferred upon men.
• Book 1, Chapter 19: That it is impossible for any one to worship the true God together with false deities.
• Book 1, Chapter 20: Of the gods peculiar to the Romans, and their sacred rites.
• Book 1, Chapter 21: Of certain deities peculiar to barbarians, and their sacred rites; and in like manner concerning the Romans.
• Book 1, Chapter 22: Who was the author of the vanities before described in Italy among the Romans, and who among other nations.
• Book 1, Chapter 23: Of the ages of vain superstitions, and the times at which they commenced.
• Book 2, Chapter 1: That forgetfulness of reason makes men ignorant of the true God, whom they worship in adversity and despise in prosperity.
• Book 2, Chapter 2: What was the first cause of making images; of the true likeness of God, and the true worship of him.
• Book 2, Chapter 3: That Cicero and other men of learning erred in not turning away the people from error.
• Book 2, Chapter 4: Of images, and the ornaments of temples, and the contempt in which they are held even by the heathens themselves.
• Book 2, Chapter 5: That God only, the creator of all things, is to be worshipped, and not the elements or heavenly bodies; and the opinion of the Stoics is refuted, who think that the stars and planets are gods.
• Book 2, Chapter 6: That neither the whole universe nor the elements are God, nor are they possessed of life.
• Book 2, Chapter 7: Of God, and the religious rites of the foolish; of avarice, and the authority of ancestors.
• Book 2, Chapter 8: Of the use of reason in religion; and of dreams, auguries, oracles, and similar portents.
• Book 2, Chapter 9: Of the devil, the world, God, providence, man, and his wisdom.
• Book 2, Chapter 10: Of the World, and Its Parts, the Elements and Seasons.
• Book 2, Chapter 11: Of Living Creatures, of Man; Prometheus, Deucalion, the ParcÆ.
• Book 2, Chapter 12: That Animals Were Not Produced Spontaneously, But by a Divine Arrangement, of Which God Would Have Given Us the Knowledge, If It Were Advantageous for Us to Know It.
• Book 2, Chapter 13: Why Man is of Two Sexes; What is His First Death, and What the Second and of the Fault and Punishment of Our First Parents.
• Book 2, Chapter 14: Of Noah the Inventor of Wine, Who First Had Knowledge of the Stars, and of the Origin of False Religions.
• Book 2, Chapter 15: Of the Corruption of Angels, and the Two Kinds of Demons.
• Book 2, Chapter 16: That Demons Have No Power Over Those Who are Established in the Faith.
• Book 2, Chapter 17: That Astrology, Soothsaying, and Similar Arts are the Invention of Demons.
• Book 2, Chapter 18: Of the Patience and Vengeance of God, the Worship of Demons, and False Religions.
• Book 2, Chapter 19: Of the Worship of Images and Earthly Objects.
• Book 2, Chapter 20: Of Philosophy and the Truth.
• Book 3, Chapter 1: A Comparison of the Truth with Eloquence: Why the Philosophers Did Not Attain to It. Of the Simple Style of the Scriptures.
• Book 3, Chapter 2: Of Philosophy, and How Vain Was Its Occupation in Setting Forth the Truth.
• Book 3, Chapter 3: Of What Subjects Philosophy Consists, and Who Was the Chief Founder of the Academic Sect.
• Book 3, Chapter 4: That Knowledge is Taken Away by Socrates, and Conjecture by Zeno.
• Book 3, Chapter 5: That the Knowledge of Many Things is Necessary.
• Book 3, Chapter 6: Of Wisdom, and the Academics, and Natural Philosophy.
• Book 3, Chapter 7: Of Moral Philosophy, and the Chief Good.
• Book 3, Chapter 8: Of the Chief Good, and the Pleasures of the Soul and Body, and of Virtue.
• Book 3, Chapter 9: Of the Chief Good, and the Worship of the True God, and a Refutation of Anaxagoras.
• Book 3, Chapter 10: It is the Peculiar Property of Man to Know and Worship God.
• Book 3, Chapter 11: Of Religion, Wisdom, and the Chief Good.
• Book 3, Chapter 12: Of the Twofold Conflict of Body and Soul; And of Desiring Virtue on Account of Eternal Life.
• Book 3, Chapter 13: Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of Wisdom, Philosophy, and Eloquence.
• Book 3, Chapter 14: That Lucretius and Others Have Erred, and Cicero Himself, in Fixing the Origin of Wisdom.
• Book 3, Chapter 15: The Error of Seneca in Philosophy, and How the Speech of Philosophers is at Variance with Their Life.
• Book 3, Chapter 16: That the Philosophers Who Give Good Instructions Live Badly, by the Testimony of Cicero; Therefore We Should Not So Much Devote Ourselves to the Study of Philosophy as to Wisdom.
• Book 3, Chapter 17: He Passes from Philosophy to the Philosophers, Beginning with Epicurus; And How He Regarded Leucippus and Democritus as Authors of Error.
• Book 3, Chapter 18: The Pythagoreans and Stoics, While They Hold the Immortality of the Soul, Foolishly Persuade a Voluntary Death.
• Book 3, Chapter 19: Cicero and Others of the Wisest Men Teach the Immortality of the Soul, But in an Unbelieving Manner; And that a Good or an Evil Death Must Be Weighed from the Previous Life.
• Book 3, Chapter 20: Socrates Had More Knowledge in Philosophy Than Other Men, Although in Many Things He Acted Foolishly.
• Book 3, Chapter 21: Of the System of Plato, Which Would Lead to the Overthrow of States.
• Book 3, Chapter 22: Of the Precepts of Plato, and Censures of the Same.
• Book 3, Chapter 23: Of the Errors of Certain Philosophers, and of the Sun and Moon.
• Book 3, Chapter 24: Of the Antipodes, the Heaven, and the Stars.
• Book 3, Chapter 25: Of Learning Philosophy, and What Great Qualifications are Necessary for Its Pursuit.
• Book 3, Chapter 26: It is Divine Instruction Only Which Bestows Wisdom; And of What Efficacy the Law of God is.
• Book 3, Chapter 27: How Little the Precepts of Philosophers Contribute to True Wisdom, Which You Will Find in Religion Only.
• Book 3, Chapter 28: Of True Religion and of Nature. Whether Fortune is a Goddess, and of Philosophy.
• Book 3, Chapter 29: Of Fortune Again, and Virtue.
• Book 3, Chapter 30: The Conclusion of the Things Before Spoken; And by What Means We Must Pass from the Vanity of the Philosophers to True Wisdom, and the Knowledge of the True God, in Which Alone are Virtue and Happiness.
• Book 4, Chapter 1: Of the Former Religion of Men, and How Error Was Spread Over Every Age, and of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
• Book 4, Chapter 2: Where Wisdom is to Be Found; Why Pythagoras and Plato Did Not Approach the Jews.
• Book 4, Chapter 3: Wisdom and Religion Cannot Be Separated: the Lord of Nature Must Necessarily Be the Father of Every One.
• Book 4, Chapter 4: Of Wisdom Likewise, and Religion, and of the Right of Father and Lord.
• Book 4, Chapter 5: The Oracles of the Prophets Must Be Looked Into; And of Their Times, and the Times of the Judges and Kings.
• Book 4, Chapter 6: Almighty God Begot His Son; And the Testimonies of the Sibyls and of Trismegistus Concerning Him.
• Book 4, Chapter 7: Of the Name of Son, and Whence He is Called Jesus and Christ.
• Book 4, Chapter 8: Of the Birth of Jesus in the Spirit and in the Flesh: of Spirits and the Testimonies of Prophets.
• Book 4, Chapter 9: Of the Word of God.
• Book 4, Chapter 10: Of the Advent of Jesus; Of the Fortunes of the Jews, and Their Government, Until the Passion of the Lord.
• Book 4, Chapter 11: Of the Cause of the Incarnation of Christ.
• Book 4, Chapter 12: Of the Birth of Jesus from the Virgin; Of His Life, Death, and Resurrection, and the Testimonies of the Prophets Respecting These Things.
• Book 4, Chapter 13: Of Jesus, God and Man; And the Testimonies of the Prophets Concerning Him.
• Book 4, Chapter 14: Of the Priesthood of Jesus Foretold by the Prophets.
• Book 4, Chapter 15: Of the Life and Miracles of Jesus, and Testimonies Concerning Them.
• Book 4, Chapter 16: Of the Passion of Jesus Christ; That It Was Foretold.
• Book 4, Chapter 17: Of the Superstitions of the Jews, and Their Hatred Against Jesus.
• Book 4, Chapter 18: Of the Lord's Passion, and that It Was Foretold.
• Book 4, Chapter 19: Of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus; And the Predictions of These Events.
• Book 4, Chapter 20: Of the Departure of Jesus into Galilee After His Resurrection; And of the Two Testaments, the Old and the New.
• Book 4, Chapter 21: Of the Ascension of Jesus, and the Foretelling of It; And of the Preaching and Actions of the Disciples.
• Book 4, Chapter 22: Arguments of Unbelievers Against the Incarnation of Jesus.
• Book 4, Chapter 23: Of Giving Precepts, and Acting.
• Book 4, Chapter 24: The Overthrowing of the Arguments Above Urged by Way of Objection.
• Book 4, Chapter 25: Of the Advent of Jesus in the Flesh and Spirit, that He Might Be Mediator Between God and Man.
• Book 4, Chapter 26: Of the Cross, and Other Tortures of Jesus, and of the Figure of the Lamb Under the Law.
• Book 4, Chapter 27: Of the Wonders Effected by the Power of the Cross, and of Demons.
• Book 4, Chapter 28: Of Hope and True Religion, and of Superstition.
• Book 4, Chapter 29: Of the Christian Religion, and of the Union of Jesus with the Father.
• Book 4, Chapter 30: Of Avoiding Heresies and Superstitions, and What is the Only True Catholic Church.
• Book 5, Chapter 1: Of the Non-Condemnation of Accused Persons Without a Hearing of Their Cause; From What Cause Philosophers Despised the Sacred Writings; Of the First Advocates of the Christian Religion.
• Book 5, Chapter 2: To What an Extent the Christian Truth Has Been Assailed by Rash Men.
• Book 5, Chapter 3: Of the Truth of the Christian Doctrine, and the Vanity of Its Adversaries; And that Christ Was Not a Magician.
• Book 5, Chapter 4: Why This Work Was Published, and Again of Tertullian and Cyprian.
• Book 5, Chapter 5: There Was True Justice Under Saturnus, But It Was Banished by Jupiter.
• Book 5, Chapter 6: After the Banishment of Justice, Lust, Unjust Laws, Daring, Avarice, Ambition, Pride, Impiety, and Other Vices Reigned.
• Book 5, Chapter 7: Of the Coming of Jesus, and Its Fruit; And of the Virtues and Vices of that Age.
• Book 5, Chapter 8: Of Justice Known to All, But Not Embraced; Of the True Temple of God, and of His Worship, that All Vices May Be Subdued.
• Book 5, Chapter 9: Of the Crimes of the Wicked, and the Torture Inflicted on the Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 10: Of False Piety, and of False and True Religion.
• Book 5, Chapter 11: Of the Cruelty of the Heathens Against the Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 12: Of True Virtue; And of the Estimation of a Good or Bad Citizen.
• Book 5, Chapter 13: Of the Increase and the Punishment of the Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 14: Of the Fortitude of the Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 15: Of Folly, Wisdom, Piety, Equity, and Justice.
• Book 5, Chapter 16: Of the Duties of the Just Man, and the Equity of Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 17: Of the Equity, Wisdom, and Foolishness of Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 18: Of Justice, Wisdom, and Folly.
• Book 5, Chapter 19: Of Virtue and the Tortures of Christians, and of the Right of a Father and Master.
• Book 5, Chapter 20: Of the Vanity and Crimes, Impious Superstitions, and of the Tortures of the Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 21: Of the Worship of Other Gods and the True God, and of the Animals Which the Egyptians Worshipped.
• Book 5, Chapter 22: Of the Rage of the Demons Against Christians, and the Error of Unbelievers.
• Book 5, Chapter 23: Of the Justice and Patience of the Christians.
• Book 5, Chapter 24: Of the Divine Vengeance Inflicted on the Torturers of the Christians.
• Book 6, Chapter 1: Of the Worship of the True God, and of Innocency, and of the Worship of False Gods.
• Book 6, Chapter 2: Of the Worship of False Gods and the True God.
• Book 6, Chapter 3: Of the Ways, and of Vices and Virtues; And of the Rewards of Heaven and the Punishments of Hell.
• Book 6, Chapter 4: Of the Ways of Life, of Pleasures, Also of the Hardships of Christians.
• Book 6, Chapter 5: Of False and True Virtue; And of Knowledge.
• Book 6, Chapter 6: Of the Chief Good and Virtue, and or Knowledge and Righteousness.
• Book 6, Chapter 7: Of the Way of Error and of Truth: that It is Single, Narrow, and Steep, and Has God for Its Guide.
• Book 6, Chapter 8: Of the Errors of Philosophers, and the Variableness of Law.
• Book 6, Chapter 9: Of the Law and Precept of God; Of Mercy, and the Error of the Philosophers.
• Book 6, Chapter 10: Of Religion Towards God, and Mercy Towards Men; And of the Beginning of the World.
• Book 6, Chapter 11: Of the Persons Upon Whom a Benefit is to Be Conferred.
• Book 6, Chapter 12: Of the Kinds of Beneficence, and Works of Mercy.
• Book 6, Chapter 13: Of Repentance, of Mercy, and the Forgiveness of Sins.
• Book 6, Chapter 14: Of the Affections, and the Opinion of the Stoics Respecting Them; And of Virtue, the Vices, and Mercy.
• Book 6, Chapter 15: Of the Affections, and the Opinion of the Peripatetics Respecting Them.
• Book 6, Chapter 16: Of the Affections, and the Refutation of the Opinion of the Peripatetics Concerning Them; What is the Proper Use of the Affections, and What is a Bad Use of Them.
• Book 6, Chapter 17: Of the Affections and Their Use; Of Patience, and the Chief Good of Christians.
• Book 6, Chapter 18: Of Some Commands of God, and of Patience.
• Book 6, Chapter 19: Of the Affections and Their Use; And of the Three Furies.
• Book 6, Chapter 20: Of the Senses, and Their Pleasures in the Brutes and in Man; And of Pleasures of the Eyes, and Spectacles.
• Book 6, Chapter 21: Of the Pleasures of the Ears, and of Sacred Literature.
• Book 6, Chapter 22: Of the Pleasures of Taste and Smell.
• Book 6, Chapter 23: De Tactus Voluptate Et Libidine, Atque de Matrimonio Et Continentiâ.
• Book 6, Chapter 24: Of Repentance, of Pardon, and the Commands of God.
• Book 6, Chapter 25: Of Sacrifice, and of an Offering Worthy of God, and of the Form of Praising God.
• Book 7, Chapter 1: Of the World, and Those Who are About to Believe, and Those Who are Not; And in This the Censure of the Faithless.
• Book 7, Chapter 2: Of the Error of the Philosophers, and of the Divine Wisdom, and of the Golden Age.
• Book 7, Chapter 3: Of Nature, and of the World; And a Censure of the Stoics and Epicureans.
• Book 7, Chapter 4: That All Things Were Created for Some Use, Even Those Things Which Appear Evil; On What Account Man Enjoys Reason in So Frail a Body.
• Book 7, Chapter 5: Of the Creation of Man, and of the Arrangement of the World, and of the Chief Good.
• Book 7, Chapter 6: Why the World and Man Were Created. How Unprofitable is the Worship of False Gods.
• Book 7, Chapter 7: Of the Variety of Philosophers, and Their Truth.
• Book 7, Chapter 8: Of the Immortality of the Soul.
• Book 7, Chapter 9: Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of Virtue.
• Book 7, Chapter 10: Of Vices and Virtues, and of Life and Death.
• Book 7, Chapter 11: Of the Last Times, and of the Soul and Body.
• Book 7, Chapter 12: Of the Soul and the Body, and of Their Union and Separation and Return.
• Book 7, Chapter 13: Of the Soul, and the Testimonies Concerning Its Eternity.
• Book 7, Chapter 14: Of the First and Last Times of the World.
• Book 7, Chapter 15: Of the Devastation of the World and Change of the Empires.
• Book 7, Chapter 16: Of the Devastation of the World, and Its Prophetic Omens.
• Book 7, Chapter 17: Of the False Prophet, and the Hardships of the Righteous, and His Destruction.
• Book 7, Chapter 18: Of the Fortunes of the World at the Last Time, and of the Things Foretold by the Soothsayers.
• Book 7, Chapter 19: Of the Advent of Christ to Judgment, and of the Overcoming of the False Prophet.
• Book 7, Chapter 20: Of the Judgment of Christ, of Christians, and of the Soul.
• Book 7, Chapter 21: Of the Torments and Punishments of Souls.
• Book 7, Chapter 22: Of the Error of the Poets, and the Return of the Soul from the Lower Regions.
• Book 7, Chapter 23: Of the Resurrection of the Soul, and the Proofs of This Fact.
• Book 7, Chapter 24: Of the Renewed World.
• Book 7, Chapter 25: Of the Last Times, and of the City of Rome.
• Book 7, Chapter 26: Of the Loosing of the Devil, and of the Second and Greatest Judgment.
• Book 7, Chapter 27: An Encouragement and Confirmation of the Pious.