Ante-Nicene Christian Library; Translations Of The Writings Of The Fathers Down To A.D. 325, Volume 21: The Works Of Lactantius, Volume 1

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existenco even to dumb animais, uniem he had mado a di tinction by tho addition os .isdom. Ηρ added, there re, thatho might escaps this commony linhing together, that tho soulos man could not be otherWise than immortal, since ita monde fui initi in invention, ita quichnem in reflection, and ita readinem in porceiving and learn ing, iis memory of the past, and iis forosight of tho future, and ita linoWledge of innumerable aris and subjecis, Rhich other living creatures do not possess, appear divino and heavenly; because of the foui, Which conceives such great things, and contains such great things, no origin canbe found on earth, since it has nothing οξ earthly admixture unithd with it; but that which is pondemus in man, and liabisto dissolution, must bis resolved into earth; Wheroas that whichis stight and subiis is incapabis ot division, and whon treed homino abode of tho body, as from prison, it flies to tho heaven, and to iis own nature. This is a briet summary of the teneta

writings. Pythagoras also Was preriousty of the fame sentimenta, and his inacher Pherecydes, whom Cicero reported to have been thesimi Who discoursed respecting the immortality of the foui. And although ali these excelled in eloquence, nevertheless in this contest at least, thois Who argued against this opinion hadno less authori ; Dicaearchus firat, then Democritus, and lastly Epicurus: so that the matter iraeis, respecting whichthey mero contending, Was called into do t. Finalty, Tullius also having set sortii ths opinions os ali these respecting immo tali and death, declared that he did not know What Was thetruth. Which of theso opinions is true,' he said, μ somo Godmay see. And again he sus in another placer Since eachos these opinions had most learned defendera, it cannot bedivinod What is certain ty.' But we have no need os divination, sines the divini itfelt has laid open to us tho truth. CHAP. IX.- αε immortali of the foui, and of virtus.' theso arguments, there sore, Which neither Plato nor any other invanted, tho immortali os fouis can be prouod and perceived: Whita arguments We Will briefly collech since my

communitatem.

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448 LACTANTIUS.

Boox VII.

discourae hastens on to relate the great jud ent of God, Whicli mill bo celebratia on tho earth at the approaching end of the

name of men, Who, With a close resemblance to dumb animais,

sarily followed such a sentiment. But it thero is a God .hois incorporeat, invisibi' and eternat, theresors it is credibio that the foui, sinco it is not seen, does not perish after ita d parturo fram the body; sor it is manifest that something existi hicli perceives and is vigorous, and yet does not come intosi t. But, it is sald, it is dissiculi to comprehend with thomind hoW the foui can retain iis perception Without those paris of tho body in .hicli ths ossico os perception is contained. What out God D it easy to comprehend hoW Ηe is vigoro

Appropinquante saeculorum fine.' Institutorum miracula. 8 Deliramenta.

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human soula exist in tho samo way, sinco it is perceivod Dommason itself, and discernment, that there is a certain resem-blance in man and God. Finalty, that proot which oven Marcus Tullius' saπ is os suffcient strangili: that tho immo tali of the foui may be discerned from tho faci that thero lano other animal Whicli has any knowledgo of God; and religionis almost the only thing which distinguishes man hom tho dumbcreation. And since this falis to man alone, it assuredly testifies that κε may aim at, destre, and cultivato that which is about in bo familiar and Very near. Can any one, When he has considered tho nature M other animais, whicli the providencs of the Supremo God has madoabjeci, with bodies bending down and prostrated in the earth, so that it may be underetood hom this that they have no inis course With heaven, fati to understand that man alone os allanimais is heavenly and divine, Whoso body raised iram thoground, eleValed countenance, and upright position, goes inquest of iis origin, and despising, as it Were, tho lowlineas of thoearth, reaches forti, to that whicli is on Ugh, becauso ho per

ceives that the h hest good is in bo fought is him in thahighest place, and mindies of his condition in Whicli God mado

has no existenco in tho dumb animais. Sinco thereiam Wisdom,

hicli is given to man alone, is nothing else but the knowledgeos God, it is ovident that tho soul does not periin, nor undomo dissolution, but that it remians for ever, becaum it Meha asteraud loves God, who is evertasting, by the impulso os ita very nuture perceiving either smm What fource it has sprunn or towhat it is about to retum. Moreover, it is no stight prooi ofimmortality that man alone maes use of the heavenly element. For, sinco the nature of the Worid consista of two elementa Whicli are opposta to one another-fire and water i Whicli theone is assigned to the heaven, tho other to the e th, the other living creatures, because they are os the earth and mortes, maheuso of tho element Which is earthly and heau: man alone

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450 LACTANTIUS.

mahes uso os fidi, Which is an element light, rising up aes, and heavenly. But those things whicli are meighty deprem todeath, and thoso vhicli ars light elevato to lita; becanso lite ison hio, and dealli bolow. And as thera cannot be light Without fire, so there cannot bo lita mithout light. Theroforo fimis the olement of light and lito; from .hich it is ovident thalman who uses it is a partaher of an immortat condition, causethat which ea es lite is familiis to him. The ost os viriue alio in man alone is a great proos that sinis ars immortal. For this Will not bo in accordanes With naturo it the soni is extinguishod; for it is injurious to this present lite. For that earthly lite, Whicli mo lead in commonmith dumb animais, both seeta pleasuro, by the varied andagraeabis fruits of .hieli it is delighted, and moids pala, theharshness of Whicli, is ita unpleasant sensations, injures thenatum os living beings, and endeavours to lead them to death, Which dissolves tho living Ming. Is, therosore, virtve both prohibila man Bom those goods Which aro naturalj destred, and impels him to enduro eviis Which aro naturally moided, it solio a that virtus is an evit, and opposed in nature; and hemust necessarily bo judged toolisti Who pursum it, since lis injures himself both is avolding present good' and by seehingequalty erils, Without hopo os greater advantage. For When itis permitted us to enjoy the sWeetest pleraures, should We notappear in be Without sense is me should preter to live in lowli

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to lusi; desim is destroyed either by tho tuli onjomant of thoobjecti Which it melis, or by the excitement of other affectiona; ambition, When it has gained the hono a Whicli it Mahod sor,

drive a V and put to flight vices, uniem it shali fortisy With a perpetuat mard the breast Whicli it inhabita. Therelaro thouninterrupted duration of virtve iraeit shons that tho Qui ofman, is it has received Viriue, remains permanent, boea evirtuo is perpetuat, and it is the human mind Hono whichreceives Virtua. Since, thereiore, Vices ars contrary to Viriue, tho wholo systema must os necessity differ hom and bo contrisyto Each other. Becausa vices ars commotions and perturbations of the foui; Viriue, on the contra , is mittams and tranquillityos mind. Because vices are temporary, and of inori duration; virtuo is perpetuat and constant, and alWaya consistent milhilaeti. Becauso the fruits of vicos, that is, pleas es, equallymith themselves, ars ahori and temporary, therelam the fruitand re ard os virtuo are evertasting. Becauso tho adontage of vices is immediato, therefore that os virtuo is futuro.

Thus it happens that in this lite there is no reWard of Viriue,

bacausa virtus iraeli stili exista. For as, When Vices are completed in their performance, pleraure and their renaria follo ;so, When virtus has been ended, ita re ard follows. But virtusis never ended excepi by death, since ita highest ossico is intho undergoing of death; thereiore tho re aes of virtus is aster death. In fine, Cicero, in his naeuian Disputationa,q

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452 LACTANTIUS

perceived, though mith doubi, that tho Aies good does nothappen to man excepi aster death. μ Α man will go,V he says, with confident spirit, is circumstances stiali so happen, todeath, in Whicli me havo ascertained that there is ei ther thechiet good or no evit.' Death, theresore, does not extinguishman, but admits him in the re ard os virtve. But he who has contaminated himself tho samo Writer avs, with vices and crimes, and has been the flavo os pleraure, he truly, Ming condemned, shali suffer eternat punishment, Which the sacredWritings catl tho second death, whicli is both eternat and fuit oftho severeat tormenta. For as tWo lives are proposed to man,

of whicli the one belongs to tho foui, the other to the body;so also tWo deallis are proposed, ne relating to the body, Milich ali must undergo according to nature, the other relatingis tho foui, Which is acquired by michedness and avoidod by virtuo. As this life is temporary and has fixed limita, becaussit bolongs to the body; so also death is in liho manner temporary and has a fixed end, because it affecta tho body. CHAP. XI.- the laat times, and of the foui and bo . Therasore, When the times whicli God has appotniad sordeath shali bo completed, death itfelt shali bo ended. Andbecauso temporal death tolloWs temporat lite, it follows that fouis rise again to evertasting lise, becauso temporia death has received an end. Again, as the lise of the foui is evertasting, in Whieli it receives the divine and unspeakable fruits os iis immortali ; so also ita death must be eternat, in Whieli it sus- fers perpetuat punishments and infinito torments for iis saviis.

Theresors things ars in this position, that they Who are happyin this lite, pertaining to the body and the earib, are a ut tobo miserable for ever, because they have atready enjoyed thegood things Whicli they preferred, Which happens to those Who adoro salso gods and neglect the true God. In the nexi place, they Who, solioWing righteousness, have been miserabie, and despised, and p r in this lite, and havo osten been harassed

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mortal from this, because Wo seo that iis productions are notmortal. In the fame manner also, the destres of tho body and of tho foui declaro that the one is mortal, AEE other evertas

ing. For tho body destres nothing except What is temporal, that is, iood, drlah, clothing, rest, and pleasum; and it cannot destre or attain to these very things vrithout the assent and assistance of ths foui. But tho soul of itfelt destres many things whicli do not extend to tho duty or enjoyment of thobody; and those are not Dail, but eternat, as the fame of Viriue,

as the remembrance of the name. For the foui even in oppo

Sine nutu et adminiculo animi. Redundent.

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454 LACTANNUS.

this account, Meamo it is equalty open to tho sight and to tho

separation and retum.

W let us relate the arguments of those Who maintain thoopposito opinions, Whicli Lucretius has related in his thita book. Since, he says, the foui is born together With ths body, it must

necessarily die mith the body. But the two cases are not similar.

sim; tho Qui has in it nothing concrete, nothing of earthly-ight, as Plato maintained. For it could not have such great force, such great shili, such great rapidi , unless it derivediis origin from heaven. The body, thereiore, since it is madeup of a pondemus and corruptibis element, and is tangibis and visibis, is corrupted and dies; nor is it abis to repet violence, be uso it comes under tho sight and under tho touch; but thosoui, Which is ira stightness avolds ali tonch, can bo dissolvedis no attach. Theretore, although they are joinod and connected together from birth, and the ono Which is formod ofearthly materiat ' is, as it Were, the vesset os the other, Which is drawn out hom heavenly fineness, When any violence has separated the tWo, Which separation is called death, then eachreturas into ita οὐ naturo; that which Was os earth is resolvedinto earth; that which is of heavenly breath remians fixed, and nourishes alWays, sinco the divine spirit is evertasting. In fine, tho fame Lucretius, fometting What he asserted, and what dogma he defended, Wrote these verses: That also which soro Was hom the earth passes bach into the earth, and that Which Was sent trom the bordere of ether is carried again by the quarters of heaven.' But this language was not for himis emptori Who contended that sonis perished with tho bodios; but he was overcome by the truth, and the trus system stoleupon him una ares. MoreoVer, that very inserencs whicli hedraus, stat the wes suffers dissolution, that is, that it perlahes

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THE DIVINE INSTITUTES. 455 together With the body, since they ars produced together, is

both salse, and is capablo of being turned to the opposite dire tion. For tho body does not perish together With tho foui; butwhen tho foui deparis it remains entire sor many dus, and frequently by medicat preparations it remains entire sor a Very

Sopitur.' Non exanimea, sed dementea vocantur.

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456 LACTANTIUS.

tho salting house, and sorgeis tho past, not about to bo divineon any other condition than is it shali have es ped tho prisonin whieli it is confinia But ths foui, he says, is also subject to pain and gries, andiosos ita senses through drunkennem, Whenco it is evidentlyhail and mortal. on this account, there ore, virtve and wisdomare necessary, that both gries, Which is contracted by the sui Ning and the figlit os un orthy objecta, may bo repelled by so titude, and that pleasurs may bo overcome, not only by abstaining smm drinhing, but also from other things. For is it bodestitute os virtus, is it be given up to pleasure, and thus rendered effeminate, it mill become subject to death, since Viriue,

as me have alioWn, is tho contriver os immortali , as pleasumis os death. But death, as I have set sorth, does not entirelysxtinguish and destroy, but visita mitti eternat tormenta. Forthe foui cannot entirely perish, since it received ita origin from

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