Ante-Nicene Christian library; translations of the writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325

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Mox u. THE DIUINE INSTITUTES Itho different Masons mio M ad ted Esther to the productionis tho pening of tho crom. An bacausa philosopheradi notisos his hil of tho divino poWor in oririving the movementa es a stare, the a posed them to e living, asthough thermoved mith see and of theirio coord, and notis tho divino intolligenes. ut Who does no underatand wis God contrived them Doubilem leti, a the lio of the sun

it mondrous vinely, and tempere tho darissas usoli miihmany an minuto liota. m. muc moro uel theresored a Naso judgo, than the who thin that the ars devotingthemserues to the purauit o misdom, in hinhing that in otiora mere appoinred by God in remove tho glaomi daris si H concludes the book in hic ho bHeu comprima in D nomena es naturo, missi aes three verses These imagos, a many in number, and of suo a figure, God placod in the heaven and haring cattere thom through tho glao Haris ness, m ordere them in ovo a bright Iight to tho host night. But is it is impossibis that in stare aliould bo goti it foliomathat the in and -- cannotae gods, since the differ immine light of the stare in magnitudo only, and no in their desim. Dii theas aro no goti, the samecia truo os in heave .hich eontaina them all.

CHAR VI.-That Mither the whol universe nomiae elementa ars

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s LACTANTIUS. Boo II. the earth nor the sea, hicli are the paris of the worid, canaemia, it folio a that the ori altogether is no God Whereas the fame Stoic conten stat it is othra in and wise, and there re God But in thia therare so inconsistent, stat nothingi saida them hic thendo not also overthrow Fordheyargue thus: It is impossibi that that hic produces homirael sensibi object should itseliae insensibie. But the worid produces man who is endowed missi sensibili therosor it must also irael be sensibie Also the argue that cannotae Mithout sensibili , a par of hicli is sensible thereiare, be-

cause mancis sensibis the worid, of hic mancia a part also possesses sensibility. The propositions themselves are true, that that whic produces a being endowed Wit senis is lineis sensibie and that that possesses sense, a par of hicli is endowed with sense Bul the assumptions is hicli the draWthei conclusion aro false io the worid does not produce man, nor is an a par of the worid. Forolio fame God hocreated the worid, also created an rom the eginning and mancis notis part of the worid, in tho fame manner in hic alim is a part of the body laesit is possibi sor tho worida bewithout man ascit is for a iiDoriouse. Nomina aio oris thera ellinyplace of ne man, an a cit os ne eople, οalso the worid is the abode of the whole humanaace and that whic is inhabito is ne hing that hich inhabita nother. But these persons, in thei eagernes to provo that hic theyhad falsely assumed that the worid is possessedis sensibili , an is God, id not porceive the consequences of their omnarguments For ii man is a par of the worid, andri the woridis endo e with sensibili aecause mancis sensibi' thereiam itfollows that, because malis mortia, the worid must also os nece si a mortal, and nolint mortia, but alsocii lorio allatadsos dimas and suffering And, o the contra , i the morti is God iis paris also are plaint immortat thereior man also is

Lactantius spe a alter tho manne es Cicero, an usea in Word proposition to expres that hic logiciana cali in major proposition a containing the major term the Word assumption expressea that Whic ia calledine minor proposition a containing the minor term.

Thus Cicero, de Finibus, iii , ava But themthinh that the univorse is verno by the pomer of the goci, and that i is, a it mere, a curandatate common to me and goda, and that everrone Lucia a part of that

univerae.

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God hecauseae is, as ou say, a par of the worid. nil itinan, the also bothaeast o burde and catile, and tho otherhind of east and of blads, and shes, since these also in thosam manne are possesse of sensibili , an ars paris of thoworid. ut this is endurabie so the Egyptians orshi Menthese. ut the matter comes to this that Ven hins, and gnata, and anta appea toae gods,aecause these also have sensibili , and are paris of the orid. hus arguments drawn

distinc frommim ho maderit. NoW ho inconsistent and absurd is it that when the affirm that he heavenlyiros' and the other element of the orlyare gods, the also say that the

clearly canno by themselves talis the nam os God Formoone an rightly say that the member o one an are manymen; ut however, there is no simila comparison etween a

endo ed mith sensibili , ita member alio have sensibiliu nordo theyaecome sensetess unles the are separate Domihobody. ut What resemblanco does in mori present to thic Trul the themselves teli us since the do no den stat it a made, that it might e, ascit ere, a common abode sor ει an men. Is thereiore, it has been constructedis an

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tune No do the opent sacrificorio the element themselves. Me are possessed mith so great a fontares for representations, that thoso stings hic are true are nomosteemed os lem alue

Imaginum.' in oculis hauriant.

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ma sume missi unWearie contemplation arment adornedint precisus tones an coloure, o cups studde Wit glitte inito eis. An in more ornamente are in temples, and the moro beautiles tho imagos, o muta the greater majest amtas bellove is have so numinis thoi religio confined to that whichahe desis of men admires. Theso are tho religious institutions hande do- to thomby thes aneestore, hic the persis in maintaining andra fending mith in greates obstina . Nor do the consider of What character the aro; ut the Dei assured of thei eraeessene and truth minis account,aecaum the ancients havo hande thom down and wareat is the auctorit os antiquit' that icis sal to erimerio inquiro into it And thus it is very here bellevia as ascerisine truth. minori, in Cicero, Cotta thus speas to Lucilius hno' Balbus, What istho opinionis Cotta, ha tho opinionis the pontiff. owlet me undeditand what aro Dur sentiments for since o area philosopher, Dought to receive iram o a ream for o religion; ut in tho cas of ou ancestor it is reason te obelieve them, though no reason is alleged by them ' ξ ou belleve, Why the do in require a reason, Which may limo theellectis causing ouiso to bellovel ut ii ou requiro areason, and thiis that the subject demanti inquiry the Dudo no bellovo for o mae inquir Wit this tem that ouma fosso it hen o have ascertaine it Behold reason Machmao that the religious institutions os the god are not

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Romulus, hen e mas about toriound the citri called to-gether the hepheria among Whom he had ro up and sincerihela number appeare inadequatorio the founding of thoci , he established an asylum. this allatio mos abandonedmen floche together indiscriminatet homilio eighbouring places, Without an distinctioni condition. Thusae brought together ineleopis Dominii these andae cliose into in senato those ho were oldest, and called them Fathera, by Whose advico ho mio direct at things. nd concerning this senate, Pr pertius the elegia poet thus speas: The rumpetisse tocali the ancient Quirites to an amemblys thos hundred in tho fiet osten forme the senate. The senat house, hic no is mised alos and shines it the well-robed senate, receivedine athera closted in hins, rustic spirita These are the Fathere hos decrees learne an sagacious me obe Withthe greates devotion and ali posterit must judge that to botrue and unchangeablo hic an hundred old me closted in inins est lishe at thei mill Who, hoWover, as has been

CHAP. VIII in the se of Nason in religions and of dreams,

auguris' oraclea, and rimilar portenta.

It is heresore right, speciali in a matter on hic thewhole planis lis turas, that every one Ahould place confidence in himself, and use his own judgment an individua capaci for tho investigation and weighing of the truth, ather inanthrough confidenco in thera inae deceived by thei errore, asthoughae himself ware Without underatanding. God has inven

i ad verba. Relatio hi by marriage Tho assutio icto in mell-known Mory, that an tho nesobouring toma reluaed to intermare missi in Romana. iro virili portione. Tho phraso properi denotea in aham that falla in a person in ins divisionis an inheritance, heno equalii

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Boocii. THE DIUINE INSTITUTES et the also ouistri us in isdom forcii this is givo equali toall, e cannot be anticipaled incit by thos Who precede s. It is incapabis os diminution, a tho light anda illianc of thoaun; ecause, a the sun is the light of the yes, socis isdomtho light of man' heart. Where ore, since Wisdom ha is, the inquir ater truth s natura in ali, the deprius them-selves of Wisdom, Who Without an iudgmen approus of thedis vertes of thei ancestora, and like si emare led by othera. But his escapes thei notice, that the nam os incestor beingintroduced the thin i impossibi that the themselves should have more knowledgo ecause the are calle descendanis, ortha the othera inould erunWiseaecause the are called ances- tors. What, thereiare, proenta us hom tisin a precedent frem them, that a the hande domito posterit thei falso inventions a me ho have discovere the truth may and down bella thing tomur posteri here remain therelam a great subjectis inqui , he discussion o Which does notcome irem talent, but iso knowledge: and this must be explaine at greate tengili, that nothingis es may bo test indoubi For perhaps ome ne a have reco se to thosethings hic aro hande down is many and undo ted aut rities that thos Ver persons, hom, have ho minaeno oci, have osten displayed thei majesty both by prodigies, and ream' and auguries, and oracles And, indeed, many onderies things may bo numeraled, and speciali this that Accius Navius, a consummate augur, heu he a Warning Tarquinius Priscus to underia the commencement of nothingnem ithout tho previsus sanctionis auguries, and tho hinndetractinifrom in credit duo to his ari, tot him to consultino bitas, and then to announcerio him hether it Was possiblefo that hie hs himsoli ad conceived in his in to boaccompliahed, and Navius assirmed that it a possibio then

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s LACTANTIUS. Boo misi this heistone, he aid, and divido it it a ragori ut themthe without an hesitation took and culcit. In tho ex placeris the factis Castor an Pollux having been seen in the Latin War at the ahe of Juturna Washingo the sweat of thei hora , he stela temple hic adjoinsthe founts had Men ope oscit own accord In the Mac donian war the fame deities , mounted on White hones, amisiadis have presente themselvecto Publius Vatienus ache wentio Rome a night announcta that in Perseus ad beonumquished an taen captivo on that day the truth of hielimas prove is letters received hom aulus a se dvs alte Watas That also is montaries that the statue o Fortune, in the form o a'oman is reporte to lime spolien more inanonce also that the statue os uno Moneta,' hen, o the capture of Veii, ne of the oldiere, ein sent to remove it, sportives and in est shed Whether alio ishedri remove to me ans ered that he Wished it. Claudia also is et forthas an example os a miracle. For,hen, in accordanco missi the Sibyllino books the Idaea mothe was sent sor, and the hipin hic ahe was conveyed had mundeLon a shoat of tho river Tiber, and could not be move is an force, the repor that Claudia, holad been alWays regarded as unchasis o account of her exces in persona adorament, it bendedanem e

lapius, Ming calledrimm Epidaurus, is asylo have released tho ciuis Rome Dom thedonycontinue plague. Sacrilegious person caninisoae mentioned by tho immediato punishment of whom theatas are belloeda have avengod thoinjurydone to them Appius Claudius the censor haring against the advice of the oracle, transferred the sacred rite o Herculesto the public laves, Was deprive of his vesight and the

admonition.

. M The ouin os militar age. The cireumatancoria related by Iara, book ix. c. n.

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Potitia gens, hic abandones ita privilege, istin tho pace of ons year ecam extincti ita is the censor Fulvius, .hen he had inhen away the arbio tiles Domino temple of the Lacinian uno, o cove the templo of the equestrian Fortuna, hic he had uili a Rome, as deprive of his senses, an havinitos his tW sons ino ere serving in Illyricum, a consumed Wit the greates Wies of mind. Turublius also, ius lieuienant finis Anton' henae had cutdown a Move of Esculapius in os, and uili a fleet, Wasaiternaria stat at the fame placo by the oldier o Caesar. To thes examples is adde Pyrrhus, ho, harin taen Waymoney homine treas o of the Locrian roserpine, as hip-Wreched, and dashed against the hores ea to the temple of the oddess, so that nothin Was found uninjure excepi that money. Ceres of Miletus also gained for herset great Vener tion among men. For,hen tho citfhad been taken is me ander, and the soldiere had rushed in to piunde hercle te, assam ostro suddent thrown um themalinded stem all. Thermare also found ream Whic Mem toraho rilis poWer of the goti For it is sal that Jupiter presented himself to Tiberius Atinius, a plebeian in his fleep, and enjotaedaim tomnounc to the consul and senate, that in tho las Circensian games a public dance had displeased his, ecause a certain Antonius Maximus ad severet sco ge a lave unde the furca in the middi of tho circus, and had ted him to punishment, and that mihi account the games ought tot repeated. he ho had neglecte this command hecis sal on thesam tanto hau los his son, and is have been himself selaedis a severe diseras and that he ho again perceived theam image ashing hetherae had suffere sussicient punishment for the neglectis his command he was carried on a litter

Prodidit, aeuayed. Lacinian in callindrom the promontory Lacini minae Croton. Tho istand of Cocliis omine coast o Caria itaad a celebratin templa es Eaculapius. Tho Circe lan gamea mero institute by Romulus, accordis to thelmen 'hen he,iahedri attraci tho Sabino population to Romerior inem os o obtaining misis for his eople. The mere alter aes celebrated mit great enthusiam. Furca, an instrument of punishment to vhie in alave πω bound and

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100 LACTANTIUS BOOK II. to the consuls and having explained the wholo matto in tho senate, he regained strength of Ody, and returne to his houso on oot. nd that ream also mas noctes Wonderfui, to hichit is sat stat Augustus Caesar Wed his preservation. Formiten in the civit War illi Brutus he was amicted with a severo disease, and had determine to abstain hom batile the imagoo Minerva presented iiset to his physician Artorius adrisinghim that Caesar inould no confine himself to the cam onaecount of his odit infirmi . e mas heresore carried ona litterito the amy, and o tho fame da the camp was ahenis Brutus Man other example os a simila nature a be

I Will therosor se sortii the method os est thos things that dissiculi an obscure subjecis may be more asil understood; and I viil bring to light ali these deceptions of the pretendeddelty led is hic me have departe very far hom the wayo truth. Buta mill retraco tho mattor sar ac Dom iis fource stat i any unaequainted Wit the truth and ignorant,

instructed, and ma underetan What an in truth bo thosource and originis theso eviis; ' and having received light may perceive his oWn error and thos os the wholo human race. Sinco God was possesset os in greates Aresight for plan- ning and of the greatest shili for car inglut in action, before Η commence this bufines of the worid inasmuch a there was in Him, an alWaycis the nuntain os fuit an most complete goodnes0, in orde that goodness might springas a stream