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

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Wit Naises to the heavens, cannota the teacheri virtve CHAP. XV.-The error of Seneea in philosophy, and hois tha

into many secis and systems, and has nothing certain othing,

in hori, respecting hic ali agre mith ne in and MVoic -What an e so false a stat philosoph inould e called the res o lite sine the diversit oscit precepta hinderetho right Way and causes confusion or the la o living meli, when iis subjecta Me widely discordant o the sciencs os pass- inclite, in hic nothingislseris effected by iis repeated contradictions than generat uncertainu For' as whether hethinis that tho Academnis philosophror noti domo thinhthatas mill dinfit Andri this is o nono of these hings, therelare, is in agreement illi philosophy; hic render allining uncertain abrogates la , esteem artis nothing su veris method distoris rute, entiret tahes a V knoWledge. Mefore at thos things are salse, ecause the are inconsistent With a Vatem hic is alWays uncertain, and up to thistimo explaining nothing. Theretor no system, o science, orlamos living meli, has been est lished excepi in this thoinlytru and heavent Wisdom, hic had been unknown to phil sophere. For that arthi Wisdom, sinoscit is false, ecomes varie an manisold, and altogether opposed toriiseis Anda there is ut ono nunde an ruter of the worid, God, andas truth is ne so Wisdom must be ne and simple. cause,

is mythiniis true and good, it cannot e perfect unlescit istho only one os ita hind. ut it philosoplis ere ablerio formine lis' nominera but philosopher mouidae good, and ali inoso

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are, an alWays have been innumerable persons ho are orhave been Mod Without any learning but os philosophera there has seido been ne ho has dono anythin pratse orthy in his lise; horis there, I pran who does no se that thos menam not Dacher o viriue, o Whicli the themselves are destitutori or is an ono hould diligently inquiro into thei character, he Wil find that the are passionate, covetous lustiui,

arrogant, Wanton, and concealin thei vices unde a homosmisdom, doin thos things at homo hic they had censuredin the schoess. Perhapsa spea salsely so the ahe o bringin an accusation. oes no Tullius both acknowledgo and complain os the fame thingi mo seW ae sus, is philosopher are undit such a character, o constitute in ovi and lite asreason demand. ho semwho thin true instructio notis di play ofanowledge, but a lamos life ho semwho ars obedientio thenaseives, and submit to their Wn decrees may see some of such levit and ostentation stat it mouidis bellor forthem no is have learne at ali othere ageri desimus os money, iners os glory many the flaves os lusis, so that their speech monderivlly disagrees illi their lite.' Cornelius Nepos also writes to tho fame Cicero Sessariam Psrom thinhingahat philosophy is the teacheris life and the completer os happiness, that Ι conside that non have greater need of teachersi livingina man who armengaged in the discussion of this subjeci. For I se that a great par of those horaive mos elaborate precept in thei schoo respecting modest an self-reatraint, live at tho fame time in tho nrestraine destres of ali usu Seneca iam in his Murtations says: Minyis tho philos pher Me of this description eloquent to thoi oWn condemn tiona sor it ou hould hea them arguin against marice, against lust an ambition, o would thin that the were mahing a public disclos e of their oWn character a entirelydo the consures hicli the ulter in publiciso bach uponstemselves so that it is right to regata them in no other liotthan a physicians, hos advertisemenis contain medicines,

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Booz ui. THE DIVINE INSTITUTES 173but thei medicine chesis Oison. Some are not ashamed of thei vices; ut thesinvent defences for their baseness, so that the ma appea even to si Wit honour.' Seneca also says:

the luxurious and the ignorant do the wiso an also ill do, butio in the fame manner, and illi the fame purpose Buti mahes no differenco illi ha intention o aci, heia theaction itfelicis victous; ecause acta ara seen the intention is

Aristippus, tho master of the Cyrenaics,aad a criminat intimac milli Lais, the celebrate courtegan and that graveteacherii philosophy defended this fauit by saying that here M a great differenco etween him and tho the lovers of Lais,aecause he himseli possesse Lais, hereas thera mere possesse is Lais. O illustrious isdom, to e imitate by good meci ould you, in truth, entrust your children to thisma for education that the might leam to possessis hariob H said that there mas omo differendo etween himself and the dissolute, that the wasted thei proper , hereas heclived in indulgencs Without an cost. An in his lis hario Wasplainly the miser, holad the philosophe acher creature, thalal the outh, corrupte by the examplo an authorit of thoteacher, might floch together to her Without any shame. What differenc therofore did it mahe with what intentio the philosopher botoo himself to that mos notorious hariot, When thepeopte an his rival sa him more depraved than ali insabandonet Nor ascit nouo to livo in this manner, ut he egan vis to leata lusis and e transferre his abiis iram the brothel to thorachool contendin thalaodii pleasure Was the chie good. hic pernicious and shametu doctrine has it origi no in the hear of the philosopher, but in thebosom of the hariol.

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174 LACTANTI US. Boo m. and titio hom dogs, since theralso imitared their lis, Thero-

foro there is no instructionis virtuo in his seci, sinos eventhos Who enjoin more honourabis things either themselves dono practis What the advise; orcii the do whichoarelyhappens , it is nos the system hic lead them to that whichis righ aut natur Whicli osten impeti ove insonte ne to

Augustino in many placea expresses hi opinion that tho Cynica merea called from Gela immodeat' thera suppos that inomammma invento them on account of inela inarsing propensity.

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Boo in. TNE DIUINE INSTITUTES 175ho sus, at thei disputation, although it contains ost

in this liso It ought toto quichlyriound in orde that it maybo quichi tari up lest an partii lde houldias aWay theend of hic is uncertain. Hortensius in Cicero, contendingagainst philosophy, is pressed is a leve argument in muchas, henae said that men uot notrio philosophige, heraeemed veriheles to philosophige, sincerit is the par of the philos pherario discus What ough and what ouot no toae dono inliis Wo are Deo an exemptri minis calumny, hocia aWay philosophy, beca scit is the inventionis human thought; me defend wisdom, ecauserit is a divine tradition, and wotestis that it oughtrioa tahenm by all. e When he oohama philosophy Without introducing anything etter, a suin

posed to tis ama Wisdom; and o that account a more

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176 LACTANTIUS. Boo III. has reat weight also against philosophy,-namely that i maybe understood rom his that philosophyris ot Wisdom, sinceiis eginning and origi are apparent. When, he says, id philosophera egi to exist Thales asa imagine mas the

first, an his age a recenti here then, among the more ancient me di that lovo o investigatin in truth lio his Lucretius also says: Then, iso, this nature an system ofthings has been discovere lately, anda tho very rs of allhave onlymo been ound abierio transferri into native Mords 'And Seneca sus There ars notoet a thousand years incotheaeginning of Wisdom ere underlahen. heresore man-hindrior many generations lived without system. In ridicule iWhicli, Persius sayM:

a though misdom ad been introduce into tho it togother With savour mercliandise For is it is in agreement with thenatur of man, it mus have ad iis commencemen togetherwit manu ut is it is no in agreement Mithrit, human nature would bo incapabis os receivincit But in much ascit has received it, it follows that wisdom has existe from theamin- ning thereiore philosophy, in much ascit has not existe tromtheaeginning is no the fame true Wisdom. But, in truth, tho Greelis,aecause they hadiso attaine to the sacre letior ostruth, di notanow of isdom a corrupted And there- fore, since the thought that human ita a destituto os Wisdom, thesinuente philosophy that is, the wished by discussion toclear u the truth hich was binthid an unknown to them and this emplument, through ignorance of the trulli, the thoughtrioae Wisdom. CHAP. XVII.-m passes rem philosoph to the philosophera, beginnismisit Epicurus an ho he regarde Leucippus

and Democritus as author Oferror.

a I could no letos come to the philosophers, no that ema contendisit these, ho anno maintain their round, but that we a puraue those ho ars in flight and riven

Lucreti , v. 336. 3 Persius, Sat. 4 38.

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Boocui. THE DIVINE INSTITUTES 177srom our batile-field. The system o Epicurus Was much more generali solio e than hos of the thera not ecauserit bring ior ard an truth, but ecause the attractive nam ofpleasure invites many For every one is naturalty incline to Vices. Oreover, for the purpos o draming the multitudo tollimself, e speah that hicli is speciali adapte to achcharacter separalely. e sorbid the idie to applfhimself tolearning he releases the covetous an from givinita essest theseople he prohibit the in active man rom undertising the busines of the state, the luggisti hom odii exercise thotimi iram militar service. ho irreligious is old that thogod paymo attention to the conductis men tho man who is uniaelin and selfisi is ordere to ive nothin to any one,

is to sparing learns that iis can e sustaine on ater and meat. Is a man ates his i se the lessing of celibac aroenumerate&t hi mri omne ho has bad children the happinessos those ho re ithout childre is proclaimed against un- naturar parent i is sal that there is no bondi nature Toth man who is delicate an incapablem endurance, it is aid that ain is the greatest os ali viis to the an os fortitude, it is sal that the wis mancis happy even unde tortures Theman who devotes himself to the pursui os influence and di tinctio is onjoine to a cour to hings he ho cannotendum annoyance is enjoine to hun tho abod of hings. Thus the crast man collecti an assembl hom Various and differing characters and while heclus himsel out to plerae all, he is more at varianco with himself than the ait are missi oneanother. ut e must explain from hat ourco the whole os this system is derived, and what origincit has. Epicurus saW that the good are alWays subjectri adversilics,pover , laboura, exile, lora os dear triends. ith contra , he a stat the wiche were happy that the were exalted mitti influenee, and loadedistin hono s lis a that inn cene mas unprotected that crimes mere committed illi impuni et he a that deat raged without an regarda ch raeter Without an arrangementi discriminationis age; ut

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178 LACTANTIUS BOOK III. stat ome a ve at id age, Whil oster mero carrie o in their insancy that somo die&When the wer no robus andri mus, that iners mere cutis is an untimoly death in the fidit floweri youth; that in Wars tho bellar me mero especiallyovercome an flain. ut stat hic especiali move him, mas the fac that religious men ere speciali visite Mihmeightier eviis, here ae saW that les erit orione at ali sollupo those ho altogether neglected the gods, or orinippedinem in an impio manner; and that even the ver temples

themselves ero osten et on fire is lighining And of this Lucretius complains, Whenae sus respecting the god enhs may hur liotnings, and osten thro down his temples, and withdrawing into the deseris, there spendat rege in practising his boli, hic osten passes the guttinis, and strihes dea thoinnocent any offending. ut it he had been abierio collecteve aramali parties of truth, he would neve say that the god throw down his own temples, when e throws them down oninis account,aecause the ammo his The Capites, hic istho chiet seat of tho Roman cit an religion, a strue missili ining and se onire no Onc onj, but frequently ButWhat a the opinionis leve me respecting this is evident hom in saying o Cicero, Wh says that tho flamo camo Domheaven no to destro that arthi dWelling-place of Jupiter, but is domandis tostier an more magnificent abode. Con- cerning hic transaction, in the boas respectinihi consuuship he speis to the fame purpori a Lucretius: For thelather thundering onaio throned in the losty lympus himself assasse his own citadet an famed temples, and castisresupon his abodo in tho Capitol. In tho obstinac of their soli'there ore the not ni di notonderatand the powe and majest of the true God, but the even increased the impie of thei error, in endeavouring against ali divine lawrio restorea temple so osten condemned by the judgmentis Heaven. Therelare, hen Epicurus reflected omines things, indu das it mero by tho injustice of them matters for thus it appearedis him in his ignorance os the cause an subject), he thoughtthat there mas no providen . And harin persuade himselfof this hs undertook alsorio defend it, and thus h entanglia himself in inextricabie errore For i them is no providenoe,

Lucretius, de rerum Natura, si 1101, Munm.

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Boocui. TNE DIUINE INSTITUTES 17sho. is it that ths World was made missi such orde and arrang ment says: here is no arrangement for many thinga are made in a different anne Dominat in hic the oughtto have been made. An the divine an nund subjecta oscensure No cis Phadaeis e to resute these things separalely, Ι could Milyrahon that this mammas nesther Wis norit found mind. Also, is there is no providenchao is it that theiodioso animal are arrange mitti suci forestot stat the vario membera, ein disposed in a mondersu manner, dischamethei ou ossices individualis Tho system o providenchaesus, contrive nothin in the production o animais for

atoms 'hy didis oneraream of them esides Leucippus -ου hom hom Democritus, haVin received instructions,len to Epicurus the inheritanes of his folly Andri thos areminute bodies, and indeed solid, a the say the certainb amabierio tali unde tho notice of the ves. f the natur os allthings is the samo hoW is it that the compose various objecta The meet together, he says, in varie orde and position as

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180 LACTANTIUS. Boo III. tho letters hich, though te in number, by Variotyis arran mentiae, innumerable mords. ut it is urged tho letters have a variet os forms Andrio, he sus have theso fidit principies for the are rouo the are furnishe with hooks, the are mooth. There re the can e ut an dividod is thoracis in them an pari hicli projecti But is the arosmooth and withou hooks the canno cohere They uotthereiam to e hooked that the may bo linhed togetherinowith another. ut since the ars sal to e so minute that the cannotae cutissunde by the edge of any eapon ho is it that they have hook or angies For it mustra possibiosor theso is e tor afunder, inco the project. In the nexi place by What mutua compaci, by hat discerament, do theymeet together, o that nything may be constructed ut of them the aro without intelligence, the cannot come to-gether in such orde and arrangement for nothinibu reasonca bring to accomptishment nythin in accordane Withreason. Wit ho many arguments an his tristinibo re

who surpasse in intellec the race of man, and uenchedihodio onali, a the etherea sun arisen quenches the stare Whicli verses Lam neve abierio read Without laughter. Forthis mas no sat respectin Socrates o Plato, ho amesteemed as hing o philosophera, but concerning a man who, though o found min an vigorous health, med more sens tessi than any one diseraed. And thus the most ain poe Ido notisa adorned, but verWhelmed an crushed the mouinwith the presses of the lion. ut tho fame man alio releaseau fram the sear o deast respecting hic these are his o nexac mords: When, are in existence, deat does no exist ;When death exista, me avo no existence theret o deat is

there is a time in Which, ourselves even et exist, and deatudoes notae exist and that ver time appear mae miserabie, becauso deat is beg ning to exist, and we are easing to exist.

Lucrinus, iii 1056. The massing of the teri, hic appearctoae in true ne is, quo