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THE

ANTE-NICENE FATHERS.

TRANSLATIONS OF

The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. J2^,

THE REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D.,

AND

JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D.,

EDITORS.

AMERICAN REPRINT OF THE EDINBURGH EDITION.

REVISED AND CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED, WITH BRIEF PREFACES AND

OCCASIONAL NOTES,

A. CLEVELAND COXE, D.D.

VOLUME VII.

LACTAMTWS, ¥ENANTIUS, ASTER/US, VICTORINUS, DIONYSIUS. APOSTOLIC TEACHING
AND CONSTITUTIONS. HOMILY. AND LITURGIES.

AUTHORIZED EDITION.

NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.

1913

^52)5")

FATHERS OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURIES:

LACTANTIUS, VENANTIUS, ASTERIUS, VICTORINUS, DIONYSIUS, APOSTOLIC TEACHING

AND CONSTITUTIONS, HOMILY, AND LITURGIES.

AMERICAN EDITION.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED, WITH NOTES, PREFACES, AND ELUCIDATIONS,

A. CLEVELAND COXE, D.D.

Ta apyava. tOrj K/oarctro).

Tnb NicKNB Coimciu

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

The genius of Lactantius suffers a sad transformation when unclothed of his vernacular and
stripped of the idiomatic graces of his style. But the intelligent reader will be sure to compare
this translation with the Latinity of the original, and to recur to it often for the enjoyment of its
charming rhetoric, and of the high sentiment it so nobly enforces and adorns. This volume will be
the favourite of the series with many. The writings of the Christian TuUy alone make up more
than half of its contents ; and it is supremely refreshing to reach, at last, an author who chroni-
cles the triumph of the Gospel ' over " Herod and Pontius Pilate ; " over the heathen in their
"rage," and the people in their "vain imaginings ; " over " the kings of the earth who stood up,
and the rulers who were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ."

I love the writings of Lactantius, and two of his sayings are always uppermost when I recali
his name. They touch me like plaintive but inspiring music. Let me quote them entire : * —

1. "Si^vita est optanda sapienti profecto nuUam aliam ob causam vivere qptaverim, quam ut
aliquid efficiam quod vita dignum sit."

2. " Satis me vixisse arbitrabor, et officium hominis implesse, si labor mens aliquos homines
ab erroribus liberatos, ad iter coeleste direxerit."

The Minor Writers to be found in this volume are not unworthy of their place. They are
chiefly valuable as an appendix to preceding volumes,^ and illustrative of their contents.

But this series is enriched beyond its original by the Bryennios Manuscript and the com-
pleted form of the pseudo- Clementine Epistle, edited by Professor Riddle. The same hand has
annotated the Apostolic Constitutions, so called ; and the student has in his brief but learned
notes all the light which has been shed by modern scholarship on these invaluable relics of
antiquity, since the days of the truly illustrious Bishop Beveridge. These, and the liturgical
pseuaepigraphic treasures of early Christianity I have gathered here, to distinguish them from the
mere Apocrypha, which will largely make up the one remaining volume of the series.

Of the Liturgies, I have said what seemed necessary as an introduction, in the proper place.*
They are debased by mediaeval alloy. In their English dress, and in the nudity of their appear-
ance, without adequate notes and elucidations, they are therefore far from attractive specimens of
liturgical literature. But it would have been beyond my province to say much where the
original editors have said nothing, and I have contented myself with such comments only as
seemed requisite to remind the student how to " take forth the precious from the vile."

June, 1886. ^' ^- ^•

' Compare Merivale, Conversion of the Roman Empire, p. 8, ed. New York, 1866.

^ De Opificio Dei, cap. xxi. p. 395, ed. Basil, 1521.

3 Thus the Apocalyptic comments of Victorinus must be compared with those of Commodian and Hippolytus, Dionysius with his
namesake of Alexandria, Asterius with Caius, etc.

* Compare Canon Wescott, The Historic Faith, Short Lectures, etc., pp. 185-202, 237 (and same authpr's Risen Lord, etc., p. 28).
London, 1883.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME VII.

PAGB

I. LACTANTIUS. The Divine Institutes 9

The Epitome of the Divine Institutes 224

A Treatise on the Anger of God 259

On the Workmanship of God, or the Formation of Man . . . 281

Of the Manner in which the Persecutors died 301

Fragments of Lactantius 323

The Phcenix 324

A Poem on the Passion of the Lord 327

II. VENANTIUS. Poem on Easter 329

III. ASTERIUS URBANUS. Extant Writings 335

IV. VICTORINUS. On the Creation of the World 341

Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John .... 344

V. DIONYSIUS OF ROME. Against the Sabellians 365

VI. THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES 369

VII. CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 385

VIII. THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT 509

IX. EARLY LITURGIES. The Liturgy of James 537

The Liturgy of Mark 551

The Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles . . . . . . .561

LACTANTIUS.

CTRANSLATED BY THE REV. WILLIAM FLETCHER, D.D.t

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

LACTANTIUS.

[a.d. 260-330.] Reaching, at last, the epoch of Constantine, perhaps the reader will share

my own feehngs, as those of —

" One who long, in thickets and in brakes
Entangled, winds now this way, and now that,
His devious course uncertain, seeking home,
But finds at last a greensward smooth and large,
Courageous, and refreshed for future toil."

How strange it seems, after three centuries since John the Baptist suffered, to gain a moment
when kings are not actually persecuting Christ in His servants !

How marvellous the change must have been in the experience of the primitive faithful ; the
Roman Emperor not ashamed of Jesus, and setting up the cross on the standards of his legions !
TertuUian, De Fiiga, and the troubles of Cyprian about The Lapsed, are matters of the past. As
in a moment, God has changed the world for His people, and their perils become as suddenly
reversed. The world's favour begins to be the trial of faith, as its hatred before. The mild con-
templative attitude of the Church at this period is something surprising. It accepts with little
exultation this miracle of the Master ; but so long has it been habituated to persecution, that it
finds much of its discipline, and not less of its prevailing spirit, neutralized by its very triumph.
No more the martyr's heroic testimony and his crown beyond this life ; no such call for the
celibate as had been enforced before in tomes of the Christian literature ; and what need now of
Antony's invitation to the desert and the cell? But, on the other hand, these ascetic forms of
heroic faith were all that were now left to minister to the martyr-spirit, and to perpetuate the
habits enforced upon the early believers. The hermitage and the monastery assumed a new
attractiveness, and became dear to sentiment, as to principle before. We must not be surprised,
then, at the tendencies of the age now rapidly developed ; but let us rejoice for a moment in the
times of refreshing from the Lord now at last vouchsafed to that " little flock " to which He had
promised the kingdom.

The " conversion of Constantine," as it is called, introduced the most marvellous revolution in
human empire, in practical thought, and in the laws and manners of mankind, ever known in the
history of the world. It is amazing how little the men of the epoch itself glorified their own
introduction to " marvellous light," and how very little the Church has left us, to tell the story of
its emotions when first it found itself at rest from fiery persecutions, or when came forth from the
Emperor the Edict of Milan for the legal observance of " the Day of the Sun." ' What a day
that Easter was, when, emerging from the catacombs and other dens and caves of the earth, the
Church herself seemed as one risen from the dead !

' He borrows from Justin, vol. i. note i, p. 186.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

We may be sure there were tears of joy and warm embraces among kindred long torn asunder
by their common exposures to fire and sword. We cannot imagine, indeed, all that was in the
hearts of those Christian families that now kept holyday together in the face of the world, and
sang fearlessly in holy places their anthem, " Christ is risen from the dead." But a moment's
thought we ought to give, as we pass into a stage of history entirely fresh and new, to the power
of God thus manifested. The miracle thus wrought by the ascended Christ needs no aid from
the supposed " vision of Constantine " to make it a supernatural exhibition of His glory who is
" King of kings and Lord of lords."

Amobius wrote to the minds of perplexed Pilates asking " What is truth " in a new spirit, and
not indisposed to wash their own hands of the blood of Jesus, though not prepared to beheve and
be baptized. His pupil finds a better sort of Pilate in the Emperor and in his period. Constan-
tine is a pagan still at heart, but he is convinced of the truth that Christ has a kingdom " not of
this world ; " and he must have this credit, above the Antonines, that he recognised in the Chris-
tians not only his best and most loyal subjects, but men of a character altogether superior ' to
that of the heathen, who had so long been the councillors of the empire. He was one, also,
who accepted " the logic of events," and who came to terms with the inevitable in time to turn
it to his own advantage.

I think Constantine had read the Apologies addressed to the Antonines ^ by Justin Martyr,
and was at first disposed only to accept the plea for Christians so far forth as Justin had urged it.
Going so far, he was led beyond his positive convictions to measures of policy which identified
him with the Church. That the Church was distrustful of him, and doubted how long the impe-
rial favour might be relied upon, is also apparent. This doubt accounts, in some degree, for the
great moderation of the Church in accepting benefits from him, and in withholding notes of
triumph. She instinctively foresaw Julians in the way, and expected reactionary periods. She
forbore to baptize the Emperor, and encouraged his disposition to postpone. It was as when
"■ the wolf of Benjamin " was introduced to the disciples : " they were afraid of him, and believed
not that he was a disciple."

Lactantius, moved, perhaps, by Hosius or Eusebius, undertakes the instruction of the
Emperor, while seeming only to copy the example of Justin writing to Antoninus Pius. The
Institutes, it is true, had been begun at an earlier date ; but he economizes, for a new purpose,
the material, in which, perhaps, he had only purposed to follow up the work of his teacher, in
language better fitted to the polite, for refuting heathenism. I cannot doubt that he aimed, in
pure Latinity, to win the Emperor and his court to a deeper and purer conviction of divine truth :
to more than a feeble and possibly superstitious idea that it was useless to contend with it, and
that the gods of the empire were impotent to protect themselves against Christian progress and
its masterly exposures of their shame and nothingness.

In language which has given him the title of the Christian Cicero, Lactantius employs Cicero
himself as a defender of the truth ; correcting him, indeed, and overruling his mistakes, rebuking
his pusillanimity, and justly censuring him, (i) in philosophy, for declaring it no rule of action,
however ennobling its precepts; and (2) in religion, for not venturing to profess conclusions to
which his reasonings necessarily tend. All this is admirably adapted to carry on the work of
Christian Fathers and Apologists under the change of times. He and Arnobius furnish but a
supplement to the real teachers of the Church, and are not to be always depended on in state-
ments of doctrine. They write like earnest converts, but not like theologians ; yet, although their
loose expressions are often inconsistent one with another, it is manifest that their design is to
support orthodoxy as it had been defined by abler expounders. I think the large respect which
Lactantius pays to the testimony of the Sibyls was addressed to the class with which he had to
deal. Constantine was greatly influenced by such testimonies, if we may judge from his own

' e.g., Theonas, vol. vi. p. 158. " While Lactantius was tutor to his son.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 5

liberal quotations " and his comments on the Pollio of Virgil, to which, as a Christian oracle, our
author may have introduced him. In short, the day had come in which it could no longer be
said with strict propriety of phrase, " Not many mighty, not many noble, are called ; " and Lac-
tantius accepted, as his mission, the enforcement, before such a class, of despised truths which
the great had persecuted in vain for centuries. He drew them thus to the conclusion that God
had indeed " chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of
the world to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things
which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things
that are." Such was the prophecy of St. Paul, and the Labarutn uplifted by Caesar's legions
proclaimed the fulfilment.

I have little doubt that Lactantius was of heathen parentage, and was converted late in life.
To his eternal honour he was not a " fair-weather Christian," but boldly confessed the faith amid
the fires of the last and most terrible of the great persecutions. Its probable date suggests that
his treatise on the persecutors may have been a far-reaching effort to dissuade the Caesars of a
later age from trying to restore " the gods to Latium." I confess my own partiality to our author,
and the interest with which his writings continue to impress me, even now. In youth ( Consule
Planco) I brought to his pages an enthusiastic appreciation of the genius which had adorned the
very dawn of Christian civilization by works of literary merit not inferior to those of the Augustan
age. The crabbed Latinity of TertuUian has charms, indeed, of its own sort : it was the shaggy
raiment of the ascetic and the confessor, " always bearing about in his own body the dying of the
Lord Jesus." It befitted the age and the man, and those awful realities with which Christians had
then to deal. Not words, but things, were their one concern. It is pleasant to find, however,
that Christianity is not incapable of meeting all sorts and conditions of men ; and Lactantius was
doubtless the instrument of Providence in bearing the testimony of Jesus, " even before kings,"
in language which promised to Roman letters the new and commanding development imparted to
its language by Christianity, which has made it imperishable, and more truly " eternal " than
Rome itself.

The following is the I^^^RODUCTORY Notice of the reverend translator : » —

Lactantius has always held a very high place among the Christian Fathers, not only on
account of the subject-matter of his writings, but also on account of the varied erudition, the
sweetness of expression, and the grace and elegance of style, by which they are characterized.
It appears, therefore, more remarkable that so little is known with certainty respecting his personal
history. We are unable to fix with precision either the place or time of his birth, and even his
name has been the subject of much discussion. It is known that he was a pupil of Amobius,
who gave lectures in rhetoric at Sicca in Africa. Hence it has been supposed that Lactantius was
a native of Africa, while others have maintained that he was born in Italy, and that his birthplace
probably was Firmium, on the Adriatic. He was probably born about the middle of the third
century, since he is spoken of as far advanced in life about a.d. 315. He is usually denominated
" Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius ; " but the name Caecilius is sometimes substituted for
Caelius, and it is uncertain whether Firmianus is a family name or a local ^ designation. Some
have even supposed that he received the name of Lactantius from the milky softness of his style.

He attained to great eminence as a teacher of rhetoric, and his fame far outstripped the
reputation of his master Amobius. Such, indeed, was his celebrity, that he was invited by
the Emperor Diocletian to settle at Nicomedia, and there practise his art. He appears, however,
to have met with so little success in that city, as to have been reduced to extreme indigence.
Abandoning his profession as a pleader, he devoted himself to literary composition. It was

' See his Address to the Assembly of the Saints, preserved by Eusebius.

* William Fletcher, D.D., head master of Queen Elizabeth's School, Wimbome, Dorset.

* i.e., of Firmium.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

probably at this period that he embraced the Christian faith, and we may perhaps be justified in
supposing some connection between his poverty and his change of rehgion.' He was afterwards
called to settle in Gaul, probably about a.d. 315, and the Emperor Constantine entrusted to him
the education of his son Crispus. He is believed to have died at Treves about a.d. 325.

His principal work is The Christian Institutions, or an Introduction to True Religion, in
seven books, designed to supersede ^ the less complete treatises of Minucius Felix, Tertullian, and
Cyprian. In these books, each of which has a distinct title, and constitutes a separate essay, he
demonstrates the falsehood of the pagan religion, shows the vanity of the heathen philosophy,
and undertakes the defence of the Christian religion against its adversaries. He also sets forth
the nature of righteousness, gives instructions concerning the true worship of God, and treats
of the punishment of the wicked, and the reward of the righteous in everlasting happiness.

To the Institutions is appended an epitome dedicated to Pentadius. The authorship of this
abridgment has been questioned in modern times ; but it is expressly assigned to Lactantius by
Hieronymus. The greater part of the work was wanting in the earlier editions, and it was not
until the beginning of the eighteenth century that it was discovered nearly entire.^

The treatise on The Anger of God is directed mainly against the tenets of the Epicureans and
Stoics, who maintained that the deeds of men could produce no emotions of pleasure or anger in
the Deity. Lactantius holds that the love of the good necessarily implies the hatred of evil ; and
that the tenets of these philosophers, as tending to overthrow the doctrine of future rewards
and punishments, are subversive of the principles of true religion.

In the treatise on The Workmanship of God, or The Formation of Man, the author dwells
upon the wonderful construction of the human frame, and the adaptation of means to ends therein
displayed, as proofs of the wisdom and goodness of God. The latter part of the book contains
speculations concerning the nature and origin of the soul.

In the treatise ■♦ on the Deaths of Persecutors, an argument for the truth of the Christian
religion is derived from the fact, that those emperors who had been most distinguished as perse-
cutors of the Christians, were special objects of divine vengeance.

To these treatises are usually appended some poetical works which have been attributed to
Lactantius, but it is very questionable whether any of them were really written by him.

The poem on the Phoenix appears to be of a comparatively modern date.

That on Easter^ is believed to have been composed by Venantius Honorianus Clementianus
Fortunatus in the sixth century.

The poem on the Passion of the Lord, though much admired both in its language and style
of thought, bears the impress of a later age.^

There is also a collection of A Hundred Enigmas ^ which has been attributed to Lactantius ;
but there is good reason to suppose that they are not the production of his pen. Heumann
endeavoured to prove that Symposium is the title of the work, and that no such person as
Symposius * ever existed. But this opinion is untenable. It is true that Hieronymus speaks of
Lactantius as the author of a Symposium, but there are no grounds for supposing that the work
was of a light and trifling character : it was probably a serious dialogue.

The style of Lactantius has been deservedly praised for the dignity, elegance, and clearness

-J

I [I see no force in this suggestion. Quite the reverse. He could not then anticipate anything but worse suflerings.]
' [To supplement, rather.]

3 In an ancient MS. at Turin.

4 Lord Hailes' translation has been adopted in the present edition.

5 De Pasckd.

• It has an allusion to the adoration of the cross. [Hence must be referred to a period subsequent to the pseudo-council called
T5eutero-Nicene. Comp. vol. iv. note 6, p. 191 ; and see Smith's History of the Christian Church in the First Ten Centuries, vol. 1.
^ 451, eO. Harpers, New York.]

' The Enigmas have not been included in the present translation, for the reason mentioned.

• Tl.e i.tle prefixed to them in the Mss is Firmianiis Symposius (written also Symphosius) Ca:lius. See Dr. Smith's Dictionary/
ti-jr'^phy, uod^./ i.^ ^ames Firmianus and Lactantius.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

of expression by which it is characterized, and which have gained for him the appellation of the
Christian Cicero. His writings everywhere give evidence of his varied and extensive erudition,
and contain much valuable information respecting the systems of the ancient philosophers. But
his claims as a theologian are open to question ; for he holds peculiar opinions on many points,
and he appears more successful as an opponent of error than as a maintainer of the tnith.
Lactantius has been charged with a leaning to Manicheism,' but the charge appears to be
unfounded.

The translation has been made from Migne's edition, from which most of the notes have been
taken. The quotations from Virgil have been given in the words of Conington's translation,^ and
those from Lucretius in the words of Munro.

* This question is fully discussed by Dr. Lardner in his Credibility of the Gospel History, Works, vol. iii. [p. 516. The whole
chapter (Ixv.) on Lactantius deserves study].

* [Which reduces many of Virgil's finest and most Homeric passages to mere song and ballad, and sacrifices all their epic dignity.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

BOOK I.

OF THE FALSE WORSHIP OF THE GODS.

PREFACE. OF WHAT GREAT VALUE THE KNOWL-
EDGE OF THE TRUTH IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

Men of great and distinguished talent, when
'they had entirely devoted themselves to learn-
ing, holding in contempt all actions both private
and public, applied to the pursuit of investigat-
ing the truth whatever labour could be bestowed
upon it ; thinking it much more excellent to in-
vestigate and know the method of human and
divine things, than to be entirely occupied with
the heaping up of riches or the accumulation
of honours. For no one can be made better or
more just by these things, since they are frail
and earthly, and pertain to the adorning of the
body only. Those men were indeed most de-
ser\'ing of the knowledge of the truth, which
they so greatly desired to know, that they even
preferred it to all things. For it is plain that
some gave up their property, and altogether
abandoned the pursuit of pleasures, that, being
disengaged and without impediment, they might
follow the simple truth, and it alone. And so
greatly did the name and authority of the truth
prevail with them, that they proclaimed that the
reward of the greatest good was contained in it.
But they did not obtain the object of their wish,
and at the same time lost their labour and in-
dustry ; because the truth, that is the secret of
the Most High God, who created all things,
cannot be attained by our own ability and per-
ceptions. Otherwise there would be no differ-
ence between God and man, if human thought
could reach to the counsels and arrangements
of that eternal majesty. And because it was
impossible that the divine method of procedure
should become known to man by his own efforts,
God did not suffer man any longer to err in
search of the light of wisdom, and to wander
through inextricable darkness without any result
of his labour, but at length opened his eyes, and
made the investigation of the truth His own
gift, so that He might show the nothingness of

human wisdom, and point out to man wandering
in error the way of obtaining immortality.

But since few make use of this heavenly
benefit and gift, because the truth lies hidden
veiled in obscurity ; and it is either an object
of contempt to the learned because it has not
suitable defenders, or is hated by the unlearned
on account of its natural severity, which the
nature of men inclined to vices cannot endure :
for because there is a bitterness mingled with
virtues, while vices are seasoned with pleasure,
offended by the former and soothed by the lat-
ter, they are borne headlong, and deceived by
the appearance of good things, they embrace
evils for goods, — I have believed that these
errors should be encountered, that both the
learned may be directed to true wisdom, and
the unlearned to true religion. And this pro-
fession is to be thought much better, more use-
ful and glorious, than that of oratory, in which
being long engaged, we trained young men not
to virtue, but altogether to cunning wickedness.'
Certainly we shall now much more rightly discuss
respecting the heavenly precepts, by which we
may be able to instruct the minds of men to the
worship of the true majesty. Nor does he de-
serve so well respecting the affairs of men, who
imparts the knowledge of speaking well, as he
who teaches men to live in piety and inno-
cence ; on which account the philosophers were
in greater glory among the Greeks than the
orators. For they, the philosophers, were con-
sidered teachers of right living, which is far more
excellent, since to speak well belongs only to a
few, but to live well belongs to all. Yet that
practice in fictitious suits has been of great ad-
vantage to us, so that we are now able to plead
the cause of truth with greater copiousness and
ability of speaking ; for although the tmth may
be defended without eloquence, as it often has

' [This, St. Augustine powerfully illustrates. See Confessions,
lib. iii. cap 3. Note also lb., lib. ix. cap 5.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

been defended by many, yet it needs to be ex-
plained, and in a measure discussed, with dis-
tinctness and elegance of speech, in order that it
may flow with greater power into the minds of
men, being both provided with its own force,
and adorned with the brilliancy of speech.

CHAP. I.

OF RELIGION AND WISDOM.

We undertake, therefore, to discuss religion
and divine things. For if some of the greatest
orators, veterans as it were of their profession,
having completed the works of their pleadings,
at last gave themselves up to philosophy, and re-
garded that as a most just rest from their labours,
if they tortured their minds in the investigation
of those things which could not be found out, so
that they appear to have sought for themselves
not so much leisure as occupation, and that in-
deed with much greater trouble than in their
former pursuit ; how much more justly shall I
betake myself as to a most safe harbour, to that
pious, true, and divine wisdom, in which all things
are ready for utterance, pleasant to the hearing,
easy to be understood, honourable to be under-
taken ! And if some skilful men and arbiters
of justice composed and published Institutions of
civil law, by which they might lull the strifes and
contentions of discordant citizens, how much
better and more rightly shall we follow up in
writing the divine Institutions, in which we shall
not speak about rain-droppings, or the turning
of waters, or the preferring of claims, but we
shall speak of hope, of life, of salvation, of im-
mortality, and of God, that we may put an end
to deadly superstitions and most disgraceful
errors.

And we now commence this work under the
auspices of your name, O mighty Emperor Con-
stantine, who were the first of the Roman princes
to repudiate errors, and to acknowledge and
honour the majesty of the one and only true
God.' For when that most happy day had shone
upon the world, in which the Most High God
raised you to the prosperous height of power,
you entered upon a dominion which was salutary
and desirable for all, with an excellent beginning,
when, restoring justice which had been over-
thrown and taken away, you expiated the most
shameful deed of others. In return for which
action God will grant to you happiness, virtue,
and length of days, that even when old you may
govern the state with the same justice with which
you began in youth, and may hand down to your
children the guardianship of the Roman name, as
you yourself received it from your father. For
to the wicked, who still rage against the righteous
in other parts of the world, the Omnipotent will

• [Tt thrills me to compare this modest tribute of Christian confi-
dence, with Justin's unheeded appeal to the Stoical Antonine.]

also repay the reward of their wickedness with a
severity proportioned to its tardiness ; for as He
is a most indulgent Father towards the godly, so
is He a most upright Judge against the ungodly.
And in my desire to defend His religion and
divine worshij), to whom can I rather appeal,
whom can I address, but him by whom justice
and wisdom have been restored to the affairs of _
men?

Therefore, leaving the authors of this earthly
philosophy, who bring forward nothing certain,
let us approach the right path ; for if I considered
these to be sufficiently suitable guides to a good
hfe, I would both follow them myself, and exhort
others to follow them. But since they disagree
among one another with great contention, and are
for the most part at variance with themselves, it
is evident that their path is by no means straight-
forward ; since they have severally marked out
distinct ways for themselves according to their
own will, and have left great confusion to those
who are seeking for the truth. But since the ^
truth is revealed from heaven to us who have
received the mystery of true religion, and since
we follow God, the teacher of wisdom and the
guide to truth, we call together all, without any
distinction either of sex or of age, to heavenly pas-
ture. For there is no more pleasant food for the
soul than the knowledge of truth,^ to the main-
taining and explaining of which we have destined
seven books, although the subject is one of al-
most boundless and immeasurable labour ; so that ""
if any one should wish to dilate upon and follow
up these things to their full extent, he would
have such an exuberant supply of subjects, that
neither books would find any limit, nor speech
any end. But on this account we will put to-
gether all things briefly, because those things
which we are about to bring forward are so plain
and lucid, that it seems to be more wonderful
that the truth appears so obscure to men, and
to those especially who are commonly esteemed
wise, or because men will only need to be trained
by us, — that is, to be recalled from the error in
which they are entangled to a better course of life.

And if, as I hope, we shall attain to this, we
will send them to the very fountain of learning,
which is most rich and abundant, by copious
draughts of which they may appease the thirst
conceived within, and quench their ardour. And
all things will be easy, ready of accomplishment,
and clear to them, if only they are not annoyed
at applying patience in reading or hearing to the
perception of the discipline of wisdom.^ For
many, pertinaciously adhering to vain supersti-
tions, harden themselves against the manifest

2 [Pilate is answered at last out of the Roman court itself.]
3 [" How charming is divine philosophy!

Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose."

— Milton, Con us J

Chap. III.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

1 1

truth, not so much deserving well of their re-
ligions, which they wrongly maintain, as they
deserve ill of themselves ; who, when they have
a straight path, seek devious windings ; who leave
the level ground that they may glide over a
precipice ; who leave the light, that, blind and
enfeebled, they may lie in darkness. We must
provide for these, that they may not fight against
themselves, and that they may be willing at
length to be freed from inveterate errors. And
thi'S they will assuredly do if they shall at any
time see for what purpose they were born ; for
this is the cause of their per\^erseness, — namely,
ignorance of themselves : and if any one, having
gained the knowledge of the truth, shall have
shaken off this ignorance, he will know to what
object his life is to be directed, and how it is to
be spent. And I thus briefly define the sum of
this knowledge, that neither is any religion to be
undertaken without wisdom, nor any wisdom to
be approved of without religion.

CHAP. 11. — TH.'^T THERE IS A PROVIDENCB IN THE
AFFAIRS OF MEN.

Having therefore undertaken the office of ex-
plaining the truth, I did not think it so necessary
to take my commencement from that inquiry
which naturally seems the first, whether there is
a providence which consults for all things, or all
things were either made or are governed by
chance ; which sentiment was introduced by De-
mocritus, and confirmed by Epicurus. But be-
fore them, what did Protagoras effect, who raised
doubts respecting the gods ; or Diagoras after-
wards, who excluded them ; and some others,
who did not hold the existence of gods, except
that there was supposed to be no providence?
These, however, were most vigorously opposed
by the other philosophers, and especially by the
Stoics, who taught that the universe could neither
have been made without divine intelligence, nor
continue to exist unless it were governed by the
highest intelligence. But even Marcus Tullius,
although he was a defender of the Academic
system, discussed at length and on many occa-
sions respecting the providence which governs
affairs, confirming the arguments of the Stoics, and
himself adducing many new ones ; and this he
does both in all the books of his own philosophy,
and especially in those which treat of the nature
of the gods."

And it was no difficult task, indeed, to refute
the falsehoods of a few men who entertained per-
verse sentiments by the testimony of communi-
ties and tribes, who on this one point had no
disagreement. For there is no one so uncivil-
ized, and of such an uncultivated disposition,

' [Ingeniously introduced, and afterward very forcibly expanded.]

who, when he raises his eyes to heaven, although
he knows not by the providence of what God
all this visible universe is governed, does not
understand from the very magnitude of the
objects, from their motion, arrangement, con-
stancy, usefulness, beauty, and temperament, that
there is some providence, and that that which
exists with wonderful method must have been - -
prepared by some greater intelligence. And for
us, assuredly, it is very easy to follow up this part
as copiously as it may please us. But because
the subject has been much agitated among phi-
losophers, and they who take away providence
appear to have been sufficiently answered by
men of sagacity and eloquence, and because it is
necessary to speak, in different places throughout
this work which we have undertaken, respecting
the skill of the divine providence, let us for the
present omit this inquiry, which is so closely con-
nected with the other questions, that it seems pos-
sible for us to discuss no subject, without at the
same time discussing the subject of providence

CHAP. III. — WHETHER THE UNIVERSE IS GOVERNED
BY THE POWER OF ONE GOD OR OF MANY.

Let the commencement of our work therefore
be that inquiry which closely follows and is con-
nected with the first : Whether the universe is
governed by the power of one God or of many.
There is no one, who possesses intelligence and
uses reflection, who does not understand that it
is one Being who both created all things and
governs them with the same energy by which
He created them. For what need is there of
many to sustain the government of the universe ?
unless we should happen to think that, if there
were more than one, each would possess less
might and strength. And they who hold that
there are many gods, do indeed effect this ; for
those gods must of necessity be weak, since in-
dividually, without the aid of the others, they
would be unable to sustain the government of so
vast a mass. But God, who is the Eternal Mind, ^
is undoubtedly of excellence, complete and per-
fect in every part. And if this is true. He must
of necessity be one. For power or excellence,
which is complete, retains its own peculiar sta-
bility. But that is to be regarded as solid from
which nothing can be taken away, that as per-
fect to which nothing can be added.

Who can doubt that he would be a most pow-
erful king who should have the government of
the whole world? And not without reason,
since all things which everywhere exist would
belong to him, since all resources from all quar-
ters would be centred in him alone. But if
more than one divide the government of the
world, undoubtedly each will have less power
and strength, since every one must confine him-

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

self within his prescribed portion.' In the same
manner also, if there are more gods than one,
they will be of less weight, others having in
themselves the same power. But the nature of
excellence admits of greater perfection in him
in whom the whole is, than in him in whom
there is only a small part of the whole. But
God, if He is perfect, as He ought to be, cannot
but be one, because He is perfect, so that all
things may be in Him, Therefore the excel-
lences and powers of the gods must necessarily
be weaker, because so much will be wanting to
each as shall be in the others ; and so the more
there are, so much the less powerful will they
be. Why should I mention that this highest
power and divine energy is altogether incapable
of division ? For whatever is capable of divis-
ion must of necessity be liable to destruction
also. But if destruction is far removed from
God, because He is incorruptible and eternal, it
follows that the divine power is incapable of
division. Therefore God is one, if that which
admits of so great power can be nothing else :
and yet those who deem that there are many
gods, say that they have divided their functions
among themselves ; but we will discuss all these
matters at their proper places. In the mean-
time, I affirm this, which belongs to the present
subject. If they have divided their functions
among themselves, the matter comes back to
the same point, that any one of them is unable
to supply the place of all. He cannot, then, be
perfect who is unable to govern all things while
the others are unemployed. And so is comes
to pass, that for the government of the universe
there is more need of the perfect excellence of
one than of the imperfect powers of many. But
he who imagines that so great a magnitude as
this cannot be governed by one Being, is de-
ceived. For he does not comprehend how
great are the might and power of the divine
majesty, if he thinks that the one God, who had
power to create the universe, is also unable to
govern that which He has created. But if he
conceives in his mind how great is the immen-
sity of that divine work, when before it was
nothing, yet that by the power and wisdom of
God it was made out of nothing — a work which
could only be commenced and accom])lished by
one — he will now understand that that which
has been established by one is much more easily
governed by one.

Some one may perhaps say that so immense
a work as that of the universe could not even
have been fabricated except by many. But
however many and however great he may con-
sider them, — whatever magnitude, power, ex-
cellence, and majesty he may attribute to the

' [A hint to Caesar himself, the force of which began soon after
»ery sorely to be felt in the empire.]

many, — the whole of that I assign to one,
and say that it exists in one : so that there is
in Him such an amount of these properties as
can neither be conceived nor expressed. And
since we fail in this subject, both in perception
and in words — for neither does the human
breast admit the light of so great understanding,
nor is the mortal tongue capable of explaining
such great subjects — it is right that we should
understand and say this very same thing. I see,
again, what can be alleged on the other hand,
that those many gods are such as we hold the one
God to be. But this cannot possibly be so,
because the power of these gods individually
will not be able to proceed further, the power of
the others meeting and hindering them. For
either each must be unable to pass beyond his
own limits, or, if he shall have passed beyond
them, he must drive another from his bound-
aries. They who believe that there are many
gods, do not see that it may happen that some
may be opposed to others in their wishes, from
which circumstance disputing and contention
would arise among them ; as Homer repre-
sented the gods at war among themselves, since
some desired that Troy should be taken, others
opposed it. The universe, therefore, must be
ruled by the will of one. For unless the power
over the separate parts be referred to one and
the same providence, the whole itself will not be
able to exist ; since each takes care of nothing
beyond that which belongs peculiarly to him,
just as warfare could not be carried on without
one general and commander. But if there were
in one army as many generals as there are
legions, cohorts, divisions,^ and squadrons, first
of all it would not be possible for the army to
be drawn out in battle array, since each would
refuse the peril ; nor could it easily be governed
or controlled, because all would use their own
peculiar counsels, by the diversity of which they
would inflict more injury than they would con-
fer advantage. So, in this government of the
affairs of nature, unless there shall be one to
whom the care of the whole is referred, all
things will be dissolved and fall to decay.

But to say that the universe is governed by
the will of many, is equivalent to a declaration
that there are many minds in one body, since
there are many and various offices of the mem-
bers, so that separate minds may be supposed to
govern separate senses ; and also the many affec-
tions, by which we are accustomed to be moved
either to anger, or to desire, or to joy, or to fear,
or to pity, so that in all these affections as many
minds may be supposed to operate ; and if any
one should say this, he would appear to be des-
titute even of that very mind, which is one. But

' Cunei; properly, soldiers arranged in the shape of a wedge.

Chap. V.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

if in one body one mind possesses the govern-
ment of so many things, and is at the same
time occupied with the whole, why should any
one suppose that the universe cannot be gov-
erned by one, but that it can be governed by
more than one? And because those maintain-
ers of many gods are aware of this, they say
that they so preside over separate oiifices and
parts, that there is still one chief ruler. The
others, therefore, on this principle, will not be
gods, but attendants and ministers, whom that
one most mighty and omnipotent appointed to
these offices, and they themselves will be sub-
ser\aent to his authority and command. If,
therefore, all are not equal to one another, all are
not gods ; for that which serves and that which
rules cannot be the same. For if God is a title
of the highest power. He must be incorruptible,
perfect, incapable of suffering, and subject to no
other being ; therefore they are not gods whom
necessity compels to obey the one greatest God.
But because they who hold this opinion are not
deceived without cause, we will presently lay
open the cause of this error. Now, let us prove
by testimonies the unity of the divine power.

CHAP. IV. — THAT THE ONE GOD WAS FORETOLD
EVEN BY THE PROPHETS.

The prophets, who were very many, proclaim
and declare the one God ; for, being filled with
the inspiration of the one God, they predicted
things to come, with agreeing and harmonious
voice. But those who are ignorant of the truth
do not think that these prophets are to be be-
lieved ; for they say that those voices are not
divine, but human. Forsooth, because they pro-
claim one God, they were either madmen or
deceivers. But truly we see that their predic-
tions have been fulfilled, and are in course of
fulfilment daily ; and their foresight, agreeing as
it does to one opinion, teaches that they were
not under the impulse of madness. For who
possessed of a frenzied mind would be able, I
do not say to predict the future, but even to
speak coherently? Were they, therefore, who
spoke such things deceitful? What was so ut-
terly foreign to their nature as a system of deceit,
when they themselves restrained others from all
fraud ? For to this end were they sent by God,
that they should both be heralds of His majesty,
and correctors of the wickedness of man.

Moreover, the inclination to feign and speak
falsely belongs to those who covet riches, and
eagerly desire gains, — a disposition which was
far removed from those holy men. For they
so discharged the office entrusted to them, that,
disregarding all things necessary for the main-
tenance of life, they were so far from laying up
store for the future, that they did not even la-

bour for the day, content with the unstored food
which God had supplied ; and these not only
had no gains, but even endured torments and
death. For the precepts of righteousness are
distasteful to the wicked, and to those who lead
an unholy life. Wherefore they, whose sins were
brought to light and forbidden, most cruelly tor-
tured and slew them. They, therefore, who had
no desire for gain, had neither the inclination
nor the motive for deceit. Why should I say
that some of them were princes, or even kings,'
upon whom the suspicion of covetousness and
fraud could not possibly fall, and yet they pro-
claimed the one God with the same prophetic
foresight as the others?

CHAP. V. — OF THE TESTIMONIES OF POETS AND
PHILOSOPHERS.

But let us leave the testimony of prophets,
lest a proof derived from those who are univer-
sally disbelieved should appear insufficient. Let
us come to authors, and for the demonstration
of the truth let us cite as witnesses those very
persons whom they are accustomed to make use
of against us, — I mean poets and philosophers.
From these we cannot fail in proving the unity
of God ; not that they had ascertained the truth,
but that the force of the truth itself is so great,
that no one can be so blind as not to see the
divine brightness presenting itself to his eyes.
The poets, therefore, however much they adorned
the gods in their poems, and amplified their ex-
ploits with the highest praises, yet very frequently
confess that all things are held together and
governed by one spirit or mind. Orpheus, who
is the most ancient of the poets, and coeval with
the gods themselves, — since it is reported that
he sailed among the Argonauts together with the
sons of Tyndarus and Hercules, — speaks of the
true and great God as the first-born,^ because
nothing was produced before Him, but all things
sprung from Him. He also calls Him Phanes ^
because when as yet there was nothing He first
appeared and came forth from the infinite. And
since he was unable to conceive in his mind the
origin and nature of this Being, he said that He
was born from the boundless air : " The first-
born, Phaethon, son of the extended air ; " for
he had nothing more to say. He affirms that
this Being is the Parent of all the gods, on whose
account He framed the heaven, and provided
for His children that they might have a habita-
tion and place of abode in common : " He built
for immortals an imperishable home." Thus,
under the guidance of nature and reason, he
understood that there was a power of surpassing

• [Not David merely, nor only other kings of the Hebrews.

Elucidation I.]

2 TrptoToyovoi'.

3 i^avrfTa, the appearer.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

greatness which framed heaven and earth. For
he could not say that Jupiter was the author of
all things, since he was born from Saturn ; nor
could he say that Saturn himself was their
author, since it was reported that he was pro-
duced from the heaven ; but he did not venture
to set up the heaven as the primeval god, be-
cause he saw that it was an element of the uni-
verse, and must itself have had an author. This
consideration led him to that first-born god, to
whom he assigns and gives the first place.

Homer was able to give us no information
relating to the truth, for he wrote of human
rather than divine things. Hesiod was able, for
he comprised in the work of one book the gen-
eration of the gods ; but yet he gave us no in-
formation, for he took his commencement not
from God the Creator, but from chaos, which
is a confused mass of rude and unarranged
matter ; whereas he ought first to have explained
from what source, at what time, and in what
manner, chaos itself had begun to exist or to
have consistency. Without doubt, as all things
were placed in order, arranged, and made by
some artificer, so matter itself must of necessity
have been formed by some being. Who, then,
made it except God, to whose power all things
are subject? But he shrinks from admitting
this, while he dreads the unknown truth. For,
as he wished it to appear, it was by the inspi-
ration of the Muses that he poured forth that
song on Helicon ; but he had come after previous
meditation and preparation.

Maro was the first of our poets to approach
the truth, who thus speaks respecting the highest
God, whom he calls Mind and Spirit : ' —

" Know first, the heaven, the earth, the main,
The moon's pale orb, the starry train,

Are nourished by a Soul,
A Spirit, whose celestial flame
Glows in each member of the frame,

And stirs the mighty whole."

And lest any one should happen to be ignorant
what that Spirit was which had so much power,
he has declared it in another place, saying : ^
" For the Deity pervades all lands, the tracts of
sea and depth of heaven ; the flocks, the herds,
and men, and all the race of beasts, each at its
birth, derive their slender lives from Him."

Ovid also, in the beginning of his remarkable
work, without any disguising of the name, admits
that the universe was arranged by God, whom
he calls the Framer of the world, the Artificer
of all things.' But if either Orpheus or these
poets of our country had always maintained what
they perceived under the guidance of nature.

' yEn., vi 724.

' Georg., iv. 221. [These passages seem borrowed from the Oc-
/at/f M5 of Minuciiis, cap. 19, vol. iv p 183 ]
^ [Fabricatorem mundi, rerum opificem.J

they would have comprehended the truth, and
gained the same learning which we follow.*

But thus far of the poets. Let us come to the
philosophers, whose authority is of greater weight,
and their judgment more to be relied on, be-
cause they are believed to have paid attention,
not to matters of fiction, but to the investigation
of the truth. Thales of Miletus, who was one of
the number of the seven wise men, and who is
said to have been the first of all to inquire re-
specting natural causes, said that water was the
element from which all things were produced,
and that God was the mind which formed all
things from water. Thus he placed the mate-
rial of all things in moisture ; he fixed the begin-
ning and cause of their production in God.
Pythagoras thus defined the being of God, " as
a soul passing to and fro, and diffused through
all parts of the universe, and through all nature,
from which all living creatures which are pro-
duced derive their life." Anaxagoras said that
God was an infinite mind, which moves by its
own power. Antisthenes maintained that the
gods of the people were many, but that the God
of nature was one only ; that is, the Fabricator
of the whole universe. Cleanthes and Anaxim-
enes assert that the air is the chief deity ; and
to this opinion our poet has assented : 5 " Then
almighty father i-Ether descends in fertile showers
into the bosom of his joyous spouse ; and great
himself, mingling with her great body, nourishes
all her offspring." Chrysippus speaks of God
as a natural power endowed with divine reason,
and sometimes as a divine necessity. Zeno also
speaks of Him as a divine and natural law. The
opinion of all these, however uncertain it is, has
reference to one point, — to their agreement in
the existence of one providence. For whether
it be nature, or cether, or reason, or mind, or a
fatal necessity, or a divine law, or if you term it
anything else, it is the same which is called by
us God. Nor does the diversity of titles prove
an obstacle, since by their very signification they
all refer to one object. Aristotle, although he is
at variance with himself, and both utters and
holds sentiments opposed to one another, yet
upon the whole bears witness that one Mind pre-
sides over the universe. Plato, who is judged
the wisest of all, plainly and openly maintains
the rule of one God ; nor does he name Him
yEther, or Reason, or Nature, but, as He truly is,
God, and that this universe, so perfect and won-
derful, was fabricated by Him. And Cicero,
following and imitating him in many instances,
frecjuently acknowledges (iod, and calls Him su-
preme, in those books which he wrote on the

* (Concerning the Orphica, see vol. i. p. 17S, note i, and pp.
279, 290. For Sibyllina, Ibid., p. 169, note 9, and pp. 280-289. Not*
also vol ii. p. 194, note 2, and T. Lewis, Plato cont. Ath., p. 99.]

5 Virg., Georg., ii. 325-327.

Chap. VI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

subject of laws ; and he adduces proof that the
universe is governed by Him, when he argues
respecting the nature of the gods in this way :
" Nothing is superior to God : the world must
therefore be governed by Him. Therefore God
is obedient or subject to no nature ; conse-
quently He Himself governs all nature." But
what God Himself is he defines in his Consola-
tion: ■ " Nor can God Himself, as He is compre-
hended by us, be comprehended in any other
way than as a mind free and unrestrained, far re-
moved from all mortal materiality, perceiving and
moving all things."

How often, also, does Annaeus Seneca, who
was the keenest Stoic of the Romans, follow up
with deserved praise the supreme Deity ! For
when he was discussing the subject of premature
death, he said : " You do not understand the
authority and majesty of your Judge, the Ruler
of the world, and the God of heaven and of all
gods, on whom those deities which we separately
worship and honour are dependent." Also in
his Exhorfaiions: " This Being, when He was
laying the first foundations of the most beautiful
fabric, and was commencing this work, than which
nature has known nothing greater or better, that
all things might serve their own rulers, although
He had spread Himself out through the whole
body, yet He produced gods as ministers of His
kingdom." And how many other things hke to
our own writers did he speak on the subject of
God ! But these things I put off for the present,
because they are more suited to other parts of
the subject. At present it is enough to demon-
strate that men of the highest genius touched
upon the truth, and almost grasped it, had not
custom, infatuated by false opinions, carried them
back ; by which custom they both deemed that
there were other gods, and believed that those
things which God made for the use of man, as
though they were endowed with perception, were
to be held and worshipped as gods.

CHAP. VI. — OF DIVINE TESTIMONIES, AND OF THE
SIBYLS AND THEIR PREDICTIONS.

Now let US pass to divine testimonies ; but I
will previously bring forward one which resem-
bles a divine testimony, both on account of its
very great antiquity, and because he whom I
shall name was taken from men and placed
among the gods. According to Cicero, Caius
Cottathe pontiff, while disputing against the Stoics
concerning superstitions, and the variety of opin-
ions which prevail respecting the gods, in order
that he might, after the custom of the Academics,
make everything uncertain, says that there were
five Mercuries ; and having enumerated four in
order, says that the fifth was he by whom Argus

was slain, and that on this account he fled into
Egypt, and gave laws and letters to the Egyp-
tians. The Egyptians call him Thoth ; and from
him the first month of their year, that is, Septem-
ber, received its name among them. He also
built a town, which is even now called in Greek
Hermopolis (the town of Mercury), and the in-
habitants of Phense honour him with religious
worship. And although he was a man, yet he
was of great antiquity, and most fully imbued with
every kind of learning, so that the knowledge of
many subjects and arts acquired for him the
name of Trismegistus.^ He wrote books, and
those in great numbers, relating to the knowledge
of divine things, in which he asserts the majesty
of the supreme and only God, and makes men-
tion of Him by the same names which we use —
i God and Father. And that no one might in-
■ quire His name, he said that He was without
\ name, and that on account of His very unity He
does not require the peculiarity of a name.
These are his own words : " God is one, but He
who is one only does not need a name ; for He
who is self-existent is without a name." God,
I therefore, has no name, because He is alone ;
nor is there any need of a proper name, except
in cases where a multitude of persons requires a
distinguishing mark, so that you may designate
each person by his own mark and appellation.
But God, because He is always one, has no
peculiar name.

It remains for me to bring fonvard testimo-
nies respecting the sacred responses and predic-
tions, which are much more to be relied upon.
For perhaps they against whom we are argu-
ing may think that no credence is to be given
to poets, as though they invented fictions, nor to
philosophers, inasmuch as they were liable to
err, being themselves but men. Marcus Varro,
than whom no man of greater learning ever
lived, even among the Greeks, much less among
the Latins, in those books respecting divine sub-
jects which he addressed to Caius Caesar the
chief pontiff, when he was speaking of the Quin-
decemviri,^ says that the Sibylline books were
not the production of one Sibyl only, but that
they were called by one name Sibylline, because
all prophetesses were called by the ancients
Sibyls, either from the name of one, the Del-
phian priestess, or from their proclaiming the
counsels of the gods. For in the ^olic dialect
they used to call the gods by the word Sioi, not
Theoi ; and for counsel they used the word bule,
not boiile ; — and so the Sibyl received her name
as though Siobule.* But he says that the Sibyls

' [See (Sigonius) p. 144, ed. Paris, 1818.]

* [See vol. i. p. 289, note 2, this series.]

^ The Quindecemviri were the fifteen men to whom the care of
the Sibylline books was entrusted. At first two (Duumviri) were ap-
pointed. The number was afterwards increased to ten, and subse-
quently to fifteen. It appears probable that this last change was
made by Sulla.

* [i.e., Counsel of God. See p. 14 suf>ra, and 16 infra.}

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book L

were ten in number, and he enumerated them
all under the writers, who wrote an account
of each : that the first was from the Persians,
and of her Nicanor made mention, who wrote
the exploits of Alexander of Macedon ; — the
second of Libya, and of her Euripides makes
mention in the prologue of the Lamia ; — the
third of Delphi, concerning whom Chrysippus
speaks in that book which he composed con-
cerning divination ; — ^t fourth a Cimmerian in
Italy, whom Nsevius mentions in his books of
the Punic war, and Piso in his annals ; — the
fifth of Erythrsea, whom Apollodorus of Ery-
thrsa affirms to have been his own country-
woman, and that she foretold to the Greeks
when they were setting but for Ilium, both that
Troy was doomed to destruction, and that Homer
would write falsehoods ; — the sixth of Samos,
respecting whom Eratosthenes writes that he
had found a written notice in the ancient annals
of the Samians. The seventh was of Cumse, by
name Amalthaea, who is termed by some He-
rophile, or Demophile and they say that she
brought nine books to the king Tarquinius Pris-
cus, and asked for them three hundred philip-
pics, and that the king refused so great a price,
and derided the madness of the woman ; that
she, in the sight of the king, burnt three of the
books, and demanded the same price for those
which were left ; that Tarquinius much more
considered the woman to be mad ; and that
when she again, having burnt three other books,
persisted in asking the same price, the king was
moved, and bought the remaining books for the
three hundred pieces of gold : and the number
of these books was afterwards increased, after the
rebuilding of the Capitol ; because they were
collected from all cities of Italy and Greece, and
especially from those of Erythrsea, and were
brought to Rome, under the name of whatever
Sibyl they were. Further, that the eighth was
from the Hellespont, born in the Trojan terri-
tory, in the village of Marpessus, about the town
of Gergithus ; and Heraclides of Pontus writes
that she lived in the times of Solon and Cyrus ;
— the ninth of Phrygia, who gave oracles at
Ancyra ; — the tenth of Tibur, by name Albunea,
who is worshipped at Tibur as a goddess, near the
banks of the river Anio, in the depths of which
her statue is said to have been found, holding in
her hand a book. The senate transferred her
oracles into the Capitol.

The predictions of all these Sibyls ' are both
brought forward and esteemed as such, except
those of the Cumsean Sibyl, whose books are
concealed by the Romans ; nor do tliey con-
sider "it lawful for them to be inspected by any

' [Concerning the Sibyls, see also, fully, Lardner, Credit., ii.
'58. 334, etc On the use here and elsewhere made of them by
•ur author, Ibid., pi 343, and iii. 544; also pp. 14 and \^,supra.\

one but the Quindecemviri. And there are sep-
arate books the production of each, but because
these are inscribed with the name of the Sibyl
they are believed to be the work of one ; and
they are confused, nor can the productions of
each be distinguished and assigned to their own
authors, except in the case of the Erythraean
Sibyl, for she both inserted her own true name
in her verse, and predicted that she would be
called Erythraean, though she was born at Baby-
lon. But we also shall speak of the Sibyl with-
out any distinction, wherever we shall have
occasion to use their testimonies. All these
Sibyls, then, proclaim one God, and especially
the Erythraean, who is regarded among the
others as more celebrated and noble ; since
Fenestella, a most diligent writer, speaking of
the Quindecemviri, says that, after the rebuild-
ing of the Capitol, Caius Curio the consul pro-
posed to the senate that ambassadors should be
sent to Erythrae to search out and bring to
Rome the writings of the Sibyl ; and that, ac-
cordingly, Publius Gabinius, Marcus Otacilius,
and Lucius Valerius were sent, who conveyed to
Rome about a thousand verses written out by
private persons. We have shown before that
Varro made the same statement. Now in these
verses which the ambassadors brought to Rome,
are these testimonies respecting the one God : —

1. "One God, who is alone, most mighty, uncreated."

This is the only supreme God, who made the
heaven, and decked it with lights.

2. " But there is one only God of pre-eminent power,

who made the heaven, and sun, and stars, and
moon, and fruitful earth, and waves of the
water of the sea."

And since He alone is the framer of the uni-
verse, and the artificer of all things of which it
consists or which are contained in it, it testifies
that He alone ought to be worshipped : —

3. " Worship Him who is alone the ruler of the

world, who alone was and is from age to age."

Also another Sibyl, whoever she is, when she
said that she conveyed the voice of God to men,
thus spoke : —

4. " I am the one only God, and there is no other

God."

1 would now follow up the testimonies of the
others, were it not that these are sufficient, and
that I reserve others for more befitting oppor-
tunities. But since we are defending the cause
of truth before those who err from the truth and
serve false religions, what kind of proof ought
we to bring forward ^ against them, rather than
to refute them by the testimonies of their own
gods ?

2 [Vol. ii. cap. 28, p. 143.]

Chav. Vill.J

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

CHAP. VII. — CONCERNING THE TESTIMONIES OF
APOLLO AND THE GODS.

Apollo, indeed, whom they think divine above
ell others, and especially prophetic, giving re-
•ponses at Colophon, — I suppose because, in-
duced by the pleasantness of Asia, he had
removed from Delphi, — to some one who asked
t\-ho He was, or what God was at all, replied m
twenty-one verses, of which this is the begin-
ning : —

* bclf-produced, untaught, without a mother, unshaken,
A name not even to be comprised in word, dwelling in

fire.
This is God ; and we His messengers are a slight por-
tion of God."

Can any one suspect that this is spoken of Jupi-
ter, who had both a mother and a name ? Why
should I say that Mercury, that thrice greatest,
of whom I have made mention above, not only
speaks of God as " without a mother," as Apollo
does, but also as " without a father," because He
has no origin from any other source but Him-
self? For He cannot be produced from any
one, who Himself produced all things. I have,
as I think, sufficiently taught by arguments, and
confirmed by witnesses, that which is suffi-
ciently plain by itself, that there is one only
King of the universe, one Father, one God.

But perchance some one may ask of us the
same question which Hortensius asks in Cicero :
If God is one only,' what solitude can be happy?
As though we, in asserting that He is one, say
that He is desolate and solitary. Undoubtedly
He has ministers, whom we call messengers. And
that is true, which I have before related, that
Seneca said in his Exhortations that God pro-
duced ministers of His kingdom. But these are
Tieither gods, nor do they wish to be called gods
or to be worshipped, inasmuch as they do noth-
ing but execute the command and will of God.
Nor, however, are they gods who are worshipped
in common, whose number is small and fixed.
But if the worshippers of the gods think that
they worship those beings whom we call the
ministers of the Supreme God, there is no rea-
son why they should envy us who say that there
is one God, and deny that there are many. If
a multitude of gods delights them, we do not
speak of twelve, or three hundred and sixty-five,
as Orpheus did ; but we convict them of innu-
merable errors on the other side, in thinking that
they are so few, Let them know, however, uy
what name they ought to be called, lest they do
injury to the true God, whose name they set forth,
while they assign it to more than one. Let them
believe their own Apollo, who in that same re-
sponse took away from the other gods their name,
as he took away the dominion from Jupiter. For

• [i John iv. 8. The Divine Triad " is Loye."]

the third verse shows that the ministers of (jod
ought not to be called gods, but angels. He
spoke falsely respecting himself, indeed ; for
though he was of the number of demons, he
reckoned himself among the angels of God, and
then in other responses he confessed himself a
demon. For when he was asked how he wished
to be supplicated, he thus answered : —

"O all-wise, all-learned, versed in many pursuits, hear,
O demon."

And so, again, when at the entreaty of some one
he uttered an imprecation against the Sminthian
Apollo, he began with this verse : —

" O harmony of the world, bearing light, all-wise demon."

What therefore remains, except that by his own
confession he is subject to the sOourge of the
true God and to everlasting punishment? For
in another response he also said : —

"The demons who go about the earth and about the sea
Without weariness, are subdued beneath the scourge
of God."

We speak on the subject of both in the second
book. In the meantime it is enough for us, that
while he wishes to honour and place himself in
heaven, he has confessed, as the nature of the
matter is, in what manner they are to be named
who always stand beside God.

Therefore let men withdraw themselves from
errors ; and laying aside corrupt superstitions, let
them acknowledge their Father and Lord, whose
excellence cannot be estimated, nor His great-
ness perceived, nor His beginning comprehended.
When the earnest attention of the human mind
and its acute sagacity and memory has reached
Him, all ways being, as it were, summed up and
exhausted,^ it stops, it is at a loss, it fails ; nor is
there anything beyond to which it can proceed.
But because that which exists must of necessity
have had a beginning, it follows that since there
was nothing before Him, He was produced from
Himself before all things. Therefore He is called
by Apollo " self-produced," by the Sibyl " self-
created," "uncreated," and "unmade." And
Seneca, an acute man, saw and expressed this in
his Exhortations. " We," he said, " are depend-
ent upon another." Therefore we look to some
one to whom we owe that which is most excel-
lent in us. Another brought us into being, an-
other formed us ; but God of His own power
made Himself.

CHAP. VIII. THAT GOD IS WITHOUT A BODY, NOR

DOES HE NEED DIFFERENCE OF SEX FOR PRO-
CREATION.

It is proved, therefore, by these witnesses, so
numerous and of such authority, that the universe

2 Subductis et consummatis.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

is governed by the power and providence of
one God, whose energy and majesty Plato in the
Timoeus asserts to be so great, that no one can
either conceive it in his mind, or give utterance
to it in words, on account of His surpassing and
incalculable power. And then can any one doubt
whether any thing can be difficult or impossible
for God, who by His providence designed, by
His energy established, and by His judgment
completed those works so great and wonderful,
and even now sustains them by His spirit, and
governs them by His power, being incomprehen-
sible and unspeakable, and fully known to no
other than Himself? Wherefore, as I often re-
flect on the subject of such great majesty, they
who worship the gods sometimes appear so blind,
so incapable of reflection, so senseless, so little
removed from the mute animals, as to believe
that those who are born from the natural inter-
course of the sexes could have had anything of
majesty and divine influence ; since the Ery-
thraean Sibyl says : " It is impossible for a God
to be fashioned from the loins of a man and the
womb of a woman." And if this is true, as it
really is, it is evident that Hercules, Apollo,
Bacchus, Mercury, and Jupiter, with the rest,
were but men, since they were born from the two
sexes. But what is so far removed from the na-
ture of God as that operation which He Himself
assigned to mortals for the propagation of their
race, and which cannot be afi'ected without cor-
poreal substance?

Therefore, if the gods are immortal and eter-
nal, what need is there of the other sex, when
they themselves do not require succession, since
they are always about to exist ? For assuredly
in the case of mankind and the other animals,
there is no other reason for difference of sex and
procreation and bringing forth, except that all
classes of living creatures, inasmuch as they are
doomed to death by the condition of their mor-
tality, may be preserved by mutual succession.
But God, who is immortal, has no need of differ-
ence of sex, nor of succession. Some one will
say that this arrangement is necessary, in order
that He may have some to minister to Him, or
over whom He may bear rule. What need is
there of the female sex, since God, who is al-
mighty, is able to produce sons without the
agency of the female ? For if He has granted
to certain minute creatures ' that they

• Should gather offspring for themselves with their mouth
from leaves and sweet herbs,"

why should any one think it impossible for (^rod
Himself to have offspring except by union with
the other sex? No one, therefore, is so thought-
less as not to understand that those were mere

' [The bees, according to Virgil, Georg., iv. 199.!

mortals, whom the ignorant and foolish regard
and worship as gods. Why, then, some one will
say, were they believed to be gods? Doubtless
because they were very great and powerful kings ;
and since, on account of the merits of their vir-
tues, or offices, or the arts which they discovered,
they were beloved by those over whom they had
ruled, they were consecrated to lasting memory.
And if any one doubts this, let him consider their
exploits and deeds, the whole of which both
ancient poets and historians have handed down.

CHAP. IX. — OF HERCULES AND HIS LIFE A^rD

DEATH.^

Did not Hercules, who is most renowned for
his valour, and who is regarded as an Africanus
among the gods, by his debaucheries, lusts, and
adulteries, pollute the world, which he is related
to have traversed and purified ? And no wonder,
since he was born from an adulterous intercourse
with Alcmena.

What divinity could there have been in him,
who, enslaved to his own vices, against all laws,
treated with infamy, disgrace, and outrage, both
males and females? Nor, indeed, are those
great and wonderful actions which he performed
to be judged such as to be thought worthy of
being attributed to divine excellence. For what !
is it so magnificent if he overcame a lion and
a boar ; if he shot down birds with arrows ; if
he cleansed a royal stable ; if he conquered a
virago, and deprived her of her belt ; if he slew
savage horses together with their master? These
are the deeds of a brave and heroic man, but
still a man ; for those things which he overcame
were frail and mortal. For there is no power so
great, as the orator says, which cannot be weak-
ened and broken by iron and strength. But to
conquer the mind, and to restrain anger, is the
part of the bravest man ; and these things he
never did or could do : for one who does these
things I do not compare with excellent men, but
I judge him to be most like to a god.

I could wish that he had added sotnething on
the subject of lust, luxury, desire, and arrogance,
so as to complete the excellence of him whom
he judged to be like to a god. For he is not to
be thought braver who overcomes a lion, than
he who overcomes the violent wild beast shut up
within himself, viz. anger ; or he who has brought
down most rapacious birds, than he who restrains
most covetous desires ; or he who subdues a
warlike Amazon, than he who subdues lust, the
vancjuisher ^ of modesty and fame ; or he who
cleanses a stable from dung, than he who cleanses
his heart from vices, which are more destructive

^ [Vol. ii. p. 179. It is interesting to observe the influence of
Justin and Clement on the reasoning ot the later Fathers, not except
ing St. Augustine.]

■* DebellatrxcHU

Cii.vr. X.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

evils because they are peculiarly his own, than
those which might have been avoided and guarded
against. From this it comes to pass, that he
alone ought to be judged a brave man who is
temperate, moderate, and just. But if any one
considers what the works of God are, he will at
once judge all these things, which most trifling
men admire, to be ridiculous. For they meas-
ure them not by the divine power of which they
are ignorant, but by the weakness of their own
strength. For no one will deny this, that Her-
cules was not only a servant to Eurystheus, a
king, which to a certain extent may appear hon-
ourable, but also to an unchaste woman, Om-
phale, who used to order him to sit at her feet,
clothed with her garments, and executing an ap-
pointed task. Detestable baseness ! But such
was the price at which pleasure was valued.
What ! some one will say, do you think that the
poets are to be believed? Why should I not
think so? For it is not Lucilius who relates
these things, or Lucian, who spared not men
nor gods, but these especially who sung the
praises of the gods.

Whom, then, shall we believe, if we do not
credit those who praise them? Let him who
thinks that these speak falsely produce other
authors on whom we may rely, who may teach
us who these gods are, in what manner and from
what source they had their origin, what is their
strength, what their number, what their power,
what there is in them which is admirable and
worthy of adoration — what mystery, in short,
more to be relied on, and more true. He will
produce no such authorities. Let us, then, give
credence to those who did not speak for the
purpose of censure, but to proclaim their praise.
He sailed, then, with the Argonauts, and sacked
Troy, being enraged with Laomedon on account
of the reward refused to him, by Laomedon, for
the preservation of his daughter, from which
circumstance it is evident at what time he lived.
He also, excited by rage and madness, slew his
wife, together with his children. Is this he
whom men consider a god ? But his heir Phil-
octetes did not so regard him, who applied a
torch to him when about to be burnt, who wit-
nessed the burning and wasting of his limbs and
sinews, who buried his bones and ashes on
Mount CEta, in return for which office he re-
ceived his arrows.

CHAP. X. — OF THE LIFE AND ACTIONS OF JESCU-
LAPIUS, APOLLO, NEPTUNE, MARS, CASTOR AND
POLLUX, MERCURY AND BACCHUS.

What Other action worthy of divine honours,
except the healing of Hippolytus, did ^scula-
pius perform, whose birth also was not without
disgrace to Apollo? His death was certainly

more renowned, because he earned the distinc-
tion of being struck with lightning by a god.
Tarquitius, in a dissertation concerning illustri-
ous men, says that he was born of uncertain
parents, exposed, and found by some hunters ;
that he was nourished by a dog, and that, being
delivered to Chiron, he learned the art of medi-
cine. He says, moreover, that he was a Mes-
senian, but that he spent some time at Epidaurus.
TuUy also says that he was buried at Cynosurae.
What was the conduct of Apollo, his father?
Did he not, on account of his impassioned love,
most disgracefully tend the flock of another, and
build walls for Laomedon, having been hired
together with Neptune for a reward, which could
with impunity be withheld from him? And
from him first the perfidious king learned to
refuse fo carry out whatever contract he had
made with gods. And he also, while in love
with a beautiful boy, offered violence to him,
and while engaged in play, slew him.

Mars, when guilty of homicide, and set free
from the charge of murder by the Athenians
through favour, lest he should appear to be too
fierce and savage, committed adultery with
Venus. Castor and Pollux, while they are en-
gaged in carrying off the wives of others, ceased
to be twin-brothers. For Idas, being excited
with jealousy on account of the injury, transfixed
one of the brothers with his sword. And the
poets relate that they live and die alternately :
so that they are now the most wretched not only
of the gods, but also of all mortals, inasmuch as
they are not permitted to die once only. And
yet Homer, differing from the other poets, sim-
ply records that they both died. For when he
represented Helen as sitting by the side of Priam
on the walls of Troy, and recognising all the
chieftains of Greece, but as looking in vain for
her brothers only, he added to his speech a
verse of this kind : —

" Thus she ; unconscious that in Sparta they,
Their native land, beneath the sod were laid."

What did Mercury, a thief and spendthrift, leave
to contribute to his fame, except the memory
of his frauds? Doubtless he was deserving of
heaven, because he taught the exercises of the
palaestra, and was the first who invented the lyre.'
It is necessary that Father Liber should be of
chief authority, and of the first rank in the sen-
ate of the gods, because he was the only one of
them all, except Jupiter, who triumphed, led an
army, and subdued the Indians. But that very
great and unconquered Indian commander was
most shamefully overpowered by love and lust.
For, being conveyed to Crete with his effeminate
retinue, he met with an unchaste woman on the
shore ; and in the confidence inspired by his

' [See vol. V. p. 43, and note, p. 46, this series. 1

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

Indian victory, he wished to give proof of his
manhness, lest he should appear too effeminate.
And so he took to himself in marriage that
woman, the betrayer of her father, and the
murderer of her brother, after that she had been
deserted and repudiated by another husband ;
and he made her Libera, and with her ascended
into heaven.

What was the conduct of Jupiter, the father
of all these, who in the customary prayer is
styled ' Most Excellent and Great ? Is he not,
from his earliest childhood, proved to be impi-
ous, and almost a parricide, since he expelled
his father from his kingdom, and banished him,
and did not await his death though he was aged
and worn out, such was his eagerness for rule ?
And when he had taken his father's throne by
violence and arms, he was attacked with war by
the Titans, which was the beginning of evils to
the human race ; and when these had been over-
come and lasting peace procured, he spent the
rest of his life in debaucheries and adulteries.
I forbear to mention the virgins whom he dis-
honoured. For that is wont to be judged
endurable. I cannot pass by the cases of Am-
phitryon and Tyndarus, whose houses he filled
to overflowing with disgrace and infamy. But
he reached the height of impiety and guilt in
carrying off the royal boy. For it did not appear
enough to cover himself with infamy in offering
violence to women, unless he also outraged his
own sex. This is true adultery, which is done
against nature. Whether he who committed
these crimes can be called Greatest is a matter
of question, undoubtedly he is not the Best ; to
which name corrupters, adulterers, and incestu-
ous persons have no claim ; unless it happens
that we men are mistaken in terming those who
do such things wicked and abandoned, and in
judging them most deserving of every kind of
punishment. But Marcus Tullius was foolish in
upbraiding Gains Verres with adulteries, for Ju-
piter, whom he worshipped, committed the
same ; and in upbraiding Publius Clodius with
incest with his sister, for he who was Best and
Greatest had the same person both as sister and
wife.

CHAP. XI. — OF THE ORIGIN, LIFE, REIGN, NAME,
AND DEATH OF JUPITER, AND OF SATURN AND
URANUS.^

Who, then, is so senseless as to imagine that
he reigns in heaven who ought not even to have
reigned on earth ? It was not without humour
that a certain poet wrote of the triumph of Gu-
pid : in which book he not only represented
Cupid as the most powerful of the gods, but

' [Nat. Dear., iii. 36. De Maistre, Soirees, i. p 30, and uoie,

P 63)

^ [Compare the remorseless satire of Arnobius, vol. vi. p. 498.]

also as their conqueror. For having enumerated
the loves of each, by which they had come into
the power and dominion of Gupid, he sets in
array a procession, in which Jupiter, with the
other gods, is led in chains before the chariot of
him, celebrating a triumph. This is elegantly
pictured by the poet, but it is not far removed
from the truth. For he who is without virtue,
who is overpowered by desire and wicked lusts,
is not, as the poet feigned, in subjection to Gu-
pid, but to everlasting death. But let us cease
to speak concerning morals ; let us examine the
matter, in order that men may understand in
what errors they are miserably engaged. The
common people imagine that Jupiter reigns in
heaven ; both learned and unlearned are alike
persuaded of this. For both religion itself, and
prayers, and hymns, and shrines, and images
demonstrate this. And yet they admit that he
was also descended from Saturn and Rhea.
How can he appear a god, or be believed, as
the poet says, to be the author of men and all
things, when innumerable thousands of men ex-
isted before his birth — those, for instance, who
lived during the reign of Saturn, and enjoyed
the light sooner than Jupiter? I see that one
god was king in the earliest times, and another
in the times that followed. It is therefore possi-
ble that there may be another hereafter. For
if the former kingdom was changed, why should
we not expect that the latter may possibly be
changed, unless by chance it was possible for
Saturn to produce one more powerful than him-
self, but impossible for Jupiter so to do? And
yet the divine government is always unchange-
able ; or if it is changeable, which is an im-
possibility, it is undoubtedly changeable at all
times.

Is it possible, then, for Jupiter to lose his
kingdom as his father lost it ? It is so undoubt-
edly. For when that deity had spared neither
virgins nor married women, he abstained from
Thetis only in consequence of an oracle which
foretold that whatever son should be born from
her would be greater than his father. And first
of all there was in him a want of foreknowledge
not befitting a god ; for had not Themis related
to him future events, he would not have known
them of his own accord. But if he is not
divine, he is not indeed a god ; for the name
of divinity is derived from god, as humanity is
from man. Then there was a consciousness of
weakness ; but he who has feared, must plainly
have feared one greater than himself. But he
who does this assuredly knows that he is not the
greatest, since something greater can exist. He
also swears most solemnly by the Stygian marsh :
" Which is set forth the sole object of religious
dread to the gods above." What is this object
of religious dread ? Or by whom is it set forth ?

Chap. XL]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

Is there, then, some mighty power which may
j)unish the gods who commit perjury? What is
this great dread of the infernal marsh, if they
are immortal? ^\'hy should they fear that which
none are about to see, except those who are
bound by the necessity of death ? Why, then,
do men raise their eyes to the heaven ? Why do
they swear by the gods above, when the gods
above themselves have recourse to the infernal
gods, and find among them an object of venera-
tion and worship ? But what is the meaning of
that saying, that there are fates whom all the
gods and Jupiter himself obey? If the power
of the Parcce is so great, that they are of more
avail than all the heavenly gods, and their
ruler and lord himself, why should not they be
rather said to reign, since necessity compels all
the gods to obey their laws and ordinances?
Now, who can entertain a doubt that he who
is subservient to anything cannot be greatest?
For if he were so, he would not receive fates, but
would appoint them. Now I return to another
subject which I had omitted. In the case of one
goddess only he exercised self-restraint, though
he was deeply enamoured of her ; but this was
not from any virtue, but through fear of a suc-
cessor. But this fear plainly denotes one who
is both mortal and feeble, and of no weight :
for at the very hour of his birth he might have
been put to death, as his elder brother had
been put to death ; and if it had been possible
for him to have lived, he would never have given
up the supreme power to a younger brother.
But yupiter himself having been preserved by
stealth, and stealthily nourished, was called Zeus,
or Zen,' not, as they imagine, from the fervor of
heavenly fire, or because he is the giver of life,
or because he breathes life into living creatures,
which power belongs to God alone ; for how can
he impart the breath of life who has himself re-
ceived it from another source ? But he was so
called because he was the first who lived of the
male children of Saturn. Men, therefore, might
have had another god as their ruler, if Saturn
had not been deceived by his wife. But it will
be said the poets feigned these things. Who-
ever entertains this opinion is in error. For they
spoke respecting men ; but in order that they
might embellish those whose memory they used
to celebrate with praises, they said that they were
gods. Those things, therefore, which they spoke
concerning them as gods were feigned, and not
those which they spoke concerning them as men ;
and this will be manifest from an instance which
we will bring forward. When about to offer vio-
lence to Danae, he poured into her lap a great
quantity of golden coins. This was the price
which he paid for her dishonour. But the poets

« Zei/s 0J- Zi)v. [Quod sit auctor vitae. Delphin not4.\

who spoke about him as a god, that they might
not weaken the authority of his supposed majesty,
feigned that he himself descended in a shower
of gold, making use of the same figure with
which they speak of showers of iron when they
describe a multitude of darts and arrows. He
is said to have carried away Ganymede by an
eagle ; it is a picture of the poets. But he either
carried him off by a legion, which has an eagle
for its standard ; or the ship on board of which
he was placed had its tutelary deity in the shape
of an eagle, just as it had the effigy of a bull
when he seized Europa and conveyed her across
the sea. In the same manner, it is related that
he changed lo, the daughter of Inachus, into a
heifer. And in order that she might escape the
anger of Juno, just as she was, now covered with
brisdy hair, and in the shape of a heifer, she is
said to have swam over the sea, and to have
come into Egypt ; and there, having recovered
her former appearance, she became the goddess
who is now called Isis. By what argument, then,
can it be proved that Europa did not sit on the
bull, and that lo was not changed into a heifer?
Because there is a fixed day in the annals on
which the voyage of Isis is celebrated ; from
which fact we learn that she did not swim across
the sea, but sailed over. Therefore they who
appear to themselves to be wise because they
understand that there cannot be a living and
earthly body in heaven, reject the whole story
of Ganymede as false, and perceive that the
occurrence took place on earth, inasmuch as the
matter and the lust itself is earthly. The poets
did not therefore invent these transactions, for
if they were to do so they would be most worth-
less ; but they added a certain colour to the
transactions.^ For it was not for the purpose
of detraction that they said these things, but
from a desire to embellish them. Hence men
are deceived ; especially because, while they
think that all these things are feigned by the
poets, they worship that of which they are igno-
rant. For they do not know what is the limit
of poetic licence, how far it is allowable to pro-
ceed in fiction, since it is the business of the
poet with some gracefulness to change and trans-
fer actual occurrences into other representations
by oblique transformations. But to feign the
whole of that which you relate, that is to be
foolish and deceitful rather than to be a poet.

But grant that they feigned those things which
are believed to be fabulous, did they also feign
those things which are related about the female
deities and the marriages of the gods? Why,
then, are they so represented, and so worshipped ?
unless by chance not the poets only, but painters
also, and statuaries, speak falsehoods. For if

2 [On the Poets, vol. i. cap. 2, p. 273.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

this is the Jupiter who is called by you a god, if
it is not he who was born from Saturn and Ops,
no other image but his alone ought to have been
placed in all the temples. What meaning have
the effigies of women? What the doubtful sex?
in which, if this Jupiter is represented, the very
stones will confess that he is a man. They say
that the poets have spoken falsely, and yet they
believe them : yes, truly they prove by the fact
itself that the poets did not speak falsely ; for
they so frame the images of the gods, that, from
the very diversity of sex, it appears that these
things which the poets say are true. For what
other conclusion does the image of Ganymede
and the effigy of the eagle admit of, when they
are placed before the feet of Jupiter in the tem-
ples, and are worshipped equally with himself,
except that the memory of impious guilt and
debauchery remains for ever? Nothing, there-
fore, is wholly invented by the poets : something
perhaps is transferred and obscured by oblique
fashioning, under which the truth was enwrapped
and concealed ; as that which was related about
the dividing of the kingdoms by lot. For they
say that the heaven fell to the share of Jupiter,
the sea to Neptune, and the infernal regions to
Pluto. Why was not the earth rather taken as
the third portion, except that the transaction
took place on the earth? Therefore it is true
that they so divided and portioned out the gov-
ernment of the world, that the empire of the
east fell to Jupiter, a part of the west was allotted
to Pluto, who had the surname of Agesilaus ; be-
cause the region of the east, from which light is
given to mortals, seems to be higher, but the
region of the west lower. Thus they so veiled
the truth under a fiction, that the truth itself de-
tracted nothing from the public persuasion. It
is manifest concerning the share of Neptune ;
for we say that his kingdom resembled that un-
limited authority possessed by Mark Antony, to
whom the senate had decreed the power of the
maritime coast, that he might j)unish the pirates,
and tranquillize the whole sea. Thus all the
maritime coasts, together with the islands, fell to
the lot of Neptune. How can this be proved?
Undoubtedly ancient stories attest it. Euhem-
erus, an ancient author, who was of the city of
Messene, collected the actions of Jupiter and
of the others, who are esteemed gods, and com-
posed a history from the titles and sacred inscrip-
tions which were in the most ancient temples,
and especially in the sanctuary of the Triphylian
Jupiter, where an inscription indicated that a
golden column had been placed by Jupiter him-
self, on which column he wrote an account of
his exploits, that posterity might have a memorial
of his actions. This history was translated and
followed by Ennius, whose words are these :
"Where Jupiter gives to Neptune the govern-

ment of the sea, that he might reign in all the
islands and places bordering on the sea."

The accounts of the poets, therefore, are true,
but veiled with an outward covering and show.
It is possible that Mount Olympus may have
supplied the poets with the hint for saying that
Jupiter obtained the kingdom of heaven, be-
cause Olympus is the conmion name both of
the mountain and of heaven. But the same
history informs us that Jupiter dwelt on Mount
Olympus, when it says : "At that time Jupiter
spent the greatest part of his life on Mount
Olympus ; and they used to resort to him thither
for the administration of justice, if any matters
were disputed. Moreover, if any one had found
out any new invention which might be useful for
human life, he used to come thither and display
it to Jupiter." The poets transfer many things
after this manner, not for the sake of speaking
falsely against the objects of their worship, but
that they may by variously coloured figures add
beauty and grace to their poems. But they who
do not understand the manner, or the cause, or
the nature of that which is represented by figure,
attack the poets as false and sacrilegious. Even
the philosophers were deceived by this error ;
for because these things which are related about
Jupiter appeared unsuited to the character of a
god, they introduced two Jupiters, one natural,
the other fabulous. They saw, on the one hand,
that which was true, that he, forsooth, concern-
ing whom the poets speak, was man ; but in the
case of that natural Jupiter, led by the common
practice of superstition, they committed an error,
inasmuch as they transferred the name of a man
to God, who, as we have already said, because
He is one only, has no need of a name. But it
is undeniable that he is Jupiter who was born
from Ops and Saturn. It is therefore an empty
persuasion on the part of those who give the name
of Jupiter to the Supreme God, For some are
in the habit of defending their errors by this ex-
cuse ; for, when convinced of the unity of God,
since they cannot deny this, they affirm that they
worship Him, but that it is their pleasure that
He should be called Jupiter. But what can be
more absurd than this? P'or Jupiter is not accus-
tomed to be worshipped without the accompany-
ing worship of his wife and daughter. From
which his real nature is evident ; nor is it lawfiil
for that name to be transferred thither,' where
there is neither any Minerva nor Jvmo. Why
should I say that the peculiar meaning of this
name does not express a divine, but human
power? For Cicero explains the names Ju])iter
and Juno as being derived from giving help ;2
and Jupiter is so called as if he were a helping
father, — a name which is ill adapted to God:

* Eo, i.e., to those.

2 Juvando. [.Va/. Dear., iii. 25, 26.]

Chap. XL]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

for to help is the part of a man conferring some
aid upon one who is a stranger, and in a case
where the benefit is small. No one implores
God to help him, but to preserve him, to give
him life and safety, which is a much greater and
more important matter than to help.

And since we are speaking of a father, no
father is said to help his sons when he begets or
brings them up. For that expression is too in-
significant to denote the magnitude of the benefit
derived from a father. How much more un-
suitable is it to God, who is our true Father, by
whom we exist, and whose we are altogether, by
whom we are formed, endued with life, and en-
lightened, who bestows upon us life, gives us
safety, and supplies us with various kinds of
food ! He has no apprehension of the divine
benefits who thinks that he is only aided by God.
Therefore he is not only ignorant, but impious,
who disparages the excellency of the supreme
power under the name of Jupiter. Wherefore,
if both from his actions and character we have
proved that Jupiter was a man, and reigned on
earth, it only remains that we should also investi-
gate his death. Ennius, in his sacred history,
having described all the actions which he per-
formed in his life, at the close thus speaks : Then
Jupiter, when he had five times made a circuit
of the earth, and bestowed governments upon all
his friends and relatives, and left laws to men,
provided them with a settled mode of life and
corn, and given them many other benefits, and
having been honoured with immortal glory and re-
membrance, left lasting memorials to his friends,
and when his age ' was almost spent, he changed^
his life in Crete, and departed to the gods. And
the Curetes, his sons, took charge of him, and
honoured him ; and his tomb is in Crete, in
the town of Cnossus, and Vesta is said to have
founded this city ; and on his tomb is an inscrip-
tion in ancient Greek characters, " Zan Kronou,"
which is in Latin, "Jupiter the son of Saturn."
This undoubtedly is not handed down by poets,
but by writers of ancient events ; and these
things are so true, that they are confirmed by
some verses of the Sibyls, to this effect : —

" Inanimate demons, images of the dead,
Whose tombs the ill-fated Crete possesses as a boast."

Cicero, in his treatise concerning the Nature
of the Gods, having said that three Jupiters were
enumerated by theologians, adds that the third
was of Crete, the son of Saturn, and that his
tomb is shown in that island. How, therefore,
can a god be alive in one place, and dead in
another ; in one place have a temple, and in
another sl tomb? Let the Romans then know
that their Capitol, that is the chief head of their

' i'Etate pessum acta. [See plural Joves, N'ai. Dear., iii. 16 ]
^ Commutavit ; others read consummavit, " he completed."

objects of public veneration, is nothing but an
empty monument.

Let us now come to his father who reigned
before him, and who perhaps had more i)ower
in himself, because he is said to be born from
the meeting of such great elements. Let us see
what there was in him worthy of a god, especially
that he is related to have had the golden age,
because in his reign there was justice in the earth.
I find something in him which was not in his
son. For what is so befitting the character of a
god, as a just government and an age of piety ?
But when, on the same principle, I reflect that
he is a son, I cannot consider him as the Supreme
God ; for I see that there is something more an-
cient than himself, — namely, the heaven and the
earth. But I am in search of a God beyond
whom nothing has any existence, who is the
source and origin of all things. He must of
necessity exist who framed the heaven itself,
and laid the foundations of the earth. But if
Saturn was born from these, as it is supposed,
how can he be the chief God, since he owes his
origin to another? Or who presided over the
universe before the birth of Saturn? But this,
as I recently said, is a fiction of the poets. For
it was impossible that the senseless elements,
which are separated by so long an interval, should
meet together and give birth to a son, or that he
who was born should not at all resemble his par-
ents, but should have a form which his parents
did not possess.

Let us therefore inquire what degree of truth
lies hid under this figure. Minucius Felix, in
his treatise which has the title of Octavius,^ al-
leged these proofs : " That Saturn, when he had
been banished by his son, and had come into
Italy, was called the son of Coelus (heaven),
because we are accustomed to say that those
whose virtue we admire, or those who have un-
expectedly arrived, have fallen from heaven \
and that he was called the son of earth, because
we name those who are born from unknown par-
ents sons of earth." These things, indeed, have
some resemblance to the truth, but are not true,
because it is evident that even during his reign
he was so esteemed. He might have argued
thus : That Saturn, being a very powerful king,
in order that the memory of his parents might be
preserved, gave their names to the heaven and
earth, whereas these were before called by other
names, for which reason we know that names
were applied both to mountains and rivers. For
when the poets speak of the offspring of Atlas,
or of the river Inachus, they do not absolutely
say that men could possibly be born from inan-
imate objects ; but they undoubtedly indicate
those who were born from those men, who eitlier
during their lives or after their death gave their

3 [Condensed from cap. xxii. See vol. iv. p. 186, this series.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

names to mountains or rivers. For that was a
common practice among the ancients, and espe-
cially among the Greeks. Thus we have heard
that seas received the names of those who had
fallen into them, as the ^gean, the Icarian, and
the Hellespont. In Latium, also, Aventinus gave
his name to the mountain on which he was bur-
ied ; and Tiberinus, or Tiber, gave his name to
the river in which he was drowned. No won-
der, then, if the names of those who had given
birth to most powerful kings were attributed to ^
X the heaven and earth. Therefore it appears that
Saturn was not born from heaven, which is im-
possible, but from that man who bore the name

- of Uranus. And Trismegistus attests the truth
of this ; for when he said that very few had ex-
isted in whom there was perfect learning, he
mentioned by name among these his relatives,
Uranus, Saturn, and Mercury. And because he
was ignorant of these things, he gave another
account of the matter ; how he might have ar-
gued, I have shown. Now I will say in what
manner, at what time, and by whom this was
done ; for it was not Saturn who did this, but
Jupiter. Ennius thus relates in his sacred his-
tory : " Then Pan leads him to the mountain,
which is called the pillar of heaven. Having
ascended thither, he surveyed the lands far and
wide, and there on that mountain he builds an
altar to Coelus ; and Jupiter was the first who
offered sacrifice on that altar. In that place he
looked up to heaven, by whicii name we now
' call it, and that which was above the world which
was called the firmament,' and he gave to the
heaven its name from the name of his grand-
father ; and Jupiter in prayer first gave the name
of heaven to that which was called firmament,'
and he burnt entire the victim which he there
offered in sacrifice." Nor is it here only that
Jupiter is found to have offered sacrifice. Csesar
also, in Aratus, relates that Aglaosthenes says
that when he was setting out from the island of
Naxos against the Titans, and was offering sac-
rifice on the shore, an eagle flew to Jupiter as
an omen, and that the victor received it as a
good token, and placed it under his own protec-
tion. But the s.icred history testifies that even
l)eforehand an eagle had sat upon his head, and
portended to him the kingdom. To whom, then,
could Jupiter have offered sacrifice, except to

■• his grandfather Coelus, who, according to the
saying of Euhemerus,^ died in Oceania, and was
buried in the town of Aulatia?

■ iCther. [Tayler Lewis, P/ato coni. Ath., pp. 126-129.]
2 Euhemerus was a Sicilian author of the age of Alexander the
Great. He wrote a sacred history containing an account of the sev-
eral gods who were worshipped in Greece, whom he represents as
having originally been men who had distinguished themselves by
their exploits, or benefits conferred upon men, and who were therefore,
.iftcr their death, worshipped as gods. The Christian writers fre-
quently refer to Euhemerus as helping them to prove that the pagan
mythology consisted only of fables invented by men. See Diction-
»ry of Greek and Roman Biography.

CHAP. XII. THAT THE STOICS TRANSFER THE

FIGMENTS OF THE POETS TO A PHILOSOPHICAL
SYSTEM.

Since we have brought to light the mysteries
of the poets, and have found out the parents of
Saturn, let us return to his virtues and actions.
He was, they say, just in his rule. First, from
this very circumstance he is not now a god, in-
asmuch as he has ceased to be. In the next
place, he was not even just, but impious not only
towards his sons, whom he devoured, but also
towards his father, whom he is said to have muti-
lated. And this may perhaps have happened in
truth. But men, having regard to the element
which is called the heaven, reject the whole fable
as most foolishly invented ; though the Stoics,
(according to their custom) endeavour to trans-
fer it to a physical system, whose opinion Cicero
has laid down in his treatise concerning the Na-
ture of the Gods. They held, he says, that the
highest and ethereal nature of heaven, that is,
of fire, which by itself produced all things, was
without that part of the body which contained
the productive organs. Now this theory might
have been suitable to Vesta, if she were called a
male. For it is on this account that they esteem
Vesta to be a virgin, inasmuch as fire is an incor-
ruptible element ; and nothing can be born from
it. since it consumes all things, whatever it has
seized upon. Ovid in the Fasti says : J " Nor do
you esteem Vesta to be anything else than a liv-
ing flame , and you see no bodies produced from
flame. Therefore sne is tnily a virgin, for she
sends forth no seed, nor receives it, and loves
the attendants of virginity."

This also might have been ascribed to Vulcan,
who indeed is supposed to be fire, and yet the
poets did not mutilate him. It might also have
been ascribed to the sun, in whom is the nature
and cause of the productive powers. For with-
out the fiery heat of the sun nothing could be
born, or have increase ; so that no other element
has greater need of productive organs than heat,
by the nourishment of which all things are con-
ceived, produced, and supported. Lastly, even
if the case were as they would have it, why
should we suppose that Coelus was mutilated,
rather than that he was born without productive
organs? For if he produces by himself, it is
plain that he had no need of i)roductive organs,
since he gave birth to Saturn himself; but if he
had them, and suffered mutilation from his son,
the origin of all things and all nature would have
perished. Why should I say that they deprive
Saturn himself not only of divine, but also of
human intelligence, when they affirm that Saturn
is he who comprises the course and change of
the spaces and seasons, and that he has that very

3 vi. 291. [Tayler Lewis («/ supra), note xii. p. 119.]

Chap. XII I.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

name in Greek ? For he is called Cronos, which
is the same as Chronos, that is, a space of time.
But he is called Saturn, because he is satiated
with years. These are the words of Cicero, set-
ting forth the opinion of the Stoics : " The
worthlessness of these things any one may read-
ily understand. For if Saturn is the son of
Coelus, how could Time have been born from
Coelus, or Coelus have been mutilated by Time,
or afterwards could Time have been despoiled
of his sovereignty by his son Jupiter? Or how
was Jupiter born from Time? Or with what
years could eternity be satiated, since it has no
limit?'"

CHAP. XIII. HOW VAIN AND TRIFLING ARE THE

INTERPRETATIONS OF THE STOICS RESPECTING
THE GODS, AND IN THEM CONCERNING THE ORI-
GIN OF JUPITER, CONCERNING SATURN AND OPS.

If therefore these speculations of the philoso-
phers are trifling, what remains, except that we
believe it to be a matter of fact that, being a
man, he suffered mutilation from a man ? Unless
by chance any one esteems him as a god who
feared a co-heir ; whereas, if he had possessed
any divine knowledge, he ought not to have
mutilated his father, but himself, to prevent the
birth of Jupiter, who deprived him of the pos-
session of his kingdom. And he also, when he
had married his sister Rhea, whom in Latin we
call Ops, is said to have been warned by an ora-
cle not to bring up his male children, because it
would come to pass that he should be driven
into banishment by a son. And being in fear of
this, it is plain that he did not devour his sons,
as the fables report, but put them to death ; al-
though it is written in sacred history that Saturn
and Ops, and other men, were at that time ac-
customed to eat human flesh, but that Jupiter,
who gave to men laws and civilization, was the
first who by an edict prohibited the use of that
food. Now if this is true, what justice can there
possibly have been in him ? But let us suppose
it to be a fictitious story that Saturn devoured
his sons, only true after a certain fashion ; must
we then suppose, with the vulgar, that he has
eaten his sons, who has carried them out to
burial ? But when Ops had brought forth Jupi-
ter, she stole away the infant, and secretly sent
him into Crete to be nourished. Again, I cannot
but blame his want of foresight. For why did
he receive an oracle from another, and not from
himself? Being placed in heaven, why did he
not see the things which were taking place on
earth ? Why did the Corybantes with their cym-
bals escape his notice? Lastly, why did there
exist any greater force which might overcome
his power? Doubtless, being aged, he was easily

* De Nat. dear., ii. 64.

overcome by one who was young, and despoiled
of his sovereignty. He was therefore banished
and went into exile ; and after long wanderings
came into Italy in a ship, as Ovid relates in his
Fasti : —

"The cause of the ship remains to be explained. The
scythe-bearing god came to the Tuscan river in a
ship, having first traversed the world."

Janus received him wandering and destitute ;
and the ancient coins are a proof of this, on
which there is a representation of Janus with a
double face, and on the other side a ship ; as
the same poet adds : —

"But pious posterity represented a ship on the coin,
bearing testimony to the arrival of the stranger
god."

Not only therefore all the poets, but the
writers also of ancient histories and events, agree
that he was a man, inasmuch as they handed
down to memory his actions in Italy : of Greek
writers, Diodorus and Thallus ; of Latin writers,
Nepos, Cassius, and Varro. For since men lived
in Italy after a rustic fashion,^ —

" He brought the race to union first,
Erevvhile on mountain tops dispersed,
And gave them statutes to obey,
And willed the land wherein he lay
Should Latium's title bear."

Does any one imagine him to be a god, who was
driven into banishment, who fled, who lay hid ?
No one is so senseless. For he who flees, or
lies hid, must fear both violence and death.
Orpheus, who lived in more recent times than
his, openly relates that Saturn reigned on earth
and among men : —

" First Cronus ruled o'er men on earth,
And then from Cronus sprung the mighty king,
The widely sounding Zeus."

And also our own Maro says : ^ —

" This life the golden Saturn led on earth ; "

and in another place : * —

" That was the storied age of gold,
So peacefully, serenely rolled
The years beneath his reign."

The poet did not say in the former passage that
he led this life in heaven, nor in the latter pas-
sage that he reigned over the gods above. From
which it appears that he was a king on earth ;
and this he declares more plainly in another
place : 5 —

" Restorer of the age of gold,
In lands where Saturn ruled of old."

^ Virg., ALtieid, viii. 321.
3 Georg., ii. 538-
< .-Jtiieid, viii. 324.
5 Ibid., vi. yqj.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Look L

Ennius, indeed, in his translation of Euhemerus,
says that Saturn was not the first who reigned,
but his father Uranus. In the beginning, he
says, Coelus first had the supreme power on the
earth. He instituted and prepared that king-
dom in conjunction with his brothers. There is
no great dispute, if there is doubt, on the part
of the greatest authorities respecting the son
and the father. But it is possible that each
may have happened : that Uranus first began
to be pre-eminent in power among the rest, and
to have the chief place, but not the kingdom ;
and that afterwards Saturn acquired greater re-
sources, and took the title of king.

CHAP. XIV. WHAT THE SACRED HISTORY OF EU-
HEMERUS AND ENNIUS TEACHES CONCERNING
THE GODS.

Now, since the sacred history differs in some
degree from those things which we have related,
let us open those things which are contained in
the true writings, that we may not, in accusing
superstitions, appear to follow and approve of
the follies of the poets. These are the words of
Ennius : "Afterwards Saturn married Ops. Titan,
who was older than Saturn, demands the king-
dom for himself. Upon this their mother Vesta,
and their sisters Ceres and Ops, advise Saturn
not to give up the kingdom to his brother.
Then Titan, who was inferior in person to Saturn,
on that account, and because he saw that his
mother and sisters were using their endeavours
that Saturn might reign, yielded the kingdom to
him. He therefore made an agreement with
Saturn, that if any male children should be born
to him, he would not bring them up. He did
so for this purpose, that the kingdom might re-
turn to his own sons. Then, when a son was
first bom to Saturn, they slew him. Afterwards
twins were born, Jupiter and Juno. Upon this
they present Juno to the sight of Saturn, and
secretly hide Jupiter, and give him to Vesta to
be brought up, concealing him from Saturn.
Ops also brings forth Neptune without the knowl-
edge of Saturn, and secretly hides him. In the
same manner Ops brings forth twins by a third
birth, Pluto and Glauca. Pluto in Latin is Dis-
pater ; others call him Orcus. Upon this they
show to Saturn the daughter Glauca, and conceal
and hide the son Pluto. Then Glauca dies while
yet young." This is the lineage of Jupiter and
his brothers, as these things are written, and the
relationship is handed down to us after this man-
ner from the sacred narrative. S\%o shortly
afterwards he introduces these things : " Then
Titan, when he learned that sons were bom to
Saturn, and secretly brought up, secretly takes
with him his sons, who are called Titans, and
seizes his brother Saturn and Ops, and encloses

them within a wall, and places over them a
guard."

The truth of this history is taught by the Ery-
thraean Sibyl, who speaks almost the same things,
with a few discrepancies, which do not affect the
subject-matter itself. Therefore Jupiter is freed
from the charge of the greatest wickedness, ac-
cording to which he is reported to have bound
his father with fetters ; for this was the deed of
his uncle Titan, because he, contrary to his prom-
ise and oath, had brought up male children. The
rest of the history is thus put together. It is
said that Jupiter, when grown up, having heard
that his father and mother had been surrounded
with a guard and imprisoned, came with a great
multitude of Cretans, and conquered Titan and
his sons in an engagement, and rescued his par-
ents from imprisonment, restored the kingdom
to his father, and thus returned into Crete.
Then, after these things, they say that an ora-
cle was given to Saturn, bidding him to take
heed lest his son should expel him from the
kingdom ; that he, for the sake of weakening the
oracle and avoiding the danger, laid an ambush
for Jupiter to kill him ; that Jupiter, having
learned the plot, claimed the kingdom for him-
self afresh, and banished Saturn ; and that he,
when he had been tossed over all lands, followed
by armed men whom Jupiter had sent to seize
or put him to death, scarcely found a place of
concealment in Italy.

CHAP. XV. HOW THEY WHO WERE MEN OBTAINED

THE NAME OF GODS.

Now, since it is evident from these things that
they were men, it is not difficult to see in what
manner they began to be called gods." For if
there were no kings before Saturn or Uranus, on
account of the small number of men who lived
a rustic life without any ruler, there is no doubt
but in those times men began to exalt the king
himself, and his whole family, with the highest
praises and with new honours, so that they even
called them gods ; whether on account of their
wonderful excellence, men as yet rude and sim-
ple really entertained this opinion, or, as is com-
monly the case, in flattery of present power, or
on account of the benefits by which they were
set in order and reduced to a civilized state.
Afterwards the kings themselves, since they were
beloved by those whose life they had civilized,
after their death left regret of themselves. There-
fore men formed images of them, that they
might derive some consolation from the con-
templation of their likenesses ; and i)ruceeding
further through love of their worth,^ they began
to reverence the memory of the deceased, tha^

' [Vol. ii. cap. 28, p. 143, this series.]
^ Per amorem menti. borne editions

omit " meriti."

Chap. XV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

they might appear to be grateful for their ser-
vices, and might attract their successors to a de-
sire of ruhng well. And this Cicero teaches in
his treatise on the Nature of the Gods, saying :
" But the life of men and common intercourse
led to the exalting to heaven by fame and good-
will men who were distinguished by their bene-
fits. On this account Hercules, on this Castor
and Pollux, ^sculapius and Liber " were ranked
with the gods. And in another passage : " And
in most states it may be understood, that for the
sake of exciting valour, or that the men most dis-
tinguished for bravery might more readily en-
counter danger on account of the state, their
memory was consecrated with the honour paid
to the immortal gods." It was doubtless on this
account that the Romans consecrated their
Caesars, and the Moors their kings. Thus by de-
grees religious honours began to be paid to them ;
while those who had known them, first instructed
their own children and grandchildren, and after-
wards all their posterity, in the practice of this
rite. And yet these great kings, on account of
die celebrity of their name, were honoured in all
provinces.

But separate people privately honoured the
(bunders of their nation or city with the highest
veneration, whether they were men distinguished
for bravery, or women admirable for chastity ;
as the Egyptians honoured Isis, the Moors Juba,
the Macedonians Cabirus, the Carthaginians
Uranus, the Latins Faunus, the Sabines Sancus,
the Romans Quirinus. In the same manner
truly Athens worshipped Minerva, Samos Juno,
Paphos Venus, Lemnos Vulcan, Naxos Liber,
and Delos Apollo. And thus various sacred rites
have been undertaken among different peoples
and countries, inasmuch as men desire to show
gratitude to their princes, and cannot find out
other honours which they may confer upon the
dead. Moreover, the piety of their successors
contributed in a great degree to the error ; for,
in order that they might appear to be born from
a divine origin, they paid divine honours to their
parents, and ordered that they should be paid
by others. Can any one doubt in what way the
honours paid to the gods were instituted, when
he reads in Virgil the words of ^neas giving
commands to his friends : • —

" Now with full cups libation pour
To mighty Jove, whom all adore,
Invoke Anchises' blessed soul."

And he attributes to him not only immortality,
but also power over the winds : ^ —

" Invoke the winds to speed our flight,
And pray that he we hold so dear
May take our offerings year by year,
Soon as our promised town we raise,
In temples sacred to his praise."

' ^neid, vii. 133.
2 Ibid., V. 59.

In truth, Liber and Pan, and Mercury and Apollo,
acted in the same way respecting Jupiter, and
afterwards their successors did the same respect-
ing them. The poets also added their influence,
and by means of poems composed to give pleas-
ure, raised them to the heaven ; as is the case
with those who flatter kings, even though wicked,
with false panegyrics. And this evil originated
with the Greeks, whose levity being furnished ^
with the ability and copiousness of speech, ex-
cited in an incredible degree mists of falsehoods.
And thus from admiration of them they first
undertook their sacred rites, and handed them
down to all nations. On account of this vanity
the Sibyl thus rebukes them : —

" Why trustest thou, O Greece, to princely men .'
Why to the dead dost offer empty gifts .''
Thou offerest to idols ; this error who suggested,
That thou shouldst leave the presence of the mighty

God,
And make these offerings ? "

Marcus Tullius, who was not only an accom-
plished orator, but also a philosopher, since he
alone was an imitator of Plato, in that treatise
in which he consoled himself concerning the
death of his daughter, did not hesitate to say
that those gods who were publicly worshipped
were men. And this testimony of his ought to
be esteemed the more weighty, because he held
the priesthood of the augurs, and testifies that
he worships and venerates the same gods. And
thus within the compass of a few verses he has
presented us with two facts. For while he de-
clared his intention of consecrating the image
of his daughter in the same manner in which
they were consecrated by the ancients, he both
taught that they were dead, and showed the
origin of a vain superstition. " Since, in truth,"
he says, " we see many men and women among
the number of the gods, and venerate their
shrines, held in the greatest honour in cities and
in the country, let us assent to the wisdom of
those to whose talents and inventions we owe it
that life is altogether adorned with laws and insti-
tutions, and established on a firm basis. And if
any living being was worthy of being consecrated,
assuredly it was this. If the offspring of Cadmus,
or Amphitryon, or Tyndarus, was worthy of being
extolled by fame to the heaven, the same honour
ought undoubtedly to be appropriated to her.
And this indeed I will do ; and with the appro-
bation of the gods, I will place you the best and
most learned of all women in their assembly,
and will consecrate you to the estimation of all
men." Some one may perhaps say that Cicero
raved through excessive grief. But, in truth, the
whole of that speech, which was perfect both in
learning and in its examples, and in the very
style of expression, gave no indications of a dis-

3 Instructa. [Vol. ii. cap. 18, p. 137, this series.)

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

tempered mind, but of constancy and judgment ;
and this very sentence exhibits no sign of grief.
For I do not think that he could have written
with such variety, and copiousness, and orna-
ment, had not his grief been mitigated by reason
itself, and the consolation of his friends and
length of time. Why should I mention what
he says in his books concerning the Republic,
and also concerning glory? For in his treatise
on the Laws, in which work, following the ex-
ample of Plato, he wished to set forth those laws
which he thought that a just and wise state would
employ, he thus decreed concerning religion : '
" Let them reverence the gods, both those who
have always been regarded as gods of heaven,
and those whose services to tnen have placed
them in heaven : Hercules, Liber, yEsculapius,
Castor, Pollux, and Quirinus." Also in his Tus-
culan Disputations,^ when he said that heaven
was almost entirely filled with the human race,
he said : " If, indeed, I should attempt to inves-
tigate ancient accounts, and to extract from them
those things which the writers of Greece have
handed down, even those who are held in the
highest rank as gods will be found to have gone
from us into heaven. Inquire whose sepulchres
are pointed out in Greece : remember, since
you are initiated, what things are handed down
in the mysteries ; and then at length you will
understand how widely \ki\% persuasion is spread."
He appealed, as it is plain, to the conscience of
Atticus, that it might be understood from the
very mysteries that all those who are worshipped
were men ; and when he acknowledged this with-
out hesitation in the case of Hercules, Liber,
-^sculapius. Castor and Pollux, he was afraid
openly to make the same admission respecting
Apollo and Jupiter their fathers, and likewise
respecting Neptune, Vulcan, Mars, and Mercury,
whom he termed the greater gods ; and therefore
he says that this opinion is widely spread, that
we may understand the same concerning Jupiter
and the other more ancient gods : for if the an-
cients consecrated their memory in the same
manner in which he says that he will consecrate
the image and the name of his daughter, those
who mourn may be pardoned, but those who
believe it cannot be pardoned. For who is so
infatuated as to believe that heaven is opened to
the dead at the consent and pleasure of a sense-
less multitude ? Or that any one is able to give
to another that which he himself does not pos-
sess? Among the Romans, Julius was made a
"* god, because it pleased a guilty man, Antony ;
Quirinus was made a god, because it seemed
good to the shepherds, though one of them was
the murderer of his twin brother, the other the
destroyer of his country. But if A.itony had not

' \De Ligibiis, ii. cap. 8.]
* [Ijbcr I. capp. 12, 13.]

been consul, in return for his services towards
the state Caius Caesar would have been without
the honour even of a dead man, and that, too,
by the advice of his father-in-law Piso, and of
his relative Lucius Caesar, who opposed the cele-
bration of the funeral, and by the advice of
Dolabella the consul, who overthrew the column
in the forum, that is, his monuments, and purified
the forum. For Ennius declares that Romulus
was regretted by his people, since he represents
the people as thus speaking, through gnef for
their lost king : " O Romulus, Romulus, say
what a guardian of your country the gods pro-
duced you? You brought us forth within the
regions of light. O father, O sire, O race, de-
scended from the gods." On account of this
regret they more readily believed Julius Proculus
uttering falsehoods, who was suborned by the
fathers to announce to the populace that he had
seen the king in a form more majestic than that
of a man ; and that he had given command to
the people that a temple should be built to his
honour, that he was a god, and was called by
the name of Quirinus. By which deed he at
once persuaded the people that Romulus had
gone to the gods, and freed the senate from the
suspicion of having slain the king. _

CHAP. XVI. BY WHAT ARGUMENT IT IS PROVED

THAT THOSE WHO ARE DISTINGUISHED BY A
DIFFERENCE OF SEX CANNOT BE GODS.3

I might be content with those things which I
have related, but there still remain many things
which are necessary for the work which I have
undertaken. For although, by destroying the
principal part of superstitions, I have taken
away the whole, yet it pleases me to follow up
the remaining parts, and more fully to refute so
inveterate a persuasion, that men may at length
be ashamed and repent of their errors. This is
a great undertaking, and worthy of a man. " I
proceed to release the minds of men from the
ties of superstitions," as Lucretius ^ says ; and
he indeed was unable to effect this, because he
brought forward nothing true. This is our duty,
who both assert the existence of the true God
and refute false deities. They, therefore, who
entertain the opinion that the poets have invented
fables about the gods, and yet believe in the ex-
istence of female deities, and worship them, are
unconsciously brought back to that which they
had denied — that they have sexual intercourse,
and bring forth. For it is impossible that the
two sexes can have been instituted except for the
sake of generation. But a difference of sex be-
ing admitted, they do not perceive that concep-
tion follows as a consequence. And this cannot

3 And that the office of propagating (his race) does not fall within
the nature of God.

* i. 931. [i.e., De Rerum Natura, lib. i. verse 931.]

Chap XVII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

be the case with a God. But let the matter be
as they imagine ; for they say that there are sons
of Jupiter and of the other gods. Therefore
new gods are born, and that indeed daily, for
gods are not surpassed in fruitfulness by men.
It follows that all things are full of gods without
number, since forsooth none of them dies. For
since the multitude of men is incredible, and
their number not to be estimated — though, as
they are born, they must of necessity die — what
must we suppose to be the case with the gods
who have been born through so many ages, and
have remained immortal? How is it, then, that
so few are worshipped ? Unless we think by any
means that there are two sexes of the gods, not
for the sake of generation, but for mere gratifi-
cation, and that the gods practise those things
which men are ashamed to do, and to submit to.
But when any are said to be born from any, it
follows that they always continue to be born, if
they are born at any time ; or if they ceased at
any time to be born, it is befitting that we should
know why or at what time they so ceased. Sen-
eca, in his books of moral philosophy, not with-
out some pleasantry, asks, " What is the reason
why Jupiter, who is represented by the poets as
most addicted to lust, ceased to beget children?
Was it that he was become a sexagenarian, and
was restrained by the Papian law ? ' Or did he
obtain the privileges conferred by having three
children ? Or did the sentiment at length occur
to him, ' What you have done to another, you
may expect from another ; ' and does he fear lest
any one should act towards him as he himself
did to Saturn?" But let those who maintain
that they are gods, see in what manner they can
answer this argument which I shall bring forward.
If there are two sexes of the gods, conjugal in-
tercourse follows ; and if this takes place, they
must have houses, for they are not without virtue
and a sense of shame, so as to do this openly
and promiscuously, as we see that the brute ani-
mals do. If they have houses, it follows that
they also have cities ; and for this we have the
authority of Ovid, who says, " The multitude of
gods occupy separate places ; in this front the
powerful and illustrious inhabitants of heaven
have placed their dwellings." If they have cities,
they will also have fields. Now who cannot see
the consequence, — namely, that they plough and
cultivate their lands ? And this is done for the
sake of food. Therefore they are mortal. And
this argument is of the same weight when re-
versed. For if they have no lands, they have no
cities ; and if they have no cities, they are also
without houses. And if they have no houses,
they have no conjugal intercourse ; and if they
are without this, they have no female sex. But

' [Cicero, De Officiis^ lib. iii. 11.]

we see that there are females among the gods
also. Therefore there are not gods. If any one
is able, let him do away with this argument. For
one thing so follows the other, that it is impossi-
ble not to admit these last things. But no one
will refute even the former argument. Of the
two sexes the one is stronger, the other weaker.
For the males are more robust, the females more
feeble. But a god is not liable to feebleness ;
therefore there is no female sex. To this is
added that last conclusion of the former argu-
ment, that there are no gods, since there are
females also among the gods.

CHAP. XVII. — CONCERNING THE SAME OPINION OF
THE STOICS, AND CONCERNING THE HARDSHIPS
AND DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF THE GODS.

On these accounts the Stoics form a different
conception of the gods ; and because they do
not perceive what the truth is, they attempt to
join them with the system of natural things.
And Cicero, following them, brought forward
this opinion respecting the gods and their re-
ligions. Do you see then, he says, how an
argument has been drawn from physical subjects
which have been well and usefully found out,
to the existence of false and fictitious gods?
And this circumstance gave rise to false opin-
ions and turbulent errors, and almost old-
womanly superstitions. For both the forms of
the gods, and their ages, and clothing and orna-
ments, are known to us ; and moreover their
races, and marriages, and all their relationships,
and all things reduced to the similitude of hu-
man infirmity. What can be said more plain,
more true? The chief of the Roman philoso-
phy, and invested with the most honourable
priesthood, refutes the false and fictitious gods,
and testifies that their worship consists of almost
old-womanly superstitions : he complains that
men are entangled in false opinions and turbu-
lent errors. For the whole of his third book
respecting the Nature of the Gods altogether
overthrows and destroys all religion. What
more, therefore, is expected from us ? Can we
surpass Cicero in eloquence ? By no means ;
but confidence was wanting to him, being igno-
rant of the truth, as he himself simply acknowl-
edges in the same work. For he says that he
can more easily say what is not, than what is ;
that is, that he is aware that the received sys-
tem is false, but is ignorant of the truth.^ It is
plain, therefore, that those who are supposed to
be gods were but men, and that their memory
was consecrated after their death. And on this
account also different ages and established rep-
resentations of form are assigned to each, be-

2 \Nat. Deor., liber i. 32.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

cause their images were fashioned in that dress
and of that age at which death arrested each.

Let us consider, if you please, the hardships
of the unfortunate gods. Isis lost her son ;
Ceres her daughter ; Latona, expelled and driven
about over the earth, with difficulty found a
small island ' where she might bring forth. The
mother of the gods both loved a beautiful youth,
and also mutilated him when found in company
with a harlot ; and on this account her sacred
rites are now celebrated by the Galli ^ as priests.
Juno violently persecuted harlots, because she
was not able to conceive by her brother.^ Varro
writes, that the island Samos was before called
Parthenia, because Juno there grew up, and
there also was married to Jupiter. Accordingly
there is a most noble and ancient temple of hers
at Samos, and an image fashioned in the dress
of a bride ; and her annual sacred rites are
celebrated after the manner of a marriage. If,
therefore, she grew up, if she was at first a vir-
gin and afterwards a woman, he who does not
understand that she was a human being con-
fesses himself a brute. Why should I speak of
the lewdness of Venus, who ministered to the
lusts of all, not only gods, but also men ? For
from her infamous debauchery with Mars she
brought forth Harmonia ; from Mercury she
brought forth Hermaphroditus, who was bom
of both sexes ; from Jupiter Cupid ; from Ar\-
chises ^4^eas ; from Butes Eryx ; from Adonis
she could bring forth no offspring, because he
was struck by a boar, and slain, while yet 2k. boy.
And she first instituted the art of courtesanship,
as is contained in the sacred history ; and taught
women in Cyprus to seek gain by prostitution,
which she commanded for this purpose, that she
alone might not appear unchaste and a courter
of men beyond other females. Has she, too,
any claim to religious worship, on whose part
more adulteries are recorded than births? But
not even were those virgins who are celebrated
al)le to preserve their chastity inviolate. For
from what source can we suppose that Erichtho-
nius was born ? Was it from the earth, as the
poets would have it appear? But the circum-
stance itself cries out. For when Vulcan had
made arms for the gods, and Jupiter had given
him the option of asking for whatever reward he
might wish, and had sworn, according to his
custom, by the infernal lake, that he would re-
fuse him nothing which he might ask, then the
lame artificer demanded Minerva in marriage.
Upon this the excellent and mighty Jupiter,
being bound by so great an oath, was not able
to refuse ; he, however, advised Minerva to op-
pose and defend her chastity. Then in that

« Delos.

^ The priests of Cybele were called Galli.

* Jupiter.

Struggle they say that Vulcan shed his seed upon
the earth, from which source Erichthonius was
born : and that this name was given to him from
eptSos and ^Bovo^, that is, from the contest and the
ground. Why, then, did she, a virgin, entrust
that boy shut up with a dragon and sealed to
three virgins born from Cecrops? An evident
case of incest, as I think, which can by no means
be glossed over. Another, when she had almost
lost her lover, who was torn to pieces by his
madened horses, called in the most excellent
physician ^sculapius for the treatment of the
youth ; and when he was healed,

"Trivia kind her favourite hides,
And to Egeria's care confides,
To live in woods obscure and lone,
And lose in Virbius' name his own."*

What is the meaning of this so diligent and
anxious care? Why this secret abode? Why
this banishment, either to so great a distance, or
to a woman, or into solitude ? Why, in the next
place, the change of name ? Lastly, why such a
determined hatred of horses? What do all
these things imply, but the consciousness of dis-
honour, and a love by no means consistent with
a virgin? There was evidently a reason why
she undertook so great a labour for a youth so
faithful, who had refused compliance with the
love of his stepmother.

CHAP. XVIII. — ON THE CONSECRATION OF GODS,
ON ACCOUNT OF THE BENEFITS WHICH THEY
CONFERRED UPON MEN.

In this place also they are to be refuted, who
not only admit that gods have been made from
men, but even boast of it as a subject of praise,
either on account of their valour, as Hercules,
or of their gifts, as Ceres and Liber, or of the
arts which they discovered, as ^sculapius or
Minerva. But how foolish these things are, and
how unworthy of being the causes why men
should contaminate themselves with inexpiable
guilt, and become enemies to God, in contempt
of whom they undertake offerings to the dead, I
will show from particular instances. They say
that it is virtue s which exalts man to heaven, —
not, however, that concerning which philoso-
phers discuss, which consists in goods of the
soul, but this connected with the body, which is
called fortitude ; and since this was pre-eminent
in Hercules, it is believed to have deserved im-
mortality. Who is so foolishly senseless as to
judge strength of body to be a divine or even
a human good, when it has been assigned in
greater measure to cattle, and it is often im-
paired by one disease, or is lessened by old age

* Virg., j^tteid, vii 774.

5 Virtus in its first meaning denotes valour, the property of a
man {,vir) ; then it is used to signify moral excellence.

Chap. XVIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

kself, and altogether fails? And so Hercules,
when he perceived that his muscles were dis-
figured by ulcers, neither wished to be healed
nor to grow old, that he might not at any time
appear to have less strength or comeliness than
he once had." They supposed that he ascended
into heaven from the funeral pile on which he had
burnt himself alive ; and those very qualities
which they most foolishly admired, they ex-
pressed by statues and images, and consecrated,
so that they might for ever remain as memorials
of the folly of those who had believed that gods
owed their origin to the slaughter of beasts.
But this, perchance, may be the fault of the
Greeks, who always esteemed most trifling
things as of the greatest consequence. What is
the case of our own countrymen? Are they
more wise? For they despise valour in an
athlete, because it produces no injury ; but in
the case of a king, because it occasions widely-
spread disasters, they so admire it as to imagine
that brave and warlike generals are admitted to
the assembly of the gods, and that there is no
other way to immortality than to lead armies,
to lay waste the territory of others, to destroy
cities, to overthrow towns, to put to death or
enslave free peoples. Truly the greater number
of men they have cast down, plundered, and
slain, so much the more noble and distinguished
do they think themselves ; and ensnared by the
show of empty glory, they give to their crimes
the name of virtue, I would rather that they
should make to themselves gods from the slaugh-
ter of wild beasts, than approve of an immortal-
ity so stained with blood. If any one has slain
a single man, he is regarded as contaminated
and wicked, nor do they think it lawful for him
to be admitted to this earthly abode of the gods.
But he who has slaughtered countless thousands
of men, has inundated plains with blood, and in-
fected rivers, is not only admitted into the tem-
ple, but even into heaven. In Ennius Africanus
thus speaks : " If it is permitted any one to as-
cend to the regions of the gods above, the
greatest gate of heaven is open to me alone."
Because, in truth, he extinguished and destroyed
a great part of the human race. Oh how great
the darkness in which you were involved, O Afri-
canus, or rather O poet, in that you imagined the
ascent to heaven to be open to men through
slaughters and bloodshed ! And Cicero also as-
sented to this delusion. It is so in truth, he said,
O Africanus, for the same gate was open to Her-
cules ; as though he himself had been doorkeeper
in heaven at the time when this took place. I
indeed cannot determine whether I should think
it a subject of grief or of ridicule, when I see
grave and learned, and, as they appear to them-

• Lit., than himself.

selves, wise men, involved in such miserable
waves of errors. If this is the virtue which ren-
ders us immortal, I for my part should prefer to
die, rather than to be the cause of destruction to
as many as possible. If immortality can be ob-
tained in no other way than by bloodshed, what
will be the result if all shall agree to live in har-
mony ? And this may undoubtedly be realized,
if men would cast aside their pernicious and im-
pious madness, and live in innocence and jus
tice. Shall no one, then, be worthy of heaven?
Shall virtue perish, because it will not be per-
mitted men to rage against their fellow-men?
But they who reckon the overthrow of cities and
people as the greatest glory will not endure pub-
lic tranquillity : they will plunder and rage ; and
by the infliction of outrageous injuries will dis-
turb the compact of human society, that they
may have an enemy whom they may destroy
with greater wickedness than that with which
they attacked.

Now let us proceed to the remaining subjects.
The conferring of benefits gave the name of gods
to Ceres and Liber. I am able to prove from
the sacred writings that wine and corn were used
by men before the offspring of Coelus and Satur-
nus. But let us suppose that they were intro-
duced by these. Can it appear to be a greater
thing to have collected corn, and having bruised
it, to have taught men to make bread ; or to
have pressed grapes gathered from the vine, and
to have made wine, than to have produced and
brought forth from the earth com itself, or the
vine ? God, indeed, may have left these things
to be drawn out by the ingenuity of man ; yet
all things must belong to Him, who gave to man
both wisdom to discover, and those very things
which might be discovered. The arts also are
said to have gained immortality for their in-
ventors, as medicine for ^sculapius, the craft of
the smith for Vulcan. Therefore let us worship
those also who taught the art of the fuller and
of the shoemaker. But why is not honour paid
to the discoverer of the potter's art ? Is it that
those rich men despise Samian vessels? There
are also other arts, the inventors of which greatly
profited the life of man. Why have not temples
been assigned to them also ? But doubtless it is
Minerva who discovered all, and therefore work-
men offer prayers to her. Such, then, was the
low condition ^ from which Minerva ascended to
heaven. Is there truly any reason why any one
should leave the worship of Him who created ^
the earth with its living creatures, and the heaven
with its stars, for the adoration of her who taught
men to set up the woof? What place does he
hold who taught the healing of wounds in the

2 Ab his sordibus.

3 Exorsus est. The word properly denotes to begin a web, to lay
the warp; hence the use of " ordiri " in the following clause.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book L

body ? Can he be more excellent than Him who
formed the body itself, and the power of sensi-
bility and of life ? Finally, did he contrive and
bring to light the herbs themselves, and the other
things in which the healing art consists ?

CHAP. XIX. — THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY
ONE TO WORSHIP THE TRUE GOD TOGETHER
WITH FALSE DEFriES.

But some one will say that this supreme Being,
who made all things, and those also who con-
ferred on men particular benefits, are entitled to
their respective worship. First of all, it has never
happened that the worshipper of these has also
been a worshipper of God. Nor can this possi-
bly happen. For if the honour paid to Him is
■* shared by others, He altogether ceases to be
worshipped, since His religion requires us to be-
lieve that He is the one and only God. The
- excellent poet exclaims, that all those who re-
fined life by the invention of arts are in the lower
regions, and that even the discoverer himself of
such a medicine and art was thrust down by
lightning to the Stygian waves, that we may un-
derstand how great is the power of the Almighty
Father, who can extinguish even gods by His
lightnings. But ingenious men perchance thus
reasoned with themselves : Because God cannot
be struck with lightning, it is manifest that the
occurrence never took place ; nay, rather, be-
cause it did take place, it is manifest that the
person in question was a man, and not a god.
For the falsehood of the poets does not consist
in the deed, but in the name. For they feared
evil, if, in opposition to the general persuasion,
they should acknowledge that which was true.
But if this is agreed upon among themselves,
that gods were made from men, why then do
they not believe the poets, if at any time they
describe their banishments and wounds, their
deaths, and wars, and adulteries? From which
things it may be understood that they could not
possibly become gods, since they were not even
good men, and during their life they performed
those actions which bring forth everlasting death.

CHAP. XX. — OF THE GODS PECULIAR TO THE
ROMANS, AND THEIR SACRED RITES.

I now come to the superstitions peculiar to
the Romans, since I have spoken of those which
are common. The wolf, the nurse of Romulus,
was invested with divine honours. And I could
endure this, if it had been the animal itself
whose figure she bears. Livy relates that there
was an image of Larentina, and indeed not of
her body, but of her mind and character. For
she was the wife of Faustulus, and on account
of her prostitution she was called among the

shepherds wolf,' that is, harlot, from which also
the brotheP derives its name. The Romans
doubtless followed the example of the Athenians
in representing her figure. For when a harlot, by
name Le?ena, had put to death a tyrant among
them, because it was unlawful for the image of a
harlot to be placed in the temple, they erected
the effigy of the animal whose name she bore.
Therefore, as the Athenians erected a monument
from the name, so did the Romans from the pro-
fession of the person thus honoured. A festival
was also dedicated to her name, and the Laren-
tinalia were instituted. Nor is she the only har-
lot whom the Romans worship, but also Faula,
who was, as Verrius writes, the paramour of Her-
cules. Now how great must that immortality be
thought which is attained even by harlots !
Flora, having obtained great wealth by this prac-
tice, made the people her heir, and left a fixed
sum of money, from the annual proceeds of
which her birthday might be celebrated by pub-
lic games, which they called Floralia. And be-
cause this appeared disgraceful to the senate, in
order that a kind of dignity might be given to a
shameful matter, they resolved that an argimient
should be taken from the name itself. They
pretended that she was the goddess who presides
over flowers, and that she must be appeased, that
the crops, together with the trees or vines, might
produce a good and abundant blossom. The
poet followed up this idea in his Fasti, and
related that there was a nymph, by no means
obscure, who was called Chloris, and that, on her
marriage with Zephyrus, she received from her
husband as a wedding gift the control over all
flowers. These things are spoken with propriety,
but to believe them is unbecoming and shameful.
And when the truth is in question, ought dis-
guises of this kind to deceive us? Those games,
therefore, are celebrated with all wantonness, as
is suitable to the memory of a harlot. For be-
sides licentiousness of words, in which all lewd-
ness is poured forth, women are also stripped of
their garments at the demand of the people, and
then perform the office of mimeplayers, and are
detained in the sight of the people with indecent
gestures, even to the satiating Of unchaste eyes.
Tatius consecrated an image of Cloacina,
which had been found in the great sewer j and
because he did not know whose likeness it was,
he gave it a name from the place. Tullus Hos-
tilius fashioned and worshipped Fear and Pallor.
What shall I say respecting him, but that he was
worthy of having his gods always at hand, as
men commonly wish ? The conduct of Marcus
Marcellus concerning the consecration of Honour
and Valour differs from this in goodness of the
names, but agrees with it in reality. The senate

1 Liipa. [See vol. iii. cap. lo, p. 138, this series.]

2 Liipanar.

Chap. XX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

acted with the same vanity in placing Mind '
among the gods ; for if they had possessed any
intelligence, they would never have undertaken
sacred rites of this kind. Cicero says that
Greece undertook a great and bold design in
consecrating the images of Cupids and Loves in
the gymnasia : it is plain that he flattered Atticus,
and jested with his friend. For that ought not
to have been called a great design, or a design
at all, but the abandoned and deplorable wicked-
ness of unchaste men, who exposed their chil-
dren, whom it was their duty to train to an
honourable course, to the lust of youth, and
wished them to worship gods of profligacy, in
those places especially where their naked bodies
were exposed to the gaze of their corruptors,
and at that age which, through its simplicity and
incautiousness, can be enticed and ensnared be-
fore it can be on its guard. What wonder, if all
kinds of profligacy flowed from this nation,
among whom vices themselves have the sanction
of religion, and are so far from being avoided,
that they are even worshipped ? And therefore,
as though he surpassed the Greeks in prudence,
he subjoined to this sentence as follows : " Vices
ought not to be consecrated, but virtues." But
if you admit this, O Marcus Tullius, you do not
see that it will come to pass that vices will break
in together with virtues, because evil things ad-
here to those which are good, and have greater
influence on the minds of men ; and if you for-
bid these to be consecrated, the same Greece
will answer you that it worships some gods that
it may receive benefits, and others that it may
escape injuries.

For this is always the excuse of those who re-
gard their evils as gods, as the Romans esteem
Blight and Fever. If, therefore, vices are not to
be consecrated, in whi^^h I agree with you,
neither indeed are virtues. For they have no
intelligence or perception of themselves ; nor
are they to be placed within walls or shrines
made of clay, but within the breast ; and they
are to be enclosed within, lest they should be
false if placed without man. Therefore I laugh
at that illustrious law of 3'ours which you set forth
in these words : " But those things on account
of which it is given to man to ascend into
heaven — / speak of mind, virtue, piety, faith —
let there be temples for their praises." But these
things cannot be separated from man. For if
they are to be honoured, they must necessarily
be in man himself. But if they are without
man, what need is there to honour those things
which you do not possess? For it is virtue
which is to be honoured, and not the image of
virtue ; and it is to be honoured not by any sac-
rifice, or incense, or solemn prayer, but only by

* Menr. [Tayler Lewis, Plato, etc., p. 219.]

the will and purpose. For what else is it to
honour virtue, but to comprehend it with the
mind, and to hold it fast ? And as soon as any
one begins to wish for this, he attains it. This
is the only honour of virtue \ for no other reli-
gion and worship is to be held but that of the
one God. To what purport is it, then, O wisest
man, to occupy with superfluous buildings places
which may turn out to the service of men ? To
what purport is it to establish priests for the wor-
ship of vain and senseless objects ? To what pur-
port to immolate victims? To what purport to
bestow such great expenditure on the forming
or worshipping of images ? The human breast
is a stronger and more uncorrupted temple : let
this rather be adorned, let this be filled with
the true deities. For they who thus worship the
virtues — that is, who pursue the shadows and
images of virtues — cannot hold the very things
which are true. Therefore there is no virtue in
any one when vices bear rule ; there is no faith
when each individual carries off all things for
himself; there is no piety when avarice spares
neither relatives nor parents, and passion rushes
to poison and the sword : no peace, no concord,
when wars rage in public, and in private enmities
prevail even to bloodshed ; no chastity when
unbridled lusts contaminate each sex, and the
whole body in every part. Nor, however, do
they cease to worship those things which they
flee from and hate. For they worship with in-
cense and the tips of their fingers those things
which they ought to have shrunk from with their
inmost feelings ; and this error is altogether de-
rived from their ignorance of the principal and
chief good.

When their city was occupied by the Gauls,
and the Romans, who were besieged in the Cap-
itol, had made military engines from the hair of
the women, they dedicated a temple to the Bald
Venus. They do not therefore understand how
vain are their religions, even from this very fact,
that they jeer at them by these follies. They
had perhaps learned from the Lacedaemonians
to invent for themselves gods from events. For
when they were besieging the Messenians, and
they (the Messenians) had gone out secretly, es-
caping the notice of the besiegers, and had has-
tened to plunder Lacedaemon, they were routed
and put to flight by the Spartan women. But
the Lacedaemonians, having learned the strata-
gem of the enemy, followed. The women in
arms went out to a distance to meet them ; and
when they saw that their husbands were prepar-
ing themselves for battle, supposing them to be
Messenians, they laid bare their persons. But
the men, recognising their wives, and excited to
passion by the sight, rushed to promiscuous in-
tercourse, for there was not time for discrimina-
tion. In like manner, the youths who had on a

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I

former occasion been sent by the same people,
having intercourse with the virgins, from whom
the Partheniae were bom, in memory of this deed
erected a temple and statue to armed Venus.
And although this originated in a shameful cause,
yet it seems better to have consecrated Venus as
armed than bald. At the same time an altar
was erected also to Jupiter Pistor (the baker),
because he had admonished them in a dream
to make all the corn which they had into bread,
and throw it into the camp of the enemy ; and
when this was done, the siege was ended, since
the Gauls despaired of being able to reduce the
Romans by want.

What a derision of religious rites is this ! If
I were a defender of these, what could I com-
plain of so greatly as that the name of gods had
come into such contempt as to be mocked by
the most disgraceful names? Who would not
laugh at the goddess Fornax, or rather that
learned men should be occupied with celebrating
the Fornacalia? Who can refrain from laughter
on hearing of the goddess Muta ? They say that
she is the goddess from whom the Lares were
born, and they call her Lara, or Larunda. What
advantage can she, who is unable to speak, afford
to a worshipper? Caca also is worshipped, who
informed Hercules of the theft of his oxen, having
obtained immortality through the betrayal of her
brother ; and Cunina, who protects infants in the
cradle, and keeps off witchcraft ; and Stercutus,
who first introduced the method of manuring the
land ; and Tutinus, before whom brides sit, as
an introduction to the marriage rites ; and a
thousand other fictions, so that they who regarded
these as objects of worship may be said to be
more foolish than the Egyptians, who worship
certain monstrous and ridiculous images. These,
however, have some delineation of form. What
shall I say of those who worship a rude and
shapeless stone under the name of Terminus?
This is he whom Satumus is said to have swal-
lowed in the place of Jupiter ; nor is the honour
paid to him undeservedly. For when Tanjuinius
wished to build the Capitol, and there were the
chapels of many gods on that spot, he consulted
them by augury whether they would give way to
Jupiter; and when the rest gave way, Terminus
alone remained. From which circumstance the
poet speaks of the immoveable stone of the Capi-
tol. Now from this very fact how great is Jupiter
found to be, to whom a stone did not give way,
with this confidence, perhaps, because it had
rescued him from the jaws of his father ! There-
fore, when the Capitol was built, an aperture was
left in the roof above Terminus himself, that,
since he had not given way, he might enjoy the
free heaven ; but they did not themselves enjoy
this, who imagined that a stone enjoyed it. And
therefore they make public supplications to him,

as to the god who is the guardian of boundaries ;
and he is not only a stone, but sometimes also a
stock. What shall I say of those who worship
such objects, unless — that they above all others
are stones and stocks?

CHAP. XXI. OF CERTAIN DEITIES PECULIAR TO

BARBARIANS, AND THEIR SACRED RITES ; AND
IN LIKE MANNER CONCERNING THE ROMANS.

We have spoken of the gods themselves who
are worshipped ; we must now speak a few words
respecting their sacrifices and mysteries. Among
the people of Cyprus, Teucer sacrificed a human
victim to Jupiter, and handed down to posterity
that sacrifice which was lately abolished by Ha-
drian when he was emperor. There was a law
among the people of Tauris, a fierce and inhuman
nation, by which it was ordered that strangers
should be sacrificed to Diana ; and this sacrifice
was practised through many ages. The Gauls
used to appease Hesus and Teutas with human
blood. Nor, indeed, were the Latins free from
this cruelty, since Jupiter Latialis is even now
worshipped with the offering of human blood.
What benefit do they who offer such sacrifices
implore from the gods ? Or what are such deities
able to bestow on the men by whose punishments
they are propitiated ? But this is not so much a
matter of surprise with respect to barbarians,
whose religion agrees with their character. But
are not our countrymen, who have always
claimed for themselves the glory of gentleness
and civilization, found to be more inhuman by
these sacrilegious rites ? For these ought rather
to be esteemed impious, who, though they are
embellished with the pursuits of liberal training,
turn aside from such refinement, than those
who, being ignorant and inexperienced, glide
into evil practices from their ignorance of those
which are good. And yet it is plain that this
rite of immolating human victims is ancient,
since Saturn was honoured in Latium with the
same kind of sacrifice ; not indeed that a man
was slain at the altar, but that he was thrown from
the Milvian bridge into the Tiber. And Varro
relates that this was done in accordance with an
oracle ; of which oracle the last verse is to this
effect : " And offer heads to Ades, and to the
father a man." ' And because this appears am-
biguous, both a torch and a man are accustomed
to be thrown to him. But it is said that sacrifices
of this kind were put an end to by Hercules
when he returned from Spain ; the custom still
continuing, that instead of real men, images
made from rushes were cast forth, as Ovid in-
forms us in his Fasti. -^ "Until the Tirynthian

' Or, lights. The oracle is ambiguous, since the word <<)uj? signi-
fies a man, and also light, [i.e., i^us = man, and <^w« ^ light.]
2 V. 629.

Chap. XXL]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

came into these lands, gloomy sacrifices were
annually offered in the Leucadian manner : he
threw into the water Romans made of straw ; do
you, after the example of Hercules, cast ' in the
images of human bodies."

The Vestal virgins make these sacred offerings,
as the same poet says : ' " Then also a virgin is
accustomed to cast from the wooden bridge the
images of ancient men made from rushes."

For I cannot find language to speak of the
infants who were immolated to the same Saturn,
on account of his hatred of Jupiter. To think
that men were so barbarous, so savage, that they
gave the name of sacrifice to the slaughter of
their own children, that is, to a deed foul, and
to be held in detestation by the human race ;
since, without any regard to parental affection,
they destroyed tender and innocent lives, at an
age which is especially pleasing to parents, and
surpassed in brutality the savageness of all beasts,
which — savage as they are — still love their
offspring ! O incurable madness ! What more
could those gods do to them, if they were most
angry, than they now do when propitious, when
they defile their worshippers with parricide, visit
them with bereavements, and deprive them of
the sensibilities of men? What can be sacred
to these men ? Or what will they do in profane
places, who commit the greatest crimes amidst
the altars of the gods? Pescennius Festus re-
lates in the books of his History by a Satire, that
the Carthaginians were accustomed to immolate
human victims to Saturn ; and when they were
conquered by Agathocles, the king of the Sicili-
ans, they imagined that the god was angry with
them ; and therefore, that they might more dili-
gently offer an expiation, they immolated two
hundred sons of their nobles : " So great the
ills to which religion could prompt, which has
ofttimes produced wicked and impious deeds."
What advantage, then, did the men propose by
that sacrifice, when they put to death so large a
part of the state, as not even Agathocles had
slain when victorious?

From this kind of sacrifices those public rites
are to be judged signs of no less madness ; some
of which are in honour of the mother of the
gods, in which men mutilate themselves ; others
are in honour of Virtus, whom they also call
Bellona, in which the priests make offsprings not
with the blood of another victim, but with their
ovvn.3 For, cutting their shoulders, and thrust-
ing forth drawn swords in each hand, they run,
they are beside themselves, they are frantic.
Quintilian therefore says excellently in his Fa-
natic : " If a god compels this, he does it in
anger." Are even these things sacred? Is it

' Jace. Others read " jaci."

^ V. 621.

' So the priests of Baal cut themselves, i Kings xviii. 28.

not better to live like cattle, than to worship
deities so impious, profane, and sanguinary?
But we will discuss at the proper time the
source from which these errors and deeds of
such great disgrace originated. In the mean-
time, let us look also to other matters which are
without guilt, that we may not seem to select the
worse parts through the desire of finding fault.
In Egypt there are sacred rites in honour of
Isis, since she either lost or found her little son.
For at first her priests, having made their bodies
smooth, beat their breasts, and lament, as the
goddess herself had done when her child was
lost. Afterwards the boy is brought forward, as
if found, and that mourning is changed into joy.
Therefore Lucan says, " And Osiris never suffi-
ciently sought for." For they always lose, and
they always find him. Therefore in the sacred
rites there is a representation of a circumstance
which really occurred ; and which assuredly de-
clares, if we have any intelligence, that she was
a mortal woman, and almost desolate, had she
not found one person. And this did not escape
the notice of the poet himself; for he repre-
sents Pompey when a youth as thus speaking,
on hearing the death of his father : " I will now
draw forth the deity Isis from the tomb, am/
send her through the nations ; and I will
scatter through the people Osiris covered with
wood." This Osiris is the same whom the
people call Serapis. For it is customary for the
names of the dead who are deified to be changed,
that no one, as I believe, may imagine them to
be men. For Romulus after his death became
Quirinus, and Leda became Nemesis, and Circe
Marica ; and Ino, when she had leapt into the
sea, was called Leucothea ; and the mother
Matuta ; and her son Melicerta was called Pa-
laemon and Portumnus. And the sacred rites
of the Eleusinian Ceres are not unlike these.
For as in those which have been mentiotied the
boy Osiris is sought with the wailing of his
mother, so in these Proserpine is carried away
to contract an incestuous marriage with her
uncle ; and because Ceres is said to have sought
for her in Sicily with torches lighted from the
top of Etna, on this account her sacred rites are
celebrated with the throwing of torches.

At Lampsacus the victim to be offered to
Priapus is an ass, and the cause of the sacrifice
of this animal is thus set forth in the Fasti: —
When all the deities had assembled at the festi-
val of the Great Mother, and when, satiated with
feasting, they were spending the night in sport,
they say that Vesta had laid herself on the ground
for rest, and had fallen asleep, and that Priapus
upon this formed a design against her honour as
she slept ; but that she was aroused by the un-
seasonable braying of the ass on which Silenus
used to ride, and that the design of the insidi-

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

ous plotter was frustrated. On this account they
say that the people of Lampsacus were accus-
tomed to sacrifice an ass to Priapus, as though it
were in revenge ; but among the Romans the
same animal was crowned at the Vestalia (festival
of Vesta) with loaves/ in honour of the preser-
vation of her chastity. What is baser, what more
disgraceful, than if Vesta is indebted to an ass
for the preservation of her purity? But the poet
invented a fable. But was that more true which
is related by those ^ who wrote " Phenomena,"
when they speak concerning the two stars of
Cancer, which the Greeks call asses ? That they
were asses which carried across father Liber when
he was unable to cross a river, and that he re-
warded one of them with the power of speak-
ing with human voice ; and that a contest arose
between him and Priapus ; and Priapus, being
worsted m the contest, was enraged, and slew the
victor. This truly is much more absurd. But
poets have the licence of saying what they will.
I do not meddle with a mystery so odious ; nor
do I strip Priapus of his disguise, lest something
deserving of ridicule should be brought to light.
It is true the poets invented these fictions, but
they must have been invented for the purpose of
concealing some greater depravity. Let us in-
quire what this is. But in fact it is evident.
For as the bull is sacrificed to Luna,^ because he
also has horns as she has ; and as " Persia pro-
pitiates with a horse Hyperion surrounded with
rays, that a slow victim may not be offered to
the swift god ; " so in this case no more suitable
victim could be found than that which resembled
nim to whom it is offered.

At Lindas, which is a town of Rhodes, there
are sacred rites in honour of Hercules, the ob-
servance of which differs widely from all other
rites ; for they are not celebrated with words of
good omen* (as the Greeks term it), but with
revilings and cursing. And they consider it a
violation of the sacred rites, if at any time during
the celebration of the solemnities a good word
shall have escaped from any one even inadver-
tently. And this is the reason assigned for this
practice, if indeed there can be any reason in
things utterly senseless. When Hercules had
arrived at the place, and was suffering hunger, he
saw a ploughman at work, and began to ask him
to sell one of his oxen. But the ploughman re-
plied that this was impossible, because his hope
of cultivating the land depended altogether upon
those two bullocks. Hercules, with his usual
violence, because he was not able to receive one

* Panibus, loaves made in the shape of crowns.

* [See this page, note 6, infra.\
3 The moon.

* «v<J)r)fno. It was supposed that words of ill omen, if uttered
during the offering of a sacrifice, would render the gods unpropitious:
the priest tl^refore, at the commencement of a sacrifice, called upon
the people to abstain from ill-omened words: tO<^r)/LieiT«, " favete
Ikiguis."

of them, killed both. But the unhappy man,
when he saw that his oxen were slain, avenged
the injury with revilings, — a circumstance which
afforded gratification to the man of elegance and
refinement. For while he prepares a feast for
his companions, and while he devours the oxen
of another man, he receives with ridicule and
loud laughter the bitter reproaches with which
the other assails him. But when it had been
determined that divine honours should be paid
to Hercules in admiration of his excellence, an
altar was erected in his honour by the citizens,
which he named, from the circumstance, the yoke
of oxen ; 5 and at this altar two yoked oxen were
sacrificed, like those which he had taken from
the ploughman. And he appointed the same
man to be his priest, and directed him always to
use the same revilings in offering sacrifice, be-
cause he said that he had never feasted more
pleasantly. Now these things are not sacred,
but sacrilegious, in which that is said to be en-
joined, which, if it is done in other things, is
punished with the greatest severity. What, more-
over, do the rites of the Cretan Jupiter himself
show, except the manner in which he was with-
drawn from his father, or brought up ? There is
a goat belonging to the nymph Amalthea, which
gave suck to the infant ; and of this goat Ger-
manicus Caesar thus speaks, in his poem trans-
lated from Aratus : ^ —

" She is supposed to be the nurse of Jupiter ; if in truth
the infant Jupiter pressed the faithful teats of the
Cretan goat, which attests the gratitude of her lord
by a bright constellation."

Musaeus relates that Jupiter, when fighting
against the Titans, used the hide of this goat as
a shield, from which circumstance he is called
by the poets shield-bearer.^ Thus, whatever
was done in concealing the boy, that also is done
by way of representation in the sacred rites.
Moreover, the mystery of his mother also con-
tains the same story which Ovid sets forth in the
Fasti : —

" Now the lofty Ida resounds with tinklings, that the
boy may cry in safety with infant mouth. Some
strike their shields with stakes, some beat their
empty helmets. This is the employment of the
Curetes, this of the Corybantes. The matter was
concealed, and imitations of the ancient deed re-
main ; the attendant goddesses shake instruments
of brass, and hoarse hides. Instead of helmets
they strike cymbals, and drums instead of shields ;
the flute gives Phrygian strains, as it gave before."

Sallust rejected this opinion altogether, as
though invented by the poets, and wished to
give an ingenious explanation of the reasons for

5 Bou^uyoi'.

* Aratus was the author of two Greek astronomical poems, the
^OLivo^i-fva and the Aiocrrj/j-cia, Virgil, in his Georgics, has borrowed
largely from the latter. Germanicus Cajsar, the grandson of Augus-
tus, as stated in the text, translated the A/o.i.voii.iva..

7 aiyioxot; " scutum hab«ns."

Chap. XXII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

which the Curetes are said to have nourished
Jupiter ; and he speaks to this purport : Because
they were the first to understand the worship of
the deity, that therefore anti(iuity, which exag-
gerates all things, made them known as the nour-
ishers of Jupiter. How much this learned man
was mistaken, the matter itself at once declares.
For if Jupiter holds the first place, both among
the gods and in religious rites, if no gods were
worshipped by the people before him, because
they who are worshipped were not yet born ; it
appears that the Curetes, on the contrary, were
the first who did not understand the worship of
the deity, since all error was introduced by them,
and the memory of the true God was taken away.
They ought therefore to have understood from
the mysteries and ceremonies themselves, that
they were offering prayers to dead men. I do
not then require that any one should believe the
fictions of the poets. If any one imagines that
these speak falsely, let him consider the writings
of the pontiffs themselves, and weigh whatever
there is of literature pertaining to sacred rites :
he will perhaps find more things than we bring
forward, from which he may understand that all
things which are esteemed sacred are empty,
vain, and fictitious. But if any one, having
discovered wisdom, shall lay aside his error, he
will assuredly laugh at the follies of men who
are almost without understanding : I mean those
who either dance with unbecoming gestures, or
run naked, anointed, and crowned with chaplets,
either wearing a mask or besmeared with mud.
What shall I say about shields now putrid with
age? When they carry these, they think that
they are carrying gods themselves on their shoul-
ders. For Furius Bibaculus is regarded among
the chief examples of piety, who, though he was
prstor, nevertheless carried the sacred shield,"
preceded by the lictors, though his office as
prcBtor gave him an exemption from this duty.
He was therefore not Furius, but altogether mad,^
who thought that he graced his preetorship by
this service. Deservedly then, since these things
are done by men not unskilful and ignorant, does
Lucretius exclaim : —

"O foolish minds of men! O blinded breasts! In
what darkness of life and in how great dangers is
passed this term of life, whatever be its dura-
tion ! "

Who that is possessed of any sense would not
laugh at these mockeries, when he sees that
men, as though bereft of intelligence, do those
things seriously, which if any one should do in
sport, he would appear too full of sport and
folly?

CHAP. XXII. — WHO WAS THE AUTHOR OF THE
VANITIES BEFORE DESCRIBED IN ITALY AMONG
THE ROMANS, AND WHO AMONG OTHER NATIONS.

" Ancile, the sacred shield, carried by the Snlii, or priests of
Mars, in the processions at the festival of that deity.
* Non Furius, sed plane furiosus.

The author and establisher of these vanities
among the Romans was that Sabine king who
especially engaged ^ the rude and ignorant minds
of men with new superstitions : and that he
might do this with some authority, he pretended
that he had meetings by night with the goddess
Egeria. There was a very dark cavern in the
grove of Aricia, from which flowed a stream with
a never failing spring. Hither he was accus-
tomed to withdraw himself without any wit-
nesses, that he might be able to pretend that,
by the admonition of the goddess his wife, he
delivered to the people those sacred rites which
were most acceptable to the gods. It is evident
that he wished to imitate the craftiness of Minos,
who concealed himself in the cave of Jupiter,
and, after a long delay there, brought forward
laws, as though delivered to him by Jupiter, that
he might bind men to obedience not only by
the authority of his government, but also by the
sanction of religion. Nor was it difficult to
persuade shepherds. Therefore he instituted
pontiffs, priests, Salii, and augurs ; he arranged
the gods in families ; and by these means he
softened the fierce spirits of the new people,
and called them away from warlike affairs to
the pursuit of peace. But though he deceived
others, he did not deceive himself. For after
many years, in the consulship of Cornelius and
Bebius, in a field belonging to the scribe Petilius,
under the Janiculum, two stone chests were
found by men who were digging, in one of
which was the body of Numa, in the other seven
books in Latin respecting the law of the pontiffs,
and the same number written in Greek respect-
ing systems of philosophy, in which he not only
annulled the religious rites which he himself had
instituted, but all others also. When this was
referred to the senate, it was decreed that these
books should be destroyed. Therefore Quintus
Petilius, the praetor who had jurisdiction in the
city, burnt them in an assembly of the people.
This was a senseless proceeding; for of what
advantage was it that the books were burnt,
when the cause on account of which they were
burnt — that they took away the authority due
to religion — was itself handed down to memory?
Every one then in the senate was most foolish ;
for the books might have been burnt, and yet
the matter itself have been unknown. Thus,
while they wish to prove even to posterity with
what piety they defended religious institutions,
they lessened the authority of the institutions
themselves by their testimony.

But as Pompilius was the institutor of foolish

3 Implicavit.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book I.

superstitions among the Romans, so also, before
Pompilius, Faunus was in Latium, who both es-
tablished impious rites to his grandfather Satur-
nus, and honoured his father Picus with a place
among the gods, and consecrated his sister Fatua
Fauna, who was also his wife ; who, as Gabius
Bassus relates, was called Fatua because she
had been in the habit of foretelling their fates to
women, as Faunus did to men. And Varro
writes that she was a woman of such great mod-
esty, that, as long as she lived, no male except
ner husband saw her or heard her name. On
ihis account women sacrifice to her in secret,
and call her the Good Goddess. And Sextus
Claudius, in that book which he wrote in Greek,
relates that it was the wife of Faunus who, be-
cause, contrary to the practice and honour of
kings, she had drunk a jar of wine, and had be-
come intoxicated, was beaten to death by her
husband with myrtle rods. But afterwards, when
he was sorry for what he had done, and was un-
able to endure his regret for her, he paid her
divine honours. For this reason they say that
a covered jar of wine is placed at her sacred
rites. Therefore Faunus also left to posterity
no slight error, which all that are intelligent see
through. For Lucilius in these verses derides
the folly of those who imagine that images are
gods : ** The terrestrial ' Lamis, which Faunus
and Numa Pompilius and others instituted ; at
these he trembles, he places everything in this.
As infant boys believe that every statue of bronze
is a living man, so these imagine that all things
feigned are true : they believe that statues of
bronze contain a heart. It is a painter's gal-
lery ; ^ there is nothing true ; all things are
fictitious." The poet, indeed, compares foolish
men to infants. But I say that they are much
more senseless than infants. For they (infants)
suppose that images are men, whereas these
take them for gods : the one through their
age, the others through folly, imagine that which
is not true : at any rate, the one soon ceased to
be deceived ; the foolishness of the others is
permanent, and always increases. Orpheus was
the first who introduced the rites of father Liber
into Greece ; and he first celebrated them on a
mountain of Bceotia, very near to Thebes, where
Liber was born ; and because this mountain
continually resounded with the strains of the
lyre, it was called Cithaeron.^ Those sacred
rites are even now called Orphic, in which he
himself was lacerated and torn in pieces ; and
he lived about the same time with Faunus. But
which of them was prior in age admits of doubt.

' Terricolas. Another reading is terriculas, bugbears.

^ Pergula. The word properly means a projection attached to a
house. Apelles is said to have placed his pictures in such an adjunct,
and to have concealed himself behind them, that he might hear the
comments of persons passing by.

^ Cithseron, from " cithara," a lyre.

since Latinus and Priam reigned during the
same years, as did also their fathers Faunus and
Laomedon, in whose reign Orpheus came with
the Argonauts to the coast of the Trojans.

Let us therefore advance further, and inquire
who was really the first author of the worship of
the gods. Didymus,'* in the books of his com-
mentary on Pindar, says that Melisseus, king of
the Cretans, was the first who sacrificed to the
gods, and introduced new rites and parades of
sacrifices. He had two daughters, Amalthaea
and Melissa, who nourished the youthful Jupiter
with goats' milk and honey. Hence that poetic
fable derived its origin, that bees flew to the child,
and filled his mouth with honey. Moreover, he
says that Melissa was appointed by her father the
first priestess of the Great Mother ; from which
circumstance the priests of the same Mother are
still called Melissae. But the sacred history tes-
tifies that Jupiter himself, when he had gained
possession of power, arrived at such insolence
that he built temples in honour of himself in
many places. For when he went about to differ-
ent lands, on his arrival in each region, he united
to himself the kings or princes of the people in
hospitality and friendship ; and when he was de-
parting from each, he ordered that a shrine should
be dedicated to himself in the name of his host,
as though the remembrance of their friendship
and league could thus be preserved. Thus tem-
ples were founded in honour of Jupiter Atabyrius
and Jupiter Labrandius ; for Atabyrius and La-
brandius were his entertainers and assistants in
war. Temples were also built to Jupiter Laprius,
to Jupiter Molion, to Jupiter Casius, and others,
after the same manner. This was a very crafty
device on his part, that he might both acquire
divine honour for himself, and a perpetual name
for his entertainers in conjunction with religious
observances. Accordingly they were glad, and
cheerfully submitted to his command, and ob-
served annual rites and festivals for the sake of
handing down their own name, ^neas did
something like this in Sicily, when he gave the
name of his host s Acestes to a city which he had
built, that Acestes might afterwards joyfully and
willingly love, increase, and adorn it. In this
manner Jupiter spread abroad through the world
the observance of his worship, and gave an ex-
ample for the imitation of others. Whether,
then, the practice of worshipping the gods pro-
ceeded from Melisseus, as Didymus related, or
from Jupiter also himself, as Euhemerus says, the

* Didymus. A celebrated Alexandrian grammarian, a follower
of the school of Aristarchus. He is distinguished from other gram-
marians who bore the name of Didymus, by the surname ChalcitUcros,
which he is said to have received from his unwearied diligence in study.
Among his productions, which are all lost, was one on the Homeric
poems. Me al.so wrote a commentary on Pindar, to which allusion is
made in the text. See Smith's Dictionary of Creek and Rctnan
Biogrnfihy.

5 Cl. Virg., yEneid, v. [verse 718!.

Chap. XXIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

time is still agreed upon when the gods began to
be worshipped. Melisseus, indeed, was much
prior in time, inasmuch as he brought up Jupi-
ter his grandson. It is therefore possible that
either before, or while Jupiter was yet a boy,
he taught the worship of the gods, namel)', the
mother of his foster-child, and his grandmother
Tellus, who was the wife of Uranus, and his father
Satumus ; and he himself, by this example and
institution, may have exalted Jupiter to such pride,
that he afterwards ventured to assume divine
honours to himself.

CHAP. XXIII. OF THE AGES OF VAIN SUPERSTfTIONS,

AND THE TIMES AT WHICH THEY COMMENCED.

Now, since we have ascertained the origin of
vain superstitions, it remains that we should also
collect the times during which they whose mem-
ory is honoured lived. Theophilus,' in his book
\\Titten to Autolycus respecting the times,^ says
that Thallus relates in his history, that Belus,
who is worshipped by the Babylonians and As-
syrians, is found to have lived 322 years before
the Trojan war ; that Belus, moreover, was con-
temporary with Saturnus, and that they both grew
up at one time ; — which is so true, that it may
be inferred by reason itself. For Agamemnon,
who carried on the Trojan war, was the fourth '
in descent from Jupiter ; and Achilles and Ajax
were of the third ■* descent from him ; and Ulys-

■ Theophilus was bishop of Antioch in the latter part of the sec-
ond century. He was originally a heathen, and was converted to
Christianity, as he tells us, by the reading of the Scriptures. [See
vol. ii. pp. 87 and 120, this series.]

^ De Temporibus. Among the extant works of Theophilus there
is not any with this title, but his work to Autolycus contains an apol-
ogy for Christianity in three books. It is to this that Lactantius here
refers.

3 Abnepos, son of a great-grandchild.

* Pronepotes, great-grandsons.

ses was related in the same degree. Priam, in-
deed, was distant by a long series of descents.
But according to some authorities, Dardanus and
lasius were sons of Coritus, not of Jupiter. For
if it had been so, Jupiter could not have formed
that unchaste connection with Ganvmede, his
own descendant. Therefore, if you divide the
years which are in agreement, the number will
be found in harmony with the parents of those
whom I have named above. Now, from the
destruction of the Trojan city fourteen hundred
and seventy years are made up. From this cal-
culation of times, it is manifest that Saturnus has
not been bom more than eighteen hundred years,
and he also was the father of all the gods. Let
them not glory, then, in the antiquity of their
sacred rites, since both their origin and system
and times have been ascertained. There still
remain some things which may be of great
weight for the disproving of false religions ; but
I have determined now to bring this book to an
end, that it may not exceed moderate limits.
For those things must be followed up more fully,
that, having refuted all things which seem to
oppose the truth, we may be able to instruct in
true religion men who, through ignorance of
good things, wander in uncertainty. But the first
step towards wisdom is to understand what is
false ; the second, to ascertain what is true.
Therefore he who shall have profited by this first
discussion of mine, in which we have exposed
false things, will be excited to the knowledge of
the truth, than which no pleasure is more grati-
fying to man ; and he will now be worthy of the
wisdom of heavenly training, who shall approach
with willingness and preparation to the knowl-
edge of the other subjects.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

BOOK II.

OF THE ORIGIN OF ERROR.

CHAP. I — THAT FORGETFULNESS OF REASON
MAKES MEN IGNORANT OF THE TRUE GOD,
WHOM THEY WORSHIP IN ADVERSITY AND DE-
SPISE IN PROSPERITY.

Although I have shown in the first book that
the religious ceremonies of the gods are false,
because those in whose honour the general con-
sent of men throughout the world by a foolish
persuasion undertook various and dissimilar rites
were mortals, and when they had completed
their term ^life, yielded to a divinely appointed
necessity and died, yet, lest any doubt should be
left, this second book shall lay open the very
fountain of errors, and shall explain all the
causes by which men were deceived, so that at
first they believed that they were gods, and after-
wards with an inveterate persuasion persevered
in the religious observances which they had most
perversely undertaken. For I desire, O Em-
peror Constantine, now that I have proved the
emptiness of these things, and brought to lightJ|
the impious vanity of men, to assert the majesty
of the one God, undertaking the more useful
and greater duty of recalling men from crooked
paths, and of bringing them back into favour
with themselves, that they may not, as some phi-
losophers do, so greatly despise themselves, nor
think that they are weak and useless, and of no
account, and altogether born in vain. For this
notion drives many to vicious pursuits. For
while they imagine that we are a care to no God,
or that we are about to have no existence after
death, they altogether give themselves to the in-
dulgence of their passions ; and while they think
that it is allowed them, they eagerly apply them-
selves to the enjoyment of pleasures, by which
they unconsciously run into the snares of death ;
for they are ignorant as to what is reasonable
conduct on the ])art of man : for if they wished
to understand this, in the first place they would
acknowledge their Lord, and would follow after
virtue and justice ; they would not subject their
40

souls to the influence of earth-born fictions, nor
would they seek the deadly fascinations of their
lusts ; in short, they would value themselves
highly, and would understand that there is more
in man than appears ; and that they cannot
retain their power and standing unless men lay
aside depravity, and undertake the worship of
their true Parent. I indeed, as I ought, often
reflecting on the sum of affairs, am accustomed
to wonder that the majesty of the one God,
which keeps together and rules all things, has
come to be so forgotten, that the only befitting
object of worship is, above all others, the one
which is especially neglected ; and that men
have sunk to such blindness, that they prefer the
dead to the true and living God, and those who
are of the earth, and buried in the earth, to
Him who was the Creator of the earth itself.

And yet this impiety of men might meet with
some indulgence if the error entirely arose fronj
ignorance of the divine name. But since we
often see that the worshippers of other godi
themselves confess and acknowledge the Supreme
God, what pardon can they hope for their im-
piety, who do not acknowledge the worship of
Him whom man cannot altogether be ignorant
of? For both in swearing, and in expressing a
wish, and in giving thanks, they do not name
Jupiter, or a number of gods, but God ; ' so
entirely does the truth of its own accord break
forth by the force of nature even from unwilling
breasts. And this, indeed, is not the case with
men in their prosperity. For then most of all
does God escape the memory of men, when in
the enjoyment of His benefits they ought to
honour His divine beneficence. But if any
weighty necessity shall press them, then they
remember God. If the terror of war shall have
resounded, if the pestilential force of diseases
shall have overhung them, if long-continued
drought shall have denied nourishment to the

' [See Tertullian, vol. iii. p. 176, this series.]

Chap. II.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

crops, if a violent tempest or hail shall have as-
sailed them, they betake themselves to God, aid
is implored from God, God is entreated to suc-
cour them. If any one is tossed about on the
sea, the wind being furious, it is this God whom
he invokes. If any one is harassed by any vio-
lence, he implores His aid. If any one, reduced
to the last extremity of poverty, begs for food,
he appeals to God alone, and by His divine and
matchless name ' alone he seeks to gain the com-
passion of men. Thus they never remember
God, unless it be while they are in trouble.
When fear has left them, and the dangers have
withdrawn, then in truth they quickly hasten to
the temples of the gods : they pour libations to
them, they sacrifice to them, they crown ^ them
with garlands. But to God, whom they called
upon in their necessity itself, they do not give
thanks even in word. Thus from prosperity
arises luxury ; and from luxury, together with all
other vices, there arises impiety towards God.

From what cause can we suppose this to
arise? Unless we imagine that there is some
perverse power which is always hostile to the
truth, which rejoices in the errors of men, whose
one and only task it is perpetually to scatter
darkness, and to blind the minds of men, lest
they should see the light, — lest, in short, they
should look to heaven, and observe the nature ^
of their own body, the origin ■♦ of which we shall
relate at the proper place ; but now let us refute
fallacies. For since other animals look down to
the ground, with bodies bending fonvard, be-
cause they have not received reason and wisdom,
whereas an upright position and an elevated
countenance have been given to us by the Crea-
tor God, it is evident that these ceremonies
paid to the gods are not in accordance with the
reason of man, because they bend down the
heaven-sprung being to the worship of earthly
objects. For that one and only Parent of ours,
when He created man, — that is, an animal intel-
ligent and capable of exercising reason, — raised
him from the ground, and elevated him to the
contemplation of his Creator, As an ingenious
poet 5 has well represented it : —

" And when other animals bend forward and look to the
earth, He gave to man an elevated countenance,
and commanded him to look up to the heaven,
and to raise his countenance erect to stars."

From this circumstance the Greeks plainly
derived the name av^pwTros,^ because he looks

' Nomen. Another reading is numen, deity.

* It was a custom among the heathen nations to crown the images
of the gods with garlands of flowers.

3 The allusion is to the upright attitude of man, as compared with
other created beings. The argument is often used by Lactantius.
< This sentence is omitted in some editions.

* Ovid, Metamorphosis [book i. 85.

Os homini sublime dedit: coelumque tueri
Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus].

' The allusion is to the supposed derivation of the word a.v9fun-rto<i,
(ran ai>d, Tpt'irw, wi^, to turn the face upwards.

upward. They therefore deny themselves, and
renounce the name of man, who do not look up,
but downward : unless they think that the fact
of our being upright is assigned to man without
any cause. God willed that we should look up
to heaven, and undoubtedly not without reason.
For both the birds and almost all of the dumb
creation see the heaven, but it is given to us in
a peculiar manner to behold the heaven as we
stand erect, that we may seek religion there ;
that since we cannot see God with our eyes,
we may with our mind contemplate Him, whose
throne is there : and this cannot assuredly be
done by him who worships brass and stone, which
are earthly things. But it is most incorrect that
the nature of the body, which is temporary,
should be upright, but that the soul itself, which
is eternal, should be abject ; whereas the figure
and position have no other signification, except
that the mind of man ought to look in the same
direction as his countenance, and that his soul
ought to be as upright as his body, so that it
may imitate that which it ought to rule. But
men, forgetful both of their name and nature,
cast down their eyes from the heaven, and fix
them upon the ground, and fear the works of
their own hands, as though anything could be
greater than its own artificer.

CHAP. II. — WHAT WAS THE FIRST CAUSE OF MAK-
ING IMAGES ; OF THE TRUE LIKENESS OF GOD,
AND THE TRUE WORSHIP OF HIM.

What madness is it, then, either to form those
objects which they themselves may afterwards
fear, or to fear the things which they have
formed? But, they say, we do not fear the
images themselves, but those beings after whose
likeness they were formed, and to whose names
they are dedicated. You fear them doubtless
on this account, because you think that they are
in heaven ; for if they are gods, the case cannot
be otherwise. Why, then, do you not raise
your eyes to heaven, and, invoking their names,
offer sacrifices in the open air? Why do you
look to walls, and wood, and stone, rather than
to the place where you believe them to be?
What is the meaning of temples ? and altars?
what, in short, of the images themselves, which
are memorials either of the dead or absent?
For the plan of making likenesses was invented
by men for this reason, that it might be possible
to retain the memory of those who had either
been removed by death or separated by absence.

7 The word temples is not here applied to the buildings which
the faithful set apart for the worship of God, but to the places used by
the heathens for their rites and sacrifices. [For three centuries tern-
pla was the word among Christians for the idolatrous places] That
buildings were set apart by Christians from the earliest ages for their
religious assemblies, is gathered from the express testimony of Ter-
tuUian, Cyprian, and other early writers. They were called ecclesia;
churches, not temples. [For •ti/ptoicoi', dotHtnicutft , basilica, etc.,
sae Bingham, book viii. cap i. sec. a.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II

In which of these classes, then, shall we reckon«|jr
the gods? If among the dead, who is so foolish
as to worship them ? If among the absent, then
they are not to be worshipped, if they neither
see our actions nor hear our prayers. But if the
gods cannot be absent, — for, since they are
divine, they see and hear all things, in whatever
part of the universe they are, — it follows that
images are superfluous, since the gods are pres-
ent every^vhere, and it is sufficient to invoke
with prayer the names of those who hear us.
But if they are present, they cannot fail to be at
hand at their own images. It is entirely so, as
the people imagine, that the spirits of the dead
wander ' about the tombs and relics of their
bodies. But after that the deity has begun to
be near, there is no longer need of his statue.

For I ask, if any one should often contemplate
the likeness of a man who has settled in a for-
eign land, that he may thus solace himself for
him who is absent, would he also appear to be
of sound mind, if, when the other had returned
and was present, he should persevere in con-
templating the likeness, and should prefer the
enjoyment of it, rather than the sight of the man
himself? Assuredly not. For the likeness of a
man appears to be necessary at that time when
he is far away ; and it will become superfluous
when he is at hand. But in the case of God,
whose spirit and influence are diffused every-
where, and can never be absent, it is plain that
an image is always superfluous. But they fear
lest their religion should be altogether vain and
empty if they should see nothing present which
they may adore, and therefore they set up im-
ages ; and since these are representations of the
dead, they resemble the dead, for they are en-
tirely destitute of perception. But the image
of the ever-living God ought to be living and
endued with perception. But if it received this
name ^ from resemblance, how can it be supposed
that these images resemble God, which have
neither perception nor motion? Therefore the
image of God is not that which is fashioned by
the fingers of men out of stone, or bronze, or
other material, but man himself, since he has
both perception aud motion, and performs many
and great actions. Nor do the foolish men un-
derstand, that if images could exercise perception
and motion, they would of their own accord
adore men, by whom they have been adorned and
embellished, since they would be either rough
and unpolished stone, or rude and unshapen
wood,3 had they not been fashioned by man.

■ The heathens thought that the souls of the unburied dead wan-
dered about on the earth, until their remains were committed to the
tomb.

2 The words simulacrum, " an image," and similitudo, " a like-
Bess " or " resemblance," are connected together through the common
root similis, " like."

■5 Matcri.-j is especially used in the sense of wood or timber.

Man, therefore, is to be regarded as the pareni
of these images ; for they were produced by his
instrumentality, and through him they first haa
shape, figure, and beauty. Therefore he who
made them is superior to the objects which were
made. And yet no one looks up to the Maker
Himself, or reverences Him : he fears the things
which he has made, as though there could be
more power in the work than in the workman.
Seneca, therefore, rightly says in his moral trea-
tises : They worship the images of the gods, they
supplicate them with bended knee, they adore
them, they sit or stand beside them through the
whole day, they offer to them contributions,'* they
slay victims ; and while they value these images
so highly, they despise the artificers who made
them. What is so inconsistent, as to despise the
statuary and to adore the statue ; and not even
to admit to your society him who makes your
gods? What force, what power can they have,
when he who made them has none? But he
was unable to give to these even those powers
which he had, the power of sight, of hearing, of
speech, and of motion. Is any one so foolish
as to suppose that there is anything in the image
of a god, in which there is nothing even of a man
except the mere resemblance ? But no one con-
siders these things ; for men are imbued with
this persuasion, and their minds have thoroughly
imbibed the deception ' of folly. And thus
beings endowed with sense adore objects which
are senseless, rational beings adore irrational
objects, those who are alive adore inanimate ob-
jects, those sprung from heaven adore earthly
objects. It delights me, therefore, as though
standing on a lofty watch-tower, from which all
may hear, to proclaim aloud that saying of Per-
sius : ^ —

" O souls bent down to the earth, and destitute of heav-
enly things ? "

Rather look to the heaven, to the sight of
which God your Creator raised you. He gave
to you an elevated countenance ; you bend it
down to the earth ; you depress to things below
those lofty minds, which are raised together with
their bodies to their parent, as though it repented
you that you were not born quadrupeds. It is
not befitting that the heavenly being should make
himself equal to things which are earthly, and
incline to the earth. Why do you deprive your-
selves of heavenly benefits, and of your own ac-
cord fall prostrate upon the ground? For you
do wretchedly roll yourselves ^ on the ground.

< Stipem jaciunt, " they throw a coin." The word properly mear.8
a "coin," money bearing a stamped impression; hence siipendiuin,
" soldiers' pay "

J Fucus, " colouring juice; " hence anything not genuine, but arti-
ficial. Others read succum, " juice."

6 Persius, Satire 2d, 6. Lactantius uses the testimony of heathen
writers against the heathen.

' Or w„llow — " voluto."

CllAl". III.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

ivhen you seek here below that which you ought
to have sought above. For as to those vain '
and fragile productions, the work of man's hands,
from whatever kind of material they are formed,
what are they but earth, out of which they were
produced? Why, then, do you subject your-
selves to lower objects? why do you place the
earth above your heads ? For when you lower
yourselves to the earth, and humiliate yourselves,
you sink of your own accord to hell, and con-
demn yourselves to death ; for nothing is lower
and more humble than the earth, except death
and hell. And if you wished to escape these, you
would despise the earth lying beneath your feet,
preserving the position of your body, which you
received upright, in order that you might be able
to direct your eyes and your mind to Him who
made it. But to despise and trample upon the
earth is nothing else than to refrain from adoring
images, because they are made of earth ; also
not to desire riches, and to despise the pleasures
of the body, because wealth, and the body itself,
which we make use of as a lodging, is but earth.
Worship a living being, that you may live ; for
he must necessarily die who has subjected ^ him-
self and his soul to the dead.

CHAP. III. THAT CICERO AND OTHER MEN OF

LEARNING ERRED IN NOT TURNING AWAY THE
PEOPLE FROM ERROR.

But what does it avail thus to address the vul-
gar and ignorant, when we see that learned and
prudent men, though they understand the vanity
of these ceremonies, nevertheless through some
perverseness persist in the worship of those very
objects which they condemn ? Cicero was well
aware that the deities which men worshipped
were false. For when he had spoken many
things which tended to the overthrow of religious
ceremonies, he said nevertheless that these mat-
ters ought not to be discussed by the vulgar, lest
such discussion should extinguish the system of
religion which was publicly received. What can
you do respecting him, who, when he perceives
himself to be in error, of his own accord dashes
himself against the stones, that all the people
may stumble ? or tears out his own eyes, that all
may be blind ? who neither deserves well of oth-
ers, wnom he suffers to be in error, nor of him-
self, since he inclines to the errors of others, and
makes no use of the benefit of his own wisdom,
so as to carry out ^ in action the conception of
his own mind, but knowingly and consciously
thrusts his foot into the snare, that he also may
be taken with the rest, whom he ought, as the
more prudent, to have extricated? Nay rather,

' Ludicra, " diversions." The word is applied to stage-plays.
^ Adjudicavit, adjudged, made over. Cf. Hor., Ep., i. i8: "Et, si
ijuid abest, Italis adjudicat armis."

^ Fill up and complete the outline which he has conceived.

if you have any virtue, Cicero, endeavour to
make the people wise : that is a befitting subject,
on which you may expend all the powers of your
eloquence. For there is no fear lest speech
should fail you in so good a cause, when you
have often defended even bad ones with copious-
ness and spirit. But truly you fear the prison
of Socrates,* and on that account you do not
venture to undertake the advocacy of truth.
But, as a wise man, you ought to have despised
death. And, indeed, it would have been much
more glorious to die on account of good words
than on account of revilings. Nor would the
renown of your Philippics have been more ad-
vantageous to you than the dispersion of the
errors of mankind, and the recalling of the minds
of men to a healthy state by your disputation.

But let us make allowance for timidity, which
ought not to exist in a wise man. Why, then,
are you yourself engaged in the same error? I
see that you worship things of earth made by
the hand : you understand that they are vain,
and yet you do the same things which they do,
whom you confess to be most foolish. What,
therefore, did it profit you, that you saw the
truth, which you were neither about to defend
nor to follow? If even they who perceive them-
selves to be in error err willingly, how much more
so do the unlearned vulgar, who delight in empty
processions, and gaze at all things with boyish
minds ! They are delighted with trifling things,
and are captivated with the form of images ; and
they are unable to weigh every object in their
own minds, so as to understand that nothing
which is beheld by the eyes of mortals ought to
be worshipped, because it must necessarily be
mortal. Nor is it matter of surprise if they do
not see God, when they themselves do not even
see man, whom they believe that they see. For
this, which falls under the notice of the eyes,5 is
not man, but the receptacle of man, the quality
and figure of which are not seen from the linea-
ments of the vessel which contains them, but
from the actions and character. They, therefore,
who worship images are 7nere bodies without men,
because they have given themselves to corporeal
things, and do not see anything with the mind
more than with the body ; whereas it is the office
of the soul to perceive those things more clearly
which the eye of the body cannot behold. And
that philosopher and poet severely accuses those
men as humble and abject, who, in opposition
to the design of their nature, prostrate them-

< Lactantius charges Cicero with want of courage, in being un-
willing to declare the truth to the Romans, lest he should incur the
peril of death. The fortitude with which Socrates underwent death,
when condemned by the Athenians, is related by Xenophon and
Plato.

5 Lactantius here follows Plato, who placed the essence of man in
the intellectual soul. The body, however, as well as the .soul, is of
the essence of man; but Lactantius seems to limit the name of man
to the higher and more worthy part. [Rhetorically, not dogmatically .]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II.

selves to the worship of earthly things ; for he

says : ' —

" And they abase their souls with fear of the gods, and
weigh and press them down to earth."

When he said these things, indeed, his meaning
was different — that nothing was to be wor-
shipped, because the gods do not regard the
affairs of men.

In another place, at length, he acknowledges
that the ceremonies and worship of the gods is
an unavailing office : ^ —

" Nor is it any piety to be often seen with veiled head
to turn to a stone, and approach every altar, and
fall prostrate on the ground, and spread the hands
before the shrines of the gods, and sprinkle the
altars with much blood of beasts, and to offer vow
after vow."

And assuredly if these things are useless, it is
not right that sublime and lofty souls should be
called away and depressed to the earth, but that
they should think only of heavenly things.

False religious systems, therefore, have been
attacked by more sagacious men, because they
perceived their falsehood ; but the true religion
was not introduced, because they knew not what
and where it was. They therefore so regarded
it as though it had no existence, because they
were unable to find it in its truth. And in this
manner they fell into a much greater error than
they who held a religion which was false. For
those worshippers of fragile images, however
foolish they may be, inasmuch as they place
heavenly things in things which are earthly and
corruptible, yet retain something of wisdom, and
may be pardoned, because they hold the chief
duty of man, if not in reality, yet still in their
purpose ; since, if not the only, yet certainly the
greatest difference between men and the beasts
consists in religion. But this latter class, in
proportion to their superior wisdom, in that they
understood the error of false religion, rendered
themselves so much the more foolish, because
they did not imagine that some religion was true.
And thus, because it is easier to judge of the
affairs of others than of their own, while they see
the downfall of others, they have not observed
what was before their own feet. On either side
is found the greatest folly, and a certain trace ^
of wisdom ; so that you may doubt which are
rather to be called more foolish — those who
embrace a false religion, or those who embrace
none. But (as I have said) pardon may be
granted to those who are ignorant and do not
own themselves to be wise ; but it cannot be
extended to those who, while they profess * wis-
dom, rather exhibit folly. I am not, indeed, so
unjust as to imagine that they could divine,

' Lucretius, Z?f/r^r«»«A'a/«ra,vi. 5. [ " Premunt ad terram."]
' Lucretius, v. 1197.
' Odor (^uidam sapientiae.

< Rom. I. aa : " Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fooU."

SO that they might find out the truth by them-
selves ; for I acknowledge that this is impossible.
But I require from them that which they were
able to perform by reason 5 itself. For they would
act more prudently, if they both understood that
some/^r/« ^t/" religion is true, and if, while they at-
tacked false religions, they openly proclaimed that
men were not in possession of that which is true.
But this consideration may perhaps have in-
fluenced them, that if there were any true
religion, it would exert itself and assert its au-
thority, and not permit the existence of anything
opposed to it. For they were unable to see at
all, on what account, or by whom, and in what
manner true religion was depressed, which par-
takes of a divine mystery ^ and a heavenly secret.
And no man can know 7 this by any means, un-
less he is taught. The sum of the matter is this :
The unlearned and the foolish esteem false re-
ligions as true, because they neither know the
true nor understand the false.^ But the more
sagacious, because they are ignorant of the true,
either persist in those religions which they know
to be false, that they may appear to possess
something ; or worship nothing at all, that they
may not fall into error, whereas this very thing
partakes largely of error, under the figure of a
man to imitate the life of cattle. To understand
that which is false is truly the part of wisdom,
but of human wisdom. Beyond this step man
cannot proceed, and thus many of the philoso-
phers have taken away religious institutions, as
i I have pointed out ; but to know the truth is
1 the part of divine wisdom. But man by himself
cannot attain to this knowledge, unless he is
; taught by God. Thus philosophers have reached
the height of human wisdom, so as to understand
that which is not ; but they have failed in at-
taining the power of saying that which really is.
It is a well-known saying of Cicero : 9 " I wish
that I could as easily find out the truth as I can
refute false things." And because this is beyond
the power of man's condition, the capability of
this office is assigned to us, to whom God has
delivered the knowledge of the truth ; to the
explaining of which the four last books shall be
devoted. Now, in the meantime, let us bring
to light false things, as we have begun to do.

CHAP. IV. — OF IMAGES, AND THE ORNAMENTS OF
TEMPLES, AND THE CONTEMPT IN WHICH THEY ARE
HELD EVEN BY THE HEATHENS THEMSELVES.

What majesty, then, can images have, which
were altogether in the power of puny man, either

s The apostle teaches the same, Rom. i. 19-21.

6 Divini sacramenti. i Cor. ii. 7: " We speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery."

7 I Cor ii. 14: " The natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know
them, because they arc spiritually discerned."

' [2 Pet. iii. 16. Even among believers such perils exist.]

9 Dt Natura Deorum, lib. i. [cap. 32. Quam falsa convincere].

Chap. IV]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

that they should be formed into something else,
or that they should not be made at all? On
which account Priapus thus speaks in Horace : '

" Formerly I was the trunk of a fig-tree,* a useless log,
when the carpenter, at a loss whether he should
make a bench or a Priapus, decided that it should
be a god. Accordingly I am a god, a very great
terror to thieves and birds."

Who would not be at ease with such a guardian
as, this? For thieves are so foolish as to fear
the figure of Priapus ; though the very birds,
which they imagine to be driven away by fear
of his scythe, settle upon the images which are
skilfully made, that is, which altogether resemble
men, build their nests there, and defile them.
But Flaccus, as a writer of satire, ridiculed the
folly of men. But they who make the images
fancy that they are performing a serious business.
In short, that very great poet, a man of sagacity
in other things, in this alone displayed folly, not
like a poet, but after the manner of an old woman,
when even in those most highly-finished ^ books
he orders this to be done : —

" And let the guardianship of Priapus of the Helles-
pont,* who drives away thieves and birds with his
willow scythe, preserve them."

Therefore they adore mortal things, as made by
mortals. For they may be broken, or burnt, or
be destroyed. For they are often apt to be
broken to pieces, when houses fall through age,
and when, consumed by conflagration, they waste
away to ashes ; and in many instances, unless
aided by their own magnitude, or protected by
diligent watchfulness, they become the prey of
thieves. What madness is it, then, to fear those
objects for which either the downfall of a build-
ing, or fires, or thefts, may be feared ! What
folly, to hope for protection from those things
which are unable to protect themselves ! What
perversity, to have recourse to the guardianship
of those which, when injured, are themselves
unavenged, unless vengeance is exacted by their
worshippers ! Where, then, is truth? Where
no violence can be applied to religion ; where
there appears to be nothing which can be in-
jured ; where no sacrilege can be committed.

But whatever is subjected to the eyes and to
the hands, that, in truth, because it is perishable,
is inconsistent with the whole subject of immor-
tality. It is in vain, therefore, that men set off
and adorn their gods with gold, ivory, and jewels,
as though they were capable of deriving any
pleasure from these things. What is the use of
precious gifts to insensible objects? Is it the

* Horat., I Serm. 8. i.

2 The wood of the fig-tree is proverbially used to denote that which
is worthless and contemptible.

3 The Georgics, which are much more elaborately finished than
the other works of Virgil.

■* Priapus was especially worshipped at Lampsacus on the Helles-
pont; hence he is styled Hellespontiacus.

same which the dead have ? For as they embalm
the bodies of the dead, wrap them in spices and
precious garments, and bury them in the earth,
so they honour the gods, who when they were
made did not perceive it, and when they are
worshipped have no knowledge of it ; for they
did not receive sensibility on their consecration.
Persius was displeased that golden vessels should
be carried into the temples, since he thought it
superfluous that that should be reckoned among
religious offerings which was not an instrument
of sanctity, but of avarice. For these are the
things which it is better to offer as a gift to the
god whom you would rightly worship : —

" Written law ' and the divine law of the conscience,
and the sacred recesses of the mind, and the breast
imbued with nobleness." *

A noble and wise sentiment. But he ridicu-
lously added this : that there is this gold in the
temples, as there are dolls ^ presented to Venus
by the virgin ; which perhaps he may have de-
spised on account of their smallness. For he
did not see that the very images and statues of
the gods, wrought in gold and ivory by the hand
of Polycletus, Euphranor, and Phidias, were
nothing more than large dolls, not dedicated by
virgins, to whose sports some indulgence may be
granted, but by bearded men. Therefore Seneca
deservedly laughs at the folly even of old men.
We are not (he says) boys twice, ^ as is commonly
said, but are always so. But there is this differ-
ence, that tvhen men we have greater subjects of
sport. Therefore men offer to these dolls, which
are of large size, and adorned as though for the
stage, both perfumes, and incense, and odours :
they sacrifice to these costly and fattened victims,
which have a mouth,^ but one that is not suitable
for eating ; to these they bring robes and costly
garments, though they have no need of clothing ;
to these they dedicate gold and silver, of which
they who receive them are as destitute '° as they
who have given them.

And not without reason did Dionysius, the
despot of Sicily, when after a victory he had be-
come master of Greece," despise, and plunder
and jeer at such gods, for he followed up his
sacrilegious acts by jesting words. For when he

5 Compositum jus, fasque animi. Composituyn jus is explained
as " the written and ordained laws of men; "fas, " divine and sacred
law." Others read animo, " human and (fivine law settled in the
mind."

6 Persius, Sai., ii 73.

^ Pupa;, dolls or images worn Dy girls, as buU(B were by boys.
On arriving at maturity, they dedicated these images to Venus. Sec
Jahn's note on the passage from Persius.

8 The allusion is to the proverb that " old age is second child-
hood."

9 An allusion to Ps. cxv. 5: " They have mouths, but they speak
not."

'° Quae tam non habent qui accipiunt, qu5m qui ilia donarunt.
The senseless images can make no use of the treasures.

" Justin relates that Graecia Magna, a part of Italy, was subdued
by Dionysius. Cicero says that he sailed to Peloponnesus, and en-
tered the temple of the Olympian Jupiter. \_De Nat. Dear., iii. 34.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II.

had taken off a golden robe from the statue of
the Olympian Jupiter, he ordered that a woollen
garment should be placed upon him, saying that
a golden robe was heavy in summer and cold in
winter, but that a woollen one was adapted to
each season. He also took off the golden beard
from .iEsculapius, saying that it was unbecoming
and unjust, that while his father Apollo was yet
smooth and beardless, the son should be seen to
wear a beard before his father. He also took
away the bowls, and spoils, and some little im-
ages ' which were held in the extended hands of
the statues, and said that he did not take them
away, but received them : for that it would be
very foolish and ungrateful to refuse to receive
good things, when offered voluntarily by those
from whom men were accustomed to implore
them. He did these things with impunity, be-
cause he was a king and victorious. Moreover,
his usual good fortune also followed him ; for he
lived even to old age, and handed down the
kingdom in succession to his son. In his case,
therefore, because men could not punish his sac-
rilegious deeds, it was befitting that the gods
should be their own avengers. But if any humble
person shall have committed any such crime,
there are at hand for his punishment the scourge,
fire, the rack,^ the cross, and whatever torture
men can invent in their anger and rage. But
when they punish those who have been detected
in the act of sacrilege, they themselves distrust
the power of their gods. For why should they
not leave to them especially the opportunity of
avenging themselves, if they think that they are
able to do so? Moreover, they also imagine
that it happened through the will of the deities
that the sacrilegious robbers were discovered and
arrested ; and their cruelty is instigated not so
much by anger as by fear, lest they themselves
should be visited with punishment if they failed
to avenge the injury done to the gods. And, in
truth, they display incredible shallowness in im-
agining that the gods will injure them on account
of the guilt of others, who by themselves were
unable to injure those very persons by whom
they were profaned and plundered. But, in fact,
they have often themselves also inflicted punish-
ment on the sacrilegious : that may have occurred
even by chance, which has sometimes happened,
but not always. But I will show presently how
that occurred. Now in the meantime I will ask,
Why did they not punish so many and such great
acts of sacrilege in Dionysius, who insulted the
gods openly, and not in secret ? Why did they !
not repel this sacrilegious man, possessed of such
power, from their temples, their ceremonies, and
their images ? Why, even when he had carried

' Sigilla. The word is also used to denote seals, or signets.
' Equuleus : an instrument of torture resembling a horse, on
which slaves were stretched and tortured.

off their sacred things, had he a prosperous voy-
age — as he himself, according to his custom,
testified in joke? Do you see, he said to his
companions who feared shipwreck, how prosper-
ous a voyage the immortal gods themselves give
to the sacrilegious ? But perhaps he had learnt
from Plato that the gods have no ^ power.

What of Caius Verres? whom his accuser
Tully compares to this same Dionysius, and to
Phalaris, and to all tyrants. Did he not pillage
the whole of Sicily, carrying away the images of
the gods, and the ornaments of the temples ? It
is idle to follow up each particular instance : I
would fain make mention of one, in which the
accuser, with all the force of eloquence — in short,
with every effort of voice and of body — lamented
about Ceres of Catina, or of Henna : the one of
whom was of such great sanctity, that it was un-
lawful for men to enter the secret recesses of her
temple ; the other was of such great antiquity,
that all accounts relate that the goddess herself
first discovered grain in the soil of Henna, and that
her virgin daughter was carried away from the
same place. Lastly, in the times of the Gracchi,
when the state was disturbed both by seditions
and by portents, on its being discovered in the
Sibylline predictions that the most ancient Ceres
ought to be appeased, ambassadors were sent to
Henna. This Ceres, then, either the most holy
one, whom it was unlawful for men to behold
even for the sake of adoration, or the most an-
cient one, whom the senate and people of Rome
had appeased with sacrifices and gifts, was car-
ried away with impunity by Caius Verres from
her secret and ancient recesses, his robber slaves
having been sent in. The same orator, in truth,
when he affirmed that he had been entreated by
the Sicilians to undertake the cause of the prov-
ince, made use of these words : " That they had
now not even any gods in their cities to whom
they might betake themselves, since Verres had
taken away the most sacred images from their
most venerable shrines." As though, in truth, if
Verres had taken them away from the cities and
shrines, he had also taken them from heaven.
From which it appears that those gods have
nothing in them more than the material of which
they are made. And not without reason did the
Sicilians have recourse to you, O Marcus Tullius,
that is, to a man ; since they had for three years
experienced that those gods had no power. For
they would have been most foolish if they had
fled for protection against the injuries of men, to
those who were unable to be angry with Caius
Verres on their own behalf. But, it will he urged,
Verres was condemned on account of these deeds.
Therefore he was not punished by the gods, but
by the energy of Cicero, by which he either

* Nihil esse [= are nothing.]

Chap. V.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

crushed his defenders or withstood his influence.'
Why should I say that, in the case of Verres him-
self, that was not so much a condemnation as a
respite from labour? So that, as the immortal
gods had given a prosperous voyage to Diony-
sius when he was carrying off the spoils of gods,
so also they appear to have bestowed on Verres
quiet repose, in which he might with tranquil-
lity enjoy the fruits of his sacrilege. For when
civil wars afterwards raged, being removed from
all danger and apprehension, under the cloak of
condemnation he heard of the disastrous misfor-
tunes and miserable deaths of others ; and he
who appeared to have fallen while all retained
their position, he alone, in truth, retained his
position while all fell ; until the proscription of
the triumvirs, — that very proscription, indeed,
which carried off Tully, the avenger of the violated
majesty of the gods, — carried him off, satiated at
once with the enjoyment of the wealth which he
had gained by sacrilege, and with life, and worn
out by old age. Moreover, he was fortunate in
this very circumstance, that before his own death
he heard of the most cruel end of his accuser ;
the gods doubtless providing that this sacrilegious
man and spoiler of their worship should not die
before he had received consolation from revenge.

CHAP. V. — THAT GOD ONLY, THE CREATOR OF ALL
THINGS, IS TO BE WORSHIPPED, AND NOT THE
ELEMENTS OR HEAVENLY BODIES ; AND THE OPIN-
ION OF THE STOICS IS REFUTED, WHO THINK
THAT THE STARS AND PLANETS ARE GODS.

How much better, therefore, is it, leaving vain
and insensible objects, to turn our eyes in that
direction where is the seat and dwelling-place
of the true God ; who suspended the earth ^ on
a firm foundation, who bespangled the heaven
with shining stars ; who lighted up the sun, the
most bright and matchless light for the affairs of
men, in proof of His own single majesty ; who
girded the earth with seas, and ordered the rivers
to flow with perpetual course !

" He also commanded the plains to extend themselves,
the valleys to sink down, the woods to be covered
with foliage, the stony mountains to rise."'

All these things truly were not the work of Jupi-
ter, who was bom seventeen hundred years ago ;
but of the same, " that framer of all things, the
origin of a better world," 3 who is called God,
whose beginning cannot be comprehended, and
ought not to be made the subject of inquiry. It
is sufficient for man, to his full and perfect wis-
dom, if he understands the existence of God :

' The allusion is to the efforts made by the partisans of Verres to
prevent Cicero from obtaining the necessary evidence for the condem-
nation of Verres. But all these efforts were unavailing: the evidence
was overwhelming, and before the trial was over Verres went into
exile.

^ Ps. cxlviii. 6: " He hath established them for ever and ever."
' Ovid, Metatn., lib. i. [79. Jussit et extendi campos, etc.].

the force and sum of which understanding is this,
that he look up to and honour the common
Parent of the human race, and the Maker of ^
wonderful things. Whence some persons of dull
and obtuse mind adore as gods the elements,
which are both created objects and are void of
sensibility ; who, when they admired the works
of God, that is, the heaven with its various lights,
the earth with its plains and mountains, the seas
with their rivers and lakes and fountains, struck
with admiration of these things, and forgetting
the Maker Himself, whom they were unable to
see, began to adore and worship His works. Nor ♦*
were they able at all to understand how much
greater and more wonderful He is, who made
these things out of nothing. And when they see "
that these things, in obedience to divine laws,
by a perpetual necessity are subservient to the
uses and interests of men, they nevertheless re-
gard them as gods, being ungrateful towards the
divine bounty, so that they preferred their own
works to their most indulgent God and Father.
But what wonder is it if uncivilized or ignorant
men err, since even philosophers of the Stoic
sect are of the same opinion, so as to judge that
all the heavenly bodies which have motion are
to be reckoned in the number of gods ; inasmuch
as the Stoic Lucilius thus speaks in Cicero : *
"This regularity, therefore, in the stars, this great
agreement of the times in such various courses
during all eternity, are unintelligible to me with-
out the exercise of mind, reason, and design ;
and when we see these things in the constella-
tions, we cannot but place these very objects in
the number of the gods." And he thus speaks
a little before : " It remains," he says, " that the
motion of the stars is voluntary ; and he who
sees these things, would act not only unlearnedly,
but also impiously, if he should deny it." We
in truth firmly deny it ; and we prove that you,
O philosophers, are not only unlearned and im-
pious, but also blind, foolish, and senseless, who
have surpassed in shallowness the ignorance of
the uneducated. For they regard as gods only
the sun and moon, but you the stars also.

Make known to us, therefore, the mysteries
of the stars, that we may erect altars and tem-
ples to each ; that we may know with what rites
and on what day to worship each, with what
names and with what prayers we should call on
them ; unless perhaps we ought to worship gods
so innumerable without any discrimination, and
gods so minute in a mass. Why should I men-
tion that the argument by which they infer that
all the heavenly bodies are gods, tends to the
opposite conclusion? For if they imagine that
they are gods on this account, because they have
their courses fixed and in accordance with reason,

* [De Nat. Dear., ii. cap. ai.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IL

they are in error. For it is evident from this
that they are not gods, because it is not per-
mitted them to deviate ' from their prescribed
orbits. But if they were gods, they would be
borne hither and thither in all directions without
any necessity, as living creatures on the earth,
who wander hither and thither as they please,
because their wills are unrestrained, and each is
borne wherever inclination may have led it.
Therefore the motion of the stars is not volun-
tary, but of necessity, because they obey^ the
laws appointed for them. But when he was
arguing about the courses of the stars, while he
understood from the very harmony of things
and times that they were not by chance, he
judged that they were voluntary ; as though they
could not be moved with such order and arrange-
ment, unless they contained within them an
understanding acquainted with its own duty.
Oh, how difficult is truth to those who are
ignorant of it ! how easy to those who know
it ! If, he says, the motions of the stars are
not by chance, nothing else remains but that
they are voluntary ; nay, in truth, as it is plain
that they are not by chance, so is it clear that
they are not voluntary. Why, then, in complet-
ing their courses, do they preserve their regu-
larity? Undoubtedly God, the framer of the
universe, so arranged and contrived them, that
they might run through their courses ^ in the
heaven with a divine and wonderful order, to
accomplish the variations of the successive sea-
sons. Was Archimedes ^ of Sicily able to con-
trive a likeness and representation of the universe
in hollow brass, in which he so arranged the sun
and moon, that they effected, as it were every
day, motions unequal and resembling the revo-
lutions of the heavens, and that sphere, while it
revolved, 5 exhibited not only the approaches and
withdrawings of the sun, or the increase and wan-
ing of the moon, but also the unequal courses
of the stars, whether fixed or wandering ? Was
it then impossible for God to plan and* create
the originals,^ when the skill of man was able
to represent them by imitation? Would the
Stoic, therefore, if he should have seen the fig-
ures of the stars painted and fashioned in that
brass, say that they moved by their own design,
and not by the genius of the artificer? There
is therefore in the stars design, adapted to the

' Exorbitare, " to wander from their orbits."

2 Deserviunt, " they are devoted to."

3 Spatium ; a word borrowed from the chariot-course, and applied
with great beauty to the motions of the stars.

* Archimedes was the greatest of ancient mathematicians, and
possessed in an eminent degree inventive genius. He constructed
various engines of war, and greatly assisted in the defence of Syra-
cuse when it was besieged by the Romans. His most celebrated
work, however, was the construction of a sphere, or " orrery," repre-
senting the moYcments of the heavenly bodies. To this Lactantius
refers.

5 Dum vertitur.

'' Ilia vera. [Newton showed his orrery to Halley the atheist,
who was charmed with the contrivance, and asked the name of tne
maker. " Nobody," was the ad hominem retort.]

accomplishment of their courses ; but it is the
design of God, who both made and governs all
things, not of the stars themselves, which are
thus moved. For if it had been His will that
the sun should remain 7 fixed, it is plain that
there would be perpetual day. Also if the stars
had no motions, who doubts that there would
have been eternal night? But that there might
be vicissitudes of day and night, it was His will
that the stars should move, and move with such
variety that there might not only be mutual inter-
changes of light and darkness, by which alter
nate courses ^ of labour and rest might be estab-
lished, but also interchanges of cold and heat,
that the power and influence of the different sea-
sons might be adapted either to the production
or the ripening of the crops. And because phi-
losophers did not see this skill of the divine
power in contriving the movements of the stars,
they supposed them to be living, as though
they moved with feet and of their own accord,
and not by the divine intelligence. But who
does not understand why God contrived them ?
Doubtless lest, as the light of the sun was with-
drawn, a night of excessive darkness should be-
come too oppressive with its foul and dreadful
gloom, and should be injurious to the living.
And so He both bespangled the heaven with
wondrous variety, and tempered the darkness
itself with many and minute lights. How much
more wisely therefore does Naso judge, than they
who think that they are devoting themselves to
the pursuit of wisdom, in thinking that those
lights were appointed by God to remove the
gloom of darkness ! He concludes the book, in
which he briefly comprises the phenomena of
nature, with these three verses : —

" These images, so many in number, and of such a figure,
God placed in the heaven; and having scattered
them through the gloomy darkness, He ordered
them to give a bright light to the frosty night."

But if it is impossible that the stars should be
gods, it follows that the sun and moon cannot
be gods, since they differ from the light of the
stars in magnitude only, and not in their design.
And if these are not gods, the same is true of
the heaven, which contains them all.

CHAP. VI. THAT NEITHER THE WHOLE UNIVERSE

NOR THE ELEMENTS ARE GOD, NOR ARE THEY
POSSESSED OF LIFE.

In like manner, if the land on which we tread,
and which we subdue and cultivate for food, is
not a god, then the plains and mountains will
not be gods ; and if these are not so, it follows
that the whole of the earth cannot appear to be
God. In like manner, if the water, which is

' Staret.
' Spatia.

Chap. VI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

adapted to the wants ' of living creatures for the
purpose of drinking and bathing, is not a god,
neither are the fountains gods from which the
water flows. And if the fountains are not gods,
neither are the rivers, which are collected from
the fountains. And if the rivers also are not
gods, it follows that the sea, which is made up
of rivers, cannot be considered as God. But if
neither the heaven, nor the earth, nor the sea,
which are the parts of the world, can be gods, it
follows that the world altogether is not God ;
whereas the same Stoics contend that it is both
living and wise, and therefore God. But in this
they are so inconsistent, that nothing is said by
them which they do not also overthrow. For
they argue thus : It is impossible that that which
produces from itself sensible objects should itself
be insensible. But the world produces man, who
is endowed with sensibility ; therefore it must
also itself be sensible. Also they argue : that
cannot be without sensibility, a part of which is
sensible ; therefore, because man is sensible, the
world, of which man is a part, also possesses sen-
sibility. The propositions ^ themselves are true,
that that which produces a being endowed with
sense is itself sensible ; and that that possesses
sense, a part of which is endowed with sense.
But the assumptions by which they draw their
conclusions are false ; for the world does not
produce man, nor is man a part of the world.
For the same God who created the world, also
created man from the beginning : and man is
not a part of the world, in the same manner in
which a limb is a part of the body ; for it is pos-
sible for the world to be without man, as it is for
a city or house. Now, as a house is the dwell-
ing-place of one man, and a city of one people,
so also the world is the abode ^ of the whole
human race ; and that which is inhabited is one
thing, that which inhabits another. But these
persons, in their eagerness to prove that which
they had falsely assumed, that the world is pos-
sessed of sensibility, and is God, did not per-
ceive the consequences of their own arguments.
For if man is a part of the world, and if the
world is endowed with sensibility because man is
sensible, therefore it follows that, because man
is mortal, the world must also of necessity be
mortal, and not only mortal, but also liable to all
kinds of disease and suffering. And, on the
contrary, if the world is God, its parts also are
plainly immortal : therefore man also is God,

'Is subservient to.

^ Lactantius speaks after the manner of Cicero, and uses the
■viotA proposition to express that which logicians call the wit/or- prop-
osition, as containing the major term: the word assumption ex-
presses that which is called the minor proposition, as containing the
minor term.

3 Thus Cicero, De Finibus, iii., says:. " But they think that the
universe is governed by the power of the gods, and that it is, as it
were, a city and state common to men and gods, and that every one
of us is a part of that universe."

because he is, as you say, a part of the world.
And if man, then also both beasts of burden and
cattle, and the other kinds of beasts and of birds,
and fishes, since these also in the same manner
are possessed of sensibility, and are parts of the
world. But this is endurable ; for the Egyptians
worship even these. But the matter comes to
this : that even frogs, and gnats, and ants appear
to be gods, because these also have sensibility,
and are parts of the world. Thus arguments
drawn from a false source always lead to foolish
and absurd conclusions. Why should I mention
that the same philosophers assert that the world
was constructed ^ for the sake of gods and men
as a common dwelling? Therefore the world is
neither god, nor living, if it has been made : for
a living creature is not made, but born ; and if
it has been built, it has been built as a house or
ship is built. Therefore there is a builder of the
world, even God ; and the world which has been
made is distinct from Him who made it. Now,
how inconsistent and absurd is it. that when they
affirm that the heavenly fires 5 and the other ele-
ments of the world are gods, they also say that
the world itself is God ! How is it possible that
out of a great heap of gods one God can be
made up? If the stars are gods, it follows that
the world is not God, but the dwelling-place of
gods. But if the world is God, it follows that
all the things which are in it are not gods, but
members^ of God, which clearly cannot by them-
selves 7 take the name of God. For no one can
rightly say that the members of one man are
many men ; but, however, there is no similar
comparison between a living being and the
world. For because a living being is endowed
with sensibility, its members also have sensibility ;
nor do they become senseless ^ unless they are
separated from the body. But what resemblance
does the world present to this? Truly they
themselves tell us, since they do not deny that i\
was made, that it might be, as it were, a common
abode for gods and men. If, therefore, it has
been constructed as an abode, it is neither itself
God, nor are the elements which are its parts ; be-
cause a house cannot bear rule over itself, nor can
the parts of which a house consists. Therefore
they are refuted not only by the truth, but even
by their own words. For as a house, made for
the purpose of being inhabited, has no sensibility
by itself, and is subject to the master who built
or inhabits it ; so the world, having no sensibility
of itself, is subject to God its Maker, who made
it for His own use.

* If the world was created out of nothing, as Christians are taught
to believe, it was not born; for birth (ycVso-ts) takes place when
matter assumes another substantial form. — Betuleius.

5 The stars.

'^ Membra, " limbs," "parts."

7 Sola, " alone." Another reading is solius, "of the only God."

* Brutescunt.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II.

CHAP. VII. — OF GOD, AND THE RELIGIOUS RITES
OF THE FOOLISH ; OF AVARICE, AND THE
AUTHORITY OF ANCESTORS.

The foolish, therefore, err in a twofold man-
ner : first, in preferring the elements, that is, the
works of God, to God Himself ; secondly, in
worshipping the figures of the elements them-
selves under human form. For they form the
images of the sun and moon after the fashion of
men ; also those of fire, and earth, and sea, which
they call Vulcan, Vesta, and Neptune. Nor do
they openly sacrifice to the elements themselves.
Men are possessed with so great a fondness for
representations,' that those things which are true
are now esteemed of less value : they are de-
lighted, in fact, with gold, and jewels, and ivory.
The beauty and brilliancy of these things dazzle
their eyes, and they think that there is no religion
where these do not shine. And thus, under pre-
tence of worshippin;^ the gods, avarice and desire
are worshipped. For they believe that the gods
love whatever they themselves desire, whatever
it is, on account of which thefts and robberies
and murders daily rage, on account of which
wars overthrow nations and cities throughout the
whole world. Therefore they consecrate their
spoils and plunder to the gods, who must un-
doubtedly be weak, and destitute of the highest
excellence, if they are subject to desires. For
why should we think them celestial if they long
for anything from the earth, or happy if they are
in want of anything, or uncorrupted if they take
pleasure in those things in the pursuit of which
the desire of men is not unreservedly con-
demned? They approach the gods, therefore,
not so much on account of religion, which can
have no place in badly acquired and corruptible
things, as that they may gaze upon ^ the gold,
and view the brilliancy of polished marble or
ivory, that they may survey with unwearied
contemplation garments adorned with precious
stones and colours, or cups studded with glitter-
ing jewels. And the more ornamented are the
temples, and the more beautiful the images, so
much the greater majesty are they believed to
have : so entirely is their religion confined ^ to
that which the desire of men admires.

These are the religious institutions handed
down to them by their ancestors, which they
persist in maintaining and defending with the
greatest obstinacy. Nor do they consider of
what character they are ; but they feel assured
of their excellence and truth on this account,
because the ancients have handed them down ;
and so great is the authority of antitjuity, that it
is said to be a crime to inquire into it. And
thus it is everywhere believed as ascertained

' Imaginum.

* Ut oculis hauriant.

* Nihil aliud est.

truth. In short, in Cicero,'' Cotta thus speaks
to Lucilius : " You know, Balbus, what is the
opinion of Cotta, what the opinion of the pontiff".
Now let me understand what are your sentiments :
for since you are a philosopher, I ought to receive
from you a reason for your religion ; but in the
case of our ancestors it is reasonable to believe
them, though no reason is alleged by them." If
you believe, why then do you require a reason,
which may have the effect of causing you not to
believe ? But if you require a reason, and think
that the subject demands inquiry, then you do
not believe ; for you make inquiry with this view,
that you may follow it when you have ascertained
it. Behold, reason teaches you that the religious
institutions of the gods are not true : what will
you do ? Will you prefer to follow antiquity or
reason ? And this, indeed, was not imparted s
to you by another, but was found out and chosen
by yourself, since you have entirely uprooted all
religious systems. If you prefer reason, you
must abandon the institutions and authority of
our ancestors, since nothing is right but that
which reason prescribes. But if piety advises
you to follow your ancestors, then admit that
they were foolish, who complied with religious
institutions invented contrary to reason ; and
that you are senseless, since you worship that
which you have proved to be false. But since
the name of ancestors is so greatly objected to
us, let us see, I pray, who those ancestors were
from whose authority it is said to be impious to
depart.''

Romulus, when he was about to found the
city, called together the shepherds among whom
he had grown up ; and since their number
appeared inadequate to the founding of the city,
he established an asylum. To this all the most
abandoned men flocked together indiscriminately
from the neighbouring places, without any dis-
tinction of condition. Thus he brought together
the people from all these ; and he chose into the
senate those who were oldest, and called them
Fathers, by whose advice he might direct all
things. And concerning this senate, Propertius
the elegiac poet thus speaks : —

" The trumpet used to call the ancient Quirites to an
assembly ; ^ those hundred in the field often
formed the senate. The senate-house, which now
is raised aloft and shines with the well-robed sen-
ate, received the Fathers clothed in skins, rustic
spirits."

These are the Fathers whose decrees learned and
sagacious men obey with the greatest devotion ;
and all posterity must judge that to be true and
unchangeable which an hundred old men clothed
in skins established at their will ; who, however,

■• Cicero, De Nat. Dear., iii. i.

5 Insinuata.

* [See Clement, vol. ii. cap. lo, p. 197, this series.]

' Ad verba.

Chap. VIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

as has been mentioned in tlie first book," were
enticed by Pompilius to believe the truth of
those sacred rites which he himself delivered.
Is there any reason why tlieir authority should
be so highly esteemed by posterity, since during
their life no one either high or low judged them
worthy of affinity?^

CHAP. VIII. OF THE USE OK REASON IN RELIGION ;

AND OF DREAMS, AUGURIES, ORACLES, AND SIMI-
LAR PORTENTS.

It is therefore right, especially in a matter on
which the whole plan of life turns, that every
one should place confidence in himself, and use
his own judgment and individual capacity for
the investigation and weighing of the truth,
rather than through confidence in others to be
deceived by their errors, as though he himself
were without understanding. God has given
wisdom to all alike,^ that they might be able
both to investigate things which they have not
heard, and to weigh things which they have
heard. Nor, because they preceded us in time,
did they also outstrip us in wisdom ; for if this
is given equally to all, we cannot be anticipated •♦
in it by those who precede us. It is incapable
of diminution, as the light and brilliancy of the
sun ; because, as the sun is the light of the eyes,
so is wisdom the light of man's heart. Where-
fore, since wisdom — that is, the inquiry after
truth — is natural to all, they deprive themselves
of wisdom, who without any judgment approve
of the discoveries of their ancestors, and like
sheep are led by others. But this escapes their
notice, that the name of ancestors being intro-
duced, they think it impossible that they them-
selves should have more knowledge because they
are called descendants, or that the others should
be unwise because they are called ancestors.^
What, therefore, prevents us from taking a prece-
dent ^ from them, that as they handed down to
posterity their false inventions, so we who have
discovered the truth may hand down better
things to our posterity ? There remains there-
fore a great subject of inquiry, the discussion of
which does not come from talent, but from
knowledge : and this must be explained at
greater length, that nothing at all may be left
in doubt. For perhaps some one may have
recourse to those things which are handed down

' Twenty-second chapter.

2 Relationship by marriage. The allusion is to the well-known
story, that all the neighbouring towns refused to intermarry with the
Romans.

3 Pro virili portjone. The phrase properly denotes the share
that falls to a person in the division of an inheritance, hence equality.

* It cannot be forestalled or preoccupied.

5 Majores. There is a play upon the words for ancestors and
descendants in Latin which our translation does not reproduce. The
word translated ancestors may also mean " men who are greater or
superior; " the word translated descendants may mean " men who are
less or inferior."

' Exemplum, " an example for imitation."

by many and undoubted authorities ; that those
very persons, whom we have shown to be no
gods, have often displayed their majesty both by
prodigies, and dreams, and auguries, and oracles.
And, indeed, many wonderful things may be
enumerated, and especially this, that Accius
Navius, a consummate augur, when he was warn-
ing Tarquinius Priscus to undertake the com-
mencement of nothing new without the previous
sanction of auguries,^ and the king, detracting
from ^ the credit due to his art, told him to con-
sult the birds, and then to announce to him
whether it was possible for that which he himself
had conceived in his mind to be accomplished,
and Navius affirmed that it was possible ; then
take this whetstone, he said, and divide it with
a razor. But the other without any hesitation
took and cut it.

In the next place is the fact of Castor and
Pollux having been seen in the Latin war at the
lake of Juturna washing off the sweat of their
horses, when their temple which adjoins the
fountain had been open of its own accord. In
the Macedonian war the same deities, mounted
on white horses, are said to have presented
themselves to Publius Vatienus as he went to
Rome at night, announcing that King Perseus
had been vanquished and taken captive on that
day, the truth of which was proved by letters
received from Paulus^ a few days afterwards.
That also is wonderful, that the statue of Fortune,
in the form ''° of a woman, is reported to have
spoken more than once ; also that the statue of
Juno Moneta," when, on the capture of Veil, one
of the soldiers, being sent to remove it, sportively
and in jest asked whether she wished to remove
to Rome, answered that she wished it. Claudia
also is set forth as an example of a miracle.
For when, in accordance with the Sibylline
books, the Idaean mother was sent for, and the
ship in which she was conveyed had grounded
on a shoal of the river Tiber, and could not be
moved by any force, they report that Claudia,
who had been always regarded as unchaste on
account of her excess in personal adornment,
with bended knees entreated the goddess, if she
judged her to be chaste, to follow her girdle ;
and thus the ship, which could not be moved by
all the strong men,'^ was moved by a single
woman. It is equally wonderful, that during
the prevalence of a pestilence, yEsculapius,
being called from Epidaurus, is said to have
released the city of Rome from the long-con-
tinued plague.

I Until he had consulted auguries.

8 Elevans, " disparaging," or "diminishing from."

9 Paulus jEmilius, who subdued Macedonia.

'o Muliebre. Others read Fortunae muliebris. _ _

" The name is said to be derived from monendo, " giving warn-
ing," or " admonition."

'- The youth of military age.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II.

Sacrilegious persons can also be mentioned,
by the immediate punishment of whom the gods
are believed to have avenged the injury done
to them. Appius Claudius the censor having,
against the advice of the oracle, transferred the
sacred rites of Hercules to the public slaves,'
was deprived of his eyesight ; and the Potitian
gens, which abandoned ^ its privilege, within the
space of one year became extinct. Likewise
the censor Fulvius, when he had taken away the
marble tiles from the temple of the Lacinian ^
Juno, to cover the temple of the equestrian
Fortuna, which he had built at Rome, was
deprived of his senses, and having lost his two
sons who were serving in Illyricum, was con-
sumed with the greatest grief of mind. Turullius
also, the lieutenant of Mark Antony, when he
had cut down a grove of ^sculapius in Cos,'*
and built a fleet, was afterwards slain at the
same place by the soldiers of Caesar. To these
examples is added Pyrrhus, who, having taken
away money from the treasure of the Locrian
Proserpine, was shipwrecked, and dashed against
the shores near to the temple of the goddess, so
that nothing was found uninjured except that
money. Ceres of Miletus also gained for herself
great veneration among men. For when the
city had been taken by Alexander, and the sol-
diers had rushed in to plunder her temple, a
flame of fire suddenly thrown upon them blinded
them all.

There are also found dreams which seem to
show the power of the gods. For it is said that
Jupiter presented himself to Tiberius Atinius, a
plebeian, in his sleep, and enjoined him to an-
nounce to the consuls and senate, that in the
last Circensian s games a public dancer had dis-
pleased him, because a certain Antonius Maxi-
mus had severely scourged a slave under the
furca ^ in the middle of the circus, and had led
him to punishment, and that on this account
the games ought to be repeated. And when he
had neglected this command, he is said on the
same day to have lost his son, and to have been
himself seized by a severe disease ; and that
when he again perceived the same image asking
whether he had suffered sufficient punishment
for the neglect of his command, he was carried
on a litter to the consuls ; and having explained
the whole matter in the senate, he regained
strength of body, and returned to his house on
foot. And that dream also was not less wonder-

• The circumstance is related by Livy, book ix. c. 29.

2 Prodidit, " betrayed."

3 Lacinian, so called from the promontory Lacinia, near Crolon.

* The island of Cos lies off the coast of Caria; it had a celebrated
temple of vEsculapius.

5 The Circensian games were instituted by Romulus, according
to the legend, when he wished to attract the Sabine population to
Rome for the purpose of obtaining wives for his people. They were
afterwards celebrated with great enthusiasm

<> Furca, an instrument of puni.shment to which the slave was
bound and scourged.

ful, to which it is said that Augustus Caesar owed
his preservation. For when in the civil war with
Brutus he was afflicted with a severe disease,
and had determined to abstain from battle, the
image of Minerva presented itself to his physi-
cian Artorius, advising him that Caesar should
not confine himself to the camp on account of
his bodily infirmity. He was therefore carried
on a litter to the army, and on the same day the
camp was taken by Brutus. Many other ex-
amples of a similar nature may be brought for-
ward ; but I fear that, if I shall delay too long
in the setting forth of contrary subjects, I may
either appear to have forgotten my purpose, or
may incur the charge of loquacity.

CHAP. IX. — OF THE DEVIL, THE WORLD, GOD,
PROVIDENCE, MAN, AND HIS WISDOM.

I will therefore set forth the method of all
these things, that difficult and obscure subjects
may be more easily understood ; and I will
bring to light all these deceptions ^ of the pre-
tended deity, led by which men have departed
very far from the way of truth. But I will re-
trace the matter far back from its source ; that
if any, unacquainted with the truth and ignorant,
shall apply himself to the reading of this book,
he may be instructed, and may understand what
can in truth be " the source and origin of these
evils ; " and having received light, may perceive
his own errors and those of the whole human
race.

/ Since God was possessed^ of the greatest
foresight for planning, and of the greatest skill
for carrying out in action, before He commenced
this business of the world, — inasmuch as there
was in Him, and always is, the fountain of full
and most complete goodness, — in order that
goodness might spring as a stream from Him,
and might flow forth afar, He produced a Spirit
like to Himself, who might be endowed with the
perfections of God the Father. But how He
willed that, I will endeavour to show in the
fourth book.9 Then He made another being,
in whom the disposition of the divine origin did
not remain. Therefore he was infected with his
own envy as with poison, and passed from good
to evil; and at his own will, which had been
given to him by God unfettered,'" he acquired
for himself a contrary name. From which it
appears that the source of all evils is envy. For
he envied his predecessor," who through his
stedfastness '== is acceptable and dear to God the:
Father. This being, who from good became

7 The tricks of a juggler.

8 Most prudent.

? Chap, vi., infra.
■° Free.

" The Son of God, afterwards spoken of.

■- P>y perseverance. There stems to be a contrast between the
Son, who remained stedfast, and the evil spirits who fell.

Chap. IX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

evil by his own act, is called by the Greeks
diabolus : ' we call him accuser, because he re-
ports to God the faults to which he himself
entices us. God, therefore, when He began the
fabric of the world, set over the whole work that
first and greatest Son, and used Him at the same
time as a counsellor and artificer, in planning,
arranging, and accomplishing, since He is com-
plete both in knowledge,^ and judgment, and
power ; concerning whom I now speak more
sparingly, because in another place ^ both His
excellence, and His name, and His nature must
be related by us. Let no one inquire of what
materials God made these works so great and
wonderful : for He made all things out of noth-
ing.

Nor are the poets to be listened to, who say
that in the beginning was a chaos, that is, a con-
fusion of matter and the elements ; but that God
afterwards divided all that mass, and having sep-
arated each object from the confused heap, and
arranged them in order. He constructed and
adorned the world. Now it is easy to reply to
these persons, who do not understand the power
of God : for they believe that He can produce
nothing, except out of materials already existing •♦
and prepared ; in which error philosophers also
were involved. For Cicero, while discussing the
nature of the gods,5 thus speaks : " First of all,
therefore, it is not probable^ that the matter'
from which all things arose was made by divine
providence, but that it has, and has had, a force
and nature of its own. As therefore the builder,
when he is about to erect any building, does not
himself make the materials, but uses those which
are already prepared, and the statuary ^ also uses
the wax ; so that divine providence ought to have
had materials at hand, not of its own production,
but already prepared for use. But if matter was
not made by God, then neither was the earth,
and water, and air, and fire, made by God." Oh,
how many faults there are in these ten lines !
First, that he who in almost all his other disputa-
tions and books was a maintainer of the divine
providence, and who used very acute arguments
in assailing those who denied the existence of a
providence, now himself, as a traitor or deserter,
endeavoured to take away providence ; in whose
case, if you wish to oppose ^ him, neither consid-
eration nor labour is required : it is only neces-

' 5ta3oAo?, "slanderer or accuser." The Greek and Latin words
employed by Lactantius have the same meaning. . *•

* Providence.

' Book iv. ch. vi., etc. [Deus, igitur, machinator constitutorque
rerum, etc.]

* Lving under; answering to the Greek expression vjroicei(i»r»)
CAjj, subject matter.

5 Not now found in the treatise which bears this title.

* Capable of proof.

1 Materia; perhaps from " mater," mother stuff — matter out of
which anything is composed.

* The moulder. The ancients made statues of wax or clay, as well
•s of wood, ivory, and marble.

* Contradict.

sary to remind him of his own words. For it
will be impossible for Cicero to be more strongly
refuted by any one than by Cicero himself. Birt
let us make this concession to the custom and
practice of the Academics,'" that men are per-
mitted to speak with great freedom, and to en-
tertain what sentiments they may wish. Let us
examine the sentiments themselves. It is not
probable, he says, that matter was made by God.
By what arguments do you prove this ? For you
gave no reason for its being improbable. There-
fore, on the contrary, it appears to me exceed-
ingly probable ; nor does it appear so without
reason, when I reflect that there is something
more in God, whom you verily reduce to the
weakness of man, to whom you allow nothing
else but the mere workmanship. In what re-
spect, then, will that divine power differ from man,
if God also, as man does, stands in need of the
assistance of another? But He does stand in
need of it, if He can construct nothing unless
He is furnished with materials by another. But
if this is the case, it is plain that His power
is imperfect, and he who prepared the material"
must be judged more powerful. By what name,
therefore, shall he be called who excels God in
power ? — since it is greater to make that which
is one's own, than to arrange those things which
are another's. But if it is impossible that any-
thing should be more powerful than God, who
must necessarily be of perfect strength, power,
and intelligence, it follows that He who made the
things which are composed of matter, made mat-
ter also. For it was neither possible nor befitting
that anything should exist without the exercise
of God's power, or against His will. But it is
probable, he says, that matter has, and always
has had, a force and nature of its own.'^ What
force could it have, without any one to give it?
what nature, without any one to produce it? If
it had force, it took that force from some one-
But from whom could it take it, unless it were
from God ? Moreover, if it had a nature, which
plainly is so called from being produced, it must
have been prodweed. But from whom could it
have derived its existence, except God? For
nature,_^ from which you say that all things had
their drigin, if it has no understanding, can make
nothing. But if it has the power of producing
and making, then it has understanding, and must
be God. For that force can be called by no
other name, in which there is both the foresight '^
to plan, and the skill and power to carry into
effect. Therefore Seneca, the most intelligent
of all the Stoics, says better, who saw " that na-
ture was nothing else but God." Therefore he

'° Alluding to the well-known practice of the Academics, viz., of
arguing on both sides of a question.

■■ The founder or preparer of the material.
" fQuam vim potuit habere nuUo dante?]
'* Providentia.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II.

says, " Shall we not praise God, who possesses
natural excellence?" For He did not learn it
from any one. Yes, truly, we will praise Him ;
for although it is natural to Him, He gave it to
Himself,' since God Himself is nature. When,
therefore, you assign the origin of all things to
nature, and take it from God, you are in the
same difficulty : —

" You pay your debt by borrowing,^ Geta."

For while simply changing the name, you clearly
admit that it was made by the same person by
whom you deny that it was made.

There follows a most senseless comparison.
"As the builder," he says, " when he is about to
erect any building, does not himself make the
materials, but uses those which are already pre-
pared, and the statuary also the wax ; so that
divine providence ought to have had materials
at hand, not of its own production, but already
prepared for use." Nay rather it ought not ; for
God will have less power if He makes from ma-
terials already provided, which is the part of man.
The builder will erect nothing without wood, for
he cannot make the wood itself; and not to be
able to do this is the part of human weakness.
But God Himself makes the materials for Him-
self, because He has the power. For to have
the power is the property of God ; for if He is
not able, He is not God. Man produces his
works out of that which already exists, because
through his mortality he is weak, and through
his weakness his power is limited and moderate ;
but God produces His works out of that which
has no existence, because through His eternity
He is strong, and through His strength His
power is immense, which has no end or limit,
like the life of the Maker Himself. What won-
der, then, if God, when He was about to make
the world, first prepared the material from which
to make it, and prepared it out of that which had
no existence ? Because it is impossible for God
to borrow anything from another source, inas-
much as all things are in Himself and from Him-
self For if there is anything before Him, and
if anything has been made, but not by Him, He
will therefore lose both the power and the name
of God. But it may be said matter was never
made, like God, who out of matter made this
world. In that case, it follows that two eternal
principles are established, and those indeed op-
posed to one another, which cannot happen with-
out discord and destruction. For those things
which have a contrary force and method must
of necessity come into collision. In this manner

■ Sibi illam dedit. There is another reading, ilia sibi illam dedit,
but it does not give so good a sense.

' A proverbial expression, signifying " to get out of one difficulty
by getting into another." The passage in the text is a quotation from
T»rence, Pliorm., v. a. 15. [No< in some editions of our author; e.g.,
Basil, 1531.]

it will be impossible that both should be eternal,
if they are opposed to one another, because one
must overpower the other. Therefore the nature
of that which is eternal cannot be otherwise than
simple, so that all things descended from that
source as from a fountain. Therefore either God
proceeded from matter, or matter from God.
Which of these is more true, is easily understood.
For of these two, one is endued with sensibility,
the other is insensible. The power of making
anything cannot exist, except in that which has
sensibility, intelligence, reflection, and the power
of motion. Nor can anything be begun, or made,
or completed, unless it shall have been foreseen
by reason how it shall be made before it exists,
and how it shall endure ^ after it has been made.
I In short, he only makes anything who has the
I will to make it, and hands to complete that which
he has willed. But that which is insensible al-
ways lies inactive and torpid ; nothing can origi-
nate in that source where there is no voluntary
motion. For if every animal is possessed of
reason, it is certain that it cannot be produced
from that which is destitute of reason, nor can
that which is not present in the original source ^
be received from any other quarter. Nor, how-
ever, let it disturb any one, that certain animals
appear to be born from the earth. For the earth
does not give birth to these of itself, but the
Spirit of God, without vvhich nothing is pro-
duced. Therefore God did not arise from mat-
ter, because a being endued with sensibility can
never spring from one that is insensible, a wise
one from one that is irrational, one that is inca-
pable of suffering from one that can suffer, an in-
corporeal being from a corporeal one ; but matter
is rather from God. For whatever consists of a
body solid, and capable of being handled, admits
of an external force. That which admits of
force is capable of dissolution ; that which is
dissolved perishes ; that which perishes must
necessarily have had an origin \ that which had
an origin had a source s from which it originated,
that is, some maker, who is intelligent, foresee-
ing, and skilled in making. There is one as-
suredly, and that no other than God. And since
He is possessed of sensibility, intelligence, provi-
dence, power, and vigour. He is able to create
and make both animated and inanimate objects,
because He has the means of making everything.
But matter cannot always have existed, for if it
had existed it would be incapable of change.
For that which always was, does not cease always
to be ; and that which had no beginning must
of necessity be without an end. Moreover, it is
easier for that which had a beginning to be with-
out an end, than for that which had no beginning

3 Stand firm and stedfast.

4 Which does not exist there, from whence it is sought
i Fountain.

Chap. IX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

to have an end. Therefore if matter was not
made, nothing can be made from it. But if
nothing can be made from it, then matter itself
can have no existence. For matter is that out
of which something is made. But everything
out of which anything is made, inasmuch as it
has received the hand of the artificer, is de-
stroyed,' and begins to be some other thing.
Therefore, since matter had an end, at the time
when the world was made out of it, it also had
a beginning. For that which is destroyed ' was
previously built up ; that which is loosened was
previously bound up ; that which is brought
to an end was begun. If, then, it is inferred
from its change and end, that matter had a
beginning, from whom could that beginning
have been, except from God? God, therefore,
is the only being who was not made ; and there-
fore He can destroy other things, but He Him-
self cannot be destroyed. That which was in
Him will always be permanent, because He has
not been produced or sprung from any other
source ; nor does His birth depend on any other
object, which being changed may cause His dis-
solution. He is of Himself, as we said in the
first book ; ^ and therefore He is such as He
willed that He should be, incapable of suffering,
unchangeable, incorruptible, blessed, and eternal.
But now the conclusion, with which Tully
finished the sentiment, is much more absurd. ^
" But if matter," he says, " was not made by
God, the earth indeed, and water, and air, and
fire, were not made by God." How skilfully
he avoided the danger ! For he stated the
former point as though it required no proof,
whereas it was much more uncertain than that
on account of which the statement was made.
If matter, he says, was not made by God, the
world was not made by God. He preferred to
draw a false inference from that which is false,
than a true one from that which is true. And
though uncertain things ought to be proved
from those which are certain, he drew a proof
from an uncertainty, to overthrow that which was
certain. For, that the world was made by di-
vine providence (not to mention Trismegistus,
who proclaims this ; not to mention the verses
of the Sibyls, who make the same announce-
ment ; not to mention the prophets,'* who with
one impulse and with harmonious 5 voice bear
witness that the world was made,^ and that it

' Distruitur, " pulled to pieces." The word is thus used by Cicero.

^ Ch. 3 and 7. [See pp. 11, 17, supra.\

3 [Multo absurdior.]

* Lactantius seems to refer not to the true prophets, but to those
of other nations, such as Orpheus and Zoroaster, or the magi of the
Persians, the gymnosophists of the Indians, or the Druids of the
Gauls. St. Augustine often makes mention of these. It would seem
inconsistent to mention Moses and the prophets of God with the
, '^Jrophets of the heathens. [Compare, however, " Christian analogies,"
etc., in Justin. See vol. i. 169; also Ibid., pp. 182, 283-286.]

5 Pari voce.

'' The work of the world, and the workmanship of God.

was the workmanship of God), even the phi-
losophers almost universally agree ; for this is
the opinion of the Pythagoreans, the Stoics, and
the Peripatetics, who are the chief of every sect.^
In short, from those first seven wise men,^ even
to Socrates and Plato, it was held as an acknowl-
edged and undoubted fact ; until many ages
afterwards ^ the crazy Epicurus lived, who alone
ventured to deny that which is most evident,
doubtless through the desire of discovering
novelties, that he might found a sect in his
own name. And because he could find out
nothing new, that he might still appear to disa-
gree with the others, he wished to overthrow
old opinions. But in this all the philosophers
who snarled '° around him, refuted him. It is
more certain, therefore, that the world was ar-
ranged by providence, than that matter was
collected " by providence. Wherefore he ought
not to have supposed that the world was not
made by divine providence, because its matter
was not made by divine providence ; but be-
cause the world was made by divine providence,
he ought to have coticluded that matter also was
made by the Deity, For it is more credible
that matter was made by God, because He is
all-powerful, than that the world was not made
by God, because nothing can be made without
mind, intelligence, and design. But this is not
the fault of Cicero, but of the sect. For when
he had undertaken a disputation, by which he
might take away the nature of the gods, respect-
ing which philosophers prated, in his ignorance
of the truth he imagined that the Deity must
altogether be taken away. He was able there-
fore to take away the gods, for they had no
existence. But when he attempted to overthrow
the divine providence, which is in the one God,
because he had begun to strive against the truth,
his arguments failed, and he necessarily fell into
this pitfall, from which he was unable to with-
draw himself. Here, then, I hold him firmly
fixed ; I hold him fastened to the spot, since
Lucilius, who disputed on the other side, was
silent. Here, then, is the turning-point ; '^ on
this everything depends. Let Cotta disentangle
himself, if he can, from this difficulty ; '3 let him
bring forward arguments by which he may prove
that matter has always existed, which no provi-
dence made. Let him show how anything pon-
derous and heavy either could exist without an
author or could be changed, and how that which

' Qui sunt principes omnis disciplinae. There is another reading:
quae sunt principes omnium disciplinae, " which are the leading sects
of all."

8 Thales said that the world was the work of God.

9 This statement is incorrect, as Plato was born B.C. 430, and
Epicurus B.C. 337.

■° There is probably an allusion to the Cynics.
" Conglobatam. Another reading is, quim materia provMlci.tiam
conglobatam.
'- Hinge.
» Abyss.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IL

always was ceased to be, so that that which
never was might begin to be. And if he shall
prove these things, then, and not till then, will
I admit that the world itself was not established
by divine providence, and yet in making this
admission I shall hold him fast by another snare.
For he will turn round again to the same point,
to which he will be unwilling to return, so as to
say that both the matter of which the world
consists, and the world which consists of matter,
existed by nature ; though I contend that na-
y ture itself is God. For no one can make won-
derful things, that is, things existing with the
greatest order, except one who has intelligence,
foresight, and power. And thus it will come to
be seen that God made all things, and that noth-
ing at all can exist which did not derive its origin
from God.

But the same, as often as he follows the Epi-
cureans,' and does not admit that the world was
made by God, is wont to inquire by what hands,
by what machines, by what levers, by what con-
trivance. He made this work of such magnitude.
He might see, if he could have lived at that
time in which God made it. But, that man
might not look into the works of God, He was
unwilling to bring him into this world until all
things were completed. But he could not be
brought in : for how could he exist while the
heaven above was being built, and the founda-
tions of the earth beneath were being laid ; when
humid things, perchance, either benumbed with
excessive stiffness were becoming congealed, or
seethed with fiery heat and rendered solid were
growing hard ? Or how could he live when the
sun was not yet established, and neither corn
nor animals were produced ? Therefore it was
necessary that man should be last made, when
the finishing ^ hand had now been applied to the
world and to all other things. Finally, the
sacred writings teach that man was the last work
of God, and that he was brought into this world
as into a house prepared and made ready ; for
all things were made on his account. The poets
also acknowledge the same. Ovid, having de-
scribed the completion of the world, and the
formation of the other animals, added : ^ —

" An animal more sacred than these, and more capacious
of a lofty mind, was yet wanting, and which might
exercise dominion over the rest. Man was pro-
duced."

So impious must we think it to search into those
things which God wished to be kept secret !
But his inquiries were not made through a de-
sire of hearing or learning, but of refuting ; for
he was confident that no one could assert that.
As though, in truth, it were to be supposed that

' As often as he is an Epicurean.

' The last hand.

• Mtt»morpk., book i.

these things were not made by God, because it
cannot be plainly seen in what manner they
were created ! If you had been brought up in
a well-built and ornamented house, and had
never seen a workshop,-* would you have sup-
posed that that house was not built by man,
because you did not know how it was built?
You would assuredly ask the same question
about the house which you now ask about the
world — by what hands, with what implements,
man had contrived such great works ; and es-
pecially if you should see large stones, immense
blocks,5 vast columns, the whole work lofty and
elevated, would not these things appear to you
to exceed the measure of human strength, be-
cause you would not know that these things
were made not so much by strength as by skill
and ingenuity?

But if man, in whom nothing is perfect, nev-
ertheless effects more by skill than his feeble
strength would permit, what reason is there why
it should appear to you incredible, when it is
alleged that the world was made by God, in
whom, since He is perfect, wisdom can have no
limit, and strength no measure ? His works are
seen by the eyes ; but how He made them is
not seen even by the mind, because, as Hermes
says, the mortal cannot draw nigh to (that is,
approach nearer, and follow up with the under-
standing) the immortal, the temporal^ to the
eternal, the corruptible to the incorruptible.
And on this account the earthly animal is as
yet incapable of perceiving 7 heavenly things,
because it is shut in and held as it were in cus-
tody by the body, so that it cannot discern all
things with free and unrestrained perception.
Let him know, therefore, how foolishly he acts,
who inquires into things which are indescribable.
For this is to pass the limits of one's own con-
dition, and not to understand how far it is per-
mitted man to approach. In short, when God
revealed the truth to man, He wished us only
to know those things which it concerned man
to know for the attainment of life ; but as to the
things which related to a profane and eager
curiosity'' He was silent, that they might be
secret. Why, then, do you inquire into things
which you cannot know, and if you knew them
you would not be happier. It is perfect wisdom
in man, if he knows that there is but one God,
and that all things were made by Him,

CHAP. X. OF THE WORLD, AND ITS PARTS, THE

ELEMENTS AND SEASONS.

Now, having refuted those who entertain false
sentiments respecting the world and God its

* Fabrica. The word is also used to denote the exercise of fkiU
in workmanship.

5 Caementa, rough stones front the quarry.
' Pertaining to time, as opposed to eternal.
' Looking into.

* A curious and profane cagemeM.

Chap. X 1

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

Maker, let us return to the divine workmanship
of the world, concerning which we are informed
in the sacred ' writings of our holy religion.
Therefore, first of all, God made the heaven,
and suspended it on high, that it might be
the seat of God Himself, the Creator. Then
He founded the earth, and placed it under the
heaven, as a dwelling-place for man, with the
other races of animals. He willed that it should
be surrounded and held together by water. But
He adorned and filled His own dwelling-place
with bright lights ; He decked it with the sun,
and the shining orb of the moon, and with the
glittering signs of the twinkling stars ; but He
placed on the earth the darkness, which is con-
trary to these. For of itself the earth contains
no light, unless it receives it from the heaven,
in which He placed perpetual light, and the
gods above, and eternal life ; and, on the con-
trary, He placed on the earth darkness, and the
inhabitants of the lower regions, and death.
For these things are as far removed from the
former ones, as evil things are from good, and
vices from virtues. He also established two
parts of the earth itself opposite to one another,
and of a different character, — namely, the east
and the west ; and of these the east is assigned
to God, because He Himself is the fountain of
light, and the enlightener^ of all things, and be-
cause He makes us rise to eternal life. But the
west is ascribed to that disturbed and depraved
mind, because it conceals the light, because it
always brings on darkness, and because it makes
men die and perish in their sins. For as light
belongs to the east, and the whole course of life
depends upon the light, so darkness belongs to
the west : but death and destruction are con-
tained in darkness.3 Then He measured out in
the same way the other parts, — namely, the
south and the north, which parts are closely
united with the two former. For that which is
more glowing with the warmth of the sun, is
nearest to and closely united with the east ; but
that which is torpid with colds and perpetual ice
belongs to the same division as the extreme west.
For as darkness is opposed to light, so is cold
to heat. As, therefore, heat is nearest to light,
so is the south to the east ; and as cold is nearest
to darkness, so is the northern region to the west.
And He assigned to each of these parts its own
time, — namely, the spring to the east, the sum-
mer to the southern region, the autumn belongs
to the west, and the winter to the north. In
these two parts also, the southern and the north-
em, is contained a figure of life and death, be-

' Secret writings.

^ fApos. Const, (so-called) , book ii. cap. 57. See Bingham, book
viii. cap. 3, sec. 3; also vol. ii. note i, p. 535, this series, and vol.
iii. note i, p. 31. So Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine, and later
Fathers. Bingham, book xiii. cap. 8, sec. 15.]

^ [In baptism, the renunciations were made with face turned to
the west. Bingham, book xi. cap. 7, sec. 4.]

cause life consists in heat, death in cold. And
as heat arises from fire, so does cold from water.
And according to the division of these parts
He also made day and night, to complete by
alternate succession with each other the courses ♦
and perpetual revolutions of time, which we call
years. The day, which the first east supplies,
must belong to God, as all things do, which are
of a better character. But the night, which the
extreme west brings on, belongs, indeed, to him
whom we have said to be the rival of God.

And even in the making of these God had re-
gard to the future ; for He made them so, that
a representation of true religion and of false
superstitions might be shown from these. For
as the sun, which rises daily, although it is but
one, — from which Cicero would have it appear
that it was called Sol,5 because the stars are ob-
scured, and it alone is seen, — yet, since it is a
true light, and of perfect fulness, and of most
powerful heat, and enlightens all things with the
brightest splendour ; so God, although He is one
only, is possessed of perfect majesty, and might,
and splendour. But night, which we say is as-
signed to that depraved adversary of God,'' shows
by a resemblance the many and various supersti-
tions which belong to him. For although innu-
merable stars appear to glitter and shine,^ yet,
because they are not full and solid lights, and
send forth no heat, nor overpower the darkness
by their multitude, therefore these two things
are found to be of chief importance, which have
power differing from and opposed to one another
— heat and moisture, which God wonderfully
designed for the support and production of all
things. For since the power of God consists in
heat and fire, if He had not tempered its ardour
and force by mingling matter of moisture and
cold, nothing could have been bom or have ex-
isted, but whatever had begun to exist must
immediately have been destroyed by conflagra-
tion. From which also some philosophers and
poets said that the world was made up of a dis-
cordant concord ; but they did not thoroughly
understand the matter. Heraclitus said that all
things were produced from fire ; Thales of Mile-
tus from water. Each saw something of the
trjith, and yet each was in error : for if one ele-
vient only had existed, water could not have
been produced from fire, nor, on the other hand,
could fire from water ; but it is more true that
all things were produced from a mingling of the
two. Fire, indeed, cannot be mixed with water,
because they are opposed to each other ; and if
they came into collision, the one which proved
superior must destroy the other. But their sub-

< Spatia; an expression derived from the chariot-race.
5 A play upon the words Siol, the sun, and solus., alone.
'^ Antitheus, one who takes the place of God; as Antichrist, di'Ti-
YpiTT<c, one who sets himself in the place of Christ.
^ Emit rays.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book li.

stances may be mingled. The substance of fire
is heat ; of water, moisture. Rightly therefore
does Ovid say : ' —

" For when moisture and heat have become mingled,
they conceive, and all things arise from these two.
And though fire is at variance with water, moist
vapour produces all things, and discordant con-
cord * is adapted to production."

For the one element is, as it were, mascuhne ;
the other, as it were, feminine : the one active,
the other passive. And on this account it was
appointed by the ancients that marriage contracts
should be ratified by the solemnity -^ of fire and
water, because the young of animals are furnished
with a body by heat and moisture, and are thus
animated to life.

For, since every animal consists of soul "* and
body, the material of the body is contained in
moisture, that of the soul in heat : which we
may know from the offspring of birds ; for though
these are full of thick moisture, unless they are
cherished by creative 5 heat, the moisture cannot
become a body, nor can the body be animated
with life. Exiles also were accustomed to be
forbidden the use of fire and water : for as yet
it seemed unlawful to inflict capital punishment
on any, however guilty, inasmuch as they were
men. When, therefore, the use of those things
in which the life of men consists was forbidden,
it was deemed to be equivalent to the actual
infliction of death on him who had been thus
sentenced. Of such importance were these two
elements considered, that they believed them to
be essential for the production of man, and for
the sustaining of his life. One of these is com-
mon to us with the other animals, the other has
been assigned to man alone. For we, being a
heavenly and immortal race,^ make use of fire,
which is given to us as a proof of immortality,
since fire is from heaven ; and its nature, inas-
much as it is moveable and rises upward, contains
the principle of life. But the other animals, in-
asmuch as they are altogether mortal, make use
of water only, which is a corporeal and earthly
element. And the nature of this, because it is
moveable, and has a downward inclination, shows
a figure of death. Therefore the cattle do not
look up to heaven, nor do they entertain reli-
gious sentiments, since the use of fire is removed
from them. But from what source or in what
manner God lighted up or caused ^ to flow these
two principal elements, fire and water, He who
made them alone can know.*

' MetaiKorph., i. 430.

* [ Discors Concordia. ]

3 Sacramento. Torches were lighted at marriage ceremonies, and
the bride was sprinkled with water.
^ The living principle.
5 The .irtificer.

* Animal.

' Eliqiiaverit, " strained off," " made liquid."

* [So Izaak Walton: " Known only to Him whose name is Won-
derful."]

CHAP. XI. OF LFVING CREATURES, OF MAN ; PRO-
METHEUS, DEUCALION, THE PARC^.

Therefore, having finished the world. He com-
manded that animals of various kinds and of dis-
similar forms should be created, both great and
smaller. And they were made in pairs, that is,
one of each sex ; from the offspring of which
both the air and the earth and the seas were
filled. And God gave nourishment to all these
by their kinds 9 from the earth, that they might
be of service to men : some, for instance, were
for food, others for clothing ; but those which
are of great strength He gave, that they might
assist in cultivating the earth, whence they were
called beasts of burthen. "° And thus, when all
things had been settled with a wonderful arrange-
ment, He determined to prepare for Himself
an eternal kingdom, and to create innumerable
souls, on whom He might bestow immortality.
Then He made for Himself a figure endowed
with perception and intelligence, that is, after
the likeness of His own image, than which noth-
ing can be more perfect : He formed man out
of the dust of the ground, from which he was
called man," because He was made from the
earth. Finally, Plato says that the human form '^
was godlike ; as does the Sibyl, who says, —

" Thou art my image, O man, possessed of right
reason." "

The poets also have not given a different account
respecting this formation of man, however they
may have corrupted it ; for they said that man
was made by Prometheus from clay. They were
not mistaken in the matter itself, but in the name
of the artificer. For they had never come into
contact with a line of the truth ; but the things
which were handed down by the oracles of the
prophets, and contained in the sacred book '■» of
God ; those things collected from fables and
obscure opinion, and distorted, as the truth is
wont to be corrupted by the multitude when
spread abroad by various conversations, every
one adding something to that which he had
heard, — those things they comprised in their
poems ; and in this, indeed, ihey acted foolishly,
in that they attributed so wonderful and divine
a work to man. For what need was there that
man should be formed of clay, when he might
be generated in the same way in which Prome-
theus himself was born from lapetus? For if
he was a man, he was able to beget a man, but
not to make one. But his punishment on Mount

9 By species.

'° Jumenta, " beasts of burthen," as though derived from juvo, " *o
aid."

" Homo, " man," from humus, " the ground." [P. 56, iupra.'X

'^ This im.age, or likeness of Ood, in which man was originally
created, is truly described not by Plato, but by St. Paul: 2 Cor. iv.
6; Col. iii 10; Eph. iv. 24.

" Another reading is, " Man is my image."

'< Sacrario, " the shrine."

Chap. XL]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

Caucasus declares that he was not of the gods.
But no one reckoned his father lapetus or his
uncle ' Titan as gods, because the high dignity
of the kingdom was in possession of Saturn only,
by which he obtained divine honours, together
with all his descendants. This invention of the
poets admits of refutation by many arguments.
It is agreed by all that the deluge took place for
the destruction of wickedness, and for its re-
moval from the earth. Now, both philosophers
and poets, and writers of ancient history, assert
the same, and in this they especially agree with
the language of the prophets. If, therefore, the
flood took place for the purpose of destroying
wickedness, which had increased through the
excessive multitude of men, how was Prometheus
the maker of man, when his son Deucalion is
said by the same writers to have been the only
one who was preserved on account of his right-
eousness ? How could a single descent ^ and a
single generation have so quickly filled the world
with men ? But it is plain that they have cor-
rupted this also, as they did the former account ;
since they were ignorant both at what time the
flood happened on the earth, and who it was
that deserved on account of his righteousness to
be saved when the human race perished, and
how and with whom he was saved : all of which
are taught by the inspired 3 writings. It is plain,
therefore, that the account which they give re-
specting the work of Prometheus is false.

But because I had said'* that the poets are
not accustomed to speak that which is alto-
gether untrue, but to wrap up in figures and
thus to obscure their accounts, I do not say that
they spoke falsely in this, but that first of all
Prometheus made the image of a man of rich
and soft clay, and that he first originated the art
of making statues and images ; inasmuch as he
lived in the times of Jupiter, during which tem-
ples began to be built, and new modes of wor-
shipping the gods introduced. And thus the
truth was corrupted by falsehood ; and that
which was said to have been made by God be-
gan also to be ascribed to man, who imitated
the divine work. But the making of the true
and living man from clay is the work of God.
And this also is related by Hermes,' who not
only says that man was made by God, after the
image of God, but he even tried to explain in
how skilful a manner He formed each limb in
the human body, since there is none of them
which is not as available for the necessity of use
as for beauty. But even the Stoics, when they
discuss the subject of providence, attempt to do

' Father's brother.

* Gradus.

3 Prophetical writings.

* Book i. [ch. II, p. 22, su^ra].

5 The title 6 irnxiovpyo';, the Architect, or Creator, is used by
Plato and Hermes.

this ; and Tully followed them in many places.
But, however, he briefly treats of a subject so
copious and fruitful, which I now pass over on
this account, because I have lately written a par-
ticular book on this subject to my disciple De-
metrianus. But I cannot here omit that which
some erring philosophers say, that men and the
other animals arose from the earth without any
author; whence that expression of Virgil :^ —

" And the earth-born ' race of men raised its head from
the hard fields."

And this opinion is especially entertained by
those who deny the existence of a divine provi-
dence. For the Stoics attribute the formation
of animals to divine skill. But Aristotle freed
himself from labour and trouble, by saying that
the world always existed, and therefore that the
human race, and the other things which are in
it, had no beginning, but always had been, and
always would be. But when we see that each
animal separately, which had no previous exist-
ence, begins to exist, and ceases to exist, it is
necessary that the whole race must at some time
have begun to exist, and must cease at some
time because it had a beginning.

For all things must necessarily be comprised
in three periods of time — the past, the present,
and the future. The commencement* belongs
to the past, existence to the present, dissolution
to the future. And all these things are seen in
the case of men individually : for we begin when
we are born ; and we exist while we live ; and
we cease when we die. On which account they
would have it that there are three Parcae : ^ one
who warps the web of life for men ; the second,
who weaves it ; the third, who cuts and finishes
it. But in the whole race of men, because the
present time only is seen, yet from it the past
also, that is, the commencement, and the future,
that is, the dissolution, are inferred. For since
it exists, it is evident that at some time it began
to exist, for nothing can exist without a begin-
ning ; and because it had a beginning, it is evi-
dent that it will at some time have an end.
For that cannot, as a whole, be immortal, which
consists of mortals. For as we all die individ-
ually, it is possible that, by some calamity, all may
perish simultaneously : either through the un-
productiveness of the earth, which sometimes
happens in particular cases ; or through the gen-
eral spread of pestilence, which often desolates
separate cities and countries ; or by the confla-
gration of the world, as is said to have hap-
pened in the case of Phaethon ; or by a deluge,
as is reported in the time of Deucalion, when

^ Georg., \\. 341. [Terrea progenies duris caput e.xtulit arvis.l
7 Terrea. Another reading is ferrea, " the race of iron."
* The origin.

9 The fable of the three Parcae — Clothe, Lachesis, and Atropos
— is derived from Hesiod.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IL

the whole race was destroyed with the exception
of one man. And if this deluge happened by
chance, it might assuredly have happened that
he who was the only survivor should perish.
But if he was reserved by the will of divine
providence, as it cannot be denied, to recruit
mankind, it is evident that the life and the de-
struction of the human race are in the power of
God. And if it is possible for it to die altogether,
because it dies in parts, it is evident that it had
an origin at some time ; and as the liability to
decay ' bespeaks a beginning, so also it gives
proof of an end. And if these things are true,
Aristotle will be unable to maintain that the
world also itself had no beginning. But if Plato
and Epicurus extort this from Aristotle, yet
Plato and Aristotle, who thought that the world
would be everlasting, will, notwithstanding their
eloquence, be deprived of this also by Epicurus,
because it follows, that, as it had a beginning, it
must also have an end. But we will speak of
these things at greater length in the last book.
Now let us revert to the origin of man.

CHAP. XII. — THAT ANIMALS WERE NOT PRODUCED
SPONTANEOUSLY, BUT BY A DIVINE ARRANGE-
MENT, OF WHICH GOD WOULD HAVE GIVEN US
THE KNOWLEDGE, IF IT WERE ADVANTAGEOUS
FOR US TO KNOW IT.

They say that at certain changes of the
heaven, and motions of the stars, there existed a
kind of maturity^ for the production of animals ;
and thus that the new earth, retaining the pro-
ductive seed, brought forth of itself certain ves-
sels J after the Hkeness of wombs, respecting
which Lucretius '• says, —

" Wombs grew attached to the earth by roots ; "

and that these, when they had become mature,
being rent by the compulsion of nature, pro-
duced tender animals ; afterwards, that the earth
itself abounded with a kind of moisture which
resembled milk, and that animals were sup-
ported by this nourishment. How, then, were
they able to endure or avoid the force of the
cold or of heat, or to be born at all, since the
sun would scorch them or the cold contract
them? But, they say, at the beginning of the
world there was no winter nor summer, but a
perpetual spring of an equable temperature. 5
Why, then, do we see that none of these things
now happens ? Because, they say, it was neces-
sary that it should once happen, that animals
might be born ; but after they began to exist,
and the power of generation was given to them,
the earth ceased to bring forth, and the condi-

' Frailty.

* Ripeness, or suitableness.
3 Little bags, or follicles.

* Book V. 806. [Uteri terram radlcibus apti.]

' A i)crpctual temperature and an equable spring.

tion of time^ was changed. Oh, how easy it is
to refute falsehoods ! In the first place, nothing
can exist in this world which does not con-
tinue permanent, as it began. For neither were
the sun and moon and stars then uncreated ;
nor, having been created, were they without
their motions ; nor did that divine government,
which manages and rules their courses, fail to
begin its exercise together with them. In the
next place, if it is as they say, there must of ne-
cessity be a providence, and they fall into that
very condition which they especially avoid. For
while the animals were yet unborn, it is plain
that some one provided that they should be
born, that the world might not appear gloomy ^
with waste and desolation. But, that they might
be produced from the earth without the office of
parents, provision must have been made with
great judgment ; and in the next place, that the
moisture condensed from the earth might be
formed into the various figures of bodies ; and
also that, having received from the vessels with
which they were covered the power of life and
sensation, they might be poured forth, as it
were, from the womb of mothers, is a wonder-
ful and indescribable ** provision. But let us
suppose that this also happened by chance ; the
circumstances which follow assuredly cannot be
by chance, — that the earth should at once flow
with milk, and that the temperature of the at-
mosphere should be equable. And if these
things plainly happened, that the newly bom
animals might have nourishment, or be free from
danger, it must be that some one provided these
things by some divine counsel.

But who is able to make this provision except
God ? Let us, however, see whether the circum-
stance itself which they assert could have taken
place, that men should be born from the earth.
If any one considers during how long a time and
in what manner an infant is reared, he will as-
suredly understand that those earth-born children
could not possibly have been reared without some
one to bring them up. For they must have lain
for many months cast forth, until their sinews
were strengthened, so that they had power to
move themselves and to change their place, which
can scarcely happen within the space of one year.
Now see whether an infant could have lain
through many months in the same manner and
in the same place where it was cast forth, without
dying, overwhelmed and corrupted by that moist-
ure of the earth which it supplied for the sake of
nourishment, and by the excrements of its own
body mixed together. Therefore it is impossible
but that it was reared by some one ; unless, in-
deed, all animals are born not in a tender con-

6 The seasons were varied.

7 Be rough.

^ Inextncabilis that cannot be disentangled.

Chap. XIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

dition, but grown up : and it never came into
their mind to say this. Therefore the whole of
that method is impossible and vain ; if that can
be called method by which it is attempted that
there shall be no method. For he who says that
all things are produced of their own accord, and
attributes nothing to divine providence, he as-
suredly does not assert, but overthrows method.
But if nothing can be done or produced without
design, it is plain that there is a divine providence,
to which that which is called design peculiarly
belongs. Therefore God, the Contriver of all
things, made man. And even Cicero, though ig-
norant of the sacred writings, saw this, who in his
treatise on the Laws, in the first book,' handed
down the same thing as the prophets ; and I
add his words : " This animal, foreseeing, saga-
cious, various, acute, gifted with memory, full of
method and design, which we call man, was pro-
duced by the supreme Deity under remarkable
circumstances ; for this alone of so many kinds
and natures of animals, partakes of judgment and
reflection, when all other animals are destitute
of them." Do you see that the man, although
far removed from the knowledge of the truth, yet,
inasmuch as he held the image of wisdom, under-
stood that man could not be produced except by
God? But, however, there is need of divine^
testimony, lest that of man should be insuffi-
cient. The Sibyl testifies that man is the work of
God : —

" He who is the only God being the invincible Creator,
He Himself fixed ^ the figure of the form of men,
He Himself mixed the nature of all belonging to
the generation of life."

The sacred writings contain statements to the
same effect. Therefore God discharged the office
of a true father. He Himself formed the body ;
He Himself infused the soul with which we
breathe. Whatever we are, it is altogether His
work. In what manner He effected this He
would have taught us, if it were right for us to
know ; as He taught us other things, which have
conveyed to us the knowledge both of ancient
error and of true light,

CHAP. Xm. WHY MAN IS OF TWO SEXES J WHAT

IS HIS FIRST DEATH, AND WHAT THE SECOND ;
AND OF THE FAULT AND PUNISHMENT OF OUR
FIRST PARENTS.

When, therefore. He had first formed the male
after His own likeness, then He also fashioned
woman after the image of the man himself, that
the two by their union might be able to perpet-
uate their race, and to fill the whole earth with a
multitude. But in the making of man himself

' [De Legibus, book i. cap. 7.]

* That is, according to the notions of the heathen.

3 Made fast, established.

He concluded and completed the nature of those
two materials which we have spoken of as con-
trary to each other, fire and water. For having
made the body. He breathed into it a soul from
the vital source of His own Spirit, which is ever-
lasting, that it might bear the similitude of the
world itself, which is composed of opposing ele-
ments. For he * consists of soul and body, that
is, as it were, of heaven and earth : since the
soul by which we live, has its origin, as it were,
out of heaven from God, the body out of the
earth, of the dust of which we have said that it _
was formed. Empedocles — whom you cannot
tell whether to reckon among poets or philoso-
phers, for he wrote in verse respecting the nature
of things, as did Lucretius and Varro among the
Romans — determined that there were four ele-
ments, that is, fire, air, water, and earth ; perhaps
following Trismegistus, who said that our bodies
were composed of these four elements by God,
for he said that they contained in themselves
something of fire, something of air, something
of water, and something of earth, and yet that
they were neither fire, nor air, nor water, nor
earth. And these things indeed are not false ;
for the nature of earth is contained in the flesh,
that of moisture in the blood, that of air in the
breath, that of fire in the vital heat. But neither
can the blood be separated from the body, as
moisture is from the earth ; nor the vital heat
from the breath, as fire from the air : so that of
all things only two elements are found, the whole
nature of which is included in the formation of
our body. Man, therefore, was made from dif- "^
ferent and opposite substances, as the world itself
was made from light and darkness, from life and
death ; and he has admonished us that these two
things contend against each other in man : so
that if the soul, which has its origin from God,
gains the mastery, it is immortal, and lives in per-
petual light ; if, on the other hand, the body shall
overpower the soul, and subject it to its domin-
ion, it is in everlasting darkness and death. 5 And
the force of this is not that it altogether annihi-
lates ^ the souls of the unrighteous, but subjects ae
them to everlasting punishment. ^

We term that punishment the second death,
which is itself also perpetual, as also is immor-
tality. We thus define the first death : Death
is the dissolution of the nature of living beings ;
or thus : Death is the separation of body and

* i.e., man.

5 It was necessary to remove ambiguity from the heathen, to whom
the word death conveys no such meaning. In the sacred writings the
departure of the soul f»om the body is often spoken of as sleep, or
rest. Thus Lazarus is said to sleep, i Thess. iv. 14, " Them that
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him," — an expression of great
beauty and propriety as applied to Christians. On the other hand,
the prophets speak of " the shadow of death."

*> Extinguishes. Compare the words of Christ Himself, John t.
29; Acts xxiv. 15.

'' [.Must not be overlooked. See vol. iv. p. 495, and elucidatioa
(after book, iv.) on p. 542. '

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II

soul. But we thus define the second death :
Death is the suffering of eternal pain ; or thus :
Death is the condemnation of souls for their
deserts to eternal punishments. This does not
extend to the dumb cattle, whose spirits, not
being composed of God, ' but of the common
air, are dissolved by death. Therefore in this
union of heaven and earth, the image of which
is developed ^ in man, those things which belong
to God occupy the higher part, namely the soul,
which has dominion over the body ; but those
which belong to the devil occupy the lower ^ part,
manifestly the body : for this, being earthly,
ought to be subject to the soul, as the earth is
to heaven. For it is, as it were, a vessel which
this heavenly spirit may employ as a temporary
dwelling. The duties of both are — for the lat-
ter, which is from heaven and from God, to
command ; but for the former, which is from
the earth and the devil, to obey. And this, in-
deed, did not escape the notice of a dissolute
man, Sallust, ■* who says : " But all our power
consists in the soul and body ; we use the soul
to command, the body rather to obey." It had
been well if he had lived in accordance with his
words ; for he was a slave to the most degrading
pleasures, and he destroyed the efficacy of his
sentiment by the depravity of his life. But if
the soul is fire, as we have shown, it ought to
mount up to heaven as fire, that it may not be
extinguished ; that is, it ought to rise to the im-
mortality which is in heaven. And as fire can-
not burn and be kept alive unless it be nourished 5
by some rich fuel ^ in which it may have suste-
nance, so the fuel and food of the soul is right-
eousness alone, by which it is nourished unto
life. After these things, God, having made man
in the manner in which I have pointed out, placed
him in paradise,^ that is, in a most fruitful and
pleasant garden, which He planted in the regions
of the East with every kind of wood and tree,
that he might be nourished by their various fruits ;
and being free from all labours,* might devote
himself entirely to the service of God his Father.
Then He gave to him fixed commands, by the
observance of which he might continue immor-
tal ; or if he transgressed them, be punished with
death. It was enjoined that he should not taste

' [Eccles. iii. i8-2i. Answered, Eccles. xii. 7.]

* Portrayed or expressed.

3 It is not to be supposed that Lactantius, following the error of
Marcion, believed that the body of man had been formed by the devil,
for he has already described its creation by God. He rather speaks
of the devil as exercising a power permitted to him over the earth and
the bodies of men. Compare 2 Cor. iv. 4.

< Preface to Catiline.

5 The word teneo is used in this sense by Cicero {,De Nat. Dear.,
1154):" Tribus rebus animantium vita tenetur, cibo, potione, spiritu.

° Material.

' Gen. ii.

' We are not to understand this as asserting that the man lived in
idleness, and without any employment in paradise; for this would be
inconsistent with the Scripture n.irrative, which tells us that Adam
was placed there to keep the garden and dress it. It is intended to
exclude painful and anxious labour, which is the punishment of sin.
See Gen. iii. 17.

of one tree only which was in the midst of the
garden,'' in which He had placed the knowledge
of good and evil. Then the accuser, envying
the works of God, applied all his deceits and
artifices to beguile '° the man, that he might de-
prive him of immortality. And first he enticed
the woman by fraud to take the forbidden fruit,
and through her instrumentality he also per-
suaded the man himself to transgress the law of
God. Therefore, having obtained the knowledge
of good and evil, he began to be ashamed of his
nakedness, and hid himself from the face of
God, which he was not before accustomed to do.
Then God drove out the man from the garden,
having passed sentence upon the sinner, that he
might seek support for himself by labour. And
He surrounded" the garden itself with fire, to
prevent the approach of the man until He exe-
cute the last judgment on earth ; and having
removed death, recall righteous men. His wor-
shippers, to the same place ; as the sacred writers
teach, and the Erythraean Sibyl, when she says :
" But they who honour the true God inherit
everlasting life, themselves inhabiting together
paradise, the beautiful garden, for ever." But
since these are the last things,'^ we will treat of
them in the last part of this work. Now let us
explain those which are first. Death therefore
followed man, according to the sentence of God,
which even the Sibyl teaches in her verse, say-
ing : " Man made by the very hands of God,
whom the serpent treacherously beguiled that he
might come to the fate of death, and receive the
knowledge of good and evil." Thus the life of
man became limited in duration ; '^ but still,
however, long, inasmuch as it was extended to a
thousand '^ years. And when Varro was not igno-
rant of this, handed down as it is in the sacred
writings, and spread abroad by the knowledge
of all, he endeavoured to give reasons why the
ancients were supposed to have lived a thousand
years. For he says that among the Egyptians
months are accounted 's as years : so that the
circuit of the sun through the twelve signs of
the zodiac does not make a year, but the moon,
which traverses that sign-bearing circle in the
space of thirty days ; which argument is mani-
festly false. For no one then exceeded the
thousandth year. But now they who attain to
the hundredth year, which frequently happens,

9 Paradise.

'° Another reading is, ad dejiciendum hominem, " to overthrow
the man."

" Circumvallavit, "placed a barrier round." See Gen. iii. 24:
" He placed at the east of the garden of Eden chenibims, and a flammg
sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

■^ [Not novissima, but rxtrema here. He refers to book vii.
cap. II, etc.]

'^ Temporary. The word is opposed to everlasting.

'♦ No one actually lived a thousand years. They who approached
nearest to it were Methuselah, who lived 969 years, Jared 962, and
Noah 950.

'5 It appears that the practice of the Egyptians varied as to the
computation of the year.

Chap. XIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

undoubtedly live a thousand and two hundred
months. And competent ' authorities report that
men are accustomed to reach one hundred and
twenty years.- But because Varro did not know
why or when the life of man was shortened, he
himself shortened it, since he knew that it was
possible for man to live a thousand and four
hundred months.

CHAP. XIV. OF NOAH THE INVENTOR OF WINE,

\VHO FIRST HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE STARS,
AND OF THE ORIGIN OF FALSE RELIGIONS.

But afterwards God, when He saw the earth
filled with wickedness and crimes, determined to
destroy mankind with a deluge ; but, however,
for renewing the multitude, He chose one man,
who,3 when all were corrupted, stood forth pre-
eminent, as a remarkable example of righteous-
ness. He, when six hundred years old, built an
ark, as God had commanded him, in which he
himself was saved, together with his wife and
three sons, and as many daughters-in-law, when
the water had covered all the loftiest mountains.
Then when the earth was dry, God, execrating
the wickedness of the former age, that the length
of life might not again be a cause of meditating
evils, gradually diminished the age of man by
each successive generation, and placed a limit
at a hundred and twenty years,^ which it might
not be permitted to exceed. But he, when he
went forth from the ark, as the sacred writings
inform us, diligently cultivated the earth, and
planted a vineyard with his own hand. From
which circumstance they are refuted who regard
Bacchus as the author of wine. For he not only
preceded Bacchus, but also Saturn and Uranus,
by many generations. And when he had first
taken the fruit from the vineyard, having become
merry, he drank even to intoxication, and lay
naked. And when one of his sons, whose name
was Cham, 5 had seen this, he did not cover his
father's nakedness, but went out and told the cir-
cumstance to his brothers also. But they, having
taken a garment, entered with their faces turned
backwards, and covered their father.*^ And when
their father became aware of what had been done,
he disowned and sent away his son. But he
went into exile, and settled in a part of that land
which is now called Arabia ; and that land was

1 Philo and Josephus.

2 [" Old Parr," born in Shropshire, a.d. 1483, died in 1635; i.e.,
born before the discovery of America, he lived to the beginning of
Hampden's career in England.]

3 The reading is qjiod, which in construction refers not to the
preceding, but to the following substantive. Qui has been suggested
as a preferable reading.

* Lactantius understands the hundred and twenty years (men-
tioned Gen. vi. 3) as the limit of human life, and regards it as a mark
of severity on God's part. But Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, and
most commentators, regard it rather as a sign of God's patience and
long-suffering, in giving them that space for repentance. And this
appears to be confirmed by the Apostle Peter, i Ep. iii 20, " When
once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was a preparing."

s Ham.

* Gen. ix. 23.

called from him Chanaan, and his posterity
Chanaanites. This was the first nation which
was ignorant of (iod, since its prince and founder
did not receive from his father the worship of
God, being cursed by him ; ^ and thius he left to
his descendants ignorance of the divine nature.**
From this nation all the nearest people flowed
as the multitude increased. But the descendants
of his father were called Hebrews, among whom
the religion of the true God was established.''
But from these also in after times, when their
number was multiplied exceedingly, since the
small extent of their settlements could not con-
tain them, then young men, either se':it by their
parents or of their own accord, by the compul-
sion of poverty, leaving their own lands to seek
for themselves new settlements, were scattered
in all directions, and filled all the islands and
the whole earth ; and thus being torn away from
the stem of their sacred root, they established
for themselves at their own discretion new cus-
toms and institutions. But they who occupied
Egypt were the first of all who began to look up
to and adore the heavenly bodies. And because
they did not shelter themselves in houses on ac-
count of the quality of the atmosphere, and the
heaven is not overspread with any clouds in that
country, they observed the courses of the stars,
and their obscurations, '° while in their frequent
adorations they more carefully and freely beheld
them. Then afterwards, induced by certain
prodigies, they invented monstrous figures of
animals, that they might worship them ; the
authors of which we will presently disclose.
But the others, who were scattered over the
earth, admiring the elements of the world, began
to worship the heaven, the sun, the earth, the
sea, without any images and temples, and offered
sacrifices to them in the open air, until in pro-
cess of time they erected temples and statues
to the most powerful kings, and originated the
practice of honouring them with victims and
odours ; and thus wandering from the knowledge
of God, they began to be heathens. They err,
therefore, who contend that the worship of the
gods was from the beginning of the world, and
that heathenism was prior to the religion of God :
for they think that this was discovered after-
wards, because they are ignorant of the source
and origin of the truth. Now let us return to
the beginning of the world.

7 This refers to that prophetic denunciation of divine judgment on
the impiety of Ham, which Noah, by the suggestion of the Holy
Spirit, uttered against the posterity of the profane man. Gen. ix. 25:
" Cursed be Canaan." The curse was not uttered in a spirit of ven-
geance or impatience on account of the injury received, but by the
prophetic impulse of the Divine Spirit. [The prophet fixes on the
descendant of Ham, whose impiety was foreseen, and to whom it
brought a curse so signal.]

^ [Our author falls vMa A hysteroti-proteroti: the curse did not
work the ignorance, but wilful ignorance and idolatry wrought the
curse, which was merely foretold, not fore-ordained.]

9 Resedit.
■° Eclipses.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II.

CHAP. XV. — OF THE CORRUPTION OF ANGELS, AND
THE TWO KINDS OF DEMONS.

J When, therefore, the number of men had
begun to increase, God in His forethought, lest
the devil, to whom from the beginning He had
given power over the earth, should by his sub-
tilty either corrupt or destroy men, as he had
done at first, sent angels for the protection and
improvement ' of the human race ; and inas-
much as He had given these a free will, He
enjoined them above all things not to defile
themselves with contamination from the earth,
and thus lose the dignity of their heavenly
nature.^ He plainly prohibited them from
doing that which He knew that they would do,
that they might entertain no hope of pardon.
Therefore, while they abode among men, that
most deceitful ruler ^ of the earth, by his very
association, gradually enticed them to vices,
and polluted them by intercourse with women.
Then, not being admitted into heaven on ac-
count of the sins into which they had plunged
themselves, they fell to the earth. Thus from
angels the devil makes them to become his sat-
ellites and attendants. But they who were born
from these, because they were neither angels nor
men, but bearing a kind of mixed ^ nature, were
not admitted into hell, as their fathers were not
into heaven. Thus there came to be two kinds
of demons ; one of heaven, the other of the
earth. The latter are the wicked s spirits, the
authors of all the evils which are done, and
the same devil is their prince. Whence Trisme-
gistus calls him the ruler of the demons. But
grammarians say that they are called demons, as
though dcemones,^ that is, skilled and acquainted
with matters : for they think that these are gods.
They are acquainted, indeed, with many future
events, but not all, since it is not permitted them
entirely to know the counsel of God ; and there-
fore they are accustomed to accommodate ^ their
answers to ambiguous results. The poets both
know them to be demons, and so describe them.
Hesiod thus speaks : —

"These are the demons according to the will of Zeus,
Good, living on the earth, the guardians of mortal
men."

And this is said for this purpose, because God
had sent them as guardians to the human race ;
but they themselves also, though they are the
destroyers of men, yet wish themselves to ap-

' Cultum.

° Substantiae, " essence."

3 See 2 Cor. iv. 4, " the god of this world."

< Middle.

5 Unclean.

* Sajj/oiovc?. Other derivations have been proposed; but the
word probably comes from 6aiu), " to distribute destinies." Plato ap-
proves of the etymology given by Lactantius; for he says that good
men, distinguished by great honours, after their death became demons,
in accordance with this title of prudence and wisdom. [See the whole
subject in Lewis' Plato, etc., p. 347 ]

' I'o combine, qualify, or temperate.

pear as their guardians, that they themselves
may be worshipped, and God may not be
worshipped. The philosophers also discuss the
subject of these beings. For Plato attempted
even to explain their natures in his " Banquet ; "
and Socrates said that there was a demon con-
tinually about him, who had become attached
to him when a boy, by whose will and direction
his life was guided. The art also and power of
the Magi altogether consists in the influences *
of these ; invoked by whom they deceive the
sight of men with deceptive illusions,^ so that
they do not see those things which exist, and
think that they see those things which do not
exist. These contaminated and abandoned
spirits, as I say, wander over the whole earth,
and contrive a solace for their own perdition by
the destruction of men. Therefore they fill
every place with snares, deceits, frauds, and
errors ; for they cling to individuals, and occupy
whole houses from door to door, and assume to
themselves the name of genii ; for by this word
they translate demons in the Latin language.
They consecrate these in their houses, to these
they daily pour out '° libations of wine, and wor-
ship the wise demons as gods of the earth, and
as averters of those evils which they themselves
cause and impose. And these, since spirits are
without substance " and not to be grasped, insin-
uate themselves into the bodies of men ; and
secretly working in their inward parts, they cor-
rupt the health, hasten diseases, terrify their souls
with dreams, harass their minds with phrenzies,
that by these evils they may compel men to have
recourse to their aid.

CHAP. XVI. THAT DEMONS HAVE NO POWER OVER

THOSE WHO ARE ESTABLISHED IN THE FAITH.

And the nature of all these deceits '^ is obscure
to those who are without the truth. For they
think that those demons profit them when they
cease to injure, whereas they have no power ex-
cept to injure. '3 Some one may perchance say
that they are therefore to be worshipped, that
they may not injure, since they have the power
to injure. They do indeed injure, but those only
by whom they are feared, whom the powerful and
lofty hand of God does not protect, who are un-

* Aspirations.

9 Blinding tricks, juggleries.

■° They lavish. The word implies a profuse and excessive liber-
ality.

" Thin, unsubstantial, as opposed to corporeal. The ancients
inclined to the opinion that angels had a body, not like that of man,
but of a slight and more subtle nature. Probably Lactantius refers
to this idea in using the word tenuis. How opposed this view is to
Scripture is manifest. [Not so inani/cst as our translator supposes.
I do not assert what Lactantius says to be scripturally correct: but
it certainly is not opposed to many facts as Scripture stales them;
whether figuratively or otherwise, I do not venture a suggestion ]

'* Augustine gives an account of these deceits, De Civit. Dei, ix.
18.

'3 Thus the ancient Romans worshipped Fever, Fear, etc., to avoid
injury from them.

Chap. XVII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

initiated in the mystery ' of truth. But they fear
the righteous,* that is, the worshippers of God,
adjured by whose name they depart ^ from the
bodies of the possessed : for, being lashed by their
words as though by scourges, they not only con-
fess themselves to be demons, but even utter
their own names — those which are adored in
the temples — which they generally do in the
presence of their own worshippers ; not, it is
plain, to the disgrace of religion, but ■♦ to the dis-
griue of their own honour, because they cannot
speak falsely to God, by whom they are adjured,
nor to the righteous, by whose voice they are
tortured. Therefore ofttimes having uttered the
greatest bowlings, they cry out that they are
beaten, and are on fire, and that they are just
on the point of coming forth : so much power

has the knowledge of God, and righteousness !

Whom, therefore, can they injure, except those
whom they have in their own power? In short,
Hermes affirms that those who have known God
are not only safe from the attacks of demons,
but that they are not even bound by fate. " The
only protection," he says, " is piety, for over a
pious man neither evil demon nor fate has any
power : for God rescues the pious man from all
evil ; for the one and only good thing among
men is piety." And what piety is, he testifies in
another place, in these words : " For piety is the
knowledge of God." Asclepius also, his disciple,
more fully expressed the same sentiment in that
finished discourse which he wrote to the king.
Each of them, in truth, affirms that the demons
are the enemies and harassers of men, and on
this account Trismegistus calls them wicked
angels ; so far was he from being ignorant that
from heavenly beings they were corrupted, and
began to be earthly.

«-HAP. XVII. — THAT ASTROLOGY, SOOTHSAYING, AND
SIMILAR ARTS ARE THE INVENTION OF DEMONS.

y These were the inventors of astrology, and
soothsaying, and divination, and those produc-
tions which are called oracles, and necromancy,
and the art o^' magic, and whatever evil practices
besides thc^e men exercise, either openly or in
secret. Now all these things are false of them-
selves, as the Erythraean Sibyl testifies : —

" Since all these things are erroneous,
Which foolish men search after day by day."

' Sacramento.

2 See Acts of Apostles xvi. 18, and xix. 15, 16. In the Gospels
the demons say to Jesus, " Art Thou come to torment us before the
time?" [Suggestive of 2 Pet. ii. 4.]

3 The practice of exorcism was used in the early ages of the
Church, and the faithful were supposed to possess power over demons.
See book iv. ch. 27. Justin, Tertullian, and other writers attest the
same. There were also exorcists in the Jewish synagogues. See Acts
xix. 13.

* bed. Other editions read et ; but the one adopted in the text
brings out the meaning more distinctly by contrast = they did not dis-
grace religion, but their own honour.

But these same authorities by their countenance '
cause it to be believed that they are true. Thus
they delude the credulity of men by lying divi-
nation, because it is not expedient for them to lay
open the truth. These are they who taught men
to make images and statues ; who, in order that
they might turn away the minds of men from the
worship of the true God, cause the countenances
of dead kings, fashioned and adorned with ex-
quisite beauty, to be erected and consecrated,
and assumed to themselves their names, as
though they were assuming some characters.
But the magicians, and those whom the people
truly call enchanters,^ when they practise their
detestable arts, call upon them by their true
names, those heavenly names which are read in
the sacred writings. Moreover, these impure
and wandering spirits, that they may throw all
things into confusion, and overspread the minds
of men with errors, interweave and mingle false
things with true. For they themselves feigned
that there are many heavenly beings, and one
king of all, Jupiter ; because there are many
spirits of angels in heaven, and one Parent and
Lord of all, God. But they have concealed the
truth under false names, and withdrawn it froiv
sight.

For God, as I have shown in the beginning, ^
does not need a name, since He is alone ; nor
do the angels, inasmuch as they are immortal,
either suffer or wish themselves to be called gods :
for their one and only duty is to submit to the
will of God, and not to do anything at all ex-
cept at His command. For we say that the
world is so governed by God, as a province is
by its ruler ; and no one would say that his at-
tendants** are his sharers in the administration
of the provin'?e, although business is carried on
by their service. And yet these can effect some-
thing contrary to the commands of the ruler,
through fcis ignorance ; which is the result of
man's condition. But that guardian of the
world and ruler of the universe, who knows all
things, from whose divine eyes nothing is con-
cealed,9 has alone with His Son the power over
all things ; nor is there anything in the angels
except the necessity of obedience. Therefore
they wish no honour to be paid to them, since
all their honour is in God. But they who have
revolted from the service of God, because they
are enemies of the truth, and betrayers '° of God
attempt to claim for themselves the name and
worship of gods ; not that they desire any hon-

s By their presence.

* Malefici — evil-doers. The word is specially used of enchanters.

' Book i. ch. vi.

8 Apparitors. The word is especially applied to public servants,
as lictors, etc.

9 Surrounded, shut in.

'° Prsevaricatores. The word is properly applied to an advocate
who is guilty of collusion with his antagonist, and thus betrays his
client.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book II

our (for what honour is there to the lost?), nor
that they may injure God, who cannot be in-
jured, but that they may injure men, whom they
strive to turn away from the worship and knowl-
edge of the true Majesty, that they may not be
able to obtain immortality, which they themselves
have lost through their wickedness. Therefore
they draw on darkness, and overspread the truth
with obscurity, that men may not know their
Lord and Father. And that they may easily en-
tice them, they conceal themselves in the tem-
ples, and are close at hand at all sacrifices ; and
they often give prodigies, that men, astonished
by them, may attach to images a belief in their
divine power and influence. Hence it is that
the stone was cut by the augur with a razor ;
that Juno of Veii answered that she wished to
remove to Rome ; that Fortuna Muliebris ' an-
nounced the threatening danger ; that the ship
followed the hand of Claudia ; that Juno when
plundered, and the Locrian Proserpine, and the
Milesian Ceres, punished the sacrilegious ; that
Hercules exacted vengeance from Appius, and
Jupiter from Atinius, and Minerva from Caesar.
Hence it was that the serpent sent for from Epi-
daurus freed the city of Rome from pestilence.
For the chief of the demons was himself carried
thither in his own form, without any dissembling ;
if indeed the ambassadors who were sent for that
purpose brought with them a serpent of immense
size.

But they especially deceive in the case of
oracles, the juggleries of which the profane^
cannot distinguish from the truth ; and therefore
they imagine that commands,^ and victories, and
wealth, and prosperous issues of affairs, are be-
stowed by them, — in short, that the state has
often been freed from imminent dangers by their
interposition ; ■* which dangers they have both
announced, and when appeased with sacrifices,
have averted. But all these things are deceits.
For since they have a presentiment 5 of the ar-
rangements of God, inasmuch as they have been
His ministers, they interpose themselves in these
matters, that whatever things have been accom-
plished or are in the course of accomplishment
by God, they themselves may especially appear
to be doing or to have done ; and as often as any
advantage is hanging over any people or city, ac-
cording to the purpose of God,, either by prodi-
gies, or dreams, or oracles, they promise that they
will bring it to pass, if temples, honours, and
sacrifices are given to them. And on the offer-
ing of these, when the necessary^ result comes
to pass, they acquire for themselves the greatest

' Womanly Fortune.

^ Unbelievers.

3 Governments.

♦ At their nod, or suggestion.

5 They presage.

6 That which was necessary according to the purpose and arrange-
ment of God.

veneration. Hence temples are vowed, and new
images consecrated ; herds of victims are slain ;
and when all these things are done, yet the life
and safety of those who have performed them are
not the less sacrificed. But as often as dangers
threaten, they profess that they are angry on ac-
count of some light and trifling cause ; as Juno
was with Varro, because he had placed a beauti-
ful boy on the carriage ^ of Jupiter to guard the
dress, and on this account the Roman name was
almost destroyed at Cannae. But if Juno feared
a second Ganymede, why did the Roman youth
suffer punishment? Or if the gods regard the
leaders only, and neglect the rest of the multi-
tude, why did Varro alone escape who acted
thus, and why was Paulus, who was innocent,^
slain ? Assuredly nothing then happened to the
Romans by "the fates of the hostile Juno,"'*
when Hannibal by craft and valour despatched
two armies of the Roman people. For Juno did
not venture either to defend Carthage, where
were her arms and chariot, or to injure the
Romans ; for

" She had heard that sons of Troy
Were born her Carthage to destroy." '"

But these are the delusions of those who, con-
cealing themselves under the names of the dead,
lay snares for the living. Therefore, whether
the impending danger can be avoided, they
wish it to appear that they averted it, having
been appeased ; or if it cannot be avoided, they
contrive that it may appear to have happened
through disregard " of them. Thus they acquire
to themselves authority and fear from men, who
are ignorant of them. By this subtilty and by
these arts they have caused the knowledge of
the true and only God to fail " among all nations.
For, being destroyed by their own vices, they
rage and use violence that they may destroy
others. Therefore these enemies of the human
race even devised human victims, to devour as
many lives as possible.

CHAP. XVIII. OF THE PATIENCE AND VENGEANCE

OF GOD, THE WORSHIP OF DEMONS, AND FALSE
RELIGIONS.

Some one will say. Why then does God per-
mit these things to be done, and not apply a
remedy to such disastrous errors? That evils
may be at variance with good ; that vices may
be opposed to virtues ; that He may have some
whom He may punish, and others whom He

' Tensa; a carriage on which the images of the gods were carried
to the circus at the Circensian games.

8 Deserved nothing, had nothing worthy of punishment. Varro
and Paulus /Emilius were the two consuls who commanded at Cannae.
Varro escaped, Paulus was slain.

9 Virg., .'En., viii. 292.
'° I/iid., i. 19.

" Contempt.

'- They have made old.

Chap. XIX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

may honour. For He has determined at the
last times to pass judgment on the living and
the dead, concerning which judgment I shall
speak in the last book. He delays,' therefore,
until the end of the times shall come, when He
may pour out His wrath with heavenly power
and might, as

" Prophecies of pious seers
Ring terror in the 'wildered ears."*

But now He suffers men to err, and to be im-
pious even towards Himself, just, and mild, and
patient as He is. For it is impossible that He
in whom is perfect excellence should not also be
of perfect patience. Whence some imagine,
that God is altogether free from anger, because
He is not subject to affections, which are per-
turbations of the mind ; for every animal which
is liable to affections and emotions is frail. But
this persuasion altogether takes away truth and
religion. But let this subject of discussing the
anger of God be laid aside for the present ; be-
cause the matter is very copious, and to be more
widely treated in a work devoted to the subject.
Whoever shall have worshipped and followed
these most wicked spirits, will neither enjoy
heaven nor the light, which are God's ; but will
fall into those things which we have spoken of
as being assigned in the distribution of things to
the prince of the evil ones himself, — namely,
into darkness, and hell, and everlasting punish-
ment.

I have shown that the religious rites of the
gods are vain in a threefold manner : In the first
place, because those images which are worshipped
are representations of men who are dead ; and
that is a wrong and inconsistent thing, that the
image of a man should be worshipped by the
image of God, for that which worships is lower
and weaker than that which is worshipped : then
that it is an inexpiable crime to desert the living
in order that you may serve memorials of the
dead, who can neither give life nor light to any
one, for they are themselves without it : and that
there is no other God but one, to whose judg-
ment and power every soul is subject. In the
second place, that the sacred images themselves,
to which most senseless men do service, are
destitute of all perception, since they are earth.
But who cannot understand that it is unlawful
for an upright animal to bend itself that it may
adore the earth? which is placed beneath our
feet for this purpose, that it may be trodden
upon, and not adored by us, who have been

' Jerome says: " Great is the anger of God when He does not
correct sins, but punishes blindness with blindness. On this very
account God sends strong delusion, as St. Paul writes to the Thessa-
lonians, that they should believe a lie, that they all may be damned
who have not believed the truth. They are unworthy of the living
fountain who dig for themselves cisterns."

^ Virg., ^n., iv. 464. Some x^aA priorum instead oi piorum.

raised from it, and have received an elevated
position beyond the other living creatures, that
we may not turn ourselves again downward, nor
cast this heavenly countenance to the earth, but
may direct our eyes to that quarter to which the
condition of their nature has directed, and that
we may adore and worship nothing except the
single deity of our only Creator and Father,
who made inan of an erect figure, that we may
know that we are called forth to high and
heavenly things. In the third place, because
the spirits which preside over the religious rites
themselves, being condemned and cast off by
God, wallow 3 over the earth, who not only are
unable to afford any advantage to their wor-
shippers, since the power of all things is in the
hands of one alone, but even destroy them with
deadly attractions and errors ; since this is their
daily business, to involve men in darkness, that
the true God may not be sought by them. There-
fore they are not to be worshipped, because they
lie under the sentence of God. For it is a very
great crime to devote ■• one's self to the power of
those whom, if you follow righteousness, you are
able to excel in power, and to drive out and put
to flight by adjuration of the divine name. But
if it appears that these religious rites are vain in
so many ways as I have shown, it is manifest that
those who either make prayers to the dead,5 or
venerate the earth, or make over ^ their souls to
unclean spirits, do not act as becomes men, and
that they will suffer punishment for their impiety
and guilt, who, rebelling against God, the Father
of the human race, have undertaken inexpiable
rites, and violated every sacred law.

CHAP. XIX. — OF THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES AND
EARTHLY OBJECTS.

Whoever, therefore, is anxious to observe the
obligations to which man is liable, and to main-
tain a regard for his nature, let him raise himself
from the ground, and, with mind lifted up, let
him direct his eyes to heaven : let him not seek
God under his feet, nor dig up from his footprints
an object of veneration, for whatever lies beneath
man must necessarily be inferior to man ; but
let him seek it aloft, let him seek it in the
highest place : for nothing can be greater than
man, except that which is above man. But God
is greater than man : therefore He is above, and

s Roll themselves.

* Addico, " to adjudge," is the legal term, expressing the sentence
by which the praetor gave effect to the right which he had declared to
exist.

5 [Let this be noted.]

'^ Mancipo. The word implies the making over or transferring by
a formal act of sale. Debtors, who were unable to satisfy the demands
of their creditors, were made over to them, and regarded as their
slaves. They were termed addicti. Our Lord said (John viii. 34),
" Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin." Thus also St.
Paul, Rom. vi. 16, 17.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

not below ; nor is He to be sought in the lowest,
but rather in the highest region. Wherefore it
is undoubted that there is no religion wherever
there is an image." For if religion consists of
divine things, and there is nothing divine except
in heavenly things ; it follows that images are
without religion, because there can be nothing
heavenly in that which is made from the earth.
And this, indeed, may be plain to a wise man
from the very name.^ For whatever is an imi-
tation, that must of necessity be false ; nor can
anything receive the name of a true object which
counterfeits the truth by deception and imitation.
But if all imitation is not particularly a serious
matter, but as it were a sport and jest, then there
is no religion in images, but a mimicry of reli-
gion. That which is true is therefore to be
preferred to all things which are false ; earthly
things are to be trampled upon, that we may
obtain heavenly things. For this is the state of
the case, that whosoever shall prostrate his soul,
which has its origin from heaven, to the shades ^
beneath, and the lowest things, must fall to that
place to which he has cast himself. Therefore
he ought to be mindful of his nature and condi-
tion, and always to strive and aim at things
above. And whoever shall do this, he will be
judged altogether wise, he just, he a man : he,
in short, will be judged worthy of heaven whom
his Parent will recognise not as abject, nor cast
down to the earth after the manner of the

' [Quare non est dubium quin religio nulla sit ubicunque simula-
crum est. Such is the uniform Ante-Nicene testimony.]

2 Simulacrum, " an image," from simulo, " to imitate."

3 The infernal regions.

beasts,'' but rather standing and upright as He
made him.

CHAP. XX. — OF PHILOSOPHY AND THE TRUTH.

A great and difificult portion of the work which
I have undertaken, unless I am deceived, has
been completed • and the majesty of heaven sup-
plying the power of speaking, we have driven
away inveterate errors. But now a greater and
more difficult contest with philosophers is pro-
posed to us, the height of whose learning and
eloquence, as some massive structure, is opposed
to me. For as in the former 5 case we were op-
pressed by a multitude, and almost by the uni-
versal agreement of all nations, so in this subject
we are oppressed by the authority of men excel-
ling in every kind of praise. But who can be
ignorant that there is more weight in a smaller
number of learned men than in a greater number
of ignorant persons ? ^ But we must not despair
that, under the guidance of God and the truth,
these also may be turned aside from their opin-
ion ; nor do I think that they will be so obstinate
as to deny that they behold with sound and open
eyes the sun as he shines in his brilliancy. Only
let that be true which they themselves are ac-
customed to profess, that they are possessed with
the desire of investigation, and I shall assuredly
succeed in causing them to believe that the truth
which they have long sought for has been at
length found, and to confess that it could not
have been found by the abilities of man.

* Quadrupeds.

5 In this second book.

6 [Quis autem nesciat plus esse momenti in paucioribus dectis,
quam in pluribus imperitis?]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

BOOK III.

OF THE FALSE WISDOM OF PHILOSOPHERS.

CHAP. I. — A COMPARISON OF THE TRUTH WITH
ELOQUENCE : WHY THE PHILOSOPHERS DID NOT
ATTAIN TO IT. OF THE SIMPLE STYLE OF THE
SCRIPTURES.

Since it is supposed that the truth still lies
hidden in obscurity — either through the error
and ignorance of the common people, who are
the slaves of various and foolish superstitions, or
through the philosophers, who by the perverse-
ness of their minds confuse rather than throw
light upon it — I could wish that the power of
eloquence had fallen to my lot, though not such
as it was in Marcus Tullius, for that was extraor-
dinary and admirable, but in some degree ap-
proaching it ; ' that, being supported as much by
the strength of talent as it has weight by its own
force, the truth might at length come forth, and
having dispelled and refuted public errors, and
the errors of those who are considered wise,
might introduce among the human race a brilliant
light. And I could wish that this were so, for
two reasons : either that men might more readily
believe the truth when adorned with embellish-
ments, since they even believe falsehood, being
captivated by the adornment of speech and the
enticement of words ; or, at all events, that the
philosophers themselves might be overpowered
by us, most of all by their own arms, in which
they are accustomed to pride themselves and to
place confidence.

But since God has willed this to be the nature
of the case, that simple and undisguised truth
should be more clear, because it has sufificient
ornament of itself, and on this account it is cor-
rupted when embellished ^ with adornings from
without, but that falsehood should please by
means of a splendour not its own, because being
corrupt of itself it vanishes and melts away, unless
it is set off 3 and polished with decoration sought

' [A modest confession of his desire to " find out acceptable
words." Eccles. xii. lo. His success is proverbial.]
^ Stained, counterfeit.
3 Embellished.

from another source ; I bear it with equanimity
that a moderate degree of talent has been granted
to me. But it is not in reliance upon eloquence,
but upon the truth, that I have undertaken this
work, — a work, perhaps, too great to be sus-
tained by my strength ; which, however, even if
I should fail, the truth itself will complete, with
the assistance of God, whose office this is. For
when I know that the greatest orators have often
been overcome by pleaders of moderate ability,
because the power of truth is so great that it
defends itself even in small things by its own
clearness : why should I imagine that it will be
overwhelmed in a cause of the greatest impor-
tance by men who are ingenious and eloquent,
as I admit, but who speak false things ; and not
that it should appear bright and illustrious, if not
by our speech, which is very feeble, and flows
from a slight fountain, but by its own light ? Nor,
if there have been philosophers worthy of admira-
tion on account of their literary erudition, should
I also yield to them the knowledge and learning
of the truth, which no one can attain to by re-
flection or disputation. Nor do I now disparage
the pursuit of those who wished to know the
truth, because God has made the nature of man
most desirous of arriving at the truth ; but I as-
sert and maintain this against them, that the
effect did not follow their honest and well-directed
will, because they neither knew what was true in
itself, nor how, nor where, nor with what mind it
is to be sought. And thus, while they desire to
remedy the errors of men, they have become en-
tangled in snares and the greatest errors. I have
therefore been led to this task of refuting philos-
ophy by the very order of the subject which I
have undertaken.

For since all error arises either from false re-
ligion or from wisdom, •♦ in refuting error it is
necessary to overthrow both. For inasmuch as

8r.]

* [i.e., false sopkia = " philosophy falsely so called." Vol, t. p.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

it has been handed down to us in the sacred
writings that the thoughts of philosophers are
fooHsh, this very thing is to be proved by fact
and by arguments, that no one, induced by the
-honourable name of wisdom, or deceived by
the splendour of empty eloquence, may prefer to
give credence to human rather than to divine
things. Which things, indeed, are related in a
concise and simple manner. For it was not
befitting that, when God was speaking to man.
He should confirm His words by arguments, as
though He would not otherwise ' be regarded
with confidence : but, as it was right. He spoke
as the mighty Judge of all things, to whom it
belongs not to argue, but to pronounce sentence.
He Himself, as God, is truth. But we, since
we have divine testimony for everything, will
assuredly show by how much surer arguments
truth may be defended, when even false things
are so defended that they are accustomed to
appear true. Wherefore there is no reason why
we should give so much honour to philosophers
as to fear their eloquence. For they might speak
well as men of learning ; but they could not speak
truly, because they had not learned the truth from
Him in whose power it was. Nor, indeed, shall
we effect anything great in convicting them of
ignorance, which they themselves very often con-
fess. Since they are not believed in that one
point alone in which alone they ought to have
been believed, I will endeavour to show that
they never spoke so truly as when they uttered
their opinion respecting their own ignorance.

CHAP. II. OF PHILOSOPHY, AND HOW VAIN WAS ITS

OCCUPATION IN SETTING FORTH THE TRUTH.

Now, since the falsehood of superstitions "" has
been shown in the two former books, and the
origin itself of the whole error has been set
forth, it is the business of this book to show the
emptiness and falsehood of philosophy also, that,
all error being removed, the truth may be brought
to light and become manifest. Let us begin,
therefore, from the common name of philosophy,
that when the head itself is destroyed, an easier
approach may be open to us for demolishing the
whole body ; if indeed that can be called a body,
the parts and members of which are at variance
with one another, and are not united together by
any connecting link,^ but, as it were, dispersed
and scattered, appear to palpitate rather than to
live. Philosophy is (as the name indicates, and
they themselves define it) the love of wisdom.

' Aliter. This word is usually read in the former clause, but it
gives a better meaning in this position.

* [ReligioHu»iiA\s\t:is. He does not here employ .5«/rrj//y/(?. By
the way, Lactantius derives this word from those " qui superstitem
memoriam hominum, tanquam deorum, colerent." Cicero, however,
derives it from those who bother the gods with petitions, — "pro
supfrstite prole." See note of the annoutor of the Delphin Cicero,
on the Natura Dear., i. 17.]
3 A joint or fastening.

By what argument, then, can I prove that phi-
losophy is not wisdom, rather than by that de-
rived from the meaning of the name itself? For
he who devotes himself to wisdom is manifestly
not yet wise, but devotes himself to the subject
that he may be wise. In the other arts it ap-
pears what this devotedness effects, and to what
it tends : for when any one by learning has at-
tained to these, he is now called, not a devoted
follower of the profession, but an artificer. But
j it is said it was on account of modesty that they
I called themselves devoted to wisdom, and not
wise. Nay, in truth, Pythagoras, who first in-
vented this name, since he had a htde more
wisdom than those of early times, who regarded
themselves as wise, understood that it was im-
possible by any human study to attain to wisdom,
and therefore that a perfect name ought not to
be applied to an incomprehensible and imperfect
subject. And, therefore, when he was asked what
was his profession,t he answered that he was a
philosopher, that is, a searcher after wisdom. If,
therefore, philosophy searches after wisdom, it is
not wisdom itself, because it must of necessity
be one thing which searches, and another which
is searched for ; nor is the searching itself cor-
rect, because it can find nothing.

But I am not prepared to concede even that
philosophers are devoted to the pursuit of wisdom,
because by that pursuit there is no attaining to
wisdom. For if the power of finding the truth
were connected s with this pursuit, and if this
pursuit were a kind of road to wisdom, it would
at length be found. But since so much time
and talent have been wasted in the search for it,
and it has not yet been gained, it is plain that
there is no wisdom there. Therefore they who
apply themselves to philosophy do not devote
themselves to the pursuit of wisdom ; but they
themselves imagine that they do so, because they
know not where that is which they are searching
for, or of what character it is. Whether, there-
fore, they devote themselves to the pursuit of
wisdom or not, they are not wise, because that
can never be discovered which is either sought
in an improper manner, or not sought at all.
Let us look to this very thing, whether it is pos-
sible for anything to be discovered by this kind
of pursuit, or nothing.

CHAP. III. — OF WHAT SUBJECTS PHILOSOPHY CON-
SISTS, AND WHO WAS THE CHIEF FOUNDER OF
THE ACADEMIC SECT.

Philosophy appears to consist of two subjects,
knowledge and conjecture, and of nothing more.
Knowledge cannot come from the understand-
ing, nor be apprehended by thought ; because

* What he professed -
5 Subjacerct.

■ gave himself out to be.

iTHAP. IV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

to have knowledge in oneself as a peculiar
property does not belong to man, but to God.
But the nature of mortals does not receive
knowledge, except that which comes from with-
out. For on this account the divine intelligence
has opened the eyes and ears and other senses
in the body, that by these entrances knowledge
might flow through to the mind. For to investi-
gate or wish to know the causes of natural things,
— whether the sun is as great as it appears to
be, or is many times greater than the whole of
this earth ; also whether the moon be spherical
or concave ; and whether the stars are fixed to
the heaven, or are borne with free course through
the air ; of what magnitude the heaven itself is,
of what material it is composed ; whether it is
at rest and immoveable, or is turned round with
incredible swiftness ; how great is the thickness
of the earth, or on what foundations it is poised
and suspended, — to wish to comprehend these
things, I say, by disputation and conjectures, is
as though we should wish to discuss what we
may suppose to be the character of a city in
some very remote country, which we have never
seen, and of which we have heard nothing more
than the name. If we should claim to ourselves
knowledge in a matter of this kind, which cannot
be known, should we not appear to be mad, in
venturing to affirm that in which we may be
refuted ? How much more are they to be judged
mad and senseless, who imagine that they know
natural things, which cannot be known by man !
Rightly therefore did Socrates, and the Aca-
demics ' who followed him, take away knowl-
edge, which is not the part of a disputant, but
of a diviner. It remains that there is in philoso-
phy conjecture only ; for that from which knowl-
edge is absent, is entirely occupied by conjecture.
For every one conjectures that of which he is
ignorant. But they who discuss natural subjects,
conjecture that they are as they discuss them.
Therefore they do not know the truth, because
knowledge is concerned with that which is cer-
tain, conjecture with the uncertain.

Let us return to the example before men-
tioned. Come, let us conjecture about the state
and character of that city which is unknown to
us in all respects except in name. It is proba-
ble that it is situated on a plain, with walls of
stone, lofty buildings, many streets, magnificent
and highly adorned temples. Let us describe,
if you please, the customs and deportment of
the citizens. But when we shall have described
these, another will make opposite statements ;

* It is evident that the Academy took its rise from the doctrine of
Socrates. Plato, the disciple of Socrates, founded the Academy.
However excellent their system may appear to many, the opinion of
Cameades the Stoic seems just, who .said that " the wise man who is
about to conjecture is about to err, for he who conjectures knows
nothing." Thus knowledge is taken from them by themselves.—
Betul.

and when he also shall have concluded, a third
will arise, and others after him ; and they will
make very different conjectures to those of ours.
Which therefore of all is more true? Perhaps
none of them. But all things have been men-
tioned which the nature of the circumstances
admits, so that some one of them must necessa-
rily be true. But it will not be known who has
spoken the truth. It may possibly be that all
have in some degree erred in their description,
and that all have in some degree attained to the
truth. Therefore we are foolish if we seek this
by disputation ; for some one may present him-
self who may deride our conjectures, and esteem
us as mad, since we wish to conjecture the char-
acter of that which we do not know. But it
is unnecessary to go in quest of remote cases,
from which perhaps no one may come to refute
us. Come, let us conjecture what is now going
on in the forum, what in the senate-house. That
also is too distant. Let us say what is taking
place with the interposition of a single wall ; ^
no one can know this but he who has heard or
seen it. No one therefore ventures to say this,
because he will immediately be refuted not by
words, but by the presence of the fact itself.
But this is the very thing which philosophers do,
who discuss what is taking place in heaven, but
think that they do that with impunity, because
there is no one to refute their errors. But if they
were to think that some one was about to de-
scend who would prove them to be mad and
false, they would never discuss those subjects at
all which they cannot possibly know. Nor, how-
ever, is their shamelessness and audacity to be
regarded as more successful because they are not
refuted ; for God refutes them to whom alone
the truth is known, although He may seem to
connive at their conduct, and He reckons such
wisdom of men as the greatest folly.

CHAP. IV. — THAT KNOWLEDGE IS TAKEN AWAY BY
SOCRATES, AND CONJECTURE BY ZENO.

Zeno and the Stoics, then, were right in repu-
diating conjecture. For to conjecture that you
know that which you do not know, is not the
part of a wise, but rather of a rash and foolish
man. Therefore if nothing can be known, as
Socrates taught, or ought to be conjectured, as
Zeno taught, philosophy is entirely removed.
Why should I say that it is not only overthrown
by these two, who were the chiefs of philosophy,
but by all, so that it now appears to have been
long ago destroyed by its own arms ? Philoso-
phy has been divided into many sects ; and they
all entertain various sentiments. In which do
we place the truth ? It certainly cannot be in

* With nothing but an inner wall between.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

all. Let us point out some one ; it follows that
all the others will be without wisdom. Let us
pass through them separately ; in the same man-
ner, whatever we shall give to one we shall take
away from the others. For each particular sect
overturns all others, to confirm itself and its own
doctrines : nor does it allow wisdom to any
other, lest it should confess that it is itself fool-
ish ; but as it takes away others, so is it taken
away itself by all others. For they are nev-
ertheless philosophers who accuse it of folly.
Whatever sect you shall praise and pronounce
true, that is censured by philosophers as false.
Shall we therefore believe one which praises
itself and its doctrine, or the many which
blame the ignorance of each other? That must
of necessity be better which is held by great
numbers, than that which is held by one only.
For no one can rightly judge concerning him-
self, as the renowned poet testifies ; ' for the
nature of men is so arranged, that they see and
distinguish the affairs of others better than their
own. Since, therefore, all things are uncertain,
we must either believe all or none : if we are to
believe no one, then the wise have no existence,
because while they separately affirm different
things they think themselves wise ; if all, it is
equally true that there are no wise men, because
all deny the wisdom of each individually. There-
fore all are in this manner destroyed ; and as
those fabled sparti^ of the poets, so these men
mutually slay one another, so that no one remains
of all ; which happens on this account, because
they have a sword, but have no shield. If, there-
fore, the sects individually are convicted of folly
by the judgment of many sects, it follows that all
are found to be vain and empty ; and thus phi-
losophy consumes and destroys itself. And since
Arcesilas the founder of the Academy understood
this, he collected together the mutual censures
of all, and the confession of ignorance made by
distinguished philosophers, and armed himself
against all. Thus he established a new philoso-
phy of not philosophizing. From this founder,
therefore, there began to be two kinds of philos-
ophy : one the old one, which claims to itself
knowledge ; the other a new one, opposed to
the former, and which detracts from it. Be-
tween these two kinds of philosophy I see that
there is disagreement, and as it were civil war.
On which side shall we place wisdom, which can-
not be torn asunder? 3 If the nature of things
can be known, this troop of recruits will perish ;
if it cannot, the veterans will be destroyed : if
they shall be ecjual, nevertheless philosophy, the
guide of all, will still perish, because it is divided ;

' Terent., Ueautottt., iii. sec. 97.

^ {jirapToi, those who sprung from the dragon's teeth.
' Distrahi, which Is the reading of some editions, is here followed
in preference to the common reading, detrahi.

for nothing can be opposed to itself without
its own destruction. But if, as I have shown,
there can be no inner and peculiar knowledge in
man on account of the frailty of the human con-
dition, the party of Arcesilas prevails. But not
even will this stand firm, because it cannot be
the case that nothing at all is known.

CHAP. V. THAT THE KNOWLEDGE OF MANY THINGS

IS NECESSARY.

For there are many things which nature itself,
and frequent use, and the necessity of life, com-
pel us to know. Accordingly you must perish,
unless you know what things are useful for life,
in order that you may seek them ; and what are
dangerous, that you may shun and avoid them.
Moreover, there are many things which experi-
ence finds out. For the various courses of the
sun and moon, and the motions of the stars, and
the computation of times, have been discovered,
and the nature of bodies, and the strength of
herbs by students of medicine, and by the culti-
vators of the land the nature of soils, and signs
of future rains and tempests have been collected.
In short, there is no art which is not dependent
on knowledge. Therefore Arcesilas ought, if he
had any wisdom, to have distinguished the things
which were capable of being known, and those
which were incapable. But if he had done this,
he would have reduced himself to the common
herd. For the common people have sometimes
more wisdom, because they are only so far wise
as is necessary. And if you inquire of them
whether they know anything or nothing, they will
say that they know the things which they know,
and will confess that they are ignorant of what
they are ignorant. He was right, therefore, in
taking away the systems of others, but he was
not right in laying the foundations of his own.
For ignorance of all things cannot be wisdom,
the peculiar property of which is knowledge.
And thus, when he overcame the philosophers,
and taught that they knew nothing, he himself
also lost the name of philosopher, because his
system is to know nothing. For he who blames
others because they are ignorant, ought himself
to have knowledge ; but when he knows nothing,
what perverseness or what insolence it is, to con-
stitute himself a philosopher on account of that
very thing for which he takes away the others !
For it is in their power to answer thus : If you
convict us of knowing nothing, and therefore of
])eing unwise because we know nothing, does it
follow that you are not wise, because you confess
that you know nothing? What progress, there-
fore, did Arcesilas make, except that, having
despatched all the philosophers, he pierced him-
self also with the same sword?

Chap. VI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

CHAP, VI. OF WISDOM, AND THE ACADEMICS, AND

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

Does wisdom therefore nowhere exist? Yes,
indeed, it was amongst them, but no one saw it.
Some thought that all things could be known :
these were manifestly not wise. Others thought
that nothing could be known ; nor indeed were
these wise : the former, because they attributed
too much to man ; the latter, because they
attributed too little. A limit was wanting to
each on either side. Where, then, is wisdom?
It consists in thinking neither that you know all
things, which is the property of God ; nor that
you are ignorant of all things, which is the part
of a beast. For it is something of a middle
character which belongs to man, that is, knowl-
edge united and combined with ignorance.
Knowledge in us is from the soul, which has its
origin from heaven ; ignorance from the body,
which is from the earth : whence we have some-
thing in common with God, and with the animal
creation. Thus, since we are composed of these
two elements, the one of which is endowed with
light, the other with darkness, a part of knowl-
edge is given to us, and a part of ignorance.
Over this bridge, so to speak, we may pass with-
out any danger of falling ; for all those who have
inclined to either side, either towards the left
hand or the right, have fallen. But I will say
how each part has erred. The Academics argued
from obscure subjects, against the natural philos-
ophers, that there was no knowledge ; and satis-
fied with the examples of a few incomprehensible
subjects, they embraced ignorance as though
they had taken away the whole of knowledge,
because they had taken it away in part. But
natural philosophers, on the other hand, derived
their argument from those things which are open,
a?id inferred that all things could be known, and,
satisfied with things which were manifest, re-
tained knowledge ; as if they had defended it
altogether, because they had defended it in part.
And thus neither the one saw what was clear,
nor the others what was obscure ; but each
party, while they contended with the greatest
ardour either to retain or to take away knowledge
only, did not see that there would be placed in
the middle that which might guide them to
wisdom.

But Arcesilas, who teaches that there is no
knowledge,' when he was detracting from Zeno,
the chief of the Stoics, that he might altogether
overthrow philosophy on the authority of Soc-
rates, undertook this opinion to affirm that noth-
ing could be known. And thus he disproved
the judgment of the philosophers, who had
thought that the truth was drawn forth,^ and

' The master of ignorance.
- F.rutam.

found out by their talents, — namely, because
that wisdom was mortal, and, having been insti-
tuted a few ages before, had now attained to its
greatest increase, so that it was now necessarily
growing old and perishing, the Academy ^ sud-
denly arose, the old age, as it were, of philos-
ophy, which might despatch it now withering.
And Arcesilas rightly saw that they are arrogant,
or rather foolish, who imagine that the knowl-
edge of the truth can be arrived at by conjec-
ture. But no one can refute one speaking falsely,
unless he who shall have previously known what
is true ; but Arcesilas, endeavouring to do this
without a knowledge of the truth, introduced a
kind of philosophy which we may call unstable
or inconstant.-* For, that nothing may be known,
it is necessary that something be known. For if
you know nothing at all, the very knowledge that
nothing can be known will be taken away.
Therefore he who pronounces as a sentiment
that nothing is known, professes, as it were, some
conclusion already arrived at and known : there-
fore it is possible for something to be known.

Of a similar character to this is that which
is accustomed to be proposed in the schools
as an example of the kind of fallacy called
asystato7i ; that some one had dreamt that he
should not believe dreams. For if he did be-
lieve them, then it follows that he ought not to
believe them. But if he did not believe them,
then it follows that he ought to believe them.
Thus, if nothing can be known, it is necessary that
this fact must be known, that nothing is known.
But if it is known that nothing can be known, the
statement that nothing can be known must as a
consequence be false. Thus there is introduced
a tenet opposed to itself, and destructive of it-
self. But the evasive 5 man wished to take away
learning from the other philosophers, that he
might conceal it at his home. For truly he is
not for taking it from himself who affirms any-
thing that he may take it from others : but he
does not succeed ; for it shows itself, and be-
trays its plunderer. How much more wisely and
truly he would act, if he should make an excep-
tion, and say that the causes and systems of
heavenly things only, or natural things, because
they are hidden, cannot be known, for there is
no one to teach them ; and ought not to be in-
quired into, for they cannot be found out by
inquiry ! For if he had brought forward this ex-
ception, he would both have admonished the
natural philosophers not to search into those
things which exceeded the limit of human reflec-
tion ; and would have freed himself from the ill-
will arising from calumny, and would certainly

5 The New Academy.

* In ^(/reek, (Ltrvararov, "without consistency, not holding to-
gether; " in Latin, " instabile " or " inconstans."
5 Versutus, one who turns and shifts.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III

have left us something to follow. But now, since
he has drawn us back from following others, that
we may not wish to know more than we are capa-
ble of knowing, he has no less drawn us back
from himself also. For who would wish to
labour lest he shou'ld know anything? or to
undertake learning of this kind that he may even
lose ordinary knowledge? For if this learning
exists, it must necessarily consist of knowledge ;
if it does not exist, who is so foohsh as to think
that that is worthy of being learned, in which
either nothing is learned, or something is even
unlearned? Wherefore, if all things cannot be
known, as the natural philosophers thought, nor
nothing, as the Academics taught, philosophy is
altogether extinguished.

CHAP. VII. — OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY, AND THE
CHIEF GOOD.

Let us now pass to the other part of philoso-
phy, which they themselves call moral, in which
is contained the method of the whole of philoso-
phy, since in natural philosophy there is only
delight, in this there is utihty also. And since
it is more dangerous to commit a fault in arran-
ging the condition of life and in forming the char-
acter, greater diligence must be used, that we
may know how we ought to live. For in the for-
mer subject ' some indulgence may be granted :
for whether they say anything, they bestow no
advantage ; or if they foolishly rave, they do no
injury. But in this subject there is no room for
difference of opinion, none for error. All must
entertain the same sentiments, and philosophy
itself must give instructions as it were with one
mouth ; because if any error shall be committed,
life is altogether overthrown. In that former
])art, as there is less danger, so there is more
difficulty ; because the obscurity of the subject
compels us to entertain different and various
opinions. But in this, as there is more danger,
so there is less difficulty ; because the very use
of the subjects and daily experiments are able
to teach what is truer and better. Let us see,
therefore, whether they agree, or what assistance
they give us for the better guidance of life. It
is not necessary to enlarge on every point ; let
us select one, and especially that which is the
chief and principal thing, in which the whole of
wisdom centres and depends.^ Epicurus deems
tliat the chief good consists in pleasure of mind,
Aristippus in pleasure of the body. Callipho
and Dinomachus united virtue with pleasure,
Diodorus with the privation of pain. Hierony-
mus placed the chief good in the absence of
pain ; the Peripatetics, again, in the goods of
the mind, the body, and fortune. The chief

' Natural philosophy.

^ 1 he hinge of wisdom altogether turns.

good of Herillus is knowledge ; that of Zeno, to
live agreeably to nature ; that of certain Stoics,
to follow virtue. Aristotle placed the chief good
in integrity and virtue. These are the senti-
ments of nearly all. In such a difference of
opinions, whom do we follow? whom do we be-
lieve ? All are of equal authority. If we are able
to select that which is better, it follows that phi-
losophy is not necessary for us ; because we are
already wise, inasmuch as we judge respecting
the opinions of the wise. But since we come
for the sake of learning wisdom, how can we
judge, who have not yet begun to be wise? es-
pecially when the Academic is close at hand, to
draw us back by the cloak, and forbid us to be-
lieve any one, without bringing forward that
which we may follow.

CHAP. VIII. — OF THE CHIEF GOOD, AND THE PLEAS-
URES OF THE SOUL AND BODY, AND OF VIRTUE.

What then remains, but that we leave raving
and obstinate wranglers, and come to the judge,
who is in truth the giver of simple and calm
wisdom? which is able not only to mould us,
and lead us into the way, but also to pass an
opinion on the controversies of those men. This
teaches us what is the true and highest good of
man ; but before I begin to speak on this sub-
ject, all those opinions must be refuted, that it
may appear that no one of those philosophers was
wise. Since the inquiry is respecting the duty
of man, the chief good of the chief animal ought
to be placed in that which it cannot have in
common with the other animals. But as teeth
are the peculiar property of wild beasts, horns
of cattle, and wings of birds, so something pecul-
iar to himself ought to be attributed to man,
without which he would lose the fixed ^ order of
his condition. For that which is given to all for
the purpose of Hfe or generation, is indeed a
I natural good ; but still it is not the greatest, un-
j less it be peculiar to each class. Therefore he
\ was not a wise man who believed that pleasure
of the mind is the chief good, since that, whether
it be freedom from anxiety or joy, is common
to all. I do not consider Aristippus even worthy
of an answer ; for since he is always rushing into
' pleasures of the body, and is only the slave of
sensual indulgences, no one can regard him as a
man : for he lived in such a manner that there
was no difference between him and a brute, ex-
cept this only, that he had the faculty of speech.
But if the power of speaking were given to the
ass, or the dog, or swine, and you were to in-
cjuire from these why they so furiously pursue
the females, that they can scarcely be separated
from them, and even neglect their food and
drink ; why they either drive away other males,

3 Rationem, " the plan or method of his condition."

Chap. VIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

or ilo not abstain from ihc pursuit even when
vanquished, but often, when bruised by stronger
animals, they are more determined in their pur-
suit ; why they dread neither rain nor cold ; why
they undertake labour, and do not shrink from
danger ; — what other answer will they give, but
that the chief good is bodily pleasure ? — that
they eagerly seek it, in order that they may be
affected with the most agreeable sensations ; and
that these are of so much importance, that, for
tire sake of attaining them, they imagine that no
labour, nor wounds, nor death itself, ought to be
refused by them? Shall we then seek precepts
of living from these men, who have no other
feelings than those of the irrational creatures?

The Cyrenaics say that virtue itself is to be
praised on this account, because it is productive
of pleasure. True, says the filthy dog, or the
swine wallowing in the mire.' For it is on this
account that I contend with my adversary with
the utmost exertion of strength, that my valour
may procure for me pleasure ; of which I must
necessarily be deprived if I shall come off van-
quished. Shall we therefore learn wisdom from
these men, who differ from cattle and the brutes,
not in feeling, but in language? To regard the
absence of pain as the chief good, is not indeed
the part of Peripatetic and Stoic, but of clinical
philosophers. For who would not imagine that
the discussion was carried on by those who were
ill, and under the influence of some pain? What
is so ridiculous, as to esteem that the chief good
which the physician is able to give? We must
therefore feel pain In order that we may enjoy
good ; and that, too, severely and frequently,
that afterwards the absence of pain may be
attended with greater pleasure. He is therefore
most wretched who has never felt pain, because
he is without that which is good ; whereas we
used to regard him as most happy, because he
was without evil. He was not far distant from
this folly, who said that the entire absence of
pain was the chief good. For, besides the fact
that every animal avoids pain, who can bestow
upon himself that good, towards the obtaining
of which we can do no more than wish? But
the chief good cannot make any one happy,
unless it shall be always in his power ; and it is
not virtue, nor learning, nor labour, which affords
this to man, but nature herself bestows it upon
all living creatures. They who joined pleasure
with virtuous principle, wished to avoid this
common blending together of all, but they made
a contradictory kind of good ; since he who is
abandoned to pleasure must of necessity be
destitute of virtuous principle, and he who aims
at principle must be destitute of pleasure.

The chief good of the Peripatetics may pos-

' [Sus ille lutulentus. a Pet. ii. 22.]

sibly appear excessive, various, and — excepting
those goods which belong to the mind, and what
they are is a great subject of dispute — common
to man with the beasts. For goods belonging
to the body — that is, safety, freedom from pain,
health — are no less necessary for dumb creatures
than for man ; and I know not if they are not
more necessary for them, because man can be
relieved by remedies and services, the dumb
animals cannot. The same is true of those which
they call the goods of fortune ; for as man has
need of resources for the support of life, so
have they^ need of prey and pasture. Thus,
by introducing a good which is not within the
power of man, they made man altogether subject
to the power of another. Let us also hear Zeno,
for he at times dreams of virtue. The chief
good, he says, is to live in accordance with na-
ture. Therefore we must live after the manner
of the brutes. For in these are found all the
things which ought to be absent from man : they
are eager for pleasures, they fear, they deceive,
they lie in wait, they kill ; and that which is
especially to the point, they have no knowledge
of God. Why, therefore, does he teach me to
live according to nature, which is of itself prone
to a worse course, and under the influence of
some more soothing blandishments plunges head-
long into vices? Or if he says that the nature
of brutes is different from the nature of man,
because man is born to virtue, he says something
to the purpose ; but, however, it will not be a
definition of the chief good, because there is no
animal which does not live in accordance with
its nature.

He who made knowledge the chief good, gave
something peculiar to man ; but men desire
knowledge for the sake of something else, and
not for its own sake. For who is contented with
knowing, without seeking some advantage from
his knowledge? The arts are learned for the
purpose of being put into exercise ; but they are
exercised either for the support of life, or pleas-
ure, or for glory. That, therefore, is not the
chief good which is not sought for on its own
account. What difference, therefore, does it
make, whether we consider knowledge to be the
chief good, or those very things which knowledge
produces from itself, that is, means of subsist-
ence, glory, pleasure? And these things are
not peculiar to man, and therefore they are not
the chief goods ; for the desire of pleasure and
of food does not exist in man alone, but also in
the brutes. How is it with regard to the desire
of glory? Is it not discovered in horses, since
they exult in victory, and are grieved when van-
quished ? " So great is their love of praises, so
great is their eagerness for victory." ^ Nor with-

* They, i.e., the beasts of prey and the tame animals.
3 Virg., Georg., iii. 112, 102.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III

out reason does that most excellent poet say that
we must try " what grief they feel when over-
come, and how they rejoice in victory." But if
those things which knowledge produces are com-
mon to man with other animals, it follows that
knowledge is not the chief good. Moreover,
it is no slight fault of this definition that bare
knowledge is set forth. For all will begin to
appear happy who shall have the knowledge of
any art, even those who shall know mischievous
subjects ; so that he who shall have learned to
mix poisons, is as happy as he who has learned
to apply remedies. I ask, therefore, to what
subject knowledge is to be referred. If to the
causes of natural things, what happiness will be
proposed to me, if I shall know the sources of
the Nile, or the vain dreams of the natural phi-
losophers respecting the heaven? Why should
I mention that on these subjects there is no
knowledge, but mere conjecture, which varies
according to the abilities of men? It only re-
mains that the knowledge of good and evil things
is the chief good. Why, then, did he call knowl-
edge the chief good more than wisdom, when
both words have the same signification and
meaning? But no one has yet said that the
chief good is wisdom, though this might more
properly have been said. For knowledge is in-
sufficient for the undertaking of that which is
good and avoiding that which is evil, unless vir-
tue also is added. For many of the philoso-
phers, though they discussed the nature of good
and evil things, yet from the compulsion of
nature lived in a manner different from their
discourse, because they were without virtue.
But virtue united with knowledge is wisdom.

It remains that we refute those also who
judged virtue itself to be the chief good, and
Marcus TuUius was also of this opinion ; and in
this they were very inconsiderate.' For virtue
itself is not the chief good, but it is the contriver
and mother of the chief good ; for this cannot
be attained without virtue. Each point is easily
understood. For I ask whether they imagine
that it is easy to arrive at that distinguished
good, or that it is reached only with difficulty
and labour? Let them apply their ingenuity,
and defend error. If it is easily attained to, and
without labour, it cannot be the chief good.
For why should we torment ourselves, why wear
ourselves out with striving day and night, seeing
that the object of our pursuit is so close at hand,
that any one who wishes may grasp it without
any effort of the mind ? But if we do not attain
even to a common and moderate good except
l)y labour, since good things are by their nature
arduous and difficult,^ whereas evil things have a

' [De Finibus, book v. cap. 28.]

^ Literally, " since the nature of good things is placed on a steep
ascent, that of evil things on a precipitous descent."

downward tendency, it follows that the greatest
labour is necessary for the attainment of the
greatest good. And if this is most true, then
there is need of another virtue, that we may
arrive at that virtue which is called the chief
good ; but this is incongruous and absurd, that
virtue should arrive at itself by means of itself.
If no good can be reached unless by labour, it
is evident that it is virtue by which it is reached,
since the force and office of virtue consist in the
undertaking and carrying through of labours.
Therefore the chief good cannot be that by
which it is necessary to arrive at another. But
they, since they were ignorant of the effects and
tendency of virtue, and could discover nothing
more honourable, stopped at the very name of
virtue, and said that it ought to be sought,
though no advantage was proposed from it ; and
thus they fixed for themselves a good which it-
self stood in need of a good. From these Aris-
totle was not far removed, who thought that
virtue together with honour was the chief good ;
as though it were possible for any virtue to exist
unless it were honourable, and as though it
would not cease to be virtue if it had any
measure of disgrace. But he saw that it might
happen that a bad opinion is entertained respect-
ing virtue by a depraved judgment, and there-
fore he thought that deference should be paid
to what in the estimation of men constitutes a
departure from what is right and good, because
it is not in our power that virtue should be hon-
oured simply for its own deserts. For what is
honourable ^ character, except perpetual honour,
conferred on any one by the favourable report
of the people? What, then, will happen, if
through the error and perverseness of men a
bad reputation should ensue? Shall we cast
aside virtue because it is judged to be base and
disgraceful by the foolish ? And since it is capa-
ble of being oppressed and harassed, in order
that it may be of itself a peculiar and lasting
good, it ought to stand in need of no outward
assistance, so as not to depend by itself upon its
own strength, and to remain stedfast. And thus
no good is to be hoped by it from man, nor is
any evil to be refused.

CHAP. IX. OF THE CHIEF GOOD, AND THE WOR-
SHIP OF THE TRUE GOD, AND A REFUTATION
OF ANAXAGORAS.

I now come to the chief good of true wisdom,
the nature of which is to be determined in this
manner : first, it must be the property of man
alone, and not belong to any other animal ;
secondly, it must belong to the soul only, and

3 Honestas is used with some latitude of meaning, to express re-
spectability of character, or honourable feeling, or the principle of
honour, or virtue itself. [See Philipp. iv. 8.]

Chai'. X.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

not be shared with the body ; lastly, it cannot
fall to the lot of any one without knowledge and
virtue. Now this limitation excludes and does
away with all the opinions of those 7ahom I have
mentioned ; for their sayings contain nothing of
this kind. I will now say what this is, that I
may show, as I designed, that all philosophers
were blind and foolish, who could neither see,
nor understand, nor surmise at any time what
was fixed as the chief good for man. Anaxago-
ras, when asked for what purpose he was born,
replied that he might look upon the heaven and
the sun. This expression is admired by all, and
judged worthy of a philosopher. But I think
that he, being unprepared with an answer, uttered
this at random, that he might ' not be silent.
But if he had been wise, he ought to have con-
sidered and reflected with himself; for if any
one is ignorant of his own condition, he cannot
even be a man. But let us imagine that the say-
ing was not uttered on the spur of the moment.
Let us see how many and what great errors he
committed in three words. First, he erred in
placing the whole duty of man in the eyes alone,
referring nothing to the mind, but everything to
the body. But if he had been blind, would he
lose the duty of a man, which cannot happen
without the ruin^ of the soul? What of the
other parts of the body? Will they be destitute,
each of its own duty? Why should I say that
more depends upon the ears than upon the eye,
since learning and wisdom can be gained by the
ears only, but not by the eyes only ? Were you
born for the sake of seeing the heaven and the
sun ? Who introduced you to this 3 sight ? or
what does your vision contribute to the heaven
and the nature of things? Doubtless that you
may praise this immense and wonderful work.
Therefore confess that God is the Creator of all
things, who introduced you into this world, as a
witness and praiser of His great work. You be-
lieve that it is a great thing to behold the heaven
and the sun : why, therefore, do you not give
thanks to Him who is the author of this benefit ?
why do you not measure with your mind the ex-
cellence, the providence, and the power of Him
whose works you admire ? For it must be, that
He who created objects worthy of admiration, is
Himself much more to be admired. If any one
had invited you to dinner, and you had been well
entertained, should you appear in your senses, if
you esteemed the mere pleasure more highly
than the author of the pleasure? So entirely
do philosophers refer all things to the body, and
nothing at all to the mind, nor do they see be-
yond that which falls under their eyes. But all

' That he might be able to make some answer.
^ The fall or overthrow.

3 Xhis sight or spectacle, that is, into this world. This expression
is used for the place from which the sight is beheld.

the offices of the body being put aside, the busi-
ness of man is to be placed in the mind alone.
Therefore we are not bom for this purpose, that
we may see those things which are created, but
that we may contemplate, that is, behold with
our mind, the Creator of all things Himself,
Wherefore, if any one should ask a man who is
truly wise for what purpose he was born, he will
answer without fear or hesitation, that he was
born for the purpose of worshipping God, who
brought us into being for his cause, that we may
serve Him. But to serve God is nothing else
than to maintain and preserve justice by good
works. But he, as a man ignorant of divine
things, reduced a matter of the greatest magni-
tude to the least, by selecting two things only,
which he said were to be beheld by him. But
if he had said that he was born to behold the
world, although he would comprise all things in
this, and would use an expression of greater*
sound, yet he would not have completed the
duty of man ; for as much as the soul excels
the body, so much does God excel the world, for
God made and governs the world. Therefore it
is not the world which is to be contemplated by
the eye, for each is a body ; 5 but it is God who
is to be contemplated by the soul : for God, be-
ing Himself immortal, willed that the soul also
should be everlasting. But the contemplation
of God is the reverence and worship of the
common Parent of mankind. And if the phi-
losophers were destitute of this, and in their
ignorance of divine things prostrated themselves
to the earth, we must suppose that Anaxagoras
neither beheld the heaven nor the sun, though
he said that he was born that he might behold
them. The object proposed to man is therefore
plain ^ and easy, if he is wise ; and to it espe-
cially belongs humanity.^ For what is humanity
itself, but justice? what is justice, but piety?
And piety ^ is nothing else than the recognition
of God as a parent.

CHAP. X. IT IS THE PECULIAR PROPERTY OF

MAN TO KNOW AND WORSHIP GOD.

Therefore the chief good of man is in religion
only ; for the other things, even those which are
supposed to be peculiar to man, are found in the
other animals also. For when they discern and
distinguish their own voices 9 by peculiar marks
among themselves, they seem to converse : they
also appear to have a kind of smile, when with
soothed ears, and contracted mouth, and with

* Would use a greater sound.

5 Each, viz., the world and the eye.

6 Expedita, " free from obstacles," " unembarrassed."

'' Humanity, properly that which is characteristic of man, then
kindness and humaneness.

' Pietas. The word denotes not only piety towards God, but also
the affection due to a parent.

9 The sounds uttered by the beasts, by which they are able to
distinguish one another. [Rousseau's theory goes further.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III

eyes relaxed to sportiveness, they fawn upon
man, or upon their own mates and young. Do
they not give a greeting which bears some re-
semblance to mutual love and indulgence?
Again, those creatures which look forward to
the future and lay up for themselves food, plainly
have foresight. Indications of reason are also
found in many of them. For since they desire
things useful to themselves, guard against evils,
avoid dangers, prepare for themselves lurking-
places standing open in different places with
various outlets, assuredly they have some under-
standing. Can any one deny that they are pos-
sessed of reason, since they often deceive man
himself? For those which have the office of
producing honey, when they inhabit the place
assigned to them, fortify a camp, construct dwell-
ings with unspeakable skill, and obey their king ;
I know not if there is not in them perfect pru-
dence. It is therefore uncertain whether those
things which are given to man are common to
him with other living creatures : they are certainly
without religion. I indeed thus judge, that reason
is given to all animals, but to the dumb creatures
only for the protection of life, to man also for
its prolongation. And because reason itself is
perfect in man, it is named wisdom, which ren-
ders man distinguished in this respect, that to
him alone it is given to comprehend divine things.
And concerning this the opinion of Cicero is
true : " Of so many kinds of animals," he says,
" there is none except man which has any knowl-
edge of God ; and among men themselves, there
is no nation either so uncivilized or so savage,
which, even if it is ignorant of due conceptions of
the Deity, does not know that some conception
of Him ought to be entertained." From which
it is effected, that he acknowledges God, who,
as it were, calls to mind the source from which
he is sprung. Those philosophers, therefore,
who wish to free the mind from all fear, take
away even religion, and thus deprive man of his
peculiar and surpassing good, which is distinct
from living uprightly, and from everything con-
nected with man, because God, who made all
living creatures subject to man, also made man
subject to Himself. What reason is there why
they should also maintain that the mind is to be
turned in the same direction to which the counte-
nance is raised? For if we must look to the
heaven, it is undoubtedly for no other reason than
on account of religion ; if religion is taken away,
we have nothing to do with the heaven. There-
fore we must either look in that direction or bend
down to the earth. We are not able to bend
)lown to the earth, even if we should wish, since
our posture is upright. We must therefore look
up to the heaven, to which the nature of the
body calls us. And if it is admitted that this
must be done, it must either be done with this

view, that we may devote ourselves to religion,
or that we may know the nature of the heavenly
objects. But we cannot by any means know the
nature of the heavenly objects, because nothing
of that kind can be found out by reflection, as I
have before shown. We must therefore devote
ourselves to religion, and he who does not under-
take this prostrates himself to the ground, and,
imitating the life of the brutes, abdicates the
office of man. Therefore the ignorant are more
wise ; for although they err in choosing religion,
yet they remember their own nature and condition.

CHAP. XI. — OF RELIGION, WISDOM, AND THE CHIEF

GOOD.

It is agreed upon, therefore, by the general
consent of all mankind, that religion ought to be
undertaken ; but we have to explain what errors
are committed on this subject. God willed this
to be the nature of man, that he should be
desirous and eager for two things, religion and
wisdom. But men are mistaken in this, that
they either undertake religion and pay no atten-
tion to wisdom, or they devote themselves to
wisdom alone, and pay no attention to religion,
though the one cannot be true without the other.
The consequence is, that they fall into a multi-
plicity of religions, but false ones, because they
have left wisdom, which could have taught them
that there cannot be many gods ; or they devote
themselves to wisdom, but a false wisdom, be-
cause they have paid no attention to the religion
of the Supreme God, who might have instructed
them to the knowledge of the truth. Thus men
who undertake either of these courses follow a
devious path, and one full of the greatest errors,
inasmuch as the duty of man, and all truth, are
included in these two things which are insepa-
rably connected. I wonder, therefore, that there
was none at all of the philosophers who discov-
ered the abode and dwelling-place of the chief
good. For they might have sought it in this
manner. Whatever the greatest good is, it must
be an object proposed to all men. There is
pleasure, which is desired by all ; but this is
common also to man with the beasts, and has
not the force of the honourable, and brings a
feeling of satiety, and when it is in excess is in-
jurious, and it is lessened by advance of age, and
does not fall to the lot of many : for they who
are without resources, who constitute the greater
part of men, must also be without pleasure.
Therefore pleasure is not the chief good ; but it
is not even a good. What shall we say of riches ?
This is much more ' true of them. For they fall
to the lot of fewer men, and that generally by
chance ; and they often fall to the indolent, and

' Miilto magis is the reading of the MSS. ; but multo minus ^
" much less " — seems preferable.

Chap. XII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

sometimes by guilt, and they are desired by
those who already possess them. What shall we
say of sovereignty itself? That does not consti-
tute the chief good : for all cannot reign, but it
is necessary that all should be capable of attain-
ing the chief good.

Let us therefore seek something which is held
forth to all. Is it virtue? It cannot be denied
that virtue is a good, and undoubtedly a good
for all men. But if it cannot be happy because
its power and nature consist in the endurance of
evil, it assuredly is not the chief good. Let us
seek something else. But nothing can be found
more beautiful than virtue, nothing more worthy
of a wise man. For if vices are to be avoided
on account of their deformity, virtue is therefore
to be desired on account of its beauty. What
then ? Can it be that that which is admitted to
be good and honourable should be requited
with no reward, and be so unproductive as to
procure no advantage from itself? That great
labour and difficulty and struggling against evils
with which this life is filled, must of necessity
produce some great good. But what shall we
say that it is? Pleasure? But nothing that is
base can arise from that which is honourable.
Shall we say that it is riches? or commands?
But these things are frail and uncertain.' Is it
^lory ? or honour ? or a lasting name ? But all
ehese things are not contained in virtue itself,
out depend upon the opinion and judgment of
Dthers. For virtue is often hated and visited
with evil. But the good which arises from it
ought to be so closely united with it as to be in-
capable of being separated or disunited from it ;
and it cannot appear to be the chief good in any
other way than if it belongs peculiarly to virtue,
and is such that nothing can be added to it or
taken from it. Why should I say that the duties
of virtue consist in the despising of all these
things ? For not to long for, or desire, or love
pleasures, riches, dominions, and honours, and
all those things which are esteemed as goods, as
others do overpowered by desire, that assuredly
is virtue. Therefore it effects something else
more sublime and excellent ; nor does anything
struggle against these present goods but that
which longs for greater and truer things. Let
us not despair of being able to find it, if we turn
our thoughts in all directions ; for no slight or
trifling rewards are sought.

CHAP. XII. — OF THE TWOFOLD CONFLICT OF BODY
AND SOUL ; AND OF DESIRING VIRIXTE ON ACCOUNT
OF ETERNAL LIFE.

But our inquiry is as to the object for which
we are bom : and thus we are able to trace out

' Liable to fall, perishable.

what is the effect of virtue. There are two *
parts of which man is made up, soul and body.
There are many things peculiar to the soul, many
peculiar to the body, many common to both, as
is virtue itself; and as often as this is referred to
the body, it is called fortitude for the sake of
distinction. Since, therefore, fortitude is con-
j nected with each, a contest is proposed to each,
and victory held forth to each from the contest :
the body, because it is solid, and capable of
being grasped, must contend with objects which
are solid and can be grasped ; but the soul, on
j the other hand, because it is slight ^ and subtle,
! and invisible, contends with those enemies who
cannot be seen and touched. But what are the
enemies of the soul, but lusts, vices, and sins?
And if virtue shall have overcome and put to
flight these, the soul will be pure and free from
stain. Whence, then, are we able to collect what
are the effects of fortitude of soul? Doubtless
from that which is closely connected with it, and
resembles it, that is, from fortitude of the body ;
for when this has come to any encounter and
contest, what else does it seek from victory but
life ? For whether you contend with a man or
beast, the contest is for safety. Therefore, as
the body obtains by victory its preservation from
destruction, so the soul obtains a continuation
of its existence ; and as the body, when over-
come by its enemies, suffers death, so the soul,
when overpowered by vices, must die. What
difference, therefore, will there be between the
contest carried on by the soul and that carried
on by the body, except that the body seeks for
temporal, but the soul eternal life? If, there-
fore, virtue is not happy by itself, since its whole
force consists, as I have said, in the enduring of
evils ; if it neglects all things which are desired
as goods ; if in its highest condition it is exposed
to death, inasmuch as it often refuses life, which is
desired by others, and bravely undergoes death,
which others fear ; if it must necessarily produce
some great good from itself, because labours, en-
dured and overcome even until death, cannot
fail of obtaining a reward ; if no reward, such as
it deserves, is found on earth, inasmuch as it
despises all things which are frail and transitory,
what else remains but that it may effect some
heavenly reward, since it treats with contempt
all earthly things, and may aim at higher things,
since it despises things that are humble ? And
this reward can be nothing else but immortality.
With good reason, therefore, did Euclid, no
obscure philosopher, who was the founder of
the system of the Megareans, differing from the
others, say that that was the chief good which

* According to St. Paul, man consists of three parts — body, soul,
and spirit. Lactantius appears to use the word soul in the same
sense m which the Scriptures speak of spirit. [Vol. i. p. 532 ]

3 Tenuis, as applied to the soul, opposed to solidus, applied to the
body.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IIL

was unvarying and always the same. He cer-
tainly understood what is the nature of the chief
good, although he did not explain in what it con-
sisted ; but it consists of immortahty, nor anything
else at all, inasmuch as it alone is incapable of
diminution, or increase, or change. Seneca also
unconsciously happened to confess that there is
no other reward of virtue than immortality. For
in praising virtue in the treatise which he wrote
on the subject of premature death, he says :
"Virtue is the only thing which can confer upon
us immortality, and make us equal to the gods."
But the Stoics also, whom he followed, say that no
one can be made happy without virtue. There-
tore, the reward of virtue is a happy life, if virtue,
as it is rightly said, makes a happy life. Virtue,
therefore, is not, as they say, to be sought on its
own account, but on account of a happy life,
which necessarily follows virtue. And this argu-
ment might have taught them in what the chief
good consisted. But this present and corporeal
life cannot be happy, because it is subjected to
evils through the body. Epicurus calls God
happy and incorruptible, because He is everlast-
ing. For a state of happiness ought to be per-
fect, so that there may be nothing which can
harass, or lessen, or change it. Nor can any-
thing be judged happy in other respects, unless
it be incorruptible. But nothing is incorruptible
but that which is immortal. Immortality there-
fore is alone happy, because it can neither be
corrupted nor destroyed. But if virtue falls
within the power of man, which no one can
deny, happiness also belongs to him. For it is
impossible for a man to be wretched who is en-
dued with virtue. If happiness falls within his
power, then immortality, which is possessed of;
the attribute of happiness, also belongs to him.

The chief good, therefore, is found to be im-
mortality alone, which pertains to no other ani-
mal or body ; nor can it happen to any one
without the virtue of knowledge, that is, without
the knowledge of God and justice. And how
true and right is the seeking for this, the very
desire of this life shows : for although it be but
temporary, and most full of labour, yet it is
sought and desired by all ; for both old men and
boys, kings and those of the lowest station, in
fine, wise as well as foolish, desire this. Of such
value, as it seemed to Anaxagoras, is the contem-
plation of the heaven and the light itself, that
men willingly undergo any miseries on this ac-
count. Since, therefore, this short and laborious
life, by the general consent not only of men,
but also of other animals, is considered a great
good, it is manifest that it becomes also a very
great and perfect good if it is without an end
and free from all evil. In short, there never
would have been any one who would desjjise
this life, however short it is, or undergo death.

unless through the hope of a longer life. For
those who voluntarily offered themselves to death
for the safety of their countrymen, as Menoeceus
did at Thebes, Codrus at Athens, Curtius and
the two Mures at Rome, would never have pre-
ferred death to the advantages of life, unless
they had thought that they should attain to im-
mortality through the estimation of their coun-
trymen ; and although they were ignorant of the
life of immortahty, yet the reality itself did not
escape their notice. For if virtue despises opu-
lence and riches because they are frail, and
pleasures because they are of brief continuance,
it therefore despises a hfe which is frail and
brief, that it may obtain one which is substantial
and lasting. Therefore reflection itself, advan-
cing by regular order, and weighing everything,
leads us to that excellent and surpassing good,
on account of which we are born. And if phi-
losophers had thus acted, if they had not pre-
ferred obstinately to maintain that which they
had once apprehended, they would undoubtedly
have arrived at this truth, as I have lately shown.
And if this was not the part of those who extin-
guish the heavenly souls together with the body,
yet those who discuss the immortality of the
soul ought to have understood that virtue is set
before us on this account, that, lusts having been
subdued, and the desire of earthly things over-
come, our souls, pure and victorious, may return
to God, that is, to their original source. For it
is on this account that we alone of living crea-
tures are raised to the sight of the heaven, that
we may beheve that our chief good is in the
highest place. Therefore we alone receive re-
ligion, that we may know from this source that
the spirit of man is not mortal, since it longs
for and acknowledges God, who is immortal.

Therefore, of all the philosophers, those who
have embraced either knowledge or virtue as the
chief good, have kept the way of truth, but have
not arrived at perfection. For these are the
two things which together make up that which
is sought for. Knowledge causes us to know by
what means and to what end we must attain ;
virtue causes us to attain to it. The one with-
out the other is of no avail ; for from knowledge
arises virtue, and from virtue the chief good is
produced. Therefore a happy life, which phi-
losophers have always sought, and still do seek,
has no existence either in the worship of the
gods or in philosophy ; and on this account they
were unable to find it, because they did not seek
the highest good in the highest place, but in the
lowest. For what is the highest but heaven, and
God, from whom the soul has its origin? And
what is the lowest but the earth, from which the
body is made? Therefore, although some i)hi-
losophers have assigned the chief good, not to
the body, but to the soul, yet, inasmuch a^ tlicy

Chav. XII I.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

have referred it to this Hfe, which has its ending
with the body, they have gone back to the body,
to which the whole of this time which is passed
on earth has reference. Therefore it was not
without reason that they did not attain to the
highest good ; for whatever looks to the body
only, and is without immortality, must necessarily
be the lowest. Therefore happiness does not
fall to the condition of man in that manner in
which philosophers thought ; but it so falls to
him, not that he should then be happy, when he
lives in the body, which must undoubtedly be
corrupted in order to its dissolution ; but then,
when, the soul being freed from intercourse with
the body, he lives in the spirit only. In this
one thing alone can we be happy in this life, if
we appear to be unhappy ; if, avoiding the en-
ticements of pleasures, and giving ourselves to
rhe service of virtue only, we live in all labours
and miseries, which are the means of exercising
and strengthening virtue ; if, in short, we keep
to that rugged and difficult path which has been
opened for us to happiness. The chief good
therefore which makes men happy cannot exist,
unless it be in that religion and doctrine to
which is annexed the hope of immortality.

CHAP. XIII. OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL,

AND OF WISDOM, PHILOSOPHY, AND ELOQUENCE.

The subject seems to require in this place,
that since we have taught that immortality is
the chief good, we should prove this also, that the
soul IS immortal. On which subject there is
great disputation among philosophers ; nor have
they who held true opinions respecting the soul
been able to explain or prove anything : for,
being destitute of divine knowledge, they neither
brought forward true arguments by which they
might overcome, nor evidence by which they
might convince. But we shall treat of this
question more conveniently in the last book,
when we shall have to discuss the subject of a
happy life. There remains that third part of
philosophy, which they call Logic, in which the
whole subject of dialectics and the whole meth-
od of speaking are contained. Divine learning
does not stand in need of this, because the seat
of wisdom is not the tongue, but the heart ; and
it makes no difference what kind of language
you employ, for the question is not about words,'
but facts. And we are not disputing about the
grammarian or the orator, whose knowledge is
concerned with the proper manner of speaking,
but about the wise man, whose learning is con-

■ There is a memorable story related by ecclesiastical historians,
about a very clever disputant, whose sophistries could not be an-
swered by his fellow-disputants, but who was completely silenced by
the simple answers of a Christian otherwise unknown. When ques-
tioned about his sudden silence, the sophist replied that others ex-
changed words for words, but that this simple Christian fought with
virtue.

cerned with the right manner of living. But if
that system of natural philosophy before men-
tioned is not necessary, nor this of logic, because
they are not able to render a man happy, it re-
mains that the whole force of philosophy is
contained in the ethical part alone, to which
Socrates is said to have applied himself, laying
aside the others. And since I have shown that
philosophers erred in this part also, who did not
grasp the chief good, for the sake of gaining
which we are born ; it appears that philosophy
is altogether false and empty, since it does not
prepare us for the duties of justice, nor strength-
en the obligations and settled course of man's
life. Let them know, therefore, that they are in
error who imagine that philosophy is wisdom ;
let them not be drawn away by the authority
of any one ; but rather let them incline to the
truth, and approach it. There is no room for
rashness here ; we must endure the punishment
of our folly to all eternity, if we shall be deceived
either by an empty character or a false opinion.
But man,2 such as he is, if he trusts in himself,
that is, if he trusts in man, is (not to say foolish,
in that he does not see his own error) undoubt-
edly arrogant, in venturing to claim for himself
that which the condition of man does not admit of.
And how much that greatest author of the
Roman language is deceived, we may see from
that sentiment of his ; for when, in his " Books
on Offices," 3 he had said that philosophy is
nothing else than the desire of wisdom, and that
wisdom itself is the knowledge of things divine
and human, added : *' And if any one censures
the desire of this, I do not indeed understand
what there is which he imagines praiseworthy.
For if enjoyment of the mind and rest from
cares is sought, what enjoyment can be com-
pared with the pursuits of those who are always
inquiring into something which has reference to
and tends to promoLC a good and happy life?
Or if any account is taken of consistency and
virtue, either this is the study ■♦ by which we may
attain them, or there is none at all. To say that
there is no system in connection with the great-
est subjects, when none of the least is without a
system, is the part of men speaking inconsider-
ately, and erring in the greatest subjects. But
if there is any discipline of virtue, where shall it
be sought when you have departed from that
kind of learning?" For my own part, although
I endeavoured to attain in some degree to the
means of acquiring learning, on account of my
desire to teach others, yet I have never been
eloquent, inasmuch as I never even engaged in

^ There seems to be a reference to a passage of Terence, in which
the poet represents it as the property of man to err. [Or to Cicero,
rather: Cujusvis hominis est errare, etc. Philipp. xii. 2. J

3 Cicero, Dc Officiis, ii. 2.

* Ars denotes study, method, or system. The word is applied
both to theoretical Icnowledge and practical skill.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

public speaking ; but the goodness of the cause
cannot fail of itself to make me eloquent, and
for its clear and copious defence the knowledge
of divinity and the truth itself are sufficient. I
could wish, therefore, that Cicero might for a
short time rise from the dead, that a man of
such consummate eloquence might be taught
by an insignificant person who is devoid of elo-
quence, first, what that is which is deemed
worthy of praise by him who blames that study
which is called philosophy ; and in the next
place, that it is not that study by which virtue
and justice are learned, nor any other, as he
thought ; and lastly, that since there is a disci-
pline of virtue, he might be taught where it is to
be sought, when you have laid aside that kind
of learning, which he did not seek for the sake
of hearing and learning. For from whom could
he hear when no one knew it? But, as his
usual practice was in pleading causes, he wished
to press his opponent by questioning, and thus
to lead him to confession, as though he were
confident that no answer could be given to
show that philosophy was not the instructress of
virtue. And in the Tusculan disputations he
openly professed this, turning his speech to phi-
losophy, as though he was showing himself off
by a declamatory style of speaking. " O phi-
losophy, thou guide of life," he says ; " O thou
investigator of virtue, and expeller of vices;
what could not only we, but the life of men,
have effected at all without thee? Thou hast
been the inventor of laws, thou the teacher of
morals and discipline ; " — as though, indeed,
she could perceive anything by herself, and he
were not rather to be praised who gave her. In
the same manner he might have given thanks to
food and drink, because without these life could
not exist ; yet these, while they minister to sense,
confer no benefit. But as these things are the nour-
ishment of the body, so wisdom is of the soul.

CHAP. XIV. — THAT LUCRETIUS AND OTHERS HAVE
ERRED, AND CICERO HIMSELF, IN FIXING THE
ORIGIN OF WISDOM.

Lucretius, accordingly, acts more correctly in
praising him who was the first discoverer of wis-
dom ; but he acts foolishly in this, that he sup-
posed it to be discovered by a man, — as though
that man whom he praises had found it lying
somewhere as flutes at the fountain,' according
to the legends of the poets. But if he praised
the inventor of wisdom as a god, — for thus he
speaks : ^ —

"No one, I think, who is formed of mortal body. For
if we must speak, as the acknowledged majesty of
the subject itself demands, he was a god, he was
a god, most noble Memmius," —

' A proverbial expression, denoting an accidental occurrence.
^ Book V. 6.

yet God ought not to have been praised on this
account, because He discovered wisdom, but
because He created man, who might be capable
of receiving wisdom. For he diminishes the
praise who praises a part only of the whole. But
he praised Him as a man ; whereas He ought to
have been esteemed as a God on this very ac-
count, because He found out wisdom. For thus
he speaks : ^ —

" Will it not be right that this man should be enrolled
among the gods ? "

From this it appears, either that he wished to
praise Pythagoras, who was the first, as I have
said,^ to call himself a philosopher ; or Thales
of Miletus, who is reported to have been the
first who discussed the nature of things. Thus,
while he seeks to exalt, he has depressed the
thing itself. For it is not great if it could have
been discovered by man. But he may be par-
doned as a poet. But that same accomplished
orator, that same consummate philosopher, also
censures the Greeks, whose levity he always ac-
cuses, and yet imitates. Wisdom itself, which
at one time he calls the gift, at another time
the invention, of the gods, he fashions after the
manner of the poets, and praises on account of
its beauty. He also grievously complains that
there have been some who disparaged it. " Can
any one," he says, " dare to censure the parent
of life, and to defile himself with this guilt of
parricide, and to be so impiously ungrateful?"

Are we then parricides, Marcus Tullius, and
in your judgment worthy to be sewed 5 up in a
bag, who deny that philosophy is the parent of
life ? Or you, who are so impiously ungrateful
towards God (not this god whose image you
worship as he sits in the Capitol, but Him who
made the world and created man, who bestowed
wisdom also among His heavenly benefits), do
you call her the teacher of virtue or the parent
of life, having learned^ from whom, one must
be in much greater uncertainty than he was be-
fore? For of what virtue is she the teacher?
For philosophers to the present time do not ex-
plain where she is situated. Of what life is she
the parent? since the teachers themselves have
been worn out by old age and death before they
have determined upon the befitting course of
life. Of what truth can you hold her forth as
an explorer? since you often testify that, in so
great a multitude of philosophers, not a single
wise man has yet existed. What, then, did that
mistress of life teach you ? Was it to assail with
reproaches the most powerful consul, ^ and by

3 Book V. 51.

4 Ch. ii.

s The .-tllusion is to the punishment of parricides, who were sewed
into a bag with an ape, a serpent, and a cock, and thus thrown into
the .sea.

'' Ifany one has approached her as a learner.

^ Marcus Antonius, who was consul with C. Ca;sar in the ye.ir
when Ca:sar was assassinated. It was against Antonius that Cicero

Chap. XV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

your envenomed .speeches to render him the
enemy of his country? But let us pass by those
things, which may be excused under the name
of fortune. You apphed yourself, in truth, to
the study of philosophy, and so, indeed, that no
one ever applied himself more diligently; since
you were acciuainted with all the systems of phi-
losophy, as you yourself are accustomed to boast,
and elucidated the subject itself in Latin writ-
ings, anil displayed yourself as an imitator of
Plato. Tell us, therefore, what you have learned,
or in what sect you have discovered the truth.
Doubtless it was in the Academy which you fol-
lowed and approved. But this teaches nothing,
excepting that you know your own ignorance.'
Therefore your own books refute you, and show
the nothingness of the learning which may be
gained from philosophy for life. These are your
words : '" But to me we appear not only blind
to wisdom, but dull and obtuse to those very
things which may appear in some degree to
be discerned." If, therefore, philosophy is the
teacher of life, why did you appear to yourself
blind, and dull, and obtuse ? whereas you ought,
under her teaching, both to perceive and to be
wise, and to be engaged in the clearest light.
But how you confessed the truth of philosophy
we learn from the letters addressed to your son,
in which you advise him that the precepts of
philosophy ought to be known, but that we
must live as members of a community.^

What can be spoken so contradictory? If
the precepts of philosophy ought to be known,
it is on this account that they ought to be known,
in order to our living well and wisely. Or if
we must live as members of a community, then
philosophy is not wisdom, if it is better to live
in accordance with society than with philosophy.
For if that which is called philosophy be wis-
dom, he assuredly lives foolishly who does not
live according to philosophy. But if he does
not live foolishly who lives in accordance with
society, it follows that he who lives according to
philosophy lives foolishly. By your own judg-
ment, therefore, philosophy is condemned of
folly and emptiness. And you also, in your Con-
solation, that is, not in a work of levity and mirth,
introduced this sentiment respecting philosophy :
" But I know not what error possesses us, or de-
plorable ignorance of the truth." Where, then,
is the guidance of philosophy? or what has that
parent of life taught you, if you are deplorably
ignorant of the truth? But if this confession
of error and ignorance has been extorted almost
against your will from your innermost breast,
why do you not at length acknowledge to your-

wrote those speeches full of invectives, which, in imitation of Demos-
thenes, he named Philippics.

' This point is discussed by Cicero in his Academic questions.

* [Advice which he took to heart as a swinish debauchee.]

self the truth, that philosophy which, though it
teaches nothing, you extolled with praises to the
heavens, cannot be the teacher of virtue?

CHAP. XV. — THE ERROR OF SENECA IN PHILOSOPHY,
AND HOW THE SPEECH OF PHILOSOPHERS IS AT
VARIANCE WITH THEIR LIFE.

Under the influence of the same error (for
who could keep the right course when Cicero is
in error?), Seneca said : " Philosophy is nothing
else than the right method of living, or the
science of living honourably, or the art of passing
a good life. We shall not err in saying that
philosophy is the law of living well and honour-
ably. And he who spoke of it as a rule of life,
gave to it that which was its due." He evidently
did not refer to the common name of philosophy ;
for, since this is diffused into many sects and
systems, and has nothing certain — nothing, in
short, respecting which all agree with one mind
and one voice, — what can be so false as that
philosophy should be called the rule of life, since
the diversity of its precepts hinders the right
way and causes confusion ? or the law of living
well, when its subjects are widely discordant ? or
the science of passing life, in which nothing else
is effected by its repeated contradictions than
general^ uncertainty? For I ask whether he
thinks that the Academy is philosophy or not?
I do not think that he will deny it. And if this
is so, none of these things, therefore, is in agree-
ment with philosophy ; which renders all things
uncertain, abrogates law, esteems art as nothing,
subverts method, distorts rule, entirely takes
away knowledge. Therefore all those things are
false, because they are inconsistent with a sys-
tem which is always uncertain, and up to this
time explaining nothing. Therefore no system,
or science, or law of living well, has been estab-
lished, except in this the only true and heavenly
wisdom, which had been unknown to philoso-
phers. For that earthly wisdom, since it is false,
becomes varied and manifold, and altogether
opposed to itself. And as there is but one
founder and ruler of the world, God, and as
truth is one ; so wisdom must be one and simple,
because, if anything is true and good, it cannot
be perfect unless it is the only one of its kind.
But if philosophy were able to form the life, no
others but philosophers would be good, and all
those who had not learned it would be always
bad. But since there are, and always have been,
innumerable persons who are or have been good
without any learning, but of philosophers there
has seldom been one who has done anything
praiseworthy in his life ; who is there, I pray,
who does not see that those men are not teachers

5 Than — that no one knows anything. ,^

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III

of virtue, of which they themselves are destitute ?
For if any one should diligently inquire into
their character, he will find that they are passion-
ate, covetous, lustful, arrogant, wanton, and,
concealing their vices under a show of wisdom,
doing those things at home which they had
censured in the schools."

Perhaps I speak falsely for the sake of bring-
ing an accusation. Does not TuUius both ac-
knowledge and complain of the same thing?
" How kw," he says, " of philosophers are found
of such a character, so constituted in soul and
life, as reason demands ! how few who think
true instruction not a display of knowledge, but
a law of life ! how few who are obedient to
themselves, and submit to their own decrees !
We may see some of such levity and ostentation,
that it would be better for them not to have
learned at all ; others eagerly desirous of money,
others of glory ; many the slaves of lusts, so
that their speech wonderfully disagrees with their
life." Cornelius Nepos also writes to the same
Cicero : " So far am I from thinking that phi-
losophy is the teacher of life and the completer
of happiness, that I consider that none have
greater need of teachers of living than many
who are engaged in the discussion of this subject.
For I see that a great part of those who give
most elaborate precepts in their school respect-
modesty and self-restraint, live at the same time
in the unrestrained desires of all lusts." Seneca
also, in his Exhortations, says : " Many of the
philosophers are of this description, eloquent to
their own condemnation : for if you should hear
them arguing against avarice, against lust and
ambition, you would think that they were making
a public disclosure ^ of their own character, so
entirely do the censures which they utter in
public flow back upon themselves ; so that it is
right to regard them in no other light than as
physicians, whose advertisements ^ contain medi-
cines, but their medicine chests poison. Some
are not ashamed of their vices ; but they invent
defences for their baseness, so that they may
appear even to sin with honour." Seneca also
says : " The wise man will even do things which
he will not approve of, that he may find means
of passing to the accomplishment of greater
things ; nor will he abandon good morals, but
will adapt them to the occasion ; and those
things which others employ for glory or pleasure,
he will employ for the sake of action." Then
he says shortly afterwards : " All things which
the luxurious and the ignorant do, the wise man
also will do, but not in the same manner, and
with the same purpose. But it makes no differ-

I [Sallust as a writer abounds in denunciations of vice. But see
book li. cap. 13, note 4, p. 62, j«/ra.]

^ Indicium sui professes putes; others rer.d judicium, " you
would think that they were passing sentence on themselves."

3 Tituli, " titles. '

ence with what intention you act, when the
action itself is vicious ; because acts are seen,
the intention is not seen."

Aristippus, the master of the Cyrenaics, had a
criminal intimacy with Lais, the celebrated cour-
tesan ; and that grave teacher of philosophy de-
fended this fault by saying, that there was a great
difference between him and the other lovers of
Lais, because he himself possessed Lais, whereas
others were possessed by Lais. O illustrious
wisdom, to be imitated by good men ! Would
you, in truth, entrust your children to this man
for education, that they might learn to possess a
harlot? He said that there was some difference
between himself and the dissolute, that they
wasted their property, whereas he lived in indul-
gence without any cost. And in this the harlot
was plainly the wiser, who had the philosopher as
her creature, that all the youth, corrupted by the
example and authority of the teacher, might
flock together to her without any shame. What
difference therefore did it make, with what in-
tention the philosopher betook himself to that
most notorious harlot, when the people and his
rivals saw him more depraved than all the aban-
doned ? Nor was it enough to live in this man-
ner, but he began also to teach lusts ; and he
transferred his habits from the brothel to the
school, contending that bodily pleasure was the
chief good. .Which pernicious and shameful
doctrine has its origin not in the heart of the
philosopher, but in the bosom of the harlot.

For why should I speak of the Cynics, who
practised licentiousness in public? What won-
der if they derived their name and title from
dogs,"* since they also imitated their life ? There-
fore there is no instruction of virtue in this sect,
since even those who enjoin more honourable
things either themselves do not practise what
they advise ; or if they do (which rarely hap-
pens), it is not the system which leads them to
that which is right, but nature which often im-
pels even the unlearned to praise.

CHAP. XVI. — THAT THE PHILOSOPHERS WHO GIVS
GOOD INSTRUCTIONS LIVE BADLY, BY THE TES-
TIMONY OF CICERO ; THEREFORE WE SHOULD
NOT SO MUCH DEVOTE OURSELVES TO THE
STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY AS TO WISDOM.

But when they give themselves up to perpet-
ual sloth, and undertake no exercise of virtue,
and pass their whole life in the practice of
speaking, in what light ought they to be regarded
rather than as triflers? For wisdom, unless it is
engaged on some action on which it may exert
its force, is empty and false ; and Tullius rightly

* Augustine in many places expresses his opinion that the Cynics
were so called from thtir immodesty. Others suppose that the name
was given to them on account of their snarling propensity.

Chap. XVI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

gives the preference, above teachers of philoso-
phy, to those men employed in civil affairs, who
govern the state, who found new cities or main-
tain with equity those already founded, who pre-
serve the safety and liberty of the citizens either
by good laws or wholesome counsels, or by
weighty judgments. For it is right to make
men good rather than to give precepts about
duty to those shut up in corners, which precepts
are not observed even by those who speak them ;
and inasmuch as they have withdrawn themselves
from true actions, it is manifest that they in-
vented the system of philosophy itself, for the
purpose of exercising the tongue, or for the sake
of pleading. But they who merely teach with-
out acting, of themselves detract from the weight
of their own precepts ; for who would obey,
when they who give the precepts themselves
teach disobedience? Moreover, it is a good
thing to give right and honourable precepts ; but
unless you also practise them it is a deceit, and
it is inconsistent and trifling to have goodness
not in the heart, but on the lips.

It is not therefore utility, but enjoyment, which
they seek from philosophy. And this Cicero
indeed testified. "Truly," he says, "all their
disputation, although it contains most abundant
fountains of virtue and knowledge, yet, when
compared with their actions and accomplish-
ments, I fear lest it should seem not to have
brought so much advantage to the business of
men as enjoyment to their times of relaxation."
He ought not to have feared, since he spoke the
truth ; but as if he were afraid lest he should be
arraigned by the philosophers on a charge of be-
traying a mystery, he did not venture confidently
to pronounce that which was true, that they do
not dispute for the purpose of teaching, but for
their own enjoyment in their leisure ; and since
they are the advisers of actions, and do not
themselves act at all, they are to be regarded as
mere talkers.' But assuredly, because they con-
tributed no advantage to life, they neither obeyed
their own decrees, nor has any one been found,
through so many ages, who lived in accordance
with their laws. Therefore philosophy^ must
altogether be laid aside, because we are not to
devote ourselves to the pursuit of wisdom, for
this has no limit or moderation ; but we must
be wise, and that indeed quickly. For a second
life is not granted to us, so that when we seek
wisdom in this life we may be wise in that ; each
result must be brought about in this life. It
ought to be quickly found, in order that it may
be quickly taken up, lest any part of life should
pass away, the end of which is uncertain. Hor-

' [See p. 83, note 2, and p. 84, note i.]

^ Lactantius must be understood as speaking of that kind of phi-
losophy which teaches errors and deceits, as St. Paul speaks, Col. ii.
8: " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit."

tensius in Cicero, contending against philosophy,
is pressed by a clever argument ; inasmuch as,
when he said that men ought not to philosophize,
he seemed nevertheless to philosophize, since it
is the part of the philosophers to discuss what
ought and what ought not to be done in life.
We are free and exempt from this calumny, who
take away philosophy, because it is the invention
of human thought ; we defend wisdom, because
it is a divine tradition, and we testify that it
ought to be taken up by all. He, when he took
away philosophy without introducing anything
better, was supposed to take away wisdom ; and
on that account was more easily driven from his
opinion, because it is agreed upon that man is
not born to folly, but to wisdom.

Moreover, the argument which the same Hor-
tensius employed has great weight also against
philosophy, — namely, that it may be understood
from this, that philosophy is not wisdom, since
its beginning and origin are apparent. When,
he says, did philosophers begin to exist ? Thales,
as I imagine, was the first, and his age was recent.
Where, then, among the more ancient men did
that love of investigating the truth lie hid ? Lu-
cretius also says : ^ —

" Then, too, this nature and system of things has been
discovered lately, and I the very first of all have
only novtf been found able to transfer it into native
words."

And Seneca says : " There are not yet a thousand
years since the beginnings of wisdom were under-
taken." Therefore mankind for many genera-
tions lived without system. In ridicule of which,
Persius says : * —

" When wisdom came to the city,
Together with pepper and palms ; "

as though wisdom had been introduced into the
city together with savoury merchandise. 5 For if
it is in agreement with the nature of man, it must
have had its commencement together with man ;
but if it is not in agreement with it, human nature
would be incapable of receiving it. But, inas-
much as it has received it, it follows that wisdom
has existed from the beginning : therefore phi-
losophy, inasmuch as it has not existed from
the beginning, is not the same true wisdom. But,
in truth, the Greeks, because they had not at-
tained to the sacred letters of truth, did not know
how wisdom was corrupted. And, therefore,
since they thought that human life was destitute
of wisdom, they invented philosophy ; that is,
they wished by discussion to tear up the truth
which was lying hid and unknown to them : and
this employment, through ignorance of the truth,
they thought to be wisdom.

^ Lucretius, v. 336.

* Persius, Sat., vi. 38.

* [The force of the poet's satire is in this /<'W^ merchandise.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

CHAP. XVII. HE PASSES FROM PHILOSOPHY TO

THE PHILOSOPHERS, BEGINNING WITH EPICURUS ;
AND HOW HE REGARDED LEUCIPPUS AND DEMOC-
RITUS AS AUTHORS OF ERROR.

I have spoken on the subject of philosophy
itself as briefly as I could ; now let us come to
the philosopliers, not that we may contend with
these, who cannot maintain their ground, but
that we may pursue those who are in flight and
driven from our battle-field. The system of Epi-
curus was much more generally followed than
those of the others ; not because it brings for-
ward any truth, but because the attractive name
of pleasure invites many.' For every one is nat-
urally inclined to vices. Moreover, for the pur-
pose of drawing the multitude to himself, he
speaks that which is specially adapted to each
character separately. He forbids the idle to ap-
ply himself to learning ; he releases the covet-
ous man from giving largesses to the people ; he
prohibits the inactive man from undertaking the
business of the state, the sluggish from bodily
exercise, the timid from military service. The
irreligious is told that the gods pay no attention
to the conduct of men ; the man who is unfeeling
and selfish is ordered to give nothing to any one,
for that the wise man does everything on his
own account. To a man who avoids the crowd,
solitude is praised. One who is too sparing,
learns that life can be sustained on water and
meal. If a man hates his wife, the blessings of
celibacy are enumerated to him ; to one who
has bad children, the happiness of those who
are without children is proclaimed ; against un-
natural ^ parents it is said that there is no bond
of nature. To the man who is delicate and in-
capable of endurance, it is said that pain is the
greatest of all evils ; to the man of fortitude, it
is said that the wise man is happy even under
tortures. The man who devotes himself to the
pursuit of influence and distinction is enjoined
to pay court to kings ; he who cannot endure
annoyance is enjoined to shun the abode of kings.
Thus the crafty man collects an assembly from
various and differing characters ; and while he
lays himself out to please all, he is more at vari-
ance with himself than they all are with one an-
other. But we must explain from what source
the whole of this system is derived, and what
origin it has.

Epicurus saw that the good are always subject
to adversities, poverty, labours, exile, loss of
dear friends. On the contrary, he saw that the
wicked were happy ; that they were exalted with \
influence, and loaded with honours ; he saw that

' [See Plato's lemark upon what he calls this lii'srase, De Leg.,
X., finely expounded in Plato cont. Atheos (note ix. p. 114) by
Tayler Lewis.]

^ There is another reading, " adversus parentes iinpio," " to the
son whose conduct to his parents is unnatural."

innocence was unprotected, that crimes were
committed with impunity : he saw that death
raged without any regard to character, without
any arrangement or discrimination of age ; but
that some arrived at old age, while others were
carried off in their infancy ; that some died when
they were now robust and vigorous, that others
were cut off by an untimely death in the first
flower of youth ; that in wars the better men
were especially overcome and slain. But that
which especially moved him, was the' fact that
religious men were especially visited with weight-
ier evils, whereas he saw that less evils or none
at all fell upon those who altogether neglected
the gods, or worshipped them in an impious
manner ; and that even the very temples them-
selves were often set on fire by lightning. And
of this Lucretius complains,^ when he says re-
specting the god : —

"Then he may hurl lightnings, and often throw down
his temples, and withdrawing into the deserts,
there spend his rage in practising his bolt, which
often passes the guilty by, and strikes dead the
innocent and unoffending."

But if he had been able to collect even a small
particle of truth, he would never say that the
god throws down his own temples, when he
throws them down on this account, because they
are not his. The Capitol, which is the chief
seat of the Roman city and religion, was struck
with lightning and set on fire not once only, but
frequently. But what was the opinion of clever
men respecting this is evident from the saying
of Cicero, who says that the flame came from
heaven, not to destroy that earthly dwelling-place
of Jupiter, but to demand a loftier and more
magnificent abode. Concerning which transac-
tion, in the books respecting his consulship, he
speaks to the same purport as Lucretius : —

" For the father thundering on high, throned in the
lofty Olympus, himself assailed his own citadels
and famed temples, and cast fires upon his abode
in the Capitol.

In the obstinacy of their folly, therefore, they
not only did not understand the power and
majesty of the true God, but they even increased
the impiety of their error, in endeavouring against
all divine law to restore a temple so often con-
demned by the judgment of Heaven.

Therefore, when Epicurus reflected on these
things, induced as it were by the injustice of
these matters (for thus it appeared to him in his
ignorance of the cause and subject), he thought
that there was no providence.'' And having per-
suaded himself of this, he undertook also to
defend it, and thus he entangled himself in in-
extricable errors. For if there is no providence,

3 Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, ii. iioi, Munro.
^ [This age is favoured with a reproduction of these absurdities;
and what has happened in consequence before, will be repeated now.]

Chap. XVII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

how is it that the world was made with such
order and arrangement ? He says : There is
no arrangement, for many things are made in
a different manner from that in which they ought
to have been made. And the divine man found
subjects of censure. Now, if I had leisure to
refute these things separately, I could easily show
that this man was neither wise nor of sound
mind. Also, if there is no providence, how is
it that the bodies of animals are arranged with
such foresight, that the various members, being
disposed in a wonderful manner, discharge their
own offices individually? The system of provi-
dence, he says, contrived nothing in the produc-
tion of animals ; for neither were the eyes made
for seeing, nor the ears for hearing, nor the
tongue for speaking, nor the feet for walking ;
inasmuch as these were produced before it was
possible to speak, to hear, to see, and to walk.
Therefore these were not produced for use ; but
use was produced from them. If there is no
providence, why do rains fall, fruits spring up.
and trees put forth leaves? These things, he
says, are not always done for the sake of living
creatures, inasmuch as they are of no benefit to
providence ; but all things must be produced
of their own accord. From what source, there-
fore, do they arise,' or how are all things which
are carried on brought about ? There is no need,
he says, of supposing a providence ; for there
are seeds floating through the empty void, and
from these, collected together without order, all
things are produced and take their form. Why,
then, do we not perceive or distinguish them?
Because, he says, they have neither any colour,
nor warmth, nor smell ; they are also without
flavour and moisture ; and they are so minute,
that they cannot be cut and divided.

Thus, because he had taken up a false princi-
ple at the commencement, the necessity of the
subjects which followed led him to absurdities.
For where or from whence are these atoms?
Why did no one dream of them besides Leu-
cippus only? from whom Democritus,^ having
received instructions, left to Epicurus the inherit-
ance of his folly. And if these are minute bod-
ies, and indeed solid, as they say, they certainly
are able to fall under the notice of the eyes. If
the nature of all things is the same, how is it
that they compose various objects ? They meet
together, he says, in varied order and position ;
as the letters which, though few in number, by
variety of arrangement make up innumerable
words. But it is urged the letters have a variety
of forms. And so, he says, have these first prin-
ciples ; for they are rough, they are furnished
with hooks, they are smooth. Therefore they
can be cut and divided, if there is in them any

' See Lucretius, book ii.

^ [See vol. ii. p. 465, the whole of 14th chapter.]

part which projects. But if they are smooth and
without hooks, they cannot cohere. They ought
therefore to be hooked, that they may be linked
together one with another. But since they are
said to be so minute that they cannot be cut
asunder by the edge of any weapon, how is it
that they have hooks or angles ? For it must be
possible for these to be torn asunder, since they
project. In the next place, by what mutual
compact, by what discernment, do they meet
together, so that anything may be constructed
out of them ? If they are without intelligence,
they cannot come together in such order and
arrangement ; for nothing but reason can bring
to accomplishment anything in accordance with
reason. With how many arguments can this
trifling be refuted ! But I must proceed with my
subject. This is he

" Who surpassed in intellect the race of man, and
quenched the light of all, as the ethereal sun
arisen quenches the stars." ^

Which verses I am never able to read without
laughter. For this was not said respecting Soc-
rates or Plato, who are esteemed as kings of
philosophers, but concerning a man who, though
of sound mind and vigorous health, raved more
senselessly than any one diseased. And thus
the most vain poet, I do not say adorned, but
overwhelmed and crushed, the mouse with the
praises of the lion. But the same man also re-
leases us from the fear of death, respecting which
these are his own exact words : —

" When we are in existence, death does not exist ; when
death exists, we have no existence : therefore death
is nothing to us."

How cleverly he has deceived us ! As though
it were death now completed which is an object
of fear, by which sensation has been already
taken away, and not the very act of dying, by
which sensation is being taken from us. For
there is a time in which we ourselves even yet +
exist, and death does not yet exist ; and that
very time appears to be miserable, because
death is beginning to exist, and we are ceasing
to exist.

Nor is it said without reason that death is not
miserable. The approach of death is miserable ;
that is, to waste away by disease, to endure the
thrust, to receive the weapon in the body, to be
burnt with fire, to be torn by the teeth of beasts.
These are the things which are feared, not be-
cause they bring death, but because they bring
great pain. But rather make out that pain is not
an evil. He says it is the greatest of all evils.

] 3 Lucretius, iii. 1056.

■» The reading of the text, which appears to be the true one, is,
I "quo nos etiamnum sumus." There is another reading, "quo et
I nos jam non sumus " This latter reading would be in accordance
I with the sentiment of Epicurus, which is totally opposed to the view
1 taken by Lactantius.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

How therefore can I fail to fear, if that which
precedes or brings about death is an evil ? Why-
should I say that the argument is false, inasmuch
as souls do not perish? But, he says, souls do
perish ; for that which is born with the body
must perish with the body. I have already
stated that I prefer to put off the discussion of
this subject, and to reserve it for the last part
of my work, that I may refute this persuasion
of Epicurus, whether it was that of Democritus
or Dicaearchus, both by arguments and divine
testimonies. But perhaps he promised himself
impunity in the indulgence of his vices ; for he
was an advocate of most disgraceful pleasure,
and said that man was born for its enjoyment.'
Who, when he hears this affirmed, would abstain
from the practice of vice and wickedness? For
if the soul is doomed to perish, let us eagerly
pursue riches, that we may be able to enjoy all
kinds of indulgence ; and if these are wanting
to us, let us take them away from those who
have them by stealth, by stratagem, or by force,
especially if there is no God who regards the
actions of men : as long as the hope of impunity
shall favour us, let us plunder and put to death. ^
For it is the part of the wise man to do evil,
if it is advantageous to him, and safe ; since, if
there is a God in heaven. He is not angry with
any one. It is also equally the part of the fool-
ish man to do good ; because, as he is not ex-
cited with anger, so he is not influenced by
favour. Therefore let us live in the indulgence
of pleasures in every possible way ; for in a short
time we shall not exist at all. Therefore let us
suffer no day, in short, no moment of time, to
pass away from us without pleasure ; lest, since
we ourselves are doomed to perish, the life
which we have already spent should itself also
perish.

Although he does not say this in word, yet he
teaches it in fact. For when he maintains that
the wise man does everything for his own sake,
he refers all things which he does to his own ad-
vantage. And thus he who hears these disgrace-
ful things, will neither think that any good thing
ought to be done, since the conferring of bene-
fits has reference to the advantage of another ;
nor that he ought to abstain from guilt, because
the doing of evil is attended with gain. If any
chieftain of pirates or leader of robbers were
exhorting his men to acts of violence, what other
language could he employ than to say the same
things which Epicurus says : that the gods take
no notice ; that they are not affected with anger
Qor kind feeling ; that the punishment of a future
state is not to be dreaded, because souls die after

' [For his pious talk, however, see T. Lewis, Plato, etc., p. 258.]

* [These operations of the uiibehevinti iiiiiid have appeared in

our day in the Comtminisme of Paris. Ihey already threaten the

American Republic, the mass of the population being undisciplined

in moral principle, and our lawgivers as well.]

death, and that there is no future state of pun-
ishment at all ; that pleasure is the greatest good ;
that there is no society among men ; that every
one consults for his own interest ; that there is
no one who loves another, unless it be for his
own sake ; that death is not to be feared by a
brave man, nor any pain ; for that he, even if he
should be tortured or burnt, should say that he
does not regard it. There is evidently sufficient
cause why any one should regard this as the ex-
pression of a wise man, since it can most fittingly
be applied to robbers !

CHAP. XVIII. THE PYTHAGOREANS AND STOICS,

WHILE THEY HOLD THE IMMORTALITY OF THE
SOUL, FOOLISHLY PERSUADE A VOLUNTARY DEATH.

Others, again, discuss things contrary to these,
namely, that the soul survives after death ; and
these are chiefly the Pythagoreans and Stoics.
And although they are to be treated with indul-
gence because they perceive the truth, yet I can-
not but blame them, because they fell upon the
truth not by their opinion, but by accident. And
thus they erred in some degree even in that very
matter which they rightly perceived. For, since
they feared the argument by which it is inferred
that the soul must necessarily die with the body,
because it is born with the body, they asserted
that the soul is not born with the body, but rather
introduced into it, and that it migrates from one
body to another. They did not consider that it
was possible for the soul to survive the body,
unless it should appear to have existed previous-
ly to the body. There is therefore an equal and
almost similar error on each side. But the one
side are deceived with respect to the past, the
other with respect to the future. For no one
saw that which is most true, that the soul is both
created and does not die, because they were
ignorant why that came to pass, or what was the
nature of man. Many therefore of them, be-
cause they suspected that the soul is immortal,
laid violent hands upon themselves, as though
they were about to depart to heaven. Thus it
was with Cleanthes^ and Chrysippus,* with Zeno,5
and Empedocles,^ who in the dead of night cast
himself into a cavity of the burning ^tna, that
when he had suddenly disappeared it might be
believed that he had departed to the gods ; and
thus also of the Romans Cato died, who through
the whole of his life was an imitator of Socratic

3 Cleanthes was a Stoic philosopher, who used to draw water by
night for his support, that he might devote himself to the study of
philosophy by day. He ended his life by refusing to take food.

*■ Chrysippus was a disciple of Zeno, and, after Cleanthes, the
chief of the Stoic sect. According to some accounts, he died from
an excessive draught of wine; according to others, from excessive
laughter.

5 Zeno, the chief of the Stoic sect. He is said to have died from
suffocation.

* Empedocles was a philosopher and poet. There are various
accounts of his death; that mentioned in the text is usually received.

Chai. XIX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

ostentation. For Democritus ' was of another
persuasion. But, however,

" By his own spontaneous act he offered up his head to
death ; " ^

and nothing can be more wicked than this. For
if a homicide is guihy because he is a destroyer
of man, he who puts himself to death is under
the same guilt, because he puts to death a man.
Yea, that crime may be considered to be greater,
the punishment of which belongs to God alone.
For as we did not come into this life of our own
accord ; so, on the other hand, we can only with-
draw from this habitation of the body which has
been appointed for us to keep, by the command
of Him who placed us in this body that we may
inhabit it, until He orders us to depart from it ;
and if any violence is offered to us, we must
endure it with equanimity, since the death of
an innocent person cannot be unavenged, and
since we have a great Judge who alone always
has the power of taking vengeance in His
hands.

All these philosophers, therefore, were homi-
cides ; and Cato himself, the chief of Roman
wisdom, who, before he put himself to death, is
said to have read through the treatise of Plato
which he wrote on the immortality of the soul,
and was led by the authority of the philosopher
to the commission of this great crime ; yet he,
however, appears to have had some cause for
death in his hatred of slavery. Why should I speak
of the Ambraciot,3 who, having read the same
treatise, threw himself into the sea, for no other
cause than that he believed Plato ? — a doctrine
altogether detestable and to be avoided, if it
drives men from life. But if Plato had known
and taught by whom, and how, and to whom,
and on account of what actions, and at what
time, immortality is given, he would neither have
driven Cleombrotus nor Cato to a voluntary death,
but he would have trained them to live with jus-
tice. For it appears to me that Cato sought
a cause for death, not so much that he might
escape from Caesar, as that he might obey the
decrees of the Stoics, whom he followed, and
might make his name distinguished by some great
action ; and I do not see what evil could have
happened to him if he had lived. For Caius
Cssar, such was his clemency, had no other ob-
ject, even in the very heat of civil war, than to
appear to deserve well of the state, by preserving
two excellent citizens, Cicero and Cato. But
let us return to those who j^raise death as a
benefit. You complain of life as though you
had lived, or had ever settled with yourself why
you were born at all. May not therefore the

' There are various accounts respecting the death of Democritus.

Lucretius, iii. 1041.
3 CWombrotus of Ambracia.

true and common Father of all justly find fault
with that saying of Terence : * —

" First, learn in what life consists ; then, if you shall be
dissatisfied with life, have recourse to death."

You are indignant that you are exposed to evils ;
as though you deserved anything good, who are
ignorant of your Father, Lord, and King ; who,
although you behold with your eyes the bright
light, are nevertheless blind in mind, and lie in
the depths of the darkness of ignorance. And
this ignorance has caused that some have not
been ashamed to say, that we are born for this
cause, that we may suffer the punishment of our
crimes ; but I do not see what can be more
senseless than this. For where or what crimes
could we have committed when we did not even
exist? Unless we shall happen to believe that
foolish old man, 5 who falsely said that /le had
lived before, and that in his former life he had
been Euphorbus. He, I believe, because he
was born of an ignoble race, chose for himself a
family from the poems of Homer. O wonder-
ful and remarkable memory of Pythagoras ! O
miserable forgetfulness on the part of us all,
since we know not who we were in our former
life ! But perhaps it was caused by some error,
or favour, that he alone did not touch the abyss
of Lethe, or taste the water of oblivion ; doubt-
less the trifling old man (as is wont to be the
case with old women who are free from occupa-
tion) invented fables as it were for credulous in-
fants. But if he had thought well of those to
whom he spoke these things ; if he had con-
sidered them to be men, he would never have
claimed to himself the liberty of uttering such
perverse falsehoods. But the folly of this most
trifling man is deserving of ridicule. What shall
we do in the case of Cicero, who, having said in
the beginning of his Consolatioji that men were
born for the sake of atoning for their crimes, after-
wards repeated the assertion, as though rebuking
him who does not imagine that life is a punish-
ment ? He was right, therefore, in saying before-
hand that he was held by error and wretched
ignorance of the truth.

CHAP. XIX. — CICERO AND OTHERS OF THE WISEST
MEN TEACH THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, BUT
IN AN UNBELIEVING MANNER ; AND TH.\T A GOOD
OR AN EVIL DEATH MUST BE WEIGHED FROM THE
PREVIOUS LIFE.

But those who assert the advantage of death,
because they know nothing of the truth, thus
reason : If there is nothing after death, death is

* HeantoHtim., v. 2. 18. This advice is given to a young man,
who, not knowing the value of life, is prepared rashly to throw it
away in consequence of some check to his plans.

5 Pythagoras taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls,
and affirmed that he had lived already as Euphorbus. one of the
heroes of Troy, who was slain by Menelaus in the Trojan war
Laciantius again refers to this subject, book vii ch 23, in/rt.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

not an evil ; for it takes away the perception of
evil. But if the soul survives, death is even an
advantage ; because immortality follows. And
this sentiment is thus set forth by Cicero con-
cerning the Laws : ' " We may congratulate our-
selves, since death is about to bring either a
better state than that which exists in life, or at
any rate not a worse. For if the soul is in a
state of vigour without the body, it is a divine
"ife; and if it is without perception, assuredly
there is no evil." Cleverly argued, as it ap-
peared to himself, as though there could be no
other state. But each conclusion is false. For
the sacred writings ^ teach that the soul is not
annihilated ; but that it is either rewarded ac-
cording to its righteousness, or eternally punished
according to its crimes. For neither is it right,
that he who has lived a life of wickedness in
prosperity should escape the punishment which
he deserves ; nor that he who has been wretched
on account of his righteousness, should be de-
prived of his reward. And this is so true, that
Tully also, in his Consolation, declared that the
righteous and the wicked do not inhabit the
same abodes. For those same wise men, he ]
says, did not judge that the same course was
open for all into the heaven ; for they taught
that those who were contaminated by vices and
crimes were thrust down into darkness, and lay
in the mire ; but that, on the other hand, souls
that were chaste, pure, upright, and uncontami-
nated, being also refined by the study and prac-
tice of virtue, by a light and easy course take
their flight to the gods, that is, to a nature re-
sembling their own. But this sentiment is op-
posed to the former argument. For that is
based on the assumption that every man at his
birth is presented with immortality. What dis-
tinction, therefore, will there be between virtue
and guilt, if it makes no difference whether a
man be Aristides or Phalaris, whether he be
Cato or Catiline ? But a man does not perceive
this opposition between sentiments and actions,
unless he is in possession of the truth. If any
one, therefore, should ask me whether death is a
good or an evil, I shall reply that its character
depends upon the course of the life. For as
life itself is a good if it is passed virtuously, but
an evil if it is spent viciously, so also death is
to be weighed in accordance with the past ac-
tions of life. And so it comes to pass, that if
life has been passed in the service of God, death
is not an evil, for it is a translation to immor-
tality. But if not so, death must necessarily be
an evil, since it transfers men, as I have said, to |
everlasting punishment.^

' This passage is not contained in Cicero's treatise on the Laws,
but the substance of it is in the Tusculan Questions.
' See Dan. xii. ; Matt, iii., xiii., xxv.; John xii.
^ ISee vol. iii. p. 231, and same treatise sparsini.\

What, then, shall we say, but that they are in
error who either desire death as a good, or flee
from life as an evil ? unless they are most unjust,
who do not weigh the fewer evils against the
greater number of blessings. For when they pass
all their lives in a variety of the choicest gratifi-
cations, if any bitterness has chanced to succeed
to these, they desire to die ; and they so regard it
as to appear never to have fared well, if at any
time they happen to fare ill. Therefore they con-
demn the whole of life, and consider it as nothing
else than filled with evils. Hence arose that fool-
ish sentiment, that this state which we imagine
to be life is death, and that that which we fear
as death is life ; and so that the first good is not
to be born, that the second is an early death.
And that this sentiment may be of greater weight,
it is attributed to Silenus.'* Cicero in his Conso-
lation says : " Not to be born is by far the best
thing, and not to fall upon these rocks of life.
But the next thing is, if you have been born, to
die as soon as possible, and to flee from the vio-
lence of fortune as from a conflagration." That
he believed this most foolish expression appears
from this, that he added something of his own
for its embellishment. I ask, therefore, for whom
he thinks it best not to be born, when there is no
one at all who has any perception ; for it is the per-
ception which causes anything to be good or bad.
In the next place, why did he regard the whole of
life as nothing else than rocks, and a conflagra-
tion ; as though it were either in our power not to
be born, or life were given to us by fortune, and
not by God, or as though the course of life ap-
peared to bear any resemblance to a conflagration?

The saying of Plato is not dissimilar, that he
gave thanks to nature, first that he was born a
human being rather than a dumb animal ; in the
next place, that he was a man rather than a
woman ; that he was a Greek rather than a bar-
barian ; 5 lastly, that he was an Athenian, and
that he was born in the time of Socrates. It is
impossible to say what great blindness and errors
are produced by ignorance of the truth. I
would altogether contend that nothing in the
affairs of men was ever spoken more foolishly.
As though, if he had been born a barbarian, or a
woman, or, in fine, an ass, he would be the same
Plato, and not that very being which had been
produced. But he evidently believed Pythago-
ras, who, in order that he might prevent men
from feeding on animals, said that souls passed
from the bodies of men to the bodies of other
animals ; which is both foolish and impossible.
It is foolish, because it was unnecessary to intro-
duce souls that have long existed into new bod-

* Silenus was the constant companion of Dionysus. He was
regarded as an inspired prophet, who knew all the \y,\s\. and the mos;
distant future, and as a sa^e who despised all the gifts of fortune.

5 The (".reeks included all nations, except themselves, under trie
general name of barbarians.

Chap. XX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

ies, when the same Artificer who at one time had
made the first, was ahvays able to make fresh
ones ; it is impossible, because the soul endued
with right reason can no more change the nature
of its condition, than fire can rush downwards,
or, like a river, pour its flame obliquely.' The
wise man therefore imagined, that it might come
to pass that the soul which was then in Plato
might be shut up in some other animal, and
might be endued with the sensibility of a man,
so as to understand and grieve that it was bur-
thened with an incongruous body. How much
more rationally would he have acted, if he had
said that he gave thanks because he was born
with a good capacity, and capable of receiving
instruction, and that he was possessed of those
resources which enabled him to receive a liberal
education ! For what benefit was it that he was
born at Athens ? Have not many men of distin-
guished talent and learning lived in other cities,
who were better individually than all the Athen-
ians? How many thousands must we believe
that there were, who, though born at Athens,
and in the times of Socrates, were neverthe-
less unlearned and foolish ? For it is not the
walls or the place in which any one was born
that can invest a man with wisdom. Of what
avail was it to congratulate himself that he was
born in the times of Socrates? Was Socrates
able to supply talent to learners? It did not
occur to Plato that Alcibiades also, and Critias,
were constant hearers of the same Socrates, the
one of whom was the most active enemy of his
country, the other the most cruel of all tyrants.

CHAP. XX. SOCRATES HAD MORE KNOWLEDGE IN

PHILOSOPHY THAN OTHER MEN, ALTHOUGH IN
MANY THINGS HE ACTED FOOLISHLY,

Let US now see what there was so great in
Socrates himself, that a wise man deservedly
gave thanks that he was born in his times. I do
not deny that he was a little more sagacious than
the others who thought that the nature of things
could be comprehended by the mind. And in
this I judge that they were not only senseless,
but also impious ; because they wished to send
their inquisitive eyes into the secrets of that heav-
enly providence. We know that there are at
Rome, and in many cities, certain sacred things
which it is considered impious for men to look
upon. Therefore they who are not permitted to
pollute those objects abstain from looking upon
them ; and if by error or some accident a man
has happened to see them, his guilt is expiated
first by his punishment, and afterwards by a repe-
tition of sacrifice. What can you do in the case
of those who wish to pry into unpermitted things?
Truly they are much more wicked who seek to

' In transversum, " crosswise or transversely."

profane the secrets of the world and this heav-
enly temple with impious disputations, than those
who entered the temple of Vesta, or the Good
Goddess, or Ceres. And these shrines, though it
is not lawful for men to approach them, were yet
constructed by men. But these men not only
escape the charge of impiety, but, that which is
much more unbecoming, they gain the fame of
eloquence and the glory of talent. What if they
were able to investigate anything? For they are
as foolish in asserting as they are wicked in
searching out ; since they are neither able to
find out anything, nor, even if they had found
out anything, to defend it. For if even by chance
they have seen the truth — a thing which often
happens — they so act that it is refuted by others
as false. For no one descends from heaven to
pass sentence on the opinions of individuals ;
wherefore no one can doubt that those who seek
after these things are foolish, senseless, and insane.

Socrates therefore had something of human
wisdom,^ who, when he understood that these
things could not possibly be ascertained, re-
moved himself from questions of this kind ; but
I fear that he so acted in this alone. For many
of his actions are not only undeserving of praise,
but also most deserving of censure, in which
things he most resembled those of his own class.
Out of these I will select one which may be
judged of by all. Socrates used this well-known
proverb : " That which is above us is nothing to
us." Let us therefore fall down upon the earth,
and use as feet those hands which have been
given us for the production of excellent works.
The heaven is nothing to us, to the contempla-
tion of which we have been raised ; ^ in fine, the
light itself can have no reference to us ; un-
doubtedly the cause of our sustenance is from
heaven. But if he perceived this, that we ought
not to discuss the nature of heavenly things, he
was unable even to comprehend the nature of
those things which he had beneath his feet.
What then ? did he err in his words ? It is not
probable ; but he undoubtedly meant that which
he said, that we are not to devote ourselves to
religion ; but if he were openly to say this, no
one would suffer it.

For who cannot perceive that this world, com-
pleted with such wonderful method, is governed
by some providence, since there is nothing which
can exist without some one to direct it? Thus,
a house deserted by its inhabitant falls to decay ;
a ship without a pilot goes to the bottom ;
and a body abandoned by the soul wastes away.
Much less can we suppose that so great a fabric
could either have been constructed without an

2 Lactantius here uses cor, " the heart," for wisdom, regarding
the heart as the seat of wisdom

3 The allusion is to the upright figure of man, as opposed to the
other animals, which look down upon the earth, whereas man looks
upward. [Our author is partial to this idea. See p. 41, supra.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III

Artificer, or have existed so long without a Ruler.
But if he wished to overthrow those public su-
perstitions, I do not disapprove of this ; yea, I
shall rather praise it, if he shall have found any-
thing better to take their place. But the same
man swore ' by a dog and a goose. Oh buffoon
(as Zeno the Epicurean^ says), senseless, aban-
doned, desperate man, if he wished to scoff at
religion ; madman, if he did this seriously, so as
to esteem a most base animal as God ! For who
can dare to find fault with the superstitions of
the Egyptians, when Socrates confirmed them at
Athens by his authority ? But was it not a mark
of consummate vanity, that before his death he
asked his friends to sacrifice for him a cock
which he had vowed to ^sculapius? He evi-
dently feared lest he should be put upon his trial
before Rhadamanthus, the judge, by yEsculapius
on account of the vow. I should consider him
most mad if he had died under the influence of
disease. But since he did this in his sound
mind, he who thinks that he was wise is himself
of unsound mind. Behold one in whose times
the wise man congratulates himself as having
been born !

CHAP. XXI. OF THE SYSTEM OF PLATO, WHICH

WOULD LEAD TO THE OVERTHROW OF STATES.

Let US, however, see what it was that he
learned from Socrates, who, having entirely re-
jected natural philosophy, betook himself to in-
quiries about virtue and duty. And thus I do
not doubt that he instructed his hearers in the
precepts of justice. Therefore, under the teach-
ing of Socrates, it did not escape the notice of
Plato, that the force of justice consists in equal-
ity, since all are born in an equal condition.
Therefore (he says) they must have nothing
private or their own ; but that they may be
equal, as the method of justice requires, they
must possess all things in common. This is
capable of being endured, as long as it appears
to be spoken of money. But how impossible
and how unjust this is, I could show by many
things. Let us, however, admit its possibility.
For grant that all are wise, and despise money.
To what, then, did that community lead him ?
Marriages also, he says, ought to be in common ;
50 that many men may flock together like dogs
to the same woman, and he who shall be supe-
rior in strength may succeed in ol)taining her ;
or if they are patient as philosophers, they may
await their turns, as in a brothel. Oh the won-
derful equality of Plato ! \Vhere, then, is the
virtue of chastity? where conjugal fidelity?

' This oath is raentioned by Athenaeus. TertuUian makes an ex-
cuse for it, as though it were done in mockery of the gods. .Socrates
was called the Athenian l^urtban, because '.e laughi many things in a
jesting manner.

^ To be distinguished from Zeno of Citium, the Stoic, and also
from Zeno of Elea.

And if you take away these, all justice is taken
away. But he also says that states would be
prosperous, if either philosophers were their
kings, or their kings were philosophers. But if
you were to give the sovereignty to this man of
such justice and equity, who had deprived some
of their own property, and given to some the
property of others, he would prostitute the mod-
esty of women ; a thing which was never done, I
do not say by a king, but not even by a tyrant.

But what motive did he advance for this most
degrading advice ? The state will be in harmony,
and bound together with the bonds of mutual
love, if all shall be the husbands, and fathers,
and wives, and children of all. What a con-
fusion of the human race is this? How is it
possible for affection to be preserved where there
is nothing certain to be loved ? What man will
love a woman, or what woman a man, unless
they shall always have lived together, — unless de-
votedness of mind, and faith mutually preserved,
shall have made their love indivisible ? But this
virtue has no place in that promiscuous pleasure.
Moreover, if all are the children of all, who will
be able to love children as his own, when he is
either ignorant or in doubt whetlier they are his
own ? Who will bestow honour upon any one as
a father, when he does not know from whom he
was born? From which it comes to pass, that
he not only esteems a stranger as a father, but
also a father as a stranger. Why should I say
that it is possible for a wife to be common, but-
impossible for a son, who cannot be conceived
except from one? The community, therefore,
is lost to him alone, nature herself crying out
against it. It remains that it is only for the sake
of concord that he would have a community of
wives. But there is no more vehement cause
of discords, than the desire of one woman by
many men. And in this Plato might have been
admonished, if not by reason, yet certainly by
example, both of the dumb animals, which fight
most vehemently on this account, and of men,
who have always carried on most severe wars
with one another on account of this matter.

CHAP. XXII. OF THE PRECEPTS OF PLATO, AND

CENSURES OF THE SAME.

It remains that the community of which we
have spoken admits of nothing else but adulteries
and lusts, for the utter extinction of which virtue
is especially necessary. Therefore he did not
find the concord which he sought, because he
did not see whence it arises. For justice has.
no weight in outward circumstances, not even in
the body,^ but it is altogether employed on the
mind of man. He, therefore, who wishes to

3 The Stoics not only regarded accidental things, but also our
bodies themselves, as being without us.

Chap XXIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

place men on an e(iuality, ought not to take away
marriage and wealth, but arrogance, pride, and
haughtiness, that those who are i)owerful and
lifted up on high may know that they are on a
level even with the most needy. For insolence
and injustice being taken from the rich, it will
make no difference whether some are rich and
others poor, since they will be equal in spirit,
and nothing but reverence towards God can pro-
duce this result. He thought, therefore, that he
had found justice, whereas he had altogether re-
moved it, because it ought not to be a commu-
nity of perishable things, but of minds. For if
justice is the mother ' of all virtues, when they
are severally taken away, it is also itself over-
thrown. But Plato took away above all things
frugality, which has no existence when there is no
property of one's own which can be possessed ;
he took away abstinence, since there will be
nothing belonging to another from which one
can abstain ; he took away temperance and
chastity, which are the greatest virtues in each
sex ; he took away self-respect, shame, and mod-
esty, if those things which are accustomed to be
judged base and disgraceful begin to be account-
ed honourable and lawful. Thus, while he
wishes to confer virtue upon all, he takes it away
from all. For the ownership of property con-
tains the material both of vices and of virtues,
but a community of goods contains nothing else
than the licentiousness of vices. For men who
have many mistresses can be called nothing else
than luxurious and prodigal. And likewise
women who are in the possession of many men,
must of necessity be not adulteresses, because
they have no fixed marriage, but prostitutes and
harlots. Therefore he reduced human life, I do
not say to the likeness of dumb animals, but of
the herds and brutes. For almost all the birds
contract marriages, and are united in pairs, and
defend their nests, as though their marriage-beds,
with harmonious mind, and cherish their own
young, because they are well known to them ;
and if you put others in their way, they repel
them. But this wise man, contrary to the cus-
tom of men, and contrary to nature, chose more
foolish objects of imitation ; and since he saw
that the duties of males and females were not
separated in the case of other animals, he
thought that women also ought to engage in
warfare, and take a share in the public counsels,
and undertake magistracies, and assume com-
mands. And therefore he assigned to them
horses and arms : it follows that he should
have assigned to men wool and the loom, and
the carrying of infants. Nor did he see the im-
possibility of what he said, from the fact that no

' Justice comprises within herself all the virtues. And thus
Aristotle calls her the mother of the other virtues, because she
cherishes as it were in her bosom all the rest.

nation has existed in the world so foolish or so
vain as to live in this manner.^

CHAP. XXIII. — OF THE ERRORS OF CERTAIN PHI-
LOSOPHERS, AND OF THE SUN AND MOON.

Since, therefore, the leading men among the
philosophers are themselves discovered to be of
such emptiness, what shall we think of those
lesser 3 ones, who are accustomed never to ap-
pear to themselves so wise, as when they boast
of their contempt of money? Brave spirit !
But I wait to see their conduct, and what are
the results of that contempt. They avoid as an
evil, and abandon the property handed down to
them from their parents. And lest they should
suffer shipwreck in a storm, they plunge head-
long of their own accord in a calm, being resolute
not by virtue, but by perverse fear ; as those
who, through fear of being slain by the enemy,
slay themselves, that by death they may avoid
death. So these men, without honour and with-
out influence, throw away the means by which
they might have acquired the glory of liberality.
Democritus is praised because he abandoned his
fields, and suffered them to become public pas-
tures. I should approve of it, if he had given
them. But nothing is done wisely which is use-
less and evil if it is done by all. But this negli-
gence is tolerable. What shall I say of him who
changed his possessions into money, which he
threw into the sea? I doubt whether he was in
his senses, or deranged. Away, he says, ye evil
desires, into the deep. I will cast you away,
lest I myself should be cast away by you. If
you have so great a contempt for money, employ
it in acts of kindness and humanity, bestow it
upon the poor; this, which you are about to
throw away, may be a succour to many, so that
they may not die through famine, or thirst, or
nakedness. Imitate at least the madness and
fury of Tuditanus ; ■♦ scatter abroad your property
to be seized by the people. You have it in your
power both to escape the possession of money,
and yet to lay it out to advantage ; for what-
ever has been profitable to many is securely laid
out.

But who approves of the equality of faults as
laid down by Zeno? But let us omit that which
is always received with derision by all. This is
sufficient to prove the error of this madman,
that he places pity among vices and diseases.
He deprives us of an affection, which involves
almost the whole course of human life. For
since the nature of man is more feeble than
that of the other animals, which divine provi-

2 [This caustic review of Plato is painfully just. Alas! that such
opprobrta should be incapable of reply.]

3 That is, pliilosophers of less repute and fame.

* Cicero speaks of Tuditanus as scattering money frora the ros-
trum among the people.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book 111

dence has armed with natural means of protec-
tion,' either to endure the severity of the seasons
or to ward off attacks from their bodies, because
none of these things has been given to man, he
has received in the place of all these things the
affection of pity, which is truly called humanity,
by which we might mutually protect each other.
For if a man were rendered savage by the sight
of another man, which we see happen in the
case of those animals which are of a solitary ^
nature, there would be no society among men,
no care or system in the building of cities ; and
thus life would not even be safe, since the weak-
ness of men would both be exposed to the at-
tacks of the other animals, and they would
rage among themselves after the manner of wild
beasts. Nor is his madness less in other things.
For what can be said respecting him who as-
serted that snow was black? How naturally it
followed, that he should also assert that pitch
was white ! This is he who said that he was
born for this purpose, that he might behold the
heaven and the sun, who beheld nothing on the
earth when the sun was shining. Xenophanes
most foolishly believed mathematicians who said
that the orb of the moon was eighteen times
larger than the earth ; and, as was consistent
with this folly, he said that within the concave
surface of the moon there was another earth,
and that there another race of men live in a
similar manner to that in which we live on this
earth. Therefore these lunatics have another
moon, to hold forth to them a light by night,
as this does to us. And perhaps this globe of
ours may be a moon to another earth below
this.3 Seneca says that there was one among
the Stoics who used to deliberate whether he
should assign to the sun also its own inhabitants ;
he acted foolishly in doubting. For what injury
would he have inflicted if he had assigned them ?
But I believe the heat deterred him, so as not
to imperil so great a multitude ; lest, if they
should perish through excessive heat, so great a
calamity should be said to have happened by
his fault.

CHAP. XXIV. — OF THE ANTIPODES, THE HEAVEN,
AND THE STARS.

How is it with those who imagine that there
are antipodes ^ opposite to our footsteps ? Do they
say anything to the purpose? Or is there any
one so senseless as to believe that there are men
whose footsteps are higher than their heads ? or
that the things which with us are in a recumbent

' [Anacreon, OJe 2. Toi« avSpaaiv <i>p6vr)tj.a.]

- Animals of a solitary nature, as opposed to those of gregarious
habits.

3 [He was nearer truth than he imagined, if the planet Mars
may be called below us.]

* IVol. V. p. 14.]

position, with them hang in an inverted direc-
tion ? that the crops and trees grow downwards ?
that the rains, and snow, and hail fall upwards
to the earth ? And does any one wonder that
hanging gardens 5 are mentioned among the
seven wonders of the world, when philosophers
make hanging fields, and seas, and cities, and
mountains ? The origin of this error must also
be set forth by us. For they are always deceived
in the same manner. For when they have as-
sumed anything false in the commencement of
their investigations, led by the resemblance of
the truth, they necessarily fall into those things
which are its consequences. Thus they fall into
many ridiculous things ; because those things
which are in agreement with false things, must
themselves be false. But since they placed con-
fidence in the first, they do not consider the
character of those things which follow, but de-
fend them in every way ; whereas they ought to
judge from those which follow, whether the first
are true or false.

What course of argument, therefore, led them
to the idea of the antipodes? They saw the
courses of the stars travelling towards the west ;
they saw that the sun and the moon always set
towards the same quarter, and rise from the
same. But since they did not perceive what
contrivance regulated their courses, nor how they
returned from the west to the east, but supposed
that the heaven itself sloped downwards in every
direction, which appearance it must present on
account of its immense breadth, they thought
that the world is round like a ball, and they
fancied that the heaven revolves in accordance
with the motion of the heavenly bodies ; and
thus that the stars and sun, when they have set,
by the very rapidity of the motion of the world ^
are borne back to the east. Therefore they both
constructed brazen orbs, as though after the fig-
ure of the world, and engraved upon them certain
monstrous images, which they said were constel-
lations. It followed, therefore, from this rotund-
ity of the heaven, that the earth was enclosed in
the midst of its curved surface. But if this were
so, the earth also itself must be like a globe ; for
that could not possibly be anything but round,
which was held enclosed by that which was
round. But if the earth also were round, it
must necessarily happen that it should present
the same appearance to all parts of the heaven ;
that is, that it should raise aloft mountains, ex-
tend plains, and have level seas. And if this were
so, that last consequence also followed, that there
would be no part of the earth uninliabited by
men and the other animals. Thus the rotundity
of the earth leads, in addition, to the invention
of those suspended antipodes.

5 He alludes to the hanging gardens of Semiramis at Babylon.
^ [lyor.'J here means universe. See vol. ii. p. 136, note 2.]

Chap. XXV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

But if you inquire from those who defend
these marvellous fictions, why all things do not
fall into that lower part of the heaven, they reply
that such is the nature of things, that heavy
bodies are borne to the middle, and that they
are all joined together towards the middle, as we
see spokes in a wheel ; but that the bodies
which are light, as mist, smoke, and fire, are
borne away from the middle, so as to seek the
heaven. I am at a loss what to say respecting
those who, vvhen they have once erred, consist-
ently persevere in their folly, and defend one
vain thing by another ; but that I sometimes
imagine that they either discuss philosophy for
the sake of a jest, or purposely and knowingly
undertake to defend falsehoods, as if to exercise
or display their talents on false subjects. But I
should be able to prove by many arguments that
it is impossible for the heaven to be lower than
the earth, were it not that this book must now
be concluded, and that some things still remain,
which are more necessary for the present work.
And since it is not the work of a single book to
run over the errors of each individually, let it be
sufficient to have enumerated a few, from which
the nature of the others may be understood.

CHAP. XXV. OF LEARNING PHILOSOPHY, AND WHAT

GREAT QUALIFICATIONS ARE NECESSARY FOR ITS
PURSUIT,

We must now speak a few things concerning
philosophy in general, that having strengthened
our cause we may conclude. That greatest imi-
tator of Plato among our writers thought that
philosophy was not for the multitude, because
none but learned men could attain to it. " Phi-
losophy," says Cicero,' " is contented with a
few judges, of its own accord designedly avoid-
ing the multitude." It is not therefore wisdom,
if it avoids the concourse of men ; since, if
wisdom is given to man, it is given to all without
any distinction, so that there is no one at all
who cannot acquire it. But they so embrace
virtue, which is given to the human race, that
they alone of all appear to wish to enjoy that
which is a public good ; being as envious as if
they should wish to bind or tear out the eyes of
others that they may not see the sun. For what
else is it to deny wisdom to men, than to take
away from their minds the true and divine light?
But if the nature of man is capable of wisdom,
it was befitting that both workmen, and country
people, and women, and all, in short, who bear
the human form, should be taught to be wise ;
and that the people should be brought together
from every language, and condition, and sex, and
age. Therefore it is a very strong argument that
philosophy neither tends to wisdom, nor is of

* Tusc, ii. I.

itself wisdom, that its mystery is only made
known by the beard and cloak of the philoso-
phers.^ The Stoics, moreover, perceived this,
who said that philosophy was to be studied both
by slaves and women ; P^picurus also, who invites
those who are altogether unacquainted with let-
ters to philosophy ; and Plato also, who wished
to compose a state of wise men.

They attempted, indeed, to do that which
truth required ; but they were unable to proceed
beyond words. First, because instruction in
many arts is necessary for an application to
philosophy. Common learning must be acquired
on account of practice in reading, because in so
great a variety of subjects it is impossible that
all things should be learned by hearing, or
retained in the -memory. No little attention
also must be given to the grammarians, in order
that you may know the right method of speak-
ing. That must occupy many years. Nor must
there be ignorance of rhetoric, that you may be
able to utter and express the things which you
have learned. Geometry also, and music, and
astronomy, are necessary, because these arts
have some connection with philosophy ; and the
whole of these subjects cannot be learned by
women, who must learn within the years of their
maturity the duties which are hereafter about to
be of service to them for domestic uses ; nor by
servants, who must live in service during those
years especially in which they are able to learn ;
nor by the poor, or labourers, or rustics, who
have to gain their daily support by labour. And
on this account Tully says that philosophy is
averse from the multitude. But yet Epicurus
will receive the ignorant.^ How, then, will they
understand those things which are said respecting
the first principles of things, the perplexities and
intricacies of which are scarcely attained to by
men of cultivated minds?

Therefore, in subjects which are involved in
obscurity, and confused by a variety of intellects,
and set off by the studied language of eloquent
men, what place is there for the unskilful and
ignorant ? Lastly, they never taught any women
to study philosophy, except Themiste * only,
within the whole memory of man ; nor slaves,
except Phcedo 5 only, who is said, when living in
oppressive slavery, to have been ransomed and
taught by Cebes. They also enumerate Plato
and Diogenes : these, however, were not slaves,
though they had fallen into servitude, for they

2 A long beard and cloak were the badges of the philosophers.
[See vol. ii. p. 321, note 9.]

^ [Platonic philosophy being addressed to the mind, and the
Epicurean to lusts and passions.]

* Themiste is said to have been the wife of Leontius; Epicurus
is reported to have written to her. Themistoclea, the sister of Pythag-
oras, is mentioned as a student of philosophy; besides many other
women in different ages.

5 Plato dedicated to Phaedo his treatise on the immortality of the
soul: according to other accounts, Phaedo was ransomed by Crito
or Alcibiades at the suggestion of Socrates.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

had been taken captive. A certain Aniceris is
said to have ransomed Plato for eight sesterces.
And on this account Seneca severely rebuked
the ransomer himself, because he set so small
value upon Plato. He was a madman, as it
seems to me, who was angry with a man because
he did not throw away much money ; doubtless
he ought to have weighed gold as though to
ransom the corpse of Hector, or to have insisted
upon the payment of more money than the seller
demanded. Moreover, they taught none of the
barbarians, with the single exception of Anachar-
sis the Scythian, who never would have dreamed
of philosophy had he not previously learned both
language and literature.

CHAP. XXVI. — IT IS DIVINE INSTRUCTION ONLY
WHICH BESTOWS WISDOM ; AND OF WHAT EFFI-
CACY THE LAW OF GOD IS.

That, therefore, which they perceived to be
justly required by the demands of nature, but
which they were themselves unable to perform,
and saw that the philosophers could not effect,
is accomplished only by divine instruction ; for
that only is wisdom. Doubtless they were able
to persuade any one who do not even persuade
themselves of anything ; or they will crush the
desires, moderate the anger, and restrain the
lusts of any one, when they themselves both
yield to vices, and acknowledge that they are
overpowered by nature. But what influence is
exerted on the souls of men by the precepts of
God, because of their simplicity and truth, is
shown by daily proofs. Give me a man who is
passionate, scurrilous, and unrestrained ; with a
very few words of God,

"I will render him as gentle as a sheep."'

Give me one who is grasping, covetous, and tena-
cious ; I will presently restore him to you liberal,
and freely bestowing his money with full hands.
Gi\e me a man who is afraid of pain and death ;
he shall presently despise crosses, and fires, and
the bull of Phalaris.^ Give me one who is lust-
ful, an adulterer, a glutton ; you shall presently
see him sober, chaste, and temperate. Give me
one who is cruel and bloodthirsty : that fury shall
presently be changed into true clemency. Give
me a man who is unjust, foolish, an evil-doer ;
forthwith he shall be just, and wise, and innocent :
for by one laver^ all his wickedness shall be
taken away. So great is the power of divine
wisdom, that, when infused into the breast of
man, by one impulse it once for all expels folly,
which is the mother of faults, for the effecting !
of which there is no need of payment, or books, j

' Terence, Adelphi, iv. i.

2 Perillus invented the brazen bull, which the tyrant Phalaris used
as an instrument of torture. It was so constructed that the groans
of the victims appeared to resemble the bellowing of the bull.

' Ihe baptismal font, [i.e., as signifying Zcth. xiu. i.J

or nightly studies. These results are accom-
plished gratuitously, easily, and quickly, if only
the ears are open and the breast thirsts for wis-
dom. Let no one fear : we do not sell water,
nor offer the sun for a reward. The fountain of
God, most abundant and most full, is open to
all ; and this heavenly light rises for all,-* as many
as have eyes. Did any of the philosophers effect
these things, or is he able to effect them if he
wishes? For though they spend their lives in
the study of philosophy, they are neither able to
improve any other person nor themselves (if
nature has presented any obstacle). Therefore
their wisdom, doing its utmost, does not eradi-
cate, but hide vices. But a few precepts of God
so entirely change the whole man, and having
put off the old man, render him new, that you
would not recognise him as the same.

CHAP. XXVII. — HOW LITTLE THE PRECEPTS OF
PHILOSOPHERS CONTRIBUTE TO TRUE WISDOM,
WHICH VOU WILL FIND IN RELIGION ONLY.

What, then ? Do they enjoin nothing similar ?
Yes, indeed, many things ; and they frequently
approach the truth. But those precepts have
no weight, because they are human, and are
without a greater, that is, that divine authority.
No one therefore believes them, because the
hearer imagines himself to be a man, just as he
is, who enjoins them. Moreover, there is no
certainty with them, nothing which proceeds
from knowledge. But since all things are done
by conjecture, and many differing and various
things are brought forward, it is the part of a
most foolish man to be willing to obey their pre-
cepts, since it is doubted whether they are true
or false ; and therefore no one obeys them, be-
cause no one wishes to labour for an uncertainty.
The Stoics say that it is virtue which can alone
produce a happy life. Nothing can be said with
greater truth. But what if he shall be tormented,
or afflicted with pain ? Will it be possible for
any one to be happy in the hands of the execu-
tioners? But truly pain inflicted upon the body
is the material of virtue ; therefore he is not
wretched even in tortures. Epicurus speaks
much more strongly. The wise man, he says, is
always happy ; and even when shut up in the
bull of Phalaris he will utter this speech : " It is
pleasant, and I do not care for it." Who would
not laugh at him? Especially, because a man
who is devoted to pleasure took upon himself
the character of a man of fortitude, and that to
an immoderate degree ; for it is impossible that
any one should esteem tortures of the body as
pleasures, since it is sufficient for discharging the
office of virtue that one sustains and endures
them. \Vhat do you. Stoics, say? What do

* See John i. 9.

Chap. XXVIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

you, Epicurus? The wise man is happy even
when he is tortured. If it is on account of the
glory of his endurance, he will not enjoy it, for
perchance he will die under the tortures. If it
is on account of the recollection of the deed,
either he will not perceive it if souls shall perish,
or, if he shall perceive it, he will gain nothing
from it.

What other advantage is there then in virtue ?
ivhat happiness of life ? Is it that a man may
die with equanimity? You present to me the
advantage of a single hour, or perhaps moment,
for the sake of which it may not be expedient
to be worn out by miseries and labours through-
out the whole of life. But how much time does
death occupy? on the arrival of which it now
makes no difference whether you shall have
undergone it with equanimity or not. Thus it
happens that nothing is sought from virtue but
glory. But this is either superfluous and short-
lived, or it will not follow from the depraved
judgments of men. Therefore there is no fruit
from virtue where virtue is subject to death and
decay. Therefore they who said these things
saw a certain shadow ' of virtue ; they did not
see virtue itself. For they had their eyes fixed
on the earth, nor did they raise their counte-
nances on high that they might behold her

"Who showed herself from the quarters of heaven."^

This is the reason why no one obeys their pre-
cepts ; inasmuch as they either train men to
vices, if they defend pleasure ; or if they up-
hold virtue, they neither threaten sin with any
punishment, except that of disgrace only, nor
do they promise any reward to virtue, except
that of honour and praise only, since they say
that virtue is to be sought for its own sake, and
not on account of any other object. The wise
man therefore is happy under tortures ; but
when he suffers torture on account of his faith,
on account of justice, or on account of God,
that endurance of pain will render him most
happy. For it is God alone who can honour
virtue, the reward of which is immortality alone.
And they who do not seek this, nor possess
religion, with which eternal life is connected,
assuredly do not know the power of virtue, the
reward of which they are ignorant ; nor look
towards heaven, as they themselves imagine that
they do, when they inquire into subjects which
do not admit of investigation, since there is no
other cause for looking towards heaven, unless it
be either to undertake religion, or to believe
that one's soul is immortal. For if any one un-
derstands that God is to be worshipped, or has
the hope of immortality set before him, his

' A shadow ; outline, or resemblance.
* Lucretius, i 65.

mind ^ is in heaven ; and although he may not
behold it with his eyes, yet he does behold it
with the eye of his soul. But they who do not
take up religion are of the earth, for religion is
from heaven ; and they who think that the soul
perishes together with the body, equally look
down towards the earth : for beyond the body,
which is earth, they see nothing further, which
is immortal. It is therefore of no profit that
man is so made, that with upright body he looks
towards heaven, unless with mind raised aloft he
discerns God, and his thoughts are altogether
engaged upon the hope of everlasting life.

CHAP. XXVIII. — OF TRUE RELIGION AND OF NA-
TURE, WHETHER FORTUNE IS A GODDESS, AND
OF PHILOSOPHY.

Wherefore there is nothing else in life on which
our plan and condition can depend but the
knowledge of God who created us, and the re-
ligious and pious worship of Him ; and since
the philosophers have wandered from this, it is
plain that they were not wise. They sought wis-
dom, indeed ; but because they did not seek it
in a right manner, they sunk down to a greater
distance, and fell into such great errors, that they
did not even possess common wisdom. For
they were not only unwilling to maintain religion,
but they even took it away ; while, led on by the
appearance of false virtue, they endeavour to free
the mind from all fear : and this overturning of
religion gains the name of nature. For they,
either being ignorant by whom the world was
made, or wishing to persuade men that nothing
was completed by divine intelligence, said that
nature was the mother of all things, as though
they should bay that all things were produced of
their own accord : by which word they altogethe?
confess their own ignorance. For nature, apart
from divine providence and power, is absolutely
nothing. But if they call God nature, what per-
verseness is it, to use the name of nature rather
than of God ! ■♦ But if nature is the plan, or ne-
cessity, or condition of birth, it is not by itself
capable of sensation ; but there must necessarily
be a divine mind, which by its foresight furnishes
the beginning of their existence to all things. Or
if nature is heaven and earth, and everything
which is created, nature is not God, but the work
of God.

By a similar error they believe in the existence
of fortune, as a goddess mocking the affairs of
men with various casualties, because they know
not from what source things good and evil hap-

3 Thus St. Paul, Col. iii. 2, exhorts us to set our affections on
things above, not on things of the earth.

* [Quod si Deum naiuram vocant quae perversitas est naturam
potius quam Deum nominare. Observe this terse maxim of our au-
thor. It rebukes the teachers and scientists of our day, who .seem
afraid to " look through nature up to nature's God," in their barren
instruction. They go back to Lucretius, and call '\t progrtsi !\

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IIL

pen to them. They think that they are brought
together to do battle with her ; nor do they as-
sign any reason by whom and on what account
they are thus matched ; but they only boast that
they are every moment carrying on a contest for
life and death with fortune. Now, as many as
have consoled any persons on account of the
death and removal of friends, have censured
the name of fortune with the most severe accusa-
tions ; nor is there any disputation of theirs on
the subject of virtue, in which fortune is not
harassed. M. Tullius, in his Consolatioti, says
that he has always fought against fortune, and
that she was always overpowered by him when
he had valiantly beaten back the attacks of his
enemies ; that he was not subdued by her even
then, when he was driven from his home and
deprived of his countrj' ; but then, when he lost
his dearest daughter, he shamefully confesses
that he is overcome by fortune. I yield, he says,
and raise my hand.' What is more wretched
than this man, who thus lies prostrate? He acts
foolishly, he says ; but it is one who professes
that he is wise. What, then, does the assump-
tion of the name imply? What that contempt
of things which is laid claim to with magnificent
words ? What that dress, so different from others ?
Or why do you give precepts of wisdom at all,
if no one has yet been found who is wise ? And
does any one bear ill-will to us because we deny
that philosophers are wise, when they themselves
confess that they neither have knowledge nor
wisdom ? For if at any time they have so failed
that they are not even able to feign anything, as
their practice is in other cases, then in truth they
are reminded of their ignorance ; and, as though
in madness, they spring up and exclaim that they
are blind and foolish. Anaxagoras pronounces
that all things are overspread with darkness.
Empedocles complains that the paths of the
senses are narrow, as though for his reflections
he had need of a chariot and four horses. De-
mocritus says that the truth lies sunk in a well
so deep that it has no bottom ; foolishly, indeed,
as he says other things. For the truth is not,
as it were, sunk in a well to which it was per-
mitted him to descend, or even to fall, but, as
it were, placed on the highest top of a lofty
mountain, or in heaven, which is most true. For
what reason is there why he should say that it is
sunk below rather than that it is raised aloft?
unless by chance he preferred to place the mind
also in the feet, or in the bottom of the heels,
rather than in the breast or in the head.

So widely removed were they from the truth
itself, that even the posture of their own body did
not admonish them, that the *-'uth must be sought

for by them in the highest place.* From this
despair arose that confession of Socrates, m
which he said that he knew nothing but this one
thing alone, that he knew nothing. From this
flowed the system of the Academy, if that is to
be called a system in which ignorance is both
learnt and taught. But not even those who
claimed for themselves knowledge were able con-
sistently to defend that very thing which they
thought that they knew. For since they were not
in agreement ^ with one another, through their
ignorance of divine things they were so incon-
sistent and uncertain, and often asserting things
contrary to one another, that you are unable to
determine and decide what their meaning was.
Why therefore should you fight against those
men who perish by their own sword? Why
should you labour to refute those whom their
own speech refutes and presses ?•» Aristotle,
says Cicero, accusing the ancient philosophers,
declares that they are either most foolish or most
vainglorious, since they thought that philosophy
was perfected by their talents ; but that he saw,
because a great addition had been made in a
few years, that philosophy would be complete in
a short time. What, then, was that time ? In
what manner, when, or by whom, was philosophy
completed ? For that which he said, that they
were most foolish in supposing that philosophy
was made perfect by their talents, is true ; but he
did not even himself speak with sufficient dis-
cretion, who thought that it had either been
begun by the ancients, or increased by those who
were more recent, or that it would shortly be
brought to perfection by those of later times.
For that can never be investigated which is not
sought by its own way.

CHAP. XXIX. — OF FORTUNE AGAIN, AND VIRTUE.

But let us return to the subject which we laid
aside. Fortune, therefore, by itself, is nothing ;
nor must we so regard it as though it had any
perception, since fortune is the sudden and un-
expected occurrence of accidents. But philoso-
phers, that they may not sometimes fail to err,
wish to be wise in a foolish matter ; and say that
she is not a goddess, as is generally believed,
but a god. Sometimes, however, they call this
god nature, sometimes fortune, " because he
brings about," says the same Cicero, "■ many
things unexpected by us, on account of our want
of intelligence and our ignorance of causes."
Since, therefore, they are ignorant of the causes
on account of which anything is done, they must
also be ignorant of him who does them. The

^ [See p. 91, note 3, supra, and sfiarsim in this work.]

3 Literally, " their accounts did not square."
' To raise or stretch out the hand was an acknowledgment of * Afficit, " presses and harasses." Another reading is affligit,

defeat. I " casts to the ground."

Chap. XXIX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

same writer, in a work of great seriousness, in
which he was giving to his son precepts of hfe
drawn from philosophy, says, '' \Vho can be ig-
norant that the power of fortune is great on either
side ? For both when we meet with a prosper-
ous breeze from her we gain the issues which we
desire, and when she has breathed contrary to
us we are dashed on the rocks." ' First of all,
he who siys that nothing can be known, spoke
this as though he himself and all men iiad knowl-
edge. Then he who endeavours to render doubt-
ful even the things which are plain, thought that
this was plain, which ought to have been to him
especially doubtful ; for to a wise man it is alto-
gether false. Who, he says, knows not ? I in-
deed know not. Let him teach me, if he can,
what that power is, what that breeze, and what
the contrary breath.

It is disgraceful, therefore, for a man of talent
to say that, which if you were to deny it, he
would be unable to prove. Lastly, he who says
that the assent must be withheld because it is
the part of a foolish man rashly to assent to
things which are unknown to him, he, I say, al-
together believed the opinions of the vulgar and
uninstructed, who think that it is fortune which
gives to men good and evil things. For they
represent her image with the horn of plenty and
with a rudder, as though she both gave wealth
and had the government of human affairs. And
to this opinion Virgil ^ assented, who calls for-
tune omnipotent : and the historian ^ who says,
But assuredly fortune bears sway in everything.
What place, then, remains for the other gods?
Why is she not said to reign by herself, if she
has more power than others ; or why is she not
alone worshipped, if she has power in all things ?
Or if she inflicts evils only, let them bring for-
ward some cause why, if she is a goddess, she
envies men, and desires their destruction, though
she is religiously worshipped by them ; why she
is more favourable to the wicked and more un-
favourable to the good ; why she plots, afflicts,
deceives, exterminates ; who appointed her as
the perpetual harasser of the race of men ; why,
in short, she has obtained so mischievous a
power, that she renders all things illustrious or
obscure according to her caprice rather than in
accordance with the truth. Philosophers, I say,
ought rather to have inquired into these things,
than rashly to have accused fortune, who is in-
nocent : for although she has some existence,
yet no reason can be brought forward by them
why she should be as hostile to men as she is
supposed to be. Therefore all those speeches
in which they rail at the injustice of fortune, and

' Cicero, De Offic, ii. 6. The expressions are borrowed from the
figure of a ship at sea.
2 /En., viii. 33.
' Sallust, Cat., viii.

in opposition to fortune arrogantly boast of
their own virtues, are nothing else but the rav-
ings of thoughtless levity.

Wherefore let them not envy us, to whom God
has revealed the truth : who, as we know that
fortune is nothing, so also know that there is a
wicked and crafty spirit who is unfriendly to the
good, and the enemy of righteousness, who acts
in opposition to God ; the cause of whose en-
mity we have explained in the second book.*
He therefore lays plots against all ; but those
who are ignorant of God he hinders by error,
he overwhelms with folly, he overspreads with
darkness, that no one may be able to attain to
the knowledge of the divine name, in which
alone are contained both wisdom and everlasting
life. Those, on the other hand, who know God,
he assails with wiles and craft, that he may en-
snare them with desire and lust, and when they
are corrupted by the blandishments of sin, may
impel them to death ; or, if he shall have not
succeeded by stratagem, he attempts to cast
them down by force and violence. For on this
account he was not at once thrust down by God
to punishment at the original transgression, that
by his malice he may exercise man to virtue :
for unless this is in constant agitation, unless it
is strengthened by continual harassing, it cannot
be perfect, inasmuch as virtue is dauntless and
unconquered patience in enduring evils. From
which it comes to pass that there is no virtue if
an adversary is wanting. When, therefore, they
perceived the force of this perverse power op-
posed to virtue, and were ignorant of its name,
they invented for themselves the senseless name
of fortune ; and how far this is removed from
wisdom, Juvenal declares in these verses : 5 —

" No divine power is absent if there is prudence ; but
we make you a goddess, O Fortune, and place
you in heaven."

It was folly, therefore, and error, and blindness,
and, as Cicero says,^ ignorance of facts and
causes, which introduced the names of Nature
and Fortune. But as they are ignorant of their
adversary, so also they do not indeed know
virtue, the knowledge of which is derived from
the idea of an adversary. And if this is joined
with wisdom, or, as they say, is itself also
wisdom, they must be ignorant in what subjects
it is contained. For no one can possibly be
furnished with true arms if he is ignorant of the
enemy against whom he must be armed ; nor
can he overcome his adversar)', who in fighting
does not attack his real enemy, but a shadow.
For he will be overthrown, who, having his at-

* Chapter xvi.

5 Satire x. 365: Nullum numen abest. Others read. Nullum
numen habes. You have no divine power, O Fortune, if there is
prudence, etc.

^ Acad., i. 7. [Let our sophists feel this rebuke of TuUy.l

lOO

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book III.

tention fixed on another object, shall not pre-
viously have foreseen or guarded against the
blow aimed at his vitals.

CHAP. XXX. — 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.

I have taught, as far as my humble talents
permitted, that the philosophers held a course
widely deviating from the truth. I perceive, how-
ever, how many things I have omitted, because
it was not my province to enter into a dispu-
tation against philosophers. But it was neces-
sary for me to make a digression to this subject,
that I might show that so many and great intel-
lects have expended themselves in vain on false
subjects, lest any one by chance being shut out
by corrupt superstitions, should wish to betake
himself to them as though about to find some
certainty. Therefore the only hope, the only
safety for man, is placed in this doctrine, which
we defend. All the wisdom of man consists in
this alone, the knowledge and worship of God :
this is our tenet, this our opinion. Therefore
with all the power of my voice I testify, I pro-
claim, I declare : Here, here is that which all
philosophers have sought throughout their whole
life ; and yet, they have not been able to investi-
gate, to grasp, and to attain to it, because they
either retained a religion which was corrupt, or
took it away altogether. Let them therefore all
depart, who do not instruct human life, but throw
it into confusion. For what do they teach ? or
whom do they instruct, who have not yet in-
structed themselves? whom are the sick able to

heal, whom can the bhnd guide? Let us all,
therefore, who have any regard for wisdom, be-
take ourselves to this subject. Or shall we wait
until Socrates knows something? or Anaxagoras
finds light in the darkness ? or until Democritus
draws forth truth from the well? or Empedocles
extends the paths of his soul ? or until Arcesilas
and Carneades see, and feel, and perceive ?

Lo, a voice from heaven teaching the truth,
and displaying to us a light brighter than the
sun itself. ' Why are we unjust to ourselves,
and delay to take up wisdom, which learned
men, though they wasted their lives in its pur-
suit, were never able to discover. Let him who
wishes to be wise and happy hear the voice of
God, learn righteousness, understand the mystery
of his birth, despise human affairs, embrace
divine things, that he may gain that chief good
to which he was born. Having overthrown all
false religions, and having refuted all the argu-
ments, as many as it was customary or possible
to bring forward in their defence ; then, having
proved the systems of philosophy to be false, we
must now come to true religion and wisdom,
since, as I shall teach, they are both connected
together ; that we may maintain it either by
arguments, or by examples, or by competent
witnesses, and may show that the folly with which
those worshippers of gods do not cease to up-
braid us, has no existence with us, but lies alto-
gether with them. And although, in the former
books, when I was contending against false re-
ligions, and in this, when I was overthrowing
false wisdom, I showed where the truth is, yet
the next book will more plainly indicate what is
true religion and what true wisdom.

' [A noble utterance from Christian philosophy, now first gaining
the ear and heart of humanity.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.
BOOK IV.

OF TRUE WISDOM AND RELIGION.

CHAP. I. — OF THE FORMER RELIGION OF MEN,
AND HOW ERROR WAS SPREAD OVER EVERY
AGE, AND OF THE SEVEN WISE MEN OF GREECE.

When I reflect, O Emperor Constantine, and
often revolve in my mind the original condition
of men, it is accustomed to appear alike wonder-
ful and unworthy that, by the folly of one age
embracing various superstitions, and believing in
the existence of many gods, they suddenly ar-
rived at such ignorance of themselves, that the
truth being taken away from their eyes, the re-
ligion of the true God was not observed, nor the
condition of human nature, since men did not
seek the chief good in heaven, but on earth.
And on this account assuredly the happiness of
the ancient ages was changed. For, having left
God, the parent and founder of all things, men
began to worship the senseless works ' of their
own hands. And what were the effects of this
corruption, or what evils it introduced, the sub-
ject itself sufficiently declares. For, turning away
from the chief good, which is blessed and ever-
lasting on this account, because it cannot be
seen,^ or touched, or comprehended, and from
the virtues which are in agreement with that
good, and which are equally immortal, gliding
down to these corrupt and frail gods, and devot-
ing themselves to those things by which the body
only is adorned, and nourished, and delighted,
they sought eternal death for themselves, to-
gether with their gods and goods relating to the
body, because all bodies are subject to death.
Superstitions of this kind, therefore, were fol-
lowed by injustice and impiety, as must necessa-
rily be the case. For men ceased to raise their
countenances to the heaven ; but, their minds
being depressed downwards, clung to goods of
the earth, as they did to earth-born superstitions.
There followed the disagreement of mankind.

' Figmenta. [Rom. i. 21-23.]

^ Thus St. Paul, I Cor. ii. 9: '• Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him."

and fraud, and all wickedness ; because, despis-
ing eternal and incorruptible goods, which alone
ought to be desired by man, they rather chose
temporal and short-lived things, and greater
trust was placed by men in evil, inasmuch as
they preferred vice to virtue, because it had pre-
sented itself as nearer at hand.^

Thus human life, which in former ages had
been occupied with the clearest light, was over-
spread with gloom and darkness ; and in con-
formity with this depravity, when wisdom was
taken away, then at length men began to claim
for themselves the name of wise. For at the
time when all were wise, no one was called by
that name. And would that this name, once
common to all the class, though reduced to a
few, still retained its power ! For those few
might perhaps be able, either by talent, or by
authority, or by continual exhortations, to free
the people from vices and errors. But so en-
tirely had wisdom died out, that it is evident,
from the very arrogance of the name, that no
one of those who were so called was really
wise. And yet, before the discovery of this
philosophy, as it is termed, there are said to
have been seven,'* who, because they ventured
to inquire into and discuss natural subjects,
deserved to be esteemed and called wise men.

O wretched and calamitous age, in which
through the whole world there were only seven
who were called by the name of men, for no
one can justly be called a man unless he is wise !
But if all the others besides themselves were
foolish, even they themselves were not wise, be-
cause no one can be truly wise in the judgment
of the foolish. So far were they removed from
wisdom, that not even afterwards, when learning
increased, and many and great intellects were
always intent upon this very subject, could the

3 In its rewards.

* The seven wise men were. Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cle-
obulus, Chilo, and Periander. To these some add Anacharsis the
Scythian. [Vol. v. p. 11, supra. For Thales, vol. ii. p. 140.]

I02

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

truth be perceived and ascertained. For, after
the renown of those seven wise men, it is incredi-
ble with how great a desire of inquiring into the
truth all Greece was inflamed. And first of all,
they thought ' the very name of wisdom arrogant,
and did not call themselves wise men, but desirous
of wisdom. By which deed they both condemned
those who had rashly arrogated to themselves the
name of wise men, of error and folly, and them-
selves also of ignorance, which indeed they did
not deny. For wherever the nature of the sub-
ject had, as it were, laid its hands upon their
minds, so that they were unable to give any
account, they were accustomed to testify that
they knew nothing, and discerned nothing.
Wherefore they are found to be much wiser,
who in some degree saw themselves, than those
who had believed that they were wise.

CHAP. II. WHERE WISDOM IS TO BE FOUND ; WHY

PYTHAGORAS AND PLATO DID NOT APPROACH THE
JEWS.

Wherefore, if they were not wise who were so
called, nor those of later times, who did not
hesitate to confess their want of wisdom, what j
remains but that wisdom is to be sought else- \
where, since it has not been found where it was
sought. But what can we suppose to have been
the reason why it was not found, though sought |
with the greatest earnestness and labour by so
many intellects, and during so many ages, unless
it be that philosophers sought for it out of their
own limits? And since they traversed and ex- I
plored all parts, but nowhere found any wisdom, j
and it must of necessity be somewhere, it is evi-
dent that it ought especially to be sought there
where the title of folly ^ appears ; under the cov-
ering of which God hides the treasury of wisdom
and truth, lest the secret of His divine work
should be exposed to view.^ Whence I am
accustomed to wonder that, when Pythagoras,
and after him Plato, inflamed with the love of
searching out the truth, had penetrated as far as
to the Egyptians, and Magi, and Persians, that
they might become acquainted with their re-
ligious rites and institutions (for they suspected
that wisdom was concerned with religion), they
did not approach the Jews only, in whose pos-
session alone it then was, and to whom they
might have gone more easily. But I think that
they were turned away from them by divine provi-
dence, that they might not know the truth, be-
cause it was not yet permitted for the religion of
the true God and righteousness to become known
to men of other nations.'' For God had deter-

' This was the opinion of Pythagoras. See Book iii. 2.

' See I Cor. i. 20-22.

3 [" Thou art a God that hidest thyself," Isa. xlv. 15. Wisdom
must be searched after as hidden treasure. J

■♦ See Eph. i. 9, 10; Col. i. 26, 27. [Ihis is a mysterious truth:
God's election of men and nations has been according to their desire
to be enlightened. Christ must be the " Desire of Nations."]

mined, as the last time drew near,5 to send from
heaven a great leader,^ who should reveal to for-
eign nations that which was taken away from a
perfidious ^ and ungrateful people. And I will
endeavour to discuss the subject in this book,
if I shall first have shown that wisdom is so
closely united with religion, that the one cannot
be separated from the other.

CHAP. III. — WISDOM AND RELIGION CANNOT BE
SEPARATED : THE LORD OF NATURE MUST NECES-
SARILY BE THE FATHER OF EVERY ONE.

The worship of the gods, as I have taught in
the former book, does not imply wisdom ; not
only because it gives up man, who is a divine
animal, to earthly and frail things, but because
nothing is fixed in it which may avail for the
cultivation of the character and the framing of
the life ; nor does it contain any investigation
of the truth, but only the rite of worship, which
does not consist in the service of the mind, but
in the employment of the body. And therefore
that is not to be deemed true religion, because
it instructs and improves men by no precepts of
righteousness and virtue. Thus philosophy, in-
asmuch as it does not possess true religion, that
is, the highest piety, is not true wisdom. For
if the divinity which governs this world supports
mankind with incredible beneficence, and cher-
ishes it as with paternal indulgence, wishes truly
that gratitude should be paid, and honour given
to itself, man cannot preser\^e his piety if he
shall prove ungrateful for the heavenly benefits ;
and this is certainly not the part of a wise man.
Since, therefore, as I have said, philosophy and
the religious system of the gods are separated,
and far removed from each other ; seeing that
some are professors of wisdom, through whom
it is manifest that there is no approach to the
gods, and that others are priests of religion,
through whom wisdom is not learned ; it is
manifest that the one is not true wisdom, and
that the other is not true religion. Therefore
philosophy was not able to conceive the truth,
nor was the religious system of the gods able to
give an account of itself, since it is without it.
But where wisdom is joined by an inseparable
connection with religion, both must necessarily
be true ; because in our worship we ought to be
wise, that is, to know the proper object and
! mode of worship, and in our wisdom to worship,
I that is, to complete our knowledge by deed and
action.

Where, then, is wisdom joined with religion ?
There, indeed, where the one God is worshipped,
where life and every action is referred to one

5 The last time is the last dispensation, the time of the new cove-
nant. Heb. i. 2. ■ -.r- r . 1 ,

b See Isa. Iv. 4: " Behold, I have given Him for a leader and
commander to the people."

7 Matt. xxi.

Chap. IV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

103

source, and to one supreme authority : in short,
the teachers of wisdom are the same, who are
also the priests of God." Nor, however, let it
affect any one, because it often has happened,
and may happen, that some philosopher may
undertake a priesthood of the gods ; and when
this happens, philosophy is not, however, joined
with religion ; but philosophy will both be un-
employed amidst sacred rites, and religion will
be unemployed when philosophy shall be treated
of. For that system of religious rites is dumb,
■not only because it relates to gods who are
dumb, but also because its observance is by the
hand and the fingers, not by the heart and
tongue, as is the case with ours, which is true.
Therefore rehgion is contained in wisdom, and
wisdom in religion. The one, then, cannot be
separated from the other ; because wisdom is
nothing else but the worship of the true God
with just and pious adoration. But that the
worship of many gods is not in accordance with
nature, may be inferred and conceived even by
this argument : that every god who is worshipped
by man must, amidst the solemn rites and
prayers, be invoked as father, not only for the
sake of honour, but also of reason ; because he
is both more ancient than man, and because he
affords life, safety, and sustenance, as a father
does. Therefore Jupiter is called father by !
those who pray to him, as is Saturnus, and Janus,
and Liber, and the rest in order ; which Lucilius^
laughs at in the council of the gods : " So that
there is none of us who is not called excellent
father of the gods ; so that father Neptunus,
Liber, father Saturnus, Mars, Janus, father Quiri-
nus, are called after one name." But if nature
does not permit that one man should have many
fathers (for he is produced from one only), there-
fore the worship of many gods is contrary to
nature, and contrary to piety.

One only, therefore, is to be worshipped, who
can truly be called Father. He also must of
necessity be Lord, because as He has power to
indulge, so also has He power to restrain. He
is to be called Father on this account, because
He bestows upon us many and great things ;
and Lord on this account, because He has the
greatest power of chastising and punishing. But
that He who is Father is also Lord, is shown
even by reference to civil law.^ For who will be
able to bring up sons, unless he has the power
of a lord over them ? Nor without reason is he
called father of a household,-* although he only
has sons : for it is plain that the name of father

' [lidem sunt doctores sapientiae qui et De. sacerdotes.]
^ [The satirist, not Cicero's friend; Nat. Dear., iii.]
' Fathers in ancient times had the greatest power over their chil-
dren, so that they had the right of life and death, as masters had over
their slaves.

^ Pater familias — a title given to the master of a household,
whether he had sons or not ; the slaves of a house were called
familia.

embraces also slaves, because " household " fol-
lows ; and the name of " household " comprises
also sons, because the name of " father " pre-
cedes : from which it is evident, that the same
person is both father of his slaves 5 and lord of
his sons. Lastly, the son is set at liberty as if 1-ke
were a slave ; and the liberated slave receives
the name ^ of his patron, as if he were a son.
But if a man is named father of a household,
that it may appear that he is possessed of a
double power, because as a father he ought to
indulge, and as a lord to restrain, it follows that
he who is a son is also a slave, and that he who
is a father is also a lord. As, therefore, by the
necessity of nature, there cannot be more than
one father, so there can only be one lord. For
what will the slave do if many lords '' shall give
commands at variance with each other? There-
fore the worship of many gods is contrary to
reason and to nature, since there cannot be
many fathers or lords ; but it is necessary to
consider the gods both as fathers and lords.

Therefore the truth cannot be held where the
same man is subject to many fathers and lords,
where the mind, drawn in different directions to
many objects, wanders to and fro, hither and
thither. Nor can religion have any firmness,
when it is without a fixed and settled dwelling-
place. Therefore there can be no true worship
of many gods ; just as that cannot be called
matrimony, in which one woman has many hus-
bands, but she will either be called a harlot or
an adulteress. For when a woman is destitute
of modesty, chastity, and fidelity, she must of
necessity be without virtue. Thus also the reli-
gious system of the gods is unchaste and unholy,
because it is destitute of faith, for that unsettled
and uncertain honour has no source or origin.

CHAP, IV. — OF WISDOM LIKEWISE, AND RELIGION,
AND OF THE RIGHT OF FATHER AND LORD.

By these things it is evident how closely con-
nected are wisdom and religion. Wisdom re-
lates to sons, and this relation requires love ;
religion to servants, and this relation requires
fear. For as the former are bound to love and
honour their father, so are the latter bound to
respect and venerate their lord. But with re-
spect to God, who is one only, inasmuch as He
sustains the twofold character both of Father
and Lord, we are bound both to love Him, inas-
much as we are sons, and to fear Him, inasmuch

5 It has been judged better to keep the words " slave " and
" lord " throughout the passage, for the sake of uniformity of ex-
pression, though in some places "servant" and "master" might
seem more appropriate.

'' Among the Romans slaves had no prienomen or distinguishing
name; when a slave was set at liberty, he was allowed to assume the
name of his master as a prtenomen. Thus, in Persius {Sai., v.),
" Dama," the liberated slave, becomes " Marcus Dama."

' Thus the slave in Terence wished to know how many masters
he had.

I04

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV

as we are servants.' Religion, therefore, cannot
be divided from wisdom, nor can wisdom be
separated from religion ; because it is the same
God, who ought to be understood, which is the
part of wisdom, and to be honoured, which is
the part of religion. But wisdom precedes,
religion follows ; for the knowledge of God
comes first. His worship is the result of knowl-
edge. Thus in the two names there is but one
meaning, though it seems to be different in each
case. For the one is concerned with the under-
standing, the other with action. But, however,
they resemble two streams flowing from one
fountain. But the fountain of wisdom and reli-
gion is God ; and if these two streams shall turn
aside from Him, they must be dried up : for
they who are ignorant of Him cannot be wise
or religious.

Thus it comes to pass that philosophers, and
those who worship many gods, either resemble
disinherited sons or runaway slaves, because the
one do not seek their father, nor the other their
master. And as they who are disinherited do
not attain to the inheritance of their father, nor
runaway slaves impunity, so neither will philoso-
phers receive immortality, which is the inherit-
ance of the heavenly kingdom, that is, the chief
good, which they especially seek ; nor will the
worshippers of gods escape the penalty of ever-
lasting death, which is the punishment of the
true Master against those who are deserters ^
of His majesty and name. But that God is
Father and also Lord was unknown to both, to
the worshippers of the gods as well as to the
professors of wisdom themselves : inasmuch as
they either thought that nothing at all was to be
worshipped ; or they approved of false religions ;
or, although they understood the strength and
power of the Supreme God (as Plato, who says
that there is one God, Creator of the world, and
Marcus Tullius, who acknowledges that man has
been produced by the Supreme God in an ex-
cellent condition), nevertheless they did not
render the worship due to Him as to the su-
preme Father, which was their befitting and
necessary duty. But that the gods cannot be
fathers or lords, is declared not only by their
multitude, as I have shown above,^ but also by
reason : because it is not reported that man
was made by gods, nor is it found that the gods
themselves preceded the origin of man, since it
appears that there were men on the earth before
the birth of Vulcan, and Liber, and Apollo, and
Jupiter himself. But the creation of man is not

' Fear, in the language of the prophets often implies reverence
of the divine majesty. Lactantius seems to refer to Mai. i. 6 : "A
son honoiireth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a
father, where is mine honour ? and if I be a master, where is my
fear ? "

* Literally, runaways. The reference is, as before, to runaway
slaves.

3 Chap. iil. [p. 103].

accustomed to be assigned to Satumus, nor to
his father Coelus.

But if none of those who are worshipped is
said to have originally formed and created man,
it follows that none of these can be called the
father of man, and so none of them can be God.
Therefore it is not lawful to worship those by
whom man was not produced, for he could not
be produced by many. Therefore the one and
only God ought to be worshipped, who was be-
fore Jupiter, and Saturnus, and Coelus himself,
and the earth. For He must have fashioned
man, who, before the creation of man, finished
the heaven and the earth. He alone is to be
called Father who created us ; He alone is to
be considered Lord who rules, who has the true
and perpetual power of life and death. And he
who does not adore Him is a foolish servant,
who flees from or does not know his Master ;
and an undutiful son, who either hates or is igno-
rant of his true Father.

CHAP. V. THE ORACLES OF THE PROPHETS MUST

BE LOOKED INTO ; AND OF THEIR TIMES, .4ND
THE TIMES OF THE JUDGES AND KINGS.

Now, since I have shown that wisdom and re-
ligion cannot be separated, it remains that we
speak of religion itself, and wisdom. I am aware,
indeed, how difficult it is to discuss heavenly
subjects ; but still the attempt must be ventured,
that the truth may be made clear and brought to
light, and that many may be freed from error and
death, who despise and refuse the truth, while it
is concealed under a covering of folly. But be-
fore I begin to speak of God and His works, I
must first speak a few things concerning the
prophets, whose testimony I must now use, which
I have refrained from doing in the former books.
Above all things, he who desires to comprehend
the truth ought not only to apply his mind to
understand the utterances of the prophets, but
also most diligently to inquire into the times
during which each one of them existed, that he
may know what future events they predicted, and
after how many years their predictions were ful-
filled.-* Nor is there any dilficulty in making
these computations ; for they testified under
what king each of them received the inspiration
of the Divine Spirit. And many have written
and published books respecting the times,
making their commencement from the prophet
Moses, who lived about seven hundred years be-
fore the Trojan war. But he, when he had gov-
erned' the people for forty years, was succeeded
by Joshua, who held the chief place twenty-seven
years.

After this they were under the government of
judges during three hundred and sereniy years.

* [See Pusey's Daniel ; also Minor Prophets.\

Chap. VII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

105

Then their condition was changed, and they be-
gan to have kings ; and when they had ruled dur-
ing /our /a^mZ/rt/ a fuf Ji/ty yc^r<,, until the reign
ofZedekiah, the Jews having been besieged by
the king of Babylon, and carried into captivity,'
endured a long servitude, until, in the seventieth
year afterwards, the captive Jews were restored
to their own lands and settlements by Cyrus the
elder, who attained the supreme power over the
Persians, at the time when Tarquinius Superbus
reigned at Rome. Wherefore, since the whole
.series of times may be collected both from the
Jewish histories and from those of the Greeks
and Romans, the times of the prophets individ-
ually may also be collected ; the last of whom
was Zechariah, and it is agreed on that he proph-
esied in the time of King Darius, in the second
year of his reign, and in the eighth month. Of
so much greater antiquity ^ are the prophets
found to be than the Greek writers. And I bring
forward all these things, that they may perceive
their error who endeavour to refute Holy Scrip-
ture, as though it were new and recently com-
posed, being ignorant from what fountain the
origin of our holy religion flowed. But if any
one, having put together and examined the times,
shall duly lay the foundation of learning, and
fully ascertain the truth, he will also lay aside
liis error when he has gained the knowledge of
the truth.

CHAP. VI. — ALMIGHTY GOD BEGAT HIS SON ; AND
THE TESTIMONIES OF THE SIBYLS AND OF TRIS-
MEGISTUS CONCERNING HIM.

God, therefore, the contriver and founder of
all things, as we have said in the second book,
before He commenced this excellent work of the
world, begat a pure and incorruptible Spirit,
whom He called His Son. And although He
had afterwards created by Himself innumerable
other beings, whom we call angels, this first-be-
gotten, however, was the only one whom He
considered worthy of being called by the divine
name, as being powerful in His Father's excel-
lence and majesty. But that there is a Son of
the Most High God, who is possessed of the
greatest power, is shown not only by the unani-
mous utterances of the prophets, but also by the
declaration of Trismegistus and the predictions
of the Sibyls. Hermes, in the book which is
entitled The Perfect Word, made use of these
words : " The Lord and Creator of all things,
whom we have thought right to call God, since
He made the second God visible and sensible.
But I use the term sensible, not because He
Himself perceives (for the question is not

' See 2 Kings xxv.; Jer. xxxix. and lii.

^ The same is asserted by Justin Martyr [vol. i. p. 277], Eusebius,
Augustine, and other writers. See Augustine, De Civitate Dei, book
xviii. 37 Pythagoras, one of the most ancient of the Greek philoso-
phers, was contemporary with the latest prophets.

whether He Himself perceives), but because He
leads 3 to perception and to intelligence. Since,
therefore, He made Him first, and alone, and
one only. He appeared to Him beautiful, and
most full of all good things ; and He hallowed
Him, and altogether loved Him as His own
Son." The Erythrcean Sibyl, in the beginning
of her poem, which she commenced with the
Supreme God, proclaims the Son of God as the
leader and commander of all, in these verses : —

" The nourisher and creator of all things, who placed
the sweet breath in all, and made God the leader
of all."

And again, at the end of the same poem : —

" But whom God gave for faithful men to honour."

And another Sibyl enjoins that He ought to be
known : —

" Know Him as your God, who is the Son of God."

Assuredly He is the very Son of God, who by
that most wise King Solomon, full of divine in-
spiration, spake these things which we have
added : •♦ " God founded 5 me in the beginning
of His ways, in His work before the ages. He
set me up in the beginning, before He made
the earth, and before He established the depths,
before the fountains of waters came forth : the
Lord begat me before all the hills ; He made
the regions, and the uninhabitable^ boundaries
under the heaven. When He prepared the
heaven, I was by Him : and when He separated
His own seat, when He made the strong clouds
above the winds, and when He strengthened the
mountains, and placed them under heaven ; when
He laid the strong foundations of the earth, I
was with Him arranging all things. I was He in
whom He delighted : I was daily delighted,
when He rejoiced, the world being completed."
But on this account Trismegistus spoke of Him
as " the artificer of God," and the Sibyl calls
Him "Counsellor," because He is endowed by
God the Father with such wisdom and strength,
that God employed both His wisdom and hands
in the creation of the world.

CHAP. VII. OF THE NAME OF SON, AND WHENCE

HE IS CALLED JESUS AND CHRIST.

Some one may perhaps ask who this is who is
so powerful, so beloved by God, and what name
He has, who was not only begotten at first be-
fore the world, 7 but who also arranged it by Hia

3 Literally, " sends." The passage appears to be corrupt; utto-
iriTTTei has been suggested instead of un-oTre/LiTrei, " falls under percep-
tion," " is an object of perception."

* Prov. viii. 22-31. Lactantius quotes from the Septuagint.

5 According to the Hebrew, " possessed me in the beginning,"
and so the authorized version.

* Fines inhabitabiles. Other editions read terras inhabitabiles,
" uninhabitable lands."

7 Literally, " whose first nativity not only preceded the world."
He speaks of the eternal generation of the Son, as distinguished from
His incarnation, which he afterwards speaks of as His second
nativity. [See vol. vi. p. 7.]

io6

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES

[Book IV.

wisdom and constructed it by His might. First
of all, it is befitting that we should know that
His name is not known even to the angels who
dwell in heaven, but to Himself only, and to
God the Father ; nor will that name be pub-
lished, as the sacred writings relate, before that
the purpose of God shall be fulfilled. In the
next place, we must know that this name cannot
be uttered by the mouth of man, as Hermes
teaches, saying these things : " Now the cause of
this cause is the will of the divine good which
produced God, whose name cannot be uttered
by the mouth of man." And shortly afterwards
to His Son : " There is, O Son, a secret word
of wisdom, holy respecting the only Lord of all
things, and the God first perceived ' by the
mind, to speak of whom is beyond the power
of man." But although His name, which the
supreme Father gave Him from the beginning, is
known to none but Himself, nevertheless He has
one name among the angels, and another among
men, since He is called Jesus ^ among men : for
Christ is not a proper name, but a title of power
and dominion ; for by this the Jews were accus-
tomed to call their kings. But the meaning of
this name must be set forth, on account of the
error of the ignorant, who by the change of a
letter are accustomed to call Him Chrestus.^
The Jews had before been directed to compose
a sacred oil, with which those who were called
to the priesthood * or to the kingdom might be
anointed. And as now the robe of purple 5 is
a sign of the assumption of royal dignity among
the Romans, so with them the anointing with
the holy oil conferred the title and power of
king. But since the ancient Greeks used the
word xP^eaOat to express the art of anointing,
which they now express by akeitfieaOaL, as the
verse of Homer shows,

" But the attendants washed, and anointed ^ them with
oil ; "

on this account we call Him Christ, that is, the
Anointed, who in Hebrew is called the Messias.
Hence in some Greek writings, which are badly
translated ? from the Hebrew, the word eleim-
menos^ is found written, from the word aleiphes-
thai,'> anointing. But, however, by either name
a king is signified : not that He has obtained this
earthly kingdom, the time for receiving which

' Or, perceiving.

- Jesus, that is, [Joshua = ] Saviour.

3 Suetonius speaks of Christ as Chrestus. The Christians also
were called Chrestians, as Tertullian shows in his A/>ology. The word
XptjoTo; has the signification of kind, gentle, good. [Vol. i. p. 163.]

* Each has reference to Christ, as He is King and Priest. Of the
anointing of kings, see i Sam., and of priests. Lev. viii. [Of prophets,
I Kings xix. 16.] The priesthood of Christ is most fully set forth in
the Epistle to the Hebrews.

5 Thus Horatius, Cann., i. 35, " Purpurei metiumt tyranni; "
and Gray, Ode to Adversity, " Purple tyrants vainly groan."

^ Xpiaav,

7 Interpretatse sunt, used here in a passive sense.

9 aAtLri>ttj0at,

has not yet arrived, but that He sways a heavenly
and eternal kingdom, concerning which we shall
speak in the last book. But now let us speak
of His first nativity.

CHAP. VIII. OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN THE

SPIRIT AND IN THE FLESH : OF SPIRITS AND
THE TESTIMONIES OF PROPHETS.

For we especially testify that He was twice
born, first in the spirit, and afterwards in the
flesh. V\'hence it is thus spoken by Jeremiah : '°
" Before I formed Thee in the womb I knew
Thee." And likewise by the same : " Who was
blessed before He was born ; " " which was the
case with no one else but Christ. For though
He was the Son of God from the beginning,'^
He was born again '^ a second time '•♦ according
to the flesh : and this twofold birth of His has
introduced great terror into the minds of men,
and overspread with darkness even those who
retained the mysteries of true religion. But we
will show this plainly and clearly, that they who
love wisdom may be more easily and diligently
instructed. He who hears the Son of God men-
tioned ought not to conceive in his mind so
great impiety as to think that God begat Him
by marriage and union with a woman, which
none does but an animal possessed of a body,
and subject to death. But with whom could
God unite Himself, since He is alone ? or since
His power was so great, that He accomplished
whatever He wished, assuredly He did not require
the co-operation '5 of another for procreation.
Unless by chance we shall [profanely] imagine,
as Orpheus supposed, that God is both male and
female, because otherwise He would have been
unable to beget, unless He had the power of
each sex, as though He could have intercourse
with Himself, or without such intercourse be
unable to produce.

But Hermes also was of the same opinion,
when he says that He was " His own father," and
" His own mother." '^ But if this were so, as He
is called by the prophets father, so also He would
be called mother. In what manner, then, did
He beget Him? First of all, divine operations
cannot be known or declared '? by any one ; but
nevertheless the sacred wTitings teach us, in
which it is laid down '** that this Son of God is the
speech, or even the reason"^ of God, and also

'° Jer. i. 5. It can only be in a secondary sense that this prophecy
refers to Christ ; in its primary sense it refers to the prophet himself, as
the context plainly shows.

" This passage is not found in Jeremiah, or in the Bible.

'^ f-See vol. iii. p. 612.]

'3 Kegeneratus est.

••* Denuo, i.e , de novo, "afresh."

'5 .Societate alterius. [Profanely arguing to God from man. Hu-
manity has a procreant power of a lower sort; but the ideal is divine,
and needs no process like that of man's nature.]

'^ avTOTTOLTopa KOL avTOtiriTopa,

'7 Thus Isa. liii. 8: " Who shall declare His generation?"

■* Cautum est.

>9 'Ihus Aoyo? includes the two senses of word and reason.

CHAP. IX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

107

that the other angels are spirits ' of God. For
speech is breath sent forth with a voice signify-
ing something. But, however, since breath and
speech are sent forth from different parts, inas-
much as breath proceeds from the nostrils, speech
from the mouth, the difference between the Son
of God and the other angels is great. For they
proceeded from God as silent spirits, because
they were not created to teach ^ the knowledge
, of God, but for His service. But though He is
Himself also a spirit, yet He proceeded from
the mouth of God with voice and sound, as the
Word, on this account indeed, because He was
about to make use of His voice to the people ;
that is, because He was about to be a teacher
of the knowledge of God, and of the heavenly
mystery ^ to be revealed to man : which word
also God Himself first spoke, that through Him
He might speak to us, and that He might reveal
to us the voice and will of God.

With good reason, therefore, is He called the
Speech and the. Word of God, because God,
by a certain incomprehensible energy and power
of His majesty, enclosed the vocal spirit pro-
ceeding from His mouth, which he had not con-
ceived in the womb, but in His mind, within a
form which has life through its own perception
and wisdom, and He also fashioned other spirits
of His into angels. Our spirits •» are liable to
dissolution, because we are mortal : but the
spirits of God both live, and are lasting, and
have perception ; because He Himself is im-
mortal, and the Giver both of perception 5 and
life. Our expressions, although they are mingled
with the air, and fade away, yet generally remain
comprised in letters ; how much more must we
believe that the voice of God both remains for
ever, and is accompanied with perception and
power, which it has derived from God the Father,
as a stream from its fountain ! But if any one
wonders that God could be produced from God
by a putting forth of the voice and breath, if he
is acquainted with the sacred utterances of the
prophets he will cease to wonder. That Solomon
and his father David were most powerful kings,
and also prophets, may perhaps be known even
to those who have not applied themselves to the
sacred writings ; the one of whom, who reigned
subsequently to the other, preceded the destruc-
tion of the city of Troy by one hitndred and
forty years. His father, the writer of sacred

hymns, thus speaks in the thirty-second Psalm : ^
" By the word of God were the heavens made
firm ; and all their power ^ by the breath of His
mouth." And also again in the forty-fourth
Psalm : ^ " My heart hath given utterance to a
good word ; I speak of my doings towards the
king ; " testifying, in truth, that the works of
God are known to no other than to the Son
alone, who is the Word of God, and who must
reign for ever. Solomon also shows that it is
the Word of God, and no other,^ by whose hands
these works of the world were made. " I," He
says, " came forth out of the mouth of the Most
High before all creatures : I caused the light
that faileth not to arise in the heavens, and cov-
ered the whole earth with a cloud. I have
dwelt in the height, and my throne is in the pil-
lar of the cloud." '° John also thus taught : " In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. All things were
made by Him, and without Him was not any-
thing made." "

CHAP. IX.

OF THE WORD OF GOD.

' There is great difficulty in translating this passage, on account
P/ 'he double sense of spiritus (as in Greek, -nviv^xo.), including
" spirit " and " breath." It is impossible to express the sense of the
whole passage by either word singly. There is the same difficulty
with regard to irvtvfia, as in Heb. i. 7: "He maketh His angels
spirits," more correctly " winds." See Deliusch on Hebrews, and
comp. Ps. civ. 4.

^ Ad tradendam.

3 Coelestis arcani. See Rom. xvi. 25.

* Lactantius is speaking of the breath : he cannot refer to the soul,
which he everywhere speaks of as immortal.

5 Sensus.

But the Greeks speak of Him as the Logos,^'
more befittingly than we do as the word, or
speech : for Logos signifies both speech and
reason, inasmuch as He is both the voice and
the wisdom of God. And of this divine speech
not even the philosophers were ignorant, since
Zeno represents the Logos as the arranger of the
established order of things, and the framer of
the universe : whom also He calls Fate, and the
necessity of things, and God, and the soul of
Jupiter, in accordance with the custom, indeed,
by which they are wont to regard Jupiter as God.
But the words are no obstacle, since the senti-
ment is in agreement with the truth. For it is
the spirit of God which he named the soul of
Jupiter. For Trismegistus, who by some means
or other searched into almost all truth, often de-
scribed the excellence and majesty of the word,
as the instance before mentioned declares, in
which he acknowledges that there is an ineffable
and sacred speech, the relation of which exceeds
the measure of man's ability. I have spoken
briefly, as I have been able, concerning the first
nativity. Now I must more fully discuss the
second, since this is the subject most controvert-
ed, that we may hold forth the light of under-
standing to those who desire to know the truth.

^ In our version, Ps. xxxiii 6.
^ Quoted from the Septuagint version.
" Ps. xlv. I. [See vol. i. p. 213. J
9 Ipsum.

■° Ecclus. xxiv. 5-7. This book is attributed to Solomon by many
of the Fathers, though it bears the title of the Wisdom of Jesus the
son of Sirach.
" John i. 1-3.

io8

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

CHAP. X. OF THE ADVENT OF JESUS ; OF THE

FORTUNES OF THE JEWS, AND THEIR GOVERN-
MENT, UNTIL THE PASSION OF THE LORD.

In the first place, then, men ought to know-
that the arrangements of the Most High God
have SO advanced from the beginning, that it
was necessary, as the end of the world ' ap-
proached, that the Son of God should descend
to the earth, that He might build a temple for
God, and teach righteousness ; but, however,
not with the might of an angel or with heavenly
power, but in the form of man and in the con-
dition of a mortal, that when He had discharged
the office of His ministry,^ He might be delivered
into the hands of wicked men, and might under-
go death, that, having subdued this also by His
might. He might rise again, and bring to man,
whose nature He had put on ^ and represented,
the hope of overcoming death, and might admit
him to the rewards of immortality. And that
no one may be ignorant of this arrangement,
we will show that all things were foretold which
we see fulfilled in Christ. Let no one believe
our assertion unless I shall show that the prophets
before a long series of ages published that it
should come to pass at length that the Son of
God should be born as a man, and perform
wonderful deeds, and sow* the worship of God
throughout the whole earth, and at last be cru-
cified, and on the third day rise again. And
when I shall have proved all these things by the
writings of those very men who treated with
violence their God who had assumed a mortal
body, what else will prevent it from being mani-
fest that true wisdom is conversant with this
religion only? Now the origin of the whole
mystery is to be related.

Our ancestors,5 who were chiefs of the He-
brews, when they were distressed by famine and
want, passed over into Egypt, that they might
obtain a supply of corn ; and sojourning there a
long time, they were oppressed with an intolerable
yoke of slavery. Then God pitied them, and
led them out, and freed them from the hand of
the king of the Egyptians, after four hundred
and thirty^ years, under the leadership of Moses,
through whom the law was afterwards given to
them by God ; and in this leading out God dis-
played the power of His majesty. For He made
His people to pass through the midst of the Red

' The boundary of the age. Thus the Scriptures speak of the end
of the world, the last days.

2 Magisterio, " teaching."

3 An expression frequently used by the Fathers to denote the
assumption of our nature by Christ.

< Seminaret, " sow " or " spread." [I have put " sow" into the
text, and brought down " spread," for an obvious reason.]

5 The patriarchs. The idea appears to be that Christians from
the Gentiles, having succeeded to the privileges of the Jews, are, as
it were, their posterity.

* The duration of the captivity in Egypt was two hundred and
fifiecn years. The period of four hundred and thirty years is reckoned
from the call of Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees to the final depart-
ure from Egypt.

Sea, His angel 7 going before and dividing the
water, so that the people might walk over the
dry land, of whom it might more truly be said
(as the poet says ^), that " the wave, closing over
him after the appearance of a mountain, stood
around him." And when he heard of this, the
tyrant of the Egyptians followed with this great
host of his men, and rashly entering the sea
which still lay open, was destroyed, together
with his whole army, by the waves returning ^ to
their place. But the Hebrews, when they had
entered into the wilderness, saw many wonderful
deeds. For when they suffered thirst, a rock
having been struck with a rod, a fountain of
water sprung forth and refreshed the people.
And again, when they were hungry, a shower '°
of heavenly nourishment descended. Moreover,
also, the wind " brought quails into their camp,
so that they were not only satisfied with heavenly
bread, but also with more choice banquets. And
yet, in return for these divine benefits, they did
not pay honour to God ; but when slavery had
been now removed from them, and their thirst
and hunger laid aside, they fell away into luxury,
and transferred their minds to the profane rites
of the Egyptians. For when Moses, their leader,
had ascended into the mountain, and there
tarried forty days, they made the head '^ of an ox
in gold, which they call Apis,'^ that it might
go before them as a standard. '•♦ With which sin
and crime God was offended, and justly visited
the impious and ungrateful people with severe
punishments, and made them subject to the law 's
which He had given by Moses.

But afterwards, when they had settled in a
desert part of Syria, the Hebrews '^ lost their
ancient name ; and since the leader of their
host '7 was Judas, they were called Jews, '^ and
the land which they inhabited Judaea. And at

"> The Angel of the Covenant, who so often presented Himself to
the Hebrews. See Ex. xxiii. 20. [The Jehovah-Angel. Compare
Justin, vol. i. pp. 223-226, and others /rt.r.f/>«, this series.]

8 Virgil, Creorg.,\v. 361. He describes Aristaeus as descending
to the chamber of his mother Cyrene, in the depths of the river
Peneus. The waters separate on each side to make a way for him, and
then close over his head.

9 Coeuntibus .iquis, " meeting together."

'° See Ps. Ixxviii. 24 : " He rained down manna upon them to eat."

" See Num. xi 31.

•2 Some of the Fathers think, with Lactantius, that it was the head
only, and not the whole figure, of a calf which they made.

'5 Apis is the name given by the Egyptians to the calf which they
worshipped.

'■• In signo.

'5 The moral law had been already given to Moses on the mount
before the making of the golden calf. The law here referred to may
well be taken to express the burthensome routine of the ceremonial
law, which Peter (Acts xv. 10) describes as " a yoke which neither
their fathers nor they were able to bear." [Our author expresses
himself with accuracy: He subji'cted them by the oppresive ceremo-
nial law to the moral law He had just given.]

'6 The Hebrews are said to have derived their name from Heber,
the descendant of Noah by Shem; or more probably from Abram
the Hebrew, that is, the man who had crossed the river, — a name
given to him by the Can.aanites. See Gen. xiv. 13.

" Examinis.

" There seems to be no authority for this derivation of the name.
They were doubtless called Jews from Judah. As those who returned
from the captivity at Babylon were principally of the tribe of Judah,
though some from the other tribes returned with them, they were
called Jews after the captivity.

Chap. XI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

109

first, indeed, they were not subject to the domin-
ion of Kings, but civil Judges presided over the
people and the law : they were not, however,
appointed only for a year, as the Roman consuls,
but supported by a perpetual jurisdiction. Then,
the name of Judges Ijeing taken away, the kingly
power was introduced. But during the govern-
ment of the Judges the people had often under-
taken corrupt religious rites ; and God, offended
by them, as often brought them into bondage to
strangers, until again, softened by the repentance
of the people. He freed them from bondage.
Likewise under the Kings, being oppressed by
wars with their neighbours on account of their
iniquities, and at last taken captive and led to
Babylon, they suffered punishment for their im-
piety by oppressive slavery, until Cyrus came to
the kingdom, who immediately restored the Jews
by an edict. Afterwards they had tetrarchs until
the time of Herod, who was in the reign of Ti-
berius C?esar ; in whose fifteenth year, in the
consulship of the two Gemini, on the 23d of
March,' the Jews crucified Christ. This series
of events, this order, is contained in the secrets
of the sacred writings. But I will first show for
what reason Christ came to the earth, that the
foundation and the system of divine religion
may be manifest.

CHAP. XI. — OF THE CAUSE OF THE INCARNATION
OF CHRIST.

When the Jews often resisted wholesome pre-
cepts, and departed from the divine law, going
astray to the impious worship of false gods, then
God filled just and chosen men with the Holy
Spirit, appointing them as prophets in the midst
of the people, by whom He might rebuke with
threatening words the sins of the ungrateful peo-
ple, and nevertheless exhort them to repent of
their wickedness ; for unless they did this, and,
laying aside their vanities, return to their God,
it would come to pass that He would change
His covenant,^ that is, bestow ^ the inheritance
of eternal life upon foreign nations, and collect
to Himself a more faithful people out of those
who were aliens •* by birth. But they, when re-
buked by the prophets, not only rejected their
words ; but being offended because they were
upbraided for their sins, they slew the prophets
themselves with studied 5 tortures : all which
things are sealed up and preserved in the sacred
writings. For the prophet Jeremiah says : ^ " I

' There appears to be no reasonable doubt that the day on which
our Lord suffered was the 14th of Nisan, that is, April 7. See Gress-
well's Dissertations, vol. iii. p. 168; also EUicott's Lectures on the
Life of Christ. [Gresswell is not to be too readily accepted in this.
See the learned inquiry of Dr. Jarvis, of whom, vol. ii. p. 477.]

2 Testamenlum, properly the solemn declaration of a will.

3 Converteret, " turn to."

* Alienigenis. Comp. Eph. ii. 12: "Aliens from the common-
wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise."
5 Exquisitis.
'' Jer. xjfv. 4-6.

sent to you my servants the prophets ; I sent
them before the morning light ; but ye did not
hearken, nor incline your ears to hear, when I
spake unto you : let every one of you turn from
his evil way, and from your most corrupt affec-
tions ; and ye shall dwell in the land which I
gave to you and to your fathers for ever.^ Walk
ye not after strange gods, to serve them ; and
provoke me not to anger with the works of your
hands, that I should destroy you." The proph-
et Ezra^ also, who was in the times of the same
Cyrus by whom the Jews were restored, thus
speaks : " They rebelled against Thee, and cast
Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy proph-
ets which testified against them, that they might
turn unto Thee."

The prophet Elias also, in the third book of
Kings : 9 " I have been very jealous '° for the
Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel
have forsaken Thee, thrown down Thine altars,
and slain Thy prophets with the sword ; and I
only am left, and they seek my life to take it
away." On account of these impieties of theirs
He cast them off for ever ; ' ' and so He ceased
to send to them prophets. But He commanded
His own Son, the first-begotten,'^ the maker of
all things. His own counsellor, to descend from
heaven, that He might transfer the sacred reli-
gion of God to the Gentiles,'^ that is, to those who
were ignorant of God, and might teach them
righteousness, which the perfidious people had
cast aside. And He had long before threatened
that He would do this, as the prophet Malachi "*
shows, saying : " I have no pleasure in you,
saith the Lord, and I will not accept an offering
from your hands ; for from the rising of the sun
even unto its setting, my name shall be great 'S
among the Gentiles." David also in the seven-
teenth Psalm '^ says : " Thou wilt make me the
head of the heathen ; a people whom I have
not known shall serve me " Isaiah '7 also thus
speaks : " I come to gather all nations and
tongues ; and they shall come and see my glory ;
and I will send among them a sign, and I will
send those that escape of them unto the nations
which are afar off, which have not heard my
fame ; and they shall declare my glory among

7 From generation to generation.

^ Neh. i.\. 26. The book of Nehemiah is called by the Greek
writers the second book of Ezra. The words quoted are spoken by
the Levites.

9 I Kings xix. lo. The ist and 2d Samuel are in the Septuagint
ist and 2d Kings, and ist and 2d Kings are 3d and 4th.

'° I have been jealous with jealou.sy — ./Emulando aemulatus sum,
— a Hebraism. So Luke xxii. 15; John iii. 29.

" Fathers were said to disown (abdicare) and cast off degenerate
sons.

■- Thus Col. i. 18, "who is the beginning, the first-born from the
dead."

'3 The nations.

'■» Mai. i. 10, II.

'5 In the Septuagint Se^dfacrTai, " has been glorified."

''' Ps. xviii.43. The quotation is from the Septuagint, KaracTTTJcrei?;
our version reads, " Thou hast made me."

'7 Isa. Ixvi. 18, 19. The quoution is again taken from the Septua-
gint.

I lO

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[liOOK IV.

the Gentiles." Therefore, when God wished to
send to the earth one who should measure ' His
temple, He was unwilling to send him with
heavenly power and glory, that the people who
had been ungrateful towards God might be led
into the greatest error, and suffer punishment for
their crimes, since they had not received their
Lord and God, as the prophets had before fore-
told that it would thus happen. For Isaiah,
whom the Jews most cruelly slew, cutting him
asunder with a saw,^ thus speaks : ^ " Hear, O
heaven ; and give ear, O earth : for the Lord
hath spoken, I have begotten sons, and lifted'*
them up on high, and they have rejected me.
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his
master's stall ; but Israel hath not known, my
people has not understood." Jeremiah also
says, in like manner : 5 " The turtle and the
swallow hath known her time, and the sparrows
of the field have observed ^ the times of their
coming : but my people have not known the
judgment of the Lord. How do you say, We
are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?
The meting out ^ is in vain ; the scribes are de-
ceived and confounded : the wise men are dis-
mayed and taken, for they have rejected the
word of the Lord."

Therefore (as I had begun to say), when God
had determined to send to men a teacher of
righteousness, He commanded Him to be born
again a second time in the flesh, and to be made
in the likeness of man himself, to whom he was
about to be a guide, and companion, and
teacher. But since God is kind and merciful ^
to His people, He sent Him to those very per-
sons whom He hated,9 that He might not close
the way of salvation against them for ever, but
might give them a free opportunity of following
God, that they might both gain the reward of
life if they should follow Him (which many of
them do, and have done), and that they might
incur the penalty of death by their fault if they
should reject their King. He ordered Him
therefore to be born again among them, and of
their seed, lest, if He should be born of another
nation, they might be able to allege a just excuse
from the law for their rejection of Him ; and at
the same time, that there might be no nation

■ See Ezek. xli., where an angel measures the temple: and Rev.
xi., where an angel directs John to measure it.

^ The Scriptures do not make mention of the death of Isaiah. It
is supposed that there is an allusion to it in Heb xi. 37.

^ Isa. i. 2, 3.

* Filios genui et exaltavi. This is quoted from the Septuagint.
5 Jer. viii. 7-9.

* This is quoted from the Septuagint; literally, have watched for,
custodierunt.

7 Metatura. There is considerable diflTerence in the rcidines of
this passage. The text, as given above, deviates considerably from
the Septu.igint, which is more nearly expressed by the reading of
other editions: " Incassum facta est metatura falsa, scriba; confusi
sunt."

* Pius. The word is often used to represent kindness.

9 Men are represented as being enemies to God The enmity is
on man's side, but if persisted in, must make God his enemy. See
Rom. V. 9, 10, and Isa. Ixiii. 10.

at all under heaven to which the hope of immor-
tality should be denied.

CH..\P. XII. — OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS FROM THE
VIRGIN ; OF HIS LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION,
AND THE TESTIMONIES OF THE PROPHETS RE-
SPECTING THESE THINGS.

Therefore the Holy Spirit of God, descend-
ing from heaven, chose the holy Virgin, that
He might enter into her womb.'° But she,
being filled by the possession " of the Divine
Spirit, conceived ; and without any intercourse
with a man, her virgin womb was suddenly im-
pregned. But if it is known to all that certain
animals are accustomed to conceive " by the
wind and the breeze, why should any one think
it wonderful when we say that a virgin was made
fruitful by the Spirit of God, to whom what-
ever He may wish is easy? And this might
have appeared incredible, had not the prophets
many ages previously foretold its occurrence.
Thus Solomon speaks : '^ "The womb of a virgin
was strengthened, and conceived ; and a virgin
was made fruitful, and became a mother in great
pity." Likewise the prophet Isaiah,"* whose
words are these : " Therefore God Himself shall
give you a sign : Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son ; and ye shall call His name
Emmanuel." What can be more manifest than
this ? This was read by the Jews, who denied
Him. If any one thinks that these things are
invented by us, let him inquire of them, let him
take especially from them : the testimony is suf-
ficiently strong to prove the truth, when it is
alleged by enemies themselves. But He was
never called Emmanuel, but Jesus, who in Latin
is called Saving, or Saviour, '5 because He comes
bringing salvation to all nations. But by this
name the prophet declared that God incarnate was
about to come to men. For Emmanuel signifies
God with us ; because when He was born of a
virgin, men ought to confess that God was with
them, that is, on the earth and in mortal flesh.
Whence David ■'' says in the eighty-fourth Psalm,
"Truth has sprung out of the earth;" because
God, in whom is truth, hath taken a body of
earth, that He might open a way of salvation to
those of the earth. In like manner Isaiah also : '''
" But they disbelieved, and vexed His Holy

■" Se insinuaret.

" Divino spiritu liausto.

'2 So Virgil, Geargic iii. 274: —

" El saepe sine uUis
Conjugiis vento gravida;, mirabile dictu."

This theory of the impregnation of mares by the wind was general
among the ancients.

'^ This passage does not occur in the writings of Solomon, or in
the Old Testament. [Possibly from some copy (North African) of
the ' Book of Wisdom," interpolated from a marginal comment.]

'■• Isa. vii 14.

'5 Salutaris, sive Salvator.

■'' Ps. Ixxxv. 12, quoted from the Septuagint.

'^ Isa. Ixiii. 10.

Kill.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

1 1 I

Spirit ; and He was turned to be their enemy.
And He Himself fought against them, and He
remembered the days of old,' who raised up
from the earth a shepherd of the sheep." But
who this shepherd was about to be, he declared
in another place,^ saying : " Let the heavens re-
joice, and let the clouds put on righteousness ;
let the earth open, and put forth a Saviour. For
I the Lord have begotten Him." But the
•Saviour is, as we have said before, Jesus. But
in another place the same prophet also thus
proclaimed : ^ " Behold, unto us a child is born,
unto us a Son is given, whose dominion is upon
His shoulders, and His name is called Messenger
of great counsel." For on this account He was
sent by God the Father, that He might reveal to
all the nations which are under heaven the sacred
mystery of the only true God, which was taken
away from the perfidious people, who ofttimes
sinned against God. Daniel also foretold similar
things:^ "I saw," he said, "in a vision of the
night, and, behold, one like the Son of man com-
ing with the clouds of heaven, and He came even
to the Ancient of days. And they who stood by
brought Him near 5 before Him. And there was
given unto Him a kingdom, and glory, and do-
minion ; and all people, tribes, and languages
shall serve Him : and His dominion is everlast-
ing, which shall never pass away, and His king-
dom shall not be destroyed." How then do the
Jews both confess and expect the Christ of God ?
who rejected Him on this account, because He
was born of man. For since it is so arranged by
God that the same Christ should twice come to
the earth, once to announce to the nations the one
God, then again to reign, why do they who did not
believe in His first advent believe in the second ?
But the prophet comprises both His advents
in few words. Behold, he says, one like the Son
of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He
did not say, like the Son of God, but the Son
of man, that he might show that He had ^ to be
clothed with flesh on the earth, that having as-
sumed the form of a man and the condition of
mortality. He might teach men righteousness ;
and when, having completed the commands of
God, He had revealed the truth to the nations.
He might also suffer death, that He might over-
come and lay open ' the other world also, and
thus at length rising again. He might proceed to
His Fathe'- borne aloft on a cloud.^ For the
prophet said in addition ; And came even to

' The days of the age. In the next clause the text differs both
from the Hebrew and the Septuagint — which the English authorized
version follows — " who raised up out of the sea."

^ Isa. xlv. 8, quoted from the Septuagint.

3 Isa. ix. 6, from the Septuagint.

■* Dan. vii. 13, 14

5 Obtulerunt eum, " presented Him."

'' Quod came indui haberet in terra. Another reading is " de-
beret," but the present is in accordance with the style of Lactantius.

7 Inferos resignaret.

' Acts i. 9: "A cloud received Him out of their sight."

the Ancient of days, and was presented to Him.
He called the Most High God the Ancient of
days, whose age and origin cannot be compre-
hended ; for He alone was from generations,
and He will be always to generations.'' But
that Christ, after His passion and resurrection,
was about to ascend to God the Father, David
bore witness in these words in the cixth Psalm : "^
" The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my
right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy
footstool." Whom could this prophet, being
himself a king, call his Lord, who sat at the
right hand of God, but Christ the Son of God,
who is King of kings and Lord of lords ? And
this is more plainly shown by Isaiah," when he
says : " Thus saith the Lord God to my Lord
Christ, whose right hand 1 have holden ; I will
subdue nations before Him, and will break the
strength of kings. I will open before Him
gates, and the cities shall not be closed. I will
go before Thee, and will make the mountains
level ; and I will break in pieces the gates of
brass, and shatter the bars of iron ; and I will
give Thee the hidden and invisible treasures,
that Thou mayest know that I am the Lord
God, which call Thee by Thy name, the God of
Israel." Lastly, on account of the goodness and
faithfulness which He displayed towards God on
earth, there was given to Him a kingdom, and
glory, and dominion ; and all people, tribes, and
languages shall serve Him ; and His dominion
is everlasting, and that which shall never pass
away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.
And this is understood in two ways : that even
now He has an everlasting dominion, when all
nations and all languages adore His name, con-
fess His majesty, follow His teaching, and imi-
tate His goodness : He has power and glory, in
that all tribes of the earth obey His precepts.
And also, when He shall come again with majesty
and glory to judge every soul, and to restore
the righteous to life, then He shall truly have the
government of the whole earth : then, every evil
having been removed from the affairs of men, a
golden age (as the poets call it) , that is, a time
of righteousness and peace, will arise. But we
will speak of these things more fully in the last
book, when we shall speak of His second advent ;
now let us treat of His first advent, as we began.

CHAP. XIII. — OF JESUS, GOD AND MAN ; AND THE
TESTIMONIES OF THE PROPHETS CONCERNING HIM.

Therefore the Most High God, and Parent
of all, when He had purposed to transfer '- His

9 Ps. XC. 2.

»° Ps. ex. I.

" Isa. xlv. 1-3. The quotation is from the Septuagint. It ex-
pressly refers to Cyrus, whom God raised up to accomplish His will;
but the prophecy may have a further reference to Christ, as is here
supposed.

•2 From the Israelites, to whom He first revealed Himself, to the
Gentile world at large.

I 12

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

religion, sent from heaven a teacher of right-
eousness, that in Him or through Him He might
give a new law to new worshippers ; not as He
had before done, by the instrumentality of man.
Nevertheless it was His pleasure that He should
be born as a man, that in all things He might
be like His supreme Father. For God the
Father Himself, who is the origin and source of
all things, inasmuch as He is without parents, is
most truly named by Trismegistus " fatherless "
and " motherless," ' because He was born from
no one. For which reason it was befitting that
the Son also should be twice bom, that He also
might become "fatherless" and "motherless."
For in His first nativity, which was spiritual. He
was " motherless," because He was begotten by
God the Father alone, without the office of a
mother. But in His second, which was in the
flesh, He was born of a virgin's womb without
the office of a father, that, bearing a middle
substance between God and man, He might be
able, as it were, to take by the hand this frail and
weak nature of ours, and raise it to immortality.
He became both the Son of God through the
Spirit, and the Son of man through the flesh, —
that is, both God and man. The power of God
was displayed in Him, from the works which He
performed ; the frailty of the man, from the
passion which He endured : on what account
He undertook it I will mention a little later.
In the meantime, we learn from the predictions
of the prophets that He was both God and man
— composed^ of both natures. Isaiah testifies
that He was God in these words : ^ " Egypt is
wearied,-* and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and
the Sab?eans, men of stature, shall come over
unto Thee, and shall be Thy servants : and they
shall walk behind Thee ; in chains they shall fall
down unto Thee, and shall make supplication
unto Thee, Since Ciod is in Thee, and there is
no other God besides Thee. For Thou art God,
and we knew Thee not, the God of Israel, the
Saviour. They shall all be confounded and
ashamed who oppose Thee, and shall fall into
confusion." In like manner the prophet Jere-
miah 5 thus speaks : " This is our God, and there
shall none other be compared unto Him. He
hath found out all the way of knowledge, and
hath given it unto Jacob His servant, and to
Israel His beloved. Afterward He was seen
upon earth, and dwelt among men."

• iiraTup and <in7JTu>p. See Heb. vii. 3, where Melchisedec is a
type of Christ.

2 Ex utroque genere permistum. Though the Godhead and the
manhood are joined together in one person in our Lord Jesus Christ,
there is no confounding of the two natures: each is whole and perfect.
While Nestorius held that there were two persons in Christ, Euty-
ches fell into the opposite error, and taught that the two natures were
so blended together as to form one mixed nature. The expression in
the text is not very clear.

3 Isa. xlv. 14-16.

* Fatigata est iEgyptus. This is taken from the Septua^int.

S This quotation is from the apocryphal book of I^.aruch lii. 35-37,
which IS sometimes spoken of as the book of Jeremiah Haruch.

David also, in the forty-fourth Psalm : ^ " Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre
of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wicked-
ness ; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed
Thee with the oil of gladness." By which word
he also shows His name, since (as I have shown
above) He was called Christ from His anoint-
ing. Then, that He was also man, Jeremiah
teaches, saying : ? " And He is a man, and who
hath known Him ? " Also Isaiah : ^ "And God
shall send to them a man, who shall save them,
shall save them by judging." But Moses also,
in Numbers,^ thus speaks : " There shall arise a
star out of Jacob, and a man '° shall spring forth
from Israel." On which account the Milesian
Apollo," being asked whether He was God or
man, replied in this manner : " He was mortal
as to His body, being wise with wondrous works ;
but being taken with arms under Chaldean
judges, with nails and the cross He endured a
bitter end." In the first verse he spoke the
truth, but he skilfully deceived him who asked
the question, who was entirely ignorant of the
mystery of the truth. For he appears to have
denied that He was God. But when he acknowl-
edges that He was mortal as to the flesh, which
we also declare, it follows that as to the spirit
He was God, which we affirm. For why would
it have been necessary to make mention of the
flesh, since it was sufficient to say that He was
mortal? But being pressed by the truth, he
could not deny the real state of the case ; as
that which he says, that He was wise.

What do you reply to this, Apollo? If he is
wise, then his system of instruction is wisdom,
and no other ; and they are wise who follow it,
and no others. Why then are we commonly
esteemed as foolish, and visionary, and senseless,
who follow a Master who is wise even by the
confession of the gods themselves? For in that
he said that He wrought wonderful deeds, by
which He especially claimed faith is His divinity,
he now appears to assent to us, when he says the
same things in which we boast. But, however,
he recovers himself, and again has recourse to
demoniacal frauds. For when he had been com-
pelled to speak the truth, he now appeared to be
a betrayer of the gods and of himself, unless he
had, by a deceptive falsehood, concealed that
which the truth had extorted from him. He
says, therefore, that He did indeed perform won-

' Ps. xlv. 6, 7.

7 Jer. xvii. 9. The passage is quoted from the Septuagint.

^ Isa. xix. 20, quoted from the Septuagint.

9 Num. xxiv. 17. The well-known prophecy of Balaam is here
spoken of as though given by Moses, who only records it. [In an
elucidation touching the Sibyls, I shall recur to the case of I!alaam.J
'° Exsurget homo ex Israel. This is taken from the Septuagint,
instead of the ordinary reading, " A sceptre shall rise out of Israel."

" [The oracle of Apollo l)idymaeus; from the Milesian temple
burnt by Xerxes. Readers will remember the humour of ,Ar.-.^hMis
about these divers names, vol. vi. p. 419, this series.]

Chap. XIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

1 1

derful works, yet not by divine power, but by
magic. What wonder if Apollo thus persuaded
men ignorant of the truth, when the Jews also,
worshii)pers (as they seemed to be) of the Most
High God, entertained the same opinion, though
they had every day before their eyes those mira-
cles which the prophets had foretold to them as
about to happen, and yet they could not be in-
duced by the contemplation of such powers to
believe that He whom they saw was God ? On
this account, David, whom they especially read
above the other prophets, in the twenty-seventh
Psalm ' thus condemns them : " Render to them
their desert, because they regard not the works
of the Lord." Both David himself and other
prophets announced that of the house of this
very David, Christ should be born according to
the flesh. Thus it is written in Isaiah : ^ " And
in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and
He who shall arise to rule over the nations, in
Him shall the Gentiles trust ; and His rest shall
be glorious." And in another place : ^ " There
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a blossom •♦ shall grow out of his root ; and
the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the spirit
of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of coun-
sel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of
piety ; and He shall be filled 5 with the spirit
of fear of the Lord." Now Jesse was the father
of David, from whose root he foretold that a
blossom would arise ; namely him of whom the
Sibyl speaks, " A pure blossom shall spring
forth."

Also in the second book of Kings, the prophet
Nathan was sent to David, who wished to build
a temple for God ; and this was the word of the
Lord to Nathan, saying : ° "Go and tell my ser-
vant David, Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Thou
shalt not build me a house for me to dwell in ;
but when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt
sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed
after thee, and T will establish His kingdom.
He shall build me a house for my name, and I
will set up His throne for ever ; and I will be to
Him for a father, and He shall be to me for a
son; and His house shall be established,? and
His kingdom for ever." But the reason why
the Jews did not understand these things was
this, because Solomon the son of David built a
temple for God, and the city which he called
from his own name, Jerusalem.^ Therefore they

' Ps. xxviii. 4, 5.
^ Isa. xi. 10.
3 Isa. xi. I, 2.

* Flos. Quoted from the Septuagint, avdo';.
5 Implebit eum spiritus timoris Dei.

*> 2 Sam. vii. 4, 5, 12-14, 16.

' Fidem consequetur, following the Septuagint TricrTwfljjfreTai.

* Hierosolyma. As though derived from Kpov and ^oKofMuiv.
But Solomon was not the founder of the city. The name is probably
derived from Salem, of which city Melchisedec was king. Some de-
rive it from Jebus (the ancient name of the city) and balem. [See
vol. ii. p. 107, note 3, this .series.]

referred the predictions of the prophets to him.
Now Solomon received the government of the
kingdom from his father himself. But the
prophets spoke of Him who was then born after
that David had slept with his fathers. Besides,
the reign of Solomon was not everlasting ; for he
reigned forty years. In the next place, Solomon
was never called the son of God, but the son of
David ; and the house which he built was not
firmly established,'^ as the Church, which is the
true temple of God, which does not consist of
walls, but of the heart '° and faith of the men who
believe on Him, and are called faithful. But
that temple of Solomon, inasmuch as it was built
by the hand, fell by the hand. Lastly, his father,
in the cxxvith Psalm, prophesied in this manner
respecting the works of his son : " " Except the
Lord build the house, they have laboured in vain
that built it ; except the Lord keep the city, the
watchman hath waked but in vain."

CHAP. XIV, — OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS FORE-
TOLD BY THE PROPHETS.

From which things it is evident that all the
prophets declared concerning Christ, that it
should come to pass at some time, that being
born with a body '^ of the race of David, He
should build an eternal temple in honour of God,
which is called the Church, and assemble all
nations to the true worship of God. This is the
faithful house, this is the everlasting temple ; and
if any one hath not sacrificed in this, he will
not have the reward of immortality. And since
Christ was the builder of this great and eternal
temple, He must also have an everlasting priest-
hood in it ; and there can be no approach to the
shrine of the temple, and to the sight of God, ex-
cept through Him who built the temple. David
in the cixth Psalm teaches the same, saying : '^
" Before the morning-star I begat Thee. The
Lord hath sworn, and will not repent ; Thou art
a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec."
Also in the first book of Kings : '■* "And I will
raise me up a faithful Priest, who shall do all
things that are in mine heart ; and I will build
him a sure 'S house ; and he shall walk in my
sight '^ all his days," But who this was about to
be, to whom God promised an everlasting priest-
hood, Zechariah most plainly teaches, even men-
tioning His name : '? "And the Lord God showed

9 Non est fidem consecuta, as above.

•° Thus Peter speaks, i Ep. ii. 5, " Ye are built up a spiritual
house."

" Ps. cxxvii. I.

'^ Corporaliter.

•3 Ps. ex. 3, 4, quoted from the Septuagint. With reference to
this priesthood, see Heb. v.

i< I Sam. ii. 35.

'5 Fidelem, i.e., firm and stedfast.

'6 In conspectu meo. The Septuagint, tVioiriox' xp'O'^oO ^tov; and
so the English authorized version, " before my anointed."

" Zech. iii. 1-8.

114

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

me Jesus ' the great Priest standing before the
face of the angel of the Lord, and the adversary ^
was standing at His right hand to resist Him.
And the Lord said unto the adversary, The Lord
who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee ; and
lo, a brand plucked out of the fire. And Jesus
was clothed with filthy garments, and He was
standing before the face of the angel. And He
answered and spake unto those that stood around
before His face, saying, Take away the filthy gar-
ments from Him, and clothe Him with a flowing ^
garment, and place a fair mitre •♦ upon His head ;
and they clothed Him with a garment, and placed
a fair mitre upon His head. And the angel of
the Lord stood, and protested, saying to Jesus :
Thus saith the Lord of hosts. If Thou wilt walk
in my ways, and keep my precepts. Thou shalt
judge my house, and I will give Thee those that
may walk with Thee in the midst of these that
stand by. Hear, therefore, O Jesus, Thou great
Priest."

Who, therefore, would not believe that the
Jews were then deprived of understanding, who,
when they read and heard these things, laid im-
pious hands upon their God? But from the
time in which Zechariah lived, until the fifteenth
year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, in which
Christ was crucified, nearly five hundred years
are reckoned ; since he flourished in the time of
Darius and Alexander,5 who lived not long after
the banishment of Tarquinius Superbus. But
they were again misled and deceived in the same
manner, in supposing that these things were
spoken concerning Jesus ^ the son of Nave, who
was the successor of Moses, or concerning Jesus
the high priest the son of Josedech ; to whom
none of those things which the prophet related
was suited. For they were never clothed in
filthy garments, since one of them was a most
powerful prince, and the other high priest ; or
suffered any adversity, so that they should be
regarded as a brand plucked from the fire : nor
did they ever stand in the presence of God and
the angels ; nor did the prophet speak of the
past so much as of the future. He spoke,
therefore, of Jesus the Son of God, to show that
He would first come in humility and in the flesh.
For this is the filthy garment, that He might pre-
pare a temple for God, and might be scorched ^

' The authorized version reads Joshua, which has the same mean-
ing with Jesus. See Heb. iv. 8. [Compare Justin, vol. i. note 4,
p. 227.]

2 Diabolus, i.e., the calumniator. To stand on the right hand is
to accuse with authority. .See Ps. cix. 6.

3 Tunica talaris, a garment reaching to the ankles; in Greek,
»ro5i7pTj?.

* Cid.-irim; an Eastern word denoting a head-dress worn by the
Persian kings, or, as in this passage, the mitre of the Jewish high priest.

5 Not the Great, but the tenth, a much earlier king of Macedon.

* i.e., Joshua the son of Nun, as he is generally called. [Justin,
vol. i. pp. 174, 266.]

' Ambureretur. ITie word is applied to anything which is partly
burned, burnt around, scorched. Hence Cicero jestingly speaks of
Munatius Plancus, at whose instigation the people set fire to the
senate-house, as tribunus ambustus. Cic, pro Milone.

as a brand with fire — that is, might endure tor-
tures from men, and at last be extinguished. For a
half-burnt brand drawn forth from the hearth and
extinguished, is commonly so called.** But in
what manner and with what commands He was
sent by God to the earth, the Spirit of God de-
clared through the prophet, teaching us that when
He had faithfully and uniformly fulfilled the will
of His supreme Father, He should receive judg-
ment ^ and an everlasting dominion. If, He
says. Thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my
precepts, then Thou shalt judge my house. What
these ways of God were, and what His precepts,
is neither doubtful nor obscure. For God, when
He saw that wickedness and the worship of false
gods had so prevailed throughout the world, that
His name had now also been taken away from
the memory of men (since even the Jews, who
alone had been entrusted with the secret of God,
had deserted the living God, and, ensared by the
deceits of demons, had gone astray, and turned
aside to the worship of images, and when re-
buked by the prophets did not choose to return
to God), He sent His Son'° as an ambassador to
men, that He might turn them from their impious
and vain worship to the knowledge and worship
of the true God ; and also that He might turn
their minds from foolishness to wisdom, and from
wickedness to deeds of righteousness. These
are the ways of God, in which He enjoined Him
to walk. These are the precepts which He or-
dered to be observed. But He exhibited faith
towards God. For He taught that there is but
one God, and that He alone ought to be wor-
shipped. Nor did He at any time say that He
Himself was God ; for He would not have main-
tained His faithfulness, if, when sent to abolish
the false gods, and to assert the existence of the
one God, He had introduced another besides
that one. This would have been not to proclaim
one God, nor to do the work of Him who sent
Him, but to discharge a peculiar office for Him-
self, and to separate Himself from Him whom
He came to reveal. On which account, becau.se
He was so faithful, because He arrogated nothing
at all to Himself, that He might fulfil the com-
mands of Him who sent Him, He received the
dignity of everlasting Priest, and the honour of
supreme King, and the authority of Judge, and
the name of God.

CHAP. XV. — OF THE LIFE AND MIRACLES OF JESUS,
AND TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THEM.

Having spoken of the second nativity, in which
He showed Himself in the flesh to men, let us
come to those wonderful works, on account of

' i.e., the word titio, " a firebrand," is thus used.
9 i.e., authority to judge. [Ps. Ixxii. 1 and John v. 22.]
'° After these words some editions, " principem angelorum," the
chief of angels.

Chap. XV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

115

which, though they were signs of heavenly power,
the Jews esteemed Him a magician. When He
first began to reach maturity ' He was baptized
by the prophet John in the liver Jordan, that He
might wash ^ away in the spiritual laver not His
own sins, for it is evident that He had none, but
those of the flesh, -^ which He bare ; that as He
saved the Jews by undergoing circumcision, so
He might save the (ientiles also by baptism —
that is, by the pouring forth ^ of the purifying
dew. Then a voice from heaven was heard :
"Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten
Thee." 5 Which voice is found to have been
foretold by David. And the Spirit of God de-
scended upon Him, formed after the appearance
of a white dove.^ From that time He began to
perform the greatest miracles, not by magical
tricks, which display nothing true and substantial,
but by heavenly strength and power, which were
foretold even long ago by the prophets who an-
nounced Him ; which works are so many, that a
single book is not sufficient to comprise them all.
I will therefore enumerate them briefly and gen-
erally, without any designation of persons and
places, that I may be able to come to the setting
forth of His passion and cross, to which my dis-
course has long been hastening. His powers
were those which Apollo called wonderful : ^ that
wherever He journeyed, by a single word, and in
a single moment, He healed the sick and infirm,
and those afflicted with every kind of disease :
so that those who were deprived of the use of
afl their limbs, having suddenly received power,
were strengthened, and themselves carried their
couches, on which they had a little time before
been carried. But to the lame, and to those
afilicted with some defect ^ of the feet, He not
only gave the power of walking, but also of run-
ning. Then, also, if any had their eyes blinded
in the deepest darkness, He restored them to
their former sight. He also loosened the tongues
of the dumb, so thaf^ they discoursed and spake
elo(iuently. He also opened the ears of the
deaf, and caused them to hear ; ■° He cleansed
t'le polluted and the blemished." And He per-
formed all these things not by His hands, or the
application of any remedy,'^ but by His word
and command, as also the Sibyl had foretold :

' Cum primus coepit adolescere.

2 Aboleret.

3 Not of His own flesh, but of human nature. Our Lord Him-
self gives a better explanation of His baptism, in His reply to the
Baptist, who at first forbade him: " Suffer it to be. so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness " (Matt. iii. 15K

* Perfusione.

5 Compare Matt. iii. 17 with Ps. ii. 7.

* [" A brilliant dove" is the idea. Ps. Ixviii. 13. Comp. Justin,
vol. i. note 6, p. 243.]

' Portentificas.

* Pedum vitio afflictos.

9 In eloquium sermonemque solvebat.
*° Insinuabat auditum.
" Aspersos maculis, i.e., lepers.

'2 Except in the case of the blind man, whose eyes He anointed
with clay. John ix. 9.

" Doing all things by His word, and healing every

disease."

Nor, indeed, is it wonderful that He did won-
derful things by His word, since He Himself was
the Word of God, relying upon heavenly strength
and power. Nor was it enough that He gave
strength to the feeble, soundness of body to the
maimed, health to the sick and languishing, un-
less He also raised the dead, as it were unbound
from sleep, and recalled them to life.

And the Jews, then, when they saw these
things, contended that they were done by demo-
niacal power, although it was contained in their
secret writings that all things should thus come
to pass as they did. They read indeed the words
of other prophets, and of Isaiah, "^ saying : " Be
strong, ye hands that are relaxed ; and ye weak
knees, be comforted. Ye who are of a fearful'''
heart, fear not, be not afraid : our Lord shall
execute judgment ; He Himself shall come and
save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear :
then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the
tongue of the dumb speak plainly : '5 for in the
wilderness water hath broken forth, and a stream
in the thirsty land." But the Sibyl also foretold
the same things in these verses : —

" And there shall be a rising again of the dead ; and the
course of the lame shall be swift, and the deaf
shall hear, and the blind shall see, the dumb shall
speak."

On account of these powers and divine works
wrought by Him when a great multitude followed
Him of the maimed, or sick, or of those who de-
sired to present their sick to be healed, He went
up into a desert mountain to pray there. And
when He had tarried there three days, and the
people were suffering from hunger. He called
His disciples, and asked what quantity of food '^
they had with them. But they said that they
had five loaves and two fishes in a wallet. Then
He commanded that these should be brought
forward, and that the multitude, distributed by
fifties, should recline on the ground. When the
disciples did this. He Himself broke the bread
in pieces, and divided the flesh of the fishes, and
in His hands both of them were increased. And
when He had ordered the disciples to set them
before the people, five thousand men were satis-
fied, and moreover twelve baskets '^ were filled
from the fragments which remained. What can
be more wonderful, either in narration or in ac-

'3 Isa. XXXV. 3-6. The passage is quoted from the Septuagint.
The authorized English version follows the Hebrew, " Strengthen ye
the weak hands," etc.

'* Pusilli animi.

'5 Plana erit, " shall be intelligible."

'* Quantos secum cibos gestarent. See Matt. xiv. ; Mark vi.;
Luke ix. ; John vi.

" Cophini. This miracle is always distinguished from the feeding
of the four thousand by the use of this word. Thus Juvenal: "Ju-
daeis, quorum cophinus, foenumque supallex."

ii6

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV,

tion ? But the Sibyl had before foretold that it
would take place, whose verses are related to
this effect : —

" With five loaves at the same time, and with two fishes,
He shall satisfy five thousand men in the wilderness;
And afterwards taking all the fragments that remain,
He shall fill twelve baskets to the hope of many."

I ask, therefore, what the art of magic could
have contrived in this case, the skill of which is
of avail for nothing else than for deceiving • the
eyes? He also, when He was about to retire to
a mountain, as He was wont, for the sake of
prayer, directed His disciples to take a small ship
and go before Him. But they, setting out when
evening was now coming on, began to be dis-
tressed ^ through a contrary wind. And when
they were now in the midst of the sea,^ then, set-
ting His feet on the sea,* He came up to them,
walking as though on the solid ground,^ not as
the poets fable Orion walking on the sea, who,
while a part of his body was sunk in the water,

"With his shoulder rises above the waves."'

And again, when He had gone to sleep in the
ship, and the wind had begun to rage, even to
the extremity of danger, being aroused from
sleep. He immediately ordered the wind to be
silent ; and the waves, which were borne with
great violence, were still, and immediately at
His word there followed a calm.

But perhaps the sacred writings ^ speak falsely,
when they teach that there was such power in
Him, that by His command He compelled the
winds to obey, the seas to serve Him, diseases
to depart, the dead to be submissive. Why
should I say that the Sibyls before taught the
same things in their verses? one of whom,
already mentioned, thus speaks : —

" He shall still the winds by His word, and calm the
sea
As it rages, treading with feet of peace and in faith."

And again another, which says : —

" He shall walk on the waves, He shall release men
from disease.
He shall raise the dead, and drive away many pains ;
And from the bread of one wallet there shall be a sat-
isfying of men."

Some, refuted by these testimonies, are accus-
tomed to have recourse to the assertion that
these poems were not by the Sibyls, but made
up and composed by our own writers. But he
will assuredly not think this who has read Cicero,^

' Ad circumscribendos oculos. Cicero also uses the word " cir-
cumscriptio" to denote " fraud and deceit."
^ Laborare.
3 Pedibus mare ingressus.

* Matt. xiv. 24.

5 In solido. So Virg., Georg., ii. 231 : —

" Alteque jubebis
In solido puteum demitti."

* Virg., ^«., X. 765.
Matt, viii.; Markiv. ; Luke viii.

* Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii.

and Varro, and other ancient writers, who make
mention of the Erythraean and the other Sibyls,
from whose books we bring forward these ex-
amples ; and these authors died before the birth
of Christ according to the flesh. But I do not
doubt that these poems were in former times re-
garded as ravings, since no one then understood
them. For they announced some marvellous
wonders, of which neither the manner, nor the
time, nor the author was signified. Lastly, the
Erythraean Sibyl says that it would come to pass
that she would be called mad and deceitful.
But assuredly

" They will say that the Sibyl
Is mad, and deceitful : but when all things shall come

to pass,
Then ye will remember me ; and no one will any longer
Say that I, the prophetess of the great God, am mad."

Therefore they were ^ neglected for many ages ;
but they received attention after the nativity and
passion of Christ had revealed secret things.
Thus it was also with the utterances of the
prophets, which were read by the people of the
Jews for fifteen hundred years and more, but yet
were not understood until after Christ had ex-
plained '° them both by His word and by His
works. For the prophets spoke of Him ; nor
could the things which they said have been in
any way imderstood, unless they had been alto-
gether fulfilled.

CHAP. XVI. — OF THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST;
THAT IT WAS FORETOLD.

I come now to the passion itself, which is
often cast in our teeth as a reproach : " that we
worship a man, and one who was visited and
tormented with remarkable punishment : that I
may show that this very passion ' was undergone
by Him in accordance with a great and divine
plan, and that goodness and truth and wisdom
are contained in it alone. For if He had been
most happy on the earth, and had reigned
through all His life in the greatest prosperity, no
wise man would either have believed Him to be
a God, or judged Him worthy of divine honour :
which is the case with those who are destitute of
true divinity, who not only look up '^ to perish-
able riches, and frail power, and the advantages
arising from the benefit of another, but even
consecrate them, and knowingly do service to
the memory of the dead, worsliipping fortune
when it is now extinguished, which the wise
never regarded as an object of worshi]) even
when alive and present with them. For nothing
among earthly things can be venerable and wor-
thy of heaven ; but it is virtue alone, and justice

9 Jacuerunt. [Elucidation II.]
'° Interpretatus est.

" The pagans upbraided Christians, that they worshipped a man
who was put to death as a slave.

'- Suspiciunt, " view with admiration."

Chap. XVI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

117

alone, which can be judged a true, and heavenly,
ard perpetual good, because it is neither given
to any one, nor taken away. x'Vnd since Christ
came upon eartli, supplied with virtue and right-
eousness, yea rather, since He Himself is virtue,
and Himself righteousness. He descended that
He might teach it and mould the character of
man. And having performed this olitice and em-
bassy from God, on account of this very virtue
which He at once taught and practised. He de-
served, and was able, to be believed a God by
all nations. Therefore, when a great multitude
from time to time flocked to Him, either on
account of the righteousness which He taught or
on account of the miracles which He worked,
and heard His precepts, and believed that He
was sent by God, and that He was the Son of
God, then the rulers and priests of the Jews, ex-
cited with anger because they were rebuked by
Him as sinners, and perverted by envy, because,
while the multitude flocked to Him, they saw
themselves despised and deserted, and (that
which was the crowning point of their guilt)
blinded by folly and error, and unmindful of the
instructors sent from heaven, and of the prophets,
they caballed against Him, and conceived the
impious design of putting Him to death, and
torturing Him : of which the prophets had long
before written.

For both David, in the beginning of his
Psalms, foreseeing in spirit what a crime they
were about to commit, says,' " Blessed is the
man who hath not walked in the way of the un-
godly ; " and Solomon in the book of Wisdom
used these words : ^ " Let us defraud the right-
eous, for he is unpleasant to us, and upbraideth
us with our offences against the law. He mak-
eth his boast that he has the knowledge of God ;
and he calleth himself the Son of God. He is
made to reprove ^ our thoughts : it grieveth us
even to look upon him : for his life is not like
the life of others ; his ways are of another fash-
ion.'* We are counted by him as triflers,^ he
withdraweth himself from our ways as from filthi-
ness ; he commendeth greatly ^ the latter end
of the just, and boasteth that he has God for
his Father. Let us see, therefore, if his words
be tru£ ; let us prove what end ^ he shall have ;
let us examine him with rebukes and torments,
that we may know his meekness,*^ and prove his
patience ; let us condemn him to a shameful
death. Such things have they imagined, and
have gone astray. For their own folly hath

I Ps. i. I.
^ Wisd. ii. 12-22.

3 In traductionem cogitationum nostrarum. Traductio is some-
times used, as here, to denote exposure to ignominy.

* Immutatae sunt.

5 Nugaces. In the Greek it is eis KipSri\ov, as a counterfeit.
^ Praefert. The Greek has /u.a<capi^€i, " deems happy."
7 Quae Ventura sunt illi.

* Revereutiam.

blinded them, and they do not understand the
mysteries 9 of God." Does he not describe that
impious design entered into by the wicked
against God, so that he clearly appears to have
been present ? But from Solomon, who foretold
these things, to the time of their accomplish-
ment, ten hundred and ten years intervened.
We feign nothing ; we add nothing. They who
performed the actions had these accounts ; they,
against whom these things were spoken, read
them. But even now the inheritors of their
name and guilt have these accounts, and in their
daily readings re-echo their own condemnation
as foretold by the voice of the prophets ; nor do
they ever admit them into their heart, which is
also itself a part of their condemnation. The
Jews, therefore, being often reprpved by Christ,
who upbraided them with their sins and iniqui-
ties, and being almost deserted by the people,
were stirred up to put Him to death.

Now His humility emboldened them to this
deed. For when they read with what great
power and glory the Son of God was about to
descend from heaven, but on the other hand
saw Jesus humble, peaceful, of low condition,'"
without comeliness, they did not believe that He
was the Son of God, being ignorant that two ad-
vents on His part were foretold by the prophets :
the first, obscure in humility of the flesh ; the
other, manifest in the power of His majesty.
Of the first David thus speaks in the seventy-
first Psalm : " " He shall descend as rain upon a
fleece ; and in His days shall righteousness spring
forth, and abundance of peace, as long as the
moon is lifted up." For as rain, if it descends
upon a fleece, cannot be perceived, because it
makes no sound ; so he said that Christ would
come to the earth without exciting the notice '^
of any, that He might teach righteousness and
peace. Isaiah also thus spoke : '^ " Lord, who
hath believed our report ? and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed ? We made proclama-
tion "♦ before Him as children, and as a root in
a thirsty land : He has no form nor glory ; and
we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeli-
ness. But His form was without honour, and
defective beyond the rest of men. He is a man
acquainted ' ^ with grief, and knowing how to en-
dure infirmity, because He turned '^ His face
away from us ; and He was not esteemed. He

9 Sacramenta Dei.

'° Sordidum.

" Ps. Ixxii. 6, 7, quoted from the Septuagint.

'2 Sine cujusquam suspicione.

'3 Isa. liii. 1-6.

'■» Annuntiavimus coram ipso sicut pueri; and so the Septuagint,
avr)yyet\aiJiev ivivTiov aiiTOv iu9 TraiSiov. It is most difficult to ac-
count for this remarkable translation. The meaning of the passage
is plain, that the Messiah would spring from an obscure source. [Elu-
cidation III.]

■5 Homo in plagS positus. The Septuagint, di'dptoTros ei/jrArjyi, u)>'.

"" Aversus est. So also the Septuagint, dnecrTpaTrTai to Trpotruinoy
avTov, Some have supposed that there is a reference to lepers, who
were compelled to cover their faces.

ii8

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

carries our sins, and He endures pain for us :
and we thought that He Himself ' was in pain,
and grief, and vexation. But He was wounded
for our transgressions, He was bruised ^ for our
offences ; the chastisement ^ of our peace was
upon Him, by His bruises •* we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray, and God hath
delivered Him up for our sins." And in the
same manner the Sibyl spoke : " Though an
object of pity, dishonoured, without form, He
will give hope to those who are objects of pity."
On account of this humility they did not recog-
nise their God, and entered into the detestable
design of depriving Him of life, who had come
to give them life.

CHAP. XVII. — OF THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE
JEWS, AND THEIR HATRED AGAINST JESUS.

But they alleged other causes for their anger
and envy, which they bore shut up 5 within in their
hearts — namely, that He destroyed the obliga-
tion ^ of the law given by Moses ; that is, that
He did not rest ^ on the Sabbath, but laboured
for the good ^ of men ; that He abolished cir-
cumcision ; that He took away the necessity of
abstaining from the flesh of swine ; 9 — in which
things the mysteries of the Jewish religion con-
sist. On this account, therefore, the rest of the
people, who had not yet withdrawn '° to Christ,
were incited by the priests to regard Him as im-
pious, because He destroyed the obligation of
the law of God, though He did this not by His
own judgment, but according to the will of God,
and after the predictions of the prophets. For
Micah announced that He would give a new law,
in these terms : " "The law shall go forth of Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And
He shall judge among many people, and rebuke
strong nations." '^ For the former law, which
was given by Moses, was not given on Mount
Zion, but on Mount Horeb ; '^ and the Sibyl
shows that it would come to pass that this law
would be destroyed by the Son of God : —

' i.e., for Himself, as though He were bearing the punishment of
His own sins.

2 Infirmatus est.

3 Doctrina pacis nostrse, "the correction."

* Livore ejus nos sanati sumus. The word " livor " properly de-
notes the blackness arising from a bruise.

5 Intus inclusam. .Another reading is, " Intus inclusa malitia,"
with malice shut up within.

* Solvere!, " He loosened or relaxed."
^ Non vacaret.

' Operans in salutem Iiominum, " by healing diseases and doing
good."

9 There is no mentian of this in the Gospels.

^° Secesserat: " withdrawn themselves from the teaching of the
scribes and Pharisees, and betaken themselves to Christ."

" Mic. iv. 2, 3.

'^ Some read, " evincet et deliget validas nationes; " but the re.id-
ing "deliget" seems to have arisen from a corrupt reading of the
Septuagint, — eicAtfK, " he shall choose," having been substituted for
ffeAeyffi, " he shall rebuke."

'3 The scene of the giving of the law is sometimes spoken of as
Horeb, as Ex. iii., and sometimes as Sinai, as Ex. xlx. The difficulty
of discriminating the two is very great. See Stanley's Sinai and
Paltitine [pp. 29, 32, 36-37, 40-42, etc. Robinson, vol. i. 177, 551.]

" But when all these things which 1 told you shall be
accomplished, then all the law is fulfilled with
respect to Him."

But even Moses himself, by whom the law was
given which they so tenaciously maintain, though
they have fallen away from God, and have not
acknowledged God, had foretold that it would
come to pass that a very great prophet would be
sent by God, who should be above the law, and
be a bearer of the will of God to men. In Deu-
teronomy he thus left it written : '•* " And the
Lord said unto me, I will raise them up a
Prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee ; and I will put my word in His mouth, and
He shall speak unto them all that I shall com-
mand Him. And whosoever will not hearken
to those things which that Prophet shall speak
in my name, I will require "s it of him." The
Lord evidently announced by the law-giver him-
self that He was about to send His own Son —
that is, a law alive, and present '^ in person, and
destroy that old law given by a mortal, '7 that by
Hiin who was eternal He might ratify afresh a
law which was eternal.

In like manner, Isaiah '^ thus prophesied con-
cerning the abolition of circumcision : " Thus
saith the Lord to the men of Judah who dwell
at Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and
sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves
to the Lord your God, and take away the fore-
skins of your heart, lest my fury come forth like
fire, and burn that none can quench it." Also
Moses himself says : '^ " In the last days the
Lord shall circumcise thine heart to love the
Lord thy God." Also Jesus ^° the son of Nun,
his successor, said : " And the Lord said unto
Jesus, Make thee knives of flint very sharp, and
sit and circumcise the children of Israel the
second time." He said that this second cir-
cumcision would be not of the flesh, as the first
was, which the Jews practise even now, but of
the heart and spirit, which was delivered by
Christ, who was the true Jesus. For the prophet
does not say, " And the Lord said unto me,"
but " unto Jesus," that he might show that God
was not speaking of him, but of Christ, to
whom God was then speaking. For that Jesus
represented 21 Christ: for when he was at first
called Auses,^^ Moses, foreseeing the future, or-
dered that he should be called Jesus ; that since
he had been chosen as the leader of the warfare

'■» Deul. xviii. 17-19.

'5 Ego vindic.abo in eum.

'^ Vivam praesentemquc legem.

'7 Another reading is, " per Moysen," by Moses.
■ '^ The (juotation is not from Isaiah, but from Jer. iv. 3, 4.

'9 Deut. XXX. 6.

^° i.e., Joshua. -See Josh. v. 2.

^' " Figuram gerebat," typified, or set forth as in a figure.

^° i.e., Osee, Oshea, or Hoshea, as Joshua was first called. See
Num. xiii. 8. [Kut note Num. xiii. 16. The change was significant.
See Pearson On the Creed, art. li. 125-128. Thus, "Jehovah-
Saviour" = Jesus, and the change was prophetic of " the Name which
is above every name." Compare Gen. xxxii. 29 and Phil. ii. 9, 10.]

Chap XVIII.]

THE DIViNE INSTITUTES.

119

against Amalek, who was the enemy of the chil-
dren of Israel, he might both subdue the ad-
versary by the emblem ' of the name, and lead
the people into the land of promise. And for
this reason he was also successor to Moses, to
show that the new law given by Christ Jesus was
about to succeed to the old law which was given
by Moses. For that circumcision of the flesh
is plainly irrational ; since, if God had so willed
it, He might so have formed man from the be-
ginning, that he should be without a foreskin.
But it was a figure of this second circumcision,
signifying that the breast is to be laid bare ; that
is, that we ought to live with an open and simple
heart, since that part of the body which is cir-
cumcised has a kind of resemblance to the heart,
and is to be treated with reverence. On this
account God ordered that it should be laid bare,
that by this argument He might admonish us
not to have our breast hidden ^ in obscurity ;
that is, not to veil any shameful deed within the
secrets of conscience. This is the circumcision
of the heart of which the prophets speak, which
God transferred from the mortal flesh to the
soul, which alone is about to endure. For,
being desirous of promoting our life and salva-
tion in accordance with His own goodness, in
that circumcision He hath set before us repent-
ance, that if we lay open our hearts, — that is,
if we confess our sins and make satisfaction to
God, — we shall obtain pardon, which is denied
to those who are obstinate and conceal their
faults, by Him who regards not the outward ap-
pearance, as man does, but the innermost secrets
of the heart.^

The forbidding of the flesh of swine also has
the same intention ; for when God commanded
them to abstain from this, He willed that this
should be especially understood, that they should
abstain from sins and impurities. For this ani-
mal is filthy and unclean,'* and never looks up to
heaven,5 but prostrates itself to the earth with
its whole body and face : it is always the slave
of its appetite and food ; nor during its life can
it afibrd any other service, as the other animals
do, which either afford a vehicle for riding,^ or
aid in the cultivation of the fields, or draw
waggons by their neck, or carry burthens on
their back, or furnish a covering with their skins, 7
or abound with a supply of milk, or keep watch

' Per figuram nominis. The name Jesus or Joshua signifies a
deliverer or saviour. [Nay, more, Jehovah-Salvator, thus: Hoshea
+ Jah = Jehoshua = Joshua = Jesus.]

2 Involutum. Thus Seneca: " Non est tibi frons ficta, nee in
alienam voluptatem sermo compositus, nee cor involutum."

3 1 Sam. xvi. 7: " The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart."

■* Lutulentum (besmeared with mud) " et immundum." See 2
Pet. ii. 22.

5 I" The swine gorges his acorns, and never looks up to the tree
from which they fall," as a parable of nature for swinish men.]

*' Sedendi vehiculum. " Sedeor" is sometimes used in this sense
for riding

' Exuviis, used in the same sense as " pellibus."

for guarding our houses. Therefore He forbade
them to use the flesh of the pig for food, that is,
not to imitate the life of swine, which are nour-
ished only for death ; lest, by devoting them-
selves to their appetite and i)leasures, they should
be useless for working righteousness, and should
be visited with death. Also that they should not
immerse themselves in foul lusts, as the sow,
which wallows in the mire ; ^ or that they do not
serve earthly images, and thus defile themselves
with mud : for they do bedaub themselves with
mud who worship gods, that is, who worship
mud and earth. Thus all the precepts of the
Jewish law have for their object the setting forth
of righteousness, since they are given in a mys-
terious ^ manner, that under the figure of carnal
things those which are spiritual might be known.

CHAP. XVIIL — OF THE LORD's PASSION, AND THAT
IT WAS FORETOLD.

When, therefore, Christ fulfilled these things
which God would have done, and which He
foretold many ages before by His prophets, in-
cited by these things, and ignorant of the sacred
Scriptures, they conspired together to condemn
their God. And though He knew that this
would come to pass, and repeatedly '° said that
He must suffer and be put to death for the sal-
vation of many, nevertheless He withdrew Him-
self with His disciples, not that He might avoid
that which it was necessary for Him to undergo
and endure, but that He might show what ought
to take place in every persecution, that no one
should appear to have fallen into it through his
own fault : and He announced that it would
come to pass that He should be betrayed by
one of them. And thus Judas, induced by a
bribe, delivered up to the Jews the Son of God.
But they took and brought Him before Pontius
Pilate, who at that time was administering the
province of Syria as governor," and demanded
that He should be crucified, though they laid
nothing else to His charge except that He said
that He was the Son of God, the King of the
Jews ; also His own saying,"' " Destroy this tem-
ple, which was forty-six years in building, and in
three days I will raise it up again without hands,"

8 Ingurgitat coeno, " plunges into the mire." [" Sus lota in volu-
tabro luti." 2 Pet. ii. 22, l'ulgate.'\

9 Per figuram. [This Typology has never yet been fully or satis-
factorily treated. Yet the volumes of Dr. Fairbairn ( Typology of
ScriptJtre, Clarks, Edin.) ought to be known to every Bible student.]

■° .Subinde, " from time to time."

" Legatus. This title was given, in the time of the Roman em-
perors, to the governors sent by them into the provinces. Pontius
Pilate was procurator of Judsea, which was not a separate province,
but a dependency of the province of Syria, which was at this time
governed by Silanus.

'2 John ii. 19, 20. The forty-six years spoken of were not occu-
pied with the rebuilding of the temple, which was completed in nine
years, but with the additional works which Herod the Great and his
successors were continually carrying on for the adorning and beauti-
fying of the temple. See Prideaux. [I regret the loose references
of the translator, and yet more that the inexorable demands of the
press give me time to supply only the more important ones. See
Connections, book ix. vol. ii. p. 394.]

I20

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Hook IV.

— signifying that His passion would shortly take
place, and that He, having been put to death by
the Jews, would rise again on the third day.
For He Himself was the true temple of God.
They inveighed against these expressions of His,
as ill-omened and impious. And when Pilate
had heard these things, and He said nothing in
His own defence, he gave sentence that there
appeared nothing deserving of condemnation in
Him. But those most unjust accusers, together
with the people whom they had stirred up, be-
gan to cry out, and with loud voices to demand
His crucifixion.

Then Pontius ' was overpowered both by their
outcries, and by the instigation of Herod the
tetrarch,^ who feared lest he should be deposed
from his sovereignty. He did not, however,
himself pass sentence, but delivered Him up to
the Jews, that they themselves might judge Him
according to their law.^ Therefore they led
Him away when He had been scourged with
rods, and before they crucified Him they mocked
Him ; for they put upon Him a scarlet •* robe,
and a crown of thorns, and saluted Him as
King, and gave Him gall for food, and min-
gled for Him vinegar to drink. After these
things they spat upon His face, and struck Him
with the palms of their hands ; and when the
executioners 5 themselves contended about His
garments, they cast lots among themselves for
His tunic and mantle.^ And while all these
things were doing. He uttered no voice from
His mouth, as though He were dumb. Then
they lifted Him up in the midst between two
malefactors, who had been condemned for rob-
bery, and fixed Him to the cross. What can I
here deplore in so great a crime? or in what
words can I lament such great wickedness.?
For we are not relating the crucifixion of Ga-
vius,7 which Marcus Tullius followed up with all
the spirit and strength of his eloquence, pour-
ing forth as it were the fountains of all his

' [It is probable, that, owing to the perpetual and universal reci-
tation of the Creed, this unhappy name has been more frequently ut-
tered and recalled to human memorj' than that of any other human
being.]

2 Herod Antipas the tetrarch of Galilee. According to St. Luke
(xxiii. 15), Herod agreed with Pilate in declaring the innocency of
Jesus.

3 This statement requires some modification. Pilate did indeed
say to the Jews, " Take ye Him, and judge Him accordmg to your
law; " but they declared that it was not lawful for them to put any
man to death. The punishment was entirely Roman, the mode of
death Roman, the executioners Roman soldiers There were two
distinct trials, — one belore the Jewish Sanhedrim on a charge of im-
piety, the other before the Roman governor on a charge of treason.

* Punicei colons. The colour was a kind of red, not purple.

tit was mixed with blue, so as to be at once purple and in some re-
ections scarlet.]

S The quaternion of Roman soldiers who carried out the execu-
tion.

*> De tunic^ et pallio. The " tunica " was the inner garment, the
" pallium" a mantle or cloak. Thus the proverbial phrase, " tunica
proprior pallio." [Vol. iv. p. 13, Klucidation I., this series ]

' Gavius was crucified by Verres. [/« I'errem, act ii. cap. 62.
This event providentially illustrated the extreme wickedness of what
was done to our Lord, but so quickened the Roman conscience that
it prevented like injustice to St. Paul, although a Roman citizen, over
*nd over again. Acts xvi. 37, 38, and xxii. 24, 25. J

genius, proclaiming that it was an unworthy
deed that a Roman citizen should be crucified
in violation of all laws. And although He was
innocent, and undeserving of that punishment,
yet He was put to death, and that, too, by an
impious man, who was ignorant of justice.
What shall I say respecting the indignity of
this cross, on which the Son of God was sus-
pended and nailed?* Who will be found so
eloquent, and supplied with so great an abun-
dance of deeds and words, what speech flowing
with such copious exuberance,'? as to lament in
a befitting manner that cross, which the world
itself, and all the elements of the world, be-
wailed ?

But that these things were thus about to hap-
pen, was announced both by the utterances of
the prophets and by the predictions of the Sibyls.
In Isaiah it is found thus written : '° "I am not
rebellious, nor do I oppose : I gave my back to
the scourge, and my cheeks to the hand : " I
turned not away my face from the foulness of
spitting." In like manner David, in the thirty-
fourth Psalm : '^ " The abjects '^ were gathered
together against me,'+ and they knew me not : '5
they were dispersed, nor did they feel remorse ;
they tempted me, and greatly "^ derided me ; and
they gnashed upon me with their teeth." The
Sibyl also showed that the same things would
happen : —

" He shall afterwards come into the hands of the unjust
and the faithless ; and they shall inflict on God
blows with impure hands, and with polluted mouths
they shall send forth poisonous spittle ; and He shall
then absolutely'' give His holy back to stripes."

Likewise respecting His silence, which He per-
severingly maintained even to His death, Isaiah
thus spoke again : '* " He was led as a sheep to
the slaughter ; and as a lamb before the shearer
is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." And
the above-mentioned Sibyl said : —

"And being beaten, He shall be silent, lest any one
should know what the Word is, or whence it came,
that it may speak with mortals ; and He shall
wear the crown of thorns."

But respecting the food and the drink which they
offered to Him before they fastened Him to the
cross, David thus speaks in the sixty-eighth
Psalm : '9 " And they gave me gall for my meat ;

8 Suflfixus.

9 Tant^ afHuentiae ubertate. [Compare Cicero (ui supra):
Crux, crux ! inquam infelici et serumnoso, qui nunquam istam po-
testatem viderat, comparabatur ]

■° Isa. I. 5, 6, quoted from the Septuagint.

" i.e., of the smiters; Or. ci? paTrio-Aiara, " blows with the hand."

'2 Ps. XXXV. 15, 16. The quotation is frorn the Septuagint, and
differs widely from the authorized English version.

'3 Flagella, said to be used for men deserving the scourge; wicked
men.

'■• Super me, "over me."

'5 Ignoraverunt. Others read " ignoravi^" I knew it not.

■*■ Deriserunt liie derisu. So the Greek, ef«|nu)CT^p(.<rai/ \t.t ^ivKTrf
ptafioM.

" Isa. liii. 7.
'9 Ps. Ixix. 21.

Chap. XVIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

12 1

and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
The Sibyl foretold that this also would hap-
pen : —

" They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst vine-
gar ; this inhospitable table they will show."

And another Sibyl rebukes the land of Judaea
in these verses : —

" For you, entertaining hurtful thoughts, did not recog-
nise vour God sporting ' with mortal thoughts ;
but vou crowned Him with a crown of thorns, and
mingled dreadful gall."

Now, that it would come to pass that the Jews
would lay hands upon their God, and put Him
to death, these testimonies of the prophets fore-
told. In Esdras it is thus written : ^ " And Ezra
said to the people, This passover is our Saviour
and our refuge. Consider and let it come into
your heart, that we have to abase Him in a fig-
ure ; and after these things we will hope in Him,
lest this place be deserted for ever, saith the
Lord God of hosts. If you will not believe Him,
nor hear His announcement, ye shall be a deris-
ion among the nations." From which it appears
that the Jews had no other hope, unless they
purified themselves from blood, and put their
hopes in that very person whom they denied.^
Isaiah also points out their deed, and says : ■*
" In His humiliation His judgment was taken
away. Who shall declare His generation? for
His life shall be taken away from the earth ;
from the transgressions of my people He was
led away to death. And I will give Him the
wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death,
because He did no wickedness, nor spoke guile
with His mouth. Wherefore He shall obtain 5
many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong ;
because He was delivered up to death, and was
reckoned among the transgressors ; and He bore
the sins of many, and was delivered up on ac-
count of their transgressions." David also, in
the ninety-third Psalm : •" " They will hunt after
the soul of the righteous, and condemn the inno-
cent blood ; and the Lord is become my refuge."
Also Jeremiah : ^ "Lord, declare it unto me, and
I shall know. Then I saw their devices ; I was
led as an innocent ^ lamb to the sacrifice ; ^ they
meditated a plan against me, saying, Coroe, let
us send wood into his bread,'" and let us sweep

1 TTdi^orTa. Another reading is i!Ta.i.avTa., which would imply that
they regarded Christ as a transgressor.

2 Justin Martyr quotes this passage in his Dialogue iintJi Try-
//!£7, and complains that it had been expunged by the Jews. [See
vol. i. p. 234, and remarks of Bishop Kaye, jHstiti Martyr, p. 44,
on passages suppressed by the Jews.]

3 Negaverunt. Another reading is" necaverunt," they put to death.

* Isa. Hii. S-io, 12. The quotation is made from the Septuagint.
5 Consequetur. In the Greek, /cArjpoi'Ojoi.TJaei, " shall inherit."

^ Ps. xciv. 21, 22.

' Jer. xi. 18, 19, quoted from the Septuagint.

* Sine malitia. Another reading is " sine macula," without spot.
9 Ad victimam.

'° For the various explanations, see Pole's Syno/>s!s. Some sup-
pose that there is a reference to the corruption of food by poisonous
wood; others that the meaning is a substitution of wood for bread.
Another explanation is, that the word translated bread denotes fruit,

away his life from the earth, and his name shall
no more be remembered." Now the wood " sig-
nifies the cross, and the bread His body ; for He
Himself is the food and the life of all who believe
in the flesh which He bare, and on the cross
upon which He was suspended.

Respecting this, however, Moses himself more
plainly spoke to this effect, in Deuteronomy : '^
" And Thy life shall hang '^ before Thine eyes ;
and Thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt
have no assurance of Thy life." And the same
again in Numbers : '•♦ " God is not in doubt as a
man, nor does He suffer threats '5 as the son of
man." Zechariah also thus wrote : '^ " And they
shall look on me, whom they pierced." Also
David in the twenty-first Psalm : '^ "They pierced
my hands and my feet ; they numbered all my
bones ; they themselves looked and stared upon
me ; they divided my garments among them ;
and upon my vesture they did cast lots." It is
evident that the prophet did not speak these
things concerning himself. For he was a king,
and never endured these sufferings ; but the
Spirit of God, who was about to suffer these
things, after fen hundred and fifty years, spoke
by him. For this is the number of years from
the reign of David to the crucifixion of Christ.
But Solomon also, his son, who built Jerusalem,
prophesied that this very city would perish in
revenge for the sacred cross : "'^ " But if ye turn
away from me, saith the Lord, and will not keep
my truth, I will drive Israel from the land which
I have given them ; and this house which I have
built for them in my name, I will cast it out from
all : "^ and Israel shall be for perdition ^° and a re-
proach to the people ; and this house shall be
desolate, and every one that shall pass by it shall
be astonished, and shall say. Why hath God done
these evils to this land and to this house ? And
they shall say. Because they forsook the Lord
their God, and persecuted their King most be-
loved by God, and crucified Him with great
degradation,^' therefore hath God brought upon
them these evils."

as in the English authorized version, " Let us destroy the tree, with
the fruit thereof." But see Pole on the passage. [Jer xi. 19. Here
is a very insufficient note, the typology of Scripture not bemg duly
observed. Compare TertuUian, vol. iii. p. 166, especially at note 10,
which illustrates the uniform spirit of the Fathers in dealing with
the Jews. And note Bishop Kaye's remark, vol. ii. p. 206, note 5, this
series.]

" This explanation appears altogether fanciful and unwarranted.

'- Deut. xxviii. 66.

'3 So the Septuagint. The English authorized version appears
accurately to express the idea intended to be conveyed: "Thy life
shall hang in doubt before Thee."

'•* The idea is that God is not in doubt, as a man, as to His con-
duct, nor is He liable to change His mind, or to be influenced by
threats or in any other way.

'3 Minas patitur.

'^ Zech. xii. 10.

'7 Ps. xxii. 16-iS. [Compare vol. i. p. 176, note 4, this series]

■^ I Kings ix. 6-9, with some additions and omissions; and i
Chron. vii. 19-22.

'9 Ex omnibus. The English authorized version has, " out of nK

■ -° In perditionem et impropenum.

I =' This is not taken from the passages cited, nor from the O' '

' Testament.

122

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

CHAP. XIX. OF THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESUR-
RECTION or JESUS ; and the predictions of

THESE EVENTS.

What more can now be said respecting the
crime of the Jews, than that they were then
bhnded and seized with incurable madness, who
read these things daily, and yet neither under-
stood them, nor were able to be on their guard
so as not to do them ? Therefore, being lifted
up and nailed to the cross. He cried to the Lord
with a loud voice, and of His own accord gave
up His spirit. And at the same hour there was
an earthquake ; and the veil of the temple, which
separated the two tabernacles, was rent into two
parts ; and the sun suddenly withdrew its light,
and there was darkness from the sixth ' even to
the ninth hour. Of which event the prophet
Amos testifies:^ "And it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord, that the sun shall go
down at noon, and the daylight shall be dark-
ened ; and I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and your songs into lamentation." Also Jere-
miah : 3 " She who brings forth is affrighted, and
vexed in spirit ; her sun is gone down while it
was yet mid-day ; she hath been ashamed and
confounded ; '' and the residue of them will I
give to the sword in the sight of their enemies."
And the Sibyl : —

" And the veil of the temple shall be rent, and at mid-
day there shall be dark vast night for three hours."

When these things were done, even by the
heavenly prodigies, they were not able to under-
stand their crime.

But since He had foretold that on the third
day He should rise again from the dead, fearing
lest, the body having been stolen by the disciples,
and removed, all should believe that He had
risen, and there should be a much greater dis-
turbance among the people, they took Him down
from the cross, and having shut Him up in a
tomb, they securely surrounded it with a guard
of soldiers. But on the third day, before light,
there was an earthquake, and the sepulchre was
suddenly opened ; and the guard, who were
astonished and stupefied with fear, seeing noth-
ing. He came forth uninjured and alive from the
sepulchre, and went into Galilee to seek His dis-
ciples : but nothing was found in the sepulchre
except the grave-clothes in which they had en-
closed and wrapt His body. Now, that He
would not remain in hell, 5 but rise again on the
third day, had been foretold by the prophets.
David says, in the fifteenth Psalm :^ "Thou wilt
not leave my soul in hell ; neither wilt Thou

' i.e., from noon. [Elucidation IV.]

2 Amos viii. 9, 10.

3 Jer. XV. 9.

* Confiisa est et maledicta.

5 i.e , Hades, the place of departed spiritc.

•> I's. xvi. 10.

suffer Thine holy one to see corruption." Also
in the third Psalm : 7 " I laid me down to sleep,
and took my rest, and rose again, for the Lord
sustained me." Hosea also, the first of the
twelve prophets, testified of His resurrection : ^
" This my Son is wise, therefore He will not re-
main in the anguish of His sons : and I will
redeem Him from the power'' of the grave.
Where is thy judgment, O death? or where is
thy sting? " The same also in another place : '°
" After two days. He will revive us in the third
day." And therefore the Sibyl said, that after
three days' sleep he would put an end to death : —

" And after sleeping three days. He shall put an end to
the fate of death ; and then, releasing Himself
from the dead. He shall come to light, first show-
ing to the called ones the beginning of the resur-
rection."

For He gained life for us by overcoming death.
No hope, therefore, of gaining immortality is
given to man, unless he shall believe on Him,
and shall take up that cross to be borne and
endured.

chap. XX. — OF THE DEPARTURE OF JESUS INTO
GALILEE AFTER HIS RESURRECTION ; AND OF THE
TWO TESTAMENTS, THE OLD AND THE NEW.

Therefore He went into Galilee, for He was
unwilling to show Himself to the Jews, lest He
should lead them to repentance, and restore
them from their impiety to a sound mind." And
^/lere He opened to His disciples again assem-
bled the writings of Holy Scripture, that is, the
secrets of the prophets ; which before His suf-
fering could by no means be understood, for they
told of Him and of His passion. Therefore
Moses, and the prophets also themselves, call the
law which was given to the Jews a testament : for
unless the testator shall have died, a testament
cannot be confirmed ; nor can that which is
written in it be known, because it is closed and
sealed. And thus, unless Christ had undergone
death, the testament could not have been opened ;
that is, the mystery of God could not have been
unveiled '^ and understood.

But all Scripture is divided into two Testa-
ments. That which preceded the advent and
passion of Christ — that is, the law and the
prophets — is called the Old ; but those things
which were written after His resurrection are
named the New Testament. The Jews make
use of the Old, we of the New : but yet they are
not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of
the Old, and in both there is the same testator,
even Christ, who, having suffered death for us,

7 Ps. iii. 5.

* Hos. xiii. 13, 14.

9 De manii inferorum.
'° Hos. vi. 2.

" f A very feeble exposition of Luke xix. 42, 44.]
■2 kevelari, to be laid bare, uncovered, brought to light.

Chap. XXI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

123

made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the
people of the Jews being deprived and disin-
herited." As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when
he speaks such things : ^ " Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new
testament J to the house of Israel and the house
of Judah, not according to the testament which
I made to their fathers, in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt ; for they continued not in my testa-
ment, and I disregarded •* them, saith the Lord."
Also in another place he says in like manner : 5
" I have forsaken my house, I have given up mine
heritage into the hand of its enemies. Mine
heritage is become unto me as a lion in the
forest ; it hath cried out against me, therefore
have I hated it." Since the inheritance is His
heavenly kingdom, it is evident that He does
not say that He hates the inheritance itself, but
the heirs, who have been ungrateful towards
Him, and impious. Mine heritage, he says, is
become unto me as a lion ; that is, I am become
a prey and a devouring to my heirs, who have
slain me as the flock. It hath cried out against
me ; that is, they have pronounced against me
the sentence of death and the cross. For that
which He said above, that He would make ^ a
new testament to the house of Judah, shows
that the old testament which was given by Moses
was not perfect ; ^ but that that which was to be
given by Christ would be complete. But it is
plain that the house of Judah does not signify
the Jews, whom He casts off, but us, who have
been called by Him out of the Gentiles, and
have by adoption succeeded to their place, and
are called sons^ of the Jews, which the Sibyl
declares when she says : —

" The divine race of the blessed, heavenly Jews."

But what that race was about to be, Isaiah teaches,
in whose book the Most High Father addresses
His Son : 9 " I the Lord God have called Thee
in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and
will keep Thee : '" and I have given Thee for a
covenant of my race," for a light of the Gentiles ;

' Abdicato et exhaeredato. The two expressions are joined to-
gether, to give strength. " Abdicati " were sons deprived of a share
in their father's possessions during his life; " exhaeredati," disin-
herited, those who have forfeited the right of succession after their
father's death.

^ Jer. xxxi. 31, 32.

3 Or rather "covenant," 5ia9)))C7), for this signification is much
more in accordance with the general meaning of the passage.

■♦ Neglexi; Gr. r)fjLe\i)<ja.

5 Jer. xii. 7, 8.

* Qjnsummaturum, " would complete," " make perfect," as in the
next clause.

^ See Heb. viii. 13, " In that He saith, a new covenant, He hath
made the first old."

^ St. John's testimony is more distinct, i. 12: " But as many as
received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name."

9 Isa. xlii. 6, 7

'° Confirmabo te, " will strengthen Thee."

" In testamentum generis mei. The word here rendered " cove-
nant " is the same (testamentum) as that translated in other places
" testament," which does not supply the sense here required. The
attempt to give the meaning " testament " in all places causes much
confusion, as in this passage.

to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the
prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in
darkness out of the prison-house." When,
therefore, we who were in time past as it were
blind, and as it were shut up in the prison of
folly, were sitting in darkness, ignorant of God
and of the truth, we have been enlightened by
Him, who adopted us by His testament ; and
having freed us from cruel chains, and brought
us out to the light of wisdom, He admitted us to
the inheritance of His heavenly kingdom.

CHAP. XXI. — OF THE ASCENSION OF JESUS, AND
THE FORETELLING OF IT ; AND OF THE PREACH-
ING AND ACTIONS OF THE DISCIPLES.

But when He had made arrangements with
His disciples for the preaching of the Gospel and
His name, a cloud suddenly surrounded Him,
and carried Him up into heaven, on the fortieth
day after His passion, as Daniel had shown that
it would be, saying : '^ " And, behold, one like
the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of days." But the
disciples, being dispersed through the provinces,
everywhere laid the foundations of the Church,
themselves also in the name of their divine '^
Master doing many and almost incredible mira-
cles ; for at His departure He had endowed
them with power and strength, by which the
system '•♦ of their new announcement might be
founded and confirmed. But He also opened
to them all things which were about to happen,
which Peter and Paul preached at Rome ; and
this preaching being written for the sake of
remembrance, '5 became permanent, in which they
both declared other wonderful things, and also
said that it was about to come to pass, that after
a short time God would send against them a
king who would subdue '^ the Jews, and level
their cities to the ground, and besiege the people
themselves, worn out with hunger and thirst.
Then it should come to pass that they should feed
on the bodies of their own children, and consume
one another. Lastly, that they should be taken
captive, and come into the hands of their enemies,
and should see their wives most cruelly harassed
before their eyes, their virgins ravished and pol-
luted, their sons torn in pieces, their little ones
dashed to the ground ; and lastly, everything laid
waste with fire and sword, the captives banished
for ever from their own lands, because they had
exulted over the well-beloved and most approved
Son of God, And so, after their decease, when
Nero had put them to death, Vespasian destroyed
the name and nation of the Jews, and did all

'2 Dan. vii. 13.
13 Magistri Dei.

'* i.e., the new doctrine which they announced.
'5 In memoriam scripta. This is said to have been the title of a
spurious book now lost.

'*' Expugnaret. The word properly signifies to take by storm.

124

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

things which they had foretold as about to come
to pass.

CHAP, XXII. ARGUMENTS OF UNBELIEVERS

AGAINST THE INCARN.\TION OF JESUS.

I have now confirmed, as I imagine, the things
which are thought false and incredible by those
who are not instructed in the true knowledge of
heavenly learning. But, however, that we may
refute those also who are too wise, not without
injury to themselves, and who detract from the
credit due to divine things, let us disprove their
error, that they may at length perceive that the
fact ought to have been as we show that it ac-
tually was. And although with good judges
either testimonies are of sufficient weight with-
out arguments, or arguments without testimo-
nies, we, however, are not content with the one
or the other, since we are supplied with both,
that we may not leave room for any one of de-
praved ingenuity either to misunderstand or to
dispute on the opposite side. They say that it
was impossible for anything to be withdrawn '
from an immortal nature. They say, in short,
that it was unworthy of God to be willing to
become man, and to burthen Himself with the
infirmity of flesh ; to become subject of His own
accord to sufferings, to pain, and death : as
though it had not been easy for Him to show
Himself to men without ^ the weakness incident
to a body, and to teach them righteousness (if
He so wished) with greater authority, as of one
who acknowledged ^ Himself to be God. For in
that case all would have obeyed the heavenly
precepts, if the influence and power of God
enjoining them had been united with them.
Why, then (they say), did He not come as God
to teach men ? Why did He render Himself so
humble and weak, that it was possible for Him
both to be despised by men and to be visited
with punishment? why did He suffer violence
from those who are weak and mortal? why did
He not repel by strength, or avoid by His divine j
knowledge,* the hands of men ? why did He not
at least in His very death reveal His majesty ? but
He was led as one without strength to trial, was
condemned as one who was guilty, was put to
death as one who was mortal. I will carefully
refute these things, nor will I permit any one to
be in error. For these things were done by a
great and wonderful plan ; and he who shall
understand this, will not only cease to wonder
that God was tortured by men, but also will
easily see that it could not have been believed

' Ut naturx immortali quidquam decederet.

2 Citra.

' Professi Dei. The expression denotes one who shows himself
in his real character, without any ve-lir"; or concealment. There is
another reading — "professi Dei'ti."

■• Divinitatc.

that he was God if those very things which he
censures had not been done.

CHAP. XXIII. — OF GIVING PRECEPTS, AND ACTING.

If any one gives to men precepts for living,
and moulds the characters of others, I ask
whether he is bound himself to practise the
things which he enjoins, or is not bound. If
he shall not do so, his precepts are annulled.
For if the things which are enjoined are good,
if they place the life of men in the best condi-
tion, the instructor ought not to separate him-
self from the number and assemblage of men
among whom he acts ; and he ought himself to
live in the same manner in which he teaches
that men ought to live, lest, by living in another
way, he himself should disparage 5 his owti pre-
cepts, and make his instruction of less value, if
in reality he should relax the obligations of that
which he endeavours to establish by his words.
For every one, when he hears another giving
precepts, is unwilling that the necessit}' of obey-
ing should be imposed upon him, as though the
right of liberty were taken from him. Therefore
he answers his teacher in this manner : I am not
able to do the things which you command, for
they are impossible. For you forbid me to be
angry, you forbid me to covet, you forbid me to
be excited by desire, you forbid me to fear pain
or death ; but this is so contrary to nature, that
all animals are subject to these affections. Or
if you are so entirely of opinion that it is pos-
sible to resist nature, do you yourself practise
the things which you enjoin, that I may know
that they are possible ? But since you yourself
do not practise them, what arrogance is it, to
wish to impose upon a free man laws which you
yourself do not obey ! You who teach, first
learn ; and before you correct the character of
others, correct your own. Who could deny the
justice of this answer? Nay ! a teacher of this
kind will fall into contempt, and will in his turn
be mocked, because he also will appear to mock
others.

What, therefore, will that instructor do, if
these things shall be objected to him ? how will
he deprive the self-willed^ of an excuse, unless he
teach them by deeds before their eyes ^ that he
teaches things which are possible ? Whence it
comes to pass, that no one obeys the precepts
of the philosophers.** For men prefer examples
rather than words, because it is easy to speak,
but difficult to accomplish. 9 Would to heaven
that there were as many who acted well as there
are who speak well ! But they who give pre-

5 Ipse prsEceptis suis fidem detrahat.

* Contumacibus.

7 Prajsentibus factis.

* [See Augustine, quoted in elucidation, vol. vi. p. 541.]
9 Pra;stare.

Chap. XXIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

125

cepts, without carrying them out into action, are
distrusted ; ' and if they shall be men, will be
despised as inconsistent : - if it shall be God,
He will be met with the excuse of the frailty
of man's nature. It remains that words should
be confirmed by deeds, which the philosophers
are unable to do. Therefore, since the instruc-
tors themselves are overcome by the affections
which they say that it is our duty to overcome,
they are able to train no one to virtue, which
they falsely proclaim ; ^ and for this cause they
imagine that no perfect wise man has as yet
existed, that is, in whom the greatest virtue and
perfect justice were in harmony with the great-
est learning and knowledge. And this indeed
was true. For no one since the creation of the
world has been such, except Christ, who both
delivered wisdom by His word, and confirmed
His teaching by presenting virtue to the eyes of
men.'*

CHAP. XXrV. — THE OVERTHROWING OF THE ARGU-
MENTS ABOVE URGED BY WAY OF OBJECTION.

Come, let us now consider whether a teacher
sent from heaven can fail to be perfect. I do
not as yet speak of Him whom they deny to
have come from God. Let us suppose that
some one were to be sent from heaven to in-
struct the life of men in the first principles of
virtue, and to form them to righteousness. No
one can doubt but that this teacher, who is sent
from heaven, would be as perfect in the knowl-
edge of all things as in virtue, lest there should
be no difference between a heavenly and an
earthly teacher. For in the case of a man his
instruction can by no means be from within and
of himself.5 For the mind, shut in by earthly
organs, and hindered by a corrupt^ body, of
itself can neither comprehend nor receive the
truth, unless it is taught from another source.''
And if it had this power in the greatest degree,
yet it would be unable to attain to the highest
virtue, and to resist all vices, the materials of
which are contained in our bodily^ organs.
Hence it comes to pass, that an earthly teacher
cannot be perfect. But a teacher from heaven,
to whom His divine nature gives knowledge, and
His immortality gives virtue, must of necessity
in His teaching also, as in other things, be per-
fect and complete. But this cannot by any
means happen, unless He should take to Himself

' Abest ab iis fides.

^ Leves.

3 [What neither Platonists nor Censors, in their judgnaents, could
effect by their scpJiia, the crucified Jesus has done by His Gospei.
The impotence of philosophers as compared with the Carpenter's
Son, to change the morals of nations, cannot be gainsaid. See
Young's Christ of History. ^

* Praesenti virtute.

5 Propria.

'' Tabe corporis.

^ Thus our Lord tells us that flesh and blood cannot reveal to us
mysteries.

^ Visceribus.

a mortal body. And the reason why it cannot
happen is manifest. For if He should come to
men as God, not to mention that mortal eyes
cannot look upon and endure the glory of His
majesty in His own person, assuredly God will
not be able to teach virtue ; for, inasmuch as
He is without a body. He will not practise the
things which He will teach, and through this
His teaching will not be perfect. Otherwise, if
it is the greatest virtue patiently to endure pain
for the sake of righteousness and duty, if it is
virtue not to fear death itself when threatened,
and when inflicted to undergo it with fortitude ;
it follows that the perfect teacher ought both to
teach these things by precept, and to confirm
them by practice. For he who gives precepts
for the life, ought to remove every method 9 of
excuse, that he may impose upon men the ne-
cessity of obedience, not by any constraint, but
by a sense of shame, and yet may leave them
liberty, that a reward may be appointed for those
who obey, because it was in their power not to
obey if they so wished ; and a punishment for
those who do not obey, because it was in their
power to obey if they so wished. How then can
excuse be removed, unless the teacher should
practise what he teaches, and as it were go be-
fore '° and hold out his hand to one who is about
to follow? But how can one practise what he
teaches, unless he is like him whom he teaches ?
For if he be subject to no passion, a man may
thus answer him who is the teacher : It is my
wish not to sin, but I am overpowered ; for I am
clothed with frail and weak flesh : it is this which
covets, which is angry, which fears pain and
death. And thus I am led on against my will ; "
and I sin, not because it is my wish, but because
I am compelled. I myself perceive that I sin ;
but the necessity imposed by my frailty, which
I am unable to resist, impels me. What will
that teacher of righteousness say in reply to these
things ? How will he refute and convict a man
who shall allege the frailty of the flesh as an
excuse for his faults, unless he himself also shall
be clothed with flesh, so that he may show that
even the flesh is capable of virtue? For obsti-
nacy cannot be refuted except by example. For
the things which you teach cannot have any
weight unless you shall be the first to practise
them ; because the nature of men is inclined to
faults, and wishes to sin not only with indulgence,
but also with a reasonable plea.'^ It is befitting

9 Omnium excusationum vias. [Here is the defect of Cicero's
philosophy. See William Wilberforce, Practical Christianity, p.
25, ed. London, 1815.]

'° Pra;vius.

" Thus St. Paul complains, Rom. vii. 15: "What I would, that
do I not; but what I hate, that do I; " and ver. 21, " I find then a law,
that when I would do good, evil is present with me." But (viii. 3)
he says, '' What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, con-
demned sin in the flesh."

'2 Cum ratione.

126

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

that a master and teacher of virtue should most
closely resemble man, that by overpowering sin
he may teach man that sin may be overpowered
by him. But if he is immortal, he can by no
means propose an example to man. For there
will stand forth some one persevering in his
opinion, and will say : You indeed do not sin,
because you are free from this body ; you do
not covet, because nothing is needed by an im-
mortal ; but I have need of many things for the
support of this life. You do not fear death, be-
cause it can have no power against you. You
despise pain, because you can suffer no violence.
But I, a mortal, fear both, because they bring
upon me the severest tortures, which the weak-
ness of the flesh cannot endure. A teacher of
virtue therefore ought to have taken away this
excuse from men, that no one may ascribe it to
necessity that he sins, rather than to his own
fault. Therefore, that a teacher may be perfect,
no objection ought to be brought forward by
him who is to be taught, so that if he should
happen to say, You enjoin impossibilities ; the
teacher may answer, See, I myself do them. But
I am clothed with flesh, and it is the property of
flesh to sin.' I too bear the same flesh, and yet
sin does not bear rule in me. It is difiicult for
me to despise riches, because otherwise I am
unable to live in this body. See, I too have a
body, and yet I contend against every desire.
I am not able to bear pain or death for right-
eousness, because I am frail. See, pain and
death have power over me also ; and I overcome
those very things which you fear, that I may
make you victorious over pain and death. I go
before you through those things which you allege
that it is impossible to endure : if you are not
able to follow me giving directions, follow me
going before you. In this way all excuse is
taken away, and you must confess that man is
unjust through his own fault, since he does not
follow a teacher of virtue, who is at the same
time a guide. You see, therefore, how much
more perfect is a teacher who is mortal, because
he is able to be a guide to one who is mortal,
than one who is immortal, for he is unable to
teach patient endurance who is not subject to
passions. Nor, however, does this extend so far
that I prefer man to God ; but to show that man
cannot be a perfect teacher unless he is also
God, that he may by his heavenly authority im-
pose upon men the necessity of obedience ; nor
(iod, unless he is clothed with a mortal body,
that by carrying out his precepts to their com-
pletion ^ in actions, he may bind others by the
necessity of obedience. It plainly therefore ap-

• This is urged as an excuse by him to whom the precept is ad-
dressed. In this and the following sentences there is a dialogue be-
tween the teacher and the taught.

- Praecepta sua factis adimplendo.

pears, that he who is a guide of life and teacher
of righteousness must have a body, and that his
teaching cannot otherwise be full and perfect,
unless it has a root and foundation, and remains
firm and fixed among men ; and that he himself
must undergo weakness of flesh and body, and
display in himself ^ the virtue of which he is a
teacher, that he may teach it at the same time
both by words and deeds. Also, he must be
subject to death and all sufferings, since the
duties of virtue are occupied with the enduring
of suffering, and the undergoing death ; all which,
as I have said, a perfect teacher ought to endure,
that he may teach the possibility of their being
endured.

CHAP. XXV. OF THE ADVENT OF JESUS IN THE

FLESH AND SPIRIT, THAT HE MIGHT BE MEDI-
ATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN.

Let men therefore learn and understand why
the Most High God, when He sent His ambas-
sador and messenger to instruct mortals with the
precepts of His righteousness, willed that He
should be clothed with mortal flesh, and be
afflicted with torture, and be sentenced to death.
For since there was no righteousness on earth,
He sent a teacher, as it were a living law, to
found a new name and temple,* that by His
words and example He might spread through-
out the earth a true and holy worship. But,
however, that it might be certain that He was
sent by God, it was befitting that He should not
be born as man is born, composed of a mortal
on both sides ; 5 but that it might appear that
He was heavenly even in the form of man, He
was born without the office of a father. For
He had a spiritual Father, God ; and as God
was the Father of His spirit without a mother,
so a virgin was the mother of His body without
a father. He was therefore both God and man,
being placed in the middle between God and
man. From which the Greeks call Him Mesi-
tes,^ that He might be able to lead man to God
— that is, to immortality : for if He had been
God only (as we have before said), He would
not have been able to afford to man examples
of goodness ; if He had been man only. He
would not have been able to compel men to
righteousness, unless there had been added an
authority and virtue greater than that of man.

For, since man is composed of flesh and

3 Virtutem in se recipere.

* Thus, Heb. viii. 2, Christ is spoken of as "a minister of the
sanctuary, and the true tabernacle."

s Having a human father and mother.

* /ifo-iTj)?, a mediator, one who stands between two parties to
bring them together. Thus i Tim. ii. 5, " There is one God, and one
mediator (uK/iTrjir) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
In the Epistle to the Hebrews Christ is spoken of as the " mediator
of the new covenant." And Gal. iii 20, " A mediator is not of one: "
the very idea of a mediator implies that he stands between two par-
ties as a reconciler.

Chap. XXVI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

127

spirit, and the spirit must earn ' immortality by
works of righteousness, the flesh, since it is
earthly, and therefore mortal, draws with itself
the spirit linked to it, and leads it from immor-
tality to death. Therefore the spirit, apart from
the flesh, could by no means be a guide to im-
mortality for man, since the flesh hinders the
spirit from following God. For it is frail, and
liable to sin ; but sin is tlie food and nourish-
,ment ^ of death. For this cause, therefore, a
mediator came — that is, God in the flesh —
that the flesh might be able to follow Him, and
that He might rescue man from death, which
has dominion over the flesh. Therefore He
clothed Himself with flesh, that the desires of
the flesh being subdued, He might teach that to
sin was not the result of necessity, but of man's
purpose and will. For we have one great and
principal struggle to maintain with the flesh, the
boundless desires of which press upon the soul,
nor allow it to retain dominion, but make it the
slave of pleasures and sweet allurements, and
visit it with everlasting death. And that we
might be able to overcome these, God has
opened and displayed to us the way of overcom-
ing the flesh. And this perfect and absolutely
complete 3 virtue bestows on those who conquer,
the crown and reward of immortality.

CH.\P. XXVI. — OF THE CROSS, AND OTHER TOR-
TURES OF JESUS, AISTD OF THE FIGURE OF THE
LAMB UNDER THE LAW.

I have spoken of humiliation, and frailty, and
suffering — why God thought fit to undergo
them. Now an account must be taken of the
cross itself, and its meaning must be related.
What the Most High Father arranged from the
beginning, and how He ordained all things
which were accomplished, not only the foretell-
ing by the prophets, which preceded and was
proved true ■* in Christ, but also the manner of
His suffering itself teaches. For whatever suffer-
ings He underwent were not without meaning ; 5
but they had a figurative meaning ^ and great sig-
nificance, as had also those divine works which
He performed, the strength and power of which
had some weight indeed for the present, but also
declared something for the future. Heavenly
influence opened the eyes of the blind, and gave
light to those who did not see ; and by this deed
He signified that it would come to pass that,
turning to the nations which were ignorant of
God, He might enlighten the breasts of the fool-
ish with the light of wisdom, and open the eyes

' Emereri, " to earn or obtain." The word is specially applied to
soldiers who have served their time, and are entitled to their dis-
charge.

^ Pabulum.

' Omnibus numeris absoluta.

* i.e., was shown by the event to be true, not doubtful or deceptive.
' Inania, " empty."

* Figuram.

of their understanding to the contemplation of
the truth. For they are truly blind who, not
seeing heavenly things, and surroundetl with the
darkness of ignorance, worship earthly and frail
things. He opened the ears of the deaf. It is
plain that this divine power did not limit its
exercise to this point ; ^ but He declared that it
would shortly come to pass, that they who were
destitute of the truth would both hear and under-
stand the divine words of God. For you may
truly call those deaf who do not hear the things
which are heavenly and true, and worthy of
being performed. He loosed the tongues of the
dumb, so that they spake plainly,^ A power
worthy of admiration,'' even when it was in
operation : but there was contained in this dis-
play '° of power another meaning, which showed
that it would shortly come to pass that those
who were lately ignorant of heavenly things,
having received the instruction of wisdom, might
speak respecting God and the truth. For he
who is ignorant of the divine nature, he truly is
speechless and dumb, although he is the most
eloquent of all men. For when the tongue has
begun to speak truth — that is, to set forth the
excellency and majesty of the one God — then
only does it discharge the office of its nature ;
but as long as it speaks false things it is not
rightly employed : " and therefore he must neces-
sarily be speechless who cannot utter divine
things. He also renewed the feet of the lame
to the office of walking, — a strength of divine
work worthy of praise ; but the figure implied
this, that the errors of a worldly and wandering
life being restrained, the path of truth was
opened by which men might walk to attain the
favour of God. For He is truly to be consid-
ered lame, who, being enwrapped in the gloom
and darkness of folly, and ignorant in what
direction to go, with feet liable to stumble and
fall, walks in the way of death.

Likewise He cleansed the stains and blem-
ishes of defiled bodies, — no slight exercise of
immortal power; but this strength prefigured
that by the instruction of righteousness His
doctrine was about to purify those defiled by
the stains of sms and the blemishes of vices.
For they ought truly to be accounted as leprous
and unclean,'^ whom either boundless lusts com-
pel to crimes, or insatiable pleasures to disgrace-
ful deeds, and affect with an everlasting stain
those who are branded with the marks of dis-

7 Hactenus operata est.
^ In eloquium solvit

9 See Matt. ix. 33, " The dumb spake, and the multitudes mar-
velled: " Mark vii. 37, " They were beyond measure astonished, say
ing. He hath done all things well: He maketh both the deaf to hear
and the dumb to speak."
'° Inerat huic virtuti.
" In usu suo non est.

'2 Elephantiaci, those afflicted with " elephantiasis," a kind of lep
rosy, covering the skin with incrustations resembling the hide of a*
elephant.

128

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV

honourable actions. He raised the bodies of
the dead as they lay prostrate ; and calling them
aloud by their names, He brought them back
from death. What is more suitable to God,
what more worthy of the wonder of all ages,
than to have recalled ' the life which has run its
course, to have added times to the completed
times of men, to have revealed the secrets of
death? But this unspeakable power was the
image of a greater energy, which showed that
His teaching was about to have such might, that
the nations throughout the world, which were
estranged from God and subject to death, being
animated by the knowledge of the true light,
might arrive at the rewards of immortality. For
you may rightly deem those to be dead, who,
not knowing God the giver of life, and depress-
ing their souls from heaven to earth, run into
the snares of eternal death. The actions, there-
fore, which He then performed for the present,
were representations of future things ; the things
which He displayed in injured and diseased bod-
ies were figures ^ of spiritual things, that at
present He might display to us the works of an
energy which was not of earth, and for the future
might show the power of His heavenly majesty.^

Therefore, as His works had a signification
also of greater power, so also His passion did
not go before us as simple, or superfluous, or by
chance. But as those things which He did sig-
nified the great efficacy and power of His teach-
ing, so those things which He suffered announced
that wisdom would be held in hatred. For the
vinegar which they gave Him to drink, and the
gall which they gave Him to eat, held forth
hardships and severities * in this life to the fol-
lowers of truth. And although His passion,
which was harsh and severe in itself, gave to us
a sample of the future torments which virtue
itself proposes to those who linger in this world,
yet drink and food of this kind, coming into the
mouth of our teacher, afforded us an example
of pressures, and labours, and miseries. All
which things must be undergone and suffered by
those who follow the truth ; since the truth is
bitter, and detested by all who, being destitute
of virtue, give up their life to deadly pleasures.
For the placing of a crown of thorns upon His
head, declared that it would come to pass that
He would gather to Himself a holy people from
those who were guilty. For people standing
around in a circle are called a corona fi But we.

' Resignasse, " to have unsealed or opened."

^ Figuram gerebant.

5 [It is undoubtedly true that all our Ixird's miracles are also
parables. Such also is the entire history of the Hebrews.]

* Acerbitates et amaritudines.

5 The word " corona " denotes a crown," and also, as here, a
" ring " of persons standing around. The play on the word cannot
be kept up in English. [Thus "corona tibi et judices defuerunt."
Cicero, Nat. Dear., ii. i. So Ignatius, TTefcai/of toO jrptcrfiuTtfiioi)
"t coro..a i-resbyterii, vol i. p. 64, this series.]

who before that we knew God were unjust, were
thorns — that is, evil and guilty, not knowing
what was good ; and estranged from the concep-
tion and the works of righteousness, polluted
all things with wickedness and lust. Being
taken, therefore, from briars and thorns, we sur-
round the sacred head of God ; for, being called
by Himself, and spread around Him, we stand
beside God, who is our Master and Teacher,
and crown Him King of the world, and Lord
of all the living.

But with reference to the cross, it has great
force and meaning, which I will now endeavour
to show. For God (as I have before explained),
when He had determined to set man free, sent
as His ambassador to the earth a teacher of vir-
tue, who might both by salutary precepts train
men to innocence, and by works and deeds
before their eyes ^ might open the way of right-
eousness, by walking in which, and following
his teacher, man might attain to eternal life.
He therefore assumed a body, and was clothed
in a garment of flesh, that He might hold out
to man, for whose instruction He had come, ex-
amples of virtue and incitements to its practice.
But when He had afforded an example of right-
eousness in all the duties of life, in order that
He might teach man also the patient endurance
of pain and contempt of death, by which vir-
tue is rendered perfect and complete, He came
into the hands of an impious nation, when, by
the knowledge of the future which He had. He
might have avoided them, and by the same
power by which He did wonderful works He
might have repelled them. Therefore He en-
dured tortures, and stripes, and thorns. At last
He did not refuse even to undergo death, that
under His guidance man might triumph over
death, subdued and bound in chains with all its
terrors. But the reason why the Most High
Father chose that kind of death in preference
to others, with which He should permit Him to
be visited, is this. For some one may perchance
say : Why, if He was God, and chose to die,
did He not at least suffer by some honourable
kind of death? why was it by the cross espe-
cially? why by an infamous kind of punishment,
which may appear unworthy even of a man if
he is free,7 although guilty? First of all, be-
cause He, who had come in humility that He
might bring assistance to the humble and men
of low degree, and might hold out to all the
hope of safety, was to suffer by that kind of
punishment by which the humble antl low usu-
ally suffer, that there might be no one at all who
might not be able to imitate Him. In the next
place, it was in order that His body might be

6 Pracsentibus.

"> The cross was the usual punishment of slaves.

Chap. XXVII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

129

kept unmutilated,' since He must rise again
from the dead on the third day.

Nor ought any one to be ignorant of this, that
He Himself, speaking before of His passion, also
made it known that He had the power, when
He willed it, of laying down His life and of
taking it again. Therefore, because He had laid
down His life while fastened to the cross, His
executioners did not think it necessary to break
His bones (as was their prevailing custom), but
they only pierced His side. Thus His unbroken
body was taken down from the cross, and care-
fully enclosed in a tomb. Now all these things
were done lest His body, being injured and
broken, should be rendered unsuitable - for rising
again. That also was a principal cause why God
chose the cross, because it was necessary that
He should be lifted up on it, and the passion of
God become known to all nations. For since
he who is suspended upon a cross is both con-
spicuous to all and higher than others, the cross
was especially chosen, which might signify that
He would be so conspicuous, and so raised on
high, that all nations from the whole world should
meet together at once to know and worship Him.
Lastly, no nation is so uncivilized, no region so
remote, to which either His passion or the height
of His majesty would be unknown. Therefore
in His suffering He stretched forth His hands
and measured out the world, that even then He
might show that a great multitude, collected
together out of all languages and tribes, from
the rising of the sun even to his setting, was
about to come under His wings, and to receive
on their foreheads that great and lofty sign.^
And the Jews even now exhibit a figure of this
transaction when they mark their thresholds
with the blood of a lamb. For when God was
about to smite the Egyptians, to secure the He-
brews from that infliction He had enjoined them
to slay a white ^ lamb without spot, and to place
on their thresholds a mark from its blood. And
thus, when the first-born of the Egyptians had
perished in one night, the Hebrews alone were
saved by the sign of the blood : not that the
blood of a sheep had such efficacy in itself as
to be the safety of men, but it was an image of
things to come. For Christ was the white lamb

' Integrum.

2 A weak and senseless reason. The true cause is given by St.
John xi.\. 36: " These things were done that the scripture should be
fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken." [The previous ques-
tion, however, remains: Why was the Paschal lamb to be of unbroken
bones, and why the special providence that fulfilled the type?
Doubtless He who raised up His body could have restored it, had the
bones also been broken; but the precionsness of Christ's body was
thus indicated, as in the new tomb, the fine linen and spices, and the
ministry of" the rich in his death, because He had done no violence,"
etc. — Isa. liii. 9.]

3 The sign of the cross used in baptism.

•* The account, Ex. xii., makes no mention of colour. " Without
spot" is equivalent to " without blemish." [But the whiteness is
implied. " Without spot " excludes " the ring-streaked and speckled,"
and a black lamb a fortiori. — i Pet. i. 19. " Without spot " settles
the case. Isa. i. 18 proves that the normal wool is white. J

without spot ; that is, He was innocent, and just,
and holy, who, being slain by the same Jews, is
the salvation of all who have written on their
foreheads the sign of blood — that is, of the
cross, on which He shed His blood. For the
forehead is the top of the threshold in man, and
the wood sprinkled with blood is the emblem s
of the cross. Lastly, the slaying of the lamb by
those very persons who perform it is called the
paschal feast, from the word " paschein," '^ be-
cause it is a figure of the passion, which God,
foreknowing the future, delivered by Moses to
be celebrated by His people. But at that time
the figure was efficacious at the present for
averting the danger, that it may appear what
great efficacy the truth itself is about to have for
the protection of God's people in the extreme
necessity of the whole world. But in what manner
or in what region all will be safe who have marked
on the highest part of their body this sign of the
true and divine blood, 7 I will show in the last
book.

CHAP. XXVII. OF THE WONDERS EFFECTED BY THE

POWER OF THE CROSS, AND OF DEMONS.

At present it is sufficient to show what great
efficacy the power of this sign has. How great
a terror this sign is to the demons, he will know
who shall see how, when adjured by Christ, they
flee from the bodies which they have besieged.
For as He Himself, when He was living among
men, put to flight all the demons by His word,
and restored to their former senses the minds of
men which had been excited and maddened by
their dreadful attacks ; so now His followers, in
the name of their Master, arid by the sign of His
passion, banish the same polluted spirits from
men. And it is not difficult to prove this. For
when they sacrifice to their gods, if any one bear-
ing a marked forehead stands by, the sacrifices
are by no means favourable.*^

"Nor can the diviner, when consulted, give answers."'

And this has often been the cause of punishment
to wicked kings. For when some of their at-
tendants who were of our religion '° were standing
by their masters as they sacrificed, having the
sign placed on their foreheads, they caused the
gods of their masters to flee, that they might not
be able to observe " future events in the entrails
of the victims. And when the soothsayers un-
derstood this, at the instigation of the same

5 Significatio.

*< OTTO ToO TtdiTXiiv, " from Suffering." The word " pascha " is
not derived from Greek, as Lactantius supposes, but from the Hebrew
" pasach," to pass over

7 [See book vii , and the Epitome, cap. li., infra.'\

' Litant, a word peculiar to the soothsayers, used when the sacri-
fices are auspicious.

9 Virg., Georg., lii. 491.

'° Nostri, i.e., Christians.

" Depingere; to make observations on the entrails of the victims,
so as to foretell future events.

I30

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

demons to whom they had sacrificed/ complain-
ing that profane men were present at the sacri-
fices, they drove their princes to madness, so
that they attacked the temple of the god, and
contaminated themselves by true sacrilege, which
was expiated by the severest punishments on the
part of their persecutors. Nor, however, are
blind men able to understand even from this,
either that this is the true religion, which con-
tains such great power for overcoming, or that
that is false, which is not able to hold its ground
or to come to an engagement.

But they say that the gods do this, not through
fear, but through hatred ; as though it were pos-
sible for any one to hate another, unless it be him
who injures, or has the power of injuring. Yea,
truly, it would be consistent with their majesty
to visit those whom they hated with immediate
punishment,^ rather than to flee from them. But
since they can neither approach those in whom
they shall see the heavenly mark, nor injure those
whom the immortal sign^ as an impregnable wall
protects, they harass them by men, and perse-
cute them by the hands of others : and if they
acknowledge the existence of these demons, we
have overcome ; for this must necessarily be the
true religion, which both understands the nature
of demons, and understands their subtlety, and
compels them, vanquished and subdued, to yield
to itself. If they deny it, they will be refuted by
the testimonies of poets and philosophers. But
if they do not deny the existence and malignity
of demons, what remains except that they affirm
that there is a difference between gods and
demons ?■* Let them therefore explain to us the
difference between the two kinds, that we may
know what is to be worshipped and what to
be held in execration ; whether they have any
mutual agreement, or are really opposed to one
another. If they are united by some necessity,
how shall we distinguish them? or how shall we
unite the honour and worship of each kind ? If,
on the other hand, they are enemies, how is it
that the demons do not fear the gods, or that
the gods cannot put to flight the demons? Be-
hold, some one excited by the impulse of the
(lemon is out of his senses, raves, is mad : let
us lead him into the temple of the excellent and
mighty Jupiter ; or since Jupiter knows not how
to cure men, into the fane of ^^sculapius or
Apollo. Let the priest of either, in the name

' ProsecrSrant. Others read " prosecarant," a sacrificial word,
properly denoting the setting apart some portion of the victim for
offering to the gods.

2 Pracsentibus poenis, " on the spot."

3 i.e., the sign of the cross, with which the early Christians fre-
quently marked themselves [So long as Christians were mocked
and despised as followers of a crucified one, there was a silent testi-
mony and bold confession in this act which must be wholly separated
from the mere superstition ol degenerate Christians. It used to mean
just what the Apostle says, Oal. vi. 14. In this sense it is retained
among Anglicans ]

* [See vol. iii. pp. 37, 176, iSo, and iv. 189-190.]

of his god, command the wicked spirit to come
out of the man : that can in no way come to
pass. What, then, is the power of the gods, if
the demons are not subject to their control ? But,
in truth, the same demons, when adjured by the
name of the true God, immediately flee. What
reason is there why they should fear Christ, but
not fear Jupiter, unless that they whom the
multitude esteem to be gods are also demons?
Lastly, if there should be placed in the midst
one who is evidently suffering from an attack of
a demon, and the priest of the Delphian Apollo,
they will in the same manner dread the name
of God ; and Apollo will as quickly depart from
his priest as the spirit of the demon from the
man ; and his god being adjured and put to
flight, the priest will be for ever silent.5 There-
fore the demons, whom they acknowledge to be
objects of execration, are the same as the gods
to whom they offer supplications.

If they imagine that we are unworthy of belief,
let them believe Homer, who associated the
supreme Jupiter ^ with the demons ; and also
other poets and philosophers, who speak of the
same beings at one time as demons, and at another
time as gods, — of which names one is true, and
the other false. For those most wicked spirits,
when they are adjured, then confess that they
are demons ; when they are worshipped, then
falsely say that they are gods ; in order that they
may lead men into errors,^ and call them away
from the knowledge of the true God, by which
alone eternal death can be escaped. They are
the same who, for the sake of overthrowing man,
have founded various systems of worship for
themselves through difterent regions,** — under
false and assumed names, however, that they
might deceive. For because they were unable
by themselves to aspire to divinity, they took to
themselves the names of powerful kings, under
whose titles they might claim for themselves
divine honours ; which error may be dispelled,
and brought to the light of truth. For if any
one desires to incjuire further into the matter,
let him assemble those who are skilled in calling
forth spirits from the dead. Let them call forth''
Jupiter, Neptune, Vulcan, Mercury, Apollo, and
Saturnus the father of all. All will answer from
the lower regions ; and being questioned they
will speak, and confess respecting themselves and

S [The cessation of oracles is attested by Plutarch. See also
Tertullian, vol. iii. p. 38, this series, and Minucius, vol. iv. p. 190,
Demonology needs further exposition, for Scripture is express in its
confirmation of patristic views of the subject.]

^ There is probably a reference to Iliad, i. 221, where Athene is
represented as going to Olympus: —

ij 5" OvKvuitov&e /3e/3^icec

7 Ut errores hominibus immittant.

* Per diversa regioniim. There is another reading, " pervers<l
religione " — by perverted religion.

9 The reference is to necromancy, or calling up the spirits of the
dead by magic rites.

Chap. XXVIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

131

God. After these things let them call up Christ ;
He will not be present, He will not appear, for
He was not more than two days in the lower
regions. \\'hat proof can be brought forward
more certain than this? I have no doubt that
Trismegistus arrived at the truth by some proof
of this kind, who spoke many things ' respecting
God the Son which are contained in the divine
secrets.

CHAP. XXVIII. OF HOPE AND TRUE RELIGION,

AND OF SUPERSTITION.

And since these things are so, as we have
shown, it is plain that no other hope of life is set
before man, except that, laying aside vanities
and wretched error, he should know God,^ and
serve God ; except he renounce this temporary
life, and train himself by the principles of right-
eousness for the cultivation of true religion.
For we are created on this condition, that we
pay just and due obedience to God who created
us, that we should know and follow Him alone.
We are bound and tied to God by this chain of
piety;''' from which religion itself received its
name, not, as Cicero explained it, from carefully
gathering,-* for in his second book respecting the
nature of the gods he thus speaks : " For not
only philosophers, but our ancestors also, sepa-
rated superstition from religion. For they who
spent whole days in prayers and sacrifices, that
their children might survive 5 them, were called
superstitious. But they who handled again, and
as it were carefully gathered all things which re-
lated to the worship of the gods, were called
religious from carefully gathering,*^ as some were
called elegant from choosing out, and diligent
from carefully selecting, and intelligent from un-
derstanding. For in all these words there is the
same meaning of gathering which there is in
the word religious : thus it has come to pass,
that in the names superstitious and religious, the
one relates to a fault, the other belongs to praise."
How senseless this interpretation is, we may
know from the matter itself. For if both religion
and superstition are engaged in the worship of
the same gods, there is little or rather no differ-
ence between them. For what cause will he

' There is another reading: " qui de Deo patre omnia, et de filio
locutus est multa; " but this is manifestly erroneous.

2 So our Lord, John xvii. 3: " This is life eternal, that they might
know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent."

5 [" Hoc vinculo pietatis obstricti Deo et religati sumus." He
returns to this in the same chapter, itifra.^

* A religendo. There is little doubt that the true derivation of
" religio " is from religere, not from religare. According to this,
the primary meaning is, " the dwelling upon a subject, and continu-
ally recurring to it."

5 Superstites, et superstitiosi.

* [Here the famous passage should be given with accurate refer-
ence to its place, as much of its force vanishes in translation. Cicero's
etymology is thus given: " Qui autem omnia quae ad cultum deorum
pertmerent, diligentes retractarent et tamquam relegeroit sunt dicti
religiosi. ex relegetido, ut elegantes ex eligendo, tamquam a dili-
gendo dzUgetites, ex intelligendo itUeUigentes." — De Nat. Deer.,
jib. ii. cap. 28. J

allege why he should think that to pray once for
the health of sons is the part of a religious man,
but to do the same ten times is the part of
a superstitious man? For if it is an excellent
thing to pray once, how much more so to do it
more frecjuently ! If it is well to do it at the
first hour, then it is well to do it throughout the
day. If one victim renders the deity propitious,
it is plain that many victims must render him
more propitious, because multiphed services
oblige 7 rather than offend. For those servants
do not appear to us hateful who are assiduous and
constant in their attendance, but more beloved.
Why, therefore, should he be in fault, and re-
ceive a name which implies censure,^ who either
loves his children more, or sufificiendy honours
the gods ; and he, on the contrary, be praised,
who loves them less? And this argument has
weight also from the contrary. For if it is wrong '^
to pray and sacrifice during whole days, therefore
it is wTong to do so once. If it is faulty frequently
to wish for the preservation of our children,
therefore he also is superstitious who conceives
that wish even rarely. Or why should the name
of a fault be derived from that, than which
nothing can be wished more honourable, nothing
more just? For as to his saying, that they who
diligently take in hand again the things relating
to the worship of the gods are called religious
from their carefully gathering ; how is it, then,
that they who do this often in a day lose the
name of religious men, when it is plain from
their very assiduity that they more diligently
gather those things by which the gods are wor-
shipped ?

What, then, is it? Truly religion is the culti-
vation of the truth, but superstition of that which
is false. And it makes the entire difference
what you worship, not how you worship, or what
prayer you offer. '° But because the worshippers
of the gods imagine themselves to be religious,
though they are superstitious, they are neither
able to distinguish religion from superstition,
nor to express the meaning of the names. We
have said that the name of religion is derived
from the bond of piety," because God has tied
man to Himself, and bound him by piety ; '- for
we must serve Him as a master, and be obe-
dient to Him as a father. And therefore Lucre-

7 Demerentur, " they lay under an obligation."

8 Criminis est.

9 Vitiosum.

'° [This seems very loose language when compared with Matt. vi.
9 and I Cor. xi. i, 2. The whole epistle shows the houi and the
ivhat to be important in worship, and that the Apostle had prescribed
certain laws about these.]

" [See note 4, supra.^

'- [Lactantius has generally been sustained by Christian criticism
in the censures thus passed upon Cicero, and in making the word
religio out of religare. His own words are desirable here, ti be
compared with those which he endeavours to refute ( note 4, snfira) :
" Diximus nomen religionis a vinculo pietatis esse deductum, quod
hominem sibi Deus religarit" etc.; i.e., it binds again what was
loosed.]

132

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV,

tius ' better explained this name, who says that
He loosens the knots of superstitions.^ But
they are called superstitious, not who wish their
children to survive them, for we all wish this ;
but either those who reverence the surviving
memory of the dead, or those who, surviving
their parents, reverenced their images at their
houses as household gods. For those who as-
sumed to themselves new rites, that they might
honour the dead as gods, whom they supposed
to be taken from men and received into heaven,
they called superstitious. But those who wor-
shipped the public and ancient gods^ they named
religious. From which Virgil says : ^ —

" Superstition vain, and ignorant of ancient gods."

But since we find that the ancient gods also were
consecrated in the same manner after their
death, therefore they are superstitious who wor-
ship many and false gods. We, on the other
hand, are religious, who make our supplications
to the one true God.

CHAP. XXIX. OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND

OF THE UNION OF JESUS WITH THE FATHER.

Some one may perhaps ask how, when we say
that we worship one God only, we nevertheless
assert that there are two, God the Father and
God the Son : which assertion has driven many
into the greatest error. For when the things
which we say seem to them probable, they con-
sider thflt we fail in this one point alone, that we
confess that there is another God, and that
He is mortal. We have already spoken of His
mortality : now let us teach concerning His
unity. When we speak of God the Father and
God the Son, we do not speak of them as dif-
ferent, nor do we separate each : because the
Father cannot exist without the Son, nor can
the Son be separated from the Father, since the
name of Fathers cannot be given without the
Son, nor can the Son be begotten without
the Father. Since, therefore, the Father makes
the Son, and the Son the Father, they both have
one mind, one spirit, one substance ; but the
former^ is as it were an overflowing fountain,
the latter ^ as a stream flowing forth from it :
the former as the sun, the latter as it were a ray^
extended from the sun. And since He is both
faithful to the Most High Father, and beloved
by Him, He is not separated from Him ; just as
the stream is not separated from the fountain,

' Lucret., i. 931.

' Religionum.

3 i,e., those worshipped in public temples, and with puV)Iic sac-
rifices, as opposed to the household gods of a family, and ancient as
opposed to those newly received as gods.

* Virg., /Eneid, viii. 187.

5 [i.e, the Everlasting Father implies the Everlaaing Son.]
*> lUe, i.e., the Father.
' Hie, i e., the Son.

* Thus, Heb. i. 3, the .'^on is described as the effulgence of the
Father's glory: a-n a.vya.a ^a. ■t'n% 6o|/){ auTou.

nor the ray from the sun : for the water of the
fountain is in the stream, and the light of the
sun is in the ray : just as the voice cannot be
separated from the mouth, nor the strength or
hand from the body. When, therefore. He is
also spoken of by the prophets as the hand, and
strength, and word of God, there is plainly no
separation ; for the tongue, which is the minister
of speech, and the hand, in which the strength
is situated, are inseparable portions of the body.
We may use an example more closely con-
nected with us. When any one has a son whom
he especially loves, who is still in the house,
and in the power'? of his father, although he
concede to him the name and power of a mas-
ter, yet by the civil law the house is one, and
one person is called master. So this world '° is
the one house of God ; and the Son and the
Father, who unanimously inhabit the world, are
one God, for the one is as two, and the two are
as one. Nor is that wonderful, since the Son is
in the Father, for the Father loves the Son, and
the Father is in the Son ; for He faithfully obeys
the will of the Father, nor does He ever do nor
has done anything except what the Father either
willed or commanded. Lastly, that the Father
and the Son are but one God, Isaiah showed in
that passage which we have brought forward
before," when he said : '^ "They shall fall down
unto Thee, and make supplication unto Thee,
since God is in Thee, and there is no other God
besides Thee." And he also speaks to the same
purport in another place : '^ "Thus saith God the
King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the ever-
lasting God ; I am the first, and I am the last ;
and beside me there is no God." When he
had set forth two persons, one of God the
King, that is, Christ, and the other of God the
Father, who after His passion raised Him from
the dead, as we have said '•♦ that the prophet
Hosea showed, '5 who said, " I will redeem Him
from the power of the grave : " nevertheless,
with reference to each person, he introduced
the words, " and beside me there is no God,"
when he might have said " beside us ; " but it
was not right that a separation of so close a rela-
tionship should be made by the use of the plural
number. For there is one God alone, free, most
high, without any origin ; for He Himself is the
origin of all things, and in Him at once both
the Son and all things are contained. Where-
fore, since the mind and will of the one is in
the other, or rather, since there is one in both.

9 In manu patris. Among the Romans the father had the power
of life and death over his children.

'° [Mundus una Dei domus. World here = universe. See vol. ii
p. 136, note 2, this series.]

" Ch. xiii.

'^ Isa. xlv. 14.

'3 I^a. xliv. 6.

>» Ch. xix.

'f Hos. xiii. 14.

Chap. XXX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

T t 1

both are justly called one God ; for whatever is
in the Father ' flows on to the Son, and whatever
is in the Son descends from the leather. There-
fore that highest and matchless God cannot be
worshipped except through the Son. He who
thinks that he worshii:)s the Father only, as he
does not worship the Son, so he does not wor-
ship even the Father. But he who receives the
Son, and bears His name, he truly together with
.the Son worships the Father also, since the Son
is the ambassador, and messenger, and priest
of the Most High Father. He is the door of the
greatest temple, He the way of light, He the guide
to salvation, He the gate of life.

CHAP. XXX. — OF AVOIDING HERESIES AND SUPER-
STITIONS, AND WHAT IS THE ONLY TRUE CATH-
OLIC CHURCH.

But since many heresies have existed, and the
people of God have been rent into divisions at
the instigation of demons, the truth must be
briefly marked out by us, and placed in its own
peculiar dwelling-place, that if any one shall de-
sire to draw the water of life, he may not be
borne to broken cisterns ^ which hold no water,
but may know the abundant fountain of God,
watered by which he may enjoy perpetual light.
Before all things, it is befitting that we should
know both that He Himself and His ambassa-
dors foretold that there must be numerous sects
and heresies, 3 which would break the unity + of
the sacred body ; and that they admonished us
to be on our guard with the greatest prudence,
lest we should at any time fall into the snares
and deceits of that adversary of ours, with whom
God has willed that we should contend. Then
that He gave us sure commands, which we ought
always to treasure in our minds ; for many, for-
getting them, and abandoning the heavenly road,
have made for themselves devious paths amidst
windings and precipices, by which they might
lead away the incautious and simple part of the
people to the darkness of death : I will explain
how this happened. There were some of our
religion whose faith was less established, or who
were less learned or less cautious, who rent the
unity and divided the Church. But they whose
faith was unsettled, 5 when they pretended that
they knew and worshipped Cxod, aiming at the
increase of their wealth and honour, aspired to
the highest sacerdotal power ; and when over-
come by others more powerful, preferred to
secede with their supporters, than to endure those

' Thus Christ Himself speaks, John x. 30, " I and my Father
are one; " and iii. 35, " The Father loveth the .Son, and hath given
all things into His hand."

^ So Jer. ii. 13.

3 See Matt xviii. 7; Luke xvii. i ; i Cor. xi. 19; 2 Pet. ii. i.

* Concordiam.

5 Lubrica.

set over them, over whom they themselves before
desired to be set.*^"

But some, not sufficiently instructed in heav-
enly learning, when they were unable to reply to
the accusers of the truth, who objected that it
was either impossible or inconsistent that God
should be shut up in the womb of a woman, and
that the Majesty of heaven could not be reduced
to such weakness as to become an object of con-
tempt and derision, a reproach and mockery to
men ; lastly, that He should even endure tor-
tures, and be affixed to the accursed cross ; and
when they could defend and refute all these
things neither by talent nor learning, for they
did not thoroughly perceive their force and
meaning, they were perverted ^ from the right
path, and corrupted the sacred writings, so that
they composed for themselves a new doctrine
without any root and stability. But some, en-
ticed by the prediction of false prophets, con-
cerning whom both the true prophets and he
himself had foretold, fell away from the knowl-
edge of God, and left the true tradition. But
all of these, ensnared by frauds of demons, which
they ought to have foreseen and guarded against,
by their carelessness lost the name and worship
of God. For when they are called Phrygians,^
or Novatians,^ or Valentinians,'° or Marcionites,"
or Anthropians,'^ or Arians,'^ or by any other
name, they have ceased to be Christians, who
have lost the name of Christ, and assumed
human and external names. Therefore it is the
Catholic Church alone which retains true wor-
ship.

This is the fountain of truth, this is the abode
of the faith, this is the temple of God ; into which
if any one shall not enter, or from which if any
shall go out, he is estranged from the hope of
life and eternal salvation. No one ought to flat-
ter himself with persevering strife. For the
contest is respecting life and salvation, which.

6 [N.B. — The Callistians, Novatians, etc.; vol. v. Elucidation
XIV p. 160; and Ibid., p. 319, 321-333.]

7 Depravati sunt.

^ The Phrygians were the followers of Montanus, who was the
founder of a sect in the second century. He is snpposed to have been
a native of Ardaba, on the borders of Phrygia, on which account his
followers were called the Phrygian or Cataphrygian heretics. Mon-
tanus gave himself out for the Paraclete or Comforter whom our
Lord promised to send. The most eminent of his followers were
Priscilla and Maximilla. [But see vol. ii. pp. 4 and 5; also vol. iii.
and iv. this series, and notes on Tertullian, passiin.\

9 The Novatians were the followers of Novatus, m the third cen-
tury. They assumed to themselves the title of Cathari, or the pure.
They refused to re-admit to their communion tho^e who had once
fallen away, and allowed no place for repentance.

"^ The Valentinians were the followers of Valentinus, an Eg^-ptian
who founded a sect in the second century. His system somewhat
resembled the Gnostics. He taught that Christ had a heavenly or
spiritual body, and assumed nothing from the Virgin Mary.

" The Marcionites were the followers of Marcion, a heretic of the
second century, who held the Oriental belief of two independent,
eternal, co-existing principles, one of good, the other of evil. He
applied this doctrine to Christianity. His chief opponent was Ter-
tullian.

'2 The Anthropians held that Jesus Christ was nothing but man
( IrflpojTTos) .

'3 This word is omitted by some editors, as Lactantius wrote before
the Arian heresy had gained strength. [.See vol. vi p. 291.]

134

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book IV.

unless it is carefully and diligently kept in view,
will be lost and extinguished. But, however,
because all the separate assemblies of heretics
call themselves Christians in preference to others,
and think that theirs is the Catholic Church, it
must be known that the true Catholic Church is
that in which there is confession and repent-
ance,' which treats in a wholesome manner the
sins and wounds to which the weakness of the
flesh is liable. I have related these things in

' This is directed against the Novatians. See preceding note on
the Novatians, [and vol. v., this smcs, J>asszfn].

the meanwhile for the sake of admonition, that no
one who desires to avoid error may be entangled
in a greater error, while he is ignorant of the
secret ^ of the truth. Afterwards, in a particular
and separate work, we will more fully and copi-
ously' contend against all divisions of falsehoods.
It follows that, since we have spoken sufificiently
on the subject of true religion and wisdom, we
discuss the subject of justice in the next book.

2 Penetrale, " the interior of a house or temple."

3 Uberius. Others read " verius," more truly; but the reading
of the text is preferable.

GENERAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

(On cap. 29.)

Here we should look for something also concerning the Holy Spirit. But our author's princi-
ple is doubtless a reflection of the prevailing sentiment of the Church at this period, which was
perhaps a violent exaggeration of our Lord's example (Mark iv. ;^^). And see something of this
on p. 140, note 6, in/ra ; also Matt. vii. 6.

II.

(On cap. 30.)

The simplicity with which our author gives a note of the Catholic Church, in accordance with
African canons and the teaching of Cyprian, is very noteworthy. It never occurred to him that
communion with any one particular See was the note. Hippolytus alone would have reminded
him that the worst heretics had been in communion with both Zephyrinus and Callistus in his
days (see vol. v. pp. 156 and 160 ; also Ibid., 125, 130), and that orthodoxy had been persecuted
by these bishops of Rome.

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

Book v.

OF JUSTICE.

CHAP. I. — 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.

I ENTERTAIN DO doubt, O mighty Emperor
Constantine," — since they are impatient through
excessive superstition, — that if any one of those
who are foohshly rehgious should take in hand
this work of ours, in which that matchless Creator
of all things and Ruler of this boundless world
is asserted, he would even assail it with abusive
language, and perhaps, having scarcely read the
beginning, would dash it to the ground, cast it
from him, curse it, and think himself contaminated
and bound by inexpiable guilt if he should pa-
tiently read or hear these things. We demand,
however, from this man, if it is possible, by the
right of human nature,^ that he should not con-
demn before that he knows the whole matter.
For if the right of defending themselves is given
to sacrilegious persons, and to traitors and sor-
cerers, and if it is lawful for no one to be con-
demned beforehand, his cause being as yet untried,
we do not appear to ask unjustly, that if there
shall be any one who shall have fallen upon this
subject, if he shall read it, he read it throughout ;
if he shall hear it, that he put off the forming
of an opinion until the end. But I know the
obstinacy of men ; we shall never succeed in ob-
taining this. For they fear lest they should be
overcome by us, and be compelled at length to
yield, truth itself crying out. They interrupt,
therefore, and make hindrances, that they may
not hear ; and close their eyes, that they may
not see the light which we present to them.
Wherefore they themselves plainly show their
distrust in their own abandoned system, since

' These words are omitted in some editions. The chapter is a
kind of preface to the whole book, in which he complains that punish-
ment has been inflicted on the Christians, without due inquiry into
their cause. [Religious = supersiiiwiis. See p. 131, S7t/>ra.\

^ Jure humanitatis.

they neither venture to investigate, nor to engage
with us, because they know that they are easily
overpowered. And therefore, discussion being
taken away,

" Wisdom is driven from among them, they have recourse
to violence,"

as Ennius says ; and because they eagerly en-
deavour to condemn as guilty those whom they
plainly know to be innocent, they are unwilling
to be agreed respecting innocence itself; as
though, in truth, it were a greater injustice to
have condemned innocence, when proved to be
such, than unheard. But, as I said, they are
afraid lest, if they should hear, they should be
unable to condemn.

And therefore they torture, put to death, and
banish the worshippers of the Most High God,
that is, the righteous ; nor are they, who so
vehemently hate, themselves able to assign the
causes of their hatred. Because they are them-
selves in error, they are angry with those who
follow the path of truth ; and when they are
able to correct themselves, they greatly increase ^
their errors by cruel deeds, they are stained
with the blood of the innocent, and they tear
away with violence souls dedicated to God from
the lacerated bodies. Such are the men with
whom we now endeavour to engage and to dis-
pute : these are the men whom we would lead
away from a foolish persuasion to the truth,
men who would more readily drink blood than
imbibe the words of the righteous. What then ?
Will our labour be in vain ? By no means. For
if we shall not be able to deliver these from
death, to which they are hastening with the
greatest speed ; if we cannot recall them from
that devious path to life and light, since they
themselves oppose their own safety ; yet we
shall strengthen those who belong to us, whose
opinion is not settled, and founded and fixed

3 Coacervant, " they heap up."

135

136

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

with solid roots. For many of them waver, and
especially those who have any acquaintance with
literature. For in this respect philosophers, and
orators, and poets are pernicious, because they
are easily able to ensnare unwary souls by the
sweetness of their discourse, and of their poems
flowing with delightful modulation. These are
sweets ' which conceal poison. And on this ac-
count I wished to connect wisdom with religion,
that that vain system may not at all injure the
studious ; so that now the knowledge of litera-
ture may not only be of no injury to religion
and righteousness, but may even be of the great-
est profit, if he who has learned it should be
more instructed in virtues and wiser in truth.

Moreover, even though it should be profita-
ble to no other, it certainly will be so to us : the
conscience will delight itself, and the mind will
rejoice that it is engaged in the light of truth,
which is the food of the soul, being overspread
with an incredible kind of pleasantness. But
we must not despair. Perchance

" We sing not to the deaf." ^

For neither are affairs in so bad a condition that
there are no sound minds to which the truth
may be pleasing, and which may both see and
follow the right course when it is pointed out to
them. Only let the cup be anointed ^ with the
heavenly honey of wisdom, that the bitter reme-
dies may be drunk by them unawares, without
any annoyance, whilst the first sweetness of
taste by its allurement conceals, under the cover +
of pleasantness, the bitterness of the harsh fla-
vour. For this is especially the cause why, with
the wise and the learned, and the princes of this
world, the sacred Scriptures are without credit,
because the prophets spoke in common and sim-
ple language, as though they spoke to the people.
And therefore they are despised by those who
are willing to hear or read nothing except that
which is polished and eloquent ; nor is anything
able to remain fixed in their minds, except that
which charms their ears by a more soothing
sound. But those things which appear humble 5
are considered anile, foolish, and common. So
entirely do they regard nothing as true, except
that which is pleasant to the ear ; nothing as
credible, except that which can excite '' pleas-
ure : no one estimates ^ a subject by its truth,
but by its embellishment. Therefore they do
not believe the sacred writings, because they are

' Mella.

2 Virgil, y?Kro/., x. 8.

^ There is a reference here to a well-known passage of I.ucrelius,
'• 935' " As physicians, when they purpose to give nauseous worm-
wood to children, first smear the rim roimd the bowl with the sweet
yellow juice of honey, that the unthinking age of children may be
fooled as far as the lips, but though beguiled, not be betrayed."

* Sub praitextu.

5 Sordida.

'• Incutere. So Lucretius, i. ig, " incutiens amorem."

^ Ponderat.

without any pretence;^ but they do not even
believe those who explain them, because they
also are either altogether ignorant, or at any rate
possessed of little learning. For it very rarely
happens that they are wholly eloquent ; and the
cause of this is evident. For eloquence is sub-
servient to the world, it desires to display itself
to the people, and to please in things which are
evil ; since it often endeavours to overpower the
truth, that it may show its power ; it seeks
wealth, desires honours ; in short, it demands
the highest degree of dignity. Therefore it
despises these subjects as low ; it avoids secret
things as contrary to itself, inasmuch as it re-
joices in publicity, and longs for the multitude
and celebrity. Hence it comes to pass that wis-
dom and truth need suitable heralds. And if
by chance any of the learned have betaken
themselves to it, they have not been suflicient
for its defence.

Of those who are known to me, Minucius
Felix was of no ignoble rank among pleaders.
His book, which bears the title of (Jctaviiis, de-
clares how suitable a maintainer of the truth he
might have been, if he had given himself alto-
gether to that pursuit.'' Septimius Tertullianus
also was skilled in literature of every kind ; but
in eloquence he had little readiness, and was
not sufficiently polished, and very obscure. Not
even therefore did he find sufficient renown.
Cyprianus, therefore, was above all others '° dis-
tinguished and renowned, since he had sought
great glory to himself from the profession of the
art of oratory, and he wrote very many things
worthy of admiration in their particular class.
For he was of a turn of mind which was ready,
copious, agreeable, and (that which is the great-
est excellence of style) plain and open; so that
you cannot determine whether he was more em-
bellished in speech, or more ready in explana-
tion, or more powerful in persuasion. And yet
he is unable to please those who are ignorant of
the mystery except by his words ; inasmuch as
the things which he spoke are mystical, and pre-
pared with this ol)ject, that they may be heard
by the faithful only : in short, he is accustomed
to be derided by the learned men of this age, to
whom his writings have happened to be known.
I have heard of a certain man who was skilful
indeed, who by the change of a single letter
called him Coprianus," as though he were one
who had applied to old women's fables a mind
which was elegant and fitted for better things.
But if this happened to him whose eloquence is

* Sine fuco.

9 [Vol. iv. 173. Note our author's reference to the founders of
Latin Christianity, all North-Africans, like Arnobius and himself. See
vol. iv. pp. 169, 170.J
'" Unus.

" The word (con-pias is applied to sycophants and low buffoons
and jesters, who, for the sake of exciting laughter, made boastful arid
extravagant promises.

Chai'. II.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

not unpleasant, what then must we suppose hap-
pens to those whose discourse is meagre and
displeasing, who could have had neither the
power of persuasion, nor subtlety in arguing, nor
any severity at all for refuting ?

CHAP. II. — TO WHAT AN EXTENT THE CHRISTIAN
TRUTH HAS BEEN ASSAILED BY RASH MEN.

Therefore, because there have been wanting
among us suitable and skilful teachers, who
might vigorously and sharply refute public er-
rors, and who might defend the whole cause of
truth with elegance and copiousness, this very
want incited some to venture to write against
the truth, which was unknown to them. I pass
by those who in former times in vain assailed
it. When I was teaching rhetorical learning in
Bithynia, having been called thither, and it had
happened that at the same time the temple of
God was overthrown, there were living at the
same place two men who insulted the truth as it
lay prostrate and overthrown, I know not whether
with greater arrogance or harshness : the one of
whom professed himself the high priest of phi-
losophy ; ' but he was so addicted to vice, that,
though a teacher of abstinence, he was not less
inflamed with avarice than with lusts ; so extrava-
gant in his manner of living, that though in his
school he was the maintainer of virtue, the praiser
of parsimony and poverty, he dined less sumptu-
ously in a palace than at his own house. Never-
theless he sheltered ^ his vices by his hair ^ and
his cloak, and (that which is the greatest screen ■♦)
by his riches ; and that he might increase these,
he used to penetrate with wonderful effort s to
the friendships of the judges ; and he suddenly
attached them to himself by the authority of a
fictitious name, not only that he might make a
traffic of their decisions, but also that he might
by this influence hinder his neighbours, whom
he was driving from their homes and lands, from
the recovery of their property. This man, in
truth, who overthrew his own arguments by his
character, or censured his own character by his
arguments, a weighty censor and most keen ac-
cuser against himself, at the very same time in
which a righteous people were impiously assailed,
vomited forth three books against the Christian
religion and name ; professing, above all things,
that it was the office of a philosopher to remedy
the errors of men, and to recall them to the true

' [Let us call him Barbatus ; for one so graphically described
by our author deserves a name worthy of his sole claim to be a phi-
losopher.]

^ Protegebat.

3 It was the custom of the philosophers to wear a beard; to which
practice Horace alludes, Serni., ii. 3, " Sapientem pascere barbam,"
to nourish a philosophic beard. [The readers of this series no longer
require this information: but it may be convenient to recur to vol. ii.
note 9, p. 321 ; also, perhaps, to Clement's terrible defence of beards.
Ibid., pp. 276-277.]

■* Velamentum.

5 Ambitu. The word denotes the unlawful striving for a post.

way, that is, to the worship of the gods, by whose
power and majesty, as he said, the world is gov-
erned ; and not to permit that inexperienced
men should be enticed by the frauds of any, lest
their simplicity should be a prey and sustenance
to crafty men.

Therefore he said that he had undertaken this
office, worthy of i)hilosophy, that he might hold
out to those who do not see the light of wisdom,
not only that they may return to a healthy state
of mind, having undertaken the worship of the
gods, but also that, having laid aside their perti-
nacious obstinacy, they may avoid tortures of
the body, nor wish in vain to endure cruel lacera-
tions of their limbs. But that it might be evi-
dent on what account he had laboriously worked
out that task, he broke out profusely into praises
of the princes, whose piety and foresight, as he
himself indeed said, had been distinguished both
in other matters, and especially in defending the
religious rites of the gods ; that he had, in short,
consulted the interests of men, in order that,
impious and foolish superstition having been
restrained, all men might have leisure for lawful
sacred rites, and might experience the gods pro-
pitious to them. But when he wished to weaken
the grounds of that religion against which he
was pleading, he appeared senseless, vain, and
ridiculous ; because that weighty adviser of the
advantage of others was ignorant not only what
to oppose, but even what to speak. For if any
of our religion were present, although they were
! silent on account of the time, nevertheless in
their mind they derided him ; since they saw a
man professing that he would enlighten others,
when he himself was blind ; that he would recall
others from error, when he himself was ignorant
where to plant his feet ; that he would instruct
others to the truth, of which he himself had
never seen even a spark at any time ; inasmuch
as he who was a professor of wisdom, endeavoured
to overthrow wisdom. All, however, censured
this, that he undertook this work at that time in
particular, in which odious cruelty raged. O
philosopher, a flatterer, and a time-server ! But
this man was despised, as his vanity deserved ;
for he did not gain the popularity which he
hoped for, and the glory which he eagerly sought
for was changed into censure and blame.^

Another 7 wrote the same subject with more
bitterness, who was then of the number of the
judges, and who was especially the adviser of
enacting persecution ; and not contented with
this crime, he also pursued with writings those
whom he had persecuted. For he composed

*> [On the reference to these two adversaries, see Lardner, Credib.,
iii. cap. 65, p. 491; vii. cap. 39, p. 471; also vii. 207.]

' Hierocles is referred to, who was a great persecutor of the
Christians in the beginning of the fourth century. He was the chief
promoter of the persecution which the Christians suflered under
Diocletian. [Wrote a work {Philalethes) to show the contradictions
of Scripture. Acts xiii 10. J

' ^R
^o^

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

two books, not agahisi the Christians, lest he
might appear to assail them in a hostile manner,
but to the Christians, that he might be thought
to consult for them with humanity and kindness.
And in these writings he endeavoured so to prove
the falsehood of sacred Scripture, as though it
were altogether contradictory to itself; for he
expounded some chapters which seemed to be
at variance with themselves, enumerating so
many and such secret ' things, that he sometimes
appears to have been one of the same sect.
But if this was so, what Demosthenes will be
able to defend from the charge of impiety him
who became the betrayer of the religion to
which he had given his assent,^ and of the faith
the name of which he had assumed,^ and of the
mystery "• which he had received, unless it hap-
pened by chance that the sacred writings fell
into his hands ? What rashness was it, therefore,
to dare to destroy that which no one explained
to him ! It was well that he either learned
nothing or understood nothing. For contradic-
tion is as far removed from the sacred writings
as he was removed from faith and truth. He
chiefly, however, assailed Paul and Peter, and
the other disciples, as disseminators of deceit,
whom at the same time he testified to have been
unskilled and unlearned. For he says that some
of them made gain by the craft of fishermen, as
though he took it ill that some Aristophanes or
Aristarchus did not devise that subject.

CHAP. III. OF THE TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN

DOCTRINE, AND THE VANITY OF ITS ADVERSA-
RIES ; AND THAT CHRIST WAS NOT A MAGICIAN.

The desire of inventing,5 therefore, and crafti-
ness were absent from these men, since they
were unskilful. Or what unlearned man could
invent things adapted to one another, and co-
herent, when the most learned of the philoso-
phers, Plato and Aristotle, and Epicurus and
Zeno, themselves spoke things at variance with
one another, and contrary? For this is the
nature of falsehoods, that they cannot be cohe-
rent. But their teaching, because it is true,
everywhere agrees,^ and is altogether consistent
with itself; and on this account it effects per-
suasion, because it is based on a consistent plan.
They did not therefore devise that religion for
the sake of gain and advantage, inasmuch as
both by their precepts and in reality they fol-
lowed that course of life which is without pleas-
ures, and despised all things which are reckoned
among good things, and since they not only

I.e.,

' Intima, i.e., of an esoteric character, known only to those within
the school or sect.]

- Ciii fuerat assensus. Other editions read "accensus,"
reckoned among.

^ Induerat.

* Sacramenti.
5 Fingendi.

* Undique quadrat.

endured death for their faith, but also both
knew and foretold that they were about to die,
and afterwards that all who followed their sys-
tem would suffer cruel and impious things. But
he 7 affirmed that Christ Himself was put to
flight by the Jews, and having collected a band
of nine hundred men, committed robberies.
Who would venture to oppose so great an au-
thority? We must certainly believe this, for
perchance some Apollo announced it to him in
his slumbers. So many robbers have at all times
perished, and do perish daily, and you yourself
have certainly condemned many : which of them
after his crucifixion was called, I will not say a
God, but a man ? But you perchance believed
it from the circumstance of your having conse-
crated the homicide Mars as a god, though you
would not have done this if the Areopagites had
crucified him.

The same man, when he endeavoured to over-
throw his wonderful deeds, and did not however
deny them, wished to show that Apollonius^
performed equal or even greater deeds. It is
strange that he omitted to mention Apuleius,^
of whom many and wonderful things are accus-
tomed to be related. Why therefore, O sense-
less one, does no one worship Apollonius in the
place of God? unless by chance you alone do
so, who are worthy forsooth of that god, with
whom the true God will punish you everlast-
ingly. If Christ is a magician because He
performed wonderful deeds, it is plain that
Apollonius, who, according to your description,
when Domitian wished to punish him, suddenly
disappeared on his trial, was more skilful than
He who was both arrested and crucified. But
perhaps he wished from this very thing to prove
the arrogance of Christ, in that He made Himself
God, that the other may appear to have been
more modest, who, though he performed greater
actions, as this one thinks, nevertheless did not
claim that for himself. I omit at present to
compare the works themselves, because in the
second and preceding book I have spoken re-
specting the fraud and tricks of the magic art.
I say that there is no one who would not wish
that that should especially befall him after death
which even the greatest kings desire. For why
do men prepare for themselves magnificent sep-
ulchres? why statues and images? why by some
illustrious deeds, or even by death undergone in
behalf of their countrymen, do they endeavour

' Hierocles, referred to in chapter 2.

8 Apollonius, a celebrated Pyth.igorean philosopher of Ty.ina;
his works and doctrines are recorded by Philostratus, from whom
Lactantius appears to have derived his account. The pagans com-
pared his life and actions with those of Christ. [See Origen, vol. iv.
p. 591, this series.]

9 Apuleius, a native of Madaura, a city on the borders of the
province of Africa, he professed the Platonic philosophy. He was
reputed a magician by the Christian writers. [Author of The Goidtn
Ass, a most eiitert.'iming but oflcu uidecent satire, which m.iy have
inspired ' ervanles, and concerning which see Warburton, Z)iv.
Ligat., Vol. u. p. 177 \_it alibi), ed. London, 1811.]

Chap. IV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

to deserve the good opinions of men? Why,
in short, have you yourself wished to raise a
monument of your talent, built with this detesta-
ble folly, as if with mud, except that you hope
for immortality from the remembrance of your
name? It is foolish, therefore, to imagine that
Apollonius did not desire that which he would
plainly wish for if he were able to attain to it ;
because there is no one who refuses immortality,
and especially when you say that he was both
aidored by some as a god, and that his image was
set up under the name of Hercules, the averter
of evil, and is even now honoured by the
Ephesians.

He could not therefore after death be believed
to be a god, because it was evident that he was
both a man and a magician ; and for this reason
he affected ' divinity under the title of a name
belonging to another, for in his own name he
was unable to attain it, nor did he venture to
make the attempt. But he of whom we speak ^
could both be believed to be a god, because he
was not a magician, and was believed to be such
because he was so in truth. I do not say this,
he says, that Apollonius was not accounted a god,
because he did not wish it, but that it may be
evident that we, who did not at once connect a
belief in his divinity with wonderful deeds, are
wiser than you, who on account of slight wonders
believed that he was a god. It is not wonderful
if you, who are far removed from the wisdom of
God, understand nothing at all of those things
which you have read, since the Jews, who from
the beginning had frequently read the prophets,
and to whom the mystery ^ of God had been
assigned, were nevertheless ignorant of what they
read. Learn, therefore, if you have any sense,
that Christ was not believed by us to be God on
this account, because He did wonderful things,
but because we saw that all things were done in
His case which were announced to us by the
prediction of the prophets. He performed won-
derful deeds : we might have supposed Him to
be a magician, as you now suppose Him to be,
and the Jews then supposed Him, if all the
prophets did not with one accord ^ proclaim that
Christ would do those very things. Therefore
we believe Him to be God, not more from His
wonderful deeds and works, than from that very
cross which you as dogs lick, since that also was
predicted at the same time. It was not therefore
on His own testimony (for who can be believed
when he speaks concerning himself?), but on the
testimony of the prophets who long before fore-
told all things which He did and suffered, that
He gained a belief in His divinity, which could

' Aflectavit divinitatem.

^ Noster.

3 Sacramentiim.

* With one spirit, " uno spiritu."

have happened neither to Apollonius, 5 nor to
Apuleius, nor to any of the magicians ; nor can
it happen at any time. When, therefore, he had
poured forth such absurd ravings^ of his igno-
rance, when he had eagerly endeavoured utterly
to destroy the truth, he dared to give to his
books which were impious and the enemies of
God the title of " truth-loving." O blind breast !
O mind more black than Cimmerian darkness,
as they say ! He may j^erhaps have been a dis-
ciple of Anaxagoras,^ to whom snows were as
black as ink. But it is the same blindness, to
give the name of falsehood to truth, and of truth
to falsehood. Doubtless the crafty man wished
to conceal the wolf under the skin of a sheep,*
that he might ensnare the reader by a deceitful
title. Let it be true ; grant that you did this
from ignorance, not from malice : what truth,
however, have you brought to us, except that,
being a defender of the gods, you had at last
betrayed those very gods ? For, having set forth
the praises of the Supreme God, whom you con-
fessed to be king, most mighty, the maker of all
things, the fountain of honours, the parent of all,
the creator and preserver of all living creatures,
you took away the kingdom from your own
Jupiter ; and when you had driven him from
the supreme power, you reduced him to the rank
of servants. Thus your own conclusion 9 con-
victs you of folly, vanity, and error. For you
affirm that the gods exist, and yet you subject
and enslave them to that God whose religion you
attempt to overturn.

CHAP. IV. — WHY THIS WORK WAS PUBLISHED, AND
AGAIN OF TERTULLIAN AND CYPRIAN.

Since, therefore, they of whom I have spoken
had set forth their sacrilegious writings in my
presence, and to my grief, being incited both
by the arrogant impiety of these, and by the
consciousness of truth itself, and (as I think) by
God, I have undertaken this office, that with all
the strength of my mind I might refute the ac-
cusers of righteousness ; not that I should write
against these, who might be crushed with a few
words, but that I might once for all by one attack
overthrow all who everywhere effect, or have
effected, the same work. For I do not doubt
that very many others, and in many places, and
that not only in Greek, but also in Latin writings,
have raised a monument of their own unrighteous-
ness. And since I was not able to reply to these
separately, I thought that this cause was to be so

5 [But Apollonius was set up as an Antichrist by Philostratus,
as Cudworth supposes, and so other men of learning. But no student
should overlook Lardner's valuable commentary on this character,
and his quotations from Bishop Parker of Oxford, Credit., vol. vii.
p. 486, and also p. 50?, cap. 29, and appendix.]

^ Deliramenta.

' See book ii. ch. 23.

8 Cf. Matt. vii. 15.

9 Epilogus.

I40

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V

pleaded by me that I might overthrow former
writers, together with all their writings, and cut
off from future writers the whole power of writing
and of replying.' Only let them attend, and I
will assuredly effect that whosoever shall know
these things, must either embrace that which he
before condemned, or, which is next to it, cease
at length to deride it. Although Tertullian fully
pleaded the same cause in that treatise which is
entitled the Apology,^ yet, inasmuch as it is one
thing to answer accusers, which consists in de-
fence or denial only, and another thing to instruct,
which we do, in which the substance of the whole
system must be contained, I have not shrunk
from this labour, that I might complete the sub-
ject, which Cyprian did not fully carry out in
that discourse in which he endeavours to refute
Demetrianus (as he himself says) railing at and
clamouring 3 against the truth. Which subject
he did not handle as he ought to have done ; for
he ought to have been refuted not by the testi-
monies of Scripture, which he plainly considered
vain, fictitious, and false, but by arguments and
reason. For, since he was contending against a
man who was ignorant of the truth, he ought for
a while to have laid aside divine readings, and
to have formed from the beginning this man as
one who was altogether ignorant,'* and to have
shown to him by degrees the beginnings of light,
that he might not be dazzled, s the whole of its
brightness being presented to him.^

For as an infant is unable, on account of the
tenderness of its stomach, to receive the nour-
ishment of solid and strong food, but is sup-
ported by liquid and soft milk, until, its strength
being confirmed, it can feed on stronger nour-
ishment ; so also it was befitting that this man,
because he was not yet capable of receiving di-
vine things, should be presented with human tes-
timonies — that is, of philosophers and historians
— in order that he might especially be refuted
by his own authorities. And since he did not
do this, being carried away by his distinguished
knowledge of the sacred writings, so that he was
content with those things alone in which faith
consists, I have undertaken, with the favour of
God, to do this, and at the same time to prepare
the way for the imitation of others. And if,
through my exhortation, learned and eloquent
men shall begin to betake themselves to this
sul:)ject, and shall choose to display their talents
and power of speaking in this field of truth, no
one can doubt that false religions will quickly

■ \Fut7ire -writers. This laying of an anchor to windward is
characteristic of Lactantius.]

^ [See elucidations, vol. ni. pp. 56-60, this series.]

3 Oblatrantem atque obstrepentem veritati. These words are
taken from Cyprian, vol. v. p. 457, this series.

* Riidem.

5 Caligarct.

'' [This censure of Cyprian fully exculpates Minucius, Arnobius,
and others, superficially blamed for their few quotations from Holy
Writ. Also, it explains our author's quotations from the Sibyl, etc.]

disappear, and philosophy altogether fall, if all
shall be persuaded that this alone Is religion and
the only true wisdom. But I have wandered
from the subject further than I wished.

CHAP. V. — THERE WAS TRUE JUSTICE UNDER SA>
TURNUS, BUT IT WAS BANISHED BY JUPITER.

Now the promised disputation concerning jus-
tice must be given ; which is either by itself the
greatest virtue, or by itself the fountain of vir-
tue, which not only philosophers sought, but
poets also, who were much earlier, and were es-
teemed as wise before the origin of the name of
philosophy. These clearly understood that this
justice was absent from the affairs of men ; and
they feigned that it, being offended with the
vices of men, departed from the earth, and with-
drew to heaven ; and that they may teach what
it is to live justly (for they are accustomed to
give precepts by circumlocutions), they repeat
examples of justice from the times of Saturnus,
which they call the golden times, and they relate
in what condition human life was while it delayed
on the earth. 7 And this is not to be regarded
as a poetic fiction, but as the truth. For, while
Saturnus reigned, the religious worship of the
gods not having yet been instituted, nor any **
race being as yet set apart in the belief of its
divinity, God was manifestly worshipped. And
therefore there were neither dissensions, nor en-
mities, nor wars.

" Not yet had rage unsheathed maddened swords,"

as Germanicus Caesar speaks in his poem trans-
lated from Aratus,9

" Nor had discord been known among relatives."

No, nor even among strangers : but there were
no swords at all to be unsheathed. For who,
when justice was present and in vigour, would
think respecting his own protection, since no
one plotted against him ; or respecting the de-
struction of another, since no one desired any-
thing ?

" They preferred to live content with a simple mode of
life,"

as Cicero '° relates in his poem ; and this is pecul-
iar to our religion. " It was not even allowed to
mark out or to divide the plain with a boundary :
men sought all things in common ; " " since God

7 [Striking is the language of the Pollio (" Redit et Virgo," etc.),
in which the true Virgin seems to be anticipated.]

8 Ulla. Another reading is " ilia," as though there were a refer-
ence to the family of Saturnus.

9 Germanicus Caesar, the grandson of Augustus, translated in
verse a part of the poems of Aratus. [See p. 36, suf>ra.\

'° Cicero translated in verse part of the poems of Aratus. [.This
poet is quoted by St. Paul, row yap Kai yivo<; eaiiev. Acts xvn. 28.
Archdeacon Farrardoes not consider the natural and impedatitic spirit
of the Apostle in suiting this quotation to time and place; and, if it was
a common-place proverb, all the more suggestive is th« accuracy of
the reference to " one of your own poets."]

" Virg., Georg., i. ia6.

Chap. VI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

141

had given the earth in common to all, that they
might pass their life in common, not that mad
and raging avarice might claim all things for it-
self, and that that which was produced for all
might not be wanting to any. And this saying
of the poet ought so to be taken, not as suggest-
ing the idea that individuals at that time had
no private property, but it must be regarded as
a poetical figure ; that we may understand that
rhen were so liberal, that they did not shut up
the fruits of the earth produced for them, nor
did they in solitude brood over the things stored
up, but admitted the poor to share the fruits of
their labour : —

" Now streams of milk, now streams of nectar flowed." '

And no wonder, since the storehouses of the
good liberally lay open to all. Nor did avarice
intercept the divine bounty, and thus cause hun-
ger and thirst in common ; but all alike had
abundance, since they who had possessions gave
liberally and bountifully to those who had not.
But after that Saturnus had been banished from
heaven, and had arrived in Latium, —

" Exiled from his throne
By Jove, his mightier heir,"^ —

since the people either through fear of the new
king, or of their own accord, had become cor-
rupted and ceased to worship God, and hai be-
gun to esteem the king in the place of God, since
he himself, almost a parricide, was an example
to others to the injury of piety, —

"The most just Virgin in haste deserted f* lands; "^

but not as Cicero says,'*

" And settled, in the kingdom of Jupiter.- and in a part
of the heaven."

For how could she settle or tarrv ^vt the kingdom
of him who expelled his father from his kingdom,
harassed him with war, and drove him as an ex-
ile over the whole world ?

" He gave to the black serpents ' lieir noxious poison,
And ordered wolves to prowl ; ' ^

that is, he introduced amc'iig me.n hatred, and
envy, and stratagem ; so that they were poison-
ous as serpents;, and rapacious as wolves. And
they truly do this who persecute those who are
righteous and faithful towards God, and give to
judges tne power of using violence against the
innocent. Perhaps Jupiter may have done some-
thing of this kind for the overthrow and removal
of righteousness ; and on this account he is re-

' Ovid, Metam., i. iii.
Virg., ySw., viii. 320.

A rat., 136.

3 Germ. Cses. .

* [That is, in his translation of the poetry of Aratus.]

5 [Et Jovis in regno, cr^Iiqi's in parte resedit. For this fragmen-

/ary verse we are indebted tc our author; other fragments are given
n good editions of C- .cro. He translated the Pkenimiena of Aratus
m nis yout'.i. My {P^'.s,) 'jition contains nearly the vk'hole.]

lated to have made serpents fierce, and to have
whetted the spirit of wolves.

" Then war's indomitable rage,
And greedy lust of gain ; " '

and not without reason. For the worship of God
being taken away, men lost the knowledge of
good and evil. Thus the common intercourse
of life perished from among men, and the bond
of human society was destroyed. Then they
began to contend with one another, and to plot,
and to acquire for themselves glory from the
shedding of human blood.

CHAP. VI. AFTER THE BANISHMENT OF JUSTICE,

LUST, UNJUST LAWS, DARING, AVARICE, AMBITION,
PRIDE, IMPIETY, AND OTHER VICES REIGNED,

And the source of all these evils was lust ;
which, indeed, burst forth from the contempt of
true majesty. For not only did they who had
a superfluity fail to bestow a share upon others,
but they even seized the property of others,
drawing everything to their private gain ; and the
things which formerly even individuals laboured
to obtain for the common use of men,^ were now
conveyed to the houses of a few. For, that
they might subdue others by slavery, they began
especially to withdraw and collect together the
necessaries of life, and to keep them firmly shut
up, that they might make the bounties of heaven
their own ; not on account of kindness,'' a feeling
which had no existence in them, but that they
might sweep together all the instruments of lust
and avarice. They also, under the name of jus-
tice, passed most unequal and unjust laws, by
which they might defend their plunder and ava-
rice against the force of the multitude. They
prevailed, therefore, as much by authority as by
strength, or resources, or malice. And since
there was in them no trace of justice, the offices
of which are humanity, equity, pity, they now
began to rejoice in a proud and swollen inequal-
ity, and made '° themselves higher than other
men, by a retinue of attendants, and by the
sword, and by the brilliancy of their garments.
For this reason they invented for themselves
honours, and purple robes, and fasces, that, being
supported by the terror produced by axes and
swords, they might, as it were by the right of
masters, rule them, stricken with fear, and
alarmed. Such was the condition in which the
life of man was placed by that king who, having
defeated and put to flight a parent, did not seize
his kingdom, but set up an impious tyranny by
violence and armed men, and took away that

^ Virg., JEn., viii. 327.

^ Hominum. Another reading is " omnium," of all, as opposed
to the few.

9 Propter humanitatem.

'° Altiores se . . . faciebant. Another reading is, " altiores caete-
ris . . . fulgebant."

142

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

golden age of justice, and compelled men to
become wicked and impious, even from this very
circumstance, that he turned them away from
God to the worship of himself; and the terror
of his excessive power had extorted this.

For who would not fear him who was girded
about with arms, whom the unwonted gleam of
steel and swords surrounded ? Or what stranger
would he spare who had not even spared his own
father? Whom, in truth, should he fear, who
had conquered in war, and destroyed by massa-
cre the race of the Titans, which was strong and
excelling in might ? What wonder if the whole
multitude, pressed by unusual fear, had given
themselves up to the adulation of a single man ?
Him they venerated, to him they paid the great-
est honour. And since it is judged to be a kind
of obsequiousness to imitate the customs and
vices of a king, all men laid aside piety, lest, if
they should live piously, they might seem to up-
braid the wickedness of the king. Thus, being
corrupted by continual imitation, they abandoned
divine right, and the practice of living wickedly
by degrees became a habit. And now nothing
remained of the pious and excellent condition
of the preceding age ; but justice being banished,
and drawing with her the truth, left to men error,
ignorance, and blindness. The poets therefore
were ignorant, who sung that she fled to heaven,
to the kingdom of Jupiter. For if justice was
on the earth in the age which they call " golden,"
it is plain that she was driven away by Jupiter,
who changed the golden age. But the change
of the age and the expulsion of justice is to be
deemed nothing else, as I have said, than the
laying aside of divine religion, which alone effects
that man should esteem man dear, and should
know that he is bound to him by the tie of
brotherhood, since God is alike a Father to all,
so as to share the bounties of the common God
and Father with those who do not possess them ;
to injure no one, to oppress no one, not to close
his door against a stranger, nor his ear against
a suppliant, but to be bountiful, beneficent, and
liberal, which Tullius ' thought to be praises
suitable to a king. This truly is justice, and this
is the golden age, which was first corrupted when
Jupiter reigned, and shortly afterwards, when he
himself and all his offspring were consecrated as
gods, and the worship of many deities under-
taken, had been altogether taken away.

CHAP. VII. — OF THE COMING OF JESUS, AND ITS

FRurr; and of the virtues and vices of

THAT age.

But God, as a most indulgent parent, when
the last time approached, sent a messenger to
bring back that old age, and justice which had

' [Compare Cicero, De Officiis, i. 14, with Luke xxii. 25.]

been put to flight, that the human race might
not be agitated by very great and perpetual
errors. Therefore the appearance of that golden
time returned, and justice was restored to the
earth, but was assigned to a few ; and this justice
is nothing else than the pious and religious wor-
ship of the one God. But perhaps some may
be inclined to ask, why, if this be justice, it is
not given to all mankind, and the whole multi-
tude does not agree to it. This is a matter of
great disputation, why a difference was retained
by God when He gave justice to the earth ; and
this I have shown in another place, and when-
ever a favourable opportunity shall occur it shall
be explained. Now it is sufficient very briefly
to signify it : that virtue can neither be discerned,
unless it has vices opposed to it ; nor be perfect,
unless it is exercised by adversity.^ For God
designed that there should be this distinction
between good and evil things, that we may know
from that which is evil the quality of the good,
and also the cjuality of the evil from the good ;
nor can the nature of the one be understood if
the other is taken away. God therefore did not
exclude evil, that the nature of virtue might be
evident. For how could patient endurance ^ re-
tain its meaning and name if there were nothing
which we were compelled to endure ?■♦ How
could faith devoted to its God deserve praise,
unless there were some one who wished to turn
us away from God? For on this account He
permitted the unjust to be more powerful, that
they might be able to compel to evil ; and on
this account to be more numerous, that virtue
might be precious, l;ecause it is rare. And this
very point is admiral)ly and briefly shown by
Quintilian in " the muffled head." s " For what
virtue," he says, " would there be in innocence,
had not its rarity furnished it with praises ? But
because it is provided by nature that hatred,
desire, and anger drive men blindly to that ob-
ject to which they have applied themselves, to
be free from fault appears to be beyond the
power of man. Otherwise, if nature had given
to all men equal affections, piety would be
nothing."

How true this is, the necessity of the case
itself teaches. For if it is virtue to resist with
fortitude evils and vices, it is evident that, with-
out evil and vice, there is no perfected virtue ;
and that God might render this complete and
perfect, He retained that which was contrary to
it, with which it might contend. For, being
agitated by evils which harass it, it gains stability ;
and in proportion to the frequency with which

2 [To establish this, would be to go far in a theodicy to reconcil*
the permission of evil with the divine goodness.]

3 Patientia.

4 Pati.

5 Caput obvoUitum. This appears to be the title of a lost decla-
mation of Quinlilian.

Chap. IX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

143

it is urged onward, is the firmness with which it
is strengthened. This is evidently the cause
which effects that, although justice is sent to
men, yet it cannot be said that a golden age
exists ; because God has not taken away evil,
that He might retain that diversity which alone
preserves the mystery of a divine religion.

CHAP. VIII. — OF JUSTICE KNOWN TO ALL, BUT NOT
. EMBR.-VCED ; OF THE TRUE TEMPLE OF GOD, AND
OF HIS WORSHIP, THAT ALL VICES MAY BE
SUBDUED.

They, therefore, who think that no one is just,
have justice before their eyes, but are unwilling
to discern it. For what reason is there why
they should describe it either in poems or in all
their discourse, complaining of its absence, when
it is very easy for them to be good if they wish ?
Why do you depict to yourselves justice as worth-
less,' and wish that she may fall from heaven, as
it were, represented in some image? Behold,
she is in your sight ; receive her, if you are able,
and place her in the abode of your breast ; and
do not imagine that this is difficult, or unsuited
to the times. Be just and good, and the justice
which you seek will follow you of her own accord.
Lay aside every evil thought from your hearts,
and that golden age will at once return to you,
which you cannot attain to by any other means
than by beginning to worship the true God. But
you long for justice on the earth, while the wor-
ship of false gods continues, which cannot pos-
sibly come to pass. But it was not possible
even at that time when you imagine, because
those deities whom you impiously worship were
not yet produced, and the worship of the one
God must have prevailed throughout the earth ;
of that God, I say, who hates wickedness and
requires goodness ; whose temple is not stones
or clay, but man himself, who bears the image
of God. And this temple is adorned not with
corruptible gifts of gold and jewels, but with the
lasting offices of virtues. Learn, therefore, if
any intelligence is left to you, that men are wicked
and unjust because gods are worshipped ; and
that all evils daily increase to the affairs of men
on this account, because God the Maker and
Governor of this world has been neglected ; be-
cause, contrary to that which is right, impious
superstitions have been taken up ; and lastly,
because you do not permit God to be worshipped
even by a few.

But if God only were worshipped, there would
not be dissensions and wars, since men would
know that they are the sons of one God ; and,
therefore, among those who were connected by
the sacred and inviolable bond of divine relation-
ship, there would be no plottings, inasmuch as
they would know what kind of punishments God

' laanem.

prepared for the destroyers of souls, who sees
through secret crimes, and even the very thoughts
themselves. There would be no frauds or jjlun-
derings if they had learned, through the instruc-
tion of God, to be content with that which was
their own, though little, so that they might prefer
solid and eternal things to those which are frail
and perishable. There would be no adulteries,
and debaucheries, and prostitution of women, if
it were known to all, that whatever is sought be-
yond the desire of procreation is condemned by
God.^ Nor would necessity compel a woman to
dishonour her modesty, to seek for herself a most
disgraceful mode of sustenance ; since the males
also would restrain their lust, and the pious and
religious contributions of the rich would succour
the destitute. There would not, therefore, as I
have said, be these evils on the earth, if there
were by common consent a general observance ^
of the law of God, if those things were done by
all which our people alone perform. How happy
and how golden would be the condition of human
affairs, if throughout the world gentleness, and
piety, and peace, and innocence, and equity, and
temperance, and faith, took up their abode ! In
short, there would be no need of so many and
varying laws to rule men, since the law of God
alone would be sufficient for perfect innocence ;
nor would there be any need of prisons, or the
swords of rulers, or the terror of punishments,
since the wholesomeness of the divine precepts
infused into the breasts of men would of itself
instruct them to works of justice. But now men
are wicked through ignorance of what is right
and good. And this, indeed, Cicero saw ; for,
discoursing on the subject of the laws,"* he says :
"As the world, with all its parts agreeing with
one another, coheres and depends upon one and
the same nature, so all men, being naturally con-
fused among themselves, disagree through de-
pravity ; nor do they understand that they are
related by blood, and that they are all subject to
one and the same guardianship : for if this were
kept in mind, assuredly men would live the life
of gods." Therefore the unjust and impious
worship of the gods has introduced all the evils
by which mankind in turn destroy one another.
For they could not retain their piety, who, as
prodigal and rebellious children, had renounced
the authority of God, the common parent of all.

CHAP. IX. — OF THE CRIMES OF THE WICKED, AND
THE TORTURES INFLICTED ON THE CHRISTIANS.

At times, however, they perceive that they are
wicked, and praise the condition of the former

: - [This is not consistent with the Church's allowance of matri-
mony to women past child-bearing, nor with the language of the
Apostle, I Cor. vii. 2-7. See my note (2), vol. ii. p. 262.]

J -Si ab omnibus in legem Dei conjuraretur. The word " conjure,"
contrary to its general use, is lieie employed in a good sense.

•* [See ed. Klotz, vol. ii. p. 403, Lips., 1869.]

144

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V,

ages, and conjecture that justice is absent be-
cause of their characters and deserts ; for, though
she presents herself to their eyes, they not only
fail to receive or recognise her, but they even
violently hate, and persecute, and endeavour to
banish her. Let us suppose, in the meantime,
that she whom we follow is not justice : how will
they receive her whom they imagine to be the
true justice, if she shall have come, when they
torture and kill those whom they themselves
confess to be imitators of the just, because they
perform good and just actions ; whereas, if they
should put to death the wicked only, they would
deserve to be unvisited by justice, who had no
other reason for leaving the earth than the shed-
ding of human blood? How much more so
when they slay the righteous, and account the
followers of justice themselves as enemies, yea,
as more than enemies ; who, though they eagerly
seek their lives, and property, and children by
sword and fire, yet are spared when conquered ;
and there is a place for clemency even amidst
arms ; or if they have determined to carry their
cruelty to the utmost, nothing more is done tow-
ards them, except that they are put to death
or led away to slavery ! But this is unutterable
which is done towards those who are ignorant
of crime, and none are regarded as more guilty
than those who are of all men innocent. There-
fore most wicked men venture to make mention of
justice, men who surpass wild beasts in ferocity,
who lay waste the most gentle flock of God, —

" Like gaunt wolves rushing from their den,
Whom lawless hunger's sullen growl
Drives forth into the night to prowl.""

But these have been maddened not by the
fury of hunger, but of the heart ; nor do they
prowl in a black mist, but by open plundering ;
nor does the consciousness of their crimes ever
recall them from profaning the sacred and holy
name of justice with that mouth which, like the
jaws of beasts, is wet with the blood of the in-
nocent. What must we say is especially the
cause of this excessive and persevering hatred?

" Does truth produce hatred," '^

as the poet says, as though inspired l)y the Di-
vine Spirit, or are they ashamed to be bad in the
presence of the just and good ? Or is it rather
from both causes ? For the truth is always hate-
ful on this account, because he who sins wishes
to have free scope for sinning, and thinks that
he cannot in any other way more securely enjoy
the pleasure of his evil doings, than if there is
no one whom his faults may displease. There-
fore they endeavour entirely to exterminate and
take them away as witnesses of their crimes and
wickedness, and think them burthensome to

I Virg., Mn., ii. 355.
* Ter., ^iiidr., \. i, 41,

themselves, as though their life were reproved.
For why should any be unseasonably good, who,
when the public morals are corrupted, should
censure them by living well ? Why should not
all be equally wicked, rapacious, unchaste, adul-
terers, perjured, covetous, and fraudulent ? Why
should they not rather be taken out of the vvay,
in whose presence they are ashamed to lead an
evil life, who, though not by words, for they are
silent, but by their very course of life, so unlike
their own, assail and strike the forehead of sin-
ners ? For whoever disagrees with them appears
to reprove them.

Nor is it greatly to be wondered at if these
things are done towards men, since for the same
cause the people who were placed in hope,^ and
not ignorant of God, rose up against God Him-
self; and the same necessity follows the right-
eous which attacked the Author of righteousness
Himself. Therefore they harass and torment
them with studied kinds of punishments, and
think it little to kill those whom they hate, un-
less cruelty also mocks their bodies. But if any
through fear of pain or death, or by their own
perfidy, have deserted the heavenly oath,-* and
have consented to deadly sacrifices, these they
praise and load 5 with honours, that by their ex-
ample they may allure others. But upon those
who have highly esteemed their faith, and have
not denied that they are worshippers of God,
they fall with all the strength of their butchery,
as though they thirsted for blood ; and they call
them desperate,^ because they by no means
spare their body ; as though anything could be
more desperate, than to torture and tear in
pieces him whom you know to be innocent.
Thus no sense of shame remains among those
from whom all kind feeling is absent, and they
retort upon just men reproaches which are befit-
ting to themselves. For they call them impious,
being themselves forsooth pious, and shrinking
from the shedding of human blood ; whereas, if
they would consider their own acts, and the acts
of those whom they condemn as impious, they
would now understand how false they are, and
more deserving of all those things which they
either say or do against the good. For they are
not of our number, but of theirs who besiege
the roads in arms, practise piracy by sea ; or if it
has not been in their power openly to assail,
secretly mix poisons ; who kill their wives that
they may gain their dowries, or their husbands
that they may marry adulterers ; who either
strangle the sons born from themselves, or if

3 The Jewish people. Thus St Paul speaks, Acts xxyi. 6: "I
stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of (iod unto
our fathers."

* i.e., the Christian religion.
5 Mactant.

* I )csperati, equivalent to trapa^oAoi, a word borrowcil from com-
bats wiih wild be.nsts, anil applied to Christians as being rcudy to
devote their lives to the cause of God.

Chap. X.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

they are too pious, expose them ; who restrain
their incestuous passions neither from a daugh-
ter, nor sister, nor mother, nor priestess ; who
conspire against their own citizens and country ;
who do not fear the sack ; ' who, in fine, com-
mit sacrilege, and despoil the temples of the
c;ods whom they worship ; and, to speak of things
which are light and usually practised by them,
who hunt for inheritances, forge wills, either re-
move or exclude the just heirs ; who prostitute
their own persons to lust ; who, in short, un-
mmdful of what they were born, contend with
women in passivity ; ^ who, in violation of all pro-
priety,^ pollute and dishonour the most sacred
part of their body ; who mutilate themselves,
and that which is more impious, in order that
they may be priests of religion ; who do not
even spare their own life, but sell their lives to
be taken away in public ; who, if they sit as
judges, corrupted by a bribe, either destroy the
innocent or set free the guilty without punish-
ment ; who grasp at the heaven itself by sor-
ceries, as though the earth would not contain
their wickedness. These crimes, I say, and more
than these, are plainly committed by those who
are worshippers of the gods.

Amidst these crimes of such number and
magnitude, what place is there for justice ? And
I have collected a few only out of many, not for
the purpose of censure, but to show their nature.
Let those who shall wish to know all take in
hand the books of Seneca, who was at the same
time a most true describer and a most vehement
accuser of the public morals and vices. But
Lucilius also briefly and concisely described that
dark life in these verses : " But now from mom
to night, on festival and ordinary day alike, the
whole people and the fathers with one accord
display themselves in •♦ the forum, and never de-
part from it. They have all given themselves to
one and the same pursuit and art, that they may
be able cautiously to deceive, to fight treacher-
ously, to contend in flattery, each to pretend
that he is a good man, to lie in wait, as if all
were enemies to all." But which of these things
can be laid to the charge of our people, 5 with
whom the whole of religion consists in living
without guilt and without spot? Since, there-
fore, they see that both they and their people do
those things which we have said, but that ours
practise nothing else but that which is just and
good, they might, if they had any understanding,
have perceived from this, both that they who do

' There is an allusion to the punishment of parricides, who were
enclosed in a bag with a dog, a serpent, an ape, and a cock, and
thrown into the sea.

2 Patientia, In a bad sense. [The text of the translator gives
endurance," for which I venture to substitute as above.]

3 Contra fas omne. .

* Induforo. " Indu " and " endo " are archaisms, used by Lucre-
bus and other writers in the same sense as " in."
5 i.e., Christians. [See vol. i. pp. 26, 27.]

what is good are pious, and that they themselves
who commit wicked actions are impious. For
it is impossible that they who do not err in all
the actions of their life, should err in the main
point, that is, in religion, which is the chief of all
things. For impiety, if taken up in that which
is the most important, would follow through all
the rest. And therefore^ it is impossible that
they who err in the whole of their life should
not be deceived also in religion ; inasmuch as
piety, if it kept its rule in the chief point, would
maintain its course in others. Thus it happens,
that on either side the character of the main
subject may be known from the state of the
actions which are carried on.

CHAP. X. OF FALSE PIETY, AND OF FALSE AND

TRUE RELIGION.

It is worth while to investigate their piety,
that from their merciful and pious actions it may
be understood what is the character of those
things which are done by them contrary to the
laws of piety. And that I may not seem to
attack any one with harshness, I will take a
character from the poets, and one which is the
greatest example of piety. In Maro, that king

" Than who
The breath of being none e'er drew,
More brave, more pious, or more true,"' —

what proofs of justice did he bring forward to
us?

" There walk with hands fast bound behind
The victim prisoners, designed

For slaughter o'er the flames." ^

What can be more merciful than this piety?
what more merciful than to immolate human
victims to the dead, and to feed the fire with
the blood of men a,s with oil? But perhaps this
may not have been tne fault of the hero himself,
but of the poet, who polluted with distinguished
wickedness " a man distinguished by his piety." 9
Where then, O poet, is that piety which you so
frequently praise ? Behold the pious ^neas : —

"Four hapless youths of Sulmo's breed,
And four who Ufens call their sire,
He takes alive, condemned to bleed
To Pallas' shade on Pallas' pyre."'"

Why, therefore, at the very same time when he
was sending the men in chains to slaughter, did
he say,

" Fain would I grant the living peace," "

when he ordered that those whom he had in his
power alive should be slain in the place of cattle ?
But this, as I have said, was not his fault — for

6 Eoque fieri non potest. Others read " aeque fieri," etc.

7 Virg., Mn., i. 544.

8 /^/a'.,xi. 81.

9 Ibid., i. 10.
'o Ibid., X. 517.
" Ibid., xi. III.

146

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V

he perhaps had not received a Hberal education
— but yours ; for, though you were learned, yet
you were ignorant of the nature of piety, and
you beheved that that wicked and detestable
action of his was the befitting exercise of piety.
He is plainly called pious on this account only,
because he loved his father. Why should I say
that

"The good ^neas owned their plea,"'

and yet slew them? For, though adjured by the
same father, and

" By young lulus' dawning day," ^

he did not spare them,

" Live fury kindling every vein."*

What ! can any one imagine that there was any
virtue in him who was fired with madness as
stubble, and, forgetful of the shade of his father,
by whom he was entreated, was unable to curb
his wrath ? He was therefore by no means pious
who not only slew the unresisting, but even sup-
pliants. Here some one will say : What then,
or where, or of what character is piety ? Truly
it is among those who are ignorant of wars, who
maintain concord with all, who are friendly even
to their enemies, who love all men as brethren,
who know how to restrain their anger, and to
soothe every passion of the mind with calm gov-
ernment. How great a mist, therefore, how
great a cloud of darkness and errors, has over-
spread the breasts of men who, when they think
themselves especially pious, then become espe-
cially impious? For the more religiously they
honour those earthy images, so much the more
wicked are they towards the name of the true
divinity. And therefore they are often harassed
with greater evils as the reward of their impiety ;
and because they know not the cause of these
evils, the blame is altogether ascribed to fortune,
and the philosophy of Epicurus finds a place,
who thinks that nothing extends to the gods,
and that they are neither influenced by favour
nor moved by anger, because they often see
their despisers happy, and their worshippers in
misery. And this happens on this account, be-
cause when they seem to be religious and natu-
rally good, they are believed to deserve nothing
of that kind which they often suffer. However,
they console themselves by accusing fortune ;
nor do they perceive that if she had any exist-
ence, she would never injure her worshippers.
Piety of this kind is therefore deservedly fol-
lowed by punishment ; and the deity offended
with the wickedness of men who are depraved
in their religious worship,'* punishes them with

' Virg., yEw., xi. 106.

* Ibid., X. 524.

3 Hid., xii. 946.

* Hoimnum prave religiosorura.

heavy misfortune ; who, although they live with
holiness in the greatest faith and innocence, yet
because they worship gods whose impious and
profane rites are an abomination to the true
God, are estranged from justice and the name
of true piety. Nor is it difficult to show why
the worshippers of the gods cannot be good and
just. For how shall they abstain from the shed-
ding of blood who worship bloodthirsty deities.
Mars and Bellona? or how shall they spare their
parents who worship Jupiter, who drove out his
father? or how shall they spare their own infants
who worship Saturnus? how shall they uphold
chastity who worship a goddess who is naked,
and an adulteress, and who prostitutes herself as
it were among the gods? how shall they with-
hold themselves from plunder and frauds who
are acquainted with the thefts of Mercurius, who
teaches that to deceive is not the part of fraud,
but of cleverness ? how shall they restrain their
lusts who worship Jupiter, Hercules, Liber,
Apollo, and the others, whose adulteries and
debaucheries with men and women are not only
known to the learned, but are even set forth in
the theatres, and made the subject of songs, so
that they are notorious 5 to all ? Among these
things is it possible for men to be just, who,
although they were naturally good, would be
trained to injustice by the very gods themselves?
For, that you may propitiate the god whom you
worship, there is need of those things with which
you know that he is pleased and delighted.
Thus it comes to pass that the god fashions the
life of his worshippers according to the character
of his own will,^ since the most religious worship
is to imitate.

CHAP. XI. — OF THE CRWELTV OF THE HEATHENS
AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS.

Therefore, because justice is burthensome and
unpleasant to those men who agree with the
character of their gods, they exercise with vio-
lence against the righteous the same impiety
which they show in other things. And not with-
out reason are they spoken of by the prophets
as beasts. Therefore it is excellently said by
Marcus Tullius : ^ " For if there is no one who
would not prefer to die than to be changed into
the figure of a beast, although he is about to
have the mind of a man, how much more wretch-
ed is it to be of a brutalized mind in the figure
of a man ! To me, indeed, it seems as much
worse as the mind is more excellent than the
body." Therefore they view with disdain the
bodies of beasts, though they are themselves
more cruel than these ; and they pride them-
selves on this account, that they were born men,

5 Omnibus notiora.

*" Pro qualitate numinis sui.

7 [De Republica, iv. i. g.]

Chap. XII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

147

though they have nothing belonging to man ex-
cept the features and the eminent figure. For
what Caucasus, what India, what Hyrcania ever
nourished beasts so savage and so bloodthirsty?
For the fury of all wild beasts rages until their
appetite is satisfied ; and when their hunger is
appeased, immediately is pacified. That is truly
a beast by whose command alone

"With rivulets of slaughter reeks

The stern embattlecl tield."
"Dire agonies, wild terrors swarm,
And Death glares grim in many a form."'

No one can befittingly describe the cruelty of
this beast, which reclines in one place, and yet
rages with iron teeth throughout the world, and
not only tears in pieces the limbs of men, but
also breaks their very bones, and rages over their
ashes, that there may be no place for their burial,
as though they who confess God aimed at this,
that their tombs should be visited, and not rather
that they themselves may reach the presence of
God.

What bnitality is it, what fury, what madness,
to deny light to the living, earth to the dead?
I say, therefore, that nothing is more wretched
than those men whom necessity has either found
or made the ministers of another's fury, the satel-
lites of an impious command. For that was no
honour, or exaltation of dignity, but the con-
demnation of a man to torture, and also to the
everlasting punishment of God. But it is im--
possible to relate what things they performed
individually throughout the world. For what
number of volumes will contain so infinite, so
varied kinds of cruelty? For, having gained
power, every one raged according to his own
disposition. Some, through excessive timidity,
proceeded to greater lengths than they were
commanded ; others thus acted through their
own particular hatred against the righteous ;
some by a natural ferocity of mind ; some
through a desire to please, and that by this
service they might prepare the way to higher
offices : some were swift to slaughter, as an indi-
vidual in Phrygia, who burnt a whole assembly
of people, together with their place of meeting.
But the more cruel he was, so much the more
merciful^ is he found to be. But that is the
worst kind of persecutors whom a false ap-
pearance of clemency flatters ; he is the more
severe, he the more cruel torturer, who deter-
mines to put no one to death. Therefore it
cannot be told what great and what grievous
modes of tortures judges of this kind devised,
that they might arrive at the accomplishment of
their purpose. But they do these things not

* Virg., Mn., xi. 646, ii. 368. [Dan. vii. 7.]

^ The more severe torture, as causing immediate death, may be
regarded as merciful, in comparison with a slow and lingering punish-
ment. [This by an ey»-witne&s of Diocletian's day.]

only on this account, that they may be able to
boast that they have slain none of the innocent,
— for I myself have heard some boasting that
their administration has been in this respect
without bloodshed, — but also for the sake of
envy, lest either they themselves should be over-
come, or the others should obtain the glory due
to their virtue. And thus, in devising modes of
punishment, they think of nothing else besides
victory. For they know that this is a contest
and a battle. I saw in Bithynia the pra^fect
wonderfully elated with joy, as though he had
subdued some nation of barbarians, because one
who had resisted for two years with great spirit
appeared at length to yield. They contend,
therefore, that they may conquer and inflict ex-
quisite 3 pains on their bodies, and avoid nothing
else but that the victims may not die under the
torture : as though, in truth, death alone could
make them happy, and as though tortures also
in proportion to their severity would not produce
greater glory of virtue. But they with obstinate
folly give orders that diligent care shall be given
to the tortured, that their limbs may be reno-
vated for other tortures, and fresh blood be sup-
plied for punishment. What can be so pious, so
beneficent, so humane ? They would not have
bestowed such anxious care on any whom they
loved. This is the discipline of the gods : to
these deeds they train their worshippers ; these
are the sacred rites which they require. More-
over, most wicked murderers have invented
impious laws against the pious. For both sac-
rilegious ordinances and unjust disputations of
jurists are read. Domitius, in his seventh book,
concerning the office of the proconsul, has col-
lected wicked rescripts of princes, that he might
show by what punishments they ought to be
visited who confessed themselves to be worship-
pers of God.

CHAP. XII. OF TRUE VIRTUE ; AND OF THE ESTI-
MATION OF A GOOD OR BAD CITIZEN.

What would you do to those who give the
name of justice to the tortures inflicted by tyrants
of old, who fiercely raged against the innocent ;
and though they are teachers of injustice and
cruelty, wish to appear just and prudent, be-
ing blind and dull, and ignorant of affairs and
of truth? Is justice so hateful to you, O aban-
doned minds, that ye regard it as equal with the
greatest crimes? Is innocence so utterly lost in
your eyes, that you do not think it worthy of
death only,^ but it is esteemed as beyond all
crimes to commit no crime, and to have a breast
pure from all contagion of guilt? And since we
are speaking generally with those who worship

3 Exquisitis, " carefully studied."

* Ne morte quidem simplici dignum putetis.

148

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

gods, let us have your permission to do good
with you ; for this is our law, this our business,
this our religion. If we appear to you wise, imi-
tate us ; if foolish, despise us, or even laugh at
us, if you please ; for our folly is profitable to
us. Why do you lacerate, why do you afflict us ?
We do not envy your wisdom. We prefer this
folly of ours — we embrace this. We believe
that this is expedient for us, — to love you, and
to confer all things upon you, who hate us.

There is in the writings of Cicero ' a passage
not inconsistent with the truth, in that disputa-
tion which is held by Furius against justice : " I
ask," he says, " if there should be two men, and
one of them should be an excellent man, of the
highest integrity, the greatest justice, and re-
markable faith, and the other distinguished by
crime and audacity ; and if the state should be
in such error as to regard that good man as
wicked, vicious, and execrable, but should think
the one who is most wicked to be of the highest
integrity and faith ; and if, in accordance with
this opinion of all the citizens, that good man
should be harassed, dragged away, should be
deprived of his hands, have his eyes dug out,
should be condemned, be bound, be branded, be
banished, be in want, and lastly, should most justly
appear to all to be most wretched ; but, on the
other hand, if that wicked man should be praised,
and honoured, and loved by all, — if all honours,
all commands, all wealth, and all abundance
should be bestowed upon him, — in short, if he
should be judged in the estimation of all an ex-
cellent man, and most worthy of all fortune, —
who, I pray, will be so mad as to doubt which
of the two he would prefer to be?" Assuredly
he put forth this example as though he divined
what evils were about to happen to us, and in
what manner, on account of righteousness ; for
our people suffer all these things through the per-
verseness of those in error. Behold, the state,
or rather the whole world itself, is in such error,
that it persecutes, tortures, condemns, and puts
to death good and righteous men, as though
they were wicked and impious. For as to what
he says, that no one is so infatuated as to doubt
which of the two he would prefer to be, he in-
deed, as the one who was contending against
justice, thought this, that the wise man would
prefer to be bad if he had a good reputation,
than to be good with a bad reputation.

But may this senselessness be absent from us,
that we should prefer that which is false to the
true ? Or does the character of our good man
depend upon the errors of the people, more
than upon our own conscience and the judgment
of God ? Or shall any prosperity ever allure us,
so that we should not rather choose tnie good-

' [From the Republic, iii. xvii. 27.]

ness, though accompanied with all evil, than false
goodness together with all prosperity ? Let kings
retain their kingdoms, the rich their riches, as
Plautus says,^ the wise their wisdom ; let them
leave to us our folly, which is evidently proved
to be wisdom, from the very fact that they envy
us its possession : for who would envy a fool, but
he who is himself most foolish? But they are
not so foolish as to envy fools ; but from the
fact of their following us up with such care and
anxiety, they allow that we are not fools. For
why should they rage with such cruelty, unless it
is that they fear lest, as justice grows strong from
day to day, they should be deserted together
with their decaying ^ gods? If, therefore, the
worshippers of gods are wise, and we are foolish,
why do they fear lest the wise shall be allured by
the foolish?

CHAP. XIII. — OF THE INCREASE AND THE PUNISH-
MENT OF THE CHRISTIANS."*

But since our number is continually increased
from the worshippers of gods, but is never
lessened, not even in persecution itself, — since
men may commit sin, and be defiled by sacrifice,
but they cannot be turned away from God, for
the truth prevails by its own power, — who is
there, I pray, so foolish and so blind as not to
see on which side wisdom is? But they are
blinded by malice and fury, that they cannot
see ; and they think that those are foolish who,
when they have it in their power to avoid pun-
ishments, nevertheless prefer to be tortured and
to be put to death ; whereas they might see
from this very circumstance, that it is not folly to
which so many thousands throughout the world
agree with one and the same mind. For if
women fall into error through the weakness of
their sex (for these persons sometimes call it a
womanish and anile superstition), men doubtless
are wise. If boys, if youths are improvident
through their age, the mature and aged doubtless
have a fixed judgment. If one city is unwise, it
is evident that the other innumerable cities cannot
be foolish. If one province or one nation is
without prudence, the rest must have understand-
ing of that which is right. But since the divine
law has been received from the rising even to the
setting of the sun, and each sex, every age, and
nation, and country, with one and the same mind
obeys God — since there is everywhere the same
patient endurance, the same contempt of death
— they ought to have understood that there is
some reason in that matter, that it is not without
a cause that it is defended even to death, that
there is some foundation and solidity, which not

* Curcul.y i. 3, 22.

3 Cariosis. There is a great variety of readings in this place.

* [Vol. iv. p. 116; same vol., p. 125.]

Chap. XIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

149

only frees that religion from injuries and molesta-
tion, but always increases and niakes it stronger.
For in this respect also the malice of those is
brought to light, who think that they have utterly
overthrown the religion of God if they have
corrupted men, when it is permitted them to
make satisfaction also to God ; and there is no
worshipper of God so evil who does not, when
the opportunity is given him, return to appease
God, and that, too, with greater devotedness.
For the consciousness of sin and the fear of
punishment make a man more religious, and the
faith is always much stronger which is replaced
through repentance. If, therefore, they them-
selves, when they think that the gods are angry
with them, nevertheless believe that they are
appeased by gifts, and sacrifices, and incense,
what reason is there why they should imagine
our God to be so unmerciful and implacable,
that it should appear impossible for him to be a
Christian, who by compulsion and against his
will has poured a libation to their gods ? Unless
by chance they think that those who are once
contaminated are about to change their mind,
so that they may now begin of their own accord
to do that which they have done under the influ-
ence of torture. Who would willingly undertake
that duty which began with injury? Who, when
he sees the scars on his own sides, would not
the more hate the gods, on account of whom
he bears the traces of lasting punishment, and
the marks imprinted upon his flesh? Thus it
comes to pass, that when peace is given from
heaven, those who were estranged ' from us re-
turn, and a fresh crowd ^ of others are added,
on account of the wonderful nature ^ of the
virtue displayed. For when the people see that
men are lacerated by various kinds of tortures,
and that they retain their patience unsubdued
while the executioners are wearied, they think,
as is really the case, that neither the agreement
of so many nor the constancy of the dying is
without meaning, and that patience itself could
not surmount such great tortures without the
aid of God. Robbers and men of robust frame
are unable to endure lacerations of this kind :
they utter exclamations, and send forth groans ;
for they are overcome by pain, because they are
destitute of patience infused^ into them. But
in our case (not to speak of men), boys and
delicate women in silence overpower their tor-
turers, and even the fire is unable to extort from
them a groan. Let the Romans go and boast
in their Mutius or Regulus, — the one of whom
gave himself up to be slain by the enemy, be-
cause he was ashamed to live as a captive ; the

' Et qui fuerint aversi, redeant.
qui fugerunt, universi redeant."
^ Alius novus populus.
■5 Propter miraculum virtutis.
* Deest illis inspirata patientia.

The conunoa reading is, "et

Other being taken by the enemy, when he saw
that he could not escape death, laid his hand
upon the burning hearth, that he might make
atonement for his crime to the enemy whom he
wished to kill, and by that punishment received
the pardon which he had not deserved. Behold,
the weak sex and fragile age endure to be lacer-
ated in the whole body, and to be burned : not
of necessity, for it is permitted them to escape
if they wished to do so ; but of their own will,
because they put their trust in God.s

CHAP. XIV. — OF THE FORTITUDE OF THE CHRIS-
TIANS.

But this is true virtue, which the vaunting phi-
losophers also boast of, not in deed, but with
empty words, saying that nothing is so befitting
the gravity and constancy of a wise man as to be
able to be driven away from his sentiment and
purpose by no torturers, but that it is worth his
while'' to suffer torture and death rather than be-
tray a trust or depart from his duty, or, overcome
by fear of death or severity of pain, commit any
injustice. Unless by chance Flaccus appears to
them to rave in his lyrics, when he says,

" Not the rage of the million commanding things evil ;
Not the doom frowning near in the brows of the tyrant,
Shakes the upright and resolute man
In his solid completeness of soul." ^

And nothing can be more true than this, if it is
referred to those who refuse no tortures, no kind
of death, that they may not turn aside from faith
and justice ; who do not tremble at the com-
mands of tyrants nor the swords of rulers,^ so as
not to maintain true and solid liberty with con-
stancy of mind, which wisdom is to be observed
in this alone. For who is so arrogant, who so
lifted up, as to forbid me to raise my eyes to
heaven? Who can impose upon me the neces-
sity either of worshipping that which I am un-
willing to worship, or of abstaining from the
worship of that which I wish to worship ? What
further will now be left to us, if even this, which
must be done of one's own will,9 shall be ex-
torted from me by the caprice of another? No
one will effect this, if we have any courage to
despise death and pain. But if we possess this
constancy, why are we judged foolish when we
do those things which philosophers praise?
Seneca, in charging men with inconsistency,
rightly says the highest virtue appears to them
to consist in greatness of spirit ; and yet the
same persons regard him who despises death as
a madman, which is plainly a mark of the great-
est perverseness. But those followers of vain

5 [Vol. iii. p. 700, this series.]

6 Tanti est . . . .ne.

7 Horat., Carm., iii. 3, Lord Lytton's translation.

8 i.e., of provinces.

9 Voluntate.

I50

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

religions urge this with the same folly with which
they fail to understand the true God ; and these
the Erythreean Sibyl calls " deaf and senseless," '
since they neither hear nor perceive divine
things, but fear and adore an earthen image
moiilded by their own fingers.

CHAP. XV, — OF FOLLY, WISDOM, PIETY, EQUITY,
AND JUSTICE.

But the reason on account of which they im-
agine those who are wise to be foolish has strong
grounds of support (for they are not deceived
without reason). And this must be diligently
explained by us, that they may at length (if it is
possible) recognise their errors. Justice by its
own nature has a certain appearance of folly,
and I am able to confirm this both by divine
and human testimonies. But perhaps we should
not succeed with them, unless we should teach
them from their own authorities that no one can
be just, a matter which is united with true wis-
dom, unless he also appears to be foolish.
Carneades was a philosopher of the Academic
sect ; and one who knows not what power he
had in discussion, what eloquence, what sagacity,
will nevertheless understand the character of the
man himself from the praises of Cicero or of
Lucilius, in whose writings Neptune, discoursing
on a subject of the greatest difficulty, shows that
it cannot be explained, even if Orcus should
restore Carneades himself to life. This Car-
neades, when he had been sent by the Athenians
as ambassador to Rome, disputed copiously on
the subject of justice, in the hearing of Galba
and Cato, who had been censor, who were at
that time the greatest of orators. But on the
next day the same man overthrew his own argu-
ment by a disputation to the contrary effect, and
took away the justice which- he had praised on
the preceding day, not indeed with the gravity
of a philosopher, whose prudence ought to be
firm and his opinion settled, but as it were by an
oratorical kind of exercise of disputing on both
sides. And he was accustomed to do this, that
he might be able to refute others who asserted
anything. L. Furius, in Cicero, makes mention
of that discussion in which justice is overthrown. ^
I believe, inasmuch as he was discussing the
subject of the state, he did it that he might in-
troduce the defence and praise of that without
which he thought that a state could not be gov-
erned. But Carneades, that he might refute
Aristotle and Plato, the advocates of justice, in
that first disputation collected all the arguments
which were alleged in behalf of justice, that he
might be able to overthrow them, as he did. For
it was very easy to shake justice, having no roots,

* Kox^ouc *cal ai'OijTOV?.

* [Sec Rep., iii. cap. 6, part iv. vol. a, p. 300, ed. Klotz.]

inasmuch as there was then none on the earth,
that its nature or qualities might be perceived
by philosophers. And I could wish that men,
so many and of such a character, had possessed
knowledge also, in proportion to their eloquence
and spirit, for completing the defence of this
greatest virtue, which has its origin in religion,
its principle in equity ! But those who were
ignorant of that first part could not possess the
second. But I wish first to show, summarily
and concisely, what it is, that it may be under-
stood that the philosophers were ignorant of
justice, and were unable to defend that with
which they were unacquainted. Although justice
embraces all the virtues together, yet there are
two, the chief of all, which cannot be torn asun-
der and separated from it — piety and equity.
For fidelity, temperance, uprightness, innocence,
integrity, and the other things of this kind, either
naturally or through the training of parents, may
exist in those men who are ignorant of justice,
as they have always existed ; for the ancient
Romans, who were accustomed to glory in jus-
tice, used evidently to glory in those virtues
which (as I have said) may proceed from justice,
and be separated from the very fountain itself.
But piety and equity are, as it were, its veins :
for in these two fountains the whole of justice is
contained ; but its source and origin is in the
first, all its force and method in the second.
But piety is nothing else but the conception ^ of
God, as Trismegistus most truly defined it, as we
have said in another place. If, therefore, it is
piety to know God, and the sum of this knowl-
edge is that you worship Him, it is plain that he
is ignorant of justice who does not possess the
knowledge of God. For how can he know jus-
tice itself, who is ignorant of the source from
which it arises? Plato, indeed, spoke many
things respecting the one God, by whom he said
that the world was framed \ but he spoke noth-
ing respecting religion : for he had dreamed of
God, but had not known Him. But if either he
himself or any other person had wished to com-
plete the defence of justice, he ought first of all
to have overthrown the religions of the gods, be-
cause they are opposed to piety. And because
Socrates indeed tried to do this, he was thrown
into prison ; that even then it might be seen
what was about to happen to those men who had
begun to defend true justice, and to serve the
only God.

The other part of justice, therefore, is equity ;
and it is plain that I am not speaking of the
equity of judging well, though this also is praise-
worthy in a just man, but of making himself
equal to others, which Cicero calls ec^uability.''
For God, who produces and gives breath to

3 Notio.

* \_De Officiis, i. 26; and see vol. ii. p. 421, this series.]

Chap. XVIl.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

151

men. willed that all should be equal, that is,
equally matched.' He has imposed on all the
same condition of living ; He has produced all
to wisdom ; He has promised immortality to
all ; no one is cut off from His heavenly benefits.
For as He distributes to all alike His one light,
sends forth His fountains to all, supplies food,
and gives the most pleasant rest of sleep ; so He
bestows on all ecjuity and virtue. In His sight
no one is a slave, no one a master ; for if all
have the same Father, by an equal right we are
all children. No one is poor in the sight of
God, but he who is without justice ; no one is
rich, but he who is full of virtues; no one, in
short, is excellent, but he who has been good
and innocent ; no one is most renowned, but he
who has abundantly performed works of mercy ;
no one is most perfect, but he who has filled all
the steps of virtue. Therefore neither the Ro-
mans nor the Greeks could possess justice, be-
cause they had men differing from one another
by many degrees, from the poor to the rich,
from the humble to the powerful ; in short, from
private persons to the highest authorities of kings.
For where all are not equally matched, there is
not equity ; and inequality of itself excludes jus-
tice, the whole force of which consists in this,
that it makes those equal who have by an equal
lot arrived at the condition of this life.

CHAP. XVI. — OF THE DUTIES OF THE JUST MAN,
AND THE EQUITY OF CHRISTIANS.

Therefore, since those two fountains of justice
are changed, all virtue and all truth are taken
away, and justice itself returns to heaven. And
on this account the true good was not discovered
by philosophers, because they were ignorant both
of its origin and effects : which has been re-
vealed to no others but to our people.^ Some
one will say, x-^re there not among you some poor,
and others rich ; some servants, and others mas-
ters? Is there not some difference between in-
dividuals ? There is none ; nor is there any
other cause why we mutually bestow upon each
other the name of brethren, except that we be-
lieve ourselves to be equal. For since we meas-
ure all human things not by the body, but by the
spirit, although the condition of bodies is differ-
ent, yet we have no servants, but we both regard
and speak of them as brothers in spirit, in reli-
gion as fellow-servants. Riches also do not
render men illustrious, except that ^ they are able
to make them more conspicuous by good works.
For men are rich, not because they possess
riches, but because they employ them on works

' [A striking parallel to Cyprian's saying, vol. v. note 2, p. 460,
this series.]

^ [Cap. XV. p. 150, S2ipra.^

3 Nisi qu6d. Some editions read, " nisi quos," except those whom,
etc.

of justice ; and they who seem to be poor, on
this account are rich, because they are not •» in
want, and desire nothing.

Though, therefore, in lowliness of mind we are
on an equality, the free with slaves, and the rich
with the poor, nevertheless in the sight of God
we are distinguished by virtue. And every one
is more elevated in proportion to his greater
justice. For if it is justice for a man to put
himself on a level even with those of lower rank,
although he excels in this very thing, that he
made himself equal to his inferiors ; yet if he
has conducted himself not only as an equal, but
even as an inferior, he will plainly obtain a
much higher rank of dignity in the judgment of
God. 5 For assuredly, since all things in this
temporal life are frail and liable to decay, men
both prefer themselves to others, and contend
about dignity ; than which nothing is more foul,
nothing more arrogant, nothing more removed
from the conduct of a wise man : for these
earthly things are altogether opposed to heavenly
things. For as the wisdom of men is the greatest
foolishness with God, and foolishness is (as I
have shown) the greatest wisdom ; so he is low
and abject in the sight of God who shall have
been conspicuous and elevated on earth. For,
not to mention that these present earthly goods
to which great honour is paid are contrary to vir-
tue, and enervate the vigour of the mind, what
nobility, I pray, can be so firm, what resources,
what power, since God is able to make kings
themselves even lower than the lowest? And
therefore God has consulted our interest in pla-
cing this in particular among the divine pre-
cepts : " He that exalteth himself shall be abased ;
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."^
And the wholesomeness of this precept teaches
that he who shall simply place himself on a level
with other men, and carry himself with humility,
is esteemed excellent and illustrious in the sight
of God. For the sentiment is not false which is
brought forward in Euripides to this effect : —

" The things which are here considered evil are esteemed
good in heaven."

CHAP. XVII. OF THE EQUITY, \VISD0M, AND

FOOLISHNESS OF CHRISTIANS.

I have explained the reason why philosophers
were unable either to find or to defend justice.
Now I return to that which I had purposed.
Carneades, therefore, since the arguments of the
philosophers were weak, undertook the bold task
of refuting them, because he understood that
they were capable of refutation. The substance
of his disputation was this : " That men ^ enacted

■* Quia non egent. Some editors omit fion ; but this is not so good.

5 [Jas. i. 9, 10, and ii. 1-8.]

^ Luke xiv. ii.

7 [From the Republic, book iii. cap. 12, sec. 21.]

152

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

laws for themselves, with a view to their own
advantage, differing indeed according to their
characters, and in the case of the same persons
often changed according to the times ; but that
there was no natural law : that all, both men
and other animals, were borne by the guidance
of nature to their own advantage ; therefore that
there was no justice, or if any did exist, it was
the greatest folly, because it injured itself by
promoting the interests of others." And he
brought forward these arguments : " That all
nations which flourished with dominion, even
the Romans themselves, who were masters of the
whole world, if they wish to be just, that is, to
restore the possessions of others, must return to
cottages, and lie down in want and miseries."
Then, leaving general topics, he came to particu-
lars. " If a good man," he says, " has a runaway
slave, or an unhealthy and infected house, and he
alone knows these faults, and on this account
offers it for sale, will he give out that the slave
is a runaway, and the house which he offers for
sale is infected, or will he conceal it from the
purchaser? If he shall give it out, he is good
indeed, because he will not deceive ; but still
he will be judged foolish, because he will either
sell at a low price or not sell at all. If he shall
conceal it, he will be wise indeed, because he
will consult his own interest ; but he will be also
wicked, because he will deceive. Again, if he
should find any one who supposes that he is sell-
ing copper ore when it is gold, or lead when it
is silver, will he be silent, that he may buy it at
a small price ; or will he give information of it,
so that he may buy it at a great price ? It evi-
dently appears foolish to prefer to buy it at a
great price." From which he wished it to be
understood, both that he who is just and good
is foolish, and that he who is wise is wicked ;
and yet that it may possibly happen without ruin,
for men to be contented with poverty. There-
fore he passed to greater things, in which no one
could be just without danger of his life. For
he said : " Certainly it is justice not to put a
man to death, not to take the property of another.
What, then, will the just man do, if he shall
happen to have suffered shipwreck, and some
one weaker than himself shall have seized a
plank ? Will he not thrust him from the plank,
that he himself may get upon it, and supported
by it may escape, especially since there is no
witness in the middle of the sea? If he is wise,
he will do so ; for he must himself perish unless
he shall thus act. But if he choose rather to die
than to inflict violence upon another, in this case
he is just, but foolish, in not sparing his own life
while he spares the life of another. Thus also,
if the army of his own people shall have been
routed, and the enemy have begun to press upon
them, and that just man shall have met with a

wounded man on horseback, will he spare him
so as to be slain himself, or will he throw him
from his horse, that he himself may escape from
the enemy? If he shall do this, he will be wise,
but also wicked ; if he shall not do it, he will be
just, but also of necessity foolish." When, there-
fore, he had thus divided justice into two parts,
saying that the one was civil, the other natural,
he subverted both : because the civil part is
wisdom, but not justice ; but the natural part is
justice, but not wisdom. These arguments are
altogether subtle and acute,' and such as Mar-
cus TuUius was unable to refute. For when he
represents Lselius as replying to Furius, and
speaking in behalf of justice, he passed them by
as a pitfall without refuting them ; so that the
same Lselius appears not to have defended nat-
ural justice, which had fallen under the charge
of folly, but that civil justice which Furius had
admitted to be wisdom, but unjust.'

CHAP. XVIII. — OF JUSTICE, WISDOM, AND FOLLY.

With reference to our present discussion, I
have shown how justice bears the resemblance
of folly, that it may appear that those are not
deceived without reason who think that men of
our religion are foolish in appearing to do such
things as he proposed. Now I perceive that a
greater undertaking is required from me, to show
why God wished to enclose justice under the
appearance of folly, and to remove it from the
eyes of men, when I shall have first replied to
Furius, since Laelius has not sufficiently replied
to him ; who, although he was a wise man, as he
was called, yet could not be the advocate of
true justice, because he did not possess the source
and fountain of justice. But this defence is
easier for us, to whom by the bounty of Heaven
this justice is familiar and well known, and who
know it not in name, but in reality. For Plato
and Aristotle desired with an honest will to de-
fend justice, and would have effected something,
if their good endeavours, their eloquence, and
vigour of intellect had been aided also by a
knowledge of divine things. Thus their work,
being vain and useless, was neglected : nor were
they able to persuade any of men to live accord-
ing to their precei)t, because that system had no
foundation from heaven. But our work must be
more certain, since we are taught of God. For
they represented justice in words, and pictured
it when it was not in sight ; nor were they able
to confirm their assertions by present examples.
For the hearers might have answered that it was
impossible to live as they prescribed in their
disputation ; so that none have as yet existed
who followed that course of life. But we show

■ Venenata. [See De Finibus, book v. cap. 23.]
2 [See p. 150, supra.^

Chap. XVIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

153

the truth of our statements not only by words,
but also by examples derived from the truth.
Therefore Carneades understood what is the na-
ture of justice, except that he did not sufficiently
perceive that it was not folly ; although I seem
to myself to understand with what intention he
did this. For he did not really think that he
who is just is foolish ; but when he knew that
he was not so, but did not comprehend the cause
why he appeared so, he wished to show that the
truth lay hidden, that he might maintain the
dogma of his own sect,' the chief opinion of
which is, " that nothing can be fully compre-
hended."

Let us see, therefore, whether justice has any
agreement with folly. The just man, he says, if
he does not take away from the wounded man
his horse, and from the shipwrecked man his
plank, in order that he may preserve his own life,
is foolish. First of all, I deny that it can in
any way happen that a man who is truly just
should be in circumstances of this kind ; for the
just man is neither at enmity with any human
being, nor desires anything at all which is the
property of another. For why should he take
a voyage, or what should he seek from another
land, when his own is sufficient for him? Or
why should he carry on war, and mix himself
with the passions of others, when his mind is
engaged in perpetual peace with men ? Doubt-
less he will be delighted with foreign merchan-
dise or with human blood, who does not know
how to seek gain, who is satisfied with his mode
of living, and considers it unlawful not only him-
self to commit slaughter, but to be present with
those who do it, and to behold it ! But I omit
these things, since it is possible that a man may
be compelled even against his will to undergo
these things. Do you then, O Furius — or rather
O Carneades, for all this speech is his — think
that justice is so useless, so superfluous, and so
despised by God, that it has no power and no
influence in itself which may avail for its own
preservation? But it is evident that they who
are ignorant of the mystery^ of man, and who
therefore refer all things to this present life, can-
not know how great is the force of justice. For
when they discuss the subject of virtue, although
they understand that it is very full of labours
and miseries, nevertheless they say that it is to
be sought for its own sake ; for they by no
means see its rewards, which are eternal and
immortal. Thus, by referring all things to the
present life, they altogether reduce virtue to folly,
since it undergoes such great labours of this life
in vain and to no purpose. But more on this
subject at another opportunity.

* i.e., The Academic School.

2 Sacramentum, " the true theory of human life."

In the meanwhile let us speak of justice, as
we began, the power of which is so great, that
when it has raised its eyes to heaven, it deserves
all things from God. Flaccus therefore rightly
said, that the power of innocence is so great,
that wherever it journeys, it needs neither arms
nor strength for its protection : —

" He whose life hath no flaw, pure from guile, need not
borrow
Or the bow or the darts of the Moor, O my Fuscus !
He relies for defence on no quiver that teems with

Poison-steept arrows.
Though his path be along sultry African Syrtes,
Or Caucasian ravines, where no guest finds a shelter,
Or the banks which Hydaspes, the stream weird' with
fable,

Licks languid-flowing." *

It is impossible, therefore, that amidst the dan-
gers of tempests and of wars the just man should
be unprotected by the guardianship of Heaven ;
and that even if he should be at sea in company
with parricides and guilty men, the wicked also
should not be spared, that this one just and in-
nocent soul may be freed from danger, or at any
rate may be alone preserved while the rest perish.
But let us grant that the case which the philoso-
pher proposes is possible : what, then, will the
just man do, if he shall have met with a wounded
man on a horse, or a shipwrecked man on a
plank? I am not unwilling to confess he will
rather die than put another to death. Nor will
justice, which is the chief good of man, on this
account receive the name of folly. For what
ought to be better and dearer to man than inno-
cence ? And this must be the more perfect, the
more you bring it to extremity, and choose to
die rather than to detract from the character of
innocence. It is folly, he says, to spare the life
of another in a case which involves the destruc-
tion of one's own life. Then do you think it
foolish to perish even for friendship?

Why, then, are those Pythagorean friends
praised by you, of whom the one gave himself
to the tyrant as a surety for the life of the other,
and the other at the appointed time, when his
surety was now being led to execution, presented
himself, and rescued him by his own interposi-
tion? Whose virtue would not be held in such
glory, when one of them was willing to die for
his friend, the other even for his word 5 which
had been pledged, if they were regarded as fools.
In fine, on account of this very virtue the tyrant
rewarded them by preserving both, and thus the
disposition of a most cruel man was changed.
Moreover, it is even said that he entreated ^ them
to admit him as a third party to their friendship,
from which it is plain that he regarded them not

3 Fabulosus.

■* Hor. , Carnt., i. 22. i, Lord Lytton's translation.

5 Pro fide.

^ Deprecatus esse dicitur.

154

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

as fools, but as good and wise men. Therefore
I do not see why, since it is reckoned the high-
est glory to die for friendship and for one's word,
it is not glorious to a man to die even for his
innocence. They are therefore most foolish who
impute it as a crime to us that we are willing to
die for God, when they themselves extol to the
heavens with the highest praises him who was
willing to die for a man. In short, to conclude
this disputation, reason itself teaches that it is
impossible for a man to be at once just and fool-
ish, wise and unjust. For he who is foolish is
unacquainted with that which is just and good,
and therefore always errs. For he is, as it were,
led captive by his vices ; nor can he in any way
resist them, because he is destitute of the virtue
of which he is ignorant. But the just man ab-
stains from all fault, because he cannot do other-
wise, although he has the knowledge of right
and wrong.

But who is able to distinguish right from wrong
except the wise man ? Thus it comes to pass,
that he can never be just who is foolish, nor wise
who is unjust. And if this is most true, it is
plain that he who has not taken away a plank
from a shipwrecked man, or a horse from one
who is wounded, is not foolish ; because it is a
sin to do these things, and the wise man abstains
from sin. Nevertheless I myself also confess
that it has this appearance, through the error of
men, who are ignorant of the peculiar character '
of everything. And thus the whole of this in-
quiry is refuted not so much by arguments as by
definition. Therefore folly is the erring in deeds
and words, through ignorance of what is right
and good. Therefore he is not a fool who does
not even spare himself to prevent injury to
another, which is an evil. And this, indeed,
reason and the truth itself dictate.^ For we see
that in all animals, because they are destitute of
wisdom, nature is the provider of supplies for
itself. Therefore they injure others that they
may profit themselves, for they do not understand
that the ^ committing an injury is evil. But man,
who has the knowledge of good and evil, abstains
from committing an injury even to his own dam-
age, which an animal without reason is unable
to do ; and on this account innocence is reckoned
among the chief virtues of man. Now by these
things it appears that he is the wisest man who
prefers to perish rather than to commit an injury,
that he may jjreserve that sense of duty* by
which he is distinguished from the dumb crea-
tion. For he who does not point out the error
of one who is offering the gold for sale, in order
that he may buy it for a small sum, or he who

' Proprietatem.

' Conciliatriccm sui.

' Nescium, quia malum est nocere.

♦ Officium.

does not avow that he is offering for sale a runa-
way slave or an infected house, having an eye to
his own gain or advantage, is not a wise man, as
Carneades wished it to appear, but crafty and
cunning. Now craftiness and cunning exist in
the dumb animals also : either when they lie in
wait for others, and take them by deceit, that
they may devour them ; or when they avoid the
snares of others in various ways. But wisdom
falls to man alone. For wisdom is understanding
either with the purpose of doing that which is
good and right, or for the abstaining from im-
proper words and deeds. Now a wise man never
gives himself to the pursuit of gain, because he
despises these earthly advantages : nor does he
allow any one to be deceived, because it is the
duty of a good man to correct the errors of
men, and to bring them back to the right way ;
since the nature of man is social and beneficent,
in which respect alone he bears a relation to
God.

CHAP. XIX. OF VIRTUE AND THE TORTURES OF

CHRISTIANS, AND OF THE RIGHT OF A FATHER
AND MASTER.

But undoubtedly this is the cause s why he
appears to be foolish who prefers to be in want,
or to die rather than to inflict injury or take
away the property of another, — namely, because
they think that man is destroyed by death. And
from this persuasion all the errors both of the
common people and also of the philosophers
arise. For if we have no existence after death,
assuredly it is the part of the most foolish man
not to promote the interests of the present life,
that it may be long-continued, and may abound
with all advantages. But he who shall act thus
must of necessity depart from the rule of justice.
But if there remains to man a longer and a
better life — and this we learn both from the
arguments of great philosophers, and from the
answers of seers, and the divine words of prophets
— it is the part of the wise man to despise this
present life with its advantages, since its entire
loss is compensated by immortality. The same
defender of justice, Laelius, says in Cicero : ^
" Virtue altogether wishes for honour ; nor is
there any other reward of virtue." There is in-
deed another, and that most worthy of virtue,
which you, O L?elius, could never have supposed ;
for you had no knowledge of the sacred writings.
And this reward it easily receives, and does not
harshly demand. You are greatly mistaken, if
you think that a reward can be paid to virtue by
man, since you yourself most truly said in another

5 Thus far he has refuted the arguments of Furius. the advocate
of injustice. He now shows the reasons why I.a:lius, who was esteemed
most wise, does not worthily maintain the cause of justice, i.e., be-
cause he was ignorant of heavenly wisdom. [See cap. xvii. p. 153,
supra. ^

*> De Republ., i. 3.

Chap. XX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

155

place : " What riches will you offer to this man ?
what commands? what kingdoms? He who
regards these things as human, judges his own
advantages to be divine." Who, therefore, can
think you a wise man, O Loelius, when you con-
tradict yourself, and after a short interval take
away from virtue that which you have given to
her? But it is manifest that ignorance of the
truth makes your opinion uncertain and wavering.

In the next place, what do you add ? " But if
all the ungrateful, or the many who are envious, or
powerful enemies, deprive virtue of its rewards."
Oh how frail, how worthless, have you repre-
sented virtue to be, if it can be deprived of its
reward ! For if it judges its goods to be divine,
as you said, how can there be any so ungrateful,
so envious, so powerful, as to be able to deprive
virtue of those goods which were conferred upon
it by the gods? *' Assuredly it delights itself,"
he says, " by many comforts, and especially sup-
ports itself by its own beauty." By what com-
forts? by what beauty? since that beauty is often
charged upon it as a fault, and turned into a
punishment. For what if, as Furius said,' a man
should be dragged away, harassed, banished,
should be in want, be deprived of his hands,
have his eyes put out, be condemned, put into
chains, be burned, be miserably tortured also?
will virtue lose its reward, or rather, will it perish
itself? By no means. But it will both receive
its reward from God the Judge, and it will live,
and always flourish. And if you take away these
things, nothing in the life of man can appear to
be so useless, so foolish, as virtue, the natural
goodness and honour of which may teach us
that the soul is not mortal, and that a divine re-
ward is appointed for it by God. But on this
account God willed that virtue itself should be
concealed under the character of folly, that the
mystery of truth and of His religion might be
iecret ; that He might show the vanity and error
of these superstitions, and of that earthly wisdom
which raises itself too highly, and exhibits great
self-complacency, that its difficulty being at length
set forth, that most narrow path might lead to the
lofty reward of immortality.

I have shown, as I think, why our people are
esteemed foolish by the foolish. For to dioose
to be tortured and slain, rather than to take in-
cense in three fingers, and throw it upon the
hearth,^ appears as foolish as, in a case where
life is endangered, to be more careful of the life
of another than of one's own. For they do not
know how great an act of impiety it is to adore
any other object than God, who made heaven and
earth, who fashioned the human race, breathed
into them the breath of life, and gave them light.
But if he is accounted the most worthless of

' Vid. ch. xii.

* [In focum. Here it means the brazier placed before an image.]

slaves who runs away and deserts his master, and
if he is judged most deserving of stripes and
chains, and a prison, and the cross, and of all
evil ; and if a son, in the same manner, is thought
abandoned and impious who deserts his father,
that he may not pay him obedience, and on this
account is considered deserving of being disin-
herited, and of having his name removed for ever
from his family, — how much more so does he who
forsakes God, in whom the two names entitled to
equal reverence, of Lord and Father, alike meet?
For what benefit does he who buys a slave bestow
upon him, beyond the nourishment with which
he supplies him for his own advantage? And
he who begets a son has it not in his power to
effect that he shall be conceived, or born, or
live ; from which it is evident that he is not the
father, but only the instrument ^ of generation.
Of what punishments, therefore, is he deserving,
who forsakes Him who is both the true Master
and Father, but those which God Himself has
appointed ? who has prepared everlasting fire for
the wicked spirits ; and this He Himself threat-
ens by His prophets to the impious and the re-
bellious.'*

CHAP. XX. — OF THE VANITY AND CRIMES OF IM-
PIOUS SUPERSTITIONS, AND OF THE TORTURES OF
THE CHRISTIANS.

Therefore, let those who destroy their own
souls and the souls of others learn what an in-
expiable crime they commit ; in the first place,
because they cause their own death by serving
most abandoned demons, whom God has con-
demned to everlasting punishments ; in the next
place, because they do not permit God to be
worshipped by others, but endeavour to turn
men aside to deadly rites, and strive with the
greatest diligence that no life may be without
injury on earth, which looks to heaven with its
condition secured. What else shall I call them
but miserable men, who obey the instigations of
their own plunderers,^ whom they think to be
gods ? of whom they neither know the condition,
nor origin, nor names, nor nature ; but, clinging
to the persuasion of the people, they willingly
err, and favour their own folly. And if you
should ask them the grounds of their persuasion,
they can assign none, but have recourse to the
judgment of their ancestors, saying that, they
were wise, that they approved them, that they
knew what was best ; and thus they deprive
themselves of all power of perception : they bid
adieu to reason, while they place confidence in
the errors of others. Thus, involved in ignorance

3 Generandi ministrum.

* [Perpetually recurring are such ideas and interpretations of
God's warnings. Vol. iv. p. 542 ]

5 Praedonum. .Some refer this to the priests; others, with greatc«
probability, to the demons alluded to in the sentence.

156

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

of all things, they neither know themselves nor
their gods. And would to heaven that they had
been willing to err by themselves, and to be un-
wise by themselves ! But they hurry away others
also to be companions of their evil, as though
they were about to derive comfort from the
destruction of many. But this very ignorance
causes them to be so cruel in persecuting the
wise ; and they pretend that they are promoting
their welfare, that they wish to recall them to a
good mind.

Do they then strive to effect this by conversa-
tion, or by giving some reason ? By no means ; but
they endeavour to effect it by force and tortures.
O wonderful and blind infatuation ! It is thought
that there is a bad mind in those who endeavour
to preserve their faith, but a good one in execu-
tioners. Is there, then, a bad mind in those who,
against every law of humanity, against every prin-
ciple of justice, are tortured, or rather, in those
who inflict on the bodies of the innocent such
things, as neither the most cruel robbers, nor the
most enraged enemies, nor the most savage bar-
barians have ever practised? Do they deceive
themselves to such an extent, that they mutually
transfer and change the names of good and evil?
Why, therefore, do they not call day night — the
sun darkness? Moreover, it is the same impu-
dence to give to the good the name of evil, to the
wise the name of foolish, to the just the name of
impious. Besides this, if they have any confidence
in philosophy or in eloquence, let them arm
themselves, and refute these arguments of ours
if they are able ; let them meet us hand to hand,
and examine every point. It is befitting that
they should undertake the defence of their gods,
lest, if our affairs should increase (as they do in-
crease daily), theirs should be deserted, together
with their shrines and their vain mockeries ; '
and since they can effect nothing by violence
(for the religion of God is increased the more it
is oppressed), let them rather act by the use of
reason and exhortations.

Let their priests come forth into the midst,
whether the inferior ones or the greatest ; their
flamens, augurs, and also sacrificing kings, and
the priests and ministers of their superstitions.
Let them call us together to an assembly ; let
them exhort us to undertake the worship of their
gods ; let them persuade us that there are many
beings by whose deity and providence all things
are governed ; let them show how the origins
and beginnings of their sacred rites and gods
were handed down to mortals ; let them explain
what is their source and principle ; let them set
forth what reward there is in their worship, and
what punishment awaits neglect ; why they wish
to be worshipped by men ; what the piety of

' Ludibriis.

men contributes to them, if they are blessed :
and let them confirm all these things not by their
own assertion (for the authority of a mortal man
is of no weight) , but by some divine testimonies,
as we do. There is no occasion for violence and
injury, for religion cannot be imposed by force ;
the matter must be carried on by words rather
than by blows, that the will may be affected. Let
them unsheath the weapon of their intellect ; if
their system is true, let it be asserted. We are
prepared to hear, if they teach ; while they are
silent, we certainly pay no credit to them, as we
do not yield to them even in their rage. Let
them imitate us in setting forth the system of the
whole matter : for we do not entice, as they say ;
but we teach, we prove, we show. And thus no
one is detained by us against his will, for he is
unserviceable to God who is destitute of faith
and devotedness ; and yet no one departs from
us, since the truth itself detains him. Let them
teach in this manner, if they have any confidence
in the truth ; let them speak, let them give utter-
ance ; let them venture, I say, to discuss with
us something of this nature ; and then assuredly
their error and folly will be ridiculed by the old
women, whom they despise, and by our boys.
For, since they are especially clever, they know
from books the race of the gods, and their ex-
ploits, and commands, and deaths, and tombs ;
they may also know that the rites themselves, in
which they have been initiated, had their origin
either in human actions, or in casualties, or in
deaths.^ It is the part of incredible madness to
imagine that they are gods, whom they cannot
deny to have been mortal ; or if they should be
so shameless as to deny it, their own ^vritings,
and those of their own people, will refute them ;
in short, the very beginnings of the sacred rites
will convict them.^ They may know, therefore,
even from this very thing, how great a difference
there is between truth and falsehood ; for they
themselves with all their eloquence are unable
to persuade, whereas the unskilled and the un-
educated are able, because the matter itself and
the truth speaks.

Why then do they rage, so that while they
wish to lessen their folly, they increase it ? Tor-
ture "* and piety are widely different ; nor is it
possible for truth to be united with violence, or
justice with cruelty. But with good reason they
do not venture to teach anything concerning di-
vine things, lest they should both be derided by
our people and be deserted by their own. For
the common peoi)le for the most part, if they
ascertain that these mysteries were instituted in
memory of the dead, will condemn them, and
seek for some truer object of worship.

2 Ex mortibus. Another reading is, ex moribus.

3 [That is, the introductions, historically recorded, of such rites;
e.g., by Numa. See vol. iii. p. 36, this series.]

* Carnificina.

CiiAi\ XX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

157

" Hence rites of mystic awe " '

were instituted by crafty men, that the people
may not know what they worship. But since
we are acquainted with their systems, why do
they either not believe us who are acquainted
with both, or envy us because we have preferred
truth to falsehood? But, they say, the pubKc
rites of religion 2 must be defended. Oh with
what an honourable inclination the wretched
men go astray ! For they are aware that there
is nothing among men more excellent than reli-
gion, and that this ought to be defended with
the whole of our power ; but as they are deceived
in the matter of religion itself, so also are they
in the manner of its defence. For religion is to
be defended, not by putting to death, but by
dying ; not by cruelty, but by patient endurance ;
not by guilt, but by good faith : for the former
belong to evils, but the latter to goods ; and it
is necessary for that which is good to have place
in religion, and not that which is evil. For if
you wish to defend religion by bloodshed, and
by tortures, and by guilt, it will no longer be
defended, but will be polluted and profaned.
For nothing is so much a matter of free-will as
religion ; in which, if the mind of the worship-
per is disinclined to it, religion is at once taken
away, and ceases to exist. The right method
therefore is, that you defend religion by patient
endurance or by death ; in which the preserva-
tion of the faith is both pleasing to God Himself,
and adds authority to religion. For if he who
in this earthly warfare preserves his faith to his
king in some illustrious action, if he shall con-
tinue to live, because more beloved and accepta-
ble, and if he shall fall, obtains the highest glory,
because he has undergone death for his leader ;
how much more is faith to be kept towards God,
the Ruler of all, who is able to pay the reward
of virtue, not only to the living, but also to the
dead ! Therefore the worship of God, since it
belongs to heavenly warfare, requires the great-
est devotedness and fidelity. For how will God
either love the worshipper, if He Himself is not
loved by him, or grant to the petitioner whatever
he shall ask, when he draws nigh to offer his
prayer without sincerity or reverence ? But these
men, when they come to offer sacrifice, present to
their gods nothing from within, nothing of their
own — no uprightness of mind, no reverence or
fear. Therefore, when the worthless sacrifices
are completed, they leave their religion altogether
in the temple, and with the temple, as they had
found it ; and neither bring with them anything
of it, nor take anything back. Hence it is that
religious observances of this kind are neither
able to make men good, nor to be firm and un-

' Virg., Mn., iii. W2.
• Suscepta publice sacra.

changeable. And thus men are easily led away
from them, because nothing is learned in them
relating to the life, nothing relating to wisdom,
nothing to faith.3 For what is the religion of
those gods? what is its power? what its disci-
pline ? what its origin ? what its principle ? what
its foundation? what its substance? what is its
tendency? or what 'does it promise, so that it
may be faithfully preserved and boldly defended
by man? I see nothing else in it than a rite
pertaining to the fingers only.-* But our religion
is on this account firm, and solid, and unchange-
able, because it teaches justice, because it is
always with us, because it has its existence alto-
gether in the soul of the worshipper, because it
has the mind itself for a sacrifice. In that reli-
gion nothing else is required but the blood of
animals, and the smoke of incense, and the
senseless pouring out of libations ; but in this
of ours, a good mind, a pure breast, an innocent
life : those rites are frequented by unchaste adul-
teresses without any discrimination, by impudent
procuresses, by filthy harlots ; they are frequented
by gladiators, robbers, thieves, and sorcerers, who
pray for nothing else but that they may commit
crimes with impunity. For what can the robber
ask when he sacrifices, or the gladiator, but that
they may slay? what the poisoner, but that he
may escape notice ? what the harlot, but that she
may sin to the uttermost? what the adulteress,
but either the death of her husband, or that her
unchastity may be concealed? what the procur-
ess, but that she may deprive many of their
property? what the thief, but that he may com-
mit more peculations? But in our religion there
is no place even for a slight and ordinary offence ;
and if any one shall come to a sacrifice without
a sound conscience, he hears what threats God
denounces against him : that God, I say, who
sees the secret places of the heart, who is alway
hostile to sins, who requires justice, who demands
fidelity. What place is there here for an evil
mind or for an evil prayer? But those unhappy
men neither understand from their own crimes
how evil it is to worship, since, defiled by all
crimes, they come to offer prayer ; and they
imagine that they offer a pious sacrifice if they
wash their skin ; as though any streams could
wash away, or any seas purify, the lusts which
are shut up within their breast. How much
better it is rather to cleanse the mind, which is
defiled by evil desires, and to drive away all
vices by the one laver of virtue and faith !
For he who shall do this, although he bears
a body which is defiled and sordid, is pure
enough.

3 ["Parous Deorum cultor et infrequens:" so Horace describes
himself in this spirit. Odes, book i. 34, p. 215, ed. Delphin.]
■♦ [See p. 155, note 2, suprai\

158

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

CHAP. XXI. — OF THE WORSHIP OF OTHER GODS
AND THE TRUE GOD, AND OF THE ANIMALS
WHICH THE EGYPTIANS WORSHIPPED.

But they, because they know not the object
or the mode of worship, blindly and uncon-
sciously fall into the contrary practice. Thus
they adore their enemies, they appease with vic-
tims their robbers and murderers, and they place
their own souls to be burned with the very in-
cense on detestable altars. The wretched men
are also angry, because others do not perish in
like manner, with incredible blindness of minds.
For what can they see who do not see the sun ?
As though, if they were gods, they would need
the assistance of men against their despisers.
Why, therefore, are they angry with us, if they
have no power to effect anything? Unless it be
that they destroy their gods, whose power they
distrust, they are more irreligious than those who
do not worship them at all. Cicero, in his Laws,'
enjoining men to approach with holiness to the
sacrifices, says, '' Let them put on piety, let them
lay aside riches ; if any one shall act otherwise,
Crod Himself will be the avenger." This is well
spoken ; for it is not right to despair about God,
whom you worship on this account, because you
think Him powerful. For how can He avenge
the wrongs of His worshippers, if He is unable
to avenge His own? I wish therefore to ask
them to whom especially they think that they
are doing a service in compelling them to sacri-
fice against their will. Is it to those whom they
compel? But that is not a kindness which is
done to one who refuses it. But we must con-
sult their interests, even against their will, since
they know not what is good. Why, then, do
they so cruelly harass, torture, and weaken them,
if they wish for their safety? or whence is piety
so impious, that they either destroy in this
wretched manner, or render useless, those whose
welfare they wish to promote ? Or do they do
service to the gods? But that is not a sacrifice
which is extorted from a person against his will.
For unless it is offered spontaneously, and from
the soul, it is a curse ; when men sacrifice, com-
pelled by proscription, by injuries, by prison, by
tortures. If they are gods who are worshipped
in this manner, if for this reason only, they ought
not to be worshipped, because they wish to be
worshipped in this manner : they are doubtless
worthy of the detestation of men, since libations
are made to them with tears, with groaning, and
with blood flowing from all the limbs.

But we, on the contrary, do not require that
any one should be compelled, whether he is
willing or unwilling, to worship our God, who is
the God of all men ; nor are we angry if any one

• [Lib. ii. cap. lo. A noble reference in this chapter to equality
among men.]

does not worship Him. For we trust in the
majesty of Him who has power to avenge con-
tempt shown towards Himself, as also He has
power to avenge the calamities and injuries in-
flicted on His servants. And therefore, when
we suffer such impious things, we do not resist
even in word ; but we remit vengeance to God,
not as they act who would have it appear that
they are defenders of their gods, and rage with-
out restraint against those who do not worship
them. From which it may be understood how
it is not good to worship their gods, since men
ought to have been led to that which is good by
good, and not by evil ; but because this is evil,
even its office is destitute of good. But they
who destroy religious systems must be punished.
Have we destroyed them in a worse manner than
the nation of the Egyptians, who worship the
most disgraceful figures of beasts and cattle,
and adore as gods some things which it is even
shameful to speak of? Have we done worse
than those same who, when they say that they
worship the gods, yet publicly and shamefully
deride them? — for they even allow pantomimic ^
representations of them to be acted with laughter
and pleasure. What kind of a religion is this,
or how great must that majesty be considered,
which is adored in temples and mocked in the-
atres? And they who have done these things
do not suffer the vengeance of the injured deity,
but even go away honoured and praised. Do we
destroy them in a worse manner than certain
philosophers, who say that there are no gods at
all, but that all things are spontaneously pro-
duced, and that all things which are done hap-
pen by chance ? Do we destroy them in a worse
manner than the Epicureans, who admit the ex-
istence of gods, but deny that they regard any-
thing, and say that they are neither angry nor
are influenced by favour ? By which words they
plainly persuade men that they are not to be
worshipped at all, inasmuch as they neither re-
gard their worshippers, nor are angry with those
who do not worship them. Moreover, when
they argue against fears, they endeavour to effect
nothing else than that no one should fear the
gods. And yet these things are willingly heard
by men, and discussed with impunity.

CHAP. XXII. OF THE RAGE OF THE DEMONS

AG.'^INST CHRISTL^NS, AND THE ERROR OF UN-
BELIEVERS.

They do not therefore rage against us on this
account, because their gods are not worshipped
by us, but because the truth is on our side,
which (as it has been said most truly) i)roduces
hatred. What, then, shall we think, but that they

' Mimos agi.

Chap. XXIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

159

are ignorant of what they suffer? For they act '
with a blind and unreasonable fury, which we
see, but of which they are ignorant. For it is
not the men themselves who persecute, for they
have no cause of anger against the innocent ;
but those contaminated and abandoned spirits
by whom the truth is both known and hated,
insinuate themselves into their minds, and goad
them in their ignorance to fury. For these, as
long as there is peace among the people of God,
flee from the righteous, and fear them ; and when
they seize upon the bodies of men, and harass
their souls, they are adjured by them, and at
the name of the true God are put to flight. For
when they hear this name they tremble, cry out,
and assert that they are branded and beaten ;
and being asked who they are, whence they are
come, and how they have insinuated themselves
into a man, confess it. Thus, being tortured and
excruciated by the power of the divine name,
they come out of the man.^ On account of
these blows and threats, they always hate holy
and just men ; and because they are unable
of themselves to injure them, they pursue with
public hatred those whom they perceive to be
grievous to them, and they exercise cruelty, with
all the violence which they can employ, that they
may either weaken their faith by pain, or, if they
are unable to effect that, may take them away
altogether from the earth, that there may be
none to restrain their wickedness. It does not
escape my notice what reply can be made on
the other side. Why, then, does that God of
surpassing power, that mighty One, whom you
confess to preside over all things, and to be Lord
of all, permit these things to be done, and neither
avenge nor defend His worshippers? Why, in
short, are they who do not worship Him rich, and
powerful, and happy? and why do they enjoy
honours and kingly state, and have these very
persons ^ subject to their power and sway ?

We must also give a reason for this, that no
error may remain. For this is especially the
cause why it is thought that religion has not the
power of God, because men are influenced by-
the appearance of earthly and present goods,
which in no way have reference to the care of
the mind ; and because they see that the right-
eous are without these goods, and that the un-
righteous abound in them, they both judge that
the worship of God is worthless, in which they
do not see these things contained, and they im-
agine that the rites of other gods are true, since
their worshippers enjoy riches and honours and
kingdoms. But they who are of this opinion do
not attentively consider the power and method

' Pergitur enim . . . furore. Another reading is, " Perciti enim
perieruntur . . . furore."

^ Exsulantur. Other readings are, " exsolantur," " expelluntur,"
"exultantur." [Compare p. 393, note i, vol. r., this series.]

5 Eos ipsos. I.e., Christians.

of man, which consists altogether in the mind,
and not in the body. For they see nothing
more than is seen, namely the body ; and because
this is to be seen and handled,'* it is weak, frail,
and mortal ; and to this belong all those goods
which are their desire and admiration, wealth,
honours, and governments, since they bring
pleasures to the body, and therefore are as liable
to decay as the body itself. But the soul, in
which alone man consists, since it is not exposed
to the sight of the eyes, and its goods cannot be
seen, for they are placed in virtue only, must
therefore be as firm, and constant, and lasting
as virtue itself, in which the good of the soul
consists.

CHAP, XXIII. — OF THE JUSTICE AND PATIENCE OF
THE CHRISTIANS.

It would be a lengthened task to draw forth
all the appearances of virtue, to show respecting
each how necessary it is for a wise and just man
to be far removed from those goods, the enjoy-
ment of which by the unjust causes the worship
of their gods to be regarded as true and effica-
cious. As our present inquiry is concerned, it
will be sufficient to prove our point from the
case of a single virtue. For instance, patience
is a great and leading virtue, which the public
voices of the people and philosophers and orators
alike extol with the highest praises. But if it
cannot be denied that this is a virtue of the
highest kind, it is necessary that the just and
wise man should be in the power of the unjust,
for obtaining patience ; for patience is the bear-
ing with equanimity of the evils which are either
inflicted or happen to fall upon us. Therefore
the just and wise man, because he exercises
virtue, has patience in himself; but he will be
altogether free from this if he shall suffer no
adversity. On the other hand, the man who
lives in prosperity is impatient, and is without
the greatest virtue. I call him impatient, because
he suffers nothing. He is also unable to preserve
innocency, which virtue is peculiar to the just
and wise man. But he often acts unjustly also,
and desires the property of others, and seizes
upon that which he has desired by injustice, be-
cause he is without virtue, and is subject to vice
and sin ; and forgetful of his frailty, he is puffed
up with a mind elated with insolence.

From this cause the unjust, and those who are
ignorant of God, abound with riches, and power,
and honours. For all these things are the re-
wards of injustice, because they cannot be per-
petual, and they are sought through lust and
violence. But the just and wise man, because
he deems all these things as human, as it has
been said by Lailius, and his own goods as divine,

* Quia oculis manuque tractabile est.

i6o

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book V.

neither desires anything which belongs to another,
lest he should injure any one at all in violation
of the law of humanity ; nor does he long for
any power or honour, that he may not do an
injury to any one. For he knows that all are
produced by the same God, and in the same
condition, and are joined together by the right
of brotherhood.' But being contented with his
own, and that a little, because he is mindful of
his frailty, he does not seek for anything beyond
that which may support his life ; and even from
that which he has he bestows a share on the
destitute, because he is pious ; but piety is a
very great virtue. To this is added, that he
despises frail and vicious pleasures, for the sake
of which riches are desired ; since he is tem-
perate, and master of his passions. He also,
having no pride or insolence, does not raise
himself too highly, nor lift up his head with
arrogance ; but he is calm and peaceful, lowly 2
and courteous, because he knows his own condi-
tion. Since, therefore, he does injury to none,
nor desires the property of others, and does not
even defend his own if it is taken from him by
violence, since he knows how even to bear with
moderation an injury inflicted upon him, because
he is endued with virtue ; it is necessary that
the just man should be subject to the unjust,
and that the wise should be insulted by the
foolish, that the one may sin because he is unjust,
and the other may have virtue in himself because
he is just.

But if any one shall wish to know more fully
why God permits the wicked and the unjust to
become powerful, happy, and rich, and, on the
other hand, suffers the pious to be humble,
wretched, and poor, let him take the book of
Seneca which has the title, " Why many evils
happen to good men, though there is a provi-
dence ; " in which book he has said many
things, not assuredly with the ignorance of this
world, but wisely, and almost with divine inspi-
ration.^ " God," he says, '' regards men as His
children, but He permits the corrupt and vicious
to live in luxury and delicacy, because He does
not think them worthy of His correction. But
He often chastises the good whom He loves,
and by continual labours exercises them to the
practice of virtue : nor does He permit them to
be corrupted and depraved by frail and perish-
able goods." From which it ought to appear
strange to no one if we are often chastised by
God for our faults. Yea, rather, when we are
harassed and pressed, then we especially give
thanks to our most indulgent Father, because
He does not permit our corruption to proceed

' [See vol. iii. (cap. 36), p. 45, note 1, this series.]
* Planus et communis.

3 [" Deus homines pro liberis habet sed corruptos." He attributes !
a sort of msplration to such a writer, as to Orpheus and the .'^ibyl.J j

to greater lengths, but corrects it with stripes
and blows. From which we understand that we
are an object of regard to God, since He is
angry when we sin. For when He might have
bestowed upon His people both riches and
kingdoms, as He had before given them to the
Jews, whose successors and posterity we are ;
on this account He would have them live under
the power and government of others, lest, being
corrupted by the happiness of prosperity, they
should glide into luxury and despise the precepts
of God ; as those ancestors of ours, who, oft-
times enervated by these earthly and frail goods,
departed from discipline and burst the bonds of
the law. Therefore He foresaw how far He
would afford rest to His worshippers if they
should keep His commandments, and yet cor-
rect them if they did not obey His precepts.
Therefore, lest they should be as much cor-
rupted by ease as their fathers had been by in-
dulgence,'' it was His will that they should be
oppressed by those in whose power He placed
them, that He may both confirm them when
wavering, and renew them to fortitude when cor-
rupted, and try and prove them when faithful.
For how can a general prove the valour of his
soldiers, unless he shall have an enemy? And
yet there arises an adversary to him against his
will, because he is mortal, and is able to be con-
quered ; but because God cannot be opposed.
He Himself stirs up adversaries to His name,
not to fight against God Himself, but against
His soldiers, that He may either prove the de-
votedness and fidelity of His servants, or may
strengthen them, until He corrects their wasting
discipline by the stripes of affliction. 5

There is also another cause why He permits
persecutions to be carried on against us, that the
people of God may be increased.^ Nor is it
difficult to show why or how this happens.
First of all, great numbers are driven from the
worship of the false gods by their hatred of
cruelty. For who would not shrink from such
sacrifices? In the next place, some are pleased
with virtue and faith itself. Some suspect that
it is not without reason that the worship of the
gods is considered evil by so many men, so that
they would rather die than do that which others
do that they may preserve their life. Some one
desires to know what that good is which is de-
fended even to death, which is preferred to all
things which are pleasant and beloved in this life,
from which neither the loss of goods, nor of the
light, nor bodily pain, nor tortures of the vitals
deter them. These things have great effect ;
but these causes have always especially increased

* Licentia.

5 Pressurae verberibus. The word "pressura"is used by the
Fathers to express persecution or calamity.

b [See'rertullian,vol. iii. pp. 36 (note i), 45 (note t), 49, 55, and 60.]

Chap. XXIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

i6i

the number of our followers. The people who
stand around hear them saying in the midst of
these very torments that they do not sacrifice to
stones wrought by the hand of man, but to the
living God, who is in heaven : many understand
that this is true, and admit it into their breast.
In the next place, as it is accustomed to happen
in matters of uncertainty while they make in-
quiry of one another, what is the cause of this
perseverance, many things which relate to reli-
gion, being spread abroad and carefully observed
by rumour among one another, are learned ; and
because these are good they cannot fail to please.
Moreover, the revenge which follows, as always
happens, greatly impels men to believe. Nor,
indeed, is it a slight cause that the unclean
spirits of demons, having received permission,
throw themselves into the bodies of many ; and
when these have afterwards been driven out,
they who have been healed cling to the religion,
the power of which they have experienced.
These numerous causes being collected together,
wonderfully gain over a great multitude to God.'

CHAP. XXIV. OF THE DIVINE VENGEANCE IN-
FLICTED ON THE TORTURERS OF THE CHRIS-
TIANS.

Whatever, therefore, wicked princes plan
against us, God Himself permits to be done.
And yet most unjust persecutors, to whom the

' [A most important resume of the effects upon the heathen of
Christian fortitude and patience. See TertuUian on " the Seed of the
Church," vol. iii. pp. 55 and 60; also vol. iv. p. ia6.]

name of God was a subject of reproach and
mockery, must not think that they will escape
with impunity, because they have been, as it
were, the ministers of His indignation against
us. For they will be punished with the judg-
ment of God, who, having received power, have
abused it to an inhuman degree, and have even
insulted God in their arrogance, and placed His
eternal name beneath their feet, to be impiously
and wickedly trampled upon. On this account
He promises that He will quickly take ven-
geance upon them, and exterminate the evil
monsters^ from the earth. But He also, although
He is accustomed to avenge the persecutions ^
of His people even in the present world, com-
mands us, however, to await patiently that day
of heavenly judgment, in which He Himself
will honour or punish every man according to
his deserts. Therefore let not the souls of the
sacrilegious expect that those whom they thus
trample upon will be despised and unavenged.
Those ravenous and voracious wolves who have
tormented just and innocent souls, without the
commission of any crimes, will surely meet with
their reward. Only let us labour, that nothing
else in us may be punished by men but right-
eousness alone : let us strive with all our power
that we may at once deserve at the hands of
God the avenging of our suffering and a reward.

2 Bestias malas. Lactantius in several passages applies this ex-
pression to the persecutors of the Christians. ^A quotation from the
Cretian poet cited by St. Paul. " Cretenses semper mendaces malts
(5£'i//>, ventres pigri." Tit. ii. 12.]

3 Vexationes."

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

BOOK VI.

OF TRUE WORSHIP.

CHAP. I. — OF THE WORSHIP OF THE TRUE GOD,
AND OF INNOCENCY, AND OF THE WORSHIP OF
FALSE GODS.

We have completed that which was the object
of our undertaking, through the teaching of the
Divine Spirit, and the aid of the truth itself;
the cause of asserting and explaining which was
imposed upon me both by conscience and faith,
and by our Lord Himself, without whom nothing
can be known or clearly set forth. I come now
to that which is the chief and greatest part of
this work — to teach in what manner or by what
sacrifice God must be worshipped. For that is
the duty of man, and in that one object the sum
of all things and the whole course of a happy
life consists, since we were fashioned and re-
ceived the breath of life from Him on this ac-
count, not that we might behold the heaven and
the sun, as Anaxagoras supposed, but that we
might with pure and uncorrupted mind worship
Him who made the sun and the heaven. But
although in the preceding books, as far as my
moderate talent permitted, I defended the truth,
yet it may especially be elucidated ' by the mode
of worship itself For that sacred and surpass-
ing majesty requires from man nothing more
than innocence alone ; and if any one has pre-
sented this to God, he has sacrificed with suf-
ficient piety and religion. But men, neglecting
justice, though they are polluted by crimes
and outrages of all kinds, think themselves
religious if they have stained the temples and
altars with the blood of victims, if they have
moistened the hearths with a profusion of fra-
grant and old wine. Moreover, they also pre-
pare sacred feasts and choice banquets, as though
they offered to those who would taste something
from them. Whatever is rarely to be viewed,
whatever is precious in workmanshij) or in fra- 1
grance, that they judge to be pleasing to their

■ Elucere potest.

162

gods, not by any reference to their divinity, of
which they are ignorant, but from their own
desires ; nor do they understand that God is in
no want of earthly resources.

For they have no knowledge of anything ex-
cept the earth, and they estimate good and evil
things by the perception and pleasure of the
body alone. And as they judge of religion ac-
cording to its pleasure, so also they arrange the
acts of their whole life. And since they have
turned away once for all from the contemplation
of the heaven, and have made that heavenly fac-
ulty the slave of the body, they give the reins to
their lusts, as though they were about to bear
away pleasure with themselves, which they hasten
to .enjoy at every moment ; \vhereas the soul
ought to employ the service of the body, and
not the body to make use of the service of the
soul. The same men judge riches to be the
greatest good. And if they cannot obtain them
by good practices, they endeavour to obtain
them by evil practices ; they deceive, they carry
off by violence, they plunder, they lie in wait,
they deny on oath ; in short, they have no con-
sideration or regard for anything,^ if only they
can glitter with gold, and shine conspicuous with
plate, with jewels, and with garments, can spend
riches upon their greedy appetite, and always
walk attended with crowds of slaves through the
people compelled to give way.^ Thus devoting ■♦
themselves to the service of pleasures, they ex-
tinguish the force and vigour of the mind ; and
when they especially think that they are alive,
they are hastening with the greatest precipitation
to death. For, as we showed in the second
book, the soul is concerned with heaven, the
body with the earth. 5 'I'hey who neglect the
goods of the soul, and seek those of the body,

2 Nihil moderati aut pensi habent. The expression is borrowed
from Salhist, Catiline, xii.
J Per dimotum populum.
< Addicti ct servicntes voluptatibus.
5 [See book ii. op. 2, p. 43, supra.\

Chap. II.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

163

are engaged with darkness and death, which be-
long to the earth and to the body, because Hfe
and hght are from heaven ; and they who are
without this, by serving the body, are far re-
moved from the understanding of divine things.
The same bhndness everywhere oppresses the
wretched men ; for as they know not who is
the true God, so they know not what constitutes
true worship.

CHAP. II. — OF THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS AND
THE TRUE GOD.

Therefore they sacrifice fine and fat victims to
God, as though He were hungry ; they pour
forth wine to Him, as though He were thirsty ;
they kindle lights to Him, as though He were in
darkness.' But if they were able to conjecture
or to conceive in their mind what those heavenly
goods are, the greatness of which we cannot
imagine, while we are still encompassed with an
earthly body, they would at once know that
they are most foolish with their empty offices.
Or if they would contemplate that heavenly
light which we call the sun, they will at once
perceive how God has no need of their candles,
who has Himself given so clear and bright a
light for the use of man.' And when, in so
small a circle, which on account of its distance
appears to have a measure no greater than that
of a human head, there is still so much brilliancy
that mortal eye cannot behold it, and if you
should direct your eye to it for a short time mist
and darkness would overspread your dimmed
eyes, what light, I pray, what brightness, must
we suppose that there is in God, with whom
there is no night? For He has so attempered
this very light, that it might neither injure living
creatures by excessive brightness or vehement
heat, and has given it so much of these proper-
ties as mortal bodies might endure or the ripen-
ing of the crops require. Is that man, therefore,
to be thought in his senses, who presents the light
of candles and torches as an offering to Him
who is the Author and Giver of light? The
light which He requires from us is of another
kind, and that indeed not accompanied with
smoke, but (as the poet says) clear and bright ;
I mean the light of the mind, on account of
which we are called by the poets photes,^ which
light no one can exhibit unless he has known
God. But their gods, because they are of the
earth, stand in need of lights, that they may not
be in darkness ; and their worshippers, because
they have no taste for anything heavenly, are
recalled to the earth even by the religious rites
to which they are devoted." For on the earth

' [The ritual use of lights was unknown to primitive Christians,
however harmless il may be.]

2 <i)a)Tes. There is here a play on the double meaning of the
word — '/)ii<r, a light, and </)ujs, a man. Some editions read " c/xo?
nuncupatur."

there is need of a light, because its system and
nature are dark. Therefore they do not attribute
to the gods a heavenly perception, but rather a
human one. And on this account they believe
that the same things are necessary and pleasing
to them as to us, who, when hungry, have need
of food ; or, when thirsty, of drink ; or, when
we are cold, require a garment ; or, when the
sun has withdrawn himself, require a light that
we may be able to see.^

From nothing, therefore, can it be so plainly
proved and understood that those gods, since
they once lived, are dead, as from their worship
itself, which is altogether of the earth. For
what heavenly influence can there be in the
shedding of the blood of beasts, with which
they stain their altars? unless by chance they
imagine that the gods feed upon that which men
shrink from touching. And whoever shall have
offered to them this food,'* although he be an
assassin, an adulterer, a sorcerer, or a parricide,
he will be happy and prosperous. Him they
love, him they defend, to him they afford all
things which he shall wish for. Persius there-
fore deservedly ridicules superstitions of this
kind in his own style : s " With what bribe," he
says, " dost thou win the ears of gods ? Is it
with lungs and rich intestines ? " He plainly
perceived that there is no need of flesh for
appeasing the majesty of heaven, but of a pure
mind and a just spirit, and a breast, as he him-
self says, which is generous with a natural love
of honour. This is the religion of heaven —
not that which consists of corrupt things, but of
the virtues of the soul, which has its origin
from heaven ; this is true worship, in which the
mind of the worshipper presents itself as an
undefiled offering to God. But how this is to
be obtained, how it is to be afforded, the dis-
cussion of this book will show ; for nothing can
be so illustrious and so suited to man as to
train men to righteousness.^

In Cicero, Catulus in the Hortensius, while
he prefers philosophy to all things, says that he
would rather have one short treatise respecting
duty, than a long speech in behalf of a seditious
man Cornelius. And this is plainly to be re-
garded not as the opinion of Catulus, who per-
haps did not utter this saying, but as that of
Cicero, who wrote it. I believe that he wrote it
for the purpose of recommending these books
which he was about to write on Offices, in which
very books he testifies that nothing in the whole

3 [The Lutherans retain altar-lights in Europe, and their use has
never been wholly obsolete in the Anglican churches; but il is evi-
dent from our author that " from the beginning it was not so." This
is not said with any scruple against their use where it is authorized
by competent legislation.]

* Saginam, thick coarse food, such as that which was given to
gladiators.

5 Persius, Sat., ii. 29.

* [Ad justitiam. In Christian use, it means more than "jus-
tice," which is put here by the translator.]

1 64

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

range of philosophy is better and more profit-
able than to give precepts for living. But if
this is done by those who do not know the
truth, how much more ought we to do it, who
are able to give true precepts,' being taught and
enlightened by God? Nor, however, shall we
so teach as though we were delivering the first
elements of virtue, which would be an endless
task, but as though we had undertaken the in-
struction of him who, with them, appears to be
already perfect. For while their precepts re-
main, which they are accustomed to give cor-
rectly, with a view to uprightness, we will add to
them things which were unknown to them, for
the completion and consummation of righteous-
ness, which they do not possess. But I will
omit those things which are common to us with
them, that I may not appear to borrow from
those whose errors I have determined to convict
and bring to light.

CHAP. III. — OF THE WAYS, AND OF VICES AND
VIRTUES ; AND OF THE REWARDS OF HEAVEN
AND THE PUNISHMENTS OF HELL.

There are two ways,^ O Emperor Constantine,
by which human life must proceed — the one
which leads to heaven, the other which sinks to
hell ; and these ways poets have introduced in
their poems, and philosophers in their disputa-
tions. And indeed philosophers have repre-
sented the one as belonging to virtues, the other
to vices ; and they have represented that which
belongs to virtues as steep and rugged at the
first entrance, in which if any one, having over-
come the difficulty, has climbed to the summit,
they say that he afterwards has a level path, a
bright and pleasant plain, and that he enjoys
abundant and delightful fruits of his labours ;
but that those whom the difficulty of the first
approach has deterred, glide and turn aside into
the way of vices, which at its first entrance ap-
pears to be pleasant and much more beaten, but
afterwards, when they have advanced in it a little
further, that the appearance of its pleasantness
is withdrawn, and that there arises a steep way,
now rough with stones, now overspread with
thorns, now interrupted by deep waters or vio-
lent with torrents, so that they must be in diffi-
culty, hesitate, slip about, and fall. And all
these things are brought forward that it may
appear that there are very great labours in under-
taking virtues, but that when they are gained
there are the greatest advantages, and firm and
incorruptible pleasures ; but that vices ensnare
the minds of men with certain natural blandish-

' [i John iit. 1-8. The ethical truth of the Gospel was under-
stood and exemplified by the primitive faithful.]

* [One wonders whether the /'«</■ / iir here be not a reference to
the " Apost. Constitutions" ;book vii.), which, with the Bryennios
discOTery, will receive attention hereafter.]

ments, and lead them captivated by the appear-
ance of empty pleasures to bitter griefs and
miseries, — an altogether wise discussion, if they
knew the forms and limits of the virtues them-
selves. For they had not learned either what
they are, or what reward awaits them from God :
but this we will show in these two books.

But these men, because they were ignorant or
in doubt that the souls of men are immortal,
estimated both virtues and vices by earthly hon-
ours or punishments. Therefore all this discus-
sion respecting the two ways ^ has reference to
frugality and luxury. For they say that the
course of human life resembles the letter Y, be-
cause every one of men, when he has reached
the threshold of early youth, and has arrived at
the place " where the way divides itself into two
parts," ■< is in doubt, and hesitates, and does not
know to which side he should rather turn himself.
If he shall meet with a guide who may direct
him wavering to better things — that is, if he
shall learn philosophy or eloquence, or some
honourable arts by which he may turn to good
conduct,^ which cannot take place without great
labour — they say that he will lead a life of
honour and abundance ; but if he shall not meet
with a teacher of temperance,^ that he falls into
the way on the left hand, which assumes the
appearance of the better, — that is, he gives
himself up to idleness, sloth, and luxury, which
seem pleasant for a time to one who is ignorant
of true goods, but that afterwards, having lost
all his dignity and proj^erty, he will live in all
wretchedness and ignominy. Therefore they
referred the end of those ways ^ to the body, and
to this life which we lead on earth. The poets
perhaps did better, who would have it that this
twofold way was in the lower regions ; but they
are deceived in this, that they proposed these
ways to the dead. Both therefore spoke with
truth, but yet both incorrectly ; for the ways
themselves ought to have been referred to life,
their ends to death. We therefore speak better
and more truly, who say that the two ways ^ be-
long to heaven and hell, because immortality is
promised to the righteous, and everlasting pun-
ishment is threatened to the unrighteous.

But I will explain how these ways either exalt
to heaven or thrust down to hell, and I will set
forth what these virtues are of which the philoso-
phers were ignorant ; then I will show what are
their rewards, and also what are vices, and what
their punishments. For perhaps some one may
expect that I shall speak separately of vices and
virtues ; whereas, when we discuss the subject
of good or evil, that which is contrary may also

s [Again the Duee Via. See capp. i and 5, in (eds. Hitchcock
and Brown) the Bryennios MS., pp. 3 and ij.]
* Virg , yEncid, vi. 540.
5 K.vad.it ad bonam frugem.
<> Frugalitatis.

Chap. IV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

165

be understood. For, whether you introduce
virtues, vices will spontaneously depart ; or if
you take away vices, virtues will of their own
accord succeed. The nature of good and evil
things is so fixed, that they always oppose and
drive out one another : and thus it comes to
pass that vices cannot be removed without
virtues, nor can virtues be introduced without
the removal of vices. Therefore we bring for-
ward these ways in a very different manner
frOm that in which the philosophers are accus-
tomed to present them : first of all, because we
say that a guide is proposed to each, and in
each case an immortal : but that the one is hon-
oured who presides over virtues and good qual-
ities, the other condemned who presides over
vices and evils. But they place a guide only on
the right side, and that not one only, nor a last-
ing one ; inasmuch as they introduce any teacher
of a good art, who may recall men from sloth,
and teach them to be temperate. But they do
not represent any as entering upon that way ex-
cept boys and young men ; for this reason, that
the arts are learned at these ages. We, on the
other hand, lead those of each sex, every age
and race, into this heavenly path, because God,
who is the guide of that way, denies immortality
to no human being.' The shape also of the
ways themselves is not as they supposed. For
what need is there of the letter Y in matters
which are different and opposed to one another ?
But the one which is better is turned towards
the rising of the sun, the other which is worse
towards its setting : since he who follows truth
and righteousness, having received the reward
of immortality, will enjoy perpetual light ; but he
who, enticed by that evil guide, shall prefer vices
to virtues, falsehood to truth, must be borne to
the setting of the sun, and to darkness.^ I will
therefore describe each, and will point out their
properties and habits.

CHAP. IV. — OF THE WAYS OF LIFE, OF PLEASURES,
ALSO OF THE HARDSHIPS OF CHRISTIANS.

There is one way, therefore, of virtue and the
good, which leads, not, as the poets say, to the
Elysian plains, but to the very citadel of the
world : —

"The left gives sinners up to pain,
And leads to Tartarus' guilty reign." ^

For it belongs to that accuser who, having in-
vented false religions, turns men away from the
heavenly path, and leads them into the way of
perdition. And the appearance and shape of
this way is so composed to the sight, that it

■ [Universal redemption is lovingly set forth by our author.]

^ [A reference to the baptismal rite; the catechumen renouncing

the works of darkness with his face to the west, and turning eastward

to confess the Sun of Righteousness.]
3 Virg., ALneid, vi. 542.

appears to be level and open, and delightful with
all kinds of flowers and fruits. For there are
placed ■♦ in it all things which are esteemed on
earth as good things — I mean wealth, honour,
repose, pleasure, all kinds of enticements ; but
together with these also injustice, cruelty, pride,
perfidy, lust, avarice, discord, ignorance, false-
hood, folly, and other vices. But the end of this
way is as follows : When they have reached the
point from which there is now no return, it is so
suddenly removed, together with all its beauty,
that no one is able to foresee the fraud before
that he falls headlong into a deep abyss. For
whoever is captivated by the appearance of pres-
ent goods, and occupied with the pursuit and
enjoyment of these, shall not have foreseen the
things which are about to follow after death, and
shall have turned aside from God ; he truly will
be cast down to hell, and be condemned to
eternal punishment.

But that heavenly way is set forth as difficult
and hilly, or rough with dreadful thorns, or en-
tangled with stones jutting out ; so that every
one must walk with the greatest labour and wear-
ing of the feet, and with great precautions against
falling. In this he has placed justice, temperance,
patience, faith, chastity, self-restraint, concord,
knowledge, truth, wisdom, and the other virtues ;
but together with these, poverty, ignominy, labour,
pain, and all kinds of hardship. For whoever
has extended his hope beyond the present, and
chosen better things, will be without these earthly
goods, that, being lightly equipped and without
impediment, he may overcome the difficulty of
the way. For it is impossible for him who has
surrounded himself with royal pomp, or loaded
himself with riches, either to enter upon or to
persevere in these difficulties. And from this it
is understood that it is easier for the wicked and
the unrighteous to succeed in their desires, be-
cause their road is downward and on the decline ;
but that it is difficult for the good to attain to
their wishes, because they walk along a difficult
and steep path. Therefore the righteous man,
since he has entered upon a hard and rugged
way, must be an object of contempt, derision,
and hatred. For all whom desire or pleasure
drags headlong, envy him who has been able
to attain to virtue, and take it ill that any one
possesses that which they themselves do not pos-
sess. Therefore he will be poor, humble, ignoble,
subject to injury, and yet enduring all things
which are grievous ; and if he shall continue his
patience unceasingly to that last step and end,
the crown of virtue will be given to him, and he
will be rewarded by God with immortality for
the labours which he has endured in life for the
sake of righteousness. These are the ways which

< Posita sunt omnia. There is another reading, " posuit Deus
omnia."

1 66

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

God has assigned to human hfe, in each of which
he has shown both good and evil things, but in
a changed and inverted order. In the one he
has pointed out in the first place temporal evils
followed by eternal goods, which is the better
order ; in the other, first temporal goods followed
by eternal evils, which is the worse order : so
that, whosoever has chosen present evils together
with righteousness, he will obtain greater and more
certain goods than those were which he despised ;
but whoever has preferred present goods to right-
eousness, will fall into greater and more lasting
evils than those were which he avoided. For as
this bodily life is short, therefore its goods and
evils must also be short ; but since that spiritual
life, which is contrary to this earthly life, is ever-
lasting, therefore its goods and evils are also
everlasting. Thus it comes to pass, that goods
of short duration are succeeded by eternal evils,
and evils of short duration by eternal goods.

Since, therefore, good and evil things are set
before man at the same time, it is befitting that I
every one should consider with himself how
much better it is to compensate evils of short }
duration by perpetual goods, than to endure per- 1
petual evils for short and perishable goods. For
as, in this life, when a contest with an enemy
is set before you, you must first labour that you i
may afterwards enjoy repose, you must suffer
hunger and thirst, you must endure heat and
cold, you must rest on the ground, must watch j
and undergo dangers, that your children,' and
house, and property being preserved, you may ,
be able to enjoy all the blessings of peace and j
victory ; but if you should choose present ease j
in preference to labour, you must do yourself
the greatest injury : for the enemy will surprise
you offering no resistance, your lands will be
laid waste, your house plundered, your wife and
children become a prey, you yourself will be
slain or taken prisoner ; to prevent the occur-
rence of these things, present advantage must
be put aside, that a greater and more lasting ad-
vantage may be gained ; — so in the whole of
this life, because God has provided an adversary
foi us, that we might be able to acquire virtue,
present gratification must be laid aside, lest the
enemy should overpower us. We must be on
the watch, must post guards, must undertake
military expeditions, must shed our blood to the
uttermost ; in short, we must patiently submit to
all things which are unpleasant and grievous,
and the more readily because God our com-
mander has appointed for us eternal rewards for
our labours. And since in this earthly warfare
men expend so much labour to acquire for them-
selves those things which may perish in the same
manner as that in which they were acquired,

* Pignoribus.

assuredly no labour ought to be refused by us,
by whom that is gained which can in no way be
lost.

For God, who created men to this warfare,
desired that they should stand prepared in bat-
tle array, and with minds keenly intent should
watch against the stratagems or open attacks
of our single enemy, who, as is the practice of
skilful and experienced generals, endeavours to
ensnare us by various arts, directing his rage ac-
cording to the nature and disposition of each.
For he infuses into some insatiable avarice, that,
being chained by their riches as by fetters, he
may drive them from the way of truth. He in-
flames others with the excitement of anger, that
while they are rather intent upon inflicting in-
jury, he may turn them aside from the con-
templation of God. He plunges others into
immoderate lusts, that, giving themselves to
pleasure of the body, they may be unable to
look towards virtue. He inspires others with
envy, that, being occupied with their own tor-
ments, they may think of nothing but the happi-
piness of those whom they hate. He causes
others to swell with ambitious desires. These
are they who direct the whole occupation and
care of their life to the holding of magistracies,
that they may set a mark upon the annals,^ and
give a name to the years. The desire of others
mounts higher, not that they may rule provinces
with the temporal sword, but with boundless and
perpetual power may wish to be called lords of
the whole human race.^ Moreover, those whom
he has seen to be pious he involves in various "*
superstitions, that he may make them impious.
But to those who seek for wisdom, he dashes
philosophy before their eyes,5 that he may blind
them with the appearance of light, lest any one
should grasp and hold fast the truth. Thus he
has blocked up all the approaches against men,
and has occupied the way, rejoicing in public
errors ; but that we might be able to dispel these
errors, and to overcome the author of evils him-
self, God has enlightened us, and has armed us
with true and heavenly virtue, respecting which
I must now speak.

CHAP. V. — OF FALSE AND TRUE VIRTUE ; AND OF
KNOWLEDGE.

But before I begin to set forth the separate
virtues, I must mark out the character of virtue
itself, which the philosophers have not rightly

^ It was customary' in many of the ancient states to connect the
year with the name of the chief magistrate who was then in office.
Thus at Athens the title of the chief magistrate was Archon F.pony-
mus, giving name to the year; and at Rome, the year was reckoned
by the names of the consuls then in office.

3 [Ut infinita et perpelua potestate dominos se dici velint universi
generis hnmani. A Ijold hint to Constanline.]

* Variis. .Another rea^iing is " vanis."

? Philosophiam in oculos impingit. [A warning to the emperoi,
a rcllcction on such as the Antonines, and a proUpiis of Julian. ]

Chap. V.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

167

defined, as to its nature, or in what things it
consisted ; and I must describe its operation and
office. For they only retained the name, but lost
its power, and nature, and effect. But whatever
they are accustomed to say in their definition of
virtue, Lucilius puts together and expresses in a
few verses, which I prefer to introduce, lest,
while I refute the opinions of many, I should be
longer than is necessary : —

" It is virtue, O Albinus, to pay the proper price,
To attend to the matters in which we are engaged, and

in which we live.
It is virtue for a man to know the nature of everything.
It is virtue for a man to know what is right and useful

and honourable,
What things are good, and what are evil.
What is useless,' base, and dishonourable.
It is virtue to know the end of an object to be sought,

and the means of p7 0curijtg it.
It is virtue to be able to assign their value to riches.
It is virtue to give that which is really due to honour ;
To be the enemy and the foe ^ of bad men and manners,

but, on the other hand, the defender of good men

and manners ;
To esteem these highly, to wish them well, to live in

friendship with them ,
Moreover, to consider the interest of one's country

first ;
Then those of parents, to put our own interests in the

third and last place."

From these definitions, which the poet briefly
puts together, Marcus TulHus derived the offices
of living, following Panaetius the Stoic,^ and in-
cluded them in three books.

But we shall presently see how false these
things are, that it may appear how much the
divine condescension has bestowed on us in
opening to us the truth. He says that it is vir-
tue to know what is good and evil, what is base,
what is honourable, what is useful, what is useless.
He might have shortened his treatise if he had
only spoken of that which is good and evil ;
for nothing can be useful or honourable which
is not also good, and nothing useless and base
which is not also evil. And this also appears
to be thus to philosophers, and Cicero shows it
likewise in the third book of the above-mentioned
treatise.'' But knowledge cannot be virtue, be-
cause it is not within us, but it comes to us from
without. But that which is able to pass from
one to the other is not virtue, because virtue is
the property of each individual. Knowledge
therefore consists in a benefit derived from an-
other ; for it depends upon hearing. Virtue is
altogether our own ; for it depends upon the
will of doing that which is good. As, therefore,
in undertaking a journey, it is of no profit to
know the way, unless we also have the effort and

' rinutilia.]

^ Hostem atque inimicum: the former word signifies a " public,"
the latter a " private enemy."

3 \De Officiis, passim. Notably, to begin with, book i. cap. 3:
" Triplex igitur," etc.]

•« YDe Nat. Dear., iii. See also De Off., cap. 5, sec. 18.]

strength for walking, so truly knowledge is of no
avail if our virtue fails. For, in general, even
they who sin perceive what is good and evil,
though not perfectly ; and as often as they act
improperly, they know that they sin, and there-
fore endeavour to conceal their actions. But
though the nature of good and evil does not es-
cape their notice, they are overpowered by an
evil desire to sin, because they are wanting in
virtue, that is, the desire of doing right and hon-
ourable things. Therefore that the knowledge
of good and evil is one thing, and virtue another,
appears from this, because knowledge can exist
without virtue, as it has been in the case of many
of the philosophers ; in which, since not to have
done what you knew to be right is justly censur-
able, a depraved will and a vicious mind, which
ignorance cannot excuse, will be justly punished.
Therefore, as the knowledge of good and evil is
not virtue, so the doing that which is good and
the abstaining from evil is virtue. And yet
knowledge is so united with virtue, that knowl-
edge precedes virtue, and virtue follows knowl-
edge ; because knowledge is of no avail unless
it is followed up by action. Horace therefore
speaks somewhat better : " Virtue is the fleeing
from vice, and the first wisdom is to be free from
folly." 5 But he speaks improperly, because he
defined virtue by its contrary, as though he should
say. That is good which is not evil. For when
I know not what virtue is, I do not know what
vice is. Each therefore requires definition, be-
cause the nature of the case is such that each
must be understood or not understood.^

But let us do that which he ought to have
done. It is a virtue to restrain anger, to con-
trol desire, to curb lust ; for this is to flee from
vice. For almost all things which are done un-
justly and dishonestly arise from these affections.
For if the force of this emotion which is called
anger be blunted, all the evil contentions of men
will be lulled to rest ; no one will plot, no one
will rush forth to injure another. Also, if de-
sire be restrained, no one will use violence by
land or by sea, no one will lead an army to car-
ry off and lay waste the property of others. Also,
if the ardour of lusts be repressed, every age
and sex will retain its sanctity ; no one will suf-
fer, or do anything disgraceful. Therefore all
crimes and disgraceful actions will be taken
away from the life and character of men, if
these emotions are appeased and calmed by
virtue. And this calming of the emotions and
affections has this meaning, that we do all things
which are right. The whole duty of virtue then
is, not to sin. And assuredly he cannot dis-
charge this who is ignorant of God, since igno-

5 Epist., i. I. 41.

'' [To be taken with a grain of salt, but apparently comprehended
in our author's personal theodicy. 1

1 68

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VF.

ranee of Him from whom good things proceed
must thrust a man unawares into vices. There-
fore, that I may more briefly and significantly
fix the offices of each subject, knowledge is to
know God, virtue is to worship Him : the former
implies wisdom, the latter righteousness.

CHAP. VI. OF THE CHIEF GOOD AND VIRTUE,

AND OF KNOWLEDGE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I have said that which was the first thing, that
the knowledge of good is not virtue ; and sec-
ondly, I have shown what virtue is, and in what
it consists. It follows that I should show this
also, that the philosophers were ignorant of what
is good and evil ; and this briefly, because it has
Deen almost ' made plain in the third book,
when I was discussing the subject of the chief
good. And because they did not know what
the chief good was, they necessarily erred in the
case of the other goods and evils which are not
the chief; for no one can weigh these with a
true judgment who does not possess the fountain
itself from which they are derived. Now the
source of good things is God ; but of evils, he
who is always the enemy of the divine name, of
whom we have often spoken. From these two
sources good and evil things have their origin.
Those which proceed from God have this ob-
ject, to procure immortality, which is the great-
est good ; but those which arise from the other
have this office, to call man away from heavenly
things and sink him in earthly things, and thus
to consign him to the punishment of everlast-
ing death, which is the greatest evil. Is it there-
fore doubtful but that all those were ignorant of
what was good and evil, who neither knew God
nor the adversary of God ? Therefore they re-
ferred the end of good things to the body, and
to this short life, which must be dissolved and
perish : they did not advance further. But all
their precepts, and all the things which they in-
troduce as goods, adhere to the earth, and lie on
the ground, since they die with the body, which
is earth ; for they do not tend to procure life for
man, but either to the acquisition or increase of
riches, honour, glory, and power, which are alto-
gether mortal things, as much so indeed as he
who has laboured to obtain them. Hence is
that saying,^ " It is virtue to know the end of an
object 3 to be sought, and the means of procur-
ing it ; " for they enjoin by what means and by
what practices property is to be sought, for they
see that it is often sought unjustly. But virtue
of this kind is not proposed to the wise man ;
for it is not virtue to seek riches, of which

' PoL'ne: others read" plenfe," and" plaiii." [c. 30, p. loo, ^«/m ]

^ [The first of the three iiiutilia of I.ucihus, tit supra, thus:

(O. " Virtus quairenda: rei finem scire, modumque: " (2) "Virtus

divitiis prctium persolvcre posse ; " (7) " Virtus id dare quod re ipsa

debetur honori." See p. 167, sufira.]

3 See chap. v. [p. 167, supra].

neither the finding nor the possession is in our
power : therefore they are more easy to be
gained and to be retained by the bad than by
the good. Virtue, then, cannot consist in the
seeking of those things in the despising of which
the force and purport of virtue appears ; nor
will it have recourse to those very things which,
with its great and lofty mind, it desires to tram-
ple upon and bruise under foot ; nor is it lawful
for a soul which is earnestly fixed on heavenly
goods to be called away from its immortal pur-
suits, that it may acquire for itself these frail
things. But the course * of virtue especially
consists in the acquisition of those things which
neither any man, nor death itself, can take away
from us. Since these things are so, that which
follows is true : " It is virtue to be able to assign
their value to riches : " which verse is nearly of
the same meaning as the first two. But neither
he nor any of the philosophers was able to know
the price itself, either of what nature or what it
is ; for the poet, and all those whom he followed,
thought that it meant to make a right use of
riches, — that is, to be moderate in living, not
to make costly entertainments, not to squander
carelessly, not to expend property on superfluous
or disgraceful objects. 5

Some one will perhaps say. What do you say?
Do you deny that this is virtue ? I do not deny
it indeed ; for if I should deny it, I should ap-
pear to prove the opposite. But I deny that it
is true virtue ; because it is not that heavenly
principle, but is altogether of the earth, since it
produces no effect but that which remains on the
earth.*^ But what it is to make a right use of
wealth, and what advantage is to be sought from
riches, I will declare more openly when I shall
begin to speak of the duty of piety. Now the
other things which follow are by no means true ;
for to proclaim enmity against the wicked, or to
undertake the defence of the good, may be com-
mon to it with the evil. For some, by a pretence
of goodness, prepare the way for themselves to
power, and do many things which the good are
accustomed to do, and that the more readily be-
cause they do them for the sake of deceiving ;
and I wish that it were as easy to carry out
goodness in action as it is to pretend to it. But
when they have begun to attain to their purpose
and their wish in reaching the highest step of
j)Ower, then, truly laying aside pretence, these
men discover their character; they seize upon
everything, and offer violence, and lay waste ;
and they press upon the good themselves, whose
cause they had undertaken ; and they cut away
the steps by which they mounted, that no one

* Ratio virtutis.

S [How I love our author for his winning; reproof of mere philo-
sophical virtue in contrast with evangelical righteousness!]

'■ [See the Quis Dives Salvetur of Clement, vol. ii. p. 591, this
series. I

Chap. VII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

169

may be able to imitate them against themselves.
But, however, let us suppose that this duty of
defending the good belongs only to the good
man. Yet to undertake it is easy, to fulfil it is
difficult ; because when you have committed
yourself to a contest and an encounter, the
victory is placed at the disposal of God, not in
your own power. And for the most part the
wicked are more powerful both in number and
in combination than the good, so that it is not
SO' much virtue which is necessary to overcome
them as good fortune. Is any one ignorant how
often the better and the juster side has been
overcome? From this cause harsh tyrannies
have always broken out against the citizens. All
history is full of examples, but we will be content
with one. Cnoeus Pompeius wished to be the
defender of the good, since he took up arms
m defence of the commonwealth, in defence of
the senate, and in defence of liberty ; and yet
the same man, being conquered, perished to-
gether with liberty itself," and being mutilated
by Egyptian eunuchs, was cast forth unburied.^

It is not virtue, therefore, either to be the
enemy of the bad or rhe defender of the good,
because virtue cannot be subject to uncertain
chances.

*' Moreover, to reckon the interests of our country as in
the first place."

When the agreement of men is taken away,
virtue has no existence at all ; for what are the
interests of our country, but the inconveniences
of another state or nation ? — that is, to extend
the boundaries which are violently taken from
others, to increase the power of the state, to im
prove the revenues, — all which things are not
virtues, but the overthrowing of virtues : for, in
the first place, the union of human society is
taken away, innocence is taken away, the ab-
staining from the property of another is taken
away ; lastly, justice itself is taken away, which
is unable to bear the tearing asunder of the
human race, and wherever arms have glittered,
must be banished and exterminated from thence.
This saying of Cicero 3 is true : " But they who
say that regard is to be had to citizens, but that
it is not to be had to foreigners, these destroy
the common society of the human race ; and
when this is removed, beneficence, liberality,
kindness, and justice are entirely* taken away."
For how can a man be just who injures, who
hates, who despoils, who puts to death? And
they who strive to be serviceable to their country
do all these thmgs : for they are ignorant of what
this being serviceable is, who think nothing use-

' [.Haggai li. 7. " La journee de Pharsale fut la derni&re heure
de la liberie. Le senat, les lois, le peuple, les moeurs, le mond remain
etaient aneantis avec Pompee." — Lam artine. ]

^ [See, on Pharsalia, etc., Lamartine's eloquent remarks, P'ie des
Grands Ho»imes (Cesar), vol. v. pp. 276-277, ed. Paris, 1856.!

•3 De Offic, iii. 6.

* Funditus, " from the very foundation."

ful, nothing advantageous, but that which can be
held by the hand ; and this alone cannot be
held, because it may be snatched away.

Whoever, then, has gained for his country
these goods — as they themselves call them —
that is, who by the overthrow of cities and the
destruction of nations has filled the treasury with
money, has taken lands and enriched his country-
men — he is extolled with praises to the heaven :
in him there is said to be the greatest and per-
fect virtue. And this is the error not only of the
people and the ignorant, but also of philosophers,
who even give precepts for injustice, lest folly
and wickedness should be wanting in discipline
and authority. Therefore, when they are speak-
ing of the duties relating to warfare, all that dis-
course is accommodated neither to justice nor
to true virtue, but to this life and to civil institu-
tions ; 5 and that this is not justice the matter
itself declares, and Cicero has testified.^ " But
we," he says, " are not in possession of the real
and life-like figure of true law and genuine justice,
we have nothing but delineations and sketches ; ^
and I wish that we followed even these, for they
are taken from the excellent copies made by
nature and truth." It is then a delineation and
a sketch which they thought to be justice. But
what of wisdom? does not the same man confess
that it has no existence in philosophers ? " Nor,"
he says,^ " when Fabricius or Aristides is called
just, is an example of justice sought from these
as from a wise man ; for none of these is wise
in the sense in which we wish the truly wise to
be understood. Nor were they who are esteemed
and called wise, Marcus Cato and Caius Laelius,
actually wise, nor those well-known seven ; ^ but
from their constant practice of the ' middle du-
ties,' '° they bore a certain likeness and appear-
ance " of wise men." If therefore wisdom is
taken away from the philosophers by their own
confession, and justice is taken away from those
who are regarded as just, it follows that all those
descriptions of virtue must be false, because no one
can know what true virtue is but he who is just and
wise. But no one is just and wise but he whom
God has instructed with heavenly precepts.

CHAP. Vn. — OF THE WAY OF ERROR AND OF
TRUTH : THAT IT IS SINGLE, NARROW, AND
STEEP, AND HAS GOD FOR ITS GUIDE.

For all those who, by the confessed folly of
others, are thought wise, being clothed with the

5 Moremque civilem.

6 De Offic, iii. 17.

7 Umbra et imaginibus. The figure is borrowed partly from
sculpture and partly from painting. " Effigies " is the moulded form,
as opposed to the mere outline, " umbra " and " imago."

^ De Offic, iii. 4. The words, " aut ab illis fortitudinis, aut,"
have not been translated, because they refer to the " Decii ' and the
" Scipiones," who are mentioned by Cicero as e.xamples of braveryj
but are omitted by Lactantius.

9 [See p loi, supra.\

'5 [E.v mediorurn officiorum frequentia, etc.]

" LRom. i. 22.]

170

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI

appearance of virtue, grasp at shadows and out-
lines, but at nothing true. Which happens on
this account, because that deceitful road which
inclines to the west has many paths, on account
of the variety of pursuits and systems which are
dissimilar and varied in the life of men. For as
that way of wisdom contains something which
resembles folly, as we showed in the preceding
book, so this way, which belongs altogether to
folly, contains something which resembles wis-
dom, and they who perceive the folly of men in
general seize upon this ; and as it has its vices
manifest, so it has something which appears to
resemble virtue : as it has its wickedness open,
so it has a likeness and appearance of justice.
For how could the forerunner ' of that way,
whose strength and power are altogether in de-
ceit, lead men altogether into fraud, unless he
showed them some things which resembled the
truth ?^ For, that His immortal secret might
be hidden, God placed in his way things which
men might despise as evil and disgraceful, that,
turning away from wisdom and truth, which they
were searching for without any guide, they might
fall upon that very thing which they desired to
avoid and flee from. Therefore he points out
that way of destruction and death which has
many windings, either because there are many
kinds of life, or because there are many gods
who are worshipped.

The deceitful ^ and treacherous guide of this
way, that there may appear to be some distinc-
tion between truth and falsehood, good and evil,
leads the luxurious in one direction, and those
who are called temperate * in another ; the igno-
rant in one direction, the learned in another ;
the sluggish in one direction, the active in an-
other ; the foolish in one direction, the philoso-
phers in another, and even these not in one
path. For those who do not shun pleasures or
riches, he withdraws a little from this public and
frequented road ; but those who either wish to
follow virtue, or profess a contempt for things,
he drags over certain rugged precipices. But
nevertheless all those paths which display an
appearance of honours are not different roads,
but turnings off 5 and bypaths, which appear in-
deed to be separated from that common one,
and to branch off to the right, but yet return
to the same, and all lead at the very end to one
issue. For that guide unites them all, where it
was necessary that the good should be separated
from the bad, the strong from the inactive, the
wise from the foolish ; namely, in the worship
of the gods, in which he slays them ail with one

' Prsecursor: th»: exact meaning of the word is a " scout."
^ Verisimilia: the word generally means " probabilities."
3 Praevaricator; properly an advocate who, by collusion, favours
the cause of his opponent.
* Frugi.
S Diver;icui»

sword, because they were all foolish without any
distinction, and plunges them into death. But
this way — which is that of truth, and wisdom,
and virtue, and justice, of all which there is but
one fountain, one source of strength, one abode
— is both simple,^ because with like minds, and
with the utmost agreement, we follow and wor-
ship one God ; and it is narrow, because virtue
is given to the smaller number ; and steep, be-
cause goodness, which is very high and lofty,
cannot be attained to without the greatest diffi-
culty and labour.

CHAP. VIII. — OF THE ERRORS OF PHILOSOPHERS,
AND THE VARIABLENESS OF LAW.

This is the way which philosophers seek, but
do not find on this account, because they prefer
to seek it on the earth, where it cannot appear.
Therefore they wander, as it were, on the great
sea, and do not understand whither they are
borne, because they neither discern the way nor
follow any guide. For this way of life ought to
be sought in the same manner in which their
course is sought by ships over the deep : for
unless they observe some light of heaven, they
wander with uncertain courses. But whoever
strives to hold the right course of life ought not
to look to the earth, but to the heaven : and, to
speak more plainly, he ought not to follow man,
but God ; not to serve these earthly images, but
the heavenly God ; not to measure all things by
their reference to the body, but by their reference
to the soul ; not to attend to this life, but the
eternal life. Therefore, if you always direct
your eyes towards heaven, and observe the sun,
where it rises, and take this as the guide of your
life, as in the case of a voyage, your feet will
spontaneously be directed into the way ; and
that heavenly light, which is a much brighter sun ^
to sound minds than this which we behold in
mortal flesh, will so rule and govern you as to
lead you without any error to the most excellent
harbour of wisdom and virtue.

Therefore the law of God must be undertaken,
which may direct us to this path ; that sacred,
that heavenly law, which Marcus Tullius, in his
third book respecting the Republic,** has de-
scribed almost with a divine voice ; whose words
I have subjoined, that I might not speak at
greater length : " There is indeed a true law,
right reason, agreeing with nature, diffused among
all, unchanging, everlasting, which calls to duty
[ by commanding, deters from wrong by forbid-
i ding ; which, however, neither commands nor
! forbids the good in vain, nor affects the wicked
j by commanding or forbidding. It is not allow-

* Simplex, as opposed to the various paths of the other.
I 7 Mulio clarior sol est, quam hie Others read, " Multo clarius
I sole est, quam hie," etc.
' *> [/\t/>iii., iii. cap. 22, 16.]

Chap. IX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

171

able to alter ' the provisions of this law, nor is it
permitted us to modify it, nor can it be entirely
abrogated.' Nor, truly, can we be released from
this law, either by the senate or by the people ;
nor is another person to be sought to explain or
interpret it. Nor will there be one law at Rome
and another at Athens ; one law at the present
time, and another hereafter : but the same law,
everlasting and unchangeable, will bind all nations
at all times ; and there will be one common
Master and Ruler of all, even God, the framer,
arbitrator, and proposer of this law ; and he who
shall not obey this will flee from himself, and,
despising the nature of man, will suffer the
greatest punishments through this very thing, even
though he shall have escaped the other punish-
ments which are supposed to exist." Who that
is acquainted with the mystery of God could so
significantly relate the law of God, as a man far
removed from the knowledge of the truth has
set forth that law ? But I consider that they who
speak true things unconsciously are to be so re-
garded as though they prophesied ^ under the
influence of some spirit. But if he had known
or explained this also, in what precepts the law
itself consisted, as he clearly saw the force and
purport of the divine law, he would not have
discharged the office of a philosopher, but of a
prophet. And because he was unable to do
this, it must be done by us, to whom the law
itself has been delivered by the one great Master
and Ruler of all, God.

CHAP. IX. OF THE L.^W AND PRECEPT OF GOD ;

OF MERCY, AND THE ERROR OF THE PHILOSO-
PHERS.

The first head of this law is, to know God
Himself, to obey Him alone, to worship Him
alone. For he cannot maintain the character
of a man who is ignorant of God, the parent of
his soul : which is the greatest impiety. For
this ignorance causes him to serve other gods,
and no greater crime than this can be committed.
Hence there is now so easy a step to wickedness
through ignorance of the truth and of the chief
good ; since God, from the knowledge of whom
he shrinks, is Himself the fountain of goodness.
Or if he shall wish to follow the justice of God,
yet, being ignorant of the divine law, he em-
braces the laws of his own country as true jus-
tice, though they were clearly devised not by
justice, but by utility. For why is it that there
are different and various laws amongst all people,
but that each nation has enacted for itself that
which it deemed useful for its own affairs? But
how greatly utility differs from justice the Roman

' Abrogo is to repeal or abrogate wholly; " derogo," to abrogate
in part, or modify; " obrogo," to supersede by another law,

2 Divinent. [Illustrative of the Sibyllina, and, m short, of Ba-
laam; and not less of Rom ii. 14, 15.]

people themselves teach, who, by proclaiming
war through the Fecials, and by inflicting inju-
ries according to legal forms, by always desiring
and carrying off the property of others, have
gained for themselves the possession of the
whole world. 3 But these persons think them-
selves just if they do nothing against their own
laws ; which may be even ascribed to fear, if
they abstain from crimes through dread of pres-
ent punishment. But let us grant that they do
that naturally, or, as the philosopher says, of
their own accord, which they are compelled to
do by the laws. Will they therefore be just,
because they obey the institutions of men, who
may themselves have erred, or have been un-
just ? — as it was with the framers of the twelve
tables, who certainly promoted the public advan-
tage according to the condition of the times.
Civil law is one thing, which varies everywhere
according to customs ; but justice is another
thing, which God has set forth to all as uniform
and simple : and he who is ignorant of God
must also be ignorant of justice.

But let us suppose it possible that any one,
by natural and innate goodness, should gain
true virtues, such a man as we have heard that
Cimon was at Athens, who both gave alms to the
needy, and entertained the poor, and clothed
the naked ; yet, when that one thing which is
of the greatest importance is wanting — the
acknowledgment of God — then all those good
things are superfluous and empty, so that in pur-
suing them he has laboured in vain."* For all
his justice will resemble a human body which
has no head, in which, although all the limbs
are in their proper position, and figure, and pro-
portion, yet, since that is wanting which is the
chief thing of all, it is destitute both of life and
of all sensation. Therefore those limbs have
only the shape of limbs, but admit of no use,
as much so as a head without a body ; and he
resembles this who is not without the knowledge
of God, but yet lives unjustly. For he has that
only which is of the greatest importance ; but
he has it to no purpose, since he is destitute of
the virtues, as it were, of limbs.

Therefore, that the body may be alive, and
capable of sensation, both the knowledge of
God is necessary, as it were the head, and all
the virtues, as it were the body. Thus there
will exist a perfect and living man ; but, how-
ever, the whole substance is in the head ; and
although this cannot exist in the absence of all,
it may exist in the absence of some. And it
will be an imperfect and faulty animal, but yet it
will be alive, as he who knows God and yet sins
in some respect. For God pardons sins. And

3 [Dan. vii. :
■* [i Cor. iii.

23. An appeal for reformation.]
11-15. But are the heathen to be judged by the
New Covenant? See vol. ii. (Clement, sfarsim), this series.]

1/2

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI.

thus it is possible to live without some of the
limbs, but it is by no means possible to live
without a head. This is the reason why the phi-
losophers, though they may be naturally good,
yet have no knowledge and no intelligence.
All their learning and virtue is without a head,
because they are ignorant of God, who is the
Head of virtue and knowledge ; and he who is
ignorant of Him, though he may see, is blind ;
though he may hear, is deaf; though he may
speak, is dumb. But when he shall know the
Creator and Parent of all things, then he will
both see, and hear, and speak. For he begins
to have a head, in which all the senses are
placed, that is, the eyes, and ears, and tongue.
For assuredly he sees who has beheld with the
eyes of his mind the truth in which God is, or
God in whom the truth is ; he hears, who im-
prints on his heart the divine words and life-
giving precepts ; he speaks, who, in discussing
heavenly things, relates the virtue and majesty
of the surpassing God. Therefore he is un-
doubtedly impious who does not acknowledge
God ; and all his virtues, which he thinks that
he has or possesses, are found in that deadly
road which belongs altogether to darkness.
Wherefore there is no reason why any one
should congratulate himself if he has gained
these empty virtues, because he is not only
wretched who is destitute of present goods, but
he must also be foolish, since he undertakes the
greatest labours in his life without any purpose.
For if the hope of immortality is taken away,
which God promises to those who continue in
His religion, for the sake of obtaining which
virtue is to be sought, and whatever evils happen
are to be endured, it will assuredly be the
greatest folly to wish to comply with virtues
which in vain bring calamities and labours to
man. For if it is virtue to endure and undergo
with fortitude, want, exile, pain, and death,
which are feared by others, what goodness, I
])ray, has it in itself, that philosophers should
say that it is to be sought for on its own
account ? Truly they are delighted with super-
fluous and useless punishments, when it is per-
mitted them to live in tranquillity.

For if our souls are mortal, if virtue is about
to have no existence after the dissolution of the
body, why do we avoid the goods assigned to
us, as though we were ungrateful or unworthy
of enjoying the divine gifts ? For, that we may
enjoy tliese blessings, we must live in wickedness
and impiety, because virtue, that is, justice, is
followed by poverty. Therefore he is not of
sound mind, who, without having any greater
hope set before him, prefers labours, and tor-
tures, and miseries, to those goods which others
enjoy in life." But if virtue is to be taken up,

' [i Cor. XV. 19.]

as is most rightly said by these, because it is
evident that man is bom to it, it ought to con-
tain some greater hope, which may apply a
great and illustrious solace for the ills and
labours which it is the part of virtue to endure.
Nor can virtue, since it is difficult in itself, be
esteemed as a good in any other way than by
having its hardship compensated by the greatest
good. We can in no other way equally abstain
from these present goods, than if there are
other greater goods on account of which it is
worth while to leave the pursuit of pleasures,
and to endure all evils. But these are no other,
as I have shown in the third book,^ than the
goods of everlasting life. Now who can bestow
these except God, who has proposed to us vir-
tue itself? Therefore the sum and substance of
everything is contained in the acknowledging
and worship of God ; all the hope and safety
of man centres in this ; this is the first step of
wisdom, to know who is our true Father, and to
worship Him alone with the piety which is due
to Him, to obey Him, to yield ourselves to
His service with the utmost devotedness : let
our entire acting, and care, and attention, be
laid out in gaining His favour.^

CHAP. X. — OF RELIGION TOWARDS GOD, AND
MERCY TOWARDS MEN ; AND OF THE BEGINNING
OF THE WORLD.

1 have said what is due to God, I will now say
what is to be given to man ; although this very
thing which you shall give to man is given to
God, for man is the image of God. But, how-
ever, the first office of justice is to be united
with God, the second with man. But the
former is called religion ; the second is named
mercy, or kindness ; •♦ which virtue is peculiar to
the just, and to the worshippers of God, be-
cause this alone comprises the principle of
common life. For God, who has not given
wisdom to the other animals, has made them
more safe from attack in danger by natural de-
fences. But because He made him naked and
defenceless, 5 that He might rather furnish him
with wisdom. He gave him, besides other things,
this feeling of kindness ; ^ so that man should
protect, love, and cherish man, and both receive
and afford assistance against all dangers. There-
fore kindness is the greatest bond of human
society ; and he who has broken this is to be
deemed impious, and a parricide. For if we
all derive our origin from one man, whom God

2 [See cap. 12, p. 79, supra.]

3 In eo promerendo. [John xvii. 3.]
* Humanitas.

5 Fragilem.

['^u<^l9 K«paTa Tavf}Oi<;

On\a^ S' fSu}K€U ITTTTOl?

Tocs aj'Spaati' ^poyrjfjLO., K.T.A,

(> Hunc pietatis affectum.

Anacreon, OJe 2.]

Chap. X.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

created, we are plainly of one blood ; and
therefore it must be considered the greatest
wickedness to hate a man, even though guilty.
On which account God has enjoined that enmi-
ties are never to be contracted by us, but that
they are always to be removed, so that we soothe
those who are our enemies, by reminding them
of their relationship. Likewise, if we are all
inspired and animated by one God, what else
are we than brothers? And, indeed, the more
closely united, because we are united in soul
rather than in body.' Accordingly Lucretius
does not err when he says : ^ "In short, we are
all sprung from a heavenly seed ; all have that
same father." Therefore they are to be ac-
counted as savage beasts who injure man ; who,
in opposition to every law and right of human
nature, plunder, torture, slay, and banish.

On account of this relationship of brother-
hood, God teaches us never to do evil, but
always good. And He also prescribes ^ in what
this doing good consists : in affording aid to
those who are oppressed and in difficulty, and in
bestowing food on those who are destitute. For
God, since He is kind,* wished us to be a social
animal. Therefore, in the case of other men,
we ought to think of ourselves. We do not de-
serve to be set free in our own dangers, if we do
not succour others ; we do not deserve assist-
ance, if we refuse to render it. There are no
precepts of philosophers to this purport, inas-
much as they, being captivated by the appear-
ance of false virtue, have taken away mercy from
man, and while they wish to heal, have cor-
rupted.s And though they generally admit that
the mutual participation of human society is to
be retained, they entirely separate themselves
from it by the harshness of their inhuman virtue.
This error, therefore, is also to be refuted, of
those who think that nothing is to be bestowed
on any one. They have introduced not one
origin only, and cause of building a city ; but
some relate that those men who were first born
from the earth, when they passed a wandering life
among the woods and plains, and were not united
by any mutual bond of speech or justice, but
had leaves and grass for their beds, and caves
and grottos for their dwellings, were a prey to
the beasts and stronger animals. Then, that
those who had either escaped, having been torn,
or had seen their neighbours torn, being admon-
ished of their own danger, had recourse to other

' Conjunctiores, qu6d animis, quain quod (others read " qui ")
corporibiis.

2 [Modern followers of Lucretius may learn from him: —

Denique ccelesti sumus omnes semine oriundi;
Omnibus lUe idem pater est.]

"• 99V

3 Isa. Iviii. 6, 7; Ezek. xviii. 7; Matt. xxv. 35.
■♦ Pius.

5 Dum volunt sanare, \'itiaverunt. There is another reading:
" dum volunt sanare vitia, auxerunt," while they wish to apply a rem-
edy to vices, have increased them.

men, implored protection, and at first made
their wishes known by nods ; then that they tried
the beginnings of conversation, and by attaching
names to each object, by degrees completed the
system of speech. But when they saw that
numbers themselves were not safe against the
beasts, they began also to build towns, either
that they might make their nightly repose safe,
or that they might ward off the incursions and
attacks of beasts, not by fighting, but by inter-
posing barriers.^

O minds unworthy of men, which produced
these foolish trifles ! O wretched and pitiable
men, who committed to writing and handed
down to memory the record of their own folly ;
who, when they saw that the plan of assembling
themselves together, or of mutual intercourse, or
of avoiding danger, or of guarding against evil,
or of preparing for themselves sleeping-places
and lairs, was natural even to the dumb animals,
thought, however, that men could not have been
admonished and learned, except by examples,
what they ought to fear, what to avoid, and what
to do, or that they would never have assembled
together, or have discovered the method of
speech, had not the beasts devoured them !
These things appeared to others senseless, as
they really were ; and they said that the cause
of their coming together was not the tearing of
wild beasts, but rather the very feeling of human-
ity itself; and that therefore they collected
themselves together, because the nature of men
avoided solitude, and was desirous of commun-
ion and society. The discrepancy between them
is not great ; since the causes are different, the
fact is the same. Each might have been true,
because there is no direct opposition. But,
however, neither is by any means true, because
men were not born from the ground throughout
the world, as though sprung from the teeth of
some dragon^ as the poets relate ; but one man
was formed by God, and from that one man all
the earth was filled with the human race, in the
same way as again took place after the deluge,
which they certainly cannot deny. 7 Therefore
no assembling together of this kind took place
at the beginning ; and that there were never
men on the earth who could not speak except
those who were infants,*^ every one who is pos-
sessed of sense will understand. Let us suppose,
however, that these things are true which idle
and foolish old men vainly say, that we may re-
fute them especially by their own feelings and
arguments.

If men were collected together on this account,

* Objectis aggeribus. "Agger" properly signifies a mound of
earth or other material.

7 [Gen X. 32.]

* Pra;ter infantiam — others read "propter infans " — properly
means, one unable to speak. [See fine remarks on language, etc., in
De Maistre, Soireis, etc., vol. i. p. loj and notes, ed. Lyon, 1836.]

174

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book Vt

that they might protect their weakness by mutual
help, therefore we must succour man, who needs
help. For, since men entered into and con-
tracted fellowship with men for the sake of pro-
tection, either to violate or not to preserve that
compact which was entered into among men
from the commencement of their origin, is to be
considered as the greatest impiety. For he who
withdraws himself from affording assistance must
also of necessity withdraw himself from receiving
it ; for he who refuses his aid to another thinks
that he stands in need of the aid of none. But
he who withdraws and separates himself from
the body ' at large, must live not after the custom
of men, but after the manner of wild beasts.
But if this cannot be done, the bond of human
society is by all means to be retained, because
man can in no way live without man. But the
preservation ^ of society is a mutual sharing of
kind offices ; that is, the affording help, that we
may be able to receive it. But if, as those others
assert, the assembling together of men has been
caused on account of humanity itself, man ought
undoubtedly to recognise man. But if those
ignorant and as yet uncivilized men did this, and
that, when the practice of speaking was not yet
estabUshed, what must we think ought to be done
by men who are polished, and connected together
by interchange of conversation and all business,
who, being accustomed to the society of men,
cannot endure solitude ?

CHAP. XI. — OF THE PERSONS UPON WHOM A BENE-
FIT IS TO BE CONFERRED.

Therefore humanity is to be preserved, if we
wish rightly to be called men. But what else is
this preservation of humanity than the loving a
man because he is a man, and the same as our-
selves ? Therefore discord and dissension are
not in accordance with the nature of man ; and
that expression of Cicero is true, which says ^
that man, while he is obedient to nature, cannot
injure man. Therefore, if it is contrary to nature
to injure a man, it must be in accordance with
nature to benefit a man ; and he who does not
do this deprives himself of the title of a man,
because it is the duty of humanity to succour
the necessity and peril of a man. I ask, there-
fore, of those who do not think it the part of a
wise man to be prevailed upon and to pity, If a
man were seized by some beast, and were to
implore the aid of an armed man, whether they
think that he ought to be succoured or not?
'i'hey are not so shameless as to deny tliat that
ought to be done which humanity demands and

' A corpore, that is, from society.

* Retentio. The word sometimes signifies a " withhoMinij," or
"drawing back; " but here, as in other passages, Lactantius uses it
to express " preservation."

3 Dt OJic, iii 5

requires. Also, if any one were surrounded by
fire, crushed by the downfall of a building,
plunged in the sea, or carried away by a river,
would they think it the duty of a man not to
assist him? They themselves are not men if
they think so ; for no one can fail to be liable to
dangers of this kind. Yes, truly, they will say
that it is the part of a human being, and of a
brave man too, to preserve one who was on the
point of perishing. If, therefore, in casualties
of this nature which imperil the life of man, they
allow that it is the part of humanity to give suc-
cour, what reason is there why they should think
that succour is to be withheld if a man should
suffer from hunger, thirst, or cold ? But though
these things are naturally on an equality with
those accidental circumstances, and need one
and the same humanity, yet they make a dis-
tinction between these things, because they
measure all things not by the truth itself, but by
present utility. For they hope that those whom
they rescue from peril will make a return of the
favour to them. But because they do not hope
for this in the case of the needy, they think that
whatever they bestow on men of this kind is
thrown away. Hence that sentiment of Plautus
is detestable : * —

" He deserves ill who gives food to a beggar;
For that which he gives is thrown away, and
It lengthens out the life of the other to his misery."

But perhaps the poet spoke for the actor.s

What does Marcus TuUius say in his books
respecting Offices? Does he not also advise
that bounty should not be employed at all ? For
thus he speaks : ^ " Bounty, which proceeds from
our estate, drains the very source of our liberal-
ity ; and thus liberality is destroyed by liberality :
for the more numerous they are towards whom
you practise it, the less you will be able to prac-
tise it towards many." And he also says shortly

afterwards

But what is more foolish than so

to act that you may not be able to continue to
do that which you do willingly ? " This professor
of wisdom plainly keeps men back from acts of
kindness, and advises them carefully to guard
their property, and to preserve their money-chest
in safety, rather than to follow justice. And
when he perceived that this was inhuman and
wicked, soon afterwards, in another chapter, as
though moved by repentance, he thus spoke :
" Sometimes, however, we must exercise bounty
in giving : nor is this kind of liberality altogether
to be rejected ; and we must give from our prop-
erty to suitable ^ persons when they are in need
of assistance." What is the meaning of " suit-

* Trinuntm., ii. 2. 58.

5 Pro persona.

6 /V Omc, ii. 15.

7 Idoneis. Lactantius uses this word as though its meaning were
"the rich: " and though it seems to have passed into this sen^e in
later times, it is plain from the very words of Cicero himself that he
uses it of deserving persons who need assistance.

Chap. XII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

175

able?" Assuredly those who are able to restore
and give back the favour.' If Cicero were now
alive, I should certainly exclaim : Here, here,
Marcus Tullius, you have erred from true justice ;
and you have taken it away by one word, since
you measured the ofifices of piety and humanity
by utility. For we must not bestow our bounty
on suitable objects, but as much as possible on
unsuitable objects. For that will be done with
justice, piety, and humanity, which you shall do
without the hope of any return !

This is that true and genuine justice, of which
you say that you have no real and life-like fig-
ure.* You yourself exclaim in many places that
virtue is not mercenary ; and you confess in the
books of your Laws ^ that liberality is gratuitous,
in these words : " Nor is it doubtful that he who
is called liberal and generous is influenced by a
sense of duty, and not by advantage." Why
therefore do you bestow your bounty on suitable
persons, unless it be that you may afterwards
receive a reward? With you, therefore, as the
author and teacher of justice, whosoever shall
not be a suitable person will be worn out with
nakedness, thirst, and hunger ; nor will men who
are rich and abundantly supplied, even to luxu-
riousness, assist his last extremity. If virtue does
not exact a reward ; if, as you say, it is to be
sought on its own account, then estimate justice,
which is the mother and chief of the virtues, at
its own price, and not according to your advan-
tage : give especially to him from whom you
hope for nothing in return. Why do you select
persons? Why do you look at bodily forms?
He is to be esteemed by you as a man, whoever
it is that implores you, because he considers you
a man. Cast away those outlines and sketches
of justice, and hold fast justice itself, true and
fashioned to the life. Be bountiful to the blind,
the feeble, the lame, the destitute, who must die
unless you bestow your bounty upon them. They
are useless to men, but they are serviceable to
God, who retains them in life, who endues them
with breath, who vouchsafes to them the light.
Cherish as far as in you lies, and support with
kindness, the lives of men, that they may not be
extinguished. He who is able to succour one
on the point of perishing, if he fails to do so,
kills him. But they, because they neither retain
their nature, nor know what reward there is in
this, while they fear to lose, do lose, and fall into
that which they chiefly guard against ; so that
whatever they bestow is either lost altogether, or
profits only for the briefest time. For they who
refuse a small gift to the wretched, who wish to
preserve humanity without any loss to them-
selves, squander their property, so that they

' [Luke vi. 32-34.]
2 De Offic, iii. 17

_ . , Solidam et expressam.

3 [2?f Leg., iii., and De Offic, i. cap. 16.]

either acquire for themselves frail and perishable
things, or they certainly gain nothing by their
own great loss.

For what must be said of those who, induced
by the vanity of popular favour,-* expend on the
exhibition of shows wealth that would be suffi-
cient even for great cities? Must we not say
that they are senseless and mad who bestow
upon the people that which is both lost to them-
selves, and which none of those on whom it is
bestowed receives? Therefore, as all pleasure
is short and perishable, and especially that of
the eyes and ears, men either forget and are
ungrateful for the expenses incurred by another,
or they are even offended if the caprice of the
people is not satisfied : so that most foolish men
have even acquired evil for themselves by evil ;
or if they have thus succeeded in pleasing, they
gain nothing more than empty favour and the
talk 5 of a few days. Thus every day the estates
of most trifling men are expended on superflu-
ous matters. Do they then act more wisely who
exhibit to their fellow-citizens more useful and
lasting gifts? They, for instance, who by the
building of public works seek a lasting memory
for their name ? Not even do they act rightly
in burying their property in the earth ; because
the remembrance of them neither bestows any-
thing upon the dead, nor are their works eternal,
inasmuch as they are either thrown down and
destroyed by a single earthquake, or are con-
sumed by an accidental fire, or they are over-
thrown by some attack of an enemy, or at any
rate they decay and fall to pieces by mere length
of time. For there is nothing, as the orator
says,^ made by the work of man's hand which
length of time does not weaken and destroy.
But this justice of which we speak, and mercy,
flourish more every day. They therefore act
better who bestow their bounty on their tribes-
men and clients, for they bestow something on
men, and profit them ; but that is not true and
just bounty, for there is no conferring of a bene-
fit where there is no necessity. Therefore, what-
ever is given to those who are not in need, for
the sake of popularity, is thrown away ; or it is
repaid with interest, and thus it will not be the
conferring of a benefit. And although it is
pleasing to those to whom it is given, still it is
not just, because if it is not done, no evil follows.
Therefore the only sure and true ofiice of liber-
ality is to support the needy and unserviceable.

CHAP. XII. — OF THE KINDS OF BENEFICENCE, AND
WORKS OF MERCY.

This is that perfect justice which protects hu-
man society, concerning which philosophers

* Popular! levitate ducti: an expression somewhat similar to
" popularis aura."
5 Fabulani.
^ Cic, Pro Marcello. [Nihil opere et manu factum.]

176

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

speak. This is the chief and truest advantage
of riches ; not to use wealth for the particular
pleasure of an individual, but for the welfare of
many ; not for one's own immediate enjoyment,
but for justice, which alone does not perish.
We must therefore by all means keep in mind,
that the hope of receiving in return must be alto-
gether absent from the duty of showing mercy :
for the reward of this work and duty must be
expected from God alone ; for if you should
expect it from man, then that will not be kind-
ness, but the lending of a benefit at interest ; '
nor can he seem to have deserved well who
affords that which he does, not to another, but
to himself. And yet the matter comes to this,
that whatever a man has bestowed upon another,
hoping for no advantage from him, he really be-
stows upon himself, for he will receive a reward
from God. God has also enjoined, that if at
any time we make a feast, we should invite to
the entertainment those who cannot invite us in
return, and thus make us a recompense, so that
no action of our life should be without the exer-
cise of mercy. Nor, however, let any one think
that he is debarred from intercourse with his
friends or kindness with his neighbours. But
God has made known to us what is our true and
just work : we ought thus to live with our neigh-
bours, provided that we know that the one
manner of living relates to man, the other to
God.^

Therefore hospitality is a principal virtue, as
the philosophers also say • but they turn it aside
from true justice, and forcibly apply ^ it to ad-
vantage. Cicero says : '^ " Hospitality was rightly
praised by Theophrastus. For (as it appears to
me) it is highly becoming that the houses of
illustrious men should be open to illustrious
guests." He has here committed the same error
which he then did, when he said that we must
bestow our bounty on " suitable " persons. For
the house of a just and wise man ought not to
be open to the illustrious, but to the lowly and
abject. For those illustrious and powerful men
cannot be in want of anything, since they are
sufficiently protected and honoured by their own
opulence. But nothing is to be done by a just
man except that which is a benefit. But if the
benefit is returned, it is destroyed and brought
to an end ; for we cannot possess in its com-
pleteness that for which a price has been paid to
us. Therefore the principle of justice is em-
ployed about those benefits which have remained
safe and uncorrupted ; but they cannot thus re-

■ Beneficii foeneratio.

^ The meaning appears to be this: To benefit our friends and
relatives, relates to man, i.e., is a merely human work; but to benefit
those who cannot make a recompense is a divine work, and its reward
is to be expected from God.

3 Rapiunt.

■♦ /)e (>/fic., ii. 18.

main by any other means than if they are be-
stowed upon those men who can in no way profit
us. But in receiving illustrious men, he looked
to nothing else but utility ; nor did the ingenious
man conceal what advantage he hoped from it.
For he says that he who does that will become
powerful among foreigners by the favour of the
leading men, whom he will have bound to him-
self by the right of hospitality and friendship.
O by how many arguments might the inconsist-
ency of Cicero be proved, if this were my object !
Nor would he be convicted so much by my
words as by his own. For he also says, that the
more any one refers all his actions to his own
advantage, the less he is a good man. He also
says, that it is not the part of a simple and open
man to ingratiate himself in the favour of others,5
to pretend and allege anything, to appear to be
doing one thing when he is doing another, to
feign that he is bestowing upon another that
which he is bestowing upon himself; but that
this is rather the part of one who is designing^
and crafty, deceitful and treacherous. But how
could he maintain that that ambitious hospitality
was not evil intention ? 7 " Do you run round
through all the gates, that you may invite to
your house the chief men of the nations and
cities as they arrive, that by their means you
may acquire influence with their citizens ; and
wish yourself to be called just, and kind, and
hospitable, though you are studying to promote
your own advantage?" But did he not say this
rather incautiously? For what is less suitable
for Cicero? But through his ignorance of true
justice he knowingly and with foresight fell into
this snare. And that he might be pardoned for
this, he testified that he does not give precepts
with reference to true justice, which he does not
hold, but with reference to a sketch and outline
of justice. Therefore we must pardon this teacher
who uses sketches and outlines,^ nor must we
require the truth from him who admits that he
is ignorant of it.

The ransoming of captives is a great and no-
ble exercise of justice, of which the same Tul-
lius also approved.9 " And this liberality," he
says, " is serviceable even to the state, that cap-
tives should be ransomed from slavery, and that
those of slender resources should be provided
for. And I greatly prefer this practice of liber-
ality to lavish expenditure on shows. This is
the part of great and eminent men." There-
fore it is the appropriate work of the just to
support the poor and to ransom captives, since

5 Ambire.

6 Malitiosi ct astuti.

7 Malitia, roguery. The word properly signifies some legal tricl:
by which the ends of justice are frustrated, though the letter of ili'-
law is not broken.

* Umbratico et imaginario prxceptori.
9 /V Officiis, ii. i8.

Chap. XII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

among the unjust if any do these things they
are called great and eminent. For it is de-
serving of the greatest praise for those to con-
fer benefit from whom no one expected such
conduct. For he who does good to a relative.,
or neighbour, or friend, either deser\^es no praise,
or certainly no great praise, because he is bound
to do it, and he would be impious and detesta-
ble if he did not do that which both nature
itself and relationship require ; and if he does
it, he does it not so much for the sake of obtain-
ing glory as of avoiding censure. But he who
does it to a stranger and an unknown person, he
truly is worthy of praise, because he was led to
do it by kindness only. Justice therefore exists
there, where there is no obligation of necessity
for conferring a benefit. He ought not there-
fore to have preferred this duty of generosity to
expenditure on shows ; for this is the part of one
making a comparison, and of two goods choosing
that which is the better. For that profusion of
men throwing away their property into the sea
is vain and trifling, and very far removed from
all justice. Therefore they are not even to be
called gifts,' in which no one receives but he
who does not deserve to receive.

Nor is it less a great work of justice to protect
and defend orphans and widows who are desti-
tute and stand in need of assistance ; and there-
fore that divine law prescribes this to all, since
all good judges deem that it belongs to their
office to favour them with natural kindness, and
to strive to benefit them. But these works are
especially ours, since we have received the law,
and the words of God Himself giving us instruc-
tions. For they perceive that it is naturally just
to protect those who need protection, but they
do not perceive why it is so. For God, to
whom everlasting mercy belongs, on this account
commands that widows and orphans should be
defended and cherished, that no one through
regard and pity for his pledges ^ should be pre-
vented from undergoing death in behalf of jus-
tice and faith, but should encounter it with
promptitude and boldness, since he knows that
he leaves his beloved ones to the care of God,
and that they will never want protection. Also
to undertake the care and support of the sick,
who need some one to assist them, is the part
of the greatest kindness, and of great benefi-
cence ; 3 and he who shall do this will both gain
a hving sacrifice to God, and that which he has
given to another for a time he will himself re-
ceive from God for eternity. The last and
greatest office of piety is the burying of stran-
gers and the poor ; which subject those teachers

■ Munera. The same word is used for " shows," as of gladiators,
or contests of wild beasts, exhibited to the people.
' i.e., children.
' Operationis.

of virtue and justice have not touched upon at
all. For they were unable to see this, who
measured all their duties by utility. For in the
other things which have been mentioned above,
although they did not keep the true path, yet,
since they discovered some advantage in these
things, retained as it were by a kind of inkling *
of the truth, they wandered to a less distance ;
but they abandoned this because they were un-
able to see any advantage in it.

Moreover, there have not been wanting those
who esteemed burial as superfluous, and said that
it was no evil to lie unburied and neglected ; but
their impious wisdom is rejected alike by the
whole human race, and by the divine expressions
which command the performance of the rite.5
But they do not venture to say that it ought
not to be done, but that, if it happens to be
omitted, no inconvenience is the result. There-
fore in that matter they discharge the office, not
so much of those who give precepts, as of those
who suggest consolation, that if this shall by
chance have occurred to a wise man, he should
not deem himself wretched on this account.
But we do not speak of that which ought to be
endured by a wise man, but of that which he
himself ought to do. Therefore we do not now
inquire whether the whole system of burial is
serviceable or not ; but this, even though it be
useless, as they imagine, must nevertheless be
practised, even on this account only, that it ap-
pears among men to be done rightly and kindly.
For it is the feeling which is inquired into, and
it is the purpose which is weighed. Therefore
we will not suffer the image and workmanship
of God to lie exposed as a prey to beasts and
birds, but we will restore it to the earth, from
which it had its origin ; and although it be in the
case of an unknown man, we will fulfil the office
of relatives, into whose place, since they are
wanting, let kindness succeed ; and wherever
there shall be need of man, there we will think
that our duty is required.^ But in what does the
nature of justice more consist than in our afford-
ing to strangers through kindness, that which we
render to our own relatives through affection?
And this kindness is much more sure and just
when it is now afforded, not to the man who is
insensible, but to God alone, to whom a just
work is a most acceptable sacrifice. Some one
will perhaps say : If I shall do all these things, I
shall have no possessions. For what if a great
number of men shall be in want, shall suffer cold,
shall be taken captive, shall die, since one who
acts thus must deprive himself of his property
even in a single day, shall I throw away the es-

* Quasi odore quodam veritatis. The word " odor " is sometimes
used to express " a presentiment " or " suspicion."

5 [Gen. xlix. 29-31; Mark xiv. 8, 9.]

* [Ennius; also in Cicero, £>e Ojffic., L cap. 16.]

178

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

tate acquired by my own labour or by that of my
ancestors, so that after this I myself must live
by the pity of others?

Why do you so pusillanimously fear poverty,
which even your philosophers praise, and bear
witness that nothing is safer and nothing more
calm than this ? That which you fear is a haven
against anxieties. Do you not know to how
many dangers, to how many accidents, you are
exposed with these evil resources? These will
treat you well if they shall pass without your
bloodshed. But you walk about laden with
booty, and you bear spoils which may excite the
minds even of your own relatives. Why, then,
do you hesitate to lay that out well which per-
haps a single robbery will snatch away from you,
or a proscription suddenly arising, or the plun-
dering of an enemy? Why do you fear to make
a frail and perishable good everlasting, or to en-
trust your treasures to God as their preserver, in
which case you need not fear thief and robber,
nor rust, nor tyrant? He who is rich towards
God can never be poor." If you esteem justice
so highly, lay aside the burthens which press you,
and follow it ; free yourself from fetters and
chains, that you may run to God without any
impediment. It is the part of a great and lofty
mind to despise and trample upon mortal affairs.
But if you do not comprehend this virtue, that
you may bestow your riches upon the altar ' of
God, in order that you may provide for yourself
firmer possessions than these frail ones, I will
free you from fear. All these precepts are not
given to you alone, but to all the people who are
united in mind, and hold together as one man.
If you are not adequate to the performance of
great works alone, cultivate justice with all your
power, in such a manner, however, that you may
excel others in work as much as you excel them
in riches. And do not think that you are advised
to lessen or exhaust your property ; but that
which you would have expended on superfluities,
turn to better uses. Devote to the ransoming
of captives that from which you purchase beasts ;
maintain the poor with that from which you feed
wild beasts ; bury the innocent dead with that
from which you provide men for the sword.'
What does it profit to enrich men of abandoned
wickedness, who fight with beasts,"* and to equip
them for crimes? Transfer things about to be
miserably thrown away to the great sacrifice, that
in return for these true gifts you may have an
everlasting gift from God. Mercy has a great
reward ; for God promises it, that He will remit
all sins. If you shall hear, He says, the prayers
of your suppliant, I also will hear yours ; if you

• [i Tim. vi. 8-IO.]

* In aram Dei. Others read " arcam," the chest.
' i e., " gladiators purchased from a trainer for the gratification of
the people."

* Kesciarios: men who fought with beasts in the aaiiphithe»tre.

shall pity those in distress, I also will pity you in
your distress. But if you shall not regard nor
assist them, I also will bear a mind like your own
against you, and I will judge you by your own
laws.5

CHAP. Xni. — OF REPENTANCE, OF MERCY, AND
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

As often, therefore, as you are asked for aid,
believe that you are tried by God, that it may
be seen whether you are worthy of being heard.
Examine your own conscience, and, as far as
you are able, heal your wounds. Nor, however,
because offences are removed by bounty, think
that a licence is given you for sinning. For
they are done away with, if you are bountiful to
God because you have sinned ; for if you sin
through reliance on your bounty, they are not
done away with. For God especially desires
that men shall be cleansed from their sins, and
therefore He commands them to repent. But
to repent is nothing else than to profess and
to affirm that one will sin no more. Therefore
they are pardoned who unawares and incautious-
ly glide into sin ; he who sins wilfully has no
pardon. Nor, however, if any one shall have
been purified from all stain of sin, let him think
that he may abstain from the work of bounty
because he has no faults to blot out. Nay, in
truth, he is then more bound to exercise jus-
tice when he is become just, so that that which
he had before done for the healing of his wounds
he may afterwards do for the praise and glory of
virtue. To this is added, that no one can be
without fault as long as he is burthened with a
covering of flesh, the infirmity of which is sub-
ject to the dominion of sin in a threefold man-
ner — in deeds, in words, and thoughts.

By these steps justice advances to the greatest
height. The first step of virtue is to abstain
from evil works ; the second, to abstain also from
evil words ; the third, to abstain even from the
thoughts of evil things. He who ascends the
first step is sufficiently just ; he who ascends
the second is now of perfect virtue, since he of-
fends neither in deeds nor in conversation ; ^ he
who ascends the third appears truly to have at-
tained the likeness of God. For it is almost
beyond the measure of man not even to admit
to the thought ^ that which is either bad in ac-
tion or improper in speech. Therefore even
just men, who can refrain from every unjust
work, are sometimes, however, overcome by
frailty itself, so that they either speak evil in
anger, or, at the sight of delightful things, they
desire them with silent thought. But if the
condition of mortality does not suffer a man to

^Matt. xviii. 21-35. Exposition of vi. 14.]

Jas. iii. 2.]

a cogitationem. Others read " cogitatione.'

Chap. XV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

179

be pure from every stain, the faults of the flesh
ought therefore to be done away with by contin-
ual bounty. For it is the single work of a man
who is wise, and just, and worthy of life, to lay
out his riches on justice alone ; for assuredly he
who is without this, although he should surpass
Crcesus or Crassus in riches, is to be esteemed
as poor, as naked, as a beggar. Therefore we
must use our efforts that we may be clothed with
the garment of justice and piety, of which no
one may deprive us, which may furnish us with
an everlasting ornament. For if the worship-
pers of gods adore senseless images, and bestow
upon them whatever they have which is precious,
though they can neither make use of them nor
give thanks because they have received them,
how much more just and true is it to reverence
the living images of God, that you may gain the
favour of the living God ! For as these make
use of what they have received, and give thanks,
so God, in whose sight you shall have done that
which is good, will both approve of it and re-
ward your piety.

CHAP. XIV. — OF THE AFFECTIONS, AND THE OPIN-
ION OF THE STOICS RESPECTING THEM ; AND
OF VIRTUE, THE VICES, AND MERCY.

If, therefore, mercy is a distinguished and ex-
cellent gift in man, and that is judged to be
very good by the consent both of the good and
the evil, it appears that philosophers were far
distant from the good of man, who neither en-
joined nor practised anything of this kind, but
always esteemed as a vice that virtue which
almost holds the first place in man. It pleases
me here to bring forward one subject of phi-
losophy, that we may more fully refute the
errors of those who call mercy, desire, and fear,
diseases of the soul. They indeed attempt to
distinguish virtues from vices, which is truly a
very easy matter. For who cannot distinguish
a liberal man from one who is prodigal (as they
do), or a frugal man from one who is mean, or
a calm man from one who is slothful, or a cau-
tious man from one who is timid? Because
these things which are good have their limits,
and if they shall exceed these limits, fall into
vices ; so that constancy, unless it is undertaken
for the truth, becomes shamelessness. In like
manner, bravery, if it shall undergo certain dan-
ger, without the compulsion of any necessity, or
not for an honourable cause, is changed into
rashness. Freedom of speech also, if it attack
others rather than oppose those who attack it,
is obstinacy. Severity also, unless it restrain
itself within the befitting punishments of the
guilty, becomes savage cruelty.

Therefore they say, that those who appear
evil do not sin of their own accord, or choose

evils by preference, but that, erring ' through the
appearance of good, they fall into evils, while
they are ignorant of the distinction between
good things and evil. These things are not in-
deed false, but they are all referred to the body.
For to be frugal, or constant, or cautious, or
calm, or grave, or severe, are virtues indeed, but
virtues which relate to this short ^ life. But we
who despise this life have other virtues set before
us, respecting which philosophers could not by
any means even conjecture. Therefore they
regarded certain virtues as vices, and certain
vices as virtues. For the Stoics take away from
man all the affections, by the impulse of which
the soul is moved — desire, joy, fear, sorrow :
the two former of which arise from good things,
either future or present ; the latter from evil
things. In the same manner, they call these
four (as I said) diseases, not so much inserted
in us by nature as undertaken through a per-
verted opinion ; and therefore they think that
these can be eradicated, if the false notion of
good and evil things is taken away. For if the
wise man thinks nothing good or evil, he will
neither be inflamed with desire, nor be trans-
ported with joy, nor be alarmed with fear, nor
suffer his spirits to droops through sadness.
We shall presently see whether they effect that
which they wish, or what it is which they do
effect : in the meantime their purpose is arro-
gant and almost mad, who think that they apply
a remedy, and that they are able to strive in
opposition to the force and system of nature.

CHAP. XV. OF THE AFFECTIONS, AND THE OPIN-
ION OF THE PERIPATETICS RESPECTING THEM.

For, that these things are natural and not
voluntary, the nature of all living beings shows,
which is moved by all these affections. There-
fore the Peripatetics act better, who say that all
these cannot be taken from us, because they
were born with us ; and they endeavour to show
how providently and how necessarily God, or
nature (for so they term it), armed us with
these affections ; which, however, because they
generally become vicious if they are in excess,
can be advantageously regulated by man, — a
limit being applied, so that there may be left to
man as much as is sufficient for nature. Not an
unwise disputation, if, as I said, all things were
not referred to this life. The Stoics therefore
are mad who do not regulate but cut them out,
and wish by some means or other to deprive
man of powers implanted in him by nature.
And this is equivalent to a desire of taking away
timidity from stags, or poison from serpents, or

' Lapsos. I^AU this shows the need of an Augustine.]
2 Temporanae. [Admirable so far as our author goes.]
* Contrahetur.

i8o

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

rage from wild beasts, or gentleness from cattle.
For those qualities which have been given sepa-
rately to dumb animals, are altogether given to
man at the same time. But if, as physicians
affirm, the affection of joy has its seat in the
spleen,' that of anger in the gall, of desire in
the liver, of fear in the heart, it is easier to kill
the animal itself than to tear anything from the
body ; for this is to wish to change the nature
of the living creature. But the skilful men do
not understand that when they take away vices
from man, they also take away virtue, for which
alone they are making a place. For if it is
virtue in the midst of the impetuosity of anger
to restrain and check oneself, which they can-
not deny, then he who is without anger is also
without virtue. If it is virtue to control the
lust of the body, he must be free from virtue
who has no lust which he may regulate. If
it is virtue to curb the desire from coveting that
which belongs to another, he certainly can have
no virtue who is without that, to the restraining
of which the exercise of virtue is applied.
Where, therefore, there are no vices, there is no
place even for virtue, as there is no place for vic-
tory where there is no adversary. And so it
comes to pass that there can be no good in this
life without evil. An affection therefore is a
kind of natural fruitfulness ^ of the powers of
the mind. For as a field which is naturally
fruitful produces an abundant crop of briars,^ so
the mind which is uncultivated is overgrown with
vices flourishing of their own accord, as with
thorns. But when the true cultivator has applied
hmiself, immediately vices give way, and the
fruits of virtues spring up.

Therefore God, when He first made man, with
wonderful foresight first implanted in him these
emotions of the mind, that he might be capable
of receiving virtue, as the earth is of cultivation ;
and He placed the subject-matter of vices in the
affections, and that of virtue in vices. For
assuredly virtue will have no existence, or not
be in exercise, if those things are wanting by
which its power is either shown or exists. Now
let us see what they have effected who altogether
removes vices. With regard to those four affec-
tions ■• which they imagine to arise from the
opinion of things good and evil, by the eradica-
tion of which they think that the mind of the
wise man is to be healed, since they understand
that they are implanted by nature, and that with-
out these nothing can be put in motion, nothing
be done, they put certain other things into their
place and room : for desire they substitute in-
clination, as though it were not much better to

' [After fifteen centuries, physicians know as little about the
tpleen as ever. See Dunglison, Med. Diet., sub voce " spleen."]
^ Ubertas aniniorum.

3 Exuberat in sentcs, " luxuriates into briars."
* [Cap. xiv. p. 179, tufra.]

desire a good than to feel inclination for it;
they in like manner substitute for joy gladness,
and for fear caution. But in the case of the
fourth they are at a loss for a method of ex-
changing the name. Therefore they have alto-
gether taken away grief, that is, sadness and pain
of mind, which cannot possibly be done. For
who can fail to be grieved if pestilence has deso-
lated his country, or an enemy overthrown it, or
a tyrant crushed its liberty? Can any one fail
to be grieved if he has beheld the overthrow of
liberty,^ and the banishment or most cruel
slaughter of neighbours, friends, or good men?
— unless the mind of any one should be so
struck with astonishment that all sensibility should
be taken from him. Wherefore they ought either
to have taken away the whole, or this defective ^
and weak discussion ought to have been com-
pleted ; that is, something ought to have been
substituted in the place of grief, since, the former
ones having been so arranged, this naturally
followed.

For as we rejoice in good things that are
present, so we are vexed and grieved with evil
things. If, therefore, they gave another name
to joy because they thought it vicious, so it was
befitting that another name should be given to
grief because they thought it also vicious. From
which it appears that it was not the object itself
which was wanting to them, but a word, through
want of which they wished, contrary to what
nature allowed, to take away that affection which
is the greatest. For I could have refuted those
changes of names at greater length, and have
shown that many names are attached to the same
objects, for the sake of embellishing the style
and increasing its copiousness, or at any rate
that they do not greatly differ from one another.
For both desire takes its beginning from the in-
clination, and caution arises from fear, and joy
is nothing else than the expression of gladness.
But let us suppose that they are different, as they
themselves will have it. Accordingly they will
say that desire is continued and perpetual in-
clination, but that joy is gladness bearing itself
immoderately ; and that fear is caution in excess,
and passing the limits of moderation. Thus it
comes to pass, that they do not take away those
things which they think ought to be taken away,
but regulate them, since the names only are
changed, the things themselves remain. They
therefore return unawares to that point at which
the Peripatetics arrive by argument, that vices,
since they cannot be taken away, are to be regu-
lated with moderation. Therefore they err, be-
cause they do not succeed in effecting that which
they aim at, and by a circuitous route, which is
long and rough, they return to the same path.

s [After Pharsalia. Note this love of freedom.]
' Curta, i.e., " maimed."

Chap. XVII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

i8i

CHAP. XVI. OF THE AFFECTIONS, AND THE REFU-
TATION OF THE OPINION OF THE PERIPATETICS
CONCERNING THEM ; WHAT IS THE PROPER USE
OF THE AFFECTIONS, AND WHAT IS A HAD USE OF
THEM.

But I think that the Peripatetics did not even
approach the truth, who allow that they are vices,
but regulate them with moderation. For we
must be free even from moderate vices ; yea,
rather, it ought to have been at first effected
that there should be no vices. For nothing can
be born vicious ; ' but if we make a bad use of
the affections they become vices, if we use them
well they become virtues. Then it must be
shown that the causes of the affections, and not
the affections themselves, must be moderated.
We must not, they say, rejoice with excessive
joy, but moderately and temperately. This is
as though they should say that we must not run
swiftly, but walk quietly. But it is possible that
he who walks may err, and that he who runs may
keep the right path. What if I show that there
is a case in which it is vicious not only to rejoice
moderately, but even in the smallest degree ; and
that there is another case, on the contrary, in
which even to exult with transports of joy is by
no means faulty? What then, I pray, will this
mediocrity profit us? I ask whether they think
that a wise man ought to rejoice if he sees any
evil happening to his enemy ; or whether he
ought to curb his joy, if by the conquest of
enemies, or the overthrow of a tyrant, liberty
and safety have been acquired by his country-
men.2

No one doubts but that in the former case to
rejoice a little, and in the latter to rejoice too
little, is a very great crime. We may say the
same respecting the other affections. But, as I
have said, the object of wisdom does not consist
in the regulation of these, but of their causes,
since they are acted upon from without ; nor
was it befitting that these themselves should be
restrained ; since they may exist in a small de-
gree with the greatest criminality, and in the
greatest degree without any criminality. But
they ought to have been assigned to fixed
times, and circumstances, and places, that they
may not be vices, when it is permitted us to
make a right use of them. For as to walk in
the right course is good, but to wander from it
is evil, so to be moved by the affections to that
which is right is good, but to that which is cor-
rupt is evil. For sensual desire, if it does not
wander from its lawful object, although it be
ardent, yet is without fault. But if it desires an
unlawful object, although it be moderate, yet it
is a great vice. Therefore it is not a disease to

' [See Augustine against Pelagius; another view,]
' [Again this lo»e of liberty, but loosely said.]

be angry, nor to desire, nor to be excited by
lust ; but to be passionate, to be covetous or
licentious, is a disease. For he who is passionate
is angry even with him with whom he ought not
to be angry, or at times when he ought not. He
who is covetous desires even that which is un-
necessary. He who is licentious pursues even
that which is forbidden by the laws. The whole
matter ought to have turned on this, that since
the impetuosity of these things cannot be re-
strained, nor is it right that it should be, because
it is necessarily implanted for maintaining the
duties of life, it might rather be directed into
the right way, where it may be possible even to
run without stumbling and danger.

CHAP. XVII. — OF THE AFFECTIONS AND THEIR USE ;
OF PATIENCE, AND THE CHIEF GOOD OF CHRIS-
TIANS.

But I have been carried too far in my desire
of refuting them ; since it is my purpose to show
that those things which the philosophers thought
to be vices, are so far from being vices, that they
are even great virtues. Of others, I will take,
for the sake of instruction, those which I think
to be most closely related to the subject. They
regard dread or fear as a very great vice, and
think that it is a very great weakness of mind ;
the opposite to which is bravery : and if this ex-
ists in a man, they say that there is no place for
fear. Does any one then believe that it can pos-
sibly happen that this same fear is the highest
fortitude ? By no means. For nature does not
appear to admit that anything should fall back
to its contrary. But yet I, not by any skilful
conclusion, as Socrates does in the writings of
Plato, who compels those against whom he dis-
putes to admit those things which they had de-
nied, but in a simple manner, will show that the
greatest fear is the greatest virtue. No one
doubts but that it is the part of a timid and
feeble mind either to fear pain, or want, or exile,
or imprisonment, or death ; and if any one does
not dread all these, he is judged a man of the
greatest fortitude. But he who fears God is free
from the fear of all these things. In proof of
which, there is no need of arguments : for the
punishments inflicted on the worshippers of God
have been witnessed at all times, and are still
witnessed through the world, in the tormenting
of whom new and unusual tortures have been
devised. For the mind shrinks from the recol-
lection of various kinds of death, when the butch-
ery of savage monsters has raged even beyond
death itself. But a happy and unconquered
patience endured these execrable lacerations of
their bodies without a groan. This virtue afforded
the greatest astonishment to all people and prov-
inces, and to the torturers themselves, when

l82

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI.

cruelty was overcome by patience. But this
virtue was caused by nothing else than the fear
of God. Therefore (as I said) fear is not to be
uprooted, as the Stoics maintain, nor to be re-
strained, as the Peripatetics wish, but to be di-
rected into the right way ; and apprehensions
are to be taken away, but so that this one only
may be left : for since this is the only lawful and
true one, it alone effects that all other things
may not be feared. Desire also is reckoned
among vices ; but if it desires those things which
are of the earth, it is a vice ; on the other hand,
if it desires heavenly things, it is a virtue. For
he who desires to obtain justice, God, perpetual
life, everlasting light, and all those things which
God promises to man, will despise these riches,
and honours, and commands, and kingdoms them-
selves.

The Stoic will perhaps say that inclination is
necessary for the attainment of these things, and
not desire ; but, in truth, the inclination is not
sufficient. For many have the inclination ; but
when pain has approached the vitals, inclination
gives way, but desire perseveres : and if it effects
that all things which are sought by others are
objects of contempt to him, it is the greatest
virtue, since it is the mother of self-restraint.
And therefore we ought rather to effect this, that
we may rightly direct the affections, a corrupt
use of which is vice. For these excitements of
the mind resemble a harnessed chariot, in the
right management of which the chief duty of the
driver is to know the way ; and if he shall keep
to this, with whatever swiftness he may go, he
will not strike against an obstacle. But if he
shall wander from the course, although he may
go calmly and gently, he will either be shaken
over rough places, or will glide over precipices,
or at any rate will be carried where he does not
need to go. So that chariot of life which is led
by the affections as though by swift horses, if it
keeps the right way, will discharge its duty.
Dread, therefore, and desire, if they are cast
down to the earth, will become vices, but they
will be virtues if they are referred to divine
things. On the other hand, they esteem parsi-
mony as a virtue ; which, if it is eagerness for
possessing, cannot be a virtue, because it is alto-
gether employed in the increase or preservation
of earthly goods. But we do not refer the chief
good to the body, but we measure every duty by
the preservation of the soul only. But if, as I
have before taught, we must by no means spare
our property that we may preserve kindness and
justice, it is not a virtue to be frugal ; which
name beguiles and deceives under the appearance
of virtue. For frugality is, it is true, the abstain-
ing from pleasures ; but in this respect it is a
vice, because it arises from the love of possess-
ing, whereas we ought both to abstain from

pleasures, and by no means to withhold money.
For to use money sparingly, that is, moderately,
is a kind of weakness of mind, either of one
fearing lest he should be in want, or of one de-
spairing of being able to recover it, or of one
incapable of the contempt of earthly things.
But, on the other hand, they call him who is
not sparing of his property prodigal. For thus
they distinguish between the liberal man and the
prodigal : that he is liberal who bestows on de-
serving objects, and on proper occasions, and in
sufficient quantities ; but that he is prodigal who
lavishes on undeserving objects, and when there
is no need, and without any regard to his property.

What then? shall we call him prodigal who
through pity gives food to the needy? But it
makes a great difference, whether on account
of lust you bestow your money on harlots, or
on account of benevolence on the wretched ;
whether profligates, gamesters, and pimps squan-
der your money, or you bestow it on piety and
God ; whether you expend it upon your own
appetite,' or lay it up in the treasury of justice.
As, therefore, it is a vice to lay it out badly, so
it is a virtue to lay it out well. If it is a virtue
not to be sparing of riches, which can be replaced,
that you may support the life of man, which
cannot be replaced; then parsimony is a. vice.
Therefore I can call them by no other name
than mad, who deprive man, a mild and sociable
animal, of his name ; who, having uprooted the
affections, in which humanity altogether consists,
wish to bring him to an immoveable insensibility
of mind, while they desire to free the soul from
perturbations, and, as they themselves say, to
render it calm and tranquil ; which is not only
impossible, because its force and nature consist
in motion, but it ought not even to be so. For
as water which is always still and motionless is
unwholesome and more muddy, so the soul which
is unmoved and torpid is useless even to itself:
nor will it be able to maintain life itself; for it
will neither do nor think anything, since thought
itself is nothing less than agitation of the mind.
In fine, they who assert this immoveableness of
the soul wish to deprive the soul of life ; for life
is full of activity, but death is (luiet. They also
rightly esteem some things as virtues, but they
do not maintain their due proportion.^

Constancy is a virtue ; not that we resist those
who injure us, for we must yield to these ; and
why this ought to be done I will show pres-
ently : but that when men command us to act in
opposition to the law of God, and in oppo-
sition to justice, we should be deterred by no
threats or punishments from preferring the com-
mand of God to the command of man. Likewise

' Ventri ac guise ingeras.

2 Sed earum modum non tenent. [Augustine's anthropology
better.]

Chap. XVIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

183

it is a virtue to despise death ; not that we
seek it, and of our own accord inflict it upon
ourselves, as many and distinguished philoso-
phers have often done, which is a wicked and
impious thing ; but that when compelled to
desert God, and to betray our faith, we should
prefer to undergo death, and should defend our
liberty against the foolish and senseless violence
of those who cannot govern themselves, and with
fortitude of spirit we should challenge all the
threats and terrors of the world. Thus with lofty
and invincible mind we trample upon those things
which others fear — pain and death. This is
virtue ; this is true constancy — to be maintained
and preserved in this one thing alone, that no
terror and no violence may be able to turn us
away from God. Therefore that is a true senti-
ment of Cicero : ' " No one," he says, " can be
just who fears death, or pain, or exile, or want."
Also of Seneca, who says, in his books of moral
philosophy : " This is that virtuous man, not
distinguished by a diadem or purple, or the
attendance of lictors, but in no respect inferior,
who, when he sees death at hand, is not so dis-
turbed as though he saw a fresh object ; who,
whether torments are to be suffered by his whole
body, or a flame is to be seized by his mouth,
or his hands are to be stretched out on the
cross,^ does not inquire what he suffers, but how
well." But he who worships God suffers these
things without fear. Therefore he is just. By
these things it is effected, that he cannot know
or maintain at all either the virtues or the exact
limits of the virtues, whoever is estranged from
the religion of the one God.

CHAP. XVIII. — OF SOME COMMANDS OF GOD, AND
OF PATIENCE.

But let us leave the philosophers, who either
know nothing at all, and hold forth this very
ignorance as the greatest knowledge ; or who,
inasmuch as they think they know that of which
they aje ignorant, are absurdly and arrogantly
foolish. Let us therefore (that we may return
to our purpose), to whom alone the truth has
been revealed by God, and wisdom has been
sent from heaven, practise those things which
God who enlightens us commands : let us sustain
and endure the labours of life, by mutual assist-
ance towards each other ; nor, however, if we
shall have done any good work, let us aim at
glory from it. For God admonishes us that the
doer of justice ought not to be boastful, lest he
should appear to have discharged the duties of
benevolence, not so much from a desire of obey-
ing the divine commands, as of pleasing men,
and should already have the reward of glory

t De Offic, ii. II.
* Per patibulunn.

which he has aimed at, and should not receive
the recompense of that heavenly and divine re-
ward. The other things which the worshipper
of God ought to observe are easy, when these
virtues are comprehended, that no one should
ever speak falsely fdr the sake of deceiving or
injuring. For it is unlawful for him who culti-
vates truth to be deceitful in anything, and to
depart from the truth itself which he follows. In
this path of justice and all the virtues there is no
place for falsehood. Therefore the true and just
traveller will not use the saying of Lucilius : ^ —

" It is not for me to speak falsely to a man who is a
friend and acquaintance ; "

but he will think that it is not his part to speak
falsely even to an enemy and a stranger ; nor
will he at any time so act, that his tongue,
which is the interpreter of his mind, should be
at variance with his feeling and thought. If
he shall have lent any money, he will not receive
interest, that the benefit may be unimpaired
which succours necessity, and that he may en-
tirely abstain from the property of another. For
in this kind of duty he ought to be content with
that which is his own ; since it is his duty in
other respects not to be sparing of his property,
in order that he may do good ; but to receive
more than he has given is unjust. And he who
does this lies in wait in some manner, that he
may gain booty from the necessity of another.

But the just man will omit no opportunity of
doing anything mercifully : nor will he pollute
himself with gain of this kind ; but he will so act
that without any loss to himself, that which he
lends may be reckoned among his good works.
He must not receive a gift from a poor man ; so
that if he himself has afforded anything, it may
be good, inasmuch as it is gratuitous. If any
one reviles, he must answer him with a bless-
ing ; •♦ he himself must never revile, that no evil
word may proceed out of the mouth of a man
who reverences the good Word.s Moreover,
he must also diligently take care, lest by any
fault of his he should at any time make an
enemy ; and if any one should be so shameless
as to inflict injury on a good and just man, he
must bear it with calmness and moderation, and
not take upon himself his revenge, but reserve
it for the judgment of God.^ He must at all
times and in all places guard innocence. And
this precept is not limited to this, that he should
not himself inflict injury, but that he should not
avenge it when inflicted on himself. For there
sits on the judgment-seat a very great and im-
partial Judge, the observer and witness of all.
Let him prefer Him to man ; let him rather

3 [Homini amico ac familiari non est mentiri meum.]

* Matt. V. 44; Luke vi. 28; Rom. xii. 14.

5 i.e., Jesus Christ the Son of God = the Word of Ga^

* Rom. xii. 19; Heb. x. 30.

1 84

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

choose that He should pronounce judgment
respecting his cause, whose sentence no one can
escape, either by the advocacy of any one or by
favour. Thus it comes to pass, that a just man
is an object of contempt to all ; and because it
will be thought that he is unable to defend him-
self, he will be regarded as slothful and inactive ;
but if any one shall have avenged himself upon
his enemy, he is judged a man of spirit and
activity — all honour and reverence him. And
although the good man has it in his power to
profit many, yet they look up to him who is able
to injure, rather than to him who is able to profit.
But the depravity of men will not be able to cor-
rupt the just man, so that he will not endeavour
to obey God ; and he would prefer to be despised,
provided that he may always discharge the duty
of a good man, and never of a bad man. Cicero
says in those same books respecting Ofiices :
" But if any one should wish to unravel this in-
distinct conception of his soul," let him at once
teach himself that he is a good man who profits
those whom he can, and injures no one - unless
provoked by injury."

Oh how he marred a simple and true senti-
ment by the addition of two words ! For what
need was there of adding these words, " unless
provoked by injury?" that he might append
vice as a most disgraceful tail to a good man,
and might represent him as without patience,
which is the greatest of all the virtues. He said
that a good man would inflict injuries if he were
provoked : now he must necessarily lose the
name of a good man from this very circum-
stance, if he shall inflict injury. For it is not
less the part of a bad man to return an injury
than to inflict it. For from what source do con-
tests, from what source do fightings and conten-
tions, arise among men, except that impatience
opposed to injustice often excites great tempests ?
But if you meet injustice with patience, than
which virtue nothing can be found more true,
nothing more worthy of a man, it will immedi-
ately be extinguished, as though you should pour
water upon a fire. But if that injustice which
provokes opposition has met with impatience
equal ^ to itself, as though overspread with oil,
it will excite so great a conflagration, that no
stream can extinguish it, but only the shedding
of blood. Great, therefore, is the advantage
of patience, of which the wise man has de-
prived the good man. For this alone causes
that no evil happens ; and if it should be given
to all, there will be no wickedness and no fraud
in the affairs of men. What, therefore, can be
so calamitous to a good man, so opposed to his

' Animi sui complicitam notionem evolvere.
' [Nisi lacessitus injuria.]

' Comparem. Injustice and impatience arc here represented m a
pui of gladiators well matched against each other.

character, as to let loose the reins to anger, which
deprives him not only of the title of a good man,
but even of a man ; since to injure another, as
he himself most truly says, is not in accordance
with the nature of man? For if you provoke
cattle or horses,'* they turn against you either
with their hoof or their horn ; and serpents
and wild beasts, unless you pursue them that
you may kill them, give no trouble. And to
return to examples of men, even the inexpe-
rienced and the foolish, if at any time they
receive an injury, are led by a blind and irra-
tional fury, and endeavour to retaliate upon those
who injure them. In what respect, then, does
the wise and good man differ from the evil and
foohsh, except that he has invincible patience,
of which the foolish are destitute ; except that
he knows how to govern himself, and to mitigate
his anger, which those, because they are without
virtue, are unable to curb? But this circum-
stance manifestly deceived him, because, when
inquiry is made respecting virtue, he thought
that it is the part of virtue to conquer in every
kind of contention. Nor was he able in any
way to see, that a man who gives way to grief
and anger, and who indulges these affections,
against which he ought rather to struggle, and
who rushes wherever injustice shall have called
him, does not fulfil the duty of virtue. For he
who endeavours to return an injury, desires to
imitate that very person by whom he has been
injured. Thus he who imitates a bad man can
by no means be good.

Therefore by two words he has taken away
from the good and wise man two of the greatest
virtues, innocence and patience. But, as Sallus-
tius relates was said by Appius, because he him-
self practised that canine s eloquence, he wished
man also to live after the manner of a dog, so as,
when attacked, to bite in return. And to show
how pernicious this repayment of insult is, and
what carnage it is accustomed to produce, from
what can a more befitting example be sought,
than from the most melancholy disaster of the
teacher himself, who, while he desired to obey
these precepts of the philosophers, destroyed
himself? For if, when attacked with injury, he
had preserved patience — if he had learned
that it is the part of a good man to dissemble
and to endure insult, and his impatience, vanity,
and madness had not poured forth those noble
orations, inscribed with a name derived from
another source,^ he would never, by his head
affixed to them, have polluted the rostra on
which he had formerly distinguished himself, nor
would that proscription have utterly destroyed

* Pecudes, including horses and cattle.
S Caninam, i.e., resembling a dog, cutting.

<> The allusion is to the Philippics of Cicero, a title borrowed
from Demosthenes.

Chap. XIX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

'85

the state. Therefore it is not the part of a
wise and good man to wish to contend, and to
commit himself to danger, since to conquer is
not in our power, and every contest is doubtful ;
but it is the part of a wise and excellent man
not to wish to remove his adversary, which can-
not be done without guilt and danger, but to put
an end to the contest itself, which may be done
with advantage and with justice. Therefore pa-
tience is to be regarded as a very great virtue ;
and that the just man might obtain this, God
willed, as has been before said, that he should be
despised as sluggish. For unless he shall have
been insulted, it will not be known what forti-
tude he has in restraining himself. Now if, when
provoked by injury, he has begun to follow up
his assailant with violence, he is overcome. But
if he shall have repressed that emotion by rea-
soning, he altogether has command over him-
self: he is able to rule himself. And this re-
straining ' of oneself is righdy named patience,
which single virtue is opposed to all vices and
affections. This recalls the disturbed and waver-
ing mind to its tranquillity ; this mitigates, this
restores a man to himself. Therefore, since it is
impossible and useless to resist nature, so that
we are not excited at all ; before, however, the
emotion bursts forth to the infliction of injury,
as far ^ as is possible let it be calmed ^ in time.
God has enjoined us not to let the sun go down
upon our wrath,-* lest he should depart as a wit-
ness of our madness. Finally, Marcus Tullius,
in opposition to his own precept, concerning
which I have lately spoken, gave the greatest
praises to the forgetting of injuries. " I enter-
tain hopes," he says, " O Caesar, who art accus-
tomed to forget nothing except injuries." 5 But
if he thus acted — a man most widely removed
not only from heavenly, but also from public and
civil justice — how much more ought we to do
this, who are, as it were, candidates for immor-
tality ?

CHAP. XIX. — OF THE AFFECTIONS AND THEIR USE ;
AND OF THE THREE FURIES.

When the Stoics attempt to uproot the affec-
tions from man as diseases, they are opposed by
the Peripatetics, who not only retain, but also
defend them, and say that there is nothing in
man which is not produced in him with great
reason and foresight. They say this indeed
rightly, if they know the true limits of each sub-
ject. Accordingly they say that this very affec-
tion of anger is the whetstone of virtue, as though
no one could fight bravely against enemies unless

' Sustentatio sui.

2 Quoad fieri potest. Others read, " quod fieri potest."

3 Maturius sopiatur.
* Eph. iv. 26.

5 Cicero, Pro Ligar., la.

he were excited by anger ; by which they plainly
show that they neither know what virtue is, nor
why God gave anger to man. And if this was
given to us for this purpose, that we may employ
it for the slaying of men, what is to be thought
more savage than man, what more resembling
the wild beasts, than that animal which God
formed for communion and innocence ? There
are, then, three affections which drive men head-
long to all crimes : ( i ) anger, ( 2 ) desire, and
(3) lust.^ On which account the poets have
said that there are three furies which harass the
minds of men : anger longs for revenge, desire
for riches, lust for pleasures. But God has ap-
pointed fixed limits to all of these ; and if they
pass these limits and begin to be too great, they
must necessarily pervert their nature, and be
changed into diseases and vices. And it is a
matter of no great labour to show what these
limits are. 7 Cupidity '^ is given us for providing
those things which are necessary for life ; con-
cupiscence,9 for the procreation of offspring ;
the affection of indignation, '° for restraining the
faults of those who are in our power, that is, in
order that tender age may be formed by a se-
verer discipline to integrity and justice : for if
this time of life is not restrained by fear," licence
will produce boldness, and this will break out
into every disgraceful and daring action. There-
fore, as it is both just and necessary to employ
anger towards the young, so it is both pernicious
and impious to use it towards those of our own
age. It is impious, because humanity is injured ;
pernicious, because if they oppose, it is neces-
sary either to destroy them or to perish. But
that this which I have spoken of is the reason
why the affection of anger has been given to
man, may be understood from the precepts of
God Himself, who commands that we should
not be angry with those who revile and injure us,
but that we should always have our hands over
the young ; that is, that when they err, we should
correct them with continual stripes,'^ lest by use-
less love and excessive indulgence they should
be trained to evil and nourished to vices. But
those who are inexperienced in affairs and igno-
rant of reason, have expelled those affections
which have been given to man for good uses,
and they wander more widely than reason de-

6 [Rather, indignation, cupidity, and concupiscence, answering to
our author's " ira, cupiditas, libido." The difl'erence involved in this
choice of words, I shall have occasion to point out.]

7 [Here he treats the " three furies " as not in themselves vices,
but implanted for good purposes, and becoming "diseases" only when
they pass the limits he now defines. Hence, while indignation is
virtuous anger, it is not a disease; cupidity, while amounting to
honest thrift, is not evil; and concupiscence, until it becomes " ernl
concupiscence " {i-niQvii.i.av Ka.Kr\v, Col. iii. 5) , is but natural appetite,
working to good ends.]

8 Desire. [See note 6, supra.^

9 Lust.
"^ Anger.

" [QusE, nisi in metu cohibetur.l

Assiduis verberibus. This might be rendered " careful punish-
ments."]

i86

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI.

mands. From this cause they Uve unjustly and
impiously. They employ anger against their
equals in age : hence disagreements, hence ban-
ishments, hence wars have arisen contrary to
justice. They use desire for the amassing of
riches : hence frauds, hence robberies, hence all
kinds of crimes have originated. They use lust
only for the enjoyment of pleasures : hence de-
baucheries, hence adulteries, hence all corrup-
tions have proceeded. Whoever, therefore, has
reduced those affections within their proper
limits, which they who are ignorant of God can-
not do, he is patient, he is brave, he is just.'

CHAP. XX. — OF THE SENSES, AND THEIR PLEAS-
URES IN THE BRUTES AND IN MAN ; AND OF
PLEASURES OF THE EVES, AND SPECTACLES.

It remains that I should speak against the
pleasures of the five senses, and this briefly, for
the measure of the book itself now demands
moderation ; all of which, since they are vicious
and deadly, ought to be overcome and subdued
by virtue, or, as I said a little before respecting
the affections, be recalled to their proper office.
The other animals have no pleasure, except the
one only which relates to generation. Therefore
they use their senses for the necessity of their
nature : they see, in order that they may seek
those things which are necessary for the preser-
vation of life ; they hear one another, and dis-
tinguish one another, that they may be able to
assemble together ; they either discover from
the smell, or perceive from the taste, the things
which are useful for food ; they refuse and reject
the things which are useless, they measure the
business of eating and drinking by the fulness of
their stomach. But the foresight of the most
skilful Creator gave to man pleasure without
limit, and liable to fall into vice, because He set
before him virtue, which might always be at vari-
ance with pleasure, as with a domestic enemy.
Cicero says, in the Cato Major: ^ " In truth, de-
baucheries, and adulteries, and disgraceful ac-
tions are excited by no other enticements than
those of pleasure. And since nature or some
God has given to man nothing more excellent
than the mind, nothing is so hostile to this di-
vine benefit and gift as pleasure. For when lust
bears sway there is no place for temperance, nor
can virtue have any existence when pleasure
reigns supreme." But, on the other hand, God
gave virtue on this account, that it might subdue
and conquer pleasure, and that, when it passed
the boundaries assigned to it, it might restrain it
within the prescribed limits, lest it should soothe

' [Quod ignorantes Deum facerc non possunt. In a later age
Lactantius might have been charged with Semi-Ptlaginnism, many
of his expressions about human nature being unstudied. But I note
this passage, as, like many others, proving tliat he recognises the need
of divine grace.]

« C. la.

and captivate man with enjoyments, render him
subject to its control, and punish him with ever-
lasting death.

The pleasure arising from the eyes is various
and manifold, which is derived from the sight
of objects which are pleasant in intercourse with
men, or in nature or workmanship. The phi-
losophers rightly took this away. For they say
that it is much more excellent and worthy of
man to look upon the heaven ^ rather than
carved works, and to admire this most beautiful
work adorned with the lights of the stars shining
through,"* as with flowers, than to admire things
painted and moulded, and varied with jewels.
But when they have eloquently exhorted us to
despise earthly things, and have urged us to look
up to the heaven, nevertheless they do not despise
these public spectacles. Therefore they are both
delighted with these, and are gladly present at
them ; though, since they are the greatest incite-
ment to vices, and have a most powerful ten-
dency to corrupt our minds, they ought to be
taken away from us ; for they not only contrib-
ute in no respect to a happy life, but even inflict
the greatest injury. For he who reckons it a
pleasure, that a man, though justly condemned,
should be slain in his sight, pollutes his con-
science as much as if he should become a spec-
tator and a sharer of a homicide which is
secretly committed. 5 And yet they call these
sports in which human blood is shed. So far
has the feeling of humanity departed from the
men, that when they destroy the lives of men,
they think that they are amusing themselves
with sport, being more guilty than all those
whose blood-shedding they esteem a pleasure.
I ask now whether they can be just and pious
men, who, when they see men placed under the
stroke of death, and entreating mercy, not only
suffer them to be put to death, but also demand
it, and give cruel and inhuman votes for their
death, not being satiated with wounds nor con-
tented with bloodshed. Moreover, they order
them, even though wounded and prostrate, to
be attacked again, and their carcases to be
wasted ^ with blows, that no one may delude
them by a pretended death. Tliey are even
angry with the combatants, unless one of the
two is quickly slain ; and as though they thirsted
for human blood, they hate delays. They de-
mand that other and fresh combatants should be
given to them, that they may satisfy their eyes

3 Coelum potius quim coelata. There appears to be an allusion
to the supposed derivation of " coelum " from " coelando."

* [Intermicantibus astronmi luminibus. It does not seem to me
that the learned translator does full justice here to our author's idea.
" Adorned with the twinkling lights of the stars " would be an admis-
sible rendering.]

5 [It is unbecoming for a Christian, unless as an ofTicer of the
law or a minister of mercy, to be a spectator of any execution of
criminals. Blessed growth of Christian morals. ]

<> Dissipari. [A very graphic description of the brutal shows of
the arena, which were abolished by the first Christian emperor, per-
haps influenced by these very pages.]

Chap. XX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

187

as soon as possible. Being imbued with this
practice, they have lost their humanity. There-
fore they do not spare even the innocent, but
practise upon all that which they have learned
in the slaughter of the wicked. It is not there-
fore befitting that those who strive to keep to
the path of justice should be companions and
sharers in this public homicide. For when God
forbids us to kill, He not only prohibits us from
open violence,' which is not even allowed by
the public laws, but He warns us against the
commission of those things which are esteemed
lawful among men. Thus it will be neither law-
ful for a just man to engage in warfare, since his
warfare is justice itself, nor to accuse any one of
a capital charge, because it makes no difference
whether you put a man to death by word, or
rather by the sword, since it is the act of put-
ting to death itself^ which is prohibited. There-
fore, with regard to this precept of God, there
ought to be no exception at all ; but that it is
always unlawful to put to death a man, whom
God willed to be a sacred animal. ^

Therefore let no one imagine that even this is
allowed, to strangle ■♦ newly-born children, which
is the greatest impiety ; for God breathes into
their souls for life, and not for death. But men,
that there may be no crime with which they may
not pollute their hands, deprive souls as yet in-
nocent and simple of the light which they them-
selves have not given. Can any one, indeed,
expect that they would abstain from the blood of
others who do not abstain even from their own ?
But these are without any controversy wicked and
unjust. What are they whom a false piety 5 com-
pels to expose their children? Can they be con-
sidered innocent who expose their own offspring^
as a prey to dogs, and as far as it depends upon
themselves, kill them in a more cruel manner
than if they had strangled them? Who can
doubt that he is impious who gives occasion 7
for the pity of others ? For, although that which
he has wished should befall the child — namely,
that it should be brought up — he has certainly
consigned his own offspring either to servitude
or to the brothel ? But who does not understand,
who is ignorant what things may happen, or are
accustomed to happen, in the case of each sex,

' Lactrocinari.

2 i.e., without reference to the manner in which death is inflicted.
[Lactantius goes further here than the Scriptures seem to warrant, if
more than prhiatc warfare be in his mind. The influence of Ter-
tulUan is visible here. See Elucidation II. p. 76, and cap. xi. p. 99,
vol. iii., this series.]

3 [Sanctum animal. See p. 56, supra. But the primal law on
this very subject contains a sanction which our author seems to forget.
Because he is an animal of such sacred dignity, therefore " whoso
sheddeth man's blood," etc. (Gen. ix. 6). The impunity of Cain had
led to bloodshed (Gen. vi. 11), to which as a necessary remedy this
sanction was prescribed.]

•• Oblidere.

5 They thought it less criminal to expose children than to strangle
them.

'' Sanguinem suum.

"I i.e., by exposing them, that others may through compassion
bring them up.

even through error? For this is shown by the
example of CEdipus alone, confused with twofold
guilt. It is therefore as wicked to expose as it
is to kill. But truly parricides complain of the
scantiness of their means, and allege that they
have not enough for bringing up more children ;
as though, in truth, their means were in the power
of those who possess them, or God did not daily
make the rich poor, and the poor rich. Where-
fore, if any one on account of poverty shall be
unable to bring up children, it is better to abstain
from marriage ** than with wicked hands to mar
the work of God.

If, then, it is in no way permitted to commit
homicide, it is not allowed us to be present at
all,9 lest any bloodshed should overspread the
conscience, since that blood is offered for the
gratification of the people. And I am inclined
to think that the corrupting influence of the stage
is still more contaminating."" For the subject
of comedies are the dishonouring of virgins, or
the loves of harlots ; and the more eloquent they
are who have composed the accounts of these
disgraceful actions, the more do they persuade
by the elegance of their sentiments ; and har-
monious and polished verses more readily remain
fixed in the memory of the hearers. In like
manner, the stories of the tragedians place before
the eyes the parricides and incests of wicked
kings, and represent tragic " crimes. And what
other effect do the immodest gestures of the
players produce, but both teach and excite lusts ?
whose enervated bodies, rendered effeminate after
the gait and dress of women, imitate '^ unchaste
women by their disgraceful gestures. Why should
I speak of the actors of tnimes,^^ who hold forth
instruction in corrupting influences, who teach
adulteries while they feign them, and by pre-
tended actions train to those which are true?
What can young men or virgins do, when they
see that these things are practised without shame,
and willingly beheld by all? They are plainly
admonished of what they can do, and are in-
flamed with lust, which is especially excited by
seeing ; and every one according to his sex
forms '"* himself in these representations. And
they approve of these things, while they laugh
at them, and with vices clinging to them, they
return more corrupted to their apartments ; and
not boys only, who ought not to be inured to
vices prematurely, but also old men, whom it
does not become at their age to sin.

8 Ab uxoris congressione.

9 i.e., at the shows of gladiators.

'° [How seriously this warning should be considered in our days,
when American theatricals have become so generally licentious be-
yond all bounds, I beg permission to suggest. See Elucidation I. p.
595, vol. v.; also Ibid., pp. 277, 575, this series.]

" Cothumata scelera.

■- Mentiuntur.

'3 The mtmus was a species of dramatic representation, contain-
ing scenes from common life, which were expressed by gesture and
mimicry more than by dialogue.

'* Praefigurat, not a word of classical usage.

1 88

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI.

What else does the practice of the Circensian
games contain but levity, vanity, and madness ?
P'or their souls are hurried away to mad excite-
ment with as great impetuosity as that with which
the chariot races are there carried on ; so that
they who come for the sake of beholding the
spectacle now themselves exhibit more of a spec-
tacle, when they begin to utter exclamations, to
be thrown into transports, and to leap from
their seats. Therefore all spectacles ought to be
avoided, not only that no vice may settle in our
breasts, which ought to be tranquil and peaceful ;
but that the habitual indulgence of any pleasure
may not soothe and captivate us, and turn us
aside from God and from good works.' For the
celebrations of the games are festivals in honour
of the gods, inasmuch as they were instituted on
account of their birthdays, or the dedication of
new temples. And at first the huntings, which
are called shows, were in honour of Saturnus,
and the scenic games in honour of Liber, but
the Circensian in honour of Neptune. By de-
grees, however, the same honour began to be
paid also to the other gods, and separate games
were dedicated to their names, as Sisinnius Capito
teaches in his book on the games. Therefore,
if any one is present at the spectacles to which
men assemble for the sake of religion, he has
departed from the worship of God, and has be-
taken himself to those deities whose birthdays
and festivals he has celebrated.-

CHAP. XXI. — OF THE PLEASURES OF THE EARS,
AND OF SACRED LITERATURE.

Pleasure of the ears is received from the sweet-
ness of voices and strains, which indeed is as
productive of vice as that delight of the eyes of
which we have spoken. For who would not deem
him luxurious and worthless who should have
scenic arts at his house ? But it makes no dif-
ference whether you practise luxury alone at
home, or with the people in the theatre. But
we have already spoken of spectacles : ^ there
remains one thing which is to be overcome by
us, that we be not captivated by those things
which penetrate to the innermost perception.
For all those things which are unconnected with
words, that is, pleasant sounds of the air and of
strings, may be easily disregarded, because they
do not adhere to us, and cannot be written.
But a well-composed poem, and a speech be-
guiling with its sweetness, captivate the minds of
men, and impel them in what direction they
please. Hence, when learned men have applied
themselves to the religion of God, unless they
have been instructed* by some skilful teacher,

' [See TertuUian, vol. lii cap. 25, p.89, this series.]

* [Sec p. 27, supra; also vol. vi. pp. 487, 488.]
3 [See p. 187, supra.\

* Fundati, having the foundation well laid, trained. Some read,
" Ab aliquo imperito doctorc fundaU."

they do not believe. For, being accustomed to
sweet and polished speeches or poems, they de-
spise the simple and common language of the
sacred writings as mean. For they seek that
which may soothe the senses. But whatever is
pleasant to the ear effects persuasion, and while
it delights fixes itself deeply within the breast.
Is God, therefore, the contriver both of the mind,
and of the voice, and of the tongue, unable to
speak eloquently ? Yea, rather, with the greatest
foresight. He wished those things which are di-
vine to be without adornment, that all might un-
derstand the things which He Himself spoke to
all.

Therefore he who is anxious for the truth, who
does not wish to deceive himself, must lay aside
hurtful and injurious pleasures, which would bind
the mind to themselves, as pleasant food does
the body : true things must be preferred to false,
eternal things to those which are of short dura-
tion, useful things to those which are pleasant.
Let nothing be pleasing to the sight but that which
you see to be done with piety and justice ; let
nothing be agreeable to the hearing but that which
nourishes the soul and makes you a better man.
And especially this sense ought not to be dis-
torted to vice, since it is given to us for this pur-
pose, that we might gain the knowledge of God.
Therefore, if it be a pleasure to hear melodies
and songs, let it be pleasant to sing and hear the
praises of God. This is true pleasure, which is
the attendant and companion of virtue. This is
not frail and brief, as those which they desire,
who, like cattle, are slaves to the body ; but last-
ing, and affording delight without any intermis-
sion. And if any one shall pass its limits, and
shall seek nothing else from pleasure but pleasure
itself, he designs /^r himself death ; for as there
is perpetual life in virtue, so there is death in
pleasure. For he who shall choose temporal
things will be without things eternal ; he who
shall prefer earthly things will not have heavenly
things.

CHAP. XXII. OF THE PLEASURES OF TASTE AND

SMELL.

But with regard to the pleasures of taste and
smell, which two senses relate only to the body,
there is nothing to be discussed by us ; unless by
chance any one requires us to say that it is dis-
graceful to a wise and good man if he is the
slave of his appetite, if he walks along besmeared
with unguents and crowned with flowers : and he
who does these things is plainly foolish and sense-
less, and is worthless, and one whom not even
a notion of virtue has reached. Perhaps some
one will say. Why, then, have these things been
made, except that we may enjoy them ? How-
ever, it has often been said that there would
have been no virtue unless it had things which it

Chap. XXIII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

189

might overpower. Therefore God made all
things to supply a contest between two things.
Those enticements of pleasures, then, are the
instruments of that whose only business it is to
subdue virtue, and to shut out justice from men.
With these soothing influences and enjoyments
it captivates their souls ; for it knows that pleas-
ure is the contriver of death. For as God calls
man to life only through virtue and labour, so the
other calls us to death by delights and pleasures ;
and as men arrive at real good through deceitful
evils, so they arrive at real evil through deceitful
goods. Therefore those enjoyments are to be
guarded against, as snares or nets, lest, captivated
by the softness of enjoyments, we should be
brought under the dominion of death with the
body itself, to which we have enslaved ourselves.

CHAP. XXIII.' — DE TACTUS VOLUPTATE ET LIBIDINE,
ATQUE DE MATRIMONIO ET CONTINENTIA.

Venio nunc ad earn, quae percipitur ex tactu,
voluptatem : qui sensus est quidem totius cor-
poris. Sed ego non de ornamentis, aut vesti-
bus, sed de sola libidine dicendum mihi puto ;
quae maxime coercenda est, quia maxime nocet.
Cum excogitasset Deus duorum sexuum ratio-
nem, attribuit iis, ut se invicem appeterent, et
conjunctione gauderent. Itaque ardentissimam
cupiditatem cunctorum animantium corporibus
admiscuit, ut in hos affectus avidissime ruerent,
eaque ratione propagari et multiplicari genera
possent. Quae cupiditas et appetentia in hom-
ine vehementior et acrior invenitur ; vel quia
hominum multitudinem voluit esse majorem, vel
quoniam virtutem soli homini dedit, ut esset
laus et gloria in coercendis voluptatibus, et ab-
stinentia sui. Scit ergo adversarius ille noster,
quanta sit vis hujus cupiditatis, quam quidam
necessitatem dicere maluerunt ; eamque a recto
et bono, ad malum et pravum transfert. Illicita
enim desideria immittit, ut aliena contaminent,
quibus habere propria sine delicto licet. Obji-
cit quippe oculis irritabiles formas, suggeritque
fomenta, et vitiis pabulum subministrat : turn in-
dmis visceribus stimulos omnes conturbat et
commovet, et naturalem ilium incitat atque in-
flammat ardorem, donee irretitum hominem
implicatumque decipiat. Ac ne quis esset, qui
poenarum metu abstineret alieno, lupanaria
quoque constituit ; et pudorem infehcium muli-
erum pubHcavit, ut ludibrio haberet tam eos qui
faciunt, quam quas pati necesse est.

His obscoenitatibus animas, ad sanctitatem
genitas, velut in coeni gurgite demersit, pudorem
extinxit, pudicitiam profligavit. Idem etiam
mares maribus admiscuit ; et nefandos coitus
contra naturam contraque institutum Dei machi-

I It has been judged advisable to give this chapter in the original
Latin. [Compare Clement, vol. ii. p. 259, notes 3, 7, this series.]

natus est : sic imbuit homines, et armavit ad
nefas omne. Quid enim potest esse sanctum
iis, qui setatem imbecillam et praesidio indigen-
tem, libidini suae depopulandam foedandamque
substraverint ? Non potest haec res pro magni-
tudine sceleris enarrari. Nihil amplius istos ap-
pellare possum, quam impios et parricidas, quibus
non sufficit sexus a Deo datus, nisi etiam suum
profane ac petulanter illudant. Haec tamen
apud illos levia, et quasi honesta sunt. Quid
dicam de iis, qui abominandam non libidinem,
sed insaniam potius exercent ! Piget dicere :
sed quid his fore credamus, quos non piget fa-
cere ? et tamen dicendum est, quia fit. De istis
loquor, quorum teterrima libido et execrabilis
furor ne capiti quidem parcit. Quibus hoc
verbis, aut qua indignatione tantum nefas prose-
quar? Vincit ofificium linguae sceleris magni-
tudo. Cum igitur hbido haec edat opera, et
haec facinora designet, armandi adversus earn
virtute maxima sumus. Quisquis affectus illos
fraenare non potest, cohibeat eos intra praescrip-
tum legitimi tori, ut et illud, quod avide expetat,
consequatur, et tamen in peccatum non incidat.
Nam quid sibi homines perditi volunt? Nempe
honesta opera voluptas sequitur : si ipsam per
se appetunt, justa et legitima frui licet.

Quod si aliqua necessitas prohibebit tum vero
maxima adhibenda virtus erit, ut cupiditati con-
tinentia reluctetur. Nee tantum alienis, quae
attingere non licet, verum etiam publicis vul-
gatisque corporibus abstinendum, Deus praecepit ;
docetque nos, cum duo inter se corpora fuerint
copulata, unum corpus efificere. Ita qui se coeno
immerserit, coeno sit oblitus necesse est ; et cor-
pus quidem cito ablui potest : mens autem con-
tagione impudici corporis inquinata non potest,
nisi et longo tempore, et multis bonis operibus,
ab ea quae inhaeserit colluvione purgari. Opor-
tet ergo sibi quemque proponere, duorum sexu-
um conjunctionem generandi causa datam esse
viventibus, eamque legem his affectibus positam,
ut successionem parent. Sicut autem dedit no-
bis oculos Deus, non ut spectemus, voluptatem-
que capiamus, sed ut videamus propter eos
actus, qui pertinent ad vitae necessitatem, ita
genitalem corporis partem, quod nomen ipsum
docet, nulla alia causa nisi efficiendas sobolis ac-
cepimus. Huic divinae legi summa devotione
parendum est. Sint omnes, qui se discipulos
Dei profitebuntur, ita morati et instituti, ut im-
perare sibi possint. Nam qui voluptatibus indul-
gent, qui libidini obsequuntur, ii animam suani
corpori mancipant, ad mortemque condemnant :
quia se corpori addixerunt, in quod habet mors
potestatem. Unusquisque igitur, quantum po-
test, formet se ad verecundiam, pudorem colat,
castitatem conscientia et mente tueatur ; nee
tantum legibus publicis pareat : sed sit supra
omnes leges, qui legem Dei sequitur. Quibus

190

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VL

bonis si assueverit, jam pudebit eum ad deteriora
desciscere : modo placeant recta et honesta,
quae melioribus jucundiora sunt quam prava et
inhonesta pejoribus.

Nondum omnia castitatis officia exsecutus
sum : quam Deus non modo intra privatos parie-
tes, sed etiam prsescripto lectuli terminal ; ut
ciim quis habeat uxorem, neque servam, neque
liberam habere insuper velit, sed matrimonio
fidem servet. Non enim, sicut juris publici
ratio est, sola mulier adultera est, quae habet
alium, maritus autem, etiam si plures habeat, a
crimine adulterii solutus est. Sed divina lex ita
duos in matrimonium, quod est in corpus unum,
pari jure conjungit, ut adulter habeatur, quis-
quis compagem corporis in diversa distraxerit.
Nee ob aliam causam Deus, cum caeteras ani-
mantes suscepto foetu maribus repugnare voluis-
set, solam omnium mulierem patientem viri
fecit ; scilicet ne fceminis repugnantibus, libido
cogeret viros aliud appetere, eoque facto, cas-
titatis gloriam non tenerent.' Sed neque mulier
virtutem pudiciticie caperet, si peccare non pos-
set. Nam quis mutum animal pudicum esse
dixerit, quod suscepto foetu mari repugnat?
Quod ideo facit, quia necesse est in dolorem
atque in periculum veniat, si admiserit. Nulla
igitur laus est, non facere quod facere non possis.
Ideo autem pudicitia in homine laudatur, quia
non naturalis est, sed voluntaria. Servanda igi-
tur fides ab utroque alteri est : immo exemplo
continentiae docenda uxor, ut se caste gerat.
Iniquum est enim, ut id exigas, quod praestare
ipse non possis. Quae iniquitas effecit profecto,
ut essent adulteria, foeminis aegre ferentibus
praestare se fidem non exhibentibus mutuam
charitatem. Denique nulla est tam perditi pu-
doris adultera, quae non banc causam vitiis suis
praetendat ; injuriam se peccando non facere,
sed referre. Quod optime Quintilianus expres-
sit : Homo, inquit, neque alieni matrimonii ab-
stinens, neque sui custos, quae inter se natura
connexa sunt. Nam neque maritus circa cor-
rumpendas aliorum conjuges occupatus potest
vacare domesticae sanctitati ; et uxor, cum in
tale incidit matrimonium, exemplo ipso conci-
tata, aut imitari se putat, aut vindicari.

Cavendum igitur, ne occasionem vitiis nostra
intemperantia demus : sed assuescant invicem
mores duorum, et jugum paribus animis ferant.
Nos ipsos in altero cogitemus. Nam fere in hoc
justitiae summa consistit, ut non facias alteri,
quidquid ipse ab altero pati nolis. Haec sunt
quae ad continentiam praecipiuntur a Deo. Sed
tamen ne quis divina praecepta circumscribere se
putet posse, adduntur ilia, ut omnis calumnia,
et occasio fraudis removeatur, adulterum esse,

' [Non bene conveniunt igitur legibus divinis qux supradicu sunt
nuctore nostro (vide p 143, apud n. 2) sed hacc verba de natur<k
■ mliebri minime impenta, esse videntur.]

qui a marito dimissam duxerit, et eum qui prae-
ter crimen adulterii uxorem dimiserit, ut alteram
ducat ; dissociari enim corpus et distrahi Deus
noluit. Praeterea non tantum adulterium esse
vitandum, sed etiam cogitationem ; ne quis aspi-
ciat alienam, et animo concupiscat : adulteram
enim fieri mentem, si vel imaginem voluptatis
sibi ipsa depinxerit. Mens est enim profecto
quae peccat : quae immoderatae libidinis fructum
cogitatione complectitur ; in hac crimen est, in
hac omne delictum. Nam etsi corpus nulla sit
labe maculatum, non constat tamen pudicitiae
ratio, si animus incestus est ; nee illibata casti-
tas videri potest, ubi conscientiam cupiditas in-
quinavit. Nee vero aliquis existimet, difficile
esse fraenos imponere voluptati, eamque vagam
et errantem castitatis pudicitiaeque limitibus in-
cludere, ciim propositum sit hominibus etiam
vincere, ac plurimi beatam atque incorruptam
corporis integritatem retinuerint, multique sint,
qui hoc coelesti genere vitae felicissime perfru-
antur. Quod quidem Deus non ita fieri prae-
cepit, tanquam astringat, quia generari homines
oportet ; sed tanquam sinat. Scit enim, quan-
tam his affectibus imposuerit necessitatem. Si
quis hoc, inquit, facere potuerit, habebit eximiam
incomparabilemque mercedem. Quod conti-
nentiae genus quasi fastigium est, omniumque
consummatio virtutum. Ad quam si quis eniti
atque eluctari potuerit, hunc ser\-um dominus,
hunc discipulum magister agnoscet ; hie terram
triumphabit, hie erit consimilis Deo, qui virtu-
tem Dei cepit. Haec quidem difficilia videntur ;
sed de eo loquimur, cui calcatis omnibus ter-
renis, iter in coelum paratur. Nam quia virtus
in Dei agnitione consistit, omnia gravia sunt,
dum ignores ; ubi cognoveris, facilia : per ipsas
difficultates nobis exeundum est, qui ad sum-
mum bonum tendimus,

CHAP. XXIV. OF REPENTANCE, OF PARDON, AND

THE COMMANDS OF GOD.

Nor, however, let any one be disheartened, or
despair concerning himself, if, overcome by pas-
sion, or mipelled by desire, or deceived by error,
or compelled by force, he has turned aside to the
way of unrighteousness. For it is possible for
him to be brought back, and to be set free, if
he repents of his actions, and, turning to better
things, makes satisfaction to (jod. Cicero, in-
deed, thought that this was impossible, whose
words in the third book of the Academics ^ are :
" But if, as in the case of those who have gone
astray on a journey, it were permitted those who
have followed a devious course to correct their
error by repentance, it would be more easy to
amend rashness." It is altogether permitted
them. For if we think that our children are

* [From a lost book.]

Chap. XXIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

191

corrected when we perceive that they repent of,
their faults, and though we have disinherited and '
cast them off, we again receive, cherish, and em-
brace them, why should we despair that the
mercy of God our Father may again be appeased
by repentance ? Therefore He who is at once
the Lord and most indulgent Parent promises
that He will remit the sins of the penitent, and
that He will blot out all the iniquities of him who
shall begin afresh to practise righteousness. For
as the uprightness of his past life is of no avail
to him who lives badly, because the subsequent
wickedness has destroyed his works of righteous-
ness, so former sins do not stand in the way of
him who has amended his Ijfe, because the sub-
sequent righteousness has effaced the stain of his
former life. For he who repents of that which
he has done, understands his former error ; and
on this account the Greeks better and more sig-
nificantly speak of inetanoia,^ which we may
speak of in Latin as a return to a right under-
standing.- For he returns to a right under-
standing, and recovers his mind as it were from
madness, who is grieved for his error ; and he
reproves himself of madness, and confirms his
mind to a better course of life : then he espe-
cially guards against this very thing, that he may
not again be led into the same snares. In short,
even the dumb animals, when they are ensnared
by fraud, if by any means they have extricated
themselves so as to escape, become more cautious
for the future, and always avoid all those things
in which they have perceived wiles and snares.
Thus repentance makes a man cautious and dili-
gent to avoid the faults into which he has once
fallen through deceit.

For no one can be so prudent and so circum-
spect as not at some time to slip ; and therefore
God, knowing our weakness, of His compassion ^
has opened a harbour of refuge for man, that the
medicine of repentance might aid this necessity
to which our frailty is liable.-* Therefore, if any
one has erred, let him retrace his step, and as
soon as possible recover and reform himself.

" But upward to retrace the way,
And pass into the light of day,
Then comes the stress of labour." '

For when men have tasted sweet pleasures to
their destruction,^ they can scarcely be separated
from them : they would more easily follow right
things if they had not tasted their attractions.
But if they tear themselves away from this per-
nicious slavery, all their error will be forgiven

' ij-travot-a.. The word properly denotes a change of mind, result-
ing in a change of conduct.

^ Resipiscentiam. [Note the admitted superiority of the Greek.]
3 Pro pietate sua. Augustine {De Civitate Dei, x. i) explains the
tise of this expression as applied to God.

* [Concerning the " planks after shipwreck," see Tertullian, pp.
659 and 666, vol. iii., this series.]

5 Virg., yEneid, vi. 128.

* MaJe.

them, if they shall have corrected their error by
a better life. And let not any one imagine that
he is a gainer if he shall have no witness of his
fault : for all things are known to Him in whose
sight we live ; and if we are able to conceal any-
thing from all men, we cannot conceal it from
God, to whom nothing can be hidden, nothing
secret. Seneca closed his exhortations with an
admirable sentiment : " There is," he says," some
great deity, and greater than can be imagined ;
and for him we endeavour to live. Let us ap-
prove ourselves to him. For it is of no avail
that conscience is confirmed ; we lie open to the
sight of God." What can be spoken with greater
truth by him who knew God, than has been said
by a man who is ignorant of true religion ? For
he both expressed the majesty of God, by saying
that it is too great for the reflecting powers of
the human mind to receive ; and he touched up-
on the very fountain of truth, by perceiving that
the life of men is not superfluous,'' as the Epicu-
reans will have it, but that they make it their en-
deavour to live to God, if indeed they live with
justice and piety. He might have been a true
worshipper of God, if any one had pointed out
to him God ; ^ and he might assuredly have de-
spised Zeno, and his teacher Sotion, if he had
obtained a true guide of wisdom. Let us ap-
prove ourselves to him, he says. A speech truly
heavenly, had it not been preceded by a confes-
sion of ignorance. It is of no avail that con-
science is confined ; we lie open to the sight of
God. There is then no room for falsehood, none
for dissimulation ; for the eyes of men are re-
moved by walls, but the divine power of God
cannot be removed by the inward parts from
looking through and knowing the entire man.
The same writer says, in the first book of the
same work : " What are you doing? what are you
contriving ? what are you hiding ? Your guardian
follows you ; one is withdrawn from you by for-
eign travel, another by death, another by infirm
health ; this one adheres to you, and you can
never be without him. Why do you choose a
secret place, and remove the witness ? Suppose
that you have succeeded in escaping the notice
of all, foolish man ' What does it profit you not
to have a witness,"? if you have the witness of your
own conscience?

And Tully speaks in a manner no less remark-
able concerning conscience and God : " Let him

7 Supervacuam, i.e., useless, without an object. [P. 171, n. 2.]
* [May I be pardoned for asking my reader to refer to The Task
of the poet Cowper (book ii.): "All truth is from the sempiternal
source," etc. The concluding lines illustrate the kindly judgment oi
our author : —

" How oft, when Paul has served us with a text.
Has Epictetus, Plato, Tully, preached !
Men that, if now alive, would sit content
And humble learners of a Saviour's worth.
Preach it who might. Such was their love of truth.
Their thirst of knowledge, and their candour too."
But turn to our author's last sentence in cap. 17, p. 183, su^ra.'\
9 Coascium.

192

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI.

remember," he says, " that he has God as a wit-
ness, that is, as I judge, his own mind, than which
God has given nothing more divine to man." '
Likewise, in speaking of the just and good man,
he says : " Therefore such a man will not dare,
not merely to do, but even to think, anything
which he would not dare to proclaim." There-
fore let us cleanse our conscience, which is open
to the eyes of God ; and, as the same writer says,
•' let us always so live as to remember that we
shall have to give an account ; " ^ and let us
reckon that we are looked upon at every moment,
not, as he said, in some theatre of the world by
men, but from above by Him who is about to be
both the judge and also the witness, to whom,
when He demands an account of our life, it will
not be permitted any one to deny his actions.
Therefore it is better either to flee from con-
science, or ourselves to open our mind of our
own accord, and tearing open our wounds to
pour forth destruction ; which wounds no one
else can heal but He alone who made the lame
to walk, restored sight to the blind, cleansed the
polluted limbs, and raised the dead. He will
quench the ardour of desires, He will root out
lusts. He will remove envy. He will mitigate
anger. He will give true and lasting health.
This remedy should be sought by all, inasmuch
as the soul is harassed by greater danger than
the body, and a cure should be applied as soon
as possible to secret diseases. For if any one
has his eyesight clear, all his limbs perfect, and
his entire body in the most vigorous health,
nevertheless I should not call him sound if he is
carried away by anger, swollen and puffed up with
pride, the slave of lust, and burning with desires ;
but I should rather call him sound who does not
raise his eyes to the prosperity of another, who
does not admire riches, who looks upon another's
wife with chaste eye, who covets nothing at all,
does not desire that which is another's, envies
no one, disdains no one ; who is lowly, merciful,
bountiful, mild, courteous : peace perpetually
dwells in his mind.

That man is sound, he is just, he is perfect.
Whoever, therefore, has obeyed all these heav-
enly precepts, he is a worshipper of the true
God, whose sacrifices are gentleness of spirit, and
an innocent life, and good actions. And he
who exhibits all these qualities offers a sacrifice
as often as he performs any good and pious
action. For God does not desire the sacrifice
of a dumb animal, nor of death and blood, but
of man and life. And to this sacrifice there is
neither need of sacred boughs, nor of purifica-
tions,3 nor of sods of turf, which things are

' De Offic., iii. 10.
* Ibid., iii. 19.

3 Februis, a word used in the Sabine language for purgations.
Others read " fibris," entrails, offered in sacrifice.

plainly most vain, but of those things which are
put forth from the innermost breast. Therefore,
upon the altar of God, which is truly very great,*
and which is placed in the heart of man, and
cannot be defiled with blood, there is placed
righteousness, patience, faith, innocence, chastity,
and abstinence. This is the truest ceremony,
this is that law of God, as it is called by Cicero,
illustrious and divine, which always commands
things which are right and honourable, and for-
bids things which are wrong and disgraceful ;
and he who obeys this most holy and certain
law cannot fail to live justly and lawfully. And
I have laid down a few chief points of this law,
since I promised that I would speak only of
those things which completed the character 5 of
virtue and righteousness. If any one shall wish
to comprise all the other parts, let him seek
them from the fountain itself, from which that
stream flowed to us.

CHAP. XXV. — OF SACRIFICE, AND OF AN OFFERING
WORTHY OF GOD, AND OF THE FORM OF PRAISING
GOD.

Now let us speak briefly concerning sacrifice
itself. "Ivory," says Plato, " is not a pure offer-
ing to God." What then? Are embroidered
and costly textures? Nay, rather nothing is a
pure offering to God which can be corrupted or
taken away secretly. But as he saw this, that
nothing which was taken from a dead body ought
to be offered to a living being, why did he not
see that a corporeal offering ought not to be
presented to an incorporeal being? How much
better and more truly does Seneca speak : " Will
you think of God as great and placid, and a
friend to be reverenced with gentle majesty, and
always at hand? not to be worshipped with the
immolation of victims and with much blood —
for what pleasure arises from the slaughter of
innocent animals ? — but with a pure mind and
with a good and honourable purpose. Temples
are not to be built to Him with stones piled up
on high ; He is to be consecrated by each man
in his own breast." Therefore, if any one thinks
that garments, and jewels, and other things which
are esteemed precious, are valued by God, he is
altogether ignorant of what God is, since he
thinks that those things are pleasing to Him
which even a man would be justly praised for
despising. What, then, is pure, what is worthy
of God, but that which He Himself has de-
manded in that divine law of His?

There are two things which ought to be offered,
the gift ^ and the sacrifice ; the gift as a per-

* There is an allusion to the altar of Hercules, called " ara
maxima." [Christian philosophy is heard at last among Latins.]

5 Qua; summum fastigium imponerent. The phrase properly
means to complete a building by raising the pediment or gable.
Hence its figurative use. [See cap 2, p. 164.]

' Donum, a free-will offering or gift. See Ex. xxv. a.

Chap. XXV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

193

petual ofTering, the sacrifice for a time. But
with those who by no means understand the
nature of the Divine Being, a gift is anything
which is wrought of gold or silver ; likewise
anything which is woven of purple and silk : a
sacrifice is a victim, and as many things as are
burnt upon the altar. But God does not make
use either of the one or the other, because He
is free from corruption, and that is altogether
corruptible. Therefore, in each case, that which
is incorporeal must be offered to God, for He
accepts this. His offering is innocency of soul ;
His sacrifice praise and a hymn." For if God is
not seen. He ought therefore to be worshipped
with things which are not seen. Therefore no
other religion is true but that which consists of
virtue and justice. But in what manner God
deals with the justice of man is easily understood.
For if man shall be just, having received im-
mortality, he will serve God for ever. But that
men are not born except for justice, both the
ancient philosophers and even Cicero suspects.
For, discussing the Laws,^ he says : " But of all
things which are discussed by learned men,
nothing assuredly is of greater importance than
that it should be entirely understood that we are
born to justice." We ought therefore to hold forth
and offer to God that alone for the receiving of
which He Himself produced us. But how true
this twofold kind of sacrifice is, Trismegistus
Hermes is a befitting witness, who agrees with
us, that is, with the prophets, whom we follow,
as much in fact as in words. He thus spoke
concerning justice : " Adore and worship this
word, O son." But the worship of God consists
of one thing, not to be wicked. Also in that
perfect discourse, when he heard Asclepius in-
quiring from his son whether it pleased him that
incense and other odours for divine sacrifice
were offered to his father, exclaimed : " Speak
words of good omen, O Asclepius. For it is
the greatest impietj to entertain any such thought
concerning that being of pre-eminent goodness.

' [i.e., " the Eucharist," as a sacrifice of praise and thanks-
giving. And mark what follows, note 3, in/ra.\
2 [Nos ad justitiam esse natos.]

For these things, and things resembling these,
are not adapted to Him. For He is full of all
things, as many as exist, and He has need of
nothing at all. But let us give Him thanks, and
adore Him. For His sacrifice consists only of
blessing." And he spoke rightly. ^

For we ought to sacrifice to God in word ;
inasmuch as God is the Word, as He Himself
confessed. Therefore the chief ceremonial in
the worship of God is praise from the mouth of
a just man directed towards God.^ That this,
however, may be accepted by God, there is need
of humility, and fear, and devotion in the great-
est degree, lest any one should chance to place
confidence in his integrity and innocence, and
thus incur the charge of pride and arrogance,
and by this deed lose the recompense of his
virtue. But that he may obtain the favour of
God, and be free from every stain, let him always
implore the mercy of God, and pray for nothing
else but pardon for his sins, even though he has
none."* If he desires anything else, there is no
need of expressing it in word to one who knows
what we wish ; if anything good shall happen to
him, let him give thanks ; if any evil, let him
make amends,5 and let him confess that the evil
has happened to him on account of his faults ;
and even in evils let him nothing less give thanks,
and make amends in good things, that he may
be the same at all times, and be firm, and un-
changeable, and unshaken. And let him not
suppose that this is to be done by him only in
the temple, but at home, and even in his very
bed. In short, let him always have God with
himself, consecrated in his heart, inasmuch as
he himself is a temple of God. But if he has
served God, his Father and Lord, with this assi-
duity, obedience, and devotion, justice is com-
plete and perfect ; and he who shall keep this,
as we before testified, has obeyed God, and has
satisfied the obligations of religion and his own
duty.

3 [Ps. 1. 23.]

< I.e., no known sins. Thus the Psalmist prays: "Cleanse thou
me from my secret faults." [So St. Paul, i Cor. iv. 4, where the
archaic " by " = adversus.]

s Satisfaciat, " let him make satisfaction by fruits worthy of repent-
ance."

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

BOOK VII.

OF A HAPPY LIFE.

CHAP. I. — OF THE WORLD, AND THOSE WHO ARE
ABOUT TO BELIEVE, AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT ;
AND IN THIS THE CENSURE OF THE FAITHLESS.

It is well : the foundations are laid, as the
illustrious orator says. But we have not only
laid the foundations, which might be firm and
suitable for the support of the work ; but we
have raised the entire edifice, with great and
strong buildings, almost to the summit. There
remains, a matter which is much easier, either
to cover or adorn it ; without which, however,
the former works are both useless and displeas-
ing. For of what avail is it, either to be freed
from false religions ' or to understand the true ^
one ? Of what avail, either to see the vanity of
false wisdom,^ or to know what is true ? ■» Of
what avail is it, I say, to defend that heavenly
justice? 5 Of what avail to hold the worship
of God ^ with great difficulties, which is the
greatest virtue, unless the divine reward of ever-
lasting blessedness attends it? Of which subject
we must speak in this book, lest all that is gone
before should appear vain and unprofitable : if
we should leave this, on account of which they
were undertaken, in uncertainty, lest any one
should by chance think that such great labours
are undertaken in vain ; while he distrusts their
heavenly reward, which God has appointed for
him who shall have despised the present sweet
enjoyments of earth in comparison of solitary
and unrewarded ^ virtue. Let us satisfy this part
of our subject also, both by the testimonies of
the sacred writings and also by probable argu-
ments, that it may be equally manifest that future
things are to be preferred to those which are
present ; heavenly things to earthly ; and eternal
things to those which are temporal : since the

■ The subject of the first and second books.

* The subject of the sixth book.
3 The subject of the third book.

* The subject of the fourth book.
5 The subject of the fifth book.

<> Nuda.

194

rewards of vices are temporal, those of virtues
are eternal.

I will therefore set forth the system of the
world, that it may easily be understood both when
and how it was made by God ; which Plato, who
discoursed about the making of the world, could
neither know nor explain, inasmuch as he was ig-
norant of the heavenly mystery, which' is not
learned except by the teaching of prophets and
God ; and therefore he said that it was created
for eternity. Whereas the case is far different,
since whatever is of a solid and heavy body, as
it received a beginning at some time, so it must
needs have an end. For Aristotle, when he did
not see how so great a magnitude of things could
perish, and wished to escape this objection, ^ said
that the world always had existed, and always
would exist. He did not at all see, that what-
ever tJiaterial thing exists must at some time
have had a beginning, and that nothing can ex-
ist at all unless it had a beginning. For when
we see that earth, and water, and fire perish, are
consumed, and extinguished, which are clearly
parts of the world, it is understood that that is
altogether mortal the members of which are
mortal. Thus it comes to pass, that whatever is
liable to destruction must have been produced.
But everything which comes within the sight of
the eyes must of necessity be material, and capa-
ble of dissolution. Therefore Epicurus alone,
following the authority of Democritus, spoke
truly in this matter, who said that it had a be-
ginning at some time, and that it would at some
time perish. Nor, however, was he able to as-
sign any reason, either through what causes or
at what time this work of such magnitude should
be destroyed. But since God has revealed this
to us, and we do not arrive at it by conjectures,
but by instruction from heaven, we will carefully
teach it, that it may at length be evident to
those who are desirous of the truth, that the

'> Prxscriptionem.

Chap. II.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

195

philosophers did not see nor comprehend the
truth ; but that they had so slight a knowledge '
of it, that they by no means perceived from
what source that fragrance^ of wisdom, which
was so pleasant and agreeable, breathed upon
them.

In the meantime, I think it necessary to ad-
monish those who are about to read this, that
depraved and vicious minds, since the acuteness
of their mind is blunted by earthly passions, which
weigh down all the perceptions and render them
weak, will either altogether fail to understand
these things which we relate, or, even if they shall
understand them, they will dissemble and be un-
willing for them to be true : because they are
drawn away by vices, and they knowingly favour
their own evils, by the pleasantness of which
they are captivated, and they desert the way of
virtue, by the bitterness of which they are of-
fended. For they who are inflamed with avarice
and a certain insatiable thirst for riches — be-
cause, when they have sold or squandered the
things in which they delight, they are unable to
live in a simple style — undoubtedly prefer that
by which they are compelled to renounce their
eager desires. Also, they who, urged on by the
incitements of lusts, as the poet says,^

" Rush into madness and fire,"

say that we bring forward things plainly incred-
ible ; because the precepts about self-restraint
wound their ears, which restrain them from their
pleasures, to which they have given ■♦ up their
soul, together with their body. But those who,
swollen with ambition or inflamed with the love
of power, have bestowed all their efforts on the
acquisition of honours, will not, even if we should
bear the sun himself in our hands, believe that
teaching which commands them to despise all
power and honour, and to live in humility, and
in such humility that they may be able to receive
an injury, and if they have received one, be un-
willing to return it. These are the men who cry
out 5 in any way against the truth with closed
eyes. But they who are or shall be of sound
mind, that is, not so immersed in vices as to be
incurable, will both believe these things, and will
readily approach them ; and whatever things we
say, they will appear to them open, and plain,
and simple, and that which is chiefly necessary,
true and unassailable.

No one favours virtue but he who is able to
follow it ; but it is not easy for all to follow it :
they can do so whom poverty and want have ex-
ercised, and made capable of virtue. For if the
endurance of evils is virtue, it follows that they

' Ita leviter odoratos.
» Odor.

3 Wrg., Georg., iii. 244.
* Adjudicaverunt.
S Latrant.

are not capable of virtue who have always lived
in the enjoyment of good things ; because they
have never experienced evils, nor can they en-
dure them, through their long-continued use and
desire of good things, which alone they know.
Thus it comes to pass that the poor and humble,
who are unencumbered, more readily believe
God than the rich, who are entangled with many
hindrances ; ^ yea, rather, in chains and fetters
they are enslaved to the nod of desire, their mis-
tress, which has ensnared them with inextricable
bonds ; nor are they able to look up to heaven,
since their mind is bent down to the earth, and
fixed on the ground. But the way of virtue does
not admit those carrying great burthens. The
path is very narrow by which justice leads man
to heaven ; no one can keep this unless he is un-
encumbered and lightly equipped. For those
wealthy men, who are loaded with many and
great burthens, proceed along the way of death,
which is very broad, since destruction rules with
extended sway. The precepts which God gives
for justice, and the things which we bring forward
under the teaching of God respecting virtue and
the truth, are bitter and as poisons to these.
And if they shall dare to oppose these things,
they must own themselves to be enemies of
virtue and justice. I will now come to the re-
maining part of the subject, that an end may be
put to the work. But this remains, that we
should treat of the judgment of God, which will
then be established when our Lord shall return
to the earth to render to every one either a re-
ward or punishment, according to his desert.
Therefore, as we spoke in the fourth book con-
cerning His first advent,^ so in this book we will
relate His second advent, which the Jews also
both confess and hope for ; but in vain, since
He must return to the confusion ^ of those for
whose call He had before come. For they who
impiously treated Him with violence in His hu-
miliation, will experience Him in His power as a
conqueror ; and, God requiting them, they will
suffer all those things which they read and do
not understand ; inasmuch as, being polluted
with all sins, and moreover sprinkled with the
blood of the Holy One, they were devoted to
eternal punishment by that very One on whom
they laid wicked hands. But we shall have a
separate subject against the Jews, in which we
shall convict them of error and guilt.

CHAP. II. — OF THE ERROR OF THE PHILOSOPHERS,
AND OF THE DIVINE WISDOM, AND OF THE
GOLDEN AGE.

Now let us instruct those who are ignorant of
the truth. It has been so determined by the

6 Impedimentis.

' [See p. 108, su/>ra.'\

• Ad confundendos. Others read " consolandos."

196

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII

arrangement of the Most High God, that this
unrighteous age, having run the course ' of its
appointed times, should come to an end ; and all
wickedness being immediately extinguished, and
the souls of the righteous being recalled to a
happy life, a quiet, tranquil, peaceful, in short,
golden age, as the poets call it, should flourish,
under the rule of God Himself. This was espe-
cially the cause of all the errors of the philoso-
phers, that they did not comprehend the system
of the world, which comprises the whole of wis-
dom. But it cannot be comprehended by our
own perception and innate intelligence, which
they wished to do by themselves without a
teacher. Therefore they fell into various and
ofttimes contradictory opinions, out of which
they had no way of escape,

And they remained fixed in the same mire,
as the comic writer ^ says, since their conclusion
does not correspond with their assumptions ; ^ in-
asmuch as they had assumed things to be true
which could not be affirmed, and proved with-
out the knowledge of the truth and of heavenly
things. And this knowledge, as I have often
said already, cannot exist in a man unless it is
derived from the teaching of God. For if a
man is able to understand divine things, he will
be able also to perform them ; for to understand
is, as it were, to follow in their track. But he is
not able to do the things which God does, be-
cause he is clothed with a mortal body ; there-
fore he cannot even understand those things
which God does. And whether this is possible
is easy for every one to measure, from the im-
mensity of the divine actions and works. For if
you will contemplate the world, with all the things
which it contains, you will assuredly understand
how much the work of God surpasses the works
of men. Thus, as great as is the difference be-
tween divine and human works, so great must
be the distance between the wisdom of God and
man. For because God is incorruptible and im-
mortal, and therefore perfect because He is
everlasting. His wisdom also is perfect, as He
Himself is ; nor can anything oppose it, because
God Himself is subject to nothing.

But because man is subject to passion, his
wisdom also is subject to error ; and as many
things hinder the life of man, so that it cannot
be perpetual, so also his wisdom must be hin-
dered by many things : so that it is not perfect
in entirely perceiving the tnith. Therefore there
is no human wisdom, if it strives by itself to
attain to the conception and knowledge of the
truth ; inasmuch as the mind of man, being
bound up with a frail body, and enclosed in a

' Decurso temporum spatio. A metaphor taken from the chariot
course; spatium being used for the length of the course, between the
tneta, or goals.

^ Ter., Phorm., v. 2.

^ Assumptio: often used for the minor proposition in a syllogism.

dark abode, is neither able to wander at large,
nor clearly to perceive the truth, the knowledge
; of which belongs to the divine nature. For His
I works are known to God alone. But man can-
not attain this knowledge by reflection or dispu-
! tation, but by learning and hearing from Him
who alone is able to know and to teach. There-
fore Marcus TuUius,'' borrowing from Plato the
sentiment of Socrates, who said that the time
had come for himself to depart from life, but
that they before whom he was pleading his
I cause were still alive, says : Which is better is
I known to the immortal gods ; but I think that
I no man knows. Wherefore all the sects of phi-
losophers must be far removed from the truth,
because they who established them were men ;
nor can those things have any foundation or
firmness which are unsupported by any utter-
ances of divine voices.

CHAP. III. OF NATURE, AND OF THE WORLD : AND

A CENSURE OF THE STOICS AND EPICURE.\NS.

And since we are speaking of the errors of
philosophers, the Stoics divide nature into two
parts — the one which effects, the other which
; affords itself tractable for action. They say
j that in the former is contained all the power of
perception, in the latter the material, and that
the one cannot act without the other. How
can that which handles and that which is han-
dled be one and the same thing? If any one
should say that the potter is the same as the
clay, or that the clay is the same as the potter,
would he not plainly appear to be mad ? But
these men comprehend under the one name of
nature two things which are most widely differ-
ent, God and the world, the Maker and the
work ; and say that the one can do nothing with-
out the other, as though God were mixed up in
nature with the world. For sometimes they so
mix them together, that God Himself is the
mind of the world, and that the world is the
body of God ; as though the world and God
began to exist at the same time, and God did
not Himself make the world. And they them-
selves also confess this at other times, when they
say that it was made for the sake of men, and
that God could, if He willed it, exist without
the world, inasmuch as God is the divine and
eternal mind, separate and free from a body.
And since they were unable to understand His
power and majesty, they mixed Him 5 with the
world, that is, with His own work. Whence is
thar saying of Virgil : ^ —

" A spirit who.se celestial flame
Glows in each member of the frame,
And stirs the mighty whole."

* Tusc. Disp., i. 41.

5 Eum. Others read " eain," referring it to " majestatem."

'' yEneid, vi. 726.

Chap. III.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

197

What, then, becomes of their own saying, that
the world was both made and is governed by the
divine providence ? For if He made the world,
it follows that He existed without the world ;
if He governs it, it is plain that it is not as the
mind governs the body, but as a master rules
the house, as a pilot the ship, as a charioteer the
chariot. Nor, however, are they mixed with
those things which they govern. For if all these
things which we see are members of God, then
God is rendered insensible by them, since the
members are without sensibility, and mortal,
since we see that the members are mortal.

I can enumerate how often lands shaken by
sudden motions ' have either opened or sunk
down precipitously ; how often cities and islands
have been overwhelmed by waves, and gone into
the deep ; marshes have inundated fruitful plains,
rivers and pools have been dried up ; ^ moun-
tains also have either fallen precipitously, or
have been levelled with plains. Many districts,
and the foundations of many mountains, are
laid waste by latent and internal fire. And this
is not enough, if God does not spare His own
members, unless it is permitted man also to
have some power over the body of God. Seas
are built up, mountains are cut down, and the
innermost bowels of the earth are dug out to
draw forth riches. Why, should I say that we
cannot even plough without lacerating the di-
vine body ? So that we are at once wicked and
impious in doing violence to the members of
God. Does God, then, suffer His body to be
harassed, and endure to weaken Himself, or per-
mit this to be done by man? Unless by chance
that divine intelligence which is mixed with the
world, and with all parts of the world, abandoned
the first outer aspect ^ of the earth, and plunged
itself into the lowest depths, that it might be
sensible of no pain from continual laceration.
But if this is trifling and absurd, then they
themselves were as devoid of intelligence as
those are who have not perceived that the divine
spirit is everywhere diffused, and that all things
are held together by it, not however in such a
manner that God, who is incorruptible, should
Himself be mixed with heavy and corruptible
elements. Therefore that is more correct which
they derived from Plato, that the world was
made by God, and is also governed by His
providence. It was therefore befitting that
Plato, and those who held the same opinion,
should teach and explain what was the cause,
what the reason, for the contriving of so great a
work ; why or for the sake of whom He made it.

But the Stoics also say the world was made
for the sake of men. I hear. But Epicurus is

' i.e., earthquakes.

^ Siccaverunt: rarely used in a neuter sense.

* Primam terrx faciem : as opposed to the inner depths.

ignorant on what account or who made men
themselves. For Lucretius, when he said that
the world was not made by the gods, thus spoke : ♦

"To say, again, that for the sake of men they have
willed to set in order the glorious nature of the
world " —

then he introduced : —

" Is sheer folly. For what advantage can our gratitude
bestow on immortal and blessed beings, that for our
sake they should take in hand to administer aught.'"

And with good reason. For they brought forward
no reason why the human race was created or
established by God. It is our business to set
forth the mystery of the world and man, of
which they, being destitute, were able neither to
reach nor see the shrine of truth. Therefore,
as I said a little before, when they had assumed
that which was true, that is, that the world was
made by God, and was made for the sake of
men, yet, since their argument failed them in
the consequences, they were unable to defend
that which they had assumed. In fine, Plato,
that he might not make the work of God weak
and subject to ruin, said that it would remain
for ever. If it was made for the sake of men,
and so made as to be eternal, why then are not
they on whose account it was made eternal ? If
they are mortal on account of whom it was
made, it must also itself be mortal and subject
to dissolution, for it is not of more value than
those for whose sake it was made. But if his
argument 5 were consistent, he would understand
that it must perish because it was made, and
that nothing can remain for ever except that
which cannot be touched.

But he who says that it was not made for the
sake of men has no argument. For if he says
that the Creator contrived these works of such
magnitude on His own account, why then were
we produced? Why do we enjoy the world
itself? what means the creation of the human
race, and of the other living creatures ? why do
we intercept the advantages of others? why, in
short, do we grow, decrease, and perish? What
reason is implied in our production itself? what
in our perpetual succession? Doubtless God
wished us to be seen, and to frame, as it were,
impressions ^ with various representations of
Himself, with which He might delight Himself.
Nevertheless, if it were so, He would esteem
living creatures as His care, and especially man,
to whose command He made all things subject.
But with regard to those who say that the world
always existed : I omit that point, that itself
cannot exist without some beginning, from which
they are unable to extricate themselves ; but I

* De Rer. Nat., v. 157-166.

5 Qu6d si ratio ei quadraret.

6 Little images, sigilla.

198

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

say this, if the world always existed, it can have
no systematic arrangement." For what could
arrangement have effected in that which never
had a beginning ? For before anything is done
or arranged, there is need of counsel that it may
be determined how it should be done ; nor can
anything be done without the foresight of a
settled plan. Therefore the plan precedes every
work. Therefore that which has not been made
has no plan. But the world has a plan by which
it both exists and is governed ; therefore also it
was made : if it was made, it will also be de-
stroyed. Let them therefore assign a reason,
if they can, why it was either made in the begin-
ning or will hereafter be destroyed.

And because Epicurus or Democritus was un-
able to teach this, he said that it was produced
of its own accord, the seeds ^ coming together
in all directions ; and that when these are again
resolved, discord and destruction will follow.
Therefore he perverted ^ that which he had cor-
rectly seen, and by his ignorance of system en-
tirely overthrew the whole system, and reduced
the world, and all things which are done in it, to
the likeness of a most trifling dream, if no plan
exists in human affairs. But since the world and
all its parts, as we see, are governed by a won-
derful plan ; since the framing of the heaven,
and the course of the stars and of the heavenly
bodies, which is harmonious ■* even in variety
itself, the constant and wonderful arrangement
of the seasons, the varied fruitfulness of the
lands, the level plains, the defences and heap-
ings up of mountains, the verdure and pro-
ductiveness of the woods, the most salubrious
bursting forth of fountains, the seasonable over-
flowings of rivers, the rich and abundant flow-
ing 5 in of the sea, the opposite and useful
breathing^ of the winds, and all things, are
fixed with the greatest regularity : who is so blind
as to think that they were made without a
cause, in which a wonderful disposition of most
provident arrangement shines forth? If, there-
fore, nothing at all exists nor is done without a
cause ; if the providence of the Supreme God
is manifest from the disposition of things. His
excellency from their greatness, and His power
from their government : therefore they are dull
and mad who have said that there is no provi-
dence. I should not disapprove if they denied
the existence of gods with this object, that they
might affirm the existence of one ; but when
they did it with this intent, that they might say
that there is none, he who does not think that
they were senseless is himself senseless.

" Rationem.
' i.e., atoms.
^ Corrupit.

* yEqualis.

5 Interfusio.

* Aspiratio.

CHAP. IV. 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.

But we have spoken sufficiently on the subject
of providence in the first book. For if it has
any existence, as appears from the wonderful
nature of its works, it must be that the same
providence created man and the other animals.
Let us therefore see what reason there was foi
the creation of the human race, since it is evi-
dent, as the Stoics say, that the world was made
for the sake of men, although they make no slight
error in this very matter, in saying it was not
made for the sake of man, but of men. For
the naming of one individual comprehends the
whole human race. But this arises from the fact
that they are ignorant that one man only was
made by God, and they think that men were pro-
duced in all lands and fields like mushrooms.
But Hermes was not ignorant that man was both
made by God and after the likeness of God.
But I return to my subject. There is nothing, as
I imagine, which was made on its own account ;
I but whatever is made at all must necessarily be
made for some purpose. For who is there either
so senseless or so unconcerned as to attempt to
do anything at random, from which he expects
no utility, no advantage ? He who builds a house
does not build it merely for this purpose, that it
' may be a house, but that it may be inhabited.
He who builds a ship does not bestow his labour
I on this account, only that the ship may be visi-
I ble, but that men may sail in it. Likewise he
' who designs and forms any vessel does not do
it on this account, that he may only appear to
have done it, but that the vessel when made may
contain something necessary for use. In like
manner, other things, whatever are made, are
plainly not made superfluously, but for some
useful purposes.

It is plain, therefore, that the world was made
by God, not on account of the world itself; for
since it is without sensibility, it neither needs
the warmth of the sun, or light, or the breath
of the winds, or the moisture of showers, or the
nourishment of fruits. But it cannot even be
said that God made the world for His own sake,
since He can exist without the world, as He did
before it was made ; and God Himself does not
make use of all those things which are contained
in it, and which are produced. It is evident,
therefore, that the world was constructed for the
sake of living beings, since living beings enjoy
those things of which it consists ; and that these
may live and exist, all things necessary for them
are supplied at fixed times. Again, that the
other living beings were made for the sake of
man, is plain from this, that they are subservient

Chap. V.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

199

to man, and were given for his protection and
service ; since, whether they are of the earth or
of the water, they do not perceive the system
of the world as man does. We must here reply
to the philosophers, and especially to Cicero,
who says : " Why should God, when He made
all things on our account, make so large a quan-
tity of snakes and vipers ? why should He scat-
ter so many pernicious things by land and by
sea?" A very wide subject for discussion, but
it must be briefly touched upon, as in passing.
Since man is formed of different and opposing
elements, soul and body, that is, heaven and
earth, that which is slight and that which is per-
ceptible to the senses, that which is eternal and
that which is temporal, that which has sensibility
and that which is senseless, that which is en-
dued with light and that which is dark, reason
itself and necessity require that both good and
evil things should be set before man — good
things which he may use, and evil things which
he may guard against and avoid.

For wisdom has been given to him on this
account, that, knowing the nature of good and
evil things, he may exercise the force of his rea-
son in seeking the good and avoiding the evil.
For because wisdom was not given to the other
animals, they were both defended with natural
clothing and were armed ; but in the place of {
all these He gave to man that which was most |
excellent, reason only. Therefore He formed \
him naked and unarmed, that wisdom might be 1
both his defence and covering. He placed his !
defence and ornament not without, but within ;
not in the body, but in the heart. Unless, there-
fore, there were evils which he might guard
against, and which he might distinguish from
good and useful things, wisdom was not neces-
sary for him. Therefore let Marcus Tullius know |
that reason was either given to man that' he might
take fishes on account of his own use, and avoid
snakes and vipers for the sake of his own safety ;
or that good and evil things were set before him
on this account, because he had received wis-
dom, the whole force of which is occupied in
distinguishing things good and evil.' Great,
therefore, and right, and admirable is the force,
and reason, and power of man, for whose sake
God made the world itself and all things, as
many as exist, and gave him so much honour
that He set him over all things, since he alone
could admire the works of God. Most excel-
lently, therefore, does our Asclepiades,^ in dis-
cussing the providence of the Supreme God in

' [The parables of nature are admirably expounded by Jones of
Nayland. See his Zoologica Ethica, his Book of Nature, and his
Moral Character of the Monkey, vols, iii., xi., and xii., Works,
London, 1801.]

^ Asclepiades was a Christian writer, and contemporary of Lac-
tantius, to whom he wrote a book on the providence of God. [Ac-
cording to Eusebius, a bishop of this name presided at Antioch from
A.D. 214 to 220; but this is evidently another.]

that book which he wrote to me, say : " And on
this account any one may with good reason think
that the divine providence gave the place nearest
to itself to him who was able to understand its
arrangement. For that is the sun : who so be-
holds it as to understand why it is the sun, and
what amount of influence it has upon the other
parts of the system? this is the heaven, who
looks up to it? this is the earth, who inhabits
it? this is the sea, who sails upon it? this is fire,
who makes use of it ? " Therefore the Supreme
God did not arrange these things on account of
Himself, because He stands in need of nothing,
but on account of man, who might fitly make
use of them.

CHAP. V. — OF THE CREATION OF M.\N, AND OF
THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE WORLD, AND OF THE
CHIEF GOOD.

Let us now assign the reason why He made
man himself. For if the philosophers had known
this, they would either have maintained those
things which they had found to be true, or would
not have fallen into the greatest errors. For this
is the chief thing ; this is the point on which
everything turns. And if any one does not pos-
sess this, the truth altogether glides away from
him. It is this, in short, which causes them to
be inconsistent with reason ; ^ for if this had
shone upon them, if they had known all the
mystery* of man, the Academy would never
have been in entire opposition 5 to their disputa-
tions, and to all philosophy. As, therefore, God
did not make the world for His own sake, be-
cause He does not stand in need of its advan-
tages, but for the sake of man, who has the use
of it, so also He made man himself for His own
sake. What advantage is there to God in man,
says Epicurus, that He should make him for His
own sake? Truly, that there might be one who
might understand His works ; who might be able
both to admire with his understanding, and to
express with his voice, the foresight displayed in
their arrangement, the order of their creation,
the power exerted in their completion. And the
sum of all these things is, that he should worship
God.*^ For he who understands these things
worships Him ; he follows Him with due ven-
eration as the Maker of all things. He as his
true Father, who measures the excellence of
His majesty according to the invention, the
commencement, and completion of His works.

3 lUis non quadrare rationem.

* Sacramentum.

5 De transverse jugulasset. The Academics, affirming that noth-
ing was certain, opposed the tenets of the other philosophers, who
maintained their own opinions respectively.

•> [The law of his being is stated in Bacon's words: "Homo
naturje minister et interfres" Nov. Org., i. i. It is his duty to
comprehend what he expounds, and to lend his voice to nature in
the worship of God. Sec the Benedicite, or " Song of the Three
Children," in the apocryphal Bible.]

200

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII

What more evident argument can be brought
forward that God both made the world for the
sake of man, and man for His own sake, than
that he alone of all living creatures has been so
formed that his eyes are directed towards heaven,
his face looking towards God, his countenance
is in fellowship with his Parent, so that God ap-
pears, as it were, with outstretched hand to have
raised man from the ground, and to have elevated
him to the contemplation of Himself. " What,
then," he says, " does the worship paid by man
confer on God, who is blessed, and in want of
nothing? Or if He gave such honour to man
as to create the world for his sake, to furnish
him with wisdom, to make him lord of all things
living, and to love him as a son, why did He
make him subject to death and decay? why did
He expose the object of His love to all evils?
when it was befitting that man should be happy,
as though closely connected with God, and ever-
lasting as He is, to the worship and contempla-
tion of whom he was formed."

Although we have taught these things for the
most part in a scattered manner in the former
books, nevertheless, since the subject now spe-
cially requires it, because we have undertaken to
discuss the subject of a happy life, these things
are to be explained by us more carefully and
fully, that the arrangement made by God, and
His work and will, may be known. Though He
was always able by His own immortal Spirit to
produce innumerable souls, as He produced the
angels, to whom there exists immortality without
any danger and fear of evils, yet He devised an
unspeakable work, in what manner He might
create an infinite multitude of souls, which being
at first united with frail and feeble bodies. He
might place in the midst between good and evil,
that He might set virtue before them composed
as they were of both natures ; that they might
not attain to immortality by a delicate and easy
course of life, but might arrive at that unspeak-
able reward of eternal life with the utmost dif-
ficulty and great labours. Therefore, that He
might clothe them with limbs which were heavy
and liable to injury,' since they were unable to
exist in the middle void, the weight and gravity
of the body sinking downwards, He determined
that an abode and dwelling-place should first be
built for them. And thus with unspeakable
energy and power He contrived the surpassing
works of the world ; and having suspended the
light elements on high, and depressed the heavy
ones to the depths below, He strengthened the
heavenly things, and established the earthly. It
is not necessary at present to follow out each
point separately, since we discussed them all
together in the second book.

' Vexabilibus.

Therefore He placed in the heaven lights,
whose regularity, and brightness, and motion,
were most suitably proportioned to the advan-
tage of living beings. Moreover, He gave to
the earth, which He designed as their dwelling-
place, fruitfulness for bringing forth and producing
various ^ things, that by the abundance of fruits
and green herbs it might supply nourishment
according to the nature and requirements of
each kind. Then, when He had completed all
things which belonged to the condition of the
world, He formed man from the earth itself,
which He prepared for him from the beginning
as a habitation ; that is, He clothed and covered
his spirit with an earthly body, that, being com-
pacted of different and opposing materials, he
might be susceptible of good and evil ; and as
the earth itself is fruitful for the bringing forth
of grain, so the body of man, which was taken
from the earth, received the power of producing
offspring, that, inasmuch as he was formed of a
fragile substance, and could not exist for ever,
when the space of his temporal life was past, he
might depart, and by a perpetual succession re-
new that which he bore, which was frail and
feeble. Why, then, did He make him frail and
mortal, when He had built the world for his
sake? First of all, that an infinite number of
living beings might be produced, and that He
might fill all the earth with a multitude ; in the
next place, that He might set before man virtue,
that is, endurance of evils and labours, by which
he might be able to gain the reward of immor-
tality. For since man consists of two parts, body
and soul, of which the one is earthly, the other
heavenly, two lives have been assigned to man :
the one temporal, which is appointed for the
body ; the other everlasting, which belongs to
the soul. We received the former at our birth ;
we attain to the latter by striving, that immor-
tality might not exist to man without any diffi-
culty. That earthly one is as the body, and
therefore has an end ; but this heavenly one is
as the soul, and therefore has no limit. We re-
ceived the first when we were ignorant of it, this
second knowingly ; for it is given to virtue, not
to nature, because God wished that we should
procure life for ourselves in life.

For this reason He has given us this present
life, that we may either lose that true and eter-
nal life by our vices, or win it ' by virtue. The
chief good is not contained in this bodily life,
since, as it was given to us by divine necessity,
so it will again be destroyed by divine necessity.
Thus that which has an end does not contain
the chief good. But the chief good is contained
in that spiritual life which we acquire by our-
selves, because it cannot contain evil, or have

2 Varia. Others read, " fxcunditatem variam generandi."
^ Mereamur.

Chap. V.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

20I

an end ; lo which subject nature and the system
of the body afford an argument. For other
animals incHne towards tlie ground, because
they are earthly, and are incapable of immortal-
ity, which is from heaven ; but man is upright
and looks towards heaven,' because immortality
is proposed to him ; which, however, does not
come, unless it is given to man by God. For
Pthenvise there would be no difference between
the just and the unjust, since every man who is
born would become immortal. Immortality,
then, is not the consequence ^ of nature, but the
reward and recompense of virtue. Lastly, man
does not immediately upon his birth walk up-
right, but at first on all fours,^ because the nature
of his body and of this present life is common
to us with the dumb animals ; afterwards, when
his strength is confirmed, he raises himself, and
his tongue is loosened so that he speaks plainly,
and he ceases to be a dumb animal. And this
argument teaches that man is born mortal ; but
that he afterwards becomes immortal, when he
begins to live in conformity with the wilH of
God, that is, to follow righteousness, 5 which is
comprised in the worship of God, since God
raised man to a view of the heaven and of Him-
self. And this takes place when man, purified
in the heavenly laver, lays aside ^ his infancy to-
gether with all the pollution of his past life,
and having received an increase of divine vig-
our, becomes a perfect and complete man.

Therefore, because God has set forth virtue
before man, although the soul and the body are
connected together, yet they are contrary, and
oppose one another. The things which are
good for the soul are evil to the body, that is,
the avoiding of riches, the prohibiting of pleas-
ures, the contempt of pain and death. In like
manner, the things which are good for the body
are evil to the soul, that is, desire and lust, by
which riches are desired, and the enjoyments of
various pleasures, by which the soul is weak-
ened and destroyed.7 Therefore it is necessary
that the just and wise man should be engaged

' [Our author never wearies of this reference to Ovid's beautiful
verses. Compare Cowper {Task, book v.) as follows: —
" Brutes graze the mountain-top with faces prone
And eyes intent upon the scanty herb
It yields them; or, recumbent on its brow.
Ruminate heedless of the scene outspread
Beneath, beyond, and stretching far away
From inland regions to the distant main.
Not so the mind that has been touched from heaven.

. . She often holds.
With those fair ministers of light to man
That nightly fill the skies with silent pomp,
Sweet conference," etc.]
^ Sequela.
3 Quadrupes.
* Ex Deo.

5 [Justitiam sequi. I have substituted righteousness for the
translator'sywj^iV^ here (see c. 25, p. 126, supra). Coleridge remarks
on the weakness of the latter word. It may be, our author is quoting
St. Paul (i Tim. vi. 11 and a Tim. ii.), sectare justitiam, "follow
after righteousness."]
^ Exponit.
^ Enervatus exstinguitur.

in all evils, since fortitude is victorious over
evils ; but the unjust in riches, in honours, in
power. For these goods relate to the body, and
are earthly ; and these men also lead an earthly
life, nor are they able to attain to immortality,
because they have given themselves up to pleas-
ures which are the enemies of virtue. There-
fore this temporal life ought to be subject to
that eternal life, as the body is to the soul.
Whoever, then, prefers the life of the soul must
despise the life of the body ; nor will he in any
other way be able to strive after that which is
highest, unless he shall have despised the things
which are lowest. But he who shall have em-
braced the life of the body, and shall have turned
his desires downwards ^ to the earth, is unable
to attain to that higher life. But he who pre-
fers to live well for eternity, will live badly '' for
a time, and will be subjected to all troubles and
labours as long as he shall be on earth, that he
may have divine and heavenly consolation. And
he who shall prefer to live well '° for a time, will
live ill to eternity ; for he will be condemned by
the sentence of God to eternal punishment, be-
cause he has preferred earthly to heavenly goods.
On this account, therefore, God seeks to be
worshipped, and to be honoured by man as a
Father, that he may have virtue and wisdom,
which alone produce immortality. For because
no other but Himself is able to confer that
immortality, since He alone possesses it. He
will grant " to the piety of the man, with which
he has honoured God, this reward, to be blessed
to all eternity, and to be for ever in the presence
of God and in the society of God.

N.B. — The following paragraphs to the end of the
chapter are wanting in many Mss., and it is very
doubtful whether they were written by Lactantius.

Nor can any one shelter himself under the
pretext that the fault belongs to Him who made
both good and evil. For why did He will that
evil should exist if He hated it ? Why did He
not make good only, that no one might sin, no
one commit evil? Although I have explained
this in almost all the former books, and have
touched upon it, though slightly, above, yet it
must be mentioned repeatedly, because the
whole matter turns on this point. For there
could be no virtue unless He had made con-
trary things ; nor can the power of good be at
all manifest, except from a comparison with evil.
Thus evil is nothing else but the explanation of
good. Therefore if evil is taken away, good
must also be taken away. If you shall cut off

8 In terram dejecerit.

9 i.e., " in discomfort," liable to the evils of this life.

'° i.e., in comfort and luxury. On the whole passage see John
xii. 25: " He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his
life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal."

" Afficiet. Others re.id " afficit."

202

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

your left hand or foot, your body will not be
entire, nor will life itself remain the same. Thus,
for the due adjustment of the framework of the
body, the left members are most suitably joined
with the right. In like manner, if you make
chessmen ' all alike, no one will play. If you
shall give one colour ^ only to the circus, no one
will think it worth while to be a spectator, all
the pleasure of the Circensian games being
taken away. For he who first instituted the
games was a favourer of one colour ; but he
introduced another as a rival, that there might
be a contest, and some partisanship ^ in the spec-
tacle. Thus God, when He was fixing that
which was good, and giving virtue, appointed
also their contraries, with which they might
contend. If an enemy and a fight be wanting,
there is no victory. Take away a contest, and
even virtue is nothing. How many are the
mutual contests of men, and with what various
arts are they carried on ! No one, however,
would be regarded as surpassing in bravery,
swiftness, or excellence, if he had no adversary
with whom he might contend. And where vic-
tory is wanting, there also glory and the reward
of victory must be absent together with it.
Therefore, that he might strengthen virtue itself
by continual exercise, and might make it perfect
from its conflict with evils. He gave both to-
gether, because each of the two without the
other is unable to retain its force. Therefore
there is diversity, on which the whole system of
truth depends.

It does not escape my notice what may here
be urged in opposition by more skilful persons.
If good cannot exist without evil, how do you
say that, before he had offended God, the first
man lived in the exercise of good only, or that
he will hereafter live in the exercise of good
only? This question is to be examined by us,
for in the former books I omitted it, that I
might here fill up the subject. We have said
above that the nature of man is made up of
opposing elements ; for the body, because it is
earth, is capable of being grasped, of temporary
duration, senseless, and dark. But the soul,
because it is from heaven, is unsubstantial,'' ever-
lasting, endued with sensibility, and full of lus-
tre ; 5 and because these qualities are opposed
to one another, it follows of necessity that man

' Calculi, called also " latrunculi." There were two sets, the one
white, the other red or black.

^ The chariot-drivers in the contests of the circus were distin-
guished by different colours. Originally there were but two factions
or parties, the white and the red; afterwards they were increased to
four, the green and the azure being added. Domitian increased the
number to six, but this was not in accordance with the usual practice.

3 Gratia. Thus Pliny, " Tanta gratia, tanta auctorit.is in una
vilissima tunica." Cf. Juv., .9«/., xi. 195. Gibbon thus describes the
scene: " The spectators remained in eager attention, their eyes fixed
on the charioteers, their minds agitated with hope and fear for the
success of the colour which they favoured."

< Tenuis.

2 lllustris.

is subject to good and evil. Good is ascribed
to the soul, because it is incapable of dissolu-
tion ; evil to the body, because it is frail. Since,
therefore, the body and the soul are connected
and united together, the good and the evil must
necessarily hold together ; nor can they be sepa-
rated from one another, unless when they (the
body and soul) are separated. Finally, the
knowledge of good and of evil was given at
the same time to the first man ; and when he
understood this, he was immediately driven from
the holy place in which there is no evil ; for
when he was conversant with that which was
good only, he was ignorant that this itself was
good. But after that he had received the
knowledge of good and evil, it was now imlaw-
ful for him to remain in that place of happiness,
and he was banished to this common world,
that he might at once experience both of those
things with the nature of which he had at once
become acquainted. It is plain, therefore, that
wisdom has been given to man that he may dis-
tinguish good from evil — that he may discrimi-
nate between things advantageous and things
disadvantageous, between things useful and
things useless — that he may have judgment and
consideration as to what he ought to guard
against, what to desire, what to avoid, and what
to follow. Wisdom therefore cannot exist with-
out evil ; and that first author ^ of the human
race, as long as he was conversant with good
only, lived as an infant, ignorant of good and
evil. But, indeed, hereafter man must be both
wise and happy without any evil ; but this can-
not take place as long as the soul is clothed
with the abode of the body.

But when a separation shall have been made
between the body and the soul, then evil will be
disunited from good ; and as the body perishes
and the soul remains, so evil will perish and good
be permanent. Then man, having received the
garment of immortality, will be wise and free
from evil, as God is. He, therefore, who wishes
that we should be conversant with good only,
especially desires this, that we should live without
the body, in which evil is. But if evil is taken
away, either wisdom, as I have said, or the body,
will be taken from man ; wisdom, that he may
be ignorant of evil ; the body, that he may not
be sensible of it. But now, since man is fur-
nished with wisdom to know, and a body to per-
ceive, God willed that both should exist alike in
this life, that virtue and wisdom may be in agree-
ment. Therefore He placed man in the midst,
between both, that he might have liberty to fol-
low either good or evil. But He mingled with
evil some things which appear good, that is,
various and delightful enjoyments, that by the

6 Princeps.

Chap. VI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

203

enticements of these He might lead men to the
concealed evil. And He likewise mingled with
good some things which appear evil — that is,
hardships, and miseries, and labours — by the
harshness and unpleasantness of which the soul,
being offended, might shrink back from the con-
cealed good. But here the office of wisdom is
needed, that we may see more with the mind
than with the body, which very few are able to j
do ; because while virtue is difficult and rarely
to be found, pleasure is common and public. [
Thus it necessarily hapi)ens that the wise man is ;
accounted as a fool, who, while he seeks good 1
things which are not seen, permits those which 1
are seen to slip from his hands ; and while he j
avoids evils which are not seen, runs into evils ^
which are before the eyes ; which happens to us j
when we refuse neither torture nor death in be- ,
half of the faith, since we are driven to the ;
greatest wickedness, so as to betray the , faith
and deny the true God, and to sacrifice to dead ,
and death-bearing gods. This is the cause why 1
God made man mortal, and made him subject
to evils, although he had framed the world for
his sake, namely, that he might be capable of
virtue, and that his virtue might reward him with
immortality. Now virtue, as we have shown, is
the worship of the true God.

CH.AP. VI. — WHY THE WORLD AND MAN WERE
CRE.\TED. HOW UNPROFITABLE IS THE WORSHIP
OF FALSE GODS.

Now let us mark the whole argument by a
brief definition.' The world has been created
for this purpose, that we may be born ; we are
born for this end, that we may acknowledge the
Maker of the world and of ourselves — God ;
we acknowledge Him for this end, that we may
worship Him ; we worship Him for this end,
that we may receive immortality as the reward
of our labours, since the worship of God con-
sists of the greatest labours ; for this end we are
rewarded with immortality, that being made like
to the angels, we may serve the Supreme Father
and Lord for ever, and may be to all eternity a
kingdom to God. This is the sum of all things,
this the secret of God, this the mystery of the
world, from which they are estranged, who, fol-
lowing present gratification, have devoted them-
selves to the pursuit of earthly and frail goods,
and by means of deadly enjoyments have sunk
as It were in mire and mud their souls, which
were born for heavenly pursuits.

Let us now, in the next place, inquire whether
there is anything reasonable in the worship of
these gods ; for if they are many, if they are
worshipped only on this account by men, that
they may afford them riches, victories, honours,

' Circumscriptione.

and all things, which are of no avail except for
the present ; if we are produced without cause
— if no providence is employed in the produc-
tion of men — if we are brought forth by chance
for ourselves, and for the sake of our own pleas-
ure — if we are nothing after death, — what can
be so superfluous, so empty, so vain, as the
affairs of man, and the world itself? which,
though it is of incredible magnitude, and con-
structed with such wonderful arrangement, is
nevertheless occupied with trifling subjects. For
why should the breathings of the winds put the
clouds in motion ? Why should lightnings shine
forth, thunders roar, or showers fall, that the
earth may bring forth its increase, and nourish
its various productions? Why, in short, should
all nature labour that nothing may be wanting
of those things by which the life of man is sus-
tained, if it is vain, if we utterly perish, if there
is in us nothing of greater advantage to God?
But if it is unlawful to be spoken, and is not to
be thought possible, that that which you see to
be most in accordance with reason was not es-
tablished on account of some reason of impor-
tance, what reason can there be in these errors
of depraved religions, and in this persuasion of
philosophers, by which they imagine that souls
perish ? Assuredly there is none ; for what have
they to say why the gods so regularly supply to
men everything in its season ? Is it that we may
present to them corn and wine, and the odour
of incense, and the blood of cattle? Which
things cannot be acceptable to the immortals,
because they are perishable ; nor can they be
of use to beings destitute of bodies, because
these things have been given for the use of those
possessed of bodies ; and yet if they required
these things, they could bestow them upon them-
selves when they wished. Whether, therefore,
souls perish or exist for ever, what principle is
involved in the worship of the gods, or by whom
was the world established? Why, or when, or
how long, or how far were men produced, or on
what account? Why do they arise, die, succeed
one another, are renewed? What do the gods
obtain from the worship of those who after death
are about to have no existence ? What do they
perform, what do they promise, what do they
threaten, which is worthy of men or of gods?
Or if souls remain after death, what do they do
or are they about to do respecting them ? What
need is there to them of a treasure-house of
souls? From what soHrce do they themselves
arise? How, or why, or whence are they so
many? Thus it comes to pass, that if you de-
part from that sum of things which we comprised
above, all system is destroyed, and all things
return^ to nothing.

^ Revolvantur. Others read " resolvantur."

204

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VI L

CHAP. VII. — OF THE VARIETY OF PHILOSOPHERS,
AND THEIR TRUTH.

And because the philosopliers did not compre-
hend this main point, they were neither able to
comprehend truth, although they for the most
part both saw and explained those things of which
the main point itself consists. But different per-
sons brought forward all these things, and in dif-
ferent ways, not connecting the causes of things,
nor the consequences, nor the reasons, so that
they might join together and complete that main
point which comprises the whole. But it is easy
to show that almost the whole truth has been
divided by philosophers and sects. For we do
not overthrow philosophy, as the Academics are
accustomed to do, whose plan was to reply to
everything, which is rather to calumniate and
mock ; but we show that no sect was so much
out of the way, and no philosopher so vain, as
not to see something of the truth.' But while
they are mad with the desire of contradicting,
while they defend their own arguments even
though false, and overthrow those of others even
though true, not only has the truth escaped from
them, which they pretended that they were seek-
ing, but they themselves lost it chiefly through
their own fault. But if there had been any one
to collect together the truth which was dispersed
amongst individuals and scattered amongst sects,
and to reduce it to a body, he assuredly would
not disagree with us. But no one is able to do
this, unless he has experience ^ and knowledge
of the truth. But to know the truth belongs to
him only who has been taught by God. For he
cannot in any other way reject the things which
are false, or choose and approve of those which
are true ; but if even by chance he should effect
this, he would most surely act the part of the
philosopher; and though he could not defend
those things by divine testimonies, yet the truth
would explain itself by its own light. Where-
fore the error of those is incredible, who, when
they have approved of any sect, and have devoted
themselves to it, condemn all others as false and
vain, and arm themselves for battle, neither
knowing what they ought to defend nor what to
refute ; and make attacks everywhere, without
distinction,^ upon all things which are brought
forward by those who disagree with them.

On account of these most obstinate conten-
tions of theirs, no philosophy existed which made
a nearer approach to the truth, for the whole
truth has been comprised by these in separate
portions.4 Plato said 5 that the world was made
by God : the prophets ^ speak the same ; and

■ [See Clement, sparsim, and notably (cap. 5 of Stromata) vol.
ii. p. 305, this series.]

^ Veri pcritus ac sciens.
3 Sine delectu.

* Particulatim.

5 In the Timteus.

* Gen. i. ; Ps. xzxiiL

the same is apparent from the verses of the Sibyl.
They therefore are in error, who have said either
that all things were produced of their own accord
or from an assemblage of atoms ; ^ since so great
a world, so adorned and of such magnitude,
could neither have been made nor arranged and
set in order without some most skilful author,
and that very arrangement by which all things are
perceived to be kept together and to be governed
bespeaks ^ an artificer with a most skilful mind.
The Stoics say that the world, and all things which
are in it, were made for the sake of men : the
sacred writings '? teach us the same thing. There-
fore Democritus was in error, who thought that
they were poured forth from the earth like worms,
without any author or plan. For the reason of
man's creation belongs to a divine mystery ; and
because he was unable to know this, he drew "^
down man's life to nothing. Aristo asserted that
men were born to the exercise of virtue ; we are
also reminded of and learn the same from the
prophets. Therefore Aristippus is deceived, who
made man subject to pleasure, that is, to evil, as
though he were a beast. Pherecydes and Plato
contended that souls were immortal ; but this is
a peculiar doctrine in our religion. Therefore
Dicaearchus was mistaken, together with Democ-
ritus, who argued that souls perished with the
body and were dissolved. Zeno the Stoic taught
that there were infernal regions, and that the
abodes of the good were separated from the
wicked ; and that the former enjoyed peaceful
and delightful regions, but that the latter suffered
punishment in dark places, and in dreadful
abysses of mire : the prophets show the same
thing. Therefore Epicurus was mistaken, who
thought that that was an invention " of the poets,
and explained those punishments of the infernal
regions, which are spoken of, as happening in this
life. Therefore the philosophers touched upon
the whole truth, and every secret of our holy reli-
gion ; but when others denied it, they were unable
to defend that which they had found, because the
system did not agree '^ with the particulars ; nor
were they able to reduce to a summary those
things which they had perceived to be true, as
we have done above.

CHAP. VIII. — OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

The one chief good, therefore, is immortality,
for the reception of which we were originally
formed and born. To this we direct our course ;
human nature regards this ; to this virtue exalts
us. And because we have discovered this good,
it remains that we should also speak of immor-

7 Minutis seminibus conglobatis.

* Confitetur.

9 Gen. i. ; Ps. viii.; Heb. ii.

"^ Deduxit ad nihilum.

" Figmentum.

'* Singulis ratio non quadravit.

Chap. IX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

205

tality itself. The arguments of Plato, although
they contribute much to the subject, have little
strength to prove and fill up the truth, since he
had neither summed up and collected into one
the plan of the whole of this great mystery, nor
had he comprehended the chief good. For al-
though he perceived the truth respecting the
immortality of the soul, yet he did not speak
respecting it as though it were the chief good.
We, therefore, are able to elicit the truth by
more certain signs ; for we have not collected it
by doubtful surmise," but have known it by divine
instruction. Now Plato thus reasoned, that what-
ever has perception by itself, and always moves,
is immortal ; for that that which has no begin-
ning of motion is not about to have an end, be-
cause it cannot be deserted by itself. But this
argument would give eternal existence even to
dumb animals, unless he had made a distinction
by the addition of wisdom. He added, there-
fore, that he might escape this common ^ linking
together, that the soul of man could not be other-
wise than immortal, since its wonderful skill in
invention, its quickness in reflection, and its
readiness in perceiving and learning, its memory
of the past, and its foresight of the future, and
its knowledge of innumerable arts and subjects,
which other living creatures do not possess, ap-
pear divine and heavenly ; because of the soul,
which conceives such great things, and contains
such great things, no origin can be found on earth,
since it has nothing of earthly admixture united
with it. But that which is ponderous in man,
and liable to dissolution, must be resolved into
earth ; whereas that which is slight and subtle is
incapable of division, and when freed from the
abode of the body, as from prison, it flies to the
heaven, and to its own nature. This is a brief
summary of the tenets of Plato, which are widely
and copiously explained in his own writings,

Pythagoras also was previously of the same
sentiments, and his teacher Pherecydes, whom
Cicero reported to have been the first who dis-
coursed respecting the immortality of the soul.
And although all these excelled in eloquence,
nevertheless in this contest at least, those who
argued against this opinion had no less author-
ity ; Dicaearchus first, then Democritus, and last-
ly Epicurus : so that the matter itself, respecting
which they were contending, was called into
doubt. Finally, Tullius also having set forth
the opinions of all these respecting immortality
and death, declared that he did not know what
was the truth. "Which of these opinions is
true," he said, " some God may see." ^ And

■ Suspicione.

2 Communitatem.

3 [" We must wait patiently," said Socrates, "until some one,
either a god or man, teach us our moral and religious duties, and
remove the darkness from our eyes." — Aktiiad., li.. Opera, vol. v.
p. loi, Bipont.j

again he says in another place : " Since each of
these opinions had most learned defenders, it
cannot be divined what is certainty." But we
have no need of divination, since the divinity
itself has laid open to us the truth,

CHAP. IX. — OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL,
AND OF VIRTUE.

By these arguments, therefore, which neither
Plato nor any other invented, the immortality
of souls can be proved and perceived : which
arguments we will briefly collect, since my dis-
course hastens on to relate the great judgment
of God, which will be celebrated on the earth
at the approaching end of the world.'* Before
all things, since God cannot be seen by man,
lest any one should imagine from this circum-
stance that God does not exist, because He was
not seen by mortal eyes, among other wonderful
arrangements ' He also made many things the
power of which is manifest, but the substance is
not seen, as the voice, smell, the wind, that by
the token and example of these things we might
perceive God from His power and operation
and works, although He did not fall under the
notice of our eyes. What is clearer than the
voice, or stronger than the wind, or more forci-
ble than smell ? Yet these, when they are borne
through the air and come to our senses, and im-
pel them by their efficacy, are not distinguished
by the eyesight, but are perceived by other parts
of the body. In Uke manner, God is not to be
perceived by us through the sight or other frail
sense ; but He is to be beheld by the eyes of
the mind, since we see His illustrious and won-
derful works. For as to those who have alto-
gether denied the existence of God, I should
not only refuse to call them philosophers, but
even deny them the name of men, who, with a
close resemblance to dumb animals, consisted
of body only, discerning nothing with their
mind, and referring all things to the bodily
senses, who thought that nothing existed but
that which they beheld with their eyes. And
because they saw that adversity befell the wicked,
or prosperity happened to the good, they be-
lieved that all things were carried on by fortune,
and that the world was established by nature,
and not by providence.

Hence they at once fell into the absurdities ^
which necessarily followed such a sentiment.
But if there is a God who is incorporeal, invisi-
ble, and eternal, therefore it is credible that the
soul, since it is not seen, does not perish after
its departure from the body ; for it is manifest
that something exists which perceives and is
vigorous, and yet does not come into sight.

■» Appropinquante sseculorum fine.
5 Institutorum miracula.
(> Deliramenta.

206

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[t:;ook VII.

But, it is said, it is difficult to comprehend with
the mind how the soul can retain its perception
without those parts of the body in which the
office of perception is contained. What about
God? Is it easy to comprehend how He is
vigorous without a body? But if they believe
in the existence of gods who, if they exist, are
plainly destitute of bodies, it must be that hu-
man souls exist in the same way, since it is per-
ceived from reason itself, and discernment, that
there is a certain resemblance in man and God.
Finally, that proof which even Marcus Tullius '
saw is of sufficient strength : that the immortal-
ity of the soul may be discerned from the fact
that there is no other animal which has any
knowledge of God ; and religion is almost the
only thing which distinguishes man from the
dumb creation. And since this falls to man
alone, it assuredly testifies that we may aim at,
desire, and cultivate that which is about to be
familiar and very near.

Can any one, when he has considered the
nature of other animals, which the providence of
the Supreme God has made abject, with bodies
bending down and prostrated to the earth, so
that it may be understood from this that they
have no intercourse with heaven, fail to under-
stand that man alone of all animals is heavenly
and divine, whose body raised from the ground,-
elevated countenance, and upright position, goes
in quest of its origin, and despising, as it were,
the lowliness of the earth, reaches forth to that
which is on high, because he perceives that the
highest good is to be sought by him in the high-
est place, and mindful of his condition in which
God made him illustrious, looks towards liis
Maker? And Trismegistus most rightly called
this looking a contemplation of God,' which has
no existence in the dumb animals. Since there-
fore wisdom, which is given to man alone, is
nothing else but the knowledge of God, it is
evident that the soul does not perish, nor un-
dergo dissolution, but that it remains for ever,
because it seeks after and loves God, who is
everlasting, by the impulse of its very nature
perceiving either from what source it has sprung,
or to what it is about to return. Moreover, it is
no slight proof of immortality that man alone
makes use of the heavenly element. For, since
the nature of the world consists of two elements''
which are opposed to one another — fire and
water — of which the one is assigned to the
heaven, the other to the earth, the other living
creatures, because they are of the earth and
mortal, make use of the element which is earthly

" De Leg.,i.i.

* [Here again the reference to Ovid's maxim. See pp. 41, 56,
and 58, supra. ]

^ Qfui-niha, Others read ^ctjpiai', i.e., '* a contemplation."

* [See the most instructive pages of lay ler Lewis again: flato
agiinst the Atheists, p. 121. J

and heavy : man alone makes use of fire, which
is an element light, rising upward,^ and heavenly.
But those things which are weighty depress to
death, and those which are light elevate to Hfe ;
because life is on high, and death below. And
as there cannot be light without fire, so there
cannot be life without light. Therefore fire is
the element of hght and life ; from which it is
evident that man who uses it is a partaker of an
immortal condition, because that which causes
life is familiar to him.

The gift of virtue also to man alone is a great
proof that souls are immortal. For this will not
be in accordance with nature if the soul is ex-
tinguished ; for it is injurious to this present life.
For that earthly life, which we lead in common
with dumb animals, both seeks pleasure, by the
varied and agreeable fruits of which it is de-
lighted, and avoids pain, the harshness of which,
by its unpleasant sensations, injures the nature
of living beings, and endeavours to lead them
to death, which dissolves the living being. If,
therefore, virtue both prohibits man from those
goods which are naturally desired, and impels
him to endure evils which are naturally avoided,
it follows that virtue is an evil, and opposed to
nature ; and he must necessarily be judged fool-
ish who pursues it, since he injures himself both by
avoiding present goods, and by seeking equally
evils, without hope of greater advantage. For
when it is permitted us to enjoy the sweetest
pleasures, should we not appear to be without
sense if we should not prefer to live in low-
liness, in want, in contempt and ignominy, or
not to live at all, but to be tormented with pain,
and to die, when from these evils we should
gain nothing to compensate us for the pleasure
which we have given up? But if virtue is not
an evil, and acts honourably, inasmuch as it
despises vicious and shameful pleasures, and
bravely, inasmuch as it neither fears pain nor
death, that it may discharge its duty, therefore
it must obtain some greater good than those
things are which it despises. But when death
has been undergone, what further good can be
hoped for except immortality?

CHAP. X. — OF VICES AND VIRTUES, AND OF LIFE
AND DEATH.

Let us now in turn pass on to those things
which are opposed to virtue, that from these also
the immortality of the soul may be inferred. All
vices are for a time ; for they are excited for the
present. The impetuosity of anger is appeased
when vengeance has been taken ; the pleasure
of the body puts an end '^ to lust ; desire is de-
stroyed either by the full enjoyment of the ob-

5 Sublime.

6 Libidinis finis est.

Chap. XL]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

207

jects which it seeks, or by the excitement of
other affections ; ambition, when it has gained
the honours which it wished for, loses ' its
strength ; hkewise the other vices are unable to
stand their ground and remain, but they are
ended by the very enjoyment which they desire.
Therefore they withdraw and return. But virtue
is perpetual, without any intermission ; nor can
he who has once taken it up depart from it.
For if it should have any interruption,^ if we
can at any time do without it, vices, which al-
ways oppose virtue, will return. Therefore it
has not been grasped, if it deserts its post, if at
any time it withdraws itself But when it has
established for itself a firm abode, it must ne-
cessarily be engaged in every act ; nor can it
faithfully drive away and put to flight vices,
unless it shall fortify with a perpetual guard the
breast which it inhabits. Therefore the unin-
terrupted duration 3 of virtue itself shows that
the soul of man, if it has received virtue, re-
mains permanent, because virtue is perpetual,
and it is the human mind alone which receives
virtue. Since, therefore, vices are contrary to
virtue, the whole systems must of necessity dif-
fer from and be contrary to each other. Be-
cause vices are commotions and perturbations
of the soul ; virtue, on the contrary, is mildness
and tranquillity of mind. Because vices are
temporary, and of short duration ; virtue is per-
petual and constant, and always consistent with
itself. Because the fruits of vices, that is, pleas-
ures, equally with themselves, are short and tem-
porary, therefore the fruit and reward of virtue
are everlasting. Because the advantage of vices
is immediate, therefore that of /irtue is future.

Thus it happens that in this life there is no
reward of virtue, because virtue itself still exists.
For as, when vices are completed in their per-
formance, pleasure and their rewards follow ; so,
when virtue has been ended, its reward follows.
But virtue is never ended except by death, since
its highest office is in the undergoing of death ;
therefore the reward of virtue is after death. In
fine, Cicero, in his Tusculan Disputations,^ per-
ceived, though with doubt, that the chief good
does not happen to man except after death.
" A man will go," he says, " with confident spirit,
if circumstances shall so happen, to death, in
which we have ascertained that there is either
the chief good or no evil." Death, therefore,
does not extinguish man, but admits him to the
reward of virtue. But he who has contaminated
himself,5 as the same writer says, with vices and
crimes, and has been the slave of pleasure, he
truly, being condemned, shall suffer eternal pun-

■ Senescit.

2 Intervallum.

3 Perpetuitas.
* Tusc. Disp., i. 46.
5 Ibid., i. 30.

ishment, which the sacred writings call the sec-
ond death, which is both eternal and full of the
severest torments.^ For as two lives are pro-
posed to man, of which the one belongs to the
soul, the other to the body ; so also two deaths
are proposed, — one relating to the body, which
all must undergo according to nature, the other
relating to the soul, which is acquired by wicked-
ness and avoided by virtue. As this life is tem-
porary and has fixed limits, because it belongs
to the body; so also death is in like manner
temporary and has a fixed end, because it affects
the body.

CHAP. XI. — OF THE LAST TIMES, AND OF THE
SOUL AND BODY.

Therefore, when the times which God has ap-
pointed for death shall be completed, death
itself shall be ended. And because temporal
death follows temporal life, it follows that souls
rise again to everlasting life, because temporal
death has received an end. Again, as the life
of the soul is everlasting, in which it receives the
divine and unspeakable fruits of its immortality ;
so also its death must be eternal, in which it suf-
fers perpetual punishments and infinite torments
for its faults. Therefore things are in this posi-
tion, that they who are happy in this life, per-
taining to the body and the earth, are about to
be miserable for ever, because they have already
enjoyed the good things which they preferred,
which happens to those who adore false gods and
neglect the true God. In the next place, they
who, following righteousness, have been misera-
ble, and despised, and poor in this life, and have
often been harassed with insults and injuries on
account of righteousness itself, because virtue
cannot otherwise be attained, are about to be
always happy, that since they have already en-
dured evils, they may also enjoy goods. \Vhich
plainly happens to those who, having despised
gods of the earth and frail goods, follow the
heavenly religion of God, whose goods are ever-
lasting, as He Himself who gave them. What
shall I say of the works of the body and soul?
Do not they show that the soul is not subject to
death? For, as to the body, since it is itself
frail and mortal, whatever works it contrives are
equally perishable. For TuUius says that there
is nothing which is wrought by the hands of man
which is not at some time reduced to destruc-
tion, either through injury caused by men, or
through length of time, which is the destroyer
of all things.

But truly we see that the productions of the
mind are immortal. For as many as, devoting
themselves to the contempt of present things,

6 [Tayler Lewis, /*&/«», etc., pp. 294-300; more especially, pp
313-322.]

208

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

have handed down to memory the monuments
of their genius and great deeds, have plainly
gained by these an imperishable name for their
mind and virtue. Therefore, if the deeds of the
body are mortal for this reason, because the
body itself is mortal, it follows that the soul is
shown to be immortal from this, because we see
that its productions are not mortal. In the
same manner also, the desires of the body and
of the soul declare that the one is mortal, the
other everlasting. For the body desires nothing
except what is temporal, that is, food, drink,
clothing, rest, and pleasure ; and it cannot desire
or attain to these very things without the assent
and assistance ' of the soul. But the soul of
itself desires many things which do not extend ^
to the duty or enjoyment of the body ; and those
are not frail, but eternal, as the fame of virtue,
as the remembrance of the name. For the soul
even in opposition to the body desires the wor-
ship of God, which consists in abstinence from
desires and lusts, in the enduring of pain, in the
contempt of death. From which it is credible
that the soul does not perish, but is separated
from the body, because the body can do nothing
without the soul, but the soul can do many and
great things without the body. Why should I
mention that those things which are visible to
the eyes, and capable of being touched by the
hand, cannot be eternal, because they admit of
external violence ; but those things which neither
come under the touch nor under the sight, but
are apparent only in their force and method and
effect, are eternal because they suffer no violence
from without? But if the body is mortal on this
account, because it is equally open to the sight
and to the touch, therefore the soul is immortal
for this reason, because it can be neither touched
nor seen.

CHAP. XII. — OF THE SOUL AND THE BODY, AND OF
THEIR UNION AND SEPARATION AND RETURN.

Now let us refute the arguments of those who
maintain the opposite opinions, which Lucretius
has related in his third book. Since, he says,
the soul is born together with the body, it must
necessarily die with the body. But the two
cases are not similar. For the body is solid,
and capable of being grasped ^ both by the eyes
and the hand ; but the soul is slight,'' and elud-
ing the touch and sight. The body is formed
from the earth, and made firm ; the soul has in
it nothing concrete, nothing of earthly weight,
as Plato maintained. For it could not have such
great force, such great skill, such great rapidity,
unless it derived its origin from heaven. The

' Sine nutu et adminiculo animL

^ Reclundent.

3 Comprehensibile.

* Tenuis.

body, therefore, since it is made up of a ponder-
ous and corruptible element, and is tangible and
visible, is corrupted and dies ; nor is it able to
repel violence, because it comes under the sight
and under the touch ; but the soul, which by its
slightness avoids all touch, can be dissolved by
no attack. Therefore, although they are joined
and connected together from birth, and the one
which is formed of earthly material 5 is, as it
were, the vessel of the other, which is drawn out
from heavenly fineness, when any violence has
separated the two, which separation is called
death, then each returns into its own nature ;
that which was of earth is resolved into earth ;
that which is of heavenly breath remains fixed,
and flourishes always, since the divine spirit is
everlasting. In fine, the same Lucretius, for-
getting what he asserted, and what dogma he
defended, wrote these verses : ^ —

"That also which before was from the earth passes
back into the earth, and that which was sent from
the borders of ether is carried again by the quar-
ters of heaven." ^

But this language was not for him to employ,
who contended that souls perished -with the
bodies ; but he was overcome by the truth, and
the true system stole upon him unawares. More-
over, that very inference which he draws, that
the soul suffers dissolution, that is, that it per-
ishes together with the body, since they are
produced together, is both false, and is capable
of being turned to the opposite direction. For
the body does not perish together with the soul ;
but when the soul departs it remains entire for
many days, and frequently by medical prepara-
tions it remains entire for a very long time. For
if they both perished together, as they are pro-
duced together, the soul would not hastily depart
and desert the body, but both would be dispersed
alike at one point of time ; and the body also,
while the breath still remained in it, would dis-
solve and perish as quickly as the soul departs :
yes, truly, the body being dissolved, the soul
would vanish, as moisture poured forth from a
broken vessel. For if the earthly and frail
body after the departure of the soul does not
immediately flow away and waste into earth, from
which it has its origin, therefore the soul, which
is not frail, endures to eternity, since its origin
is eternal. He says, since the understanding in-
creases in boys, and is vigorous in young men,
and is lessened in the aged, it is evident that it
is mortal. First, the soul is not the same thing
as the mind ; for it is one thing that we live,
another that we reflect. For it is the mind
of those who are asleep which is at rest,^ not

5 De terren& concretione
^ De Rer. Nat., ii. qog.
Con

7 [Ex jetheris oris. Concerning oifl''> ' — «iilt Lewis, Plato, c\.c^

pp. 127-129. 1
' bopitur.

Cn.vr. XII.]

THE divinp: institutes.

209

the soul ; and in those who are mad, the mind
is extinguished, the soul remains ; and there-
fore they are not said to be without a soul, but
to be deprived of their mind." Therefore the
mind, that is, the understanding, is either in-
creased or lessened according to age. The soul
is always in its own condition ; and from the
time when it receives the power of breathing, it
remains the same even to the end, until, being
sent forth from the confinement of the body, it
flies back to its own abode. In the next place,
the soul, although inspired by God, yet, because
it is shut up in a dark abode of earthly flesh,
does not possess knowledge, which belongs to
divinity. Therefore it hears and learns all things,
and receives wisdom by learning and hearing;
and old age does not lessen wisdom, but in-
creases it, if the age of youth has been passed
in virtue ; and if excessive old age shall have
enfeebled the limbs, it is not the fault of the
mind if the sight has vanished, If the tongue has
become benumbed, if the hearing has grown
deaf, but it is the fault of the body. But, it is
said, the memory fails. What wonder, if the
mind is oppressed by the ruin of the falling
house, and forgets the past, not about to be
divine on any other condition than if it shall
have escaped the prison in which it is confined ?
But the soul, he says, is also subject to pain
and grief, and loses its senses through drunken-
ness, whence it is evidently frail and mortal. On
this account, therefore, virtue and wisdom are
necessary, that both grief, which is contracted
by the suffering and the sight of unworthy ob-
jects, may be repelled by fortitude, and that
pleasure may be overcome, not only by abstain-
ing from drinking, but also from other things.
For if it be destitute of virtue, if it be given up
to pleasure, and thus rendered effeminate, it will
become subject to death, since virtue, as we have
shown, is the contriver of immortality, as pleas-
ure is of death. But death, as I have set forth,
does not entirely extinguish and destroy, but visits
with eternal torments. For the soul cannot en-
tirely perish, sincv: it received its origin from the
Spirit of God, which is eternal. The soul, he
says, is sensible even of disease of the body, and
suffers forgetfulness of itself; and as it grows ill,
so also it is often healed. This is therefore the
reason why virtue is especially to be used, that
the mind — not the soul ^ — may not be harassed
by any pain of the body, or undergo oblivion
of itself And since this has Jts seat in a certain
part of the body, when any violence of disease
has vitiated that part, it is moved from its place ;
and as though shaken, it departs from its station,

' Non exanimes, sed dementcs vocantur.

^ [The original must be compared: Ne ullo corporis dolore fran-
gatur et oblivionem sui non anima, sed mens patiatur. For voii and
V/KXTJ, see Lewis, a/ supra, pp. 319, etc.]

about to return when a cure and health shall
have remodelled its abode. For, since the soul
is united with the body, if it is destitute of vir-
tue, it grows sick by the contagion of the body,
and from sharing its frailty the weakness extends
to the mind. But when it shall be disunited
from the body it will flourish by itself; nor will
it now be assailed by any condition of frailty,
because it has laid aside its frail covering. As
the eye, he says, when torn out and separated
from the body, can see nothing, so also the soul,
when separated, can perceive nothing, because
it is itself also a part of the body. This is false,
and dissimilar to the case supposed ; for the
soul is not a part of the body, but in the body.
As that which is contained in a vessel is not a
part of the vessel, and these things which are in
a house are not said to be a part of the house ;
so the mind is not a part of the body, because
the body is either the vessel or the receptacle of
the soul.

Now, that is a much more empty argument
which says that the soul appears to be mortal
because it is not quickly sent forth from the body,
but gradually unfolds itself from all the mem-
bers, beginning from the extremity of the feet ;
as though, if it were eternal, it would burst forth
in a single moment of time, which takes place
in those who die by the sword. But they who
are slain by disease are longer in breathing forth
their spirit, so that as the limbs grow cold the
soul is breathed forth. For, since it is con-
tained in the material of the blood, as light is
in the oil, that material being consumed by the
heat of fevers, the extremities of the hmbs must
grow cold ; since the more slender veins are ex-
tended into the extremities of the body, and the
extreme and smaller streams are dried up when
the fountain-spring fails. It must not, however,
be supposed that, because the perception of the
body fails, the sensibility of the soul is extin-
guished and perishes. For it is not the soul
that becomes senseless when the body fails, but
it is the body which becomes senseless when the
soul takes its departure, because it draws all
sensibility with it. But since the soul by its
presence gives sensibility to the body, and
causes it to live, it is impossible that it should
not live and perceive by itself, since it is in
itself both consciousness and life. For as to
that which says,

*' But if our mind were immortal, it would not when
dying complain so much of its dissolution as it
would rejoice in passing abroad and quitting its
vesture like a snake," ^

I never saw any one who complained of his dis-
solution in death ; but he perhaps had seen
some Epicurean philosophizing even in death,

■5 Lucret., iii. 611.

2IO

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

and with his latest breath discoursing about his
dissolution.

How can it be known whether he feels that he
is in a state of dissolution, or that he is being
set free from the body, when his tongue grows
dumb at his departure ? For as long as he per-
ceives and has the power of speech, he is not
yet dissolved ; when he has suffered dissolution,
he is now unable either to perceive or to speak,
so that either he is not yet able to complain of
his dissolution, or he is no longer able. But, it
is said, he understands before he undergoes dis-
solution, that he must undergo it. Why should
I mention that we see many of the dying, not
complaining that they are undergoing dissolu-
tion, but testifying that they are passing out,
and setting forth on their journey and walking?
and they signify this by gesture, or if they still
are able, they express it also by their voice.
From vvhich it is evident that it is not a dissolu-
tion which takes place, but a separation ; and
this shows that the soul continues to exist.
Other arguments of the Epicurean system are
opposed to Pythagoras, who contends that souls
migrate from bodies worn out with old age and
death, and gain admission ' into those which are
new and recently born ; and that the same souls
are always reproduced at one time in a man, at
another time in a sheep, at another in a wild
beast, at another in a bird ; and that they are
immortal on this account, because they often
change their abodes, consisting of various and
dissimilar bodies. And this opinion of a sense-
less man, since it is ridiculous and more worthy
of a stage-player than of a school of philoso-
phy, ought not even to have been refuted seri-
ously ; for he who does this appears to be
afraid lest any one should believe it. Therefore
we must pass by those things which have been
discussed in behalf of falsehood against false-
hood ; it is sufficient to have refuted those
things which are against the truth.

CHAP. XIII. — OF THE SOUL, AND THE TESTIMO-
NIES CONCERNING ITS ETERNITY.

I have made it evident, as I think, that the
soul is not subject to dissolution. It remains
that I bring forward witnesses by whose authority
my arguments may be confirmed. And I will
not now allege the testimony of the prophets,
whose system and divination consist in this
alone, the teaching that man was created for
the worship of God. and for receiving immor-
tality from Him ; but I will rather bring forward
those whom they who reject the truth cannot
but believe. Hermes, describing the nature of
man, that he might show how he was made by
God, introduced this statement : " And the same

' Se insinuare.

out of two natures — the immortal and the mor-
tal — made one nature, that of man, making
the same partly immortal, and partly mortal ;
and bringing this, he placed it in the midst, be-
tween that nature which was divine and immor-
tal, and that which was mortal and changeable,
that seeing all things, he may admire all things."
But some one may perhaps reckon him in the
number of the philosophers, although he has
been placed among the gods, and honoured by
the Egyptians under the name of Mercury, and
may give no more authority to him than to
Plato or Pythagoras. Let us therefore seek for
greater testimony. A certain Polites asked
Apollo of Miletus whether the soul remains after
death or goes to dissolution ; and he replied in
these verses : —

" As long as the soul is bound by fetters to the body,
perceiving corruptible sufferings, it yields to mor-
tal pains ; but when, after the wasting of the body,
it has found a very swift dissolution of mortality,
it is altogether borne into the air, never growing
old, and it remains always uninjured ; for the first-
born providence of God made this disposition."

\Vhat do the Sibylline poems say? Do they not
declare that this is so, when they say that the
time will come when God will judge the living and
the dead? — whose authority we will hereafter
bring forward.^ Therefore the opinion enter-
tained by Democritus, and Epicurus, and Dica^-
archus concerning the dissolution of the soul is
false ; and they would not venture to speak
concerning the destruction of souls, in the pres-
ence of any magician, who knew that souls are
called forth from the lower regions by certain
incantations, and that they are at hand, and
afford themselves to be seen by human eyes,
and speak, and foretell future events ; and if
they should thus venture, they would be over-
powered by the fact itself, and by proofs pre-
sented to them. But because they did not
comprehend the nature of the soul, which is so
subtle that it escapes the eyes of the human
mind, they said that it perishes. What of Aris-
toxenus, who denied that there is any soul at all,
even while it lives in the body ? But as on the
lyre harmonious sound, and the strain which mu-
sicians call harmony, is produced by the tighten-
ing of the strings, so he thought that the power
of perception existed in bodies from the joining
together of the vitals, and from the vigour of
the limbs ; than which nothing can be said
more senseless. Truly he had his eyes unin-
jured, but his heart was blind, with which he
did not see that he lived, and had the mind by
which he had conceived that very thought.
But this has happened to many philosophers,

2 [" Dies ira;, dies ill.i, . . .
Teste David tt Sibylla."

i.e., divine and ethnic oracles alike are full of it. See note 9, p.
lit, supra. Elucidation v.]

Chap. XIV.]

thp: divine institutes.

21 I

that tliey did not believe in the existence of any
object which is not apparent to the eyes ; where-
as the sight of the mind ought to be much
clearer than that of the body, for perceiving
those things the force and nature of which are
rather felt than seen.

CH.\P. XIV. — OF THE FIRST AND LAST TIMES OF
THE WORLD.

' Since we have spoken of the immortality of
the soul, it follows that we teach how and when
it is given to man ; that in this also they may
see the errors of their perverseness and folly,
who imagine that some mortals have become
gods by the decrees and dogmas of mortals ;
either because they had invented arts, or be-
cause they had taught the use of certain pro-
ductions of the earth, or because they had
discovered things useful for the life of men, or
because they had slain savage beasts. How far
these things were from deserving immortality we
have both shown in the former books, and we
will now show, that it may be evident that it is
righteousness alone which procures for man eter-
nal life, and that it is God alone who bestows
the reward of eternal life. For they who are
said to have been immortalized by their merits,
inasmuch as they possessed neither righteous-
ness nor any true virtue, did not obtain for
themselves immortality, but death by their sins
and lusts ; nor did they deserve the reward of
heaven, but the punishment of hell, which im-
pends over them, together with all their wor-
shippers. And I show that the time of this
judgment draws near, that the due reward may
be given to the righteous, and the deserved pun-
ishment may be inflicted on the wicked.

Plato and many others of the philosophers,
since they were ignorant of the origin of all
things, and of that primal period at which the
world was made, said that many thousands of
ages had passed since this beautiful arrangement
of the world was completed ; and in this they
perhaps followed the Chaldeans, who, as Cicero
has related in his first book respecting divina-
tion,' foolishly say ^ that they possess comprised
in their memorials four hundred and seventy
thousand years ; in which matter, because they
thought that they could not be convicted, they
believed that they were at liberty ^ to speak
falsely. But we, whom the Holy Scriptures in-
stuct to the knowledge of the truth, know the
beginning and the end of the world, respecting
which we will now speak in the end of our
work, since we have explained respecting the
beginning in the second book. Therefore let
the philosophers, who enumerate thousands of

» 1. 19.

* Delirant.

3 Liberum esse.

ages from the beginning of the world, know that
the six thousandth year is not yet completed,
and that when this number is completed the
consummation must take place, and the condi-
tion of human affairs be remodelled for the
better, the proof of which must first be related,
that the matter itself may be plain. God com-
pleted the world and this admirable work of
nature in the space of six days, as is contained
in the secrets of Holy Scripture, and consecrated
the seventh day, on which He had rested from
His works. But this is the Sabbath-day, which
in the language of the Hebrews received its
name from the number,"* whence the seventh is
the legitimate and complete number. For there
are seven days, by the revolutions of which in
order the circles of years are made up ; and
there are seven stars which do not set, and
seven luminaries which are called planets,^ whose
differing and unequal movements are believed
to cause the varieties of circumstances and
times.^

Therefore, since all the works of God were
completed in six days, the world must continue
in its present state through six ages, that is, six
thousand years. For the great day of God is
limited by a circle of a thousand years, as the
prophet shows, who says,^ " In Thy sight, O
Lord, a thousand years are as one day." And
as God laboured during those six days in creat-
ing such great works, so His religion and truth
must labour during these six thousand years,
while wickedness prevails and bears rule. And
again, since God, having finished His works,
rested the seventh day and blessed it, at the end
of the six thousandth year all wickedness must
be abolished from the earth, and righteousness
reign for a thousand years ; and there must be
tranquillity and rest from the labours which the
world now has long endured. But how that
will come to pass I will explain in its order.
We have often said that lesser things and things
of small importance are figures and previous
shadowings forth of great things ; as this day of
ours, which is bounded by the rising and the
setting of the sun, is a representation ^ of that
great day to which the circuit of a thousand
years affixes its limits.^

In the same manner also the fashioning of the
earthly man held forth to the future the formation
of the heavenly people. For as, when all things
were completed which were contrived for the
use of man, last of all, on the sixth day, He

* The word Sabbath means rest. [He derives it from ]?^Jif'- but

one wonders how these divers etymologies came into the use of Gen-
tile believers. Compare vol. ii. Elucidation VIIL p. 443.]

5 Errantia.

6 [Efficere creduntiir. Our author seems to guard himself
against affirming the verity of the science of his times.]

' Ps. xc. 4; see also 2 Pet. iii. 8.

8 Speciem gerere.

9 Determinat. [Compare p. 220, in/ra.\

212

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VIL

made man also, and introduced him into this
world as into a home now carefully prepared ;
so now on the great sixth day the true man is
being formed by the word of God, that is, a holy
people is fashioned for righteousness by the doc-
trine and precepts of God. And as then a mor-
tal and imperfect man was formed from the
earth, that he might live a thousand years in
this world ; so now from this earthly age is
formed a perfect man, that being quickened by
God, he may bear rule in this same world
through a thousand years. But in what manner
the consummation will take place, and what end
awaits the affairs of men, if any one shall ex-
amine the divine writings he will ascertain. But
the voices also of prophets of the world, agreeing
with the heavenly, announce the end and over-
throw of all things after a short time, describing
as it were the last old age of the wearied and
wasting world. But the things which are said
by prophets and seers to be about to happen
before that last ending comes upon the world,
I will subjoin, being collected and accumulated
from all quarters.

CHAP. XV. OF THE DEVASTATION OF THE WORLD

AND CHANGE OF THE EMPIRES.

It is contained in the mysteries of the sacred
\vritings, that a prince of the Hebrews, com-
pelled by want of corn, passed into Egypt with
all his family and relatives. And when his pos-
terity, remaining long in Egypt, had increased
into a great nation, and were oppressed by the
heavy and intolerable yoke of slavery, God
smote Egypt with an incurable stroke, and freed
His people, leading them through the midst of
the sea, when, the waves being cut asunder and
parted on either side, the people went over on
dry ground. And the king of the Egyptians
endeavouring to follow them as they fled, the
sea returning to its place, he was cut off, with
all his people. And this deed so illustrious and
so wonderful, although for the present it dis-
played to men the power of God, was also a
foreshadowing and figure of a greater deed,
which the same God was about to perform at
the last consummation of the times, for He will
free His people from the oppressive bondage of
the world. But since at tliat time the people
of God were one, and in one nation only, Egypt
only was smitten. But now, because the people
of God are collected out of all languages, and
dwell among all nations, and are oppressed by
those bearing rule over them, it must come to
pass that all nations, that is, the whole world, be
beaten with heavenly stripes, that the righteous
people, who are worshippers of God, may be
set free. And as then signs were given l)y which
the coming destruction was shown to the Egyp-

tians, so at the last time wonderful prodigies will
take place throughout all the elements of the
world, by which the impending destruction may
be understood by all nations.

Therefore, as the end of this world approaches,
the condition of human affairs must undergo a
change, and through the prevalence of wicked-
ness become worse ; so that now these times of
ours, in which iniquity and impiety have increased
even to the highest degree, may be judged happy
and almost golden in comparison of that incura-
ble evil. For righteousness will so decrease, and
impiety, avarice, desire, and lust will so greatly
increase, that if there shall then happen to be
any good men, they will be a prey to the wicked,
and will be harassed on all sides by the unright-
eous ; while the wicked alone will be in opulence,
but the good will be afflicted in all calumnies
and in want. All justice will be confounded, and
the laws will be destroyed. No one will then
have anything except that which has been gained
or defended by the hand : boldness and violence
will possess all things. There will be no faith
among men, nor peace, nor kindness, nor shame,
nor truth ; and thus also there will ,be neither
security, nor government, nor any rest from evils.
For all the earth will be in a state of tumult ;
wars will everywhere rage ; all nations will be in
arms, and will oppose one another ; neighbour-
ing states will carry on conflicts with each other ;
and first of all, Egypt will pay the penalties of
her foolish superstitions, and will be covered with
blood as if with a river. Then the sword will
traverse the world, mowing down everything, and
laying low all things as a crop. And — my mind
dreads to relate it, but I will relate it, because it
is about to happen — the cause of this desolation
and confusion will be this ; because tlie Roman
name, by which the world is now ruled, will be
taken away from the earth, and the go\'ernment
return to Asia ; and the East will again bear
rule, and the West be reduced to servitude.'
Nor ought it to appear wonderful to any one, if
a kingdom founded with such vastness, and so
long increased by so many and such men, and
in short strengthened by such great resources,
shall nevertheless at some time fall. There is
nothing prepared by human strength which can-
not equally be destroyed by human strength,
since the works of mortals are mortal. Thus
also other kingdoms in former times, though
they had long flourished, were nevertheless de-
stroyed. For it is related that the Egyptians,
and Persians, and Greeks, and Assyrians liad the
government of the world ; and after the destruc-
tion of them all, the chief power came to the
Romans also. And inasmuch as they excel all
other kingdoms in magnitude, with so much

' [This could not have been ventured before Constantinc's time,
and must have been bold even then. 2 Thess. ii. 7. P. 213, in/ra.]

Chap. XVI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

213

greater an overthrow will they fall, because those
buildings which are higher than others have more
weight for a downfall.'

Seneca therefore not unskilfully divided the
times of the Roman city by ages. For he said
that at first was its infancy under King Romulus,
by whom Rome was brought into being, and as
it were educated ; then its boyhood under the
other kings, by whom it was increased and fash-
ioned with more numerous systems of instruction
and institutions ; but at length, in the reign of
Tarquinius, when now it had begun as it were
to be grown up, it did not endure slavery ; and
having thrown off the yoke of a haughty tyranny,
it preferred to obey laws rather than kings ; and
when its youth was terminated by the end of the
Punic war, then at length with confirmed strength
it began to be manly.^ For when Carthage was
taken away, which was long its rival in power, it
stretched out its hands by land and sea over the
whole world, until, having subdued all kings and
nations, when the materials ^ for war now failed,
it abused its strength, by which it destroyed
itself. This was its first old age, when, lacerated
by civil wars and oppressed by intestine evil, it
again fell back to the government of a single
ruler, as it were revolving to a second infancy.'*
For, having lost the liberty which it had defended
under the guidance and authority of Brutus, it
so grew old, as though it had no strength to
support itself, unless it depended on the aid of
its rulers. But if these things are so, what re-
mains, except that death follow old age ? And
that it will so come to pass, the predictions of
the prophets briefly announce under the cover 5
of other names, so that no one can easily under-
stand them. Nevertheless the Sibyls openly say
that Rome is doomed to perish, and that indeed
by the judgment of God, because it held His
name in hatred ; and being the enemy of right-
eousness, it destroyed the people who kept ^ the
truth. Hystaspes also, who was a very ancient king
of the Medes, from whom also the river which is
now called Hydaspes received its name, handed
down to the memory of posterity a wonderful
dream upon the interpretation of a boy who uttered
divinations, announcing long before the founding
of the Trojan nation, that the Roman empire and
name would be taken away from the world.

CHAP. XVI. — OF THE DEVASTATION OF THE WORLD,
AND ITS PROPHETIC 0MENS.7

But, lest any one should think this incredible,
I will show how it will come to pass. First, the

' 'The Colosseum and its traditions may have influenced our au-
thor in this passage. See vol. iii. p. io8, sjipra.^

^ Juvenescere.

3 Materia.

* [See p 169, notes i, 2, sji/ra.]

5 Sub ambage; properly a " circumlocution."

^ Alumnum veritatis. [P. 212, note i, siij^ra.^

^ Prodigiis. [These primitive interpretations of Daniel and St.
John may be compared with the expositions of Victorinns, t'n/ra.]

kingdom will be enlarged, and the chief power,
dispersed among many and divided,'' will be di-
minished. Then civil discords will perpetually
be sown ; nor will there be any rest from deadly
wars, until ten kings arise at the same time, who
will divide the world, not to govern, but to con-
sume it. These, having increased their armies
to an immense extent, and having deserted the
cultivation of the fields, which is the beginning
of overthrow and disaster, will lay waste and
break in pieces and consume all things. Then a
most powerful enemy will suddenly arise against
him from the extreme boundaries of the northern
region, who, having destroyed three of that num-
ber who shall then be in possession of Asia, shall
be admitted into alliance by the others, and shall
be constituted prince of all. He shall harass the
world with an intolerable rule ; shall mingle things
divine and human ; shall contrive things impious
to relate, and detestable ; shall meditate new de-
signs in his breast, that he may establish the gov-
ernment for himself: he will change the laws,
and appoint his own ; he will contaminate, plun-
der, spoil, and put to death. And at length, the
name being changed and the seat of government
being transferred, confusion and the disturbance
of mankind will follow. Then, in truth, a de-
testable and abominable time shall come, in
which life shall be pleasant to none of men.

Cities shall be utterly overthrown, and shall
perish ; not only by fire and the sword, but also by
continual earthquakes and overflowings of waterS;,
and by frequent diseases and repeated famines.
For the atmosphere will be tainted, and become
corrupt and pestilential — at one time by un-
seasonable rains, at another by barren drought,
now by colds, and now by excessive heats. Nor
will the earth give its fruit to man : no field, or
tree, or vine will produce anything ; but after they
have given the greatest hope in the blossom, they
will fail in the fruit. Fountains also shall be dried
up, together with the rivers ; so that there shall
not be a sufficient supply for drinking; and
waters shall be changed into blood or bitterness.
On account of these things, beasts shall fail on
the land, and birds in the air, and fishes in the
sea. Wonderful prodigies also in heaven shall
confound the minds of men with the greatest ter-
rors, and the trains of comets, and the darkness
of the sun, and the colour of the moon, and the
gliding of the falling stars. Nor, however, will
these things take place in the accustomed man-
ner ; but there will suddenly appear stars un-
known and unseen by the eyes ; the sun will be
perpetually darkened, so that there will be
scarcely any distinction between the night and
the day ; the moon will now fail, not for three
hours only, but overspread with perpetual blood,
will go through extraordinary movements, so that

^ Concisa.

214

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

it will not be easy for man to ascertain the courses
of the heavenly bodies or the system of the
times; for there will either be summer in the
winter, or winter in the summer. Then the year
will be shortened, and the month diminished, and
the day contracted into a short space ; and stars
shall fall in great numbers, so that all the heaven
will appear dark without any lights. The loftiest
mountains also will fall, and be levelled with the
plains ; the sea will be rendered unnavigable.

And that nothing may be wanting to the evils
of men and the earth, the trumpet shall be heard
from heaven, which the Sibyl foretells in this man-
ner : —

" The trumpet from heaven shall utter its wailing voice."

And then all shall tremble and quake at that
mournful sound.' But then, through the anger
of God against the men who have not known
righteousness, the sword and fire, famine and dis-
ease, shall reign ; and, above all things, fear al-
ways overhanging. Then they shall call upon
God, but He will not hear them ; death shall be
desired, but it will not come ; not even shall night
give rest to their fear, nor shall sleep approach
to their eyes, but anxiety and watchfulness shall
consume the souls of men ; they shall deplore
and lament, and gnash their teeth ; they shall
congratulate the dead, and bewail the living.
Through these and many other evils there shall
be desolation on the earth, and the world shall
be disfigured and deserted, which is thus ex-
pressed in the verses of the Sibyl : —

"The wcjrhi shall be despoiled of beauty, through the
destruction of men."

For the human race will be so consumed, that
scarcely the tenth part of men will be left ; and
from whence a thousand had gone forth, scarcely
a hundred will go forth. Of the worshippers of
God also, two parts will perish ; and the third
part, which shall have been proved, will remain.

CHAP. XVII. OF THE FALSE PROPHET, AND THE

HARDSHIPS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS DE-
STRUCTION,

But I will more plainly set forth the manner in
which this happens. When the close of the
times draws nigh, a great prophet shall be sent
from God to turn men to the knowledge of God,
and he shall receive the power of doing wonder-
ful things.^ Wherever men snail not hear him,
he will shut up the heaven, and cause it to with-
hold its rains ; he will turn their water into blood,
and torment them with thirst and hunger ; and
if any one shall endeavour to injure him, fire

' [P. 2IO, note 2, supra. Tuba spargens mirum sonum.]
^ [A final apparition of Elijah was anticipated by primitive be-
lievers, who regarded Mai. i. s as only partially fulfilled in the
Baptist and the typical judgment of Jerusalem and the Jews under
Vespasian. See Enoch and Elias, vol. v. p. 213; also iii. 591. J

shall come forth out of his mouth, and shall bum
that man. By these prodigies and powers he
shall turn many to the worship of God ; and
when his works shall be accomplished, another
king shall arise out of Syria, born from an evil
spirit, the overthrower and destroyer of the hu-
man race, who shall destroy that which is left
by the former evil, together with himself. He
shall fight against the prophet of God, and shall
overcome, and slay him, and shall suffer him to
lie unburied ; but after the third day he shall
come to life again ; and while all look on and
wonder, he shall be caught up into heaven. But
that king will not only be most disgraceful in
himself, but he will also be a prophet of lies ;
and he will constitute and call himself God, and
will order himself to be worshipped as the Son
of God ; and power will be given him to do
signs and wonders, by the sight of which he may
entice men to adore him. He will command
fire to come down from heaven, and the sun to
stand and leave his course, and an image to
speak ; and these things shall be done at his
word, — by which miracles ^ many even of the
wise shall be enticed by him. Then he will
1 attempt to destroy the temple of God', and per-
I secute the righteous people ; and there will be
distress and tribulation,"* such as there never has
been from the beginning of the world.

As many as shall believe him and unite them-
selves to him, shall be marked by him as sheep ;
but they who shall refuse his mark will either
flee to the mountains, or, being seized, will be
slain with studied 5 tortures. He will also enwrap
righteous men with the books of the prophets,
and thus burn them ; and power will be given
him to desolate^ the whole earth for forty-two
months. That will be the time in which right-
eousness shall be cast out, and innocence be
hated ; in which the wicked shall prey upon the
good as enemies ; neither law, nor order, nor
military discipline shall be preserved ; no one
shall reverence hoary locks, nor recognise the
duty of piety, nor pity sex or infancy ; all things
shall be confounded and mixed together against
right, and against the laws of nature. Thus the
earth shall be laid waste, as though by one com-
mon robbery. When these things shall so hap-
pen, then the righteous and the followers of truth
shall separate themselves from the wicked, and
flee into solitudes. And when he hears of this,
the impious king, inflamed with anger, -will come
with a great army, and bringing up all his forces,
will surround all the mountain in which the
righteous shall be situated, that he may seize
them. But they, when they shall see themselves

3 Rev. xiii. ; 2 Thcss. ii.
* Pressura et contritio.
5 Exquisitis cruciatibus.
<> Dan. vii. ; Rev. ii.

Chap. XIX.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

215

to be shut in on all sides and besieged, will call
upon God with a loud voice, and implore the aid
of heaven ; and God shall hear them, and send
from heaven a great king to rescue and free
them, and destroy all the wicked with fire and
sword.

CHAP. XVIII. — OF THE FORTUNES OF THE WORLD
AT THE LAST TIME, AND OF THE THINGS FORE-
TOLD BY THE SOOTHSAYERS.

That these things will thus take place, all the
prophets have announced from the inspiration
of God, and also the soothsayers at the instiga-
tion of the demons. For Hystaspes, whom I
have named above, having described the iniq-
uity of this last time, says that the pious and
faithful, being separated from the wicked, will
stretch forth their hands to heaven with weep-
ing and mourning, and will implore the protec-
tion of Jupiter : that Jupiter will look to the
earth, and hear the voices of men, and will
destroy the wicked. All which things are true
except one, that he attributed to Jupiter those
things which God will do. But that also was
withdrawn from the account, not without fraud
on the part of the demons, viz., that the Son
of God would then be sent, who, having de-
stroyed all the wicked, would set at liberty the
pious. Which, however, Hermes did not con-
ceal. For in that book which is entitled the
Cotnplete Treatise, after an enumeration of the
evils concerning which we have spoken, he
added these things : " But when these things thus
come to pass, then He who is Lord, and Father,
and God, and the Creator of the first and one
God, looking upon what is done, and opposing
to the disorder His own will, that is, goodness,
and recalling the wandering and cleansing wick-
edness, partly inundating it with much water,
and partly burning it with most rapid fire, and
sometimes pressing it with wars and pestilences.
He brought His world to its ancient state and
restored it." The Sibyls also show that it would
not be otherwise than that the Son of God
should be sent by His supreme Father, to set
free the righteous from the hands of the wicked,
and to destroy the unrighteous, together with
their cruel tyrants. One of whom thus wrote : —

" He shall come also, wishing to destroy the city of the
blest ; and a king sent against him from the gods
shall slay all the great kings and chief men : then
judgment shall thus come from the Immortal to
men."

Also another Sibyl : —

- And then God shall send a king from the sun, who
shall cause all the earth to cease from disastrous
war."

And again another : —

■ He will take away the intolerable yoke of slavery
which is placed on our neck, and he will do away
with impious laws and violent chains."

GHAP. XIX. OF THE ADVENT OF CHRIST TO JUDG-
MENT, AND OF THE OVERCOMING OF THE FALSE
PROPHET.

The world therefore being oppressed, since
the resources of men shall be insufficient for
the overthrow of a tyranny of immense strength,
inasmuch as it will press upon the captive world
with great armies of robbers, that calamity so
great will stand in need of divine assistance.
Therefore God, being aroused both by the doubt-
ful danger and by the wretched lamentation of
the righteous, will immediately send a deliverer.
Then the middle of the heaven shall be laid
open in the dead and darkness of the night,
that the light of the descending God may be
manifest in all the world as lightning : of which
the Sibyl spoke in these words : —

" When He shall come, there will be fire and darkness
in the midst of the black night."

This is the night which is celebrated by us in
watchfulness on account of the coming of our
King and God : ' of which night there is a two-
fold meaning ; because in it He then received
life when He suffered, and hereafter He is about
to receive the kingdom of the world. For He
\ is the Deliverer, and Judge, and Avenger, and
I King, and God, whom we call Christ, who be-
fore He descends will give this sign : There
I shall suddenly fall from heaven a sword, that the
; righteous may know that the leader of the sacred
I warfare is about to descend ; and He shall de-
scend with a company of angels to the middle
of the earth, and there shall go before Him an
unquenchable fire, and the power of the angek
shall deliver into the hands of the just that mul-
titude which has surrounded the mountain, and
they shall be slain from the third hour until the
evening, and blood shall flow like a torrent ; and
all his forces being destroyed, the wicked one
shall alone escape, and his power shall perish
from him.

Now this is he who is called Antichrist ; but
he shall falsely call himself Christ, and shall
fight against the truth, and being overcome shall
flee ; and shall often renew the war, and often
be conquered, until in the fourth battle, all the
wicked being slain, subdued, and captured, he
shall at length pay the penalty of his crimes.
But other princes also and tyrants who have
harassed the world, together with him, shall be
led in chains to the king ; and he shall rebuke
them, and reprove them, and upbraid them with
their crimes, and condemn them, and consign
them to deserved tortures. Thus, wickedness
being extinguished and impiety suppressed, the
wofld will be at rest, which having been subject

' [Not the eve of Easter, but that of the Nativity. This cor-
roborates St Chrysostom's testimony concerning the observance of
that feast in the West. See Opp., Serm. 287, torn. v. 804.]

2l6

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

to error and wickedness for so many ages, en-
dured dreadful slavery. No longer shall gods
made by the hands be worshipped; but the
images being thrust out from their temples and
couches, shall be given to the fire, and shall be
burnt, together with their wonderful gifts : which
also the Sibyl, in accordance with the prophets,
announced as about to take place : —

" But mortals shall break in pieces the images and all
the wealth."

The Erythraean Sibyl also made the same prom-
ise : —

" And the works made by the hand of the gods shall be
burnt up."

CHAP. XX. — OF THE JUDGMENT OF CHRIST, OF
CHRISTIANS, AND OF THE SOUL.

After these things the lower regions shall be
opened, and the dead shall rise again, on whom
the same King and God shall pass judgment, to
whom the supreme' Father shall give the great
power both of judging and of reigning. And
respecting this judgment and reign, it is thus
found in the Erythraean Sibyl : —

" When this shall receive its fated accomplishment, and
the judgment of the immortal God shall now come
to mortals, the great judgment shall come upon
men, and the beginning."

Then in another : —

" And then the gaping earth shall show a Tartarean
chaos; and all kings shall come to the judgment-
seat of God."

And in another place in the same : —

" Rolling along the heavens, I will open the caverns of
the earth; and then I will raise the dead, loosing
fate and the sting of death ; and afterwards I will
call them into judgment, judging the life of pious
and impious men."

Not all men, however, shall then be judged by
God, but those only who have been exercised
in the religion of God. For they who have
not known God, since sentence cannot be passed
upon them for their acquittal, are already judged
and condemned, since the Holy Scriptures testi-
fy that the wicked shall not arise to judgment.'
Therefore they who have known God shall be
judged, and their deeds, that is, their evil works,
shall be compared and weighed against their
good ones : so that if those which are good and
just are more ^ and weighty, they may be given
to a life of blessedness ; but if the evil exceed,
they may be condemned to punishment. Here,

' The reference is to Ps. 1.5: " The ungodly shall not stand in
the judgment." They shall indeed arise, but it will be to " the resur-
rection of damnation." See Dan. xii. 2; John v. 28, 29; Acts xxiv.

■5-

* Good and bad actions will not be compared by reference to num-
ber: " For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all." — Jas. ii. 10. [The figure, however, is not
dissimilar in Job xxxi. 6. We must be judged by our works, though
saved by faith in Christ.]

perhaps, some one will say. If the soul is im-
mortal, how is it represented as capable of suf-
fering, and sensible of punishment? For if it
shall be punished on account of its deserts, it is
plain that it will be sensible of pain, and even
of death. If it is not liable to death, not
even to pain, it follows that it is not capable of
suffering.

This question or argument is thus met by the
Stoics : that the souls of men continue to exist,
and are not annihilated ^ by the intervention of
death : that the souls, moreover, of those who
have been just, being pure, and incapable of
suffering, and happy, return to the heavenly
abodes from which they had their origin, or are
borne to some happy plains, where they may
enjoy wonderful pleasures ; but that the wicked,
since they have defiled themselves with evil
passions, have a kind of middle nature, between
that of an immortal and a mortal, and have
something of weakness, from the contagion of
the flesh ; and being enslaved to its desires and
lusts, they contract an indelible stain and earth-
ly blot ; and when this has become entirely in-
herent through length of time, souls are given
over to its nature, so that, though they cannot
altogether be extinguished, inasmuch as they are
from God, nevertheless they become liable to
torment through the taint of the body, which
being burnt in by means of sins, produces a
feeling of pain. Which sentiment is thus ex-
pressed by the poet : * —

Nay, when at last the life has fled,
And left the body cold and dead.
E'en then there passes not away
The painful heritage of clay :
Full many a long contracted stain
Perforce must linger deep in grain.
So penal sufferings they endure
For ancient crime, to make them pure."

These things are near to the truth.s For the
soul, when separated from the body, is, as the
same poet says,^ such as

" No vision of the drowsy night,
No airy current half so light,"

because it is a spirit, and by its very slightness
incapable of being perceived, but only by us
who are corporeal ; but capable of being per-
ceived by God, since it belongs to Him to be
able to do all things.

CHAP. XXI. OF THE TORMENTS AND PUNISHMENTS

OF SOULS.

First of all, therefore, we say that the power
of God is so great, that He perceives even in-
corporeal things, and manages them as He will.

3 In nihilum resolvi.

* Virg., ^:^«f/(/, vi. 735.

S fi Cor. iii. 13-15. An approximation to this truth is recog
nised by our author in a heathen poet. See p. ai;, n. 2.]

* Virg., ^iieiJ, vi. 702.

Chap. XXII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

217

For even angels fear God, because they can be
chastised by Him in some unspeakable manner ;
and devils dread Him, because they are torment-
ed and punished by Him. What wonder is it,
therefore, if souls, though they are immortal, are
nevertheless capable of suffering at the hand of
God? For since they have nothing solid and
tangible in themselves, they can suffer no vio-
lence from solid and corporeal beings ; but be-
cause they live in their spirits only, they are
capable of being handled by God alone, whose
energ}^ and substance is spiritual. But, however,
the sacred writings inform us in what manner
the wicked are to undergo punishment. For be-
cause they have committed sins in their bodies,
they will again be clothed with flesh, that they
may make atonement in their bodies ; and yet
it will not be that flesh with which God clothed
man, like this our earthly body, but indestruc-
tible, and abiding for ever, that it may be able to
hold out against tortures and everlasting fire,
the nature of which is different from this fire of
ours, which we use for the necessary purposes
of life, and which is extinguished unless it be
sustained by the fuel of some material. But
that divine fire always lives by itself, and flour-
ishes without any nourishment ; nor has it any
smoke mixed with it, but it is pure and liquid,
and fluid, after the manner of water. For it is
not urged upwards by any force, as our fire, which
the taint of the earthly body, by which it is held,
and smoke intermingled, compels to leap forth,
and to fly upwards to the nature of heaven, with
a tremulous movement.'

The same divine fire, therefore, with one and
the same force and power, will both burn the
wicked and will form them again, and will re-
place as much as it shall consume of their bodies,
and will supply itself with eternal nourishment :
which the poets transferred to the vulture of
Tityus. Thus, without any wasting of bodies,
which regain their substance, it will only burn
and affect them with a sense of pain. But when
He shall have judged the righteous, He will also
try them with fire. Then they whose sins shall
exceed either in weight or in number, shall be
scorched by the fire and burnt : ^ but they whom
full justice and maturity of virtue has imbued
will not perceive that fire ; for they have some-
thing of God in themselves which repels and re-
jects the violence of the flame. So great is the
force of innocence, that the flame shrinks from
it without doing harm ; which has received from
( iod this power, that it burns the wicked, and is
under the command of the righteous. Nor,
however, let any one imagine that souls are

' Cum trepidatione mobili. [See vol. vi. p. 375, note i.]
2 Perstringentur igni atqiie amburentur. [See p. 216. n. 5, supra.^
This idea of passing through flames of the final judgment, has in it
nothing in common with " purgatory " as a place and as a punishment
from which admission into heaven may be gained <5^r(? judgment.]

immediately judged after death. For all are de-
tained in one and a common place of confine-
ment, until the arrival of the time in which the
great Judge shall make an investigation of their
deserts.^ Then they whose piety shall have
been approved of will receive the reward of im-
mortality ; but they whose sins and crimes shall
have been brought to light will not rise again,
but will be hidden in the same darkness with the
wicked, being destined to certain punishment.

CHAP. XXII. — OF THE ERROR OF THE POETS, AND
THE RETURN OF THE SOUL FROM THE LOWER
REGIONS.

Some imagine that these things are figments
of the poets, not knowing whence the poets re-
ceived them, and they say that these things are
impossible ; and it is no wonder that it so ap-
pears to them. For the matter is related by the
poets in a manner which is different from the
truth ; for although they are much more ancient
than the historians and orators, and other kinds
of writers, yet because they were ignorant of the
secret of the divine mystery, and mention of a
future resurrection had reached them by an ob-
scure rumour, yet they handed it down, when
carelessly and lightly heard, after the manner of
a feigned story. And yet they also testified that
they did not follow a sure authority, but mere
opinion, as Maro, who says,'*

" What ear has heard let tongue make known."

Although, therefore, they have partly corrupted
the secrets of the truth, yet the matter itself is
found to be more true, because it partly agrees
with the prophets : which is sufficient for us as
a proof of the matter. Yet some reason is con-
tained in their error. For when the prophets
proclaimed with continual announcements that
the Son of God was about to judge the dead,
and this announcement did not escape their
notice ; inasmuch as they supposed that there
was no other ruler of heaven but Jupiter, they
reported that the son of Jupiter was king in the
lower regions, but not Apollo, or Liber, or Mer-
curius, who are supposed to be gods of heaven,
but one who was both mortal and just, either
Minos, or i^acus, or Rhadamanthus. Therefore
with poetic licence they corrupted that which
they had received ; or, the opinion being scat-
tered through different mouths and various dis-
courses, changed the truth. For inasmuch as
they foretold that, when a thousand years had
been passed in the lower regions, they should
again be restored to life, as Maro said : 5 —

" All these, when centuries ten times told
The wheel of destiny have rolled,

3 [See vol. iii. p. 59, supra. Elucidation X.]
* Virg., /Eji., vi. 266.
s Ibid., 748.

2l8

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

The voice divine from far and wide
Calls up to Lethe's river side.
That earthward they may pass once more,
Remembering not the things before,
And with a blind propension yearn
To fleshly bodies to return:"

this matter escaped their notice, that the dead
will rise again, not after a thousand years from
their death, but that, when again restored to life,
they may reign with God a thousand years. For
God will come, that, having cleansed the world
from all defilement, He may restore the souls of
the righteous to their renewed bodies, and raise
them to everlasting blessedness. Therefore the
other things are true, except the water of obliv-
ion, which they feigned on this account, that no
one might make this objection : why, therefore,
did they not remember that they were at one
time alive, or who they were, or what things they
accomplished ? But nevertheless it is not thought
probable, and the whole matter is rejected, as
though licentiously and fabulously invented. But
when we affirm the doctrine of the resurrection,
and teach that souls will return to another life,
not forgetful of themselves, but possessed of the
same perception and figure, we are met with this
objection : So many ages have now passed ; what
individual ever arose from the dead, that through
his example we may believe it to be possible ?
But the resurrection cannot take place while un-
righteousness still prevails. For in this world
men are slain by violence, by the sword, by am-
bush, by poisons, and are visited with injuries,
with want, with imprisonment, with tortures, and
with proscriptions. Add to this that righteous-
ness is hated, that all who wish to follow God
are not only held in hatred, but are harassed
with all reproaches, and are tormented by mani-
fold kinds of punishments, and are driven to the
impious worship of gods made with hands, not
by reason or truth, but by dreadful laceration of
their bodies.

Ought men therefore to rise again to these
same things, or to return to a life in which it is
impossible for them to be safe ? Since the right-
eous, then, are so lightly esteemed, and so easily
taken away, what can we suppose would have
happened if any one returning from the dead
had recovered life by a recovery ' of his former
condition ? He would assuredly be taken away
from the eyes of men, lest, if he were seen or
heard, all men with one accord should leave the
gods and betake themselves to the worship and
religion of the one God. Therefore it is neces-
sary that the resurrection should take place once
only when evil shall have been taken away, since
it is befitting that those who have risen again
should neither die any more, nor be injured in
any way, that they may be able to pass a happy

• Postliminio. For the uses of this word, see Smith's Dictionary
of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

life whose death has been annulled.^ But the
poets, knowing that this life abounds with all
evils, introduced the river of oblivion, lest the
souls, remembering their labours and evils, should
refuse to return to the upper regions ; whence
Virgil says : ^ —

" O Father ! and can thought conceive
That happy souls this realm would leave,

And seek the upper sky,
With sluggish clay to reunite ?
This dreadful longing for the light,

Whence comes it, say, and why?"

For they did not know how or when it must take
place ; and therefore they supposed that souls
were born again, and that they returned afresh to
the womb, and went back to infancy. Whence
also Plato, while discussing the nature of the soul,
says that it may be known from this that souls
are immortal and divine, because in boys minds
are pliant, and easy of perception, and because
they so quickly comprehend the subjects which
they learn, that they appear not then to be learn-
ing for the first time, but to be recalling them to
mind and recollecting them : in which matter
the wise man most foolishly believed the poets.

CHAP. XXIII. OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE

SOUL, AND THE PROOFS OF THIS FACT.

Therefore they will not be born again, which
is impossible, but they will rise again, and be
clothed by God with bodies, and will remember
their former life, and all its actions ; and being
placed in the possession of heavenly goods, and
enjoying the pleasure of innumerable resources,
they will give thanks to God in His immediate
presence, because He has destroyed all evil,
and because He has raised them to His king-
dom and to perpetual life. Respecting which
resurrection the philosophers also attempted to
speak as corruptly as the poets. For Pythagoras
asserted that souls passed into new bodies ; but
foolishly, that they passed from men into cattle,
and from cattle into men ; and that he himself
was restored from Euphorbus. Chrysippus says
better, whom Cicero speaks of as supporting the
portico of the Stoics, who, in the books which
he wrote concerning providence, when he was
speaking of the renewing of the world, intro-
duced these words : " But since this is so, it is
evident that nothing is impossible, and that we,
after our death, when certain periods of time
have again come round, are restored to this
state in which we now are." But let us return
from human to divine things. The Sibyl thus
speaks : —

" For the whole race of mortals is hard to be believed ;
but when the judgment of the world and of mor-
tals shall now come, which God Himself shall

* Resignata est, properly " unsealed."
3 Virg., y£"«., vi. 719.

Chap. XXIV.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

219

institute, judging the impious and the holy at the
same time, then at length He shall send the wicked
to darkness in fire. But as many as are holy shall
live again on the earth, God giving them at the
same time a spirit, and honour, and life."

But if not only prophets, but even bards, and
poets, and philosophers, agree that there will be
a resurrection of the dead, let no one ask of us
how this is possible : for no reason can be as-
signed for divine works ; but if from the begin-
ning God formed man in some unspeakable
manner, we may believe that the old man can
be restored by Him who made the new man.

CHAP. XXIV. — OF THE RENEWED WORLD.

Now I will subjoin the rest. Therefore the
Son of the most high and mighty God shall come
to judge the quick and the dead, as the Sibyl
testifies and says : —

" For then there shall be confusion of mortals through-
out the whole earth, when the Almighty Himself
shall come on His judgment-seat to judge the
souls of the quick and dead, and all the world."

But He, when He shall have destroyed unright-
eousness, and executed His great judgment, and
shall have recalled to life the righteous, who
have lived from the beginning, will be engaged
among men a thousand years, and will rule them
with most just command. Which the Sibyl pro-
claims in another place, as she utters her inspired
predictions : —
" Hear me, ye mortals ; an everlasting King reigns."

Then they who shall be alive in their bodies shall
not die, but during those thousand years shall
produce an infinite multitude, and their offspring
shall be holy, and beloved by God ; but they
who shall be raised from the dead shall preside
over the living as judges.' But the nations shall
not be entirely extinguished, but some shall be
left as a victory for God, that they may be the
occasion of triumph to the righteous, and may
be subjected to perpetual slavery. About the
same time also the prince of the devils, who is
the contriver of all evils, shall be bound with
chains, and shall be imprisoned during the thou-
sand years of the heavenly rule in which right-
eousness shall reign in the world, so that he
may contrive no evil against the people of God.
After His coming the righteous shall be collected
from all the earth, and the judgment being com-
pleted, the sacred city shall be planted in the
middle of the earth, in which God Himself the
builder may dwell together with the righteous,
bearing rule in it. And the Sibyl marks out this
city when she says : —

" And the city which God made, this He made more
brilliant than the stars, and sun, and moon."

Then that darkness will be taken away from the

' [This is " the first resurrection " as conceived of by the ancients,
and the (Phil. iii. 11) ffai-daToais of St. Paul. J

world with which the heaven will be overspread
and darkened, and the moon will receive the
brightness of the sun, nor will it be further
diminished : but the sun will become seven
times brighter than it now is ; and the earth
will open its fruitfulness, and bring forth most
abundant fruits of its own accord ; the rocky
mountains shall drop with honey ; streams of
wine shall run down, and rivers flow with milk :
in short, the world itself shall rejoice, and all
nature exult, being rescued and set free from
the dominion of evil and impiety, and guilt and
error. Throughout this time beasts shall not be
nourished by blood, nor birds by prey ; but all
things shall be peaceful and tranquil. Lions and
calves shall stand together at the manger, the
wolf shall not carry off the sheep, the hound
shall not hunt for prey ; hawks and eagles shall
not injure ; the infant shall play with serpents.
In short, those things shall then come to pass
which the poets spoke of as being done in the
reign of Saturnus. Whose error arose from this
source, — that the prophets bring forvv'ard and
speak of many future events as already accom-
plished. For visions were brought before their
eyes by the divine Spirit, and they saw these
things, as it were, done and completed in their
own sight. And when fame had gradually spread
abroad their predictions, since those who were
uninstructed in the mysteries^ of religion did
not know why they were spoken, they thought
that all those things were already fulfilled in the
ancient ages, which evidently could not be ac-
complished and fulfilled under the reign of a
man.3 But when, after the destniction of impious
religions and the suppression of guilt, the earth
shall be subject to God, —

"The sailor* himself also shall renounce the sea, nor

shall the naval pine
Barter merchandise; all lands shall produce all things.
The ground shall not endure the harrow, nor the vine-
yard the pruning hook ;
The sturdy ploughman also shall loose the bulls from

the yoke.
The plain shall by degrees grow yellow with soft ears

of corn.
The blushing grape shall hang on the uncultivated

brambles.
And hard oaks shall distil the dewy honey.
Nor shall the wool learn to counterfeit various colours;
But the ram himself in the meadows shall change his

fleece,
Now for a sweetly blushing purple, now for saffron dye ;
Scarlet of its own accord shall cover the lambs as they

feed.
The goats of themselves shall bring back home their

udders distended with milk ;
Nor shall the herds dread huge lions."'

' Profani a sacramentis.

3 [This rationale of the Orphica and Sibyllina deserves
thought.]

■« Vector, i.e., the passenger, as opposed to one who sails in a
ship of war.

5 Virg., Bucol., iv. 21-45. The order of the lines is changed.
[This, the famous Pollio, greatly influenced Constantine. See p. 140,
note 7, supra.\

2 20

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

Which things the poet foretold according to the
verses of the Cumsean Sibyl. But the Erythraean
thus speaks : —

"But wolves shall not contend with lambs on the moun-
tains, and lynxes shall eat grass with kids ; boars
shall feed with calves, and with all flocks ; and
the carnivorous lion shall eat chaff at the manger,
and serpents shall sleep with infants deprived of
their mothers."

And in another place, speaking of the fruitful-
ness of all things : —

" And then shall God give great joy to men ; for the
earth, and the trees, and the numberless flocks of
the earth shall give to men the true fruit of the
vine, and sweet honey, and white milk, and corn,
which is the best of all things to mortals."

And another in the same manner : —

" The sacred land of the pious only will produce all
these things, the stream of honey from the rock
and from the fountain, and the milk of ambrosia
will flow for all the just."

Therefore men will live a most tranquil life,
abounding with resources, and will reign together
with God ; and the kings of the nations shall
come from the ends of the earth with gifts and
offerings, to adore and honour the great King,
whose name shall be renowned and venerated
by all the nations which shall be under heaven,
and by the kings who shall rule on earth.

CHAP. XXV. — OF THE LAST TIMES, AKD OF THE
CITY OF ROME.

These are the things which are spoken of by
the prophets as about to happen hereafter : but
I have not considered it necessary to bring for-
ward their testimonies and words, since it would
be an endless task ; nor would the limits of my
book receive so great a multitude of subjects,
since so many with one breath speak similar
things ; and at the same time, lest weariness
should be occasioned to the readers if I should
heap together things collected and transferred
from all ; moreover, that I might confirm those
very things which I said, not by my own writings,
but in an especial manner by the writings of
others, and might show that not only among us,
but even with those very persons who revile us,
the truth is preserved," which they refuse to ac-
knowledge.^ But he who wishes to know these
things more accurately may draw from the foun-
tain itself, and he will know more things worthy
of admiration than we have comprised in these
books. Perhaps some one may now ask when
these things of which we have spoken are about
to come to pass ? I have already shown above,
that when six thousand years shall be completed
this change must take place, and that the last
day of the extreme conclusion is now drawing

' Consignatam teneri.

* [See p. 218, supra, and Victoriuus, sparsiin, in/ra.]

near. It is permitted us to know respecting the
signs, which are spoken by the prophets, for they
foretold signs by which the consummation of
the times is to be expected by us from day to
day, and to be feared. When, however, this
amount will be completed, those teach, who have
written respecting the times, collecting them from
the sacred writings and from various histories,
how great is the number of years from the begin-
ning of the world. And although they vary, and
the amount of the number as reckoned by them
differs considerably, yet all expectation does not
exceed the limit of two hundred years. The
subject itself declares that the fall and ruin of
the world will shortly take place ; except that
while the city of Rome remains it appears that
nothing of this kind is to be feared. ^ But when
that capital of the world shall have fallen, and
shall have begun to be a street,-* which the Sibyls
say shall come to pass, who can doubt that the
end has now arrived to the affairs of men and
the whole world? It is that city, that only,
which still sustains all things ; and the God of
heaven is to be entreated by us and implored —
if, indeed. His arrangements and decrees can be
delayed — lest, sooner than we think for, that
detestable tyrant should come who will under-
take so great a deed, and dig out that eye, by
the destruction of which the world itself is about
to fall. Now let us return, to set forth the other
things which are then about to follow.

CHAP. XXVI. — OF THE LOOSING OF THE DEVIL, AND
OF THE SECOND AND GREATEST JUDGMENT.

We have said, a little before, that it will come
to pass at the commencement of the sacred
reign, that the prince of the devils will be bound
by God. But he also, when the thousand years
of the kingdom, that is, seven thousand 0/ the
world, shall begin to be ended, will be loosed
afresh, and being sent forth from prison, will go
forth and assemble all the nations, which shall
then be under the dominion of the righteous,
that they may make war against the holy city ;
and there shall be collected together from all the
world an innumerable company of the nations,
and shall besiege and surround the city. Thei>
the last anger of God shall come upon the na-
tions, and shall utterly 5 destroy them ; and first
He shall shake the earth most violently, and t)y
its motion the mountains of Syria shall be rent,
and the hills shall sink down precijntously, and
the walls of all cities shall fall, and God shall
cause the sun to stand, so that he set not for
three days, and shall set it on fire ; and excessive
heat and great burning shall descend upon the
hostile and impious people, and showers of brim-

3 [Again a reference, as on p. 213, note i, supra.^

< ,)vju'7. There are other readings, as irCp and " pyra."

5 Ustjue ad unuiu.

CnAi'. XXVI.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

221

stone, and hailstones, and drops of fire ; and their
spirits shall melt through the heat, and their
bodies shall be bruised by the hail, and they shall
smite one another with the sword. The moun-
tains shall be filled with carcases, and the plains
shall be covered with bones ; but the people
of God during those three days shall be con-
cealed under caves of the earth, until the anger
of God against the nations and the last judgment
shall be ended.

Then the righteous shall go forth from their
hiding-places, and shall find all things covered
with carcases and bones. But the whole race of
the wicked shall utterly perish ; and there shall
no longer be any nation in this world, but the
nation of God alone. Then for seven continuous
years the woods shall be untouched, nor shall
timber be cut from the mountains, but the arms
of the nations shall be burnt ; and now there
shall be no war, but peace and everlasting rest.
But when the thousand years shall be completed,
the world shall be renewed by God, and the
heavens shall be folded together, and the earth
shall be changed, and God shall transform men
into the simiUtude of angels, and they shall be
white as snow ; and they shall always be em-
ployed in the sight of the Almighty, and shall
make offerings to their Lord, and serve Him for
ever. At the same time shall take place that
second and public resurrection ' of all, in which
the unrighteous shall be raised to everlasting
punishments. These are they who have wor-
shipped the works of their own hands, who have
either been ignorant of, or have denied the Lord
and Parent of the world. But their lord with his
servants shall be seized and condemned to punish-
ment, together with whom all the band of the
wicked, in accordance with their deeds, shall be
burnt for ever with perpetual fire in the sight of
angels and the righteous.

This is the doctrine of the holy prophets which
we Christians follow ; this is our wisdom, which
they who worship frail objects, or mamtain an
empty philosophy, deride as folly and vanity,
because we are not accustomed to defend and
assert it in public, since God orders us in quiet-
ness and silence to hide His secret, and to keep
it within our own conscience ; and not to strive
with obstinate contention against those who are
ignorant of the truth, and who rigorously assail
God and His religion not for the sake of learn-
ing, but of censuring and jeering. For a mys-
tery ought to be most faithfully concealed and
covered, especially by us, who bear the name of
faith. ^ But they accuse this silence of ours, as
though it were the result of an evil conscience ;
whence also they invent some detestable things

' [This clearly proves that the better sort of Chiliasm was not

extinct in the Church.]

- [i.e., " the faithful," a title often used to designate Christians.
This discipline was based on Heb. v. 14 and Matt. vii. 6. J

respecting those who are holy and blameless, and
willingly believe their own inventions.

The address to Constantine is wanting in some MSS. and
editions, but is inserted in the text by Migne, as found
in some important MSS., and as in accordance with the
style and spirit of Lactantius.

But all fictions have now been hushed, most
holy Emperor, since the time when the great
God raised thee up for the restoration of the
house of justice, and for the protection of the
human race ; for while thou rulest the Roman
state, we worshippers of God are no more re-
garded as accursed and impious. Since the truth
now comes forth ^ from obscurity, and is brought
into light, we are not censured as unrighteous
who endeavour to perform the works of right-
eousness. No one any longer reproaches us with
the name of God. None of us, who are alone of
all men religious, is any more called irreligious ;
since despising the images of the dead, we wor-
ship the living and true God. The providence
of the supreme Deity has raised thee to the im-
perial dignity, that thou mightest be able with
true piety to rescind the injurious decrees of
others, to correct faults, to provide with a father's
clemency for the safety of men, — in short, to
remove the wicked from the state, whom being
cast down by pre-eminent piety, God has deliv-
ered into your hands, that it might be evident to
all in what true majesty consists.

For they who wished to take away the worship
of the heavenly and matchless '' God, that they
might defend impious superstitions, lie in ruin. 5
But thou, who defendest and lovest His name,
excelling in virtue and prosperity, enjoyest thy
immortal glories with the greatest happiness.
They suffer and have suffered the punishment of
their guilt. The powerful right hand of God
protects thee from all dangers ; He bestows on
thee a quiet and tranquil reign, with the highest
congratulations of all men. And not undeserv--]
edly has the Lord and Ruler of the world cho- >
sen thee in preference to all others, by whom He '
might renew His holy religion, since thou alone
didst exist of all, who mightest afford a surpassing
example of virtue and holiness : in which thou
mightest not only equal, but also, which is a very
great matter, excel the glory of ancient princes,
whom nevertheless fame reckons among the good.
They indeed perhaps by nature only resembled
the righteous. For he who is ignorant of God,
the Ruler of the universe, may attain to a resem-
blance of righteousness, but he cannot attain to
righteousness itself. But thou, both by the in-
nate sanctity of thy character, and by thy ac-
knowledgment of the truth and of God in every
action, dost fully perform^ the works of right-

3 Jam emergente atque illustrata veritate.

* Singularis.

5 Profligati jacent.

* Consummas. [Art fulfilling ; i.e., as a catechumen.]

222

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

[Book VII.

eousness.' It was therefore befitting that, in ar-
ranging the. condition of the human race, the
Deity should Trvake use of thy authority and
service. Whom we supphcate with daily prayers,
that He may especially guard thee whom He has
wished to be the guardian of the world : then
that He may inspire thee with a disposition by
which thou mayest always continue in the love
of the divine name. For this is serviceable to
all, both to thee for happiness, and to others for
repose.

CHAP. XXVII. — AN ENCOURAGEMENT AND CON-
FIRMATION OF THE PIOUS.

Since we have completed the seven courses ^
of the work which we undertook, and have ad-
vanced to the goal, it remains that we exhort all
to undertake wisdom together with true religion,
the strength and office of which depends on this,
that, despising earthly things, and laying aside
the errors by which we were formerly held while
we served frail things, and desired frail things,
we may be directed to the eternal rewards of the
heavenly treasure. And that we may obtain
these, the alluring pleasures of the present life
must as soon as possible be laid aside, which
soothe the souls of men with pernicious sweetness.
How great a happiness must it be thought, to be
withdrawn from these stains of the earth, and to
go to that most just Judge and indulgent Father,
who in the place of labours gives rest, in the place
of death life, in the place of darkness brightness,
and in the place of short and earthly goods, gives
those which are eternal and heavenly ; with
which reward the hardships and miseries which
we endure in this world, in accomplishing the
works of righteousness, can in no way be com-
pared and equalled. Therefore, if we wish to be
wise and happy, not only must those sayings of
Terence be reflected upon and proposed to us,

" That we must ever grind at the mill, we must be beaten,
and put in fetters; "^

but things much more dreadful than these must
be endured, namely, the prison, chains, and tor-
tures : pains must be undergone, in short, death
itself must be undertaken and borne, when it is
clear to our conscience that that frail pleasure
will not be without punishment, nor virtue without
a divine reward. All, therefore, ought to en-
deavour either to direct themselves to the right
way as soon as possible, or, having undertaken
and exercised virtues, and having patiently per-
formed the labours of this life, to deserve to have
God as their comforter. For our Father and

' [In admonishing the great, the form was to ascribe to them the
characters they should cultivate. Lactantius here speaks as a courtier,
but guardedly.]

^ Decursis septem spatiis, — an expression borrowed from the
chariot race: here applied to the seven books of this treatise.

■* Terent., Fhorm., ii. i. 19.

Lord, who built and strengthened the heaven,
who placed in it the sun, with the other heavenly
bodies, who by His power weighed the earth and
fenced it with mountains, surrounded it with the
sea, and divided it with rivers, and who made
and completed out of nothing whatever there is
in this workmanship of the world ; having ob-
served the errors of men, sent a Guide, who
might open to us the way of righteousness : let
us all follow Him, let us hear Him, let us obey
Him with the greatest devotedness, since He
alone, as Lucretius says,*

" Cleansed men's breasts with truth-telling precepts, and
fixed a limit to lust and fear, and explained what
was the chief good which we all strive to reach,
and pointed out the road by which, along a narrow
track, we might arrive at it in a straightforward
course."

And not only pointed it out, but also went
before us in it, that no one might dread the
path of virtue on account of its difficulty. Let
the way of destruction and deceit, if it is possi-
ble, be deserted, in which death is concealed,
being covered by the attractions of pleasure.

And the more nearly each one, as his years
incline to old age, sees to be the approach of
that day in which he must depart from this life,
let him reflect how he may leave it in purity,
how he may come to the Judge in innocency ;
not as they do, to whose dark minds the light is
denied,5 who, when the strength of their body
now fails, are admonished in this of the last
pressing necessity, that they should with greater
eagerness and ardour apply themselves to the
satisfying of their lusts. From which abyss let
everyone free himself while it is permitted him,
while the opportunity is present, and let him
turn himself to God with his whole mind, that
he may without anxiety await that day, in which
God, the Ruler and Lord of the world, shall
judge the deeds and thoughts of each. What-
ever things are here desired, let him not only
neglect, but also avoid them, and let him judge
that his soul is of greater value than those deceit-
ful goods, the possession of which is uncertain
and transitory ; for they take their departure
every day, and they go forth much more cjuickly
than they had entered, and if it is permitted us
to enjoy them even to the last, they must still,
without doubt, be left to others. We can take
nothing with us, except a well and innocently
spent life. That man will appear before God
with abundant resources, that man will appear in
opulence, to whom there shall belong self-re-
straint, mercy, patience, love, and faith. This
is our inheritance, which can neither be taken
away from any one, nor transferred to another.

* De Nat. Rer., vi. 24.

5 Quorum caecis mentibus lux negatur. Others read, " Quidara
cxcis mentibus viri."

Chap. XXVII.]

THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

223

And who is there who would wish to provide
and acquire for himself these goods ?

Let those who are hungry come, that being
fed with heavenly food, they may lay aside their
lasting hunger ; let those who are athirst come,
that they may with full mouth draw forth the
water of salvation from an ever-flowing fountain.'
By this divine food and drink the blind shall
both see, and the deaf hear, and the dumb
speak, and the lame walk, and the foolish shall
be wise, and the sick shall be strong, and the
dead shall come to life again. For whoever by
his virtue has trampled upon the corruptions of
the earth, the supreme and truthful arbiter will
raise him to life and to perpetual light. Let no
one trust in riches, no one in badges of authority,

■ [This evident quotation from Rev. xxi. 7 and xxii. 17 is note-
worthy as proof of the currency of the Apocalypse in North Africa.]

no one even in royal power : these things do
not make a man immortal. For whosoever
shall cast away the conduct becoming a man,^
and, following present things, shall prostrate
himself upon the ground, will be punished as a
deserter from his Lord, his commander, and his
Father. Let us therefore apply ourselves to
righteousness, which will alone, as an insepara-
ble companion, lead us to God ; and " while a
spirit rules these limbs," ^ let us serve God with
unwearied service, let us keep our posts and
watches, let us boldly engage with the enemy
whom we know, that victorious and triumphant
over our conquered adversary, we may obtain
from the Lord that reward of valour which He
Himself has promised.

2 Rationem hominis.

■5 Virg., ySneid, iv. 336.

GENERAL NOTE.

For remarks on the dubious passages which bear upon that of p. 221, supra, see the General
Note suffixed to the tractate on the Workmanship of God, p. 300, infra.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

ADDRESSED TO HIS BROTHER PENTADIUS.

THE PREFACE. — THE PLAN AND PURPORT OF THE
WHOLE EPITOME/ AND OF THE INSTITUTIONS.

Although the books of the Divine Institutions
which we wrote a long time since to ilkistrate
the truth and rehgion, may so prepare and mould
the minds of the readers, that their length may
not produce disgust, nor their copiousness be
burthensome ; nevertheless you desire, O brother
Pentadius, that an epitome of them should be
made for you, I suppose for this reason, that I
may write something to you, and that your name
may be rendered famous by my work, such as
it is. I will comply with your desire, although it
seems a difficult matter to comprise within the
compass of one book those things which have
been treated of in seven large volumes.- For
the whole matter becomes less full when so great
a multitude of subjects is to be compressed
within a narrow space ; and it becomes less clear
by its very brevity, especially since many argu-
ments and examples, on which the elucidation
of the proofs depends, must of necessity be
omitted, since their copiousness is so great, that
even by themselves they are enough to make up
a book. And when these are removed, what can
appear useful, what plain ? But I will strive as
much as the subject permits, both to contract
that which is diffuse and to shorten that which
is long ; in such a manner, however, that in this
work, in which truth is to be brought to light,
matter may not seem to be wanting for copious-
ness, nor clearness for understanding it.^

CHAP. I. — OF the DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

First a question arises : Whether there is any
providence which made or governs the world ?
That there is, no one doubts, since of almost all
the philosophers, except the school of Epicurus,
there is but one voice and one opinion, that the

■ [A specimen of the abridgments made by authors and editors,
owing to the great expense of books in manuscript. They have been
sources of great injury to literature.]

* [We have here only a fragment of the Epitome. The rest is
lost. I

s [Christian morals were now to be taught openly in schools:
hence ihe r.ccd of such manuals.]

224

world could not have been made without a con-
triver, and that it cannot exist without a ruler.
Therefore Epicurus is refuted not only by the
most learned men, but also by the testimonies
and perceptions of all mortals. For who can
doubt respecting a providence, when he sees
that the heavens and the earth have been so
arranged, and that all things have been so regu-
lated, that they might be most befittingly adapted,
not only to wonderful beauty and adornment, but
also to the use of men, and the convenience
of the other living creatures? That, therefore,
which exists in accordance with a plan, cannot
have had its beginning without a plan : thus ■♦ it
is certain that there is a providence.

CHAP. II. THAT THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, AND

THAT THERE CANNOT BE MORE.

Another question follows : Whether there be
one God or more? And this indeed contains
much ambiguity. For not only do individuals
differ among themselves, but also peoples and
nations. But he who shall follow the guidance
of reason will understand that there cannot be a
Lord except one, nor a Father except one. For
if God, who made all things, is also Lord and
Father, He must be one only, so that the same
may be the head and source of all things. Nor
is it possible for the world 5 to exist unless all
things be referred to one person, unless one
hold the rudder, unless one guide the reins, and,
as it were, one mind direct all the members of
the body. If there are many kings in a swarm
of bees, they will perish or be scattered abroad,
while

"Discord attacks the kings with great commotion."*'

If there are several leaders in a herd, they will
contend until one gains the mastery.^ If there

* Quoniam. This word appears to be out of place, as its proper
meaning is " since." Either it must be taken as above, or, with some
editors, the last clause of this chapter may be taken as the beginning
of the next chapter — " Since there is a providence," ctci

5 Kerum sumina.

'' VIrg., (Uorg., iv. 68.

7 Obiiiicat.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

225

are many commanders in an army, the soldiers
cannot obey, since different commands are given ;
nor can unity be maintained by themselves, since
each consults his own interests according to his
humours.' Thus, in this commonwealth of the
world, unless there were one ruler, who was also
its founder, either this mass would be dissolved,
or it could not have been put together at all.

Moreover, the whole authority could not exist
in many deities, since they separately maintain
their own duties and their own prerogatives. No
one, therefore, of them can be called omnipotent,
which is the true title of God, since he will be
able to accomplish that only which depends
upon himself, and will not venture to attempt
that which depends upon others. Vulcan will
not claim for himself water, nor Neptune fire ;
nor will Ceres claim acquaintance with the arts,
nor Minerva with fruits ; nor will Mercury lay
claim to arms, nor Mars to the lyre ; Jupiter will
not claim medicine, nor /Esculapius the thunder-
bolt ; he will more easily endure it when thrown
by another, than he will brandish it himself. If,
therefore, individuals cannot do all things, they
have less strength and less power ; but he is to
be regarded as God who can accomplish the
whole, and not he who can only accomplish the
smallest part of the whole.

CHAP. III. THE TESTIMONIES OF THE POETS CON-
CERNING THE ONE GOD.

There is, then, one God, perfect, eternal, in-
corruptible, incapable of suffering, subject to no
circumstance or power, Himself possessing all
things, ruling all things, whom the human mind
can neither estimate in thought nor mortal
tongue describe in speech. For He is too ele-
vated and great to be conceived by the thought,
or expressed by the language of man. In short,
not to speak of the prophets, the preachers of
the one God, poets also, and philosophers, and
inspired women,^ utter their testimony to the
jnity of God. Orpheus speaks of the surpass-
ing God who made the heaven and the sun, with
the other heavenly bodies ; who made the earth
and the seas. Also our own Maro calls the Su-
preme God at one time a spirit, at another
time a mind, and says that it, as though infused
into limbs, puts in motion the body of the whole
world ; also, that God permeates the heights of
heaven, the tracts of the sea and lands, and that
all living creatures derive their life from Him.
Even Ovid was not ignorant that the world was
prepared by God, whom he sometimes calls the
framer of all things, sometimes the fabricator of
the world.3

' Pro moribus. Another reading is " pro viribus," with all their
power.

2 Vates, i.e., the Sibyls.

3 [I shall not multiply references to the seven books, which are so
readily compared by turninsi back to the pages here epitomized.]

CHAP. IV. — THE TESTIMONIES OF THE PHILOSO-
PHERS TO THE UNIIT OF GOD.

But let us come to the philosophers, whose
authority is regarded as more certain than that
of the poets. Plato asserts His monarchy, saying
that there is but one God, by whom the world
was prepared and completed with wonderful
order. Aristotle, his disciple, admits that there
is one mind which presides over the world.
Antisthenes says that there is one who is God
by nature,'* the governor of the whole system.
It would be a long task to recount the state-
ments which have been made respecting the
Supreme God, either by Thales, or by Pythag-
oras and Anaximenes before him, or afterwards
by the Stoics Cleanthes and Chrysippus and
Zeno, or of our countrymen, by Seneca following
the Stoics, and by Tullius himself, since all
these attempted to define the being of God,5
and affirmed .that the world is ruled by Him
alone, and that He is not subject to any nature,
since all nature derives its origin from Him.

Hermes, who, on account of his virtue and
his knowledge of many arts, deserved the name
of Trismegistus, who preceded the philosophers
in the antiquity of his doctrine, and who is rev-
erenced by the Egyptians as a god, in asserting
the majesty of the one God with infinite praises,
calls Him Lord and Father, and says that He is
without a name because He does not stand in
need of a proper name, inasmuch as He is
alone, and that He has no parents, since He
exists of Himself and by Himself. In writing
to his son he thus begins : To understand God
is difificult, to describe Him in speech is im-
possible, even for one to whom it is possible to
understand Him ; for the perfect cannot be
comprehended by the imperfect, nor the invisi-
ble by the visible.

CHAP. V. THAT THE PROPHETIC WOMEN THAT

IS, THE SIBYLS DECLARE THAT THERE IS BUT

ONi:: GOD.

It remains to speak of the prophetic women.
Varro relates that there were ten Sibyls, — the
first of the Persians, the second the Libyan, the
third the Delphian, the fourth the Cimmerian,
the fifth the Erythraean, the sixth the Samian,
the seventh the Cumsan, the eighth the Hel-
lespontian, the ninth the Phrygian, the tenth the
Tiburtine, who has the name of Albunea. Of
all these, he says that there are three books of
the Cumaean alone which contain the fates of the
Romans, and are accounted sacred, but that there
exist, and are commonly regarded as separate,
books of almost all the others, but that they are
entitled, as though by one name. Sibylline books,

< Naturalem.
5 Quid sit Deus

226

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

excepting that the Erythraean, who is said to
have Uved in the times of the Trojan war,
placed her name in her book : the writings of
the others are mixed together.'

All these Sibyls of whom I have spoken, ex-
cept the Cumaean, whom none but the Quin-
decemviri^ are allowed to read, bear witness that
there is but one God, the ruler, the maker, the
parent, not begotten of any, but sprung from
Himself, who was from all ages, and will be to
all ages ; and therefore is alone worthy of being
worshipped, alone of being feared, alone of
being reverenced, by all living beings ; — whose
testimonies I have omitted because I was unable
to abridge them ; but if you wish to see them,
you must have recourse to the books themselves.
Now let us follow up the remaining subjects.

CHAP. VI. — SINCE GOD IS ETERNAL AND IMMOR-
TAL, HE DOES NOT STAND IN NEED OF SEX
AND SUCCESSION.

These testimonies, therefore, so many and so
great, clearly teach that there is but one gov-
ernment in the world, and one power, the origin
of which cannot be imagined, or its force de-
scribed. They are foolish, therefore, who im-
agine that the gods were bom of marriage,
since the sexes themselves, and the intercourse
between them, were given to mortals by God for
this reason, that every race might be preserved
by a succession of offspring. But what need
have the immortals either of sex or succession,
since neither pleasure nor death affects them?
Those, therefore, who are reckoned as gods,
since it is evident that they were born as men,
and that they begat others, were plainly mortals :
but they were believed to be gods, because,
when they were great and powerful kings, on
account of the benefits which they had conferred
upon men, they deserved to obtain divine hon-
ours after death ; and temples and statues being
erected to them, their memory was retained and
celebrated as that of immortals.

CHAP. VII. — OF THE WICKED LIFE AND DEATH
OF HERCULES.

But though almost all nations are persuaded
that they are gods, yet their actions, as related
both by poets and historians, declare that they
were men. Who is ignorant of the times in
which Hercules lived, since he both sailed with
the Argonauts on their expedition, and having
stormed Troy, slew Laomedon, the father of
Priam, on account of his perjury? From that
time rather more than fifteen hundred years are

• [See Cyprian on Balaam, vol. v. p. 502, note 7. A hint as to
the qualified inspiration of these women ]

* The appointed guardians of the Sibylline books. At first there
were two; the number was afterwards increased to ten, and subse-
quently to fifteen, termed Quindecemviri.

reckoned. He is said not even to have been
bom honourably, but to have been sprung from
Alcmena by adultery, and to have been himself
addicted to the vices of his father. He never
abstained from women, or males, and traversed
the whole world, not so much for the sake of
glory as of lust, nor so much for the slaughter
of beasts as for the begetting of children. And
though he was unvanquished, yet he was tri-
umphed over by Omphale alone, to whom he
gave up his club and lion's skin ; and being
clothed in a woman's garment, and crouching at
a woman's feet, he received his task^ to execute.
He afterwards, in a transport of frenzy, killed his
little children and his wife Megara. At last,
having put on a garment sent by his wife Deian-
yra, when he was perishing through ulcers, be-
ing unable to endure the pain, he constructed
for himself a funeral pile on Mount CEta, and
burnt himself alive. Thus it is effected, that
although on account of his excellence ■* he might
have been believed to be a god, nevertheless on
account of these things he is believed to have
been a man.

CHAP. VIII. — OF itSCULAPIUS, APOLLO, MARS, CAS-
TOR AND POLLUX, AND OF MERCURIUS AND
BACCHUS.

Tarquitius relates that ^sculapius was bom
of doubtfiil parents, and that on this account he
was exposed ; and being taken up by hunters,
and fed by the teats of a hound, was given to
Chiron for instruction. He lived at Epidaurus,
and was buried at Cynosurae, as Cicero says,5
when he had been killed by lightning. But
Apollo, his father, did not disdain to take charge
of another's flock that he might receive a wife ; ^
and when he had unintentionally killed a boy
whom he loved, he inscribed his own lamenta-
tions on a flower. Mars, a man of the greatest
bravery, was not free from the charge of adultery,
since he was made a spectacle, being bound
with a chain together with the adulteress.

Castor and Pollux carried off the brides of
others, but not with impunity, to whose death
and burial Homer bears witness, not with poeti-
cal, but simple faith. Mercurius, who was the
father of Androgynus by his intrigue with Venus,
deserved to be a god, because he invented the
lyre and the palcEstra. Father Bacchus, after
subduing India as a conqueror, having by chance
come to Crete, saw Ariadne on the shore, whom
Theseus had forced and deserted. Then, being
inflamed by love, he united her in marriage to

3 Pensa qu2e faceret. " Pensum " properly signifies the wool
daily weighed out and given to each servant.

* Ob virtutem.

5 Cicero, De Nat. Dear., iii. 22.

* When Pelias had promised his daughter Alcestis to Admetus, on
condition of his coming to her in a chariot drawn by lions and boars,
Apollo enabled Admetus to fulfil this condition.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

227

himself, and placed her crown, as the poets say, j
conspicuously among the stars. The mother of
the gods ' herself, while she lived in Phrygia '
after the banishment and death of her husband,
though a widow, and aged, was enamoured of a
beautiful youth ; and because he was not faithful,
she mutilated, and rendered him effeminate : on
which account even now she delights in the
Galli^ as her priests.

CHAP. IX. — OF THE DISGRACEFUL DEEDS OF THE

GODS.

Whence did Ceres bring forth Proserpine, ex-
cept from debauchery? Whence did Latona
bring forth her t\vins, except from crime ? Venus
having been subject to the lusts of gods and
men, when she reigned in Cyprus, invented the
practice of courtesanship, and commanded wo-
men to make traffic of themselves, that she might
not alone be infamous. Were the virgins them-
selves, Minerva and Diana, chaste ? Whence,
then, did Erichthonius arise ? Did Vulcan shed
his seed upon the ground, and was man born
from that as a fungus ? Or why did Diana ban-
ish Hippolytus either to a retired place, or give
him up to a woman, where he might pass his
life in solitude among unknown groves, and hav-
ing now changed his name, might be called
Virbius? What do these things signify but im-
purity, which the poets do not venture to con-
fess?

CHAP. X. — OF JUPITER, AND HIS LICENTIOUS LIFE.

But respecting the king and father of all these,
Jupiter, whom they believe to possess the chief
power in heaven, — what power ^ had he, who
banished his father Saturnus from his kingdom,
and pursued him with arms when he fled ? What
self-restraint had he, who indulged every kind
of lust ? For he made Alcmena and Leda, the
wives of great men, infamous through his adul-
tery : he also, captivated with the beauty of a
boy, carried him off with violence as he was
hunting and meditating manly things, that he
might treat him as a woman. Why should I
mention his debaucheries of virgins? and how
great a multitude of these there was, is shown
by the number of his sons. In the case of
Thetis alone he was more temperate. For it
had been predicted that the son whom she
should bring forth would be more powerful than
his father. Therefore he struggled with his
love, that one might not be born greater than
himself. He knew, therefore, that he was not
of perfect virtue^ greatness, and power, since he

' Rhea, or Cybele.

^ Galli, the priests of Cybele, were so called: they mutilated them-
selves, and performed many raving ceremonies.

3 Quid potestatis. Others read " pietatis," which appears more
•uitable to the sense of the passage.

feared that which he himself had done to his
father. Why, therefore, is he called best and
greatest, since he both contaminated himself
with faults, which is the part of one who is
unjust and bad, and feared a greater than him-
self, which is the part of one who is weak and
inferior ?

CHAP. XI. — THE VARIOUS EMBLEMS UNDER WHICH
THE POETS VEILED THE TURPHUDE OF JUPITER.

But some one will say that these things are
feigned by the poets. This is not the usage of
the poets, to feign in such a manner that you
fabricate the whole, but so that you cover the
actions themselves with a figure, and, as it were,
with a variegated veil. Poetic licence has this
limit, not that it may invent the whole, which is
the part of one who is false and senseless, but
that it may change something consistently with
reason. They said that Jupiter changed him-
self into a shower of gold, that he might deceive
Danae. What is a shower of gold? Plainly
golden coins, by offering a great quantity of
which, and pouring them into her bosom, he
corrupted the frailty of her virgin soul by this
bribe. Thus also they speak of a shower of
iron, when they wish to signify a multitude of
javelins. He carried off" his catamite upon an
eagle. What is the eagle? Truly a legion,
since the figure of this animal is the standard of
the legion. He carried Europa across the sea
on a bull. What is the bull ? Clearly a ship,
which had its tutelary image •♦ fashioned in the
shape of a bull. So assuredly the daughter of
Inachus was not turned into a cow, nor as such
did she swim across, but she escaped the anger
of Juno in a ship which had the form of a cow.
Lastly, when she had been conveyed to Egypt,
she became Isis, whose voyage is celebrated on
a fixed day, in memory of her flight.

CHAP. XII. — THE POETS DO NOT INVENT ALL
THOSE THINGS WHICH RELATE TO THE GODS.

You see, then, that the poets did not invent
all things, and that they prefigured some things,
that, when they spoke the truth, they might add
something like this of divinity to those whom
they called gods ; as they did also respecting
their kingdoms. For when they say that Jupiter
had by lot the kingdom of Coelus, they either
mean Mount Olympus, on which ancient stories
relate that Saturnus, and at"terwards Jupiter,
dwelt, or a part of the East, which is, as it were,
higher, because the light arises thence ; but the
region of the West is lower, and therefore they
say that Pluto obtained the lower regions ; but
that the sea was given to Neptune, because he

* Tutela. The image of some deity, supposed to be the tutelar^
guardian of the ship, was usually painted on the stern.

228

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

had the maritime coast, with all the islands.
Many things are thus coloured by the poets ;
and they who are ignorant of this, censure them
as false, but only in word : for in fact they be-
lieve them, since they so fashion the images of
the gods, that when they make them male and
female, and confess that some are married, some
parents, and some children, they plainly assent
to the poets ; for these relations cannot exist with-
out intercourse and the generation of children.

CHAP. XIII. — THE ACTIONS OF JUPITER ARE RE-
LATED FROM THE HISTORIAN EUHEMERUS.

But let US leave the poets ; let us come to his-
tory, which is supported both by the credibility
of the facts and by the antiquity of the times.
Euhemerus was a Messenian, a very ancient
writer, who gave an account of the origin of
Jupiter, and his exploits, and all his posterity,
gathered from the sacred inscriptions of ancient
temples ; he also traced out the parents of the
other gods, their countries, actions, commands,
and deaths, and even their sepulchres. And
this history Ennius translated into Latin, whose
words are these : —

•' As these things are written, so is the origin and kindred
of Jupiter and his brothers ; after this manner it
is handed down to us in the sacred writing."

The same Euhemerus therefore relates that Jupi-
ter, when he had five times gone round the world,
and had distributed governments to his friends
and relatives, and had given laws to men, and
had wrought many other benefits, being endued
with immortal glory and everlasting remem-
brance, ended his life in Crete, and departed to
the gods, and that his sepulchre is in Crete, in the
town of Gnossus, and that upon it is engraved in
ancient Greek letters Zankronou, which is Jupi-
ter the son of Saturnus. It is plain, therefore,
from the things which I have related, that he
was a man, and reigned on the earth.

CHAP. XrV. — THE ACTIONS OF SATURNUS AND
URANUS TAKEN FROM THE HISTORIANS.

Let us pass on to former things, that we may
discover the origin of the whole error. Saturnus
is said to have been born of Coelus and Terra.
This is plainly incredible ; but there is a certain
reason why it is thus related, and he who is igno-
rant of this rejects it as a fable. That Uranus
was the father of Saturnus, both Hermes affirms,
and sacred history teaches. When Trismegistus
said that there were very few men of perfect
learning, he enumerated among them his rela-
tives, Uranus, Saturnus, and Mercurius. Eu-
hemerus relates that the same Uranus was the
first who reigned on earth, using these words :
" In the beginning Coelus first had the chief

power on earth : he instituted and prepared that
kingdom for himself together with his brothers." '

CHAP. XX. — OF THE GODS PECULIAR TO THE
ROMANS.

1 have spoken of the religious rites which are
common to all nations. I will now speak of the
gods which the Romans have peculiar to them-
selves. Who does not know that the wife of
Faustulus, the nurse of Romulus and Remus, in
honour of whom the Larentinalia were instituted,
was a harlot? And for this reason she was
called Lupa, and represented in the form of a
wild beast. Faula also and Flora were harlots,
of whom the one was the mistress of Hercules,
as Verrius relates ; the other, having acquired
great wealth by her person, made the people her
heir, and on this account the games called
Floralia are celebrated in her honour.

Tatius consecrated the statue of a woman
which had been found in the principal sewer,
and called it by the name of the goddess Cloa-
cina. The Romans, being besieged by the Gauls,
made engines for throwing weapons of the hair
of women ; and on this account they erected an
altar and temple to Venus Calva : ^ also to Jupi-
ter Pistor,^ because he had advised them in a
dream to make all their corn into bread, and to
throw it upon the enemy ; and when this had
been done, the Gauls, despairing of being able
to reduce the Romans by famine, had abandoned
the siege. Tullus Hostilius made Fear and Pal-
lor gods. Mind is also worshipped ; but if the)
had possessed it, they would never, I believe,
have thought that it ought to be worshipped.
Marcellus originated Honour and Virtue.

CHAP. XXI. — OF THE SACRED RITES OF THE
ROMAN GODS.

But the senate also instituted other false god<
of this kind, — Hope, Faith, Concord, Peace,
Chastity, Piety ; all of which, since they ought
truly to be in the minds of men, they have falsely
placed within walls. But although these have no
substantial existence outside of man, neverthe-
less I should prefer that they should be wor-
shipped, rather than Blight or Fever, which ought
not to be consecrated, but rather to be exe-
crated ; than Fornax, together with her sacred
ovens ; than Stercutus, who first showed men to
enrich the ground with manure ; than the god-
dess Muta, who brought forth the Lares ; than
Cumina, who presides over the cradles of infants ;
than Caca, who gave information to Hercules re-
specting the stealing of his cattle, that he might
slay her brother. How many other monstrous and

' From this point the manuscripts are defective to ch. xx.

2 i.e., Venus the hald.

3 i.e., Jupiter the baker.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

229

ludicrous fictions there are, respecting which it
is grievous to speak ! I do not, however, wish
to omit notice of Terminus, since it is related
that he did not give way even to Jupiter, though
he was an unwrought stone. They suppose that
he has the custody of the boundaries, and pub-
lic prayers are offered to him, that he may keep
the stone of the Capitol immoveable, and pre-
serve and extend the boundaries of the Roman
empire.

CHAP. XXII. — OF THE SACRED RITES INTRODUCED
BY FAUNUS AND NUMA.

Faunus was the first in Latium who introduced
these follies, who both instituted bloody sacrifices
to his grandfather Saturnus, and wished that his
father Picus should be worshipped as a god, and
placed Fatua Fauna his wife and sister among
the gods, and named her the good goddess.
Then at Rome, Numa, who burthened those
rude and rustic men with new superstitions, in-
stituted priesthoods, and distributed the gods
into families and nations, that he might call off
the fierce spirits of the people from the pursuits
of arms. Therefore Lucilius, in deriding the
folly of those who are slaves to vain superstitions,
introduced these verses : —

" Those bugbears ' the Lamias, which Faunus and Numa
Pompilius and others instituted, at these he trem-
bles ; he places everything in this. As infant boys
believe that every statue of bronze is a living man,
so these imagine that all things feigned are true :
they believe that statues of bronze contain a heart.
It is a painter's^ gallery; nothing is real, every-
thing fictitious."

Tullius also, writing of the nature of the gods,
complains that false and fictitious gods have
been introduced, and that from this source have
arisen false opinions, and turbulent errors, and
almost old womanly superstitions, which opinion
ought in comparison ^ with others to be esteemed
more weighty, because these things were spoken
by one who was both a philosopher and a priest.

CHAP. XXUI. — OF THE GODS AND SACRED RITES OF
THE BARBARIANS.

We have spoken respecting the gods : now
we will speak of the rites and practices of their
sacred institutions. A human victim used to be
immolated to the Cyprian Jupiter, as Teucer had
appointed. Thus also the Tauri used to offer
strangers to Diana ; the Latian Jupiter also was
propitiated with human blood. Also before Sa-
turnus, men of sixty years of age, according to
the oracle •♦ of Apollo, were throwTi from a bridge
into the Tiber. And the Carthaginians not only

' Terriculas. There is another reading, " terricolas." See note
at Institutes, book i. ch. 22, p 38, supra.
^ See preceding note and reference.
' Comparari. Others read " compatari."
* Ex response. The common reading is " ex persona."

offered infants to the same Saturnus ; but being
conquered by the Sicilians, to make an expiation,
they immolated two hundred sons of nobles.
And not more mild than these are those offer-
ings which are even now made to the Great
Mother and to Bellona, in which the priests make
an offering, not with the blood of others, but
with their own blood ; when, mutilating them-
selves, they cease to be men, and yet do not
pass over to the women ; or, cutting their shoul-
ders, they sprinkle the loathsome altars with their
own blood. But these things are cruel.

Let us come to those which are mild. The
sacred rites of Isis show nothing else than the
manner in which she lost and found her little
son, who is called Osiris. For first her priests
and attendants, having shaved all their limbs,
and beating their breasts, howl, lament, and
search, imitating the manner in which his mother
was affected ; afterwards the boy is found by
Cynocephalus. Thus the mournful rites are
ended with gladness. The mystery of Ceres
also resembles these, in which torches are lighted,
and Proserpine is sought for through the night ;
and when she has been found, the whole rite is
finished with congratulations and the throwing
about of torches. The people of Lampsacus,
offer an ass to Priapus as an appropriate victim. 5
Lindus is a town of Rhodes, where sacred rites
in honour of Hercules are celebrated with re-
vilings. For when Hercules had taken away his
oxen from a ploughman, and had slain them, he
avenged his injury by taunts ; and afterwards
having been himself appointed priest, it was or-
dained that he himself, and other priests after
him, should celebrate sacrifices with the same
revilings. But the mystery of the Cretan Jupiter
represents the manner in which he was withdrawn
from his father, or brought up. The goat is be-
side him, by the teats of which Amalthea nour-
ished the boy. The sacred rites of the mother
of the gods also show the same thing. For be-
cause the Corybantes then drowned the cry of
the boy by the tinkling of their helmets and the
striking of their shields, a representation of this
circumstance is now repeated in the sacred rites ;
but cymbals are beaten instead of helmets, and
drums instead of shields, that Saturnus may not
hear the cries of the boy.

CHAP. XXIV. OF THE ORIGIN OF SACRED RITES

AND SUPERSTITIONS.

These are the mysteries of the gods. Now
let us inquire also into the origin of superstition^
that we may search out by whom and at what
times they were instituted. Didymus, in those
books which are inscribed Of the Explanation

s Ea enim visa est aptior victima, quae ipsi, cui mactatur, magni-
tudine virilis obsceni posset aequari.

230

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

of Pindar, relates that Melisseus was king of
the Cretans, whose daughters were Amalthea
and MeHssa, who nourished Jupiter with goats'
milk and honey ; that he introduced new rites
and ceremonies of sacred things, and was the
first who sacrificed to gods, that is, to Vesta,
who is called Tellus, — whence the poet says : —

" And the first of the gods,
Tellus," —

and afterwards to the mother of the gods. But
Euhemerus, in his sacred history, says that Ju-
piter himself, after that he received the govern-
ment, erected temples in honour of himself in
many places. For in going about the world, as
he came to each place^ he united the chiefs of
the people to himself in friendship and the right
of hospitality \ and that the remembrance of
this might be preserved, he ordered that tem-
ples should be built to him, and annual festivals
be celebrated by those connected with him in a
league of hospitality. Thus he spread the wor-
ship of himself through all lands. But at what
time they lived can easily be inferred. For
Thallus writes in his history, that Belus, the
king of the Assyrians, whom the Babylonians
worship, and who was the contemporary and
friend of Saturnus, was three hundred and
twenty- two years before the Trojan war, and it
is fourteen hundred and seventy years since the
taking of Troy. From which it is evident, that
it is not more than eighteen hundred years from
the time when mankind fell into error by the
institution of new forms of divine worship.

CHAP. XXV. OF THE GOLDEN AGE, OF IMAGES,

AND PROMETHEUS, WHO FIRST FASHIONED MAN.

The poets, therefore, with good reason say
that the golden age, which existed in the reign
of Saturnus, was changed. For at that time no
gods were worshipped, but they knew of one
God only. After that they subjected themselves
to frail and earthly things, worshipping idols of
wood, and brass, and stone, a change took
place from the golden age to that of iron. For
having lost the knowledge of God, and broken
off that one bond of human society, they began
to harass one another, to plunder and subdue.
But if they would raise their eyes aloft and
behold God, who raised them up to the sight of
heaven and Himself, they never would bend and
prostrate themselves by worshipping earthly things,
whose folly Lucretius severely rebukes, saying : '

" And they abase their souls with fear of the gods, and
weigh and press them down to the earth."

Wherefore they tremble, and do not under-
stand how foolish it is to fear those things

' De Nat. Dear., vi. 52.

^ Quare tremunt. Another reading is, "qua reddunt," which is
unintelligible.

which you have made, or to hope for any pro-
tection from those things which are dumb and
insensible, and neither see nor hear the sup-
pliant. What majesty, therefore, or deity can
they have, which were in the power of a man,
that they should not be made, or that they
should be made into some other thing, and are
so even now? For they are liable to injury and
might be carried off by theft, were it not that
they are protected by the law and the guardian-
ship of man. Does he therefore appear to be
in possession of his senses, who sacrifices to
such deities the choicest victims, consecrates
gifts, offers costly garments, as if they who are
without motion could use them? With reason,
then, did Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily plunder
and deride the gods of Greece when he had
taken possession of it as conqueror ; and after
the sacrilegious acts which he had committed,
he returned to Sicily with a prosperous voyage,
and held the kingdom even to his old age : nor
were the injured gods able to punish him.

How much better is it to despise vanities, and
to turn to God, to maintain the condition which
you have received from God, to maintain your
name ! For on this account he is called aii/hro-
pos,^ because he looks upward. But he looks
upward who looks up to the true and living God,
who is in heaven ; who seeks after the Maker
and Parent of his soul, not only with his percep-
tion and mind, but also with his countenance
and eyes raised aloft. But he who enslaves hin'^-
self to earthly and humble things, plainly pre-
fers to himself that which is below him. For
since he himself is the workmanship of God,
whereas an image is the workmanship of man,
the human workmanship cannot be preferred to
the divine ; and as God is the parent of man,
so is the man of the statue. Therefore he is
foolish and senseless who adores that which he
himself has made, of which detestable and fool-
ish handicraft Prometheus was the author, v/ho
was born from lapetus the uncle of Jupiter.
For when first of all Jupiter, having obtained
supreme dominion, wished to establish himself
as a god, and to found temples, and was seeking
for some one who was able to imitate the human
figure, at that time Prometheus lived, who fash-
ioned the image of a man from thick clay with
such close resemblance, that the novelty and
cleverness of the art was a wonder. At length
the men of his own time, and afterwards the
poets, handed him down as the maker of a true
and living man ; and we, as often as we praise
wrought statues, say that they live and breathe.
And he indeed was the inventor of earthenware
images. But posterity, following him, botli
carved them out of marble, and moulded them

3 ai'SpuiTTo?, man; said to be compounded of afw, TpeVu), and m\<j,
to turn the face upwards. [Needlessly repeated from p. 41, supra.^

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

231

out of bronze ; then in process of time orna-
ment was added of gold and ivory, so that not
only the likenesses, but also the gleam itself,
might dazzle the eyes. Thus ensnared by beau-
ty, and forgetful of true majesty, sensible beings
considered that insensible objects, rational beings
that irrational objects, living beings that lifeless
objects, were to be worshipped and reverenced
by them.

CHAP. XXVI, — OF THE WORSHIP OF THE ELEMENTS
AND STARS.

Now let us refute those also who regard the
elements of the world as gods, that is, the
heaven, the sun, and the moon ; for being igno-
rant of the Maker of these things, they admire
and adore the works themselves. And this error
belongs not to the ignorant only, but also to
philosophers ; since the Stoics are of opinion
that all the heavenly bodies are to be considered
as among the number of the gods, since they
all have fixed and regular motions, by which
they most constantly preserve the vicissitudes of
the times which succeed them. They do not
then possess voluntary motion, since they obey
prescribed laws, and plainly not by their own
sense, but by the workmanship of the supreme
Creator, who so ordered them that they should
complete unerring ' courses and fixed circuits,
by which they might vary the alternations of
days and nights, of summer and winter. But if
men admire the effects of these, if they admire
their courses, their brightness, their regularity,
their beauty, they ought to have understood
how much more beautiful, more illustrious, and
more powerful than these is the maker and con-
triver Himself, even God. But they estimated
the Divinity by objects which fall under the
sight of men ; ^ not knowing that objects which
come within the sight cannot be eternal, and
that those which are eternal cannot be discerned
by mortal eyes.

CHAP. XXVII. — OF THE CREATION, SIN, AND PUN-
ISHMENT OF MAN ; AND OF ANGELS, BOTH GOOD
AND BAD.

One subject remains, and that the last : that,
since it usually happens, as we read in histories,
that the gods appear to have displayed their
majesty by auguries, by dreams, by oracles, and
also by the punishments of those who had com-
mitted sacrilege, I may show what cause pro-
duced this effect, so that no one even now may
fall into the same snares into which those of old
fell. When God, according to His excellent
majesty, had framed the world out of nothing,

' Inerrabilcs. There is another reading, " inenarrabiles," inde-
»cribable.

* Humanis visibus.

and had decked the heaven with lights, and had
filled the earth and the sea with living creatures,
then He formed man out of clay, and fashioned
him after the resemblance of His own likeness,
and breathed into him that he might live,^ and
placed him in a garden * which He had planted
with every kind of fruit-bearing tree, and com-
manded him not to eat of one tree in which He
had placed the knowledge of good and evil,
warning him that it would come to pass, that if
he did so he would lose his life, but that if he
observed the command of God he would re-
main immortal. Then the serpent, who was one
of the servants of God, envying man because he
was made immortal, enticed him by stratagem
to transgress the command and law of God.
And in this manner he did indeed receive the
knowledge of good and evil, but he lost the life
which God had given him to be for ever.

Therefore He drove out the sinner from the
sacred place, and banished him into this world,
that he might seek sustenance by labour, that he
might according to his deserts undergo difficul-
ties and troubles ; and He surrounded the garden
itself with a fence of fire, that none of men even
till the day of judgment might attempt secretly 5
to enter into that place of perpetual blessedness.
Then death came upon man according to the
sentence of God ; and yet his life, though it had
begun to be temporary, had as its boundary a
thousand years, and that was the extent of hu-
man life even to the deluge. For after the flood
the life of men was gradually shortened, and was
reduced to a hundred and twenty years. But
that serpent, who from his deeds received the
name of devil, that is, accuser or informer, did
not cease to persecute the seed of man, whom
he had deceived from the beginning. x'\t length
he urged him who was first born in this world,
under the impulse of envy, to the murder of his
brother, that of the two men who were first born
he might destroy the one, and make the other
a parricide.^ Nor did he cease upon this from
infusing the venom of malice into the breasts of
men through each generation, from corrupting
and depraving them ; in short, from overwhelm-
ing them with such crimes, that an instance of
justice was now rare, but men lived after the
manner of the beasts.

But when God saw this. He sent His angels
to instruct the race of men, and to protect them
from all evil. He gave these a command to
abstain from earthly things, lest, being polluted
by any taint, they should be deprived of the
honour of angels. But that wily accuser, while
they tarried among men, allured these also to

3 Inspiravit ad vitam.
* Paradiso. v

5 Irrepere

<> Parricidam. The word first means the murderer of a parent oi
near relative; then simply a murderer.

232

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

pleasures, so that they might defile themselves
with women. Then, being condemned by the
sentence of God, and cast forth on account of
their sins, they lost both the name and substance
of angels. Thus, having become ministers of
the devil, that they might have a solace of their
ruin, they betook themselves to the ruining of
men, for whose protection they had come.'

CHAP. XXVIII. OF THE DEMONS, AND THEIR EVIL

PRACTICES.

These are the demons, of whom the poets often
speak in their poems, whom Hesiod calls the
guardians of men. For they so persuaded men
by their enticements and deceits, that they be-
lieved that the same were gods. In fine, Socrates
used to give out that he had a demon as the
guardian and director of his life from his first
childhood, and that he could do nothing without
his assent and command. They attach them-
selves, therefore, to individuals, and occupy
houses under the name of Genii or Penates.
To these temples are built, to these libations
are daily offered as to the Lares, to these hon-
our is paid as to the averters of evils. These
from the beginning, that they might turn away
men from the knowledge of the true God, intro-
duced new superstitions and worship of gods.
These taught that the memory of dead kings
should be consecrated, temples be built, and
images made, not that they might lessen the
honour of God, or increase their own, which
they lost by sinning, but that they might take
away life from men, deprive them of the hope '
of true light, lest men should arrive at that heav-
enly reward of immortality from which they fell, j
They also brought to light astrology, and augury, j
and divination ; and though, these things are in
themselves false, yet they themselves, the authors
of evils, so govern and regulate them that they j
are believed to be true. They also invented the |
tricks of the magic art, to deceive the eyes. By
their aid it comes to pass, that that which is
appears not to be, and that which is not appears
to be. They themselves invented necromancies,
responses, and oracles, to delude the minds of
men with lying divination by means of ambigu-
ous issues. They are present in the temples and
at all sacrifices ; and by the exhibition of some
deceitful prodigies, to the surprise of those who
are present, they so deceive men, that they be-
lieve that a divine power is present in images
and statues. They even enter secretly into bod-
ies, as being slight spirits ; and they excite dis-
eases in the vitiated limbs, which when ai)peased
with sacrifices and vows they may again remove.

They send dreams either full of terror,^ that
___^ *

' [This is a curious enlargement of the idea as taught elsewhere.
See vnl. ii. p. 142, this series, j

^ riena terroris. Another reading is, " aut plane terrores."

they themselves may be invoked, or the issues
of which may correspond with the truth, that
they may increase the veneration paid to them-
selves. Sometimes also they put forth something
of vengeance against the sacrilegious, that who-
ever sees it may become more timid and super-
stitious. Thus by their frauds they have drawn
darkness over the human race, that truth might
be oppressed, and the name of the supreme and
matchless God might be forgotten.

CHAP. XXIX. OF THE PATIENCE AND PROVIDENCE

OF GOD.

But some one says : Why, then, does the true
God permit these things to be done ? Why does
He not rather remove or destroy the wicked?
Why, in truth, did He from the beginning give
power -J to the demon, so that there should be
one who might corrupt and destroy all things ?
I will briefly say why He willed that this should
be so. I ask whether virtue is a good or an evil.
It cannot be denied that it is a good. If virtue
is a good, vice, on the contrary, is an evil. If
vice is an evil on this account, because it opposes
virtue, and virtue is on this account a good, be-
cause it overthrows vice, it follows that virtue
cannot exist without vice ; and if you take away
vice, the merits of virtue will be taken away.
For there can be no victory without an enemy.
Thus it comes to pass, that good cannot exist
without an evil.

Chrysippus, a man of active mind, saw this
when discussing the subject of providence, and
charges those with folly who think that good
is caused by God, but say that evil is not thus
caused. Aulus Genius'* has interpreted his senti-
ment in his books of Attic Nights ; thus saying :
"They to whom it does not appear that the world
was made for the sake of God and men, and that
human affairs are governed by providence, think
that they use a weighty argument when they thus
speak : If there were a providence, there would
be no evils. For they say that nothing is less in
agreement with providence, than that in this
world, on account of which it is said that God
made men, 5 the power of troubles and evils
should be so great. In reply to these things,
Chrysippus, when he was arguing, in his fourth
book respecting providence, said : Nothing can
be more foolish than those who think that good
things could have existed, if there were not evils
in the same place. For since good things are
contrary to evil, they must of necessity be op-
posed to each other, and must stand resting, as
it were, on mutual and opposite support.*" Thus
there is no contrary without another contrary.

' afi\r\v. Others read fia.i.^ova.ft\io.v , " the power of demons."
* Lib. vi. I.

5 Propter quem homines fecisse dicatur Deus. Others read.
" Quem propter homines," etc.

'' Quasi mutuo adversoque fulta nisu consisterc.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

233

For how could there be any perception of justice,
unless there were injuries? or what else is jus-
tice, but the removal of injustice? In like man-
ner, the nature of fortitude cannot be understood
except by placing ' beside it cowardice, or the
nature of self-control except by intemperance.
Likewise, in what manner would there be pru-
dence, unless there were the contrary, impru-
dence? On the same principle, he says, why
do the foolish men not require this also, that
there should be truth and not falsehood ? For
there exist together good and evil things, pros-
perity and trouble, pleasure and pain. For the
one being bound to the other at opposite poles,
as Plato says, if you take away one, you take
away both." You see, therefore, that which I
have often said, that good and evil are so con-
nected with one another, that the one cannot
exist without the other. Therefore God acted
with the greatest foresight in placing the subject-
matter of virtue in evils which He made for this
purpose, that He might establish for us a con-
test, in which He would crown the victorious
with the reward of immortality.^

CHAP. XXX. — OF FALSE WISDOM.

I have taught, as I imagine, that the honours
paid to gods are not only impious, but also vain,
either because they were men whose memory
was consecrated after death ; or because the
images themselves are insensible and deaf, inas-
much as they are formed of earth, and that it is
not right for man, who ought to look up to
heavenly things, to subject himself to earthly
things ; or because the spirits who claim to
themselves those acts of religious service are un-
holy and impure, and on this account, being con-
demned by the sentence of God, fell to the earth,
and that it is not lawful to submit to the power
of those to whom you are superior, if you wish
to be a follower of the true God. It remains
that, as we have spoken of false religion, we
should also discus^ the subject of false wisdom,
which the philos<;)phers profess, — men endued
with the greatest learning and eloquence, but far
removed from the truth, because they neither
know God nor the wisdom of God. And although
they are clever and learned, yet, because their
wisdom is huma,n, I shall not fear to contend
with them, that it may be evident that falsehood
can be easily overcome by tnith, and earthly
things by heavenly,

They thus defing the nature of philosophy.
Philosophy is the love or pursuit of wisdom.
Therefore it is not wisdom itself; for that which
Ibves must be different from that which is loved.

' Appositione. Others read " oppositione."

2 [Philosophically, not dogmatically, asserted. God's wisdom in
permitting evil (which originated in the fall of free intellects} to last
Lr a season, will vindicate itself in judgment.]

If it is the pursuit of wisdom, not even thus is
philosophy identical with wisdom. For wisdom
is the object itself which is sought, but the pur-
suit is that which seeks it. Therefore the very
definition or meaning of the word plainly shows
that philosophy is not wisdom itself. I will say
that it 3 is not even the pursuit of wisdom, in
which wisdom is not comprised. For who can
be said to devote himself to the pursuit of that
to which he can by no means attain ? He who
gives himself to the pursuit of medicine, or
grammar, or oratory, may be said to be studious
of that art which he is learning ; but when he
has learned, he is now said to be a physician, a
grammarian, or an orator. Thus also those who
are studious of wisdom, after they had learned
it, ought to have been called wise. But since
they are called students of wisdom as long as
they live, it is manifest that that is not the pur-
suit, because it is impossible to arrive at the ob-
ject itself which is sought for in the pursuit,
unless by chance they who pursue wisdom even
to the end of life are about to be wise in another
world. Now every pursuit is connected with
some end. That, therefore, is not a right pursuit
which has no end.

CHAP. XXXI. OF KNOWLEDGE AND SUPPOSITION.

Moreover, there are two things which appear
to fall under the subject of philosophy — knowl-
edge and supposition ; and if these are taken
away, pliTIosophy altogether falls to the ground.
But the chief of the philosophers themselves have
taken away both from philosophy. Socrates took
away knowledge, Zeno supposition. Let us see
whether they were right in doing so. Wisdom
is, as Cicero defined it,'* the knowledge of divine
and human things. Now if this definition is true,
wisdom does not come within the power of man.
For who of mortals can assume this to himself,
to profess that he knows divine and human
things ? I say nothing of human affairs ; for al-
though they are connected with divine, yet, since
they belong to man, let us grant that it is possi-
ble for man to know them. Certainly he cannot
know divine things by himself, since he is a man ;
whereas he who knows them must be divine, and
therefore God. But man is neither divine nor
God. Man, therefore, cannot thoroughly know
divine things by himself. No one, therefore, is
wise but God, or certainly that man whom God
has taught. But they, because they are neither
gods, nor taught by God, cannot be wise, that
is, acquainted with divine and human things.
Knowledge, therefore, is rightly taken away by
Socrates and the Academics. Supposition also
does not agree with the wise man. For every

3 Philosophy.
< De Offic, ii. a.

234

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

one supposes that of which he is ignorant. Now,
to suppose that you know that of which you are
ignorant, is rashness and folly. Supposition,
therefore, was rightly taken away by Zeno. If,
therefore, there is no knowledge in man, and
there ought to be no supposition, philosophy is
cut up by the roots.

CHAP. XXXII. — OF THE SECTS OF PHILOSOPHERS,
AND THEIR DISAGREEMENT.

To this is added, that it ' is not uniform ; but
being divided into sects, and scattered into many
and discordant opinions, it has no fixed state.
For since they all separately attack and harass
one another, and there is none of them which is
not condemned of folly in the judgment of the
rest, while the members are plainly at variance
with one another, the whole body of philosophy
is brought to destruction. Hence the Academy
afterwards originated. For when the leading
men of that sect saw that philosophy was alto-
gether overthrown by philosophers mutually op-
posing each other, they undertook war against
all, that they might destroy all the arguments of
all ; while they themselves assert nothing except
one thing — that nothing can be known. Thus,
having taken away knowledge, they overthrew
the ancient philosophy. But they did not even
themselves retain the name of philosophers, since
they admitted their ignorance, because to be ig-
norant of all things is not only not the part of
a philosopher, but not even of a man. Thus the
philosophers, because they have no defence, must
destroy one another with mutual wounds, and
philosophy itself must altogether consume and
put an end to itself by its own arms. But they
say it is only natural philosophy which thus gives
way. How is it with moral ? Does that rest on
ahy firm foundation? Let us see whether phi-
losophers are agreed in this part at any rate, which
relates to the condition of life.

CHAP. XXXIII. — WHAT IS THE CHIEF GOOD TO BE
SOUGHT IN LIFE.

What is the chief good mu^t be an object of
inquiry, that our whole life and actions may be
directed to it. When inquiry is made respecting
the chief good of man, it ought to be settled to
be of such a kind, first, that it have reference
to man alone ; in the next place, that it belong
peculiarly to the mind ; lastly, that it be sought
by virtue. Let us see, therefore, whether the
chief good which the philosophers mark out
be such that it has reference neither to a dumb
animal nor to the body, and cannot be attained
without virtue.

Aristippus, the founder of the Cyrenaic sect,
who thought that bodily pleasure was the chief

' i.e., philosophy.

good, ought to be removed from the number of
philosophers, and from the society of men, be-
cause he compared himself to a beast. The
chief good of Hieronymus is to be without pain,
that of Diodorus to cease to be in pain. But
the other animals avoid pain ; and when they
are without pain, or cease to be in pain, are glad.
What distinction, then, will be given to man, if
his chief good is judged to be common with the
beasts ? Zeno thought that the chief good was
to Hve agreeably to nature. But this definition
is a general one. For all animals live agreeably
to nature, and each has its own nature.

Epicurus maintained that it was pleasure of
the soul. What is pleasure of the soul but joy,
in which the soul for the most part luxuriates,
and unbends itself either to sport or to laughter ?
But this good befalls even dumb animals, which,
when they are satisfied with pasture, relax them-
selves to joy and wantonness. Dinomachus and
Callipho approved of honourable pleasure ; but
they either said the same that Epicurus did, that
bodily pleasure is dishonourable ; or if they con-
sidered bodily pleasures to be partly base and
partly honourable, then that is not the chief
good which is ascribed to the body. The Peri-
patetics make up the chief good of goods of the
soul, and body, and fortune. The goods of the
soul may be approved of; but if they require
assistance for the completion of happiness, they
are plainly weak. But the goods of the body
and of fortune are not in the power of man ; nor
is that now the chief good which is assigned to
the body, or to things placed without us, because
this double good extends even to the cattle, which
have need of being well, and of a due supply of
food. The Stoics are believed to have enter-
tained much better views, who said that virtue
was the chief good. But virtue cannot be the
chief good, since, if it is the endurance of evils
and of labours, it is not happy of itself; but it
ought to effect and produce the chief good, be-
cause it cannot be attained without the greatest
difficulty and labour. But, in truth, Aristotle
wandered far from reason, who connected honour
with virtue, as though it were possible for virtue
at any time to be separated from honour, or to
be united with baseness.

Herillus the Pyrrhonist made knowledge the
chief good. This indeed belongs to man, and
to the soul only, but it may happen to him with-
out virtue. For he is not to be considered happy
who has either learnt anything by hearing, or has
gained the knowledge of it by a little reading ;
nor is it a definition of the chief good, because
there may be a knowledge either of bad things,
or at any rate of things that are useless. And
if it is the knowledge of good and useful things
which you have acquired by labour, nevertheless
it is not tlic chief good, because knowledge is

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

235

not sought on its own account, but on account
of something else. For the arts are learnt on
this account, that they may be to us the means of
gaining support, or a source of glory, or even
of pleasure ; and it is plain that these things
cannot be the chief goods. Therefore the phi-
losophers do not observe the rule even in moral
philosophy, inasmuch as they are at variance with
one another on the main point ' itself, that is, in
that discussion by which the life is moulded.
For the precepts cannot be equal, or resembling
one another, when some train men to pleasure,
others to honour, others indeed to nature, others
to knowledge ; some to the pursuit, others to the
avoiding of riches ; some to entire insensibility
to pain, others to the endurance of evils : in all
which, as I have shown before, they turn aside
from reason, because they are ignorant of God.

CHAP. XXXIV. THAT MEN ARE BORN TO JUSTICE.

Let us now see what is proposed to the wise
rnan as the chief good.^ That men are born to
justice is not only taught by the sacred writings,
but is sometimes acknowledged even by these
same philosophers. Thus Cicero says : " But
of all things which fall under the discussion of
learned men, nothing assuredly is more excel-
lent than that it should be clearly understood
that we are born to justice." This is most true.^
For we are not born to wickedness, since we are
a social and sociable animal. The wild beasts
are produced to exercise their fierceness ; for
they are unable to live in any other way than by
prey and bloodshed. These, however, although
pressed by extreme hunger, nevertheless refrain
from animals of their own kind. Birds also do
the same, which must feed upon the carcases of
others. How much more is it befitting, that
man, who is united with man both in the inter-
change of language and in communion of feel-
ing, should spare man, and love him ! For this
is justice.

But since wisdom has been given to man
alone, that he may understand God, and this
alone makes the difference bet^veen man and the
dumb animais, justice itself is bound up in two
duties. He owes the one to God as to a father,
the other to man as to a brother ; for we are
produced by the same God. Therefore it has
been deservedly and rightly said, that wisdom
is the knowledge of divine and human affairs.
For it is right that we should know what we owe
to God, and what to man ; namely, to God re-
ligion, to man affection. But the former belongs
to wisdom, the latter to virtue ; and justice com-
prises both. If, therefore, it is evident that man

' In ipso cardine. [Horace, Sai., book ii. 6, 71-76.]

^ Some editions repeat the words " summum bonum," but these

words appear to obstruct the sense.

3 \\.^., philosophically ; our moral constitution dictating what is

just.]

is bom to justice, it is necessary that the just
man should be subject to evils, that he may ex-
ercise the virtue with which he is endued. For
virtue is the enduring of evils. He will avoid
pleasures as an evil : he will despise riches, be-
cause they are frail ; and if he has them, he will
liberally bestow them, to preserve the wretched :
he will not be desirous of honours, because they
are short and transitory ; he will do injury to no
one ; if he shall suffer, he will not retaliate ;
and he will not take vengeance upon one who
plunders his property. For he will deem it un-
lawful to injure a man ; and if there shall be
any one who would compel him to depart from
God, he will not refuse tortures nor death.
Thus it will come to pass, that he must neces-
sarily live in poverty and lowliness, and in in-
sults, or even tortures.

CHAP. XXXV. THAT IMMORTALITV IS THE CHIEF

GOOD.

What, then, will be the advantage of justice
and virtue, if they shall have nothing but evil in
life? But if virtue, which despises all earthly
goods, most wisely endures all evils, and endures
death itself in the discharge of duty, cannot be
without a reward, what remains but that immor-
tality alone is its reward? For if a happy life
falls to the lot of man, as the philosophers
will have it, and in this point alone they do not
disagree, therefore also immortality falls to him.
For that only is happy which is incorruptible ; that
only is incorruptible which is eternal. There-
fore immortality is the chief good, because it
belongs both to man, and to the soul, and to
virtue. We are only directed to this ; we are
born to the attainment of this. Therefore God
proposes to us virtue and justice, that we may
obtain that eternal reward for our labours. But
concerning that immortality '• itself we will speak
in the proper place. There remains the phi-
losophy of Logic, 5 which contributes nothing to
a happy life. For wisdom does not consist in
the arrangement of speech, but in the heart and
the feeling. But if natural philosophy is super-
fluous, and this of logic, and the philosophers
have erred in moral philosophy, which alone is
necessary, because they have been unable in
any way to find out the chief good ; therefore
all philosophy is found to be empty and useless,
which was unable to comprehend the nature of
man, or to fulfil its duty and office.

CHAP. XXXVI. — OF THE PHILOSOPHERS, — ■
NAMELY, EPICURUS AND PYTHAGORAS.

Since I have spoken briefly of philosophy,
now also I will speak a few things about the

* Non mortalitate.

5 Ao-yiicr) philosophia. Lender this is included everything con-
nected with the system of speaking.

236

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

philosophers. This is especially the doctrine of
Epicurus, that there is no providence. And at
the same time he does not deny the existence
of gods. In both respects he acts contrary to
reason. For if there are gods, it follows that
there is a providence. For otherwise we can
form no intelligible idea of God, for it is His
peculiar province to foresee.' But Epicurus
says He takes no care about anything. There-
fore He disregards not only the affairs of men,
but also heavenly things. How, therefore, or
from what, do you affirm that He exists ? For
when you have taken away the divine providence
and care, it would naturally follow that you
should altogether deny the existence of God ;
whereas now you have left Him in name, but in
reality you have taken Him away. Whence,
then, did the world derive its origin, if God takes
no care of anything? There are, he says, mi-
nute atoms, which can neither be seen nor
touched, and from the fortuitous meeting of
these all things arose, and are continually aris-
ing. If they are neither seen nor perceived by
any part of the body, how could you know of
their existence ? In the next place, if they ex-
ist, with what mind do they meet together to
effect anything? If they are smooth, they can-
not cohere : if they are hooked and angular,
then they are divisible ; for hooks and angles
project, and can be cut off. But these things
are senseless and unprofitable. Why should I
mention that he also makes souls capable of
extinction ? who is refuted not only by all phi-
losophers and general persuasion, but also by
the answers of bards, by the predictions of the
Sibyls, and lastly, by the divine voices of the
prophets themselves ; so that it is wonderful that
Epicurus alone existed, who should place the
condition of man on a level with the flocks and
beasts.

What of Pythagoras, who was first called a
philosopher, who judged that souls were indeed
immortal, but that they passed into other bod-
ies, either of cattle, or of birds, or of beasts?
Would it not have been better that they should
be destroyed, together with their bodies, than
thus to be condemned to pass into the bodies
of other animals ? Would it not be better not
to exist at all, than, after having had the form
of a man, to live as a swine or a dog ? And the
foolish man, to gain credit for his saying, said
that he himself had been Euphorbus in the Tro-
jan war, and that, when he had been slain, he
passed into other figures of animals, and at last
became Pythagoras. O happy man ! to whom
alone so great a memory was given ; or rather
unhappy, who, when changed into a sheep, was
not permitted to be ignorant of what he was !

' Providert.

And would to Heaven that he alone had been
thus senseless ! He found also some to believe
him, and some indeed among the learned,^ to
whom the inheritance of folly passed.

CHAP. XXXVII. — OF SOCRATES AND HIS CONTRA-
DICTION.

After him Socrates held the first place in phi-
losophy, who was pronounced most wise even
by the oracle, because he confessed that he
knew one thing only, — namely, that he knew
nothing. And on the authority of this oracle it
was right that the natural philosophers should
restrain themselves, lest they should either in-
quire into those things \Vhich they could not
know, or should think that they knew things
which they did not know. Let us, however, see
whether Socrates was most wise, as the Pythian
god proclaimed. He often made use of this
proverb, that that which is above us has also no
reference to us. He has now passed beyond
the limits of his opinion. For he who said that
he knew one thing only, found another thing to
speak of, as though he knew it ; but that in vain.
For God, who is plainly above us, is to be sought
for ; and religion is to be undertaken, which
alone separates us from the brutes, which indeed
Socrates not only rejected, but even derided, in
swearing by a goose and a dog, as if in truth he
could not have sworn by ^sculapius, to whom
he had vowed a cock. Behold the sacrifice of
a wise man ! And because he was unable to
offer this in his own person, since he was at the
point of death, he entreated his friends to per-
form the vow after his death, lest forsooth he
should be detained as a debtor in the lower re-
gions. He assuredly both pronounced that he
knew nothing, and made good his statement.^

CHAP. XXXVIII. OF PLATO, WHOSE DOCTRINE AP-
PROACHES MORE NEARLY TO THE TRUTH.

His disciple Plato, whom TuUy speaks of as the
god of philosophers, alone of all so studied phi-
losophy that he approached nearer to the truth ;
and yet, because he was ignorant of God, he so
failed in many things, that no one fell into worse
errors, especially because in his books respect
ing the state he wished all things to be commov
to all. This is endurable concerning property,
though it is unjust. For it ought not to be a^
injury to any one, if he possesses more than an-
other through his own industry ; or to be a profit
to any one, if through his own fault he possesses
less. But, as I have said, this is capable of being
endured in some way. Shall there be a com-

* Inter doctos homines. Others read " indoctos homines," bm
this does not convey so good a meaning.

3 [Other and more creditable explanations are given. Socrateo
recognised the rites of his countrymen. See Tayler Lewis in a nobi»
chapter, Plato, etc., p. 250.]

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

237

munity of wives also, and of children? Shall
there be no distinction of blood, or certainty of
race ? Shall there be neither families, nor rela-
tionships, nor affinities, but all things confused
and indiscriminate, as in herds of cattle ? Shall
there be no self-restraint in men, no chastity in
women? What conjugal affection can there be
in these, between whom on either side there is
no sure or peculiar • love ? Who will be dutiful
towards a father, when he knows not from whom
he was born? Who will love a son, whom he
will reckon as not his own?^ Moreover, he
opened ^ the senate house to women, and en-
trusted to them warfare, magistracies, and com-
mands/ But how great will be the calamity of
that city, in which women shall discharge the
duties of men ! But of this more fully at another
opportunity.

Zeno, the master of the Stoics, who praises
virtue, judged that pity, which is a very great vir-
tue, should be cut away, as though it were a dis-
ease of the mind, whereas it is at the same time
dear to God and necessary for men. For who
is there who, when placed in any evil, would be
unwilling to be pitied, and would not desire the
assistance of those who might succour them,
which is not called forth so as to render aid, ex-
cept by the feeling of pity? Although he calls
this humanity and piety, he does not change the
matter itself, only the name. This is the affec-
tion which has been given to man alone, that by
mutual assistance we might alleviate our weak-
ness ; and he who removes this affection reduces
us to the life of the beasts. For his assertion that
all faults are equal, proceeds from that inhumanity
with which also he assails pity as a disease. For
he who makes no difference in faults, either thinks
that light offences ought to be visited with severe
punishments, which is the part of a cruel judge,
or that great offences should be visited with slight
punishments, which is the part of a worthless
judge. In either case there is injury to the state.
For if the greatest crimes are lightly punished,
the boldness of the wicked will increase, and go
on to deeds of greater daring ; and if a punish-
ment of too great severity is inflicted for slight
offences, inasmuch as no one can be exempt from
fault, many citizens will incur peril, who by cor-
rection might become better.

CHAP. XXXIX.

- OF VARIOUS PHILOSOPHERS, AND
OF THE ANTIPODES.

These things, truly, are of small importance,
but they arise from the same falsehood. Xenoph-

' Proprius.

* Alienum.

^ Reseravit. Others read " reservavit."

* [A republic of "philosophers" (credula g-ens) was set up in
France (a.d. 1793), to prove their idiotic incompetency for practical
aflairs.j

anes said that the orb of the moon is eighteen
times larger than this earth of ours ; and that
within its compass is contained another earth,
which is inhabited by men and animals of every
kind. About the antipodes also one can neither
hear nor speak without laughter. It is asserted
as something serious, that we should believe that
there are men who have their feet opposite to
ours. The ravings of Anaxagoras are more tol-
erable, who said that snow was black. And not
only the sayings, but the deeds, of some are ri-
diculous. Democritus neglected his land which
was left to him by his father, and suffered it to
become a public pasture. Diogenes with his
company of dogs,5 who professes that great and
perfect virtue in the contempt of all things, pre-
ferred to beg for his support, rather than to seek
it by honest labour, or to have any property.
Undoubtedly the life of a wise man ought to be
to others an example of living. If all should
imitate the wisdom of these, how will states ex-
ist? But perhaps the same Cynics were able to
afford an example of modesty, who lived with
their wives in public. I know not how they could
defend virtue, who took away modesty.

Nor was Aristippus better than these, who, I
believe, that he might please his mistress Lais,
instituted the Cyrenaic system, by which he
placed the end of the chief good in bodily
pleasure, that authority might not be wanting
to his faults, or learning to his vices. Are those
men of greater fortitude to be more approved,
who, that they might be said to have despised
death, died by their own hands? Zeno, Em-
pedocles, Chrysippus, Cleanthes, Democritus,
and Cato, imitating these, did not know that
he who put himself to death is guilty of murder,
according to the divine right and law. For it
was God who placed us in this abode of flesh :
it was He who gave us the temporary habitation
of the body, that we should inhabit it as long as
He pleased. Therefore it is to be considered
impious, to wish to depart from it without the
command of God. Therefore violence must not
be applied to nature. He knows how to destroy''
His own work. And if any one shall apply im-
pious hands to that work, and shall tear asunder
the bonds of the divine workmanship, he endeav-
ours to flee from God, whose sentence no one
will be able to escape, whether alive or dead.
Therefore they are accursed and impious, whom
I have mentioned above, who even taught what
are the befitting reasons for voluntary death ; so
that it was not enough of guilt that they were
self-murderers, unless they instructed others also
to this wickedness. 7

5 i.e., the Cynics.
^ Resolvat.

7 [A succinct statement of the sixth command in its bearing on
suicide.]

238

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

CHAP. XL. — OF THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE PHI-
LOSOPHERS.

There are innumerable sayings and doings of
the philosophers, by which their foolishness may
be shown. Therefore, since we are unable to
enumerate them all, a few will be sufficient. It
is enough that it is understood that the philoso-
phers were neither teachers of justice, of which
they were ignorant, nor of virtue, of which they
falsely boast. For what can they teach, who
often confess their own ignorance? I omit to
mention Socrates, whose opinion is well known.
Anaxagoras proclaims that all things are over-
spread with darkness. Empedocles says that the
paths for finding out the truth of the senses are
narrow. Democritus asserts that truth lies sunk
in a deep well ; and because they nowhere find
it, they therefore affirm that no wise man has as
yet existed. Since, therefore, human wisdom
has no existence (Socrates says in the writings
of Plato), let us follow that which is divine, and
let us give thanks to God, who has revealed and
delivered it to us ; and let us congratulate our-
selves, that through the divine bounty we possess
the truth and wisdom, which, though sought by
so many intellects through so many ages, phi-
losophy ' was not able to discover.

CHAP. XLI. — OF TRUE RELIGION AND WISDOM.

Now, since we have refuted false religion,
which is in the worship of the gods, and false
wisdom, which is in the philosophers, let us come
to true religion and wisdom. And, indeed, we
must speak of them both conjointly, because
they are closely connected. For to worship the
true God, that and nothing else is wisdom. For
that God who is supreme and the Maker of all
things, who made man as the image of Himself,
on this account conferred on him alone of all
animals the gift of reason, that he might pay
back honour to Him as his Father and his Lord,
and by the exercise of this piety and obedience
might gain the reward of immortality. This is
a true and divine mystery. But among those,^
because they are not tnie, there is no agreement.
Neither are sacred rites performed in philosopliy,
nor is philosophy treated of in sacred things ;
and on this account their religion is false, be-
cause it does not possess wisdom ; and on this
account their wisdom is false, because it does
not possess religion. But where both are joined
together, there the truth must necessarily be ;
so that if it is asked what the truth itself is, it
may be rightly said to be either wise religion or
religious wisdom.

' Philosophia non potuit invenire. Other editions have, " philo-
sophiam nemo potuit invenire." ["The world by wisdom (roi^ta)
knew not God," etc. ; i Cor. i. 21.]

* i.e., th» philosophers before mentioned.

CHAP. XLII. — OF RELIGIOUS WISDOM : THE NAME
OF CHRIST KNOWN TO NONE, EXCEPT HIMSELF
AND HIS FATHER.

I will now say what wise religion, or religious
wisdom, is. God, in the beginning, before He
made the world, from the fountain of His own
eternity, and from the divine and everlasting
Spirit,^ begat for Himself a Son incorruptible,
faithful, corresponding to His Father's excellence
and majesty. He is virtue. He is reason, He is
the word of God, He is wisdom. With this
artificer, as Hermes says, and counsellor, as the
Sibyl says. He contrived the excellent and won-
drous fabric of this world. In fine, of all the
angels, whom the same God formed from His
own breath,^ He alone was admitted into a par-
ticipation of His supreme power. He alone was
called God. For all things were through Him,
and nothing was without Him. In fine, Plato,
not altogether as a philosopher, but as a seer,
spoke concerning the first and second God, per-
haps following Trismegistus in this, whose words
I have translated from the Greek, and subjoined :
" The Lord and Maker of all things, whom we
have thought to be called God, created s a second
God, who is visible and sensible. But by sensi-
ble I mean, not that He Himself receives sensa-
tion, but that He causes sensation and sight.
When, therefore. He had made this, the first,
and one, and only one. He appeared to Him
most excellent, and full of all good qualities."
The Sibyl also says that God the guide of all
was made by God ; and another, that

"God the Son of God mu.'it be known,"

as those examples which I have brought forward
m my books declare. Him the prophets, filled
with the inspiration of the Divine Spirit, pro-
claimed ; of whom especially Solomon in the
book of Wisdom, and also his father, the writer
of divine hymns — both most renowned kings,
who preceded the times of the Trojan war by
a hundred and eighty years ^ — testify that He
was born of God. His name is known to none,
except to Himself and the Father, as John
teaches in the Revelation.^ Hermes says that
His name cannot be uttered by mortal mouth.
Yet by men He is called by two names — Jesus,
which is Saviour, and Christ, which is King. He
is called Saviour on this account, because He is
the health and safety of all who believe in God
through Him. He is called Christ on this
account, because He Himself will come from

3 [This refers to the Spirit of the Father, as Cyprian (vol. v. p.
516), " My heart hath hreatlifd o\i\. a good Word."]

* De suis spiritibus.

5 [Plato does not speak doj^matically, but with a marvellous intui-
tion of truth. The Son is " begotten, not made."]

* This is an error. Both Uavid and Solomon lived after tf-t sup-
posed taking of Troy.

' Rev. xix. 12.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

239

heaven at the end of this dispensation ' to judge
the world, and, having raised the dead, to estab-
hsh for Himself an everlasting kingdom.

CHAP, XLin. — OF THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST,
AND HIS TWOFOLD NATIVITY.

But lest by any chance there should be any
doubt in your mind why we call Him Jesus
Christ, who was born of God before the world,
and who was born of man three hundred years
ago, I will briefly explain to you the reason.
The same person is the son of God and of man.
For He was twice born : first of God, in the
spirit, before the origin of the world ; afterwards
in the flesh of man, in the reign of Augustus ;
and in connection with this fact is an illustrious
and great mystery, in which is contained both
the salvation of men and the religion of the Su-
preme God, and all truth. For when first the
accursed and impious worship of gods crept in
through the treachery of the demons, then the
religion of God remained with the Hebrews
alone, who, not by any law, but after the man-
ner of their fathers, observed the worship handed
down to them by successive generations,^ even
until the time when they went forth out of Egypt
under the leadership of Moses, the first of all
the prophets, through whom the law was given
to them from God ; and they were afterwards
called Jews. Therefore they served God, being
bound by the chains of the law. But they also,
by degrees going astray to profane rites, under-
took the worship of strange gods, and, leaving
the worship of their fathers, sacrificed to sense-
less images. Therefore God sent to them proph-
ets filled with the Divine Spirit, to upbraid them
with their sins and proclaim repentance, to
threaten them with the vengeance which would
follow, and announce that it would come to pass,
if they persisted in the same faults, that He
would send another as the bearer of a new law ;
and having removed the ungrateful people from
their inheritance. He would assemble to Him-
self a more faithful people from foreign nations.
But they not only persisted in their course, but
even slew the messengers themselves. Therefore
He condemned them on account of these deeds :
nor did He any longer send messengers to a
stubborn people ; but He sent His own Son, to
call all nations to the favour of God. Nor, how-
ever, did He shut them out, impious and ungrate-
ful as they were, from the hope of salvation ; but
He sent Him to them before all others,^ that if
they should by chance obey, they might not lose
that which they had received ; but if they should
refuse to receive their God, then, the heirs being

' In saeculi hujus consummatione.
^ Per successiones.
* Potissiraura.

removed,'* the Gentiles would come into posses-
sion. Therefore the supreme Father ordered
Him to descend to the earth, and to put on a
human body, that, being subject to the sufferings
of the flesh, He might teach virtue and patience
not only by words, but also by deeds. There-
fore He was born a second time as man, of a
virgin, without a father, that, as in His first
spiritual birth, being bom of God alone. He
was made a sacred spirit, so in His second and
fleshly birth, being born of a mother only. He
might become holy flesh, that through Him the
flesh, which had become subject to sin, might
be freed from destruction.

CHAP, XLIV. THE TWOFOLD NATIVITY OF CHRIST

IS PROVED FROM THE PROPHETS,

That these things should thus take place as I
have set them forth, the prophets had before pre-
dicted. In the writings of Solomon it is thus
written : 5 " The womb of a virgin was strength-
ened, and conceived : and a virgin was im-
pregned, and became a mother in great pity."
In Isaiah^ it is thus written : " Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and ye shall call
His name Immanuel ; " which, being interpreted,
is God with us.^ For He was with us on the
earth, when He assumed flesh ; and He was no
less God in man, and man m God. That He
was both God and man was declared before by
the prophets. That He was God, Isaiah ^ thus
declares : " They shall fall down unto Thee, they
shall make supplication unto Thee ; since God
is in Thee, and we knew it not, even the God of
Israel, They shall be ashamed and confounded,
all of them who oppose themselves to Thee, and
shall go to confusion." Also Jeremiah : "^ " This
is our God, and there shall none other be com-
pared unto Him ; He hath found out all the way
of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob His
servant, and to Israel His beloved. Afterward
He was seen upon earth, and dwelt among men."
Likewise that He was man, the same Jeremiah '°
says : "And He is man, and who knew Him?"
Isaiah also thus speaks : " "And the Lord shall
send them a man who shall save them, and with
judgment shall He heal them." Also Moses him-
self in the book of Numbers:'- "There shall
come a star out of Jacob, and a man shall arise
out of Israel." For this cause, therefore, being
God, He took upon Him flesh, that, becoming a
mediator '^ between God and man, having over-

* Haeredibus abdicatis.

5 See Insttt,, iv. 12.

<> Isa. vii. 14.

7 Matt. i. 23.

' Isa. xlv. 14-16.

9 Baruch iii. 35-37.

'" xvii. 9. This and the following quotations are from the Septua-
gint.

" Isa. xix. 20.

'- Nvim. xxiv. 17. The prophecy of Balaam.

" liner deura et hominera medius factus.

240

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

come death, He might by His guidance lead man
to God.

CHAP. XLV. — THE POWER AND WORKS OF CHRIST
ARE PROVED FROM THE SCRIPTURES.

We have spoken of His nativity ; now let us
speak of His power and works, which, when He
wrought them among men, the Jews, seeing them
to be great and wonderful, supposed that they
were done by the influence of magic, not know-
ing that all those things which were done by
Him had been foretold by the prophets. He
gave strength to the sick, and to those languish-
ing under various diseases, not by any healing
remedy, but instantaneously, by the force and
power of His word ; He restored the weak, He
made the lame to walk, He gave sight to the
blind, He made the dumb to speak, the deaf to
hear ; He cleansed the polluted and unclean. He
restored their right mind to those who were
maddened with the attack of demons. He re-
called to life and light those who were dead or
now buried. He also fed and satisfied ' five
thousand men with five loaves and two fishes.
He also walked upon the sea. He also in a
tempest commanded the wind to be still, and
immediately there was a calm ; all which things we
find predicted both in the books of the prophets
and in the verses of the Sibyls.

When a great multitude resorted to Him on
account of these miracles, and, as He truly was,
believed Him to be the Son of God, and sent
from God, the priests and rulers of the Jews,
filled with envy, and at the same time excited
with anger, because He reproved their sins and
injustice, conspired to put Him to death ; and
that this would happen, Solomon had foretold a
little more than a thousand years before, in the
book of Wisdom, using these words : ^ " Let us
defraud the righteous, for he is unpleasant to us,
and upbraideth us with our offences against the
law. He maketh his boast that he has the knowl-
edge of God, and he calleth himself the Son of
God. He is made to reprove our thoughts : it
grieveth us even to look upon him ; for his life
is not like the life of others, his ways are of
another fashion. We are counted by him as
triflers ; he withdraweth himself from our ways,
as from filthiness ; he commendeth greatly the
latter end of the just, and boasteth that he has
God for his father. Let us see, therefore, if his
words be true ; let us prove what end he shall
have ; let us examine him with rebukes and tor-
ments, that we may know his meekness and prove
his patience ; let us condemn him to a shameful
death. Such things have they imagined, and
have gone astray ; for their own folly hath blinded

' Raturavit.

" Wisd. ii. ia-22. See Instit., iv. 16, p. 117, supra.

them, and they do not understand the mysteries
of God."

Therefore, being unmindful of these \vritings
which they read, they incited the people as
though against an impious man, so that they
seized and led Him to trial, and with impious
words demanded His death. But they alleged
against Him as a crime this very thing, that He
said that He was the Son of God, and that by
healing on the Sabbath He broke the law, which
He said that He did not break, but fulfilled.
And when Pontius Pilate, who then as legate had
authority in Syria, perceived that the cause did
not belong to the office of the Roman judge, he
sent Him to Herod the Tetrarch, and permitted
the Jews themselves to be the judges of their
own law : who, having received the power of
punishing His guilt, sentenced ^ Him to the
cross, but first scourged and struck him with
their hands, put on Him a crown of thorns, spat
upon His face, gave Him gall and vinegar to eat
and drink ; and amidst these things no word
was heard to fall from His lips. Then the exe-
cutioners, having cast lots over His tunic and
mantle, suspended Him on the cross, and affixed
Him to it, though on the next day they were
about to celebrate the Passover, that is, their
festival. Which crime was followed by prodi-
gies, that they might understand the impiety
which they had committed ; for at the same mo-
ment in which He expired, there was a great
earthquake, and a withdrawing'* of the sun, so
that the day was turned into night.

CHAP. XLVI. IT IS PROVED FROM THE PROPHETS

THAT THE PASSION AND DEATH OF CHRIST HAD
BEEN FORETOLD.

And the prophets had predicted that all these
things would thus come to pass. Isaiah thus
speaks : s " I am not rebellious, nor do I oppose :
I gave my back to the scourge, and my cheeks
to the hand : I turned not away my face from
the foulness of spitting." The same prophet
says respecting His silence : *" " I was brought as
a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its
shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth."
David also, in the xxxivth Psalm : 7 " The abjects
were gathered together against me, and they
knew me not : they were scattered, yet felt
no remorse : they tempted me, and gnashed
upon me with their teeth." The same also says
respecting food and drink in the Ixviiith Psalm : *
" They gave me also gall for my meat, and in
my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Also

3 Addixerunt. Some read " affixerunt," affixed Him to the cross.

■♦ Dcliquium solis. [Elucidation IV.]

5 Isa. 1. J.

' Isa. liii. 7.

1 Ps. XXXV. 15, 16. Sec Instit., iv. 18.

* Ps. Ixix. 21.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

241

respecting the cross of Christ : ' " And they
pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered
all my bones : they themselves have looked and
stared upon me ; they parted my garments among
them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Moses
also says in Deuteronomy : ^ " And thy life shall
hang in doubt before thine eyes, and thou shalt
fear day and night, and shalt have none assur-
ance of thy life." Also in Numbers : ^ " God
is not in doubt as a man, nor does He suffer
threats as the son of man." Also Zechariah
says : "* " And they shall look on me whom they
pierced." Amos s thus speaks of the obscuring
of the sun : " In that day, saith the Lord, the
sun shall go down at noon, and the clear day
shall be dark ; and I will turn your feasts into
mourning, and your songs into lamentation."
Jeremiah ^ also speaks of the city of Jerusalem,
in which He suffered : " Her sun is gone down
while it was yet day ; she hath been confounded
and reviled, and the residue of them will I
deliver to the sword." Nor were these things
spoken in vain. For after a short time the Em-
peror Vespasian subdued the Jews, and laid waste
their lands with the sword and fire, besieged and
reduced them by famine, overthrew Jerusalem,
led the captives in triumph, and prohibited the
others who were left from ever returning to their
native land. And these things were done by
God on account of that crucifixion of Christ,
as He before declared this to Solomon in their
Scriptures, saying,^ "And Israel shall be for
perdition and a reproach^ to the people, and
this house shall be desolate ; and every one that
shall pass by shall be astonished, and shall say.
Why hath God done these evils to this land, and
to this house ? And they shall say, Because they
forsook the Lord their God, and persecuted their
King, who was dearly beloved by God, and cruci-
fied Him with great degradation, therefore hath
God brought upon them these evils." For what
would they not deserve who put to death their
Lord, who had come for their salvation ?

CHAP. XLVII. OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

CHRIST, THE SENDING OF THE APOSTLES, AND
THE ASCENSION OF THE SAVIOUR INTO HEAVEN.

After these things they took His body down
from the cross, and buried it in a tomb. But
on the third day, before daybreak, there was an
earthquake, and the stone with which they had
closed the sepulchre was removed, and He arose.
But nothing was found in the sepulchre except

' Ps. xxii. 16-18.

* Deut. xxviii. 66.
3 Num. xxiii. 19.

* Zech. xii. 10.

5 Amos viii. 9, 10.

* Jer. XV. 9.

^ I Kings IX. 7-9.

* See Instzt., iv. 18, p. 121, supra.

the clothes in which the body had been wrapped.^
But that He would rise again on the third day,
the prophets had long ago foretold. David, in
the xvth Psalm : '° " Thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One
to see corruption." Likewise Hosea : " "This
my Son is wise, therefore He shall not stay long
in the anguish of His sons : and I will ransom
Him from the hand of the grave. Where is thy
judgment, O death, where is thy sting?" The
same again says : '^ " After two days He will re-
vive us on the third day."

Therefore, after His resurrection He went into
Galilee, and again assembled Hu= disciples, who
had fled through fear ; and having given them
commands which He wished to be observed, and
having arranged for the preaching of the Gospel
throughout the whole world. He breathed into
them the Holy Spirit,'^ and gave them the power
of working miracles, that they might act for the
welfare of men as well by deeds as words ; and
then at length, on the fortieth day. He returned
to His Father, being carried up into a cloud.
The prophet Daniel '•* had long before shown
this, saying, " I saw in the night vision, and, be-
hold, one like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
days ; and they who stood beside Him brought
Him near before Him, And there was given
Him a kingdom, and glory, and dominion, and
all people, tribes, and languages shall serve Him ;
and His power is an everlasting one, which
shall not pass away, and His kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed," Also David in
the cixth Psalm : '5 " The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make
Thine enemies Thy footstool,"

CHAP, XLVIII. — OF THE DISINHERITING OF THE
JEWS, AND THE ADOPTION OF THE GENTILES.

Since, therefore, He sits at the right hand of
God, about to tread down His enemies, who tor-
tured Him, when He shall come to judge the
world, it is evident that no hope remains to the
Jews, unless, turning themselves to repentance,
and being cleansed from the blood with which
they polluted themselves, they shall begin to
hope in Him whom they denied.'^ Therefore
Esdras thus speaks : '7 "This passover is our
Saviour and our refuge. Consider and let it
come into your heart, that we have to abase

9 Exuviae corporis.

"^ Ps. xvi. 10.

" Hos. xiii. 13, Septuagint version.

'- Hos. vi. 2.

'3 [Here is an incidental token of the orthodoxy of our Christian
philosopher as to the Third Person. He is deficient, however, in prac-
tically enforcing the Spirit's work and our need of His grace. This
may nave been from a worthy motive, and according to discipline.]

^* Dan. vii. 13.

■5 Ps. ex. I.

16 Negaverunt; others read " necaverunt," killed.

'' See Ittstit., iv. 18, p. 121, supra.

242

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

Him in a figure : and after these things we have
hoped ' in Him."

Now that the Jews were disinherited, because
they rejected Christ, and that we, who are of
the Gentiles, were adopted into their place, is
proved by the Scriptures. Jeremiah ^ thus
speaks : " I have forsaken mine house, I have
given mine heritage into the hands of her ene-
mies. Mine heritage is become unto me as a
lion in the forest ; it hath given forth its voice
against me : therefore have I hated it." Also
Malachi : ^ "I have no pleasure in you, saith
the Lord, neither will I accept an offering at
your hand. For from the rising of the sun even
unto the going down thereof, my name shall be
great among the Gentiles." Isaiah also thus
speaks : "* "I come to gather all nations and
tongues : and they shall come and see my
glory." The same says in another place,5 speak-
ing in the person of the Father to the Son : " I
the Lord have called Thee in righteousness, and
will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee, and
give Thee for a covenant of my people, for a
light of the Gentiles ; to open the eyes of the
blind, to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-
house."

CHAP. XLIX. — THAT GOD IS ONE ONLY.

If therefore the Jews have been rejected by
God, as the faith due to the sacred writings
shows, and the Gentiles, as we see, brought in,
and freed from the darkness of this present life
and from the chains of demons, it follows that
no other hope is proposed to man, unless he
shall follow true religion and true wisdom, which
is in Christ, and he who is ignorant of Him is
always estranged from the truth and from God.
Nor let the Jews, or philosophers, flatter them-
selves respecting the Supreme God. He who
has not acknowledged the Son has been unable
to acknowledge the Father.^ This is wisdom,
and this is the mystery of the Supreme God.
God willed that He should be acknowledged
and worshipped through Him.^ On this account
He sent the prophets beforehand to announce
His coming, that when the things which had
been foretold were fulfilled in Him, then He
might be believed by men to be both the Son
of God and God.

Nor, however, must the opinion be entertained
that there are two Gods, for the Father and
the Son are one. For since the Father loves the
Son, and gives all things to Him, and the Son

• Speravimus; others " sperabimiu."

• Jer. xii. 7, 8.
' Mai. i. 10, II.

• Isa. Ixvi. 18.

' Isa. xlii. 6, 7.

' [i John iv. 15.]

" [John xiv. 6, 13, and r. aj.]

faithfully obeys the Father, and wills nothing ex-
cept that which the Father does, it is plain that
so close a relationship cannot be separated, so
that they should be said to be two in whom
there is but one substance, and will, and faith.
Therefore the Son is through the Father, and
the Father through the Son. One honour is to
be given to both, as to one God, and is to be so
divided through the worship of the two, that the
division itself may be bound by an inseparable
bond of union. He will leave nothing to him-
self, who separates either the Father from the
Son, or the Son from the Father.*

CHAP. L. WHY GOD ASSUMED A MORTAL BODY,

AND SUFFERED DEATH.

It remains to answer those also, who deem
that it was unbecoming and unreasonable that
God should be clothed with a mortal body ;
that He should be in subjection to men ; that
He should endure insults ; that He should even
suffer tortures and death. I will speak my sen-
timents, and I will sum up, as I shall be able,
an immense subject in few words. He who
teaches anything, ought, as I think, himself to
practise what he teaches, that he may compel
men to obey. For if he shall not practise them,
he will detract from the faith due to his precepts.
Therefore there is need of examples, that the
precepts which are given may have firmness,
and if any one shall prove contumacious, and
shall say that they cannot be carried out in prac-
tice, the instructor may refute him by actual
fact.9 Therefore a system of teaching cannot
be perfect, when it is delivered by words only ;
but it then becomes perfect, when it is completed
by deeds.

Since therefore Christ was sent to men as a
teacher of virtue, for the perfection of His teach-
ing it was plainly befitting that He should act as
well as teach. But if He had not assumed a
human body, He would not have been able to
practise what He taught, — that is, not to be
angry, not to desire riches, not to be inflamed
with lust, not to fear pain, to despise death.
These things are plainly virtues, but they cannot
be done without flesh. Therefore He assumed
a body on this account, that, since He taught
that the desires of the flesh must be overcome,
He might in person first practise it, that no one
might allege the frailty of the flesh as an excuse.

CHAP. LI. OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST ON THE

CROSS.

I will now speak of the mystery of the cross,
lest any one should happen to say. If death must
be endured by Him, it should have been not one

* [i John i. 22, 23.]

9 Prse&enti opere convincat.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

243

that was manifestly infamous and dishonourable,
but one which had some honour. I know, in-
deed, that many, while they dislike the name of
the cross, shrink from the truth, though there is
in it great reasonableness and power. For since
He was sent for this purpose, that He might
open to the lowest men the way to salvation, He
made Himself humble that He might free them.
Therefore He underwent that kind of death
which is usually inflicted on the humble, that an
opportunity of imitation might be given to all.
Moreover, since He was about to rise again, it
was not alIowal)le that His body should be in
any way mutilated, or a bone broken, which hap-
pens to those who are beheaded. Therefore the
cross was preferred, which reserved the body
with the bones uninjured for the resurrection.

To these grounds it was also added, that hav-
ing undertaken to suffer and to die, it was befit-
ting that He should be lifted up. Thus the
cross exalted Him both in fact and in emblem,'
so that His majesty and power became known
to all, together with His passion. For in that
He extended His hands on the cross. He plainly
stretched out His wings towards the east and
the west, under which all nations from either
side of the world might assemble and repose.
But of what great weight this sign is, and what
power it has, is evident, since all the host of
demons is expelled and put to flight by this sign.
And as He Himself before His passion put to
confusion demons by His word and command,
so now, by the name and sign of the same pas-
sion, unclean spirits, having insinuated them-
selves into the bodies of men, are driven out,
when racked and tormented, and confessing
themselves to be demons, they yield themselves
to God, who harasses them. What therefore
can the Greeks expect from their superstitions
and with their wisdom, when they see that their
gods, whom they do not deny to be demons
also, are subdued by men through the cross ?

CHAP. LII. THE HOPE OF THE SALVATION OF

MEN CONSISTS IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE
TRUE GOD, AND OF THE HATRED OF THE
HEATHENS AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS.

There is therefore but one hope of life for men,
one harbour of safety, one refuge of liberty, if,
laying aside the errors by which they were held,
they open the eyes of their mind and recognise
God, in whom alone is the abode of truth ;
despise earthly things, and those made from the
ground ; esteem as nothing philosophy, which is
foolishness with God ; and having undertaken
true wisdom, that is, religion, become heirs of
immortality. But indeed they are not so much
opposed to the truth as to their own safety ; and

' Significatione.

when they hear these things, they abominate
them as some inexpiable wickedness. But they
do not even endure ^ to hear : they think that
their ears are polluted with impiety ^ if they
hear ; nor do they now refrain from reproaches,
but assail them with the most insulting words ;
and also, if they have obtained the power, per-
secute them as public enemies, yea, even as
worse than enemies ; for enemies, when they
have been vanquished, are punished with death
or slavery ; nor is there any torturing after the
laying down of arms, although those deserved
to suffer all things who wished so to act, that
piety might have place among swords.

Cruelty, combined with innocence, is unheard
of, nor is it worthy of the condition of victorious
enemies. What is the so powerful cause of this
fury? Doubtless, because they cannot contend
on the ground of reason, they urge forward their
cause by means of violence ; and, with the sub-
ject not understood, they condemn those as
most pernicious persons who have declined to
make a stand respecting the fact of their inno-
cence. Nor do they deem it sufficient that
those whom they unreasonably hate should die
by a speedy and simple death ; but they lacerate
them with refined tortures, that they may satisfy
their hatred, which is not produced by any fault,
but by the truth, which is hateful to those who
live wickedly, because they take it ill that there
are some whom their deeds cannot please.
They desire in every way to destroy these, that
they may be able to sin without restraint in the
absence of any witness.

CHAP. LIII. THE REASONS OF THE HATRED

AGAINST THE CHRISTL\NS ARE EXAMINED AND
REFUTED.

But they say that they do these things for the
defence of their gods. In the first place, if they
are gods, and have any power and influence,
they have no need of the defence and protec-
tion of men, but they manifestly defend them-
selves. Or how is man able to hope for aid
from them, if they are unable to avenge even
their own injuries ? Therefore it is a vain and
foolish thing to wish to be avengers of the gods,
except that their distrust is more apparent from
this. For he who undertakes the protection of
the god whom he worships, admits the worth-
lessness of that god ; but if he worships him on
this account, because he thinks him powerful,
he ought not to wish to defend him, by whom
he himself ought to be defended. We there-
fore act rightly. For when those defenders of
false gods, who are rebellious against the true
God, persecute His name in us, we resist not

* Ne audire quidem patiuntur;
3 Sacrilegio.

Others read " patienter.'

244

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

either in deed or in word, but with meekness,
and silence, and patience, we endure whatever
cruelty is able to contrive against us. For we
have confidence in God, from whom we expect
that retribution will hereafter follow. Nor is this
confidence ungrounded, since we have in some
cases heard, and in other cases seen, the mis-
erable ends of all those who have dared to com-
mit this crime. Nor has any one had it in his
power to insult God with impunity ; but he who
has been unwilling to learn by word has learned
by his own punishment who is the true God.

I should wish to know, when they compel men
to sacrifice against their will, what reasoning they
have with themselves, or to whom they make that
offering. If it is made to the gods, that is not
worship, nor an acceptable sacrifice, which is
made by those who are displeasing to them,
which is extorted by injury, which is enforced by
pain. But if it is done to those whom they
compel, it is plainly not a benefit, which any one
would not receive, he even prefers rather to
die. If it is a good to which you call me, why
do you invite me with evil ? why with blows, and
not with words? why not by argument, but by
bodily tortures? Whence it is manifest that that
is an evil, to which you do not allure me willing,
but drag me refusing. What folly is it to wish
to consult the good of any one against his will !
If any one, under the pressure of evils, attempts
to have recourse to death, can you, if you either
wrest the sword from his hand, or cut the halter,
or drag him away from the precipice, or pour
out the poison, boast yourself as the preserver of
the man, when he, whom you think that you have
preserved, does not thank you, and thinks that
you have acted ill towards him, in averting from
him the death which he desired, and in not per-
mitting him to reach the end and rest from his
labours ? For a benefit ought not to be weighed
according to the quality of the action, but accord-
ing to the feelings of him who receives it. Why
should you reckon as a benefit that which is an
injury to me ? Do you wish me to worship your
gods, which I consider deadly to myself? If it
is a good, I do not envy it. Enjoy your good
by yourself. There is no reason why you should
wish to succour my error, which I have under-
taken by my judgment and inclination. If it is
evil, why do you drag me to a participation in
evil ? Use your own fortune. I prefer to die in
the practice of that which is good, than to live
in evil.

CHAP. LIV, — OF THE FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN
THE WORSHIP OF GOD.

These things may indeed be said with justice.
But who will hear, when men of furious and un-
bridled spirit think that their authority is dimin-

ished if there is any freedom in the affairs of
men ? But it is religion alone in which freedom
has placed its dwelling. For it is a matter which
is voluntary above all others, nor can necessity
be imposed upon any, so as to worship that which
he does not wish to worship.' Some one may
perhaps pretend, he cannot wish it. In short,
some, through fear of torments, or overcome by
tortures, have assented to detestable sacrifices :
they never do that voluntarily which they did
from necessity ; but when the opportunity is
again given to them, and liberty restored, they
again betake themselves to God, and appease:
Him with prayers and tears, repenting not of the
will, which they had not, but of the necessity
which they endured ; and pardon is not denied
to those who make satisfaction. What then does
he accomplish who pollutes the body, since he
cannot change the will?

But, in fact, men of weak understanding, if
they have induced any man of spirit ^ to sacrifice
to their gods, with incredible alacrity insolently
exult, and rejoice, as though they had sent an
enemy under the yoke. But if any one, neither
frightened by threats nor by tortures, shall have
chosen to prefer his faith to his life, cruelty puts
forth all its ingenuity against him, plans dreadful
and intolerable things ; and because they know
that death for the cause of God is glorious, and
that this is a victory on our side, if, having over-
come the torturers, we lay down our life in be-
half of the faith and religion, they also themselves
strive to conquer us. They do not put us to
death, but they search out new and unheard-of
tortures, that the frailty of the flesh may yield to
pains, and if it does not yield, they put off fur-
ther punishment, and apply diligent care to the
wounds, that while the scars are yet fresh, a
repetition of the torture may inflict more pain ;
and while they practise this torture ^ upon the
innocent, they evidenUy consider themselves
pious, and just, and religious (for they are de-
lighted with such sacrifices to their gods), but
they term the others impious and desperate.
What perversity is this, that he who is punished,
though innocent, should be called desperate and
impious, and that the torturer, on the other
hand, should be called just and pious !

CHAP. LV. THE HEATHENS CHARGE JUSTICE WriH

IMPIETY IN FOLLOWING GOD.

But they say that those are rightly and deserv-
edly punished, who dislike the public rites of re-
ligion handed down to them by their ancestors.
What if those ancestors were foolish in undertak-
ing vain religious rites, as we have shown before,

' [Religious liberty maintained and introduced by the Gospel
Corrupted Christianity only is responsible for the reverse.]
^ Fortem: some read forte," by chance.
3 Carnificinam.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

245

shall we be prohibited from following true and
better things? Why do we deprive ourselves
of liberty, and become enslaved to the errors of
others, as though l)ound ' to them ? Let it be
permitted us to be wise, let it be permitted us to
inquire into the truth. But, however, if it pleases
them to defend tJie folly ^ of their ancestors, why
are the Egyptians suffered to escape, who wor-
ship cattle and beasts of every kind as deities ?
Why are the gods themselves made the subjects
of comic 3 representations ? and why is he hon-
oured who derides them most wittily ? Why are
philosophers attended to, who either say that
there are no gods, or that, if there are any, they
take no interest in, and do not regard the affairs
of men, or argue that there is no providence at
all, which rules the world?

But they alone of all are judged impious who
follow God and the truth. And since this is at
once justice, and wisdom, they lay to its charge
either impiety or folly, and do not perceive what
it is which deceives them, when they call evil
good, and good evil. Many indeed of the phi-
losophers, and especially Plato and Aristotle,
spoke many things about justice, asserting and
extolling that virtue with the greatest praise, be-
cause it gives to each its due, because it main-
tains equity in all things ; and whereas the other
virtues are as it were silent, and shut up within,
that it is justice alone which is neither concerned ^
for itself only, nor hidden, but altogether shows it-
self 5 abroad, and is ready for conferring a benefit,
so as to assist as many as possible : as though in
truth justice ought to be in judges only, and those
placed in any post of authority, and not in all men.

And yet there is no one of men, not even of
the lowest and of beggars, who is not capable
of justice. But because they did not know what it
was, from what source it proceeded, and what
was its mode of operation, they assigned to a few
only that highest virtue, that is, the common
good of all, and said that it aimed at ^ no advan-
tages peculiar to itself, but only the interests of
others. And not without reason was Carneades
raised up, a man of the greatest talent and pene-
tration, to refute their speech, and overthrow the
justice, which had no firm foundation; not because
he thought that justice was to be blamed, but that
he might show that its defenders brought forward
no firm or certain argument respecting justice.

CHAP. LVr. OF JUSTICE, WHICH IS THE WORSHIP

OF THE TRUE GOD.

For if justice is the worship of the true God
(for what is so just with respect to equity, so

' Addicti.

2 Stultitiam. This word is wanting in the MSS., but this or some
such word is necessary to complete the sense.

3 Mimi; wanting in some editions.
* Sibi tantum conciliata sit.

5 Foras tota promineat.
' Aucupari.

pious with respect to honour, so necessary with
respect to safety, as to acknowledge God as a
parent, to reverence Him as Lord, and to obey
His law or precepts?), it follows that the philos-
ophers were ignorant of justice, for they neither
acknowledged God Himself, nor observed His
worship and law ; and on this account they might
have been refuted by Carneades, whose disputa-
tion was to this effect, that there is no natural
justice, and therefore that all animals defended
their own interests by the guidance of nature it-
self, and therefore that justice, if it promotes the
advantages of others and neglects its own, is to
be called foolishness. But if all people who are
possessed of power, and the Romans themselves,
who are masters of the whole world, were willing
to follow justice, and to restore to every one his
property which they have seized by force and
arms, they will return to cottages and a condition
of want. And if they did this, they might indeed
be just, but they must of necessity be considered
foolish, who proceed to injure themselves for the
advantage of others. Then, if any one should
find a man who was through a mistake offering
for sale gold as mountain-brass, or silver as lead,
and necessity should compel him to buy it, will
he conceal his knowledge and buy it for a small
sum, or will he rather inform the seller of its
value ? If he shall inform him, he will manifestly
be called just ; but he will also be foolish, for
conferring an advantage upon another, and in-
juring himself. But it is easy to judge in a case
of injury. What if he shall incur danger of his
life, so that it shall be necessary for him either
to kill another or to die, what will he do ? It
may happen that, having suffered shipwreck, he
may find some feeble person clinging to a plank ;
or, his army having been defeated, in his flight
he may find a wounded man on horseback : will
he thrust the one from the plank, the other from
his horse, that he himself may be able to escape ?
If he shall wish to be just, he will not do it ; but
he will also be judged foolish, who in sparing the
life of another shall lose his own. If he shall do
it, he will indeed appear wise, because he will
provide for his own interests ; but he will also be
wicked, because he will commit a wrong.

CHAP. LVII. OF WISDOM AND FOOLISHNESS.

These things indeed are said with acuteness ;
but we are able very readily to reply to them.
For the imitation of names causes it thus to
appear. For justice bears a resemblance to
foolishness, and yet it is not foolishness ; and
at the same time malice bears a resemblance to
wisdom, and yet it is not wisdom. But as that
malice is intelligent and shrewd in preserving
its own interests, it is not wisdom, but cunning
and craftiness ; so likewise justice ought not to
be called foolishness, but innocence, because

246

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

the just man must be wise, and the fooHsh man
unjust. For neither reason nor nature itself
permits that he who is just should not be wise,
since it is plain that the just man does nothing
except that which is right and good, and always
avoids that which is perverted ' and evil. But
who will be able to distinguish between good
and evil, depravity and rectitude, but he who
shall be wise ? But the fool acts badly, because
he is ignorant of what is good and evil. There-
fore he does wrong, because he is unable to dis-
tinguish between things which are perverted and
those which are right. Therefore justice cannot
be befitting to the foolish man, nor wisdom to
the unjust. He is not then a foohsh person who
has not thrust off a shipwrecked man from a
plank, nor a wounded man from his horse, be-
cause he has abstained from injury, which is a
sin ; and it is the part of the wise man to avoid
sin.

But that he should appear foolish at first sight
is caused by this, that they suppose the soul to
be extinguished together with the body ; and
for this reason they refer all advantage to this
life. For if there is no existence after death,
it is plain that he acts foolishly who spares the
life of another to his own loss, or who consults
the gain of another more than his own. If
death destroys the soul, we must use our endeav-
ours to live for a longer time, and more to our
own advantage ; but if there remains after death
a life of immortality and blessedness, the just
and wise man will certainly despise this corpo-
real existence, with all earthly goods, because he
will know what kind of a reward he is about to
receive from God. Therefore let us maintain
innocency, let us maintain justice, let us under-
go the appearance of foolishness, that we may
be able to maintain true wisdom. And if it
appears to men senseless and foolish to prefer
torture and death rather than to sacrifice to
gods, and to escape without harm, let us how-
ever strive to exhibit faithfulness towards God
by all virtue and by all patience. Let not death
terrify us, nor pain subdue us, so as to prevent
the vigour of our mind and constancy from
being preserved unshaken. Let them call us
foolish, whilst they themselves are most foohsh,
and blind and dull, and like sheep ; who do not
understand that it is a deadly thing to leave
the living God, and prostrate themselves in the
adoration of earthly objects ; who do not know
that eternal punishment awaits those who have
worshipped senseless images ; and that those
who have neither refused tortures nor death for
the worship and honour of the true God will ob-
tain eternal life. This is the highest faith ; this
is true wisdom ; this is perfect justice. It mat-

• Pravum.

ters nothing to us what fools may judge, what
trifling men may think. We ought to await the
judgment of God, that we may hereafter judge
those who have passed judgment on us.

CHAP. LVIII. — OF THE TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD, AND
SACRIFICE.

I have spoken of justice, what was its nature.
It follows that I show what is true sacrifice to
God, what is the most just manner of worship-
ping Him, lest any one should think that victims,
or odours, or precious gifts, are desired by God,
who, if He is not subject to hunger, and thirst,
and cold, and desire of all earthly things, does not
therefore make use of all these things which are
presented in temples and to gods of earth ; but
as corporeal offerings are necessary for corporeal
beings, so manifestly an incorporeal sacrifice is
necessary for an incorporeal being. But God
has no need of those things which He has given
to man for his use, since all the earth is under
His power : He needs not a temple, since the
world is His dwelling ; He needs not an image,
since He is incomprehensible both to the eyes
and to the mind ; He needs not earthly lights,
for He was able to kindle the light of the sun,
with the other stars, for the use of man. What
then does God require from man but worship of
the mind, which is pure and holy? For those
things which are made by the hands, or are out-
side of man, are senseless, frail, and displeasing.
This is true sacrifice, which is brought forth not
from the chest but from the heart ; not that
which is offered by the hand, but by the mind.
This is the acceptable victim, which the mind
sacrifices of itself. For what do victims bestow?
What does incense ? What do garments ? What
does silver? What gold? What precious stones,
— if there is not a pure mind on the part of the
worshipper? Therefore it is justice only which
God requires. In this is sacrifice ; in this the
worship of God, respecting which I must now
speak, and show in what works justice must
necessarily be contained.

CHAP. LIX. OF THE WAYS OF LIFE, AND THE

FIRST TIMES OF THE WORLD.

That there are two ways ^ of human life was
unknown neither to philosophers nor to poets,
but both introduced them in a different manner.
The philosophers wished the one to be the way
of industry, the other of idleness ; but in this re-
spect they were less correct in their statements,
that they referred them to the advantages of this
life only. The poets spoke better who said that
one of them was the way of the just, the other

2 [The Duce Vice. A feature in the primitive catechising.
Epistlt of Barnabas, vol. i. p. 148 ; also this volume, iufra.\

See

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

247

of the unjust ; but they err in this, that they say
that they are not in this hfe, but in the shades
below. We manifestly speak more correctly,
who say that the one is the way of life, the other
that of death. And here, however, we say that
there are two ways ; but the one on the right
hand, in which the just walk, does not lead to
Elysium, but to heaven, for they become im-
mortal ; the other on the left leads to Tartarus,'
for the unjust are sentenced to eternal tortures.
Thierefore the way of justice, which leads to life,
is to be held by us. Now the first duty of jus-
tice is to acknowledge God as a parent, and to
fear Him as a master, to love Him as a father.
For the same Being who begat us, who animated
us with vital breath, who nourishes and preserves
us, has over us, not only as a father but also as
a master, authority to correct us, and the power
of hfe and death ; wherefore twofold honour is
due to Him from man, that is, love combined with
fear. The second duty of justice is to acknowl-
edge man as a brother. For if the same God
made us, and produced all men on equal terms
to justice and eternal life, it is manifest that we
are united by the relationship of brotherhood ;
and he who does not acknowledge this is unjust.
But the origin of this evil, by which the mutual
society of men, by which the bond of relation-
ship has been torn asunder, arises from ignorance
of the true God. For he who is ignorant of that
fountain of bounty can by no means be good.
Hence it is that, from the time when a multi-
tude of gods began to be consecrated and wor-
shipped by men, justice, as the poets relate,
being put to flight, every compact was destroyed,
the fellowship of human justice was destroyed.
Then every one, consulting his own interest,
reckoned might to be right, injured another, at-
tacked by frauds, deceived ^ by treachery, in-
creased his own advantages by the inconvenience
of others, did not spare relatives, or children, or
parents, prepared poisoned cups for the destruc-
tion of men, beset the ways with the sword, in-
fested the seas, gave the rein to his lust, wherever
passion led him, — in short, esteemed nothing
sacred which his dreadful desire did not violate.
When these things were done, then men insti-
tuted laws for themselves to promote the public
advantage, that they might meanwhile protect
themselves from injuries. But the fear of laws
did not suppress crimes, but it checked licen-
tiousness. For laws were able to punish offences,
they were unable to punish the conscience.
Therefore the things which before were done
openly began to be done secretly. Justice also
was evaded by stealth, since they who themselves
presided over the administration of the laws,
corrupted by gifts and rewards, made a traffic

' [See vol. V. p. 153, note i, and pp. 161, 174, this series.]
^ Circumscribere.

of their sentences, either to the escape ' of the
evil or to the destruction of the good. To these
things were added dissensions, and wars, and mu-
tual depredations ; and the laws being crushed,
the power of acting with violence was assumed
without restraint.

CHAP. LX. — OF THE DUTIES OF JUSTICE.

When the affairs of men were in this condi-
tion, God pitied us, revealed and displayed Him-
self to us, that in Himself we might learn
religion, faith, purity, and mercy ; that having
laid aside the error of our former life, together
with God Himself we might know ourselves,
whom impiety had disunited from Him, and we
might choose "• the divine law, which unites hu-
man affairs with heavenly, the Lord Himself
delivering it to us ; by which law all the errors
with which we have been ensnared, together
with vain and impious superstitions, might be
taken away. What we owe to man, therefore,
is prescribed by that same divine law which
teaches that whatever you render to man is ren-
dered to God. But the root of justice, and the
entire foundation of equity, is that you should
not do that which you would be unwilling to
suffer, but should measure the feelings of another
by your own. If it is an unpleasant thing to
bear an injury, and he who has done it appears
unjust, transfer to the person of another that
which you feel respecting yourself, and to your
own person that which you judge respecting
another, and you will understand that you act
as unjustly if you injure another as another
would if he should injure you. If we consider
these things, we shall maintain innocence,, in
which the first step of justice is, as it were, con-
tained. For the first thing is, not to injure ;
the next is, to be of service. And as in uncul-
tivated lands, before you begin to sow, the fields
must be cleansed by tearing up the thorns and
cutting off ail the roots of trunks, so vices must
first be thrust out from our souls, and then at
length virtues must be implanted, from which
the fruits of immortality, being engendered by
the word of God, may spring up.

CHAP. LXI.

OF THE PASSIONS.

There are three passions, or, so to speak, three
furies, which excite such great perturbations in
the souls of men, and sometimes compel them
to offend in such a manner, as to permit them
to have regard neither for their reputation nor
for their personal safety : these are anger, which
desires vengeance ; love of gain, which longB
for riches ; lust, which seeks for pleasures. We
must above all things resist these vices : these

3 In remissionem.

* Sumere, " to take by selection and choice."

248

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

trunks must be rooted up, that virtues may be
implanted. The Stoics are of opinion that
these passions must be cut off; the Peripatetics
think that they must be restrained. Neither of
them judge rightly, because they cannot entirely
be taken away, since they are implanted by
nature, and have a sure and great influence ; nor
can they be diminished, since, if they are evil,
we ought to be without them, even though re-
strained and used with moderation ; if they are
good, we ought to use them in their complete-
ness.' But we say that they ought not to be
taken away nor lessened. For they are not evil
of themselves, since God has reasonably im-
planted them in us ; but inasmuch as they are
plainly good by nature, — for they are given us
for the protection of life, — they become evil
by their evil use. And as bravery, if you fight
in defence of your country, is a good, if against
your country, is an evil, so the passions, if you
employ them to good purposes, will be virtues,
if to evil uses, they will be called vices. Anger
therefore has been given by God for the restrain-
ing of offences, that is, for controlling the dis-
cipline of subjects, that fear may suppress
licentiousness and restrain audacity. But they
who are ignorant of its limits are angry with their
equals, or even with their superiors. Hence
they rush to deeds of cruelty, hence they rise to
slaughters, hence to wars. The love of gain
also has been given that we may desire and seek
for the necessaries of life. But they who are
unacquainted with its boundaries strive insa-
tiably to heap up riches. Hence poisoning,
hence defraudings,^ hence false wills, hence all
kinds of frauds have burst forth. Moreover,
the passion of lust is implanted and innate in
us for the procreation of children ; but they
who do not fix its limits in the mind use it
for pleasure only. Thence arise unlawful loves,
thence adulteries and debaucheries, thence all
kinds of corruption. These passions, therefore,
must be kept within their boundaries and directed
into their right course, in which, even though
they should be vehement, they cannot incur
blame.

CHAP. LXII. — OF RESTRAINING THE PLEASURES OF
THE SENSES.

Anger is to be restrained when we suffer an
injury, that the evil may be suppressed which is
imminent from a contest, and that we may re-
tain two of the greatest virtues, harmlessness
and patience. Let the desire of gain be broken
when we have that which is enough. For what
madness is it to labour in heaping up those
things which must pass to others, either by rob-

' Integris abutendum est.
for " uti."

* Circumscriptiones.

LacUntius sometimes uses "abuti'

bery, or theft, or by proscription, or by death?
Let lust not go beyond the marriage-bed, but be
subservient to the procreation of children. For
a too great eagerness for pleasure both produces
danger and generates disgrace, and that which
is especially to be avoided, leads to eternal
death. Nothing is so hateful to God as an un-
chaste mind and an impure soul. Nor let any
one think that he must abstain from this pleas-
ure only, quae capitur ex foeminei corporis copu-
latione, but also from the other pleasures which
arise from the rest of the senses, because they
also are of themselves vicious, and it is the part
of the same virtue to despise them. The pleas-
ure of the eyes is derived from the beauty of
objects, that of the ears from harmonious and
pleasant sounds, that of the nostrils from pleas-
ant odour, that of taste from sweet food, — all
of which virtue ought strongly to resist, lest, en-
snared by these attractions, the soul should be
depressed from heavenly to earthly things, from
things eternal to things temporal, from life im-
mortal to perpetual punishment. In pleasures
of the taste and smell there is this danger, that
they are able to draw us to luxury. For he who
shall be given up to these things, either will have
no property, or, if he shall have any, he will ex-
pend it, and afterwards live a life to be abomi-
nated. But he who is carried away by hearing
(to say nothing respecting songs,^ which often
so charm the inmost senses that they even dis-
turb with madness a settled state of the mind
by certain elaborately composed speeches and
harmonious poems, or skilful disputations) is
easily led aside to impious worship. Hence it
is that they who are either themselves eloquent,
or prefer to read eloquent writings, do not read-
ily believe the sacred writings, because they ap-
pear unpolished ; they do not seek things that
are true, but things that are pleasant ; nay, to
them those things appear to be most true which
soothe the ears. Thus they reject the truth,
while they are captivated by the sweetness of
the discourse. But the pleasure which has refer-
ence to the sight is manifold. For that which
is derived from the beauty of precious objects
excites avarice, which ought to be far removed
from a wise and just man ; but that which is re-
ceived from the appearance of woman hurries
a man to another pleasure, of which we have
already spoken above.

CHAP. LXIII. — THAT SHOWS ARE MOST POWERFUL
TO CORRUPl' THE MINDS.

It remains to speak of public shows, which,
since they have a more powerful influence on
the corruption of the mind, ought to be avoided
by the wise, and to be altogether guarded against,

3 [See vol. ii. p. 79, notes i and a.]

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

249

because it is said that they were instituted in
celebration of the honours of the gods. For
the exhibitions of shows are festivals of Satumus.
The stage belongs to Father Liber ; but the Cir-
censian games are supposed to be dedicated to
Neptunus : so that now he who takes part in
these shows appears to have left the worship of
God, and to have passed over to profane rites.
But I prefer to speak of the matter itself rather
than of Its origin. What is so dreadful, what so
foul, as the slaughter of man? Therefore our
life is protected by the most severe laws ; there-
fore wars are detestable. Yet custom finds how
a man may commit homicide without war, and
without laws ; and this is a pleasure to him, that
he has avenged guilt. But if to be present at
homicide implies a consciousness of guilt, and
the spectator is involved in the same guilt as the
perpetrator, then in these slaughters of gladia-
tors, he who is a spectator is no less sprinkled
with blood than he who sheds it ; nor can he be
free from the guilt of bloodshed who wished it
to be poured out, or appear not to have slain,
who both favoured the slayer and asked a reward
for him. What of the stage? Is it more holy,
— on which comedy converses on the subject
of debaucheries and amours, tragedy of incest
and parricide? The immodest gestures also of
players, with which they imitate disreputable
women, teach the lusts, which they express by
dancing. For the pantomime is a school of
corruption,' in which things which are shameful
are acted by a figurative representation,^ that the
things which are true may be done without
shame. These spectacles are viewed by youths,
whose dangerous age, which ought to be curbed
and governed, is trained by these representations
to vices and sins. The circus, in truth, is con-
sidered more innocent, but there is greater mad-
ness in this, since the minds of the spectators
are transported with such great madness, that
they not only break out into revilings, but often
rise to strifes, and battles, and contentions.
Therefore all shows are to be avoided, that we
may be able to maintain a tranquil state of
mind. We must renounce hurtful pleasures,
lest, charmed by pestilential sweetness, we fall
into the snares of death.

CHAP. LXIV. — THE PASSIONS ARE TO BE SUB-
DUED, AND WE MUST ABSTAIN FROM FORBIDDEN
THINGS.

Let virtue alone please us, whose reward is
immortal when it has conquered pleasure. But
when the passions have been overcome and
pleasures subdued, labour in suppressing other
things is easy to him who is a follower of God

and of truth : he will never revile, who shall
hope for a blessing from God ; he will not com-
mit perjury, lest he should mock God ; but he
will not even swear, lest at any time, either by
necessity or through habit, he should fall into
perjury. He will speak nothing deceitfully,
nothing with dissimulation ; he will not refuse
that which he has promised, nor will he promise
that which he is unable to perform ; he will
envy no one, since he is content with himself
and with his own possessions ; nor will he take
away from, or wish ill to another, upon whom,
perhaps, the benefits of God are more plenteously^
bestowed. He will not steal, nor will he covet
anything at all belonging to another. He will
not give his money to usury, for that is to seek
after gain from the evils of others ; nor, how-
ever, will he refuse to lend, if necessity shall
compel any one to borrow. He must not be
harsh towards a son, nor towards a slave : he
must remember that he himself has a Father
and a Master. He will so act towards these as
he will wish that others should act towards him.
He will not receive excessive gifts from those
who have less resources than himself; for it is
not just that the estates of the wealthy should be
increased by the losses of the wretched.

It is an old precept not to kill, which ought
not to be taken in this light, as though we are
commanded to abstain only from homicide,
which is punished even by public laws. But by
the intervention of this command, it will not be
permitted us to apply peril of death by word,
nor to put to death or expose an infant, nor to
condemn one's self by a voluntary death. We
are likewise commanded not to commit adultery ;
but by this precept we are not only prohibited
from polluting the marriage of another, which is
condemned even by the common law of nations,
but even to abstain from those who prostitute
their persons. For the law of God is above all
laws ; it forbids even those things which are
esteemed lawful, that it may fulfil justice. It is
a part of the same law not to utter false witness,
and this also itself has a wider meaning. For
if false witness by falsehood is injurious to him
against whom it is spoken, and deceives him in
whose presence it is spoken, we must therefore
never speak falsely, because falsehood always
deceives or injures. Therefore he is not a just
man who, even without inflicting injury, speaks
in idle discourse. Nor indeed is it lawful for
him to flatter, for flattery is pernicious and de-
ceitful ; but he will everywhere guard the truth.
And although this may for the present be un-
pleasant, nevertheless, when its advantage and
usefulness shall appear, it will not produce hatred,
as the poet says,"* but gratitude.

' Mimus corruptelarum disciplina est.
^ Per imaginem.

^ Proniora sunt.
* Terent., And,, i.

250

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

CHAP. LXV. — PRECEPTS ABOUT THOSE THINGS
WHICH ARE COMMANDED, AND OF PITY.

I have spoken of those things which are for-
bidden ; I will now briefly say what things are
commanded. Closely connected with harmless-
ness is pity. For the former does not inflict
injury, the latter works good ; the former begins
justice, the latter completes it. For since the
nature of men is more feeble than that of the
other animals, which God has provided with
means of inflicting violence, and with defences for
repelling it, He has given to us the affection of
pity, that we might place the whole protection
of our life in mutual aid. For if we are created
by one God, and descended from one man, and
are thus connected by the law of consanguinity,
we ought on this account to love every man ; and
therefore we are bound not only to abstain from
the infliction of injury, but not even to avenge it
when inflicted on us, that there may be in us
complete harmlessness. And on this account
God commands us to pray always even for our
enemies. Therefore we ought to be an animal
fitted for companionship and society, that we
may mutually protect ourselves by giving and
receiving assistance. For our frailty is liable to
many accidents and inconveniences. Expect
that that which you see has happened to another
may happen to you also. Thus you will at length
be excited to render aid, if you shall assume the
mind of him who, being placed in evils, implores
your aid. If any one is in need of food, let us
bestow it ; if any one meets us who is naked, let
us clothe him ; if any one suffers injury from one
who is more powerful than himself, let us rescue
him. Let our house be open to strangers, or to
those who are in need of shelter. Let our de-
fence not be wanting to wards, or our protection
to the defenceless.' To ransom captives is a
great work of pity, and also to visit and comfort
the sick who are in poverty. If the helpless or
strangers die, we should not permit them to lie
unburied. These are the works, these the duties,
of pity ; and if any one undertakes these, he
will offer unto God a true and acceptable sacri-
fice. This victim is more adapted for an offer-
ing to God, who is not appeased with the blood
of a sheep, but with the piety of man, whom
God, because He is just, follows up with His
own law, and with His own condition. He
shows mercy to him whom He sees to be mer-
ciful ; He is inexorable to him whom He sees to
be harsh to those who entreat him. Therefore,
that we may be able to do all these things, which
are pleasing to God, money is to be despised,
and to be transferred to heavenly treasures, where
neither thief can break through, nor rust corrupt,
nor tyrant take away, but it may be preserved for

« Viduis.

us under the guardianship of God to our eternal
wealth.

CHAP, LXVI. — OF FAFTH IN RELIGION, AND OF
FORTITUDE.

Faith also is a great part of justice ; and this
ought especially to be preserved by us, who bear
the name of faith, especially in religion, because
God is before and to be preferred to man. And
if it is a glorious thing to undergo death in be-
half of friends, of parents, and of children, that
is, in behalf of man, and if he who has done
this obtains lasting memory and praise, how
much more so in behalf of God, who is able to
bestow eternal life in return for temporal death ?
Therefore, when a necessity of this kind happens,
that we are compelled to turn aside from God,
and to pass over to the rites of the heathens, no
fear, no terror should turn us aside from guard-
ing the faith delivered to us. Let God be before
our eyes, in our heart, by whose inward help we
may overcome the pain of our flesh, and the
torments applied to our body. Then let us
think of nothing else but the rewards of an im-
mortal life. And thus, even though our limbs
should be torn in pieces, or burnt, we shall easily
endure all things which the madness of tyrannical
cruelty shall contrive against us. Lastly, let us
strive to undergo death itself, not unwillingly or
timidly, but willingly and undauntedly, as those
who know what glory we are about to have in
the presence of God, having triumphed over the
world and coming to the things promised us ;
with what good things and how great blessedness
we shall be compensated for these brief evils of
punishments, and the injuries of this life. But
if the opportunity of this glory shall be wanting,
faith will have its reward even in peace.

Therefore let it be observed in all the duties
of life, let it be observed in marriage. For it
is not sufficient if you abstain from another's bed,
or from the brothel. Let him who has a wife
seek nothing further, but, content with her alone,
let him guard the mysteries of the marriage-bed
chaste and undefiled. For he is equally an
adulterer in the sight of God and impure, who,
having thrown off the yoke, wantons in strange
pleasure either with a free woman or a slave.
But as a woman is bound by the bonds of chastity
not to desire any other man, so let the husband
be bound by the same law, since God has joined
together the husband and the wife in the union
of one body. On this account He has com-
manded that the wife shall not be put away un-
less convicted of adultery, and that the bond of
the conjugal compact shall never be dissolved,
unless unfaithfulness have broken it.^ This also
is added for the completion of chastity, that

* [The law of divorce in Christian States. Sanderson, v. iv. p. 135]

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

251

there should be an absence not only of the
offence, but even of the thought. For it is
evident that the mind is polluted by the desire,
though unaccomplished ; and so that a just man
ought neither to do, nor to wish to do, that which
is unjust. Therefore the conscience must be
cleansed ; for God, who cannot be deceived, in-
spects it. The breast must be cleared from
every stain, that it may be a temple of God,
which is enlightened not by the gleam of gold or
ivory, but by the brightness of faith and purity.

CHAP. LXVII. — OF REPENTANCE, THE IMMORTALITY
OF THE SOUL, AND OF PROVIDENCE.

But it is true all these things are difificult to
man, nor does the condition of his frailty permit
that any one should be without blemish. There-
fore the last remedy is this, that we have re-
course to repentance, which has not the least
place among the virtues, because it is a correc-
tion of oneself; that when we have happened to
fail either in deed or in word, we may immedi-
ately come to a better mind, and confess that
we have offended, and entreat pardon from God,
which according to His mercy He will not deny,
except to those who persist in their error. Great
is the aid, great the solace of repentance. That
is the healing of wounds and offences, that hope,
that the harbour of safety ; and he who takes away
this cuts off from himself the way of salvation,
because no one can be so just that repentance is
never necessary for him. But we, even though
there is no offence of ours, yet ought to confess
to God, and to entreat pardon for our faults,
and to give thanks even in evils. Let us always
offer this obedience to our Lord. For humility
is dear and lovely in the sight of God ; for since
He rather receives the sinner who confesses his
fault, than the just man who is haughty, how
much more will He receive the just man who
confesses, and exalt him in His heavenly king-
dom in proportion to his humility ! These are
the things which the worshipper of God ought
to hold forth ; these are the victims, this the
sacrifice, which is acceptable ; this is true wor-
ship, when a man offers upon the altar of God
the pledges of his own mind. That supreme
Majesty rejoices in such a worshipper as this,
as it takes him as a son and bestows upon him
the befitting reward of immortality, concerning
which I must now speak, and refute the per-
suasion of those who think that the soul is de-
stroyed together with the body. For inasmuch
as they neither knew God nor were able to
perceive the mystery of the world, they did not
even comprehend the nature of man and of the
soul. For how could they see the consequences,
who did not hold the main point ? ' There-

' Summam. Lactantius uses this word to express a compendious
summary of divine mysteries.

fore, in denying the existence of a providence,
they plainly denied the existence of God, who
is the fountain and source of all things. It fol-
lowed that they should either affirm that those
things which exist have always existed, or were
produced of their own accord, or arose from a
meeting together of minute seeds.

It cannot be said that that which exists, and
is visible, always existed ; for it cannot exist of
itself without some beginning. But nothing can
be produced of its own accord, because there is
no nature without one who generates it. But
how could there be original ^ seeds, since both
the seeds arise from objects,^ and, in their turn,
objects from seeds? Therefore there is no
seed which has not origin. Thus it came to
pass, that when they supposed that the world
was produced by no providence, they did not
suppose that even man was produced by any
plan."* But if no plan was made use of in the
creation of man, therefore the soul cannot be
immortal. But others, on the other hand,
thought there was but one God, and that the
world was made by Him, and made for the
sake of men, and that souls are immortal. But
though they entertained true sentiments, never-
theless they did not perceive the causes, or
reasons, or issues of this divine work and design,
so as to complete the whole mystery of the truth,
and to comprise it within some limit. But that
which they were not able to do, because they
did not hold the truth in its integrity,' must be
done by us, who know it on the announcement
of God.

CHAP. LXVIII. — OF THE WORLD, MAN, AND THE
PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

Let US therefore consider what was the plan
of making this so great and so immense a work.
God made the world, as Plato thought, but he
does not show why He made it. Because He
is good, he says, and envying no one. He made
the things which are good. But we see that
there are both good and evil things in the sys-
tem of nature. Some perverse person may stand
forth, such as that atheist Theodorus was, and
answer Plato : Nay, because He is evil. He made
the things which are evil. How will he refute
him ? If God made the things which are good,
whence have such great evils burst forth, which,
for the most part, even prevail over those which
are good ? They were contained, he says, in the
matter. If there were evil, therefore there were
also good things ; so that either God made noth-
ing, or if He made only good things, the evil
things which were not made are more eternal than

2 Semina principalia.

3 Ex rebus.

* Aliqua ratione.

5 Perpetuo, i.e., without intermission.

252

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

the good things which had a beginning. There-
fore the things which at one time began will have
an end, and those which always existed will be
permanent. Therefore evils are preferable. But
if they cannot be preferable, they cannot indeed
be more eternal. Therefore they either always
existed, and God has been inactive,' or they both
flowed from one source. For it is more in ac-
cordance with reason that God made all things,
than that He made nothing.

Therefore, according to the sentiments of
Plato, the same God is both good, because He
made good .things, and evil, because He made
evil things. And if this cannot be so, it is evi-
dent that the world was not made by God on
this account, because He is good. For He com-
prised all things, both good and evil ; nor did
He make anything for its own sake, but on
account of something else. A house is built
not for this purpose only, that there may be a
house, but that it may receive and shelter an
inhabitant. Likewise a ship is built not for this
purpose, that it may appear only to be a ship,
but that men may be able to sail in it. Vessels
also are made, not only that the vessels may
exist, but that they may receive things which are
necessary for use. Thus also God must have
made the world for some use. The Stoics say
that it was made for the sake of men ; and rightly
so. For men enjoy all these good things which
the world contains in itself. But they do not
explain why men themselves were made, or what
advantage Providence, the Maker of all things,
has in them.

Plato also affirms that souls are immortal, but
why, or in what manner, or at what time, or by
whose instrumentality they attain to immortality,
or what is the nature of that great mystery, why
those who are about to become immortal are
previously born mortal, and then, having com-
pleted the course^ of their temporal life, and
having laid aside the covering ^ of their frail
bodies, are transferred to that eternal blessed-
ness, — of all this he has no comprehension.
Finally, he did not explain the judgment of God,
nor the distinction between the just and the un-
just, but supposed that the souls which have
plunged themselves into crimes are condemned
thus far, that they may be reproduced in the
lower animals, and thus atone for their offences,
until they again return to the forms of men, and
that this is always taking place, and that there
Ls no end of this transmigration. In my opinion,
he introduces some sport resembling a dream,
in which there appears to be neither plan, nor
government of God, nor any design.

' Otiosus.
* Decurso
iot race.

^ Corporum exuviis.

. spatio. The expressioQ is borrowed from a char-

CHAP. LXrX. THAT THE WORLD WAS MADE ON

ACCOUNT OF MAN, AND MAN ON ACCOUNT OF
GOD.

I will now say what is that chief * point which
not even those who spoke the truth were able to
connect together, bringing into one view causes
and reasons. The world was made by God, that
men might be born ; again, men are bom, that
they may acknowledge God as a Father, in whom
is wisdom ; they acknowledge Him, that they
may worship Him, in whom is justice ; they wor-
ship Him, that they may receive the reward of
immortality ; they receive immortality, that they
may serve God for ever. Do you see how closely
connected the first are with the middle, and the
middle with the last? Let us look into them
separately, and see whether they are consistent 5
with each other. God made the world on ac-
count of man. He who does not see this, does
not differ much from a beast. Who but man
looks up to the heaven? who views with admira-
tion the sun, who the stars, who all the works of
God? Who inhabits the earth? who receives
the fruit from it? Who has in his power the
fishes, who the winged creatures, who the quad-
rupeds, except man? Therefore God made all
things on account of man, because all things
have turned out for the use of man.

The philosophers saw this, but they did not
see the consequence, that He made man himself
on His own account. For it was befitting, and
pious, and necessary, that since He contrived
such great works for the sake of man, when He
gave him so much honour, and so much power,
that he should bear rule in the world, man should
both acknowledge God, the Author of such great
benefits, who made the world itself on his ac-
count, and should pay Him the worship and
honour due to Him. Here Plato erred ; here
he lost the truth which he had at first laid hold
of, when he was silent concerning the worship
of that God whom he confessed to be the framer
and parent of all things, and did not understand
that man is bound to God by the ties of piety,
whence religion itself receives its name, and that
this is the only thing on account of which .souls
become immortal. He perceived, however, that
they are eternal, but he did not descend by the
regular gradations to that opinion. For the mid-
dle arguments being taken away, he rather fell
into the truth, as though by some abrupt preci-
pice ; nor did he advance further, since he had
found the truth by accident, and not by reason.
Therefore God is to be worshipped, that by
means of religion, which is also justice, man may
receive from God immortality, nor is there any
other reward of a pious mind; and if this is

* Summa.

i Utrumne ilUs ratio subsistat.

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

^5o

invisible, it cannot be presented by the invisible
God with any reward but that which is invisible.

CHAP. LXX. — THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL IS
CONFIRMED,

It may in truth be collected from many argu-
ments that souls are eternal. Plato says that
that which always moves by itself, and has no
beginning of motion, also has no end ; but that
the soul of man always moves by itself, and be-
cause it is flexible for reflection, subtle for dis-
covery, easy of perception, adapted to learning,
and because it retains the past, comprehends
the present, foresees the future, and embraces
the knowledge of many subjects and arts, that
it is immortal, since it contains nothing which
is mixed with the contagion of earthly weight.
Moreover, the eternity of the soul is understood
from virtue and pleasure. Pleasure is common
to all animals, virtue belongs only to man ; the
former is vicious, the latter is honourable ; the
former is in accordance with nature, the latter is
opposed to nature, unless the soul is immortal.
For in defence of faith and justice, virtue neither
fears want, nor is alarmed at exile, nor dreads
imprisonment, nor shrinks from pain, nor refuses
death ; and because these things are contrary to
nature, either virtue is foolishness, if it stands in
the way of advantages, and is injurious to life ;
or if it is not foolishness, then the soul is im-
mortal, and despises present goods, because
other things are preferable which it attains after
the dissolution of the body. But that is the
greatest proof of immortality, that man alone
has the knowledge of God. In the dumb ani-
mals there is no notion ' of religion, because
they are earthly and bent down to the earth.
Man is upright, and beholds the heaven for this
purpose, that he may seek God. Therefore he
cannot be other than immortal, who longs for
the immortal. He cannot be liable to dissolu-
tion, who is connected ^ with God both in coun-
tenance and mind. Finally, man alone makes
use of the heavenly element, which is fire. For
if light is through fire, and life through light, it
is evident that he who has the use of fire is not
mortal, since this is closely connected, this is
intimately related to Him without whom neither
light nor life can exist.

But why do we infer from arguments that souls
are eternal, when we have divine testimonies?
For the sacred writings and the voices of the
prophets teach this. And if this appears to any
one insufficient, let him read the poems of the
Sibyls, let him also weigh the answers of the
Milesian Apollo, that he may understand that
Democritus, and Epicurus, and Dicsearchus

' Suspicio.

* Cum Deo communis est.

raved, who alone of all mortals denied that
which is evident. Having proved the immor-
tality of the soul, it remains to teach by whom,
and to whom, and in what manner, and at what
time, it is given. Since fixed and divinely ap-
pointed times have begun to be filled up, a
destruction and consummation of all things must
of necessity take place, that the world may be
renewed by God. But that time is at hand, as
far as may be collected from the number of years,
and from the signs which are foretold by the
prophets. But since the things which have been
spoken concerning the end of the world and the
conclusion of the times are innumerable, those
very things which are spoken are to be laid
down without adornment, since it would be a
boundless task to bring forward the testimonies.
If any one wishes for them, or does not place
full confidence in us, let him approach to the
very shrine of the heavenly letters, and being
more fully instructed through their trustwor-
thiness, let him perceive that the philosophers
have erred, who thought either that this world
was eternal, or that there would be numberless
thousands of years from the time when it was
prepared. For six thousand years have not yet
been completed, and when this number shall
be made up, then at length all evil will be taken
away, that justice alone may reign. And how
this will come to pass, I will explain in few
words.

CHAP. LXXI. — OF THE LAST TIMES.

These things are said by the prophets, but as
seers, to be about to happen. When the last
end shall begin to approach to the world, wick-
edness will increase ; all kinds of vices and
frauds will become frequent ; justice will perish ;
faith, peace, mercy, modesty, truth, will have no
existence ; violence and daring will abound ; no
one will have anything, unless it is acquired by
the hand, and defended by the hand. If there
shall be any good men, they will be esteemed as
a prey and a laughing-stock. No one will ex-
hibit filial affection to parents, no one will pity
an infant or an old man ; avarice and lust will
corrupt all things. There will be slaughter and
bloodshed. There will be wars, and those not
only between foreign and neighbouring states,
but also intestine wars. States will carry on
wars among themselves, every sex and age will
handle arms. The dignity of government will
not be preserved, nor military discipline ; but
after the manner of robbery, there will be dep-
redation and devastation. Kingly power will be
multiplied, and ten men will occupy, portion out,
and devour the world. There will arise another
by far more powerful and wicked, who, having
destroyed three, will obtain Asia, and having
reduced and subdued the others under his own

254

THE EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

power, will harass all the earth. He will appoint
new laws, abrogate old ones ; he will make the
state his own, and will change the name and
seat of the government.

Then there will be a dreadful and detestable
time, in which no one would choose to live. In
fine, such will be the condition of things, that
lamentation will follow the living, and congratu-
lation the dead. Cities and towns will be de-
stroyed, at one time by fire and the sword, at
another by repeated earthquakes ; now by inun-
dation of waters, now by pestilence and famine.
The earth will produce nothing, being barren
either through excessive cold or heat. All water
will be partly changed into blood, partly vitiated
by bitterness, so that none of it can be useful for
food, or wholesome for drinking. To these
evils will also be added prodigies from heaven,
that nothing may be wanting to men for causing
fear. Comets will frequently appear. The sun
will be overshadowed with perpetual paleness.
The moon will be stained with blood, nor will it
repair the losses of its light taken away. All
the stars will fall, nor will the seasons preserve
their regularity, winter and summer being con-
fused. Then both the year, and the month, and
the day will be shortened. And Trismegistus
has declared that this is the old age and decline
of the world. And when this shall have come,
it must be known that the time is at hand in
which God will return to change the world.
But in the midst of these evils there will arise
an impious king, hostile not only to mankind,
but also to God. He will trample upon, tor-
ment, harass and put to death those who have
been spared by that former tyrant. Then there
will be ever- flowing tears, perpetual wailings and
lamentations, and useless prayers to God ; there
will be no rest from fear, no sleep for a respite.
The day will always increase disaster, the night
alarm. Thus the world will be reduced almost
to solitude, certainly to fewness of men. Then
also the impious man will persecute the just and
those who are dedicated to God, and will give
orders that he himself shall be worshipped as
God, For he will say that he is Christ, though
he will be His adversary.' That he may be
believed, he will receive the power of doing
wonders, so that fire may descend from heaven,
the sun retire from his course, and the image
which he shall have set up may speak. And by
these prodigies he shall entice many to worship
him, and to receive his sign in their hand or
forehead. And he who shall not worship him
and receive his sign will die with refined tortures.
Thus he will destroy nearly two parts, the third
will flee into desolate solitudes. But he, frantic
and raging with implacable anger, will lead an

' [See Hippolytus, vol. v. pp. 190-350.]

army and besiege the mountain to which the
righteous shall have fled. And when they shall
see themselves besieged, they will implore the
aid of God with a loud voice, and God shall
hear them, and shall send to them a deliverer.

CHAP. LXXII, OF CHRIST DESCENDING FROM

HEAVEN TO THE GENERAL JUDGMENT, AND OF
THE MILLENARUN REIGN.^

Then the heaven shall be opened in a tem-
pest,3 and Christ shall descend with great power,
and there shall go before Him a fiery brightness
and a countless host of angels, and all that mul-
titude of the wicked shall be destroyed, and tor-
rents of blood shall flow, and the leader himself
shall escape, and having often renewed his army,
shall for the fourth time engage in battle, in
which, being taken, with all the other tyrants,
he shall be delivered up. to be burnt. But the
prince also of the demons himself, the author
and contriver of evils, being bound with fiery
chains, shall be imprisoned, that the world may
receive peace, and the earth, harassed through
so many years, may rest. Therefore peace being
made, and every evil suppressed, that righteous
King and Conqueror will institute a great judg-
ment on the earth respecting the living and the
dead, and will deliver all the nations into subjec-
tion to the righteous who are alive, and will raise
the righteous dead to eternal life, and will Him-
self reign with them on the earth, and will build
the holy city, and this kingdom of the righteous
shall be for a thousand years. Throughout that
time the stars shall be more brilliant, and the
brightness of the sun shall be increased, and
the moon shall not be subject to decrease. Then
the rain of blessing shall descend from God at
morning and evening, and the earth shall bring
forth all her fruit without the labour of men.
Honey shall drop from rocks, fountains of milk
and wine shall abound. The beasts shall lay
aside their ferocity and become mild, the wolf
shall roam among the flocks without doing harm,
the calf shall feed with the lion, the dove shall
be united with the hawk, the seq:)ent shall have
no poison ; no animal shall live by bloodshed.
For God shall supply to all abundant and harm-
less ■* food. But when the thousand years shall
be fulfilled, and the prince of the demons loosed,
the nations will rebel against the righteous, and
an innumerable multitude will come to storm
the city of the saints. Then the last judgment
of God will come to pass against the nations.
For He will shake the earth from its founda-
tions, and the cities shall be overthrown, and
He shall rain upon the wicked fire with brim-
stone and hail, and they shall be on fire, and

* [See vol. i. p. 209.]

3 In tcmpestate; others read " intempesta nocte.

* Innocentem, " without injury to any."

ELUCIDATIONS.

255

slay each other. But the righteous shall for a
little space be concealed under the earth, until
the destruction of the nations is accomplished,
and after the third day they shall come forth, and
see the plains covered with carcases. Then there
shall be an earthquake, and the mountains shall
be rent, and valleys shall sink down to a pro-
found depth, and into this the bodies of the
dead shall be heaped together, and its name
shall be called Polyandrion." After these things
God will renew the world, and transform the
righteous into the forms of angels, that, being
presented with the garment of immortality, they
may serve God for ever ; and this will be the
kingdom of God, which shall have no end.
Then also the wicked shall rise again, not to life
but to punishment ; for God shall raise these
also, when the second resurrection takes place,
that, being condemned to eternal torments and
delivered to eternal fires, they may suffer the
punishments which they deserve for their crimes.

CHAP. LXXIII. THE HOPE OF SAFETY IS IN THE

RELIGION AND WORSHIP OF GOD.

Wherefore, since all these things are true and
certain, in harmony with the predicted announce-
ment of the prophets, since Trismegistus and
Hystaspes and the Sibyls have foretold the same

' A name sometimes given to cemeteries, because many men
(n-oAAoi av&pfi) are borne thither.

things, it cannot be doubted that all hope of life
and salvation is placed in the religion of God
alone. Therefore, unless a man shall have re-
ceived Christ, whom God has sent, and is about
to send for our redemption, unless he shall have
known the Supreme God through Christ, unless
he shall have kept His commandments and law,
he will fall into those punishments of which we
have spoken. Therefore frail things must be
despised, that we may gain those which are sub-
stantial ; earthly things must be scorned, that
we may be honoured with heavenly things ; tem-
poral things must be shunned, that we may reach
those which are eternal. Let every one train
himself to justice, mould himself to self-re-
straint, prepare himself for the contest, equip
himself for virtue, that if by any chance an ad-
versary shall wage war, he may be driven from
that which is upright and good by no force, no
terror, and no tortures, may give ^ himself up
to no senseless fictions, but in his uprightness
acknowledge the true and only God, may cast
away pleasures, by the attractions of which the
lofty soul is depressed to the earth, may hold
fast innocency, may be of service to as many as
possible, may gain for himself incorruptible treas-
ures by good works, that he may be able, with
God for his judge, to gain for the merits of his
virtue either the crown of faith, or the reward
of immortality.

* Se substemet.

ELUCIDATIONS.
I.

(Princes and kings, p. 13.)

How memorable the histories, moreover, of Nebuchadnezzar ' and his decrees ; of Darius * and
his also ; but especially of Cyrus and his great monumental edict ! ^ The beautiful narratives of the
Queen of Sheba and of the Persian consort of Queen Esther (probably Xerxes) are also mani-
festations of the ways of Providence in giving light to the heathen world through that " nation
of priests " in Israel.

But Lactantius, who uses the Sibyls so freely, should not have omitted to show what Sibylline
oracles God drew forth from " the princes of this world " also, by the illumination of the pharos
which he established in Sion, " to be a light to lighten the Gentiles " until the great Epiphany
should rise upon them in " the dayspring from on high."

I extract from a paradoxical but most entertaining author, whom I have often quoted, certain,
extracts from Philo, which I translate from his note in the Soirees. Thus : —

" Agrippa," says Philo,* " having visited Jerusalem in Herod's time, was enchanted by the reli-
gion of the Jews, and could never cease to speak of it. . . . Augustus ordered that every day,

' Dan. ii. 47, iii. 29, and iv.

* Dan. vi. 35.

^ Ezra i. 2.

■♦ In his Discourse to Caligula.

256 ELUCIDATIONS.

at his own expense, and under the legal forms, a bull and two lambs should be offered in holo-
caust to the Most High God on the altar at Jerusalem, though he knew that it contained no
image, whether exposed or within the veil ; for this great prince, surpassed by none in the philo-
sophic spirit, felt the actual necessity in this world of an altar dedicated to a God invisible."

Philo also says : —

" Your great-grandmother Julia ' also made superb presents to the temple ; and although
women very reluctantly detach themselves from images, and rarely conceive of anything apart
from sensation, this lady, nevertheless, greatly superior to her sex in culture and in natural endow-
ments, arrived at that point in which she preferred to contemplate such things in the mind rather
than in sensible objects, regarding these as mere shadows of the realities."

In the same discourse, wasting words on Caligula, Philo reminds him that Augustus " not only
admired, nay, rather, he adored {(Bav[i.at,(. koX Trpoa-cKwei, k.t.K.), this custom of employing no sort
of image to represent, materially, a nature invisible in itself." Poor De Maistre, who quotes this
testimony against images from Philo with intense appreciation, will yet sophisticate himself and
others into the very contrary in behalf of his one predominant idea of (ttpoo-kuVt/o-i?) canine
self-abasement to the decrees of the Vatican. On this account I am forced to consider him a
sophist as well as a fanatic ; but I delight to render justice to his genius, for, wherever he talks
and reasons as a Christian merely, he fascinates and instructs me. He never conceived cf
" Catholicity," and lived under the delusion of the Decretals, a disciple of the Jesuits.

II.

(Therefore they were neglected for many ages, p. ii6.)

The explicit statements of Lactantius, and his profuse quotations from the Sibyllina, persuade
me that these curious fragments deserve a degree of scientific attention which they have not yet
received. The Fathers all cite them, when it must have exposed them to scorn and overwhelming
refutation had their quotations not been found in the Sibylline books of their adversaries. The
influence of the Jewish religion upon the Gentiles under the Babylonian and Medo- Persian
monarchies must have been considerable, but after Alexander's time it was vastly increased.
Many versions of select prophets were doubtless produced in Greek before the authorized Septua-
gint. These were soon embedded in the Sibyls' books ; and I cannot think the interpolations of
early Christians were all frauds, by any means. Their numerous marginal annotations crept into
other copies ; and very likely, in the time of our author, they were inextricably confused with
the text in the greater part of the " editions," so to speak, then current with booksellers.

But in vol. viii. we shall have occasion to recur again to this interesting inquiry.

III.

(We made proclamation before him as children, p. 117.)

" Sicut pueri." This is not according to the Septuagint, ws iraiZtov. It is not the Vulgate, of
course ; but its radical difference with that raises interesting inquiries : Is it a specimen of one
of many African or old Italic versions ? Does our author endeavour to translate from the Septua-
gint? May he not have had in hand a copy of Isaiah from among those which preceded the
Septuagint ?

The Septuagint reading finds its key in cap. lii. 7, and in the tenth verse, where the " Arm
of the Lord" (" His Holy Arm ") is introduced as the personal Logos Incarnate. The thirteenth
and fourteenth verses predict the amazing sequel, and its practical and blessed results ; and then

' i.e., Livia, wife and empress of Augustus.

ELUCIDATIONS. 25}

begins cap. liii., "Who hath believed" our message. To whom is "the Arm of the Lord" re-
vealed? " Going heiore Him (i.e., as heralds), we have proclaimed I/im as a child, and, as //
were, a root in a thirsty land ; He has no form nor glory," etc. In other words, " We have
prophesied of Him who is elsewhere predicted ("unto us a child is born") as one who from His
childhood is as a rush without water, — prematurely withered, — a man of sorrows, and the
Carpenter's Son."

It does not hint, therefore, the ** obscurity " of the Messiah's birth, but rather what Irenaeus
insists upon, i.e., His (premature) old age ; the worn and stricken appearance of senility in com-
parative youth.' This is just what the messengers (Isa. lii. 7) had said in their proclamation (Isa.
lii. 14) just before: "His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than
the sons of men."

IV.

(There was darkness, etc., pp. 122, 240.)

In former instances, where thought has turned to Phlegon the Trallian,^ I have failed to refer
to an author whose excess of candour sometimes gives away more than is called for, in questions
on which adversaries have contrived to fasten undue importance, in order to elicit indiscreet
defences. But it is due to my readers that I should refer them to a most learned work, to be
found in public libraries only, by my revered friend and instructor Dr. Jarvis. The sixth chapter
(part ii.) of his Chronological Introduction to Church History^ is devoted to this matter, and I
can do no better than give the summary of its contents as follows : —

" Who Phlegon was ; his work lost ; extracts from it by Julius Africanus and Eusebius ; their works, con-
taining these extracts, lost ; all we know is from versions and later writers ; collation of extracts as given by the
Armenian version of the Clironicon of Eusebius, St. Jerome's Latin version, the Chronographia of Syncellus,
and the Chronicon Paschale ; extract by Syncellus from Julius Africanus; remarks upon it; testimony of Origen
concerning Phlegon's account; of John Philoponus (St. Maximus) Malala; summary of the whole; account of
Phlegon's testimony ; not noticed by the learned and voluminous writers of the fourth and fifth centuries when
they speak of the darkness, etc.; Dr. Lardner's judgment ■♦ adopted."

Lardner's view, it will be observed, is thus sustained by an independent and most competent
critic. This decision puts honour on the early writers : he thinks they were unwilling to claim
a corroboration from evidence about which they were not well assured.

(Divine and ethnic oracles, p. 210, note 2; p. 112, note 9.)

The whole subject of ethnic oracles needs fresh study and illustration. Nothing would be
more fascinating in theological inquiry, and Divine Inspiration might be richly illustrated by it,
as anatomical science is clarified by "comparative anatomy." I commend this subject to men
of faith, learning, and intellectual vigour. Notably, let it be observed: (i) That Balaam's ass
is instanced by St. Peter as miraculously enabled to rebuke the madness of his master ; and the
same Apostle shortly before gives us the law as to divine inspiration in contrast. 5 (2) Balaam
himself, as mechanically as the beast he rode,^ had his own mouth opened (see Num. xxiv. 16-
^9)- (3) The wicked Caiaphas in like manner (St. John xi. 51, 52) spake prophetically, "not of
himself." (4) St. Paul (Acts xvii. 28) quotes a heathen oracle very much as does our author.'

' Vol. i. p. 391, note 12, this series. < Works, ed. London, 1788, vol. vii. p. 385.

* See vol. iii. Elucidation V. p. 58. 5 Comp. 2 Pet. i. 18-21 with ii. 16.

3 P. 419. 6 p, 174^ note 2, supra.

' See p. 140, note 10, supra.

258 ' ELUCIDATIONS.

Now, in view of the boldness with which the early Christians follow the example of the Apostle
in quoting the Orphica and Sibyllina, I cannot imagine that these citations were not honestly
believed by them to be oracles of a certain sort, by which God permitted the heathen to be
enlightened.' Observe our author's moderate but most pregnant remark about such inspiration
(on p. 170, supra, note 8), ^^ almost with a divine voice;" then (on p. 192) compare other
almost inspired words of poor Tully (at note 2), and of Seneca also.^

Finally, and to close the subject, the reader will readily forgive me for introducing the following
citations from the " Warburton Lecture " of Dr. Edersheim, on Prophecy and History^ in Relation
to the Messiah. Discussing the pseudepigraphic zvritings (in Lecture Eleventh), he says as
follows : '♦ —

" The Sibylline oracles, in Greek hexameters, consist, in their present form, of twelve books.
They are full of interpolations, the really ancient portions forming part of the first two books and
the largest part of book third (verses 97-807). These sections are deeply imbued with the
Messianic spirits They date from about the year 140 before our era, while another small portion
of the same book is supposed to date from the year 32 B.C.

" As regards the promise of the Messiah, we turn in the first place, and with special interest,
to the Sibylline Oracles. In the third book of these (such portions as I shall quote date from
about 140 B.C.) the Messiah is described as 'the King sent from heaven, who would judge every
man in blood and splendour of fire.' And the Vision of Messianic times opens with a reference
to ' the King whom God will send from the Sun,' where we cannot fail to perceive a reference to
the Seventy-second Psalm,^ especially as we remember that the Greek of the Seventy, which must
have been present to the Helletiist Sibyl, fully adapted the Messianic application of the passage
to a premundane Messiah. We also think of the picture drawn in the prophecies of Isaiah.
According to the Sibylline books. King Messiah was not only to come, but He was to be specifi-
cally sent of God. He is supermundane, a King and a Judge ^ of superhuman glory and
splendour. And, indeed, that a superhuman kingdom, such as the Sibylline oracles paint, should
have a superhuman king, seems only a natural and necessary inference. ... If, as certain modern
critics contend, the book of Daniel is not authentic,^ but dates from Maccabean times, ... it
may well be asked to tvhat king the Sibylline oracles point, for they certainly date from that
period ; and what is the relationship between the (supposed Maccabean) prophecies of the
book of Daniel and the certainly Messianic anticipations of the undoubted literature of that
period ? "

Dr. Edersheim gives us the reference in the' margin, to which I would call attention, as direct-
ing to the whole pseudepigraphic literature. ^ But who can wonder, after what we thus learn, that
Constantine '° was so profoundly impressed with Virgil's Pollio ? In spite of all that has been said,"
I cannot but see Isaiah in its entire spirit.

■ See p. 219, note 3.

* Compare Cyprian (vol. v. p. 502, this series) , and note his judicious reference to the inspiratioa of Balaam by the extreme instance of
the miraculous voice of a dumb beast. Also, see vol. ii. Elucidation XIII. p. 346, this series.

3 Republished, New York, Randolph, 1885.

* Pp- 339. 343-

5 Note, these are the " really ancient " portions.

6 Verses 5, 6, etc., to the end.
' Ps. Ixxii. I, 2.

* An absurdity pulverized by the faith and learning of Dr. Pusey.

9 Pseudepigrapha. O. F. Fritzsche, Lips., 1871, Codex Pseudepigr. Vet. Test., ed. 1722.; J. A. Fabricius, Messias Judceorum,
Hilgenfeld, Lips., 1869; also Drummond, The Jewish Messiah; and compare Jellinek, Det-ha-Midrash, six parts, 1857-73.
*° See the Greek of Constantine's quotations in Heyne's Virgil, excursus i. torn. i. p. 164.
" Heyne (Lips., 1788), vol. i. pp. 66-70.

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

ADDRESSED TO DONATUS.'

CHAP. I. — OF DIVINE AND HUMAN WISDOM.

I HAVE often observed, Donatus, that many
persons hold this opinion, which some philoso-
phers also have maintained, that God is not sub-
ject to anger ; since the divine nature is either
altogether beneficent, and that it is inconsistent
with His surpassing and excellent power to do
injury to any one ; or, at any rate, He takes no
notice of us at all, so that no advantage comes
to us from His goodness, and no evil from His
ill-will. But the error of these men, because it
is very great, and tends to overthrow the con-
dition of human life, must be refuted by us, lest
you yourself also should be deceived, being in-
cited by the authority of men who deem them-
selves wise. Nor, however, are we so arrogant
as to boast that the truth is comprehended by
our intellect ; but we follow the teaching of God,
who alone is able to know and to reveal secret
things. But the philosophers, being destitute
of this teaching, have imagined that the nature of
things can be ascertained by conjecture. But
this is impossible ; because the mind of man,
enclosed in the dark abode of the body, is far
removed from the perception of truth : and in
this the divine nature differs from the human,
that ignorance is the property of the human,
knowledge of the divine nature.

On which account we have need of some light
to dispel the darkness by which the reflection
of man is overspread, since, while we live in
mortal flesh, we are unable to divine by our
senses. But the light of the human mind is God,
and he who has known and admitted Him into
his breast will acknowledge the mystery of the
truth with an enlightened heart ; but when God
and heavenly instruction are removed, all things
are full of errors. And Socrates, though he was
the most learned of all the philosophers, yet,
that he might prove the ignorance of the others,
who thought that they possessed something,
rightly said that he knew nothing, except one

' [Of this Donatus, see {On the Persecutors) cap. i6, infra; also
cap. 35. He was a confessor and sore sufTerer under Diocletian.]

thing — that he knew nothing. For he under-
stood that that learning had nothing certain,
nothing true in itself; nor, as some imagine, did
he pretend ^ to learning that he might refute
others, but he saw the truth in some measure.
And he testified even on his trial (as is related
by Plato) that there was no human wisdom. He
so despised, derided, and cast aside the learning
in which the philosophers then boasted, that he
professed that very thing as the greatest learning,
that he had learnt that he knew nothing. If,
therefore, there is no human wisdom, as Socrates
taught, as Plato handed down, it is evident that
the knowledge of the truth is divine, and belongs
to no other than to God. Therefore God must
be known, in whom alone is the truth. He is
the Parent of the world, and the Framer of all
things ; who is not seen with the eyes, and is
scarcely distinguished by the mind ; whose re-
ligion is accustomed to be attacked in many
ways by those who have neither been able to
attain true wisdom, nor to comprehend the sys-
tem of the great and heavenly secret.

CHAP. II. — OF THE TRUTH AND ITS STEPS, AND

OF GOD.

For since there are many steps by which the
ascent is made to the abode of truth, it is not
easy for any one to reach the summit. For
when the eyes are darkened by the brightness of
the truth, they who are unable to maintain a firm
step fall back to the level ground.^ Now the
first step is to understand false religions, and to
throw aside the impious worship of gods which
are made by the hand of man. But the second
step is to perceive with the mind that there is
but one Supreme God, whose power and provi-
dence made the world from the beginning, and
afterwards continues to govern it. The third
step is to know His Servant and Messenger,*

^ Simulavit; others read " dissimulavit," concealed his knowledge.

3 Revolvuntur in planum.

•• Thus our Lord Himself speaks, John xvii. 3: "This is life
eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent." [The Jehovah-Angel, vol. i. pp.
223-226, this series, and s/>arizm.]

259

2 GO

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

whom He sent as His ambassador to the earth,
by whose teaching being freed from the error in
which we were held entangled, and formed to
the worship of the true God, we might learn
righteousness. From all of these steps, as I have
said, there is a rapid and easy gliding to a down-
fall,' unless the feet are firmly planted with un-
shaken stedfastness.

We see those shaken off from the first step,
who, though they understand things which are
false, do not, however, discover that which is
true ; and though they despised earthly and frail
images, do not betake themselves to the worship
of God, of whom they are ignorant. But view-
ing with admiration the elements of the universe,
they worship the heaven, the earth, the sea, the
sun, the moon, and the other heavenly bodies.

But we have already reproved their ignorance
in the second book of the Divine Institutes}
But we say that those fall from the second step,
who, though they understand that there is but
one Supreme God, nevertheless, ensnared by the
philosophers, and captivated by false arguments,
entertain opinions concerning that excellent
majesty far removed from the truth ; who either
deny that God has any figure, or think that He
is moved by no affection, because every affection
is a sign of weakness, which has no existence in
God. But they are precipitated from the third
step, who, though they know the Ambassador
of God, who is also the Builder of the divine
and immortal temple,^ either do not receive
Him, or receive Him otherwise than faith de-
mands ; whom we have partly refuted in the
fourth book of the above-named work.-* And
we will hereafter refute more carefully, when we
shall begin to reply to all the sects, which, while
ihey dispute,^ have destroyed the truth.

But now we will argue against those who, fall-
ing from the second step, entertain wrong senti-
ments respecting the Supreme God. For some
say that He neither does a kindness to any one,
nor becomes angry, but in security and quietness
enjoys the advantages of His own immortality.
Others, indeed, take away anger, but leave to
God kindness ; for they think that a nature ex-
celling in the greatest virtue, while it ought not
to be malevolent, ought also to be benevolent.
Thus all the philosophers are agreed on the
subject of anger, but are at variance respecting
kindness. But, that my speech may descend in
order to the proposed subject, a division of this
kind must be made and followed by me, since
anger and kindness are different, and opposed
to one another. Either anger must be attrib-
uted to God, and kindness taken from Him ; or

' Ad ruinam.

' Ch. V. and vi. pp. 47, 48.

^ The temple buiU of living stones, i Pet ii. 5.

■* Ch. X., etc., p. 108.

' Uum disputant; other editions rc.id, " dum dissipant."

both alike must be taken from Him ; or anger
must be taken away, and kindness attributed to
Him ; or neither must be taken away. The
nature of the case admits of nothing else be-
sides these ; so that the truth, which is sought
for, must necessarily be found in some one of
these. Let us consider them separately, that
reason and arrangement may conduct us to the
hiding-place of truth.

CHAP, III. OF THE GOOD AND EVIL THINGS IN

HUMAN AFFAIRS, AND OF THEIR AUTHOR.

First, no one ever said this respecting God,
that He is only subject to anger, and is not in-
fluenced by kindness. For it is unsuitable to
God, that He should be endowed with a power
of this kind, by which He may injure and do
harm, but be unable to profit and to do good.
What means, therefore, what hope of safety, is
proposed to men, if God is the author of evils
only? For if this is so, that venerable majesty
will now be drawn out, not to the power of the
judge, to whom it is permitted to preserve and
set at liberty, but to the office of the torturer
and executioner. But whereas we see that there
are not only evils in human affairs, but also
goods, it is plain that if God is the author of
evils, there must be another who does things
contrary to God, and gives to us good things.
If there is such a one, by what name must he
be called? Why is he who injures us more
known to us than He who benefits us? But if
this can be nothing besides God, it is absurd
and vain to suppose that the divine power, than
which nothing is greater or better, is able to in-
jure, but unable to benefit ; and accordingly no
one has ever existed who ventured to assert this,
because it is neither reasonable nor in any way
credible. And because this is agreed upon, let
us pass on and seek after the truth elsewhere.

CHAP. IV. — OF GOD AND HIS AFFECTIONS, AND
THE CENSURE OF EPICURUS,

That which follows is concerning the school
of Epicurus ; that as there is no anger in God,
so indeed there is no kindness. For when Epi-
curus thought that it was inconsistent with God
to injure and to inflict harm, which for the most
part arises from the affection of anger, he took
away from Him beneficence also, since he saw
that it followed that if Ciod has anger. He must
also have kindness. Therefore, lest he should
concede to Him a vice, he deprived Him also
of virtue.^ From this, he says, He is happy and
uncorrupted, because He cares about nothing,
and neither takes trouble Himself nor occasions
it to another. Therefore He is not God, if He

'> [Ne illi vitium concederet etiam virtutis fecit expertem.J

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OE GOD.

261

is neither moved, which is peculiar to a living
being, nor does anything impossible for man,
which is peculiar to God, if He has no will at
all, no action, in short, no administration, which
is worthy of God. And what greater, what more
worthy atlministration can be attributed to God,
than the government of the world, and especially
of the human race, to which all earthly things
are subject?

What happiness, then, can there be in God,
if He is always inactive, being at rest and un-
moveable ? if He is deaf to those who pray to
Him, and blind to His worshippers ? What is so
worthy of God, and so befitting to Him, as provi-
dence ? But if He cares for nothing, and fore-
sees nothing, He has lost all His divinity. What
else does he say, who takes from God all power
and all substance, except that there is no God
at all? In short, Marcus Tullius relates that it
was said by Posidonius,' that Epicurus under-
stood that there were no gods, but that he said
those things which he spoke respecting the gods
for the sake of driving away odium ; and so that
he leaves the gods in words, but takes them
away in reality, since he gives them no motion,
no office. But if this is so, what can be more
deceitful than him? And this ought to be for-
eign to the character of a wise and weighty man.
But if he understood one thing and spoke an-
other, what else is he to be called than a deceiver,
double-tongued, wicked, and moreover foolish?
But Epicurus was not so crafty as to say those
things with the desire of deceiving, when he
consigned these things also by his writings to
everlasting remembrance ; but he erred through
ignorance of the truth. For, being led from
the beginning by the probability^ of a single
opinion, he necessarily fell into those things
which followed. For the first opinion was, that
anger was not consistent with the character of
God. And when this appeared to him to be
true and unassailable,^ he was unable to refuse
the consequences ; because one affection being
removed, necessity itself compelled him to re-
move from God the other affections also. Thus,
he who is not subject to anger is plainly uninflu-
enced by kindness, which is the opposite feeling
to anger. Now, if there is neither anger nor
kindness in Him, it is manifest that there is
neither fear, nor joy, nor grief, nor pity. For
all the affections have one system, one motion,-*
which cannot be the case with God. But if
there is no affection in God, because whatever
is subject to affections is weak, it follows that
there is in Him neither the care of anything, nor
providence.

' [Disciple of Panaetius the Rhodian, a Stoic, third century B.C.]
^ Verisimilitudine, i.e., likeness of truth.
3 Inexpugnabile, impregnable.
■* Commotio.

The disputation of the wise man s extends thus
far : he was silent as to the other things which
follow ; namely, that because there is in Him
neither care nor providence, therefore there is
no reflection nor any perception in Him, by
which it is effected that He has no existence at
all. Thus, when he had gradually descended,
he remained on the last step, because he now
saw the precipice. But what does it avail to
have remained silent, and concealed the danger?
Necessity compelled him even against his will to
fall. For he said that which he did not mean,
because he so arranged his argument that he
necessarily came to that point which he wished
to avoid. You see, therefore, to what point he
comes, when anger is removed and taken away
from God. In short, either no one believes that,
or a very few, and they the guilty and the wicked,
who hope for impunity for their sins. But if
this also is found to be false, that there is neither
anger nor kindness in God, let us come to that
which is put in the third place.

CHAP. V, THE OPINION OF THE STOICS CONCERN-
ING GOD ; OF HIS ANGER AND KINDNESS.

The Stoics and some others are supposed to
have entertained much better sentiments respect-
ing the divine nature, who say that there is kind-
ness in God, but not anger. A very pleasing
and popular speech, that God is not subject to
such Httleness of mind as to imagine that He is
injured by any one, since it is impossible for
Him to be injured ; so that that serene and holy
majesty is excited, disturbed, and maddened,
which is the part of human frailty. For they
say that anger is a commotion and perturbation
of the mind, which is inconsistent with God.
Since, when it falls upon the mind of any one,
as a violent tempest it excites such waves that it
changes the condition of the mind, the eyes
gleam, the countenance trembles, the tongue
stammers, the teeth chatter, the countenance is
alternately stained now with redness spread over
it, now with white paleness. But if anger is un-
becoming to a man, provided he be of wisdom
and authority, how much more is so foul a change
unbecoming to God ! And if man, when he has
authority and power, inflicts widespread injury
through anger, sheds blood, overthrows cities,
destroys communities, reduces provinces to deso-
lation, how much more is it to be believed that
God, since He has power over the whole human
race, and over the universe itself, would have
been about to destroy all things if He were
angry.

Therefore they think that so great and so per-
nicious an evil ought to be absent from Him.
And if anger and excitement are absent from

5 Epicurus: it seems to be spoken with some irony.

262

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

Him, because it is disfiguring and injurious, and
He inflicts injury on no one, they think that
nothing else remains, except that He is mild,
calm, propitious, beneficent, the preserver. For
thus at length He may be called the common
Father of all, and the best and greatest, which
His divine and heavenly nature demands. For
if among men it appears praiseworthy to do
good rather than to injure, to restore to life '
rather than to kill, to save rather than to destroy,
and innocence is not undeservedly numbered
among the virtues, — and he who does these
things is loved, esteemed, honoured, and cele-
brated with all blessings and vows, — in short,
on account of his deserts and benefits is judged
to be most like to God ; how much more right
is it that God Himself, who excels in divine and
perfect virtues, and who is removed from all
earthly taint, should conciliate ^ the whole race
of man by divine and heavenly benefits ! Those
things are spoken speciously and in a popular
manner, and they allure many to believe them ;
but they who entertain these sentiments ap-
proach nearer indeed to the truth, but they
partly fail, not sufficiently considering the nature
of the case. For if God is not angry with the
impious and the unrighteous, it is clear that
He does not love the pious and the righteous.
Therefore the error of those is more consistent
who take away at once both anger and kind-
ness. For in opposite matters it is necessary to
be moved to both sides or to neither. Thus, he
who loves the good also hates the wicked, and
he who does not hate the wicked does not love
the good ; because the loving of the good arises
from the hatred of the wicked, and the hating
of the wicked has its rise from the love of the
good. There is no one who loves life without a
hatred of death, nor who is desirous of light,
but he who avoids darkness. These things are
so connected by nature, that the one cannot ex-
ist without the other.

If any master has in his household a good and
a bad servant, it is evident that he does not
hate them both, or confer upon both benefits
and honours ; for if he does this, he is both un-
just and foolish. But he addresses the one who
is good with friendly words, and honours him,
and sets him over his house and household, and
all his affairs ; but punishes the bad one with
reproaches, with stripes, with nakedness, with
hunger, with thirst, with fetters : so that the lat-
ter may be an example to others to keep them
from sinning, and the former to conciliate them ;
so that fear may restrain some, and honour may
excite others. He, therefore, who loves also
hates, and he who hates also loves ; for there
are those who ought to be loved, and there are

■ Vivificare.

* Promereri.

those who ought to be hated. And as he who
loves confers good things on those whom he
loves, so he who hates inflicts evils upon those
whom he hates ; which argument, because it is
true, can in no way be refuted. Therefore the
opinion of those is vain and false, who, when
they attribute the one to God, take away the
other, not less than the opinion of those who
take away both. But the latter,^ as we have
shown, in part do not err, but retain that which
is the better of the two ; whereas the former,*
led on by the accurate method of their reason-
ing, fall into the greatest error, because they
have assumed premises which are altogether
false. For they ought not to have reasoned
thus : Because God is not liable to anger, there-
fore He is not moved by kindness ; but in this
manner : Because God is moved by kindness,
therefore He is also liable to anger. For if it
had been certain and undoubted that God is
not liable to anger, then the other point would
necessarily be arrived at. But since the ques-
tion as to whether God is angry is more open to
doubt, while it is almost perfectly plain that He
is kind, it is absurd to wish to subvert that which
is certain by means of an uncertainty, since it is
easier to confirm uncertain things by means of
those which are certain.

CHAP. VI. THAT GOD IS ANGRY.

These are the opinions entertained by the phi-
losophers respecting God. But if we have discov-
ered that these things which have been spoken
are false, there remains that one last resource,
in which alone the truth can be found, which
has never been embraced by philosophers, nor
at any time defended : that it follows that God
is angry, since He is moved by kindness. This
opinion is to be maintained and asserted by us ;
for 5 this is the sum and turning-point on which
the whole of piety and religion depend : and no
honour can be due to God, if He affords nothing
to His worshippers ; and no fear, if He is not
angry with him who does not worship Him.^

CHAP. VII. OF MAN, AND THE BRUTE ANIMALS,

AJTO RELIGION.

Though philosophers have often turned aside
from reason through their ignorance of the truth,
and have fallen into inextricable errors (for that
is wont to happen to these which happens to a
traveller ignorant of the way, and not confessing
that he is ignorant, — namely, that he wantlers
about, while he is ashamed to inquire from those

3 The Stoics. [Encountered first by St. P.iul, Acts xvii. i8.]
* The Epicureans. [//»/(/.]

5 In eo enim summa omniset carioreligionis pietatisque versatur.

6 j This fear of the Lord is Jih'a/, not servile; and this anger is
likewise twofold, including fatherly and corrective indignation, and
the wrath of the magistrate, which inflicts penally and retribution.
Compare Ps. vii. ii ; also p. 104, note i, !>upra.\

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

263

whom he meets), no philosopher, however, has
ever made the assertion that there is no differ-
ence between man and the brutes. Nor has any
one at all, provided that he wished to appear
wise, reduced a rational animal to the level of
the mute and irrational ; which some ignorant
persons do, resembling the brutes themselves,
who, wishing to give themselves up to the in-
dulgence of their appetite and pleasure, say that
they are bom on the same principle as all living
animals, which it is impious for man to say. For
who is so unlearned as not to know, who is so
void of understanding as not to perceive, that
there is something divine in man ? I do not as
yet come to the excellences of the soul and of
the intellect, by which there is a manifest affinity
between man and God. Does not the position
of the body itself, and the fashion of the counte-
nance, declare that we are not on a level with
the dumb creation? Their nature is prostrated
to the ground and to their pasture, and has noth-
ing in common with the heaven, which they do
not look upon. But man, with his erect position,
with his elevated countenance raised to the con-
templation of the universe, compares his features
with God, and reason recognises reason.'

And on this account there is no animal, as
Cicero says,^ except man, which has any knowl-
edge of God. For he alone is furnished with
wisdom, so that he alone understands religion ;
and this is the chief or only difference between
man and the dumb animals. For the other
things which appear to be peculiar to man, even
if there are not such in the dumb animals, never-
theless may appear to be similar. Speech is
peculiar to man ; yet even in these there is a
certain resemblance to speech. For they both
distinguish one another by their voices ; and
when they are angry, they send forth a sound
resembhng altercation ; and when they see one
another after an interval of time, they show the
office of congratulation by their voice. To us,
indeed, their voices appear uncouth,^ as ours
perhaps do to them ; but to themselves, who un-
derstand one another, they are words. In short,
in every affection they utter distinct expressions
of voice '* by which they may show their state of
mind. Laughter also is peculiar to man ; and
yet we see certain indications of joy in other
animals, when they use passionate gestures 5 with
a view to sports, hang down *" their ears, contract
their mouth, smooth their forehead, relax their
eyes to sportiveness. What is so peculiar to
man as reason and the foreseeing of the future ?

' The reason of man, man's rational nature, recognises the divine
reason, i.e., God. [Confert cum Deo vultum et rationem ratio cog-
noscit. Hence Milton's " human face divine."]

- De Legibus, i. 8.

3 Incondita, " unformed, or rude." [Sec p. 77, iupraJ\

* [Vol. vi. note 3, p. 452, this series.]

5 Ad lusum gestiunt.

<> Demulcent.

But there are animals which open several outlets
in different directions from their lairs, that if any
danger comes upon them, an escape may be
open for them shut in ; but they would not do
this unless they possessed intelligence and re-
flection. Others are provident for the future, as

" Ants, when they plunder a great heap of corn, mindful
of the winter, and lay it up in their dwelling; "'

again, —

" As bees, which alone know a country and fixed abodes ;
and mindful of the winter which is to come, they
practise labour in the summer, and lay up their
gains as a common stock." *

It would be a long task if I should wish to
trace out the things most resembling the skill
of man, which are accustomed to be done by
the separate tribes of animals. But if, in the
case of all these things which are wont to be
ascribed to man, there is found to be some
resemblance even in the dumb animals, it is
evident that religion is the only thing of which
no trace can be found in the dumb animals, nor
any indication. For justice is peculiar to reli-
gion, and to this no other animal attains. For
man alone bears rule ; the other animals are
subjected ^ to him. But the worship of God is
ascribed to justice ; and he who does not em-
brace this, being far removed from the nature
of man, will live the life of the brutes under the
form of man. But since we differ from the other
animals almost in this respect alone, that we
alone of all perceive the divine might and power,
while in the others there is no understanding of
God, it is surely impossible that in this respect
either the dumb animals should have more wis-
dom, or human nature should be unwise, since
all living creatures, and the whole system of
nature, are subject to man on account of his
wisdom. Wherefore if reason, if the force of
man in this respect, excels and surpasses the
rest of living creatures, inasmuch as he alone is
capable of the knowledge of God, it is evident
that religion can in no way be overthrown.

CHAP. Vni. — OF RELIGION.

But religion is overthrown if we believe Epi-
curus speaking thus : —

" For the nature of gods must ever in itself of necessity
enjoy immortality together with supreme repose,
far removed and withdrawn from our concerns ;
since, exempt from every pain, exempt from all
dangers, strong in its own resources, not wanting
aught of us, it is neither gained by favours nor
moved by anger." "°

Now, when he says these things, does he think
that any worship is to be paid to God, or does

' Virg., yEn., iv. 402.

8 Virg., Georg., iv. 155.

9 Conciliata sunt.
1° Lucret., ii. 646.

264

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

he entirely overthrow religion ? For if God con-
fers nothing good on any one, if He repays the
obedience of His worshipper with no favour,
what is so senseless, what so foolish, as to build
temples, to offer sacrifices, to present gifts, to
diminish our property, that we may obtain
nothing?' But (it will be said) it is right that
an excellent nature should be honoured. What
honour can be due to a being who pays no re-
gard to us, and is ungrateful ? Can we be bound
in any manner to him who has nothing in com-
mon with us? " Farewell to God," says Cicero,^
" if He is such as to be influenced by no favour,
and by no affection of men. For why should I
say ' may He be propitious ? ' for He can be
propitious to no one." What can be spoken
more contemptible with respect to God ? Fare-
well to Him, he says, that is, let Him depart
and retire, since He is able to profit no one.
But if God takes no trouble, nor occasions
trouble to another, why then should we not
commit crimes as often as it shall be in our
power to escape the notice of men,^ and to
cheat the public laws ? Wherever we shall ob-
tain a favourable opportunity of escaping notice,
let us take advantage of the occasion : let us
take away the property of others, either without
bloodshed or even with blood, if there is nothing
else besides the laws to be reverenced.

While Epicurus entertains these sentiments, he
altogether destroys religion ; and when this is
taken away, confusion and perturbation of life
will follow. But if religion cannot be taken
away without destroying our hold of wisdom,
by which we are separated from the brutes, and
of justice, by which the public life may be more
secure, how can religion itself be maintained or
guarded without fear? For that which is not
feared is despised, and that which is despised is
plainly not reverenced. Thus it comes to pass
that religion, and majesty, and honour exist to-
gether with fear ; but there is no fear where no
one is angry. Whether, therefore, you take away
from God kindness, or anger, or both, religion
must be taken away, without which the life of
men is full of folly, of wickedness, and enormity.
For conscience greatly curbs men, if we believe
that we are living in the sight of God ; if we
imagine not only that the actions which we per-
form are seen from above, but also that our
thoughts and our words are heard by God. But
it is profitable to believe this, as some imagine,
not for the sake of the truth, but of utility, since
laws cannot punish conscience unless some ter-
ror from above hangs over to restrain offences.
Therefore religion is altogether false, and there is
no divinity ; but all things are made up by skilful

' i.e., without any result.

' De Nat. Dror., i. 44.

' Hominum conscientiam fallcre.

men, in order that they may live more uprightly
and innocently. This is a great question, and
foreign to the subject which we have proposed ;
but because it necessarily occurs, it ought to be
handled, however briefly.

CHAP. IX. — OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, AND
OF OPINIONS OPPOSED TO IT.

When the philosophers of former times had
agreed in their opinions respecting providence,
and there was no doubt but that the world was
set in order by God and reason, and was gov-
erned by reason, Protagoras, in the times of
Socrates, was the first of all who said that it
was not clear to him whether there was any
divinity or not. And this disputation of his was
judged so impious, and so contrary to the
truth and to religion, that the Athenians both
banished him from their territories, and burnt in
a public assembly those books of his in which
these statements were contained. But there is
no need to speak respecting his opinions, be-
cause he pronounced nothing certain. After
these things Socrates and his disciple Plato, and
those who flowed forth from the school of Plato
like rivulets into different directions, namely, the
Stoics and Peripatetics, were of the same opin-
ion as those who went before them.'*

Afterwards Epicurus said that there was in-
deed a God, because it was necessary that there
should be in the world some being of surpassing
excellence, distinction, and blessedness ; yet that
there was no providence, and thus that the
world itself was ordered by no plan, nor art, nor
workmanship, but that the universe was made
up of certain minute and indivisible seeds. But
I do not see what can be said more repugnant
to the truth. For if there is a God, as God He
is manifestly provident ; nor can divinity be at-
tributed to Him in any other way than if He
retains the past, and knows the present, and
foresees the future. Therefore, in taking away
providence, he also denied the existence of God.
But when he openly acknowledged the existence
of God, at the same time he also admitted His
providence ; for the one cannot exist at all, or
be understood, without the other. But in those
later times in which philosophy had now lost its
vigour,5 there lived a certain Diagoras of Melos,^
who altogether denied the existence of God,
and on account of this sentiment was called
atheist ; ^ also Theodorus ^ of Gyrene : both of
whom, because they were unable to discover
anything new, all things having already been
said and found out, preferred even, in opposi-
tion to the truth, to deny that in which all pre-

« [A beautiful formula of the history of Greek philosophy.]

S Uetloruerat.

*> I^Vol. vi. p. 411.]

7 at^cuv.

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

26:

ceding philosophers had agreed without any
ambiguity. These are they who attacked provi-
dence, which had been asserted and defended
through so many ages by so many intellects.
What then? Shall we refute those trifling and
inactive philosophers by reason, or by the au-
thority of distinguished men, or rather by both ?
But we must hasten onwards, lest our speech
should wander too far from our subject.

CHAP. X. — OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD, AND
THE NATURE OF AFFAIRS, AND THE PROVIDENCE
OF GOD.

They who do not admit that the world was
made by divine providence, either say that it is
composed of first principles coming together at
random, or that it suddenly came into existence
by nature, but hold, as Straton ' does, that nature
has in itself the power of production and of
diminution, but that it has neither sensibility
nor figure, so that we may understand that all
things were produced spontaneously, without any
artificer or author. Each opinion is vain and
impossible. But this happens to those who are
ignorant of the truth, that they devise anything,
rather than perceive that which the nature of the
subject 2 requires. First of all, with respect to
those minute seeds, by the meeting together of
which they say that the whole world came into
existence,^ I ask where or whence they are.
Who has seen them at any time? Who has
perceived them ? Who has heard them ? Had
none but Leucippus"* -eyes? Had he alone a
mind, who assuredly alone of all men was blind
and senseless, since he spoke those things which
no sick man could have uttered in his ravings,^
or one asleep in his dreams ?

The ancient philosophers argued that all things
were made up of four elements.^ He would
not admit this, lest he should appear to tread in
the footsteps of others ; but he held that there
were other first principles of the elements them-
selves, which can neither be seen, nor touched,
nor be perceived by any part of the body.
They are so minute, he says, that there is no
edge of a sword so fine that they can be cut and
divided by it. From which circumstance he
gave them the name of atoms. But it occurred
to him, that if they all had one and the same
nature, they could not make up different objects
of so great a variety as we see to be present in
the world. He said, therefore, that there were
smooth and rough ones, and round, and angu-
lar, and hooked. How much better had it
been to be silent, than to have a tongue for such

' [Peripatetic; succeeded Theophrastus B.C. 238.]

2 Ratio.

3 Coiisse.

* [Leucippus, anterior to B.C. 470, author of the atomic theory.]
5 l)elirare posset.

* [See Tayler Lewis, Plato contra Atheos, p. 119.]

miserable and empty uses ! And, indeed, I
fear lest he who thinks these things worthy of
refutation, should appear no less to rave. Let
us, however, reply as to one who says some-
thing.7 If they are soft ^ and round, it is plain
that they cannot lay hold of one another, so as
to make some body ; as, though any one should
wish to bind together millet into one combina-
tion,9 the very softness of the grains would not
permit them to come together into a mass. If
they are rough, and angular, and hooked, so that
they may be able to cohere, then they are divisi-
ble, and capable of being cut ; for hooks and
angles must project,'" so that they may possibly
be cut off.

Therefore that which is able to be cut off and
torn away, will be able both to be seen and held.
"These," he says, "flutter about with restless
motions through empty space, and are carried
hither and thither, just as we see little particles
of dust in the sun when it has introduced its
rays and light through a window. From these
there arise trees and herbs, and all fruits of the
earth ; from these, animals, and water, and fire,
and all things are produced, and are again re-
solved into the same elements." This can be
borne as long as the inquiry is respecting small
matters. Even the world itself was made up of
these. He has reached to the full extent of per-
fect madness : it seems impossible that anything
further should be said, and yet he found some-
thing to add. " Since everything," he says, " is
infinite, and nothing can be empty, it follows of
necessity that there are innumerable worlds."
What force of atoms had been so great, that
masses so incalculable should be collected from
such minute elements? And first of all I ask,
What is the nature or origin of those seeds?
For if all things are from them, whence shall we
say that they themselves are ? What nature sup-
plied such an abundance of matter for the mak-
ing of innumerable worlds? But let us grant
that he raved with impunity concerning worlds ;
let us speak respecting this in which we are,
and which we see. He says that all things are
made from minute bodies which are incapable of
division.

If this were so, no object would ever need
the seed of its own kind. Birds would be born
without eggs, or eggs without bringing forth ;
likewise the rest of the living creatures without
coition : trees and the productions of the earth
would not have their own seeds, which we daily
handle and sow. Why does a corn-field arise
from grain, and again grain from a corn-field?
In short, if the meeting together and collecting

7 i.e., something to the purpose.

8 Lenia; others read " laevia," smooth.

9 Coagmentationem.

•° Eminere, " to stand out prominently."

266

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

of atoms would effect all things, all things would
grow together in the air, since atoms flutter
about through empty space. Why cannot the
herb, why cannot the tree or grain, arise or be
increased without earth, without roots, without
moisture, without seed ? From which it is evi-
dent that nothing is made up from atoms, since
everything has its own peculiar and fixed nature,
its own seed, its own law given from the begin-
ning. Finally, Lucretius, as though forgetful of
atoms,' which he was maintaining, in order that
he might refute those who say that all things are
produced from nothing, employed these argu-
ments, which might have weighed against him-
self For he thus spoke : —

" If things came from nothing, any kind might be born
of anything ; nothing would require seed." *

Likewise afterwards : —

" We must admit, therefore, that nothing can come from
nothing, since things require seed before they can
severally be born, and be brought out into the
buxom fields of air." '

Who would imagine that he had brain when
he said these things, and did not see that they
were contrary to one another? For that noth-
ing is made by means of atoms, is apparent
from this, that everything has a definite * seed,
unless by chance we shall believe that the nature
both of fire and water is derived from atoms.
Why should I say, that if materials of the great-
est hardness are struck together with a violent
blow, fire is struck out? Are atoms concealed
in the steel, or in the flint ? Who shut them in ?
Or why do they not leap forth spontaneously?
Or how could the seeds of fire remain in a ma-
terial of the greatest coldness ?

I leave the subject of the flint and steel. If
you hold in the sun an orb of crystal filled with
water, fire is kindled from the light which is re-
flected from the water, even in the most severe
cold. Must we then believe that fire is contained
in the water? And yet fire cannot be kindled
from the sun even in summer. If you shall
breathe upon wax, or if a light vapour shall touch
anything — either the hard surface 5 of marble or
a plate of metal — water is gradually condensed
by means of the most minute drops. Also from
the exhalation of the earth or sea mist is formed,
which either, being dispersed, moistens whatever
it has covered, or being collected, is carried aloft
by the wind to high mountains, and comj^ressed
into cloud, and sends down great rains. Where,
then, do we say that fluids are produced? Is it
in the vapour? Or in the exhalation? Or in the
wind? But nothing can be formed in that which

' rVol. vi. p. 445, note i8.]

^ Lucret., i. i6o.

3 Ibid., i. 2o6.

* Cerium.

S Cru^>tam marmoris.

is neither touched nor seen. Why should I speak
of animals, in whose bodies we see nothing
formed without plan, without arrangement, with-
out utility, without beauty, so that the most
skilful and careful marking out ^ of all the parts
and members repels the idea of accident and
chance ? But let us suppose it possible that the
limbs, and bones, and nerves, and blood should
be made up of atoms. What of the senses, the
reflection, the memory, the mind, the natural
capacity : from what seeds can they be com-
pacted ?? He says. From the most minute.
There are therefore others of greater size. How,
then, are they indivisible ?

In the next place, if the things which are not
seen are formed from invisible seeds, it follows
that those which are seen are from visible seeds.
Why, then, does no one see them ? But whethef
any one regards the invisible parts which are in
man, or the parts which can be touched, and
which are visible, who does not see that both
parts exist in accordance with design ? ^ How,
then, can bodies which meet together without
design effect anything reasonable ? 9 For we see
that there is nothing in the whole world which
has not in itself very great and wonderful design.
And since this is above the sense and capacity
of man, to what can it be more rightly attributed
than to the divine providence? If a statue, the
resemblance of man, is made by the exercise of
design and art, shall we suppose that man him-
self is made up of fragments which come to-
gether at random? And what resemblance to
the truth is there in the thing produced,'" when
the greatest and most surpassing skill " can imi-
tate nothing more than the mere outline and
extreme lineaments '^ of the body? Was the
skill of man able to give to his production any
motion or sensibility ? I say nothing of the ex-
ercise of the sight, of hearing, and of smelling,
and the wonderful uses of the other members,
either those which are in sight or those which
are hidden from view. What artificer could have
fabricated either the heart of man, or the voice,
or his very wisdom ? Does any man of sound
mind, therefore, think that that which man cannot
do by reason and judgment, may be accomplished
by a meeting together of atoms everywhere ad-
hering to each other? You see into what foolish
ravings they have fallen, while they are unwilling
to assign to God the making and the care of all
things.

Let us, however, concede to them that the
things which are earthly are made from atoms :
are the things also which are heavenly? They

* Descriptio.
' Coagmentari.

8 Katio.

9 Rationale,
'o Ficto.

" Arlifioiiim.

'- U;iiljraiii tl cxtrcma lineamsnta.

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

267

say that the gods are without contamination,
eternal, and blessed ; and they grant to them
alone an exemption, so that they do not appear
to be made up of a meeting together of atoms.
For if the gods also had been made up of these,
they would be liable to be dispersed, the seeds
at length being resolved, and returning to their
own nature. Therefore, if there is something
which the atoms could not produce, why may
we not judge in the same way of the others?
But I ask why the gods did not build for them-
selves a dwelling-place before those first elements
produced the world ? It is manifest that, unless
the atoms had come together and made the
heaven, the gods would still be suspended
through the midst of empty space. By what
counsel, then, by what plan, did the atoms from
a confused mass collect themselves, so that from
some the earth below was formed into a globe,
and the heaven stretched out above, adorned
with so great a variety of constellations that
nothing can be conceived more embellished?
Can he, therefore, who sees such and so great
objects, imagine that they were made without
any design, without any providence, without any
divine intelligence, but that such great and won-
derful things arose out of fine and minute atoms?
Does it not resemble a prodigy, that there should
be any human being who might say these things,
or that there should be those who might believe
them — as Democritus, who was his hearer, or
Epicurus, to whom all folly flowed forth from
the fountain of Leucippus? But, as others say,
the world was made by Nature, which is without
perception and figure.' But this is much more
absurd. If Nature made the world, it must have
made it by judgment and intelligence ; for it is
he that makes something who has either the in-
clination to make it, or knowledge. If nature is
without perception and figure, how can that be
made by it which has both perception and figure,
unless by chance any one thinks that the fabric
of animals, which is so delicate, could have been
formed and animated by that which is without
perception, or that that figure of heaven, which
is prepared with such foresight for the uses of
living beings, suddenly came into existence by
some accident or other, without a builder, with-
out an artificer?^

" If there is anything," says Chrysippus,
" which effects those things which man, though
he is endowed with reason, cannot do, that as-
suredly is greater, and stronger, and wiser than
man." But man cannot make heavenly things ;
therefore that which shall produce or has pro-
duced these things surpasses man in art, in
design, in skill, and in power. Who, therefore,
can it be but God ? But Nature, which they

' [See p. 97, note 4. su/>ra.^

* [See Cicero's judgment, p. 99, note 6, supra.^

suppose to be, as it were, the mother of all
things, if it has not a mind, will effect nothing,
will contrive nothing ; for where there is no re-
flection there is neither motion nor efficacy.
But if it uses counsel for the commencement of
anything, reason for its arrangement, art for its
accomplishment, energy for its consummation,
and power to govern and control, why should it
be called Nature rather than God? Or if a
concourse of atoms, or Nature without mind,
made those things which we see, I ask why it
was able to make the heaven, but unable to
make a city or a house ? ^ Why it made moun-
tains of marble, but did not make columns and
statues? But ought not atoms to have come
together to effect these things, since they leave
no position untried? For concerning Nature,
which has no mind, it is no wonder that it for-
got to do these things. What, then, is the
case? It is plain that God, when He com-
menced this work of the world, — than which
nothing can be better arranged with respect
to order, nor more befitting as to utility, nor
more adorned as to beauty, nor greater as to
bulk, — Himself made the things which could
not be made by man ; and among these also
man himself, to whom He gave a portion of
His own wisdom, and furnished him with rea-
son, as much as earthly frailty was capable
of receiving, that he might make for himself
the things which were necessary for his own
uses.

But if in the commonwealth of this world, so
to speak, there is no providence which rules, no
God who administers, no sense at all prevails in
this nature of things. From what source there-
fore will it be believed that the human mind,
with its skill and its intelligence, had its origin ?
For if the body of man was made from the
ground, from which circumstance man received
his name ; ■♦ it follows that the soul, which has
intelligence, and is the ruler of the body, which
the limbs obey as a king and commander, which
can neither be looked upon nor comprehended,
could not have come to man except from a wise
nature. But as mind and soul govern everybody,
so also does God govern the world. For it is
not probable that lesser and humble things bear
rule, but that greater and highest things do not
bear rule. In short, Marcus Cicero, in his Tus-
ailan Disputations^'^ and in his Consolation,
says : " No origin of souls can be found on
earth. For there is nothing, he says, mixed
and compound ^ in souls, or which may appear
to be produced and made up from the earth ;
nothing moist or airy,'' or of the nature of fire.

3 [See Dionysius, cap. ii. p. 85, vol. vi., this series.]
■♦ Homo ab humo.
5 [Book i. cap. 27.]
*" Concretum.
^ Flabile.

268

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

For in these natures there is nothing which has
the force of memory, of mind and reflection,
which both retains the past and foresees the
future, and is able to comprise the present ;
which things alone are divine. For no source
will ever be found from which they are able to
come to man, unless it be from God." Since,
therefore, with the exception of two or three
vain calumniators, it is agreed upon that the
world is governed by providence, as also it was
made, and there is no one who ventures to prefer
the opinion of Diagoras and Theodorus, or the
empty fiction of Leucippus, or the levity of
Democritus and Epicurus, either to the authority
of those seven ancient men who were called
wise,' or to that of Pythagoras or of Socrates or
Plato, and the other philosophers who judged
that there is a providence ; therefore that opinion
also is false, by which they think that religion
was instituted by wise men for the sake of terror
and fear, in order that ignorant men might ab-
stain from sins.

But if this is true, it follows that we are de-
rided by the wise men of old. But if they in-
vented religion for the sake of deceiving us, and
moreover of deceiving the whole human race,
therefore they were not wise, because falsehood
is not consistent with the character of the wise
man. But grant that they were wise ; what
great success in falsehood was it, that they were
able to deceive not only the unlearned, but Plato
also, and Socrates, and so easily to delude Py-
thagoras, Zeno, and Aristotle, the chiefs of the
greatest sects? There is therefore a divine
providence, as those men whom I have named
perceived, by the energy and power of which
all things which we see were both made and are
governed. For so vast a system of things,^ such
arrangement and such regularity in preserving
the settled orders and times, could neither at
first have arisen without a provident artificer, or
have existed so many ages without a powerful
inhabitant, or have been perpetually governed
without a skilful and intelligent ^ ruler ; and
reason itself declares this. For whatever ex-
ists which has reason, must have arisen from
reason. Now reason is the part of an intelli-
gent and wise nature ; but a wise and intelligent
nature can be nothing else than God. Now
the world, since it has reason, by which it is
both governed and kept together, was therefore
made by God. But if God is the maker and
ruler of the world, then religion is rightly and
truly established ; for honour and worship are
due to the author and common parent of all
things.

' [P. toi, supra; also vol. v p. n, note 2.]

* Tanta reium magnitudo.

3 Sentiente; others read "sciente."

CHAP. XI. OF GOD, AND THAT THE ONE GOD,

AND BY WHOSE PROVIDENCE THE WORLD IS
GOVERNED AND EXISTS.

Since it is agreed upon concerning providence,
it follows that we show whether it is to be be-
lieved that it belongs to many, or rather to one
only. We have sufficiently taught, as 1 think, in
our Institutions, that there cannot be many
gods ; because, if the divine energy and power
be distributed among several, it must necessarily
be diminished. But that which is lessened is
plainly mortal ; but if He is not mortal, He can
neither be lessened nor divided. Therefore
there is but one God, in whom complete energy
and power can neither be lessened nor increased.
But if there are many, while they separately have
something of power and authority, the sum
itself decreases ; nor will they separately be
able to have the whole, which they have in com-
mon with others : so much will be wanting to
each as the others shall possess. There cannot
therefore be many rulers in this world, nor many
masters in one house, nor many pilots in one
ship, nor many leaders in one herd or flock, nor
many queens in one swarm. But there could
not have been many suns in heaven, as there
are not several souls in one body ; so entirely
does the whole of nature agree in unity. But
if the world

" Is nourished by a soul,
A spirit whose celestial flame
Glows in each member of the frame,
And stirs the mighty whole," *

it is evident from the testimony of the poet, that
there is one God who inhabits the world, since
the whole body cannot be inhabited and gov-
erned except by one mind. Therefore all di-
vine power must be in one person, by whose
will and command all things are ruled ; and
therefore He is so great, that He cannot be
described in words by man, or estimated by the
senses. From what source, therefore, did the
opinion or persuasion 5 respecting many gods
come to men? Without doubt, all those who
are worshipped as gods were men, and were also
the earliest and greatest kings ; but who is igno-
rant that they were invested with divine honours
after death, either on account of the virtue by
which they had profited the race of men, or that
they obtained immortal memory on account of
the benefits and inventions by which they had
adorned human life? And not only men, but
women also. And this, both the most ancient
writers of Greece, whom they call iheologi^ and
also Roman writers following and imitating the

* Virg., ^n., vi. 726.
S Persuasiove; most editions read '
ing is not so good.

persuasione," but the mean-

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

269

Greeks, teach ; of wliom especially Euhemerus
and our Ennius, who point out the birth-
days, marriages, offspring, governments, exploits,
deaths, and tombs ' of all of them. And Tul-
lius, following them, in his third book, On the
Nature of the Gods, destroyed the public reli-
gions ; but neither he himself nor any other per-
son was able to introduce the true one, of
which he was ignorant. And thus he himself
testified that that which was false was evident ;
that the truth, however, lay concealed. " Would
to heaven," he says, " that I could as easily dis-
cover true things as refute those that are false ! " ^
And this he proclaimed not with dissimulation
as an Academic, but truly and in accordance
with the feeling of his mind, because the truth
cannot be uprooted from human perceptions :
that which the foresight of man was able to at-
tain to, he attained to, that he might expose
false things. For whatever is fictitious and false,
because it is supported by no reason, is easily
destroyed. There is therefore one God, the
source and origin of all things, as Plato both
felt and taught in the Titnceus, whose majesty
he declares to be so great, that it can neither be
comprehended by the mind nor be expressed by
the tongue.

Hermes bears the same testimony, whom
Cicero asserts ^ to be reckoned by the Egyp-
tians among the number of the gods. I speak
of him who, on account of his excellence and
knowledge of many arts, was called Trismegis-
tus ; and he was far more ancient not only than
Plato, but than Pythagoras, and those seven wise
men.-* In Xenophon,5 Socrates, as he discourses,
says that " the form of God ought not to be in-
quired about ; " and Plato, in his Book of Laws ^
says : "What God is, ought not to be the subject
of inquiry, because it can neither be found out
nor related." Pythagoras also admits that there
is but one God, saying that there is an incorpo-
real mind, which, being diffused and stretched
through all nature, gives vital perception to all
living creatures ; but Antisthenes, in his Physics,
said that there was but one natural God, although
the nations and cities have gods of their own
people. Aristotle, with his followers the Peri-
patetics, and Zeno with his followers the Stoics,
say nearly the same things. Truly it would be
a long task to follow up the opinions of all sepa-
rately, who, although they used different names,
nevertheless agreed in one power which governed
the world. But, however, though philosophers
and poets, and those, in short, who worship the
gods, often acknowledge the Supreme God, yet

■ Sepulcra: others read " simulacra."

\ ^f-^"':: ^^'"'■' '• 32- [See p. 29, note 2, supra.]
^ Jpia., ui. 22.

* [P. 268, note I, supra.]
5 Mentor., iv. 3.

* Lib. vii.

no one ever incjuired into, no one discussed, the
subject of His worship and honours ; with that
persuasion, in truth, with which, always believing
Him to be bounteous and incorruptible, they
thinks that He is neither angry with any one,
nor stands in need of any worship. Thus there
can be no religion where there is no fear.^

CHAP. XII. — OF RELIGION AND THE FEAR OF GOD.

Now, since we have replied to the impious and
detestable wisdom,9 or rather senselessness of
some, let us return to our proposed subject. We
have said that, if religion is taken away, neither
wisdom nor justice can be retained : wisdom,
because the understanding of the divine nature,
in which we differ from the brutes, is found in
man alone ; justice, because unless God, who
cannot be deceived, shall restrain our desires,
we shall live wickedly and impiously. There-
fore, that our actions should be viewed by God,
pertains not only to the usefulness of common
life, but even to the truth ; because, if religion
and justice are taken away, having lost our rea-
son, we either descend to the senselessness ■" of
the herds ; or to the savageness of the beasts,
yea, even more so, since the beasts spare ani-
mals of their own kind. What will be more
savage, what more unmerciful, than man, if, the
fear of a superior being taken away, he shall be
able either to escape the notice of or to despise
the might of the laws ? It is therefore the fear
of God alone which guards the mutual society
of men, by which life itself is sustained, pro-
tected, and governed. But that fear is taken
away if man is persuaded that God is without
anger ; for that He is moved and indignant when
unjust actions are done, not only the common
advantage, but even reason itself, and truth, per-
suade us. We must again return to the former
subjects, that, as we have taught that the world
was made by God, we may teach why it was
made.

CHAP. XIII. OF THE ADVANTAGE AND USE OF THE

WORLD AND OF THE SEASONS.

If any one considers the whole government
of the world, he will certainly understand how
true is the opinion of the Stoics, who say that
the world was made on our account. For all
the things of which the world is composed, and
which it produces from itself, are adapted to the
use of man. Man, accordingly, uses fire for the
purpose of warmth and light, and of softening
his food, and for the working of iron; he uses

7 Arbitrantur; some editions have " arbitrabantur," which appears
preferable.

8 [" -phe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov.
ix. 10). See p. 262, cap. 6, note 6, supra.]

9 Prudentias; another reading is " imprudentia;."
'° Stultitiam.

270

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

springs for drinking, and for baths ; he uses rivers
for irrigating the fields, and assigning boundaries
to countries ; he uses the earth for receiving a
variety of fruits, the hills for planting vineyards,
the mountains for the use of trees and fire-
wood,' the plains for crops of grain ; he uses
the sea not only for commerce, and for receiv-
ing supplies from distant countries, but also for
abundance of every kind of fish. But if he
makes use of these elements to which he is
nearest, there is no doubt that he uses the heav-
en also, since the offices even of heavenly things
are regulated for the fertility of the earth from
which we live. The sun, with its ceaseless courses
and unequal intervals,^ completes its annual cir-
cles, and either at his rising draws forth the day
for labour, or at his setting brings on the night
for repose ; and at one time by his departure
farther towards the south, at another time by his
approach nearer towards the north, he causes
the vicissitudes of winter and summer, so that
both by the moistures and frosts of winter the
earth becomes enriched for fruitfulness, and by
the heats of summer either the produce of grass ^
is hardened by maturity, or that which is in moist
places, being seethed and heated, becomes ri-
pened. The moon also, which governs the time
of night, regulates her monthly courses by the
alternate loss and recovery of light,-* and by the
brightness of her shining illumines the nights
obscure with gloomy darkness, so that journeys
in the summer heat, and expeditions, and works,
may be performed without labour and inconven-
ience ; since

" By night the light stubble, by night
The dry meadows are better mown."'

The other heavenly bodies also, either at their
rising or setting, supply favourable times ^ by
their fixed positions. ^ Moreover, they also af-
ford guidance to ships, that they may not wander
through the boundless deep with uncertain course,
since the pilot duly observing them arrives at the
harbour of the shore at which he aims.'^ Clouds
are attracted by the breath of the winds, that
the fields of sown grain may be watered with
showers, that the vines may abound with prod-
uce, and the trees with fruits. And these things
are exhibited by a succession of changes through-
out the year, that nothing may at any time be
wanting by which the life of men is sustained.
But 9 (it is said) the same earth nourishes the
other living creatures, and by the produce of the

■ Lignorum.

* Spatiis. The word properly refers to a racecourse.
' Herbidae fruges.

* Amissi ac recepti luminis vicibus.
S Virg., Gtorg., i. 289.

* Opportunitates temporum.

' Certis stationibus Others read " sationibus," for certain kinds
of sowing; but " statio " is applied to the stars by Seneca and Pliny.
" Designati.
» An objection is here met and answered.

same even the dumb animals are fed. Has not
God laboured also for the sake of the dumb
animals ? By no means ; because they are void
of reason. On the contrary, we understand that
even these themselves in the same manner were
made by God for the use of man, partly for
food, partly for clothing, partly to assist him in
his work ; so that it is manifest that the divine
providence wished to furnish and adorn the life
of men with an abundance of objects and re-
sources, and on this account He both filled the
air with birds, and the sea with fishes, and the
earth with quadrupeds. But the Academics,
arguing against the Stoics, are accustomed to
ask why, if God made all things for the sake of
men, many things are found even opposed, and
hostile, and injurious to us, as well in the sea as
on the land. And the Stoics, without any regard
to the truth, most foolishly repelled this. P'or
they say that there are many things among natu-
ral productions,'" and reckoned among animals,
the utility of which hitherto" escapes notice, but
that this is discovered in process of the times,
as necessity and use have already discovered
many things which were unknown in former ages.
What utility, then, can be discovered in mice, in
beetles, in serpents, which are troublesome and
pernicious to man? Is it that some medicine
lies concealed in them ? If there is any, it will
at some time be found out, namely, as a remedy
against evils, whereas they complain that it is
altogether evil. They say that the viper, when
burnt and reduced to ashes, is a remedy for the
bite of the same beast. How much better had
it been that it should not exist at all, than that
a remedy should be required against it drawn
from itself?

They might then have answered with more con-
ciseness and truth after this manner. When God
had formed man as it were His own image, that
which was the completion of His workmanship.
He breathed wisdom into him alone, so that he
might bring all things into subjection to his own
authority and government, and make use of all
the advantages of the world. And yet He set
before him both good and evil things, inasmuch
as He gave to him wisdom, the whole nature of
which is employed in discerning things evil and
good : for no one can choose better things, and
know what is good, unless he at the same time
knows to reject and avoid the things which are
evil.'^ They are both mutually connected with
each other, so that, the one being taken away,
the other must also be taken away. Therefore,
good and evil things being set before it, then at
length wisdom discharges its office, and desires

'<' Gignentium.

" Adhuc, omitted in many manuscripts.

'- (I have heretofore noted the elements of a theodicy to be found
in LacLinlius]

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

271

the good for usefulness, but rejects the evil for
safety. Therefore, as innumerable good things
have been given which it might enjoy, so also
have evils, against which it might guard. For if
there is no evil, no danger — nothing, in short,
which can injure man — all the material of wis-
dom is taken away, and will be unnecessary for
man. For if only good things are placed in
sight, what need is there of reflection, of under-
standing, of knowledge, of reason? since, wher-
ever he shall extend his hand, that is befitting
and adapted to nature ; so that if any one should
wish to place a most exquisite dinner before
infants, who as yet have no taste, it is plain that
each will desire that to which either impulse, or
hunger, or even accident, shall attract them ;
and whatever they shall take, it will be useful
and salutary to them. What injury will it there-
fore be for them always to remain as they are,
and always to be infants and unacquainted with
affairs ? But if you add a mixture either of bitter
things, or things useless, or even poisonous, they
are plainly deceived through their ignorance of
good and evil, unless wisdom is added to them,
by which they may have the rejection of evil
things and the choice of good things.

You see, therefore, that we have greater need
of wisdom on account of evils ; and unless these
things had been proposed to us, we should not
be a rational animal. But if this account is true,
which the Stoics were in no manner able to see,
that argument also of Epicurus is done away.
God, he says, either wishes to take away evils,
and is unable ; or He is able, and is unwilling ;
or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both
willing and able. If He is willing and is unable,
He is feeble, which is not in accordance with the
character of God ; if He is able and unwilling,
He is envious, which is equally at variance with
God ; if He is neither willing nor able, He is
both envious and feeble, and therefore not God ;
if He is both willing and able, which alone is
suitable to God, from what source then are evils ?
or why does He not remove them ? I know that
many of the philosophers, who defend provi-
dence, are accustomed to be disturbed by this
argument, and are almost driven against their
will to admit that God takes no interest in any-
thing, which Epicurus especially aims at ; but
having examined the matter, we easily do away
with this formidable argument. For God is able
to do whatever He wishes, and there is no weak-
ness or envy in God. He is able, therefore, to
take away evils ; but He does not wish to do so,
and yet He is not on that account envious. For
on this account He does not take them away,
because He at the same time gives wisdom, as I
have shown ; and there is more of goodness and
pleasure in wisdom than of annoyance in evils.
For wisdom causes us even to know God, and

by that knowledge to attain to immortality, which
is the chief good. Therefore, unless we first
know evil, we shall be unable to know good.
But Epicurus did not see this, nor did any other,
that if evils are taken away, wisdom is in like
manner taken away ; and that no traces of virtue
remain in man, the nature of which consists in
enduring and overcoming the bitterness of evils.
And thus, for the sake of a slight gain " in the
taking away of evils, we should be deprived of a
good, which is very great, and true, and peculiar
to us. It is plain, therefore, that all things are
proposed for the sake of man, as well evils as
also goods.

CHAP. XIV. WHY GOD MADE MAN.

It follows that I show for what purpose God
made man himself. As He contrived the world
for the sake of man, so He formed man himself
on His own account, as it were a priest of a divine
temple, a spectator of His works and of heav-
enly objects. For he is the only being who,
since he is intelligent and capable of reason, is
able to understand God, to admire His works,
and perceive His energy and power ; for on this
account he is furnished with judgment, intelli-
gence, and prudence. On this account he
alone, beyond the other living creatures, has
been made with an upright body and attitude,
so that he seems to have been raised up for the
contemplation of his Parent.^ On this account
he alone has received language, and a tongue
the interpreter of his thought, that he may
be able to declare the majesty of his Lord.
Lasdy, for this cause all things were placed
under his control, that he himself might be under
the control of God, their Maker and Creator.
If God, therefore, designed man to be a worship-
per of Himself, and on this account gave him so
much honour, that he might rule over all things ;
it is plainly most just that he should worship
Him 3 who bestowed upon him such great gifts,
and love man, who is united with us in the par-
ticipation of the divine justice. For it is not
right that a worshipper of God should be in-
jured by a worshipper of God. From which it
is understood that man was made for the sake
of religion and justice. And of this matter
Marcus Tullius is a witness in his books respect-
ing the Laws, since he thus speaks : * " But of
all things concerning which learned men dis-
pute, nothing is of greater consequence than
that it should be altogether understood that we
are born to justice." And if this is most true, it
follows that God will have all men to be just,

' Propter exiguum compendium sublatorum malorum.

2 [I cease to note this perpetually recurrent thought. It had
profoundly impressed our author as an element of natural religion.]

3 Et Deum colere, etc. Some editions read, " et eum, qui tanta
praestiterit," omitting the word " colere."

* i. lo.

272

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

that is, to have God and man as objects of their
affection ; to honour God in truth as a Father,
and to love man as a brother : for in these two
things the vk^hole of justice is comprised. But
he who either fails to acknowledge God or acts
injuriously to man, lives unjustly and contrary to
his nature, and in this manner disturbs the
divine institution and law.

CHAP. XV. — WHENCE SINS EXTENDED TO MAN.

Here perhaps some one may ask. Whence
sins extended to man, or what perversion dis-
torted the rule of the divine institution to worse
things, so that, though he was born to justice,
he nevertheless performs unjust works. I have
already in a former place explained, that God
at the same time set before him good and evil,
and that He loves the good, and hates the evil
which is contrary to this ; but that He per-
mitted the evil on this account, that the good
also might shine forth, since, as I have often
taught, we understand that the one cannot exist
without the other ; in short, that the world itself
is made up of two elements opposing and con-
nected with one another, of fire and moisture,
and that light could not have been made unless
there has also been darkness, since there cannot
be a higher place without a lower, nor a rising
without a setting, nor warmth without cold, nor
softness without hardness. Thus also we are
composed of two substances equally opposed to
one another — soul and body : the one of which
is assigned to the heaven, because it is slight and
not to be handled ; the other to the earth, be-
cause it is capable of being laid hold of: the
one is firm ' and eternal, the other frail and mor-
tal. Therefore good clings to the one, and evil
to the other : fight, life, and justice to the one ;
darkness, death, and injustice to the other.
Hence there arose among men the corruption
of their nature, so that it was necessary that a
law should be established, by which vices might
be prohibited, and the duties of virtue be en-
joined. Since, therefore, there are good and
evil things in the affairs of men, the nature of
which I have set forth, it must be that God is
moved to both sides, both to favour when He
sees that just things are done, and to anger when
He perceives unjust things.

But Epicurus opposes us, and says : " If there
is in God the affection of joy leading Him to
favour, and of hatred influencing Him to anger,
He must of necessity have both fear, and incli-
nation, and desire, and the other affections which
belong to human weakness." It does not follow
that he who is angry must fear, or that he who
feels joy must grieve ; in short, they who are
liable to anger are less timid, and they who are

' Solidum.

of a joyful temperament are less affected with
grief. What need is there to speak of the affec-
tions of humanity, to which our nature yields?
Let us weigh the divine necessity; for I am
unwilling to speak of nature, since it is believed
that our God was never born. The affection of
fear has a subject-matter in man, but it has
none in God. Man, inasmuch as he is liable to
many accidents and dangers, fears lest any
greater violence should arise which may strike,
despoil, lacerate, dash down, and destroy him.
But God, who is liable neither to want, nor
injury, nor pain, nor death, can by no means
fear, because there is nothing which can offer
violence to Him. Also the reason and cause of
desire is manifest in man. For, inasmuch as he
was made frail and mortal, it was necessary that
another and different sex should be made, by
union with which offspring might be produced
to continue the perpetuity of his race. But this
desire has no place in God, because frailty and
death are far removed from Him ; nor is there
with Him any female in whose union He is able
to rejoice ; nor does He stand in need of suc-
cession, since He will live for ever. The same
things may be said respecting envy and passion,
to which, from sure and manifest causes, man is
liable, but to which God is by no means liable.
But, in truth, favour and anger and pity have
their substance ^ in God, and that greatest and
matchless power employs them for the preser-
vation of the world.

CHAP. XVI. OF GOD, AND HIS ANGER AND AF-
FECTIONS.

Some one will ask what this substance is.
First of all, when evils befall them, men in their
dejected state for the most part have recourse to
God : they appease and entreat Him, believing
that He is able to repel injuries from them. He
has therefore an occasion of exercising pity ; for
He is not so unmerciful and a despiser of men
as to refuse aid to those who are in distress.
Very many, also, who are persuaded that justice
is pleasing to God, both worship Him who is
Lord and Parent of all, and with continual
prayers and repeated vows offer gifts and sacri-
fices, follow up His name with praises, striving
to gain His favour by just and good works.
There is therefore a reason, on account of which
God may and ought to favour them. For if
there is nothing so befitting God as beneficence,
and nothing so unsuited to His character as to
be ungrateful, it is necessary that He should
make some return for the services of those who
are excellent, and who lead a holy life, that He
may not be hable to the charge of ingratitude,
which is worthy of blame ^ even in the case of

" Materia. Subjeclivc existence.
■3 Criininusu.

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

273

a man. But, on the contrary, others are daring '
and wicked, who polkite all things with their lusts,
harass with slaughters, practise fraud, plunder,
commit perjury, neither spare relatives nor par-
ents, neglect the laws, and even God Himself.
Anger, therefore, has a befitting occasion ^ in
God.

For it is not right that, when He sees such
things, He should not be moved, and arise to
take vengeance upon the wicked, and destroy
the pestilent and guilty, so as to promote the in-
terests of all good men. Thus even in anger
itself there is also contained a showing of kind-
ness.^ Therefore the arguments are found to be
empty and false, either of those who, when they
will not admit that God is angry, will have it
that He shows kindness, because this, indeed,
cannot take place without anger ; or of those
who think that there is no emotion of the mind
in God. And because there are some affections
to which God is not liable, as desire, fear, avarice,
grief, and envy, they have said that He is entirely
free from all affection. For He is not liable to
these, because they are vicious affections ; but
as to those which belong to virtue, — that is,
anger towards the wicked, regard towards the
good, pity towards the afflicted, — inasmuch as
they are worthy of the divine power. He has
affections of His own,'* both just and true. And
if He is not possessed of them, the life of man
will be thrown into confusion, and the condition
of things will come to such disturbance that
the laws will be despised and overpowered, and
audacity alone reign, so that no one can at length
be in safety unless he who excels 5 in strength.
Thus all the earth will be laid waste, as it were, by
a common robbery. But now, since the wicked
expect punishment, and the good hope for favour,
and the afflicted look for aid, there is place for
virtues, and crimes are more rare. But^ it is
said, ofttimes the wicked are more prosperous,
and the good more wretched, and the just are
harassed with impunity by the unjust. We will
hereafter consider why these things happen. In
the meantime let us exj>lain respecting anger,
whether there be any in God ; whether He takes
no notice at all, and is unmoved at those things
which are done with impiety.

CHAP. XVII. OF GOD, HIS CARE AND ANGER.

God, says Epicunis, regards nothing ; there-
fore He has no power. For he who has power
must of necessity regard affairs. For if He has
power, and does not use it, what so great cause

' Facinorosi.

2 Materia.

3 Gratificatio.
* Proprios.

5 Praevaleat.

'' An objection is here met and answered.

is there that, I will not say our race, but even
the universe itself, should be contemptible in
His sight ? On this account he says He is pure ^
and happy, because He is always at rest.^ To
whom, then, has the administration of so great
affairs been entrusted,*^ if these things which we
see to be governed by the highest judgment are
neglected by God ? or how can he who lives and
perceives be at rest? For rest belongs either to
sleep or to death. But sleep has not rest. For
when we are asleep, the body indeed is at rest,
but the soul is restless and agitated : it forms for
itself images which it may behold, so that it exer-
cises its natural power of motion by a variety of
visions, and calls itself away from false things,
until the limbs are satiated, and receive vigour
from rest. Therefore eternal rest belongs to death
alone. Now if death does not affect God, it fol-
lows that God is never at rest. But in what can
the action of God consist, but in the administra-
tion of the world ? But if God carries on the care
of the world, it follows that He cares for the life
of men, and takes notice of the acts of individ-
uals, and He earnestly desires that they should
be wise and good. This is the will of God, this
the divine law ; and he who follows and ob-
serves this is beloved by God. It is necessary
that He should be moved with anger against the
man who has broken or despised this eternal
and divine law. If, he says, God does harm to
any one, therefore He is not good. They are
deceived by no slight error who defame all cen-
sure, whether human or divine, with the name
of bitterness and malice, thinking that He ought
to be called injurious '° who visits the injurious
with punishment. But if this is so, it follows
that we have injurious laws, which enact punish-
ment for offenders, and injurious judges who
inflict capital punishments on those convicted
of crime. But if the law is just which awards
to 'the transgressor his due, and if the judge
is called upright and good when he punishes
crimes, — for he guards the safety of good men
who punishes the evil, — it follows that God,
when He opposes the evil, is not injurious ; but
he himself is injurious who either injures an in-
nocent man, or spares an injurious person that
he may injure many.

I would gladly ask from those who represent
God as immoveable," if anyone had property, a
house, a household '^ of slaves, and his slaves,
despising the forbearance of their master, should
attack all things, and themselves take the enjoy-
ment of his goods, if his household should
honour them, while the master was despised by

7 Incorruptus.

8 Quietus.

9 Cessit.

'° Nocentes.

" Immobilem: not subject to emotions.

'■^ Famili.Tm.

2 74

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

all, insulted, and deserted : could he be a wise
man who should not avenge the insults, but
permit those over whom he had power to have
the enjoyment of his property? Can such for-
bearance be found in any one ? If, indeed, it is
to be called forbearance, and not rather a kind
of insensible stupor. But it is easy to endure
contempt. What if those things were done
which are spoken of by Cicero ? ' " For I ask,
if any head of a family,^ when his children had
been put to death by a slave, his wife slain and
his house set on fire, should not exact most
severe punishment from that slave, whether he
would appear to be kind and merciful, or in-
human and most cruel?" But if to pardon
deeds of this kind is the part of cruelty rather
than of kindness,^ it is not therefore the part
of goodness in. God not to be moved at those
things which are done unjustly. For the world
is, as it were, the house of God, and men, as it
were. His slaves ; and if His name is a mockery
to them, what kind or amount of forbearance is
it to give ■* up His own honours, to see wicked
and unjust things done, and not to be indignant,
which is peculiar and natural to Him who is
displeased with sins ! To be angry, therefore, is
the part of reason : for thus faults are removed,
and licentiousness is curbed ; and this is plainly
in accordance with justice and wisdom.

But the Stoics did not see that there is a dis-
tinction between right and wrong, that there is
a just and also an unjust anger ; and because
they did not find a remedy for the matter, they
wished altogether to remove it. But the Peri-
patetics said that it was not to be cut out, but
moderated ; to whom we have made a sufficient
reply in the sixth book of the Institutions^
Now, that the philosophers were ignorant of the
nature of anger, is plain from their definitions,
which Seneca enumerated in the books which
he composed on the subject of anger. " Anger
is," he says, " the desire of avenging an injury."
Others, as Posidonius says, describe it as the
desire of punishing him by whom you think that
you have been unfairly injured. Some have thus
defined it : "Anger is an incitement of the mind
to injure him who either has committed an in-
jury, or who has wished to do so." The defi-
nition of Aristotle does not differ greatly from
ours ; ^ for he says that " anger is the desire of
requiting pain." This is the unjust anger, con-
cerning which we spoke before, which is con-
tained even in the dumb animals ; but it is to be
restrained in man, lest he should rush to some
very great evil through rage. This cannot exist

• In Catal., iv. 6.

2 Paterfamilias, the master of a house.

3 Pietatis.

^ Ut cedat.

5 [Cap. 15, p. 179, supra.]

* [Sec p. 377, note 6, infra. But he should say indtgr.atton,
BOt atiger\

in God, because He cannot be injured ; ^ but it
is found in man, inasmuch as he is frail. For
the inflicting^ of injury inflames ^ anguish, and
anguish produces a desire of revenge. Where,
then, is that just anger against offenders? For
this is evidently not the desire of revenge, inas-
much as no injury precedes. I do not speak of
those who sin against the laws ; for although a
judge may be angry with these without incurring
blame, let us, however, suppose that he ought
to be of a sedate mind when he sentences the
guilty to punishment, because he is the execu-
tor '° of the laws, not of his own spirit or power ;
for so they wish it who endeavour to extirpate
anger. But I speak of those in particular who
are in our own power, as slaves, children, wives,
and pupils ; for when we see these offend, we
are incited to restrain them.

For it cannot fail to be, that he who is just
and good is displeased with things which are
bad, and that he who is displeased with evil is
moved when he sees it practised. Therefore we
arise to take vengeance, not because we have
been injured, but that discipline may be pre-
served, morals may be corrected, and licentious-
ness be suppressed. This is just anger ; and as
it is necessary in man for the correction of
wickedness, so manifestly is it necessary in God,
from whom an example comes to man. For as
we ought to restrain those who are subject to
our power, so also ought God to restrain the of-
fences of all. And in order that He may do
this, He must be angry ; because it is natural
for one who is good to be moved and incited at
the fault of another. Therefore they ought to
have given this definition : Anger is an emotion
of the mind arousing itself for the restraining
of faults." For the definition given by Cicero,
" Anger is the desire of taking vengeance," does
not differ much from those already mentioned.'^
But that anger which we may call either fury or
rage ought not to exist even in man, because it
is altogether vicious ; but the anger which re-
lates to the correction of vices ought not to be
taken away from man ; nor can it be taken away
from God, because it is both serviceable for the
affairs of men, and necessary.

CHAP. XVIII. OF THE PUNISHMENT OF FAULTS,

THAT IT CANNOT TAKE PLACE WITHOUT ANGER.

What need is there, they say, of anger, since
faults can be corrected without this affection?
But there is no one who can calmly see any one
committing an offence. This may perhaps be

1 Illaesibilis est. Others read " stabilis est," he is firm. The
reading of the text is confirmed by " laesio " in the next clause.

* I.sesio.

9 Inurit, " burns in."
'° Minister.
" [See note 6, iK/rrt.]
'- [P. 260, etc., supra.\

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

275

possible in him who presides over the laws, be-
cause the deed is not committed before his eyes,
but it is brought before him as a doubtful matter
from another quarter. Nor can any wickedness
be so manifest, that there is no place for a de-
fence ; and therefore it is possible that a judge
may not be moved against him who may possibly
be found to be innocent ; and when the detected
crime shall have come to light, he now no longer
uses his own opinion, but that of the laws. It
may be granted that he does that which he does
without anger ; for he has that which he may
follow. We, undoubtedly, when an offence is
committed by our household at home, whether
we see or perceive it, must be indignant ; for
the very sight of a sin is unbecoming. For he
who is altogether unmoved either approves of
faalts, which is more disgraceful and unjust, or
avoids the trouble of reproving them, which a
tranquil spirit and a quiet mind despises and re-
fuses, unless anger shall have aroused and in-
cited it. But when any one is moved, and yet
through unseasonable leniency grants pardon
more frequently than is necessary, or at all
times, he evidently both destroys the life of
those whose audacity he is fostering for greater
crimes, and furnishes himself with a perpetual
source of annoyances. Therefore the restrain-
ing of one's anger in the case of sins is faulty.

Archytas of Tarentum is praised, who, when
he had found everything ruined ' on his estate,
rebuking the fault of his bailiff, said, " Wretch, I
would have beaten you to death if I had not
been angry." They consider this to be a singu-
lar example of forbearance ; but influenced by
authority, they do not see how foolishly he spoke
and acted. For if (as Plato says) no prudent
man punishes because there is an offence, but to
prevent the occurrence of an offence, it is evident
how evil an example this wise man put forth.
For if slaves shall perceive that their master uses
violence when he is not angry, and abstains from
violence ^ when he is angry, it is evident that
they will not commit slight offences, lest they
should be beaten ; but will commit the greatest
offences, that they may arouse the anger of the
perverse man, and escape with impunity. But I
should praise him if, when he was enraged, he
had given space to his anger, that the excite-
ment of his mind might calm down through the
interval of time, and his chastisement might be
confined within moderate limits. Therefore, on
account of the magnitude of the anger, punish-
ment ought not to have been inflicted, but to
have been delayed, lest it should inflict ' upon
the offender pain greater than is just, or occasion
an outburst of fury in the punisher. But now,

' Corrupta esse omnia.

* Parcere.

3 Inureret, i.e., should bum in, or brand.

how is it equitable or wise, that any one should
be punished on account of a slight offence, and
should be unpunished on account of a very great
one? But if he had learned the nature and
causes of things, he never would have professed
so unsuitable a forbearance, that a wicked slave
should rejoice that his master has been angry
with him. For as God has furnished the human
body with many and various senses which are
necessary for the use of life, so also He has
assigned to the soul various affections by which
the course of life might be regulated ; and as
He has given desire for the sake of producing
offspring, so has He given anger for the sake of
restraining faults.

But they who are ignorant of the ends of good
and evil things, as they employ sensual desire
for the purposes of corruption and pleasure, in
the same manner make use of anger and passion
for the inflicting of injury, while they are angry
with those whom they regard with hatred. There-
fore they are angry even with those who commit
no offence, even with their equals, or even
with their superiors. Hence they daily rush to
monstrous ■♦ deeds ; hence tragedies often arise.
Therefore Archytas would be deserving of praise,
if, when he had been enraged against any citizen
or equal who injured him, he had curbed him-
self, and by forbearance mitigated the impetu-
osity of his fury. This self-restraint is glorious,
by which any great evil which impends is re-
strained ; but it is a fault not to check the faults
of slaves and children ; for through their escap-
ing without punishment they will proceed to
greater evil. In this case anger is not to be re-
strained ; but even if it is in a state of inactivity,s
it must be aroused. But that which we say re-
specting man, we also say respecting God, who
made man like to Himself. I omit making men-
tion of the figure of God, because the Stoics say
that God has no form, and another great subject
will arise if we should wish to refute them. I
only speak respecting the soul. If it belongs ^
to God to reflect, to be wise, to understand, to
foresee, to excel, and of all animals man alone
has these qualities, it follows that he was made
after the likeness of God ; but on this account
he goes on to vice, because, being mingled with
frailty derived from earth, he is unable to pre-
serve pure and uncontaminated that which he
has received from God, unless he is imbued with
the precepts of justice by the same God.

CHAP. XIX. — OF THE SOUL AND BODY, AND OF
PROVIDENCE.

But since he is made up, as we have said, of
two parts, soul and body, the virtues are con-

* Immania, i.e., of an inhuman character.

5 Jacet.

^ Deo subjacet.

276

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

tained in the one, and vices in the other, and
they mutually oppose each other. For the good
properties of the soul, which consist in restrain-
ing lusts, are contrary to the body ; and the good
properties of the body, which consist in every
kind of pleasure, are hostile to the soul. But if
the virtue of the soul shall have resisted the
desires, and suppressed them, he will be truly
like to God. From which it is evident that the
soul of man, which is capable of divine virtue, is
not mortal. But there is this distinction, that
since virtue is attended with bitterness, and the
attraction of pleasure is sweet, great numbers are
overcome and are drawn aside to the pleasant-
ness ; but they who have given themselves up to
the body and earthly things are pressed to the
earth, and are unable to attain to the favour of
the divine bounty, because they have polluted
themselves with the defilements of vices. But
they who, following God, and in obedience to
Him, have despised the desires of the body, and,
preferring virtue to pleasures, have preserved
innocence and righteousness, these God recog-
nises as like to Himself.

Since, therefore, He has laid down a most
holy law, and wishes all men to be innocent and
beneficent, is it possible that He should not be
angry when He sees that His law is despised,
that virtue is rejected, and pleasure made the
object of pursuit? But if He is the governor
of the world, as He ought to be, He surely does
not despise that which is even of the greatest
importance in the whole world. If He has fore-
sight, as it is befitting that God should have, it
is plain that He consults the interests of the
human race, in order that our life may be more
abundantly supplied, and better, and safer. If
He is the Father and God of all, He is undoubt-
edly delighted with the virtues of men, and pro-
voked by their vices. Therefore He loves the
just, and hates the wicked. There is no need
(one says) of hatred ; for He once for all has
fixed a reward for the good, and punishment for
the wicked. But if any one lives justly and in-
nocently, and at the same time neither worships
God nor has any regard for Him, as Aristides,
and Timon," and others of the philosophers, will
he escape^ with impunity, because, though he
has obeyed the law of God, he has neverthe-
less despised God Himself? There is therefore
something on account of which God may be
angry with one rebelling against Him, as it were,
in reliance upon His integrity. If He can be
angry with this man on account of his pride, why
not more so with the sinner, who has despised
the law together with the Lawgiver? The judge

' Others read " Cimon." If the reading Timon be retained, the
reference is not to Timon who is called "the Misanthrope," but to
Timon the philosopher of Phlius, who lived in the time of Ptolemy
Philadelphiis, and belonged to the sect of the hctplics.

* Cedelne huic impuiic.

cannot pardon offences, because he is subject to
the will of another. But God can pardon, be-
cause He is Himself the arbitrator ^ and judge
of His own law ; and when He laid down this,
He did not surely deprive Himself of all power,
but He has the liberty of bestowing pardon.

CHAP, XX. OF OFFENCES, AND THE MERCY OF

GOD.

If He is able to pardon, He is therefore able
also to be angry. Why, then, some one will say,
does it often occur, that they who sin are pros-
perous, and they who live piously are wretched ?
Because fugitives and disinherited ^ persons live
without restraint, and they who are under the
discipline of a father or master live in a more
strict and frugal manner. For virtue is proved
and fixed 5 by means of ills ; vices by means
of pleasure. Nor, however, ought he who sins
to hope for lasting impunity, because there is no
lasting happiness.

" But, in truth, the last day is always to be looked for
by man; and no one ought to be called happy be
fore his death and last funeral rites," ^

as the not inelegant poet says. It is the end
which proves happiness, and no one is able to
escape the judgment of God, either when alive or
after death. For He has the power both to cast
down the living from on high, and to punish the
dead with eternal torments. Nay, he says, if
God is angry, He ought to have inflicted ven-
geance at once, and to have punished every one
according to his desert. But (it is replied) if
He had done this, no one would survive. For
there is no one who offends in no respect, and
there are many things which excite to the com-
mission of sin — age, intemperance, want, oppor-
tunity, reward. To such an extent is the frailty
of the flesh with which we are clothed liable to
sin, that unless God were indulgent to this ne-
cessity, perhaps too few would hve. On this
account He is most patient, and restrains His
anger. For because there is in Him perfect
virtue, it follows of necessity that His patience
also is perfect, which is itself also a virtue. How
many men, from having been sinners, have after-
wards become righteous ; from being injurious,
have become good ; from being wicked, have
become temperate ! How many who were in
early life base, and condemned by the judgment
of all, afterwards have turned out praiseworthy?
But it is plain that this could not happen if pun-
ishment followed every offence.

3 Disceptator.

* Abdicati.

5 Constat.

*> Ovid., Metam., iii. 153.

["Ultima semper

Fxpcctanda dies homini est; dicique beatut

Ante obitiim nemo," etc.]

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

277

The public laws condemn those who are man-
ifestly guilty ; but there are great num])ers
whose offences are concealed, great numbers
who restrain the accuser either by entreaties or
by reward, great numbers who elude justice by
favour or influence. But if the divine censure
should condemn all those who escape the pun-
ishment of men, there would be few or even no
men on the earth. In short, even that one
reason for destroying the human race might
have been a just one, that men, despising the
living God, pay divine honour to earthly and
frail images, as though they were of heaven, ador-
ing works made by human hands. And though
God their Creator made them of elevated coun-
tenance and upright figure, and raised them to
the contemplation of the heaven and the knowl-
edge of God, they have preferred, like cattle, to
bend themselves to the earth.' For he is low,
and curved, and bent downward, who, turning
away from the sight of heaven and God his
Father, worships things of the earth, which he
ought to have trodden upon, that is, things made
and fashioned from earth. Therefore, amidst
such great impiety and such great sins of men,
the forbearance of God attains this object, that
men, condemning the errors of their past life,
correct themselves. In short, there are many
who are just and good ; and these, having laid
aside the worship of earthly things, acknowledge
the majesty of the one and only God. But though
the forbearance of God is very great and most
useful ; yet, although late. He punishes the guilty,
and does not suffer them to proceed further, when
He sees that they are incorrigible.

CHAP. XXI. — OF THE ANGER OF GOD AND MAN.

There remains one question, and that the last.
For some one will perhaps say, that God is so
far from being angry, that in His precepts He
even forbids man to be angry. I might say that
the anger of man ought to be curbed, because
he is often angry unjustly ; and he has immedi-
ate emotion, because he is only for a time.^
Therefore, lest those things should be done which
the low, and those of moderate station, and great
kings do in their anger, his rage ought to have
been moderated and suppressed, lest, being out
of his mind,5 he should commit some inexpiable
crime. But God is not angry for a short time,'*
because He is eternal and of perfect virtue, and
He is never angry unless deservedly. But, how-
ever, the matter is not so ; for if He should alto-
gether prohibit anger. He Himself would have
been in some measure the censurer of His own

* [The degradation of the mind of man to the worship of stocks
and stones impresses our author as against nature.]

^ Temporalis.

3 Mentis impos, i.e., not having possession of his mind, opposed
to " mentis compos." Some editions add, " in bile."

* Ad praesens.

workmanship, since He from the beginning had
inserted anger in the liver 5 of man, since it is
believed that the cause of this emotion is con-
tained in the moisture of the gall. Therefore
He does not altogether prohibit anger, because
that affection is necessarily given, but He forbids
us to persevere in anger. For the anger of
mortals ought to be mortal ; for if it is lasting,
enmity is strengthened to lasting destruction.
Then, again, when He enjoined us to be angry,
and yet not to sin,^ it is plain that He did not
tear up anger by the roots, but restrained it, that
in every correction we might preserve modera-
tion and justice. Therefore He who commands
us to be angry is manifestly Himself angry ; He
who enjoins us to be quickly appeased is mani-
festly Himself easy to be appeased : for He has
enjoined those things which are just and useful
for the interests of society.^

But because I had said that the anger of God
is not for a time^ only, as is the case with man,
who becomes inflamed with an immediate 9 ex-
citement, and on account of his frailty is unable
easily to govern himself, we ought to understand
that because God is eternal. His anger also re-
mains to eternity ; but, on the other hand, that
because He is endued with the greatest excel-
lence, He controls His anger, and is not ruled
by it, but that He regulates it according to His
will. And it is plain that this is not opposed to
that which has just been said. For if His anger
had been altogether immortal, there would be
no place after a fault for satisfaction or kind feel-
ing, though He Himself commands men to be
reconciled before the setting of the sun."" But the
divine anger remains for ever against those who
ever sin. Therefore God is appeased not by
incense or a victim, not by costly offerings, which
things are all corruptible, but by a reformation
of the morals : and he who ceases to sin renders
the anger of God mortal. For this reason He
does not immediately" punish every one who is
guilty, that man may have the opportunity of com-
ing to a right mind,'^ and correcting himself.

CHAP. XXII. — OF SINS, AND THE VERSES OF THE
SIBYLS RESPECTING THEM RECITED.

This is what I had to say, most beloved Dona-
tus, respecting the anger of God, that you might
know how to refute those who represent God as
being without emotions.'^ It only remains that,
after the practice of Cicero, I should use an

5 As supposed to be the seat of the passions.

* [Ps. iv. 4, Vulgate, and Ephes., as below.]
7 Rebus communibus.

* Temporalem.

9 Praesentanea. The word is applied to a remedy which operates
instantaneously,
'o See Eph. iv. 26.
" Ad praesens.
'- Resipiscendi.
" Immobilem.

278

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

epilogue by way of peroration. As he did in
the Tusculan Disputations, "^ when discoursing
on the subject of death, so we in this work ought
to bring forward divine testimonies, which may
be beHeved, to refute the persuasion of those
who, believing that God is without anger, de-
stroy all religion, without which, as we have
shown, we are either equal to the brutes in sav-
ageness, or to the cattle in foolishness ; for it is
in religion only — that is, in the knowledge of
the Supreme God — that wisdom consists. All
the prophets, being filled with the Divine Spirit,
speak nothing else than of the favour of God
towards the righteous, and His anger against
the ungodly. And their testimony is indeed
sufficient for us ; but because it is not believed
by those who make a display of wisdom by their
hair and dress,^ it was necessary to refute them
by reason and arguments. For they act so pre-
posterously,^ that human things give authority to
divine things, whereas divine things ought rather
to give authority to human. But let us now
leave these things, lest we should produce no
effect upon them, and the subject should be in-
definitely drawn out. Let us therefore seek
those testimonies which they can either believe,
or at any rate not oppose.

Authors of great number and weight have
made mention of the Sibyls ; of the Greeks,
Aristo the Chian, and ApoUodorus the Ery-
thraean ; of our writers, Varro and Fenestella.
All these relate that the Erythraean Sibyl was dis-
tinguished and noble beyond the rest. Apol-
lodorus, indeed, boasts of her as his own citizen
and countrywoman. But Fenestella also relates
that ambassadors were sent by the senate to
Erythrse, that the verses of this Sibyl might be
conveyed to Rome, and that the consuls Curio
and Octavius might take care that they should
be placed in the Capitol, which had then been
restored under the care of Quintus Catulus. In
her writings, verses of this kind are found re-
specting the Supreme God and Maker of the
world : —

"The incorruptible and eternal Maker who dwells in the
heaven, holding forth good to the good, a much
greater reward, but stirring up anger and rage
against the evil and unjust."

Again, in another place, enumerating the deeds
by which God is especially moved to anger, she
introduced these things : —

"Avoid unlawful services, and serve the living God.
Abstain from adultery and impurity ; bring up a
pure generation of children ; do not kill : for the
Immortal will be angry with every one who may
sin."

Therefore He is angry with sinners.

' [Boole i., concluding chapters.]

* The philosophers wore long hair and cloaks. See /iistit., iii.
25. [Needlessly repeated. See p 95, sii/'ra ; also 137 |

J I'raepostere, i.e., in a reversed order, putting the last first.

CHAP. XXIII. — OF THE ANGER OF GOD AND THE
PUNISHMENT OF SINS, AND A RECITAL OF THE
VERSES OF THE SIBYLS RESPECTING IT ; AND,
MOREOVER, A REPROOF AND EXHORTATION.

But because it is related by most learned men
that there have been many Sibyls, the testimony
of one may not be sufficient to confirm the
truth, as we purpose to do. The volumes, in-
deed, of the Cumaean Sibyl, in which are written
the fates of the Romans are kept secret ; but the
writings of all the others are, for the most part,
not prohibited from being in common use. And
of these another, denouncing the anger of God
against all nations on account of the impiety of
men, thus began : —

" Since great anger is coming upon a disobedient world,
I disclose the commands of God to the last age,
prophesying to all men from city to city"

Another Sibyl also said, that the deluge was
caused by the indignation of God against the
unrighteous in a former age, that the wickedness
of the human race might be extinguished : —

" From the time when, the God of heaven being enraged
against the cities themselves and all men, a deluge
having burst forth, the sea covered the earth."

In like manner she foretold a conflagration about
to take place hereafter, in which the impiety of
men should again be destroyed : —

"And at some time, God no longer soothing His anger,
but increasing it, and destroying the race of men,
and laying waste the whole of it by fire."

From which mention is thus made concerning
Jupiter by Ovid : ■* —

" He remembers also that it is fated that the time shall
come in which the sea, the earth, and the palace
of heaven, being caught by fire, shall be burnt,
and the curiously wrought framework of the
world 5 be in danger."

And this must come to pass at the time when

the honour and worship of the Supreme shall

have perished among men. The same Sii>y/,

however, testifying that He was appeased by

reformation ^ of conduct and self-improvement,

added these things : —

" But, ye mortals, in pity^ turn yourselves now, and do
not lead the great God to every kind of anger."

And also a little later : —

" He will not destroy, but will again restrain His anger,
if you all practise valuable piety in your minds."

Then another Sibyl declares that the Father of
heavenly and earthly things ought to be loved,
lest His indignation should arise, to the destruc-
tion of men : —

" Lest by chance the immortal God should be angry,
and destroy the whole race of men, their life and
shameless race, it is befitting that we love the
wise, ever-living God the Father."

* Mrtatn., i. 256.

5 Moles operosa lahoret.

•> Pftnitentia factoruni.

' eAt.i. Others read, w n«Atoi, " O wretched."

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

279

From these things it is evident that the argu-
ments of the philosophers are vain, who imagine
that God is without anger, and among His other
praises reckon that which is most useless, de-
tracting from Him that which is most salutary
for human affairs, by which majesty itself exists.
For this earthly kingdom and government, un-
less guarded by fear, is broken down. Take
away anger frona a king, and he will not only
cease to be obeyed, but he will even be cast down
headlong from his height. Yea, rather take away
this affection from any person of low degree,
and who will not plunder him ? Who will not
deride him? Who will not treat him with in-
jury? Thus he will be able to have neither
clothing, nor an abode, nor food, since others
will deprive him of whatever he has ; much less
can we suppose that the majesty of the heaven-
ly government can exist without anger and fear.
The Milesian Apollo being consulted concerning
the religion of the Jews, inserted these things
in his answer : —

"God, the King and Father of all, before whom the
earth trembles, and the heaven and sea, and
whom the recesses of Tartarus and the demons
dread."

If He is so mild, as the philosophers will have
it, how is it that not only the demons and minis-
ters of such great power, but even the heaven
and earth, and the whole system of the universe,
tremble at His presence ? For if no one submits
to the service of another except by compulsion,
it follows that all government exists by fear, and
fear by anger. For if any one is not aroused
against one who is unwilling to obey, it will not
be possible for him to be compelled to obedi-
ence. Let any one consult his own feelings ;
he will at once understand that no one can be
subdued to the command of another without
anger and chastisement. Therefore, where there
shall be no anger, there will be no authority.
But God has authority ; therefore also He must
have anger, in which authority consists. There-
fore let no one, induced by the empty prs.ting '
of the philosophers, train himself to the con-
tempt of God, which is the greatest impiety.
We all are bound both to love Him, because He
is our Father ; and to reverence Him, because
He is our Lord : both to pay Him honour, be-
cause He is bounteous ; and to fear Him, be-
cause He is severe : each character in Him is
worthy of reverence.^ Who can preserve his
piety, and yet fail to love the parent of his life?
or who can with impunity despise Him who, as
ruler of all things, has true and everlasting power
over all? If you consider Him in the character
of Father, He supplies to us our entrance to

' Vaniloquentia.
* Venerabilis.

the light which we enjoy : through Him we live,
through Him we have entered into the abode ^ of
this world. If you contemplate Him as God, it
is He who nourishes us with innumerable re-
sources : it is He who sustains us, we dwell in
His house, we are His household ; ■♦ and if we
are less obedient than was befitting, and less at-
tentive to our duty s than the endless merits of
our Master and Parent demanded : nevertheless
it is of great avail to our obtaining pardon, if we
retain the worship and knowledge of Him ; if,
laying aside low and earthly affairs and goods,
we meditate upon heavenly and divine things
which are everlasting. And that we may be
able to do this, God must be followed by us,
God must be adored and loved ; since there is
in Him the substance ^ of things, the principle ^
(/f the virtues, and the source of all that is good.

For what is greater in power than God, or
more perfect in reason, or brighter in clearness ?
And since He begat us to wisdom, and produced
us to righteousness, it is not allowable for man
to forsake God, who is the giver of intelligence
and life, and to serve earthly and frail things, or,
intent upon seeking temporal goods, to turn aside
from innocence and piety. Vicious and deadly
pleasures do not render a man happy ; nor does
opulence, which is the inciter of lusts ; nor empty
ambition ; nor frail honours, by which the human
soul, being ensnared and enslaved to the body,
is condemned ^ to eternal death : but innocence
and righteousness alone, the lawful and due re-
ward of which is immortality, which God from
the beginning appointed for holy and uncorrupted
minds, which keep themselves pure and uncon-
taminated from vices, and from every earthly
impurity. Of this heavenly and eternal reward
they cannot be partakers, who have polluted their
conscience by deeds of violence, frauds, rapine,
and deceits ; and who, by injuries inflicted upon
men, by impious actions, have branded them-
selves 9 with indelible stains. Accordingly it is
befitting that all who wish deservedly to be called
wise, who wish to be called men, should despise
frail things, should trample upon earthly things,
and should look down upon base '° things, that
they may be able to be united in a most blissful
relationship with God.

Let impiety and discords be removed ; let
turbulent and deadly dissensions be allayed," by
which human societies and the divine union of
the public league are broken in upon, divided,
and dispersed ; as far as we can, let us aim at

3 Hospitium, i.e., a place of hospitality.
* Familia, " a household of slaves."
5 Officiosa, i.e., familia.
*• Materia rerum.
" Ratio virtutum.

8 JElerna. morte damnatur.

9 Ineluibiles sibi maculas inusserunt.
>° Humilia.

" Sopiaiitur, i e., be lulled to sleep.

28o

A TREATISE ON THE ANGER OF GOD.

being good and bounteous : if we have a supply
of wealth and resources, let it not be devoted
to the pleasure of a single person, but bestowed
on the welfare of many. For pleasure is as
shortlived as the body to which it does service.
But justice and kindness are as immortal as the
mind and soul, which by good works attain to
the likeness of God. Let God be consecrated
by us, not in temples, but in our heart. All
things which are made by the hand are destruc-

tible.' Let us cleanse this temple, which is de-
filed not by smoke or dust, but by evil thoughts ;
which is lighted not by blazing tapers,^ but by
the brightness and light of wisdom. And if we
believe that God is always present in this temple,
to whose divinity the secrets of the heart are
open, we shall so live as always to have Him
propitious, and never to fear His anger.

' Destructilia. The word is used by Prudentius.
^ [See p. 163, supra. See note below.]

NOTE BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

It is worth while to direct attention to (book vi. cap. 2) what our author has said of ^^ true
worship," just now, when the most violent and persistent efforts are made to sensualize Christian
worship, and to explain away the testimony of the Ante-Nicene Fathers on this important sub-
ject. The argument of our author, in its entire drift, is as applicable to our own times as to his ;
and, deeply as I value beauty in the public worship of God, I cannot, as a Nicene Catholic, do
less than adopt the universal sentiment of the early Fathers as to the limits of decoration.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD,

OR THE FORMATION OF MAN.
A TREATISE ADDRESSED TO HIS PUPIL DEMETRIANUS.

THAP. I, — THE INTRODUCTION, AND EXHORTATION
TO DEMETRIANUS.'

How disturbed I am, and in the greatest ne-
cessities, you will be able to judge from this little
book which I have written to you, Demetrianus,
almost in unadorned words, as the mediocrity of
my talent permitted, that you might know ray
daily pursuit, and that I might not be wanting to
you, even now an instructor, but of a more hon-
ourable subject and of a better system. For if
you afforded yourself a ready hearer in literature,
which did nothing else than form the style, how
much more teachable ought you to be in these
true studies, which have reference even to the
life ! And I now profess to you, that I am hin-
dered by no necessity of circumstance or time
from composing something by which the philoso-
phers of our sect ^ which we uphold may become
better instructed and more learned for the future,
although they now have a bad reputation, and
are commonly reproved, as living otherwise than
is befitting for wise men, and as concealing their
vices under the covering of a name ; whereas
they ought either to have remedied them, or to
have altogether avoided them, that they might
render the name of wisdom happy and uncor-
rupted, their life itself agreeing with their pre-
cepts. I, however, shrink from no labour that I
may at once instruct ourselves and others. For
I am not able to forget myself, and especially at
that time when it is most necessary for me to
remember ; as also you do not forget yourself, as
I hope and wish. For although the necessity of
the state may turn you aside from true and just
works, yet it is impossible that a mind conscious
of rectitude should not from time to time look
to the heaven.

I indeed rejoice that all things which are
esteemed blessings turn out prosperously to you,

' [Of whom, i}tfra.\

^ [NostrsE sectae. Perhaps adopted pleasantly from Acts xxviii
22] i e., Christians.

but only on condition of their changing nothing
of your state of mind. For I fear lest custom
and the pleasantness of these subjects should,
as usually happens, creep by degrees into your
mind. Therefore I advise you,

"And repeating it, will again and again advise you,"^

not to believe that you have these enjoyments of
the earth as great or true blessings, since they are
not only deceitful because they are doubtful, but
also treacherous because they are pleasant. For
you know how crafty that wrestler and adversary
of ours is, and also often violent, as we now see
that he is. He employs all these things which
are able to entice as snares, and with such sub-
tilty that they escape the notice of the eyes of
the mind, so that they cannot be avoided by the
foresight of man. Therefore it is the highest
prudence to advance step by step, since he occu-
pies the passes on both sides, and secretly places
stumbling-blocks for our feet. Accordingly I
advise you, either to disregard, if you are able
according to your virtue, your prosperity in which
you live, or not to admire it greatly. Remember
your true parent, and in what'* city you have
given your name, and of what rank you have
been. You understand assuredly what I say.
For I do not charge you with pride, of which
there is not even a suspicion in your case ; but
the things which I say are to be referred to the
mind, not to the body, the whole system of
which has been arranged on this account, that it
may be in subjection to the soul as to a master,
and may be ruled by its will. For it is in a cer-
tain manner an earthen vessel in which the soul,
that is, the true man himself, is contained, and
that vessel indeed not made by Prometheus, as
the poets say, but by that supreme Creator and
Artificer of the world, God, whose divine provi-
dence and most perfect excellence it is neither

3 Virg., /£■«., iii. 436.

* i.e , have been initiated by baptism. [Philipp. iii. 20. Greek.^

281

282

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

possible to comprehend by the perception, nor
to express in word.

I will attempt, however, since mention has
been made of the body and soul, to explain the
nature of each, as far as the weakness of my un-
derstanding sees through ; and I think that this
duty is especially to be undertaken on this ac-
count, because Marcus Tullius, a man of remark-
able talent, in his fourth book on the Republic,
when he had attempted to do this, concluded
a subject of wide extent within narrow limits,
lightly selecting the chief points. And that there
might be no excuse, because he had not followed
up this subject, he testified that neither inclina-
tion nor attention had been wanting to him. For
in his first book concerning the Laws, when he
was concisely summing up the same subject, he
thus spoke : " Scipio, as it appears to me, has suf-
ficiently expressed this subject in those books
which you have read." Afterwards, however, in
his second book concerning the Nature of the
Gods, he endeavoured to follow up the same
subject more extensively. But since he did not
express it sufficiently even there, I will approach
this office, and will take upon myself boldly to
explain that which a man of the greatest elo-
quence has almost left untouched. Perhaps you
may blame me for attempting to discuss some-
thing in matters of obscurity, when you see that
there have been men of such rashness who are
commonly called philosophers, that they scruti-
nized those things which God willed to be abstruse
and hidden, and investigated the nature of things
in heaven and on earth, which are far removed
from us, and cannot be examined ' by the eyes,
nor touched by the hand, nor perceived by the
senses ; and yet they so dispute concerning the
nature of these things, as to wish that the things
which they bring forward may appear to be
proved and known. W'hat reason is there, I
pray, why any one should think it an invidious
thing in us, if we wish to look into and con-
template the system of our body,^ which is not
altogether obscure, because from the very offices
of the limbs, and the uses of the several parts,
it is permitted us to understand with what great
power of providence each part has been made ?

CHAP, II. — OF THE PRODUCTION OF THE BEASTS
AND OF MAN.

For our Creator and Parent, God, has given
to man perception and reason, that it might be
evident from this that we are descended from
Him, because He Himself is intelligence. He
Himself is perception and reason. Since He
did not give that power of reason to the other

' Contrectari.

* [The argument from design is unanswerable, and can never be
obsolete. The objections are frivolous, and belong to Cicero's " minute
philosophers."] Of whom, see Tuscul. Qucest., book i. cap. 23.]

animals, He provided beforehand in what man-
ner their life might be more safe. For He
clothed them all with their own natural hair,^ in
order that they might more easily be able to en-
dure the severity of frosts and colds. Moreover,
He has appointed to every kind its own peculiar
defence for the repelling of attacks from with-
out ; so that they may either oppose the stronger
animals with natural weapons, or the feebler
ones may withdraw themselves from danger by
the swiftness of their flight, or those which re-
quire at once both strength and swiftness may
protect themselves by craft, or guard themselves
in hiding-places.'* And so others of them either
poise themselves aloft with light plumage, or are
supported by hoofs, 5 or are furnished with horns ;
some have arms in their mouth — namely, their
teeth ^ — or hooked talons on their feet ; and
none of them is destitute of a defence for its
own protection.

But if any fall as a prey to the greater animals,
that their race might not utterly perish, they
have either been banished to that »^egion where
the greater ones cannot exist, or they have re-
ceived a more abundant fruitfulness in produc-
tion, that food might be supplied from them to
the beasts which are nourished by blood, and yet
their very multitude might survive the slaughter
inflicted upon them, so as to preserve the race.?
But He made man — reason being granted to
him, and the power of perceiving and speaking
being given to him — destitute of those things
which are given to the other animals, because
wisdom was able to supply those things which
the condition of nature had denied to him. He
made him naked and defenceless, because he
could be armed by his talent, and clothed by his
reason.^ But it cannot be expressed how won-
derfully the absence of those things which are
given to the brutes contributes to the beauty of
man. For if He had given to man the teeth
of wild beasts, or horns, or claws, or hoofs, or a
tail, or hairs of various colour, who cannot per-
ceive how misshapen an animal he would be, as
the dumb animals, if they were made naked and
defenceless? For if you take from these the
natural clothing of their body, or those things by
which they are armed of themselves, they can be
neither beautiful nor safe, so that they appear
wonderfully furnished if you think of utility, and
wonderfully adorned if you think of appearance :
in such a wonderful manner is utility combined
with beauty.

But with reference to man, whom He formed

3 Omnes enim suis ex se pilis. Others read, " pellibus texit.'

< [iroSiuiCK)!' Ad-yioois. — Anac, Odci. 3.]

5 ['Puo-is xepara raupoif oirAds 6' tdio/cti' 'irrrroi5. — Anac, Ode

^ [AtOU<Tt \6.fXik ohoVTtiiV, //'.,4.]

7 T" The survival of the fittest." The cant of our d ly antici-
pated.]

^ [rois a.vi(>6.a<.v <j>p6yr}na. — /i., 5. See p. 172, note i,s"/"'"

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

283

an eternal and immortal being, He did not arm
him, as the others, without, but within ; nor did
He place his protection in the body, but in the
soul : since it would have been superfluous, when
He had given him that which was of the greatest
value, to cover him with bodily defences, espe-
cially when they hindered the beauty of the human
body. On which account I am accustomed to
wonder at the senselessness of the philosophers
who follow Epicurus, who blame the works of
nature, that they may show that the world is
prepared and governed by no providence ; ' but
they ascribe the origin of all things to indivisible
and solid bodies, from the fortuitous meetings
of which they say that all things are and were
produced. I pass by the things relating to the
work itself with which they iind fault, in which
matter they are ridiculously mad ; I assume that
which belongs to the subject of which we are
now treating.

CHAP. III. — OF THE CONDITION OF THE BEASTS

AND MAN.

They complain that man is born in a more
feeble and frail condition than that in which the
other animals are born : for that these, as soon
as they are produced from the womb, immedi-
ately raise themselves on their feet, and express
their joy by running to and fro, and are at once
fit for enduring the air, inasmuch as they have
come forth to the light protected by natural
coverings ; but man, on the contrary, being
naked and defenceless, is cast forth, and driven,
as it were, from a shipwreck, to the miseries of
this life ; who is neither able to move himself
from the place where he has been born,^ nor to
seek the nourishment of milk, nor to endure
the injury of time. Therefore they say that
Nature is not the mother of the human race,
but a stepmother, who has dealt so liberally with
the dumb creation, but has so produced man,
that, without resources, and without strength,
and destitute of all aid, he can do nothing else
than give tokens ^ of the state of his frailty by
wailing and lamentations ; " as well he may,
whose destiny it is to go through in life so many
ills." 4

And when they say these things they are
believed to be very wise, because every one with-
out consideration is displeased with his own con-
dition ; but I contend that they are never more
foolish than when they say these things.' For
when I consider the condition of things, I un-
derstand that nothing ought to have been other-
wise than it is — not to say could have been

' [The admirable investigations of the modem atheists are so
many testimonies against their own theories when they come to talk
ai force, etc., instead of God. P. 97, note 4, supra.\

^ Effusus est.

3 Ominari.

* Lucret., V. 228.

Otherwise, for God is able to do all things : but
it must be, that that most provident majesty
made that which was better and more right.

I should like, therefore, to ask those censurers
of the divine works, what they think to be want-
ing in man, on account of his being born in a
more feeble condition. Do they think that men
are, on this account, brought up worse? Or
that they advance the less to the greatest strength
of age? Or that weakness is a hindrance to
their growth or safety, since reason bestows 5
the things which are wanting? But, they say,
the bringing up of man costs the greatest la-
bours : in truth, the condition of the brute crea-
tion is better, because all these, when they have
brought forth their young, have no care except
for their own food ; from which it is effected
that, their teats being spontaneously distended,
the nourishment of milk is supplied to their
offspring, and that they seek this nourishment
by the compulsion of nature, without any trouble
on the part of the mothers. How is it with
birds, which have a different nature? do they
not undergo the greatest labours in bringing up
their young, so that they sometimes appear to
have something of human intelligence? For
they either build their nests of mud, or construct
them with twigs and leaves, and they sit upon
the eggs without taking food ; and since it has
not been given to them to nourish their young
from their own bodies, they convey to them
food, and spend whole days in going to and fro
in this manner ; but by night they defend, cher-
ish, and protect them. What more can men do?
unless it be this only, that they do not drive
away their young when grown up, but retain
them bound by perpetual relationship and the
bond of affection. Why should I say that the
offspring of birds is much more fragile than
that of man ? Inasmuch as they do not bring
forth the animal itself from the body of the
mother, but that which, being warmed by the
nourishment and heat of the body of the mother,
produces the animal ; and this, even when ani-
mated by breath, being unfledged and tender, is
not only without the power of flying, but even
of walking. Would he not, therefore, be most
senseless, if any one should think that nature
has dealt badly with birds, first, because they
are twice born, and then because they are so
weak, that they have to be nourished by food
sought with labour by their parents ? But they
select the stronger, and pass by the more feeble
animals.

I ask, therefore, from those who prefer the
condition of the beasts to their own, what they
would choose if God should give them the
choice : would they prefer the wisdom of man

5 Dependit.-

284

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

together with his weakness, or the strength of
the beasts together with their nature ? In truth,
they are not so much Hke the beasts as not to
prefer even a much more fragile condition, pro-
vided that it be human, to that strength of theirs
unattended with reason. But, in truth, prudent
men neither desire the reason of man together
with frailty, nor the strength of the dumb ani-
mals without reason. Therefore it is nothing so
repugnant or contradictory," that either reason
or the condition of nature should of necessity
prepare each animal. If it is furnished with
natural protection, reason is superfluous. For
what will it contrive P^ What will it do? Or
what will it plan ? Or in what will it display
that light of the intellect, when Nature of its
own accord grants those things which are able
to be the result of reason? But if it be endued
with reason, what need will there be of defences
for the body, when reason once granted is able
to supply the office of nature? And this has
such power for the adorning and protection of
man, that nothing greater or better can be given
by God. Finally, since man is possessed of a
body which is not great, and of slight strength,
and of infirm health, nevertheless, since he has
received that which is of greater value, he is bet-
ter equipped than the other animals, and more
adorned. For though he is bom frail and feeble,
yet he is safe from all the dumb animals, and
all those which are born with greater strength,
though they are able to bear patiently the in-
clemency of the sky, yet are unable to be safe
from man. Thus it comes to pass that reason
bestows more on man than nature does on the
dumb animals ; since, in their case, neither great-
ness of strength nor firmness of body can pre-
vent them from being oppressed by us, or from
being made subject to our power.

Can any one, then, when he sees that even
elephants,^ with their vast bodies and strength,
are subservient to man, complain respecting God,
the Maker of all things, because he has received
moderate strength, and a small body ; and not
estimate according to their deserts the divine
benefits towards himself, which is the part of an
ungrateful man, or (to speak more truly) of a
madman ? Plato, I believe, that he might refute
these ungrateful men, gave thanks to nature that
he was born a man.* How much better and
more soundly did he act, who perceived that the
condition of man was better, than they did who
would have preferred that they had been born
beasts ! For if God should happen to change
them into those animals whose condition they

' Contrarium.

^ Excogitabit.

3 Boves Lucas. Klephants are said to have been so called, be-
cause they were first seen by the Romans in I.ucania.

♦ Some editions here add: " I'Ut what is the nature of this, it
djcs not belong to the present subject to consider."

prefer to their own, they would now immedi-
ately desire to return to their previous state, and
would with great outcries eagerly demand their
former condition, because strength and firmness
of body are not of such consequence that you
should be without the office of the tongue ; or
the free course of birds through the air, that you
should be without the hands. For the hands
are of greater service than the lightness and use
of the wings ; the tongue is of greater service
than the strength of the whole body. What
madness is it, therefore, to prefer those things
which, if they were given, you would refuse to
receive !

CHAP. IV. OF THE WEAKNESS OF MAN.

They also complain that man is liable to dis-
eases, and to untimely death. They are indig-
nant, it appears, that they are not born gods.
By no means, they say ; but we show from this,
that man was made with no foresight, which
ought to have been otherwise. What if I shall
show, that this very thing was foreseen with great
reason, that he might be able to be harassed by
diseases, and that his life might often be cut short
in the midst of its course ? For, since God had
known that the animal which He had made, of
its own accord passed to death, that it might be
capable of receiving death itself, which is the
dissolution of nature. He gave to it frailty, which
might find an approach for death in order to the
dissolution of the animal. For if it had been
of such strength that disease and sickness could
not approach it, not even could death, since
death is the consequence of diseases. But how
could a premature death be absent from him,
for whom a mature death had been appointed ?
Assuredly they wish that no man should die, un-
less when he has completed his hundredth year.
How can they maintain their consistency in so
great an opposition of circumstances? For, in
order that no one may be capable of dying
before a hundred years, something of the
strength which is immortal must be given to
him ; and when this is granted, the condition
of death must necessarily be excluded. But of
what kind can that be, which can render a man
firm and impregnable against diseases and at-
tacks from without? For, inasmuch as he is
composed of bones, and nerves, and flesh, and
blood, which of these can be so firm as to repel
frailty and death? That man, therefore, may
not be liable to dissolution before that time
which they think ought to have been appointed
for him, of what material will they assign to him
a body? All things which can be seen and
touched are frail. It remains that they seek
something from heaven, since there is nothing
on earth which is not weak.

Since, therefore, man had to be so formed by

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

285

God, that he should at some time be mortal, the
matter itself required that he should be made
with a frail and earthly body. It is necessary,
therefore, that he should at some time receive
death, since he is possessed of a body ; for every
body is liable to dissolution and to death. There-
fore they are most foolish who complain of pre-
mature death, since the condition of nature
makes a place for it. Thus it will follow that he
is subject also to diseases ; for nature does not
admit that infirmity can be absent from that
body which is at some time to undergo dissolu-
tion. But let us suppose it to be possible, as
they wish, that man is not born under those con-
ditions by which he is subject to disease or death,
unless, having completed the course of his life,
he shall have arrived at the extremity of old age.
They do not, therefore, see what would be the
consequence if it were so arranged, that it would
be plainly impossible to die at another time ; but
if any one can be deprived of nourishment by
another, it will be possible for him to die. There-
fore the case requires that man, who cannot die
before an appointed day, should have no need
of the nourishment of food, because it may be
taken from him ; but if he shall have no need of
food, he will now not be a man, but will become
a god. Therefore, as I have already said, they
who complain of the frailty of man, make this
complaint especially, that they were not born
immortal and everlasting. No one ought to die
unless he is old. On this account, in truth, he
ought to die, because he is not God. But mor-
tality cannot be united with immortality : for if
a man is mortal in old age, he cannot be immor-
tal in youth ; neither is the condition of death
foreign to him who is at some time about to die ;
nor is there any immortality to which a limit is
appointed. Thus it comes to pass, that the ex-
clusion of immortality for ever, and the reception
of mortality for a time, place man in such a
condition that he is at some time mortal.

Therefore the necessity is in all points suitable,'
that he ought not to have been otherwise than
he is, and that it was impossible. But they do
not see the order of consequences, because they
have once committed an error in the main point
itself. For the divine providence having been
excluded from the affairs of men, it necessarily
followed that all things were produced of their
own accord. Hence they invented the notion
of those blows and fortuitous meetings together
of minute seeds, because they did not see the
origin of things. And when they had thrown
themselves into this difficulty, necessity now
compelled them to think that souls were born
together with bodies, and in like manner were
extinguished together with bodies ; for they had

* Quadrat.

made the assumption, that nothing was made by
the divine mind. And they were unable to prove
this in any other way, than by showing that there
were some things in which the system of provi-
pence appeared to be at fault.^ Therefore they
blamed those things in which providence won-
derfully expressed its divinity, as those things
which I have related concerning diseases and
premature death ; whereas they ought to have
considered, these things being assumed, what
would be the necessary consequences (but those
things which I have spoken are the consequences)
if he were not liable to diseases, and did not re-
quire a dwelling, nor clothing. For why should
he fear the winds, or rains, or colds, the power
of which consists in this, that they bring diseases ?
For on this account he has received wisdom, that
he may guard his frailty against things that would
injure him. The necessary consequence is, that
since he is liable to diseases for the sake of re-
taining his wisdom, he must also be liable to
death ; because he to whom death does not
come, must of necessity be firm. But infirmity
has in itself the condition of death ; but where
there shall be firmness, neither can old age have
any place, nor death, which follows old age.

Moreover, if death were appointed for a fixed
age, man would become most arrogant, and
would be destitute of all humanity. For almost
all the rights of humanity, by which we are
united with one another, arise from fear and the
consciousness of frailty. In short, all the more
feeble and timid animals herd together, that,
since they are unable to protect themselves by
strength, they may protect themselves by their
multitude ; but the stronger animals seek soli-
tudes, since they trust in their force and strength.^
If man also, in the same manner, had sufficient
strength for the repelling of dangers, and did
not stand in need of the assistance of any other,
what society would there be ? Or what system ?
What humanity? Or what would be more harsh
than man ? What more brutal ? What more
savage ? But since he is feeble, and not able
to live by himself apart from man, he desires
society, that his life, passed in intercourse with
others, may become both more adorned and
more safe. You see, therefore, that the whole
reason of man centres most of all in this, that
he is born naked and fragile, that he is attacked
by diseases, that he is punished by premature
death. And if these things should be taken away
from man, reason also, and wisdom, must neces-
sarily be taken away. But I am discussing too
long respecting things which are manifest, since
it is clear that nothing ever was made, or could
have been made, without providence. And if

^ Claudicare.

3 [The disposition, even among men, to herd together in artificial
societies, is instinctively repugnant to the stronger natures.]

286

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

I should now wish to discuss respecting all its
works in order, the subject would be infinite.
But I have purposed to speak so much concern-
ing the body of man only, that I may show in
it the power of divine providence, how great
it has been in those things only which are easy
of comprehension and open ; for those things
which relate to the soul can neither be subjected
to the eyes, nor comprehended. Now we speak
concerning the vessel itself of man, which we
see.

CHAP. V. — OF THE FIGURES AND LIMBS OF ANIMALS.

In the beginning, when God was forming the
animals. He did not wish to conglobate ' and
collect them into a round shape, that they might
be able easily to put themselves in motion for
walking, and to turn themselves in any direction ;
but from the highest part of the body He length-
ened out the head. He also carried out to a
greater length some of the limbs, which are called
feet, that, being fixed on the ground with alter-
nate motions, they might lead forward the animal
wherever his inclination had borne him, or the
necessity of seeking food had called him. More-
over, He made four limbs standing out from the
very vessel of the body : two behind, which are
in all animals — the feet ; also two close to the
head and neck, which supply various uses to
animals. For in cattle and wild beasts they are
feet like the hinder ones ; but in man they are
hands, which are produced not for walking, but
for acting and controlling.^ There is also a third
class, in which those former limbs are neither
feet nor hands ; but wings, which, having feath-
ers arranged in order, supply the use of flying.^
Thus one formation has different forms and uses ;
and that He might firmly hold together the den-
sity itself of the body, by binding together greater
and small bones, He compacted a kind of keel,
which we call the spine ; and He did not think
fit to form it of one continued bone, lest the
animal should not have the power of walking
and bending itself. From its middle part, as it
were, He has extended in a different direction
transverse and flat bones, by which, being slightly
curved, and almost drawn together to themselves
as into a circle, the inward organs * may be cov-
ered, that those parts which needed to be soft
and less strong might be protected by the encir-
cling of a solid framework. 5 But at the end of
that joining together which we have said to re-
semble the keel of a ship. He placed the head,
in wliich might be the government of the whole

' Conglobare, " to gather into a ball."

- Tempcrandum. Others read " tenendum."

' TRi". T'ery, Is there not an unsolved mystery about birds and
flying? They seem to me to be sustained in the air by some faculty
not yet tmderstood.J

* Viscera. This word includes the heart, lungs, liver, stomach,
and mtestines.

5 Cratis. properly " wicker-work."

living creature ; and this name was given to it,
as indeed Varro writes to Cicero, because from
this the senses and the nerves take their begin-
ning.

But those parts, which we have said to be
lengthened out from the body, either for the
sake of walking, or of acting, or of flying, He
would have to consist of bones, neither too long,
for the sake of rapidity of motion, nor too short,
for the sake of firmness, but of a few, and those
large. For either they are two as in man, or
four as in a quadruped. And these He did not
make solid, lest in walking sluggishness and
weight should retard ; but He made them hol-
low, and full of marrow within, to preserve the
vigour of the body. And again, He did not
make them equally extended to the end ; but
He conglobated their extremities with coarse
knots, that they might be able more easily to
be bound with sinews, and to be turned more
easily, from which they are called joints.'^ These
knots He made firmly solid, and covered with a
soft kind of covering, which is called cartilage ;
for this purpose, that they might be bent without
galling or any sense of pain. He did not, how-
ever, form these after one fashion. For He
made some simple and round into an orb, in
those joints at least in which it was befitting that
the limbs should move in all directions, as in the
shoulders, since it is necessary that the hands
should move and be twisted about in any direc-
tion ; but others He made broad, and equal, and
round towards one part, and that plainly in those
places where only it was necessary for the limbs
to be bent, as in the knees, and in the elbows,
and in the hands themselves. For as it was at
the same time pleasant to the sight, and useful,
that the hands should move in every direction
from that position from which they spring ; so
assuredly, if this same thing should happen to
the elbows, a motion of that kind would be at
once superfluous and unbecoming. For then
the hand, having lost the dignity which it now
has, through its excessive flexibility,^ would ap-
pear like the trunk of an elephant ; and man
would be altogether snake-handed,*^ — an instance
of which has been wonderfully effected in that
monstrous beast. For God, who wished to dis-
play His providence and power by a wonderful
variety of many things, inasmuch as He had not
extended the head of that animal to such a length
that he might be able to touch the earth with
his mouth, which would have been horrible and
hideous, and because He had so armed the
mouth itself with extended tusks, that even if
he touched the earth the tusks would still deprive
him of the power of feeding, He lengthened out

* Vertibula.
' Mobilitas.
•> Anguimanus, -

a word applied by Lucretius to the elephant.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

287

between these from the top of the forehead a
soft and flexible limb, by which he might be able
to grasp and lay hold of anything, lest the promi-
nent magnitude of the tusks, or the shortness of
the neck, should interfere with the arrangement

for taking food.

CHAP. VI. — OF THE ERROR OF EPICURUS, AND OF
THE LIMBS AND THEIR USE.

I cannot here be prevented from again show-
ing the folly of Epicurus. For all the ravings
of Lucretius ' belong to him, who, in order that
he might show that animals are not produced by
any contrivance of the divine mind, but, as he
is wont to say, by chance, said that in the begin-
ning of the world innumerable other animals of
wonderful form and magnitude were produced ;
but that they were unable to be permanent, be-
cause either the power of taking food, or the
method of uniting and generating, had failed
them. It IS evident that, in order to make a
place for his atoms flying about through the
boundless and empty space, he wished to ex-
clude the divine providence. But when he saw
that a wonderful system of providence is con-
tained in all things which breathe, what vanity
was it (O mischievous one !) to say that there
had been animals of immense size, in which the
system of production ceased !

Since, therefore, all things which we see are
produced with reference to a plan — for nothing
but a plan ^ can effect this very condition of be-
ing born — it is manifest that nothing could have
been born without a plan. For it was previously
foreseen in the formation of everything, how it
should use the service of the limbs for the neces-
saries of life ; and how the offspring, being pro-
duced from the union of bodies, might preserve
all living creatures by their several species. For
if a skilful architect, when he designs to construct
some great building, first of all considers what
will be the effect ^ of the complete building, and
previously ascertains by measurement what situa-
tion is suitable for a light weight, in what place
a massive part of the structure will stand, what
will be the intervals between the columns, what
or where will be the descents and outlets of the
falling waters and the reservoirs, — he first, I
say, foresees these things, that he may begin to-
gether with the very foundations whatever things
are necessary for the work when now completed,
— why should any one suppose that, in the con-
trivance of animals, God did not foresee what
things were necessary for living,- before giving
life itself? For it is manifest that life could not

■ [Yet Lucretius has originality and genius of an order far nobler
than that of modems who copy his follies.]

- Ratio. Nearly equivalent in this place to " providentia."
3 Summa. [Wisd. xi. 20.]

exist, unless those things by which it exists were
previously arranged.*

Therefore Epicurus saw in the bodies of ani-
mals the skill of a divine plan ; but that he might
carry into eff'ect that which he had before im-
prudently assumed, he added another absurdity
agreeing with the former. For he said that the
eyes were not produced for seeing, nor the ears
for hearing, nor the feet for walking, since these
members were produced before there was the
exercise of seeing, hearing, and walking; but
that all the offices of these members arose from
them after their production. 5 I fear lest the ref-
utation of such extravagant and ridiculous stories
should appear to be no less foolish ; but it pleases
me to be foolish, since we are dealing with a
foolish man, lest he should think himself too
clever.^ What do you say, Epicurus? Were
not the eyes produced for seeing? Why, then,
do they see? Their use, he says, after^vards
showed itself. Therefore they were produced
for the sake of seeing, since they can do nothing
else but see. Likewise, in the case of the other
limbs, use itself shows for what purpose they
were produced. For it is plain that this use
could have no existence, unless all the limbs had
been made with such arrangement and foresight,
that they might be able to have their use.

For what if you should say, that birds were
not made to fly, nor wild beasts to rage, nor
fishes to swim, nor men to be wise, when it is
evident that living creatures are subject to that
natural disposition and office to which each was
created ? But it is evident that he who has lost
the main point itself of the truth must always be
in error. For if all things are produced not by
providence, but by a fortuitous meeting together
of atoms, why does it never happen by chance,
that those first principles meet together in such
a way as to make an animal of such a kind, that
it might rather hear with its nostrils, smell with
its eyes, and see ^ with its ears ? For if the first
principles leave no kind of position untried,
monstrous productions of this kind ought daily
to have been brought forth, in which the arrange-
ment of the limbs might be distorted,^ and the
use far different from that which prevails. But
since all the races of animals, and all the limbs,
observe their own laws and arrangements, and
the uses assigned to them, it is plain that noth-
ing is made by chance, since a perpetual arrange-
ment of the divine plan is preserved. But we
will refute Epicurus at another time. Now let

■• [The amazing proportions imparted to all things created, in
correspondence with their relations to man and to the earth, is beauti-
fully hinted by our author.]

5 [The snout of the elephant and the neck of the giraffe were de-
veloped from their necessities, etc. Modertt Science, passim. ]

° [In our days reproduced as progress.^

7 Cerneret, " to .see so as to distinguish; " a stronger wora than
" video."

* PraeDOSterus; having the last first, and the first las'

288

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

us discuss the subject of providence, as we have
begun.

CHAP. VII. OF ALL THE PARTS OF THE BODY.

God therefore connected and bound together
the parts which strengthen ' the body, which we
call bones, being knotted and joined to one an-
other by sinews, which the mind might make use
of, as bands,^ if it should wish to hasten forward
or to lag behind ; and, indeed, without any la-
bour or effort, but with a very slight inclination,
it might moderate and guide the mass of the
whole body. But He covered these with the
inward organs,^ as was befitting to each place,
that the parts which were solid might be enclosed
and concealed. Also He mixed with the inward
organs, veins as streams divided through the
whole body, through which the moisture and the
blood, running in different directions, might be-
dew all the limbs with the vital juices ; and He
fashioned these inward organs after that manner
which was befitting to each kind and situation,
and covered them with skin drawn over them,
which He either adorned with beauty only, or
covered with thick hair, or fenced with scales,
or adorned with brilliant feathers. But that is a
wonderful contrivance of God, that one arrange-
ment and one state exhibits innumerable varie-
ties of animals. For in almost all things which
breathe there is the same connection and ar-
rangement of the hmbs. For first of all is the
head, and annexed to this the neck ; also the
breast adjoined to the neck, and the shoulders
projecting from it, the belly adhering to the
breast ; also the organs of generation subjoined
to the belly ; in the last place, the thighs and
feet. Nor do the limbs only keep their own
course and position in all, but also the parts of
the limbs. For in the head itself alone the ears
occupy a fixed position, the eyes a fixed position,
hkewise the nostrils, the mouth also, and in it
the teeth and tongue. And though all these
things are the same in all animals, yet there is
an infinite and manifold diversity of the things
formed ; because those things of which I have
spoken, being either more drawn out or more
contracted, are comprehended by lineaments
differing in various ways. What ! is not that
divine, that in so great a multitude of living
creatures each animal is most excellent in its
own class and species? — so that if any part
should be taken from one to another, the neces-
sary result would be, that nothing would be more
embarrassed for use, nothing more unshapely to
look upon ; as if you should give a prolonged
neck to an elephant, or a short neck to a camel ;

' '^olidamenta corporis.
- Retinaculis.
^ Visceribus.

or if you should attach feet or hair to serpents,
in which the length of the body equally stretched
out required nothing else, except that being
marked as to their backs with spots, and sup-
porting themselves by their smooth scales, with
winding courses they should glide into slippery
tracts. But in quadrupeds the same designer
lengthened out the arrangement of the spine,
which is drawn out from the top of the head to
a greater length on the outside of the body, and
pointed it into a tail, that the parts of the body
which are offensive might either be covered on
account of their unsightliness, or be protected
on account of their tenderness, so that by its
motion certain minute and injurious animals
might be driven away from the body ; and if
you should take away this member, the animal
would be imperfect and weak. But where there
is reason and the hand, that is not so necessary
as a covering of hair. To such an extent are all
things most befittingly arranged, each in its own
class, that nothing can be conceived more unbe-
coming than a quadruped which is naked, or a
man that is covered.

But, however, though nakedness itself on the
part of man tends in a wonderful manner to
beauty, yet it was not adapted to his head ; for
what great deformity there would be in this, is
evident from baldness. Therefore He clothed
the head with hair ; and because it was about to
be on the top, He added it as an ornament, as
it were, to the highest summit of the building.
And this ornament is not collected into a circle,
or rounded into the figure of a cap, lest it should
be unsightly by leaving some parts bare ; but it
is freely poured forth in some places, and with-
drawn in others, according to the comeliness of
each place. Therefore, the forehead entrenched
by a circumference, and the hair put forth from
the temples before the ears, and the uppermost
parts of these being surrounded after the man-
ner of a crown, and all the back part of the
head covered, display an appearance of wonder-
ful comeliness. Then the nature of the beard
contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish
the maturity of bodies, or to the distinction of
sex, or to the beauty of manliness and strength ;
so that it appears that the system of the whole
work would not have been in agreement, if any-
thing had been made otherwise tlian it is.

CHAP. VIII. — OF THE PARTS OF MAN : THE EYES
AND EARS.

Now I will show the plan of the whole man,
and will explain the uses and habits of the sev-
eral members which are exposed to view in the
body, or concealed. When, therefore, God had
determined of all the animals to make man
alon " heavenlv, and all the rest earthlv, He

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

289

raised him erect ' to the contemplation of the
heaven, and made him a biped, doubtless that
he might look to the same quarter from which
he derives his origin ; but He depressed the
others to the earth, that, inasmuch as they have
no expectation of immortality, being cast down
with their whole body to the ground, they might
be subservient to their appetite and food. And
thus the right reason and elevated position of
man alone, and his countenance, shared with
and closely resembling God his Father, bespeak
his origin and Maker.^ His mind, nearly di-
vine, because it has obtained the rule not only
over the animals which are on the earth, but
even over his own body, being situated in the
highest part, the head, as in a lofty citadel,
looks out upon and observes all things. He
formed this its palace, not drawn out and ex-
tended, as in the case of the dumb animals, but
like an orb and a globe, because all ^ roundness
belongs to a perfect plan and figure. Therefore
the mind and that divine fire is covered with it,"* as
with a vault ; s and when He had covered its high-
est top with a natural garment. He alike furnished
and adorned the front part, which is called the
face, with the necessary services of the members.

And first, He closed the orbs of the eyes with
concave apertures, from which boring^ Varro
thought that the forehead ^ derived its name ;
and He would have these to be neither less nor
more than two, because no number is more per-
fect as to appearance than that of two : as also
He made the ears two, the doubleness ^ of which
bears with it an incredible degree of beauty,
both because each part is adorned with a resem-
blance, and that voices coming from both sides 9
may more easily be collected. For the form
itself is fashioned after a wonderful manner :
because He would not have their apertures to
be naked and uncovered, which would have been
\ess becoming and less useful ; since the voice
might fly beyond the narrow space of simple cav-
erns, and be scattered, did not the apertures them-
selves confine it, received through hollow wind-
ings and kept back from reverberation, like those
small vessels, by the application of which narrow-
mouthed vessels are accustomed to be filled.

These ears, then, which have their name from
the drinking '° in of voices, from which Virgil
says,"

" And with these ears I drank in his voice ; "

' Rigidum.

2 r.'^n amusing persistency in the enforcement of this idea.]

3 Omnis. Others read " orbis."

* i.e., the head.

5 CceIo. Some believed that the soul was of fire.

* Foratu, " the process of boring; " foramen, " the aperture thus
made."

^ Frontem.

^ Duplicitas.

9 Altrinsecus.

'° Hauriendis, from which " aures " is said to be formed.
" .■Uneid, iv. 359. [The English verb bother (= both ear) is an
amusing comment on the adaptation of ears to unwelcome voices.]

or because the Greeks call the voice itself a.vh\]v,
from hearing, — the ears {aures) were named
as though audes by the change of a letter, —
God would not form of soft skins, which, hang-
ing down and flaccid, might take away beauty ;
nor of hard and solid bones, lest, being stiff and
immoveable, they should be inconvenient for
use. But He designed that which might be be-
tween these, that a softer cartilage might bind
them, and that they might have at once a befit-
ting and flexible firmness. In these the office
of hearing only is placed, as that of seeing is in
the eyes, the acuteness of which is especially in-
explicable and wonderful ; for He covered their
orbs, presenting the similitude of gems in that
part with which they had to see, with trans-
parent membranes, that the images of objects
placed opposite them, being refracted '^ as in a
mirror, might penetrate to the innermost percep-
tion. Through these membranes, therefore, that
faculty which is called the mind sees those things
which are without ; lest you should happen to
think that we see either by the striking '^ of the
images, as the philosophers discuss, since the
office of seeing ought to be in that which sees,
not in that which is seen ; or in the tension of
the air together with the eyesight ; or in the
outpouring of the rays : since, if it were so, we
should see the ray towards which we turn with
our eyes, until the air, being extended together
with the eyesight, or the rays being poured out,
should arrive at the object which was to be seen.
But since we see at the same moment of time,
and for the most part, while engaged on other
business, we nevertheless behold all things which
are placed opposite to us, it is more true and
evident that it is the mind which, through the
eyes, sees those things which are placed oppo-
site to it, as though through windows covered
with pellucid crystal or transparent stone ; '^ and
therefore the mind and inclination are often
known from the eyes. For the refutation of
which Lucretius '5 employed a very senseless ar-
gument. For if the mind, he says, sees through
the eyes, it would see better if the eyes were
torn out and dug up, inasmuch as doors being
torn up together with the door-posts let in more
light than if they were covered. Truly his eyes,
or rather those of Epicurus who taught him,
ought to have been dug out, that they might not
see, that the torn-out orbs, and the burst fibres
of the eyes, and the blood flowing through the
veins, and the flesh increasing from wounds, and
the scars drawn over at last can admit no light ;
unless by chance he would have it that eyes are
produced resembling ears, so that we should see

'2 Refulgentes.

'3 Imaginum incursione.

■< According to some, " talc."

15 iii. 368.

290

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

not so much with eyes as with apertures, than
which there can be nothing more unsightly or
more useless. For how little should we be able
to see, if from the innermost recesses of the
head the mind should pay attention through
slight fissures of caverns ; as, if any one should
wish to look through a stalk of hemlock, he
would see no more than the capability of the
stalk itself admitted ! For sight, therefore, it
was rather needful that the members should be
collected together into an orb, that the sight
might be spread in breadth and the parts which
adjoined them in the front of the face, that they
might freely behold all things. Therefore the
unspeakable power of the divine providence
made two orbs most resembling each other, and
so bound them together that they might be able
not only to be altogether turned, but to be
moved and directed with moderation.' And
He willed that the orbs themselves should be
full of a pure and clear moisture, in the middle
part of which sparks of lights might be kept
shut up, which we call the pupils, in which, being
pure and delicate, are contained the faculty and
method of seeing. The mind therefore directs
itself through these orbs that it may see, and
the sight of both the eyes is mingled and joined
together in a wonderful manner.

CHAP. IX. — OF THE SENSES AND THEIR POWER.

It pleases me in this place to censure the folly
of those who, while they wish to show that the
senses are false, collect many instances in which
the eyes are deceived ; and among them this
also, that all things appear double to the mad
and intoxicated, as though the cause of that error
were obscure. For it happens on this account,
because there are two eyes. But hear how it
happens. The sight of the eyes consists in the
exertion of the soul. Therefore, since the mind,
as has been above said, uses the eyes as windows,
this happens not only to those who are intoxicated
or mad, but even to those who are of sound
mind, and sober. For if you place any object
too near, it will appear double, for there is a
certain interval and space in which the sight of
the eyes meets together. Likewise, if you call
the soul back as if to reflection, and relax the
exertion of the mind, then the sight of each eye
is drawn asunder, and they each begin to see
separately.

If you, again, exert the mind and direct the
eyesight, whatever appeared double unites into
one. What wonder, therefore, if the mind, im-
paired by poison and the powerful influence of
wine, cannot direct itself to seeing, as the feet
cannot to walking when they are weak through
the numbness of the sinews, or if the force of

' Cum modo: " in a measured degree."

madness raging against the brain disunites the
agreement of the eyes? Which is so true, that
in the case of one-eyed ^ men, if they become
either mad or intoxicated, it can by no means
happen that they see any object double. Where-
fore, if the reason is evident why the eyes are
deceived, it is clear that the senses are not false :
for they either are not deceived if they are pure
and sound ; or if they are deceived, yet the mind
is not deceived which recognises their error.

CHAP. X. OF THE OUTER LIMBS OF MAN, AND

THEIR USE.

But let US return to the works of God. That
the eyes, therefore, might be better protected
from injury. He concealed them with the cover-
ings of the eyelashes,^ from which Varro thinks
that the eyes* derived their n^me. For even
the eyelids themselves, in which there is the
power of rapid motion, and to which throbbing 5
gives their name, being protected by hairs stand-
ing in order, afford a most becoming fence to
the eyes ; the continual motion of which, meet-
ing with incomprehensible rapidity, does not im-
pede the course of the sight, and relieves the
eyes.^ For the pupil — that is, the transparent
membrane — which ought not to be drained and
to become dry, unless it is cleansed by continual
moisture so that it shines clearly, loses its power.''
Why should I speak of the summits of the eye-
brows themselves, furnished with short hair ? Do
they not, as it were by mounds, both afford pro-
tection to the eyes, so that nothing may fall into
them from above,^ and at the same time orna-
ment? And the nose, arising from the confines
of these, and stretched out, as it were, with an
equal ridge, at once serves to separate and to
protect the two eyes. Below also, a not unbe-
coming swelling of the cheeks, gently rising after
the similitude of hills, makes the eyes safer on
every side ; and it has been provided by the
great Artificer, that if there shall happen to be a
more violent blow, it may be repelled by the
projecting parts. But the upper part of the nose
as far as the middle has been made solid ; but
the lower part has been made with a softened
cartilage annexed to it, that it may be pliant ^ to
the use of the fingers. Moreover, in this, though
a single member, three offices are placed : one,
that of drawing the breath ; the second, that of
smelling ; the third, that the secretions of the
brain may escape through its caverns. And in
how wonderful, how divine a manner did God

^ Luscis.

5 Ciliorum. The word properly denotes the edge of the eyelid, in
which the eyelash is fixed; said to be derived from " cilleo," to move.
* Oculi, as though derived from " occulerCj" to conceal.
5 Palpitatio. Hence " palpebra;," the eyelids,
f" Reficit obtutum.
7 Obsolescit.

' [Xenophon, Memorabilia, i. 4.]
9 Tractabilis.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

291

contrive these also, so that the very cavity of
the nose should not deform the beauty of the
face : which would certainly have been the case
if one single aperture only were open. But He
enclosed and divided that, as though by a wall
drawn through the middle, and made it most
beautiful by the very circumstance of its being
double." From which we understand of how
much weight the twofold number, made firm by
one simple connection, is to the perfection of
things.

For though the body is one, yet the whole
could not be made up of single members, unless
it were that there should be parts on the right
hand or on the left. Therefore, as the two feet
and also hands not only avail to some utility and
practice either of walking or of doing some-
thing, but also bestow an admirable character
and comeliness ; so in the head, which is, as it
were, the crown of the divine work, the hearing
has been divided by the great Artificer into two
ears, and the sight into two eyes, and the smell-
ing into two nostrils, because the brain, in which
is contained the system of the sensation, although
it is one, yet is divided into two parts by the
intervening membrane. But the heart also, which
appears to be the abode of wisdom, although it
is one, yet has two recesses within, in which are
contained the living fountains of blood, divided
by an intervening barrier : that as in the world
itself the chief control, being twofold from sim-
ple matter, or simple from a twofold matter,
governs and keeps together the whole ; so in the
body, all the parts, being constructed of two,
might present an inseparable unity. Also how
useful and how becoming is the appearance and
the opening of the mouth transversely cannot
be expressed ; the use of which consists in two
offices, that of taking food and speaking.

The tongue enclosed within, which by its
motions divides the voice into words, and is the
interpreter of the mind, cannot, however, by
itself alone fulfil the office of speaking, unless it
strikes its edge against the palate, unless aided
by striking against the teeth or by the compres-
sion of the lips. The teeth, however, contribute
more to speaking : for infants do not begin to
speak before they have teeth ; and old men,
when they have lost their teeth, so lisp that they
appear to have returned afresh to infancy. But
these things relate to man alone, or to birds, in
which the tongue, being pointed and vibrating
with fixed motions, expresses innumerable in-
flexions of songs and various kinds of sounds.
It has, moreover, another office also, which it
exercises in all, and this alone in the dumb ani-
mals, that it collects the food when bruised and
ground by the teeth, and by its force presses it

' Ipsa duplicitate.

down when collected into balls, and transmits it
to the belly. Accordingly, Varro thinks that the
name of tongue was given to it from binding^
the food. It also assists the beasts in drinking :
for with the tongue stretched out and hollowed
they draw water ; and when they have taken it
in the hollow^ of the tongue, lest by slowness
and delay it should flow away, they dash* it
against the palate with swift rapidity. This,
therefore, is covered by the concave part of the
palate as by a shell, 5 and God has surrounded it
with the enclosure of the teeth as with a wall.

But He has adorned the teeth themselves,
which are arranged in order in a wonderful man-
ner, lest, being bare and exposed,^ they should
be a terror rather than an ornament, with soft
gums, which are so named from producing teeth,
and then with the coverings of the lips ; and the
hardness of the teeth, as in a millstone, is greater
and rougher than in the other bones, that they
might be sufficient for bruising the food and
pasture. But how befittingly has He divided ^
the lips themselves, which as it were before
were united ! the upper of which, under the very
middle of the nostrils. He has marked with a
kind of slight cavity, as with a valley : He has
gracefully spread out ^ the lower for the sake of
beauty. For, as far as relates to the receiving
of flavour, he is deceived, whoever he is, who
thinks that this sense resides in the palate ; for
it is the tongue by which flavours are perceived,
and not the whole of it : for the parts of it
which are more tender on either side, draw in
the flavour with the most delicate perceptions.
And though nothing is diminished from that
which is eaten or drunk, yet the flavour in an
indescribable manner penetrates to the sense, in
the same way in which the taking of the smell
detracts nothing from any material.

And how beautiful the other parts are can
scarcely be expressed. The chin, gently drawn
down from the cheeks, and the lower part of it so
closed that the lightly imprinted division appears
to mark its extreme point : the neck stiff" and
well rounded : the shoulders let down as though
by gentle ridges from the neck : the fore-arms "^
powerful, and braced '° by sinews for firmness :
the great strength of the upper-arms " standing
out with remarkable muscles : the useful and
becoming bending of the elbows. What shall I
say of the hands, the ministers of reason and
wisdom ? Which the most skilful Creator made
with a flat and moderately concave bend, that if

2 Lingua, as though from " Hgando."

3 Linguae sinu.
* Complodunt.

5 Testudine.

6 Restrict!.

7 Intercidit.

8 Foras moUiter explicavit.

9 Brachia. The fore-arms, from the hand to the elbow.
1° Substricta.

' ' Lacerti. The arm from the elbow to the shoulder.

292

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

anything was to be held, it might conveniently
rest upon them, and terminated them in the
fingers ; in which it is difficult to explain whether
the appearance or the usefi^ilness is greater. For
the perfection and completeness of their num-
ber, and the comeliness of their order and gra-
dation, and the flexible bending of the equal
joints, and the round form of the nails, com-
prising and strengthening the tips of the fingers
with concave coverings, lest the softness of the
flesh should yield in holding any object, afford
great adornment. But this is convenient for use
in wonderful ways, that one separated from the
rest rises together with the hand itself, and is
enlarged ' in a different direction, which, offer-
ing itself as though to meet the others, possesses
all the power of holding and doing either alone,
or in a special manner, as the guide and director
of them all ; from which also it received the
name of thumb,^ because it prevails among the
others by force and power. It has two joints
standing out, not as the others, three ; but one
is annexed by flesh to the hand for the sake of
beauty : for if it had been with three joints, and
itself separate, the foul and unbecoming appear-
ance would have deprived the hand of all grace.
Again, the breadth of the breast, being ele-
vated, and exposed to the eyes, displays a won-
derful dignity of its condition ; of which this is
the cause, that God appears to have made man
only, as it were, reclining with his face upward :
for scarcely any other animal is able to lie upon
its back. But He appears to have formed the
dumb animals as though lying on one side, and
to have pressed them to the earth. For this
reason He gave them a narrow breast, and re-
moved from sight, and prostrate ^ towards the
earth. But He made that of man open and
erect, because, being full of reason given from
heaven, it was not befitting that it should be
humble or unbecoming. The nipples also gently
rising, and crowned with darker and small orbs,
add something of beauty ; being given to females
for the nourishment of their young, to males for
grace only, that the breast might not appear mis-
shapen, and, as it were, mutilated. Below this
is placed the flat surface of the belly, about the
middle of which the navel distinguishes by a
not unbecoming mark, being made for this pur-
pose, that through it the young, while it is in the
womb, may be nourished.

CHAP. XI. OF THE INTESTINES IN MAN, AND

THEIR USE.

It necessarily follows that I should l)egin to
speak of the inward jjarts also, to which has
been assigned not beauty, because they are con-

' Maturius funditur.

* i e., poUex, as though from " polleo," to prevail.

•' AbjectuiD.

cealed from view, but incredible utility, since it
was necessary that this earthly body should be
nourished with some moisture from food and
drink, as the earth itself is by showers and frosts.
The most provident Artificer placed in the mid-
dle of it a receptacle for articles of food, by
means of which, when digested and liquefied, it
might distribute the vital juices to all the mem-
bers. But since man is composed of body and
soul, that receptacle of which I have spoken
above affords nourishment only to the body ; to
the soul, in truth, He has given another abode.
For He has made a kind of intestines soft and
thin,'* which we call the lungs, into which the
breath might pass by an alternate interchange ; 5
and He did not form this after the fashion of
the uterus, lest the breath should all at once be
poured forth, or at once inflate it. And on this
account He did not make it a full intestine,^ but
capable of being inflated, and admitting the air,
so that it might gradually receive the breath ;
while the vital air is spread through that thinness,
and might again gradually give it back, while it
spreads itself forth from it : for the very alter-
nation of blowing and breathing,? and the pro-
cess of respiration, support life in the body.

Since, therefore, there are in man two recep-
tacles,— one of the air which nourishes the soul,"*
the other of the food which nourishes the body,
— there must be two tubes 9 through the neck
for food, and for breath, the upper of which leads
from the mouth to the belly, the lower from the
nostrils to the lungs. And the plan and nature
of these are different : for the passage which is
from the mouth has been made soft, and which
when closed always adheres '° to itself, as the
mouth itself; since drink and food, being cor-
poreal, make for themselves a space for passage,
by moving aside and opening the gullet. The
breath, on the other hand, which is incorporeal
and thin, because it was unable to make for
itself a space, has received an open way, which
is called the windpipe. This is composed of
flexible and soft bones, as though of rings fitted
together after the manner of a hemlock stalk,"
and adhering together ; and this passage is al-
always open. For the breath can have no cessa-
tion in passing ; because it, which is always
passing to and fro, is checked as by a kind of
obstacle through means of a portion of a mem-
ber usefully sent down from the brain, and whicli
is called the uvula, lest, drawn by pestilential air,

* Rarum, i.e., loose in texture.
5 Reciproca vicissitudine.

* Nc plenum quidem. Some editions omit " ne," but it seems to
be required by the sense; the lungs not being compact and solid, as
the liver, but of a slighter substance.

7 Flandi et spirandi. The former word denotes the process ol
sending forth, the latter of inhaling, the air.

8 Animam, tlie vital principle, as differing from the rational.

9 Fistulas.

^^ Coh^ereat sibi.
" In cicuta; modum.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

293

it should come with impetuosity and spoil the
slightness ' of its abode, or bring the whole
violence of the injury upon the inner receptacles.
And on this account also the nostrils are slightly
open, which are therefore so named, because
either smell or breath does not cease to flow ^
through these, which are, as it were, the doors
of this tube. Yet this breathing-tube lies open ^
not only to the nostrils, but also to the mouth in
the extreme regions of the palate, where the ris-
ings of •♦ the jaws, looking towards the uvula, be-
gin to raise themselves into a swelling. And the
reason of this arrangement is not obscure : for
we should not have the power of speaking if the
windpipe were open to the nostrils only, as the
path of the gullet is to the mouth only ; nor
could the breath proceeding from it cause the
voice, without the service of the tongue.

Therefore the divine skill opened a way for the
voice from that breathing-tube, so that the tongue
might be able to discharge its office, and by its
strokes divide into words the even 5 course of
the voice itself. And this passage, if by any
means it is intercepted, must necessarily cause
dumbness. For he is assuredly mistaken, who-
ever thinks that there is any other cause why
men are dumb. For they are not tongue-tied,
as is commonly believed ; but they pour forth
that vocal breath through the nostrils, as though
bellowing,^ because there is either no passage at
all for the voice to the mouth, or it is not so
open as to be able to send forth the full voice.
And this generally comes to pass by nature ;
sometimes also it happens by accident that this
entrance is blocked up and does not transmit
the voice to the tongue, and thus makes those
who can speak dumb. And when this happens,
the hearing also must necessarily be blocked up ;
so that because it cannot emit the voice, it is
also incapable of admitting it. Therefore this
passage has been opened for the purpose of
speaking. It also affords this advantage, that in
frequenting the bath, 7 because the nostrils are
not able to endure the heat, the hot air is taken
in by the mouth ; also, if phlegm contracted by
cold shall have happened to stop up the breath-
ing pores of the nostrils, we may be able to draw
the air through the mouth, lest, if the passage *
should be obstructed, the breath should be stifled.
But the food being received into the stomach,
and mixed with the moisture of the drink, when
it has now been digested by the heat, its juice,
being in an indescribable manner diffused through

' Teneritudinem, domicilii.

* Nare; hence " nares," the nostrils.
3 Interpatet.

* Colles faucium. Others read " teles," i.e., the tonsils.

s Inoffensum tenorem, i.e., without obstruction, not striking against
any object — smooth.
^ Quasi mugiens.
' In lavacris celebrandis.
^ Obstructa meandi facultate.

the limbs, bedews and invigorates the whole
body.

The manifold coils also of the intestines, and
their length rolled together on themselves, and
yet fastened with one band, are a wonderful work
of God. For when the stomach has sent forth
from itself the food softened, it is gradually thrust
forth through those windings of the intestines, so
that whatever of the moisture by which the body
is nourished is in them, is divided to all the
members. And yet, lest in any place it should
happen to adhere and remain fixed, which might
have taken place on account of the turnings of
the coils,'^ which often turn back to themselves,
and which could not have happened without
injury. He has spread over '° these from within a
thicker juice, that the secretions of the belly
might more easily work their way through the
slippery substance to their outlets. It is also a
most skilful arrangement, that the bladder, which
birds do not use, though it is separated from the
intestines, and has no tube by which it may draw
the urine from them, is nevertheless filled and
distended with moisture. And it is not difficult
to see how this comes to pass. For the parts
of the intestines which receive the food and
drink from the belly are more open than the
other coils, and much more delicate. These
entwine themselves around and encompass the
bladder ; and when the meat and the drink have
arrived at these parts in a mixed state, the ex-
crement becomes more solid, and passes through,
but all the moisture is strained through those
tender parts," and the bladder, the membrane
of which is equally fine and delicate, absorbs
and collects it, so as to send it forth where
nature has opened an outlet.

CHAP. XII. DE UTERO, ET CONCEPTIONE ATQUE

SEXIBUS.'^

De utero quoque et conceptione, quoniam de
internis loquimur, dici necesse est, ne quid prae-
terisse videamur ; quae quamquam in operto la-
tent, sensum tamen atque intelligentiam latere
non possunt. Vena in maribus, quae seminium
continet, duplex est, paulo interior, quam illud
humoris obscoeni receptaculum. Sicut enim
renes duo sunt, itemque testes, ita et venae
seminales duae, in una tamen compage cohae-
rentes ; quod videmus in corporibus animalium,
ciim interfecta '^ patefiunt. Sed ilia dexterior
masculinum continet semen, sinisterior foemi-
ninum ; et omnino in toto corpore pars dextra
masculina est, sinistra vero fceminina. Ipsum
semen quidam putant ex meduUis tantum, qui-

9 Voluminum flexiones.
'^ Oblevit ea intrinsecus crassiore succo.
" Per illam teneritudinem.

'2 It has been judged advisable not to translate this and the first
part of the next chapter.

'-> Alii legunt " intersecta."

294

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

dam ex omni corpora ad venam genitalem con-
fluere, ibique concrescere. Sed hoc, humana
mens, quomodo fiat, non potest comprehendere.
Item in foeminis uterus in duas se dividit partes,
quae in diversum diffusae ac reflexse, circumpli-
cantur, sicut arietis cornua. Quae pars in dex-
tram retorquetur, masculina est ; quae in sinis-
tram, foeminina.

Conceptum igitur Varro et Aristoteles sic fieri
arbitrantur. Aiunt non tantum maribus inesse
semen, verum etiam foeminis, et inde plerumque
matribus similes procreari ; sed earum semen
sanguinem esse purgatum, quod si recte cum
virili mixtum sit, utraque concreta et simul co-
agulata info)rmari : et primum quidem cor liomi-
nis efifingi, quod in eo sit et vita omnis et sapi-
entia ; denique totum opus quadragesimo die
consummari. Ex abortionibus haec fo)rtasse col-
lecta sunt. In avium tamen foetibus primum
oculos fingi dubium non est, quod in ovis saepe
deprehendimus. Unde fieri non posse arbitror,
quin fictio a capite sumat exordium.

Similitudines autem in corporibus filiorum sic
fieri putant. Cum semina inter se permixta co-
alescunt, si virile superaverit, patri similem pro-
venire, seu marem, seu foeminam ; si muliebre
praevaluerit, progeniem cujusque sexus ad imagi-
nem respondere maternam. Id autem praevalet
e duobus, quod fuerit uberius ; alterum enim
quodammodo amplectitur et includit : hinc ple-
rumque fieri, ut unius tantum lineamenta pras-
tendat. Si vero asqua fuerit ex pari semente
permixtio, figuras quoque misceri, ut soboles ilia
communis aut neutrum referre videatur, quia
totum ex altero non habet ; aut utrumque, quia
partem de singulis mutuata est. Nam in cor-
poribus animalium videmus aut confundi paren-
tum colores, ac fieri tertium neutri generantium
simile ; aut utriusque sic exprimi, ut discolori-
bus membris per omne corpus concors mixtura
varietur. Dispares quoque naturae hoc modo
fieri putantur. Cum forte in tevam uteri par-
tem masculinae stirpis semen incident, marem
quidem gigni opinatio est ; sed quia sit in foemi-
nina parte conceptus, aliquid in se habere foe-
mineum, supra quam decus virile patiatur ; vel
formam insignem, vel nimium candorem, vel cor-
poris levitatem, vel artus delicatos, vel staturam
brevem, vel vocem gracilem, vel animum imbecil-
lum, vel ex his plura. Item, si partem in dex-
tram semen fceminini sexus influxerit, fceminam
(juidem procreari ; sed (juoniam in masculina
parte concepta sit, habere in se aliquid virilita-
tis, ultra quam sexus ratio permittat ; aut valida
membra, aut immoderatam longitudinem, aut
fuscum colorem, aut hispidam faciem, aut vul-
tum indecorum, aut vocem robustam, aut ani-
mum audacem, aut ex his plura.

Si vero masculinum in dexteram, fcemininum
in sinistram pervenerit, utrosque fuetus recte

provenire ; ut et foeminis per omnia naturae suae
decus constet, et maribus tam mente, quam
corpore robur virile servetur. Istud vero ipsum
quam mirabile institutum Dei, quod ad conser-
vationem generum singulorum, duos sexus maris
ac foeminae machinatus est ; quibus inter se per
voluptatis illecebras copulatis, successiva soboles
pareretur, ne omne genus viventium conditio
mortalitatis extingueret. Sed plus roboris mari-
bus attributum est, quo facilius ad patientiam
jugi maritalis foeminae cogerentur. Vir itaque
nominatus est, quod major in eo vis est, quam
in foemina ; et hinc virtus nomen accepit. Item
mulier (ut Varro interpretatur) a moUitie, im-
mutata et detracta littera, velut mollier ; cui
suscepto foetu, cum partus appropinquare jam
coepit, turgescentes mammae dulcibus succis dis-
tenduntur, et ad nutrimenta nascentis fontibus
lacteis foecundum pectus exuberat. Nee enim
decebat aliud quam ut sapiens animal a corde
alimoniam duceret. Idque ipsum solertissime
comparatum est, ut candens ac pinguis humor
teneritudinem novi corporis irrigaret, donee ad
capiendos fortiores cibos, et dentibus instruatur,
et viribus roboretur. Sed redeamus ad proposi-
tum, ut caetera, quae supersunt, breviter explice-
mus.

CHAP. XIII. OF THE LOWER MEMBERS.

Poteram nunc ego ipsorum quoque genitalium
membrorum mirificam rationem tibi exponere,
nisi me pudor ab hujusmodi sermone revocaret :
itaque a nobis indumento verecundiae, quje sunt
pudenda velentur. Quod ad hanc rem attinet,
queri satis est, homines impios ac profanos sum-
mum nefas admittere, qui divinum et admirabile
Dei opus, ad propagandam successionem inex-
i cogitabili ratione provisum et effectum, vel ad
turpissimos quaestus, vel ad obscoenje libidinis
pudenda opera convertunt, ut jam nihil aliud ex
re sanctissima petant, quam inanem et sterilem
voluptatem.

How is it with respect to the other parts of
the body ? Are they without order and beauty ?
The flesh rounded off into the nates, how adapt-
ed to the office of sitting ! and this also more
firm than in the other limbs, lest by the pressure
of the bulk of the body it should give way to
the bones. Also the length of the thighs drawn
out, and strengthened by broader muscles, in
order that it might more easily sustain the
weight of the body ; and as this is gradually
contracted, it is bounded ' by the knees, the
comely joints ^ of which supply a bend which is
most adapted for walking and sitting. .\lso the
legs not drawn out in an equal manner, lest an
unbecoming figure should deform the feet ; but
they are at once strengthened and adorned by

' Genua determinant.
^ Nodi.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

295

well - turned ' calves gently standing out and
gradually diminishing.

But in the soles of the feet there is the same
plan as in the hands, but yet very different : for
since these are, as it were, the foundations of
the whole body,^ the admirable Artificer has
not made them of a round appearance, lest man
should be unable to stand, or should need other
feet for standing, as is the case with quadrupeds ;
but He has formed them of a longer and more
extended shape, that they might make the body
firm by their flatness,^ from which circumstance
their name was given to them. The toes are
of the same number with the fingers, for the
sake of appearance rather than utility ; and on
this account they are both joined together, and
short, and put together by gradations ; and that
which is the greatest of these, since it was not
befitting that it should be separated from the
others, as in the hand, has been so arranged in
order, that it appears to differ from the others
m magnitude and the small space which inter-
venes. This beautiful union ^ of them strength-
ens the pressure of the feet with no slight aid ;
for we cannot be excited to running, unless, our
toes being pressed against the ground, and rest-
ing upon the soil, we take an impetus and a
spring. I appear to have explained all things
of which the plan is capable of being under-
stood, I now come to those things which are
either doubtful or obscure.

CHAP. XIV. — OF THE UNKNOWN PURPOSE OF SOME
OF THE INTESTINES.

It is evident that there are many things in the
body, the force and purpose of which no one
can perceive but He who made them. Can any
one suppose that he is able to relate what is the
advantage, and what the effect, of that slight
transparent membrane by which the stomach is
netted over and covered? What the twofold
resemblance of the kidneys? which Varro says
are so named because streams of foul moisture
arise from these ; which is far from being the
case, because, rising on either side of the spine,
they are united, and are separated from the in-
testines. What is the use of the spleen? What
of the liver ? Organs which appear as it were
to be made up 5 of disordered blood. What of
the very bitter moisture of the gall ? What of the
heart? unless we shall happen to think that they
ought to be believed, who think that the affec-
tion of anger is placed in the gall, that of fear
in the heart, of joy in the spleen. But they will
have it that the office of the liver is, by its

■ Teretes.

^ Corporis. Other editions have "operis," i.e., of the whole
work.

3 Planitie, hence " planta "

* Germanitas, " a brotherhood, or close connection."

5 Concreta esse. [See p. 180, note i, su/ra.]

embrace and heat, to digest the food in the
stomach ; some think that the desires of the
amorous passions are contained in the liver.

First of all, the acuteness of the human sense
is unable to perceive these things, because their
offices lie concealed ; nor, when laid open, do
they show their uses. For, if it were so, per-
haps the more gentle animals would either have
no gall at all, or less than the wild beasts ; the
more timid ones would have more heart, the
more lustful would have more liver, the more
playful more spleen. As, therefore, we perceive
that we hear with our ears, that we see with our
eyes, that we smell with our nostrils ; so assuredly
we should perceive that we are angry with the
gall, that we desire with the liver, that we rejoice
with the spleen. Since, therefore, we do not at
all perceive from what part those affections come,
it is possible that they may come from another
source, and that those organs may have a dif-
ferent effect to that which we suppose. We can-
not prove, however, that they who discuss these
things speak falsely. But I think that all things
which relate to the motions of the n)ind and
soul, are of so obscure and profound a nature,
that it is beyond the power of man to see through
them clearly. This, however, ought to be sure
and undoubted, that so many objects and so
many organs have one and the same office — to
retain the soul in the body. But what office is
particularly assigned to each, who can know, ex-
cept the Designer, to whom alone His own work
is known?

CHAP. XV. — OF THE VOICE.

But what account can we give of the voice ?
Grammarians, indeed, and philosophers, define
the voice to be air struck by the breath ; from
which words ^ derive their name : which is plainly
false. For the voice is not produced outside of
the mouth, but within, and therefore that opinion
is more probable, that the breath, being com-
pressed, when it has struck against the obstacle
presented by the throat, forces out the sound of
the voice : as when we send down the breath
into an open hemlock stalk, having applied it to
the lips, and the breath, reverberating from the
hollow of the stalk, and rolled back from the
bottom, while it returns ^ to that descending
through meeting with itself, striving for an outlet,
produces a sound ; and the wind, rebounding
by itself, is animated into vocal breath. Now,
whether this is true, God, who is the designer,
may see. For the voice appears to arise not
from the mouth, but from the innermost breast.
In fine, even when the mouth is closed, a sound
such as is possible is emitted from the nostrils.

6 Verba: as though derived from " verbero," to stri!<e.

7 Pum ad descendentem occursu suo redit. Others read. " Dum
descendentem reddit."

\g6

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

Moreover, also, the voice is not affected by that
greatest breath with which we gasp, but with a
hght and not compressed breath, as often as we
wish. It has not therefore been comprehended
in what manner it takes place, or what it is alto-
gether. And do not imagine that I am now
falling into the opinion of the Academy, for all
things are not incomprehensible. For as it must
be confessed that many things are unknown, since
God has willed that they should exceed the un-
derstanding of man ; so, however, it must be
acknowledged that there are many which may
both be perceived by the senses and compre-
hended by the reason. But we shall devote an en-
tire treatise to the refutation of the philosophers.
Let us therefore finish the course over which we
are now running.

CHAP. XVI. OF THE MIND AND ITS SEAT.

That the nature of the mind is also incompre-
hensible, who can be ignorant, but he who is
altogether destitute of mind, since it is not known
in what place the mind is situated, or of what
nature it is ? Therefore various things have been
discussed by philosophers concerning its nature
and place. But I will not conceal what my own
sentiments are : not that I should affirm that it
is so — for in a doubtful matter it is the part
of a foolish person to do this ; but that when I
have set forth the difficulty of the matter, you
may understand how great is the magnitude of
the divine works. Some would have it, that the
seat of the mind is in the breast. But if this is
so, how wonderful is it, that a faculty which is
situated in an obscure and dark habitation should
be employed in so great a light of reason and
intelligence ; then that the senses from every part
of the body come together to it, so that it ap-
pears to be present in any quarter of the limbs !
Others have said that its seat is in the brain :
and, indeed, they have used probable arguments,
saying that it was doubtless befitting that that
which had the government of the whole body
should especially have its abode in the highest
place, as though in the citadel of the body ; and
that nothing should be in a more elevated position
than that which governs the whole by reason,
just as the Lord Himself, and Ruler of the uni-
verse, is in the highest place. Then they say
that the organs which are the ministers of each
sense, that is, of hearing, and seeing, and smell-
ing, are situated in the head, and that the chan-
nels of all these lead not to the breast, but to
the brain : otherwise we must be more slow in
the exercise of our senses, until the power of
sensation by a long course should descentl through
the neck even to the breast. These, in truth, do
not greatly err, or perchance not at all.

For the mind, which exercises contrul over

the body, appears to be placed in the highest
part, the head, as God is in heaven ; but when
it is engaged in any reflection, it appears to pass
to the breast, and, as it were, to withdraw to
some secret recess, that it may elicit and draw
forth counsel, as it were, from a hidden treasury.
And therefore, when we are intent upon reflec-
tion, and when the mind, being occupied, has
withdrawn itself to the inner depth,' we are
accustomed neither to hear the things which
sound about us, nor to see the things which
stand in our way. But whether this is the case,
it is assuredly a matter of admiration how this
takes place, since there is no passage from the
brain to the breast. But if it is not so, never-
theless it is no less a matter of admiration that,
by some divine plan or other, it is caused that it
appears to be so. Can any fail to admire that
that Hving and heavenly faculty which is called
the mind or the soul, is of such volubility^ that
it does not rest even then when it is asleep ; of
such rapidity, that it surveys the whole heaven
at one moment of time ; and, if it wills, flies
over seas, traverses lands and cities, — in short,
places in its own sight all things which it pleases,
however far and widely they are removed ?

And does any one wonder if the divine mind
of God, being extended ^ through all parts of
the universe, runs to and fro, and rules all things,
governs all things, being everywhere present,
everywhere diffused ; when the strength and
power of the human mind, though enclosed
within a mortal body, is so great, that it can in
no way be restrained even by the barriers of this
heavy and slothful body, to which it is bound,
from bestowing upon itself, in its impatience of
rest, the power of wandering without restraint ?
Whether, therefore, the mind has its dwelling in
the head or in the breast, can any one compre-
hend what power of reason effects, that that in-
comprehensible faculty either remains fixed in
the marrow of the brain, or in that blood divided
into two parts ■* which is enclosed in the heart ;
and not infer from this very circumstance how
great is the power of God, because the soul
does not see itself, or of what nature or where
it is ; and if it did see, yet it would not be able
to perceive in what manner an incorporeal sub-
stance is united with one which is corporeal?
Or if the mind has no fixed locality, but runs
here and there scattered through the whole
body, — which is possible, and was asserted by
Xenocrates, the disciple of Plato, — then, inas-
much as intelligence is j^resent in every part of

' In ahum se abdiderit. [An interesting "evolution from self-
consciousness," not altogether to be despised. In connection with
the tripartite nature of man (of which see vol. iii. p. 474), we may
ill inquire as to the seat of the i/'ux'j and the iTvevii.a, severally, on
this hint.]
I obi

well inquire as to the seat of the i/«ux') ''"^ ^^^ irveifia, severally, on
•'-•s hint.]

2 Mobilitatis.

' Intenta discurrit. [2 Chron. xvi. 9; Zech. iv. 10.]

* liiparlilo.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

297

the body, it cannot be understood what that
mind is, or what its (luaHties are, since its nature
is so subtle and refined, that, though infused
into sohd organs by a hving and, as it were,
ardent perception, it is mingled with all the
members.

But take care that you never think it proba-
ble, as Aristoxenus said, that the mind has no
existence, but that the power of perception ex-
ists from the constitution of the body and the
construction of the organs, as harmony does in
the case of the lyre. For musicians call the
stretching and sounding of the strings to entire
strains, without any striking of notes in agree-
ment with them, harmony. They will have it,
therefore, that the soul in man exists in a man-
ner like that by which harmonious modulation
exists on the lyre ; namely, that the firm uniting
of the separate parts of the body and the vigour
of all the limbs agreeing together, makes that
perceptible motion, and adjusts ' the mind, as
well-stretched things produce harmonious sound.
And as, in the lyre, when anything has been in-
terrupted or relaxed, the whole method of the
strain is disturbed and destroyed ; so in the
body, when any part of the limbs receives an
injury, the whole are weakened, and all being
corrupted and thrown into confusion, the power
of perception is destroyed : and this is called
death. But he, if he had possessed any mind,
would never have transferred harmony from the
lyre to man. For the lyre cannot of its own
accord send forth a sound, so that there can be
in this any comparison and resemblance to a
living person ; but the soul both reflects and is
moved of its own accord. But if there were in
us anything resembling harmony, it would be
moved by a blow from without, as the strings of
the lyre are by the hands ; whereas without the
handling of the artificer, and the stroke of the
fingers, they lie mute and motionless. But
doubtless he ^ ought to have beaten by the hand,
that he might at length observe ; for his mind,
badly compacted from his members, was in a
state of torpor.

CHAP. XVII. — OF THE SOUL, AND THE OPINION
OF PHILOSOPHERS CONCERNING IT.

It remains to speak of the soul, although its
system and nature cannot be perceived. Nor,
therefore, do we fail to understand that the soul
is immortal, since whatever is vigorous and is in
motion by itself at all times, and cannot be seen
or touched, must be eternal. But what the soul
is, is not yet agreed upon by philosophers, and
perhaps will never be agreed upon. For some
have said that it is blood, others that it is fire,

' Concinnet.

^ Aristoxenus, whose opinion has been mentioned above.

Others wind, from which it has received its name
of anima, or animus, because in Greek the wind
is called aneinos,^ and yet none of these appears
to have spoken anything. For if the soul ap-
pears to be extinguished when the blood is
poured forth through a wound, or is exhausted
by the heat of fevers, it does not therefore follow
that the system of the soul is to be placed in the
material of the blood ; as though a question
should arise as to the nature of the light which
we make use of, and the answer should be given
that it is oil, for when that is consumed the light
is extinguished : since they are plainly different,
but the one is the nourishment of the other.
Therefore the soul appears to be like light, since
it is not itself blood, but is nourished by the
moisture of the blood, as light is by oil.

But they who have supposed it to be fire made
use of this argument, that when the soul is pres-
ent the body is warm, but on its departure the
body grows cold. But fire is both without per-
ception and is seen, and burns when touched.
But the soul is both endowed with perception
and cannot be seen, and does not burn. From
which it is evident that the soul is something like
God. But they who suppose that it is wind are
deceived by this, because we appear to live by
drawing breath from the air. Varro gives this
definition : " The soul is air conceived in the
mouth, warmed in the lungs, heated in the heart,
diffused into the body." These things are most
plainly false. For I say that the nature of things
of this kind is not so obscure, that we do not
even understand what cannot be true. If any
one should say to me that the heaven is of brass,
or crystal, or, as Empedocles says, that it is
frozen air, must I at once assent because I do
not know of what material the heaven is? For
as I know not this, I know that. Therefore the
soul is not air conceived in the mouth, because
the soul is produced much before air can be
conceived in the mouth. For it is not intro-
duced into the body after birth, as it appears to
some philosophers, but immediately after con-
ception, when the divine necessity has formed
the offspring in the womb ; for it so lives within
the bowels of its mother, that it is increased in
growth, and delights to bound with repeated
beatings. In short, there must be a miscarriage
if the living young within shall die. The other
parts of the definition have reference to this, that
during those nine months in which we were in
the womb we appear to have been dead. None,
therefore, of these three opinions is true. We
cannot, however, say that they who held these
sentiments were false to such an extent that they
said nothing at all ; for we live at once by the
blood, and heat, and breath. But since the soul

3 aj'C/xo?,

298

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

exists in the body by the union of all these, they
did not express what it was in its own proper
sense ; ' for as it cannot be seen, so it cannot be
expressed.

CHAP. XVIII. — OF THE SOUL AND THE MIND, AND
THEIR AFFECTIONS.

There follows another, and in itself an inex-
plicable inquiry : Whether the soul and the mind
are the same, or there be one faculty by which
we live, and another by which we perceive and
have discernment.^ There are not wanting argu-
ments on either side. For they who say that
they are one faculty make use of this argument,
that we cannot live without perception, nor per-
ceive without life, and therefore that that which
is incapable of separation cannot be different ;
but that whatever it is, it has the office of living
and the method of perception. On which ac-
count two 3 Epicurean poets speak of the mind
and the soul indifferently. But they who say
that they are different argue in this way : That
the mind is one thing, and the soul another, may
be understood from this, that the mind may be
extinguished while the soul is uninjured, which
is accustomed to happen in the case of the in-
sane ; also, that the soul is put to rest '* by death,
the mind by sleep, and indeed in such a manner
that it is not only ignorant of what is taking
place, 5 or where it is, but it is even deceived by
the contemplation of false objects. And how
this takes place cannot accurately be perceived ;
why it takes place can be perceived. For we
can by no means rest unless the mind is kept
occupied by the similitudes^ of visions. But
the mind lies hid, oppressed with sleep, as fire
buried ^ by ashes drawn over it ; but if you stir
it a little it again blazes, and, as it were, wakes
up.^ Therefore it is called away by images,'^
until the limbs, bedewed with sleep, are invigo-
rated ; for the body while the perception is
awake, although it lies motionless, yet is not at
rest, because the perception burns in it, and
vibrates as a flame, and keeps all the limbs
bound to itself.

But when the mind is transferred from its
application to the contemplation of images, then
at length the whole body is resolved into rest.
But the mind is transferred from dark thought,
when, under the influence of darkness, it has
begun to be alone with itself. While it is intent
upon those things concerning which it is reflect-

' Proprie.

' [See cap. 16, p. 296, note i, supra ; also vol. ii. p. 102, note
2, this series.]

3 Lucretius is undoubtedly one of the poets here referred to; some
think that Virgil, others that Horace, is the second.

< Sopiatur.

5 Quid fiat. Others read " quid faciat."

•> Imaginibus.

' Sopitus.

* F.vigilat.

9 Siiiiulacris.

ing, sleep suddenly creeps on, and the thought
itself imperceptibly turns aside to the nearest
appearances : '° thus it begins also to see those
things which it had placed before its eyes. Then
it proceeds further, and finds diversions " for it-
self, that it may not interrupt the most healthy
repose of the body. For as the mind is diverted
in the day by true sights, so that it does not
sleep ; so is it diverted in the night by false
sights, so that it is not aroused. For if it per-
ceives no images, it will follow of necessity either
that it is awake, or that it is asleep in perpetual
death. Therefore the system of dreaming has
been given by God for the sake of sleeping;
and, indeed, it has been given to all animals in
common ; but this especially to man, that when
God gave this system on account of rest. He
left to Himself the power of teaching man future
events by means of the dream. '^ For narratives
often testify that there have been dreams which
have had an immediate and a remarkable accom-
plishment,'^ and the answers of our prophets have
been after the character of a dream. '"^ On which
account they are not always true, nor always false,
as Virgil testified, '5 who supposed that there were
two gates for the passage of dreams. But those
which are false are seen for the sake of sleeping ;
those which are true are sent by God, that by
this revelation we may learn impending goods
or evils.

CHAP. XIX. — OF THE SOUL, AND IT GIVEN BY GOD.

A question also may arise respecting this,
whether the soul is produced from the father,
or rather from the mother, or indeed from both.
But I think that this judgment is to be formed
as though in a doubtful matter.'^ For nothing
is true of these three opinions, because souls are
produced neither from both nor from either.
For a body may be produced from a body, since
something is contributed from both ; but a soul
cannot be produced from souls, because nothing
can depart from a slight and incomprehensible
subject. Therefore the manner of the produc-
tion of souls belongs entirely to God alone.

" In fine, wc are all sprung from a heavenly seed, all
all have that same Father."

as Lucretius '^ says. For nothing but what is
mortal can be generated from mortals. Nor
ought he to be deemed a father who in no way

'0 Species.

" Avocamenta.

'2 Thus Joseph and Daniel were interpreters of dreams; and the
prophet Joel (ii. 28) foretells this as a mark of the last d.iys, " Your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions."

'3 Quorum praesens ct admirabilis fuerit cvcntus. [A sober view
of the facts revealed in Scripture, and which, in the days of miracles,
influenced so many of the noblest minds in the Church. J

'< Ex parte somnii constilerunt. Some editions read, "ex parte
somniis constituerunl."

'5 yKiifid, vi. 894.

'6 Scd ego id in eo jure ab ancipiti vindico.

u. 991.

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

299

perceives that he has transmitted or breathed a
soul from his own ; nor, if he perceives it, com-
prehends in his mind when or in what manner
that effect is produced.

From this it is evident that souls are not given
by parents, but by one and the same God and
Father of all, who alone has the law and method
of their birth, since He alone produces them.
For the part of the earthly parent is nothing
more than with a sense of pleasure to emit the
moisture of the body, in which is the material
of birth, or to receive it ; and to this work
man's power is limited,' nor has he any further
power. Therefore men wish for the birth of
sons, because they do not themselves bring it
about. Everything beyond this is the work of
God, — namely, the conception itself, and the
moulding of the body, and the breathing in of
life, and the bringing forth in safety, and what-
ever afterwards contributes to the preservation
of man : it is His gift that we breathe, that we
live, and are vigorous. For, besides that we owe
it to His bounty that we are safe in body, and
that He supplies us with nourishment from vari-
ous sources, He also gives to man wisdom, which
no earthly father can by any means give ; and
therefore it often happens that foolish sons are
born from wise parents, and wise sons from fool-
ish parents, which some persons attribute to fate
and the stars. But this is not now the time to
discuss the subject of fate. It is sufficient to
say this, that even if the stars hold together the
efficacy of all things, it is nevertheless certain
that all things are done by God, who both made
and set in order the stars themselves. They are
therefore senseless who detract this power from
God, and assign it to His work.

He would have it, therefore, to be in our own
power, whether we use or do not use this divine
and excellent gift of God. For, having granted
this. He bound man himself by the mystery- of
virtue, by which he might be able to gain life.
For great is the power, great the reason, great
the mysterious purpose of man ; and if any one
shall not abandon this, nor betray his fidelity
and devotedness, he must be happy : he, in
short, to sum up the matter in few words, must
of necessity resemble God. For he is in error
whosoever judges of^ man by his flesh. For
this worthless body '» with which we are clothed
is the receptacle of man. 5 For man himself
can neither be touched, nor looked upon, nor
grasped, because he lies hidden within this body,

' Et citra hoc opus homo resistit. The compound word " resis-
tit " is used for the simple sisiit — " stands."

^ Sacramento.

3 Metitur, " measures."

* Corpusculum. The diminutive appears to imply contempt.

S The expression is too general, since the body as well as the soul
is a true part of man's nature. [Perhaps so; but Lactantius is think-
ing of St. Paul's expression (Philipp. iii. 21), " the body of our hu-
miUation."\

which is seen. And if he shall be more luxuri-
ous and delicate in this life than its nature
demands, if he shall despise virtue, and give
himself to the pursuit of fleshly lusts, he will
fall and be pressed down to the earth ; but if
(as his duty is) he shall readily and constantly
maintain his position, which is right for him, and
he has rightly obtained,''' — if he shall not be en-
slaved to the earth, which he ought to trample
upon and overcome, he will gain eternal life.

CHAP. XX. OF HIMSELF AND THE TRUTH.

These things I have written to you, Demetri-
anus, for the present in few words, and perhaps
with more obscurity than was befitting, in ac-
cordance with the necessity of circumstances
and the time, with which you ought to be con-
tent, since you are about to receive more and
better things if God shall favour us. Then, ac-
cordingly, I will exhort you with greater clear-
ness and truth to the learning of true philosophy.
For I have determined to commit to writing as
many things as I shall be able, which have refer-
ence to the condition of a happy life ; and that
indeed against the philosophers, since they are
pernicious and weighty for the disturbing of the
truth. For the force of their eloquence is in-
credible, and their subtlety in argument and
disputation may easily deceive any one ; and
these we will refute partly by our own weapons,
but partly by weapons borrowed from their
mutual wrangling, so that it may be evident
that they rather introduced error than removed
it.

Perhaps you may wonder that I venture to
undertake so great a deed. Shall we then suffer
the truth to be extinguished or crushed ? I, in
truth, would more willingly fail even under this
burthen. For if Marcus Tullius, the unparalleled
example of eloquence itself, was often vanquished
by men void of learning and eloquence, — who,
however, were striving for that which was true, —
why should we despair that the truth itself will
by its own pecuhar force and clearness avail
against deceitful and captious eloquence ? They
indeed are wont to profess themselves advocates
of the truth ; but who can defend that which he
has not learned, or make clear to others that
which he himself does not know? I seem to
promise a great thing ; but there is need of the
favour of Heaven, that ability and time may be
given us for following our purpose. But if life
is to be wished for by a wise man, assuredly I
should wish to live for no other reason than that
I may effect something which may be worthy of
life, and which may be useful to my readers, if

6 Quem rectum recte sortitus est. In some editions the word
' recte " is omitted.

300

ON THE WORKMANSHIP OF GOD.

not for eloquence, because there is in me but a
slight stream of eloquence, at any rate for living,
which is especially needful. And when I have
accomplished this, I shall think that I have lived

enough, and that I have discharged the duty of
a man, if my labour shall have freed some men
from errors, and have directed them to the path
which leads to heaven.

GENERAL NOTE BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Just here I economize a little spare room to note the cynical Gibbon's ideas about Lactantius
and his works. He quotes him freely, and recognises his Ciceronian Latinity, and even the ele-
gance of his rhetoric, and the spirit and eloquence with which he can garnish the "dismal tale "
of coming judgments, based on the Apocalypse. But then, again' he speaks of him as an " obscure
rhetorician," and affects a doubt as to his sources of information, notably in doubting the conver-
sation between Galerius and Diocletian which forced the latter to abdicate. This is before he
decides to attribute the work on the Deaths of Persecutors to somebody else, or, rather, to quote
its author ambiguously as Caecilius. And here we may insert what he says on this subject, as
follows : —

" It is certain that this . . . was composed and published while Licinius, sovereign of the East, still preserved
the friendship of Constantine and of the Christians. Every reader of taste must perceive that the style is of a
very different and inferior character to that of Lactantius ; and such, indeed, is the judgment of Le Clerc ^ and
Lardner.' Three arguments (from the title of the book and from the names of Donatus and Caecilius) are pro-
duced by the advocates of Lactantius.'' Each of these proofs is, singly, weak and defective ; but their concurrence
has great weight. I have often fluctuated, and shall tamely^ follow the Colbert MS. in calling the author, whoever
he was, Ccsciliusy

After this the critic adheres to this ambiguity. I have no wish to argue otherwise. Quite as
important are his notes on the Institutes. He states the probable conjecture of two original
editions, — the one under Diocletian, and the other under Licinius. Then he says : ^ —

" I am almost convinced that Lactantius dedicated his Institutions to the sovereign of Gaul at a time when
Galerius, Maximin, and even Licinius, persecuted the Christians ; that is, between the years a.d. 306 and a.d. 31 1."

On the dubious passages ^ he remarks : ^ —

" The first and most important of these is, indeed, wanting in twenty-eight Mss., but is found in nineteen.
If we weigh the comparative value of those MSS., one, ... in the King of France's library,' may be alleged in its
favour. But the passage is omitted in the correct MS. of Bologna, which the Pere de Montfaucon '° ascribes to the
sixth or seventh century. The taste of most of the editors " \\2iS felt the genuine style of Lactantius."

Do not many indications point to the natural suggestion of a third original edition, issued after
the conversion of Constantine ? Or the questionable passages may be the interpolations of Lac-
tantius himself

' Cap. xiv. (vol. i.) p. 452.

' Bibliotheque Ancienne et Mod., torn. iii. p. 438.

3 Credib., part ii. vol. vii. p. 94.

* The P6re Lestocq, torn. ii. pp. 46-60.
J This word is italicized by Gibbon.

' Vol. ii. cap. 20.

' Inst., i. I and vii. 27.

* Vol. ii. cap. 20.

9 Now (1880) a thousand years old.
'° Diarium Italicum, p. 409.
" *i Except Isxus," says Gibbon, who refers to the edition of our author by Dufresnoy, torn. i. p. S96.

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSE-
CUTORS DIED.'

ADDRESSED TO DONATUS.

CHAP. I.

The Lord has heard those supplications which
you, my best beloved Donatus,^ pour forth in
His presence all the day long, and the suppli-
cations of the rest of our brethren, who by a
glorious confession have obtained an everlasting
crown, the reward of their faith. Behold, all the
adversaries are destroyed, and tranquillity having
been re-established throughout the Roman em-
pire, the late oppressed Church arises again, and
the temple of God, overthrown by the hands of
the wicked, is built with more glory than before.
For God has raised up princes to rescind the
impious and sanguinary edicts of the tyrants and
provide for the welfare of mankind ; so that now
the cloud of past times is dispelled, and peace
and serenity gladden all hearts. And after the
furious whirlwind and black tempest, the heavens
are now become calm, and the wished-for light
has shone forth ; and now God, the hearer of
prayer, by His divine aid has lifted His pros-
trate and afflicted servants from the ground, has
brought to an end the united devices of the
wicked, and wiped off the tears from the faces
of those who mourned. They who insulted over
the Divinity, lie low ; they who cast down the
holy temple, are fallen with more tremendous
ruin ; and the tormentors of just men have
poured out their guilty souls amidst plagues in-
flicted by Heaven, and amidst deserved tortures.
For God delayed to punish them, that, by great
and marvellous examples, He might teach pos-
terity that He alone is God, and that with fit
vengeance He executes judgment on the proud,
the impious, and the persecutors. ^

Of the end of those men I have thought good
to publish a narrative, that all who are afar off,

' [Not " the persecutors," but only some of them. This treatise
is, in fact, a most precious relic of antiquity, and a striking narrative
of the events which led to the " conversion of the Empire," so called.
Its historical character is noted by Gibbon, D. andF.,yo\. ii.zo, n. 40.]

^ [See cap. 16, ni/ra.^

3 [Let any one who visits Rome stand before the Arch of Con-
stantine, and, while he looks upon it (as the mark of an epoch), let him
at the same time behold the Colosseum close at hand, and there let him
recall this noble chapter.]

and all who shall arise hereafter, may learn how
the Almighty manifested His power and sover-
eign greatness in rooting out and utterly destroy-
ing the enemies of His name. And this will
become evident, when I relate who were the
persecutors of the Church from the time of its
first constitution, and 7vhat were the punishments
by which the divine Judge, in His severity, took
vengeance on them.

CHAP. II.

In the latter days of the Emperor Tiberius, in
the consulship of Ruberius Geminus and Fufius
Geminus, and on the tenth of the kalends of
April,'* as I find it written, Jesus Christ was cru-
cified by the Jews.s After He had risen again on
the third day. He gathered together His apostles,
whom fear, at the time of His being laid hold
on, had put to flight ; and while He sojourned
with them forty days. He opened their hearts,
interpreted to them the Scripture, which hitherto
had been wrapped up in obscurity, ordained and
fitted them for the preaching of His word and
doctrine, and regulated all things concerning the
institutions of the New Testament ; and this hav-
ing been accomplished, a cloud and whirlwind
enveloped Him, and caught Him up from the
sight of men unto heaven.

His apostles were at that time eleven in num-
ber, to whom were added Matthias, in the room
of the traitor Judas, and afterwards Paul. Then
were they dispersed throughout all the earth to
preach the Gospel, as the Lord their Master had
commanded them ; and during twenty-five years,
and until the beginning of the reign of the Em-
peror Nero, they occupied themselves in laying
the foundations of the Church in every province
and city. And while Nero reigned, the Apostle
Peter came to Rome, and, through the power
of God committed unto him, wrought certain
miracles, and, by turning many to the true re-
ligion, built up a faithful and stedfast temple

* 23d of March.

5 [Elucidation, p. 322.]

301

;o2 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

unto the Lord. When Nero heard of those
things, and observed that not only in Rome, but
in every other place, a great multitude revolted
daily from the worship of idols, and, condemning
their old ways, went over to the new religion, he,
an execrable and pernicious tyrant, sprung for-
ward to raze the heavenly temple and destroy
the true faith. He it was who first persecuted
the servants of God ; he crucified Peter, and
slew Paul : ' nor did he escape with impunity ;
for God looked on the affliction of His people ;
and therefore the tyrant, bereaved of authority,
and precipitated from the height of empire, sud-
denly disappeared, and even the burial-place of
that noxious wild beast was nowhere to be seen.
This has led some persons of extravagant im-
agination to suppose that, having been conveyed
to a distant region, he is still reserved alive ; and
to him they apply the Sibylline verses concerning

"The fugitive, who slew his own mother, being to come
from the uttermost boundaries of the earth;"

as if he who was the first should also be the last
persecutor, and thus prove the forerunner of
Antichrist ! But we ought not to beheve those
who, affirming that the two prophets Enoch and
Elias have been translated into some remote
place that they might attend our Lord when He
shall come to judgment,^ also fancy that Nero is
to appear hereafter as the forerunner of the
devil, when he shall come to lay waste the earth
and overthrow mankind.

CHAP. III.

After an interval of some years from the death
of Nero, there arose another tyrant no less wicked
(Domitian), who, although his government was
exceedingly odious, for a very long time op-
pressed his subjects, and reigned in security,
until at length he stretched forth his impious
hands against the Lord. Having been instigated
by evil demons to persecute the righteous people,
he was then delivered into the power of his
enemies, and suffered due i)unishment. To be
murdered in his own palace was not vengeance
ample enough : the very memory of his name
was erased. For although he had erected many
admirable edifices, and rebuilt the Capitol, and
left other distinguished marks of his magnificence,
yet the senate did so persecute his name, as to
leave no remains of his statues, or traces of the
inscriptions put up in honour of him ; and by
most solemn and severe decrees it branded him,
even after death, with perpetual infamy. Thus,
the commands of the tyrant having been re-
scinded, the Church was not only restored to
her former state, but she shone forth with ad-

' [St. Peter, as a Jew, could be thus dealt with-, St. Paul, as a
Roman, was beheaded. See p. 120, note 7, iut>ra.\

^ [Note the incredulity of Lactantius. But see vol. iv. p. 219.]

ditional splendour, and became more and more
flourishing. And in the times that followed,
while many well-deserving princes guided the
helm of the Roman empire, the Church suffered
no violent assaults from her enemies, and she
extended her hands unto the east and unto the
west, insomuch that now there was not any
the most remote corner of the earth to which the
di\ine religion had not penetrated, or any nation
of manners so barbarous that did not, by being
converted to the worship of God, become mild
and gentle.^

CHAP. IV.

This long peace,'* however, was afterwards in-
terrupted. Decius appeared in the world, an
accursed wild beast, to afiiict the Church, — and
who but a bad man would persecute religion?
It seems as if he had been raised to sovereign
eminence, at once to rage against God, and at
once to fall ; for, having undertaken an expedi-
tion against the Carpi, who had then possessed
themselves of Dacia and Moefia, he was suddenly
surrounded by the barbarians, and slain, together
with great j^art of his army ; nor could he be
honoured with the rites of sepulture, but, stripped
and naked, he lay to be devoured by wild beasts
and birds,5 — a fit end for the enemy of God.

CHAP. V.

And presently Valerian also, in a mood alike
frantic, lifted up his impious hands to assault
God, and, although his time was short, shed
much righteous blood. But God punished him
in a new and extraordinary manner, that it might
be a lesson to future ages that the adversaries
of Heaven always receive the just recompense of
their iniquities. He, having been made prisoner
by the Persians, lost not only that power which
he had exercised without moderation, but also
the liberty of which he had deprived others ;
and he wasted the remainder of his days in the
vilest condition of slavery : for Sapores, the king
of the Persians, who had made him prisoner,
whenever he chose to get into his carriage or to
mount on horseback, commanded the Roman
to stoop and present his back ; then, setting his
foot on the shoulders of Valerian, he said, with
a smile of reproach, " This is true, and not what
the Romans delineate on board or plaster."
Valerian lived for a considerable time under the
well-merited insults of his conqueror ; so that the
Roman name remained long the scoff" and deris-
ion of the barbarians : and this also was added
to the severity of his punishment, that although
he had an emj)eror for his son, he found no one
to revenge his captivity and most abject and ser-

3 [See especi.illy vol. iv. p. 141 for the intermediary pauses of
persecutions, while yet in many places Christians " died daily. "^

Most noteworthy in corroboration of the earlier Fathers.]
Jer. xxii. 19 and xxxvi. 30. J

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 303

vile state ; neither indeed was he ever demanded
back. Afterward, when he had finished this
shameful life under so great dishonour, he was
flayed, and his skin, strijjped from the flesh, was
dyed with vermilion, and placed in the temple
of the gods of the barbarians, that the remem-
brance of a triumph so signal might be perpetu-
ated, and that this spectacle might always be
exhibited to our ambassadors, as an admonition
to the Romans, that, beholding the spoils of their
captived emperor in a Persian temple, they
should not place too great confidence in their
own strength.

Now since God so punished the sacrilegious,
is it not strange that any one should afterward
have dared to do, or even to devise, aught against
the majesty of the one God, who governs and
supports all things?

CHAP. VI.

Aurelian might have recollected the fate of
the captived emperor, yet, being of a nature out-
rageous and headstrong, he forgot both his sin
and its punishment, and by deeds of cruelty irri-
tated the divine wrath. He was not, however,
permitted to accomplish what he had devised ;
for just as he began to give a loose to his rage,
he Avas slain. His bloody edicts had not yet
reached the more distant provinces, when he
himself lay all bloody on the earth at Caenophru-
rium in Thrace, assassinated by his familiar
friends, who had taken up groundless suspicions
against him.

Examples of such a nature, and so numerous,
ought to have deterred succeeding tyrants ;
nevertheless they were not only not dismayed,
but, in their misdeeds against God, became more
bold and presumptuous.

CHAP. VII.

While Diocletian, that author of ill, and de-
viser of misery, was ruining all things, he could
not withhold his insults, not even against God.
This man, by avarice partly, and partly by timid
counsels, overturned the Roman empire. For
he made choice of three persons to share the
government with him ; and thus, the empire
having been quartered, armies were multiplied,
and each of the four princes strove to maintain a
much more considerable military force than any
sole emperor had done in times past.' There
began to be fewer men who paid taxes than there
were who received wages ; so that the means of
the husbandmen being exhausted by enormous
impositions, the farms were abandoned, culti-
vated grounds became woodland, and universal
dismay prevailed. Besides, the provinces were
divided into minute portions, and many presi-

' rSee p. 12, note i, supra.\

dents and a multitude of inferior officers lay
heavy on each territory, and almost on each city.
There were also many stewards of different de-
grees, and deputies of presidents. Very few
civil causes came before them : but there were
condemnations daily, and forfeitures frequently
inflicted ; taxes on numberless commodities, and
those not only often repeated, but perpetual,
and, in exacting them, intolerable wrongs.

Whatever was laid on for the maintenance of
the soldiery might have been endured ; but Dio-
cletian, through his insatiable avarice, would
never allow the sums of money in his treasury
to be diminished : he was constantly heaping to-
gether extraordinary aids and free gifts, that his
original hoards might remain untouched and in-
violable. He also, when by various extortions
he had made all things exceedingly dear, at-
tempted by an ordinance to limit their prices.
Then much blood was shed for the veriest trifles ;
men were afraid to expose aught to sale, and the
scarcity became more excessive and grievous
than ever, until, in the end, the ordinance, after
having proved destructive to multitudes, was from
mere necessity abrogated. To this there were
added a certain endless passion for building,
and on that account, endless exactions from the
provinces for furnishing wages to labourers and
artificers, and supplying carriages and whatever
else was requisite to the works which he pro-
jected. He}-e public halls, there a circus, here a
mint, and there a workhouse for making imple-
ments of war ; in one place a habitation for his
empress, and .in another for his daughter. Pres-
ently great part of the city was quitted, and all
men removed with their wives and children, as
from a town taken by enemies ; and when those
buildings were completed, to the destruction of
whole provinces, he said, " They are not right,
let them be done on another plan." Then they
were to be pulled down, or altered, to undergo
perhaps a future demolition. By such folly was
he continually endeavouring to equal Nicomedia
with the city Rome in magnificence.

I omit mentioning how many perished on ac-
count of their possessions or wealth ; for such
evils were exceedingly frequent, and through
their frequency appeared almost lawful. But
this was peculiar to him, that whenever he savv
a field remarkably well cultivated, or a house of
uncommon elegance", a false accusation and a
capital punishment were straightway prepared
against the proprietor ; so that it seemed as if
Diocletian could not be guilty of rapine without
also shedding blood.

CHAP. VIII.

What was the character of his brother in em-
pire, Maximian, called Herculius ? Not unlike
to that of Diocletian ; and, indeed, to render

304 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

their friendship so close and faithful as it was,
there must have been in them a sameness of in-
clinations and purposes, a corresponding will and
unanimity in judgment. Herein alone they were
different, that Diocletian was more avaricious
and less resolute, and that Maximian, with less
avarice, had a bolder spirit, prone not to good,
but to evil. For while he possessed Italy, itself
the chief seat of empire, and while other very
opulent provinces, such as Africa and Spain,
were near at hand, he took little care to preserve
those treasures which he had such fair oppor-
tunities of amassing. Whenever he stood in need
of more, the richest senators were presently
charged, by suborned evidences, as guilty of
aspiring to the empire ; so that the chief lumina-
ries of the senate were daily extinguished. And
thus the treasury, delighting in blood, overflowed
with ill-gotten wealth.

Add to all this the incontinency of that pesti-
lent wretch, not only in debauching males, which
is hateful and abominable, but also in the viola-
tion of the daughters of the principal men of the
state ; for wherever he journeyed, virgins were
suddenly torn from the presence of their parents.
In such enormities he placed his supreme de-
light, and to indulge to the utmost his lust and
flagitious desires was in his judgment the felicity
of his reign.

I pass over Constantius, a prince unlike the
others, and worthy to have had the sole gov-
ernment of the empire.

CHAP. IX.

But the other Maximian (Galerius), chosen
by Diocletian for his son-in-law, was worse, not
only than those two princes whom our own
times have experienced, but worse than all the
bad princes of former days. In this wild beast
there dwelt a native barbarity and a savageness
foreign to Roman blood ; and no wonder, for
his mother was born beyond the Danube, and it
was an inroad of the Carpi that obliged her to
cross over and take refuge in New Dacia. The
form of Galerius corresponded with his manners.
Of stature tall, full of flesh, and swollen to a
horrible bulk of corpulency ; by his speech,
gestures, and looks, he made himself a terror to
all that came near him. His father-in-law, too,
dreaded him excessively. The cause was this.
Narseus, king of the Persians, emulating the ex-
ample set him by his grandfather Sapores, as-
sembled a great army, and aimed at becoming
master of the eastern provinces of the Roman
empire. Diocletian, apt to be low-spirited and
timorous in every commotion, and fearing a
fate like that of Valerian, would not in person
encounter Narseus; but he sent Galerius by
the way of Armenia, while he himself halted in
the eastern provinces, and anxiously watched the

event. It is a custom amongst the barbarians to
take everything that belongs to them into the
field. Galerius laid an ambush for them, and
easily overthrew men embarrassed with the mul-
titude of their followers and with their baggage.
Having put Narseus to flight, and returned with
much spoil, his own pride and Diocletian's fears
were greatly increased. For after this victory
he rose to such a pitch of haughtiness as to re-
ject the appellation of Caesar ; ' and when he
heard that appellation in letters addressed to
him, he cried out, with a stern look and terrible
voice, " How long am I to be Ccesar?'' Then
he began to act extravagantly, insomuch that,
as if he had been a second Romulus, he wished
to pass for and to be called the offspring of
Mars ; and that he might appear the issue of a
divinity, he was willing that his mother Romula
should be dishonoured with the name of adul-
teress. But, not to confound the chronological
order of events, I delay the recital of his actions ;
for indeed afterwards, when Galerius got the
title of emperor, his father-in-law having been
divested of the imperial purple, he became alto-
gether outrageous, and of unbounded arrogance.
While by such a conduct, and with such asso-
ciates. Diodes — for that was the name of Dio-
cletian before he attained sovereignty — occupied
himself in subverting the commonweal, there
was no evil which his crimes did not deserve :
nevertheless he reigned most prosperously, as
long as he forbore to defile his hands with the
blood of the just ; and what cause he had for
persecuting them, I come now to explain.

CHAP. X.

Diocletian, as being of a timorous disposition,
was a searcher into futurity, and during his
abode in the East he began to slay victims, that
from their livers he might obtain a prognostic
of events ; and while he sacrificed, some at-
tendants of his, who were Christians, stood by,
and they put the immortal sign on their fore-
heads. At this the demons were chased away,
and the holy rites interrupted. The soothsay-
ers trembled, unable to investigate the wonted
marks on the entrails of the victims. They fre-
quently repeated the sacrifices, as if the former
had been unpropitious ; but the victims, slain
from time to time, afforded no tokens for divina-
tion. At length Tages, the chief of the sooth-
sayers,^ either from guess or from his own
observation, said, " There are profane persons
here, who obstruct the rites." Then Diocletian,
in furious passion, ordered not only all who
were assisting at the holy ceremonies, but also

' [On which see cap. zo, infra, and preceding chapters ]
2 [Nolhing easier than for these to pretend such a difTiciiIty, in
order to incite the emperor to severities. They may have fotnid it
convenient tn represent the sign of liic cross as tlic source of llicir
inabihty tu give oracles.]

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

J05

all who resided within the palace, to sacrifice,
and, in case of their refusal, to be scourged.
And further, by letters to the commanding ofifi-
cers, he enjoined that all soldiers should be
forced to the like impiety, under pain of being
dismissed the service. Thus far his rage pro-
ceeded ; but at that season he did nothing more
against the law and religion of God. After an in-
terval of some time he went to winter in Bithynia ;
and presently Galerius Coesar came thither, in-
flamed with furious resentment, and purposing
to excite the inconsiderate old man to carry on
that persecution which he had begun against the
Christians. I have learned that the cause of his
fury was as follows.

CHAP. XI.

The mother of Galerius, a woman exceedingly
superstitious, was a votary of the gods of the
mountains. Being of such a character, she
made sacrifices almost every day, and she feasted
her servants on the meat offered to idols : but
the Christians of her family would not partake
of those entertainments ; and while she feasted
with the Gentiles, they continued in fasting and
prayer. On this account she conceived ill-will
against the Christians, and by woman-like com-
plaints instigated her son, no less superstitious
than herself, to destroy them. So, during the
whole winter, Diocletian and Galerius held coun-
cils together, at which no one else assisted ; and
it was the universal opinion that their confer-
ences respected the most momentous affairs of
the empire. The old man long opposed the fury
of Galerius, and showed how pernicious it would
be to raise disturbances throughout the world
and to shed so much blood ; that the Christians
were wont with eagerness to meet death ; and
that it would be enough for him to exclude
persons of that religion from the court ' and the
army. Yet he could not restrain the madness
of that obstinate man. He resolved, therefore,
to take the opinion of his friends. Now this
was a circumstance in the bad disposition of
Diocletian, that whenever he determined to do
good, he did it without advice, that the praise
might be all his own ; but whenever he deter-
mined to do ill, which he was sensible would be
blamed, he called in many advisers, that his
own fault might be imputed to other men : and
therefore a few civil magistrates, and a few mili-
tary commanders, were admitted to give their
counsel ; and the question was put to them ac-
cording to priority of rank. Some, through
personal ill-will towards the Christians, were of
opinion that they ought to be cut off, as enemies
of the gods and adversaries of the established
religious ceremonies. Others thought different-

' [A just statement of Diocletian's earlier disposition,
vi. p. 158, the beautiful letter of Thcoiias.]

See. vol.

ly, but, having understood the will of Galerius,
they, either from dread of displeasing or from
a desire of gratifying him, concurred in the
opinion given against the Christians. Yet not
even then could the emperor be prevailed upon
to yield his assent. He determined above all to
consult his gods ; and to that end he despatched
a soothsayer to inquire of Apollo at Miletus,
whose answer was such as might be expected
from an enemy of the divine religion. So
Diocletian was drawn over from his purpose.
But although he could struggle no longer against
his friends, and against Caesar and Apollo, yet
still he attempted to observe such moderation
as to command the business to be carried
through without bloodshed ; whereas Galerius
would have had all persons burnt alive who re-
fused to sacrifice.

CHAP. XII.

A fit and auspicious day was sought out for
the accomplishment of this undertaking ; and the
festival of the god Terminus, celebrated on the
seventh of the kalends of March,^ was chosen,
in preference to all others, to terminate, as it
were, the Christian religion.

" That day, the harbinger of death, arose,
First cause of ill, and long enduring woes;"

of woes which befell not only the Christians, but
the whole earth. When that day dawned, in
the eighth consulship of Diocletian and seventh
of Maximian, suddenly, while it was yet hardly
light, the prefect, together with chief command-
ers, tribunes, and officers of the treasury, came
to the church in Nicomedia, and the gates
having been forced open, they searched every-
where for an image of the Divinity. The books
of the Holy Scriptures were found, and they
were committed to the flames ; the utensils and
furniture of the church were abandoned to pil-
lage : all was rapine, confusion, tumult. That
church, situated on rising ground, was within
view of the palace ; and Diocletian and Galeri-
us stood, as if on a watch-tower, disputing long
whether it ought to be set on fire. The senti-
ment of Diocletian prevailed, who dreaded lest,
so great a fire being once kindled, some part of
the city might be burnt ; for there were many
and large buildings that surrounded the church.
Then the Pretorian Guards came in battle array,
with axes and other iron instruments, and having
been let loose everywhere, they in a few hours
levelled that very lofty edifice with the ground.^

CHAP. XIII,

Next day an edict was published, depriving
the Christians of all honours and dignities ;

' 2jd of February,

3 fSee cap. 15, /Vf/ra.l

io6 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

ordaining also that, without any distinction of
rank or degree, they should be subjected to
tortures, and that every suit at law should be
received against them ; while, on the other
hand, they were debarred from being plaintiffs
in questions of wrong, adultery, or theft ; and,
finally, that they should neither be capable of
freedom, nor have right of suffrage. A certain
person tore down this edict, and cut it in pieces,
improperly indeed, but with high spirit, saying
in scorn, " These are the triumphs of Goths and
Sarmatians." Having been instantly seized and
brought to judgment, he was not only tortured,
but burnt alive, in the forms of law ; and having
displayed admirable patience under sufferings,
he was consumed to ashes.

CHAP. xrv.

But Galerius, not satisfied with the tenor of
the edict, sought in another way to gain on the
emperor. That he might urge him to excess
of cruelty in persecution, he employed private
emissaries to set the palace on fire ; and some
part of it having been burnt, the blame was laid
on the Christians as public enemies ; and the
very appellation of Christian grew odious ' on
account of that fire. It was said that the Chris-
tians, in concert with the eunuchs, had plotted
to destroy the princes ; and that both of the
princes had well-nigh been burnt alive in their
own palace. Diocletian, shrewd and intelligent
as he always chose to appear, suspected nothing
of the contrivance, but, inflamed with anger,
immediately commanded that all his own domes-
tics should be tortured to force a confession of
the plot. He sat on his tribunal, and saw inno-
cent men tormented by fire to make discovery.
All magistrates, and all who had superintendency
in the imperial palace, obtained special commis-
sions to administer the torture ; and they strove
with each other who should be first in bringing
to light the conspiracy. No circumstances, how-
ever, of the fact were detected anywhere ; for
no one applied the torture to any domestics of
Galerius. He himself was ever with Diocletian,
constantly urging him, and never allowing the
passions of the inconsiderate old man to cool.
Then, after an interval of fifteen days, he at-
tempted a second fire ; but that was perceived
quickly, and extinguished. Still, however, its
author remained unknown. On that very day,
Galerius, who in the middle of winter had pre-
pared for his departure, suddenly hurried out of
the city, protesting that he fled to escape being
burnt alive.

CHAP. XV.

And now Diocletian raged, not only against
his own domestics, but indiscriminately against

• [That it had become in some degree popular, see evidence,
vol. VI. pp. 158-160.]

all ; and he began by forcing his daughter Valeria
and his wife Prisca to be polluted by sacrificing.
Eunuchs, once the most powerful, and who had
chief authority at court and with the emperor,
were slain. Presbyters and other officers of the
Church were seized, without evidence by wit-
nesses or confession, condemned, and together
with their families led to execution. In burning
alive, no distinction of sex or age was regarded ;
and because of their great multitude, they were
not burnt one after another, but a herd of them
were encircled with the same fire ; and servants,
having millstones tied about their necks, were
cast into the sea. Nor was the persecution less
grievous on the rest of the people of God ; for
the judges, dispersed through all the temples,
sought to compel every one to sacrifice. The
prisons were crowded ; tortures, hitherto unheard
of, were invented ; and lest justice should be in-
advertently administered to a Christian, altars
were placed in the courts of justice, hard by the
tribunal, that every litigant might offer incense
before his cause could be heard. Thus judges
were no otherwise approached than divinities.
Mandates also had gone to Maximian Herculius
and Constantius, requiring their concurrence in
the execution of the edicts ; for in matters even
of such mighty importance their opinion was
never once asked. Herculius, a person of no
merciful temper, yielded ready obedience, and
enforced the edicts throughout his dominions of
Italy. Constantius, on the other hand, lest he
should have seemed to dissent from the injunc-
tions of his superiors, permitted the demolition
of churches, — mere walls, and capable of being
built up again, — but he preserved entire that
true temple of God, which is the human body.^

CHAP. XVI.

Thus was all the earth afflicted ; and from east
to west, except in the territories of Gaul, three
ravenous wild beasts continued to rage.

" Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,
A voice of brass, and adamantine lungs,
Not half the dreadful scene could I disclose,"

or recount the punishments inflicted by the rulers
in every province on religious and innocent men.
But what need of a particular recital of those
things, especially to you, my best beloved Do-
natus,3 who above all others was exposed to the
storm of that violent persecution? For when
you had fallen into the hands of the prefect
Flaccinian, no puny murderer, and afterwards of
Hierocles, who from a deputy became president
of Bithynia, the author and adviser of the perse-
cution, and last of all into the hands of his suc-

2 [Truly an eloquent passage, and a tribute to Constantius, which
Constantine, in filial humour, must have relished.]
i 3 [See p. 301, tupra.\

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 307

cesser Priscillian, you displayed to mankind a
pattern of invincible magnanimity. Having
been nine times exposed to racks and diversified
torments, nine times by a glorious profession of
your faith you foiled the adversary ; in nine
combats you subdued the devil and his chosen
soldiers ; and by nine victories you triumphed
over this world and its terrors. How pleasing
the spectacle to God, when He beheld you a
conqueror, yoking in your chariot not white
horses, nor enormous elephants, but those very
men who had led captive the nations ! After
this sort to lord it over the lords of the earth is
triumph indeed ! Now, by your valour were
they conquered, when you set at defiance their
flagitious edicts, and, through stedfast faith and
the fortitude of your soul, you routed all the
vain terrors of tyrannical authority. Against
you neither scourges, nor iron claws, nor fire,
nor sword, nor various kinds of torture, availed
aught ; and no violence could bereave you of
your fidelity and persevering resolution. This
it is to be a disciple of God, and this it is
to be a soldier of Christ ; a soldier whom no
enemy can dislodge, or wolf snatch, from the
heavenly camp ; no artifice ensnare, or pain of
body subdue, or torments overthrow. At length,
after those nine glorious combats, in which the
devil' was vanquished by you, he dared not to
enter the lists again with one whom, by repeated
trials, he had found unconquerable ; and he ab-
stained from challenging you any more, lest you
should have laid hold on the garland of victory
already stretched out to you ; an unfading gar-
land, which, although you have not at present
received it, is laid up in the kingdom of the
Lord for your virtue and deserts. But let us
now return to the course of our narrative.

CHAP. XVII.

The wicked plan having been carried into exe-
cution, Diocletian, whom prosperity had now
abandoned, set out instantly for Rome, there
to celebrate the commencement of the twen-
tieth year of his reign. That solemnity was
performed on the twelfth of the kalends of
December ; ' and suddenly the emperor, unable
to bear the Roman freedom of speech, peevish-
ly and impatiently burst away from the city.
The kalends of January ^ approached, at which
day the consulship, for the ninth time, was to be
offered to him ; yet, rather than continue thir-
teen days longer in Rome, he chose that his first
appearance as consul should be at Ravenna.
Having, however, begun his journey in winter,
amidst intense cold and incessant rains, he con-
tracted a sHght but lingering disease : it har-

^ 2oth of November.
* ist of January.

assed him without intermission, so that he was
obliged for the most part to be carried in a lit-
ter. Then, at the close of summer, he made a
circuit along the banks of the Danube, and so
came to Nicomedia. His disease had now be-
come more grievous and oppressing ; yet he
caused himself to be brought out, in order to
dedicate that circus which, at the conclusion of
the twentieth year of his reign, he had erected.
Immediately he grew so languid and feeble, that
prayers tor his life were put up to all the gods.
Then suddenly, on the ides of December,^ there
was heard in the palace sorrow, and weeping,
and lamentation, and the courtiers ran to and
fro ; there was silence throughout the city, and
a report went of the death, and even of the bur-
ial, of Diocletian : but early on the morrow it
was suddenly rumoured that he still lived. At
this the countenance of his domestics and cour-
tiers changed from melancholy to gay. Never-
theless there were who suspected his death to
be kept secret until the arrival of Galerius Cae-
sar, lest in the meanwhile the soldiery should
attempt some change in the government ; and
this suspicion grew so universal, that no one
would believe the emperor alive, until, on the
kalends of March,'* he appeared in public, but
so wan, his illness having lasted almost a year,
as hardly to be known again. The fit of stupor,
resembling death, happened on the ides of De-
cember ; and although he in some measure re-
covered, yet he never attained to perfect health
again, for he became disordered in his judgment,
being at certain times insane and at others of
sound mind.

CHAP. XVIII.

Within a few days Galerius Caesar arrived, not
to congratulate his father-in-law on the re-estab-
lishment of his health, but to force him to resign
the empire. Already he had urged Maximian
Herculius to the like purpose, and by the alarm
of civil wars terrified the old man into compli-
ance ; and he now assailed Diocletian. At first,
in gentle and friendly terms, he said that age
and growing infirmities disabled Diocletian for
the charge of the commonweal, and that he had
need to give himself some repose after his la-
bours. Galerius, in confirmation of his argument,
produced the example of Nerva, who laid the
weight of empire on Trajan.

But Diocletian made answer, that it was unfit
for one who had held a rank, eminent above all
others and conspicuous, to sink into the obscurity
of a low station ;„ neither indeed was it safe, be-
cause in the course of so long a reign he must
unavoidably have made many enemies. That
the case of Nerva was very different : he, after

' 13th of December.
* I St of March.

3o8 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

having reigned a single year, felt himself, either
from age or from inexperience in business, un-
equal to affairs so momentous, and therefore
threw aside the helm of government, and returned
to that private life in which he had already grown
old. But Diocletian added, that if Galerius
wished for the title of emperor, there was nothing
to hinder its being conferred on him and Con-
stantius, as well as on Maximian Herculius.

Galerius, whose imagination already grasped
at the whole empire, saw that little but an un-
substantial name would accrue to him from this
proposal, and therefore replied that the settle-
ment made by Diocletian himself ought to be
inviolable ; a settlement which provided that
there should be two of higher rank vested with
supreme power, and two others of inferior, to
assist them. Easily might concord be preserved
between tiuo equals, never amongst four ;^ that
he, if Diocletian would not resign, must consult
his own interests, so as to remain no longer in
an inferior rank, and the last of that rank ; that
for fifteen years past he had been confined, as
an exile, to Illyricum and the banks of the
Danube, perpetually struggling against barbarous
nations, while others, at their ease, governed
dominions more extensive than his, and better
civilized.

Diocletian already knew, by letters from Max-
imian Herculius, all that Galerius had spoken at
their conference, and also that he was augment-
ing his army ; and now, on hearing his discourse,
the spiritless old man burst into tears, and said,
" Be it as you will."

It remained to choose Ccssars by common
consent. "But," said Galerius, "why ask the
advice of Maximian and Constantius, since they
must needs acquiesce in whatever we do?" —
" Certainly they will," replied Diocletian, " for
we must elect their sons."

Now Maximian Herculius had a son, Maxen-
tius, married to the daughter of Galerius, a man
of bad and mischievous dispositions, and so
proud and stubborn withal, that he would never
pay the wonted obeisance either to his father or
father-in-law, and on that account he was hated
by them both. Constantius also had a son,
Constantine, a young man of very great worth,
and well meriting the high station of CcBsar.
The distinguished comeliness of his figure, his
strict attention to all military duties, his virtuous
demeanour and singular affability, had endeared
him to the troops, and made him the choice of
every individual. He was then at court, having
long before been created by Diocletian a tribune
of the first order.

"What is to be done?" said Galerius, "for
that Maxentius deserves not the office. He who,

* [Seep. 303, supra.\

while yet a private man, has treated me with
contumely, how will he act when once he obtains
power?" — "But Constantine is amiable, and
will so rule as hereafter, in the opinion of man-
kind, to surpass the mild virtues of his father."

— "Be it so, if my inclinations and judgment
are to be disregarded. Men ought to be ap-
pointed who are at my disposal, who will dread
me, and never do anything unless by my or-
ders."— "Whom then shall we appoint?" —
" Severus," — " How ! that dancer, that habitual
drunkard, who turns night into day, and day
into night? " — " He deserves the office, for he
has approved himself a faithful paymaster and
purveyor of the army ; and, indeed, I have al-
ready despatched him to receive the purple from
the hands of Maximian." — " Well, I consent \
but whom else do you suggest? " — " Him," said
Galerius, pointing out Daia, a young man, half-
barbarian. Now Galerius had lately bestowed
part of his own name on that youth, and called
him Maximin, in like manner as Diocletian for-
merly bestowed on Galerius the name of Max-
imian, for the omen's sake, because Maximian
Herculius had served him with unshaken fidelity.

— "Who is that you present?" — "A kinsman
of mine." — " Alas ! " said Diocletian, heaving
a deep sigh, " you do not propose men fit for
the charge of public affairs ! " — "I have tried
them." — "Then Ao you look to it, who are
about to assume the administration of the em-
pire : as for jue, while I continued emperor, long
and diligent have been my labours in providing
for the security of the commonweal ; and now,
should anything disastrous ensue, the blame will
not be mine,"

CHAP. XIX.

Matters having been thus concerted, Diocletian
and Galerius went in procession to publish the
nomination of Ccesars. Every one looked at
Constantine ; for there was no doubt that the
choice would fall on him. The troops present,
as well as the chief soldiers of the other legions,
who had been summoned to the solemnity, fixed
their eyes on Constantine, exulted in the hope
of his approaching election, and occupied them-
selves in prayers for his prosperity. Near three
miles from Nicomedia there is an eminence, on
the summit of which Galerius formerly received
the purple ; and there a pillar, with the statue of
Jupiter, was placed. Thither the procession
went. An assembly of the soldiers was called.
Diocletian, with tears, harangued them, and said
that he was become infirm, that he needed re-
pose after his fatigues, and that he would resign
the empire into hands more vigorous and able,
and at the same time appoint new Ccesars. The
spectators, with the utmost earnestness, waited
for the nomination. Suddenly he declared that

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 309

the Cctsars were Severus and Maximin. The
amazement was universal. Constantine stood
near in public view, and men began to question
amontrst themselves whether his name too had
not been changed into Maximin ; when, in the
sight of all, Galerius, stretching back his hand,
put Constantine aside, and drew Daia forward,
and, having divested him of the garb of a private
person, set him in the most conspicuous place.
All men wondered who he could be, and from
whence he came ; but none ventured to inter-
pose or move objections, so confounded were
their minds at the strange and unlooked-for event.
Diocletian took off his purple robe, put it on
Daia, and resumed his own original name of
Diodes. He descended from the tribunal, and
passed through Nicomedia in a chariot ; and then
this old emperor, like a veteran soldier freed
from military service, was dismissed into his own
country ; while Daia, lately taken from the tend-
ing of cattle in forests to serve as a common
soldier, immediately made one of the life-guard,
presently a tribune, and next day Ccesar, obtained
authority to trample under foot and oppress the
empire of the East ; a person ignorant alike of
war and of civil affairs, and from a herdsman be-
come a leader of armies.

CHAP. XX.

Galerius having effected the expulsion of the
two old men, began to consider himself alone as
the sovereign of the Roman empire. Necessity
had required the appointment of Constantius to
the first rank ; but Galerius made small account
of one who was of an easy temper, and of health
declining and precarious. He looked for the
speedy death of Constantius. And although that
prince should recover, it seemed not difficult to
force him to put off the imperial purple ; for
what else could he do, if pressed by his three col-
leagues to abdicate ? Galerius had Licinius ever
about his person, his old and intimate acquaint-
ance, and his earliest companion in arms, whose
counsels he used in the management of all affairs ;
yet he would not nominate Licinius to the dignity
of Ccesar, with the title of son, for he purposed
to nominate him, in the room of Constantius, to
the dignity of emperor, with the title of brother,
while he himself might hold sovereign authority,
and rule over the whole globe with unbounded
licence. After that, he meant to have solemnized
the vicennial festival ; to have conferred on his
son Candidianus, then a boy of nine years of
age, the office of Ccesar ; and, in conclusion, to
have resigned, as Diocletian had done. And
thus, Licinius and Severus being emperors, and
Maximin and Candidianus in the next station of
Ccesars, he fancied that, environed as it were by
an impregnable wall, he should lead an old age

of security and peace. Such were his projects ;
but God, whom he had made his adversary, frus-
trated all those imaginations.

CHAP. XXI.

Having thus attained to the highest power, he
bent his mind to afflict that empire into which
he had opened his way. It is the manner and
practice of the Persians for the people to yield
themselves slaves to their kings, and for the
kings to treat their people as slaves. This flagi-
tious man, from the time of his victories over the
Persians, was not ashamed incessantly to extol
such an institution, and he resolved to establish
it in the Roman dominions ; and because he
could not do this by an express law, he so acted,
in imitation of the Persian kings, as to bereave
men of their liberties. He first of all degraded
those whom he meant to punish ; and then not
only were inferior magistrates put to the torture
by him, but also the chief men in cities, and
persons of the most eminent rank, and this too
in matters of little moment, and in civil questions.
Crucifixion was the punishment ready prepared
in capital cases ; and for lesser crimes, fetters.
Matrons of honourable station were dragged
into workhouses ; and when any man was to be
scourged, there were four posts fixed in the
ground, and to them he was tied, after a manner
unknown in the chastisement of slaves. What
shall I say of his apartment for sport, and of his
favourite diversions? He kept bears, most re-
sembling himself in fierceness and bulk, whom
he had collected together during the course of
his reign. As often as he chose to indulge his
humour, he ordered some particular bear to be
brought in, and men were thrown to that savage
animal, rather to be swallowed up than devoured ;
and when their limbs were torn asunder, he
laughed with excessive complacency : nor did he
ever sup without being spectator of the effusion
of human blood. Men of private station were
condemned to be burnt alive ; and he began
this mode of execution by edicts against the
Christians, commanding that, after torture and
condemnation, they should be burnt at a slow
fire. They were fixed to a stake, and first a
moderate flame was applied to the soles of their
feet, until the muscles, contracted by burning,
were torn from the bones ; then torches, lighted
and put out again, were directed to all the mem-
bers of their bodies, so that no part had any ex-
emption. Meanwhile cold water was continually
poured on their faces, and their mouths mois-
tened, lest, by reason of their jaws being parched,
they should expire. At length they did expire,
when, after many hours, the violent heat had
consumed their skin and penetrated into their
intestines. The dead carcases were laid on a.

3IO

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

funeral pile, and wholly burnt ; their bones were
gathered, ground to powder, and thrown into
the river, or into the sea.

CHAP. XXII.

And now that cruelty, which he had learned
in torturing the Christians, became habitual, and
he exercised it against all men indiscriminately.'
He was not wont to inflict the slighter sorts of
punishment, as to banish, to imprison, or to send
criminals to work in the mines ; but to burn, to
crucify, to expose to wild beasts, were things
done daily, and without hesitation. For smaller
offences, those of his own household and his
stewards were chastised with lances, instead of
rods; and, in great offences, to be beheaded
was an indulgence shown to very few ; and it
seemed as a favour, on account of old services,
when one was permitted to die in the easiest
manner. But these were slight evils in the gov-
ernment of Galerius, when compared with what
follows. For eloquence was extinguished, plead-
ers cut off, and the learned m the laws either
exiled or slain. Useful letters came to be viewed
in the same light as magical and forbidden arts ;
and all who possessed them were trampled upon
and execrated, as if they had been hostile to
government, and public enemies. Law was dis-
solved, and unbounded licence permitted to
judges, — to judges chosen from amongst the
soldiery, rude and illiterate men, and let loose
upon the provinces, without assessors to guide or
control them.

CHAP. XXIII.

But that which gave rise to public and uni-
versal calamity, was the tax imposed at once on
each province and city. Surveyors having been
spread abroad, and occupied in a general and
severe scrutiny, horrible scenes were exhibited,
like the outrages of victorious enemies, and the
wretched state of captives. Each spot of ground
was measured, vines and fruit-trees numbered,
lists taken of animals of every kind, and a capi-
tation-roll made up. In cities, the common
people, whether residing within or without the
walls, were assembled, the market-places filled
with crowds of families, all attended with their
children and slaves, the noise of torture and
scourges resounded, sons were hung on the rack
to force discovery of the effects of their fathers,
the most trusty slaves compelled by pain to bear
witness against their masters, and wives to bear
witness against their husbands. In default of all
other evidence, men were tortured to speak
against themselves ; and no sooner did agony
oblige them to acknowledge what they had nut,

' [A course of conduct which, providentially, tended to stop the
chronic severity against believers.]

but those imaginary effects were noted down in
the lists. Neither youth, nor old age, nor sick-
ness, afforded any exemption. The diseased and
the infirm were carried in ; the age of each was
estimated ; and, that the capitation-tax might be
enlarged, years were added to the young and
struck off from the old. General lamentation
and sorrow prevailed. Whatever, by the laws
of war, conquerors had done to the conquered,
the like did this man presume to perpetrate
against Romans and the subjects of Rome, be-
cause his forefathers had been made liable to a
like tax imposed by the victorious Trajan, as a
penalty on the Dacians for their frequent rebel-
lions. After this, money was levied for each
head, as if a price had been paid for liberty to
exist ; yet full trust was not reposed on the same
set of surveyors, but others and others still were
sent round to make further discoveries ; and IRus
the tributes were redoubled, not because the new
surveyors made any fresh discoveries, but because
they added at pleasure to the former rates, lest
they should seem to have been employed to no
purpose. Meanwhile the number of animals de-
creased, and men died ; nevertheless taxes were
paid even for the dead, so that no one could
either live or cease to live without being subject
to impositions. There remained mendicants
alone, from whom nothing could be exacted, and
whom their misery and wretchedness secured
from ill-treatment. But this pious man had
compassion on them, and determining that they
should remain no longer in indigence, he caused
them all to be assembled, put on board vessels,
and sunk in the sea. So merciful was he in
making provision that under his administration
no man should want ! And thus, while he took
effectual measures that none, under the feigned
pretext of poverty, should elude the tax, he put
to death a multitude of real wretches, in viola-
tion of every law of humanity.

CHAP. XXIV.

Already the judgment of God approached him,
and that season ensued in which his fortunes be-
gan to droop and to waste away. While occupied
in the manner that I have described above, he
did not set himself to subvert or expel Constan-
tius, but waited for his death, not imagining,
however, that it was so nigh. Constantius, hav-
ing become exceedingly ill, wrote to Galerius,
and requested that his son Constantine might be
sent to see him. He had made a like request
long before, but in vain; for Galerius meant
nothing less than to grant it. On the contrary,
he laid repeated snares for the life of that young
man, because he durst not use open violence,
lest he should stir up civil wars against himself,
and incur that which he most dreaded, the hate

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 311

and resentment of the army. Under pretence
of manly exercise and recreation, he made him
combat with wild beasts : but this device was
frustrated ; for the power of God protected Con-
stantine, and in the very moment of jeopardy
rescued him from the hands of Galerius. At
length, Galerius, when he could no longer avoid
complying with the request of Constantius, one
evening gave Constantine a warrant to depart,
and commanded him to set out next morning with
the imperial despatches. Galerius meant either
to find some pretext for detaining Constantine,
or to forward orders to Severus for arresting him
on the road. Constantine discerned his pur-
pose ; and therefore, after supper, when the
emperor was gone to rest, he hasted away, car-
ried off from the principal stages all the horses
maintained at the public expense, and escaped.
Next day the emperor, having purposely remained
in his bed-chamber until noon, ordered Constan-
tine to be called into his presence ; but he learnt
that Constantine had set out immediately after
supper. Outrageous with passion, he ordered
horses to be made ready, that Constantine might
be pursued and dragged back ; and hearing that
all the horses had been carried off from the great
road, he could hardly refrain from tears. Mean-
while Constantine, journeying with incredible
rapidity, reached his father, who was already
about to expire. Constantius recommended his
son to the soldiers, delivered the sovereign
authority into his hands, and then died, as his
wish had long been, in peace and quiet.

Constantine Augustus, having assumed the
government, made it his first care to restore the
Christians to the exercise of their worship and
to their God ; and so began his administration
by reinstating ' the holy rehgion.

CHAP. XXV.

Some few days after, the portrait of Constan-
tine, adorned with laurels, was brought to the
pernicious wild beast, that, by receiving that sym-
bol, he might acknowledge Constantine in the
quality of emperor. He hesitated long whether
to receive it or not, and he was about to commit
both the portrait and its bearer to the flames,
but his confidants dissuaded him from a resolu-
tion so frantic. They admonished him of the
danger, and they represented that, if Constantine
came with an armed force, all the soldiers, against
whose inclination obscure or unknown Ccesars
had been created, would acknowledge him, and
crowd eagerly to his standard. So Galerius, al-
though with the utmost unwillingness, accepted
the portrait, and sent the imperial purple to Con-

' [Re-establishing (Edin.) is too strong a term. He refers to
the restoration, from ruins, of churches, etc. (cap. 12, p. 305, supra).
See caps. 34, 48, itifra.^

stantine, that he might seem of his own accord
to have received that prince into partnership of
power with him. And now his plans were de-
ranged, and he could not, as he intended for-
merly, admit Licinius, without exceeding the
limited number of emperors. But this he de-
vised, that Severus, who was more advanced in
life, should be named emperor, and that Constan-
tine, instead of the title of emperor, to which he
had been named, should receive that of Ccesar
in common with Maximin Daia, and so be de-
graded from the second place to the fourth.

CHAP. XXVI.

Things seemed to be arranged in some measure
to the satisfaction of Galerius, when another alarm
was brought, that his son-in-law Maxentius had
been declared emperor at Rome. The cause
was this : Galerius having resolved by permanent
taxes to devour the empire, soared to such ex-
travagance in folly, as not to allow an exemption
from that thraldom even to the Roman people.
Tax-gatherers therefore were appointed to go to
Rome, and make out lists of the citizens. Much
about the same time Galerius had reduced the
Pretorian Guards. There remained at Rome a
few soldiers of that body, who, profiting of the
opportunity, put some magistrates to death, and,
with the acquiescence of the tumultuary popu-
lace, clothed Maxentius in the imperial purple.
Galerius, on receiving this news, was disturbed
at the strangeness of the event, but not much
dismayed. He hated Maxentius, and he could
not bestow on him the dignity of CcBsar, already
enjoyed by two (Daia and Constantine) ; besides,
he thought it enough for him to have once be-
stowed that dignity against his inclination. So
he sent for Severus, exhorted him to regain his
dominion and sovereignty, and he put under his
command that army which Maximian Herculius
had formerly commanded, that he might attack
Maxentius at Rome. There the soldiers of
Maximian had been oftentimes received with
every sort of luxurious accommodation, so that
they were not only interested to preserve the city,
but they also longed to fix their residence in it.

Maxentius well knew the enormity of his own
offences ; and although he had as it were an
hereditary claim to the services of his father's
army, and might have hoped to draw it over to
himself, yet he reflected that this consideration
might occur to Galerius also, and induce him to
leave Severus in Illyricum, and march in person
with his own army against Rome. Under such
apprehensions, Maxentius sought to protect him-
self from the danger that hung over him. To
his father, who since his abdication resided in
Campania, he sent the purple, and saluted him
again Augustus. Maximian, given to change,

312 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

eagerly resumed that purple of which he had
unwillingly divested himself. Meanwhile Severus
marched on, and with his troops approached the
walls of the city. Presently the soldiers raised
up their ensigns, abandoned Severus, and yielded
themselves to Maxentius, against whom they had
come. What remained but flight for Severus,
thus deserted? He was encountered by Max-
imian, who had resumed the imperial dignity.
On this he took refuge in Ravenna, and shut
himself up there with a few soldiers. But per-
ceiving that he was about to be delivered up, he
voluntarily surrendered himself, and restored the
purple to him from whom he had received it ;
and after this he obtained no other grace but
that of an easy death, for he was compelled to
open his veins, and in that gentle manner expired.

CHAP, xxvii.

But Maximian, who knew the outrageous tem-
per of Galerius, began to consider that, fired
with rage on hearing of the death of Severus,
he would march into Italy, and that possibly he
might be joined by Daia, and so bring into the
field forces too powerful to be resisted. Having
therefore fortified Rome, and made diligent pro-
vision for a defensive war, Maximian went into
Gaul, that he might give his younger daughter
Fausta in marriage to Constantine, and thus win
over that prince to his interest. Meantime Ga-
lerius assembled his troops, invaded Italy, and
advanced towards Rome, resolving to extinguish
the senate and put the whole people to the
sword. But he found everything shut and forti-
fied against him. There was no hope of carry-
ing the place by storm, and to besiege it was
an arduous undertaking ; for Galerius had not
brought with him an army sufficient to invest
the walls. Probably, having never seen Rome,
he imagined it to be little superior in size to
those cities with which he was acquainted. But
some of his legions, detesting the wicked enter-
prise of a father against his son-in-law, and of
Romans against Rome, renounced his authority,
and carried over their ensigns to the enemy.
Already had his remaining soldiers begun to
waver, when Galerius, dreading a fate like that
of Severus, and having his haughty spirit broken
and humiliated, threw himself at the feet of his
soldiers, and continued to beseech them that he
might not be delivered to the foe, until, by the
promise of mighty largesses, he prevailed on
them. Then he retreated from Rome, and fled
in great disorder. Easily might he have been
cut off" in his flight, had any one pursued him
even with a small body of troops. He was
aware of his danger, and allowed his soldiers to
disperse themselves, and to plunder and destroy
far and wide, that, if there were any pursuers.

they might be deprived of all means of subsist-
ence in a ruined country. So the parts of Italy
through which that pestilent band took its course
were wasted, all things pillaged, matrons forced,
virgins violated, parents and husbands compelled
by torture to disclose where they had concealed
their goods, and their wives and daughters ;
flocks and herds of cattle were driven off" like
spoils taken from barbarians. And thus did he,
once a Roman emperor, but now the ravager of
Italy, retire into his own territories, after having
afflicted all men indiscriminately with the calami-
ties of war. Long ago, indeed, and at the very
time of his obtaining sovereign power, he had
avowed himself the enemy of the Roman name ;
and he proposed that the empire should be
called, not the Roman, but the Dacian empire.

CHAP. XXVIII.

After the flight of Galerius, Maximian, having
returned from Gaul, held authority in common
with his son ; but more obedience was yielded
to the young man than to the old : for Maxen-
tius had most power, and had been longest in
possession of it ; and it was to him that Maxim-
ian owed on this occasion the imperial dignity.
The old man was impatient at being denied the
exercise of uncontrolled sovereignty, and envied
his son with a childish spirit of rivalry ; and
therefore he began to consider how he might ex-
pel Maxentius and resume his ancient dominion.
This appeared easy, because the soldiers who
deserted Severus had originally served in his own
army. He called an assembly of the people of
Rome, and of the soldiers, as if he had been to
make an harangue on the calamitous situation
of public aff"airs. After having spoken much on
that subject, he stretched his hands towards his
son, charged him as author of all ills and prime
cause of the calamities of the state, and then
tore the purple from his shoulders. Maxentius,
thus stripped, leaped headlong from the tribunal,
and was received into the arms of the soldiers.
Their rage and clamour confounded the unnatu-
ral old man, and, like another Tarquin the
Proud, he was driven from Rome.

CHAP. XXIX.

Then Maximian returned into Gaul ; and after
having made some stay in those quarters, he
went to Galerius, the enemy of his son, that
they might confer together, as he pretended,
about the settlement of the commonweal ; but
his true purpose was, under colour of reconcilia-
tion, to find an opportunity of murdering Gale-
rius, and of seizing his share of the empire,
instead of his own, from which he had been
everywhere excluded.

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 313

Diodes was at the court of Galerius when
Maximian arrived ; for Galerius, meaning now
to invest Licinius with the ensigns of supreme
power in the room of Severus, had lately sent
for Diodes to be present at the solemnity. So
it was performed in presence both of him and
of Maximian ; and thus there were six who
ruled the empire at one and the same time.'

Now the designs of Maximian having been
frustrated, he took flight, as he had done twice
before, and returned into Gaul, with a heart full
of wickedness, and intending by treacherous
devices to overreach Constantine, who was not
only his own son-in-law, but also the child of
his son-in-law ; and that he might the more
successfully deceive, he laid aside the imperial
purple. The Franks had taken up arms. Max-
imian advised the unsuspecting Constantine not
to lead all his troops against them, and he said
that a few soldiers would suffice to subdue those
barbarians. He gave this advice that an army
might be left for him to win over to himself, and
that Constantine, by reason of his scanty forces,
might be overpowered. The young prince be-
lieved the advice to be judicious, because given
by an aged and experienced commander ; and
he followed it, because given by a father-in-law.
He marched, leaving the most considerable part
of his forces behind. Maximian waited a few
days ; and as soon as, by his calculation, Con-
stantine had entered the territory of the barba-
rians, he suddenly resumed the imperial purple,
seized the public treasures, after his wont made
ample donatives to the soldiery, and feigned
that such disasters had befallen Constantine as
soon after,befell himself. Constantine was pres-
ently informed of those events, and, by marches
astonishingly rapid, he flew back with his army.
Maximian, not yet prepared to oppose him, was
overpowered at unawares, and the soldiers re-
turned to their duty. Maximian had possessed
himself of Marseilles (he fled thither), and shut
the gates. Constantine drew nigh, and seeing
Maximian on the walls, addressed him in no
harsh or hostile language, and demanded what
he meant, and what it was that he wanted, and
why he had acted in a way so peculiarly unbe-
coming him. But Maximian from the walls
incessantly uttered abuse and curses against
Constantine. Then, of a sudden, the gates on
the opposite side having been unbarred, the
besiegers were admitted into the city. The
rebel emperor, and unnatural parent and a
perfidious father-in-law, was dragged into the
presence of Constantine, heard a recital made
of his crimes, was divested of his imperial
robe, and, after this reprimand, obtained his
life.

* [See pp. 303 (cap. vii.) and 308, at note i, supra.]

CHAP. XXX.

Maximian, having thus forfeited the respect
due to an emperor and a father-in-law, grew
impatient at his abased condition, and, embold-
ened by impunity, formed new plots against Con-
stantine. He addressed himself to his daughter
Fausta, and, as well by entreaties as by the
soothing of flattery, solicited her to betray her
husband. He promised to obtain for her a
more honourable alliance than that with Con-
stantine ; and he requested her to allow the
bed-chamber of the emperor to be left open,
and to be slightly guarded. Fausta undertook
to do whatever he asked, and instantly revealed
the whole to her husband. A plan was laid for
detecting Maximian in the very execution of his
crime. They placed a base eunuch to be mur-
dered instead of the emperor. At the dead of
night Maximian arose, and perceived all things
to be favourable for his insidious purpose.
There were few soldiers on guard, and these too
at some distance from the bed-chamber. How-
ever, to prevent suspicion, he accosted them,
and said that he had had a dream which he
wished to communicate to his son-in-law. He
went in armed, slew the eunuch, sprung forth
exultingly, and avowed the murder. At that
moment Constantine showed himself on the
opposite side with a band of soldiers ; the dead
body was brought out of the bed-chamber ; the
murderer, taken in the fact, all aghast,

" Stood like a stone, silent and motionless; "

while Constantine upbraided him for his impiety
and enormous guilt. At last Maximian obtained
leave that the manner of his death should be at
his own choice, and he strangled himself.

Thus that mightiest sovereign of Rome —
who ruled so long with exceeding glory, and who
celebrated his twentieth anniversary — thus that
most haughty man had his neck broken, and
ended his detestable life by a death base and
ignominious.

CHAP. XXXI.

From Maximian, God, the avenger of reli-
gion and of His people, turned his eyes to
Galerius, the author of the accursed persecution,
that in his punishment also He might manifest
the power of His majesty. Galerius, too, was
purposing to celebrate his twentieth anniversary ;
and as, under that pretext, he had, by new taxes
payable in gold and silver, oppressed the prov-
inces, so now, that he might recompense them
by celebrating the promised festival, he used the
like pretext for repeating his oppressions. Who
can relate in fit terms the methods used to
harass mankind in levying the tax, and espe-
cially with regard to corn and the other fruits of
the earth? The officers, or rather the execu-

314 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

tioners, of all the different magistrates, seized
on each individual, and would never let go their
hold. No man knew to whom he ought to make
payment first. There was no dispensation given
to those who had nothing; and they were re-
quired, under pain of being variously tortured,
instantly to pay, notwithstanding their inability.
Many guards were set round, no breathing time
was granted, or, at any season of the year, the
least respite from exactions. Different magis-
trates, or the officers of different magistrates,
frequently contended for the right of levying
the tax from the same persons. No threshing-
floor without a tax-gatherer, no vintage without
a watch, and nought left for the sustenance of
the husbandman ! That food should be snatched
from the mouths of those who had earned it by
toil, was grievous : the hope, however, of being
afterwards relieved, might have made that griev-
ance supportable ; but it was necessary for every
one who appeared at the anniversary festival to
provide robes of various kinds, and gold and
silver besides. And one might have said, " How
shall I furnish myself with those things, O tyrant
void of understanding, if you carry off the whole
fruits of my ground, and violently seize its ex-
pected produce ? " Thus, throughout the do-
minions of Galerius, men were spoiled of their
goods, and all was raked together into the impe-
rial treasury, that the emperor might be enabled
to perform his vow of celebrating a festival which
he was doomed never to celebrate.

CHAP. XXXII.

Maximin Daia was incensed at the nomination
of Licinius to the dignity of emperor, and he
would no longer be called Ccesar, or allow him-
self to be ranked as third in authority. Galerius,
by repeated messages, besought Daia to yield,
and to accjuiesce in his arrangement, to give
place to age, and to reverence the grey hairs of
Licinius. But Daia became more and more in-
solent. He urged that, as it was he who first
assumed the purple, so, by possession, he had
right to priority in rank ; and he set at nought
the entreaties and the injunctions of Galerius.
That brute animal was stung to the quick, and
bellowed when the mean creature whom he had
made Ccesar, in expectation of his thorough ob-
secjuiousness, forgot the great favour conferred
on him, and impiously withstood the requests
and will of his benefactor. Galerius at length,
overcome by the obstinacy of Daia, abolished
the subordinate title of Ccesar, gave to himself
and Licinius that of the Augusii, and to Daia
and Constantine that of sons of the Augusti.
Daia, some time after, in a letter to Galerius,
took occasion to observe, that at the last general
muster he had been saluted by his army under the

title of Augustus. Galerius, vexed and grieved
at this, commanded that all the four should have
the appellation oi emperor."^

CHAP, xxxin.

And now, when Galerius was in the eighteenth
year of his reign, God struck him with an in-
curable plague. A malignant ulcer formed itself
low down in his secret parts, and spread by de-
grees. The physicians attempted to eradicate
it, and healed up the place affected. But the
sore, after having been skinned over, broke out
again ; a vein burst, and the blood flowed in such
quantity as to endanger his life. The blood,
however, was stopped, although with difficulty.
The physicians had to undertake their operations
anew, and at length they cicatrized the wound.
In consequence of some slight motion of his
body, Galerius received a hurt, and the blood
streamed more abundantly than before. He
grew emaciated, pallid, and feeble, and the bleed-
ing then stanched. The ulcer began to be in-
sensible to the remedies applied, and a gangrene
seized all the neighbouring parts. It diffused
itself the wider the more the corrupted flesh was
cut away, and everything employed as the means
of cure served but to aggravate the disease.

" The masters of the healing art withdrew."

Then famous physicians were brought in from
all quarters ; but no human means had any suc-
cess. Apollo and ^sculapius were besought
importunately for remedies : Apollo did pre-
scribe, and the distemper augmented. Already
approaching to its deadly crisis, it had occupied
the lower regions of his body : his bowels came
out, and his whole seat putrefied. The luckless
physicians, although without hope of overcoming
the malady, ceased not to apply fomentations
and administer medicines. The humours having
been repelled, the distemper attacked his in-
testines, and worms were generated in his body.
The stench was so foul as to pervade not only
the palace, but even the whole city ; and no
wonder, for by that time the passages from his
bladder and bowels, having been devoured by
the worms, became indiscriminate, and his body,
with intolerable anguish, was dissolved into one
mass of corruption.^

" Stung to the soul, he bellowed with the pain,
So roars the wounded bull." — Pitt.

They applied warm flesh of animals to the
chief seat of the disease, that the warmth might
draw out those minute worms ; and accordingly,
when the dressings were removed, there issued
forth an innumerable swarm : nevertheless the

' [One wonckrs that this history was not more efficacious in f-n-
forcins; the hint on p. 12, at note i, supra.\
' [Acts xii 23.]

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 315

prolific disease had hatched swarms much more
abundant to prey upon and consume his intes-
tines. Already, through a complication of dis-
tempers, the different parts of his body had lost
their natural form : the superior part was dry,
meagre, and haggard, and his ghastly-looking
skin had settled itself deep amongst his bones ;
while the inferior, distended like bladders, re-
tained no appearance of joints. These things
happened in the course of a complete year ; and
at length, overcome by calamities, he was obliged
to acknowledge God, and he cried aloud, in the
intervals of raging pain, that he would re-edify
the Church which he had demolished, and make
atonement for his misdeeds ; and when he was
near his end, he published an edict of the tenor
following : —

CHAP, xxxrv.

"Amongst our other regulations for the per-
manent advantage of the commonweal, we have
hitherto studied to reduce all things to a con-
formity with the ancient laws and public disci-
pline of the Romans.

" It has been our aim in an especial manner,
that the Christians also, who had abandoned the
religion of their forefathers, should return to right
opinions. For such wilfulness and folly had, we
know not how, taken possession of them, that
instead of observing those ancient institutions,
which possibly their own forefathers had estab-
lished, they, through caprice, made laws to them-
selves, and drew together into different societies
many men of widely different persuasions.

"After the publication of our edict, ordaining
the Christians to betake themselves to the ob-
servance of the ancient institutions, many of
them were subdued through the fear of danger,
and moreover many of them were exposed to
jeopardy ; nevertheless, because great numbers
still persist in their opinions, and because we
have perceived that at present they neither pay
reverence and due adoration to the gods, nor
yet worship their own God, therefore we, from
our wonted clemency in bestowing pardon on
all, have judged it fit to extend our indulgence
to those men, and to permit them again to be
Christians, and to establish the places of their
religious assemblies ; yet so as that they offend
not against good order.

"By another mandate we purpose to signify
unto magistrates how they ought herein to de-
mean themselves.

" Wherefore it will be the duty of the Chris-
tians, in consequence of this our toleration, to
pray to their God for our welfare, and for that of
the public, and for their own ; that the common-
weal may continue safe in every quarter, and
that they themselves may live securely in their
habitations."

CHAP. XXXV.

This edict was promulgated at Nicomedia on
the day preceding the kalends of May,' in the
eighth consulship of Galerius, and the second of
Maximin Daia. Then the prison-gates having
been thrown open, you, my best beloved Dona-
tus,^ together with the other confessors for the
faith, were set at liberty from a jail, which had
been your residence for six years. Galerius,
however, did not, by publication of this edict,
obtain the divine forgiveness. In a few days
after he was consumed by the horrible disease
that had brought on an universal putrefaction.
Dying, he recommended his wife and son to Li-
cinius, and delivered them over into his hands.
This event was known at Nicomedia before the
end of the month.^ His vicennial anniversary
was to have been celebrated on the ensuing
kalends of March.''

CHAP. XXXVI.

Daia, on receiving this news, hasted with re-
lays of horses from the East, to seize the domin-
ions of Galerius, and, while Licinius Hngered in
Europe, to arrogate to himself all the country as
far as the narrow seas of Chalcedon. On his
entry into Bithynia, he, with the view of acquir-
ing immediate popularity, abolished Galerius'
tax, to the great joy of all. Dissension arose
between the two emperors, and almost an open
war. They stood on the opposite shores with
their armies. Peace, however, and amity were
established under certain conditions. Licinius
and Daia met on the narrow sees, concluded a
treaty, and in token of friendship joined hands.
Then Daia, believing all things to be in security,
returned (to Nicomedia), and was in his new
dominions what he had been in Syria and Egypt.
First of all, he took away the toleration and
general protection granted by Galerius to the
Christians, and, for this end, he secretly pro-
cured addresses from different cities, requesting
that no Christian church might be built within
their walls ; and thus he meant to make that
which was his own choice appear as if extorted
from him by importunity. In compliance with
those addresses, he introduced a new mode of
government in things respecting religion, and for
each city he created a high priest, chosen from
among the persons of most distinction. The
office of those men was to make daily sacrifices
to all their gods, and, with the aid of the former
priests, to prevent the Christians from erecting
churches, or from worshipping God either pub-
licly or in private ; and he authorized them to
compel the Christians to sacrifice to idols, and.

' 30th of April.

2 [See p. 301, supra, and p, 316, /«/r«.]

3 May.

< 1st of March following.

3i6 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

on their refusal, to bring them before the civil
magistrate ; and, as if this had not been enough,
in every province he established a superintend-
ent priest, one of chief eminence in the state ;
and he commanded that all those priests newly
instituted should appear in white habits, that
being the most honourable distinction of dress.'
And as to the Christians, he purposed to follow
the course that he had followed in the East, and,
affecting the show of clemency, he forbade the
slaying of God's servants, but he gave command
that they should be mutilated. So the confess-
ors for the faith had their ears and nostrils slit,
their hands and feet lopped off, and their eyes
dug out of the sockets.

CHAP. XXXVII.

While occupied in this plan, he received let-
ters from Constantine which deterred him from
proceeding in its execution, so for a time he dis-
sembled his purpose ; nevertheless any Christian
that fell within his power was privily thrown into
the sea. Neither did he cease from his custom
of sacrificing every day in the palace. It was
also an invention of his to cause all animals
used for food to be slaughtered, not by cooks,
but by priests at the altars ; so that nothing was
ever served up, unless foretasted, consecrated,
and sprinkled with wine, according to the rites
of paganism ; and whoever was invited to an
entertainment must needs have returned from it
impure and defiled. In all things else he re-
sembled his preceptor Galerius. For if aught
chanced to have been left untouched by Diodes
and Maximian, that did Daia greedily and
shamelessly carry off. And now the granaries
of each individual were shut, and all warehouses
sealed up, and taxes, not yet due, were levied
by anticipation. Hence famine, from neglect of
cultivation, and the prices of all things enhanced
beyond measure. Herds and flocks were driven
from their pasture for the daily sacrifice. By
gorging his soldiers with the flesh of sacrifices,
he so corrupted them, that they disdained their
wonted pittance in corn, and wantonly threw it
away. Meanwhile Daia recompensed his body-
guards, who were very numerous, with costly
raiment and gold medals, made donatives in
silver to the common soldiers and recruits, and
bestowed every sort of largess on the barbarians
who served in his army. As to grants of the
property of living persons, which he made to his
favourites whenever they chose to ask what be-
longed to another, I know not whether the same
thanks might not be due to him that are given
to merciful robbers, who spoil without murder-
ing.

■ ( Singular that he does not assert that in this he imitated the
Christian discipline.!

CHAP. XXXVIII.

But //i^z/ which distinguished his character, and
in which he transcended all former emperors,
was his desire of debauching women. What
else can I call it but a blind and headstrong
passion? Yet such epithets feebly express my
indignation in reciting his enormities. The
magnitude of the guilt overpowers my tongue,
and makes it unequal to its office. Eunuchs
and panders made search everywhere, and no
sooner was any comely face discovered, than
husbands and parents were obliged to withdraw.
Matrons of quality and virgins were stripped of
their robes, and all their limbs were inspected,
lest any part should be unworthy of the bed
of the emperor. Whenever a woman resisted,
death by drowning was inflicted on her ; as if,
under the reign of this adulterer, chastity had
been treason. Some men there were, who, be-
holding the violation of wives whom for virtue
and fidelity they affectionately loved, could not
endure their anguish of mind, and so killed
themselves. While this monster ruled, it was
singular deformity alone which could shield the
honour of any female from his savage desires.
At length he introduced a custom prohibiting
marriage unless with the imperial permission ;
and he made this an instrument to serve the
purposes of his lewdness. After having de-
bauched freeborn maidens, he gave them for
wives to his slaves. His courtiers also imitated
the example of the emperor, and violated with
impunity the beds of their dependants. For
who was there to punish such offences ? As for
the daughters of men of middle rank, any who
were inclined took them by force. Ladies of
quality, who could not be taken by force, were
petitioned for, and obtained from the emperor
by way of free gift. Nor could a father oppose
this ; for the imperial warrant having been once
signed, he had no alternative but to die, or to
receive some barbarian as his son-in-law. For
hardly was there any person in the life-guard
except of those people, who, having been driven
from their habitations by the Goths in the twen-
tieth year of Diocletian, yielded themselves to
Galerius, and entered into his service. It was
ill for humankind, that men who had fled from
the bondage of barbarians should thus come to
lord it over the Romans. Environed by such
guards, Daia oppressed and insulted the Eastern
empire.

CHAP. XXXIX.

Now Daia, in gratifying his libidinous desires,
made his own will the standard of right ; and
therefore he would not refrain from soliciting
the widow of Galerius, the Empress Valeria, to
whom he had lately given the appellation of
mother. After the death of her husband, she

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 317

had repaired to Daia, because she imagined that
she might Hve with more security in his domin-
ions than elsewhere, especially as he was a mar-
ried man ; but the flagitious creature became
instantly inflamed with a passion for her. Va-
leria was still in weeds, the time of her mourn-
ing not being yet expired. He sent a message
to her proposing marriage, and offering, on her
compliance, to put away his wife. She frankly
returned an answer such as she alone could dare
to do : first, that she would not treat of marriage
while she was in weeds, and while the ashes of
Galerius, her husband, and, by adoption, the
father of Daia, were yet warm ; next, that he
acted impiously, in proposing to divorce a faith-
ful wife to make room for another, whom in her
turn he would also cast off; and, lasdy, that it
was indecent, unexampled, and unlawful for a
woman of her title and dignity to engage a sec-
ond time in wedlock.' This bold answer having
been reported to Daia, presently his desires
changed into rage and furious resentment. He
pronounced sentence of forfeiture against the
princess, seized her goods, removed her attend-
ants, tortured her eunuchs to death, and ban-
ished her and her mother Prisca : but he
appointed no particular place for her residence
while in banishment ; and hence he insultingly
expelled her from every abode that she took in
the course of her wanderings ; and, to complete
all, he condemned the ladies who enjoyed most
of her friendship and confidence to die on a
false accusation of adultery.

CHAP. XL.

There was a certain matron of high rank who
already had grandchildren by more than one
son. Her Valeria loved like a second mother,
and Daia suspected that her advice had pro-
duced that refusal which Valeria gave to his
matrimonial offers ; and therefore he charged
the president Eratineus to have her put to death
in a way that might injure her fame. To her
two others, equally noble, were added. One of
them, who had a daughter a Vestal virgin at
Rome, maintained an intercourse by stealth with
the banished Valeria. The other, married to a
senator, was intimately connected with the em-
press. Excellent beauty and virtue proved the
cause of their death. They were dragged to the
tribunal, not of an upright judge, but of a robber.
Neither indeed was there any accuser, until a cer-
tain Jew, one charged with other offences, was
induced, through hope of pardon, to give false
evidence against the innocent. The equitable
and vigilant magistrate conducted him out of
the city under a guard, lest the populace should
have stoned him. This tragedy was acted at

' [Language greatly the product of Christian influences.]

Nicsea. The Jew was ordered to the torture till
he should speak as he had been instructed, while
the torturers by blows prevented the women
from speaking in their own defence. The in-
nocent were condemned to die. Then there
arose wailing and lamentation, not only of the
senator, who attended on his well-deserving con-
sort, but amongst the spectators also, whom this
proceeding, scandalous and unheard of, had
brought together ; and, to prevent the multi-
tude from violently rescuing the condemned
persons out of the hands of the executioners,
military commanders followed with light infan-
try and archers. And thus, under a guard of
armed soldiers, they were led to punishment.
Their domestics having been forced to flee, they
would have remained without burial, had not
the compassion of friends interred them by
stealth. Nor was the promise of pardon made
good to the feigned adulterer, for he was fixed
to a gibbet, and then he disclosed the whole
secret contrivance ; and with his last breath he
protested to all the beholders that the women
died innocent.

CHAP. XLL

But the empress, an exile in some desert
region of Syria, secretly informed her father
Diocletian of the calamity that had befallen her.
He despatched messengers to Daia, requesting
that his daughter might be sent to him. He
could not prevail. Again and again he en-
treated ; yet she was not sent. At length he
employed a relation of his, a military man high
in power and authority, to implore Daia by the
remembrance of past favours. This messenger,
equally unsuccessful in his negotiation as the
others, reported to Diocletian that his prayers
were vain.

CHAP. XLIL

At this time, by command of Constantine, the
statues of Maximian Herculius were thrown
down, and his portraits removed ; and, as the
two old emperors were generally delineated in
one piece, the portraits of both were removed
at the same time. Thus Diocletian lived to see
a disgrace which no former emperor had ever
seen, and, under the double load of vexation of
spirit and bodily maladies, he resolved to die.
Tossing to and fro, with his soul agitated by
grief, he could neither eat nor take rest. He
sighed, groaned, and wept often, and incessantly
threw himself into various postures, now on his
couch, and now on the ground. So he, who for
twenty years was the most prosperous of emperors,
having been cast down into the obscurity of a
private station, treated in the most contumelious
manner, and compelled to abhor life, became
incapable of receiving nourishment, and, worn
out with anguish of mind, expired.

3i8 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

CHAP. XLIir.

Of the adversaries of God there still remained
one, whose overthrow and end I am now to
relate.

Daia had entertained jealousy and ill-will
against Licinius from the time that the prefer-
ence was given to him by Galerius ; and those
sentiments still subsisted, notwithstanding the
treaty of peace lately concluded between them.
When Daia heard that the sister of Constantine
was betrothed to Licinius, he apprehended that
the two emperors, by contracting this affinity,
meant to league against him ; so he privily sent
ambassadors to Rome, desiring a friendly alliance
with Maxentius : he also wrote to him in terms
of cordiality. The ambassadors were received
courteously, friendship established, and in token
of it the effigies of Maxentius and Daia were
placed together in public view. Maxentius will-
ingly embraced this, as if it had been an aid
from heaven ; for he had already declared war
against Constantine, as if to revenge the death of
his father Maximian. From this appearance
of filial piety a suspicion arose, that the detest-
able old man had but feigned a quarrel with his
son that he might have an opportunity to destroy
his rivals in power, and so make way for himself
and his son to possess the whole empire. This
conjecture, however, had no foundation ; for his
true purpose was to have destroyed his son and
the others, and then to have reinstated himself
and Diocletian in sovereign authority.

CHAP. XLIV.

And now a civil war broke out between Con-
stantine and Maxentius. Although Maxentius
kept himself within Rome, because the sooth-
sayers had foretold that if he went out of it he
should perish, yet he conducted the military
operations by able generals. In forces he ex-
ceeded his adversary ; for he had not only his
father's army, which deserted from Severus, but
also his own, which he had lately drawn together
out of Mauritania and Italy. They fought, and
the troops of Maxentius prevailed. At length
Constantine, with steady courage and a mind
prepared for every event, led his whole forces
to the neighbourhood of Rome, and encamped
them opposite to the Milvian bridge. The anni-
versary of the reign of Maxentius approached,
that is, the sixth of the kalends of November,"
and the fifth year of his reign was drawing to an
end.

Constantine was directed in a dream to cause
Vie heavenly sign to be delineated on the shields
of his soldiers, and so to proceed to battle. He
did as he had been commanded, and he marked

' 27th of October.

on their shields the letter X, with a perpendicular
line drawn through it and turned round thus at
n the top, being the cipher of Christ. Having
^ this sign, his troops stood to arms. The
enemies advanced, but without their emperor,
and they crossed the bridge. The armies met,
and fought with the utmost exertions of valour,
and firmly maintained their ground. In the
meantime a sedition arose at Rome, and Max-
entius was reviled as one who had abandoned
all concern for the safety of the commonweal ;
and suddenly, while he exhibited the Circensian
games on the anniversary of his reign, the people
cried with one voice, " Constantine cannot be
overcome ! " Dismayed at this, Maxentius burst
from the assembly, and having called some sena-
tors together, ordered the Sibylline books to be
searched. In them it was found that : —

"On the same day the enemy of the Romans should
perish."

Led by this response to the hopes of victory, he
went to the field. The bridge in his rear was
broken down. At sight of that the battle grew
hotter. The hand of the Lord prevailed, and
the forces of Maxentius were routed. He fled
towards the broken bridge ; but the multitude
pressing on him, he was driven headlong into
the Tiber.

This destructive war being ended, Constantine
was acknowledged as emperor, with great rejoi-
cings, by the senate and people of Rome. And
now he came to know the perfidy of Daia ; for
he found the letters written to Maxentius, and
saw the statues and portraits of the two associates
which had been set up together. The senate, in
reward of the valour of Constantine, decreed to
him the title of Maximits (the Greatest), a title
which Daia had always arrogated to himself.
Daia, when he heard that Constantine was victo-
rious and Rome freed, expressed as much sorrow
as if he himself had been vanquished ; but after-
wards, when he heard of the decree of the sen-
ate, he grew outrageous, avowed enmity towards
Constantine, and made his title of the Greatest
a theme of abuse and raillery.

CHAP. XLV.

Constantine having settled all things at Rome,
went to Milan about the beginning of winter.
Thither also Licinius came to receive his wife
Constantia. When Daia understood that they
were busied in solemnizing the nuptials, he moved
out of Syria in the depth of a severe winter, and
by forced marches he came into Bithynia with an
army much impaired ; for he lost all his beasts
of burden, of whatever kind, in consecjuence of
excessive rains and snow, miry ways, cold and
fatigue. Their carcases, scattered about the

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 319

roads, seemed an emblem of the calamities of
the impending war, and the presage of a like
destruction that awaited the soldiers. Daia did
not halt in his own territories ; but immediately
crossed the Thracian Bosphorus, and in a hos-
tile manner approached the gates of Byzantium.
There was a garrison in the city, established by
Licinius to check any invasion that Daia might
make. At first Daia attempted to entice the
soldiers by the promise of donatives, and then
to intimidate them by assault and storm. Yet
, neither promises nor force availed aught. After
eleven days had elapsed, within which time
Licinius might have learned the state of the
garrison, the soldiers surrendered, not through
treachery, but because they were too weak to
make a longer resistance. Then Daia moved
on to Heraclea (otherwise called Perinthus),
and by delays of the like nature before that place
lost some days. And now Licinius by expedi-
tious marches had reached Adrianople, but with
forces not numerous. Then Daia, having taken
Perinthus by capitulation, and remained there
for a short space, moved forwards eighteen
miles to the first station. Here his progress
was stopped ; for Licinius had already occu-
pied the second station, at the distance also of
eighteen miles. Licinius, having assembled what
forces he could from the neighbouring quarters,
advanced towards Daia, rather indeed to retard
his operations than with any purpose of fighting, i
or hope of victory : for Daia had an army of i
seventy thousand men, while he himself had
scarce thirty thousand ; for his soldiers being
dispersed in various regions, there was not time,
on that sudden emergency, to collect all of them
together:

CH.-VP. XLVI.

The armies thus approaching each other,
seemed on the eve of a battle. Then Daia
made this vow to Jupiter, that if he obtained vic-
tory he would extinguish and utterly efface the
name of the Christians. And on the following
night an angel of the Lord seemed to stand
before Licinius while he was asleep, admonish-
ing him to arise immediately, and with his whole
army to put up a prayer to the Supreme God,
and assuring him that by so doing he should
obtain victory. Licinius fancied that, hearing
this, he arose, and that his monitor, who was
nigh him, directed how he should pray, and in
what words. Awaking from sleep, he sent for
one of his secretaries, and dictated these words
exactly as he had heard them : —

" Supreme God, we beseech Thee ; Holy God, we be-
seech Thee ; unto Thee we commend all right ;
unto Thee we commend our safety ; unto Thee
we commend our empire. By Thee we live, by
Thee we are victorious and happy. Supreme
Holy God, hear our prayers ; to Thee we stretch
forth our arms. Hear, Holy Supreme God."

Many copies were made of these words, and
distributed amongst the principal commanders,
who were to teach them to the soldiers under
their charge. At this all men took fresh cour-
age, in the confidence that victory had been
announced to them from heaven. Licinius re-
solved to give battle on the kalends of May ; '
for precisely eight years before Daia had re-
ceived the dignity of Ccesar, and Licinius chose
that day in hopes that Daia might be vanquished
on the anniversary of his reign, as Maxentius
had been on his. Daia, however, purposed to
give battle earlier, to fight on the day before
those kalends,^ and to triumph on the anniver-
sary of his reign. Accounts came that Daia was
in motion ; the soldiers of Licinius armed them-
selves, and advanced. A barren and open plain,
called Campus Serenus, lay between the two
armies. They were now in sight of one another.
The soldiers of Licinius placed their shields on
the ground, took off their helmets, and, follow-
ing the example of their leaders, stretched forth
their hands towards heaven. Then the emperor
uttered the prayer, and they all repeated it after
him. The host, doomed to speedy destruction,
heard the murmur of the prayers of their ad-
versaries. And now, the ceremony having been
thrice performed, the soldiers of Licinius be-
came full of courage, buckled on their helmets
again, and resumed their shields. The two em-
perors advanced to a conference : but Daia
could not be brought to peace ; for he held
Licinius in contempt, and imagined that the
soldiers would presently abandon an emperor
parsimonious in his donatives, and enter into the
service of one liberal even to profusion. And
indeed it was on this notion that he began the
war. He looked for the voluntary surrender of
the armies of Licinius ; and, thus reinforced, he
meant forthwith to have attacked Constantine.

CHAP. XLVII.

So the two armies drew nigh ; the trumpets
gave the signal ; the military ensigns advanced ;
the troops of Licinius charged. But the ene-
mies, panic-struck, could neither draw their
swords nor yet throw their javelins. Daia went
about, and, alternately by entreaties and prom-
ises, attempted to seduce the soldiers of Licinius.
But he was not hearkened to in any quarter, and
they drove him back. Then were the troops of
Daia slaughtered, none making resistance ; and
such numerous legions, and forces so mighty,
were mowed down by an inferior enemy. No
one called to mind his reputation, or former
valour, or the honourable rewards which had
been conferred on him. The Supreme God did
so place their necks under the sword of their

' ist of May. [As to the angel, see Gibbon, cap. xx. note 41.]
* 30th of April. [Note these dates, p. 315.]

320

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED.

foes, that they seemed to have entered the field,
not as combatants, but as men devoted to death.
After great numbers had fallen, Daia perceived
that everything went contrary to his hopes ; and
therefore he threw aside the purple, and having
put on the habit of a slave, hasted across the
Thracian Bosphorus. One half of his army per-
ished in battle, and the rest either surrendered
to the victor or fled ; for now that the emperor
himself had deserted, there seemed to be no
shame in desertion. Before the expiration of
the kalends of May, Daia arrived at Nicomedia,
although distant one hundred and sixty miles
from the field of battle. So in the space of one
day and two nights he performed that journey.
Having hurried away with his children and wife,
and a few officers of his court, he went towards
Syria ; but having been joined by some troops
from those quarters, and having collected to-
gether a part of his fugitive forces, he halted in
Cappadocia, and then he resumed the imperial
garb.

CHAP. XLVIII.

Not many days after the victory, Licinius,
having received part of the soldiers of Daia into
his service, and properly distributed them, trans-
ported his army into Bithynia, and having made
his entry into Nicomedia, he returned thanks to
God, through whose aid he had overcome ; and
on the ides of June,' while he and Constantine
were consuls for the third time, he commanded
the following edict for the restoration of the
Church, directed to the president of the prov-
ince, to be promulgated : —

" When we, Constantine and Licinius, empe-
rors, had an interview at Milan, and conferred
together with respect to the good and security of
the commonweal, it seemed to us that, amongst
those things that are profitable to mankind in
general, the reverence paid to the Divinity mer-
ited our first and chief attention, and that it was
proper that the Christians and all others should
have liberty to follow that mode of religion
which to each of them appeared best ; so that
that God, who is seated in heaven, might be
benign and propitious to us, and to every
one under our government. And therefore we
judged it a salutary measure, and one highly
consonant to right reason, that no man should
be denied leave of attaching himself to the rites
of the Christians, or to whatever other religion
his mind directed him, that thus the supreme
Divinity, to whose worship we freely devote our-
selves, might continue to vouchsafe His favour
and beneficence to us. And accordingly we
give you to know that, without regard to any
provisos in our former orders to you concerning
the Christians, all who choose that religion are

' i;;.1 of June. [Note the rise oi general toleration.]

to be permitted, freely and absolutely, to remain
in it, and not to be disturbed any ways, or mo-
lested. And we thought fit to be thus special
in the things committed to your charge, that you
might understand that the indulgence which we
have granted in matters of religion to the Chris-
tians is ample and unconditional ; *and perceive
at the same time that the open and free exercise
of their respective religions is granted to all oth-
ers, as well as to the Christians. For it befits
the well-ordered state and the tranquillity of our
times that each individual be allowed, according
to his own choice, to worship the Divinity ; and
we mean not to derogate aught from the honour
due to any religion or its votaries. Moreover,
with respect to the Christians, we formerly gave
certain orders concerning the places appropri-
ated for their religious assemblies ; but now we
will that all persons who have purchased such
places, either from our exchequer or from any
one else, do restore them to the Christians, with-
out money demanded or price claimed, and that
this be performed peremptorily and unambigu-
ously ; and we will also, that they who have ob-
tained any right to such places by form of gift
do forthwith restore them to the Christians : re-
serving always to such persons, who have either
purchased for a price, or gratuitously acquired
them, to make application to the judge of the
district, if they look on themselves as entitled
to any equivalent from our beneficence.

" All those places are, by your intervention, to
be immediately restored to the Christians. And
because it appears that, besides the places ap-
propriated to religious worship, the Christians did
possess other places, which belonged not to in-
dividuals, but to their society in general, that is,
to their churches, we comprehend all such with-
in the regulation aforesaid, and we will that you
cause them all to be restored to the society or
churches, and that without hesitation or contro-
versy : Provided always, that the persons mak-
ing restitution without a price paid shall be at
liberty to seek indemnification from our bounty.
In furthering all which things for the behoof of
the Christians, you are to use your utmost dili-
gence, to the end that our orders be speedily
obeyed, and our gracious purpose in securing
the public tramjuillity promoted. So shall that
divine favour which, in affairs of the mightiest
importance, we have already experienced, con-
tinue to give success to us, and in our successes
make the commonweal happy. And that the
tenor of this our gracious ordinance may be
made known unto all, we will that you cause it
by your authority to be published everywhere."

Licinius having issued this ordinance, made an
harangue, in which he exhorted the Christians to
rebuild their religious edifices.

An'l thus, from the overthrow of the Church

OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PERSECUTORS DIED. 321

until its restoration, there was a space of ten
years and about four months.

CHAP. XLIX.

While Licinius pursued with his army, the
fegitive tyrant retreated, and again occupied the
passes of mount Taurus ; and there, by erecting
parapets and towers, attempted to stop the march
of Licinius. But the victorious troops, by an
attack made on the right, broke through all ob-
stacles, and Daia at length fled to Tarsus. There,
being hard pressed both by sea and land, he
despaired of finding any place for refuge ; and
in the anguish and dismay of his mind, he sought
death as the only remedy of those calamities that
God had heaped on him. But first he gorged
himself with food, and large draughts of wine, as
those are wont who believe that they eat and
drink for the last time ; and so he swallowed
poison. However, the force of the poison, re-
pelled by his full stomach, could not immediately
operate, but it produced a grievous disease, re-
sembling the pestilence ; and his life was pro-
longed only that his sufferings might be more
severe. And now the poison began to rage, and
to burn up everything within him, so that he was
driven to distraction with the intolerable pain ;
and during a fit of frenzy, which lasted four days,
he gathered handfuls of earth, and greedily
devoured it. Having undergone various and
excruciating torments, \ie dashed his forehead
against the wall, and his eyes started out of their
sockets. And now, become blind, he imagined
that he saw God, with His servants arrayed in
white robes, sitting in judgment on him. He
roared out as men on the rack are wont, and
exclaimed that not he, but others, were guilty.
In the end, as if he had been racked into con-
fession, he acknowledged his own guilt, and
lamentably implored Christ to have mercy upon
him. Then, amidst groans, like those of one
burnt alive, did he breathe out his guilty soul in
the most horrible kind of death.

CHAP. L.

Thus did God subdue all those who perse-
cuted His name, so that neither root nor branch
of them remained ; for Licinius, as soon as he
was established in sovereign authority, com-
manded that Valeria should be put to death.
Daia, although exasperated against her, never
ventured to do this, not even after his discom-
fiture and flight, and when he knew that his end
approached. Licinius commanded that Can-
didianus also should be put to death. He was
the son of Galerius by a concubine, and Valeria,
having no children, had adopted him. On the
news of the death of Daia, she came in disguise
to the court of Licinius, anxious to observe what

might befall Candidianus. The youth, present-
ing himself at Nicomedia, had an outward show
of honour paid to him, and, while he suspected
no harm, was killed. Hearing of this catastrophe,
Valeria immediately fled. The Emperor Severus
left a son, Severianus, arrived at man's estate,
who accompanied Daia in his flight from the
field of battle. Licinius caused him to be con-
demned and executed, under the pretence that,
on the death of Daia, he had intentions of
assuming the imperial purple. Long before this
time, Candidianus and Severianus, apprehending
evil from Licinius, had chosen to remain with
Daia ; while Valeria favoured Licinius, and was
wiUing to bestow on him that which she had de-
nied to Daia, all rights accruing to her as the
widow of Galerius. Licinius also put to death
Maximus, the son of Daia, a boy eight years old,
and a daughter of Daia, who was seven years
old, and had been betrothed to Candidianus.
But before their death, their mother had been
thrown into the Orontes, in which river she her-
self had frequently commanded chaste women to
be drowned. So, by the unerring and just judg-
ment of God, all the impious received according
to the deeds that they had done.

CHAP. LI.

Valeria, too, who for fifteen months had wan-
dered under a mean garb from province to prov-
ince, was at length discovered in Thessalonica, was
apprehended, together with her mother Prisca,
and suffered capital punishment. Both the ladies
were conducted to execution ; a fall from gran-
deur which moved the pity of the multitude of
beholders that t'.ie strange sight had gathered
together. They were beheaded, and their bodies
cast into the sea. Thus the chaste demeanour
of Valeria, and the high rank of her and her
mother, proved fatal to both of them.'

CHAP. LII.

I relate all those things on the authority of
well-informed persons ; and I thought it proper
to commit them to writing exactly as they hap-
pened, lest the memory of events so important
should perish, and lest any future historian of
the persecutors should corrupt the truth, either
by suppressing their offences against God, or the
judgment of God against them. To His ever-
lasting mercy ought we to render thanks, that,
having at length looked on the earth. He deigned
to collect again and to restore His flock, partly
laid waste by ravenous wolves, and partly scat-
tered abroad, and to extirpate those noxious
wild beasts who had trod down its pastures, and
destroyed its resting-places.^ Where now are

3.]

■ [See cap. 39, p. 317, supra ]

^ [Let us recall our Lord's forewarning: Matt. x. 16 and Luke x.

322

ELUCIDATION.

the surnames of the Jovii and the Herculii,
once so glorious and renowned amongst the na-
tions ; surnames insolently assumed at first by
Diodes and Maximian, and afterwards trans-
ferred to their successors? The Lord has blot-
ted them out and erased them from the earth.
Let us therefore with exultation celebrate the
triumphs of God, and oftentimes with praises
make mention of His victory ; let us in our
prayers, by night and by day, beseech Him to

confirm for ever that peace which, after a war-
fare of ten years, He has bestowed on His own :
and do you, above all others, my best beloved
Donatus, who so well deserve to be heard, im-
plore the Lord that it would please Him pro-
pitiously and mercifully to continue His pity
towards His servants, to protect His people
from the machinations and assaults of the devil,
and to guard the now flourishing churches in
perpetual felicity.

ELUCIDATION.

(On the tenth of the kalends of April, p. 301.)

Serious difficulties are encountered by the learned in reconciling Lactantius with himself, if^
indeed, the fault be not one of his copyists rather than his own. In the fourth book of the
Institutes ' his language is thus given by Baluzius : ^ —

" Extremis temporibus Tiberii Caesaris, ut scriptum kgimus, Dominus noster Jesus Christus,
a Judseis cruciatus e%X. post diem decitnum kalendaru?n Aprilis, duobus Geminis consulibus."

Lactantius was writing in Nicomedia, and may have quoted from memory what he had read,
perhaps in the report of Pilate himself. The expression post diem decimum kalendarum Aprilis
is ambiguous : and Jarvis says, " My impression is, that it means ' after the tenth day before the
kalends of April ; ' that is, after the 23d of March." ^

But here our author says, according to the accurate edition of Walchius'* (a.d. 1715), —

" Exinde tetrarchas habuerunt usque ad Herodem, qui fuit sub imperio Tiberii Caesaris : cujus
anno quinto decimo, id est duobus Geminis consulibus, ante diem septimam Calendarum Aprilium,
Judaei Christum cruci affixerunt."

But here, on the authority of forty manuscripts, Du Fresnoy reads, " ante diem decimam,"
which he labours to reconcile with " post 6.\Q.m. decimum," as above. Jarvis adheres to the read-
ing septimam, supported by more than fifty manuscripts, and decides for the 23d of March.

He cites Augustine to the same effect in the noted passage : s —

" Ille autem mense conceptum et passum esse Christum, et Paschae observatio et dies eccle-
siis notissimus Nativitatis ejus ostendit. Qui enim mense nono natus est octavo kalendas Janva-
rias profecto mense primo conceptus est circa octavum kalendas Aprilis, quod tempus passionis
ejus fuit."

This, Augustine considers to be " seething a kid in mother's milk," after a mystical sense ;
cruelly making the cross to coincide with the maternity of the Virgin, who beheld her Son an
innocent victim on the anniversary of her salutation by the angel.

* S«e note 1, p. 109. ^ ^s cited by Jarvis, Introd., p. 379. 3 Baluz., Miscellanea, torn. i. p. ».

* OJ>p., ed. Walchii. p. 435. * Quoestt. in Exod., lib. ii., Opp., torn. lii. p. 337.

FRAGMENTS OF LACTANTIUS.

I. Fear, love, joy, sadness, lust, eager desire,
anger, pity, emulation, admiration, — these mo-
tions or affections of the mind exist from the
beginning of man's creation by the Lord ; and
they were usefully and advantageously introduced
into human nature, that by governing himself
by these with method, and in accordance with
reason, man may be able, by acting manfully, to
exercise those good qualities, by means of which
he would justly have deserved to receive from
the Lord eternal life. For these affections of
the mind being restrained within their proper
limits, that is, being rightly employed, produce
at present good quaUties, and in the future eter-
nal rewards. But when they advance ' beyond
their boundaries, that is, when they turn aside
to an evil course, then vices and iniquities come
forth, and produce everlasting punishments.'

IL Within our memory, also, Lactantius
speaks of metres, — the pentameter (he says)
and the tetrameter.^

in. Firmianus, writing to Probus on the me-
tres of £omedies, thus speaks : " For as to the
question which you proposed concerning the
metres of comedies, I also know that many are
of opinion that the plays of Terence in particu-
lar have not the metre of Greek comedy, — that
is, of Menander, Philemon, and Diphilus, which

' Affluentes.

* From Muratorii Antiquit. Hal. nted. cev.

3 From Maxim. Victorin. de carmine keroico. Cf. Hieron.,
Catal., c. So. We have also another tMatise, which is entitled " On
Grammar."

consist of trimeter verses ; for our ancient writ-
ers of comedies, in the modulation of their
plays, preferred to follow Eupolis, Cratinus, and
Aristophanes, as has been before said." That
there is a measure — that is, metre ■♦ — in the
plays of Terence and Plautus, and of the other
comic and tragic writers, let these declare : Ci-
cero, Scaurus, and Firmianus. s

IV. We will bring forward the sentiments of
our Lactantius, which he expressed in words in
his third volume to Probus on this subject. The
Gauls, he says, were from ancient times called
Galatians, from the whiteness of their body ; and
thus the Sibyl terms them. And this is what the
poet intended to signify when he said, —

"Gold collars deck their milk-white necks,"*

when he might have used the word white. It
is plain that from this the province was called
Galatia, in which, on their arrival in it, the Gauls
united themselves with Greeks, from which cir-
cumstance that region was called Gallograecia,
and afterwards Galatia. And it is no wonder if
he said this concerning the Galatians, and re-
lated that a people of the West, having passed
over so great a distance in the middle of the
earth, settled in a region of the East.'

* tifTpOV.

s From Rufinus, the grammarian, on Comic Metres, p. aju.

* Virg., ^n., viii. 660.

7 From Hieron., Commentar. in ep. ad Gal., 1. ii., opp. ed.
Vallars. viii. i, p. 426. Hieron., De V'iris lllus., c. 80; we have
" four books of epistles to Probus."

3»3

THE PHCENIX.

BY AN UNCERTAIN AUTHOR. ATTRIBUTED TO LACTANTIUS.'

There is a happy spot, retired* in the first
East, where the great gate of the eternal pole
lies open. It is not, however, situated near to
his rising in summer or in winter, but where
the sun pours the day fi-om his vernal chariot.
There a plain spreads its open tracts ; nor does
any mound rise, nor hollow valley open 3 itself.
But through twice six ells that place rises above
the mountains, whose tops are thought to be
lofty among us. Here is the grove of the sun ;
a wood stands planted with many a tree, bloom-
ing with the honour of perpetual foliage. When
the pole had blazed with the fires of Phaethon,
that place was uninjured by the flames ; and
when the deluge had immersed the world in
waves, it rose above the waters of Deucalion.
No enfeebling diseases, no sickly old age, nor
cruel death, nor harsh fear, approaches hither,
nor dreadful crime, nor mad desire of riches,
nor Mars, nor fury, burning with the love of
slaughter.'* Bitter grief is absent, and want
clothed in rags, and sleepless cares, and violent
hunger. No tempest rages there, nor dreadful
violence of the wind ; nor does the hoar-frost
cover the earth with cold dew. No cloud ex-
tends its fleecy 5 covering above the plains, nor
does the turbid moisture of water fall from on
high ; but there is a fountain in the middle,
which they call by the name of " living ; " ^ it is
clear, gentle, and abounding with sweet waters,
which, bursting forth once during the space of
each ^ month, twelve times irrigates all the grove
with waters. Here a species of tree, rising with
lofty stem, bears mellow fruits not about to fall
on the ground. This grove, these woods, a

"• [A curious expansion of the fable so long supposed to be au-
thentic history of a natural wonder, and probably derived from Ori-
ental tiles corroborated by travellers. See vol. i. p. 12; also iii.
S54- Vezeedee bird-worship may have sprung out of it ]

^ Rcmotus. The reference is supposed to be to Arabia, though
K>me think that India is pointed out as the abode of the phoenix.

i Hiat.

* Caedis amore furor. There is another reading, " cedit."

5 Vellera, " thin fleecy clouds." So Virg., Georg., i. 397; Tenuia
nee lana: per coclum vellera ferri.

* Vivum.

' Per singula tempera mensum.

324

single ^ bird, the phoenix, inhabits, — single, but
it lives reproduced by its own death. It obeys
and submits ^ to Phoebus, a remarkable attend-
ant. Its parent nature has given it to possess
this office. When at its first rising the saffron
morn grows red, when it puts to flight the stars
with its rosy light, thrice and four times she
plunges her body into the sacred waves, thrice
and four times she sips water from the living
stream.'" She is raised aloft, and takes her seat
on the highest top of the lofty tree, which alone
looks down upon the whole grove ; and turning
herself to the fresh risings of the nascent Phoe-
I bus, she awaits his rays and rising beam. And
when the sun has thrown back the threshold of
I the shining gate, and the light gleam" of the
i first light has shone forth, she begins to pour
strains of sacred song, and to hail '^ the new
light with wondrous voice, which neither the
, notes of the nightingale '^ nor the flute of the
I Muses can equal with Cyrrhaean '■♦ strains. But
neither is it thought that the dying swan can
imitate it, nor the tuneful strings of the lyre of
Mercury. After that Phoebus has brought back
his horses to the open heaven, 's and continually
advancing, has displayed '^ his whole orb ; she
applauds with thrice-repeated flapping of her
wings, and having thrice adored the fire-bearing
head, is silent. And she also distinguishes the
swift hours by sounds not liable to error by day
and night : an overseer '7 of the groves, a vener-
able priestess of the wood, and alone admitted
to thy secrets, O Phoebus. And when she has

8 Unica, " the only one." It was supposed that only one phoenix
lived at one time. So the proverb, " Phoenice rarior."

9 Birds were considered sacred to peculiar gods; thus the phoenix
was held sacred to Phoebus. [Layard, Nineveh, vol. ii. p. 462.]

'° Gurgite.

" Aura. So Virg., /Eneid, vi. 204: "Discolor unde auri per
ramos aura refulsit."

'- C'icre.

'3 Acdonia: voces. The common reading is ".^doniae," contrary
to the metre.

'4 i.e., strains of Apollo and the Muses, for Cyrrha is at the foot
of Parnassus, their favourite haunt.

'S Aperta Olympi, when he has mounted above the horizon.

'6 Protulit.

■7 Antistes.

THE PHCENIX.

325

now accomplished the thousand years of her Hfe,
and length of days has rendered her burden-
some,' in order that she may renew the age
which has glided by, the fates pressing * her, she
flees from the beloved couch of the accustomed
grove. And when she has left the sacred places,
through a desire of being born ^ again, then she
seeks this world, where death reigns. Full of
years, she directs her swift flight into Syria, to
which Venus herself has given the name of
Phoenice ; * and through trackless deserts she
seeks the retired groves in the place, where a
remote wood lies concealed through the glens.
Then she chooses a lofty palm, with top reach-
ing to the heavens, which has the pleasing 5
name of phoenix from the bird, and where ^ no
hurtful living creature can break through, or
slimy serpent, or any bird of prey. Then ^olus
shuts in the winds in hanging caverns, lest they
should injure the bright ^ air with their blasts, or
lest a cloud collected by the south wind through
the empty sky should remove the rays of the sun,
and be a hindrance ^ to the bird. Afterwards
she builds for herself either a nest or a tomb,
for she perishes that she may live ; yet she pro-
duces herself. Hence she collects juices and
odours, which the Assyrian gathers from the
rich wood, which the wealthy Arabian gathers ;
which either the Pygmaean ^ nations, or India
crops, or the Sabasan land produces from its soft
bosom. Hence she heaps together cinnamon
and the odour of the far-scented amomum, and
balsams with mixed leaves. Neither the twig
of the mild cassia nor of the fragrant acanthus
is absent, nor the tears and rich drop of frank-
incense. , To these she adds tender ears '° of
flourishing spikenard, and joins the too pleasing
pastures" of myrrh. Immediately she places
her body about to be changed on the strewed
nest, and her quiet limbs on such "' a couch.
Then with her mouth she scatters juices around
and upon her limbs, about to die with her own
funeral rites. Then amidst various odours she
yields up '^ her life, nor fears the faith of so great a
deposit. In the meantime, her body, destroyed
by death, which proves the source of life,'* is
hot, and the heat itself produces a flame ; and it
conceives fire afar off from the light of heaven :
it blazes, and is dissolved into burnt ashes. And

■ Gravem, i.e., a burden to herself.

* Fatis urgentibus; others read " spatiis vergentibus."
' Studio renascendi.

* Venus was worshipped in Syro-Phoenice.

5 Gratum; others read " Graium," Grecian.

* Qua; another reading is " quam," that which.

' Purpureum. There may be a reference to the early dawn.

8 Obsit.

9 Some ancient writers place these fabulous people in India, others
beyond Arabia.

'° Aristas. The word is sometimes applied, as here, to spikenard.
" Et sociat myrrhae pascua grata nimis; another reading is, " et
tociam myrrhae vim, Panachaia tuae."

'* In talique toro; others, " vitalique toro," i.e., on a death-bed.

'^ Commendat.

*^ Genitali, " productive; " observe the antithesis.

these ashes collected in death it fuses,'s as it
were, into a mass, and has an effect '^ resembling
seed. From this an animal is said to arise with-
out limbs, but the worm is said to be of a milky
colour. And it suddenly increases vastly with
an imperfectly formed '^ body, and collects itself
into the appearance of a well-rounded egg.
After this it is formed again, such as its figure
was before, and the phoenix, having burst her
shell,''* shoots forth, even as caterpillars '^ in the
fields, when they are fastened by a thread to a
stone, are wont to be changed into a butterfly.
No food is appointed for her in our world, nor
does any one make it his business to feed her
while unfledged. She sips the delicate ^" ambro-
sial dews of heavenly nectar which have fallen
from the star-bearing pole. She gathers these ;
with these the bird is nourished in the midst of
odours, until she bears a natural form. But
when she begins to flourish with early youth,
she flies forth now about to return to her native
abode. Previously, however, she encloses in an
ointment of balsam, and in myrrh and dis-
solved ^' frankincense, all the remains of her own
body, and the bones or ashes, and relics " of
herself, and with pious mouth brings it into a
round form,^^ and carrying this with her feet, she
goes to the rising of the sun, and tarrying at the
altar, she draws it forth in the sacred temple.
She shows and presents herself an object of ad-
miration to the beholder ; such great beauty is
there, such great honour abounds. In the first
place, her colour is like the brilliancy ^* of that
which the seeds of the pomegranate when ripe
take under the smooth rind ; ^5 such colour as is
contained in the leaves which the poppy pro-
duces in the fields, when Flora spreads her gar-
ments beneath the blushing sky. Her shoulders
and beautiful breasts shine with this covering ;
with this her head, with this her neck, and the
upper parts of her back shine. And her tail is
extended, varied with yellow metal, in the spots
of which mingled purple blushes. Between her
wings there is a bright ^^ mark above, as ^^ Tris on
high is wont to paint a cloud from above. She
gleams resplendent with a mingling of the green
emerald, and a shining beak^* of pure horn
opens itself. Her eyes are large ; ^^ you might

'5 Conflat.

■* Effectum; others read, "ad foetum seminis instar habent.

" Cum corpore curto; others read, " cum tempore certo."

'3 Ruptis exuviis. The same word is used by Virgil to describe
the serpent slipping its skin — " positis exuviis."

'9 Tineae.

-° Tenues; others read " teneri."

2' Thure soluto.

^^ Exuvias suas.

23 In formam conglobat.

^* Quern croceum. The word is properly used to denote the
colour of saffron; it is also applied to other bright colours.

^S Sub cortice laevi; the common reading is " sub sidere cxli."

^'' Clarum insigne; others read, " aurum . . . insigneque."

^7 Ceu; others read, " seu."

28 Gemmea cuspis. Her beak is of horn, but bright and trans-
parent as a gem.

29 Ingentes oculi; others read, " oculos."

326

THE PHCENIX.

believe that they were two jacinths ; ' from the
middle of which a bright flame shines. An ir-
radiated crown is fitted^ to the whole of hei
head, resembling on high the glory of the head
of Phoebus. 3 Scales cover her thighs spangled
with yellow metal, but a rosy * colour paints her
claws with honour. Her form is seen to blend
the figure of the peacock with that of the paint-
ed bird of Phasis.5 The winged creature which
is produced in the lands of the Arabians, whether
it be beast or bird, can scarcely equal her mag-
nitude.^ She is not, however, slow, as birds
which through the greatness of their body have
sluggish motions, and a very heavy 7 weight.
But she is light and swift, full of royal beauty.
Such she always shows herself^ in the sight of
men. Egypt comes hither to such a wondrous 9

' Hyacinthos ; gems of this colour.

2 >Equatur.

3 i.e., the rays of the sun.

* Roseus; others read, " roseo honore."
5 The pheasant.

* Magniciem. Some take this as denoting the name of a bird,
but no such bird is known.

7 Pergrave j^ondus; others read, " per grave pondus," by reason
of the heavy weight.

' Se exhibet; others read, " se probat."
9 Tanti ad miracula visus. [Deut. iv. 17.]

sight, and the exulting crowd salutes the rare
bird. Immediately they carve her image on the
consecrated marble, and mark both the occur-
rence and the day with a new title. Birds of
every kind assemble together ; none is mindful
of prey, none of fear. Attended by a chorus
of birds, she flies through the heaven, and a
crowd accompanies her, exulting in the pious
duty. But when she has arrived at the regions
of pure ether, she presently returns ; '° afterwards
she is concealed in her own regions. But oh,
bird of happy lot and fate," to whom the god
himself granted to be born from herself!
Whether it be female, or male, or neither, or
both, happy she, who enters into '^ no compacts
of Venus. Death is Venus to her ; her only
pleasure is in death : that she may be born, she
desires previously to die. She is an offspring to
herself, her own father and heir, her own nurse,
and always a foster-child to herself. She is her-
self indeed, but not the same, since she is herself,
and not herself, having gained eternal life by the
blessing of death.

'° Inde; others read, " ille," but the allusion is very obscure.

" Fili, " the thread," i.e., of fate.

'^ Colit. [Badger's Nettorians, vol. i. p. laa.]

A POEM ON THE PASSION OF THE LORD.

FORMERLY ASCRIBED TO LACTANTIUS.

Whoever you are who approach, and are en-
tering the precincts ' of the middle of the temple,
stop a little and look upon me, who, though in-
nocent, suffered for your crime ; lay me up in
your mind, keep me in your breast. I am He
who, pitying the bitter misfortunes of men, came
hither as a messenger ^ of offered peace, and as
a full atonement ^ for the fault of men.'' Here
the brightest light from above is restored to the
earth ; here is the merciful image of safety ; here
I am a rest to you, the right way, the true re-
demption, the banner 5 of God, and a memorable
sign of fate. It was on account of you and your
life that I entered the Virgin's womb, was made
man, and suffered a dreadful death ; nor did I
find rest anywhere in the regions of the earth, but
everywhere threats, everywhere labours. First
of all a wretched dwelling ^ in the land of Judaea
was a shelter for me at my birth, and for my moth-
er with me : here first, amidst the outstretched
sluggish cattle, dry grass gave me a bed in a
narrow stall. I passed my earliest years in the
Pharian ^ regions, being an exile in the reign of
Herod ; and after my return to Judaea I spent
the rest of my years, always engaged ^ in fastings,
and the extremity of poverty itself, and the lowest
circumstances; always by healthful admonitions
applying the minds of men to the pursuit of
genial uprightness, uniting with wholesome teach-
mg many evident miracles : on which account
impious Jerusalem, harassed by the raging cares
of envy and cruel hatred, and blinded by mad-
ness, dared to seek for me, though innocent, by
deadly punishment, a cruel death on the dreadful
cross. And if you yourself wish to discriminate
these things more fully,^ and if it delights you to
go through all my groans, and to experience
griefs with me, put together '° the designs and

' Limina, " the threshold."

* Interpres.

3 Venia, " remission."

* Communis cnlpsB.
5 Vexillum.

* Magalia.

' I.e., Egypt.
» Secutus.

9 Latius, "more widely," " in greater detail."
»o CoUige.

plots, and the impious price of my innocent
blood, and the pretended kisses of a disciple,"
and the insults and strivings of the cruel multi-
tude ; and, moreover, the blows, and tongues pre-
pared " for accusations. Picture to your mind
both the witnesses, and the accursed '^ judgment of
the blinded Pilate, and the immense cross press-
ing my shoulders and wearied back, and my
painful steps to a dreadful death. Now survey
me from head to foot, deserted as I am, and
lifted up afar from my beloved mother. Behold
and see my locks clotted with blood, and my
blood-stained neck under my very hair, and my
head drained '•* with cruel thorns, and pouring
down like rain '5 from all sides a stream '^ of
blood over my divine face. Survey my com-
pressed and sightless eyes, and my afflicted
cheeks ; see my parched tongue poisoned with
gall, and my countenance pale with death. Be-
hold my hands pierced with nails, and my arms
drawn out, and the great wound in my side ; see
the blood streaming from it, and my perforated '^
feet, and blood-stained limbs. Bend your knee,
and with lamentation adore the venerable wood
of the cross, and with lowly countenance stoop-
ing '^ to the earth, which is wet with innocent
blood, sprinkle it with rising tears, and at times "^
bear me and my admonitions in your devoted
heart. Follow the footsteps of my life, and
while you look upon my torments and cruel
death, remembering my innumerable pangs of
body and soul, learn to endure hardships,^" and
to watch over your own safety. These me-
morials,^' if at any time you find pleasure in
thinking over them, if in your mind there is
any confidence to bear anything like my suffer-

" Clientis. The " cliens" is one who puts himself under the pro-
tection of a " patronus." Here it is used of a follower.
•2 Promptas.

'3 Infanda, " unspeakable," " wicked."
'< Haustum.
15 Pluens.
■6 Vivum cruorem.
■7 Fossos.
'^ Terram petens.

'9 Nonnunquam; others read, " nunquam non," always.
*° Adversa.
** Monuinenta.

328

A POEM ON THE PASSION OF THE LORD.

ings)/ if the piety due, and gratitude worthy of
my labours shall arise, will be incitements^ to
true virtue, and they will be shields against the
snares of an enemy, aroused ^ by which you will
be safe, and as a conqueror bear off the palm in
every contest. If these memorials shall turn
away your senses, which are devoted to a perish-
able •♦ world, from the fleeting shadow of earthly
beauty, the result will be, that you will not ven-
ture,5 enticed by empty hope, to trust the frail ^
enjoyments of fickle fortune, and to place your
hope in the fleeting years of life. But, truly,
if you thus regard this perishable world, ^ and

* Meorum.
^ Stimuli.

' Acer.

* Labilis orbis amicos sensus.
5 Auseris, an unusual form.

* Occiduis rebus.

7 Ista caduca saecula.

through your love of a better country deprive
yourself^ of earthly riches and the enjoyment of
present things,^ the prayers of the pious will
bring you up '° in sacred habits, and in the hope
of a happy life, amidst severe punishments, will
cherish you with heavenly dew, and feed you
with the sweetness of the promised good. Until
the great favour of God shall recall your happy "
soul to the heavenly regions,'^ your body being
left after the fates of death. Then freed from
all labour, then joyfully beholding the angelic
choirs, and the blessed companies of saints in
perpetual bliss, it shall reign with me in the happy
abode of perpetual peace.

' Exutum.
9 Rerum usus.

'° Extollent. The reading is uncertain ; some editions have " ex-
polient."

" Purpuream, " bright, or shining."
'^ Sublimes ad auras.

GENERAL NOTE.

There is no ms. authority for ascribing the above to Lactantius. " It does not, in the least,
come up to the purity and eloquence of his style," says Dupin ; and the same candid author
notes the " adoration of the cross " as fatal to any such claim.'

Of the following poem, on Easter, Dupin says : " It is attributed to Venantius upon the testi-
mony of some Mss. in the Vatican Library." This writer became known to Gregory of Tours,
who died about a.d. 595, and seems to have succeeded him as bishop, dying soon after. Bede
quotes his verse on St. Alban,^ —

" Albanum egregium fecunda Britannia profert,"

but Styles him " presbyter Fortunatus." He was the author of a poem on Sf. Martin, and
another, In Laude Virginum. His works were edited by Brouverius, a Jesuit.

• Note 18, p. 327.

' The reader will be pleased with a reference, on p. 330, infra, to the (then recent) conversion of our Saxon forefathers in Kent.

POEM OF VENANTIUS HONORIUS' CLEMENTI-
ANUS FORTUNATUS, ON EASTER.

overcome the hunger of the husbandman.
ing deserted its

The seasons bhish varied with the flowery,
fair weather,^ and the gate of the pole Hes open
with greater hght. His path in the heaven raises
the fire-breathing 3 sun higher, who goes forth
on his course,-* and enters the waters of the ocean.
Armed with rays traversing the liquid elements,
in this 5 brief night he stretches out the day in a
circle. The brilliant firmament^ puts forth its
clear countenance, and the bright stars show their
joy. The fruitful earth pours forth its gifts with
varied increase, ^ when the year has well returned
its vernal riches.^ Soft beds of violets paint the
purple plain ; the meadows are green with plants,''
and the plant shines with its leaves. By degrees
gleaming brightness of the flowers '° comes forth ;
all the herbs smile with their blossoms." The
seed being deposited, the corn springs up far
and wide '^ in the fields, promising to be able to

Hav-
stem, the vine-shoot bewails its
joys ; the vine gives water only from the source
from which' it is wont to give wine. The swell-
ing bud, rising with tender down from the back
of its mother, prepares its bosom for bringing
forth. Its foliage '^ having been torn off" in the
wintry season, the verdant grove now renews its
leafy shelter. Mingled together, the willow, the
fir, the hazel, the osier,'-* the elm, the maple, the
walnut, each tree applauds, delightful with its
leaves. Hence the bee, about to construct its
comb, leaving the hive, humming over the flow-
ers, carries off" honey with its leg. The bird

I Venantius Honorius, to whom this poem is ascribed, was an
Italian presbyter and poet In some editions the title is De Resur-
rectione. It was addressed to the bishop Felix.

* Florigero sereno.
- Ignivoraus.

■* Vagus.

5 Hac in nocte brevi. Other editions read, " adhuc nocte brevi."

* jBthera, an unusual form.

' Fcetu; others read " cultu."

* Cum bene vernales reddidit annus opes. Another reading is,
" cum bene vernarit; reddit et annus opes.

9 Herbis.

■° Stellantia lumina florum.

" Floribus; another reading is, " arridentque oculis."

'^ Late; others read, " lactens," juicy.

'3 Foliorum crine revulso; others read, " refuso."

'* Siler, supposed to be the osier, but the notices of the tree are
too scanty to enable us to identify it. See Conington, Virg. Georg.,
ii. 12.

which, having closed its song, was dumb, slug-
gish with the wintry cold, returns to its strains.
Hence Philomela attunes her notes with her own
instruments,'5 and the air becomes sweeter with
the re-echoed melody. Behold, the favour of
the reviving world bears witness that all gifts
have returned together with its Lord. For in
honour of Christ rising triumphant after His
descent to the gloomy Tartarus, the grove on
every side with its leaves expresses approval,
the plants with their flowers express approval.'*
The light, the heaven, the fields, and the sea
duly praise the God ascending above the stars,
having crushed the laws of hell. Behold, He
who was crucified reigns as God over all things,
and all created objects off'er prayer to their
Creator. Hail, festive day, to be reverenced
throughout the world, '7 on which God has con-
quered hell, and gains the stars ! The changes
of the year and of the months, the bounteous
light of the days, the splendour of the hours, aU
things with voice applaud.'^ Hence, in honour
of you, the wood with its foliage applauds ; hence
the vine, with its silent shoot, gives thanks.
Hence the thickets now resound with the whis-
per of birds ; amidst these the sparrow sings
with exuberant "^ love. O Christ, Thou Saviour
of the world, merciful Creator and Redeemer,
the only offspring from the Godhead of the
Father, flowing in an indescribable ^° manner
from the heart of Thy Parent, Thou self-existing
Word, and powerful from the mouth of Thy
Father, equal to Him, of one mind with Him,
His fellow, coeval with the Father, from whom
at first ^' the world derived its origin ! Thou

'S Suis attemperat organa cannis. "Canna" seems to be used for
" gutturis canna," the windpipe; " organum," often used for a musi-
cal instrument.
'<> Favent.

" Toto venerabilis aevo. [Rev. i. lo. Easter in Patmos, I sup-
pose.]

'^ Mobilitas anni, mensum, lux alma dierum
Horarum splendor, stridula cuncta favent.
There are great variations in the readings of this passage. Some read
" Nobilitas anni, mensum decus, alma dierum,
Horarum splendor, scriptula, puncta fovent."

'9 Niraio; another reading is, " minimus."
*° Irrecitabiliter.
-' Principe.

.329

330

POEM ON EASTER.

dost suspend the firmament/ Thou heapest to-
gether the soil, Thou dost pour forth the seas,
by whose ' government all things which are fixed
in their places flourish. Who seeing that the
human race was plunged in the depth ^ o/ mis-
ery, that Thou mightest rescue man, didst Thy-
self also become man : nor wert Thou willing
only to be born with a body,^ but Thou becam-
est flesh, which endured to be born and to die.
Thou dost undergo 5 funeral obsequies. Thyself
the author of life and framer of the world.
Thou dost enter ^ the path of death, in giving
the aid of salvation. The gloomy chains of the
infernal law yielded, and chaos feared to be
pressed by the presence ^ of the light. Darkness
perishes, put to flight by the brightness of Christ ;
the thick pall of eternal ^ night falls. But restore
the promised 9 pledge, I pray Thee, O power
benign ! The third day has returned ; arise, my
buried One ; it is not becoming that Thy limbs
should lie in the lowly sepulchre, nor that worth-
less stones should press that ivhich is the ran-
som '° of the world. It is unworthy that a stone
should shut in with a confining " rock, and cover
Him in whose fist '^ all things are enclosed. Take
away the linen clothes, I pray ; leave the napkins
in the tomb : Thou art sufficient for us, and
without Thee there is nothing. Release the
chained shades of the infernal prison, and recall
to the upper regions '^ whatever sinks to the low-
est depths. Give back Thy face, that the world
may see the light ; give back the day which flees
from us at Thy death. But returning, O holy
conqueror ! Thou didst altogether fill the
heaven ! '♦ Tartarus lies depressed, nor retains its
rights. The ruler of the lower regions, insatiably
opening his hollow jaws, who has always been a
spoiler, becomes '5 a prey to Thee. Thou res-
cuest an innumerable people from the prison of

> ^thera.

^ Quo moderante; others read, " quae moderata."

3 Profundo.

* Cum corpora ; others read, " nostro e corpore nasci."

5 Pateris vitje auctor; others have " patris novus auctor."
*> Inlras; others, " intra."
"> Luminis ore.

* jEtemae ; another reading is, " et tetrae."
9 PoUicitam; others have " sollicitam."

'° Pretium mundi.
" Rupe vetante.

'2 Pugillo. Thus Prov. xxx. 4: " Who hath gathered the wind in
His fists?"

'3 Kevoca sursum.

'■* Olympum; others read, " in orbem," returning to the world.

'5 Fit; others read, " sit."

death, and they follow in freedom to the place
whither their leader '^ approaches. The fierce
monster in alarm vomits forth the multitude
whom he had swallowed up, and the Lamb '^
withdraws the sheep from the jaw of the wolf.
Hence re-seeking the tomb from the lower re-
gions,'^ having resumed Thy flesh, as a warrior
Thou earnest back ample trophies to the heavens.
Those whom chaos held in punishment '9 he ^° has
now restored ; and those whom death might
seek, a new life holds. Oh, sacred King, behold
a great part of Thy triumph shines forth, when
the sacred laver blesses pure souls ! A host,
clad in white,^' come forth from the bright waves,
and cleanse their old" fault in a new stream.
The white garment also designates bright souls,
and the shepherd has enjoyments from the snow-
white flock. The priest Felix is added sharing ^3
in this reward, who wishes to give double talents
to his Lord. Drawing those who wander in
Gentile error to better things, that a beast of
prey may not carry them away. He guards the
fold of God. Those whom guilty Eve had be-
fore infected, He now restores, fed ^^ with abun-
dant milk at the bosom of the Church. By
cultivating rustic hearts with mild conversations,
a crop is produced from a briar by the bounty
of Felix. The Saxon, a fierce nation, living as
it were after the manner of wild beasts, when
you, O sacred One ! apply a remedy, the beast
of prey resembles ^5 the sheep. About to remain
with you through an age with the return ^^ of a
hundred-fold, you fill the barns with the produce
of an abundant harvest. May this people, free
from stain, be strengthened *? in your arms, and
may you bear to the stars a pure pledge to God.
May one crown be bestowed on you from on
high gained from yourself,^^ may another flour-
ish gained from your people.

'6 Auctor.

I.e.,

the Lamb of God."

'8 [Post Tartara. Vol. iv. p. 140; v. pp. 153, 161, 174, this series.]

■9 Pcenale.

2° Iste; another reading is, " in te."

2' An allusion to the white garments in which the newly bapti2ed
were arrayed.

22 Vetus vitium, "original sin;" as it was termed, " pcccatum
originis."

^3 Censors; others read " concors," harmonious.

2< Pastes; others, " pastor."

=5 Reddit.

** Centeno reditu.

27 Vegetetur; another reading is, " agitetur."

28 De te; others read, " detur et," with injury to the metre.

GENERAL NOTE.

A nNE passage illustrating the gush of early Christian devotion at Easter, " breaking into all
the heavenly joy of the new creation," will be found in Professor Milligan's remarkable work on
The Resurrection of our Lord (London, Macmillan, 1884). The author is "professor of divinity
and biblical criticism in the University of Aberdeen."

ASTERIUS URBANUS

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

ASTERIUS URBANUS.

\^Circa A.D. 232.] Finding these fragments relegated, by the Edinburgh editors, to a place
(unaccountably chosen) among the spurious Decretals,' and dismissed as of dubious character,
it looked as if modem light had been shed upon this author, and as if he had better, perhaps,
be classed with the apocryphal works of our concluding volume. But, after considerable inquiry,
1 see no reason to dismiss Asterius from the respectable position assigned him by Lardner ;" and I
now wish I had appended these fragments to those of the Roman presbyter Caius, to which the
reader is referred.^ It is true, Lardner is quite undecided as to this author, though he accepts
Tillemont's conjecture as probable ; viz., that the Asterius Urbanus mentioned by Eusebius is the
author of the fragments, and that his work against the Montanists was written in the eleventh year
of the Emperor Alexander, circa 232. It is doubtful whether the author was a presbyter or a
bishop. On some occasions he seems to have been at Ancyra in Galatia, where he reluctantly
consented to write his treatise at the solicitation of the presbytery there, and particularly of
Abercius * Marcellus, to whom it is inscribed.

The translator is not named, but here follows the very unsatisfactory preface of the Edinburgh
edition l —

Nothing is known of Asterius Urbanus. The name occurs in Fragment IV. ; s and from the
allusion made to him there, some have inferred that he was the author of the work against the
Montanists, from which Eusebius has made these extracts. The inference is unfounded. There
is no clue to the authorship. It has been attributed by different critics to ApoUinaris, Apollonius,
and Rhodon.

* Edin. ed., vol. ix. p. 224. 3 Vol. v. p 599, this series. See note 3, p. 335, it^fra,

' Credib., vol. ii. p. 410. * Or Avircius. See p. 335, no<e 2, infra.

i Traoslated p. 336, infra,

333

THE EXTANT WRITINGS OF ASTERIUS

URBANUS/

I. THE EXORDIUM.

Having now for a very long and surely a very
sufficient period had the charge pressed upon
me by thee, my dear Avircius^ Marcellus, to
write some sort of treatise against the heresy
that bears the name of Miltiades,^ I have some-
how been very doubtfully disposed toward the
task up till now ; not that I felt any difficulty in
refuting the falsehood, and in bearing my testi-
mony to the truth, but that I was apprehensive
and fearful lest I should appear to any to be
adding some new word or precept * to the doc-
trine of the Gospel of the New Testament, with
respect to which indeed it is not possible for
one who has chosen to have his manner of life
in accordance with the Gospel itself, either to
add anything to it or to take away anything from
it. Being recently, however, at Ancyra, a town
of Galatia, and finding the church in Pontus s
greatly agitated* by this new prophecy, as they
call it, but which should rather be called this
false prophecy, as shall be shown presently, I
discoursed to the best of my ability, with the
help of God, for many days in the church, both
on these subjects and on various others ' which
were brought under my notice by them. And
this I did in such manner that the church re-
joiced and was strengthened in the truth, while
the adversaries * were forthwith routed, and the
opponents put to grief. And the presbyters of

' Being fragments of thrae books to Abercius Marcellus against
the Montanists. Gallandi, vol. iii. p. 273, from Eiisebius, //t'st. EccL,
V. ch 16, 17.

* The manuscripts write the name 'Aoui'picio?, Avircius: bat Ni-
ccphorus (book iv.) gives it as "A^epicios, Abercius.

* Nicephorus adds laov &' ciiret;' Moi'Tai'oi', which seems, how-
ever, to be but a scholium. It may appear difficult to account for the
fact that the name of Miltiades rather than that of Montanus is asso-
ciated with the heresy of the Cataphrygians, and some consequently
have conjectured that we should read here AlcihiaJes, as that is a
name mentioned in concert with Montanus and Theodotus in Euseb.
V. 3. In the Muratorian fragment, however, as given above among
the writings of Caius, we find again a Miltiades named among the
heretics. [Vol. v. p. 60^, this series]

* inL<rvyypa(f>(iv 17 tTriSiaTaaaeaOaL.

S Kara novTov. But the Codex Regius reads Kara Toirov, the
church 0/ the place, i.e., the church of Ancyra itself. This reading
is confirmed by Nicephorus, book iv. 23, and is adopted by the Latin
interpreter.

<> hi.a.-rt9pvKKy\\i.iv'r\v, " ringing with it," "deafened by it."

7 iKaara re. Others propose «Kao-TOT«, " constantly," " daily."

' ai/TtSeTou?. Others read OLVTuQiov^, " the enemies of God."

the place accordingly requested us to leave be-
hind us some memorandum of the things which
we alleged in opposition to the adversaries of
the truth, there being present also our fellow-
presbyter Zoticus Otrenus.'^ This, however, we
did not ; but we promised, if the Lord gave us
opportunity, to write down the matters here, and
send them to them with all speed.

II. FROM BOOK I.

Now the attitude of opposition '° which they
have assumed, and this new heresy of theirs
which puts them in a position of separation
from the Church, had their origin in the follow-
ing manner. There is said to be a certain vil-
lage called Ardaba" in the Mysia, which touches
Phrygia.'^ There, they say, one of those who
had been but recently converted to the faith, a
person of the name of Montanus, when Gratus
was proconsul of Asia, gave the adversary en-
trance against himself by the excessive lust of
his soul after taking the lead. And this person
was carried away in spirit ; '^ and suddenly being
seized with a kind of frenzy and ecstasy, he
raved, and began to speak and to utter strange
things, and to prophesy in a manner contrary
to the custom of the Church, as handed down
from early times and preserved thencefonvard in
a continuous succession. And among those
who were present on that occasion, and heard
those spurious utterances, there were some who
were indignant, and rebuked him as one fren-
zied, and under the power of demons, and pos-
sessed by the spirit of delusion, and agitating
the multitude, and debarred him from speaking
any more ; for they were mindful of the Lord's

9 Zu>Ti)coi) ToO 'Orprivov. Nicephorus reads 'Oo-TpTjvoi). [Com-
pare p. 336, infra. This looks like a bishop or a presbyter attending
Asterius (compare Cyprian, vol. v. p 319, note 7, this series), and
IS a token that our author was a bishop. J

to ivaTa-mt.

" 'ApSa^aO. One codex makes it "ApSa/Sa^.

'2 kv Tfl KaTo ■t'r\v •fpuyiav Mwo-Jo. Rufinus renders it, apud
Phrygiam Mysice civitatem ; others render it, apud Mysiam Phry-
^iii ; Migne takes it as defining this Mysia to be the Asiatic one, in
distinction from the European territory, which the Latins called
Moesia, but the Greeks also Mv<ria.

'i 7ri'€up.aro(f>op>)d^i'ai.

335

336

THE EXTANT WRITINGS OF ASTERIUS URBANUS.

distinction ' and threatening, whereby He warned
them to be on their guard vigilantly against the
coming of the false prophets. But there were
others too, who, as if elated by the Holy Spirit
and the prophetic gift, and not a little puffed up,
and forgetting entirely the Lord's distinction,
challenged the maddening and insidious and se-
ductive spirit, being themselves cajoled and mis-
led by him, so that there was no longer any
checking him to silence.^ And thus by a kind
of artifice, or rather by such a process of craft,
the devil having devised destruction against
chose who were disobedient to the Lord's warn-
ing, and being unworthily honoured by them,
secretly excited and inflamed their minds that
nad already left the faith which is according to
truth, in order to play the harlot with error.^
For he stirred up two others also, women, and
filled them with the spurious spirit, so that they
too spoke in a frenzy and unseasonably, and in
a strange manner, like the person already men-
tioned, while the spirit called them happy as
they rejoiced and exulted proudly at his work-
ing, and puffed them up by the magnitude of
his promises ; while, on the other hand,at times
also he condemned them skilfully and plausibly,
in order that he might seem to them also to
have the power of reproof.* And those few who
were thus deluded were Phrygians. But the
same arrogant spirit taught them to revile the
Church universal under heaven, because that
false spirit of prophecy found neither honour
from it nor entrance into it. For when the
faithful throughout Asia met together often and
in many places of Asia for deliberation on this
subject, and subjected those novel doctrines to
examination, and declared them to be spurious,
and rejected them as heretical, they were in
consequence of that expelled from the Church
and debarred from communion. s

III. FROM BOOK II.

Wherefore, since they stigmatized us as slayers
of the prophets^ because we did not receive their
loquacious ^ prophets, — for they say that these
are they whom the Lord promised to send to
the people, — let them answer us in the name
of God, and tell us, O friends, whether there is
any one among those who began to speak from

* 6ta(TToA^?.

2 eis TO ^lTJK€Tt *fwAv€(T0at atOJTTal',

' Trji/ airoKtitoturjjxeVijp, etc.; the verb being used literally of the
wife who proves false to her marriage vow.

< «'A(yicTii{di'. Montanus, that is to say, or the demon that spake
by Montanus, knew that it had been said of old by the Lord, that
when the Spirit came He would convince or reprove the world of
sin; and hence this false spirit, with the view of confirming his hear-
ers in the belief that he was the true Spirit of God, sometimes re-
buked and condemned them. See a passage in Ambrose's Epistle to
the Thessal., q\\. v. (Migne).

5 fVol. ii pp. 4, 5.]

* [Compare Num. xvi. 41.]

' afitTpo<f)uii'om. So Homer in the Iliad calls Thersitcs ajiiT-
pocirijt, " unbridled of tongue," and thus also mendacious.

Montanus and the women onward that was per-
secuted by the Jews or put to death by the
wicked? There is not one. Not even one of
them is there who was seized and crucified for
the name * of Christ. No ; certainly not. Nei-
ther assuredly was there one of these women
who was ever scourged in the synagogues of the
Jews, or stoned. No ; never anywhere. It is
indeed by another kind of death that Montanus
and Maximilla are said to have met their end.
For the report is, that by the instigation of that
maddening spirit both of them hung themselves ;
not together indeed, but at the particular time
of the death of each,"* as the common story goes.
And thus they died, and finished their life like
the traitor Judas. Thus, also, the general report
gives it that Theodotus — that astonishing person
who was, so to speak, the first procurator '° of
their so-called prophecy, and who, as if he were
sometime taken up and received into the heav-
ens, fell into spurious ecstasies," and gave him-
self wholly over to the spirit of delusion — was
at last tossed by him '^ into the air, and met his
end miserably. People say then that this took
place in the way we have stated. But as we did
not see '^ them ourselves, we do not presume to
think that we know any of these things with cer-
tainty. And it may therefore have been in this
way perhaps, and perhaps in some other way,
that Montanus and Theodotus and the woman
mentioned above perished.

IV.

And let not the spirit of Maximilla say (as it
is found in the same book of Asterius Urbanus '■*),
" I am chased like a wolf from the sheep ; I am
no wolf I am word, and spirit, and power."
But let him clearly exhibit and prove the power
in the spirit. And by the spirit let him constrain
to a confession those who were present at that
time for the very purpose of trying and holding
converse with the talkative spirit — those men
so highly reputed as men and bishops — namely,
Zoticus of the village of Comana,'5 and Julian

8 ToC ovdnaTO?. Nicephorus reads toO vo/j.oi', " for the law."
[Compare Tertullian, vol. iii. cap. 28, p. 624.]

9 (cara &k Tov ixaaTOv xeAeuT^? Kaipov.

1° oioi/ fViVpoTror. Rufinus renders it, " veluti primogenitum pro-
phetia: ipsorum." Migne takes it ^s meaning ste^vard, manager of
a common fund established among the Montanists for the support
of their prophets. Eusehius (v. 18) quotes ApoUonius as saying of
Montanus, that he established exactors of money, and provided
salaries /or those who preached his doctrine,

'^ 1T(ipiK<TTr)Vai,

'2 BiaKfvdivTo., " pitched like a quoit."

■3 The text is, aAAi ix'r\v avtv. But in various codices we have
the more correct reading, aAAi /irj avtv.

'* These words arc apparently a scholium, which Eusebius him-
self or some old commentator had written on the margin of his copy.
We gather also from them that Asterius Urbanus was credited with
the authorship of these three books, and not Apollinaris, as some
have supposed.

'i Comana seems to have been a town of Pamphylia. At least a
bishop of Comana is mentioned in the epistle of the bishops of Pam-
phylia to Leo Augustus, cited in the third part of the Council »f
Chahedon, p. 391. [See p. 335, note 9, supra.'\

THE EXTANT WRITINGS OF ASTERIUS URBANUS.

\2>7

of Apamea, whose mouths Themison ' and his
followers bridled, and prevented the false and
seductive spirit from being confuted by them.

And has not the falsity of this also been made
manifest already? For it is now upwards of
thirteen years since the woman died, and there
has arisen neither a partial nor a universal war in
the world. Nay, rather there has been steady
and continued peace to the Christians by the
mercy of God.

VI. FROM BOOK III.

But as they have been refuted in all their al-
legations, and are thus at a loss what to say,
they try to take refuge in their martyrs. For
they say that they have many martyrs, and that
this is a sure proof of the power of their so-
called prophetic spirit. But this allegation, as it
seems, carries not a whit more truth with it than
the others. For indeed some of the other her-
esies have also a great multitude of martyrs ;
but yet certainly we shall not on that account
agree with them, neither shall we acknowledge
that they have truth in them. And those first
heretics, who from the heresy of Marcion are
called Marcionites, allege that they have a great
multitude of martyrs for Christ. But yet they do
not confess Christ Himself according to truth.

VII.

Hence, also, whenever those who have been
called to martyrdom for the true faith by the
Church happen to fall in with any of those so-
called ma'rtyrs of the Phrygian heresy, they al-
ways separate from them, and die without having
fellowship with them, because they do not choose
to give their assent to the spirit of Montanus
and the women. And that this is truly the case,
and that it has actually taken place in our own
times at Apamea, a town on the Mseander, in

' Themison was a person of note among the Montanists, who
boasted of himself as a confessor and martyr, and had the audacity
to write a cathoHc epistle to the churches like an apostle, with the
view of commending the new prophecy to them. See Euseb., v. i8.

the case of those who suffered martyrdom with
Caius ^ and Alexander, natives of Eumenia, is
clear to all.

VIII.

As I found these things in a certain writing of
theirs directed against the writing of our brother
Alcibiades,^ in which he proves the impropriety
of a prophet's speaking in ecstasy, I made an
abridgment of that work.

IX.

But the false prophet falls into a spurious ec-
stasy, which is accompanied by a want of all
shame and fear. For beginning with a voluntary
(designed) rudeness, he ends with an involun-
tary madness of soul, as has been already stated.
But they will never be able to show that any one
of the Old Testament prophets, or any one of
the New, was carried away in spirit after this
fashion. Nor will they be able to boast that
Agabus, or Judas, or Silas, or the daughters of
Philip, or the ivoma^i Ammia in Philadelphia, or
Quadratus, or indeed any of the others who do
not in any respect belong to them, were moved
in this way.

For if, after Quadratus and the woman Am-
mia in Philadelphia, as they say, the women who
attached themselves to Montanus succeeded to
the gift of prophecy, let them show us which of
them thus succeeded Montanus and his women.
For the apostle deems that the gift of prophecy
should abide in all the Church up to the time
of the hnal advent. But they will not be able
to show the gift to be in their possession even
at the present time, which is the fourteenth year
only from the death of Maximilla.'^

2 iv Toi? irepl Vaiov . . . /xaprvp>)(racrt. It may be intended for,
" In the case of the martyrs Caius and Alexander.

3 Migne is of opinion that there has been an interchange of
names between this passage and the Exordium, and that we should
read Miltiades here, and Alcibiades there. But see Exordium, note
3i P- 335- [And compare Eusebius, book v. cap. 3, where two of
this name are mentioned: also Ibid., cap. 17.]

■* This seems to be the sense of the text, which appears to be
imperfect here: aAA' ouk av e\oiei' 6ei^ai Tecrffopco-KaifiticaTov rfir^
TTou toOto «to5 aTTo T^s Ma^CjUiAAij? TeAeuT^s.

GENERAL NOTE.

The reader will do well to turn back to my Introductory Notice to the Epistle of Hermas,^ and
also to the elucidations ^ which are appended to that Epistle. If any value attaches to this frag-
ment, it must be found in its illustrations of Hermas and TertuUian. These, in turn, shed light
on it.

' Vol. ii. p. 3, this series.

2 Ibid., p. 56.

S3S ELUCIDATION.

ELUCIDATION.

(Aviricius Marcellus, p. 335, supra.)

Like his great predecessor in Patristic research (Bishop Pearson), the learned and indefati-
gable Bishop Lightfoot will leave us gold-dust in the mere sweepings of his literary work. His
recent voluminous edition of the Apostolic Fathers ' is encyclopedic in its treatment of the sub-
ject ; and I had hardly corrected the last proofs of the fragments ascribed to Asterius Urbanus
when I discovered, in one of his notes on Polycarp, a most brilliant elucidation of a matter
which I had supposed involved in twofold obscurity. Asterius is a mere name embedded in
Eusebius, and in his fragments there preserved is embedded the yet obscurer name of Aviricius
Marcellus, which the reader will find, with its various spellings, in one of the translator's notes.'
Who could have supposed that even the learning and ingenuity of Lightfoot could fish out of
very dark waters such shining booty as fills the network about " Abercius of Hierapolis ? " While
he does not even name Asterius, the mere ?iominis mnbra of Aviricius Marcellus is material for a
truly remarkable dissertation covering nine pages of fine print, and enabling us to conclude that
this Aviricius is none other than the same " bishop of Hierapolis " about whom there is such a
long story in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum.^ The story is a silly legend, but Lightfoot under-
stands the art exfiimo dare liicem ; and any one who enjoys following up such elaborations will
find most curious and delightful reading in the pages to which I have referred. Our Aviricius,
then, was bishop of " Hieropolis of Lesser Phrygia,'' not of Hierapolis on the Maeander, and
flourished about a.d. 163, during the reign of M. Aurelius. This date, therefore, must correct
the conjecture of Tillemont and the date which I had accepted from him on the authority of
Dr. Lardner.'*

* London, Macmillans, 1885. Refer to part ii. vol. i. pp. 476-485.

* See p. 33s, supra, note 2.

' Lightfoot also gives a reference to Migne's Patrologia, vol. cxv. p. ran.

< See p. 333, supra. " There is no clue to the authorship" of the fragments, says the translator; but, under the lead of a Light-
foot, who may not hope to find one f I commend the quarry to studious readers.

VICTORINUS.

[TRANSLATED BY THE REV. ROBERT ERNEST WALLIS, P»uC

ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.^

To me, as I meditate and consider in my
mind concerning the creation of this world in
which we are kept enclosed, even such is the
rapidity of that creation ; as is contained in the
book of Moses, which he wrote about its crea-
tion, and which is called Genesis. God pro-
duced that entire mass for the adornment of
His majesty in six days ; on the seventh to which
He consecrated it , . . with a blessing. For
this reason, therefore, because in the septenary
number of days both heavenly and earthly
things are ordered, in place of the beginning I
will consider of this seventh day after the prin-
ciple of all matters pertaining to the number of
seven ; and as far as I shall be able, I will en-
deavour to portray the day of the divine power
to that consummation.

In the beginning God made the light, and
divided it in the exact measure of twelve hours
by day and by night, for this reason, doubtless,
that day might bring over the night as an occa-
sion of rest for men's labours ; that, again, day
might overcome, and thus that labour might be
refreshed with this alternate change of rest, and
that repose again might be tempered by the ex-
ercise of day. " On the fourth day He made
two lights in the heaven, the greater and the
lesser, that the one might rule over the day,
the other over the night," ^ — the lights of the
sun and moon ; and He placed the rest of the
stars in heaven, that they might shine upon
the earth, and by their positions distinguish the
seasons, and years, and months, and days, and
hours.

Now is manifested the reason of the truth
why the fourth day is called the Tetras, why
we fast even to the ninth hour, or even to the
evening, or why there should be a passing over
even to the next day. Therefore this world of
ours is composed of four elements — fire, water,
heaven, earth. These four elements, therefore,
form the quaternion of times or seasons. The

■ A fragment by the martyr Victorinus, bishop of Petau, who
flourished towards the end of the third century. [He died in the per-
secution A.D. 304. For the text and full annotations, see Routh, iii.
451-483. His See must not be confounded with the Gallic Poictiers.
He was of Petau m Austria {Pannonia Superior) , as Launoy
demonstrated a.d. 1653.]

- Gen i i5, 17.

sun, also, and the moon constitute throughout
the space of the year four seasons — of spring,
summer, autumn, winter ; and these seasons
make a quaternion. And to proceed further
still from that principle, lo, there are four living
creatures before God's throne, ^ four Gospels,
four rivers flowing in paradise ; ■♦ four genera-
tions of people from Adam to Noah, from Noah
to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from
Moses to Christ the Lord, the Son of God ; and
four living creatures, viz., a man, a calf, a lion,
an eagle ; and four rivers, the Pison, the Gihon,
the Tigris, and the Euphrates. The man Christ
Jesus, the originator of these things whereof we
have above spoken, was taken prisoner by wicked
hands, by a quaternion of soldiers. Therefore
on account of His captivity by a quaternion, on
account of the majesty of His works, — that the
seasons also, wholesome to humanity, joyful for
the harvests, tranquil for the tempests, may roll
on, — therefore we make the fourth day a sta-
tion or a supernumerary fast.

On the fifth day the land and water brought
forth their progenies. On the sixth day the
things that were wanting were created ; and thus
God raised up man from the soil, as lord of all
the things which He created upon the earth and
the water. Yet He created angels and arch-
angels before He created man, placing spiritual
beings before earthly ones. For light was made
before sky and the earth. This sixth day is
called parasceve,^ that is to say, the preparation
of the kingdom. For He perfected Adam,,
whom He made after His image and likeness.
But for this reason He completed His works
before He created angels and fashioned man,
lest perchance they should falsely assert that
they had been His helpers. On this day also,
on account of the passion of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we make either a station to God, or a
fast. On the seventh day He rested from all
His works, and blessed it, and sanctified it. On
the former day we are accustomed to fast rigor-
ously, that on the Lord's day we may go forth

' Rev. iv. 6. [See vol. v. note 3, p. 618, this series.]
•• Gen. ii. 10.
' TrapacrKtuj/.

3t»

342

ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

to our bread with giving of thanks. And let
the parasceve become a rigorous fast, lest we
should appear to observe any Sabbath with the
Jews, which Christ Himself, the Lord of the
Sabbath, says by His prophets that " His soul
hateth ; " ' which Sabbath He in His body abol-
ished, although, nevertheless, He had formerly
Himself commanded Moses that circumcision
should not pass over the eighth day, which day
very frequently happens on the Sabbath, as we
read written in the Gospel.^ Moses, foreseeing
the hardness of that people, on the Sabbath
raised up his hands, therefore, and thus figura-
tively fastened himself to a cross.^ And in the
battle they were sought for by the foreigners on
the Sabbath-day, that they might be taken cap-
tive, and, as if by the very strictness of the law,
might be fashioned to the avoidance of its
teaching.'*

And thus in the sixth Psalm for the eighth
day,5 David asks the Lord that He would not
rebuke him in His anger, nor judge him in His
fury ; for this is indeed the eighth day of that
future judgment, which will pass beyond the
order of the sevenfold arrangement. Jesus also,
the son of Nave, the successor of Moses, him-
self broke the Sabbath-day ; for on the Sabbath-
day he commanded the children of Israel ^ to
go round the walls of the city of Jericho with
trumpets, and declare war against the aliens.
Matthias ^ also, prince of Judah, broke the Sab-
bath ; for he slew the prelect of Antiochus the
king of Syria on the Sabbath, and subdued the
foreigners by pursuing them. And in Matthew
we read, that it is written Isaiah also and the
rest of his colleagues broke the Sabbath ^ — that
that true and just Sabbath should be observed in
the seventh millenary of years. Wherefore to
those seven days the Lord attributed to each a
thousand years ; for thus went the warning : " In
Thine eyes, O Lord, a thousand years are as one
day." 9 Therefore in the eyes of the Lord each
thousand of years is ordained, for I find that
the Lord's eyes are seven. '° Wherefore, as I
have narrated, that true Sabbath will be in the
seventh millenary of years, when Christ with His
elect shall reign. Moreover, the seven heavens
agree with those days ; for thus we are warned :
" By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made, and all the powers of them by the spirit
of His mouth." " There are seven spirits.
Their names are the spirits which abode on the

' Isa. i. 13, 14.

* John vii. 22.

' Exod. xxii. 9, 12.

* 1 Mace. ii. 31-41.

5 Ps. vi. 1; [also Ps. xii. On Sheminith, i Chron. xv. 21].

* Josh. vi. 4.

' Mattathias, interp. Vulg.

' Matt. xii. 5.

9 Ps. xc. 4.
'° Zech. iv. 10.

" Ps. xxxiii. 6. \Sevett, say the Rabbis. Vol. ii. note 7, p. 438,
this series.]

Christ of God, as was intimated in Isaiah the
prophet : " And there rests upon Him the spirit
of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of wisdom '^ and
of piety, and the spirit of God's fear hath filled
Him." '3 Therefore the highest heaven is the
heaven of wisdom ; the second, of understand-
ing ; the third, of counsel ; the fourth, of might ;
the fifth, of knowledge ; the sixth, of piety ; the
seventh, of God's fear. From this, therefore,
the thunders bellow, the lightnings are kindled,'^
the fires are heaped together; fiery darts '5 ap-
pear, stars gleam, the anxiety caused by the
dreadful comet is aroused.'^ Sometimes it hap-
pens that the sun and moon approach one
another, and cause those more than frightful
appearances, radiating with light in the field of
their aspect. But the author of the whole crea-
tion is Jesus. His name is the Word ; for thus
His Father says : " My heart hath emitted a good
word." '7 John the evangelist thus says : " In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by Him, and without Him was noth-
ing made that was made." '^ Therefore, first,
was made the creation ; secondly, man, the lord
of the human race, as says the apostle. '9 There-
fore this Word, when it made light, is called
Wisdom ; when it made the sky, Understand-
ing ; when it made land and sea. Counsel ; when
it made sun and moon and other bright things.
Power ; when it calls forth land and sea, Knowl-
edge ; when it formed man, Piety ; when it blesses
and sanctifies man, it has the name of God's fear.
Behold the seven horns of the Lamb,^° the
seven eyes of God ^' — the seven eyes are the
seven spirits of the Lamb ; ^^ seven torches burn-
ing before the throne of God ^^ seven golden
candlesticks,^^ seven young sheep,^* the seven
women in Isaiah,^s the seven churches in Paul,^^
seven deacons,^^ seven angels,^^ seven trumpets,*'
seven seals to the book, seven periods of seven
days with which Pentecost is completed, the
seven weeks in Daniel, 3° also the forty-three
weeks in Daniel ; 3' with Noah, seven of all clean

" Probably " knowledge."

'3 Isa. XI. 2, J.

'* Or, " the rivers are spread nbroad."

'5 Trabes. [There is no proof of seven heavens in Scripture.]

'* Coma horribilis curabitur.

"' Ps. xlv. 1. [Vol. i. p. 213, this series.]

" John i. I, 2, 3.

'9 I Cor. XV. 45-47.

20 Rev. V. 6.

*' Zech. iv. 10.

*2 Rev. iv. 5.

23 Rev. i. 13.

^* Lev. xxiii. 18.

^5 Isa. iv. 1.

26 Acts vi. 3?

2' Acts vi. 3.

2* Rev. passim.

'9 Josh. vi. ; Rev. viii.

3° Dan. ix. 25.

3' Dan. ix.

ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

343

things in the ark ; " seven revenges of Cain,^
seven years for a debt to be acquitted,^ the
lamp with seven orifices/ seven pillars of wis-
dom in the house of Solomon.*

Now, therefore, you may see that it is being
told you of the unerring glory of God in provi-
dence ; yet, as far as my small capacity shall be
able, I will endeavour to set it forth. That He
might re-create that Adam by means of the
week, and bring aid to His entire creation, was
accomplished by the nativity of His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Who, then, that is taught in
the law of God, who that is filled with the Holy
Spirit, does not see in his heart, that on the
same day on which the dragon seduced Eve,
the angel Gabriel brought the glad tidings to
the Virgin Mary ; that on the same day the
Holy Spirit overflowed the Virgin Mary, on
which He made light ; that on that day He
was incarnate in flesh, in which He made the
land and water ; that on the same day He was
put to the breast, on which He made the stars ;
that on the same day He was circumcised,^ on
which the land and water brought forth their
offspring ; that on the same day He was incar-
nated, on which He formed man out of the
ground ; that on the same day Christ was born,
on which He formed man ; that on that day He

' Gen. vii. 2.

2 Gen. iv. 15.

s Deut. XV. I.

* Zech. iv. 2.

S Prov. xi. I.

^ £a die in sanguine.

suffered, on which Adam fell ; that on the same
day He rose again from the dead, on which He
created hght ? He, moreover, consummates His
humanity in the number seven : of His nativity,
His infancy. His boyhood. His youth. His young-
manhood. His mature age. His death. I have
also set forth His humanity to the Jews in these
manners : since He is hungry, is thirsty ; since
He gave food and drink ; since He walks, and
retired ; since He slept upon a pillow ; 7 since,
moreover. He walks upon the stormy seas with
His feet. He commands the winds, He cures the
sick and restores the lame. He raises the blind
by His speech,^ — see ye that He declares Him-
self to them to be the Lord.

The day, as I have above related, is divided
into two parts by the number twelve — by the
twelve hours of day and night ; and by these
hours too, months, and years, and seasons, and
ages are computed. Therefore, doubtless, there
are appointed also twelve angels of the day and
twelve angels of the night, in accordance, to wit,
with the number of hours. For these are the
twenty-four witnesses of the days and nights ^
which sit before the throne of God, having golden
crowns on their heads, whom the Apocalypse of
John the apostle and evangelist calls elders, for
the reason that they are older both than the
other angels and than men.

7 Mark iv. 38.

8 " He makes the deaf to hear, and recalls the dead: " this is in-
serted conjecturally by Routh.

9 Rev. iv. 4.

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE OF THE

BLESSED JOHN.

FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER.

I. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
God gave to Him, and showed unto His servants
things which must shortly come to pass, and
signified it. Blessed are they who read and hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep the things
which are written."] The beginning of the book
promises blessing to him that reads and hears
and keeps, that he who takes pains about the
reading may thence learn to do works, and may
keep the precepts.

4. " Grace unto you, and peace, from Him
which is, and which was, and which is to come." ]
He is, because He endures continually ; He was,
because with the Father He made all things, and
has at this time taken a beginning from the
Virgin ; He is to come, because assuredly Z;'!? will
come to judgment.

"And from the seven spirits which are before
His throne." ] We read of a sevenfold spirit in
Isaiah,' — namely, the spirit of wisdom and of
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the
fear of the Lord.

5. " And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
^Vitness, the first-begotten of the dead,"] In
taking upon Him manhood. He gave a testimony
in the world, wherein also having suffered. He
freed us by His blood from sin ; and having
vanquished hell, He was the first who rose from
the dead, and " death shall have no more do-
minion over Him,"^ but by His own reign the
kingdom of the world is destroyed.

6. "And He made us a kingdom and priests
unto God and His Father."] That is to say,
a Church of all believers ; as also the Apostle
Peter says : " A holy nation, a royal priesthood." ^

7. " Behold, He shall come with clouds, and
every eye shall see Him."] For He who at first
came hidden in the manhood that He had under-
taken, shall after a little while come to judgment

' Isa. xi. 2. [P. 342, j«/ra.]
' Rom. vi. 9.
^ I Pet. ii. 9.

344

manifest in majesty and glory. And what saith
He?

12. "And I turned, and saw seven golden
candlesticks ; and in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks one like unto the Son of
man."] He says that He was like Him after
His victory over death, when He had ascended
into the heavens, after the union in His body of
the power which He received from the Father
with the spirit of His glory,

13. "As it were the Son of man walking in
the midst of the golden candlesticks."] He
says, in the midst of the churches, as it is said
in Solomon, " I will walk in the midst of the
paths of the just," 4 whose antiquity is immor-
tality, and the fountain of majesty.

" Clothed with a garment down to the ankles."]
In the long, that is, the priestly garment, these
words very plainly deliver the flesh which was
not corrupted in death, and has the priesthood
through suffering,

" And He was girt about the paps with a
golden girdle,"] His paps are the two testa-
ments, and the golden girdle is the choir of
saints, as gold tried in the fire. Otherwise the
golden girdle bound around His breast indi-
cates the enlightened conscience, and the pure
and spiritual apprehension that is given to the
churches,

14. " And His head and His hairs were white
as it were white wool, and as it were snow,"]
On the head the whiteness is shown ; " but the
head of Christ is God." 5 In the white hairs is
the multitude of abbots ^ like to wool, in respect
of simple sheep ; to snow, in respect of the
innumerable crowd of candidates taught from
heaven.

" His eyes were as a flame of fire,"] God's
precepts are those which minister light to be-
lievers, but to unbelievers burning.

16. "And in His face was brightness as the
sun."] That which He called brightness was

* Prov. viii. 20.
5 I Cor. xi. 3.
<> [W<J^a = father.

Fathers, rather.]

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

345

the appearance of that in which He spoke to
men face to face. But the glory of the sun is
less than the glory of the Lord. Doubtless on
account of its rising and setting, and rising again,
that He was born and suffered and rose again,
therefore the Scripture gave this similitude, liken-
ing His face to the glory of the sun.

15. " His feet were like unto yellow brass, as if
burned in a furnace."] He calls the apostles His
feet, who, being wrought by suffering, preached
His word in the whole world ; for He rightly
nained those by whose means the preaching went
forth, feet. Whence also the prophet anticipated
this, and said : " We will worship in the place
where His feet have stood." ' Because where
they first of all stood and confirmed the Church,
that is, in Judea, all the saints shall assemble
together, and will worship their Lord.

16. "And out of His mouth was issuing a
sharp two-edged sword."] By the twice-sharp-
ened sword going forth out of His mouth is
shown, that it is He Himself who has both now
declared the word of the Gospel, and previously
by Moses declared the knowledge of the law to
the whole w'orld. But because from the same
word, as well of the New as of the Old Testa-
ment, He will assert Himself upon the whole
human race, therefore He is spoken of as two-
edged. For the sword arms the soldier, the
sword slays the enemy, the sword punishes the
deserter. And that He might show to the apos-
tles that He was announcing judgment, He says :
*' I came not to send peace, but a sword." ^ And
after He had completed His parables. He says
to them : " Have ye understood all these things ?
And they said, We have. And He added. There-
fore is every scribe instructed in the kingdom of
God like unto a man that is a father of a family,
bringing forth from his treasure things new and
old," 3 — the new, the evangelical words of the
apostles ; the old, the precepts of the law and
the prophets : and He testified that these pro-
ceeded out of His mouth. Moreover, He also
says to Peter : " Go thou to the sea, and cast a
hook, and take up the fish that shall first come
up ; and having opened its mouth, thou shalt
find a stater (that is, two denarii), and thou
shalt give it for me and for thee." * And simi-
larly David says by the Spirit : "God spake once,
twice I have heard the same." 5 Because God
once decreed from the beginning what shall be
even to the end. Finally, as He Himself is the
Judge appointed by the Father, on account of
His assumption of humanity, wishing to show
that men shall be judged by the word that He
had declared, He says : " Think ye that I will

' Ps. cxxxii. 7.

2 Matt. X. 34.

3 Matt. xiii. 51, 52.
* Matt. xvii. 27.

5 Ps. Ixii. II.

judge you at the last day? Nay, but the word,"
says He, " which I have spoken unto you, that
shall judge you in the last day."'' And Paul,
speaking of Antichrist to the Thessalonians, says :
" Whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath
of His mouth." ^ And Isaiah says : " By the
breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked." *
This, therefore, is the two-edged sword issuing
out of His mouth.

15. "And His voice as it were the voice of
many waters."] The many waters are under-
stood to be many peoples, or the gift of baptism
that He sent forth by the apostles, saying: "Go
ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." 9

16. "And He had in His right hand seven
stars."] He said that in His right hand He
had seven stars, because the Holy Spirit of seven-
fold agency was given into His power by the
Father. As Peter exclaimed to the Jews : " Be-
ing at the right hand of God exalted. He hath
shed forth this Spirit received from the Father,
which ye both see and hear." '° Moreover, John
the Baptist had also anticipated this, by saying
to his disciples : " For God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto Him. The Father," says he,
" loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
His hands." " Those seven stars are the seven
churches, which he names in his addresses by
name, and calls them to whom he wrote epistles.
Not that they are themselves the only, or even
the principal churches ; but what he says to one,
he says to all. For they are in no respect dif-
ent, that on that ground any one should prefer
them to the larger number of similar small ones.
In the whole world Paul taught that all the
churches are arranged by sevens, that they are
called seven, and that the Catholic Church is
one. And first of all, indeed, that he himself
also might maintain the type of seven churches,
he did not exceed that number. But he wrote
to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Gala-
tians, to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to
the Philippians, to the Colossians ; afterwards he
wrote to individual persons, so as not to exceed
the number of seven churches. And abridging
in a short space his announcement, he thus says
to Timothy: "That thou mayest know how thou
oughtest to behave thyself in the Church of the
living God." '^ We read also that this typical
number is announced by the Holy Spirit by
the mouth of Isaiah : " Of seven women which
took hold of one man." '^ The one man is

* John xii. 48.

' 2 Thess. ii. 8.

^ Isa. xi. 4.

9 Matt, xxviii. 19.

■'^ Acts ii. 33.

" John iii. 34, 35. [Compare Wordsworth oti the Apocalypse.]

' - I Tim. iii. 15.

'* Isa. iv. I.

346

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

Christ, not bom of seed ; but the seven women
are seven churches, receiving His bread, and
clothed with his apparel, who ask that their re-
proach should be taken away, only that His
name should be called upon them. The bread
is the Holy Spirit, which nourishes to eternal
life, promised to them, that is, by faith. And
His garments wherewith they desire to be clothed
are the glory of immortality, of which Paul the
apostle says : " For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on im-
mortality." ' Moreover, they ask that their re-
proach may be taken away — that is, that they
may be cleansed from their sins : for the reproach
is the original sin which is taken away in baptism,
and they begin to be called Christian men, which
is, " Let thy name be called upon us." There-
fore in these seven churches, of one Catholic
Church are believers, because it is one in seven
by the quality of faith and election. Whether
writing to them who labour in the world, and
live ^ of the frugality of their labours, and are
patient, and when they see certain men in the
Church wasters, and pernicious, they hear them,
lest there should become dissension, he yet ad-
monishes them by love, that in what respects
their faith is deficient they should repent ; or to
those who dwell in cruel places among perse-
cutors, that they should continue faithful ; or to
those who, under the pretext of mercy, do un-
lawful sins in the Church, and make them mani-
fest to be done by others ; or to those that are
at ease in the Church ; or to those who are neg-
ligent, and Christians only in name ; or to those
who are meekly instructed, that they may bravely
persevere in faith ; or to those who study the
Scriptures, and labour to know the mysteries of
their announcement, and are unwilling to do
God's work that is mercy and love : to all he
urges penitence, to all he declares judgment.

FROM THE SECOND CHAPTER.

2. " I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy
patience."] In the first epistle He speaks thus :
I know that thou sufferest and workest, I see
that thou art patient ; think not that I am stay-
ing long from thee.

" And that thou canst not bear them that are
evil, and who say that they are Jews and are not,
and thou has found them liars, and thou hast
patience for My name's sake." ] All these things
tend to praise, and that no small praise ; and it
behoves such men, and such a class, and such
elected persons, by all means to be admonished,
that they may not be defrauded of such privi-
leges granted to them of God. These few things
He said that He had against them.

■ 1 Cor. XV. 53.

^ Operamur, conjectured to be " vivunt."

4, 5. "And thou hast left thy first love: re-
member whence thou hast fallen."] He who
falls, falls from a height : therefore He said
whence: because, even to the very last, works
of love must be practised ; and this is the princi-
pal commandment. Finally, unless this is done,
He threatened to remove their candlestick out
of its place, that is, to disperse the congregation.

6. " This thou hast also, that thou hatest the
deeds of the Nicolaitanes." ] But because thou
thyself hatedst those who hold the doctrines of
the Nicolaitanes, thou expectest praise. More-
over, to hate the works of the Nicolaitanes, which
He Himself also hated, this tends to praise. But
the works of the Nicolaitanes were in that time
false and troublesome men, who, as ministers
under the name of Nicolaus, had made for them-
selves a heresy, to the effect that what had been
offered to idols might be exorcised and eaten,
and that whoever should have committed forni-
cation might receive peace on the eighth day.
Therefore He extols those to whom He is writing ;
and to these men, being such and so great, He
promised the tree of life, which is in the paradise
of His God.

The following epistle unfolds the mode of life
and habit of another order which follows. He
proceeds to say : —

9. " I know thy tribulation and thy poverty,
but thou art rich."] For He knows that with
such men there are riches hidden with Hmi, and
that they deny the blasphemy of the Jews, who
say that they are Jews and are not ; but they are
the synagogue of Satan, since they are gathered
together by Antichrist ; and to them He says : —

10. "Be thou faithful unto death."] That
they should continue to be faithful even unto
death.

11. "He that shall overcome, shall not be
hurt by the second death." ] That is, he shall
not be chastised in hell.

The third order of the saints shows that they
are men who are strong in faith, and who are
not afraid of persecution ; but because even
among them there are some who are inclined to
unlawful associations. He says : —

14-16. "Thou hast there some who hold the
doctrine of Balaam, who taught in the case of
Balak that he should put a stumbling-block be-
fore the children of Israel, to eat and to commit
fornication. So also hast thou them who hold
the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes ; but I will fight
with them with the sword of my mouth."]
That is, I will say what I shall command, and I
will tell you what you shall do. For Balaam, ^
with his doctrine, taught lialak to cast a stum-
bling-block before the eyes of the children of
Israel, to eat what was sacrificed to idols, and to

3 Num. xxiii. [Wordsworth, ed. 1852, pp. 78-92.]

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

347 \

commit fornication, — a thing which is known to
have happened of old. For he gave this advice
to the king of the Moabites, and they caused
stumbUng to the people. Thus, says He, ye
have among you those who hold such doctrine ;
and under the pretext of mercy, you would cor-
rupt others.

1 7. " To him that overcometh I will give the
hidden manna, and I will give him a white
stone."] The hidden manna is immortality ;
the white gem is adoption to be the son of God ;
the new name written on the stone is " Chris-
tian."

The fourth class intimates the nobility of the
faithful, who labour daily, and do greater works.
But even among them also He shows that there
are men of an easy disposition to grant unlaw-
ful peace, and to listen to new forms of prophe-
sying ; and He reproves and warns the others
to whom this is not pleasing, who know the
wickedness opposed to them : for which evils
He purposes to bring upon the head of the
faithful both sorrows and dangers ; and therefore
He says : —

24. " I will not put upon you any other bur-
den."] That is, I have not given you laws,
observances, and duties, which is another bur-
den.

25, 26. "But that which ye have, hold fast
until I come ; and he that overcometh, to him
will I give power over all peoples."] That is,
him I will appoint as judge among the rest of
the saints.

28. " And I will give him the morning star."]
To wit, the first resurrection. He promised the
morning star, which drives away the night, and
announces the light, that is, the beginning of
day.

FROM THE THIRD CHAPTER.

The fifth class, company, or association of
saints, sets forth men who are careless, and who
are carrying on in the world other transactions
than those which they ought — Christians only
in name. And therefore He exhorts them that
by any means they should be turned away from
negligence, and be saved ; and to this effect He
says : —

2. "Be watchful, and strengthen the other
things which were ready to die ; for I have not
found thy works perfect before God."] For it
is not enough for a tree to live and to have no
fruit, even as it is not enough to be called a
Christian and to confess Christ, but not to have
Himself in our work, that is, not to do His
precepts.

The sixth class is the mode of life of the best
election. The habit of saints is set forth ; of
those, to wit, who are lowly in the world, and
unskilled in the Scriptures, and who hold the

faith immoveably, and are not at all broken
down by any chance, or withdrawn from the faith
by any fear. Therefore He says to them : —

8. " I have set before thee an open door, be-
cause thou hast kept the word of my patience."]
In such little strength.

10. "And I will keep thee from the hour of
temptation." ] That they may know His glory
to be of this kind, that they are not indeed per-
mitted to be given over to temptation.

12. "He that overcometh shall be made a
pillar in the temple of God."] For even as a
pillar is an ornament of the building, so he who
perseveres shall obtain a nobility in the Church.

Moreover, the seventh association of the
Church declares that they are rich men placed
in positions of dignity, but believing that they
are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are
discussed in their bedchamber, while the faith-
ful are outside ; and they are understood by
none, although they boast themselves, and say
that they know all things, — endowed with the
confidence of learning, but ceasing from its
labour. And thus He says : —

15. "That they are neither cold nor hot."]
That is, neither unbelieving nor believing, for
they are all things to all men. And because he
who is neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, gives
nausea. He says : —

16. " I will vomit thee out of My mouth."]
Although nausea is hateful, still it hurts no one ;
so also is it with men of this kind when they
have been cast forth. But because there is time
of repentance. He says : —

18. "I persuade thee to buy of Me gold tried
in the fire."] That is, that in whatever manner
you can, you should suffer for the Lord's name
tribulations and passions.

" And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve."]
That what you gladly know by the Scripture,
you should strive also to do the work of the
same. And because, if in these ways men re-
turn out of great destruction to great repentance,
they are not only useful to themselves, but they
are able also to be of advantage to many, He
promised them no small reward, — to sit,
namely, on the throne of judgment.

FROM THE FOURTH CHAPTER.

"After this, I beheld, and, lo, a door was
opened in heaven."] The new testament is
announced as an open door in heaven.

" And the first voice which I heard was, as it
were, of a trumpet talking with me, saying. Come
up hither."] Since the door is shown to be
opened, it is manifest that previously it had been
closed to men. And it was sufficiently and fully
laid open when Christ ascended with His body
to the Father into heaven. Moreover, the first

348

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

voice which he had heard when he says that it
spoke with him, without contradiction condemns
those who say that one spoke in the prophets,
another in the Gospel ; since it is rather He
Himself who comes, that is the same who spoke
in the prophets. For John was of the circum-
cision, and all that people which had heard the
announcement of the Old Testament was edi-
fied with his word.

"That very same voice," said he, "that I had
heard, that said unto me, Come up hither."]
That is the Spirit, whom a little before he con-
fesses that he had seen walking as the Son of
man in the midst of the golden candlesticks.
And he now gathers from Him what had been
foretold in similitudes by the law, and associates
with this scripture all the former prophets, and
opens up the Scriptures. And because our Lord
invited in His own name all believers into heaven,
He forthwith poured out the Holy Spirit, who
should bring them to heaven. He says : —

2. " Immediately I was in the Spirit."] And
since the mind of the faithful is opened by the
Holy Spirit, and that is manifested to them
which was also foretold to the fathers, he dis-
tinctly says : —

" And, behold, a throne was set in heaven."]
The throne set : what is it but the throne of
judgment and of the King?

3. " And He that sate upon the throne was, to
look upon, like a jasper and a sardine stone."]
Upon the throne he says that he saw the like-
ness of a jasper and a sardine stone. The jasper
is of the colour of water, the sardine of fire.
These two are thence manifested to be placed
as judgments upon God's tribunal until the con-
summation of the world, of which judgments one
is already completed in the deluge of water, and
the other shall be completed by fire.

"And there was a rainbow about the throne."]
Moreover, the rainbow round about the throne
has the same colours. The rainbow is called a
bow from what the Lord spake to Noah and to
his sons,' that they should not fear any further
deluge in the generation of God, but fire. For
thus He says : I will place my bow in the clouds,
that ye may now no longer fear water, but fire.

6. " And before the throne there was, as it
were, a sea of glass like to crystal."] That is
the gift of baptism which He sheds forth through
His Son in time of repentance, before He
executes judgment. It is therefore before the
throne, that is, the judgment. And when he
says a sea of glass like to crystal, he shows that
it is pure water, smooth, not agitated by the
wind, not flowing down as on a slope, but given
to be immoveable as the house of God.

" And round about the throne were four living

G«n. i

[Wordsworth, Lect. iv.]

creatures."] The four living creatures are the
four Gospels.

7-10. " The first living creature was like to
a lion, and the second was like to a calf, and the
third had a face like to a man, and the fourth
was like to a flying eagle ; and they had six
wings, and round about and within they were
full of eyes ; and they had no rest, saying. Holy,
holy, holy. Lord Omnipotent. And the four and
twenty elders, falling down before the throne,
adored God."] The four and twenty elders are
the twenty-four books of the prophets and of the
law, which give testimonies of the judgment.
Moreover, also, they are the twenty-four fathers — ■
twelve apostles and twelve patriarchs. And in
that the living creatures are different in appear-
ance, this is the reason : the living creature like
to a lion designates Mark, in whom is heard the
voice of the lion roaring in the desert. And in
the figure of a man, Matthew strives to declare
to us the genealogy of Mary, from whom Christ
took flesh. Therefore, in enumerating from
Abraham to David, and thence to Joseph, he
spoke of Him as if of a man : therefore his
announcement sets forth the image of a man.
Luke, in narrating the priesthood of Zacharias
as he offers a sacrifice for the people, and the
angel that appears to him with respect of the
priesthood, and the victim in the same descrip-
tion bore the hkeness of a calf. John the evan-
gelist, like to an eagle hastening on uplifted
wings to greater heights, argues about the Word
of God. Mark, therefore, as an evangelist thus
beginning, " The beginning of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the proph-
et;" ^ " The voice of one crying in the wilder-
ness,"3 — has the efiigy of a lion. And Matthew,
" The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham : " ■♦ this
is the form of a man. But Luke said, " There
was a priest, by name Zachariah, of the course
of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of
Aaron : " s this is the likeness of a calf. But
John, when he begins, " In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God," ^ sets forth the likeness of a
flying eagle. Moreover, not only do the evan-
gelists express their four similitudes in their re-
spective openings of the Gospels, but also the
Word itself of God the Father Omnipotent,
which is His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, bears
the same likeness in the time of His advent.
When He preaches to us. He is, as it were, a
lion and a lion's whelp. And when for man's
salvation He was made man to overcome death,
and to set all men free, and that He offered

* Mark i. 3. [On the Zoa, see p. 341, supra.^
3 Isa. xl. 3.
■i Matt. i. I.
5 I.uke i. 5.
t" John i. I.

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

349

Himself a victim to the Father on our behalf,
He was called a calf. And that He overcame
death and ascended into the heavens, extending
His wings and protecting His people, He was
named a flying eagle. Therefore these an-
nouncements, although they are four, yet are
one, because it proceeded from one mouth.
Even as the river in paradise, although it is one,
was divided into four heads. Moreover, that for
the announcement of the New Testament those
living creatures had eyes within and without,
shows the spiritual providence which both looks
into the secrets of the heart, and beholds the
things which are coming after that are within
and without.

8. " Six wings."] These are the testimonies
of the books of the Old Testament. Thus,
twenty and four make as many as there are el-
ders sitting upon the thrones. But as an animal
cannot fly unless it have wings, so, too, the an-
nouncement of the New Testament gains no faith
unless it have the fore-announced testimonies of
the Old Testament, by which it is lifted from the
earth, and flies. For in every case, what has
been told before, and is afterwards found to
have happened, that begets an nndoubting faith.
Again, also, if wings be not attached to the liv-
ing creatures, they have nothing whence they
may draw their life. For unless what the proph-
ets foretold had been consummated in Christ,
their preaching was vain. For the Catholic
Church holds those things which were both
before predicted and afterwards accomplished.
And it flies, because the living animal is reason-
ably lifted up from the earth. But to heretics
who do not avail themselves of the prophetic
testimony, to them also there are present living
creatures ; but they do not fly, because they are
of the earth. And to the Jews who do not re-
ceive the announcement of the New Testament
there are present wings ; but they do not fly,
that is, they bring a vain prophesying to men,
not adjusting facts to their words. And the
books of the Old Testament that are received
are twenty-four, which you will find in the epito-
mes of Theodore. But, moreover (as we have
said), four and twenty elders, patriarchs and
apostles, are to judge His people. For to the
apostles, when they asked, saying, " We have
forsaken all that we had, and followed Thee :
what shall we have?" our Lord replied, "When
the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His
glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judg-
ing the twelve tribes of Israel." ' But of the
fathers also who should judge, says the patriarch
Jacob, " Dan also himself shall judge his people
among his brethren, even as one of the tribes in
Israel." ^

' Matt. xix. 27, 28.
* Gen. xlix. 16.

5. "And from the throne proceeded lightnings,
and voices, and thunders, and seven torches of
fire burning."] And the lightnings, and voices,
and thunders proceeding from the throne of
God, and the seven torches of fire burning,
signify announcements, and promises of adoption,
and threatenings. For lightnings signify the
Lord's advent, and the voices the announce-
ments of the New Testament, and the thunders,
that the words are from heaven. The burning
torches of fire signify the gift of the Holy Spirit,
that it is given by the wood of the passion. And
when these things were doing, he says that all
the elders fell down and adored the Lord ; while
the living creatures — that is, of course, the
actions recorded in the Gospels and the teach-
ing of the Lord — gave Him glory and honour.^
In that they had fulfilled the word that had been
previously foretold by them, they worthily and
with reason exult, feeling that they have minis-
tered the mysteries and the word of the Lord.
Finally, also, because He had come who should
remove death, and who alone was worthy to take
the crown of immortality, all for the glory of
His most excellent doing had crowns.

10. " And they cast their crowns under His
feet."] That is, on account of the eminent glory
of Christ's victory, they cast all their victories
under His feet. This is what in the Gospel the
Holy Spirit consummated by showing. For
when about finally to suffer, our Lord had come
to Jerusalem, and the people had gone forth to
meet Him, some strewed the road with palm
branches cut down, others threw down their gar-
ments, doubtless these were setting forth two
peoples — the one of the patriarchs, the other of
the prophets ; that is to say, of the great men
who had any kind of palms of their victories
against sin, and cast them under the feet of Christ,
the victor of all. And the palm and the crown
signify the same things, and these are not given
save to the victor.

FROM THE FIFTH CHAPTER.

1. " And I saw in the right hand of Him that
sate upon the throne, a book written within and
without, sealed with seven seals."] This book
signifies the Old Testament, which has been
given into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who received from the Father judgment.

2, 3. "And I saw an angel full of strength
proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to
open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
And no one was found worthy, neither in the
earth nor under the earth, to open the book."]
Now to open the book is to overcome death for
man.

3 The living creatures are held to be the Gospels, or the acts and
teaching of our Lord narrated in them. [Wordsworth, Lect. iv.]

350

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

4. "There was none found worthy to do this."]
Neither among the angels of heaven, nor among
men in earth, nor among the souls of the saints
in rest, save Christ the Son of God alone, whom
he says that he saw as a Lamb standing as it
were slain, having seven horns. What had not
been then announced, and what the law had
contemplated for Him by its various oblations
and sacrifices, it behoved Himself to fulfil. And
because He Himself was the testator, who had
overcome death, it was just that Himself should
be appointed the Lord's heir, that He should
possess the substance of the dying man, that is,
the human members.

5 . " Lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root
of David, hath prevailed."] We read in Genesis
that this lion of the tribe of Judah hath con-
quered, when the patriarch Jacob says, " Judah,
thy brethren shall praise thee ; thou hast lain
down and slept, and hast risen up again as a
lion, and as a lion's whelp." ' For He is called
a lion for the overcoming of death ; but for the
suffering for men He was led as a lamb to the
slaughter. But because He overcame death,
and anticipated the duty of the executioner.
He was called as it were slain. He therefore
opens and seals again the testament, which He
Himself had sealed. The legislator Moses inti-
mating this, that it behoved Him to be sealed
and concealed, even to the advent of His pas-
sion, veiled his face, and so spoke to the people ;
showing that the words of his announcement
were veiled even to the advent of His time. For
he himself, when he had read to the people, hav-
ing taken the wool purpled with the blood of the
calf, with water sprinkled the whole people, say-
ing, " This is the blood of His testament who
hath purified you." ^ It should therefore be
observed that the Man is accurately announced,
and that all things combine into one. For it is
not sufficient that that law is spoken of, but it
is named as a testament. For no law is called
a testament, nor is any thing else called a testa-
ment, save what persons make who are about to
die. And whatever is within the testament is
sealed, even to the day of the testator's death.
Therefore it is with reason that it is only sealed
by the Lamb slain, who, as it were a lion, has
broken death in pieces, and has fulfilled what
had been foretold ; and has delivered man, that
is, the flesh, from death, and has received as a
possession the substance of the dying person,
that is, of the human members ; that as by one
body all men had fallen under the obligation of
its death, also by one body all believers should
be bom again unto life, and rise again. Reason-
ably, therefore. His face is opened and unveiled
to Moses ; and therefore He is called Apocalypse,

' Gen. xlix. 8, 9.
' Ex. xxlv. 7, 8.

Revelation. For now His book is unsealed —
now the offered victims are perceived — now the
fabrication of the priestly chrism ; moreover
the testimonies are openly understood.

8, 9. "Twenty-four elders and four living
creatures, having harps and phials, and singing
a new song." ] The proclamation of the Old
Testament associated with the New, points out
the Christian people singing a new song, that is,
bearing their confession publicly. It is a new
thing that the Son of God should become man.
It is a new thing to ascend into the heavens with
a body. It is a new thing to give remission of
sins to men. It is a new thing for men to be
sealed with the Holy Spirit. It is a new thing
to receive the priesthood of sacred observance,
and to look for a kingdom of unbounded promise.
The harp, and the chord stretched on its wooden
frame, signifies the flesh of ChrLst linked with
the wood of the passion. The phial signifies
f/ie Confession, 3 and the race of the new Priest-
hood. But it is the praise of many angels, yea,
of all, the salvation of all, and the testimony of
the universal creation, bringing to our Lord
thanksgiving for the deliverance of men from
the destruction of death. The unsealing of the
seals, as we have said, is the opening of the Old
Testament, and the foretelling of the preachers of
things to come in the last times, which, although
the prophetic Scripture speaks by single seals,
yet by all the seals opened at once, prophecy
takes its rank.

FROM THE SIXTH CHAPTER,

I, 2. "And when the Lamb had opened one
of the seven seals, I saw, and heard one of the
four living creatures saying. Come and see. And,
lo, a white horse, and He who sate upon him
had a bow." ] The first seal being opened, he
says that he saw a white horse, and a crowned
horseman having a bow. For this was at first
done by Himself. For after the Lord ascended
into heaven and opened all things. He sent the
Holy Spirit, whose words the preachers sent
forth as arrows reaching to the human heart, that
they might overcome unbelief. And the crown
on the head is promised to the preachers by the
Holy Spirit. The other three horses very plainly
signify the wars, famines, and pestilences an-
nounced by our Lord in the Gospel. And thus
he says that one of the four living creatures said
(because all four are one), "Come and see."
" Come " is said to him that is invited to faith ;
"see" is said to him who saw not. Therefore
the white horse is the word of preaching with
the Holy Spirit sent into the world. For the
Lord says, "This Gospel shall be preached

3 [The Creed and the evangelical priests. Vol. ii. note 4, p. 173.]

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

351

throughout the whole world for a testimony to
all nations, and then shall come the end." '

3, 4. " And when He had opened the second
seal, I heard the second living creature saying,
Come and see. And there went out another
horse that was red, and to iiim that sate upon
him was given a great sword."] The red horse,
and he that sate upon him, having a sword, sig-
nify the coming wars, as we read in the Gospel :
'* For nation shall rise against nation, and king-
dom against kingdom ; and there shall be great
earthquakes in divers places." ^ This is the
ruddy horse.

5. " And when He had opened the third seal,
I heard the third living creature saying. Come
and see. And, lo, a black horse ; and he who
sate upon it had a balance in his hand."] The
black horse signifies famine, for the Lord says,
" There shall be famines in divers places ; " but
the word is specially extended to the times of
Antichrist, when there shall be a great famine,
and when all shall be injured. Moreover, the
balance in the hand is the examining scales,
wherein He might show forth the merits of
every individual. He then says : —

6. " Hurt not the wine and the oil."] That
is, strike not the spiritual man with thy inflic-
tions. This is the black horse.

7. 8. " And when He had opened the fourth
seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying.
Come and see. And, lo, a pale horse ; and he
who sate upon him was named Death."] For
the pale horse and he who sate upon him bore
the name of Death. These same things also the
Lord had promised among the rest of the com-
ing destructions — great pestilences and deaths ;
since, moreover, he says : —

" And hell followed him."] That is, it was
waiting for the devouring of many unrighteous
souls. This is the pale horse.

9. "And when He had opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar the souls of them that
were slain."] He relates that he saw under the
altar of God, that is, under the earth, the souls
of them that were slain. For both heaven and
earth are called God's altar, as saith the law,
commanding in the symbolical form of the truth
two altars to be made, — a golden one within,
and a brazen one without. But we perceive
that the golden altar is thus called heaven, by
the testimony that our Lord bears to it ; for He
says, " When thou bringest thy gift to the altar "
(assuredly our gifts are the prayers which we
offer) , " and there rememberest that thy brother
hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift
before the altar." ^ Assuredly prayers ascend
to heaven. Therefore heaven is understood to

• Matt. xxiv. 14.
^ Luke xxi. 10, 11.
3 Matt. V. 23, 24.

be the golden altar which was within ; for the
priests also were accustomed to enter once in
the year — as they who had the anointing — to
the golden altar, the Holy Spirit signifying that
Christ should do this once for all. As the
golden altar is acknowledged to be heaven, so
also by the brazen altar is understood the earth,
under which is the Hades, — a region withdrawn
from punishments and fires, and a place of re-
pose for the saints, wherein indeed the righteous
are seen and heard by the wicked, but they
cannot be carried across to them. He who
sees all things would have us to know that these
saints, therefore — that is, the souls of the slain

— are asking for vengeance for their blood, that
is, of their body, from those that dwell upon the
earth ; but because in the last time, moreover,
the reward of the saints will be perpetual, and
the condemnation of the wicked shall come, it
was told them to wait. And for a solace to their
body, there were given unto each of them white
robes. They received, says he, white robes, that
is, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

12. "And I saw, when he had opened the
sixth seal, there was a great earthquake."] In
the sixth seal, then, was a great earthquake :
this is that very last persecution.

" And the sun became black as sackcloth of
hair."] The sun becomes as sackcloth ; that is,
the brightness of doctrine will be obscured by
unbelievers.

" And the entire moon became as blood."]
By the moon of blood is set forth the Church
of the saints as pouring out her blood for Christ.

13. "And the stars fell to the earth."] The
falling of the stars are the faithful who are trou-
bled for Christ's sake.

" Even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs."]
The fig-tree, when shaken, loses its untimely figs

— when men are separated from the Church by
persecution.

14. "And the heaven wthdrew as a scroll
that is rolled up."] For the heaven to be rolled
away, that is, that the Church shall be taken
away.

"And every mountain and the islands were
moved from their places."] Mountains and
islands removed from their places intimate that
in the last persecution all men departed from
their places ; that is, that the good will be re-
moved, seeking to avoid the persecution.

FROM THE SEVENTH CHAPTER.

2. "And I saw another angel ascending from
the east, having the seal of the living God."]
He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the pre-
cursor of the times of Antichrist, for the resto-
ration and establishment of the churches from
the great and intolerable persecution. We read

352

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

that these things are predicted in the opening
of the Old and New Testament ; for He says by
Malachi : " Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tish-
bite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, according to the time of calling, to
recall the Jews to the faith of the people that
succeed them." ' And to that end He shows,
as we have said, that the number of those that
shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a
great multitude which no man was able to num-
ber. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the
prayers of the Church are sent from heaven by
an angel, and that they are received against
wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is
cast out and extinguished by holy angels ; for
He says : " Pray that ye enter not into tempta-
tion : for there shall be a great affliction, such
as has not been from the beginning of the world ;
and except the Lord had shortened those days,
no flesh should be saved." ^ Therefore He shall
send these seven great archangels to smite the
kingdom of Antichrist ; for He Himself also
thus said : " Then the Son of man shall send
His messengers ; and they shall gather together
His elect from the four corners of the wind, from
the one end of heaven even to the other end
thereof." ^ For, moreover. He previously says
by the prophet : " Then shall there be peace for
our land, when there shall arise in it seven shep-
herds and eight attacks of men ; and they shall
encircle Assur," that is, Antichrist, " in the trench
of Nimrod," ■» that is, in the nation of the devil,
by the spirit of the Church. Similarly when the
keepers of the house shall be moved. More-
over, the Lord Himself, in the parable to the
apostles, when the labourers had come to Him
and said, " Lord, did not we sow good seed in
Thy field ? whence, then, hath it tares ? answered
them. An enemy hath done this. And they said
to Him, Lord, wilt Thou, then, that we go and
root them up ? And He said, Nay, but let both
grow together until the harvest ; and in the time
of the harvest I will say to the reapers, that they
gather the tares and make bundles of them, and
burn them with fire everlasting, but that they
gather the wheat into my barns." 5 The Apoca-
lypse here shows, therefore, that these reapers,
and shepherds, and labourers, are the angels.
And the trumpet is the word of power. And
although the same thing recurs in the phials, still
it is not said as if it occurred twice, but because
what is decreed by the Lord to happen shall be
once for all ; for this cause it is said twice. What,
therefore. He said too little in the trumpets, is
here found in the phials. We must not regard
the order of what is said, because frecjuently the

» Mai. iv. 5, 6.

^ Mark xiii. 18-20.

3 Mark xili. 27.

■• Mic. V. 5, 6.

' Malt. xiii. 27-30.

Holy Spirit, when He has traversed even to the
end of the last times, returns again to the same
times, and fills up what He had before failed to
say.^ Nor must we look for order in the Apoca-
lypse ; but we must follow the meaning of those
things which are prophesied. Therefore in the
trumpets and phials is signified either the des-
olation of the plagues that are sent upon the
earth, or the madness of Antichrist himself, or
the cutting off of the peoples, or the diversity
of the plagues, or the hope in the kingdom of
the saints, or the ruin of states, or the great over-
throw of Babylon, that is, the Roman state.

9. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great mul-
titude, which no man was able to number, of
every nation, tribe, and people, and tongue,
clothed with white robes." ] What the great
multitude out of every tribe implies, is to show
the number of the elect out of all believers, who,
being cleansed by baptism in the blood of the
Lamb, have made their robes white, keeping
the grace which they have received.

FROM THE EIGHTH CHAPTER.

I. "And when He had opened the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven for about half
an hour." ] Whereby is signified the beginning
of everlasting rest ; but it is described as partial,
because the silence being interrupted, he repeats
it in order. For if the silence had continued,
here would be an end of his narrative.

13. "And I saw an angel flying through the
midst of heaven."] By the angel flying through
the midst of heaven is signified the Holy Spirit
bearing witness in two of the prophets that a
great wrath of plagues was imminent. If by any
means, even in the last times, any one should be
willing to be converted, any one might even still
be saved.

FROM THE NINTH CHAPTER.

13, 14. "And I heard a voice from the four
horns of the golden altar which is in the presence
of God, saying to the sixth angel which had the
trumpet. Loose the four angels."] That is, the
four corners of the earth which hold the four
winds.

"Which are bound in the great river Eu-
phrates."] By the corners of the earth, or the
four winds across the river Euphrates, are meant
four nations, because to every nation is sent an
angel ; as said the law, " He determined them
by the number of the angels of God," ^ until the
number of the saints should be filled up. They
do not overpass their bounds, because at the last
they shall come with Antichrist.

6 I The rule of Medc's " Synchronisms."]
^ Dcut. xxxii. 8.

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

353

FROM THE TENTH CHAPTER.

I, 2. "I saw another mighty angel coming
down from heaven, clothed with a cloud ; and a
rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as
it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire :
and he had in his hand an open book : and he
set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot
upon the earth."] He signifies that that mighty
angel who, he says, descended from heaven,
clothed with a cloud, is our Lord, as we have
above narrated.

" His face was as it were the sun."] That is,
with respect to the resurrection.

" Upon his head was a rainbow."] He points
to the judgment which is executed by Him, or
shall be.

"An open book." ] A revelation of works in
the future judgment, or the Apocalypse which
John received.

" His feet," ] as we have said above, are the
apostles. For that both things in sea and land
are trodden under foot by Him, signifies that all
things are placed under His feet. Moreover, he
calls Him an angel, that is, a messenger, to wit,
of the Father ; for He is called the Messenger
of great counsel. He says also that He cried
with a loud voice. The great voice is to tell the
words of the Omnipotent God of heaven to
men, and to bear witness that after penitence is
closed there will be no hope subsequently.

3. " Seven thunders uttered their voices." ]
The seven thunders uttering their voices signify
the Holy Spirit of sevenfold power, who through
the prophets announced all things to come, and
by His voice John gave his testimony in the
world ; but because he says that he was about
to write the things which the thunders had
uttered, that is, whatever things had been ob-
scure in the announcements of the Old Testa-
ment ; he is forbidden to write them, but he was
charged to leave them sealed, because he is an
apostle, nor was it fitting that the grace of the
subsequent stage should be given in the first.
"The time," says he, "is at hand." ' For the
apostles, by powers, by signs, by portents, and
by mighty works, have overcome unbelief. After
them there is now given to the same completed
Churches the comfort of having the prophetic
Scriptures subsequently interpreted, for I said
that after //le apostles there would be interpret-
ing prophets.

For the apostle says : " And he placed in the
Church indeed, first, apostles ; secondly, proph-
ets ; thirdly, teachers," ^ and the rest. And in
another place he says : " Let the prophets speak
two or three, and let the others judge." ^ And
he says : " Every woman that prayeth or prophe-

' Rev. i. 3, xxii. 10. i

2 \ Cor. xii. 28.
^ I Cor. xiv. 29.

sieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her
head." * And when he says, " Let the prophets
speak two or three, and let the others judge,"
he is not speaking in respect of the Catholic
prophecy of things unheard and unknown, but
of things both announced and known. But let
them judge whether or not the interpretation is
consistent with the testimonies of the prophetic
utterance.5 It is plain, therefore, that to John,
armed as he was with superior virtue, this was
not necessary, although the body of Christ,
which is the Church, adorned with His mem-
bers, ought to respond to its position.

10. "I took the book from the hand of the
angel, and ate it up."] To take the book and
eat it up, is, when exhibition of a thing is made
to one, to commit it to memory.

" And it was in my mouth as sweet as
honey."] To be sweet in the mouth is the re-
ward of the preaching of the speaker, and is
most pleasant to the hearers ; but it is most bit-
ter both to those that announce it, and to those
that persevere in its commandments through
suffering.

II." And He says unto me, Thou must again
prophesy to the peoples, and to the tongues, and
to the nations, and to many kings."] He says
this, because when John said these things he
was in the island of Patmos, condemned to the
labour of the mines by Caesar Domitian. There,
therefore, he saw the Apocalypse ; and when
grown old, he thought that he should at length
receive his quittance by suffering, Domitian being
killed, all his judgments were discharged. And
John being dismissed from the mines, thus sub-
sequently delivered the same Apocalypse which
he had received from God. This, therefore, is
what He says : Thou must again prophesy to all
nations, because thou seest the crowds of Anti-
christ rise up ; and against them other crowds
shall stand, and they shall fall by the sword on
the one side and on the other.

FROM THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER.

I . " And there was shown unto me a reed
like unto a rod : and the angel stood, saying,
Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein."] A reed
was shown like to a rod. This itself is the
Apocalypse which he subsequently exhibited to
the churches ; for the Gospel of the complete
faith he subsequently wrote for the sake of our
salvation. For when Valentinus, and Cerinthus,
and Ebion, and others of the school of Satan,
were scattered abroad throughout the world,
there assembled together to him from the neigh-
bouring provinces all the bishops, and compelled

■* I Cor. xi. 5.

5 [Some excuse for Tertullian's lapse is found in the prevailing
uncertainty about the withdrawal of prophetic gifts.J

354

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

him himself also to draw up his testimony.
Moreover, we say that the measure of God's
temple is the command of God to confess the
Father Almighty, and that His Son Christ was
begotten by the Father before the beginning of
the world, and was made man in very soul and
flesh, both of them having overcome misery
and death ; and that, when received with His
body into heaven by the Father, He shed forth
the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immor-
tality, that He was announced by the prophets,
He was described by the law, He was God's
hand, and the Word of the Father from God,
Lord over all, and founder of the world : this is
the reed and the measure of faith ; and no one
worships the holy altar save he who confesses
this faith.

2. " The court which is within the temple
leave out."] The space which is called the
court is the empty altar within the walls : these
being such as were not necessary, he com-
manded to be ejected from the Church.

" It is given to be trodden down by the Gen-
tiles."] That is, to the men of this world, that
it may be trodden under foot by the nations, or
with the nations. Then he repeats about the
destruction and slaughter of the last time, and
says : —

3. " They shall tread the holy city down for
forty and two months ; and I will give to my
two witnesses, and they shall predict a thousand
two hundred and threescore days clothed in sack-
cloth."] That is, three years and six months :
these make forty-two months. Therefore their
preaching is three years and six months, and the
kingdom of Antichrist as much again.

5. 'Tf any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth
out of their mouth, and devoureth their ene-
mies."] That fire proceedeth out of the mouth
of those prophets against the adversaries, be-
speaks the power of the world. For all afflic-
tions, however many there are, shall be sent by
their messengers in their word. Many think
that there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah ; but
both of these died ; while the death of Elijah is
not heard of, with whom all our ancients have
believed that it was Jeremiah. For even the
very word spoken to him testifies to him, saying,
" Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ;
and before thou camest forth out of the womb
I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations." ' But he was not a prophet
unto the nations ; and thus the truthful word of
God makes it necessary, which it has promised
to set forth, that he should be a prophet to the
nations.

4. " These are the two candlesticks standing
before the Lord of the earth."] These two

Jer i. 5.

candlesticks and two olive trees He has to this
end spoken of, and admonished you that if, when
you have read of them elsewhere, you have not
understood, you may understand here. For in
Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus
written : " These are the two olive trees and two
candlesticks which stand in the presence of the
Lord of the earth ;"2 that is, they are in para-
dise. Also, in another sense, standing in the
presence of the lord of the earth, that is, in
the presence of Antichrist. Therefore they must
be slain by Antichrist.

7, "And the beast which ascendeth from the
abyss."] After many plagues completed in the
world, in the end he says that a beast ascended
from the abyss. But that he shall ascend from
the abyss is proved by many testimonies ; for
he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel :
" Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Leba-
non." Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty and
branching cypress — that is, a numerous people
— in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of king-
doms, that is, of the Romans. Moreover, that
he says he was beautiful in offshoots, he says he
was strong in armies. The water, he says, shall
nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men
which were subjected to him ; and the abyss
increased him, that is, belched him forth. For
even Isaiah speaks almost in the same words ;
moreover, that he was in the kingdom of the
Romans, and that he was among the Caesars.
The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says
to the Thessalonians : " Let him who now re-
straineth restrain, until he be taken out of the
way ; and then shall appear that Wicked One,
even he whose coming is after the working of
Satan, with signs and lying wonders." ^ And
that they might know that he should come who
then was the prince, he added : " He already
endeavours after the secret of mischief" •♦ — that
is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives
to do secretly ; but he is not raised up by his
own power, nor by that of his father, but by
command of God, of which thing Paul says in
the same passage : " For this cause, because
they have not received the love of God, He will
send upon them a spirit of error, that they all
may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been
persuaded of the truth." 5 And Isaiah saith :
" While they waited for the light, darkness arose
upon them." ^ Therefore the Apocalypse sets
forth that these prophets are killed by the same,
and on the fourth day rise again, that none
might be found ec^ual to God.

8. "And their dead bodies shall lie in the
streets of the great city, which spiritually is called

2 Zech. iv. 14.

3 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8, 9.

* 2 Thess. ii. 10.
s 2 Thess. ii. 11.

* Isa. hx. 9.

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

355

Sodom and Eg)^pt."] But He calls Jerusalem
Sodom and Egypt, since it had become the
heaping up of the persecuting people. Therefore
it behoves us diligently, and with the utmost
care, to follow the prophetic announcement, and
to understand what the Spirit from the Father
both announces and anticipates, and how, when
He has gone forward to the last times. He again
repeats the former ones. And now, what He
will do once for all, He sometimes sets forth as
if it were done ; and unless you understand this
as sometimes done, and sometimes as about to
be done, you will fall into a great confusion.
Therefore the interpretation of the following
sayings has shown therein, that not the order
of the reading, but the order of the discourse,
must be understood.

19. "And the temple of God was opened
which is in heaven."] The temple opened is a
manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of
God is the Son, as He Himself says : " Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
And when the Jews said, " Forty and six years
was this temple in building," the evangelist says,
" He spake of the temple of His body." '

" And there was seen in His temple the ark
of the Lord's testament."] The preaching of
the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins, and all
the gifts whatever that came with Him, he says,
appeared therein.

FROM THE TWELFTH CHAPTER.

I. " And there was seen a great sign in heaven.
A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her, feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars. And being with child, she cried
out travailing, and bearing torments that she
might bring forth."] The woman clothed with
the sun, and having the moon under her feet,
and wearing a crown of twelve stars upon her
head, and travailing in her pains, is the ancient
Church of fathers, and prophets, and samts, and
apostles,^ which had the groans and torments of
its longing until it saw that Christ, the fruit of its
people according to the flesh long promised to
it, had taken flesh out of the selfsame people.
Moreover, being clothed with the sun intimates
the hope of resurrection and the glory of the
promise. And the moon intimates the fall of
the bodies of the saints under the obligation of
death, which never can fail. For even as life is
diminished, so also it is increased. Nor is the
hope of those that sleep extinguished absolutely,
as some think, but they have in their darkness
a light such as the moon. And the crown of
twelve stars signifies the choir of fathers, accord-

' John ii. 19, 20, 21.

2 [No hint here that this was a manifestation of the Blessed Vir-
f'n, the modern fiction of Rome. See vol. vi p. 355, this series.J

ing to the fleshly birth, of whom Christ was to
take flesh.

3. " And there appeared another sign in
heaven ; and behold a red dragon, having seven
heads."] Now, that he says that this dragon
was of a red colour — that is, of a purple colour
— the result of his work gave him such a colour.
For from the beginning (as the Lord says) he
was a murderer ; and he has oppressed the whole
of the human race, not so much by the obliga-
tion of death, as, moreover, by the various forms
of destruction and fatal mischiefs. His seven
heads were the seven kings of the Romans, of
whom also is Antichrist, as we have said above.

"And ten horns."] He says that the ten
kings in the latest times are the same as these,
as we shall more fully set forth there.

4. "And his tail drew the third part of the
stars of heaven, and cast them upon the earth."]
Now, that he says that the dragon's tail drew the
third part of the stars of heaven, this may be
taken in two ways. For many think that he may
be able to seduce the third part of the men who
believe.^ But it should more truly be under-
stood, that of the angels that were subject to
him, since he was still a prince when he de-
scended from his estate, he seduced the third
part ; therefore what we said above, the Apoca-
lypse says.

" And the dragon stood before the woman
who was beginning to bring forth, that, when she
had brought forth, he might devour her child."]
The red dragon standing and desiring to devour
her child when she had brought him forth, is the
devil, — to wit, the traitor angel, who thought
that the perishing of all men would be alike by
death ; but He, who was not born of seed, owed
nothing to death : wherefore he could not de-
vour Him — that is, detain Him in death — for
on the third day He rose again. Finally, also,
and before He suffered, he approached to tempt
Him as man ; but when he found that He was
not what he thought Him to be, he departed
from Him, even till the time. Whence it is here
said : —

5. "And she brought forth a son, who begins
to rule all nations with a rod of iron."] The rod
of iron is the sword of persecution.

" I saw that all men withdrew from his abodes."]
That is, the good will be removed, flying from
persecution."*

" And her son was caught up to God, and to
His throne."] We read also in the Acts of the
Apostles that He was caught up to God's throne,
just as speaking with the disciples He was caught
up to heaven.

6. " But the woman fled into the wilderness,
and there were given to her two great eagle's

3 [A noteworthy testimony to primitive interpretation ]

* [Compare TertuUian, De Fuga, vol iv. p. 117^ this series.J

356

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

wings."] The aid of the great eagle's wings —
to wit, the gift of prophets — was given to that
Catholic Church, whence in the last times a
hundred and forty-four thousands of men should
believe on the preaching of Elias ; but, more-
over, he here says that the rest of the people
should be found alive on the coming of the Lord.
And the Lord says in the Gospel : " Then let
them which are in Judea flee to the mountains ; " '
that is, as many as should be gathered together
in Judea, let them go to that place which they
have ready, and let them be supported there for
three years and six months from the presence of
the devil.

14. "Two great wings"] are the two prophets
— Elias, and the prophet who shall be with him.

15. "And the serpent cast out of his mouth
after the woman water as a flood, that he might
carry her away with the flood."] He signifies
by the water which the serpent cast out of his
mouth, the people who at his command would
persecute her.

16. "And the earth helped the woman, and
opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon cast out of his mouth."] That
the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up
the waters, sets forth the vengeance for the pres-
ent troubles. Although, therefore, it may signify
this woman bringing forth, it shows her after-
wards flying when her offspring is brought forth,
because both things did not happen at one time ;
for we know that Christ was born, but that the
time should arrive that she should flee from the
face of the serpent : (we do not know) that this
has happened as yet. Then he says : —

7-9. " There was a battle in heaven : Michael
and his angels fought with the dragon ; and the
dragon warred, and his angels, and they prevailed
not ; nor was their place found any more in
heaven. And that great dragon was cast forth,
that old serpent : he was cast forth into the
earth."] This is the beginning of Antichrist ;
yet previously Elias must prophesy, and there
must be times of peace. And afterwards, when
the three years and six months are completed in
the preaching of Elias, he also must be cast down
from heaven, where up till that time he had had
the power of ascending ; and all the apostate
angels, as well as Antichrist, must be roused up
from hell. Paul the apostle says : " Except there
come a falling away first, and the man of sin
shall appear, the son of perdition ; and the ad-
versary who exalted himself above all which is
called God, or which is worshipped." ^

FROM THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER.^

I. "And I saw a beast rising up from the sea.

■ Luke xxi. ai.
* 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.

5 [The Edinburgh edition seems to follow the confusion of MSS.,
intioducing here the seventeenth chapter, out of place.]

like unto a leopard."] This signifies the king-
dom of that time of Antichrist, and the people
mingled with the variety of nations.

2. " His feet were as the feet of a bear."] A
strong and most unclean beast, the feet are to be
understood as his leaders.

"And his mouth as the mouth of a lion."]
That is, his mouth armed for blood is his bid-
ding, and a tongue which will proceed to noth-
ing else than to the shedding of blood.

18. " His number is the name of a man, and
his number is Six hundred threescore and six."]
As they have it reckoned from the Greek char-
acters, they thus find it among many to be
Tcirav, for Tctrai/ has this number, which the
Gentiles call Sol and Phoebus ; and it is reck-
oned in Greek thus : r three hundred, c five, i
ten, T three hundred, a one, v fifty, — which taken
together become six hundred and sixty-six. For
as far as belongs to the Greek letters, they fill
up this number and name ; which name if you
wish to turn into Latin, it is understood by the
antiphrase DICLUX, which letters are reckoned
in this manner : since D figures five hundred, I
one, C a hundred, L fifty, V five, X ten, — which
by the reckoning up of the letters makes simi-
larly six hundred and sixty- six, that is, what in
Greek gives reirav, to wit, what in Latin is called
DICLUX ; by which name, expressed by anti-
phrases, we understand Antichrist, who, although
he be cut off from the supernal light, and de-
prived thereof, yet transforms himself into an
angel of light, daring to call himself light.-*
Moreover, we find in a certain Greek codex
ai'Tf/Aos, which letters being reckoned up, you
will find to give the number as above : a one, v
fifty, T three hundred, e five, fx. forty, o seventy,
s two hundred, — which together makes six hun-
dred and sixty-six, according to the Greeks.
Moreover, there is another name in Gothic of
him, which will be evident of itself, that is, ytv-
o-T/ptKos, which in the same way you will reckon
in Greek letters : y three, « five, v fifty, o- two
hundred, rj eight, p a hundred, i ten, k twenty, o
seventy, s also two hundred, which, as has been
said above, make six hundred and sixty-six.

II. "And I saw another beast coming up out
of the earth."] He is speaking of the great
and false proj^het who is to do signs, and por-
tents, and falsehoods before him in the presence
of men.

" And he had two horns like a lamb — that is,
the appearance within of a man — and he spoke
like a dragon."] But the devil speaks fiiU of
malice ; for he shall do these things in the pres-
ence of men, so that even the dead appear to
rise again.

■♦ [But see Irenaeus, vol. i. p. 559.]

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

357

13. " And he shall make fire come down from
heaven in the sight of men."] Yes (as I also
have said), in the sight of men. Magicians do
these things, by the aid of the apostate angels,
even to this day. He shall cause also that a
golden image of Antichrist shall be placed in
the temple at Jerusalem, and that the apostate
angel should enter, and thence utter voices and
oracles. Moreover, he himself shall contrive
that his servants and children should receive as
a mark on their foreheads, or on their right
hands, the number of his name, lest any one
should buy or sell them. Daniel had previously
predicted his contempt and provocation of God.
"And he shall place," says he, "his temple
within Samaria, upon the illustrious and holy
mountain that is at Jerusalem, an image such as
Nebuchadnezzar had made." ' Thence here he
places, and by and by here he renews, that of
which the Lord, admonishing His churches con-
cerning the last times and their dangers, says :
" But when ye shall see the contempt which is
spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the
holy place, let him who readeth understand." ^
It is called a contempt when God is provoked,
because idols are worshipped instead of God, or
when the dogma of heretics is introduced in the
churches. But it is a turning away because sted-
fast men, seduced by false signs and portents,
are turned away from their salvation.

FROM THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER.

6. " And I saw an angel flying through the
midst of heaven."] The angel flying through
the midst of heaven, whom he says that he saw,
we have already treated of above, as being the
same Elias who anticipates the kingdom of Anti-
christ in his prophecy.

8. " And another angel following him."] The
other angel following, he speaks of as the same
prophet who is the associate of his prophesying.
But that he says, —

15. "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather
in the grapes of the vine,"] he signifies it of the
nations that should perish on the advent of the
Lord. And indeed in many forms he shows
this same thing, as if to the dry harvest, and
the seed for the coming of the Lord, and the
consummation of the world, and the kingdom
of Christ, and the future appearance of the
kingdom of the blessed.

19, 20. "And the angel thrust in the sickle,
and reaped the vine of the earth, and cast it
into the wine-press of the wrath of God. And
the wine-press of His fury was trodden down
without the city."] In that he says that it was
cast into the wine-press of the wrath of God,

' Dan. xi. 45.

' Matt. xxiv. 15; Dan. ix. 97.

and trodden down without the city, the treading
of the wine-press is the retribution on the sinner.

"And blood went out from the wine-press,
even unto the horse-bridles."] The vengeance
of shed blood, as was before predicted, " In
blood thou hast sinned, and blood shall follow
thee." J

" For a thousand and six hundred furlongs."]
That is, through all the four parts of the world :
for there is a quadrate put together by fours, as
in four faces and four appearances, and wheels
by fours ; for forty times four is one thousand
six hundred. Repeating the same persecution,
the Apocalypse says : —

FROM THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER.

1 . " And I saw another great and wonderful
sign, seven angels having the seven last plagues ;
for in them is completed the indignation of
God."] For the wrath of God always strikes
the obstinate people with seven plagues, that is,
perfectly, as it is said in Leviticus ; and these
shall be in the last time, when the Church shall
have gone out of the midst.

2. "Standing upon the sea of glass, having
harps."] That is, that they stood stedfastly in
the faith upon their baptism, and having their
confession in their mouth, that they shall exult
in the kingdom before God. But let us return
to what is set before us.

FROM THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER.

1-6. " There came one of the seven angels,
which have the seven bowls, and spake with me,
saying, Come, I will show thee the judgment of
that great whore who sitteth upon many waters.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of
the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs."]
The decrees of that senate are always accom-
plished against all, contrary to the preaching of
the true faith ; and now already mercy being
cast aside, itself here gave the decree among all
nations.

3. " And I saw the woman herself sitting
upon the scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of
blasphemy."] But to sit upon the scarlet beast,
the author of murders, is the image of the devil.
Where also t's treated of his captivity, concern-
ing which we have fully considered. I remem-
ber, indeed, that this is called Babylon also in
the Apocalypse, on account of confusion ; and
in Isaiah also ; and Ezekiel called it Sodom. In
fine, if you compare what is said against Sodom,
and what Isaiah says against Babylon, and what
the Apocalypse says, you will find that they are
all one."*

9. " The seven heads are the seven hills, on

3 Ezek. XXXV. 6.

< [Apparently in conflict with what our author says supra, pp.
352 and 355. J

358

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

which the woman sitteth."] That is, the city
of Rome.

10. "And there are seven kings: five have
fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ;
and when he is come, he will be for a short
time."] The time must be understood in which
the written Apocalypse was published, since then
reigned Caesar Domitian ; but before him had
been Titus his brother, and Vespasian, Otho, Vi-
tellius, and Galba. These are the five who have
fallen. One remains, under whom the Apocalypse
was written — Domitian, to wit. " The other
has not yet come," speaks of Nerva ; " and when
he is come, he will be for a short time," for he
did not complete the period of two years.

11. "And the beast which thou sawest is of
the seven."] Since before those kings Nero
reigned.

" And he is the eighth."] He says only
when this beast shall come, reckon it the eighth
place, since in that is the completion. He
added : —

"And shall go into perdition."] For that
ten kings received royal power when he shall
move from the east, he says. He shall be sent
from the city of Rome with his armies. And
Daniel sets forth the ten horns and the ten dia-
dems. And that these are eradicated from the
former ones, — that is, that three of the prin-
cipal leaders are killed by Antichrist ; that the
other seven give him honour and wisdom and
power, of whom he says : —

i6. "These shall hate the whore, to wit, the
city, and shall burn her flesh with fire."] Now
that one of the heads was, as it were, slain to
death, and that the stroke of his death was
directed, he speaks of Nero. For it is plain
that when the cavalry sent by the senate was
pursuing him, he himself cut his throat. Him
therefore, when raised up, God will send as a
worthy king, but worthy in such a way as the
Jews merited. And since he is to have another
name. He shall also appoint another name, that
so the Jews may receive him as if he were the
Christ. Says Daniel : " He shall not know the
lust of women, although before he was most
impure, and he shall know no God of his fathers :
for he will not be able to seduce the people of
the circumcision, unless he is a judge of the
law." ' Finally, also, he will recall the saints,
not to the worship of idols, but to undertake
circumcision, and, if he is able, to seduce any ;
for he shall so conduct himself as to be called
Christ by them. But that he rises again from
hell, we have said above in the word of Isaiah :
" Water shall nourish him, and hell hath in-
creased him ; " who, however, must come with
name unchanged, and doings unchanged, as says
the Spirit.

' Dan. xi. 37.

FROM THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER.

II. "And I saw heaven opened, and behold
a white horse ; and he that sate upon him was
called Faithful and True."] The horse, and He
that sits upon him, sets forth our Lord coming
to His kingdom with the heavenly army. Be-
cause from the sea of the north, which is the
Arabian Sea, even to the sea of Phoenice, and
even to the ends of the earth, they will command
these greater parts in the coming of the Lord
Jesus, and all the souls of the nations will be as-
sembled to judgment.

FROM THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER.

1-3. " And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a
chain in his hand. And he held the dragon,
that old serpent, which is called the Devil and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and
cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set
a seal upon him, that he should deceive the na-
tions no more, till the thousand years should be
finished : after this he must be loosed a little
season."] Those years wherein Satan is bound
are in the first advent of Christ, even to the end
of the age ; and they are called a thousand, ac-
cording to that mode of speaking, wherein a
part is signified by the whole, just as is that
passage, " the word which He commanded for
a thousand generations," ' although they are not
a thousand. Moreover that he says, " and he
cast him into the abyss," he says this, because
the devil, excluded from the hearts of believers,
began to take possession of the wicked, in whose
hearts, blinded day by day, he is shut up as if in
a profound abyss. And he shut him up, says
he, and put a seal upon him, that he should not
deceive the nations until the thousand years
should be finished. " He shut the door upon
him," it is said, that is, he forbade and restrained
his seducing those who belong to Christ. More-
over, he put a seal upon him, because it is hid-
den who belong to the side of the devil, and
who to that of Christ. For we know not of
those who seem to stand whether they shall not
fall, and of those who are down it is uncertain
whether they may rise. Moreover, that he says
that he is bound and shut up, that he may
not seduce the nations, the nations signify the
Church, seeing that of them it itself is formed,
and which being seduced, he previously held
until, he says, the thousand years should be
completed, that is, what is left of the sixth day,
to wit, of the sixth age, which subsists for a
thousand years ; after this he must be loosed
for a little season. The little season signifies
three years and six months, in which with all his
power the devil will avenge himself under Anti-

" Ps. cv. 8.

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

359

Christ against the Church. Finally, he says,
after that the devil shall be loosed, and will se-
duce the nations in the whole world, and will
entice war against the Church, the number of
whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.'

4, 5. "And I saw thrones, and them that sate
upon them, and judgment was given unto them ;
and / satu the souls of them that were slain on
account of the testimony of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast nor his image, nor have received his
writing on their forehead or in their hand ; and
they reigned with Christ for a thousand years :
the rest of them lived not again until the thou-
sand years were finished. This is the first resur-
rection."] There are two resurrections. But the
first resurrection is now of the souls that are by
the faith, which does not permit men to pass
over to the second death. Of this resurrection
the apostle says : " If ye have risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above." ^

6. " Blessed and holy is he who has part in
this resurrection : on them the second death
shall have no power, but they shall be priests of
God and Christ, and they shall reign with Him
a thousand years."] I do not think the reign
of a thousand years is eternal ; or if it is thus to
be thought of, they cease to reign when the
thousand years are finished. But I will put for-
ward what my capacity enables me to judge.
The tenfold number signifies the decalogue, and
the hundredfold sets forth the crown of virgin-
ity : for he who shall have kept the undertaking
of virginity completely, and shall have faithfully
fulfilled the precepts of the decalogue, and
shall have destroyed the untrained nature or im-
pure thoughts within the retirement of the heart,
that they may not rule over him, this is the true
priest of Christ, and accomplishing the millenary
number thoroughly, is thought to reign with
Christ ; and truly in his case the devil is bound.
But he who is entangled in the vices and the
dogmas of heretics, in his case the devil is
loosed. But that it says that when the thousand
years are finished he is loosed, so the number of
the perfect saints being completed, in whom
there is the glory of virginity in body and mind,
by the approaching advent of the kingdom of
the hateful one, many, seduced by that love of
earthly things, shall be overthrown, and together
with him shall enter the lake of fire.

8-10. "And they went up upon the breadth
of the earth, and compassed the camp of the
saints about, and the beloved city ; and fire came
down from God out of heaven, and devoured
them. And the devil who seduced them was
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
both the beast and the false prophet shall be

* [Compare vol. v. pp. 207, 215, caps. 15 and 54.]

* Col. iii 1.

tormented day and night for ever and ever."]
This belongs to the last judgment. And after
a little time the earth was made holy, as being
at least that wherein lately had reposed the
bodies of the virgins, when they shall enter upon
an eternal kingdom with an immortal King, as
they who are not only virgins in body, but,
moreover, with equal inviolability have protected
themselves, both in tongue and thought, from
wickedness ; and these, it shows, shall dwell in
rejoicing for ever with the Lamb.

FROM THE TWENTY- FIRST AND TWENTY-SECOND
CHAPTERS.

16. "And the city is placed in a square."]
The city which he says is squared, he says also
is resplendent with gold and precious stones,
and has a sacred street, and a river through the
midst of it, and the tree of life on either side,
bearing twelve manner of fruits throughout the
twelve months ; and that the light of the sun is
not there, because the Lamb is the light of it ;
and that its gates were of single pearls ; and
that there were three gates on each of the four
sides, and that they could not be shut. I say,
in respect of the square city, he shows forth
the united multitude of the saints, in whom the
faith could by no means waver. As Noah is
commanded to make the ark of squared beams,^
that it might resist the force of the deluge, by
the precious stones he sets forth the holy men
who cannot waver in persecution, who could
not be moved either by the tempest of perse-
cutors, or be dissolved from the true faith by the
force of the rain, because they are associated of
pure gold, of whom the city of the great King
is adorned. Moreover, the streets set forth their
hearts purified from all uncleanness, transparent
with glowing light, that the Lord may justly walk
up and down in them. The river of life sets
forth that the grace of spiritual doctrine flowed
through the minds of the faithful, and that mani-
fold flourishing forms of odours germinated there-
in. The tree of life on either bank sets forth
the Advent of Christ, according to the flesh,
who satisfied the peoples wasted with famine,
ihat received life from One by the wood of the
Cross, with the announcement of God's word.
And /// that he says that the sun is not necessary
in the city, he shows, evidently, that the Creator
as the immaculate light shines in the midst of it,
whose brightness no mind has been able to con-
ceive, nor tongue to tell.

In that he says there are three gates placed
on each of the four sides, of single pearls, I think
that these are the four virtues,'' to wit, prudence,
fortitude, justice, temperance, which are asso-
ciated with one another. And, being involved

J Gen. vi. 14, LXX.

* [Called \}[\e. philosophical virtues.

Vol. ii. note 7, p. 502.]

36o

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.

together, they make the number twelve. But
the twelve gates we believe to be the number
of the apostles, who, shining in the four virtues
as precious stones, manifesting the light of their
doctrine among the saints, cause it to enter the
celestial city, that by intercourse with them the
choir of angels may be gladdened. And that
the gates cannot be shut, it is evidently shown
that the doctrine of the apostles can be sepa-
rated from rectitude by no tempest of contradic-
tion. Even though the floods of the nations
and the vain superstitions of heretics should re-
volt against their true faith, they are overcome,
and shall be dissolved as the foam, because Christ

is the Rock ' by which, and on which, the Church
is founded. 2 And thus it is overcome by no
traces of maddened men. Therefore they are
not to be heard who assure themselves that there
is to be an earthly reign of a thousand years ; who
think, that is to say, with the heretic Cerinthus.'
For the kingdom of Christ is now eternal in the
saints, although the glory of the saints shall be
manifested after the resurrection.

' [From a Western theologian of the date of our author. This is
emphatic. J

^ [Compare vol. v. p. 561, Elucidation VII.]

3 [Here is evidence that Cerinthus (see vol. i. 351, 352) and
other heretics had disgusted the Church even with the less carnal
views of the Millenium entertained by the better " Chiliasts," such as
Commodian. See vol. iv. pp. 212 and 218. J

GENERAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

1. The whole subject of the Apocalypse is so treated,' in the
Speaker's Commentary, as to elucidate many questions suggested
by the primitive commentators of this series, and to furnish the latest
judgments of critics on the subject. It is so immense a matter, how-
ever, as to render annotations on patristic specialties impossible in
a work like this. Every reader must feel how apposite is the senten-
tious saying of Augustine: " Apocalypsis Joannis tot habet sacra-
menta quot verba."

2. The seven spirits, p. 344, ver. 4. That is, the one Spirit in
His seven-fold gifts. He now fulfils the promise of Christ, " He shall
show you things to come." Without this complement the Church
would lack assurance that her great Head upon the throne has ordered
and limited the whole course of this world for her conflicts and her
final triumph by the Spirit's power. St. John's rapture was the
Spirit's work: " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."^ The whole
Apocalypse is an Easter sermon (on the text, i. 18) and an Easter
song (vers, g-14, and passim). It supplements the appearances of
the risen Redeemer for identification, by a manifestation, which is
the Church's assuranceof His^/(;r/)f(rt/'w«,andof His perpetual work
m her and for her, as well as of His presence with her, by the Spirit.

3. Seven golden candlesticks, p. 344, ver 12. The symbol of
the seven-fold Spirit in the Church. On the Arch of Titus this sym-
bol had just been set up as proof of its removal from the Mosaic
Church. It is now found to be transferred to the " seven churches,"
a symbol of the Catholic Church ^ or " the communion of saints."
The threatening of removal from particular churches derives force
from the (then) recent removal out of Jerusalem.

4. All the saints shall assemble, p. 345, ver. 15. Our author
clings to the purer Chiliasm of Commodian, to which Augustine had
now given the death-blow by his famous retractation.''

5. Netu forms 0/ prophesying, p. 347, ver. 17. A retrospective
glance at Montanism, and a caveat against the mistakes of Tertullian.

6. / ivill vomit thee, p. 347, ver. 17. Bishop Wordsworth sug-
gests, that, if the canon of Scripture compiled by the church of Lao-
dicea lacks the Apocalypse, its terrible reproof of that church may
have influenced its unwillingness to accept it. Accordingly she was
vomited, and perished in the Saracen invasion.

7. That is the Spirit, p. 348, ver. i. Christ's divine nature as
distinguished from his flesh. 5 " In a word," s.iys Professor Milligan,*
" TTi'euji.a is a short expression for our Lord's resurrection state. "
A truth, but based on the distinction between the flesh of Christ and
His spiritual nature as the Word. See Tertullian,' vol. iii. p. 609,
note 5, and p. 610, note 5; also 2 Cor. iii. 17-18

8. The genealogy 0/ Mary, p. 348, vers. 7-10. It is remarkable
that St. Matthew should be credited with this, and not St. Luke,
who in the sixteenth century * began to be regarded as giving the
ancestry of Mary. See Africanus 9 on the subject, and my elucida-
tion,'" in which I followed Wordsworth. Though I had already pre-
pared the pages of Victorinus for the press, I failed to note at that
time this modification of the general truth, that antiquity regards
both genealogies as those of Joseph.

9. Dan himself, p. 349, ver. 8. Here is a touch of Chiliasm
again, i.e., of the better sort. Even Dan is promised a restoration:
and the use of Gen. xlix. 16 for that intent is noteworthy, as compared
with Rev. vii. 5-8, where Dan is omitted. Hut Hippolytus takes a
very different view of the same text."

' By William Lee, D.D., archdeacon of Dublin.

* The Lord's day is here the Paschal feast, " the Great Sunday,"
probably. See Eichhorn in Rosenmiiller, Scholia, torn. y. p. 626.

^ P. 345, sec. 16.

* Civ. Dei, xx. cap. 7, p. 667, ed. Migne.
S See vol. iii. note 5, pp. 624, 630.

* m supra, p. 249, note 15.

' See Kaye's Tertullian, p. 530, for a brief comment on this and
its supposed scriptural base.

' Virtually in the fifteenth, as Annius published his theory in
1502, and wrote, no doubt, before that century began. Vol. vi. p. 139.
9 Vol. vi. p. 126, this series.
'^ Vol. vi. p. 139.
" ^'->! V n -v>f. this saries.

10. Hades, p. 351. "A region withdrawn from punishment and
fires,'' says our author. He identifies it with paradise, and shows
that in his day the Latin churches knew of no purgatorial fires.
He knows of nothing but a place for those " who die in the Lord,"
and a place for the wicked. It is perpetually overlooked, that, in the
fiction of " purgatory," it is only the righteous who are entitled to it;
none but those dying in full communion with the Church having any
portion in it, or any title to Masses for their repose. Of all this our
author had no conception. '^

11. To take the book and eat it up, p. 353, ver. 10. We must
not fail to note with this the passage Jer. xv. 16, where the Revised
Version pedantically sacrifices the Septuagint reading, 6 A070? croi ,
(which is followed by the Vulgate), distinguishing " sermones tui " from
" Verbum tuum." The Seventy have testified to this distinction in
their day, and their copies of the Hebrew must have supported it.
So understood, what riches in the text of Jeremiah!

12. Thessalonians, p. 354, ver. 7. On which much that is sug-
gestive is said by St. Augustine, though he confesses, concerning
what St. Paul had said to the Thessalonians, " Ego prorsus quid
dixerit me fateor ignorare." See De Civ. Dei, lib. xx. cap. 19, p.
685, ed. Migne.

13. The woman, p. 355, ver. i. Compare vol. vi. p. 337, note 4,
and Elucidation II. p. 355. It is quite important to observe the voice
of antiquity on a matter which, in our own times, has been made a
stumbling-block to souls by a wanton, personal act of the Bishop
of Rome and his dogma of " Immaculate Conception."

14. The hope of those that sleep, p. 355, ver. i. To make our
author consistent with himself (see note 10, j?</rrt), we should read
thus: " But they have in their darkness a light (some think) such as
the moon." Here, however, it seems to me, he is giving his mind
to " the Church of fathers and prophets " exclusively, in which its
" saints and apostles " were for a time waiting and looking for the Man-
child. Even that Church of the Hebrews had, in Hades, light " like
that of the moon," where they reposed in Abraham's bosom; but
Christ removed them into a fairer region, i.e., Paradise, when He
illuminated Hades, and then became " the first-fruits of them that
slept." Such seems to be the sense.

15. hi a certain Greek codex, p. 357, ver. 18. Can a.vTi[xo<;
here be a reference to Anthemius, of the kindred of Julian {d. a.d.
472)? His history, mixed up with that of Ricimer, connects with
Genseric, who died a.d. 477.

16. Sea of the north, p. 358, ver. 11. The Mediterranean, near
Mount Carmel, is "the .sea of Phcenice," i suppose; but how the
Arabian Gulf can be called the sea of the north, I do not com-
prehend. As Routh says, the manuscripts must have been much
corrupted.

17. Two resjtrrections, p. 359, ver. 5. Here our author, who is
supposed to be the contemporary of St. Augustine, accepts his final
judgment.'^ But Victorinus was a Chiliast of the better sort, accord-
ing to St. Jerome. This confirms the corruption of the MSS. In-
deed, if the Victorinus mentioned by Jerome be the same as our
author, the mention of Genseric proves the subsequent interpolation
of his works.

18. It is evident that the fragment which is here preserved, if, in-
deed, it be the work of Caius Marius Victorinus, surnamed Afer, is
full of the corrections of some pious disciple of St. Augustine who
lived much later. The reader must consult Lardner,'* and compare
Routh, whose notes on this treatise are indeed few. He does not
think the reference to abbots '5 of any consequence in determining its
age, because he finds albatorum elsewhere sustained as the true
re.iding, i.e., those " made white in the blood of the Lamb." But
the great probability that there were two authors of the name living
in diflerent ages seems more than suspected by the learned. Dupin,
who calls him Marius without the Caius (changed to Fabius by the
English translator) , leaves one yet more in a mist as to the identity
of our author with the one he writes about.

" Compare vol. iii. p. 428, Elucidation VIII.

' ' See p. 360, note 2.

■* Credib., vol. iv. p. 254.

"' " tA-X nof *> <■»**»'«

DIONYSIUS.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

DIONYSIUS. BISHOP OF ROME.

[a.d. 259-269.] Dionysius is no exception to the rule that Latin Christianity had no place
in Rome till after the Nicene Council. He was a Greek by birth, and reflects the spirit and
orthodoxy of the Greek Fathers ; and what we have from him is written in the Greek language.
We find it in Athanasius, where, remarks Waterland," its genuineness cannot be suspected, because
" Athanasius did not entirely approve of it, and would certainly never have forged an interpreta-
tion different from his own." He concurred with the Easterns in the discipline of Paul of
Samosata. Waterland says of the following fragment : " // is of admirable use for showing the
doctrine of the Trinity as professed by the Church of Christ at that time."

The purely receptive character of the Roman See during the Ante-Nicene period must be
sufficiently apparent to the possessors of the volumes of this series. Until after the Council of
Nice, as a Roman pontiff has testified, she was unfelt in the churches as a teaching church.^
Irenaeus has justly stated her case : as the focus of the empire, she was the natural centre of
exchange and social commerce among all nations. Thither all Christians converged, and there at
all times might be found representatives of all the churches, — those of Gaul and Britain ; those of
Asia Minor and Syria; those of Alexandria and Egypt ; those of North Africa, where Latin Chris-
tianity had begun to exist, and where it had reached a vigorous maturity at the Nicene period.
Hence, from all these churches came into Rome a Catholic testimony, which was thus preserved
at the metropolis by the pressure from without.

This is the fact which gives importance to the earliest dogmatic testimony proceeding from
the See of Rome.^ Dionysius has the great distinction of sustaining the orthodoxy which Hip-
polytus and other comprovincial bishops had established against the heresy of two of his prede-
cessors ; and this little essay, embedded in the works of Athanasius, comes forth as a genuine
"bee" out of his precious amber, sweet with the honey of truth, and pungent with the sting of an
acute and piercing testimony against error.

For the necessary preface to this essay or synodical letter, the reader must turn to the history
of Dionysius of Alexandria, surnamed the Great, and to the letters he wrote to his namesake of
Rome.'* For a complete view of the whole matter, and for the originals of both these great prel-
ates, the student will not fail to consult Routh.s Athanasius, the touchstone of orthodoxy, does
not altogether commend the idioms of either ; but he sustains the essential orthodoxy of both
with that vast sweep of genius which could insist upon Nicene idioms after the council, but sus-
tain those who, in defective language, fought previously for essential truth.

' Works, vol. iii. p. 318.

^ Vol. iv. p. 170, this series. Compare Irenaeus, vol. i. pp. 415-460, this series.

3 Novatian (vol. v. p. 607, this series) must not be overlooked, but he is valued merely as a personal witness.

* See pp. 78 and 92, vol. vi., this series.

5 Religu. Sac, vol. iii. pp. 221-250.

364 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

For a just view of Novatian and of the orthodoxy of Rome in the times of Dionysius, as that
unhappy but competent witness sets it forth, the reader would do well to consult Dr. Waterland.'
For a vindication of the Alexandrian Dionysius, to whom his contemporaries gave the surname
Magnus, see the same lucid expounder of antiquity.^ For a sententious statement of the sub-
ordiriation of the Son, on which so much hinges in these inquiries, consult the same theologian.^

I might have suffixed this essay to the works of the great Dionysius but for several important
considerations : ( i ) I was glad to give due prominence to this exceptional voice from old Rome,
and to place Dionysius with due dignity before the reader; (2) as the Bishop of Rome was with-
out a hearing at Nicsea, I was anxious to show what good Sylvester would have said had he been
able to attend the council ; (3) I was not willing, therefore, to hide this writer's light under the
bushel of the pages devoted to the Alexandrian school ; (4) I was anxious to close this impor-
tant volume by a just exhibition of the Ante-Nicene doctrine, previous to the compilation of the
Great Symbol; (5) I considered it judicious to elucidate Dionysius by the doctrines of Atha-
nasius, to whom we owe the preservation of the fragment itself; and (6) I felt that here was the
place to record the "Athanasian Confession" (so called), which, apocryphal though it be, as a
" creed " under his name is allowed to embody the principles for which the whole life of Athana-
sius was a contest unparalleled in the history of Christianity.

» Works, voL iii. pp. 57, 119, 139, 214, 274, 454-459. » lb., pp. 43, iii, 274. 3 Works, iii. p. 23.

AGAINST THE SABELLIANS.^

1. Now truly it would be just to dispute against
those who, by dividing and rending the mon-
archy, which is the most august announcement
of the Church of God, into, as it were, three
powers, and distinct substances {hypostases), and
three deities, destroy it.^ For I have heard that
some who preach and teach the word of God
among you are teachers of this opinion, who in-
deed diametrically, so to speak, are opposed to
the opinion of Sabellius. For he blasphemes in
saying that the Son Himself is the Father, and
vice versa ; but these in a certain manner an-
nounce three gods, in that they divide the holy
unity into three different substances, absolutely
separated from one another. For it is essential
that the Divine Word should be united to the
God of all, and that the Holy Spirit should abide
and dwell in God ; and thus that the Divine
Trinity should be reduced and gathered into one,
as if into a certain head — that is, into the om-
nipotent God of all. For the doctrine of the
foolish Marcion, which cuts and divides the
monarchy into three elements, is assuredly of
the devil,' and is not of Christ's true disciples, or
of those to whom the Saviour's teaching is agree-
able. For these indeed rightly know that the
Trinity is declared in the divine Scripture, but
that the doctrine that there are three gods is
neither taught in the Old nor in the New Testa-
ment.

2. But neither are they less to be blamed who
think that the Son was a creation, and decided
that the Lord 'was made just as one of those
things which really were made ; whereas the di-
vine declarations testify that He was begotten,
as is fitting and proper, but not that He was
created or made. It is therefore not a trifling,
but a very great impiety, to say that the Lord
was in any wise made with hands. For if the
Son was made, there was a time when He was
not ; but He always was, if, as He Himself de-
clares,^ He is undoubtedly in the Father. And
if Christ is the Word, the Wisdom, and the

' A fragment of an epistle or treatise of Dionysius, bishop of
Rome. [From the epistle of St. Athanasius, De Decretis Nicien<t
Synodic cap. xxvi. p 231, ed. Benedict.]

2 Athan., Ep. de dccrei. Nic. Syn., 4. 26.

^ John xiv. 11. [See vol. v. Elucidation V. p. 156.]

Power, — for the divine writings tell us that
Christ is these, as ye yourselves know, — assur-
edly these are powers of God. Wherefore, if the
Son was made, there was a time when these were
not in existence ; "* and thus there was a time
when God was without these things, which is
utterly absurd. But why should I discourse at
greater length to you about these matters, since
ye are men filled with the Spirit, and especially
understanding what absurd results follow from
the opinion which asserts that the Son was made ?
The leaders of this view seem to me to have
given very little heed to these things, and for
that reason to have strayed absolutely, by ex-
plaining the passage otherwise than as the divine
and prophetic Scripture demands. " The Lord
created me the beginning of His ways." 5 For,
as ye know, there is more than one signification
of the word " created ; " and in this place "cre-
ated " is the same as " set over " the works made
by Himself — made, I say, by the Son Himself.
But this " created " is not to be understood in
the same manner as " made." For to make and
to create are different from one another. " Is
not He Himself thy Father, that hath possessed
thee and created thee?"^ says Moses in the
great song of Deuteronomy. And thus might
any one reasonably convict these men. Oh
reckless and rash men ! was then " the first-born
of every creature " ^ something made? — "He
who was begotten from the womb before the
morning star ? " ^ — He who in the person of Wis-
dom says, " Before all the hills He begot me?" 9
Finally, any one may read in many parts of the
divine utterances that the Son is said to have
been begotten, but never that He was made.
From which considerations, they who dare to
say that His divine and inexplicable generation
was a creation, are openly convicted of thinking
that which is false concerning the generation of
the Lord.

3. That admirable and divine unity, therefore,

* [He quotes the formula, afterwards notorious, t\v ore ovk 3».J
5 Prov. viii. 22.
^ Deut. xxxii. 6.

7 Col. i. 15. [See vol. v. Elucidation XI. p. 15^'

8 Ps. ex. 3, LXX.

9 Prov. viii. 25.

366

ELUCIDATIONS.

must neither be separated into three divinities,
nor must the dignity and eminent greatness of
the Lord be diminished by having applied to it
the name of creation, but we must beheve on
God the Father Omnipotent, and on Christ Jesus
His Son, and on the Holy Spirit. Moreover,
that the Word is united to the God of all, be-

cause He says, " I and the Father are one ; " '
and, " I am in the Father, and the Father is in
Me." ^ Thus doubtless will be maintained in its
integrity the doctrine of the divine Trinity, and
the sacred announcement of the monarchy.

' John X. 30.
* John xiv. 10.

ELUCIDATIONS.

The Confession, improperly called " the Creed of Athanasius," is acknowledged to embody
the (Athanasian) doctrine of the Nicene Council ; and I append it here as an index to the state
of theology at the period which is the limit of our series. Nothing is properly a " creed " which
has never been accepted as such by the whole Church, and the Greeks knew no other creed
than that called Nicene. The Anglo-American Church has ceased to recite this Confession in
public worship, but does not depart from it as doctrine. The "Reformed " communion in Amer-
ica ' retains it among her liturgical forms, and I suppose the same is true of the Lutherans. It
is a Western Confession, and, like the Te Deum, is a hymn rather than a symbol, though breathing
the spirit of the Creed.

Usher adopts a.d. 447 as its date, and Beveridge assigns it to the fourth century. Dupin gives
it a later origin than Usher, and a considerable number of eminent authorities agree with him in
the date a.d. 484.

What are called the anathemas are the enacting clauses (so to speak), and, like the same in
the Nicene Creed, may be regarded as no part of the Confession itself. If they have disappeared
from the Great Symbol itself, as unsuitable to liturgical recitation, why not apply the same rule
here ?

CONFESSION OF OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH, COMMONLY CALLED THE CREED OF

ST. ATHANASIUS.

Quicunque vult.

\ Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith.

Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled : without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the Catholick Faith is this : That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ;

Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son : and another of the Holy Ghost.

But the God-head of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one : the Glory equal, the Majesty
co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son : and such is the Holy Ghost.

The Father un-create, the Son un-create : and the Holy Ghost un-create.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible : and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal : and the Holy Ghost eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals : but one eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three un-created : but one un-created, and one incompre-
hensible.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty : and the Holy Ghost Almighty.

» Commonly called " the Dutch Church; " i.e., the Church of Holland.

ELUCIDATIONS. 367

And yet they are not three Almighties: but one Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God : and the Holy Ghost is God.
And yet they are not three Gods : but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord : and the Holy Ghost is Lord.
And yet not three Lords : but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity : to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God
and Lord ;

So we are forbidden by the Catholick Religion : to say, there be three Gods, or three Lords.
The Father is made of none : neither created, nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone : not made, nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son: ' neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers ; one Son, not three Sons : one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.
And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other : none is greater, or less than another ;
But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together : and co-equal.

So that in all things, as is aforesaid : the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped.
IT I/e therefore that -will be saved: must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation : that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our
Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess : that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and
Man ;

God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds : and Man, of the Substance of His Mother,
born in the world ;

Perfect God, and perfect Man : of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting ;

Equal to the Father, as touching His God-head ■ and inferior to the Father, as touching His Manhood.

Who although He be God and Man : yet He is not two, but one Christ;

One ; not by conversion of the God-head into flesh : but by taking of the Manhood into God ;

One altogether ; not by confusion of Substance : but by unity of Person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man : so God and Man is one Christ ;

Who suffered for our Salvation : descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead.

He ascended into heaven. He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty : from whence He shall
come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies : and shall give account for their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting : and they that have done evil into everlasting
fire.

Tf This is the Catholick Faith : which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

II.

It is with regret th^t I am forced to take exception to the most useful Ecclesiastical History
of the learned Professor Schaff, in this connection. I quote from that work * as follows : —

" He, Dionysius, maintained distinctly, in (a) controversy with Dionysius of Alexandria, at
once the unity of essence and the real personal distinction, etc., . . . and avoided tritheism,
Sabellianism, and {b) subordinationism, with the instinct of orthodoxy, and also with the art of
anathematizing, (r) already familiar to {d) the popes."

Such a paragraph must convey to the youthful student a great confusion of ideas ; all the
greater, because the same valuable work elsewhere invites him to conclusions quite the reverse.
Thus, {a) there was no controversy whatever between the two Dionysii ; with a holy jealousy they
entered into fraternal explanations of the same trath, held by each, but by neither very techni-
cally elucidated. The mere reader would probably infer that the greater of the two was guilty of
tritheism or Sabellianism, although that is not the meaning of these unguarded expressions. But
((^) the "subordinationism " which he repudiated was the doctrine of the subjection of the Son, not
of the subordination, which orthodoxy has always maintained. Again, (t ) I see no such " anathe-

' The words italicized have never been accepted by the whole Church. * Vol. ii. p. 570.

i68 ELUCIDATIONS.

matizing " in the letter of Dionysius as is here charged ; indeed, it contains no anathema ' what-
ever, much less the artificial cursing of the Papacy which is thus assumed. And last, {d) what
can be meant by the expression, "already familiar to the popes ? " The learned pages of the same
author sufificiently prove that there were no such things ^ as " popes " till a much later period of
history; and, as to the "art of anathematizing," if it existed at all in those days, we find it much
more freely exemplified by the Greek Fathers than by bishops of Rome. I say, tf it existed at all,
because the primitive anathema was a purely scriptural enforcement of St. Paul's great canon
(Gal. i. 8, 9) ; while the " art of anathematizing," so justly credited to " the popes," was a vindic-
tive and monstrous assertion, at a later date, of prerogatives which they impiously arrogated to
themselves, against other churches.

' " Culpandi &\mX." is quite strong enough for the original, KaTafJiiii^ioiTo. Routh, R. S., iii. p. 374.
* The word existed, but then, and long afterwards, was universally applied to all bishops.

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

The interest so generally excited in the learned world by the (" Bryennios ") discovery of a
very primitive document, rendered it indispensable that this republication should be enriched by
it, in connection with i\\Q Apostolic Constitutions (so called), which had been reserved for the
concluding volume of the series. The critics were greatly divided as to the genuineness of
the Bryennios MS. ; and, in order to gain time, I had relegated the Constitutions, with this
document as its sequel or its preface, to a place with the Apocrypha. Dissatisfied with my own
impressions and conjectures, I soon decided that the task of editing the Teaching, as the
Bryennios document is entitled, must be entrusted to an " expert," and that, if possible, it should
be taken in hand with the Constitutions. In order to give sufficient time, I entrusted the task,
a year ago, to the well-qualified head and hands of Professor Riddle of Hartford, who most
kindly accepted my proposals, and who now enables me to present his completed work to the
public with the volume to which it properly belongs. It will be hailed by literary men generally
as a timely reviewal of the whole subject, nor should I be surprised to find Dr. Riddle's estimate
of the Teaching accepted as the most important contribution yet made to the literature of
inquiry touching its worth and character. Appearing, as it does in this place, in close relations
with the Constitutions, and with the editorial comparisons so felicitously introduced by the
learned annotator, the student will find himself in a position to weigh and to decide for himself
all the questions that have been raised in previous examinations of the case. Without risking
any judgment of my own upon the decisions which have been reached by Dr. Riddle in the
exercise of his great critical skill, I cannot withhold an expression of gratitude for the impartiality
and scientific conscientiousness with which he has handled the matter. Uninfluenced by prepos-
sessions, he presents the case with judicial calmness and with due consideration of what others
have suggested. I am gratified to find that impressions of my own are strengthened by his
conclusions. In an early notice of the Bryennios discovery, contributed to a leading publication,
I stated my surmise that the Teaching, and its parallels in the Constitutions and other primitive
writings, would prove to be based upon some original document, common to all. Even Lactantius,
in his Institutes, shapes his instructions to Constantine by the Duce Vice, which seem to have been
formulated in the earliest ages for the training of catechumens. The elementary nature and the
" childishness " of the work are thus accounted for, and I am sure that the " mystagogic " teaching
of Cyril receives light from this view of the matter. This work was " food for lambs : " it was
not meant to meet the wants of those " of full age." It may prove, as Dr. Riddle hints, that the
Teaching as we have it, in the Bryennios document, is tainted by the views of some nascent
sect or heresy, or by the incompetency of some obscure local church as yet unvisited by learned
teachers and evangelists. It seems to me not improbably influenced by views of the charismata,
which ripened into Montanism, and which are illustrated by the warnings and admonitions of
Hermas.'

' The reader has observed that all my notes, except the " General Notes," are bracketed when they illustrate any other text except that
of my own original prefaces, elucidations, etc. Tiiis rule will apply to Professor Riddle's work, as well as to that of the Edinburgh trans-
lator's.

572 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY PROFESSOR M. B. RIDDLE, D.D.

SECTION I. — THE DISCOVERY OF THE CODEX, AND ITS CONTENTS.

In 1873 Philotheos Bryennios, then Head Master of the higher Greek school at Constantino-
ple, but now Metropolitan of Nicomedia, discovered a remarkable collection of manuscripts in the
library of the Jerusalem Monastery of the Most Holy Sepulchre at Constantinople. This col-
lection is bound in one volume, and written by the same hand. It is signed " Leon, notary and
sinner," and bears the Greek date of 6564 = a.d. 1056. There is no reason to doubt the age
of the manuscripts. The documents have been examined by Professor Albert L. Long of Robert
College, Constantinople ; ' and some of the pages, reproduced by photography, were published by
the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, April, 1885. The jealousy of its guardians does not
imply any lack of confidence in the age and value of the Codex. The contents of the 120 folios
(240 pp.) are as follows : —
I. Synopsis of the Old and New Testaments, by St. Chrysostom (fol. 1-32).
n. The Epistle of Barnabas (fol. 33-5 1<^).
in. The two Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians (fol. ^id-'j6a).
IV. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (fol. 76^-80).
V. The Epistle of Mary of Cassoboli to Ignatius (fol. 8i-82<j).
VI. Twelve Epistles of Ignatius (fol. 82a-i2oa).

The last part of fol. 1 20a contains the signature and date ; then follows an account of the
genealogy of Joseph, continued on the other page of the leaf.

Schaff (p. 6) gives a facsimile of fol. 120a.

Of these, I. supplies some unpublished portions, and furnishes matter for textual criticism.
II. gives the second Greek copy of Barnabas, also furnishing new readings. III. is very valuable ;
the text of both Epistles is now complete. Two-fifths of that of the second was previously
unknown.^ The value for purposes of textual criticism is also great. IV. is the Teaching, the
value of which is discussed below. V. and VI. both belong to the Ignatian literature, and furnish
new readings, which have already appeared in the editions of Funk ( Opera Pair. Apost., ii., Tubin-
gen, 1881) and Lightfoot {Episiies of St. Ignatius, London and Cambridge, 1885).

SECTION 2.— PUBLICATION OF THE DISCOVERED WORKS: THE EFFECT.

In 1875 Bryennios, who had been chosen Metropolitan of Serrae during his absence at the
Old Catholic conference in Bonn, published at Constantinople the two Epistles of Clement, with
prolegomena and notes ; giving the text found in the Jerusalem Codex, as he termed it. All
patristic scholars welcomed his work, which bore every mark of care and learning ; showing the
results of his contact, as a student, with German methods. Bishop Lightfoot and many others at
once made use of this new material. The remaining contents of the Codex were named in the
volume of Bryennios, and some interest awakened by the mention of the Teaching. The learned
Metropolitan furnished new readings from other parts of the Codex to German scholars. At the
close of 1883 he published in Constantinople the text of the Teaching, with prolegomena and
notes. A copy of the volume was received in Germany in January, 1 884 ; was translated into
German, and published Feb. 3, 1884; translated from German into English, and published in

' See New- York htdcpcndetU, July 31, 1884. * Sc« this volume, infra, the Second Epistle of Clement, so called.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 373

America, Feb. 28, 1884; Archdeacon Farrar published (^Contemporary Revie^a) a version from
the Greek in May, 1884. Before the close of the year the literature on the subject, exclusive of
newspaper articles, covered fifty titles (given by Schaff) in Western Europe and America.'

SECTION 3. — CONTENTS OF TEACHING, AND RELATION TO OTHER WORKS.

In the Babel of conflicting opinions, it is best to notice first the obvious internal phenomena.
The first part of the Teaching (now distinguished as chaps, i.-vi.) sets forth the duty of the
Christian ; in chaps, vii.-x., xiv., we find a directory for worship ; chaps, xi.-xiii., xv., give advice
respecting church officers, extraordinary and local, and the reception of Christians ; the closing
:hapter (xvi.) enjoins watchfulness in view of the coming of Christ, which is then described.

The amount of matter is not so great as that of the Sermon on the Mount.

The peculiarities of language are marked, but can only be indicated here in footnotes. They
point to a period of transition from New-Testament usage to that of ecclesiastical Greek. The
citations from the Scriptures resemble those of the Apostolic Fathers. The Gospel of Matthew
IS most frequently used, especially chaps, v.-vii. and xxiv. ; but some of the passages fairly imply
a knowledge of the Gospel of Luke. There are some remarkable correspondences with expres-
sions and thoughts found in the Gospel of John, while there is good reason for inferring the
writer's acquaintance with all the groups of Pauline Epistles. His allusions to the other New-
Testament books are less marked. There is nothing to prove that he did not know all of our
canonical books. If an early date is accepted, the tone of the whole opposes the tendency-
theory of the Tubingen school.

The most striking internal phenomena are, however, the correspondences of this document
with early Christian writings, from a.d. 125 to the fourth century. With the so-called Epistle to
Barnabas, chaps, xviii.-xx., the resemblances are so marked as to demand a critical theory which
can account for them. A few passages in the Shepherd of Hernias show some resemblance ; but
only two sentences, in Commandment Second, are verbally the same. There is a still greater
agreement with the so-called Apostolical Church Order, of Egyptian origin, probably as old as
the third century. It is now known in the Coptic (Memphitic), and also in Arabic and Greek.*
The first thirteen canons correspond quite closely, both in order and words, with chaps, i.-iv.
of the Teaching.

Most noteworthy, however, is the parallel with the Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 1-32, which
contain more than half the Teaching, in precisely the same order, with very close verbal resem-
blances. The parts omitted are in most cases such as had lost their pertinence in the fourth
century, while they seem appropriate to a much earlier period. The details will be found in the
footnotes to the Teaching in this volume. These phenomena have called forth voluminous dis-
cussions, and are the most important facts in determining the authenticity and age of the
Teaching.

SECTION 4. — AUTHENTICITY.

By this is meant, in this case, the substantial identity of the recently discovered document
with the work known and referred to by early Christian writers under the same (or a similar) title.
Of apostolic origin no one should presume to speak, since the text of the document makes no
such claim, and internal evidence is obviously against such a suggestion. On the other hand,
there is no reason for doubting the age of the Codex, or the accuracy of the edition published by
Bryennios.

Eusebius {d. 340) of Caesarea, in the famous passage of his history (iii. 25) which treats
of the canonical books of the New Testament, names among the "spurious " works (vo^ot) " the
so-called Teachings of the Apostles " (twv ciTroo-ToAwv at Acyd/i-tvai StSaxat). The plural form does

' See Bibliography at the close of vol. viii., this series.

2 The Chtircit Order ii to be distinguished from the Ethiopic collection of Apostolic canons; see Introductory Notice to Apostolic
Constitutions.

374 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

not forbid a reference to the work under discussion, since Athanasius {d. 373) has a notice clearly
pointing to the same writing, in which he uses the singular {Festal Epistle, 39). Rufinus {d.
410) speaks of a brief work called The Two Ways, or The judgment of Peter ; and this fact, in
view of the contents of the Teaching, furnishes one of the most important data for the critical
discussion. The last notice of the Teaching was made by Nicephorus {d. 828) more than
two hundred years before Leon made this copy. Clement of Alexandria {d. circa 216) and
Irenseus {mart. 20 i) use expressions that may indicate an acquaintance with this writing. The
more extended correspondences with Barnabas and later disciplinary works are noticed above
(sec. 3). The existence of an old Latin translation of the Teaching, of the tenth century, a
fragment of which has been preserved, furnishes general evidence to the authenticity of the Greek
copy, but by its variations suggests the presence of many textual corruptions. Its closer corre-
spondence with Barnabas has led to the theory that the translator used both documents. Others
suppose that its form points to a document which was the common source of the Greek form of
the Teaching and of Barnabas.

The various theories based on the above facts cannot even be stated. The following positions
seem, on the whole, most tenable : —

1 . The Greek Codex presents substantially the writing referred to by Eusebius and Athanasius.

2. Owing to an absence of other copies, we cannot determine the purity of the text ; but there
is every probability of many minor corruptions.

3. This probability calls for care that we do not infer too much from verbal resemblances.

4. The resemblances to book vii.. Apostolic Constitutions, are, however, of such a character
as establish, not only a literary connection between the two works, but also the priority of the
Teaching.

5. In the case of Barnabas, the resemblances can be accounted for {a) by accepting the priority
of the Teaching, or {d) by assuming a common (earlier and unknown) source, or {c) by accept-
ing the priority of Barnabas, and assuming such corruptions in the Greek copy of the Teachifig
as will account for the supposed marks of its priority. Despite the general adoption of (a), there
remains a strong probability that {b) is the correct solution of the problem.

6. The DucB Vi^, spoken of by Rufinus, may be the common source. We have no positive
evidence, but the " two ways " form so prominent a topic in most of these documents which
indicate literary relationship, as to encourage this theory. If there was a common source, it
probably contained only matter similar to chaps, i.-v., which was variously used by the sub-
sequent compilers. Here a number of theories have been suggested.' None of them, however,
necessarily call for a very late date of the Teaching, or compel us to deny that Eusebius and
Athanasius referred to substantially the same work as that now existing in the Codex at Constanti-
nople. Many resemblances have been noticed in other works. Probably in the course of a few
years all the data will have been collected, and a well-defined result based upon them. But, even
in this period of discussion, there is remarkable agreement among critics in regard to the main
question of authenticity.

SECTION 5. — TIME AND PLACE OF COMPOSITION.

Granting the general authenticity of the Greek work, the time of composition must be at least
28 early as the first half of the second century. If the Teaching is older than Barnabas, then it
cannot be later than a.d. i 20. If both are from a common source, the interval of time was prob-
ably not very great. ^ The document itself l)ears many marks of an early date : —

(i) Its simplicity, almost amounting to childishness, not only discountenances all idea of

' Compare the detailed discussions of Harnack, Holt^mann, Warfield, and most recently McGiffert, Andover Review, yol. v. pp
430-442.

' For the various dates, see p. 37J.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 375

forgery, but points to the sub-apostolic age, during which Christianity manifested this character-
istic. The fact is an important one in the discussion of the canon of the New Testament.

(2) The undeveloped Christian thought, as well as the indications of undeveloped heresy,'
confirms this position. Christianity was at first a life, for which the Apostles furnished a basis of
revealed thought. But the Christians of the sub-apostolic age had not consciously assimilated
the thought to any large extent, while their ethical striving was stimulated by the gross sins sur-
rounding them.^

(3) The Church polity indicated in the Teaching is less developed than that of the genuine
Ignatian Epistles, and shows the existence of extraordinary travelling teachers ( " Apostles " and

," Prophets," chap. xi.). This points to a date not later than the first half of the second century,
probably as early as the first quarter.^

Most of these phenomena would, however, consist with a date as late as that of the Ignatian
Epistles on the theory that the Teaching was written for a community of Christians in some
obscure locality. But this theory must admit that there existed for a long time great variety of
Church polity and worship.'' Of this there is, indeed, considerable evidence. The undeveloped
form of the doctrinal elements of the work constitutes the most serious objection to the theory of
a late origin. On the other hand, it seems on many accounts improbable that the work, in its
present form, was written earlier than the beginning of the second century: (i) Such a docu-
ment would not be penned during the lifetime of any of the Apostles. (2) There is no allusion
in chap. xvi. to the destruction of Jerusalem. If the author was a Jewish Christian, as seems
most probable, such silence implies an interval of at least one generation. (3) The position
of the document in the Codex is after the Clementine Epistles, and before the Ignatian. This
probably marks the chronological position. (4) The extreme simplicity scarcely consists with
the view that the author was nearly contemporary with the Apostles.

Bryennios and Harnack assign, as the date, between 120 and 160; Hilgenfeld, 160 and 190;
English and American scholars vary between a.d. 80 and 1 20. Until the priority to Barnabas is
more positively established, the two may be regarded as of the same age, about 1 20, although a
date slightly later is not impossible. All attempts to discover the author are, with our present
lack of data, necessarily futile. Even the region in and for which it was composed cannot be
determined. Jewish-Christian tendencies are not sufficiently indicated to warrant the assump-
tion of a polemical aim.s The document has been assigned to Alexandria, to Antioch, to
Jerusalem ; indeed, many other places have been named. In favour of the Syrian origin
is the literary connection with the Apostolic Constitutions, while the correspondences with the
Epistle to Barnabas suggest Egypt as the locality. If the Teaching and Barnabas have a com-
mon basis, e.g., the Duce Vice, the last may be assigned to Egypt, and the Teaching, in its
present form, to Syria. The Palestinian origin is urged by those who lay stress upon the absence
of Pauline doctrine in the Teaching. [If meant for catechumens only, this fact is sufficiently
accounted for.]

The question is still an open one.

As regards the doctrine, polity, usages, and ethics expressed and implied in the Teaching, the
reader can judge for himself The writer is of the opinion that the work represents, on many
of these points, only a very small fraction of the Christians during the second century, and that,
while it casts some light upon usages of that period, it cannot be regarded as an authoritative
witness concerning the universal faith and practice of believers at the date usually assigned to it.
The few notices of it, and its early disappearance, confirm this position. The theory of a com-
posite origin also accords with this estimate of the document as a whole.

' [Note this mark of a possibly corrupted source.]

^ [See Apostolic Fathers, /««/';«.]

^ [Compare Rev. ii. 2 and 9.]

* [In obscure regions such an admission is clearly consistent with apostolic experience. Compare i Cor. iv. 16, 17, xi. 34; Gal. iv. 9.]

- [Compare i John iv. i •. Titus i. 10.]

376 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

The version of the Teaching here given is that of Professor Isaac H. Hall and Mr. John T.
Napier, which first appeared in the Sunday-School Times (Philadelphia), April 12, 1884. It
is now republished by permission of the editor of that periodical and of the joint authors. A
few slight changes have been made, some of them in accordance with suggestions from Pro-
fessor Hall, others to indicate correspondences with book vii. of Apostolic Constitutions.

The division of verses agrees with that of Harnack as given by Schaff. The headings to the
chapters have been inserted by the editor. The Scripture references have been selected and
verified. The notes have been kept within narrow limits. They serve to indicate the relation
of the matter to that in other early writings, mainly the Apostolic Constitutions, and to give vari-
ous readings and renderings. Occasionally explanations and comments have been inserted. In
dealing with this, as with most other books, the best method of study is historico-exegetical.
To read the book intelligently is better than to read about it. The editor has sought to furnish
some help in this method.

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

THE LORD'S TEACHING THROUGH THE TWELVE APOSTLES TO THE NATIONS.'

CHAP. I. — THE TWO WAYS ; THE FIRST COM-
MANDMENT.

1 There are two ways,^ one of life and one
of death ; ^ but a great difference between the

2 two ways. The way of Hfe, then, is this : First,
thou shalt love God •* who made thee ; second,
thy neighbour as thyself; s and all things whatso-
ever thou wouldst should not occur to thee, thou

3 also to another do not do.^ And of these say-
ings 7 the teaching is this : Bless them that curse
you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for them
that persecute you.*^ For what thank is there,
if ye love them that love you ? Do not also the
Gentiles do the same? 9 But do ye love them
that hate you ; and ye shall not have an enemy. '°

4 Abstain thou from fleshly and worldly lusts." If
one give thee a blow upon thy right cheek, turn
to him the other also ; '^ and thou shalt be per-
fect. If one impress thee for one mile, go with
him two. '3 If one take away thy cloak, give him
also thy coat.'^ If one take from thee thine own,
ask it not back,'5 for indeed thou art not able.

5 Give to every one that asketh thee, and ask
it not back ; '^ for the Father willeth that to all

' The longer title is supposed to be the original one: the shorter,
a popular abridgment. The latter has no real connection with Acts
11. 42. Many hold that the term "nations" (or " Gentiles ") points
to a Jewish Christian as the author (so Bryennios), though this is
denied by others (so Brown). A similar diversity of opinTon exists
as to the class of readers; but, if the early date is accepted, the more
probable theory is, that the first part at least of the manual was for
the instruction of catediumens of Gentile birth (so Bryennios, Schaff;.
Others extend it to Gentile Christians.

2 This phrase connects the book with the Dua Vice ; see Intro-
ductory Notice. Barnabas has " light " and " darkness " for " life "
and " death."

3 Deut. x.\x. 15, 19; Jer. xxi. 8; Matt. vii. 13, 14.

* Comp. Deut. vi. 5, which is fully cited in Apostolic Co>istitu-
itons, vu. 2, though the verb here is more exactly cited from LXX.
5 Lev. XIX. 18; Matt. xxii. 37, 39. Comp. Mark xii. 30, 31.
o Comp. Tobit iv. 15; and Matt. vii. 12: Luke vi. 31.
' These Old-Testament commands are thus taught by the Lord.

8 Matt. v. 44. But the last clause is added, and is of unknown
origin; not found in Apostolic Constitutions.

9 Matt. v. 46, 47; Luke vi. 32. The two passages are combined.
'° So Apostolic Constitutions. Comp. i Pet. iii. 13.

" I Pet. ii. ii._ The Codex has aian<ni.K<uv, "bodily; " but editors
correct to xoo'/kiiKwi'.

'^ Matt. v. 39; Luke vi. 29.

" Matt. v. 41.

'■» Matt. V. 40; Luke vi. 29.

'5 _Luke vi. 30. The last clause is a peculiar addition; " art not
able," since thou art a Christian; otherwise it is a commonplace ob-
servation.

■& Luke vi. 30. The rest of the sentence is explained by the paral-
lel passage in Apostolic Constitutions, which cites Malt. v. 45.

should be given of our own blessings (free gifts).''
Happy is he that giveth according to the com-
mandment ; for he is guiltless. Woe to him that
receiveth ; for if one having need receiveth, he is
guiltless ; but he that -receiveth not having need,
shall pay the penalty, why he received and for
what, and, coming into straits (confinement),'*
he shall be examined concerning the things
which he hath done, and he shall not escape
thence until he pay back the last farthing.'^ But 6
also now concerning this, it hath been said, Let
thine alms sweat ^° in thy hands, until thou know
to whom thou shouldst give.

CHAP. 11.^' THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: GROSS

SIN FORBIDDEN.

And the second commandment of the Teach- i
ing ; Thou shalt not commit murder, thou shalt >
not commit adultery," thou shalt not commit
paederasty,^^ thou shalt not commit fornication,
thou shalt not steal,^-* thou shalt not practise
magic, thou shalt not practise witchcraft, thou
shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill
that which is begotten.^s Thou shalt not covet
the things of thy neighbour,^^ thou shalt not for- 3
swear thyself,^? thou shalt not bear false witness,'*
thou shalt not speak evil, thou shalt bear no
grudge.^9 Thou shalt not be double-minded nor 4
double-tongued ; for to be double-tongued is a

'7 Bryennios finds a parallel (or citation) in Hertnas, Command-
ment Second, p. 20, vol. ii. /I w^^-A'^/'cfnf Fathers. The remainder
of this chapter has no parallel in Apostolic Constitutio?is.

'8 Gr. iv <rvvo\y\. Probably = imprisonment; see next clause.

'9 Matt. V. 26.

2° Codex: iSpioTarw, which in this connection is unintelligible.
Bry^ennios corrects into iSpoj<raToi, rendered as above. There are
various other conjectural emendations. The verse probably forbids
indiscriminate charity, pointing to an early abuse of Christian liber-
ality.

2' The chapter, except this opening sentence and part of verse 7,
is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 2-5 ; but the precepts are
separated and enlarged upon.

^^ Ex. XX. 13, 14.

23 Or, " corrupt boys," as in the version of Apostolic Constitutions.

^* Ex. XX. 15.

25 Comp. Ex. xxi. 22, 23. The Codex reads ytvvr^divTa, which
Schaff renders " the new-born child." Bryennios substitutes yivvr\-
div, which is accepted by most editors, and rendered as above.

2*> Ex. XX. 17.

27 Matt. V. 34.

28 Ex. XX. 16.

29 Rendered "nor shalt thou be mindful of injuries" in version
of Apostolic Constitutions.

378

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

5 snare of death.' Thy speech shall not be false,

6 nor empty, but fulfilled by deed.^ Thou shalt
not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite,
nor evil disposed, nor haughty. Thou shalt not

7 take evil counsel against thy neighbour.^ Thou
shalt not hate any man ; but some thou shalt
reprove,-* and concerning some thou shalt pray,
and some thou shalt love more than thy own
hfe.5

CHAP. III.^ OTHER SINS FORBIDDEN.

1 My child, 7 flee from every evil thing, and from

2 every likeness of it. Be not prone to anger, for
anger leadeth the way to murder ; neither jeal-
ous, nor quarrelsome, nor of hot temper ; for

3 out of all these murders are engendered. My
child, be not a lustful one ; for lust leadeth the
way to fornication ; neither a filthy talker, nor
of lofty eye ; for out of all these adulteries are

4 engendered. My child, be not an observer of
omens, since it leadeth the way to idolatry ;
neither an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor a
purifier, nor be willing to look at these things ;

5 for out of all these idolatry is engendered. My
child, be not a liar, since a lie leadeth the way
to theft ; neither money-loving, nor vainglorious,

6 for out of all these thefts are engendered. My
child, be not a murmurer, since it leadeth the
way to blasphemy ; neither self-willed nor evil-
minded, for out of all these blasphemies are en-

7 gendered. But be thou meek, since the meek

8 shall inherit the earth.^ Be long-suffering and
pitiful and guileless and gentle and good and
always trembling at the words which thou hast

* heard.9 Thou shalt not exalt thyself,'° nor give
over-confidence to thy soul. Thy soul shall not
be joined with lofty ones, but with just and lowly

10 ones shall it have its intercourse. The workings
that befall thee receive as good, knowing that
apart from God nothing cometh to pass."

CHAP. IV.'

VARIOUS PRECEPTS.

My child, him that speaketh to thee the word
of God remember night and day ; and thou

' So Barnabas, xix.

2 Verse 5, except the first clause, occurs oiily here.

3 Latter half of verse 6 in Barnabas, xix.

* Lev. xix. 17; Apostolic Constitutions.

S Or, " soul." The last part of the clause is found in Barnabas;
but " and concerning some . . . pray, and some " has no parallel.
An interesting verse in its literary history.

* About one-half of the matter of this chapter is to be found, in
well-nigh the same order, scattered through Apostolic Constitutions,
vii. 6-8. The precepts are aimed at minor sins, and require no par-
ticular comment. This chapter has the largest number of Greek
words not found in the New I'estament.

7 The address " my child " does not occur in the parallel passages.

' Matt. V. 5.

9 Isa. Ixvi. 2, 5; Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 8.

'° Comp. Luke xviii. 14.

" Ecclus. ii. ^. So Brj-ennios Comp. last part of Apostolic
Constitutions, vii. 8.

■^ This chapter, with the exception of a few clauses and words, is
found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 9-17. There are verbal varia-
tion«,bul the order is exact. In Barnabas not so much of the matter
is found. There is, however, even greater verbal agreement in many
cases, though the order is quite different. Two important clauses
(verses 8, 14) find an exact parallel only in Barnabas. One phrase
is ptLuliar to the Ttatking ; see ver. 14.'

shalt honour him as the Lord ; '3 for in the place
whence lordly rule is uttered, '■• there is the Lord.
And thou shalt seek out day by day the faces of 2
the saints, in order that thou mayest rest upon 's
their words. Thou shalt not long for "^ division, 3
but shalt bring those who contend to peace.
Thou shalt judge righteously, thou shalt not
respect persons in reproving for transgressions.
Thou shalt not be undecided whether it shall be 4
or no. '7 Be not a stretcher forth of the hands 5
to receive and a drawer of them back to give.'**
If thou hast aught, through thy hands thou shalt 6
give ransom for thy sins.'^ Thou shalt not hesi- 7
tate to give, nor murmur when thou givest ; for
thou shalt know who is the good repayer of the
hire. Thou shalt not turn away from him that 8
is in want, but thou shalt share all things with
thy brother, and shalt not say that they are thine
own ; for if ye are partakers in that which is
immortal, how much more in things which are
mortal ? ''° Thou shalt not remove thy hand from 9
thy son or from thy daughter, but from their
youth shalt teach them the fear of God.^' Thou 10
shalt not enjoin aught in thy bitterness upon thy
bondman or maidservant, who hope in the same
God, lest ever they shall fear not God who is
over both ;^^ for he cometh not to call according
to the outward appearance, but unto them whom
the Spirit hath prepared. And ye bondmen shall u
be subject to your^^ masters as to a type of God,
in modesty and fear.^'* Thou shalt hate all hy- 12
pocrisy and everything \yhich is not pleasing to
the Lord. Do thou in no wise forsake the com- 13
mandments of the Lord ; but thou shalt keep
what thou hast received, neither adding thereto
nor taking away there/rom.^^ In the church ^"^ 14
thou shalt acknowledge thy transgressions, and
thou shalt not come near for thy prayer ^^

with an evil conscience.^^ This is the way of
life.^9

'3 Comp. Heb. xiii. 7. In Apostolic Constitutions there is a
transposition of words.

'■' Schaff: " The Lordship is spoken of." Apostolic Constitutions,
" where the doctrine concerning God is," etc.

■5 Or, "acquiesce in" {Apostolic Constitutions).

"> Some read Troi^creis, " make," as in Apostolic Constitutions
and Barnabas, instead of nodriaeK; , Codex.

'^ Comp. Ecclus. i. 28. The verse occurs in Barnabas; and m
Apostolic Cotistitutions " in thy prayer" is inserted, which is proba-
bly the sense here.

■8 Ecclus. iv. 31. The Greek word a-utTwaiv occurs here and in
Barnabas, but not in Apostolic Constitutions.

'9 Apostolic Constitutions adds, in explanation, Prov. xvi. 6.

^° Comp. Acts iv. 32; Rom. xv. 27. I'he latter half of the verse
is in Barnabas (not in Apostolic Constitutions), but with the sub-
stitution of " incorruptible" and " corruptible."

-' Comp. Eph. vi. 4.

*^ Comp. Eph. vi. 9; Col. iv. i.

*3 Codex reads " our ; " editors correct to " your."

^* Comp. Eph. vi. 5; Col. iii. 22.

^5 Deut. xii. 32.

^^ " In the congregation ;" i.e., as.sembly of believers. This phrase
is omitted in both Barnabas and Apostolic Constitutions. Comp.
Jas. v. 16.

27 Or, " to thy place 0/ prayer " (Schaff).

2^ So Barnabas; but Apostolic Constitutions, " in the day of thy
bittterness."

-9 So Apostolic Constitutions ; but Barnabas, " the way of light."
See ii'ile on chap. i. i.

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

379

CHAP. V.' THE WAY OF DEATH.

1 And the way of death ^ is this : First of all it is
evil and full of curse : ^ murders,^ adulteries,
lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magic arts,
witchcrafts, rapines, false witnessings, hypocrisies,
double-heartedness, deceit, haughtiness, deprav-
ity, self-will, greediness, filthy talking, jealousy,

2 over-confidence, loftiness, boastfulness ; perse-
cutors of the good, 5 hating truth, loving a lie,
not knowing a reward for righteousness, not
cleaving'' to good nor to righteous judgment,
watching not for that which is good, but for that
which is evil ; from whom meekness and endur-
ance are far, loving vanities, pursuing requital,
not pitying a poor man, not labouring for the af-
flicted, not knowing Him that made them, mur-
derers of children, destroyers of the handiwork
of God, turning away from him that is in want,
afflicting him that is distressed, advocates of the
rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners.^
Be delivered, children, from all these.^

CHAP. VI.9 — AGAINST FALSE TEACHERS, AND FOOD
OFFERED TO IDOLS.

1 See that no one cause thee to err '° from this
way of the Teaching, since apart from God it

2 teacheth thee. For if thou art able to bear all
the yoke " of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect ; but
if thou art not able, what thou art able that do.

i And concerning food,'^ bear what thou art able ;
but against that which is sacrificed to idols '^ be
exceedingly on thy guard ; for it is the service
of dead gcxis.''*

' This chapter finds nearly exact parallels in Barnabas, xx., and
Jipostolic Consiitutwtis, vii. i8, but with curious variations.

2 Barnabas has " darkness," but afterwards " way of eternal
death."

3 Not in Apostolic Constitutions, and no exact parallel in Barna-
bas.

* Of the twenty-two sins named in this verse, Bartiabas gives
fourteen, in differing order, and in the singular; Apostolic Constitu-
tions gives all but one (ui|/o?, " loftiness," " haughtiness ") , in the same
order, and with the same change from plural to singular.

5 This verse appears almost word for word m Barnabas, vi\i\i two
additional clauses

*' The Apostolic Constitutions give a parallel from this point;
verbally exact from the phrase, " not for that which is good."

7 The word TTav9at>.apTy)T0L occurs only here, and in the parallel
passage in Barnabas (rendered in this edition "who are in every
respect transgressors," vol. i. p. 149), and in Apostolic Cotistitutiotis
(rendered " full of sin"). A similar term occurs in the recently re-
covered portion of 2 Clement, xviii., where Bishop Lightfoot renders,
as above, " an utter sinner."

6 Found verbatim m Apostolic Constitutions, not in Barnabas;
with the latter there is no further parallel, except a few phrases in
chap. xvi. 2, 3 (which see).

9 Of this chapter, two phrases and one entire clause ire found in
Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 19-21.

'° Comp. Matt. xxiv. 4 (Greek) ; Revised Version, " lead you
astray:" Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 19.

" Or, " the whole yoke." Those who accept the Jewish-Christian
authorship refer this to the ceremonial law. It seems quite as likely
to mean ascetic regulations. Of these there are many traces, even in
the New-Testament churches.

'^ Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 20, begins with a similar phrase, but
is explicitly against asceticism in this respect. The precepts here do
not indicate any such spirit as that opposed by Paul.

■^ Comp. Acts XV. 20, 29; I Cor. viii. 4, etc., x. 18, etc. (Rom.
xiv 20 refers to ascetic abstinence ) This prohibition had a neces-
sary permanence; comp. Apostolic Constitjitions, vii. 2t.

'^ Comp. the same phrase in 2 Clement, iii. This chapter closes
the first part of the Teaching, that supposed to be intended for
catechumens. The absence of doctrinal statement does not necessa-
rily prove the existence of a circle of Gentile Christians where the

CHAP. VII. — CONCERNING BAPTISM.

And concerning baptism, '5 thus baptize ye : '^ i
Having first said all these things, baptize into
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit,'' in living water.'*^ But if thou 2
have not living water, baptize into other water ;
and if thou canst not in cold, in warm. But if 3
thou have not cither, pour out water thrice "-' upon
the head into the name of Father and .Son and
Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the 4
baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whatever
others can ; but thou shalt order the baptized to
fast one or two days before.^"

chap. viii.^' concerning fasting and prayer

(the lord's prayer).

But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites ; ^^ i
for they fast on the second and fifth day of the
week ; but do ye fast on the fourth day and
the Preparation (Friday). ^^ Neither pray as the 2
hypocrites ; but as the Lord commanded in His
Gospel,^'* thus pray : Our Father who art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on
earth. Give us to-day our daily (needful)
bread,^5 and forgive us our debt as we also forgive
our debtors. And bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one (or, evil) ; for
Thine is the power and the glory for ever.^^
Thrice in the day thus pray .^7 3

chap. IX.^* the THANKSGIVING (eUCHARIST).

Now concerning the Thanksgiving (Kucha- i
rist), thus give thanks. First, concerning the 2

Pauline theology was unknown. If such a circle existed, emphasizing
the ethical side of Christianity to the exclusion of its doctrinal basis,
it disappeared very soon. From the nature of the case, that kind of
Christianity is intellectually weak and necessarily short-lived.

'5 Verse i is found, well-nigh entire, in Apostolic Constitutions, vii.
22, but besides this only a few words of verses 2 and 4. The chapter
has naturally called out much discussion as to the mode of baptism.

'* [Elucidation I.]

'7 Matt, xxviii. 19.

'8 Probably running ■:i'ater.

'9 The previous verses point to immersion ; this permits pouring
in certain cases, which indicates that this mode was not unknown.
The trine application of the water, and its being poured on the head,
are both significant.

2° The fasting of the baptized is enjoined in Apostolic Constitu-
tions, but that of the baptizer (and others) is peculiar to this document.

2' The entire chapter is found almost verbatim in Apostolic Con-
stitutions, vii. 23, 24.

22 Comp. Matt. vi. 16.

25 The reasons for fasting on Wednesday and Friday are given in
Apostolic Constitutions (the days of betrayal and of burial). Monday
and Thursday were the Jewish fast-days. The word " Preparation "
(day before the Jewish sabbath) occurs in Matt, xxvii. 62, etc., and
for some time retained a place in Christian literature.

^* Matt. vi. 5, 9-13. This form of the Lord's Prayer is evidently
cited from Matthew, not from Luke. The textual variations are slight.
The citation is of importance, as proving that the writer used this
Gospel, and that the liturgical use of the Lord's Prayer was common.

25 On this phrase, comp. Revised Version, Matt. vi. 11 ; Luke xi.
3 (text, margin, and American appendix).

-^ The variation In the form of the doxology confirms the judg-
ment of textual criticism, which omits it in Matt. vi. 13. All early
liturgical literature tends in the same direction; comp. Apostolic
Constitutions, vii. 24.

27 This is in accordance with Jewish usage. Dan. vi. 10; Ps. Iv.
17. Comp. Acts iii. i, x. 9.

-^ The eucharistic prayers of this and the following chapter are
only partially reproduced in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 25, 26; that
of verse 2 has no parallel.

38o

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

cup : • We thank thee, our Father, for the holy
vine of David Thy servant,^ which Thou madest
known to us through Jesus Thy Servant ; to Thee

3 be the glory for ever. And concerning the broken
bread : ^ We thank Thee, our Father, for the life
and knowledge which Thou madest known to us
through Jesus Thy Servant ; to Thee be the glory

4 for ever. Even as this broken bread was scat-
tered over the hills,^ and was gathered together
and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered
together from the ends of the earth into Thy
kingdom ; 5 for Thine is the glory and the power

5 through Jesus Christ for ever. But let no one
eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist),
but they who have been baptized into the name
of the Lord ; for concerning this also the Lord
hath said, Give not that which is holy to the
dogs.^

CHAP. X.7 PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION.

1 But after ye are filled,^ thus give thanks :

2 We thank Thee, holy Father, for Thy holy name
which Thou didst cause to tabernacle in our
hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and im-
mortality, which Thou madest known to us
throu^ Jesus Thy Servant ; to Thee be the glory

3 for ever. Thou, Master almighty, didst create
all things for Thy name's sake ; Thou gavest
food and drink to men for enjoyment, that
they might give thanks to Thee ; but to us
Thou didst freely give spiritual food and drink

4 and life eternal through Thy Servant.^ Before all
things we thank Thee that Thou art mighty ; to

5 Thee be the glory for ever. Remember, Lord,
Thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to
make it perfect in Thy love, and gather it from
the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which
Thou hast prepared for it ; '° for Thine is the

6 power and the glory for ever. Let grace come,

' This is a variation from the order of the New Testament and
of all liturgies: probably this led to its omission in Apostolic Consti-
tutions. The word "for" may be substituted for "concerning"
here and in verse 3. [Possibly a response for recipients.]

2 Peculiar to this passage, but derived from a common scriptural
figure and from the paschal formula. Comp. especially John xv. i ;
Matt. xxvi. 29; Mark xiv. 25.

3 The word K\d(jy.a is found in the accounts of the feeding of the
multitude (Matt. xiv. 20, xv. 37, and parallels); it was naturally
applied to the broken bread of the Eucharist.

* This reference to " hills," or " mountains," is used as an argu-
ment against the Egyptian origin of the Teaching.

5 This part of the verse is found in Apostolic Constitutions.
SchafT properly calls attention to the distinction here made between
" Thy Church " and " Thy kingdom."

* Matt. vii. 6.

' This post-communion thanksgiving is found in Apostolic Con-
ttitutions, vii. 26, but with many omissions, alterations, and additions.
Still, the correspondence in thought and language is very remarkable.
SchafT cites a similar prayer at the Passover (after the Hallel cup).

* " After the participation ' {Apostolic Constitutions) points to a
distinct eucharistic service. Here the Lord's Supper is evidently
connected with the Agape [a noteworthy suggestion] ; comp. 1 Cor.
xi. 20-22, 33, This is an evidence of early date; comp. Justin Mar-
tyr, Apol., i. chaps. 64-66, where the Lord's Supper is shown to be
distinct {Ante-.Micene Fathers, i. pp. 185, 186).

9 This last clause has no parallel in Apostolic Constitutions, and
points to an earlier and more spiritual conception of the Eucharist.
Verse 4 also is peculiar to this passage.

'° The above rendering follows Krj'ennios; that of Harnack (for-
merly accepted by Hall and Napier) is: " Oather it, sanctifieil, from
the tour winds, into Thy kingdom," etc. The phrase " from the four
winds" recalls Matt. xxiv. 31.

and let this world pass away." Hosanna to the
God (Son) " of David ! If any one is holy, let
him come ; if any one is not so, let him repent. '^
Maran atha.'* Amen. But permit the prophets 7
to make Thanksgiving as much as they desire. '5

CHAP. XL'^ CONCERNING TEACHERS, APOSTLES,

AND PROPHETS.

Whosoever, therefore, cometh and teacheth 1
you all these things that have been said before,
receive him.'^ But if the teacher himself turn '^ »
and teach another doctrine to the destruction
of this, hear him not ; but if he teach so as to
increase righteousness and the knowledge of the
Lord, receive him as the Lord. But concern- 3
ing the apostles and prophets, according to the
decree of the Gospel, thus do. Let every apostle 4
that cometh to you be received as the Lord.''
But he shall not remain except one day ; but if 5
there be need, also the next ; but if he remain
three days, he is a false prophet. And when the 6
apostle goeth away, let him take nothing but
bread until he lodgeth ; ^° but if he ask money,
he is a false prophet. And every prophet that 7
i speaketh in the Spirit^' ye shall neither try nor
judge ; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this
sin shall not be forgiven.^^ But not every one 8
that speaketh in the Spirit is a prophet ; but only
if he hold the ways of the Lord. Therefore from
their ways shall the false prophet and the prophet
be known. And every prophet who ordereth a 9
meaL^ in the Spirit eateth not from it, except
indeed he be a false prophet ; and every prophet 10
who teacheth the truth, if he do not what he
teacheth, is a false prophet. And every prophet, n
proved true,="* working unto the mystery of the
Church in the world,^5 yet not teaching others to

" This is peculiar; but comp. i Cor. vii. 31 for the last clause.

'2 The Codex reads rut deai, which Bryennios alters to tw OtuJ.
The former is the more difficult reading, and is defended by Harnack.

'3 This exhortation indicates a mixed assembly; comp. Apostolit
Cottstitntiotis. [If so, it belongs to the Agape.]

^* I Cor. xvi. 22, Revised Version, margin: That is, our Lord
cometh." Comp. Rev. xxii. 20.

'5 A limitation as compared with i Cor. xiv. 29, ji, and yet indi-
cating a combination of extemporaneous devotion with the liturgical
form. The verse prepares the way for the next chapter.

■*> The Apostolic Constitutions (vii. 27) present scarcely any par-
allel to this chapter, which points to an earlier period, when ecclesi-
astical polity was less developed, and the travelling " Apostles " and
" Prophets ' here spoken of were numerous. [Elucidation II.]

'7 This refers to all teachers, more fully described afterwards.

■8 Lit. " being turned; " i.e., turned from the truth, perverted.

'9 Matt. X. 40. The mention of apostles here has caused much
discussion, but there are many indications that travelling evangelists
were thus termed for some time after the apostolic age. Bishop
Lightfoot has shown, that, even in the New Testament, a looser use
of the term applied it to others than the Twelve. Comp. Rom. xvi.
7; I Cor. XV. 5, ^ (?); Gal. i. 19; i Thess. ii. 6: also, as applied to
Barnabas, Acts xiv. 4, 14.

*° Reach a place where he can lodge.

*' Under the influence of the charismatic gift spoken of in i Cor.
xii. 3, xiv. 2. Another indication of an early date.

*^ Probably a reference to the sin against the Holy Spirit. Matt,
xii. 31, 32; Mark iii. 29, 30.

-3 Probably a love-feast, commanded by the prophet in his peculiar
utterance.

^* <iAt)9n'o«, " genuine."

^5 TTotu)!' ct? /LLucTTTJptoj' Ko<Tix\.Khv €KKAi;(ria?, ** working unto a
worldly mystery of (the) Church," or " making assemblies for a
worldly mystery." Either rendering is grammatical: neither is very
intelligible. The paraphrase in the above version presents one lead-

THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

381

do what he himself doeth, shall not be jvidged
among you, for with God he hath his judgment ;
12 for so did also the ancient prophets. But who-
ever saith in the Spirit, Give me money, or
something else, ye shall not listen to him ; but
if he saith to you to give for others' sake who
are in need, let no one judge him.

CHAP. XII.' — RECEPTION OF CHRISTIANS,

1 But let every one that cometh in the name of
the Lord be received,^ and afterward ye shall
prove and know him ; for ye shall have under-

2 Standing right and left. If he who cometh is a
wayfarer, assist him as far as ye are able ; but
he shall not remain with you, except for two or

3 three days, if need be. But if he willeth to abide
with you, being an artisan, let him work and eat ; ^

4 but if he hath no trade, according to your under-
standing see to it that, as a Christian,'* he shall

5 not live with you idle. But if he willeth not so
to do, he is a Christ-monger.s Watch that ye
keep aloof from such.

CHAP. XIII.^ — SUPPORT OF PROPHETS.

1 But every true prophet that willeth to abide

2 among you ^ is worthy of his support.*^ So also
a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman,

3 of his support.*^ Every first-fruit, therefore, of
the products of wine-press and threshing-floor,
of oxen and of sheep, thou shalt take and give
to the prophets, for they are your high priests.'"

4 But if ye have not a prophet, give it to the poor.

5 If thou makest a batch of dough, take the first-
fruit and give according to the commandment.

ing view of 'this difficult passage: the mystery is the Church, and a
worldly one, because the Church is in the world. The other leading
view joins cKicAjjcria? (as accusative) with Trotiiv, " making assemblies
for a worldly mystery." So Bryennios, who regards the worldly
mystery as a symbolical act of the prophet. Others suggest, as the
mystery for which the assemblies are called, revelation of future
events, celibacy, the Eucharist, the ceremonial law. It seems, at all
events, to point to incipient fanaticism on the part of the prophets of
those days. [Elucidation III.] This was likely to take the form
either of asceticism or of extravagant predictions and mystical fancies
about the Church in the world. Did we know the place and the time
more accurately, we might decide which was meant. This caution was
evidently needed: Let God judge such extravagances.

■ Verse i is almost identical with the beginning of Apostolic Con-
stitutions, vii. 28; the remaining verses have no parallel.

2 All professed Christians are meant.

3 Comp. 2 Thess. iii. 10.

* The term occurs only here in the Teaching.

5 " Christ-trafficker." The abuse of Christian fellowship and
hospitality naturally followed the remarkable extension of Christianity.
This expressive term was coined to designate the class of idlers who
would make gain out of their professed Christianity. It occurs in the
longer form of the Ignatian Epistles {Trallians, vi.) and in literature
of the fourth century.

6 A large part of this chapter is found in Apostolic Constitutions,
vii. 28, 29, but with modifications and additions indicating a later
date.

7 "Who will settle among you" (Hitchcock and Brown). The
itinerant prophets might become stationary, we infer. Chaps, xi.-xv.
point to a movement from an itinerant and extraordinary ministry to
a more settled one.

* Lit., " nourishment," "food."
9 Matt. X. id; comp. Luke x. 7.

'° This phrase, indicating a sacerdotal view of the ministry, seems
to point to a later date than that claimed for the Teaching. Some
regard it as an interpolation: others take it in a figurative sense. In
Apostolic Constitutions the sacerdotal view is more marked, [i Pet.
ii. 9. If the //c/^j = " priests," prophets = " high priests."] Here
the term is restricted to the prophets ; compare Scliaff in loco.

So also when thou openest a jar of wine or of 6
oil, take the first-fruit and give it to the prophets ;
and of money (silver) and clothing and every 7
possession, take the first-fruit, as it may seem
good to thee, and give according to the com-
mandment.

CHAP. XIV." — CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY ON THE LORD'S

DAY.

But every Lord's day " do ye gather yourselves i
together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving
after having confessed your transgressions, '^ that
your sacrifice may be pure.'^ But let no one that 2
is at variance 's with his fellow come together
with you, until they be reconciled, that your sac-
rifice may not be profaned. For this is that 3
which was spoken by the Lord : In every place
and time offer to me a pure sacrifice ; '^ for I am
a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is
woriderful among the nations. '^

CHRISTL\N

CHAP. XV. '^ — BISHOPS AND DEACONS ;
REPROOF.

Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and
deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not
lovers of money, '^ and truthful and proved ; for
they also render to you the service ^° of prophets
and teachers. Despise them not therefore, for
they are your honoured ones, together with the
prophets and teachers. And reprove one another,
not in anger, but in peace, as ye have /'/in the Gos-
pel ;^' but to every one that acts amiss" against
another, let no one speak, nor let him hear aught
from you until he repent. But your prayers and
alms and all your deeds so do, as ye have // in
the Gospel of our Lord.^^

" Verses i and 3 are given substantially in Apostolic Consti-
tutions, vii. 30. This chapter would seem to belong more properly
before chap. viii. ; but the same order of topics is followed in Apostolic
Constitutions, — a remarkable proof of literary connection.

'^ Comp. Rev. i. 10. Here the full form is Kara K.vpi.aj(.y\v Si
Kupi'ov. If the early date is allowed, this verse confirms the view
that from the first the Lord's Day was observed, and that, too, by a
eucharistic celebration.

■3 Comp. chap. iv. 14. No parallel in Apostolic Constitutions.

'* On this spiritual sense of " sacrifice," comp. Rom. xii. i; Phil,
ii. 17; Heb. xiii. 15; i Pet. ii. 5.

'5 " That hath the (or, any) dispute " (o/t<^ij3oAiov) ; comp. Matt,
v. 23, 24.

"> [See Mai. i. 11. See Irenaeus, cap. xvii. 5, vol. i. p. 484.]

'^ 5lal. i. II, 14. Quoted in Apostolic Constitutions and by sev-
eral Ante-Nicene Fathers, with the same reference to the Eucharist.

'8 The larger part of verse i, and a clause from verses 2, 3, respec-
tively, are found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 31 . Verses i , 2, both
in the use of terms and in the Church polity indicated, point to an
early date; (i) There are evident marks of a transition from extraor-
dinary to ordinary ministers. (2) The distinction between bishops
and elders does not appear [i Pet. v. i. Vol. i. p. 16, this series], and
yet it is found in Ignatius. (3) The word jjeipoToi'cio is here used
in the sense of" elect " or " appoint " (by show of hands), and not in
that of " ordain " (by laying on of hands). The former is the New-
Testament sense (Acts xiv. 23; 2 Cor. viii. 19), also in Ignatius; the
lattersen.se is found in Apostolic Canons, i. (4) The choice by the
people also indicates an early period.

'9 Comp. I Tim. iii. 4

2° Or, " ministry." This clause and the following verse indicate
that the extraordinary ministers were as yet more highly regarded.

-' Comp. Matt, xviii. 15-17.

2- The word a<rTo\-eiu, occurring here, means " to miss the mark; "
in New Testament, " to err" or, " swerve." See i Tim. i. 6, vi. 21;
2 Tim. ii. 18.

23 The reference here is probably to the Sermon on the Mount:
Matt, v.-vii , especially to chap. vi.

382

ELUCIDATIONS.

CHAP. XVI.' — watchfulness; the coming of

THE LORD.

1 Watch for your life's sake.^ Let not your
lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed ; ^
but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in

2 which our Lord cometh.* But often shall ye
come together, seeking the things which are be-
fitting to your souls : for the whole time of your
faith will not profit you,s if ye be not made per-

3 feet in the last time. For in the last days ^ false
prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and
the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love

4 shall be turned into hate ; ' for when lawlessness
increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and
betray one another,^ and then shall appear the
world-deceiver 9 as Son of God, '° and shall do
signs and wonders," and the earth shall be deliv-
ered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous
thmgs which have never yet come to pass since

5 the beginning. Then shall the creation ot men
come into the fire of trial,'^ and many shall be

' The resemblance between this chapter and Apostolic Constitu-
tions, vii. 31, 32, is mainly in order of topics and in the identity of
some phrases and terms. Verses 3 and 4 (to the word " world-
deceiver") are reproduced almost verbatim. That the writer of the
Teaching used Matt. xxiv. is extremely probable, but the connection
of Apostolic Constitutions with this passage is evident. In Barna-
bas, iv., there are a few corresponding phrases.

^ Or, " over your life; " the clause occurs verbatim in Apostolic
Constitutions.

3 Comp. Luke xii. 35, which is exactly cited in Apostolic Consti-
tutions.

* Matt. xxiv. 42.

5 Here Barnabas, iv., furnishes a parallel.

* This reference to the last days as present or impendmg is an
evidence of early date; comp. Barnabas, iv., and many passages in
the New Testament. The mistake has been in measuring God's
prophetic chronology by our mathematical standard of years.

'> Comp. Matt. xxiv. 11, 12.

* Comp. Matt, xxiv, 10.

9 o KocrjioirAoi'o?, found only here and in Apostolic Constitutions,
Tii. 32. Comp. 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, 8; Rev. xii. 9.

•° Not found in Apostolic Constitutions . The expression plainly
implies the belief that Jesus Christ was Son of God.

" Comp Matt. xxiv. 24. The rest of the verse has no parallel.

M Comp. I Pet. iv. la, where »rup<i«rts also occurs

made to stumble and shall perish ; but they that
endure in their faith shall be saved '^ from under
the curse itself* And then shall appear the 6
signs of the truth ; 's first, the sign of an out-
spreading '^ in heaven ; then the sign of the
sound of the trumpet ; and the third, the resur-
rection of the dead ; yet not of all, but as it is 7
said : The Lord shall come and all His saints
with Him.' 7 Then shall the world see the Lord J
coming upon the clouds of heaven.'^

'3 Comp. Matt x. 22 and similar passages; none of them directly
cited here.

•* »7r' aiiTou ToO icaToWnaTo?, " from under the curse itself; "
namely, that which has just been described. Bryennios and others
render " by the curse Himself; " that is, Christ, whom they were
tempted to revile. All other interpretations either rest on textual
emendations or are open to grammatical objections. Of the two g^vea
above, that of Hall and Napier seems preferable.

IS " Truth " might refer to Christ Himself, but the personal advent
is spoken of in verse 8; it is better, then, to refer it to the truth re-
specting the parousia held by the early Christians. For this beliej
they were mocked, and hence dwelt upon it and the prophecies re-
specting it. The verse is probably based upon Matt xxiv. 30, 31;
but some find here, as in verse 4, an allusion to Paul's eschatological
statements in the Epistles to the Thessalonians.

"> Professor Hall now prefers to render «<c7rtT(i(r«<o?, "outspread-
ing," instead of " unrolling," as in his version originally. Hitchcock
and Brown, Schaff, and others, prefer " opening; " that is, the appar-
ent opening in heaven through which the Lord will descend. " Out-
spreading" is usually explained (so Professor Hall) as meaning the
expanded sign of the cross in the heavens, the patristic interpreta-
tion of Matt, xxiv 30. Bryennios and Farrar refer it to the flying
forth of the saints to meet the Lord. There are other interpretations
based on textual emendations. As the word is very rare, it is difficult
to determine the exact sense. " Opening" seems lexically allowable
and otherwise free from objection.

'7 Zech. xiv 5. This citauon is given substantially in Apostolic
Constitutions. As here used, it seems to point to the first resurrec-
tion. Comp. I Thess. iv 17: i Ccr. xv. 23; Rev. xx. 5. Probably
it is based upon the Pauline eschatology rather than upon that of the
Apocalypse. At all events, there is no allusion to the millennial
statement of the latter. .Since there was m the early Church, in con-
nection with the expectation ol the speedy coming ofChrist, a marked
tendency to Chiliasm, the silence respecting the — lillennium may in-
dicate that the writer was not acquainted with the Apocalypse This
inference is allowable, however, only on the assumption of the early
date of the Teach ing.

'8 Comp. Matt. xxiv. 30. The conclusion is abrupt, and '\\\ Apos-
tolic Constitutions the New-Testament doctrine of future punishment
and reward is added. The absence of all reference to the destruction
of Jerusalem would indicate that some time had elapsed since that
event \n mterval of from thirty to sixty years may well be claimed.

ELUCIDATIONS.

{Thus baptize yc, p 379.)

If we compare this chapter with the corresponding one in the Apostolic Constitutions, the
Teaching seems to me to be a somewhat abridged form of a common original. This being
designed for the catechumens, there is an omission of what they are afterwards to know. A
form originally drawn up for clergy and people has been very inartificially expurgated for the
instruction of young disciples. This appears from the ninth chapter (p. 380), where only certain
receptive or responsive forms are given. The liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions, book viiL,
embodies what was studiously kept from all but the reXciot, i.e., those " ot full age."

ELUCIDATIONS. 383

II.

(Concerning apostles, p. 380, note 16.)

The reference to " apostles," probably itinerant, in Rev. ii. 2, corresponds with this. There
were officers known in the Apostolic day (compare 2 Cor. viii. 23, Greek) as dTroo-ToAot iKKk-rjcniLv,
for the pseud-apostles of the Apocalypse could not have pretended what they did had it been
otherwise. Neither would it have been needful to " try those who said they were apostles," in
that case : the mere assertion of such a pretence would have sufficiently convicted them.

The very childish directions (suited to mere catechumens) given in the text illustrates Rev ii.
2, and is, so far, evidence of the very early origin of the Teaching.

The name apostles was made technical by Christ Himself: "He named ^tva Apostles"
(Luke vi. 13). And the word is never used in the loose way which Bishop Lightfoot hazardously
suggests, as I must venture to believe.

HI.

(Incipient fanaticism, p. 381, note 25.)

Unquestionably, for even in St. Paul's day his admonitions imply nothing less. See i Cor.
cap. xiv., passim. But, as in the Introductory Notice ' I hinted my suspicions of incipient Mon-
tanism in the Teaching, so I am strengthened in this idea by the learned critic to whose note I
venture to append this remark for the purpose of asking a reference to my annotations of Her-
mas in vol. ii. of this series. May I also ask a reference to the same volume, pp. 4, 5, and 6?
The " meal " (note 23, p. 380) of the Teaching is doubtless the Agape, which had been abused al
so early a day, that St. Peter * himself was forced to denounce the " false prophets " who polluted
this feast of charity.

• P. 371, sufr». * ■ Pet. iu 13. Compare i John ir. i.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[EDITED, WITH NOTES, BY JAMES DONALDSON, D.D.]

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

Having learned from the erudite Beveridge what I long supposed to be a just view of the
Constitutions, I have found in the recent literature of the subject not a little to increase my
confidence in the general conclusions to which he was led by all that could be known in his
times. The treatise of Krabbe guided me to some results of more modern investigations ; and
Dr. Bunsen, though not apart from his critics, has enabled me still further to correct some of my
impressions. But, in connection with the late discovery of Bryennios, the field of discussion and
inquir)' has been so much enlarged, that I have felt it due to the readers and students of this
republication to invoke the aid of Professor Riddle, who is able to enrich the work with the
results of genuine learning and much patient research. Whatever may be my own convictions
on some subordinate points, I have been glad to secure the judgment of a critical scholar who, I
am persuaded, aims to shed upon the subject the colourless light of scientific investigation. This
is all I can desire, anxious only to see facts clearly established and historic truth illustrated, no
matter to what results they may seem to point. Where the professor's decisions coincide with
my own impressions, I am naturally gratified by his valued and independent corroboration : where
the case is otherwise, I am hardly less gratified to present my indulgent readers with opinions
deserving of' their highest respect, and by which they will be stimulated, as well as influenced, in
forming convictions for themselves.

The Constitutions are so full of material on which it is well for one in my position not to
speak very freely in such a work as this, that I rejoice all the more to confide the task of annota-
tion almost exclusively to another and to one from whom American Christians must ever be
glad to hear on subjects requiring in an almost equal degree the skill of an expert critic and the
candour of a conscientious Christian.

I prefix Professor Riddle's Preface to the Introductory Notice of the Edinburgh editor, as
follows : —

New interest has been awakened in the Apostolic Constitutions by the discovery of an ancient
manuscript in Constantinople.' While it does not contain the Constitutions, it affords much
material for discussion respecting the sources and authorship of this compilation. The so-called
Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, found in the Codex at Constantinople, and published by
Bryennios in 1883, is recognised as the basis of the seventh book of the Constitutions. The
verbal coincidences, the order of topics, and other obvious phenomena, leave little room for
reasonable doubt on this point. That the reader may be in possession of the main facts, the
corresponding portions have been indicated both in book vii. of the Constitutions and in the
version of the Teaching inserted in this volume. This literary connection has some bearing on

' See the brief account prefixed to the version of the Teaching, p. 372, supra.

387

388 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

the discussion as to the age of the Constitutions. If the Teaching is substantially the early
work bearing that name, then some of the references by early writers which have been applied
to the larger work must now be regarded as pointing to the Teaching; still, this only bears against
the theory of a date as early as the third century. The new critical material furnished by the
Bryennios manuscript for the Ignatian controversy has a bearing on the question respecting
the work before us. The opinion has been strengthened (see below), that the same hand enlarged
the Ignatian Epistles and adapted earlier matter (such as the Teaching) for the Apostolic Con-
stitutions.

We may accept as established the following positions : —

1. The Apostolic Constitutions are a compilation, the material being derived from sources
differing in age.

2. The first six books are the oldest ; the seventh, in its present form, somewhat later, but,
from its connection with the Teaching, proven to contain matter of a very ancient date. The
eighth book is of latest date.

3. It now seems to be generally admitted that the entire work is not later than the fourth cen-
tury, although the usual allowance must be made for later textual changes, whether by accident or
design.

Dr. Von Drey ' regards the first six books as of Eastern origin (mainly Syrian), and to be
assigned to the second half of the third century. The seventh and eighth were more recent, he
thinks, but united with the others before a.d. 325. With this, Schaff (in his Church History, vol. ii.,
rev. ed., p. 185) substantially agreed; but, in his later work on the Teachitig, seems to assign
the completion of the compilation to a date somewhat later. This is the view of Harnack, who,
" by a critical analysis and comparison, comes to the conclusion ^ that pseudo-Clement, alias
pseudo-Ignatius, was a Eusebian, a semi-Arian, and rather worldly-minded anti-ascetic Bishop
of Syria, a friend of the Emperor Constantius between 340 and 360 ; that he enlarged and
adapted the Didascalia of the third and the Didache of the second century, as well as the Igna-
tian Epistles, to his own view of morals, worship, and discipline, and clothed them with Apostolic
authority." ^

This is, at all events, a more reasonable view than that of Krabbe, who assigns the first six
books to the end of the third century, and the eighth to the beginning of the fifth. The latter,
it is true, he regards a compilation from older sources. The purpose of the whole, in his view,
was to confirm the episcopal hierarchy, and to establish the unity of the Catholic Church on the
basis of the unity of the priesthood, etc. But it is now generally held that the purpose of the
compilation was merely to present a manual of instruction, worship, polity, and usage for
both clergy and laity. Had it been designed to further some ecclesiastical tendency, it would
be far less valuable, since it would less fairly reproduce the ecclesiastical life of the age or
ages in which it originated. Bishop Beveridge at first attributed the Constitutions to Clemens
Alexandrinus (end of second century), but afterwards accepted the third century as the more
probable date. The views now prevalent do full justice to his opinions, but seem to be better
sustained in detail.

The collection of Canons at the close of the Constitutions is undoubtedly a compilation.
Some are evidently much more ancient than others, and there is every evidence that various col-
lections or recensions, existed. That of Dionysius (about a.d. 500), in Latin, contained fifty
canons; that of John (Scholasticus) of Antioch (about a.d. 565) contained eighty-five canons:
and " it is undeniable that the Greek copy which Dionysius had before him belonged to a diffcr-

■ Neue Untersuchungen uher die Constitut. u. Kanones der Ap., Tubingen, 1832. Hefele {Concilietigeschichie, i., Freiburg,
185s, 2d cd., 1873, Edinb. trans., 1871, p.. 449) spe.iVs of this as the best work on the subject.

^ [Needless to say that this seems to me utterly inconsistent with admitted facts.]

3 Schaff, The Teaching 0/ the Tnvelve Apostles, New York, 1885, pp. 134, 135. Comp. Harnack on the Teaching in Texte und
Untersuchungen , u. s. 71/., ii, pp. 246-268, Leipzig, 18S4. I'ishop Lightfoot (Episties 0/ St. Ignatius, London and Cambridge, 1885), differs
from Harnack, who further discusses the topic in the Ejcpositor, January, 1886.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. • 389

ent family of collections from that used by John Scholasticus, for they differ frequently, if not
essentially, both in text and in the way of numbering the canons." '

Bishop Beveridge sought to trace these Canons to the synods of the first two centuries, while
Daill^ held that the collection was made as late as the fifth century. The latter view is not gener-
ally accepted, though the existence of a variety of collections tells against some of the views of
Bishop Beveridge.^ It is impossible to enter into a full discussion here. It seemed better to
annotate the Canons from the results of Drey and Hefele, two most candid and scholarly Roman-
Catholic investigators.^ The brief notes indicate the sources according to these authors. The
reader will at once perceive from the views thus suggested, as well as from the contents of the
Canons, that, while some canons are presumably quite ancient, a number belong to the fourth
century, and that, as a complete collection, they cannot antedate the compilation of the Apostolic
Constitutions. Indeed, Drey, who accepts the latter as Ante-Nicene (see above), thinks five of
the canons (30, 67, 74, 81, 83) were derived from the canons of the Fourth (Ecumenical Council at
Chalcedon, a.d. 451, and quite a number of others he traces to synods and councils of the fourth
century. Hefele doubts the positions taken by Drey in regard to most of these. He does not,
however, insist that the collection is Ante-Nicene, while he traces the origin of many of the
canons to the Apostolic Constitutions.

[The following is Dr. Donaldson's Introductory Notice : — ]

There has always existed a great diversity of opinion as to the author and date of the Apostoli-
cal Constitutions. Earlier writers were inclined to assign them to the apostolic age, and to Clem-
ent ; but much discussion ensued, and the questions to which they give rise are still unsettled.

The most peculiar opinion in regard to them is that of Whiston, who devoted a volume (vol,
iii.) of his Primitive Christianity Revived \.o prove that " they are the most sacred of the can-
onical books of the New Testament ; " for " these sacred Christian laws or constitutions were
delivered at Jerusalem, and in Mount Sion, by our Saviour to the eleven apostles there assembled
after His resurrection."

Krabbe, who wrote an elaborate treatise on the origin and contents of the Apostolical Con-
stitutions, tried to show that the first seven books were written " towards the end of the third
century." The eighth book, he thinks, must have been written at the end of the fourth or begin-
ning of the fifth.

Bunsen thinks that, if we expunge a few interpolations of the fourth and fifth centuries, " we
find ourselves unmistakeably in the midst of the life of the Church of the second and third centu-
ries." ■♦ "I think," he says, " I have proved in my analysis, more clearly than has been hitherto
done, the Ante-Nicene origin of a book, or rather books, called by an early fiction Apostolical
Constitutions, and consequently the still higher antiquity of the materials, both ecclesiastical and
literary, which they contain. I have shown that the compilers made use of the Epistle of Barna-
bas,5 which belongs to the first half of the second century ; that the eighth is an extract or tran-
script of Hippolytus ; and that the first six books are so full of phrases found in the second
interpolation of the Ignatian Epistles, that their last compiler, the author of the present text, must
either have lived soon after that interpolation was made, or vice versa, or the interpolator and
compiler must have been one and the same person.^ This last circumstance renders it probable

' Hefele, History of Councils, i. p. 460.

== The Ethiopic form of these Canons has recently appeared in an English translation (^Journal of Society of Biblical Literature
and Exegesis, 1885, pp. 63-72). Professor George H. Schodde, Ph.D., the translator, has made use of the edition of Winand Fell ( Co-
logne, 1871) with a Latin version. The Canotis in this form contain most of the matter given In the Edinburgh version from the Greek,
and in the same order. But the number is only fifty-seven, in many cases several Greek canons being combined as one in the Ethiopic
Some modifications are found, but very little that differs materially from the Greek. This collection is not part of the Apostolical Churoh
Order published by Tattam, Lagarde, Harnack, and others. Comp. Schaff, Teaching, pp. 2377247.

3 [However candid, even Hefele, unquestionably learned, has been enslaved to " Infallibility," and was never a freeman.]

* Christianity and Mankind, vol. ii. p. 405

S [Evidently the Teaching musX. now be substituted for the Epistle of Barnabas. — R.]

* [So Harnack, most decidedly ; but Bishop Lightfoot opposes this view. — R. )

390 . INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

that at least the first six books of the Greek compilation, like the Ignatian forgeries,' were the
produce of Asia Minor. Two points are self-evident — their Oriental origin, and that they belong
neither to Antioch nor to Alexandria. I suppose nobody now will trace them to Palestine." '

Modem critics are equally at sea in determining the date of the collections of canons given at
the end of the eighth book. Most believe that some of them belong to the apostolic age, while
others are of a comparatively late date. The subject is very fully discussed in Krabbe.

Bovius first gave a complete edition of the Constitutions (Venice, 1563), but only in a Latin
form. The Greek was first edited by the Jesuit Turrianus (Venice, 1563). It was reprinted
several times. Cotelerius gave it in his Apostolical Fathers. In the second edition of this work,
as prepared by Clericus (1724), the readings of two Vienna manuscripts were given. These V.
MSS. and Oxford MS. of book viii. are supposed by Bunsen to be nearer the original than the
others, alike in what they give and in what they omit. The Constitutions have been edited by
tjltzen (1853), and by Lagarde in Bunsen's Analecta Ante-Niccena, vol. ii. (1854). Lagarde has
partially introduced readings from the Syriac, Arabic, ^thiopic, and Coptic forms of the Consti-
tutions. Whiston devoted the second volume of his Primitive Christianity to the Constitutions
and Canons, giving both the Greek and English. It is his translation which we have republished,
with considerable alterations. We have not deemed it necessary to give a tithe of the various
readings, but have confined ourselves to those that seem important. We have also given no
indication of the Syriac form of the first six books. We shall give this form by itself. The
translation of Whiston was reprinted by Irah Chase, D.D., very carefully revised, with a transla-
tion of Krabbe's Essay on the Origin and Contents of the Constitutions, and his Dissertation on
the Canons (New York, 1848). 3

' [Bunsen's magisterial views on many subjects are swept away by the recent work of Bishop Lightfoot on the Ignatian literatur«.J

* Christianity and Mankind, vol. ii. p. 418.

i [A valuable work, apart from many of Dr. Chase's personal ideas not generally received by critics.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.'

BOOK I.

CONCERNING THE LAITY.

SEC. I. GENERAL COMMANDMENTS.

The apostles and elders to all those who from
among the Gentiles have believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ ; grace and peace from Almighty
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, be multi-
plied unto you in the acknowledgment of Him.

The Catholic Church is the plantation of God,
and His beloved vineyard ; ^ containing those
who have believed in His unerring divine reli-
gion ; who are the heirs by faith of His ever-
lasting kingdom ; who are partakers of His
divine influence, and of the communication of
the Holy Spirit ; who are armed through Jesus,
and have received His fear into their hearts ;
who enjoy the benefit of the sprinkling of the
precious and innocent blood of Christ ; who
have free liberty to call Almighty God, Father ;
being fellow-heirs and joint-partakers of His be-
loved Son : hearken to this holy doctrine, you
who enjoy His promises, as being delivered by
the command of your Saviour, and agreeable to
His glorious words. Take care, ye children of
God, to do all things in obedience to God ; and
in all things please Christ our Lord.^ For if
any man follows unrighteousness, and does those
things that are contrary to the will of God, such
a one will be esteemed by God as the diso-
bedient heathen.

CONCERNING COVETOUSNESS.

I. Abstain, therefore, from all unlawful desires
and injustice. For it is written in the law,
" Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor
his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-ser-
vant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that
is thy neighbour's ; " ^ for all coveting of these
things is from the evil one. For he that covets
his neighbour's wife, or his man-servant, or his

' [On the titlepage of the Edinburgh edition is subjoined: "by
<Zlement, bishop and citizen of Rome."]
^ Isa. V. 7, 2.

3 The reading of the V. mss. The others read, " Christ our God."
* Ex. XX. 17.

maid-servant, is already in his mind an adulterer
and a thief; and if he does not repent, is con-
demned by our Lord Jesus Christ : through
whom 5 glory be to God for ever. Amen. For
He says in the Gospel, recapitulating, and con-
firming, and fulfilling the ten commandments of
the law : " It is written in the law. Thou shalt
not commit adultery : but I say unto you, that
is, I said in the law, by Moses. But now I say
unto you myself. Whosoever shall look on his
neighbour's wife to lust after her, hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart." ^ Such
a one is condemned of adultery, who covets
his neighbour's wife in his mind. But does not
he that covets an ox or an ass design to steal
them? to apply them to his own use, and to
lead them away? Or, again, does not he that
covets a field, and continues in such a disposi-
tion, wickedly contrive how to remove the land-
marks, and to compel the possessor to part with
somewhat for nothing? For as the prophet
somewhere speaks : " Woe to those who join
house to house, and lay field to field, that they
may deprive their neighbour of somewhat which
was his." 7 Wherefore he says : " Must you
alone inhabit the earth ? For these things have
been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts."
And elsewhere : " Cursed be he who removeth
his neighbour's landmarks : and all the people
shall say, Amen." ^ Wherefore Moses says :
"Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's land-
marks 9 which thy fathers have set^ '° Upon
this account, therefore, terrors, death, tribunals,
and condemnations follow such as these from
God. But as to those who are obedient to God,
there is one law of God, simple,^° true, living,
which is this : " Do not that to another which
thou hatest another should do to thee." " Thou

5 " To whom " in V. Mss., and " to God " is omitted.
<> Matt. V. 28.

7 Isa. V. 8.

8 Deut. xxvii. 17.

9 Deut. xix. 14.

'° Omitted in V. mss.
" lob. iv. 16.

392

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book L

wouldst not that any one should look upon thy
wife with an evil design to corrupt her ; do not
thou, therefore, look upon thy neighbour's wife
with a wicked intention. Thou wouldst not that
thy garment should be taken away ; do not thou,
therefore, take away another's. Thou wouldst
not be beaten, reproached, affronted ; do not
thou, therefore, serve any other in the like
manner.

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO RETURN INJURIES, NOR
REVENGE OURSELVES ON HIM THAT DOES US
WRONG.

II. But if any one curse thee, do thou bless
him. For it is written in the book of Numbers :
" He that blesseth thee is blessed, and he that
curseth thee is cursed." ' In the same manner
it is written in the Gospel : " Bless them that
curse you."^ Being injured, do not avenge
yourselves, but bear it with patience ; for the
Scripture speaks thus : " Say not thou, I will
avenge myself on my enemy for what injuries he
has offered me ; but acquiesce under them, that
the Lord may right thee, and bring vengeance
upon him who injures thee." ^ For so says He
again in the Gospel : " Love your enemies, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you and persecute you ;
and ye shall be the children of your Father which
is in heaven : for He maketh His sun to shine on
the evil and on the good, and raineth on the just
and unjust." '» Let us therefore, beloved, attend
to these commandments, that we may be found
to be the children of light by doing them. Bear,
therefore, with one another, ye servants and sons
of God.

SEC. II.

COMMANDMENTS TO MEN.

CONCERNING THE ADORNMENT OF OURSELVES,
AND THE SIN WHICH ARISES FROM THENCE.

Let the husband not be insolent nor arrogant
towards his wife ; but compassionate, bountiful,
willing to please his own wife alone,^ and treat her
honourably and obligingly, endeavouring to be
agreeable to her; (in.) not adorning thyself in
such a manner as may entice another woman to
thee. For if thou art overcome by her, and
sinnest with her, eternal death will overtake thee
from God ; and thou wilt be punished with sen-
sible and bitter torments. Or if thou dost not
perpetrate such a wicked act, but shakest her
off, and refusest her, in this case thou art not
wholly innocent, even though thou art not guilty
of the crime itself, but only in so far as through
thy adorning thou didst entice the woman to

' Num. xxiv. 9.
- Luke vi. 28.
3 Prov. XX. 22.
■• Matt. V. 44, 45.
5 Omitted in V. MSS.

desire thee. For thou art the cause that the
woman was so affected, and by her lusting after
thee was guilty of adultery with thee : yet art
thou not so guilty, because thou didst not send
to her, who was ensnared by thee ; nor didst
thou desire her. Since, therefore, thou didst
not deliver up thyself to her, thou shalt find
mercy with the Lord thy God, who hath said,
"Thou shalt not commit adultery," and, "Thou
shalt not covet." ^ For if such a woman, upon
sight of thee, or unseasonable meeting with thee,
was smitten in her mind, and sent to thee, but
thou as a rehgious person didst refuse her,7 if
she was wounded in her heart by thy beauty, and
youth, and adorning, and fell in love with thee,
thou wilt be found guilty of her transgressions,
as having been the occasion of scandal to her,**
and shalt ijiherit a woe? Wherefore pray thou
to the Lord God that no mischief may befall
thee upon this account : for thou art not to
please men, so as to commit sin ; but God, so
as to attain holiness of life, and be partaker of
everlasting rest. That beauty which God and
nature has bestowed on thee, do not further
beautify ; but modestly diminish it before men.
Thus, do not thou permit the hair of thy head to
grow too long, but rather cut it short ; lest by a
nice combing thy hair, and wearing it long, and
anointing thyself, thou draw upon thyself such
ensnared or ensnaring women. Neither do thou
wear over-fine garments to seduce any ; neither
do thou, with an evil subtilty, affect over-fine
stockings or shoes for thy feet, but only such
as suit the measures of decency and usefulness.
Neither do thou put a gold ring upon thy fingers ;
for all these ornaments are the signs of lascivious-
ness, which if thou be solicitous about in an in-
decent manner, thou wilt not act as becomes a
good man : for it is not lawful for thee, a be-
liever and a man of God, to permit the hair of
thy head to grow long, and to brush it up to-
gether, nor to suffer it to spread abroad, nor to
puff it up, nor by nice combing and platting to
make it curl and shine ; since that is contrary
to the law, which says thus, in its additional pre-
cepts : "You shall not make to yourselves curls
and round rasures." '° Nor may men destroy
the hair of their beards, and unnaturally change
the form of a man. For the law says : " Ye
shall not mar your beards." '° For God the
Creator has made this decent for women, but
has determined that it is unsuitable for men.
But if thou do these things to please men, in
contradiction to the law, thou wilt be abominabls
with God, who created thee after His own image.

* Ex. XX. 14, 17.

7 The v. MSS. add: "didst abstain from her, and didst not sin
against nc."

' Matt, xviii. 7.
9 Not in v. MSS.
"^ \jfts. xix. 27, xxi. 5.

Sec. II.l

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

393

If, therefore, thou wilt be acceptable to God,
abstain from all those things which He hates,
and do none of those things that are unpleasing
to Him.

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO BE OVER-CURIOUS
ABOUT THOSE WHO LIVE WICKEDLY, BUT TO
BE INTENT UPON OUR OWN PROPER EMPLOY-
MENT.

IV. Thou shalt not be as a wanderer and gad-
der abroad, rambling about the streets, without
just cause, to spy out such as live wickedly. But
by minding thy own trade and employment, en-
deavour to do what is acceptable to God. And
keeping in mind the oracles of Christ, meditate
in the same continually. For so the Scripture
says to thee : " Thou shalt meditate in His law
day and night ; when thou walkest in the field,
and when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up, that
thou mayest have understanding in all things." '
Nay, although thou beest rich, and so dost not
want a trade for thy maintenance, be not one
that gads about, and walks abroad at random ;
but either go to some that are believers, and of
the same religion, and confer and discourse with
them about the lively oracles of God : —

WHAT BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE WE OUGHT TO READ.

V. Or if thou stayest at home, read the books
of the Law, of the Kings, with the Prophets ;
sing the hymns of David ; and peruse diligently
the Gospel, which is the completion of ihe
other.

THAT WE OUGHT TO ABSTAIN FROM ALL THE
BOOKS OF THOSE THAT ARE OUT OF THE
CHURCH.

VI. Abstain from all the heathen books. For
what hast thou to do with such foreign discourses,
or laws, or false prophets, which subvert the faith
of the unstable ? For what defect dost thou find
in the law of God, that thou shouldest have re-
course to those heathenish fables ? For if thou
hast a mind to read history, thou hast the books
of the Kings ; if books of wisdom or poetry, thou
hast those of the Prophets, of Job, and the Prov-
erbs, in which thou wilt find greater depth of
sagacity than in all the heathen poets and soph-
isters, because these are the words of the Lord,
the only wise God. If thou desirest something
to sing, thou hast the Psalms ; if the origin of
things, thou hast Genesis ; if laws and statutes,
thou hast the glorious law of the Lord God. Do
thou therefore utterly abstain from all strange
and diabolical books. Nay, when thou readest
the law, think not thyself bound to observe the
additional precepts ; though not all of them, yet

' Josh. i. 8; Deut. vi. 7.

some of them. Read those barely for the sake
of history, in order to the knowledge of them,
and to glorify God that He has delivered thee
from such great and so many bonds. Propose
to thyself to distinguish what rules were from the
law of nature, and what were added afterwards,
or were such additional rules as were introduced
and given in the wilderness to the Israelites after
the making of the calf; for the law contains
those precepts which were spoken by the Lord
God before the people fell into idolatry, and
made a calf like the Egyptian Apis — that is, the
ten commandments. But as to those bonds
which were further laid upon them after they
had sinned, do not thou draw them upon thy-
self: for our Saviour came for no other reason
but that He might deliver those that were obnox-
ious thereto from the wrath tvhich was reserved
for them, that^ He might fulfil the Law and the
Prophets, and that He might abrogate or change
those secondary bonds which were superadded
to the rest of the law. For therefore did He
call to us, and say, " Come un/<? me,^ all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." 3 When, therefore, thou hast read the
Law, which is agreeable to the Gospel and to
the Prophets, read also the books of the Kings,
that thou mayest thereby learn which of the
kings were righteous, and how they were pros-
pered by God, and how the promise of eternal
life continued with them from Him ; but those
kings which went a-whoring from God did soon
perish in their apostasy by the righteous judg-
ment of God, and were deprived of His life,
inheriting, instead of rest, eternal punishment.
Wherefore by reading these books thou wilt be
mightily strengthened in the faith, and edified in
Christ, whose body and member thou art. More-
over, when thou walkest abroad in public, and
hast a mind to bathe, make use of that bath
which is appropriated to men, lest, by discover-
ing thy body in an unseemly manner to women,
or by seeing a sight not seemly for men, either
thou beest ensnared, or thou ensnarest and en-
ticest to thyself those wo?nen who easily yield to
such teinptations} Take care, therefore, and
avoid such things, lest thou admit a snare upon
thy own soul.

CONCERNING A BAD WOMAN.

vii. For let us learn what the sacred word says
in the book of Wisdom : " My son, keep my
words, and hide my commandments with thee.
Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister ; and make
understanding familiar with thee : that she may
keep thee from the strange and wicked woman,
in case such a one accost thee with sweet words.

2 Omitted in V. mss.

3 Matt. xi. aS.

394

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book 1.

For from the window of her house she looks into
the street, to see if she can espy some young man
among the fooUsh children, without understand-
ing, walking in the market-place, in the meeting
of the street near her house, and talking in the
dusk of the evening, or in the silence and dark-
ness of the night. A woman meets him in the
appearance of an harlot, who steals away the
hearts of young persons. She rambles about,
and is dissolute ; her feet abide not in her house :
sometimes she is without, sometimes in the
streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. Then
she catches him, and kisses him, and with an
impudent face says unto him, I have peace-offer-
ings with me ; this day do I pay my vows : there-
fore came I forth to meet thee ; earnestly I have
desired thy face, and I have found thee. I have
decked my bed with coverings ; with tapestry
from Egypt have I adorned it. I have perfumed
my bed with saffron, and my house with cinna-
mon. Come, let us take our fill of love until
the morning ; come, let us solace ourselves with
love," etc. To which he adds : " With much
discourse she seduced him, with snares from her
lips she forced him. He goes after her like a
silly bird." ' And again : " Do not hearken to
a wicked woman ; for though the lips of an har-
lot are like drops from an honey-comb, which
for a while is smooth in thy throat, yet afterwards
thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and
sharper than any two-edged sword." ^ And
again : " But get away quickly, and tarry not ;
fix not thine eyes upon her : for she hath thrown
down many wounded ; yea, innumerable multi-
tudes have been slain by her." ^ " If not," says
he, " yet thou wilt repent at the last, when thy
flesh and thy body are consumed, and wilt say,
How have I hated instruction, and my heart has
avoided the reproofs of the righteous ! I have
not hearkened to the voice of my instructor, nor
mclined mine ear to my teacher. I have almost
been in all evil."'' But we will make no more
quotations ; and if we have omitted any, be so
prudent as to select the most valuable out of the
Holy Scriptures, and confirm yourselves with
them, rejecting all things that are evil, that so
you may be found holy with God in eternal life.

SEC. III. — COMMANDMENTS TO WOMEN.

CONCERNING THE SUBJECTION OF A WIFE TO HER
HUSBAND, AND THAT SHE MUST BE LOVING
AND MODEST.

VIII. Let the wife be obedient to her own
proper husband, because " the husband is the
head of the wife."5 But Christ is the head of

' Prov. vii. I, etc.

* Prov. V. 3, 4.

^ Prov. vii. 25, 26.

* Prov. V. 1 1, etc.
5 I Cor. XI 3

that husband who walks in the way of righteous-
ness ; and " the head of Christ is God," even
His Father. Therefore, O wife, next after the
Almighty, our God and Father, the Lord of
the present world and of the world to come, the
Maker of everything that breathes, and of every
power; and after His beloved Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom^ glory be to God,
do thou fear thy husband, and reverence him,
pleasing him alone, rendering thyself acceptable
to him in the several affairs of life, that so on
thy account thy husband may be called blessed,
according to the Wisdom of Solomon, which
thus speaks : " Who can find a virtuous woman ?
for such a one is more precious than costly
stones. The heart of her husband doth safely
trust in her, so that she shall have no need of
spoil : for she does good to her husband all the
days of her life. She buyeth wool and flax, and
worketh profitable things with her hands. She
is like the merchants' ships, she bringeth her food
from far. She riseth also while it is yet night,
and giveth meat to her household, and food to
her maidens. She considereth a field, and buy-
eth it ; with the fruit of her hands she planteth
a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength,
and strengtheneth her arms. She tasteth that it
is good to labour ; her lamp goeth not out all
the whole night. She stretcheth out her arms
for useful work, and layeth her hands to the
spindle. She openeth her hands to the needy ;
yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the poor.
Her husband takes no care of the affairs of his
house ; for all that are with her are clothed with
double garments. She maketh coats for her hus-
band, clothings of silk and purple. Her husband
is eminent in the gates, when he sitteth with the
elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and
selleth it to the Phoenicians, and girdles to the
Canaanites. She is clothed with glory and beauty,
and she rejoices in the last days. She openeth
her mouth with wisdom and discretion, and puts
her words in order. The ways of her household
are strict ; she eateth not the bread of idleness.
She will open her mouth with wisdom and cau-
tion, and upon her tongue are the laws of mercy.
Her children arise up and praise her for her
riches, and her husband joins in her praises.
Many daughters have obtained wealth and done
worthily, but thou surpassest <ind excellest them
all. May lying flatteries and the vain beauty of
a wife be far from thee. For a religious wife is
blessed. Let her praise the fear of the Lord : ^
give her of the fruits of her lips, and let her hus-
band be praised in the gates."** And again : "A
virtuous wife is a crown to her husband." ^ And

' " To whom b€ glory," V. mss

' I The incorrect rendering of the LXX. is here cited, as given in
the text. — R.j

*> Prov xxxi. 10, etc.
9 Prov. xii. 4.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

395

again : " Many wives have built an house." ' You
have learned what great commendations a pru-
dent and loving wife receives from the Lord God.
If thou desirest to be one of the faithful, and to
please the Lord, O wife, do not superadd orna-
ments to thy beauty, in order to please other
men ; neither affect to wear fine broidering, gar-
ments, or shoes, to entice those who are allured
by such things. For although thou dost not
these wicked things with design of sinning thyself,
but only for the sake of ornament and beauty, yet
wilt thou not so escape future punishment, as
having compelled another to look so hard at
thee as to lust after thee, and as not having taken
care both to avoid sin thyself, and the affording
scandal to others. But if thou yield thyself up,
and commit the crime, thou art both guilty of
thy own sin, and the cause of the ruin of the
other's soul also. Besides, when thou hast com-
mitted lewdness with one man, and beginnest to
despair, thou wilt again turn away from thy duty,
and follow others, and grow past feeling ; as says
the divine word : " When a wicked man comes
into the depth of evil, he becomes a scorner, and
then disgrace and reproach come upon him." ^
For such a woman afterward being wounded, en-
snares without restraint the souls of the foolish.
Let us learn, therefore, how the divine word
triumphs over such women, saying : " I hated a
woman who is a snare and net to the heart of
men worse than death ; her hands are fetters." ^
And in another passage : "As a jewel of gold in a
swine's snout, so is beauty in a wicked woman." ■♦
And again : "As a worm in wood, so does a
wicked woman destroy her husband." s And
again : " It is better to dwell in the corner of
the house-top, than with a contentious and an
angry woman." ^ You, therefore, who are Chris-
tian women, do not imitate such as these. But
thou who designest to be faithful to thine own
husband, take care to please him alone. And
when thou art in the streets, cover thy head ; for
by such a covering thou wilt avoid being viewed
of idle persons. Do not paint thy face, which is
God's workmanship ; for there is no part of thee
which wants ornament, inasmuch as all things
which God has made are very good. But the

' [A.V.," Every wise woman buildeth her house."— R.] Prov.
xiv. I.

* Prov. xviii. 3.
3 Eccles. vii. 36.

* Prov. xi. 22.

5 Prov. xii. 4 in LXX.

* Prov. xxi. 9, ig.

lascivious additional adorning of what is already
good is an affront to the bounty of the Creator.
Look downward when thou walkest abroad, veil-
ing thyself as becomes women.

THAT A WOMAN MUST NOT BATHE WITH MEN.

IX. Avoid also that disorderly practice of bath-
ing in the same place with men ; for many are
the nets of the evil one. And let not a Christian
woman bathe with an hermaphrodite ; for if she
is to veil her face, and conceal it with modesty
from strange men, how can she bear to enter
naked into the bath together with men ? But if
the bath be appropriated to women, let her bathe
orderly, modestly, and moderately. But let her
not bathe without occasion, nor much, nor often,
nor in the middle of the day, nor, if possible,
every day ; and let the tenth hour of the day be
the set time for such seasonable bathing. For
it is convenient that thou, who art a Christian
woman, shouldst ever constantly avoid a curiosity
which has many eyes.

CONCERNING A CONTENTIOUS AND BRAWLING

WOMAN.

X. But as to a spirit of contention, be sure to
curb it as to all men, but principally as to thine
husband ; lest, if he be an unbeliever or an hea-
then, he may have an occasion of scandal or of
blaspheming God, and thou be partaker of a
woe from God. For, says He, "Woe to him by
whom My name is blasphemed among the Gen-
tiles ; " 7 and lest, if thy husband be a Christian,
he be forced, from his knowledge of the Scrip-
tures, to say that which is written in the book
of Wisdom : " It is better to dwell in the wil-
derness, than with a contentious and an angry
woman." ^ You wives, therefore, demonstrate
your piety by your modesty and meekness to all
without the Church, whether they be women or
men, in order to their conversion and improve-
ment in the faith. And since we have warned
you, and instructed you briefly, whom we do
esteem our sisters, daughters, and members, as
being wise yourselves, persevere all your lives
in an unblameable course of life. Seek to know
such kinds of learning whereby you may arrive
at the kingdom of our Lord, and please Him,
and so rest for ever and ever. Amen.

^ Isa. lii. 5.
' Prov. xxi. 19.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK II.

OF BISHOPS, PRESBYTERS, AND DEACONS.

SEC. I. — ON EXAMINING CANDIDATES FOR THE
EPISCOPAL OFFICE.

THAT A BISHOP MUST BE WELL INSTRUCTED AND
EXPERIENCED IN THE WORD.

I. But concerning bishops, we have heard from
our Lord, that a pastor who is to be ordained a
bishop for the churches in every parish, must be
unblameable, unreprovable, free from all kinds
of wickedness common among men, not under
fifty years of age ; for such a one is in good
part past youthful disorders, and the slanders of
the heathen, as well as the reproaches which are
sometimes cast upon many persons by some false
brethren, who do not consider the word of God
in the Gospel : " Whosoever speaketh an idle
word shall give an account thereof to the Lord
in the day of judgment." ' And again : " By
thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned." ^ Let him
therefore, if it is possible, be well educated ; but
if he be unlettered, let him at any rate be''' skilful
in the word, and of competent age. But if in
a small parish one advanced in years is not to
be found,'* let some younger person, who has a
good report among his neighbours, and is es-
teemed by them worthy of the office of a bishop,
— who has carried himself from his youth with
meekness and regularity, like a much elder per-
son, — after examination, and a general good
report, be ordained in peace. For Solomon at
twelve years of age was king of Israel, s and
Josiah at eight years of age reigned righteously,''
and in like manner Joash governed the people
at seven years of age.^ Wherefore, although the
person be young, let him be meek, gentle, and

' Matt. xii. 36.

* Matt. xii. 37.

3 The words in italics occur only in the V. MSS.

* The V. .MSS. read: " But if in a small parish one advanced in
years is not to be found whom his neighbours testify to be worthy of
the office of bishop, and wise enough to be appointed to it, and if
there be a young man who has carried," etc.

5 I Kings xii. (LXX.).

'' 2 Kings xxii. i.

7 2 Chron. xxiv. i ; 2 Kings xi. 3, 4.

396

quiet. For the Lord God says by Esaias :
" Upon whom will I look, but upon him who
is humble and quiet, and always trembles at my
words? "^ In like manner it is in the Gospel
also : " Blessed are the meek : for they shall
inherit the earth." ^ Let him also be merciful;
for again it is said : " Blessed are the merciful :
for they shall obtain mercy." '° Let him also be
a peacemaker ; for again it is said : ^^ Blessed
are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the
sons of God." " Let him also be one of a good
conscience, purified from all evil, and wicked-
ness, and unrighteousness ; for it is said again :
" Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall
see God." "

WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE CHARACTERS OF A
BISHOP AND OF THE REST OF THE CLERGY.

II. Let him therefore be sober, prudent, de-
cent, firm, stable, not given to wine ; no striker,
but gentle ; not a brawler, not covetous ; " not
a novice, lest, being puffed up with pride, he
fall into condemnation, and the snare of the
devil : for every one that exalteth himself shall
be abased." '^ Such a one a bishop ought to
be, who has been the " husband of one wife," '^
who also has herself had no other husband, " rul-
ing well his own house." 's In this manner let
examination be made when he is to receive or-
dination, and to be placed in his bishopric,
whether he be grave, faithful, decent ; whether
he hath a grave and faithful wife, or has formerly
had such a one ; whether he hath educated his
children piously, and has " brought them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; " '^
whether his domestics do fear and reverence

' Isa. Ixvi. 2.

9 Matt. V. 5.

'° Matt. V. 7.

" From the V. MSS.; Matt. v. 9.

'2 Matt. V. 8.

'J I Tim. iii. 6;
'* I Tim. iii. 2.
'5 I Tim. iii. 4.
'<> Eph. vi. 4.

Luke xiv. 11.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

397

him, and are all obedient to him : for if those
who are immediately about him for worldly con-
cerns are seditious and disobedient, how will
others not of his family, when they are under
his management, become obedient to him ?

IN WHAT THINGS A BISHOP IS TO BE EXAMINED
BEFORE HE IS ORDAINED.

III. Let examination also be made whether
he be unblameable as to the concerns of this
hfe ; for it is written : " Search diligently for all
the faults of him who is to be ordained for the
priesthood." '

SEC. II. — ON THE CHARACTER AND TEACHING OF
THE BISHOP.

On which account let him also be void of
anger ; for Wisdom says : " Anger destroys even
the prudent." ^ Let him also be merciful, of a
generous and loving temper ; for our Lord says :
'' By this shall all men know that ye are my dis-
ciples, if ye love one another." ^ Let him be
also ready to give, a lover of the widow and the
stranger ; ready to serve, and minister, and at-
tend ; resolute in his duty ; and let him know
who is the most worthy of his assistance.

THAT CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS ARE NOT TO
BE MADE TO EVERY WIDOW, BUT THAT SOME-
TIMES A WOMAN WHO HAS A HUSBAND IS TO
BE PREFERRED: AND THAT NO DISTRIBUTIONS
ARE TO BE MADE TO ANY ONE WHO IS GIVEN
TO GLUTTONY, DRUNKENNESS, AND IDLENESS.

rv. For if there be a widow who is able to
support herself, and another woman who is not
a widow, but is needy by reason of sickness, or
the bringing up many children, or infirmity of
her hands, let him stretch out his hand in char-
ity rather to this latter. But if any one be in
want by gluttony, drunkenness, or idleness, he
does not deserve any assistance, or /o be es-
teemed a member of the Church of God. For
the Scripture, speaking of such persons, says :
" The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, and
is not able to bring it to his mouth again." ■♦
And again : " The sluggard folds up his hands,
and eats his own flesh." 5 " For every drunkard
and whoremonger shall come to poverty, and
every drowsy person shall be clothed with tatters
and rags."^ And in another passage : " If thou
give thine eyes to drinking and cups, thou shalt
afterwards walk more naked than a pestle." ^
For certainly idleness is the mother of famine.

' Lev. xxi. 17, etc.

2 Prov. xy. I (LXX.).

3 John xiii. 35.

* Prov. xix. 24.
5 Excles. iv. 5.

* Not in v. .MSS. Prov. xxiii. 21.

7 Prov. xxiii. 31 (LXX.). The word translated " pestle " has
also been rendered " upper room," and some suppose it corrupt.

THAT A BISHOP MUST BE NO ACCEPTER OF PBR-
SONS IN JUDGMENT; THAT HE MUST POSSESS
A GENTLE DISPOSITION, AND BE TEMPERATE
IN HIS MODE OF LIFE.

v. A bishop must be no accepter of persons ;
neither revering nor flattering a rich man con-
trary to what is right, nor overlooking nor domi-
neering over a poor man. For, says God to
Moses, "Thou shalt not accept the person of
the rich, nor shalt thou pity a poor man in his
cause : for the judgment is the Lord's."* And
again : "Thou shalt with exact justice follow
that which is right."'' Let a bishop be frugal,
and contented with a little in his meat and drink,
that he may be ever in a sober frame, and dis-
posed to instruct and admonish the ignorant ;
and let him not be costly in his diet, a pam-
perer of himself, given to pleasure, or fond of
delicacies. Let him he patient and gentle in
his admonitions, well instructed himself, meditat-
ing in and diligently studying the Lord's books,
and reading them frequently, that so he may be
able carefully to interpret the Scriptures, ex-
pounding the Gospel in correspondence with the
prophets and with the law ; and let the exposi-
tions from the law and the prophets correspond
to the Gospel. For the Lord Jesus says : " Search
the Scriptures ; for they are those which testify
of me." '° And again : " For Moses wrote of
me." " But, above all, let him carefully dis-
tinguish between the original law and the ad-
ditional precepts, and show which are the laws
for believers, and which the bonds for the unbe-
lievers, lest any should fall under those bonds.
Be careful, therefore, O bishop, to study the
word, that thou mayest be able to explain every-
thing exactly, and that thou mayest copiously
nourish thy people with much doctrine, and en-
lighten them with the light of the law ; for God
says : " Enlighten yourselves with the light of
knowledge, while we have yet opportunity." "

THAT A BISHOP MUST NOT BE GIVEN TO FILTHY
LUCRE, NOR BE A SURETY NOR AN ADVOCATE.

VI. Let not a bishop be given to filthy lucre,
especially before the Gentiles, rather suffering
than offering injuries ; not covetous, nor rapa-
cious ; no purloiner ; no admirer of the rich,
nor hater of the poor ; no evil-speaker, nor false
witness ; not given to anger ; no brawler ; not
entangled with the affairs of this life ; not a
surety for any one, nor an accuser in suits about
money ; not ambitious ; not double-minded, nor
double-tongued ; not ready to hearken to cal-
umny or evil-speaking ; not a dissembler ; not ad-
dicted to the heathen festivals ; not given to vain

^ I>ev. xix. 15; Ex. xxiii. 3.

9 Deut. i. 17, xvi. 30.
'" John v. 39.
" John V. 46.
'^ Hos. x. 12.

398

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book IL

deceits ; not eager after worldly things, nor a
lover of money. For all these things are oppo-
site to God, and pleasing to demons. Let the
bishop earnestly give all these precepts in charge
to the laity also, persuading them to imitate his
conduct. For, says He, "Do ye make the
children of Israel pious." ' Let him be prudent,
humble, apt to admonish with the instructions
of the Lord, well-disposed, one who has re-
nounced all the wicked projects of this world,
and all heathenish lusts ; let him be orderly,
sharp in observing the wicked, and taking heed
of them, but yet a friend to all ; just, discerning ;
and whatsoever quahties are commendable among
men, let the bishop possess them in himself. For
if the pastor be unblameable as to any wicked-
ness, he will compel his own disciples, and by
his very mode of life press them to become
worthy imitators of his own actions. As the
prophet somewhere says, *' And it will be, as is
the priest, so is the people ; " ^ for our Lord and
Teacher Jesus Christ, /he Son ^ of God, began
first to do, and then to teach, as Luke somewhere
says : * " which Jesus began to do and to teacHT ^
Wherefore he says : " Whosoever shall do and
teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom
of God." 5 For you bishops are to be guides
and watchmen to the people, as you yourselves
have Christ for your guide and watchman. Do
you therefore become good guides and watch-
men to the people of God. For the Lord says
by Ezekiel, speaking to every one of you : " Son
of man, I have given thee for a watchman to the
house of Israel ; and thou shalt hear the word
from my mouth, and shalt observe, and shalt de-
clare it from me. When I say unto the wicked.
Thou shalt surely die ; if thou dost not speak to
warn the wicked from his wickedness, that wicked
man shall die in his iniquity, and his blood will
I require at thine hand. But if thou warn the
wicked from his way, that he may turn from it,
and he does not turn from it, he shall die in
his iniquity, and thou hast delivered thy soul."^
" In the same manner, if the sword of war be
approaching, and the people set a watchman to
watch, and he see the same approach, and does
not forewarn them, and the sword come and
take one of them, he is taken away in his in-
iquity ; but his blood shall be required at the
watchman's hand, because he did not blow the
trumpet. But if he blew the trumpet, and he
who heard it would not take warning, and the
sword come and take him away, his blood shall
be upon him, because he heard the trumpet and
took not warning. But he who took warning

' Lev. XV. 31.

^ Hos iv. 9.

' Not in V. Mss.

•♦ Acts i. I.

S Matt. V. 19.

' Kzek. xxxiii. 7, etc.

has delivered his soul ; and the watchman, be-
cause he gave warning, shall surely live." ^ The
sword here is the judgment ; the trumpet is the
holy Gospel ; the watchman is the bishop, who is
set in the Church, who is obliged by his preach-
ing to testify and vehemently to forewarn ^ con-
cerning that judgment. If ye do not declare
and testify this to the people, the sins of those
who are ignorant of it will be found upon you.
Wherefore do you warn and reprove the unin-
structed with boldness, teach the ignorant, con-
firm those that understand, bring back those
that go astray. If we repeat the very same
things on the same occasions, brethren, we shall
not do amiss. For by frequent hearing it is to
be hoped that some will be made ashamed, and
at least do some good action, and avoid some
wicked one. For says God by the prophet :
" Testify those things to them ; perhaps they will
hear thy voice." ^ And again : " If perhaps they
will hear, if perhaps they will submit."'? Moses
also says to the people : '■^ If hearing thou wilt
hear the Lord God, and do that which is good
and right in His eyes." '° And again : ' " Hear,
O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.""
And our Lord is often recorded in the Gospel to
have said : " He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear." '^ And wise Solomon says : " My son,
hear the instruction of thy father, and reject not
the laws of thy mother." '^ And, indeed, to this
day men have not heard ; for while they seem
to have heard, they have not heard aright, as
appears by their having left the one and only
true God, and their being drawn into destructive
and dangerous heresies, concerning which we
shall speak again afterwards.

SEC. III. — HOW THE BISHOP IS TO TREAT THE
INNOCENT, THE GUILTY, AND THE PENITENT.

WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE CHARACTER OF THE
INITIATED.

VII. Beloved, be it known to you that those
who are baptized into the death of our Lord
Jesus are obliged to go on no longer in sin ; for
as those who are dead cannot work wickedness
any longer, so those who are dead with Christ
cannot practise wickedness. We do not therefore
believe, brethren, that any one who has received
the washing of life continues in the practice of
the licentious acts of transgressors. Now he who
sins after his baptism, unless he repent and for-
sake his sins, shall be condemned to hell-fire.

7 Ezek. xxxiii. 2, etc.

' Jer. xxvi.

9 Ezek. ii. 7, iii. 11.

'o Ex. XV. 26.

" Dcut. vi. 4; Mark xii. 29.

'- Matt, xi., xiii.

'■> Prov. i. 8.

Skc. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

399

CONCERNING A PERSON FALSELY ACCUSED, OR A
PERSON CONVICTED.

VIII. But if any one be maliciously prosecuted
by the heathen, because he will not still go along
with them to the same excess of riot, let him
know that such a one is blessed of God, accord-
ing as our Lord says in the Gospel : " Blessed
are ye when men shall reproach you, or perse-
cute you, or say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding
glad, for your reward is great in heaven." ' If,
therefore, any one be slandered and falsely ac-
cused, such a one is blessed ; for the Scripture
says, " A man that is a reprobate is not tried by
God." ' But if any one be convicted as having
done a wicked action, such a one not only hurts
himself, but occasions the whole body of the
Church and its doctrine to be blasphemed ; as
if we Christians did not practise those things
that we declare to be good and honest, and we
ourselves shall be reproached by the Lord, that
" they say and do not." ^ Wherefore the bishop
must boldly reject such as these upon full con-
viction, unless they change their course of life.

THAT A BISHOP OUGHT NOT TO RECEIVE BRIBES.

IX. For the bishop must not only himself give
no offence, but must be no respecter of persons ;
in meekness instructing those that offend. But
if he himself has not a good conscience, and is
a respecter of persons for the sake of filthy lucre
and receiving of bribes, and spares the open
offender, and permits him to continue in the
Church, he disregards the voice of God and of
our Lord, which says, " Thou shalt exactly exe-
cute right judgment." ■♦ " Thou shalt not accept
persons in judgment : thou shalt not justify the
ungodly." 5 " Thou shalt not receive gifts against
any one's life ; for gifts do blind the eyes of the
wise, and pervert the words of the righteous."^
.\nd elsewhere He says : " Take away from
among yourselves that wicked person." 7 And
Solomon says in his Proverbs : " Cast out a pes-
tilent fellow from the congregation, and strife
will go out along with him." ^

THAT A BISHOP WHO BV WRONG JUDGMENT SPARES
AN OFFENDER IS HIMSELF GUILTY.

X. But he who does not consider these things,
will, contrary to justice, spare him who deserves
punishment ; as Saul spared Agag,9 and Eli '° his

' Matt. V. II, 12.

* This passage is not found in Scripture. Some compare Jas. i.
12 and Heb. xii. 8.
3 Matt, xxiii. 3.
■• Deut. xvi. 20, i. 17.
5 Ex. xxiii. 7, LXX.
*> Ex. xxiii. 8.

^ Deut. xxvii. 25, xvi. 19, xvii. 7.
^ Prov. xxii. 10.
9 I Sam. XV.
'° I Sara. ii.

sons, "who knew not the Lord." Such a one
profanes his own dignity, and that Church of
God which is in his parish. Such a one is
esteemed unjust before God and holy men, as
affording occasion of scandal to many of the
newly baptized, and to the catechumens ; as
also to the youth of both sexes, to whom a woe
belongs, and "a. mill-stone about his neck,""
and drowning, on account of his guilt. For, ob-
serving what a person their governor is, through
his wickedness and neglect of justice they will
grow sceptical, and, indulging the same disease,
will be compelled to perish with him ; as was
the case of the people joining with Jeroboam,"
and thos^ which were in the conspiracy with
Corah.'3 But if the offender sees that the bishop
and deacons are innocent and unblameable, and
the flock pure, he will either not venture to de-
spise their authority, and to enter into the Church
of God at all, as one smitten by his own con-
science : or if he values nothing, and ventures
to enter in, either he will be convicted imme-
diately, as Uzza '^ at the ark, when he touched
it to support it ; and as Achan,'5 when he stole
the accursed thing ; and as Gehazi,'^ when he
coveted the money of Naaman, and so will be
immediately punished : or else he will be ad-
monished by the pastor, and drawn to repent-
ance. For when he looks round the whole
Church one by one, and can spy no blemish,
neither in the bishop nor in the people who are
under his care, he will be put to confusion, and
pricked at the heart, and in a peaceable manner
will go his way with shame and many tears, and
the flock will remain pure. He will apply him-
self to God with tears, and will repent of his
sins, and have hope. Nay, the whole flock, at
the sight of his tears, will be instructed, because
a sinner avoids destruction by repentance.

HOW A BISHOP OUGHT TO JUDGE OFFENDERS.

XI. Upon this account, therefore, O bishop,
endeavour to be pure in thy actions, and to
adorn thy place and dignity, which is that of
one sustaining the character of God among men,
as being set over all men, over priests, kings,
rulers, fathers, children, teachers, and in general
over all those who are subject to thee : and so
sit in the Church when thou speakest, as having
authority to judge offenders. For to you, O
bishops, it is said : " Whatsoever ye shall bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and what-
soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." '^

" Matt, xviii. 6, 7.

'2 I Kings xii.

'J Num. xvi.

'^ 2 Sam. vi.

'3 Josh. vii.

'*" 2 Kings V.

'^ .Matt, xviii 18.

400

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

INSTRUCTION AS TO HOW A BISHOP OUGHT TO
BEHAVE HIMSELF TO THE PENITENT.

xii. Do thou therefore, O bishop, judge with
authority like God, yet receive the penitent ;
for God is a God of mercy. Rebuke those that
sin, admonish those that are not converted, ex-
hort those that stand to persevere in their good-
ness, receive the penitent ; for the Lord God
has promised with an oath to afford remission
to the penitent for what things they have done
amiss. For He says by Ezekiel : " Speak unto
them, As I live, saith the Lord, I would not the
death of a sinner, but that the wicked turn from
his evil way, and live. Turn ye therefore from
your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O house of
Israel?" ' Here the 7vord^ affords hope to sin-
ners, that if they will repent they shall have hope
of salvation, lest otherwise out of despair they
yield themselves up to their transgressions ; but
that, having hope of salvation, they may be con-
verted, and may address to God with tears, on
account of their sins, and may repent from their
hearts, and so appease His displeasure towards
them ; so shall they receive a pardon from Him,
as from a merciful Father.

THAT WE OUGHT TO BEWARE HOW WE MAKE
TRIAL OF ANY SINFUL COURSE.

XIII. Yet it is very necessary that those who
are yet innocent should continue so, and not
make an experiment what sin is, that they may
not have occasion for trouble, sorrow, and those
lamentations which are in order to forgiveness.
For how dost thou know, O man, when thou
sinnest, whether thou shalt live any number of
days in this present state, that thou mayest have
time to repent? For the time of thy departure
out of this world is uncertain ; and if thou diest
in sin, there will remain no repentance for thee ;
as God says by David, " In the grave who will
confess to Thee?"^ it behoves us, therefore,
to be ready in the doing of our duty, that so we
may await our passage into another world with-
out sorrow. Wherefore also the Divine Word
exhorts, speaking to thee by the wise Solomon,^
" Prepare thy works against thy exit, and pro-
vide all beforehand in the field," ^ lest some of
the things necessary to thy journey be wanting ;
as the oil of piety was deficient in the five fool-
ish virgins 5 mentioned in the Gospel, when they,
on account of their having extinguished their
lamps of divine knowledge, were shut out of the
bride-chamber. Wherefore he who values the
security of his soul will take care to be out of
danger, by keeping free from sin, that so he may

■ Ezek. xxxiii. ii.
" Not in V. MSS.
3 Ps. vi. 5.
* Prov. xxiv. 27.
- Mntt. XXV.

preserve the advantage of his former good works
to himself. Do thou, therefore, so judge as exe-
cuting judgment for God. For, as the Scripture
says, "the judgment is the Lord's."^ In the
first place, therefore, condemn the guilty person
with authority ; afterwards try to bring him home
with mercy and compassion, and readiness to
receive him, promising him salvation if he will
change his course of life, and become a penitent ;
and when he does repent, and has submitted
to his chastisement, receive him : remembering
that our Lord has said, " There is joy in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth." ^

CONCERNING THOSE WHO AFFIRM THAT PENI-
TENTS ARE NOT TO BE RECEIVED INTO THE
CHURCH. THAT A RIGHTEOUS PERSON, AL-
THOUGH HE CONVERSE WITH A SINNER, WILL
NOT PERISH WITH HIM. THAT NO PERSON IS
PUNISHED FOR ANOTHER, BUT EVERY ONE MUST
GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. THAT WE
MUST ASSIST THOSE WHO ARE WEAK IN THE
FAITH; AND THAT A BISHOP MUST NOT BE
GOVERNED BY ANY TURBULENT PERSON AMONG
THE LAITY.

XIV. But if thou refusest to receive him that
repents, thou exposest him to those who lie in
wait to destroy, forgetting what David says :
" Deliver not my soul, which confesses to Thee,
unto destroying beasts." * Wherefore Jeremiah,
when he is exhorting men to repentance, says
thus: "Shall not he that falleth arise? or he
that turneth away, cannot he return? Where-
fore have my people gone back by a shameless
backsliding? and they are hardened in their
purpose.9 Turn, ye backsliding children, and
I will heal your backslidings." '° Receive, there-
fore, without any doubting, him that repents.
Be not hindered by such unmerciful men, who
say that we must not be defiled with such as
those, nor so much as speak to them : for such
advice is from men that are unacquainted with
God and His providence, and are unreasonable
judges, and unmerciful brutes. These men are
ignorant that we ought to avoid society with
offenders, not in discourse, but in actions : for
" the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be
upon him." " And again: " If a land sinneth
against me by trespassing grievously, and I
stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff
of bread upon it, and send famine upon it, and
destroy man and beast therein : though these
three men, Noah, Job, and Daniel, were in the
midst of it, they shall only save their own souls

^^ Dent. i. 17.

^ Luke XV. 7.

' Ps. Ixxiv. 19.

9 Jer. ylli. 4, 5.
'" Jer. iii 22.
" Lzek. xviii. 20.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

401

by their righteousness, saith the Lord God." '
The Scripture most clearly shows that a right-
eous man that converses with a wicked man
does not perish with him. For in the present
world the righteous and the wicked are mingled
together in the common affairs of life, but not
in holy communion ; and in this the friends and
favourites of God are guilty of no sin. For they
do but imitate " their Father which is in heaven,
who maketh His sun to rise on the righteous and
unrighteous, and sendeth His rain on the evil
and on the good ; " ^ and the righteous man
undergoes no peril on this account. For those
who conquer and those who are conquered are
in the same place of running, but only those
who have bravely undergone the race are where
the garland is bestowed ; and " no one is
crowned, unless he strive lawfully." ^ For every
one shall give account of himself, and God will
not destroy the righteous with the wicked ; for
with Him it is a constant rule, that innocence
is never punished. For neither did He drown
Noah, nor burn up Lot, nor destroy Rahab for
company. And if you desire to know how this
matter was among us, Judas was one of us, and
took the like part of the ministry which we had ;
and Simon the magician received the seal of the
Lord. Yet both the one and the other proving
wicked, the former hanged himself, and the lat-
ter, as he flew in the air in a manner unnatural,
was dashed against the earth. Moreover, Noah
and his sons with him were in the ark ; but Ham,
who alone was found wicked, received punish-
ment in his son.-* But if fathers are not punished
for their children, nor children for their fathers,
it is thence clear that neither will wives be pun-
ished for their husbands, nor servants for their
masters, nor one relation for another, nor one
friend for another, nor the righteous for the
wicked. But every one will be required an ac-
count of his own doing. For neither was pun-
ishment inflicted on Noah for the world, nor was
Lot destroyed by fire for the Sodomites, nor was
Rahab slain for the inhabitants of Jericho, nor
Israel for the Egyptians. For not the dwelling
together, but the agreement in their sentiments,
alone could condemn the righteous with the
wicked. We ought not therefore to hearken to
such persons who call for death, and hate man-
kind, and love accusations, and under fair pre-
tences bring men to death. For one man shall
not die for another, but " every one is held with
the chains of his own sins."5 And, "behold,
the man and his work is before his face." ^ Now

■ Ezek. xiv. 13, 14.

2 Matt. V. 45.

3 2 Tim. ii. 5.

* A various reading gives; "Ham, one of his sons, who alone
was found wicked, received punishment."
5 Prov V. 22.
•> Isa. Ixii. II.

we ought to assist those who are with us,'' and
are in danger, and fall, and, as far as lies in our
power, to reduce them to sobriety by our exhor-
tations, and so save them from death. For " the
whole have no need of the physician, but the
sick ; " ^ since " it is not pleasing in the sight of
your Father that one of these little ones should
perish." 9 For we ought not to establish the will
of hard-hearted men, but the will of the God
and Father of the universe, which is revealed to
us by Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory
for ever. Amen.

For it is not equitable that thou, O bishop,
who art the head, shouldst submit to the tail,
that is, to some seditious person among the laity,
to the destruction of another, but to God alone.
For it is thy privilege to govern those under thee,
but not to be governed by them. For neither
does a son, who is subject by the course of gen-
eration, govern his father ; nor a slave, who is
subject by law, govern his master ; nor does a
scholar govern his teacher, nor a soldier his
king, nor any of the laity his bishop. For that
there is no leason to suppose that such as con-
verse with the wicked, in order to their instruc-
tion in the word, are defiled by or partake of
their sins, Ezekiel, as it were on purpose pre-
venting the suspicions of ill-disposed persons,
says thus : " Why do you speak this proverb
concerning the land of Israel ? The fathers have
eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are
set on edge. As I live, saith the Lord God, ye
shall not henceforth have occasion to use this
proverb in Israel. For all souls are mine, in like
manner as the soul of the father, so also the soul
of the son is mine : the soul that sinneth, it shall
die. But the man who is righteous, and does
judgment and justice " (and so the prophet reck-
ons up the rest of the virtues, and then adds for
a conclusion, "Such a one is just"), "he shall
surely live, saith the Lord God. And if he be-
get a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood,
and walks not in the way of his righteous father"
(and when the prophet had added what follows,
he adds in the conclusion), "he shall certainly
not live : he has done all this wickedness ; he
shall surely die ; his blood shall be upon him.
Yet they will ask thee. Why? Does not the son
bear the iniquity of the father ; or his righteous-
ness, having exercised righteousness and mercy
himself? And thou shalt say unto them. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not
bear the iniquity of the father, and the father
shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him,
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon

' One V. MS. reads: " those who are sick."
* Matt. ix. 12.
9 Matt, xviii. 14.

402

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

him." ' And a little after he says : " When the
righteous turneth away from his righteousness,
and committeth iniquity, all his righteousness,
by reason of all his wickedness which he has
committed, shall not be mentioned to him : in
his iniquity which he hath committed, and in his
sin which he hath sinned, in them shall he die,"
And a little after he adds : " When the wicked
turneth away from his wickedness which he hath
committed, and doth judgment and justice, he
hath preserved his soul, he hath turned away
from all his ungodliness which he hath done ;
he shall surely live, he shall not die." And
afterwards : " I will judge every one of you ac-
cording to his ways, O house of Israel, saith the
Lord God."

THAT A PRIEST MUST NEITHER OVERLOOK OF-
FENCES, NOR BE RASH IN PUNISHING THEM.

XV. Observe, you who are our beloved sons,
how merciful yet righteous the Lord our God is ;
how gracious and kind to men ; and yet most
certainly " He will not acquit the guilty : " ^
though He welcomes the returning sinner, and
revives him, leaving no room for suspicion to
guch as wish to judge sternly and to reject of-
fenders entirely, and to refuse to vouchsafe to
them exhortations which might bring them to
repentance. In contradiction to such, God by
Isaiah says to the bishops : " Comfort ye, com-
fort ye my people, ye priests : speak comforta-
bly to Jerusalem." It therefore behoves you,
upon hearing those words of His, to encourage
those who have offended, and lead them to re-
pentance, and afford them hope, and not vainly
to suppose that you shall be partakers of their
offences on account of such your love to them.
Receive the penitent with alacrity, and rejoice
over them, and with mercy and bowels of com-
passion judge the sinners. For if a person was
walking by the side of a river, and ready to
stumble, and thou shouldest push him and thrust
him into the river, instead of offering him thy
hand for his assistance, thou wouldst be guilty
of the murder of thy brother ; whereas thou
oughtest rather to lend thy helping hand as he
was ready to fall, lest he perish without remedy,
that both the people may take warning, and the
offender may not utterly perish. It is thy duty,
O bishop, neither to overlook the sins of the
people, nor to reject those who are penitent,
that thou mayst not unskilfully destroy the
Lord's flock, or dishonour His new name, which
is imposed on His people, and thou thyself beest
reproached as those ancient pastors were, of
whom God speaks thus to Jeremiah : " Many
shepherds have destroyed my vineyard ; they

■ Ezek. xviii. a, etc.
2 Nah. i. 3.

have polluted my heritage." ^ And in another
passage : " My anger is waxed hot against the
shepherds, and against the lambs shall I have
indignation." '» And elsewhere : " Ye are the
priests that dishonour my name." 5

OF REPENTANCE, THE MANNER OF IT, AND RULES
ABOUT IT.

XVI, When thou seest the offender, with sever-
ity command him to be cast out ; and as he is
going out, let the deacons also treat him with
severity, and then let them go and seek for him,
and detain him out of the Church ; and when
they come in, let them entreat thee for him.
For our Saviour Himself entreated His Father
for those who had sinned, as it is written in the
Gospel : " Father, forgive them ; for they know
not what they do." ^ Then order the offender
to come in ; and if upon examination thou find-
est that he is penitent, and fit to be received at
all into the Church when thou hast afflicted him
his days of fasting, according to the degree of
his offence — as two, three, five, or seven weeks
— so set him at liberty, and speak such things
to him as are fit to be said in way of reproof,
instruction, and exhortation to a sinner for his
reformation, that so he may continue privately
in his humility, and pray to God to be merciful
to him, saying : " If Thou, O Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand?
For with Thee there is propitiation." ^ Of this
sort of declaration is that which is said in the
book of Genesis to Cain : " Thou hast sinned ;
be quiet ; " * that is, do not go on in sin. For
that a sinner ought to be ashamed for his own
sin, that oracle of God delivered to Moses con-
cerning Miriam is a sufficient proof, when he
prayed that she might be forgiven. For says
God to him : " If her father had spit in her
face, should she not be ashamed ? Let her be
shut out of the camp seven days, and afterwards
let her come in again." 9 We therefore ought
to do so with offenders, when they profess their
repentance, — namely, to separate them some
determinate time, according to the proportion
of their offence, and afterwards, like fathers to
children, receive them again upon their repent-
ance.

THAT A BISHOP MUST BE UNBLAMEABLE, AND A
PATTERN FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNDER HIS
CHARGE.

XVII. But if the bishop himself be an offender,
how will he be able any longer to prosecute the

3 Jer. xii. JO.

* Zech. X. 3.
s Mai. i. 6.

* Luke xxiii. 34.
7 Ps. cxxx. 3.

' Gen. iv. 7, LXX.
» [Num. xii. 14. — R.]

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

403

offence of another? Or how will he be able to
reprove another, either he or his deacons, if by
accepting of persons, or receiving of bribes,
they have not all a clear conscience ? For when
the ruler asks, and the judge receives, judgment
is not brought to perfection ; but when both are
" companions of thieves, and regardless of doing
justice to the widows," ' those who are under
the bishop will not be able to support and vindi-
cate him : for they will say to him what is writ-
ten in the Gospel, " Why beholdest thou the
mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye ? " ^ Let
the bishop, therefore, with his deacons, dread to
hear any such thing ; that is, let him give no
occasion for it. For an offender, when he sees
any other doing as bad as himself, will be en-
couraged to do the very same things ; and then
the wicked one, taking occasion from a single
instance, works in others, which God forbid :
and by that means the flock will be destroyed.
For the greater number of offenders there are,
the greater is the mischief that is done by them :
for sin which passes without correction grows
worse and worse, and spreads to others ; since
" a little leaven infects the whole lump," ^ and
one thief spreads the abomination over a whole
nation, and " dead flies spoil the whole pot of
sweet ointment ; " ■♦ and " when a king hearkens
to unrighteous counsel, all the servants under
him are wicked." 5 So one scabbed sheep, if not
separated from those that are whole, infects the
rest with the same distemper ; and a man in-
fected with the plague is to be avoided by all
men ; and a mad dog is dangerous to every one
that he touches. If, therefore, we neglect to
separate the transgressor from the Church of
God, we shall make the " Lord's house a den
of thieves." ^ For it is the bishop's duty not to
be silent in the case of offenders, but to rebuke
them, to exhort them, to beat them down, to
afflict them with fastings, that so he may strike
a pious dread into the rest : for, as He says,
" make ye the children of Israel pious." ^ For
the bishop must be one who discourages sin by
his exhortations, and sets a pattern of righteous-
ness, and proclaims those good things which are
prepared by God, and declares that wrath which
will come at the day of judgment, lest he con-
temn and neglect the plantation of God ; and,
on account of his carelessness, hear that which
is said in Hosea : " Why have ye held your
peace at impiety, and have reaped the fruit
thereof? " ^

■ Isa. i. 23.

* Luke vi. 41.
' Gal. V. 9.

* Eccles. X. I.

' Prov. xxix. 12.

* Matt. xxi. 13.
' Lev. XV. 31.

» Hos. X. 13, LXX.

THAT A BISHOP MUST TAKE CARE THAT HIS
PEOPLE DO NOT SIN, CONSIDERING THAT HE
IS SET FOR A WATCHMAN AMONG THEM.

XVIII. Let the bishop, therefore, extend his
concern to all sorts of people : to those who
have not offended, that they may continue inno-
cent ; to those who offend, that they may re-
pent. For to you does the Lord speak thus :
" Take heed that ye offend not one of these
little ones." ^ It is your duty also to give re-
mission to the penitent. For as soon as ever
one who has offended says, in the sincerity of
his soul, " I have sinned against the Lord," the
Holy Spirit answers, " The Lord also hath for-
given thy sin ; be of good cheer, thou shalt not
die." '° Be sensible, therefore, O bishop, of the
dignity of thy place, that as thou hast received
the power of binding, so hast thou also that of
loosing. Having therefore the power of loosing,
know thyself, and behave thyself in this world
as becomes thy place, being aware that thou
hast a great account to give. " For to whom,"
as the Scripture says, "men have entrusted
much, of him they will require the more." "
For no one man is free from sin, excepting Him
that was made man for us ; since it is written :
" No man is pure from filthiness ; no, not though
he be but one day old." " Upon which account
the lives and conduct of the ancient holy men
and patriarchs are described ; not that we may
reproach them from our reading, but that we
ourselves may repent, and have hope that we
also shall obtain forgiveness. For their blem-
ishes are to us both security and admonition,
because we hence learn, when we have offended,
that if we repent we shall have pardon. For it
is written : " Who can boast that he has a clean
heart? and who dare afifirm that he is pure
from sin? " '^ No man, therefore, is without sin.
Do thou therefore labour to the utmost of thy
power to be unblameable ; and be solicitous of
all the parts of thy flock, lest any one be scan-
dalized on thy account, and thereby perish.
For the layman is solicitous only for himself,
but thou for all, as having a greater burden, and
carrying a heavier load. For it is written :
" And the Lord said unto Moses, Thou and
Aaron shall bear the sins of the priesthood." '♦
Since, therefore, thou art to give an account of
all, take care of all. Preserve those that are
sound, admonish those that sin ; and when thou
hast afflicted them with fasting, give them ease
by remission ; and when with tears the offender
begs readmission, receive him, and let the whole
Church pray for him ; and when by imposition

9 Matt, xviii. 10.
'° 1 Sam. xii. 13.
" Luke xii. 48.
" Job xiv. 4, LXX.
'^ Prov. XX. 9.
'4 Num. xviit. x.

404

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

of thy hand thou hast admitted him, give him
leave to abide afterwards in the flock. But for
the drowsy and the careless, do thou endeavour
to convert and confirm, and warn and cure them,
as sensible how great a reward thou shalt have
for doing so, and how great danger thou wilt
incur if thou beest negligent therein. For Eze-
kiel speaks thus to those overseers who take no
care of the people : " Woe unto the shepherds
of Israel, for they have fed themselves ; the
shepherds feed not the sheep, but themselves.
Ye eat the milk, and are clothed with the wool ;
ye slay the strong, ye do not feed the sheep.
The weak have ye not strengthened, neither have
ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye
bound up that which was broken, neither have
ye brought again that which was driven away,
neither have ye sought that which was lost ; but
violently ye chastised theni with insult : and they
were scattered, because there was no shepherd ;
and they became meat to all the beasts of the
forest." And again : " The shepherds did not
search for my sheep ; and the shepherds fed
themselves, but they fed not my sheep." And
a little after : " Behold, I am against the shep-
herds, and I will require my sheep at their
hands, and cause them to cease from feeding
my sheep, neither shall the shepherds feed
themselves any more ; and I will deliver my
sheep out of their hands, and they shall not be
meat for them." And he also adds, speaking
to the people : " Behold, I will judge between
sheep and sheep, and between rams and rams.
Seemed it a small thing unto you to have eaten
up the good pasture, and to have trodden down
with your feet the residue of your pasture, and
that the sheep have eaten what was trodden
down with your feet?" And a little after He
adds : " And ye shall know that I am the Lord,
and you the sheep of my pasture ; ye are my
men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God." '

THAT A SHEPHERD WHO IS CARELESS OF HIS
SHEEP WILL BE CONDEMNED, AND THAT A
SHEEP WHICH WILL NOT BE LED BY THE SHEP-
HERD IS TO BE PUNISHED.

XIX. Hear, O ye bishops ; and hear, O ye of
the laity, how God speaks : " I will judge be-
tween ram and ram, and between sheep and
sheep." And He says to the shepherds : " Ye
shall be judged for your unskilfulness, and for
destroying the sheep." That is, I will judge
between one bishop and another, and between
one lay person and another, and between one
ruler and another (for these sheep and these
rams are not irrational, but rational creatures) :
lest at any time a lay person should say, I am a
sheep and not a shepherd, and I am not con-

' Ezek. xxxiv. 2, ate.

cerned for myself; let the shepherd look to that,
for he alone will be required to give an account
for me. For as that sheep that will not follow
its good shepherd is exposed to the wolves, to
its destruction ; so that which follows a bad
shepherd is also exposed to unavoidable death,
since his shepherd will devour him. Wherefore
care must be had to avoid destructive shepherds.

HOW THE GOVERNED ARE TO OBEY THE BISHOPS
WHO ARE SET OVER THEM.

XX. As to a good shepherd, let the lay person
honour him, love him, reverence him as his lord,
as his master, as the high priest of God, as a
teacher of piety. For he that heareth him,
heareth Christ ; and he that rejecteth him, re-
jecteth Christ ; and he who does not receive
Christ, does not receive His God and Father :
for, says He, " He that heareth you, heareth
me ; and he that rejecteth you, rejecteth me ;
and he that rejecteth me, rejecteth Him that
sent me." ^ In like manner, let the bishop love
the laity as his children, fostering and cherishing
them with affectionate diligence ; as eggs, in
order to the hatching of young ones ; or as
young ones, taking them in his arms, to the
rearing them into birds : admonishing all men ;
reproving all who stand in need of reproof;
reproving, that is, but not striking ; beating them
down to make them ashamed, but not over-
throwing them ; warning them in order to their
conversion ; chiding them in order to their ref-
ormation and better course of life ; watching
the strong, that is, keeping him firm in the faith
who is already strong ; feeding the people peace-
ably ; strengthening the weak, that is, confirming
with exhortation that which is tempted ; healing
that which is sick, that is, curing by instruction
that which is weak in the faith through doubtful-
ness of mind ; binding up that which is broken,
that is, binding up by comfortable admonitions
that which is gone astray, or wounded, bruised,
or broken by their sins, and put out of the way ;
easing it of its offences, and giving hope : by
this means restore it in strength to the Church,
bringing it back into the flock. Bring again
that which is driven away, that is, do not permit
that which is in its sins, and is cast out by way
of punishment, to continue excluded ; but re-
ceiving it, and bringing it back, restore it to the
flock, that is, to the people of the undefiled
Church. Seek for that which is lost, that is,
do not suffer that which desponds of its salva-
tion, by reason of the multitude of its offences,
utterly to perish. Do thou search for that which
is grown sleepy, drowsy, and sluggish, and that
which is unmindful of its own life, through the
depth of its sleep, and which is at a great dis-

^ Luke X. i6.

Skc. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

405

tance from its own flock, so as to be in danger
of falling among the wolves, and being devoured
by them. Bring it back by admonition, exhort
it to be watchful ; and insinuate hope, not per-
mitting it to say that which was said by some :
" Our impieties are upon us, and we pine away
in them ; how shall we then live? " ' As far as
possible, therefore, let the bishop make the
offence his own, and say to the sinner. Do thou
but return, and I will undertake to suffer death
for thee, as our Lord suffered death for me, and
for all men. For "the good shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep ; but he that is an hireling,
and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are
not, seeth the wolf coming, that is, the devil,
and he leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the
wolf seizes upon them."^ We must know, there-
fore, that God is very merciful to those who
have offended, and hath promised repentance
with an oath. But he who has offended, and is
unacquainted with this promise of God concern-
ing repentance, and does not understand His
long-suffering and forbearance, and besides is
ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, which proclaim
repentance, inasmuch as he has never learned
them from you, perishes through his folly. But
do thou, like a compassionate shepherd, and a
diligent feeder of the flock, search out, and keep
an account of thy flock. Seek that which is
wanting ; ^ as the Lord God our gracious Father
has sent His own Son, the good Shepherd and
Saviour, our Master Jesus, and has commanded
Him to " leave the ninety-nine upon the moun-
tains, and to go in search after that which was
lost, and when He had found it, to take it upon
His shoulders, and to carry it into the flock,
rejoicing that He had found that which was
lost." ■♦ In like manner, be obedient, O bishop,
and do thou seek tha*^ which was lost, guide
that which has wandered out of the right way,
bring back that which is gone astray : for thou
hast authority to bring them back, and to deliver
those that are broken-hearted by remission. For
by thee does our Saviour say to him who is dis-
couraged under the sense of his sins, " Thy sins
are forgiven thee : thy faith hath saved thee ;
go in peace." 5 But this peace and haven of
tranquillity is the Church of Christ, into which
do thou, when thou hast loosed them from their
sins, restore them, as being now sound and un-
blameable, of good hope, diligent, laborious in
good works. As a skilful and compassionate
physician, heal all such as have wandered in
the ways of sin ; for " they that are whole have
no need of a physician, but they that are sick.
For the Son of man came to save and to seek

• Ezek. xxxiii. lo.
^ John X. II, 12.

3 Matt, xviii. 12.

♦ Luke XV. 4, etc.

S Luke V. 20; Matt. ix. 2; Mark v. 34.

that which was lost." ^ Since thou art therefore
a physician of the Lord's Church, provide reme-
dies suitable to every patient's case. Cure them,
heal them by all means possible ; restore them
sound to the Church. Feed the flock, '• not
with insolence and contempt, as lording it over
them," 7 but as a gentle shepherd, "gathering
the lambs into thy bosom, and gently leading
those which are with young." ^

THAT IT IS A DANGEROUS THING TO JUDGE WITH-
OUT HEARING BOTH SIDES, OR TO DETERMINE
OF PUNISHMENT AGAINST A PERSON BEFORE
HE IS CONVICTED.

XXI. Be gentle, gracious, mild, without guile,
without falsehood ; not rigid, not insolent, not
severe, not arrogant, not unmerciful, not puffed
up, not a man-pleaser, not timorous, not double-
minded, not one that insults over the people
that are under thee, not one that conceals the
divine laws and the promises to repentance, not
hasty in thrusting out and expelling, but steady,
not one that delights in severity, not heady. Do
not admit less evidence to convict any one than
that of three witnesses, and those of known and
established reputation ; inquire whether they do
not accuse out of ill-will or envy : for there are
many that delight in mischief, forward in dis-
course, slanderous, haters of the bretliren, mak-
ing it their business to scatter the sheep of Christ ;
whose affirmation if thou admittest without nice
scanning the same, thou wilt disperse thy flock,
and betray it to be devoured by wolves, that is,
by demons and wicked men, or rather not men,
but wild beasts in the shape of men — by the
heathen, by the Jews, and by the atheistic here-
tics. For those destroying wolves soon address
themselves to any one that is cast out of the
Church, and esteem him as a lamb deUvered for
them to devour, reckoning his destruction their
own gain. For he that is " their father, the devil,
is a murderer." 9 He also who is separated un-
justly by thy want of care in judging will be
overwhelmed with sorrow, and be disconsolate,
and so will either wander over to the heathen,
or be entangled in heresies, and so will be alto-
gether estranged from the Church and from hope
in God, and will be entangled in impiety, where-
by thou wilt be guilty of his perdition : for it is
not fair to be too hasty in casting out an offender,
but slow in receiving him when he returns ; to
be forward in cutting off, but unmerciful when
he is sorrowful, and ought to be healed. For
of such as these speaks the divine Scripture :
" Their feet run to mischief ; they are hasty to
shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their

6 Matt. ix. 12; Luke xix. 10.

7 Ezek. xxxiv. 4.

8 Matt. XX. 25; Isa. xl. 11.

9 John viii. 44.

4o6

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book IL

ways, and the way of peace have they not known.
The fear of God is not before their eyes." ' Now
the way of peace is our Saviour Jesus Christ, who
has taught us, saying : " Forgive, and ye shall be
forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you ; " ^
that is, give remission of sins, and your offences
shall be forgiven you. As also He instructed us
by His prayer to say unto God : " Forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors." 3 if^ there-
fore, you do not forgive offenders, how can you
expect the remission of your own sins ? Do not
you rather bind yourselves faster, by pretending
in your prayers to forgive, when you really do
not forgive? Will you not be confronted with
your own words, when you say you forgive and
do not forgive ? For know ye, that he who casts
out one who has not behaved himself wickedly,
or who will not receive him that returns, is a
murderer of his brother, and sheds his blood,
as Cain did that of his brother Abel, and his
" blood cries to God," ■♦ and will be required.
For a righteous man unjustly slain by any one
will be in rest with God for ever. The same is
the case of him who without cause is separated
by his bishop. He who has cast him out as a
pestilent fellow when he was innocent, is more
furious than a murderer. Such a one has no
regard to the mercy of God, nor is mindful of
His goodness to those that are penitent, nor
keeping in his eye the examples of those who,
having been once great offenders, received for-
giveness upon their repentance. Upon which
account, he who casts off an innocent person is
more cruel than he that murders the body. In
like manner, he who does not receive the peni-
tent, scatters the flock of Christ, being really
against Him. For as God is just in judging of
sinners, so is He merciful in receiving them
when they return. For David, the man after
God's own heart, in his hymns ascribes both
mercy and judgment to Him.

THAT DAVID, THE NINEVITES, HEZEKIAH, AND
HIS SON MANASSEH, ARE EMINENT EXAMPLES
OF REPENTANCE. THE PRAYER OF MANASSEH,
KING OF JUDAH.

XXII. It is also thy duty, O bishop, to have
before thine eyes the examples of those that
have gone before, and to apply them skilfully to
the cases of those who want words of severity
or of consolation. Besides, it is reasonable that
in thy administration of justice thou shouldest
follow the will of God ; and as God deals with
sinners, and with those who return, that thou
shouldest act accordingly in thy judging. Now,
did not God by Nathan reproach David for his

' Prov. i. 16; Isa. lix. 7, 8; Ps. xxx\i. 1; Rom. iii. 15.
= Luke vi. 37, 38.
3 Matt. vi. 12.
* Gen. iv. 10.

offence? And yet as soon as he said he re-
pented. He delivered him from death, saying,
" Be of good cheer ; thou shalt not die." s So
also, when God had caused Jonah ^ to be swal-
lowed up by the sea and the whale, upon his
refusal to preach to the Ninevites, when yet he
prayed to Him out of the belly of the whale,
He retrieved his hfe from corruption. And
when Hezekiah had been puffed up for a while,
yet, as soon as he prayed with lamentation. He
remitted his offence. But, O ye bishops, hearken
to an instance useful upon this occasion. For it
is written thus in the fourth book of Kings and
the second book of Chronicles : " And Heze-
kiah died ; and Manasseh his son reigned. He
was twelve years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem ;
and his mother's name was Hephzibah. And
he did evil in the sight of the Lord : he did not
abstain from the abominations of the heathen,
whom the Lord destroyed from the face of the
children of Israel. And Manasseh returned and
built the high places which Hezekiah his father
had overthrown ; and he reared pillars for Baal,
and set up an altar for Baal, and made groves,
as did Ahab king of Israel. And he made al-
tars in the house of the Lord, of which the
Lord spake to David and to Solomon his son,
saying. Therein will I put my name. And Manas-
seh set up altars, and by them served Baal, and
said. My name shall continue for ever.7 And
he built altars to the host of heaven in the two
courts of the house of the Lord ; and he made
his children pass through the fire in a place
named Ge Benennom ; ^ and he consulted en-
chanters, and dealt with wizards and familiar
spirits, and with conjurers and observers of
times, and with teraphim. And he sinned ex-
ceedingly in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke
Him to anger. And he set a molten and a
graven image, the image of his grove, which he
made in the house of the Lord, wherein the
Lord had chosen to put His name in Jerusalem,
the holy city, for ever, and had said, I will no
more remove my foot from the land of Israel,
which I gave to their fathers ; only if they will
observe to do according to all that I have com-
manded them, and according to all the precepts
that my servant Moses commanded them. And
they hearkened not. And Manasseh seduced
them to do more evil before the Lord than did
the nations whom the Lord cast out from the
face of the children of Israel. And the Lord
spake concerning Manasseh and concerning His
people by the hand of His servants the proph-
ets, saying. Because Manasseh king of Judah

5 2 Sam. xii. 13.
* Jonah i. 17, and ii.

' From " said " to " ever" is not in Scripture.
^ Taken from 2 Chron. xxiii. 3, LXX., instead of the reading of
the MSS., " Gebanai."

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

407

has done all these wicked abominations in a
higher degree than the Amorite did which was
before him, and hath made Judah to sin with
nis idols, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Behold, I bring evils upon Jerusalem and Judah,
that whosoever heareth of them, both his ears
shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem
the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the
house of Ahab ; and I will blot out Jerusalem
as a table-book is blotted out by wiping it.
And I will turn it upside down ; and I will give
up the remnant of my inheritance, and will de-
liver them into the hands of their enemies, and
they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their
enemies, because of all the evils which they have
done in mine eyes, and have provoked me to
anger from the day that I brought their fathers
out of the land of Egypt even until this day.
Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very
much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end
to another, beside his sins wherewith he made
Judah to sin in doing evil in the sight of the
Lord. And the Lord brought upon him the
captains of the host of the king of Assyria, and
they caught Manasseh in bonds, and they bound
him in fetters of brass, and brought him to Baby-
lon ; and he was bound and shackled with iron
all over in the house of the prison. And bread
made of bran was given unto him scantily, and
by weight, and water mixed with vinegar but a
little and by measure, so much as would keep
him alive ; and he was in straits and sore afflic-
tion. And when he was violently afflicted, he
besought the face of the Lord his God, and
humbled himself greatly before the face of the
Lord God of his fathers. And he prayed unto
the Lord, saying, O Lord, almighty God of our
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their
righteous seed, who hast made heaven and earth,
with all the ornament thereof, who hast bound
the sea by the word of Thy commandment, who
hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by Thy ter-
rible and glorious name, whom all men fear and
tremble before Thy power ; for the majesty of
Thy glory cannot be borne, and Thine angry
threatening towards sinners is insupportable.
But Thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and
unsearchable ; for Thou art the most high Lord,^
of great compassion, long-suffering, very merci-
ful, and repentest of the evils of men. Thou,
O Lord, according to Thy great goodness, hast
promised repentance and forgiveness to them
that have sinned against Thee, and of Thine in-
finite mercy hast appointed repentance unto sin-
ners, that they may be saved. Thou therefore,
O Lord, that art the God of the just, has not
appointed repentance to the just as to Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob, which have not sinned

• Not in MSS.

against Thee ; but Thou hast appointed repent-
ance unto me that am a sinner : for I have
sinned above the number of the sands of the
sea. My transgressions, O Lord, are multiplied ;
my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not
worthy to behold and see the height of heaven
for the multitude of mine iniquity. I am bowed
down with many iron bands ; for I have pro-
voked Thy wrath, and done evil before Thee,
setting up abominations, and multiplying of-
fences. Now, therefore, I bow the knee of
mine heart, beseeching Thee of grace. I have
sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowl-
edge mine iniquities ; wherefore I humbly be-
seech Thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me,
and destroy me not with mine iniquities. Be
not angry with me for ever, by reserving evil for
me ; neither condemn me into the lower part
of the earth. For Thou art the God, even the
God of them that repent, and in me Thou wilt
show Thy goodness ; for Thou wilt save me that
am unworthy, according to Thy great mercy.
Therefore I will praise Thee for ever all the days
of my life ; for all the powers of the heavens do
praise Thee, and Thine is the glory for ever and
ever. Amen. And the Lord heard his voice,
and had compassion upon him. And there ap-
peared a flame of fire about him, and all the
iron shackles and chains which were about him
fell off; and the Lord healed Manasseh from his
affliction, and brought him back to Jerusalem
unto his kingdom : and Manasseh knew that the
Lord He is God alone. And he worshipped
the Lord God alone with all his heart, and with
all his soul, all the days of his life ; and he was
esteemed righteous. And he took away the
strange gods and the graven image out of
the house of the Lord, and all the altars which
he had built in the house of the Lord, and all
the altars in Jerusalem, and he cast them out
of the city. And he repaired the altar of the
Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace-offerings and
thank-offerings. And Manasseh spake to Judah
to serve the Lord God of Israel. And he slept
in peace with his fathers ; and Amon his son
reigned in his stead. And he did evil in the
sight of the Lord according to all things that
Manasseh his father had done in the former part
of his reign. And he provoked the Lord his
God to anger." ^

Ye have heard, our beloved children, how the
Lord God for a while punished him that was
addicted to idols, and had slain many innocent
persons ; and yet that He received him when
he repented, and forgave him his offences, and
restored him to his kingdom. For He not only
forgives the penitent, but reinstates them in their
former dignity.

^ 2 Kings XX., xxi.; 2 Chron. xxxii., xxxiii.

4o8

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

AMON MAY BE AN EXAMPLE TO SUCH AS SIN
WITH AN HIGH HAND.

XXIII. There is no sin more grievous than
idolatry, for it is an impiety against God : and
yet even this sin has been forgiven, upon sincere
repentance. But if any one sin in direct oppo-
sition, and on purpose to try whether God will
punish the wicked or not, such a one shall have
no remission, although he say with himself, " All
is well, and I will walk according to the con-
versation of my evil heart." Such a one was
Amon the son of Manasseh. For the Scripture
says : " And Amon reasoned an evil reasoning
of transgression, and said. My father from his
childhood was a great transgressor, and repented
in his old age ; and now I will walk as my soul
lusteth, and afterwards I will return unto the
Lord. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord
above all that were before him. And the Lord
God soon destroyed him utterly from His good
land. And his servants conspired against him,
and slew him in his own house, and he reigned
two years only."

THAT CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD CAME TO SAVE
SINNERS BY REPENTANCE.

XXIV. Take heed, therefore, ye of the laity,
lest any one of you fix the reasoning of Amon
in his heart, and be suddenly cut off, and perish.
In the same manner, let the bishop take all the
care he can that those which are yet innocent
may not fall into sin ; and let him heal and re-
ceive those which turn from their sins. But if
he is pitiless, and will not receive the repenting
sinner, he will sin against the Lord his God,
pretending to be more just than God's justice,
and not receiving him whom He has received,
through Christ ; for whose sake He sent His Son
upon earth to men, as a man ; for whose sake
God was pleased that He, who was the Maker of
man and woman, should be born of a woman ;
for whose sake He did not spare Him from the
cross, from death, and burial, but permitted Him
to die, who by nature could not suffer, His be-
loved Son, God the Word, the Angel of His
great council, that he might deliver those from
death who were obnoxious to death. Him do
those provoke to anger who do not receive the
penitent. For He was not ashamed of me,
Matthew, who had been formerly a publican ;
and admitted of Peter, when he had through
fear denied Him three times, but had appeased
Him by repentance, and had wept bitterly ; nay.
He made him a shepherd to His own lambs.
Moreover, He ordained Paul, our fellow-apostle,
to be of a persecutor an apostle, and declared
him a chosen vessel, even when he had heaped
many mischiefs upon us before, and had blas-
phemed His sacred name. He says also to

another, a woman that was a sinner : " Thy sins,
which are many, are forgiven, for thou lovest
much." ' And when the elders had set another
woman which had sinned before Him, and had
left the sentence to Him, and were gone out, our
Lord, the Searcher of the hearts, inquiring of
her whether the elders had condemned her, and
being answered No, He said unto her : " Go thy
way therefore, for neither do I condemn thee." ^
This Jesus, O ye bishops, our Saviour, our King,
and our God, ought to be set before you as your
pattern ; and Him you ought to imitate, in being
meek, quiet, compassionate, merciful, peaceable,
without passion, apt to teach, and diligent to
convert, willing to receive and to comfort ; no
strikers, not soon angry, not injurious, not arro-
gant, not supercilious, not wine-bibbers, not
drunkards, not vainly expensive, not lovers of
delicacies, not extravagant, using the gifts of
God not as another's, but as their own, as good
stewards appointed over them, as those who will
be required by God to give an account of the
same.

SEC. rv. — ON THE MANAGEMENT OF THE RE-
SOURCES COLLECTED FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE
CLERGY, AND THE RELIEF OF THE POOR.

Let the bishop esteem such food and raiment
sufficient as suits necessity and decency. Let
him not make use of the Lord's goods as an-
other's, but moderately ; " for the labourer is
worthy of his reward." ^ Let him not be luxuri-
ous in diet, or fond of idle furniture, but con-
tented with so much alone as is necessary for his
sustenance.

OF FIRST-FRUITS AND TITHES, AND AFTER WHAT
MANNER THE BISHOP IS HIMSELF TO PARTAKE
OF THEM, OR TO DISTRIBUTE THEM TO OTHERS.

XXV. Let him use those tenths and first-fruits,
which are given according to the command of
God, as a man of God ; as also let him dispense
in a right manner the free-will offerings which
are brought in on account of the poor, to the
orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers
in distress, as having that God for the examiner
of his accounts who has committed the disposi-
tion to him. Distribute to all those in want
with righteousness, and yourselves use the things
which belong to the Lord, but do not abuse
them ; eating of them, but not eating them all
up by yourselves : communicate with those that
are in want, and thereby show yourselves un-
blameable before God. For if you shall con-
sume them by yourselves, you will be reproached
by God, who says to such unsatiable people, who

' Luke vii. 47.
* John viii. n.
■• Luke X. f.

Sec. IV.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

409

alone devour all, " Ye eat up the milk, and clothe
yourselves with the wool ; " ' and in another
passage, " Must you alone live upon the earth? "^
Upon which account you are commanded in the
law, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." ^
Now we say these things, not as if you might not
partake of the fruits of your labours ; for it is
written, " Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of
the ox which treadeth out the corn ; " •♦ but that
you should do it with moderation and righteous-
ness. As, therefore, the ox that labours in the
threshing-floor without a muzzle eats indeed, but
does not eat all up ; so do you who labour in
the threshing-floor, that is, in the Church of God,
eat of the Church : which was also the case of
the Levites, who served in the tabernacle of the
testimony, which was in all things a type of the
Church. Nay, further, its very name implied
that that tabernacle was fore -appointed for a
testimony of the Church. Here, therefore, the
Levites also, who attended upon the tabernacle,
partook of those things that were offered to God
by all the people, — namely, gifts, offerings, and
first-fruits, and tithes, and sacrifices, and obla-
tions, without disturbance, they and their wives,
and their sons and their daughters. Since their
employment was the ministration to the taber-
nacle, therefore they had not any lot or inherit-
ance in the land among the children of Israel,
because the oblations of the people were the lot
of Levi, and the inheritance of their tribe. You,
therefore, O bishops, are to your people priests
and Levites, ministering to the holy tabernacle,
the holy Catholic Church ; who stand at the
altar of the Lord your God, and offer to Him
reasonable and unbloody sacrifices through Jesus
the great High Priest. You are to the laity
prophets, rulers, governors, and kings ; the medi-
ators between God and His faithful people, who
'■eceive and declare His word, well acquainted
,vith the Scriptures. Ye are the voice of God,
and witnesses of His will, who bear the sins of
all, and intercede for all ; whom, as you have
heard, the word severely threatens if you hide
the key of knowledge from men, who are liable
to perdition if you do not declare His will to the
people that are under you ; who shall have a
certain reward from God, and unspeakable hon-
our and glory, if you duly minister to the holy
tabernacle. For as yours is the burden, so you
receive as your fruit the supply of food and other
necessaries. For you imitate Christ the Lord ;
and as He "bare the sins of us all upon the
tree " at His crucifixion, the innocent for those
who deserved punishment, so also you ought to
make the sins of the people your own. For con-
cerning our Saviour it is said in Isaiah, " He

' Ezek. xxxiv. 3.

2 Isa. V. 8.

' Lev. xix. 18.

* Deut XXV. 4; I Cor. be. 9.

bears our sins, and is afflicted for us." 5 And
again : " He bare the sins of many, and was de-
livered for our offences." *" As, therefore, you
are patterns for others, so have you Christ foi
your pattern. As, therefore, He is concerned
for all, so be you for the laity under you. For
do not thou imagine that the office of a bishop
is an easy or light burden. As, therefore, you
bear the weight, so have you a right to partake
of the fruits before others, and to impart to those
that are in want, as being to give an account to
Him, who without bias will examine your ac-
counts. For those who attend upon the Church
ought to be maintained by the Church, as being
priests, Levites, presidents, and ministers of God ;
as it is written in the book of Numbers concern-
ing the priests : " And the Lord said unto Aaron,
Thou, and thy sons, and the house of thy family,
shall bear the iniquities of the holy things of
your priesthood." ? " Behold, I have given unto
you the charge of the first-fruits, from all that
are sanctified to me by the children of Israel ;
I have given them for a reward to thee, and to
thy sons after thee, by an ordinance for ever.
This shall be yours out of the holy things, out of
the oblations, and out of the gifts, and out of all
the sacrifices, and out of every trespass-offering,
and sin-offerings ; and all that they render unto
me out of all their holy things, they shall belong
to thee, and to thy sons : in the sanctuary shall
they eat them." * And a little after : " All the
first-fruits of the oil, and of the wine, and of the
wheat, all which they shall give unto the Lord,
to thee have I given them ; and all that is first
ripe, to thee have I given it, and every devoted
thing. Every first-born of man and of beast,
clean and unclean, and of sacrifice, with the
breast, and the right shoulder, all these appertain
to the priests, and to the rest of those belonging
to them, even to the Levites." 9

Hear this, you of the laity also, the elect
Church of God. For the people were formerly
called " the people of God," '° and " an holy na-
tion." " You, therefore, are the holy and sacred
" Church of God, enrolled in heaven, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people," '^
a bride adorned for the Lord God, a great
Church, a faithful Church. Hear attentively now
what was said formerly : oblations and tithes be-
long to Christ our High Priest, and to those who
minister to Him. Tenths of salvation are the
first letter of the name of Jesus. Hear, O thou
Holy Catholic Church, who hast escaped the
ten plagues, and hast received the ten com-

5 Isa. liii. 4.

* Isa. liii. 12.

7 Num. xviii. i.

* Num. xviii. 8, etc.
9 Num. xviii. 12, etc.

■° Ex. xix. 5, 6.
" Heb. xii. 23.
" I Pet. ii. 9.

4IO

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

mandments, and hast learned the law, and hast
kept the faith, and hast believed in Jesus, and
hast known the decad, and hast believed in the
iota which is the first letter of the name of Jesus, ^
and art named after His name, and art estab-
lished, and shinest in the consummation of His
glory. Those which were then the sacrifices now
are prayers, and intercessions, and thanksgivings.
Those which were then first-fruits, and tithes,
and offerings, and gifts, now are oblations, which
are presented by holy bishops to the Lord God,
through Jesus Christ, who has died for them.
For these are your high priests, as the presbyters
are your priests, and your present deacons in-
stead of your Levites ; as are also your readers,
your singers, your porters, your deaconesses,
your widows, your virgins, and your orphans : but
He who is above all these is the High Priest.

ACCORDING TO WHAT PATTERNS AND DIGNITY
EVERY ORDER OF THE CLERGY IS APPOINTED
BY GOD.

XXVI. The bishop, he is the minister of the
word, the keeper of knowledge, the mediator
between God and you in the several parts of
your divine worship. He is the teacher of piety ;
and, next after God, he is your father, who has
begotten you again to the adoption of sons by
water and the Spirit. He is your ruler and gov-
ernor ; he is your king and potentate ; he is,
next after God, your earthly god, who has a right
to be honoured by you. For concerning him,
and such as he, it is that God pronounces, " I
have said. Ye are gods ; and ye are all children
of the Most High." ^ And, " Ye shall not speak
evil of the gods." ^ For let the bishop preside
over you as one honoured with the authority of
God, which he is to exercise over the clergy, and
by which he is to govern all the people. But let
the deacon minister to him, as Christ does to
His Father;* and let him serve him unblame-
ably in all things, as Christ does nothing of Him-
self, but does always those things that please
His Father. Let also the deaconess be hon-
oured by you in the place of the Holy Ghost,
and not do or say anything without the deacon ;
as neither does the Comforter say or do anything
of Himself, but gives glory to Christ by waiting
for His pleasure. And as we cannot believe on
Christ without the teaching of the Spirit, so let
not any woman address herself to the deacon or
bishop without the deaconess. Let the presbyters
be esteemed by you to represent us the apostles,
and let them be the teachers of divine knowl-
edge ; since our Lord, when He sent us, said,
" Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, bap-

■ Inserted from V. MSS.
* Ps. Ixxxii. 6.
3 Ex. xxii. 28.

■♦ The V. MSS. read, " as the powers do to God," which, Ultzen re-
marks, is an orthodox correction of an A rian opinion.

tizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have com-
manded you." 5 Let the widows and orphans
be esteemed as representing the altar of burnt-
offering ; and let the virgins be honoured as
representing the altar of incense, and the in-
cense itself.

THAT IT IS A HORRIBLE THING FOR A MAN TO
THRUST HIMSELF INTO ANY SACERDOTAL OF-
FICE, AS DID CORAH AND HIS COMPANY, SAUL
AND UZZIAH.

xxvii. As, therefore, it was not lawful for one
of another tribe, that was not a Levite, to offer
anything, or to approach the altar without the
priest, so also do you do nothing without the
bishop ; ^ for if any one does anything without
the bishop, he does it to no purpose. For it
will not be esteemed as of any avail to him. For
as Saul, when he had offered without Samuel, was
told, " It will not avail for thee ;"? so every per-
son among the laity, doing anything without the
priest, labours in vain. And as Uzziah the king,*
who was not a priest, and yet would exercise the
functions of the priests, was smitten with leprosy
for his transgression ; so every lay person shall
not be unpunished who despises God, and is so
mad as to affront His priests, and unjustly to
snatch that honour to himself: not imitating
Christ, " who glorified not Himself to be made
an high priest ; "9 but waited till He heard from
His Father, " The Lord sware, and will not re-
pent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchizedek." '° If, therefore, Christ did not
glorify Himself without the Father, how dare any
man thrust himself into the priesthood who has
not received that dignity from his superior, and
do such things which it is lawful only for the
priests to do ? Were not the followers of Corah,
even though they were of the tribe of Levi, con-
sumed with fire, because they rose up against
Moses and Aaron, and meddled with such things
as did not belong to them ? And Dathan and
Abiram went down quick into hell ; and the rod
that budded put a stop to the madness of the
multitude, and demonstrated who was the high
priest ordained by God." You ought therefore,
brethren, to bring your sacrifices and your obla-
tions to the bishop, as to your high priest, either
by yourselves or by the deacons ; and do you
bring not those only, but also your first-fruits,
and your tithes, and your free-will offerings to
him. For he knows who they are that are in
affliction, and gives to every one as is convenient.

^ Matt, xxviii. 19.

6 One V. MS. reads " priest."

' I Sam. xiii. 13.

^ 2 Chron. xxvi.

9 Heb. V. 5.
>o Ps. ex. 4.
" Num. xvi.

Sec. IV.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

411

that so one may not receive alms twice or oftener
the same day, or the same week, while another
has nothing at all. For it is reasonable rather to
supply the wants of those who really are in dis-
tress, than of those who only appear to be so.

OF AN ENTERTAINMENT, AND AFTER WHAT MAN-
NER EACH DISTINCT ORDER OF THE CLERGY
IS TO BE TREATED BV THOSE WHO INVITE
THEM TO IT.

XXVIII. If any determine to invite elder women
to an entertainment of love, or a feast, as our
Saviour calls it,' let them most frequently send
to such a one whom the deacons know to be in
distress. But let what is the pastor's due, I mean
the first-fruits,^ be set apart in the feast for him,
even though he be not at the entertainment, as
being your priest, and in honour of that God
who has entrusted him with the priesthood. But
as much as is given to every one of the elder
women, let double so much be given to the dea-
cons, in honour of Christ. Let also a double
portion be set apart for the presbyters, as for
such who labour continually about the word and
doctrine, upon the account of the apostles of
our Lord, whose place they sustain, as the coun-
sellors of the bishop and the crown of the Church.
For they are the Sanhedrim and senate of the
Church. If there be a reader there, let him re-
ceive a single portion, in honour of the prophets,
and let the singer and the porter have as much.
Let the laity, therefore, pay proper honours in
their presents, and utmost marks of respect to
each distinct order. But let them not on all
occasions trouble their governor, but let them
signify their desires by those who minister to
him, that, is, by the deacons, with whom they
may be more free. For neither may we address
ourselves to Almighty God, but only by Christ.
In the same manner, therefore, let the laity make
known all their desires to the bishop by the
deacon, and accordingly let them act as he shall
direct them. For there was no holy thing offered
or done in the temple formerly without the priest.
" For the priest's lips shall keep knowledge, and
they shall seek the law at his mouth," as the
prophet somewhere says, " for he is the messenger
of the Lord Almighty." 3 For if the worshippers
of demons, in their hateful, abominable, and im-
pure performances, imitate the sacred rules till
this very day (it is a wide comparison indeed,
and there is a vast distance between their abomi-
nations and God's sacred worship), in their
mockeries of worship they neither offer nor do
anything without their pretended priest, but
esteem him as the very mouth of their idols of
stone, waiting to see what commands he will lay
upon them. And whatsoever he commands them,

' Luke xiv. 13.

^ [Compare Teaching, chap. xiii. p. 381. — R.]

3 Mai. ii. 7.

that they do, and without him they do nothing ;
and they honour him, their pretended priest, and
esteem his name as venerable in honour of life-
less statues, and in order to the worship of
wicked spirits. If these heathens, therefore, who
give glory to lying vanities, and place their hope
upon nothing that is firm, endeavour to imitate
the sacred rules, how much more reasonable is
it that you, who have a most certain faith and
undoubted hope, and who expect glorious, and
eternal, and never- failing promises, should hon-
our the Lord God in those set over you, and
esteem your bishop to be the mouth of God !

WHAT IS THE DIGNITY OF A BISHOP AND OF A
DEACON.

XXIX. For if Aaron, because he declared to
Pharaoh the words of God from Moses, is called
a prophet ; and Moses himself is called a god
to Pharaoh, on account of his being at once a
king and a high priest, as God says to him, " I
have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron
thy brother shall be thy prophet ; " ^ why do not
ye also esteem the mediators of the word to be
prophets, and reverence them as gods ?

AFTER WHAT MANNER THE LAITY ARE TO BE
OBEDIENT TO THE DEACON.

XXX. For now the deacon is to you Aaron,
and the bishop Moses. If, therefore, Moses was
called a god by the Lord, let the bishop be hon-
oured among you as a god, and the deacon as
his prophet. For as Christ does nothing with-
out His Father, so neither does the deacon do
anything without his bishop ; and as the Son
without His Father is nothing, so is the deacon
nothing without his bishop ; and as the Son is
subject to His Father, so is every deacon subject
to his bishop ; and as the Son is the messenger
and prophet of the Father, so is the deacon the
messenger and prophet of his bishop. Where-
fore let all things that he is to do with any one
be made known to the bishop, and be finally
ordered by him.

THAT THE DEACON MUST NOT DO ANYTHING
WITHOUT THE BISHOP.

XXXI. Let him not do anything at all without
his bishop, nor give anything without his consent.
For if he gives to any one as to a person in dis-
tress without the bishop's knowledge, he gives
it so that it must tend to the reproach of the
bishop, and he accuses him as careless of the
distressed. But he that casts reproach on his
bishop, either by word or deed, opposes God,
not hearkening to what He says : " Thou shalt
not speak evil of the gods." s For He did not
make that law concerning deities of wood and

* Ex. vii. I.
' Ex. xxii. 2S.

412

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

of stone, which are abominable, because they
are falsely called gods, but concerning the priests
and the judges, to whom He also said, " Ye are
gods, and children of the Most High." '

THAT THE DEACON MUST NOT MAKE ANY DIS-
TRIBUTIONS WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE
BISHOP, BECAUSE THAT WILL TURN TO THE
REPROACH OF THE BISHOP.

XXXII. If therefore, O deacon, thou knowest
any one to be in distress, put the bishop in mind
of him, and so give to him ; but do nothing in a
clandestine way, so as may tend to his reproach,
lest thou raise a murmur against him ; for the
murmur will not be against him, but against the
Lord God : and the deacon, with the rest, will
hear what Aaron and Miriam heard, when they
spake against Moses : " How is it that ye were
not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? " ^
And again, Moses says to those who rose up
against him : " Your murmuring is not against
us, but against the Lord our God." ^ For if he
that calls one of the laity Raka,-* or fool, shall
not be unpunished, as doing injury to the name 5
of Christ, how dare any man speak against his
bishop, by whom the Lord gave the Holy Spirit
among you upon the laying on of his hands, by
whom ye have learned the sacred doctrines, and
have known God, and have believed in Christ,
by whom ye were known of God, by whom ye
were sealed with the oil of gladness and the
ointment of understanding, by whom ye were
declared to be the children of light, by whom
the Lord in your illumination testified by the
imposition of the bishop's hands, and sent out
His sacred voice upon every one of you, saying,
"Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee?"^ By thy bishop, O man, God adopts
thee for His child. Acknowledge, O son, that
right hand which was a mother to thee. Love
him who, after God, is become a father to thee,
and honour him.

AFTER WHAT MANNER THE BISHOPS ARE TO BE
HONOURED, AND TO BE REVERENCED AS OUR
SPIRITUAL PARENTS.

XXXIII. For if the divine oracle says, concern-
ing our parents according to the flesh, " Honour
thy father and thy mother, that it may be well
with thee ; " ^ and, " He that curseth his father
or his mother, let him die the death ; " * how
much more should the word exhort you to hon-
our your spiritual parents, and to love them as
your benefactors and ambassadors with God, who

' Ps. Ixxxii. 6.
2 Nam. xii. 8.
^ Ex. xvi. 8.

* Matt. V. 22.

5 Capellius reads, " the law of Christ."
*> Ps. ii. 7.
' Ex. XX. la.

* Ex. xxi. 17.

have regenerated you by water, and endued you
with the fulness of the Holy Spirit, who have
fed you with the word as with milk, who have
nourished you with doctrine, who have confirmed
you by their admonitions, who have imparted to
you the saving body and precious blood of
Christ, who have loosed you from your sins, who
have made you partakers of the holy and sacred
eucharist, who have admitted you to be partakers
and fellow-heirs of the promise of God ! Rev-
erence these, and honour them with all kinds of
honour; for they have obtained from God the
power of life and death, in their judging of sin-
ners, and condemning them to the death of
eternal fire, as also of loosing returning sinners
from their sins, and of restoring them to a new
life.

THAT PRIESTS ARE TO BE PREFERRED BEFORE
RULERS AND KINGS.

xxxiv. Account these worthy to be esteemed
your rulers and your kings, and bring them
tribute as to kings ; for by you they and their
families ought to be maintained. As Samuel
made constitutions for the people concerning a
king,'' in the first book of Kings, and Moses did
so concerning priests in Leviticus, so do we also
make constitutions for you concerning bishops.
For if there the multitude distributed the inferior
services in proportion to so great a king, ought
not therefore the bishop much more now to re-
ceive of you those things which are determined
by God for the sustenance of himself and of the
rest of the clergy belonging to him ? But if we
may add somewliat further, let the bishop receive
more than the other received of old : for he only
managed the affairs of the soldiery, being en-
trusted with war and peace for the preservation
of men's bodies ; but the other is entrusted with
the exercise of the priestly office in relation to
God, in order to preserve both body and soul
from dangers. By how much, therefore, the
soul is more valuable than the body, so much
the priestly office is beyond the kingly. For it
binds and looses those that are worthy of pun-
ishment or of remission. Wherefore you ought
to love the bishop as your father, and fear him
as your king, and honour him as your lord, bring-
ing to him your fruits and the works of your
hands, for a blessing upon you, giving to him
your first-fruits, and your tithes, and your obla-
tions, and your gifts, as to the priest of God ;
the first-fruits of your wheat, and wine, and oil,
and autumnal fruits, and wool,'° and all things
which the Lord God gives thee. And thy offer-
ing shall be accepted as a savour of a sweet
smell to the Lord thy God ; and the Lord will
bless the works of thy hands, and will multiply

9 I Sam. viii.
'° One v. MS. reads "olives" instead of "wool.'

Sec. v.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

413

the good things of the land. " For a blessing
is upon the head of him that giveth." '

THAT BOTH THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL PRE-
SCRIBE OFFERINGS.

XXXV. Now you ought to know, that although
the Lord has delivered you from the additional
bonds, and has brought you out of them to your
refreshment, and does not permit you to sacri-
fice Irrational creatures for sin-offerings, and
purifications, and scapegoats, and continual
washings and sprinklings, yet has He nowhere
freed you from those oblations which you owe
to the priests, nor from doing good to the poor.
For the Lord says to you in the Gospel : " Un-
iess your righteousness abound more than that
of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall by no
means enter into the kingdom of heaven." ^
Now herein will your righteousness exceed theirs,
if you take greater care of the priests, the or-
phans, and the widows ; as it is written : " He
hath scattered abroad ; he hath given to the
poor ; his righteousness remaineth for ever." ^
And again : " By acts of righteousness and faith
iniquities are purged." •* And again : " Every
bountiful soul is blessed." 5 So therefore shalt
thou do as the Lord has appointed, and shalt
give to the priest what things are due to him,
the first-fruits of thy floor, and of thy wine-press,
and sin-offerings, as to the mediator between
God and such as stand in need of purgation and
forgiveness. For it is thy duty to give, and his
to administer, as being the administrator and
disposer of ecclesiastical affairs. Yet shalt thou
not call thy bishop to account, nor watch his
administration, how he does it, when, or to
whom, or where, or whether he do it well or
ill, or indifferently ; for he has One who will call
him to an account, the Lord God, who put this
administration into his hands, and thought him
worthy of the priesthood of so great dignity.

THE RECITAL OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND
AFTER WHAT MANNER THEY DO HERE PRE-
SCRIBE TO us.

XXXVI. Have before thine eyes the fear of
God, and always remember the ten command-
ments of God, — to love the one and only Lord
God with all thy strength ; to give no heed to
idols, or any other beings, as being lifeless gods,
or irrational beings or daemons. Consider the
manifold workmanship of God, which received
its beginning through Christ. Thou shalt ob-
serve the Sabbath, on account of Him who
ceased from His work of creation, but ceased
not from His work of providence : it is a rest

' Prov. xi. 26.

2 Matt. V. 20.

3 Ps cxii. 9.

* Prov. xvi. 6.
5 Prov. xi. 25.

for meditation of the law, not for idleness of the
hands. Reject every unlawful lust, everything
destructive to men, and all anger. Honour thy
parents, as the authors of thy being. Love thy
neighbour as thyself. Communicate the neces-
saries of life to the needy. Avoid swearing
falsely, and swearing often, and in vain ; for
thou shalt not be held guiltless. Do not appear
before the priests empty, and offer thy free-will
offerings continually. Moreover, do not leave
the church of Christ ; but go thither in the
morning before all thy work, and again meet
there in the evening, to return thanks to God
that He has preserved thy life. Be diligent, and
constant, and laborious in thy calling. Offer to
the Lord thy free-will offerings ; for says He,
" Honour the Lord with the fruit of thy honest
labours." ^ If thou art not able to cast anything
considerable into the Corban,? yet at least be-
stow upon the strangers one, or two, or five
mites. " Lay up to thyself heavenly treasure,
which neither the moth nor thieves can de-
stroy."** And in doing this, do not judge thy
bishop, or any of thy neighbours among the
laity ; for if thou judge thy brother, thou becom-
est a judge, without being constituted such by
anybody, for the priests are only entrusted with
the power of judging. For to them it is said,
"Judge righteous judgment ; "9 and again, " Ap-
prove yourselves to be exact money-changers." '°
For to you this is not entrusted ; for, on the
contrary, it is said to those who are not of the
dignity of magistrates or ministers : " Judge not,
and ye shall not be judged." "

SEC. V. — ON ACCUSATIONS, AND THE TREATMENT
OF ACCUSERS.

CONCERNING ACCUSERS AND FALSE ACCUSERS,
AND HOW A JUDGE IS NOT RASHLY EITHER TO
BELIEVE THEM OR DISBELIEVE THEM, BUT
AFTER AN ACCURATE EXAMINATION.

XXXVII. But it is the duty of the bishop to
judge rightly, as it is written, "Judge righteous
judgment ; " '^ and elsewhere, " Why do ye not
even of yourselves judge what is right?" '^ Be
ye therefore as skilful dealers in money : for as
these reject bad money, but take to themselves
what is current, in the same manner it is the
bishop's duty to retain the unblameable, but
either to heal, or, if they be past cure, to cast
off those that are blameworthy, so as not to be
hasty in cutting off, nor to believe all accusa-
tions ; for it sometimes happens that some, either

* Prov. iii. 9.

7 The v. Mss. read: "Casting into the treasury whatever yo«
can bestow."

8 Matt. vl. 20.

9 Deut. i. 16, xvi. 18.
'° Zech. vii. 9.

" Luke vi. 37.
'^ John vii. 24.
'■* Luke xii. 57.

414

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

through passion or envy, do insist on a false ac-
cusation against a brother, as did the two elders
in the case of Susanna in Babylon,' and the
Egyptian woman in the case of Joseph.^ Do
thou therefore, as a man of God, not rashly re-
ceive such accusations, lest thou take away the
innocent and slay the righteous ; for he that will
receive such accusations is the author of anger
rather than of peace. But where there is anger,
there the Lord is not ; for that anger, which is
the friend of Satan — I mean that which is ex-
cited unjustly by the means of false brethren —
never suffers unanimity to be in the Church.
Wherefore, when you know such persons to be
foolish, quarrelsome, passionate, and such as de-
light in mischief, do not give credit to them ; but
observe such as they are, when you hear any-
thing from them against their brother : for mur-
der is nothing in their eyes, and they cast a man
down in such a way as one would not suspect.
Do thou therefore consider diligently the ac-
cuser,^ wisely observing his mode of life, what,
and of what sort it is ; and in case thou findest
him a man of veracity, do according to the doc-
trine of our Lord,'* and taking him who is ac-
cused, rebuke him, that he may repent, when
nobody is by. But if he be not persuaded, take
with thee one or two more, and so show him his
fault, and admonish him with mildness and in-
struction ; for " wisdom will rest upon an heart
that is good, but is not understood in the heart
of the foolish." 5

THAT SINNERS ARE PRIVATELY TO BE REPROVED,
AND THE PENITENT TO BE RECEIVED, ACCORD-
ING TO THE CONSTITUTION OF OUR LORD.

XXXVIII. If, therefore, he be persuaded by the
mouth of you three, it is well. But if any one
hardens himself, " tell it to the Church : but if
he neglects to hear the Church, let him be to
thee as an heathen man and a publican ; " ^ and
receive him no longer into the Church as a Chris-
tian, but reject him as an heathen. But if he be
willing to repent, receive him. For the Church
does not receive an heathen or a publican to
communion, before they every one repent of
their former impieties ; for our Lord Jesus, the
Christ of God, has appointed place for the ac-
ceptance of men upon their repentance.

EXAMPLES OF REPENTANCE.

XXXIX. For I Matthew, one of those twelve
which speak to you in this doctrine, am an apos-
tle, having myself been formerly a publican, but
now have obtained mercy through believing, and

' Hist. Susanna.

* Gen. xxxix.

* The Mss. read, " the accused.**

* Matt, xviii. 15.
' Prov. xiv. 32.

* Matt, xviii. 17.

have repented of my former practices, and have
been vouchsafed the honour to be an apostle and
preacher of the word. And Zacchaeus, whom
the Lord received upon his repentance and
prayers to Him, was also himself in the same
manner a publican at first. And, besides, even
the soldiers and multitude of publicans, who
came to hear the word of the Lord about re-
pentance, heard this from the prophet John, after
he had baptized them : " Do nothing more than
that which is appointed you." 7 In like manner,
life is not refused to the heathen, if they repent
and cast away their unbelief. Esteem, there-
fore, every one that is convicted of any wicked
action, and has not repented, as a publican or an
heathen. But if he afterward repents, and turns
from his error, then, as we receive the heathen,
when they wish to repent, into the Church indeed
to hear the word, but do not receive them to
communion until they have received the seal of
baptism, and are made complete Christians ; so
do we also permit such as these to enter only to
hear, until they show the fruit of repentance, that
by hearing the word they may not utterly and
irrecoverably perish. But let them not be ad-
mitted to communion in prayer ; and let them
depart after the reading of the law, and the
prophets, and the Gospel, that by such departure
they may be made better in their course of life,
by endeavouring to meet every day about the
public assemblies, and to be frequent in prayer,
that they also may be at length admitted, and
that those who behold them may be affected,
and be more secured by fearing to fall into the
same condition.

THAT WE ARE NOT TO BE IMPLACABLE TO HIM
WHO HAS ONCE OR TWICE OFFENDED.

XL. But yet do not thou, O bishop, presently
abhor any person who has fallen into one or two
offences, nor shalt thou exclude him from the
word of the Lord, nor reject him from common
intercourse, since neither did the Lord refuse to
eat with publicans and sinner? ; and when He
was accused by the Pharisees on this account,
He said : " They that are well have no need of
the physician, but they that are sick."^ Do you,
therefore, live and dwell with those who are
separated from you for their sins ; and take care
of them, comforting them, and confirming them,
and saying to them : " Be strengthened, ye weak
hands and feeble knees." ^ For we ought to
comfort those that mourn, and afford encoura^-
ment to the fainthearted, lest by immoderate
sorrow they degenerate into distraction, since "he
that is fainthearted is exceedingly distracted." '°

' Luke iii. 13.
' Matt. ix. n.
9 Isa. XXXV. 3.
>" Prov. xiv. 2g, LXX.

Sec. v.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

415

AFTER WHAT MANNER WE OUGHT TO RECEIVE A
PENITENT ; HOW WE OUGHT TO DEAL WITH
OFFENDERS, AND WHEN THEY ARE TO BE CUT
OFF FROM THE CHURCH.

XLi. But if any one returns, and shows forth
the fruit of repentance, then do ye receive him
to prayer, as the lost son, the prodigal, who had
consumed his father's substance with harlots,
who fed swine, and desired to be fed with husks,
and could not obtain it. This son, when he re-
pented, and returned to his father, and said, " I
have sinned against Heaven, and before thee,
and am no more worthy to be called thy son ; " '
the father, full of affection to his child, received
him with music, and restored him his old robe,
and ring, and shoes, and slew the fatted calf, and
made merry with his friends. Do thou there-
fore, O bishop, act in the same manner. And
as thou receivest an heathen after thou hast in-
structed and baptized him, so do thou let all
join in prayers for this man, and restore him by
imposition of hands to his ancient place among
the flock, as one purified by repentance ; and
that imposition of hands shall be to him instead
of baptism : for by the laying on of our hands
the Holy Ghost was given to believers. And in
case some one of those brethren who had stood
immoveable accuse thee, because thou art recon-
ciled to him, say to him : "Thou art always with
me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet to
make merry and be glad : for this thy brother
was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is
found." For that God does not only receive the
penitent, but restores them to their former dig-
nity, holy David is a sufficient witness, who, after
his sin in the matter of Uriah, prayed to God,
and said : " Restore unto me the joy of Thy sal-
vation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit." ^
And again : " Turn Thy face from my sins, and
blot out all mine offences. Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my in-
ward parts. Cast me not away from Thy pres-
ence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,"
Do thou therefore, as a compassionate physician,
heal all that have sinned, making use of saving
methods of cure ; not only cutting and searing,
or using corrosives, but binding up, and putting
in tents, and using gentle healing medicines, and
sprinkling comfortable words. If it be an hollow
wound, or great gash, nourish it with a suitable
plaister, that it may be filled up, and become
even with the rest of the whole flesh. If it be
foul, cleanse it with corrosive powder, that is,
with the words of reproof. If it have proud flesh,
eat it down with a sharp plaister — the threats of
judgment. If it spreads further, sear it, and cut
off the putrid flesh, mortifying him with fastings.
But if, after all that thou hast done, thou per-

' Luke XV. 31.
2 Ps. U.

ceivest that from the feet to the head there is
no room for a fomentation, or oil, or bandage,
but that the malady spreads and prevents all
cure, as a gangrene which corrupts the entire
member ; then, with a great deal of considera-
tion, and the advice of other skilful physicians,
cut off" the putrefied member, that the whole
body of the Church be not corrupted. Be not
therefore ready and hasty to cut off, nor do thou
easily have recourse to the saw, with its many
teeth ; but first use a lancet to lay open the
wound, that the inward cause whence the pain
is derived being drawn out, may keep the body
free from pain. But if thou seest any one past
repentance, and he is become insensible, then
cut off" the incurable from the Church with sor-
row and lamentation. For : " Take out from
among yourselves that wicked person." ^ And :
" Ye shall make the children of Israel to fear." •♦
And again ; " Thou shalt not accept the persons
of the rich in judgment." s And : "Thou shalt
not pity a poor man in his cause : for the judg-
ment is the Lord's." ^

THAT A JUDGE MUST NOT BE A RESPECTER OF
PERSONS.

XLii. But if the slanderous accusation be
false, and you that are the pastors, with the
deacons, admit of that falsehood for truth, either
by acceptance of persons or receiving of bribes,
as willing to do that which will be pleasing to
the devil, and so you thrust out from the Church
him that is accused, but is clear of the crime,
you shall give an account in the day of the Lord.
For it is written : " The innocent and the right-
eous thou shalt not slay." ^ " Thou shalt not
take gifts to smite the soul : for gifts blind the
eyes of the wise, and destroy the words of the
righteous." ^ And again : " They that justify
the wicked for gifts, and take away the righteous-
ness of the righteous from him." ^ Be careful,
therefore, not to condemn any persons unjustly,
and so to assist the wicked. For " woe to him
that calls evil good, and good evil ; bitter sweet,
and sweet bitter; that puts light for darkness,
and darkness for light." '" Take care, therefore,
lest by any means ye become acceptors of persons,
and thereby fall under this voice of the Lord^'^
For if you condemn others unjustly, you pass
sentence against yourselves. For the Lord says :
" With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged ; and as you condemn, you shall be

3 Deut. xvii. 7.

* Lev. XV. 31.

s Deut. i. 17; Lev. xix. is-

* Ex. xxiii. 3.

' Ex. xxiii. 7, 8.

' Deut. xxvii. 25, xvi. 19.

9 Isa. V. 23.
'° Isa. V. 20.

" This sentence follows the passage from Isa. v. 23 in most uss.
One v. MS. has the order adopted in the text.

4i6

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

[Book II.

condemned." ' If, therefore, ye judge without
respect of persons, ye will discover that accuser
who bears false witness against his neighbour,
and will prove him to be a sycophant, a spiteful
person, and a murderer, causing perplexity by
accusing the man as if he were wicked, incon-
stant in his words, contradicting himself in what
he affirms, and entangled with the words of his
own mouth ; for his own lips are a dangerous
snare to him : whom, when thou hast convicted
him of speaking falsely, thou shalt judge severely,
and shalt deliver him to the fiery sword, and thou
shalt do to him as he wickedly proposed to do
to his brother; for as much as in him lay he
slew his brother, by forestalling the ears of the
judge.2 Now it is written, that " he that shed-
deth man's blood, for that his own blood shall
be shed." ^ And : " Thou shalt take away that
innocent blood, which was shed without cause,
from thee." *

AFTER WHAT MANNER FALSE ACCUSERS ARE TO
BE PUNISHED.

XLiii. Thou shalt therefore cast him out of
the congregation as a murderer of his brother.
Some time afterwards, if he says that he repents,
mortify him with fastings, and afterwards ye shall
lay your hands upon him and receive him, but
still securing him, that he does not disturb any-
body a second time. But if, when he is admitted
again, he be alike troublesome, and will not
cease to disturb and to quarrel with his brother,
spying faults out of a contentious spirit, cast
him out as a pernicious person, that he may not
lay waste the Church of God. For such a one
is the raiser of disturbances in cities ; for he,
though he be within, does not become the Church,
but is a superfluous and vain member, casting a
blot, as far as in him lies, on the body of Christ.
For if such men as are born with superfluous
members of their body, which hang to them as
fingers, or excrescences of flesh, cut them away
from themselves on account of their indecency,
whereby the unseemliness vanishes, and the man
recovers his natural good shape by the means of
the surgeon ; how much more ought you, the
pastors of the Church (for the Church is a per-
fect body, and sound members; of such as
beHeve in God, in the fear of the Lord, and in
love), to do the like when there is found in it a
superfluous member with wicked designs, and
rendering the rest of the body unseemly, and
disturbing it with sedition, and war, and evil-
speaking ; causing fears, disturbances, blots, evil-
speaking, accusations, disorders, and doing the
like works of the devil, as if he were ordained

' Matt. vii. 2; Luke vi. 37.

2 Deut. xix 19.

3 Gen. ix. 6.

* Deut. xix. 13.

by the devil to cast a reproach on the Church by
calumnies, and mighty disorders, and strife, and
division ! Such a one, therefore, when he is a
second time cast out of the Church, is justly cut
off entirely from the congregation of the Lord.
And now the Church of the Lord will be more
beautiful than it was before, when it had a super-
fluous, and to itself a disagreeable member.
Wherefore henceforward it will be free from
blame and reproach, and become clear of such
wicked, deceitful, abusive, unmerciful, traitorous
persons ; of such as are " haters of those that
are good, lovers of pleasure," s affecters of vain-
glory, deceivers, and pretenders to wisdom ; of
such as make it their business to scatter, or
rather utterly to disperse, the lambs of the Lord.

SEC. VL — THE DISPUTES OF THE FAITHFUL TO BE
SETTLED BY THE DECISIONS OF THE BISHOP,
AND THE FAITHFUL TO BE RECONCILED.

Do thou therefore, O bishop, together with thy
subordinate clergy, endeavour rightly to divide
the word of truth. For the Lord says : " If you
walk cross-grained to me, I will walk cross-
grained to you." ^ And elsewhere : " With the
holy Thou wilt be holy, and with the perfect man
Thou wilt be perfect, and with the froward Thou
wilt be froward." 7 Walk therefore holily, that
you may rather appear worthy of praise from the
Lord than of complaint from the adversary.

THAT THE DEACON IS TO EASE THE BURTHEN
OF THE BISHOPS, AND TO ORDER THE SMALLER
MATTERS HIMSELF.

XLiv. Be ye of one mind, O ye bishops, one
with another, and be at peace with one another ;
sympathize with one another, love the brethren,
and feed the people with care ; with one consent
teach those that are under you to be of the same
sentiments and to be of the same opinions about
the same matters, " that there may be no schisms
among you ; that ye may be one body and one
spirit, perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment," ^ according to the
appointment of the Lord. And let the deacon
refer all things to the bishop, as Christ does to
His Father. But let him order such things as he is
able by himself, receiving power from the bishop,
as the Lord did from His Father the power of
creation and of providence. But the weighty
matters let the bishop judge ; but let the deacon
be the bishop's ear, and eye, and mouth, and
heart, and soul, that the bishop may not be dis-
tracted with many cares, but with such only as
are more considerable, as Jethro did appoint for
Moses, and his counsel was received.'^

' 2 Tim. iii. 3, 4.

' Lev. xxvi. 27, 28.

' Ps. xviii, 26.

• 1 Cor. i. 10; Eph. iv. 4,

9 Ex. xviii.

Sec. vr.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

41/

THAT CONTENTIONS AND QUARRELS ARE UNBE-
COMING CHRISTIANS.

XLV. It is therefore a noble encomium for a
Christian to have no contest with any one ; ' but
if by any management or temptation a contest
arises with any one, let him endeavour that it
may be composed, though thereby he be obliged
to lose somewhat ; and let it not come before an
heathen tribunal. Nay, indeed, you are not to
permit that the rulers of this world should pass
sentence against your people ; for by them the
devil contrives mischief to the servants of God,
and occasions a reproach to be cast upon us, as
though we had not " one wise man that is able
to judge between his brethren," or to decide
their controversies.

THAT BELIEVERS OUGHT NOT TO GO TO LAW
BEFORE UNBELIEVERS ; NOR OUGHT ANY UN-
BELIEVER TO BE CALLED FOR A WITNESS
AGAINST BELIEVERS.

XLVi. Let not the heathen therefore know of
your differences among one another, nor do you
receive unbelievers as witnesses against your-
selves, nor be judged by them, nor owe them
anything on account of tribute or fear ; but " ren-
der to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and
unto God the things that are God's," ^ as tribute,
taxes, or poll-money, as our Lord by giving a
piece of money was freed from disturbance.^
Choose therefore rather to suffer harm, and to
endeavour after those things that make for peace,
not only among the brethren, but also among the
unbelievers. For by suffering loss in the affairs
of this life, thou wilt be sure not to suffer in the
concerns- of piety, and wilt live religiously, and
according to the command of Christ.^ But if
brethren have lawsuits one with another, which
God forbid, you who are the rulers ought thence
to learn that such as these do not do the work
of brethren in the Lord, but rather of public
enemies ; and one of the parties will be found to
be mild, gentle, and the child of light ; but the
other unmerciful, insolent, and covetous. Let
nim, therefore, who is condemned be rebuked,
let him be separated, let him undergo the pun-
ishment of his hatred to his brother. Afterwards,
when he repents, let him be received ; and so,
when they have learned prudence, they will ease
your judicatures. It is also a duty to forgive
each other's trespasses — not the duty of those
that judge, but of those that have quarrels ; as
the Lord determined when I Peter asked Him,
" How oft shall my brother sin against me, and
I forgive him ? Till seven times ? " He replied,
" I say not unto thee, Until seven times, but until

' 1 Cor. vi. I, etc
* Matt. xxii. 21.
Matt. xvii. 24, etc.

* One V. MS. reads " GoJ " instead of" Christ."

seventy times seven." 5 Por so would our Lord
have us to be truly His disciples, and never to
have anything against anybody ; as, for instance,
anger without measure, passion without mercy,
covetousness without justice, hatred without rec-
onciliation. Draw by your instruction those who
are angry to friendship, and those who are at
variance to agreement. For the Lord says :
" Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called the children of God." ^

THAT THE JUDICATURES OF CHRISTIANS OUGHT
TO BE HELD ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE
WEEK.

XLvn. Let your judicatures be held on the
second day of the week, that if any controversy
arise about your sentence, having an interval till
the Sabbath,7 you may be able to set the contro-
versy right, and to reduce those to peace who
have the contests one with another against the
Lord's day. Let also the deacons and presby-
ters be present at your judicatures, to judge
without acceptance of persons, as men of God,
with righteousness. When, therefore, both the
parties are come, according as the law says,^
those that have the controversy shall stand sev-
erally in the middle of the court ; and when
you have heard them, give your votes holily,
endeavouring to make them both friends before
the sentence of the bishop, that judgment against
the offender may not go abroad into the world ;
knowing that he has in the court the Christ of
God as conscious of and confirming his judg-
ment. But if any persons are accused by any
one, and their fame suffers as if they did not
walk uprightly in the Lord, in like manner you
shall hear both parties — the accuser and ac-
cused ; but not with prejudice, nor with heark-
ening to one part only, but with righteousness,
as passing a sentence concerning eternal Hfe or
death. For says God : " He shall prosecute
that which is right justly." 9 For he that is
justly punished and separated by you is rejected
from eternal life and glory; he becomes dis-
honourable among holy men, and one con-
demned of God.

THAT THE SAME PUNISHMENT IS NOT TO BE IN-
FLICTED FOR EVERY OFFENCE, BUT DIFFERENT
PUNISHMENTS FOR DIFFERENT OFFENDERS.

XLViii. Do not pass the same sentence for
every sin, but one suitable to each crime, dis-
tinguishing all the several sorts of offences with
much prudence, the great from the httle. Treat
a wicked action after one manner, and a wicked
word after another ; a bare intention still othe

5 Matt, xviii. 21, 22.
<> Matt. V. 9.
7 [i.e., Saturday.]
^ Deut. xix. 17.
9 Deut. xvi. 20.

4i8

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II.

wise. So also in the case of a contumely or
suspicion. And some thou shalt curb by threat-
enings alone ; some thou shalt punish with fines
to the poor ; some thou shalt mortify with fast-
ings ; and others thou shalt separate according
to the greatness of their several crimes. For
the law did not allot the same punishment to
every offence, but had a different regard to a
sin against God, against the priest, against the
temple, or against the sacrifice ; from a sin
against the king, or ruler, or a soldier, or a fel-
low-subject ; and so were the offences different
which were against a servant, a possession, or a
brute creature. And again, sins were differently
rated according as they were against parents
and kinsmen, and those differently which were
done on purpose from those that happened in-
voluntarily. Accordingly the punishments were
different : as death either by crucifixion or by
stoning, fines, scourgings, or the suffering the
same mischiefs they had done to others. Where-
fore do you also allot different penalties to dif-
ferent offences, lest any injustice should happen,
and provoke God to indignation. For of what
unjust judgment soever you are the instruments,
of the same you shall receive the reward from
God. " For with what judgment ye judge ye
shall be judged." '

WHAT ARE TO BE THE CHARACTERS OF ACCUSERS
AND WITNESSES.

XLix. When, therefore, you are set down at
your tribunal, and the parties are both of them
present (for we will not call them brethren until
they receive each other in peace), examine dili-
gently concerning those who appear before you ;
and first concerning the accuser, whether this be
the first person he has accused, or whether he
has advanced accusations against some others
before, and whether this contest and accusation
of theirs does not arise from some quarrel, and
what sort of life the accuser leads. Yet, though
he be of a good conscience, do not give credit
to him alone, for that is contrary to the law ;
but let him have others to join in his testimony,
and those of the same course of life. As the
law says : " At the mouth of two or three wit-
nesses everything shall be established." - But
why did we say that the character of the wit-
nesses was to be inquired after, of what sort it
is ? Because it frequently happens that two and
more testify for mischief, and with joint consent
prefer a lie ; as did the two elders against Su-
sanna in Babylon,^ and the sons of transgressors
against Naboth in Samaria,'* and the multitude
of the Jews against our Lord at Jerusalem, 5 and

' Matt. vii. 2.
2 Deut. xix. 15.
^ Susanna 28.
* I Kings xxi.
5 Matt. x.xYi

against Stephen His first martyr.^ Let the wit-
nesses therefore be meek, free from anger, full
of equity, kind, prudent, continent, free from
wickedness, faithful, religious ; for the testimony
of such persons is firm on account of their
character, and true on account of their mode
of life. But as to those of a different character,
do not ye receive their testimony, although they
seem to agree together in their evidence against
the accused ; for it is ordained in the law :
" Thou shalt not be with a multitude for wick-
edness ; thou shalt not receive a vain report ;
thou shalt not consent with a multitude to per-
vert judgment." 7 You ought also particularly
to know him that is accused ; what he is in his
course and mode of life ; whether he have a
good report as to his life ; whether he has been
unblameable ; whether he has been zealous in
holiness ; whether he be a lover of the widows,
a lover of the strangers, a lover of the poor,
and a lover of the brethren ; whether he be not
given to filthy lucre ; whether he be not an ex-
travagant person, or a spendthrift ; whether he
be sober, and free from luxury, or a drunkard,
or a glutton ; whether he be compassionate and
charitable.

THAT FORMER OFFENCES DO SOMETIMES RENDER
AFTER ACCUSATIONS CREDIBLE.

L. For if he has been before addicted to
wicked works, the accusations which are now
brought against him will thence in some measure
appear to be true, unless justice do plainly plead
for him. For it may be, that though he had
formerly been an offender, yet that he may not
be guilty of this crime of which he is accused.
Wherefore be exactly cautious about such cir-
cumstances, and so render your sentences, when
pronounced against the offender convicted, safe
and firm. And if, after his separation, he begs
pardon, and falls down before the bishop, and
acknowledges his fault, receive him. But neither
do you suffer a false accuser to go unpunished,
that he may not calumniate another who lives
well, or encourage some other person to do like
him. Nor, to be sure, do ye suffer a person
convicted to go off clear, lest another be en-
snared in the same crimes. For neither shall a
witness of mischiefs be unpunished, nor shall he
that offends be without censure.

AGAINST JUDGING WITHOUT HEARING BOTH SIDES.

LI. We said before that judgment ought not to
be given upon hearing only one of the parties ;
for if you hear one of them when the other is
not there, and so cannot make his defence to
the accusation brought against him, and rashly

* Acts vi. and yii.
7 £z. xxiii. 2.

Sec. VI.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

419

give your votes for condemnation, you will be
found guilty of that man's destruction, and par-
taker with the false accuser before God, the just
Judge. For " as he that holdeth the tail of a
dog, so is he that presides at unjust judgment." '
But if ye become imitators of the elders in
Babylon, who, when they had borne witness
against Susanna, unjustly condemned her to
death, you will become obnoxious to their judg-
ment and condemnation. For the Lord by
Daniel delivered Susanna from the hand of the
•ungodly, but condemned to the fire those elders
who were guilty of her blood, and reproaches
you by him, saying : " Are ye so foolish, ye
children of Israel? Without examination, and
without knowing the truth, have ye condemned
a daughter of Israel? Return again to the
place of judgment, for these men have borne
false witness against her." ^

THE CAUTION OBSERVED AT HEATHEN TRIBUNALS
BEFORE THE CONDEMNATION OF CRIMINALS
AFFORDS CHRISTIANS A GOOD EXAMPLE.

Lii. Consider even the judicatures of this
world, by whose power we see murderers, adul-
terers, wizards, robbers of sepulchres, and thieves
brought to trial ; and those that preside, when
they have received their accusations from those
that brought them, ask the malefactor whether
those things be so. And though he does not
deny the crimes, they do not presently send him
out to punishment ; but for several days they
make inquiry about him with a full council, and
with the veil interposed. And he that is to pass
the final decree and suffrage of death against
him, lifts up his hands to the sun, and solemnly
affirms that he is innocent of the blood of the
man. Though they be heathens, and know not
the Deity, nor the vengeance which will fall upon
men from God on account of those that are un-
justly condemned, they avoid such unjust judg-
ments.

THAT CHRISTIANS OUGHT NOT TO BE CONTEN-
TIOUS ONE WITH ANOTHER.

Liii. But you who know who our God is, and
what are His judgments, how can you bear to
pass an unjust judgment, since your sentence will
be immediately known to God? And if you
have judged righteously, you will be deemed
worthy of the recompenses of righteousness, both
now and hereafter ; but if unrighteously, you will
partake of the like. We therefore advise you,
brethren, rather to deserve commendation from
God than rebukes ; for the commendation of
God is eternal life to men, as is His rebuke ever-
lasting death. Be ye therefore righteous judges,
peacemakers, and without anger. For " he that

' Prov. xxvi. 17.
^ Susanna 48.

is angry with his brother without a cause is ob-
noxious to the judgment." ^ But if it happens
that by any one's contrivance you are angry at
anybody, " let not the sun go down upon your
wrath ;" * for says David, " Be angry and sin
not ; " 5 that is, be soon reconciled, lest your
wrath continue so long that it turn to a settled
hatred, and work sin. " For the souls of those
that bear a settled hatred are to death," ^ says
Solomon. But our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ says in the Gospels : " If thou bring thy
gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy
brother hath ought against thee, leave there
thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first
be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and
offer thy gift to God." 7 Now the gift to God is
every one's prayer and thanksgiving. If, there-
fore, thou hast anything against thy brother, or
he has anything against thee, neither will thy
prayers be heard, nor will thy thanksgivings be
accepted, by reason of that hidden anger. But
it is your duty, brethren, to pray continually.
Yet, because God hears not those which are at
enmity with their brethren by unjust quarrels,
even though they should pray three times an
hour, it is our duty to compose all our enmity
and littleness of soul, that we may be able to
pray with a pure and unpolluted heart. For the
Lord commanded us to love even our enemies,
and by no means to hate our friends. And the
lawgiver says : " Thou shalt not hate any man ;
thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy mind.
Thou shalt certainly reprove thy brother, and not
incur sin on his account."^ "Thou shalt not
hate an Egyptian, for thou wast a sojourner with
him. Thou shalt not hate an Idumsean, for he
is thy brother." ^ And David says : " If I have
repaid those that requited me evil." '° Where-
fore, if thou wilt be a Christian, follow the law of
the Lord : " Loose every band of wickedness ; " "
for the Lord has given thee authority to remit
those sins to thy brother which he has committed
against thee as far as " seventy times seven," "
that is, four hundred and ninety times. How
oft, therefore, hast thou remitted to thy brother,
that thou art unwilling to do it now, when thou
also hast heard Jeremiah saying, " Do not any
of you impute the wickedness of his neighbour
in your hearts? " '^ But thou rememberest in-
juries, and keepest enmity, and comest into
judgment, and art suspicious of His anger, and
thy prayer is hindered. Nay, if thou hast re-

3 Matt. V. 22.

* Eph. iv. 26.

5 Ps. iv. 4.

6 Prov. xii. 28, LXX.

7 Matt. V. 23, 24.

8 Lev. xix. 17.

9 Deut. xxiii. 7.

10 Ps. vii. 4.
" Isa. Iviii. 6.

'- Matt, xviii. 22.

'3 Zech. viii. 17.

420

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book II

mitted to thy brother four hundred and ninety
times, do thou still multiply thy acts of gentle-
ness more, to do good for thy own sake. Al-
though he does not do so, yet, however, do thou
endeavour to forgive thy brother for God's sake,
" that thou mayest be the son of thy Father
which is in heaven," ' and when thou prayest,
mayest be heard as a friend of God.

THAT THE BISHOPS MUST BY THEIR DEACON PUT
THE PEOPLE IN MIND OF THE OBLIGATION THEY
ARE UNDER TO LIVE PEACEABLY TOGETHER.

Liv. Wherefore, O bishop, when you are to go
to prayer after the lessons, and the psalmody,
and the instruction out of the Scriptures, let the
deacon stand nigh you, and with a loud voice
say : Let none have any quarrel with another ;
let none come in hypocrisy ; that if there be
any controversy found among any of you, they
may be affected in conscience, and may pray to
God, and be reconciled to their brethren. For
if, upon coming into any one's house, we are to
say, " Peace be to this house," ^ like sons of
peace bestowing peace on those who are wor-
thy, as it is written, " He came and preached
peace to you that are nigh, and them that are
far off, whom the Lord knows to be His," ^ much
more is it incumbent on those that enter into the
Church of God before all things to pray for the
peace of God. But if he prays for it upon
others, much more let himself be within the
same, as a child of light ; for he that has it not
within himself is not fit to bestow it upon oth-
ers. Wherefore, before all things, it is our duty
to be at peace in our own minds ; for he that
does not find any disorder in himself will not
quarrel with another, but will be peaceable,
friendly, gathering the Lord's people, and a fel-
low-worker with him, in order to the increasing
the number of those that shall be saved in
unanimity. For those who contrive enmities,
and strifes, and contests, and lawsuits, are
wicked, and aliens from God.

AN ENUMERATION OF THE SEVERAL INSTANCES
OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE, AND HOW IN EVERY
AGE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD GOD
HAS INVITED ALL MEN TO REPENTANCE.

Lv. For God, being a God of mercy from the
beginning, called every generation to repentance
by righteous men and prophets. He instructed
those before the flood by Abel, and Sem, and
Seth, also by Enos, and by Enoch that was
translated ; those at the flood by Noah ; the in-
habitants of Sodom by hospitable Lot ; those
after the flood by Melchizedek, and the patri-
archs, and Job the beloved of God ; the Egyp-

' Matt. V. 45.
^ Matt. X. 12.
3 Isa. Ivii. 19; Eph. ii. 17; 2 Tim. ii. 19.

tians by Moses ; the Israelites by him, and
Joshua, and Caleb, and Phineas, and the rest ;
those after the law by angels and prophets, and
the same by His own incarnation ^ of the Vir-
gin ; those a litde before His bodily appear-
ance by John His forerunner, and the same by
the same person after Christ's birth, saying,
" Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand ; " s those after His passion by us, the
twelve apostles, and Paul the chosen vessel. We
therefore, who have been vouchsafed the favour
of being the witnesses of His appearance, to-
gether with James the brother of our Lord, and
the other seventy-two disciples, and his seven
deacons, have heard from the mouth of oul
Lord Jesus Christ, and by exact knowledge de-
clare " what is the will of God, that good, and
acceptable, and perfect will " ^ which is made
known to us by Jesus ; that none should perish,
but that all men with one accord should believe
in Him, and send unanimously praise to Him,
and thereby live for ever.

THAT IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT MEN SHOULD
BE OF ONE MIND IN MATTERS OF RELIGION, IN
ACCORD WITH THE HEAVENLY POWERS.

Lvi. For this is that which our Lord taught us
when we pray to say to His Father, " Thy will
be done, as in heaven, so upon earth ; " 7 that
as the heavenly natures of the incorporeal pow-
ers do all glorify God with one consent, so also
upon earth all men with one mouth and one
purpose may glorify the only, the one, and the
true God, by Christ His only-begotten. It is
j therefore His will that men should praise Him
with unanimity, and adore Him with one con-
I sent.^ For this is His will in Christ, that those
I who are saved by Him may be many ; but that
I you do not occasion any loss or diminution to
j Him, nor to the Church, or lessen the number
by one soul of man, as destroyed by you, which
might have been saved by repentance ; and
which therefore perishes not only by its own sin,
but also by your treachery besides, whereby you
fulfil that which is written, " He that gathereth
not with me, scattereth." 9 Such a one is a
disperser of the sheep, an adversary, an enemy
of God, a destroyer of those lambs whose Shep-
herd was the Lord, and we were the collectors
out of various nations and tongues, by much
pains and danger, and perpetual labour, by
watchings, by fastings, by lyings on the ground,
by persecutions, by stripes, by imprisonments,
that we might do the will of God, and fill the
feast-chamber with guests to sit down at His

* One V. MS. inserts, " of the Holy Spirit and."
5 Matt. iii. 2.

'' Rom. xii. 2.
' Matt. vi. 10.

* " And adore him with one consent " is omitted in one V. ms.
9 Matt. xii. 30.

SEC. VII.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

421

table, that is, the holy and Catholic Church; with
joyful and chosen people, singing hymns and
praises to God that has called them by us to
life. And you, as much as in you lies, have dis-
persed them. Do .you also of the laity be at
peace with one another, endeavouring like wise
men to increase the Church, and to turn back,
and tame, and restore those which seem wild.
For this is the greatest reward by His promise
from God, "' If thou fetch out the worthy and
precious from the unworthy, thou shalt be as my
mouth." '

SEC. VII. ON ASSEMBLING IN THE CHURCH.

AN EXACT DESCRIPTION OF A CHURCH AND THE
CLERGY, AND WHAT THINGS IN PARTICULAR
EVERY ONE IS TO DO IN THE SOLEMN ASSEM-
BLIES OF THE CLERGY AND LAITY FOR RELI-
GIOUS WORSHIP.

Lvii. But be thou, O bishop, holy, unblame-
able, no striker, not soon angry, not cruel ; but
a builder up, a converter, apt to teach, forbear-
ing of evil, of a gentle mind, meek, long-suffering,
ready to exhort, ready to comfort, as a man of
God.

When thou callest an assembly of the Church
as one that is the commander of a great ship,
appoint the assemblies to be made with all pos-
sible skill, charging the deacons as mariners to
prepare places for the brethren as for passengers,
with all due care and decency. And first, let
the building be long, with its head to the east,
with its vestries on both sides at the east end,
and so it will be like a ship. In the middle let
the bishop's throne be placed, and on each side
of him let the presbytery sit down ; and let the
deacons stand near at hand, in close and small
girt garments, for they are like the mariners and
managers of the ship : with regard to these, let
the laity sit on the other side, with all quietness
and good order. And let the women sit by
themselves, they also keeping silence. In the
middle, let the reader stand upon some high
place : let him read the books of Moses, of
Joshua the son of Nun, of the Judges, and of
the Kings and of the Chronicles, and those writ-
ten after the return from the captivity ; and be-
sides these, the books of Job and of Solomon,
and of the sixteen prophets. But when there
have been two lessons severally read, let some
other person sing the hymns of David, and let
the people join at the conclusions of the verses.
Afterwards let our Acts be read, and the Epistles
of Paul our fellow-worker, which he sent to the
churches under the conduct of the Holy Spirit ;
and afterwards let a deacon or a presbyter read
the Gospels, both those which I Matthew and
John have delivered to you, and those which the

' Jer. XV. 19.

fellow-workers of Paul received and left to you,
Luke and Mark. And while the Gospel is read,
let all the presbyters and deacons, and all the
people, stand up in great silence ; for it is writ-
ten : "Be silent, and hear, O Israel."^ And
again : " But do thou stand there, and hear." ^
In the next place, let the presbyters one by one,
not all together, exhort the people, and the bishop
in the last place, as being the commander. Let
the porters stand at the entries of the men, and
observe them. Let the deaconesses also stand
at those of the women, like shipmen. For the
same description and pattern was both in the
tabernacle of the testimony and in the temple
of God.'* But if any one be found sitting out
of his place, let him be rebuked by the deacon,
as a manager of the foreship, and be removed
into the place proper for him ; for the Church
is not only like a ship, but also like a sheepfold.
For as the shepherds place all the brute crea-
tures distinctly, I mean goats and sheep, accord-
ing to their kind and age, and still every one
runs together, like to his like ; so is it to be in
the Church. Let the young persons sit by them-
selves, if there be a place for them ; if not, let
them stand upright. But let those that are
already stricken in years sit in order. For the
children which stand, let their fathers and moth-
ers take them to them. Let the younger women
also sit by themselves, if there be a place for
them ; but if there be not, let them stand behind
the women. Let those women which are mar-
ried, and have children, be placed by themselves ;
but let the virgins, and the widows, and the elder
women, stand or sit before all the rest ; and let
the deacon be the disposer of the places, that
every one of those that comes in may go to his
proper place, and may not sit at the entrance.
In like manner, let the deacon oversee the peo-
ple, that nobody may whisper, nor slumber, nor
laugh, nor nod ; for all ought in the church to
stand wisely, and soberly, and attentively, having
their attention fixed upon the word of the Lord.
After this, let all rise up with one consent, and
looking towards the east, after the catechumens
and penitents are gone out, pray to God east-
ward, who ascended up to the heaven of heavens
to the east ; remembering also the ancient situa-
tion of paradise in the east, from whence the
first man, when he had yielded to the persuasion
of the serpent, and disobeyed the command of
God, was expelled. As to the deacons, after the
prayer is oyer, let some of them attend upon
the oblation of the Eucharist, ministering to the
Lord's body with fear. Let others of them watch
the multitude, and keep them silent. But let

* Deut. xxvii. 9.
3 Deut. V. 31.

* Deut. xxiii. i. " And in the temple of God '

V. MS.

is omitted in one

42 2

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book U

that deacon who is at the high priest's hand say
to the people, Let no one have any quarrel against
another ; let no one come in hypocrisy. Then
let the men give the men, and the women give
the women, the Lord's kiss. But let no one do
it with deceit, as Judas betrayed the Lord with
a kiss. After this let the deacon pray for the
whole Church, for the whole world, and the sev-
eral parts of it, and the fruits of it ; for the priests
and the rulers, for the high priest and the king,
and the peace of the universe. After this let
the high priest pray for peace upon the people,
and bless them, as Moses commanded the priests
to bless the people, in these words : " The Lord
bless thee, and keep thee : the Lord make His
face to shine upon thee,' and give thee peace." ^
Let the bishop pray for the people, and say :
"Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thine
inheritance, which Thou hast obtained with the
precious blood of Thy Christ, and hast called a
royal priesthood, and an holy nation." ^ After
this let the sacrifice follow, the people standing,
and praying silently ; and when the oblation has
been made, let every rank by itself partake of
the Lord's body and precious blood in order,
and approach with reverence and holy fear, as
to the body of their king. Let the women ap-
proach with their heads covered, as is becoming
the order of women ; but let the door be watched,
lest any unbeliever, or one not yet initiated, come

OF COMMENDATORY LETTERS IN FAVOUR OF
STRANGERS, LAV PERSONS, CLERGYMEN, AND
BISHOPS; AND THAT THOSE WHO COME INTO
THE CHURCH ASSEMBLIES ARE TO BE RECEIVED
WITHOUT REGARD TO THEIR QUALITY.

LViii. If any brother, man or woman, come in
from another parish, bringing recommendatory
letters, let the deacon be the judge of that affair,
inquiring whether they be of the faithful, and of
the Church? whether they be not defiled by
heresy? and besides, whether the party be a
married woman or a widow ? And when he is
satisfied in these questions, that they are really
of the faithful, and of the same sentiments in
the things of the Lord, let him conduct every
one to the place proper for him. And if a pres-
byter comes from another parish, let him be
received to communion by the presbyters ; if a
deacon, by the deacons ; if a bishop, let him
sit with the bishop, and be allowed the same
honour with himself; and thou, O bishop, shalt
desire him to speak to the people words of
instruction : for the exhortation and admonition
of strangers is very acceptable, and exceeding

■ One V. MS. inserts, " and pity thee: the Lord lift His counte-
nance upon thee."

2 Num. vi. 34, etc.

3 Ps. xxviii. 9; Acts xx. 28; i Pet. i. 19, ii. 9.

* [ Note all this as bearing ufion the ceremonial of the Latin Mass,
which reverses these primitive precepts in divers points.]

profitable. For, as the Scripture says, " no
prophet is accepted in his own country." 5
Thou shalt also permit him to offer the Eucha-
rist ; but if, out of reverence to thee, and as a
wise man, to preserve the honour belonging to
thee, he will not offer, at least thou shalt compel
him to give the blessing to the people. But if,
after the congregation is sat down, any other
person comes upon you of good fashion and
character in the world, whether he be a stranger,
or one of your own country, neither do thou, O
bishop, if thou art speaking the word of God,
or hearing him that sings or reads, accept per-
sons so far as to leave the ministry of the word,
that thou mayest appoint an upper place for
him ; but continue quiet, not interrupting thy
discourse, nor thy attention. But let the breth-
ren receive him by the deacons ; and if there
be not a place, let the deacon by speaking, but
not in anger, raise the junior, and place the
stranger there. And it is but reasonable that
one that loves the brethren should do so of his
own accord ; but if he refuse, let him raise him
up by force, and set him behind all, that the
rest may be taught to give place to those that
are more honourable. Nay, if a poor man, or
one of a mean family, or a stranger, comes uport
you, whether he be old or young, and there be
no place, the deacon shall find a place for even
these, and that with all his heart ; that, instead
of accepting persons before men, his ministra-
tion towards God may be well-pleasing. The
very same thing let the deaconess do to those
women, whether poor or rich, that come unto
them.

THAT EVERY CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO FREQUENT
THE CHURCH DILIGENTLY BOTH MORNING AND
EVENING.

Lix. When thou instructest the people, O
bishop, command and exhort them to come
constantly to church morning and evening every
day, and by no means to forsake it on any
account, but to assemble together continually ;
neither to diminish the Church by withdrawing
themselves, and causing the body of Christ to
be without its member. For it is not only
spoken concerning the priests, but let every one
of the laity hearken to it as concerning himself,
considering that it is said by the Lord : " He
that is not with me is against me, and he that
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad."^ Do
not you therefore scatter yourselves abroad, who
are the members of Christ, by not assembling
together, since you have Christ your head, ac-
cording to His promise, present, and communi-
cating to you. 7 Be not careless of yourselves,

5 Luke iv. 24; John iv. 44.

* Matt. xii. 30.

7 Matt, xxviii. 20. [Compare vol. i. pp. 185, 186, this scries. 1

Sec. Vn.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

423

neither deprive your Saviour of His own mem-
bers, neither divide His body nor disperse His
members, neither prefer the occasions of this
life to the word of God ; but assemble your-
selves together every day, morning and evening,
singing psalms and praying in the Lord's house :
in the morning saying the sixty-second Psalm,
and in the evening the hundred and fortieth,
but principally on the Sabbath-day. And on
the day of our Lord's resurrection, which is the
Lord's day, meet more diligently, sending praise
to God that made the universe by Jesus, and
sent Him to us, and condescended to let Him
suffer, and raised Him from the dead. Other-
wise what apology will he make to God who
does not assemble on that day to hear the sav-
ing word concerning the resurrection, on which
we pray thrice standing in memory of Him who
arose in three days, in which is performed the
reading of the prophets, the preaching of the
Gospel, the oblation of the sacrifice, the gift of
the holy food ?

THE VAIN ZEAL WHICH THE HEATHENS AND JEWS
SHOW IN FREQUENTING THEIR TEMPLES AND
SYNAGOGUES IS A PROPER EXAMPLE AND
MOTIVE TO EXCITE CHRISTIANS TO FREQUENT
THE CHURCH.

LX. And how can he be other than an adver-
sary to God, who takes pains about temporary
things night and day, but takes no care of things
eternal? who takes care of washings and tem-
porary food every day, but does not take care
of those that endure for ever? How can such
a one even now avoid hearing that word of the
Lord, "The Gentiles are justified more than
you?"' as He says, by way of reproach, to
Jerusalem, "Sodom is justified rather than thou."
For if the Gentiles every day, when they arise
from sleep, run to their idols to worship them,
and before all their work and all their labours
do first of all pray to them, and in their feasts
and in their solemnities do not keep away, but
attend upon them ; and not only those upon the
place, but those living far distant do the same ;
and in their public shows all come together, as
into a synagogue : in the same manner those
which are vainly called Jews, when they have
worked sfx days, on the seventh day rest, and
come together into their synagogue, never leav-
ing nor neglecting either rest from labour or
assembling together, while yet they are deprived
of the efficacy of the word in their unbelief,
nay, and of the force of that name Judah, by
which they call themselves, — for Judah is in-
terpreted Confession, — but these do not con-
fess to God (having unjustly occasioned the
suffering on the cross), so as to be saved on their

' Ezek. xvi. 52.

repentance ; — if, therefore, those who are not
saved frequently assemble together for such pur-
poses as do not profit them, what apology wilt
thou make to the Lord God who forsakest His
Church, not imitating so much as the heathen,
but by such thy absence growest slothful, or
turnest apostate, or actest wickedness? To
whom the Lord says by Jeremiah : " Ye have
not kept my ordinances ; nay, ye have not
walked according to the ordinances of the hea-
then, and you have in a manner exceeded
them." ^ And again : " Israel has justified his
soul more than treacherous Judah." ^ And after-
wards : " Will the Gentiles change their gods
which are not gods ? ^ Wherefore pass over to
the isles of Chittim, and behold, and send to
Kedar, and observe diligently whether such things
have been done. For those nations have not
changed their ordinances ; but," says He, " my
people has changed its glory for that which will
not profit." 5 How, therefore, will any one
make his apology who has despised or absented
himself from the church of God?

THAT WE MUST NOT PREFER THE AFFAIRS OP
THIS LIFE TO THOSE WHICH CONCERN THE
WORSHIP OF GOD.

LXi. But if any one allege the pretence of his
own work, and so is a despiser, "offering pre-
tences for his sins," let such a one know that
the trades of the faithful are works by the by,
but the worship of God is their great work.
Follow therefore your trades as by the by, for
your maintenance, but make the worship of God
your main business ; as also our Lord said :
" Labour not for the meat which perishes, but
for that which endureth unto everlasting life." ^
And again : " This is the work of God, that ye
believe on Him whom He hath sent." ? En-
deavour therefore never to leave the Church of
God ; but if any one overlooks it, and goes
either into a polluted temple of the heathens,
or into a synagogue of the Jews or heretics, what
apology will such a one make to God in the
day of judgment, who has forsaken the oracles
of the living God, and the living and quickening
oracles, such as are able to deliver from eternal
punishment, and has gone into an house of
demons, or into a synagogue of the murderers
of Christ, or the congregation of the wicked ? —
not hearkening unto him that says : " I have
hated the congregation of the wicked, and I will
not enter with the ungodly. I have not sat with
the assembly of vanity, neither will I sit with
the ungodly." ^ And again : " Blessed is the

2 Ezek. V. 7, xvi. 47.

3 Jer. iii. 11.

* One V. MS. inserts here, " and elsewhere through another."
5 Jer. ii. it, 10.

^ John vi. 27.
^ John vi. 29.

* Ps. xxvi. 5, 4.

424

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book » .

man that hath not walked in the counsel of
the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners,
and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful ; but
his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His
law will he meditate day and night." ' But thou,
forsaking the gathering together of the faithful,
the Church of God, and His laws, hast respect to
those " dens of thieves," calling those things holy
which He has called profane, and making such
things unclean which He has sanctified. And not
only so, but thou already runnest after the pomps
of the Gentiles, and hastenest to their theatres,
being desirous to be reckoned one of those that
enter into them, and to partake of unseemly,
not to say abominable words ; not hearkening to
Jeremiah, who says, " O Lord, I have not sat in
their assemblies, for they are scorners ; but I
was afraid because of Thy hand ; " ^ nor to Job,
who speaks in like manner, " If I have gone at
any time with the scornful ; for I shall be weighed
in a just balance." ^ But why wilt thou be a par-
taker of the heathen oracles, which are nothing
but dead men declaring by the inspiration of the
devil deadly things, and such as tend to subvert
the faith, and to draw those that attend to them
to polytheism? Do you therefore, who attend
to the laws of God, esteem those laws more
honourable than the necessities of this life, and
pay a greater respect to them, and run together
to the Church of the Lord, " which He has pur-
chased with the blood of Christ, the beloved,
the first-born of every creature." '' For this
Church is the daughter of the Highest, which
has been in travail of you by the word of grace,
and has " formed Christ in you," of whom you
are made partakers, and thereby become His
holy and chosen members, " not having spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing ; but as being holy
and unspotted in the faith, ye are complete in
Him, after the image of God that created you." 5

THAT CHRISTIANS MUST ABSTAIN FROM ALL THE
IMPIOUS PRACTICES OF THE HEATHENS.

LXii. Take heed, therefore, not to join your-
selves in your worship with those that perish,
which is the assembly of the Gentiles, to your
deceit and destruction. For there is no fellow-
ship between God and the devil ; for he that
assembles himself with those that favour the
things of the devil, will be esteemed one of
them, and will inherit a woe. Avoid also inde-
cent spectacles : I mean the theatres and the
pomps of the heathens ; their enchantments,
observations of omens, soothsayings, purgations,
divinations, observations of birds ; their necro-
mancies and invocations. For it is written :

' Ps. i. I, 2.

* Jer. XV. 17.

' Job xxxi. 5, 6.

* Vi'd. Acts XX. 28; Col. i. 15.

* Eph. V. 27.

" There is no divination in Jacob, nor soothsay-
ing in Israel." ^ And again : " Divination is
iniquity." 7 And elsewhere : " Ye shall not be
soothsayers, and follow observers of omens, nor
diviners, nor dealers with familiar spirits. Ye
shall not preserve alive wizards."^ Wherefore
Jeremiah exhorts, saying : " Walk ye not ac-
cording to the ways of the heathen, and be not
afraid of the signs of heaven." ^ So that it is
the duty of a believer to avoid the assemblies of
the ungodly, of the heathen, and of the Jews,
and of the rest of the heretics, lest by uniting
ourselves to them we bring snares upon our own
souls ; that we may not by joining in their feasts,
which are celebrated in honour of demons, be
partakers with them in their impiety. You are
also to avoid their public meetings, and those
sports which are celebrated in them. For a
believer ought not to go to any of those public
meetings, unless to purchase a slave, and save a
soul,9 and at the same time to buy such other
things as suit their necessities. Abstain, there-
fore, from all idolatrous pomp and state, all their
public meetings, banquets, duels, and all shows
belonging to demons.

SEC. VIII. — ON THE DUTY OF WORKING FOR A
LIVELIHOOD.

THAT A CHRISTIAN WHO WILL NOT WORK MUST
NOT EAT, AS PETER AND THE REST OF THE
APOSTLES WERE FISHERMEN, BUT PAUL AND
AQUILA TENTMAKERS, JUDE THE SON OF JAMES
AN HUSBANDMAN.

LXiii. Let the young persons of the Church
endeavour to minister diligently in all necessa-
ries : mind your business with all becoming seri-
ousness, that so you may always have sufficient
to support yourselves and those that are needy,
and not burden the Church of God. For we
ourselves, besides our attention to the word of
the Gospel, do not neglect our inferior employ-
ments. For some of us are fishermen, some
tentmakers, some husbandmen, that so we may
never be idle. So says Solomon somewhere :
" Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her
ways diligently, and become wiser than she.
For she, having neither field, overseer, nor ruler,
prepareth her food in the summer, and layeth
up a great store in the harvest. Or else go to
the bee, and learn how laborious she is, and her
work how valuable it is, whose labours both
kings and mean men make use of for their
health. She is desirable and glorious, though
she be weak in strength, yet by honouring wis-
dom she is improved, etc. How long wilt thou
lie on thy bed, O sluggard? When wilt thou

* Num. xxiii. 23.

' I Sam. XV. 23, LXX.

' I.ev. xix. 26; Deut. xviii. 10.

9 Jer. X. 2. [ Slaves were bought to b« baptized. Elucid., p. 425.]

Sec. VIII.]

ELUCIDATION.

425

awake out of thy sleep ? Thou sleepest awhile,
thou liest down awhile, thou slumberest awhile,
thou foldest thy hands on thy breast to sleep
awhile. Then poverty comes on thee like an
evil traveller, and want as a swift racer. But if
thou beest diligent, thy harvest shall come as
a fountain, and want shall fly from thee as an
evil runagate." ' And again : " He that mana-
geth his own land shall be filled with bread." ^
And elsewhere he says : "The slothful has folded
his own hands together, and has eaten his own

' Prov. vi. 6, etc., LXX.
' Prov. xii. II.

flesh." 3 And afterwards: "The sluggard hides
his hand ; he will not be able to bring it to his
mouth." * And again : " By slothfulness of the
hands a floor will be brought low." s Labour
therefore continually ; for the blot of the slothful
is not to be healed. But " if any one does not
work, let not such a one eat " ^ among you.
For the Lord our God hates the slothful. For
no one of those who are dedicated to God ought
to be idle.

3 Eccles. iv. 5.
* Prov. xix. 24.
S Eccles. X. 18.
<> 2 Thess. iii. 10.

ELUCIDATION.

(To purchase a slave, and save a soul, p. 424.)

The calm and patient course of the Church in gradually obliterating slavery has been wel>
defended by the pious Spanish Ultramontane writer Jacques Balmes.' Of course, he imagine?
that " the Catholic Church," which wrought the change, was his own Tridentine Communion.*
Lecky's remarks on the gladiators and slavery as the product of famines and distress are worthy
of note, and even he is forced to recognise the ameliorating influences of Christianity from the
beginning.^ He says : —

" Christianity for the first time made charity a rudimentary virtue, giving it a foremost place
in the moral type and in the exhortations of its teachers. Besides its general influence in stimu-
lating the affections, it effected a complete revolution in this sphere, by representing the poor as
the special representatives of the Christian founder, and thus making the love of Christ rather
than the love of man the principle of charity. Even in the days of persecution, collections for
the relief of the poor were made at the Sunday meetings. The agapcz, or feasts of love, were
intended mainly for the poor ; and food that was saved by the fasts was devoted to their benefit.
A vast organization of charity, presided over by the bishops, and actively directed by the deacons,
soon ramified over Christendom, till the bond of charity became the bond of unity, and the most
distant sections of the Christian Church corresponded by the interchange of mercy.'^ Long before
the era of Constantine it was observed that the charities of the Christians were so extensive — it
may perhaps be said so excessive — that they drew very many impostors to the Church ; and, when
the victory of Christianity was achieved, the enthusiasm for charity displayed itself in the erection
of numerous institutions that were altogether unknown to the pagan world."

* See his chapter (xvii.) Moyens employes par Ceglise pour affranchir les esclaves. Civilisation Europeene, vol. i. p. 22a, Paris,

1851.

* The countrymen of Balmes, on the contrary, were the authors of the negro slavery of modem times.
3 History 0/ European Morals, vol. ii. p. 84.

* See also Elucidation XII. vol. v. p. 563.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK III.

SEC. I. — CONCERNING WIDOWS.
THE AGE AT WHICH WIDOWS SHOULD BE CHOSEN.

I. Choose your " widows not under sixty years
of age," ' that in some measure the suspicion of
a second marriage may be prevented by their
age. But if you admit one younger into the
order of widows, and she cannot bear her widow-
hood in her youth, and marries, she will procure
indecent reflections on the glory of the order of
the widows, and shall give an account to God ;
not because she married a second time, but be-
cause she has " waxed wanton against Christ," ^
and not kept her promise, because she did 7iot
come and keep her promise with faith and the
fear of God.^ Wherefore such a promise ought
not to be rashly made, but with great caution :
" for it is better for her not to vow, than to vow
and not to pay." * But if any younger woman,
who has lived but a while with her husband, and
has lost him by death or some other occasion,
and remains by herself, having the gift of widow-
hood, she will be found to be blessed, and to be
like the widow of Sarepta, belonging to Sidon,
with whom the holy prophet of God, Elijah, s
lodged. Such a one may also be compared to
" Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of
Aser, which departed not from the temple, but
continued in supplications and prayers night and
day, who was fourscore years old, and had lived
with an husband seven years from her virginity,
who glorified the coming of Christ, and gave
thanks to the Lord, and spake concerning Him
to all those who looked for redemption in Is-
rael." ^ Such a widow will have a good report,
and will be honoured, having both glory with
men upon earth, and eternal praise with God in
heaven.

' Vid. I Tim. V. 9.

* I Tim. V. II.

3 Not in one V. MS.

* Ecclcs. V. K.

5 1 Kmgs xvii. 9.
'' Luke ii. 36, etc.

426

THAT WE MUST AVOID THE CHOICE OF YOUNGER
WIDOWS, BECAUSE OF SUSPICION.

II. But let not the younger widows be placed
in the order of widows, lest, under pretence of
inability to contain in the flower of their age,
they come to a second marriage, and become
subject to imputation. But let them be assisted
and supported, that so they may not, under
pretence of being deserted, come to a second
marriage, and so be ensnared in an unseemly
imputation. For you ought to know this, that
once marrying according to the law is righteous,
as being according to the will of God ; but sec-
ond marriages, after the promise, are wicked,
not on account of the marriage itself, but because
of the falsehood. Third marriages are indica-
tions of incontinency. But such marriages as
are beyond the third are manifest fornication,
and unquestionable uncleanness. For God in
the creation gave one woman to one man ; for
" they two shall be one flesh." 7 But to the
younger women let a second marriage be allowed
after the death of their first husband, lest they
fall into the condemnation of the devil, and
many snares, and foolish lusts, which are hurtful
to souls, and which bring upon them punishment
rather than rest.

WHAT CHARACTER THE WIDOWS OUGHT TO BE OF,
AND HOW THEY OUGHT TO BE SUPPORTED BY
THE BISHOP.

III. But the true widows are those which have
had only one husband, having a good report
among the generality for good works ; widows
indeed, sober, chaste, foithful, pious, who have
brought up their children well, and have enter-
tained strangers unblameably, which are to be
supported as devoted to God. Besides, do thou,
O bishop, be mindful of the needy, both reach-
ing out thy helping hand and making provision

' Gen. ii. 24.

Sec. I.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

427

for them as the steward of God, distributing sea-
sonably the oblations to every one of them, to
the widows, the orphans, the friendless, and
those tried with affliction.

THAT WE OUGHT TO HE CHARITABLE TO ALL
SORTS OF PERSONS IN WANT.

IV. For what if some are neither widows nor
widowers, but stand in need of assistance, either
through poverty or some disease, or the mainte-
nance of a great number of children ? It is thy
diity to oversee all people, and to take care of
them all. For they that give gifts do not of
their own head give them to the widows, but
barely bring them in, calling them free-will offer-
ings, that so thou that knowest those that are in
affliction mayest as a good steward give them
their portion of the gift. For God knows the
giver, though thou distributest it to those in want
when he is absent. And he has the reward of
well-doing, but thou the blessedness of having
dispensed it with a good conscience. But do
thou tell them who was the giver, that they may
pray for him by name. For it is our duty to do
good to all men, not fondly preferring one or
another, whoever they be. For the Lord says :
" Give to every one that asketh of the?." ' It
is evident that it is meant of every one that is
really in want, whether he be friend or foe,
whether he be a kinsman or a stranger, whether
he be single or married. For in all the Scripture
the Lord gives us exhortations about the needy,
saying first by Isaiah : " Deal thy bread to the
hungry, and bring the poor which have no cov-
ering into thine house. If thou seest the naked,
do thou cover him ; and thou shalt not overlook
those which are of thine own family and seed."^
And then by Daniel He says to the potentate :
" Wherefore, O king, let my counsel please thee,
and purge thy sins by acts of mercy, and thine
iniquities by bowels of compassion to the
needy." 3 And He says by Solomon : " By acts
of mercy and of faith iniquities are purged." +
And He says again by David : *' Blessed is he
that has regard to the poor and needy ; the Lord
shall deliver him in the evil day." s And again :
" He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to
the needy, his righteousness remaineth for ever."**
And Solomon says : " He that hath mercy on
the poor lendeth to the Lord ; 7 according to his
gift it shall be repaid him again." '^ And after-
wards : " He that stoppeth his ear, that he may
not hear him that is in want, he also shall call
himself, and there shall be none to hear him." 9

' Luke vi. 30.

^ Isa. Iviii. 7.

3 Dan. iv. 27.

* Prov. xvi. 6.

5 Ps. Xli. I.

'' Ps. cxii. 9.

7 Instead of "Lord,"

' one V. MS. reads •• God."

^ Prov. xix. 17.

9 Prov. xxi. 13,

THAT THE WIDOWS ARE TO BE VERY CAREFUL
OF THEIR BEHAVIOR.

v. Let every widow be meek, quiet, gentle,
sincere, free from anger, not talkative, not clam-
orous, not hasty of speech, not given to evil-
speaking, not captious, not double-tongued, not
a busybody. If she see or hear anything that is
not right, let her be as one that does not see,
and as one that does not hear. And let the
widow mind nothing but to pray for those that
give, and for the whole Church ; and when she
is asked anything by any one, let her not easily
answer, excepting questions concerning the faith,
and righteousness, and hope in God, remitting
those that desire to be instructed in the doctrines
of godliness to the governors. Let her only
answer so as may tend to the subversion of the
error of polytheism, and let her demonstrate
the assertion concerning the monarchy of God.
But of the remaining doctrines let her not
answer anything rashly, lest by saying anything
unlearnedly she should make the word to be
blasphemed. For the Lord has taught us that
the word is like " a grain of mustard seed," '°
which is of a fiery nature, which if any one uses
unskilfully, he will find it bitter. For in the
mystical points we ought not to be rash, but
cautious ; for the Lord exhorts us, saying : " Cast
not your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them with their feet, and turn again and rend
you." " For unbelievers, when they hear the
doctrine concerning Christ not explained as it
ought to be, but defectively, and especially that
concerning His incarnation or His passion, will
rather reject it with scorn, and laugh at it as
false, than praise God for it. And so the aged
women will be guilty of rashness, and of causing
blasphemy, and will inherit a woe. For says He,
" Woe to him by whom my name is blasphemed
among the Gentiles." '^

THAT WOMEN OUGHT NOT TO TEACH, BECAUSE
IT IS UNSEEMLY : AND WHAT WOMEN FOL-
LOWED OUR LORD.

VI. We do not permit our " women to teach
in the Church," '^ but only to pray and hear
those that teach ; for our Master and Lord, Jesus
Himself, when He sent us the twelve to make
disciples of the people and of the nations, did
nowhere send out women to preach, although He
did not want such. For there were with us the
mother of our Lord and His sisters ; also Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and
Martha and Mary the sisters of Lazarus ; Salome,
and certain others. For, had it been necessary
for women to teach, He Himself had first com-

■° Matt. xiii. 31.
" Matt. vii. 6.
'- Isa. Hi. 5.
'3 I Cor. xiv. 34.

428

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book IIL

manded these also to instruct the people with us.
For " if the head of the wife be the man," ' it is
not reasonable that the rest of the body should
govern the head. Let the widow therefore own
herself to be the " altar of God," and let her sit
in her house, and not enter into the houses of the
faithful, under any pretence, to receive anything ;
for the altar of God never runs about, but is
fixed in one place. Let, therefore, the virgin
and the widow be such as do not run about, or
gad to the houses of those who are alien from
the faith. For such as these are gadders and
impudent : they do not make their feet to rest
in one place, because they are not widows, but
purses ready to receive, triflers, evil-speakers,
counsellors of strife, without shame, impudent,
who being such, are not worthy of Him that called
them. For they do not come to the common
station of the congregation on the Lord's day,^
as those that are watchful ; but either they slum-
ber, or trifle, or allure men, or beg, or ensnare
others, bringing them to the evil one ; not suffer-
ing them to be watchful in the Lord, but taking
care that they go out as vain as they came in,
because they do not hear the word of the Lord
either taught or read. For of such as these the
prophet Isaiah says : " Hearing ye shall hear,
and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall
see, and not perceive : for the heart of this
people is waxen gross,^ and they hear heavily
with their ears r^

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS OF WIDOWS FALSELY
SO CALLED.

viL In the same manner, therefore, the ears
of the hearts of such widows as these are stopped,
that they will not sit within in their cottages to
speak to the Lord, but will run about with the
design of getting, and by their foolish prattling
fulfil the desires of the adversary. Such widows,
therefore, are not affixed to the altar of Christ :
for there are some widows which esteem gain
their business ; and since they ask without shame,
and receive without being satisfied, render the
generality more backward in giving. For when
they ought to be content with their subsistence
from the Church, as having moderate desires, on
the contrary, they run from one of their neigh-
bours' houses' to another, and disturb them, heap-
ing up to themselves plenty of money, and lend
at bitter usury, and are only solicitous about mam-
mon, whose bag is their god ; who prefer eating
and drinking before all virtue, saying, " Let us
eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ; " ^ who

■ I Cor. xi. 3.

^ " On the Lord's day " not in one V. MS.
' Isa. vi. g, 10.
•• Inserted from one V. ms.

s Probably the reading should be, " they go round the houses of
the rich."

* Isa. xxii. 13; I Cor. xv. ia.

esteem these things as if they were durable and
not perishing things. For she that uses herself
to nothing but talking of money, worships mam-
mon instead of God, — that is, is a servant to
gain, but cannot be pleasing to God, nor re-
signed to His worship ; not being able to inter-
cede with Him continuously on account that
her mind and disposition run after money : for
"where the treasure is, there will the heart be
also." ^ For she is thinking in her mind whither
she may go to receive, or that a certain woman
her friend has forgot her, and she has somewhat
to say to her. She that thinks of such things as
these will no longer attend to her prayers, but to
that thought which offers itself; so that though
sometimes she would pray for anybody, she will
not be heard, because she does not offer her
petition to the Lord with her whole heart, but
with a divided mind. But she that will attend
to God will sit within, and mind the things of
the Lord day and night, offering her sincere
petition with a mouth ready to utter the same
without ceasing. As therefore Judith, most fa-
mous for her wisdom, and of a good report for
her modesty, " prayed to God night and day
for Israel ; " ^ so also the widow who is like to
her will offer her intercession without ceasing for
the Church to God. And He will hear her, be-
cause her mind is fixed on this thing alone, and
is not disposed to be either insatiable, or covet-
ous, or expensive ; when her eye is pure, and
her hearing clean, and her hands undefiled,
and her feet quiet, and her mouth prepared for
neither gluttony nor trifling, but speaking the
things that are fit, and partaking of only such
things as are necessary for her maintenance. So,
being grave, and giving no disturbance, she will
be pleasing to God ; and as soon as she asks
anything, the gift will come to her : as He says,
" While thou art speaking, I will say. Behold, I
am here." ■? Let such a one also be free from
the love of money, free from arrogance, not
given to filthy lucre, not insatiable, not glutton-
ous, but continent, meek, gi/ing nobody disturb-
ance, pious, modest, sitting at home, singing,
and praying, and reading, and watching, and
fasting; speaking to God continually in songs
and hymns. And let her take wool, and rather
assist others than herself want from them ; being
mindful of that widow who is honoured in the
Gospel with the Lord's testimony, who, coming
into the temple, "cast into the treasury two
mites, which make a farthing. And Christ our
Lord and Master, and Searcher of hearts, saw
her, and said. Verily I say unto you, that this
widow hath cast into the treasury more than
they all : for all they have cast in of their

' Matt. vi. 21.
' Judith ix. I, etc.
9 Isa. Iviii. 9.

Sec. I.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

429

abundance, but this woman of her penury hath
cast in all the living that she had." '

The widows therefore ought to be grave,
obedient to their bishops, and their presbyters,
and their deacons, and besides these to the dea-
conesses, with piety, reverence, and fear ; not
usurping authority, nor desiring to do anything
beyond the constitution without the consent of
the deacon : as, suppose, the going to any one
to eat or drink with him, or to receive anything
from anybody. But if without direction she
does any one of these things, let her be pun-
ished with fasting, or else let her be separated
on account of her rashness.

THAT THE WIDOWS OUGHT NOT TO ACCEPT OF
ALMS FROM THE UNWORTHY NO MORE THAN
THE BISHOP, OR ANY OTHER OF THE FAITHFUL.

VIII. For how does such a one know of what
character the person is from whom she receives ?
or from what sort of ministration he supplies
her with food, whether it does not arise from
rapine or some other ill course of life? while
the widow does not remember that if she re-
ceives in a way unworthy of God, she must give
an account for every one of these things. For
neither will the priests at any time receive a
free-will offering from such a one, as, suppose,
from a rapacious person or from a harlot. For
it is written, " Thou shalt not covet the goods
that are thy neighbour's ; " ^ and, " Thou shalt
not offer the hire of an harlot to the Lord
God." 3 From such as these no offerings ought
to be accepted, nor indeed from those that are
separated from the Church. Let the widows
also be ready to obey the commands given them
by their superiors, and let them do according
to the appointment of the bishop, being obedi-
ent to him as to God ; for he that receives from
such a one who is worthy of blame, or from
one excommunicated, and prays for him, while
he purposes to go on in a wicked course, and
while he is not willing at any time to repent,
holds communion with him in prayer, and grieves
Christ, who rejects the unrighteous, and con-
firms them by means of the unworthy gift, and
is defiled with them, not suffering them to come
to repentance, so as to fall down before God
with lamentation, and pray to Him.

THAT WOMEN OUGHT NOT TO BAPTIZE, BECAUSE IT
IS IMPIOUS, AND CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE
OF CHRIST.

IX. Now, as to women's baptizing, we let you
know that there is no small peril to those that
undertake it. Therefore we do not advise you

' Mark xii. 42; Luke xxi. 3, 4.
^ Ex. XX. 17.
3 Deut. xxiii. 18.

to it ; for it is dangerous, or rather wicked and
impious. For if the " man be the head of the
woman," •♦ and he be originally ordained for the
priesthood, it is not just to abrogate the order
of the creation, and leave the principal to come
to the extreme part of the body. For the
woman is the body of the man, taken from his
side, and subject to him, from whom she was
separated for the procreation of children. For
says He, " He shall rule over thee." s For the
principal part of the woman is the man, as being
her head. But if in the foregoing constitutions
we have not permitted them to teach, how will
any one allow them, contrary to nature, to per-
form the office of a priest? For this is one of
the ignorant practices of the Gentile atheism, to
ordain women priests to the female deities, not
one of the constitutions of Christ. For if bap-
tism were to be administered by women, certain-
ly our Lord would have been baptized by His
own mother, and not by John ; or when He sent
us to baptize, He would have sent along with us
women also for this purpose. But now He has
nowhere, either by constitution or by writing,
delivered to us any such thing ; as knowing the
order of nature, and the decency of the action ; ^
as being the Creator of nature, and the Legislator
of the constitution.

THAT A LAYMAN OUGHT NOT TO DO ANY OFFICE
OF THE PRIESTHOOD : HE OUGHT NEITHER TO
BAPTIZE, NOR OFFER, NOR LAY ON HANDS, NOR
GIVE THE BLESSING.

X. Neither do we permit the laity to perform
any of the offices belonging to the priesthood ;
as, for instance, neither the sacrifice, nor bap-
tism, nor the laying on of hands, nor the bless-
ing, whether the smaller or the greater : for "no
one taketh this honour to himself, but he that
is called of God." ^ For such sacred offices are
conferred by the laying on of the hands of the
bishop. But a person to whom such an office is
not committed, but he seizes upon it for himself,
he shall undergo the punishment of Uzziah.*

THAT NONE BUT A BISHOP AND PRESBYTER, NONE
EVEN OF THE INFERIOR RANKS OF THE CLERGY,
ARE PERMITTED TO DO THE OFFICES OF THE
PRIESTS ; THAT ORDINATION BELONGS WHOLLY
TO THE BISHOP, AND TO NOBODY ELSE.

XI. Nay, further, we do not permit to. the rest
of the clergy to baptize, — as, for instance, neither
to readers, nor singers, nor porters, nor ministers,
— but to the bishops and presbyters alone, yet
so that the deacons are to minister to them

* I Cor. xi. 3.
5 Gen. iii. 16.

<" [" The eternal fitness of things."]
7 Heb. V. 4.

* 3 Chron. xxvi.

430

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book IIL

therein. But those who venture upon it shall
undergo the punishment of the companions of
Corah.' We do not permit presbyters to ordain
deacons, or deaconesses, or readers, or ministers,
or singers, or porters, but only bishops ; for this
is the ecclesiastical order and harmony.

THE REJECTION OF ALL UNCHARITABLE ACTIONS.

xn. Now, as concerning envy, or jealousy, or
evil-speaking, or strife, or the love of contention,
we have said already to you, that these are alien
from a Christian, and chiefly in the case of
widows. But because the devil, who works in
men, is in his conduct cunning, and full of vari-
ous devices, he goes to those that are not truly
widows, as formerly to Cain (for some say they
are widows, but do not perform the injunctions
agreeable to the widowhood ; as neither did Cain
discharge the duties due to a brother : for they
do not consider how it is not the name of widow-
hood that will bring them to the kingdom of
God, but true faith and holy^ works). But if
any one possesses the name of widowhood, but
does the works of the adversary, her widowhood
will not be imputed, but she will be thrust out
of the kingdom, and delivered to eternal punish-
ment. For we hear that some widows are jeal-
ous, envious calumniators, and envious at the
quiet of others. Such widows as these are not
the disciples of Christ, nor of His doctrine ; for
it becomes them, when one of their fellow-widows
is clothed by any one, or receives money, or
meat, or drink, or shoes, at the sight of the re-
freshment of their sister to say : —

HOW THE WIDOWS ARE TO PRAY FOR THOSE THAT
SUPPLY THEIR NECESSITIES.

XIII. Thou art blessed, O God, who hast re-
freshed my fellow-widow. Bless, O Lord, and
glorify him that has bestowed these things upon
her, and let his good work ascend in truth to
Thee, and remember him for good in the day of
his visitation. And as for my bishop, who has
so well performed his duty to Thee, and^ has
ordered such a seasonable alms to be bestowed
on my fellow-widow, who was naked, do Thou
increase his glory, and give him a ^ crown of re-
joicing in the day of the revelation of Thy visi-
tation. In the same manner, let the widow who
has received the alms join with the other in
praying for him who ministered to her.

THAF SHE WHO HAS BEEN KIND TO THE POOR
OUGHT NOT TO MAKE A STIR AND TELL ABROAD
HER NAME, ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE LORD.

XIV. But if any woman has been good, let her,
as a prudent person, conceal her own name, not

' Num. xvi.

- Instead of " holy," one V. MS. reads " divine."

3 Not in one V. ms.

sounding a trumpet before her, that her alms
may be with God in secret, as the Lord says :
" Thou, when thou doest thine alms, let not thy
left hand know what thy right hand doth, that
thine alms may be in secret.""* And let the
widow pray for him that gave her the alms, who-
soever he be, as being the holy altar of Christ ; s
and " the Father, who seeth in secret, will render
to him that did good openly." But those widows
which will not live according to the command of
God, are solicitous and inquisitive what deacon-
ess it is that gives the charity, and what widows
receive it. And when she has learned those
things, she murmurs at the deaconess who dis-
tributed the charity, saying. Dost not thou see
that I am in more distress, and want of thy
charity? Why, therefore, hast thou preferred
her before me? She says these things foolishly,
not understanding that this does not depend on
the will of man, but the appointment of God.
For if she is herself a witneso that she was nearer,
and, upon inquiry, was in greater want, and more
naked than the other, she ought to understand
who it is that made this constitution, and to
hold her peace, and not to murmur at the dea-
coness who distributed the charity, but to enter
into her own house, and to cast herself prostrate
on her face to make supplication to God that
her sin may be forgiven her. For God com-
manded the deaconess who brought the charity
not to proclaim the same, and this widow mur-
mured because she did not publish her name,
that so she might know it, and run to receive ;
nay, did not only murmur, but also cursed her,
forgetting Him that said : " He that blesseth
thee is blessed, and he that curseth thee is
cursed."^ But the Lord says : "When ye enter
into an house, say. Peace be to this house. And
if the son of peace be there, your peace shall
rest upon it ; but if it be not worthy, your peace
shall return to you." ^

THAT IT DOES NOT BECOME US TO REVILE OUR
NEIGHBOURS, BECAUSE CURSING IS CONTRARY TO
CHRISTIANITY.

XV. If, therefore, peace returns upon those
that sent it, nay, upon those that before had
actually given it, because it did not find persons
fit to receive it, much rather will a curse return
upon the head of him that unjustly sent it,
because he to whom it was sent was not worthy
to receive it : for all those who abuse others
without a cause curse themselves, as Solomon
says : " As birds and sparrows fly away, so the
curse causeless shall not come upon any one." ^
And again he says : " Those that bring re-

* Matt. vi. 3, 4.

5 Instead of " Christ," one V. MS. reads " of God."

*■ Gen. xxvii. 29.

1 Luke X. 5, 6; Matt. x. 12, 13.

' Prov. xxvi. 2.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

431

preaches are exceeding foolish." ' But as the
bee, a creature as to its strength feeble, if she
stings any one, loses her sting, and becomes a
drone ; in the same manner you also, whatsoever
injustice you do to others, will bring it upon
yourselves. " He hath graven and digged a pit,
and he shall fall into the same ditch that he has
made." ^ And again : " He that diggeth a pit
for his neighbour, shall fall into it."-* Where-
fore he tliat avoids a curse, let him not curse
another ; for " what thou hatest should be done
to" thee, do not thou to another." ■♦ Wherefore
admonish the widows that are feeble-minded,
strengthen those of them that are weak, and
praise such of them as walk in holiness. Let
them rather bless, and not calumniate. Let
them make peace, and not stir up contention.

SEC. II. — ON DEACONS AND DEACONESSES, THE
REST OF THE CLERGY, AND ON BAPTISM.

Let not therefore either a bishop, or a pres-
byter, or a deacon, or any one else of the sacer-
dotal catalogue, defile his tongue with calumny,
lest he inherit a curse instead of a blessing ; and
let it also be the bishop's business and care that
no lay person utter any curse : for he ought to
take care of all, — of the clergy, of the virgins,
of the widows, of the laity. For which reason,
O bishop, do thou ordain thy fellow-workers,
the labourers for life and for righteousness, such
deacons as are pleasing to God, such whom thou
provest to be worthy among all the people, and
such as shall be ready for the necessities of their
ministration. Ordain also a deaconess who is
faithful and holy, for the ministrations towards
wonien. For sometimes he cannot send a dea-
con, who is a man, to the women, on account
of unbelievers. Thou shalt therefore send a
woman, a deaconess, on account of the imagina-
tions of the bad. For we stand in need of a
woman, a deaconess, for many necessities ; and
first in the baptism of women, the deacon shall
anoint only their forehead with the holy oil, and
after him the deaconess shall anoint them : 5 for
there is no necessity that the women should be
seen by the men ; but only in the laying on of
hands the bishop shall anoint her head, as
the priests and kings were formerly anointed,
not because those which are now baptized are
ordained priests, but as being Christians, or
anointed, from Christ the Anointed, "a royal
priesthood, and an holy nation, the Church of
God, the pillar and ground of the marriage-
chamber," ^ who formerly were not a people,
but now are beloved and chosen, upon whom is

' Prov. X. 18.

2 Ps. vii. 15.

3 Prov. xxvi. 27.
* Tob. iv. 16.

5 [Compare Jas. v. 14.]

^ I Pet. ii. 9; I Tim. iii. 15.

called His new name,^ as Isaiah the prophet
witnesses, saying : " And they shall call the peo-
ple by His new name, which the Lord shall
name for them." ^

CONCERNING THE SACRED INITIATION OF HOLY

BAPTISM.

XVI. Thou therefore, O bishop, according to
that type, shalt anoint the head of those that are
to be baptized, whether they be men or women,
with the holy oil, for a type of the spiritual bap-
tism. After that, either thou, O bishop, or a
presbyter that is under thee, shall in the solemn
form name over them the Father, and Son, and
Holy Spirit, and shall dip them in the water ;
and let a deacon receive the maji, and a deacon-
ess the woman, that so the conferring of this in-
violable seal may take place with a becoming
decency. And after that, let the bishop anoint
those that are baptized with ointment.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM INTO CHRIST,
AND ON WHAT ACCOUNT EVERYTHING IS THERE
SAID OR DONE.

XVII. This baptism, therefore, is given into
the death of Jesus : 9 the water is instead of the
burial, and the oil instead of the Holy Ghost ;
the seal instead of the cross ; the ointment is
the confirmation of the confession ; the mention
of the Father as of the Author and Sender ; the
joint mention of the Holy Ghost as of the wit-
ness ; the descent into the water the dying to-
gether with Christ ; the ascent out of the water
the rising again with Him. The Father is the
God over all ; Christ is the only-begotten God,
the beloved Son, the Lord of glory ; the Holy
Ghost is the Comforter, who is sent by Christ,
and taught by Him, and proclaims Him.

OF WHAT CHARACTER HE OUGHT TO BE WHO IS
INITIATED.

xviii. But let him that is to be baptized be
free from all iniquity ; one that has left off to
work sin, the friend of God, the enemy of the
devil, the heir of God the Father, the fellow-
heir of His Son ; one that has renounced Satan,
and the demons, and Satan's deceits ; chaste,
pure, holy, beloved of God, the son of God,
praying as a son to his father, and saying, as
from the common congregation of the faithful,
thus : " Our Father, which art in heaven, hal-
lowed be Thy name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy
will be done on earth, as it is in heaven ; give
us this day our daily bread ; and forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors ; and lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil

" The words from " upon whom " to the end of the chapter are
omitted in one V. MS.
^ Isa. Ixii. 2.
9 I'l'J. Rom. vi. 3.

432

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book III.

one : for Thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen." '

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS OF A DEACON.

XDC. Let the deacons be in all things unspot-
ted, as the bishop himself is to be, only more
active ; in number according to the largeness
of the Church, that they may minister to the
infirm as workmen that are not ashamed. And
let the deaconess be diligent in taking care of
the women ; but both of them ready to carry
messages, to travel about, to minister, and to
serve, as spake Isaiah concerning the Lord,
saying : " To justify the righteous, who serves
many faithfully." ^ Let every one therefore
know his proper place, and discharge it dili-
gently with one consent, with one mind, as
knowing the reward of their ministration ; but
let them not be ashamed to minister to those
that are in want, as even our " Lord Jesus Christ
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,
and to give His life a ransom for many." ^ So
therefore ought they also to do, and not to scru-
ple it, if they should be obliged to lay down
their life for a brother. For the Lord and our
Saviour Jesus Christ did not scruple to " lay
down His life," as Himself says, " for His
friends." ^ If, therefore, the Lord of heaven
and earth underwent all His sufferings for us,
how then do you make a difficulty to minister
to such as are in want, who ought to imitate
Him who underwent servitude, and want, and
stripes, and the cross for us ? We ought there-
fore also to serve the brethren, in imitation of
Christ. For says He : " He that will be great
among you, let him be your minister ; and he
that will be first among you, let him be your
servant." 5 For so did He really, and not in
word only, fulfil the prediction of, " serving

• Matt. vi. 9, etc.
' Isa. liii. II, LXX.
' Matt. XX. 28.

* John XV. 13.
i M

att. XX. 26, 37.

many faithfully." ^ For " when He had taken a
towel. He girded Himself. Afterward He puts
water into a bason ; and as we were sitting at
meat. He came and washed the feet of us all,
and wiped them with the towel." 7 By doing
this He demonstrated to us His kindness and
brotherly affection, that so we also might do the
same to one another. If, therefore, our Lord
and Master so humbled Himself, how can you,
the labourers of the truth, and administrators
of piety, be ashamed to do the same to such of
the brethren as are weak and infirm ? Minister
therefore with a kind mind, not murmuring nor
mutinying ; for ye do not do it on the account
of man, but on the account of God, and shall
receive from Him the reward of your ministry
in the day of your visitation. It is your duty
who are deacons to visit all those who stand in
need of visitation. And tell your bishop of all
those that are in affliction ; for you ought to be
like his soul and senses — active and attentive
in all things to hitn^ as to your bishop, and
father^ and master.

THAT A BISHOP OUGHT TO BE ORDAINED BY THREE
OR BY TWO BISHOPS, BUT NOT BY ONE; FOR
THAT WOULD BE INVALID.

XX. We command that a bishop be ordained
by three bishops, or at least by two ; but it is
not lawful that he be set over you by one ; for
the testimony of two or three witnesses is more
firm and secure. But a presbyter and a deacon
are to be ordained by one bishop and the rest
of the clergy. Nor must either a presbyter or
a deacon ordain from the laity into the clergy ;
but the presbyter is only to teach, to offer, to
baptize, to bless the people, and the deacon is
to minister to the bishop, and to the presbyters,
that is, to do the office of a ministering deacon,
but not to meddle with the other offices.

' Isa. liii. II.

7 John xii. 4, s- .

* The portions in italics are not in one V. MS.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK IV.

SEC. I. — ON HELPING THE POOR.

THOSE WHO HAVE NO CHILDREN SHOULD ADOPT
ORPHANS, AND TREAT THEM AS THEIR OWN
CHILDREN.

I. When any Christian becomes an orphan,
whether it be a young man or a maid, it is good
that some one of the brethren who is without a
child should take the young man, and esteem
him in the place of a son ; and he that has a
son about the same age, and that is marriage-
able, should marry the maid to him : for they
which do so perform a great work, and become
iiathers to the orphans, and shall receive the
reward of this charity from the Lord God. But
if any one that walks in the way of man-pleasing
is rich, and therefore is ashamed of orphans, the
Father of orphans and Judge of widows will
make provision for the orphans, but himself
shall have such an heir as will spend what he
has spared ; and it shall happen to him accord-
ing as it i§ said : " What things the holy people
have not eaten, those shall the Assyrians eat."
As also Isaiah says : " Your land, strangers de-
vour it in your presence." '

how the BISHOP OUGHT TO PROVIDE FOR THE
ORPHANS.

II. Do you therefore, O bishops, be solicitous
about their maintenance, being in nothing want-
ing to them ; exhibiting to the orphans the care
of parents ; to the widows the care of husbands ;
to those of suitable age, marriage ; to the artifi-
cer, work ; to the unable, commiseration ; to the
strangers, an house ; to the hungry, food ; to
the thirsty, drink ; to the naked, clothing ; to
the sick, visitation ; to the prisoners, assistance.
Besides these, have a greater care of the orphans,
that nothing may be wanting to them ; and that
as to the maiden, till she arrives at the age of
marriage, and ye give her in marriage to a
brother : to the young man assistance, that he
may learn a trade, and may be maintained by
the advantage arising from it ; that so, when he

« Isa.

is dextrous in the management of it, he may
thereby be enabled to buy himself the tools of
his trade, that so he may no longer burden any
of the brethren, or their sincere love to him, bu*
may support himself: for certainly he is a happy
man who is able to support himself, and does
not take up the place of the orphan, the stran-
ger, and the widow.

WHO OUGHT TO BE SUPPORTED ACCORDING TO THk
lord's CONSTITUTION.

III. Since even the Lord said : " The gi*'er
was happier than the receiver." ^ For it is
again said by Him : " Woe to those that have,
and receive in hypocrisy ; or who are able to
support themselves, yet will receive of others :
for both of them shall give an account to the
Lord God in the day of judgment." But an
orphan who, by reason of his youth, or he that
by the feebleness o/ old age, or the incidence
of a disease, or the bringing up of many chil-
dren, receives alms, such a one shall not only
not be blamed, but shall be commended : for
he shall be esteemed an altar to God, and be
honoured by God, because of his zealous and
constant prayers for those that give to him ; not
receiving idly, but to the uttermost of his power
recompensing what is given him by his prayer.
Such a one therefore shall be blessed by God
in eternal life. But he that hath, and receives
in hypocrisy or through idleness, instead of
working and assisting others, shall be obnoxious
to punishment before God, because he has
snatched away the morsel of the needy.^

OF THE LOVE OF MONEY.

iv. For he that has money and does not be-
stow it upon others, nor use it himself, is like the
serpent, which they say sleeps over the treasures ;
and of him is that scripture true which says,
" He has gathered riches of which he shall not

2 Acts XX. 35.

3 [The early Church had a constant struggle with professional
paupers. This entire book is a valuable contribution to social ethics.
The problems of to-day confronted the Church then. Few wiser coun-
sels have been recorded. — R.l

433

434

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book IV.

taste ; " ' and they will be of no use to him when
he perishes justly. For it says, " Riches will not
profit in the day of wrath." For such a one
has not believed in God, but in his own gold ;
esteeming that his God, and trusting therein.
Such a one is a dissembler of the truth, an ac-
cepter of persons, unfaithful, cheating, fearful,
unmanly, light, of no value, a complainer, ever
in pain, his own enemy, and nobody's friend.
Such a one's money shall perish, and a man
that is a stranger shall consume it, either by theft
while he is alive, or by inheritance when he is
dead. " For riches unjustly gotten shall be
vomited up." -

WITH WHAT FEAR MEN OUGHT TO PARTAKE OF
THE lord's OBLATIONS.

V. We exhort, therefore, the widows and or-
phans to partake of those things that are bestowed
upon them with all fear, and all pious reverence,
and to return thanks to God who gives food to
the needy, and to lift up their eyes to Him. For,
says He, " ^Vhich of you shall eat, or who shall
drink without Him ? For He openeth His hand,
and filleth every living thing with His kindness :
giving wheat to the young men, and wine to the
maidens, and oil for the joy of the living, grass
for the cattle, and green herb for the service of
men, flesh for the wild beasts, seeds for the birds,
and suitable food for all creatures." ^ Wherefore
the Lord says : ■* " Consider the fowls of heaven,^
that they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather
into barns, and your Father feedeth them. Are
not ye much better than they? Be not therefore
solicitous, saying, What shall we eat? or what
shall we drink? For your Father knoweth that
ye have need of all these things."^ Since ye
therefore enjoy such a providential care from
Him, and are partakers of the good things that
are derived from Him, you ought to return praise
to Him that receives the orphan and the widow,
to Almighty God, through His beloved Son Jesus
Christ our Lord ; through whom ^ glory be to
God in spirit and truth for ever. Amen.

WHOSE OBLATIONS ARE TO BE RECEIVED, AND
WHOSE NOT TO BE RECEIVED.

VI. Now the bishop ought to know whose ob-
lations he ought to receive, and whose he ought
not. For he is to avoid corrupt dealers, and not
receive their gifts. " For a cori*upt dealer shall
not be justified from sin." ^ For of them it was

' Job XX. 18, LXX.; Prov. xi. 4.

= Job XX. 15, LXX.

3 Eccles. ii. 25, LXX.; Ps. cxlv. 16; Zech. ix. 17, LXX.; Ps.
civ. 14, 15.

* One V. MS. reads, " Thus also did the Lord exhort His disci-
ples, saying."

5 The words in italics are not in one V. MS.

'' Matt. vi. 26, 31,32.

" One V. MS. reads, " with whom be glory to Him, with the
Spirit."

' Ecclus. xxvi. 29.

that Isaiah reproached Israel, and said, ''Thy
corrupt dealers mingle wine with water." 9 He
is also to avoid fornicators, for " thou shalt not
offer the hire of an harlot to the Lord." '° He is
also to avoid extortioners, and such as covet
other men's goods, and adulterers ; for the sac-
rifices of such as these are abominable with God.
Also those that oppress the widow and overbear
the orphan, and fill prisons with the innocent,
and abuse their own servants wickedly, I mean
with stripes, and hunger, and hard service, nay,
destroy whole cities ; do thou, O bishop, avoid
such as these, and their odious oblations. Thou
shalt also refuse rogues, and such pleaders that
plead on the side of injustice, and idol-makers,
and thieves, and unjust publicans, and those that
deceive by false balances and deceitful measures,
and a soldier who is a false accuser and not con-
tent with his wages, but does violence to the
needy, a murderer, a cut- throat, and an unjust
judge, a subverter of causes, him that lies in wait
for men, a worker of abominable wickedness, a
drunkard, a blasphemer, a sodomite, an usurer,
and every one that is wicked and opposes thr
will of God. For the Scripture says that all such
as these are abominable with God. For thost;
that receive from such persons, and thereby sup-
port the widows and orphans, shall be obnoxious
to the judgment-seat of God ; as Adonias th^
prophet, in the book of Kings, when he dis
obeyed God, and both " eat bread and dranl\
water in the place which the Lord had forbid
him," " because of the impiety of Jeroboam, was
slain by a lion. For the bread which is distrib-
uted to the widows from labour is better, though
it be short and little, than that from injustice
and false accusation, though it be much and fine.
For the Scripture says : " Better is a little to the
righteous, than much riches of the sinners." '^
Now, although a widow, who eats and is filled
from the impious, pray for them, she shall not
be heard. For God, who knows the heart, with
judgment has declared concerning the impious,
saying, " If Moses and Samuel stand before my
face in their behalf, I will not hear them ; " '^ and,
" Pray thou not for this people, and do not ask
mercy for them, and do not intercede with me
for them, for I will not hear thee." "»

THAT THE OBLATIONS OF THE UNWORTHY, WHILE
THEY ARE SUCH, DO NOT ONLY NOT PROPITIATE
GOD, BUT, ON THE CONTRARY, PROVOKE HIM TO
INDIGNATION.

VII. And not these only, but those that are in
sin and have not repented, will not only not be

9 Isa. i. 22.
'0 Deut. xxiii. i8.
" I Kings xiii.
'^ Ps. xxxvii. i5.
" Jer. XV. I.
'< Jer. vii. i6.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

435

heard when they pray, but will provoke God to
anger, as putting Him in mind of their own
wickedness. Avoid therefore such ministrations,
as you would the price of a dog and the hire of
an harlot ; for both of them are forbidden by
the laws. For neither did Elisha receive the
presents which were brought by Hazael,' nor
Ahijah those from Jeroboam ; ^ but if the proph-
ets of God did not admit of presents from the
impious, it is reasonable, O bishops, that neither
s,hould you. Nay, when Simon the magician
offered money to me Peter and John,^ and tried
to obtain the invaluable grace by purchase, we
did not admit it, but bound him with ever-
lasting maledictions, because he thought to
possess the gift of God, not by a pious mind
towards God, but by the price of money.
Avoid therefore such oblations to God's altar
as are not from a good conscience. For says
He : " Abstain from all injustice, and thou shalt
not fear, and trembling shall not come nigh
thee." •*

THAT IT IS BETTER TO AFFORD, THOUGH IT BE
INCONSIDERABLE AND FEW, CONTRIBUTIONS TO
THE WIDOWS FROM OUR OWN LABOURS, THAN
THOSE WHICH ARE MANY AND LARGE RECEIVED
FROM THE UNGODLY ; FOR IT IS BETTER TO
PERISH BY FAMINE THAN TO RECEIVE AN OB-
LATION FROM THE UNGODLY.

VIII. But if ye say that those who give alms
are such as these, and if we do not receive from
them, whence shall we administer to the widows ?
And whence shall the poor among the people
be maintained? Ye shall hear from us, that
therefore have ye received the gift of the Le-
vites, the oblations of your people, that ye might
have enough for yourselves, and for those that
are in want ; and that ye might not be so strait-
ened as to receive from the wicked. But if the
churches be so straitened, it is better to perish
than to receive anything from the enemies of
God, to the reproach and abuse of His friends.
For of such as these the prophet speaks : " Let
not the oil of a sinner moisten my head." s Do
ye therefore examine such persons, and receive
from such as walk holily, and supply the af-
flicted. But receive not from those that are
excommunicated, until they are thought worthy
to become the members of the Church. But if
a gift be wanting, inform the brethren, and
make a coUecdon from them, and thence
minister to the orphans and widows in right-
eousness.

' 2 Kings viii. [Offerings to God are privileges of saints.]
" I Kings xiv.
3 Acts viii.
♦ Isa. liv. 14.
5 Ps. cxli. 5.

THAT THE PEOPLE OUGHT TO BE EXHORTED BY
THE PRIEST TO DO GOOD TO THE NEEDY, AS
SAYS SOLOMON THE WISE.

IX. Say unto the people under thee what Solo-
mon the wise says : " Honour the Lord out of
thy just labours, and pay thy first-fruits to Him
out of thy fruits of righteousness, that thy gar-
ners may be filled with fulness of wheat, and thy
presses may burst out with wine." ^ Therefore
maintain and clothe those that are in want from
the righteous labour of the faithful. And such
sums of money as are collected from them in
the manner aforesaid, appoint to be laid out in
the redemption of the saints, the deliverance
of slaves, and of captives, and of prisoners, and
of those that have been abused, and of those
that have been condemned by tyrants to single
combat and death on account of the name of
Christ. For the Scripture says : " Deliver those
that are led to death, and redeem those that are
ready to be slain, do not spare." ^

A CONSTITUTION, THAT IF ANY ONE OF THE UN-
GODLY BY FORCE WILL CAST MONEY TO THE
PRIESTS, THEY SPEND IT IN WOOD AND COALS,
BUT NOT IN FOOD.

X. But if at any time you be forced unwilling-
ly to receive money from any ungodly person,
lay it out in wood and coals, that so neither the
widow nor the orphan may receive any of it, or
be forced to buy with it either meat or drink,
which it is unfit to do. For it is reasonable that
such gifts of the ungodly should be fuel for the
fire, and not food for the pious. And this
method is plainly appointed by the law,** when
it calls a sacrifice kept too long a thing not fit
to be eaten, and commands it to be consumed
with fire. For such oblations are not evil in
their nature, but on account of the mind of
those that bring them. And this we ordain,
that we may not reject those that come to us, as
knowing that the common conversation of the
pious has often been very profitable to the un-
godly, but religious communion with them is
alone hurtful. And so much, beloved, shall
suffice to have spoken to you in order to your
security.

SEC. II. — ON DOMESTIC AND SOCUL LIFE,
OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

XI. Ye fathers, educate your children in the
Lord, bringing them up in the nurture and admo-
nition of the Lord ; and teach them such trades
as are agreeable and suitable to the word, lest

* Prov. iii. g, etc.
7 Prov. xxiv. II.

* Lev. xix. 6.

436

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book IV.

they by such opportunity become extravagant,
and continue without punishment from their
parents, and so get relaxation before their time,
and go astray from that which is good. Where-
fore be not afraid to reprove them, and to teach
them wisdom with severity. For your correc-
tions will not kill them, but rather preserve them.
As Solomon says somewhere in the book of Wis-
dom : " Chasten thy son, and he will refresh
thee ; so wilt thou have good hope of him.
Thou verily shalt smite him with the rod, and
shalt deliver his soul from death." ' And again,
says the same Solomon thus, " He that spareth
his rod, hateth his son ; " ^ and afterwards, " Beat
his sides whilst he is an infant, lest he be hard-
ened and disobey thee." ^ He, therefore, that
neglects to admonish and instruct his own son,
hates his own child. Do you therefore teach
your children the word of the Lord. Bring them
under with cutting stripes, and make them sub-
ject from their infancy, teaching them the Holy
Scriptures, which are Christian and divine, and
delivering to them every sacred writing, " not
giving them such liberty that they get the mas-
tery," ^ and act against your opinion, not per-
mitting them to club together for a treat with
their equals. For so they will be turned to dis-
orderly courses, and will fall into fornication ;
and if this happen by the carelessness of their
parents, those that begat them will be guilty of
their souls. For if the offending children get
into the company of debauched persons by the
negligence of those that begat them, they will
not be punished alone by themselves ; but their
parents also will be condemned on their account.
For this cause endeavour, at the time when they
are of an age fit for marriage, to join them in
wedlock, and settle them together, lest in the
heat and fervour of their age their course of life
become dissolute, and you be required to give
an account by the Lord God in the day of
judgment.

OF SERVANTS AND MASTERS.

XII. But as to servants, what can we say more
than that the slave bring a good will to his mas-
ter, with the fear of God, although he be impious
and wicked,s but yet not to yield any compliance
as to his worship? And let the master love his

* Prov. xxix. 17, xix. iS^xxiii. 14.

* Prov. xiii. 24.

3 Ecclus. XXX. 12.

* Ecclus. XXX. II.

J See Eph. vi. 5 ; i Pet. ii. 18.

servant, although he be his superior. Let him
consider wherein they are equal, even as he is a
man. And let him that has a believing master*
love him both as his master, and as of the same
faith, and as a father, but still with the preserva-
tion of his authority as his master : " not as an
eye-servant, but as a lover of his master ; as
knowing that God will recompense to him for
his subjection." 7 In like manner, let a master
who has a beUeving servant love him as a son or
as a brother, on account of their communion in
the faith, but still preserving the difference of a
servant.

IN WHAT THINGS WE OUGHT TO BE SUBJECT TO
THE RULERS OF THIS WORLD.

XIII. Be ye subject to all royal power and
dominion in things which are pleasing to God,
as to the ministers of God, and the punishers of
the ungodly.^ Render all the fear that is due to
them, all offerings, all customs, all honour, gifts,
and taxes.9 For this is God's command, that
you owe nothing to any one but the pledge of
love, which God has commanded by Christ. '°

OF VIRGINS.

XIV. Concerning virginity we have received no
commandment; " but we leave it to the power
of those that are willing, as a vow : exhorting
them so far in this matter that they do not prom-
ise anything rashly; since Solomon says, " It is
better not to vow, than to vow and not pay." '^
Let such a virgin, therefore, be holy in body
and soul, as the temple of God,"' as the house of
Christ, as the habitation of the Holy Spirit. For
she that vows ought to do such works as are
suitable to her vow ; and to show that her vow
IS real, and made on account of leisure for piety,
not to cast a reproach on marriage. Let her
not be a gadder abroad, nor one that rambles
about unseasonably ; not double-minded, but
grave, continent, sober, pure, avoiding the con-
versation of many, and especially of those that
are of ill reputation. '■*

^ Col. iv. I. See i Tim. vi. 2.
7 Eph. vi. 6; Col. iii. 22, 24.
° See I Pet. ii. 13; Tit. iii. 1.
9 Rom. xiii. i, 4, 7.
'0 Rom. xiii. 8.
" See I Cor. vii. 25.
'^ Eccles. v. 5.
'3 1 Cor. vii. 34.

'< [The absence of any marked ascetic tone in this passage is in
sharp contrast with the pseudo-Clementine Epistles concernmg vir-
ginity. See vol. viii. — R.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK V.

SEC. I. — CONCERNING THE MARTYRS.

THAT IT IS REASONABLE FOR THE FAITHFUL TO
SUPPLY THE WANTS OF THOSE WHO ARE AF-
FLICTED FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST BY THE
UNBELIEVERS, ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE LORD.

I. If any Christian, on account of the name
of Christ, and love and faith towards God, be
condemned by the ungodly to the games, to the
beasts, or to the mines, do not ye overlook him ;
but send to him from your labour and your very
sweat for his sustenance, and for a reward to the
soldiers, that he may be eased and be taken care
of; that, as far as lies in your power, your blessed
brother may not be afflicted : for he that is con-
demned for the name of the Lord God is an holy
martyr, a brother of the Lord, the son of the
Highest, a receptacle of the Holy Spirit, by
whom every one of the faithful has received the
illumination of the glory of the holy Gospel, by
being vouchsafed the incorruptible crown, and
the testimony of Christ's sufferings, and the fel-
lowship of His blood, to be made conformable
to the death of Christ for the adoption of chil-
dren. For this cause do you, all ye of the faith-
ful, by your bishop, minister to the saints of your
substance and of your labour. But if any one
has not, let him fast a day, and set apart that,
and order it for the saints. But if any one has
superfluities, let him minister more to them ac-
cording to the proportion of his ability. But if
he can possibly sell all his livelihood, and redeem
them out of prison, he will be blessed, and a
friend of Christ. For if he that gives his goods
to the poor be perfect, supposing his knowledge
of divine things, much more is he so that does
it on account of the martyrs. For such a one
is worthy of God, and^will fulfil His will by sup-
plying those who have confessed Him before
nations and kings, and the children of Israel ;
concerning whom our Lord declare 1, saying :
" Whosoever shall confess me before men, him
will I also confess before my Father." ' And if

^ Matt. X. 32.

these be such as to be attested to by Christ
before His Father, you ought not to be ashamed
to go to them in the prisons. For if you do
this, it will be esteemed to you for a testimony,
because the real trial was to them a testimony ;
and your readiness will be so to you, as being
partakers of their combat : for the Lord speaks
somewhere to such as these, saying : " Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For I was an hungry, and ye gave me
meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I
was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and
ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ;
I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then
shall the righteous answer, and say. Lord, when
saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or
thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we
Thee naked, and clothed Thee? or sick, and
visited Thee ? AVhen saw we Thee a stranger,
and took Thee in? or in prison, and came unto
Thee? And He will answer and say unto them.
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me. And these shall go away into life everlast-
ing. Then shall He say unto them on His left
hand, Depart from me, }e cursed, into everlast-
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat ; I
was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I was
a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and
ye clothed me not ; sick, and in prison, and ye
visited me not. Then shall they also answer and
say. Lord when saw we Thee hungry, or thirsty,
or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and
did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He
answer and say unto them. Verily I say unto you.
Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the
least of these, neither have ye done it unto me.
And these shall go away unto everlasting pun-
ishment." '

2 Matt. XXV. 34, etc. Portions of the passage from Matthew arc
omitted in one V. MS.; and the conclusion, beginning with "Then
shall they also," is entirely omitted. [The citation is quite accurate;
ver. 46 is divided, doubtless for the sake of emphasis, and slightly
modified. — R.]

437

438

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book V.

THAT WE ARE TO AVOID INTERCOURSE WITH FALSE
BRETHREN WHEN THEY CONTINUE IN THEIR
WICKEDNESS.

II. Eut if any one who calls himself a brother
is seduced by the evil one, and acts wickedness,
and is convicted and condemned to death as an
adulterer, or a murderer, depart from him, that
ye may be secure, and none of you may be sus-
pected as a partner in such an abominable prac-
tice ; and that no evil report may be spread
abroad, as if all Christians took a pleasure in
unlawful actions. Wherefore keep far from them.
But do you assist with all diligence those that
for the sake of Christ are abused by the ungodly
and shut up in prison, or who are given over to
death, or bonds, or banishment, in order to de-
liver your fellow-members from wicked hands.
And if any one who accompanies with them is
caught, and falls into misfortune, he is blessed,
because he is partaker with the martyr, and is
one that imitates the sufferings of Christ ; for
we ourselves also, when we oftentimes received
stripes from Caiaphas, and Alexander, and Annas,
for Christ's sake, "went out rejoicing that we
were counted worthy to suffer such things for
our Saviour." ' Do you also rejoice when ye
suffer such things, for ye shall be blessed in that
day.^"

THAT WE OUGHT TO AFFORD AN HELPING HAND
TO SUCH AS ARE SPOILED FOR THE SAKE OF
CHRIST, ALTHOUGH WE SHOULD INCUR DANGER
OURSELVES.

III. Receive also those that are persecuted on
account of the faith, and who " fly from city to
city " 3 on account of the Lord's commandment ;
and assist them as martyrs, rejoicing that ye are
made partakers of their persecution, as knowing
that they are esteemed blessed by the Lord ; for
Himself says : " Blessed are ye when men shall
reproach you, and persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, because your
reward is great in heaven : for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before us." ■* And
again : " If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you." s And afterwards : " If they
persecute you in this city, flee ye to another.
For in the world ye have tribulation : for they
shall deliver you into the synagogues ; and ye
shall be brought before rulers and kings for
my sake, and for a testimony to them." ^ And,
" He that endureth unto the end, the same shall
be saved." ^ For he that is persecuted for the

* Acts iv. 6, V. 40, 41.

* Vid. Luke vi. 22, 23.
3 Matt. X. 23.

* Matt. V. II, 12.
5 John XV. 20.

' Matt. X. 23, 17; John xvi. 33.
' Matt. X. 22.

sake of the faith, and bears witness in regard to
Him, Christ, and endures, is truly a man of
God.

THAT IT IS AN HORRIBLE AND DESTRUCTIVE THING
TO DENY CHRIST.

IV. But he that denies himself to be a Christian,
that he may not be hated of men, and so loves
his own life more than he does the Lord, in
whose hand his breath is, is wretched and miser-
able, as being detestable and abominable, who
desires to be the friend of men, but is the enemy
of God, having no longer his portion with the
saints, but with those that are accursed ; choos-
ing instead of the kingdom of the blessed, that
eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and
his angels : not being any longer hated by men,
but rejected by God, and cast out from His pres-
ence. For of such a one our Lord declared,
saying : " Whosoever shall deny me before men,
and shall be ashamed of my name, I also will
deny and be ashamed of him before my Father
which is in heaven." ^ And again He speaks
thus to us ourselves. His disciples : " He that
loveth father or mother more than me, is not
worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter
more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he that
taketh not his cross, and foUoweth after me, is
not worthy of me. He that findeth his life,
shall lose it ; and he that loseth his hfe for my
sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul? " 9 And afterwards : " Fear not them
that kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul ; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell." '°

THAT WE OUGHT TO IMITATE CHRIST IN SUFFER-
ING, AND WITH ZEAL TO FOLLOW HIS PATIENCE.

v. Every one therefore who learns any art,
when he sees his master by his diligence and
skill perfecting his art, does himself earnestly
endeavour to make what he takes in hand like
to it. If he is not able, he is not perfected in
his work. We therefore who have a Master,
our Lord Jesus Christ, why do we not follow
His doctrine? — since He renounced repose,
pleasure, glory, riches, pride, the power of re-
venge, His mother and brethren, nay, and more-
over His own life, on account of His piety
towards His Father, and His love to us the race
of mankind ; and suffered not only persecution
and stripes, reproach and mockery, but also
crucifixion, that He might save the penitent,
both Jews and Gentiles. If therefore He for our
sakes renounced His repose, was not ashamed

8 Matt. X. 33; Luke ix. s6.

9 Malt. X. 37, xvi. a6.
»° Matt. X. a8.

Sec. 1.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

439

of the cross, and did not esteem death inglori-
ous, why do not we imitate His sufferings, and
renounce on His account even our own hfe, with
that patience which He gives us ? For He did
all for our sakes, but we do it for our own sakes :
for He does not stand in need of us, but we
stand in need of His mercy. He only requires
the sincerity and readiness of our faith, as the
Scripture says : " If thou beest righteous, what
doest thou give to Him? or what will He re-
ceive at thy hand? Thy wickedness is to a
man like thyself, and thy righteousness to a son
of man." '

THAT A BELIEVER OUGHT NEITHER RASHLY TO RUN
INTO DANGER THROUGH SECURITY, NOR TO BE
OVER-TIMOROUS THROUGH PUSILLANIMITY, BUT
TO FLY AWAY FOR FEAR ; YET THAT IF HE
DOES FALL INTO THE ENEMY'S HAND, TO STRIVE
EARNESTLY, UPON ACCOUNT OF THE CROWN THAT
IS LAID UP FOR HIM.

VI. Let US therefore renounce our parents, and
kinsmen, and friends, and wife, and children, and
possessions, and all the enjoyments of life, when
any of these things become an impediment to
piety. For we ought to pray that we may not
enter into temptation ; but if we be called to
martyrdom, with constancy to confess His pre-
cious name, and if on this account we be pun-
ished, let us rejoice, as hastening to immortality.
When we are persecuted, let us not think it
strange ; let us not love the present world, nor
the praises which come from men, nor the glory
and honour of rulers, according as some of the
Jews wondered at the mighty works of our Lord,
yet did not believe on Him, for fear of the high
priests and the rest of the rulers : " For they
loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God." ^ But now, by confessing a good confes-
sion, we not only save ourselves, but we confirm
those who are newly illuminated, and strengthen
the faith of the catechumens. But if we remit
any part of our confession, and deny godliness
by the faintness of our persuasion, and the fear
of a very short punishment, we not only deprive
ourselves of everlasting glory, but we shall also
become the causes of the perdition of others ;
and shall suffer double punishment, as affording
suspicion, by our denial that that truth which
we gloried in so much before is an erroneous
doctrine. Wherefore neither let us be rash and
hasty to thrust ourselves into dangers, for the
Lord says : " Pray that ye fall not into tempta-
tion : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh
is weak." ^ Nor let us, when we do fall into
dangers, be fearful or ashamed of our profession.

' Job XXXV. 7, 8. One V. MS. reads " piety," instead of " wicked-
ness," in the last sentence.
^ John xii. 43.
3 Matt. xxvi. 41. [See De Fuga, vol. iv. p. 119.]

For if a person, by the denial of his own hope,
which is Jesus the Son of God, should be deliv-
ered from a temporary death, and the next day
should fall dangerously sick upon his bed, with
a distemper in his bowels, his stomach, or his
head, or any of the incurable diseases, as a
consumption, or gangrene, or looseness, or iliac
passion, or dropsy, or cohc, and has a sudden
catastrophe, and departs this life ; is not he de-
prived of the things present, and loses those
eternal? Or rather, he is within the verge of
eternal punishment, " and goes into outer dark-
ness, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth."-*
But let him who is vouchsafed the honour of
martyrdom rejoice with joy in the Lord, as ob-
taining thereby so great a crown, and departing
out of this life by his confession. Nay, though
he be but a catechumen, let him depart without
trouble ; for his suffering for Christ will be to
him a more genuine baptism, because he does
really die with Christ, but the rest only in a fig-
ure. Let him therefore rejoice in the imitation
of his Master, since is it thus ordained : " Let
every one be perfect, as his Master is." s Now
his and our Master, Jesus the Lord, was smitten
for our sake : He underwent reproaches and
revilings with long-suffering. He was spit upon.
He was smitten on the face, He was buffeted ;
and when He had been scourged, He was nailed
to the cross. He had vinegar and gall to drink ;
and when He had fulfilled all things that were
written. He said to His God and Father, " Into
Thy hands I commend my spirit."^ Wherefore
let him that desires to be His disciple earnestly
follow His conflicts : let him imitate His pa-
tience, knowing that, although he be burned in
the fire by men, he will suffer nothing, like the
three children ; ^ or if he does suffer anything,
he shall receive a reward from the Lord, believ-
ing in the one and the only true God and Father,
through Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, and
Redeemer of our souls, and rewarder of our
sufferings. To whom be glory for eyer. Amen.

SEVERAL DEMONSTRATIONS CONCERNING THE RES-
URRECTION, CONCERNING THE SIBYL, AND WHAT
THE STOICS SAY CONCERNING THE BIRD CALLED
THE PHCENIX.

VII. For the Almighty God Himself will raise
us up through our Lord Jesus Christ, according
to His infallible promise, and grant us a resur-
rection with all those that have slept from the
beginning of the world ; and we shall then be
such as we now are in our present form, without
any defect or corruption. For we shall rise in-
corruptible : whether we die at sea, or are scat-

* Matt. viii. 12.
5 Luke vi. ^o.

* Luke xxiii. 46.
' Dan. iii.

440

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book V.

tered on the earth, or are torn to pieces by wild
beasts and birds, He will raise us by His own
power ; for the whole world is held together by
the hand of God. Now He says : " An hair of
your head shall not perish." ' Wherefore He
exhorts us, saying : " In your patience possess
ye your souls." ^ But as concerning the resur-
rection of the dead, and the recompense of re-
ward for the martyrs, Gabriel speaks to Daniel :
" And many of them that sleep shall arise out
of the dust of the earth, some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
And they that understand shall shine as the sun,
and as the firmament, and as the stars." ^ There-
fore the most holy Gabriel foretold that the
saints should shine like the stars : for His sacred
name did witness to them, that they might
understand the truth. Nor is a resurrection
only declared for the martyrs, but for all men,
righteous and unrighteous, godly and ungodly,
that every one may receive according to his
desert. For God, says the Scripture, " will
bring every work into judgment, with every se-
cret thing, whether it be good or whether it be
evil." •♦ This resurrection was not believed by
the Jews, when of old they said, " Our bones
are withered, and we are gone." 5 To whom
God answered, and said : " Behold, I open
your graves, and will bring you out of them ;
and I will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall
live : and ye shall know that I the Lord have
spoken it, and will do it." And He says by
Isaiah : " The dead shall rise, and those that are
in the graves shall be raised up. And those
that rest in the earth shall rejoice, for the dew
which is from Thee shall be healing to them." ^
There are indeed many and various things said
concerning the resurrection, and concerning the
continuance of the righteous in glory, and con-
cerning the punishment of the ungodly, their
fall, rejection, condemnation, shame, " eternal
fire, and endless worm." ^ Now that, if it had
pleased Him that all men should be immortal,
it was in His power. He showed in the examples
of Enoch and Elijah, while He did not suffer
them to have any experience of death. Or if
it had pleased Him in every generation to raise
those that died, that this also He was able to do
He hath made manifest both by Himself and by
others ; as when He raised the widow's son ^
by Elijah, and the Shunammite's son '^ by Elisha.
But we are persuaded that death is not a retri-
bution of punishment, because even the saints

' Luke xxi. 18.
' Luke xxi. 19.
J Dan. xii. 2, 3.

* Ecclcs. xii. 14.

* Ezek. xxxvii. 11, etc.

* Isa. xxvi. 19.
^ Isa. Ixvi. 24.
' I Kings xvii.
9 2 things iv.

have undergone it ; nay, even the Lord of the
saints, Jesus Christ, the life of them that believe,
and the resurrection of the dead. Upon this
account, therefore, according to the ancient
practice, for those who live in the great city,
after the combats He brings a dissolution for a
while, that, when He raises up every one, He
may either reject him or crown him. For He
that made the body of Adam out of the earth
will raise up the bodies of the rest, and that of
the first man, after their dissolution, (to pay
what is owing to the rational nature of man ;
we mean the continuance in being through all
ages. He, therefore, who brings on the disso-
lution, will Himself procure the resurrection.
And He that said, " The Lord took dust from
the ground, and formed man, and breathed into
his face the breath of life, and man became a
living soul," '° added after the disobedience,
" Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou re-
turn ;" " the same promised us a resurrection
afterwards.'^) For says He: "All that are in
the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live." '^ Besides
these arguments, we believe there is to be a
resurrection also from the resurrection of our
Lord. For it is He that raised Lazarus, when
he had been in the grave four days,'* and Jairus'
daughter,'^ and the widow's son.'^ It is He that
raised Himself by the command of the Father
in the space of three days, who is the pledge
of our resurrection. For says He : " I am the
resurrection and the life." '^ Now He that
brought Jonas '** in the space of three days,
alive and unhurt, out of the belly of the whale,
and the three children out of the furnace of
Babylon, and Daniel out of the mouth of the
lions,"^ does not want power to raise us up also.
But if the Gentiles laugh at us, and disbelieve
our Scrijitures, let at least their own prophetess
Sibylla^" oblige them to believe, who says thus to
them in express words : —

" But when all things shall be reduced to dust and ashes,
And the immortal God who kindled the fire shall

have quenched it,
God shall form those bones and that ashes into a man

again,
And shall place mortal men again as they were before.
And then shall be the judgment, wherein God will do

justice.
And judge the world again. But as many mortals at

have sinned through impiety
Shall again be covered under the earth ;
But so many as have been pious shall live again ia

the world.

'° Gen. ii. 7.

'■ Gen. iii. 19.

'^ The part within parentheses is not in one of the V. mss

" John V. 25.

'* John xi.

'5 Mark v.

■*' Luke vii.

" John xi. 25.

" Jonah ii.

'9 Dan. iii., vi.

*° [Compare pp. 356, 257, su/ra.]

Sec. I.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

441

When God puts His Spirit into them, and gives those

at once that are godly both life and favour,
Then shall all see themselves."'

If, therefore, this prophetess confesses the resur-
rection, and does not deny the restoration of all
things, and distinguishes the godly from the un-
godly, it is in vain for them to deny our doctrine.
Nay, indeed, they say they can show a resem-
blance of the resurrection, while they do not
themselves believe the things they declare : for
they say that there is a bird single in its kind
which affords a copious demonstration of the
resurrection, which they say is without a mate,
and the only one in the creation. They call it
a phoenix, and relate that every five hundred
years it comes into Egj'pt, to that which is called
the altar of the sun, and brings with it a great
quantity of cinnamon, and cassia, and balsam-
wood, and standing towards the east, as they
say, and praying to the sun, of its own accord is
burnt, and becomes dust ; but that a worm arises
again out of those ashes, and that when the same
is warmed it is formed into a new-born phoenix ;
and when it is able to fly, it goes to Arabia,
which is beyond the Egyptian countries. If,
therefore, as even themselves say, a resurrection
is exhibited by the means of an irrational bird,
wherefore do they vainly disparage our accounts,
when we profess that He who by His power
brings that into being which was not in being
before, is able to restore this body, and raise it
up again after its dissolution ? For on account
of this full assurance of hope we undergo stripes,
and persecutions, and deaths. Otherwise we
should to no purpose undergo such things if we
had not a full assurance of these promises, where-
of we profess- ourselves to be the preachers. As,
therefore, we believe Moses when he says, " In
the beginning God made the heaven and the
earth ;"^ and we know that He did not want
matter, but by His will alone brought those things
into being which Christ was commanded to make ;
we mean the heaven, the earth, the sea, the light,
the night, the day, the luminaries, the stars, the
fowls, the fishes, and four-footed beasts, the creep-
ing things, the plants, and the herbs ; so also
will He raise all men up by His will, as not want-
ing any assistance. For it is the work of the
same power to create the world and to raise
the dead. And then He made man, who was not
a man before, of different parts, giving to him a
soul made out of nothing. But now He will re-
store the bodies, which have been dissolved, to
the souls that are still in being : for the rising
again belongs to things laid down, not to things
which have no being. He therefore that made
the original bodies out of nothing, and fashioned
various /<7r/«j- of them, will also again revive and

' Orac. Sibyl., 1. iv. in Jin. [See p. 324, supra.'X
- Gen. i. i.

raise up those that are dead. For He that
formed man in the womb out of a little seed,
and created in him a soul which was not in being
before, — as He Himself somewhere speaks to
Jeremiah, " Before I formed thee in the womb I
knew thee ; " ^ and elsewhere, " I am the Lord
who established the heaven, and laid the founda-
tions of the earth, and formed the spirit of man
in him,"'* — will also raise up all men, as being
His workmanship ; as also the divine Scripture
testifies that God said to Christ, His only-begot-
ten, " Let us make man after our image, and
after our likeness. And God made man : after
the image of God made He him ; male and
female made He them." s And the most divine
and patient Job, of whom the Scripture says that
it is written, that '' he was to rise again with
those whom the Lord raises up,"^ speaks to God
thus : " Hast not Thou milked me like milk, and
curdled me like cheese ? Thou hast clothed me
with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with
bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life
and favour, and Thy visitation hath preserved my
spirit. Having these things within me, I know
that Thou canst do all things, and that nothing
is impossible with Thee." ^ Wherefore also ^ our
Saviour and Master Jesus Christ says, that "what
is impossible with men is possible with God." '*
And David, the beloved of God, says : " Thine
hands have made me, and fashioned me." '° And
again : "Thou knowest my frame." " And after-
ward : " Thou hast fashioned me, and laid Thine
hand upon me. The knowledge of Thee is de-
clared to be too wonderful for me ; it is very
great, I cannot attain unto it." '^ " Thine eyes
did see my substance, being yet imperfect ; and
all men shall be written in Thy book." '^ Nay,
and Isaiah says in his prayer to Him : " We are
the clay, and Thou art the framer of us." '* If,
therefore, man be His workmanship, made by
Christ, by Him most certainly will he after he is
dead be raised again, with intention either of
being crowned for his good actions or punished
for his transgressions. But if He, being the legis-
lator, judges with righteousness ; as He punishes
the ungodly, so does He do good to and saves
the faithful. And those saints who for His sake
have been slain by men, " some of them He will
make light as the stars, and make others bright
as the luminaries," '5 as Gabriel said to Daniel.

3 Jer. i. 5.
^ Zech. xii. I.

5 Gen. i. 26, 27.

6 In fin. Job in LXX.
' Job X. lo.

8 The words from " Wherefore also" to "possible with God" Ju»
omitted in one V. MS., and noticed as spurious in the other.

9 Luke xviii. 27.
'° Ps. cxix. 73.

" Ps. ciii. 14.
'^ Ps. cxxxix. 5, 6.
'3 Ps. cxxxix. 16.
'^ Isa. Ixiv. 8.
's Dan. xii. 5.

442

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book V.

All we of the faithful, therefore, who are the dis-
ciples of Christ, believe His promises. For He
that has promised it cannot lie ; as says the
blessed prophet David : "The Lord is faithful in
all His words, and holy in all His works." ' For
He that framed for Himself a body out of a
virgin, is also the Former of other men. And He
that raised Himself from the dead, will also raise
again all that are laid down. He who raises
wheat out of the ground with many stalks from
one grain, He who makes the tree that is cut
down send forth fresh branches, He that made
Aaron's dry rod put forth buds,^ will raise us up
in glory ; He that raised Him up that had the
palsy whole,3 and healed him that had the with-
ered hand,-» He that supplied a defective part to
him that was born blind from clay and spittle,5
will raise us up ; He that satisfied five thousand
men with five loaves and two fishes, and caused
a remainder of twelve baskets,^ and out of water
made wine,^ and sent a piece of money out of a
fish's mouth '^ by me Peter to those that de-
manded tribute, will raise the dead. For we
testify all these things concerning Him, and the
prophets testify the other. We who have eaten
and drunk with Him, and have been spectators
of His wonderful works, and of His life, and of
His conduct, and of His words, and of His suf-
ferings, and of His death, and of His resurrec-
tion from the dead, and who associated with Him
forty days after His resurrection,^ and who re-
ceived a command from Him to preach the Gos-
pel to all the world, and to make disciples of all
nations, '° and to baptize them into His death by
the authority of the God of the universe, who is
His Father, and by the testimony of the Spirit,
who is His Comforter, — we teach you all these
things which He appointed us by His constitu-
tions, before " He was received up in our sight
into heaven," " to Him that sent Him, And if
you will believe, you shall be happy ; but if you
will not believe, we shall be found innocent, and
clear from your incredulity.

CONCERNING JAMES THE BROTHER OF THE LORD,
AND STEPHEN THE FIRST MARTYR.

VIII. Now concerning the martyrs, we say to
you that they are to be had in all honour with
you, as we honour the blessed James the bishop,
and the holy Stephen our fellow-servant. For
these are reckoned blessed by God, and are
honoured by holy men, who were pure from all

' Ps. cxlv. 17.

2 Num. xvii. 8.

3 Matt. ix. 2, etc.

* Mark iii. i, etc.
5 John ix. I, etc.

* Matt. xiv. 17, etc.
' John ii. 3, etc.

' Matt. xvii. 24, etc.
9 Acts i. 3.
'° Matt, xxviii. 19.
" .Act i y.

transgressions, immoveable when tempted to sin,
or persuaded from good works, without dispute
deserving encomiums : of whom also David
speaks, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is
the death of His holy ones ;" '^ and Solomon
says, " The memory of the just is with encomi-
ums : " '3 of whom also the prophet speaks,
" Righteous men are taken away." '■*

CONCERNING FALSE MARTYRS.

IX. These things we have said concerning
those that in truth have been martyrs for Christ,
but not concerning false martyrs, concerning
whom the oracle speaks, "The name of the
ungodly is extinguished." '^ For " a faithful
witness will not lie, but an unjust witness inflames
lies." '5 For he that departs this life in his testi-
mony without lying, for the sake of the truth, is
a faithful martyr, worthy to be believed in such
things wherein he strove for the word of piety by
his own blood.

SEC. II. — ALL ASSOCIATION WITH IDOLS IS TO BE
AVOIDED.

A MORAL ADMONITION, THAT WE ARE TO ABSTAIN
FROM VAIN TALKING, OBSCENE TALKING, JESTING,
DRUNKENNESS, LASCIVIOUSNESS, AND LUXURY.

X. Now we exhort you, brethren and fellow-
servants, to avoid vain talk and obscene dis-
courses, and jestings, drunkenness, lasciviousness,
luxury, unbounded passions, with foolish dis-
courses, since we do not permit you so much as
on the Lord's days, which are days of joy, to
speak or act anything unseemly ; for the Scrip-
ture somewhere says : " Serve the Lord with
fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling." '^
Even your very rejoicings therefore ought to be
done with fear and trembling : for a Christian
who is faithful ought neither to repeat an heathen
hymn nor an obscene song, because he will be
obliged by that hymn to make mention of the
idolatrous names of demons ; and instead of
the Holy Spirit, the wicked one will enter into
him.

AN ADMONITION INSTRUCTING MEN TO AVOID THE
ABOMINABLE SIN OF IDOLATRY.

XL You are also forbidden to swear by them,
or to utter their abominable names through your
mouth, and to worship them, or fear them as
gods ; for they are not gods, but either wicked
demons or the ridiculous contrivances of men.
For somewhere God says concerning the Israel-
ites : " They have forsaken me, and sworn by
them that are no gods." '7 And afterwards : " I

■^ Ps. cxvi. 15.

■3 Prov. X. 7.

J4 Isa. Ivii. I, LXX.

'5 Prov. xiv. 5.

««! Ps. ii. II.

■7 Jcr. V. 7.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

443

will take away the names of your idols out of
their mouth." ' And elsewhere : " They have
provoked me to jealousy with them that are no
gods ; they have provoked me to anger with
their idols." ^ And in all the Scriptures these
things are forbidden by the Lord God.

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO SING AN HEATHEN OR
AN OBSCENE SONG, NOR TO SWEAR BY AN IDOL J
BECAUSE IT IS AN IMPIOUS THING, AND CON-
TRARY TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

XII. Nor do the legislators give us only pro-
hibitions concerning idols, but also warn us con-
cerning the luminaries, not to swear by them,
nor to serve them. For they say : " Lest, when
thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
thou shouldest be seduced to worship them." ^
And elsewhere : " Do not ye learn to walk after
the ways of the heathen, and be not afraid of
the signs of heaven." ■* For the stars and the
luminaries were given to men to shine upon
them, but not for worship ; although the Israel-
ites, by the perverseness of their temper, " wor-
shipped the creature instead of the Creator," s
and acted insultingly to their Maker, and admired
the creature more than is fit. And sometimes
they made a calf, as in the wilderness ; "^ some-
times they worshipped Baalpeor ; ^ another time
Baal,*^ and Thamuz,'? and Astarte of Sidon ; '° and
again Moloch and Chamos ; " another time the
sun,'- as it is written in Ezekiel ; nay, and besides,
brute creatures, as among the Egyptians Apis, and
the Mendesian goat, and gods of silver and gold,
as in Judea. On account of all which things
He threatened them, and said by the prophet :
" Is ii a small thing to the house of Judah to do
these abominations which they have done ? For
they have filled the land with their wickedness,
to provoke me to anger : and, behold, they are
as those that mock. And I will act with anger.
Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have
mercy ; and they shall cry in mine ears with a
great voice, and I will not hearken unto them." '^
Consider, beloved, how many things the Lord
declares against idolaters, and the worshippers
of the sun and moon. Wherefore it is the duty
of a man of God, as he is a Christian, not to
swear by the sun, or by the moon, or by the
stars ; nor by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor
by any of the elements, whether small or great.
For if our Master charged us not to swear by

' Zech. xiii. 2.
^ Deut. xxxii. 21.
3 Deut. iv. 19.
* Jer. X. 2.
S Rom. i. 25.
^ Ex. xxxii. 4.
' Num. XXV. 3.

8 Judg. ii. 13-

9 Ezek. viii. 14.
'° I Kings xi. 5.
" I Kings xi. 7.
'- Ezek. viii. 16.

'■^ Ezek. viii. 17, 18.

the true God, that our word might be firmer
than an oath, nor by heaven itself, for that is a
piece of heathen wickedness, nor by Jerusalem,
nor by the sanctuary of God, nor the altar, nor
the gift, nor the gilding of the altar, nor one's
own head,'-* for this custom is a piece of Judaic
corruption, and on that account was forbidden ;
and if He exhorts the faithful that their yea be
yea, and their nay, nay, and says that " what is
more than these is of the evil one," how much
more blameable are those who appeal to deities
falsely so called as the objects of an oath, and
who glorify imaginary beings instead of those
that are real, whom God for their perverseness
" delivered over to foolishness, to do those things
that are not convenient ! " '5

SEC. III. — ON FEAST DAYS AND FAST DAYS.

A CATALOGUE OF THE FEASTS OF THE LORD WHICH
ARE TO BE KEPT, AND WHEN EACH OF THEM
OUGHT TO BE OBSERVED,

XIII. Brethren, observe the festival days ; and
first of all the birthday which you are to cele-
brate on the twenty-fifth of the ninth month ;
after which let the Epiphany be to you the most
honoured, in which the Lord made to you a dis-
play of His own Godhead, and let it take place
on the sixth of the tenth month ; after which the
fast of Lent is to be observed by you as contain-
ing a memorial of our Lord's mode of life and
legislation. But let this solemnity be observed
before the fast of the passover, beginning from
the second day of the week, and ending at the
day of the preparation. After which solemnities,
breaking off your fast, begin the holy week of the
passover, fasting in the same all of you with fear
and trembling, praying in them for those that are
about to perish.

CONCERNING THE PASSION OF OUR LORD, AND WHAT
WAS DONE ON EACH DAY OF HIS SUFFERINGS ;
AND CONCERNING JUDAS, AND THAT JUDAS WAS
NOT PRESEKl' WHEN THE LORD DELIVERED THE
MYSTERIES TO HIS DISCIPLES.

XIV. For they began to hold a council against
the Lord on the second day of the week, in the
first month, which is Xanthicus ; and the delib-
eration continued on the third day of the week ;
but on the fourth day they determined to take
away His life by crucifixion. And Judas know-
ing this, who for a long time had been perverted,
but was then smitten by the devil himself with
the love of money, although he had been long
entrusted with the purse, '^ and used to steal what
was set apart for the needy, yet was he not cast
off by the Lord, through much long-suffering;

^* Matt. V. 34, xxiii. i6.
'5 Rom. i. 28.
'* John xii. 6.

444

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book V

nay, and when we were once feasting with Him,
being wilUng both to reduce him to his duty and
instruct us in His own foreknowledge, He said :
" Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you
will betray me;" and every one of us saying,
" Is it I?'" And the Lord being silent, I, who
was one of the twelve, and more beloved by Him
than the rest, arose up from lying in His bosom,
and besought Him to tell who it should be that
should betray Him. Yet neither then did our
good Lord declare His name, but gave two signs
of the betrayer : one by saying, "he that dippeth
with me in the dish ; " a second, " to whom I
shall give the sop when I have dipped it." Nay,
although he himself said, " Master,, is it I ? " the
Lord did not say Yes, but, "Thou hast said."
And being willing to affright him in the matter.
He said : " Woe to that man by whom the Son
of man is betrayed ! good were it for him if he
had never been born. Who, when he had heard
that, went his way, and said to the priests, What
will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you ?
And they bargained with him for thirty pieces
of silver." ^ And the scripture was fulfilled,
which said, " And they took ^ the thirty pieces
of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom
they of the children of Israel did value, and gave
them for the house of the potter." "• And on the
fifth day of the week, when we had eaten the
passover with Him, and when Judas had dipped
his hand into the dish, and received the sop, and
was gone out by night, the Lord said to us :
" The hour is come that ye shall be dispersed,
and shall leave me alone ; " 5 and every one
vehemently affirming that they would not forsake
Him, I Peter adding this promise, that I would
even die with Him, He said, " Verily I say unto
thee, Before the cock crows, thou shalt thrice
deny that thou knowest me." ^ And when He
had delivered to us the representative mysteries
of His precious body and blood, Judas not being
present with us. He went out to the Mount of
Olives, near the brook Cedron, where there was
a garden ; ^ and we were with Him, and sang
an hymn according to the custom.^ And being
separated not far^ from us. He prayed to His
Father, saying : " Father, remove this cup away
from me ; yet not my will, but Thine be done." '°
And when He had done this thrice, while we out
of despondency of mind were fallen asleep, He
came and said : " The hour is come, and the

' Matt. xxvi. 21, 22; John xiii. 21, etc.

^ Matt. xxvi. 15.

3 The word.s from " And they took " to " house of the potter" are
w.-inting in one V. MS. The other reads " field " of the potter, instead
of " house."

* Matt, xxvii. 9, 10.

5 John xvi. 32; Matt. xxvi. 31.

* Luke xxii. 34.
' John xviii. i.

' Matt. xxvi. 30.

9 " Not far," the reading of the V. mss. The Others read: " And
being separated from us. He prayed earnestly."
'° Luki- xxii 42; Matt. xxvi. 39, 42.

Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
And behold Judas, and with him a multitude of
ungodly men," " to whom he shows the signal by
which he was to betray Him — a deceitful kiss.
But they, when they had received the signal
agreed on, took hold of the Lord ; and having
bound Him, they led Him to the house of Caia-
phas the high priest, wherein were assembled
many, not the people, but a great rout, not an
holy council, but an assembly of the wicked and
council of the ungodly, who did many things
against Him, and left no kind of injury untried,
spitting upon Him, cavilling at Him, beating
Him, smiting Him on the face, reviling Him,
tempting Him, seeking vain divination instead
of true prophecies from Him, calling Him a de-
ceiver, a blasphemer, a transgressor of Moses, a
destroyer of the temple, a taker away of sacri-
fices, an enemy to the Romans, an adversary to
Caesar. And these reproaches did these bulls
and dogs '^ in their madness cast upon Him, till
it was very early in the morning, and then they
lead Him away to Annas, who was father-in-law
to Caiaphas ; and when they had done the like
things to Him there, it being the day of the
preparation, they delivered Him to Pilate the
Roman governor, accusing Him of many and
great things, none of which they could prove.
Whereupon the governor, as out of patience with
them, said : " I find no cause against Him." '^
But they bringing two lying witnesses, wished to
accuse the Lord falsely ; but they being found
to disagree, and so their testimony not conspir-
ing together, they altered the accusation to that
of treason, saying, " This fellow says that He is a
king, and forbids to give tribute to Caesar." ''*
And themselves became accusers, and witnesses,
and judges, and authors of the sentence, saying,
"Crucify Him, crucify Him; "'5 that it might
be fulfilled which is written by the prophets con-
cerning Him, " Unjust witnesses were gathered
together against me, and injustice lied to itself; " '^
and again, "Many dogs compassed me about,
the assembly of the wicked laid siege against
me ; " '7 and elsewhere, " My inheritance became
to me as a lion in a wood, and has sent forth her
voice against me." '^ Pilate therefore, disgracing
his authority by his pusillanimity, convicts him-
self of wickedness by regarding the multitude
more than this just person, and bearing witness
to Him that He was innocent, yet as guilty de-
livering Him up to the punishment of the cross,
although the Romans had made laws that no
man unconvicted should be put to death. But

" Luke xxii. 47; Matt. xxvi. 47.

'^ Ps. xxii. 12, 16.

■J Luke xxiii. 14; John xviii. 38.

'* Luke xxiii. 2.

'5 Luke xxiii. 21.

"> Ps. xxvii. 12.

" Ps. xxii. 16.

"» Jer. xii. 8.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

445

the executioners took the Lord of glory and
nailed Him to the cross, crucifying Him indeed
at the sixth hour, but having received the sen-
tence of His condemnation at the third hour.
After this they gave to Him vinegar to drink,
mingled with gall. Then they divided His gar-
ments by lot. Then they crucified two male-
factors with Him, on each side one, that it might
be fulfilled which was written : " They gave me
gall to eat, and when I was thirsty they gave me
vinegar to drink." ' And again : " They divided
tny garment among themselves, and upon my
vesture have they cast lots." ^ And in another
place : " And I was reckoned with the trans-
gressors." 3 Then there was darkness for three
hours, from the sixth to the ninth, and again
light in the evening ; as it is written : " It shall
not be day nor night, and at the evening there
shall be light." ^ All which things,^ when those
malefactors saw that were crucified with Him,
the one of them reproached Him as though He
was weak and unable to deliver Himself; but
the other rebuked the ignorance of his fellow,
and turning to the Lord, as being enlightened
by Him, and acknowledging who He was that
suffered, he prayed that He would remember
him in His kingdom hereafter.^ He then pres-
ently granted him the forgiveness of his former
sins, and brought him into paradise to enjoy the
mystical good things ; who also cried out about
the ninth hour, and said to His Father : " My
God ! my God ! why hast Thou forsaken me ? " ^
And a Httle afterward, when He had cried with
a loud voice, " Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do," ^ and had added, " Into
Thy hands I commit my spirit," He gave up the
ghost,9 and was buried before sunset in a new
sepulchre. But when the first day of the week
dawned He arose from the dead, and fulfilled
those things which before His passion He fore-
told to us, saying : " The Son of man must con-
tinue in the heart of the earth three days and
three nights." ■" And when He was risen from
the dead. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James, then to Cleopas
in the way, and after that to us His disciples,
who had fled away for fear of the Jews, but
privately were very inquisitive about Him."
But these things are also written in the Gos-
pel.

' Ps. Ixix. 21.

2 Ps. xxii. i8.

3 Isa. liii. 12.

* Zech. xiv. 7. The V. MSS. read: "On that day there will not
be light, but there will be cold and frost for one day."

5 The words from " All which things " to " mystical good things"
are omitted in one V. MS.

* Luke xxiii. 39, etc.

7 Matt, xxvii. 46.

8 Luke xxiii. 34.

9 Luke x.xiii. 46.
'" Matt. xii. 40.

" Mark xvi. y; John xx. 11, etc.; Luke xxiv. 18; Mark xvi. 14.

OF THE GREAT WEEK, AND ON WHAT ACCOUNl
THEY ENJOIN US TO FAST ON WEDNESDAY ANO
FRIDAY.

XV. He therefore charged us Himself to fast
these six days on account of the impiety and
transgression of the Jews, commanding us withal
to bewail over them, and lament for their perdi-
tion. For even He Himself " wept over them,
because they knew not the time of their visita-
tion." '^ But He commanded us to fast on the
fourth and sixth days of the week ; the former
on account of His being betrayed, and the latter
on account of His passion. But He appointed
us to break our fast on the seventh day at the
cock-crowing, but to fast on the Sabbath-day.
Not that the Sabbath-day is a day of fasting,
being the rest from the creation, but because we
ought to fast on this one Sabbath only, while on
this day the Creator was under the earth. For
on their very feast-day they apprehended the
Lord, that that oracle might be fulfilled which
says : " They placed their signs in the middle of
their feast, and knew them not."'^ Ye ought
therefore to bewail over them, because when the
Lord came they did not believe on Him, but
rejected His doctrine, judging themselves un-
worthy of salvation. You therefore are happy
who once were not a people, but are now an
holy nation, delivered from the deceit of idols,
from ignorance, from impiety, who once had not
obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy
through your hearty obedience : for to you, the
converted Gentiles, is opened the gate of life,
who formerly were not beloved, but are now be-
loved ; a people ordained for the possession of
God, to show forth His virtues, concerning whom
our Saviour said, " I was found of them that
sought me not ; I was made manifest to them
that asked not after me. I said. Behold me, to
a nation which did not call upon my name." '■♦
For when ye did not seek after Him, then were
ye sought for by Him ; and you who have be-
lieved in Him have hearkened to His call, and
have left the madness of polytheism, and have
fled to the true monarchy, to Almighty God,
through Christ Jesus, and are become the com-
pletion of the number of the saved — " ten thou-
sand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands ; " 's as it is written in David, "A thou-
sand '^ shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at
thy right hand ; " '? and again, "The chariots of
God are by tens of thousands, and thousands of
the prosperous." '^ But unto unbelieving Israel

'2 Luke xix. 44.
'3 Ps. Ixxiv. 4.
'■♦ Isa. Ixv. I.
'5 Dan. vii. 10.

"> The words from " A thousand " to " of the prosperous " are not
in the V. mss.
'7 Ps. xci.7.
'8 Ps. Ixviii. iji

446

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book V.

\ iHe says : " All the day long have I stretched

I \lout mine hands to a disobedient and gainsaying

■■people, which go in a way that is not good, but

after their own sins, a people provoking me

before my face." '

AN ENUMERATION OF THE PROPHETICAL PREDIC-
TIONS WHICH DECLARE CHRIST, WHOSE COM-
PLETION THOUGH THE JEWS SAW, VET OUT OF
THE EVIL TEMPER OF THEIR MIND THEY DID
NOT BELIEVE HE WAS THE CHRIST OF GOD, AND
CONDEMNED THE LORD OF GLORY TO THE CROSS.

XVI. See how the people provoked the Lord
by not believing in Him ! Therefore He says :
" They provoked the Holy Spirit, and He was
turned to be their enemy." ^ For blindness is
cast upon them, by reason of the wickedness of
their mind, because when they saw Jesus they
did not believe Him to be the Christ of God,
who was before all ages ' begotten of Him, His
only-begotten Son, God the Word, whom they
did not own through their unbelief, neither on
account of His mighty works, nor yet on ac-
count of the prophecies which were written con-
cerning Him. For that He was to be born of
a virgin, they read this prophecy : " Behold, a
virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a Son, and they shall call His name Emanuel." ^
" For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given,
whose government is upon His shoulders ; and
His name is called the Angel of His Great
Council, the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty
God, the Potentate, the Prince of Peace, the
Father of the Future Age." 5 Now, that be-
cause of their exceeding great wickedness they
would not believe in Him, the Lord shows in
these words : " Who hath believed our report ?
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been
revealed?"^ And afterward: "Hearing ye
shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing
ye shall see, and shall not perceive : for the
heart of this people is waxed gross." ' Where-
fore knowledge was taken from them, because
seeing they overlooked, and hearing they heard
not. But to you, the converted of the Gentiles,
is the kingdom given, because you, who knew
not God, have believed by preaching, and " have
known Him, or rather are known of Him," ^
through Jesus, the Saviour and Redeemer of
those that hope in Him. For ye are translated
from your former vain and tedious mode of life,
and have contemned the lifeless idols, and de-
spised the demons, which are in darkness, and

' Isa. Ixv. 2.

2 Isa. Ixiii. lo.

3 One v. MS. omits " ages," and the other " begotten of Him."
< Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23.

5 Isa. ix. 6. [Justin Martyr, p. 236, n. 8, vol. i., this series.]

* I.sa. liii. I.

' Isa. vi. 9, 10.

* Gal. iv. 9.

have run to the " true light," ^ and by it have
" known the one and only true God and Father," '"
and so are owned to be heirs of His kingdom.
For since ye have " been baptized into the
Lord's death," " and into His resurrection, as
" new-born babes," '^ ye ought to be wholly free
from all sinful actions ; " for you are not your
own, but His that bought you " '^ with His own
blood. For concerning the former Israel the
Lord speaks thus, on account of their unbelief:
"The kingdom of God shall be taken from
them, and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof; " "» that is to say, that having given
the kingdom to you, who were once far estranged
from Him, He expects the fruits of your grati-
tude and probity. For ye are those that were
once sent into the vineyard, and did not obey,
but these they that did obey ; '5 but you have
repented of your denial, and you work therein
now. But they, being uneasy on account of
their own covenants, have not only left the vine-
yard uncultivated, but have also killed the stew-
ards of the Lord of the vineyard,"^ — one with
stones, another with the sword ; one they sawed
asunder, '7 another they slew in the holy place,
" between the temple and the altar ; " '^ nay, at
last they " cast the Heir Himself out of the
vineyard, and slew Him." '^ And by them He
was rejected as an unprofitable stone,^° but by
you was received as the corner-stone. Where-
fore He says concerning you : " A people whom
I knew not have served me, and at the hearing
of the ear have they obeyed me." ^'

HOW THE PASSOVER OUGHT TO BE CELEBRATED.

XVII. It is therefore your duty, brethren, who
are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ,
to observe the days of the passover exactly, with
all care, after the vernal equinox, lest ye be
obliged to keep the memorial of the one passion
twice in a year. Keep it once only in a year for
Him that died but once.

Do not you yourselves compute, but keep it
wheti your brethren of the circumcision do so :
keep it together with them ; and if they err in
their co7nputation, be not you concerned. Keep
your nights of watching in the middle of the days
of unleavened bread. And when the Jews are
feasting, do you fast and wail over them, because
on the day of their feast they crucified Christ ;

9 John i. 9.

'° John xvii. 3.

" Kom. vi. 3.

« I Pet. ii. 2.

" I Cor. vi. 19, 20.

'* Matt. xxi. 43.

'5 Matt. xxi. 28, etc.

'* Matt. xxi. 35.

" Heb. xi. J7.

'8 Matt, xxiii. 35.

'9 Matt. xxi. 39.

20 Matt. xxi. 42.

'' Ps. xviii. 43, 44.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

447

and while they are laf/ienting and eating un-
leavened dread in bitterness, do you feasts But
no longer be careful to keep the feast with the
Jews, for we have now no communion with them ;
for they have been led astray in regard to the
calculation itself, which they think they accom-
l)lish i)erfectly, that they may be led astray on
every hand, and be fenced off from the truth.
But do you observe carefully the vernal equinox,
which occurs on the twenty-second of the twelfth
month, which is Dystros (March), observing
carefully until the twenty-first of the moon, lest
the fourteenth of the moon shall fall on another
week, and an error being committed, you should
through ignorance celebrate the passover twice
in the year, or celebrate the day of the resurrec-
tion of our Lord on any other day than a Sunday.

A CONSTITUTION CONCERNING THE GREAT PASSOVER

WEEK.

xvni. Do you therefore fast on the days of
the passover, beginning from the second day
of the week until the preparation, and the Sab-
bath, six days, making use of only bread, and
salt, and herbs, and water for your drink ; but
do you abstain on these days from wine and
flesh, for they are days of lamentation and not
of feasting. Do ye who are able fast the day of
the preparation and the Sabbath-day entirely,
tasting nothing till the cock-crowing of the night ;
but if any one is not able to join them both to-
gether, at least let him observe the Sabbath-day ;
for the Lord says somewhere, speaking of Him-
self : " When the bridegroom shall be taken
away from them, in those days shall they fast." ^
In these days, therefore. He was taken from us by
the Jews, falsely so named, and fastened to the
cross, and "was numbered among the trans-
gressors." ^

CONCERNING THE WATCHING ALL THE NIGHT OF
THE GREAT SABBATH, AND CONCERNING THE DAY
OF THE RESURRECTION.

XIX. Wherefore we exhort you to fast on those
days, as we also fasted till the evening, when He
was taken away from us ; but on the rest of the
days, before the day of the preparation, let every
one eat at the ninth hour, or at the evening, or
as every one is able. But from the even of the
fifth day till cock-crowing break your fast when
it is daybreak of the first day of the week, which
is the Lord's day. From the even till cock-
crowing keep awake, and assemble together in
the church, watch and pray, and entreat God ;
reading, when you sit up all night, the Law,

1 This italicized passage does not occur in the MSS., but is taken
from Epiphanius. It is believed to be genuine, in which case what
follows must be regarded as the work of the interpolator. [See Epi-
phanius, torn. iv. p. 29, ed. Oehler, 1861.]

2 Matt. ix. 15; Mark ii. 20; Luke v. 35.
* Isa. liii 12.

the Prophets, and the Psalms, until cock-crow-
ing, and baptizing your catechumens, and read-
ing the Gospel with fear and trembling, and
speaking to the people such things as tend to
their salvation : put an end to your sorrow, and
beseech God that Israel may be converted, and
that He will allow them place of repentance,
and the remission of their impiety ; for the judge,
who was a stranger, " washed his hands, and
said, I am innocent of the blood of this just per-
son : see ye to it. But Israel cried out. His blood
be on us, and on our children." ■♦ And when
Pilate said, " Shall I crucify your king ? they cried
out. We have no king but Caesar : crucify Him,
crucify Him ; for every one that maketh himself
a king speaketh against Caesar." And, " If thou
let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend." s
And Pilate the governor and Herod the king com-
manded Him to be crucified ; and that oracle
was fulfilled which says, "Why did the Gentiles
rage, and the people imagine vain things? The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord, and
against His Christ ; " ^ and, " They cast away the
Beloved, as a dead man, who is abominable." ^
And since He was crucified on the day of the
Preparation, and rose again at break of day on
the Lord's day, the scripture was fulfilled which
saith, "Arise, OGod ; judge the earth : for Thou
shalt have an inheritance in all the nations ; " **
and again, " I will arise, saith the Lord ; I will put
Him in safety, I will wax bold through Him ; " ^
and, " But Thou, Lord, have mercy upon me, and
raise me up again, and I shall requite them." '°
For this reason do you also, now the Lord is
risen, offer your sacrifice, concerning which He
made a constitution by us, saying, " Do this for
a remembrance of me ; " " and thenceforward
leave off your fasting, and rejoice, and keep a
festival, because Jesus Christ, the pledge of our
resurrection, is risen from the dead. And let
this be an everlasting ordinance till the consum-
mation of the world, until the Lord come. For
to Jews the Lord is still dead, but to Christians
He is risen : to the former, by their unbelief; to
the latter, by their full assurance of faith. For
the hope in Him is immortal and eternal life.
After eight days let there be another feast ob-
served with honour, the eighth day itself, on
which He gave me Thomas, who was hard of
belief, full assurance, by showing me the print
of the nails, and the wound made in His side by
the spear. '^ And again, from the first Lord's

■* Matt, xxvli. 24, 25.

5 John xix. 15, 6, 12.

* Ps. ii. I, 2.

7 Isa. xiv. 19.

^ Ps. Ix.xxii. 8.

9 Ps. xii. 5.
'0 Ps. xli. 10.
" Luke xxii. 19.
'- John XX. 35.

448

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book V.

day count forty days, from the Lord's day till
t the fifth day of the week, and celebrate the feast
of the ascension of the Lord, whereon He fin-
ished all His dispensation and constitution, and
returned to that God and Father that sent Him,
and sat down at the right hand of power, and
remains there until His enemies are put under
His feet ; who also will come at the consumma-
tion of the world with power and great glory, to
judge the quick and the dead, and to recom-
pense to every one according to his works. And
then shall they see the beloved Son of God whom
they pierced ; ' and when they know Him, they
shall mourn for themselves, tribe by tribe, and
their wives apart.*

A PROPHETIC PREDICTION CONCERNING CHRIST

JESUS.

XX. For even now, on the tenth day of the
month Gorpiaeus, when they assemble together,
they read the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in
which it is said, " The Spirit before our face,
Christ the Lord was taken in their destruc-
tions ; " 3 and Baruch, in whom it is written,
" This is our God ; no other shall be esteemed
with Him. He found out every way of knowl-
edge, and showed it to Jacob His son, and Israel
His beloved. Afterwards He was seen upon
earth, and conversed with men."'* And when
they read them, they lament and bewail, as
themselves suppose, that desolation which hap-
pened by Nebuchadnezzar; but, as the truth
shows, they unwillingly make a prelude to that
lamentation which will overtake them. But after
ten days from the ascension, which from the
first Lord's day is the fiftieth day, do ye keep
a great festival : for on that day, at the third
hour, the Lord Jesus sent on us the gift of the
Holy Ghost, and we were filled with His energy,
and we " spake with new tongues, as that Spirit
did suggest to us ; " s and we preached both to
Jews and Gentiles, that He is the Christ of God,
who is " determined by Him to be the Judge
of quick and dead." ^ To Him did Moses bear
witness, and said : " The Lord received fire from
the Lord, and rained it down." ? Him did Jacob
see as a man, and said : " I have seen God face
to face, and my soul is preserved." ^ Him did
Abraham entertain, and acknowledge to be the
Judge, and his Lord."^ Him did Moses see in
the bush ; '° concerning Him did he speak in
Deuteronomy : " A Prophet will the Lord your

' Zech. xii. lo; John xix. 37.

2 The words " and their wives apart " are not in one V. ms.

3 Lam. iv. 20.

* Bar. iii. 35-37.
' Acts 11. 4.

•> Acts X. 42.
' Gen. xix. 24.

* Gen. xxxii. 30.

9 Gen. xviii. 25, 37.
»o Ex iii. 2.

God raise up unto you out of your brethren,
like unto me ; Him shall ye hear in all things,
whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall
be, that every soul that will not hear that Prophet,
shall be destroyed from among his people.""
Him did Joshua the son of Nun see, as the
captain of the Lord's host, in armour, for their
assistance against Jericho ; to whom he fell down,
and worshipped, as a servant does to his master.'^
Him Samuel knew as the " Anointed of God," '^
and thence named the priests and the kings the
anointed. Him David knew, and sung an hymn
concerning Him, "A song concerning the Be-
loved ; " '-» and adds in his person, and says,
" Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Thou who
art mighty in Thy beauty and renown : go on,
and prosper, and reign, for the sake of truth,
and meekness, and righteousness ; and Thy right
hand shall guide Thee after a wonderful manner.
Thy darts are sharpened, O Thou that art mighty ;
the people shall fall under Thee in the heart of
the king's enemies. Wherefore God, Thy God,
hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness
above Thy fellows." Concerning Him also
spake Solomon, as in His person : " The Lord
created me the beginning of His ways, for His
works : before the world He founded me, in
the beginning before He made the earth, before
the fountains of waters came, before the moun-
tains were fastened ; He begat me before all the
hills." '5 And again : " Wisdom built herself an
house." '^ Concerning Him also Isaiah said :
" A Branch shall come out of the root of Jesse,
and a Flower shall spring out of his root." And,
" There shall be a root of Jesse ; and He that
is to rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him
shall the Gentiles trust." '7 And Zechariah says :
" '^ Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, just, and
having salvation ; meek, and riding upon an ass,
and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." '9 Him
Daniel describes as " the Son of man coming
to the Father," ^° and receiving all judgment and
honour from Him ; and as " the stone cut out
of the mountain without hands, and becoming
a great mountain, and filling the whole earth," ^'
dashing to pieces the many governments of the
smaller countries, and the polytheism of gods,
but preaching the one God, and ordaining the
monarchy of the Romans. Concerning Him
also did Jeremiah prophesy, saying : "The Spirit
before His face, Christ the Lord, was taken in
their snares : of whom we said. Under His shadow

" Deut. xviii. 15.

'^ Josh. V. 14'.

'3 I Sam. xii. 3.

«^ Ps xlv.

'5 Prov. viii. 22-25.

■^ Prov. ix. 1.

'' Isa. xi. I, 10.

" One V. MS. inserts: " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion."

'9 Zech. ix. 9.

*° Dan. vii. 13.

*' Dan. ii. 34.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

449

we shall live among the Gentiles." ' Ezekiel also,
and the following prophets, affirm everywhere
that He is the Christ, the Lord, the King, the
Judge, the Lawgiver, the Angel of the Father,
the only-begotten God. Him therefore do we
also preach to you, and declare Him to be God
the VVord, who ministered to His God and Father
for the creation of the universe. By believing
in Him you shall live, but by disbelieving you
shall be punished. For " he that is disobedient
to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him." ' Therefore, after you
have kept the festival of Pentecost, keep one
week more festival, and after that fast ; for it is
reasonable to rejoice for the gift of God, and to
fast after that relaxation : for both Moses and
Elijah fasted forty days, and Daniel for " three
weeks of days did not eat desirable bread, and
flesh and wine did not enter into his mouth." ^
And blessed Hannah, when she asked for Sam-
uel, said : " I have not drunk wine nor strong

' Lam. iv. 20.
' John iii. 36.
* tji. rxxiv. 38; I Kings xix. 8; Dan. x. 2, 3.

drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord."<
And the Ninevites, when they fasted three days
and three nights,^ escaped the execution of
wrath. And Esther, and Mordecai, and Judith,^
by fasting, escaped the insurrection of the un-
godly Holofernes and Haman. And David says :
" My knees are weak through fasting, and my
flesh faileth for wan^ of oil." ^ Do you there-
fore fast, and ask your petitions of God. We
enjoin you to fast every fourth day of the week,
and every day of the preparation, and the sur-
plusage of your fast bestow upon the needy ;
every Sabbath-day excepting one, and every
Lord's day, hold your solemn assemblies, and
rejoice : for he will be guilty of sin who fasts on
the Lord's day, being the day of the resurrec-
tion, or during the time of Pentecost, or, in
general, who is sad on a festival day to the
Lord. For on them we ought to rejoice, and
not to mourn.

* 1 Sam. I. 15.

5 Jonah iii. 5.

6 Esth. iv. 16; Judith viii. 6.
' Ps. cix. 34.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK VI.

SEC. I. — ON HERESIES.

WHO THEY WERE THAT VENTURED TO MAKE
SCHISMS, AND DID NOT ESCAPE PUNISHMENT.

I. Above all things, O bishop, avoid the sad
and dangerous and most atheistical heresies,
eschewing them as fire that burns those that
come near to it. Avoid also schisms : for it is
neither lawful to turn one's mind towards wicked
heresies, nor to separate from those of the same
sentiment out of ambition. For some who ven-
tured to set up such practices of old did not
escape punishment. For Dathan and Abiram,'
who set up in opposition to Moses, were swal-
lowed up into the earth. But Corah, and those
two hundred and fifty who with him raised a
sedition against Aaron, were consumed by fire.
Miriam also, who reproached Moses, was cast
out of the camp for seven days ; for she said
that Moses had taken an Ethiopian to wife.^
Nay, in the case of Azariah and Uzziah,^ the
latter of which was king of Judah, but venturing
to usurp the priesthood, and desiring to offer
incense, which it was not lawful for him to do,
was hindered by Azariah the high priest, and
the fourscore priests ; and when he would not
obey he found the leprosy to arise in his fore-
head, and he hastened to go out, because the
Lord had reproved him.

THAT IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO RISE UP EITHER
AGAINST THE KINGLY OR THE PRIESTLY OFFICE.

n. Let us therefore, beloved, consider what
sort of glory that of the seditious is, and what
their condemnation. For if he that rises up
against kings is worthy of punishment, even
though he be a son or a friend, how much more
he that rises up against the priests ! For by
how much the priesthood is more noble than
the royal power, as having its concern about
the soul, so much has he a greater punishment
who ventures to oppose the priesthood, than he
who ventures to oppose the royal power, although

neither of them goes unpunished. For neither
did Absalom nor Abdadan"* escape without pun-
ishment ; nor Corah and Dathan.' The former
rose against David, and strove concerning the
kingdom ; the latter against Moses, concerning
pre-eminence. And they both spake evil ; Absa-
lom of his father David, as of an unjust judge,
saying to every one : " Thy words are good, but
there is no one that will hear thee, and do thee
justice. Who will make me a ruler? "5 But
Abdadan : " I have no part in David, nor any
inheritance in the son of Jesse." ^ It is plain
that he could not endure to be under David's
government, of whom God spake : " I have
found David the son of Jesse, a man after my
heart, who will do all my commands." ^ But
Dathan and Abiram, and the followers of Corah,
said to Moses : " Is it a small thing that thou
hast brought us out of the land of Egypt, out
of a land flowing with milk and honey ? And
why hast thou put out our eyes? And wilt thou
rule over us?" And they gathered together
against him a great congregation ; and the fol-
lowers of Corah said : " Has God spoken alone
to Moses? Why is it that He has given the
high-priesthood to Aaron alone ? Is not all the
congregation of the Lord holy? And why is
Aaron alone possessed of the priesthood?"*
And before this, one said : " Who made thee a
ruler and a judge over us? " ^

CONCERNING THE VIRTUE OF MOSES AND THE IN-
CREDULITY OF THE JEWISH NATION, AND WHAT
WONDERFUL WORKS GOD DID AMONG THEM.

III. And they raised a sedition against Moses
the servant of God, the meekest of all men,'° and
faithful, and affronted " so great a man with the
highest ingratitude ; him who was their lawgiver,
and guardian, and high priest, and king, the ad-

' Num. xvi.
' Num. xii. i.
3 a Chron. xxvi.

♦ 2 Sam. xviii.-xx.

s 2 Sam. XV. 3.

*> 2 Sam. XX. I.

7 Acts xiii. 22.

' Num. xvi. 13, xii. 2, xvi. 3.

9 Ex. ii. i^.
'° Num. xii. 3.

" The words from " and affronted " to " by his holiness" are not
in one V. MS.

450

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

451

ministrator of divine things ; one that showed as
a creator the mighty works of the Creator ; the
meekest man, freest from arrogance, and full of
fortitude, and most benign in his temper ; one
who had delivered them from many dangers,
and freed them from several deaths by his holi-
ness ; who had done so many signs and wonders
from God before the people, and had performed
glorious and wonderful works for their benefit ;
who had ' brought the ten plagues upon the
Egyptians ; who had divided the Red Sea, and
had separated the waters as a wall on this side
and on that side, and had led the people through
them as through a dry wilderness,^ and had
drowned Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and all that
were in company with them ; ^ and had made
the fountain sweet for them with wood, and had
brought water out of the stony rock for them
when they were thirsty ; '* and had given them
manna out of heaven, and had distributed flesh
to them out of the air ; 5 and had afforded them
a pillar of fire in the night to enlighten and con-
duct them, and a pillar of a cloud to shadow
them in the day, by reason of the violent heat
of the sun ; ^ and had exhibited to them the law
of God, engraven from the mouth, and hand,
and writing of God, in tables of stone, the per-
fect number of ten commandments ; ^ "to whom
God spake face to face, as if a man spake to his
friend ; " ^ of whom He said, " And there arose
not a prophet like unto Moses." ^ Against him
arose the followers of Corah, and the Reuben-
ites,'° and threw stones at Moses, who prayed,
and said: " Accept not Thou their offering." "
And the glory of God appeared, and sent some
down into the earth, and burnt up others with
fire ; and so,' as to those ringleaders of this schis-
matical deceit which said, " Let us make our-
selves a leader," '^ the earth opened its mouth,
and swallowed them up, and their tents, and
what appertained to them, and they went down
alive into hell ; but He destroyed the followers
of Corah with fire.

SEC. II. — HISTORY AND DOCTRINES OF HERESIES.

THAT SCHISM IS MADE NOT BY HIM WHO SEPA-
RATES HIMSELF FROM THE UNGODLY, BUT WHO
DEPARTS FROM THE GODLY.

IV. If therefore God inflicted punishment im-
mediately on those that made a schism on ac-

' The words from " who had " to " Egyptians " are not in one
V. MS.

* Ex. vii., etc.
3 Ex. xiv. 28.

* Ex. xvii. 6.
5 Ex. xvi.

*" Ex. xiii. 21.
7 Ex. xxxi.^ etc.

* Ex. xxxiii. II.

9 Deut. xxxiv. lo.
'° Num. xiv. 10.
" Num. xvi. 15.
^ Num. xiv, 5.

count of their ambition, how much rather will
He do it upon those who are the leaders of
impious heresies ! Will not He inflict severer
punishment on those that blaspheme His provi-
dence or His creation? But do you, brethren,
who are instructed out of the Scripture, take
care not to make divisions in opinion, nor di-
visions in unity. For those who set up unlawful
opinions are marks of perdition to the people.
In like manner, do not you of the laity come
near to such as advance doctrines contrary to
the mind of God ; nor be you partakers of their
impiety. For says God : " Separate yourselves
from the midst of these men, lest you perish
together with them." '^ And again : " Depart
from the midst of them, and separate yourselves,
says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you." '■*

UPON WHAT ACCOUNT ISRAEL, FALSELY SO NAMED,
IS REJECTED BY GOD, DEMONSTRATED FROM THE
PROPHETIC PREDICTIONS,

V. For those are most certainlv to be avoided
who blaspheme God. The greatest part of the
ungodly, indeed, are ignorant of God ; but these
men, as fighters against God, are possessed with
a wilful evil disposition, as with a disease. For
from the wickedness of these heretics " pollu-
tion is gone out upon all the earth," '5 as says the
prophet Jeremiah. For the wicked synagogue is
now cast off by the Lord God, and His house
is rejected by Him, as He somewhere speaks :
" I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine
inheritance." '^ And again, says Isaiah : " I will
neglect my vineyard, and it shall not be pruned
nor digged, and thorns shall spring up upon it,
as upon a desert ; and I will command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it." '^ He has there-
fore " left His people as a tent in a vineyard, and
as a garner in a fig or olive yard, and as a be-
sieged city." '^ He has taken away from them
the Holy Spirit, and the prophetic rain, and has
replenished His Church with spiritual grace, as
the " river of Egypt in the time of first-fruits ; " ■''
and has advanced the same " as an house upon
an hill, or as an high mountain ; as a mountain
fruitful for milk and fatness, wherein it has pleased
God to dwell. For the Lord will inhabit therein
to the end." '° And He says in Jeremiah : " Our
sanctuary is an exalted throne of glory." ^' And
He says in Isaiah : " And it shall come to pass
in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord
shall be glorious, and the house of the Lord shall

" Num. xvi. 21.

■■* 2 Cor. vi. 17.

'5 Jer. xxiii. 15.

'*> Jer. xii. 7.

'7 Isa V. 6.

" Isa. i. 8.

'9 See Ecclus. xxiv. 25.

20 Ps. Ixviii. 16.

•* Jer. xvii. la.

452

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VI.

be upon the top of the mountains, and shall be
advanced above the hills." ' Since, therefore,
He has forsaken His people. He has also left
His temple desolate, and rent the veil of the
temple, and took from them the Holy Spirit ; for
says He, " Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate." ^ And He has bestowed upon you,
the converted of the Gentiles, spiritual grace, as
He says by Joel : " And it shall come to pass
after these things, saith God, that I will pour out
of my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons shall
prophesy, and your daughters shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams." ^ For
God has taken away all the power and efficacy
of His word, and such like visitations, from that
people, and has transferred it to you, the con-
verted of the Gentiles. For on this account the
devil himself is very angry at the holy Church
of God : he is removed to you, and has raised
against you adversities, seditions, and reproaches,
schisms, and heresies. For he had before sub-
dued that people to himself, by their slaying of
Christ. But you who have left his vanities he
tempts in different ways, as he did the blessed
Job.'* For indeed he opposed that great high
priest Joshua the son of Josedek ; s and he often-
times sought to sift us, that our faith might fail.^
But our Lord and Master, having brought him to
trial, said unto him : "■ The Lord rebuke thee,
O devil ; and the Lord, who hath chosen Jeru-
salem, rebuke thee. Is not this plucked out of
the fire as a brand? "^ And who said then to
those that stood by the high priest, " Take away
his ragged garments from him ; " and added,
" Behold, I have taken thine iniquities away from
thee ; " He will say now, as He said formerly of
us when we were assembled together, " I have
prayed that your faith may not fail." ^

THAT EVEN AMONG THE JEWS THERE AROSE THE
DOCTRINE OF SEVERAL HERESIES HATEFUL TO
GOD.

VI. For even the Jewish nation had wicked
heresies : for of them were the Sadducees, who
do not confess the resurrection of the dead ; and
the Pharisees, who ascribe the practice of sinners
to fortune and fate ; and the Basmotheans, who
deny providence, and say that the world is made
by spontaneous motion, and take away the im-
mortality of the soul ; and the Hemerobaptists,
who every day, unless they wash, do not eat, —
nay, and unless they cleanse their beds and tables,
or platters and cups and seats, do not make use
of any of them ; and those who are newly risen

■ Isa. ii. 2.

* Matt, xxiii. 38.
3 Joel ii. 28.

* Job i., etc.
5 Zech. iii. i.

* Luke xxii. 31.

' Zech. iii. 2, etc.
' Luke xxii. 32.

amongst us, the Ebionites, who will have the Son
of God to be a mere man, begotten by human
pleasure, and the conjunction of Joseph and
Mary. There are also those that separate them-
selves from all these, and observe the laws of
their fathers, and these are the Essenes. These,
therefore, arose among the former people. And
now the evil one, who is wise to do mischief, and
as for goodness, knows no such good thing, has
cast out some from among us, and has wrought
by them heresies and schisms.

WHENCE THE HERESIES SPRANG, AND WHO WAS
THE RINGLEADER OF THEIR IMPIETY.

VII. Now the original of the new heresies
began thus : the devil entered into one Simon,
of a village called Gitthae, a Samaritan, by pro-
fession a magician, and made him the minister
of his wicked design.9 For when Philip our
fellow-apostle, '° by the gift of the Lord and the
energy of His Spirit, performed the miracles of
healing in Samaria, insomuch that the Samaritans
were affected, and embraced the faith of the
God of the universe, and of the Lord Jesus, and
were baptized into His name ; nay, and that
Simon himself, when he saw the signs and won-
ders which were done without any magic cere-
monies, fell into admiration, and believed, and
was baptized, and continued in fasting and
prayer, — we heard of the grace of God which
was among the Samaritans by Philip, and came
down " to them ; and enlarging much upon the
word of doctrine, we laid our hands upon all
that were baptized, and we conferred upon them
the participation of the Spirit. But when Simon
saw that the Spirit was given to believers by the
imposition of our hands, he took money, and
offered it to us, saying, " Give me also the power,
that on whomsoever I also shall lay my hand,
he may receive the Holy Ghost ; " '^ being de-
sirous that as the devil '^ deprived Adam by his
tasting of the tree of that immortality which
was promised him, so also that Simon might
entice us by the receiving of money, and might
thereby cut us off from the gift of God,''* that so
by exchange we might sell to him for money the
inestimable gift of the Spirit. But as we were
all troubled at this offer, I Peter, with a fixed
attention on that malicious serpent which was
in him, said to Simon : " Let thy money go with
thee to perdition, because thou hast thought to
purchase the gift of God with money. Thou
hast no part in this matter, nor lot in this faith ;

9 Acts viii.

'0 [Either an ignorant error or a peculiar use of a technical word
(p. 383, supra) to signify a missionary. See the note, book viii. sec.
3, cap. 17, in/ra.] ... ,

" [Were sent, rather. See Acts viii. 14.J

I- Acts viii. 19

" " The devil: " this reading is adopted from the V. MSS.

'< The V. MSS. insert here: "Simon, therefore, being moved by
the devil, brought the money."

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

453

for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and
pray to the Lord, if perhaps tiie thought of thine
heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive
thou art in the gall of bitterness and the bond
of iniquity." ' But then Simon was terrified,
and said : " I entreat you, pray ye to the Lord
for me, that none of those things which ye have
spoken come upon me." ^

WHO WERE THE SUCCESSORS OF SIMON'S IMPIETY,
AND WHAT HERESIES THEY SET UP.

VIII. But when we went forth among the Gen-
tiles to preach the word of life, then the devil
wrought in the people to send after us false
apostles to the corrupting of the word ; and
they sent forth one Cleobius, and joined him
with Simon, and these became disciples to one
Dositheus, whom they despising, put him down
from the principality. Afterwards also others
were the authors of absurd doctrines : Cerin-
thus, and Marcus, and Menander, and Basilides,
and Saturnilus. Of these some own the doctrine
of many gods, some only of three, but contrary
to each other, without beginning, and ever with
one another, and some of an infinite number of
them, and those unknown ones also. And some
reject marriage ; and their doctrine is, that it is
not the appointment of God ; and others abhor
some kinds of food : some are impudent in
uncleanness, such as those who are falsely called
Nicolaitans. And Simon meeting me Peter,
first at Caesarea Stratonis (where the faithful
Cornelius, a Gentile, believed on the Lord Jesus
by me), endeavoured to pervert the word of
God ; there -being with me the holy children,
Zacchgeus, who was once a publican, and Bar-
nabas ; and Nicetas and Aquila, brethren of
Clement the bishop and citizen of Rome, who
was the disciple of Paul, our fellow-apostle and
fellow-helper in the Gospel. I thrice discoursed
before them with him concerning the true Proph-
et, and concerning the monarchy of God ; and
when I had overcome him by the power of the
Lord, and had put him to silence, I drove him
away into Italy.

HOW SIMON, DESIRING TO FLY BY SOME MAGICAL
ARTS, FELL DOWN HEADLONG FROM ON HIGH AT
THE PRAYERS OF PETER, AND BRAKE HIS FEET,
AND HANDS, AND ANKLE-BONES.

IX. Now when he was in Rome, he mightily
disturbed the Church, and subverted many, and
brought them over to himself, and astonished
the Gentiles with his skill in magic, insomuch
that once, in the middle of the day, he went
into their theatre, and commanded the people

' Acts viii. 20, etc.
* Acts viii. 24.

that they should bring me also by force into the
theatre, and promised he would fly in the air ;
and when all the people were in suspense at this,
I prayed by myself. And indeed he was carried
up into the air by demons, and did fly on high
in the air, saying that he was returning into
heaven, and that he would supply them with
good things from thence. And the people mak-
ing acclamations to him, as to a god, I stretched
out my hands to heaven, with my mind, and
besought God through the Lord Jesus to throw
down this pestilent fellow, and to destroy the
power of those demons that made use of the
same for the seduction and perdition of men,
to dash him against the ground, and bruise him,
but not to kill him. And then, fixing my eyes
on Simon, I said to him :" If I be a man of
God, and a real apostle of Jesus Christ, and a
teacher of piety, and not of deceit, as thou art,
Simon, I command the wicked powers of the
apostate from piety, by whom Simon the magi-
cian is carried, to let go their hold, that he may
fall down headlong from his height, that he may
be exposed to the laughter of those that have
been seduced by him." When I had said these
words, Simon was deprived of his powers, and
fell down headlong with a great noise, and was
violently dashed against the ground, and had
hi? hip and ankle-bones broken ; and the people
cried out, saying, " There is one only God, whom
Peter rightly preaches in truth." And many left
him ; but some who were worthy of perdition
continued in his wicked doctrine. And after
this manner the most atheistical heresy of the
Simonians was first established in Rome ; and
the devil wrought by the rest of the false apos-
tles ^ also.

HOW THE HERESIES DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER,
AND FROM THE TRUTH.

X. Now all these had one and the same de-
sign of atheism, to blaspheme Almighty God,
to spread their doctrine that He is an unknown
being, and not the Father of Christ, nor the
Creator of the world ; but one who cannot be
spoken of, ineffable, not to be named, and be-
gotten by Himself; that we are not to make use
of the law and the prophets ; that there is no
providence and no resurrection to be believed ;
that there is no judgment nor retribution ; that
the soul is not immortal ; that we must only
indulge our pleasures, and turn to any sort of
worship without distinction. Some of them say
that there are many gods, some that there are
three gods without beginning, some that there
are two unbegotten gods, some that there are
innumerable ^ons. Further, some of them
teach that men are not to marry, and must ab-

' [a Cor. xi. 13. See p. 457, inyra.]

454

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VI,

Stain from flesh and wine, affirming that marriage,
and the begetting of children, and the eating of
certain foods, are abominable ; that so, as sober
persons, they may make their wicked opinions
to be received as worthy of belief. And some
of them absolutely prohibit the eating of flesh,
as being the flesh not of brute animals, but of
creatures that have a rational soul, as though
those that ventured to slay them would be
charged with the crime of murder. But others
of them affirm that we must only abstain from
swine's flesh, but may eat such as are clean by
the law ; and that we ought to be circumcised,
according to the law, and to believe in Jesus
as in an holy man and a prophet. But others
teach that men ought to be impudent in un-
cleanness, and to abuse the flesh, and to go
through all unholy practices, as if this were the
only way for the soul to avoid the rulers of this
world. Now all these are the instruments of
the devil, and the children of wrath.

SEC. III. — THE HERESIES ATTACKED BY THE
APOSTLES.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE PREACHING OF THE APOS-
TLES.

XI. But we, who are the children of God and
the sons of peace, do preach the holy and right
word of piety, and declare one only God, the
Lord of the law and of the prophets, the Maker
of the world, the Father of Christ ; not a being
that caused Himself, or begat Himself, as they
suppose, but eternal, and without original, and
inhabiting light inaccessible ; not two or three,
or manifold, but eternally one only ; not a being
that cannot be known or spoken of, but who
was preached by the law and the prophets ; the
Almighty, the Supreme Governor of all things,
the All-powerful Being; the God and Father of j
the Only-begotten, and of the First-born of the
whole creation ; one God, the Father of one
Son, not of many ; the Maker of one Comforter
by Christ, the Maker of the other orders, the
one Creator of the several creatures by Christ,
the same their Preserver and Legislator by Him ;
the cause of the resurrection, and of the judg-
ment, and of the retribution which shall be made
by Him : that this same Christ was pleased to
become man, and went through life without sin,
and suffered, and rose from the dead, and re-
turned to Him that sent Him. We also say
that every creature of God is good, and nothing
abominable ; that everything for the support of
life, when it is partaken of righteously, is very
good : for, according to the Scripture, " all
things were very good." ' We believe that law-
ful marriage, and the begetting of children, is
honourable and undefiled ; for difference of

* Gen. i. 31.

sexes was formed in Adam and Eve for the in-
crease of mankind. We acknowledge with us
a soul that is incorporeal and immortal, — not
corruptible as bodies are, but immortal, as being
rational and free. We abhor all unlawful mix-
tures, and that which is practised by some against
nature as wicked and impious. We profess there
will be a resurrection both of the just and unjust,
and a retribution. We profess that Christ is not
a mere man, but God the Word, and man the
Mediator between God and men, the High
Priest of the Father ; nor are we circumcised
with the Jews, as knowing that He is come " to
whom the inheritance was reserved," ^ and on
whose account the families were kept distinct —
" the expectation of the Gentiles," Jesus Christ,
who sprang out of Judah,^ the Son from the
branch, the flower from Jesse, whose government
is upon His shoulder.'*

FOR THOSE THAT CONFESS CHRIST, BUT ARE DE-
SIROUS TO JUDAIZE.

XII. But because this heresy did then seem
the more powerful to seduce men, and the
whole Church was in danger,5 we the twelve
assembled together at Jerusalem (for Matthias
was chosen to be an apostle in the room of the
betrayer, and took the lot of Judas ; as it is
said, " His bishopric'' let another take "). We
deliberated, together with James the Lord's
brother, what was to be done ; and it seemed
good to him and to the elders to speak to the
people words of doctrine. For certain men
likewise went down from Judea to Antioch, and
taught the brethren who were there, saying :
" Unless ye be circumcised after the manner of
Moses, and walk according to the other customs
which he ordained, ye cannot be saved." ^
When, therefore, there had been no small dis-
sension and disputation, the brethren which were
at Antioch, when they knew that we were all
met together about this question, sent out unto
us men who were faithful and understanding in
the Scriptures to learn concerning this question.
And they, when they were come to Jerusalem,
declared to us what questions were arisen in the
church of Antioch, — namely, that some said
men ought to be circumcised, and to observe
the other purifications. And when some said
one thing, and some another, I Peter stood up,
and said unto them : " Men and brethren, ye
know how that from ancient days God made
choice among you that the Gentiles should hear
the word of the Gospel by my mouth, and be-
lieve ; and God, which knoweth the hearts, bare

2 Gen. xlix. 10.
' Gen. xlix. 9.
* Isa. xi. I, ix. 6.

5 Acts XV.

^ Ps. cix. 8; Acts i. ao. [The name common to apostles and

elders.]

' Acts XV. I.

Sec. IIl.i

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

455

them witness.' For an angel of the Lord ap-
peared on a certain time to Cornehus/ who was
a centurion of the Roman government, and
spake to him concerning me, that he should send
for me, and hear the word of hfe from my
mouth. He therefore sent for me from Joppa
to C?esarea Stratonis ; and when I was ready to
go to him, I would have eaten. And while they
made ready I was in the upper room praying ;
and I saw heaven opened, and a vessel, knit at
the four corners like a splendid sheet, let down
to- the earth, wherein were all manner of four-
footed beasts, and creeping things of the earth,
and fowls of the heaven. And there came a
voice out of heaven to me, saying. Arise, Peter ;
kill, and eat. And I said, By no means, Lord :
for I have never eaten anything common or un-
clean. And there came a voice a second time,
saying. What God hath cleansed, that call not
thou common. And this was done thrice, and
the vessel was received up again into heaven.
But as I doubted what this vision should mean,
the Spirit said to me, Behold, men seek thee ;
but rise up, and go thy way with them, nothing
doubting, for I have sent them.^ These men
were those which came from the centurion, and
so by reasoning I understood the word of the
Lord which is written : ' Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' ■♦ And
again : ' All the ends of the earth shall remem-
ber, and turn unto the Lord, and all the families
of the heathen shall worship before Him : for
the kingdom is in the Lord's, and He is the
governor of the nations.' 5 And observing that
there were expressions everywhere concerning
the calling of the Gentiles, I rose up, and went
with them, 'and entered into the man's house.
And while I was preaching the word, the Holy
Spirit fell upon him, and upon those that were
with him, as it did upon us at the beginning ;
and He put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith. And I perceived
that God is no respecter of persons ; but that in
every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh
righteousness, will be accepted with Him. But
even the believers which were of the circum-
cision were astonished at this. Now therefore
why tempt ye God, to lay an heavy yoke upon
the neck of the disciples, which neither we nor
our fathers were able to bear ? But by the grace
of the Lord, we believe we shall be saved, even
as they.^ For the Lord has loosed us from our
bonds, and has made our burden light, and has
loosed the heavy yoke from us by His clem-
ency." While I spake these things, the whole

' Acts. XV. 7, 8.

2 Acts X.

3 Acts X. 13, etc.
* Joel ii. 32.

5 Ps. xxii. 27, 28.

<■ Acts xi. 15, X. 34, 35, 45, XV. 9, 10.

multitude kept silence. But James the Lord's
brother answered and said : " Men and breth-
ren, hearken unto me ; Simeon hath declared
how God at first visited to take out a people
from the Gentiles for His name. And to this
agree the words of the prophets ; as it is writ-
ten : ' Afterwards I will return, and will raise
again and rebuild the tabernacle of 1 )avid, which
is fallen down ; and I will rebuild its ruins, and
will again set it up, that the residue of men may
seek after the Lord, and all the nations upon
whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who
doth these things.' ? Known unto God are all
His works from the beginning of the world.
Wherefore my sentence is, that we do not trouble
those who from among the Gentiles turn unto
God : but to charge them that they abstain from
the pollutions of the Gentiles, and from what is
sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from
things strangled, and from fornication ; which
laws were given to the ancients who lived before
the law, under the law of nature, Enos, Enoch,
Noah, Melchizedek, Job, and if there be any
other of the same sort." ^ Then it seemed good
to us the apostles, and to James the bishop, and
to the elders, with the whole Church, to send
men chosen from among our own selves, with
Barnabas, and Paul of Tarsus, the apostle of the
Gentiles, and Judas who was called Barsabbas,
and Silas, chief men among the brethren, and
wrote by their hand, as follows : " The apostles,
and elders, and brethren,9 to the brethren of An-
tioch, Syria, and CiUcia of the Gentiles, send
greeting : Since we have heard that some from
us have troubled you with words, subverting
your souls, to whom we gave no such command-
ment, it has seemed good to us, when we were
met together with one accord, to send chosen
men to you, with our beloyed Barnabas and
Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom ye sent unto us.
We have sent also with them Judas and Silas,
who shall themselves declare the same things
by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy
Ghost, and to us, to lay no other burden upon
you than these necessary things ; that ye abstain
from things offered to idols, and from blood,
and from things strangled, and from fornication :
from which things if ye keep yourselves, ye shall
do well. Fare ye well." '° We accordingly sent
this epistle ; but we ourselves remained in Jeru-
salem many days, consulting together for the
public benefit, for the well ordering of all things.

THAT WE MUST SEPARATE FROM HERETICS.

XIII. But after a long time we visited the
brethren, and confirmed them with the word of

7 Amos ix. II.

* Acts XV. 13, etc.

9 [Compare Elucidation III. vol. v. p. 411, this serie*.]

'" Acts XV. 23, etc.

456

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VL

piety, and charged them to avoid those who,
under the name of Christ and Moses, war against
Christ and Moses, and in the clothing of sheep
hide the wolf. For these are false Chris ts, and
false prophets, and false apostles, deceivers and
corrupters, portions of foxes, the destroyers of
the herbs of the vineyards : " for whose sake
the love of many will wax cold. But he that
endureth stedfast to the end, the same shall be
saved.' Concerning whom, that He might se-
cure us, the Lord declared, saying: "There
will come to you men in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall
know them by their fruits ; take care of them.
For false Christs and false prophets shall arise
and shall deceive many." »

WHO WERE THE PREACHERS OF THE CATHOLIC
DOCTRINE, AND WHICH ARE THE COMMAND-
MENTS GIVEN BY THEM.

XIV. On whose account also we, who are now
assembled in one place, — Peter and Andrew ;
James and John, sons of Zebedee ; Phihp and
Bartholomew ; Thomas and Matthew ; James the
son of Alphaeus, and Lebbseus who is surnamed
Thaddaeus ; and Simon the Canaanite,^ and Mat-
thias, who instead of Judas was numbered with
us ; and James the brother of the Lord and
bishop of Jerusalem, and Paul the teacher of the
Gentiles, the chosen vessel, having all met to-
gether, have written to you this Catholic doctrine
for the confirmation of you, to whom the over-
sight of the universal Church is committed :
wherein we declare unto you, that there is only
one God Almighty, besides whom there is no
other, and that you must worship and adore Him
alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the
most holy Spirit ; ^ that you are to make use of
the sacred Scriptures, the law, and the prophets ;
to honour your parents ; to avoid all unlawful
actions ; to believe the resurrection and the
judgment, and to expect the retribution ; and to
use all His creatures with thankfulness, as the
works of God, and having no evil in them ; to
marry after a lawful manner, for such marriage is
unblameable. For " the woman is suited to the
man by the Lord ; " s and the Lord says : " He
that made them from the beginning, made them
male and female ; and said, For this cause shall
a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife : and they two shall be one
flesh." ^ Nor let it be esteemed lawful after
marriage to put her away who is without blame.
For says He: "Thou shalt take care to thy

■ Matt. xxiv. 12, 13.

' Matt. vii. 15, xxiv. 34.
' Matt. X. 2.

* One v. MS. reads as follows: " Aad our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the most holy Spirit."

5 Prov. xix. 14.

* Matt. xix. 4, 5.

spirit, and shalt not forsake the wife of thy youth ;
for she is the partner 7 of thy life, and the re-
mains of thy spirit. I and no other have made
her."" For the Lord says: "What God has
joined together, let no man put asunder." ^ For
the wife is the partner of life, united by God
unto one body from two. But he that divides
that again into two which is become one, is the
enemy of the creation of God, and the adversary
of His providence. In hke manner, he that re-
tains her that is corrupted is a transgressor of
the law of nature ; since " he that retains an
adulteress is foolish and impious." '° For says
He, " Cut her off from thy flesh ; " " for she is
not an help, but a snare, bending her mind from
thee to another. Nor be ye circumcised in your
flesh, but let the circumcision which is of the
heart by the Spirit suffice for the faithful ; for He
says, " Be ye circumcised to your God, and be
circumcised in the foreskin of your heart." "

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO REBAPTIZE, NOR TO RE-
CEIVE THAT BAPTISM WHICH IS GIVEN BY THK
UNGODLY, WHICH IS NOT BAPIISM, BUT A POL-
LUTION.

XV. Be ye likewise contented with one bap-
tism alone, that which is into the death of the
Lord ; not that which is conferred by wicked
heretics, but that which is conferred by unblame-
able priests, " in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : " '3 and let not
that which comes from the ungodly be received
by you, nor let that which is done by the godly
be disannulled by a second. For as there is
one God, one Christ, and one Comforter, and
one death of the Lord in the body, so let that
baptism which is unto Him be but one. But
those that receive polluted baptism from the un-
godly will become partners in their opinions.
For they are not priests. For God says to them :
" Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will
also reject thee from the office of a priest to
me." "* Nor indeed are those that are baptized
by them initiated, but are polluted, not receiving
the remission of sins, but the bond of impiety.
And, besides, they that attempt to baptize those
already initiated crucify the Lord afresh, slay
Him a second time, laugh at divine and ridicule
holy things, affront the Spirit, dishonour the
sacred blood of Christ as common blood, are
impious against Him that sent. Him that suf-
fered, and Him that witnessed. Nay, he that,
out of contempt, will not be baptized, shall be

^ The words from " for she is the partner " to " made her " are
omitted in one V. MS.

* Mai. ii. 15, 14.

9 Matt. xix. 6.
'° Prov. xviii. 22.
" Ecclus. XXV. 26.
'^ Jer. iv. 4.
'3 Matt, xxviii. iq.
'* Hos. iv. 6. [Compare rol. r. p. 565, this sccic*.]

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

457

condemned as an unbeliever, and shall be re-
proached as ungrateful and foolish. For the
Lord says : " Except a man be baptized of water
and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter
into the kingdom of heaven." ' And again : " He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ;
but he that believeth not shall be damned." ^
But he that says. When I am dying I will be
baptized, lest I should sin and defile my baptism,
is ignorant of God, and forgetful of his own
nature. For " do not thou delay to turn unto
the Lord, for thou knowest not what the next
day will bring forth." ^ Do you also baptize
your infants, and bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of God. For says He : " Suffer
the little children to come unto me, and forbid
them not." •♦

CONCERNING BOOKS WITH FALSE INSCRIPTIONS.

XVI. We have sent all these things to you, that
ye may know our opinion, what it is ; and that
ye may not receive those books which obtain in
our name, but are written by the ungodly. For
you are not to attend to the names of the apos-
tles, but to the nature of the things, and their
settled opinions. For we know that Simon and
Cleobius, and their followers, have compiled
poisonous books under the name of Christ and
of His disciples, and do carry them about in
order to deceive you who love Christ, and us
His servants. And among the ancients also
some have written apocryphal books of Moses,
and Enoch, and Adam, and Isaiah, and David,
and Elijah, and of the three patriarchs, pernicious
and repugnant to the truth. The same things
even now have the wicked heretics done, re-
proaching the creation, marriage, providence, the
begetting of children, the law, and the prophets ;
inscribing certain barbarous names, and, as they
think, of angels, but, to speak the truth, of de-
mons, which suggest things to them : whose doc-
trine eschew, that ye may not be partakers of
the punishment due to those that write such
things for the seduction and perdition of the
faithful and unblameable disciples of the Lord
Jesus.

MATRIMONIAL PRECEPTS CONCERNING CLERGYMEN.

XVII. We have already said, that a bishop, a
presbyter, and a deacon, when they are consti-
tuted, must be but once married, whether their
wives be alive or whether they be dead ; and
that it is not lawful for them, if they are unmar-
ried when they are ordained, to be married after-
wards ; or if they be then married, to marry a
second time, but to be content with that wife

' John iii. 5.

' Mark xvi. 16.

^ Ea:c1us. v. 7; Prov. xxvii. i, iii. 38.

* Malt xix. 14.

which they had when they came to ordination. 5
We also appoint that the ministers, and singers,
and readers, and porters, shall be only once
married. But if they entered into the clergy
before they were married, we permit them to
marry, if they have an inclination thereto, lest
they sin and incur punishment.^ But we do not
permit any one of the clergy to take to wife
either a courtesan, or a servant, or a widow, or
one that is divorced, as also the law says. Let
the deaconess be a pure virgin ; or, at the least,
a widow who has been but once married, faith-
ful, and well esteemed. 7

AN EXHORTATION COMMANDING TO AVOID THE
COMMUNION OF THE IMPIOUS HERETICS.

XVIII. Receive ye the penitent, for this is the
will of God in Christ. Instruct the catechumens
in the elements of religion, and then baptize
them. Eschew the atheistical heretics, who are
past repentance, and separate them from the
faithful, and excommunicate them from the
Church of God, and charge the faithful to abstain
entirely from them, and not to partake with them
either in sermons or prayers : for these are those
that are enemies to the Church, and lay snares
for it ; who corrupt the flock, and defile the
heritage of Christ, pretenders only to wisdom,
and the vilest of men ; concerning whom Solo-
mon the wise said : " The wicked doers pretend
to act piously." For, says he, " there is a way
which seemeth right to some, but the ends there-
of look to the bottom of hell." ^ These are they
concerning whom the Lord declared His mind
with bitterness and severity, saying that " they
are false Christs and false teachers ; "9 who have
blasphemed the Spirit of grace, and done despite
to the gift they had from Him after the grace o/
baptis7n, " to whom forgiveness shall not be
granted, neither in this world nor in that which
is to come ; " '° who are both more wicked than
the Jews and more atheistical than the Gentiles ;
who blaspheme the God over all, and tread under
foot His Son, and do despite to the doctrine of
the Spirit ; who deny the words of God, or pre-
tend hypocritically to receive them, to the af-
fronting of God, and the deceiving of those that
come among them ; who abuse the Holy Scrip-
tures, and as for righteousness, they do not so
much as know what it is ; who spoil the Church
of God, as the " little foxes do the vineyard ; " "
whom we exhort you to avoid, lest you lay traps
for your own souls. " For he that walketh with
wise men shall be wise, but he that walketh

s I Tim. iii. 2, 12; Tit. i. 6.

* [See Elucidation XIII. voL v. p. 160, this series.]
7 Lev. xxi. 7, 14; I Tim. v. 9.
' Prov. xiv. 12.
9 Matt. xxiv. 24.
•o Matt. xii. 32.
" I't'ti. Cant. ii. 15.

458

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VI.

with the fooHsh shall be known." ' For we ought
neither to run along with a thief, nor put in our
lot with an adulterer ; since holy David says :
" O Lord, I have hated them that hate Thee,
and I am withered away on account of Thy
enemies. I hated them with a perfect hatred :
they were to me as enemies." ^ And God re-
proaches Jehoshaphat with his friendship towards
Ahab, and his league with him and with Ahaziah,
by Jonah the prophet : " Art thou in friendship
with a sinner? Or dost thou aid him that is
hated by the Lord?"^ "For this cause the
wrath of the Lord would be upon thee suddenly,
but that thy heart is found perfect with the Lord.
For this cause the Lord hath spared thee ; yet
are thy works shattered, and thy ships broken to
pieces." ■♦ Eschew therefore their fellowship, and
estrange yourselves from their friendship. For
concerning them did the prophet declare, and
say : " It is not lawful to rejoice with the un-
godly," 5 says the Lord. For these are hidden
wolves, dumb dogs, that cannot bark, who at
present are but few, but in process of time, when
the end of the world draws nigh, will be more in
number and more troublesome, of whom said the
Lord, " Will the Son of man, when He comes,
find faith on the earth? "^ and, "Because iniq-
uity shall abound, the love of many shall wax
cold ;" and, "There shall come false Christs and
false prophets, and shall show signs in the heaven,
so as, if it were possible, to deceive the elect : "7
from whose deceit God, through Jesus Christ,
who is our hope, will deliver us. For we our-
selves, as we passed through the nations, and
confirmed the churches, curing some with much
exhortation and healing words, restored them
again when they were in the certain way to death.
But those that were incurable we cast out from
the flock, that they might not infect the lambs,
which were found with their scabby disease, but
might continue before the Lord God pure and
undefiled, sound and unspotted. And this we
did in every city, everywhere through the whole
world, and have left to you the bishops and to
the rest of the priests this very Catholic doctrine
worthily and righteously, as a memorial or con-
firmation to those who have believed in God ;
and we have sent it by our fellow-minister Clem-
ent, our most faithful and intimate son in the
Lord, together with Barnabas, and Timothy our
most dearly beloved son, and the genuine Mark,
together with whom we recommend to you also
Titus and Luke, and Jason and Lucius, and
Sosipater.^

' Prov. xiii. 20.

' Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22.

^ 2 Chron. xix. 2.

* 2 Chron XX. 37.

5 yiti. Isa. Ivli. 21.

^ Luke xviii. 8.

' Mad. xxiv. 12, 24.

* Koni. xvi. 21.

SEC. IV. — OF THE LAW.

By whom also we exhort you in the Lord to
abstain from your old conversation, vain bonds,
separations, observances, distinction of meats,
and daily washings : for " old things are passed
away ; behold, all things are become new." 9

TO THOSE THAT SPEAK EVIL OF THE LAW.

XIX. For since ye have known God through
Jesus Christ, and all His dispensation, as it has
been from the beginning, that He gave a plain
law to assist the law of nature,'" such a one as
is pure, saving, and holy, in which His own
name was inscribed," perfect, which is never to
fail, being complete in ten commands, unspotted,
converting souls ; '^ which, when the Hebrews
forgot, He put them in mind of it by the prophet
Malachi, saying, " Remember ye the law of
Moses, the man of God, who gave you in charge
commandments and ordinances." '^ Which law
is so very holy and righteous, that even our
Saviour, when on a certain time He healed one
leper, and afterwards nine, said to the first, " Go,
show thyself to the high priest, and offer the gift
which Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them ;" "• and afterwards to the nine, " Go, show
yourselves to the priests." 's For He nowhere
has dissolved the law, as Simon pretends, but
fulfilled it ; for He says : " One iota, or one tit-
tle, shall not pass from the law until all be ful-
filled." For says He, " I come not to dissolve
the law, but to fulfil it." '^ For Moses himself,
who was at once the lawgiver, and the high
priest, and the prophet, and the king, and Elijah,
the zealous follower of the prophets, were pres-
ent at our Lord's transfiguration in the moun-
tain,'7 and witnesses of His incarnation and of
His sufferings, as the intimate friends of Christ,
but not as enemies and strangers. Whence it is
demonstrated that the law is good and holy, as
also the prophets.

WHICH IS THE LAW OF NATURE, AND WHICH IS
THAT AFTERWARDS INTRODUCED, AND WHY IT
WAS INTRODUCED.

XX. Now the law is the decalogue, which the
Lord promulgated to them with an audible
voice, ''^ before the people made that calf which
represented the Egyptian Apis.'^ And the law
is righteous, and therefore is it called the law,
because judgments are thence made according

9 2 Cor. V. 17.

JO Isa. viii. 20, LXX.

" Deut. xii. 5.

'^ Ps. xix. 7.

" Mai. iv. 4.

'< Matt. viii. 4; Mark i. ,

'5 Luke xvii. 14.

"> Matt. V. 18, 17.

'^ Luke ix. 30.

'^ Ex. XX.

'9 Ex. xxxii.

Sec. IV.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

459

to the law of nature, which the followers of
Simon abuse, supposing they shall not be judged
thereby, and so shall escape punishment. This
law is good, holy, and such as lays no cominil-
sion in things positive. For He says : " If thou
wilt make me an altar, thou shalt make it of
earth." ' It does not say, " Make one," but,
" If thou wilt make." It does not impose a
necessity, but gives leave to their own free lib-
erty. For God does not stand in need of sac-
rifiqes, being by nature above all want. But
knowing that, as of old, Abel, beloved of God,
and Noah and Abraham, and those that suc-
ceeded, without being required, but only moved
of themselves by the law of nature, did offer
sacrifice to God out of a grateful mind ; so He
did now permit the Hebrews, not commanding,
but, if they had a mind, permitting them ; and
if they offered from a right intention, showing
Himself pleased with their sacrifices. Therefore
He says : " If thou desirest to offer, do not offer
to me as to one that stands in need of it, for I
stand in need of nothing ; for the world is mine,
and the fulness thereof." ^ But when this peo-
ple became forgetful of that, and called upon a
calf as God, instead of the true God, and to him
did ascribe the cause of their coming out of
Egypt, saying, "These are thy gods, O Israel,
which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt ; " 2 and when these men had committed
wickedness with the " similitude of a calf that
eateth hay," and denied God who had visited
them by Hoses'* in their afflictions, and had
done signs with his hand and rod, and had smit-
ten the Egyptians with ten plagues ; who had
divided the waters of the Red Sea into two parts ;
who had led them in the midst of the water, as
a horse upon the ground ; who had drowned
their enemies, and those that laid wait for them ;
who at Marah had made sweet the bitter foun-
tain ; who had brought water out of the sharp
rock till they were satisfied ; who had overshad-
owed them with a pillar of a cloud on account
of the immoderate heat, and with a pillar of fire
which enlightened and guided them when they
knew not which way they were to go ; who gave
them manna from heaven, and gave them quails
for flesh from the sea ; 5 who gave them the law
in the mountain ; whose voice He had vouch-
safed to let them hear ; Him did they deny, and
said to Aaron, " Make us gods who shall go be-
fore us;"^ and they made a molten calf, and
sacrificed to an idol ; — then was God angry, as
being ungratefully treated by them, and bound
them with bonds which could not be loosed.

' Ex. XX. 24.

2 Ps, 1. 12.

3 Ex. xxxii. 4.
■* Ex. iv., etc.
5 Num. xi. 31.
* Ex. xxxii. I.

with a mortifying burden and a hard collar, and
no longer saitl, " If thou makest," but, " Make
an altar," and sacrifice perpetually; for thou art
forgetful and ungrateful. Offer burnt- offerings
therefore continually, that thou mayest be mind-
ful of me. For since thou hast wickedly abused
thy power, I lay a necessity upon thee for the
time to come, and I command thee to abstain
from certain meats ; and I ordain thee the dis-
tinction of clean and unclean creatures, although
every creature is good, as being made by me ;
and I appoint thee several separations, purga-
tions, frequent washings and sprinklings, several
purifications, and several times of rest ; and if
thou neglectest any of them, I determine that
punishment which is proper to the disobedient,
that being pressed and galled by thy collar, thou
mayest depart from the error of polytheism, and
laying aside that, "These are thy gods, O Is-
rael," 3 mayest be mindful of that, " Hear, O
Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord ; " ^ and
mayest run back again to that law which is in- '
serted by me in the nature of all men, " that
there is only one God in heaven and on earth,
and to love Him with all thy heart, and all thy
might, and all thy mind," and to fear none but
Him, nor to admit the names of other gods into
thy mind, nor to let thy tongue utter them out
of thy mouth. He bound them for the hardness
of their hearts, that by sacrificing, and resting,
and purifying themselves, and by similar observ-
ances, they might come to the knowledge of
God, who ordained these things for them.

THAT WE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST ARE UNDER
GRACE, AND NOT UNDER THE SERVITUDE OF
THAT ADDITIONAL LAW.

XXI. " But blessed are your eyes, for they see ;
and your ears, for they hear."^ Yours, I say,
who have believed in the one God, not by ne-
cessity, but by a sound understanding, in obedi-
ence to Him that called you. For you are
released from the bonds, and freed from the ser-
vitude. For says He : ' " I call you no longer
servants, but friends ; for all things that I have
heard of my Father have I made known unto
you." '° For to them that would not see nor
hear, not for the want of those senses, but for
the excess of their wickedness, " I gave statutes
that were not good, and judgments whereby
they would not live;"" they are looked upon
as not good, as burnings and a sword, and medi-
cines are esteemed enemies by the sick, and
impossible to be observed on account of their

7 Deut. vi. 4.

8 Matt. xiii. i6.

9 One V. MS. reads:
pies."

'° John XV. 15.
" Ezek. XX. jj.

' Thus also said the Lord to us His disci-

460

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VI.

obstinacy : whence also they brought death upon
them being not obeyed.

THAT THE LAW FOR SACRIFICES IS ADDITIONAL,
WHICH CHRIST WHEN HE CAME TOOK AWAY.

XXII. You therefore are blessed who are deliv-
ered from the curse. For Christ, the Son of
God, by His coming has confirmed and com-
pleted the law, but has taken away the addi-
tional precepts, although not all of them, yet at
least the more grievous ones ; having confirmed
the former, and abolished the latter, and has
again set the free-will of man at liberty, not sub-
jecting him to the penalty of a temporal death,
but giving laws to him according to another
constitution. Wherefore He says : " If any man
will come after me, let him come." ' And
again : " Will ye also go away ? " ^ And besides,
before His coming He refused the sacrifices of
the people, while they frequently offered them,
when they sinned against Him, and thought He
was to be appeased by sacrifices, but not by
repentance. For thus He speaks : " Why dost
thou bring to me frankincense from Saba, and
cinnamon from a remote land? Your burnt-
offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are
not sweet to me." ^ And afterwards : " Gather
your burnt-offerings, together with your sacri-
fices, and eat flesh. For I did not command you,
when I brought you out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices." * And
He says by Isaiah : " To what purpose do ye
bring me a multitude of sacrifices? saith the
Lord. I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams,
and I will not accept the fat of lambs, and the
blood of bulls and of goats. Nor do you come
and appear before me ; for who hath required
these things at your hands? Do not go on to
tread my courts any more. If you bring me
fine flour, it is vain : incense is an abomination
unto me : your new moons, and your Sabbaths,
and your great day, I cannot bear them : your
fasts, and your rests, and your feasts, my soul
hateth them ; I am over-full of them." 5 And
He says by another : " Depart from me ; the
sound of thine hymns, and the psalms of thy
musical instruments, I will not hear."^ And
Samuel says to Saul, when he thought to sac-
rifice : " Obedience is better than sacrifice, and
hearkening than the fat of rams. For, behold,
the Lord does not so much delight in sacrifice,
as in obeying Him." ^ And He says by David :
" I will take no calves -out of thine house, nor
he-goats out of thy flock. If I should be hun-

' Matt. xvi. 24.

" John vi. 67.
' Jer. vi. 20.
* Jer. vii. 21, aa.
5 Isa. i. II, etc.
•> Amos V. 23.
' 1 Sam. XV. aa.

gry, I would not tell thee ; for the whole world
is mine, and the fulness thereof. Shall I eat the
flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
Sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay
thy vows to the Most High." ^ And in all the
Scriptures in like manner He refuses their sacri-
fices on account of their sinning against Him.
For " the sacrifices of the impious are an abomi-
nation with the Lord, since they offer them in
an unlawful manner." ^ And again : " Their
sacrifices are to them as bread of lamentation ;
all that eat of them shall be defiled." '° If,
therefore, before His coming He sought for " a
clean heart and a contrite spirit"" more than
sacrifices, much rather would He abrogate those
sacrifices, I mean those by blood, when He
came. Yet He so abrogated them as that He
first fulfilled them. For He was both circum-
cised, and sprinkled, and offered sacrifices and
whole burnt-offerings, and made use of the rest
of their customs. And He that was the Law-
giver became Himself the fulfilling of the law ;
not taking away the law of nature, but abrogat-
ing those additional laws that were afterwards
introduced, although not all of them neither.

HOW CHRIST BECAME A FULFILLER OF THE LAW,
AND WHAT PARTS OF IT HE PUT A PERIOD TO,
OR CHANGED, OR TRANSFERRED.

XXIII. For He did not take away the law of
nature, but confirmed it. For He that said in
the law, " The Lord thy God is one Lord ; " '^
the same says in the Gospel, " That they might
know Thee, the only true God." '^ And He
that said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself," '■♦ says in the Gospel, renewing the same
precept, " A new commandment I give unto
you, that ye love one another." '5 He who then
forbade murder, does now forbid causeless anger.'^
He that forbade adultery, does now forbid all
unlawful lust. He that forbade stealing, now
pronounces him most happy who supplies those
that are in want out of his own labours.''' He
that forbade hatred, now pronounces him blessed
that loves his enemies.'*^ He that forbade re-
venge, now commands long-suffering ; "^ not as
if just revenge were an unrighteous thing, but
because long-suffering is more excellent. Nor
did He make laws to root out our natural pas-
sions, but only to forbid the excess of them.'°

* Ps. 1. 9, 12, etc.
9 Prov. xxi. 27.

° Hos. ix. 4.

' Ps. li. 10, 17.

■2 Deut. vi. 4.

3 John xvii. 3.

* IjCv. xix. 18.
s John xiii. 34.
•^ Matt. V. 22.

' Acts XX. 35.

' Matt. V. 7.

9 Matt. V. 43.

*" Malt. V. 38.

Sec. v.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

461

He who had commanded to honour our parents,
was Himself subject to them.' He who had
commanded to keep the Sabbath, by resting
thereon for the sake of meditating on the laws,
has now commanded us to consider of the law
of creation, and of providence every day, and
to return thanks to God. He abrogated cir-
cumcision when He had Himself fulfilled it.
For He it was "to whom the inheritance was
reser\-ed, who was the expectation of the na-
tions." ^ He who made a law for swearing
rightly, and forbade perjury, has now charged us
not to swear at all.^ He has in several ways
changed baptism, sacrifice, the priesthood, and
the divine service, which was confined to one
place : for instead of daily baptisms, He has
given only one, which is that into His death.
Instead of one tribe. He has appointed that out
of every nation the best slioulcl be ordained for
the priesthood ; and that not their bodies should
be examined for blemishes, but their religion
and their lives. Instead of a bloody sacrifice.
He has appointed that reasonable and unbloody
mystical one of His body and blood, which is
performed to represent the death of the Lord
by symbols. Instead of the divine service con-
fined to one place. He has commanded and
appointed that He should be glorified from sun-
rising to sunsetting in every place of His do-
minion.'* He did not therefore take away the
law from us, but the bonds. For concerning
the law Moses says : " Thou shalt meditate on
the word which I command thee, sitting in thine
house, and rising up, and walking in the way." s
And David says : " His delight is in the law of
the Lord, and in His law will he meditate day
and night." ^ For everywhere would he have
us subject to His laws, but not transgressors of
them. For says He : " Blessed are the unde-
filed in the way, who walk in the law of the
Lord. Blessed are they that search out His
testimonies ; with their whole heart shall they
seek Him." ^ And again : " Blessed are we, O
Israel, because those things that are pleasing to
God are known to us." ^ And the Lord says :
" If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye
do them." 9

THAT IT PLEASED THE LORD THAT THE LAW OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS SHOULD BE DEMONSTRATED BY
THE ROMANS.

XXIV. Nor does He desire that the law of
righteousness should only be demonstrated by

' Luke ii. 51.
^ Gen. xlix. lo.
3 Matt. V. 33.

* Ps. cxiii. 3; Mai. i. ii.
5 Deut. vi. 6.

«> Ps. i. 2.

' Ps. cxix. 1, 3.

* Bar. iv. 4.

9 John xiii. 17.

us ; but He is pleased that it should appear and
shine by means of the Romans. For these
Romans, believing in the Lord, left off their
polytheism and injustice, and entertain the good,
and punish the bad. But they hold the Jews
under tribute, and do not suffer them to make
use of their own ordinances.

HOW GOD, ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR IMPIETY TOWARDS
CHRIST, MADE THE JEWS CAPTIVES, AND PLACED
THEM UNDER TRIBUTE.

XXV. Because, indeed, they drew servitude
upon themselves voluntarily, when they said,
" We have no king but Caesar ; " '° and, " If we
do not slay Christ, all men will believe in Him,
and the Romans will come and will take away
both our place and nation." " And so they proph-
esied unwittingly. For accordingly the nations
believed on Him, and they themselves were
deprived by the Romans of their power, and
of their legal worship ; and they have been for-
bidden to slay whom they please, and to sacrifice
when they will. Wherefore they are accursed,
as not able to perform the things they are com-
manded to do. For says He : " Cursed be he
that does not continue in all things that are writ-
ten in the book of the law to do them." '^ Now
it is impossible in their dispersion, while they
are among the heathen, for them to perform all
things in their law. For the divine Moses for-
bids both to rear an altar out of Jerusalem, and
to read the law out of the bounds of Judea.'^
Let us therefore follow Christ, that we may in-
herit His blessings. Let us walk after the law
and the prophets by the Gospel. Let us eschew
the worshippers of many gods, and the murderers
of Christ, and the murderers of the prophets,
and the wicked and atheistical heretics. Let us
be obedient to Christ as to our King, as having
authority to change several constitutions, and
having, as a legislator, wisdom to make new con-
stitutions in different circumstances ; yet so that
everywhere the laws of nature be immutably
preserved.

SEC. V. — THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES IN
OPPOSITION TO JEWISH AND GENTILE SUPERSTI-
TIONS, ESPECIALLY IN REGARD TO MARRUGE
AND FUNERALS.

THAT WE OUGHT TO AVOID THE HERETICS AS THE
CORRUPTERS OF SOULS.

XXVI. Do you therefore, O bishops, and ye of
the laity, avoid all heretics who abuse the law
and the prophets. For they are enemies to God
Almighty, and disobey Him, and do not confess

'° John xix. 15.

" John xi. 48.

'2 Deut. xxvii. 26; Gal. iii. 10.

'3 Deut. xii. [See on Liturgies, t'n/ra.]

462

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VI

Christ to be the Son of God. For they also
deny His generation according to the flesh ; they
are ashamed of the cross ; they abuse His pas-
sion and His death ; they know not His resur-
rection ; they take away His generation before
all ages. Nay, some of them are impious after
another manner, imagining the Lord to be a mere
man, supposing Him to consist of a soul and
body. But others of them suppose that Jesus
Himself is the God over all, and glorify Him as
His own Father, and suppose Him to be both
the Son and the Comforter; than which doc-
trines what can be more detestable? Others,
again, of them do refuse certain meats, and say
that marriage with the procreation of children
is evil, and the contrivance of the devil ; and
being ungodly themselves, they are not willing
to rise again from the dead on account of their
wickedness. Wherefore also they ridicule the
resurrection, and say, We are holy people, un-
willing to eat and to drink ; and they fancy that
they shall rise again from the dead demons with-
out flesh, who shall be condemned for ever in
eternal fire. Fly therefore from them, lest ye
perish with them m their impieties.

OF SOME JEWISH AND GENTILE OBSERVANCES.

XXVII. Now if any persons keep to the Jewish
customs and observances concerning the natural
emission and nocturnal pollutions, and the law-
ful conjugal acts,' let them tell us whether in
those hours or days, when they undergo any such
thing, they observe not to pray, or to touch a
Bible, or to partake of the Eucharist? And if
they own it to be so, it is plain they are void of
the Holy Spirit, which always continues with the
faithful. For concerning holy persons Solomon
says : " That every one may prepare himself,
that so when he sleeps it may keep him, and
when he arises it may talk with him." ^ For if
thou thinkest, O woman, when thou art seven
days in thy separation, that thou art void of the
Holy Spirit, then if thou shouldest die suddenly
thou wilt depart void of the Spirit, and without
assured hope in God ; or else thou must imagine
that the Spirit always is inseparable from thee, as
not l)eing in a place. But thou standest in need
of prayer and the Eucharist, and the coming of
the Holy Ghost, as having been guilty of no fault
in this matter. For neither lawful mixture, nor
child-bearing, nor the menstrual purgation, nor
nocturnal pollution, can defile the nature of a
man, or separate the Holy Spirit from him.
Nothing but impiety and unlawful practice can
do that. For the Holy Spirit always abides with
those that are possessed of it, so long as they
are worthy ; and those from whom it is departed,
it leaves them desolate, and exposed to the

' Lev. XV.
* Prov. vi. 2a.

wicked spirit. Now every man is filled either
with the holy or with the unclean spirit ; and \l
is not possible to avoid the one or the other,
unless they can receive opposite spirits. For the
Comforter hates every lie, and the devil hates all
truth. But every one that is baptized agreeably
to the truth is separated from the diabolical
spirit, and is under the Holy Spirit; and the
Holy Spirit remains with him so long as he is
doing good, and fills him with wisdom and under-
standing, and suffers not the wicked spirit to
approach him, but watches over his goings.
Thou therefore, O woman, if, as thou sayest, in
the days of thy separation thou art void of the
Holy Spirit, thou art then filled with the unclean
one ; for by neglecting to pray and to read thou
wilt invite him to thee, though he were unwilling.
For this spirit, of all others, loves the ungrateful,
the slothful, the careless, and the drowsy, since
he himself by ingratitude was distempered with
an evil mind, and was thereby deprived by God
of his dignity ; having rather chosen to be a
devil than an archangel. Wherefore, O woman,
eschew such vain words, and be ever mindful of
God that created thee, and pray to Him. For
He is thy Lord, and the Lord of the universe ;
and meditate in His laws without observing any
such things, such as the natural purgation, lawful
mixture, child-birth, a miscarriage, or a blemish
of the body ; since such observations are the
vain inventions of foolish men, and such inven-
tions as have no sense in them. Neither the
burial of a man, nor a dead man's bone, nor a
sepulchre, nor any particular sort of food, nor
the nocturnal pollution, can defile the soul of
man ; but only impiety towards God, and trans-
gression, and injustice towards one's neighbour ;
I mean rapine, violence, or if there be anything
contrary to His righteousness, adultery or forni-
cation. Wherefore, beloved, avoid and eschew
such observations, for they are heathenish. For
we do not abominate a dead man, as do they,
seeing we hope that he will live again. Nor do
we hate lawful mixture ; for it is their practice
to act impiously in such instances. For the con-
junction of man and wife, if it be with righteous-
ness, is agreeable to the mind of God. " For
He that made them at the beginning made them
male and female ; and He blessed them, and
said, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." ^
If, therefore, the difference of sexes was made
by the will of God for the generation of mul-
titudes, then must the conjunction of male and
female be also acceptable to His mind.

OF THE LOVE OF BOYS, ADULTERY, AND FORNICATION.

xxviii. But we do not say so of that mixture
that is contrary to nature, or of any unlawful

3 Matt. xix. 4; Gen. i. a8.

Sec. v.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

463

practice ; for such are enmity to God. For the
sin of Sodom is contrary to nature, as is also that
with brute beasts. But adultery and fornication
are against the law ; the one whereof is impiety,
the other injustice, and, in a word, no other than
a trreat sin. But neither sort of them is without
its punishment in its own proper nature. For
the practisers of one sort attempt the dissolution
of the world, and endeavour to make the natural
course of things to change for one that is un-
natural ; but those of the second sort — the
adulterers — are unjust by corrupting others'
marriages, and dividing into two what God hath
made one, rendering the children suspected, and
exposing the true husband to the snares of others.
And fornication is the destruction of one's own
flesh, not being made use of for the procreation
of children, but entirely for the sake of pleasure,
which is a mark of incontinency, and not a sign
of virtue. All these things are forbidden by the
laws ; for thus say the oracles : " Thou shalt not
lie with mankind as with womankind." ' " For
such a one is accursed, and ye shall stone them
with stones : they have wrought abomination."^
" Every one that lieth with a beast, slay ye him :
ne has wrought wickedness in his people." ^
•' And if any one defile a married woman, slay
ye them both : they have wrought wickedness ;
they are guilty; let them die."'' And after-
wards : "There shall not be a fornicator among
the children of Israel, and there shall not be an
whore among the daughters of Israel. Thou
shalt not offer the hire of an harlot to the Lord
thy God upon the altar, nor the price of a dog." 5
" For the vows arising from the hire of an harlot
are not clean. "^ These things the laws have for-
bidden , but' they have honoured marriage, and
have called it blessed, since God has blessed it,
who joined male and female together.^ And
wise Solomon somewhere says : " A wife is suited
to her husband by the Lord." ^ And David
says : " Thy wife is like a flourishing vine in the
sides of thine house ; thy children like olive-
branches round about thy table. Behold, thus
shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord." ^
Wherefore " marriage is honourable " '° and
comely, and the begetting of children pure, for
there is no evil in that which is good. There-
fore neither is the natural purgation abominable
before God, who has ordered it to happen to
women within the space of thirty days for their
advantage and healthful state, who do less move

' I^v. xviii. 22.

- Lev. XX. 13.

3 Ex. xxii. 19.

■* Lev. XX. 10; Deut. xxii. 22.

5 Deut. xxiii. 17, 18.

* Prov. xix. 13, LXX.
^ Gen. i. 28.

* Prov. xix. 14.

9 Ps. cxxviii. 3, 4.
10 Heb. xiii. 4.

about, and keep usually at home in the house.
Nay, moreover, even in the Gospel, when the
woman with the perpetual purgation of blood "
touched the saving border of the Lord's garment
in hope of being healed. He was not angry at
her, nor did complain of her at all ; but, on the
contrary, He healed her, saying, " Thy faith hath
saved thee." When the natural purgations do
appear in the wives, let not their husbands ap-
proach them, out of regard to the children to be
begotten ; for the law has forbidden it, for it
says : " Thou shalt not come near thy wife when
she is in her separation." '^ Nor, indeed, let
them frequent their wives' company when they
are with child. '^ For they do this not for the
begetting of children, but for the sake of pleasure.
Now a lover of God ought not to be a lover of
pleasure.

HOW WIVES OUGHT TO BE SUBJECT TO THEIR OWN
HUSBANDS, AND HUSBANDS OUGHT TO LOVE THEIR
OWN WIVES.

XXIX. Ye wives, be subject to your own hus-
bands, and have them in esteem, and serve them
with fear and love, as holy Sarah honoured Abra-
ham. For she could not endure to call him by
his name, but called him lord, when she said,
" My lord is old." "* In like manner, ye hus-
bands, love your own wives as your own mem-
bers, as partners in life, and fellow-helpers for
the procreation of children. For says He, " Re-
joice with the wife of thy youth. Let her con-
versation be to thee as a loving hind, and a
pleasant foal ; let her alone guide thee, and be
with thee at all times : for if thou beest every
way encompassed with her friendship, thou wilt
be happy in her society." '5 Love them there-
fore as your own members, as your very bodies ;
for so it is written, " The Lord has testified be-
tween thee and between the wife of thy youth ;
and she is thy partner, and another has not made
her : and she is the remains of thy spirit ; " and,
"Take heed to your spirit, and do not forsake
the wife of thy youth." '^ An husband, therefore,
and a wife, when they company together in law-
ful marriage, and rise from one another, may
pray without any observations, and without wash-
ing are clean. But whosoever corrupts and de-
files another man's wife, or is defiled with an
harlot, when he arises up from her, though he
should wash himself in the entire ocean and all
the rivers, cannot be clean.

" Matt. ix. 22.

'2 Lev. xviii. 19; Ezek. xviii. 6.

'3 [But if this be otherwise done, it may be well to compare Lao
tantius as to a question of actual crime. See p. 190, n. i, supra.\

''» I Pet. iii. 6.

•5 Prov. v. 18, etc.

*6 Mai. ii. 14, 15, iS.

464

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VI.

SEC. VI. — CONCLUSION OF THE WORK.

THAT IT IS THE CUSTOM OF JEWS AND GENTILES
TO OBSERVE NATURAL PURGATIONS, AND TO
ABOMINATE THE REMAINS OF THE DEAD ; BUT
THAT ALL THIS IS CONTRARY TO CHRISTIANITY.

XXX. Do not therefore keep any such observ-
ances about legal and natural purgations, as
thinking you are defiled by them. Neither do
you seek after Jewish separations, or perpetual
washings, or purifications upon the touch of a
dead body. But without such observations as-
semble in the dormitories, reading the holy
books, and singing for the martyrs which are
fallen asleep, and for all the saints from the
beginning of the world, and for your brethren
that are asleep in the Lord, and offer the ac-
ceptable Eucharist, the representation of the
royal body of Christ, both in your churches and
in the dormitories ; and in the funerals of the
departed, accompany them with singing, if they
were faithful in Christ. For "precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." '
And again : " O my soul, return unto thy rest,
for the Lord hath done thee good."^ And
elsewhere : " The memory of the just is with
encomiums." 3 And, ''The souls of the right-
eous are in the hands of God."* For those
that have believed in God, although they are
asleep, are not dead. For our Saviour says to
the Sadducees : " But concerning the resurrec-
tion of the dead, have ye not read that which is
written, I am the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God, there-
fore, is not the God of the dead, but of the
hving; for all live to Him." s Wherefore, of
those that live with God, even their very relics
are not without honour. For even Elisha the
prophet, after he was fallen asleep, raised up a
dead man who was slain by the pirates of Syria.^
For his body touched the bones of Elisha, and
he arose and revived. Now this would not have

' Ps. cxvi. 15.
' Ps. cxvi. 7.

* Prov. X. 7.

* Wisd. iii. j.

' Ex. iii. 6; Luke xx. 3^.
' s Kings xiii. 21.

happened unless the body of Elisha were holy.
And chaste Joseph embraced Jacob after he was
dead upon his bed ; ? and Moses and Joshua
the son of Nun carried away the relics of
Joseph,^ and did not esteem it a defilement.
Whence you also, O bishops, and the rest, who
without such observances touch the departed,
ought not to think yourselves defiled. Nor
abhor the relics of such persons, but avoid such
observances, for they are foolish. And adorn
yourselves with holiness and chastity, that ye
may become partakers of immortality, and
partners of the kingdom of God, and may re-
ceive the promise of God, and may rest for ever,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

To Him, therefore, who is able to open the
ears of your hearts to the receiving the oracles
of God administered to you both by the Gospel
and by the teaching of Jesus Christ of Nazareth ;
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and
Herod, and died, and rose again from the dead,
and will come again at the end of the world
with power and great glory, and will raise the
dead, and put an end to this world, and distrib-
ute to every one according to his deserts : to
Him that has given us Himself for an earnest
of the resurrection ; who was taken up into the
heavens by the power of His God and Father
in our sight, who ate and drank with Him for
forty days after He arose from the dead ; who
is sat down on the right hand of the throne of
the majesty of Almighty God upon the cheru-
bim ; to whom it was said, " Sit Thou on my
right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy
footstool ; " 9 whom the most blessed Stephen
saw standing at the right hand of power, and
cried out, and said, " Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of man standing at the
right hand of God," '^ as the High Priest of all
the rational orders, — through Him, worship,
and majesty, and glory be given to Almighty
God, both now and for evermore." Amen.

7 Gen. 1. I.

^ Ex. xiii. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32.
9 Ps. ex. I.
'° Acts vii. 56.

'» One V. MS. reads: "to Him be worship, and majesty, and
glory, along with the Father and the co-eternal Spirit, for ever and
ever. Amen."

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK VII.

CONCERNING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, AND THE EUCHARIST, AND THE

INITIATION INTO CHRIST.

SEC. I. — ON THE TWO WAYS,' — THE WAY OF
LIFE AND THE WAY OF DEATH.

THAT THERE ARE TWO WAYS, THE ONE NATURAL,

OF LIFE, AND THE OTHER INTRODUCED AFTER-
WARDS, OF DEATH ; AND THAT THE FORMER IS
FROM GOD, AND THE LATTER OF ERROR, FROM
THE SNARES OF THE ADVERSARY.

I. The lawgiver Moses said to the Israelites,
" Behold, I have set before your face the way
of life and the way of death ; " ^ and added,
" Choose life, that thou mayest live." 3 Elijah
the prophet also said to the people : " How long
will you halt with both your legs? If the Lord
be God, follow Him."* The Lord Jesus also
said justly : " No one can serve two masters :
for either he will hate the one, and love the
other ; or else he will hold to the one, and de-
spise the other." s We also, following our teacher
Christ, "who is the Saviour of all men, especially
of those that believe," ^ are obliged to say that
there are, two ways — the one of life, the other
of death ; ^ which have no comparison one with
another, for they are very different,^ or rather
entirely separate ; and the way of life is that of
nature, but that of death was afterwards intro-
duced, — it not beiiig according to the mind of
God, but from the snares of the adversary.9

MORAL EXHORTATIONS OF THE LORd'S CONSTITU-
TIONS AGREEING WITH THE ANCIENT PROHIBI-
TIONS OF THE DIVINE LAWS. THE PROHIBITION
OF ANGER, SPITE, CORRUPTION, ADULTERY, AND
EVERY FORBIDDEN ACTION.

II. The first way, therefore, is that of life ; and
is this,'° which the law also does appoint : " To

' [See pp. 377, etc., supra.]

* Deut. XXX. 15.
3 Deut. XXX. 19.

* I Kings xviii. 21.

* Matt. vi. 24.
'' I Tim. iv. 10.

' [See Teaching, i. i. — R.]

* {Teaching, i. i. — R.]

9 The Greek words properly mean: " Introduced was the way of
death ; not of that death which exists according to the mind of God,
but that which has arisen from the plots of the adversary."

'° [The larger half of chap, i., Teaching, is found in the first half
of this chapter; but the matter peculiar to each is of about the same
extent. — R.]

love the Lord God with all thy mind, and with
all thy soul, who is the one and only God, be-
sides whom there is no other;"" "and thy
neighbour as thyself." '^ " And whatsoever thou
wouldest not should be done to thee, that do
not thou to another."'^ " Bless them that curse
you ; pray for them that despitefully use you." '*
" Love your enemies ; for what thanks is it if
ye love those that love you ? for even the Gen-
tiles do the same." '5 " But do ye love those
that hate you, and ye shall have no enemy."
For says He, " Thou shalt not hate any man ;
no, not an Egyptian, nor an Edomite ; " '^ for
they are all the workmanship of God. Avoid
not the persons, but the sentiments, of the
wicked. "Abstain from fleshly and worldly
lusts." '7 "If any one gives thee a stroke on
thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." '**
Not that revenge is evil, but that patience is
more honourable. For David says, " If I have
made returns to them that repaid me evil." '9
" If any one compel thee to go a mile, go with
him twain." ^° And, " He that will sue thee at
the law, and take away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also."^' "And from him that taketh
thy goods, require them not again." 22 " Give
to him that asketh thee, and from him that
would borrow of thee do not shut thy hand." ^^
For "the righteous man is pitiful, and lendeth."^-*
For your Father would have you give to all,
who Himself " maketh His sun to rise on the
evil and on the good, and sendeth His rain on
the just and on the unjust." ^s It is therefore
reasonable to give to all out of thine own labours ;
for says He, " Honour the Lord out of thy right-

" Deut. vi. s; Mark xii. 32,

'2 Lev. xix. 18.

'3 Tob. iv. 15.

*4 Matt. v. 44.

*S Luke vi. 32 ; Matt. v. 46, 47.

'* Deut. xxiii. 7.

" I Pet. ii. II.

'8 Matt. v. 39; Luke vi. 29.

'9 Ps. vii. 4.

20 Matt. v. 41.

^' Matt. v. 40; Luke vi. 39.

^^ Luke vi. 30.

23 Matt. V. 42.

2* Ps. cxii. 5.

^S Matt. V. 45.

zl66

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VII.

eous labours," ' but so that the saints be pre-
ferred.^ " Thou shalt not kill ; " ^ that is, thou
shalt not destroy a man like thyself: for thou
dissolvest what was well made. Not as if all
killing were wicked, but only that of the inno-
cent : but the killing which is just is reserved
to the magistrates alone. "Thou shalt not com-
mit adultery : " for thou dividest one flesh into
two. "They two shall be one flesh : "^ for the
husband and wife are one in nature, in consent,
in union, in disposition, and the conduct of
life ; but they are separated in sex and number.
" Thou shalt not corrupt boys : " 5 for this wick-
edness is contrary to nature, and arose from
Sodom, which was therefore entirely consumed
with fire sent from God.^ " Let such a one be
accursed : and all the people shall say. So be
it." ^ " Thou shalt not commit fornication : "
for says He, " There shall not be a fornicator
among the children of Israel."^ "Thou shalt
not steal : " for Achan, when he had stolen in
Israel at Jericho, was stoned to death ; 9 and
Gehazi, who stole, and told a lie, inherited the
leprosy of Naaman ; ■" and Judas, who stole the
poor's money, betrayed the Lord of glory to
the Jews," and repented, and hanged himself,
and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bow-
els gushed out ; '^ and Ananias, and Sapphira his
wife, who stole their own goods, and " tempted
the Spirit of the Lord," were immediately, at
the sentence of Peter our fellow-apostle, struck
dead."3

THE PROHIBITION OF CONJURING, MURDER OF IN-
FANTS, PERJURY, AND FALSE WITNESS.

III. Thou shalt not use magic."* Thou shalt not
use witchcraft ; for He says, " Ye shall not suffer
a witch to live." '5 Thou shall not slay thy child
by causing abortion, nor kill that which is begot-
ten ; for " everything that is shaped, and has re-
ceived a soul from God, if it be slain, shall be
avenged, as being unjustly destroyed." '^ " Thou
shalt not covet the things that belong to thy
neighbour, as his wife, or his servant, or his ox,
or his field." " Thou shalt not forswear thyself; "
for it is said, " Thou shalt not swear at all." '^ But
if that cannot be avoided, thou shalt swear truly ;

* Prov. iii. 9.

2 Gal. vi. 10.

3 [Ex. XX. 13. Five brief precepts, of which this is the first, are
common to Teaching, ii. 2, and the rest of this chapter. — R.]

* Gen. ii. 24.

5 Lev. xviii. 22.

* Gen. xix.

7 Deut. xxvii.

* Deut. xxiii. 17.
9 Josh. vii.

'° 2 Kings V.
" John xii. 6.

'2 Matt, xxvii. 5; Acts 1. 18.
'•5 Acts V.

'* [Seven brief clauses of Teaching, Ii. 2, 3, are found in this
chajiter. — R.]
'5 Ex. xxii. 18.
" Ex. xxi. 23, LXX.
17 Matt. V, 34.

for " every one that swears by Him shall be com-
mended." '^ "Thou shalt not bear false witness ; "
for " he that falsely accuses the needy provokes
to anger Him that made him." '^

THE PROHIBITION OF EVIL-SPEAKING AND PASSION,
OF DECEITFUL CONDUCT, OR IDLE WORDS, LIES,
COVETOUSNESS, AND HYPOCRISY.

IV. Thou shalt not speak evil ; ^° for says He,
" Love not to speak evil, lest thou beest taken
away." Nor shalt thou be mindful of injuries ;
for " the ways of those that remember injuries
are unto death." ^' Thou shalt not be double-
minded nor double-tongued ; for " a man's own
lips are a strong snare to him,"^^ and "a talkative
person shaU not be prospered upon earth." ^^ Thy
words shall not be vain ; for " ye shall give an
account of every idle word." ^^ Thou shalt not
tell lies : for says He, " Thou shalt destroy all
those that speak lies." ^5 Thou shalt not be covet-
ous nor rapacious : for says He, " Woe to him
that is covetous towards his neighbour with an
evil covetousness." ^^

THE PROHIBITION OF MALIGNITY, ACCEPTATION OF
PERSONS, WRATH, MALICE, AND ENVY.

V. Thou shalt not be an hypocrite, lest thy
" portion be with them." ^^ Thou shalt not be
ill-natured nor proud : for " God resisteth the
proud." ^** "Thou shalt not accept persons in
judgment ; for the judgment is the Lord's."
" Thou shalt not hate any man ; thou shalt surely
reprove thy brother, and not become guilty on
his account ; " ^^ and, " Reprove a wise man, and
he will love thee." ^° Eschew all evil, and all that
is like it : for says He, " Abstain from injustice,
and trembling shall not come nigh thee." 3' Be
not soon angry, nor spiteful, nor passionate, nor
furious, nor daring, lest thou undergo the fate of
Cain, and of Saul, and of Joab : for the first
of these slew his brother Abel, because Abel was
found to be preferred before him with God, and
because Abel's sacrifice was preferred ;''>- the sec-
ond persecuted holy David, who had slain Goliah
the Philistine, being envious of the praises of the
women who danced ; ^3 the third slew two gen-

'8 Ps. Ixiii. II.

'9 Prov. xiv. 31.

2° [Chap. iv. also contains seven clauses found in Teaching (ii.
3-6) , while chap. v. has but five and a verbal resemblance ; chap. ii.
of the Teachingis, however, almost entirely given in these passage*.

2' Prov. xii. 28, LXX.

22 Prov. vi. 2.

23 Ps. cxl. II.

24 Matt. xii. 36; Lev. xLx. ii.

25 Ps. v. 6.

26 Hab. ii. 9.

27 Matt. xxiv. 51.

28 , Pet. v. 5.

29 Deut. i. 17; Lev. xLx. 17.

30 Prov. ix. 8.
3' Isa. liv. 14.

32 Gen. iv.

33 I Sam. xvii., xviii.

Sec. I.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

467

erals of armies — Abner of Israel, and Amasa of
Judah.'

CONCERNING AUGURY AND ENCHANTMENTS.

VI. Be not a diviner, for that leads to idola-
try ; ^ for says Samuel, " Divination is sin ; " 3
and, " Tliere shall be no divination in Jacob,
nor soothsaying in Israel." •♦ Thou shalt not use
enchantments or purgations for thy child. Thou
shall not be a soothsayer nor a diviner by great
or little birds. Nor shalt thou learn wicked
.arts ; for all these things has the law forbidden. 5
Be not one that wishes for evil, for thou wilt be
led into intolerable sins. Thou shalt not speak
obscenely, nor use wanton glances, nor be a
drunkard ; for from such causes arise whore-
doms and adulteries. Be not a lover of money,
lest thou "serve mammon instead of God."^
Be not vainglorious, nor haughty, nor high-
minded. For from all these things arrogance
does spring. Remember him who said : " Lord,
my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty : I
have not exercised myself in great matters, nor
in things too high for me ; but 1 was humble." ^

THE PROHIBITION OF MURMURING, INSOLENCE,
PRIDE, AND ARROGANCE.

VII. Be not a murmurer, remembering the
punishment which those underwent who mur-
mured against Moses. Be not self-willed, be
not malicious, be not hard-hearted, be not pas-
sionate, be not mean-spirited ; for all these
things lead to blasphemy. But be meek, as
were Moses and David,** since " the meek shall
inherit the earth." 9

CONCERNING LONG-SUFFERING, SIMPLICITY, MEEK-
NESS, AND PATIENCE.

VIII. Be slow to wrath ; for such a one is
very prudent, since " he that is hasty of spirit is
a very fool." '° Be merciful ; for " blessed are
the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.""
Be sincere, quiet, good, " trembling at the word
of God." '^ Thou shalt not exalt thyself, as did
the Pharisee ; for " every one that exalteth him-
self shall be abased," '^ and " that which is
of high esteem with man is abomination with
God." '4 Thou shalt not entertain confidence
in thy soul ; for " a confident man shall fall into

' 2 Sam. iii., xx.

2 [Chaps, vi.-viii. contain passages parallel to nearly one-half of
chap, iii., Teachitig, and in the same order. — R.]

3 I Sam. XV. 23.

* Num. xxiii. 23.

S Lev. xix. 26, 31; Deut. xviii. xo, ii.

* Matt. vi. 24.
^ Ps. cxxxi. I.

* Num. xii. 3; Ps. cxxxi. i.
9 Matt. V. 5.

1° Prov. xiv. 29, LXX.
" Matt. V. 7.
'^ Isa. Ixvi. 2.
'3 Luke xviii. 14.
'■• Luke xvi. 15.

mischief." '5 Thou shalt not go along with the
foolish, but with the wise and righteous ; for
" he that walketh "^' with wise men shall be wise,
but he that walketh with the foolish shall be
known." '^ Receive the afflictions that fall upon
thee with an even mind, and the chances of
life without over-much sorro\y, knowing that a
reward shall be given to thee by God, as was
given to Job and to Lazarus.'**

THAT rr IS OUR DUTY TO ESTEEM OUR CHRISTIAN
TEACHERS ABOVE OUR PARENTS — THE FORMER
BEING THE MEANS OF OUR WELL-BEING, THE
OTHER ONLY OF OUR BEING.

IX. Thou shalt honour him that speaks to thee
the word of God, and be mindful of him day
and night ; and thou shalt reverence him,'^ not
as the author of thy birth, but as one that is
made the occasion of thy well-being. For
where the doctrine concerning God is, there
God is present. Thou shalt every day seek the
face of the saints, that thou mayest acquiesce in
their words.

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO DIVIDE OURSELVES FROM
THE SAINTS, BUT TO MAKE PEACE BETWEEN
THOSE THAT QUARREL, TO JUDGE RIGHTEOUSLY,
AND NOT TO ACCEPT PERSONS.

X. Thou shalt not make schisms among the
saints, but be mindful of the followers of Corah.^°
Thou shalt make peace between those that are
at variance, as Moses did when he persuaded
them to be friends.^' Thou shalt judge right-
eously; for "the judgment is the Lord's.""
Thou shalt not accept persons when thou reprov-
est for sins ; but do as Elijah and Micaiah did
to Ahab, and Ebedmelech the Ethiopian to
Zedekiah, and Nathan to David, and John to
Herod.23

CONCERNING HIM THAT IS DOUBLE-MINDED AND
DESPONDING.

XI. Be not of a doubtful mind in thy prayer,
whether it shall be granted or no. For the
Lord said to me Peter upon the sea : " O thou
of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?"^^
" Be not thou ready to stretch out thy hand to
receive, and to shut it when thou shouldst
give." ^s

'5 Prov. xiii. 17, LXX.

•6 The words from "for he that walketh" to "be known "are
omitted in one V. MS.

'7 Prov. xiii. 20.

'8 Job xlii. ; Luke xvi.

■9 [Chaps, ix.-xvii. contain nearly every clause of Teaching, chap,
iv., in the same order, and with every appearance of a designed en-
largement of that passage. — R.]

2° Num. xvi.

2' Ex. ii. 13.

22 Deut. i. 17.

23 I Kings xviii., xxi.,xxii.; 2 Sam. xii.; Matt. xiv.

24 Matt. xiv. 31.

25 Ecclus. iv. 31.

468

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VII.

CONCERNING DOING GOOD.

XII. If thou hast by the work of thy hands,
give, that thou mayest labour for the redemp-
tion of thy sins ; for " by alms and acts of faith
sins are purged away." ' Thou shalt not grudge
to give to the poor, nor when thou hast given
shalt thou murmur; for thou shalt know who
will repay thee thy reward. For says he : " He
that hath mercy on the poor man lendeth to
the Lord ; according to his gift, so shall it be
repaid him again." ^ Thou shalt not turn away
from him that is needy ; for says he : " He that
stoppeth his ears, that he may not hear the cry
of the needy, himself also shall call, and there
shall be none to hear him." 3 Thou shalt com-
municate in all things to thy brother, and shalt
not say f/iy goods are thine own ; for the com-
mon participation of the necessaries of life is
appointed to all men by God. Thou shalt not
take off thine hand from thy son or from thy
daughter, but shalt teach them the fear of God
from their youth ; for says he : " Correct thy
son, so shall he afford thee good hope." *

HOW MASTERS OUGHT TO BEHAVE THEMSELVES TO
THEIR SERVANTS, AND HOW SERVANTS OUGHT
TO BE SUBJECT.

XIII. Thou shalt not command thy man-ser-
vant, or thy maid-servant, who trust in the same
God, with bitterness of soul, lest they groan
against thee, and wrath be upon thee from God.
And, ye servants, "be subject to your masters," s
as to the representatives of God, with attention
and fear, " as to the Lord, and not to men." ^

CONCERNING HYPOCRISY, AND OBEDIENCE TO THE
LAWS, AND CONFESSION OF SINS.

xrv. Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy ; and what-
soever is pleasing to the Lord, that shalt thou
do. By no means forsake the commands of the
Lord. But thou shalt observe what things thou
hast received from Him, neither adding to them
nor taking away from them. " For thou shalt
not add unto His words, lest He convict thee,
and thou becomest a liar."^ Thou shalt confess
thy sins unto the Lord thy God ; and thou shalt
not add unto them, that it may be well with thee
from the Lord thy God, who willeth not the
death of a sinner, but his repentance.

CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE DUE TO PARENTS.

XV. Thou shalt be observant to thy father and
mother as the causes of thy being born, that

' Prov. xvi. 6; Dan. iv. 27.

* Prov. xix. 17.
3 Prov. xxi. 13.

* Prov. xix. 18.
5 Eph. vi. 5.

<> Eph. vi. 7.
' Prov. XXX. 6.

thou mayest live long on the earth which the
Lord thy God giveth thee. Do not overlook thy
brethren or thy kinsfolk ; for " thou shalt not
overlook those nearly related to thee." ^

CONCERNING THE SUBJECTION DUE TO THE KING
AND TO RULERS.

XVI. Thou shalt fear the king, knowing that
his appointment is of the Lord. His rulers thou
shalt honour as the ministers of God, for they
are the revengers of all unrighteousness ; to
whom pay taxes, tribute, and every oblation with
a willing mind.

CONCERNING THE PURE CONSCIENCE OF THOSE
THAT PRAY.

XVII. Thou shalt not proceed to thy prayer in
the day of thy wickedness, before thou hast laid
aside thy bitterness. This is the way of life, in
which may ye be found, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.

THAT THE WAY WHICH WAS AFTERWARD INTRO-
DUCED BY THE SNARES OF THE ADVERSARY IS
FULL OF IMPIETY AND WICKEDNESS.

XVIII. But the way of death 9 is known by its
wicked practices : for therein is the ignorance of
God, and the introduction of many evils, and
disorders, and disturbances ; whereby come mur-
ders, adulteries, fornications, perjuries, unlawful
lusts, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts,
rapines, false-witnesses, hypocrisies, double-heart-
edness, deceit, pride, malice, insolence, covetous-
ness, obscene talk, jealousy, confidence, haughti-
ness, arrogance, impudence, persecution of the
good, enmity to truth, love of lies, ignorance of
righteousness. For they who do such things do
not adhere to goodness, or to righteous judg-
ment : they watch not for good, but for evil ;
from whom meekness and patience are far off,
who love vain things, pursuing after reward, hav-
ing no pity on the poor, not labouring for him
that is in misery, nor knowing Him that made
them ; murderers of infants, destroyers of the
workmanship of God, that turn away from the
needy, adding affliction to the afflicted, the flat-
terers of the rich, the despisers of the poor, full
of sin. May you, children, be delivered from all
these.

THAT WE MUST NOT TURN FROM THE WAY OF
PIETY EITHER TO THE RIGHT HAND OR TO THE
LEFT. AN EXHORTATION OF THE LAWGIVER.

XIX. See that no one seduce thee '° from piety ;
for says He : " Thou mayst not turn aside from

' Isa. Iviii. 7.

9 [For the remarkable agreement of this chapter with Teaching,
chap, v., see the latter; comp. also Barnabas, xx. — R.l

>° [Chaps, xix.-xxi. have few parallels with the Teaching. — R.]

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

469

it to tlie right hand, or to the left, that thou
mayst have understanding in all that thou doest." '
For if thou dost not turn out of the right way,
thou wilt not be ungodly.

SEC. II. — ON THE FORMATION OF THE CHARACTER
OF BELIEVERS, AND ON GIVING OF THANKS TO
GOD.

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO DESPISE ANY OF THE
SORTS OF FOOD THAT ARE SET BEFORE US, BUT

, GRATEFULLY AND ORDERLY TO PARTAKE OF
THEM.

XX. Now concerning the several sorts of food,
the Lord says to thee, " Ye shall eat the good
things of the earth ; " ^ and, " All sorts of flesh
shall ye eat, as the green herb;"^ but, "Thou
shalt pour out the blood." ■♦ For " not those
things that go into the mouth, but those that
come out of it, defile a man ; " s i mean blas-
phemies, evil-speaking, and if there be any other
thing of the like nature.^ But " do thou eat the
fat of the land with righteousness." ^ For " if
there be anything pleasant, it is His ; and if
there be anything good, it is His. Wheat for
the young men, and wine to cheer the maids."
For " who shall eat or who shall drink without
Him?"^ Wise Ezra 9 does also admonish thee,
and say : " Go your way, and eat the fat, and
drink the sweet, and be not sorrowful." '°

THAT WE OUGHT TO AVOID THE EATING OF THINGS
OFFERED TO IDOLS.

XXI. But do ye abstain from things offered to
idols ; " for they offer them in honour of demons,
that is, to the dishonour of the one God, that ye
may not become partners with demons.

A CONSTITUTION OF OUR LORD, HOW WE OUGHT
TO BAPTIZE, AND INTO WHOSE DEATH.

XXII. Now concerning baptism," O bishop, or
presbyter, we have already given direction, and
we now say, that thou shalt so baptize as the
Lord commanded us, saying : " Go ye, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
(teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you) : " 'J of the Father who
sent, of Christ who came, of the Comforter who

' Deut. V. 32.

^ Isa. i. 19.

3 Gen. ix. 3.

* Deut. XV. 23.
5 Matt. XV. II.

* Mark vii. 22.
' Zech. ix. 17.

8 Eccles. ii. 25, LXX.

9 The words from " Wise Ezra " to " sorrowful " are not in one V.

'° Neh. viii. 10.

" 1 Cor. X. 20.

'- [Comp., with this chapter, Teaching, chap. vii. — R.J

'^ Matt. xxviiL 19.

testified. But thou shalt beforehand anoint the
person with the holy oil, and afterward baptize
him with the water, and in the conclusion shalt
seal him with the ointment ; that the anointing
with oil may be the participation of the Holy
Spirit, and the water the symbol of the death of
Christ, and the ointment the seal of the cove-
nants. But if there be neither oil nor ointment,
water is sufficient l)Oth for the anointing, and for
the seal, and for the confession of Him that is
dead, or indeed is dying together with Christ.
But before baptism, let him that is to be baptized
fast ; for even the Lord, when He was first bap-
tized by John, and abode in the wilderness, did
afterward fast forty days and forty nights.'* But
He was baptized, and then fasted, not having
Himself any need of cleansing, or of fasting, or
of purgation, who was by nature pure and holy ;
but that He might testify the truth to John, and
afford an example to us. Wherefore our Lord
was not baptized into His own passion, or
death, or resurrection — for none of those things
had then happened — but for another purpose.
Wherefore He by His own authority fasted after
His baptism, as being the Lord of John. But
he who is to be initiated into His death ought
first to fast, and then to be baptized. For it is
not reasonable that he who has been buried with
Christ, and is risen again with Him, should ap-
pear dejected at His very resurrection. For
man is not lord of our Saviour's constitution,
since one is the Master and the other the servant.

WHICH DAYS OF THE WEEK WE ARE TO FAST, AND
WHICH NOT, AND FOR WHAT REASONS.

XXIII. But let not your fasts be with the hypo-
crites ; '5 for they fast on the second and fifth days
of the week. But do you either fast the entire
five days, or on the fourth day of the week, and
on the day of the Preparation, because on the
fourth day the condemnation went out against
the Lord, Judas then promising to betray Him
for money ; and you must fast on the day of the
Preparation, because on that day the Lord suf-
fered the death of the cross under Pontius
Pilate. But keep the Sabbath, and the Lord's
day festival ; because the former is the memorial
of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection.
But there is one only Sabbath to be observed by
you in the whole year, which is that of our Lord's
burial, on which men ought to keep a fast, but
not a festival. For inasmuch as the Creator was
then under the earth, the sorrow for Him is more
forcible than the joy for the creation ; for the
Creator is more honourable by nature and dignity
than His own creatures.

'* Matt, iii., iv.

'S [Comp. the few but remarkable resemblances of Teaching, chap-
viii., with chaps, xxiii., xxiv., here. — R.]

470

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VII.

WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE OUGHT TO PRAY THAT
PRAYER THAT WAS GIVEN BY THE LORD.

XXIV. Now, " when ye pray, be not ye as the
hypocrites ; " ' but as the Lord has appointed
us in the Gospel, so pray ye : " Our Father which
art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name ; Thy king-
dom come ; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so
on earth ; give us this day our daily bread ; and
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors ;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil; for Thine is the kingdom for ever.
Amen." ^ Pray thus thrice in a day, preparing
yourselves beforehand, that ye may be worthy
of the adoption of the Father ; lest, when you
call Him Father unworthily, you be reproached
by Him, as Israel once His first-born son was
told: "If I be a Father, where is my glory?
And if I be a Lord, where is my fear?" ' For
the glory of fathers is the holiness of their chil-
dren, and the honour of masters is the fear of
their servants, as the contrary is dishonour and
confusion. For says He : " Through you my
name is blasphemed among the Gentiles." *

A MYSTICAL THANKSGIVING.

XXV. Be ye always thankful, as faithful and
honest servants ; and concerning the eucharisti-
cal thanksgiving say thus : s We thank Thee, our
Father, for that life which Thou hast made
known to us by Jesus Thy Son, by whom Thou
madest all things, and takest care of the whole
world ; whom Thou hast sent to become man
for our salvation ; whom Thou hast permitted
to suffer and to die ; whom Thou hast raised up,
and been pleased to glorify, and hast set Him
doAvn on Thy right hand ; by whom Thou hast
promised us the resurrection of the dead. Do
thou, O Lord Almighty, everlasting God, so
gather together Thy Church from the ends of
the earth into Thy kingdom, as this corn was
once scattered, and is now become one loaf.
We also, our Father, thank Thee for the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for us,
and for His precious body, whereof we celebrate
this representation, as Himself appointed us,
" to show forth His death." ^ For through Him
glory is to be given to Thee for ever. Amen.
Let no one eat of these things that is not initi-
ated ; but those only who have been baptized
into the death of the Lord. But if any one that
is not initiated conceal himself, and partake of
the same, "he eats eternal damnation ;" ? be-

* Matt. vi. 5.

* Matt. vi. 9, etc.
» Mai. i. 6

* Isa. lii. 5.

5 [See the eucharistic prayer in Teaching, chap. ix. The corre-
spondences and divergences are alike interesting. — R.]
'' I Cor xi. 26.
' I Cor. xi. 59 [See Elucidation I. p. 382, su/ra.^

cause, being not of the faith of Christ, he has
partaken of such things as it is not lawful for
him to partake of, to his own punishment. But
if any one is a partaker through ignorance, in-
struct him quickly, and initiate him, that he may
not go out and despise you.

A THANKSGIVING AT THE DIVINE PARTICIPATION.

XXVI. After the participation,^ give thanks in
this manner : We thank thee, O God and Father
of Jesus our Saviour, for Thy holy name, which
Thou hast made to inhabit among us ; and that
knowledge, faith, love, and immortality which
Thou hast given us through Thy Son Jesus.
Thou, O Almighty Lord, the God of the universe,
hast created the world, and the things that are
therein, by Him ; and hast planted a law in our
souls, and beforehand didst prepare things for
the convenience of men. O God of our holy
and blameless fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, Thy faithful servants ; Thou, O God, who
art powerful, faithful, and true, and without
deceit in Thy promises ; who didst send upon
earth Jesus Thy Christ to live with men, as a
man, when He was God the Word, and man, to
take away error by the roots : do Thou even
now, through Him, be mindful of this Thy holy
Church, which Thou hast purchased with the
precious blood of Thy Christ, and deliver it
from all evil, and perfect it in Thy love and Thy
truth, and gather us all together into Thy king-
dom which Thou hast prepared. Let this Thy
kingdom come.9 " Hosanna to the Son of David.
Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the
Lord"'° — God the Lord, who was manifested
to us in the flesh. If any one be holy, let him
draw near ; but if any one be not such, let him
become such by repentance. Permit also to
your presbyters to give thanks.

A THANKSGIVING ABOUT THE MYSTICAL OINTMENT.

XXVII. Concerning the ointment give thanks
in this manner : We give Thee thanks, O God,
the Creator of the whole world, both for the fra-
grancy of the ointment, and for the immortality
which Thou hast made known to us by Thy Son
Jesus. For Thine is the glory and the power for
ever. Amen. Whosoever comes to you," and
gives thanks in this manner, receive him as a
disciple of Christ. But if he preach another
doctrine, different from that which Christ by us
has delivered to you, such a one you must not
permit to give thanks ; for such a one rather
affronts God than glorifies Him.

8 [Comp. Teaching, chap. x. — R.]

9 [" Maran atha," as in Teaching. — R.]

'° I Cor. xvi. 22; Matt. xxi. 9; Mark xi. 10. [Comp. John xii.
13. — R.]

" [Comp. Teaching, chap, xi., where, however, only a few phrases
correspond. — R.l

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

471

THAT WE OUGHT NOT TO BE INDIFFERENT ABOUT
COMMUNICATING.

XXVIII. But whosoever comes to you, let him
be first examined, and then received ; for ye
have understanding, and are able to know the
right hand from the left,' and to distinguish false
teachers from true teachers. But when a teach-
er comes to you, supply him with what he wants
with all readiness. And even when a false
teacher comes, you shall give him for his necss-
,sity, but shall not receive his error. Nor indeed
may ye pray together with him, lest ye be pol-
luted as well as he. Every true prophet or
teacher 2 that comes to you is worthy of his
maintenance, as being a labourer in the word of
righteousness.^

A CONSTITUTION CONCERNING OBLATIONS.

XXIX. All the first-fruits of the winepress, the
threshing-floor, the oxen, and the sheep, shalt
thou give to the priests,* that thy storehouses and
garners and the products of thy land may be
blessed, and thou mayst be strengthened with
corn and wine and oil, and the herds of thy cattle
and flocks of thy sheep may be increased. Thou
shalt give the tenth of thy increase to the orphan,
and to the widow, and to the poor, and to the
stranger. All the first-fruits of thy hot bread, of
thy barrels of wine, or oil, or honey, or nuts, or
grapes, or the first-fruits of other things, shalt
thou give to the priests ; but those of silver, and
of garments, and of all sort of possessions, to the
orphan and to the widow.

HOW WE OUGHT TO ASSEMBLE TOGETHER, AND TO
CELEBRATE THE FESTIVAL DAY OF OUR SAVIOUR'S
RESURRECTION.

XXX. On the day of the resurrection of the
Lord, 5 that is, the Lord's day, assemble your-
selves together, without fail, giving thanks to
God, and praising Him for those mercies God
has bestowed upon you through Christ, and has
delivered you from ignorance, error, and bond-
age, that your sacrifice may be unspotted, and
acceptable to God, who has said concerning His
universal Church : " In every place shall incense
and a pure sacrifice be offered unto me ; for I
am a great King, saith the Lord Almighty, and
my name is wonderful among the heathen." ^

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS THEY OUGHT TO HAVE WHO
ARE TO BE ORDAINED.

XXXI. Do you first ordain bishops worthy of
the Lord/ and presbyters and deacons, pious

' [This sentence is found in Teaching, chap. xii. — R.]

- [Part of this sentence has a parallel in Teaching, chap, xiii.,
but there is an obvious difference of circumstances. Chap. xxix.
presents more parallel passages. — R.]

3 Matt. X. 41.

■♦ Num. xviii.

5 [The resemblance to Teaching, chap, xiv., is marked. — R.]

* Mai. i. II, 14.

7 [Comp. text and notes, Teaching, chap. xv. — R.]

men, righteous, meek, free from the love of
money, lovers of truth, approved, holy, not ac-
cepters of persons, who are able to teach the
word of piety, and rightly dividing the doctrines
of the Lord.'"^ And do ye honour such as your
fathers, as your lords, as your benefactors, as the
causes of your well-being. Reprove ye one an-
other, not in anger, but in mildness, with kind-
ness and peace. Observe all things that are
commanded you by the Lord. Be watchful for
your Iife.'5 " Let your loins be girded about,
and your lights burning, and ye like unto men
who wait for their Lord, when He will come, at
even, or in the morning, or at cock-crowing, or
at midnight. For at what hour they, think not,
the Lord will come ; and if they open to Him,
blessed are those servants, because they were
found watching. For He will gird Himself, and
will make them to sit down to meat, and will
come forth and serve them." '° Watch therefore,
and pray, that ye do not sleep unto death. For
your former good deeds will not profit you, if at
the last part of your life you go astray from the
true faith.

A PREDICTION CONCERNING FUTURITIES.

XXXII. For in the last days false prophets shall
be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word ;
and the sheej:) shall be changed into wolves, and
love into hatred : for through the abounding of
iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For
men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one
another. And then shall appear the deceiver of
the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince
of lies," whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with
the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the
wicked with His lips ; and many shall be offended
at Him. But they that endure to the end, the
same shall be saved. And then shall appear the
sign of the Son of man in heaven ; " '^ and after-
wards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the
archangel \ '^ and in that interval shall be the
revival of those that were asleep. And then shall
the Lord come, and all His saints with Him,''*
with a great concussion above the clouds, with
the angels of His power,'s in the throne of His
kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of
the world, and to render to every one according
to his deeds. " Then shall the wicked go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
shall go into life eternal," '^ to inherit those things
" which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor

8 2 Tim. ii. 15.

9 [This clause is found verbatim in Teaching, chap, xvi There
is a resemblance also, in order of topics, from this point down to the
phrase " above the clouds; " see chap, xxxii. No further correspond-
ences appear. — R.J

■° Luke xii. 35, 37; Mark xiii. 35,

" 2 Thess. ii.

'2 Isa. xi. 4; Matt. xxiv.

■3 I Thess. iv. 16.

'•1 [Zech. xiv. 5. — R.J

'5 Matt. xvi. 27.

'<> Mqtt. XXV. 46.

472

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VII.

have entered into the heart of man, such things
as God hath prepared for them that love Him ; " '
and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God,
which is in Christ Jesus. Since we are vouch-
safed such great blessings from Him, let us be-
come His suppliants, and call upon Him by
continual prayer, and say : —

A PRAYER DECLARATIVE OF GOD'S VARIOUS PROVI-
DENCE.

XXXIII. Our eternal Saviour, the King of gods,
who alone art almighty, and the Lord, the God of
all beings, and the God of our holy and blameless
fathers, and of those before us ; the God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob ; who art
merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and
abundant in mercy ; to whom every heart is
naked, and by whom every heart is seen, and to
whom every secret thought is revealed : to Thee
do the souls of the righteous cry aloud, upon
Thee do the hopes of the godly trust, Thou
Father of the blameless. Thou hearer of the
supplication of those that call upon Thee with
uprightness, and who knowest the supplications
that are not uttered : for Thy providence reaches
as far as the inmost parts of mankind ; and by
Thy knowledge Thou searchest the thoughts of
every one, and in every region of the whole
earth the incense of prayer and supplication is
sent up to Thee. O Thou who hast appointed
this present world as a place of combat to right-
eousness, and hast opened to all the gate of
mercy, and hast demonstrated to every man by
implanted knowledge, and natural judgment, and
the admonitions of the law, how the possession
of riches is not everlasting, the ornament of
beauty is not perpetual, our strength and force
are easily dissolved ; and that all is vapour and
vanity ; and that only the good conscience of
faith unfeigned passes through the midst of the
heavens, and returning with truth, takes hold of
the right hand of the joy^ which is to come.
And withal, before the promise of the restoration
of all things is accomplished, the soul itself ex-
ults in hope, and is joyful. For from that truth
which was in our forefather Abraham, when he
changed his way Thou didst guide him by a
vision, and didst teach him what kind of state
this world is ; and knowledge went before his
faith, and faith was the consequence of his knowl-
edge ; and the covenant did follow after his
faith. For Thou saidst : " I will make thy seed
as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is
by the sea-shore." ^ Moreover, when Thou hadst
given him Isaac, and knewest him to be like him
in his mode of life, Thou wast then called his

' I Cor. ii. 9.

* A conjecture of Cotelerius is adopted,
phment" instead of "joy."
^ Gen. xiii. 16, xxii. 17.

The MSS. read " nour-

God, saying : " I will be a God to thee, and to
thy seed after thee."* And when our father
Jacob was sent into Mesopotamia, Thou showedst
him Christ, and by him speakest, saying : " Be-
hold, I am with thee, and I will increase thee,
and multiply thee exceedingly." 5 And so spakest
Thou to Moses, Thy faithful and holy servant, at
the vision of the bush : " I am He that is ; this
is my name for ever, and my memorial for gen-
erations of generations."^ O Thou great pro-
tector of the posterity of Abraham, Thou art
blessed for ever.

A PRAYER DECLARATIVE OF GOD'S VARIOUS CREA-
TION.

XXXIV. Thou art blessed, O Lord, the King of
ages, who by Christ hast made the whole world,
and by Him in the beginning didst reduce into
order the disordered parts ; who dividedst the
waters from the waters by a firmament, and didst
put into them a spirit of life ; who didst fix the
earth, and stretch out the heaven, and didst dis-
pose every creature by an accurate constitution.
For by Thy power, O Lord, the world is beauti-
fied, the heaven is fixed as an arch over us, and
is rendered illustrious with stars for our comfort
in the darkness. The light also and the sun were
begotten for days and the production of fruit,
and the moon for the change of seasons, by its
increase and diminutions ; and one was called
Night, and the other Day. And the firmament
was exhibited in the midst of the abyss, and
Thou commandedst the waters to be gathered
together, and the dry land to appear. But as for
the sea itself, who can possibly describe it, which
comes with fury from the ocean, yet runs back
again, being stopped by the sand at Thy com-
mand ? For Thou hast said : " Thereby shall
her waves be broken." ^ Thou hast also made
it capable of supporting little and great creatures,
and made it navigable for ships. Then did the
earth become green, and was planted with all
sorts of flowers, and the variety of several trees ;
and the shining luminaries, the nourishers of
those plants, preserve their unchangeable course,
and in nothing depart from Thy command. But
where Thou biddest them, there do they rise
and set for signs ot the seasons and of the years,
making a constant return of the work of men.
Afterwards the kinds of the several animals were
created — those belonging to the land, to the
water, to the air, and both to air and water ; and
the artificial wisdom of Thy providence does
still impart to every one a suitable providence.
For as He was not unable to produce different
kinds, so neither has He disdained to exercise a

* Gen. xxvi. 3.

5 Gen. xvii. 7, xxviii. 15, xlviii. 4.

* Ex. iii. i.^, 15.

^ Job xxxviii. II.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

473

different providence towards every one. And at
*ihe conclusion of the creation Thou gavest direc-
tion to Thy Wisdom, and formedst a reasonable
creature as the citizen of the world, saying,
•' Let us make man after our image, and after
our likeness ; " ' and hast exhibited him as the
ornament of the world, and formed him a body
out of the four elements, those primary bodies,
but hadst prepared a soul out of nothing, and
bestowedst upon him his five senses, and didst
set over his sensations a mind as the conductor
of, the soul. And besides all these things, O
Lord God, who can worthily declare the motion
of the rainy clouds, the shining of the lightning,
the noise of the thunder, in order to the supply
of proper food, and the most agreeable temper-
ature of the air? But when man was disobedient,
Thou didst deprive him of the life which should
have been his reward. Yet didst Thou not
destroy him for ever, but laidst him to sleep for
a time ; and Thou didst by oath call him to a
resurrection, and loosedst the bond of death, O
Thou reviver of the dead, through Jesus Christ,
who is our hope.

A Plti^YER, WITH THANKSGIVING, DECLARATIVE OF
god's PROVIDENCE OVER THE BEINGS HE HAS
MADE.

XXXV. Great art thou, O Lord Almighty, and
great is Thy power, and of Thy understanding
there is no number. Our Creator and Saviour,
rich in benefits, long-suffering, and the bestower
of mercy, who dost not take away Thy salvation
from Thy creatures : for Thou art good by
nature, and sparest sinners, and invitest them to
repentance ; for admonition is the effect of Thy
bowels of 'compassion. For how should we
abide if we were required to come to judgment
immediately, when, after so much long-suffering,
we hardly get clear of our miserable condition ?
The heavens declare Thy dominion, and the
earth shakes with earthquakes, and, hanging
upon nothing, declares Thy unshaken stedfast-
ness. The sea raging with waves, and feeding a
flock of ten thousand creatures, is bounded with
sand, as standing in awe at Thy command, and
compels all men to cry out : " How great are
Thy works, O Lord ! in wisdom hast Thou made
them all : the earth is full of Thy creation." ^
And the bright host of angels and the intel-
lectual spirits say to Palmoni,^ " There is but one
holy Being ; " * and the holy seraphim, together
with the six-winged cherubim, who sing to Thee
their triumphal song, cry out with never-ceasing
voices, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts !
heaven and earth are full of Thy glory ; " 5

' Gen. i. 26.

2 Ps. civ. 24.

3 fi e., " the wonderful Numberer; " £ng:, marg-A

* Dan. yiii. 13. [Not according to Heb. nor LXX. as now.]
' Isa. vi. 3.

and the other multitudes of the orders, angels,
archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities,
authorities, and powers cry aloud, and say,
" Blessed be the glory of the Lord out of His
place." ^ But Israel, Thy Church on earth,
taken out of the Gentiles, emulating the heav-
enly powers night and day, with a full heart and
a wilhng soul sings, "The chariot of God is
ten thousandfold thousands of them that re-
joice : the Lord is among them in Sinai, in the
holy place." ^ The heaven knows Him who
fixed it as a cube of stone, in the form of an
arch, upon nothing, who united the land and
water to one another, and scattered the vital air
all abroad, and conjoined fire therewith for
warmth, and the comfort against darkness. The
choir of stars strikes us with admiration, declar-
ing Him that numbers them, and showing Him
that names them; the animals declare Him
that puts \i{& into them ; the trees show Him that
makes them grow : all which creatures, being
made by Thy word, show forth the greatness of
Thy power. Wherefore every man ought to
send up an hymn from his very soul to Thee,
through Christ, in the name of all the rest, since
He has power over them all by Thy appomt-
ment. For Thou art kind in Thy benefits, and
beneficent in Thy bowels of compassion, who
alone art almighty : for when Thou wiliest, to be
able is present with Thee ; for Thy eternal power
both quenches flame, and stops the mouths of
lions, and tames whales, and raises up the sick,
and overrules the power of all things, and over-
turns the host of enemies, and casts down a
people numbered in their arrogance. Thou art
He who art in heaven. He who art on earth, He
who art in the sea. He who art in finite things,
Thyself unconfined by anything. For of Thy
majesty there is no boundary ; for it is not ours,
O Lord, but the oracle of Thy servant, who
said, " And thou shalt know in thine heart that
the Lord thy God He is God in heaven above,
and on earth beneath, and there is none other
besides Thee : " ^ for there is no God besides
Thee alone, there is none holy besides Thee,
the Lord, the God of knowledge, the God of
the saints, holy above all holy beings ; for they
are sanctified by Thy hands. Thou art glorious,
and highly exalted, invisible by nature, and un-
searchable in Thy judgments ; whose life is with-
out want, whose duration can never alter or fail,
whose operation is without toil, whose great-
ness is unlimited, whose excellency is perpetual,
whose habitation is inaccessible, whose dwelling
is unchangeable, whose knowledge is without be-
ginning, whose truth is immutable, whose work
is without assistants, whose dominion cannot be

^ Ezek. iii. 12.

7 Ps. Ixvii. 17.

8 Deut. iv. ■)/).

474

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VII.

taken away, whose monarchy is without succes-
sion, whose kingdom is without end, whose
strength is irresistible, whose army is very nu-
merous : for Thou art the Father of wisdom,
the Creator of the creation, by a Mediator, as
the cause ; the Bestower of providence, the
Giver of laws, the Supplier of want, the Pun-
isher of the ungodly, and the Rewarder of the
jighteous ; the God and Father of Christ, and
'(he Lord of those that are pious towards Him,
■whose promise is infallible, whose judgment with-
out bribes, whose sentiments are immutable,
whose piety is incessant, whose thanksgiving is
everlasting, through whom ' adoration is worthily
due to Thee from every rational and holy nature.

A PRAYER COMMEMORATIVE OF THE INCARNATION
OF CHRIST, AND HIS VARIOUS PROVIDENCE TO
THE SAINTS.

XXXVI. O Lord Almighty, Thou hast created
the world by Christ, and hast appointed the
Sabbath in memory thereof, because that on
that day Thou hast made us rest from our works,
for the meditation upon Thy laws. Thou hast
also appointed festivals for the rejoicing of our
souls, that we might come into the remembrance
of that wisdom which was created by Thee ;
how He submitted to be made of a woman on
our account ; ^ He appeared in life, and demon-
strated Himself in His baptism ; how He that
appeared is both God and man ; He suffered
for us by Thy permission, and died, and rose
again by Thy power : on which account we sol-
emnly assemble to celebrate the feast of the
resurrection on the Lord's day, and rejoice on
account of Him who has conquered death, and
has brought life and immortality to light. For
by Him Thou hast brought home the Gentiles
to Thyself for a peculiar people, the true Israel,
beloved of God, and seeing God. For Thou,
O Lord, broughtest our fathers out of the land
of Egypt, and didst deliver them out of the iron
furnace, from clay and brick-making, and didst
redeem them out of the hands of Pharaoh, and
of those under him, and didst lead them through
the sea as through dry land, and didst bear their
manners in the wilderness, and bestow on them
all sorts of good things. Thou didst give them
the law or decalogue, which was pronounced by
Thy voice and written with Thy hand. Thou
didst enjoin the observation of the Sabbath, not
affording them an occasion of idleness, but an
opportunity of piety, for their knowledge of
Thy power, and the prohibition of evils ; having
limited them as within an holy circuit for the
sake of doctrine, for the rejoicing upon the
seventh period. On this account was there ap-

' One V. MS. reads, "with whom."
2 I'rov. viii. 22, LXX.

pointed one week, and seven weeks, and the
seventh month, and the seventh year, and the
revolution of these, the jubilee, which is the fif-
tieth year for remission, that men might have
no occasion to pretend ignorance.^ On this
account He permitted men every Sabbath to
rest, that so no one might be willing to send one
word out of his mouth in anger on the day of
the Sabbath. For the Sabbath is the ceasing
of the creation, the completion of the world, the
inquiry after laws, and the grateful praise to God
for the blessings He has bestowed upon men.
All which the Lord's day excels,'* and shows the
Mediator Himself, the Provider, the Lawgiver,
the Cause of the resurrection, the First-bom of
the whole creation, God the Word, and man,
who was bom of Mary alone, without a man,
who lived holily, who was crucified under Pontius
Pilate, and died, and rose again from the dead.
So that the Lord's day commands us to offer
unto Thee, O Lord, thanksgiving for all.5 For
this is the grace afforded by Thee, which on ac-
count of its greatness has obscured all other
blessings.

A PRAYER CONTAINING THE MEMORIAL OF HIS
PROVIDENCE, AND AN ENUMERATION OF THE
VARIOUS BENEFITS AFFORDED THE SAINTS BY
THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST.

XXXVII. Thou who hast fulfilled Thy promises
made by the prophets, and hast had mercy on
Zion, and compassion on Jerusalem, by exalt-
ing the throne of David, Thy servant, in the
midst of her, by the birth of Christ, who was
born of his seed according to the flesh, of a vir-
gin alone ; do Thou now, O Lord God, accept
the prayers which proceed from the lips of Thy
people which are of the Gentiles, which call upon
Thee in truth, as Thou didst accept of the gifts
of the righteous in their generations. In the first
place Thou did respect the sacrifice of Abel,^ and
accept it as Thou didst accept of the sacrifice of
Noah when he went out of the ark ; 7 of Abra-
ham, when he went out of the land of the Chal-
deans ; ^ of Isaac at the Well of the Oath ; 9
of Jacob in Bethel ; '° of Moses in the desert ; "
of Aaron between the dead and the living ; '^ of
Joshua the son of Nun in Gilgal ; '^ of Gideon
at the rock, and the fleeces, before his sin ; "• of
Manoah and his wife in the field ; of Samson in
his thirst before the transgression ; 's of Jephtha

3 Lev. xxiii., xxv.

* [Vol. vi. p. 149, note 8, this series.]

Justin Martyr, vol. i. p. i86, this series.]

' Gen. iv.

' Gen. viii.

^ Gen. xii.

9 Gen. xxvi.
'° Gen. XXXV.
" Ex. iii.
'- Num. xvi.
» Josh. V.
'* Judg. vi, viii.
'5 Judg. xili., XV., XVI.

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

475

in the war before his rash vow ; of Barak and
Deborah in the days of Sisera ; ' of Samuel in
Mizpeh ; ^ of David in the threshing-floor of
Oman the Jebusite ; ^ of Solomon in Gibeon
and in Jerusalem : * of Elijah in Mount Car-
mel ; 5 of Elisha at the barren fountain ; ^ of
Jehoshaphat in war ; ^ of Hezekiah in his sick-
ness, and concerning Sennacherib ; ^ of Manas-
seh in the land of the Chaldeans, after his
transgression ; ^ of Josiah in Phassa ; '° of Ezra
at the return ; " of Daniel in the den of lions ; '^
of Jonah in the whale's belly ; '^ of the three
children in the fiery furnace ; '* of Hannah in
the tabernacle before the ark ; 's of Nehemiah
at the rebuilding of the walls ; '^ of Zerubbabel ;
of Mattathias and his sons in their zeal ; '^ of
Jael in blessings. Now also do Thou receive
the prayers of Thy people which are offered to
Thee with knowledge, through Christ in the
Spirit.

A PRAYER FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF THE RIGHT-
EOUS.

xxxviii. We give Thee thanks for all things,
O Lord Almighty, that Thou hast not taken
away Thy mercies and Thy compassions from
us ; but in every succeeding generation Thou
dost save, and deliver, and assist, and protect :
for Thou didst assist in the days of Enos and
Enoch, in the days of Moses and Joshua, in the
days of the judges, in the days of Samuel and
of Elijah and of the prophets, in the days of
David and of the kings, in the days of Esther
and Mordecai, in the days of Judith, in the days
of Judas Maccabeus and his brethren, and in our
days hast. Thou assisted us by Thy great High
Priest, Jesus Christ Thy Son. For He has de-
livered us from the sword, and hath freed us
from famine, and sustained us ; has delivered
us from sickness, has preserved us from an evil
tongue. For all which things do we give Thee
thanks through Christ, who has given us an ar-
ticulate voice to confess withal, and added to it
a suitable tongue as an instrument to modulate
withal, and a proper taste, and a suitable touch,
and a sight for contemplation, and the hearing

* Judg. xi., iv.

2 I Sam. vii.

3 I Chron. xxi.

* I Kings iii., viii.
S I Kings xviii.

* 2 Kings ii.

' 2 Chron. xviii.

8 2 Kings XX., xix. [Curiously enough, the chronological order,
according to the best recent authorities, is that indicated above ; the
sickness (2 Kings xx.) preceded the invasion of Sennacherib (chap,
xix.). Monumental evidence confirms this view. — R.]

9 2 Chron. xxxiii.

'° 2 Chron. XXXV. Cotelerius conjectures " in his passover," in-
stead of " in Phassa." [A very probable textual emendation. — R. j
" Ezra viii.
'2 Dan. vi. 16.
*3 Jonah ii.
W Dan. iii.
'5 I Sam. i.
'* Neh. iii.
" I Mace. 1., etc

of sounds, and the smelling of vapours, and
hands for work, and feet for walking. And all
these members dost Thou form from a little
drop in the womb ; and after the formation dost
Thou bestow on it an immortal soul, and pro-
ducest it into the light as a rational creature,
even man. Thou hast instructed him by Thy
laws, improved him by Thy statutes ; and when
Thou bringest on a dissolution for a while, Thou
hast promised a resurrection. Wherefore what
life is sufficient, what length of ages will be long
enough, for men to be thankful? To do it
worthily it is impossible, but to do it according
to our ability is just and right. For Thou hast
delivered us from the impiety of polytheism,
and from the heresy of the murderers of Christ ;
Thou hast delivered us from error and igno-
rance ; Thou hast sent Christ among men as a
man, being the only begotten God ; Thou hast
made the Comforter to inhabit among us ; Thou
hast set angels over us ; Thou hast put the devil
to shame ; Thou hast brought us into being
when we were not ; Thou takest care of us when
made ; Thou measurest out life to us ; Thou
affordest us food ; Thou hast promised repent-
ance. Glory and worship be to Thee for all
these things, through Jesus Christ,'^ now and
ever, and through all ages. Amen. Meditate
on these things, brethren ; and the Lord be
with you upon earth, and in the kingdom of His
Father, who both sent Him, and has " delivered
us by Him from the bondage of corruption into
His glorious liberty ; " '^ and has promised life
to those who through Him have believed in the
God of the whole world.

SEC. III. ON THE INSTRUCTION OF CATECHU-
MENS, AND THEIR INITIATION INTO BAPIISM.

Now, after what manner those ought to live
that are initiated into Christ, and what thanks-
givings they ought to send up to God through
Christ, has been said in the foregoing directions.
But it is reasonable not to leave even those who
are not yet initiated without assistance.

HOW THE CATECHUMENS ARE TO BE INSTRUCTED
IN THE ELEMENTS.

XXXIX. Let him, therefore, who is to be taught
the truth in regard to piety be instructed before
his baptism in the knowledge of the unbegotten
God, in the understanding of His only begotten
Son, in the assured acknowledgment of the Holy
Ghost. Let him learn the order of the several
parts of the creation, the series of providence,
the different dispensations of Thy laws. Let
him be instructed why the world was made, and
why man was appointed to be a citizen therein ;

>8 One V. MS. reads, " with Christ and the Holy Spirit."
'9 Rom. viii. 21.

476

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VII,

let him also know his own nature, of what sort
it is ; let him be taught how God punished the
wicked with water and fire, and did glorify the
saints in every generation — I mean Seth, and
Enos, and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham
and his posterity, and Melchizedek, and Job, |
and Moses, and Joshua, and Caleb, and Phineas
the priest, and those that were holy in every
generation ; and how God still took care of and
did not reject mankind, but called them from
their error and vanity to the acknowledgment of
the truth at various seasons, reducing them from
bondage and impiety unto liberty and piety,
from injustice to righteousness, from death eternal
to everlasting life. Let him that offers himself to
baptism learn these and the like things during
the time that he is a catechumen ; and let him
who lays his hands upon him adore God, the
Lord of the whole world, and thank Him for
His creation, for His sending Christ His only
begotten Son, that He might save man by blot-
ting out his transgressions, and that He might
remit ungodliness and sins, and might " purify
him from all filthiness of flesh and spirit," ' and
sanctify man according to the good pleasure of
His kindness, that He might inspire him with
the knowledge of His will, and enlighten the
eyes of his heart to consider of His wonderful
works, and make known to him the judgments
of righteousness, that so he might hate every
way of iniquity, and walk in the way of truth,
that he might be thought worthy of the laver
of regeneration, to the adoption of sons, which
is in Christ, that " being planted together in the
hkeness of the death of Christ," ^ in hopes of
a glorious communication, he may be mortified
to sin, and may live to God, as to his mind, and
word, and deed, and may be numbered together
in the book of the living. And after this thanks-
giving, let him instruct him in the doctrines
concerning our Lord's incarnation, and in those
concerning His passion, and resurrection from
the dead, and assumption.

A CONSTITUTION HOW THE CATECHUMENS ARE TO
BE BLESSED BY THE PRIESTS IN THEIR INITIA-
TION, AND WHAT THINGS ARE TO BE TAUGHT
THEM.

XL. And when it remains that the catechumen
is to be baptized, let him learn what concerns the
renunciation of the devil, and the joining himself
with Christ ; for it is fit that he should first ab-
stain from things contrary, and then be admitted
to the mysteries. He must beforehand purify
his heart from all wickedness of disposition, from
all spot and wrinkle, and then partake of the holy
things ; for as the skilfuUest husbandman does
first purge his ground of the thorns which are

■ 2 Cor. vii. I.
' Rom. vi. 5.

grown up therein, and does then sow his wheat,
so ought you also to take away all impiety from
them, and then to sow the seeds of piety in them,
and vouchsafe them baptism. For even our Lord
did in this manner exhort us, saying first, " Make
disciples of all nations ;" ^ and then He adds
this, " and baptize them into the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Let, therefore, the candidate for baptism declare i
thus in his renunciation : ■♦ — I

THE RENUNCIATION OF THE ADVERSARY, AND THE
DEDICATION TO THE CHRIST OF GOD.

XLi. I renounce Satan, and his works, and his
pomps, and his worships, and his angels, and
his inventions, and all things that are under him."
And after his renunciation let him in his conso-
ciation say : And I associate myself to Christ,
and beheve, and am baptized into one unbegotten
Being, the only true God Almighty, the Father
of Christ, the Creator and Maker of all things,
from whom are all things ; and into the Lord
Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, the First-
born of the whole creation, who before the ages
was begotten by the good pleasure of the Father,
by whom all things were made, both those in
heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible ;
who in the last days descended from heaven, and
took flesh, and was born of the holy Virgin Mary,
and did converse holily according to the laws of
His God and Father, and was crucified under
Pontius Pilate, and died for us, and rose again
from the dead after His passion the third day,
and ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the
right hand of the Father, and again is to come
at the end of the world with glory to judge the
quick and the dead, of whose kingdom there
shall be no end. And I am baptized into the
Holy Ghost, that is, the Comforter, who wrought
in all the saints from the beginning of the world,
but was afterwards sent to the apostles by the
Father, according to the promise of our Saviour
and Lord, Jesus Christ ; and after the apostles,
to all those that believe in the Holy Catholic
Church ; into the resurrection of the flesh, and
into the remission of sins, and into the kingdom
of heaven, and into the hfe of the world to come.
And after this vow, he comes in order to the
anointing with oil.

A THANKSGIVING CONCERNING THE ANOINTING
WITH THE MYSTICAL OIL.

XLii. Now this is blessed by the high priest
for the remission of sins, and the first prepara-
tion for baptism. For he calls thus upon the
unbegotten God, the Father of Christ, the King
of all sensible and intelligible natures, that He
would sanctify the oil in the name of the Lord

3 Matt, xxviii. 19.

* [Compare Justin Martyr, vol. i. p. 183, this series.]

Sec. IV.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

477

Jesus, and impart to it spiritual grace and effica-
cious strength, the remission of sins, and the first
preparation for the confession of baptism, that
so the candidate for baptism, when he is anointed,
may be freed from all ungodliness, and may be-
come worthy of initiation, according to the com-
mand of the Only-begotten.

A THANKSGIVING CONCERNING THE MYSTICAL WATER.

xuii. After this he comes to the water, and
blesses and glorifies the Lord God Almighty,
the Father of the only begotten God ; ' and the
priest returns thanks that He has sent His Son
to become man on our account, that He might
save us ; that He has permitted that He should
in all things become obedient to the laws of that
incarnation, to preach the kingdom of heaven,
the remission of sins, and the resurrection of the
dead. Moreover, he adores the only begotten
God Himself, after His Father, and for Him,
giving Him thanks that He undertook to die for
all men by the cross, the type of which He has
appointed to be the baptism of regeneration.
He glorifies Him also, for that God who is the
Lord of the whole world, in the name of Christ,
and by His Holy Spirit, has not cast off mankind,
but has suited His providence to the difference
of seasons : at first giving to Adam himself para-
dise for an habitation of pleasure, and afterwards
giving a command on account of providence, and
casting out the offender justly, but through His
goodness not utterly casting him off, but instruct-
ing his posterity in succeeding ages after various
manners ; on whose account, in the conclusion
of the world. He has sent His Son to become
man for man's sake, and to undergo all human
passions without sin. Him, therefore, let the
priest even now call upon in baptism, and let
him say : Look down from heaven, and sanctify
this water, and give it grace and power, that so
he that is to be baptized, according to the com-
mand of Thy Christ, may be crucified with Him,
and may die with Him, and may be buried with
Him, and may rise with Him to the adoption
which is in Him, that he may be dead to sin
and live to righteousness. And after this, when
he has baptized him in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, he shall
anoint him with ointment, and shall add as
follows : —

A THANKSGIVING CONCERNING THE MYSTICAL OINT-
MENT.

XLiv. O Lord God, who art without genera-
tion, and without a superior, the Lord of the

' One V. MS. has " Son " instead of " God." Cotelerius remarks
that this change was made in the interests of orthodoxy; for the ex-
pression " only begotten God " had become common with the Arians.
[Comp. John i. i8, where the most weighty ancient authorities read
Moi-o-yei-Tjs 6(6<; instead of 6 ^.oi'oyci'ijs utos; see Revised Version,
margin, in ioco. — R.]

whole world, who hast scattered the sweet odout
of the knowledge of the Gospel among all
nations, do Thou grant at this time that this
ointment may be efficacious upon him that is
baptized, that so the sweet odour of Thy Christ
may continue upon him firm and fixed ; and
that now he has died with Him, he may arise
and live with Him. Let him say these and the
like things, for this is the efficacy of the laying
on of hands on every one ; for unless there be
such a recital made by a pious priest over every
one of these, the candidate for baptism does
only descend into the water as do the Jews, and
he only puts off the filth of the body, not the
filth of the soul. After this let him stand up,
and pray that prayer which the Lord taught us.
But, of necessity, he who is risen again ought
to stand up and pray, because he that is raised
up stands upright. Let him, therefore, who has
been dead with Christ, and is raised up with
Him, stand up. But let him pray towards the
east.^ For this also is written in the second
book of the Chronicles, that after the temple of
the Lord was finished by King Solomon, in the
very feast of dedication the priests and the Le-
vites and the singers stood up towards the east,
praising and thanking God with cymbals and
psalteries, and saying, " Praise the Lord, for He
is good ; for His mercy endureth for ever." ^

A PRAYER FOR THE NEW FRUITS.

XLV. But let him pray thus after the foregoing
prayer, and say : O God Almighty, the Father
of Thy Christ, Thy only begotten Son, give me
a body undefiled, a heart pure, a mind watchful,
an unerring knowledge, the influence of the
Holy Ghost for the obtaining and assured en-
joying of the truth, through Thy Christ, by
whom ■♦ glory be to Thee, in the Holy Spirit, for
ever. Amen. We have thought it reasonable
to make these constitutions concerning the cate-
chumens.

SEC. rV. — ENUMERATION ORDAINED BY APOSTLES.

WHO WERE THEY THAT THE HOLY APOSTLES SENT
AND ORDAINED?

XLVi. Now concerning those bishops which
have been ordained in our lifetime, we let you
know that they are these : — James the bishop
of Jerusalem, the brother of our Lord ; s upon
whose death the second was Simeon the son of
Cleopas ; after whom the third was Judas the
son of James. Of Csesarea of Palestine, the

- [Compare vol. ii. p. 535 and vol. iii. p. 31.]

3 2 Chron. v. 13.

■* One V. MS. reads, " with whom glory be to Thee, along with
the Holy Spirit."

5 [An incidental proof of the early origin of this compilation is
furnished by the clear distinction it makes between James the son ot
Alphaeus and James the brother of our Lord. The theory of Jerome,
which identifies them, was later. — R.]

478

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VIL

first was Zacchaeus, who was once a publican ;
after whom was Cornelius, and the third The-
ophilus. Of Antioch, Euodius, ordained by me
Peter ; and Ignatius by Paul. Of Alexandria,
Annianus was the first, ordained by Mark the
evangelist ; the second Avilius by Luke, who
was also an evangelist. Of the church of Rome,
Linus the son of Claudia was the first, ordained
by Paul ; ' and Clemens, after Linus' death, the
second, ordained by me Peter,^ Of Ephesus,
Timotheus, ordained by Paul ; and John, by me
John. Of Smyrna, Aristo the first ; after whom
Strataeas the son of Lois ; ^ and the third Aristo.
Of Pergamus, Gaius. Of Philadelphia, Deme-
trius, by me. Of Cenchrea, Lucius, by Paul.
Of Crete, Titus. Of Athens, Dionysius. Of
Tripoli in Phoenicia, Marathones. Of Laodicea
in Phrygia, Archippus.* Of Colossae, Philemon. 5
Of Borea in Macedonia, Onesimus, once the
servant of Philemon.^ Of the churches of Ga-
latia, Crescens.7 Of the parishes of Asia, Aquila
and Nicetas. Of the church of yEginse, Crispus.
These are the bishops who are entrusted by us
with the parishes in the Lord ; whose doctrine
keep ye always in mind, and observe our words.
And may the Lord be with you now, and to
endless ages, as Himself said to us when He
was about to be taken up to His own God and
Father. For says He, " Lo, I am with you all
the days, until the end of the world. Amen." ^

SEC. v. DAILY PRAYERS.

A MORNING PRAYER.

XLVii. " Glory be to God in the highest, and
upon earth peace, good-will among men." 9 We
praise Thee, we sing hymns to Thee, we bless
Thee, we glorify Thee, we worship Thee by Thy

* 2 Tim. iv. 21.

2 [Noteworthy, and to be recalled hereafter. See vol. iii. p. 258.]

3 2 Tim. i. 5.

* [ Comp. Col. iv. 16, 17, whence this is probably derived. — R.]

5 Philem. i.

6 [Philem. 10. — R.]

7 [Comp. 2 Tim. iv. 10. — R.]
' Matt, xxviii. 20.

9 Luke ii. 14.

great High Priest ; Thee who art the true God,
who art the One Unbegotten, the only inaccess-
ible Being. For Thy great glory, O Lord and
heavenly King, O God the Father Almighty, O
Lord God,'° the Father of Christ the immaculate
Lamb, who taketh away the sin of the world,
receive our prayer, Thou that sittest upon the
cherubim. For Thou only art holy. Thou only
art the Lord Jesus, the Christ of the God of all
created nature, and our King, by whom glory,
honour, and worship be to Thee.

AN EVENING PRAYER.

XLViii. " Ye children, praise the Lord : praise
the name of the Lord." " We praise Thee, we
sing hymns to Thee, we bless Thee for Thy great
glory, O Lord our King, the Father of Christ the
immaculate Lamb, who taketh away the sin of
the world. Praise becomes Thee, hymns become
Thee, glory becomes Thee, the God and Father,"
through the Son, in the most holy Spirit, for ever
and ever. Amen. " Now, O Lord, lettest Thou
Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy
word ; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of
all people, a light for the revelation to the Gen-
tiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." '^

A PRAYER AT DINNER.

XLix. Thou art blessed, O Lord, who nour-
ishest me from my youth, who givest food to all
flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that
having always what is sufficient for us, we may
abound to every good work, in Christ Jesus our
Lord, through whom '■' glory, honour, and power
be to Thee for ever. Amen.

'° One V. MS. gives a more orthodox form to this prayer: " O
Lord, only begotten Son, and Holy Spirit, Lord God, the Lamb of
God, the Son of the Father, who takest away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy upon us, for Thou only art holy; Thou only art Christ,
Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen."

" Ps. cxiii. I.

'- One v. MS. omits " the God and; " then reads, " to Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost."

'3 Luke ii. 29, etc.

** One v. MS. reads, " with whom."

GENERAL NOTE.

Comparing the Teaching with chapters xxv. and xxvi. of these Constitutions, it seems to
me that the nature of the eucharistic (thanksgiving) prayers becomes apf)arent. They pre-
suppose the formulas to be found in the eighth book of the Constitutions,"^ and are such instruc-
tions as were imparted only to catechumens ; the part peculiar to presbyters being withheld, of
course, as esoteric mysteries, until further knowledge was canonically appropriate. See Elucida-
tion IV. vol. vi. p. 236 ; and in this volume, Elucidation I. p. 382. The Bryennios MS. is cleared
from nearly all difficulties by Dr. Riddle's lucid notes, when compared with corresponding pas-
sages in the Constitutions, or illustrated by such as are supplementary.

' Beginning p. 479, infra.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

BOOK VIII.

CONCERNING GIFTS, AND ORDINATIONS, AND THE ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS.

SEC. I. — ON THE DIVERSirV' OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS.

ON WHOSE ACCOUNT THE POWERS OF MIRACLES
ARE PERFORMED.

I. Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, deliv-
ered to us the great mystery of godliness, and
called both Jews and Gentiles to the acknowl-
edgment of the one and only' true God His
Father,^ as Himself somewhere says, when He
was giving thanks for the salvation of those that
had believed, " I have manifested Thy name to
men, I have finished the work Thou gavest
me;"^ and said concerning us to His Father,
" Holy Father, although the world has not known
Thee, yet have I known Thee ; and these have
known Thee."'* With good reason did He say
to all of us together, when we were perfected
concerning those gifts which were given from
Him by the' Spirit : " Now these signs shall fol-
low them that have believed in my name : they
shall cast out devils ; they shall speak with new
tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and if
they drink any deadly thing, it shall by no means
hurt them : they shall lay their hands on the
sick, and they shall recover." 5 These gifts were
first bestowed on us the apostles when we were
about to preach the Gospel to every creature,
and afterwards were of necessity afforded to
those who had by our means believed ; not for
the advantage of those who perform them, but
for the conviction of the unbelievers, that those
whom the word did not persuade, the power of
signs might put to shame : for signs are not for
us who believe, but for the unbelievers, both for
the Jews and Gentiles. For neither is it any
profit to us to cast out demons, but to those who
are so cleansed by the power of the Lord ; as

' The words " one and only " are omitted in the Syriac and Cop-

Uc.

2 One V. MS. omits " His Father." The Syriac and Coptic have
" the only Father."

3 John xvii. 6, 4.

■♦ John xvii. 11, 25.
5 Mark xvi. 17, 18.

the Lord^ Himself somewhere instructs us, and
shows, saying : " Rejoice ye, not because the
spirits are subject unto you ; but rejoice, because
your names are written in heaven." "> Since the
former is done by His power, but this by our
good disposition and diligence, yet (it is mani-
fest) by His assistance. It is not therefore ne-
cessary that every one of the faithful should cast
out demons, or raise the dead, or speak with
tongues ; but such a one only who is vouch-
safed this gift, for some cause which may be
advantage to the salvation of the unbelievers,
who are often put to shame, not with the demon-
stration of the world, but by the power of the
signs ; that is, such as are worthy of salvation :
for all the ungodly are not affected by wonders ;
and hereof God Himself is a witness, as when
He says in the law : " With other tongues will
I speak to this people, and with other lips, and
yet will they by no means believe." ^ For neither
did the Egyptians beHeve in God, when Moses
had done so many signs and wonders ; '' nor did
the multitude of the Jews believe in Christ, as
they believed Moses, who yet had healed every
sickness and every disease among them.'° Nor
were the former shamed by the rod which was
turned into a living serpent, nor by the hand
which was made white with leprosy, nor by the
river Nile turned into blood ; nor the latter by
the blind who recovered their sight, nor by the
lame who walked, nor by the dead who were
raised." The one was resisted by Jannes and
Jambres, the other by Annas and Caiaphas."
Thus signs do not shame all into belief, but only
those of a good disposition ; for whose sake also
it is that God is pleased, as a wise steward of a
family, to appoint miracles to be wrought, not

6 The Coptic reads " our God."

7 Luke X. 20.

8 Isa. xxviii. 11 ; i Cor. xiv. 21.

9 Ex. vii. and iv.

'° Deut. xviii. 15, etc.
" Matt. xi. 5.
'- 2 Tim. iii. 8.

479

48o

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VIII.

by the power of men, but by His own will. Now
we say these things, that those who have received
such gifts may not exalt themselves against those
who have not received them ; such gifts, we
mean, as are for the working of miracles. For
otherwise there is no man who has believed in
God through Christ,' that has not received some
spiritual gift : for this very thing, having been
delivered from the impiety of polytheism, and
having believed in God the Father through
Christ,^ this is a gift of God. And the having
cast off the veil of Judaism, and having believed
that, by the good pleasure of God, His only
begotten Son, who was before all ages,^ was in
the last time born of a virgin,'* without the com-
pany of a man, and that He lived as a man, yet
Avithout sin, and fulfilled all that righteousness
which is of the law ; and that, by the permission
of God, He who was God the Word endured
the cross, and despised the shame ; and that
He died, and was buried, and rose within three
days ; and that after His resurrection, having
continued forty days with His apostles, and com-
pleted His whole constitutions. He was taken
up in their sight to His God and Father, who
sent Him : he who has believed these things,
not at random and irrationally, but with judg-
ment and full assurance, has received the gift
of God. So also has He who is delivered from
ev.ery heresy. Let not, therefore, any one that
works signs and wonders judge any one of the
faithful who is not vouchsafed the same : for the
gifts of God which are bestowed by Him through
Christ are various ; and one man receives one
gift, and another another. For perhaps one has
the word of wisdom, and another the word of
knowledge ; 5 another, discerning of spirits ; an-
other, foreknowledge of things to come ; another,
the word of teaching ; another, long-suffering ;
another, continence according to the law : for
even Moses, the man of God, when he wrought
signs in Egypt, did not exalt himself against his
equals : and when he was called a god, he did
not arrogantly despise his own prophet Aaron.^
Nor did Joshua the son of Nun, who was the
leader of the people after him, though in the
war with the Jebusites he had made the sun
stand still over against Gibeon, and the moon
over against the valley of Ajalon,^ because the
day was not long enough for their victory, insult
over Phineas or Caleb. Nor did Samuel, who
had done so many surprising things, disregard
David the beloved of God : yet they were both
prophets, and the one was high priest, and the

' Instead of " Christ," the Coptic reads, " through His Holy Son."

* The Coptic reads, " and in Christ and the Holy Spirit."

' The Coptic reads, " and His only begotten Son, who was with
the Father and the life-giving Holy Spirit before all the ages."

* The Coptic reads, " spotless virgin."
5 I Cor. xii. 8.

•> Ex. vii. I.
' Joih. X.

other was king. And when there were only
seven thousand holy men in Israel who had not
bowed the knee to Baal,^ Elijah alone among
them, and his disciple Elisha, were workers of
miracles. Yet neither did Elijah despise Oba-
diah the steward, who feared God, but wrought
no signs ; nor did Elisha despise his own disciple
when he trembled at the enemies.'' Moreover,
neither did the wise Daniel who was twice de-
livered from the mouths of the lions, nor the
three children who were delivered from the fur-
nace of rire,'° despise the rest of their fellow-
Israelites : for they knew that they had not
escaped these terrible miseries by their own
might ; but by the power of God did they both
work miracles, and were delivered from miseries.
Wherefore let none of you exalt himself against
his brother, though he be a prophet, or though
he be a worker of miracles : for if it happens
that there be no longer an unbeliever, all the
power of signs will thenceforwards be superfluous.
For to be pious is from any one's good disposi-
tion ; but to work wonders is from the power of
Him that works them by us : the first of which
respects ourselves ; but the second respects God
that works them, for the reasons which we have
already mentioned. Wherefore neither let a king
despise his officers that are under him, nor the
rulers those who are subject. For where there
are none to be ruled over, rulers are sui^erfluous ;
and where there are no officers, the kingdom
will not stand. Moreover, let not a bishop be
exalted against his deacons and presbyters, nor
the presbyters against the people : for the sub-
sistence of the congregation depends on each
other. For the bishops and the presbyters are
the priests with relation to the people ; and the
laity are the laity Vv'ith relation to the clergy.
And to be a Christian is in our own power ; but
to be an apostle, or a bishop, or in any other
such office, is not in our own power, but at the
disposal of God, who bestows the gifts. And
thus much concerning those who are vouchsafed
gifts and dignities.

CONCERNING UNWORTHY BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS.

II. We add, in the next place, that neither is
every one that prophesies holy, nor every one
that casts out devils religious : for even Balaam
the son of Beor the prophet did prophesy,"
though he was himself ungodly; as also did
Caiaphas, the falsely-named high priest.'^ Nay,
the devil foretells many things, and the demons,
about Him ; and yet for all that, there is not a
spark of piety in them : for they are oi)pressed

8 1 Kings xix. i8; Rom. xi. 4.

9 2 Kings vi.

'° Dan. vi. 16, iii.

" Num. xxiii. and xxiv.

'- John XI. 51. [See on the Sibyllina, passim.\

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

481

with ignorance, by reason of their voluntary
wickedness. It is manifest, therefore, that the
ungodly, although they prophesy, do not by their
prophesying cover their own impiety ; nor will
those who cast out demons be sanctified by the
demons being made subject to them : for they
only mock one another, as they do who play
childish tricks for mirth, and destroy tho.se who
give heed to them. For neither is a wicked king
any longer a king, but a tyrant ; nor is a bishop
oppressed with ignorance or an evil disposition
a bishop, but falsely so called, being not one
sent out by God, but by men, as Ananiah and
Sameeah in Jerusalem, and Zedekiah and Achiah
the false prophets in Babylon.' And indeed
Balaam the prophet, when he had corrupted
Israel by Baal-peor, suffered punishment ; ^ and
Caiaphas at last was his own murderer ; and the
sons of Sceva, endeavouring to cast out demons,
were wounded by them, and fled away in an un-
seemly manner ; 3 and the kings of Israel and
of Judah, when they became impious, suffered
all sorts of punishments. It is therefore evident
how bishops and presbyters, also falsely so called,
will not escape the judgment of God. For it
will be said to them even now : " O ye priests
that despise my name,'* I will deliver you up to
the slaughter, as I did Zedekiah and Achiah,
whom the king of Babylon fried in a frying-pan,'"
as says Jeremiah the prophet.5 We say these
things, not in contempt of true prophecies, for
we know that they are wrought in holy men by
the inspiration of God, but to put a stop to the
boldness of vainglorious men ; and add this
withal, that from such as these God takes away
His grace: for " God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace to the humble." ^ Now Silas and
Agabus prophesied in our times ; 7 yet did they
not equal themselves to the apostles, nor did
they exceed their own measures though they
were beloved of God. Now women prophesied
also. Of old, Miriam the sister of Moses and
Aaron,^ and after her Deborah,*? and after these
Huldah '° and Judith ' ' — the former under Josiah,
the latter under Darius. The mother of the
Lord did also prophesy, and her kinswoma.i
Elisabeth, and Anna ; '^ and in our time the
daughters of Philip : '^ yet were not these elated
against their husbands, but preserved their own
measures."' Wherefore if among you also tnere

' Jer. xxviii. and xxix.

2 Num. XXV. and xxxi.

3 Acts xix. 14.

4 Mai. i. 6.

5 Jer. xxix. 22.

* I Pet. V. 5.

' Acts [xi. 28] XV. 32, xxi. 10.

* Ex. XV. 20.
9 Judg. iv. 4.

'° 2 Kings xxii. 14.
" Judith viii.
'^ Luke i. and ii.
'3 Acts xxi. 9.

" [The compiler has forgotten that few of these had husbands, at
least at the time when they arc reported to have prophesied. — R.]

be a man or a woman, and such a one obtains
any gift, let him be humble, that God may be
pleased with him. For says He : " Upon whom
will I look, but upon him that is humble and
quiet, and trembles at my words? " '5

SEC. II. — ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF BISHOPS :
FORM OF SERVICE ON SUNDAYS.

THAT TO MAKE CONSTITUTIONS ABOUT THE OFFICES
TO BE PERFORMED IN THE CHURCHES IS OF
GREAT CONSEQUENCE.

III. We have now finished the first part of this
discourse concerning gifts, whatever they be,
which God has bestowed upon men according
to His own will ; and how He rebuked the ways
of those who either attempted to speak Hes, or
were moved by the spirit of the adversary ; and
that God often employed the wicked '^ for proph-
ecy and the performance of wonders. But now
our discourse hastens as to the principal part,
that is, the constitution of ecclesiastical affairs,
that so, when ye have learned this constitution
from us, ye who are ordained bishops by us at
the command of Christ, may perform all things
according to the commands delivered you, know-
ing that he that heareth us heareth Christ, and
he that heareth Christ heareth His God and
Father,'^ to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

CONCERNING ORDINATIONS.

IV. Wherefore we, the twelve apostles of the
Lord, who are now together, give you in charge
those divine constitutions concerning every
ecclesiastical form, there being present with us
Paul the chosen vessel, our fellow-apostle, and
James the bishop, and the rest of the presbyters,
and the seven deacons.'*^ In the first place, there-
fore, I Peter say,'^ that a bishop to be ordained is
to be, as we have already, all of us, appointed,
unblameable in all things, a select person,^" chosen
by the whole people, who, when he is na?ned a?id
approved, let the people assemble, with the presby-
tery and bishops that are present, 07i the Lorcfs
day, and let them give their consent. And let
the pri7icipal of the bishops ask the presbytery and

*S Isa. Ixvi. 2.

'*> We have adopted the reading of one V. MS., dTrexp»io-aTo. It
means more than is in the text — that God used the wicked in a way
in which they would not be naturally used; lit., " abused," or " mis-
used." The other MSs. and the Coptic read aTrfxapiVaTo, " gave His
gifts to the wicked for prophecy." Whiston has tried to make sense
by giving a new meaning to i.-ni\a.(>iaa.To, " taking away His grace
from the wicked."

'7 Luke X. i6.

'8 The Coptic and one V. MS. omit from the commencement of
the chapter to " deacons." The V. MR. has: " Peter, the chief of the
apostles, proclaimed the Gospel to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
Bithynia, and finally in Rome, where he was crucified by the prefect
in the reign of Nero, and where also he is buried."

■9 From this to the end of ch. xxvi., only small portions of what is
now in the received text occur in the Coptic version. The Oxford
MS. is also deficient. It has only a portion of the fifth, nothing of ch
vi. to xvi., and only a single sentence in ch. xjtii. The portions >u
Coptic are printed in italics.

'° Omitted in one V. MS.

482

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. [Book viii.

people whether this be the person whom they de-
sire for their ruler. And if they give their con-
sent, let him ask further whether he has a good
testimony from all men as to his worthiness for
so great and glorious an authority ; whether all
things relating to his piety towards God be right;
whether justice toivards 7nen has been observed
by him ; whether the affairs of his family have
been well ordered by him ; whether he has been
unblameable in the course of his life. And if all
the asse?nbly together do according to truth, and
not according to prejudice, witness that he is such
a one, let them the third time, as before God the
Judge, a?id Christ, the Holy Ghost being also
present, as well as all the holy and ministering
spirits, ask again whether he be truly worthy of
this ministry, that so " in the mouth of two or
three witnesses every word may be established.^'' '
And if they agree the third time that he is worthy,
let them all be demanded their vote ; and when
they all give it tvillingly, let them be heard. And
silence being made, let one of the principal bish-
ops, together with tivo others, stand near to the
altar, the rest of the bishops and p?-esbyters pray-
ing silently, arid the deacons holding the divine
Gospels open upon the head of him that is to be
ordaitied, and say to God thus : ^ —

THE FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE ORDINATION OF A

BISHOP.

V. O Thou the great
Being, O Lord God Al-
mighty, who alone art un-
begotten, and ruled over
by none ; who always art,
and wast before the world ;
who standest in need of
nothing, and art above all
cause and beginning ; who
only art true, who only art
wise ; who alone art the
most high ; who art by
nature invisible ; whose
knowledge is without begin-
ning; who only art good,
and beyond compare ; who
knowest all things before
they are ; who art acquaint-
ed with the most secret
things ; who art inaccessi-
ble, and without a superior ;
the God and Father of Thy
only begotten Son, of our
God and Saviour ; the Cre-
ator of the whole world by
Him ; whose providence

OXFORD MS.^

V. God and Fa-
ther of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Fa-
ther of mercies and
the God of all con-
solation, who know-
est all things before
they take place ;
Thou who didst ap-
point the rules of
the Church through
the word of Thy
grace ; who didst
appoint beforehand
the race righteous
from the beginning
that came from
Abraham to be rul-
ers, and didst con-
stitute them priests,
not leaving Thy
sanctuary without
ministers ; who from
the foundation of
the world didst de-

' Matt, xviii. 16.

* The Coptic has, " let the bishop pray for him."
3 The Oxford MS. has this chapter in an abbreviated form as in
the parallel columos.

provides for and takes the
care of all ; the Father of
mercies, and God of all
consolation ; * who dwellest
in the highest heavens,5 and
yet lookest down on things
below : Thou who didst
appoint the rules of the
Church, by the coming of
Thy Christ in the flesh ; of
which the Holy Ghost is
the witness, by Thy apos-
tles, and by us the bishops,
who by Thy grace are here
present ; who hast fore-or-
dained priests from the be-
ginning for the government
of Thy people — Abel in
the first place, Seth and
Enos, and Enoch and Noah,
and Melchisedec and Job ;
who didst appoint Abraham,
and the rest of the patri-
archs, with Thy faithful
servants Moses and Aaron,
and Eleazar and Phineas ;
who didst choose from
among them rulers and
priests in the tabernacle of
Thy testimony ; who didst
choose Samuel for a priest
and a prophet ; who didst
not leave Thy sanctuary
without ministers ; who
didst delight in those whom
Thou chosest to be glorified
in. Do Thou, by us, pour
down the influence of Thy
free Spirit, through the me-
diation of Thy Christ, which
is committed to Thy beloved
Son Jesus Christ ; which
He bestowed according to
Thy will on the holy apos-
tles of Thee the eternal
God. Grant by Thy name,
O God, who searchest the
hearts, that this Thy ser-
vant, whom Thou hast chos-
en to be a bishop, may feed
Thy holy flock, and dis-
charge the office of an high
priest to Thee, and minister
to Thee, unblameably night
and day ; that he may ap-
pease Thee, and gather to-
gether the number of those
that shall be saved, and may

light in those whom
Thou chosest to be
glorified in ; and
now pour down the
influence of Thy
free Spirit, which
through Thy be-
loved Son Jesus
Christ Thou hast
bestowed on Thy
holy apostles, who
set up the Church
in the place of the
sanctuary, to unend-
ing glory and praise
of Thy name : O
Thou, who knowest
the hearts of all,
grant that this Thy
servant whom Thou
hast chosen to the
holy office of Thy
bishop, may dis-
charge the duty of
a high priest to
Thee, and minister
to Thee unblame-
ably night and day ;
that he may appease
Thee unceasingly,
and present to Thee
the gifts of Thy holy
Church, and in the
spirit of the high-
priesthood have
power to remit sins
according to Thy
commandment, to
give lots according
to Thy injunction,
to loose every bond
according to the
power which Thou
hast given to the
apostles, and be
well-pleasing to
Thee, in meekness
and a pure heart
off"ering a smell
of sweet savour
through Thy Son
Jesus Christ our
Lord, with whom
to Thee be glory,
power, and honour,
along with the Holy
Spirit, now and for
ever. Amen.

* 1 Cor. i. 3.
5 Ps. cxiii. 5.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

483

offer to Thee the gifts of Thy holy Church.
Grant to him, O Lord Almighty, through Thy
Christ, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, that
so he may have power to remit sins according
to Thy command ; to give forth lots according to
Thy command ; to loose every bond, according
to the power which Thou gavest the apostles ;
that he may please Thee in meekness and a pure
heart, with a stedfast, unblameable, and unre-
provable mind ; to offer to Thee a pure and un-
bloody sacrifice, which by Thy Christ Thou hast
appointed as the mystery of the new covenant,
for a sweet savour, through Thy holy child Jesus
Christ, our God and Saviour, through whom '
glory, honour, and worship be to Thee in the
Holy Spirit, now and always, and for all ages.
And when he has prayed for these things, let the
rest of the priests add. Amen ; and together with
them all the people. And after the prayer let
one of the bishops elevate the sacrifice upon the
hands of him that is ordained, and early in the
morning let him be placed in his throne, in a
place set apart for hitn atnong the rest of the
bishops, they all giving him the kiss in the Lord?
And after the reading of the Law^ and the
Prophets, and our Epistles, and Acts, and the
Gospels, let him that is ordained salute the
Church, saying. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God and the Father, and the
fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all ;
and let them all a7iswer. And with Thy Spirit.
And after these tuords let him speak to the people
the words of exhortation ; and when he has
ended his word of doctj-ine (I Andrew "♦ the
brother of Peter speak), all standing up, let the
deacon ascend upon some high seat, and proclaim,
Let none of the hearers, let none of the unbe-
lievers stay ; and silence being made, let him
say : —

THE DIVINE LITURGY, WHEREIN IS THE BIDDING
PRAYER FOR THE CATECHUMENS.

VI. Ye catechumens, pray, and let all the faith-
ful pray for them in their mind, saying : Lord,
have mercy upon them. And let the deacon
bid prayers for them, saying : Let us all pray
unto God for the catechumens, that He that is
good, He that is the lover of mankind, will mer-
cifully hear their prayers and their supplications,
and so accept their petitions as to assist them
and give them those desires of their hearts which
are for their advantage, and reveal to them the
Gospel of His Christ ; give them illumination and

' One V. MS. reads, " with whom."
^ The Coptic inserts, " let the holy Gospels be read."
3 The Coptic reads " Gospel " instead of " Law."
< One V. MS. has the following note: "Andrew the brother of
Peter preaches the Gospel to the Scythians, .Sogdiani, and Thracians,
who on account of preaching Christ is crowned with the martyrdom
of the cross by iEgaea the proconsul, and was buried in Patrae. After-
wards he was removed to Constantinople by the Emperor Constan-
tine."

understanding, instruct them in the knowledge
of God, teach them His commands and His or-
dinances, implant in them His pure and saving
fear, open the ears of their hearts, that they may
exercise themselves in His law day and night ;
strengthen them in piety, unite them to and
number them with His holy flock ; vouchsafe
them the laver of regeneration, and the garment
of incorruption, which is the true life ; and de-
liver them from all ungodliness, and give no
place to the adversary against them ; " and
cleanse them from all filthiness of flesh and
spirit, and dwell in them, and walk in them, by
His Christ ; bless their goings out and their
comings in, and order their affairs for their
good." 5 Let us still earnestly put up our sup-
plications for them, that they may obtain the
forgiveness of their transgressions by their ad-
mission, and so may be thought worthy of the
holy mysteries, and of constant communion with
the saints. Rise up, ye catechumens, beg for
yourselves the peace of God through His Christ,
a peaceable day, and free from sin, and the like
for the whole time of your life, and your Chris-
tian ends of it ; a compassionate and merciful
God ; and the forgiveness of your transgressions.
Dedicate yourselves to the only unbegotten God,
through His Christ. Bow down your heads, and
receive the blessing. But at the naming of every
one by the deacon, as we said before, let the
people say. Lord, have mercy upon him ; and
let the children say it first. And as they have
bowed down their heads, let the bishop who is
newly ordained bless them with this blessing :
O God Almighty, unbegotten and inaccessible,
who only art the true God, the God and Father
of Thy Christ, Thy only begotten Son ; the God^
of the Comforter, and Lord of the whole world ;
who by Christ didst appoint Thy disciples to be
teachers for the teaching of piety ; do Thou now
also look down upon Thy servants, who are re-
ceiving instruction in the Gospel of Thy Christ,
and " give them a new heart, and renew a right
spirit in their inward parts," ^ that they may both
know and do Thy will with full purpose of heart,
and with a wiUing soul. Vouchsafe them an holy
admission, and unite them to Thy holy Church,
and make them partakers of Thy divine mys-
teries, through Christ, who is our hope, and who
died for them ; by whom glory and worship be
given to Thee in the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.
And after this, let the deacon say : Go out, ye
catechumens, in peace. And after they are gone
out, let him say : Ye energumens, afflicted with
unclean spirits, pray, and let us all earnestly pray
for them, that God, the lover of mankind, will

s 2 Cor. vii. I, vi. 16; Ps. cxxi. 8.

* One V. MS. has »rpo/3o\eus, " the sender forth," or " producer,'
instead of" God."
^ Ps. li. 10.

484

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. [Book viii

by Christ rebuke the unclean and wicked spirits,
and dehver His suppHcants from the dominion
of the adversary. May He that rebuked the
legion of demons, and the devil, the prince of
wickedness,' even now rebuke these apostates
from piety, and deliver His own workmanship
from his power, and cleanse those creatures
which He has made with great wisdom. Let us
still pray earnestly for them. Save them, O God,
and raise them up by Thy power. Bow down
your heads, ye energumens, and receive the
blessings. And let the bishop add this prayer,
and say : —

FOR THE ENERGUMENS.

VII. Thou, who hast bound the strong man,
and spoiled all that was in his house, who hast
given us power over serpents and scorpions to
tread upon them, and upon all the power of the
enemy; 2 who hast delivered the serpent, that
murderer of men, bound to us, as a sparrow to
children, whom all things dread, and tremble
before the face of Thy power ; 3 who hast cast
him down as lightning from heaven to earth, ^
not with a fall from a place, but from honour to
dishonour, on account of his voluntary evil dis-
position ; whose look dries the abysses, and
threatening melts the mountains, and whose truth
remains for ever ; whom the infants praise, and
sucking babes bless ; whom angels sing hymns
to, and adore ; who lookest upon the earth, and
makest it tremble ; who touchest the mountains,
and they smoke ; who threatenest the sea, and
driest it up, and makest all its rivers as desert,
and the clouds are the dust of His feet ; who
walkest upon the sea as upon the firm ground ; s
Thou only begotten God,^ the Son of the great
Father, rebuke these wicked spirits, and deliver
the works of Thy hands from the power of the
adverse spirit. For to Thee is due glory, honour,
and worship, and by Thee to Thy Father, in the
Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. And let the dea-
con say : Go out, ye energumens. And after
them, let him cry aloud : Ye that are to be illu-
minated, pray. Let all us, the faithful, earnestly
pray for them, that the Lord will vouchsafe that,
being initiated into the death of Christ, they may
rise with Him, and become partakers of His
kingdom, and may be admitted to the commun-
ion of His mysteries ; unite them to, number
them among, those that are saved in His holy
Church. Save them, and raise them up by Thy
grace. And being sealed to God through His
Christ, let them bow down their heads, and re-
ceive this blessing from the bishop : —

• Mark v. 9; Zech. iii. 2.
^ Matt. xii. 29; Luke x. 19.
3 Job xl. 24, LXX.
•♦ Luke X. 18.

5 Ps. cvi. 9, Isa. li. 10; Ps. xcvii. 5; Isa. Ixiv. i; Ps. cxvii. 2,
VI". 2. xcvii. 4, civ. 32: Nah. i. 4, 3; Job ix. 8, LXX.
" [Comp. note i, p. 477, book vii. chap, xliii. — R.]

FOR THE BAPTIZED.

VIII. Thou who hast formerly said by Thy holy
prophets to those that be initiated, " Wash ye,
become clean," 7 and hast appointed spiritual
regeneration by Christ, do Thou now also look
down upon these that are baptized, and bless
them, and sanctify them, and prepare them that
they may become worthy of Thy spiritual gift,
and of the true adoption of Thy spiritual mys-
teries, of being gathered together with those that
are saved through Christ our Saviour ; by whom
glory, honour, and worship be to Thee, in the
Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen. And let the
deacon say : Go out, ye that are preparing for
illumination. And after that let him proclaim :
Ye penitents, pray ; let us all earnestly pray for
our brethren in the state of penitence, that God,
the lover of compassion, will show them the way
of repentance, and accept their return and their
confession, and bruise Satan under their feet
suddenly,^ and redeem them from the snare of
the devil, and the ill-usage of the demons, and
free them from every unlawful word, and every
absurd practice and wicked thought ; forgive
them all their offences, both voluntary and in-
voluntary, and blot out that handwriting which
is against them,? and write them in the book of
life ; '° cleanse them from all filthiness of flesh
and spirit," and restore and unite them to His
holy flock. For He knoweth our frame. For
who can glory that he has a clean heart } And
who can boldly say, that he is pure from sin?'^
For we are all among the blameworthy. Let us
still pray for them more earnestly, for there is
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,'^
that, being converted from every evil work, they
may be joined to all good practice ; that God,
the lover of mankind, will suddenly accept their
petitions, will restore '•♦ to then) the joy of His
salvation, and strengthen them with His free
Spirit ; '5 that they may not be any more shaken,'^
but be admitted to the communion of His most
holy things, and become partakers of His divine
mysteries, that appearing worthy of His adop-
tion, they may obtain eternal life. Let us all
still earnestly say on their account : Lord, have
mercy upon them. Save them, O God, and
raise them up by Thy mercy. Rise up, and bow
your heads to God through His Christ, and re-
ceive the blessings. Let the bishop then add
this prayer : —

7 Isa. i. i6.

* Rom. xvi. 2o.

9 Col. ii. 13, 14.
■o Phil. iv. 3.
" 2 Cor. vii. I.
'^ Prov. XX. 9.
*3 Luke XV. 7.

'< The v. Mss. read, " restore them to their former position, and
give them the joy," etc.
'5 Ps. li. 12.

'<» The V. MSS. add, " in their footsteps, but may be deemed worthy
to be admitted," etc.

Sec. it.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

485

IMPOSITION OF HANDS ; PR.\YER FOR PENITENTS.

IX. Almighty, eternal God, Lord of the whole
world, the Creator and Governor of all things,
who hast exhibited man as the ornament of the
world through Christ, and didst give him a law
both naturally implanted and written, that he
might live according to law, as a rational crea-
ture ; and when he had sinned. Thou gavest him
Thy goodness as a i)lodgo in order to his repent-
ance : Look down upon these persons who have
bended the neck of their soul and body to Thee ;
for Thou desirest not the death of a sinner, but
his repentance, that he turn from his wicked
way, and live.' Thou who didst accept the
repentance of the Ninevites, who wiliest that all
men be saved, and come to the acknowledg-
ment of the truth ; ^ who didst accept of that
son who had consumed his substance in riotous
living,^ with the bowels of a father, on account
of his repentance ; do Thou now accept of the
repentance of Thy supplicants : for there is no
man that will not sin ; for " if Thou, O Lord,
markest iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
For with Thee there is propitiation." '• And do
Thou restore them to Thy holy Church, into
their former dignity and honour, through Christ
our God and Saviour, by whom glory and adora-
tion be to Thee, in the Holy Ghost, for ever.
Amen. Then let the deacon say, Depart, ye
penitents ; and let him add. Let none of those
who ought not to come draw near. All we of
the faithful, let us bend our knee : let us all
entreat God through His Christ ; let us earnestly
beseech God through His Christ.

THE BIDDING PRAYER FOR THE FAITHFUL.

X. Let us pray for the peace and happy settle-
ment of the world, and of the holy churches ;
that the God of the whole world may afford us
His everlasting peace, and such as may not be
taken away from us ; that He may preserve us in
a full prosecution of such virtue as is according
to godliness. Let us pray for the Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church which is spread from one
end of the earth to the other ; that God would
preserve and keep it unshaken, and free from the
waves of this life, until the end of the world, as
founded upon a rock ; and for the holy parish in
this place, that the Lord of the whole world may
vouchsafe us without failure to follow after His
heavenly hope, and without ceasing to pay Him
the debt of our prayer. Let us pray for every
episcopacy which is under the whole heaven, of
those that rightly divide the word of Thy truth.
And let us pray for our bishop James,* and his

^ Ezek. xviii. and xxxiii.
- Jonah iii. ; i Tim. ii. 4.
3 Luke XV.

* [Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. — R.]

S [This is "James, the lord's brother; " Gal. i. 19. An incidental
proof of the Eastern and Ante-Nicene origin of book viii. also. — R.]

parishes ; let us pray for our bishop Clement, and
his parishes ; let us pray for our bishop Euodius,
and his parishes ; let us pray for our bishop
Annianus, and his parishes : that the compas-
sionate God may grant them to continue in His
holy churches in health, honour, and long life,
and afford them an honourable old age in godli-
ness and righteousness. And let us pray for our
presbyters, that the Lord may deliver them from
every unreasonable and wicked action, and afford
them a presbyterate in health and honour. Let
us pray for all the deacons and ministers in Christ,
that the Lord may grant them an unblameable
ministration. Let us pray for the readers, singers,
virgins, widows, and orphans. Let us pray for
those that are in marriage and in child-bearing,
that the Lord may have mercy upon them all.
Let us pray for the eunuchs who walk holily.
Let us pray for those in a state of continence
and piety. Let us pray for those that bear fruit
in the holy Church, and give alms to the needy.
And let us pray for those who offer sacrifices and
oblations to the Lord our God, that God, the
fountain of all goodness, may recompense them
with His heavenly gifts, and " give them in this
world an hundredfold, and in the world to come
life everlasting ; " ^ and bestow upon them for
their temporal things, those that are eternal ; for
earthly things, those that are heavenly. Let us
pray for our brethren newly enlightened, that the
Lord may strengthen and confirm them. Let us
pray for our brethren exercised with sickness,
that the Lord may deliver them from every sick-
ness and every disease, and restore them sound
into His holy Church. Let us pray for those that
travel by water or by land. Let us pray for those
that are in the mines, in banishments, in prisons,
and in bonds, for the name of the Lord. Let us
pray for those that are afflicted with bitter servi-
tude. Let us pray for our enemies, and those
that hate us. Let us pray for those that perse-
cute us for the name of the Lord, that the Lord
may pacify their anger, and scatter their wrath
against us. Let us pray for those that are with-
out, and are wandered out of the way, that the
Lord may convert them. Let us be mindful of
the infants of the Church, that the Lord may
perfect them in His fear, and bring them to a
complete age. Let us pray one for another, that
the Lord may keep us and preserve us by His
grace to the end, and deliver us from the evil
one, and from all the scandals of those that work
iniquity, and preserve us unto His heavenly king-
dom. Let us pray for every Christian soul.
Save us, and raise us up, O God, by Thy mercy.
Let us rise up, and let us pray earnestly, and
dedicate ourselves and one another to the living
God, through His Christ. And let the high priest
add this prayer, and say : — ^^^

^ Matt. xix. 29.

486

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VIII.

THE FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE FAITHFUL.

XI. O Lord Almighty, the Most High, who
dwellest on high, the Holy One, that restest
among the saints, without beginning, the Only
Potentate, who hast given to us by Christ the
preaching of knowledge, to the acknowledgment
of Thy glory and of Thy name, which He has
made known to us, for our comprehension, do
Thou now also look down through Him upon
this Thy flock, and deliver it from all ignorance
and wicked practice, and grant that we may fear
Thee in earnest, and love Thee with affection,
and have a due reverence of Thy glory. Be
gracious and merciful to them, and hearken to
them when they pray unto Thee ; and keep
them, that they may be unmoveable, unblame-
able, and unreprovable, that they may be holy
in body and spirit, not having spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing ; but that they may be com-
plete, and none of them may be defective or
imperfect. O our support, our powerful God,
who dost not accept persons, be Thou the as-
sister of this Thy people,' which Thou hast re-
deemed with the precious blood of Thy Christ ;
be Thou their protector, aider, provider, and
guardian, their strong wall of defence, their bul-
wark and security. For " none can snatch out
of Thy hand : " ^ for there is no other God like
Thee ; for on Thee is our reliance. " Sanctify
them by Thy truth : for Thy word is truth." ^
Thou who dost nothing for favour, Thou whom
none can deceive, deliver them from every sick-
ness, and every disease, and every offence, every
injury and deceit, " from fear of the enemy,
from the dart that flieth in the day, from the
mischief that walketh about in darkness ; " *
and vouchsafe them that everlasting life which is
in Christ Thy only begotten Son, our God and
Saviour, through whom glory and worship be to
Thee, in the Holy Spirit, now and always, and
for ever and ever. Amen. And after this let
the deacon say. Let us attend. And let the
bishop salute the church, and say. The peace of
God be with you all. And let the people an-
swer, And with thy spirit ; and /et the deacon say
to all. Salute ye one another with the holy kiss.
And let the clergy salute the bishop, the men of
the laity salute the men, the W07nen the women.
And let the children stand at the reading-desk ;
and let another deacon stand by them, that they
may not be disorderly.s And let other deacons \
walk about and watch the men and women, that :
no tumult may be made, and that no one 7iod, or
whisper, or slumber ; and let the deacons ^ stand '
at the doors of the men, and the %v!Xi-deacons at

* Tke v. Mss. insert, " whom Thou hast selected out of myriads."

* John X. 29.

5 John xvii. 17.

* Ps. Ixiv. I, xci. 5, 6.

5 The meaning in Coptic seems to be uncertain.
*> The Coptic reads, " sub-deacons."

those of the women, that no one go out, nor a
door be opened, although it be for one of the
faithful, at the time of the oblation. But let
one of the sub-deacons bring water to wash the
hands of the priests, which is a symbol of the
purity of those souls that are devoted to God.

THE CONSTITUTION OF JAMES THE BROTHER OF
JOHN, THE SON OF ZEBEDEE.

XII. And I James,7 the brother of John, the
son of Zebedee, say, that the deacon shall im-
mediately say. Let none of the catechumens, let
none of the hearers, let none of the unbelievers,
let none of the heterodox, stay here. You who
have prayed the foregoing prayer, depart.^ Let
the mothers receive their childreji ; let no one
have anything against any one ; let no one come
in hypocrisy ; let us stand upright before the
Lord with fear and trembling, to offer. When
this is done, let the deacons bring the gifts to the
bishop at the altar; and let the presbyters stand on
his right hand, and on his left, as disciples stand
before their Master. But let two of the deacons,
on each side of the altar, hold a fan, made up
of thin membranes, or of the feathers of the
peacock, or of fine cloth, and let them silently
drive away the small animals that fly about, that
they may tiot come near to the cups. Let the
high priest, therefore, together with the priests,
pray"^ by himself; and let him put on his shin-
ing garment, and stand at the altar, and make
the sign of the cross upon his forehead with his
hand,'° and say : The grace of Almighty God,
and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.
And let all with one voice say : And with thy
spirit. The high priest : Lift up your mind. All
the people : We lift it up unto the Lord. The
high priest : Let us give thanks to the Lord. All
the people : It is meet and right so to do. Then
let the high priest say : It is very meet and right
before all things to sing an hymn to Thee, who
art the true God, who art before ail beings, " from
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named ; " " who only art unbegotten, and with-
out beginning, and without a ruler, and without
a master ; who standest in need of nothing ;
who art the bestower of everything that is good ;
who art beyond all cause and generation ; who
art alway and immutably the same ; from whom
all things came into being, as from their proper
original. For Thou art eternal knowledge, ever-

^ One V. MS. gives the following note: "James the son of Zebe-
dee, brother of John, preached the Gospel in Judea, was slain with
the sword by Herod the tetrarch, and lies in Caesarea.

^ [N.B. — No non-communicating attendance permitted.]
9 The Coptic adds, " over the obl.ntion, that the Holy Spirit may
descend upon it, making the bread the body of Christ, and the cup
the blood of Christ; and prayers being ended." It then goes on with
the words in italics in ch. xiii.

>° The common text has, " before all the people," omitted by one

V. MS.

" Eph. iii. 15.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

487

lasting sight, unbegotten hearing, untaught wis-
dom, the first by nature, and the measure of
being, and beyond all number ; who didst bring
all things out of nothing into being by Thy only
begotten Son, but didst beget Him before all
ages by Thy will, Thy power, and Thy goodness,
without any instrument, the only begotten Son,
God the Word, the living Wisdom, " the First-
born of every creature, the angel of Thy Great
Counsel," ' and Thy High Priest, but the King
and Lord of every intellectual and sensible na-
ture, who was before all things, by whom were
all things. For Thou, O eternal God, didst
make all things by Him, and through Him it is
that Thou vouchsafest Thy suitable providence
over the whole world ; for by the very same
that Thou bestowedst being, didst Thou also
bestow well-being : the God and Father of Thy
only begotten Son, who by Him didst make
before all things the cherubim and the seraphim,
the geons and hosts, the powers and authorities,
the principalities and thrones, the archangels
and angels ; and after all these, didst by Him
make this visible world, and all things that are
therein. For Thou art He who didst frame the
heaven as an arch, and " stretch it out like the
covering of a tent," ^ and didst found the earth
upon nothing by Thy mere will ; who didst fix
the firmament, and prepare the night and the
day ; who didst bring the light out of Thy treas-
ures, and on its departure didst bring on dark-
ness, for the rest of the living creatures that
move up and down in the world ; who didst
appoint the sun in heaven to rule over the day,
and the moon to rule over the night, and didst
inscribe in heaven the choir of stars to praise
Thy glorious majesty ; who didst make the water
for drink and for cleansing, the air in which we
live for respiration and the affording of sounds,
by the means of the tongue, which strikes the
air, and the hearing, which co-operates there-
with, so as to perceive speech when it is re-
ceived by it, and falls upon it ; who madest fire
for our consolation in darkness, for the supply
of our want, and that we might be warmed and
enlightened by it ; who didst separate the great
sea from the land, and didst render the former
navigable and the latter fit for walking, and didst
replenish the former with small and great living
creatures, and filledst the latter with the same,
both tame and wild ; didst furnish it with various
plants, and crown it with herbs, and beautify it
with flowers, and enrich it with seeds ; who didst
ordain the great deep, and on every side madest
a mighty cavity for it, which contains seas of
salt waters heaped together,^ yet didst Thou
every way bound them with barriers of the

smallest sand ; * who sometimes dost raise it to
the height of mountains by the winds, and some-
times dost smooth it into a plain ; sometimes
dost enrage it with a tempest, and sometimes
dost still it with a calm, that it may be easy to
seafaring men in their voyages ; who didst en-
compass this world, which was made by Thee
through Christ, with rivers, and water it with
currents, and moisten it with springs that never
fail, and didst bind it round with mountains for
the immoveable and secure consistence of the
earth : for Thou hast replenished Thy world,
and adorned it with sweet-smelling and with
healing herbs, with many and various living
creatures, strong and weak, for food and for
labour, tame and wild ; with the noises of creep-
ing things, the sounds of various sorts of flying
creatures ; with the circuits of the years, the
numbers of months and days, the order of the
seasons, the courses of the rainy clouds, for
the production of the fruits and the support of
living creatures. Thou hast also appointed the
station of the winds, which blow when com-
manded by Thee, and the multitude of the
plants and herbs. And Thou hast not only cre-
ated the world itself, but hast also made man
for a citizen of the world, exhibiting him as the
ornament of the world ; for Thou didst say to
Thy Wisdom : " Let us make man according
to our image, and according to our likeness ;
and let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowls of the heaven." 5
Wherefore also Thou hast made him of an im-
mortal soul, and of a body liable to dissolution
— the former out of nothing, the latter out of the
four elements — and hast given him as to his soul
rational knowledge, the discerning of piety and
impiety, and the observation of right and wrong ;
and as to his body. Thou hast granted him five
senses and progressive motion : for Thou, O God
Almighty, didst by Thy Christ plant a paradise in
Eden,*^ in the east, adorned with all plants fit for
food, and didst introduce him into it, as into
a rich banquet. And when Thou madest him,
Thou gavest him a law implanted within him, that
so he might have at home and within himself
the seeds of divine knowledge ; and when Thou
hadst brought him into the paradise of pleasure,
Thou allowedst him the privilege of enjoying all
things, only forbidding the tasting of one tree,
in hopes of greater blessings ; that in case he
would keep that command, he might receive the
reward of it, which was immortality. But when
he neglected that command, and tasted of the
forbidden fruit, by the seduction of the serpent
and the counsel of his wife, Thou didst justly
cast him out of paradise. Yet of Thy goodness

I Col. i. 15; Isa. ix. 6, LXX.

' Gen. i. ; 4 Esd. xvi. 60; Ps. civ. 2.

3 Job xxxviii.

* Jer. V. 22.
5 Gen. i. 26.
«> Gen. ii. 8.

488

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VIIL

Thou didst not overlook him, nor suffer him to
perish utterly, for he was Thy creature ; but Thou
didst subject the whole creation to him, and didst
grant him liberty to procure himself food by his
own sweat and labours, whilst Thou didst cause
all the fruits of the earth to spring up, to grow,
and to ripen. But when Thou hadst laid him
asleep for a while, Thou didst with an oath call
him to a restoration again, didst loose the bond
of death, and promise him life after the resur-
rection, x^nd not this only ; but when Thou
hadst increased his posterity to an innumerable
multitude, those that continued with Thee Thou
didst glorify, and those who did apostatize from
Thee Thou didst punish. And while Thou didst
accept of the sacrifice of Abel ' as of an holy
person. Thou didst reject the gift of Cain, the
murderer of his brother, as of an abhorred wretch.
And besides these, Thou didst accept of Seth and
Enos,- and didst translate Enoch : ^ for Thou art
the Creator of men, and the giver of life, and the
suppHer of want, and the giver of laws, and
the rewarder of those that observe them, and the
avenger of those that transgress them ; who didst
bring the great flood upon the world by reason
of the multitude of the ungodly,'* and didst de-
liver righteous Noah from that flood by an ark, 5
with eight souls, the end of the foregoing gener-
ations, and the beginning of those that were to
come ; who didst kindle a fearful fire against the
five cities of Sodom, and "didst turn a fruitful
land into a salt lake for the wickedness of them
that dwelt therein," ^ but didst snatch holy Lot
out of the conflagration. Thou art He who didst
deliver Abraham from the impiety of his fore-
fathers, and didst appoint him to be the heir of
the world, and didst discover to him Thy Christ ;
who didst aforehand ordain Melchisedec an high
priest for Thy worship ; ^ who didst render Thy
patient servant Job the conqueror of that serpent
who is the patron of wickedness ; who madest
Isaac the son of the promise, and Jacob the
father of twelve sons, and didst increase his pos-
terity to a multitude, and bring him into Egypt
with seventy-five souls.'* Thou, O Lord, didst
not overlook Joseph, but grantedst him, as a re-
ward of his chastity for Thy sake, the govern-
ment over the Egyptians. Thou, O Lord, didst
not overlook the Hebrews when they were afflicted
by the Egyptians, on account of the promises
made unto their fathers ; but Thou didst deliver
them, and punish the Egyptians.'^ And when
men had corrupted the law of nature, and had

' Gen. iv.

^ Ecclus. xlix. 16.

3 Gen. iv. and v.

* Gen. vi. and vii.
5 I Pet. iii. 20.

*> Gen. xix.; Wisd. x. 6; Ps. crii. 34.
^ Gen. xii., etc.

* Gen. xlvi. 27, LXX.
9 Ex. i , etc.

sometimes esteemed the creation the effect of
chance, and sometimes honoured it more than
they ought, and equalled it to the God of the
universe, Thou didst not, however, suffer them
to go astray, but didst raise up Thy holy servant
Moses, and by him didst give the written law
for the assistance of the law of nature,'" and didst
show that the creation was Thy work, and didst
banish away the error of polytheism. Thou
didst adorn Aaron and his posterity with the
priesthood, and didst punish the Hebrews when
they sinned, and receive them again when they
returned to Thee. Thou didst punish the Egyp-
tians with a judgment of ten plagues, and didst
divide the sea, and bring the Israelites through
it, and drown and destroy the Egyptians who
pursued after them. Thou didst sweeten the
bitter water with wood ; Thou didst bring water
out of the rock of stone ; Thou didst rain manna
from heaven, and quails, as meat out of the air ;
Thou didst afford them a pillar of fire by night
to give them light, and a pillar of a cloud by day
to overshadow them from the heat ; Thou didst
declare Joshua to be the general of the army, and
didst overthrow the seven nations of Canaan by
him ; " Thou didst divide Jordan, and dry up the
rivers of Etham ; '^ Thou didst overthrow walls
without instruments or the hand of man.'^ For
all these things, glory be to Thee, O Lord Al-
mighty. Thee do the innumerable hosts of angels,
archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities,
authorities, and powers. Thine everlasting armies,
adore. The cherubim and the six-winged sera-
phim, with twain covering their feet, with twain
their heads, and with twain flying,"'' say, together
with thousand thousands of archangels, and ten
thousand times ten thousand of angels, '5 inces-
santly, and with constant and loud voices, and
let all the people say it with them : " Holy, holy,
holy, Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of
His glory : be Thou blessed for ever. Amen." '^
And afterwards let the high priest say : For Thou
art truly holy, and most holy, the highest and
most highly exalted for ever. Holy also is Thy
only begotten Son our Lord and God, Jesus
Christ, who in all things ministered to His God
and Father, both in Thy various creation and
Thy suitable providence, and has not overlooked
lost mankind. But after the law of nature, after
the exhortations in the positive law, after the
prophetical reproofs and the government of the
angels, when men had perverted both the posi-
tive law and that of nature, and had cast out of
their mind the memory of the flood, the burn-

'° See Isa. viii. ao, LXX.

" Josh. iii. lo, etc.

'- Ps. Ixxiv. 15.

'^ Josh. vi.

'* Isa. vi. 2.

'5 Dan. vii. lo.

"* Isa. vi. 3; Rom. i. 25.

Sec. II.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

489

ing of Sodom, the plagues of the Egyptians, and
the slaughters of the inhabitant" of Palestine,
and being just ready to perisli universally after
an unparalleled manner. He was pleased by Thy
good will to become man, who was man's Crea-
tor ; to be under the laws, who was the Legis-
lator ; to be a sacrifice, who was an High Priest ;
to be a sheep, who was the Shepherd. And He
appeased Thee, His God and Father, and recon-
ciled Thee to the world, and freed all men from
the wrath to come, and was made of a virgin,
and was in flesh, being God the Word, the be-
loved Son, the first-born of the whole creation,
and was, according to the prophecies which were
foretold concerning Him by Himself, of the seed
of David and Abraham, of the tribe of Judah.
And He was made in the womb of a virgin, who
formed all mankind that are born into the world ;
He took flesh, who was without flesh ; He who
was begotten before time, was born in time ; He
lived holily, and taught according to the law ;
He drove away every sickness and every disease
from men, and wrought signs and wonders among
the people ; and He was partaker of meat, and
drink, and sleep, who nourishes all that stand in
need of food, and " fills every living creature with
His goodness ; " ' " He manifested His name to
those that knew it not ; " ^ He drave away igno-
rance ; He revived piety, and fulfilled Thy will ;
He finished the work which Thou gavest Him to
do ; and when He had set all these things right.
He was seized by the hands of the ungodly, of
the high priests and priests, falsely so called, and
of the disobedient people, by the betraying of
him who was possessed of wickedness as with a
confirmed disease ; He suffered many things from
them, and endured all sorts of ignominy by Thy
permission ; He was delivered to Pilate the gov-
ernor, and He that was the Judge was judged,
and He that was the Saviour was condemned ;
He that was impassible was nailed to the cross,
and He who was by nature immortal died, and
He that is the giver of life was buried, that He
might loose those for whose sake He came from
suffering and death, and might break the bonds
of the devil, and deliver mankind from his deceit.
He arose from the dead the third day ; and
when He had continued with His disciples forty
days. He was taken up into the heavens, and is
sat down on the right hand of Thee, who art
His God and Father. Being mindful, therefore,
of those things that He endured for our sakes,
we give Thee thanks, O God Almighty, not in
such a manner as we ought, but as we are able,
and fulfil His constitution : " For in the same
night that He was betrayed, He took bread " ^
in His holy and undefiled hands, and, looking

I Ps. cv. 16.

* John xvii. 6, 4.

5 I Cor. xi. 23.

up to Thee His God and Father, " He brake
it, and gave it to His disciples, saying. This is
the mystery of the new covenant : take of it,
and eat. This is my body, which is broken for
many, for the remission of sins." '' In like man-
ner also " He took the cup," and mixed it of
wine and water, and sanctified it, and delivered
it to them, saying : " Drink ye all of this ; for
this is my blood which is shed for many, for the
remission of sins : do this in remembrance of
me. For as often as ye eat this bread and
drink this cup, ye do show forth my death until
I come." Being mindful, therefore, of His pas-
sion, and death, and resurrection from the dead,
and return into the heavens, and His future
second appearing, wherein He is to come with
glory and power to judge the quick and the
dead, and to recompense to every one accord-
ing to his works, we offer to Thee, our King and
our God, according to His constitution, this
bread and this cup, giving Thee thanks, through
Him, that Thou hast thought us worthy to stand
before Thee, and to sacrifice to Thee ; and we
beseech Thee that Thou wilt mercifully look
down upon these gifts which are here set before
Thee, O Thou God, who standest in need of none
of our offerings. And do Thou accept them,
to the honour of Thy Christ, and send down
upon this sacrifice Thine Holy Spirit, the Wit-
ness of the Lord Jesus' sufferings, that He may
show this bread to be the body of Thy Christ,
and the cup to be the blood of Thy Christ, that
those who are partakers thereof may be strength-
ened for piety, may obtain the remission of their
sins, may be delivered from the devil and his
deceit, may be filled with the Holy Ghost, may
be made worthy of Thy Christ, and may obtain
eternal life upon Thy reconciliation to them, O
Lord Almighty. We further pray unto Thee, O
Lord, for thy holy Church spread from one end
of the world to another, which Thou hast pur-
chased with the precious blood of Thy Christ,
that Thou wilt preserve it unshaken and free
from disturbance until the end of the world ;
for every episcopate who rightly divides the
word of truth. We further pray to Thee for
me, who am nothing, who offer to Thee, for the
whole presbytery, for the deacons and all the
clergy, that Thou wilt make them wise, and re-
plenish them with the Holy Spirit. We further
pray to Thee, O Lord, " for the king and all in
authority," s for the whole army, that they may
be peaceable towards us, that so, leading the
whole time of our life in quietness and unanim-
ity, we may glorify Thee through Jesus Christ,
who is our hope. We further offer to Thee also
for all those holy persons who have pleased
Thee from the beginning of the world — patri-

* Matt. xxvi. : Markxiv. ; Luke xxii.
5 I Tim. ii. 2.

490

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. [Book viii

archs, prophets, righteous men, apostles, mar-
tyrs, confessors, bishops, presbyters, deacons,
sub-deacons, readers, singers, virgins, widows,
and lay persons, with all whose names Thou
knowest. We further offer to Thee for this
people, that Thou wilt render them, to the
praise of Thy Christ, "a. royal priesthood and
an holy nation ; " ' for those that are in virgin-
ity and purity ; for the widows of the Church ;
for those in honourable marriage and child-
bearing ■ for the infants of Thy people ; that
Thou wilt not permit any of us to " become
castaways." We further beseech Thee also for
this city and its inhabitants ; for those that are
sick ; for those in bitter servitude ; for those in
banishments ; for those in prison ; for those that
travel by water or by land ; that Thou, the
helper and assister of all men, wilt be their sup-
porter. We further also beseech Thee for those
that hate us and persecute us for Thy name's
sake ; for those that are without, and wander out
of the way ; that Thou wilt convert them to
goodness, and pacify their anger. We further
also beseech Thee for the catechumens of the
Church, and for those that are vexed by the ad-
versary, and for our brethren the penitents, that
Thou wilt perfect the first in the faith, that Thou
wilt deliver the second from the energy of the
evil one, and that Thou wilt accept the repent-
ance of the last, and forgive both them and us
oui offences. We further offer to Thee also for
the good temperature of the air, and the fer-
tility of the fruits, that so, partaking perpetually
of the good things derived from Thee, we may
praise Thee without ceasing, " who gavest food
to all flesh." ^ We further beseech Thee also
for those who are absent on a just cause, that
Thou wilt keep us all in piety, and gather us to-
gether in the kingdom of Thy Christ, tlie God
of all sensible and intelligent nature, our King ;
that Thou wouldst keep us immoveable, un-
blameable, and unreprovable : for to Thee be-
longs all glory, and worship, and thanksgiving,
honour and adoration, the Father, with the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost, both now and always,
and for everlasting, and endless ages for ever.
And let all the people say. Amen. And let the
bishop say, " The peace of God be with you
all." And let all the people say, "And with thy
spirit." And let the deacon proclaim again : —

THE BIDDING PRAYER FOR THE FAITHFUL AFTER
THE DIVINE OBLATION.

XIII. Let us Still further beseech God through
His Christ, and let us beseech Him on account
of the gift which is offered to the Lord (kxl,
that the good God will accept it, through the

' I Pet. ii 9.
- Ps. cxxxvi. 25,

mediation of His Christ, upon His heavenly al^
tar, for a sweet-smelling savour. Let us pray
for this church and people. Let us pray for
every episcopate, every presbytery, all the dea-
cons and ministers in Christ, for the whole con-
gregation, that the Lord will Keep and preserve
them all. Let us pray " for kings and those in
authority," that they may be peaceable toward
us, " that so we may have and lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." 3
Let us be mindful of the holy martyrs, that we
may be thought worthy to be partakers of their
trial. Let us pray for those that are departed m
the faith. Let us pray for the good temperature
of the air, and the perfect maturity of the fruits.
Let us pray for those that are newly enlightened,
that they may be strengthened in the faith, and
all may be mutually comforted by one another.^
Raise us up, O God, by Thy grace. Let us
stand up, and dedicate ourselves to God, through
His Christ. And let the bishop say : O God,
who art great, and whose name is great, who art
great in counsel and mighty in works, the God
and Father of Thy holy child Jesus, our Saviour ;
look down upon us, and upon this Thy flock,
which Thou hast chosen by Him to the glory of
Thy name ; and sanctify our body and soul, and
grant us the favour to be " made pure from all
filthiness of flesh and spirit," s and may obtain
the good things laid up for us, and do not ac-
count any of us unworthy ; but be Thou our
comforter, helper, and protector, through Thy
Christ, with whom glory, honour, praise, doxol-
ogy, and thanksgiving be to Thee and to the
Holy Ghost for ever. Amen. And after that
all have said Amen, let the deacon say : Let us
attend. And let the bishop speak thus to the
people : Holy things for holy persons. And let
the people answer : There is One that is holy ;
there is one Lord, one Jesus Christ, blessed for
ever, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good-will among men. Hosanna to the
son of David ! Blessed be He that cometh in
the name of the Lord," being the Lord God
who appeared to us, " Hosanna in the highest." ^
An^ after that, let the bishop pcu'take, then the
presbyters, and deaeons, and^ sub-deacons, and
the readers, and the singers, and the ascetics ;
and then of the women, the deaconesses, and
the virgins, and the widows ; then the children ;
a7id then all the people in order, with reverence
and godly fear, without tumult. And let the
bishop give the oblation, saying, The body of
Christ ; and let him that receive tk say. Amen.

3 I Tim. ii. 2.

< This is not a fair translation of the Greek, which, as the text
stands, does not make .sense. One V. ms. reads, " Let us beseech m
behalf of one another."

5 2 Cor. vii. I.

<> Luke n. 14; Matt xxi 9.

' '1 he Coptic adds, " the rest of the clergy in their order."

Sec. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

491

And let tJie deacon take the eiip ; and 7ci/ien lie
gives it, say, The blood of Christ, the cup of life ;
and let him that drinketh say, Anient And let
the thirty- third psalm be said, while the rest are
partaking ; and when all,- both men and women,
have partaken, let the deacons carry what remains
into the vestry. And when the singer has done,
let the deacon say : —

THE BIDDING PRAYER AFTER THE PARTICIPATION.

XIV. Now we have received the precious body
and the precious blood of Christ, let us give
thanks to Him who has thought us luorthy to
partake of these His holy^ mysteries ; and let us
beseech Him that it may not be to us for con-
demnation, but for salvation, to the advantage
of soul and body, to the preservation of piety,
to the remission of sins, and to the life of the
world to come. Let us arise, and by the grace
of Christ let us dedicate ourselves to God, to the
only unbegotten God, and to His Christ. And
let the bishop give thanks : —

THE FORM OF PRAYER AFTER THE PARTICIPATION.

XV. O Lord God Almighty, the Father of Thy
Christ, Thy blessed Son, who hearest those who
call upon Thee with uprightness, who also know-
est the supplications of those who are silent ; we
thank Thee that Thou hast thought us worthy to
partake of Thy holy mysteries, which Thou hast
bestowed upon us, for the entire confirmation
of those things we have rightly known, for the
preservation of piety, for the remission of our
offences ; for the name of thy Christ is called
ujjon us, and we are joined To Thee. O Thou
that hast separated us from the communion of
the ungodly, unite us with those that are conse-
crated to Thee in holiness ; confirm us in the
truth, by the assistance of Thy Holy Spirit ; re-
veal to us what things we are ignorant of, supply
what things we are defective in, confirm us in
what things we already know, preserve the priests
blameless in Thy worship ; keep the kings in
peace, and the rulers in righteousness, the air
in a good temperature, the fruits in fertility, the
world in an all-powerful providence ; pacify the
warring nations, convert those that are gone
astray, sanctify Thy people, keep those that are
in virginity, preserve those in the faith that are in
marriage, strengthen those that are in purity,
bring the infants to complete age, confirm the
newly admitted ; instruct the catechumens, and
render them worthy of admission ; and gather
us all together into Thy kingdom of heaven, by
Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom glory, honour.

and worship be to Thee, in the Holy Ghost, for
ever. Amen. And let the deacon say: Bow
down to 4 God through His Christ, atid receive
the blessing. And let the bishop add this prayer,
and say : O God Almighty, the true God, to
whom nothing can be compared, who art every-
where, and present in all things, and art in noth-
ing as one of the things themselves ; who art
not bounded by place, nor grown old by time ;
who art not terminated by ages, nor deceived
by words ; who art not subject to generation,
and wantest no guardian ; who art above all
corruption, free from all change, and invariable
by nature ; " who inhabitest light inaccessible ; " ^
who art by nature invisible, and yet art known
to all reasonable natures who seek Thee with a
good mind, and art comprehended by those that
seek after Thee with a good mind ; the God of
Israel, Thy people which truly see, and which
have believed in Christ : Be gracious to me,
and hear me, for Thy name's sake, and bless
those that bow down their necks unto Thee,
and grant them the petitions of their hearts, which
are for their good, and do not reject any one of
them from Thy kingdom ; but sanctify, guard,
cover, and assist them ; deliver them from the
adversary and every enemy ; keep their houses,
and guard " their comings in and their goings
out."^ For to Thee belongs the glory, praise,
majesty, worship, and adoration, and to Thy Son
Jesus, Thy Christ, our Lord and God and King,
and to the Holy Ghost, now and always, for ever
and ever. Amen. And^ the deacon shall say.
Depart in peace? These constitutions concern-
ing this mystical worship, we, the apostles, do
ordain for you, the bishops, presbyters, atid
deacons.

SEC. III. ORDINATION AND DUTIES OF THE

CLERGY.

CONCERNING THE ORDINATION OF PRESBYTERS —
THE CONSTITUTION OF JOHN, WHO WAS BELOVED
BY THE LORD.

XVI. Concerning the ordination of presbyters,
1 9 who am loved by the Lord make this consti-
tution for you the bishops : When thou ordainest
a presbyter, O bishop, lay thy hand upon his head,

' The Coptic has, " and let them sing psalms during the distribu-
tion, until the whole congregation has received it."

2 The Coptic has, " let all the women receive it also."

3 The Coptic, " these His holy and immortal mysteries, which
are numbered in heaven."

*■ The Coptic has, " the Lord."
5 I Tim. vi. i6.
^ Ps. cxxi. 8.

7 The Coptic adds: "And let the presbyters and deacons watch
the few fragments that are left, that they may perceive that there is
nothing superfluous; lest they fall into the great judgment, like the
sons of Aaron and Eli, whom the Holy Spirit destroyed, because they
did not refrain from despising the sacrifice of the Lord: how much
more those who despise the body and blood of the Lord, thinking that
to be merely material food which they receive, and not spiritual ! "

8 The Coptic inserts, " when they have been blessed."

9 One V. MS. has this note: "John the evange!ist, the brother of
James, was banished by Domitian to the island of Patmos, and there
composed the Gospel according to him. He died a natural death, in
the third year of Trajan's reign, in Ephesus. His remains were
sought, but have not been found."

492

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VIIL

in the presence of the presbyters and deacons,^ and
pray, saying : O Lord Almighty, our Ciod, who
hast created all things by Christ, and dost in like
manner take care of the whole world by Him ;
for He who had power. to make different crea-
tures, has also power to take care of them, ac-
cording to their different natures ; on which
account, O God, Thou takest care of immortal
beings by bare preservation, but of those that
are mortal by succession — of the soul by the
provision of laws, of the body by the supply of
its wants. Do Thou therefore now also look
down upon Thy holy Church, and increase the
same, and multiply those that preside in it, and
grant them power, that they may labour both in
word and work for the edification of Thy people.
Do Thou now also look down upon this Thy
servant, who is put into the presbytery by the
vote and determination of the whole clergy ; and
do Thou replenish him with the Spirit of grace
and counsel, to assist and govern Thy people
with a pure heart, in the same manner as Thou
didst look down upon Thy chosen people, and
didst command Moses to choose elders, whom
Thou didst fill with Thy Spirit.^ Do Thou also
now, O Lord, grant this, and preserve in us the
Spirit of Thy grace, that this person, being filled
with the gifts of healing and the word of teach-
ing, may in meekness instruct Thy people, and
sincerely serve Thee with a pure mind and a
willing soul, and may fully discharge the holy
ministrations for Thy i)eople, through Thy Christ,
with whom glory, honour, and worship be to
Thee, and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.

CONCERNING THE ORDINATION OF DEACONS — THE
CONSTITUTION OF PHILIP.

xvri. Concerning the ordination of deacons, I
Philip 5 make this constitution: Thou shalt or-
dain a deacon, O bishop, by laying thy hands
upon him in the presence of the whole presby-
tery, and of the deacons, and shalt pray, and
say : —

THE FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE ORDINATION OF A

DEACON.

xviii. O God Almighty, the true and faithful
God, who art rich unto all that call upon Thee
in truth, who art fearful in counsels, and wise in
understanding, who art powerful and great, hear
our prayer, O Lord, and let Thine ears receive
our supplication, and " cause the light of Thy
countenance to shine upon this Thy servant,"

' The Coptic adds: "While you pray, he is ordained; and thou
shalt ordain the deacon also according to this constitution alone."

^ Ex. xviii., xxiv., xxviii.

'One v. MS. has the following note; " Philip having proclaimed
the life-giving word to the Asiatic diocese, has heen buried in Hierap-
olis of Phrygia along with his daughters, having been crowned with
martyrdom m the reign of the Emperor Domitian. Philip, who has
the daughters, is oae of the seven; it was he also who baptized the
eunuch."

who is to be ordained for Thee to the office of
a deacon ; and replenish him with Thy Holy
Spirit, and with power, as Thou didst replenish
Stephen, who was Thy martyr, and follower of
the sufferings of Thy Christ.'* Do Thou render
him worthy to discharge acceptably the ministra-
tion of a deacon, steadily, unblameably, and with-
out reproof, that thereby he may attain an higher
degree, through the mediation of Thy only be-
gotten Son, with whom glory, honour, and wor-
ship be to Thee and the Holy Spirit for ever.
Amen.

CONCERNING THE DEACONESS — THE CONSTITUTION
OF BARTHOLOMEW.

XIX. Concerning a deaconess, I Bartholomew 5
make this constitution : O bishop, thou shalt lay
thy hands upon her in the presence of the pres-
bytery, and of the deacons and deaconesses, and
shalt say : —

THE FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE ORDINATION OF A
DEACONESS.

XX. O Eternal God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Creator of man and of woman,
who didst replenish with the Sj)irit Miriam, and
Deborah, and Anna, and Huldah ; ^ who didst
not disdain that Thy only begotten Son should
be born of a woman ; who also in the tabernacle
of the testimony, and in the temple, didst ordain
women to be keepers of Thy holy gates, — do
Thou now also look down upon this Thy servant,
who is to be ordained to the office of a deaconess,
and grant her Thy Holy Spirit, and " cleanse her
from all filthiness of flesh and spirit," '' that she
may worthily discharge the work which is com-
mitted to her to Thy glory, and the praise of
Thy Christ, with whom glory and adoration be
to Thee and the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.

CONCERNING THE SUB-DEACONS — THE CONSTITU-
TION OF THOMAS.

XXI. Concerning the sub-deacons, I Thomas ^
make this constitution for you the bishops : "*
When thou dost ordain a sub-deacon, '° O bishop,
thou shalt lay thy hands upon him, and say : O
Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and
of all things that are therein ; who also in the
tabernacle of the testimony didst appoint over-
seers and keepers of Thy holy vessels ; " do Thou
now look down upon this Thy servant, appointed

* Acts vi. and vii.

S One V. MS. has the following note: " Bartholomew preached the
Gospel according to Matthew to the Indians, who also has been buried
in India."

* Ex. XV. lo; Judg. iv. 4; Luke ii. 36; 2 Kings xxii. 14.
7 2 Cor. vii. I.

' One v. MS. has the following note: " Thomas preached to the
Parthians, Medes, Persians, Germans, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, Bar-
dians, who also, having been a martyr, lies in Edessa of Osdroene."

9 The words " for you the bishops" are omitted in the Oxford MS.

"^ fSee vol. v. Elucidation XIV. p. 417.]

" Num. iii. : i Chron. vi.

Stc. III.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

493

a sub-deacon ; and grant him the Holy Spirit,
that he may worthily handle the vessels of Thy
ministry, and do Thy will always, through Thy
Christ, with whom glory, honour, and worship be
to Thee and to the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.

CONCERNING THE READERS — THE CONSTITUTION
OF MAITHEW.

XXII. Concerning readers," I Matthew, also
called Levi, who was once a tax-gatherer, make
a constitution : Ordain a reader by laying thy
hands upon him, and pray unto God, and say :
O Eternal God, who art plenteous in mercy and
compassions, who hast made manifest the con-
stitution of the world by Thy operations therein,
and keepest the number of i'hine elect, do Thou
also now look down upon Thy servant, who is to
be entrusted to read Thy Holy Scriptures to Thy
people, and give him Thy Holy Spirit, the pro-
phetic Spirit. Thou who didst instruct Esdras
Thy servant to read Thy laws to the people,^ do
Thou now also at our prayers instruct ^Fhy ser-
vant, and grant that he may without blame per-
fect the work committed to him, and thereby be
declared worthy of an higher degree, through
Christ, with whom glory and worship be to Thee
and to the Holy Ghost for ever. Amen.

CONCERNING THE CONFESSORS — THE CONSTITU-
TION OF JAMES THE SON OF ALPHEUS.

XXIII. And I James, the son of Alphseus, make
a constitution in regard to confessors : A con-
fessor is not ordained; for he is so by choice and
patience, and is 7vorthy of great honour, as hav-
ing confessed the name of God, and of His Christ,
before nations and kings. But if there be occa-
sion,\\q. is to be ordained 3 either a bishop, priest,
or deacon. But if any one of the confessors who
is not ordained snatches to himself any such dig-
nity upon account of his confession, let the same
person be deprived and rejected ; for he is not in
such an office, since he has denied the constitution
of Christ, and is " worse than an infidel.^'' ■♦

THE SAME apostle's CONSTITUTION CONCERNING

VIRGINS.

XXIV. I, the same, make a constitution in re-
gard to virgins : A virgin is not ordained, for
we have no such command from the Lord ;^ for
this is a state of voluntary trial, 7iot for the re-
proach of marriage, but on account of leisure for
piety.

' The Oxford MS. has no part of this chapter. It reads: "A
reader is appointed when the bishop gives him a book; for there is no
imposition of hands."

2 Neh. viii.

3 The Coptic reads, " let him be ordained."
* I Tim. V. 8.

5 I Cor. vii. 25.

THE CONSTITUTION OF LEBB^US, WHO WAS SUR-
NAMED THADD^US, CONCERNING WIDOWS.

XXV. And I Lebbaeus,^ surnamed Thaddccus,
make this constitution in regard to widows : A
Window is not ordained ; yet if she has lost her
husband a great while, and has lived soberly and
unblameab/y, and has taken extraordinary care
of her family, as yudith 7 and Anna ^ — those
wotnen of great reputation — let her be chosen
into the order of wido70S. But if she has lately
lost her yokefellow, let her not be believed, but let
her youth be Judged of by the titne ; for the affec-
tions do sometimes grow aged with men, if they
be not restrained by a better bridle.

THE SAME APOSTLE CONCERNING THE EXORCIST.

XXVI. I the same make a constitution in re-
gard to an exorcist. An exorcist is not ordained.
For it is a trial of voluntary goodness, and of
the grace of God through Christ by the inspira-
tion of the Holy Spirit. For he who has received
the gift of healing is declared by revelation from
God, the grace 7vhich is in him beitig manifest to
all. But if there be occasion for him, he must
be ordained 9 a bishop, or a presbyter, or a
deacon.

SIMON THE CANAANITE CONCERNING THE NUMBER
NECESSARY FOR THE ORDINATION OF A BISHOP.

xxvii.'° And I Simon the Canaanite" make a
constitution to determine by how many a bishoj)
ought to be elected. Let a bishop be ordained
by three or two bishops ; but if any one be or-
dained by one bishop, let him be deprived, both
himself and he that ordained him. But if there
be a necessity that he have only one to ordain
him, because more bishops cannot come together,
as in time of persecution, or for such like causes,
let him bring the suffrage of permission from
more bishops.

THE SAME apostle's CANONS CONCERNING BISHOPS,
PRESBYTERS, DEACONS, AND THE REST OF THE
CLERGY.

xxviii. Concerning '^ the canons I the same
make a constitution. A bishop blesses, but doe.s
not receive the blessing. He lays on hands, or-

* The two V. Mss. have the following note: "Thaddaeus, also
called Lebbseus, and who was surnamed Judas the Zealot, preachc 1
the truth to the Edessenes and the people of Mesopotamia when
Abgarus ruled over Edessa, and has been buried in Berytus of Phoe-
nicia."

7 Judith xvi. 21, 23.

^ Luke ii. 36, etc.

9 The Coptic has, " let him be ordained."

'° Ch. xxvii., xxviii., xxx.-xxxiv., and ch. xlii.-xlvii., occur in
Syriac and Coptic, as well as in the Greek mss.

" One V. MS. has the following note: "Simon the Canaanite,
preacher of the truth, is crowned with martyrdom in Judea in the
reign of Domitian."

'- The words from " concerning " to " constitution " are omitted in
the Oxford MS., in Syriac, and Coptic.

494

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. [Book Vlll.

dains, offers, receives the blessing from bishops,
but by no means from presbyters. A bishop de-
prives any clergyman who deserves deprivation,
excepting a bishop ; for of himself he has not
power to do that. A presbyter blesses, but does
not receive the blessing ; yet does he receive the
blessing from the bishop or a fellow-presbyter.
In like manner does he give it to a fellow-pres-
byter. He lays on hands, but does not ordain ;
he does not deprive, yet does he separate those
that are under him, if they be liable to such a
punishment. A deacon does not bless, does not
give the blessing, but receives it from the bishop
and presbyter : he does not baptize, he does not
offer ; but when a bishop or presbyter has offered,
he distributes to the people, not as a priest, but
as one that ministers to the priests. But it is
not lawful for any one of the other clergy to do
the work of a deacon. A deaconess does not
bless, nor perform anything belonging to the
office of presbyters or deacons, but only is to
keep the doors, and to minister to the presbyters
in the baptizing of women, on account of de-
cency. A deacon separates a sub-deacon, a
reader, a singer, and a deaconess, if there be any
occasion, in the absence of a presbyter. It is
not lawful for a sub-deacon to separate either
one of the clergy or laity ; nor for a reader, nor
for a singer, nor for a deaconess, for they are the
ministers to the deacons.

SEC. IV. CERTAIN PRAYERS AND LAWS.

CONCERNING THE BLESSING OF WATER AND OIL —
THE CONSTITUTION OF MATTHMS.

XXIX.' Concerning the water and the oil, I
Matthias make a constitution. Let the bishop
bless the water, or the oil. But if he be not
there, let the presbyter bless it, the deacon
standing by. But if the bishop be present, let
the presbyter and deacon stand by, and let him
say thus : O Lord of hosts, the God of powers,
the creator of the waters, and the supplier of
oil, who art compassionate, and a lover of man-
kind, who hast given water for drink and for
cleansing, and oil to give man a cheerful and
joyful countenance ; ^ do Thou now also sanctify
this water and this oil through Thy Christ, in
the name of him or her that has offered them,
and grant them a power to restore health, to
drive away diseases, to banish demons, and to
disperse all snares through Christ our hope, with
whom glory, honour, and worship be to Thee,
and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.

• This chapter is not found in the Coptic and Syriac. One V.
MS. has the followinK note: " Matthew (probably a mistake for Mat-
thias) taught the doctrines of Christ in Judea, and was one of the
seventy disciples. After the ascension of Christ he was numbered
with the twelve apostles, instead of Judas, who was the betrayer. He
lies in Jerusalem."

^ Ps. civ. 15.

THE SAME apostle's CONSTflUTION CONCERNING
FIRST-FRUITS AND TITHES.

XXX. 1 3 the same make a constitution in re-
gard to first-fruits and tithes. Let all first-fruits
be brought to the bishop, and to the presbyters,
and to the deacons,-* for their maintenance ; but
let all the tithe be for the maintenance of the
rest of the clergy, and of the virgins and widows,
and of those under the trial of poverty. For the
first-fruits belong to the priests, and to those
deacons that minister to them.

THE SAME apostle's CONSTITUTIONS CONCERNING
THE REMAINING OBLATIONS.

XXXI. I the same make a constitution in
regard to remainders. Those eulogies which re-
main at the mysteries, let the deacons distribute
them among the clergy, according to the mind
of the bishop or the presbyters : to a bishop, four
parts ; to a presbyter, three 5 parts ; to a deacon,
two ^ parts ; and to the rest of the sub-deacons,
or readers, or singers, or deaconesses, one part.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of
God, that every one be honoured according to
his dignity ; for the Church is the school, not
of confusion, but of good order.

VARIOUS CANONS OF PAUL THE APOSTLE CONCERN-
ING THOSE THAT OFFER THEMSELVES TO BE

BAPTIZED WHOM WE ARE TO RECEIVE, AND

WHOM TO REJECT.

XXXII. / also, Paul,'' the least of the apostles,
do 7nake the following constitutions for you, the
bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, concerning
cafions. Those that first come to the mystery
of godliness, let them be brought to the bishop
or to the presbyters by the deacons, and let
them be examined as to the causes wherefore
they come to the word of the Lord ; and let
those that bring them exactly inquire about their
character, and give them their testimony. Let
their manners and their life be inquired into,
and whether they be slaves or freemen. And if
any one be a slave, let him be asked who is his
master. If he be slave to one of the faithful,
let his master be asked if he can give him a good
character. If he cannot, let him be rejected,
until he show himself to be worthy to his master.
But if he does give him a good character, let
him be admitted. But if he be household slave

3 The Oxford MS. reads: "I the same, Simon the Canaanite,
make a constitution."

* " Deacons" omitted in Oxford MS. and in Coptic.
5 " Two," Oxford MS.

* " One," Oxford MS.

' One v. MS. has the following instead of the title: " Paul, the
teacher of the Gentiles, having proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to the
Gentiles from Jerusalem even to Illyricum, was cut off in Rome while
teaching the truth, by Nero and King Agrippa, being beheaded, and
has been buried in Rome itself"

Sec. IV.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

495

to an heathen, let him be taught to please his
master, that the word be not blasphemed. If,
then, he have a wife, or a woman hath an hus-
band, let tliem be taught to be content with each
other ; but if they be unmarried, let them learn
not to commit fornication, but to enter into law-
ful marriage. But if his master be one of the
faithful, and knows that he is guilty of fornica-
tion, and yet does not give him a wife, or to the
woman an husband, let him be separated ; but
if any one hath a demon, let him indeed be
taught piety, but not received into communion
before he be cleansed ; yet if death be near,
let him be received. If any one be a maintainer
of harlots, let him either leave off to prostitute
women, or else let him be rejected. If a harlot
come, let her leave off whoredom, or else let her
be rejected. If a maker of idols come, let him
either leave off his employment, or let him be
rejected. If one belonging to the theatre ' come,
whether it be man or woman, or charioteer, or
dueller, or racer, or player of prizes, or Olympic
gamester, or one that plays on the pipe, on the
lute, or on the harp at those games, or a dancing-
master, or an huckster,^ either let them leave off
their employments, or let them be rejected. If
a soldier come, let him be taught to "do no
injustice, to accuse no man falsely, and to be
content with his allotted wages : "^ if he submit
to those rules, let him be received ; but if he
refuse them, let him be rejected. He that is
guilty of sins not to be named, a sodomite, an
effeminate person, a magician, an enchanter, an
astrologer, a diviner, an user of magic verses, a
juggler, a mountebank, one that makes amulets,
a charmer, a soothsayer, a fortune-teller, an ob-
server of palmistry ; he that, when he meets you,
observes defects in the eyes or feet of the birds
or cats, or noises, or symbolical sounds : let
these be proved for some time, for this sort of
wickedness is hard to be washed away ; and if
they leave off those practices, let them be re-
ceived ; but if they will not agree to that, let
them be rejected. Let a concubine, who is slave
to an unbeliever, and confines herself to her
master alone, be received ; ■♦ but if she be incon-
tinent with others, let her be rejected. If one
of the faithful hath a concubine, if she be a
bond-servant, let him leave off that way, and
marry in a legal manner : if she be a free woman,
let him marry her in a lawful manner ; if he does
not, let him be rejected. Let him that follows
the Gentile customs, or Jewish fables, either
reform, or let him be rejected. If any one fol-
lows the sports of the theatre, their huntings, or
horse-races, or combats, either let him leave

' [Note this uniform testimony of antiquity against theatricals in
all forms.]

2 [Purveyors to the play-house.]

3 Luke 111. 14.

* [Compare vol. v. p. 130, note i.]

them off, or let him be rejected. Let him who
is to be a catechumen be a catechumen for three
years ; but if any one be diligent, and has a
good-will to his business, let him be admitted :
for it is not the length of time, but the course
of life, that is judged. Let him that teaches,
although he be one of the liaity, yet, if he be
skilful in the word and grave in his manners,
teach ; for " they shall be all taught of God." 5
Let all the faithful, whether men or women,
when they rise from sleep, before they go to
work, when they have washed themselves, pray ;
but if any catechetic instruction be held, let the
faithful person prefer the word of piety before
his work. Let the faithful person, whether man
or woman, treat servants kindly, as we have or-
dained in the foregoing books, and have taught
in our epistles.^

UPON WHICH DAYS SERVANTS ARE NOT TO WORK.

XXXIII. I Peter and Paul do make the follow-
ing constitutions. Let the slaves work five days ;
but on the Sabbath-day and the Lord's day let
them have leisure to go to church for instruction
in piety. We have said that the Sabbath is on
account of the creation, and the Lord's day of
the resurrection. Let slaves rest from their work
all the great week, and that which follows it —
for the one in memory of the passion, and the
other of the resurrection ; and there is need they
should be instructed who it is that suffered and
rose again, and who it is permitted Him to suffer,
and raised Him again. Let them have rest from
their work on the Ascension, because it was the
conclusion of the dispensation by Christ. Let
them rest at Pentecost, because of the coming
of the Holy Spirit, which was given to those that
believed in Christ. Let them rest on the festival
of His birth, because on it the unexpected fa-
vour was granted to men, that Jesus Christ, the
Logos of God, should be born of the Virgin
Mary,7 for the salvation of the world.^ Let them
rest on the festival of Epiphany, because on it
a manifestation took place of the divinity of
Christ, for the Father bore testimony to Him
at the baptism ; and the Paraclete, in the form
of a dove, pointed out to the bystanders Him
to whom testimony was borne. Let them rest on
the days of the apostles : for they were appointed
your teachers to bring you to Christ, and made
you worthy of the Spirit. Let them rest on the
day of the first ^ martyr Stephen, and of the other
holy martyrs who preferred Christ to their own
life.

5 John vi. 45.

* Eph. vi.; Col. iv. ; Philem.

7 The Coptic adds, " the holy mother of Gad."

' [Compare vol. iii. pp. 164, 352.

9 One v. MS., Coptic, and Syriac omit " first."

496

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES. [Book viii

AT WHAT HOURS, AND WHY, WE ARE TO PRAY.

XXXIV. Offer up your prayers in the morning,
at the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, the even-
ing, and at cock-crowing : in the morning, re-
turning thanks that the Lord has sent you light,
that He has brought you past the night, and
brought on the day ; at the third hour, because
at that hour the Lord received the sentence of
condemnation from Pilate ; at the sixth, because
at that hour He was crucified ; • at the ninth,
because all things were in commotion at the
crucifixion of the Lord, as trembling at the bold
attempt of the impious Jews, and not bearing
the injury offered to their Lord ; in the evening,
giving thanks that He has given you the night
to rest from the daily labours ; at cock-crowing,
because that hour brings the good news of the
coming on of the day for the operations proper
for the light. But if it be not possible to go to
the church on account of the unbelievers, thou,
O bishop, shalt assemble them in a house, that
a godly man may not enter into an assembly of
the ungodly. For it is not the place that sancti-
fies the man, but the man the place. And if
the ungodly possess the place, do thou avoid it,
because it is profaned by them. For as holy
priests sanctify a place, so do the profane ones
defile it. If it be not possible to assemble
either in the church or in a house, let every one
by himself sing, and read, and pray, or two or
three together. For " where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them." ^ Let not one of the faithful
pray with a catechumen, no, not in the house :
for it is not reasonable that he who is admitted
should be polluted with one not admitted. Let
not one of the godly pray with an heretic, no,
not in the house. For " what fellowship hath
light with darkness ? " 3 Let Christians, whether
men or women, who have connections with slaves,
either leave them off, or let them be rejected.

THE CONSTITUTION OF JAMES THE BROTHER OF
CHRIST CONCERNING EVENING PRAYER.

XXXV. I James,-* the brother of Christ accord-
ing to the flesh, but His servant as the only be-
begotten God, and one appointed bishop of
Jerusalem by the Lord Himself, and the Apos-
tles, do ordain thus : When it is evening, thou,
O bishop, shalt assemble the church ; and after
the repetition of the psalm at the lighting up '

' The Syriac and Coptic add: "and His side being wounded,
blood and water came forth."

= Matt, xviii. 20. [A token that much ol these constitutions is
truly primitive.]

^ 2 Cor. vi. 14. [Compare p. 483, suf-ra : Energumens ?]

* The words from " I James " to •' ordain thus " are omitted in the
V Mss., and the following words are given instead in the two V. Mss. :
' James, the brother of the Lord, has been killed with stones (the
other MS. reads, ' with sticks') by the Jews in Jerusalem on account
of the doctrmes of Christ." Ch. xxxv.-xli. are omitted in the Oxford
MS., and in Syriac and Coptic.

the lights, the deacon shall bid prayers for the
catechumens, the energumens, the illuminated,
and the penitents, as we have formerly said. But
after the dismission of these, the deacon shall
say : So many as are of the faithful, let us pray
to the Lord. And after the bidding prayer,
which is formerly set down, he shall say : —

THE BIDDING PRAYER FOR THE EVENING.

XXXVI. Save us, O God, and raise us up by
Thy Christ. Let us stand up, and beg for the
mercies of the Lord, and His compassions, for
the angel of peace, for what things are good and
profitable, for a Christian departure out of this
life, an evening and a night of peace, and free
from sin ; and let us beg that the whole course
of our life may be unblameable. Let us dedi-
cate ourselves and one another to the living
God through His Christ. And let the bishop
add this prayer, and say : —

THE THANKSGIVING FOR THE EVENING.

XXXVII. O God, who art without beginning
and without end, the Maker of the whole world
by Christ, and the Provider for it, but before
alls His God and Father, the Lord "^ of the
Spirit, and the King of intelligible and sensible
beings ; who hast made the day for the works
of light, and the night for the refreshment of
our infirmity, — for " the day is Thine, the night
also is Thine : Thou hast prepared the light and
the sun," 7 — do Thou now, O Lord, Thou lover
of mankind, and Fountain of all good, mercifiilly
accept of this our evening thanksgiving. Thou
who hast brought us through the length of the
day, and hast brought us to the beginnings of
the night, preserve us by Thy Christ, afford us
a peaceable evening, and a night free from sin,
and vouchsafe us everlasting life by Thy Christ,
through whom glory, honour, and worship be to
Thee in ^ the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. And
let the deacon say : Bow down for the laying on
of hands. And let the bishop say : O God of
our fathers, and Lord of mercy, who didst form
man of Thy wisdom a rational creature, and be-
loved of God more than the other beings upon
this earth, and didst give him authority to rule
over the creatures upon the earth, and didst or-
dain by Thy will rulers and priests — the former
for the security of life, the latter for a regular
worship, — do Thou now also look down, O
Lord Almighty, and cause Thy face to shine
upon Thy people, who bow down the neck of
their heart, and bless them by Christ ; through
whom Thou hast enlightened us with the light of

5 " Before all " is omitted in one V. ms.

* One V. MS. reads " sender forth " instead of " Lord."
' Ps. Ixxiv. 16.

* One V. .MS. reads "with " instead of" in."

Sec. IV.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

497

knowledge, and hast revealed Thyself to us ;
with whom worthy adoration is due from every
rational and holy nature to Thee, and to the
Spirit, who is the Comforter, for ever. Amen.
And let the deacon say : " Depart in peace." In
like manner, in the morning, after the repetition
of the morning psalm, and his dismission of the
catechumens, the energumens, the candidates
for baptism, and the penitents, and after the
usual bidding of prayers, that we may not again
repeat the same things, let the deacon add after
the words, Save us, O God, and raise us up by
Thy grace : Let us beg of the Lord His mercies
and His compassions, that this morning and this
day may be with peace and without sin, as also
all the time of our sojourning ; that He will
grant us His angel of peace, a Christian depart-
ure out of this life, and that God will be merci-
ful and gracious. Let us dedicate ourselves
and one another to the living God through His
Only-begotten. And let the bishop add this
prayer, and say : —

THE TH.\NKSGIVING FOR THE MORNING.

xxxviii. O God, the God of spirits and of all
fiesh, who art beyond compare, and standest in
need of nothing, who hast given the sun to have
rule over the day, and the moon and the stars to
have rule over the night, do Thou now also look
down upon us with gracious eyes, and receive
our morning thanksgivings, and have mercy upon
us ; for we have not " spread out our hands
unto a strange God ; " ' for there is not among
us any new God, but Thou, the eternal God,
who art without end, who hast given us our
being through Christ, and given us our well-
being through Him. Do Thou vouchsafe us
also, through Him, eternal life ; with whom
glory, and honour, and worship be to Thee and
to the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. And let
the deacon say : Bow down for the laying on of
hands. And let the bishop add this prayer,
saying : —

THE IMPOSITION OF HANDS FOR THE MORNING.

XXXIX. O God, who art faithful and true, who
" hast mercy on thousands and ten thousands of
them that love Thee," ^ the lover of the humble,
and the protector of the needy, of whom all
things stand in need, for all things are subject
to Thee ; look down upon this Thy people,
who bow down their heads to Thee, and bless
them with spiritual blessing. " Keep them as
the apple of an eye," ^ preserve them in piety
and righteousness, and vouchsafe them eternal
life in Christ Jesus Thy beloved Son, with whom
glory, honour, and worship be to Thee and to

■ Ps. xliv. 20.

* Ex. xxxiv. and xx.

3 Ps. xvii. 8.

the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever
and ever. Amen. And let the deacon say :
" Depart in peace." And when the first-fruits,
are offered, the bishop gives thanks in this man
ner : —

THE FORM OF PRAYER FOR THE FIRST-FRUITS.

XL. We give thanks to Thee, O Lord Ah
mighty, the Creator of the whole world, and its
Preserver, through Thy only begotten Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, for the first-fruits which are
offered to Thee, not in such a manner as we
ought, but as we are able. For what man is
there that can worthily give Thee thanks for
those things Thou hast given them to partake
of? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and
of Jacob, and of all the saints, who madest all
things fruitful by Thy word, and didst command
the earth to bring forth various fruits for our re-
joicing and our food ; who hast given to the
duller and more sheepish sort of creatures juices
— herbs to them that feed on herbs, and to
some flesh, to others seeds, but to us corn, as
advantageous and proper food, and many other
things — some for our necessities, some for our
health, and some for our pleasure. On all these
accounts, therefore, art Thou worthy of exalted
hymns of praise for Thy beneficence by Christ,
through whom ■* glory, honour, and worship be
to Thee, in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen.
Concerning those that are at rest in Christ :
After the bidding prayer, that we may not repeat
it again, the deacon shall add as follows : —

THE BIDDING PRAYER FOR THOSE DEPARTED.

XLi. Let US pray for our brethren that are at
rest 5 in Christ, that God, the lover of mankind,
who has received his soul, may forgive him every
sin, voluntary and involuntary, and may be mer-
ciful and gracious to him, and give him his lot
in the land of the pious that are sent into the
bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with
all those that have pleased Him and done His
will from the beginning of the world, whence all
sorrow, grief, and lamentation are banished. Let
us arise, let us dedicate ourselves and one an-
other to the eternal God, through that Word
which was in the beginning. And let the bishop
say : O Thou who art by nature immortal, and
hast no end of Thy being, from whom every
creature, whether immortal or mortal, is derived ;
who didst make man a rational creature, the
citizen of this world, in his constitution mortal,
and didst add the promise of a resurrection ;
who didst not suffer Enoch and Elijah to taste of
death ; "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, who art the God of them,

* One V. MS. reads, " with whom," and " with the Holy Spirit."
5 [They are " at rest." Yet this prayer, and wherefore ? See St
Augustine, Confessions (ed. Migne), p. 765, Nebridius.J

^98

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

[Book VIII,

not as of dead, but as of living persons : for
the souls of all men live with Thee, and the
spirits of tne righteous are in Thy hand, which
no torment can touch ; " ' for they are all sanc-
tified under Thy hand : do Thou now also look
upon this Thy servant, whom Thou hast selected
and received into another state, and forgive him
if voluntarily or involuntarily he has sinned, and
afford him merciful angels, and place him in the
bosom of the patriarchs, and prophets, and apos-
tles, and of all those that have pleased Thee from
the beginning of the world, where there is no
grief, sorrow, nor lamentation ; but the peace-
able region of the godly, and the undisturbed
land of the upright, and of those that therein see
the glory of Thy Christ ; by whom ^ glory, hon-
our, and worship, thanksgiving, and adoration be
to Thee, in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen.
And let the deacon say : Bow down, and receive
the blessing. And let the bishop give thanks for
them, saying as follows : " O Lord, save Thy
people, and bless Thine inheritance," ^ which
Thou hast purchased with the precious blood of
Thy Christ. Feed them under Thy right hand,
and cover them under Thy wings, and grant that
they may •' fight the good fight, and finish their
course, and keep the faith " ■♦ immutably, un-
blameably, and unreprovably, through our Lord
Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, with whom glory,
honour, and worship be to Thee and to the Holy
Spirit for ever. Amen.

HOW AND WHEN WE OUGHT TO CELEBRATE THE
MEMORIALS OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED, AND
THAT WE OUGHT THEN TO GIVE SOMEWHAT OUT
OF THEIR GOODS TO THE POOR.

XLii. Let the third day of the departed be
celebrated with psalms, and lessons, and prayers,
on account of Him who arose within the space
of three days ; and let the ninth day be cele-
brated in remembrance of the living, and of the
departed ; and the fortieth 5 day according to the
ancient pattern : for so did the people lament
Moses, and the anniversary day in memory of
him.^ And let alms be given to the poor out
of his goods for a memorial of him.^

THAT MEMORIALS OR MANDATES DO NOT AT ALL
PROFIT THE UNGODLY WHO ARE DEAD.

XLiii. These things we say concerning the
pious ; for as to the ungodly, if thou givest all
the world to the poor, thou wilt not benefit him
at all. For to whom the Deity was an enemy

' Matt. xxii. 32; Wisd. iii. i.

2 " With whom," one V. MS.

3 Ps. xxviii. 9.
* 2 Tim. iv. 7.

5 The Syriac and a Greek marginal reading give " the thirtieth."
^ Deut. xxxiv. 8. [Comp. Aug., Confess, (ed. Migne), p. 778.]
' [The " month's mind " was ancientfy of this sort, with no refer-
ence to purgatorial penalties. " Credo jam feceris quod rogo." —
Aug.]

while he was alive, it is certain it will be so also
when he is departed ; for there is no unright-
eousness with Him. For " the Lord ^ is right-
eous, and has loved righteousness." ^ And,
"Behold the man and his work." '°

CONCERNING DRUNKARDS.

XLrv. Now, when you are invited to their me^
morials, do you feast with good order, and the
fear of God, as disposed to intercede for those
that are departed. For since you are the pres-
byters and deacons of Christ, you ought always
to be sober, both among yourselves and among
others, that so you may be able to warn the
unruly. Now the Scripture says, "The men in
power are passionate. But let them not drink
wine, lest by drinking they forget wisdom, and
are not able to judge aright." " Wherefore '^ both
the presbyters and the deacons are those of au-
thority in the Church next to God Almighty and
His beloved Son.'^ We say this, not they are
not to drink at all, otherwise it would be to the
reproach of what God has made for cheerfulness,
but that they be not disordered with wine. For
the Scripture does not say, Do not drink wine ;
but what says it? " Drink not wine to drunk-
enness ; " and again, " Thorns spring up in the
hand of the drunkard." '^ Nor do we say this
only to those of the clergy, but also to every lay
Christian, upon whom the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ is called. For to them also it is
said, "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who
hath uneasiness? who hath babbling? who hath
red eyes ? who hath wounds without cause ? Do
not these things belong to those that tarry long
at the wine, and that go to seek where drinking
meetings are?" 's

CONCERNING THE RECEIVING SUCH AS ARE PERSE-
CUTED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.

XLV. Receive ye those that are persecuted '^ on
account of the faith, and who fly from city to
city,''' as mindful of the words of the Lord. For,
knowing that though " the spirit be willing, the
flesh is weak," '^ they fly away, and prefer the
spoiling of their goods, that they may preserve
the name of Christ in themselves without deny-
ing It. Supply them therefore with what they
want, and thereby fulfil the commandment of
the Lord.

8 The Syriac and the Oxford MS. read " God " instead of " Lord."

9 Ps. xi. 7.

'° Isa. Ixii. II.

" Prov. xxxi. 4, LXX.

'2 The Syriac, the Coptic, and the Oxford MS. add, " the bishops."
The Coptic omits " the deacons."

'3 The Coptic adds, " Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit."

'* Prov. xxiii.; Ecclus. xxxi. 25-31; Eph. v. 18; rrov. xxvi. 9.

'5 Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.

"> [A token of the early origin of what is genuine in these inter-
polated Constitutions.]

" Matt. x. 23.

" Matt. XXVI. 41.

Sec. v.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

499

SEC. V. — ALL THE APOSTLES URGE THE ORSKRV-
ANCE OF THE ORDER OF THE CHURCH.

THAT EVERY ONE OUGHT TO REMAIN IN THAT
RANK WHEREIN HE IS PLACED, HUT NOT SNATCH
SUCH OFFICES TO HIMSELF WHICH ARE NOT
ENTRUSTED TO HIM.

XLvi. Now this we all in common do charge
you, that every one remain in that rank which is
appointed him, and do not transgress his proper
bounds ; for they are not ours, but God's. For
says the Lord : " He that heareth you, heareth
me ; and he that heareth me, heareth Him that
sent me." And, " He that despiseth you, de-
spiseth me ; and he that despiseth me, despiseth
Him that sent me." ■ For if those things that
are without life do observe good order, as the
night, the day, the sun, the moon, the stars, the
elements, the seasons, the months, the weeks,
the days, and the hours, and are subservient to
the uses appointed them, according to that which
is said, "Thou hast set them a bound which they
shall not pass ; " ^ and again, concerning the sea,
" I have set bounds thereto, and have encom-
passed it with bars and gates ; and I said to it.
Hitherto shalt thou come, and thou shalt go no
farther ; "3 how much more ought ye not to ven-
ture to remove those things which we, according
to God's will, have determined for you ! But
because many think this a small matter, and
venture to confound the orders, and to remove
the ordination which belongs to them severally,
snatching to themselves dignities which were
never given them, and allowing themselves to
bestow that authority in a tyrannical manner
which they have not themselves, and thereby
provoke God to anger (as did the followers of
Corah and King Uzziah,4 who, having no author-
ity, usurped the high-priesthood without com-
mission from God ; and the former were burnt
with fire, and the latter was struck with a leprosy
in his forehead) ; and provoke Christ Jesus to
anger, who has made this constitution ; and also
grieve the Holy Spirit, and make void His testi-
mony : therefore, foreknowing the danger that
hangs over those who do such things, and the
neglect about the sacrifices and eucharistical
offices which will arise from their being impiously
offered by those who ought not to offer them ;
who think the honour of the high-priesthood,
which is an imitation of the great High Priest
Jesus Christ our King, to be a matter of sport ;
we have found it necessary to give you warning
in this matter also. For some are already turned
aside after their own vanity. We say that Moses
the servant of God (" to whom God spake face

' Luke X. i6

^ Ps. civ. 9.

' Job xxxviii. 10, 11.

♦ Num. xvi. ; 2 Chron. xxvi

Matt. X. 40; John xiii. 20.

to face, as if a man spake to his friend ; " s to
whom He said, " I know thee above all men ; "
to whom He spake directly, and not by obscure
methods, or dreams, or angels, or riddles), —
this person, when he made constitutions and
divine laws, distinguished what things were to
be performed by the high priests, what by the
priests, and what by the Levites ; distributing
to ever)' one his proper and suitable office in the
divine service. And those things which are al-
lotted for the high priests to do, those might not
be meddled with by the priests ; and what things
were allotted to the priests, the Levites might
not meddle with ; but every one observed those
ministrations which were written down and ap-
pointed for them. And if any would meddle
beyond the tradition, death was his punishment.
And Saul's example does show this most plainly,
who, thinking he might offer sacrifice without
the prophet and high priest Samuel,'^ drew upon
himself a sin and a curse without remedy. Nor
did even his having anointed him king discour-
age the prophet. But God showed the same by
a more visible effect in the case of Uzziah,^ when
He without delay exacted the punishment due
to this transgression, and he that madly coveted
after the high-priesthood was rejected from his
kingdom also. As to those things that have
happened amongst us, you yourselves are not
ignorant of them. For ye know undoubtedly
that those that are by us named bishops, and
presbyters, and deacons, were made by prayer,
and by the laying on of hands ; and that by the
difference of their names is showed the difference
of their employments. For not every one that
will is ordained, as the case was in that spurious
and counterfeit priesthood of the calves under
Jeroboam ; ^ but he only who is called of God.
For if there were no rule or distinction of orders,
it would suffice to perform all the offices under
one name. But being taught by the Lord the
series of things, we distributed the functions of
the high-priesthood to the bishops, those of the
priesthood to the presbyters, and the ministra-
tion under them both to the deacons ; that the
divine worship might be performed in purity.
For it is not lawful for a deacon to offer the sac-
rifice, or to baptize, or to give either the greater
or the lesser blessing. Nor may a presbyter
perform ordination ; for it is not agreeable to
holiness to have this order perverted. For " God
is not the God of confusion," '> that the subordi-
nate persons should tyrannically assume to them-
selves the functions belonging to their superiors,
forming a new scheme of laws to their own mis-
chief, not knowing that " it is hard for them to

5 Num. xii. 7, 8; Ex. xxxiii. 11, 17.

Sam

XIH.

^ 3 Chron. xxvi.

* I Kings xiii. 33.

9 I Cor. xiv. 33. [See p. 500, note 6, in/ra.]

500

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

kick against the pricks ; " ' for such as these do
not fight against us, or against the bishops, but
against the universal Bishop and the High Priest
of the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord.^ High
priests, priests, and Levites were ordained by
Moses,3 the most beloved of God. By our
Saviour ^ were we apostles, thirteen in number,
ordained ; and by the apostles I James, and I
Clement, and others with us, were ordained, that
we may not make the catalogue of all those
bishops over again. And in common, presby-
ters, and deacons, and sub-deacons, and readers,
were ordained by all of us. The great High
Priest therefore, who is so by nature, is Christ the
only begotten ; not having snatched that honour
to Himself, but having been appointed such by
the Father ; who being made man for our sake,
and offering the spiritual sacrifice to His God
and Father, before His suffering gave it us alone
in charge to do this, although there were others
with us who had believed in Him. But he that
believes is not presently appointed a priest, or
obtains the dignity of the high-priesthood. But
after His ascension we offered, according to His
constitution, the pure and unbloody sacrifice ;
and ordained bishops, and presbyters, and dea-
cons, seven in number : one of which was Ste-

■ Acts ix. 5. [See Acts xxvi. 14, where the clause is genuine.
In ix. 5 it is a later interpolation of the Vulgate and Erasmus. — R.]

2 The Coptic adds, " the Son of God, and true God."

3 Ex. xxviii. and xxix.

* The Coptic adds " God."

phen,5 that blessed martyr, who was not inferior
to us as to his pious disposition of mind towards
God ; who showed so great piety towards God,
by his faith and love towards our Lord Jesus
Christ, as to give his life for Him, and was stoned
to death by the Jews, the murderers of the Lord.
Yet still this so great and good a man, who was
fervent in spirit, who saw Christ on the right
hand of God, and the gates of heaven opened,
does nowhere appear to have exercised functions
which did not appertain to his office of a deacon,
nor to have offered the sacrifices, nor to have
laid hands upon any, but kept his order of a
deacon unto the end. For so it became him,
who was a martyr for Christ, to preserve good
order. But if some do blame Philip ^ our dea-
con, and Ananias ^ our faithful brother, that the
one did baptize the eunuch, and the other me
Paul, these men do not understand what we say.
For we have affirmed only that no one snatches
the sacerdotal dignity to himself, but either
receives it from God, as Melchisedec and Job,
or from the high priest, as Aaron from Moses.
Wherefore Philip and Ananias did not constitute
themselves, but were appointed by Christ, the
High Priest of that God to whom no being is to
be compared.

5 Acts vi. and vii.

* One V. MS. has the following note: " That he who baptized the
Ethiopian eunuch was not the Apostle Philip, but one of those who
were chosen along with St. Stephen to be deacons, and who also had
four daughters, as says Luke intheActs." [Seepp. 452, 492, j^«/ra.]

7 Acts viii. and Ix.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS OF THE SAME HOLY APOSTLES.'

XLVii. I. Let a bishop be ordained by two or
three bishops.

2. A presbyter by one bishop, as also a dea-
con, and the rest of the clergy.^

3. If any bishop or presbyter, otherwise than
our Lord has ordained concerning the sacrifice,
offer other things at the altar 0/ God, as honey,
milk, or strong beer instead of wine, any neces-
saries, or birds, or animals, or pulse, otherwise
than is ordained, let him be deprived ; excepting
grains of new corn, or ears of wheat, or bunches
of grapes in their season. ^

4. For it is not lawful to offer anything besides
these at the altar, and oil for the holy lamp, and
incense in the time of the divine oblation.

' [The brief notes on these canons have been mainly derived from
the text and notes appended to Hefele's History of Christian Coun-
cils, vol. i. pp. 450-492, Edinburgh translation. — R.]

^ [Comp. Apostolic Constitutions, iii. 20, viii. 4, 27, on these
two canons. — R.]

3 [This canon, and the two following ones, which explain it, point
to some early heretical customs. The Apostolic Constitutions fur-
nish no exact parallel. Canon 4 was joined with 3 in the (Jreek text.
Dionysius divided them: hence a variation in number exists from this
point. — R.]

5. But let all Other fruits be sent to the house
of the bishop, as first-fruits to him and to the
presbyters, but not to the altar. Now it is plain
that the bishop and presbyters are to divide them
to the deacons and to the rest of the clergy.

6. Let not a bishop, a priest, or a deacon'' cast
off his own wife under pretence of piety ; but
if he does cast her off, let him be suspended.
If he go on in it, let him be deprived.

7. Let not a bishop, a priest, or deacon under-
take the cares of this world ; but if he do, let
him be deprived. s

8. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon shall
celebrate the holiday of the passover before
the vernal equinox with the Jews, let him be
deprived.^

9. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or
any one of the catalogue of the priesthood, when
the oblation is over, does not communicate, let

Dionysius omits aut diaconus. — R ]
Comp. Apostolic Constitutions, ii. 6. — R.]
This points to a discussion in the third century.

■R.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

501

him give his reason ; and if it be just, let him
be forgiven ; but if he does not do it, let him be
suspended, as becoming the cause of damage to
the people, and occasioning a suspicion against
him that offered, as of one that did not rightly
offer.'

10. All those of the faithful that enter into
the holy church of God, and hear the sacred
Scriptures, but do not stay during prayer and
the holy communion, must be suspended, as
causing disorder in the church.

.11. If any one, even in the house, prays with
a person excommunicate, let him also be sus-
pended.

12. If any clergyman prays with one deprived
as with a clergyman, let himself also be deprived.

13. If any clergyman or layman who is sus-
])ended, or ought not to be received,^ goes away,
and is received in another city without com-
mendatory letters, let both those who received
him and he that was received be suspended.
But if he be already suspended, let his suspen-
sion be lengthened, as lying to and deceiving
the Church of God.

14. A bishop ought not to leave his own parish
and leap to another, although the multitude
should compel him, unless there be some good
reason forcing him to do this, as that he can
contribute much greater profit to the people of
the new parish by the word of piety ; but this is
not to be settled by himself, but by the judg-
ment of many bishops, and very great supplica-
tion.

15. If any presbyter or deacon, or any one of
the catalogue of the clergy, leaves his own parish
and goes to another, and, entirely removing him-
self, continues in that other parish without the
consent of his own bishop, him we command no
longer to go on in his ministry, especially in case
his bishop calls upon him to return, and he does
not obey, but continues in his disorder. How-
ever, let him communicate there as a layman.

16. But if the bishop with whom they are un-
dervalues the deprivation decreed against them,
and receives them as clergymen, let him be sus-
pended as a teacher of disorder.

1 7. He who has been twice married after his
baptism, or has had a concubine, cannot be made
a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or indeed any
one of the sacerdotal catalogue.^

18. He who has taken a widow, or a divorced
woman, or an harlot, or a servant, or one belong-
ing to the theatre, cannot be either a bishop,
priest, or deacon, or indeed any one of the sacer-
dotal catalogue.

' [Canons 9-16 agree with those of the Council of Antioch, a.d.
341 ; but there is a difference of opinion on the question of priority.

— R|

* Dionysius Exiguus translates " communicans " in which case
the Greek reading must be 6e<cT6?, or, " who can be received."

3 [Canons 17, 18, 20, agree with Apostolic Constitutions, vi. 17,
ii. 6. — R.J

19. He who has married two sisters, or his
brother's or sister's daughter, cannot be a cler-
gyman.

20. Let a clergyman who becomes a surety be
deprived.

21. Let an eunuch, if he be such by the injury
of men, or his virilia were taken away in the
persecution, or he was born such, and yet is
worthy of episcopacy, be made a bishop.

22. Let not him who has disabled himself be
made a clergyman ; for he is a self-murderer,
and an enemy to the creation of God.'*

23. If any one who is of the clergy disables
himself, let him be deprived, for he is a mur-
derer of himself.

24. Let a layman who disables himself be
separated for three years, for he lays a snare for
his own life. 5

25. Let a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who
is taken in fornication, or perjury, or stealing, be
deprived, but not suspended ; for the Scripture
says : " Thou shalt not avenge twice for the same
crif?ie by affliction.^'' ^

26. In like manner also as to the rest of the
clergy.

27. Of those who come into the clergy un-
married, we permit only the readers and singers,
if they have a mind, to marry afterward.''

28. We command that a bishop, or presbyter,
or deacon who strikes the faithful that offend, or
the unbelievers who do wickedly, and thinks to
terrify them by such means, be deprived, for our
Lord has nowhere taught us such things. On
the contrary, " when Himself was stricken. He
did not strike again ; when He was reviled. He
reviled not again ; when He suffered, He threat-
ened not." ^

29. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon
who is deprived justly for manifest crimes, does
venture to meddle with that ministration which
was once entrusted to him, let the same person
be entirely cut off from the Church.

30. If any bishop obtains that dignity by
money, or even a presbyter or deacon, let him
and the person that ordained him be deprived ;
and let him be entirely cut off from communion,
as Simon Magus was by tne Peter.^

31. If any bishop makes use of the rulers of
this world, and by their means obtains to be a
bishop of a church, let him be deprived and sus-
pended, and all that communicate with him.

■♦ [After Origen. Comp. Melito, vol. viii., this series.]

s [Canons 21-24 agree with the first of the Nicene Council

(Hefele, Christian Cou»ci/s,i. pp. 375, 376). Some hold that canon

to refer to these; otfiers find in the enlarged application of Canon 24

a proof of the later date of this collection. — R.J

* Nah. i. g. [Canons 25, 26, are referred to by Basil the Great

(Ad Ampkilochiiiui, iii.). In the Greek collection 26 is joined with

7 \^Apostolic Constitutions, vi. 17. — R.J

8 I Pet. ii. 23. [This canon seems of late origin, probably from
Synod of Constantinople, a.d. 394. — R.]

9 [The closing clause points to a comparatively late date, as da
the contents of Canon 31. — R.]

502

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

32. If any presbyter despises his own bishop,
and assembles separately, and fixes another altar,
when he has nothing to condemn in his bishop
either as to piety or righteousness, let him be
deprived as an ambitious person ; for he is a
tyrant, and the rest of the clergy, whoever join
themselves to him. And let the laity be sus-
pended. But let these things be done after one,
and a second, or even a third admonition from
the bishop.'

33. If any presbyter or deacon be put under
suspension by his bishop, it is not lawful for
any other to receive him, but for him only who
put him under suspension, unless it happens
that he who put him under suspension die.

34. Do not ye receive any stranger, whether
bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, without com-
mendatory letters ; and when such are offered,
let them be examined. And if they be preach-
ers of piety, let them be received ; but if not,
supply their wants, but do not receive them to
communion : for many things are done by sur-
prise.

35. The bishops of every country ought to
know who is the chief among them, and to es-
teem him as their head, and not to do any great
thing without his consent ; but every one to
manage only the affairs that belong to his own
parish, and the places subject to it. But let
him not do anything without the consent of all ;
for it is by this means there will be unanimity,
and God will be glorified by Christ, in the Holy
Spirit.

36. A bishop must not venture to ordain out
of his own bounds for cities or countries that
are not subject to him. But if he be convicted
of having done so without the consent of such
as governed those cities or countries, let him be
deprived, both the bishop himself and those
whom he has ordained.

37. If any bishop that is ordained does not
undertake his ofifice, nor take care of the people
committed to him, let him be suspended until
he do undertake it ; and in the like manner a
presbyter and a deacon. But if he goes, and is
not received, not because of the want of his
own consent, but because of the ill temper of
the people, let him continue bishop ; but let the
clergy of that city be suspended, because they
have not taught that disobedient people better.

38. Let a synod of bishops be held twice in
the year, and let them ask one another the doc-
trines of piety ; and let them determine the
ecclesiastical disputes that happen — once in
the fourth week of Pentecost, and again on the
twelfth of the month Hyperberetx^us.

' [Canons 32-41 also agree with those of Antioch ; see note on
Canon 9. Some of the regulations have, however, an earlier date:
whether they existed in this form before that time, is open to dis-
tussion. — R.]

39. Let the bishop have the care of ecclesi-
astical revenues, and administer them as in the
presence of God. But it is not lawful for him
to appropriate any part of them to himself, or
to give the things of God to his own kindred.
But if they be poor, let him support them as
poor ; but let him not, under such pretences,
alienate the revenues of the Church.

40. Let not the presbyters and deacons do
anything without the consent of the bishop, for
it is he who is entrusted with the people of the
Lord, and will be required to give an account
of their souls. Let the proper goods of the
bishop, if he has any, and those belonging to
the Lord, be openly distinguished, that he may
have power when he dies to leave his own goods
as he pleases, and to whom he pleases ; that,
under pretence of the ecclesiastical revenues,
the bishop's own may not come short, who
sometimes has a wife and children, or kinsfolk,
or servants. For this is just before God and
men, that neither the Church suffer any loss by
the not knowing which revenues are the bishop's
own, nor his kindred, under pretence of the
Church, be undone, or his relations fall into law-
suits, and so his death be liable to reproach.'

41. We command that the bishop have power
over the goods of the Church ; for if he be en-
trusted with the precious souls of men, much
more ought he to give directions about goods,
that they all be distributed to those in want, ac-
cording to his authority, by the presbyters and
deacons, and be used for their support with the
fear of God, and with all reverence. He is
also to partake of those things he wants, if he
does want them, for his necessary occasions, and
those of the brethren who live with him, that
they may not by any means be in straits : for
the law of God appointed that those who waited
at the altar should be maintained by the altar ;
since not so much as a soldier does at any time
bear arms against the enemies at his own charges.

42. Let a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who
indulges himself in dice or drinking, either leave
off those practices, or let him be deprived. 3

43. If a sub-deacon, a reader, or a singer does
the like, either let him leave off, or let him be
suspended ; and so for one of the laity.

44. Let a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who
requires usury of those he lends to, either leave
off to do so, or let him be deprived.

45. Let a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who
only prays with heretics, be suspended ; but if
he also permit them to perform any part of the
office of a clergyman, let him be deprived.''

2 [This canon is divided by most editors of the Greek text; form-
ing, in their enumeration. Canons 38 and 39. — K.]

3 [Hefele and others regard Canons 42-44 as among the raosl
ancient of this collection, and of imknown origin. — R.]

* [The substance of this canon is very ancient, Hefele thinks;
but Drey derives it from Canons 9, 33, 34, of the Synod of Laodicea,
about A.D. 363. — R.]

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

503

46. We command that a bishop, or presbyter,
or deacon who receives the baptism, or the sac-
rifice of heretics, be deprived : " For what agree-
ment is there between Christ and Behal ? or what
part hath a behever with an infidel? " '

47. If a bishop or presbyter rebaptizes him
who has had true baptism, or does not baptize
him who is polkited by the ungodly, let him be
deprived, as ridiculing the cross and the death
of the Lord, and not distinguishing between real
priests and counterfeit ones.

48. If a layman divorces his own wife, and
takes another, or one divorced by another, let
him be suspended.^

49. If any bishop or presbyter does not bap-
tize according to the Lord's constitution, into
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, but
into three beings without beginning, or into
three Sons, or three Comforters, let him be
deprived.3

50. If any bishop or presbyter does not per-
form the three immersions of the one admission,
but one immersion, which is given into the death
of Christ, let him be deprived ; for the Lord did
not say, " Baptize into my death," but, " Go ye
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
into the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost." Do ye, therefore, O
bishops, baptize thrice into one Father, and Son,
and Holy Ghost, according to the will of Christ,
and our constitution by the Spirit.'*

51. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon,
or indeed any one of the sacerdotal catalogue,
abstains from marriage, flesh, and wine, not for
his own exercise, but because he abominates
these things, forgetting that " all things were

' 2 Cor. vi. 5. [Drey regards this as very ancient; but Hefele
derives it and the following one from the Apostolic Constz'iuiwiis,
vi. 15. -R.]

2 [Very ancient, of unknown origin; repeated in canons of Elvira
and Aries. — R.]

3 [From Apostolic Constitutions, vi. 11, 26. — R.]

•• [This canon, the last of those in the collection of Dionysius, is
regarded as among the most recent. Of unknown origin. — R.] At
the end of this canon, in the collection of John of Antioch, the follow-
ing words are added: " Let him that is baptized be taught that the
Father was not crucified, nor endured to be born of man, nor indeed
that the Holy Spirit became man, or even endured suffering, for He
was not made flesh ; but the only begotten Son ransomed the world
from the wrath which lay upon it: for He became man through His
love of man, having fashioned a body for Himself from a virgin. For
Wisdom built a house for herself as a Creator; but He willingly en-
dured the cross, and rescued the world from the wrath that lies on it,
namely, those who are baptized into the name of the Father, and the
Son, anil the Holy Spirit. But let those who do not thus baptize be
suspended, as bemg ignorant of the mystery of piety." The same
collection gives the following as Canon 51 : " He who says that the
Father suffered is more impious than the Jews, nailing along with
Christ the Father also. He who denies that the only begotten Son
was made flesh for us, and endured the cross, fights with God, and is
an enemy of the saints. He that names the Holy Spirit Father or
Son, is ignorant and foolish; for the Son is Creator along with the
Father, and has the same throne, and is Lawgiver along with Hmi,
and Judge, and the cause of the resurrection; and the Holy Spirit is
the same in substance: for the Godhead has three Persons, the same
in substance. For in our day Simon the magician gave forth his
doctrines, drawing the speechless, delusive, unstable, and wicked
spirit to himself, and babbling that there is one God with three names,
and sometimes erasing the passion and birth of Christ. Do you, then,
most beloved ones, baptize into one Father, and Son, and the Holy
Spirit as third, according to the will of the Lord, and our constitution
made in the spirit."

very good," 5 and that " God made man male
and female," ^ and blasphemously abuses the
creation, either let him reform, or let him be
deprived, and be cast out of the Church ; and
the same for one of the laity.^

52. If any bishop or presbyter does not re-
ceive him that returns from his sin, but rejects
him, let him be deprived ; because he grieves
Christ, who says, " There is joy in heaven over
one sinner that repenteth." ^

53. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon
does not on festival days partake of flesh or
wine, let him be deprived, as " having a seared
conscience," 9 and becoming a cause of scandal
to many.

54. If any one of the clergy be taken eating
in a tavern, let him be suspended, excepting
when he is forced to bait at an inn upon the
road.'°

55. If any one of the clergy abuses his bishop
unjustly, let him be deprived ; for says the Scrip-
ture, " Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of
thy people." "

56. If any one of the clergy abuses a presby-
ter or a deacon, let him be separated.

57. If any one of the clergy mocks at a lame,
a deaf, or a blind man, or at one maimed in his
feet, let him be suspended ; and the like for the
laity.

58. Let a bishop or presbyter who takes no
care of the clergy or people, and does not in-
struct them in piety, be separated ; and if he
continues in his negligence, let him be deprived. '-

59. If any bishop or presbyter, when any one
of the clergy is in want, does not supply his
necessity, let him be suspended ; and if he con-
tinues in it, let him be deprived, as having killed
his brother.'^

60. If any one publicly reads in the Church
the spurious books of the ungodly, as if they
were holy, to the destruction of the people and
of the clergy, let him be deprived. '+

61. If there be an accusation against a Chris-
tian for fornication, or adultery, or any other
forbidden action, and he be convicted, let him
not be promoted ipto the clergy.

62. If any on^' of the clergy for fear of men.

S Gen. i. 31.
^ Gen. i. 26.

7 [Canons 51-53 are from the Apostolic Constitutions : the first
from vi. 8, 10, 26; the s'cond from ii. 12, 13; the third from v. 20.
-R.]

8 Luke XV. 7.

9 I Tim. iv. 2.

'° [Canons 54-57 are of unknown origin; the first is deemed ancient,
while the conduct forbidden in the others points to a more recent date.
Drey thinks the dis"'°<;tions of the clergy also point to a later date.

" Ex. xxii. 28.

'- [Canon 58 is suppostd to refer to the absence of bishops at the
imperial city, which j revailed in the middle of the fourth century. —

'3 [Canon 59 resenbles the twenty-fifth canon of Synod of Anti-
och ; see on Canon g. — R.]

■* [Of doubtful origin, but resembling Apostolic Constitutions,
vi. 16, though probabU' of later date. — R.]

504

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

as of a Jew, or a Gentile, or an heretic, shall
deny the name of Christ, let him be suspended ;
but if he deny the name of a clergyman, let him
be deprived ; but when he repents, let him be
received as one of the laity.'

63. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or
indeed any one of the sacerdotal catalogue, eats
flesh with the blood of its life, or that which is
torn by beasts, or which died of itself, let him
be deprived ; for this the law itself has for-
bidden.^ But if he be one of the laity, let him
be suspended. 3

64. If any one of the clergy be found to fast
on the Lord's day, or on the Sabbath-day, ex-
cepting one only, let him be deprived ; but if
he be one of the laity, let him be suspended.''

65. If any one, either of the clergy or laity,
enters into a synagogue of the Jews or heretics
to pray, let him be deprived and suspended. 5

66. If any one of the clergy strikes one in a
quarrel, and kills him by that one stroke, let him
be deprived, on account of his rashness ; but if
he be one of the laity, let him be suspended.^

67. If any one has offered violence to a virgin
not betrothed, and keeps her, let him be sus-
pended. But it is not lawful for him to take
another to wife ; but he must retain her whom
he has chosen, although she be poor.7

68. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon,
receives a second ordination from any one, let
him be deprived, and the person who ordained
him, unless he can show that his former ordina-
tion was from the heretics ; for those that are
either baptized or ordained by such as these, can
be neither Christians nor clergymen.^

69. If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or
reader, or singer, does not fast the fast of forty
days, or the fourth day of the week, and the day
of the Preparation, let him be deprived, except
he be hindered by weakness of body. But if he
be one of the laity, let him be suspended.^

70. If any bishop, or any other of the clergy,
fasts with the Jews, or keeps the festivals with
them, or accepts of the presents from their fes-
tivals, as unleavened bread or some such thing,
let him be deprived ; but if he be one of the
laity, let him be suspended. '°

71. If any Christian carries oil into an heathen

' [Canons 6i, 62, are of unknown origin. — R.]

* Gen. ix.; Lev. xvii.

3 [Canon 63 is regarded as very ancient. — R.]

♦ I Canon 64 is numbered as 66 in Hefele's edition, being preceded
by Canons 65 and 66 as given aboTe. It is from Apostolic Constitu-
tions, V. 20. — R.]

5 [Canon 65 is from Apostolic Constitutions, ii. 61. — R.]

*" Of unknown but probably late origin. — R.]

' [Drey makes this one of the most recent canons of the collec-
tion. — R.]

^ [Of unknown origin, probably recent. — R.]

9 [Drey considers Canon 69 to be very ancient, but also intimates
that it and Canon 70 were taken from the pseudo-Ignatian Epistle to
the Philippians; see the same, chap, xiii., latter half, vol. i. p. 119, of
this series. — R.]

■° [With Canons 70, 71, compare Synod of Elvira (a.d. 305 or 306),
Canons 49, ^o, in Hefele, vol. i. pp. 158, 159. Drey, however, derives
them from Canons 37-30 of l^aodicea (a.d. 363). — R.]

temple, or into a synagogue of the Jews, or lights
up lamps in their festivals, let him be suspended.

72. If any one, either of the clergy or laity,
takes away from the holy Church an honeycomb,
or oil, let him be suspended, and let him add
the fifth part to that which he took away."

73. A vessel of silver, or gold, or linen, which
is sanctified, let no one appropriate to his own
use, for it is unjust ; but if any one be caught,
let him be punished with suspension."

74. If a bishop be accused of any crime by
credible and faithful persons, it is necessary that
he be cited by the bishops ; and if he comes
and makes his apology-, and yet is convicted, let
his punishment be determined. But if, when
he is cited, he does not obey, let him be cited a
second time, by two bishops sent to him. But
if even then he despises them, and will not come,
let the synod pass what sentence they please
against him, that he may not appear to gain ad-
vantage by avoiding their judgment. '^

75. Do not ye receive an heretic in a testi-
mony against a bishop ; nor a Christian if he be
single. For the law says, " In the mouth of two
or three witnesses every word shall be estab-
lished." '•♦

76. A bishop must not gratify his brother, or
his son, or any other kinsman, with the episcopal
dignity, or ordain whom he pleases ; for it is not
just to make heirs to episcopacy, and to gratify
human affections in divine matters. For we must
not put the Church of God under the laws of
inheritance ; but if any one shall do so, let his
ordination be invalid, and let him be punished
with suspension. '5

77. If any one be maimed in an eye, or lame
of his leg, but is worthy of the episcopal dignity,
let him be made a bishop ; for it is not a blemish
of the body that can defile him, but the pollution
of the soul.'^

78. But if he be deaf and blind, let him not
be made a bishop ; not as being a defiled per-
son, but that the ecclesiastical affairs may not be
hindered.

79. If any one hath a demon, let him not be
made one of the clergy. Nay, let him not pray
with the faithful ; but when he is cleansed, let
him be received ; and if he be worthy, let him
be ordained. '7

" Lev. V. 16. [It is argued from the theft forbidden that this
canon is more recent; its origin is unknown. — R.]

■^ [The wealth here implied points to a comparatively late origin;
Hefele assigns it to the second half of the third century, but Drey
gives a later date. — R.l

'J [Hefele thinks botn this and the following canon to be later than
the Nicsan Council. Drey, however, derives Canon 74 from the coun-
cil at Chalcedon (a.d. 451), a view opposed by both Bickell and
Hefele. — R.]

'* Dent. xix. 15. [According to Drey this canon is from the
Council of Constantinople (sixth canonj, in .\.D. 381. — R]

'5 [Drey derives this from Canon 23, Synod of Antioch, a.d. 341.

'*> [Hefele: "The Canons 77-79, inclusive, belong to the first
three centuries of the Church; their origin is unknown." — R ]

'^ [Comp. Apostolic Constitutions, viii. 32, p. 495, from which
this may have been taken. — R.J

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES.

505

80. It is not right to ordain him bishop pres-
ently who is just come in from the Gentiles, and
baptized ; or from a wicked mode of life : for
it is unjust that he who has not yet afforded any
trial of himself should be a teacher of others,
unless it anywhere happens by divine grace."

81. We have said that a bishop ought not to
let himself into public administrations, but to at-
tend on all opportunities upon the necessary
affairs of the Church.- Either therefore let him
agree not to do so, or let him be deprived. For
"no, one can serve two masters,"^ according to
the Lord's admonition.-*

82. We do not permit servants to be ordained
into the clergy without their masters' consent ;
for this would grieve those that owned them.
For such a practice would occasion the subver-
sion of families. But if at any time a servant
appears worthy to be ordained into an high
office, such as our Onesimus appeared to be, and
if his master allows of it, and gives him his free-
dom, and dismisses him from his house, let him
be ordained. 5

83. Let a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, who
goes to the army, and desires to retain both the
Roman government and the sacerdotal adminis-
tration, be deprived. For " the things of Caesar
belong to Caesar, and the things of God to
God."^

84. Whosoever shall abuse the king? or the
governor unjustly, let him suffer punishment ; and
if he be a clergyman, let him be deprived ; but if
he be a layman, let him be suspended.

85. Let the following books be esteemed ven-
erable and holy by you, both of the clergy and

' [Drey regards Canon 80 as an imitation of the second canon
of Nicaea, which isj however, much fuller; comp. Hefele, i. p. 377.
On the principle, comp. i Tim. iii. 6 and similar passages. — R.]

2 Can. iv. prius.

3 Matt. vi. 24.

* [The contents of this canon point to a late date. Drey regards
it as an abridgment of the third canon of Chalcedon (a.d. 451). — R.]

5 [Of unknown origin and date. — R.]

* Matt. xxii. 21. [This also Drey traces to the Council of Chal-
cedon, A.D. 451 (Canon 7) ; but Hefele opposes this view here, as in
the case of the other canons (30, 67, 74, 81) which Drey derives from
that source. — R.]

7 [Or rather, " the emperor " (|3a<7iAea having that sense) . Hefele
refers this to the time of the Arian struggle, when the emperors were
involved in ecclesiastical controversies. — R.]

laity. Of the Old Covenant : the five books of
Moses — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy ; one of Joshua the son of
Nun, one of the Judges, one of Ruth, four of
the Kings, two of the Chronicles, two of Ezra,
one of Esther, one of Judith, three of the Macca-
bees, one of Job, one hundred and fifty psalms ;
three books of Solomon — Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
and the Song of Songs ; sixteen prophets. And
besides these, take care that your young persons
learn the Wisdom of the very learned Sirach.
But our sacred books, that is, those of the New
Covenant, are these : the four Gospels of Mat-
thew, Mark, Luke, and John ; the fourteen Epis-
tles of Paul ; two Epistles of Peter, three of
John, one of James, one of Jude ; two Epistles
of Clement ; and the Constitutions dedicated to
you the bishops by me Clement, in eight books ;
which it is not fit to publish before all, because
of the mysteries contained in them ; and the
Acts of us the Apostles.^

Let these canonical rules be established by us
for you, O ye bishops ; and if you continue to
observe them, ye shall be saved, and shall have
peace ; but if you be disobedient, you shall be
punished, and have everlasting war one with an-
other, and undergo a penalty suitable to your
disobedience.

Now, God who alone is unbegotten, and the
Maker of the whole world, unite you all through
His peace, in the Holy Spirit ; perfect you unto
every good work, immoveable, unblameable, and
unreprovable ; and vouchsafe to you eternal life
with us, through the mediation of His beloved
Son Jesus Christ our God and Saviour; with
whom glory be to Thee, the God over all, and
the Father, in the Holy Spirit the Comforter,
now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

The end of the Constitutions of the Holy
Apostles by Clement, which are the Catholic
doctrine.

' [Hefele: " This is probably the least ancient canon in the whole
collection." With this opinion there is general concurrence, since the
mention of the Constitutions among the canonical books indicates
the hand of the last compiler of that collection of writings. Whoever
he was, he was not Clement of Rome. — R.]

5o6 ELUCIDATIONS.

ELUCIDATIONS.
I.

(The Bidding Prayer, etc., p. 485.)

THE PAULINE NORM.*

1. Supplications.

2. Prayers, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.

3. Intercessions.

4. General Thanksgiving. The Kiss of Peace.

5. Anaphora.^

The Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread :
And when He had given thanks, He brake it,
And said, Take, eat : this is my Body, which is broken for you :
This do in remembrance of Me.

After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped,
Saying, This cup is the New Testament in my Blood :
This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.

For as often as ye eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He
come.

6. Our Father, etc.^

7. Communion.

Let us note also that the Apostle had "delivered" unto the Corinthians (i Cor. xi. 23), as
doubtless to others (vii. 17), certain institutions which he ordained in all the churches, and for
departing from which he censures the Corinthians in this place (ver. 17 compared with ver. 2)
in certain particulars. In chap, xiv., at ver. 40, he refers to these ordinances as a ra^ts, in the
performance of which they were to proceed («oo-/xiws) with due order, becomingly ; not with mere
decency, but with a beautiful decorum of service.

Finally, let me suggest that there are fragments of the Apostle's {irapahoa-w;) instructions
everywhere scattered through his Epistles, such as the minute canon ^ concerning the veiling of
women in acts of worship, insisting upon it with a length of argument which in one of the
Apostolic Fathers would be considered childish. He also insisted that his Tali's is from the
Lord.

' I Tim. ii. 1-3. Compare (irottttrflai) the Greek here with that of the LXX. in Ex. xxix. 36, 38, 39, 41; also Ex. x. 25, and so
throughout the Old Testament. Note also Eph. v. 19 and Col. iii. 16; and the kiss, i Cor. xvi. 20.

* I Cor. xi. 23. To me there is great significance in the fact that the Apostle received this as an original Gospel from the Lord Him-
self. Truly (2 Cor. xi. 5) he was not " a whit behind" even that chief Apostle who reclined in the bosom of the Great High Priest and
adorable Lamb of God as He instituted the feast.

3 Matt. vi. 9. For this we have the important testimony of Gregory the Great, as preserved to his day: that the Apostles (SS. Peter
and Paul must have been primarily in his mind, of course) delivered no other " custom " to the churches (i.e., as essential) than the words
of Institution and the Lord's Prayer. He says: —
" Orationem Dominicam, mox post precem, dicimus, quia mos Apostolorum erat, ad ipsam solummodo orationem oblationis hostiam

consecrare." — Epist. ad Joann. Episc. Syrac, lib. ix. Ep. xii., Opp., tom. iii. p. 958, ed. Migne.
Now, for the sense o( post precem in the above, we have Justin Martyr for a primitive witness of Roman usage. He speaks of the words
of Institution expressly (vol. i. cap. Ixvi. p. 185) as "the Prayer of the Logos" (Si" evx^s Adyov), in the use of which he makes the
essential act of the Oblation to consist. Liturgic fulness may or may not require more, but the essentials are thus simple. So far,
the Roman Missal to this day sustains the words of Gregory. It is overloaded with ceremonial, but does not include the noble features
on which ihe Greeks L-jy so great stress; i.e , the conjoint Oblation and Invocation. See i Pet. ii. 5.

* I Cor. xi. 5, 6. Here men are equally enjoined not to follow the Jewish rite of covering their heads in prayer.

ELUCIDATIONS.

507

Fragments of the primitive hymns are also scattered through the Apostles' writings, as, e.g., —

"Eyetpai 6 KaOevBiJiv,

Koi dvaarra «c rStv vcKpwi/,

Kai liTK^axxTU croi 6 X/sicttos.'

Of such passages the formula {}lo Xiyu) " It saith " seems to be a frequent index.

May we not conclude also that the sublime prayer and doxology of Eph. iii. 14-21 is a quota-
tion from the Apostle's own eucharistic ra^ts for the whole state of Christ's Church militant?

' Might not the same be more constantly used in our days as an intercession for the whole
flock of the one Shepherd ?

II.

(Fulfil His constitution, p. 489.)

The Pauline Norm being borne in mind, we shall best comprehend this Clementine liturgy, as
to its primitive claims, by taking the testimony of Justin, writing in Rome to the Antonines
A.D. 1 60. Referring to the Apology in our first volume, we observe that the order kept up in his
day was this : —

1. Prayers for all estates of men.

2. The kiss of peace.

3. Oblation of bread and wine.

4. Thanksgiving.

5. Words of institution.

6. The prayer ending with Amen,

7. Communion.

Now, a century later, we may suppose the original of this Clementine to have taken a fuller
shape ; of which still later this Clementine is the product.^

Bear in mind that the early Roman use was (Greek) borrowed wholly from the East;^ and,
comparing the testimony of Justin with the Pauline Norm, may we not suppose that this norm
in Rome was augmented by the Eastern uses, and so preserves a true name in that of the first
Bishop of Rome, who accepted it from Jerusalem or Antioch ?

IIL

(That He may show this bread, etc., p. 489.)

From a recent essay by Dr. Williams, the erudite bishop of Connecticut, I am permitted to
cite, as follows : —

Compare the original texts thus: —

CLEMENTINE.^

oirwf ano<l)Tjvt) rbv aprov tovtov aCjfia rov Xpcarov aov koi
TO ttottiPlov tovtov aiiia tov XpLOTOv aov iva ol u^Tokafidv^

Tff K.T.X.

IREN^US.*
OTTwf aiTO(^vi) Tfjv dvaiav TavTTjv, Ka't Tbv apTOP sufia rov

XpiOTOV, KUl TO 7rOT7)pU)V Tb olflU TOV XpCOTOV IVO ol (lEToka-

' Eph. V. 14.

* See the Greek in Hammond, p. 3, and the learned Introduction, p. Ixx.
3 Hammond, Introduction, p. Ixix.

* See translation, p. 489, supra.

S See translation, vol. i. (Fragment xxxvii.) p. 574, this series.

5o8 ELUCIDATIONS.

Bishop Williams then proceeds to inquire : —

"How is this striking agreement to be explained? Does Irenaeus quote from the Clementine, or the
Clementine from him ? Or is it not much more likely that they are independent witnesses to primitive uses,
going back to the period of the persecutions, and extending ' far beyond the limits of Syria or Palestine ' ? " *

I shall recur to these passages in the elucidations to Early Liturgies {infra) : but here I beg
the reader to consult Pfaff, to whom we owe the discovery of the fragment cited from Irenaeus ;
also Grabe, in the same volume of Pfaff, whom I have already introduced to the reader.*

POSTSCRIPT.

The American editor had been promised the aid of his beloved friend the Rev. Dr. Hobart
in the elucidation of the liturgies ; but a sudden and almost fatal prostration of his health has
deprived the reader of the admirable comments with which he would have enriched these pages,
had Providence permitted.

• For purposes of comparison on many points connected with this inquiry, see the Fragment of an Ancient East-Syrian Liturgy
in Hammond's Appendix, pubHshed separately, Oxford, 1879.

* Concerning Pfaff, see p. 536, infra, and toI. \. p. 574, note 5, this series.

AN ANCIENT HOMILY,

COMMONLY STYLED

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

TO THE HOMILY KNOWN AS

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT.

It is gratifying that our series is marked by tokens of critical progress, and not less cheering
tokens of scientific research. The clearing-up of much that has perplexed us about Hermas ;
the Bryennios discovery ; and, not least, the completion of this fragment, which has long been
a scandal to patristic inquiry, — are surely such tokens. They enrich the reader with definite
ideas on many collateral subjects. May they not stimulate American scholarship and American
afiiuence to fresh enterprises of the same character for the advancement of learning, and the
glory of the world's Redeemer and Illuminator?

The very early date to which this homily is now assigned makes its slightest allusions to the
New-Testament canon of very great importance. I have ventured to indicate a few such, even
where they may be mere allusions, not textual quotations : as, e.g., on p. 517, at notes 20 and 22,
slight indications of a reference to the Second Epistle of St. Peter and to the Apocalypse.'

I shall have occasion to refer to this work in the elucidation of the Liturgies which are to
follow. If it be, as Bishop Lightfoot supposes, a homily of the second century, it may lend
important retrospective aid to the student of these volumes in other particulars ; but, having
entrusted this interesting relic to the editorial care of a most competent scholar, I shall not
presume to anticipate his judgment in any matter.

' If this reference to 2 Pet. iii. 9 be probable, it is one of the earliest testimonies to the genuine character of that Epistle. The true
Clement has two references to the same (pp. 8 and 11, vol. i., this series), and Justin also (vol. i. p. 240) is credited with a similar refer-
ence to 2 Peter and the Apocalypse. See Lardner, Credib., vol. ii. p. 123 et seq.

512 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE BY PROFESSOR M. B. RIDDLE, D.D.

SECTION I. — TEXT.

In this volume, pp. 372-376, will be found a brief account of the Codex discovered by Bryen-
nios, now Metropolitan of Nicomedia. It remains in the library of the Jerusalem Monastery of
the Holy Sepulchre at Constantinople. While the publication of the Greek text of the Teaching
awakened unusual interest, the recovery of that document has not been the only valuable result
of this important discovery. The Codex, as was speedily known, contains the only complete
copy of the Greek text of the two Epistles of Clement. The lacuna previously existing in the
genuine Epistle were not extensive ; but, as now appears, the Alexandrian manuscript contains
only three-fifths of the second Epistle. The entire Greek text of both Epistles was given to the
public by Bryennios ■ in 1875.

This at once led to a revision of some recent editions, notably those of Hilgenfeld,^ and
of Gebhardt and Harnack.^ Many monographs soon appeared. But the discovery of a new
(Syriac) source for the text in 1876, while not affecting the general problem, gave to patristic
scholars more abundant critical material. Bishop Lightfoot's Appendix ■» contains the most con-
venient and accessible collation of this material, as well as the most clear statements on all points
affected by the two discoveries. The Syriac manuscript, containing a version of the two Epistles
of Clement, was purchased by the Cambridge University Library in 1876, from the collection
of "the late Oriental scholar M. Jules Mohl of Paris" (Lightfoot). It embraces the entire New
Testament, except the Apocalypse, in the Harkleian recension of the Philoxenian (or later)
Syriac version ; but the scribe has inserted the two Epistles of Clement (entire) between the
Catholic and Pauline Epistles. The value of the manuscript for New-Testament criticism is
great, and the phenomena it presents interesting, as bearing on the discussion of the New-
Testament canon \ but the paucity of sources for the text of the Clementine Epistles gives
special importance to the discovery of a version of these writings so soon after the recovery of
the entire Greek text. A discussion of the textual questions is forbidden by the limits of this
Introductory Notice, but a few points may be stated : —

1. A comparison of the three authorities (the Alexandrian, the Constantinopolitan, and the
Syriac), in the parts they in common contain, shows that the first is most trustworthy, and that
the Syriac is usually more correct than the Constantinopolitan,

2. Hence, in the recovered portions, the authority of the Syriac is very valuable in correcting
the obvious blunders of the Greek copy. This should teach caution in accepting the text of the
Teaching, where the same Greek manuscript is our only authority.

3. The genuine Epistle of Clement, which stands next in age to the canonical books of the
New Testament, now stands next in accuracy of text also. Doubt in regard to textual questions
decreases as the critical material increases.

' The full title of his edition, in Enghsh form, is as follows: " The two Epistles of our holy father Clement Bishop of Rome to the
Corinthians; from a manuscript in the Library of the Most Holy Sepulchre in Fanar of Constantinople; now for the first time published
complete, with prolegomena and notes, by Philotheos Bryennios, Metropolitan of Serrae. Constantinople, 1875."

* Novum Test, extra canonem receptum (2d ed., Leipzig, 1876). Pp. xliv.-xlix., 69-106, contain prolegomena, text, and notes,
3 Clement.

s Patrunt Apost. Opera, 2d ed., Leipzig, 1876.

* St. Clement cf Rome. An Appendix containing the newly recovered portions, with introductions, notes, and translations. London,
1877. The original volume, London, 1869.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 513

SECTION 2. — PLACE AND DATE OF COMPOSITION; AUTHOR.

The recovery of the entire text of the Second Epistle settles the question as to the purpose
of the work. As was previously surmised, it is a homily (comp. chaps, xvii., xix., xx.) ; more-
over, it was "read" by the author at public worship after the Scripture lesson (see chap. xix).
But as to place, date, and author, there is still diversity of opinion. The three questions are
closely related. The view of Bishop Lightfoot seems, on the whole, most tenable. He regards
the homily as of Corinthian origin, delivered, in all probability, between a.d. 120 and 140, but the
work of an unknown author, who seems to have been one of the presbyters of the church, — pos-
sibly the bishop. The allusions to the athletic games are in favour of Corinth. On this theory
the title is thus accounted for : The genuine Epistle of Clement was addressed to the Corin-
thians, and read in the church of that city from time to time. This homily was probably read in
the same manner, and at length united in a manuscript copy with the other. Each was " to the
Corinthians : " hence it was gradually inferred that both were Epistles of Clement. Of this suc-
cession or movement Lightfoot finds some indications in the manuscript authorities.

The internal evidence of an early date has been increased by the discovery of the concluding
portion, but there is nothing to determine the exact time of composition. The distinction made
in chap. xiv. between the Old and New Testaments, as well as the use of the Gospel of the Egyp-
tians (at the close of chap, xii.), taken in connection with the unmistakeable citations of New-
Testament passages as of Divine authority, point to the first half of the second century as the
probable period. The absence of all direct opposition to Gnosticism points to an origin within
the same limits. All these considerations make against the view of Hilgenfeld, who attributes
the homily to Clement of Alexandria, thus assigning it to the latter half of the second century.

In regard to the author, nothing further is learned from the newly recovered portion, except
the fact that he was a preacher. Even this does not determine his ecclesiastical position, since
at that early date much freedom of utterance was permitted in Christian assemblies. It is, how-
ever, very probable that the author was a presbyter ; and it is not improbable that he was the
chief presbyter, or local bishop.

The homily is still attributed to a person named Clement, but there are three theories as to
what Clement, (i) Bryennios stands almost alone in claiming that the document is the work of
Clemens Romanus. The internal evidence against this view was quite sufficient before the full
text of the two Epistles was known ; now it is to be regarded as abundantly conclusive. Even
the English version of the two writings will suggest t': the intelligent reader the points of dif-
ference. (2) As intimated above, Hilgenfeld regards Clement of Alexandria as the author;
but this places the homily too late. Moreover, the writings of the Alexandrian Father stand
immensely above this feeble, commonplace, and chaotic production. Even the citation from the
Gospel of the Egyptians, common to both,' is differently used by the two authors ; Clement of
Alexandria opposing the interpretation favoured in this homily, as well as objecting to the authority
of that apocryphal Gospel. Hilgenfeld's argument from the word ^tAoo-oc^belv, in chap, xix.,
is invalidated by the improbability of that reading ; see note in loco. (3) The most plausible
view, as Bishop Lightfoot admits, is that of Harnack. He assigns the homily to a third Clement,
referred to, as he supposes, in the Shepherd of Hermas^ and living somewhat later than Clement
of Rome. In favour of this may be urged : some similarity to the Shepherd of Hermas, the
probability that at the date of the later writing Clement of Rome was not living, and the easy
explanation it affords of the traditional title. But, while a third Clement may have lived at Rome,
we have no evidence other than the doubtful hint in the Shepherd. The allusion in that work
seems far more appropriate to the well-known Clement of Rome. The argument from the later
date of the Shepherd proves very little ; not only is the date uncertain, but the visions are placed

' Sec chap, xii., and Clem. Alex., Stromata, iii. 13, vol. ii. p. 398. * See Vision II. 4, vol. ii. p. i».

514 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

quite early. The editor of this series, while accepting a.d. i6o as the probable date of the Shepherd,
regards it as a compilation, introducing " Hermas and Clement to identify the times which are
idealized in his allegory." ' The view of Bishop Lightfoot, therefore, seems to be the safest.

SECTION 3.— CHARACTER AND CONTENTS.

The style of the homily is poor. It abounds in connectives, which link unconnected ideas ;
its thought is feeble, its theology peculiar though not false, its arrangement confused. While
it furnishes some historical data for practical theology, it is, in homiletical method and matter,
in sharp contrast with the Apostolic writings and with the homilies of Origen. Though refer-
ring to Scripture, it has none of the virtues of the expository discourse ; though hortatory in
tone, it has little of the unity and directness of better sermons of that class. Its chief excellence
is its brevity.

It is difficult to make an analysis of the contents. The theme is the duty of fulfilling the
commands of Christ.

( 1 ) This obedience is the true confession of Christ, answering to the greatness of His salva-
tion ; mainly in chaps, i.-iv.

(2) Thus the Christian shows his opposition to the world ; chaps, v.-viii.

(3) This obedience will be rewarded in the future world ; chaps, ix.-xvii.

(4) The conclusion : the preacher's confession (xviii.), justification of his exhortation (xix.) ;
concluding word of consolation, with doxology (xx.). But the treatment is not strictly logical,
nor are the parts clearly distinguished.

The theology shows no traces of heresy, nor does it sharply oppose any false doctrinal views.
It lacks the dogmatic precision of a later age, but emphasizes rigid views of the relation of the
sexes. " Repentance and good works seem to be the main articles of its creed. Of regeneration
there seems to be no definite idea : to be called is the same as to be saved. The Church is pre-
existent ; the kingdom of God is in the future ; no worth is left to this world or to the life in it.
The principal argument urged in favour of standing firm in faith is the good issue of it in the
next life" (C.J. H. Ropes).

The hints given in regard to public worship agree with the famous description of Justin
Martyr,^ and there are indications that the early freedom of exhortation had not yet disappeared.
Bishop Lightfoot aptly concludes his dissertation with these words : " The homily itself, as a
literary work, is almost worthless. As the earliest example of its kind, however, and as the
product of an important age of which we possess only the scantiest remains, it has the highest
value. Nor will its intellectual poverty blind us to its true grandeur, as an example of the lofty
moral earnestness and the triumphant faith which subdued a reluctant world, and laid it prostrate
at the foot of the cross." ^

SECTION 4. — THE VERSION IN THIS VOLUME.

Greater unity would have been secured by a new translation of the entire work. Since, how-
ever, this was not possible, the aim of the editor has been to give the reader, as far as practicable,
the benefit of the light shed upon the whole by the recently discovered authorities. The portion
already translated in the Edinburgh volume has been supplied with critical annotations, and a
few exegetical points have been treated. The recent editions of the Greek text have, of course,
been consulted.

The newly recovered portion has been re-translated. Bishop Lightfoot's version is so excel-

• See vol. ii. p. 4; and comp. Lightfoot, Appendix, pp. 316, 317.

* First Apology, ch. Ixvii. (vol. i. p. 186).
3 St. Clement, Appendix, p. 317,

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 515

lent that the temptation to use it was very great. It has, of course, influenced the editor in many
places. But the following version differs from it mainly in two respects : (i) An effort has been
made to preserve the verbal correspondences between the language of the homily and that of the
New Testament : hence the English word used in the Revised Version as an equivalent of a
Greek term is given here as a similar equivalent. (2) The view of the Greek tenses indicated in
Lightfoot's renderings does not always accord with that of the editor.

It may be added, that Professor C. J. H. Ropes of Bangor, Me., kindly sent, for use in the
preparation of the Epistle foe this volume, his manuscript translation and notes. These have
been very helpful, and are entitled to this acknowledgment. It will be found that the American
translation is less paraphrastic than the Edinburgh. The new portions, both text and notes, have
been printed without brackets when they are the work of the editor. The rare additions of the
general editor are always bracketed, that the reader may readily recognise to whom the literary
responsibility in each case properly belongs.

The following is the Edinburgh Introductory Notice : —

The first certain reference which is made by any early writer to this so-called Epistle of Clem-
ent is found in these words of Eusebius {Hist. EccL, iii. 38) : "We must know that there is also
a second Epistle of Clement. But we do not regard it as being equally notable with the former,
since we know of none of the ancients that have made use of it." Several critics in modern times
have endeavoured to vindicate the authenticity of this Epistle. But it is now generally regarded
as one of the many writings which have been falsely ascribed to Clement. Besides the want of
external evidence, indicated even by Eusebius in the above extract, the diversity of style clearly
points to a different writer from that of the first Epistle. A commonly accepted opinion among
critics at the present day is, that this is not an Epistle at all, but a fragment of one of the many
homilies falsely ascribed to Clement. There can be no doubt, however, that in the catalogue of
writings contained in the Alexandrian MS. it is both styled an Epistle, and, as well as the other
which accompanies it, is attributed to Clement. As the MS. is certainly not later than the fifth
century, the opinion referred to must by that time have taken firm root in the Church ; but in the
face of internal evidence, and in want of all earlier testimony, such a fact goes but a small way to
establish its authenticity.

THE HOMILY/

CHAP. I. — WE OUGHT TO THINK HIGHLY OF

CHRIST.

Brethren, it is fitting that you should think
of Jesus Christ as of God, — as the Judge of the
living and the dead. And it does not become
us ^ to think lightly J of our salvation ; for if we
think little ^ of Him, we shall also hope but to
obtain little fro7n Him. And those of us ^ who
hear carelessly of these things, as if they were
of small importance, commit sin, not knowing
whence we have been called, and by whom, and
to what place, and how much Jesus Christ sub-
mitted to suffer for our sakes. What return,
then, shall we make to Him? or what fruit that
shall be worthy of that which He has given to
us? For,5 indeed, how great are the benefits^
which we owe to Him ! He has graciously given
us light ; as a Father, He has called us sons ;
He has saved us when we were ready to perish.
What praise, then, shall we give to Him, or what
return shall we make for the things which we
have received ? ^ We were deficient ^ in under-
standing, wotshipping stones and wood, and gold,
and silver, and brass, the works of men's hands ;9
and our whole life was nothing else than death.
Involved in blindness, and with such darkness '°
before our eyes, we have received sight, and
through His will have laid aside that cloud by
which we were enveloped. For He had com-
passion on us, and mercifully saved us, observing
the many errors in which we were entangled, as

I No title, not even a letter, is preserved in the MS. [In C (= MS.
at Constantinople found by Bryennios) the title is KA7J/x€VT0? Trpbs
Kopn-Oiovs B , corresponding to that of the First Epistle. In S ( =
Syriac MS. at Cambridge) there is a subscription to the First Epistle
ascribing it to Clement, then these words: " Of the same the Second
Epistle to the Corinthians." At the close this subscription occurs:
" Here endeth the Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians."

J [C has here, and in many other places, ufias instead of rj^ias.
This substitution of the second person plural is one of its marked pe-
culiarities. — R.]

3 [Literally, "little things;" Lightfoot, " mean things." — R.]
* [Lightfoot follows the Syriac, and renders: "And they that
listen, as concerning mean things, do wrong; and we ourselves do
wrong, not knowing," etc. But the briefer reading of the Greek Mss.
is lectio difficilior. — R.]

5 [Only S has yoip. A has 5c, which the Edinburgh translators
have rendered " for." So twice in chap. iii. — R. 1

6 Literally, " holy things."
^ Comp. Ps. cxvi. 12.

' Literally, " lame."

9 Literally, " of men." [Compare Amobius, vol. vi. p. 423.]
" Literally, " being full of such darkness in our sight."

well as the destruction to which we were ex-
posed," and that we had '^ no hope of salvation
except it came to us from Him. For He called
us when we were not,'^ and willed that out of
nothing we should attain a real existence.'*

chap. II. THE CHURCH, FORMERLY BARREN, IS

NOW FRUITFUL.

" Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not ; break
forth and cry, thou that travail est not ; for she
that is desolate hath many more children than
she that hath an husband." 's In that He said,
" Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not," He
referred to us, for our Church was barren before
that children were given to her. But when He
said, " Cry out, thou that travailest not," He
means this, that we should sincerely offer up our
prayers to God, and should not, like women in
travail, show signs of weakness.'^ And in that
He said, " For she that is desolate hath many
more children than she that hath an husband,"
He means that'^ our people seemed to be outcast
from God, but now, through believing, have
become more numerous than those who are
reckoned to possess God.'* And another Scrip-
ture saith, " I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners." '9 This means that those who are per-
ishing must be saved. For it is indeed a great
and admirable thing to establish, not the things
which are standing, but those that are falling.
Thus also did Christ desire ^° to save the things
which were perishing,^' and has saved many by
coming and calling us when hastening to de-
struction.^^

" Literally, " having beheld in us much error and destruction."

'^ [C, S (apparently) , and recent editors have e\ovTa.<i, " even when
we had," instead of l\ovri'; (A) , as above paraphrased. — R.]

'3 Comp. Hos. ii. 23; Rom. iv. 17, ix. 25.

'* Literally, "willed us from not being to be." [Comp. n. 4, p. 365.]

IS Isa. liv. I : Gal. iv. 27. [R. V., " the husband." — R.]

'* Some render, " should not cry out, like women in travail." The
text is doubtful. [Lightfoot: " Let us not, like women in travail,
grow weary of offering up our prayers with simplicity to God." — R. ]

'7 [€)r«4, "since;" hence Lightfoot renders, "He so spake, be-
cause.^'—R.l

" It has been remarked that the writer here implies he was a
Gentile.

'9 Matt. ix. 13; Luke v. 32. [The briefer form given above is
that of the correct text in Matthew and Mark (ii. 17), not Luke. —
R.]

20 rijff«'A»)o-e, "willed." — R] [Noteworthy. 2 Pet. iii. 9.]

^' Comp. Matt, xviii. 11. [Luke xix. 10. — R.l

'* Literally, " already perishing." [Rev. iii. z.J

5'7

5i8

THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT.

CHAP. III. THE DUTY OF CONFESSING CHRIST.

Since, then, He has displayed so great mercy
towards us, and especially in this respect, that
we who are living should not offer sacrifices to
gods that are dead, or pay them worship, but
should attain through Him to the knowledge of
the true Father,' whereby shall we show that we
do indeed know Him,^ but by not denying Him
through whom this knowledge has been attained ?
For He Himself declares,^ " Whosoever shall con-
fess Me before men, him will I confess before
My Father." '* This, then, is our reward if we
shall confess Him by whom we have been saved.
But in what way shall we confess Him? By
doing what He says, and not transgressing His
commandments, and by honouring Him not with
our lips only, but with all our heart and all our
mind. 5 For He says^ in Isaiah, "This people
honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is
far from Me."'

CHAP. IV.

•TRUE CONFESSION OF CHRIST.

Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that
will not save us. For He saith, " Not every one
that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but
he that worketh righteousness." '^ Wherefore,
brethren, let us confess Him by 9 our works, by
loving one another, by not committing adultery,
or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing
envy ; but being continent, compassionate, and
good. We ought also to sympathize with one
another, and not be avaricious. By such '° works
let us confess Him," and not by those that are
of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that
we should fear men, but rather God. For this
reason, if we should do such tuicked things,
the Lord hath said, " Even though ye were
gathered together to Me '^ in My very bosom,
yet if ye were not to keep My commandments,
I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart
from Me ; I know you not whence ye are, ye
workers of iniquity." '^

CHAP. V. — THIS WORLD SHOULD BE DESPISED.

Wherefore, brethren, leaving willingly our so-
journ in this present world, let us do the will of

* [Literally, " the Father of the truth." The best editions have
a period here. — R.]

* Literally, " what is the knowledge which is towards Him." [C,
with Bryennios. Hilgenfeld reads tjji; a.Kifi(.i.a.%, " what is the knowl-
edge of the truth," instead of >; wpos ainov, A, S, Lightfoot, and
earlier editors. — R.]

3 [Aeyci Se (tat auTos, " Yea, He Himself saith," Lightfoot. — R.]

* Matt. X. 32.

5 Comp. Matt. xxii. 37.

' f " Now He saith also."— R.]

' Isa. xxix. 13.

* Matt. vii. 21, loosely quoted.
9 [Literally, |'in."— R.l

■° [A defect in A was thus supplied, but " these" is now ac-
cepted; soC, S. — R.]

" Some read " God." [ " Him " is correct. — R.]

'^ Or, " with Me." [This is the more exact rendering of ixtT
inov. — R.]

'3 The first part of this sentence is not found in Scripture; for the
•econd, comp. Matt. vii. 23, Luke xiii. 27. [The first part is not
rfven identified as a citation from an apocryphal book. — R.J

Him that called us, and not fear to depart out
of this world. For the Lord saith, "Ye shall
be as lambs in the midst of wolves." '■^ And
Peter answered and said unto Hiin,'5 "What,
then, if the wolves shall tear in pieces the lambs ? "
Jesus said unto Peter, " The lambs have no cause
after they are dead to fear '^ the wolves ; and in
like manner, fear not ye them that kill you, and
can do nothing more unto you ; but fear Him
who, after you are dead, has jjower over both
soul and body to cast them into hell-fire." '?
And consider,'^ brethren, that the sojourning in
the flesh in this world is but brief and transient,
but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful,
even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of
life everlasting. '9 By what course of conduct,
then, shall we attain these things, but by leading
a holy and righteous life, and by deeming these
worldly things as not belonging to us, and not
fixing our desires upon them ? For if we desire
to possess them, we fall away from the path of
righteousness.^"

CHAP. VI. THE PRESENT AND FUTURE WORLDS

ARE ENEMIES TO EACH OTHER.

Now the Lord declares, " No servant can
serve two masters." ^' If we desire, then, to
serve both God and mammon, it will be unprofit-
able for us. " For what will it profit if a man
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? "^^
This world and the next are two enemies. The
one urges to ^^ adultery and corruption, avarice
and deceit ; the other bids farewell to these
things. We cannot therefore be the friends of
both ; and it behoves us, by renouncing the one,
to make sure -■* of the other. Let us reckon ^s
that it is better to hate the things present, since
they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible ;
and to love those which are to come, as being
good and incorruptible. For if we do the will
of Christ, we shall find rest ; otherwise, nothing
shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we
disobey His commandments. For thus also
saith the Scripture in Ezekiel, " If Noah, Job,
and Daniel should rise up, they should not de-
liver their children in captivity." ^^ Now, if men

'•• Matt. X. 16.

'5 No such conversation is recorded in Scripture. [Comp. note
13.- R.]

'6 Or, " Let not the lambs fear."

'7 Matt. X. 28; Luke xii. 4, 5.

" Or, " know."

'9 The text and translation are here doubtful. [All doubt has
been removed; the above rendering is substantially correct. — R.l

2° [Moreexactly, " the righteous path," t^s 66o{I T^sSiicaias. — K.]

^' Matt. vi. 24; Luke xvi. 13.

2- Matt. xvi. 26. [The citation is not exactly according to any
evangelist. Literally, " For what advantage is it, if any one gain the
whole (C omits ' whole ' ) world, but forfeit his life," or " soul." — R.]

23 Literally, " speaks of." [So Lightfoot. — R].

2* Or, "enjoy." [Lightfoot: " but must bid farewell to the one,
and hold companionship with the other; " thus preserving the cor-
respondence with the preceding sentence. — R.l

^5 The MR. has, "we reckon." [So C and S, but Lightfoot re-
tains the subjunctive. — R.]

26 Kzek. xiv, 14, 20.

THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT.

519

so eminently righteous ' are not able by their
righteousness to deliver their children, how can
we hope to ^ enter into the royal residence ^ of
God unless we keep our baptism holy and unde-
filed ? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we
be found possessed of works of holiness and
righteousness ? *

CHAP. VII. — WE MUST STRIVE IN ORDER TO BE
CROWNED.

Wherefore, then, my brethren, let us struggle 5
with all earnestness, knowing that the contest is
tti our case close at hand, and that many under-
take long voyages to strive for a corruptible re-
ward ; ^ yet all are not crowned, but those only
that have laboured hard and striven gloriously.
Let us therefore so strive, that we may all be
"browned. Let us run the straight 7 course, even
*he race that is incorruptible ; and let us in great
numbers set out ^ for it, and strive that we may
be crowned. And should we not all be able to
obtain the crown, let us at least come near to it.
We must remember ^ that he who strives in the
corruptible contest, if he be found acting un-
fairly,'° is taken away and scourged, and cast
forth from the lists. What then think ye? If
one does anything unseemly in the incorruptible
contest, what shall he have to bear? For of
those who do not preserve the seal" unbroken,
■the Scripture saith,'^ " Their worm shall not die,
and their fire shall not be quenched, and they
shall be a spectacle to all flesh." '^

CHAP. VIII. — THE NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE
WHILE WE ARE ON EARTH.

As long, therefore, as we are upon earth, let
as practise repentance, for we are as clay in the
hand of the artificer. For as the potter, if he
make a vessel, and it be distorted or broken in
his hands, fashions it over again ; but if he have
before this cast it into the furnace of fire, can
no longer find any help for it : so let us also,
while we are in this world, repent with our whole
heart of the evil deeds we have done in the
flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while
we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For

' [Literally, " But if even such righteous men." — R.]

2 Literally, " with what confidence shall we."

3 Wake translates " kingdom," as if the reading had been
/SaffiAeiav ; but the MS. has /iacriAeioi', "palace." [Lightfoot gives
the former rendering, though accepting /SatriAetoi'. — R.]

* [Literally, " holy and righteous works." — R.]

5 [ayuivi(Tu>ii.t8a, " let us strive," as in the games. — R.]

* Literally, " that many set sail for corruptible contests," referring
probably to the concourse at the Isthmian games.

'' Or, " Let us place before us." [The latter rendering is that
of the reading found in A and C, and now accepted by many editors
(9(L(j.«i'); but Lightfoot adheres to flew/xei' (so S), and holds the
former reading to be a corruption. — R.]

8 Or, " set sail."

9 Literally, " know."

'° Literally, " if he be found corrupting."

" Baptism is probably meant. [See Eph. i. 13 and Acts xix. 6.]

'2 [Or, " He saith; " " unbroken " is not necessary. — R.]

'3 Isa. Ixvi. 24. I

after we have gone out of the world, no further
power of confessing or repenting will there be-
long to us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the
will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy,
and observing the commandments of the Lord,
we shall obtain eternal life. For the Lord saith
in the Gospel, " If ye have not kept that which
was small, who will commit to you the great?
For I say unto you, that he that is faithful in that
which is least, is faithful also in much." '^ This,
then, is what He means : " Keep the flesh holy
and the seal undefiled, that ye '5 may receive
eternal life." '^

CHAP. IX. — WE SHALL BE JUDGED IN THE FLESH.

And let no one of you say that this very flesh
shall not be judged, nor rise again. Consider
ye '7 in what state ye were saved, in what ye re-
ceived sight,'** if not while ye were in this flesh.
We must therefore preserve the flesh as the tem-
ple of God. For as ye were called in the flesh,
ye shall also come to be judged in the flesh. As
Christ "^ the Lord who saved us, though He was
first a Spirit,^" became flesh, and thus called us,
so shall we also receive the reward in this flesh.
Let us therefore love one another, that we may
all attain to the kingdom of God. While we
have an opportunity of being healed, let us yield
ourselves to God that healeth us, and give to
Him a recompense. Of what sort? Repent-
ance out of a sincere heart ; for He knows all
things beforehand, and is acquainted with what
is in our hearts. Let us therefore give Him
praise,^' not with the mouth only, but also with
the heart, that He may accept us as sons. For
the Lord has said, " Those are My brethren who
do the will of My Father." "

CHAP. X. — VICE IS TO BE FORSAKEN, AND VIRTUE
FOLLOWED.

Wherefore, my brethren, let us do the will of
the Father who called us, that we may live ; and
let us earnestly ^^ follow after virtue, but forsake

'* Comp. Luke xvi. 10-12.

'5 MS. has " we," which is corrected by all editors as above. [The
newly discovered authorities have the second person; most recent
editors, however, adopt the first person, as lectio difficilior. So
Lightfoot; but Hilgenfeld restores a-noKa-^iyn in his second edition.

■6 Some have thought this a quotation from an unknown apocry-
phal book, but it seems rather an explanation of the preceding words.

•7 [Editors differ as to the punctuation. Lightfoot: "Understand
ye. In what were ye saved ? In what did ye recover your sight ? if
ye were not in the flesh." Hilgenfeld puts a comma after yvmjt
(understand ye), and a period after i<Tio6r)T€ (saved). — R.]

'3 Literally, "looked up." [Both senses of ava^Mnnv occur in
New Testament. — R.]

'9 The MS. has eU, " one," which Wake follows, but it seems
clearly a mistake for w. [Lightfoot reads ei , with a Syriac fragment ;
both C and S have (U. — R.]

~° [C has here the curious reading Adyos instead of nvevfia, but all
editors retain the latter. — R.]

2' [A reads " eternal," and C, S, " praise; " Lightfoot and others
combine the two, " eternal praise." — R.]

22 Matt. xii. 50.

23 Literally, " rather."

520

THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT.

every wicked tendency ' which would lead us
into transgression ; and flee from ungodliness,
lest evils overtake us. For if we are diligent in
doing good, peace will follow us. On this ac-
count, such men cannot find it, i.e., peace, as are^
influenced by human terrors, and prefer rather
present enjoyment to the promise which shall
afterwards be fulfilled. For they know not what
torment present enjoyment incurs, or what feli-
city is involved in the future promise. And if,
indeed, they themselves only did such things, it
would be the fnore tolerable ; but now they per-
sist in imbuing innocent souls with their perni-
cious doctrines,^ not knowing that they shall
receive a double condemnation, both they and
those that hear them.

CHAP. XI. WE OUGHT TO SERVE GOD, TRUSTING

IN HIS PROMISES.

Let us therefore serve God with a pure heart,
and we shall be righteous ; but if we do not
serve Him, because we believe not the promise
of God, we shall be miserable. For the pro-
phetic word also declares, " Wretched are those
of a double mind, and who doubt in their heart,
who say, All these things have we heard even in
the times of our fathers ; but though we have
waited day by day, we have seen none of them
accomplished. Ye fools ! compare yourselves to
a tree ; take, for instance, the vine. First of all
it sheds its leaves, then the bud appears ; after
that the sour grape, and then the fully-ripened
fruit. So, likewise, my people have borne dis-
turbances and afflictions, but afterwards shall
they receive their good things." * Wherefore,
my brethren, let us not be of a double mind, but
let us hope and endure, that we also may obtain
the reward. For He is faithful who has prom-
ised that He will bestow on every one a reward
according to his works. If, therefore, we shall
do righteousness in the sight of God, we shall
enter into His kingdom, and shall receive the
promises, " which ear hath not heard, nor eye

' Literally, " malice, as it were, the precursor of our sins." Some
deem the text corrupt.

^ Literally, according to the MS., " it is not possible that a man
should find it who are " — the passage being evidently corrupt. [The
evidence of C and S does not clear up the difficulty here, the reading
of these authorities being substantially that of A. Lightfoot renders:
" For for this cause is a man unable to attain happiness, seeing that
they call in the fears of men," etc. Hilgenfeld (2ded.) assumes here
a considerable gap in all the authorities, and inserts two paragraphs,
cited in other authors as from Clement. The first and longer passage
is from John of Damascus, and it may be accounted for as a loose
citation from chap. x.x. in the recovered portion of this Epistle. The
other is from pseudo-Justin {Questions to the Orthodox, 74) . This
was formerly assigned by both Hilgenfeld and Lightfoot (against
Hariiack) to the First Epistle 0/ Clement, Iviii., in that portion
wanting in A. But the recovered chapters (Iviii.-lxiii.) contain, ac-
cordmg to C and S, no such passage. Lightfoot thinks the reference
in pseudo-Justin is to chap. xvi. of this homily, and that the men-
tion of the Sibyl in the same author is not necessarily part of the
citation from Clement. Comp. Lightfoot, pp. 308, 447, 448, 458, 459,
and Hilgenfeld, 2d ed., pp. xlviii., 77. — R.J

' [ Lightfoot, more literally, " but now they continue teaching evil
to innocent souls." — R.]

* The same words occur in Clement's first epistle, chap, xxiii.

seen, neither have entered into the heart of
man." s

CHAP. Xn. — WE ARE CONSTANTLY TO LOOK FOR
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Let us expect, therefore, hour by hour, the
kingdom of God in love and righteousness, since
we know not the day of the appearing of God.
For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when
His kingdom would come, replied, " When two
shall be one, and that, which is without as that
which is within, and the male with the female,
neither male nor female." ^ Now, two are one
when we speak the truth one to another, and
there is unfeignedly one soul in two bodies. And
" that which is without as that which is within "
meaneth this : He calls the soul " that which is
within," and the body " that which is without."
As, then, thy body is visible to sight, so also let
thy soul be manifest by good works. And " the
male with the female, neither male nor female,"
this 7 . . .

[The newly recovered portion follows :] ' —

. . . meaneth ,9 that a brother seeing a sister
should think nothing '° about her as of a female,
nor she^^ think anything about him as of a male.
If ye do these things, saith He," the kingdom of
my Father shall come.

CHAP. XIII. DISOBEDIENCE CAUSETH GOD'S NAME

TO BE BLASPHEMED. '3

Therefore, brethren,'* let us now at length re-
pent ; let us be sober unto what is good ; for
we are full of much folly and wickedness. Let
us blot out from us our former sins, and repent-
ing from the soul let us be saved ; and let us not
become '5 men-pleasers, nor let us desire to please
only one another,'^ but also the men that are
without, by our righteousness, that the Name •'

5 I Cor. ii. 9.

* These words are quoted (Clem. Alex., Strom., iii. 9, 13) from
the Gospel according to the Egyptians, no longer extant.

7 Thus ends the MS., but what followed will be found in Clem.
Alex, as just cited.

8 For details respecting the version here given, see Introductory
Notice, pp. 514, 515.

9 Or, more correctly, both here and above, " by this He meaneth."
'° All editors read ov6iv <i>povri, but C has <i>poi'<t, which is un-

grammatical. In this clause, after tva we would expect ixrf&ev; but,
as Lightfoot suggests, ovSiv may be combined as a substantive idea
with erjAuxoi-; comp. the use of oii with participles.

" For Ml^e (so C) Gebhardt would substitute firiS' ij5e, while S
supplies in full, guum soror videbit fratrem , an obvious interpreta-
ment.

'^ This seems to be an explanation of the saying above referred
to, and not a citation; similar cases occur in the homily.

'^ The headings to the chapters have been supplied by the editor,
but in so ramblmg a discourse they are in some cases necessarily
unsatisfactory.

'■♦ Hilgenfeld reads mow instead of ovv; so S apparently. The
chapters are usually introduced with ovv (nine times) or uiait (five
times) .

's yivM^LiSa.; Lightfoot, " be found."

'* Literally, " ourselves," eavrois; but the reciprocal sense is com-
mon in Hellenistic Greek, and is here required by the context.

" Comp. Acts V. 41, where the correct text omits avroii. The
Revised Version properly capitalizes " Name " in that passage.

THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT.

521

be not blasphemed on account of us.' For the
Lord also saith, " Continually ^ My name is blas-
phemed among all the Gentiles, " ^ and again,
" Woe •♦ to him on account of whom My name
is blasphemed." Wherein is it blasphemed?
In your not doing what I desire. 5 For the
Gentiles, when they hear from our mouth the
oracles of God,^ marvel at them as beautiful
and great ; afterwards, when they have learned
that our works are not worthy of the words we
speak, they then turn themselves to blasphemy,
saying that it is some fable and delusion. For
when they hear from us that God saith,^ " There
is no thank unto you, if ye love them that love
you ; but there is thank unto you, if ye love your
enemies and them that hate you ; " ^ when they
hear these things, they marvel at the excellency
of the goodness ; but when they see that we not
only do not love them that hate us, but not even
them that love us, they laugh us to scorn, and
the Name is blasphemed.

CHAP. XIV. — THE LIVING CHURCH IS THE BODY
OF CHRIST.

Wherefore,^ brethren, if we do the will of God
our Father, we shall be of the first Church, that
is, spiritual, that hath been created before the
sun and moon ; '° but if we do not the will of
the Lord, we shall be of the scripture that saith,
" My house was made a den of robbers." " So
then let us choose to be of the Church of life,'^
that we may be saved. I do not, however, sup-
pose ye are ignorant that the living Church is
the body of Christ ; "^ for the Scripture saith,
" God made man, male and female." '* The
male is Christ,- the female is the Church. And
the Books '5 and the Apostles p/aifi/y (/ec/are '^ that

' C here, and in many other cases, reads ufJ-Sa; a comparison of
MSS. shows that it is a correction of the scribe.

* Lightfoot renders 6ta Travros, " every way; " but the temporal
sense is common in Hellenistic Greek, and her« required by the
Hebrew.

^ Tsa. lii 5, with na(Tiv inserted.

■♦ Lightfoot reads, Kal ttolAiv Oi>at, following the Syriac. C has
Ka'i. Aio. There is difficulty in identifying this second quotation;
comp. Ezek. xxxvi. 20-23. Lightfoot thinks it probable that the
preacher used two different farms of Isa. hi. s

5 This sentence is not part of the citation, but an explanation, the
words being used as if spoken by God. The Syriac text seelcs to
avoid this difficulty by reading, " by our not doing what we say."

f" Here ra Aoyia rov dfoii is used of the Scriptures, and with dis-
tinct reference to the New Testament; see next note.

7 In view of the connection, this must mean " God in His oracles; "
a significant testimony to the early belief in the inspiration of the
Gospels.

' Luke vi. 27, 32, finely combined; comp. Matt. v. 44, 46. The
use of xap'S "M'" shows that the quotation is from the former Gospel.
9 ii)(TT(, as at the beginning of chaps, vii., x.
10 Comp. Ps. Ixxii. (LXX. Ixxi.) 5, 17.

'I Jer. vii. 11. Comp. Matt. xxi. 13- Mark xi. 17- Luke xix. 46.
'^ Hamack says, " The Jewish synagogue is the church of death."
Lightfoot, more correctly, accepts a contrast " between mere external
membership in the visible body and spiritual communion m the celes-
tial counterpart."

*^ Comp. Eph. L 23 and many similar passages.
'^ Gen. 1. 27; comp. Eph. v. 31-33.

'5 The reference here is probably to the Old-Testament " books,"
while the term " Apostles " may mean the New Testament in whole
or part. The more direct reference probably is to Genesis and Ephe-
sians.

"^ Lightfoot insertsin brackets A«yoi/<Tc>',5i)Aoi', rendering as above.
Hilgenfeld suggests <t>a.<r\,v oiSaT£, " Ve know tliat the books, etc..

the Church is not of the present, but from the
beginning.'^ For she was spiritual, as our Jesus
also was, but was manifested in the last days that
He '^ might save us. Now the Church, being
spiritual, was manifested in the flesh of Christ,
i/ius signifying to us that, if any of us keep "^
her in the flesh and do not comipt her, he shall
receive her again ^° in the Holy Spirit : for this
flesh is the copy of the spirit. No one then who
corrupts the copy, shall partake of the original.^'
This then is what He meaneth, " Keep the flesh,"
that ye may partake of the spirit." But if we
say that the flesh is the Church and the spirit
Christ,^^ then he that hath shamefully used the
flesh hath shamefully used the Church. Such
a one then shall not partake of the spirit, which
is Christ. Such life and incorruption this flesh ^*
can partake of, when the Holy Spirit is joined
to it. No one can utter or speak "what the
Lord hath prepared " for His elect.^s

CHAP. XV. — FAITH AND LOVE THE PROPER RETURN

TO GOD.

Now I do not think I have given you any light
counsel concerning self-control,^^ which if any
one do he will not repent of it, but will save
both himself and me who counselled him. For
it is no light reward to turn again a wandering
and perishing soul that it may be saved. ==7 For
this is the recompense^** we have to return to
God who created us, if he that speaketh and
heareth both speaketh and heareth with faith
and love. Let us therefore abide in the things
which we believed, righteous and holy, that with
boldness we may ask of God who saith, " While
thou art yet speaking, I will say, Lo, I am here."*^
For this saying is the sign of a great promise ;
for the Lord saith of Himself that He is more
ready to give than he that asketh /o ask,^° Being

say that." Bryennios joins this sentence to the preceding, taking the
whole as dependent on ayvotlv. Ropes renders accordingly, making a
parenthesis from " for the Scripture " to " the Church." In any case
a verb of saying must be supplied, as in the Syriac.

17 ivuiOiv has a local and a temporal sense; the latter is obviously
preferable here.

'8 " Jesus " is the subject of the latter part of the sentence.

'9 " Keep her pure; " comp. chap. viii. Lightfoot renders rrjpeif,
" guard," here and elsewhere.

^° The verb corresponds with that rendered " partake " in what
follows.

^' "Copy," avTiruito^, avrirviTov, Comp. Heb. ix. 24; i Pet. iii
21. Our use of " antitype " is different. The antithesis here is audei-
Tiico»', the original, or archetype. This mystical interpretation has |
Platonic basis.

^^ Comp. the close of chap. viii.

2' Lightfoot calls attention to the confusion of metaphors; but
there is also evidence of that false exegesis which made " flesh " and
" spirit " equivalent to " body " and " soul," — an error which always
leads to further mistakes.

-* Here the word " flesh" is used in an ambiguous sense.

^S 1 Cor. ii. 9.

26 nrepi iyKpareia^, " temperance " in the wide New-Testament
sense. Lightfoot, "continence;" in these days the prominent dan-
ger was from libidinous sins.

27 Comp. Jas. V. 19, 20, with which our passage has many verbal
correspondences.

25 " A favorite word with our author, especially in this connection."
— Lightfoot.

29 Isa. Iviii. 9, LXX.

30 fif TO SiSovai. ToD aWouyTOi ; the sense of the elliptical construc-
tion i.s obviously as above.

522

THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT.

therefore partakers of so great kindness, let us
not be envious of one another ' in the obtain-
ing of so many good things. For as great as is
the pleasure which these sayings have for them
that have done them, so great is the condemna-
tion they have for them that have been disobe-
dient.

CH.'VP. XVI. — THE EXCELLENCE OF ALMSGIVING.

Wherefore, brethren, having received no small
occasion ^ for repentance, while we have the op-
portunity,^ let us turn unto God that called us,
while we still have Him as One that receiveth
us. For if we renounce ^ these enjoyments and
conquer our soul in not doing these its evil de-
sires, we shall partake of the mercy of Jesus.
But ye know that the day of judgment even
now " cometh as a burning oven," s and some
" of the heavens shall melt," and all the earth
s/ia// be as lead melting on the fire,^ and then
the hidden and open works of men shall appear.
Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, as repent-
ance from sin ; fasting is better than prayer, but
almsgiving than both ; ^ " but love covereth a
multitude of sins." ^ But prayer out of a good
conscience delivereth from death. Blessed is
every one that is found full of these ; for alms-
giving lighteneth the burden of sin.9

CHAP. XVII. — THE DANGER OF IMPENFTENCE.

Let us therefore repent from the whole heart,
that no one of us perish by the way. For if
we have commandments that we should also
practise this,'° to draw away men from idols and
instruct them, how much more ought a soul
already knowing God not to perish ! Let us
therefore assist one another that we may also
lead up those weak as to what is good," in order
that all may be saved ; and let us convert and
admonish one another.'^ And let us not think
to give heed and believe now only, while we are
admonished by the presbyters, but also when we

1 eauToi?. Here again in the reciprocal sense; comp. chap. xiil.

2 a.^op\i.T\v Aa^ovTes, as in Rom. vii. 8, ii.

3 Kaipbi/ txci-Te?, " seeing that we have time " (Lightfoot). But
" opportunity " is more exact.

^ ajroTofuJ/utfla, " bid farewell to; " comp. chap. vi.
S Comp. Mai. iv. i.

* Comp. Isa. xxxiv. 4, which resembles the former clause, and 2
Pet. iii. 7, 10, where the same figures occur. The text seems to be
corrupt: Tirt? ("some") is sustained by both the Greek and the
Syriac, but this limitation is so peculiar as to awaken suspicion; still,
the notion of several heavens might have been in the author's mind.

7 Comp. Tobit xii. 8, 9; but the position given to almsgiving
seems to be contradicted by the next sentence. Lightfoot seems to
suspect a corruption of text here also, but in the early Church there
was often an undue emphasis placed upon almsgiving.

* 1 Pet. iv. 8. Comp. Prov. x. 12; Jas. v. 20.

9 Literally, "becometh a lightencr (<tou<i)i<rM<i) of sin;" comp.
Ecclus. iii. 30.

■° Lightfoot, with Syriac, reads iVo icai toOto ■npa.acTui}j.(v. C omits
ii'd, and reads ■npa.aaoy.iv, " If we have commandments and practise
this."

" Here Lightfoot thinks a verb has probably fallen out of the text.

" Bryennios thus connects: " in order that all may be saved, and
may convert," etc.

have returned home,'^ remembering the com-
mandments "* of the Lord ; and let us not be
dragged away by worldly lusts, but coming 's more
frequently let us attempt to make advances in the
commandments of the Lord, that all being of
of the same mind '^ we may be gathered together
unto life. For the Lord said, " I come to gather
together all the nations, tribes, and tongues." '7
This He speaketh of the day of His appearing,
when He shall come and redeem us, each one
according to his works. '^ And the unbelievers
" shall see His glory," and strength ; and they
shall think it strange when they see the sov-
ereignty '9 of the world in Jesus, saying, Woe
unto us. Thou wast He^° and we did not know
and did not believe, and we did not obey the
presbyters when they declared unto us concern-
ing our salvation. And " their worm dieth not,
and their fire is not quenched, and they shall be
for a spectacle unto all flesh." ^' He speaketh
of that day of judgment, when they shall see
those among us" that have been ungodly and
acted deceitfully with the commandments of
Jesus Christ. But the righteous who have done
well and endured torments and hated the enjoy-
ments of the soul, when they shall behold those
that have gone astray and denied Jesus through
their words or through their works, how that
they are punished with grievous torments in un-
quenchable fire, shall be giving glory to God,
saying, There will be hope for him that hath
served God with his whole heart.

CHAP. XVIII. THE PREACHER CONFESSETH HIS

OWN SINFULNESS.

Let us also become of the number of them
that give thanks, that have served God, and not
of the ungodly that are judged. For I myself
also, being an utter sinner,'^ and not yet escaped
from temptation, but still being in the midst of
the engines ^-^ of the devil, give diligence to fol-

13 " This clearly shows that the work before us is a sermon de-
livered in church" (Lightfoot). The preacher is himself one of" the
presbyters; " comp. chap. xix. It is possible, but cannot be proven,
that he was the head of the presbyters, the parochial bishop.

'< ivTa.k[i.a.Tu>v, not the technical word for the commandments of
the Decalogue (fi'ToAai).

■5 Syriac, " praying," which Lightfoot thinks m.iy be correct; but
7rpo<7€pxofiefoi might very easily be mistaken for -npoaiv^otiLivot..
The former means coming in worship; comp. Heb. x. i, 22.

■* 2 Cor. xiii. 11; Phil. ii. 2.

'7 Isa. Ixvi. 18. But "tribes" is inserted; comp. Dan. iii. 7. The
phrase "shall see His glory" is from the passage in Isaiah. The
language seems to be put into the mouth of Christ by the preacher.

'8 This implies various degrees of reward among these redeemed.

'9 TO /Sao-iA.eioi'; not exactly " the kingdom," rather " the kingly
rule." iv tcu 'Irjo-oii is rightly explained by Lightfoot, " in the hands,
in the power, of Jesus; " ^(vi.a'di]<sovra.i is rendered above " shall
think it strange," as in 1 Pet. iv. 4, 12.

20 " He" is properly supplied, as frequently in the Gospels. There
seems to be a reminiscence of John viii. 24 and similar passages.

^' Isa. Ixvi. 24; comp. chap. vii. above.

^^ C reads i'm»', as often, for i}ti.'t\', Syriac, accepted by all editors.

23 TrafSa^iapToAo?, occurring only here; but a similar word, irai'-
9a/AapTT)To?, occurs in the Teaching, v. 2, Apostolical Constitu-
tions, vii. 18, and Barnabas, x\.

^* Toi? o^yovoi? ; comp. \^nM., Rniii.,\\'., Antc-Niccne Patliers,
i. p. 75, where the word is rendered " iiislruments," and applied to
the teeth of the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. Here Lightfoot
renders " engines," regarding the metaphor as mihtary.

THE HOMILY ASCRIBED TO CLEMENT

523

low after righteousness, that I may have strength to
come even near it," fearing the judgment to come.

CHAP. XK. HE JUSTIFIETH HIS EXHORTATION.

Wherefore, brethren and sisters,^ after the God
of truth hath been heard,^ I read to you an en-
treaty '' that ye may give heed to the things that
are written, in order that ye may save both your-
selves and him that readeth among you. For as
a reward I ask of you that ye repent with the
whole heart, thus giving to yourselves salvation
and life. For by doing this we shall set a goal 5
for all the young who are minded to labour ^ on
])ehalf of piety and the goodness of God. And
let us not, unwise ones that we are, be affronted
and sore displeased, whenever some one admon-
isheth and turneth us from iniquity unto right-
eousness. For sometimes while we are practising
evil things we do not perceive it on account of
the double-mindedness and unbelief that is in
our breasts, and we are " darkened in our under-
standing " 7 by our vain lusts. Let. us then prac-
tise righteousness that we may be saved unto the
end. Blessed are they that obey these ordi-
nances. Even if for a little time they suffer evil
in the world,^ they shall enjoy the immortal fruit

' The phrase Kav eyyiis airr^s implies a doubt of attaining the
aim, in accord with the tone of humiHty which obtains in this chapter.

^ Comp. the opening sentence of Barnabas, " Sons and daugh-
ters," Ante-N'icene Fathers, i. p. 137; see also chap. xx.

3 If any doubt remained as to the character of this writing, it would
be removed by this sentence. The passage is elliptical, fiera toi'
6thv T)}; a.KrjOiio.%, but there is no doubt as to the meaning. The
Scripture was read, and listening to it was regarded as hearing the
voice of God, whose words of truth were read. Then followed the
sermon or exhortation: comp. Justin, First Apology, chap. Ixvii.
(vol. i. p. 186). That lessons from some at least of the New Testa-
ment were included at the date of this homily, seems quite certain ;
comp. the references to the New Testament in chaps, ii., iii., iv., and
elsewhere. It is here implied that this homily was written and " read."

* The word ivTevC,i<;, here used, means intercession, or supplica-
tion, to God (comp. I Tim. ii. i, iv. 5) in early Christian literature;
but the classical sense is " entreaty: " so in the opening sentence of
Justin, First Apology (vol. i. p.163, where it is rendered " petition ").

5 Lightfoot, with Syriac and most editors, reads aKoirov; but C
has KOTTov, so Bryennios.

* C had originally <t>i\o(To4>f^v (accepted by Hilgenfeld), but was
corrected to (i)i\oiTovclv. The latter is confirmed by the Syriac, and
now generally accepted, though Hilgenfeld uses the other reading to
support his view that Clement of Alexandria was the author.

7 Eph. iv. 18.

* C inserts toutci); so Bryennios, Hilgenfeld, and others. Light-
foot omits, with Syriac. The punctuation above given is that of
Bryennios and Lightfoot. Hilgenfeld joins this clause with what
precedes.

of the resurrection. Let not then the godly man
be grieved, if he be wretched in the times that
now are ; a blessed time waits for him. He, liv-
ing again above with the fathers, shall be joyful
for an eternity without grief.

CHAP. XX. CONCLUDING WORD OF CONSOLATION.

DOXOLOGV.

But neither let it trouble your understanding,
that we see the unrighteous having riches and
the servants of God straitened. Let us there-
fore, brethren and sisters, be believing : we are
striving in the contest ^ of the living God, we
are exercised by the present life, in order that we
may be crowned by that to come. No one of
the righteous received fruit speedily, but await-
eth it. For if God gave shortly the recompense
of the righteous, straightway we would be exer-
cising ourselves in business, not in godliness ; for
we would seem to be righteous, while pursuing
not what is godly but what is gainful. And on
this account Divine judgment surprised a spirit
that was not righteous, and loaded it with
chains.'"

To the only God invisible," the Father of
truth, who sent forth to us the Saviour and
Prince of incorruption,'^ through whom also He
manifested to us the truth and the heavenly
life, to Him be the glory for ever and ever.
Amen.'3

9 Treipai/ a.6\oviJ.ev; the construction is classical, and the figure
common in all Greek literature.

'° The verbs here are aorists, and have been rendered by the Eng-
lish past tense; the present participle (iu.r) 6v Sixaiov) describing the
character of the " spirit" must, according to English usage, conform
to the main verbs. Lightfoot says, " The aorist here has its common
gnomic sense ; " and he therefore interprets the passage as a general
statement: " Sordid motives bring their own punishment in a judicial
blindness." But this gnomic sense of the aorist is not common. C
reads fiec/aos, which yields this sense: " and a chain weighed upon
him." Hilgenfeld refers the passage to those Christians who suffered
persecution for other causes than those of righteousness. Hamack
thinks the author has in mind Satan, as the prince of avarice, and
regards him as already loaded with chains. If the aorist is taken in
its usual sense, this is the preferable explanation; but the meaning is
obscure.

■' I Tim. i. 17.

'2 Acts iii. 15, v. 31; comp. Heb. ii. 10.

13 The doxology is interesting, as indicating the early custom of
thus closing a homily. The practice, fitting in itself, naturally fol-
lowed the examples in the Epistles.

THE NICENE CREED.

THE CREED

As set forth at Niccea,^ A.D. 323.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things, visible and invisible :

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is,
of the substance of the Father ;

God of God ; Light of light ; very God of very God ; begotten, not made ; being of one
substance with the Father,

By whom all things were made, both things in heaven and things in earth :

Who for us men and for our salvation came down, and was incarnate, and was made man :

He suffered, and rose again the third day :

And ascended into heaven :

And shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.

And in the Holy Ghost, etc.*

THE RATIFICATION.

And those who say There was a time when He was not, or that Before He was begotten He was not, or that Ht
was made out of nothing ; or who say that The Son of God is of any other substance, or that He is changeable
or unstable, — these the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes.

ADDENDA,

As authorized at Constantinople, A.D. j8i.

(a) Of heaven and earth.

(d) Begotten of the Father before all worlds.

(d) Was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate,
(^) And was buried.

(/) Sitteth on the right hand of the Father,

(g) Whose kingdom shall have no end.

(h) The Lord, the Giver of life,

Who proceedeth from the Father ; ^

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified ;

' It was the old Creed of Jerusalem slightly amended, and made the liturgic symbol of Christendom, and the exponent of Catholic
orthodoxy. Compare the Creed of Cacsarea, Burbidge, p. 334. But see this whole subject admirably illustrated for popular study by Bur-
bidge. Liturgies and Offices of the Church, p. 330, etc., London, Bells, 1885.

* Here the k.t.X. is to be understood, as in the liturgies where a known form is begun and left imperfect. The clauses (sec Cyril of Jeru-
salem, Catechet., lect. xviii.) are found in the Creed of Jerusalem, thus: " In one baptism of repentance for the remission of tins, and in
•ne Holy Catholic Church; and in the resurrection of the flesh: and in eternal life."

* The addition of the Filioque, in the West, is theologically true, but of no authority here. Sec Pearson, On the Creed.

524

THE NICENE CREED. 525

Who spake by the prophets :

In one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

And the life of the world to come. Amen.

This Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed was solemnly ratified by the Council of Ephesus (a.d.
431) with the decree' that "No one ^ shall be permitted to introduce, write, or compose any
ether faiih,^ besides that which was defined by the holy Fathers assembled in the city of Nice,
with the presence of the Holy Ghost."

' Canon vii.

' No one. This re-affirms the action of Nicaea itself, and forbids the imposition of anything novel as a creed by any authority what-
ever. Nothing, therefore, which has not been set forth by Nicene authority (or by the supplementing and co-equal councils of the whole
Church, from the same primitive sources) can be a creed, strictly speaking. It may be an orthodox confession, like the Quicunque Vult,
but cannot be imposed in terms of communion, any more than the Te Deum.

3 Any other faith. The composition and setting forth of another faith, as terms of communion, by Pius IV., bishop of Rome, a.d.
J564, and its acceptance, with additional dogmas, at the opening of the Vatican Council (so-called), a.d. 1869, brought the whole Papal
communion under this anathema of Ephesus.

EARLY LITURGIES.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

EARLY LITURGIES.

It is in curious contrast with the work of Brett and others like-minded that we have in these
Edinburgh translations a reflection from the minds of divines who are unused to liturgies, and
who have no interest in their elucidation. For the mere reader this is not an advantage ; but the
student who goes to the originals will find that it affords at times no inconsiderable help. These
translations are " inartificially drawn," as the lawyers say. They are so much Greek and Latin
rendered grammatically by competent scholars, who have no theories to sustain, and who are
equally devoid of technique and of a disposition to exhibit it for the support of preconceptions.
Not infrequently one gets a new view of certain stereotyped expressions from the way in which
they are here handled. The liturgiologist finds his researches freshened by etymologies he had
hardly thought of, here literally rendered. Of course, these are mere specimens, and no one can
use them for argument, except by comparison with the Greek, or the Latin of Renaudot, or the
originals in Syriac or Coptic ; but they will prove very useful in many ways. The whole science is
in its infancy ; and we have no specimen of a primitive liturgy unless it be the Clementine, so
called. The specimens here given are like cloth of gold (Ps. xlv. 13), moth-eaten and patched,
and spangled over with tinsel ; and the true artist has only the one object in view, — to restore it,
that is, to the king's daughter, as it was aforetime.

The following is the announcement of the Messrs. Clark in the Edinburgh edition : " The
Liturgy of St. James has been translated by William Macdonald, M.A. ; that of the Evangelist Mark
by George Ross Merry, B.A. ; and that of the Holy Apostles by Dr. Donaldson."

It will be observed that the translations are given in the Edinburgh series with hardly a line
of comment, and with no editorial helps to the reader whatever. These have been scantily sup-
pUed, here and there, where the case seemed to require some elucidation ; and in a few instances
I have ventured to reduce a word or two in the rendering to liturgical phraseology.

The interest which has recently been awakened in liturgiology, and which exists among the
learned so generally, will justify me in stating somewhat at large the considerations which are pre-
requisites to an intelligent study of these compilations. I shall not depart from my rule, nor
formulate my personal convictions ; but I must indicate sources of information not mentioned by
the Edinburgh editors, only remarking, that, while they have cited the learned and excellent Dr.
Neale, with others who advance untenable claims in some instances, I shall refer to writers of a
more moderate school, such as have taken a less narrow and more historic view of the whole
matter. By claiming too much, and by reading their own ideas back into the ancient exemplars,
many good and learned men have overdone their argument, and confused scriptural simplicity
with the artificial systems of post-Nicene ages. Earnest and worthy of respect as they are, I
must therefore prefer a class of writers who breatlie the spirit of the ante-Nicene Fathers as

better elucidating the primitive epoch and its principles, alike in doctrine and worship.

529

530 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

Hippolytus, in a few terse sentences, has pointed out the epoch of David, in its vast import,
as the dawning of Christianity itself.' More elaborately, a recent writer of great erudition has
expounded the same historic fact, and given us the pivot of Hebrew history on which turns the
whole system of that " goodly fellowship of prophets " who heralded the Sun of righteousness
as successive constellations rise before the day. The learned Dean Payne-Smith, more minutely
than Hippolytus, identifies Samuel, the master of David, as the great instrument of God in
shaping the institutions of Moses to be a prelude to the Advent ; in other words, transforming
a local and tribal religion into that of Catholicity. The value of the Dean's condensed and
luminous elaboration of this cardinal truth can hardly be overstated.

But, to go behind even the Dean's stand-point, we shall better comprehend the era of which,
under God, Samuel was the author, by noting the immense importance of that specific Mosaic
ordinance which not only made it possible, but which proves that an all-wise prolepsis governed
the whole law of Moses. We generally conceive of the Mosaic system as one of unlimited
hecatombs and burnt-offerings. On the contrary, it was a system restricting and limiting the
unsystematized primeval institution of sacrifice, which had done its work by passing into the
universal religions and rituals of Gentilism.^ When the seminal idea of expiation, atonement,
and the blood of innocence as a propitiation for guilt, was communicated to all the families of the
earth, the Mosaic institutions limited sacrifices for the faithful, and localized them with marvellous
significance. Previously the faithful everywhere had imitated the sacrifices of their fathers,
Noah and Abraham, who reared their altars everywhere, as Job also did, — wherever they dwelt or
sojourned. Now mark the first step towards a more spiritual worship, based, nevertheless, on the
fundamental principle of sacrifice. Moses ordains as follows : —

1. "When ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you, . . . then there
shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there ; thither shall ye bring
all that I command you, your burnt-offerings," etc.*

2. " Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest ; but in the
place which the Lord shall choose in one of the tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou
»halt do all that I command thee."*

3. " If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put His name there, be too far from thee " [i.e.,
for frequent sacrifices ; observe, nevertheless, the law as to the sanctity of blood /'« thy common use of meats, and
forbear to sacrifice, till the opportunity comes\ "only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt
take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose ; and thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the
blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God."^

4. " Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God, in the place which He shall
choose.''' *'

5. " Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates; . . . but at the place which the Lord
thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover"

Note, further, that all this provision and /rmsion was part of the great Messianic system,
which reached its crisis in the time of David, as prophetic of " the Son of David."

It was the office of Samuel to take the Mosaic ordinances just there, and to shape them for
the advent of the Lamb of God, for His sacrifice upon Calvary, and for the setting-up of His
universal kingdom.

The Institutions of Samuel, therefore, were in essence institutions for the Gospel-day, and
they were completed by the anointing of David as king, and by his prophetic mission to provide
the Psalter (of which more, by and by) ; then the Ark came out of curtains, and the Lord chose
and appointed the place of which Moses had spoken, — none other than the spot where Abraham
had rehearsed in type the Sacrifice and Resurrection of Christ, according as it was written : ^

' Vol. V. note 2, p. 170. * Dcut. xii. 34.

■^' Vol. vi. p. 542, Elucidation VI. s Deut. xii. 21, xiv. 34.

3 Deut. xii. 6. & Exod. xxiii. 17; Deut. xvi. x6.

' Gen. xxii. 14.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 531

" Jehovah-Jireh . . . in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." Thus, all sacrifice acceptable
to God was shown to have reference to the Paschal Lamb, who on that mount of the Lord
should be sacrificed, and rise again, as was accomplished in a figure aforetime.'

And next, the Psalmist commemorates the putting away of the migratory Tabernacle, and the
rest of the Ark of the Covenant in the place designed for the grand accomplishment of redemp-
tion (" the sure mercies of David "), as follows : ^ —

" He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim : but chose the

tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like high palaces,

like the earth which He hath established for ever."

• Thus, localized sacrifice was made to designate the spot where the one propitiatory sacrifice

should be offered, " for the sins of the whole world ; " and that spot in turn interpreted the great

canon of redemption,^ —

" Without shedding of blood is no remission : "

and all this, being accomplished in the Messiah, passed away for ever. The veil of the Temple
was rent when Jesus cried, " It is finished."

And now let us note the *' Institutions of Samuel." The localizing of the Temple-worship
made way for the clearer revelation of spiritual sacrifices : the Temple itself was to be supplied
with an expository liturgy. Moreover, a liturgical system, revolving about the central worship
of the Temple, was to be brought to every man's door by the establishment of the synagogue for
the villages of Israel.'* The synagogue-worship became, therefore, the education and preparation
of the faithful for the simple and spiritual worship of the new law. This our Lord Himself
expounded in the grand Catholicity of His words to the outcast Samaritans : —

" The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. . . . But the
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth," * etc.

We have seen that the hour promised by Malachi was supposed by the Ante-Nicene Fathers
to be here intended : " My name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense
shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering." ^

The student of this series must have observed that the primitive writers were universally
impressed with these principjes,' and they are essential to the study of the liturgies here intro-
duced into the series by the Edinburgh editors. For other purposes, expounding the prophetic
system, on a text of St, Peter, Dean Payne-Smith has incidentally elucidated these ideas so fully,
and with such originality, that I leave the student to consult his pages,^ with only the following
important hints to those who may fail to see them : —

1. We find the prophet Samuel instituting "Schools of the Prophets," out of which grew the
synagogue system supplying the Rabbinical education to Israel, and furnishing chiefs to the syna-
gogues. See Acts iii. 24 ; and compare i Sam. x. 5, xix. 20, and Chron. ix. 22.'

2. We find the institution of choral worship and the chanting of hymns — e.g., of Moses and
Miriam, and Hannah (Samuel's mother) — in full operation under Samuel.

3. We find David at this juncture inspired, as " the sweet singer of Israel," to supply the
Psalter, which in divers arrangements has continued among Christians to be the marrow of
public worship " in every place," and throughout the world.

4. The reading of the law and the prophets was now set in order ; and not only was the
Temple supplied with teachers, but also the villages in every tribe. '°

5. Thus the Christian Church was provided with a system of worship from the hour of its

* Heb. xi. 19. 6 Mai. i. ii.

2 Ps. Ixxviii. 67-69. 7 This series /ajiiw / but, e.g., vol. i. pp. 138, 482, and v. p. 290, note %.

3 Heb. ix. 22. * As above mentioned in his work on Prophecy. See p. 530.

♦ Ps. Ixxxiii. 12, Ixxiv. 6. 9 See also Cruden on the word " school " in his Concordance.
5 John iv. 21-23. *• Dean Smith, Prophecy, etc., p. 124.

532 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

institution,' the synaxis succeeding the synagogue ; the " ministration of the word " being enriched
by Gospels and Epistles, by psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and by " the prayers " (based
upon the Shemone esre)^ which now began to be composed and multiplied in the churches.
Touching " free prayer " as exemplified in the first ages, see St. Cyprian's Epistles more
especially : ^ " Let us pray for the lapsed," etc.

6. It is most significant, that, as St. Paul was not present at the institution of the Lord's Sup-
per, he was, nevertheless, " not behind the chiefest of the Apostles," even in this. He also " re-
ceived " the whole knowledge of the institution, and became, in so far, the author of an original
Gospel in his details of Christ's great oblation of Himself. Hereupon, he adds the sacrificial
expositions * of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and " delivered the ordinances " to every church 5
(Kara ra^tv), providing for order and decorum in divine offices.

This he seems to have done as " Liturge " and " Hierurge," or evangelical priest,^ " minister-
ing in sacrifice ? the Gospel of God," etc.

Compare, then, with the Scriptures, Justin Martyr's account of the early worship of Christians ;
and after consulting the (so-called ) " Clementine Liturgy," ^ the student will be qualified to form
an enlightened judgment upon the primitive and the interpolated elements of the following litur-
gies. For we must bear in mind that they are reflected from mss., not one of which has any
claim to represent the Ante-Nicene period. To purify them, therefore, by Scripture, and the
truly primitive testimonies of this series, is a task yet remaining to be accomplished, and one
which may well invoke the most conscientious and patient labours of the most learned in the land.

Here follows the Edinburgh Introductory Notice : —

The word Liturgy has a special meaning as applied to the following documents. It denotes
the service used in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Various liturgies have come down to us from antiquity ; and their age, authorship, and genu-
ineness have been matter of keen discussion. In our own country two writers on this subject
stand specially prominent : the Rev. William Palmer, M.A., who in his Origifies Liturgicce'^ gave a
dissertation on Primitive Liturgies ; and the Rev. J. Mason Neale, who devoted a large portion of
his life to liturgies, edited four of them in his Tetralogia Liturgica,^° five of them in his Liturgies
of St. Mark, St. James, St. Clement, St. Chrysostom, and St. Basil,^^ and discussed them in a
masterly manner in several works, but especially in his General Introduction to a History of the
Holy Eastern Church.^^

Ancient liturgies are generally divided into four families, — the Liturgy of the Jerusalem
Church, '3 adopted throughout the East ; the Alexandrian,"'' used in Egypt and the neighbouring
countries ; and the Roman and Galilean Liturgies. To these Neale has added a fifth, the Liturgy
of Persia or Edessa.

There is also a liturgy not included in any of these families — the Clementine. It seems never
to have been used in any public service. It forms part of the eighth book of the Apostolical
Constitutions.'^

' Acts 1. 4 (Greek), 14, ii. i, 42, iv. 24.

* Vol. V. Elucidation III. p. 559.
3 Ibid., Elucidation VI, p. 412.

■» See Field, Epistle to the Hebrews, London, Rivingtons, 1882.

5 I Cor. vii. 17, xi. 2, 25, 33, etc., xiv. 34-40. '

* See vol. V. p. 409.

^ Revised Version of 1881.

' See Apostolic Constitutions, p. 489, supra,

9 Oxford, 1832.
'° London, 1849.
" Second ed. London, 1868.
'^ London, 1850.
" [Or of St. James, so called.]
'< [Called the Liturgy of St. Mark.]

'5 [It is most valuable, and indicates the usages of a period near the age of Justin Martyr. It is typical of an original from which the
Liturgy of St. James itself is derived. It was probably used in Gaul, if not also in Rome.]

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 533

The age ascribed to these documents depends very much on the temperament and incUnation
of the inquirer. Those who have great reverence for them think that they must have had an
apostoHc origin, that they contain the apostoUc form, first handed down by tradition, and then
committed to writing, but they allow that there is a certain amount of interpolation and addition
of a date later than the Nicene Council. Such words as " consubstantial " and " mother of God "
bear indisputable witness to this. Others think that there is no real historical proof of their early
existence at all, — that they all belong to a late date, and bear evident marks of having been
written long after the age of the apostles.'

There can scarcely be a doubt that they were not committed to writing till a comparatively late
day. Those who think that their origin was apostolic allow this. " The period," says Palmer,^
" when liturgies were first committed to writing is uncertain, and has been the subject of some
controversy. Le Brun contends that no liturgy was written till the fifth century ; but his argu-
ments seem quite insufficient to prove this, and he is accordingly opposed by Muratori and other
eminent ritualists. It seems certain, on the other hand, that the liturgy of the Apostolical Con-
stitutions was written at the end of the third or beginning of the fourth century ; and there is no
reason to deny that others may have been written about the same time, or not long after."

Neale 3 sums up the results of his study in the following words : " I shall content myself there-
fore with assuming, (i) that these liturgies, though not composed by the Apostles whose names
they bear, were the legitimate development of their unwritten tradition respecting the Christian
Sacrifice ; the words, probably, in the most important parts, the general tenor in all portions, de-
scending unchanged from the apostolic authors. (2) That the Liturgy of St. James is of earlier
date, as to its main fabric, than a.d. 200 ; that the Clementine Office is at least not later than
260 ; that the Liturgy of St. Mark is nearly coeval with that of St. James ; while those of St. Basil
and St. Chrysostom are to be referred respectively to the saints by whom they purport to be com-
posed. In all these cases, several manifest insertions and additions do not alter the truth of the
general statement."

1. The Roman Liturgy. The first writer who is supposed to allude to a Roman Liturgy is
Innocentius, in the beginning of the fifth century ; but it may well be doubted whether his words
refer to any liturgy now extant.'* Some have attributed the authorship of the Roman Liturgy to
Leo the Great, who was made bishop of Rome in a.d. 45 1 ; some to Gelasius, who was made
bishop of Rome in a.d. 492 ; and some to Gregory the First, who was made bishop of Rome in
A.D. 590. Such being the opinions of those who have given most study to the subject, we have
not deemed it necessary to translate it, though Probst, in his Liturgie der drei ersten chfistlichen
yahrhunderte,^ probably out of affection for his own Church, has given it a place beside the
Clementine and those of St. James and St. Mark.

2. The Gallican has still less claim to antiquity. In fact, Daniel marks it among the spurious.^
Mabillon tries to prove that three ecclesiastics had a share in the authorship of this liturgy :
Musseus, presbyter of Marseilles, who died after the middle of the fifth century ; Sidonius, bishop
of Auvergne, who died a.d. 494 ; and Hilary, bishop of Poictiers, who died a.d. 366.' Palmer
strives to show with great ingenuity that it is not improbable that the Gallican Liturgy may have
been originally derived from St. John ; but his arguments are merely conjectures.

3. The Liturgy of St. James, the Liturgy of the Church of Jerusalem. Asseman, Zaccaria, Dr.
Brett, Palmer, Trollope, and Neale, think that the main structure of this liturgy is the work of St.

James, while they admit that it contains some evident interpolations. Leo Allatius, Bona, Bellar-

' [A fair view of their origin is to be found in Sir William Palmer's Origines Liturgicce, Oxford, 1832.]
^ Origines Liturgica, p. n.

3 General Introduction to the History 0/ the Holy Eastern Church, p. 319.

* [If Justin Martyr describes the liturgy used in Rome, when he liVed there under the Antooines, then it was nearly identical with the
* Clementine," and had reached them from the East. See vol. i. p. 183, this series.]
s Tubingen, 1870.

6 I'odoi. Codex Liturgicus, vol. iv. p. 35, note.
"> Palmer, vol. i. p. 144.

534 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

mine, Baronius, and some others, think that the whole is the genuine production of the apostle.
Cave, Fabricius, Dupin, Le Nourry, Basnage, Tillemont, and many others, think that it is entirely
destitute of any claim to an apostolic origin, and that it belongs to a much later age.'

" From the Liturgy of St. James," says Neale, " are derived, on the one hand, the forty Syro-
Jacobite offices : on the other, the Csesarean office, or Liturgy of St. Basil, with its offshoots ; that
of St. Chrysostom, and the Armeno-Gregorian." ^

There are only two manuscripts of the Greek Liturgy of St, James, — one of the tenth, the
other of the twelfth century, — with fragments of a third.^ The first edition appeared at Rome in
1526. In more recent times it has been edited by Rev. W. Trollope, M-A.,-* Neale in the two
works mentioned above, and Daniel in his Codex Liturgicus. Bishop Rattray edited the Anaph-
ora,"^ and attempted to separate the original from the interpolations, "though," says Neale, "the
supposed restoration is unsatisfactory enough." Bunsen, in his Analecta Ante-Niccena,^ has tried
to restore the Anaphora to the state in which it may have been in the fourth century, " as far as
was possible — guantum fieri potuit."

4. The Liturgy of St. Mark, the liturgy of the church of Alexandria. The same difference of
opinion exists in regard to the age and genuineness of this liturgy as we found existing in regard
to that of St. James, and the same scholars occupy the same relative position.

The offshoots from St. Mark's Liturgy are St. Basil, St. Cyril, and St. Gregory, and the Ethi-
opic Canon or Liturgy of All Apostles. In regard to the Liturgy of St. Cyril, Neale says that it is
" to all intents and purposes the same as that of St. Mark ; and it seems highly probable that the
Liturgy of St. Mark came, as we have it now, from the hands of St. Cyril, or, to use the expression
of Abu'lberkat, that Cyril ' perfected ' it." ^

There is only one manuscript of the Liturgy of St. Mark, probably belonging to the twelfth
century. The first edition appeared at Paris in 1583. The liturgy is given in Renaudot's Litur-
giarum Orientalium Collectio, tom. i. pp. 120-148,^ in Neale's two works, and in Daniel's Codex
Liturgicus.

5. The Liturgy of the Apostles Adseus and Maris. This liturgy has been brought promi-
nently forward by Neale, who says : " It is generally passed over as of very inferior importance,
and Renaudot alone seems to have been prepared to acknowledge in some degree its great antiq-
uity." 9 He thinks that it is " one of the earliest, and perhaps the very earliest, of the many
formularies of the Christian Sacrifice." '° It is one of the three Nestorian liturgies, the other
two being that of Nestorius and that of Theodore the interpreter.

A Latin translation of it is given in Renaudot's Coliectio,^^ which is reprinted in Daniel's
Codex Liturgicus. It is from this version that our translation is made. Several prayers and
hymns are indicated only by the initial words, and the rubrical directions are probably of a
much later date than the text.

The Liturgies are divided into two parts, — the part before " Lift we up our hearts," and the
part after this. The first is termed the Proanaphoral Part, the second the Anaphora.

Trollope describes what he conceives to be the form of worship in the early Church, thus : "
"The service of this day divided itself into two parts ; at the latter of which, called in the Eastern

• [Here the weight of authorities is clearly on this side.]

* General Introd., p. 317.

3 [Palmer gives proof of its currency at an early period in some details. O. S., vol. i. p. 42.]
« Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1848.
S London, 1744.

*> Vol. iii. [Grabe also attempted this.]

? General Introd., p. 324. [From the poverty of MS. authority, we can only form a judgment by comparison with the Oementine and
with other more fully represented originals.]

^ Kditio secunda correctior. Francofurti ad Moenum, 1847.
9 General Introd., p. 319.
'*> Ibid., p. 323.

" Tom. ii. pp. 578-592, ed. tec.
'* Introduction, p. 11.

INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 535

churches Liturgia tnysiica, and in the Western Missa fidelium, none but perfect and approved
Christians were allowed to be present. To the Missa Catechumenorum, or that part of the ser-
vice which preceded the prayers peculiar to communicants only, not only believers, but Gentiles,
were admitted, in the hope that some might possibly become converts to the faith. After the
Psalms and Lessons with which the service commenced, as on ordinary occasions, a section from
the Acts of the Apostles or the Epistles was read ; after which the deacon or presbyter read the
Gospel. Then followed an exhortation from one or more of the presbyters ; and the bishop or
president delivered a Homily or Sermon, explanatory, it should seem, of the Scripture which
had been read, and exciting the people to an imitation of the virtues therein exemplified. When
the preacher had concluded his discourse with a doxology in praise of the Holy Trinity, a
deacon made proclamation for all infidels and non-communicants to withdraw ; then came the dis-
missal of the several classes of catechumens, energumens, competents, and penitents, after the
prayers for each respectively, as on ordinary days ; and the Missa fidelium commenced. This
office consisted of two parts, essentially distinct : viz., of prayers for the faithful, and for man-
kind in general, introductory to the Oblation ; and the Anaphora or Oblation itself. The intro-
ductory part varied considerably in the formularies of different churches ; but in the Anaphora
all the existing liturgies so closely agree, in substance at least, if not in words, that they can
only be reasonably referred to the same common origin.' Their arrangement, indeed, is not
always the same ; but the following essential points belong, without exception, to them all : —
I. The Kiss of Peace ; 2. The form beginning, Z{/? up your hearts ; 3. The Hymn, Therefore with
angels, etc.; 4. Commemoration of the words of Institution; 5. The Oblation; 6. Prayer of
Consecration ; 7. Prayers for the Church on Earth ; 8. Prayers for the Dead ; 9. The Lord's
Prayer; 10. Breaking of the Bread ; 11. Communion."

Neale gives a more minute account of the different parts of the service. He divides the
Proanaphoral portion into parts in the following manner : ^ —

( I. The Preparatory Prayers.

I II. The Initial Hymn or Introit.

" I. Liturgy (or Missa) of the J III. The Little Entrance.

Catechumens. j IV. The Trisagion.

! V. The Lections.

L VI. The Prayers after the Gospel, and expulsion of the Catechumen.

r I. The Prayers for the Faithful.

„, . ,,,.,, ! II- The Great Entrance.

?^J°' uf r^ \ I"- The Offertory.

the Faithful.

IV. The Kiss of Peace.
V. The Creed."

The Anaphora he divides into four parts in the following manner : 3 —

( I. The Preface.

„ ^, j II. The Prayer of the Triumphal Hymn.

„ , . . „ \ HI- The Triumphal Hymn.

Euchanstic Prayer. tit ^ • ; ^ t j, t r

! IV. Commemoration of Our Lord s Life.

1^ V. Commemoration of Institution.

( VI. Words of Institution of the Bread.

j VII. Words of Institution of the Wine.
"The Consecration. \ VIII. Oblation of the Body and Blood.

' IX. Introductory Prayer for the Descent of the Holy Ghost.

X. Prayer for the Sanctification of Elements.

— . — — — — — — ■ ,

' [Hence the value of these liturgies is to be sought in the points of their agreement and their comparative concord with the QementincJ
^ General Introduction, p. 359.
3 Ibid., p. 463.

536 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

r XI. General Intercession for Quick and Dead.

"The great J XII. Prayer before the Lord's Prayer.

Intercessory Prayer. ; XIII. The Lord's Prayer.

V XIV. The Embolismus.

"The Communion.

f XV. The Prayer of Inclination.

XVI. The //o/jy Things for Holy Persons.
\ XVII. The Fraction.
1 XVIII. The Confession.
I XIX. The Communion.
v^ XX. The Antidoron : and Prayers of Thanksgiving."

The whole subject is discussed by Mr. Neale with extraordinary minuteness, fulness of detail,
and perfect mastery of his subject ; and to his work we refer those who wish to prosecute the
study of the subject."

GENERAL NOTE BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

I HAVE found a few less noted works most useful in my own studies, which began with Palmer's
Origines on their first publication, followed up by Brett, and then by Renaudot. The publications
of Drs. Neale and Littledale are sufficiently referred to elsewhere ; and I purposely omit the men-
tion of many purely Anglican authorities, as well as costly works from other European sources,
i. Freeman's Principles of Divine Service, etc.^ A work of incomparable utility to those who
would comprehend the Jewish ritual and its preparations for Christian worship,
-a^. Badger's Nestorians and their Rituals?

3. Warren's Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church ; ^ replete with information hitherto
inaccessible.

4. Scudamore's Notitia Eucharistica;^ Anglican, but full of general information.

5. Trevor's Catholic Doctrine of Sacrifice, etc. ;^ a candid and learned study of this subject,
and free from fanatical or visionary conceptions.

6. Hammond's Liturgies, etc. ,7 elsewhere spoken of.

-f-. Burbidge, Liturgies and Offices,^ of which I have only lately discovered the value.
-%. Field's Apostolic Liturgy and the Ep. to the Hebrews ;') open to some objections, but full
of valuable and suggestive information.

9. Pfafifius, Christ. Math. His invaluable Dissertatio de Oblatione, etc.'° A high Lutheran
authority of great learning.

10. Marriott's Testimony of the Catacombs ; ^"^ learned and instructive.

■ [A very fair reviewal of Neale's theoretical statements may be found in Hammond's Liturgies, Eastern and Western, Oxford, 1878.]

* Oxford, Parker, 1855.

5 London, Masters, 1852.

* Oxford, University Press, 1881.
S London, Rivingtons, 1872.

' Oxford, Parker, 1876.

7 Oxford, University Press, 1878. Also Ancient Liturgy of Antioch, Oxford, 1879.
« London, Bells, 1885.
9 London, Rivingtons, 1882.

'0 The Hague, Scheurler, 1715. Let me give the title of this rare book more fully, thus: 5". Irencti Fragmenta Anecdota, etc., qua
illustravit, denique Liturgia Grceca Jo. Ern. Grabii, et dissertatione de prajudiciis theologicis auxit Christoph. Matth. P/affius.
Of whom see Lardner, Credit., i. 17. See vol. i. p. 574, note 5.

" London, Hatchards, 1870. Valuable for its study of the " Autun Inscription."

EARLY LITURGIES.'

THE DIVINE LITURGY OF JAMES, THE HOLY APOSTLE AND BROTHER

OF THE LORD.

The Priest?

I. O Sovereign Lord our God, contemn me
not, defiled with a multitude of sins : for, behold,
I have come to this Thy divine and heavenly
mystery, not as being worthy ; but looking only
to Thy goodness, I direct my voice to Thee :
God be merciful to me, a sinner ; I have sinned
against Heaven, and before Thee, and am un-
worthy to come into the presence of this Thy
holy and spiritual table, upon which Thy only-
begotten Son, and our Lord Jesus Christ, is
mystically set forth as a sacrifice for me, a sin-
ner, and stained with every spot. Wherefore I
present to Thee this supplication and thanks-
giving, that Thy Spirit the Comforter may be
sent down upon me, strengthening and fitting
me for this service ; and count me worthy to
make known without condemnation the word,
delivered from Thee by me to the people, in
Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom Thou art
blessed, together with Thy all-holy, and good,
and quickening, and consubstantial ^ Spirit, now
and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.

Prayer of the standing beside the altar.

II. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and
to the Holy Spirit, the triune light of the God-
head, which is unity subsisting in trinity, divided,
yet indivisible : for the Trinity is the one God
Almighty, whose glory the heavens declare, and
the earth His dominion, and the sea His might,
and every sentient and intellectual creature at
all times proclaims His majesty : for all glory
becomes Him, and honour and might, greatness
and magnificence, now and ever, and to all
eternity. Amen.

' [This title is misleading, as we have no copies of the originals
of these liturgies, and they are encrusted with the ideas of later ages.
I shall distinguish between the interpolations legitimately made by
councils and the manifest corruptions which contradict Scripture and
incient authors. N.B.: I print the deacon's parts as such, j

- \A Lavabo: he prepares himself by the prayer for purification.]

- LHere is a token of theological but legitimate interpolation.]

Prayer of the incense at the beginning.^

III. Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, O Word of
God, who didst freely offer Thyself a blameless
sacrifice upon the cross to God even the Father,
the coal of double nature, that didst touch the
lips of the prophet with the tongs, and didst take
away his sins, touch also the hearts of us sinners,
and purify us from every stain, and present us
holy beside Thy holy altar, that we may offer
Thee a sacrifice of praise : and accept from us.
Thy unprofitable servants, this incense as an odour
of a sweet smell, and make fragrant the evil
odour of our soul and body, and purify us with
the sanctifying power of Thy all-holy Spirit : for
Thou alone art holy, who sanctifiest, and art
communicated to the faithful ; and glory becomes
Thee, with Thy eternal Father, and Thy all-holy,
and good, and quickening Spirit, now and ever,
and to all eternity. Amen.

Prayer of the commencement.

IV. O beneficent King eternal, and Creator of
the universe, receive Thy Church, coming unto
Thee through Thy Christ : fulfil to each what is
profitable ; lead all to perfection, and make us
perfectly worthy of the grace of Thy sanctifi-
cation, gathering us together within Thy holy
Church, which Thou hast purchased by the
precious blood of Thy only-begotten Son, and
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, with whom
Thou art blessed and glorified, together with
Thy all-holy, and good, and quickening Spirit,
now and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.

The Deacon.

v. Let us again pray to the Lord.

The Priest, prayer of the incense at the entrance
of the congregation.

God, who didst accept the gifts of Abel, the
sacrifice of Noah and of Abram, the incense of

^ [On the lawful and unlawful additions to these liturgies, see
Hickes' Christian Priesthood (Oxford, 1847), p. 151.]

537

538

EARLY LITURGIES.

Aaron and of Zacharias, accept also from the
hand of us sinners this incense for an odour of
a sweet smell, and for remission of our sins, and
those of all Thy people ; for blessed art Thou,
and glory becomes Thee, the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever.

The Deacon.
Sir, pronounce the blessing.'

The Priest prays.

Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, who through
exceeding goodness and love not to be restrained
wast crucified, and didst not refuse to be pierced
by the spear and nails ; who didst provide this
mysterious and awful service as an everlasting
memorial for us perpetually : bless Thy ministry
in Christ the God, and bless our entrance, and
fully complete the presentation of this our ser-
vice by Thy unutterable compassion, now and
ever, and to all eternity. Amen.

The responsive prayer from the Deacon.

VI. The Lord bless us, and make us worthy seraphi-
cally to offer gifts, and to sing the oft-sung hymn of the
divine Trisagion, by the fulness and exceeding abun-
dance of all the perfection of holiness, now and ever.

Then the Deacon begins to sing in the entrance.^

Thou who art the only-begotten Son and Word of
God, immortal ; who didst submit for our salvation to
become flesh of the holy God-mother,' and ever-virgin
Mary ; who didst immutably become man and wast cru-
cified, O Christ our God, and didst by Thy death tread
death under foot ; who art one of the Holy Trinity,
glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
save us.

The Priest says this prayer from the gates to the

altar.

VII. God Almighty, Lord great in glory, who
hast given to us an entrance into the Holy of
Holies, through the sojourning among men of
Thy only-begotten Son, our Lord, and God, and
Saviour Jesus Christ, we supplicate and invoke
Thy goodness, since we are fearful and trembling
when about to stand at Thy holy altar; send
forth upon us, O God, Thy good grace, and
sanctify our souls, and bodies, and spirits, and
turn our thoughts to piety, in order that with a
pure conscience we may bring unto Thee gifts,
offerings, and fruits for the remission of our
transgressions, and for the propitiation of all
Thy people, by the grace and mercies and
loving-kindness of Thy only-begotten Son, with
whom Thou art blessed to all eternity. Amen.

' This is addressed to the priest. Some translate, " O Lord,

bless us " [This latter is the more primitive idea.]
' [The Lesser Entrance with the Holy Gospels.]
3 \'X\\c Theotoce ox Deipara. Of course, added suter the Q>uncil

of Chalcedun.J

After the approach to the altar, the Priest says : —
vm. Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Priest.

The Lord bless us all, and sanctify us for the
entrance and celebration of the divine and pure
mysteries, giving rest to the blessed souls among
the good and just, by His grace and loving-
kindness, now and ever, and to all eternity.
Amen.

Then the Deacon says the bidding prayer.^

IX. In peace let us beseech the Lord.

For the peace that is from above, and for
God's love to man, and for the salvation of our
souls, let us beseech the Lord.

For the peace of the whole world, for the
unity of all the holy churches of God, let us
beseech the Lord.

For the remission of our sins, and forgiveness
of our transgressions, and for our deliverance
from all tribulation, wrath, danger, and distress,
and from the uprising of our enemies, let us
beseech the Lord.

Then the Singers sing the Trisagion Hymn.

Holy God, holy mighty, holy immortal, have mercy
upon us.

Then the Priest prays, bowing.

X. O compassionate and merciful, long-suffer-
ing, and very gracious and true God, look from
Thy prepared dwelling-place, and hear us Thy
suppliants, and deliver us from every temptation
of the devil and of man ; withhold not Thy aid
from us, nor bring on us chastisements too heavy
for our strength : for we are unable to overcome
what is opposed to us ; but Thou art able, Lord,
to save us from everything that is against us.
Save us, O God, from the difficulties of this
world, according to Thy goodness, in order that,
having drawn nigh with a pure conscience to
Thy holy altar, we may send up to Thee without
condemnation the blessed hymn Trisagion, to-
gether with the heavenly powers, and that, hav-
ing performed the service, well pleasing to Thee
and divine, we may be counted worthy of eternal
life.

{Aloud.)

Because Thou art holy. Lord our God, and
dwellest and abidest in holy places, we send up
the praise and the hymn Trisagion to Thee, the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now
and ever, and to all eternity.

* [See a specimen of the unlimited capacity for extension of these
prayers, m vol. v. p. 412, Elucidation VI., this series.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

539

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.

XI. Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Singers.
Alleluia.
■ Theti there are read in order ' the holy oracles
of the Old Testament, and of the prophets ; and
the incarnation of the Son of God is set forth,
and His sufferitigs and resurrection from the
dead, His ascension into heaven, and His second
appearing with glory ; and this takes place daily
in the holy and divine service.^

After the reading and instruction the Deacon

says : —

XII. Let us all say, Lord, be merciful.^

Lord Almighty, the God of our fathers ;

We beseech Thee, hear us.

For the peace which is from above, and for
the salvation of our souls ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For the peace of the whole world, and the
unity of all the holy churches of God ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For the salvation and help of all the Christ-
loving people ;

We beseech Thee, hear us.

For our deliverance from all tribulation, wrath,
danger, distress, from captivity, bitter death, and
from our iniquities ;

We beseech Thee, hear us.

For the people standing round, and waiting
for the rich and plenteous mercy that is from
Thee;

We beseech Thee, be merciful and gracious.

Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thine
inheritance.

Visit Thy world in mercy and compassion.

Exalt the horn of Christians by the power of
the precious and quickening cross.

We beseech Thee, most merciful Lord, hear us pray-
ing to Thee, and have mercy upon us.

The People {thrice).
Lord, have mercy upon us.

' fAt great length. Cf. Justin Martyr, vol. i. p. i86, this series.]

2 [The reading of the Scriptures in the common tongue is a very
precious part of the daily offices in the East.]

3 [Frequent A mens are to be supposed.]

The Deacon.

XIII. For the remission of our sins, and forgiveness
of our transgressions, and for our deliverance from all
tribulation, wrath, danger, and distress, let us beseech
the Lord.

Let us all entreat from the Lord, that we may
pass the whole day, perfect, holy, peaceful, and
without sin.

Let us entreat from the Lord a messenger of
peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls
and bodies.

Let us entreat from the Lord forgiveness and
remission of our sins and transgressions.

Let us entreat from the Lord the things which
are good and proper for our souls, and peace for
the world.

Let us entreat from the Lord, that we may
spend the remaining period of our life in peace
and health.

Let us entreat that the close of our lives may
be Christian, without pain and without shame,
and a good plea at the dread and awful judg-
ment-seat of Christ.

The Priest.

XIV. For Thou art the gospel and the light.
Saviour and keeper of our souls and bodies,
God, and Thy only-begotten Son, and Thy alL
holy Spirit, now and ever.

Amen.-*

The People.
The Priest.

God, who hast taught us Thy divine and sav-
ing oracles, enlighten the souls of us sinners for
the comprehension of the things which have
been before spoken, so that we may not only be
seen to be hearers of spiritual things, but also
doers of good deeds, striving after guileless
faith, blameless life, and pure conversation.

{Aloud.)

In Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom Thou
art blessed, together with Thy all-holy, good,
and quickening Spirit, now and always, and for
ever.

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.
XV. Peace be to all.

< [Here there is an evident interpolation, not Mariolatrous, yet
not primitive, as follows:] —

The Priest.

Commemorating with all the holy and just, our all-holy, pure,
most glorious Lady, the God-mother, and ever-virgin Marv, let us
devote ourselves, and one another, and our whole life, to Christ our
God.

Hie People.

To Thee, Lord.

540

EARLY LITURGIES.

The People.
And to Thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Let us bow our heads to the Lord.

The People.

To Thee, Lord.

The Priest prays, saying : —

O Sovereign giver of hfe, and provider of
good things, who didst give to mankind the
blessed hope of eternal life, our Lord Jesus
Christ, count us worthy in holiness, and perfect
this Thy divine service to the enjoyment of
future blessedness.

{Aloud.)

So that, guarded by Thy power at all times,
and led into the light of truth, we may send up
the praise and the thanksgiving to Thee, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and

ever.

Amen.

The People.

The Deacon.

XVI. Let none remain of the catechumens, none of
the unbaptized, none of those who are unable to join
with us in prayer. Look at one another.' The door.

All erect :^ let us again pray to the Lord.

The Priest says the prayer of incense.

Sovereign Almighty, King of Glory, who know-
est all things before their creation, manifest Thy-
self to us calling upon Thee at this holy hour,
and redeem us from the shame of our trans-
gressions ; cleanse our mind and our thoughts
from impure desires, from worldly deceit, from
all influence of the devil ; and accept from the
hands of us sinners this incense, as Thou didst
accept the offering of Abel, and Noah, and
Aaron, and Samuel, and of all Thy saints, guard-
ing us from everything evil, and preserving us
for continually pleasing, and worshipping, and
glorifying Thee, the Father, and Thy only-be-
gotten Son, and Thy all-holy Spirit, now and
always, and for ever.

And the Readers begin the Cherubic Hymn.

Let all mortal flesh be silent, and stand with
fear and trembling, and meditate nothing earthly
within itself: —

For the King of kings and Lord of lords,
Christ our God, comes forward to be sacrificed,

' [So as to be sure no enemy was among the faithful.]
-These clauses are elliptical. After "prayer" supply "re-
main; " the door is for " shut the door; " and "all erect," for " stand
all erect."

3 [Here begins the Liturgy of the Faithful.]

and to be given for food to the faithful ; and the
bands of angels go before Him with every power
and dominion, the many-eyed cherubim, and
the six-winged seraphim, covering their faces,
and crying aloud the hymn. Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia.

The Priest, britiging in the holy gifts, ■^ says this
prayer : —

XVII. O God, our God, who didst send forth
the heavenly bread, the food of the whole world,
our Lord Jesus Christ, to be a Saviour, and
Redeemer, and Benefactor, blessing and sancti-
fying us, do Thou Thyself bless this offering,
and graciously receive it to Thy altar above the
skies :

Remember in Thy goodness and love those
who have brought it, and those for whom they
have brought it, and preserve us without con-
demnation in the service of Thy divine mysteries :
for hallowed and glorified is Thy all-honoured
and great name. Father, and Son, and Holy
Spirit, now and ever, and to all eternity.

The Priest.
Peace be to all.

The Deacon.
Sir, pronounce the blessing.

The Priest.

Blessed be God, who blesseth and sanctifieth
us all at the presentation of the divine and pure
mysteries, and giveth rest to the blessed souls
among the holy and just, now and always, and
to all eternity.

The Deacon.

xviii. Let us attend in wisdom.

The Priest begins.

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth, and in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God : and the rest of the Creed.

Then he prays, bowing his neck.

XIX. God and Sovereign of all, make us, who
are unworthy, worthy of this hour, lover of
mankind ; that being pure from all deceit and all
hypocrisy, we may be united with one another
by the bond of peace and love, being confirmed
by the sanctification of Thy divine knowledge
through Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, with whom Thou art
blessed, together with Thy all-holy, and good,
and quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to all
eternity. Amen.

■♦ [Here is the Great Entrance, or bringing-in of the unconse-
crated elements. It has a symbolical meaning (Heb. i. 6) now
forgotten; and here, instead of the glorified Christ, no doubt th«
superstitious do adore bread and wine in ignorance.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

541

The Deacon.

XX. Let us stand well, let us stand reverently, let us
stand in the fear of God, and with compunction of heart.
In peace let us pray to the Lord.

The Priest.

For God of peace, mercy, love, compassion,
and loving-kindness art Thou, and Thine only-
begotten Son, and Thine all-holy Spirit, now and
ever.

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.
Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.

Let us salute one another with an holy kiss.' Let us
bow our heads to the Lord.

The Priest bows, saying this prayer : —

XXI. Only Lord and merciful God, on those
who are bowing their necks before Thy holy
altar, and seeking the spiritual gifts that come
from Thee, send forth Thy good grace ; and
bless us all with every spiritual blessing, that
cannot be taken from us, Thou, who dwellest
on high, and hast regard unto things that are
lowly.

{Aloud.)

For worthy of praise and worship and most
glorious is Thy all-holy name. Father and Son
and Holy 'Spirit, now and always, and to all
eternity.

The Deacon.

Sir, pronounce the blessing.

The Priest.

The Lord will bless us, and minister with us
all by His grace and loving-kindness.

And again.

The Lord will bless us, and make us worthy
to stand at His holy altar, at all times, now and
always, and for ever.

And again.

Blessed be God, who blesseth and sanctifieth
us all in our attendance upon, and service of.
His pure mysteries, now and always, and for
ever.

' [The sexes sat apart, the salutations of each confined to its
own; an apostolic feature, i Pet. v. 14 et alibi ; and see Clementine,
p. 486, supra. Note that beautiful tribute of Augustine to the purity
of primitive rites, " Honesta utrinsque sexus discretione," Civ. Dei,
lib. ii. cap. xxviii. p. 77, ed. Migne.] See vol. ii. 391 and iii. 686,
this series.]

The Deacon makes the Universal Litany.
XXII. In peace let us pray to the Lord.

The People.
O Lord, have mercy.

The Deacon.

Save us, have mercy upon us, pity and keep us, O
God, by Thy grace.

For the peace that is from above, and the
loving-kindness of God, and the salvation of our
souls j

Let us beseech the Lord.

For the peace of the whole world, and the
unity of all the holy churches of God ;
Let us beseech the Lord.

For those who bear fruit, and labour honour-
ably in the holy churches of God ; for those who
remember the poor, the widows and the orphans,
the strangers and needy ones ; and for those
who have requested us to mention them in our
prayers ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For those who are in old age and infirmity,
for the sick and suffering, and those who are
troubled by unclean spirits, for their speedy cure
from God and their salvation ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For those who are passing their days in vir-
ginity, and celibacy, and discipline, and for those
in holy matrimony ; and for the holy fathers and
brethren agonizing in mountains,^ and dens, and
caves of the earth ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For Christians sailing, travelling, living among
strangers, and for our brethren in captivity, in
exile, in prison, and in bitter slavery, their peace-
ful return ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For the remission of our sins, and forgiveness
of our transgressions, and for our deliverance
from all tribulation, wrath, danger, and con-
straint, and uprising against us of enemies ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For favourable weather, peaceful showers, be-
neficent dews, abundance of fruits, the perfect
close of a good season, and for the crown of the
year;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For our fathers and brethren present, and
praying with us in this holy hour, and at every
season, their zeal, labour, and earnestness ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

2 [A token of the Ante-Nicene age, though some think of the
later asceticism.]

542

EARLY LITURGIES.

For every Christian soul in tribulation and
distress, and needing the mercy and succour of
God ; for the return of the erring, the health
of the sick, the deliverance of the captives, the
rest of the fathers and brethren that have fallen
asleep aforetime ;

Let us beseech the Lord.

For the hearing and acceptance of our prayer
before God, and the sending down on us His
rich mercies and compassion.

Let us beseech the Lord.'

And for the offered, precious, heavenly, unut-
terable, pure, glorious, dread, awful, divine gifts,
and the salvation of the priest who stands by
and offers them ;

Let us offer supplication to God the Lord.

The People.
O Lord, have mercy.

{Thrice^

The?i the Priest makes the sign of the cross 07i the
gifts, ^ and, standing, speaks separately thus : —

XXIII. Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good-will among men, etc.

(Thrice.)

Lord, Thou wilt open my lips, and my mouth
shall show forth Thy praise.

(Thrice.)

Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise, O
Lord, that I may tell of Thy glory, of Thy
majesty, all the day.

(Thrice.)

Of the Father. Amen. And of the Son.
Amen. And of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Now
and always, and to all eternity. Amen.

And bo7ving to this side and to that,^ he says : —

XXIV. Magnify the Lord with me, and let us
exalt His name together.

And they answer, 5 owing : —

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.-*

T7ien the Priest, at great length : —

O Sovereign Lord, who hast visited us in com-
passion and mercies, and hast freely given to us.

' [Here an interpolation as follows: " Let us commemorate our
all-hoty, pure, most glorious, blessed lady, God-mother, and ever-
virgin Mary, and all the holy and just, that we may all find mercy
through their prayers and intercessions." On which, and like inter-
jiolations (the Clementine free from all this), see Scudamore, p. 381. J

* [Strongly censured by Hickes as a superstitious innovation (p.
•t3)> with other evils introduced after the pseudo-Council of Nice,
A.D. 787, of which this is the least.]

' [The Gospel and the Kpistle sides.]
■• [".\n- ■■

•\nd Mary said, My soul doth magnify," etc.]

Thy humble and sinful and unworthy servants,
boldness to stand at Thy holy altar, and to offer
to Thee this dread and bloodless sacrifice for
our sins, and for the errors of the people, look
upon me Thy unprofitable servant, and blot out
my transgressions for Thy compassion's sake ;
and purify my lips and heart from all pollution
of flesh and spirit ; and remove from me every
shameful and foolish thought, and fit me by the
power of Thy all-holy Spirit for this service ; and
receive me graciously by Thy goodness as I draw
nigh to Thy altar.

And be pleased, O Lord, that these gifts
brought by our hands may be acceptable, stoop-
ing to my weakness ; and cast me not away from
Thy presence, and abhor not my unworthiness ;
but pity me according to Thy great mercy, and
according to the multitude of Thy mercies pass
by my transgressions, that, having come before
Thy glory without condemnation, I may be
counted worthy of the protection of Thy only-
begotten Son, and of the illumination of Thy
all-holy Spirit, that I may not be as a slave of
sin cast out, but as Thy sen'ant may find grace
and mercy and forgiveness of sins before Thee,
both in the world that now is and in that which
is to come.

I beseech Thee, Almighty Sovereign, all-
powerful Lord, hear my prayer ; for Thou art
He who workest all in all, and we all seek in all
things the help and succour that come from Thee
and Thy only-begotten Son, and the good and
quickening and consubstantial Spirit, now and
ever.

XXV. O God, who through Thy great and un-
speakable love didst send forth Thy only-begot-
ten Son into the world, in order that He might
turn back the lost sheep, turn not away us sin-
ners, laying hold of Thee by this dread and
bloodless sacrifice ; for we trust not in our own
righteousness, but in Thy good mercy, by which
Thou purchasest our race.

We entreat and beseech Thy goodness that it
may not be for condemnation to Thy people
that this mystery for salvation has been adminis-
tered by us, but for remission of sins, for renewal
of souls and bodies, for the well-pleasing of Thee,
God and Father, in the mercy and love of Thy
only-begotten Son, with whom Thou art blessed,
together with Thy all-holy and good and quick-
ening Spirit, now and always, and for ever.5

XXVI. O Lord God, who didst create us, and
bring us into life, who hast shown to us ways to
salvation, who hast granted to us a revelation of
heavenly mysteries, and hast appointed us to this
ministry in the power of Thy all-holy Spirit,
grant, O Sovereign, that we may become servants
of Thy new testament, ministers of Thy pure

5 [In such places Amens are to be supposed.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

543

mysteries, and receive us as we draw near to
Thy holy altar, according to the greatness of Thy
mercy, that we may become worthy of offering
to Thee gifts and sacrifices for our transgressions
and for those of the people ; and grant to us, O
Lord, with all fear and a pure conscience to offer
to Thee this spiritual and bloodless sacrifice, and
graciously receiving it unto Thy holy and spirit-
ual altar above the skies for an odour of a sweet
spiritual smell, send down in answer on us the
grace of Thy all-holy Spirit.

And, O God, look upon us, and have regard
to this our reasonable service, and accept it, as
Thou didst accept the gifts of Abel, the sacrifices
of Noah, the priestly offices of Moses and Aaron,
the peace-offerings of Samuel, the repentance of
David, the incense of Zacharias. As Thou didst
accept from the hand of Thy aposdes this true
service, so accept also in Thy goodness from the
hands of us sinners these offered gifts ; and grant
that our offering may be acceptable, sanctified
by the Holy Spirit, as a propitiation ' for our
transgressions and the errors of the people ; and
for the rest of the souls ^ that have fallen asleep
aforetime ; that we also. Thy humble, sinful, and
unworthy servants, being counted worthy without
guile to serve Thy holy altar, may receive the
reward of faithful and wise stewards, and may
find grace and mercy in the terrible day of Thy
just and good retribution.

Prayer of the veil.^

XXVII. We thank Thee, O Lord our God, that
Thou hast given us boldness for the entrance of
Thy holy places, which Thou hast renewed to us
as a. new and' living way through the veil of the
flesh •* of Thy Christ. We therefore, being
counted worthy to enter into the place of the
tabernacle of Thy glory, and to be within the
veil, and to behold the Holy of Holies, cast our-
selves down before Thy goodness :

Lord, have mercy on us : since we are full of
fear and trembling, when about to stand at Thy
holy altar, and to offer this dread and bloodless
sacrifice for our own sins and for the errors of
the people : 5 send forth, O God, Thy good
grace, and sanctify our souls, and bodies, and
spirits ; and turn our thoughts to holiness, that
with a pure conscience we may bring to Thee a
peace-offering, the sacrifice of praise :

{Aloud.)

By the mercy and loving-kindness of Thy
cnly-begotten Son, with whom Thou art blessed.

together with Thy all-holy, and good, and quick-
ening Spirit, now and always :

Amen.

Peace be to all

The People.
The Priest.

The Deacon.

' [Propitiation, not expiation.]

2 See vol. V. pp. 222-223.]

3 [See Field on " the meaning of the veil," p. 294, where he dif-
fers from authors who make it a late innovation; also pp. 448, 449]

* [This great primitive thought has been frittered away by refer-
ences to the veil covering the oblation.]
5 IBasedonHeb. v. 1-3.]

Let US Stand reverently, let us stand in the fear of
God, and with contrition : let us attend to the holy
communion service, to offer peace to God.

The People.
The offering of peace, the sacrifice of praise.

The Priest. \_A veil is now withdrawn from the
oblation of bread and wine.']

And, uncovering the veils that darkly invest
in symbol^ this sacred ceremonial, do Thou re-
veal it clearly to us : fill our intellectual vision
with absolute light, and having purified our pov-
erty from every pollution of flesh and spirit, make
it worthy of this dread and awful approach : for
Thou art an all-merciful and gracious God, and
we send up the praise and the thanksgiving to
Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and
always, and for ever.

XXL

THE ANAPHORA.

TJien he says aloud : —

XXVIII. The love of the Lord and Father, the
grace of the Lord and Son, and the fellowship
and the gift of the Holy Spirit, be with us all.

The People.
And with thy spirit.

The Priest.
Let us lift up our minds and our hearts.'

The People.
It is becoming and right.

Then the Priest prays.

Verily it is becoming and right, proper and
due to praise Thee, to sing of Thee, to bless
Thee, to worship Thee, to glorify Thee, to give
Thee thanks. Maker of every creature visible and
invisible, the treasure of eternal good things, the
fountain of life and immortality, God and Lord
of all :

Whom the heavens of heavens praise, and all
the host of them ; the sun, and the moon, and
all the choir of the stars ; earth, sea, and all that
is in them ; Jerusalem, the heavenly assembly,

<> [See more on the veil in Field, p. 492]

7 [The Sursum corda, found in all liturgies.]

544

EARLY LITURGIES.

and church of the first-born that are written in
heaven ; spirits of just men and of prophets ;
sonls of martyrs and of apostles ; angels, arch-
angels, thrones, dominions, principalities, and
authorities, and dread powers ; and the many-
eyed cherubim, and the six-winged seraphim,
which cover their faces with two wings, their
feet with two, and with two they fly, crying one
to another with unresting lips, with unceasing
praises :

{Aloud.)

With loud voice singing the victorious hymn
of Thy majestic glory, crying aloud, praising,
shouting, and saying : — /

The People.

Holy, holy, holy, O Lord of Sabaoth, the
heaven and the earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest ; blessed is He that
Cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in
the highest.'

77^1? Priest, makijjg the sign of tlie cross ^ on the
gifts, says : —

XXIX. Holy art Thou, King of eternity, and
Lord and giver of all holiness ; holy also Thy
only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom Thou hast made all things ; holy also Thy
Holy Spirit, which searches all things, even Thy
deep things, O God : holy art Thou, almighty,
all-powerful, good, dread, merciful, most com-
passionate to Thy creatures ; who didst make
man from earth after Thine own image and like-
ness ; who didst give him the joy of paradise ;
and when he transgressed Thy commandment,
and fell away, didst not disregard nor desert
him, O Good One, but didst chasten him as a
merciful father, call him by the law, instruct
him by the prophets ; and afterwards didst send
forth Thine only-begotten Son Himself, our Lord
Jesus Christ, into the world, that He by His
coming might renew and restore Thy image ;

Who, having descended from heaven, and
])ecome flesh of the Holy Spirit and Virgin God-
mother ^ Mary, and having sojourned among
men, fulfilled the dispensation for the salvation
of our race ; and being about to endure His
voluntary and life-giving death by the cross. He
the sinless for us the sinners, in the night in
which He was betrayed, nay, rather delivered
Himself up for the life and salvation of the
world,

Then the Priest holds the bread in his hand, and
says : —

XXX. Having taken the bread in His holy and
pure and blameless and immortal hands, lifting

See Hammond's Lit. of Antioch, etc., p. 15, note 29.]
Compare the Clementine, p. 488; and note differences. |
A token of Post-Nicenc origm. Vol. v. p. 259, EluciJ. l.J

up His eyes to heaven, and showing it to Thee,
His God and Father, He gave thanks, and hal-
lowed, and brake, and gave it to us,"* His disciples
and apostles, saying : —

The Deacons say .• s —
For the remission of sins and life everlasting.

Then he says aloud : —

Take, eat : this is my body, broken for you,
and given for remission of sins.

The People.
Amen.

Tlien he takes the cup, and says : —

In like manner, after supper. He took the cup,
and having mixed wine and water, lifting up His
eyes to heaven, and presenting it to Thee, His
God and Father, He gave thanks, and hallowed
and blessed it, and filled it with the Holy Spirit,
and gave it to us His disciples, saying, Drink ye
all of it ; this is my blood of the new testament
shed for you and many, and distributed for the
remission of sins.

Amen.

The People.
The Priest.

This do in remembrance of me ; for as often
as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do
show forth the Lord's death, and confess His
resurrection, till He come.

The Deacons say : —
We believe and confess :

The People.

We show forth Thy death, O Lord, and confess
Thy resurrection.

The Priest {Oblation) .

XXXI. Remembering, therefore, His life-giving
sufi'erings, His saving cross. His death and His
burial, and resurrection from the dead on the
third day, and His ascension into heaven, and
sitting at the right hand of Thee, our God and
Father, and His second glorious and awful ap-
pearing, when He shall come with glory to judge
the quick and the dead, and render to every one
according to His works ; even we, sinful men,
offer unto Thee, 0 Lord, this dread and blood-
less sacrifice, praying that Thou wilt not deal
with us after our sins, nor reward us according
to our ini(iuities ;

But that Thou, according to Thy mercy and

< [Supposed by some to be a relic of the original formula as the
Apostles delivered it. On the synaxis, see vol. v. p. 259, Elucid. II.].

5 [These abrupt interjections of the deacon are made while th»
priest proceeds. Ihiii logically /<7//(7«'i what the uriesi subjoins. I

EARLY LITURGIES.

545

Thy unspeakable loving-kindness, passing by and
blotting out the handwriting against us Thy sup-
pliants, wilt grant to us Thy heavenly and eternal
gifts (which eye hath not seen, and ear hath not
heard, and which have not entered into the heart
of man') that thou hast prepared, O God, for
those who love Thee ; and reject not, O loving
Lord, the people for my sake, or for my sin's
sake :

Then he says, thrice : —

" For Thy people and Thy Church supplicate
Thee.

The People.

Have mercy on us, O Lord our God, Father
Almighty.

Again the Priest says {Invocation) : —

XXXII. Have mercy upon us, O God Almighty.

Have mercy upon us, O God our Saviour.

Have mercy upon us, O God, according to
Thy great mercy, and send forth on us, and on
these offered gifts, Thy all-holy Spirit.

Then, bowing his neck, he says : —

The sovereign and quickening Spirit, that sits
upon the throne with Thee, our God and Father,
and with Thy only-begotten Son, reigning with
Thee ; the consubstantial ^ and co-eternal ; that
spoke in the law and in the prophets, and in Thy
New Testament ; that descended in the form of
a dove on our Lord Jesus Christ at the river
Jordan, and abode on Him ; that descended on
Thy apostles in the form of tongues of fire in
the upper room of the holy and glorious Zion
on the day of Pentecost : this Thine all-holy
Spirit, send down, O Lord, upon us, and upon
these offered holy gifts ;

And rising up, he says aloztd : —

That coming, by His holy and good and glo-
rious appearing, He may sanctify this bread, and
make it the holy body of Thy Christ.^

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.

And this cup the precious blood of Thy
Christ.

The People.
Amen.

TTie Priest by himself standing.

xxxm. That they may be to all that partake
of them for remission of sins, and for life ever-

' To conceive. [A feeble interpolation in the Edinburgh edition.]

2 [Post-Nicene, but legitimate.]

3 [Understood mystically and spiritually down to a late period,
even in the West. See Ratramni De Corporc et Sanguine, Oxon.,
1838. Note the inference as to time of sanctification.J

lasting, for the sanctification of souls and of
bodies, for bearing the fruit of good works, for
the stablishing of Thy Holy Catholic Church,
which Thou hast founded on the Rock of Faith,-*
that the gates of hell may not prevail against it ;
delivering it from all heresy and scandals, and
from those who work iniquity, keeping it till the
fulness of the time.

And having boived, he says : —

XXXIV. We present them to Thee also, O
Lord, for the holy places, which Thou hast glo-
rified by the divine appearing of Thy Christ,
and by the visitation of Thy all-holy Spirit ;
especially for the glorious Zion, the mother of
all the churches ; 5 and for Thy Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church throughout the world :
even now, O Lord, bestow upon her the rich
gifts of Thy all-holy Spirit.

Remember also, O Lord, our holy fathers and
brethren in it, and the bishops in all the world,
who rightly divide the word of Thy truth.

Remember also, O Lord, every city and
country, and those of the true faith dwelling in
them, their peace and security.

Remember, O Lord, Christians sailing, trav-
elling, sojourning in strange lands ; our fathers
and brethren, who are in bonds, prison, cap-
tivity, and exile ; who are in mines, and under
torture, and in bitter slavery.

Remember, O Lord, the sick and afflicted,
and those troubled by unclean spirits, their
speedy healing from Thee, O God, and their
salvation.

Remember, O Lord, every Christian soul in
affliction and distress, needing Thy mercy and
succour, O God ; and the return of the erring.

Remember, O Lord, our fathers and brethren,
toiling hard, and ministering unto us, for Thy
holy name's sake.

Remember all, O Lord, for good : have mercy
on all, O Lord, be reconciled to us all : give
peace to the multitudes of Thy people : put
away scandals : bring wars to an end : make the
uprising of heresies to cease : grant Thy peace
and Thy love to us, O God our Saviour, the
hope of all the ends of the earth.

Remember, O Lord, favourable weather, peace-
ful showers, beneficent dews, abundance of fruits,
and to crown the year with Thy goodness ; for
the eyes of all wait on Thee, and Thou givest
their food in due season : thou openest Thy
hand, and fillest every living thing with glad-
ness.

Remember, O Lord, those who bear fruit, and
labour honourably in the holy ^ of Thy Church ;

* [See vol. V. Elucidation VII. p. 561.]

s [An honorary title conceded to Jerusalem by the Second Gen ■
eral Council: tjj? Si yt fj.rjTpo'; airafruiv Tutv eKKXrjai.uii'.l

^ Services. [Otherwise, " who do good works in Thy holy
churches."]

546

EARLY LITURGIES.

and those who forget not the poor, the widows,
the orphans, the strangers, and the needy ; and
all who have desired us to remember them in
our prayers.

Moreover, O Lord, be pleased to remember
those who have brought these offerings this day
to Thy holy altar, and for what each one has
brought them or with what mind, and those per-
sons who have just now been mentioned to Thee.

Remember, O Lord, according to the multi-
tude of Thy mercy and compassion, me also,
Thy humble and unprofitable servant ; and the
deacons who surround Thy holy altar, and gra- 1
ciously give them a blameless life, keep their
ministry undefiled, and purchase for them a good
degree, that we may find mercy and grace, with
all the saints that have been well pleasing to
Thee since the world began, to generation and
generation — grandsires, sires, patriarchs, proph-
ets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, teachers, saints,
and every just spirit made perfect in the faith of
Thy Christ.

XXXV. ' Hail, Mary, highly favoured : the Lord
is with Thee ; blessed art thou among women,
and blessed the fruit of thy womb, for thou didst
bear the Saviour of our souls.'

The Deacons.

XXXVI. Remember us, O Lord God.

The Priest, bowing, says : —

Remember, O Lord God, the spirits and all
flesh, of whom we have made mention, and of
whom we have not made mention, who are of the
true faith, from righteous Abel unto this day :
unto them do Thou give rest there in the land
of the living, in Thy kingdom, in the joy of
paradise, in the bosom of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, our holy fathers ; whence pain,
and grief, and lamentation have fled : there the
light of Thy countenance looks upon them, and
enlightens them for ever.^

Make the end of our lives Christian, accept-

' [The Angelical Salutation is here an evident inteiTpolation, mar-
ring the grand unities of the liturgy.]
2 [I place in a note what follows:] —

Then the Priest says aloud : —

Hail in the highest, our all-holy, pure, most blessed, glorious
Lady, the God-mother and ever-virgin Mary.

The Singers.

Verily it is becoming to bless Thee, the God-bearing, the ever-
blessed, and all-blameless, and mother of our God, more honourable
than the cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the ser-
aphim: thee, who didst bear with purity God the Word, thee the
true God-mother, we magnify.

And a'^^ain they sing: —

In thee, highly favoured, all creation rejoices, the host of angels,
and the race of men; hallowed temple, and spiritual paradise, pride
of virgins, of whom God was made flesh and our God, who was before
eternity, became a little child: for He made Thy womb His throne,
and Thy bowels more capacioiisXhctn the heavens. In thee, O highly
favoured one, all creation rejoices: glory unto ihee.

3 [A prayer entirely corresponding with the primitive ideas. See
vol. VI. p. 488, and elucidation, p. 541.]

able, blameless, and peaceful, O Lord, gathering
us together, O Lord, under the feet of Thine
elect, when Thou wilt, and as Thou wilt ; only
without shame and transgressions, through Thy
only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour
Jesus Christ : for He is the only sinless one who
hath appeared on the earth.

The Deacon.

And let us pray : —

For the peace and establishing of the whole
world, and of the holy churches of God, and for
the purposes for which each one made his offer-
ing, or according to the desire he has : and for
the people standing round, and for all men, and
all women :

The People.

And for all men and all women. {Amen.')

The Priest says aloud : —

Wherefore, both to them and to us, do Thou
in Thy goodness and love :

The People.

Forgive, remit, pardon, O God, our trans-
gressions, voluntary and involuntary : in deed
and in word : in knowledge and in ignorance :
by night and by day : in thought and intent : in
Thy goodness and love, forgive us them all.

The Priest.

Through the grace and compassion and love
of Thy only-begotten Son, with whom Thou art
blessed and glorified, together with the all-holy,
and good, and quickening Spirit, now and ever,
and to all eternity.

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.
XXXVII. Peace be to all :

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.

Again, and continually, in peace let us pray to the
Lord.

For the gifts to the Lord God presented and
sanctified, precious, heavenly, unspeakable, pure,
glorious, dread, awful, divine ;

Let us pray.

That the Lord our God, having graciously re-
ceived them to His altar that is holy and above
the heavens, rational and spiritual, for the odour
of a sweet spiritual savour, may send down in
answer upon us the divine grace and the gift of
the all-holy Spirit ;

Let us pray.

EARLY LITURGIES.

547

Having prayed for the unity of the faith, and
the communion of His all-holy and adorable
Spirit ;

Let us commend ourselves and one another, and our
whole life, to Christ our God :

Amen.

The People.

The Priest prays.

XXXVIII. God and Father of our Lord and
God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the glorious Lord,
the blessed essence, the bounteous goodness,
the God and Sovereign of all, who art blessed
to all eternity, who sittest upon the cherubim,
and art glorified by the seraphim, before whom
stand thousand thousands and ten thousand
times ten thousand hosts of angels and arch-
angels : Thou hast accepted the gifts, offerings,
and fruits brought unto Thee as an odour of a
sweet spiritual smell, and hast been pleased to
sanctify them, and make them perfect, O good
One, by the grace of Thy Christ, and by the
presence of Thy all-holy Spirit.

Sanctify also, O Lord, our souls, and bodies,
and spirits, and touch our understandings, and
search our consciences, and cast out from us
every evil imagination, every impure feeling,
every base desire, every unbecoming thought,
all envy, and vanity, and hypocrisy, all lying, all
deceit, every worldly affection, all covetousness,
all vainglory, all indifference, all vice, all passion,
all anger, all malice, all blasphemy, every mo-
tion of the flesh and spirit that is not in accord-
ance with Thy holy will :

{Aloud.)

And count us worthy, O loving Lord, with
boldness, without condemnation, in a pure
heart, with a contrite spirit, with unshamed
face, with sanctified lips, to dare to call upon
Thee, the holy God, Father in heaven, and to
say,

The People.

Our Father, which art in heaven : hallowed be
Thy name ; and so on to the doxology.

The Priest, bowing, says {the Embolism ') : —

And lead us not into temptation. Lord, Lord
of Hosts, who knowest our frailty, but deliver
us from the evil one and his works, and from all
his malice and craftiness, for the sake of Thy
holy name, which has been placed upon our
humility :

{Aloud.)

For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the
glory. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and
for ever.

' [In all early liturgies always following the Lord's Prayer, to
accentuate the petition against the evil one. It hurls back his " fiery
darts," as it were ; whence this name.]

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.
XXXIX, Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Let us bow our heads to the Lord.

The People.
To Thee, O Lord.

The Priest prays, speaking thus : —

To Thee, O Lord, we Thy servants have
bowed our heads before Thy holy altar, waiting
for the rich mercies that are from Thee.

Send forth upon us, O Lord, Thy plenteous
grace and Thy blessing ; and sanctify our souls,
bodies, and spirits, that we may become worthy
communicants and partakers of Thy holy mys-
teries, to the forgiveness of sins and life everlast-
ing :

{Aloud.)

For adorable and glorified art Thou, our God,
and Thy only-begotten Son, and Thy all-holy
Spirit, now and ever.

Amen.

The People.

TJie Priest says aloud : —

And the grace and the mercies of the holy
and consubstantial, and uncreated, and adorable
Trinity, shall be with us all-
TV/^ People.

And with thy spirit.

The Deacon.
In the fear of God, let us attend.

The Priest says secretly : ^ —

O holy Lord, that abidest in holy places, sanc-
tify us by the word of Thy grace, and by the
visitation of Thy all-holy Spirit : for Thou, O
Lord, hast said. Ye will be holy, for I am holy.
O Lord our God, incomprehensible Word of
God, one in substance with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, co-eternal and indivisible, accept the
pure hymn, in Thy holy and bloodless sacrifices ;
with the cherubim, and seraphim, and from rae,
a sinful man, crying and saying : —

He takes up the gifts and saith aloud : —
XL. The holy things unto holy.

2 [Duplicated, with other parts, in the Greek copies ]

3 [The taking-up of the gifts is here erroneously introduced in tl- 1
Edinburgh edition.]

548

EARLY LITURGIES.

The People.

One only is holy, one Lord Jesus Christ, to
the glory of God the Father, to whom be glory
to all eternity.

Tlie Deacon.

XLi. For the remission of our sins, and the
propitiation of our souls, and for every soul in
tribulation and distress, needing the mercy and
succour of God, and for the return of the erring,
the healing of the sick, the deliverance of the
captives, the rest of our fathers and brethren,
who have fallen asleep aforetime ;

Let us all say fervently, Lord, have mercy :

The People {twelve times).
Lord, have mercy."

Then the Priest breaks the bread, and holds the
half in his right hand, and the half i?i his
left, and dips that iti his right hatid in the
chalice, saying : —

The union of the all-holy body and precious
blood of our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus
Christ.

Then he makes the sign of the C7-oss on that in
his left hand: then with that ivhich has been
signed the other half : then fort/nvith he begins
to divide, and before all to give to each chalice
a single piece, saying : —

It has been made one, and sanctified, and
perfected, in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever.

And when he makes the sign of the cross on the
bread, he says : —

Behold the Lamb of God, the Son of the
Father, that taketh away the sin of the world,
sacrificed for the life and salvation of the world.

And when he gives a single piece to each chalice,

he says : —

A holy portion of Christ, full of grace and
truth, of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit, to
whom be the glory and the power to all eternity.

Then he begins to divide, and to say : —

XLii. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not
want. In green pastures, and so on.^

Then,
I will bless the Lord at all times, and so on.^

Then,
I will extol Thee, my God, O King, and so on.*

' [The publican's prayer, adapted to the Christian worship: iAao--
fl/jTi (i,ot, is the plea for mercy through propitiation. Luke xviii.

»3-l

* Ps. xxiii.

3 Ps. xxxiv.

* Ps. cxlv.

Then,
O praise the Lord, all ye nations, and so onfi

The Deacon.
Sir, pronounce the blessing.

The Priest.

The Lord will bless us, and keep us without
condemnation for the communion of His pure
gifts, now and always, and for ever.

And when they have filled^ the Deacon says : —
Sir, pronounce the blessing.

The Priest says : —

The Lord will bless us, and make us worthy
with the pure touchings of our fingers to take
the live coal, and place it upon the mouths
of the faithful for the purification and renewal of
their souls and bodies, now and always.

Then,

O taste and see that the^Lord is good ; who is
parted and not divided ; distributed to the faith-
ful and not expended ; for the remission of sins,
and the life everlasting ; now and always, and for
ever.

The Deacon.

In the peace of Christ, let us sing :

The Singers.
O taste and see that the Lord is good.

The Priest says the prayer before the co7nmu7iion.

O Lord our God, the heavenly bread, the life
of the universe, I have sinned against Heaven,
and before Thee, and am not worthy to partake
of Thy pure mysteries ; but as a merciful God,
make me worthy by Thy grace, without con-
demnation to partake of Thy holy body and
precious blood, for the remission of sins, and life
everlasting.^

XLiii. Then he dis tributes to the clergy ; and
when the deacons take the disks * atid the chal-
ices for distributioti to the people, the Deacon,
who takes the first disk, says : —

.Sir, pronounce the blessing.

The Priest replies : —

Glory to God who has sanctified and is sanc-
tifying us all.

The Deacofi says : —

Be Thou exalted, O God, over the heavens,
and Thy glory over all the earth, and Thy king-
dom endureth to all eternity.^

S Ps. cxvii.

' fHere the chalice is filled for participation.]

^ere the presbyter receives.]
patens.

9 I Here are difficulties explained by Drs. Neale and Littledale in
their Translation, etc., p. 6o.J

EARLY LITURGIES.

549

And when the Deacon is about to put it on the

side- tab le,^ the Priest says : —

Blessed be the name of the Lord our God for
ever.

The Deacon.
In the fear of God, and in faith and love, draw nigh.

The People.

Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the
Lord.^

And again, wheti he sets down the disk upon the
side- table, he says : —
Sir, pronounce the blessing.

The Priest.

Save Thy people, O God, and bless Thine in-
heritance.

The Priest again. ^

Glory to our God, who has sanctified us all.

And when he has put^he chalice back on the holy
table, the Priest says : —

Blessed be the name of the Lord to all eternity.

The Deacons and the People say: —

Fill our mouths with Thy praise, O Lord, and
fill our lips with joy, that we may sing of Thy
glory, of Thy greatness all the day.

And again : —

We render thanks to Thee, Christ our God,
that Thou hast made us worthy to partake of
Thy body and blood, for the remission of sins,
and for life everlasting. Do Thou, in Thy good-
ness and love, keep us, we pray Thee, without
condemnation.

The prayer of incense at the last entrance.

XLiv. We render thanks to Thee, the Saviour
and God of all, for all the good things Thou hast
given us, and for the participation of Thy holy
and pure mysteries, and we offer to Thee this
incense, praying : Keep us under the shadow of
Thy wings, and count us worthy till our last
breath to partake of Thy holy rites for the sancti-
fication of our souls and bodies, for the inherit-
ance of the kingdom of heaven : for Thou, O
God, art our sanctification, and we send up
praise and thanksgiving to Thee, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.

The Deacon begins in the entrance.

Glory to Thee, glory to Thee, glory to Thee,
O Christ the King, only-begotten Word of the
Father, that Thou hast counted us, Thy sinful
and unworthy servants, worthy to enjoy thy pure

The side-table or credence.]

Here the laity are communicated.]

Compare Neale'j Tetralo^ia Liturgica, p. 192.]

mysteries for the remission of sins, and for life
everlasting : glory to Thee."*

And when he has made the entrance, the Deacon
begins to speak thus : —

XLV. Again and again, and at all times, in peace, let
us beseech the Lord.

That the participation of His Holy rites may
be to us for the turning away from every wicked
thing, for our support on the journey to life ever-
lasting, for the communion and gift of the Holy
Spirit ;

Let us pray.

The Priest prays.

Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most glori-
ous, blessed Lady, the God-Mother and Ever-
Virgin Mary,5 and all the saints that have been
well-pleasing to Thee since the world began, let
us devote ourselves, and one another, and our
whole life, to Christ our God :

The People.
To Thee, O Lord.

The Priest.
XLVi. O God, who through Thy great and un-
speakable love didst condescend to the weakness
of Thy servants, and hast counted us worthy to
partake of this heavenly table, condemn not us
sinners for the participation of Thy pure mys-
teries ; but keep us, O good One, in the sancti-
fication of Thy Holy Spirit, that being made
holy, we may find jjart and inheritance with all
Thy saints that have been well-pleasing to Thee
since the world began, in the light of Thy counte-
nance, through the mercy of Thy only-begotten
Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ,
with whom Thou art blessed, together with Thy
all-holy, and good, and quickening Spirit : for
blessed and glorified is Thy all-precious and
glorious name. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now
and ever, and to all eternity.

The People.
TJie Priest.

Amen.

Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
XLVii. Let us bow our heads to the Lord.

The Priest.

O God, great and marvellous, look upon Thy
servants, for we have bowed our heads to Thee.
Stretch forth Thy hand, strong and full of bless-

< [Here are confusions: but see Neale and Littledale, p. 62,
note 20.]

s [Interpolated, but not Mariolatrous: \iiii Theotoce\s, Qomnxcvao
rated, not adored.]

550

EARLY LITURGIES.

ings, and bless Thy people. Keep Thine inherit-
ance, that always and at all times we may glorify
Thee, our only living and true God, the holy and
consubstantial ' Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, now and ever, and to all eternity.

{Aloud.)

For unto Thee is becoming and is due praise
from us all, and honour, and adoration, and
thanksgiving, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now
and ever.

The Deacon.

XLViii. In the peace of Christ let us sing:

And again he says : —
In the peace of Christ let us go on :

The People.

In the name of the Lord. Sir, pronounce the
blessing.^

Dismission prayer, spoken by the Deacon.

Going on from glory to glory, we praise Thee,
the Saviour of our souls. Glory to Father, and
Son, and Holy Spirit now and ever, and to all
eternity. We praise Thee, the Saviour of our
souls.

The Priest says a prayer from the altar to the
sacristy.

XLix. Going on from strength to strength, and
having fulfilled all the divine service in Thy
temple, even now we beseech Thee, O Lord our
God, make us worthy of perfect loving-kindness ;
make straight our path : root us in Thy fear, and
make us worthy of the heavenly kingdom, in
Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom Thou art
blessed, together with Thy all-holy, and good,
and quickening Spirit, now and always, and for

ever.

The Deacon.

L. Again and again, and at all times, in peace let us
beseech the Lord.

Prayer said in the sacristy after the distnissal.

Thou hast given unto us, O Lord, sanctifica-
tion in the communion of the all-holy body and
precious blood of Thy only-begotten Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ ; give unto us also the grace

' [A legitimate addition, according to the primitive laws.]
a [A

[Whick must here be given.]

of Thy good Spirit, and keep us blameless in the
faith, lead us unto perfect adoption and redemp-
tion, and to the coming joys of eternity ; for
Thou art our sanctification and light, O God,
and Thy only-begotten Son, and Thy all-holy
Spirit, now and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.

The Deacon.
In the peace of Christ let us keep watch.

Tlie Priest.

Blessed is God, who blesseth and sanctifieth
through the communion of the holy, and quick-
ening, and pure mysteries, now and ever, and to
all eternity. Amen.

Then the prayer of propitiation.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
Lamb and Shepherd, who takest away the sin of
the world, who didst freely forgive their debt to
the two debtors, and gavest remission of her sins
to the woman that was a sinner, who gavest heal-
ing to the paralytic, with the remission of his
sins ; forgive, remit, pardon, O God, our offences,
voluntary and involuntary, in knowledge and in
ignorance, by transgression and by disobedience,
which Thy all-holy Spirit knows better than Thy
servants do :

And if men, carnal and dwelling in this world,
have in aught erred from Thy commandments,
either moved by the devil, whether in word or
in deed, or if they have come under a curse,
or by reason of some special vow, I entreat and
beseech Thy unspeakable loving-kindness, that
they may be set free from their word, and re-
leased from the oath and the special vow, accord-
ing to Thy goodness.

Verily, O Sovereign Lord, hear my supplication
on behalf of Thy servants, and do Thou pass by
all their errors, remembering them no more ;
forgive them every transgression, voluntary and
involuntary ; deliver them from everlasting pun-
ishment : for Thou art He that hast commanded
us, saying, Whatsoever things ye bind upon
earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever
things ye loose upon earth, shall be loosed in
heaven : for thou art our God, a God able to
pity, and to save and to forgive sins ; and glory
is due unto Thee, with the eternal Father, and
the quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to all
eternity. Amen.

EARLY LITURGIES.

551

THE DIVINE LITURGY OF THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST MARK,'

THE DISCIPLE OF THE HOLY PETER.=»

The Priest.
I, Peace be to all.

The People.

And to thy spirit.

Pray.

The Deacon.
The People.

II.

The Priest.
Peace be to all.

? r'eople.
Lord, have mercy ; Lord, have mercy ; Lord,
have mercy.

The Priest prays secretly.'^
We give Thee thanks, yea, more than thanks,
O Lord our God, the Father of our Lord and
God and Saviour Jesus Christ, for all Thy good-
ness at all times and in all places, because Thou
hast shielded, rescued, helped, and guided us
all the days of our lives, and brought us unto
this hour, permitting us again to stand before
Thee in Thy holy place, that we may implore for-
giveness of our sins and propitiation to all Thy
people. We pray and beseech Thee, merciful
God, to grant in Thy goodness that we may spend
this holy day * and all the time of our lives with-
out sin, in fulness of joy, health, safety, holiness,
and reverence of Thee. But all envy, all fear,
all temptation, all the influence of Satan, all the
snares of wicked men, do Thou, O Lord, drive
away from us, and from Thy Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church. Bestow upon us, O Lord,
what is good and meet. Whatever sin we commit
in thought, word, or deed, do Thou in Thy good-
ness and mercy be pleased to pardon. Leave
us not, O Lord, while we hope in Thee ; nor
lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one and from his works, through the grace,
mercy, and love of Thine only- begotten Son.

(/;? a loud voice.)

Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, in Thy most holy, good, and
life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for ever-
more.

The People.

Amen.

' [The only authority for this valuable relic is a single codex of
the twelfth century, i.e., the Codex Rossanensi's, found at Rossano,
in Calabria. It was deposited in the Basilian monastery at Rome,
and first published a.d. 1583, at Paris. See Hammond, pp. xlv., li.]

2 [Elucidation I.]

3 i.e., fivariKw^ = arcane. — Hederic]

* [This implies that the Eucharist was not (originally) celebrated
everyday, as a rule. See Justin Martyr, vol. i. note i,p. 186.]

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Pray for the king.*

The People.

Lord, have mercy ; ^ Lord, have mercy ; Lord,
have mercy.

The Priest prays.

O God, Sovereign Lord, the Father of our
Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, we pray
and beseech Thee to grant that our king may
enjoy peace, and be just and brave. Subdue
under him, O God, all his adversaries and ene-
mies. Gird on thy shield and armour, and rise
to his aid. Give him the victory, O God, that
his heart may be set on peace and the praise of
Thy holy name, that we too ^ in his peaceful
reign ^ may spend a calm and tranquil life in all
reverence and godly fear, through the grace,
mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son :

{In a loud voice.)

Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, with Thy most holy, good, and
life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for ever-
more.

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.

III. Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Pray for the papas ' and the bishop.

The People.

Lord, have mercy ; Lord, have mercy ; Lord,
have mercy.

5 Rather " for the emperor," says Renaudot; and the word /SacrtA-
eus will stand this meaning.

* [The ((ciipie ^Aerjcroi') Kyrie Eleeson.]

' [According to i Tim. ii. 2.]

^ tSuits the first years of Diocletian.]

9 The Patriarch of Alexandria is meant. The word »rojra<; was
used at first to designate all bishops; but its application gradually
became more restricted, and so here the Patriarch of Alexandria is
called iraTras, as being superior to the bishops 0/ his patriarchate.
[See vol. V. p. 154, and vol. vi., Introd.j

552

EARLY LITURGIES.

The Priest.

O Sovereign and Almighty God, the Father
of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, we
pray and beseech Thee to defend in Thy good
mercy our most holy and blessed high priest our
Father in God A, and our most reverend Bishop
A. Preserve them for us through many years
in peace, while they according to Thy holy and
blessed will fulfil the sacred priesthood com-
mitted to their care, and dispense aright the
word of truth ; with all the orthodox bishops,
elders, deacons, sub-deacons, readers, singers,
and laity, with the entire body of the Holy and
only Catholic Church. Graciously bestow upon
them peace, health, and salvation. The prayers
they offer up for us, and we for them, do Thou,
O Lord, receive at Thy holy, heavenly, and rea-
sonable altar. But all the enemies of Thy Holy
Church put Thou speedily under their feet,
through the grace, mercy, and love of Thine
only-begotten Son :

{Aloud. ^

Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, with Thy all-holy, good, and
life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for ever-
more.

The People.

Amen.

The Priest.
IV. Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Stand ' and pray.

The People.

Lord have mercy (^thrice').

The Priest offers up the prayer of entrance^ and
for incense.

The Priest.

O Sovereign Lord our God, who hast chosen
the lamp of the twelve apostles with its twelve
lights, and hast sent them forth to proclaim
throughout the whole world and teach the Gos-
pel of Thy kingdom, and to heal sickness and
every weakness among the people, and hast
breathed upon their faces and said unto them.
Receive the Holy Spirit the Comforter : whose-
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto
them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained : Breathe also Thy Holy Spirit upon
us Thy servants, who, standing around, are about
to enter on Thy holy service,^ upon the bishops,

' [See vol. iii. p. 689, this series]

' This is the Little Entrance. [The priest and deacon come from
the prothesis bearing the Gospels. Sec p. 538, sufira.\

^ [Bestowing what is meet.) The text here is defective. Some
suppose that a senlciice has been lost.

elders, deacons, readers, singers, and laity, with
the entire body of the Holy Catholic and Apos-
tolic Church.

From the curse and execration, from condem-
nation, imprisonment, and banishment, and from
the portion of the adversary ;

O Lord, deliver us.

Purify our lives and cleanse our hearts from
all pollution and from all wickedness, that with
pure heart and conscience we may offer to Thee
this incense for a sweet-smelling savour, and for
the remission of our sins and the sins of all Thy
people, through the grace, mercy, and love of
Thine only-begotten Son :

{Aloud. ^

Through whom and with whom be the glory
and the power to Thee, with Thy all-holy, good,
and life-giving Spirit, now, henceforth, and for
evermore.

The People.

Amen.

The Deacon.
v. Stand.

They sing : —
Only-begotten Son and Word,'* etc.

The Gospel is carried in, and the Deacon says :-~
Let us pray.

Tlie Priest.
Peace be to all,

Tlie People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Let us pray.

The People.

Lord, have mercy.

The Priest says the prayer of the Trisagion.

O Sovereign Lord Christ Jesus, the co-eternal
Word of the eternal Father, who wast made in
all things like as we are, but without sin, for the
salvation of our race ; who hast sent forth Thy
holy disciples and apostles to proclaim and teach
the Gospel of Thy kingdom, and to heal all dis-
ease, all sickness among Thy people, be pleased
now, O Lord, to send forth Thy light and Thy
trutli. Enlighten the eyes of our minds, that
we may understand Thy divine oracles. Fit us
to become hearers, and not only hearers, but
doers of Thy word, that we, becoming fruitful,
and yielding good fruit from thirty to an hundred
fold, may be deemed worthy of the kingdom of
heaven.

* Given in full in chap. vi. of the Liturgy of James, p. 538, supra.
[It is so worded that it must be dated later than the Council of Ephe-
sus, A.D. 431.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

553

{Aloud.)

Let Thy mercy speedily overtake us, O Lord.
For Thou art the bringer of good tidings, the
Saviour and Guardian of our souls and bodies ;
and we offer glory, thanks, and the Trisagion to
Thee, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, now,
henceforth, and for evermore.

TJie People.

Amen. Holy God, holy mighty, holy immor-
tal., Holy, holy, holy,' etc.

VI. A/ler the Trisagion the Priest makes the sign
of the cross over the people, and says : —

Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

Then folloiv the Let us attend ; ^ The Apostle and
Prologue of the Hallelujah.^ The Deacons,
after a prescribed form, say : —
Lord, bless us.*

The Priest says : —

May the Lord ' in His mercy bless and help
us, now, henceforth, and for evermore.

The Priest, before the Gospel is read, offers
incense,^ and says : —

Accept at Thy holy, heavenly, and reasonable
altar, O Lord, the incense we offer in presence
of Thy sacred glory. Send down upon us in
return the grace of Thy Holy Spirit, for Thou
art blessed, and let Thy glory encircle us.

VII. The Deacon, ivhen he is about to read the

Gospel, says : —
Lord, bless us.

The Priest.
May the Lord, who is the blessed God, bless
and strengthen us, and make us hearers of His
holy Gospel, now, henceforth, and for evermore.
Amen.

The Deacon.
Stand and let us hear the holy Gospel.

The Priest.
Peace be to all.

The People.

And to thy spirit.

■ [The Trisagion is found in all the liturgies, which proves a
common source and original.]

» \The Apostle means that the Epistle is read, and there is a
prayer said (mu<ttiicu>s), followed by the outburst of Hallelujah.]

* See note i, p. 538. [" Sir, bless us" (in ordinary renderings)
is a Western form.]

5 [Here, the deacon's words having been correctly given, the
blessing of the priests shows the force of his expression, f

* [I have frequently noted the Ante-Nicene ignorance of this rite
among Christians, in order to illustrate these later usages as without
apostolic warrant. See Irenaeus, note 9, p. 484.]

VIII. The Deacon reads the Gospel, and the
Priest says the prayer of the Collect.'^

Look down in mercy and compassion, O Lord,
and heal the sick among Thy people.

May all our brethren who have gone or who
are about to go abroad, safely reach their desti-
nation in due season.

Send down the gracious rain upon the thirsty
lands, and make the rivers ** flow in full stream,
according to Thy grace.

The fruits of the land do Thou, O Lord, fill
with seed and make ripe for the harvest.

In peace, courage, justice, and tranquillity pre-
serve the kingdom of Thy servant, whom Thou
hast deemed worthy to reign over this land.

From evil days, from famine and pestilence,
from the assault of barbarians, defend, O Lord,
this Christ-loving city, lowly and worthy of Thy
compassion, as Thou didst spare Nineveh of old.

For Thou art full of mercy and compassion,
and rememberest not the iniquities of men
against them.

Thou hast said through Thy prophet Isaiah, —
I will defend this city, to save it for mine own
sake, and for my servant David's sake.

Wherefore we pray and beseech Thee to de-
fend in Thy good mercy this city, for the sake
of the martyr and evangelist Mark, who has
shown us the way of salvation through the grace,
mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son.

{Aloud.)

Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, with Thy all-holy, good, and life-
giving Spirit.

The Deacon.
IX. Begin.

Then they say the verse. '^ The Deacon says —
The three.'"

The Priest.

O Sovereign and Almighty God, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray and beseech Thee
to fill our hearts with the peace of heaven, and
to bestow moreover the peace of this life. Pre-
serve for us through many years our most holy
and blessed Papas A," and our most pious Bishop
A, while they, according to Thy holy and blessed
will, peacefully fulfil the holy priesthood com-
mitted to their care, and dispense aright the
word of truth, with all the orthodox bishops,
elders, deacons, sub-deacons,'^ readers, singers,
with the entire body of the holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church. Bless our meetings, O Lord

' TTji' trvvaieTTiv.

8 [The waters oi the river, rather, with reference to the Nile.]

9 [The anthem, probably.]

'° Probably by the three are meant three prayers. [See Ham-
mond, note I, p 177.]
" Patriarch.
'2 [Vol. V. p. 417, Elucidation XIV. 1

554

EARLY LITURGIES.

Grant that we may hold them without let or
hindrance, according to Thy holy will. Be
pleased to give to us, and Thy servants after us
for ever, houses of praise and prayer. Rise, O
Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered. Let
all who hate Thy holy name be put to flight.
Bless Thy faithful and orthodox people. Multi-
ply them by thousands and tens of thousands.

Let no deadly sin prevail against them, or
against Thy holy people, through the grace,
mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son.

{Aloud.)
Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, with Thy all-holy, good, and life-
giving Spirit.

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.
Peace be to all.

The People.
And to thy spirit.

The Deacon.
Take care that none of the catechumens ' —

Tlien they sing the Cherubic hymn.^

X. The Priest offers incense at the entrance,^

and prays : —

O Lord our God, who lackest nothing, accept
this incense offered by an unworthy hand, and
deem us all worthy of Thy blessing, for Thou
art our sanctification, and we ascribe glory to
Thee.

The holy things are carried to the altar, and the
Priest prays thus : —
O holy, highest, awe-inspiring God, who dwell-
est among the saints, sanctify us, and deem us
worthy of Thy reverend priesthood. Bring us
to Thy precious altar with a good conscience,
and cleanse our hearts from all pollution. Drive
away from us all unholy thoughts, and sanctify
our souls and minds. Grant that, with rever-
ence of Thee, we may perform the service of
our holy fathers, and propitiate Thy presence
through all time ; for Thou art He who blesseth
and sanctifieth all things, and to Thee we ascribe
glory and thanks.

The Deacon.

XI. Salute one another.

The Priest says the prayer of salutation.

O Sovereign and Almighty Lord, look down
from heaven on Thy Church, on all Thy peo-

• Some such word as remain is intentionally omitted. [See p.
540, supra.^

- [See p. 540, supra]

3 [The Great Entrance ; p. 540, j«/ra.]

pie, and on all Thy flock. Save us all. Thy un-
worthy servants, the sheep of Thy fold. Give
us Thy peace. Thy help, and Thy love, and send
to us the gift of Thy Holy Spirit, that with a
pure heart and a good conscience we may salute
one another with an holy kiss, without hypocrisy,
and with no hostile purpose, but guileless and
pure in one spirit, in the bond of peace and
love, one body and one spirit, in one faith, even
as we have been called in one hope of our call-
ing, that we may all meet in the divine and
boundless love, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with
whom Thou art blessed.

Then the Priest offers the incense, and says : —

The incense is offered to Thy name. Let it
ascend, we implore Thee, from the hands of
Thy poor and sinful servants to Thy heavenly
altar for a sweet-smelling savour, and the pro-
pitiation of all Thy people. For all glory, hon-
our, adoration, and thanks are due unto Thee,
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, now, hence-
forth, and for evermore. Amen.

After the Salutation,'^ the Deacon in a loud voice

says : —

XII. Stand and make the offering duly.'

The Priest, making the sign of the cross over the
disks and chalices, says in a loud voice {the
Nicene Creed) : —

I believe in one God, etc.

The Deacon.

Stand for prayer.

The Priest.

Peace be to all.

The Deacon.
Pray for those who present the offering.
The Priest says the prayer of the Oblation.^

O Sovereign Lord, Christ Jesus the Word, who
art equal in power with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, the great high priest ; the bread that came
down from heaven, and saved our souls from
ruin ; who gavest Thyself, a spotless Lamb, for
the life of the world . . .

We pray and beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy
mercy, to let Thy presence rest upon this bread
and these chalices ^ on the all-holy table, while
angels, archangels, and Thy holy priests stand
round and minister for Thy glory and the re-
newing of our souls, through the grace, mercy,
and love of Thine only-begotten Son, through

* [See p. 541, sufira-l

5 [i.e., in due order; m your turn.]

6 Tns n-po0eo'«u)S.

7 [em Toi' apTor toOtoi' wai ctti to troT^pto TaOra.
worthy language in this place.]

Most no«o-

EARLY LITURGIES.

555

whom and with whom be glory and power to
Thee.

And when the People say,

And from the Holy Spirit was He made flesh ;

The Priest makes the sign of the cross,^ and
says : —

And was crucified for us.

The Priest makes the sign of the cross again,^
and says : —

And to the Holy Spirit.

III.

Xiii.^ In like manner also, as after the Creed,^
he makes the sign of the cross upon the People,
and says aloud: —

The Lord be with all.

The People.
And with thy spirit.

The Priest.
Let us lift up our hearts.

The People.
We lift them up to the Lord.

The Priest.
Let us give thanks to the Lord.

The People.
It is meet and right."*

The Priest begins the Anaphoral prayer.

O Lord God, Sovereign and Almighty Father,
truly it is meet and right, holy and becoming,
and good for our souls, to praise, bless, and
thank Thee ; to make open confession to Thee
by day and night with voice, lips, and heart with-
out ceasing ;

To Thee who hast made the heaven, and all
that is therein ; the earth, and all that is therein ;

The sea, fountains, rivers, lakes, and all that
is therein ;

To Thee who, after Thine own image and
likeness, hast made man, upon whom Thou didst
also bestow the joys of Paradise ;

And when he trespassed against Thee, Thou
didst neither neglect nor forsake him, good Lord,

But didst recall him by Thy law, instruct him
by Thy prophets, restore and renew him by this
awful, life-giving, and heavenly mystery.

' [Two after the Creed and one before.]

^ The Anaphora.]

3 [I have supposed the adverb iiic-ntp {as) in this place, for ob-
vious reasons. It is implied in the text.]

♦ [Sec p. 543, supra. Here the Edinburgh inserts: " The Dea-
con. . . ."]

And all this Thou hast done by Thy Wisdom
and the Light of truth, Thine only-begotten Son,
our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Through whom, thanking Thee with Him and
the Holy Spirit,

We offer this reasonable and bloodless sacrifice,
which all nations, from the rising to the setting
of the sun, from the north and the south, present
to Thee, O Lord ; for great is Thy name among
all peoples, and in all places are incense, sacrifice,
and oblation offered to Thy holy name. 5

XIV. We pray and beseech Thee, O lover of
tnen, O good Lord,^ remember in Thy good
mercy the Holy and only Catholic and Apostolic
Church throughout the whole world, and all Thy
people, and all the sheep of this fold.7 Vouch-
safe to the hearts of all of us the peace of heaven,
but grant us also the peace of this life.

Guide and direct in all peace the king,^ army,
magistrates, councils,^ peoples, and neighbour-
hoods, and all our outgoings and incomings.

O King of Peace, grant us Thy peace in unity
and love. May we be Thine, O Lord ; for we
know no other God but Thee, and name no
other name but Thine. Give life unto the souls
of all of us, and let no deadly sin prevail against
us, or against all Thy people.

Look down in mercy and compassion, O Lord,
and heal the sick among Thy people. Deliver
them and us, O Lord, from sickness and disease,
and drive away the spirit of weakness.

Raise up those who have been long afflicted,
and heal those who are vexed with unclean spirits.

Have mercy on all who are in prison, or in
mines, or on trial, or condemned, or in exile, or
crushed by cruel bondage or tribute. Deliver
them, O Lord, for Thou art our God, who set-
test the captives free ; who raisest up the down-
trodden ; who givest hope to the hopeless, and
help to the helpless ; who Hftest up the fallen ;
who givest refuge to the shipwrecked, and ven-
geance to the oppressed.

Pity, relieve, and restore every Christian soul
that is afflicted or wandering.

But do Thou, O Lord, the physician of our
souls and bodies, the guardian of all flesh, look
down, and by Thy saving power heal all the
diseases of soul and body.

Guide and prosper our brethren who have
gone or who are about to go abroad. Whether
they travel by land, or river, or lake, by public
road, or in whatever way journeying, bring them
everywhere to a safe and tranquil haven. Be
pleased to be with them by land and sea, and
restore them in health and joy to joyful and
healthful homes.

5 The reference to Mai. i. ii, always noteworthy. Vol. i. p. 484.)

Here I supply an omission, in italics.]

Kai TTavTiDV Tu)i' TToi/u.nuii' aov. John x. 16.]

8 Or emperor. [See p. 551, notes 5, 7.]

9 jSovAas, senates.

556

EARLY LITURGIES.

Ever defend, O Lord, our journey through
this Ufe from trouble and storm.

Send down rich and copious showers on the
dry and thirsty lands.

Gladden and revive the face of the earth, that
it may spring forth and rejoice in the raindrops.

Make the waters of the river flow in full stream.

Gladden and revive the face of the earth with
the swelling waters.

Fill all the channels of the streams, and mul-
tiply the fruits of the earth.

Bless, O Lord, the fruits of the earth, and
keep them safe and unharmed. Fill them with
seed, and make them ripe for the harvest.

Bless even now, O Lord, Thy yearly crown of
blessing for the sake of the poor of Thy people,
the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, and for
the sake of all of us who have our hope in Thee
and call upon Thy holy name ; for the eyes of
all are upon Thee, and Thou givest them bread
in due season.

O Thou who givest food to all flesh, fill our
hearts with joy and gladness, that at all times,
having all sufficiency, we may abound to every
good work in Christ Jesus our Lord.

O King of kings and Lord of lords, defend the
kingdom of Thy servant, our orthodox and Christ-
loving sovereign,' whom Thou hast deemed wor-
thy to reign over this land in peace, courage, and
justice.

Subdue under him, O Lord, every enemy and
adversary, whether at home or abroad. Gird
on Thy shield and armour, and rise to his aid.
Draw Thy sword, and help him to fight against
them that persecute him. Shield him in the
day of battle, and grant that the fruit of his
loins may sit upon his throne.

Be kind to him, O Lord, for the sake of Thy
Holy and Apostolic Church, and all Thy Christ-
loving people, that we too in his peaceful reign
may live a calm and tranquil life, in all reverence
and godliness.

O Lord our God, give peace to the souls of
our fathers and brethren who have fallen asleep
in Jesus, remembering our forefathers of old, our
fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs,
confessors, bishops, and the souls of all the holy
and just men who have died in the Lord.

Especially remember those whose memory we
this day cclebrate,-Av\<\ our holy father Mark,^ the
apostle and evangelist, who has shown us the
way of salvation.^

J [Evidently after Constantine.]

• [Elucid. II. Such passages indicate of course, how St. Mark's
name came tj be given to this liturgy. Here is interpolated:] —

Hail! thou art highly favoured: the Lord is with thee; blessed
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, because
thou hast brought forth the Saviour of our souls.

ALmJ.

Especially remember our all-holy, pure, and blessed Lady, Mary
the Virgin Mother of God.

^ [Hammond's note is important, p. 1S2; and see Elucid. II.]

TTie Deacon.
Lord, bless us.

The Priest.

The Lord will bless thee in His grace, now,
henceforth, and for evermore.

The Deacon reads the record of the dead.*
The Priest bows and prays.

XV. Give peace, O Sovereign Lord our God,
to the souls of all who dwell in the tabernacles
of Thy saints. Graciously bestow upon them
in Thy kingdom Thy promised blessing, which
eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, nor
has it entered into the heart of man what Thou,
O God, hast prepared for those who love Thy
holy name. Give peace to their souls, and deem
them worthy of the kingdom of heaven.s

Grant that we may end our lives as Christians,
acceptable unto Thee and without sin, and be
pleased to give us part and lot with all Thy
saints.

Accept, O God, by Thy ministering archangels
at Thy holy, heavenly, and reasonable altar in
the spacious heavens, the thank-offerings of those
who offer sacrifice and oblation, and of those who
desire to offer much or little, in secret or openly,
but have it not to give.

Accept the thank-offerings of those who have
presented them this day, as Thou didst accept
the gifts of Thy righteous Abel :

The Priest offers incense, and says :^ —

As Thou didst accept the sacrifice of our father
Abraham, the incense of Zacharias, the alms of
Cornelius, and the widow's two mites, accept
also the thank-offerings of these, and give them
for the things of time the things of eternity, and
for the things of earth the things of heaven.
Defend, O Lord, our most holy and blessed
Papas'' A, whom Thou hast fore-ordained to
rule over Thy Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Church, and our most pious Bishop A, that they
through many years of peace may, according to
Thy holy and blessed will, fulfil the sacred priest-
hood committed to their care, and dispense aright
the word of truth.

Remember the orthodox bishops everywhere,
the elders, deacons, sub-deacons, readers, sing-
ers, monks,* virgins, widows, and laity.

Remember, O Lord, the holy city^ of our
God, Jesus Christ ; and the imperial city ; '° and
this city of ours, and all cities and all lands, and
the peace and safety of those who dwell therein
in the orthodox faith of Christ.

* Ta hiTrTv\a.. [Sec the note of Hammond, Glossary, p. 378.]
^ [See Burbidge, p. 34 3L.nA passint to p. 253.]

* [Burbidge, p. 185]
' The Patriarch.
' [Subsequent to Antony. Vol. vi. p. 279.]

9 [Jerusalem: a token of antiquity.]
"> [Rome, no doubt.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

557

Be mindful, O Lord, of the return of the back-
sliding, and of every Christian soul that is afflicted
and oppressed, and in need of Thy divine mercy
and help.

Be mindful, O Lord, of our brethren in cap-
tivity. Grant that they may find mercy and
compassion with those who have led them cap-
tive.

Be mindful also of us, O Lord, Thy sinful and
unworthy servants, and blot out our sins in Thy
goodness and mercy.

Be mindful also of me, Thy lowly, sinful, and
unworthy servant, and in Thy mercy blot out my
sins.

Be with us, O Lord, who minister unto Thy
holy name.

Bless our meetings, O Lord.

Utterly uproot idolatry from the world.'

Crush under our feet Satan, and all his wicked
influence.

Humble now, as at all times, the enemies of
Thy Church.

Lay bare their pride.

Speedily show them their weakness.

Bring to nought the wicked plots they contrive
against us.

Arise, O Lord, and let Thine enemies be scat-
tered, and let all who hate Thy holy name be
put to flight.

Do Thou bless a thousand times ten thousand
Thy faithful and orthodox people while they do
Thy holy will.

The Deacon.

Let those who are seated stand.

The Priest says the following prayer : —

Deliver the captive ; rescue the distressed ;
feed the hungry ; comfort the faint-hearted ;
convert the erring ; enlighten the darkened ;
raise the fallen ; confirm the wavering ; heal
the sick ; and guide them all, good Lord, into
the way of salvation, and into Thy sacred fold.
Deliver us from our iniquities ; protect and de-
fend us at all times.

The Deacon.
Turn to the east.

The Priest bows and prays.

For Thou art far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world, but
in that which is to come. Round Thee stand
ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
of thousands of holy angels and hosts of arch-
angels ; and Thy two most honoured creatures,
the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged
seraphim. With twain they cover their faces.

* [Agrees with the partial triumphs of a.d 325.]

and with twain they cover their feet, and with
twain they do fly ; and they cry one to another
for ever with the voice of praise, and glorify
Thee, O Lord, singing aloud the triumphal and
thrice-holy ^ hymn to Thy great glory : —

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.

{Aloud.)

Thou dost ever sanctify all men ; but with all
who glorify Thee, receive also, O Sovereign
Lord, our sanctification, who with them cele-
brate Thy praise, and say : —

The People.
Holy, holy, holy Lord.

The Priest makes the sign of the cross over the
sacred mysteries.

XVI. For truly heaven and earth are full of
Thy glory, through the manifestation of our
Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Fill,
O God, this sacrifice with Thy blessing, through
the inspiration of Thy all-holy Spirit. For the
Lord Himself, our God and universal King,
Christ Jesus, reclining at meat the same night
on which He delivered Himself up for our sins
and died in the flesh for all, took bread in His
holy, pure, and immaculate hands, and lifting
His eyes to His Father, our God, and the God
of all, gave thanks ; and when He had blessed,
hallowed, and broken the bread, gave it to His
holy and blessed disciples and apostles, saying : —

{Aloud.)
Take, eat.

The Deacon.

Pray earnestly.

The Priest {aloud).

For this is my body, which is broken for you,
and divided for the remission of sins.

Amen.

The People.

The Priest prays.

After the same manner also, when He had
supped. He took the cup of wine mingled with
water, and lifting His eyes to Thee, His Father,
our God, and the God of all, gave thanks ; and
when He had blessed and filled it with the Holy
Spirit, gave it to His holy and blessed disciples
and apostles, saying : —

{Aloud.)
Drink ye all of it.

The Deacon.
Pray earnestly again.

* The Trisagion.

558

EARLY LITURGIES.

The Priest {aloud) .
For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for you and for many, and distrib-
uted among you for the remission of sins.

Amen.

TAe People.

The Priest prays thus : —
This do ye in remembrance of me ; for as
often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye
do show forth my death and acknowledge my
resurrection and ascension until I come. O
Sovereign and Almighty Lord, King of heaven,
while we show forth ■ the death of Thine only-
begotten Son, our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and acknowledge His blessed resurrec-
tion from the dead on the third day, we do also
openly declare His ascension into heaven, and
His sitting on the right hand of Thee, God and
Father, and await His second terrible and dread-
ful coming, in which He will come to judge
righteously the quick and the dead, and to ren-
der to each man according to his works.

XVII. O Lord our God, we have placed be-
fore Thee what is Thine from Thine own mer-
cies. We pray and beseech Thee, O good and
merciful God, to send down from Thy holy
heaven, from the mansion Thou hast prepared,
and from Thine infinite bosom, the Paraclete
Himself,^ holy, powerful, and life-giving, the
Spirit of truth, who spake in the law, the apos-
tles, and prophets ; who is everywhere present,
and filleth all things, freely working sanctification
in whom He will with Thy good pleasure ; one
in His nature ; manifold in His working ; the
fountain of divine blessing ; of like substance 3
with Thee, and proceeding from Thee ; sitting
with Thee on the throne of Thy kingdom, and with
Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Send down upon us also,
and upon this bread and upon these chalices.
Thy Holy Spirit, that by His all-powerful and
divine influence He may sanctify and consecrate
them, and make this bread the body.^

ance, sanctification, the renewal of soul, body,
and spirit, participation in the blessedness of
eternal life and immortality, the glory of Thy
most holy name, and the remission of sins, that
Thy most holy, precious, and glorious name may
be praised and glorified in this as in all things.

The People.
As it was and is.

The Priest.
XVIII. Peace be to all.

Pray.

The Deacon.

The Priest prays in secret.

Amen.

The People.

The Priest {aloud).
And this cup the blood of the new testament,
of the very Lord, and God, and Saviour, and
universal King Christ Jesus.

The Deacon.
Deacons, come down.

The Priest {aloud) .
That to all of us who partake thereof they
may tend unto faith, sobriety, healing, temper-

The Oblation, itar' e'fox'ji'.]

The Invocation.]

On all this, see Hammond, notes i and 2, p. 187.]

O God of light. Father of life. Author of grace,
Creator of worlds, Founder of knowledge. Giver
of wisdom. Treasure of holiness. Teacher of pure
prayers. Benefactor of our souls, who givest to
the faint-hearted who put their trust in Thee
those things into which the angels desire to look :
O Sovereign Lord, who hast brought us up from
the depths of darkness to light, who hast given
us life from death, who hast graciously bestowed
upon us freedom from slavery, who hast scat-
tered the darkness of sin within us, through the
presence of Thine only-begotten Son, do Thou
now also, through the visitation of Thy all-holy
Spirit, enlighten the eyes of our understanding,
that we may partake without fear of condemna-
tion of this heavenly and immortal food, and
sanctify us wholly in soul, body, and spirit, that
with Thy holy disciples and apostles we may
say this prayer to Thee : Our Father who art in
heaven, etc.

{Aloud.)

And grant, O Sovereign Lord, in Thy mercy,
that we with freedom of speech, without fear of
condemnation, with pure heart and enlightened
soul, with face that is not ashamed, and with
hallowed lips, may venture to call upon Thee,
the holy God who art in heaven, as our Father,
and say : —

The People.
Our Father who art in heaven, etc.

The Priest prays .• ■♦ —

Verily, Lord, Lord, lead us not into tempta-
tion, but deliver us from evil ; for Thy abundant
mercy showeth that we through our great infirm-
ity are unable to resist it.

Grant that we may find a way whereby we
may be able to withstand temptation ; for Thou
hast given us power to tread upon serpents, and
scorpions, and all the power of the enemy.

* [The Embolisms = ejaculations.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

559

{Aloud.)
For Thine is the kingdom and power.

The People.
Amen.

The Priest.

XIX. Peace be to all.

The Deacon.
Bow your heads to Jesus.'

The People.
' Thou, Lord.

The Priest prays.

O Sovereign and Almighty Lord,^ who sittest
upon the cherubim, and art glorified by the
seraphim ; who hast made the heaven out of
waters, and adorned it with choirs of stars ; who
hast placed an unbodied liost of angels in the
highest heavens to sing Thy praise for ever;
before Thee have we bowed our souls and bodies
in token of our bondage. We beseech Thee to
repel the dark assaults of sin from our under-
standing, and to gladden our minds with the
divine radiance of Thy Holy Spirit, that, filled
with the knowledge of Thee, we may worthily
partake of the mercies set before us, the pure
body and precious blood of Thine only-begotten
Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Pardon all our sins in Thy abundant and un-
searchable goodness, through the grace, mercy,
and love of Thine only- begotten Son : ^

{Aloud.)

Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, with the all-holy, good, and
life-giving Spirit.

The Pj'iesi.

XX. Peace be to all.

The Deacon.
With the fear of God.

The Priest prays.

O holy, highest, awe-inspiring God, who dwell-
est among the saints, sanctify us by the word of
Thy grace and by the inspiration of Thy all-holy
Spirit ; for Thou hast said, O Lord our God,
Be ye holy ; for I am holy. O Word of God,
past finding out, consubstantial ■♦ and co-eternal
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and sharer
of their sovereignty, accept the pure song which
cherubim and seraphim, and the unworthy lips
of Thy sinful and unworthy servant, sing aloud.

The People.

Lord, have mercy ; Lord, have mercy ; Lord,
have mercy.

' [Phil. ii. lo. See Hammond, note i, p. 48.]
- [Prayer of Humble Access.]
3 [Compare Hammond, p. 79.]

•* [Post-Nxcene.]

The Priest {aloud) .
Holy things for the holy.s

The People.

One Father holy, one Son holy, one Spirit
holy, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.^

The Deacon.
For salvation and help.

The Priest makes the sign of the cross upon the
people, and saith in a loud voice : —

The Lord be with all.

The Priest breaks the bread, and saith : —
Praise ye God.

The Priest divides it among those present, and
saith : —

The Lord will bless and help you through His
great mercy.

The Priest says : —
Command.

The Clergy say : —
The Holy Spirit commands and sanctifies.

The Priest.
Lo, they are sanctified and consecrated.

The Clergy.
One holy 7 Father, etc. {thrice).

The Priest says : —
The Lord be with all.

The Clergy.
And with thy spirit.

The Priest says : —
The Lord Himself hath blessed it.

The Priest partakes, and prays.
According to Thy loving-kindness,* etc.

Or,

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks,'
etc.

When he gives the bread to the clergy, he says:-—
The holy body.

And when he gives the chalice, he says : —

The precious blood of our Lord, and God,
and Saviour.

s [Elucidation HI.]

^ [Perhaps the Triad is meant at note 10, p. 553.]

^ [Seep. 567, infra.\
' [Ps. xlii.J
[Ps. xlii. I.

56o

EARLY LITURGIES.

IV.

After the service is completed, the Deacon says : ■
XXI. Stand for prayer.'

The Priest.
Peace be to all.

The Deacon.

Pray.

The Priest says the prayer of thanksgiving.

O Sovereign Lord our God, we thank Thee
that we have partaken of Thy holy, pure, im-
mortal, and heavenly mysteries, which Thou hast
given for our good, and for the sanctification and
salvation of our souls and bodies. We pray
and beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant in Thy good
mercy, that by partaking of the holy body and
precious blood of Thine only-begotten Son, we
may have faith that is not ashamed, love that is
unfeigned, fulness of holiness, power to eschew
evil and keep Thy commandments, provision for
eternal life, and an acceptable defence before
the awful tribunal of Thy Christ :

In a loud voice.

Through whom and with whom be glory and
power to Thee, with Thy all- holy, good, and
life-giving Spirit.

The Priest then turns to the people, and says : —

XXII. O mightiest King, co-eternal with the
Father, who by Thy might hast vanquished hell
and trodden death under foot, who hast bound
the strong man, and by Thy miraculous power
and the enlightening radiance of Thy unspeak-
able Godhead hast raised Adam from the tomb,
send forth Thy invisible right hand, which is full
of blessing, and bless us all.

Pity us, O Lord, and strengthen us by Thy
divine power.

Take away from us the sinful and wicked in-
fluence of carnal desire.

Let the light shine into our souls, and dispel
the surrounding darkness of sin.

' [Post-Communion.]

Unite us to the all-blessed assembly that is
well-pleasing unto Thee ; for through Thee and
with Thee, all praise, honour, power, adoration,
and thanksgiving are due unto the Father and
the Holy Spirit, now, henceforth, and for ever-
more.

The Deacon.

Depart in peace :

The People.
In the name of the Lord.

The Priest {aloud) .

XXIII. The love of God the Father ; the grace
of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ ; the commun-
ion and gift of the All-holy Spirit, be with us all,
now, henceforth, and for evermore.

Amen.

The People.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

The Priest prays in the sacristy, and says : —

O Lord, Thou hast given us sanctification by
partaking of the all-holy body and precious
blood of Thine only-begotten Son ; give us the
grace and gift of the All-holy Spirit. Enable us
to lead blameless lives ; and guide us unto the
perfect redemption, and adoption, and the ever-
lasting joys of the world to come. For Thou art
our sanctification, and we ascribe glory unto
Thee, the Father, and the Son, and the All-holy
Spirit, now, henceforth, and for evermore.

Amen.

Peace be to all.

The People.
The Priest.

The People.

And to thy spirit.

The Priest dismisses them, and says : —

May God bless, who blesseth and sanctifieth,
who defendeth and preserveth us all through the
partaking of His holy mysteries ; and who is
blessed for ever. Amen.

EARLY LITURGIES.

=;6i

THE LITURGY OF THE BLESSED APOSTLES.

COMPOSED BY ST. AD/EUS AND ST, MARIS, TEACHERS OF THE EASTERNS.'

1.2 First : Glory to God in the highest, etc.
Our Father which art in heaven.

Prayer.

Strengthen, O our Lord and God, our weak-
ness through Thy mercy, that we may administer
the holy mystery which has been given for the
renovation and salvation of our degraded nature,
through the mercies of Thy beloved Son the
Lord of all.

On common days.

Adored, glorified, lauded, celebrated, exalted,
and ^blessed in heaven and on earth, be the
adorable and glorious name of Thine ever-glo-
rious Trinity, O Lord of all.

On common days they sing the Psalm (xv.).
Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle? en-
tire with its canon,^ of the mystery cf the sac-
I'aments.

{Aloud.)
Who shall shout with joy? etc.

Prayer.

II. Before the resplendent throne ot Thy ma-
jesty, O Lord, and the exalted and sublime throne
of Thy glory, and on the awful seat of the
strength of Thy love and the propiatory altar
which Thy will hath established, in the region of
Thy pasture,'* with thousands of cherubim prais-
mg Thee, and ten thousands of seraphim sancti-
fying Thee, we draw near, adore, thank, and
glorify Thee always, O Lord of all.

On commemorations atid Fridays.

Thy name, great and holy, illustrious and
blessed, the blessed and incomprehensible name
of Thy glorious Trinity, and Thy kindness to our
race, we ought at all times to bless, adore, and
glorify, O Lord of all.

' [Here the Edinburgh editors give the following title from their
copy, without stating whence it is: " The Liturgy of the Holy Apos-
tles, or Order of the Sacraments."]

2 [I have made slight corrections, after Renaudot, as given in
Hammond, from Litt Orient. Coll., tom. ii pp. 578-592.]

3 Suicer says that a canon is a psalm or hymn (^canticttm') wont
to be sung on certain days, ordinarily and as if by rule. He quotes
Zonaras, who says that a canon is metrical, and is composed of nine
odes. See Sophocles, Glossary of Byzantine Greek, Introduction,
§ 43. The canon of the Nestorian Church is somewhat different.
See Neale, General hitroduction to the History of the Eastern
Church, p 979.

* [Rev. V. 6. The Apocalypse saturates these liturgies.]

RespovoSory 5 at the chancel, as above.

Who commanded, etc.
To the priest, etc.

Prayer.

How breathes in us, O our Lord and God,
the sweet fragrance of the sweetness of Thy
love ; illumined are our souls, through the
knowledge of Thy truth : may we be rendereel
worthy of receiving the manifestation of Thy
beloved from Thy holy heavens : there shall we
render thanks unto Thee, and, in the meantime,
glorify Thee without ceasing in Thy Church,
crowned and filled with every aid and blessing,
because Thou art Lord and Father, Creator of
all.

III. Prayer of Incense.

We shall repeat the hymn to Thy glorious
Trinity, O Father, SoA, and Holy Ghost.

On fast-days.
And on account, etc.

At the commemoration of saints.

Thou, O Lord, art truly the raiser up of our
bodies : Thou art the good Saviour of our souls,
and the secure preserver of our life ; and we
ought to thank Thee continually, to adore and
glorify

Thee, O Lord of all.

At the lessons.^

Holy art Thou, worthy of praise, mighty, im-
mortal, who dwellest in the holies, and Thy will
resteth in them : have regard unto us, O Lord ;
be merciful unto us, and pity us, as Thou art our
helper in all circumstances, O Lord of all.

IV. At the apostle.''

Enlighten, O our Lord and God, the move-
ments of our meditations to hear and understand
the sweet listenings to Thy life-giving and divine

5 " The psalm, or verses of a psalm, sung after the Epistle, was
always entitled ^raa'«a/, from being chanted on the steps {gradus)
of the pulpit. When sung by one person without interruption, it was
called tractus ; when chanted alternately by several singers, it was
termed responsory." — Palmer, Origines Liturgicte, vol. ii. p .46,
note.

* i.e., while the lesson from the Old Testament is read. [But the
Malabar Liturgy and Dr. Badger's translation msert before this, ac-
cording to Hammond, the Sanctus Deus, Sanctus fortis, etc.]

^ i.e., while the lesson from the Apostolical Epistles is read.

562

EARLY LITURGIES.

commands ; and grant unto us through Thy grace
and mercy to gather from them the assurance of
love, and hope, and salvation suitable to soul and
body, and we shall sing to Thee everlasting glory
without ceasing and always, O Lord of all.

On fast-days.
To Thee, the wise governor, etc.

V. Descending, he shall salute the Gospel, saying
this prayer before the altar.

Thee, the renowned seed of Thy Father, and
the image of the person of Thy Father, who wast
revealed in the body of our humanity, and didst
arise to us in the light of Thy annunciation. Thee
we thank, adore, etc.

And after the proclamation : ' —

Thee, O Lord God Almighty, we beseech and
entreat, perfect with us Thy grace, and pour out
through our hands Thy gift, the pity and com-
passion of Thy divinity. May they be to us for
the propitiation of the offences of Thy people,
and for the forgiveness of the sins of the entire
flock of Thy pasture, through Thy grace and
tender mercies, O good friend of men, O Lord
of all.

VI. The Deaconj say : —

Bow your heads.

The Priest says this secret prayer in the sanctu-
ary ;^ —

O Lord God Omnipotent, Thine is the Holy
Catholic Church, inasmuch as Thou, through
the great passion of Thy Christ, didst buy the
sheep of Thy pasture ; and from the grace of
the Holy Spirit, who is indeed of one nature
with Thy glorious divinity, are granted the de-
grees of the true priestly ordination ; and through
Thy clemency Thou didst vouchsafe, O Lord, to
make our weakness spiritual members in the
great body of Thy Holy Church, that we might
administer spiritual aid to faithful souls. Now,
O Lord, perfect Thy grace with us, and pour
out Thy gift through our hands : and may Thy
tender mercies and the clemency of Thy divinity
be upon us, and upon the people whom Thou
hast chosen for Thyself.

{Aloud.)

And grant unto us, O Lord, through Thy
clemency, that we may all together, and equally
every day of our life, please Thy divinity, and
be rendered worthy of the aid of Thy grace to
offer Thee praise, honour, thanksgiving, and
adoration at all times, O Lord.

' Renaudot understands by the proclamation the reading aloud
of the Gospel. [According to Hammond, the deacon's bidding prayer,
during which, in Dr. Badger's translation the Offertory is said also.]

^ Bema.

VII. And the Deacons ascend to the altar, and

say : —
He who has not received baptism, etc'

And the Priest begins the responsory of the mys-
teries,'' and the Sacristan and Deacon place the
disk and the chalice upon the altar. The Priest
crosses his hands, and says .• s —

We offer praise to Thy glorious Trinity at all
times and for ever.

And proceeds : —

May Christ, who was offered for our salvation,
and commanded us to commemorate His death
and His resurrection. Himself receive this sacri-
fice from the hands of our weakness, through
His grace and mercies for ever. Amen.

And proceeds : —

Laid are the renowned holy and life-giving
mysteries upon the altar of the mighty Lord,
even until His advent, for ever. Amen.

Praise, etc.

Thy memory, etc.

Our Father, etc.

The apostles of the Father, etc.

Upon the holy altar, etc.

They who have slept, etc.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, etc.^

THE CREED. 7

VIII. The Priest draws near to celebrate, and
thrice bows before the altar, the middle of
which he kisses, then the right and the left horn
of the altar ; and bows to the Gospel side, and

says : —

Bless, O Lord, etc.

Pray for me, my fathers, brethren, and mas-
ters, that God may grant unto me the capability
and power to perform this service to which I
have drawn near, and that this oblation may be
accepted from the hands of my weakness, for
myself, for you, and for the whole body of the
Holy Catholic Church, through His grace and
mercies for ever. Amen.

And they respond : —

May Christ listen to thy prayers, and be
pleased with thy sacrifice, receive thy oblation,
and honour thy priesthood, and grant unto us,
through thy mediation,^ the pardon of our of-
fences, and the forgiveness of our sins, through
His grace and mercies for ever.

3 The Malabar Liturgy fills up, " let him depart."

* [Here begins the Liturgy of the Faithful.]
S The Offertory.]

* [Here the Edinburgh editors insert the title of this liturgy giveu
on p. 561, supra, and add: " In the Syriac copy, 70, Biblioth. Reg.,
this title does not occur, the service going forwara without interniptioti.
— Etheridge." See Elucidation IV.]

' [According to Badger.]

* [2 Cor. V. 19, 20.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

563

Presently he bows at the other side, uttering the
same words ; and they respond in the same
manner: then he bows to the altar, and
says : —

God, Lord of all, be with us through His grace
and mercies for ever. Amen.

And bowing towards the Deacon, who is on the
left ( Epistle side) , he says : —

God, the Lord of all, confirm thy words, and
secure to thee peace, and accept this oblation
from my hands for me, for thee, for the whole
body of the Holy Catholic Church, and for the
entire world, through His grace and mercies
for ever.

He kneels at the altar, and says in secret : —

IX. O our Lord and God, look not on the
multitude of our sins, and let not Thy dignity
be turned away on account of the heinousness
of our iniquities ; but through Thine unspeak-
able grace sanctify this sacrifice of Thine, and
grant through it power and capability, so that
Thou mayest forget our many sins, and be mer-
ciful when Thou shalt appear at the end of time,
in the man whom Thou hast assumed from
among us, and we may find before Thee grace
and mercy, and be rendered worthy to praise
Thee with spiritual ' assemblies.

He rises, and says this prayer in secret : —

We thank Thee, O our Lord and God, for the

abundant riches of Thy grace to us :

And he proceeds : —

Us who were sinful and degraded, on account
of the multitude of Thy clemency, Thou hast
made worthy to celebrate the holy mysteries of
the body and blood of Thy Christ. We beg
aid from Thee for the strengthening of our souls,
that in perfect love and true faith we may ad-
minister Thy gift to us.

Canon.

And we shall ascribe to Thee praise, glory,
thanksgiving, and adoration, now, always, and
for ever and ever.

He signs himself with the sign of the cross, and
they respond : —
Amen.

X. And he proceeds : —
Peace be with you :

They respond : —
With thee and with thy spirit.

' Intellectualibus. [This prayer not well rendered.]

And they give the {kiss of ) peace to each other,
and say : —
For all : »

The Deacon says : —

Let us thank, entreat, and beseech.

The Priest says this prayer in secret : —

O Lord, mighty God, help my weakness
through Thy clemency and the aid of Thy
grace ; and make me worthy of offering before
Thee this oblation, as for the common aid of
all, and to the praise of Thy Trinity, O Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost.

Another prayer.^

O our Lord and God, restrain our thoughts,
that they wander not amid the vanities of this
world. O Lord our God, grant that I may be
united to the affection of Thy love, unworthy
though I be. Glory be to Thee, O Christ.

Ascend into the chamber of Thy renowned
light, O Lord ; sow in me the good seed of
humility ; and under the wings of Thy grace
hide me through Thy mercy. If Thou wert to
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand ? Be-
cause there is mercy with Thee.

[ The Priest says the following prayer in
secret:* —

O mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, beseech
for me the only-begotten Son, who was bom of
thee, to forgive me my offences and my sins,
and to accept from my feeble and sinful hands
this sacrifice which my weakness offers upon this
altar, through thy intercession for me, O holy
mother.]

XI. When the Deacon shall say. With watchful-
ness and care, etc., it?imediately the Priest
rises up and uncovers the sacraments, taking
away the veil with which they were covered :
he blesses the incense, and says a cation with
a loud voice : —

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God the Father, and the communion of
the Holy Ghost, be with us all, now, etc. 5

He signs the sacraments, and they respond : —
Amen.

The Priest proceeds : —
Lift up your minds :

They respond : —

They are towards Thee, O God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, O glorious King.

2 i e., Catholics. But the word Catholics is omitted in most MSS.

5 Which is said also in the Liturgy of Nestorius.

* In another MS. [Evidently corrupt and medixval.J

5 [Here begins the Anaphora.]

564

EARLY LITURGIES.

all.

The Priest.
The oblation is offered to God, the Lord of

They respond : —
It is meet and right.

The Deacon.
Peace be with you.

The Priest puts on the incense, and says this
prayer : —

O Lord, Lord, grant me an open countenance
before Thee, that with the confidence which is
from Thee we may fulfil this awful and divine
sacrifice with consciences free from all iniquity
and bitterness. Sow in us, O Lord, affection,
peace, and concord towards each other, and
toward every one.

And standing, he says in secret : ' —

Worthy of glory from every mouth, and of
thanksgiving from all tongues, and of adoration
and exaltation from all creatures, is the adorable
and glorious name of Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, who created the world through His grace,
, and its inhabitants through His clemency, who
saved men through His mercy, and showed great
favour towards mortals. Thy majesty, (3 Lord,
thousands of thousands of heavenly spirits, and
ten thousand myriads of holy angels, hosts of
spirits, ministers of fire and spirit, bless and
adore ; with the holy cherubim and the spiritual
seraphim they sanctify and celebrate Thy name,
crying and praising, without ceasing crying unto
each other.

They say with a loud voice : —

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty; full
are the heavens and the earth of His glory.

The Priest in secret : —

Holy, holy, holy art Thou, O Lord God Al-
mighty ; the heavens and the earth are full of
His glory and the nature of His essence, as they
are glorious with the honour of His splendour ;
as it is written. The heaven and the earth are
full of me, saith the mighty Lord.

Holy art Thou, O God our Father, truly the
only one, of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is nametl. Holy art Thou, Eternal
Son, through whom all things were made. Holy
art Thou, Holy, Eternal Spirit, through whom
all things are sanctified.

Woe to me, woe to me, who have been as-
tonied, because I am a man of polluted lips, and
dwell among a people of polluted lips, and my
eyes have seen the King, the miglity Lord.
How terrible to-day is this place ! For this is

> [The Preface.]

none other than the house of God and the gate
of heaven ; because Thou hast been seen eye to
eye, O Lord.

Now, I pray, may Thy grace be with us, O
Lord ; purge away our impurities, and sanctify
our lips ; unite the voices of our insignificance
with the sanctification of seraphim and arch-
angels. Glory be to Thy tender mercies, be-
cause Thou hast associated the earthly with the
heavenly.^

And he proceeds, saying in secret this prayer, in
a bowing postuj-e : —

XII. And with those heavenly powers we give
Thee thanks, even we, Thine insignificant, pith-
less, and feeble servants ; because Thou hast
granted unto us Thy great grace which cannot
be repaid. For indeed Thou didst take upon
Thee our human nature, that Thou mightest be-
stow life on us through Thy divinity ; Thou didst
exalt our low condition ; Thou didst raise our
ruined state ; Thou didst rouse up our mortal-
ity ; Thou didst wash away our sins ; Thou didst
blot out the guilt of our sins ; Thou didst en-
lighten our intelligence, and Thou didst con-
demn our enemy, O Lord our God ; and Thou
didst cause the insignificance of our pithless na-
ture to triumph.

Here foUozu the words of institution,^ after
which : —

Through the tender mercies of Thy grace
poured out, O clement One, pardon our offences
and sins ; blot out my offences in the judgment.
And on account of all Thy aids and Thy favours
to us, we shall ascribe unto Thee praise,'' hon-
our, thanksgiving, and adoration, now, always,
and for ever and ever.

The Priest signs the sacraments. The response
is tnade.
Amen.

The Deacon.
Ill your minds. Pray for peace with us.

The Priest says this prayer^ bowing, and in a low
voice : —

O Lord God Almighty, accept this oblation
for the whole Holy Catholic Church, and for all

^ Spirimalibiis. [Note 3, p. 545, su/ra.]

3 [See Hammond, p. 274 ]

* Hymniim.

5 In another MS. that prayer begins thus : —

O Lord God Almighty, hear the voice of my cry before Thee at
this time. Give ear, O Lord, and hear my groanings before Thy
majesty, and accept the entreaty of me, a sinner, with which I call
npon Thy grace, at this honr at which the sacrifice is offered to Thy
Father. Have mercy on all creatnres; spare the guilty; convert the
erring; restore the oppressed ; on the disquieted bestow rest; heal the
weak; console the afflicted; and perfect the alms of those who work
righteousness on account of Thy holy name. Have nicrcy on me
also, a sinner, through Thy grace. O Lord God Almighty, may this
oblation be accepted for the entire Holy Catholic Church; and for
priests, kings, princes, and the rest as above.

EARLY LITURGIES.

565

the pious and righteous fathers who have been
pleasing to Thee, and for all the prophets and
apostles, and for all the martyrs and confessors,
and for all that mourn, that are in straits, and
are sick, and for all that are under difficulties
and trials, and for all the weak and the op-
pressed, and for all the dead that have gone
from amongst us ; then for all that ask a prayer
from our weakness, and for me, a degraded and
feeble sinner. O Lord our God, according to
Thy mercies and the multitude of Thy favours,
look upon Thy people, and on me, a feeble man,
not according to my sins and my follies, but
that they may become worthy of the forgiveness
of their sins through this holy body, which they
receive with faith, through the grace of Thy
mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

The Priest says this prayer of inclination in
secret : —

XIII. Do Thou, O Lord, through Thy many
and ineffable mercies, make the memorial good
and acceptable with that of^ all the pious and
righteous fathers who have been pleading before
Thee in the commemoration of the body and
blood of Thy Christ, which we offer to Thee
upon Thy pure and holy altar, as Thou hast
taught us ; and grant unto us Thy rest all the
days of this hfe.

He proceeds with the Great Oblation : —

O Lord our God, bestow on us Thy rest and
peace all the days of this life, that all the inhab-
itants of the earth may know Thee, that Thou
art the only true God the Father, and Thou
didst send' our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son and
Thy beloved ; and He Himself our Lord and
God came and taught us all purity and holiness.
Make remembrance of prophets, apostles, mar-
tyrs, confessors, bishops, doctors, priests, dea-
cons, and all the sons of the Holy Catholic
Church who have been signed with the sign of
life, of holy baptism. We also, O Lord :

He proceeds : —

We, Thy degraded, weak, and feeble servants
who are congregated in Thy name, and now
stand before Thee, and have received with joy
the form which is from Thee, praising, glorifying,
and exalting, commemorate and celebrate this
great, awful, holy, and divine mystery of the
passion, death, burial, and resurrection of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And may Thy Holy Spirit come, O Lord,^ and
rest upon this oblation of Thy servants which
they offer, and bless and sanctify it ; and may
it be unto us, O Lord, for the propitiation of our

' [Italics mine, conjecturally.]
* [The Invocation.]

offences and the forgiveness of our sins, and for
a grand hope of resurrection from the dead, and
for a new life in the kingdom of the heavens,
with all who have been pleasing before Him.
And on account of the whole of Thy wonderful
dispensation towards us, we shall render thanks
unto Thee, and glorify Thee without ceasing in
Thy Church, redeemed by the precious blood
of Thy Christ, with open mouths and joyful
countenances :

Canon.

Ascribing praise,^ honour, thanksgiving, and
adoration to Thy holy, loving, and life-giving
name, now, always, and for ever.

The Priest signs the mysteries with the cross,
and they respond: —
Amen.

The Priest bows' himself and kisses the altar,

first in the middle, then at the two sides right

and left, and says this prayer :* —

Have mercy upon me, O God, down to the

words, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee :

and unto Thee lift I up mine eyes,5 down to

have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon

us. Also stretch forth Thy hand, and let Thy

right-hand save me, O Lord ; may Thy mercies

remain upon me, O Lord, for ever, and despise

not the works of Thy hands.^

Then he says this prayer : —
XIV. O Christ, peace of those in heaven and
great rest of those below,^ grant that Thy rest
and peace may dwell in the four parts of the
world,^ but especially in Thy Holy Catholic
Church ; grant that the priesthood with the
government may have peace ; cause wars to
cease from the ends of the earth, and scatter
the nations that delight in wars,9 that we may
enjoy the blessing of living in tranquillity and
peace, in all temperance and fear of God. Spare
the offences and sins of the dead, through Thy
grace and mercies for ever.

And to those who are around the altar he says : —
Bless, O Lord. Bless, O Lord.

And he puts on the incense with which he fumes
himself, and says : —
Sweeten, O Lord our God, the unpleasing
savour '° of our souls through the sweetness of Thy

3 Hymnum.

* In another MS., says the Psalm li.

5 Ps. cxxiii.

6 [From Ps. cxxxviii. 7, 8.]
'' I.e., the dead.

8 [The first words of Dr. Butler's Ancient Geography teaches
that the ancients knew but three; but see p. 555, lines 7, 8. J

9 Lit. " wish for wars."

•° I So the true reading (Badger), though Edinburgh editors follow
the illogical emendation {jucunUu»i) of Renaudot.]

566

EARLY LITURGIES.

love, and through it cleanse me from the stains
of my sin, and forgive me my offences and sins,
whether known or unknown to me.

A second time he takes the incense with both
hands, and censes the mysteries; presently he
says : —

The clemency of Thy grace, O our Lord and
God, gives us access to these renowned, holy, life-
giving, and divine mysteries, unworthy though
we be.

The Priest repeats these words once and again,
and at each interval unites his hands over his
breast in the form of a cross. He kisses the
altar in the middle, and receives with both
hands the upper oblation ; and looking up,
says : —

Praise be to Thy holy name, O Lord Jesus
Christ, and adoration to Thy majesty, always
and for ever. Amen.

For He is the living and hfe-giving bread
which cometh down from heaven, and giveth
life to the whole world, of which they who eat
die not ; and they who receive it are saved by it,
and do not see corruption, and live through it for
ever ; and Thou art the antidote of our mortality,'
and the resurrection of our entire frame.^

XV.3

* » *

XVI. Praise to Thy holy name, O Lord. {As
above.)

The Priest kisses the host* in the form of a
cross ; in such a way, however, that his lips
do not touch it, but appear to kiss it; and he
says : —

Glory to Thee, O Lord ; glory to Thee, O
Lord, on account of Thine unspeakable gift to
us, for ever.

Then he draws nigh to the f-action of the host,'-
which he accomplishes with both his hands,
saying : —

We draw nigh, O Lord, with tnie faith, and
break with thanksgiving and sign through Thy
mercy the body and blood of our Life-giver,
Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost.

' [The reference to John vi. 32-40 is clear.]

* In another ms. there is a different reading: —

" Glory to Thee, O God the Father, who didst send Thine only-
begotten Son for our salvation, and He Himself before He suffered,"
etc.

3 In the MS. of Elias, which we have followed, there is a defect,
seeing that the whole recitation of the words of Christ is omitted
through the fault of the transcriber, or because these ought to have
been taken from another source, namely, from the Liturgy of The-
odorus or Nestorius. In that which the Patriarch Joseph wrote at
Rome, 1697, that entire passage is remodelled according to the
Chaldean missal published at Rome, as in the mass, a translation of
which was edited by Alexius Menesius. Since there were no other
codices at hand, in this place it seemed good to place asterisks to
indicate the defects.

■• [Renaudot supplies the Latin word hostiani. It is not the
early patristic word, much less is it scriptural for Si/<na.]

And, naming the Trinity, he breaks the host,*
which he holds in his hands, into two parts :
and the one which is in his left hand he lays
down on the disk; with the other, which he
holds in his right hand, he signs the chalice,
saying : —

The precious blood is signed with the holy
body of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost
for ever.

And they respond:

Amen.

Then he dips it even to the middle in the chalice,
and signs with it the body which is in the paten,
saying : —

The holy body is signed with the propitiatory
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost for ever.

And they respond : —

Amen.

And he unites the two parts, the one with the
other, saying : —

Divided, sanctified, completed, perfected,
united, and commingled have been these re-
nowned, holy, life-giving, and divine mysteries,
the one with the other, in the adorable and glo-
rious name of Thy glorious Trinity, O Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, that they may be to us, O
Lord, for the propitiation of our offences and
the forgiveness of our sins ; also for the grand
hope of a resurrection from the dead, and of a
new life in the kingdom of the heavens, for us
and for the Holy Church of Christ our Lord,
here and in every place whatsoever, now and
always, and for ever.

XVII. In the meantime he signs the host^ with his
right thumb in the form of a cross from the
lo7ver part to the upper, and fro tn the right to
the left, and thus forms a slight fissure in it
where it has been dipped in the blood. He
puts a part of it into the chalice in the form
of a cross : the lower part is placed to7vards
the priest, the upper toivards the chalice, so
that the place of the fissure looks to the chalice.
He bows, and rising, says : —

Glory be to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, who
hast made me, unworthy though I be, through
Thy grace, a minister and mediator of Thy re-
nowed, holy, life-giving, and divine mysteries :
through the grace of Thy mercy, make me
worthy of the pardon of my offences and the
forgiveness of my sins.

s [i// supra, note 4, this page; also Burbidge, p. 95, note 2.]

EARLY LITURGIES.

567

He signs himself with the sign of the cross on
his forehead, and does the same to those stand-
ing round him. ^

The Deacons approach, and he signs each one of
them on the forehead, saying : —

Christ accept thy ministry : Christ cause thy
face to shine : Christ save thy Ufe : Christ make
thy youth to grow.

And they respond : —
Christ accept thy oblation.

XVIII. A// return to their own place ; and the
Priest, after bowing, rises and says, in the tone
of the Gospel : —

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God the Father, and the communion of
the Holy Ghost, be with us all.

The Priest signs himself, and lifts tip his hand
over his head, so that it should be in the air,
and the people be partakers in the singing : —

The Deacon says : —
We all with fear, etc.

And at these words : —
He hath given to us His mysteries :

The Priest begins to break ^ the body, and says : —

Be merciful, O Lord, through Thy clemency
to the sins and follies of Thy servants, and sanc-
tify our lips through Thy grace, that they may
give the fruits of glory and praise to Thy divin-
ity, with a41 Thy saints in Thy kingdom.

And, raising his voice, he says : —

And make us worthy, O Lord our God, to
stand before Thee continually without stain, with
pure heart, with open countenance, and with the
confidence which is from Thee, mercifully granted
to us : and let us all with one accord invoke
Thee, and say thus : Our Father, etc.

The People say : —
Our Father, etc.

The Priest?
O Lord God Almighty, O Lord and our good
God, who art full of mercy, we beg Thee, O
Lord our God, and beseech the clemency of

' In another MS.: —
He signs his forehead with the sign of the cross, and

says : —

Glory to Thee, O Lord, who didst create me by Thy grace.
Glory to Thee, O Lord, who didst call me by Thy mercy. Glory to
Thee, O Lord, who didst appoint me the mediator of Thy gift; and
on account of all the benefits to my weakness, ascribed unto Thee be
praise, honour^ thanksgiving, and adoration, now, etc.

- [Not (cAak, but /utAi^eii/. The second fraction for communi-
cating the faithful with the Humble Access.\

^ [Adds the Embolisms.]

Thy goodness ; lead us not into temptation, but
deliver and save us from the evil one and his
hosts ; because Thine is the kingdom, the power,
the strength, the might, and the dominion in
heaven and on earth, now and always.

He signs himself, and they respond : —
Amen.

XIX. And he proceeds : —
Peace be with you.

They respond : —
With thee and with thy spirit.

He proceeds : —

It is becoming that the holy things should be
to the holy in perfection.

And they say : —

One holy Father : one holy Son : one Holy
Ghost. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Deacon.

Praise ye.

And they say the responsory. And when the
Deacon comes to carry the chalice, he says : —
Let us pray for peace with us.

The Priest says : —

The grace of the Holy Ghost be with thee,
with us, and with those who receive Him.

And he gives the chalice to the Deacon. The
Deacon says : —
Bless, O Lord.

The Priest.
The gift of the grace of our Life-giver and
Lord Jesus Christ be completed, in mercies, with
all.

And he signs the people with the cross. In the
meantime the responsories are said.

Brethren, receive the body of the Son, cries
the Church, and drink ye His chalice with faith
in the house of His kingdom.

On feast-days.
Strengthen, O Lord, etc.

On the Lord^s day.
O Lord Jesus Christ, etc.

Daily.
The mysteries which we have received, etc.

The responsories being ended, the Deacon says : —
All therefore, etc.

568

ELUCIDATIONS.

And they respond : —

Glory be to Himself on account of His ineffa-
ble gift.

The Deacon.
Let us pray for peace with us.

The Priest at the middle of the altar says this
prayer : ■ —

XX. It is meet, O Lord, just and right in all
days, times, and hours, to thank, adore, and
praise the awful name of Thy majesty, because
Thou hast through Thy grace, O Lord, made us,
mortal men possessing a frail nature, worthy to
sanctify Thy name with the heavenly ^ beings,
and to become partakers of the mysteries of
Thy gift, and to be delighted with the sweetness
of Thy oracles. And voices of glory and thanks-
giving we ever offer up to Thy sublime divinity,

0 Lord.

Another.

Christ, our God, Lord, King, Saviour, and
Life-giver, through His grace has made us wor-
thy to receive His body and His precious and
all-sanctifying blood. May He grant unto us
that we may be pleasing unto Him in our words,
works, thoughts, and deeds, so that that pledge
which we have received may be to us for the

1 ardon of our offences, the forgiveness of our
sins, and the grand hope of a resurrection from
the dead, and a new and true life in the kingdom
of the heavens, with all who have been pleasing
before Him, through His grace and His mercies
for ever.

On ordinary days.
Praise, O Lord, honour, blessing, and thanks-
giving we ought to ascribe to Thy glorious Trinity
for the gift of Thy holy mysteries, which Thou
hast given to us for the propitiation of our
offences, O Lord of all.

' [Beginning the Post-Communion.]
' Spintualibus.

Another.
Blessed be Thy adorable honour, from Thy
glorious place, O Christ, the propitiator of our
offences and our sins, and who takest away our
follies through Thy renowned, holy, life-giving,
and divine mysteries. Christ the hope of our
nature always and for ever. Amen.

Obsignation or final benediction.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom we have
ministered, and whom we have seen and hon-
oured in His renowned, holy, life-giving, and
divine mysteries. Himself render us worthy of
the splendid glory of His kingdom, and of glad-
ness with His holy angels, and for confidence
before Him, that we may stand at His right
hand.

And on our entire congregation may His mer-
cies and compassion be continually poured out,
now and always, and ever.

On the Lord's day and 07i feast-days.

May He Himself who blessed us with all spirit-
ual blessings in the heavens, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, and prepared us for His kingdom, and
called us to the desirable good things which
neither cease nor perish, as He promised to us
in His life-giving Gospel, and said to the blessed
congregation of His disciples — Verily, verily I
say unto you, that every one who eateth my
body and drinketh my blood, abideth in me,
and I in him, and I will raise him up at the last
day ; and he cometh not to judgment, but I will
make him pass from death to eternal life :

May He Himself now bless this congregation,
and maintain our position, and render glorious
our people who have come and rejoiced in re-
ceiving His renowned, holy, life-giving, and divine
mysteries ; and may ye be sealed and guarded by
the holy sign of the Lord's cross from all evils,
secret and open, now and always.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Disciple of the holy Peter, p. 551.)

The early use of the originals of this liturgy in the Alexandrian patriarchate accounts for its
bearing the name of St. Mark, — "sister's son to Barnabas," as St. Paul calls him.' That he was
St. Peter's pupil may be inferred from that Apostle's language,* — " Marcus, my son." See Clem-
ent's testimony concerning him (with Eusebius) in vol. ii. pp. 579, 580, this series. That he
founded the " Evangelical See," though resting on great historic authority,^ seems to be doubted
in our times by some.

' Col. iv. lo.

' Comp.ire Act."; xii. 12. St. Peter may have baptized him then.
' Lardner's quotations from Jerome, Credib., vol. iv. p. 443 it alibi.

ELUCIDATIONS. 569

II.

(Our holy father Mark, p. 556.)

While St. Mark could not have written this, it may, of course, have been added at a very
early date.' This most touching prayer bears marks of great antiquity, the reference to our
" Christ-loving sovereign " comporting better with the early enthusiasm inspired by Constantine's
conversion than with the disappointments incurred under his Arianizing or apostate successors.
Now, this commemoration of St. Mark would of itself attach his name to the hturgy.

But here is the place to note the principles of these primitive prayers for saints departed. ( i )
They could only be offered in behalf of the holy dead who had fallen asleep in full communion
with Christ and His Church; (2) They were not prayers for their deliverance out of one place
into another; (3) They recognised the repose (not yet the triumph) of the faithful departed as
incomplete, and hence (4) invoked for them a blessed consummation of peace and joy in the
resurrection.

Now, all this is fatal to the Roman dogmas and usages, because (i) they thus include St.
Mark and the Blessed Virgin in these commemorations ; while Rome teaches, not only that these
great saints went immediately to the excellent glory, and there have reigned with Christ ever
since they died, but (2) that on this very ground, and that of their supererogatory merits, the
Pontiff holds a purse ^ of their excessive righteousness to dispense to meaner Christians.

St. Augustine speaks of his dear Nebridius as in Abraham's bosom,^ but finds comfort in
commemorating him and Monica his mother, "because it is so comfortable," This is his idea, in
a word : " Et credo jam feceris quod te rogo, sed (Ps. cxix. 108) voluntaria oris mei, approba,
Domine."

III.

(Holy things for the holy, p. 559.)

Bingham'* has so fully elucidated this by quotations from Chrysostom (Horn, vii.) and others,
that one might think it useless to attach to it any other meaning than that which Chrysostom
understands in it; viz., " Holy things for holy persons." It occurs just before the communicat-
ing of the faithful, and has nothing whatever to do with the "elevation of the host," — a Western
ceremony of the fourteenth century.s Yet, in an otherwise (generally) useful manual of liturgies,
an attempt is made to give it this meaning; and the preceding prayer of "Intense Adoration,"
addressed to the Great High Priest in the heavens, is debased to eke out the weak idea. Nothmg
could be more averse to the primitive principle of worship;^ but it is sufficient to note the fact
that the " elevation of the host " revolutionized the eucharistic worship of the West as soon as it
was established. ( i ) It abolished the Eucharist practically as the sy?iaxis, or communion of the
faithful, and made it only a sacrifice for them in their behalf; (2) not to be eaten and received,
but to be gazed at; (3) not for all the faithful at all times, excluding even catechumens from
beholding it, but to be displayed to all eyes in pompous ceremonials, carried through the streets,
and dispensed only in half-communion, once a year, to the individual communicant. All these
ancient liturgies, corrupted as they are in all the mss. we possess, are yet liturgies for communicating
the faithful, in their turns,? one and all ; and, so far, they are true to the Scriptures and the pre-
cepts of Christ and His Apostles. But well does the pious Hirscher exclaim, with reference to

' As with Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 5.

* Bellarmine, De Indulg., i. 2.

3 Confessions, ix. 3, 12, et alibi.

* Anttqii., book i. cap. iv. sec. 5; book xiii. cap. vi. sec. 7; book xv. cap. iii. sec. 31.
S See Roman Mass, Hammond, p. 334.

' As illustrated in Freeman's important work. See p. 536, note a.
' See Apostolic Constitutions, pp. 490, 548, supra.

570 ELUCIDATIONS.

the Mass, as he was obliged to celebrate it in his own gorgeous cathedral at Freiburg in the
Breisgau : "What would an Apostle think we were doing, should he enter during our ceremonies ?"
Also, " I know all that can be said in their favour. I know just as well that by them the spirit is
turned apart from internal godliness, and borne away; and that, with such appeals to sense, with-
drawal from things of sense becomes impossible. . . . God is a Spirit : He looks to be adored in
spirit and in truth, and all ceremonial which dulls the adoration ' of the spirit is odious to God.
To glorify self, as His minister, before the King of kings, before the majesty of the Creator,
before His Christ, naked and crucified, — is it not an absurdity, a ceremony of contradictions ?
The people no longer comprehend the ceremonial ... to see them satisfied by mere corporal
attendance, is it not deplorable ? They do not understand Latin. Is it not melancholy that they
take no real part in the touching offices of the Holy Week ? Is not a deplorable indifference the
result ; in France, for example ? Nay, at Rome also ? " *

His remonstrances were vain ; he was cruelly censured, yet he died in the Papal communion.
Dear Hirscher ! The venerable man kissed me when I parted from him in 185 1,^ and gave me
his blessing with a primitive spirit of Christian charity. I gratefully quote him here.

In Germany a passing stranger often sees the pious peasantry at Mass, singing with all their
hearts their beautiful German hymns. It misleads, however. They are not attending to the
Mass, but consoling themselves by spiritual songs, while it goes on without their assistance. The
bell rings : they adore the host, but that is all their relation to the worship of the Christian litur-
gies. Hirscher loved their hymns, but bewailed the utter loss of their liturgic communion, once
common to the faithful."*

IV.

(Teachers of the Easterns, etc., p. 561.)

The apostle Thaddeus is called Addai in Syriac. Maris is said to have been one of the seventy
disciples, but his name is not on the list ascribed to Hippolytus. He was the first bishop of the
people now called " Nestorians," but whom Dr. Badgers prefers to call "the Christians of As-
syria."

We have this liturgy in another form in Dr. Badger's important work, Nestorians and their
Rituals. He selects that called "the Liturgy of Nestorius" from three which are in use among
the Assyrians, but criticises the translation of Renaudot as not entirely faultless. It is selected
by Dr. Badger because of its reputed Nestorianism ; while Hammond gives us what is here trans-
lated, in Renaudot's Latin.^ We must bear in mind, that, since the Ephesine Council (a.d. 431),
these Christians have been separated from the communion of Eastern orthodoxy.

The Malabar Liturgy should be carefully compared with this by the student. A convenient
translation of it is to be found in Neale and Littledale. A most important fact, by the way, is
noted in their translation ; ^ viz., that in this Malabar " the invocation of the Holy Ghost, contrary
to the use of every other Oriental liturgy, preceded the words of institution ; " that is to say, in
the work of the Portuguese revisers, a work from which Dr. Neale and his colleague feel justified
in making " a considerable alteration " as to the order of the prayers.

The words of institution are found in the Malabar, and suggest that they belong not less to
this Liturgy of the Assyrians, though, ex sujnma verecundia^ they are omitted from the transcript,
as the Lord's Prayer is omitted in the Clementine.

* The " Intense Adoration " of the liturgies.

' Die Christlichen Zustdnde der Gegenivart, Freiburg, 1850. My translation appeared in Oxford in 1852, and is often advertised In
old book catalogues as Sympathies 0/ the Continent ; or. Proposals for a New Reformation.

* On St. Bartholomew's Day.

* See his Study of the Eucharist. He tried to revive primitive views of the Eucharist in this excellent work on the subject.
5 See his contribution to the Liverpool Church Congress of 1869. Bartlett & Co., London.

* P. 267.

7 P. 165, ed. of 1869.

* Hammond, p. Ix., hitroducti^n.

ELUCIDATIONS. 57i

The normal form of this corrupted liturgy is credited with extreme antiquity by Dr. Neale.
To his learned and cogent reasoning on the subject the student should by all means refer.'

(For all the prophets and confessors, p. 565.)

These commemorations of the dead, it will be noted, are in behalf of the most glorious
apostles and saints, and for martyrs who go straight to glory. Obviously, as Usher has said,* for
whatever purpose, then, the departed were commemorated, it was not to change their estate before
the resurrection, much less to relieve them from purgatorial penalties. This comes out in the
"Liturgy of St. Chrysostom " (so called), where it is said: "We offer to Thee this reasonable
service for those who have fallen asleep in faith, . . . patriarchs, apostles, evangelists, martyrs,
. . . and every just one made perfect in the faith : especially our all-holy, undefiled, most blessed
I^dy, Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary," etc. But she, they tell us, was assumed into glory, like
Christ Himself, and reigns with Him as " Queen of Angels," etc. See Elucidation II. p. 569.

(The propitiatory blood, etc., p. 566.)

The peril of confounding the early use of this idea of propitiation with the mediaeval theory,
which is quite another, is well pointed out and enforced by Burbidge.^ The primitive writers
and the ancient liturgies "do not regard the Eucharist as being itself a. propitiatory offering," but
it is the perpetual pleading of the blood of propitiation once offered. Thus St. Chrysostom :
" We do not offer another sacrifice, but always the same.'' So far, his words might be quoted to
favour the Middle-Age doctrine ; but he guards himself, and adds : * " or, rather, we make a
memorial of the sacrifice."

The rhetoric of the liturgies and of the Fathers was unhappily made into the logic of the
Schoolmen,, and hence the stupendous system of propitiatory Masses, with Masses for the dead,
and that traffic in Masses which so fearfully defiles the priesthood of Western Europe and the
Spanish and Portuguese colonies in America. In vain does the pious Hirscher complain : s " The
rich, then, are the happy sinners in this respect : they can buy innumerable Masses, and estab-
lish them in perpetuity ; their privileges have no limit, and their advantages over the poor extend
through all eternity." His book was put into the Index (Acts xvi. 19, xix. 27), but it was never
answered.

VIL

Let me now recur to Elucidation III. on p. 507, to which I would here add the following
from Bishop Williams, as there quoted : —

"In both the Mozarabic and the Gallican Liturgies there was an invocation as well as an oblation. Irenaeus'
says (and he, writing at Lyons, must have in mind the Gallican Liturgy), ' The bread which is of the earth, having
received the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist.' The word translated ' invoca-
tion ' is eirt/cA»?aiv ; and it is worthy of notice that Basil and Cyril of Jerusalem use the same word in evidently
the same technical sense (Harvey's Irenczus, vol. ii. pp. 205-207 and notes). In another passage Irenaeus '
speaks even more distinctly : ' We offer to God the bread and the cup of blessing, giving thanks to Him for that
He hath commanded the earth to bring forth these fruits for our nourishment; and, having finished the offerings

• General Introduction, etc., vol. i. p. 319, etc., ed. 1850. * Opp., torn. xii. p. 131, ed. Migne.

• See vol. vi. Elucidation IV. p. 541, this series. 5 ChristUche Zust'dnde, etc., p. 74.
S Liturgies, etc., p. 11. See also pp. 96, 1:0. * See vol. i. p. 486, note 6, this series.

' Fragment zxzvii. vol. i. p. 574, this series.

572 ELUCIDATIONS.

we invoke the Holy Spirit that He may exhibit (or declare, aifo^Tjvi)) this sacrifice and bread the body of Christ,
and the cup the blood of Christ, that they who shall receive these antitypes may obtain remission of sins and
everlasting life' (Harvey's Irenceus, vol. ii. p. 502). This passage is a remarkable one. It proves beyond ques-
tion, that, in the time of Irenaeus (^. a.d. 202 or 208), the Liturgy of Gaul contained an invocation of the Holy
Ghost following the oblation of the bread and cup. Moreover, when we compare the words of Irenaeus with
tjiose of the Clementine Liturgy, their agreement is too clear and precise to be explained as a mere chance-
matter. The liturgy reads, ' Send down Thy Holy Spirit on this sacrifice, the witness of the sufferings of the
Lord Jesus, that He may exhibit {a.'Ko^rivr)) this bread, the body of Thy Christ, and this cup, the blood of Thy
Christ, that they who shall receive,' ' etc. Irenaeus says as above, using the same word (utto^^vt/), a word which
is found, it is believed, in no liturgy but the Clementine."

Now I humbly suggest that Justin Martyr and Irenaeus concur in giving us evidence that the
Clementine Liturgy is substantially that which was used in Rome and Gaul in their times. The
latter may have received it from Polycarp. The use of the Roman and the Greek churches was
uniform in his day, as may be inferred from the intercourse of Polycarp and Victor.^

' See p. 489, iupra. * Fragment iii. vol. i. p. 568, this series.

INDEXES.

LACTANTIUS.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Academics, 15.

Accius Naevius and Tarquinius Pris-
cus, 51.

Adam, creation and fall of, 62.

Advent of Christ, 215.

yEsculapius, 19, 51, 226.

Affections, Stoics' opinion on, 179;
Peripatetics', 179,180; right use
of, 181; of the soul, 29S; sum-
mary of above, 323.

Africanus, 31.

Almsgiving, duty of, 178.

Amalthea, goat of, 36.

Anaxagoras, testifies to the existence
of God, 14.

Anaximenes, his theory of God, 14.

Ancestors, authority of, 50.

Angels, how corrupted, 64, 231.

Anger, defined, 274 ; necessary to
punishment, 274 ; of God, against
sin, 273, unlike man's, 277 ; wit-
nessed to by the Sibyls, 278, and
by the oracle of Apollo, 279.

Animals, creation of, 282 ; noxious,
199; figure of, 286; theories of
Epicurus, 87.

Anthropos, meaning of the term, 41.

Antichrist, 215.

Antipodes, theory of, incredible, 94.

Antisthenes, testifies to the unity of
God, 14.

Apollo, on the unity of God, 17; on
His anger against sin, 279; on
immortality, 210; his disgrace-
ful conduct, 19, 226; his utter-
ance respecting Jesus, 112.

Apollonius of Tyana, 138, 139 (notes).

Apologists, early Christian, 136, 140.

Apostles, mission of, 301.

Apuleius, 138 and note.

Aratus, 24.

Arcesilas, his philosophy, 72; does
not distinguish the knowable and
unknowable, 72.

Archimedes, his orrery, 48.

Aristippus and Lais, 84.

Aristotle, on the unity of God, 14.

Aristoxenes, denies the mind, 297.

Ascension of Christ, 122, 241.

Ass, sacrificed to Priapus, 36.

Astrology, invented by demons, 65,
232.

Atoms, theory of, 87.

Aurelian, persecutor, 303.

Bacchus, character of, 226.

Bald Venus, the, 33.

Barbarians, their rites of worship,

229.
Bellona, 38.

Body, parts of, 288-295.
Body and soul, conflict between, 79;

separated but not destroyed by

death, 208.
Bounty, or liberality, 175.
Burial of the dead, duty of, 177.

Candidianus, 321.

Carneades, disputes for and against
justice, 150; refuted, 153.

Castor and Pollux, 19, 51, 226.

Cato, suicide of, 89.

Ceres, 52.

Chanaanites, 63.

Christ, meaning of His name, 106;
reason of His incarnation, 106;
prophecies of, 109, 239; philo-
sophical objections answered,
124; His incarnation necessary,
125; the lie of Hierocles re-
specting, 138; not a magician,
139; why believed to be God,
III, 139; acknowledged by the
oracle of Apollo, 112; His sec-
ond advent, 215; His name
known to the Father and Him-
self, 239; His twofold nativity,
109; His priesthood foretold,
113; His power and works, 1 1 5,
127, 240; His death foretold,
116, 120, 121, 240; His resurrec-
tion, ascension, and kingdom
foretold, 122, 123, 241 ; meaning
and power of His cross, 128,
243 ; poem on His passion, 327.

Christians, hated without cause, 144,
243; glory in persecution, 148;
increase under persecution, 148,
160; their fortitude, 148, and
patience, 158 ; their equality and
brotherhood, 151 ; folly and cru-
elty of persecuting them, 147 ;
their submission to injuries, 159;
why subject to evil, 160; why
poor and oppressed, 165; God's
vengeance on their persecutors,
i6i ; exhortation to, 222 ; their
true hope, 243, 255; accused by
Galerius, 306.

Chronos, 25.

Chrysippus, on the unity of God, 14.

Church, the Catholic, 133.

Cicero, on the unity cJ God, 14;
Jupiter, 22 ; De Natura Deorum,
27 ; the gods mere men, 28, 29 ;
fears to testify against idolatry,
43 ; on the authority of ances-
tors, 50 ; on creation, 53 ; on
philosophy, 81 ; on wisdom, 81,
83 ; on the character of philoso-
phers, 84 ; why men were born,
89 ; on the immortality of the
soul, 90 ; on future rewards and
punishments, 90; on life and
death, 90; on philosophy as ad-
verse to the multitude, 95 ; on
fortune, 98 ; on the divine law,
170; on justice, 184; why God
made noxious animals, 199; on
the origin of souls, 267.

Circensian games, evil of, 188.

Circumcision, 118.

Claudia, alleged miracle of, 51.

Cleanthes, on the unity of God, 14.

Cloacina, 32.

Coelus, 24.

Comedies, metres of, 323.

Constantine, address to, 10, 221 ; sent
for by his father Constantius, es-
capes from Galerius, acknowl-
edged as emperor, marries
Fausta, plotted against by Max-
imian, 31 1 ; plot of Daia against,
318; his vision of the heavenly
sign, 318; defeats Maxentius,
318; restores Christian churches,
320.

Constantius, 306, 311.

Continence, 190.

Cornelius Nepos, on philosophers, 84.

Creation, what it is, 58 ; of man, 58,
211, 231, 283; of the world for
man, 251 ; of animals, 282; days
of, 211.

Cross of Jesus, meaning of, 128;
power of, 128, 129, 130, 243;
symbols of, 129; sign of, 129;
Constantine's vision of, 318.

Cupid, as represented by poets, 26.

Curetes, nurses of Jupiter, 23.

Cynics, the, 84, 237.

Cyprian, St., apologist for Christian-
ity, 136, 140 (note).

S7S

576

LACTANTIUS : INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Daia, made Caesar, 308 ; persecutes
Christians, 315; his superstition,
oppression, and licentiousness,
315 ; solicits Valeria in marriage,
and, refused, banishes her, 316;
cruelties to ladies of rank, 317 ;
unites with Maxentius against
Licinius and Constantine, 318;
defeat and flight, 320; miserable
death, 321.

Damon and Pythias, 153.

Danae, 22.

Death, not to be feared, 87.

Death and life, 87, 88, 207 ; Cicero
quoted respecting, 90 ; the first
and second death, 61, 62.

Decius, persecutor, 302.

Demetrianus, 140.

Democritus, 11 ; his theory of prop-
erty, 93.

Demons, their origin, two kinds of,
recognised by Plato and Soc-
rates, meaning of the name, in-
fluence of, 64 ; inventors of
astrology and divination, 65, 66,
232, and oracles, 66; exorcised
by Christians, 65, 159; Identified
with heathen gods, 232 ; their
rage against Christians, 64.

Devil. See Satan.

Diagoras, denies the gods, 11.

Diocletian, persecutor, his avarice,
303 ; searcher into futurity, 304 ;
stirred up against the Christians,
305 ; his illness, 307 ; forced to
resign, 309; his death, 317.

Dionysius of Sicily, despoils the
images of the gods, 45.

Divination, invented by demons, 65,
66, 232.

Domitian, persecutor, 302.

Donatus, confessor, heroism of, 307.

Dreams illustrating philosophical
contradictions, "jy

Ears, pleasures derived from, 188.
Earth, not a creative power, 87 ;

spherical form of, arguments

against, 94. See World.
Egyptians, the first astronomers and

inventors of idolatry, 63.
Eloquence and truth compared, 9.
Empedocles, on the elements of man,

61.
Emperors of Rome, six at one time,

Ennms, on Jupiter and the gods, 22,
24, 26, 228 ; on Romulus, 28 ;
on Africanus, 31.

Epicurus, denies providence, 11, 236,
287; against the Stoics, 197,
261 ; on the creation of the
world, 87, 197, 236; errors of
his philosophy, 86, 261, 263, first
taught by Leucippus, 87.

Euclid, on immortality, 80.

Euhemerus, on Jupiter and the gods,
22, 26, 228.

Europa, fable of, 21.

Kvil, origin of, 52; necessary, 142.

Eyes of man, 188.

Faith, duty of, 250.
Faunus and Fauna, 38, 229.
Fire, principle of life, 58.
Flofxl, tradition of, 59.

Fortitude, religious duty of, 250.
Fortune, no goddess, 97 ; not man's

adversary, 99.
Fulvius, censor, story of, 52.
Furies, the three, 185.

Galerius, persecutor, stirred up by
his mother against the Chris-
tians, 305 ; edict against them,
306; his cruelty and oppression,
309, 314 ; recognises Constantine
as emperor, 311; invasion of
Italy and retreat, 312; stricken
with incurable disease, 314; edict
in favour of Christians, and
death, 315.

Ganymede, 21.

Gauls, why called Galatians, 323.

Generation not spontaneous, 60.

Gibbon, his criticism on Lactantius,
300 (note).

Goat of Amalthea, 36.

God, one only. Creator of all, 11,

224, 268 ; foretold by the proph-
ets, 13, 224 ; testified to by poets
and philosophers, 13, 225, by
Hermes, 15, by the Sibyls, 16,

225, 278, by Apollo, 17, 279;
without body or sex, 17, 226;
cannot be worshipped with false
gods, 32 ; men forget Him, but
recognise Him in adversity, 40;
alone to be worshipped, 47, 171 ;
the Creator of matter, 53, of the
world, 53, 265, of animals, 58;
Governor of the world, 104; His
patience, 109, 232, bounty to all,
260, providence, 232, 264 ; be-
gets the Son, one with Himself,
105, 109, 132; His worship
man's highest duty, 171, 263,
contrasted with worship of false
gods, 246, 280; not to be con-
founded with the world, 265 ;
anger of, 263, 273, 277, 278,
279; error of Epicureans and
Cicero, 263, 264 ; why incarnate,
242.

Gods, heathen, men, as shown by En-
nius and Euhemerus, 26; possess
sex, 28 ; vices of, and patrons of
vice, 30, 146, 227 ; how conse-
crated, instances of Ceres and
Liber, 30; those of Rome and
their rites, 32 ; origin of their
worship, 32, 63 ; stars regarded
as, 32 ; their rites vain, ■^■})i 203,
and depraving, 64 ; kinds of sac-
rifice offered to them, 32; de-
mons, 64, 130; vainly wor-
shipped by images, 67 ; religion
of, 203.

Golden age fabled under Saturn, 142,
230 ; exists in obedience to God,

143-

Good, the chief, opinions of philoso-
phers respecting, 74, 76, 234 ;
nature of, 77 ; in immortality
alone, 80, 235 ; not in bodily life.
74, 80; not without evil, 75.

Gravitation, theory of, 95.

Greece, seven wise men of, loi.

Heathen, folly of their worship, 157,

158.
Hebrews, history of, 63, 108.

Hercules, life and death, 18, 31 ;

vices, 226; rites in honour of,

36.
Heresies, origin of, 133 and notes.
Hermes Trismegistus, on the unity

of God, 15; on immortality, 210;

on the last days, 215.
Hesiod, on the generation of the

gods, 14.
Hierocles against Christianity, 137

and note.
Homer, 12, 14, 19.
Horace, 45.
Hospitality, true principle of, 176.

Idolatry, originated in Egypt, 63.

Images, folly of making and worship-
ping, 42, 46, 67.

Immortality, the reward of virtue,
155; chief good found in, 80 ;
belongs to the soul, 81, 88, 205,
253; taught by Pythagoras and
the Stoics, 88, 205, by Cicero, 9©;
hope of, despises death, 154;
proofs of, 206; testimony of
Homer, Apollo, and the Sibyls,
210.

Incarnation of Christ, reason and
mystery of, 106; prophesied, 109,
no; arguments of unbelievers
against, 124; necessary to true
religion, 125, to His mediation
and restoration of man, 126.

Infanticide, practised by heathen, 187.

lo, 21.

Isis, sacred rites of, 35.

Jesus, birth of, 106, 109, no; Son of
God and Son of man, no, n2;
His priesthood, n3, life and
miracles, n4, passion foretold,
1 16, 1 19, death, burial, and resur-
rection, 1 22, ascension, 1 23 ; hated
by the Jews, n6, n7; coming as
a Mediator, 126; His resurrection
denied by unbelievers, 124; mean-
ing of His miracles, cross, and
passion, 127, 12S; typified by the
paschal lamb, 129.

Jews, history of, 108, rites, 118, dis-
persion, 123.

Judgment, the last, 216, 221, 254.

Jupiter, his origin, life, name, and
death, 20; tomb, 23; three of
the name, 23; his father, 23; the
Cretan, 23; nursed bvtheCuretes,
23 ; temples to, 23 ; his actions
as related by Euhemerus, 24 ; his
licentious life, 227.

Just man, character of, 183; Cicero's
error, 1S4.

Justice, banished by Jupiter and re-
stored by Christ, 142; made
known to all, but embraced by
few, 143; argument of Carneades
for and against, 15S; nature of,
150, 154; source in piety and
equity, 150; answers to objec-
tions, 153; of the Christians,
151 ; violated by persecution,
145, 147; duties of, 151, 247:
man's birthright, 225; tiie wor
ship of Ciod, and true wisdom,
245.

Knowledge and supposition, 233.

LACTANTIUS : INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

577

Lamb, the paschal, a type of Christ,
129.

Larentina, 32.

Last times, the, 253.

L41W, divine, described by Cicero,
170.

I^ucippus, first teacher of Epicurean
philosophy, 87.

Liberality, not in shows, public works,
or patronage, 175.

Licinius, Emperor, treaty with Daia,
315; attacked by him, 319; his
dream, 319; defeats Daia, 320;
puts to death Valeria and others,
321.

Lights, offering of, in worship, need-
less, 163.

Lindus of Rhodes, honours to Her-
cules at, 36.

Logos, meaning of the name, 107.

Lucilius, defines virtue, 167.

Lucretius, 28, 44 ; on origin of wisdom,
82.

Lust, the source of all evils, 141.

Magician, Christ none, 139.

Man, creation of, by and for God,
56, 58, 199, 203, 252,271; testi-
monies of Ovid and Sallust, 58,
62 ; fable of his creation by Pro-
metheus, 59; his body and its
various parts, 288-295; his mind
and brain, 296; his upright form,
41, 201, etc.; his life shortened,
62 ; why subject to sin, 272 ; why
weak and mortal, 284 ; his earthly
and spiritual life, 200; God's care
for, 273 ^ the world made for, 269.

Mars, 19, 226.

Matter, created by God, 53.

Maxentius, Emperor, 311, with Max-
imian, and degraded, 312; his
defeat and death, 318.

Maximian, Herculius, character of,
303 ; emperor with Maxentius,
312, degraded, and plots against
Constantine, 313 ; his death, 313.

Melisseus, king of the Cretans, 38.

Mercury, character of, 19, 226.

Mercy, man's chief duty to man, 173,

250.
■ Millenium, the, 218, 254.

Minucius Felix, on Saturn, 23; his
Octavius eulogized, 136.

Miracles, meaning of, 127.

Nature, use of the word by the hea-
then, 97 ; nothing apart from
God, 97 ; error of Stoics respect-
ing, 196.

Neptune, dominion of, 22.

Nero, the first persecutor, death of,
312.

Newton, Sir Isaac, his orrery, 48
(note).

Nicomedia, church of, destroyed, 305;
restored, 320.

Noah, history of, 63.

Numa Pompilius, introduces the wor-
ship of new gods, 37, 229; his
books found and burned, 37.

Olympus, Mount, 22.
Ops, 25.

Oracle of Apollo, acknowledges
Christ, 112.

Oracles, testify to Christian truth,

257 (note).
Orpheus, on the unity of God, 13;

introduced the rites of Bacchus

into Greece, 38.
Osiris, 38.
Ovid, on the unity of God, 14; on

Vesta, 24; on Saturn, 25; on

creation, 41, 56, 58.

Parcae, the three, 59.

Passion of Christ, poem on, 327, 328
(note).

Passions, the three furies, 247 ; to be
subdued, 249.

Patience, duty of, 184.

Persecution, its cruelty and irration-
ality, 147, 243.

Persius, on the vanity of idols, 45.

Peter and Paul, SS., martyred at
Rome, 302.

Philo, on sacrifice, 255 (note).

Philosophers, testify to the unity of
God, 13; refute falsehood, but
do not know the truth, 44; their
lives at variance with their pre-
cepts, 83 ; seekers after wisdom
in name, but not in fact, 70 ; con-
fess absolute truth to be unat-
tainable, 98 ; resemble disin-
herited sons or runaway slaves,
104; their precepts not obeyed,
124; their variations and contra-
dictions, 10, 204, 234, 238.

Philosophy, vain because conjecture,
not knowledge, 71 ; not the
parent of life and truth, 82 ;
should be for all men, but as
taught is for the learned only,
95 ; not taught to women, slaves,
or barbarians, 95 ; does not find
the chief good, divine wisdom,
96, 102; not the mistress of life,

97-

Phlegon, 257 (note).

Phoenix, poem on the, 324.

Piety, succours widows, orphans, and
the sick, 177.

Plato, on the unity of God, 14; con-
sequences of his theory of a
community of goods and wives,
92 ; approaches nearer the truth
than other philosophers, 197,
236; on creation, 197.

Pluto, dominion of, 22.

Poets testify to the unity of God, 13.

Polytheism contrary to nature, as
denying the Fatherhood of God,
103.

Poverty, tends to virtue, 195.

Priapus, sacrifice of an ass to, ^d.

Prisca put to death by Licinius, 321.

Prometheus fabled to have made
man, 59.

Prophets, true and false, 214; of the
Old Testament, antiquity of, 13,
104.

Protagoras, doubts the existence of
God, II.

Providence, divine, 11, 224.

Punishment, future, 217.

Pyrrhus, shipwreck of, 52.

Pythagoras, on the unity of God, 14;
gave name to philosophy, 70;
pretended to have been Euphor-
bus, 89; on the immortality of

the soul, 88; on the transmigra-
tion of souls, 89, 236.
Pythagoreans, persuade to suicide,
89.

Quirites, the fathers of Rome, 50.

Religion, meaning of the term, 131,
172; reason in, 131 ; cannot be
separated from wisdom, 11, 51,
100, 103 ; distinguished from
superstition, 131 ; teaches mercy
towards men, 172, 173.

Repentance, duty of, 178; value of,
190, 251.

Resurrection, of Christ, 122 ; of men,
218, 221.

Rewards and punishments, future,
90, 217.

Rites, of the Roman gods, 228, 229.

Rome, ages of> 213.

Romulus, establishes the Quirites, 50.

Sacrifice, spiritual and material, 192.

Sacrifices, in heathen worship, 162.

Sallust, on the creation of man, 62.

Satan, origin of, 52 ; he, not fortune,
the adversary of man, 99; loosed
after the Millenium, 220.

Saturn, father of Jupiter, 23, 24, 26;
happy state of things under his
reign, 143, 228.

Scripture, despised by the learned
for its simplicity, 136.

Seneca, on the unity of God, 15; on
the vanity of idols, 45; error in
philosophy, 83; on the character
of philosophers, 84.

Senses, pleasures of, to be restrained.
186, 248.

Seven Wise Men of Greece, loi.

Sex, does not belong to God, 28.

Shows, public, cruel and unjust, i86,
corrupting, 248.

Sibylline books, the, 15, 16; their
value to Christianity, 256 (note).

Sibyls, number and character, 15,
16 ; testimony respecting God,
16, 27, 61 ; the Erythraean, 16, 18,
26, proclaims the Son of God,
105; on immortality, 210; on the
last days, 215.

Snakes, why made by God, 199.

Socrates, denies human knowledge,
237 ; his wisdom, 91 ; his incon-
sistency, 91, 237.

Soul, the true man, 43 ; office of, 62 ;
immortality of, taught by philos-
ophers, 205, proofs of, 206, 253;
its affections, 298 ; the seat of, as
held by philosophers, 297 ; dis-
tinguished from the mind, 298;
the gift of God, 298.

Stars, worshipped as gods, 47, 231 ;
ordered by God, 48.

Stoics, their physical interpretation
of mythology, 24; called the ele-
ments gods, 24, 29 ; make all the
world to be God, 196 ; take away
human affections, 237 ; errors re-
specting God and nature, 196;
their further views of God, 197,
261.

Suicide, taught by Pythagoreans and
Stoics, 89.

Superstition, not reasonable, 157.

578

LACTANTIUS: INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Temples, heathen, useless, 41.

Terminus, 34.

TertuUian, apologist, 136, 140.

Testaments, Old and New, 122.

Thales, on the unity of God, 14.

Theatres, corrupting, 187.

Thoth, 15.

Tiberius Atinius, 52.

Titan, 26.

Transmigration of souls taught by

Pythagoras, 89, 236.
Truth, knowledge of, 9; compared

with eloquence, 69, 70; steps to,

259.
Tuditanus, folly of, 93.
TuruUius, lieutenant of Mark Antony,

52-

Unity of God, 1 1 ; witnessed by poets
and philosophers, 13, by Hermes
Trismegistus, 15, by the Sibyls,
16, by Apollo, 17 ; consistent
with the divinity of the Son,
132.

Uranus, 228.

Utero, et Conceptione, atqtie sexibus,
293-

Valeria, Empress, refuses Daia and
is banished, 316; put to death
by Licinius, 321.

Varro, on the Sibyls, 15.

Venus, lewdness of, 30 ; the Bald,

33-
Verres, plunders the Sicilian gods,

46.

Vesta, chastity of, 24.

Virgil, on the unity of God, 14 ; on
Saturn, 25 ; on the piety of
^neas, 27 ; on human sacrifices
offered by yEneas, 145.

Virtue, reward of, 155; defined by
Lucilius, 167 ; consists in self-
conquest, 180; false and true,
167 ; never without evil, 206.

Virtues, the, and the vices, 207.

Ways, of life and death, 164, 246.

Wisdom, cannot be separated from
religion, 10, 11, 51, 100, 103, 238-,
divine, its power over life, 96;
freely given to all, 96; errors u£
Lucretius and Cicero respecting
its origin, 85 ; where to be found,
100; false, 233.

Wise Men of Greece, the Seven, loi.

Word, the, called the Logos, 107.

World, made by God, 53, 57 ; the
parts of, 58 ; distinguished from
God, 49; made for man, 198,
203, 252, 269; Epicurus' view
of its production, 197 ; age of,
211 ; changes of empire in, 212;
fortunes of, at the last day, 213;
its origin, 211; why containing
evil things, 199.

Worship of God, must be free, 244.

Xenophanes, theory of the moon, 94.

Zeno, on the unity of God, 14; repu-
diates conjecture, 71 ; suicide of,
88 ; calls pity a vice, 93.

LACTANTIUS, VENANTIUS.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

PACK

PAGE 1

PACK

PAOB

«;en. i

204

Ps. xvi. 10 ... . 122

Isa. xlv. 8 .... Ill

Hos. vi. 2 .... 241

ii. . .

xvi. 10 . .

241

xlv. 14 .

132

xni. 13 . .

241

iii. 17 .

xviii. 43 . •

109

xlv. 14-16 .

112

xiii. 13-14 .

122

iii. 24 .

xxii. 16-18 .

121

xlv. 14-16

239

xiii. 14 . .

132

vi. 3 .

xxii. 16-18 ,

241

xlv. 15 . .

102

Joel ii. 28 . . ,

298

vi. II .

187

xxviii. 4-5 .

1. 5 .

240

Amos viii. 9-10

122

ix. 6

187

xxxiii.

204

1.5-6 .

120

viii. 9, 10 .

241

ix. 23

xxxiii. 6 .

107

Hi. 7 . .

. 257

Mie. iv. 2-3 . .

118

ix. 25

XXXV. 15-16 .

120

Iii. 14 .

257

Hag. ii. 7 .

169

X. 32

173

XXXV. 15, 16

240

liii. 1-6 .

117

Zech. iii. 1-8

xiv. 13

108

xlv. I ...

107

liii. 7

120

iv. 10 . .

296

xxxii. 29 . .

118

xlv. 6-7 .

112

liii. 7

. 240

xii. 10

121

xlix. 29-31 .

177

1-23. • .

193

liii. 8 .

106

xii. 10 .

241

ix. iii

118

Ixviii. 13

liii. 8-10, I

121

xin. I .

xii. .

129

Ixix. 21 .

120

liii. 9

129

Mai. i. 5 . .

214

xix. .

118

Ixix. 21 .

240

Iv. 4 . .

102

i. 6 . .

104

xxiii. 20

108

Ixxii. I .

114

Iviii. 6, 7

173

i. 10, n

109

XXV. 2

192

Ixxii. I, 2

258

Ixiii. 10 .

i. 10, II

242

Num. xi. 31

108

Ixxii. 6-7

117

Ixvi. 18 .

242

Matt. i. 23 .

239

xiii. 8 . .

118

Ixxviii. 24

108

Ixvi. 18-19

. 109

iii. . .

xiii. 16 . . .

118

IXXXV. 12 ,

Jer. i. 5 . .

106

iii. 15 .

xxiii. 19 . .

241

XC. 2 . .

III

11.13. •

133

iii. 17 .

xxiv. 16-19.

257

xc. 4 . .

211

iv. 3-4 .

. n8

V. 44 •

183

xxiv. 17 . . .

112

xciv. 21-22

121

viii. 7-9 .

. no

vi. 9 .

131

xxiv. 17 . .

239

civ. 4 . .

107

xi. 18-19

121

vii. 6 .

134

Deut. iv. 17 . . .

. 326

cix. 6 . .

114

xi. 19 .

121

vii. 6 .

. 221

xviii. 17-19 .

. 118

ex. I . .

III

xii. 7-8 .

. 123

vii. 15 .

139

xxviii. 66

. 121

ex. I . .

241

xii. 7, 8 .

. 242

viii.

116

xxviii. 66

. 241

ex. 3-4 .

• "3

XV. 9 . .

. 122

ix-33 •

127

XXX. 6 . .

. 118

exv. 5

XV. 9 . .

. 241

X. 16 .

• 321

. 118

cxxvii. I .

• "3

xvii. 9 .

112

xiii. 25

• 90

I Sam. ii. 35 . .

• "3

cxlviii. 6

. 47

xxii. 19 .

. 302

xiv.

. 115

xvi. 7 . .

. 119

Prov. viii. 22-31

. los

XXV. 4-6

. 109

xiv. 24

. no

2 Sam. vii. 4-5 . .

• 113

XXX. 4.

• 330

xxxi. 31, 32

. 123

xviii. 7

'33
178

vii. 12-14, 16

• "3

Eccles. iii. i8-2

. 62

xxxvi. 30

. 302

xviii. 21-;

I Kings ix. 6-9

. 12!

xii. 7

. 62

xxxix. .

. 105

xxi.

102

ix. 7-9 .

. 241

xii. 10

. 69

Hi. . .

. 105

w . ^""-^s

173

xix. 10

. 109

Ecelus. xxiv. 5-

107

Ezek. xviii. 7

■ 173

Mark iv. . .

116

xix. 16

. 106

Isa. i. 2-3

. no

xli.

. no

iv- 33 ■

134

2 Kings XXV. . .

. 105

i. 18 . .

. 129

Dan. ii. 47 .

255

vi. . . .

I Chron. vii. 19-22

. 121

vii. 14 .

. no

iii. 29 .

• 25s

vii. 37 .

127

2 Chron. xvi. 9 . .

. 296

vii. 14 .

• 239

iv. . .

• 255

xiv. 8, 9

177

Ezra i. 2 . . . .

• 255

ix. 6 . .

. Ill

vi. 25 .

• 25s

Luke vi. 28 .

183

Neh. ix. 26 . . .

. 109

xi. 1-2 .

• "3

vii. . .

. 214

vi. 32-34

175

Job xxxi. 6 . . .

. 216

xi. 10

• "3

vii. 7 .

. 147

viii.

116

Ps. i. I ....

• 117

xix. 20 .

. 112

vii. 13 .

. 123

ix. . .

115

i.5 ....

. 216

xix. 20 .

• 239

vii. 13 .

. 241

X. 3 .

321

11. 7 ... .

• "S

XXXV. 3-6

• "5

vii. 13-14

III

XIV. n

151

iii. s . . . .

. 122

xiii. 6-7

. 123

vii. 23

171

xvii. I

^33

iv. 4 . . . .

• 277

xiii. 6, 7

. 242

xii. . .

xix. 42, 4^

[

122

vii. II ...

. 262

xliv. 6 .

. 132

xii. 2 .

216

xxii. 15

109

viii

. 204

xlv. 1-3.

. Ill

Ho3. vi. 2

122

xxii. 25

142

579

58o

LACTANTIUS, VENANTIUS : INDEX

OF TEXTS.

PAGE

Luke xxiii. 15 . . . 120

Acts xxiv. 15 . . . 61

Gal. vi. 14 . . . . 130

Heb. V 113

John i. 1-3 .

. 107

xxiv. 15

216

Eph. i. 9-10 . .

102

V. 14 . .

221

i. 9 . .

. 96

xxvi. 6

144

ii. 5 . .

VII. 3 .

112

i.i2 .

123

xxviii. 22

281

ii. 12 . .

109

viii. 2 . .

126

Ji. 19-20

119

Rom. i. 19-21

iv. 24 . .

viii. 13 .

^o3

^i. 29 .

109

i. 21-23

lOI

IV. 26 . .

185

X. 30 .

183

V. 22 .

114

i. 22 .

iv. 26 . .

277

xi.37 . .

V. 23 .

242

i. 22 .

169

Phil. iii. 20 . .

281

Jas. i. 9, 10 . .

151

V. 28, 29

216

ii. 14, 15

171

iii. 21 . .

299

ii. 1-8 . .

151

V. 29 .

v. 9-10

iv. 8 . .

ii. lo

216

vi. . . .

vi. 16-17

xii. 2 . .

iii. 2 . . .

178

viii. 34 .

vii. 15 .

125

Col. i. 18

109

I Pet. i. 19 . .

129

ix. 9 . .

vii. 21 .

125

i. 26-27

102

ii. 5 . .

260

xi. 51, 52

257

viii. 3 .

125

ii. 8 . . .

111. 20 .

xii. . .

xii. 14 .

183

iii. 2 . . .

§7

2 Pet. i. 18-21

257

xiv. 6, 13

242

xii. 19 .

183

iii. 5. . ,

185

ii. I . .

133

xvii. 3 .

131

xvi. 25

107

iii. 10 .

ii. 4 . .

xvii. 3 . .

172

I Cor. I. 20-22

102

I Thess. iv. 14

ii. 16 .

257

xvii. 3 .

259

i. 21 .

238

2 Thess. ii. .

214

ii. 22 .

xix. 36

129

ii. 7 .

.."•7

212

ii. 22 .

119

Acts i. 9 . .

III

ii. 9 .

lOI

I Tim. ii. 5 .

126

iii. 8 .

211

xii. 23 .

• 314

ii. 14 .

vi. 8-10

178

iii. 16.

xiii. 10 .

• 137

iii. 11-15

171

vi. II

201

I John i. 22, 23

242

XV. 10 .

. 108

iii- 13-15

216

2 Tim. ii. . .

. 201

iii. 1-8

164

xvi. 18 .

iv. 4 . .

193

Tit. ii. 12 . ,

. 161

iv.8.

xvi. 37-38

120

xi. 1-2

131

Phil. ii. 9-10

118

iv. 15

242

xvii. 18

262

xi. 19

133

iii. II .

. 219

Rev. i. 10

. 329

xvii. 28

140

vii. 2-7 .

143

Heb. i. 2 . .

. 102

ii. . .

. 214

xvii. 28

. 257

XV. 19

172

i. 3 . .

. 132

xiii. . .

. 214

xix. 13 .

. 65

2 Cor. iv. 4 . ,

1. 7 . .

. 107

xix, 1 2 .

. 238

xix. 15, 16

. 65

iv. 4 .

ii. . .

. 204

xxi. 7 .

. 223

xix. 15-16

iv. 6 . ,

. 58

iv.8 .

114

xxii. 17

■

• 223

xxii. 24-25

. 120

Gal. iii. 20 . .

. 126

VENANTIUS, ASTERIUS URBANUS, VICTORINUS,

DIONYSIUS OF ROME.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Alcibiades, Christian writer, 337 and

note.
Altars, symbols of heaven and earth,

351-
Antichrist, 354.

Apocalypse, purpose of, 360 (note).

Ardaba, home of Montanus, 335.

Asterius Urbanus, date and charac-
ter of, 334 (note).

Athanasian Confession, its date and
authority, 366 and notes.

Babylon, symbol of the Roman state,

35--
Beast of the Apocalypse, number of,

356-

Caius and Alexander, martyrs, re-
fuse communion with Montanus,

337-
City, the holy, of the Apocalypse,
symbolical meaning of, 359.

Dionysius, bishop of Rome, a Greek
Father, 363 (note) ; not a contro-
versialist nor anathematizer, 367
(note).

Easter poem, 329.

Four, number, mystical meaning of,

341-

Four livmg creatures of the Apoca-
lypse, symbols of the four Evan-
gelists and of the life and works
of our Lord, 348.

Fourth day of the week, kept as a
fast, or " stationary day," 341.

Genealogies of St. Matthew and St.
Luke, both of Joseph, 360 (note).

Hades, souls in, 351 ; identified with
Paradise, 360 (note).

Horses of the Apocalypse, symboli-
cal meaning of, 350, 351.

John, St., symbol of, as evangelist,
348 ; receives the Apocalypse in
Patmos, and delivers it on his
release, 353 ; his testimony against
the early heresies, 353.

Julian of Apamea, 336.

Luke, St., evangelistic symbol of, 348.

Marcion, heresy of, 365.

Mark, St., evangelistic symbol of, 348.

Matthew, St., evangelist, symbol of,
348.

Maximilla, Montanist, reported to
have committed suicide, 336.

Millenium, the, 359.

Miltiades, Montanist heretic, 335.

Montanists, heretics, their prophecies
not fulfilled, 337 ; leave no mar-
tyrs, no examples in Scripture,
and no gift of prophecy, 337.

Montanus, a recent convert of Ar-
daba, frenzied, 335; reported to
have committed suicide, 336.

Number of the Beast, 356.

Parasceve, origin of its observance,

341-
Phrygians, the first Montanists, 336.

QukunqueVult, the hymn, 366 (note).

Roman state, signified by Babylon,

352-
Rome, church of, how an ecclesiasti-
cal centre, 363 (note).

Sabbath, symbol of the life and works
of our Lord, 343; the Jewish,
abolished, 342.

Sabellius, heresy of, 365.

Seven, number, mystical meaning of,
342; heavens, 342; stars, 345;
churches of Asia, represent seven
classes of Christians, 345-347.

Sixth day of the week, or Parasceve,
how observed, 341.

Son of God, eternal, one with the
Father, 365.

Song, the new, symbolizes the confes-
sion of the Faith, 350.

Themison, Montanist leader, 337 and

note.
Trinity, Catholic doctrine of, againsi

the Sabellians, 365.
Twelve, number, symbolism of, 343.

Venantius Honorius, poem on Easter,

329-
Victorinus, bishop of Petau, date and
ofiice of, 341 (note) ; writings of,
state of the text, 360 (note).

Word, the, has the names of the
seven spirits in Isaiah, 342.

Zoticus, bishop of Comana, 336.

581

{

ASTERIUS URBANUS, VICTORINUS, DIONYSIUS

OF ROME.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

FAGK

Gen. 5. ^6, 17 . .

. 341

Ps. rxxxii. 7

» •

ii. 10 . . .

. 341

Prov. viii. 20

iv. 15 . . .

• 343

viii. 22

vi. 14, LXX..

359

viii. 25 .

v:i. 2 . . .

• 343

xi. I . .

. 348

Isa. i. 13, 14

xlix. 8, 9 . .

• 350

iv. I . .

xlix. 16 . .

349

iv. I . .

xlix. 16 . .

. 360

xi. 2 . .

Ex. xxii. 9, 12 . .

. 342

xi. 2, 3

xxiv. 7, 8 . .

• 350

XI. 4 .

Lev. xxiii. 18 . . ,

342

xl. 3 .

Num. xvi. 41 . .

336

lix. 9.

xxiii

346

Jer. i. 5 .

Deut. XV. I . . .

• 343

XV. 16

xxxii. 6 . .

. 365

Ezek. XXXV. (

xxxii. 8 . .

• 352

Dan. ix. .

Josh, vi

. 342

ix. 25 .

vi. 4 . . .

. 342

ix. 27

1 Chron. xv. 21

. 342

xi-37

Ps. vi. 1 . . . .

. 342

w. ""''■ 45

xii

. 342

Mic. V. 5, 6

xxxiii. 6 . . .

. 342

Zech. iv. 2

xlv. I . . . .

. 342

iv. 10

Ixii. II . . .

• 345

iv. 14

xc. 4 . . . .

• 342

Mai. iv. 5, 6

cv. 8 . . . .

. 358

I Mace. ii. 31-4

ex. 3, LXX. .

• 365

Matt. i. I .

> •

PAGE

345
344
365
365
343
342
342
345
344
342
345
348
354
354
360

357
342
342
357
358
357
352
343
342
354
352
342
348

Matt.v. 23, 24

X. 34 •

xii. 5 .
xiii. 27-30
xiii. 51, 52
xvii. 27
xix. 27, 28
xxiv. 14
xxiv. 15
xxviii. 19

Mark i. 3 . .
iv. 38 .
xiii. 18-20
xiii. 27

Luke i. 5 . .
xxi. 10, I
xxi. 21

John i. I . .
i- I, 2, 3
ii. 19, 20,

iii; 34, 35
vii. 22
X. 30
xii. 48
xiv. 10
xiv. II
Acts ii. 33
Ti.3.

FACE

351

345
342
352
345
345
349
351
357
345
348

343

352
352
348

356
348
342
355
345
342
366

366
365
345
34a

PAGB

Rom. vi. 9 . . .

. 344

I Cor. xi. 3 . . .

. 344

xi. 5 . . . .

353

xii. 28 . .

353

xiv. 29 . .

353

XV. 45-47 .

342

XV. 53 . .

346

2 Cor. iii. 17, 18 .

360

Gal. i. 8, 9 . . .

368

Col. i. 15

365

iii. I

359

2 Thess. il 3, 4 . .

356

ii. 7, 8, 9 .

354

ii. 8 . .

345

ii. 10 . .

354

ii. II . .

354

I Tim. iii. 15 . .

345

I Pet. ii. 9 . . .

344

Rev. i. 3 . . . .

353

i. 13 ...

342

IV. 4 ...

343

iv. 5 . . . .

342

IV. 6 . . •

341

V. 6. . . .

342

vii. 5-8 . .

360

viii. . . .

342

xxii. 10 .

353

5««

APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, CONSTITUTIONS. AND CANONS,
AND THE CLEMENTINE HOMILY.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Accusers, false, to be punished, 416,
418.

Adornment, personal, 392.

Adultery and fornication, 463.

Agapa, rule of offerings at, 411.

Almsgiving, duty of, 468, 470; to
whom due, 397 ; ordered by the
bishop, 41 1 ; proportion to cler-
gy and others, 411, 427; not to
be boasted of, 430.

Altar, oblation at, 486 ; place of bish-
op at, 486 ; separate or schis-
matic, forbidden, 502.

Anointing in baptism, 431, 469, 476;
thanksgiving at, 476.

Apocryphal books condemned, 457.

Apostles, how to be received, 380;
note on, 383; preaching of, ex-
pounded, 454-456; first council
of, 454-455; list of bishops or-
dained by them, 477 ; their days
to be honoured, 495.

Aquila, companion of the apostles,

453-
Ascension of our Lord, feast of, to be

kept, 448, 495.
Ascription to Christ, 464.

Baptism, directions regarding, 379;
sin after, 398 ; requisite to com-
munion, 414 ; not to be adminis-
tered by laymen or women, 429;
chrism m, 431, 469, 476; rites of,
interpreted, 431 ; Lord's Prayer
at, 431 ; not to be refused, 456;
heretical, not to be admitted, 456;
repetition of, forbidden, 456; of-
fice of, 469; renunciation in, 476;
consecration of water for, 477 ;
fruits of, 477 ; candidates for, to
be examined, 494, 495 ; trine im-
mersion in, 502.

Baptized, the, eucharistic prayer for,
484.

Barnabas, St., apostle, 453.

Basilides, heretic, 453.

Basmotheans, heretics, deny divine
providence, 452.

Bathing, promiscuous, to be shunned,

395-
Bidding prayer in the Eucharist, 485.
Birth of Christ, feast of, to be kept,

443. 495-

Bishops, how appointed, 381, 481,
482 ; character of, 396, 398 ; ex-
amination of, 397 ; to give reproof,
398 ; not to receive bribes nor
spare offenders, 399, 415, but to
be merciful to the penitent, 400,
408, 415; to govern, not be gov-
erned, 401 ; patterns of right liv-
ing, 403 ; to seek out and save
the erring and sinful, 404, 405 ;
not to be hasty in excommuni-
cating, 405, 413 ; content with lit-
tle, 408 ; distributing offerings to
those in need, 408 ; stand between
God and the people, 409 ; to be
maintained by the Church, 409;
stand in place of the high priest,
410; govern by the authority of
God, 410; the office of, not to be
taken by any one to himself, 410;
offerings to be brought to, 410;
to be honoured as fathers, before
rulers and kings, 412; not to be
respecters of persons, 415; judges
of causes, but with the assistance
of presbyters and deacons, 418;
to give sentence in due propor-
tion to the sin, 418; to hear both
sides, 418 ; to give public warning
against contentions, 420; throne
of, in the church, 421 ; no others
to ordain, 430; whom to ordain
and to refuse, 431 ; to be ordained
by three bishops, 432, 493, 500 ;
to provide for orphans and others
in need, 433; list of those or-
dained by the Apostles, 477 ; how
chosen and ordained, 481-482;
prayer at their ordination, 482,
483 ; not to leave their charge,
501 ; to submit to the chief bish-
op, 502 ; sundry regulations con-
cerning, 502 ; synods to be held
by, 502.

Blessing of water and oil, 494.

Books, heathen, to be shunned, 393;
of Scripture to be studied, 393.

Burial of the dead, rites of, 464.

Canonical books of Holy Scripture,

^ 505-

Canons, Apostolical, date and author-
ity of, 388, 390 (notes).

Catechumens, instruction of, 475, 476;
eucharistic prayer for, 483.

Cemeteries (" dormitories "), Chris-
tian service of burial in, 464.

Cerinthus, heretic, 453.

Children, duty of, 436; to be correct-
ed, 468 ; their place in church,
486.

Chrism in baptism, 431, 469, 476.

Christ, prophecies of His coming and
rejection, 446-448 ; ascription to,
464.

Christmas Day to be honoured, 443,

495-

Christians, how to be received, 381.

Church, the Catholic, of whom com-
posed, 391.

Church, a, not to be forsaken, 413,
501 ; shape, direction, and various
parts of, 420 ; like a ship, 420.

Clementine homily, editions of, 512
(note) ; date and authority of,

513 (note) ; contents and version,

514 (note).
Cleobius, heretic, 453.

Clergy, orders and duties of, 493, 494,
501, 502 ; subordination of orders
of, 499, 500.

Coming of Christ to be watched for,
382.

Commandments, the Ten, to be kept
by Christians, 413, but as the law
of nature, not of Moses, 459.

Communion, Holy, prayers after, 380;
not to be given to the unbaptized,
414; service of, 483-491; to be
received by all the clergy, 500.
See Eucharist and Liturgy.

Confessors, to be helped by gifts and
sacrifice, 437 ; not to be ordained,

493-

Consecration, prayer of, in the Eu-
charist, 489.

Constitutions, Apostolical, their date,
character, and purpose, 387, 388,
389 (notes) ; editions of, 390
(note).

Contention, warning against, 395, 419,
to be given publicly by the bish-
op, 420.

Covetousness, warning against, 391.

Cross, sign of, in the Eucharist, 4S6.

Cursing, contrary to Christianity, 430

583

584 APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, ETC. : INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Daily service to be held, 422 ; psalms
at, 423 ; prayers, 496-498.

Deacons, how appointed, 381 ; to be
helpers to the bishop, 410, 432;
to be obeyed, and to do nothing
without the bishop, 411, but to
be his eye, ear, and mouth, 416;
place and duty of, in church, 421 ;
ministry of, in the Eucharist, 421,
486; to visit the people, 432 ; or-
dination of, 492.

Deaconesses, to be honoured, but not
to act without the deacon, 410;
their place in church, and duties,
421 ; to assist in the baptism
of women, 431 ; ordination of,
492.

Dead, the, care for and burial of,
464 ; prayer for, at the Eucharist,
489, 490; daily prayer for, 497,
498, not profitable to the ungod-
ly, 498.

Death, the way of, 379, 468.

Denying Christ, peril of, 438.

Divination and soothsaying to be
shunned, 424, 467.

Dositheus, heretic, 453.

Drunkards, warned, 498.

East, head of a church towards, 421 ;

prayer towards, reason of, 421.
Easter, feast of, to be honoured, 443 ;

computation of, 446, 447, 500;

eve of (the "Great Sabbath"),

447 ; octave of, 447 ; forty days

following to be kept, 448 ; rest

from labour on, 495.
Ebionites, Jewish heretics, 452.
Elements in the Holy Communion,

care of, 491 and note.
Energumens, eucharistic prayers for,

484.
Epiphany, feast of, to be honoured,

443. 495-.
Essenes, Jewish heretics, 452.

Eucharist, the, 379; prayers after,
380; deacon's ministry at, 421;
kiss of peace in, 422 ; prayers,
sacrifice, communion, and bless-
ing in, 422 ; unbaptized not ad-
mitted to, 422 ; not to be offered
by laymen, 429; at the burial
of the dead, 464 ; prayers and
thanksgivings of, 471-475, 483-
491 ; canon of, 486-491 ; oblation
in, 486. See Communion and
Liturgy.

Eunuchs to be ordained in certain
cases, 501.

Excommunicate, the, not to be prayed
with, 501.

Exorcists, not ordained, 493.

Faithful, the, eucharistic prayer for,
486.

False brethren to be avoided, 438.

Fan, used by the deacon in the Eu-
charist, 486.

Fasting, before baptism, 379; to ob-
tain help for martyrs, 437 ; on
the stationary days (Wednesday
and Friday). 379,' 445, 469; for
penance, 402 ; on the Sabbath,
445, 469; through the Holy Week,
447 ; not on the Lord's Day or
other feasts, 449.

Feasts and fasts to be kept, 443-447,

495-.
First-fruits, how to be offered and

used, 494, 500.
Food, all kinds to be received with

thanksgiving, 469.
Forgiveness of injuries, duty of, 417.
Funerals, Christian rites at, 464.

Gifts, miraculous and prophetic, ob-
ject of, 480, 481.

Gloria in Excelsis, in the Eucharist,
490.

Heathen, the, examples of prayer to
Christians, 423; their hymns and
songs to be shunned, 442, 443.

Hemerobaptists, Jewish heretics, 452.

Heresies and heretics, to be avoided,
450, 451, 457, 458, 461 ; forbid-
ding marriage, meat, and wine,

453-

Holydays to be observed by rest from
labour, 495.

Hymns, primitive, in the New Testa-
ment, 507 (note).

Hypocrisy, sin of, 468.

Idolatry, fruit of, 442, 443.

Idols, offerings to, not to be par-
taken, 469.

Imitation of Christ, duty of, 438, 439.

Injuries, forgiveness of, 392.

Intercession in the Eucharist for the
living and the departed, 489,
490; in daily prayer, 497, 498.

Invocation, prayer of, in the Eucha-
rist, 489.

James, St., bishop and martyr, to be
honoured, 442.

Jews, examples of prayer to Chris-
tians, 423 ; prophecies of their
rejection, 451, 452; heresies of,
452; why taken captive, 461;
their customs and ceremonies
not binding on Christians, 462.

Judgment of quarrels and controver-
sies to be held on the second day
of the week, 417 ; by the bishop,
in presence of presbyters and
deacons, 417 ; sentences to be in
proportion to sin, 418; instances
from the story of Susanna and
from heathen tribunals, 419.

Judgment, the last, 472.

Justin Martyr, St., order of the Di-
vine Liturgy given by him, 507
(note).

Kiss of peace at the Eucharist, 422,
486.

Laity to bring oblations and tithes,
409; how placed in church, 421 ;
not to baptize or execute priestly
offices, 429.

Last days, the, 472.

Last judgment, the, 472.

Law, of Moses, not binding on Chris-
tians, 393, 459; of nature, in the
Decalogue, why imposed, 458,
459; of sacrifice, taken away,
460; how fulfilled by Christ, 461.

Lent, when to be kept, 443.

Lessons read in church, 421.

Letters commendatory, to be given
and received, 422 ; to be re-
quired, 501.

Levites, office of, executed in the
Christian Church by the deacons,
409, 410.

Life, the way of, 377, 378.

Liturgy, the Divine, prayers in, 483-
491 ; canon of, 486-491 ; Pauline
norm of, 506 (note) ; order of, by
St. Justin Martyr, 507 (note) ;
comparison of the Clementine
and St. Irenaeus, 507 (note). See
Communion and Eucharist.

Lord's Day, the service of, 381, 421,
423,471; to be kept as a feast,
449, 469.

Lord's Prayer, the, 379 ; in baptism,

431-
Love-feasts, offerings at, 411.

Marcus, heretic, 453.

Marriage, forbidden by certain here-
tics, 453, 454 ; lawful use of, 462,
463 ; second, forbidden to the
clergy, 457, 501 ; second and third,
how far allowed, 426.

Martyrs, to be helped by gifts and
self-sacrifice, 437, and by per-
sonal risk, 438 ; SS. James and
Stephen to be honoured as, 442 ;
false martyrs, 442 ; their days to
be kept, 495.

Masters, their duty to servants, 436.

Men, commandments to, 392.

Menander, heretic, 453.

Miracles, power of, to whom given,
and with what object, 479.

Money, love of, to be shunned, 433.

Moses, virtues of, and rebellion
against, 450, 451.

Nicene Creed, the, 524 ; ratification
of, 524 ; addenda to, 524 ; decree
of the Council of Ephesus on
additions to, 525.

Nicetas, companion of St. Peter, 453.

Obedience to rulers, duty of, 436, 468.

Oblation, eucharistic, the First, 486;
the Second, 489.

Offerings, made under the Gospel as
well as the Law, 413; made by
the people, but distributed by
the bishop, 413; to be received
with reverence, and not from the
unworthy and evil livers, 434,
435 ; of the impenitent, provoke
God, 435 ; how those forced upon
the Church are to be used, 435;
for martyrs and confessors, 437 ;
kinds and proportion of, 471 ;
distribution of, to the priesthood
and the poor respectively, 471;
given at the Eucharist, 486 , cer-
tain kinds of, forbidden, 500.

Oil, use of, in baptism, 431, 469;
thanksgiving for, 476; blessing
of, 494.

Ointment in baptism, thanksgiving
for, 469, 477.

Orders, greater and minor, 431.

Ordination, by bishops only, 430 ; on
whom conferred, 43t, 471; prayer
at, 482 ; rites of, 483,491-493, 500.

Orphans, provision for, 433.

APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, ETC.: INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 585

Parents, duty of, .>36; duty to, 468.

Passion of our I ord, events of, 442-
445; week of, to be kept, 447.

Paul, St., his norm of the Divine Lit-
urgy, 506 (note).

Penance for sin, degrees of, 402 ; re-
quired in order to communion,
414.

Penitents, to be mercifully received,
400; admitted to prayers but not
to communion till after penance,
414; eucharistic prayer for, 485.

Pentecost, feast of, to be honoured,
449.

Persecution, duty in, 439; those flee-
ing from, to be received, 498.

Pharisees, fatalists, 452.

Phoenix, fable of, illustrating the res-
urrection of the body, 441.

Poor, the, to be honoured in church,
422 ; to be provided for, 433.

Prayer, directions for, 379 ; the Lord's,
379 ; to be made daily in church,
413, 423; to be made not doubt-
fully, but with faith, 467, and with
repentance, 468.

Prayers, eucharistic, for providence
and creation, 472 ; for God's
care, 473; for the incarnation
and providence, 474 ; for Chris-
tians, 475; for catechumens, 483 ;
for energumens and the baptized,
484 , for penitents and for the
faithful, 485, 486; of oblation,
consecration, and invocation, 488,
489; of intercession for the liv-
ing and the departed, 488-490;
final prayers and benediction,
491.

Prayers, daily, 478 ; hours of, 496 ;
to be said in church or at home,
496 ; not with heretics, 496 ; for
the evening, 496 ; for the morn-
ing, 497 ; for the first-fruits and
for the departed, 497.

Prayers at the ordination of a bishop,
482 ; at other ordinations, 491-

493-
Presbyters, are in place of parents,

410; represent the Apostles, 410;

their seats in church, 421; one
from another parish to be re-
ceived, 422; ordination of, 432;
not to ordain, 432 ; prayer at the
ordination of, 491-492; to be or-
dained by bishops, 500.

Priesthood, the, to be honoured, 450,
467.

Priestly offices not to be undertaken
by laymen, 429.

Prophecies of Christ, 446.

Prophets, how to be received and
supported, 380, 381 ; false, 480,
481.

Reader, in church, place and duty of,
421 ; ordination of, 493.

Relics of Christians to be honoured,
464.

Repentance, examples of, in Holy
Scripture, 406 ; danger of delay-
ing, examples of, 408 ; of St.
Matthew and Zacchaeus, 414;
God calls all to, 420.

Resurrection of the body, promise of,
in Holy Scripture, 439-442 ; tes-
timony of the Sibylline books to,
440 ; illustrated by the fable of
the phoenix, 441.

Rulers to be obeyed, 468, 505.

Sabbath, the Great (Easter Eve), fast
of, 447.

Sadducees, heresy of, 482.

Sanctus in the Holy Communion,
458.

Saturnilus, heretic, 453.

Schism, guilt of, 450.

Scripture, canonical books of, 505.

Servants, duty of, 436; kindness to,
468.

Sibyl, testifies to the resurrection of
the body, 440.

Simon Magus, heresy of, 452 ; punish-
ment of, 453.

Simony forbidden, 501.

Singing at burials, 464,

Slaves, purchased to save souls, 424 ;
their condition ameliorated by
the Church, 425 (note) ; to be

given rest from labour on holy-
days, 495 ; may be ordained by
consent of their masters, 505.

Stationary days, 445.

Stephen, St., deacon and martyr,
feast of, to be honoured, 442.

Strangers to be received in church
with honour, 422.

Sul)-deacons, 490 ; ordination of, 492.

Sursum Corda, in the Holy Com-
munion, 486.

Susanna, story of, warning against
false judgment, 419.

Teachers, how to be received, 380.

Ter Sanctus in the Eucharist, 488.

Thanksgiving, the (Eucharist), 379;
thanksgivings at and after the
Eucharist, and at anointing, 470,
471-475; in baptism, 476, 477.

Theatres and shows, to be shunned,
424.

Tithes, duty of, 471.

Twelve Apostles, Teaching of, dis-
covery and publication of, 372
(note) ; contents, and relation to
other works, and authenticity,
373 (note); date and place, 374
(note).

Two ways, of life and death, 377-
379-

Unanimity among Christians, 420.

Vestments at the Eucharist, 486.
Vestries of a church at the east end,

421.
Virgins, vows and character of, 436 ;

not ordained, 493.

Water, in the Eucharist, 486 ; bless-
ing of, 494.

Ways, two, of life and death, 465.

Wives of clergy, not to be cast off,
500.

Worldly cares forbidden to the clergy,
500, 505.

Zacchaeus, publican, companion of St.
Peter, 453.

APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, CONSTITUTIONS, AND CANONS
AND THE CLEMENTINE HOMILY.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

G«n. i

487

i. I

441

i. 26

473

i. 26

487

i.26

503

i. 26, 27 . . .

441

i-27

521

i. 28

462

i.28

463

»-3i

454

>-3i

503

li- 7

440

ii.8

487

ii. 24 . . . .

426

ii. 24 . . .

466

iii. 16 . . .

429

iii. 19 ... .

440

466

474

488

iv. 7, LXX. .

402

iv. 10 . . .

406

iv., V. . . .

488

vi., vii. . . .

488

viii

474

504

ix. 3 . . . .

469

ix. 6 ...

416

xii

474

xii., etc. . .

488

xiii. 16 . . .

472

xvii. 7 . . •

472

xviii. 25, 27 .

448

xix

466

xix

488

xix. 24 . . .

. 448

xxii. 17 . .

• 472

xxvi. . . .

474

xxvi. 3 . . .

472

xxvii. 29 . .

430

xxviii. 15 . .

472

xxxii. 30 . .

448

XXXV. . . .

474

xxxix. . . .

414

xlvi. 27, LXX.

. 488

xlviii. 4 . .

• 472

xlix. 9 . . .

• 454

xlix. 10 . .

• 454

xlix. 10 . .

. 461

1. I . . . .

. 464

Ex. i., etc. . . .

. 488

ii. 13 . . . .

• 467

u. 14 . . . .

• 450

586

Ex. iii. . .
iii. 2 .
iii. 6 .
iii. 14, 15
iv., etc.
iv., vii.
vii., etc
vii. I .
vii. I .
X. 25 .
xiii. 19
xiii. 21
xiv. 28
XV. 20
XV. 20
XV. 26
xvi. .
xvi. 8
xvii. 6
xviii. .
xviii., xxiv., xxviii
xix. 5, 6

XX. .
XX. 12

XX. 13

XX. 13, 14

XX. 14, 17

XX. 15

XX. 16

XX. 17

XX. 24

XX., xxxiv.

xxi. 17 .

xxi. 22, 23

xxi. 23, LXX

xxii. 18

xxii. 19

xxii. 28

xxiii. 2

xxiii. 3

xxiii. 7, LXX

xxiii. 7, 8

xxiii. 8 .

xxviii., xxix

xxix. 36,38, 39,41

x.xxi., etc.

xxxii.

xxxii. I .

rAGB

474
448
464
472

459

479

451
411

480
506
464
451
451
481
492
398

451
412

416
492
409

458
412
466
377
392
377
377
377
391
429
459
497
412

377
466
466

463
410
411

503
418

397
415
399
415
399
500
506

451
458
459

Ex. xxxii. 4 .
xxxii. 4 ,
xxxiii. II
xxxiii. II, I
xxxiv. 28

Lev. V. 16

XV. .
XV. 31
XV. 31
XV. 31

xviii. 19
xviii. 22
xviii. 22
xix. 6 .
xix. II .
xix. 15 .
xix. 15 .
xix. 17 .
xix. 17 .
xix. 17 .
xix. 18 .
xix. 18 .
xix. 18 .
xix. 18 .
xix. 26 .
xix. 26, 31
xix. 27 .
XX. 10 .
XX. 13 .
xxi. 5 .
xxi. 7, 14
xxi. 17, etc
xxiii., XXV.
xxvi. 27, 28
xvii. .
Num. iii. .

vi. 24, etc

xi. 31

xii. I

xii. 2

xii. 3

xii. 7, 8

xii. 8

xii. 14

xiv. 5

xiv. 10

xvi.

xtI.

rAGB
443
459
451
499
449
504
462

398
403
415
463

463
466

435
466

397
415
378
419
466

377
409
460
465

424
467

392
463
463
392
457
397
474
416
504

492
422

459
450
450
450
467

499
412
402
45'
451
399
410

430

450
467

474

Num. xvi.

499

xvi. 3 .

450

xvi. 13

450

xvi. 15

451

xvi. 21

451

xvii. 8

442

xviii. .

471

xviii. I

403

xviii. I

409

xviii. 8, etc.

409

xviii. 12, etc

409

xxiii. 23 .

424

xxiii. 23 .

467

xxiii., xxiv..

480

xxiv. 9 .

392

XXV. 3 .

443

XXV., xxxi

481

Deut. i. i6 .

413

i. 17

397

i. 17

399

i. 17

400

i. 17

415

i. 17

466

i. 17

467

iv. 19

443

iv. 39

473

V. 31

, 421

V. 32

469

vi.4

398

vi.4

459

vi.4

460

vi.s

377

VI. s

465

vi. 6

461

vi. 7

393

xii. .

461

xii. 5

458

xii. 32

378

XV. 23.

469

xvi. 18

413

xvi. 19

399

xvi. 19

415

xvi. 20

397

xvi. 20

399

xvi. 20

417

xvii. 7

399

xvii. 7

415

xviii. 10

424

xviii. 10,

467

xviii. 15

448

xviii. 15,

etc

• 479

xix. 13

416

xix. 14

• 39'

APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, ETC.: INDEX OF TEXTS.

587

PAGE

PACE

PAGE

Deut. xix. 15 . .

. 418

I Kings xix. 8 . .

• 449

Ps. xxviii. 9 . . . . 498

Prov. i. 16 . . .

406

xix. 15 . .

. 504

xix. 18

. 480

xxxvi. I .

406

iii. 9 . . .

4>3

xix. 17 . .

. 417

xxi. . .

418

xxxvii. 16

434

iii. 9, etc.

435

xix. 19 . .

. 416

2 Kings ii. . . .

• 475

xii. 1 . . .

427

iii. 9 . . .

466

xxii. 22 . .

• 463

iv. . . .

■ 440

xii. 10 . .

447

iii. 28 . . .

457

xxiii. I . .

. 421

v. . . .

399

xliv. 20 . .

497

v. 3, 4 . . .

394

xxiii. 7 . .

419

V. . . .

466

xlv. . . .

448

V. II, etc. .

394

xxiii. 7 . .

465

vi. . . .

. 480

1. 9, 12, etc.

460

v. 18, etc. .

463

xxiii. 17 . .

466

viii. . .

435

1. 12 . .

459

V. 22 . . .

401

xxiii. 17, 18 .

■ 463

xi. 3, 4 .

396

li. . . .

415

vi. 2 . . .

466

xxiii. 18 . .

• 429

xiii. 21

464

Ii. 10 . .

483

vi. 6, etc., LXX

425

xxiii. 18 . .

434

XX., xix .

475

li. 10, 17

460

vi. 22 . . .

462

XXV. 4 . . .

• 409

XX., xxi. .

407

li. 12 . . .

484

vii. I, etc. .

394

xxvii. . . .

. 466

xxii. I . .

396

Iv. 17 . ,

379

vii. 25, 26 .

394

xxvii. 9 . .

. 421

xxii. 14 .

481

Ixiii. II . .

466

viii. 22, LXX.

474

xxvii. 17 . .

• 39'

xxii. 14 .

• 492

Ixiv. I . .

486

viii. 22-25 .

448

xxvii. 25 . .

399

I Chron. vi. . . .

492

Ixvii. 17 .

473

ix. I . . .

448

xxvii. 25 . .

415

xxi. . .

475

Ixviii. 16

451

ix. 8 .

466

xxvii. 26 . .

461

2 Chron. v. 13 . .

477

Ixviii. 17

445

X. 7 .

442

xxx. 15 .

465

xviii. . .

475

Ixix. 21 .

445

X. 7 .

464

XXX. 15, 19 •

377

xix. 2 . .

. 458

Ixxii. (LXX

.Ix

xi.

X. 12 .

522

xxx. 19 . .

465

XX. 37 .

458

5. 17 •

521

X. 18 .

431

xxxii. 21 . .

443

xxiii. 3

Ixxiv. 4 .

445

xi. 4 .

434

xxxiv. 8 . .

498

LXX..

. 406

Ixxiv. 15

488

xi. 22 .

395

xxxiv. 10

4SI

xxiv. I .

396

Ixxiv. 16

496

xi. 25 .

• 413

Josh. i. 8 . . . .

393

xxvi. . .

410

Ixxiv. 19

400

xi. 26 .

■ 413

iii. 10, etc. .

488

xxvi. . .

429

Ixxxii. 6 .

410

xii. 4 .

■ 394

474

xxvi. • .

450

Ixxxii. 6 .

412

xii. 4 in LXX.

■ 39i

V. 14 . . .

448

xxvi. . .

499

Ixxxii. 8 .

447

xii. II . . .

425

488

xxxii.jxxxiii

407

xci. 5, 6 .

. 486

xii. 28, LXX.

• 415

vii

399

xxxiii. . .

475

xci. 7 . .

• 445

xii. 28, LXX.

. 466

vii

466

XXXV. . .

475

xcvii. 4 .

484

xiii. 17, LXX.

467

480

Ezra viii

. 475

xcvii. 5 .

484

xiii. 20 . .

• 458

xxiv. 32 . .

464

Neh. iii

. 475

ciii. 14 .

• 441

xiii. 20

• 467

Judg. ii. 13 . . .

443

viii

493

civ. 2 . .

. 487

xiii. 24

. 43^

iv., xi. . . .

viii. 10. . .

. 469

civ. 9 . .

499

xiv. I .

• 395

iv. 4 . . .

481

Esth. iv. 16 . . .

449

civ. 14, 15

■ 434

xiv. 5 .

• 442

iv. 4 . . . .

492

Job i., etc. . . .

452

civ. 15 .

• 494

xiv. 12

• 457

vi., viii. . .

474

• ix. 8, LXX. .

. 484

civ. 24 .

• 473

xiv. 29, LXX.

xiii., XV., xvi.

474

X. 10 . . . .

■ 441

civ. 32 .

• 484

xiv. 29, LXX.

• 467

I Sam. i

475

xiv. 4, LXX. .

403

cv. 16 .

. 489

xiv. 31 . .

46e

i.15. . .

449

XX. IS, LXX. .

• 434

cvi. 9 . .

. 484

xiv. 32 . .

• 414

399

XX. 18, LXX. .

. 434

cvii. 34 .

488

XV. I, LXX.

• 397

vii. _. . , .

475

xxxi. 5, 6 . .

424

cix. 8 . .

. 454

xvi. 6 . . .

378

viii. . . .

412

XXXV. 7, 8 . .

439

cix. 24 .

449

xvi. 6 . . .

413

xii. 3 . .

448

xxxviii. . . .

487

ex. I . .

• 464

xvi. 6 . . .

427

xiii. . . .

499

xxxviii. 10, II

499

ex. 4 . .

410

xvi. 6 . . .

468

xiii. 13 . . .

410

xxxviii. II . .

472

cxii. 5 ,

465

xviii. 3 . .

• 395

XV. . . ,

399

xl. 24, LXX. .

. 484

cxii. 9

413

xviii. 22 . .

. 45C

XV. 22 . .

460

xiii

■ 467

cxii. 9 .

427

xix. 13, LXX.

• 463

XV. 23, LXX.,

424

Ps. i. I, 2 . . . .

• 424

cxiii. I . .

478

xix. 14 . .

• 45t

XV. 23 . .

467

i. 2 ....

. 461

cxiii. 3 .

461

xix. 14 . .

• 463

xvii., xviii.

466

ii. I, 2 ...

447

cxiii. 5 .

482

xix. 17 . .

427

2 Sam. iii., xx. . . ,

467

ii. 7 . • . .

. 412

c.wi. 7 .

464

xix. 17 . .

. 468

vi. . . .

399

ii. II . . . .

442

cxvi. 12 .

517

xix. 18 . .

436

xii. . . ,

467

iv. 4 . . . .

419

cxvi. 15 .

442

xix. 18 . .

468

xii. 13 . , .

403

V. 6 . . . .

. 466

cxvi. 15 .

464

xix. 24 . .

397

xii. 13 . .

406

vi. s . . . .

. 400

cxvii. 2 .

484

xix. 24 . .

425

XV. 3 . .

450

vii. 4 . . . .

419

cxix. I, 2

461

XX. 9 . . .

403

XVIU.-XX. .

450

vii. 4 . . . .

465

cxix. 73 .

441

XX. 9 . . .

484

XX. I . .

450

vii. 15 ...

431

cxxi. 8 .

483

XX. 22 . . .

392

I Kings iii., viii. .

475

viii. 2 . . .

. 484

cxxi. 8 .

491

xxi. 9, 19

395

xi. 5 • •

443

xi.7 . . . .

498

cxxviii. 3, 4

463

xxi. 13 . .

427

xi. 7 . .

443

xii. 5 . . . .

447

cxxx. 3 .

402

xxi. 13 . .

468

xii., LXX.

396

xvii. 8 . . .

• 497

cxxx. 3, 4

48s

xxi. 19 . .

395

xii. . . .

399

xviii. 26 . . .

416

cxxxi. I .

467

xxi. 27 . .

460

xiii. . .

• 434

xviii. 43, 44 .

446

cxxxvi. 25

490

xxii. 10 . .

399

xiii. 33 .

499

xix. 7 . . . .

■ 458

cxxxix. 5, 6

441

xxiii. . . .

498

XIV. . .

435

xxii. 12, 16 . .

. 444

cxxxix. 16

441

xxiii. 14 . .

43^

xvii. . .

440

xxii. 16 . . .

• 444

cxxxix. 21, :

458

xxiii. 21 . .

397

xvii. 9, .

426

xxii. 18 . . .

• 445

cxl. II .

466

xxiii. 29, 30 .

49S

xviii. . .

• 475

xxii. 27, 28 . .

• 455

cxii. 5 .

435

xxiii. 31, LXX.

397

xviii. 21 .

• 465

xxvi. 5, 4 . .

• 423

cxlv. 16 .

434

xxiv. II. .

435

xviii., xxi.

xxvii. 12 . .

444

cxlv. 17 .

442

xxiv. 27 . .

400

xxii.

• 467

xxviii. 9 , . .

. 422

Prov. i. 8 . .

39«

xxvi. 2

430

588

APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, ETC.: INDEX OF TEXTS.

Prov. xxvi. 9

xxvi. 17

xxvi. 27

xxvii. I

xxix. 12

xxix. 17

XXX. 6.

xxxi. 4, LXX.

xxxi. 10, etc.
Eccles. ii. 25, LXX.
ii. 25, LXX.
iv. 5.

IV. 5.

V. 5 .

"■•■^ k
vii. 20

X. I .

x. 18
xii. 14
Cant. ii. 15
Isa. i. 7 .

1.8 .

i. II, etc

i. 16 .

i. 19 .

i. 22 .

i. 23 .

li. 2 .

V. 2, 7

V. 6 .

V. 8 .

V.8 .

V. 20 .

V. 23.

vi. 2 .

vi. 3 .

vi. 9, 10

vii. 14

viii. 20, LXX

ix. 6 .

ix. 6, LXX

xi. I .

xi. I, 10

xi. 4 .

xiv. 19

xxii. 13

xxvi. 19

xxviii. I

xxix. 13

xxxiv. 4

XXXV. 3

xl. II

li. 10 .

Hi. 5 .

lii. s .

lii. 5 .

liii. I

liii. 4

liii. II

liii. II, LXX

12
12
12
I .

liii.

liv.

liv. 14

Ivii. I, LXX

Ivii. 19

Ivii. 21

Iviii. 6

498
419

431
457
403
436
468
498
394
434
469

397
425
426

436
395
403
425
440
457
433
451
460

484
469

434
403

452
391
451
391
409

415
415
488

473

48g

428
446
446
458
488
446

454
487
454
448
471
447
428
440

479
518
522
414
405
484

395
427

470

446
409
432
432
409

445
447
5'7

435
466
442
420

458
419

Isa. Iviii. 7
Iviii. 7
Iviii. 9

Iviii. 9, LXX,
lix. 7, 8
Ixii. 2
Ixii. II
Ixii. II
Ixiii. 10
Ixiv. I
Ixiv. 8
Ixv. I

IXV. 2

Ixvi. 2

Ixvi. 2, 5

Ixvi. 18

Ixvi. 24

Ixvi. 24
Jer. i.5 .

11. II, 10

iii. II

iii. 22

iv. 4 .

V. 7 .

v. 22 .

vi. 20

vii. II

vii. 16

vii. 21, 22

viii. 4, S

X. 2 .

xii. 7 .

xii. 8 .

xii. 10

XV. I .

XV. 17

XV. 19

xvii. 12

xxi. 8

xxiii. 15

xxvi. .

xxviii., xxix.

xxix. 22

Lam. iv. 20

iv. 20

Ezek. ii. 7

iii. II

iii. 12

viii. 14
viii. 16
viii. 17, 18
xiv. 13, 14
xiv. 14, 20
xvi. 47
xvi. 52
xviii. 2, etc.
xviii. 6 .
xviii. 20 .
xviii., xxxiii
XX. 25. .
xxxiii. 2, etc,
xxxiii. 7, etc,
xxxiii. 10
xxxiii. II
xxxiv. 2, etc,
xxxiv. 3
xxxiv. 4
xxxvi. 20-23
xxxvii. II, etc,
Dan. ii. 34 . . ,

427
468
428

406

43 «

401

498
446
484
441

445
446

396
467
481
378

522
440

519
522
441
423
423
400
456
442

487
460

521
434
460
400
424
443
451
444
402

434
424
421

451
377
451
398
481
481
448
449
398
398
473
423
443
443
443
401

S18
423
423
402

463
400

485
459
398
398
405
400
404
409

405
521
440
448

Dan. iii. . .
iii. . .
iii. . .
iii. . .
iii. 7 .
iv. 27 .
iv. 27 .
vi. . .
vi. 10 .
vi. 16 .
vi. 16 .
vii. 10 .
vii. 10 .
vii. 13 .
viii. 13.
X. 2, 3 ,
xii. 2, 3
xii. 3 .
Hos. ii. 23 .
iv. 6 .
iv. 9
ix. 4
x. 12 .
X. 13, LXX.
Joel ii. 28

ii. 32 .
Amos V. 23 .

ix. 1 1 .
Jonah i. 17 .

ii. . .

iii. . .

iii. 5 .
Nah. i. 3 . .

i-3. 4 .
i. 9 . .
Hab. ii. 9
Zech. iii. i. .
iii. 2, etc
iii. 2 .
vii. 9 .
viii. 17
ix. 9 .
ix. 17, LXX
ix. 17 .
X. 3. .
xii. I .
xii. 10 .
xiii. 2 .
xiv. 5 .'
xiv. 5 .
xiv. 7 .
Mai. i. 6 . .
i. 6 . .
i. 6 . .
i. II . .
i. II . .
i. II, 14
i. II, 14
ii. 7 . .
11. 14, 15,
ii. 15, 14
iv. 1 . .
iv. 4. .
I Mace, i., etc.
4 Esd. xvi. 60
Tobit iv. 15 .
iv. 15 .
iv. 16 .
iv. 16 .
Judith viii. .
viii. 6
ix. I, etc
xvi. 21, 23

439

440

475
480
522

427
468
440
379
475
480

445
488

448
473
449
440
441

517
456

398
460

397
403
452

455
460

455
406
406
440

48s

449
402

484
SOI
466

452
4«

484

413
419

448

434
469
402
441
448
443
382
471

445
402

470

481

381
461

381
471
411

463
456
522

458

487

377
465

39'
431
481

449
428

493

Wisd. iii. i .

iii. I .

X. 6 .

Ecclus. i. 28 .

ii. 4 .

iii. 30

IV. 31 .
iv. 31 .

V. 7 . .
xxiv. 25
XXV. 26.
xxvi. 29
XXX. 1 1 .
XXX. 12 .

xxxi. 25-3
xlix. 16
Bar. iii. 35-37 .
iv. 4 . . .
Hist. Susanna .
28
48
Matt. i. 23
iii. 2
iii., iv

V. 5
V- 5

v-5
V. 7

V.7
V. 7
v.8
V. 9
V. 9

V. II, 12
V. II, 12

V. 18, 17
V. 19 .
V. 20 .

V. 22 .
V. 22 .
V. 22 .

V. 23, 24
V. 23, 24
V. 26
V. 28

"f- 33
V. 34
V. 34
V. 34
V. 38

V. 39
v-39
V. 40
V. 40
V. 41
V. 41
V. 42

V. 43
V. 44

V. 44
V. 44. 45
V. 44. 46
V. 45 •
V. 45 •
V. 45 .

V. 45 •
V. 46, 47

V. 46, 47
v.-vi. .
v.-vii. .

vi. 3. 4
vi. 5 .

vi. 5. 9-13
vi. 9, etc.
vi. 9, etc.

rAGB

464
498

488

378

52e

467

457

451
456

434
436
436
498
488
448
461
414
418
419
446
420
469
378
396
467

396
460

467
396
396
417
399
438
458
398

4'3
412
419
460

381
419

377
391
461

377
443
466
460

465

377
465

465

465
460

377
465

392
521

377
401
420
465

465

373
381

430

470

379
432
470

APOSTOLICAL TEACHING, ETC.: INDEX OF TEXTS.

5S9

PAGE

Matt. vi. 9 . . . . 506

vi. 10 . .

420

vi. II . .

379

vi. 12 . .

403

vi. 13 . .

379

vi. 16 . .

379

vi. 20 . .

413

vi. 21 . .

428

vi. 24 . .

465

vi. 24 . .

467

vi. 24 . .

505

vi. 24 . .

518

vi. 26, 31,

434

vii. 2 . .

416

vii 2 . .

418

vii. 6 . .

380

vii. 6 . .

427

vii. 12 . .

377

vii. 13, 14

377

vii. 15. .

456

vii. 21 . .

518

vii. 23 . .

S18

viii. 4 . .

458

viii. 12

439

ix. 2 . .

405

ix. 2, etc. .

442

ix. 12 . .

401

ix. 12 . .

40s

ix. 12 . .

414

ix. 13 . .

517

ix. 15 . .

447

ix. 22 . .

463

X. 2

456

X. 10 . .

381

X. 12 . .

420

X. 12, 13 .

430

X. 16 . .

518

X. 17, 23

438

X. 22 . ,

382

X. 22 . .

438

x. 23 . .

438

X. 23 . .

498

X. 28 . .

438

X. 28 . .

518

X. 32 . .

437

X. 32 . .

5'§

x-33 •

438

X. 37 •

438

X. 40 . .

380

X. 40 .

499

X. 41 . .

471

xi., xiii.

398

""'.• K '

. 479

XI. 28 .

• 393

xii. 29.

484

xii. 30.

420

xii. 30 .

422

xii. 31, 32

380

xu. 32 .

■ 457

xii. 36 .

. 396

xii. 36 .

. 466

xii. 37 .

396

xii. 40 .

■ 445

xii. 50 .

• 519

xiii. 16

• 459

xiii. 31

• 427

xiv. 17, et

• 442

xiv. 20

• 380

xiv. 31

• 467

XV. II .

. 469

XV. 37 .

. 380

xvi. 24

. 460

xvi. 26

• 438

xvi. 26

. 518

xvi. 27

• 471

Matt. xvii. 24, etc
xvii. 24, etc.
xviii. 6, 7
xviii. 7
xviii. 10
xviii. U
xviii. 12
xviii. 14
xviii. 15
xviii. 15-
xviii. 16
xviii. 17
xviii. 18
xviii. 20
xviii. 21, 22
xviii. 22
xix. 4 .
xix. 4, 5
xix. 6 .
xix. 14
xix. 29
XX. 25 .
XX. 26, 27
XX. 28 .
xxi. 9 .
xxi. 9 .
xxi. 13
xxi. 13
xxi. 28, etc.
xxi. 35
xxi. 39
xxi. 42
xxi. 43
xxii. 21
xxii. 21
xxii. 32
xxii. 37
xxii. 37, 39
xxiii. 3
xxiii. 16
xxiii. 35
xxiii. 38
xxiv. .
xxiv. .
xxiv. .
xxiv. 4
xxiv. 10
xxiv. II, 12
xxiv. 12, 13
xxiv. 12, 24
xxiv. 24
xxiv. 24
xxiv. 24
xxiv. 30
xxiv. 30, 31
xxiv. 31
xxiv. 42
xxiv. 51

XXV.

XXV. 34, etc

XXV. 46
xxvi. .
xxvi. .
xxvi. 15
xxvi. 21, 22
xxvi. 29
xxvi. 30
xxvi. 31
xxvi. 39, 42
xxvi. 41
xxvi. 41
xxvi. 47
xxvii. 5
xxvii. 9, 10
xxvii. 24, 25

PAGE

417
442
399
392
403
517
405
401
414

381
482
414

399
496

417
419
462
456
456
457
485
405

432
432
470
490
403

446
446
446
446
446
417
505
498
518

377
399
443
446

452

373

382

471
379
382
382
456
458
382
456

457
382
382
380
382
466
400
437
471
418

489
444
444
380

444
444
444
439
498
444
466

444
447

Matt, xxvii. 46 . . .

445

xxvii. 62, etc. .

379

xxviii. 19 . .

379

xxviii. 19 . .

410

xxviii. 19 . .

442

xxviii. 19 . .

456

xxviii. 19 . .

469

xxviii. 19 . .

476

xxviii. 20 . .

422

xxviii. 20 . .

478

Mark i. 44 . . . .

458

ii. 17 . . . .

517

ii. 20 . . . .

447

iii. I, etc. . .

442

iii. 29, 30 . .

380

440

v. 9 .

484

V. 34 .

405

vii. 22 .

469

xi. 10 .

470

xi. 17 .

521

xii. 29 . .

398

xii. 30, 31 .

377

xii. 32 . . .

. 465

xii. 42 . . .

429

xiii. 35 . .

• 471

xiv. . . .

. 489

xiv. 25 . .

. 380

xvi. 9 . . .

. 445

xvi. 14 . .

■ 445

xvi. 16 . .

• 457

xvi. 17, 18 .

• 479

Luke i., ii. . . .

. 481

ii. 14 . . .

. 478

ii. 14 • . .

• 490

ii. 29, etc. .

. 478

ii. 36, etc. .

. 426

ii. 36 . . .

• 492

ii. 36, etc. .

. 493

ii. 51 . . .

. 461

iii. 13

• 414

iii. 14

• 495

iv. 24

. 422

v. 20

. 405

V. 32

• 517

V.35

. 447

vi. 13

• 383

vi. 22, 23 . .

. 438

vi. 27, 32 . .

. 521

vi. 28 . . .

• 392

vi. 29

• 377

vi. 29

• 465

vi. 30

• 377

vi. 30

. 427

vi. 30

• 465

vi. 31

• 377

vi. 32

• 377

vi. 32

. 465

vi. 37

. 413

VI. 37

. 416

vi. 37,

38*. '.

. 406

vi. 40

• 439

vi. 41

. 403

vii. .

. 440

vii. 47

. 408

ix. 26

. 438

ix. 30

. 458

X. 5.6

• 430

X. 7.

. 381

X. 7.

. 408

X. 16

. 404

X. 16

. 481

X. 16

• 499

X. 18

. 484

X. 19

. 484

Luke X. 20 .
xi. 3 .

xii. 4, 5
xii. 35 •

xii. 35, 37
xii. 48 .
xii. 57 .
xiii. 27
xiv. 1 1
xiv. 13

XV. . .

XV. 4, etc.

XV. 7
XV. 7

XV. 7

XV. 21

xvi.

xvi. 10-12
xvi. 13
xvi. 15
xvii. 14
xviii. 8
xviii. 14
xviii. 14
xviii. 27
xix. 10
xix. 10
xix. 44
xix. 46
XX. 38 .
xxi. 3, 4
xxi. 18
xxi. 19
xxii. .
xxii. 19
xxii. 31
xxii. 32
xxii. 34
xxii. 42
xxii. 47
xxiii. 2
xxiii. 14
xxiii. 21
xxiii. 34
xxiii. 34
xxiii. 39, etc.
xxiii. 40
xxiii. 46
xxiv. 18
John i. 9 . .
". 18 .
i. 3, etc.

ii- 5 .

11. 36 .

V. 44 •
v. 25 .

V. 39 •
V. 46 .
vi. 27 .
vi. 29 .
vi. 45 .
vi. 67 .
vii. 24 .
viii. ir .
viii. 24 .
viii. 44 .
ix. I, etc

X. II, 12

x. 29

xi. .

xi. 25
xi. 48
xi. 51
xii. 6
xii. 6

590 APOSTOLICAL TEACHING,

ETC.: INDEX OF TEXTS.

PAGE

PACK

John xii. 13 ... . 470

Acts XX. 35 • • •

• 433

2 Cor. vii. I . . . . 490

I Tim. v. 9 . . . . 457

xii. 43 .

. 439

XX. 35 . . .

. 460

vii. I .

• 492

V. II .

. 426

xm. 4, 5

. 432

XXI. 9 . . .

. 481

viii. 19

3^'

vi. 2 .

. 436

xiii. 17 .

. 461

xxi. 10 . . .4^

[1,481

viii. 23

3^^

vi. 16

491

xiii. 20 .

499

xxvi. 14 . .

• 500

xi. 5 .

506

vi. 21

381

xiii. 21, et

• 444

Rom. i. 25 . . .

• 4^^

XI. 13

453

2 Tim. i. 5 .

. 478

xiii. 34 .

460

i. 25 . . .

488

xiii. II

522

ii. 5 .

. 401

xiii. 35 .

397

i. 28 . . .

443

Gal. i. 19 . .

380

ii. 15.

471

XV. I .

380

iii. 15 . . .

. 406

i.19.

485

ii. 18.

. 381

XV. 13 .

432

iv. 17 . . .

517

iii. 10

461

ii. 19.

420

XV. 15 .

459

vi. 3 . . .

• 431

iv. 9.

375

i'i- 3. 4

416

XV. 20 .

438

VI. 3 . . ,

• 446

iv. 9.

446

iii. 8 .

479

xvi. 32 .

444

""'.•. ^. • ' ■

476

iv. 27

517

iv. 7 .

498

xvi. 33 .

438

vii. 8, II . .

522

v. 9 .

• 403

iv. 10

478

xvn. 3 .

446

viii. 21 . .

. 475

VI. 10

466

iv. 21

. 478

xvii. 3 .

460

ix. 25 . . .

5'7

Eph. i. 13

• 519

Tit. i. 6 .

. 457

xvii. 4, 6

479

xi. 4 . . .

480

i. 23

• 521

i. 10 .

• 375

xvii. 4, 6

489

xii. I . . .

381

11. 17

. 420

iii. I .

. 436

xvii. II, 2

479

xii. 2 . . .

. 420

iii. 14-2

■ 507

Philem. .

495

xvii. 17

486

xiii. I, 4, 7 .

436

iii. 15

. 486

1 .

478

xviii. I .

444

xiii. 8 . . .

• 436

iv. 4

. 416

• 478

xviii. 3S

444

xiv. 20 . .

. 379

iv. 18

523

Heb. ii. 10

523

xix. 1 5, 6,

447

XV. 27 . . .

378

iv. 26

. 419

V. 4

429

xix. 15. .

461

xvi. 7 . . . .

380

v. 14

• 507

V. 5-

410

xix. 39 . .

448

xvi. 20 . . .

484

V. 18

. 498

ix. 24

• 521

XX. XI, etc

445

xvi. 21 . .

458

v. 19

. 506

X. I, 22

■ 522

XX. 25 . .

447

I Cor. i. 10 . . . .

416

V. 27

. 424

xi. 37

, 446

Acts i. I . . .

398

ii. 9 . . .

472

V; 31-3

3 .

. 521

xii. 8

■ 399

i. 3 . . .

442

ii.9 . . .

520

VI. .

• 495

xii. 23

. 409

!• 9„ • •

442

11.9 . . .

521

vi. 4

. 378

xiii. 4

• 463

i. 18. .

466

IV. 16, 17 . .

375

vi. 4

396

xiii. 7

• 378

i. 20 . . .

454

vi. I, etc. . .

417

vi. 5

. 378

xiii. 15

. 381

ii. 4 . . .

448

vi. 19, 20 .

446

VI. s

• 436

Jas. i. 12 .

• 399

iii. I

379

vii. 17 . . .

506

VI. 5

. 468

V. 14.

. 431

iii. 15 . .

523

vii. 25 . . .

436

vi. 6

• 436

V. 16.

. 37S

iv. 6. .

438

vii. 25 . . .

493

vi. 7

. 468

V. 19, 20

. 521

iv. 32 .

378

vii. 31 . . .

380

vi. 9

. 378

V. 20 .

. 522

466

vii. 34 . .

436

Phil. ii. 2 ,

. 522

I Pet. i. 19

. 422

V. 31 .

523

viii. 4, etc. .

379

ii. 17

. 381

ii. 2

• 446

V. 40, 41

438

ix. 9 . . .

409

IV. 3

. 484

"•5

. 381

^•.4'.. •

520

X. 18, etc. .

379

Col. i. 15 .

• 424

11.5

. 506

vi., vii. .

418

x. 20 . . .

469

i. 15.

■ 487

11.9

. 381

vi., vii. .

492

xi. 3 . . .

394

u. 13, 14

. 484

11.9

• 409

vi., vii. .

500

XI. 3 . . .

428

iii. 16

• 506

ii.9

422

vii. 56 .

464

xi. 3 . . .

429

iii. 22

. 378

ii. 9

• 431

viii. . .

435

xi. 5, 6 . .

506

iii. 22, 2

. 436

ii.9

490

viii. . .

452

xi. 20-22, 33

380

iv.

• 495

ii. II

377

viii. 14 . .

452

xi. 23 . .

489

iv. I .

. 378

ii. II

. 465

viii. 19 .

452

xi. 23 . ,

506

iv. I .

436

ii. 13

436

viii. 20, etc

. .

453

xi. 26 . .

470

iv. 16, 17

478

ii. 18

436

viii. 24 .

453

xi. 34 . .

375

I Thess. ii. 6

3S0

ii. 23

501

viii., ix.

500

xi. 59 . .

470

iv. 16

■ 471

iii. 6

463

ix. 5. .

500

xii. 3. . .

380

iv. 17

382

iii. 13

X. . .

455

xii. 8 . . .

480

2 Thess. ii. .

471

iii. 20

488

X. 9 . .

379

xiv. 2 . .

380

ii. 3. 4.

382

iii. 21

521

X. 13, etc.

455

xiv. 21 . .

479

iii. 10

381

iv. 4, 1

522

X. 34, 35. 4

455

xiv. 29, 31 .

380

iii. 10

425

iv. 8

522

X. 42 .

448

xiv. 33 . .

499

I Tim. i. 6 .

381

iv. 12.

382

xi. 15 .

• 455

xiv. 34 . .

. 427

i. 17

523

V. I

3^i

xi. 28 .

481

xiv. 40 . .

506

ii. I

523

V. 5

466

xiii. 22 .

450

XV. 5, 7 . .

380

ii. 1-1

506

V.5

48 1

xiv. 4, 14

380

XV. 23 . .

382

ii. 2

489

2 Pet. ii. 13

3S3

xiv. 23 .

381

XV. 32 . .

428

ii. 2

490

iii. 7, I

522

XV. . .

454

xvi. 20 . .

■ 506

ii. 4

485

iii. 9 .

5>i

XV. I

454

xvi. 22 . .

380

iii. 2

396

iii. 9 .

517

XV. 7, 8

455

xvi. 22 . .

• 470

iii. 2,

457

I John iv. I

XV. 9, 10

455

2 Cor. i. 3 ...

. 4S2

iii. 4

381

iv. I

3^^

XV. 13, etc

455

v. 17 . . .

458

iii. 4

396

Rev. i. 10 . .

^l'

XV. 20, 29

379

VI. 5 . . .

• 503

iii. 6

396

ii. 2 .

383

XV. 23, etc

• 455

VI. 14 . .

• 496

iii. 15

431

ii. 2, 9

375

XV. 32 .

. 481

vi. 16 . .

. 483

iv. 2

503

iii. 2

517

xix. 6 .

• 519

vi. 17 . .

■ 451

iv. 5

523

xii. 9

3S2

xix. 14 .

. 481

vii. I . . . ■

• 476

iv. 10

465

XX. 5

382

XX. 28 .

. 422

vii. I . . .

• 483

v. 8

493

xxii. 20

380

XX. 28 .

• 424

vii. I . . .

• 484

V. 9

426

EARLY LITURGIES.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Access, Prayer of, 559, 567.

Adseus and Maris, Liturgy of, 561-

571-

Allatius, Leo, 533.

Altar, the, 538, 542, 543, 546, 547, 562,
565 ; Epistle and Gospel sides of,
542, 562, 563; prayer at, 538;
reverence to, 563, 566.

Amen, 539, 542.

Anaphora, the second part or canon
of the liturgy, 534; the Oblation,
535; prayer of, 555; of St.
James' Liturgy, restoration of , at-
tempted, 534.

Anthem, the, 553.

Antidoron, the, 536.

Apocalypse, the, saturates the litur-
gies, 561.

Apostle (Epistle), the, 553, 561.

Apostles, the Blessed, Liturgy of,
561-569.

Assemani, 533.

Assyrians, Liturgy of, 570.

Autun Inscfiption, 536.

Ave Maria, 546.

Benedictions, 538, 541, 543, 547, 553 ;

final, 548, 568.
Bidding Prayer, the, 532 ; the free

prayer of primitive Christians,

532, 538 (note).
Bishop, prayer for the, 551-553, 556.
Body and Blood, Ratramn on the, 545

(note).
Breaking of the Bread. See Fraction.

Canon, use of the word according to
Suicer, 561 (note).

Catechumens, Liturgy of, 535 ; dis-
missal of, 535, 540, 554.

Chalice, or cup, benediction of, 544,
558 ; commixture of, 548, 566 ;
filling of, 548; veil of, 543, 563.

Choral worship, founded by Samuel,

53I'
Christ, commemoration of His life,

535, 539; the repose of the dead,

535-
Christian sacrifice, universal, 531 ;

worship from the beginning, 532 ;

described by Trollope, 534.
Church, the Holy Catholic, 545, 555,

562-565, and Apostolic, 545, 556 ;

prayers for, 552, 553, 556.

Collect, the, 553 (note).

Commencement, prayer of, 537.

Communion, Holy, 535, 536; recep-
tion by priest and laity, 548.

Confession, 536.

Confusions and difficulties, where ex-
plained, 548, 549 (notes).

Consecration, prayer of, 535, 557, 558.

Credence, the, 548 and note.

Creed, the, 535, 540, 554, 562.

Cross, sign of, 542, 544, 548, 553-556,
559. 563. 564, 566, 567-

Deacons, their interjections, 544 and

passim.
Deipara, or Theotoce, 538 (note).
Departed, prayers for, 535, 536, and

notes, 546, 556, 564, 569 (note),

571 (note).
Diptychs, the, 556.
Disk {discus), the paten, 548.
Dismission, the, prayer of, 550, 560.
Distribution of the elemeats, 559, 567.

Embolisms, the, 536, 537, 558, 567.
Emperor, prayer for the, 551, 555.
Entrance, the Little, and prayers at,

535. 538. 552; the Great, 535,

540, 554-
Epistle, the, where read, 535.
Eucharist, not daily, 551 ; antidote to

mortality, 566.
Eucharistic sacrifice. See Sacrifice.

Faithful, the Liturgy of (Missa Fidel-

ium), 535, 540, 562 ; prayers for

the, 535.
Fraction of the Bread, 535, 536, 544,

548, 557, 566; into parts for the

faithful, 559, 567.

Gentile nations, their universal ac-
ceptance of sacrifice, 530.

Gloria in Excels is, 542.

Gospel, the, read by the deacon, 535,
553 ; salutation of, 562.

Gradual, the, 561 (note).

Gustate, 548.

Hippolytus on the dawn of Chris-
tianity, 530.

Holy Ghost, invocation of, 535 ;
prayer for the descent of, upon
the oblation, 546, 558.

" Holy things for holy persons," 536,
547, 569 (note).

Homily, or sermon, at Holy Com-
munion, 535.

Hosanna, the, 544.

Host, the, not a primitive word, 566
(note).

Hymn, the Cherubic, 540, 554.

Hymnology, early Hebrew, 531.

Hymns, German, Hirscher's remarks
on, 570 (note).

Incense, 553 (note) and passim ;
prayers of, 537, 552, 556; offer-
ing of, 554, 556, 564 ; blessing of,

563- ^ ^

Inchnation, prayer of, 536.

Institution, words of, 535, 544, 557,
564 ; in the Malabar Liturgy, 570.

Intercessions for the living and the
departed, 535, 536, 545, 546, 555,
556, 564; for the faithful, 539;
general, 541, 542, 545, 555, 557.

Interpolations, 533, 537, 546, 549, 563 ;
lawful and unlawful, 537, 556
(note); not idolatrous, 539; cen-
surable, 542; post-Nicene, 544,
545 ; post-Ephesine, 552.

Introit, the, 535.

Invocation of the Holy Ghost, 535,
545, 558, 565.

Irenaeus, St., on the Oblation and In-
vocation, 571 (note).

James, St., Liturgy of, 532, 533, 537-

550-
Jerusalem, sacrifice localized m, 530;
the glorious Sion, 545; mother
of all churches, 545; the holy
city, 556 (note) : liturgy of, 532,

533. 537-550- .

Justin Martyr, St., his account of
Christian worship, 532; testi-
mony to the Clementine Liturgy,
572 ; concurrence of St. Irenaeus
with, 572.

Kiss of Peace, 535, 541 (note), 563.
Kyrie Eleesoti, 551 zxiA passim.

Lavabo (prayer of preparation of the

priest), 537.
Lections, or lessons, 535, 539, 561.
Leo Allatius, 533.

592

EARLY LITURGIES: INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Litany, the universal, 541.

Liturgies, ancient, four families of,
532; theories of their origin and
dates, 533.

Liturgiologists and liturgical authori-
ties (quoted or referred to) : —

Abu'lberkat, 534 ; Assemani
533; Augustine, 541, 569; Bad
ger, 536, 561, 562, 565, 570 ; Ba
ronius, 534; Basil, 571; Bas
nage, 534 ; Bellarmine, 533, 569
Bingham, 569 ; Bona, 533 ; Brett,
529. 533; Bunsen, 534; Bur
bidge, 536, 566, 571 ; Cave, 534
Chrysostom, 569; Clement of
Alexandria, 568; Cyril, 571
Daniel, 533, 534; Dupin, 534
Elias, 566 ; Etheridge, 562 ; Eu
sebius, 568 ; Fabricius, 534
Field, 536, 543; Freeman, 536
569: Gelasius, 533; Gregory
the Great, 533 ; Hammond, 536,

544. 55'. 552. 556. 558, 559. 561
562, 564, 569, 570; Harvey, 571
572; Hickes, 537; Hilary, 533
Hippolytus, 570; Hirscher, 569,
570, 571; Innocent, 533; Ire
naeus, 552, 571, 572; Joseph
566; Justin Martyr, 572; Le
Brun, 533; Le Nourry, 534
Lee, 533; Leo Allatius, 533
Littledale, 536, 548, 549; Ma
billon, 533; Marriott, 536; Me
nesius, 566 ; Muratori, 533
Musaeus, 533; Neale, 529, 532

533. 534. 535. 536, 548, 549. 56 1:

570, 571 ; Palmer, 532, 533, 561
Pfaff, 536; Probst, 533; Ra^
tramn, 545; Rattray, 534; Re
naudot, 529, 534, 551, 561, 562
565, 566, 570; Scudamore, 536,
542; Sidonius, 533; Tillemont
534 ; Trevor, 536 ; Trollope, 533
534; Usher, 571 ; Warren, 536
Williams, 571 ; Zaccaria, 533.

Liturgiology, science of, in its in-
fancy, 529.

Liturgy, meaning of the word, 532
(note) ; Clementine, 529, 570,
date of, 533, probable use of, in
Rome and Gaul, 572 (note)
primitive, no normal type ex
tant, 529, Clementine nearest to

571, 572, Justin Martyr's ac
count of, compared with Clemen
tine, 532, the two parts of, 534
of St. James (Jerusalem), 532
533, 537-550; of St. Mark (Alex
andria), 532-534, 551-560, single
MS. of, 551 (note) ; of Rome and
Gaul, 532, 533 ; of Edessa, 532 ;
of St. Basil, 533; of St. Chrysos-
tom, 533; of the Blessed Apos-

tles (or Adaeus and Maris), 534,
561-569; of St. Cyril, 534; of St.
Gregory, 534; Ethiopic, or All
Apostles, 534 ; of Nestorius, 534 ;
of Theodore the interpreter, 534 ;
Malabar, 570, 571.
Lord's Prayer, the, 535, 536, 547,
558, 567 ; understood though
not written in the Clementine
Liturgy, 570.

Magnificat, 540.

Malabar Liturgy, peculiarities of,
570; its Portuguese revisers,
570 ; corrupted, but very ancient,

571-
Malachi, the pure oblation of, 551,

555-

Maris, one of the Seventy, 570.

Mark, St., sister's son to St. Barna-
bas and pupil of St. Peter, St.
Clement's testimony of, 568 ;
founder of the Evangelical See,
568 ; commemoration of, 569 ;
Liturgy of (Alexandria), 551-560,
MS. of, 551 (note).

Masses, Roman system of, Hirscher's
strictures on, 570 (note); pur-
chased by the rich, 571 (note).

Missa Fideliuni and Catechumeno-
rum, 535.

Mosaic system of sacrifice, limits of,
530-

Nestorius, Liturgy of, 570.
Nile, waters of the, 553.

Oblation, the (Second, or Great), 535,
544, 554 (note), 555, 558, 564,
565 ; First, see Offertory.

Obsignation, the sign of the Lord's
cross, 568.

Offertory, the (or First Oblation),
535. 540, 562.

Patriarch, or Papa, prayer for, 551-

553. 556-

Paul, St., enlightened by Christ Him-
self, therefore an original evan-
gelist, 532 ; delivers the ordi-
nances, and prescribes order and
decorum, 532; calls himself a
liturge and hierurge, 532 ; minis-
ters the Gospel in sacrifice, 532.

Payne-Smith, Dean, his Institutions
of Samuel, 530 ; outline of his
exposition, 531.

Post-Communion, the, 549, 550, 560,
566-568.

Prayers, of consecration, 535, 537,
544. 558. 564; the secret, 551,
558, 562, 563, 564, 565 ; of prepa-
ration, 535, 537, 551.

Preface, the, 535, 543, 564.

Preparation, prayers of, 535, 537, 551.

Proanaphora, first part of the lit-
urgy, 534-

Proclamation, use of the word, 562
(note.)

Prolepsis, divine, exhibited in the
Law of Moses, 530.

Prophets, Schools of, 531.

Propitiation, 543, 550, 556 ; prayer
of, 550 ; primitive use of the
word, 571.

Prothesis, the, 552.

Psalms of communion, 548.

Psalter, the, 530 ; universality of,

531-
Publican, prayer of, 558.

Rabbinical education, 531.

Rattray, Bishop, on the restoration

of St. James' Liturgy, 534.
Remission, prayer for, 546.
Responsory, use of the word, 561,

562, 567.
Rock, the, 545.
Rome, 556 (note).

Sacrifice, universal prevalence of,
530; divinely instituted, 530;
localized in Jerusalem, 530 ;
eucharistic, the, 537, 540.

Sacristy, prayer of, 550, 560.

Saints, commemoration of, 546, 549,

553. 556, 562.

Salutation, prayer of, 554 ; of the
Gospel, 562.

Samuel, Institutions of, 530, 531.

Sanctification, prayer for, 547.

Sanctus. See Ter Sanctus.

Sursitm Corda, 535, 543, 555, 563.

Synagogue, worship of, provided for
villages, a preparation for Chris-
tian worship, 531.

Synaxis, succeeds the synagogue,
532. 544-

Ter Sanctus, the, 535, 544, 557, 564 ;

preface to, 564.
Thaddeus, St., apostle, called Addai

in Syriac, 570.
Thanksgiving, the, 536 ; prayer of, 560.
Translators of the liturgies, 529.
Triad, the, 559, 567.
Trinity, the, 547, 563.
Trisagion, the, 538, 544, 552, 553,

557 ; prayer of, 552.
Triumphal hymn, the, 535 ; prayer

o^ 535-

Veil (chalice), prayer of the, 543 and
note ; withdrawing of, 543, 563.

World, four parts of, 555, 565.

EARLY LITURGIES.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

[These Liturgies furnish endless allusions to texts of Scripture not fully quoted.]

PAGE

Gen. xxii. 14

530

Exod. xxiii. 17 .

S30

XXXI V. 5

.S69

Deut. xii. 6 .

530

xii. 21

530

xii. 24

530

XIV. 24

530

xvi. 16

530

I Sam. X. 5 .

531

XIX. 20

531

I Chron. ix. 22

S3I

Ps. XV. . .

S6i

zxuu . .

. 548

Ps.

xxxiv.

xlii. .
xlii. I
xlv. 13
li. . .

Ixxiv. 6
Ixxviii. 67-69
Ixxxiii. 12 .
cxvii. . .
cxix. 108
cxxiii. . .
cxxxviiL 78
cxlv. . . .

PAGE

548

559
559
529

565
531
531
531
548
569

^i^
565

548

PAGE

Mai. i. II

531

1. II

sss

Luke xviii. 13

548

John iv. 21-23

531

VI. 32-40

566

X. 16 .

555

Acts i. 4, 14 .

532

11. I, 42 ,

532

111. 24 .

531

IV. 24 .

532

xn. 12 .

568

xvi. 19 .

571

XIX. 27 .

571

PAGE

I Cor. vii. 17

532

xi.2,25,33,etc

532

XIV. 34-40

532

2 Cor. V. 19, 20

Sb2

Phil. ii. 10 . .

SS9

Col. iv. 10

568

I Tim. ii. 2

SSI

Heb. i. 6 .

540

V. 1-3

543

IX. 22

531

XI. 19

.531

I Pet. V. 14 ^/ ahbi

S4I

Rev. V. 6 .

561

59S

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The ante Nicene fathers. Translations of

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