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Lactantius
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Introductory Notice To Lactantius.
[289] 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 from the body is often spoken of as sleep, or rest. Thus Lazarus is said to sleep. 1 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.”
[290] Extinguishes. Compare the words of Christ Himself, John v. 29; Acts xxiv. 15.
[291] [Must not be overlooked. See vol. iv. p. 495, and elucidation (after book. iv.) on p. 542.]
[292] [Eccles. iii. 18-21. Answered, Eccles. xii. 7.]
[293] Portrayed or expressed.
[294] 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.
[295] Preface to Catiline
[296] The word teneo is used in this sense by Cicero (De Nat. Deor., 11. 54): “Tribus rebus animantium vita tenetur, cibo, potione, spiritu.”
[297] Material.
[299] 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 narrative, 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.
[300] Paradise.
[301] Another reading is, ad dejiciendum hominem, “to overthrow the man.”
[302] Circumvallavit, “placed a barrier round.” See Gen. iii. 24: “He placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.”
[303] [Not novissima, but extrema here. He refers to book vii. cap. 11, etc.]
[304] Temporary. The word is opposed to everlasting.
[305] No one actually lived a thousand years. They who approached nearest to it were Methuselah, who lived 969 years, Jared 962, and Noah 950.
[306] It appears that the practise of the Egyptians varied as to the computation of the year.
[307] Philo and Josephus.
[308] [“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.]
[309] The reading is quod, which in construction refers not to the preceding, but to the following substantive. Qui has been suggested as a preferable reading.
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