Lactantius

Footnotes

^[490] Sallust, Cat., viii.

^[491] Chapter xvi.

^[492] Satire x. 365: Nullum numen abest. Others read, Nullum numen habes. You have no divine power, O Fortune, if there is prudence, etc.

^[493] Acad., i. 7. [Let our sophists feel this rebuke of Tully.]

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.

^[494] [A noble utterance from Christian philosophy, now first gaining the ear and heart of humanity.]

Chap. I.—Of the Former Religion of Men, and How Error Was Spread Over Every Age, and of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.

^[495] Figmenta. [Rom. i. 21-23.]

^[496] Thus St. Paul, 1 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.”

^[497] In its rewards.

^[498] The seven wise men were, Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus, Chilo, and Periander. To these some add Anacharsis the Scythian. [Vol. v. p. 11, supra. For Thales, vol. ii. p. 140.]

^[499] This was the opinion of Pythagoras. See Book iii. 2.

Chap. II.—Where Wisdom is to Be Found; Why Pythagoras and Plato Did Not Approach the Jews.

^[500] See 1 Cor. i. 20-22.

^[501] [“Thou art a God that hidest thyself,” Isa xlv. 15. Wisdom must be searched after as hidden treasure.]

^[502] See Eph. i. 9, 10; Col. i. 26, 27. [This 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.”]

^[503] The last time is the last dispensation, the time of the new covenant. Heb. i. 2.

^[504] See Isa. lv. 4: “Behold, I have given Him for a leader and commander to the people.”

^[505] Matt. xxi.

Chap. III.—Wisdom and Religion Cannot Be Separated: the Lord of Nature Must Necessarily Be the Father of Every One.

^[506] [Iidem sunt doctores sapientiæ qui et De. sacerdotes.]

^[507] [The satirist, not Cicero’s friend; Nat. Deor., iii.]

^[508] Fathers in ancient times had the greatest power over their children, so that they had the right of life and death, as masters had over their slaves.

^[509] 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

^[510] It has been judged better to keep the words “slave” and “lord” throughout the passage, for the sake of uniformity of expression, though in some places “servant” and “master” might seem more appropriate.

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