Lactantius

Name: Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius
Author: Lactantius

Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

Summary

“Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius”, published in 1885, is a work by Lactantius. It explores elements such as Arnobius, Christian and treatise.

Quotes from Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (Lactantius)

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ The “conversion of Constantine,” as it is called, introduced the most marvelous 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 “marvelous 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.” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ The style of Lactantius has been deservedly praised for the dignity, elegance, and clearness 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 truth. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ 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. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ 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. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ 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 naught things that are.” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ Constantine was greatly influenced by such testimonies, if we may judge from his own liberal quotations [4] 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 Lactantius accepted, as his mission, the enforcement, before such a class, of despised truths which the great had persecuted in vain for centuries. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ 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. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (1885)

“ He and Arnobius furnish but a supplement to the real teachers of the Church, and are not to be always depended on in statements 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. ”

Lactantius

Summary

Quotes from Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII — Introductory Notice to Lactantius (Lactantius)

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