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Epitome of the Divine Institutes

Lactantius, ANF 7

Preface: The Plan and Purport of the Whole Epitome, And of the Institutions
1. Of the Divine Providence
2. That There is But One God, and that There Cannot Be More
3. The Testimonies of the Poets Concerning the One God
4. The Testimonies of the Philosophers to the Unity of God
That the Prophetic Women-That Is, the Sibyls-Declare that There is But One God
Since God is Eternal and Immortal, He Does Not Stand in Need of Sex and Succession
7. Of the Wicked Life and Death of Hercules
Of Aesculapius, Apollo, Mars, Castor and Pollux, and of Mercurius and Bacchus
9. Of the Disgraceful Deeds of the Gods
10. Of Jupiter, and His Licentious Life
The Various Emblems Under Which the Poets Veiled the Turpitude of Jupiter
The Poets Do Not Invent All Those Things Which Relate to the Gods
The Actions of Jupiter are Related from the Historian Euhemerus
The Actions of Saturnus and Uranus Taken from the Historians
20. Of the Gods Peculiar to the Romans
21. Of the Sacred Rites of the Roman Gods
22. Of the Sacred Rites Introduced by Faunus and Numa
23. Of the Gods and Sacred Rites of the Barbarians
24. Of the Origin of Sacred Rites and Superstitions
Of the Golden Age, of Images, and Prometheus, Who First Fashioned Man
26. Of the Worship of the Elements and Stars
Of the Creation, Sin, and Punishment of Man; And of Angels, Both Good and Bad
28. Of the Demons, and Their Evil Practices
29. Of the Patience and Providence of God
30. Of False Wisdom
31. Of Knowledge and Supposition
32. Of the Sects of Philosophers, and Their Disagreement
33. What is the Chief Good to Be Sought in Life
34. That Men are Born to Justice
35. That Immortality is the Chief Good
36. Of the Philosophers,—Namely, Epicurus and Pythagoras
37. Of Socrates and His Contradiction
Of Plato, Whose Doctrine Approaches More Nearly to the Truth
39. Of Various Philosophers, and of the Antipodes
40. Of the Foolishness of the Philosophers
41. Of True Religion and Wisdom
Of Religious Wisdom: The Name of Christ Known to None, Except Himself and His Father
43. Of the Name of Jesus Christ, and His Twofold Nativity
44. The Twofold Nativity of Christ is Proved from the Prophets
The Power and Works of Christ are Proved from the Scriptures
It is Proved from the Prophets that the Passion and Death of Christ Had Been Foretold
Of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Sending of the Apostles, and the Ascension of…
Of the Disinheriting of the Jews, and the Adoption of the Gentiles
49. That God is One Only
50. Why God Assumed a Mortal Body, and Suffered Death
51. Of the Death of Christ on the Cross
The Hope of the Salvation of Men Consists in the Knowledge of the True God, and of the…
The Reasons of the Hatred Against the Christians are Examined and Refuted
54. Of the Freedom of Religion in the Worship of God
55. The Heathens Charge Justice with Impiety in Following God
56. Of Justice, Which is the Worship of the True God
57. Of Wisdom and Foolishness
58. Of the True Worship of God, and Sacrifice
59. Of the Ways of Life, and the First Times of the World
60. Of the Duties of Justice
61. Of the Passions
62. Of Restraining the Pleasures of the Senses
63. That Shows are Most Powerful to Corrupt the Minds
The Passions are to Be Subdued, and We Must Abstain from Forbidden Things
Precepts About Those Things Which are Commanded, and of Pity
66. Of Faith in Religion, and of Fortitude
Of Repentance, the Immortality of the Soul, and of Providence
68. Of the World, Man, and the Providence of God
That the World Was Made on Account of Man, and Man on Account of God
70. The Immortality of the Soul is Confirmed
71. Of the Last Times
Of Christ Descending from Heaven to the General Judgment, and of the Millenarian Reign
73. The Hope of Safety is in the Religion and Worship of God