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The Divine Institutes

Lactantius

Book 7 · Chapter 23

About this work

A large Latin presentation of Christian teaching that criticizes pagan religion and philosophy while treating justice, God, creation, Christ, worship, ethics, and the final destiny of humanity.

Author: Lactantius
Date: c. AD 303–311
Origin: North Africa and Nicomedia
Genre: Apology

Chap. XXIII.—Of the Resurrection of the Soul, and the Proofs of This Fact.

Therefore they will not be born again, which

‹ Book 7 · Chapter 22 Book 7 · Chapter 24 ›

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

kingdom

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

,

introduced

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 mortals shall now come, which God Himself shall 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 assigned for divine works; but if from the beginning God formed man in some unspeakable manner, we may believe that the old man can be restored by Him who made the new man.