18. _A more credible cause of the rise of pagan error._

1. Chapter 1 2. BOOK I. 3. BOOK II. 4. BOOK III. 5. BOOK IV. 6. BOOK V. 7. BOOK VI. 8. BOOK VII. 9. BOOK VIII. 10. BOOK IX. 11. BOOK X. 12. BOOK XI. 13. BOOK XII. 14. BOOK XIII. 15. 1. _Of the adversaries of the name of Christ, whom the barbarians for 16. 2. _That it is quite contrary to the usage of war, that the victors 17. 3. _That the Romans did not show their usual sagacity when they 18. 4. _Of the asylum of Juno in Troy, which saved no one from the 19. 5. _Cæsar's statement regarding the universal custom of an enemy when 20. 6. _That not even the Romans, when they took cities, spared the 21. 7. _That the cruelties which occurred in the sack of Rome were in 22. 8. _Of the advantages and disadvantages which often indiscriminately 23. 9. _Of the reasons for administering correction to bad and good 24. 10. _That the saints lose nothing in losing temporal goods._ 25. 11. _Of the end of this life, whether it is material that it be long 26. 12. _Of the burial of the dead: that the denial of it to Christians 27. 13. _Reasons for burying the bodies of the saints._ 28. 14. _Of the captivity of the saints, and that divine consolation 29. 15. _Of Regulus, in whom we have an example of the voluntary 30. 16. _Of the violation of the consecrated and other Christian 31. 17. _Of suicide committed through fear of punishment or dishonour._ 32. 18. _Of the violence which may be done to the body by another's 33. 19. _Of Lucretia, who put an end to her life because of the outrage 34. 20. _That Christians have no authority for committing suicide in any 35. 21. _Of the cases in which we may put men to death without incurring 36. 22. _That suicide can never be prompted by magnanimity._ 37. 23. _What we are to think of the example of Cato, who slew himself 38. 24. _That in that virtue in which Regulus excels Cato, Christians 39. 25. _That we should not endeavour by sin to obviate sin._ 40. 26. _That in certain peculiar cases the examples of the saints are 41. 27. _Whether voluntary death should be sought in order to avoid sin._ 42. 28. _By what judgment of God the enemy was permitted to indulge 43. 29. _What the servants of Christ should say in reply to the 44. 30. _That those who complain of Christianity really desire to 45. 31. _By what steps the passion for governing increased among 46. 32. _Of the establishment of scenic entertainments._ 47. 33. _That the overthrow of Rome has not corrected the vices of 48. 34. _Of God's clemency in moderating the ruin of the city._ 49. 35. _Of the sons of the church who are hidden among the wicked, 50. 36. _What subjects are to be handled in the following discourse._ 51. 1. _Of the limits which must be put to the necessity of replying 52. 2. _Recapitulation of the contents of the first book._ 53. 3. _That we need only to read history in order to see what 54. 4. _That the worshippers of the gods never received from them any 55. 5. _Of the obscenities practised in honour of the mother of 56. 6. _That the gods of the pagans never inculcated holiness of life._ 57. 7. _That the suggestions of philosophers are precluded from having 58. 8. _That the theatrical exhibitions publishing the shameful actions 59. 9. _That the poetical licence which the Greeks, in obedience to 60. 10. _That the devils, in suffering either false or true crimes to 61. 11. _That the Greeks admitted players to offices of state, on 62. 12. _That the Romans, by refusing to the poets the same licence in 63. 13. _That the Romans should have understood that gods who desired 64. 14. _That Plato, who excluded poets from a well-ordered city, was 65. 15. _That it was vanity, not reason, which created some of the 66. 16. _That if the gods had really possessed any regard for 67. 17. _Of the rape of the Sabine women, and other iniquities 68. 18. _What the history of Sallust reveals regarding the life of the 69. 19. _Of the corruption which had grown upon the Roman republic 70. 20. _Of the kind of happiness and life truly delighted in by those 71. 21. _Cicero's opinion of the Roman republic._ 72. 22. _That the Roman gods never took any steps to prevent the 73. 23. _That the vicissitudes of this life are dependent not on 74. 24. _Of the deeds of Sylla, in which the demons boasted that he 75. 25. _How powerfully the evil spirits incite men to wicked actions, 76. 26. _That the demons gave in secret certain obscure instructions in 77. 27. _That the obscenities of those plays which the Romans 78. 28. _That the Christian religion is health-giving._ 79. 29. _An exhortation to the Romans to renounce paganism._ 80. 1. _Of the ills which alone the wicked fear, and which the world 81. 2. _Whether the gods, whom the Greeks and Romans worshipped in 82. 3. _That the gods could not be offended by the adultery of Paris, 83. 4. _Of Varro's opinion, that it is useful for men to feign 84. 5. _That it is not credible that the gods should have punished the 85. 6. _That the gods exacted no penalty for the fratricidal act of 86. 7. _Of the destruction of Ilium by Fimbria, a lieutenant of Marius._ 87. 8. _Whether Rome ought to have been entrusted to the Trojan gods?_ 88. 9. _Whether it is credible that the peace during the reign of Numa 89. 10. _Whether it was desirable that the Roman empire should be 90. 11. _Of the statue of Apollo at Cumæ, whose tears are supposed to 91. 12. _That the Romans added a vast number of gods to those introduced 92. 13. _By what right or agreement the Romans obtained their first 93. 14. _Of the wickedness of the war waged by the Romans against 94. 15. _What manner of life and death the Roman kings had._ 95. 16. _Of the first Roman consuls, the one of whom drove the other 96. 17. _Of the disasters which vexed the Roman republic after the 97. 18. _The disasters suffered by the Romans in the Punic wars, which 98. 19. _Of the calamity of the second Punic war, which consumed the 99. 20. _Of the destruction of the Saguntines, who received no help 100. 21. _Of the ingratitude of Rome to Scipio, its deliverer, and of 101. 22. _Of the edict of Mithridates, commanding that all Roman 102. 23. _Of the internal disasters which vexed the Roman republic, and 103. 24. _Of the civil dissension occasioned by the sedition of 104. 25. _Of the temple of Concord, which was erected by a decree of 105. 26. _Of the various kinds of wars which followed the building of 106. 27. _Of the civil war between Marius and Sylla._ 107. 28. _Of the victory of Sylla, the avenger of the cruelties of 108. 29. _A comparison of the disasters which Rome experienced during 109. 30. _Of the connection of the wars which with great severity and 110. 31. _That it is effrontery to impute the present troubles to Christ 111. 1. _Of the things which have been discussed in the first book._ 112. 2. _Of those things which are contained in Books Second and Third._ 113. 3. _Whether the great extent of the empire, which has been 114. 4. _How like kingdoms without justice are to robberies._ 115. 5. _Of the runaway gladiators whose power became like that of 116. 6. _Concerning the covetousness of Ninus, who was the first who 117. 7. _Whether earthly kingdoms in their rise and fall have been 118. 8. _Which of the gods can the Romans suppose presided over the 119. 9. _Whether the great extent and long duration of the Roman empire 120. 10. _What opinions those have followed who have set divers gods 121. 11. _Concerning the many gods whom the pagan doctors defend as 122. 12. _Concerning the opinion of those who have thought that God is 123. 13. _Concerning those who assert that only rational animals are 124. 14. _The enlargement of kingdoms is unsuitably ascribed to Jove; 125. 15. _Whether it is suitable for good men to wish to rule more 126. 16. _What was the reason why the Romans, in detailing separate gods 127. 17. _Whether, if the highest power belongs to Jove, Victoria also 128. 18. _With what reason they who think Felicity and Fortune 129. 19. _Concerning Fortuna Muliebris._[169] 130. 20. _Concerning Virtue and Faith, which the pagans have honoured 131. 21. _That although not understanding them to be the gifts of God, 132. 22. _Concerning the knowledge of the worship due to the gods, 133. 23. _Concerning Felicity, whom the Romans, who venerate many gods, 134. 24. _The reasons by which the pagans attempt to defend their 135. 25. _Concerning the one God only to be worshipped, who, although 136. 26. _Of the scenic plays, the celebration of which the gods have 137. 27. _Concerning the three kinds of gods about which the pontiff 138. 28. _Whether the worship of the gods has been of service to the 139. 29. _Of the falsity of the augury by which the strength and 140. 30. _What kind of things even their worshippers have owned they 141. 31. _Concerning the opinions of Varro, who, while reprobating the 142. 32. _In what interest the princes of the nations wished false 143. 33. _That the times of all kings and kingdoms are ordained by the 144. 34. _Concerning the kingdom of the Jews, which was founded by the 145. 1. _That the cause of the Roman empire, and of all kingdoms, is 146. 2. _On the difference in the health of twins._ 147. 3. _Concerning the arguments which Nigidius the mathematician drew 148. 4. _Concerning the twins Esau and Jacob, who were very unlike each 149. 5. _In what manner the mathematicians are convicted of professing 150. 6. _Concerning twins of different sexes._ 151. 7. _Concerning the choosing of a day for marriage, or for planting, 152. 8. _Concerning those who call by the name of fate, not the 153. 9. _Concerning the foreknowledge of God and the free will of man, 154. 10. _Whether our wills are ruled by necessity._ 155. 11. _Concerning the universal providence of God in the laws of 156. 12. _By what virtues the ancient Romans merited that the true God, 157. 13. _Concerning the love of praise, which, though it is a vice, is 158. 14. _Concerning the eradication of the love of human praise, 159. 15. _Concerning the temporal reward which God granted to the 160. 16. _Concerning the reward of the holy citizens of the celestial 161. 17. _To what profit the Romans carried on wars, and how much they 162. 18. _How far Christians ought to be from boasting, if they have done 163. 19. _Concerning the difference between true glory and the desire 164. 20. _That it is as shameful for the virtues to serve human glory 165. 21. _That the Roman dominion was granted by Him from whom is all 166. 22. _The durations and issues of war depend on the will of God._ 167. 23. _Concerning the war in which Radagaisus, king of the Goths, a 168. 24. _What was the happiness of the Christian emperors, and how far 169. 25. _Concerning the prosperity which God granted to the Christian 170. 26. _On the faith and piety of Theodosius Augustus._ 171. 1. _Of those who maintain that they worship the gods not for the 172. 2. _What we are to believe that Varro thought concerning the gods 173. 3. _Varro's distribution of his book which he composed concerning 174. 4. _That from the disputation of Varro, it follows that the 175. 5. _Concerning the three kinds of theology according to Varro, 176. 6. _Concerning the mythic, that is, the fabulous, theology, and 177. 7. _Concerning the likeness and agreement of the fabulous and 178. 8. _Concerning the interpretations, consisting of natural 179. 9. _Concerning the special offices of the gods._ 180. 10. _Concerning the liberty of Seneca, who more vehemently 181. 11. _What Seneca thought concerning the Jews._ 182. 12. _That when once the vanity of the gods of the nations has been 183. 1. _Whether, since it is evident that Deity is not to be found in 184. 2. _Who are the select gods, and whether they are held to be 185. 3. _How there is no reason which can be shown for the selection of 186. 4. _The inferior gods, whose names are not associated with infamy, 187. 5. _Concerning the more secret doctrine of the pagans, and 188. 6. _Concerning the opinion of Varro, that God is the soul of the 189. 7. _Whether it is reasonable to separate Janus and Terminus as 190. 8. _For what reason the worshippers of Janus have made his image 191. 9. _Concerning the power of Jupiter, and a comparison of Jupiter 192. 10. _Whether the distinction between Janus and Jupiter is a proper 193. 11. _Concerning the surnames of Jupiter, which are referred not to 194. 12. _That Jupiter is also called Pecunia._ 195. 13. _That when it is expounded what Saturn is, what Genius is, it 196. 14. _Concerning the offices of Mercury and Mars._ 197. 15. _Concerning certain stars which the pagans have called by the 198. 16. _Concerning Apollo and Diana, and the other select gods whom 199. 17. _That even Varro himself pronounced his own opinions regarding 200. 18. _A more credible cause of the rise of pagan error._ 201. 19. _Concerning the interpretations which compose the reason of 202. 20. _Concerning the rites of Eleusinian Ceres_. 203. 21. _Concerning the shamefulness of the rites which are celebrated 204. 22. _Concerning Neptune, and Salacia, and Venilia_. 205. 23. _Concerning the earth, which Varro affirms to be a goddess, 206. 24. _Concerning the surnames of Tellus and their significations, 207. 25. _The interpretation of the mutilation of Atys which the 208. 26. _Concerning the abomination of the sacred rites of the Great 209. 27. _Concerning the figments of the physical theologists, who 210. 28. _That the doctrine of Varro concerning theology is in no part 211. 29. _That all things which the physical theologists have referred 212. 30. _How piety distinguishes the Creator from the creatures, so 213. 31. _What benefits God gives to the followers of the truth to 214. 32. _That at no time in the past was the mystery of Christ's 215. 33. _That only through the Christian religion could the deceit of 216. 34. _Concerning the books of Numa Pompilius, which the senate 217. 35. _Concerning the hydromancy through which Numa was befooled 218. 1. _That the question of natural theology is to be discussed with 219. 2. _Concerning the two schools of philosophers, that is, the 220. 3. _Of the Socratic philosophy._ 221. 4. _Concerning Plato, the chief among the disciples of Socrates, 222. 5. _That it is especially with the Platonists that we must carry 223. 6. _Concerning the meaning of the Platonists in that part of 224. 7. _How much the Platonists are to be held as excelling other 225. 8. _That the Platonists hold the first rank in moral philosophy 226. 9. _Concerning that philosophy which has come nearest to the 227. 10. _That the excellency of the Christian religion is above all 228. 11. _How Plato has been able to approach so nearly to Christian 229. 12. _That even the Platonists, though they say these things 230. 13. _Concerning the opinion of Plato, according to which he defined 231. 14. _Of the opinion of those who have said that rational souls are 232. 15. _That the demons are not better than men because of their 233. 16. _What Apuleius the Platonist thought concerning the manners 234. 17. _Whether it is proper that men should worship those spirits 235. 18. _What kind of religion that is which teaches that men ought to 236. 19. _Of the impiety of the magic art, which is dependent on the 237. 20. _Whether we are to believe that the good gods are more willing 238. 21. _Whether the gods use the demons as messengers and 239. 22. _That we must, notwithstanding the opinion of Apuleius, reject 240. 23. _What Hermes Trismegistus thought concerning idolatry, and from 241. 24. _How Hermes openly confessed the error of his forefathers, the 242. 25. _Concerning those things which may be common to the holy angels 243. 26. _That all the religion of the pagans has reference to dead 244. 27. _Concerning the nature of the honour which the Christians 245. 1. _The point at which the discussion has arrived, and what remains 246. 2. _Whether among the demons, inferior to the gods, there are any 247. 3. _What Apuleius attributes to the demons, to whom, though he 248. 4. _The opinion of the Peripatetics and Stoics about mental 249. 5. _That the passions which assail the souls of Christians do not 250. 6. _Of the passions which, according to Apuleius, agitate the 251. 7. _That the Platonists maintain that the poets wrong the gods by 252. 8. _How Apuleius defines the gods who dwell in heaven, the demons 253. 9. _Whether the intercession of the demons can secure for men the 254. 10. _That, according to Plotinus, men, whose body is mortal, are 255. 11. _Of the opinion of the Platonists, that the souls of men become 256. 12. _Of the three opposite qualities by which the Platonists 257. 13. _How the demons can mediate between gods and men if they have 258. 14. _Whether men, though mortal, can enjoy true blessedness._ 259. 15. _Of the man Christ Jesus, the Mediator between God and men_. 260. 16. _Whether it is reasonable in the Platonists to determine that 261. 17. _That to obtain the blessed life, which consists in partaking 262. 18. _That the deceitful demons, while promising to conduct men to 263. 19. _That even among their own worshippers the name "demon" has 264. 20. _Of the kind of knowledge which puffs up the demons._ 265. 21. _To what extent the Lord was pleased to make Himself known to 266. 22. _The difference between the knowledge of the holy angels and 267. 23. _That the name of gods is falsely given to the gods of the 268. 1. _That the Platonists themselves have determined that God alone 269. 2. _The opinion of Plotinus the Platonist regarding enlightenment 270. 3. _That the Platonists, though knowing something of the Creator 271. 4. _That sacrifice is due to the true God only._ 272. 5. _Of the sacrifices which God does not require, but wished to 273. 6. _Of the true and perfect sacrifice._ 274. 7. _Of the love of the holy angels, which prompts them to desire 275. 8. _Of the miracles which God has condescended to adhibit, through 276. 9. _Of the illicit arts connected with demonolatry, and of which 277. 10. _Concerning theurgy, which promises a delusive purification of 278. 11. _Of Porphyry's epistle to Anebo, in which he asks for 279. 12. _Of the miracles wrought by the true God through the ministry 280. 13. _Of the invisible God, who has often made Himself visible, 281. 14. _That the one God is to be worshipped not only for the sake 282. 15. _Of the ministry of the holy angels, by which they fulfil 283. 16. _Whether those angels who demand that we pay them divine 284. 17. _Concerning the ark of the covenant, and the miraculous signs 285. 18. _Against those who deny that the books of the Church are to 286. 19. _On the reasonableness of offering, as the true religion 287. 20. _Of the supreme and true sacrifice which was effected by the 288. 21. _Of the power delegated to demons for the trial and 289. 22. _Whence the saints derive power against demons and true 290. 23. _Of the principles which, according to the Platonists, 291. 24. _Of the one only true principle which alone purifies and renews 292. 25. _That all the saints, both under the law and before it, were 293. 26. _Of Porphyry's weakness in wavering between the confession of 294. 27. _Of the impiety of Porphyry, which is worse than even the 295. 28. _How it is that Porphyry has been so blind as not to recognise 296. 29. _Of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the 297. 30. _Porphyry's emendations and modifications of Platonism._ 298. 31. _Against the arguments on which the Platonists ground their 299. 32. _Of the universal way of the soul's deliverance, which Porphyry 300. 1. _Of this part of the work, wherein we begin to explain the origin 301. 2. _Of the knowledge of God, to which no man can attain save 302. 3. _Of the authority of the canonical Scriptures composed by the 303. 4. _That the world is neither without beginning, nor yet created 304. 5. _That we ought not to seek to comprehend the infinite ages of 305. 6. _That the world and time had both one beginning, and the one 306. 7. _Of the nature of the first days, which are said to have had 307. 8. _What we are to understand of God's resting on the seventh day, 308. 9. _What the Scriptures teach us to believe concerning the creation 309. 10. _Of the simple and unchangeable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy 310. 11. _Whether the angels that fell partook of the blessedness which 311. 12. _A comparison of the blessedness of the righteous, who have not 312. 13. _Whether all the angels were so created in one common state of 313. 14. _An explanation of what is said of the devil, that he did not 314. 15. _How we are to understand the words, "The devil sinneth from 315. 16. _Of the ranks and differences of the creatures, estimated by 316. 17. _That the flaw of wickedness is not nature, but contrary to 317. 18. _Of the beauty of the universe, which becomes, by God's 318. 19. _What, seemingly, we are to understand by the words, "God 319. 20. _Of the words which follow the separation of light and 320. 21. _Of God's eternal and unchangeable knowledge and will, whereby 321. 22. _Of those who do not approve of certain things which are a part 322. 23. _Of the error in which the doctrine of Origen is involved._ 323. 24. _Of the divine Trinity, and the indications of its presence 324. 25. _Of the division of philosophy into three parts._ 325. 26. _Of the image of the supreme Trinity, which we find in some 326. 27. _Of existence, and knowledge of it, and the love of both._ 327. 28. _Whether we ought to love the love itself with which we love 328. 29. _Of the knowledge by which the holy angels know God in His 329. 30. _Of the perfection of the number six, which is the first of 330. 31. _Of the seventh day, in which completeness and repose are 331. 32. _Of the opinion that the angels were created before the world._ 332. 33. _Of the two different and dissimilar communities of angels, 333. 34. _Of the idea that the angels were meant where the separation 334. 1. _That the nature of the angels, both good and bad, is one and 335. 2. _That there is no entity_[521] _contrary to the divine, because 336. 3. _That the enemies of God are so, not by nature but by will, 337. 4. _Of the nature of irrational and lifeless creatures, which in 338. 5. _That in all natures, of every kind and rank, God is glorified._ 339. 6. _What the cause of the blessedness of the good angels is, and 340. 7. _That we ought not to expect to find any efficient cause of the 341. 8. _Of the misdirected love whereby the will fell away from the 342. 9. _Whether the angels, besides receiving from God their nature, 343. 10. _Of the falseness of the history which allots many thousand 344. 11. _Of those who suppose that this world indeed is not eternal, 345. 12. _How these persons are to be answered, who find fault with the 346. 13. _Of the revolution of the ages, which some philosophers believe 347. 14. _Of the creation of the human race in time, and how this was 348. 15. _Whether we are to believe that God, as He has always been 349. 16. _How we are to understand God's promise of life eternal, 350. 17. _What defence is made by sound faith regarding God's 351. 18. _Against those who assert that things that are infinite_[550] 352. 19. _Of worlds without end, or ages of ages._[556] 353. 20. _Of the impiety of those who assert that the souls which enjoy 354. 21. _That there was created at first but one individual, and that 355. 22. _That God foreknew that the first man would sin, and that He at 356. 23. _Of the nature of the human soul created in the image of God._ 357. 24. _Whether the angels can be said to be the creators of any, even 358. 25. _That God alone is the Creator of every kind of creature, 359. 26. _Of that opinion of the Platonists, that the angels were 360. 27. _That the whole plenitude of the human race was embraced in the 361. 1. _Of the fall of the first man, through which mortality has 362. 2. _Of that death which can affect an immortal soul, and of that 363. 3. _Whether death, which by the sin of our first parents has passed 364. 4. _Why death, the punishment of sin, is not withheld from those 365. 5. _As the wicked make an ill use of the law, which is good, so 366. 6. _Of the evil of death in general, considered as the separation 367. 7. _Of the death which the unbaptized_[580] _suffer for the 368. 8. _That the saints, by suffering the first death for the truth's 369. 9. _Whether we should say that the moment of death, in which 370. 10. _Of the life of mortals, which is rather to be called death 371. 11. _Whether one can both be living and dead at the same time._ 372. 12. _What death God intended, when He threatened our first parents 373. 13. _What was the first punishment of the transgression of our 374. 14. _In what state man was made by God, and into what estate he 375. 15. _That Adam in his sin forsook God ere God forsook him, and 376. 16. _Concerning the philosophers who think that the separation of 377. 17. _Against those who affirm that earthly bodies cannot be made 378. 18. _Of earthly bodies, which the philosophers affirm cannot be in 379. 19. _Against the opinion of those who do not believe that the 380. 20. _That the flesh now resting in peace shall be raised to a 381. 21. _Of Paradise, that it can be understood in a spiritual sense 382. 22. _That the bodies of the saints shall after the resurrection be 383. 23. _What we are to understand by the animal and spiritual body; or 384. 24. _How we must understand that breathing of God by which "the