Lactantius: De Divinis Institutionibus Adversus Gentes, De Ira Dei, De Opificio Hominis

This wonderful Italian incunabulum brings together the three main apologetic works of the famous ancient North-West African rhetorician and Church Father Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325): De Divinis Institutionibus Adversus Gentes, De Ira Dei and De Opificio Hominis. All three writings serve to defend early Christianity against the dominant religions and cults of the Roman Empire at that time. In doing so, a late antique Christian worldview unfolds, which, while distinguishing itself, at the same time makes use of “pagan” writings and is based less on biblical quotations and more on general philosophical arguments. While the Divine Instructions primarily settle scores with the supposedly “false” religions, in On the Wrath of God Lactantius praises the wrath of the Christian God as a prerequisite for the fear of God. In On the Creation of Man, also known as De opificio Dei – On the Work of God, he explains why, in his view, man is the crown of divine creation and to what extent his nature is a work of divine providence. All this is presented in polished, perfect Latin. It is not without reason that Pico della Mirandola (1470–1533) referred to Lactantius as the “Christian Cicero.”