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Known since the Renaissance as the 'Christian Cicero,' Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was a professor of Latin rhetoric, Christian apologist, and theologian at the court of Emperor Constantine. Jason M. Gehrke provides an historical study of Lactantius' major work,
The Divine Institutes of the Christian Religion, focusing on its core notion of
virtus.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Lactantius, Divine Institutes, 1.1-6
- Chapter 2: Power and Virtus from Republic to Principate
- Chapter 3: Virtus in Early Latin Christian Apologetic
- Chapter 4: Virtus: The Power of God in Lactantius
- Chapter 5: The Power of the Son
- Chapter 6: Virtus Revealed in Christ
- Chapter 7: Virtus: Christ's Precepts of Justice
- Conclusion
- Introduction
- 1: Virtus in Roman Life and Literature
- 2: Power and Virtus from Republic to Principate
- 3: Virtus in Early Latin Christian Apologetic
- 4: Virtus: The Power of God in Lactantius
- 5: The Power of the Son
- 6: Virtus Revealed in Christ
- 7: Virtus: Christ's Precepts of Justice
- Conclusion
About the author
Jason M. Gehrke is Assistant Professor of History at Hillsdale College, where he teaches courses in the intellectual, religious, and military history of the Roman Empire. He holds a PhD from Marquette University, where he studied the history of ancient Christianity in the Roman world.
Summary
Known since the Renaissance as the 'Christian Cicero,' Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was a professor of Latin rhetoric, Christian apologist, and theologian at the court of Emperor Constantine. Jason M. Gehrke provides an historical study of Lactantius' major work, The Divine Institutes of the Christian Religion, focusing on its core notion of virtus.
