THE DIVINE INSTITUTES.

BOOK I.

OF THE FALSE WORSHIP OF THE GODS.

...although it has been defended by many, it still needs to be explained—and to some extent discussed—with distinctness and elegance of speech. In this way, it may flow with greater power into the minds of men, being both provided with its own inherent force and adorned with the brilliance of language.

CHAP. I. — OF RELIGION AND WISDOM.

We undertake, therefore, to discuss religion and divine things. For if some of the greatest orators—veterans, as it were, of their profession—having completed their legal pleadings, at last gave themselves up to philosophy and regarded that as a most just rest from their labors, and if they tortured their minds in the investigation of things that could not be discovered (appearing to have sought not so much leisure as further occupation, and that with much greater trouble than in their former pursuits), how much more justly shall I betake myself, as to a most safe harbor, to that pious, true, and divine wisdom? In this wisdom, all things are ready for utterance, pleasant to the hearing, easy to be understood, and honorable to be undertaken!

And if some skillful men and arbiters of justice composed and published Institutions of civil law by which they might lull the strifes and contentions of discordant citizens, how much better and more rightly shall we follow up in writing the divine Institutions? In these, we shall not speak about rain-drops, the diversion of water, or the claiming of property; rather, we shall speak of hope, of life, of salvation, of immortality, and of God, so that we may put an end to deadly superstitions and most disgraceful errors.

And we now commence this work under the auspices of your name, O mighty Emperor Constantine, who were the first of the Roman princes to repudiate errors and to acknowledge and honor the majesty of the one and only true God. original: "Unius et veri Dei majestatem." For when that most happy day had shone upon the world, in which the Most High God raised you to the prosperous height of power, you entered upon a dominion that was salutary and desirable for all. It began with an excellent foundation; by restoring justice that had been overthrown and taken away, you expiated the most shameful deeds of others. In return for which action, God will grant you happiness, virtue, and length of days, that even in your old age you may govern the state with the same justice with which you began in your youth, and may hand down to your children the guardianship of the Roman name, as you yourself received it from your father. For to the wicked, who still rage against the righteous in other parts of the world, the Omnipotent will also repay the reward of their wickedness with a severity proportioned to its tardiness; for as He is a most indulgent Father towards the godly, so is He a most upright Judge against the ungodly. And in my desire to defend His religion and divine worship, to whom can I rather appeal, whom can I address, but him by whom justice and wisdom have been restored to the affairs of men?

Therefore, leaving the authors of this earthly philosophy, who bring forward nothing certain, let us approach the right path. If I considered these to be sufficiently suitable guides to a good life, I would both follow them myself and exhort others to follow them. But since they disagree among themselves with great contention and are, for the most part, at variance with their own teachings, it is evident that their path is by no means straightforward; they have severally marked out distinct ways for themselves according to their own will, and have left great confusion to those who are seeking the truth.

But since the truth is revealed from heaven to us who have received the mystery of true religion, and since we follow God—the teacher of wisdom and the guide to truth—we call together all, without any distinction of sex or age, to heavenly pasture. For there is no more pleasant food for the soul than the knowledge of truth. Refers to the question of Pilate, "What is truth?" To the maintaining and explaining of this, we have destined seven books, although the subject is one of almost boundless and immeasurable labor. If anyone should wish to dilate upon and follow up these things to their full extent, he would have such an exuberant supply of subjects that neither books would find a limit nor speech an end. But we will put together all things briefly because what we are about to bring forward is so plain and lucid that it is more wonderful that the truth appears so obscure to men—especially to those who are commonly esteemed wise—or because men only need to be trained by us; that is, to be recalled from the error in which they are entangled to a better course of life.

And if, as I hope, we shall attain to this, we will send them to the very fountain of learning, which is most rich and abundant. By copious draughts of this, they may appease the thirst conceived within and quench their ardor. All things will be easy, ready of accomplishment, and clear to them, if only they are not annoyed at applying patience in reading or hearing to the perception of the discipline of wisdom. "How charming is divine philosophy! Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose." — Milton, Comus. For many, pertinaciously adhering to vain superstitions, harden themselves against the manifest truth, not so much deserving well of their religions, which they wrongly maintain, as they deserve ill of themselves; who, when they have a straight path, seek devious windings; who leave the level ground that they may glide over a precipice; who leave the light, that, blind and enfeebled, they may lie in darkness.