Chap. IX.--Of the Disgraceful Deeds of the Gods.
Whence did Ceres bring forth Proserpine, except from debauchery? Whence did Latona bring forth her twins, except from crime? Venus having been subject to the lusts of gods and men, when she reigned in Cyprus, invented the practice of courtesanship, and commanded women to make traffic of themselves, that she might not alone be infamous. Were the virgins themselves, Minerva and Diana, chaste? Whence, then, did Erichthonius arise? Did Vulcan shed his seed upon the ground, and was man born from that as a fungus? Or why did Diana banish Hippolytus either to a retired place, or give him up to a woman, where he might pass his life in solitude among unknown groves, and having now changed his name, might be called Virbius? What do these things signify but impurity, which the poets do not venture to confess?
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Translations of this Work
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| The Epitome of the Divine Institutes |
Commentaries for this Work
| Einleitung zu den „Epitome" |
Contents
- The Epitome of the Divine Institutes.
- The Preface.--The Plan and Purport of the Whole Epitome, And of the Institutions.
- Chap. I.--Of the Divine Providence.
- Chap. II.--That There is But One God, and that There Cannot Be More.
- Chap. III.--The Testimonies of the Poets Concerning the One God.
- Chap. IV.--The Testimonies of the Philosophers to the Unity of God.
- Chap. V.--That the Prophetic Women--That Is, the Sibyls--Declare that There is But One God.
- Chap. VI.--Since God is Eternal and Immortal, He Does Not Stand in Need of Sex and Succession.
- Chap. VII.--Of the Wicked Life and Death of Hercules.
- Chap. VIII.--Of Aesculapius, Apollo, Mars, Castor and Pollux, and of Mercurius and Bacchus.
- Chap. IX.--Of the Disgraceful Deeds of the Gods.
- Chap. X.--Of Jupiter, and His Licentious Life.
- Chap. XI.--The Various Emblems Under Which the Poets Veiled the Turpitude of Jupiter.
- Chap. XII.--The Poets Do Not Invent All Those Things Which Relate to the Gods.
- Chap. XIII.--The Actions of Jupiter are Related from the Historian Euhemerus.
- Chap. XIV.--The Actions of Saturnus and Uranus Taken from the Historians.
- Chap. XX.--Of the Gods Peculiar to the Romans.
- Chap. XXI.--Of the Sacred Rites of the Roman Gods.
- Chap. XXII.--Of the Sacred Rites Introduced by Faunus and Numa.
- Chap. XXIII.--Of the Gods and Sacred Rites of the Barbarians.
- Chap. XXIV.--Of the Origin of Sacred Rites and Superstitions.
- Chap. XXV.--Of the Golden Age, of Images, and Prometheus, Who First Fashioned Man.
- Chap. XXVI.--Of the Worship of the Elements and Stars.
- Chap. XXVII.--Of the Creation, Sin, and Punishment of Man; And of Angels, Both Good and Bad.
- Chap. XXVIII.--Of the Demons, and Their Evil Practices.
- Chap. XXIX.--Of the Patience and Providence of God.
- Chap. XXX.--Of False Wisdom.
- Chap. XXXI.--Of Knowledge and Supposition.
- Chap. XXXII.--Of the Sects of Philosophers, and Their Disagreement.
- Chap. XXXIII.--What is the Chief Good to Be Sought in Life.
- Chap. XXXIV.--That Men are Born to Justice.
- Chap. XXXV.--That Immortality is the Chief Good.
- Chap. XXXVI.--Of the Philosophers,--Namely, Epicurus and Pythagoras.
- Chap. XXXVII.--Of Socrates and His Contradiction.
- Chap. XXXVIII.--Of Plato, Whose Doctrine Approaches More Nearly to the Truth.
- Chap. XXXIX.--Of Various Philosophers, and of the Antipodes.
- Chap. XL.--Of the Foolishness of the Philosophers.
- Chap. XLI.--Of True Religion and Wisdom.
- Chap. XLII.--Of Religious Wisdom: the Name of Christ Known to None, Except Himself and His Father.
- Chap. XLIII.--Of the Name of Jesus Christ, and His Twofold Nativity.
- Chap. XLIV.--The Twofold Nativity of Christ is Proved from the Prophets.
- Chap. XLV.--The Power and Works of Christ are Proved from the Scriptures.
- Chap. XLVI.--It is Proved from the Prophets that the Passion and Death of Christ Had Been Foretold.
- Chap. XLVII.--Of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Sending of the Apostles, and the Ascension of the Saviour into Heaven.
- Chap. XLVIII.--Of the Disinheriting of the Jews, and the Adoption of the Gentiles.
- Chap. XLIX.--That God is One Only.
- Chap. L.--Why God Assumed a Mortal Body, and Suffered Death.
- Chap. LI.--Of the Death of Christ on the Cross.
- Chap. LII.--The Hope of the Salvation of Men Consists in the Knowledge of the True God, and of the Hatred of the Heathens Against the Christians.
- Chap. LIII.--The Reasons of the Hatred Against the Christians are Examined and Refuted.
- Chap. LIV.--Of the Freedom of Religion in the Worship of God.
- Chap. LV.--The Heathens Charge Justice with Impiety in Following God.
- Chap. LVI.--Of Justice, Which is the Worship of the True God.
- Chap. LVII.--Of Wisdom and Foolishness.
- Chap. LVIII.--Of the True Worship of God, and Sacrifice.
- Chap. LIX.--Of the Ways of Life, and the First Times of the World.
- Chap. LX.--Of the Duties of Justice.
- Chap. LXI.--Of the Passions.
- Chap. LXII.--Of Restraining the Pleasures of the Senses.
- Chap. LXIII.--That Shows are Most Powerful to Corrupt the Minds.
- Chap. LXIV.--The Passions are to Be Subdued, and We Must Abstain from Forbidden Things.
- Chap. LXV.--Precepts About Those Things Which are Commanded, and of Pity.
- Chap. LXVI.--Of Faith in Religion, and of Fortitude.
- Chap. LXVII.--Of Repentance, the Immortality of the Soul, and of Providence.
- Chap. LXVIII.--Of the World, Man, and the Providence of God.
- Chap. LXIX.--That the World Was Made on Account of Man, and Man on Account of God.
- Chap. LXX.--The Immortality of the Soul is Confirmed.
- Chap. LXXI.--Of the Last Times.
- Chap. LXXII.--Of Christ Descending from Heaven to the General Judgment, and of the Millenarian Reign.
- Chap. LXXIII.--The Hope of Safety is in the Religion and Worship of God.