The seven books into which this work is divided form seven separate treatises. Tlie first book is in- scribed Be falsa i-eligione. lie designedly leaves un- touched the principal question in regard to the existence of a supreme Providence, and takes his departure from the proposition that there is one God, and that, accord- ing to our idea of his essence, of his relation to the world under him, and of that to him, there can be but one. He proceeds then to confirm this dogma by the authority of the prophets (of which, however, he makes more use in his programme than in liis performance; and which, indeed, would liave been only a petitio prin- cipii), by tlie utterances of the poets, the philosophers, and the sibyls — all of whom consent in one and the same truth ; and this, at least, is good as an argunientum ad hoiainein, though he seems to allege it as having a higher and proper force of proof. The last half of the book consists in the ludicrous exposure and sarcastic confutation of tlie mythological sj'stem of deities in general and in detail, as recognised by its advocates.
The second book, iJe urifjine erruris, demonstrates the manifold absurdity with which mankind, while all na- ture imiiels them to the knowledge of the one God, and a law of necessity teaches every one instinctively to seek him, are nevertheless so blinded as to wander away to the worship o.f idols. He confutes the spurious grounds by which particularly the educated class among the heathen sought to excuse or justify idolatry, and shows how this whole pagan religion, more closely con- sidered, is only a reflex of their thoroughly materialized and secularized habit of mind. I'.ut since the heathen used especially to appeal to the antiquity of their cultus and to venerable tradition, the author meets them in this wise : In matters of religion every one must see for himself; error, though ever so full of years, has. by its old age, acquired no right, and must give way to the truth so soon as she establishes against it her primitive
and indefeasible claims. He proceeds, with constant reference to the diverging opinions of the philosophers, to develop from the holy Scriptures the history of the creation and of the origin of idolatry. According to him, this originated in its first germ from Ham, who lay under his father's curse. Among his posterity the loss of the knowledge of the true God first prevailed ; this passed over into Sabaism or Parseeism (worship of the heavenly bodies) ; spread itself in this form first in Egypt, and thence among the neighboring people. In its further progress it included the deification of men, an externally pompous worship, and finally developed it- self into idolatry proper, which, cherished and promoted by the influence of dajmons, and strengthened by means of other arts, by oracles, magic, etc., leavened the whole life of the pagan nations. The truth of this intimate connection of the da>raon realm with the heathen poly- theistic worship, and with the phenomena pertaining thereto, lies visibly before us, says Lactantius, in the Christian power of exorcism; and with this he cou- cludes.
The third hook, Be falsa sapientia, exposes the hea- then philosophy as nugatorj' and false. The etymology of the word philosophy indicates, saj'S he, not the pos- session of wisdom, but a striving after it; and in its ul- timate result it leaves us nothing but mere opinions, upon whose grounds or groundlessness it can give us no trustworthy criterium, and consequently no certainty. The residt of all philosophy, therefore, when brought into relation to our highest end, is unsatisfying and use- less. Our heart thirsts after happiness, anil this eager, fervent impulse no human wisdom can satiate. The reason why it cannot is this : because, torn away from its union with religion, the fundamental condition of happiness, it must necessarily become external, one- sided, and abstract. He finally points out in detail this result of all philosophy in the history of the different schools, none of which has found the truth, or could find it, because their formal princijile had already misplaced the way to the desired goal. Therefore — and this is the natural conclusion — to still his thirst for knowledge, man must not turn himself to these, but to God's own revela- tion.
The fourth book, Be vera sajnentia, proposes to pre- pare the way to this goal. Starting with the principle already enunciated, but here set forth more in detail, that (genuine) wisdom and religion arc, in the last analysis, one, they may, only in our conception, be held asunder as distinct, abstract elements, but in realitj' and in life ought never to be separated. The heatlien phi- losophy and religion, in which this unnatural antithesis and separation occurred, were therefore, for this simple reason, false. The true unity of the two is found only in Christianity. In order to exhibit this principle as a fact, he reviews the history of our religion. After hav- ing briefly, but as much as he deemed requisite for his purpose, spoken of the jirophets, he proceeils to develop the doctrine, after his fashion, of the person of Jesus Christ, from the first, the eternal birth of the Logos from the Father, and from the second, his incarnation in time ; he establishes the truth of these, together with his De- ity anil his Messianic office, from his life, his miracles, and the pro]ihcts, with reference almost alwaj's to the Jews only ; but finally he shows to the heathen how the very idea of true ethical wisdom in some sort includes in itself the incarnation of the lawgiver, that so a perfect example maj' be gisen of the possibility of keejiing the law. The necessities of man required this in order to a mediation between God and man ; and the lowly life of Christ, his sufferings, and even his death on the cross, are in perfect harmony with this design.