Virtus: The Power of God in Lactantius

Abstract Recognizing the philosophical underpinnings of Lactantius’s argument is the first step toward understanding his theology. This chapter demonstrates the fundamental continuities between Lactantius and earlier Latin Christian apologists, elucidating his theological grammar in order to identify the technical discourse presupposed in his arguments. The first section examines Lactantius’s criticism of philosophical arguments about the highest good in order to show that he understands virtus in terms of causal relations built upon the technical sense of power. Recognizing the causal logic inherent in his language clarifies our reading not only of Lactantius’s polemic against the traditional gods but also of his doctrinal theology. The chapter then proceeds to examine Lactantius’s doctrine of God, demonstrating the continuity of his understanding with Tertullian, Cyprian, and Novatian. A third section argues that Lactantius’s critique of the Roman gods does not offer a merely moral or ad hominem attack. Rather, Lactantius asserts that philosophical interpretations of the pantheon are self-defeating because they violate their own basic axioms. Lactantius’s doctrine of God is expressed in the course of this critique, which clears the ground for the Christological narrative that follows in Institutio 4.