Sister Projects: Wikichristian | WikiMD
BelieversCafe is a large collection of christian articles with over 40,000 pages
Our sponsors:
126 Satire x. 365: Nullum numen abest. Others read, Nullum numen habes. You have no divine power, O Fortune, if there is prudence, etc.
127 Acad., i. 7. [Let our sophists feel this rebuke of Tully.]
128 [A noble utterance from Christian philosophy, now first gaining the ear and heart of humanity.]
2 Thus St. Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 9: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
4 The seven wise men were, Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus, Chilo, and Periander. To these some add Anacharsis the Scythian. [Vol. v. p. 11, supra. For Thales, vol. ii. p. 140.]
5 This was the opinion of Pythagoras. See Book iii. 2.
7 ["Thou art a God that hidest thyself," Isa xlv. 15. Wisdom must be searched after as hidden treasure.]
8 See Eph. i. 9, 10; Col. i. 26, 27. [This is a mysterious truth: God's election of men and nations has been according to their desire to be enlightened. Christ must be the "Desire of Nations."]
9 The last time is the last dispensation, the time of the new covenant. Heb. i. 2.
10 See Isa. lv. 4: "Behold, I have given Him for a leader and commander to the people."
12 [Iidem sunt doctores sapientiae qui et De. sacerdotes.]
13 [The satirist, not Cicero's friend; Nat. Deor., iii.]
14 Fathers in ancient times had the greatest power over their children, so that they had the right of life and death, as masters had over their slaves.
15 Pater familias-a title given to the master of a household, whether he had sons or not; the slaves of a house were called familia.
16 It has been judged better to keep the words "slave" and "lord" throughout the passage, for the sake of uniformity of expression, though in some places "servant" and "master" might seem more appropriate.
17 Among the Romans slaves had no praenomen or distinguishing name; when a slave was set at liberty, he was allowed to assume the name of his master as a praenomen. Thus, in Persius (Sat., v.), "Dama," the liberated slave, becomes "Marcus Dama."
18 Thus the slave in Terence wished to know how many masters he had.
19 Fear, in the language of the prophets often implies reverence of the divine majesty. Lactantius seems to refer to Mal. i. 6: "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear?"
20 Literally, runaways. The reference is, as before, to runaway slaves.
22 [See Pusey's Daniel; also Minor Prophets.]
23 See 2 Kings xxv.; Jer. xxxix. and lii.
24 The same is asserted by Justin Martyr [vol. i. p. 277], Eusebius, Augustine, and other writers. See Augustine, De Civitate Dei, book xviii. 37. Pythagoras, one of the most ancient of the Greek philosophers, was contemporary with the latest prophets.
25 Literally, "sends." The passage appears to be corrupt: u9popi/ptei has been suggested instead of u9pope/mpei, "falls under perception," "is an object of perception."
26 Prov. viii. 22-31. Lactantius quotes from the Septuagint.
27 According to the Hebrew, "possessed me in the beginning," and so the authorized version.
28 Fines inhabitabiles. Other editions read terras inhabitabiles, "uninhabitable lands."
29 Literally, "whose first nativity not only preceded the world." He speaks of the eternal generation of the Son, as distinguished from His incarnation, which he afterwards speaks of as His second nativity. [See vol. vi. p. 7.]
31 Jesus, is, [Joshua = ] Saviour.
32 Suetonius speaks of Christ as Chrestus. The Christians also were called Chrestians, as Tertullian shows in his Apology. The word xrhsto/j has the signification of kind, gentle, good. [Vol. i. p. 163.]
33 Each has reference to Christ, as He is King and Priest. Of the anointing of kings, see 1 Sam., and of priests, Lev. viii. [Of prophets, 1 Kings xix. 16.] The priesthood of Christ is most fully set forth in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
34 Thus Horatius, Carm., i. 35, "Purpurei metuunt tyranni;" and Gray, Ode to Adversity, "Purple tyrants vainly groan."
36 Interpretatae sunt, used here in a passive sense.
39 Jer. i. 5. It can only be in a secondary sense that this prophecy refers to Christ; in its primary sense it refers to the prophet himself, as the context plainly shows.
40 This passage is not found in Jeremiah, or in the Bible.
43 Denuo, i.e. de nova, "afresh."
44 Societate alterius. [Profanely arguing to God from man. Humanity has a procreant power of a lower sort; but the ideal is divine, and needs no process like that of man's nature.]