“The Law of Humanity and Kinship”: An Emergence of Human Rights and Religious Liberty in the Divine Institutes of Lactantius by Daniel Kimmel (Lewis & Clark College)

Daniel Kimmel

I trace the ancient emergence of concepts of religion, humanity, and religious liberty in the Divine Institutes of Lactantius, an early fourth-century Christian statesman. They demonstrate how Lactantius engages classical philosophy, literature, and Roman jurisprudence to unfold a novel set of “institutes” in opposition to human violence and imperial oppression. These “institutes” expound what Lactantius names the universal “law of humanity and kinship”: a social contract between naturally free, sacrosanct humans bound by mutual care and dialogue. Though not without flaws and ultimately only temporarily successful in achieving its political aims, I hope to convince that Lactantius’s thought on religion and humanity is well worth revisiting, especially at such a time as this.

3:30-5:00PM PST