Explanation of Lactantius Arguments and

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was a North African rhetorician and Christian apologist who lived circa 240 - 320 C.E. Lactantius witnessed the evolution of Christianity into a politically acceptable religion under the first Christian Emperor, Constantine, and he participated in the active debate between this emerging belief system and the polytheism which continued to be predominant within society. When Constantine converted to Christianity, it was a little known and somewhat suspect religion, and though the members of his court were required to respect his choice, they were not quick to follow it. Christianity was still seen as a foreign and unrefined system of belief. Using his education and skills as a rhetorician, Lactantius sought to vindicate Christianity in the eyes of the non-Christian nobility by expressing Christian thought with eloquence and grace in the traditional, refined oratorical forms familiar to upper-class society