1618: Lactantius
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/01/22
“Religion cannot be imposed by force; the matter must be carried on by words rather than by blows.”
“There is no occasion for violence and injury.”
“And thus no one is detained by us against his will.”
“Torture and piety are widely different; nor is it possible for truth to be united with violence, or justice with cruelty.”
“For religion is to be defended, not by putting to death, but by dying.”
“If you wish to defend religion by bloodshed… it will be polluted and profaned.”
“For nothing is so much a matter of free-will as religion.”
“…if the mind of the worshipper is disinclined to it, religion is at once taken away, and ceases to exist.”
“Whose temple is not stones or clay, but man himself, who bears the image of God.”
“We… do not require that any one should be compelled… to worship our God.”
Photo by Mauricio Artieda on Unsplash
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