ses one of the principal questions of the Consolation, and a major question in Christian apologetics: "If there is a God, why is there evil? And if there is no God, how can there be good?" Note that Boethius is constructing his argument by quoting classical philosophers rather than Biblical texts. For example, he quotes Epicurus and Pythagoras. The question is, Why do the wicked prosper while the virtuous suffer?Prose 4. Boethius says (in another translation) that "most people . . . think that only things which turn out happily are good." Can you think of some things in your own life that have turned out "unhappily" that were good?Prose 5. Philosophy tells Boethius that in his true country "one is its lord and one its king." If you interpret this on more than one level, who might this king be in each case?Prose 6. This is the diagnosis following the complaint in the sections above. Philosophy tells Boethius why he is confused and unhappy. What reasons for his confusion and unhappiness does she give?Book IIProse 1-2. Characterize Philosophy's description of Fortune and the expectations men should have toward her.Poem 2. Here Boethius raises the issue of man's boundless, disordered desire. This is another foundational idea in the Christian analysis of human nature.Prose 3, Poem 3. Philosophy tells Boethius that "this sorrow will also pass." Here is an old story, told many times, now recounted by Abraham Lincoln: "It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction."Prose 4. Philosophy refers to "this rather silly notion of happiness based on good fortune." How would you define happiness? Compare the idea of being rooted in oneself from Matthew 13:20-21: "As f...
