 The only extant pieces of the Consolatio are fragments , of which seven were preserved by the early Christian author Lactantius in his work <unk> <unk> ( The Divine Institutes ) . In the work , Lactantius used the excerpt from the Consolatio both to point out the futility of paganism , as well as to argue that pagans actually accept some tenets of Christianity , without them even realizing it . Lactantius criticized what Cicero wrote , but also applauded Cicero for paralleling — albeit coincidentally — what the Bible says at times . However , the quotes preserved by Lactantius have been criticized due to their lack of context . MacKendrick notes that Lactantius was using partial quotations in order to frame what Cicero wrote so that Lactantius could more easily refute his ideas . Other excerpts from the Consolatio were preserved by Cicero himself , of which two sections were quoted by him in his <unk> <unk> . 
