Octavius 20.1

Minucius Felix · Octavius · ca. 197–250 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: The philosophers taught one God under many names, as if they were Christians.

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Latin text · CSEL 2:28

Exposui opiniones omnium ferme philosophorum, quibus inlustrior gloria est, Deum unum multis licet designasse nominibus, ut quiuis arbitretur, aut nunc Christianos philosophos esse aut philosophos fuisse iam tunc Christianos.

English · Claude translation

"I have set out the opinions of almost all the philosophers of more illustrious fame: that they designated one God, though under many names; so that anyone might think either that Christians are now philosophers or that the philosophers were already then Christians.

About this passage

Source: CSEL 2:28 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text: As printed in CSEL 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 20.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/20/1/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 20.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/20/1/).

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