Octavius 27.1–40.4
Latin text: CSEL 2 (Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885).
Chapter 27
27.1CSEL 2:39
Isti igitur impuri spiritus, daemones, ut ostensum a magis, a philosophis et a Platone, sub statuis et imaginibus consecratis delitescunt et adflatu suo auctoritatem quasi praesentis numinis consequuntur, dum inspirant interim uates, dum fanis inmorantur, dum nonnumquam extorum fibras animant, auium uolatus gubernant, sortes regunt, oracula efficiunt, falsis pluribus inuoluta.
"These impure spirits, then, the demons, as the magicians, the philosophers, and Plato have shown, lurk under consecrated statues and images, and by their breath gain the authority of a divinity as it were present, while they sometimes inspire prophets, dwell in shrines, sometimes animate the fibres of entrails, govern the flights of birds, direct the lots, and produce oracles wrapped in many falsehoods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons hide in idols and produce omens and oracles.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.1 (CSEL 2:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.2CSEL 2:39–40
nam et falluntur et fallunt, ut et nescientes sinceram ueritatem et quam sciunt, in perditionem sui non confitentes. sic a caelo deorsum grauant et a Deo uero ad materias auocant, uitam turbant, somnos inquietant, inrepentes etiam corporibus occulte ut spiritus tenues morbos fingunt, terrent mentes, membra distorquent, ut ad cultum sui cogant, ut nidore altarium uel hostiis pecudum saginati, remissis quae constrinxerant, curasse uideantur.
For they are both deceived and deceive, being both ignorant of the pure truth and, what truth they know, not confessing it, to their own ruin. So they drag men down from heaven and call them away from the true God to material things; they disturb life, trouble sleep; creeping secretly into bodies too, as subtle spirits, they feign diseases, terrify minds, twist limbs, so as to force men to worship them; so that, fattened by the smoke of altars and the victims of cattle, when they have loosed what they had bound, they may seem to have cured it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons cause illness and then 'cure' it to win worship.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.2 (CSEL 2:39–40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.3CSEL 2:40
hinc sunt et furentes, quos in publicum uidetis excurrere, uates et ipsi absque templo, sic insaniunt, sic bacchantur, sic rotantur: par et in illis instigatio daemonis, sed argumentum dispar furoris.
From them come also the raving people whom you see rushing out in public, prophets too, though without a temple; so they rave, so they revel like Bacchants, so they whirl about: in them too there is the same incitement of the demon, but a different occasion for their frenzy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons also drive the frenzied public prophets.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.3 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.4CSEL 2:40
de ipsis etiam illa, quae paulo ante tibi dicta sunt, ut Iuppiter ludos repeteret ex somnio, ut cum equis Castores uiderentur, ut cingulum matronae nauicula sequeretur.
From them also come those things that were told you a little earlier: that Jupiter demanded the repetition of the games through a dream, that the Castors were seen with their horses, that the little ship followed a matron's girdle.
Notes and citation
Summary: The wonders Caecilius cited were the work of demons.
- The stories are those of 7.3.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.4 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.5CSEL 2:40
haec omnia sciunt pleraque pars uestrum ipsos daemonas de semetipsis confiteri, quotiens a nobis tormentis uerborum et orationis incendiis de corporibus exiguntur.
Most of you know all this: that the demons themselves confess about themselves whenever they are driven out of bodies by us with the torments of our words and the fires of our prayer.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons confess what they are when Christians cast them out.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.5 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.6CSEL 2:40
ipse Saturnus et Serapis et Iuppiter et quicquid daemonum colitis, uicti dolore quod sunt eloquuntur, nec utique in turpitudinem sui, nonnullis praesertim uestrum adsistentibus, mentiuntur.
Saturn himself, and Serapis, and Jupiter, and whatever demons you worship, overcome by pain, speak out what they are; and they certainly do not lie to their own disgrace, especially when some of you are standing by.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods themselves, under exorcism, admit they are demons.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.6 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.7CSEL 2:40
ipsis testibus, esse eos daemonas, credite fassis: adiurati enim per Deum uerum et solum inuiti miseris corporibus inhorrescunt et uel exiliunt statim uel euanescunt gradatim, prout fides patientis adiuuat aut gratia curantis adspirat. sic Christianos de proximo fugitant, quos longe in coetibus per uos lacessebant.
Believe them when they confess, on their own testimony, that they are demons: for when adjured by the true and only God, they shudder unwillingly in the wretched bodies, and either leap out at once or vanish gradually, as the faith of the sufferer helps or the grace of the healer breathes upon them. So they flee Christians close at hand, whom at a distance, in your assemblies, they harassed through you.
Notes and citation
Summary: Adjured by the true God, demons leave the possessed and flee from Christians.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.7 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
27.8CSEL 2:40
ideo inserti mentibus imperitorum odium nostri serunt occulte per timorem: naturale est enim et odisse quem timeas, et quem metueris infestare, si possis. sic occupant animos et obstruunt pectora, ut ante nos incipiant homines odisse quam nosse, ne cognitos aut imitari possint aut damnare non possint.
So, planted in the minds of the ignorant, they secretly sow hatred of us through fear; for it is natural both to hate one whom you fear and to attack, if you can, one whom you dread. So they take possession of souls and block up hearts, that men may begin to hate us before they know us, lest, knowing us, they either be able to imitate us or be unable to condemn us.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons stir up hatred of Christians so people will condemn them without knowing them.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 27.8 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-27-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 28
28.1CSEL 2:40
Quam autem inicum sit, de incognitis et inexploratis iudicare, quod facitis, nobis ipsis paenitentibus credite.
"But how unjust it is to judge about things unknown and unexamined, as you do, believe us who ourselves repent of it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Octavius, once a persecutor himself, says it is unjust to judge Christians unheard.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.1 (CSEL 2:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.2CSEL 2:40–41
et nos enim idem fecimus et eadem uobiscum quondam adhuc caeci et hebetes sentiebamus, quasi Christiani monstra colerent, infantes uorarent, conuiuia incesta miscerent, nec intellegebamus ab his fabulas istas semper uentilari et numquam uel inuestigari uel probari, nec tanto tempore aliquem existere qui proderet, non tantum facti ueniam, uerum etiam indicii gratiam consecuturum: malum autem adeo non esse, ut Christianus reus nec erubesceret nec timeret, et unum solummodo, quod non ante fuerit, paeniteret.
For we too did the same and once thought the same as you, while still blind and dull: that Christians worshipped monsters, devoured infants, and joined in incestuous banquets. Nor did we understand that these fables were always being bandied about by them and never either investigated or proved; that in so long a time no one had come forward to betray them, though he would have obtained not only pardon for the deed but even a reward for informing; and that it was so far from being evil that a Christian on trial neither blushed nor feared, and repented of one thing only, that he had not been one before.
Notes and citation
Summary: Octavius once believed the slanders too, though no Christian ever confessed such crimes.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.2 (CSEL 2:40–41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.3CSEL 2:41
nos tamen cum sacrilegos aliquos et incestos, parricidas etiam defendendos et tuendos suscipiebamus, hos nec audiendos in totum putabamus, nonnumquam etiam miserantes eorum crudelius saeuiebamus, ut torqueremus confitentes ad negandum, uidelicet ne perirent, exercentes in his peruersam quaestionem, non quae uerum erueret, sed quae mendacium cogeret.
Yet when we undertook to defend and protect some who were sacrilegious and incestuous, even parricides, we thought these people should not be heard at all; sometimes even, pitying them, we raged more cruelly, so as to torture those who confessed into denying, that is, so that they would not perish, exercising on them a perverse inquiry, not one that would dig out the truth but one that would compel a lie.
Notes and citation
Summary: As advocates they defended criminals but tortured Christians to make them deny their faith.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: words run together.): etincestos → et incestos.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.3 (CSEL 2:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.4CSEL 2:41
et si qui infirmior malo pressus et uictus Christianum se negasset, fauebamus ei, quasi eierato nomine iam omnia facta sua illa negatione purgaret.
And if anyone weaker, pressed and overcome by suffering, denied that he was a Christian, we favoured him, as if, the name abjured, he had cleansed all his deeds by that denial.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who denied Christ under torture were let off as if cleared of all crimes.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: words run together.): senegasset → se negasset.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.4 (CSEL 2:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.5CSEL 2:41
adgnoscitisne eadem nos sensisse et egisse, quae sentitis et geritis? cum si ratio, non instigatio daemonis iudicaret, urguendi magis, non ut diffiterentur se Christianos, sed ut de incestis stupris, de inpiatis sacris, de infantibus immolatis faterentur.
Do you recognize that we thought and did the same things that you think and do? Whereas, if reason and not the incitement of a demon were judging, they should rather have been pressed, not to deny that they were Christians, but to confess about incestuous debaucheries, impious rites, and infants sacrificed.
Notes and citation
Summary: If the charges were real, courts would demand confessions of the crimes, not denials of the name.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.5 (CSEL 2:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.6CSEL 2:41
his enim et huiusmodi fabulis idem daemones ad execrationis horrorem imperitorum aures aduersus nos referserant. nec tamen mirum, quoniam fama, quae semper insparsis mendaciis alitur, ostensa ueritate consumitur.
For with these and similar fables the same demons had filled the ears of the ignorant against us, to make them shudder with abhorrence. Nor is this surprising, since rumour, which is always nourished by lies scattered abroad, is consumed when the truth is shown.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons spread the rumours, which vanish once the truth is known.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.6 (CSEL 2:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.7CSEL 2:41–42
sic est negotium daemonum; ab ipsis enim rumor falsus et seritur et fouetur. inde est quod audire te dicis, caput asini rem nobis esse diuinam. quis tam stultus, ut hoc colat? quis stultior, ut hoc coli credat? nisi quod uos et totos asinos in stabulis cum uestra uel sua Epona consecratis et eosdem asinos cum Iside religiose decoratis, item boum capita et capita ueruecum et immolatis et colitis, de capro etiam et homine mixtos deos et leonum et canum uultibus deos dedicatis.
Such is the business of demons; for false rumour is both sown and cherished by them. Hence comes what you say you hear, that an ass's head is a sacred thing to us. Who is so foolish as to worship this? Who more foolish than to believe it is worshipped? Unless it is that you consecrate whole asses in stables together with your, or their, Epona, and religiously decorate the same asses along with Isis; you also sacrifice and worship the heads of oxen and of rams; you dedicate gods mixed of goat and man, and gods with the faces of lions and dogs.
Notes and citation
Summary: The charge of worshipping an ass's head is absurd, but pagans do honour animals.
- Epona was the goddess of horses and stables.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.7 (CSEL 2:41–42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.8CSEL 2:42
nonne et Apim bouem cum Aegyptiis adoratis et pascitis? nec eorum sacra damnatis instituta serpentibus, crocodillis, beluis ceteris et auibus et piscibus, quorum aliquem deum si quis occiderit, etiam capite punitur.
Do you not, with the Egyptians, worship and feed the bull Apis? And you do not condemn their rites established for serpents, crocodiles, other beasts, and birds and fish; if anyone kills one of these gods, he is even punished with death.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans accept Egyptian animal worship.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.8 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.9CSEL 2:42
idem Aegyptii cum plerisque uobis non magis Isidem quam ceparum acrimonias metuunt, nec Serapidem magis quam strepitus per pudenda corporis expressos contremescunt.
The same Egyptians, along with many of you, fear Isis no more than the sharpness of onions, and tremble at Serapis no more than at the noises expelled through the shameful parts of the body.
Notes and citation
Summary: Egyptian worship extends even to onions and bodily noises.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "n" for "ii".): Aegyptn → Aegyptii.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.9 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.10CSEL 2:42
etiam ille, qui de adoratis sacerdotis uirilibus aduersum nos fabulatur, temptat in nos conferre quae sua sunt. ista enim inpudicitiae eorum forsitan sacra sint, apud quos sexus omnis membris omnibus prostat, apud quos tota inpudicitia uocatur urbanitas, qui scortorum licentiae inuident, qui medios uiros lambunt, libidinoso ore inguinibus inhaerescunt, homines malae linguae etiam si tacerent, quos prius taedescit impudicitiae suae quam pudescit.
Also he who tells fables against us about the worship of the priest's genitals tries to transfer to us what is his own. For these things may perhaps be the sacred rites of the impurity of those among whom every sex is prostituted in every member, among whom all impurity is called refinement, who envy the licence of harlots, who lick men in the middle, who cling with lustful mouth to the groin, men of evil tongue even if they were silent, who grow weary of their impurity before they are ashamed of it.
Notes and citation
Summary: The obscene charges reflect the pagans' own sexual vices.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.10 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
28.11CSEL 2:42
pro nefas! id in se mali facinoris admittunt, quod nec aetas potest pati mollior nec cogi seruitus durior.
O horror! They allow in themselves such wicked deeds as neither a softer age can bear nor the harshest slavery be forced to endure.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans commit acts no one should have to endure.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 28.11 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-28-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 29
29.1CSEL 2:42
Haec et huiusmodi propudia nobis non licet nec audire, etiam pluribus turpe defendere est: ea enim de castis fingitis et pudicis, quae fieri non crederemus, nisi de uobis probaretis.
"These and similar shameful things we are not allowed even to hear; even to defend ourselves is disgraceful to many. For you invent about chaste and modest people things we would not believe could happen, unless you proved them about yourselves.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians are ashamed even to hear the crimes pagans invent against them.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.1 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.2CSEL 2:42
nam quod religioni nostrae hominem noxium et crucem eius adscribitis, longe de uicinia ueritatis erratis, qui putatis Deum credi aut meruisse noxium aut potuisse terrenum.
For when you attribute to our religion a guilty man and his cross, you wander far from the neighbourhood of the truth, in thinking that a guilty man deserved, or an earthly man could have, to be believed God.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians do not worship a guilty man, nor believe a mere earthly man is God.
- Minucius does not here explain the Christian view of Christ; he only denies that Christians worship a criminal or a mere man.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.2 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.3CSEL 2:42
ne ille miserabilis, cuius in homine mortali spes omnis innititur; totum enim eius auxilium cum extincto homine finitur.
Wretched indeed is he whose whole hope rests on a mortal man; for all his help comes to an end with the man's death.
Jer 17:5 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hope in a mere mortal ends when he dies.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.3 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.4CSEL 2:42
Aegyptii sane hominem sibi quem colant eligunt: illum unum propitiant, illum de omnibus consulunt, illi uictimas caedunt. at ille, qui ceteris deus, sibi certe homo est, uelit nolit: nec enim conscientiam suam decipit, si fallit alienam.
The Egyptians, to be sure, choose a man for themselves to worship: him alone they propitiate, him they consult about everything, to him they slay victims. Yet he who is a god to others is certainly a man to himself, whether he will or not; for he does not deceive his own conscience, even if he deceives another's.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Egyptians worship a man who knows he is only a man.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.4 (CSEL 2:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.5CSEL 2:42–43
etiam principibus et regibus, non ut magnis et electis uiris, sicut fas est, sed ut deis turpiter adulatio falsa blanditur, cum et praeclaro uiro honor uerius et optimo amor dulcius praebeatur. sic eorum numen uocant, ad imagines supplicant, genium, id est daemonem eorum implorant, et est eis tutius per Iouis genium peierare quam regis. cruces etiam nec colimus nec optamus.
Even to princes and kings false flattery shamefully fawns, not as to great and chosen men, as is right, but as to gods, although honour is more truly given to a distinguished man and love more sweetly to the best. So they call upon their divinity, make supplication to their images, implore their genius, that is, their demon; and it is safer for them to swear falsely by the genius of Jupiter than by that of the king. Crosses, moreover, we neither worship nor wish for.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans worship rulers as gods, but Christians do not worship crosses.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.5 (CSEL 2:42–43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.6CSEL 2:43
uos plane, qui ligneos deos consecratis, cruces ligneas ut deorum uestrorum partes forsitan adoratis.
It is you, plainly, who consecrate wooden gods, who perhaps adore wooden crosses as parts of your gods.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans who worship wooden idols may be the ones who adore wooden crosses.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.6 (CSEL 2:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.7CSEL 2:43
nam et signa ipsa et cantabra et uexilla castrorum quid aliud quam inauratae cruces sunt et ornatae? tropaea uestra uictricia non tantum simplicis crucis faciem, uerum et adfixi hominis imitantur.
For what else are your standards themselves, and the banners and flags of the camps, than crosses gilded and adorned? Your victory trophies imitate the shape not only of a simple cross but also of a man fixed to it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Roman military standards and trophies are themselves shaped like crosses.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.7 (CSEL 2:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
29.8CSEL 2:43
signum sane crucis naturaliter uisimus in naui, cum uelis tumentibus uehitur, cum expansis palmulis labitur: et cum erigitur iugum, crucis signum est, et cum homo porrectis manibus Deum pura mente ueneratur. ita signo crucis aut ratio naturalis innititur aut uestra religio formatur.
We see the sign of the cross naturally in a ship, when it is carried with swelling sails, when it glides with outspread oars; and when a yoke is raised it is the sign of the cross; and when a man worships God with a pure mind, with hands outstretched. So either natural reason rests on the sign of the cross, or your religion is shaped by it.
Notes and citation
Summary: The shape of the cross is found in nature, in ships, and in the posture of prayer.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 29.8 (CSEL 2:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-29-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 30
30.1CSEL 2:43
Illum iam uelim conuenire, qui initiari nos dicit aut credit de caede infantis et sanguine. putas posse fieri, ut tam molle, tam paruulum corpus fata uulnerum capiat? ut quisquam illum rudem sanguinem nouelli et uixdum hominis caedat, fundat, exhauriat? nemo hoc potest credere nisi qui possit audere.
"Now I should like to meet the man who says or believes that we are initiated by the slaughter and blood of an infant. Do you think it possible that so tender, so tiny a body could receive fatal wounds? That anyone could slay, shed, and drain the fresh blood of a new-born and scarcely human being? No one can believe this except one who could dare to do it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only someone capable of killing an infant could believe Christians do it.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 30.1 (CSEL 2:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-30-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
30.2CSEL 2:43
uos enim uideo procreatos filios nunc feris et auibus exponere, nunc adstrangulatos misero mortis genere elidere: sunt quae in ipsis uisceribus medicaminibus epotis originem futuri hominis extinguant et parricidium faciant, antequam pariant.
For I see you exposing your begotten sons now to wild beasts and birds, now strangling and crushing them by a wretched kind of death; there are women who, by drinking drugs, extinguish in their very wombs the beginning of the future human being and commit parricide before they give birth.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagans expose infants and procure abortions.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 30.2 (CSEL 2:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-30-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
30.3CSEL 2:43
et haec utique de deorum uestrorum disciplina descendunt: nam Saturnus filios suos non exposuit, sed uorauit. merito ei in nonnullis Africae partibus a parentibus infantes immolabantur, blanditiis et osculo comprimente uagitum, ne flebilis hostia immolaretur.
And these things surely come down from the teaching of your gods: for Saturn did not expose his sons but devoured them. Fittingly, in some parts of Africa infants were sacrificed to him by their parents, their crying stifled with caresses and kisses so that a weeping victim might not be sacrificed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Child sacrifice to Saturn in Africa followed the example of the god.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: stray accent on a capital.): Îmmolaretur → immolaretur.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 30.3 (CSEL 2:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-30-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
30.4CSEL 2:43–44
Tauris etiam Ponticis et Aegyptio Busiridi ritus fuit hospites immolare, et Mercurio Gallis humanas uel inhumanas uictimas caedere, Romanis Graecum et Graecam, Gallum et Gallam sacrificii loco uiuentes obruere, hodieque ab ipsis Latiaris Iuppiter homicidio colitur, et quod Saturni filio dignum est, mali et noxii hominis sanguine saginatur.
Among the Taurians of Pontus too, and for the Egyptian Busiris, it was the rite to sacrifice strangers; and among the Gauls to slay human, or rather inhuman, victims to Mercury; among the Romans to bury alive a Greek man and a Greek woman, a Gallic man and a Gallic woman, in place of a sacrifice; and to this day Jupiter Latiaris is worshipped by them with homicide, and, as befits the son of Saturn, is fattened with the blood of a wicked and guilty man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Human sacrifice has been practised by many peoples, including the Romans.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 30.4 (CSEL 2:43–44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-30-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
30.5CSEL 2:44
ipsam credo docuisse sanguinis foedere coniurare Catilinam, et Bellonam sacrum suum haustu humani cruoris imbuere, et comitialem morbum hominis sanguine, id est morbo graviore sanare.
I believe it was he who taught Catiline to conspire by a covenant of blood, and Bellona to steep her rites with a draught of human gore, and men to cure epilepsy with human blood, that is, with a worse disease.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan practices include blood oaths and drinking human blood.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "n" for "u".): docnisse → docuisse.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 30.5 (CSEL 2:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-30-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
30.6CSEL 2:44
non dissimiles et qui de harena feras deuorant inlitas et infectas cruore uel membris hominis et uiscere saginatas. nobis homicidium nec uidere fas nec audire, tantumque ab humano sanguine cauemus, ut nec edulium pecorum in cibis sanguinem nouerimus.
Not unlike them are those who devour the beasts from the arena, smeared and stained with blood or fattened on the limbs and entrails of men. For us it is not lawful either to see or to hear of homicide; and we so shun human blood that we do not use even the blood of edible animals in our food.
Acts 15:29 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians abhor bloodshed so much that they do not even eat animal blood.
- The abstention from blood follows the apostolic decree (Acts 15:29).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "n" for "u".): canemus → cauemus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 30.6 (CSEL 2:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-30-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 31
31.1CSEL 2:44
Et de incesto conuiuio fabulam grandem aduersum nos daemonum coitio mentita est, ut gloriam pudicitiae deformis infamiae aspersione macularet, ut ante exploratam ueritatem homines a nobis terrore infandae opinionis auerteret.
"And about the incestuous banquet, the conspiracy of demons has told a great fable against us, to stain the glory of our chastity with the sprinkling of foul infamy, to turn men away from us by the terror of an unspeakable opinion before the truth was examined.
Notes and citation
Summary: Demons invented the incest slander to make people shun Christians.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "n" for "u".): conniuio → conuiuio.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.1 (CSEL 2:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.2CSEL 2:44
sic de isto et tuus Fronto non ut adfirmator testimonium fecit, sed conuicium ut orator adspersit: haec enim potius de uestris gentibus nata sunt.
So on this point your Fronto too did not give testimony as one making an affirmation, but scattered abuse as an orator; for these things have rather arisen from your own nations.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fronto's charge was mere rhetorical abuse.
- Fronto: see 9.6.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.2 (CSEL 2:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.3CSEL 2:44
ius est apud Persas misceri cum matribus, Aegyptiis et Atheniensibus cum sororibus legitima conubia, memoriae et tragoediae uestrae incestis gloriantur, quas uos libenter et legitis et auditis; sic et deos colitis incestos, cum matre, cum filia, cum sorore coniunctos.
Among the Persians it is lawful to have intercourse with mothers; among the Egyptians and Athenians marriages with sisters are legitimate; your histories and tragedies glory in incests, which you gladly read and hear; so too you worship incestuous gods, joined with mother, with daughter, with sister.
Notes and citation
Summary: Incest is found in pagan law, literature, and myth.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "n" for "ri".): miscen cum → misceri cum.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.3 (CSEL 2:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.4CSEL 2:44–45
merito igitur incestum penes uos saepe deprehenditur, semper admittitur. etiam nescientes, miseri, potestis in inlicita proruere: dum Venerem promisce spargitis, dum passim liberos seritis, dum etiam domi natos alienae misericordiae frequenter exponitis, necesse est in uestros recurrere, in filios inerrare. sic incesti fabulam nectitis, etiam cum conscientiam non habetis.
Rightly, then, incest is often detected among you and always committed. Even without knowing it, wretches, you can rush into what is unlawful: while you scatter your lusts promiscuously, while you beget children everywhere, while you often expose even those born at home to the mercy of others, you must necessarily come back upon your own and stray into your own children. So you weave the story of incest even when you are not conscious of it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan promiscuity and child exposure make unknowing incest likely.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.4 (CSEL 2:44–45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.5CSEL 2:45
at nos pudorem non facie, sed mente praestamus: unius matrimonii uinculo libenter [inhaeremus, cupiditatem procreandi aut unam scimus aut nullam, conuiuia non tantum pudica colimus sed et sobria: nec enim indulgemus epulis aut conuiuium mero ducimus, sed grauitate hilaritatem temperamus: casto sermone, corpore castiore plerique inuiolati corporis uirginitate perpetua fruuntur potius quam gloriantur: tantum denique abest incesti cupido, ut nonnullis rubori sit etiam pudica coniunctio.
But we show modesty not in appearance but in mind: gladly bound by the tie of a single marriage, in the desire for children we know either one woman or none; we keep banquets not only modest but also sober: for we do not indulge in feasts or prolong a banquet with wine, but temper cheerfulness with gravity. With chaste speech, and chaster body, very many enjoy, rather than boast of, the perpetual virginity of an unviolated body; indeed, so far is the desire for incest from us that for some even a chaste union is a cause of blushing.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians keep to one marriage, sober meals, and many to lifelong virginity.
- "A single marriage" (unius matrimonii) may mean one wife at a time or one marriage in a lifetime; Minucius does not say which. The editor deletes "inhaeremus" ("we cling"; its bracket is unclosed in the digital text), so it is not translated and "by the tie of a single marriage" goes with what follows.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.5 (CSEL 2:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.6CSEL 2:45
nec de ultima statim plebe consistimus, si honores uestros et purpuras recusamus, nec factiosi sumus, si omnes unum bonum sapimus eadem congregati quiete qua singuli, nec in angulis garruli, si audire nos publice aut erubescitis aut timetis.
Nor are we straightway the lowest rabble if we refuse your honours and purple robes; nor are we a faction if we all think the one good, gathered in the same quiet as when alone; nor chattering in corners, if you either blush or fear to hear us in public.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians are neither low-class, factious, nor secretive by choice.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.6 (CSEL 2:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.7CSEL 2:45
et quod indies nostri numerus augetur, non est crimen erroris, sed testimonium laudis; nam in pulcro genere uiuendi et perstat et perseuerat suus et adcrescit alienus.
And that our number increases daily is not a charge of error but a testimony of praise; for in a beautiful way of life its own member both stands firm and perseveres, and the stranger grows into it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christianity's growth testifies to its goodness.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.7 (CSEL 2:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
31.8CSEL 2:45
sic nos denique non notaculo corporis, ut putatis, sed innocentiae ac modestiae signo facile dinoscimus: sic nos mutuo, quod doletis, amore diligimus, quoniam odisse non nouimus: sic nos, quod inuidetis, fratres uocamus, ut unius Dei parentis homines, ut consortes fidei, ut spei coheredes. uos enim nec inuicem adgnoscitis et in mutua odia saeuitis, nec fratres uos nisi sane ad parricidium recognoscitis.
So, finally, we easily recognize one another not by a mark on the body, as you think, but by the sign of innocence and modesty; so we love one another with mutual love, which pains you, since we do not know how to hate; so we call one another brothers, which you envy, as men of one God and Parent, as sharers in faith, as co-heirs of hope. For you neither recognize one another and you rage in mutual hatreds, nor do you acknowledge yourselves as brothers, except indeed for fratricide.
John 13:35 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians know each other by virtue and love each other as brothers in God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 31.8 (CSEL 2:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-31-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 32
32.1CSEL 2:45–46
Putatis autem nos occultare quod colimus, si delubra et aras non habemus? quod enim simulacrum Deo fingam, cum, si recte existimes, sit Dei homo ipse simulacrum? templum quod ei extruam, cum totus hic mundus eius opere fabricatus eum capere non possit? et cum homo latius maneam, intra unam aediculam uim tantae maiestatis includam?
"But do you think that we hide what we worship because we have no shrines and altars? For what image shall I fashion for God, when, if you think rightly, man himself is the image of God? What temple shall I build for him, when this whole world, fashioned by his work, cannot contain him? And when I, a man, dwell more spaciously, shall I shut up the power of such great majesty within one little building?
Gen 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Kgs 8:27 (echo, medium confidence) · Isa 66:1 (echo, low confidence) · Acts 7:48–49 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians have no images or temples because man is God's image and the world cannot contain him.
- Cf. Gen 1:27; 1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 66:1; Acts 7:48–49.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.1 (CSEL 2:45–46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.2CSEL 2:46
nonne Melius in nostra dedicandus est mente? in nostro immo consecrandus est pectore? hostias et uictimas Deo offeram, quas in usum mei protulit, ut reiciam ei suum munus? ingratum est, cum sit litabilis hostia bonus animus et pura mens et sincera conscientia.
Is he not better dedicated in our mind? Rather, consecrated in our heart? Shall I offer to God sacrifices and victims which he brought forth for my use, so as to throw his own gift back at him? That is ungrateful, since the acceptable sacrifice is a good spirit, a pure mind, and a sincere conscience.
Ps 51:17 (50:19 Vulg.) (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The true sacrifice to God is a good spirit and a pure conscience, not animal victims.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.2 (CSEL 2:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.3CSEL 2:46
igitur qui innocentiam colit, Deo supplicat, qui iustitiam, Deo libat, qui fraudibus abstinet, propitiat Deum, qui hominem periculo subripit, opimam uictimam caedit. haec nostra sacrificia, haec Dei sacra sunt: sic apud nos religiosior est ille qui iustior.
So he who cultivates innocence makes supplication to God; he who cultivates justice makes libation to God; he who abstains from frauds propitiates God; he who snatches a man from danger slays the richest victim. These are our sacrifices, these are God's rites: so among us the more religious is he who is the more just.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christian sacrifices are innocence, justice, honesty, and rescuing others.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.3 (CSEL 2:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.4CSEL 2:46
at enim quem colimus Deum, nec ostendimus nec uidemus. immo ex hoc Deum credimus, quod eum sentire possumus, uidere non possumus. in operibus enim eius et in mundi omnibus motibus uirtutem eius semper praesentem aspicimus, cum tonat, fulgurat, fulminat, cum serenat.
'But the God we worship we neither show nor see.' On the contrary, we believe him to be God precisely because we can perceive him but cannot see him. For in his works and in all the movements of the world we behold his power ever present, when he thunders, lightens, strikes with thunderbolts, when he makes the sky clear.
Rom 1:20 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God is invisible but perceived in his works in nature.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.4 (CSEL 2:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.5CSEL 2:46
nec mireris, si Deum non uides: uento et flatibus omnia impelluntur, uibrantur, agitantur, et sub oculis tamen non uenit uentus et flatus. in solem adeo, qui uidendi omnibus causa est, uidere non possumus, radiis acies submouetur, obtutus intuentis hebetatur, et si diutius inspicias, omnis uisus extinguitur.
Nor should you wonder if you do not see God: by the wind and the blasts all things are driven, shaken, stirred, and yet wind and blast do not come before our eyes. Indeed, we cannot look at the sun, which is the cause of seeing for all: the eye is driven back by its rays, the gaze of the beholder is dulled, and if you look too long all sight is extinguished.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like the wind, God is unseen; like the sun, he is too bright to look at.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.5 (CSEL 2:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.6CSEL 2:46
quid? ipsum solis artificem, illum luminis fontem, possis sustinere, cum te ab eius fulgoribus auertas, a fulminibus abscondas? Deum oculis carnalibus uis uidere, cum ipsam animam tuam, qua uiuificaris et loqueris, nec aspicere possis nec tenere? sed enim Deus
What? Could you bear the very maker of the sun, that fountain of light, when you turn yourself away from its brightness and hide from its lightnings? Do you wish to see God with fleshly eyes, when you can neither see nor hold your own soul, by which you are given life and speak? 'But God
Notes and citation
Summary: If we cannot look at the sun or see our own soul, how could we see God with bodily eyes?
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: stray hyphen.; OCR: word split by a line-break hyphen.): uiuifi- caris → uiuificaris; aspicere- possis → aspicere possis.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.6 (CSEL 2:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.7CSEL 2:46–47
actum hominis ignorat et in caelo constitutus non potest aut omnes obire aut singulos nosse. erras o homo, et falleris: unde enim Deus longe est, cum omnia caelestia terrenaque et quae extra istam orbis prouinciam sunt, Deo plena sint? ubique non tantum nobis proximus, sed infusus est.
is ignorant of man's doings, and, being placed in heaven, cannot visit all or know individuals.' You err, O man, and are deceived: for how is God far off, when all things heavenly and earthly, and those beyond this province of the world, are full of God? Everywhere he is not only very near us but poured into us.
Jer 23:24 (echo, medium confidence) · Acts 17:27 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God is not distant but fills everything and is within us.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.7 (CSEL 2:46–47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.8CSEL 2:47
in solem adeo rursus intende: caelo adfixus, sed terris omnibus sparsus est: pariter praesens ubique interest et miscetur omnibus, nusquam eius claritudo uiolatur.
Consider the sun again: it is fixed in the sky, but spread over all lands; present everywhere alike, it takes part in and mingles with all things, and nowhere is its brightness violated.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like the sun, God is present everywhere without being diminished.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.8 (CSEL 2:47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
32.9CSEL 2:47
quanto magis Deus auctor omnium ac speculator omnium, a quo nullum potest esse secretum, tenebris interest, interest cogitationibus nostris, quasi alteris tenebris! non tantum sub illo agimus, sed et cum illo, ut prope dixerim, uiuimus.
How much more is God, the author of all and the watcher of all, from whom nothing can be secret, present in darkness, present in our thoughts, as in another darkness! We not only act under him but, I might almost say, live with him.
Ps 139:11–12 (138:11-Ps Vulg.) (echo, low confidence) · Heb 4:13 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God sees into darkness and into our thoughts; we live with him.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: words run together.): omniumac → omnium ac.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.9 (CSEL 2:47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-32-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 33
33.1CSEL 2:47
Nec nobis de nostra frequentia blandiamur: multi nobis uidemur, sed Deo admodum pauci sumus. nos gentes nationesque distinguimus: Deo una domus est mundus hic totus. reges statum regni sui per officia ministrorum diuersa nouerunt: Deo indiciis opus non est: non enim solum in oculis eius, sed in sinu uiuimus.
"Nor should we flatter ourselves about our numbers: we seem many to ourselves, but to God we are very few. We distinguish peoples and nations: to God this whole world is one house. Kings know the state of their kingdom through the services of various ministers: God has no need of informers; for we live not only before his eyes but in his bosom.
Acts 17:28 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To God the whole world is one house, and all live in his presence.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 33.1 (CSEL 2:47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-33-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
33.2CSEL 2:47
sed Iudaeis nihil profuit, quod unum et ipsi Deum aris atque templis maxima superstitione coluerunt. ignorantia laberis, si priorum aut oblitus aut inscius posteriorum recordaris.
'But it did the Jews no good that they too worshipped one God with altars and temples and the greatest superstition.' You slip through ignorance, if you remember later events while forgetting, or not knowing, the earlier ones.
Notes and citation
Summary: Octavius answers the objection that the Jews' one God did not save them.
- The objection is Caecilius's (10.4).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "n" for "u".): ant inscius → aut inscius.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 33.2 (CSEL 2:47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-33-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
33.3CSEL 2:47
nam et ipsi Deum nostrum, idem enim omnium Deus est, experti sunt: quamdiu enim eum caste, innoxie religioseque coluerunt, quamdiu praeceptis salubribus obtemperauerunt, de paucis innumeri facti, de egentibus diuites, de seruientibus reges: modici multos, inermi armatos, dum fugiunt insequentes, Dei iussu et elementis adnitentibus obruerunt.
For they too experienced our God, for he is the same God of all: as long as they worshipped him chastely, innocently, and religiously, as long as they obeyed his wholesome precepts, from few they became countless, from poor rich, from slaves kings; few overwhelmed many, the unarmed the armed, while fleeing they overwhelmed their pursuers by God's command and with the elements striving on their side.
Exod 14:26–28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: While the Jews obeyed God they prospered and were delivered, as at the Red Sea.
- The last clause alludes to the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14).
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 33.3 (CSEL 2:47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-33-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
33.4CSEL 2:47–48
scripta eorum relege, uel si Romanis magis gaudes, ut transeamus ueteres, [Flaui Josephi uel] Antonii Iuliani de Iudaeis require: iam scies, nequitia sua hanc eos meruisse fortunam, nec quidquam accidisse quod non sit iis, si in contumacia perseuerarent, ante praedictum.
Read their writings again, or, if you prefer Romans, to pass over the ancients, look up what Antonius Julianus wrote about the Jews: you will know at once that they deserved this fortune by their own wickedness, and that nothing happened to them that had not been foretold before, if they persisted in their stubbornness.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Deut 28:15–68 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jewish and Roman writers show that the Jews' fall was foretold for their disobedience.
- The editor deletes "Flaui Josephi uel" ("of Flavius Josephus or") as a later addition; it is not translated. Antonius Julianus's work on the Jews is lost. The statement is Octavius's own view of Jewish history, given as written.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 33.4 (CSEL 2:47–48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-33-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
33.5CSEL 2:48
ita prius eos deseruisse conprehendes quam esse desertos nec, ut impie loqueris, cum Deo suo captos, sed a Deo ut disciplinae transfugas deditos.
So you will understand that they deserted before they were deserted, and that they were not captured with their God, as you impiously say, but handed over by God as deserters from his discipline.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Jews were not captured with God but handed over by him for abandoning his law.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 33.5 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-33-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 34
34.1CSEL 2:48
Ceterum de incendio mundi, aut inprouisum ignem cadere aut † difficile, non credere uulgaris erroris est.
"As for the conflagration of the world, not to believe that an unforeseen fire will fall, or that it is difficult ..., is the part of vulgar error.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Octavius turns to the end of the world by fire.
- The text is corrupt (marked with a dagger in the edition); the sense is that disbelief in the world's end by fire is a common error.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.1 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.2CSEL 2:48
quis enim sapientium dubitat, quis ignorat, omnia quae orta sunt, occidere, quae facta sunt, interire? caelum quoque cum omnibus quae caelo continentur, ita ut coepit, si desierit fontium dulcis aqua maria nutrire, in uim ignis abiturum, Stoicis constans opinio est, quod consumto umore mundus hic omnis ignescat.
For which of the wise doubts, which is ignorant, that all things that have arisen fall, that all things made perish? That heaven too, with all that heaven contains, will pass, as it began, into the force of fire, if the sweet water of the springs ceases to nourish the seas, is the constant opinion of the Stoics, because, the moisture being consumed, this whole world will take fire.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Stoics too teach that the world will end in fire.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.2 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.3CSEL 2:48
et Epicureis de elementorum conflagratione et mundi ruina eadem ipsa sententia est...
And the Epicureans hold the very same opinion about the conflagration of the elements and the ruin of the world.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Epicureans agree that the world will perish.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.3 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.4CSEL 2:48
loquitur Plato: partes orbis nunc inundare dicit, nunc alternis uicibus ardescere, et cum ipsum mundum perpetuum et insolubilem diceret esse fabricatum, addidit tamen, ipsi artifici Deo soli et solubilem et esse mortalem.
Plato speaks of it: he says that parts of the world are now flooded, now burn by alternating turns; and though he said that the world itself was fashioned perpetual and indissoluble, he added nevertheless that to God its maker alone it is both dissoluble and mortal.
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato says the world is indestructible only by God's will.
- Plato, Tim. 22c–d, 41a–b.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 22c–d (Plato (works); allusion); Plato, Tim. 41a–b (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.4 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.5CSEL 2:48
ita nihil mirum est, si ista moles ab eo, quo extructa est, destruatur. animaduertis philosophos eadem disputare quae dicimus, non quod nos simus eorum uestigia subsecuti, sed quod illi de diuinis praedictionibus profetarum umbram interpolatae ueritatis imitati sint.
So it is no wonder if this mass is destroyed by him by whom it was built. You notice that the philosophers argue the same things that we say: not because we have followed in their footsteps, but because they, from the divine predictions of the prophets, imitated a shadow of the truth, distorted.
2 Pet 3:10 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The philosophers' ideas echo the prophets, from whom they borrowed a distorted shadow of truth.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "g" for "s".): exgtructa → extructa.
Topics: Eschatology, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.5 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.6CSEL 2:48
sic etiam condicionem renascendi sapientium clariores, Pythagoras primus et praecipuus Plato, corrupta et dimidiata fide tradiderunt: nam corporibus dissolutis
So too the more famous of the wise, Pythagoras first and Plato chief, have handed down the condition of being born again with a corrupted and halved faith: for when bodies are dissolved,
Notes and citation
Summary: Pythagoras and Plato taught a garbled version of the resurrection.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.6 (CSEL 2:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.7CSEL 2:48–49
solas animas uolunt et perpetuo manere et in alia noua corpora saepius commeare.
they hold that the souls alone both remain forever and pass again and again into other new bodies.
Notes and citation
Summary: They taught that only souls survive and move into new bodies.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.7 (CSEL 2:48–49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.8CSEL 2:49
addunt istis et illa ad retorquendam ueritatem, in pecudes, aues, beluas hominum animas redire. non philosophi sane studio, sed mimi conuicio digna ista sententia est:
To these they add also this, to twist the truth: that the souls of men return into cattle, birds, and beasts. That opinion is surely worthy not of a philosopher's study but of a mime's buffoonery.
Notes and citation
Summary: Transmigration into animals is a ridiculous idea.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.8 (CSEL 2:49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.9CSEL 2:49
sed ad propositum satis est, etiam in hoc sapientes uestros in aliquem modum nobiscum consonare.
But for our purpose it is enough that even in this your wise men agree with us in some measure.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even so, the philosophers partly agree with Christians.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.9 (CSEL 2:49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.10CSEL 2:49
ceterum quis tam stultus aut brutus est, ut audeat repugnare, hominem a Deo, ut primum potuisse fingi, ita posse denuo reformari? nihil esse post obitum, et ante ortum nihil fuisse? sicut de nihilo nasci licuit, ita de nihilo licere reparari? porro difficilius est, id quod non sit incipere, quam id quod fuerit iterare. tu perire et Deo credis, si quid oculis nostris hebetibus subtrahitur? corpus omne siue arescit in puluerem siue in umorem soluitur uel in cinerem comprimitur uel in nidorem. tenuatur, subducitur nobis, sed Deo elementorum custodi reseruatur. nec, ut creditis, ullum damnum sepulturae timemus, sed ueterem et meliorem consuetudinem humandi frequentamus.
Besides, who is so foolish or stupid as to dare to deny that man, as he could first be formed by God, can be formed anew? That he is nothing after death, and was nothing before birth? That as he could be born from nothing, so he can be restored from nothing? Moreover, it is harder to begin what does not exist than to repeat what has existed. Do you think that anything perishes for God too, if it is withdrawn from our dull eyes? Every body, whether it dries up into dust, or is dissolved into moisture, or is compressed into ashes, or thinned into smoke, is withdrawn from us, but is kept for God, the guardian of the elements. Nor, as you believe, do we fear any loss from the manner of burial; but we keep to the old and better custom of burying in the earth.
Notes and citation
Summary: God who made man from nothing can remake him; no body is lost to God, whatever happens to it.
- The last sentence answers Caecilius's charge that Christians condemn cremation (11.4).
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.10 (CSEL 2:49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.11CSEL 2:49
uide adeo, quam in solacium nostri resurrectionem futuram omnis natura meditetur. sol demergit et nascitur, astra labuntur et redeunt, flores occidunt et reuiuescunt, post senium arbusta frondescunt, semina nonnisi corrupta reuirescunt: ita corpus in sepulcro, ut arbores in hiberno: occultant uirorem ariditate mentita.
See, then, how all nature rehearses the future resurrection for our comfort. The sun sets and is born, the stars sink and return, flowers die and revive, after their old age the shrubs put forth leaves, seeds do not grow green again unless they have decayed: so the body in the grave is like trees in winter; they hide their green under a feigned dryness.
1 Cor 15:36 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Nature's cycles of death and renewal point to the resurrection.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.11 (CSEL 2:49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
34.12CSEL 2:49–50
quid festinas, ut cruda adhuc hieme reuiuescat et redeat? expectandum nobis etiam corporis uer est. nec ignoro plerosque conscientia meritorum nihil se esse post mortem magis optare quam credere: malunt enim extingui penitus quam ad supplicia reparari. quorum error augetur et in saeculo libertate remissa et Dei patientia maxima, cuius quanto iudicium tardum, tanto magis iustum est.
Why do you hurry for it to revive and return while winter is still raw? We must wait for the spring of the body too. Nor am I unaware that most people, conscious of what they deserve, wish rather than believe that they will be nothing after death; for they prefer to be utterly extinguished rather than to be restored for punishment. Their error is increased both by the liberty allowed them in this world and by the very great patience of God, whose judgment is the more just the slower it is.
2 Pet 3:9 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Many wish there were no afterlife because they fear judgment; God's patience is not indifference.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.12 (CSEL 2:49–50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-34-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 35
35.1CSEL 2:50
Et tamen admonentur homines doctissimorum libris et carminibus poetarum illius ignei fluminis et de Stygia palude saepius ambientis ardoris, quae cruciatibus aeternis praeparata et daemonum indiciis et de oraculis profetarum cognita tradiderunt.
"And yet men are warned by the books of the most learned and the songs of the poets about that fiery river and the burning that flows around many times from the Stygian marsh, which, prepared for eternal torments and known through the disclosures of demons and the oracles of the prophets, they have handed down.
Notes and citation
Summary: Pagan poets and writers too speak of fiery punishment after death.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 35.1 (CSEL 2:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-35-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
35.2CSEL 2:50
et ideo apud eos etiam ipse rex Iuppiter per torrentes ripas et atram uoraginem iurat religiose: destinatam enim sibi cum suis cultoribus poenam praescius perhorrescit.
And so among them even King Jupiter himself swears religiously by the burning banks and the black abyss; for, knowing beforehand the punishment destined for himself with his worshippers, he shudders at it.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Jupiter swears by the river of hell, fearing its punishment.
- Cf. Virgil, Aen. 9.104–106.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 9.104–106 (Virgil; allusion)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 35.2 (CSEL 2:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-35-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
35.3CSEL 2:50
nec tormentis aut modus ullus aut terminus. illic sapiens ignis membra urit et reficit, carpit et nutrit. sicut ignes fulminum corpora tangunt nec absumunt, sicut ignes Aetnaei montis et Vesuui montis et ardentium ubique terrarum flagrant nec erogantur: ita poenale illud incendium non damnis ardentium pascitur, sed inexesa corporum laceratione nutritur.
Nor is there any measure or end to the torments. There a wise fire burns and restores the limbs, consumes and nourishes them. As the fires of thunderbolts touch bodies and do not consume them, as the fires of Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius and of burning lands everywhere blaze and are not used up: so that penal fire is not fed by the loss of those who burn but is nourished by an unconsuming tearing of their bodies.
Mark 9:48 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fire of punishment torments without end and without consuming.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 35.3 (CSEL 2:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-35-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
35.4CSEL 2:50
eos autem merito torqueri, qui Deum nesciunt, ut impios, ut iniustos, nisi profanus nemo deliberat, cum parentem omnium et omnium dominum non minoris sceleris sit ignorare quam laedere.
That those are rightly tormented who do not know God, as impious, as unjust, no one but a profane man doubts, since it is no less a crime to be ignorant of the parent of all and lord of all than to injure him.
2 Thess 1:8 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ignorance of God, the Father of all, deserves punishment as much as offending him.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: "lJ" for "D".; OCR: "n" for "ri".): mento torqueri → merito torqueri; lJeum → Deum.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 35.4 (CSEL 2:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-35-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
35.5CSEL 2:50
et quamquam inperitia Dei sufficiat ad poenam, ita ut notitia prosit ad ueniam, tamen si uobiscum Christiani comparemur, quamuis in nonnullis disciplina nostra minor est, multo tamen uobis meliores deprehendemur.
And although ignorance of God suffices for punishment, as knowledge of him avails for pardon, yet if we Christians are compared with you, though in some respects our discipline falls short, we shall be found much better than you.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even with their shortcomings, Christians live far better than pagans.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 35.5 (CSEL 2:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-35-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
35.6CSEL 2:50
uos enim adulteria prohibetis et facitis, nos uxoribus nostris solummodo uiri nascimur: uos scelera admissa punitis, apud nos et cogitare peccare est: uos conscios timetis, nos etiam conscientiam solam, sine qua esse non possumus: denique de uestro numero carcer exaestuat, Christianus ibi nullus nisi aut reus suae religionis aut profugus.
For you forbid adulteries and commit them; we are born men for our own wives only. You punish crimes committed; with us even to think is to sin. You fear those who know of your deeds; we fear even conscience alone, without which we cannot exist. Finally, the prison is crowded with your number; there is no Christian there, unless he is either accused because of his religion or a deserter.
Matt 5:28 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians avoid even sinful thoughts, and none are in prison except for their faith.
- "Even to think is to sin" echoes Matt 5:28. A "deserter" is one who has abandoned the Christian faith.
Topics: Ethics, Marriage, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 35.6 (CSEL 2:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-35-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 36
36.1CSEL 2:50–51
Nec de fato quisquam aut solacium captet aut excuset euentum: sit sors fortunae, mens tamen libera est, et ideo actus hominis, non dignitas iudicatur.
"Nor let anyone either seek comfort from fate or excuse what happens: let chance belong to fortune, yet the mind is free, and therefore it is a man's actions, not his station, that are judged.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fate is no excuse: the mind is free and people are judged by their actions.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: words run together.): excuseteuentum → excuset euentum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.1 (CSEL 2:50–51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.2CSEL 2:51
quid enim aliud est fatum quam quod de unoquoque nostrum Deus fatus est? qui cum possit praescire materiam, pro meritis et qualitatibus singulorum etiam fata determinat. ita in nobis non genitura plectitur, sed ingenii natura punitur. ac de fato satis, uel si pauca pro tempore, disputaturi alias et uberius et plenius.
For what else is fate than what God has spoken of each one of us? Since he can foreknow the material, he determines fates too according to the deserts and qualities of individuals. So in us it is not our birth that is punished but the nature of our disposition. And enough about fate, even if little for the present; we shall discuss it elsewhere more fully and at greater length.
Notes and citation
Summary: Fate is simply what God, foreknowing each person's character, has declared.
- There is a play on words: fatum ("fate") and fatus est ("has spoken").
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.2 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.3CSEL 2:51
ceterum quod plerique pauperes dicimur, non est infamia nostra, sed gloria: animus enim ut luxu soluitur, ita frugalitate firmatur.
Moreover, that most of us are called poor is not our disgrace but our glory; for as the mind is weakened by luxury, so it is strengthened by frugality.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christian poverty is a glory, since frugality strengthens the mind.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.3 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.4CSEL 2:51
et tamen qui potest pauper esse qui non eget, qui non inhiat alieno, qui Deo diues est? magis pauper ille est, qui cum multa habeat, plura desiderat.
And yet who can be poor who does not want, who does not covet another's goods, who is rich toward God? He is rather poor who, though he has much, desires more.
Luke 12:21 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The truly poor are those who always want more; Christians are rich toward God.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.4 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.5CSEL 2:51
dicam tamen quemadmodum sentio: nemo tam pauper potest esse quam natus est. aues sine patrimonio uiuunt et in diem pascuntur: et haec nobis tamen nata sunt, quae omnia, si non concupiscimus, possidemus.
Yet I will say what I think: no one can be as poor as he was born. Birds live without patrimony and are fed day by day; and yet these things were made for us, and we possess them all if we do not covet them.
Matt 6:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 6:10 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like the birds, Christians possess everything by not coveting.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.5 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.6CSEL 2:51
igitur ut qui uiam terit, eo felicior quo leuior incedit, ita beatior in hoc itinere uiuendi, qui paupertate se subleuat, non sub diuitiarum onere suspirat.
So, as one who travels a road is happier the lighter he walks, so in this journey of life he is more blessed who lightens himself by poverty and does not groan under the burden of riches.
Notes and citation
Summary: Life's journey is easier without the weight of wealth.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.6 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.7CSEL 2:51
et tamen facultates, si utiles putaremus, a Deo posceremus: utique indulgere posset aliquantum cuius est totum. sed nos contemnere malumus opes quam contingere, innocentiam magis cupimus, magis patientiam flagitamus, malumus nos bonos esse quam prodigos, et quod corporis humana uitia sentimus et patimur, non est poena, militia est.
And yet, if we thought riches useful, we would ask them of God: surely he to whom the whole belongs could grant some part. But we prefer to despise wealth rather than to touch it; we desire innocence more, we beg more for patience; we prefer to be good rather than lavish; and that we feel and suffer the human frailties of the body is not punishment, it is military service.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians prefer virtue to wealth, and their sufferings are a soldier's service, not punishment.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: stray symbol.): aliquantum ■ cuius → aliquantum cuius.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.7 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.8CSEL 2:51
fortitudo enim in infirmitatibus roboratur et calamitas saepius disciplina uirtutis est. uires denique et mentis et corporis sine laboris exercitatione torpescunt: omnes adeo uestri uiri fortes, quos in exemplum praedicatis, aerumnis suis inclyti floruerunt.
For strength is made strong in weaknesses, and calamity is very often the training school of virtue. Indeed, strength of both mind and body grows sluggish without the exercise of toil: all your brave men, whom you proclaim as examples, flourished famous through their hardships.
2 Cor 12:9 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hardship trains virtue, as the pagans' own heroes show.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.8 (CSEL 2:51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
36.9CSEL 2:51–52
itaque et nobis Deus nec non potest subuenire nec despicit, cum sit et omnium rector et amator suorum, sed in aduersis unumquemque explorat et examinat, ingenium singulorum periculis pensitat, usque ad extremam mortem uoluntatem hominis sciscitatur, nihil sibi posse perire securus. itaque ut aurum ignibus, sic nos discriminibus arguimur.
So God is neither unable to help us nor does he despise us, since he is both ruler of all and lover of his own; but in adversity he tests and examines each one, weighs the character of each by dangers, questions the will of man even to the point of death, secure that nothing can be lost to him. So, as gold by fire, we are proved by trials.
1 Pet 1:7 (echo, medium confidence) · Prov 17:3 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God allows suffering to test and prove his people, as gold is tested by fire.
- The image of gold tested by fire is common (Prov 17:3; Wis 3:6; 1 Pet 1:7).
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 3:6 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; echo)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.9 (CSEL 2:51–52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-36-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 37
37.1CSEL 2:52
Quam pulchrum spectaculum Deo, cum Christianus cum dolore congreditur, cum aduersum minas et supplicia et tormenta componitur, cum strepitum mortis et horrorem carnificis inridens inculcat, cum libertatem suam aduersus reges et principes erigit, soli Deo, cuius est, cedit, cum triumphator et uictor ipsi, qui aduersum se sententiam dixit, insultat! uicit enim qui quod contendit obtinuit.
"How beautiful a spectacle for God, when a Christian grapples with pain, when he is matched against threats and punishments and tortures, when he tramples, laughing, on the din of death and the horror of the executioner, when he raises up his liberty against kings and princes and yields to God alone, whose he is, when, triumphant and victorious, he insults the very man who pronounced sentence against him! For he has conquered who has obtained what he strove for.
Notes and citation
Summary: A Christian facing torture and death bravely is a beautiful sight to God.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.1 (CSEL 2:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.2CSEL 2:52
quis non miles sub oculis imperatoris audacius periculum prouocet? nemo enim praemium percipit ante experimentum. et imperator tamen quod non habet, non dat: non potest propagare uitam, potest honestare militiam.
What soldier would not challenge danger more boldly under the eyes of his general? For no one receives the reward before the trial. And yet a general does not give what he does not have: he cannot prolong life, he can only honour military service.
Notes and citation
Summary: A soldier fights bravely under his general's eye, though the general cannot give life.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.2 (CSEL 2:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.3CSEL 2:52
at enim Dei miles nec in dolore deseritur nec morte finitur. sic Christianus miser uideri potest, non potest inueniri. uos ipsi calamitosos uiros fertis ad caelum, Mucium Scaeuolam, qui cum errasset in regem perisset in hostibus, nisi dexteram perdidisset.
But the soldier of God is neither deserted in pain nor ended by death. So a Christian can seem wretched, but cannot be found so. You yourselves extol to the skies men in calamity, Mucius Scaevola, who, when he had failed against the king, would have perished among the enemy had he not sacrificed his right hand.
2 Tim 2:3 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's soldier is never abandoned; pagans praise heroes like Mucius Scaevola for enduring pain.
- Mucius Scaevola burned his right hand before the Etruscan king Porsenna after failing to kill him.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.3 (CSEL 2:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.4CSEL 2:52
et quot ex nostris, non dextram solum, sed totum corpus uri, cremari sine ullis eiulatibus pertulerunt, cum dimitti praesertim haberent in sua potestate!
And how many of ours have endured having not only the right hand but the whole body burned and consumed without any cries, especially when they had it in their power to be released!
Notes and citation
Summary: Many Christians have been burned alive without complaint, though they could have gone free.
- They could be released by denying Christ.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.4 (CSEL 2:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.5CSEL 2:52
uiros cum Mucio uel cum Aquilio aut Regulo comparo? pueri et mulierculae nostrae cruces et tormenta, feras et omnes suppliciorum terriculas inspirata patientia doloris inludunt.
Do I compare men with Mucius or with Aquilius or Regulus? Our boys and our weak women mock crosses and tortures, wild beasts and all the bugbears of punishment, with a patience in pain that is inspired.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Christian children and women endure torture with God-given courage.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: words run together.): cumMucio → cum Mucio.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.5 (CSEL 2:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.6CSEL 2:52
nec intellegitis o miseri, neminem esse qui aut sine ratione uelit poenam subire aut tormenta sine Deo possit sustinere:
And you do not understand, O wretched men, that there is no one who would either wish to undergo punishment without reason or could endure tortures without God:
Notes and citation
Summary: Such endurance is impossible without God.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.6 (CSEL 2:52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.7CSEL 2:52–53
nisi forte uos decipit, quod Deum nescientes diuitiis afluant, honoribus floreant, polleant potestatibus. miseri in hoc altius tolluntur, ut decidant altius. hi enim ut uictimae ad supplicium saginantur, ut hostiae ad poenam coronantur: in hoc adeo quidam imperiis ac dominationibus eriguntur, ut ingenium eorum perditae mentes licentia potestatis libere nundinentur.
unless perhaps you are deceived because those who do not know God abound in riches, flourish in honours, are strong in power. The wretches are lifted higher for this, that they may fall lower. For these are fattened like victims for slaughter, crowned like sacrifices for punishment: some are raised to empires and dominions for this very reason, that their ruined minds may freely put their character up for sale through the licence of power.
Ps 73:18 (72:18 Vulg.) (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prosperity of the ungodly only prepares their fall.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.7 (CSEL 2:52–53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.8CSEL 2:53
absque enim notitia Dei quae potest esse solida felicitas, cum mors sit? somnio similis antequam tenetur, elabitur. rex es?
For without the knowledge of God what solid happiness can there be, since death exists? Like a dream, it slips away before it is held. Are you a king?
Notes and citation
Summary: Without God, happiness is a fleeting dream.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.8 (CSEL 2:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.9CSEL 2:53
sed tam times quam timeris, et quamlibet sis multo comitatu stipatus, ad periculum tamen solus es. diues es? sed fortunae male creditur et magno uiatico breue uitae iter non instruitur, sed oneratur.
But you fear as much as you are feared; and however large a retinue surrounds you, in danger you are alone. Are you rich? But fortune is badly trusted, and the short journey of life is not equipped but burdened by great provisions.
Notes and citation
Summary: Kings live in fear, and wealth only burdens life's short journey.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.9 (CSEL 2:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.10CSEL 2:53
fascibus et purpuris gloriaris? uanus error hominis et inanis cultus dignitatis, fulgere purpura, mente sordescere. nobilitate generosus es? parentes tuos laudas? omnes tamen pari sorte nascimur, sola uirtute distinguimur.
Do you glory in the fasces and the purple? It is a vain error of man and an empty worship of rank to shine in purple and be sordid in mind. Are you noble by birth? Do you praise your parents? Yet we are all born with equal lot; we are distinguished by virtue alone.
Notes and citation
Summary: Office and noble birth mean nothing; only virtue distinguishes people.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.10 (CSEL 2:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.11CSEL 2:53
nos igitur, qui moribus et pudore censemur, merito malis uoluptatibus et pompis uestris et spectaculis abstinemus, quorum et de sacris originem nouimus et noxia blandimenta damnamus. nam in ludis currulibus quis non horreat populi in se rixantis insaniam? in gladiatoriis homicidii disciplinam?
We, therefore, who are judged by our conduct and modesty, rightly abstain from your evil pleasures and processions and shows, whose origin we know to be from sacred rites, and whose harmful allurements we condemn. For at the chariot races who would not shudder at the madness of the people brawling among themselves? At the gladiatorial shows, at the training in homicide?
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians avoid the public games, rooted in idolatry and full of violence.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: stray period inside a sentence.): spectaculis. abstinemus → spectaculis abstinemus.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.11 (CSEL 2:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
37.12CSEL 2:53
in scenicis etiam non minor furor et turpitudo prolixior: nunc enim mimus uel exponit adulteria uel monstrat, nunc eneruis histrio amorem dum fingit, infligit: idem deos uestros induendo stupra, suspiria, odia dedecorat, idem simulatis doloribus lacrimas uestras uanis gestibus et nutibus prouocat: sic homicidium in uero flagitatis, in mendacio fletis.
In the theatrical shows too there is no less madness and more extended shamefulness: for now a mime either expounds or displays adulteries, now an effeminate actor, while he feigns love, inflicts it; the same man dishonours your gods by attributing to them debaucheries, sighs, hatreds; the same man, by feigned sorrows, provokes your tears with vain gestures and nods. So you demand homicide in reality and weep at it in fiction.
Notes and citation
Summary: The theatre teaches adultery and dishonours the gods; pagans weep at fictional deaths but demand real ones.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 37.12 (CSEL 2:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-37-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 38
38.1CSEL 2:53
Quod uero sacrificiorum reliquias et pocula delibata contemnimus, non confessio timoris est, sed uerae libertatis adsertio. nam etsi omne quod nascitur ut inuiolabile Dei munus nullo opere conrumpitur, abstinemus tamen, ne quis nos existimet aut daemoniis, quibus libatum est, cedere aut nostrae religionis pudere.
"That we despise the remains of sacrifices and the cups from which libations have been poured is not a confession of fear but an assertion of true liberty. For although everything that comes into being, as an inviolable gift of God, is not corrupted by any act, we abstain nonetheless, lest anyone should think either that we yield to the demons to whom the libation was made or that we are ashamed of our religion.
1 Cor 10:25–29 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians avoid sacrificial food not from fear but to make clear they do not honour demons.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.1 (CSEL 2:53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-38-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
38.2CSEL 2:53–54
quis autem ille qui dubitat, uernis indulgere nos floribus, cum carpamus et rosam ueris et lilium et quicquid aliud in floribus blandi coloris et odoris est? his enim et sparsis utimur mollibus ac solutis et sertis colla conplectimur. sane quod caput non coronamus, ignoscite: auram bonam floris naribus ducere, non occipitio capillisue solemus haurire.
And who is he who doubts that we enjoy the flowers of spring, since we pluck both the rose of spring and the lily and whatever else among flowers is of pleasing colour and scent? For we use these both scattered loose and soft, and we clasp our necks with garlands. Pardon us, indeed, that we do not crown the head: we are accustomed to draw in the pleasant scent of a flower with our nostrils, not to inhale it with the back of the head or the hair.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians enjoy flowers, but do not wear crowns on their heads.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.2 (CSEL 2:53–54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-38-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
38.3CSEL 2:54
nec mortuos coronamus. ego uos in hoc magis miror, quemadmodum tribuatis exanimi aut sentienti facem aut non sentienti coronam, cum et beatus non egeat et miser non gaudeat floribus.
Nor do we crown the dead. I wonder rather at you in this, how you give to a lifeless man either a torch, if he feels, or a garland, if he does not feel, since if he is blessed he does not need flowers, and if wretched he does not rejoice in them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Crowning the dead is pointless, whether they feel it or not.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.3 (CSEL 2:54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-38-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
38.4CSEL 2:54
at enim nos exsequias adornamus eadem tranquillitate qua uiuimus, nec adnectimus arescentem coronam, sed a Deo aeternis floribus uiuidam sustinemus: quieti, modesti, Dei nostri liberalitate securi spem futurae felicitatis fide praesentis eius maiestatis animamus. sic et beati resurgimus et futuri contemplatione iam uiuimus.
But we adorn our funerals with the same tranquillity with which we live; nor do we bind on a withering garland, but we await one living with eternal flowers from God. Quiet, modest, secure in the generosity of our God, we quicken the hope of future happiness by faith in his present majesty. So we both rise again blessed and already live in the contemplation of the future.
1 Pet 5:4 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 9:25 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians await an unfading crown from God and live in hope of the resurrection.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.4 (CSEL 2:54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-38-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
38.5CSEL 2:54
proinde Socrates scurra Atticus uiderit, nihil se scire confessus, testimonio licet fallacissimi daemonis gloriosus, Arcesilas quoque et Carneades et Pyrro et omnis Academicorum multitudo deliberet, Simonides etiam in perpetuum conperendinet: philosophorum supercilia contemnimus, quos corruptores et adulteros nouimus et tyrannos et semper aduersus sua uitia facundos.
So let Socrates, the Attic buffoon, see to it, who confessed that he knew nothing, though he boasted of the testimony of a most deceitful demon; let Arcesilaus too, and Carneades, and Pyrrho, and the whole multitude of the Academics deliberate; let Simonides also postpone for ever: we despise the haughty brows of the philosophers, whom we know to be corrupters, adulterers, and tyrants, and always eloquent against their own vices.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians reject the sceptical philosophers praised by Caecilius, whose lives contradict their words.
- These are the philosophers Caecilius cited (13.1–4).
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.5 (CSEL 2:54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-38-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
38.6CSEL 2:54–55
nos, qui non habitu sapientiam sed mente praeferimus, non eloquimur magna sed uiuimus, gloriamur nos consecutos quod illi summa intentione quaesiuerunt nec inuenire potuerunt. quid ingrati sumus, quid nobis inuidemus, si ueritas diuinitatis nostri temporis aetate maturuit? fruamur bono nostro et recti sententiam temperemus: cohibeatur superstitio, impietas expietur, uera religio reseruetur.
We, who show our wisdom not in our dress but in our mind, who do not speak great things but live them, glory that we have attained what they sought with the utmost effort and could not find. Why are we ungrateful, why do we begrudge ourselves, if the truth about God has ripened in the age of our time? Let us enjoy our good and moderate the judgment of what is right: let superstition be restrained, impiety be expiated, true religion be preserved."
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians have found by living it the truth that philosophers sought in vain.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.6 (CSEL 2:54–55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-38-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 39
39.1CSEL 2:55
Cum Octauius perorasset, aliquamdiu nos ad silentium stupefacti intentos uultus tenebamus, et quod ad me est, magnitudine admirationis euanui, quod ea, quae facilius est sentire quam dicere, et argumentis et exemplis et lectionum auctoritatibus adornasset, et quod maleuolos isdem illis quibus armantur, philosophorum telis retudisset, ostendisset etiam ueritatem non tantummodo facilem sed et fauorabilem.
When Octavius had finished his speech, for some time we kept our faces fixed in silence, struck dumb, and as for me, I was lost in the greatness of my admiration, because he had adorned with arguments, with examples, and with the authority of readings what it is easier to feel than to say; and because he had beaten back the ill-disposed with those same weapons of the philosophers with which they arm themselves; and because he had shown that the truth is not only easy but also attractive.
Notes and citation
Summary: Marcus and Caecilius sit in amazed silence after Octavius's speech.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 39.1 (CSEL 2:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-39-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 40
40.1CSEL 2:55
Dum istaec igitur apud me tacitus euoluo, Caecilius erupit: Ego Octauio meo plurimum quantum, sed et mihi gratulor nec expecto sententiam. uicimus et ita: uel improbe usurpo uictoriam. nam ut ille mei uictor est, ita ego triumphator erroris.
While, then, I was silently turning these things over in my mind, Caecilius burst out: "I congratulate my Octavius exceedingly, but myself too, and I do not wait for the verdict. We have both conquered, and so I claim the victory, shameless though that may be: for as he is my conqueror, so I triumph over error.
Notes and citation
Summary: Caecilius declares that both have won: Octavius over him, and he over his error.
- The text of "uicimus et ita: uel improbe usurpo uictoriam" is uncertain (some editors read "non improbe", "not unjustly"); the translation follows the printed text.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 40.1 (CSEL 2:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-40-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
40.2CSEL 2:55
itaque quod pertineat ad summam quaestionis, et de prouidentia fateor et de Deo cedo et de sectae iam nostrae sinceritate consentio. etiam nunc tamen aliqua consubsidunt non obstrepentia ueritati sed perfectae institutioni necessaria, de quibus crastino, quod iam sol occasui decliuis est, ut de toto congruentes promptius requiremus.
So, as regards the main question, I confess about providence, I yield about God, and I agree about the purity of the sect that is now ours. Still, even now some things remain beneath, not opposed to the truth but necessary for a complete instruction; about these we will inquire tomorrow, since the sun is already sinking to its setting, so that, agreeing on the whole, we may inquire more readily."
Notes and citation
Summary: Caecilius accepts Christianity and asks for further instruction the next day.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 40.2 (CSEL 2:55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-40-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
40.3CSEL 2:55–56
At ego, inquam, prolixius omnium nostrum uice gaudeo, quod etiam mihi Octauius uicerit, cum maxima iudicandi mihi inuidia detracta sit. nec tamen possum meritum eius uerborum laudibus repensare: testimonium et hominis et unius infirmum est: habet Dei munus eximium, a quo et inspiratus orauit et obtinuit adiutus.
"But I," I said, "rejoice more fully on behalf of us all, because Octavius has conquered for me too, since the very great odium of judging has been taken from me. Yet I cannot repay his merit with praises in words: the testimony of a man, and of one man, is weak; he has the excellent gift of God, inspired by whom he spoke, and helped by whom he prevailed."
Notes and citation
Summary: Marcus rejoices and credits Octavius's victory to God's gift.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 40.3 (CSEL 2:55–56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-40-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.
40.4CSEL 2:56–57
Post haec laeti hilaresque discessimus, Caecilius quod crediderit, Octauius gaudere quod uicerit, ego et quod hic crediderit et hic uicerit.
After this we departed glad and cheerful: Caecilius rejoicing that he had believed, Octavius that he had conquered, and I both that the one had believed and the other had conquered.
Notes and citation
Summary: The three friends part joyfully: Caecilius has believed and Octavius has won.
Cite (SBL): Minucius Felix, Oct. 40.4 (CSEL 2:56–57; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/27-1/#p-40-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.