Octavius 38.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Christians avoid sacrificial food not from fear but to make clear they do not honour demons.

Latin text · CSEL 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.

English · Claude translation

"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.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:53 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in CSEL 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 2; made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Divided there by chapter only.

Scripture

1 Cor 10:25–29 · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Ethics

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/38/1/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/38/1/).