Octavius 8.5

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

Summary: Christians scorn present tortures out of fear of future punishment and hope of resurrection.

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Latin text · CSEL 2:12

sacerdotum, honores etpurpuras despiciunt, ipsi seminudi, pro mira stultitia et incredibilis audacia! spernunt tormenta praesentia, dum incerta metuunt et futura, et dum mori post mortem timent, interim mori non timent: ita illis pauorem fallax spes solacio rediuiuo blanditur.

English · Claude translation

the priests; they despise honours and purple robes, themselves half-naked. What wonderful folly, what incredible boldness! They spurn present torments while they fear uncertain future ones, and while they fear to die after death, they do not fear to die meanwhile: so deceitful hope soothes their fear with the comfort of coming back to life.

About this passage

Source: CSEL 2:12 · 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.
Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 8.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/8/5/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 8.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/8/5/).

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