Octavius 32.5 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Like the wind, God is unseen; like the sun, he is too bright to look at.

Latin text · CSEL 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.

English · Claude translation

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.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:46 · Karl Halm, ed., M. Minucii Felicis Octavius; Iulii Firmici Materni Liber de errore profanarum religionum, CSEL 2 (Vienna: Gerold, 1867), 1–56 · Latin text: K. Halm (CSEL 2, 1867), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

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

Translation

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

Compare

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

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/32/5/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 32.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/32/5/).