Sophia Scriptura

Octavius 36.2

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

Summary: Fate is simply what God, foreknowing each person's character, has declared.

Latin text · CSEL 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.

English · Claude translation

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.

About this passage

Source
CSEL 2:51 · 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.

Notes

Translation notes

  • There is a play on words: fatum ("fate") and fatus est ("has spoken").

Cite this passage

Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/36/2/).

Plain text
Minucius Felix, Oct. 36.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/36/2/).

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