Octavius 38.6 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Christians have found by living it the truth that philosophers sought in vain.

Latin text · CSEL 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.

English · Claude translation

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."

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:54–55 · 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. 38.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/38/6/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 38.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/38/6/).