Opening the library…

Home Bible Corpus Discover You

Search the Bible

The Octavius of Minucius Felix

Minucius Felix

Chapter 6

About this work

A polished Latin dialogue in which pagan and Christian friends debate providence, Roman religion, accusations against Christians, resurrection, and the philosophical credibility of Christian monotheism.

Author: Minucius Felix
Date: Late 2nd or early 3rd century
Origin: Rome or North Africa
Genre: Dialogue

The work’s date relative to Tertullian and the author’s geographical setting remain debated.

Chapter VI.—Argument: The Object of All Nations, and Especially of the Romans, in Worshipping Their Divinities, Has Been to Attain for Their Worship the Supreme Dominion Over the Whole Earth.

“Since, then, either fortune is

‹ Chapter 5 Chapter 7 ›

certain

or

nature

is

uncertain

,

how

much

more

reverential

and

better

it

is

,

as

the

high

priests

of

truth

,

to

receive

the

teaching

of

your

ancestors

,

to

cultivate

the

religions

handed

down

to

you

,

to

adore

the

gods

whom

you

were

first

trained

by

your

parents

to

fear

rather

than

to

know

with

familiarity

;

not

to

assert

an

opinion

concerning

the

deities

,

but

to

believe

your

forefathers

,

who

,

while

the

age

was

still

untrained

in

the

birth

-

times

of

the

world

itself

,

deserved

to

have

gods

either

propitious

to

them

,

or

as

their

kings

.

Thence

,

therefore

,

we

see

through

all

empires

,

and

provinces

,

and

cities

,

that

each

people

has

its

national

rites

of

worship

,

and

adores

its

local

gods

:

as

the

Eleusinians

worship

Ceres

;

the

Phrygians

,

Mater

;

the

Epidaurians

,

Æsculapius

;

the

Chaldæans

;

Belus

;

the

Syrians

,

Astarte

;

the

Taurians

,

Diana

;

the

Gauls

,

Mercurius

;

the

Romans

,

all

divinities

.

Thus

their

power

and

authority

has

occupied

the

circuit

of

the

whole

world

:

thus

it

has

propagated

its

empire

beyond

the

paths

of

the

sun

,

and

the

bounds

of

the

ocean

itself

;

in

that

in

their

arms

they

practise

a

religious

valour

;

in

that

they

fortify

their

city

with

the

religions

of

sacred

rites

,

with

chaste

virgins

,

with

many

honours

,

and

the

names

of

priests

;

in

that

,

when

besieged

and

taken

,

all

but

the

Capitol

alone

,

they

worship

the

gods

which

when

angry

any

other

people

would

have

despised

;

and

through

the

lines

of

the

Gauls

,

marvelling

at

the

audacity

of

their

superstition

,

they

move

unarmed

with

weapons

,

but

armed

with

the

worship

of

their

religion

;

while

in

the

city

of

an

enemy

,

when

taken

while

still

in

the

fury

of

victory

,

they

venerate

the

conquered

deities

;

while

in

all

directions

they

seek

for

the

gods

of

the

strangers

,

and

make

them

their

own

;

while

they

build

altars

even

to

unknown

divinities

,

and

to

the

Manes

.

Thus

,

in

that

they

acknowledge

the

sacred

institutions

of

all

nations

,

they

have

also

deserved

their

dominion

.

Hence

the

perpetual

course

of

their

veneration

has

continued

,

which

is

not

weakened

by

the

long

lapse

of

time

,

but

increased

,

because

antiquity

has

been

accustomed

to

attribute

to

ceremonies

and

temples

so

much

of

sanctity

as

it

has

ascribed

of

age

.

Notes

1
“To think of rather than to know” in some texts.
2
Neander quotes this passage as illustrating the dissatisfied state of the pagan mind with the prevailing infidelity at that time.
3
Or, “the great mother” [i.e., Cybele. S.].
4
Or, “which another people, when angry, would have despised.”