Octavius 16.6 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: What matters is not who argues but whether the argument is true; plain speech makes truth clearer.

Latin text · CSEL 2:21

nihil itaque indignandum uel dolendum, si quicumque de diuinis quaerat, quae sentiat proferat, cum non disputantis auctoritas, sed disputationis ipsius ueritas requiratur. atque etiam, quo imperitior sermo, hoc inlustrior ratio est, quoniam non fucatur pompa facundiae et gratiae, sed, ut est, recti regula sustinetur.

English · Claude translation

So there is nothing to be indignant or pained about if anyone at all who inquires about divine things puts forward what he thinks, since what is sought is not the authority of the one arguing but the truth of the argument itself. And indeed, the less skilled the speech, the clearer the reasoning, since it is not painted over with the pomp of eloquence and charm but is upheld, as it is, by the rule of what is right.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:21 · 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. 16.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/16/6/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 16.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/16/6/).