Octavius 18.10 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: God needs no personal name, since human titles would make him seem earthly.

Latin text · CSEL 2:24–25

illic uocabulis opus est, cum per singulos propriis appellationum insignibus multitudo dirimenda est: Deo, qui solus est, Dei uocabulum totum est. quem si patrem dixero, carnalem opineris, si regem, terrenam suspiceris, si dominum, intellegis utique mortalem. aufer additamenta nominum et perspicies eius claritatem.

English · Claude translation

There is need of words where a multitude must be distinguished into individuals by the proper marks of names; for God, who alone exists, the word 'God' is the whole. If I call him Father, you would think him fleshly; if King, you would suspect him earthly; if Lord, you would certainly understand him as mortal. Take away the additions of names and you will see his brightness.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 2:24–25 · 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. 18.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/18/10/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 18.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/18/10/).