Octavius 34.1

Summary: Octavius turns to the end of the world by fire.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

BothLatinEnglish

Latin text · CSEL 2:48

Ceterum de incendio mundi, aut inprouisum ignem cadere aut † difficile, non credere uulgaris erroris est.

"As for the conflagration of the world, not to believe that an unforeseen fire will fall, or that it is difficult ..., is the part of vulgar error.

Source: CSEL 2:48 · 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; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
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.
Topics: Eschatology

The text is corrupt (marked with a dagger in the edition); the sense is that disbelief in the world's end by fire is a common error.

Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/34/1/).

Plain text

Minucius Felix, Oct. 34.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/minucius-octavius/34/1/).