Marcus Minucius Felix was one of the earliest of the Latin apologists for Christianity.
Of his personal history nothing is known, and even the date at which he wrote can be only approximately ascertained as between 150 and 270 AD. Jerome's De Viris Illustribus #58 speaks of him as "Romae insignis causidicus," but in that he is probably only improving on the expression of Lactantius who speaks of him as "non ignobilis inter causidicos loci."
He is now exclusively known by his Octavius, a dialogue on Christianity between the pagan Caecilius Natalis and the Christian Octavius Januarius.
The Octavius is admittedly earlier than Cyprian's Quod idola dei non sint, which borrows from it; how much earlier can be determined only by settling the relation in which it stands to Tertullian's Apologeticum.
Famous quotes containing the words minucius felix, marcus minucius, minucius and/or felix:
“The poor man is he who, having much, craves for more.”
—Marcus Minucius Felix (2nd or 3rd cen. A.D.)
“You punish crimes committed, with us the thought of crime is a sin; you fear the voice of witness, we the sole voice of conscience.”
—Marcus Minucius Felix (2nd or 3rd cen. A.D.)
“God cannot be seen: he is too bright for sight; nor grasped: he is too pure for touch; nor measured: for he is beyond all sense, infinite, measureless, his dimension known to himself alone.”
—Marcus Minucius Felix (2nd or 3rd cen. A.D.)
“The legend of Felix is ended, the toiling of Felix is done;
The Master has paid him his wages, the goal of his journey is won;
He rests, but he never is idle; a thousand years pass like a day,
In the glad surprise of Paradise where work is sweeter than play.”
—Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933)