Philosophy or Cult? The Categorization of Christian and Roman Identity in Minucius Felix's Octavius and Tertullian's Apology

Abstract: Scholarship has long observed a close intertextual relationship between Minucius Felix's Octavius and Tertullian's far more influential Apology . However, this paper, focusing on Octavius , argues that the concepts of Christian identity that these authors present within these works are fundamentally opposed to each other. As apologetic works, the chief goal of these writings is to define and defend Christian identity against a non-Christian other. Due to the circumstances of both these works the non-Christian is painted as distinctly Roman, but likewise due to their circumstances in neither of these works are Christian or Roman binary concepts. The process of defining Christianity in these works is categorizing what type of group Christian groups are within Roman society, such that they can be Christian and Roman without contradiction. Categorizing Christian identity also defines how Christians can relate to a sometimes-hostile Roman political authority. This paper argues that within his work the Octavius , Minucius Felix categorizes Christianity as a philosophy. This categorization is in direct contrast to Tertullian who explicitly rejects the categorization of Christianity as a philosophy, and instead, he defined Christian identity around worship. This categorization allows Minucius Felix to present Christians as politically non-threatening. As philosophers, Christians could be intellectually critical of aspects of traditional Roman religion without necessarily being socially or politically problematic. Through close analysis of the text, I will argue that this approach is reflected in how Minucius Felix treats political issues in the Octavius . Within the text, Minucius Felix dismisses the accusation that Christians are political deviants by appealing to the intellectual merit of the Christian position and the philosophical perspective Christianity employs.