The Speech of Anchises and Arguments for Monotheism in Minucius Felix and Lactantius

Abstract

This paper explores how one text—the speech of Anchises from Vergil’s Aeneid 6—was of great use for two Christian apologists: Minucius Felix and Lactantius. Both authors used Vergil’s text to make important arguments regarding monotheism. The problem, however, is that the speech of Anchises not only refers to divine immanence, but Stoic pantheism. This latter idea would be seemingly problematic for Christians to espouse given that their sacred text makes a clear distinction between creator and creation. To deal with this particular difficulty, both Minucius Felix and Lactantius appeal to the doctrine of the powers to explain how God can be both transcendent and immanent. Minucius Felix and Lactantius employ the Mantuan poet not merely for rhetorical flourish, nor to display their erudition, but rather to make important apologetic points. In so doing, the Latin authors under discussion answer, in various ways, the difficult question of how much is too much reliance upon pagan literature and learning. What is at stake is a subject no less important than their own cultural identity.