Against Celsus 2.31
Summary: Origen defends calling the Son of God the Word, who took a human body and soul, and notes that no Jew he has met actually approves that the Word is God's Son, as Celsus's Jew claims.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:158–159
Μετὰ ταῦτα Χριστιανοῖς ἐγκαλεῖ ὡς σοφιζομένοις ἐν τῷ λέγειν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἶναι αὐτολόγον, καὶ οἴεταί γε κρατύνειν τὸ ἔγκλημα, ἐπεὶ λόγον ἐπαγγελλόμενοι υἱὸν εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποδείκνυμεν οὐ λόγον καθαρὸν καὶ ἅγιον ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπον ἀτιμότατα ἀπαχθέντα καὶ ἀποτυμπανισθέντα. καὶ περὶ τούτου δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατηγορίας εἴρηται· ἐν οἷς ἀπεδείκνυτο ὁ „πάσης κτίσεως“ „πρωτότοκος“ ἀνειληφὼς σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, καὶ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο περὶ τῶν τοσούτων ἐν κόσμῳ, καὶ ἐκτίσθη. καὶ ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἐντολὴν λαβὼν ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἦν. καὶ ἐπεὶ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ταῦτα λέγων, οὐκ ἀτόπως χρησόμεθα τῷ· „ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν“· οὗ καὶ ἀνωτέρω ἐμνήσθημεν. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πολλοῖς Ἰουδαίοις καὶ σοφοῖς γε ἐπαγγελλομένοις εἶναι συμβαλὼν οὐδενὸς ἀκήκοα ἐπαινοῦντος τὸ λόγον εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος εἴρηκε, καὶ τοῦτο περιάπτων τῷ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσώπῳ λέγοντος· ὡς εἴ γε ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν ὑμῖν υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπαινοῦμεν.
English · Claude translation
After this he accuses Christians of sophistry in saying that the Son of God is the very Word himself, and he thinks he strengthens the charge because, while announcing that the Son of God is the Word, we present not a pure and holy Word but a man most dishonorably arrested and put to death by torture. On this too we have spoken above, in summary, in reply to Celsus's accusations. There it was shown that the “firstborn” “of all creation” took a human body and soul, and that God gave the command concerning the many things in the world and they were created, and that the one who received the command was God the Word. And since the one saying these things in Celsus is a Jew, we shall not unfittingly use the words, “He sent out his Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions,” which we mentioned above too. But I have met many Jews, even ones who professed to be wise, and I have heard none approve the view that the Word is the Son of God, as Celsus has said, attributing this to the character of the Jew, who says: “As if, indeed, the Word is your son of God, we too approve it.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Col 1:15 and Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX); the command by which things were created echoes Ps 148:5. Celsus's term αὐτολόγος means “the Word itself.” The verb ἀποτυμπανίζω denotes execution by beating or on a board; here of the crucifixion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent and breathing in the digital text): ου καὶ ἀνωτέρω → οὗ καὶ ἀνωτέρω.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 2.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/31/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/31/).
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