Against Celsus 2.5
Summary: The Jew says the resurrection and judgment are nothing new, but Jesus taught that the kingdom would pass to the nations, and Christians read the prophets as pointing to a heavenly citizenship.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:131–132
Μετὰ ταῦτα εἰ καὶ ταυτολογεῖ ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, δεύτερον ἤδη λέγων πλημμελήσαντα αὐτὸν δεδωκέναι παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις δίκην, ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐπαναληψόμεθα τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἀρκούμενοι τῇ προειρημένῃ. εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ ὡς ἕωλα τὰ περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν καὶ κρίσεως θεοῦ καὶ τιμῆς μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς δικαίους πυρὸς δʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους εὐτελίζει ὁ παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, μηδὲν δὲ καινὸν ἐν τούτοις διδάσκεσθαι φάσκων χριστιανοὺς οἴεται ἀνατρέπειν χριστιανισμόν· λεκτέον πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἡμῶν, ὁρῶν Ἰουδαίους μηδὲν ἄξιον τῶν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις μαθημάτων πράττοντας, ἐδίδαξε διὰ παραβολῆς ὅτι „ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ“ „ἀρθήσεται“ μὲν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων „καὶ δοθήσεται“ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν. διὸ καὶ ἔστιν ἀληθῶς ἰδεῖν πάντα μὲν τὰ Ἰουδαίων τῶν νῦν μύθους καὶ λήρους (οὐ γὰρ ἔχουσι τὸ φῶς τῆς γνώσεως τῶν γραφῶν), τὰ δὲ Χριστιανῶν ἀλήθειαν, ἐπᾶραι καὶ μετεωρίσαι ἀνθρώπου που ψυχὴν καὶ νοῦν δυνάμενα καὶ πείθοντα ἔχειν τι „πολίτευμα“ οὐχ ὅμοιον τοῖς κάτω Ἰουδαίοις κάτω που ἀλλʼ „ἐν οὐρανοῖς“· ὅπερ φαίνεται παρὰ τοῖς τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῖς προφήταις νοημάτων θεωροῦσι καὶ ἄλλοις παραστῆσαι δυναμένοις.
English · Claude translation
After this, although Celsus repeats himself about Jesus, saying now for the second time that he was punished by the Jews for his offenses, we will not repeat our defense, being content with what was said before. Then, since his Jew belittles as stale the teachings about the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of God, and reward for the righteous but fire for the unrighteous, and thinks he overturns Christianity by saying that Christians are taught nothing new in these matters, we must say to him that our Jesus, seeing that the Jews did nothing worthy of the teachings in the prophets, taught by a parable that "the kingdom of God will be taken away" from them "and given" to those from the nations. That is why one can truly see that all the teachings of the Jews of today are myths and trifles (for they do not have the light of the knowledge of the Scriptures), while those of the Christians are truth, able to lift up and raise the soul and mind of a human being, and persuading us to have a "citizenship," not like the Jews below, somewhere below, but "in heaven." This is evident among those who contemplate the greatness of the thoughts in the law and the prophets and are able to present them to others.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Matt 21:43 and Phil 3:20. Origen's sharp judgment on the Judaism of his day is his own polemic, translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period inside the sentence): Ἰησοῦ. δεύτερον → Ἰησοῦ, δεύτερον.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/5/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/5/).
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