Against Celsus 2.50
Summary: Origen shows from 2 Thessalonians that the deceptive signs foretold belong to the Antichrist, and that Christ's miracles, like Moses' against Egypt's magicians, are proven divine by their fruit in changed lives.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:172–173
Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δʼ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς ἐπιστολῇ δευτέρᾳ ἀποφαίνεται. τίνα τρόπον ἀποκαλυφθήσεταί ποτε „ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστʼ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύοντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἐστὶ θεός.“ καὶ πάλιν φησὶ τοῖς Θεσσαλονικεῦσι· „καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ καιρῷ. τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται τῆς ἀνομίας, μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται· καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατʼ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις.“ ἐκτιθέμενος δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ ἐπιτρέπεσθαι τὸν ἄνομον ἐπιδημεῖν τῷ βίῳ φησίν· „ἀνθʼ ὧν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐδέξαντο εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτούς. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμπει αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει. ἵνα κριθῶσιν ἅπαντες οἱ μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀλλʼ εὐδοκήσαντες ἐν τῇ ἀδικίᾳ.“ λεγέτω τις οὖν ἡμῖν. εἰ δύναταί τι τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ἢ τῶν παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ χώραν παρέχειν ὑπονοίας γοητείας προαγορευομένης κατὰ τὸν τόπον. παρέσται δὲ τῷ βουλομένῳ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Δανιὴλ ἐκλαβεῖν τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου προφητείαν. καταψεύδεται δὲ τῶν λόγων Ἰησοῦ, ἐπεὶ μὴ εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ· διότι παρέσονται ἕτεροι δυνάμεσιν ὁμοίαις χρώμενοι, κακοὶ καὶ γόητες, αὐτός φησιν αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι τὸ τοιοῦτον. ὡς γὰρ οὐχ ὁμοία δύναμις ἡ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐπαοιδῶν τῇ ἐν τῷ Μωϋσεῖ παραδόξῳ χάριτι, ἀλλὰ τὸ τέλος διήλεγχε τὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὄντα μαγγανείας τὰ δὲ τοῦ Μωϋσέως θεῖα· οὕτως τὰ μὲν τῶν ἀντιχρίστων καὶ τῶν προσποιουμένων δυνάμεις ὡς μαθητῶν Ἰησοῦ σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα λέγεται εἶναι „ψεύδους.“ „ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις“ ἰσχύοντα, τὰ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ καρπὸν ἔσχεν οὐκ ἀπάτην ἀλλὰ σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν. Τίς γὰρ τὸν κρείττονα βίον καὶ συστέλλοντα τὰ τῆς κακίας ὁσημέραι ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον εὐλόγως φησὶν ἀπὸ ἀπάτης γίνεσθαι;
English · Claude translation
Paul too, in the second letter to the Thessalonians, declares in what way there will one day be revealed “the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” And again he says to the Thessalonians: “And now you know what restrains him, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord God will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; the one whose coming is by the activity of Satan with all power and with signs and wonders of falsehood, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who are perishing.” And setting out the reason why the lawless one is allowed to come into the world, he says: “Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God sends them a working of error, so that they believe the lie, in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” Let someone tell us, then, whether anything in the Gospel or in the apostle can give room for suspecting that sorcery is being foretold in the passage. Anyone who wishes can also take the prophecy about the Antichrist from Daniel. But he falsifies Jesus' words, since Jesus did not say, “Others will come using similar powers, wicked men and sorcerers,” yet he himself says that Jesus said this. For just as the power of the enchanters in Egypt was not like the marvelous grace in Moses, but the outcome proved that what the Egyptians did was trickery and what Moses did was divine, so the signs and wonders of the antichrists, and of those who pretend to powers as disciples of Jesus, are said to be “of falsehood,” prevailing “with all deception of unrighteousness among those who are perishing,” whereas those of Christ and his disciples bore fruit, not in deception but in the salvation of souls. For who can reasonably say that a better life, which daily reduces wickedness, comes from deception?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 2 Thess 2:3–4 and 2:6–12. The prophecy in Daniel is probably Dan 7–8 and 11:36. The Egyptian enchanters are those of Exod 7–8.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 2.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/50/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/50/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text