Sophia Scriptura

Against Celsus 2.73

Origen · Against Celsus · ca. 248 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Origen replies that Jesus had already called all to the light and taught why he came, in the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, his disputes, and John's Gospel.

Greek text · Koetschau 1:194–195

Ἐκτίθεται δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖος ὡς ἀκόλουθον τὸ μὴ ἀκόλουθον. οὐ γὰρ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ ἠθέλησεν ἡμᾶς διʼ ὧν πέπονθε κολάσεων διδάξαι καὶ θανάτου καταφρονεῖν τὸ ἀναστάντα αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν φανερῶς εἰς φῶς καλέσαι πάντας καὶ διδάξαι, οὗ χάριν κατεληλύθει. εἰς φῶς γὰρ πρότερον ἐκάλεσε πάντας εἰπών· „δεῦτε πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς.“ καὶ οὗ χάριν κατελήλυθεν, ἀναγέγραπται ἐν οἷς ἀποτάδην κεκίνηκε λόγοις ἐν μακαρισμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἑξῆς αὐτοῖς ἀπαγγελλομένοις καὶ ἐν παραβολαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαίους ὁμιλίαις. τὸ δὲ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγέλιον ὅσα ἐδίδαξεν ἔκκειται, παριστάντα τὴν Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἐν λέξεσιν ἀλλʼ ἐν πράγμασι μεγαλοφωνίαν· καὶ δῆλός ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν εὐαγγελίων ὅτι „ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ἦν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, “ ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ ἐθαύμαζον.

English · Claude translation

After this the Jew of Celsus sets out as a consequence what is not a consequence. For it does not follow from “He wished to teach us, through the punishments he suffered, even to despise death” that, having risen from the dead, he should call all openly to the light and teach them why he had come down. For he had already called all to the light, saying: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And why he had come down is recorded in the words he spoke at length in the Beatitudes and in what is proclaimed after them, in parables, and in his discourses with the scribes and Pharisees. The Gospel according to John sets out all he taught, showing Jesus' grandeur not in words but in deeds; and it is clear from the Gospels that “his word was with authority,” at which they also marveled.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 1:194–195 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 1–2: Gegen Celsus, GCS 2–3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899) · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 1–2 (GCS 2–3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 2–3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 2–3; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Matt 11:28 and Luke 4:32 (cf. Matt 7:28–29).

Cite this passage

Origen, Cels. 2.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/73/).

Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/73/).

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