Against Celsus 3.36
Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's comparison of Jesus with Hadrian's favorite Antinous, whose cult was set up by royal command and sustained by Egyptian sorcery, whereas God himself commended Jesus, whose name still drives out demons.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:232–233
Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν παιδικῶν Ἀδριανοῦ (λέγω δὲ τὰ περὶ Ἀντινόου τοῦ μειρακίου καὶ τὰς εἰς αὐτὸν τῶν ἐν Ἀντινόου (πόλει) τῆς Αἰγύπτου τιμὰς) οὐδὲν οἴεται ἀποδεῖν τῆς ἡμετέρας πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν τιμῆς, φέρε καὶ τοῦτο ὡς φιλέχθρως λεγόμενον διελέγξωμεν. τί γὰρ κοινὸν ἔχει ὁ γενόμενος ἐν τοῖς Ἀδριανοῦ παιδικοῖς βίος, οὐδὲ τὸν ἄῤῥενα ἀπαθῇ γυναικείας νόσου φυλάξαντος. πρὸς τὸν σεμνὸν ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν, οὗ μηδὲ οἱ μυρία κατηγορήσαντες καὶ ψευδῆ ὅσα περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντες δεδύνηνται κατειπεῖν ὡς κἂν τὸ τυχὸν ἀκολασίας κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον γευσαμένου; ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ φιλαλήθως καὶ ἀδεκάστως τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἀντίνουν ἐξετάζοι τις, μαγγανείας ἂν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τελετὰς εὕροι τὰς αἰτίας τοῦ δοκεῖν τι αὐτὸν ποιεῖν ἐν Ἀντινόου πόλει καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν αὐτοῦ· ὅπερ καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλων νεὼν ἱστορεῖται ὑπὸ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινῶν γεγονέναι, ἔν τισι τόποις ἱδρυόντων δαίμονας μαντικοὺς ἢ ἰατρικοὺς πολλάκις δὲ καὶ βασανίζοντας τοὺς δοκοῦντάς τι παραβεβηκέναι περὶ τῶν τυχόντων βρωμάτων ἢ περὶ τοῦ θιγεῖν νεκροῦ σώματος ἀνθρωπίνου, ἵνα δοκοῖεν δεδίττεσθαι τὸν πολὺν καὶ ἀπαίδευτον. τοιοῦτος δέ ἐστι καὶ ἐν Ἀντινόου πόλει τῆς Αἰγύπτου νομισθεὶς εἶναι θεὸς, οὗ ἀρετὰς οἱ μέν τινες κυβευτικώτερον ζῶντες καταψεύδονται, ἕτεροι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐκεῖ ἱδρυμένου δαίμονος ἀπατώμενοι καὶ ἄλλοι ἀπὸ ἀσθενοῦς τοῦ συνειδότος ἐλεγχόμενοι οἴονται τίνειν θεήλατον ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀντινόου ποινήν. τοιαῦτα δέ ἐστι καὶ τὰ δρώμενα αὐτῶν μυστήρια καὶ αἱ δοκοῦσαι μαντεῖαι, ὧν πάνυ μακράν ἐστι τὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. οὐ γὰρ συνελθόντες γόητες, χάριν τίνοντες βασιλεῖ τινι κελεύοντι ἢ ἡγεμόνι προστάσσοντι, πεποιηκέναι ἔδοξαν αὐτὸν εἶναι θεὸν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς ἀκολούθως τῇ ἐν τῷ λέγειν τεραστίως πιστικῇ δυνάμει συνέστησεν αὐτὸν ὡς τιμῆς ἄξιον οὐ τοῖς εὐφρονεῖν ἐθέλουσι μόνον ἀνθρώποις ἀλλὰ καὶ δαίμοσι καὶ ἄλλαις ἀοράτοις δυνάμεσιν· αἵτινες μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο ἐμφαίνουσιν ἤτοι φοβούμεναι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὡς κρείττονος ἢ σεβασμίως ἀποδεχόμεναι ὡς κατὰ νόμους αὐτῶν ἄρχοντος. εἰ γὰρ μὴ θεόθεν ἦν αὐτῷ δοθεῖσα σύστασις, οὐκ ἂν καὶ δαίμονες τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἀπαγγελλομένῳ μόνον εἴκοντες ἀνεχώρουν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν πολεμουμένων.
English · Claude translation
Since after this he thinks that what concerns Hadrian's favorite (I mean the youth Antinous and the honors paid him by the people of Antinoopolis in Egypt) falls in no way short of our honor for Jesus, come, let us refute this too as spoken out of hostility. For what has the life of Hadrian's favorite, who did not keep even his manhood free from womanish disease, in common with our dignified Jesus, against whom not even those who brought countless accusations and told so many lies could allege that he tasted even the least licentiousness, even for a little while? If one examines the case of Antinous truthfully and impartially, one would find that Egyptian sorceries and rites are the causes of his seeming to do something at Antinoopolis even after his death. The same is related by the Egyptians, and by those skilled in such things, of other temples: they establish in certain places daemons that give oracles or heal, and often also torment those thought to have transgressed about common foods or about touching a dead human body, so that they may seem to frighten the ignorant multitude. Such also is the one thought to be a god at Antinoopolis in Egypt, whose powers some who live rather like gamblers falsely proclaim, while others are deceived by the daemon established there, and others, convicted by a weak conscience, think they are paying a god-sent penalty from Antinous. Such are also their mysteries performed and their supposed oracles, from which the things of Jesus are very far removed. For it was not sorcerers meeting together, doing a favor to some king who ordered it or a governor who commanded it, who seemed to have made him a god; but the Creator of the universe himself, in keeping with the marvelously persuasive power of his speaking, commended him as worthy of honor not only to human beings who wish to think rightly but also to daemons and other invisible powers, which to this day show that they either fear the name of Jesus as stronger, or reverently accept him as their lawful ruler. For if his commendation had not been given him by God, daemons would not yield and withdraw from those they were attacking at the mere pronouncing of his name.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Antinous, Hadrian's favorite, drowned in the Nile in AD 130 and was deified; Hadrian founded Antinoopolis in his honor. Origen's description of the relationship is his own hostile account, translated as written. The bracketed (πόλει) is an editorial supplement.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent and breathing in the digital text; misspelled name in the digital text; wrong accent in the digital text): τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἀντίνου ἐξετάζοι → τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἀντίνουν ἐξετάζοι; ων πάνυ μακράν → ὧν πάνυ μακράν; ἤ σεβασμίως → ἢ σεβασμίως.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 3.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/36/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 3.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/36/).
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