Against Celsus 3.66
Summary: Both philosophy and Scripture record people who were completely changed, like Heracles, Odysseus, Socrates, and Musonius, so Celsus is wrong that habitual sinners cannot change.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:259
Καὶ ἐν τούτοις δʼ ὁ Κέλσος πάνυ μοι ἐσφάλθαι δοκεῖ, μὴ διδοὺς τοῖς ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκόσι καὶ τοῦτο πράττειν εἰθισμένοις τὴν παντελῆ μεταβολὴν, ὅστις οὐδʼ ἀπὸ κολάσεων αὐτοὺς οἴεται θεραπεύεσθαι. σαφῶς γὰρ φαίνεται ὅτι πάντες μὲν ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν πεφύκαμεν, ἔνιοι δὲ οὐ μόνον πεφύκασιν ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰθισμένοι εἰσὶν ἁμαρτάνειν· ἀλλʼ οὐ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἀπαράδεκτοί εἰσι τῆς παντελοῦς μεταβολῆς. εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν φιλοσοφίας αἵρεσιν καὶ κατὰ τὸν θεῖον λόγον οἱ τοσοῦτον μεταβεβληκέναι ἱστορούμενοι, ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἐγκεῖσθαι παράδειγμα τοῦ ἀρίστου βίου. καὶ φέρουσί τινες ἡρώων μὲν τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα, τῶν δʼ ὕστερον τὸν Σωκράτην, τῶν δὲ χθὲς καὶ πρώην γεγονότων τὸν Μουσώνιον. οὐ μόνον οὖν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐψεύσατο ὁ Κέλσος εἰπὼν παντί που δῆλον εἶναι τοὺς ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκότας καὶ εἰθισμένους ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἂν οὐδὲ κολαζομένους πάντῃ ἀχθῆναι πρὸς τὴν εἰς τὸ βέλτιον μεταβολὴν. ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς γενναίως φιλοσοφήσαντας καὶ μὴ ἀπογνόντας τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀνάληψιν εἶναι δυνατὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ μὴ μετὰ ἀκριβείας ὅπερ ἐβούλετο παρέστησεν. οὐδὲν ἧττον εὐγνωμόνως αὐτοῦ ἀκούοντες καὶ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐλέγξομεν οὐχ ὑγιῶς λέγοντα. εἶπε μὲν γάρ· τοὺς πεφυκότας ἁμαρτάνειν καὶ εἰθισμένους οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲ κολάζων πάντῃ μεταβάλοι· καὶ τὸ ἐξακουόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς λέξεως ὡς δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἀνετρέψαμεν.
English · Claude translation
In this too Celsus seems to me to be greatly mistaken, not granting complete change to those by nature inclined to sin and accustomed to do it, since he thinks they are not healed even by punishments. For it plainly appears that all we men are by nature inclined to sin, and some are not only so inclined but also accustomed to sin; but not all men are incapable of complete change. For both in every school of philosophy and according to the divine word there are people recorded as having changed so much that they stand as an example of the best life. Some cite among the heroes Heracles and Odysseus, among later men Socrates, and among those of just the other day Musonius. So Celsus lied not only against us in saying that it is surely clear to everyone that those by nature inclined and accustomed to sin could not be brought by anyone, even by punishment, to a complete change for the better, but also against those who have practiced philosophy nobly and have not despaired of men's ability to take up virtue. But even if he did not express precisely what he meant, we shall hear him fairly and still refute him as speaking unsoundly. For he said, “No one could wholly change those who are by nature inclined and accustomed to sin, not even by punishing them”; and we have overturned, as far as we could, what is understood from the wording.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Musonius Rufus was a Stoic philosopher of the first century. “School” renders αἵρεσις in its neutral sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misread letter in the digital text): ὀλλὰ καὶ εἰθισμένοι → ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰθισμένοι.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 3.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/66/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 3.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/66/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text