Against Celsus 4.15
Summary: Christ emptied himself in the form of God without sinning or losing his blessedness, as a physician touches disease out of kindness; the Word remains unchanged and becomes “flesh” for those who cannot yet see his divine glory.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:284–285
Τὸ δὲ καταβεβηκὸς εἰς ἀνθρώπους „ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ“ ὑπῆρχε καὶ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν „ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, “ ἵνα χωρηθῆναι ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων δυνηθῇ, οὐ δή που δʼ ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν γέγονεν αὐτῷ μεταβολὴ, „ἁμαρτίαν“ γὰρ „οὐκ ἐποίησεν, “ „οὐδʼ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν, οὐ γὰρ ἔγνω „ἁμαρτίαν, “ οὐδὲ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας ἦλθεν εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν, ἀλλʼ „ἑαυτὸν“ μὲν „ἐταπείνωσεν“ οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον μακάριος ἦν, καὶ ὅτε συμφερόντως τῷ γένει ἡμῶν ἑαυτὸν ἐταπείνου, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μεταβολή τις αὐτῷ γέγονεν ἐκ τοῦ ἀρίστου εἰς τὸ πονηρότατον· ποῦ γὰρ πονηρότατον τὸ χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον; ἢ ὥρα λέγειν καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν ὁρῶντα δεινὰ καὶ θιγγάνοντα ἀηδῶν, ἵνα τοὺς κάμνοντας ἰάσηται, ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν ἢ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν ἢ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν ἔρχεσθαι, καίτοι γε ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁρῶν τὰ δεινὰ καὶ θιγγάνων τῶν ἀηδῶν οὐ πάντως ἐκφεύγει τὸ τοῖς αὐτοῖς δύνασθαι περιπεσεῖν· ὁ δὲ „τὰ τραύματα“ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν θεραπεύων διὰ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ λόγου θεοῦ αὐτὸς πάσης κακίας ἀπαράδεκτος ἦν, εἰ δὲ καὶ σῶμα θνητὸν καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀναλαβὼν ὁ ἀθάνατος θεὸς λόγος δοκεῖ τῷ Κέλσῳ ἀλλάττεσθαι καὶ μεταπλάττεσθαι, μανθανέτω ὅτι „ὁ λόγος“ τῇ οὐσίᾳ μένων λόγος οὐδὲν μὲν πάσχει ὧν πάσχει τὸ σῶμα ἢ ἡ ψυχὴ, συγκαταβαίνων δʼ ἔσθʼ ὅτε τῷ μὴ δυναμένῳ αὐτοῦ τὰς μαρμαρυγὰς καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς θειότητος βλέπειν οἱονεὶ „σὰρξ“ γίνεται, σωματικῶς λαλούμενος, ἕως ὁ τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν παραδεξάμενος κατὰ βραχὺ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου μετεωριζόμενος δυνηθῇ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, προηγουμένην μορφὴν θεάσασθαι.
English · Claude translation
But the one who came down to men was “in the form of God” and out of love for mankind “emptied himself,” so that he could be received by men. Surely no change took place in him from good to bad, for he “committed no sin”; nor from beautiful to shameful, for he did not know “sin”; nor did he pass from happiness to unhappiness, but he “humbled himself,” and was nonetheless blessed, even when he humbled himself for the benefit of our race. Nor did any change take place in him from what is best to what is most wicked; for how is kindness and love for mankind most wicked? Or is it time to say that the physician too, who sees terrible sights and touches unpleasant things in order to heal the sick, passes from good to bad, or from beautiful to shameful, or from happiness to unhappiness? And yet the physician who sees terrible sights and touches unpleasant things does not altogether escape the possibility of falling into the same ills; but he who heals the “wounds” of our souls through the Word of God in him was himself incapable of receiving any wickedness. And if Celsus thinks that the immortal God the Word, by taking a mortal body and a human soul, is altered and remolded, let him learn that “the Word,” remaining Word in his being, suffers none of the things that the body or the soul suffers; but, coming down at times to one who cannot see the radiance and brightness of his divinity, he becomes as it were “flesh,” spoken of in bodily terms, until the one who has received him in this form, lifted up little by little by the Word, is able to behold even what I may call his primary form.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Phil 2:6–8, 1 Pet 2:22, 2 Cor 5:21, and John 1:14; the healing of “wounds” recalls Luke 10:34. Origen distinguishes the Word, who suffers nothing, from the body and soul he assumed.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/15/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/15/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text