Against Celsus 4.55
Summary: Had Celsus read Genesis carefully, he would have noticed that “God made” is used for some creatures and not others, and asked to whom God's creative commands were addressed, rather than dismissing the account as meaningless.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:328
Οὔπω δὲ λέγω ὅτι, εἴπερ ὑπέμεινε καὶ ἠνέσχετο ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν, ὥς φησι, συγγραμμάτων Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, ἐπέστησεν ἂν, τί δήποτε τὸ μὲν „ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς“ ἐπʼ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς τέτακται καὶ τοῦ καλουμένου στερεώματος ἔτι δὲ καὶ φωστήρων καὶ ἀστέρων καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ κητῶν μεγάλων καὶ πάσης ψυχῆς „ζῴων ἑρπετῶν, ἃ ἐξήγαγε τὰ ὕδατα κατὰ γένη αὐτῶν, “ καὶ παντὸς πετεινοῦ πτερωτοῦ „κατὰ γένος“ καὶ ἑξῆς τούτοις ἐπὶ τῶν θηρίων „τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος“ καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν „κατὰ γένος“ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν „τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος“ αὐτῶν καὶ τελευταῖον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. μὴ εἰρημένου δὲ τοῦ „ἐποίησε“ περὶ ἑτέρων. ἀρκεῖται ὁ λόγος περὶ φωτὸς μὲν τῷ „ἐγένετο φῶς“ ἐπὶ δὲ συναγωγῆς μιᾶς παντὸς ὕδατος τοῦ ὑποκάτω παντὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ „ἐγένετο οὕτως“· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βλαστησάντων ἀπὸ γῆς, ὅτʼ „ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθʼ ὁμοιότητα καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπὸν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.“ καὶ ἐζήτησεν ἂν, εἰ αἱ γεγραμμέναι προστάξεις τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἕκαστον τοῦ κόσμου μέρος τίνι ἢ τίσιν εἴρηνται, καὶ οὐκ ἂν εὐχερῶς κατηγόρησεν ὡς ἀδιανοήτων καὶ μηδεμίαν σύνεσιν ἀπόῤῥητον ἐχόντων τῶν ἢ ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως ἐν τούτοις γεγραμμένων ἢ, ὡς ἡμεῖς εἴποιμεν ἂν, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν Μωϋσεῖ θείου πνεύματος, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ ἐπροφήτευσεν· ἐπεὶ μᾶλλον ᾔδει τά τʼ ἐόντα τά τʼ ἐσσόμενα πρό τʼ ἐόντα τῶν λεγομένων παρὰ τοῖς ποιηταῖς μάντεων ταῦτʼ ἐγνωκέναι.
English · Claude translation
I do not yet say that if he had had the patience to endure listening to the writings, as he calls them, of Moses and the prophets, he would have noticed why the words “God made” are applied to heaven and earth, and to what is called the firmament, and further to the lights and stars, and after that to the great sea creatures and every soul “of creeping living things which the waters brought forth according to their kinds,” and every winged bird “according to its kind,” and next to the wild beasts “of the earth according to their kind,” and the cattle “according to their kind,” and all the creeping things “of the earth according to their kind,” and lastly to man; whereas “made” is not said of other things. For light the Scripture is content with “there was light”; for the gathering into one of all the water under the whole heaven, with “and it was so”; and likewise for the things that sprouted from the earth, when “the earth brought forth grass, plants yielding seed according to their kind and likeness, and fruit trees bearing fruit, whose seed is in it according to its kind on the earth.” And he would have inquired to whom, or to what beings, the recorded commands of God for the coming into being of each part of the world were spoken; and he would not easily have accused, as unintelligible and containing no secret meaning, what was written in these passages either by Moses or, as we would say, by the divine Spirit in Moses, from whom he also prophesied; since he knew “the things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were before” better than the seers spoken of by the poets are said to have known them.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Gen 1:1, 7, 16, 21, 25, 27 (“God made”), and 1:3, 9, 12. “The things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were before” is Homer, Iliad 1.70, of the seer Calchas. Origen's point is that the commands “Let there be…” imply a hearer, namely the Word.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/55/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/55/).
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