Against Celsus 4.60
Summary: Celsus's claim that all bodies share one changing nature applies equally to the heavenly bodies; whether matter itself endures depends on whether it is unbegotten or created, a question of natural philosophy Origen leaves aside.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:331–332
Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς φησιν ὅτι κοινὴ ἡ πάντων τῶν προειρημένων σωμάτων φύσις καὶ μία ἐς ἀμοιβὴν παλίντροπον ἰοῦσα καὶ ἐπανιοῦσα. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ δῆλον ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων ὅτι οὐ μόνον τῶν προκατειλεγμένων σωμάτων κοινή ἐστιν ἡ φύσις ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν „ἐπουρανίων.“ καὶ εἴπερ τοῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει, δῆλον ὅτι κατʼ αὐτὸν, οὐκ οἶδα δὲ εἰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, μία ἐς ἀμοιβὴν παλίντροπον ἰοῦσά ἐστιν ἡ πάντων σωμάτων φύσις καὶ ἐπανιοῦσα. καὶ δῆλον μὲν ὅτι κατὰ τοὺς φθείροντας τὸν κόσμον τοῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει· πειράσονται δὲ δεικνύναι καὶ οἱ μὴ φθείροντες αὐτὸν μετὰ τοῦ μὴ προσίεσθαι „πέμπτον σῶμα“ ὅτι καὶ κατʼ αὐτοὺς μία ἐς ἀμοιβὴν παλίντροπον ἰοῦσα καὶ ἐπανιοῦσά ἐστιν ἡ πάντων σωμάτων φύσις. οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀπολλύμενον εἰς μεταβολὴν διαμένει· τὸ γὰρ ὑπο(κεί)μενον ἡ ὕλη ἀπολλυμένης τῆς ποιότητος διαμένει κατὰ τοὺς ἀγένητον αὐτὴν εἰσάγοντας. ἐὰν μέντοι γε δυνηθῇ τις παραδεῖξαι λόγος οὐκ ἀγένητον αὐτὴν ἀλλὰ πρός τινα χρείαν γεγονέναι, δῆλον ὅτι οὐχ ἕξει φύσιν περὶ διαμονῆς τὴν αὐτὴν τῷ ἀγένητος ὑποτεθεῖσθαι. ἀλλʼ οὐ ταῦτα νῦν πρόκειται ἀπαντῶσιν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατηγορίας φυσιολογεῖν.
English · Claude translation
Then next he says: “The nature of all the aforesaid bodies is common, and one, going and returning in a cycle of change.” To this too it is clear from what has been said that the nature is common not only to the bodies listed before but also to the “heavenly” ones. And if this is so, clearly, according to him (I do not know whether also according to the truth), the nature of all bodies is one, going and returning in a cycle of change. And it is clear that this is so according to those who make the world perishable; but those who do not make it perishable, while not admitting a “fifth body,” will also try to show that according to them too the nature of all bodies is one, going and returning in a cycle of change. So too what perishes remains in change; for the underlying matter remains when the quality perishes, according to those who hold that matter is unbegotten. But if some argument can show that matter is not unbegotten but was made for some use, clearly it will not have the same nature as regards permanence as it would if it were supposed unbegotten. But it is not our present task, in answering Celsus's accusations, to discuss natural philosophy.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The “fifth body” is Aristotle's ether (see 4.56). The heavenly bodies allude to 1 Cor 15:40.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/60/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/60/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text