Against Celsus 4.85
Summary: One looking down from heaven would see not bodies but minds, and would see how far rational humans, made in God's image, surpass ants and even elephants.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:355–356
Καὶ οὐκ αἰδεῖταί γε ἐπιφέρων τούτοις, ἵνα καὶ τοῖς μετʼ αὐτὸν ἐσομένοις ἐπιδεικνύηται τὴν τῶν δογμάτων ἑαυτοῦ ἀσχημοσύνην, λέγων· φέρʼ οὖν, εἴ τις ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐπιβλέποι, τί ἂν δόξαι διαφέρειν τὰ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἢ τὰ ὑπὸ μυρμήκων καὶ μελισσῶν δρώμενα; ὁ ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ δὴ ἐπὶ γῆν κατὰ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν αὐτοῦ βλέπων τὰ δρώμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν μυρμήκων γινόμενα πότερον ἐνορᾷ μὲν ἀνθρώπων καὶ μυρμήκων σώμασιν, οὐ κατανοεῖ δὲ τὸ λογικὸν ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ λογισμῷ κινούμενον πάλιν τε αὖ τὸ ἄλογον ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ ὑπὸ ὁρμῆς καὶ φαντασίας ἀλόγως κινούμενον μετά τινος φυσικῆς ὑποκατασκευῆς; ἀλλʼ ἄτοπον τὸν ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ βλέποντα (τὰ) ἐπὶ γῆς ἐνορᾶν μὲν θέλειν σώμασιν ἀνθρώπων καὶ μυρμήκων ἀπὸ τοσούτου διαστήματος, μὴ πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον βλέπειν ἡγεμονικῶν φύσεις καὶ πηγὴν ὁρμῶν λογικὴν ἢ ἄλογον. εἰ δʼ ἅπαξ βλέπει τὴν πασῶν ὁρμῶν πηγὴν, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὴν διαφορὰν ἴδοι ἂν καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐ μόνον παρὰ τοὺς μύρμηκας ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοὺς ἐλέφαντας. ὁ γὰρ βλέπων ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀλόγοις, κἂν μεγάλα ᾖ αὐτῶν τὰ σώματα. οὐκ ἄλλην ὄψεται ἀρχὴν ἢ τὴν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀλογίαν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς λογικοῖς λόγον τὸν κοινὸν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὰ θεῖα καὶ ἐπουράνια τάχα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν, διὸ καὶ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ γεγονέναι ὠνόμασται τοῦ θεοῦ· „εἰκὼν“ γὰρ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ.
English · Claude translation
And he is not ashamed to add to these things, so as to display to those who come after him the unseemliness of his own doctrines, saying: "Come then, if someone were to look down from heaven upon the earth, how would what we do seem to differ from what ants and bees do?" Does the one who, on his hypothesis, looks down from heaven upon the earth at what human beings do and what ants do look at the bodies of human beings and ants, but not perceive the rational ruling faculty moved by reasoning, and on the other hand the irrational ruling faculty moved irrationally by impulse and impression, with a certain natural constitution underneath? It would be absurd for one looking from heaven at things on earth to want to look at the bodies of human beings and ants from so great a distance, and not much rather to see the natures of their ruling faculties and the source of their impulses, rational or irrational. And if he once sees the source of all impulses, it is clear that he would also see the difference and the superiority of man, not only over ants but also over elephants. For one looking from heaven will see in the irrational beings, even if their bodies are large, no other principle than, if I may so call it, irrationality; but in rational beings reason, which human beings share with divine and heavenly beings, and perhaps with the God over all himself; which is why man is said to have been made "in the image" of God; for the "image" of the God over all is his Word.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Gen 1:27 and Col 1:15 (the Word as God's image). The parenthetical (τὰ) is the editor's supplement.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.85 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/85/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.85 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/85/).
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