Against Celsus 4.95
Summary: True foreknowledge comes through God inspiring pure human prophets, not through animals; Moses forbade augury, and Christians guard their hearts so that only God's Spirit shapes their imagination.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:368
Τὸ δʼ ἀληθῶς θεῖον εἰς τὴν περὶ τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν οὔτε τοῖς ἀλόγοις χρῆται ζῴοις οὔτε τοῖς τυχοῦσι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ ψυχαῖς ἀνθρώπων ἱερωτάταις καὶ καθαρωτάταις, ἅστινας θεοφορεῖ καὶ προφήτας ποιεῖ. διόπερ εἴ τι ἄλλο θαυμασίως εἴρηται ἐν τῷ Μωϋσέως νόμῳ, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις κατατακτέον· „οὐκ οἰωνιεῖσθε οὐδʼ ὀρνιθοσκοπήσετε, “ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· „τὰ γὰρ ἔθνη, οὓς κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐξολοθρεύσει ἀπὸ προσώπου σου, οὗτοι κληδόνων καὶ μαντειῶν ἀκούσονται· σοὶ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἔδωκε κύριος ὁ θεός σου“· εἶθʼ ἑξῆς φησι· „προφήτην ἀναστήσει σοι κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου.“ βουληθεὶς δέ ποτε ὁ θεὸς διʼ οἰωνοσκόπου ἀποτρέψαι ἀπὸ τῆς οἰωνιστικῆς πεποίηκε πνεῦμα ἐν τῷ οἰωνοσκόπῳ εἰπεῖν· „οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οἰωνισμὸς ἐν Ἰακὼβ, οὐδὲ μαντεία ἐν Ἰσραήλ· κατὰ καιρὸν ῥηθήσεται τῷ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, τί ἐπιτελέσει ὁ θεός.“ ταῦτα δὴ γινώσκοντες ἡμεῖς καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια τηρεῖν βουλόμεθα μυστικῶς εἰρημένην ἐντολὴν τήν· „πάσῃ φυλακῇ τήρει σὴν καρδίαν“· ἵνα μὴ ἐπιβῇ τι τῶν δαιμονίων τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ ἡμῶν, ἢ πνεῦμά τι τῶν ἐναντίων πρὸς ἃ βούλεται τρέψῃ τὸ φανταστικὸν ἡμῶν. εὐχόμεθα δὲ λάμψαι „ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν“ τὸν „φωτισμὸν τῆς γνώσεως τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ, “ ἐπιδημοῦντος ἡμῶν τῷ φανταστικῷ πνεύματος θεοῦ καὶ φαντάζοντος ἡμᾶς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ· ἐπεὶ „ὅσοι πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοι υἱοί εἰσι θεοῦ.“
English · Claude translation
What is truly divine, for knowledge of the future, uses neither irrational animals nor ordinary human beings, but the holiest and purest human souls, which it inspires and makes prophets. Therefore, if anything else is admirably said in the law of Moses, such things as these must be counted among them: "You shall not practise augury, nor watch birds for omens"; and elsewhere: "For the nations whom the Lord your God will destroy from before you, these will listen to omens and divinations; but the Lord your God has not given it so to you"; and then next he says: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers." And once, when God wished to turn people away from augury through an augur, he made the Spirit say in the augur: "For there is no augury in Jacob, nor divination in Israel; in due time it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God will accomplish." Knowing these things and others like them, we wish to keep the commandment spoken in a mystery: "Keep your heart with all vigilance," so that none of the demons may lay hold of our ruling faculty, and no spirit of the adversaries may turn our imagination to what it wishes. And we pray that "the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God" may shine "in our hearts," as the Spirit of God dwells in our imagination and shows us the things of God; since "all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Lev 19:26, Deut 18:14–15, Num 23:23 (Balaam, the augur), Prov 4:23, 2 Cor 4:6, and Rom 8:14.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.95 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/95/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.95 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/95/).
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