Sophia Scriptura

Against Celsus 4.96

Origen · Against Celsus · ca. 248 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Foreknowledge is not in itself divine, since wicked doctors and sailors have it too; only the truly wise and pious, like Moses and the prophets, draw near to God.

Greek text · Koetschau 1:368–369

Χρὴ δʼ εἰδέναι ὅτι τὸ τὰ μέλλοντα προγινώσκειν οὐ πάντως θεῖόν ἐστι· καθʼ αὑτὸ γὰρ μέσον ἐστὶ καὶ πῖπτον εἰς φαύλους καὶ ἀστείους. καὶ ἰατροὶ γοῦν ἀπὸ ἰατρικῆς προγινώσκουσί τινα, κἂν φαῦλοι τὸ ἦθος τυγχάνωσιν· οὕτω δὲ καὶ κυβερνῆται. κἂν μοχθηροὶ τυγχάνωσιν ὄντες, προγινώσκουσιν ἐπισημασίας καὶ ἀνέμων σφοδρότητας καὶ τροπὰς περὶ τὸ περιέχον ἔκ τινος πείρας καὶ τηρήσεως· καὶ οὐ δή που παρὰ τοῦτο θείους τις αὐτοὺς εἶναι φήσει, ἂν τύχωσι μοχθηροὶ εἶναι τὸ ἦθος· ψεῦδος οὖν τὸ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ λεγόμενον, τό· τί ἂν φαίη τις θειότερον τοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα προγινώσκειν τε καὶ προδηλοῦν; ψεῦδος δὲ καὶ τὸ πολλὰ τῶν ζῴων ἀντιποιεῖσθαι θείας ἐννοίας· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀλόγων ἔννοιαν ἔχει τοῦ θεοῦ. ψεῦδος δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐγγυτέρω τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας εἶναι τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα· ὅπου γε καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ ἔτι φαῦλοι, κἂν ἐπʼ ἄκρον προκόπτωσι, πόῤῥω εἰσὶ τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας. μόνοι δὴ ἄρα οἱ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν σοφοὶ καὶ ἀψευδῶς εὐσεβεῖς ἐγγυτέρω τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας εἰσίν· ὁποῖοί εἰσιν οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς προφῆται καὶ Μωϋσῆς. ᾧ μεμαρτύρηκε διὰ τὴν πολλὴν καθαρότητα ὁ λόγος εἰπών· „ἐγγιεῖ Μωϋσῆς μόνος πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ οὐκ ἐγγιοῦσι.“

English · Claude translation

One must know that to foreknow the future is not in every case divine; for in itself it is indifferent and falls to both the wicked and the good. Doctors, at any rate, foreknow certain things by medicine, even if they happen to be wicked in character; and so also helmsmen, even if they happen to be depraved, foreknow the signs of weather, the violence of winds, and changes in the atmosphere, from some experience and observation; and surely no one will say for this reason that they are divine, if they happen to be depraved in character. False, then, is what Celsus says: "What could one call more divine than to foreknow and foretell the future?" False also that many animals lay claim to notions of the divine; for none of the irrational animals has a notion of God. False also that irrational animals are nearer to divine converse; since even those human beings who are still wicked, even if they make the utmost progress, are far from divine converse. Only those, then, who are truly wise and genuinely pious are nearer to divine converse, such as our prophets and Moses, to whom Scripture bore witness because of his great purity, saying: "Moses alone shall come near to God, but the rest shall not come near."

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 1:368–369 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 1–2: Gegen Celsus, GCS 2–3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899) · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 1–2 (GCS 2–3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 2–3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 2–3; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is Exod 24:2.

Cite this passage

Origen, Cels. 4.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/96/).

Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/96/).

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