Against Celsus 6.45
Summary: Just as Jesus is the height of goodness, the Antichrist will be the height of evil, working false wonders with the devil's help, as the prophets and Paul foretold.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:115–117
Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ καλουμένου ἀντιχρίστου παραῤῥιπτεῖ ὁ Κέλσος, οὔτε τὰ ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ οὔτε τὰ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ἀναγνοὺς περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένα οὔτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος προφητευθέντα περὶ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, ὀλίγα καὶ περὶ τούτου λεκτέον. ὅτι „ὥσπερ οὐχ ὅμοια πρόσωπα προσώποις. οὕτως οὐδὲ αἱ καρδίαι ὅμοιαι ταῖς καρδίαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων.“ δῆλον ὅτι εἶεν ἂν ἐν „ταῖς καρδίαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων“ διαφοραὶ καὶ τῶν πρὸς τὸ καλὸν νενευκότων, οὐκ ἐπʼ ἴσης καὶ παραπλησίως ἀλλήλοις πάντων τυπωθέντων καὶ μορφωθέντων πρὸς αὐτὸ, καὶ τῶν διʼ ἀμέλειαν τοῦ καλοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἐναντία ᾀττόντων· καὶ ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ἐν οἷς μέν ἐστι σφόδρα κεχυμένη ἡ κακία ἐν οἷς δʼ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον· τί οὖν ἄτοπον δύο, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀκρότητας. τὴν μὲν τοῦ καλοῦ τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐναντίου, ἐν ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι, ὥστε τὴν μὲν τοῦ καλοῦ ἀκρότητα εἶναι ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν νοουμένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ, ἀφʼ οὗ ἡ τοσαύτη ἔῤῥευσε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιστροφὴ καὶ θεραπεία καὶ βελτίωσις, τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὸν ὀνομαζόμενον ἀντίχριστον; πάντα δὲ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ προγνώσει ἐκπεριλαβὼν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἰδὼν τὰ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων ἐβουλήθη περὶ τούτων γνωρίσαι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἵνα οἱ συνιέντες τῶν λόγων αὐτῶν οἰκειωθῶσι μὲν τῷ κρείττονι. φυλάξωνται δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐναντίου. ἐχρῆν δὲ τὸν μὲν ἕτερον τῶν ἄκρων καὶ βέλτιστον υἱὸν ἀναγορεύεσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν, τὸν δὲ τούτῳ κατὰ διάμετρον ἐναντίον υἱὸν τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος καὶ Σατανᾶ καὶ διαβόλου. εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ τότε μάλιστα τὸ φαῦλον ἐν τῇ χύσει τῆς κακίας καὶ τῇ ἀκρότητι αὐτῆς εἶναι χαρακτηρίζεται, ὅτε ὑποκρίνεται τὸ κρεῖττον, διὰ τοῦτο περὶ τὸν χείρονα γίνεται ἐκ συνεργίας τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ διαβόλου σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα καὶ δυνάμεις ψεύδους. ὑπὲρ γὰρ τὰς εἰς τοὺς γόητας γινομένας ἀπὸ δαιμόνων συνεργίας πρὸς τὰ φαυλότατα τῶν ἀνθρώπους ἀπατώντων γίνεται συνεργία ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Λέγει δὲ ὁ Παῦλος περὶ τούτου τοῦ καλουμένου ἀντιχρίστου διδάσκων καὶ παριστὰς μετά τινος ἐπικρύψεως, τίνα τρόπον ἐπιδημήσει καὶ πότε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διὰ τί· καὶ ὅρα εἰ μὴ σεμνότατα περὶ τούτων ὁ Παῦλος ἐκτίθεται καὶ οὐκ ἀξίως χλεύης τινὸς κἂν ἐλαχίστης·
English · Claude translation
Since Celsus also throws in the matter of the so-called Antichrist, without having read what is said about him in Daniel or in Paul, or what was prophesied by the Saviour in the Gospels about his coming, a few words must be said on this too. Since “as faces are not like faces, so neither are the hearts of men like one another's hearts,” it is plain that there are differences in “the hearts of men,” both among those who incline to the good, since not all are shaped and formed to it equally or in the same way, and among those who, through neglect of the good, rush to the opposite; for in these too wickedness is poured out very greatly in some and less in others. What absurdity, then, is there in there being among men two extremes, so to speak, one of good and the other of its opposite, so that the extreme of good is in the man understood to be Jesus, from whom so great a conversion, healing, and improvement has flowed to the human race, and the extreme of the opposite in the one named Antichrist? God, embracing all things in his foreknowledge and seeing what concerns both of these, wished to make it known to men through the prophets, so that those who understand their words may attach themselves to the better and guard against the opposite. And it was fitting that one of the extremes, the best, should be proclaimed Son of God because of his pre-eminence, and the one diametrically opposed to him son of the evil demon, Satan and the devil. Then, since evil is most marked in its outpouring and its extreme when it pretends to be the better, for this reason signs and wonders and powers of falsehood occur around the worse one through the cooperation of his father the devil. For beyond the help given by demons to sorcerers, who deceive men for the basest ends, there comes a cooperation from the devil himself for the deception of the human race. Paul speaks of this so-called Antichrist, teaching and setting forth with a certain reserve in what manner he will come to the human race, and when, and why; and see whether Paul does not set these matters out most solemnly, and in a way not deserving even the slightest mockery.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Prov 27:19 LXX. The references are to Daniel (7–9, 11), 2 Thess 2:3–12, and Matt 24:15–24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing breathing and accent in the digital text; stray period and missing breathing and accent in the digital text): Κέλσος. ουτε → Κέλσος, οὔτε; ἀφʼ ου ἡ τοσαύτη → ἀφʼ οὗ ἡ τοσαύτη.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 6.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/45/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 6.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/45/).
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