Against Celsus 6.68
Summary: The Word became flesh so that those bound to the flesh might receive him, and then leads them up, as on the mount of Transfiguration, to see his divine glory.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:138
Διόπερ ἐὰν ἔρηται ἡμᾶς Κέλσος, πῶς οἰόμεθα γνωρίζειν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ πῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν σωθήσεσθαι· ἀποκρινούμεθα ὅτι ἱκανός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, γενόμενος τοῖς ζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἢ τοῖς ἐπιφαινόμενον αὐτὸν παραδεχομένοις, γνωρίσαι καὶ ἀποκαλύψαι τὸν πατέρα, πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ οὐχ ὁρώμενον. τίς δʼ ἄλλος σῶσαι καὶ προσαγαγεῖν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ δύναται τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴν ἢ ὁ θεὸς λόγος; ὅστις „ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν“ ὢν διὰ τοὺς κολληθέντας τῇ σαρκὶ καὶ γενομένους ὅπερ „σὰρξ“ „ἐγένετο“ „σὰρξ, “ ἵνα χωρηθῇ ὑπὸ τῶν μὴ δυναμένων αὐτὸν βλέπειν καθὸ „λόγος“ ἦν καὶ „πρὸς θεὸν“ ἦν „καὶ θεὸς ἦν.“ καὶ σωματικῶς γε λαλούμενος καὶ ὡς „σὰρξ“ ἀπαγγελλόμενος ἐφʼ ἑαυτὸν καλεῖ τοὺς ὄντας σάρκα, ἵνʼ αὐτοὺς ποιήσῃ πρῶτον μορφωθῆναι κατὰ λόγον τὸν γενόμενον σάρκα, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς ἀναβιβάσῃ ἐπὶ τὸ ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν, ὅπερ ἦν πρὶν γένηται „σάρξ“· ὥστε αὐτοὺς ὠφεληθέντας καὶ ἀναβάντας ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα εἰσαγωγῆς εἰπεῖν τό· „εἰ καὶ Χριστόν ποτε κατὰ σάρκα ἐγνώκαμεν, ἀλλὰ νῦν οὐκέτι γινώσκομεν.“ „σὰρξ“ οὖν „ἐγένετο, “ καὶ γενόμενος „σὰρξ“ „ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν“ οὐκ ἔξω γινόμενος ἡμῶν, σκηνώσας δὲ καὶ γενόμενος ἐν ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔμεινεν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης μορφῆς, ἀλλʼ ἀναβιβάσας ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὸ λογικὸν „ὑψηλὸν ὄρος“ ἔδειξεν ἡμῖν τὴν ἔνδοξον μορφὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῶν ἐνδυμάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐχ ἑαυτοῦ γε μόνου ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ γε νόμου, ὅς ἐστιν „ἐν δόξῃ“ ὀφθεὶς μετὰ Ἰησοῦ „Μωϋσῆς“. ἔδειξε δʼ ἡμῖν καὶ πᾶσαν προφητείαν, οὐδὲ μετὰ τὸ ἐνανθρωπῆσαι ἀποθνῄσκουσαν ἀλλʼ ἀναλαμβανομένην εἰς οὐρανὸν, ἧς σύμβολον Ἠλίας ἦν. ὁ δὲ ταῦτα θεωρήσας εἴποι ἂν τό· „ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρὸς, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.“ Κέλσος μὲν οὖν ἰδιωτικώτερον ἀνέπλασεν ἃ οἴεται ἡμᾶς λέξειν πρὸς τὸ πύσμα αὐτοῦ· πῶς οἰόμεθα γνωρίσειν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ πῶς σωθήσεσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν; ἡμεῖς δὲ εἴποιμεν ἂν τὰ προεκκείμενα.
English · Claude translation
Therefore, if Celsus asks us how we think we know God, and how we shall be saved by him, we shall answer that the Word of God is able, when he comes to those who seek him or who receive him when he appears, to make known and reveal the Father, who was not seen before his coming. And who else can save the soul of man and bring it to the God over all but God the Word? He, being “in the beginning with God,” for the sake of those who had cleaved to the flesh and become what flesh is, “became flesh,” so that he might be received by those unable to see him as he was, the “Word,” “with God,” and “God.” And being spoken of in bodily terms and proclaimed as “flesh,” he calls to himself those who are flesh, so as first to make them be formed according to the Word who became flesh, and after this to lead them up to see him as he was before he became “flesh”; so that, having been helped and having ascended from the introduction according to the flesh, they may say: “Even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer.” He “became flesh,” then, and having become “flesh” he “dwelt among us,” not coming to be outside us; and having dwelt and come to be among us, he did not remain in his first form, but, leading us up to the spiritual “high mountain,” he showed us his glorious form and the brightness of his garments, and not only his own but also that of the spiritual law, which is “Moses,” seen “in glory” with Jesus. He also showed us all prophecy, which did not die even after he became man but was taken up into heaven, of which Elijah was a symbol. And the one who has seen these things could say: “We beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Celsus, then, rather naively fabricated what he thinks we will say to his question how we think we shall know God and how we shall be saved by him; but we would say what has been set out above.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The passages are John 1:1–2, 14, 2 Cor 5:16, the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1–8; Luke 9:30–31), and 2 Kgs 2:11. Origen reads Moses and Elijah as symbols of the law and the prophets.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 6.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/68/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 6.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/68/).
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