Against Celsus 6.69
Summary: The Son shares the Father's greatness and is as hard to see as the Father, who can be seen only by the pure in heart; the Son did not come as an easier substitute for an invisible God.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:138–139
Πλήν φησιν ὁ Κέλσος ἡμᾶς ἀποκρίνεσθαι εἰκότι στοχασμῷ, ὁμολογῶν ἀναγράφειν ἡμῶν τὴν ἀπόκρισιν οὕτως ἔχουσαν· ἐπειδὴ μέγας ἐστὶ καὶ δυσθεώρητος ὁ θεὸς, πνεῦμα ἴδιον ἐμβαλὼν εἰς σῶμα ἡμῖν ὅμοιον δεῦρο κατέπεμψεν, ὡς ἂν δυνηθείημεν ἀκοῦσαι παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθεῖν. οὐ μόνος δὲ μέγας καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς καὶ πατήρ· μετέδωκε γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῆς μεγαλειότητος τῷ μονογενεῖ καὶ πρωτοτόκῳ „πάσης κτίσεως“· ἵνʼ „εἰκὼν“ αὐτὸς τυγχάνων „τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ“ καὶ ἐν τῷ μεγέθει σῴζῃ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ πατρός. οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τʼ ἦν εἶναι σύμμετρον, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, καὶ καλὴν εἰκόνα „τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ, “ μὴ καὶ τοῦ μεγέθους παριστᾶσαν τὴν εἰκόνα. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ θεὸς καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῷ μὲν μὴ εἶναι σῶμα ἀόρατός ἐστιν· τοῖς δὲ θεωρητικοῖς καρδίᾳ θεωρητὸς, τουτέστι νῷ, καρδίᾳ δὲ οὐ τῇ τυχούσῃ ἀλλὰ τῇ καθαρᾷ. οὐ γὰρ θέμις μεμολυσμένην καρδίαν ἐνορᾶν θεῷ, ἀλλὰ δεῖ καθαρὸν εἶναι τὸ τοῦ καθαροῦ κατʼ ἀξίαν θεωρητικόν. ἔστω δὴ καὶ δυσθεώρητος ὁ θεός· ἀλλʼ οὐ μόνος δυσθεώρητός ἐστι τινὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ. δυσθεώρητος γὰρ ὁ θεὸς λόγος, δυσθεώρητος δὲ οὑτωσὶ καὶ σοφία ἐστὶν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ πάντα πεποίηκεν ὁ θεός. τίς γὰρ δύναται καθʼ ἕκαστον τῶν πάντων τὴν σοφίαν, ἐν ᾗ ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἕκαστον τῶν πάντων πεποίηκε, (θεωρῆσαι); οὐ διὰ τὸ δυσθεώρητος οὖν ὁ θεὸς εἶναι ὡς εὐθεώρητον τὸν υἱὸν ἔπεμψεν. ἅπερ μὴ νοήσας ὁ Κέλσος εἶπεν ὡς ἐκ προσώπου ἡμῶν· διὰ τὸ δυσθεώρητος εἶναι πνεῦμα ἴδιον ἐμβαλὼν εἰς σῶμα ἡμῖν ὅμοιον δεῦρο κατέπεμψεν, ὡς ἂν δυνηθείημεν ἀκοῦσαί τε παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθεῖν. ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀποδεδώκαμεν, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς δυσθεώρητος ὢν, ἅτε λόγος θεὸς, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, „καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν.“
English · Claude translation
But Celsus says that we answer by a plausible conjecture, and he professes to record our answer as follows: Since God is great and hard to see, he put his own spirit into a body like ours and sent it down here, so that we might be able to hear and learn from him. But in our view the God and Father of the universe is not alone great; for he has given a share of himself and of his greatness to the only-begotten and firstborn “of all creation,” so that, being himself “the image of the invisible God,” he might preserve the image of the Father in greatness too. For it was not possible to be a well-proportioned, so to speak, and beautiful image “of the invisible God” without also representing the image of his greatness. And in our view God is invisible because he is not a body, but can be seen by those able to see with the heart, that is, with the mind; not with any heart at all, but with a pure heart. For it is not lawful for a defiled heart to look upon God; that which is to see the pure one worthily must itself be pure. Let it be granted that God is hard to see; but he is not alone hard for anyone to see; his only-begotten is so too. For God the Word is hard to see, and so also is the Wisdom in which God made all things. For who can see, in each and every thing, the Wisdom in which God made each and every thing? It is not, then, because God is hard to see that he sent his Son as easy to see. Not understanding this, Celsus said as though in our person: Because he is hard to see, he put his own spirit into a body like ours and sent it down here, so that we might be able to hear and learn from him. But, as we have explained, the Son too, being hard to see, as God the Word through whom all things came to be, also “dwelt among us.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The passages are Col 1:15, Matt 5:8, Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX), and John 1:3, 14.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 6.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/69/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 6.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/69/).
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