Against Celsus 7.14
Summary: Celsus says fulfilled prophecy proves nothing if what is foretold is unworthy of God; Origen replies that he should instead have tried to show that the prophecies were not in fact fulfilled in Jesus.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:165–166
Εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα, βουλόμενος ἀνατρέπειν τὴν πίστιν τῶν διὰ τὸ πεπροφητεῦσθαι παραδεξαμένων τὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, φησί· φέρε ἐὰν προείπωσιν οἱ προφῆται τὸν μέγαν θεὸν, ἵνα μηδὲν ἄλλο φορτικώτερον εἴπω, δουλεύειν ἢ νοσήσειν ἢ ἀποθανεῖν, τεθνήξεσθαι δεήσει τὸν θεὸν ἢ δουλεύειν ἢ νοσήσειν. ἐπειδὴ προείρητο, ἵνα πιστευθῇ ἀποθανὼν ὅτι θεὸς ἦν; ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν προείποιεν τοῦτο οἱ προφῆται· κακὸν γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἀνόσιον. οὐκοῦν οὔτʼ εἰ προεῖπον οὔτʼ εἰ μὴ προεῖπον. σκεπτέον, ἀλλʼ εἰ τὸ ἔργον ἄξιόν ἐστι θεοῦ καὶ καλόν. τῷ δʼ αἰσχρῷ καὶ κακῷ, κἂν πάντες ἄνθρωποι μαινόμενοι προλέγειν δοκῶσιν, ἀπιστητέον. πῶς οὖν τὰ περὶ τοῦτον ὡς περὶ θεὸν πραχθέντα ἐστὶν ὅσια; φαίνεται δὴ διὰ τούτων ἰσχυρὸν μέν τι πρὸς πειθὼ τῶν ἀκουόντων ὑπονενοηκέναι τὸ περὶ τοῦ πεπροφητεῦσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν κεφάλαιον. ἄλλῳ δὲ πιθανῷ πειρᾶσθαι ἀνατρέπειν τὸν λόγον φάσκων· οὐκοῦν οὔτʼ εἰ προεῖπον οὔτʼ εἰ μὴ προεῖπον, σκεπτέον. ἐχρῆν δʼ, εἴπερ μὴ παραλογιστικῶς ἀλλʼ ἀποδεικτικῶς ἐβούλετο ἐνστῆναι τῷ λεγομένῳ, εἰπεῖν· οὐκοῦν ἀποδεικτέον ὅτι οὐ προεῖπον ἢ οὐ, καθὼς προεῖπον, τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ πεπλήρωται ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ λεχθέντα. καὶ ἐπιφέρειν τὴν δοκοῦσαν αὐτῷ ἀπόδειξιν. οὕτως γὰρ ἐφαίνετο ἂν, τίνα μὲν αἱ προφητεῖαι λέγουσιν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἀναφερόμενα ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, πῶς δὲ οὗτος ψευδοποιεῖ τὴν ἐκδοχὴν ἡμῶν· καὶ εὑρέθη ἂν, πότερον γενναίως ἀνατρέπει τὰ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν φερόμενα ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν εἰς τὸν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λόγον, ἢ ἁλίσκεται ἀναισχύντως βιάζεσθαι θέλων τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἐνάργειαν ὡς οὐκ ἀλήθειαν.
English · Claude translation
Then after this, wishing to overthrow the faith of those who have accepted what concerns Jesus because it was prophesied, he says: Suppose the prophets foretold that the great God, to say nothing more offensive, would be a slave or be sick or die; must God then die or be a slave or be sick, because it was foretold, so that by dying he may be believed to be God? But the prophets would not foretell this; for it is evil and unholy. Therefore one must consider neither whether they foretold it nor whether they did not, but whether the deed is worthy of God and good. And what is shameful and evil must be disbelieved, even if all men in their madness seem to foretell it. How, then, are the things done to this man, as to a god, holy? From this it appears that he suspected the argument that Jesus was prophesied is something strong for persuading hearers, and he tries to overthrow it by another plausible argument, saying: Therefore one must consider neither whether they foretold it nor whether they did not. But if he wished to oppose what is said by demonstration and not by fallacy, he ought to have said: Therefore it must be shown that they did not foretell it, or that what was said about Christ was not fulfilled in Jesus as they foretold it; and he should have added what seemed to him the proof. For so it would have appeared what the prophecies say that we refer to Jesus, and how he proves our interpretation false; and it would have been found whether he nobly overthrows what we adduce from the prophets for the account of Jesus, or whether he is caught shamelessly trying to force the clear evidence of truth into being not truth.
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Origen, Cels. 7.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/14/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 7.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/14/).
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