Against Celsus 7.26
Summary: The law of Moses suited a nation with its own state and wars, while the Gospel suits people from all nations under Roman rule; providence ended the temple worship and has made Christianity grow despite persecution.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:176–178
Εἰ δὲ χρὴ κἂν ὀλίγα περὶ τῆς διαφόρου πολιτείας εἰπεῖν, ἥντινα Ἰουδαῖοι κατὰ Μωϋσέα πρότερον ἐπολιτεύοντο, καὶ ἣν Χριστιανοὶ νῦν κατὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν βούλονται κατορθοῦν, φήσομεν ὅτι οὔτε τῇ κλήσει τῶν ἐθνῶν ἥρμοζε κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως ὡς πρὸς τὸ γράμμα πολιτεύεσθαι νόμον, ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις τεταγμένων, οὔτε τοῖς πάλαι Ἰουδαίοις οἷόν τʼ ἦν τὸ σύστημα τῆς πολιτείας ἔχειν ἀκαθαίρετον. εἰ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν τῇ κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πολιτείᾳ ἐπείθοντο. ἀναιρέσει μὲν γὰρ πολεμίων ἢ τῶν παρὰ τὸν νόμον πεποιηκότων καὶ ἀξίων κριθέντων τῆς διὰ πυρὸς ἢ λίθων ἀναιρέσεως οὐχ οἷόν τʼ ἦν Χριστιανοὺς χρῆσθαι κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον. εἴ γε οὐδʼ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι θέλοντες κατʼ ἐκεῖνον δύνανται ταῦτα, ὡς ὁ νόμος προσέταξεν. ἐπιτελεῖν. πάλιν τε αὖ ἐὰν ἀνέλῃς ἀπὸ τῶν τότε Ἰουδαίων. σύστημα ἴδιον πολιτείας καὶ χώρας ἐχόντων, τὸ ἐπεξιέναι τοῖς πολεμίοις καὶ στρατεύεσθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν πατρίων καὶ ἀναιρεῖν ἢ ὅπως ποτὲ κολάζειν τοὺς μοιχεύσαντας ἢ φονεύσαντας ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτοις παραπλησίων πεποιηκότας, οὐδὲν λείπεται ἢ τὸ ἄρδην αὐτοὺς ἀθρόως ἀπολέσθαι. ἐπιτιθεμένων τῶν πολεμίων τῷ ἔθνει, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου νόμου ἐκνενευρισμένων καὶ κωλυομένων ἀμύνεσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους. καὶ μὴ βουλομένη γε ἡ πάλαι μὲν τὸν νόμον δεδωκυῖα πρόνοια νῦν δὲ τὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εὐαγγέλιον κρατεῖν ἔτι τὰ Ἰουδαίων καθεῖλεν αὐτῶν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὴν παρὰ τῷ ναῷ διὰ θυσιῶν καὶ τῆς ἀναγεγραμμένης λατρείας θεραπείαν τοῦ θεοῦ. ὥσπερ δʼ ἐκεῖνα μὴ βουλομένη ἐπιτελεῖσθαι ἔτι καθεῖλε, τὸν τρόπον τὸν αὐτὸν τὰ Χριστιανῶν ηὔξησε καὶ ὁσημέραι εἰς πλῆθος ἤδη δὲ καὶ παῤῥησίαν ἐπιδέδωκε. καίτοι γε μυρίων ὅσων κωλυμάτων γενομένων πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπισπαρῆναι τὴν Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν τῇ οἰκουμένῃ. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ βουλόμενος καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὠφεληθῆναι διὰ τῆς Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας, πᾶσα μὲν ἀνθρωπίνη βουλὴ κατὰ Χριστιανῶν καθῃρέθη, ὅσῳ (δ᾿) αὐτοὺς ἐταπείνουν βασιλεῖς καὶ ἐθνῶν ἡγούμενοι καὶ δῆμοι πανταχοῦ, τοσούτῳ πλείους ἐγίνοντο „καὶ κατίσχυον σφόδρα σφόδρα.“
English · Claude translation
If we must say a few words about the different way of life which the Jews formerly followed according to Moses, and which the Christians now wish to achieve according to the teaching of Jesus, we shall say that it did not suit the calling of the Gentiles, who are subject to the Romans, to live according to the law of Moses in its letter; nor was it possible for the Jews of old to keep the structure of their commonwealth intact if, hypothetically, they had followed the way of life according to the Gospel. For Christians could not, according to the law of Moses, put to death enemies or those who had acted against the law and were judged to deserve death by fire or stoning, since not even the Jews, though they wish to, can carry these things out according to that law as the law commanded. Again, if you take away from the Jews of that time, who had their own commonwealth and land, the right to march against their enemies, to fight for their ancestral ways, and to put to death or otherwise punish adulterers or murderers or those who had done anything like this, nothing would remain but for them to be utterly destroyed all at once when their enemies attacked the nation, since they would have been unnerved by their own law and prevented from defending themselves against their enemies. And providence, which formerly gave the law and now the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not wishing the Jewish way of life to prevail any longer, destroyed their city and temple and the worship of God in the temple through sacrifices and the prescribed service. And just as it destroyed those things, not wishing them to be carried out any longer, in the same way it increased the Christian way of life, which has grown daily in numbers and now in freedom of speech too, although countless obstacles arose to prevent the teaching of Jesus from being sown in the world. But since it was God who wished the Gentiles too to be helped by the teaching of Jesus the Christ, every human plan against the Christians was overthrown; and the more kings and rulers of nations and peoples everywhere humbled them, the more numerous they became, “and they grew exceedingly strong.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The closing words echo Exod 1:7 (1:12). The destruction of the temple as providence's judgment is Origen's polemical reading.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated word in the digital text): ἀθρόως ἀθρόως → ἀθρόως.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 7.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/26/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 7.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/26/).
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