Against Celsus 7.65
Summary: The Persians worship the sun and creation, which Christians may not do, since creation awaits its liberation; one can know God and those he calls gods, but cannot both know God and pray to images.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:214–215
Εἴρηται δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω περὶ Περσῶν πρὸς τὸ νεὼς μὲν αὐτοὺς μὴ ἱδρύεσθαι σέβειν δὲ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δημιουργήματα· ὅπερ ἡμῖν ἀπαγορεύεται. διδασκομένοις μὴ λατρεύειν „τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα“ ἀλλʼ εἰδέναι μὲν ὅτι „ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ“ καὶ ὅτι „ἡ ἀποκαραδοκία τῆς κτίσεως τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται“ καὶ ὅτι „τῇ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι.“ καὶ μὴ μὴν καὶ δεῖν τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ δουλείᾳ „τῆς φθορᾶς“ καὶ ἐπὶ „τῇ ματαιότητι“ ὑποτεταγμένα καὶ „ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι“ κρείττονι ταῦτα πράττοντα ἐν χώρᾳ τιμᾶν θεοῦ τοῦ ἀνενδεοῦς ἢ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ πρωτοτόκου „πάσης κτίσεως.“ ἀρκεῖ τοίνυν πρὸς ἐκείνοις καὶ ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ Περσῶν ἔθνους. βωμοὺς καὶ ἀγάλματα ἐκτρεπομένων λατρευόντων δὲ „τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα.“ ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἡρακλείτου παρέθετο λέξιν, ὑποδιηγησάμενος αὐτὴν ὑποσημαίνουσαν ἠλίθιον εἶναι τὸ „τοῖς ἀγάλμασιν“ εὔχεσθαι, ἐὰν μὴ γινώσκῃ τις „θεοὺς καὶ ἥρωας, οἵτινές εἰσι, “ λεκτέον ὅτι γινώσκειν μὲν ἔστι θεὸν καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς τετιμημένους ὑπὸ θεοῦ τῇ θεὸς προσηγορίᾳ καὶ μετέχοντας τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ, ἑτέρους ὄντας παρὰ πάντας τοὺς θεοὺς „τῶν ἐθνῶν, “ „οἵτινές εἰσι“ „δαιμόνια“· οὐ μὴν δυνατόν ἐστι καὶ γινώσκειν τὸν θεὸν καὶ „τοῖς ἀγάλμασιν“ εὔχεσθαι.
English · Claude translation
We have spoken above of the Persians, that though they do not set up temples they worship the sun and the works of God; which is forbidden to us, who are taught not to serve “the creature rather than the Creator,” but to know that “the creation will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God,” and that “the eager longing of the creation awaits the revealing of the sons of God,” and that “the creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope”; and so we must not honour, in place of God who lacks nothing, or of his Son, the firstborn “of all creation,” things subjected to the bondage “of corruption” and “to vanity,” even though they do this “in hope” of something better. Let this, then, suffice, in addition to what was said before, about the nation of the Persians, who turn away from altars and images but serve “the creature rather than the Creator.” And since he quoted the saying of Heraclitus, explaining it as hinting that it is foolish to pray “to images” if one does not know “who gods and heroes are,” we must say that it is possible to know God and his only-begotten, and those honoured by God with the title “god” and sharing in his divinity, who are other than all the gods “of the nations,” which “are demons”; but it is not possible both to know God and to pray “to images.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Rom 1:25, Rom 8:21, 19, 20, Col 1:15, and Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX). “Those honoured by God with the title ‘god’” alludes to Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX). The words καὶ μὴ μὴν (“and so … not”) are awkward in the digital text; the sense is clear.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray punctuation in the digital text): τὰ ἐπὶ· τῇ → τὰ ἐπὶ τῇ.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 7.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/65/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 7.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/65/).
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