Against Celsus 8.23
Summary: Set feast days are reminders for ordinary believers, a “part” of the festival that the perfect keep always; Christian feasts are far more dignified than pagan festivals of drunkenness, and the feasts of God's law involve humbling the flesh.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:240
Ὁ δὲ πολὺς τῶν πιστεύειν δοκούντων καὶ μὴ τηλικοῦτος δεῖται ὑπομνήσεως χάριν, μὴ βουλόμενος ἢ μὴ δυνάμενος πάσας τοιαύτας ἄγειν ἡμέρας, αἰσθητῶν παραδειγμάτων, ἵνα μὴ τέλεον παραῤῥυῇ. τοιαῦτα δʼ οἶμαι τὸν Παῦλον νενοηκότα μέρος μὲν „ἑορτῆς“ ὠνομακέναι τὴν ἐν ἡμέραις τεταγμέναις παρʼ ἑτέρας ἑορτὴν, ᾐνίχθαι δὲ ἐκ τοῦ οὕτως λελεγμένου ὅτι οὐκ „ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς“ ἀλλʼ ἐν ὁλοκλήρῳ καὶ ἀδιαλείπτῳ ἐστὶν ἑορτῇ ὁ ἀεὶ βίος κατὰ τὸν θεῖον λόγον. ὅρα οὖν πάλιν κἀκ τῶν εἰρημένων περὶ ἑορτῶν τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν, συνεξεταζομένων ταῖς δημοτελέσι τοῦ Κέλσου καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἑορταῖς, εἰ μὴ μακρῷ σεμνότεραί εἰσιν αὗται αἱ ἑορταὶ τῶν δημοτελῶν, ἐν αἷς „τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς“ ἑορτάζον ἐξυβρίζει ἐπὶ μέθας καὶ ἀκολασίας ἐκτρεπόμενον. πολὺ δʼ ἂν εἴη νῦν λέγειν, διὰ τί αἱ κατὰ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ νόμον ἑορταὶ „ἄρτον κακώσεως“ διδάσκουσιν ἐσθίειν ἢ „ἄζυμα μετὰ πικρίδων, “ ἢ ὅτι φασί· „ταπεινώσατε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν“ ἤ τι τούτοις παραπλήσιον. οὐδὲ γὰρ δυνατόν ἐστι τὸν σύνθετον ἄνθρωπον, ὅσον ἔτι „ἡ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα κατὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, “ ἐξ ὅλων ἑορτάζειν· ἢ γὰρ ἑορτάζων τις τῷ πνεύματι κακοῖ τὸ σῶμα, μὴ πεφυκὸς διὰ „τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς“ ἑορτάζειν μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, ἢ ἑορτάζων κατὰ σάρκα οὐ χωρεῖ καὶ τὴν κατὰ πνεῦμα ἑορτήν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα εἰς τὸν περὶ ἑορτῶν λόγον ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος.
English · Claude translation
But the multitude of those who seem to believe and are not of such a stature, being unwilling or unable to keep all days in this way, need sensible examples by way of reminder, so that they may not slip away altogether. Having understood such things, I think, Paul called the festival held on days appointed rather than others a “part of a festival,” hinting by this expression that the life that is always according to the divine Word is not “in part of a festival” but in a complete and unceasing festival. See again, then, from what has been said about our festivals, compared with the public festivals of Celsus and the nations, whether ours are not far more dignified than the public festivals, in which “the mind of the flesh,” keeping festival, runs riot and turns to drunkenness and licentiousness. It would take long now to say why the festivals according to God's law teach one to eat “the bread of affliction,” or “unleavened bread with bitter herbs,” or why they say, “Humble your souls,” or something similar. For it is not possible for man, a composite being, to keep festival wholly, as long as “the flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh”; for either one who keeps festival in the spirit afflicts the body, which because of “the mind of the flesh” cannot by nature keep festival with the spirit, or one who keeps festival according to the flesh has no room for the festival according to the spirit. But this is enough on the subject of festivals for the present.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Col 2:16 (“in part of a festival,” ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς, which Origen takes as “a part of a festival”), Rom 8:6, Deut 16:3, Exod 12:8, Lev 16:29 (compare 23:27), and Gal 5:17.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 8.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/23/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 8.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/23/).
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