Against Celsus 8.4
Summary: Scripture distinguishes the one God and one Lord from the many so-called gods and lords; Christians ascend to the God of gods through the Son alone, while Plato's picture of a host of gods and demons following Zeus came from the devil.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:223–224
Τοιαῦτα καὶ περὶ κυρίου καὶ κυρίων διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς ἐξετάζειν καὶ φρονεῖν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι, ὅπου μὲν λέγοντες· „ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ θεῷ τῶν θεῶν, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ· ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ κυρίῳ τῶν κυρίων, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, “ ὅπου δὲ ὅτι ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς „βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων καὶ κύριος τῶν κυριευόντων.“ οἶδε δὲ ὁ λόγος θεοὺς τοὺς μέν τινας λεγομένους τοὺς δὲ καὶ ὄντας, εἴτε λεγομένους εἴτε μή· τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ διδάσκων καὶ περὶ κυρίων τῶν ὄντων καὶ μὴ λέγει ὁ Παῦλος· „καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶ λεγόμενοι θεοὶ εἴτʼ ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτʼ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὥσπερ εἰσὶ θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί.“ εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ „ὁ τῶν θεῶν θεὸς“ καλεῖ „ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν“ καὶ „δυσμῶν“ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μερίδα διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ οὓς βούλεται, κύριος δὲ ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ δείκνυσιν διʼ ὧν ἐπέβη τοῖς πάντων ὁρίοις καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ πάντων ὁρίων καλεῖ ὅτι ἐστὶ πάντων τῶν κυριευόντων διαφέρων· διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτʼ ἐπιστάμενος ὁ Παῦλός φησι μεθʼ ἃ παρεθέμην· „ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἡμεῖς διʼ αὐτοῦ.“ θεωρῶν τε θαυμάσιόν τινα καὶ μυστηριώδη λόγον κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐπιφέρει αὐτοῖς· „ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ γνῶσις.“ ἐπὰν δὲ λέγῃ· „ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα, “ τὸ „ἡμῖν“ λέγει ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀναβεβηκότων πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν „τῶν θεῶν“ καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι κύριον „τῶν κυρίων.“ ἀναβέβηκε δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν ὁ ἀσχίστως καὶ ἀδιαιρέτως καὶ ἀμερίστως αὐτὸν σέβων διὰ τοῦ μόνου προσάγοντος ἐκείνῳ υἱοῦ, τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου καὶ σοφίας ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ θεωρουμένου, τοὺς παντὶ τρόπῳ πειρωμένους ἑαυτοὺς οἰκειῶσαι διʼ ἐξαιρέτων λόγων καὶ πράξεων καὶ διανοημάτων [καὶ νοημάτων] τῷ τοῦ παντὸς δημιουργῷ θεῷ. παρὰ ταῦτα δʼ οἶμαι καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια τὸν μετασχηματιζόμενον „εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς“ ἄρχοντα „τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου“ πεποιηκέναι τὸ „τῷ δὲ ἕπεται στρατιὰ θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων, κατὰ ἕνδεκα μοίρας τεταγμένη.“ ἐν οἷς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων λέγει τό· „μετὰ μὲν Διὸς ἡμεῖς, ἄλλοι δὲ μετὰ ἄλλων δαιμόνων.“
English · Claude translation
The divine words teach us to examine and think such things about Lord and lords, saying in one place, “Give thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures for ever; give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endures for ever,” and in another that God is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” The Word knows that some gods are so called, while others really are gods, whether so called or not; and Paul, teaching the same about lords that are and are not, says: “For although there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.” Then, since “the God of gods” calls whom he wills “from the east” and “the west” to his own portion through Jesus, and Christ, being Lord, shows by having gone to the ends of all the earth and calling to himself from all its ends that he surpasses all who are lords, therefore Paul, knowing this, says after the words I have cited: “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” And perceiving a wonderful and mysterious teaching in the passage, he adds, “But not all have this knowledge.” When he says, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,” he says “for us” of himself and of all who have ascended to the God over all “the gods” and to the Lord over all “the lords.” And he has ascended to the God over all who worships him without division, without separation, and without partition, through the Son alone who brings to him those who try in every way, by excellent words and deeds and thoughts, to bring themselves into kinship with God, the Creator of the universe; the Son, God's Word and Wisdom, beheld in Jesus. For this reason, and for others like it, I think that the ruler “of this age,” who transforms himself “into an angel of light,” caused the words, “And there follows him a host of gods and demons, arranged in eleven divisions,” where he says of himself and of those who have philosophized, “We with Zeus, and others with other demons.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ps 136:2–3 (135:2–3 LXX), 1 Tim 6:15 (compare Rev 19:16), 1 Cor 8:5–7, Ps 50:1 (49:1 LXX) with Matt 8:11, 2 Cor 11:14, 1 Cor 2:6, and Plato, Phaedrus 246e–247a and 250b. The editor deletes a second “and thoughts” (καὶ νοημάτων).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): „ὁ τῶν. θεῶν θεὸς“ → „ὁ τῶν θεῶν θεὸς“.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 8.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/4/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 8.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/4/).
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