Against Celsus 8.73
Summary: Celsus urges Christians to serve in the emperor's army; Origen answers that Christians help the emperor more by praying for him and for just wars, like pagan priests who keep their hands free of blood, forming an army of prayer against the demons who cause wars.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:290–291
Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς προτρέπεται ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος ἀρήγειν τῷ βασιλεῖ παντὶ σθένει καὶ συμπονεῖν αὐτῷ τὰ δίκαια καὶ ὑπερμαχεῖν αὐτοῦ καὶ συστρατεύειν αὐτῷ, ἂν ἐπείγῃ, καὶ συστρατηγεῖν. λεκτέον δὲ καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα ὅτι ἀρήγομεν κατὰ καιρὸν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι θείαν, ἵνʼ οὕτως εἴπω, ἄρηξιν, καὶ „πανοπλίαν“ ἀναλαμβάνοντες „θεοῦ.“ καὶ ταῦτα ποιοῦμεν πειθόμενοι ἀποστολικῇ φωνῇ λεγούσῃ· „παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς πρῶτον ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις, προσευχὰς, ἐντεύξεις, εὐχαριστίας ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ὑπὲρ βασιλέων καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν ὑπεροχῇ ὄντων.“ καὶ ὅσῳ γε τὶς εὐσεβέστερός ἐστι, τοσούτῳ ἀνυτικώτερος ἐν τῷ ἀρήγειν τοῖς βασιλεύουσι παρὰ τοὺς εἰς τὰς παρατάξεις ἐξιόντας στρατιώτας καὶ ἀναιροῦντας οὓς ἂν δύνωνται τῶν πολεμίων. εἶτα δὲ καὶ ταῦτʼ εἴποιμεν ἂν πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἀξιοῦντας ἡμᾶς στρατεύεσθαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἀναιρεῖν ὅτι καὶ οἱ καθʼ ὑμᾶς ἱερεῖς ἀγαλμάτων τινῶν καὶ νεωκόροι ὧν νομίζετε θεῶν τηροῦσιν ἑαυτῶν ἀμίαντον τὴν δεξιὰν διὰ τὰς θυσίας, ἵνʼ ἀναιμάκτοις χερσὶ καὶ καθαραῖς ἀπὸ φόνων προσάγωσι τὰς νενομισμένας θυσίας οἷς φατε θεοῖς· καὶ οὐ δή που πολέμου καταλαβόντος καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς στρατεύετε. εἰ οὖν τοῦτʼ εὐλόγως γίνεται. πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἄλλων στρατευομένων καὶ οὗτοι στρατεύονται ὡς ἱερεῖς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεραπευταὶ, καθαρὰς μὲν τηροῦντες τὰς δεξιὰς ἀγωνιζόμενοι δὲ διὰ τῶν πρὸς θεὸν εὐχῶν ὑπὲρ τῶν δικαίως στρατευομένων καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ δικαίως βασιλεύοντος, ἵνα τὰ ἐναντία πάντα καὶ ἐχθρὰ τοῖς δικαίως πράττουσι καθαιρεθῇ; ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ ταῖς εὐχαῖς πάντας δαίμονας. τοὺς ἐγείροντας τὰ πολεμικὰ καὶ ὅρκους συγχέοντας καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ταράσσοντας, καθαιροῦντες μᾶλλον βοηθοῦμεν τοῖς βασιλεύουσιν ἤπερ οἱ δοκοῦντες στρατεύεσθαι. συμπονοῦμεν δὲ τοῖς κοινοῖς πράγμασιν οἱ μετὰ δικαιοσύνης ἀναφέροντες προσευχὰς, σὺν ἀσκήσεσι καὶ μελέταις διδασκούσαις καταφρονεῖν ἡδονῶν καὶ μὴ ἄγεσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν. ἡμεῖς καὶ μᾶλλον ὑπερμαχοῦμεν τοῦ βασιλέως· καὶ οὐ συστρατευόμεθα μὲν αὐτῷ, κἂν ἐπείγῃ, στρατευόμεθα δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ἴδιον στρατόπεδον εὐσεβείας συγκροτοῦντες διὰ τῶν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ἐντεύξεων.
English · Claude translation
Next Celsus urges us to help the king with all our strength, to labour with him in what is just, to fight for him, and to serve in the army with him, if he presses, and to share his command. To this too we must say that we give help to kings at the right time, a divine help, so to speak, taking up “the whole armour of God.” And we do this in obedience to the apostolic voice that says, “I urge, then, first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions.” And the more pious a man is, the more effective he is in helping those who reign, more than the soldiers who go out to the battle lines and kill as many of the enemy as they can. Then we would also say this to those who are strangers to the faith and ask us to serve in the army for the common good and to kill men: that among you too the priests of certain images and the temple-wardens of those you consider gods keep their right hand undefiled for the sake of the sacrifices, so that they may offer the customary sacrifices to those you call gods with hands unstained by blood and pure from murder; and surely when war comes you do not enlist the priests too. If, then, this is done reasonably, how much more, while others serve in the army, do these serve as priests and servants of God, keeping their right hands pure but contending by prayers to God for those who serve as soldiers justly and for the one who reigns justly, so that everything opposed and hostile to those who act justly may be destroyed? And we, by our prayers destroying all the demons who stir up wars, violate oaths, and disturb the peace, help those who reign more than those who seem to serve in the army. We labour with them in the common affairs, we who offer up prayers with righteousness, together with exercises and meditations that teach us to despise pleasures and not be led by them. We fight for the king even more; and we do not serve in the army with him, even if he presses us, but we serve in the army for him, raising up our own army of piety through our intercessions to the divine.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Eph 6:11 and 1 Tim 2:1–2. Origen states that Christians do not serve in the army with the emperor but help him by prayer; the passage is much cited in discussions of early Christian attitudes to military service.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing breathing and accent in the digital text): εἰ ουν τοῦτʼ → εἰ οὖν τοῦτʼ.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 8.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/73/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 8.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/73/).
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