# Against Celsus - Author: [Origen](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/origen/) - Latin title: *Contra Celsum* - Date: ca. 248 (approximate) - Source: Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 1–2: Gegen Celsus, GCS 2–3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899) (Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 1–2 (GCS 2–3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text; each passage below gives the model and date - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/ - Passages: 628 ## Against Celsus, preface 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/1/ - Source: Koetschau 1:51–52 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen tells his patron Ambrose that Jesus kept silent before false witnesses, trusting his life to speak for him, and quotes Matthew's account of the trial. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ψευδομαρτυρούμενος μὲν „ἐσιώπα“ κατηγορούμενος δὲ „οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίνατο“, πειθόμενος πάντα τὸν βίον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὰς ἐν Ἰουδαίοις πράξεις κρείττους γεγονέναι φωνῆς ἐλεγχούσης τὴν ψευδομαρτυρίαν καὶ λέξεων ἀπολογουμένων πρὸς τὰς κατηγορίας· σὺ δʼ, ὦ φιλόθεε Ἀμβρόσιε, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐν συγγράμμασι ψευδομαρτυρίας καὶ τῆς πίστεως τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐν βιβλίῳ κατηγορίας ἐβουλήθης ἡμᾶς ἀπολογήσασθαι. ὡς οὐκ ὄντος ἐναργοῦς ἐλέγχου ἐν τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ πάντων γραμμάτων κρείττονος λόγου, τοῦ τε τὰς ψευδομαρτυρίας ἀφανίζοντος καὶ ταῖς κατηγορίαις μηδὲ πιθανότητα εἰς τὸ δύνασθαί τι αὐτὰς ἐνδιδόντος. περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι „ἐσιώπα“ ψευδομαρτυρούμενος, ἀρκεῖ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τὰ Ματθαίου παραθέσθαι· τὰ γὰρ ἰσοδυναμοῦντα αὐτῷ ὁ Μάρκος ἔγραψεν. ἔχει δʼ οὕτως ἡ τοῦ Ματθαίου λέξις· „ὁ δὲ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ τὸ συνέδριον ἐζήτουν ψευδομαρτυρίαν κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅπως θανατώσωσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐχ εὗρον πολλῶν προσελθόντων ψευδομαρτύρων. ὕστερον δὲ προσελθόντες δύο εἶπον· οὗτος ἔφη· δύναμαι καταλῦσαι τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν οἰκοδομῆσαι. καὶ ἀναστὰς ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· οὐδὲν ἀποκρίνῃ. ὅτι οὗτοί σου καταμαρτυροῦσιν; ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἐσιώπα.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἀπεκρίνετο κατηγορούμενος, τοιαῦτα γέγραπται· „ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἐστάθη ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ἡγεμόνος· καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτὸν λέγων· σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων; ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔφη αὐτῷ· σὺ λέγεις. καὶ ἐν τῷ κατηγορεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίνετο. τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλᾶτος· οὐκ ἀκούεις, πόσα σου καταμαρτυροῦσι; καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ πρὸς οὐδὲν ῥῆμα, ὥστε θαυμάζειν τὸν ἡγεμόνα λίαν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, when false witness was borne against him, "kept silent," and when he was accused, "answered nothing," being persuaded that his whole life and his deeds among the Jews were stronger than a voice refuting the false witness or than words of defense against the accusations. But you, God-loving Ambrose, wished—I do not know why—that I should make a defense against the false witness that Celsus bore against Christians in his writings, and against his accusation of the faith of the churches in his book. As though there were not a plain refutation in the facts themselves, and a reasoning stronger than all writings, which both makes the false witness vanish and does not allow the accusations even the plausibility of having any force! That Jesus "kept silent" when false witness was borne against him, it is enough for the present to set out what Matthew says, for Mark wrote words of equal force. Matthew's text runs thus: "The high priest and the council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death, and they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said: This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high priest stood up and said to him: Do you answer nothing? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent." And that he did not answer when he was accused is written as follows: "Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying: Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him: You say so. And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him: Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? And he did not answer him to a single word, so that the governor wondered greatly." ### Scripture references - Matt 26:59–63: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:11–14: quotation, high confidence - Mark 14:55–61: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:59–63 and 27:11–14 (cf. Mark 14:55–61; 15:2–5). Ambrose was Origen's patron at Alexandria and Caesarea, who had sent him Celsus's book, The True Word (Ἀληθὴς λόγος). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 0.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/1/). ## Against Celsus, preface 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/2/ - Source: Koetschau 1:52 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus could have defended himself and been released, but he chose silence; now he is defended by the lives of his true disciples. ### Greek text Καὶ γὰρ θαυμασμοῦ ἄξιον ἦν παρὰ τοῖς καὶ μετρίως φρονεῖν δυναμένοις τὸ τὸν κατηγορούμενον καὶ ψευδομαρτυρούμενον, δυνάμενον ἀπολογήσασθαι καὶ παραστῆσαι αὑτὸν οὐδενὶ ἔνοχον ἐγκλήματι καὶ ἐγκώμια τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ βίου διεξελθεῖν καὶ τῶν δυνάμεων, ὡς ἀπὸ θεοῦ γεγένηνται, ἵνα δῷ τῷ δικαστῇ ὁδὸν τοῦ χρηστότερα περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀποφήνασθαι, τοῦτο μὲν μὴ πεποιηκέναι καταπεφρονηκέναι δὲ καὶ μεγαλοφυῶς ὑπερεωρακέναι τοὺς κατηγόρους. ὅτι δὲ, εἰ ἀπελογήσατο, ἀπέλυσεν ἂν ὁ δικαστὴς μηδὲ διστάσας τὸν Ἰησοῦν, δῆλον ἐκ τῶν ἀναγεγραμμένων περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐν οἷς εἶπε· „τίνα θέλετε τῶν δύο ἀπολύσω ὑμῖν, τὸν Βαραββᾶν ἢ Ἰησοῦν τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστόν;“ καὶ τοῦ, ὡς ἐπιφέρει ἡ γραφὴ λέγουσα· „ᾔδει γὰρ ὅτι διὰ φθόνον παρέδωκαν αὐτόν.„ Ἰησοῦς οὖν ἀεὶ ψευδομαρτυρεῖται, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτε κακίας οὔσης ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐ κατηγορεῖται. καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν καὶ νῦν σιωπᾷ πρὸς ταῦτα καὶ οὐκ ἀποκρίνεται μὲν διὰ φωνῆς, ἀπολογεῖται δὲ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν γνησίων ἑαυτοῦ μαθητῶν, κεκραγότι τὰ διαφέροντα καὶ πάσης ψευδομαρτυρίας ὄντι κρείττονι, ἐλέγχων καὶ ἀνατρέπων τὰς ψευδομαρτυρίας καὶ κατηγορίας. ### English translation (Claude) And indeed it was worthy of wonder, among those capable of even moderate understanding, that a man accused and falsely witnessed against, who was able to defend himself and to show himself guilty of no charge, and to recount the praises of his own life and of his mighty works as done by God, so as to give the judge a way to pronounce more favorably on him, did not do this, but despised his accusers and nobly disregarded them. That the judge would have released Jesus without hesitation if he had made a defense is clear from what is recorded of him, where he said: "Which of the two do you want me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?" and from what the Scripture adds, saying: "For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over." Jesus, then, is always falsely witnessed against, and so long as there is wickedness among human beings there is no time when he is not accused. And he himself even now keeps silent before these things and makes no answer with his voice; but he makes his defense in the life of his genuine disciples, which cries out what really matters and is stronger than all false witness, refuting and overturning the false witnesses and accusations. ### Scripture references - Matt 27:17–18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 27:17–18. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 0.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/2/). ## Against Celsus, preface 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/3/ - Source: Koetschau 1:52–53 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen writes his reply reluctantly, since no true believer should be shaken by Celsus; Paul's list of things that cannot separate us from God's love does not even include arguments. ### Greek text Τολμῶ μὲν οὖν καί φημι ὅτι ἣν ἀξιοῖς ποιήσασθαι ἡμᾶς ἀπολογίαν ὑπεκλύει τὴν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀπολογίαν καὶ τὴν ἐπιφανῆ τοῖς οὐκ ἀναισθήτοις δύναμιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. ὅμως δʼ ἵνα μὴ δοκῶμεν ὀκνεῖν πρὸς τὸ ἐπιταχθὲν ὑπὸ σοῦ, πεπειράμεθα ὑπαγορεῦσαι κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν δύναμιν πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ὑπὸ Κέλσου γεγραμμένων τὸ φανὲν ἡμῖν ἀνατρεπτικὸν τῶν πιστὸν οὐδένα δυναμένων σεῖσαι λόγων αὐτοῦ. καὶ μὴ εἴη γε εὑρεθῆναί τινα τοιαύτην ἀνειληφότα ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ „ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ“, ὡς ὑπὸ τῶν ῥημάτων Κέλσου ἤ τινος τῶν ὁμοίων σεισθῆναι τὴν προαίρεσιν αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ Παῦλος μυρία ὅσα καταλέγων τὰ εἰωθότα χωρίζειν „ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ“ καὶ „ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ“, ὧν πάντων κρείττων ἦν ἡ ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγάπη, λόγον οὐ κατέταξεν ἐν τοῖς χωρίζουσι. πρόσχες γὰρ ὅτι πρότερον μέν φησι· „τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ; θλῖψις ἢ στενοχωρία ἢ διωγμὸς ἢ λιμὸς ἢ γυμνότης ἢ κίνδυνος ἢ μάχαιρα; καθάπερ γέγραπται ὅτι ἕνεκεν σοῦ θανατούμεθα πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς. ἀλλʼ ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικῶμεν διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς.“ δεύτερον δὲ ἄλλο τάγμα ἐκτιθέμενος τῶν πεφυκότων χωρίζειν τοὺς ἀνερματίστους ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ λέγει· „πέπεισμαι γὰρ ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος οὔτε ζωὴ, οὔτε ἄγγελοι οὔτε ἀρχαὶ, οὔτε ἐνεστῶτα οὔτε μέλλοντα, οὔτε δυνάμεις οὔτε ὕψωμα, οὔτε βάθος οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) I venture, then, to say that the defense you ask me to make weakens the defense that lies in the facts and the power of Jesus that is evident to all who are not without perception. Nevertheless, so that I may not seem reluctant about the task you set me, I have tried, as far as my present ability allows, to dictate against each thing Celsus wrote what seemed to me to overturn his arguments, which cannot shake any believer. And may no one be found who has received such love of God "in Christ Jesus" that his resolve could be shaken by the words of Celsus or of anyone like him. Paul, listing countless things that usually separate people "from the love of Christ" and from "the love of God in Christ Jesus," all of which the love in him surpassed, did not rank argument among the things that separate. Notice that first he says: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written: For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." And second, setting out another class of things that by nature separate those who are unsteady in godliness, he says: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ### Scripture references - Rom 8:35–39: quotation, high confidence - Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 8:35–39, which itself quotes Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 0.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/3/). ## Against Celsus, preface 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/4/ - Source: Koetschau 1:53–54 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The apostles are above all danger to faith; yet because some believers may be shaken by Celsus, Origen agrees to answer his book, which is no "true word" at all. ### Greek text Καὶ ἀληθῶς ἄξιον μὲν ἡμᾶς σεμνύνεσθαι ἐπὶ θλίψει μὴ χωριζούσῃ ἢ τοῖς ἑξῆς αὐτῇ κατειλεγμένοις, οὐχὶ δὲ Παῦλον καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους. καὶ εἴ τις ἐκείνοις γέγονε παραπλήσιος, διὰ τὸ πάνυ ὑπεράνω τῶν τοιούτων εἶναι λέγοντα τό· „ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικῶμεν διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς·“ ὅπερ μεῖζόν ἐστι τοῦ νικᾶν. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ ἀποστόλους σεμνύνεσθαι μὴ χωριζομένους „ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν“, σεμνύνοιντο ἂν, „ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος οὔτε ζωὴ, οὔτε ἄγγελοι οὔτε ἀρχαὶ“ οὔτε τι τῶν ἑξῆς δύναται αὐτοὺς „χωρίσαι (ἀπὸ) τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν“. τοίνυν οὐ συνήδομαι τῷ πιστεύσαντι εἰς Χριστὸν, ὡς δύνασθαι σαλευθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὴν πίστιν ὑπὸ Κέλσου, τοῦ οὐδὲ κοινοτέραν ζωὴν ζῶντος ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔτι ἀλλʼ ἤδη καὶ πάλαι νεκροῦ, ἤ τινος πιθανότητος λόγου. οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ἐν ποίῳ τάγματι λογίσασθαι χρὴ τὸν δεόμενον λόγων πρὸς τὰ Κέλσου κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐγκλήματα ἐν βίβλοις ἀναγραφομένων, ἀποκαθιστάντων αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν πίστιν σεισμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆναι ἐν αὐτῇ. ὅμως δʼ ἐπεὶ ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν πιστεύειν νομιζομένων εὑρεθεῖεν ἄν τινες τοιοῦτοι, ὡς σαλεύεσθαι μὲν καὶ ἀνατρέπεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν Κέλσου γραμμάτων θεραπεύεσθαι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὰ ἀπολογίας, ἐὰν ἔχῃ χαρακτῆρά τινα καθαιρετικὸν τῶν Κέλσου καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας παραστατικὸν τὰ λεγόμενα, ἐλογισάμεθα πεισθῆναί σου τῇ προστάξει καὶ ὑπαγορεῦσαι πρὸς ὃ ἔπεμψας ἡμῖν σύγγραμμα· ὅπερ οὐκ οἶμαί τινα τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον προκοψάντων συγκαταθέσθαι εἶναι λόγον ἀληθῆ, ὡς ἐπέγραψεν ὁ Κέλσος. ### English translation (Claude) And truly it would be fitting for us to take pride in a tribulation that does not separate us, or in the things listed after it; but not so Paul and the apostles, and anyone who has become like them, because they are far above such things, saying: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us," which is greater than conquering. And if apostles too must take pride in not being separated "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," they would take pride that "neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities," nor any of the things that follow, can "separate" them "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So I do not rejoice with a believer in Christ whose faith can be shaken by Celsus—who no longer even lives the common life among men but has long been dead—or by any plausibility of argument. I do not know in what class to reckon one who needs arguments against the charges Celsus writes in his books against Christians to restore him from wavering in faith to standing firm in it. Nevertheless, since among the mass of those reckoned believers some might be found who are shaken and overturned by Celsus's writings, but are healed by a defense against them, if what is said has a character that pulls down Celsus's views and establishes the truth, I decided to obey your command and to dictate an answer to the treatise you sent me. I do not think anyone who has made even a little progress in philosophy would agree that it is a "true word," as Celsus entitled it. ### Scripture references - Rom 8:37–39: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 8:37–39. Celsus's work was entitled The True Word (Ἀληθὴς λόγος), probably written ca. 175–180; Origen plays on the title. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 0.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/4/). ## Against Celsus, preface 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/5/ - Source: Koetschau 1:54 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul warned against the empty deceit of philosophy, but Celsus's book does not even rise to the level of philosophical deceit. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν οὖν Παῦλος συνιδὼν ὅτι ἔστιν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ Ἑλληνικῇ οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητα τοῖς πολλοῖς πιθανὰ, παριστάντα τὸ ψεῦδος ὡς ἀλήθειαν, φησὶν ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις τό· „βλέπετε, μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ Χριστόν.“ καὶ ὁρῶν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τῆς τοῦ κόσμου σοφίας ἐμφαινόμενόν τι μέγεθος, εἶπεν εἶναι τοὺς λόγους τῶν φιλοσόφων „κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου.“ οὐδεὶς δὲ τῶν νοῦν ἐχόντων φήσαι ἂν καὶ τὰ Κέλσου „κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου“ εἶναι γεγραμμένα. κἀκεῖνα μὲν ἔχοντά τι ἀπατηλὸν καὶ κενὴν ἀπάτην ὠνόμασε, τάχα πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν ἀπάτης τινὸς οὐ κενῆς. ἣν θεωρήσας ὁ Ἱερεμίας ἐτόλμησε πρὸς θεὸν εἰπεῖν τό· „ἠπάτησάς με, κύριε, καὶ ἠπατήθην, ἐκράτησας καὶ ἠδυνήθης·“ τὰ δὲ Κέλσου οὐδαμῶς ἀπάτην ἔχειν μοι φαίνεται, διὸ οὐδὲ κενὴν, ὁποίαν ἔχει τὰ τῶν αἱρέσεις ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ πηξάντων καὶ τῶν νοῦν οὐ τὸν τυχόντα κατʼ ἐκεῖνα ἀνειληφότων. καὶ ὥσπερ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν τῶν ψευδομένων ἐν γεωμετρικοῖς θεωρήμασι ψευδογραφούμενόν τις ἂν λέγοι ἢ καὶ ἀναγράφοι γυμνασίου ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἀπὸ τοιούτων, οὕτως παραπλήσια εἶναι χρὴ τοῖς τῶν αἱρέσεις πηξάντων ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ νοήμασι τὰ μέλλοντα ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις λέγεσθαι κενὴν ἀπάτην καὶ „παράδοσιν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου.“ ### English translation (Claude) Paul, perceiving that there are in Greek philosophy things not to be despised, plausible to the many, which present falsehood as truth, says about them: "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elements of the world and not according to Christ." And seeing some greatness displayed in the words of the wisdom of the world, he said that the words of the philosophers were "according to the elements of the world." But no one with sense would say that Celsus's writings are "according to the elements of the world." Those, since they had something deceptive, he called "empty deceit," perhaps to distinguish them from a deceit that is not empty, which Jeremiah perceived when he dared to say to God: "You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you prevailed and were strong." But Celsus's writings seem to me to have no deceit at all, and so not even empty deceit, such as the writings of those who founded schools in philosophy, and who took up no ordinary intelligence for that purpose, possess. And just as one would not call just any false statement in geometrical theorems a false diagram, or write it up for the sake of the exercise it gives, so the things that are to be called, like those, "empty deceit" and "human tradition, according to the elements of the world" must resemble the thoughts of those who founded schools in philosophy. ### Scripture references - Col 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Jer 20:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Col 2:8 and Jer 20:7. αἵρεσις is rendered "school" (a philosophical school). The "false diagram" (ψευδογράφημα) is a technical term for a plausible but faulty geometrical proof, as in Aristotle's logic. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 0.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/5/). ## Against Celsus, preface 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/6/ - Source: Koetschau 1:54–55 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that the preface was written later, that the book is for unbelievers and the weak in faith, and that its opening chapters are only brief notes. ### Greek text Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ προοίμιον μετὰ τὸ ὑπαγορεῦσαι πάντα τὰ μέχρι τῆς παρὰ Κέλσῳ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν προσωποποιΐας ἔδοξεν ἡμῖν προτάξαι τῆς ἀρχῆς· ἵνʼ αὐτῷ προεντυγχάνῃ ὁ ἀναγνωσόμενος τὰ πρὸς Κέλσον ἡμῖν ὑπαγορευθέντα καὶ ἴδῃ ὅτι οὐ πάνυ πιστοῖς γέγραπται τὸ βιβλίον τοῦτο ἀλλʼ ἢ τέλεον ἀγεύστοις τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως ἢ τοῖς, ὡς ὁ ἀπόστολος ὠνόμασεν, ἀσθενοῦσιν ἐν „τῇ πίστει.“ εἶπε δʼ οὕτως· „τὸν δʼ ἀσθενοῦντα τῇ πίστει προσλαμβάνεσθε.“ ἀπολογησάσθω δὲ τὸ προοίμιον, ὅτι ἄλλῃ μὲν προθέσει τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν πρὸς Κέλσον ὑπηγορεύσαμεν ἄλλῃ δὲ τὰ μετὰ τὴν ἀρχήν. πρότερον μὲν γὰρ ἐσκοποῦμεν ὑποσημειώσασθαι τὰ κεφάλαια καὶ διὰ βραχέων τὰ πρὸς αὐτὰ λεγόμενα, εἶτα μετὰ τοῦτο σωματοποιῆσαι τὸν λόγον· ὕστερον δʼ αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα ὑπέβαλεν ἡμῖν φειδομένοις χρόνου ἀρκεσθῆναι μὲν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὕτως ὑπαγορευθεῖσιν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἑξῆς κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν συγγραφικῶς ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς τὰ Κέλσου καθʼ ἡμῶν ἐγκλήματα. διόπερ αἰτοῦμεν συγγνώμην ἐπὶ τῇ ἀρχῇ τῶν μετὰ τὸ προοίμιον. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ κινηθῇς καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς ὑπαγορευθέντων ἀνυσίμως, καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς τὴν ὁμοίαν συγγνώμην αἰτῶν ἀναπέμπω σε, ἐάνπερ ἔτι θέλῃς διʼ ὑπαγορεύσεων τὰς λύσεις σοι τῶν Κέλσου γενέσθαι λόγων, ἐπὶ τοὺς ἡμῶν συνετωτέρους καὶ δυνατοὺς, διὰ λέξεων καὶ βιβλίων ἀνατρέπειν δυναμένους τὰ καθʼ ἡμῶν τοῦ Κέλσου ἐγκλήματα. πλὴν βελτίων ὁ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν δεηθεὶς, κἂν ἐντυχὼν τῷ Κέλσου συγγράμματι, τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸ ἀπολογίας, ἀλλʼ ὑπερφρονήσας πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ αὐτοῦ ὡς καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος ἐν Χριστῷ πιστοῦ διὰ τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ πνεῦμα εὐλόγως καταφρονούμενα. ### English translation (Claude) I decided to place this preface at the beginning after I had dictated everything up to the speech Celsus puts in the mouth of the Jew against Jesus, so that whoever reads what I have dictated against Celsus may meet it first and see that this book has not been written at all for those firm in faith, but either for those wholly without taste of faith in Christ, or for those whom the apostle called weak "in the faith." He said: "Welcome the one who is weak in faith." Let the preface also offer this excuse: that I dictated the beginning of my answer to Celsus with one plan and what follows the beginning with another. At first I intended to note down the headings and briefly what could be said against them, and after that to give the argument a full body; but later the subject itself suggested to me, to save time, that I should be content with what had been dictated in that way at the beginning, and in what followed contend, as far as I could, in the manner of a treatise against Celsus's charges against us. So I ask pardon for the beginning of what follows the preface. And if you are not effectively moved by what was dictated afterward either, I ask the same pardon for it too, and refer you—if you still want the answers to Celsus's arguments to come to you by dictation—to those wiser than I and able to overturn Celsus's charges against us in words and books. Better, however, is the one who, even on reading Celsus's treatise, does not need any defense against it at all, but despises everything in his book as something that even an ordinary believer in Christ rightly despises because of the Spirit that is in him. ### Scripture references - Rom 14:1: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Rom 14:1. Origen dictated the work; the preface was composed after the part corresponding to Book 1.1–27, before Celsus's imagined Jew is introduced (1.28). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 0.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/6/). ## Against Celsus 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/1/ - Source: Koetschau 1:56–57 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus accuses Christians of illegal secret associations; Origen replies that secret agreements against unjust laws, like a plot against a tyrant, are right. ### Greek text Πρῶτον τῷ Κέλσῳ κεφάλαιόν ἐστι βουλομένῳ διαβαλεῖν χριστιανισμὸν, ὡς συνθήκας κρύβδην πρὸς ἀλλήλους ποιουμένων Χριστιανῶν παρὰ τὰ νενομισμένα, ὅτι τῶν συνθηκῶν αἱ μέν εἰσι φανεραὶ, ὅσαι κατὰ νόμους γίνονται, αἱ δὲ ἀφανεῖς, ὅσαι παρὰ τὰ νενομισμένα συντελοῦνται. καὶ βούλεται διαβαλεῖν τὴν καλουμένην ἀγάπην Χριστιανῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ἀπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ κινδύνου ὑφισταμένην καὶ δυναμένην ὑπερόρκια. ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸν κοινὸν νόμον θρυλεῖ παρὰ τοῦτον λέγων Χριστιανοῖς τὰς συνθήκας, λεκτέον πρὸς τοῦτο ὅτι, ὥσπερ εἴ τις παρὰ Σκύθαις νόμους ἀθέσμους ἔχουσι γενόμενος ἀναχωρήσεως μὴ ἔχων καιρὸν βιοῦν παρʼ ἐκείνοις ἀναγκάζοιτο, εὐλόγως ἂν οὗτος διὰ τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας νόμον, ὡς πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας παρανομίαν, καὶ συνθήκας πρὸς τοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτῷ φρονοῦντας ποιήσαι ἂν παρὰ τὰ ἐκείνοις νενομισμένα· οὕτως παρʼ ἀληθείᾳ δικαζούσῃ οἱ νόμοι τῶν ἐθνῶν, οἱ περὶ ἀγαλμάτων καὶ τῆς ἀθέου πολυθεότητος, νόμοι εἰσὶ Σκυθῶν καὶ εἴ τι Σκυθῶν ἀσεβέστερον. οὐκ ἄλογον οὖν συνθήκας παρὰ τὰ νενομισμένα ποιεῖν τὰς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας. ὥσπερ γὰρ, εἰ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τύραννον προλαβόντα τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἀνελεῖν συνθήκας τινὲς κρύβδην ἐποιοῦντο, καλῶς ἂν ἐποίουν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ Χριστιανοὶ, τυραννοῦντος τοῦ παρʼ αὐτοῖς καλουμένου διαβόλου καὶ τοῦ ψεύδους, συνθήκας ποιοῦνται παρὰ τὰ νενομισμένα τῷ διαβόλῳ κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας ἑτέρων, οὓς ἂν πεῖσαι δυνηθῶσιν ἀποστῆναι τοῦ ὡσανεὶ Σκυθῶν καὶ τυράννου νόμου. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus's first heading, in his wish to slander Christianity, is that Christians make secret agreements with one another contrary to the laws: of agreements, he says, some are public, those made according to the laws, and others secret, those concluded contrary to what is lawful. And he wants to slander the so-called love of Christians for one another, which arises, he says, from their common danger and is stronger than oaths. Since, then, he harps on the common law, saying that the agreements of Christians are contrary to it, we must answer this: suppose someone living among the Scythians, who have lawless laws, had no opportunity to leave and were forced to live among them. He would reasonably, for the sake of the law of truth—which to the Scythians is lawlessness—make agreements with those who think as he does, contrary to what the Scythians hold lawful. So, before the tribunal of truth, the laws of the nations about images and godless polytheism are laws of Scythians, or anything more impious than Scythians. It is not unreasonable, then, to make agreements contrary to the laws when they are made for the sake of truth. For just as, if some people secretly made agreements to kill a tyrant who had seized the city, they would do well, so also Christians, since the one they call the devil, and falsehood, rule as tyrant, make agreements against the devil that are contrary to the devil's laws, and for the salvation of others whom they can persuade to revolt from the law that is, as it were, Scythian and tyrannical. ### Translation notes - ὑπερόρκια ("beyond oaths") is taken as "stronger than oaths," i.e. more binding than any oath; the reading is uncertain. The "love" (ἀγάπη) may also allude to the Christian love-feast. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/1/). ## Against Celsus 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/2/ - Source: Koetschau 1:57 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christianity's Jewish origins are "barbarian," but its truth rests on a divine demonstration of the Spirit (prophecy) and of power (miracles still seen). ### Greek text Ἑξῆς βάρβαρόν φησιν ἄνωθεν εἶναι τὸ δόγμα, δηλονότι τὸν ἰουδαϊσμὸν, οὗ χριστιανισμὸς ἤρτηται. καὶ εὐγνωμόνως γε οὐκ ὀνειδίζει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπὸ βαρβάρων ἀρχῇ τῷ λόγῳ, ἐπαινῶν ὡς ἱκανοὺς εὑρεῖν δόγματα τοὺς βαρβάρους· προστίθησι δὲ τούτοις ὅτι κρῖναι καὶ βεβαιώσασθαι καὶ ἀσκῆσαι πρὸς ἀρετὴν τὰ ὑπὸ βαρβάρων εὑρεθέντα ἀμείνονές εἰσιν Ἕλληνες. τοῦτʼ οὖν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεγομένων εἰς ἀπολογίαν περὶ τῶν ἐν χριστιανισμῷ κειμένων, ὄντων ἀληθῶν, ὅτι ἀπὸ Ἑλληνικῶν τις δογμάτων καὶ γυμνασίων ἐλθὼν ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον οὐ μόνον κρίνοι ἂν αὐτὰ ἀληθῆ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσκήσας κατασκευάσαι ἂν καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν ἐλλιπὲς ὡς πρὸς Ἑλληνικὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἀναπληρώσαι, κατασκευάζων τὴν χριστιανισμοῦ ἀληθότητα. λεκτέον δʼ ἔτι πρὸς τοῦτο ὅτι ἔστι τις οἰκεία ἀπόδειξις τοῦ λόγου, θειοτέρα παρὰ τὴν ἀπὸ διαλεκτικῆς Ἑλληνικήν. ταύτην δὲ τὴν θειοτέραν ὁ ἀπόστολος ὀνομάζει ἀπόδειξιν „πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως.“ [ὡς] „πνεύματος“ μὲν διὰ τὰς προφητείας ἱκανὰς πιστοποιῆσαι τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα μάλιστα εἰς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, „δυνάμεως“ δὲ διὰ τὰς τεραστίους δυνάμεις, ἃς κατασκευαστέον γεγονέναι καὶ ἐκ πολλῶν μὲν ἄλλων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἴχνη δὲ αὐτῶν ἔτι σῴζεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ λόγου βιοῦσι. ### English translation (Claude) Next he says that the doctrine—evidently Judaism, on which Christianity depends—was barbarian in origin. And fairly enough he does not reproach the teaching for its barbarian origin, but praises the barbarians as capable of discovering doctrines; he adds, however, that the Greeks are better at judging, establishing, and putting into practice for virtue what the barbarians discovered. From what he says, then, we have this for the defense of what is contained in Christianity, since it is true: someone who comes to the teaching from Greek doctrines and training would not only judge it true, but by practicing it would also establish it and supply what seems lacking from the standpoint of Greek demonstration, establishing the truth of Christianity. We must say further that the teaching has a demonstration of its own, more divine than Greek demonstration from dialectic. This more divine one the apostle calls the demonstration "of the Spirit and of power": "of the Spirit" because of the prophecies, which are able to convince the reader, above all in what concerns Christ; and "of power" because of the wonderful mighty works, which can be shown to have happened from many other proofs and also because traces of them are still preserved among those who live according to the will of the Word. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 2:4. The bracketed [ὡς] is deleted by the editor. λόγος here is the Christian "teaching" or "word"; at the end it may also mean Christ the Word. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/2/). ## Against Celsus 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/3/ - Source: Koetschau 1:57–58 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Unlike the persecution of Socrates or Pythagoras, the persecution of Christians came from every power in the empire, and only divine power let the faith survive and conquer. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ κρύφα Χριστιανοὺς τὰ ἀρέσκοντα ἑαυτοῖς ποιεῖν καὶ διδάσκειν εἰπὼν, καὶ ὅτι οὐ μάτην τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν, ἅτε διωθούμενοι τὴν ἐπηρτημένην αὐτοῖς δίκην τοῦ θανάτου, ὁμοιοῖ τὸν κίνδυνον κινδύνοις τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ ὡς Σωκράτει· ἐδύνατο λέγειν καὶ ὡς Πυθαγόρᾳ καὶ ἄλλοις φιλοσόφοις. λεκτέον δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο ὅτι ἐπὶ Σωκράτει μὲν εὐθέως Ἀθηναῖοι μετενόησαν, καὶ οὐδὲν παρέμεινεν αὐτοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ πικρὸν οὐδʼ ἐπὶ Πυθαγόρᾳ· οἱ γοῦν Πυθαγόρειοι ἐπὶ πλεῖον τὰς διατριβὰς συνεστήσαντο ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, τῇ κληθείσῃ μεγάλῃ Ἑλλάδι· ἐπὶ δὲ Χριστιανοῖς ἡ Ῥωμαίων σύγκλητος βουλὴ καὶ οἱ κατὰ καιρὸν βασιλεῖς καὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ καὶ οἱ δῆμοι καὶ οἱ τῶν πιστευόντων συγγενεῖς προσπολεμήσαντες τῷ λόγῳ ἐκώλυσαν ἂν αὐτὸν νικηθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν τοσούτων ἐπιβουλῆς, εἰ μὴ θείᾳ δυνάμει ὑπερέκυψε καὶ ὑπερανέβη, ὡς νικῆσαι ὅλον κόσμον αὐτῷ ἐπιβουλεύοντα. ### English translation (Claude) After this, having said that Christians do and teach what they like in secret, and that they do not do this without reason, since they are warding off the death penalty that hangs over them, he compares their danger with the dangers that befell philosophy, as in the case of Socrates; he could have added Pythagoras and other philosophers too. We must answer this: in the case of Socrates the Athenians at once repented, and no bitterness about him remained among them, nor in the case of Pythagoras; at any rate the Pythagoreans kept up their schools for a long time in Italy, in what was called Magna Graecia. But against the Christians the Roman Senate, the emperors of each period, the army, the peoples, and the relatives of believers made war on the teaching, and they would have stopped it, overcome by the plotting of so many, if by divine power it had not risen above it and climbed over it, so as to conquer the whole world plotting against it. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/3/). ## Against Celsus 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/4/ - Source: Koetschau 1:58 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christian ethics resembles philosophy's because God wrote the moral law on every heart; the broken and rewritten tablets symbolize sin and renewal. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν καὶ ὡς τὸν ἠθικὸν τόπον οἴεται διαβαλεῖν τῷ κοινὸν εἶναι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους φιλοσόφους ὡς οὐ σεμνόν τι καὶ καινὸν μάθημα. πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ λεκτέον ὅτι τοῖς εἰσάγουσι κρίσιν δικαίαν θεοῦ ἀπεκέκλειστο ἂν ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις δίκη, μὴ πάντων ἐχόντων κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς ἐννοίας πρόληψιν ὑγιῆ περὶ τοῦ ἠθικοῦ τόπου. διόπερ οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν τὸν αὐτὸν θεὸν ἅπερ ἐδίδαξε διὰ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐγκατεσπαρκέναι ταῖς ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων ψυχαῖς· ἵνʼ ἀναπολόγητος ἐν τῇ θείᾳ κρίσει πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ᾖ, ἔχων τὸ βούλημα „τοῦ νόμου γραπτὸν“ ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καρδίᾳ· ὅπερ ᾐνίξατο ἐν ᾧ νομίζουσιν Ἕλληνες μύθῳ ὁ λόγος ποιήσας τὸν θεὸν γεγραφέναι τῷ ἰδίῳ „δακτύλῳ“ τὰς ἐντολὰς καὶ Μωϋσεῖ δεδωκέναι, ἃς „συνέτριψεν“ ἡ κακία τῶν μοσχοποιησάντων, ὡς εἰ ἔλεγεν, ἐπέκλυσεν ἡ χύσις τῆς ἁμαρτίας. δεύτερον δὲ γράψας πάλιν ἔδωκε λατομήσαντος λίθους Μωϋσέως ὁ θεὸς, οἱονεὶ τοῦ προφητικοῦ λόγου εὐτρεπίζοντος ψυχὴν μετὰ τὴν πρώτην ἁμαρτίαν δευτέροις γράμμασι τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Let us see also how he thinks he can slander our moral teaching on the ground that it is shared with the other philosophers and is not a venerable or new doctrine. To this we must say that, for those who teach a just judgment of God, punishment for sins would have been ruled out if all did not have, according to the common notions, a sound preconception about moral matters. So it is no wonder that the same God has sown in the souls of all human beings what he taught through the prophets and the Savior, so that every human being may be without excuse at the divine judgment, having the purpose "of the law written" in his own heart. This the Scripture hinted at in what the Greeks think a myth, when it portrayed God writing the commandments with his own "finger" and giving them to Moses, which the wickedness of those who made the calf "broke"—as if it were saying that the flood of sin washed them away. The second time God wrote them again and gave them after Moses had hewn stones, as though the prophetic word were preparing the soul, after the first sin, for a second writing of God. ### Scripture references - Rom 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Exod 31:18: allusion, high confidence - Exod 32:19: allusion, high confidence - Exod 34:1–4: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Allusions to Rom 2:15, Exod 31:18, 32:19, and 34:1–4. "Common notions" (κοιναὶ ἔννοιαι) and "preconception" (πρόληψις) are Stoic terms. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/4/). ## Against Celsus 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/5/ - Source: Koetschau 1:58–59 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus notes that philosophers also rejected idols; Origen agrees, because God wrote this truth too on human hearts. ### Greek text Τὰ δὲ περὶ τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας ὡς ἴδια τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἐκτιθέμενος καὶ ὑποκατασκευάζει λέγων αὐτοὺς διὰ τοῦτο μὴ νομίζειν αὐτοὺς χειροποιήτους θεοὺς, ἐπεὶ μὴ εὔλογόν ἐστι τὰ ὑπὸ φαυλοτάτων δημιουργῶν καὶ μοχθηρῶν τὸ ἦθος εἰργασμένα εἶναι θεοὺς, πολλάκις καὶ ὑπὸ ἀδίκων ἀνθρώπων κατασκευασθέντα. ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς οὖν θέλων αὐτὸ κοινοποιῆσαι ὡς οὐ πρῶτον ὑπὸ τούτου εὑρεθὲν ἐκτίθεται Ἡρακλείτου λέξιν τὴν λέγουσαν· „ὅμοια, ὡς εἴ τις τοῖς δόμοις λεσχηνεύοιτο, ποιεῖν τοὺς προσιόντας ὡς θεοῖς τοῖς ἀψύχοις.“ οὐκοῦν καὶ περὶ τούτου λεκτέον ὅτι ὁμοίως τῷ ἄλλῳ ἠθικῷ τόπῳ ἐγκατεσπάρησαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἔννοιαι, ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ ὁ Ἡράκλειτος καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος Ἑλλήνων ἢ βαρβάρων τοῦτʼ ἐνενόησε κατασκευάσαι. ἐκτίθεται γὰρ καὶ Πέρσας τοῦτο φρονοῦντας, παρατιθέμενος Ἡρόδοτον ἱστοροῦντα αὐτό. προσθήσομεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς ὅτι καὶ Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεὺς ἐν τῇ Πολιτείᾳ φησίν· „ἱερά τε οἰκοδομεῖν οὐδὲν δεήσει· ἱερὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν χρὴ νομίζειν οὐδὲ πολλοῦ ἄξιον καὶ ἅγιον, οἰκοδόμων τε ἔργον καὶ βαναύσων.“ σαφὲς οὖν ὅτι καὶ περὶ τούτου τοῦ δόγματος γέγραπται „ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις“ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γράμμασι θεοῦ τὸ πρακτέον. ### English translation (Claude) Setting out the teaching about idolatry as peculiar to those who follow the Word, he even adds support for it, saying that for this reason they do not regard gods made with hands as gods, since it is not reasonable that things made by the most worthless craftsmen, of wicked character, often fashioned by unjust men, should be gods. In what follows, then, wanting to make it common property, as though it were not first discovered by this teaching, he quotes a saying of Heraclitus: "Those who approach lifeless things as gods act as if one were to hold conversation with houses." About this too we must say that, as with the rest of moral teaching, notions were sown in human beings from which Heraclitus, and any other Greek or barbarian, thought of establishing this. For he mentions the Persians too as thinking so, citing Herodotus who records it. We will add ourselves that Zeno of Citium too says in his Republic: "There will be no need to build temples; for no temple ought to be thought of great worth or holy, since it is the work of builders and mechanics." It is clear, then, that on this doctrine too what must be done has been written "in the hearts" of human beings by the letters of God. ### Scripture references - Rom 2:15: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Heraclitus, frag. 5 (Heraclitus (fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 1.131 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence - Zeno of Citium, Zeno SVF 1.264 (Zeno of Citium): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Heraclitus, frag. 5 (Diels–Kranz), Herodotus 1.131 (cited by Celsus), and Zeno of Citium, Republic (SVF 1.264); "in the hearts" alludes to Rom 2:15. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/5/). ## Against Celsus 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/6/ - Source: Koetschau 1:59 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians cast out demons not by spells but by the name of Jesus and the telling of his story; Celsus wrongly calls Jesus a sorcerer. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα οὐκ οἶδα πόθεν κινούμενος ὁ Κέλσος φησὶ δαιμόνων τινῶν ὀνόμασι καὶ κατακηλήσεσι δοκεῖν ἰσχύειν Χριστιανοὺς, ὡς οἶμαι αἰνισσόμενος τὰ περὶ τῶν κατεπᾳδόντων τοὺς δαίμονας καὶ ἐξελαυνόντων. ἔοικε δὲ σαφῶς συκοφαντεῖν τὸν λόγον. οὐ γὰρ κατακηλήσεσιν ἰσχύειν δοκοῦσιν ἀλλὰ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ μετὰ τῆς ἀπαγγελίας τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἱστοριῶν. ταῦτα γὰρ λεγόμενα πολλάκις τοὺς δαίμονας πεποίηκεν ἀνθρώπων χωρισθῆναι. καὶ μάλισθʼ ὅταν οἱ λέγοντες ἀπὸ διαθέσεως ὑγιοῦς καὶ πεπιστευκυίας γνησίως αὐτὰ λέγωσι, τοσοῦτον μέν γε δύναται τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τῶν δαιμόνων, ὡς ἔσθʼ ὅτε καὶ ὑπὸ φαύλων ὀνομαζόμενον ἀνύειν· ὅπερ διδάσκων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγε τό· „πολλοὶ ἐροῦσί μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ· τῷ ὀνόματί σου δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν καὶ δυνάμεις ἐποιήσαμεν.“ τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ οἶδα πότερον ἑκὼν παρεῖδε καὶ κακουργεῖ ὁ Κέλσος ἢ μὴ ἐπιστάμενος. κατηγορεῖ δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος, ὡς γοητείᾳ δυνηθέντος ἃ ἔδοξε παράδοξα πεποιηκέναι καὶ προϊδόντος ὅτι μέλλουσι καὶ ἄλλοι τὰ αὐτὰ μαθήματα ἐγνωκότες ποιεῖν τὸ αὐτὸ, σεμνυνόμενοι τῷ θεοῦ δυνάμει ποιεῖν· οὕστινας ἀπελαύνει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ πολιτείας ὁ Ἰησοῦς. καὶ κατηγορεῖ αὐτοῦ ὅτι, εἰ δικαίως ἀπελαύνει καὶ αὐτὸς ἔνοχος ὢν τοῖς αὐτοῖς, φαῦλός ἐστιν· εἰ δʼ αὐτὸς οὐ φαῦλος ταῦτα ποιήσας, οὐδʼ οἱ ὁμοίως αὐτῷ πράττοντες. ἄντικρυς δὲ, κἂν δοκῇ ἀνέλεγκτον εἶναι τὸ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, πῶς ταῦτα ἐποίησε, σαφὲς ὅτι Χριστιανοὶ οὐδεμιᾷ μελέτῃ ἐπῳδῶν χρώμενοι τυγχάνουσιν ἀλλὰ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἄλλων λόγων πεπιστευμένων κατὰ τὴν θείαν γραφήν. ### English translation (Claude) After this, moved by I know not what, Celsus says that Christians seem to get their power from the names of certain demons and from incantations, hinting, I suppose, at those who charm and drive out demons. But he seems plainly to be slandering the teaching. For they do not seem to get their power from incantations but from the name of Jesus, together with the recital of the stories about him. For these, when spoken, have often made demons leave human beings, especially when those who speak them speak from a sound disposition and genuine faith. Indeed the name of Jesus has such power against the demons that sometimes it is effective even when named by wicked men. Jesus taught this when he said: "Many will say to me on that day: In your name we cast out demons and did mighty works." I do not know whether Celsus passed this over deliberately and maliciously or through ignorance. In what follows he accuses the Savior too, as having been able by sorcery to do the seemingly wonderful things he did, and as foreseeing that others, having learned the same lessons, would do the same, boasting that they do it by the power of God—people whom Jesus drives out of his own commonwealth. And he accuses him thus: if he rightly drives them out while guilty of the same things himself, he is wicked; but if he is not wicked for doing these things, neither are those who act as he did. On the contrary, even if it seems impossible to prove how Jesus did these things, it is clear that Christians use no practice of incantations but succeed by the name of Jesus and other words believed according to divine Scripture. ### Scripture references - Matt 7:22: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 7:22 (cf. Luke 13:26). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/6/). ## Against Celsus 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/7/ - Source: Koetschau 1:59–60 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christian preaching is known everywhere, not secret; like philosophy and the mysteries it has deeper teachings for the prepared, which is no fault. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ πολλάκις ὀνομάζει κρύφιον τὸ δόγμα, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ αὐτὸν ἐλεγκτέον, σχεδὸν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου ἐγνωκότος τὸ κήρυγμα Χριστιανῶν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις ἀρέσκοντα. τίνα γὰρ λανθάνει ἡ ἐκ παρθένου γέννησις Ἰησοῦ καὶ ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος καὶ ἡ παρὰ πολλοῖς πεπιστευμένη ἀνάστασις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ καταγγελλομένη κρίσις, κολάζουσα μὲν κατʼ ἀξίαν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας γέρως δʼ ἀξιοῦσα τοὺς δικαίους; ἀλλὰ καὶ μὴ νοηθὲν τὸ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μυστήριον θρυλεῖται γελώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπίστων. ἐπὶ τούτοις οὖν λέγειν κρύφιον εἶναι τὸ δόγμα πάνυ ἐστὶν ἄτοπον· τὸ δʼ εἶναί τινα οἷον μετὰ τὰ ἐξωτερικὰ, μὴ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς φθάνοντα, οὐ μόνου ἴδιον τοῦ Χριστιανῶν λόγου ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ φιλοσόφων, παρʼ οἷς τινες μὲν ἦσαν ἐξωτερικοὶ λόγοι ἕτεροι δὲ ἐσωτερικοί· καί τινες μὲν ἀκούοντες Πυθαγόρου, ὡς „αὐτὸς ἔφα, “ ἄλλοι δʼ ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ διδασκόμενοι τὰ μὴ ἄξια φθάνειν εἰς ἀκοὰς βεβήλους καὶ μηδέπω κεκαθαρμένας. καὶ πάντα δὲ τὰ πανταχοῦ μυστήρια κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν βάρβαρον κρύφια ὄντα οὐ διαβέβληται· διόπερ μάτην μηδὲ νοήσας ἀκριβῶς τὸ κρύφιον τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ διαβάλλει αὐτό. ### English translation (Claude) Next, since he often calls our doctrine secret, here too he must be refuted, since almost the whole world knows the preaching of Christians better than the opinions of the philosophers. For who does not know of the birth of Jesus from a virgin, and of the crucified one, and of his resurrection, believed by many, and of the judgment that is proclaimed, which punishes sinners as they deserve and counts the righteous worthy of reward? Even the mystery of the resurrection, not being understood, is bandied about and laughed at by unbelievers. To say, then, that in view of all this the doctrine is secret is quite absurd. That there are certain things, as it were beyond the exoteric teachings, which do not reach the many, is not peculiar to the Christian teaching alone but belongs also to that of the philosophers, among whom some teachings were exoteric and others esoteric. Some heard Pythagoras only as "he himself said," while others were taught in secret the things not fit to reach profane ears not yet purified. And all the mysteries everywhere, in Greece and in the barbarian world, though secret, have not been slandered. So he slanders the secret element of Christianity in vain, without even understanding it accurately. ### Translation notes - "He himself said" (αὐτὸς ἔφα, Doric) was the Pythagoreans' proverbial appeal to their master's authority. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/7/). ## Against Celsus 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/8/ - Source: Koetschau 1:60–61 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus praises constancy under persecution, yet hides his own Epicurean views to seem more credible, and so contradicts himself. ### Greek text Ἔοικε δὲ μετὰ δεινότητος συναγορεύειν πως τοῖς μαρτυροῦσι τῷ χριστιανισμῷ μέχρι θανάτου λέγων· καὶ οὐ τοῦτο λέγω, ὡς χρὴ τὸν ἀγαθοῦ δόγματος περιεχόμενον, εἰ μέλλει διʼ αὐτὸ κινδυνεύειν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις, ἀποστῆναι τοῦ δόγματος ἢ πλάσασθαι ὡς ἀφέστηκεν ἢ ἔξαρνον γενέσθαι. καὶ καταγινώσκει γε τῶν φρονούντων μὲν τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ προσποιουμένων δὲ μὴ φρονεῖν ἢ ἀρνουμένων, λέγων μὴ δεῖν τὸν ἐν τῷ δόγματι πλάσασθαι ὡς ἀφέστηκεν ἢ ἔξαρνον αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι. ἐλεγκτέον δὴ ὡς τὰ ἐναντία ἑαυτῷ λέγοντα τὸν Κέλσον. εὑρίσκεται μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἄλλων συγγραμμάτων Ἐπικούρειος ὤν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν εὐλογώτερον κατηγορεῖν τοῦ λόγου μὴ ὁμολογῶν τὰ Ἐπικούρου προσποιεῖται κρεῖττόν τι τοῦ γηΐνου εἶναι ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ συγγενὲς θεοῦ καί φησιν ὅτι οἷς τοῦτο εὖ ἔχει, τουτέστιν ἡ ψυχὴ, πάντη ἐφίεται τοῦ συγγενοῦς, λέγει δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἀκούειν ἀεί τι (καὶ) ἀναμιμνήσκεσθαι περὶ ἐκείνου ποθοῦσιν. ὅρα οὖν τὸ νόθον αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς, ὅτι προειπὼν, ὡς χρὴ τὸν ἀγαθοῦ δόγματος περιεχόμενον, καὶ εἰ μέλλει διʼ αὐτὸ κινδυνεύειν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις, μὴ ἀφίστασθαι τοῦ δόγματος μηδὲ πλάσασθαι ὡς ἀφέστηκε μηδʼ ἔξαρνον γενέσθαι, αὐτὸς τοῖς ἐναντίοις πᾶσι περιπίπτει. ᾔδει γὰρ ὅτι ὁμολογῶν Ἐπικούρειος εἶναι οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τὸ ἀξιόπιστον ἐν τῷ κατηγορεῖν τῶν ὅπως ποτὲ πρόνοιαν εἰσαγόντων καὶ θεὸν ἐφιστάντων τοῖς οὖσι. δύο δὲ παρειλήφαμεν Κέλσους γεγονέναι Ἐπικουρείους, τὸν μὲν πρότερον κατὰ Νέρωνα τοῦτον δὲ κατὰ Ἀδριανὸν καὶ κατωτέρω. ### English translation (Claude) He seems, with some cleverness, to plead in a way on behalf of those who bear witness to Christianity even to death, saying: "And I do not say that one who holds a good doctrine, if he is going to be in danger among men because of it, must abandon the doctrine or pretend to have abandoned it or deny it." He even condemns those who hold Christian views but pretend not to, or deny them, saying that one who holds the doctrine ought not to pretend to have abandoned it or deny it. Celsus must be shown to contradict himself. For from other writings he is found to be an Epicurean; but here, because he seems to accuse the teaching more reasonably if he does not admit Epicurus's views, he pretends that there is in man something better than the earthly, akin to God, and he says that "those in whom this is in good condition"—that is, the soul—"strive in every way for what is akin to them" (he means God), "and long always to hear something about him and to be reminded of him." See, then, the spuriousness of his soul: having said beforehand that one who holds a good doctrine, even if he is going to be in danger among men because of it, must not abandon the doctrine nor pretend to have abandoned it nor deny it, he himself falls into all the opposite faults. For he knew that if he admitted he was an Epicurean he would have no credibility in accusing those who in any way introduce providence and set God over what exists. We have learned that there were two Epicureans named Celsus, the earlier in the time of Nero, and this one in the time of Hadrian and later. ### Translation notes - Origen's identification of Celsus as an Epicurean is doubtful; the views Celsus expresses throughout are largely Platonist, and Origen himself later hesitates. The date "in the time of Hadrian and later" is Origen's; modern scholars usually date The True Word ca. 175–180. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/8/). ## Against Celsus 1.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/9/ - Source: Koetschau 1:61–62 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks Christians for believing without reasons; Origen replies that Christianity also examines its beliefs deeply, but simple faith is the best way to help the many who cannot study philosophy. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα προτρέπει ἐπὶ τὸ λόγῳ ἀκολουθοῦντας καὶ λογικῷ ὁδηγῷ παραδέχεσθαι δόγματα, ὡς πάντως ἀπάτης γινομένης τῷ μὴ οὕτω συγκατατιθεμένῳ τισί· καὶ ἐξομοιοῖ τοὺς ἀλόγως πιστεύοντας μητραγύρταις καὶ τερατοσκόποις, Μίθραις τε καὶ Σαβαδίοις. καὶ ὅτῳ τις προσέτυχεν, Ἑκάτης ἢ ἄλλης δαίμονος ἢ δαιμόνων φάσμασιν. ὡς γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνοις πολλάκις μοχθηροὶ ἄνθρωποι ἐπιβαίνοντες τῇ ἰδιωτείᾳ τῶν εὐεξαπατήτων ἄγουσιν αὐτοὺς ᾗ βούλονται, οὕτως φησὶ καὶ ἐν τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς γίνεσθαι. φησὶ δέ τινας μηδὲ βουλομένους διδόναι ἢ λαμβάνειν λόγον περὶ ὧν πιστεύουσι χρῆσθαι τῷ „μὴ ἐξέταζε ἀλλὰ πίστευσον“ καὶ „ἡ πίστις σου σώσει σε.“ καί φησιν αὐτοὺς λέγειν· „κακὸν ἡ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ σοφία ἀγαθὸν δʼ ἡ μωρία.“ λεκτέον δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο ὅτι εἰ μὲν οἷόν τε πάντας καταλιπόντας τὰ τοῦ βίου πράγματα σχολάζειν τῷ φιλοσοφεῖν, ἄλλην ὁδὸν οὐ μεταδιωκτέον οὐδενὶ ἢ ταύτην μόνην. εὑρεθήσεται γὰρ ἐν τῷ χριστιανισμῷ οὐκ ἐλάττων, ἵνα μὴ φορτικόν τι εἴπω, ἐξέτασις τῶν πεπιστευμένων καὶ διήγησις τῶν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις αἰνιγμάτων καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις παραβολῶν καὶ ἄλλων μυρίων συμβολικῶς γεγενημένων ἢ νενομοθετημένων. εἰ δὲ τοῦτʼ ἀμήχανον πῇ μὲν διὰ τὰς τοῦ βίου ἀνάγκας πῇ δὲ καὶ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀσθένειαν, σφόδρα ὀλίγων ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον ᾀττόντων, ποία ἂν ἄλλη βελτίων μέθοδος πρὸς τὸ τοῖς πολλοῖς βοηθῆσαι εὑρεθείη τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῖς ἔθνεσι παραδοθείσης; καὶ πυνθανόμεθά γε περὶ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν πιστευόντων, τὴν πολλὴν χύσιν τῆς κακίας ἀποθεμένων, ἐν ᾗ πρότερον ἐκαλινδοῦντο· πότερον βέλτιόν ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἀλόγως πιστεύουσι κατεστάλθαι πως τὰ ἤθη καὶ ὠφελῆσθαι διὰ τὴν περὶ τῶν κολαζομένων ἐπὶ ἁμαρτίαις καὶ τιμωμένων ἐπὶ ἔργοις χρηστοῖς πίστιν, ἢ μὴ προσίεσθαι αὐτῶν τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν μετὰ ψιλῆς πίστεως, ἕως ἂν ἐπιδῶσιν ἑαυτοὺς ἐξετάσει λόγων; φανερῶς γὰρ οἱ πάντες παρʼ ἐλαχίστους οὐδὲ τοῦτο λήψονται, ὅπερ εἰλήφασιν ἐκ τοῦ ἁπλῶς πεπιστευκέναι, ἀλλὰ μενοῦσιν ἐν κακίστῳ βίῳ. εἴπερ οὖν ἄλλο τι κατασκευαστικόν ἐστι τοῦ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον τοῦ λόγου οὐκ ἀθεεὶ τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεδημηκέναι, καὶ τοῦτʼ αὐτοῖς συγκαταριθμητέον. ὁ γὰρ εὐλαβὴς οὐδὲ σωμάτων ἰατρὸν, πολλοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον νοσοῦντας ἀγαγόντα, οἰήσεται ἀθεεὶ πόλεσι καὶ ἔθνεσιν ἐπιδημεῖν· οὐδὲν γὰρ χρηστὸν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀθεεὶ γίνεται. εἰ δὲ ὁ πολλῶν σώματα θεραπεύσας ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον προαγαγὼν οὐκ ἀθεεὶ θεραπεύει, πόσῳ πλέον ὁ πολλῶν ψυχὰς θεραπεύσας καὶ ἐπιστρέψας καὶ βελτιώσας, καὶ ἀναρτήσας αὐτὰς θεοῦ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι καὶ διδάξας πᾶσαν πρᾶξιν ἀναφέρειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκείνου ἀρέσκειαν καὶ πάντʼ ἐκκλίνειν, ὅσʼ ἀπάρεστά εἰσι θεῷ, μέχρι τοῦ ἐλαχίστου τῶν λεγομένων ἢ πραττομένων ἢ καὶ εἰς ἐνθύμησιν ἐρχομένων; ### English translation (Claude) After this he urges us to accept doctrines by following reason and a rational guide, since deception always occurs when someone assents to people without this. And he likens those who believe without reason to the begging priests of Cybele and soothsayers, to devotees of Mithras and Sabazius, and to whatever one may happen upon—apparitions of Hecate or of some other demon or demons. For as among those, he says, wicked men often take advantage of the simplicity of the easily deceived and lead them where they wish, so it happens also among Christians. He says that some, not even wishing to give or receive a reason for what they believe, use the sayings "Do not examine, but believe" and "Your faith will save you." And he says that they say: "The wisdom in the world is an evil, and foolishness a good." To this we must say that if it were possible for all to leave the business of life and devote their time to philosophy, no one should pursue any other way but this alone. For in Christianity there will be found—not to say anything vulgar—no less examination of what is believed, and explanation of the riddles in the prophets, of the parables in the Gospels, and of countless other things done or legislated symbolically. But if this is impossible, partly because of the necessities of life and partly because of human weakness, since very few rush toward reason, what better method could be found for helping the many than the one handed down to the nations by Jesus? And we ask about the multitude of believers who have put away the great flood of wickedness in which they used to wallow: is it better for them, believing without reason, to have had their characters somehow reformed and to have been helped by their belief about those punished for sins and honored for good works, or not to admit their conversion with simple faith until they give themselves to the examination of arguments? For clearly all but a very few would not receive even what they have received from simply believing, but would remain in a most wicked life. If, then, anything else establishes that the love of humanity in the teaching has not come to dwell in human life without God, this too must be counted with it. For a devout person will not think that even a physician of bodies, who has brought many sick people to health, dwells in cities and nations without God; for nothing good happens among human beings without God. And if the one who has healed the bodies of many, or improved them, does not heal without God, how much more the one who has healed and converted and improved the souls of many, attached them to the God over all, and taught them to refer every action to what pleases him and to avoid everything displeasing to God, down to the least of what is said or done or even comes into the mind? ### Scripture references - Luke 7:50: echo, medium confidence - 1 Cor 3:18–19: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "Your faith will save you" echoes Luke 7:50 and similar Gospel sayings; the saying about wisdom and foolishness is Celsus's paraphrase of 1 Cor 3:18–19 (see 1.13). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/9/). ## Against Celsus 1.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/10/ - Source: Koetschau 1:62–63 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Philosophers too choose their schools by an unreasoned faith before examining all the arguments, so Celsus cannot fault Christians for faith. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς πίστεως θρυλοῦσι, λεκτέον ὅτι ἡμεῖς μὲν παραλαμβάνοντες αὐτὴν ὡς χρήσιμον τοῖς πολλοῖς ὁμολογοῦμεν διδάσκειν πιστεύειν καὶ ἀλόγως τοὺς μὴ δυναμένους πάντα καταλιπεῖν καὶ ἀκολουθεῖν ἐξετάσει λόγου, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ τοῦτο μὴ ὁμολογοῦντες τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτὸ ποιοῦσι. τίς γὰρ προτραπεὶς ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν καὶ ἀποκληρωτικῶς ἐπί τινα αἵρεσιν ἑαυτὸν φιλοσόφων ῥίψας ἢ τῷ εὐπορηκέναι τοιοῦδε διδασκάλου ἄλλως ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἔρχεται ἢ τῷ πιστεύειν τὴν αἵρεσιν ἐκείνην κρείττονα εἶναι; οὐ γὰρ περιμείνας ἀκοῦσαι τοὺς πάντων φιλοσόφων λόγους καὶ τῶν διαφόρων αἱρέσεων καὶ τὴν ἀνατροπὴν μὲν τῶνδε κατασκευὴν δὲ ἑτέρων, οὕτως αἱρεῖται ἤτοι Στωϊκὸς ἢ Πλατωνικὸς ἢ Περιπατητικὸς ἢ Ἐπικούρειος εἶναι ἢ ὁποιασδήποτε φιλοσόφων αἱρέσεως· ἀλλʼ ἀλόγῳ τινὶ, κἂν μὴ βούλωνται τοῦτο ὁμολογεῖν, φορᾷ ἔρχονται ἐπὶ τὸ ἀσκῆσαι. φέρʼ εἰπεῖν. τὸν Στωϊκὸν λόγον, καταλιπόντες τοὺς λοιπούς· τὸν Πλατωνικὸν ὑπερφρονήσαντες ὡς ταπεινότερον τῶν ἄλλων ἢ τὸν Περιπατητικὸν ὡς ἀνθρωπικώτατον καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν λοιπῶν αἱρέσεων εὐγνωμόνως ὁμολογοῦντα τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἀγαθά. καὶ ἀπὸ πρώτης δὲ προσβολῆς ταραχθέντες τινὲς εἰς τὸν περὶ προνοίας λόγον ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς γινομένων φαύλοις καὶ σπουδαίοις προπετέστερον συγκατέθεντο τῷ μηδαμῶς εἶναι πρόνοιαν καὶ τὸν Ἐπικούρου καὶ Κέλσου εἵλοντο λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) Next, since they make much of what concerns faith, we must say that we, accepting it as useful for the many, admit that we teach those who cannot leave everything and pursue the examination of reason to believe even without reason; but they, while not admitting this, do it in practice. For who, when urged toward philosophy and throwing himself at random into some school of philosophers, or because he has found such-and-such a teacher, comes to it in any other way than by believing that that school is better? For he does not wait to hear the arguments of all the philosophers and of the different schools, and the refutation of these and the establishment of others, and then choose to be a Stoic, a Platonist, a Peripatetic, an Epicurean, or of any school of philosophers whatever. Rather, by some irrational impulse, even if they do not wish to admit it, they come to practice, say, the Stoic teaching, leaving the rest: despising the Platonic as humbler than the others, or the Peripatetic as most human and as admitting, more candidly than the other schools, the goods of human life. And some, disturbed at first encounter with the argument about providence by what happens on earth to the wicked and the good, have too hastily assented to the view that there is no providence at all, and have chosen the teaching of Epicurus and Celsus. ### Translation notes - αἵρεσις is rendered "school" (a philosophical school). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/10/). ## Against Celsus 1.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/11/ - Source: Koetschau 1:63–64 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: All human life—sailing, marrying, farming—rests on faith, so it is far more reasonable to trust God and Christ, who died for humanity and sent his disciples through the world. ### Greek text Εἴπερ οὖν δεῖ πιστεύειν, ὡς ὁ λόγος ἐδίδαξεν. ἑνί τινι τῶν αἱρέσεις εἰσηγησαμένων ἐν Ἕλλησιν ἢ βαρβάροις. πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ καὶ τῷ διδάσκοντι τοῦτον μόνον δεῖν σέβειν τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ, ἤτοι ὡς μὴ ὄντα ἢ ὡς ὄντα μὲν καὶ τιμῆς ἄξια οὐ μὴν καὶ προσκυνήσεως καὶ σεβασμοῦ, παρορᾶν; περὶ ὧν ὁ μὴ πιστεύων μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγῳ θεωρῶν τὰ πράγματα ἐρεῖ τὰς ὑποπιπτούσας αὐτῷ καὶ εὑρισκομένας ἐκ τοῦ πάνυ ζητεῖν ἀποδείξεις. πῶς δʼ οὐκ εὐλογώτερον, πάντων τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πίστεως ἠρτημένων. ἐκείνων μᾶλλον πιστεύειν τῷ θεῷ; τίς γὰρ πλεῖ ἢ γαμεῖ ἢ παιδοποιεῖται ἢ ῥίπτει τὰ σπέρματα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν μὴ τὰ κρείττονα πιστεύων ἀπαντήσεσθαι. δυνατοῦ ὄντος καὶ τοῦ ἐναντία γενέσθαι καὶ ἔστιν ὅτε γινομένου; ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἡ περὶ τοῦ τὰ κρείττονα καὶ τὰ κατʼ εὐχὴν ἀπαντήσεσθαι πίστις τολμᾶν πάντας ποιεῖ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ δυνατὰ ἄλλως συμβῆναι. εἰ δὲ συνέχει τὸν βίον ἐν πάσῃ πράξει ἀδήλῳ, ὅπως ἐκβήσεται. ἡ ἐλπὶς καὶ ἡ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων χρηστοτέρα πίστις, πῶς οὐ μᾶλλον αὕτη παραληφθήσεται εὐλόγως τῷ πιστεύοντι ὑπὲρ τὴν πλεομένην θάλασσαν καὶ γῆν σπειρομένην καὶ γυναῖκα γαμουμένην καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις πράγματα τῷ ταῦτα πάντα δημιουργήσαντι θεῷ καὶ τῷ μετὰ ὑπερβαλλούσης μεγαλονοίας καὶ θείας μεγαλοφροσύνης τολμήσαντι τοῦτον τὸν λόγον παραστῆσαι τοῖς πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης μετὰ μεγάλων κινδύνων καὶ θανάτου νομιζομένου ἀτίμου, ἃ ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων, διδάξας καὶ τοὺς ὑπηρετεῖσθαι τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ πεισθέντας μετὰ πάντων κινδύνων καὶ τῶν ἀεὶ προσδοκωμένων θανάτων τολμῆσαι ἀποδημῆσαι πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας; ### English translation (Claude) If, then, we must believe, as the argument has shown, some one of those who introduced schools among Greeks or barbarians, how much more must we believe the God over all and the one who teaches that he alone must be worshiped, and that the rest must be disregarded, either as not existing, or as existing and worthy of honor but not of adoration and worship? About these things one who does not merely believe but also contemplates matters with reason will state the demonstrations that occur to him and are found by diligent inquiry. And since all human affairs depend on faith, how is it not more reasonable to believe God rather than them? For who sails, or marries, or begets children, or casts seed on the earth, without believing that the better outcome will come, though the opposite is possible and sometimes happens? Yet the faith that the better outcome, the one prayed for, will come makes everyone venture even on things uncertain that could turn out otherwise. And if hope, and a more hopeful faith about the future, holds life together in every action whose outcome is uncertain, how will this not more reasonably be accepted by one who believes—beyond the sea that is sailed, the earth that is sown, the wife that is married, and the other affairs of human life—in the God who created all these things, and in him who with surpassing greatness of mind and divine magnanimity dared to present this teaching to those in every part of the world, with great dangers and a death thought shameful, which he endured for human beings, and who taught those who were persuaded at the beginning to serve his teaching to dare, with every danger and with deaths always expected, to travel everywhere in the world for the salvation of human beings? ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/11/). ## Against Celsus 1.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/12/ - Source: Koetschau 1:64–65 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus boasts "I know everything" about Christianity, but he has learned only from ordinary believers, like a traveler who judges Egyptian religion by its common people rather than its priests. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπεί φησιν ὁ Κέλσος αὐταῖς λέξεσιν· εἰ μὲν δὴ θελήσουσιν ἀποκρίνεσθαί μοι, ὡς οὐ διαπειρωμένῳ (πάντα γὰρ οἶδα) ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐξ ἴσου πάντων κηδομένῳ, εὖ ἂν ἔχοι· εἰ δʼ οὐκ ἐθελήσουσιν ἀλλʼ ἐροῦσιν, ὥσπερ εἰώθασι, „μὴ ἐξέταζε“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἀνάγκη αὐτοὺς ταῦτά τε, φησὶ, διδάξαι ὁποῖʼ ἄττα ἐστὶν, ἃ λέγουσι, καὶ ὁπόθεν ἐῤῥύηκε, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· λεκτέον δὲ πρὸς τὸ πάντα γὰρ οἶδα, ἀλαζονικώτατα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἀποτετολμημένον, ὅτι, εἴπερ ἀνεγνώκει μάλιστα τοὺς προφήτας, ὁμολογουμένων αἰνιγμάτων πεπληρωμένους καὶ λόγων τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀσαφῶν, καὶ εἰ ἐντετεύχει ταῖς εὐαγγελικαῖς παραβολαῖς καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ (τοῦ) νόμου καὶ τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἱστορίας γραφῇ καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἀποστόλων φωναῖς, καὶ ἀναγνοὺς εὐγνωμόνως ἐβούλετο εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν τῶν λέξεων νοῦν, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ἐθρασύνετο οὐδʼ εἶπε· πάντα γὰρ οἶδα. ὡς οὐδʼ ἡμεῖς οἱ τούτοις ἐνδιατρίψαντες εἴποιμεν ἄν· πάντα γὰρ οἶδα, φίλη γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια. οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν ἐρεῖ· πάντα γὰρ οἶδα τὰ Ἐπικούρου, ἢ θαῤῥήσει ὅτι πάντα οἶδε τὰ Πλάτωνος, τοσούτων οὐσῶν διαφωνιῶν καὶ παρὰ τοῖς διηγουμένοις αὐτά. τίς γὰρ οὕτω θρασὺς εἰπεῖν· πάντα γὰρ οἶδα τὰ Στωϊκὰ ἢ πάντα τὰ Περιπατητικά; εἰ μὴ ἄρα τὸ πάντα γὰρ οἶδα ἀπό τινων ἰδιωτῶν ἀναισθήτων ἀκούσας, οὐκ αἰσθανομένων τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀμαθίας. ᾠήθη ὡς τοιούτοις διδασκάλοις χρησάμενος πάντα ἐγνωκέναι. δοκεῖ δέ μοι τοιοῦτόν τι πεποιηκέναι, ὡς εἴ τις τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐπιδημήσας, ἔνθα οἱ μὲν Αἰγυπτίων σοφοὶ κατὰ τὰ πάτρια γράμματα πολλὰ φιλοσοφοῦσι περὶ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς νενομισμένων θείων, οἱ δὲ ἰδιῶται μύθους τινὰς ἀκούοντες. ὧν τοὺς λόγους οὐκ ἐπίστανται, μέγα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς φρονοῦσιν, ᾤετο πάντα τὰ Αἰγυπτίων ἐγνωκέναι, τοῖς ἰδιώταις αὐτῶν μαθητεύσας καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν ἱερέων συμμίξας μηδʼ ἀπό τινος αὐτῶν τὰ Αἰγυπτίων ἀπόῤῥητα μαθών. ἃ δʼ εἶπον περὶ Αἰγυπτίων σοφῶν τε καὶ ἰδιωτῶν δυνατὸν ἰδεῖν καὶ περὶ Περσῶν· παρʼ οἷς εἰσι τελεταὶ. πρεσβευόμεναι μὲν λογικῶς ὑπὸ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς λογίων συμβολικῶς δὲ γινόμεναι ὑπὸ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς πολλῶν καὶ ἐπιπολαιοτέρων. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ καὶ περὶ Σύρων καὶ Ἰνδῶν καὶ τῶν ὅσοι καὶ μύθους καὶ γράμματα ἔχουσι λεκτέον. ### English translation (Claude) Next, since Celsus says in these very words: "If they are willing to answer me—not as one who is testing them (for I know everything), but as one who cares equally for all—it will be well. But if they are unwilling and say, as they usually do, 'Do not examine,'" and so on, "they must," he says, "teach me what kind of things they are that they say, and from where they have flowed," and so on. To the words "for I know everything," which he has most boastfully ventured, we must say that if he had read the prophets especially, which are admittedly full of riddles and of words obscure to the many, and if he had met the parables of the Gospels, and the rest of the writing of the law and of Jewish history, and the utterances of the apostles, and after reading them had wished in good faith to enter into the meaning of the words, he would not have been so bold, nor said, "for I know everything." Not even we who have spent our time in these writings would say, "for I know everything"—for truth is dear to us. None of us will say, "I know everything of Epicurus," or will be confident that he knows everything of Plato, since there are so many disagreements even among those who expound them. Who is so bold as to say, "I know all the Stoic teaching," or "all the Peripatetic"? Unless perhaps, having heard this "for I know everything" from some stupid ordinary people who do not perceive their own ignorance, he thought that, having used such teachers, he knew everything. He seems to me to have done something like a man who visited Egypt, where the wise men of the Egyptians philosophize much, according to their ancestral writings, about what they hold to be divine, while the ordinary people, hearing certain myths whose meanings they do not understand, pride themselves on them—and who thought he knew everything about the Egyptians, having been the disciple of their ordinary people, without associating with any of the priests or learning the Egyptian secrets from any of them. What I have said about the wise and the ordinary people of the Egyptians can be seen also of the Persians, among whom there are rites honored rationally by the learned among them but performed symbolically by the many and more superficial among them. The same must be said of the Syrians and Indians and all who have both myths and writings. ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Eth. nic. 1096a16 (Aristotle (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - "Truth is dear" (φίλη γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια) echoes Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1.6 (1096a16). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/12/). ## Against Celsus 1.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/13/ - Source: Koetschau 1:65–66 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul did not call all wisdom evil but only "the wisdom of this world"; reasoned faith is better than simple faith, but God saves through the "foolishness" of preaching Christ crucified. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ἔθηκεν ὡς λεγόμενον ὑπὸ πολλῶν Χριστιανῶν „κακὸν μέν γε ἡ ἐν τῷ βίῳ σοφία ἀγαθὸν δʼ ἡ μωρία“. λεκτέον ὅτι συκοφαντεῖ τὸν λόγον. μὴ ἐκθέμενος αὐτὴν τὴν παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ κειμένην λέξιν οὕτως ἔχουσαν· „εἴ τις δοκεῖ σοφὸς εἶναι ἐν ὑμῖν, ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ μωρὸς γενέσθω. ἵνα γένηται σοφός· ἡ γὰρ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου τούτου μωρία παρὰ θεῷ ἐστιν.“ οὐκοῦν ὁ μὲν ἀπόστολός φησιν οὐχ ἁπλῶς· „ἡ σοφία μωρία παρὰ θεῷ ἐστιν.“ ἀλλʼ „ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου τούτου.“ καὶ πάλιν οὐκ „εἴ τις δοκεῖ σοφὸς εἶναι ἐν ὑμῖν“ ἁπαξαπλῶς „μωρὸς γενέσθω, “ ἀλλʼ „ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ μωρὸς γενέσθω, ἵνα γένηται σοφός.“ „σοφίαν“ οὖν „τούτου τοῦ αἰῶνος“ λέγομεν τὴν κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς καταργουμένην πᾶσαν ψευδοδοξοῦσαν φιλοσοφίαν· καὶ μωρίαν λέγομεν ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἀπολελυμένως, ἀλλʼ ὅτε τις τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ γίνεται „μωρός“· ὡς εἰ λέγοιμεν καὶ τὸν Πλατωνικὸν, πιστεύοντα τῇ ἀθανασίᾳ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῖς περὶ αὐτῆς λεγομένοις περὶ μετενσωματώσεως, μωρίαν ἀνειληφέναι ὡς πρὸς τοὺς Στωϊκοὺς διασύροντας τὴν τούτων συγκατάθεσιν, καὶ ὡς πρὸς Περιπατητικοὺς θρυλοῦντας τὰ Πλάτωνος „τερετίσματα, “ καὶ ὡς πρὸς Ἐπικουρείους δεισιδαιμονίαν ἐγκαλοῦντας τοῖς εἰσάγουσι πρόνοιαν καὶ θεὸν ἐφιστᾶσι τοῖς ὅλοις. ἔτι δὲ ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τὸ τῷ λόγῳ ἀρέσκον πολλῷ διαφέρει μετὰ λόγου καὶ σοφίας συγκατατίθεσθαι τοῖς δόγμασιν ἤπερ μετὰ ψιλῆς τῆς πίστεως, καὶ ὅτι κατὰ περίστασιν καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐβουλήθη ὁ λόγος, ἵνα μὴ πάντῃ ἀνωφελεῖς ἐάσῃ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, δηλοῖ ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γνήσιος μαθητὴς Παῦλος εἰπών· „ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔγνω ὁ κόσμος διὰ τῆς σοφίας τὸν θεὸν, εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τῆς μωρίας τοῦ κηρύγματος σῶσαι τοὺς πιστεύοντας.“ σαφῶς οὖν διὰ τούτων δηλοῦται ὅτι ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐχρῆν γινώσκεσθαι τὸν θεόν. καὶ ἐπεὶ μὴ τοῦτο γεγένηται οὕτως, δεύτερον εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς σῶσαι τοὺς πιστεύοντας οὐχ ἁπαξαπλῶς διὰ μωρίας ἀλλὰ διὰ μωρίας ὅσον ἐπὶ κηρύγματι. αὐτόθεν γὰρ κηρυσσόμενος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐσταυρωμένος μωρία ἐστὶ κηρύγματος· ὡς καὶ ὁ συναισθόμενος αὐτοῦ λέγει Παῦλος ἐν τῷ· „ἡμεῖς δὲ κηρύσσομεν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον ἔθνεσι δὲ μωρίαν, αὐτοῖς δὲ τοῖς κλητοῖς, Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ Ἕλλησι, Χριστὸν θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ θεοῦ σοφίαν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus has set down as a saying of many Christians, "The wisdom in life is an evil, and foolishness a good," we must say that he slanders the teaching, not quoting the actual text found in Paul, which runs thus: "If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." So the apostle does not say simply, "Wisdom is foolishness with God," but "the wisdom of this world." And again, not "If anyone among you thinks he is wise, let him become a fool" without qualification, but "let him become a fool in this age, that he may become wise." So by "the wisdom of this age" we mean all philosophy holding false opinions, which according to the Scriptures is brought to nothing; and we call foolishness good not absolutely, but when someone becomes "a fool" to this age. It is as if we were to say that the Platonist, who believes in the immortality of the soul and in what is said about it concerning transmigration, has taken up foolishness in the eyes of the Stoics, who ridicule assent to these things, and of the Peripatetics, who harp on Plato's "twitterings," and of the Epicureans, who charge with superstition those who introduce providence and set God over the universe. Further, that even according to the mind of the Word it is far better to assent to doctrines with reason and wisdom than with simple faith, and that the Word wished this latter too only by force of circumstances, so as not to leave human beings entirely without help, is shown by Jesus' genuine disciple Paul, who said: "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe." It is clearly shown by these words that God ought to have been known in the wisdom of God; and since this did not happen, God was pleased, as a second course, to save those who believe, not by foolishness simply, but by foolishness so far as preaching is concerned. For Jesus Christ crucified, when preached at the outset, is the foolishness of preaching, as Paul too, perceiving this, says: "But we preach Jesus Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:18–19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:23–24: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, An. post. 83a33 (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 3:18–19, 1:21, and 1:23–24. Aristotle called Plato's Forms "twitterings" (τερετίσματα), Posterior Analytics 1.22 (83a33). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/13/). ## Against Celsus 1.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/14/ - Source: Koetschau 1:66–67 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus trusts the ancient histories of every nation but the Jews, and leaves the Jews out of his list of wise peoples. ### Greek text Συγγένειαν παρὰ πολλοῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν νομίζων εἶναι ὁ Κέλσος τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου πάντα μὲν ὀνομάζει τὰ ἔθνη ὡς ἀρξάμενα τοῦ τοιοῦδε δόγματος· οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως μόνους Ἰουδαίους συκοφαντεῖ, οὐ συγκαταλέγων αὐτῶν τὸ ἔθνος τοῖς λοιποῖς, ὡς εἴτε συμφιλοπονῆσαν ἐκείνοις καὶ ὁμοφρονῆσαν εἴτε παραπλήσια ἐν πολλοῖς δογματίσαν. ἄξιον οὖν αὐτὸν ἐρέσθαι, τί δήποτε ἱστορίαις μὲν βαρβάρων καὶ Ἑλλήνων πεπίστευκε περὶ τῆς ἀρχαιότητος ὧν ὠνόμασε, μόνου δὲ τοῦ ἔθνους τὰς ἱστορίας τούτου ψευδοποιεῖ. εἰ γὰρ ἕκαστοι τὰ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐξέθεντο φιλαλήθως, τί τοῖς Ἰουδαίων ἀπιστοῦμεν μόνοις προφήταις; εἰ δὲ κεχαρισμένως Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ προφῆται τῷ ἑαυτῶν λόγῳ πολλὰ ἀνέγραψαν περὶ τῶν παρὰ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τί τὸ παραπλήσιον οὐκ ἐροῦμεν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι συγγραφέων; ἢ Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν ἐν ταῖς ἑαυτῶν ἱστορίαις Ἰουδαίους κακολογοῦντες πιστοί εἰσι περὶ Ἰουδαίων· ταὐτὰ δὲ λέγοντες Ἰουδαῖοι περὶ Αἰγυπτίων, πολλὰ ἀδίκως πεπονθέναι ἀναγράφοντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λέγοντες αὐτοὺς κεκολάσθαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ, ψεύδονται; καὶ οὐ περὶ Αἰγυπτίων γε μόνων τοῦτο λεκτέον· εὑρήσομεν γὰρ ἐπιπλοκὴν Ἀσσυρίων πρὸς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ ταῦτα ἱστορούμενα ἐν ταῖς Ἀσσυρίων ἀρχαιολογίαις. οὕτω δὲ καὶ Ἀσσυρίους ἀνέγραψαν ἑαυτοῖς πολεμίους οἱ Ἰουδαίων συγγραφεῖς, ἵνα μὴ δόξω προλαμβάνων λέγειν τὸ οἱ προφῆται. ὅρα οὖν εὐθέως τὸ φίλαυτον τοῦ τοῖσδε μέν τισι πιστεύοντος ὡς σοφοῖς ἔθνεσι τῶνδε δὲ καταγινώσκοντος ὡς πάντῃ ἀνοήτων. ἄκουε γὰρ λέγοντος τοῦ Κέλσου ὅτι ἔστιν ἀρχαῖος ἄνωθεν λόγος, περὶ ὃν δὴ ἀεὶ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ σοφώτατα καὶ πόλεις καὶ ἄνδρες σοφοὶ κατεγένοντο. καὶ οὐκ ἐβουλήθη ἔθνος σοφώτατον εἰπεῖν κἂν παραπλησίως [καὶ] Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ Ἀσσυρίοις καὶ Ἰνδοῖς καὶ Πέρσαις καὶ Ὀδρύσαις καὶ Σαμόθρᾳξι καὶ Ἐλευσινίοις τοὺς Ἰουδαίους. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, thinking that among many of the nations there is a kinship of the same teaching, names all the nations as having originated such a doctrine; but, I do not know why, he slanders the Jews alone, not counting their nation among the rest as having either labored together with them and shared their views, or taught similar doctrines on many points. It is fair, then, to ask him why he has believed the histories of barbarians and Greeks about the antiquity of the nations he named, but treats as false the histories of this nation alone. For if each people set out its own affairs truthfully, why do we distrust only the prophets of the Jews? And if Moses and the prophets wrote many things about their own people to favor their own teaching, why shall we not say the same about the writers among the other nations? Or are the Egyptians, when they speak ill of the Jews in their histories, trustworthy about the Jews, while the Jews, saying the same about the Egyptians—recording that they suffered much unjustly and saying that for this reason the Egyptians were punished by God—are lying? And this must be said not only about the Egyptians; for we shall find a conflict of the Assyrians with the Jews, and this recorded in the Assyrian antiquities. So also the Jewish writers—not to seem to beg the question by saying "the prophets"—recorded the Assyrians as their enemies. See, then, at once the self-love of one who believes some nations as wise and condemns others as altogether foolish. For hear Celsus saying that "there is an ancient teaching from the beginning, with which the wisest nations and cities and wise men have always been occupied." And he would not call the Jews a very wise nation, even on a par with the Egyptians, Assyrians, Indians, Persians, Odrysians, Samothracians, and Eleusinians. ### Translation notes - The Odrysians were a Thracian people (associated with Orpheus); the Samothracians and Eleusinians are named for their mysteries. The bracketed [καὶ] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/14/). ## Against Celsus 1.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/15/ - Source: Koetschau 1:67–68 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Numenius, Hermippus, and Hecataeus, unlike Celsus, recognized the wisdom of the Jews. ### Greek text Πόσῳ δὲ βελτίων Κέλσου καὶ διὰ πολλῶν δείξας εἶναι ἐλλογιμώτατος καὶ πλείονα βασανίσας δόγματα καὶ ἀπὸ πλειόνων συναγαγὼν ἃ ἐφαντάσθη εἶναι ἀληθῆ ὁ Πυθαγόρειος Νουμήνιος, ὅστις ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ περὶ τἀγαθοῦ λέγων περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὅσα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς ἀσωμάτου διείληφεν, ἐγκατέταξεν αὐτοῖς καὶ Ἰουδαίους, οὐκ ὀκνήσας ἐν τῇ συγγραφῇ αὐτοῦ χρήσασθαι καὶ λόγοις προφητικοῖς καὶ τροπολογῆσαι αὐτούς. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Ἕρμιππον ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ περὶ νομοθετῶν ἱστορηκέναι Πυθαγόραν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φιλοσοφίαν ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων εἰς Ἕλληνας ἀγαγεῖν. καὶ Ἑκαταίου δὲ τοῦ ἱστορικοῦ φέρεται περὶ Ἰουδαίων βιβλίον. ἐν ᾧ προστίθεται μᾶλλόν πως ὡς σοφῷ τῷ ἔθνει ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς καὶ Ἑρέννιον Φίλωνα ἐν τῷ περὶ Ἰουδαίων συγγράμματι πρῶτον μὲν ἀμφιβάλλειν, εἰ τοῦ ἱστορικοῦ ἐστι τὸ σύγγραμμα, δεύτερον δὲ λέγειν ὅτι, εἴπερ ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ. εἰκὸς αὐτὸν συνηρπάσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις πιθανότητος καὶ συγκατατεθεῖσθαι αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ. ### English translation (Claude) How much better than Celsus—and he showed himself most eminent in many ways, tested more doctrines, and gathered from more sources what he thought true—is the Pythagorean Numenius! In the first book of his On the Good, speaking of the nations that have held God to be incorporeal, he included the Jews among them, not hesitating to use even the prophetic words in his treatise and to interpret them figuratively. It is also said that Hermippus, in the first book of On Lawgivers, recorded that Pythagoras brought his own philosophy from the Jews to the Greeks. And a book on the Jews is attributed to Hecataeus the historian, in which he is so inclined to regard the nation as wise that Herennius Philo, in his treatise on the Jews, first doubts whether the treatise is by the historian, and second says that if it is his, he was probably carried away by the persuasiveness of the Jews and assented to their teaching. ### Extrabiblical texts - Numenius, frag. 1a (Numenius of Apamea): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Numenius of Apamea (2nd cent.), On the Good, book 1 (frag. 1a des Places); Hermippus of Smyrna (3rd cent. BC), On Lawgivers (frag. 21 Wehrli); Pseudo-Hecataeus, On the Jews; Philo of Byblos (Herennius Philo). Hermippus, Pseudo-Hecataeus, and Philo of Byblos have no entry in the extrabiblical list. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/15/). ## Against Celsus 1.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/16/ - Source: Koetschau 1:68–69 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus counts obscure peoples and poets like Linus and Orpheus among the ancient sages but leaves out the Jews and Moses, whose antiquity Josephus and Tatian proved and whose laws a whole nation still keeps. ### Greek text Θαυμάζω δὲ, πῶς Ὀδρύσας μὲν καὶ Σαμόθρᾳκας καὶ Ἐλευσινίους καὶ Ὑπερβορέους ἐν τοῖς ἀρχαιοτάτοις καὶ σοφωτάτοις ἔταξεν ἔθνεσιν ὁ Κέλσος, τοὺς δὲ Ἰουδαίους οὐκ ἠξίωσεν οὔτε εἰς σοφοὺς παραδέξασθαι οὔτε εἰς ἀρχαίους· πολλῶν φερομένων συγγραμμάτων παρὰ Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ Φοίνιξι καὶ Ἕλλησι, μαρτυρούντων αὐτῶν τῇ ἀρχαιότητι, ἅπερ ἐγὼ περισσὸν ἡγησάμην εἶναι παραθέσθαι. δυνατὸν γὰρ τὸν βουλόμενον ἀναγνῶναι τὰ γεγραμμένα Φλαυίῳ Ἰωσήπῳ περὶ τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀρχαιότητος ἐν δυσὶν, ὅπου πολλὴν συναγωγὴν συγγραφέων φέρει μαρτυρούντων τῇ Ἰουδαίων ἀρχαιότητι. καὶ Τατιανοῦ δὲ νεωτέρου φέρεται ὁ πρὸς Ἕλληνας λόγος. πολυμαθέστατα ἐκτιθεμένου τοὺς ἱστορήσαντας περὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίων καὶ Μωϋσέως ἀρχαιότητος. ἔοικεν οὖν οὐκ ἀληθῶς ἀλλὰ φιλαπεχθημόνως ὁ Κέλσος ταῦτα λέγειν, σκοπὸν ἔχων κατηγορῆσαι τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ. ἠρτημένης ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μὲν Ὁμήρου Γαλακτοφάγους καὶ τοὺς Γαλατῶν Δρυΐδας καὶ τοὺς Γέτας σοφώτατα λέγει ἔθνη εἶναι καὶ ἀρχαῖα, περὶ τῶν συγγενῶν τοῖς Ἰουδαϊκοῖς λόγοις διαλαμβάνοντας. ὧν οὐκ οἶδα εἰ φέρεται συγγράμματα· Ἑβραίους δὲ μόνον τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ ἐκβάλλει καὶ τῆς ἀρχαιότητος καὶ τῆς σοφίας. πάλιν τε αὖ κατάλογον ποιούμενος ἀνδρῶν ἀρχαίων καὶ σοφῶν. ὠφελησάντων τοὺς κατʼ αὐτοὺς καὶ διὰ συγγραμμάτων τοὺς μετʼ αὐτοὺς, Μωϋσέα ἐξέβαλε τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν σοφῶν. καὶ Λίνου μὲν. ὃν προέταξεν ὧν ὠνόμασεν ὁ Κέλσος, οὔτε νόμοι οὔτε λόγοι φέρονται ἐπιστρέψαντες καὶ θεραπεύσαντες ἔθνη· Μωϋσέως δὲ τοὺς νόμους ὅλον ἔθνος φέρει ἐπεσπαρμένον τῇ πάσῃ οἰκουμένῃ. ὅρα οὖν εἰ μὴ ἄντικρυς κακουργῶν ἐξέβαλε τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν σοφῶν καὶ Μωϋσέα. Λίνον δὲ καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ Ὀρφέα καὶ τὸν Φερεκύδην καὶ τὸν Πέρσην Ζωροάστρην καὶ Πυθαγόραν φήσας περὶ τῶνδε διειληφέναι. καὶ ἐς βίβλους κατατεθεῖσθαι τὰ ἑαυτῶν δόγματα καὶ πεφυλάχθαι αὐτὰ μέχρι δεῦρο. καὶ ἑκὼν μὲν ἐπελάθετο τοῦ περὶ τῶν νομιζομένων θεῶν μύθου ὡς ἀνθρωποπαθῶν. ἀναγεγραμμένου μάλιστα ὑπὸ Ὀρφέως. ### English translation (Claude) I wonder how Celsus placed the Odrysians, Samothracians, Eleusinians, and Hyperboreans among the most ancient and wisest nations, but did not see fit to admit the Jews either among the wise or among the ancient, though many writings are current among Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Greeks testifying to their antiquity, which I have thought it superfluous to set out. For anyone who wishes can read what Flavius Josephus wrote on the antiquity of the Jews in two books, where he brings a great collection of writers testifying to the antiquity of the Jews. And there is the Oration to the Greeks of Tatian, a later writer, who sets out with great learning those who have written about the antiquity of the Jews and of Moses. Celsus seems, then, to say these things not truthfully but out of hostility, aiming to accuse the origin of Christianity, which depends on the Jews. Yet he says that Homer's Galactophagi, the Druids of the Gauls, and the Getae are very wise and ancient nations, holding views akin to the Jewish teachings—though I do not know whether any writings of theirs are extant—while he excludes the Hebrews alone, as far as it lies with him, from both antiquity and wisdom. And again, making a list of ancient and wise men who benefited their contemporaries, and their successors through writings, he excluded Moses from the list of the wise. Yet of Linus, whom Celsus put first among those he named, neither laws nor teachings are extant that have converted and healed nations; but a whole nation, scattered through all the world, carries the laws of Moses. See, then, whether he did not plainly act maliciously in excluding Moses too from the list of the wise, while saying that Linus, Musaeus, Orpheus, Pherecydes, the Persian Zoroaster, and Pythagoras had understood these matters, and that their doctrines were set down in books and have been preserved to this day. And he deliberately forgot the myth about the so-called gods as subject to human passions, recorded above all by Orpheus. ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, Ag. Ap. (Josephus (works)): allusion, high confidence - Tatian, Or. Graec. (Oration to the Greeks): allusion, high confidence - Homer, Il. 13.6 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Josephus's two books are Against Apion; Tatian, Oration to the Greeks 31 and 36–41. The Galactophagi ("milk-eaters") are from Homer, Iliad 13.6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/16/). ## Against Celsus 1.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/17/ - Source: Koetschau 1:69 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus attacks allegorical reading of Moses though Greek myths about the gods are far more shameful; like Plato's Thrasymachus, he forbids his opponents their true answer. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἑξῆς κατηγορῶν τῆς Μωϋσέως ἱστορίας αἰτιᾶται τοὺς τροπολογοῦντας καὶ ἀλληγοροῦντας αὐτήν. ἦν δʼ ἂν εἰπεῖν πρὸς τὸν γενναιότατον καὶ ἀληθῆ λόγον ἐπιγράψαντα τὸ ἑαυτοῦ βιβλίον. τί δήποτε. ὦ οὗτος. θεοὺς μὲν τηλικαύταις περιπίπτοντας συμφοραῖς. ὁποίας ἀναγράφουσιν οἱ σοφοί σου ποιηταὶ καὶ φιλόσοφοι, καὶ ἐναγέσι μίξεσι χρωμένους καὶ κατὰ τῶν πατέρων στρατευομένους καὶ τὰ αἰδοῖα αὐτῶν ἀποτέμνοντας σεμνολογεῖς ἀναγεγράφθαι τὰ τηλικαῦτα τετολμηκέναι καὶ πεποιηκέναι καὶ πεπονθέναι· ὅταν δὲ Μωϋσῆς μὴ περὶ θεοῦ τοιαῦτα λέγῃ ἀλλὰ μηδʼ ἀγγέλων ἁγίων περὶ δὲ ἀνθρώπων πολλῷ ἐλάττονα (οὐδεὶς γὰρ παρʼ αὐτῷ ἐτόλμησεν ὅσα Κρόνος κατὰ τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ οὐδʼ ὅσα Ζεὺς κατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς, οὐδʼ ὅτι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ θυγατρὶ ὁ „πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε“ συνελήλυθεν), πλανᾶν νομίζετε ἠπατημένους τοὺς νενομοθετημένους ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ; δοκεῖ δὲ μοι καὶ παραπλήσιόν τι Κέλσος ποιεῖν τῷ Πλατωνικῷ Θρασυμάχῳ, μὴ ἐπιτρέποντι ὡς βούλεται ἀποκρίνασθαι περὶ τῆς δικαιοσύνης Σωκράτει ἀλλὰ λέγοντι· ὅρα μὴ τὸ συμφέρον εἴπῃς εἶναι τὸ δίκαιον μηδὲ τὸ δέον μηδʼ ἄλλο τι τῶν παραπλησίων. καὶ γὰρ οὗτος κατηγορήσας, ὡς οἴεται. τῶν παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ ἱστοριῶν καὶ μεμψάμενος τοῖς ἀλληγοροῦσι μετὰ τοῦ καὶ ἔπαινόν τινα περὶ αὐτῶν λέγειν, ὅτι εἰσὶν οἱ ἐπιεικέστεροι. οἱονεὶ κωλύεται κατηγορήσας, ὡς βούλεται, ἀπολογεῖσθαι τοὺς δυναμένους. ὡς πέφυκεν ἔχειν τὰ πράγματα. ### English translation (Claude) In what follows, accusing the history of Moses, he blames those who interpret it figuratively and allegorize it. One might say to this most noble author, who entitled his book The True Word: Why, sir, do you speak solemnly of the gods, who, as your wise poets and philosophers record, fall into such great misfortunes, engage in accursed unions, make war on their fathers, and cut off their private parts—as having been recorded to have dared, done, and suffered such things; but when Moses says no such thing about God, nor even about holy angels, but far lesser things about human beings (for with him no one dared what Cronus did against Uranus, or what Zeus did against his father, nor did "the father of men and gods" have intercourse with his own daughter), you all think that those who received laws from him were deceived and led astray? Celsus seems to me to do something like Plato's Thrasymachus, who does not allow Socrates to answer as he wishes about justice but says: "See that you do not say that the just is the advantageous, or the needful, or anything else of that sort." For he too, having accused, as he thinks, the histories in Moses, and having blamed those who allegorize them—while also giving them a kind of praise, that they are the more reasonable—in effect prevents, after accusing as he wishes, those who are able from defending them as the facts naturally are. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 1.544 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, medium confidence - Plato, Resp. 336c–d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - "Father of men and gods" is a Homeric formula (e.g. Iliad 1.544). The Thrasymachus quotation is Plato, Republic 1.336c–d. The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/17/). ## Against Celsus 1.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/18/ - Source: Koetschau 1:69–70 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Compared book with book, Moses' laws help ordinary readers and reward deeper study, and they have spread through the world, while the Greek poets are forgotten. ### Greek text Εἴποιμεν δʼ ἂν προκαλούμενοι βίβλους βίβλοις παραβάλλεσθαι ὅτι φέρε, ὦ οὗτος. τὰ Λίνου καὶ Μουσαίου καὶ Ὀρφέως ποιήματα καὶ Φερεκύδου τὴν γραφὴν καὶ συνεξέταζε τοῖς Μωϋσέως νόμοις. ἱστορίας ἱστορίαις καὶ ἠθικοὺς λόγους νόμοις καὶ προστάγμασι παρατιθείς· καὶ ὅρα ὁποῖα μᾶλλον ἐπιστρέψαι δύναται καὶ αὐτόθεν τοὺς ἀκούοντας, καὶ τίνα αὐτῶν κἂν ἐπιτρῖψαι τὸν ἀκροατήν· καὶ κατανόει ὅπως τὸ μὲν τάγμα τῶν σῶν συγγραφέων ὀλίγον μὲν ἐφρόντισε τῶν αὐτόθεν ἐντευξομένων. μόνοις δὲ ἄρα τοῖς τροπολογῆσαι καὶ ἀλληγορῆσαι δυναμένοις ἔγραψε τὴν ἰδίαν, ὡς φῇς, φιλοσοφίαν. ὁ δὲ Μωϋσῆς ἀνάλογον γενναίῳ ῥήτορι σχῆμα μελετῶντι καὶ πανταχοῦ τὴν διπλόην τῆς λέξεως πεφυλαγμένως προφερομένῳ ἐπὶ τῶν πέντε βιβλίων πεποίηκε, μήτε τῷ πλήθει τῶν νομοθετουμένων Ἰουδαίων διδοὺς ἀφορμὰς βλάβης ἐν τῷ ἠθικῷ τόπῳ, μήτε τοῖς ὀλίγοις καὶ συνετώτερον ἐντυγχάνειν δυναμένοις οὐχὶ πλήρη θεωρίας ἐκτιθέμενος, τοῖς ἐρευνᾶν τὸ βούλημα αὐτοῦ δυναμένοις, γραφήν. καὶ τῶν μὲν σοφῶν σου ποιητῶν ἔοικε μηδὲ τὰ βιβλία ἔτι σῴζεσθαι, φυλαχθέντα ἂν, εἰ ὁ ἐντυγχάνων ᾔσθετο ὠφελείας· τοῦ δὲ Μωϋσέως τὰ γράμματα πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἀναστροφῆς κεκίνηκε πιστεῦσαι, ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τῶν γραμμάτων ὁ πρῶτος αὐτὰ νομοθετήσας καὶ Μωϋσεῖ παραδοὺς θεὸς ὁ κτίσας τὸν κόσμον ἦν. καὶ γὰρ ἔπρεπε τὸν ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργὸν, νόμους τεθειμένον ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, δύναμιν παρασχεῖν τοῖς λόγοις. κρατῆσαι τῶν πανταχοῦ δυναμένην. καὶ ταῦτά φημι οὐδέπω περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐξετάζων ἀλλʼ ἔτι Μωϋσέα, τὸν πολλῷ ἐλάττονα κυρίου, δεικνὺς, ὡς ὁ λόγος παραστήσει. πολλῷ διαφέροντα τῶν σοφῶν σου ποιητῶν καὶ φιλοσόφων. ### English translation (Claude) We would say, challenging him to compare book with book: Come, sir, bring the poems of Linus, Musaeus, and Orpheus and the writing of Pherecydes, and examine them alongside the laws of Moses, setting histories beside histories and moral discourses beside laws and commandments; and see which are more able to convert their hearers at once, and which of them might even ruin the listener. And consider how the band of your writers took little thought for those who would read them at face value, but wrote their own philosophy, as you say, only for those able to interpret figuratively and allegorize; whereas Moses, in his five books, has acted like a noble orator who studies his form and everywhere carefully presents the double meaning of his words: he has given neither the mass of the Jews who received his laws any occasion of harm in moral matters, nor the few who can read with more understanding a writing that is not full of speculation for those able to search out his meaning. And the books of your wise poets seem no longer even to be preserved, though they would have been kept if the reader had perceived any benefit; but the writings of Moses have moved many even of those who are strangers to the Jewish way of life to believe that, as the writings proclaim, the one who first gave them as law and handed them to Moses was God, the creator of the world. For it was fitting that the maker of the whole world, having laid down laws for the whole world, should give his words a power able to prevail over people everywhere. And I say this not yet examining the case of Jesus, but still showing that Moses, who is far inferior to the Lord, is, as the argument will prove, far superior to your wise poets and philosophers. ### Translation notes - The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέα, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/18/). ## Against Celsus 1.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/19/ - Source: Koetschau 1:70–71 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus implies the world is eternal with repeated floods and fires, but gives no proof; Moses, inspired by God's Spirit, deserves more trust than Plato. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος λεληθότως βουλόμενος διαβαλεῖν τὴν κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐαν, ἐμφαίνοντα μηδέπω μυρίων ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸν ἔχειν τὸν κόσμον ἀλλὰ πολλῷ τούτου λειπόμενον, προστίθεται κλέπτων αὐτοῦ τὸ βούλημα τοῖς λέγουσιν ἀγένητον εἶναι τὸν κόσμον. τὸ γὰρ πολλὰς ἐκ παντὸς αἰῶνος ἐκπυρώσεις γεγονέναι πολλὰς δʼ ἐπικλύσεις καὶ νεώτερον εἶναι τὸν ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος κατακλυσμὸν ἔναγχος γεγενημένον σαφῶς τοῖς ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ δυναμένοις παρίστησι τὸ κατʼ αὐτὸν τοῦ κόσμου ἀγένητον. λεγέτω δὴ ἡμῖν ὁ τῇ πίστει Χριστιανῶν ἐγκαλῶν, ποίοις ἀποδεικτικοῖς λόγοις ἠναγκάσθη παραδέξασθαι πολλὰς γεγονέναι ἐκπυρώσεις καὶ πολλοὺς κατακλυσμοὺς, πάντων δὲ νεώτερον εἶναι κατακλυσμὸν μὲν τὸν ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος ἐκπύρωσιν δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ Φαέθοντος. ἀλλʼ ἐὰν προβάλληται τοὺς Πλάτωνος περὶ τούτων διαλόγους, φήσομεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἡμῖν ἐξεῖναι πιστεύειν ἐν καθαρᾷ καὶ εὐσεβεῖ ψυχῇ Μωϋσέως, πᾶν γενητὸν ὑπεραναβάντος καὶ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἑαυτὸν ἐξαρτήσαντος. ἐμπεπολιτεῦσθαι πνεῦμα θεῖον. πολλῷ ἐναργέστερον Πλάτωνος καὶ τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι καὶ παρὰ βαρβάροις σοφῶν τὰ (τοῦ) θεοῦ παραστήσαντος. εἰ δʼ ἀπαιτεῖ ἡμᾶς λόγους τῆς τοιαύτης πίστεως, διδότω πρότερος περὶ ὧν αὐτὸς ἀναποδείκτως ἀπεφήνατο, καὶ ἑξῆς κατασκευάσομεν τὰ ἡμέτερα ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχειν. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus, secretly wishing to slander the account of the making of the world according to Moses, which shows that the world is not yet ten thousand years old but much short of that, sides with those who say that the world is uncreated, while concealing his intention. For in saying that there have been many conflagrations from all eternity and many floods, and that the flood in the time of Deucalion is the more recent, having happened lately, he clearly shows those able to understand him that in his view the world is uncreated. Let the one who finds fault with the faith of Christians tell us by what demonstrative arguments he was compelled to accept that there have been many conflagrations and many floods, and that the most recent of all are the flood in the time of Deucalion and the conflagration in the time of Phaethon. But if he puts forward Plato's dialogues on these matters, we will tell him that we too may believe that in the pure and devout soul of Moses—who rose above everything created and attached himself to the maker of the universe—a divine spirit dwelt, which set forth the things of God far more clearly than Plato and the wise men among Greeks and barbarians. And if he demands of us reasons for such a faith, let him first give reasons for what he himself asserted without proof, and then we will establish that our views are so. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 22c–23b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The conflagrations and floods, with Deucalion and Phaethon, are from Plato, Timaeus 22c–23b. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/19/). ## Against Celsus 1.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/20/ - Source: Koetschau 1:71–72 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus honors Egyptian animal worship and myths as hidden wisdom but dismisses Moses' histories and laws as empty myths. ### Greek text Πλὴν καὶ ἄκων ἐνέπεσεν ὁ Κέλσος εἰς τὸ μαρτυρεῖν τῷ νεώτερον εἶναι τὸν κόσμον καὶ οὐδέπω μυρίων ἐτῶν εἰπὼν καὶ Ἕλληνας ταῦτα νομίζειν ἀρχαῖα, ὡς πρεσβύτερα διὰ τοὺς κατακλυσμοὺς καὶ τὰς ἐκπυρώσεις οὐ τεθεωρήκασιν οὐδʼ ἀπομνημονεύουσιν. ἔστωσαν δὲ τῷ Κέλσῳ τοῦ περὶ τῶν ἐκπυρώσεων καὶ ἐξυδατώσεων μύθου διδάσκαλοι οἱ κατʼ αὐτὸν σοφώτατοι Αἰγύπτιοι, ὧν τῆς σοφίας ἴχνη ἄλογα ζῷα προσκυνούμενα καὶ λόγοι παριστάντες εὔλογον εἶναι καὶ ἀνακεχωρηκυῖάν τινα καὶ μυστικὴν τὴν τοιαύτην τοῦ θεοῦ θεραπείαν. κἂν μὲν Αἰγύπτιοι περὶ τῶν ζῴων σεμνύνοντες ἑαυτῶν τὸν λόγον θεολογίας φέρωσι, σοφοί εἰσιν· ἐὰν δὲ ὁ τῷ Ἰουδαίων συγκαταθέμενος νόμῳ καὶ νομοθέτῃ πάντα ἀναφέρῃ ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν μόνον θεὸν. ἥττων εἶναι παρὰ Κέλσῳ καὶ τοῖς ὁμοίοις αὐτῷ λογίζεται τοῦ μὴ εἰς λογικὰ μόνον καὶ θνητὰ ζῷα ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς ἄλογα κατάγοντος τὴν θεότητα ὑπὲρ τὴν μυθικὴν μετενσωμάτωσιν. τὴν περὶ τῆς πιπτούσης ἀπὸ τῶν ἁψίδων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ ἕως τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων, οὐ μόνον ἡμέρων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγριωτάτων. καταβαινούσης. καὶ ἐὰν μὲν Αἰγύπτιοι μυθολογῶσι, πιστεύονται πεφιλοσοφηκέναι διʼ αἰνιγμῶν καὶ ἀποῤῥήτων, ἐὰν δὲ Μωϋσῆς ὅλῳ ἔθνει συγγράφων ἱστορίας καὶ νόμους αὐτοῖς καταλίπῃ. μῦθοι κενοὶ νομίζονται μηδʼ ἀλληγορίαν ἐπιδεχόμενοι οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ· ### English translation (Claude) Yet Celsus, even unwillingly, has fallen into testifying that the world is rather recent and not yet ten thousand years old, when he says that the Greeks too consider these things ancient because, on account of the floods and conflagrations, they have not seen or remembered older things. Let Celsus have as teachers of the myth of conflagrations and floods the Egyptians, in his view the wisest of men—traces of whose wisdom are irrational animals worshiped, and arguments showing that such worship of God is reasonable and recondite and mystical. If the Egyptians, glorifying their teaching about animals, bring forth theologies, they are wise; but if one who has assented to the law and lawgiver of the Jews refers everything to the only God, the maker of the universe, he is reckoned by Celsus and those like him inferior to one who brings down divinity not only into rational and mortal animals but even into irrational ones—beyond the mythical transmigration about the soul that falls from the vault of heaven and descends even to irrational animals, not only tame but also the wildest. And if the Egyptians tell myths, they are believed to have philosophized through riddles and secrets; but if Moses, writing for a whole nation, leaves them histories and laws, his words are thought to be empty myths not even admitting allegory. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 247b (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "The vault of heaven" (ἁψῖδες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ) alludes to Plato, Phaedrus 247b–248c. The section ends mid-sentence. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/20/). ## Against Celsus 1.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/21/ - Source: Koetschau 1:72 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even if Moses learned from older wisdom, he taught true doctrine; unlike the Stoics' bodily, changeable god, the Bible's God does not change. ### Greek text τοῦτο γὰρ Κέλσῳ καὶ τοῖς Ἐπικουρείοις δοκεῖ. Τούτου οὖν, φησὶ, τοῦ λόγου τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς σοφοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ ἐλλογίμοις ἀνδράσιν ἐπακηκοὼς ὄνομα δαιμόνιον ἔσχε Μωϋσῆς. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ λεκτέον, ἵνʼ αὐτῷ συγχωρηθῇ Μωϋσέα ἀκηκοέναι ἀρχαιοτέρου λόγου καὶ τοῦτον Ἑβραίοις παραδεδωκέναι, ὅτι εἰ μὲν ψευδοῦς λόγου ἀκούσας καὶ μὴ σοφοῦ μηδὲ σεμνοῦ παρεδέξατο αὐτὸν καὶ παρέδωκε τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτὸν, ἔγκλητός ἐστιν· εἰ δʼ, ὡς σὺ φῂς, συγκατέθετο δόγμασι σοφοῖς καὶ ἀληθέσι καὶ ἐπαίδευσε τοὺς οἰκείους διʼ αὐτῶν, τί κατηγορίας ἄξιον πεποίηκεν; ὡς εἴθε καὶ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ ὁ ἔλαττον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν πρόνοιαν ἀσεβῶν Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ οἱ σῶμα εἰπόντες τὸν θεὸν Στωϊκοὶ τοῦ λόγου τούτου ἤκουσαν· ἵνα μὴ πληρωθῇ ὁ κόσμος λόγου ἀθετοῦντος πρόνοιαν ἢ διακόπτοντος αὐτὴν ἢ ἀρχὴν φθαρτὴν εἰσάγοντος τὴν σωματικὴν, καθʼ ἣν καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοῖς Στωϊκοῖς ἐστι σῶμα, οὐκ αἰδουμένοις λέγειν αὐτὸν τρεπτὸν καὶ διʼ ὅλων ἀλλοιωτὸν καὶ μεταβλητὸν καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς δυνάμενον φθαρῆναι, εἰ ἔχει τὸν φθείροντα, εὐτυχοῦντα δὲ μὴ φθαρῆναι παρὰ τὸ μηδὲν εἶναι τὸ φθεῖρον αὐτόν. ἀλλʼ ὁ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν λόγος, ὁ τὸ ἄτρεπτον καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον τοῦ θεοῦ τηρῶν, ἀσεβὴς εἶναι νενόμισται, ἐπεὶ μὴ συνασεβεῖ τοῖς ἀσεβῆ περὶ θεοῦ φρονοῦσι λέγων ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐχαῖς· „σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ.“ πεπίστευται δὲ καὶ ὁ θεὸς εἰρηκέναι τὸ „οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι.“ ### English translation (Claude) for this is the view of Celsus and the Epicureans. "Moses," he says, "having heard this teaching that was current among the wise nations and eminent men, gained a name for divine inspiration." To this too we must say—granting him that Moses heard an older teaching and handed it on to the Hebrews—that if he heard a false teaching, neither wise nor venerable, and accepted it and handed it on to those under him, he is blameworthy; but if, as you say, he assented to wise and true doctrines and educated his own people by them, what has he done that deserves accusation? Would that Epicurus, and Aristotle, who is less impious than he about providence, and the Stoics, who said that God is a body, had heard this teaching! Then the world would not have been filled with a teaching that sets providence aside, or cuts it short, or introduces a corruptible, bodily first principle, according to which even God is a body for the Stoics, who are not ashamed to say that he is changeable, altered and transformed throughout, and in a word able to perish if there is something to destroy him, but fortunate enough not to perish because there is nothing to destroy him. But the teaching of Jews and Christians, which preserves the unchangeableness and unalterableness of God, is thought impious, because it does not join in impiety with those who hold impious views about God, saying in its prayers to the Divine: "But you are the same." And God is believed to have said: "I have not changed." ### Scripture references - Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX) and Mal 3:6. The opening clause completes the sentence begun in 1.20. The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέα, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/21/). ## Against Celsus 1.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/22/ - Source: Koetschau 1:72–73 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says circumcision came from Egypt, but Moses says it began with Abraham, whose name even exorcists use; its deeper meaning is left for another time. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα τὸ περιτέμνεσθαι τὰ αἰδοῖα μὴ διαβαλὼν ὁ Κέλσος ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων γινόμενον, φησὶν ἀπὸ Αἰγυπτίων αὐτὸ ἐληλυθέναι, Αἰγυπτίοις μᾶλλον ἢ Μωϋσεῖ πιστεύσας, λέγοντι πρῶτον ἐν ἀνθρώποις περιτετμῆσθαι τὸν Ἀβραάμ. τοῦ δʼ Ἀβραὰμ τὸ ὄνομα οὐ Μωυσῆς ἀναγράφει μόνος οἰκειῶν αὐτὸν θεῷ, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐπᾳδόντων δαίμονας χρῶνται ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὐτῶν τῷ „ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ, “ ποιοῦντες μὲν διὰ τὸ ὄνομα καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν δίκαιον τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκειότητα, διὸ παραλαμβάνουσι τὴν „(ὁ) θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ“ λέξιν. οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι δὲ, τίς ἐστιν ὁ Ἀβραάμ. τὰ δʼ αὐτὰ λεκτέον καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· ἅτινα ὁμολογουμένως Ἑβραῖα ὄντα ὀνόματα πολλαχοῦ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἐπαγγελλομένοις ἐνέργειάν τινα ἐνέσπαρται μαθήμασι. τὸν δὲ λόγον τῆς περιτομῆς, ἀρξάμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ κωλυόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, μὴ βουλομένου τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς τὸ αὐτὸ ποιεῖν. οὐ πρόκειται νῦν ἑρμηνεύειν. οὐ γὰρ τῆς περὶ τούτων διδασκαλίας ὁ παρὼν καιρὸς ἀλλʼ ἀγῶνος καθαιροῦντος τὰ φερόμενα ὑπὸ Κέλσου κατὰ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λόγου ἐγκλήματα, οἰομένου τάχιον ψευδοποιήσειν τὸν χριστιανισμὸν, ἐὰν τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαϊκοῖς οὔσης λόγοις κατηγορῶν παραστήσῃ κἀκεῖνον ψευδῆ. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus, without slandering the circumcision of the private parts practiced by the Jews, says that it came from the Egyptians, believing the Egyptians rather than Moses, who says that Abraham was the first among human beings to be circumcised. And it is not only Moses who records the name of Abraham, associating him closely with God; many of those who charm demons also use in their formulas "the God of Abraham," achieving results through the name and through God's close relation to the righteous man. That is why they adopt the phrase "the God of Abraham," though they do not know who Abraham is. The same must be said of Isaac, Jacob, and Israel: these names, admittedly Hebrew, are sown in many places in the lore of the Egyptians who profess to work some effect. But the meaning of circumcision, which began with Abraham and was stopped by Jesus, who did not wish his disciples to do the same, is not our business to explain now. For the present occasion is not for teaching about these matters, but for a contest that pulls down the charges Celsus brings against the Jewish teaching, since he thinks he will more quickly prove Christianity false if, by accusing its origin, which lies in the Jewish writings, he shows that too to be false. ### Scripture references - Gen 17:10–14: allusion, high confidence - Exod 3:6: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - On Abraham's circumcision see Gen 17:10–14, 23–27. "The God of Abraham" (Exod 3:6) was used in magical formulas; Origen returns to this in 4.33–34 and 5.45. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/22/). ## Against Celsus 1.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/23/ - Source: Koetschau 1:73–74 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks the Hebrews' faith in one God, but the Greek gods are fictions; the order of the one world points to one Maker, who is neither a part nor a whole. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς τούτοις φησὶν ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι τῷ ἡγησαμένῳ σφῶν ἑπόμενοι Μωϋσεῖ αἰπόλοι καὶ ποιμένες. ἀγροίκοις ἀπάταις ψυχαγωγηθέντες ἕνα ἐνόμισαν εἶναι θεόν. δεικνύτω τοίνυν πῶς, αἰπόλων καὶ ποιμένων ἀλόγως, ὡς οἴεται, ἀποστάντων τοῦ σέβειν θεοὺς. αὐτὸς δύναται παραστῆσαι τὸ πλῆθος τῶν καθʼ Ἕλληνας θεῶν ἢ τοὺς λοιποὺς βαρβάρους. δεικνύτω τοίνυν ὑπόστασιν καὶ οὐσίαν Μνημοσύνης γεννώσης ἀπὸ Διὸς τὰς Μούσας. ἢ Θέμιδος τὰς Ὥρας, ἢ τὰς Χάριτας ἀεὶ γυμνὰς παραστησάτω δύνασθαι κατʼ οὐσίαν ὑφεστηκέναι. ἀλλʼ οὐ δυνήσεται τὰ Ἑλλήνων ἀναπλάσματα σωματοποιεῖσθαι δοκοῦντα ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων δεικνύναι θεούς. τί γὰρ μᾶλλον οἱ Ἑλλήνων μῦθοι περὶ θεῶν ἀληθεῖς ἢ, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν, οἱ Αἰγυπτίων, οὐκ εἰδότων τῇ σφῶν διαλέκτῳ Μνημοσύνην μητέρα Μουσῶν ἐννέα οὐδὲ Θέμιν Ὡρῶν οὐδὲ Εὐρυνόμην μίαν τῶν Χαρίτων οὐδὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ὀνόματα αὐτῶν; πόσῳ οὖν ἐνεργέστερον καὶ πάντων τούτων τῶν ἀναπλασμάτων βέλτιον τὸ ἐκ τῶν ὁρωμένων πειθόμενον τοῖς κατὰ τὴν εὐταξίαν τοῦ κόσμου σέβειν τὸν δημιουργὸν αὐτοῦ ἑνὸς ὄντος ἕνα καὶ συμπνέοντος αὐτοῦ ὅλῳ ἑαυτῷ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μὴ δυναμένῳ ὑπὸ πολλῶν δημιουργῶν γεγονέναι, ὡς οὐδʼ ὑπὸ πολλῶν ψυχῶν συνέχεσθαι ὅλον τὸν οὐρανὸν κινουσῶν· ἀρκεῖ γὰρ μία ἡ φέρουσα ὅλην τὴν ἀπλανῆ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἐπὶ δυσμὰς καὶ ἐμπεριλαβοῦσα ἔνδον πάντα. ὧν χρείαν ἔχει ὁ κόσμος, τὰ μὴ αὐτοτελῆ. πάντα γὰρ μέρη κόσμου, οὐδὲν δὲ μέρος ὅλου θεός· δεῖ γὰρ εἶναι τὸν θεὸν μὴ ἀτελῆ. ὥσπερ ἐστὶ τὸ μέρος ἀτελές. τάχα δὲ βαθύτερος λόγος δείξει ὅτι κυρίως θεὸς ὥσπερ οὐκ ἔστι μέρος οὕτως οὐδὲ ὅλον, ἐπεὶ τὸ ὅλον ἐκ μερῶν ἐστι· καὶ οὐχ αἱρεῖ λόγος παραδέξασθαι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν εἶναι ἐκ μερῶν. ὧν ἕκαστον οὐ δύναται ὅπερ τὰ ἄλλα μέρη. ### English translation (Claude) Next Celsus says that "the goatherds and shepherds who followed Moses as their leader, beguiled by rustic deceits, thought there was one God." Let him show, then, since the goatherds and shepherds, as he thinks, abandoned the worship of the gods without reason, how he himself can establish the multitude of gods among the Greeks or the other barbarians. Let him show the subsistence and being of Mnemosyne, who bore the Muses to Zeus, or of Themis, who bore the Hours; or let him show that the Graces, always naked, can have real existence. But he will not be able to show from the facts that the fictions of the Greeks, which seem to be given bodies, are gods. For why are the Greek myths about the gods truer than, say, those of the Egyptians, who in their language know neither Mnemosyne as mother of the nine Muses, nor Themis of the Hours, nor Eurynome as one of the Graces, nor their other names? How much more effective, and better than all these fictions, it is to be persuaded from what is seen, by the good order of the world, to worship its maker as one, since it is one and wholly in harmony with itself, and therefore cannot have come to be by many makers, just as the whole heaven is not held together by many souls moving it. For one is enough, which carries the whole sphere of fixed stars from east to west and embraces within it all the things the world needs, which are not self-sufficient. For all are parts of the world, but God is no part of a whole; for God must not be incomplete, as a part is incomplete. And perhaps a deeper account will show that God, strictly speaking, just as he is not a part, so also is not a whole, since a whole is made of parts; and reason does not allow us to accept that the God over all is made of parts, each of which cannot do what the other parts do. ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Theog. 53–60, 901–909 (Hesiod, Theogony): allusion, high confidence - Plato, Tim. 36b–e (Plato (works)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The genealogies are from Hesiod, Theogony 53–60, 901–909. "Subsistence" renders ὑπόστασις. The one soul carrying the sphere of fixed stars recalls Plato, Timaeus 36b–e. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/23/). ## Against Celsus 1.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/24/ - Source: Koetschau 1:74–75 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says the name of God does not matter, but Origen holds that names have real power, so the Hebrew divine names cannot be swapped for Zeus or the names of other nations' gods. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὅτι οἱ αἰπόλοι καὶ ποιμένες ἕνα ἐνόμισαν θεὸν, εἴτε ὕψιστον εἴτʼ Ἀδωναῒ εἴτʼ οὐράνιον εἴτε Σαβαὼθ, εἴτε καὶ ὅπῃ καὶ ὅπως χαίρουσιν ὀνομάζοντες τόνδε τὸν κόσμον· καὶ πλεῖον οὐδὲν ἔγνωσαν. καὶ ἑξῆς δέ φησι μηδὲν διαφέρειν τῷ παρʼ Ἕλλησι φερομένῳ ὀνόματι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν καλεῖν Δία ἢ τῷ δεῖνα, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν. παρʼ Ἰνδοῖς ἢ τῷ δεῖνα παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις. λεκτέον δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ὅτι ἐμπίπτει εἰς τὸ προκείμενον λόγος βαθὺς καὶ ἀπόῤῥητος. ὁ περὶ φύσεως ὀνομάτων· πότερον. ὡς οἴεται Ἀριστοτέλης, θέσει εἰσὶ τὰ ὀνόματα ἢ. ὡς νομίζουσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, φύσει, μιμουμένων τῶν πρώτων φωνῶν τὰ πράγματα, καθʼ ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα, καθὸ καὶ στοιχεῖά τινα (τῆς) ἐτυμολογίας εἰσάγουσιν, ἢ, ὡς διδάσκει Ἐπίκουρος, ἑτέρως ἢ ὡς οἴονται οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, φύσει ἐστὶ τὰ ὀνόματα, ἀποῤῥηξάντων τῶν πρώτων ἀνθρώπων τινὰς φωνὰς κατὰ τῶν πραγμάτων. ἐὰν τοίνυν δυνηθῶμεν ἐν προηγουμένῳ λόγῳ παραστῆσαι φύσιν ὀνομάτων ἐνεργῶν, ὧν τισι χρῶνται Αἰγυπτίων οἱ σοφοὶ ἢ τῶν παρὰ Πέρσαις μάγων οἱ λόγιοι ἢ τῶν παρʼ Ἰνδοῖς φιλοσοφούντων Βραχμᾶνες ἢ Σαμαναῖοι. καὶ οὕτω καθʼ ἕκαστον τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ κατασκευάσαι οἷοί τε γενώμεθα ὅτι καὶ ἡ καλουμένη μαγεία οὐχ, ὡς οἴονται οἱ ἀπὸ Ἐπικούρου καὶ Ἀριστοτέλους, πρᾶγμά ἐστιν ἀσύστατον πάντῃ ἀλλʼ, ὡς οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοὶ ἀποδεικνύουσι, συνεστὸς μὲν λόγους δʼ ἔχον σφόδρα ὀλίγοις γινωσκομένους· τότʼ ἐροῦμεν ὅτι τὸ μὲν Σαβαὼθ ὄνομα καὶ τὸ Ἀδωναῒ καὶ (ὅσα) ἄλλα παρʼ Ἑβραίοις μετὰ πολλῆς σεμνολογίας παραδιδόμενα οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν τυχόντων καὶ γενητῶν κεῖται πραγμάτων ἀλλʼ ἐπί τινος θεολογίας ἀποῤῥήτου, ἀναφερομένης εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργόν. διὸ καὶ δύναται ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα. λεγόμενα μετά τινος τοῦ συνυφοῦς αὐτοῖς εἱρμοῦ. ἄλλα δὲ κατὰ Αἰγυπτίαν φερόμενα φωνὴν ἐπί τινων δαιμόνων. τῶν τάδε μόνα δυναμένων, καὶ ἄλλα κατὰ τὴν Περσῶν διάλεκτον ἐπὶ ἄλλων δυνάμεων, καὶ οὕτω καθʼ ἕκαστον τῶν ἐθνῶν, εἰς χρείας τινὰς παραλαμβάνεσθαι. καὶ οὕτως εὑρεθήσεται τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς δαιμόνων, λαχόντων διαφόρους τόπους, φέρεσθαι τὰ ὀνόματα οἰκείως ταῖς κατὰ τόπον καὶ ἔθνος διαλέκτοις. ὁ τοίνυν μεγαλοφυέστερον κἂν ὀλίγην τούτων περίνοιαν εἰληφὼς εὐλαβηθήσεται ἄλλα ἄλλοις ἐφαρμόζειν ὀνόματα πράγμασι, μή ποτε ὅμοιον πάθῃ τοῖς τὸ θεὸς ὄνομα ἐσφαλμένως φέρουσιν ἐπὶ ὕλην ἄψυχον. ἢ τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ προσηγορίαν κατασπῶσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου αἰτίου ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν τυφλὸν πλοῦτον καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν σαρκῶν καὶ αἱμάτων καὶ ὀστέων συμμετρίαν ἐν ὑγείᾳ καὶ εὐεξίᾳ ἢ τὴν νομιζομένην εὐγένειαν. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says that "the goatherds and shepherds thought there was one God, whether they call him the Most High, or Adonai, or the Heavenly One, or Sabaoth, or however and in whatever way they like to name this world; and they knew nothing more." And next he says that it makes no difference to call the God over all by the name current among the Greeks, Zeus, or by such-and-such a name, say, among the Indians, or such-and-such among the Egyptians. To this we must say that a deep and secret question arises here, the one about the nature of names: whether, as Aristotle thinks, names are by convention; or, as those of the Stoa believe, by nature, the first sounds imitating the things of which the names are names—on which ground they also introduce certain elements of etymology; or, as Epicurus teaches, differently from what the Stoics think, names are by nature, the first human beings having burst out with certain sounds about things. If, then, we can establish in a special treatise the nature of effective names, some of which the wise men of the Egyptians use, or the learned among the Persian magi, or the Brahmans or Samanaeans among the philosophers of India, and so on for each of the nations; and if we can prove that so-called magic is not, as the followers of Epicurus and Aristotle think, something altogether incoherent, but, as those skilled in it demonstrate, coherent, though having reasons known to very few—then we will say that the name Sabaoth, and Adonai, and the other names handed down among the Hebrews with great reverence, are not applied to ordinary and created things but to a certain secret theology that refers to the maker of the universe. That is why these names, when spoken with the sequence that is woven together with them, can be employed for certain purposes; while others, current in the Egyptian tongue, apply to certain demons who can do only such-and-such things, and others in the Persian language to other powers, and so on for each of the nations. And so it will be found that the names of the demons on earth, who have been allotted different places, are current in the languages proper to each place and nation. So one who has gained a nobler understanding of these things, even a little, will take care not to apply different names to different things wrongly, lest he suffer the same as those who wrongly give the name "god" to lifeless matter, or drag down the title "good" from the first cause, or from virtue and the beautiful, to blind wealth, or to the proportion of flesh and blood and bones in health and fitness, or to what is thought noble birth. ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Int. 16a (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence - Epicurus, Ep. Hdt. 75–76 (Epicurus (sayings and fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Most High, Adonai, and Sabaoth are biblical titles of God. The views on names are those of Aristotle (On Interpretation 16a), the Stoics, and Epicurus (Letter to Herodotus 75–76). The Samanaeans are Buddhist ascetics (śramaṇas). "Blind wealth" echoes a proverb (cf. Plato, Laws 631c). Origen's theory that names have power is his own view, stated as such. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/24/). ## Against Celsus 1.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/25/ - Source: Koetschau 1:75–77 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Divine names carry meanings and power—the angels' names, and above all the name of Jesus—so Christians rightly die rather than call God "Zeus." ### Greek text Καὶ τάχα οὐκ ἐλάττων ὁ κίνδυνος τῷ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐφʼ ἃ μὴ χρὴ κατάγοντι, ἤπερ τῷ τὰ κατά τινα ἀπόῤῥητον λόγον ὀνόματα ἐναλλάσσοντι καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ τῶν ἐλαττόνων φέροντι ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττονα τὰ δὲ κατὰ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐπὶ τὰ ἥττονα. καὶ οὐ λέγω ὅτι τῷ Διῒ εὐθέως συνεξακούεται ὁ Κρόνου καὶ Ῥέας υἱὸς καὶ Ἥρας ἀνὴρ καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ἀδελφὸς καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος πατὴρ καὶ ὁ τῇ θυγατρὶ Περσεφόνῃ μιγεὶς, ἢ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι συνεξακούεται ὁ Λητοῦς καὶ Διὸς υἱὸς καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ἀδελφὸς καὶ Ἑρμοῦ ὁμοπάτριος ἀδελφὸς, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα φέρουσιν οἱ σοφοὶ Κέλσου τῶν δογμάτων πατέρες καὶ ἀρχαῖοι θεολόγοι Ἑλλήνων. τίς γὰρ ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις, κυριολεκτεῖσθαι μὲν τὸν Δία οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν πατέρα μὲν αὐτοῦ εἶναι Κρόνον μητέρα δὲ Ῥέαν; τὸ δʼ ὅμοιον ποιητέον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀνομαζομένων θεῶν. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἔγκλημα οὐδαμῶς ἅπτεται τῶν κατά τινα ἀπόῤῥητον λόγον τὸ Σαβαὼθ τασσόντων ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ τὸ Ἀδωναῒ ἤ τι τῶν λοιπῶν ὀνομάτων. ὅταν δὲ τὰ περὶ ὀνομάτων τις δύνηται τὰ ἐν ἀποῤῥήτοις φιλοσοφεῖν, πολλὰ ἂν εὕροι καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐπικλήσεως τῶν ἀγγέλων τοῦ θεοῦ· ὧν ὁ μέν τις Μιχαὴλ ἕτερος δὲ Γαβριὴλ καὶ ἄλλος Ῥαφαὴλ καλεῖται. φερωνύμως τοῖς πράγμασιν, ἃ διακονοῦνται κατὰ βούλημα τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐν τῷ παντί. τῆς δʼ ὁμοίας ἔχεται περὶ ὀνομάτων φιλοσοφίας καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος Ἰησοῦς, οὗ τὸ ὄνομα μυρίους ἤδη ἐναργῶς ἑώραται δαίμονας ἐξελάσαν ψυχῶν καὶ σωμάτων, ἐνεργῆσαν εἰς ἐκείνους ἀφʼ ὧν ἀπηλάθησαν. ἔτι δʼ εἰς τὸν περὶ ὀνομάτων τόπον λεκτέον ὅτι οἱ περὶ τὴν χρῆσιν τῶν ἐπῳδῶν δεινοὶ ἱστοροῦσιν, ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπῳδὴν εἰπόντα μὲν τῇ οἰκείᾳ διαλέκτῳ ἔστιν ἐνεργῆσαι ὅπερ ἐπαγγέλλεται ἡ ἐπῳδή· μεταλαβόντα δὲ εἰς ἄλλην οἱανδηποτοῦν φωνὴν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἄτονον καὶ οὐδὲν δυναμένην. οὕτως οὐ τὰ σημαινόμενα κατὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλλʼ αἱ τῶν φωνῶν ποιότητες καὶ ἰδιότητες ἔχουσί τι δυνατὸν ἐν αὐταῖς πρὸς τάδε τινὰ ἢ τάδε. οὕτω δʼ ἀπολογησόμεθα διὰ τῶν τοιούτων καὶ περὶ τοῦ μέχρι θανάτου ἀγωνίζεσθαι Χριστιανοὺς, ἵνα μὴ τὸν Δία θεὸν ἀναγορεύσωσι μηδʼ ἄλλῃ διαλέκτῳ αὐτὸν ὀνομάσωσιν. ἢ γὰρ ἀορίστως ὁμολογοῦσι τὸ κοινὸν ὄνομα τὸ θεὸς ἢ καὶ μετὰ προσθήκης τῆς·“ ὁ δημιουργὸς τῶν ὅλων, ὁ ποιητὴς οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁ καταπέμψας τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούσδε τινὰς τοὺς σοφούς“· ὡς τῷ ὀνόματι ἐφαρμοζόμενον τὸ θεὸς ὄνομα δύναμίν τινα παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐπιτελεῖ. πολλὰ δʼ ἂν καὶ ἄλλα λέγοιτο εἰς τὸν περὶ ὀνομάτων τόπον πρὸς τοὺς οἰομένους δεῖν ἀδιαφορεῖν περὶ τῆς χρήσεως αὐτῶν. καὶ εἴπερ θαυμάζεται Πλάτων εἰπὼν ἐν Φιλήβῳ· „τὸ δʼ ἐμὸν δέος, ὦ Πρώταρχε. περὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν θεῶν οὐκ ὀλίγον.“ ἐπεὶ Φίληβος θεὸν τὴν ἡδονὴν εἶπεν ὁ προσδιαλεγόμενος τῷ Σωκράτει· πῶς οὐ μᾶλλον τῆς εὐλαβείας ἀποδεξόμεθα Χριστιανοὺς, μηδὲν τῶν ἐν ταῖς μυθοποιΐαις παραλαμβανομένων ὀνομάτων προσάπτοντας τῷ τοῦ παντὸς δημιουργῷ; ἀλλὰ γὰρ τούτων ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἅλις. ### English translation (Claude) And perhaps the danger is no less for one who brings down the name of God, or the name of the good, to things to which it should not be applied, than for one who exchanges names that belong to some secret doctrine, applying those of lesser things to greater and those of greater things to lesser. And I do not say that with the name Zeus there is at once heard also the son of Cronus and Rhea, the husband of Hera, the brother of Poseidon, the father of Athena and Artemis, the one who had intercourse with his daughter Persephone; or that with Apollo there is heard the son of Leto and Zeus, the brother of Artemis, and half-brother of Hermes on his father's side—and all the other things brought forward by Celsus's wise fathers of doctrine and the ancient theologians of the Greeks. For what arbitrary choice is it that Zeus should be named properly, but that his father should not be Cronus and his mother Rhea? The same must be done with the other so-called gods. But this charge in no way touches those who, according to some secret doctrine, apply Sabaoth to God, or Adonai, or any of the other names. And when someone can philosophize about the secret teachings on names, he may find much also about the naming of God's angels, of whom one is called Michael, another Gabriel, and another Raphael, in accordance with the tasks they serve in the universe by the will of the God of all. The name of our Jesus also belongs to the same philosophy of names; it has already been clearly seen to drive countless demons out of souls and bodies, exerting its power on those from whom they were driven out. Further, on the subject of names, we must say that those skilled in the use of incantations report that when the same incantation is spoken in its own language it can accomplish what the incantation promises, but when translated into any other language whatever it can be seen to be weak and powerless. So it is not the things signified but the qualities and properties of the sounds that have some power in themselves for this or that. In this way we will also defend Christians who struggle even to death rather than proclaim Zeus as god or name him in another language. For they confess either the common name "God" without further qualification, or with the addition: "the maker of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth, who sent down to the human race such-and-such wise men"—so that the name "God," when joined to this name, accomplishes a certain power among human beings. Much else could be said on names against those who think we should be indifferent about using them. And if Plato is admired for saying in the Philebus, "My fear, Protarchus, about the names of the gods is not small," because Philebus, Socrates' partner in conversation, had called pleasure a god, how much more shall we approve the reverence of Christians who attach to the maker of the universe none of the names used in the making of myths? But enough of this for now. ### Scripture references - Dan 8:16: allusion, medium confidence - Dan 10:13: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phileb. 12c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Tob 3:17 (Tobit): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Plato quotation is Philebus 12c. The angels' names are from Dan 8:16; 10:13; Tob 3:17 (Raphael). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/25/). ## Against Celsus 1.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/26/ - Source: Koetschau 1:77–78 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus falsely says the Jews worship angels and practice sorcery; and the swift spread of Christ's teaching, which has transformed many lives, shows that it is from God. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ τίνα τρόπον συκοφαντεῖ Ἰουδαίους ὁ πάντʼ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι Κέλσος, λέγων αὐτοὺς σέβειν ἀγγέλους καὶ γοητείᾳ προσκεῖσθαι. ἧς ὁ Μωϋσῆς αὐτοῖς γέγονεν ἐξηγητής. ποῦ γὰρ τῶν γραμμάτων Μωϋσέως εὗρε τὸν νομοθέτην παραδιδόντα σέβειν ἀγγέλους. λεγέτω ὁ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι τὰ Χριστιανῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων, πῶς δὲ καὶ γοητεία παρὰ τοῖς παραδεξαμένοις τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον ἐστὶν. ἀνεγνωκόσι καὶ τὸ „τοῖς ἐπαοιδοῖς οὐ προσκολληθήσεσθε ἐκμιανθῆναι ἐν αὐτοῖς“; ἐπαγγέλλεται δὲ διδάξειν ἑξῆς, πῶς καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι ὑπὸ ἀμαθίας ἐσφάλησαν ἐξαπατώμενοι. καὶ εἰ μὲν ηὕρισκε τὴν περὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις ἀμαθίαν. μὴ κατακούσασι τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητειῶν. ἀληθῶς ἂν ἐδίδαξε. πῶς ἐσφάλησαν Ἰουδαῖοι· νῦν δὲ ταῦτα οὐδὲ βουληθεὶς φαντασθῆναι τὰ μὴ σφάλματα Ἰουδαίων σφάλματα εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνει. ἐπαγγειλάμενος δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ὕστερον διδάξειν τὰ περὶ Ἰουδαίων. πρῶτον ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν. ὡς γενομένου ἡγεμόνος τῇ καθὸ Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν γενέσει ἡμῶν. καί φησιν αὐτὸν πρὸ πάνυ ὀλίγων ἐτῶν τῆς διδασκαλίας ταύτης καθηγήσασθαι. νομισθέντα ὑπὸ Χριστιανῶν υἱὸν εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ πρὸ ὀλίγων ἐτῶν αὐτὸν γεγονέναι τοιαῦτα φήσομεν· ἆρα τὸ ἐν τοσούτοις ἔτεσι βουληθέντα σπεῖραι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λόγον καὶ διδασκαλίαν τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοσοῦτον δεδυνῆσθαι, ὡς πολλαχοῦ τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης διατεθῆναι πρὸς τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ὀλίγους Ἕλληνας καὶ βαρβάρους, σοφοὺς καὶ ἀνοήτους, ὥστε μέχρι θανάτου ἀγωνίζεσθαι ὑπὲρ χριστιανισμοῦ, ἵνʼ αὐτὸν μὴ ἐξομόσωνται, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ὑπὲρ ἄλλου δόγματος ἱστόρηται ποιεῖν, ἀθεεὶ γεγένηται; ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐ κολακεύων τὸν λόγον ἀλλὰ πειρώμενος τεθεωρημένως ἐξετάζειν τὰ πράγματα φήσαιμι ἂν ὅτι οὐδʼ οἱ σώματα πολλὰ κάμνοντα θεραπεύοντες ἀθεεὶ τυγχάνουσι τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ὑγίειαν τῶν σωμάτων τέλους· εἰ δὲ καὶ ψυχάς τις δύναιτο ἀπαλλάττειν τῆς κατὰ τὴν κακίαν χύσεως καὶ ἀκολαστημάτων καὶ ἀδικοπραγημάτων καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον καταφρονήσεως, καὶ δεῖξιν διδοίη τοῦ τοιούτου ἔργου βελτιωθέντας τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἑκατὸν (ἔστω γὰρ ἐπὶ τοσούτων ὁ λόγος), οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἂν εὐλόγως φήσαι τις οὐκ ἀθεεὶ λόγον τοσούτων κακῶν ἀπαλλακτικὸν ἐμπεποιηκέναι τοῖς ἑκατόν; εἰ δʼ ὁ εὐγνωμόνως ταῦτα κατανοῶν συγκαταθήσεται τῷ μηδὲν κρεῖττον ἐν ἀνθρώποις γεγονέναι ἀθεεὶ. πόσῳ πλέον τὸ τοσοῦτον περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ θαῤῥῶν ἀποφανεῖται, συνεξετάζων πολλῶν προσερχομένων αὐτοῦ τῷ λόγῳ ἀρχαιοτέρους βίους μεταγενεστέροις καὶ κατανοῶν, ἐν ὅσαις μὲν ἀκολασίαις ὅσαις δὲ ἀδικίαις καὶ πλεονεξίαις ἕκαστος τῶνδε ἦν. πρὶν, ὥς φησι Κέλσος καὶ οἱ τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτῷ νομίζοντες, ἀπατηθῶσι καὶ παραδέξωνται λόγον λυμαινόμενον, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσι. τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον, ἐξ οὗ δὲ παρειλήφασι τὸν λόγον, τίνα τρόπον γεγόνασιν ἐπιεικέστεροι καὶ σεμνότεροι καὶ εὐσταθέστεροι, ὥς τινας αὐτῶν διὰ τὸν ἔρωτα τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης καθαρότητος καὶ διὰ τὸ καθαρώτερον θρησκεύειν τὸ θεῖον μηδὲ τῶν συγκεχωρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἅπτεσθαι ἀφροδισίων; ### English translation (Claude) Let us see how Celsus, who professes to know everything, slanders the Jews, saying that they worship angels and are devoted to sorcery, of which Moses became their instructor. Where in the writings of Moses did he find the lawgiver teaching them to worship angels? Let him who professes to know the affairs of Christians and Jews tell us that, and how sorcery exists among those who have received the law of Moses and have read: "You shall not attach yourselves to enchanters, to be defiled by them." He promises to teach next how the Jews too went astray through ignorance and were deceived. If he had discovered the ignorance of the Jews about Jesus the Christ, in not listening to the prophecies about him, he would truly have taught how the Jews went astray; but as it is, not even wishing to imagine this, he supposes things that are not errors of the Jews to be errors. Having promised to teach later about the Jews, Celsus first speaks about our Savior, as the leader of our birth insofar as we are Christians; and he says that "a very few years ago he became the leader of this teaching, being thought by Christians to be the Son of God." About the claim that he lived a few years ago we will say this: is it without God that Jesus, wishing in so few years to sow his word and teaching, was able to do so much that in many parts of our world not a few Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish, were so disposed toward his teaching that they struggled even to death for Christianity so as not to forswear it—something that no one is recorded to have done for any other doctrine? I, for my part, not flattering the teaching but trying to examine the facts with reflection, would say that not even those who heal many sick bodies attain the goal of bodily health without God. And if someone could free souls from the flood of wickedness, from licentious and unjust deeds, and from contempt of the Divine, and could give proof of such a work in, say, a hundred people improved (let the argument run on that number), would not one reasonably say that it was not without God that he implanted in the hundred a teaching that freed them from so many evils? And if one who considers these things fairly agrees that nothing better has happened among human beings without God, how much more confidently will he declare this of Jesus, comparing the former lives of many who come to his teaching with their later lives, and considering in how much licentiousness, injustice, and greed each of them lived before—as Celsus and those who think like him say—they were deceived and accepted a teaching that, as they say, ruins human life; and in what way, from the time they received the teaching, they have become more reasonable, more serious, and more stable, so that some of them, out of love of surpassing purity and in order to worship the Divine more purely, do not even touch the sexual relations permitted by the law? ### Scripture references - Lev 19:31: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:7: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Lev 19:31. The last clause refers to Christians who chose lifelong celibacy (cf. 1 Cor 7:7). The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/26/). ## Against Celsus 1.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/27/ - Source: Koetschau 1:78–79 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The faith spread worldwide against every power; naturally most converts are simple people, but, as Celsus admits, some are educated. ### Greek text Ἐξετάζων δέ τις τὰ πράγματα ὄψεται ὅτι μείζω τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἐτόλμησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ τολμήσας ἤνυσε. πάντων γὰρ ἀρχῆθεν ἀντιπραττόντων τῷ σπαρῆναι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν ὅλην οἰκουμένην, τῶν τε κατὰ καιροὺς βασιλέων καὶ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῖς ἀρχιστρατήγων καὶ ἡγεμόνων πάντων τε ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τῶν ἡντινοῦν ἐξουσίαν ἐγκεχειρισμένων ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἀρχόντων καὶ στρατικῶν καὶ δήμων, ἐνίκησε μὴ πεφυκὼς κωλύεσθαι ὡς λόγος θεοῦ. καὶ γενόμενος τοσούτων ἀνταγωνιστῶν ἰσχυρότερος πάσης μὲν Ἑλλάδος ἐπὶ πλεῖον δὲ τῆς βαρβάρου ἐκράτησε καὶ μετεποίησε μυρίας ὅσας ψυχὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κατʼ αὐτὸν θεοσέβειαν. ἀναγκαῖον δʼ ἦν ἐν πλήθει κρατουμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου, ὧν πολλαπλασίους οἱ ἰδιῶται καὶ ἀγροικότεροι τῶν ἐν λόγοις γεγυμνασμένων, πολλαπλασίους γενέσθαι τοὺς ἰδιώτας καὶ ἀγροικοτέρους τῶν συνετωτέρων. ἀλλὰ μὴ βουληθεὶς ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος κατανοῆσαι, τὴν τοῦ λόγου φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ φθάνουσαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν („ἀπὸ) ἀνατολῆς ἡλίου“ οἴεται εἶναι ἰδιωτικὴν. διὰ τὸ ἰδιωτικὸν καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐν λόγοις δυνατὸν ἰδιωτῶν μόνων κρατήσασαν, καίτοι οὐδʼ αὐτὸς ἰδιώτας μόνους φησὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου προσῆχθαι τῇ κατὰ Ἰησοῦν θεοσεβείᾳ· ὁμολογεῖ γὰρ καὶ μετρίους καὶ ἐπιεικεῖς καὶ συνετούς τινας καὶ ἐπʼ ἀλληγορίαν ἑτοίμους εἶναι ἐν αὐτοῖς. ### English translation (Claude) Anyone examining the facts will see that Jesus attempted things greater than human nature, and having attempted them, accomplished them. For although from the beginning everyone opposed the sowing of his teaching over the whole world—the emperors of each period, the commanders and governors under them, and, so to speak, all who had been entrusted with any authority whatever, and further the rulers in the cities, the soldiers, and the peoples—it conquered, since as the Word of God it could not by nature be hindered. And having become stronger than so many adversaries, it prevailed over all Greece and still more of the barbarian world, and converted countless souls to the worship of God that he taught. And since among the multitude conquered by the teaching the ordinary and more rustic people are many times more numerous than those trained in learning, it was inevitable that the ordinary and rustic should be many times more numerous than the more intelligent. But Celsus, not wishing to consider this, thinks that the love of humanity of the teaching, which reaches every soul "from the rising of the sun," is vulgar, and that because of its vulgarity and its complete lack of power in argument it has prevailed over the uneducated alone. Yet not even he says that only the uneducated have been brought by the teaching to the worship of God according to Jesus; for he admits that there are among them some who are moderate, reasonable, and intelligent, and ready for allegory. ### Scripture references - Mal 1:11: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "From the rising of the sun" echoes Mal 1:11 (cf. Ps 50:1). λόγος is taken as "the teaching" and, in "as the Word of God," as Christ; Origen plays on both. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/27/). ## Against Celsus 1.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/28/ - Source: Koetschau 1:79–80 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's imaginary Jew claims Jesus invented the virgin birth, that Mary was a poor adulteress, and that Jesus learned magic in Egypt; Origen begins his reply. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ προσωποποιεῖ, τρόπον τινὰ μιμησάμενος ἓν ῥήτορος εἰσαγόμενον παιδίον, καὶ εἰσάγει Ἰουδαῖον πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν λέγοντά τινα μειρακιωδῶς καὶ οὐδὲν φιλοσόφου πολιᾶς ἄξιον· φέρε κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ ταῦτα ἐξετάσαντες ἐξελέγξωμεν ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸ ἁρμόζον πάντῃ τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ πρόσωπον ἐν τοῖς λεγομένοις τετήρηκε. μετὰ ταῦτα προσωποποιεῖ Ἰουδαῖον αὐτῷ διαλεγόμενον τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἐλέγχοντα αὐτὸν περὶ πολλῶν μὲν, ὡς οἴεται, πρῶτον δὲ ὡς πλασαμένου αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐκ παρθένου γένεσιν· ὀνειδίζει δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἐκ κώμης αὐτὸν γεγονέναι Ἰουδαϊκῆς καὶ ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἐγχωρίου καὶ πενιχρᾶς καὶ χερνήτιδος. φησὶ δʼ αὐτὴν καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ γήμαντος, τέκτονος τὴν τέχνην ὄντος, ἐξεῶσθαι ἐλεγχθεῖσαν ὡς μεμοιχευμένην. εἶτα λέγει ὡς ἐκβληθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ πλανωμένη ἀτίμως σκότιον ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰησοῦν· καὶ ὅτι οὗτος διὰ πενίαν εἰς Αἴγυπτον μισθαρνήσας κἀκεῖ δυνάμεών τινων πειραθεὶς, ἐφʼ αἷς Αἰγύπτιοι σεμνύνονται. ἐπανῆλθεν ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσι μέγα φρονῶν, καὶ διʼ αὐτὰς θεὸν αὑτὸν ἀνηγόρευσε. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα τῷ μηδὲν δυναμένῳ ἀβασάνιστον ἐᾶν τῶν λεγομένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπιστούντων ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξετάζοντι δοκεῖ μοι συμπνεῖν τῷ ἄξιον γεγονέναι τῆς προῤῥήσεως περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ υἱὸν εἶναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ### English translation (Claude) Since he also uses an imaginary speaker—imitating, in a way, a boy brought on by a rhetorician—and introduces a Jew saying to Jesus some childish things, not worthy of a philosopher's grey hairs, come, let us examine these too as best we can and show that he has not even kept, in what is said, the character wholly appropriate to the Jew. After this he introduces a Jew conversing with Jesus himself and refuting him, as he thinks, on many points: first, that he invented his birth from a virgin. He also reproaches him with having come from a Jewish village and from a local woman, poor and working for her living with her hands. He says that she was even driven out by her husband, a carpenter by trade, having been convicted of adultery. Then he says that, cast out by her husband and wandering in disgrace, she secretly gave birth to Jesus; and that he, hiring himself out in Egypt because of poverty, and there trying his hand at certain powers on which the Egyptians pride themselves, returned proud of these powers, and because of them proclaimed himself God. But all this, to one who can leave nothing said by unbelievers unexamined but inquires into the origin of things, seems to me to agree with Jesus having been worthy of the prophecy that he is the Son of God. ### Translation notes - The sense of μιμησάμενος ἓν ῥήτορος εἰσαγόμενον παιδίον is uncertain; it may mean a pupil's exercise in a school of rhetoric. The Jew's charge of adultery (μοιχεία) against Mary is reported as Celsus's; compare the later Jewish Toledot Yeshu tradition. σκότιον ("secretly") can also mean "illegitimate" (born in secret), and the Jew may intend both. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/28/). ## Against Celsus 1.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/29/ - Source: Koetschau 1:80–81 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus had none of the advantages of birth, wealth, or education, yet he stirred the whole world more than any sage, king, or general. ### Greek text Ἀνθρώποις μὲν γὰρ συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὸ γενέσθαι τινὰ αὐτῶν διάσημον καὶ ἔνδοξον καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ διαβόητον γένος, ὅταν οἱ γονεῖς ἐν ὑπεροχῇ καὶ προαγωγῇ τυγχάνωσι. καὶ πλοῦτος τῶν ἀναθρεψαμένων καὶ δυνηθέντων ἀναλῶσαι εἰς παίδευσιν τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ πατρὶς μεγάλη τις οὖσα καὶ ἐπίσημος. ὅταν δὲ πάντα τὰ τούτοις ἐναντία ἔχων τις δυνηθῇ ὑπερκύψας τὰ ἐμποδίζοντα αὐτὸν γνωσθῆναι καὶ σεῖσαι τοὺς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀκούοντας καὶ γενέσθαι ἐμφανὴς καὶ δῆλος οἰκουμένῃ ὅλῃ, τὰ ἀνόμοια λεγούσῃ περὶ αὐτοῦ, πῶς οὐ θαυμαστέον τὴν τοιαύτην φύσιν αὐτόθεν μὲν ὡς μεγαλοφυῆ καὶ μεγάλοις ἐπιβάλλουσαν πράγμασι καὶ ἔχουσαν παῤῥησίαν οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητον; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐξετάζοι τις τὰ κατὰ τὸν τοιοῦτον. πῶς οὐκ ἂν ζητήσαι, τίνα τρόπον ἐν εὐτελείᾳ καὶ πενίᾳ ἀνατεθραμμένος καὶ μηδεμίαν ἐγκύκλιον παιδείαν παιδευθεὶς μηδὲ μαθὼν λόγους καὶ δόγματα, ἀφʼ ὧν κἂν πιθανὸς γενέσθαι ἐδύνατο ὁμιλεῖν ὄχλοις καὶ δημαγωγεῖν καὶ ἐπάγεσθαι ἀκροατὰς πλείονας, ἐπιδίδωσιν ἑαυτὸν διδασκαλίᾳ καινῶν δογμάτων, ἐπεισάγων τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων λόγον τά τε Ἰουδαίων ἔθη καταλύοντα μετὰ τοῦ σεμνοποιεῖν αὐτῶν τοὺς προφήτας καὶ τοὺς Ἑλλήνων νόμους μάλιστα περὶ τοῦ θείου καθαιροῦντα; πῶς δʼ ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ οὕτως ἀνατεθραμμένος καὶ μηδὲν (ὡς καὶ οἱ κακολογοῦντες αὐτὸν ὁμολογοῦσι) σεμνὸν παρὰ ἀνθρώπου μαθὼν τοιαῦτα περὶ κρίσεως θεοῦ καὶ κολάσεων μὲν τῶν κατὰ τῆς κακίας τιμῶν δὲ τῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ καλοῦ λέγειν ἐδύνατο οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτως, ὥστʼ οὐ μόνον ἀγροίκους καὶ ἰδιώτας ἄγεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν λεγομένων ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ὀλίγους τῶν συνετωτέρων καὶ δυναμένων ἐνορᾶν ἀποκρύψει τῶν εὐτελεστέρων νομιζομένων ἀπαγγέλλεσθαι, περιεχούσῃ τι. ὡς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. ἔνδον ἀποῤῥητότερον; ὁ μὲν οὖν παρὰ τῷ Πλάτωνι Σερίφιος ὀνειδίζων τῷ Θεμιστοκλεῖ, διαβοήτῳ γεγενημένῳ ἐπὶ τῇ στρατηγίᾳ, ὡς οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου ἤθους τὸ ἔνδοξον ἀνειληφότι ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ εὐτυχηκέναι πατρίδος τῆς ἐν ὅλῃ Ἑλλάδι ἐπισημοτάτης. ἀκήκοεν ἀπὸ εὐγνωμονοῦντος Θεμιστοκλέους καὶ ὁρῶντος ὅτι συνεβάλετο αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸ ἔνδοξον καὶ ἡ πατρὶς, ὅτι „οὔτʼ ἂν ἐγὼ Σερίφιος ὢν οὕτως ἔνδοξος ἐγεγόνειν, οὔτε σὺ Ἀθηναῖος εὐτυχήσας γενέσθαι ἐγένου ἂν Θεμιστοκλῆς“· ὁ δʼ ἡμέτερος Ἰησοῦς καὶ ὀνειδιζόμενος ὡς ἐκ κώμης γεγονὼς καὶ ταύτης οὐχ Ἑλλαδικῆς οὐδέ τινος ἔθνους ὄντος παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐν προαγωγῇ, δυσφημούμενος δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πενιχρᾶς καὶ χερνήτιδος υἱὸς εἶναι καὶ διὰ πενίαν καταλιπὼν τὴν πατρίδα ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μισθαρνῆσαι. καὶ οἱονεὶ πρὸς τὸ ληφθὲν παράδειγμα οὐ μόνον Σερίφιος γεγονὼς καὶ ἀπὸ ἐλαχίστης καὶ ἀσημοτάτης νήσου ἀλλὰ καὶ Σεριφίων, ὡς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὁ ἀγεννέστατος, δεδύνηται σεῖσαι τὴν πᾶσαν ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένην οὐ μόνον ὑπὲρ Θεμιστοκλέα τὸν Ἀθηναῖον ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ Πυθαγόραν καὶ Πλάτωνα καί τινας ἄλλους τῶν ὁποιποτοῦν τῆς οἰκουμένης σοφῶν ἢ βασιλέων ἢ στρατηγῶν. ### English translation (Claude) For among human beings, what helps someone become distinguished and famous and have a celebrated name is birth, when the parents are of high rank and standing; the wealth of those who raised him and could spend on the education of their son; and a great and notable homeland. But when someone who has all the opposite of these can rise above the obstacles to his becoming known, and can stir those who hear of him, and become famous and known to the whole world, which says unlike things about him, how must we not admire such a nature at once as noble, undertaking great things, and having a boldness not to be despised? And if one examined the case of such a man further, how would he not ask how, brought up in cheapness and poverty, having received no general education, and having learned no arguments or doctrines by which he might have become persuasive in addressing crowds, leading the people, and drawing many hearers, he devotes himself to teaching new doctrines, bringing to the human race a teaching that abolishes the customs of the Jews while honoring their prophets, and overthrows the laws of the Greeks, especially about the Divine? How could such a man, so brought up, who (as even his detractors admit) learned nothing venerable from any human being, say such things, not to be despised, about the judgment of God, about punishments of wickedness and rewards of the good, so that not only rustic and uneducated people were led by what he said, but also not a few of the more intelligent and those able to see into the concealment of what is thought to be said in simple terms, which contains, so to speak, something more secret within? The man from Seriphos in Plato, reproaching Themistocles, who had become celebrated for his generalship, as having won his fame not by his own character but by the good fortune of having the most notable homeland in all Greece, heard from Themistocles—who was fair-minded and saw that his homeland had also contributed to his fame—"Neither would I have become so famous if I had been a Seriphian, nor would you have become a Themistocles if you had had the good fortune to be an Athenian." But our Jesus, reproached as coming from a village, and that not a Greek one nor belonging to any nation held in honor by the many, and slandered as the son of a poor woman working with her hands, and as having left his homeland because of poverty to hire himself out in Egypt—being, to follow the example taken, not only a Seriphian from the smallest and most obscure island, but even, so to speak, the most ignoble of Seriphians—has been able to stir the whole world of human beings, not only more than Themistocles the Athenian, but more than Pythagoras and Plato and any others of the world's wise men, kings, or generals whatever. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 329e–330a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 8.125 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Seriphian anecdote is Plato, Republic 1.329e–330a (from Herodotus 8.125). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/29/). ## Against Celsus 1.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/30/ - Source: Koetschau 1:81–82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus is uniquely admired for wisdom, miracles, and leadership together, and even his shameful death by crucifixion did not destroy his fame. ### Greek text Τίς οὖν μὴ παρέργως ἀνερευνῶν τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων φύσιν οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν καταπλαγείη νικήσαντα καὶ ὑπεραναβῆναι δυνηθέντα τῇ δόξῃ τὰ ποιητικὰ ἀδοξίας πάντα (καὶ) πάντας τοὺς πώποτʼ ἐνδόξους; καίτοι γε οἱ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔνδοξοι σπάνιον εἰ ἐπὶ πλείονα ἅμα τὴν δόξαν ἀναλαβεῖν δεδύνηνται. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ ἄλλος δʼ ἐπὶ στρατηγίᾳ βαρβάρων δέ τινες ἐπὶ ταῖς παραδόξοις ἐξ ἐπῳδῶν δυνάμεσι καὶ ἄλλοι ἐπʼ ἄλλοις οὐ πολλοῖς ἅμα ἐθαυμάσθησαν καὶ ἔνδοξοι γεγένηνται· οὗτος δὲ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις θαυμάζεται καὶ ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἐπὶ δυνάμεσι καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀρχικῷ. ἔπεισε γὰρ οὔθʼ ὡς τύραννος συναποστῆναι αὐτῷ τινας τῶν νόμων οὔθʼ ὡς λῃστὴς κατʼ ἀνθρώπων ἀλείφων τοὺς ἑπομένους οὔθʼ ὡς πλούσιος χορηγῶν τοῖς προσιοῦσιν οὔθʼ ὥς τις τῶν ὁμολογουμένως ψεκτῶν. ἀλλʼ ὡς διδάσκαλος τοῦ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων λόγου καὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν θρησκείας καὶ παντὸς ἠθικοῦ τρόπου, δυναμένου οἰκειῶσαι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ τὸν κατʼ αὐτὸν βιώσαντα. καὶ Θεμιστοκλεῖ μὲν ἤ τινι τῶν ἐνδόξων οὐδὲν γέγονε τὸ ἐναντιούμενον τῇ δόξῃ· τούτῳ δὲ πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις, ἱκανῶς δυναμένοις ἐν ἀδοξίᾳ καλύψαι ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴν καὶ πάνυ εὐφυοῦς, καὶ ὁ δοκῶν ἄτιμος εἶναι θάνατος σταυρωθέντι ἱκανὸς ἦν καὶ τὴν φθάσασαν δόξαν καὶ προκαταλαβοῦσαν ἐξαφανίσαι καὶ τοὺς, ὡς οἴονται οἱ μὴ συγκατατιθέμενοι αὐτοῦ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, προεξαπατηθέντας ποιῆσαι τῆς μὲν ἀπάτης ἀποστῆναι καταγνῶναι δὲ τοῦ ἀπατήσαντος. ### English translation (Claude) Who, then, examining the nature of things with more than passing attention, would not be amazed at him, who conquered and was able to rise in glory above everything that produces obscurity, and above all who were ever famous? And yet those famous among human beings have rarely been able to win fame for many things at once. One was admired and became famous for wisdom, another for generalship, some barbarians for wonderful powers from incantations, and others for other things, not many at once. But he is admired, besides other things, for wisdom, for mighty works, and for his power to lead. For he persuaded some to revolt with him from the laws, not as a tyrant, nor as a robber, anointing his followers for combat against men, nor as a rich man, supplying those who came to him, nor as any of those admittedly blameworthy, but as a teacher of the doctrine about the God of the universe, of the worship due to him, and of every moral way of life that can bring whoever lives by it into close relation with the God over all. For Themistocles, or any other famous man, nothing arose to oppose his fame. But for this man, besides what has been said—which was enough to cover in obscurity the soul even of a very gifted man—his death by crucifixion, which seems dishonorable, was enough to wipe out the fame he had already gained, and to make those who, as those who do not assent to his teaching think, had been deceived beforehand abandon the deception and condemn the deceiver. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/30/). ## Against Celsus 1.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/31/ - Source: Koetschau 1:82–83 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The apostles' readiness to die makes sense only if they saw Christ risen; his death, like that of heroes who died for their cities, defeated the ruler of demons for all humanity. ### Greek text Πρὸς τούτοις δὲ θαυμάσαι ἄν τις, πόθεν ἐπῆλθε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, ὡς λέγουσιν οἱ κακολογοῦντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν, μὴ ἑωρακόσιν αὐτὸν ἀναστάντα ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν μηδὲ πεισθεῖσιν ὅτι θειότερόν τι ἦν ἐκεῖνος, πρὸς τῷ μὴ φοβηθῆναι τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ διδασκάλῳ παθεῖν καὶ ὁμόσε χωρῆσαι τῷ κινδύνῳ καὶ καταλιπεῖν τὰς πατρίδας ὑπὲρ τοῦ διδάξαι κατὰ τὸ Ἰησοῦ βούλημα τὸν παραδοθέντα αὐτοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λόγον. οἶμαι γὰρ ὅτι ὁ εὐγνωμόνως ἐξετάζων πράγματα οὐκ ἂν λέγοι τούτους ἑαυτοὺς παραδεδωκέναι περιστατικῷ βίῳ ἕνεκεν τῆς Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίας χωρίς τινος μεγάλης πειθοῦς, ἣν ἐνεποίησεν αὐτοῖς διδάσκων οὐ μόνον διακεῖσθαι κατὰ τὰ μαθήματα αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλους διατιθέναι, καὶ διατιθέναι προὔπτου ὄντος ὡς πρὸς τὸν ἀνθρώπων βίον ὀλέθρου τῷ τολμῶντι πανταχοῦ καὶ πρὸς πάντας καινοτομεῖν καὶ μηδένα ἀνθρώπων, ἐμμένοντα τοῖς προτέροις δόγμασι καὶ ἔθεσι, φίλον ἑαυτῷ τηρεῖν. ἆρα γὰρ οὐχ ἑώρων οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ, τολμῶντες οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαίοις ἐκ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων παριστάνειν ὅτι οὗτος εἴη ὁ προφητευθεὶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν ὅτι ὁ χθὲς καὶ πρώην σταυρωθεὶς ἑκὼν τοῦτον τὸν θάνατον ὑπὲρ τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους ἀνεδέξατο, ἀνάλογον τοῖς ἀποθανοῦσιν ὑπὲρ πατρίδων ἐπὶ τῷ σβέσαι λοιμικὰ κρατήσαντα καταστήματα ἢ ἀφορίας ἢ δυσπλοΐας; εἰκὸς γὰρ εἶναι ἐν τῇ φύσει τῶν πραγμάτων κατά τινας ἀποῤῥήτους καὶ δυσλήπτους τοῖς πολλοῖς λόγους φύσιν τοιαύτην, ὡς ἕνα δίκαιον ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ ἀποθανόντα ἑκουσίως ἀποτροπιασμοὺς ἐμποιεῖν φαύλων δαιμονίων, ἐνεργούντων λοιμοὺς ἢ ἀφορίας ἢ δυσπλοΐας ἤ τι τῶν παραπλησίων. λεγέτωσαν οὖν οἱ βουλόμενοι ἀπιστεῖν τῷ Ἰησοῦν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων ἀποτεθνηκέναι τρόπῳ σταυροῦ, πότερον οὐδὲ τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς παραδέξονται καὶ βαρβαρικὰς πολλὰς ἱστορίας περὶ τοῦ τινας ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ τεθνηκέναι καθαιρετικῶς τῶν προκαταλαβόντων τὰς πόλεις καὶ τὰ ἔθνη κακῶν· ἢ ἐκεῖνα μὲν γεγένηται οὐδὲν δὲ πιθανὸν ἔχει ὁ νομιζόμενος ἄνθρωπος πρὸς τὸ ἀποθανεῖν ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει μεγάλου δαίμονος καὶ δαιμόνων ἄρχοντος, ὑποτάξαντος ὅλας τὰς ἐπὶ γῆν ἐληλυθυίας ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς; ὁρῶντες δὲ ταῦτα οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ καὶ ἄλλα τούτων πλείονα, ἃ εἰκὸς αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μεμαθηκέναι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ δυνάμεώς τινος πληρωθέντες. ἐπεὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς μένος καὶ θάρσος οὐ ποιητική τις παρθένος ἀλλʼ ἡ ἀληθῶς φρόνησις καὶ σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ, (ἔσπευσαν, ) ἵνʼ ἔκδηλοι μετὰ πᾶσιν οὐ μόνοις Ἀργείοις γένοιντο ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν ὁμοῦ καὶ βαρβάροις, καὶ κλέος ἐσθλὸν ἄροιντο. ### English translation (Claude) Besides this, one might wonder how it came into the minds of his disciples—if, as those who slander Jesus say, they had not seen him risen from the dead and were not persuaded that he was something more divine—not only not to fear suffering the same things as their teacher, but to go straight into danger and to leave their homelands in order to teach, according to Jesus' will, the teaching he had handed on to them. For I think that one who examines things fairly would not say that these men gave themselves up to a life of perils for the sake of Jesus' teaching without some great persuasion that he produced in them, teaching them not only to live according to his lessons but also to bring others to do so—and to bring them to it when ruin, as far as human life is concerned, was plainly in store for one who dared to introduce novelties everywhere and to everyone, and to keep no human being as his friend who clung to his former doctrines and customs. Did Jesus' disciples not see this, when they dared to prove not only to Jews from the prophetic words that he was the one prophesied, but also to the other nations that the one crucified only the other day had willingly accepted this death for the human race, like those who died for their homelands to put an end to prevailing plagues, famines, or storms at sea? For it is likely that in the nature of things, according to certain secret reasons hard for the many to grasp, there is such a nature that one righteous man, dying willingly for the common good, effects the averting of evil demons that bring about plagues, famines, storms at sea, or the like. Let those who wish to disbelieve that Jesus died for human beings by way of the cross say whether they will not accept the many Greek and barbarian stories of people who died for the common good to remove evils that had seized cities and nations; or do they say that those things happened, while he who is thought a man has no plausibility for dying to overthrow a great demon, the ruler of demons, who had subjected all the souls of human beings that have come to earth? Seeing these things, and others more than these which they probably learned from Jesus in secret, and being filled besides with a certain power—since it was no poets' maiden that gave them strength and courage but the true understanding and wisdom of God—they hastened "that they might become conspicuous among all," not only among the Argives but among all Greeks and barbarians alike, "and win noble fame." ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 5.1–3 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The closing words adapt Homer, Iliad 5.1–3, where Athena (the "maiden") gives Diomedes strength and courage. The words ἔσπευσαν ("they hastened") are supplied by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/31/). ## Against Celsus 1.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/32/ - Source: Koetschau 1:83–84 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Jewish story that Mary bore Jesus by a soldier named Panthera betrays that Jesus was not Joseph's son; even on Platonic assumptions, so great a soul would have a pure and exceptional birth. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπανέλθωμεν εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσωποποιΐαν, ἐν ᾗ ἀναγέγραπται ἡ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μήτηρ ὡς ἐξωσθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ μνηστευσαμένου αὐτὴν τέκτονος, ἐλεγχθεῖσα ἐπὶ μοιχείᾳ καὶ τίκτουσα ἀπό τινος στρατιώτου Πανθήρα τοὔνομα· καὶ ἴδωμεν εἰ μὴ τυφλῶς οἱ μυθοποιήσαντες τὴν μοιχείαν τῆς παρθένου καὶ τοῦ Πανθήρα καὶ τὸν τέκτονα ἐξωσάμενον αὐτὴν ταῦτα πάντα ἀνέπλασαν ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς παραδόξου ἀπὸ ἁγίου πνεύματος συλλήψεως· ἐδύναντο γὰρ ἄλλως ψευδοποιῆσαι διὰ τὸ σφόδρα παράδοξον τὴν ἱστορίαν καὶ μὴ ὡσπερεὶ ἀκουσίως συγκαταθέσθαι ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ συνήθων ἀνθρώποις γάμων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐγεννήθη. καὶ ἀκόλουθόν γε ἦν τοὺς μὴ συγκαταθεμένους τῇ παραδόξῳ γενέσει τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πλάσαι τι ψεῦδος· τὸ δὲ μὴ πιθανῶς αὐτοὺς τοῦτο ποιῆσαι ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ τηρῆσαι ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ παρθένος συνέλαβε τὸν Ἰησοῦν, τοῖς ἀκούειν καὶ ἐλέγχειν ἀναπλάσματα δυναμένοις ἐναργὲς ἦν ψεῦδος. ἆρα γὰρ εὔλογον τὸν τοσαῦτα ὑπὲρ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων τολμήσαντα, ἵνα τὸ ὅσον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ πάντες Ἕλληνες καὶ βάρβαροι κρίσιν θείαν προσδοκήσαντες ἀποστῶσι μὲν τῆς κακίας πάντα δὲ πράττωσιν ἀρεσκόντως τῷ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργῷ, παράδοξον μὲν μὴ ἐσχηκέναι γένεσιν πασῶν δὲ γενέσεων παρανομωτάτην καὶ αἰσχίστην; ἐρῶ δὲ ὡς πρὸς Ἕλληνας καὶ μάλιστα Κέλσον, εἴτε φρονοῦντα εἴτε μὴ, πλὴν παρατιθέμενον τὰ Πλάτωνος· ἆρα ὁ καταπέμπων ψυχὰς εἰς ἀνθρώπων σώματα τὸν τοσαῦτα τολμήσοντα καὶ τοσούτους διδάξοντα καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῆς κατὰ τὴν κακίαν μεταστήσοντα πολλοὺς ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τὴν πασῶν αἰσχροτέραν γένεσιν ὤθει, μηδὲ διὰ γάμων γνησίων αὐτὸν εἰσαγαγὼν εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον; ἢ εὐλογώτερον ἑκάστην ψυχὴν κατά τινας ἀποῤῥήτους λόγους (λέγω δὲ ταῦτα νῦν κατὰ Πυθαγόραν καὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλέα, οὓς πολλάκις ὠνόμασεν ὁ Κέλσος, ) εἰσκρινομένην σώματι κατʼ ἀξίαν εἰσκρίνεσθαι καὶ κατὰ τὰ πρότερα ἤθη; εἰκὸς οὖν καὶ ταύτην τὴν ψυχὴν, πολλῶν (ἵνα μὴ συναρπάζειν δοκῶ, λέγων πάντων) ἀνθρώπων ὠφελιμωτέραν τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδημοῦσαν, δεδεῆσθαι σώματος, οὐ μόνον ὡς ἐν ἀνθρωπίνοις σώμασι διαφέροντος ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πάντων κρείττονος. ### English translation (Claude) But let us return to the speech put in the mouth of the Jew, in which the mother of Jesus is described as having been driven out by the carpenter who was betrothed to her, having been convicted of adultery and giving birth by a certain soldier named Panthera. Let us see whether those who concocted the tale of the adultery of the virgin with Panthera, and of the carpenter driving her out, did not blindly fabricate all this to overthrow the miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit. For they could have falsified the story in another way, because it is so very miraculous, and not, as it were unwillingly, have agreed that Jesus was not born of an ordinary human marriage. It was natural that those who did not assent to the miraculous birth of Jesus should invent some falsehood; but that they did not do this plausibly, but kept the fact that the virgin did not conceive Jesus by Joseph, made the falsehood evident to those able to hear and refute fabrications. Is it reasonable that one who dared so much for the human race—so that, as far as lay in him, all Greeks and barbarians, expecting divine judgment, might turn from wickedness and do everything in a way pleasing to the maker of the universe—should not have had a miraculous birth, but the most lawless and shameful birth of all? I will speak as to Greeks, and especially to Celsus, whether or not he holds these views, since he quotes Plato: would the one who sends souls down into human bodies thrust one who was to dare so much, to teach so many, and to turn many human beings from the flood of wickedness, into the most shameful birth of all, not even bringing him into human life through a lawful marriage? Or is it more reasonable that each soul, according to certain secret reasons (I speak now according to Pythagoras, Plato, and Empedocles, whom Celsus often named), is put into a body according to its merit and its former character? It is likely, then, that this soul too, which came to dwell in human life to be of more benefit than many human beings (not to seem to beg the question by saying "all"), needed a body not only superior among human bodies but also better than all. ### Scripture references - Matt 1:18–20: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 248c–e (Plato (works)): allusion, low confidence - Empedocles (Empedocles (fragments)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The Panthera story appears first here; it is Celsus's report of an anti-Christian Jewish tale. Origen argues ad hominem from the Platonic and Pythagorean doctrine that souls enter bodies according to merit, stating that he speaks "according to Pythagoras, Plato, and Empedocles"; it is not offered as Christian teaching. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/32/). ## Against Celsus 1.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/33/ - Source: Koetschau 1:84–85 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If bodies suit the souls that inhabit them, the soul of Jesus would need an extraordinary body, not one born of adultery. ### Greek text Εἰ γὰρ ἥδε μὲν ἡ ψυχὴ, κατά τινας ἀποῤῥήτους λόγους ἀξία γενομένη μὴ πάντῃ μὲν ἐν ἀλόγου γενέσθαι σώματι οὐ μὴν καὶ καθαρῶς ἐν λογικοῦ, ἐνδύεται σῶμα τερατῶδες, ὡς μηδὲ τὸν λόγον συμπληρωθῆναι δύνασθαι τῷ οὑτωσὶ γεγενημένῳ καὶ ἀσύμμετρον ἔχοντι τὴν κεφαλὴν τῷ λοιπῷ σώματι καὶ πάνυ βραχυτέραν, ἑτέρα δὲ τοιόνδε σῶμα ἀναλαμβάνει, ὡς ὀλίγῳ ἐκείνου γενέσθαι λογικωτέρα, καὶ ἄλλη ἔτι μᾶλλον, τῆς φύσεως τοῦ σώματος ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἢ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον ἀντιπραττούσης τῇ τοῦ λόγου ἀντιλήψει· διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ ψυχή τις ἔσται πάντῃ παράδοξον ἀναλαμβάνουσα σῶμα, ἔχον μέν τι κοινὸν πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἵνα καὶ συνδιατρῖψαι αὐτοῖς δυνηθῇ, ἔχον δέ τι καὶ ἐξαίρετον, ἵνα τῆς κακίας ἄγευστος ἡ ψυχὴ διαμεῖναι δυνηθῇ; ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν φυσιογνωμονούντων κρατῇ. εἴτε Ζωπύρου εἴτε Λόξου εἴτε Πολέμωνος εἴτε οὕτινός ποτʼ οὖν τοιαῦτα γράψαντος καὶ ἐπαγγειλαμένου εἰδέναι τι θαυμαστὸν, οἰκεῖα τοῖς ἤθεσι τῶν ψυχῶν πάντʼ εἶναι τὰ σώματα, τῇ οὖν μελλούσῃ παραδόξως ἐπιδημεῖν τῷ βίῳ καὶ μεγαλοποιεῖν ἔδει γενέσθαι σῶμα (οὐχ) ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, ἀπὸ Πανθήρα μοιχεύσαντος καὶ παρθένου μοιχευθείσης (ἐκ γὰρ τοιούτων ἀνάγνων μίξεων ἔδει μᾶλλον ἀνόητόν τινα καὶ ἐπιβλαβῆ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διδάσκαλον ἀκολασίας καὶ ἀδικίας καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν κακῶν γενέσθαι οὐχὶ δὲ σωφροσύνης καὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρετῶν). ### English translation (Claude) For if one soul, having become worthy, according to certain secret reasons, of being born not wholly in the body of an irrational creature, yet not purely in that of a rational one either, puts on a monstrous body, so that reason cannot even be brought to completion in one so born, whose head is out of proportion to the rest of the body and much too small; and another takes on such a body as to be a little more rational than that one, and another still more, the nature of the body opposing the grasp of reason more or less—why should there not also be a soul that takes on a body wholly extraordinary, having something in common with human beings so that it could live among them, but having also something exceptional, so that the soul could remain untouched by wickedness? And if the teachings of the physiognomists prevail—whether of Zopyrus, or Loxus, or Polemon, or anyone else who wrote such things and professed to know something wonderful—that all bodies are suited to the characters of their souls, then the soul that was to come to dwell in life extraordinarily and to do great things had to have a body born not, as Celsus thinks, from Panthera committing adultery and a virgin who had committed adultery (for from such impure unions there should rather have come some fool, harmful to human beings, a teacher of licentiousness, injustice, and the other vices, not of self-control, justice, and the other virtues), ### Translation notes - Origen continues his argument on the premises of those who hold that souls receive bodies according to merit. Zopyrus, Loxus, and Polemon were writers on physiognomy. The negative (οὐχ) is supplied by the editor. The sentence continues in 1.34. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/33/). ## Against Celsus 1.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/34/ - Source: Koetschau 1:85–86 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus ignored Isaiah's prophecy that a virgin would bear Emmanuel; Origen quotes it and defends the translation "virgin" against the rendering "young woman." ### Greek text ἀλλʼ ὡς καὶ προφῆται προεῖπον, ἀπὸ παρθένου. κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν σημείου γεννώσης τὸν ἐπώνυμον πράγματος, δηλοῦντος ὅτι ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει αὐτοῦ μετʼ ἀνθρώπων ἔσται θεός. Καὶ οἰκεῖόν γε φαίνεταί μοι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσωποποιΐαν παραθέσθαι τὴν τοῦ Ἡσαΐου προφητείαν, λέγουσαν ἐκ παρθένου τεχθήσεσθαι τὸν Ἐμμανουήλ· ἣν οὐκ ἐξέθετο, εἴτε μὴ ἐπιστάμενος ὁ πάντʼ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι Κέλσος εἴτʼ ἀναγνοὺς μὲν ἑκὼν δὲ σιωπήσας, ἵνα μὴ δοκοίη κατασκευάζειν ἄκων τὸν λόγον ἐναντιούμενον αὐτοῦ τῇ προαιρέσει. ἔχει δʼ οὕτως ἡ λέξις· „καὶ προσέθετο κύριος τῷ Ἄχαζ λέγων· αἴτησαι σεαυτῷ σημεῖον παρὰ κυρίου θεοῦ σου εἰς βάθος ἢ εἰς ὕψος. καὶ εἶπεν Ἄχαζ· οὐ μὴ αἰτήσω οὐδʼ οὐ μὴ πειράσω τὸν κύριον. (καὶ εἶπεν·) ἀκούσατε δὴ, οἶκος Δαυὶδ, μὴ μικρὸν ὑμῖν ἀγῶνα παρέχειν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ πῶς κυρίῳ παρέχετε ἀγῶνα; διὰ τοῦτο δώσει κύριος αὐτὸς ὑμῖν σημεῖον· ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ“, ὅπερ ἑρμηνεύεται „μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός“. ὅτι δὲ κακουργῶν ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ ἐξέθετο τὴν προφητείαν, δῆλόν μοι γίνεται ἐκ τοῦ παραθέμενον αὐτὸν πολλὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίου, ὥσπερ τὸν ἀνατείλαντα ἀστέρα ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἄλλα τῶν παραδόξων, μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν τούτου ἐμνημονευκέναι. ἐὰν δὲ Ἰουδαῖος εὑρεσιλογῶν τὸ „ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος“ μὴ γεγράφθαι λέγῃ ἀλλʼ ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ „ἰδοὺ ἡ νεᾶνις“, φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι ἡ μὲν λέξις ἡ ἀαλμὰ, ἣν οἱ μὲν ἑβδομήκοντα μετειλήφασι πρὸς τὴν παρθένον ἄλλοι δʼ εἰς τὴν νεᾶνιν, κεῖται, ὥς φασι, καὶ ἐν τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ ἐπὶ παρθένου, οὕτως ἔχουσα·„ἐὰν δὲ γένηται παῖς παρθένος μεμνηστευμένη ἀνδρὶ, καὶ εὑρὼν αὐτὴν ἄνθρωπος ἐν πόλει κοιμηθῇ μετʼ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐξάξετε ἀμφοτέρους ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τῆς πόλεως αὐτῶν, καὶ λιθοβοληθήσονται λίθοις, καὶ ἀποθανοῦνται· τὴν νεᾶνιν ἐπὶ λόγου, διότι οὐκ ἐβόησεν ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ λόγου, διότι ἐταπείνωσε τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ·“ καὶ ἑξῆς· „ἐὰν δὲ ἐν πεδίῳ εὕρῃ ἄνθρωπος τὴν παῖδα τὴν μεμνηστευμένην καὶ βιασάμενος αὐτὴν ὁ ἄνθρωπος κοιμηθῇ μετʼ αὐτῆς, ἀποκτενεῖτε τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κοιμώμενον μετʼ αὐτῆς μόνον, καὶ τῇ νεάνιδι οὐ ποιήσετε οὐδέν· οὐκ ἔστι τῇ νεάνιδι ἁμάρτημα θανάτου.“ ### English translation (Claude) but, as the prophets also foretold, from a virgin who, according to the promise of a sign, would bear one named for the reality, showing that at his birth God would be with human beings. It seems to me fitting, in answer to the speech put in the Jew's mouth, to set out the prophecy of Isaiah that says Emmanuel will be born of a virgin. Celsus, who professes to know everything, did not quote it, either because he did not know it, or because, having read it, he deliberately kept silent, so as not to seem unwillingly to establish the teaching that opposes his purpose. The text runs thus: "And the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. And he said: Hear then, O house of David: is it a small thing for you to weary men, and how will you weary the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel," which is interpreted, "God with us." That Celsus maliciously did not quote the prophecy is clear to me from the fact that, though he cites much from the Gospel according to Matthew, such as the star that rose at the birth of Jesus and other wonders, he did not mention this at all. And if a Jew, quibbling, says that "Behold, the virgin" is not written, but instead "Behold, the young woman," we will say to him that the word "almah," which the Seventy translated "virgin" and others "young woman," occurs, as they say, also in Deuteronomy of a virgin, as follows: "If there is a girl, a virgin, betrothed to a man, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, you shall bring them both out to the gate of their city, and they shall be stoned with stones and shall die: the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife." And next: "But if a man finds the betrothed girl in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, you shall kill only the man who lay with her, and to the young woman you shall do nothing; the young woman has no sin worthy of death." ### Scripture references - Isa 7:10–14: quotation, high confidence - Matt 1:23: quotation, high confidence - Deut 22:23–26: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:2: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The opening phrase completes the sentence of 1.33. The quotations are Isa 7:10–14 (LXX), with the interpretation from Matt 1:23, and Deut 22:23–26. The "others" who rendered "young woman" (νεᾶνις) are Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. Origen's claim, reported "as they say," that ʿalmah occurs in Deut 22 is not borne out by the Hebrew, which has naʿarah there; the LXX of that passage uses both παρθένος and νεᾶνις. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/34/). ## Against Celsus 1.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/35/ - Source: Koetschau 1:86–87 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: From Isaiah's own words: a birth to a young wife would be no sign; the sign fits a virgin birth, given to the house of David and fulfilled in Christ, who descended and ascended. ### Greek text Ἵνα δὲ μὴ δοκῶμεν ἀπὸ λέξεως Ἑβραϊκῆς τοῖς μὴ καταλαμβάνουσι, πότερον συγκαταθετέον αὐτῇ ἢ μὴ, φέρειν παραμυθίαν περὶ τοῦ προφήτην εἰρηκέναι ἐκ παρθένου τεχθήσεσθαι τοῦτον, ἐφʼ οὗ τῇ γενέσει λέλεκται τὸ „μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ θεὸς“, φέρε ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς λέξεως παραμυθησώμεθα τὸ λεγόμενον. ὁ μὲν κύριος ἀναγέγραπται εἰρηκέναι τῷ Ἄχαζ· „αἴτησαι σεαυτῷ σημεῖον παρὰ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου εἰς βάθος ἢ εἰς ὕψος, “ ἑξῆς δὲ τὸ διδόμενον σημεῖον τὸ „ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν.“ ποῖον οὖν σημεῖον τὸ νεάνιδα, μὴ παρθένον τεκεῖν; καὶ τίνι μᾶλλον ἁρμόζει γεννῆσαι „Ἐμμανουὴλ, “ τουτέστι „μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ θεὸς, “ ἆρα γυναικὶ συνουσιασθείσῃ καὶ διὰ πάθους γυναικείου συλλαβούσῃ ἢ ἔτι καθαρᾷ καὶ ἁγνῇ καὶ παρθένῳ; ταύτῃ γὰρ πρέπει γεννᾶν γέννημα, ἐφʼ ᾧ τεχθέντι λέγεται τὸ „μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός.“ ἐὰν δὲ καὶ οὕτως εὑρεσιλογῇ λέγων ὅτι τῷ Ἄχαζ εἴρηται· „αἴτησαι σεαυτῷ σημεῖον παρὰ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου, “ ἀπαντήσομεν· κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους τοῦ Ἄχαζ τίς ἐγεννήθη, ἐφʼ οὗ τῇ γενέσει λέγεται τὸ „Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός,·“ εἰ γὰρ οὐδεὶς εὑρεθήσεται, δηλονότι τὸ τῷ Ἄχαζ εἰρημένον τῷ οἴκῳ εἴρηται Δαυὶδ διὰ τὸ „ἐκ σπέρματος Δαυὶδ“ ἀναγεγράφθαι τὸν σωτῆρα γεγονέναι „τὸ κατὰ σάρκα“· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ „σημεῖον“ τοῦτο „εἰς βάθος ἢ εἰς ὕψος“ λέγεται εἶναι, ἐπεὶ „ὁ καταβὰς οὗτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὰ πάντα.“ ταῦτα δὲ λέγω ὡς πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον συγκατατιθέμενον τῇ προφητείᾳ. λεγέτω δὲ καὶ Κέλσος ἤ τις τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ, ποίῳ νῷ ὁ προφήτης περὶ μελλόντων ἢ ταῦτα ἢ ἕτερα λέγει, ὁπόσα ἀναγέγραπται ἐν ταῖς προφητείαις· ἆρα γὰρ προγνωστικῷ μελλόντων ἢ οὔ; εἰ μὲν γὰρ προγνωστικῷ μελλόντων, θεῖον εἶχον πνεῦμα οἱ προφῆται· εἰ δʼ οὐ προγνωστικῷ μελλόντων, παραστησάτω τὸν νοῦν τοῦ ἀποτολμῶντος καὶ λέγοντος περὶ μελλόντων καὶ θαυμαζομένου παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐπὶ προφητείᾳ. ### English translation (Claude) But lest we seem to rest our assurance that the prophet said that the one at whose birth "God with us" was spoken would be born of a virgin on a Hebrew word, for those who cannot judge whether to accept it or not, come, let us establish the point from the text itself. The Lord is recorded to have said to Ahaz: "Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height," and next comes the sign that is given: "Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son." What sort of sign, then, would it be for a young woman who was not a virgin to give birth? And to whom is it more fitting to bear "Emmanuel," that is, "God with us"—to a woman who has had intercourse and conceived through a woman's passion, or to one still pure and chaste and a virgin? For it befits her to bear the offspring at whose birth "God with us" is said. And if he quibbles further, saying that it was said to Ahaz, "Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God," we will answer: Who was born in the time of Ahaz, at whose birth "Emmanuel, which is God with us" is said? If no one is to be found, clearly what was said to Ahaz was said to the house of David, because the Savior is recorded to have been born "of the seed of David according to the flesh." And this "sign" is said to be "in the depth or in the height," since "he who descended is the same one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things." I say this as to a Jew who accepts the prophecy. But let Celsus too, or one of those with him, say with what sort of mind the prophet speaks about the future, either these things or the others recorded in the prophecies: was it with a mind foreknowing the future or not? If with one foreknowing the future, the prophets had a divine spirit; if not, let him explain the mind of one who dares to speak about the future and is admired among the Jews for prophecy. ### Scripture references - Isa 7:11: quotation, high confidence - Isa 7:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 7:11, 7:14, Rom 1:3, and Eph 4:10. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/35/). ## Against Celsus 1.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/36/ - Source: Koetschau 1:87–88 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God gave Israel prophets, even for small matters, so that they would not turn to pagan divination, which the law forbade. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἅπαξ εἰς τὸν περὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἤλθομεν λόγον, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν, τοῖς πιστεύουσι θείῳ πνεύματι αὐτοὺς λελαληκέναι, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἔσται ἀχρήσιμα τὰ ἐποισθησόμενα (ἀλλὰ) καὶ τοῖς εὐγνωμονοῦσι δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων. πρὸς οὓς ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ἀναγκαῖον παραδέξασθαι ὅτι καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι προφήτας εἶχον, εἴπερ ἔμελλον συνέχεσθαι ἐν τῇ δοθείσῃ αὐτοῖς νομοθεσίᾳ καὶ πιστεύειν τῷ δημιουργῷ, καθάπερ εἰλήφεισαν, καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ νόμῳ μὴ ἔχειν ἀφορμὰς ἀποστῆναι εἰς τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυθεότητα. τὸ δʼ ἀναγκαῖον οὕτω παραστήσομεν. „τὰ ἔθνη, “ ὡς γέγραπται καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων νόμῳ, „κληδόνων καὶ μαντειῶν ἀκούσονται“· τῷ δὲ λαῷ ἐκείνῳ εἴρηται· „σοὶ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἔδωκε κύριος ὁ θεός σου.“ καὶ ἐπιφέρεται τούτῳ τὸ „προφήτην ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου ἀναστήσει σοι κύριος ὁ θεός σου.“ εἴπερ οὖν τῶν ἐθνῶν χρωμένων μαντείαις εἴτε διὰ „κληδόνων“ εἴτε διʼ οἰωνῶν εἴτε διʼ ὀρνίθων εἴτε διʼ ἐγγαστριμύθων εἴτε καὶ διὰ τῶν τὴν θυτικὴν ἐπαγγελλομένων εἴτε καὶ διὰ Χαλδαίων γενεθλιαλογούντων, ἅπερ πάντα Ἰουδαίοις ἀπείρητο. Ἰουδαῖοι εἰ μηδεμίαν εἶχον παραμυθίαν γνώσεως τῶν μελλόντων, ὑπʼ αὐτῆς ἂν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης περὶ τὴν γνῶσιν λιχνείας τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγόμενοι κατεφρόνησαν μὲν ἂν τῶν ἰδίων ὡς οὐδὲν ἐχόντων θεῖον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἂν μετὰ Μωϋσέα προφήτην προσήκαντο οὐδʼ ἀνέγραψαν αὐτῶν τοὺς λόγους, αὐτόμολοι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν μαντεῖα καὶ χρηστήρια μετέστησαν ἢ ἐπεχείρησαν ἂν ἱδρῦσαί τι τοιοῦτον καὶ παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς. ὥστʼ οὐδὲν ἄτοπόν ἐστι καὶ περὶ τῶν τυχόντων τοὺς παρʼ αὐτοῖς προφήτας εἰς παραμυθίαν τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ποθούντων προειρηκέναι, ὥστε καὶ „περὶ ὄνων ἀπολωλυιῶν“ προφητεύειν τὸν Σαμουὴλ καὶ περὶ νόσου παιδὸς βασιλικοῦ τὸν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἀναγεγραμμένον. πῶς δʼ ἂν τῷ βουλομένῳ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων μαντείαν λαβεῖν ἐπέπλησσον οἱ τὰ τοῦ νόμου Ἰουδαίων πρεσβεύοντες; ὥσπερ εὑρίσκεται Ἠλίας τῷ Ὀχοζίᾳ ἐπιπλήσσων καὶ λέγων· „εἰ παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι θεὸν ἐν Ἰσραὴλ ὑμεῖς πορεύεσθε ἐκζητῆσαι ἐν τῇ Βαὰλ μυῖαν θεὸν Ἀκκαρῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Since we have once come to the subject of the prophets, what is about to be said will be useful not only to the Jews, who believe that they spoke by a divine spirit, but also to the fair-minded among the Greeks. To them we will say that it is necessary to accept that the Jews too had prophets, if they were to be held together in the legislation given them and to believe in the Creator as they had received, and, as far as the law was concerned, to have no occasions to fall away to the polytheism of the nations. We will show the necessity thus. "The nations," as is written in the law of the Jews itself, "will listen to omens and divinations"; but to that people it is said: "But the Lord your God has not given it so to you." And to this is added: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers." Since, then, the nations used divination, whether through "omens," or through auguries, or birds, or ventriloquists, or those who profess sacrificial divination, or Chaldeans casting horoscopes—all of which were forbidden to the Jews—if the Jews had had no consolation of knowledge of the future, they would have been led by the very human greed to know what will be, and would have despised their own traditions as having nothing divine in them. They would not have accepted any prophet after Moses, nor recorded their words, but would have deserted to the oracles and divinations of the nations, or tried to set up something of the kind among themselves. So it is not at all absurd that their prophets foretold even ordinary things to console those who longed for such things—so that Samuel prophesied even "about lost donkeys," and the prophet recorded in the Third Book of Kingdoms about the illness of a king's son. How else could those who upheld the law of the Jews rebuke one who wished to get divination from idols? As Elijah is found rebuking Ahaziah and saying: "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you go to inquire of Baal-fly, the god of Ekron?" ### Scripture references - Deut 18:14–15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 9:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 14:1–13: allusion, high confidence - 2 Kgs 1:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 18:14–15, 1 Sam 9:20, and 2 Kgs 1:3 (4 Kgdms 1:3 LXX; "Baal-fly" is the LXX rendering of Baal-zebub). The illness of the king's son is 1 Kgs 14:1–13 (3 Kgdms 14 LXX). The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέα, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/36/). ## Against Celsus 1.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/37/ - Source: Koetschau 1:88–89 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Nature and Greek stories show that birth without a father is not impossible; the Jew's comparison of Mary with the mothers of Greek myth is buffoonery. ### Greek text Δοκεῖ μοι οὖν μετρίως κατεσκευάσθαι οὐ μόνον ὅτι γεννηθήσεται ἐκ παρθένου ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ προφῆται ἦσαν ἐν Ἰουδαίοις, προλέγοντες οὐ μόνον τὰ καθολικὰ περὶ μελλόντων, ὡς τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὰ περὶ βασιλειῶν κοσμικῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν συμβησομένων τῷ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευόντων τῷ σωτῆρι ἐθνῶν καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ λεχθέντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ καθʼ ἕνα, ὡς περὶ τῶν ὄνων Κὶς ἀπολομένων, πῶς εὑρεθήσονται, καὶ περὶ τῆς νόσου, ἧς ἐνόσησεν ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ υἱὸς, ἢ εἴ τι ἄλλο ἀναγέγραπται τοιοῦτον. ἔτι δὲ πρὸς Ἕλληνας λεκτέον, ἀπειθοῦντας τῇ ἐκ παρθένου γενέσει τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐν τῇ τῶν ποικίλων ζῴων γενέσει ἔδειξεν ὅτι ἦν αὐτῷ βουληθέντι δυνατὸν ποιῆσαι ὅπερ ἐφʼ ἑνὸς ζῴου καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλων καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων. εὑρίσκεται δέ τινα τῶν ζῴων θήλεα, μὴ ἔχοντα ἄῤῥενος κοινωνίαν. ὡς οἱ περὶ ζῴων ἀναγράψαντες λέγουσι περὶ γυπῶν· καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον χωρὶς μίξεως σῴζει τὴν διαδοχὴν τῶν γενῶν. τί οὖν παράδοξον, εἰ βουληθεὶς ὁ θεὸς θεῖόν τινα διδάσκαλον πέμψαι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων πεποίηκεν ἀντὶ σπερματικοῦ λόγου, τοῦ· ἐκ μίξεως τῶν ἀῤῥένων ταῖς γυναιξὶ, [ποιῆσαι] ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ γενέσθαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ τεχθησομένου· καὶ κατʼ αὐτοὺς δὲ τοὺς Ἕλληνας οὐ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἐξ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς ἐγένοντο. εἰ γὰρ γενητός ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος, ὡς καὶ πολλοῖς Ἑλλήνων ἤρεσεν, ἀνάγκη τοὺς πρώτους μὴ ἐκ συνουσίας γεγονέναι ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ γῆς, σπερματικῶν λόγων συστάντων ἐν τῇ γῇ· ὅπερ οἶμαι παραδοξότερον εἶναι τοῦ ἐξ ἡμίσους ὁμοίως τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀνθρώποις γενέσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν. οὐδὲν δʼ ἄτοπον πρὸς Ἕλληνας καὶ Ἑλληνικαῖς ἱστορίαις χρήσασθαι, ἵνα μὴ δοκῶμεν μόνοι τῇ παραδόξῳ ἱστορίᾳ ταύτῃ κεχρῆσθαι. Ἔδοξε γάρ τισιν οὐ περὶ ἀρχαίων τινῶν ἱστοριῶν καὶ ἡρωϊκῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ περί τινων χθὲς καὶ πρώην γενομένων ἀναγράψαι ὡς δυνατὸν ὅτι καὶ Πλάτων ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀμφικτιόνης γέγονε, κωλυθέντος τοῦ Ἀρίστωνος αὐτῇ συνελθεῖν, ἕως ἀποκυήσει τὸν ἐξ Ἀπόλλωνος σπαρέντα. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἀληθῶς μῦθοι, κινήσαντες εἰς τὸ ἀναπλάσαι τοιοῦτό τι περὶ ἀνδρὸς, ὃν ἐνόμιζον μείζονα τῶν πολλῶν ἔχοντα σοφίαν καὶ δύναμιν καὶ ἀπὸ κρειττόνων καὶ θειοτέρων σπερμάτων τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ σώματος εἰληφέναι, ὡς τοῦθʼ ἁρμόζον τοῖς μείζοσιν ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον, ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν Ἰουδαῖον ὁ Κέλσος εἰσήγαγε διαλεγόμενον τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ διασύροντα τὴν, ὡς οἴεται, προσποίησιν τῆς ἐκ παρθένου γενέσεως αὐτοῦ, φέροντα τοὺς Ἑλληνικοὺς μύθους περὶ Δανάης καὶ Μελανίππης καὶ Αὔγης καὶ Ἀντιόπης, λεκτέον ὅτι ταῦτα βωμολόχῳ ἔπρεπε τὰ ῥήματα καὶ οὐ σπουδάζοντι ἐν τῇ ἀπαγγελίᾳ. ### English translation (Claude) It seems to me, then, that it has been fairly well established not only that our Savior would be born of a virgin, but also that there were prophets among the Jews, who foretold not only general things about the future—such as those about Christ, about the kingdoms of the world, about what would happen to Israel, about the nations that would believe in the Savior, and many other things said about him—but also particular ones, such as how the lost donkeys of Kish would be found, and about the illness of the son of the king of Israel, or anything else of the kind that is recorded. Further, we must say to the Greeks who do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus that the Creator, in the generation of various animals, has shown that it was possible for him, when he wished, to do in one animal what he does in others and in human beings themselves. Some female animals are found that have no intercourse with a male, as those who have written about animals say of vultures; and this creature preserves the succession of its kind without mating. What is extraordinary, then, if God, wishing to send a divine teacher to the human race, caused the principle of the one to be born to come about in another way, instead of the seminal principle from the union of males with women? And according to the Greeks themselves, not all human beings were born of a man and a woman. For if the world is created, as many Greeks too have held, the first human beings must have come into being not from intercourse but from the earth, seminal principles having formed in the earth; which I think more extraordinary than that Jesus was half born like other human beings. It is not out of place, in addressing Greeks, to use Greek stories too, so that we may not seem to be the only ones to use this extraordinary story. For some have seen fit to write—not about ancient and heroic stories, but about events of only yesterday—that it was possible that Plato too was born of Amphictione, Ariston having been prevented from coming together with her until she gave birth to the child sown by Apollo. But these are truly myths, which moved people to invent something of the kind about a man they thought had greater wisdom and power than the many, and had received the beginning of his bodily formation from better and more divine seed, as befitting those greater than human. But since Celsus introduced the Jew conversing with Jesus and ridiculing what he thinks the pretense of his virgin birth, bringing up the Greek myths about Danae, Melanippe, Auge, and Antiope, we must say that these words befitted a buffoon, not someone serious in what he reports. ### Scripture references - 1 Sam 9:20: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Kgs 14:1–13: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The belief that vultures conceive without males is in Aelian, On Animals 2.46, and elsewhere. The story of Plato's birth (his mother is usually called Perictione) is in Diogenes Laertius 3.2. Danae, Melanippe, Auge, and Antiope were mothers of sons by gods in Greek myth. "Seminal principle" renders σπερματικὸς λόγος (a Stoic term). The bracketed [ποιῆσαι] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/37/). ## Against Celsus 1.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/38/ - Source: Koetschau 1:89–90 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says Jesus learned magic in Egypt, but a magician would not teach God's judgment, and the apostles would not have risked death for a teaching that forbids magic. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ λαβὼν ἀπὸ τῆς γεγραμμένης ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίῳ ἱστορίας περὶ τοῦ εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀποδεδημηκέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοῖς μὲν παραδόξοις εἰς τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν, οὔθʼ ὅτι ἄγγελος τοῦτο ἔχρησεν, οὔτε εἴ τι ᾐνίσσετο ὁ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ἰουδαίαν Ἰησοῦς καὶ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐπιδημῶν· ἀνέπλασε δέ τι ἕτερον. συγκατατιθέμενος μέν πως ταῖς παραδόξοις δυνάμεσιν, ἃς Ἰησοῦς ἐποίησεν, ἐν αἷς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἔπεισεν ἀκολουθεῖν αὐτῷ ὡς Χριστῷ, διαβάλλειν δʼ αὐτὰς βουλόμενος ὡς ἀπὸ μαγείας καὶ οὐ θείᾳ δυνάμει γεγενημένας· φησὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν σκότιον τραφέντα, μισθαρνήσαντα εἰς Αἴγυπτον, δυνάμεών τινων πειραθέντα ἐκεῖθεν ἐπανελθεῖν, θεὸν διʼ ἐκείνας τὰς δυνάμεις ἑαυτὸν ἀναγορεύοντα. ἐγὼ δʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἂν μάγος ἠγωνίσατο διδάξαι λόγον, πείθοντα πάντα πράττειν, ὡς θεοῦ κρίνοντος ἕκαστον ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς πεπραγμένοις, καὶ οὕτω διατιθέντα τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς, οἷς ἔμελλε χρήσασθαι διακόνοις τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διδασκαλίας. ἆρα γὰρ κἀκεῖνοι οὕτω διδαχθέντες ποιεῖν δυνάμεις ᾕρουν τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἢ οὐδὲ δυνάμεις ἐποίουν; τὸ μὲν οὖν λέγειν ὅτι οὐδαμῶς δυνάμεις ἐποίουν ἀλλὰ πιστεύσαντες οὐδεμιᾷ λόγων ἱκανότητι παραπλησίως τῇ ἐν διαλεκτικῇ Ἑλλήνων σοφίᾳ ἐπέδωκαν ἑαυτοὺς τῷ καινὸν διδάσκειν λόγον οἷς ἂν ἐπιδημήσωσι πάνυ ἐστὶν ἄλογον· τίνι γὰρ θαῤῥοῦντες ἐδίδασκον τὸν λόγον καὶ ἐκαινοτόμουν; εἰ δὲ δυνάμεις ἐτέλουν κἀκεῖνοι, τίνα ἔχει πιθανότητα τὸ μάγους τοσούτοις κινδύνοις ἑαυτοὺς παραβεβληκέναι (διὰ) διδασκαλίαν μαγείας ἀπαγορεύουσαν; ### English translation (Claude) Further, taking from the story written in the Gospel according to Matthew about Jesus' journey to Egypt, he did not believe the extraordinary things connected with it—neither that an angel directed it, nor whether anything was signified by Jesus' leaving Judea and staying in Egypt—but invented something else. In a way he admits the extraordinary mighty works that Jesus did, by which he persuaded the many to follow him as the Christ; but he wishes to slander them as done by magic and not by divine power. For he says that "he was brought up in secret, hired himself out in Egypt, and having tried his hand at certain powers, returned from there, proclaiming himself God because of those powers." But I do not know how a magician would have striven to teach a doctrine persuading people to do everything as though God judges each person for all his deeds, and so to train his own disciples, whom he was going to use as ministers of his teaching. Did they too, having been taught to do mighty works in this way, win over their hearers, or did they not do mighty works at all? To say that they did no mighty works at all, but that, having believed, they gave themselves to teaching a new doctrine to those among whom they came, with no ability in argument like the wisdom of the Greeks in dialectic, is quite unreasonable; for what did they trust in when they taught the doctrine and introduced novelties? But if they too performed mighty works, what plausibility is there in magicians having exposed themselves to such dangers for a teaching that forbids magic? ### Scripture references - Matt 2:13–15: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Egyptian journey is Matt 2:13–15. "Brought up in secret" (σκότιον τραφέντα) may also mean "brought up as an illegitimate child"; see 1.28. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/38/). ## Against Celsus 1.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/39/ - Source: Koetschau 1:90 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's jokes about Mary's beauty and poverty are mere street abuse, not argument. ### Greek text Οὐ δοκεῖ μοι ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς λόγον, μὴ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀλλὰ μετὰ χλεύης εἰρημένον· εἰ ἄρα καλὴ ἦν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ὡς καλῇ αὐτῇ ἐμίγνυτο ὁ θεὸς, οὐ πεφυκὼς ἐρᾶν φθαρτοῦ σώματος; ἢ ὅτι οὐδʼ εἰκὸς ἦν ἐρασθήσεσθαι αὐτῆς τὸν θεὸν, οὔσης οὔτʼ εὐδαίμονος οὔτε βασιλικῆς, ἐπεὶ μηδεὶς αὐτὴν ᾔδει μηδὲ τῶν γειτόνων· παίζει δὲ λέγων καὶ ὅτι μισουμένην αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ τέκτονος καὶ ἐκβαλλομένην οὐκ ἔσωσε θεία δύναμις οὐδὲ λόγος πιστικός. οὐδὲν οὖν, φησὶ, ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείαν. τί οὖν ταῦτα διαφέροι ἂν τῶν ἐν ταῖς τριόδοις λοιδορουμένων τισὶ καὶ οὐδὲν σπουδῆς ἄξιον λεγόντων; ### English translation (Claude) I do not think I need to contend with an argument spoken not seriously but in mockery: "Was the mother of Jesus beautiful, then, and did God have intercourse with her because she was beautiful, though he is not by nature one to love a corruptible body?" or that "it was not even likely that God would fall in love with her, since she was neither wealthy nor of royal birth, for no one knew her, not even her neighbors." He jests also in saying that "when she was hated by the carpenter and cast out, neither divine power nor persuasive speech saved her." "These things," he says, "have nothing to do with the kingdom of God." How, then, would these words differ from those of people who trade insults at the crossroads and say nothing worthy of serious attention? ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/39/). ## Against Celsus 1.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/40/ - Source: Koetschau 1:90–91 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus attacks the Gospel stories out of order, as anger does, and arrogantly calls his book "The True Word," which no real philosopher would have done. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ Ματθαῖον τάχα δὲ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν εὐαγγελίων λαβὼν τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐπιπτάσης τῷ σωτῆρι βαπτιζομένῳ παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ περιστερᾶς διαβάλλειν βούλεται ὡς πλάσμα τὸ εἰρημένον. διασύρας δὲ, ὡς ᾤετο, τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἐκ παρθένου γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν σωτῆρα ἡμῶν ἱστορίαν οὐ τὰ ἑξῆς τῇ τάξει ἐκτίθεται, ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ἔχει τεταγμένον θυμὸς καὶ ἔχθρα, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ ἐπελθὸν οἱ ὀργιζόμενοι καὶ οἱ ἐχθραΐζοντες κακηγοροῦσιν οὓς μισοῦσι, μὴ ἐπιτρεπόμενοι ἀπὸ τοῦ πάθους τεθεωρημένως καὶ κατὰ τάξιν λέγειν τὰς κατηγορίας. εἰ μὲν γὰρ τὴν τάξιν ἐτήρει, λαβὼν ἂν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ προθέμενος τῆς πρώτης ἂν ἱστορίας κατειπὼν ἑξῆς ἐπὶ τὴν δευτέραν παρεγίνετο, καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τὰς λοιπάς· νυνὶ δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐκ παρθένου γένεσιν ὁ πάντʼ εἰδέναι ἐπαγγειλάμενος Κέλσος τὰ ἡμέτερα κατηγορεῖ τοῦ παρὰ τῷ βαπτίσματι φανέντος ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς, εἶτα μετὰ τοῦτο διαβάλλει τὸ προφητεύεσθαι τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιδημίαν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνατρέχει ἐπὶ τὸ ἑξῆς τῇ γενέσει τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένον, τὸ περὶ τοῦ ἀστέρος διήγημα καὶ τῶν ἐληλυθότων ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς μάγων „προσκυνῆσαι“ τῷ παιδίῳ. πολλὰ δʼ ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιτηρῶν εὕροις συγκεχυμένως τῷ Κέλσῳ εἰρημένα διʼ ὅλης τῆς βίβλου· ἵνα καὶ διὰ τούτου ὑπὸ τῶν τάξιν ἐπισταμένων τηρεῖν καὶ ζητεῖν ἐλεγχθῇ μετὰ πολλῆς θρασύτητος καὶ ἀλαζονείας ἐπιγράψας ἀληθῆ λόγον τὴν βίβλον αὐτοῦ, ὅπερ τῶν ἐλλογίμων φιλοσόφων οὐδεὶς ἐποίησεν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Πλάτων φησὶν οὐ κατὰ τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντα εἶναι τὸ διϊσχυρίζεσθαι περὶ τῶν τοιῶνδε καὶ ἀδηλοτέρων· ὁ δὲ Χρύσιππος πολλαχοῦ ἐκθέμενος τὰ κινήσαντα αὐτὸν ἀναπέμπει ἡμᾶς ἐφʼ οὓς ἂν εὕροιμεν κρεῖττον αὐτοῦ ἐροῦντας. οὗτος οὖν ὁ καὶ τούτων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν Ἑλλήνων σοφώτερος ἀκολούθως τῷ φάσκειν πάντʼ εἰδέναι ἀληθῆ λόγον ἐπέγραψεν αὐτοῦ τὸ βιβλίον. ### English translation (Claude) Next after this, taking from the Gospel according to Matthew, and perhaps also from the other Gospels, the account of the dove that alighted on the Savior when he was baptized by John, he wants to slander what is said as a fiction. Having ridiculed, as he thought, the story of our Savior's birth from a virgin, he does not set out what follows in order, since anger and hatred have no order; people who are angry and hostile abuse those they hate as it comes to them, not being allowed by their passion to state their accusations thoughtfully and in order. For if he kept to order, he would have taken the Gospel, and, intending to accuse it, would have attacked the first story and then gone on to the second, and so to the rest. As it is, after the virgin birth, Celsus, who professes to know everything of ours, accuses the appearance of the Holy Spirit at the baptism in the form of a dove; then after this he slanders the prophecy of our Savior's coming; and after that he runs back to what is recorded after the birth of Jesus, the account of the star and of the magi who came from the east to "worship" the child. You too, if you watch, could find many things said confusedly by Celsus throughout his whole book, so that by this too he may be convicted, by those who know how to keep and look for order, of having entitled his book The True Word with great boldness and arrogance—something none of the eminent philosophers did. For Plato says that it is not fitting for a man of sense to insist on such things, which are rather obscure; and Chrysippus, having often set out what moved him, refers us to those we may find who will say better than he. This man, then, wiser than these and than the rest of the Greeks, in keeping with his claim to know everything, entitled his book The True Word. ### Scripture references - Matt 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:1–2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:11: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaed. 114d (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Gospel passages are Matt 3:16 and 2:1–2, 11. The Plato reference is Phaedo 114d. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/40/). ## Against Celsus 1.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/41/ - Source: Koetschau 1:91–92 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen will answer Celsus point by point in Celsus's order; the Jew mocks the dove at Jesus' baptism and asks who witnessed it. ### Greek text Ἵνα δὲ μὴ δοκῶμεν ἑκόντες διὰ τὸ ἀπορεῖν ἀπαντήσεως ὑπερβαίνειν αὐτοῦ τὰ κεφάλαια, ἐκρίναμεν ἕκαστον κατὰ δύναμιν λῦσαι τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ προτιθεμένων. φροντίσαντες οὐ τοῦ ἐν τῇ φύσει τῶν πραγμάτων εἱρμοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθίας ἀλλὰ τῆς τάξεως τῶν ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ αὐτοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένων. φέρʼ οὖν ἴδωμεν, τί ποτε καὶ λέγει διαβάλλων τὸ οἷον σωματικῶς ἑωραμένον ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος πνεῦμα ἅγιον εἴδει περιστερᾶς· ἔστι δʼ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος αὐτῷ ἔτι ταῦτα λέγων, πρὸς ὃν ὁμολογοῦμεν εἶναι κύριον ἡμῶν τὸν Ἰησοῦν· λουομένῳ, φησὶ, σοὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ φάσμα ὄρνιθος ἐξ ἀέρος λέγεις ἐπιπτῆναι. εἶτα πυνθανόμενος ὁ παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖός φησι· τίς τοῦτο εἶδεν ἀξιόχρεως μάρτυς τὸ φάσμα, ἢ τίς ἤκουσεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνῆς εἰσποιούσης σε υἱὸν τῷ θεῷ; πλὴν ὅτι σὺ φῂς καί τινα ἕνα ἐπάγῃ τῶν μετὰ σοῦ κεκολασμένων. ### English translation (Claude) But so that we may not seem deliberately to pass over his headings for lack of an answer, we have decided to refute, as best we can, each of the things he puts forward, attending not to the natural sequence and order of the subjects but to the order of what is written in his book. Come, then, let us see what he says in slandering the Holy Spirit seen by the Savior, as it were bodily, in the form of a dove. It is still his Jew who says this to the one we confess to be our Lord, Jesus: "When you were bathing," he says, "with John, you say that the apparition of a bird flew down on you from the air." Then his Jew asks: "What trustworthy witness saw this apparition, or who heard a voice from heaven adopting you as son to God? Except that you say so, and bring forward one of those who were punished with you." ### Scripture references - Matt 3:16–17: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The baptism is Matt 3:16–17. The last phrase is often taken to mean one of those crucified with Jesus, or one of his disciples who were later punished. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/41/). ## Against Celsus 1.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/42/ - Source: Koetschau 1:92–93 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Almost no history can be strictly proved, and even true stories may contain things to be read figuratively; the Gospels must be read with care and discernment. ### Greek text Πρὶν ἀρξώμεθα τῆς ἀπολογίας. λεκτέον ὅτι σχεδὸν πᾶσαν ἱστορίαν, κἂν ἀληθὴς ᾖ, βούλεσθαι κατασκευάζειν ὡς γεγενημένην καὶ καταληπτικὴν ἐμποιῆσαι περὶ αὐτῆς φαντασίαν τῶν σφόδρα ἐστὶ χαλεπωτάτων καὶ (ἐν) ἐνίοις ἀδύνατον. φέρε γάρ τινα λέγειν μὴ γεγονέναι τὸν Ἰλιακὸν πόλεμον μάλιστα διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον προσπεπλέχθαι λόγον περὶ τοῦ γεγενῆσθαί τινα Ἀχιλλέα θαλασσίας θεᾶς (Θέτιδος) υἱὸν καὶ ἀνθρώπου Πηλέως, ἢ Σαρπηδόνα Διὸς, ἢ Ἀσκάλαφον καὶ Ἰάλμενον Ἄρεος, ἢ Αἰνείαν Ἀφροδίτης· πῶς ἂν κατασκευάσαιμεν τὸ τοιοῦτον, μάλιστα θλιβόμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως παρυφανθέντος πλάσματος τῇ κεκρατηκυίᾳ παρὰ πᾶσι δόξῃ περὶ τοῦ ἀληθῶς γεγονέναι τὸν ἐν Ἰλίῳ πόλεμον Ἑλλήνων καὶ Τρώων; φέρε δὲ (καί) τινα ἀπιστεῖν περὶ Οἰδίποδος καὶ Ἰοκάστης καὶ τῶν γεννηθέντων ἀπὸ ἀμφοτέρων Ἐτεοκλέους καὶ Πολυνείκους διὰ τὸ προσπεπλέχθαι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν Σφίγγα μιξοπάρθενόν τινα· πῶς ἂν τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀποδείξαιμεν; οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν Ἐπιγόνων, κἂν μηδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐπιπεπλεγμένον ᾖ τῷ λόγῳ, ἢ περὶ τῆς Ἡρακλειδῶν καθόδου ἢ περὶ ἄλλων μυρίων. ἀλλʼ ὁ εὐγνωμόνως ἐντυγχάνων ταῖς ἱστορίαις καὶ βουλόμενος ἑαυτὸν τηρεῖν καὶ ἐν ἐκείναις ἀνεξαπάτητον κρινεῖ, τίσι μὲν συγκαταθήσεται τίνα δὲ τροπολογήσει, τὸ βούλημα ἐρευνῶν τῶν ἀναπλασαμένων τὰ τοιάδε, καὶ τίσιν ἀπιστήσει ὡς διὰ τὴν πρός τινας χάριν ἀναγεγραμμένοις. καὶ τοῦτο προλαβόντες διʼ ὅλην τὴν φερομένην ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἱστορίαν εἰρήκαμεν, οὐκ ἐπὶ ψιλὴν πίστιν καὶ ἄλογον τοὺς ἐντρεχεστέρους ἐκκαλούμενοι, ἀλλὰ βουλόμενοι παραστῆσαι ὅτι εὐγνωμοσύνης χρεία τοῖς ἐντευξομένοις καὶ πολλῆς ἐξετάσεως καὶ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, εἰσόδου εἰς τὸ βούλημα τῶν γραψάντων, ἵνʼ εὑρεθῇ, ποίᾳ διανοίᾳ ἕκαστον γέγραπται. ### English translation (Claude) Before we begin our defense, we must say that to try to establish that almost any story, even if it is true, actually happened, and to produce a firm conviction about it, is among the very hardest things, and in some cases impossible. For suppose someone said that the Trojan War did not happen, chiefly because of the impossible tale woven into it that a certain Achilles was born the son of a sea goddess, Thetis, and a man, Peleus, or Sarpedon of Zeus, or Ascalaphus and Ialmenus of Ares, or Aeneas of Aphrodite. How would we establish such a thing, especially when pressed by the fiction that, I do not know how, has been woven into the opinion universally held that the war at Ilium between Greeks and Trojans really happened? And suppose someone disbelieved the story of Oedipus and Jocasta and of Eteocles and Polynices, born of them both, because the Sphinx, a sort of half-maiden, is woven into the tale; how would we prove such a thing? So too with the story of the Epigoni, even though nothing of the sort is woven into it, or of the return of the Heraclidae, or countless others. But one who reads histories fairly, and wishes to keep himself from being deceived even in them, will judge which he will accept, which he will interpret figuratively, searching out the intention of those who invented such things, and which he will disbelieve as written to gratify certain people. And we have said this in advance with regard to the whole story of Jesus reported in the Gospels, not calling the more intelligent to simple and irrational faith, but wishing to show that those who read them need fair-mindedness, much examination, and, so to speak, entry into the intention of the writers, so that it may be found with what meaning each thing was written. ### Translation notes - The examples are from the Trojan and Theban cycles of Greek myth (cf. Homer, Iliad 2.512–515 on Ascalaphus and Ialmenus). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/42/). ## Against Celsus 1.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/43/ - Source: Koetschau 1:93–94 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A Jew who believes the visions of Ezekiel and Isaiah cannot reject the dove at Jesus' baptism; Jesus' power, still at work in the churches, makes him more credible than the prophets. ### Greek text Φήσομεν οὖν πρῶτον ὅτι, εἰ μὲν ὁ ἀπιστῶν τῷ περὶ τοῦ εἴδους τῆς περιστερᾶς φάσματι τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἀνεγέγραπτο Ἐπικούρειος εἶναι ἢ Δημοκρίτειος ἢ Περιπατητικὸς, χώραν ἂν εἶχεν ἀκόλουθον τῷ προσωποποιουμένῳ τὸ λεγόμενον· νυνὶ δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦθʼ ὁ σοφώτατος Κέλσος ἑώρακεν, ὅτι Ἰουδαίῳ, πλείονα πιστεύοντι καὶ παραδοξότερα ἐκ τῶν προφητικῶν γραφῶν τῆς περὶ τοῦ εἴδους τῆς περιστερᾶς ἱστορίας, τὸν τοιοῦτον περιέθηκε λόγον. εἴποι γὰρ ἄν τις τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ, περὶ τοῦ φάσματος ἀπιστοῦντι καὶ οἰομένῳ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ ὡς πλάσματος· σὺ δὲ πόθεν, ὦ οὗτος, ἀποδεῖξαι ἂν ἔχοις ὅτι εἶπε κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἢ τῇ Εὔᾳ ἢ τῷ Κάϊν ἢ τῷ Νῶε ἢ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἢ τῷ Ἰσαὰκ ἢ τῷ Ἰακὼβ τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι τοῖς ἀνδράσι τούτοις; ἵνα δὲ τῇ ἱστορίᾳ ταύτῃ ἱστορίαν παραβάλω, εἴποιμʼ ἂν πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον· καὶ ὁ σὸς Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἀνέγραψε λέγων· „ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ εἶδον ὅρασιν θεοῦ, “ ἥντινα διηγησάμενος ἐπιφέρει αὐτῇ· „αὕτη ἡ ὅρασις ὁμοιώματος δόξης κυρίου· καὶ εἶπε πρός με.“ εἰ γὰρ ψευδῆ τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένα, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἔχομεν, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνεις, ἐναργῶς παραστῆσαι, πῶς ταῦτά ἐστιν ἀληθῆ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μόνου ἑωραμένα ἢ ἀκουσθέντα καὶ, ὡς ἔδοξας τετηρηκέναι, καὶ ὑπὸ ἑνὸς τῶν κολασθέντων· τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸν Ἰεζεκιὴλ φήσομεν τερατευόμενον εἰρηκέναι τὸ „ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ὁ Ἡσαΐας φάσκῃ· „εἶδον τὸν κύριον Σαβαὼθ καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου· καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ εἱστήκεισαν κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ, ἓξ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ ἓξ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνὶ“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, πόθεν, ὅτι ἀληθῶς ἑώρακε; πεπίστευκας γὰρ, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, τούτοις ὡς ἀψευδέσι καὶ ὑπὸ θειοτέρου πνεύματος οὐ μόνον ἑωραμένοις τῷ προφήτῃ ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰρημένοις καὶ ἀναγεγραμμένοις. τίνι δὲ καὶ πιστεύειν μᾶλλον ἄξιον, φάσκοντι ἀνεῷχθαι αὐτῷ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ φωνῆς ἀκηκοέναι ἢ ἑωρακέναι „τὸν κύριον Σαβαὼθ καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, “ Ἡσαΐᾳ καὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἢ τῷ Ἰησοῦ; ἐκείνων μὲν γὰρ ἔργον οὐδὲν τηλικοῦτον εὑρίσκεται· τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ τὸ ἀνδραγάθημα οὐ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐνσωματώσεως μόνους γέγονε χρόνους. ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο ἡ Ἰησοῦ δύναμίς ἐστιν ἐνεργοῦσα τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ τὴν βελτίωσιν ἐν τοῖς πιστεύουσι διʼ αὐτοῦ τῷ θεῷ. ἐναργὲς δὲ δεῖγμα τοῦ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι τὸ, ὡς αὐτός φησι καὶ καταλαμβάνεται, μὴ ὄντων ἐργατῶν τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὸν θερισμὸν τῶν ψυχῶν, τοσοῦτον εἶναι θερισμὸν συγκομιζομένων καὶ συναγομένων εἰς τὰς πανταχοῦ ἅλωνας τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐκκλησίας. ### English translation (Claude) We will say first, then, that if the one who disbelieves the apparition of the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove had been described as an Epicurean, a Democritean, or a Peripatetic, what is said would have been consistent with the character portrayed. But as it is, not even this did the most wise Celsus see: that he attached such an argument to a Jew, who believes things more numerous and more extraordinary, from the prophetic writings, than the story about the form of the dove. For one might say to the Jew who disbelieves the apparition and thinks he can accuse it as a fiction: How, sir, could you prove that the Lord God said to Adam, or Eve, or Cain, or Noah, or Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob what he is recorded to have said to these men? And to set story beside story, I might say to the Jew: Your Ezekiel too wrote, saying: "The heavens were opened, and I saw a vision of God"; and after describing it he adds: "This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord; and he spoke to me." If what is recorded of Jesus is false because, as you suppose, we cannot clearly prove how these things are true that were seen or heard by him alone and, as you thought you had noticed, by one of those who were punished, why shall we not rather say that Ezekiel too was telling marvels when he said, "The heavens were opened," and so on? And if Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the Seraphim stood around him, six wings to the one and six wings to the other," and so on, how do you know he truly saw it? For you have believed these things, O Jew, as free from falsehood, and as not only seen by the prophet by a more divine spirit but also spoken and written down. Whom is it more worthy to believe when he says that the heavens were opened to him and that he heard a voice, or saw "the Lord Sabaoth sitting on a high and lofty throne"—Isaiah and Ezekiel, or Jesus? For no work of theirs so great is found; but the noble achievement of Jesus did not happen only in the time of his embodiment; even to this day the power of Jesus is working conversion and improvement in those who believe in God through him. A clear proof that these things happen by his power is that, as he himself says and as is evident, though there are not workers to work the harvest of souls, there is so great a harvest being gathered and brought together into the threshing floors of God everywhere, the churches. ### Scripture references - Ezek 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 1:28: quotation, high confidence - Isa 6:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:37–38: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ezek 1:1, 1:28–2:1, and Isa 6:1–2; the harvest alludes to Matt 9:37–38. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/43/). ## Against Celsus 1.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/44/ - Source: Koetschau 1:94–95 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The same Spirit that taught Moses about events before his time taught the evangelists about Jesus' baptism; the deeper meaning of the dove is left for another occasion. ### Greek text Καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον λέγω, οὐκ ἀπιστῶν ὁ Χριστιανὸς τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ καὶ τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ, ἀλλὰ δυσωπῶν ἐκ τῶν κοινῇ ἡμῖν πεπιστευμένων ὅτι πολλῷ οὗτος ἐκείνων ἄξιός ἐστι τοῦ πιστεύεσθαι τοιαῦτα λέγων ἑωρακέναι καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς παραδοὺς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἣν εἶδεν ὄψιν καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἧς ἤκουσεν. ἄλλος δʼ ἄν τις εἴποι ὅτι οὐ πάντες τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἤκουσαν ταῦτα διηγουμένου οἱ ἀναγράψαντες τὰ περὶ τοῦ εἴδους τῆς περιστερᾶς καὶ τῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνῆς· ἀλλὰ τὸ διδάξαν Μωϋσέα πνεῦμα τὴν πρεσβυτέραν αὐτοῦ ἱστορίαν, ἀρξαμένην ἀπὸ τῆς κοσμογενείας μέχρι τῆς κατὰ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ, τοῦτʼ ἐδίδαξε καὶ τοὺς γράψαντας τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τὸ γενόμενον παράδοξον κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦ βαπτίσματος Ἰησοῦ. ὁ δὲ κοσμηθεὶς χαρίσματι καλουμένῳ „λόγῳ σοφίας“ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν διηγήσεται τῆς ἀνοίξεως τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τοῦ εἴδους τῆς περιστερᾶς, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἄλλου τινὸς ζῴου εἴδει ἢ τούτου ἐφάνη τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τῷ Ἰησοῦ. περὶ τούτου δὲ οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖ νῦν ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος διηγήσασθαι· τὸ γὰρ προκείμενόν ἐστιν ἐλέγξαι τὸν Κέλσον οὐχ ὑγιῶς Ἰουδαίῳ περιθέντα μετὰ τοιῶνδε λόγων ἀπιστίαν περὶ πράγματος, κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γενομένου μᾶλλον παρὰ τὰ πεπιστευμένα ὑπʼ ἐκείνου. ### English translation (Claude) And I say this to the Jew not as a Christian who disbelieves Ezekiel and Isaiah, but to put him to shame on the basis of what we both believe: that this man is far more worthy than they to be believed when he says he saw such things and, as is likely, handed on to his disciples the vision he saw and the voice he heard. Another might say that not all who recorded the form of the dove and the voice from heaven heard Jesus telling of these things; but the Spirit that taught Moses the history older than himself, beginning from the making of the world and reaching to the time of Abraham his forefather, also taught those who wrote the Gospel the wonder that happened at the time of Jesus' baptism. And one who is adorned with the gift called "the word of wisdom" will also explain the reason for the opening of the heavens and for the form of the dove, and why the Holy Spirit appeared to Jesus in the form of this creature and not of some other. But the argument does not now require us to explain this; for our purpose is to show that Celsus did not soundly attribute to a Jew, with such words, disbelief in an event that, as is likely, happened—rather than in the things that the Jew himself believes. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 12:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "The word of wisdom" is from 1 Cor 12:8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/44/). ## Against Celsus 1.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/45/ - Source: Koetschau 1:95 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen recalls telling Jewish scholars that they cannot believe Moses' miracles while rejecting Jesus'; indeed the prophecies of Jesus prove Moses a true prophet. ### Greek text Μέμνημαι δέ ποτε ἔν τινι πρὸς Ἰουδαίων λεγομένους σοφοὺς διαλέξει χρησάμενος τοιούτῳ λόγῳ, πλειόνων κρινόντων τὸ λεγόμενον· „εἴπατέ μοι, ὦ οὗτοι, δύο τινῶν ἐπιδημησάντων τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει, περὶ ὧν παράδοξα καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ἀναγέγραπται, Μωϋσέως λέγω, τοῦ ὑμῶν νομοθέτου περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἀναγράψαντος, καὶ Ἰησοῦ, τοῦ ἡμετέρου διδασκάλου μηδὲν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ τοῦ σύγγραμμα καταλελοιπότος ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις μεμαρτυρημένου· τίς ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις πιστεύεσθαι μὲν Μωϋσέα ὡς ἀληθεύοντα, καίτοι γε Αἰγυπτίων διαβαλλόντων αὐτὸν ὡς γόητα καὶ μαγγανείᾳ τὰς δυνάμεις πεποιηκέναι δοκοῦντα, Ἰησοῦν δὲ ἀπιστεῖσθαι, ἐπεὶ ὑμεῖς αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖτε; ἔθνη γὰρ ἀμφοτέροις μαρτυρεῖ. Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν Μωϋσεῖ, Χριστιανοὶ δὲ μὴ ἀρνούμενοι τὴν Μωϋσέως προφητείαν ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖθεν ἀποδεικνύντες τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παραδέχονται τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀληθῆ εἶναι παράδοξα ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένα. εἴτε γὰρ λόγον ἀπαιτεῖτε ἡμᾶς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀπόδοτε περὶ Μωϋσέως τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ γενομένου πρότερον. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἡμεῖς ἀποδώσομεν τὸν περὶ τούτου· ὑμῶν δʼ ἀναδυομένων καὶ φευγόντων τὰς περὶ ἐκείνου ἀποδείξεις, ὡς μὲν πρὸς τὸ παρὸν τὸ ὅμοιον ὑμῖν ποιοῦντες οὐκ ἀποδεικνύομεν. οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον ὁμολογήσατε τὸ μὴ ἔχειν δεῖξιν περὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ ἀκούσατε τὰς περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἀποδείξεις ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν. καὶ τὸ παράδοξόν γε ἐκ τῶν περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἀποδείξεων ἐν νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις ἀποδείκνυται ὅτι καὶ Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἦσαν προφῆται τοῦ θεοῦ.“ ### English translation (Claude) I remember once, in a debate with some Jews who were said to be wise, using this argument, with many people judging what was said: "Tell me, sirs: two men have come to dwell among the human race about whom extraordinary things, beyond human nature, have been recorded—I mean Moses, your lawgiver, who wrote about himself, and Jesus, our teacher, who left no writing of his own about himself but is witnessed to by his disciples in the Gospels. What arbitrary choice is it that Moses is believed as telling the truth, although the Egyptians slander him as a sorcerer who seemed to do his mighty works by trickery, while Jesus is disbelieved because you accuse him? For nations bear witness to both: the Jews to Moses, and the Christians, who do not deny the prophetic office of Moses but prove from it the things about Jesus, accept as true the extraordinary things about him recorded by his disciples. If you demand from us an account of Jesus, first give one of Moses, who came before him, and then we will give ours about him. But if you back away and flee from the proofs about Moses, then for the present we will do the same as you and give no proof. Nevertheless, admit that you have no demonstration about Moses, and hear the proofs about Jesus from the law and the prophets. And the remarkable thing is that from the proofs about Jesus in the law and the prophets it is proved that both Moses and the prophets were prophets of God." ### Translation notes - The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/45/). ## Against Celsus 1.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/46/ - Source: Koetschau 1:95–96 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Spirit who came on Jesus at his baptism still works among Christians in exorcisms, healings, prophecies, and sudden conversions; Isaiah foretold that the Father would send both Christ and the Spirit. ### Greek text Πεπλήρωται δὲ ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται τῶν παραπλησίων παραδόξων τῷ ἀναγραφέντι περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παρὰ τῷ βαπτίσματι περὶ τῆς περιστερᾶς καὶ τῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνῆς. σημεῖον δὲ οἶμαι τοῦ τότε ὀφθέντος ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παράδοξα γεγενημένα, ἅτινα διαβάλλων Κέλσος φησὶν αὐτὸν παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις μεμαθηκότα πεποιηκέναι. καὶ οὐκ ἐκείνοις γε μόνοις χρήσομαι ἀλλὰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς καὶ οἷς οἱ ἀπόστολοι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πεποιήκασιν. οὐκ ἂν γὰρ χωρὶς δυνάμεων καὶ παραδόξων ἐκίνουν τοὺς καινῶν λόγων καὶ καινῶν μαθημάτων ἀκούοντας πρὸς τὸ καταλιπεῖν μὲν τὰ πάτρια παραδέξασθαι δὲ μετὰ κινδύνων τῶν μέχρι θανάτου τὰ τούτων μαθήματα. καὶ ἔτι ἴχνη τοῦ ἁγίου ἐκείνου πνεύματος, ὀφθέντος ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς, παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς σῴζεται. ἐξεπᾴδουσι δαίμονας καὶ πολλὰς ἰάσεις ἐπιτελοῦσι καὶ ὁρῶσί τινα κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ λόγου περὶ μελλόντων. κἂν χλευάσῃ δὲ Κέλσος τὸ λεχθησόμενον ἢ ὃν εἰσήγαγεν Ἰουδαῖον, ὅμως λελέξεται ὅτι πολλοὶ ὡσπερεὶ ἄκοντες προσεληλύθασι χριστιανισμῷ, πνεύματός τινος τρέψαντος αὐτῶν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν αἰφνίδιον ἀπὸ τοῦ μισεῖν τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὸ ὑπεραποθανεῖν αὐτοῦ καὶ φαντασιώσαντος αὐτοὺς ὕπαρ ἢ ὄναρ. πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοιαῦτα ἱστορήσαμεν· ἅτινα ἐὰν γράφωμεν αὐτοὶ αὐτοῖς παρατυχόντες καὶ ἰδόντες. γέλωτα πλατὺν ὀφλήσομεν τοῖς ἀπίστοις, οἰομένοις ἡμᾶς ὁμοίως οἷς ὑπολαμβάνουσι ταῦτʼ ἀναπεπλακέναι καὶ αὐτοὺς πλάσσειν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ θεὸς μάρτυς τοῦ ἡμετέρου συνειδότος, βουλομένου οὐ διὰ ψευδῶν ἀπαγγελιῶν ἀλλὰ διά τινος ἐναργείας ποικίλης συνιστάνειν τὴν Ἰησοῦ θείαν διδασκαλίαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ περὶ τοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένου ἁγίου πνεύματος κατεληλυθέναι ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπορῶν, λεκτέον ἂν εἴη πρὸς αὐτόν· ὦ οὗτος, τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ λέγων· „καὶ νῦν κύριος ἀπέστειλέ με καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ;“ ἐν ᾧ ἀμφιβόλου ὄντος τοῦ ῥητοῦ, πότερον ὁ πατὴρ καὶ τὸ ἄγιον πνεῦμα ἀπέστειλαν τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἢ ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέστειλε τόν τε Χριστὸν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, τὸ δεύτερόν ἐστιν ἀληθές. καὶ ἐπεὶ ἀπεστάλη ὁ σωτὴρ, εἶτα τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου, ἐχρῆν δὲ τὴν τῆς προφητείας πλήρωσιν ἐγνῶσθαι καὶ τοῖς ἑξῆς· διὰ τοῦτο ἀνέγραψαν οἱ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ τὸ γεγενημένον. ### English translation (Claude) The law and the prophets are full of wonders similar to the one recorded of Jesus at his baptism concerning the dove and the voice from heaven. And I think a sign of the Holy Spirit who was then seen in the form of a dove are the wonders done by Jesus, which Celsus slanders, saying that he did them having learned them among the Egyptians. And I will use not only those but also, as is fitting, those that the apostles of Jesus did. For without mighty works and wonders they would not have moved those who heard new teachings and new lessons to abandon their ancestral ways and accept their teachings at the risk of death. And traces of that Holy Spirit who was seen in the form of a dove are still preserved among Christians. They drive out demons, perform many healings, and see certain things about the future according to the will of the Word. And even if Celsus, or the Jew he introduced, mocks what I am going to say, it will be said nonetheless: many have come to Christianity as if against their will, some spirit having suddenly turned their ruling faculty from hating the teaching to dying for it, and having shown them visions awake or asleep. We have known many such cases; if we write of those at which we ourselves were present and which we saw, we will incur loud laughter from unbelievers, who think that we, like those they suppose to have invented such things, are inventing them too. But God is witness to our conscience, which wishes to commend the divine teaching of Jesus not by false reports but by manifold evidence. And since it is a Jew who is at a loss about the recorded descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus in the form of a dove, one might say to him: Sir, who is it that says in Isaiah, "And now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit"? Here, since the text is ambiguous—whether the Father and the Holy Spirit sent Jesus, or the Father sent both the Christ and the Holy Spirit—the second is true. And since the Savior was sent, and then the Holy Spirit, so that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, and the fulfillment of the prophecy had to be made known to those who came after, the disciples of Jesus recorded what happened. ### Scripture references - Isa 48:16: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Isa 48:16. Origen's claim to have witnessed conversions through visions is his own testimony. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/46/). ## Against Celsus 1.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/47/ - Source: Koetschau 1:96–97 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Josephus confirms that John was a baptizer and links the fall of Jerusalem to the killing of James, the Lord's brother—more reasonably it was because of Jesus himself. ### Greek text Ἐβουλόμην δʼ ἂν Κέλσῳ, προσωποποιήσαντι τὸν Ἰουδαῖον παραδεξάμενόν πως Ἰωάννην ὡς βαπτιστὴν βαπτίζοντα τὸν Ἰησοῦν, εἰπεῖν ὅτι τὸ Ἰωάννην γεγονέναι βαπτιστὴν, εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτημάτων βαπτίζοντα, ἀνέγραψέ τις τῶν μετʼ οὐ πολὺ τοῦ Ἰωάννου καὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γεγενημένων. ἐν γὰρ τῷ ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἀρχαιολογίας ὁ Ἰώσηπος μαρτυρεῖ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ ὡς βαπτιστῇ γεγενημένῳ καὶ καθάρσιον τοῖς βαπτισαμένοις ἐπαγγελλομένῳ. ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς, καίτοι γε ἀπιστῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὡς Χριστῷ. ζητῶν τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων πτώσεως καὶ τῆς τοῦ ναοῦ καθαιρέσεως, δέον αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν ὅτι ἡ κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐπιβουλὴ τούτων αἰτία γέγονε τῷ λαῷ, ἐπεὶ ἀπέκτειναν τὸν προφητευόμενον Χριστόν· ὁ δὲ καὶ ὥσπερ ἄκων οὐ μακρὰν τῆς ἀληθείας γενόμενός φησι ταῦτα συμβεβηκέναι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις κατʼ ἐκδίκησιν Ἰακώβου τοῦ δικαίου, ὃς ἦν ἀδελφὸς „Ἰησοῦ τοῦ λεγομένου Χριστοῦ, “ ἐπειδήπερ δικαιότατον αὐτὸν ὄντα ἀπέκτειναν. τὸν δὲ Ἰάκωβον τοῦτον ὁ Ἰησοῦ γνήσιος μαθητὴς Παῦλός φησιν ἑωρακέναι ὡς „ἀδελφὸν τοῦ κυρίου.“ οὐ τοσοῦτον διὰ τὸ πρὸς αἵματος συγγενὲς ἢ τὴν κοινὴν αὐτῶν ἀνατροφὴν ὅσον διὰ τὸ ἦθος καὶ τὸν λόγον. εἴπερ οὖν διὰ Ἰάκωβον λέγει συμβεβηκέναι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐρήμωσιν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, πῶς οὐχὶ εὐλογώτερον διὰ Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦτο φάσκειν γεγονέναι; οὗ τῆς θειότητος μάρτυρες αἱ τοσαῦται τῶν μεταβαλόντων ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῶν κακῶν ἐκκλησίαι καὶ ἠρτημένων τοῦ δημιουργοῦ καὶ πάντʼ ἀναφερόντων ἐπὶ τὴν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἀρέσκειαν. ### English translation (Claude) I would have liked to say to Celsus, who portrayed the Jew as in some way accepting John as a baptizer who baptized Jesus, that John's having been a baptizer, baptizing for the forgiveness of sins, was recorded by one who lived not long after John and Jesus. For in the eighteenth book of the Jewish Antiquities Josephus bears witness to John as having been a baptizer and as promising purification to those who were baptized. The same writer, although he did not believe in Jesus as the Christ, when seeking the cause of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple—though he ought to have said that the plot against Jesus was the cause of these things for the people, since they killed the prophesied Christ—nevertheless, as if against his will not far from the truth, says that these things befell the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was the brother of "Jesus who is called Christ," since they killed him though he was most righteous. This James Paul, the genuine disciple of Jesus, says he saw, as "the brother of the Lord," not so much because of blood relationship or their common upbringing as because of his character and his teaching. If, then, he says that the desolation of Jerusalem befell the Jews because of James, how is it not more reasonable to say that it happened because of Jesus the Christ? Witnesses to his divinity are the many churches of those who have turned from the flood of evils and depend on the Creator and refer everything to what pleases him. ### Scripture references - Gal 1:19: quotation, high confidence - Mark 1:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, Ant. 18.116–119 (Josephus (works)): allusion, high confidence - Josephus, Ant. 20.200 (Josephus (works)): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Josephus on John is Ant. 18.116–119; the phrase "Jesus who is called Christ" is in Ant. 20.200 (James's death). The statement that Josephus blamed the fall of Jerusalem on James's death is not found in extant Josephus; Origen repeats it in 2.13 and in his Commentary on Matthew 10.17. Paul's words are Gal 1:19. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/47/). ## Against Celsus 1.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/48/ - Source: Koetschau 1:97–100 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The prophets' visions and Jesus' opened heavens are perceived by a spiritual "divine sense," not the bodily senses; and Jesus did not boast of his own baptismal vision, which John witnessed. ### Greek text Εἰ καὶ μὴ ἀπολογήσεται οὖν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος περὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ καὶ Ἡσαΐου, κοινοποιούντων ἡμῶν τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀνοίξεως τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπὶ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀκουσθείσης αὐτῷ φωνῆς καὶ τὰ ὅμοια εὑρισκόντων ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἀναγεγραμμένα καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ ἢ καί τινι ἄλλῳ προφήτῃ. ἡμεῖς γε τὸν λόγον ὅση δύναμις ἡμῖν παραστήσομεν λέγοντες ὅτι, ὥσπερ ὄναρ πεπίστευται πολλοὺς πεφαντασιῶσθαι τινὰ μὲν θειότερα τινὰ δὲ περὶ μελλόντων βιωτικῶν ἀναγγέλλοντα εἴτε σαφῶς εἴτε καὶ διʼ αἰνιγμάτων, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐναργές ἐστι παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς παραδεξαμένοις πρόνοιαν, οὕτως τί ἄτοπον τὸ τυποῦν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ἐν ὀνείρῳ δύνασθαι αὐτὸ τυποῦν καὶ ὕπαρ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον τῷ ἐν ᾧ τυποῦται ἢ τοῖς παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἀκουσομένοις; καὶ ὥσπερ φαντασίαν λαμβάνομεν ὄναρ ἀκούειν καὶ πλήσσεσθαι τὴν αἰσθητὴν ἀκοὴν καὶ ὁρᾶν διʼ ὀφθαλμῶν, οὔτε τῶν τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμῶν οὔτε τῆς ἀκοῆς πλησσομένης ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ ταῦτα πάσχοντος, οὕτως οὐδὲν ἄτοπον τοιαῦτα γεγονέναι ἐπὶ τῶν προφητῶν, ὅτε ἀναγέγραπται ἑωρακέναι τινὰ αὐτοὺς παραδοξότερα ἢ ἀκηκοέναι λόγους κυρίου ἢ τεθεωρηκέναι οὐρανοὺς ἀνοιγομένους. ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐχ ὑπολαμβάνω τὸν αἰσθητὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῷχθαι καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἀνοιγνύμενον διῃρῆσθαι, ἵνα ἀναγράψῃ τὸ τοιοῦτον Ἰεζεκιήλ. μή ποτʼ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος τὸν φρονίμως ἀκούοντα τῶν εὐαγγελίων τὸ ὅμοιον ἐκδεκτέον, κἂν προσκόπτῃ τὸ τοιοῦτον τοῖς ἁπλουστέροις, οἳ διὰ πολλὴν ἁπλότητα κινοῦσι τὸν κόσμον, σχίζοντες τὸ τηλικοῦτον σῶμα ἡνωμένον τοῦ παντὸς οὐρανοῦ. ὁ δὲ βαθύτερον τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐξετάζων ἐρεῖ ὅτι οὔσης, ὡς ἡ γραφὴ ὠνόμασε, θείας τινὸς γενικῆς αἰσθήσεως, ἣν μόνος ὁ μακάριος εὑρίσκει ἤδη κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον καὶ παρὰ τῷ Σολομῶντι· „ὅτι αἴσθησιν θείαν εὑρήσεις, “ καὶ ὄντων εἰδῶν ταύτης τῆς αἰσθήσεως, ὁράσεως πεφυκυίας βλέπειν τὰ κρείττονα σωμάτων πράγματα, ἐν οἷς δηλοῦται τὰ χερουβὶμ ἢ τὰ σεραφὶμ, καὶ ἀκοῆς ἀντιληπτικῆς φωνῶν οὐχὶ ἐν ἀέρι τὴν οὐσίαν ἐχουσῶν, καὶ γεύσεως χρωμένης ἄρτῳ ζῶντι καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβεβηκότι καὶ ζωὴν διδόντι τῷ κόσμῳ, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὀσφρήσεως ὀσφραινομένης τοιῶνδε, καθὸ „Χριστοῦ εὐωδία“ λέγει εἶναι „τῷ θεῷ“ Παῦλος, καὶ ἁφῆς, καθʼ ἣν Ἰωάννης φησὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἐψηλαφηκέναι „περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς“· οἱ μακάριοι προφῆται τὴν θείαν αἴσθησιν εὑρόντες καὶ βλέποντες θείως καὶ ἀκούοντες θείως καὶ γευόμενοι ὁμοίως καὶ ὀσφραινόμενοι, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, αἰσθήσει οὐκ αἰσθητῇ καὶ ἁπτόμενοι τοῦ λόγου μετὰ πίστεως, ὥστʼ ἀποῤῥοὴν αὐτοῦ ἥκειν εἰς αὐτοὺς θεραπεύσουσαν αὐτοὺς, οὕτως ἑώρων ἃ ἀναγράφουσιν ἑωρακέναι καὶ ἤκουον ἃ λέγουσιν ἀκηκοέναι καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια ἔπασχον, ὡς ἀνέγραφον, ἐσθίοντες „κεφαλίδα“ διδομένην αὐτοῖς βιβλίου. οὕτω δὲ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ „ὠσφράνθη τῆς ὀσμῆς τῶν“ τοῦ υἱοῦ θειοτέρων „ἱματίων“ καὶ ἐπεῖπε πνευματικῇ εὐλογίᾳ τό· „ἰδοὺ ὀσμὴ τοῦ υἱοῦ μου ὡς ὀσμὴ ἀγροῦ πλήρους, ὃν εὐλόγησεν ὁ κύριος.“ παραπλησίως δὲ τούτοις καὶ νοητῶς μᾶλλον ἢ αἰσθητῶς Ἰησοῦς „ἥψατο“ τοῦ λεπροῦ, ἵνʼ αὐτὸν καθαρίσῃ, ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, διχῶς, ἀπαλλάττων αὐτὸν οὐ μόνον, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ ἀκούουσι, λέπρας αἰσθητῆς διʼ αἰσθητῆς ἁφῆς ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης διὰ τῆς ὡς ἀληθῶς θείας αὐτοῦ ἁφῆς, οὕτως οὖν „ἐμαρτύρησεν Ἰωάννης λέγων ὅτι τεθέαμαι τὸ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον ὡς περιστερὰν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐπʼ αὐτόν. κἀγὼ οὐκ ᾔδειν αὐτὸν, ἀλλʼ ὁ πέμψας με βαπτίζειν ἐν τῷ ὕδατι, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν· ἐφʼ ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον ἐπʼ αὐτὸν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, κἀγὼ ἑώρακα, καὶ μεμαρτύρηκα ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ.“ καὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ γε ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοί· καὶ τότε μὲν πλὴν Ἰωάννου οὐδεὶς ἀναγέγραπται ἑωρακέναι ἀνοιχθέντας τοὺς οὐρανούς. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἀνοιχθῆναι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς προλέγων τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὁ σωτὴρ ἐσόμενον ὀψομένοις αὐτό φησιν· „ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὄψεσθε τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγότα καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.“ καὶ οὕτως Παῦλος ἡρπάγη εἰς τρίτον οὐρανὸν, πρότερον ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ἀνοιχθέντα, ἐπεὶ μαθητὴς ἦν Ἰησοῦ. διηγήσασθαι δὲ νῦν, διὰ τί ὁ Παῦλος λέγει τό· „εἴτε ἐν σώματι οὐκ οἶδα, εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα, ὁ θεὸς οἶδεν, “ οὐ τοῦ παρόντος ἐστὶ καιροῦ. ἔτι δὲ προσθήσω τῷ λόγῳ καὶ αὐτὰ, ἃ οἴεται ὁ Κέλσος, ὅτι αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς εἶπε τὰ περὶ τὴν ἄνοιξιν τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τὸ καταβὰν πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπʼ αὐτὸν (ἐν) εἴδει περιστερᾶς παρὰ τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ· τῆς γραφῆς τοῦτο οὐ παραστησάσης, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε τοῦτο ἑωρακέναι. οὐ συνεῖδε δʼ ὁ γενναιότατος ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐπὶ τῇ ἐν τῷ ὄρει ὀπτασίᾳ· „μηδενὶ εἴπητε τὸ ὅραμα, ἕως ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ, “ εἰρηκέναι τοῖς μαθηταῖς τὸ παρὰ τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ ὀφθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰωάννου καὶ ἀκουσθέν, ἐνιδεῖν δὲ ἔστι καὶ τῷ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἤθει πανταχοῦ περιϊσταμένου τὴν περιαυτολογίαν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λέγοντος „κἂν ἐγὼ εἴπω περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ, ἡ μαρτυρία μου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής.“ καὶ ἐπεὶ περιΐστατο τὴν περιαυτολογίαν καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις μᾶλλον ἐβούλετο δηλοῦν εἶναι Χριστὸς ἤπερ τῇ λέξει, διὰ τοῦτό φασιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πρὸς αὐτόν· „εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς, εἰπὲ ἡμῖν παῤῥησίᾳ.“ ἐπεὶ δὲ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ λέγων τῷ Ἰησοῦ περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς τό· πλὴν ὅτι σὺ φῂς καί τινα ἕνα ἐπάγῃ τῶν μετὰ σοῦ κεκολασμένων, ἀναγκαῖον αὐτῷ παραστῆσαι ὅτι καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ οἰκείως τῷ Ἰουδαϊκῷ προσώπῳ περιέθηκεν. οὐδὲ γὰρ συνάπτουσι τὸν Ἰωάννην οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν Ἰωάννου τῇ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κολάσει. καὶ ἐν τούτῳ οὖν ἐλέγχεται ὁ πάντʼ ἀλαζονευσάμενος εἰδέναι μὴ ἐγνωκὼς, τίνα προσάψῃ ῥήματα τῷ Ἰουδαϊκῷ πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν προσώπῳ. ### English translation (Claude) Even if the Jew will not defend Ezekiel and Isaiah when we compare the opening of the heavens for Jesus and the voice he heard with similar things recorded in Ezekiel and Isaiah or some other prophet, we at least will establish our case as best we can, saying this: just as it is believed that many have seen in a dream visions announcing some things more divine, and some things about the future of this life, either clearly or in riddles—and this is evident to all who accept providence—so what is absurd in supposing that what impresses the ruling faculty in a dream can impress it also when awake, for the benefit of the one in whom the impression is made or of those who will hear from him? And just as we have the impression in a dream of hearing, of the bodily hearing being struck, and of seeing with the eyes, though neither the eyes of the body nor the hearing is struck, but the ruling faculty experiences these things, so there is nothing absurd in such things having happened to the prophets, when they are recorded to have seen extraordinary things, or heard words of the Lord, or beheld the heavens opened. For I do not suppose that the visible heaven was opened, and its body split apart by the opening, for Ezekiel to record such a thing. Perhaps, then, one who hears the Gospels with understanding should take the same to be true of the Savior too, even if this offends the simpler folk, who in their great simplicity set the world in motion, splitting apart so vast and unified a body as the whole heaven. But one who examines the matter more deeply will say that there is, as Scripture has named it, a certain divine sense in general, which only the blessed man finds, according to what is said in Solomon: "that you will find a divine sense"; and that there are kinds of this sense: a sight naturally fitted to see things higher than bodies, among which the cherubim or seraphim are shown; a hearing that perceives voices that do not have their being in the air; a taste that feeds on the living bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world; so too a smell that smells such things, in the sense in which Paul says there is "a fragrance of Christ to God"; and a touch, by which John says he has handled with his hands "concerning the word of life." The blessed prophets, having found the divine sense, and seeing divinely, hearing divinely, and likewise tasting and smelling, so to speak, with a sense not of the senses, and touching the Word with faith, so that an emanation from him came to them and healed them—in this way they saw what they record that they saw, and heard what they say they heard, and experienced similar things, as they recorded, eating the "roll" of a book given to them. So too Isaac "smelled the smell" of his son's more divine "garments," and added in a spiritual blessing: "See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a full field, which the Lord has blessed." Similarly to these, and in an intellectual rather than a bodily way, Jesus "touched" the leper to cleanse him—in two ways, I think: freeing him not only, as the many understand it, from bodily leprosy by bodily touch, but also from the other by his truly divine touch. In this way, then, "John bore witness, saying: I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. And I did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me: He on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." And for Jesus the heavens were opened; and at that time no one except John is recorded to have seen the heavens opened. But the Savior, foretelling to his disciples that this opening of the heavens would happen and that they would see it, says: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." And so Paul was caught up to the third heaven, having first seen it opened, since he was a disciple of Jesus. But to explain now why Paul says, "whether in the body I do not know, whether out of the body I do not know; God knows," is not for the present occasion. I will add to the argument also this: Celsus thinks that Jesus himself told of the opening of the heavens and of the Holy Spirit coming down on him in the form of a dove at the Jordan, though Scripture does not state that he himself said he had seen this. This most noble man did not perceive that it is not in keeping with one who said to his disciples about the vision on the mountain, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is raised from the dead," to have told his disciples what was seen and heard by John at the Jordan. One can see this also in the character of Jesus, who everywhere avoided talking about himself and for this reason said, "If I bear witness about myself, my witness is not true." And since he avoided talking about himself and wished to show that he was the Christ by his works rather than by words, the Jews said to him for this reason: "If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." But since it is a Jew in Celsus who says to Jesus about the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, "Except that you say so, and bring forward one of those who were punished with you," we must show him that this too he did not attribute appropriately to the Jewish character. For the Jews do not connect John with Jesus, nor John's punishment with that of Jesus. In this too, then, the one who boasted that he knew everything is convicted of not knowing what words to attach to the Jew's speech to Jesus. ### Scripture references - Prov 2:5: quotation, high confidence - John 6:33: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 2:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 2:9–3:3: allusion, high confidence - Gen 27:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:3: allusion, high confidence - John 1:32–34: quotation, high confidence - John 1:51: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:2–4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:9: quotation, high confidence - John 5:31: quotation, high confidence - John 10:24: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 1:1: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Origen's doctrine of the spiritual senses. The quotations are Prov 2:5 LXX ("divine sense"; the Hebrew has "the knowledge of God"), John 6:33, 2 Cor 2:15, 1 John 1:1, Ezek 2:9–3:3, Gen 27:27, Matt 8:3, John 1:32–34, John 1:51, 2 Cor 12:2–4, Matt 17:9, John 5:31, and John 10:24; the opened heavens are Ezek 1:1. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/48/). ## Against Celsus 1.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/49/ - Source: Koetschau 1:100–101 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus ignores the many prophecies of Christ and has his Jew speak of one prophet in Jerusalem announcing a "son of God," which no Jew would say. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τὸ μέγιστον περὶ τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κεφάλαιον, ὡς ὅτι ἐπροφητεύθη ὑπὸ τῶν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις προφητῶν, Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν μετʼ αὐτὸν ἢ καὶ πρὸ Μωϋσέως, παραπίπτει ἑκὼν, ὡς οἶμαι τῷ μὴ δύνασθαι ἀπαντᾶν πρὸς λόγον ὡς οὐδὲ Ἰουδαῖοι οὐδʼ ὅσαι αἱρέσεις οὐ βούλονται πεπροφητεῦσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν. τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ ᾔδει τὰς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ προφητείας· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ καταβαλὼν τὰ ὑπὸ Χριστιανῶν λεγόμενα, ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται προεῖπον περὶ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας, περιέθηκε τῷ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσώπῳ ἃ ἥρμοζε Σαμαρεῖ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ἢ Σαδδουκαίῳ· καὶ οὐκ ἂν Ἰουδαῖος ὁ ἐν τῇ προσωποποΐᾳ ἔφασκεν· ἀλλʼ εἶπεν ἐμὸς προφήτης ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ποτὲ ὅτι ἥξει θεοῦ υἱὸς, τῶν ὁσίων κριτὴς καὶ τῶν ἀδίκων κολαστής. οὐ γὰρ εἷς προφήτης τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ ἐπροφήτευσε· κἂν οἱ μόνου δὲ Μωϋσέως παραδεχόμενοι τὰς βίβλους Σαμαρεῖς ἢ Σαδδουκαῖοι φάσκωσιν ἐν ἐκείναις πεπροφητεῦσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν, ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις, τοῖς μηδέπω ὀνομασθεῖσι κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως χρόνον, ἡ προφητεία λέλεκτο. εἴη τοίνυν πάντας τοὺς τοῦ λόγου κατηγόρους ἐν τοσαύτῃ εἶναι ἀγνοίᾳ οὐ μόνον τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ψιλῶν τῶν γραμμάτων τῆς γραφῆς καὶ κατηγορεῖν χριστιανισμοῦ, ἵνα μηδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν πιθανότητα ὁ λόγος αὐτῶν ἔχῃ, δυναμένην τοὺς ἀνερματίστους καὶ „πρὸς καιρὸν“ πιστεύοντας ἀφιστάνειν οὐ τῆς πίστεως ἀλλὰ τῆς ὀλιγοπιστίας. Ἰουδαῖος δὲ οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσαι ὅτι προφήτης τις εἶπεν ἥξειν θεοῦ υἱόν· ὃ γὰρ λέγουσιν, ἐστὶν ὅτι ἥξει ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ πολλάκις γε ζητοῦσι πρὸς ἡμᾶς εὐθέως περὶ υἱοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς οὐδενὸς ὄντος τοιούτου οὐδὲ προφητευθέντος. καὶ οὐ τοῦτό φαμεν, ὅτι οὐ προφητεύεται υἱὸς θεοῦ, ἀλλʼ ὅτι οὐχ ἁρμοζόντως τῷ Ἰουδαϊκῷ προσώπῳ, μὴ ὁμολογοῦντι τὸ τοιοῦτο, περιέθηκε τὸ εἶπεν ἐμὸς προφήτης ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ποτὲ ὅτι ἥξει θεοῦ υἱός ### English translation (Claude) After this, I do not know why, he deliberately passes over the most important heading for establishing Jesus' case—that he was prophesied by the prophets among the Jews, Moses and those after him, or even before Moses—I suppose because he could not answer the argument, just as neither the Jews nor the sects that do not want Jesus to have been prophesied can. Perhaps he did not even know the prophecies about Jesus; for otherwise, in setting down what Christians say—that many prophets foretold the coming of the Savior—he would not have attached to the Jewish character things more fitting for a Samaritan or a Sadducee to say. Nor would the Jew in the imaginary speech have said: "But a prophet of mine once said in Jerusalem that a son of God would come, the judge of the holy and the punisher of the unjust." For not one prophet only prophesied about Christ; and even if the Samaritans or Sadducees, who accept only the books of Moses, were to say that the Christ was prophesied in them, the prophecy was certainly not spoken in Jerusalem, which had not yet even been named in Moses' time. Would that all the accusers of the teaching were in such ignorance, not only of the facts but even of the bare letters of Scripture, when they accuse Christianity! Then their argument would not have even ordinary plausibility, able to draw away the unsteady, those who believe "for a while," from—not faith, but little faith. A Jew would not admit that some prophet said a son of God would come; what they say is that the Christ of God will come. And indeed they often question us at once about a son of God, as though there were no such being and none had been prophesied. We are not saying that a son of God is not prophesied, but that Celsus did not fittingly attribute to the Jewish character, which does not admit such a thing, the words, "A prophet of mine once said in Jerusalem that a son of God would come." ### Scripture references - Luke 8:13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - "For a while" is from Luke 8:13. The "sects" (αἱρέσεις) that deny Jesus was prophesied are probably Marcionites and some Gnostics. The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/49/). ## Against Celsus 1.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/50/ - Source: Koetschau 1:101 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The prophets foretold Christ's birthplace, sufferings, resurrection, and miracles, not merely that a judge would come; Origen will cite some of these prophecies. ### Greek text Εἶτα, ὡς [οὐ] μόνου προφητευθέντος τούτου, ὁσίων αὐτὸν εἶναι κριτὴν καὶ τῶν ἀδίκων κολαστὴν, καὶ μήτε τόπου γενέσεως αὐτοῦ μήτε πάθους αὐτοῦ οὗ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων πείσεται μήτʼ ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ μήτε τεραστίων δὲ ὧν ποιήσει δυνάμεων προειρημένων, φησί· τί μᾶλλον σὺ ἢ ἄλλοι μυρίοι οἱ μετὰ τὴν προφητείαν γενόμενοί εἰσι, περὶ ὧν ταῦτα ἐπροφητεύετο; καὶ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως βουλόμενος καὶ ἑτέροις περιθεῖναι τὸ δύνασθαι ὑπονοεῖσθαι ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἦσαν οἱ προφητευθέντες φησὶν ὅτι οἱ μὲν ἐνθουσιῶντες οἱ δὲ ἀγείροντές φασιν ἥκειν ἄνωθεν υἱὸν θεοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἱστορήσαμεν ταῦθʼ ὁμολογεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γεγονέναι. λεκτέον οὖν πρῶτον ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται παντοδαπῶς προεῖπον τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ, οἱ μὲν διʼ αἰνιγμάτων οἱ δὲ διʼ ἀλληγορίας ἢ ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ τινὲς δὲ καὶ αὐτολεξεί. καὶ ἐπεὶ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς φησιν ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ πιστεύοντας προσωποποιΐᾳ τὰς εἰς τὰ περὶ τούτου ἀναφερομένας προφητείας δύνασθαι καὶ ἄλλοις ἐφαρμόζειν πράγμασι, δεινῶς καὶ κακούργως τοῦτο λέγων, ὀλίγας ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἐκθησόμεθα· περὶ ὧν ὁ βουλόμενος ἀναγκαστικόν τι εἰς ἀνατροπὴν αὐτῶν εἰπάτω καὶ δυνάμενον ἐντρεχῶς πιστεύοντας μεταστῆσαι ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as if this alone had been prophesied, that he would be the judge of the holy and the punisher of the unjust, and neither the place of his birth, nor the suffering he would undergo from the Jews, nor his resurrection, nor the wonderful mighty works he would do had been foretold, he says: "Why you, rather than countless others who were born after the prophecy, about whom these things were prophesied?" And, I do not know why, wishing to attribute to others too the possibility of being suspected of being the ones prophesied, he says that "some in ecstasy and others begging say that a son of God has come from above." For we have not learned that the Jews admit that this has happened. We must say first, then, that many prophets foretold the things about Christ in all sorts of ways—some in riddles, others by allegory or some other way, and some even in plain words. And since in what follows, in the speech of the Jew to believers from his own people, he says that the prophecies referred to his case can be applied to other events as well—saying this cleverly and maliciously—we will set out a few out of many. About these, let whoever wishes say something compelling to overturn them, able to move from their faith those who believe intelligently. ### Translation notes - The bracketed [οὐ] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/50/). ## Against Celsus 1.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/51/ - Source: Koetschau 1:101–103 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Micah foretold Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace, the cave of the nativity is still shown there, and the Jewish teachers knew the prophecy until they suppressed it after Christ came. ### Greek text Εἵρηται δὴ περὶ μὲν τοῦ τόπου τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀπὸ „Βηθλεὲμ“ „ἐξελεύσεται ὁ ἡγούμενος, “ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· „καὶ σὺ Βηθλεὲμ οἶκος τοῦ Ἐφραθὰ, ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ τοῦ εἶναι ἐν χιλιάσιν Ἰούδα· ἐκ σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται τοῦ εἶναι εἰς ἄρχοντα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ αἱ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος.“ αὕτη δʼ ἡ προφητεία οὐδενὶ ἁρμόσαι ἂν τῶν, ὥς φησιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος, ἐνθουσιώντων καὶ ἀγειρόντων καὶ λεγόντων ἄνωθεν ἥκειν, ἐὰν μὴ σαφῶς δεικνύηται ἐκ Βηθλεὲμ γεγεννημένος ἢ, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις ἄλλος, ἀπὸ Βηθλεὲμ ἐπὶ τὸ ἡγεῖσθαι τοῦ λαοῦ ἐρχόμενος. περὶ δὲ τοῦ γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐν Βηθλεὲμ εἰ βούλεταί τις μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Μιχαία προφητείαν καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀναγεγραμμένην ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰησοῦ μαθητῶν ἱστορίαν καὶ ἄλλοθεν πεισθῆναι, κατανοησάτω ὅτι ἀκολούθως τῇ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ περὶ τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ ἱστορίᾳ δείκνυται τὸ ἐν Βηθλεὲμ σπήλαιον, ἔνθα ἐγεννήθη, καὶ ἡ ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ φάτνη, ἔνθα ἐσπαργανώθη. καὶ τὸ δεικνύμενον τοῦτο διαβόητόν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς τόποις καὶ παρὰ τοῖς τῆς πίστεως ἀλλοτρίοις, ὡς ἄρα ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τούτῳ ὁ ὑπὸ Χριστιανῶν προσκυνούμενος καὶ θαυμαζόμενος γεγέννηται Ἰησοῦς. ἐγὼ δʼ οἶμαι ὅτι πρὸ μὲν τῆς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ διὰ τὸ σαφὲς καὶ ἐναργὲς τῆς προφητείας ἐδίδασκον ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννηθήσεται. καὶ ἔφθανεν ὁ λόγος οὗτος καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων· ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Ἡρώδης ἀναγέγραπται πυνθανόμενος τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ γραμματέων τοῦ λαοῦ ἀκηκοέναι παρʼ αὐτῶν ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς „ἐν Βηθλεὲμ τῆς Ἰουδαίας“ γεννηθήσεται, ὅθεν ἦν ὁ Δαυίδ. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην λέλεκται Ἰουδαίους εἰρηκέναι ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννηθήσεται, ὅθεν ὁ Δαυὶδ ἦν. μετὰ δὲ τὴν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν οἱ πραγματευόμενοι καθελεῖν τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ ὑπόληψιν ὡς προφητευθέντος ἄνωθεν περὶ τῆς γενέσεως, τὴν τοιαύτην διδασκαλίαν περιεῖλον ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ· ἀδελφόν τι ποιοῦντες τοῖς πείσασι τοὺς ἑωρακότας αὐτὸν ἀναστάντα ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν στρατιώτας τῶν φρουρούντων τὸ μνημεῖον καὶ τοῦτʼ ἀπαγγέλλουσιν εἰρηκέναι τοῖς ἰδοῦσιν· „εἴπατε ὅτι οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἡμῶν κοιμωμένων νυκτὸς ἔκλεψαν αὐτόν. καὶ ἐὰν ἀκουσθῇ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος, ἡμεῖς πείσομεν καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀμερίμνους ποιήσομεν.“ ### English translation (Claude) It has been said, then, about the place of his birth, that the ruler "will come forth" from "Bethlehem," in this way: "And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are the least to be among the thousands of Judah; from you will come forth for me one to be ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity." This prophecy would not fit any of those whom Celsus's Jew calls ecstatics and beggars saying they have come from above, unless it were clearly shown that he was born in Bethlehem, or, as someone else might put it, came from Bethlehem to rule the people. As for Jesus' being born in Bethlehem, if anyone wants to be persuaded from other sources besides the prophecy of Micah and the story recorded in the Gospels by Jesus' disciples, let him note that, in agreement with the story in the Gospel about his birth, there is shown in Bethlehem the cave where he was born and the manger in the cave where he was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And what is shown there is famous in those parts, even among those alien to the faith, namely that in this cave was born the Jesus who is worshiped and admired by Christians. I think that before the coming of Christ the chief priests and scribes of the people taught, because of the clearness and plainness of the prophecy, that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem; and this teaching reached the many among the Jews too. That is why Herod is recorded, when he inquired of the chief priests and scribes of the people, to have heard from them that the Christ would be born "in Bethlehem of Judea," where David came from. And further, in the Gospel according to John it is said that the Jews said that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem, where David was from. But after the coming of Christ, those who busied themselves to overthrow the belief that his birth had been prophesied long before took such teaching away from the people—doing something akin to what was done by those who persuaded the soldiers guarding the tomb, who had seen him risen from the dead and were reporting it, and said to those who had seen: "Say that his disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and keep you out of trouble." ### Scripture references - Mic 5:2 (5:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:4–6: allusion, high confidence - John 7:42: allusion, high confidence - Matt 28:13–14: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:7: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Justin, Dial. 78 (Dialogue with Trypho): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Mic 5:2 (5:1 LXX), Matt 2:4–6, John 7:42, and Matt 28:13–14; the manger is Luke 2:7. This is among the earliest witnesses to the cave of the nativity at Bethlehem (cf. Justin, Dial. 78). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/51/). ## Against Celsus 1.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/52/ - Source: Koetschau 1:103–104 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Habit and prejudice explain why many Jews rejected clear prophecies, just as Egyptians cling to their animal gods. ### Greek text Χαλεπὸν γὰρ φιλονεικία καὶ πρόληψις πρὸς τὸ ποιῆσαι καὶ τοῖς ἐναργέσιν ἀντιβλέψαι, ἵνα μὴ καταλείψωσι δόγματα δευσοποιήσαντα, οἷς συνήθεις ἐγένοντό πως, καὶ ποιώσαντα αὐτῶν τὴν ψυχήν. καὶ εὐχερέστερόν γε ἄνθρωπος τὰς περὶ ἄλλα συνηθείας, κἂν δυσαποσπάστως αὐτῶν ἔχῃ, καταλείψαι ἂν ἢ τὰς περὶ τὰ δόγματα. πλὴν οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνα εὐχερῶς οἱ συνήθεις παρορῶσιν· οὕτως οὐδʼ οἰκίας οὐδὲ πόλεις ἢ κώμας οὐδὲ συνήθεις ἀνθρώπους εὐχερῶς βούλονται καταλιπεῖν οἱ προληφθέντες αὐτοῖς. τοῦτʼ οὖν αἴτιον γεγένηται καὶ Ἰουδαίων πολλοῖς τότε τοῦ ἀντιβλέψαι ταῖς ἐναργείαις τῶν τε προφητειῶν καὶ τῶν τεραστίων. ὧν ἐποίησε καὶ πεπονθέναι ἀναγέγραπται ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ὅτι δὲ τοιοῦτόν τι πέπονθεν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, δῆλον ἔσται τοῖς κατανοοῦσιν ὅτι οἱ ἅπαξ προληφθέντες καὶ ἐν αἰσχίσταις καὶ εἰκαίαις παραδόσεσι πατέρων καὶ πολιτῶν οὐκ εὐχερῶς μετατίθενται· οὐ ταχέως γοῦν Αἰγύπτιον πείσαι ἄν τις καταφρονῆσαι ὧν ἐκ πατέρων παρείληφεν, ὥστε μὴ νομίσαι θεὸν τόδε τὸ ἄλογον ζῷον ἢ μέχρι θανάτου φυλάξασθαι ἀπὸ τοῦδε τοῦ ζῴου κρεῶν γεύσασθαι. εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖον οὖν τὸν τοιοῦτον λόγον ἐξετάζοντες τὰ περὶ Βηθλεὲμ καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτῆς προφητείας διεξεληλύθαμεν, νομίζομεν ἀναγκαίως τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι, ἀπολογούμενοι πρὸς τοὺς φήσαντας ἂν ὅτι, εἰ οὕτως ἐναργεῖς ἦσαν αἱ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις προφητεῖαι, τί δή ποτε ἐλθόντος αὐτοῦ οὐ συγκατέθεντο τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ μετέθεντο ἐπὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ δεικνύμενα κρείττονα. μηδεὶς δʼ ἡμῶν τοῖς πιστεύουσι τὸ παραπλήσιον ὀνειδιζέτω. ὁρῶν ὅτι οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητοι λόγοι ὑπὸ τῶν μεμαθηκότων αὐτοὺς πρεσβεύειν φέρονται περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πίστεως. ### English translation (Claude) For contentiousness and prejudice are hard things, able to make people shut their eyes even to what is evident, so as not to abandon doctrines that have dyed their souls deeply, to which they have somehow become accustomed, and which have given their souls their quality. A person would more easily abandon his habits in other things, even if he is hard to tear away from them, than those concerning doctrines. Yet not even those do people accustomed to them easily disregard; so those who have become attached to houses, or cities, or villages, or familiar people are not willing to leave them easily. This, then, was the cause for many of the Jews at that time of shutting their eyes to the evidence both of the prophecies and of the wonders that Jesus is recorded to have done and suffered. That human nature is affected in this way will be clear to those who observe that people once prepossessed, even by the most shameful and senseless traditions of their fathers and fellow citizens, are not easily changed. One would not quickly persuade an Egyptian, at any rate, to despise what he has received from his fathers, so as not to regard such-and-such an irrational animal as a god, or not to guard himself even to death against tasting the flesh of such-and-such an animal. If, then, examining this argument at greater length, we have gone through the matters concerning Bethlehem and the prophecy about it, we think we have done so necessarily, answering those who might say: if the prophecies about Jesus among the Jews were so clear, why, when he came, did they not assent to his teaching and change over to the better things Jesus showed? But let no one reproach us believers with something similar, seeing that no contemptible arguments are brought forward about faith in Jesus by those who have learned to uphold them. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/52/). ## Against Celsus 1.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/53/ - Source: Koetschau 1:104–105 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jacob's prophecy that rule would not leave Judah until the one came who is the nations' expectation is fulfilled in Christ, in whom the nations now hope. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ καὶ δευτέρας προφητείας ἐναργοῦς ἡμῖν εἶναι φαινομένης περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ χρεία ἐστὶν, ἐκθησόμεθα τὴν ἀναγραφεῖσαν πρὸ πλείστων ὅσων ἐτῶν τῆς Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημίας ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως, φήσαντος τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἀπαλλασσόμενον τοῦ βίου πεπροφητευκέναι ἑκάστῳ τῶν υἱῶν καὶ τῷ Ἰούδᾳ εἰρηκέναι μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων τό· „οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ.“ ἐντυγχάνων δέ τις τῇ προφητείᾳ ταύτῃ, κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἀληθὲς πολλῷ πρεσβυτέρᾳ τυγχανούσῃ Μωϋσέως, ὡς δʼ ἂν ὑπονοήσαι τις τῶν οὐ πιστῶν, ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως λεχθείσῃ, θαυμάσαι ἂν, πῶς Μωϋσῆς δεδύνηται προειπεῖν ὅτι οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεύοντες, δώδεκα οὐσῶν φυλῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς γεννηθέντες ἄρξουσι τοῦ λαοῦ· διὸ καὶ ὁ πᾶς λαὸς Ἰουδαῖοι ὀνομάζονται, τῆς βασιλευούσης φυλῆς ὄντες ἐπώνυμοι. καὶ δεύτερον δʼ ἂν θαυμάσαι τὴν προφητείαν ὁ εὐγνωμόνως αὐτῇ ἐντυγχάνων, τίνα τρόπον εἰπὼν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς ἔσεσθαι τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ ἡγεμόνας τοῦ λαοῦ ἔστησε καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῆς εἰπὼν οὐκ ἐκλείψειν ἄρχοντα „ἐξ Ἰούδα“ καὶ ἡγούμενον „ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν.“ ἦλθε γὰρ ᾧ ἐστι „τὰ ἀποκείμενα, “ ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, „ὁ ἄρχων“ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ σαφῶς γέγονεν οὗτος μόνος παρὰ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ πάντας, θαῤῥῶν δʼ ἂν εἴποιμι καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτὸν, „προσδοκία ἐθνῶν“· ἀπὸ γὰρ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν πεπιστεύκασι τῷ θεῷ διʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἤλπισαν εἰπόντος· „ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν.“ οὗτος δὲ καὶ εἶπε „τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς, “ καθὸ „σειραῖς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτιῶν ἕκαστος σφίγγεται, “ τὸ „ἐξέλθατε“ καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἀγνοίᾳ τὸ εἰς φῶς ἥκειν, καὶ τούτων οὕτω προφητευθέντων· „καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην ἐθνῶν τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίαν ἐρήμου, λέγοντα τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς ἐξέλθατε, καὶ τοῖς ἐν σκότει ἀνακαλυφθῆναι.“ καὶ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ τούτου παρουσίᾳ διὰ τοὺς πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπλούστερον πιστεύοντας πληρούμενον τὸ „καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τρίβοις ἡ νομὴ αὐτῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) If there is need of a second prophecy about Jesus which seems to us clear, we will set out the one recorded by Moses very many years before Jesus' coming. He says that Jacob, when departing this life, prophesied to each of his sons, and said to Judah among other things: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until the things laid up for him come." Anyone reading this prophecy—which in truth is much older than Moses, though an unbeliever might suppose it spoken by Moses—might wonder how Moses was able to foretell that the kings of the Jews, though there were twelve tribes among them, would be born of the tribe of Judah and rule the people; which is why the whole people is called Jews, named after the ruling tribe. And second, one who reads the prophecy fairly might wonder how, having said that the rulers and leaders of the people would be from the tribe of Judah, he also set the end of its rule, saying that a ruler shall not fail "from Judah," nor a leader "from his loins, until the things laid up for him come; and he is the expectation of the nations." For he has come to whom "the things laid up" belong, the Christ of God, "the ruler" of God's promises; and clearly he alone, compared with all before him—and I would boldly say, all after him too—has become "the expectation of the nations." For from all the nations they have believed in God through him, and, according to what Isaiah said, the nations have hoped in his name, since he said: "In his name the nations will hope." He also said "to those in bonds," in the sense that "each is bound fast by the cords of his own sins," "Come out," and to those in ignorance to come to the light, these things having been prophesied thus: "And I have given you as a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth and to inherit a desolate inheritance, saying to those in bonds, Come out, and to those in darkness, Be revealed." And one can see, at his coming, through those everywhere in the world who believe more simply, the fulfillment of: "And they shall feed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture." ### Scripture references - Gen 49:10: quotation, high confidence - Isa 42:4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:21: allusion, medium confidence - Prov 5:22: quotation, high confidence - Isa 49:8–9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gen 49:10 (LXX), Isa 42:4 (LXX, as in Matt 12:21), Prov 5:22 (LXX), and Isa 49:8–9. The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/53/). ## Against Celsus 1.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/54/ - Source: Koetschau 1:105–106 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's mockery of Christ's suffering, Origen quotes Isaiah's prophecy of the Servant who would suffer and die for others' sins. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι τὰ τοῦ λόγου πάντα Κέλσος ὀνειδίζει τῷ σωτῆρι ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει ὡς μὴ βοηθηθέντι ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἢ μὴ δυνηθέντι ἑαυτῷ βοηθῆσαι, παραθετέον ὅτι τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ ἐπροφητεύετο μετὰ τῆς αἰτίας, ὅτι χρήσιμον ἦν ἀνθρώποις τὸ ἐκεῖνον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποθανεῖν καὶ μώλωπα τὸν ἐπὶ τῷ καταδεδικάσθαι παθεῖν. προείρητο δὲ καὶ ὅτι „συνήσουσιν“ αὐτὸν οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν, παρʼ οἷς οὐ γεγόνασιν οἱ προφῆται, καὶ λέλεκτο ὅτι „εἶδος ἄτιμον“ ἐν ἀνθρώποις φαινόμενον ἔχων ὀφθήσεται. οὕτω δʼ ἔχει ἡ λέξις· „ἰδοὺ συνήσει ὁ παῖς μου, καὶ ὑψωθήσεται καὶ δοξασθήσεται καὶ μετεωρισθήσεται σφόδρα. ὃν τρόπον ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ σὲ πολλοὶ, οὕτως ἀδοξήσει ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων τὸ εἶδός σου, καὶ ἡ δόξα σου ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. οὕτως θαυμάσονται ἔθνη πολλὰ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, καὶ συνέξουσι βασιλεῖς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν· ὅτι οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασι συνήσουσι. κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; ἀνηγγείλαμεν ὡς παιδίον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ· οὐκ ἔστιν εἶδος αὐτῷ οὐδὲ δόξα. καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος. ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους· ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη. οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει. αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν· παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν. τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ ἐπλανήθη· καὶ κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν. καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὸ κεκακῶσθαι οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ· ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος ἄφωνος, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει αὐτοῦ ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη· τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἤχθη εἰς θάνατον.“ ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus, who professes to know everything of the teaching, reproaches the Savior for his suffering, as not having been helped by the Father or not having been able to help himself, we must set out that his suffering was prophesied together with its cause: that it was useful for human beings that he should die for them and suffer the stripes of one condemned. It was also foretold that those from the nations, among whom the prophets had not been, would "understand" him, and it was said that he would be seen with a "form without honor" in the eyes of men. The text runs thus: "Behold, my servant will understand, and he will be exalted and glorified and lifted up greatly. As many will be astonished at you, so will your form be without glory among men, and your glory among men. So will many nations marvel at him, and kings will shut their mouths; for those to whom nothing was announced about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We announced him as a child before him, as a root in a thirsty land; he has no form nor glory. And we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty; but his form was without honor and failing beyond all men: a man in affliction, and knowing how to bear sickness, for his face is turned away. He was dishonored and not esteemed. This man bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and we reckoned him to be in toil and in affliction and in ill treatment. But he was wounded for our sins and made sick for our lawless deeds; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; by his stripes we were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; each has gone astray in his own way; and the Lord handed him over for our sins. And he, because he has been ill treated, does not open his mouth; like a sheep he was led to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; who will tell of his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth; from the lawless deeds of my people he was led to death." ### Scripture references - Isa 52:13–53:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Isa 52:13–53:8 (LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/54/). ## Against Celsus 1.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/55/ - Source: Koetschau 1:106–107 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In debate with Jewish scholars who applied Isaiah's Servant to the people of Israel, Origen argued that the Servant who dies for "my people" must be someone else—Jesus Christ. ### Greek text Μέμνημαι δέ ποτε ἔν τινι πρὸς τοὺς λεγομένους παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις σοφοὺς [ἐν]ζητήσει ταῖς προφητείαις ταύταις χρησάμενος, ἐφʼ οἷς ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ταῦτα πεπροφητεῦσθαι ὡς περὶ ἑνὸς τοῦ ὅλου λαοῦ, καὶ γενομένου ἐν τῇ διασπορᾷ καὶ πληγέντος, ἵνα πολλοὶ προσήλυτοι γένωνται τῇ προφάσει τοῦ ἐπεσπάρθαι Ἰουδαίους τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι. καὶ οὕτω διηγεῖτο τὸ „ἀδοξήσει ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων τὸ εἶδός σου“ καὶ τὸ „οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται“ καὶ τὸ ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὤν.“ πολλὰ μὲν οὖν τότʼ ἐν τῇ ζητήσει λέλεκται τὰ ἐλέγχοντα ὅτι περί τινος ἑνὸς ταῦτα προφητευόμενα οὐκ εὐλόγως ἐκεῖνοι ἀνάγουσιν ἐπὶ ὅλον τὸν λαόν. ἐπυνθανόμην δὲ, τίνος ἂν εἴη πρόσωπον τὸ λέγον· „οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται“ καὶ τό· „αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν, “ καὶ τίνος πρόσωπον ἦν τὸ φάσκον· „τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν.“ σαφῶς γὰρ οἱ ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις γενόμενοι καὶ ἰαθέντες ἐκ τοῦ τὸν σωτῆρα πεπονθέναι, εἴτʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκείνου εἴτε καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ταῦτα λέγουσι παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ προεωρακότι καὶ ἀπὸ ἁγίου πνεύματος ταῦτα προσωποποιήσαντι. μάλιστα δʼ ἐδόξαμεν θλίβειν ἀπὸ τῆς φασκούσης λέξεως τό· „ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἤχθη εἰς θάνατον.“ εἰ γὰρ ὁ λαὸς κατʼ ἐκείνους εἰσὶν οἱ προφητευόμενοι, πῶς „ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ“ τοῦ θεοῦ λέγεται ἦχθαι „εἰς θάνατον“ οὗτος, εἰ μὴ ἕτερος ὢν παρὰ τὸν λαὸν τοῦ θεοῦ; τίς δʼ οὗτος, εἰ μὴ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, οὗ „τῷ μώλωπι“ „ἰάθημεν“ οἱ εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύοντες, ἀπεκδυσαμένου „τὰς“ ἐν ἡμῖν „ἀρχὰς καὶ ἐξουσίας“ καὶ „παῤῥησίᾳ“ δειγματίσαντος αὐτὰς ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ; ἕκαστον δὲ τῶν ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ σαφηνίσαι καὶ μηδὲν ἀβασάνιστον αὐτῶν παραλιπεῖν ἄλλου καιροῦ ἐστι. καὶ ταῦτα δʼ ἐπὶ πλεῖον εἴρηται, ὡς νομίζω, ἀναγκαίως διὰ τὴν ἐκκειμένην τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου λέξιν. ### English translation (Claude) I remember once, in a discussion with some who were called wise among the Jews, using these prophecies. The Jew said that they had been prophesied as about one person, namely the whole people, which had been dispersed and smitten, so that many might become proselytes on the occasion of the Jews' being scattered among the other nations. And in this way he explained "your form will be without glory among men," and "those to whom nothing was announced about him will see," and "a man in affliction." Many things were said in that discussion to prove that these prophecies, which are about one particular person, are not reasonably referred by them to the whole people. I asked whose character it could be that says, "This man bears our sins and suffers pain for us," and, "But he was wounded for our sins and made sick for our lawless deeds," and whose character it was that says, "By his stripes we were healed." For clearly those who were in sins and were healed by the Savior's suffering, whether from that people or from the nations, say these things in the prophet, who foresaw them and, by the Holy Spirit, gave them this speaking part. But we seemed to press him hardest with the words: "From the lawless deeds of my people he was led to death." For if, according to them, the people are the ones prophesied, how is this man said to have been led "to death" "from the lawless deeds of the people" of God, unless he is someone other than the people of God? And who is this, if not Jesus Christ, by whose "stripes" we who believe in him "were healed," when he stripped off "the principalities and powers" within us and made a public example of them "openly" on the tree? To make each point in the prophecy clear, and leave none of them unexamined, belongs to another occasion. These things too have been said at some length, necessarily, I think, because of the words of Celsus's Jew set out above. ### Scripture references - Isa 52:14–15: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:3–5: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:8: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:15: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 52:14–15, 53:3–5, 53:8, and Col 2:15. The collective interpretation of the Servant as Israel is here attested for the first time. The bracketed [ἐν] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/55/). ## Against Celsus 1.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/56/ - Source: Koetschau 1:107–108 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The prophets foretold two comings of Christ, one humble and one glorious; Psalm 45 calls the anointed one God, anointed by his God. ### Greek text Ἔλαθε δὲ τὸν Κέλσον καὶ τὸν παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖον καὶ πάντας, ὅσοι τῷ Ἰησοῦ μὴ πεπιστεύκασιν, ὅτι αἱ προφητεῖαι δύο λέγουσιν εἶναι τὰς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας, τὴν μὲν προτέραν ἀνθρωποπαθεστέραν καὶ ταπεινοτέραν, ἵνα σὺν ἀνθρώποις ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς διδάξῃ τὴν φέρουσαν πρὸς θεὸν ὁδὸν καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπολογίας καταλίπῃ τόπον ὡς οὐκ ἐγνωκότι περὶ τῆς ἐσομένης κρίσεως, τὴν δʼ ἑτέραν ἔνδοξον καὶ μόνον θειοτέραν, οὐδὲν ἐπιπεπλεγμένον τῇ θειότητι ἔχουσαν ἀνθρωποπαθές. παραθέσθαι δὲ καὶ τὰς προφητείας πολὺ ἂν εἴη· ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τὸ ἀπὸ (τοῦ) τεσσαρακοστοῦ καὶ τετάρτου ψαλμοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἐπιγέγραπται πρὸς ἄλλοις εἶναι καὶ „ᾠδὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ, “ ἔνθα καὶ θεὸς ἀνηγόρευται σαφῶς διὰ τούτων· „ἐξεχύθη ἡ χάρις ἐν χείλεσί σου· διὰ τοῦτο εὐλόγησέ σε ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. περίζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατὲ τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου, καὶ ἔντεινον καὶ κατευοδοῦ καὶ βασίλευε ἕνεκεν ἀληθείας καὶ πρᾳότητος καὶ δικαιοσύνης, καὶ ὁδηγήσει σε θαυμαστῶς ἡ δεξιά σου. τὰ βέλη σου ἠκονημένα, δυνατὲ, λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου πεσοῦνται ἐν καρδίᾳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ βασιλέως.“ πρόσχες δʼ ἐπιμελῶς τοῖς ἑξῆς, ἔνθα θεὸς εἴρηται· „ὁ θρόνος σου, “ γάρ φησιν, „ὁ θεὸς, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου. ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός σου ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου.“ καὶ κατανόει ὅτι θεῷ ὁμιλῶν ὁ προφήτης, οὗ „ὁ θρόνος“ ἐστὶν „εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, “ καὶ „ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας“ αὐτοῦ, τοῦτον τὸν θεόν φησι κεχρῖσθαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ, ὃς ἦν αὐτοῦ θεός· κεχρῖσθαι δὲ, ἐπεὶ „παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους“ αὐτοῦ οὗτος ἠγάπησε „δικαιοσύνην“ καὶ ἐμίσησεν „ἀνομίαν.“ καὶ μέμνημαί γε πάνυ θλίψας τὸν Ἰουδαῖον νομιζόμενον σοφὸν ἐκ τῆς λέξεως ταύτης· ὃς πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀπορῶν εἶπε τὰ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ἰουδαϊσμῷ ἀκόλουθα, εἶπε πρὸς μὲν τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν εἰρῆσθαι τὸ „ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ θεὸς, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου.“ πρὸς δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν τὸ „ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός σου“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ### English translation (Claude) It escaped Celsus, and his Jew, and all who have not believed in Jesus, that the prophecies speak of two comings of Christ: the first more subject to human experience and more humble, so that Christ, being with human beings, might teach the way that leads to God and leave no one in human life room for excuse as not knowing about the coming judgment; and the other glorious and wholly divine, having nothing of human experience woven into its divinity. To set out the prophecies would take long; for the present it is enough to cite the forty-fourth Psalm, which is entitled, among other things, "A song for the beloved," where he is also clearly proclaimed God in these words: "Grace has been poured out on your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your comeliness and your beauty; and bend your bow, and prosper, and reign for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness, and your right hand will guide you wonderfully. Your arrows are sharp, O mighty one—peoples will fall under you—in the heart of the king's enemies." But pay careful attention to what follows, where he is called God: "Your throne," he says, "O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions." And notice that the prophet, addressing God, whose "throne" is "forever and ever" and "a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of" his "kingdom," says that this God has been anointed by God, who was his God; and anointed because, "above his companions," he loved "righteousness" and hated "lawlessness." And I remember pressing hard a Jew thought to be wise with this passage. At a loss before it, he said what was consistent with his Judaism: that "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom" was said to the God of the universe, and "You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you," and what follows, to the Christ. ### Scripture references - Ps 45:1 (44:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 45:2–7 (44:3-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:8–9: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 45 title and 45:2–7 (44:1, 44:3–8 LXX); cf. Heb 1:8–9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/56/). ## Against Celsus 1.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/57/ - Source: Koetschau 1:108–109 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus is Son of God in a unique sense, the source of all adoption; the would-be messiahs Theudas, Judas the Galilean, Dositheus, and Simon Magus all came to nothing, as Gamaliel foresaw. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰουδαῖός φησιν ὅτι, εἰ τοῦτο λέγεις, ὅτι πᾶς ἄνθρωπος κατὰ θείαν πρόνοιαν γεγονὼς υἱός ἐστι θεοῦ, τί ἂν σὺ ἄλλου διαφέροις; πρὸς ὃν ἐροῦμεν ὅτι πᾶς μὲν ὁ, ὡς ὁ Παῦλος ὠνόμασε, μηκέτι ὑπὸ φόβου παιδαγωγούμενος ἀλλὰ διʼ αὑτὸ τὸ καλὸν αἱρούμενος υἱός ἐστι θεοῦ· οὗτος δὲ πολλῷ καὶ μακρῷ διαφέρει παντὸς τοῦ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν χρηματίζοντος υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅστις ὡσπερεὶ πηγή τις καὶ ἀρχὴ τῶν τοιούτων τυγχάνει. ἡ δὲ τοῦ Παύλου λέξις οὕτως ἔχει· „οὐ γὰρ ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα δουλείας πάλιν εἰς φόβον, ἀλλʼ ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας, ἐν ᾧ κράζομεν· Ἀββὰ ὁ πατήρ.“ τινὲς δὲ καὶ ἐλέγξουσιν, ὥς φησιν ὁ παρὰ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος, μυρίοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν φάσκοντες περὶ ἑαυτῶν ταῦτα εἰρῆσθαι, ἅπερ περὶ ἐκείνου ἐπροφητεύετο. οὐκ οἴδαμεν οὖν εἰ ὁ Κέλσος ἠπίστατό τινας ἐπιδημήσαντας τῷ βίῳ καὶ τὸ παραπλήσιον βουληθέντας ποιεῖν τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ θεοῦ υἱοὺς αὑτοὺς ἀναγορεύειν ἢ θεοῦ δύναμιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ φιλαλήθως τὰ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους ἐξετάζομεν, ἐροῦμεν ὅτι Θευδᾶς πρὸ τῆς γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ γέγονέ τις παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις „μέγαν“ „τινὰ ἑαυτὸν“ λέγων· οὗ ἀποθανόντος οἱ ἀπατηθέντες ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ διεσκεδάσθησαν. καὶ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον „ἐν ταῖς τῆς ἀπογραφῆς ἡμέραις, “ ὅτʼ ἔοικε γεγεννῆσθαι ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ἰούδας τις Γαλιλαῖος πολλοὺς ἑαυτῷ συναπέστησεν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὡς σοφὸς καὶ καινοτομῶν τινα· οὗ καὶ αὐτοῦ δίκας τίσαντος ἡ διδασκαλία καθῃρέθη πάνυ ἐν ὀλίγοις καὶ ἐλαχίστοις μείνασα. καὶ μετὰ τοὺς Ἰησοῦ δὲ χρόνους ἠθέλησε καὶ ὁ Σαμαρεὺς Δοσίθεος πεῖσαι Σαμαρεῖς ὅτι αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ προφητευόμενος ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως Χριστὸς, καὶ ἔδοξέ τινων τῇ ἑαυτοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ κεκρατηκέναι. ἀλλὰ τὸ εἰρημένον πάνυ σοφῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀναγεγραμμένου Γαμαλιὴλ οὐκ ἄλογον παραθέμενον δεῖξαι, πῶς ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἀλλότριοι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἦσαν, οὔτε υἱοὶ θεοῦ οὔτε δυνάμεις ὄντες αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀληθῶς ἦν υἱὸς θεοῦ. εἶπε δʼ ἐκεῖ ὁ Γαμαλιήλ· „ὅτι ἐὰν ᾖ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἡ βουλὴ αὕτη καὶ ὁ λόγος οὗτος, καταλυθήσεται, “ ὡς καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων κατελύθη ἀποθανόντων· „ἐὰν δὲ ᾖ ἐκ θεοῦ οὐ δυνήσεσθε καταλῦσαι τὴν τούτου διδασκαλίαν, μή ποτε καὶ θεομάχοι εὑρεθῆτε.“ ἠθέλησε δὲ καὶ Σίμων ὁ Σαμαρεὺς μάγος τῇ μαγείᾳ ὑφελέσθαι τινάς. καὶ τότε μὲν ἠπάτησε, νυνὶ δὲ τοὺς πάντας ἐν τῇ οἰκουμένῃ οὐκ ἔστι Σιμωνιανοὺς εὑρεῖν τὸν ἀριθμὸν οἶμαι τριάκοντα, καὶ τάχα πλείονας εἶπον τῶν ὄντων. εἰσὶ δὲ περὶ τὴν Παλαιστίνην σφόδρα ἐλάχιστοι· τῆς δὲ λοιπῆς οἰκουμένης οὐδαμοῦ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, καθʼ ἣν ἠθέλησε δόξαν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ διασκεδάσαι. παρὰ γὰρ οἷς φέρεται, ἐκ τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων φέρεται· Χριστιανοὶ δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ ταῦτα περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντες, καὶ ἡ ἐνάργεια ἐμαρτύρησεν ὅτι οὐδὲν θεῖον ὁ Σίμων ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) Further, his Jew says to the Savior: "If you say this, that every human being who has come into being by divine providence is a son of God, how would you differ from anyone else?" To him we will say that everyone who, as Paul put it, is no longer trained by fear but chooses the good for its own sake is a son of God; but this one differs greatly, by far, from everyone who is called a son of God on account of virtue, since he is, as it were, a source and origin of such. Paul's words run thus: "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again to fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father." But, as Celsus's Jew says, "countless people will refute Jesus, claiming that what was prophesied of him was said about themselves." We do not know, then, whether Celsus knew of some who came into life and wished to do something like Jesus and proclaim themselves sons of God or a power of God. But since we examine these matters with love of truth, we will say that Theudas arose among the Jews before the birth of Jesus, "saying that he himself was somebody" great; and when he died, those deceived by him were scattered. And after him, "in the days of the census," when Jesus seems to have been born, a certain Judas the Galilean drew away many of the Jewish people after him, as though he were wise and introducing some new things; and when he too paid the penalty, his teaching was overthrown, surviving among only very few and insignificant people. And after the time of Jesus, Dositheus the Samaritan too wished to persuade the Samaritans that he was the Christ prophesied by Moses, and he seemed to have won some over by his teaching. But it is not unreasonable to set out what was said very wisely by Gamaliel, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, to show how those men were strangers to the promise, being neither sons of God nor powers of his, whereas the Christ, Jesus, was truly the Son of God. Gamaliel said there: "If this plan and this word is from men, it will be destroyed"—as theirs too were destroyed when they died—"but if it is from God, you will not be able to destroy" this man's teaching, "lest you even be found fighting against God." Simon too, the Samaritan magician, wished to steal some away by his magic; and at that time he deceived them, but now, I think, it is impossible to find thirty Simonians in the whole world, and perhaps I have said more than there are. There are very few around Palestine; in the rest of the world, throughout which he wished to spread his fame, his name is nowhere mentioned. And among those where it is mentioned, it is mentioned from the Acts of the Apostles; it is Christians who say these things about him, and the evidence has testified that Simon was nothing divine. ### Scripture references - Rom 8:15: quotation, high confidence - Acts 5:36–39: quotation, high confidence - Acts 8:9–24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 8:15 and Acts 5:36–39; Simon Magus is Acts 8:9–24. Origen places Theudas before Jesus' birth following the order in Acts 5:36–37; Josephus (Ant. 20.97–98) dates Theudas ca. AD 45. Dositheus was a Samaritan sectarian leader. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/57/). ## Against Celsus 1.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/58/ - Source: Koetschau 1:109–110 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus confuses the magi with Chaldean astrologers and omits the star; Origen takes the star of Bethlehem to have been a new, comet-like star. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ἀντὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ μάγων Χαλδαίους φησὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λελέχθαι κινηθέντας ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει αὐτοῦ ἐληλυθέναι, προσκυνήσοντας αὐτὸν ἔτι νήπιον ὡς θεόν· καὶ Ἡρώδῃ τῷ τετράρχῃ τοῦτο δεδηλωκέναι· τὸν δὲ πέμψαντα ἀποκτεῖναι τοὺς ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ χρόνῳ γεγεννημένους, οἰόμενον καὶ τοῦτον ἀνελεῖν σὺν αὐτοῖς, μή πως τὸν αὐτάρκη ἐπιβιώσας χρόνον βασιλεύσῃ. ὅρα οὖν ἐν τούτῳ τὸ παράκουσμα τοῦ μὴ διακρίνοντος μάγους Χαλδαίων μηδὲ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας διαφόρους οὔσας αὐτῶν θεωρήσαντος καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καταψευσαμένου τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς γραφῆς. οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως καὶ τὸ κινῆσαν τοὺς μάγους σεσιώπηκε καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν αὐτὸ εἶναι „ἀστέρα“ ὀφθέντα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν „ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ“ κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. ἴδωμεν οὖν καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τί λεκτέον. τὸν ὀφθέντα „ἀστέρα ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ“ καινὸν εἶναι νομίζομεν καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν συνήθων παραπλήσιον, οὔτε τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀπλανεῖ οὔτε τῶν ἐν ταῖς κατωτέρω σφαίραις, ἀλλὰ τῷ γένει τοιοῦτον γεγονέναι, ὁποῖοι κατὰ καιρὸν γινόμενοι κομῆται ἢ δοκίδες ἢ πωγωνίαι ἢ πίθοι ἢ ὅπως ποτὲ φίλον Ἕλλησιν ὀνομάζειν τὰς διαφορὰς αὐτῶν. κατασκευάζομεν δὲ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον τὸ τοιοῦτον. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus's Jew, instead of the magi of the Gospel, says that Jesus said that Chaldeans, moved at his birth, came to worship him as God while he was still an infant, and made this known to Herod the tetrarch; and that Herod sent to kill those born at the same time, thinking to destroy him too along with them, lest, having lived long enough, he should become king. See in this the misunderstanding of one who does not distinguish magi from Chaldeans, and who has not observed that their professions differ, and so has falsified the Gospel writing. I do not know why he also kept silent about what moved the magi, and did not say that it was a "star" seen by them "in the east," as is written. Let us see what must be said to this too. We think that the "star" seen "in the east" was a new one, not like any of the familiar ones, neither those in the sphere of fixed stars nor those in the lower spheres, but of the same kind as those that appear from time to time—comets, or meteors, or bearded stars, or jar-shaped stars, or however the Greeks like to name their different kinds. We establish this in the following way. ### Scripture references - Matt 2:1–2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:16: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Gospel passages are Matt 2:1–2, 16. Herod the Great was king, not tetrarch; the error is Celsus's (or his Jew's). The names of kinds of comets follow Greek usage (cf. Aristotle, Meteorology 1.7). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/58/). ## Against Celsus 1.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/59/ - Source: Koetschau 1:110 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Comets were thought to mark great events, and Balaam prophesied a star at the Messiah's birth, so the star of Bethlehem is fitting. ### Greek text Ἐπὶ μεγάλοις τετήρηται πράγμασι καὶ μεγίσταις μεταβολαῖς τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνατέλλειν τοὺς τοιούτους ἀστέρας, σημαίνοντας ἢ μεταστάσεις βασιλειῶν ἢ πολέμους ἢ ὅσα δύναται ἐν ἀνθρώποις συμβῆναι, σεῖσαι τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς δυνάμενα. ἀνέγνωμεν δʼ ἐν τῷ περὶ κομητῶν Χαιρήμονος τοῦ Στωϊκοῦ συγγράμματι, τίνα τρόπον ἔσθʼ ὅτε καὶ ἐπὶ Χρηστοῖς ἐσομένοις κομῆται ἀνέτειλαν, καὶ ἐκτίθεται τὴν περὶ τούτων ἱστορίαν. εἴπερ οὖν ἐπὶ βασιλείαις καιναῖς ἢ ἄλλοις μεγάλοις συμπτώμασιν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνατέλλει ὁ καλούμενος κομήτης ἤ τις τῶν παραπλησίων ἀστὴρ, τί θαυμαστὸν ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει τοῦ καινοτομεῖν μέλλοντος ἐν τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διδασκαλίαν ἐπεισάγειν οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαίοις ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἕλλησι πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ τοῖς βαρβάρων ἔθνεσιν ἀστέρα ἀνατεταλκέναι; ἐγὼ δʼ εἴποιμʼ ἂν ὅτι περὶ μὲν τῶν κομητῶν οὐδεμία προφητεία φέρεται, ὡς ὅτι κατὰ τήνδε τὴν βασιλείαν ἢ τούσδε τοὺς χρόνους ἀνατελεῖ τοιόσδε κομήτης· περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀνατείλαντος ἐπροφήτευσε Βαλαὰμ λέγων, ὡς ἀνέγραψε Μωϋσῆς· „ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ἀναστήσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ Ἰσραήλ.“ εἰ δὲ δεήσει καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν μάγων ἀναγραφέντα ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῦ ὦφθαι τὸν ἀστέρα ἐξετάσαι, τοιαῦτα ἂν εἴποιμεν, τινὰ μὲν πρὸς Ἕλληνας ἄλλα δὲ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους. ### English translation (Claude) It has been observed that such stars rise at great events and very great changes on earth, signifying either the transfer of kingdoms, or wars, or whatever can happen among human beings capable of shaking things on earth. And we have read in the treatise On Comets by Chaeremon the Stoic how comets have sometimes appeared also when good things were to come, and he sets out the history of these. If, then, at new kingdoms or other great events on earth the so-called comet, or some similar star, rises, what wonder is it that at the birth of one who was to bring newness into the human race, and introduce a teaching not only to Jews but also to Greeks and to many barbarian nations, a star rose? I would say that no prophecy is current about comets, that such-and-such a comet will rise in such-and-such a kingdom or at such-and-such times; but about the one that rose at the birth of Jesus, Balaam prophesied, saying, as Moses recorded: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall rise up out of Israel." And if we must also examine what is recorded about the magi at the birth of Jesus and the appearance of the star, we would say the following, some things to Greeks and others to Jews. ### Scripture references - Num 24:17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Chaeremon the Stoic (1st cent.), On Comets, is lost. The quotation is Num 24:17 (LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/59/). ## Against Celsus 1.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/60/ - Source: Koetschau 1:110–111 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Christ's birth the angels' praise broke the power of the magi's demons; guided by Balaam's prophecy of the star, the magi came to worship a greater power, with gifts fit for a king, a mortal, and God. ### Greek text Πρὸς μὲν οὖν Ἕλληνας, ὅτι μάγοι δαίμοσιν ὁμιλοῦντες καὶ τούτους ἐφʼ ἃ μεμαθήκασι καὶ βούλονται καλοῦντες ποιοῦσι μὲν τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὅσον οὐδὲν θειότερον καὶ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν δαιμόνων καὶ τῆς καλούσης αὐτοὺς ἐπῳδῆς ἐπιφαίνεται ἢ λέγεται· ἐὰν δὲ θειοτέρα τις ἐπιφάνεια γένηται, καθαιροῦνται αἱ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνέργειαι, μὴ δυνάμεναι ἀντιβλέψαι τῷ τῆς θειότητος φωτί. εἰκὸς οὖν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γένεσιν, ἐπεὶ „πλῆθος στρατιᾶς οὐρανίου, “ ὡς ὁ Λουκᾶς ἀνέγραψε κἀγὼ πείθομαι, ᾔνεσε τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἔλεγε· „δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία, “ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ δαίμονες ἠτόνησαν καὶ ἐξησθένησαν, ἐλεγχθείσης αὐτῶν τῆς γοητείας καὶ καταλυθείσης τῆς ἐνεργείας, οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιδημησάντων τῷ περιγείῳ τόπῳ ἀγγέλων διὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ γένεσιν καθαιρεθέντες ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ θειότητος. οἱ τοίνυν μάγοι τὰ συνήθη πράττειν θέλοντες, ἅπερ πρότερον διά τινων ἐπῳδῶν καὶ μαγγανειῶν ἐποίουν, ἐζήτησαν τὴν αἰτίαν, μεγάλην αὐτὴν εἶναι τεκμαιρόμενοι, καὶ ἰδόντες θεοσημίαν ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐβούλοντο τὸ σημαινόμενον ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἰδεῖν. δοκεῖ μοι οὖν ὅτι ἔχοντες τοῦ Βαλαὰμ ἃς καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἀνέγραψε προφητείας, ὡς καὶ αὐτοῦ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα γενομένου δεινοῦ, καὶ εὑρόντες ἐκεῖ περὶ τοῦ ἄστρου καὶ τὸ „δείξω αὐτῷ. καὶ οὐχὶ νῦν· μακαρίζω, καὶ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ“ ἐστοχάσαντο τὸν μετὰ τοῦ ἄστρου προφητευόμενον ἄνθρωπον ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τῷ βίῳ, καὶ ὡς πάντων δαιμόνων καὶ τῶν ἐν ἔθει αὐτοῖς φανταζομένων καὶ ἐνεργούντων κρείττονα προλαβόντες „προσκυνῆσαι“ ἠθέλησαν. ἧκον οὖν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ὅτι μὲν „βασιλεύς“ τις γεγέννηται πειθόμενοι ἢ ποῦ γεννηθήσεται γινώσκοντες, τίνα δὲ βασιλείαν βασιλεύσων οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι· φέροντες μὲν „δῶρα“, (ἃ), ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, συνθέτῳ τινὶ ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπου θνητοῦ „προσήνεγκαν“, σύμβολα μὲν ὡς βασιλεῖ τὸν „χρυσὸν“ ὡς δὲ τεθνηξομένῳ τὴν „σμύρναν“, ὡς δὲ θεῷ τὸν λιβανωτόν· „προσήνεγκαν“ δὲ μαθόντες τὸν τόπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ ὑπὲρ τοὺς βοηθοῦντας ἀνθρώποις ἀγγέλους ἐνυπάρχων σωτὴρ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἄγγελος ἠμείψατο τὴν τῶν μάγων ἐπὶ τὸ προσκυνῆσαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν εὐσέβειαν, χρηματίσας αὐτοῖς μὴ ἥκειν πρὸς τὸν Ἡρώδην ἀλλʼ ἐπανελθεῖν ἄλλῃ ὁδῷ εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα. ### English translation (Claude) To the Greeks, then, we say that magi, having dealings with demons and summoning them for the purposes they have learned and wish, do such things so long as nothing more divine and more powerful than the demons and the incantation summoning them appears or is spoken; but if a more divine manifestation occurs, the activities of the demons are brought down, unable to face the light of divinity. It is likely, then, that at the birth of Jesus too, since "a multitude of the heavenly host," as Luke recorded and I believe, praised God and said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men," the demons for this reason lost their strength and were weakened, their sorcery refuted and their activity destroyed, being brought down not only by the angels who came to the region around the earth because of Jesus' birth but also by the soul of Jesus and the divinity in him. So the magi, wishing to do their usual things, which they formerly did by certain incantations and tricks, sought the cause, judging it to be great; and seeing a divine sign in heaven, they wished to see what it signified. It seems to me, then, that having the prophecies of Balaam, which Moses also recorded, since he too had been skilled in such matters, and finding there the passage about the star and the words "I will show him, but not now; I call him blessed, but he will not come near," they guessed that the man prophesied along with the star had come into life; and, anticipating that he was stronger than all the demons and than what usually appeared to them and worked for them, they wished "to worship" him. So they came to Judea, persuaded that some "king" had been born, and knowing where he would be born, but not understanding what kingdom he would rule. They brought "gifts," which they "offered" to one who was, so to speak, composite of God and mortal man: gold as symbols to a king, myrrh to one who would die, and frankincense to God; and they "offered" them after learning the place of his birth. But since the Savior of the human race was God, above the angels who help human beings, an angel repaid the magi's piety in worshiping Jesus by warning them not to go to Herod but to return to their own country by another way. ### Scripture references - Luke 2:13–14: quotation, high confidence - Num 24:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:11–12: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Luke 2:13–14 and Num 24:17 (LXX); the gifts and warning are Matt 2:2, 11–12. The symbolism of the three gifts (gold for a king, myrrh for one who would die, frankincense for God) is also found in Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.9.2. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/60/). ## Against Celsus 1.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/61/ - Source: Koetschau 1:111–113 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Herod's plot and the flight to Egypt reflect blind wickedness moved by the devil; Christ's kingdom is not of this world, and avoiding danger until his appointed time was not cowardice. ### Greek text Εἰ δʼ Ἡρώδης ἐπεβούλευσε τῷ γεννηθέντι, κἂν μὴ πιστεύσῃ ἀληθῶς τοῦτο γεγονέναι ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος, οὐ θαυμαστόν. τυφλὸν γάρ τι ἐστὶν ἡ πονηρία καὶ βουλομένη ὡς ἰσχυροτέρα τοῦ χρεὼν νικᾶν αὐτό. ὅπερ καὶ Ἡρώδης παθὼν καὶ πεπίστευκε βασιλέα γεγεννῆσθαι Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἀνομολογουμένην εἶχε τῇ πίστει ταύτῃ συγκατάθεσιν, μὴ ἰδὼν ὅτι ἤτοι πάντως βασιλεύς ἐστι καὶ βασιλεύσει, ἢ οὐ βασιλεύσει καὶ μάτην ἀναιρεθήσεται. ἐβουλήθη οὖν αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι, μαχομένας διὰ τὴν κακίαν ἔχων κρίσεις ὑπὸ τοῦ τυφλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ διαβόλου κινούμενος, ὃς καὶ ἀρχῆθεν ἐπεβούλευε τῷ σωτῆρι, φαντασθεὶς αὐτὸν εἶναί τινα μέγαν καὶ ἔσεσθαι. „ἄγγελος“ μὲν οὖν ἐχρημάτισε τῷ Ἰωσὴφ τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῶν πραγμάτων τηρῶν, κἂν μὴ πιστεύῃ Κέλσος, ἀναχωρῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ παιδὸς καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ „εἰς Αἴγυπτον“ ὁ δʼ Ἡρώδης „ἀνεῖλε“ πάντα τὰ „ἐν Βηθλεὲμ“ καὶ „τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς“ παιδία, ὡς συναναιρήσων τὸν γεννηθέντα Ἰουδαίων βασιλέα. οὐ γὰρ ἑώρα τὴν ἀκοίμητον φρουρὸν δύναμιν τῶν ἀξίων φρουρεῖσθαι καὶ τηρεῖσθαι τῇ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὧν πρῶτος πάντων τιμῇ καὶ ὑπεροχῇ πάσῃ μείζων ἦν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, βασιλεὺς, οὐχ ὡς Ἡρώδης ᾤετο, ἐσόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔπρεπε τὸν θεὸν διδόναι βασιλείαν ἐπʼ εὐεργεσίᾳ τῶν βασιλευομένων τῷ οὐ μέσην καὶ ἀδιάφορον, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, εὐεργεσίαν εὐεργετήσοντι τοὺς ὑποτεταγμένους ἀλλὰ νόμοις ἀληθῶς θεοῦ παιδεύσοντι καὶ ὑπάξοντι αὐτούς· ὅπερ καὶ Ἰησοῦς ἐπιστάμενος καὶ ἀρνούμενος μὲν τὸ εἶναι, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ ἐκδέχονται, βασιλεὺς διδάσκων δὲ τὸ ἐξαίρετον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βασιλείας φησὶ τό· „εἰ ἦν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ, οἱ ὑπηρέται οἱ ἐμοὶ ἠγωνίζοντο ἂν, ἵνα μὴ παραδοθῶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις· νυνὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμή.“ ταῦτα δʼ εἰ ἑωράκει ὁ Κέλσος, οὐκ ἂν ἔλεγεν· εἰ δʼ ὅπως μὴ σὺ αὐξηθεὶς ἀντʼ ἐκείνου βασιλεύῃς, τί ἐπειδή γε ηὐξήθης, οὐ βασιλεύεις, ἀλλʼ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς οὕτως ἀγεννῶς ἀγείρεις κυπτάζων ὑπὸ φόβου καὶ περιφθειρόμενος ἄνω κάτω; οὐκ ἔστι δʼ ἀγεννὲς τὸ μετʼ οἰκονομίας περιϊστάμενον τοὺς κινδύνους μὴ ὁμόσε αὐτοῖς χωρεῖν, οὐ διὰ φόβον θανάτου ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ χρησίμως αὐτὸν τῷ βίῳ ἐπιδημοῦντα ἑτέρους ὠφελεῖν, ἕως ἐπιστῇ ὁ ἐπιτήδειος καιρὸς τοῦ τὸν ἀνειληφότα ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ἀνθρώπου θάνατον ἀποθανεῖν, ἔχοντά τι χρήσιμον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· ὅπερ δῆλόν ἐστι τῷ νοήσαντι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων ἀποθανεῖν· περὶ οὗ κατὰ δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων εἴπομεν. ### English translation (Claude) If Herod plotted against the newborn child—even if Celsus's Jew does not believe that this really happened—it is no wonder. For wickedness is a blind thing, and wishes to conquer fate as though stronger than it. Herod experienced this: he both believed that a king of the Jews had been born and gave his assent openly to this belief, not seeing that either he is certainly a king and will reign, or he will not reign and will be killed in vain. So he wished to kill him, having judgments at war with one another because of his wickedness, moved by the blind and wicked devil, who from the beginning plotted against the Savior, imagining that he was and would be someone great. So an "angel," keeping to the sequence of events, even if Celsus does not believe it, warned Joseph to withdraw with the child and his mother "to Egypt"; and Herod "killed" all the children "in Bethlehem" and "in all its region," intending to kill with them the newborn king of the Jews. For he did not see the sleepless guardian power of those worthy to be guarded and kept for the salvation of human beings, of whom Jesus was first of all, greater in every honor and eminence. He was to be king, not as Herod thought, but as it was fitting for God to give a kingdom for the benefit of its subjects to one who would confer on those subject to him no middling and indifferent benefit, so to speak, but would train them and bring them under laws truly of God. Jesus too knew this; and denying that he was a king in the sense the many understand, but teaching the special character of his kingdom, he says: "If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, that I should not be handed over to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from this world." If Celsus had seen this, he would not have said: "If it was so that you might not grow up and reign in his place, why, now that you have grown up, do you not reign, but, being the son of God, go about begging so ignobly, cowering from fear and wandering to and fro?" But it is not ignoble to avoid dangers with wise management and not rush into them—not from fear of death, but so as, by living usefully in this life, to benefit others—until the suitable time comes for one who has taken on human nature to die a human death, one that has some benefit for human beings. This is clear to one who has understood that Jesus died for human beings, about which we have spoken as best we could above. ### Scripture references - Matt 2:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:16: allusion, high confidence - John 18:36: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Gospel passages are Matt 2:13, 16 and John 18:36. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/61/). ## Against Celsus 1.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/62/ - Source: Koetschau 1:113–115 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus does not even know there were twelve apostles; that uneducated fishermen and tax collectors converted the world shows divine power, not human eloquence. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα δʼ ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐπιστάμενος δέκα εἶπεν ἢ ἕνδεκά τινας ἐξαρτησάμενον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἑαυτῷ ἐπιῤῥήτους ἀνθρώπους, τελώνας καὶ ναύτας τοὺς πονηροτάτους, μετὰ τούτων τῇδε κἀκεῖσε αὐτὸν ἀποδεδρακέναι, αἰσχρῶς καὶ γλίσχρως τροφὰς συνάγοντα, φέρε καὶ περὶ τούτων κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν διαλάβωμεν. φανερὸν δέ ἐστι τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν εὐαγγελικοῖς λόγοις, οὓς οὐδʼ ἀνεγνωκέναι ὁ Κέλσος φαίνεται, ὅτι δώδεκα ἀποστόλους ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπελέξατο, τελώνην μὲν τὸν Ματθαῖον, οὓς δʼ εἶπε συγκεχυμένως ναύτας τάχα τὸν Ἰάκωβον καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην φησὶν, ἐπεὶ καταλιπόντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ „τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον“ ἠκολούθησαν τῷ Ἰησοῦ. τὸν γὰρ Πέτρον καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Ἀνδρέαν, ἀμφιβλήστρῳ χρωμένους διὰ τὰς ἀναγκαίας τροφὰς, οὐκ ἐν ναύταις ἀλλʼ, ὡς ἀνέγραψεν ἡ γραφὴ, ἐν ἁλιεῦσιν ἀριθμητέον. ἔστω δὲ καὶ ὁ Λευὴς τελώνης ἀκολουθήσας τῷ Ἰησοῦ· ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ ἦν εἰ μὴ κατά τινα τῶν ἀντιγράφων τοῦ κατὰ Μάρκον εὐαγγελίου. τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν οὐ μεμαθήκαμεν τὰ ἔργα, ὅθεν πρὸ τῆς μαθητείας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ περιεποίουν ἑαυτοῖς τὰς τροφάς. φημὶ οὖν καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα ὅτι τοῖς δυναμένοις φρονίμως καὶ εὐγνωμόνως ἐξετάζειν τὰ περὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φαίνεται ὅτι δυνάμει θείᾳ ἐδίδασκον οὗτοι τὸν χριστιανισμὸν καὶ ἐπετύγχανον ὑπάγοντες ἀνθρώπους τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ ἡ εἰς τὸ λέγειν δύναμις καὶ τάξις ἀπαγγελίας κατὰ τὰς Ἑλλήνων διαλεκτικὰς ἢ ῥητορικὰς τέχνας ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπαγομένη τοὺς ἀκούοντας. δοκεῖ δέ μοι ὅτι σοφοὺς μέν τινας ὡς πρὸς τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ὑπόληψιν καὶ ἱκανοὺς πρὸς τὸ νοεῖν ἀρεσκόντως πλήθεσι καὶ λέγειν ἐπιλεξάμενος καὶ χρησάμενος αὐτοῖς διακόνοις τῆς διδασκαλίας ὁ Ἰησοῦς εὐλογώτατʼ ἂν ὑπενοήθη ὁμοίᾳ φιλοσόφοις κεκηρύχθαι ἀγωγῇ, αἱρέσεώς τινος προϊσταμένοις· καὶ οὐκέτʼ ἂν ἡ περὶ τοῦ θεῖον εἶναι τὸν λόγον ἐπαγγελία ἀνεφαίνετο, ἅτε τοῦ λόγου ὄντος καὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἐν πειθοῖς τῆς ἐν φράσει καὶ συνθέσει τῶν λέξεων σοφίας· καὶ ἦν ἂν „ἡ πίστις“ ὁμοίως τῇ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου φιλοσόφων περὶ τῶν δογμάτων πίστει „ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων“ καὶ οὐκ „ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ“· νυνὶ δὲ τίς βλέπων ἁλιεῖς καὶ τελώνας μηδὲ τὰ πρῶτα γράμματα μεμαθηκότας (ὡς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἀναγράφει περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ Κέλσος κατὰ ταῦτα πεπίστευκεν αὐτοῖς, ἀληθεύουσι περὶ τῆς ἰδιωτείας αὐτῶν), τεθαῤῥηκότως οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαίοις ὁμιλοῦντας περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πίστεως ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι κηρύσσοντας αὐτὸν καὶ ἀνύοντας, οὐκ ἂν ζητήσαι, πόθεν ἦν αὐτοῖς δύναμις πειστική; οὐ γὰρ ἡ νενομισμένη τοῖς πολλοῖς. καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν λέγοι ὅτι τὸ „δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων“ δυνάμει τινὶ θείᾳ ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ ἐπλήρωσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς; ἥντινα καὶ ὁ Παῦλος παριστὰς, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν, φησί· „καὶ ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως, ἵνʼ ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν μὴ ᾖ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλʼ ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ.“ κατὰ γὰρ τὰ εἰρημένα ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, προγνωστικῶς ἀπαγγέλλουσι περὶ τῆς κηρύξεως τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, „κύριος ἔδωκε ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ, “ ἵνα καὶ ἡ λέγουσα προφητεία· „ἕως τάχους δραμεῖται ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ“ πληρωθῇ. καὶ βλέπομέν γε ὅτι „εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ“ τῶν ἀποστόλων Ἰησοῦ „φθόγγος, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν.“ διὰ τοῦτο δυνάμεως μὲν πληροῦνται οἱ λόγου τοῦ μετὰ δυνάμεως ἀπαγγελλομένου ἀκούοντες, ἣν ἐπιδείκνυνται τῇ τε διαθέσει καὶ τῷ βίῳ καὶ τῷ ἕως θανάτου ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας· διάκενοι δέ τινες εἰσὶ, κἂν ἐπαγγέλλωνται πιστεύειν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, οἱ μὴ δύναμιν θείαν ἔχοντες προσάγεσθαι δοκοῦντες τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ καὶ ἀνωτέρω δʼ ἐμνήσθην εὐαγγελικοῦ ῥητοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένου, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ νῦν αὐτῷ κατὰ καιρὸν χρήσομαι, παριστὰς καὶ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν περὶ τῆς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κηρύξεως πρόγνωσιν θειότατα δηλουμένην καὶ τὴν τοῦ λόγου ἰσχὺν, χωρὶς διδασκάλων κρατοῦσαν τῶν πιστευόντων τῇ μετὰ δυνάμεως θείας πειθοῖ. φησὶ δὴ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· „ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολὺς, οἱ δὲ ἐργάται ὀλίγοι· δεήθητε οὖν τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ θερισμοῦ, ὅπως ἐκβάλῃ ἐργάτας εἰς τὸν θερισμὸν αὐτοῦ.“ ### English translation (Claude) After this, since, not even knowing the number of the apostles, he said that Jesus attached to himself ten or eleven notorious men, tax collectors and the most wicked sailors, and with them ran away here and there, gathering food in a shameful and beggarly way, come, let us deal with these things too as best we can. It is plain to those who read the Gospel accounts, which Celsus does not appear even to have read, that Jesus chose twelve apostles: Matthew a tax collector; and those whom he vaguely called sailors are perhaps James and John, since they left the boat and "their father Zebedee" and followed Jesus. For Peter and his brother Andrew, who used a net to earn their necessary food, are to be counted not among sailors but, as Scripture recorded, among fishermen. Let Levi too be a tax collector who followed Jesus; but he was not of the number of his apostles, except according to some copies of the Gospel according to Mark. Of the rest we have not learned the occupations by which they earned their food before becoming Jesus' disciples. I say, then, to this too, that to those able to examine the story of Jesus' apostles intelligently and fairly, it is evident that these men taught Christianity by divine power and succeeded in bringing people under the word of God. For it was not power of speech and orderly exposition according to the dialectical or rhetorical arts of the Greeks that was in them to win over their hearers. It seems to me that if Jesus had chosen men who were wise in the opinion of the many and able to think and speak in a way pleasing to crowds, and had used them as ministers of his teaching, he would most reasonably have been suspected of having proclaimed his teaching by a method like that of philosophers who head some school. And the claim that the teaching is divine would no longer have been evident, since the teaching and the preaching would have been in the persuasiveness of wisdom in the style and composition of words; and "faith" would have been, like the faith of the world's philosophers in their doctrines, "in the wisdom of men" and not "in the power of God." But as it is, who, seeing fishermen and tax collectors who had not even learned their first letters (as the Gospel records of them, and as Celsus has believed them on this point, since they tell the truth about their lack of education), boldly speaking not only to Jews about faith in Jesus but also preaching him among the other nations and succeeding, would not ask where their power of persuasion came from? For it was not the kind the many recognize. And who would not say that Jesus fulfilled by some divine power in his apostles the words, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men"? Paul too, setting forth this power, as we said above, says: "And my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that our faith might not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." For according to what is said in the prophets, who foretold the preaching of the gospel, "The Lord gave a word to those who preach the good news with great power, the King of the powers of the beloved," that the prophecy that says, "His word will run swiftly," might also be fulfilled. And we see that "into all the earth" has gone out "the sound" of Jesus' apostles, "and their words to the ends of the world." For this reason those who hear the word proclaimed with power are filled with power, which they show in their disposition, their life, and their struggle for the truth even to death. But some are empty, even if they profess to believe in God through Jesus, who, not having divine power, only seem to be brought to the word of God. Although I mentioned above a Gospel saying spoken by the Savior, I will use it again now at the right moment, to show both our Savior's foreknowledge concerning the preaching of the gospel, most divinely shown, and the strength of the word, which without teachers wins over believers by persuasion joined with divine power. Jesus says: "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." ### Scripture references - Matt 10:2–4: allusion, high confidence - Matt 4:21–22: allusion, high confidence - Mark 1:16: allusion, high confidence - Mark 2:14: allusion, high confidence - Acts 4:13: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 4:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:11–12 (67:12-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 147:15 (147:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:37–38: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Gospel passages are Matt 10:2–4, Matt 4:21–22, Mark 1:16, Mark 2:14 (Levi; some manuscripts of Mark 3:18 read "Levi" for "Lebbaeus"/"Thaddaeus"), Acts 4:13, Matt 4:19, and Matt 9:37–38. The other quotations are 1 Cor 2:4–5, Ps 68:11–12 (67:12–13 LXX), Ps 147:15 (147:4 LXX), and Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/62/). ## Against Celsus 1.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/63/ - Source: Koetschau 1:115–116 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Scripture itself admits that the apostles, and Paul the persecutor, were sinners; Christ chose such men to show his power to heal souls. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπιῤῥήτους εἶπεν ἀνθρώπους, τελώνας καὶ ναύτας πονηροτάτους λέγων ὁ Κέλσος τοὺς ἀποστόλους Ἰησοῦ, καὶ περὶ τούτου φήσομεν ὅτι ἔοικεν, ἵνα μὲν ἐγκαλέσῃ τῷ λόγῳ, πιστεύειν ὅπου θέλει τοῖς γεγραμμένοις, ἵνα δὲ τὴν ἐμφαινομένην θειότητα ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς βιβλίοις ἀπαγγελλομένην μὴ παραδέξηται, ἀπιστεῖν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις· δέον τὸ φιλάληθες ἰδόντα τῶν γραψάντων ἐκ τῆς περὶ τῶν χειρόνων ἀναγραφῆς πιστεῦσαι καὶ περὶ τῶν θειοτέρων. γέγραπται δὴ ἐν τῇ Βαρνάβα καθολικῇ ἐπιστολῇ, ὅθεν ὁ Κέλσος λαβὼν τάχα εἶπεν εἶναι ἐπιῤῥήτους καὶ πονηροτάτους τοὺς ἀποστόλους, ὅτι „ἐξελέξατο τοὺς ἰδίους ἀποστόλους“ Ἰησοῦς, „ὄντας ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἀνομίαν ἀνομωτέρους.“ καὶ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ δὲ τῷ κατὰ Λουκᾶν φησι πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁ Πέτρος· „ἔξελθε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι ἀνὴρ ἁμαρτωλός εἰμι, κύριε.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Τιμόθεόν φησι, καὶ αὐτὸς ὕστερον ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ γενόμενος, ὅτι „πιστὸς ὁ λόγος, “ „ὅτι Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ.“ οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως ἐπελάθετο ἢ οὐκ ἐνόησεν περὶ Παύλου τι εἰπεῖν, τοῦ μετὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὰς ἐν Χριστῷ πήξαντος ἐκκλησίας. εἰκὸς γὰρ ὅτι ἑώρα δεῖσθαι αὐτῷ ἀπολογίας τὸν περὶ Παύλου λόγον, πῶς διώξας τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πικρῶς ἀγωνισάμενος κατὰ τῶν πιστευόντων, ὡς καὶ εἰς θάνατον παραδιδόναι ἐθέλειν τοὺς Ἰησοῦ μαθητὰς, ὕστερον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον μετεβάλετο, ὡς „ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ πεπληρωκέναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ“ καὶ „φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι, “ ὥστε „μὴ ἐπʼ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον“ οἰκοδομεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὅπου μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκηρύχθη τὸ ἐν Χριστῷ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ. τί οὖν ἄτοπον βουλόμενον παραστῆσαι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὁπηλίκην ἔχει ψυχῶν ἰατρικὴν, τοὺς ἐπιῤῥήτους καὶ πονηροτάτους ἐπιλέξασθαι καὶ τούτους προαγαγεῖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστʼ αὐτοὺς παράδειγμα εἶναι ἤθους καθαρωτάτου τοῖς διʼ αὐτῶν προσαγομένοις τῷ Χριστοῦ εὐαγγελίῳ; ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus also called Jesus' apostles notorious men, saying they were tax collectors and the most wicked sailors, we will say about this too that, in order to find fault with the teaching, he seems to believe what is written where he wishes, but, so as not to accept the divinity that appears and is proclaimed in the same books, to disbelieve the Gospels. He ought rather, seeing the writers' love of truth in their recording of worse things, to believe them also about the more divine. Now it is written in the catholic epistle of Barnabas—from which Celsus perhaps took his saying that the apostles were notorious and most wicked—that Jesus "chose his own apostles, who were lawless beyond all lawlessness." And in the Gospel according to Luke, Peter says to Jesus: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." And Paul too, who later himself became an apostle of Jesus, says in the letter to Timothy: "The saying is trustworthy, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." I do not know how he forgot, or did not think, to say something about Paul, who after Jesus founded the churches in Christ. Probably he saw that the account of Paul would need an explanation from him: how one who persecuted the church of God and fought bitterly against believers, so as even to wish to hand Jesus' disciples over to death, later changed so much that "from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum he fully preached the gospel of Christ," and made it his "ambition to preach the gospel" so as not to build "on another's foundation," but where the gospel of God in Christ had not been preached at all. What, then, is absurd in Jesus, wishing to show the human race how great a healing of souls he possesses, choosing notorious and most wicked men and bringing them so far forward that they became an example of the purest character to those brought through them to the gospel of Christ? ### Scripture references - Luke 5:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 15:19–20: quotation, high confidence - Gal 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Acts 9:1–2: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Barn. 5.9 (Epistle of Barnabas): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Barnabas 5.9, Luke 5:8, 1 Tim 1:15, and Rom 15:19–20; Paul's persecution is Gal 1:13 and Acts 8:3; 9:1–2. Origen calls Barnabas a "catholic epistle." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/63/). ## Against Celsus 1.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/64/ - Source: Koetschau 1:116–118 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Philosophy too reformed a few wicked men like Phaedo and Polemon, but Christ has transformed multitudes, as Paul's words to Titus describe. ### Greek text Εἰ δʼ ἐπὶ τῷ προτέρῳ βίῳ ὀνειδίζειν μέλλοιμεν τοῖς μεταβαλοῦσιν, ὥρα καὶ Φαίδωνος ἡμᾶς κατηγορεῖν καὶ φιλοσοφήσαντος, ἐπεὶ, ὡς ἡ ἱστορία φησὶν, ἀπὸ [οἰκήματος] στέγους αὐτὸν μετήγαγεν εἰς φιλόσοφον διατριβὴν ὁ Σωκράτης. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Πολέμωνος ἀσωτίαν, τοῦ διαδεξαμένου Ξενοκράτην, ὀνειδίσομεν φιλοσοφίᾳ· δέον κἀκεῖ τοῦτʼ αὐτῆς ἀποδέξασθαι, ὅτι δεδύνηται ὁ ἐν τοῖς πείσασι λόγος ἀπὸ τηλικούτων μεταστῆσαι κακῶν τοὺς προκατειλημμένους ἐν αὐτοῖς. καὶ παρὰ μὲν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν εἷς τις Φαίδων καὶ οὐκ οἶδα εἰ δεύτερος καὶ εἷς Πολέμων μεταβαλόντες ἀπὸ ἀσώτου καὶ μοχθηροτάτου βίου ἐφιλοσόφησαν, παρὰ δὲ τῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐ μόνοι τότε οἱ δώδεκα ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ καὶ πολλαπλασίους, οἵτινες γενόμενοι σωφρόνων χορὸς λέγουσι περὶ τῶν προτέρων· „ἦμεν γάρ ποτε καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀνόητοι, ἀπειθεῖς, πλανώμενοι, δουλεύοντες ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ ἡδοναῖς ποικίλαις, ἐν κακίᾳ καὶ φθόνῳ διάγοντες, στυγητοὶ, μισοῦντες ἀλλήλους· ὅτε δʼ ἡ χρηστότης καὶ ἡ φιλανθρωπία ἐπεφάνη τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ, “ „διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως τοῦ πνεύματος, οὗ ἐξέχεεν ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς πλουσίως, “ τοιοίδε γεγόναμεν. „ἐξαπέστειλε“ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς „τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν, “ ὡς ὁ ἐν ψαλμοῖς προφητεύσας ἐδίδαξε. καὶ ταῦτα δʼ ἂν προσθείην τοῖς λεγομένοις, ὅτι Χρύσιππος ἐν τῷ περὶ παθῶν θεραπευτικῷ πειρᾶται ὑπὲρ τοῦ καταστεῖλαι τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάθη τῶν ψυχῶν, μὴ προσποιησάμενος ποῖόν τι τῆς ἀληθείας ἐστὶ δόγμα, θεραπεύειν κατὰ τὰς διαφόρους αἱρέσεις τοὺς ἐν τοῖς πάθεσι προκατειλημμένους καί φησιν ὅτι, κἂν ἡδονὴ τέλος ᾖ, οὑτωσὶ θεραπευτέον τὰ πάθη· κἂν τρία γένη τῶν ἀγαθῶν, οὐδὲν ἧττον κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον τῶν παθῶν οὕτως ἀπαλλακτέον τοὺς ἐνεχομένους αὐτοῖς. οἱ δὲ κατήγοροι τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ οὐχ ὁρῶσιν, ὅσων πάθη καὶ ὅσων χύσις κακίας καταστέλλεται καὶ ὅσων ἄγρια ἤθη ἡμεροῦται προφάσει τοῦ λόγου. ᾧ ἔδει αὐχοῦντας αὐτοὺς τὸ κοινωνικὸν χάριτας ὁμολογεῖν, καινῇ μεθόδῳ πολλῶν κακῶν μεταστήσαντι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ μαρτυρεῖν γε αὐτῷ εἰ καὶ μὴ ἀλήθειαν ἀλλὰ τὸ λυσιτελὲς τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει. ### English translation (Claude) If we were going to reproach those who have changed for their former life, it would be time for us to accuse Phaedo too, even after he became a philosopher, since, as the story says, Socrates brought him from a brothel to the philosophical school. And we will reproach philosophy with the profligacy of Polemon, the successor of Xenocrates—when we ought, there too, to credit philosophy with this: that the reasoning in those who persuaded them was able to bring those previously held by such great evils away from them. Among the Greeks there was one Phaedo, and I do not know of a second, and one Polemon, who turned from a profligate and most wicked life to philosophy; but with Jesus there were not only the twelve at that time, but always, and many times as many, who, having become a company of the self-controlled, say of their former state: "For we too were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another; but when the kindness and love of humanity of God our Savior appeared," "through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Spirit, which he poured out on us richly," we became such as we are. For God "sent his word and healed them and rescued them from their corruptions," as the prophet in the Psalms taught. I might add this to what has been said: Chrysippus, in his Therapeutics of the Passions, wishing to restrain the passions of human souls, tries, without making it an issue which doctrine is true, to treat those held by the passions according to the different schools; and he says that even if pleasure is the goal, the passions should be treated in this way, and even if there are three kinds of goods, no less according to that view those caught in the passions should be freed from them in this way. But the accusers of Christianity do not see how many people's passions, and how great a flood of wickedness, are restrained, and how many people's savage characters are tamed, by means of the teaching. They ought, boasting as they do of their public spirit, to acknowledge their gratitude to it for turning human beings from many evils by a new method, and to bear witness to it, if not as truth, at least as beneficial to the human race. ### Scripture references - Titus 3:3–6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Phaedo's rescue from slavery in a brothel is told in Diogenes Laertius 2.105; Polemon's conversion in 4.16. The quotations are Titus 3:3–6 and Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX). Chrysippus's Therapeutics (book 4 of On the Passions) is lost. The bracketed [οἰκήματος] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/64/). ## Against Celsus 1.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/65/ - Source: Koetschau 1:118–119 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus' avoiding of danger was prudence, like Aristotle's leaving Athens, and his support from grateful women was no more shameful than philosophers' support from their pupils. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μὴ προπετεῖς εἶναι διδάσκων τοὺς μαθητὰς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς τό· „ἐὰν διώκωσιν ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν· κἂν ἐν τῇ ἑτέρᾳ διώκωσι, πάλιν φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἄλλην, “ καὶ διδάσκων παράδειγμα αὐτοῖς ἐγίνετο εὐσταθοῦς βίου, οἰκονομοῦντος μὴ εἰκῆ μηδʼ ἀκαίρως καὶ ἀλόγως ὁμόσε χωρεῖν τοῖς κινδύνοις· τοῦτο πάλιν κακουργῶν ὁ Κέλσος διαβάλλει, καί φησι πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁ παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν τῇδε κἀκεῖσε ἀποδιδράσκεις. ὅμοιον δὲ ᾗ πεποίηται κατὰ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν διαβολῇ φήσομεν εἶναι καὶ τὸ περὶ Ἀριστοτέλους ἱστορούμενον· οὗτος γὰρ ἰδὼν συγκροτεῖσθαι μέλλον κατʼ αὐτοῦ δικαστήριον ὡς κατὰ ἀσεβοῦς διά τινα δόγματα τῆς φιλοσοφίας αὐτοῦ, ἃ ἐνόμισαν εἶναι ἀσεβῆ Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀναχωρήσας ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ἐν Χαλκίδι τὰς διατριβὰς ἐποιήσατο, ἀπολογησάμενος τοῖς γνωρίμοις καὶ λέγων· „ἀπίωμεν ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, ἵνα μὴ πρόφασιν δῶμεν Ἀθηναίοις τοῦ δεύτερον ἄγος ἀναλαβεῖν παραπλήσιον τῷ κατὰ Σωκράτους, καὶ ἵνα μὴ δεύτερον εἰς φιλοσοφίαν ἀσεβήσωσι.“ φησὶ δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αἰσχρῶς καὶ γλίσχρως τὰς τροφὰς συλλέγοντα περιεληλυθέναι. πόθεν λαβὼν, ἀπαγγελλέτω, τὸ αἰσχρὸν καὶ τὸ γλίσχρον τῆς συλλογῆς· ἐν γὰρ τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις „γυναῖκές τινες, “ „τεθεραπευμέναι ἀπὸ“ τῶν „ἀσθενειῶν“ αὐτῶν, ἐν αἷς ἦν καὶ „Σουσάννα“, παρεῖχον τοῖς μαθηταῖς „ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐταῖς“ τροφάς. τίς δὲ τῶν φιλοσοφούντων καὶ ἀνακειμένων ὠφελίᾳ γνωρίμων οὐκ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἐλάμβανε τὰ πρὸς τὰς χρείας; ἢ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τοῦτο καθηκόντως ἐποίουν καὶ καλῶς, ἐπὰν δʼ οἱ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ πράττωσιν αὐτὸ, κατηγοροῦνται ὑπὸ Κέλσου ὡς αἰσχρῶς καὶ γλίσχρως συλλέγοντες τὰς τροφάς; ### English translation (Claude) Since Jesus, teaching his disciples not to be rash, said to them, "If they persecute you in this city, flee to the other; and if they persecute you in the other, flee again to another," and, as he taught, became to them an example of a steady life, managed so as not to rush into dangers at random, out of season, and without reason, Celsus maliciously slanders this too, and his Jew says to Jesus: "You run away here and there with your disciples." We will say that the story told about Aristotle is like the slander made against Jesus and the disciples. For he, seeing that a court was about to be assembled against him as an impious man, because of certain doctrines of his philosophy which the Athenians thought impious, withdrew from Athens and held his school at Chalcis, defending himself to his pupils and saying: "Let us leave Athens, so as not to give the Athenians an occasion to incur a second guilt like that against Socrates, and so that they may not commit impiety against philosophy a second time." He also says that Jesus went about with his disciples gathering food in a shameful and beggarly way. Let him tell us where he got the shamefulness and beggarliness of the gathering. For in the Gospels "certain women," "healed of" their "infirmities," among whom was "Susanna," provided the disciples with food "from their own means." Which of those who philosophize and devote themselves to the benefit of their pupils did not receive from them what was needed? Or did they do this fittingly and well, while when Jesus' disciples do it they are accused by Celsus of gathering their food in a shameful and beggarly way? ### Scripture references - Matt 10:23: quotation, high confidence - Luke 8:2–3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 10:23 (in a form close to some manuscripts) and Luke 8:2–3. Aristotle's saying is reported by Aelian, Varia historia 3.36, and Diogenes Laertius 5.5–9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/65/). ## Against Celsus 1.66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/66/ - Source: Koetschau 1:119–121 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks the flight to Egypt; Origen answers that Christ, being truly man as well as God, was protected by ordinary human means, which suited his purpose better than a spectacular rescue. ### Greek text Ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις ἐξῆς ὁ Ἰουδαῖος πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ λέγει· τί δὲ καί σε νήπιον ἔτι ἐχρῆν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐκκομίζεσθαι, μὴ ἀποσφαγῇς; θεὸν γὰρ οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν περὶ θανάτου δεδιέναι. ἀλλʼ ἄγγελος μὲν ἧκεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, κελεύων σοι καὶ τοῖς σοῖς οἰκείοις φεύγειν, μὴ ἐγκαταλειφθέντες ἀποθάνητε. φυλάσσειν δέ σε αὐτόθι ὁ δύο ἤδη διὰ σὲ πεπομφὼς ἀγγέλους, ὁ μέγας θεὸς τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν, οὐκ ἐδύνατο; οἴεται δʼ [ἡμᾶς] ἐν τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος μὴ θεῖόν τι εἶναι ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ σώματι καὶ ψυχῇ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτον γεγονέναι, ὁποῖον Ὁμήρου μῦθοι εἰσάγουσι. παίζων γοῦν τὸ ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρῷ προχυθὲν αἷμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φησιν ὅτι οὐκ ἦν ἰχὼρ, οἷός περ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν. ἡμεῖς δʼ αὐτῷ πιστεύοντες Ἰησοῦ περὶ μὲν τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ θειότητος λέγοντι· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ, “ καὶ εἴ τι τούτοις παραπλήσιον, περὶ δὲ τοῦ ὅτι ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ σώματι ἦν, ταῦτα φάσκοντι· „νῦν δὲ ζητεῖτέ με ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον, ὅστις τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα, ” σύνθετόν τι χρῆμά φαμεν αὐτὸν γεγονέναι. καὶ ἐχρῆν τὸν προνοούμενον τῆς ὡς ἀνθρώπου ἑαυτοῦ εἰς τὸν βίον ἐπιδημίας μὴ ἀκαίρως ὁμόσε χωρεῖν τῷ ἕως θανάτου κινδύνῳ. οὕτως δὲ ἔδει αὐτὸν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνατρεφόντων ἄγεσθαι ὑπὸ θείου ἀγγέλου οἰκονομουμένων· πρότερον μὲν λέγοντος τοῦ χρηματίζοντος· „Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς Δαυὶδ, μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου· τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐστὶ, “ δεύτερον δέ· „ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, καί φεῦγε εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἴσθι ἐκεῖ ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι· μέλλει γὰρ Ἡρώδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον τοῦ ἀπολέσαι αὐτό.“ ἐν τούτοις δʼ οὐδὲ πάνυ παράδοξόν μοι φαίνεται τὸ ἀναγεγραμμένον. ὄναρ γὰρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ καθʼ ἑκάτερον τόπον τῆς γραφῆς λέγεται ἄγγελος ταῦτʼ εἰρηκέναι· τὸ δὲ ὄναρ δηλοῦσθαί τισι τάδε ποιεῖν καὶ ἄλλοις πλείοσι συμβαίνει, εἴτʼ ἀγγέλου εἴθʼ οὑτινοσοῦν φαντασιοῦντος τὴν ψυχήν. τί οὖν ἄτοπον τὸν ἅπαξ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα καὶ κατʼ ἀνθρωπίνην ἀγωγὴν οἰκονομεῖσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἐκκλίνειν κινδύνους, οὐ τῷ ἄλλως ἀδύνατον εἶναι τοιοῦτον γενέσθαι ἀλλὰ τῷ δεῖν τὸ ἐγχωροῦν ὁδῷ καὶ τάξει περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ᾠκονομῆσθαι; καὶ βέλτιόν γε ἦν ὑπεκστῆναι τὸ παιδίον Ἰησοῦν τὴν Ἡρώδου ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ ἀποδημῆσαι μετὰ τῶν τρεφόντων αὐτὸ „εἰς Αἴγυπτον“ „ἕως τῆς τελευτῆς“ τοῦ ἐπιβουλεύοντος, ἢ τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρόνοιαν κωλύειν τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν Ἡρώδου ἀναιρεῖν τὸ παιδίον θέλοντος ἢ τὴν λεγομένην παρὰ τοῖς ποιηταῖς „Ἄϊδος κυνέην“ ἤ τι παραπλήσιον ποιεῖν εἶναι περὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἢ πατάξαι ὁμοίως τοῖς ἐν Σοδόμοις τοὺς ἥκοντας ἐπὶ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν αὐτοῦ. τὸ γὰρ πάνυ παράδοξον τῆς ἐπʼ αὐτὸν βοηθείας καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον ἐμφανὲς οὐκ ἦν χρήσιμον τῷ βούλεσθαι αὐτὸν διδάξαι ὡς ἄνθρωπον μαρτυρούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἔχειν τι θειότερον ἐν τῷ βλεπομένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ· ὅπερ ἦν ὁ κυρίως υἱὸς θεοῦ, θεὸς λόγος, θεοῦ δύναμις καὶ θεοῦ σοφία, ὁ καλούμενος Χριστός. οὐ καιρὸς δὲ νῦν τὰ περὶ τοῦ συνθέτου, καὶ ἐξ ὧν συνέκειτο (ὁ) ἐνανθρωπήσας Ἰησοῦς, διηγήσασθαι. οὔσης τινὸς καὶ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω. οἰκείας ζητήσεως τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸν τόπον. ### English translation (Claude) Next after this, Celsus's Jew says to Jesus: "And why did you have to be carried off to Egypt while still an infant, so that you would not be slaughtered? For it was not likely that a god would be afraid of death. But an angel came from heaven, commanding you and your family to flee, lest you be left behind and die. Could not the great God, who had already sent two angels on your account, guard his own son there?" In this Celsus supposes that what was divine in Jesus could not have been in a human body and soul, but that his body too must have been such as Homer's myths portray. At any rate, mocking the blood of Jesus poured out on the cross, he says that it was not "ichor, such as flows in the blessed gods." But we, believing Jesus himself when he says of the divinity in him, "I am the way and the truth and the life," and anything similar, and when he says of his being in a human body, "But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth," say that he was a certain composite being. And it was necessary that one who provided for his own coming into life as a man should not rush into danger of death out of season. So too it was necessary that he be led by those who brought him up, who were guided by a divine angel. First the one giving the warning said, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife; for what is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit"; and second, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him." In these things what is recorded seems to me not at all extraordinary. For in both places of Scripture the angel is said to have said these things to Joseph in a dream; and it happens to many others to be shown in a dream to do certain things, whether an angel or anyone else gives the soul the vision. What is absurd, then, in one who had once become man being guided also in a human way to avoid dangers—not because it was impossible to happen otherwise, but because what was possible had to be managed by way and order concerning the safety of Jesus? It was better for the child Jesus to escape Herod's plot and go away with those who brought him up "to Egypt" "until the death" of the plotter, than for providence for Jesus to hinder the free will of Herod, who wished to kill the child, or to put around Jesus what the poets call "the helmet of Hades" or something similar, or to strike those who came to kill him as those in Sodom were struck. For help given to him that was wholly extraordinary and too manifest would not have been useful for his purpose of teaching that, as a man attested by God, he had something more divine in the man who was seen. That was, in the proper sense, the Son of God, God the Word, the power of God and the wisdom of God, the one called Christ. But this is not the time to explain the composite, and the elements of which Jesus, who became man, was composed; that is, so to speak, a special question for believers. ### Scripture references - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - John 8:40: quotation, high confidence - Matt 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 19:11: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 5.340 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 5.845 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Homer, Iliad 5.340 (ichor), John 14:6, John 8:40, Matt 1:20, Matt 2:13, and Matt 2:15; "the helmet of Hades" is Iliad 5.845; the blinding at Sodom is Gen 19:11; "power of God and wisdom of God" is 1 Cor 1:24. Celsus's "two angels" may be the angel to Joseph and the one at the tomb, or the two warnings. The bracketed [ἡμᾶς] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/66/). ## Against Celsus 1.67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/67/ - Source: Koetschau 1:121 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The sons of gods in Greek myth did nothing to compare with the work of Jesus, whose churches fill the world and whose name still heals and transforms. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ὡς φιλομαθής τις Ἕλλην καὶ τὰ Ἑλλήνων πεπαιδευμένος ὅτι οἱ μὲν παλαιοὶ μῦθοι Περσεῖ καὶ Ἀμφίονι καὶ Αἰακῷ καὶ Μίνωϊ θείαν σπορὰν νείμαντες (οὐδʼ αὐτοῖς ἐπιστεύσαμεν) ὅμως ἐπέδειξαν αὐτῶν ἔργα μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ ἀληθῶς τε ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον, ἵνα μὴ ἀπίθανοι δοκῶσι· σὺ δὲ δὴ τί καλὸν ἢ θαυμάσιον ἔργῳ ἢ λόγῳ πεποίηκας; ἡμῖν οὐδὲν ἐπεδείξω, καίτοι προκαλουμένων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ σε παρασχέσθαι τι ἐναργὲς γνώρισμα, ὡς εἴης ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς. πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ λεκτέον ὅτι δεικνύτωσαν ἡμῖν Ἕλληνες τῶν κατειλεγμένων τινὸς βιωφελὲς λαμπρὸν καὶ παρατεῖναν ἐπὶ τὰς ὕστερον γενεὰς καὶ τηλικοῦτον ἔργον, ὡς ἐμποιεῖν πιθανότητα τῷ περὶ αὐτῶν μύθῳ, λέγοντι ἀπὸ θείας αὐτοὺς γεγονέναι σπορᾶς. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐδὲν δείξουσιν οὐδὲ μικρῷ ἐλάττω περὶ οὓς ἀνέγραψεν ἄνδρας ὧν παρέστησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ἐὰν ἄρα μὴ ἐπὶ μύθους ἀνάγωσιν ἡμᾶς Ἕλληνες καὶ τὰς παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἱστορίας, θέλοντες ἡμᾶς μὲν ἐκείνοις ἀλόγως πιστεύειν τούτοις δὲ καὶ μετὰ πολλὴν ἐνάργειαν ἀπιστεῖν· αὐτοί φαμεν οὖν ὅτι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ ἔργον ἡ πᾶσα ἔχει ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένη, ᾗ παροικοῦσιν αἱ τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦ ἐκκλησίαι τῶν μεταβαλόντων ἀπὸ μυρίων ὅσων κακῶν. καὶ ἔτι γε τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκστάσεις μὲν διανοίας ἀνθρώπων ἀφίστησι καὶ δαίμονας ἤδη δὲ καὶ νόσους, ἐμποιεῖ δὲ θαυμασίαν τινὰ πρᾳότητα καὶ καταστολὴν τοῦ ἤθους καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ χρηστότητα καὶ ἡμερότητα ἐν τοῖς μὴ διὰ τὰ βιωτικὰ ἤ τινας χρείας ἀνθρωπικὰς ὑποκριναμένοις ἀλλὰ παραδεξαμένοις γνησίως τὸν περὶ θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐσομένης κρίσεως λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus's Jew says, like some Greek fond of learning and educated in Greek culture: "The ancient myths, which ascribed divine birth to Perseus, Amphion, Aeacus, and Minos (we did not believe even them), nevertheless showed great and wonderful deeds of theirs, truly beyond human power, so as not to seem unconvincing. But you—what fine or wonderful thing have you done in deed or word? You showed us nothing, though we challenged you in the temple to produce some clear sign that you were the son of God." To this we must say: let the Greeks show us, of those listed, some deed useful to life, splendid, extending to later generations, and so great as to make plausible the myth about them that says they were born of divine seed. But they will show nothing even a little less than what Jesus presented, concerning the men about whom they wrote—unless the Greeks take us back to myths and their stories, wishing us to believe them without reason and to disbelieve these even after much evidence. We say, then, that the whole inhabited world of human beings holds the work of Jesus, in which dwell the churches of God, through Jesus, made up of those who have turned from countless evils. And still the name of Jesus removes mental derangements from human beings, and demons, and diseases too, and produces a wonderful gentleness and restraint of character, love of humanity, kindness, and mildness in those who have not feigned for worldly reasons or some human needs but have genuinely accepted the teaching about God and Christ and the judgment to come. ### Scripture references - John 10:23–24: allusion, medium confidence - John 2:18: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The challenge in the temple alludes to John 10:23–24 (cf. John 2:18). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/67/). ## Against Celsus 1.68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/68/ - Source: Koetschau 1:121–123 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus likens Jesus' miracles to street magic, but magicians never call anyone to moral reform or the fear of God, as Jesus' works and life did. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος ὑπιδόμενος τὰ ἐπιδειχθησόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γεγενημένα μεγάλα, περὶ ὧν ὀλίγα ἀπὸ πολλῶν εἰρήκαμεν, προσποιεῖται συγχωρεῖν ἀληθῆ εἶναι ὅσα περὶ θεραπειῶν ἢ ἀναστάσεως ἢ περὶ ἄρτων ὀλίγων θρεψάντων πολλοὺς ἀναγέγραπται, ἀφʼ ὧν λείψανα πολλὰ καταλέλειπται, ἢ ὅσα ἄλλα οἴεται τερατευσαμένους τοὺς μαθητὰς ἱστορηκέναι, καὶ ἐπιφέρει αὐτοῖς· φέρε πιστεύσωμεν εἶναί σοι ταῦτʼ εἰργασμένα. καὶ εὐθέως κοινοποιεῖ αὐτὰ πρὸς τὰ ἔργα τῶν γοήτων, ὡς ὑπισχνουμένων θαυμασιώτερα, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν μαθόντων ἀπὸ Αἰγυπτίων ἐπιτελούμενα, ἐν μέσαις ἀγοραῖς ὀλίγων ὀβολῶν ἀποδομένων τὰ σεμνὰ μαθήματα καὶ δαίμονας ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἐξελαυνόντων καὶ νόσους ἀποφυσώντων καὶ ψυχὰς ἡρώων ἀνακαλούντων δεῖπνά τε πολυτελῆ καὶ τραπέζας καὶ πέμματα καὶ ὄψα τὰ οὐκ ὄντα δεικνύντων καὶ ὡς ζῷα κινούντων οὐκ ἀληθῶς ὄντα ζῷα ἀλλὰ μέχρι φαντασίας φαινόμενα τοιαῦτα, καὶ φησιν· ἆρʼ ἐπεὶ ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν ἐκεῖνοι, δεήσει ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἡγεῖσθαι υἱοὺς εἶναι θεοῦ; ἢ λεκτέον αὐτὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα εἶναι ἀνθρώπων πονηρῶν καὶ κακοδαιμόνων; ὁρᾷς ὡς διὰ τούτων οἱονεὶ παραδέχεται μαγείαν εἶναι, οὐκ οἶδα εἰ ὁ αὐτὸς ὢν τῷ γράψαντι κατὰ μαγείας βιβλία πλείονα· πλὴν ὡς χρήσιμον αὐτῷ εἰς τὰ προκείμενα τοῖς ἀπὸ μαγείας ὁμοιοῖ τὰ περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἱστορούμενα. καὶ ἦν ἂν ὅμοια, εἰ μέχρι ἀποδείξεως ὁμοίως τοῖς μαγγανεύουσιν ἔφθανεν δείξας· νυνὶ δὲ οὐδεὶς μὲν τῶν γοήτων διʼ ὧν ποιεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἠθῶν ἐπανόρθωσιν καλεῖ τοὺς θεασαμένους οὐδὲ φόβῳ θεοῦ παιδαγωγεῖ τοὺς καταπλαγέντας τὰ θεάματα οὐδὲ πειρᾶται πείθειν οὕτω ζῆν τοὺς ἰδόντας, ὡς δικαιωθησομένους ὑπὸ θεοῦ· καὶ οὐδὲν τούτων ποιοῦσι γόητες, ἐπειδὴ οὐ δύνανται ἢ μηδὲ βούλονται μηδὲ θέλουσι πραγματεύσασθαι τὰ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων διορθώσεως, ἅτε καὶ αὐτοὶ πλήρεις ὄντες αἰσχίστων καὶ ἐπιῤῥητοτάτων ἁμαρτημάτων· ὁ δὲ διʼ ὧν ἐποίει παραδόξων ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἠθῶν ἐπανόρθωσιν τοὺς θεωροῦντας τὰ γινόμενα καλῶν, πῶς οὐκ εἰκὸς ὅτι παρεῖχεν ἑαυτὸν οὐ μόνον τοῖς γνησίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς παράδειγμα ἀρίστου βίου; ἵνα καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ προτραπῶσιν ἐπὶ τὸ διδάσκειν κατὰ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ βούλημα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ πλέον διδαχθέντες ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἢ καὶ τοῦ ἤθους καὶ τῶν παραδόξων, ὡς χρὴ βιοῦν, πάντα πράττωσι κατʼ ἀναφορὰν τοῦ ἀρέσκειν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ. εἰ δὲ τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ βίος, πῶς εὐλόγως ἄν τις αὐτὸν τῇ προαιρέσει τῶν γοήτων παραβάλοι καὶ μὴ κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ θεὸν εἶναι πιστεύοι ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ φανέντα σώματι ἐπʼ εὐεργεσίᾳ τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν; ### English translation (Claude) Next after this, Celsus, suspecting the great deeds of Jesus that would be shown—of which we have mentioned a few out of many—pretends to grant that what is recorded about healings, or resurrection, or a few loaves feeding many, from which many fragments were left over, or whatever else he thinks the disciples told as marvels, is true; and he adds: "Come, let us believe that these things were done by you." And at once he puts them on a level with the works of sorcerers, as though they promised more wonderful things, and with what is done by those who have learned from the Egyptians, who in the middle of the marketplaces sell their venerable lessons for a few obols, drive demons out of people, blow away diseases, call up the souls of heroes, display costly banquets, tables, cakes, and dishes that do not exist, and set in motion as living things what are not really living things but only appear such to the imagination. And he says: "Since they do these things, shall we have to think them sons of God? Or must we say that these are the practices of wicked men possessed by evil demons?" You see how by these words he in effect accepts that magic exists—I do not know whether he is the same as the one who wrote several books against magic—but, as it is useful to him for his purpose, he likens the stories of Jesus to the results of magic. And they would have been similar if Jesus, like the tricksters, had gone only as far as display. But as it is, none of the sorcerers by what he does calls the spectators to the correction of their character, or trains in the fear of God those amazed at the spectacles, or tries to persuade those who have seen to live as people who will be judged by God. Sorcerers do none of these things, since they cannot, or do not even wish or want to take up the correction of human beings, being themselves full of the most shameful and notorious sins. But how is it not likely that he who by the wonders he did called those who saw them to the correction of their character offered himself as an example of the best life not only to his genuine disciples but also to the rest? So that the disciples might be moved to teach human beings according to the will of God, and the rest, taught more by his word and character than by his wonders how one must live, might do everything with reference to pleasing the God over all. If such was the life of Jesus, how could one reasonably compare him with the purpose of sorcerers, and not believe, according to the promise, that he is God appearing in a human body for the benefit of our race? ### Scripture references - Matt 14:15–21: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The feeding miracles are Matt 14:15–21 and parallels. The Celsus who wrote against magic may be the Epicurean friend of Lucian (Alexander 21); Origen is uncertain whether he is the same man. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/68/). ## Against Celsus 1.69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/69/ - Source: Koetschau 1:123–124 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ truly took a human body, born of a woman and tempted like us but without sin; Celsus's objection rests on his belief in the Panthera story. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα φύρων τὸν λόγον καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ αἱρέσεώς τινος λεγόμενα ὡς κοινὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐγκλήματα πᾶσι τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου προσάγων λόγου φησὶν ὅτι θεοῦ οὐκ ἂν εἴη τοιοῦτον σῶμα, οἷον τὸ σόν. ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς πρὸς ταῦτα σῶμα αὐτὸν λέγομεν ἀνειληφέναι ὡς ἀπὸ θηλείας τῷ βίῳ ἐπιδημήσαντα ἀνθρώπινον καὶ θανάτου ἀνθρωπίνου δεκτικόν. διὸ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις αὐτόν φαμεν καὶ μέγαν ἀγωνιστὴν γεγονέναι, διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον σῶμα „πεπειρασμένον“ μὲν ὁμοίως πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις „κατὰ πάντα“ οὐκέτι δʼ ὡς ἄνθρωποι μεθʼ ἁμαρτίας ἀλλὰ πάντῃ „χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας.“ τρανῶς γὰρ ἡμῖν φαίνεται „ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ“· καὶ „μὴ γνόντα“ αὐτὸν „ἁμαρτίαν“ ὡς καθαρὸν παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων ὁ θεός. εἶτα ὁ Κέλσος φησὶν ὅτι οὐκ ἂν εἴη θεοῦ σῶμα τὸ οὕτω σπαρὲν, ὡς σὺ, ὦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐσπάρης. πλὴν ὑπείδετο ὅτι εἰ, ὡς γέγραπται, γεγέννητο, δύναταί πως εἶναι τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ θειότερον παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ κατά τι σημαινόμενον θεοῦ σῶμα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀπιστεῖ τοῖς ἀναγραφεῖσι περὶ τῆς ἐξ ἁγίου πνεύματος συλλήψεως αὐτοῦ καὶ πιστεύει αὐτὸν ὑπό τινος Πανθήρα φθείραντος τὴν παρθένον ἐσπάρθαι· διόπερ εἶπεν ὅτι οὐκ ἂν εἴη θεοῦ σῶμα οὕτω σπαρὲν, ὡς σὺ ἐσπάρης. ἀλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τούτων ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω πλείονα εἰρήκαμεν. ### English translation (Claude) After this, confusing the argument and bringing against all who come from the divine word, as common charges of Christians, things said by some sect, he says: "The body of a god would not be such as yours." To this we say that he took a body, coming into life from a woman, a human body capable of human death. That is why, among other things, we say he became a great contender: because his human body was "tempted in every respect" like all human beings, yet no longer as human beings are, with sin, but wholly "without sin." For it is clearly evident to us that "he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth"; and God handed him over, as pure, who "knew no sin," for all who have sinned. Then Celsus says: "The body of a god would not be so begotten as you, Jesus, were begotten." However, he suspected that if he had been born as is written, his body could in some way be more divine than that of the many, and in some sense a body of God. But he disbelieves what is recorded about his conception by the Holy Spirit and believes that he was begotten by a certain Panthera who seduced the virgin; that is why he said, "The body of a god would not be so begotten as you were begotten." But we have spoken more about this above. ### Scripture references - Heb 4:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:9: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 5:21: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:4: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Heb 4:15, 1 Pet 2:22 (Isa 53:9), and 2 Cor 5:21. The "sect" (αἵρεσις) whose views Celsus attacks as common to all Christians is not named; it may be one holding that Christ's body was only apparent (docetism). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/69/). ## Against Celsus 1.70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/70/ - Source: Koetschau 1:124 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus' eating and speaking are no argument against his divinity, since he truly took a human body; the Greek gods too spoke through human prophetesses. ### Greek text Λέγει δʼ ὅτι οὐδὲ τοιαῦτα σιτεῖται σῶμα θεοῦ, ὡς ἔχων αὐτὸν παραστῆσαι ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν γραμμάτων σιτούμενον, καὶ ποῖα σιτούμενον. ἀλλʼ ἔστω, λεγέτω αὐτὸν βεβρωκέναι μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν τὸ πάσχα, οὐ μόνον εἰπόντα τό· „ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα τοῦτο τὸ πάσχα φαγεῖν μεθʼ ὑμῶν“ ἀλλὰ καὶ βεβρωκότα, λεγέτω δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ διψήσαντα παρὰ τῇ πηγῇ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ πεπωκέναι· τί τοῦτο πρὸς τὰ περὶ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λεγόμενα; σαφῶς δὲ φαίνεται ἰχθύος μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν βεβρωκώς· κατὰ γὰρ ἡμᾶς σῶμα ἀνείληφεν, ὡς γενόμενος „ἐκ γυναικός.“ ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ σῶμα, φησὶ, θεοῦ χρῆται τοιαύτῃ φωνῇ οὐδὲ τοιᾷδε πειθοῖ. καὶ ταῦτα δʼ εὐτελῆ καὶ σφόδρα εὐκαταφρόνητα· λελέξεται γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι χρῆται ὁ πεπιστευμένος παρʼ Ἕλλησιν εἶναι θεὸς ὁ Πύθιος καὶ ὁ Διδυμεὺς τοιᾷδε φωνῇ τῇ τῆς Πυθίας ἢ τῆς ἐν Μιλήτῳ γενομένης προφήτιδος· καὶ οὐ διὰ τοῦτο ἐγκαλεῖται παρʼ Ἕλλησιν ὡς οὐ θεὸς ὁ Πύθιος ἢ ὁ Διδυμεὺς ἤ τις ἄλλος τοιοῦτος ἑνὶ τόπῳ ἐγκαθιδρυμένος Ἑλληνικὸς θεός. πολλῷ δὲ τούτου βέλτιον ἦν χρήσασθαι τὸν θεὸν φωνῇ ἐμποιούσῃ διὰ τὸ μετὰ δυνάμεως ἀπαγγέλλεσθαι ἄφατόν τινα πειθὼ τοῖς ἀκούουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) He says too that "the body of a god does not eat such things," as though he could show from the Gospel writings that he ate, and what sort of things he ate. But suppose so: let him say that he ate the Passover with his disciples, not only saying, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you," but also eating it; and let him say that, being thirsty, he drank at the well of Jacob. What has this to do with what we say about his body? He is clearly seen to have eaten fish after the resurrection; for in our view he took a body, since he was "born of a woman." "But," he says, "the body of a god does not use such a voice, nor such a manner of persuasion." These things too are trivial and quite contemptible. For it will be said to him that the one believed by the Greeks to be a god, the Pythian and the Didymaean, uses such a voice as that of the Pythia or of the prophetess at Miletus; and the Pythian or the Didymaean, or any other such Greek god established in one place, is not for this reason charged by the Greeks with not being a god. But it was much better for God to use a voice that, because it is proclaimed with power, produces an inexpressible persuasion in the hearers. ### Scripture references - Luke 22:15: quotation, high confidence - John 4:6–7: allusion, high confidence - Luke 24:42–43: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Gospel passages are Luke 22:15, John 4:6–7, Luke 24:42–43, and Gal 4:4. The Pythian and Didymaean are Apollo's oracles at Delphi and at Didyma near Miletus. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/70/). ## Against Celsus 1.71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/71/ - Source: Koetschau 1:124–125 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: No one is truly hateful to God, who loves all he made; Celsus's abuse is not argument. The first book ends with the Jew's speech to Jesus. ### Greek text Εἶτά φησι λοιδορούμενος τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὁ διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν καὶ τὰ μοχθηρὰ δόγματα, ἵνʼ οὕτως εἴπω, θεομισὴς ὅτι ταῦτα θεομισοῦς ἦν τινος καὶ μοχθηροῦ γόητος. καίτοι γε, ἐὰν κυρίως ἐξετάζηται τὰ ὀνόματα καὶ τὰ πράγματα, ἀδύνατον ἔσται ἄνθρωπος θεομισὴς, ἐπεὶ ὁ θεὸς ἀγαπᾷ τὰ ὄντα πάντα καὶ οὐδὲν βδελύσσεται ὧν ἐποίησεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ μισῶν τι κατεσκεύασεν. εἰ δέ τινες λέξεις προφητικαὶ τὸ τοιοῦτο λέγουσι, καθολικῷ λόγῳ διηγήσεως τεύξονται τῷδε, ὅτι ὡς περὶ ἀνθρωποπαθοῦς λέξεσι χρῆται ἡ γραφὴ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ. τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν ἀπολογούμενον πρὸς τὸν οἰόμενον ἐν οἷς ἐπαγγέλλεται πιστικοῖς λόγοις δεῖν χρῆσθαι δυσφημίαις καὶ λοιδορίαις ὡς περὶ μοχθηροῦ καὶ γόητος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ; τοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ ἀποδεικνύντος ἀλλʼ ἰδιωτικὸν καὶ ἀφιλόσοφον πάθος πεπονθότος ἔργον ἐστὶ, δέον ἐκτιθέμενον τὸ πρᾶγμα εὐγνωμόνως αὐτὸ ἐξετάζειν καὶ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν λέγειν πρὸς αὐτὸ τὰ ὑποπίπτοντα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις καταπαύσαντος τὸν λόγον τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοῦ που καταπαύσομεν τὴν περιγραφὴν τοῦ πρώτου πρὸς αὐτὸν βιβλίου. θεοῦ δὲ διδόντος τὴν ἐξολοθρεύουσαν τοὺς ψευδεῖς λόγους ἀλήθειαν κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν εὐχήν· „ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου ἐξολόθρευσον αὐτοὺς, “ ἀρξόμεθα ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς δευτέρας προσωποποιΐας, ἐν ᾗ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος αὐτῷ πεποίηται λέγων πρὸς τοὺς πεισθέντας τῷ Ἰησοῦ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα. ### English translation (Claude) Then he says, reviling Jesus—he who, because of his impiety and wicked doctrines, is, so to speak, hateful to God himself—that "these are the doings of someone hateful to God and a wicked sorcerer." Yet if the words and the facts are examined strictly, a human being cannot be hateful to God, since God loves all things that exist and loathes nothing of what he made; for he did not make anything hating it. And if some prophetic sayings say such a thing, they will receive this general explanation: that Scripture uses words about God as about one subject to human passions. What need is there to say in defense against one who thinks that, in what he professes to be persuasive arguments, he should use abuse and reviling of Jesus as a wicked man and a sorcerer? That is not the work of one who demonstrates, but of one who has fallen into a vulgar and unphilosophical passion. He ought, setting out the matter, to examine it fairly and say against it, as best he can, what occurs to him. But since Celsus's Jew ends his speech to Jesus here, we too will end here the scope of our first book against him. And if God grants the truth that destroys false arguments, according to the prayer that says, "In your truth destroy them," we will begin in what follows the second speech, in which his Jew is made to say what follows to those persuaded by Jesus. ### Scripture references - Ps 54:5 (53:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:24 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Wis 11:24 and Ps 54:5 (53:7 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 1.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/71/). ## Against Celsus 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/1/ - Source: Koetschau 1:126–128 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's Jew accuses Jewish Christians of abandoning the law, but Jewish believers such as the Ebionites keep it, as Peter did for a long time and as Paul did among Jews. ### Greek text Ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τόμῳ τῶν ὑπαγορευθέντων ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸν Κέλσου ἐπιγραφέντα ἀληθῆ λόγον καταλήξαντες εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν προσωποποιΐαν, αὐτάρκη περιγραφὴν εἰληφότι, τοῦτον συντάσσειν προαιρούμεθα, ἀπολογούμενοι πρὸς τὰ φερόμενα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγκλήματα κατὰ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πιστευσάντων. καὶ αὐτό γε τοῦτο πρῶτον ἐφίσταμεν, τί δή ποτε ἅπαξ κρίνας προσωποποιεῖν ὁ Κέλσος οὐ προσωποποιεῖ Ἰουδαῖον πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν πιστεύοντας λέγοντα ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων· πιθανώτατος δʼ ἂν καὶ ἔδοξεν ὁ λόγος εἶναι αὐτῷ πρὸς ἡμᾶς γραφόμενος. ἀλλὰ μή ποτε ὁ πάντʼ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι τὸ ἀκόλουθον οὐκ εἶδε κατὰ τὸν τόπον τῆς προσωποποιΐας. τί οὖν καὶ λέγει πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων πιστεύοντας, κατανοητέον. φησὶν αὐτοὺς καταλιπόντας τὸν πάτριον νόμον τῷ ἐψυχαγωγῆσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἠπατῆσθαι πάνυ γελοίως καὶ ἀπηυτομοληκέναι εἰς ἄλλο ὄνομα καὶ εἰς ἄλλον βίον, μηδὲ τοῦτο κατανοήσας, ὅτι οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πιστεύοντες οὐ καταλελοίπασι τὸν πάτριον νόμον. βιοῦσι γὰρ κατʼ αὐτὸν, ἐπώνυμοι τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἐκδοχὴν πτωχείας τοῦ νόμου γεγενημένοι. Ἐβίων τε γὰρ ὁ πτωχὸς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις καλεῖται, καὶ Ἐβιωναῖοι χρηματίζουσιν οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὡς Χριστὸν παραδεξάμενοι. καὶ ὁ Πέτρος δὲ μέχρι πολλοῦ φαίνεται τὰ κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον Ἰουδαϊκὰ ἔθη τετηρηκέναι, ὡς μηδέπω ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ μαθὼν ἀναβαίνειν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα νόμου ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ τὸ πνεῦμα· ὅπερ ἀπὸ τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων μεμαθήκαμεν. „τῇ“ γὰρ „ἐπαύριον“ τοῦ ἑωρᾶσθαι ἄγγελον θεοῦ τῷ Κορνηλίῳ, ὑποτιθέμενον αὐτῷ πέμψαι „εἰς Ἰόππην“ ἐπὶ Σίμωνα τὸν καλούμενον Πέτρον, „ἀνέβη Πέτρος εἰς τὸ ὑπερῷον προσεύξασθαι περὶ ὥραν ἕκτην. ἐγένετο δὲ πρόσπεινος καὶ ἤθελε γεύσασθαι. παρασκευαζόντων δʼ αὐτῶν ἐγένετο ἔκστασις ἐπʼ αὐτὸν, καὶ θεωρεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγμένον καὶ καταβαῖνον σκεῦός τι ὡς ὀθόνην μεγάλην, τέσσαρσιν ἀρχαῖς καθιέμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἐν ᾧ ὑπῆρχε πάντα τὰ τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ τῆς γῆς καὶ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. καὶ ἐγένετο φωνὴ πρὸς αὐτόν· ἀναστὰς, Πέτρε, θῦσον καὶ φάγε. ὁ δὲ Πέτρος εἶπε· μηδαμῶς, κύριε, ὅτι οὐδέ ποτε ἔφαγον πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον. καὶ φωνὴ ἐκ δευτέρου πρὸς αὐτόν· ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἐκαθάρισε σὺ μὴ κοίνου.“ ὅρα γὰρ ἐν τούτοις, τίνα τρόπον παρίσταται τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ ἔθη περὶ καθαρῶν καὶ ἀκαθάρτων ἔτι τηρῶν ὁ Πέτρος. καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑξῆς δηλοῦται ὅτι ὀπτασίας ἐδεήθη, ἵνα κοινωνήσῃ τῶν λόγων τῆς πίστεως τῷ μὴ κατὰ σάρκα Ἰσραηλίτῃ Κορνηλίῳ καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ ὡς ἔτι Ἰουδαῖος καὶ κατὰ τὰς Ἰουδαίων παραδόσεις ζῶν, καταφρονῶν τῶν ἔξω τοῦ ἰουδαϊσμοῦ. καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας δὲ ἐπιστολῇ Παῦλος ἐμφαίνει ὅτι Πέτρος ἔτι φοβούμενος τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, παυσάμενος τοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν συνεσθίειν, ἐλθόντος Ἰακώβου πρὸς αὐτὸν „ἀφώριζεν ἑαυτὸν“ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν, „φοβούμενος τοὺς ἐκ τῆς περιτομῆς“· καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πεποιήκασιν αὐτῷ οἱ λοιποὶ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Βαρνάβας. καὶ ἀκόλουθόν γε ἦν μὴ ἀποστῆναι τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν ἐθῶν τοὺς εἰς τὴν περιτομὴν ἀποσταλέντας, ὅτε „οἱ δοκοῦντες στῦλοι εἶναι δεξιὰς ἔδωκαν Παύλῳ καὶ Βαρνάβᾳ κοινωνίας, “ „αὐτοὶ εἰς τὴν περιτομὴν“ ἀπιόντες, ἵνʼ ἐκεῖνοι τοῖς ἔθνεσι κηρύξωσι. τί δὲ λέγω ὅτι οἱ κηρύσσοντες „εἰς τὴν περιτομὴν“ ὑπέστελλον ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ ἀφώριζον; ὅτε καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Παῦλος „τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις Ἰουδαῖος“ ἐγίνετο, „ἵνα Ἰουδαίους“ κερδήσῃ. διὸ, ὡς καὶ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων γέγραπται, καὶ προσφορὰν προσήνεγκεν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ἵνα πείσῃ Ἰουδαίους περὶ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἀποστάτης νόμου. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα εἰ ἠπίστατο ὁ Κέλσος, οὐκ ἂν ἐπροσωποποιήσατο τὸν Ἰουδαῖον λέγοντα πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ ἰουδαϊσμοῦ πιστεύοντας τό· τί παθόντες, ὦ πολῖται, κατελίπετε τὸν πάτριον νόμον καὶ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου, πρὸς ὃν ἄρτι διειλέγμεθα, ψυχαγωγηθέντες πάνυ γελοίως ἐξηπατήθητε καὶ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ἀπηυτομολήσατε εἰς ἄλλο ὄνομα καὶ εἰς ἄλλον βίον; ### English translation (Claude) Having ended the first book of what we dictated against Celsus's work entitled The True Word with the speech of the Jew to Jesus, which received a sufficient treatment, we intend to compose this one in defense against the charges he brings against those from the Jewish people who have believed in Jesus. And we first note this very point: why, having once decided to use an imaginary speaker, does Celsus not have the Jew speak to believers from the nations, but to those from the Jews? The argument would have seemed most plausible to him if it had been written against us. But perhaps the one who professes to know everything did not see what was consistent in the matter of his imaginary speaker. Let us consider, then, what he says to believers from the Jews. He says that, having left their ancestral law because they were beguiled by Jesus, they were deceived quite ridiculously and deserted to another name and another life—not observing even this, that those from the Jews who believe in Jesus have not left their ancestral law. For they live according to it, and have been named after the poverty of their interpretation of the law. For among the Jews the poor man is called "Ebion," and those from the Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Christ are called Ebionites. Peter too is seen to have kept the Jewish customs according to the law of Moses for a long time, as not yet having learned from Jesus to rise from the law according to the letter to that according to the spirit, as we have learned from the Acts of the Apostles. For "on the next day" after the angel of God appeared to Cornelius, directing him to send "to Joppa" for Simon who is called Peter, "Peter went up to the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and wanted to eat. While they were preparing it, a trance came upon him, and he saw heaven opened and a certain vessel coming down like a great sheet, let down by four corners to the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the heaven. And a voice came to him: Rise, Peter; kill and eat. But Peter said: By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And the voice came to him a second time: What God has cleansed, do not call common." See in this how Peter is presented as still keeping the Jewish customs about clean and unclean. And from what follows it is shown that he needed a vision in order to share the words of faith with Cornelius, who was not an Israelite according to the flesh, and those with him, since he was still a Jew living according to the traditions of the Jews and despising those outside Judaism. And in the letter to the Galatians Paul shows that Peter, still fearing the Jews, stopped eating with the Gentiles when James came to him, and "separated himself" from the Gentiles, "fearing those of the circumcision"; and the rest of the Jews and Barnabas did the same with him. And it was consistent that those sent to the circumcision should not abandon Jewish customs, when "those who seemed to be pillars gave Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship," themselves going "to the circumcision," so that those two might preach to the Gentiles. But why do I say that those who preached "to the circumcision" held back and separated themselves from the Gentiles, when Paul himself became "to the Jews a Jew, that he might win Jews"? That is why, as is written in the Acts of the Apostles, he even brought an offering to the altar, to persuade the Jews that he was not an apostate from the law. If Celsus had known all this, he would not have had the Jew say to believers from Judaism: "What happened to you, fellow citizens, that you abandoned the law of your fathers and, beguiled by that man with whom we have just been conversing, were deceived quite ridiculously and deserted from us to another name and another life?" ### Scripture references - Acts 10:9–15: quotation, high confidence - Gal 2:12–13: quotation, high confidence - Gal 2:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:20: quotation, high confidence - Acts 21:26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Acts 10:9–15, Gal 2:12–13, Gal 2:9, and 1 Cor 9:20; Paul's offering is Acts 21:26. Origen derives "Ebionites" from Hebrew ʾebyon, "poor," taking it to describe their "poor" (literal) interpretation of the law. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/1/). ## Against Celsus 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/2/ - Source: Koetschau 1:128–129 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The "many things" Jesus could not yet tell his Jewish disciples were the spiritual meaning of the law, which the Spirit later taught, as in Peter's vision. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἅπαξ γεγόναμεν ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ Πέτρου λόγῳ καὶ τῶν διδαξάντων τοὺς ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τὸν χριστιανισμὸν, οὐκ ἄτοπον ἡγοῦμαι παραθέσθαι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τινα φωνὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγελίου καὶ τὴν διήγησιν αὐτῆς. γέγραπται δὴ αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι. „ἔτι πολλὰ ἔχω λέγειν ὑμῖν, ἀλλʼ οὐ δύνασθε βαστάζειν ἄρτι· ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν· οὐ γὰρ λαλήσει ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλʼ ὅσα ἀκούσει λαλήσει.“ καὶ ζητοῦμεν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, τίνα ἦν τὰ „πολλὰ, “ ἃ εἶχε μὲν „λέγειν“ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἑαυτοῦ, οὐκ ἐδύναντο δὲ αὐτὰ „βαστάζειν“ τότε. καί φημι· μή ποθʼ ὡς Ἰουδαίοις καὶ συντραφεῖσι τῷ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα Μωϋσέως νόμῳ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις εἶχε μὲν „λέγειν, “ τίς ὁ ἀληθὴς νόμος, καὶ τίνων „ἐπουρανίων“ „ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ“ ἡ παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις λατρεία ἐπετελεῖτο, καὶ τίνων „μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν“ „σκιὰν“ περιεῖχεν ὁ περὶ βρώσεως καὶ πόσεως καὶ ἑορτῶν καὶ νουμηνιῶν καὶ σαββάτων νόμος. καὶ „πολλὰ“ ἦν ταῦθʼ, ἃ εἶχεν αὐτοῖς „λέγειν“· ὁρῶν δʼ ὅτι πάνυ χαλεπόν ἐστιν ἀπὸ ψυχῆς ἀνατρέπειν σχεδὸν συγγεννηθέντα καὶ συντραφέντα δόγματα μέχρι τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἡλικίας καὶ πείσαντα τοὺς ἀνειληφότας αὐτὰ ὅτι ταῦτα μέν ἐστι θεῖα τὸ δὲ μετασαλεύειν αὐτά ἐστιν ἀσεβὲς, καὶ ἐν τῇ ὑπεροχῇ τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν, τουτέστι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, „γνώσεως“ ἐλέγχειν αὐτὰ „σκύβαλα“ καὶ „ζημίαν, “ ὥστε πεισθῆναι τοὺς ἀκούοντας, ὑπερετίθετο εἰς ἐπιτηδειότερον καιρὸν τὸν μετὰ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ. καὶ γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἦν ἀκαίρως προσαγόμενον τὸ βοήθημα τοῖς μηδέπω χωροῦσιν αὐτὸ, ἀνατρεπτικὸν τῆς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὑπολήψεως τυγχάνον, ἣν ἤδη ἀνειλήφεσαν ὡς περὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος. καὶ πρόσχες εἰ μὴ νοῦν ἔχει οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητον τὸ οὕτως ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ „ἔτι πολλὰ ἔχω ὑμῖν λέγειν, ἀλλʼ οὐ δύνασθε βαστάζειν ἄρτι“· „πολλὰ“ γὰρ τὰ τῆς τοῦ νόμου κατὰ τὰ πνευματικὰ διηγήσεως καὶ σαφηνείας· καὶ οὐκ ἐδύναντό πως „βαστάζειν“ αὐτὰ οἱ μαθηταὶ, ἐν Ἰουδαίοις γεγεννημένοι καὶ ἀνατεθραμμένοι τότε. οἶμαι δʼ ὅτι καὶ ἐπεὶ τύπος μὲν ἦν ἐκεῖνα, ἀλήθεια δὲ ἃ ἔμελλε διδάσκειν αὐτοὺς τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, διὰ τοῦτο λέλεκται· „ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν“· ὡς εἰ ἔλεγεν· εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῶν πραγμάτων. ὧν ἐν τοῖς τύποις γενόμενοι ᾤεσθε τὴν ἀληθῆ λατρείαν λατρεύειν τῷ θεῷ. καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἦλθε „τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας“ ἐπὶ τὸν Πέτρον, λέγον πρὸς αὐτὸν περὶ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν τῆς γῆς καὶ πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· „ἀναστὰς, Πέτρε, θῦσον καὶ φάγε.“ καὶ ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔτι δεισιδαιμονοῦντα, φησὶ γὰρ καὶ πρὸς τὴν θείαν φωνήν· „μηδαμῶς, κύριε, ὅτι οὐδέ ποτε ἔφαγον πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον.“ καὶ ἐδίδαξε τὸν περὶ βρωμάτων ἀληθῶν καὶ πνευματικῶν λόγον ἐν τῷ „ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἐκαθάρισε σὺ μὴ κοίνου.“ καὶ ἑξῆς ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ „τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας“ ὁδηγοῦν „εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν“ τὸν Πέτρον τὰ πολλὰ ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ, ἃ οὐκ ἐδύνατο „βαστάζειν, “ ὅτε κατὰ σάρκα αὐτῷ ἔτι ὁ Ἰησοῦς συνῆν. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἄλλος ἔσται καιρὸς πρὸς τὸ διηγήσασθαι περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἐκδοχὴν τοῦ Μωϋσέως νόμου. ### English translation (Claude) Since we have come to the subject of Peter and of those who taught Christianity to those of the circumcision, I think it not out of place to set out a saying of Jesus from the Gospel according to John and its explanation. It is written that he said: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now; but when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak." And we ask in this passage what the "many things" were that Jesus had "to say" to his disciples but which they could not "bear" then. And I say: perhaps, since the apostles were Jews and had been brought up in the law of Moses according to the letter, he had "to say" what the true law is, and of what "heavenly things" the worship among the Jews was performed "as a copy and shadow," and of what "good things to come" the law about food and drink and festivals and new moons and sabbaths contained "a shadow." These were the "many things" he had "to say" to them. But seeing that it is very hard to overturn from the soul doctrines that were almost born and brought up with a man until adulthood, which had persuaded those who received them that these are divine and that to unsettle them is impious, and to prove them, by the surpassing worth of the "knowledge" according to Christ, that is, the truth, to be "refuse" and "loss" so that the hearers would be persuaded, he postponed this to a more suitable time, after his passion and resurrection. For truly the help would have been brought out of season to those not yet able to receive it, and it would have overturned the belief about Jesus which they had already received, that he was the Christ and the Son of the living God. And consider whether it does not make no contemptible sense to understand "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" in this way. For "many" are the matters of the explanation and clarification of the law according to its spiritual meaning; and the disciples, having been born and brought up among the Jews at that time, somehow could not "bear" them. I think too that because those things were a type, while what the Holy Spirit was going to teach them was truth, it is said for this reason: "When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth"—as if he said, into all the truth of the realities in whose types you have been, thinking that you worship God with true worship. And according to Jesus' promise, "the Spirit of truth" came upon Peter, saying to him about the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." And it came to him while he was still superstitious; for he said even to the divine voice, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean." And it taught him the doctrine of true and spiritual foods in the words, "What God has cleansed, do not call common." And after that vision "the Spirit of truth," guiding Peter "into all the truth," told him the many things that he could not "bear" while Jesus was still with him in the flesh. But there will be another occasion for explaining these things concerning the interpretation of the law of Moses. ### Scripture references - John 16:12–13: quotation, high confidence - Heb 8:5: allusion, high confidence - Heb 10:1: allusion, high confidence - Col 2:16–17: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:7–8: allusion, high confidence - Acts 10:13–15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are John 16:12–13, Heb 8:5, Heb 10:1, Col 2:16–17, Phil 3:8, and Acts 10:13–15. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/2/). ## Against Celsus 2.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/3/ - Source: Koetschau 1:129–130 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jewish Christians like Paul constantly appeal to the law, reading it spiritually; Celsus, writing as an enemy, did not trouble to distinguish the different groups. ### Greek text Νῦν δὲ πρόκειται ἐλέγξαι τὴν τοῦ Κέλσου ἀμαθίαν, παρʼ ᾧ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος λέγει τοῖς πολίταις καὶ Ἰσραηλίταις πιστεύσασιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τό· τί παθόντες κατελίπετε τὸν πάτριον νόμον; καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. πῶς δὲ καταλελοίπασι τὸν πάτριον νόμον οἱ ἐπιτιμῶντες τοῖς μὴ ἀκούουσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγοντες· „λέγετέ μοι, οἱ τὸν νόμον ἀναγινώσκοντες, τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀκούετε; γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ δύο υἱοὺς ἔσχε, “ μέχρι τοῦ „ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα“ καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς. καὶ πῶς καταλελοίπασι τὸν πάτριον νόμον οἱ ἀεὶ μεμνημένοι ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἑαυτῶν τῶν πατρίων καὶ λέγοντες· „ἢ καὶ ὁ νόμος ταῦτα οὐ λέγει; ἐν γὰρ τῷ Μωϋσέως νόμῳ γέγραπται· οὐ φιμώσεις βοῦν ἀλοῶντα. μὴ τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ θεῷ; ἢ διʼ ἡμᾶς πάντως λέγει; διʼ ἡμᾶς γὰρ ἐγράφη“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ ὡς συγκεχυμένως γε ταῦθʼ ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος λέγει, δυνάμενος πιθανώτερον εἰπεῖν ὅτι τινὲς μὲν ὑμῶν καταλελοίπασι τὰ ἔθη προφάσει διηγήσεων καὶ ἀλληγοριῶν, τινὲς δὲ καὶ διηγούμενοι, ὡς ἐπαγγέλλεσθε, πνευματικῶς οὐδὲν ἧττον τὰ πάτρια τηρεῖτε, τινὲς δὲ οὐδὲ διηγούμενοι βούλεσθε καὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν παραδέξασθαι ὡς προφητευθέντα καὶ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον τηρῆσαι κατὰ τὰ πάτρια, ὡς ἐν τῇ λέξει ἔχοντες τὸν πάντα τοῦ πνεύματος νοῦν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ πόθεν Κέλσῳ τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον τρανῶσαι, (ὃς) καὶ αἱρέσεων μὲν ἀθέων καὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πάντῃ ἀλλοτρίων ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἐμνημόνευσε καὶ ἄλλων καταλειπουσῶν τὸν δημιουργὸν, οὐκ εἶδε δὲ καὶ Ἰσραηλίτας εἰς Ἰησοῦν πιστεύοντας καὶ οὐ καταλιπόντας τὸν πάτριον νόμον; οὐ γὰρ προέκειτο αὐτῷ φιλαλήθως ὅλα τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐξετάσαι, ἵνʼ, εἴ τι χρήσιμον εὑρίσκοι, παραδέξηται· ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐχθρὸς καὶ ὅλος τοῦ ἀνατρέπειν ἅμα τῷ ἀκοῦσαι γενόμενος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνέγραψεν. ### English translation (Claude) Now our task is to refute the ignorance of Celsus, whose Jew says to his fellow citizens and Israelites who have believed in Jesus: "What happened to you that you abandoned the law of your fathers?" and so on. But how have those abandoned the ancestral law who rebuke those who do not listen to it, saying: "Tell me, you who read the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons," up to "which are allegorized," and what follows? And how have those abandoned the ancestral law who always mention in their words their ancestral writings, saying: "Or does not the law also say these things? For it is written in the law of Moses: You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God cares? Or does he speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake," and so on? And how confusedly Celsus's Jew says these things, when he could have said more plausibly: "Some of you have abandoned the customs on the pretext of interpretations and allegories; some of you, while interpreting spiritually, as you profess, nonetheless keep the ancestral customs; and some of you, without even interpreting, wish both to accept Jesus as the one prophesied and to keep the law of Moses according to the ancestral customs, as having the whole meaning of the Spirit in the letter." But how could Celsus make the matter clear—he who in what follows mentioned godless sects wholly alien to Jesus, and others that abandon the Creator, but did not know that there are also Israelites who believe in Jesus and have not abandoned the ancestral law? For it was not his purpose to examine the whole subject with love of truth, so as to accept whatever useful thing he might find; but he wrote such things as an enemy, wholly bent on overturning them as soon as he heard them. ### Scripture references - Gal 4:21–24: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:8–10: quotation, high confidence - Deut 25:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gal 4:21–24 and 1 Cor 9:8–10, citing Deut 25:4. The sects Celsus mentions later are discussed in Book 5–6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/3/). ## Against Celsus 2.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/4/ - Source: Koetschau 1:130–131 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians begin from the Jewish Scriptures and honor them more by uncovering their deeper meaning; the gospel's roots in the law, as Jesus and Mark say, do not bind believers to its letter. ### Greek text Εἶτα λέγει ὁ παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖος πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ πιστεύσαντας ὅτι χθὲς καὶ πρώην καὶ ὁπηνίκα τοῦτον ἐκολάζομεν βουκολοῦντα ὑμᾶς, ἀπέστητε τοῦ πατρίου νόμου, οὐδὲν ἀκριβὲς εἰδὼς ἐν οἷς ἔλεγεν, ὡς ἐδείξαμεν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δοκεῖ μοι δεινότητος ἔχεσθαι τὸ ἢ πῶς ἄρχεσθε μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἱερῶν, προϊόντες δὲ αὐτὰ ἀτιμάζετε, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἄλλην ἀρχὴν εἰπεῖν τοῦ δόγματος ἢ τὸν ἡμέτερον νόμον; ἀληθῶς μὲν γὰρ Χριστιανοῖς ἡ εἰσαγωγή ἐστιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητικῶν γραμμάτων· καὶ μετὰ τὴν εἰσαγωγὴν ἐν τῇ διηγήσει καὶ σαφηνείᾳ αὐτῶν ἐστι τοῖς εἰσαγομένοις ἡ προκοπὴ, ζητοῦσι τὸ „κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν“ μυστήριον, „χρόνοις αἰωνίοις“ σεσιγημένον (φανερωθὲν „δὲ νῦν“) ἐν ταῖς προφητικαῖς φωναῖς καὶ τῇ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιφανείᾳ. οὐχ, ὡς λέγετε δὲ, οἱ προϊόντες ἀτιμάζουσι τὰ ἐν νόμῳ γεγραμμένα ἀλλὰ πλείονα τιμὴν αὐτοῖς περιτιθέασιν ἀποδεικνύντες, ὅσον ἔχει βάθος σοφῶν καὶ ἀποῤῥήτων λόγων ἐκεῖνα τὰ γράμματα τὰ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων οὐ τεθεωρημένα τῶν ἐπιπολαιότερον καὶ μυθικώτερον αὐτοῖς ἐντυγχανόντων. τί δὲ ἄτοπον τὸ ἀρχὴν τοῦ ἡμετέρου δόγματος, τουτέστι τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, εἶναι τὸν νόμον; ἅτε καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν λέγοντος πρὸς τοὺς μὴ πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ· „εἰ ἐπιστεύετε Μωϋσεῖ, ἐπιστεύετε ἂν ἐμοί· περὶ γὰρ ἐμοῦ ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψεν. εἰ δὲ τοῖς ἐκείνου γράμμασιν οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς τοῖς ἐμοῖς ῥήμασι πιστεύσετε;“ ἀλλὰ καὶ εἷς τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, ὁ Μάρκος, φησίν· „ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὡς γέγραπται ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου“, δεικνὺς ὅτι ἡ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἀρχὴ τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν γραμμάτων ἤρτηται. τί οὖν καθʼ ἡμῶν λέγεται ὑπὸ τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου ἐν τῷ· εἴτε γὰρ προηγόρευσέ τις ὑμῖν ὅτι ἄρα ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀφίξεται, οὗτος ἡμέτερος ἦν ὁ προφήτης καὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου θεοῦ· ποῖον δὲ ἔγκλημα χριστιανισμῷ ἐστιν, εἰ ὁ βαπτίσας τὸν Ἰησοῦν Ἰωάννης Ἰουδαῖος ἦν; οὐ γὰρ, ἐπεὶ Ἰουδαῖος ἦν, συνάγεται ὅτι δεῖ πάντα τὸν πιστεύοντα, εἴτʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν προσέρχεται τῷ λόγῳ εἴτε ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων, [δεῖν] κατὰ τὸ γράμμα τὸν Μωϋσέως τηρεῖν νόμον. ### English translation (Claude) Then his Jew says to believers from the people: "Yesterday and the day before, when we were punishing this man who was leading you like cattle, you abandoned the law of your fathers"—knowing nothing accurately in what he said, as we have shown. After this, what follows seems to me to have some cleverness: "Or how is it that you begin from our sacred writings, but as you go on you dishonor them, though you have no other origin to name for your doctrine than our law?" Truly the introduction for Christians is from the sacred writings of Moses and the prophetic writings; and after the introduction, progress for those being introduced lies in the interpretation and clarification of them, as they seek the mystery "according to revelation," kept silent "for long ages" but "now made manifest" in the prophetic words and in the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not, as you say, that those who go on dishonor what is written in the law; rather, they give it more honor, showing what a depth of wise and secret meanings those writings have, which have not been perceived by the Jews who read them rather superficially and as myths. And what is absurd in the law being the origin of our doctrine, that is, of the gospel? Our Lord himself says to those who did not believe him: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" And one of the evangelists, Mark, says: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you," showing that the beginning of the gospel depends on the Jewish writings. What, then, is said against us by Celsus's Jew in the words: "For if anyone foretold to you that the son of God would come to men, he was our prophet and the prophet of our God"? And what charge against Christianity is it if John, who baptized Jesus, was a Jew? For it does not follow, because he was a Jew, that every believer, whether he comes to the teaching from the nations or from the Jews, must keep the law of Moses according to the letter. ### Scripture references - Rom 16:25–26: quotation, high confidence - John 5:46–47: quotation, high confidence - Mark 1:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:1: quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 16:25–26, John 5:46–47, and Mark 1:1–2 (Mal 3:1). The bracketed [δεῖν] is deleted by the editor. The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/4/). ## Against Celsus 2.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/5/ - Source: Koetschau 1:131–132 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Jew says the resurrection and judgment are nothing new, but Jesus taught that the kingdom would pass to the nations, and Christians read the prophets as pointing to a heavenly citizenship. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα εἰ καὶ ταυτολογεῖ ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, δεύτερον ἤδη λέγων πλημμελήσαντα αὐτὸν δεδωκέναι παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις δίκην, ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐπαναληψόμεθα τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἀρκούμενοι τῇ προειρημένῃ. εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ ὡς ἕωλα τὰ περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν καὶ κρίσεως θεοῦ καὶ τιμῆς μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς δικαίους πυρὸς δʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους εὐτελίζει ὁ παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, μηδὲν δὲ καινὸν ἐν τούτοις διδάσκεσθαι φάσκων χριστιανοὺς οἴεται ἀνατρέπειν χριστιανισμόν· λεκτέον πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἡμῶν, ὁρῶν Ἰουδαίους μηδὲν ἄξιον τῶν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις μαθημάτων πράττοντας, ἐδίδαξε διὰ παραβολῆς ὅτι „ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ“ „ἀρθήσεται“ μὲν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων „καὶ δοθήσεται“ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν. διὸ καὶ ἔστιν ἀληθῶς ἰδεῖν πάντα μὲν τὰ Ἰουδαίων τῶν νῦν μύθους καὶ λήρους (οὐ γὰρ ἔχουσι τὸ φῶς τῆς γνώσεως τῶν γραφῶν), τὰ δὲ Χριστιανῶν ἀλήθειαν, ἐπᾶραι καὶ μετεωρίσαι ἀνθρώπου που ψυχὴν καὶ νοῦν δυνάμενα καὶ πείθοντα ἔχειν τι „πολίτευμα“ οὐχ ὅμοιον τοῖς κάτω Ἰουδαίοις κάτω που ἀλλʼ „ἐν οὐρανοῖς“· ὅπερ φαίνεται παρὰ τοῖς τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῖς προφήταις νοημάτων θεωροῦσι καὶ ἄλλοις παραστῆσαι δυναμένοις. ### English translation (Claude) After this, although Celsus repeats himself about Jesus, saying now for the second time that he was punished by the Jews for his offenses, we will not repeat our defense, being content with what was said before. Then, since his Jew belittles as stale the teachings about the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of God, and reward for the righteous but fire for the unrighteous, and thinks he overturns Christianity by saying that Christians are taught nothing new in these matters, we must say to him that our Jesus, seeing that the Jews did nothing worthy of the teachings in the prophets, taught by a parable that "the kingdom of God will be taken away" from them "and given" to those from the nations. That is why one can truly see that all the teachings of the Jews of today are myths and trifles (for they do not have the light of the knowledge of the Scriptures), while those of the Christians are truth, able to lift up and raise the soul and mind of a human being, and persuading us to have a "citizenship," not like the Jews below, somewhere below, but "in heaven." This is evident among those who contemplate the greatness of the thoughts in the law and the prophets and are able to present them to others. ### Scripture references - Matt 21:43: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 21:43 and Phil 3:20. Origen's sharp judgment on the Judaism of his day is his own polemic, translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/5/). ## Against Celsus 2.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/6/ - Source: Koetschau 1:132 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even if Jesus kept the Jewish customs, he is still the Son of the God who gave the law, which the prophets themselves teach has a hidden meaning. ### Greek text Ἔστω δὲ καὶ πάντα τὰ κατὰ Ἰουδαίους ἔθη μέχρι καὶ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς θυσιῶν πεποιηκέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν· τί τοῦτο συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὸ μὴ δεῖν πιστεύειν αὐτῷ ὡς υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ; ἔστιν οὖν υἱὸς τοῦ δόντος τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας θεοῦ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· καὶ τοῦτον ἡμεῖς οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας οὐχ ὑπερβαίνομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπεδράσαμεν μὲν τὰς Ἰουδαίων μυθολογίας σωφρονιζόμεθα δὲ καὶ παιδευόμεθα τῇ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν μυστικῇ θεωρίᾳ. καὶ γὰρ οἱ προφῆται, ὡς μὴ καταπαύοντες τὸν νοῦν τῶν λεγομένων ἐν τῇ προφανεῖ ἱστορίᾳ μηδʼ ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὰς λέξεις καὶ τὸ γράμμα νομοθεσίᾳ, ὅπου μέν φασιν ἱστορίας δῆθεν ἐκθησόμενοι τό· „ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου, φθέγξομαι προβλήματα ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς.“ ὅπου δὲ εὐχόμενοι περὶ τοῦ νόμου ὡς ἀσαφοῦς καὶ δεομένου θεοῦ, ἵνα νοηθῇ, λέγουσιν ἐν εὐχῇ· „ἀποκάλυψον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ κατανοήσω τὰ θαυμάσιά σου ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σου.“ ### English translation (Claude) Suppose that Jesus kept all the Jewish customs, even including their sacrifices: how does this contribute to the view that one must not believe in him as Son of God? Jesus is, then, the Son of the God who gave the law and the prophets; and we of the church do not transgress it, but we have fled the mythologies of the Jews and are made wise and trained by the mystical contemplation of the law and the prophets. For the prophets, not letting the meaning of what is said rest in the obvious history or in the legislation according to the words and the letter, say in one place, when they are supposedly about to set out histories, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter problems from the beginning," and in another, praying about the law as obscure and needing God to be understood, they say in prayer: "Unveil my eyes, and I will perceive your wonders out of your law." ### Scripture references - Ps 78:2 (77:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 119:18 (118:18 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 78:2 (77:2 LXX) and Ps 119:18 (118:18 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/6/). ## Against Celsus 2.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/7/ - Source: Koetschau 1:132–133 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus, who washed his disciples' feet, was not boastful or a liar, and turning the law's bodily observances into spiritual ones is not unholy. ### Greek text Δεικνύτωσαν δὲ, ποῦ κἂν ἔμφασις λέξεως ἀπὸ ἀλαζονείας προφερομένης παρὰ τῷ Ἰησοῦ εὑρίσκεται. πῶς γὰρ ἀλαζὼν ὁ λέγων· „μάθετε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ ὅτι πρᾷός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν“; ἢ πῶς ἀλαζὼν ὁ „δείπνου γινομένου“ ἐκδυσάμενος ἐπὶ τῶν μαθητῶν ζωσάμενος δὲ „λέντιον“ καὶ βαλὼν „ὕδωρ εἰς τὸν νιπτῆρα“ καὶ νίπτων ἑκάστου „τοὺς πόδας“ καὶ ἐπιτιμῶν τῷ μὴ θέλοντι παρέχειν αὐτοὺς καὶ λέγων· „ἐὰν μὴ νίψω σε, οὐκ ἔχεις μέρος μετʼ ἐμοῦ“; ἢ πῶς ἀλαζὼν ὁ φάσκων· „κἀγὼ ἐγενόμην ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, οὐχ ὡς ὁ ἀνακείμενος ἀλλʼ ὡς ὁ διακονῶν“; ἐλεγχέτω δέ τις, τίνα ἐψεύσατο, καὶ παραστησάτω μεγάλα καὶ μικρὰ ψεύδη, ἵνα δείξῃ τὰ μεγάλα ψευσάμενον τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλως αὐτὸν ἐλέγξαι· ὅτι ὡς οὐκ ἔστι ψεῦσμα ψεύσματος μᾶλλον ψεῦσμα, οὕτως οὐδὲ μειζόνως· ὡς οὐδὲ ἀληθὲς ἀληθοῦς μᾶλλον ἀληθὲς ἢ μειζόνως ἀληθές. τίνα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀνόσια τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀπαγγελλέτω καὶ μάλιστα ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος. ἢ ἀνόσιον μὲν τὸ ἀφιστάνειν σωματικῆς περιτομῆς καὶ σωματικοῦ σαββάτου καὶ σωματικῶν ἑορτῶν καὶ σωματικῶν νουμηνιῶν καὶ καθαρῶν καὶ ἀκαθάρτων, μετατιθέναι δὲ τὸν νοῦν ἐπὶ νόμον θεοῦ ἄξιον καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ πνευματικὸν μετὰ τοῦ τὸν πρεσβεύοντα „ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ“ εἰδέναι „τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις“ Ἰουδαῖον γίνεσθαι, „ἵνα Ἰουδαίους“ κερδήσῃ, καὶ „τοῖς ὑπὸ νόμον ὡς ὑπὸ νόμον, “ „ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον“ κερδήσῃ; ### English translation (Claude) Let them show where even a hint of a word spoken from boastfulness is found in Jesus. For how is he boastful who says, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls"? Or how is he boastful who, "during supper," took off his garments before the disciples, girded himself with a "towel," poured "water into the basin," washed each one's "feet," rebuked the one who did not want to offer them, and said, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me"? Or how is he boastful who says, "I was in your midst not as one who reclines at table, but as one who serves"? Let someone prove what lies he told, and set out great and small lies, so as to show that Jesus told the great ones. He can be refuted in another way too: just as no lie is more a lie than another lie, so none is greater; as no truth is more true than another truth or greater in truth. And let Celsus's Jew in particular declare what Jesus' unholy deeds were. Or is it unholy to turn people away from bodily circumcision, a bodily sabbath, bodily festivals, bodily new moons, and clean and unclean foods, and to turn the mind to a law worthy of God, true and spiritual—while the one who is an ambassador "for Christ" knows how to become a Jew "to the Jews, that he might win Jews," and "to those under the law as under the law, that he might win those under the law"? ### Scripture references - Matt 11:29: quotation, high confidence - John 13:2–8: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:27: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:20: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus's Jew had charged Jesus with boasting, great lies, and unholy deeds. The quotations are Matt 11:29, John 13:2–8, Luke 22:27, 2 Cor 5:20, and 1 Cor 9:20. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/7/). ## Against Celsus 2.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/8/ - Source: Koetschau 1:133–135 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: No one like Jesus has appeared; the Jews' rejection of him was foretold by Isaiah, and Origen sees their loss of Jerusalem as a consequence. ### Greek text Φησὶ δὲ πολλοὺς ἂν καὶ ἄλλους φανῆναι τοιούτους τοῖς ἐξαπατᾶσθαι θέλουσιν, ὁποῖος ἦν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. μὴ πολλοὺς οὖν ἀλλὰ μηδʼ ὀλίγους ἀλλὰ κἂν ἕνα δεικνύτω ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος τοιοῦτον, ὁποῖος ἦν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, λόγον καὶ δόγματα μετὰ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ δυνάμεως βιωφελῆ ἐπεισάγοντα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐπιστρέφοντα ἀπὸ χύσεως ἁμαρτημάτων. φησὶ δὲ τοῦτο ἔγκλημα ἀπὸ τῶν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πιστευόντων προσάγεσθαι Ἰουδαίοις, ἐπεὶ μὴ πεπιστεύκασιν ὡς εἰς θεὸν τὸν Ἰησοῦν· καὶ περὶ τούτου δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω προαπελογησάμεθα, δεικνύντες ἅμα, πῶς μὲν αὐτὸν θεὸν νοοῦμεν, κατὰ τί δὲ ἄνθρωπον λέγομεν. πῶς δὲ, φησὶν, ἡμεῖς οἱ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις δηλώσαντες ἥξειν ἀπὸ θεοῦ τὸν κολάσοντα τοὺς ἀδίκους ἐλθόντα ἠτιμάζομεν; πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ ἀπολογήσασθαι πάνυ εὔηθες ὂν οὐ δοκεῖ μοι εἶναι εὔλογον. ὡς εἰ καὶ ἄλλος τις ἔλεγε· πῶς ἂν ἡμεῖς οἱ διδάξαντες σωφρονεῖν ἀκόλαστον ἄν τι ἐποιήσαμεν, ἢ περὶ δικαιοσύνης πρεσβεύοντες ἠδικήσαμεν; ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖνα ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὑρίσκεται, οὕτως φάσκοντας προφήταις πεπιστευκέναι, λέγουσι περὶ ἐπιδημήσοντος Χριστοῦ, ἠπιστηκέναι τῷ ἐληλυθότι κατὰ τὰ προφητευόμενα ἀνθρώπινον ἦν. εἰ δὲ δεῖ προσθεῖναι καὶ ἄλλην αἰτίαν, φήσομεν ὅτι καὶ τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ προεῖπον οἱ προφῆται. σαφῶς γοῦν Ἡσαΐας λέγει· „ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε, καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ λεγέτωσαν ἡμῖν, τί ἀκούουσι [τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις] καὶ τί βλέπουσι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις προφητεύεται μὴ συνήσειν τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ μὴ ὃν δεῖ τρόπον ὄψεσθαι τὸ ὁραθέν. ἀλλὰ μὴν δῆλον ὅτι ἰδόντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν οὐκ εἶδον ὅστις ἦν, καὶ ἀκούοντες αὐτοῦ οὐ συνῆκαν ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ θειότητα, μεταβιβάζουσαν τὴν ἐπὶ Ἰουδαίους τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπισκοπὴν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν πιστεύοντας. ἔστιν οὖν ἰδεῖν μετὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημίαν Ἰουδαίους καταλελειμμένους πάντῃ καὶ μηδὲν ἔχοντας τῶν πάλαι νομιζομένων αὐτοῖς εἶναι σεμνῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ μηδὲν σημεῖον τοῦ εἶναί τινα θειότητα παρʼ αὐτοῖς. οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ προφῆται οὐδὲ τεράστια, ὧν κἂν ἴχνη ἐπὶ ποσὸν παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς εὑρίσκεται, καί τινα γε „μείζονα“· καὶ εἰ πιστοί ἐσμεν λέγοντες, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἑωράκαμεν. λέγει δʼ ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος· διὰ τί ἠτιμάζομεν ὃν προεκηρύσσομεν; ἢ ἵνα πλέον τῶν ἄλλων κολασθῶμεν; καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δʼ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅτι πλέον τῶν ἄλλων Ἰουδαῖοι διὰ τὴν εἰς Ἰησοῦν ἀπιστίαν καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα αὐτῷ ἐνύβρισαν οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν πεπιστευμένην κρίσιν πείσονται ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἤδη πεπόνθασι. ποῖον γὰρ ἔθνος πεφυγάδευται ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας μητροπόλεως καὶ τοῦ οἰκείου τόπου τῇ πατρίῳ θρησκείᾳ ἢ μόνοι Ἰουδαῖοι; τοῦτο δὲ πεπόνθασιν ὡς ἀγεννέστατοι, εἰ καὶ πολλὰ ἥμαρτον, διʼ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐκείνων, ὡς διὰ τὰ κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἡμῶν τετολμημένα. ### English translation (Claude) He says that "many others too, of the same kind as Jesus, would appear to those who wish to be deceived." Then let Celsus's Jew show not many, nor even a few, but even one such as Jesus was, bringing to the human race, with the power that was in him, a teaching and doctrines useful for life, and turning people from the flood of sins. He says that "this charge is brought against the Jews by those who believe in Christ, that they have not believed in Jesus as God"; about this too we have already made our defense above, showing at the same time in what way we understand him as God and in what respect we call him man. "But how," he says, "would we, who made known to all men that one would come from God to punish the unrighteous, dishonor him when he came?" To answer this, since it is quite silly, does not seem to me reasonable. It is as if someone else were to say: "How could we who taught self-control do anything licentious, or we who advocate justice do wrong?" For as those things are found among human beings, so it was human that those who said they believed the prophets, who spoke of the Christ who would come, disbelieved the one who came according to the prophecies. And if we must add another reason, we will say that the prophets foretold this very thing. Isaiah, at any rate, clearly says: "Hearing you will hear and will not understand, and seeing you will see and will not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat," and so on. And let them tell us to whom, hearing and seeing, it is prophesied that they will not understand what is said and will not see what is seen in the way they ought, if not to the Jews. It is clear, then, that seeing Jesus they did not see who he was, and hearing him they did not understand from what he said the divinity in him, which transferred God's visitation of the Jews to those from the nations who believe in him. So one can see after the coming of Jesus that the Jews have been wholly abandoned and have nothing of what was formerly thought venerable among them, not even any sign that there is some divinity among them. For there are no longer prophets or wonders, of which traces to some extent are found among Christians, and some even "greater"; and, if we are to be believed when we say it, we too have seen them. Celsus's Jew says: "Why did we dishonor the one we proclaimed beforehand? Was it so that we might be punished more than others?" To this too one can say that because of their unbelief in Jesus and all the other insults they heaped on him, the Jews will suffer more than others not only at the judgment in which we believe, but have already suffered. For what nation has been exiled from its own capital and from the place proper to its ancestral worship except the Jews alone? And they have suffered this as the most wretched of peoples, though they sinned much, for nothing so much as for what they dared against our Jesus. ### Scripture references - Isa 6:9–10: quotation, high confidence - John 14:12: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Isa 6:9–10; "greater" alludes to John 14:12. The exile from Jerusalem refers to Hadrian's ban on Jews entering the city after 135. Origen's claim that the Jews were punished for rejecting Jesus is his own polemic, translated as written; it reflects a view widespread in early Christian writers. The bracketed [τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/8/). ## Against Celsus 2.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/9/ - Source: Koetschau 1:135–137 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not call Jesus' visible body or human soul God, but the divine Word who spoke in him, who created all things at the Father's command and is not confined to Jesus' body, though united with it. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος· πῶς δʼ ἐμέλλομεν τοῦτον νομίζειν θεὸν, ὃς τά τε ἄλλα, ὥσπερ ἐπηκούετο, οὐδὲν ὧν ἐπηγγέλλετο ἐπεδείκνυτο, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἡμεῖς ἐλέγξαντες αὐτὸν καὶ καταγνόντες ἠξιοῦμεν κολάζεσθαι, κρυπτόμενος μὲν καὶ διαδιδράσκων ἐπονειδιστότατα ἑάλω, ὑπʼ αὐτῶν δὲ ὧν ὠνόμαζε μαθητῶν προὐδόθη; καίτοι θεὸν, φησίν, ὄντα οὔτε φεύγειν ἐνῆν οὔτε δεθέντα ἀπάγεσθαι. ἥκιστα δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν συνόντων αὐτῷ καὶ παντὸς ἰδίᾳ κεκοινωνηκότων καὶ διδασκάλῳ χρωμένων σωτῆρα νομιζόμενον καὶ θεοῦ τοῦ μεγίστου παῖδα καὶ ἄγγελον ἐγκαταλείπεσθαί τε καὶ ἐκδίδοσθαι. πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι οὐδʼ ἡμεῖς ὑπολαμβάνομεν τὸ βλεπόμενον τότε καὶ αἰσθητὸν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα εἶναι θεόν. καὶ τί λέγω τὸ σῶμα; ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν ψυχὴν, περὶ ἧς λέλεκται τό· „περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου.“ ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ κατὰ μὲν τὸν Ἰουδαίων λόγον ὁ λέγων· „ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς πάσης σαρκὸς“ καὶ τό· „ἔμπροσθέν μου οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος θεὸς, καὶ μετʼ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔσται“ ὁ θεὸς εἶναι πεπίστευται, ὀργάνῳ τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τῷ σώματι τοῦ προφήτου χρώμενος, κατὰ δὲ Ἕλληνας ὁ λέγων· οἶδα δʼ ἐγὼ ψάμμου τʼ ἀριθμὸν καὶ μέτρα θαλάσσης. καὶ κωφοῦ ξυνίημι, καὶ οὐ λαλέοντος ἀκούω θεὸς νενόμισται διὰ τῆς Πυθίας λέγων καὶ ἀκουόμενος· οὕτω καθʼ ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος θεὸς καὶ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων υἱὸς ἔλεγεν ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα“ καὶ τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς.“ καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τούτοις παραπλήσιον. ἐγκαλοῦμεν οὖν Ἰουδαίοις τοῦτον μὴ νομίσασι θεὸν, ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν πολλαχοῦ μεμαρτυρημένον ὡς μεγάλην ὄντα δύναμιν καὶ θεὸν κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν καὶ πατέρα. τούτῳ γάρ φαμεν ἐν τῇ κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐᾳ προστάττοντα τὸν πατέρα εἰρηκέναι τό· „γενηθήτω φῶς“ καὶ „γενηθήτω στερέωμα“ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ, ὅσα προσέταξεν ὁ θεὸς γενέσθαι, καὶ τούτῳ εἰρηκέναι τό· „ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν“· προσταχθέντα δὲ τὸν λόγον πεποιηκέναι πάντα, ὅσα ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῷ ἐνετείλατο. καὶ ταῦτα λέγομεν οὐκ αὐτοὶ ἐπιβάλλοντες ἀλλὰ ταῖς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις φερομέναις προφητείαις πιστεύοντες· ἐν αἷς λέγεται περὶ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν δημιουργημάτων αὐταῖς λέξεσι τὰ οὕτως ἔχοντα· „ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε καὶ ἐγενήθησαν, αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν.“ εἰ γὰρ ἐνετείλατο ὁ θεὸς, καὶ ἐκτίσθη τὰ δημιουργήματα, τίς ἂν κατὰ τὸ ἀρέσκον τῷ προφητικῷ πνεύματι εἴη ὁ τὴν τηλικαύτην τοῦ πατρὸς ἐντολὴν ἐκπληρῶσαι δυνηθεὶς ἢ ὁ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἔμψυχος λόγος καὶ „ἀλήθεια“ τυγχάνων; ὅτι δὲ τὸν ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντα τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ οὐδὲ τὰ εὐαγγέλια οἶδε περιγεγραμμένον τινὰ γεγονέναι, ὡς οὐδαμοῦ ἔξω τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τυγχάνοντα, δῆλον μὲν καὶ ἀπὸ πολλῶν καὶ ἐξ ὀλίγων δὲ ὧν παραθησόμεθα οὕτως ἐχόντων. ὁ βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης προφητεύων ὅσον οὐδέπω ἐνστήσεσθαι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐκ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ τυγχάνοντα ἀλλὰ γὰρ φθάνοντα πανταχοῦ, λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· „μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε, ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος.“ εἴπερ οὖν ἐνόει ἐκεῖ μόνον εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅπου τὸ βλεπόμενον ἦν σῶμα Ἰησοῦ, πῶς ἔφασκεν ἂν τό· „μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε“; καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπαίρων τὸ φρόνημα τῶν μαθητευόντων αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ μείζονα φρονεῖν περὶ υἱοῦ θεοῦ φησιν· „ὅπου δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.“ τοιαύτη δʼ αὐτοῦ ἐστι καὶ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐπαγγελία λέγοντος· „καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.“ ταῦτα δέ φαμεν οὐ χωρίζοντες τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· ἓν γὰρ μάλιστα μετὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν γεγένηται πρὸς τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα Ἰησοῦ. εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν Παύλου διδασκαλίαν λέγοντος· „ὁ κολλώμενος τῷ κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστι“ πᾶς ὁ νοήσας, τί τὸ κολλᾶσθαι τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ κολληθεὶς αὐτῷ ἕν ἐστι πνεῦμα πρὸς τὸν κύριον, πῶς οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον θειοτέρως καὶ μειζόνως ἕν ἐστι τό ποτε σύνθετον πρὸς τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ; οὗτος δὴ ἐπεδείξατο ἐν Ἰουδαίοις „θεοῦ δύναμις“ ὢν τὸ τοιοῦτον διʼ ὧν παραδόξων ἐποίησεν, ὑπονοηθέντων ὑπὸ μὲν Κέλσου γοητείᾳ γεγονέναι ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν τότε Ἰουδαίων, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόθεν τὰ περὶ Βεελζεβοὺλ μεμαθηκότων, „ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ, ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων, “ ἐκβάλλειν „τὰ δαιμόνια.“ οὓς ἤλεγξεν ἀτοπώτατα λέγοντας ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἐκεῖ τῷ μηδέπω τέλος ἔχειν τὴν τῆς κακίας βασιλείαν· ὅπερ ἔσται δῆλον τοῖς φρονίμως ἐντυγχάνουσι τῇ εὐαγγελικῇ γραφῇ, ἣν οὐ καιρὸς νῦν διηγήσασθαι. ### English translation (Claude) After this the Jew says: "How were we to think this man a god, who in other respects too, as was commonly heard, showed nothing of what he professed, and when we had convicted and condemned him and judged him worthy of punishment, was caught hiding and running away most disgracefully, and was betrayed by those very people whom he called disciples? Yet," he says, "if he was a god, it was not possible for him to flee, nor to be bound and led away; least of all for one thought to be a savior and the son of the greatest God and his messenger to be deserted and handed over by those who were with him, shared everything with him privately, and had him as their teacher." To this we will say that we too do not suppose that the body of Jesus, then seen and perceptible, was God. And why do I say the body? Not even the soul, about which it is said, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death." But just as, according to the Jewish account, the one who says, "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh," and "Before me there was no other god, and after me there will be none," is believed to be God, using the soul and body of the prophet as an instrument; and, according to the Greeks, the one who says, "I know the number of the sand and the measures of the sea, and I understand the dumb and hear the one who does not speak," is thought to be a god speaking and heard through the Pythia; so in our view the Word, God and Son of the God of all, said in Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life," and "I am the door," and "I am the living bread that came down from heaven," and anything else similar. We blame the Jews, then, for not thinking him God, who is attested in many places by the prophets as being a great power and God next to the God and Father of all. For we say that it was to him that the Father gave the command, in the account of creation according to Moses, saying, "Let there be light," and "Let there be a firmament," and all the other things God commanded to come into being; and to him that he said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness"; and that the Word, having been commanded, made all things that the Father enjoined on him. And we say this not on our own initiative, but believing the prophecies current among the Jews, in which it is said about God and the things he made, in these very words: "For he spoke, and they came into being; he commanded, and they were created." For if God commanded and the creatures were created, who, according to the mind of the prophetic Spirit, could be the one able to fulfill so great a command of the Father, if not the one who is, so to speak, the living Word and "the truth"? That the Gospels do not know the one who says in Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life," to have been circumscribed, as though he existed nowhere outside the soul and body of Jesus, is clear from many passages, and from a few that we will set out, which run thus. John the Baptist, prophesying that the Son of God would soon appear—not existing only in that body and soul but reaching everywhere—says of him: "Among you stands one whom you do not know, who comes after me." If he had thought that the Son of God was only where the visible body of Jesus was, how could he have said, "Among you stands one whom you do not know"? And Jesus himself, raising the thoughts of his disciples to think greater things about the Son of God, says: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." Such too is his promise to the disciples, saying: "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." We say these things not separating the Son of God from Jesus; for after the incarnation the soul and body of Jesus became, in the highest degree, one with the Word of God. For if, according to the teaching of Paul, who says, "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit," everyone who has understood what it is to be joined to the Lord, and has been joined to him, is one spirit with the Lord, how much more divinely and greatly is that composite being one with the Word of God? He showed among the Jews that he was "the power of God" by the wonders he did, which Celsus suspected were done by sorcery, and the Jews of that time—who had learned the things about Beelzebul I know not where—thought he cast out "the demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." Our Savior refuted them there for speaking most absurdly, since the kingdom of wickedness had not yet come to an end; this will be clear to those who read the Gospel text with understanding, which there is no time to explain now. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:38: quotation, high confidence - Jer 32:27 (39:27 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 43:10: quotation, high confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - John 10:9: quotation, high confidence - John 6:51: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Ps 148:5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - John 1:26–27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 18:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:24–26: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 1.47 (Herodotus, Histories): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:38, Jer 32:27 (39:27 LXX), Isa 43:10, the Delphic oracle to Croesus (Herodotus 1.47), John 14:6, 10:9, 6:51, Gen 1:3, 6, 26, Ps 148:5 (cf. Ps 33:9), John 1:26–27, Matt 18:20, Matt 28:20, 1 Cor 6:17, 1 Cor 1:24, and Matt 12:24–26. "God next to the God and Father of all" (θεὸν κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεόν) may also mean "God in accordance with" the Father; the phrase is ambiguous. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/9/). ## Against Celsus 2.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/10/ - Source: Koetschau 1:137–138 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus was not caught as a fugitive but gave himself up willingly, as John and Matthew record; the disciples' readiness to die shows they believed what they wrote. ### Greek text Τί δὲ καὶ ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησε, παραστησάτω καὶ ἀποδειξάτω ὁ Κέλσος. ἀλλʼ οὐ δυνήσεται, μάλιστα ἐπεὶ εἴτʼ ἐκ παρακουσμάτων εἴτε καὶ ἐξ ἀναγνωσμάτων εὐαγγελικῶν εἴτʼ ἐκ διηγημάτων Ἰουδαϊκῶν οἴεται φέρειν ἃ λέγει κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἢ καθʼ ἡμῶν. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἰουδαῖός φησιν ὅτι καὶ ἐλέγξαντες αὐτὸν καὶ καταγνόντες ἠξιοῦμεν κολάζεσθαι. δεικνύτωσαν, πῶς αὐτὸν ἤλεγξαν οἱ ζητοῦντες ψευδομαρτυρίας κατασκευάσαι αὐτῷ· εἰ μὴ ἄρα ὁ μέγας ἔλεγχος κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἦν, ὃν εἶπον οἱ κατήγοροι, ὅτι „οὗτος ἔφη· δύναμαι καταλῦσαι τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναστῆσαι“· ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς μὲν „ἔλεγε περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ.“ ἐκεῖνοι δʼ ᾤοντο ὡς μὴ εἰδότες ἀκούειν κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ λέγοντος ὅτι περὶ τοῦ λιθίνου αὐτῷ ναοῦ ὁ λόγος ἦν, τοῦ τετιμημένου παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις μᾶλλον ἢ ὡς ἐχρῆν τιμᾶσθαι τὸν ὡς ἀληθῶς ναὸν θεοῦ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας. λεγέτω δέ τις, πῶς ἐπονειδιστότατα κρυπτόμενος διεδίδρασκεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· τὸ γὰρ ὀνείδους ἄξιόν τις παραστησάτω. ἀλλʼ ἐπεί φησι καὶ ὅτι ἑάλω. εἴποιμʼ ἂν ὅτι, εἴπερ τὸ ἁλῶναι ἀκούσιόν ἐστιν, οὐχ ἑάλω ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἑαυτὸν γὰρ ἐν ἐπιτηδείῳ καιρῷ εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων γενέσθαι οὐκ ἐκώλυσεν ὡς „ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, “ ἵνʼ ἄρῃ „τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου.“ „εἰδὼς γοῦν πάντα τὰ ἐρχόμενα ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐξῆλθε καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· τίνα ζητεῖτε; οἱ δʼ ἀπεκρίθησαν· Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον. λέγει δὲ αὐτοῖς· ἐγώ εἰμι. εἱστήκει δὲ καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν μετʼ αὐτῶν. ὡς οὖν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἐγώ εἰμι, ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καὶ ἔπεσον χαμαί. πάλιν οὖν αὐτὸς ἐπηρώτησε· τίνα ζητεῖτε; οἱ δὲ εἶπον πάλιν· Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον. ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· εἶπον ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι· εἰ οὖν ἐμὲ ζητεῖτε, ἄφετε τούτους ὑπάγειν.‘· ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸν βουλόμενον αὐτῷ βοηθῆσαι καὶ πατάξαντα „τὸν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως δοῦλον“ καὶ ἀφελόντα „αὐτοῦ τὸ ὠτίον“ εἶπεν· „ἀπόστρεψον τὴν μάχαιράν σου εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς· πάντες γὰρ οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν ἐν μαχαίρᾳ ἀπολοῦνται. ἢ δοκεῖ σοι ὅτι οὐ δύναμαι ἄρτι παρακαλέσαι τὸν πατέρα μου, καὶ παραστήσει μοι ὧδε πλείους ἢ δώδεκα λεγεῶνας ἀγγέλων· πῶς οὖν πληρωθῶσιν αἱ γραφαὶ, ὅτι οὕτως ἔδει γενέσθαι;“ εἰ δὲ πλάσματα τῶν γραψάντων τὰ εὐαγγέλια οἴεταί τις εἶναι κατὰ ταῦτα, πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον πλάσματα μέν ἐστι τὰ τῶν ἀπὸ ἔχθους καὶ μίσους τοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστιανοὺς λεγόντων, ἀλήθεια δὲ (τὰ) τῶν τὸ γνήσιον τῆς πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν διαθέσεως ἀποδειξαμένων ἐν τῷ πᾶν ὅ τι ποτʼ οὖν ὑπομεμενηκέναι διὰ τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ; τοσαύτην γὰρ ὑπομονὴν καὶ ἔνστασιν μέχρι θανάτου ἀνειληφέναι τοὺς Ἰησοῦ μαθητὰς μετὰ διαθέσεως ἀναπλασσούσης περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου τὰ μὴ ὄντα.....; καὶ πολὺ τοῖς εὐγνωμονοῦσι τὸ ἐναργές ἐστι περὶ τοῦ πεπεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς περὶ ὧν ἀνέγραψαν ἐκ τοῦ τηλικαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα διὰ τὸν πεπιστευμένον αὐτοῖς εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ ὑπομεμενηκέναι. ### English translation (Claude) What did Jesus promise and not do? Let Celsus set it out and prove it. But he will not be able to, especially since he thinks he brings what he says against Jesus or against us either from misunderstandings, or from readings of the Gospels, or from Jewish stories. But since the Jew says again, "We convicted and condemned him and judged him worthy of punishment," let them show how those who sought to contrive false witness against him convicted him—unless the great proof against Jesus was what the accusers said, that "this man said: I am able to destroy the temple of God and to raise it in three days." For he "was speaking of the temple of his body," while they, not knowing how to hear according to the intention of the speaker, thought that his words were about the stone temple, which the Jews honored more than the true temple of God the Word, of wisdom and of truth, ought to be honored. And let someone say how Jesus "hid and ran away most disgracefully"; let someone point out what deserves reproach. But since he says also that he "was caught," I would say that if being caught is involuntary, Jesus was not caught. For at the suitable time he did not prevent himself from coming into the hands of men, as "the Lamb of God," that he might take away "the sin of the world." "Knowing all that was coming upon him, he went out and said to them: Whom do you seek? They answered: Jesus of Nazareth. He said to them: I am he. Judas, who was betraying him, was standing with them. When he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again: Whom do you seek? And they said again: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered them: I told you that I am he; so if you seek me, let these men go." And to the one who wished to help him and struck "the high priest's slave" and cut off "his ear," he said: "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen so?" If someone thinks these things are inventions of those who wrote the Gospels, why are not rather the words of those who speak from enmity and hatred toward him and the Christians inventions, and the words of those who showed the genuineness of their devotion to Jesus by enduring anything whatever for his words the truth? For that the disciples of Jesus took upon themselves such endurance and steadfastness even to death, while inventing things about their teacher that were not so … And to the fair-minded the evidence is great that they were persuaded of what they wrote, from their having endured such great and so many things for the one they believed to be the Son of God. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:61: quotation, high confidence - John 2:21: quotation, high confidence - John 1:29: quotation, high confidence - John 18:4–8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:51–54: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:61, John 2:21, John 1:29, John 18:4–8, and Matt 26:51–54. There is a gap in the text after τὰ μὴ ὄντα (marked by dots in the edition); the sense is presumably "is not credible." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/10/). ## Against Celsus 2.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/11/ - Source: Koetschau 1:138–140 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Only one disciple, Judas, betrayed Jesus, and even he was not wholly lost to Jesus' teaching, as his repentance shows; the betrayal was prophesied in the Psalms. ### Greek text Εἶτα ὅτι μὲν ὑφʼ ὧν ὠνόμαζε μαθητῶν προὐδόθη, ἔμαθεν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων, πολλοὺς εἰπὼν μαθητὰς τὸν ἕνα Ἰούδαν, ἵνα δόξῃ αὔξειν τὴν κατηγορίαν· οὐκέτι δὲ πάντα τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα ἀναγεγραμμένα περιειργάσατο, ὅτι μαχομέναις καὶ ἐναντίαις κρίσεσι περιπεσὼν ὁ Ἰούδας περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου οὔθʼ ὅλῃ ψυχῇ γέγονε κατʼ αὐτοῦ οὐδʼ ὅλῃ ψυχῇ ἐτήρησε τὴν αἰδὼ πρὸς διδάσκαλον φοιτητοῦ. „ὁ γὰρ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν ἔδωκε“ τῷ ἐληλυθότι ἐπὶ τὸ συλλαβεῖν τὸν Ἰησοῦν „σημεῖον“ ὄχλῳ, λέγων· ὃν ἂν φιλήσω, αὐτός ἐστι· κρατήσατε αὐτὸν, “ σῴζων τι τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν αἰδοῦς· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔσῳζεν αὐτὴν, κἂν μετὰ παῤῥησίας χωρὶς προσποιήσεως φιλήματος παρέδωκεν αὐτόν. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν οὐ πάντας πείσει περὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα προαιρέσεως, ὅτι μετὰ τῆς φιλαργυρίας καὶ τῆς μοχθηρᾶς εἰς τὸ προδοῦναι τὸν διδάσκαλον προαιρέσεως εἶχέ τι ἀναμεμιγμένον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰησοῦ λόγων αὐτῷ ἐγγεγενημένον, ἔμφασιν ἔχον λείμματος, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, χρηστότητος; γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι „ἰδὼν Ἰούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν ὅτι κατεκρίθη, μεταμεληθεὶς ἔστρεψε τὰ τριάκοντα ἀργύρια τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι καὶ πρεσβυτέροις λέγων· ἥμαρτον παραδοὺς αἷμα δίκαιον. οἱ δὲ εἶπον· τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς; σὺ ὄψει. καὶ ῥίψας τὰ ἀργύρια εἰς τὸν ναὸν ἀνεχώρησε, καὶ ἀπελθὼν ἀπήγξατο.“ εἰ δʼ ὁ φιλάργυρος Ἰούδας καὶ κλέπτων τὰ εἰς λόγον τῶν πενήτων εἰς „τὸ γλωσσόκομον“ βαλλόμενα „μεταμεληθεὶς ἔστρεψε τὰ τριάκοντα ἀργύρια τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι καὶ πρεσβυτέροις, “ δῆλον ὅτι δεδύνηταί τινα μεταμέλειαν ἐμποιῆσαι αὐτῷ τὰ Ἰησοῦ μαθήματα, οὐ πανταχῇ καταφρονηθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ προδότου καὶ ἀποπτυσθέντα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ „ἥμαρτον παραδοὺς αἷμα δίκαιον“ ἐξομολογουμένου ἦν τὸ ἡμαρτημένον. ὅρα δὲ ὅση διάπυρος καὶ σφοδρὰ γέγονεν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ μεταμελείας τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις λύπη, ὡς μηδὲ τὸ ζῆν αὐτὸν ἔτι ὑπομεῖναι ἀλλʼ „εἰς τὸν ναὸν“ ῥίψαντα τὸ ἀργύριον ἀναχωρῆσαι καὶ ἀπελθεῖν καὶ ἀπάγξασθαι. ἑαυτὸν γὰρ κατεδίκασε δεικνὺς ὅσον ἐδύνατο καὶ ἐν τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ τῷ Ἰούδᾳ τῷ κλέπτῃ καὶ προδότῃ ἡ Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλία, οὐ δυνηθέντι πάντῃ καταφρονῆσαι ὧν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μεμάθηκεν. ἢ τὰ μὲν ἐμφαίνοντα τὸ μὴ πάντῃ ἀποστατικὸν τοῦ Ἰούδα καὶ μετὰ τὰ τετολμημένα κατὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου πλάσματα ἐροῦσιν οἱ περὶ τὸν Κέλσον, μόνον δʼ ἀληθὲς ὅτι εἷς τῶν μαθητῶν προέδωκεν αὐτὸν, καὶ προσθήσουσι τῷ γεγραμμένῳ ὅτι καὶ ὅλῃ ψυχῇ προέδωκεν αὐτόν; ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀπίθανον, ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν γραμμάτων πάντα ὡς ἐχθρὸν ποιεῖν, καὶ τὸ πιστεύειν καὶ τὸ ἀπιστεῖν. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα δυσωπητικόν τινα παραθέσθαι λόγον, φήσομεν ὅτι ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν ψαλμῶν ὅλος ὁ ἑκατοστὸς ὄγδοος ψαλμὸς τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα περιέχει προφητείαν, οὗ ἡ ἀρχή· „ὁ θεὸς, τὴν αἴνεσίν μου μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς, ὅτι στόμα ἁμαρτωλοῦ καὶ στόμα δολίου ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἠνοίχθη.“ προφητεύεται δʼ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ὅτι Ἰούδας τοῦ μὲν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀπεχώρισεν ἑαυτὸν διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀριθμοῦ, εἰς δὲ τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἕτερος ἐνεκρίθη· καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῦται ἐν τῷ „καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λάβοι ἕτερος.“ ἀλλὰ γὰρ φέρε ὑπό τινος τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτὸν προδεδόσθαι χεῖρον ἢ Ἰούδας διατεθέντος καὶ ὡσπερεὶ ἐκχέαντος πάντας οὓς ἤκουσε παρὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λόγους· τί τοῦτο πρὸς κατηγορίαν Ἰησοῦ ἢ χριστιανισμοῦ συμβάλλεται; καὶ πῶς τοῦτο ψευδῆ τὸν λόγον ἀποδείκνυσιν; ἀπελογησάμεθα δὲ περὶ τῶν ἑξῆς καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων, δεικνύντες ὅτι οὐ φεύγων ἑάλω ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀλλʼ ἑκὼν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν ἑαυτόν. ᾧ ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν ὅτι, εἰ καὶ ἐδέθη, ἑκὼν ἐδέθη, διδάσκων μὴ ἀκουσίως ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ταῦτα ἀναλαμβάνειν. ### English translation (Claude) Then Celsus's Jew learned from the Gospels that Jesus "was betrayed by those he called disciples," calling the one Judas many disciples in order to seem to increase the charge. But he did not trouble himself further with everything recorded about Judas: that Judas, falling into conflicting and contrary judgments about his teacher, neither turned against him with his whole soul nor kept with his whole soul the respect of a pupil for his teacher. For "he who betrayed him gave" the crowd that came to arrest Jesus "a sign, saying: The one I kiss is he; seize him," preserving some of his respect for him; for if he had not preserved it, he would have betrayed him openly, without the pretense of a kiss. Will this not persuade everyone about Judas's intention—that together with his love of money and his wicked intention to betray his teacher, he had something mixed in his soul, produced in him by the words of Jesus, which showed, so to speak, a remnant of goodness? For it is written that "when Judas, who betrayed him, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying: I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? See to it yourself. And throwing the silver into the temple, he departed, and went and hanged himself." If Judas, the lover of money, who stole what was put into "the money box" for the poor, "repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders," clearly the teachings of Jesus were able to produce some repentance in him, and were not wholly despised and spat out by the traitor; and the words "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood" were those of one confessing his sin. See how burning and violent was the grief that came upon him from repentance for his sins, so that he could no longer bear to live, but threw the silver "into the temple," departed, went away, and hanged himself. For he condemned himself, showing how much power the teaching of Jesus had even in the sinner Judas, the thief and traitor, who could not wholly despise what he had learned from Jesus. Or will Celsus and his friends say that the things showing that Judas was not wholly apostate, even after what he dared against his teacher, are inventions, and that only this is true, that one of the disciples betrayed him, and will they add to what is written that he betrayed him with his whole soul? It is implausible to do everything as an enemy with the same writings, both believing and disbelieving. And if we must also set out an argument about Judas that should put them to shame, we will say that in the book of Psalms the whole of the hundred and eighth Psalm contains the prophecy about Judas, which begins: "O God, do not keep silent at my praise, for the mouth of a sinner and the mouth of a deceitful man has been opened against me." It is also prophesied in it that Judas separated himself from the number of the apostles because of his sin, and another was chosen in his place; and this is shown in the words, "And let another take his office." But suppose he was betrayed by one of the disciples worse disposed than Judas, who, as it were, poured out all the words he had heard from Jesus: what does this contribute to an accusation of Jesus or of Christianity? And how does it prove the teaching false? We have already answered what follows in what went before, showing that Jesus was not caught fleeing but gave himself up willingly for us all. From this it follows that if he was bound, he was bound willingly, teaching us to accept such things willingly for the sake of godliness. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:48: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:3–5: quotation, high confidence - John 12:6: allusion, high confidence - Ps 109:1–2 (108:1-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 109:8 (108:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Acts 1:20: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:48, Matt 27:3–5, John 12:6, Ps 109:1–2 (108:1–2 LXX), and Ps 109:8 (108:8 LXX; cf. Acts 1:20). "Office" renders ἐπισκοπή. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/11/). ## Against Celsus 2.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/12/ - Source: Koetschau 1:140–141 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Betrayal by a follower proves nothing against a teacher: Aristotle turned on Plato and Chrysippus on Cleanthes, yet no one blames their teachers. ### Greek text Παιδαριώδη δέ μοι δοκεῖ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὅτι στρατηγὸς μὲν ἀγαθὸς καὶ πολλῶν μυριάδων ἡγησάμενος οὐδεπώποτε προὐδόθη, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ λῄσταρχος πονηρὸς καὶ παμπονήρων ἄρχων, ὠφέλιμος τοῖς συνοῦσιν εἶναι δοκῶν· αὐτὸς δὲ προδοθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ οὔτε ὡς στρατηγὸς ἦρξεν ἀγαθὸς, οὔτʼ ἀπατήσας τοὺς μαθητὰς κἂν τὴν ὡς πρὸς λῄσταρχον, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, εὔνοιαν ἐνεποίησε τοῖς ἀπατηθεῖσι. πολλὰς γὰρ ἄν τις εὕροι ἱστορίας περὶ στρατηγῶν προδοθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων καὶ λῃσταρχῶν ἁλόντων διὰ τοὺς μὴ τηρήσαντας τὰς πρὸς αὐτοὺς συνθήκας. ἀλλʼ ἔστω μηδένα στρατηγῶν προδεδόσθαι ἢ λῃσταρχῶν· τί τοῦτο συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὸ κατὰ Ἰησοῦ εἶναι τὸ ἕνα τῶν φοιτητῶν προδότην αὐτοῦ γεγονέναι; ἐπεὶ δὲ φιλοσοφίαν προβάλλεται ὁ Κέλσος, πυθοίμεθʼ ἂν αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἆρα Πλάτωνος ἦν κατηγορία τὸ μετὰ εἴκοσιν ἔτη τῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ ἀκροάσεως ἀποφοιτήσαντα τὸν Ἀριστοτέλη κατηγορηκέναι μὲν τοῦ περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας τῆς ψυχῆς λόγου, Πλάτωνος δὲ „τερετίσματα“ τὰς ἰδέας ὠνομακέναι; ἔτι δὲ προσαποροῦντες καὶ τοιαῦτα λέγοιμεν ἄν· ἆρα Πλάτων οὐκέτι δυνατὸς ἦν ἐν διαλεκτικῇ οὐδʼ ἱκανὸς παραστῆσαι τὰ νενοημένα, ἐπεὶ ἀπεφοίτησεν αὐτοῦ Ἀριστοτέλης, καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο ψευδῆ τὰ Πλάτωνός ἐστι δόγματα; ἢ δύναται καὶ ἀληθοῦς ὄντος Πλάτωνος, ὡς ἂν λέγοιεν οἱ κατʼ αὐτὸν φιλοσοφοῦντες, Ἀριστοτέλης πονηρὸς καὶ ἀχάριστος πρὸς τὸν διδάσκαλον γεγονέναι; ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Χρύσιππος πολλαχοῦ τῶν συγγραμμάτων ἑαυτοῦ φαίνεται καθαπτόμενος Κλεάνθους, καινοτομῶν παρὰ τὰ ἐκείνῳ δεδογμένα, γενομένῳ αὐτοῦ διδασκάλῳ ἔτι νέου καὶ ἀρχὰς ἔχοντος φιλοσοφίας. καίτοι γε Ἀριστοτέλης μὲν εἴκοσιν ἔτεσι λέγεται πεφοιτηκέναι Πλάτωνι, οὐκ ὀλίγον δὲ χρόνον καὶ ὁ Χρύσιππος παρὰ τῷ Κλεάνθει πεποιῆσθαι τὰς διατριβάς· ὁ δὲ Ἰούδας παρὰ τῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐδὲ τρία διέτριψεν ἔτη. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τοῖς βίοις τῶν φιλοσόφων πολλὰ ἄν τις εὕροι τοιαῦτα, ἐφʼ οἷς ἐγκαλεῖ τῷ Ἰησοῦ διὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν ὁ Κέλσος. οἱ δὲ Πυθαγόρειοι κενοτάφια ᾠκοδόμουν τοῖς μετὰ τὸ προτραπῆναι ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν παλινδρομήσασιν ἐπὶ τὸν ἰδιωτικὸν βίον· καὶ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἀσθενὴς ἦν λόγῳ καὶ ἀποδείξεσι Πυθαγόρας καὶ οἱ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Childish too, it seems to me, are such things as this: that "a good general who led many thousands was never betrayed, nor even a wicked robber chief, the leader of utter villains, who seemed useful to his companions; but he, betrayed by those under him, neither ruled as a good general, nor, having deceived his disciples, produced in those deceived even the goodwill, so to speak, that robbers have toward their chief." For one could find many stories of generals betrayed by their own men and of robber chiefs caught through those who did not keep their agreements with them. But suppose no general or robber chief was ever betrayed: what does it contribute to the case against Jesus that one of his pupils became his betrayer? Since Celsus parades philosophy, we would ask him: was it an accusation against Plato that Aristotle, after twenty years of hearing him, left him and attacked the argument for the immortality of the soul, and called Plato's Forms "twitterings"? And, raising further difficulties, we might say this: was Plato no longer capable in dialectic, nor able to present his thoughts, because Aristotle left him, and are Plato's doctrines false for this reason? Or can Plato be right, as those who philosophize according to him would say, while Aristotle became wicked and ungrateful to his teacher? Chrysippus too is seen in many places in his writings to attack Cleanthes, introducing innovations against his views, though Cleanthes had been his teacher when he was still young and beginning philosophy. Yet Aristotle is said to have studied with Plato for twenty years, and Chrysippus spent no short time with Cleanthes; but Judas did not spend even three years with Jesus. And from what is written in the lives of the philosophers one could find many things like those for which Celsus blames Jesus on account of Judas. The Pythagoreans used to build cenotaphs for those who, after being turned to philosophy, ran back to ordinary life; and Pythagoras and his followers were not weak in argument and demonstration for that reason. ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, An. post. 83a33 (Aristotle (works)): quotation, medium confidence - Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.9.57 (Miscellanies): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - On Aristotle's twenty years with Plato see Diogenes Laertius 5.9; "twitterings" is Aristotle, Posterior Analytics 1.22 (83a33). Chrysippus's criticisms of Cleanthes are reported in Diogenes Laertius 7.179. On the Pythagorean cenotaphs see Clement, Stromata 5.9.57. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/12/). ## Against Celsus 2.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/13/ - Source: Koetschau 1:141–143 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus foretold that his followers would be brought before rulers for his name alone—as Christians uniquely are—that the gospel would reach the whole world, and that Jerusalem would be besieged, all of which came true. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι πολλὰ ἔχων λέγειν περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν γενομένων καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ οὐ παραπλήσια τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γραφεῖσιν ἑκὼν ἐκεῖνα παραλείπω. τίνα οὖν ἄρα τἀληθῆ καὶ οὐχ ὁποῖα ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις γέγραπται, ἃ παραλείπει ὁ παρὰ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος; ἢ δοκούσῃ δεινότητι ῥητορικῇ χρησάμενος προσποιεῖται μὲν ἔχειν λέγειν οὐδὲν δὲ εἶχεν ἔξωθεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου φέρειν, δυνάμενον πλῆξαι ὡς ἀληθὲς τὸν ἀκούοντα καὶ ὡς ἐναργῶς κατηγοροῦν Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ; ἐγκαλεῖ δὲ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὡς πλασαμένοις ὅτι πάντα τὰ συμβάντα αὐτῷ ἐκεῖνος προῄδει καὶ προειρήκει. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἀληθὲς ὂν, κἂν μὴ Κέλσος βούληται, παραστήσομεν ἀπὸ πολλῶν καὶ ἄλλων προφητικῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένων, ἐν οἷς προεῖπε τὰ Χριστιανοῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὕστερον γενόμενα γενεαῖς. καὶ τίς γε οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσαι τὸ προειρημένον τὸ „ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας δὲ καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀχθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι, “ καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο περὶ τοῦ διωχθήσεσθαι τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ προεῖπε. διὰ ποῖον γὰρ δόγμα τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γεγενημένων κολάζονται καὶ ἄλλοι, ἵνα τις τῶν κατηγορούντων Ἰησοῦ λέγῃ ὅτι ὁρῶν τὰ ἀσεβῆ ἢ τὰ ψευδῆ τῶν δογμάτων κατηγορούμενα ἔδοξε καὶ τοῦτο σεμνύνειν διὰ τοῦ προλέγειν δῆθεν περὶ αὐτοῦ; εἴπερ γὰρ ἐχρῆν διὰ δόγματα „ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας καὶ βασιλεῖς“ ἄγεσθαί τινας, καὶ τίνας ἐχρῆν ἄλλους ἢ Ἐπικουρείους, τοὺς πάντῃ πρόνοιαν ἀναιροῦντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ Περιπάτου, μηδὲν φάσκοντας ἀνύειν εὐχὰς καὶ τὰς ὡς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον θυσίας; ἀλλὰ φήσει τις ὅτι καὶ Σαμαρεῖς διὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν θεοσέβειαν διώκονται. πρὸς ὃν τοιαῦτα ἐροῦμεν· οἱ Σικάριοι διὰ τὴν περιτομὴν ὡς ἀκρωτηριάζοντες παρὰ τοὺς καθεστῶτας νόμους καὶ τὰ Ἰουδαίοις συγκεχωρημένα μόνοις ἀναιροῦνται. καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι δικαστοῦ πυνθανομένου, εἰ κατὰ τήνδε τὴν νομιζομένην θεοσέβειαν ὁ Σικάριος ἀγωνιζόμενος βιοῦν μεταθέμενος μὲν ἀπολυθήσεται ἐμμένων δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ἀπαχθήσεται· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ δειχθεῖσα ἡ περιτομὴ πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ πεπονθότος αὐτήν. Χριστιανοὶ δὲ μόνοι κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτῶν λέγοντος· „ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀχθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ“ μέχρι τελευταίας ἀναπνοῆς ὑπὸ τῶν δικαστῶν ἐπιτρέπονται ἐξομοσάμενοι τὸν χριστιανισμὸν καὶ κατὰ τὰ κοινὰ ἔθη θύσαντες καὶ ὀμόσαντες οἴκοι γενέσθαι καὶ ζῆν ἀκινδύνως. ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ μετὰ πολλῆς ἐξουσίας λέγεται τὸ „πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κἀγὼ ὁμολογήσω ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· καὶ πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, “ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ ἀνάβα μοι τῷ λόγῳ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν λέγοντα ταῦτα, καὶ ὅρα μηδέπω γενόμενα προφητευόμενα εἰ μὴ φήσεις ἀπιστῶν μὲν αὐτῷ ὅτι ταῦτα φλυαρεῖ καὶ μάτην λέγει (οὐ γὰρ ἔσται τὰ λεγόμενα), ἀμφιβάλλων δὲ περὶ τοῦ συγκαταθέσθαι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ εἰ μὴ ὅτι, ἐὰν ταῦτα πληρωθῇ καὶ συστῇ ἡ διδασκαλία τῶν λόγων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὡς φροντίζειν τοὺς ἡγεμόνας καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἀναιρεῖν τοὺς ὁμολογοῦντας τὸν Ἰησοῦν, τότε πιστεύσομεν ὅτι ὡς μεγάλην ἐξουσίαν λαβὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὸ σπεῖραι τοῦτον τὸν λόγον τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πειθόμενος κρατήσειν αὐτὸν ταῦτά φησι. τίς δʼ οὐ θαυμάσεται ἀναβαίνων τῷ λόγῳ ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνον διδάσκοντα τότε καὶ λέγοντα· „κηρυχθήσεται τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦτο ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι“ καὶ θεωρῶν κατὰ τὰ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου εἰρημένα κεκηρυγμένον τὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εὐαγγέλιον ἐν τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν „Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις, σοφοῖς καὶ ἀνοήτοις“; πᾶσαν γὰρ φύσιν ἀνθρώπων ὁ μετὰ δυνάμεως λαληθεὶς λόγος κεκράτηκε· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τι γένος ἰδεῖν ἀνθρώπων, ὃ ἐκπέφευγε παραδέξασθαι τὴν Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν. ὁ δὲ ἀπιστῶν παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι πάντα τὰ συμβάντα αὐτῷ προῄδει, κατανοησάτω, τίνα τρόπον ἔτι συνεστώσης τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ πάσης τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς λατρείας γινομένης ἐν αὐτῇ προεῖπεν Ἰησοῦς τὰ συμβησόμενα αὐτῇ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοὺς αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ γνωρίμους καὶ ἀκροατὰς φήσουσι χωρὶς γραφῆς τὴν τῶν εὐαγγελίων παραδεδωκέναι διδασκαλίαν καὶ καταλιπεῖν τοὺς μαθητὰς χωρὶς τῶν περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἐν γράμμασιν ὑπομνημάτων. γέγραπται δὴ ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸ „ὅταν δὲ ἴδητε κυκλουμένην ὑπὸ στρατοπέδων τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τότε γνῶτε ὅτι ἤγγισεν ἡ ἐρήμωσις αὐτῆς.“ καὶ οὐδαμῶς τότε ἦν στρατόπεδα περὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ κυκλοῦντα αὐτὴν καὶ περιέχοντα καὶ πολιορκοῦντα. τοῦτο γὰρ ἤρξατο μὲν ἔτι Νέρωνος βασιλεύοντος παρέτεινε δὲ ἕως τῆς Οὐεσπασιανοῦ ἡγεμονίας· οὗ ὁ υἱὸς Τίτος καθεῖλε τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ὡς μὲν Ἰώσηπος γράφει, διὰ Ἰάκωβον τὸν δίκαιον, τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰησοῦ τοῦ λεγομένου Χριστοῦ, ὡς δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια παρίστησι, διὰ Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus's Jew says: "Though I have many things to say about what happened to Jesus, both true and not like what was written by Jesus' disciples, I deliberately pass them over." What, then, are these true things, not like those written in the Gospels, which Celsus's Jew passes over? Or, using what he thinks rhetorical cleverness, does he pretend to have something to say, when he had nothing from outside the Gospel to bring forward that could strike the hearer as true and as a clear accusation of Jesus and his teaching? He charges the disciples with having invented the claim that Jesus foreknew and foretold everything that happened to him. That this is true, even if Celsus does not wish it, we will establish from many other things spoken prophetically by the Savior, in which he foretold what would happen to Christians even in later generations. Who would not marvel at the prediction, "You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the nations," and whatever else he foretold about his disciples being persecuted? For what doctrine held among human beings are others also punished, so that one of Jesus' accusers could say that, seeing impious or false doctrines accused, he thought to make this too impressive by supposedly predicting it about himself? For if some had to be brought "before governors and kings" for doctrines, who should they be but the Epicureans, who wholly abolish providence, or the Peripatetics, who say that prayers and sacrifices to the Divine accomplish nothing? But someone will say that the Samaritans too are persecuted for their worship of God. To him we will say this: the Sicarii are put to death for circumcision, as mutilating themselves against the established laws and what is permitted to the Jews alone. And one does not hear a judge asking whether a Sicarius who strives to live according to this supposed worship of God will be released if he changes his mind, but led away to death if he persists; the proof of circumcision is enough to have the one who underwent it put to death. But Christians alone, according to what was said by their Savior, "You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake," are permitted by the judges, up to their last breath, to go home and live free of danger if they forswear Christianity and sacrifice and swear according to the common customs. See whether it is not said with great authority: "Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I too will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; and everyone who denies me before men," and so on. Go up with me in thought to Jesus as he says these things, and see them prophesied before they happened. Will you not say, if you disbelieve him, that he is talking nonsense and speaking in vain, since what he says will not happen; or, if you are in doubt about assenting to his words: "If these things are fulfilled, and the teaching of Jesus' words is established so that governors and kings take care to put to death those who acknowledge Jesus, then we will believe that he says these things as one who has received great authority from God to sow this teaching in the human race and is persuaded that it will prevail"? Who will not marvel, going up in thought to him as he taught then and said, "This gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to them and to the nations," and seeing that, according to what he said, the gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached in all that is under heaven, "to Greeks and barbarians, to wise and foolish"? For the word spoken with power has prevailed over every kind of human being, and there is no race of men to be seen that has escaped accepting the teaching of Jesus. Let Celsus's Jew, who disbelieves that Jesus foreknew all that happened to him, consider how, while Jerusalem was still standing and all the Jewish worship was carried on in it, Jesus foretold what would happen to it at the hands of the Romans. For they will not say that Jesus' own acquaintances and hearers handed on the teaching of the Gospels without writing and left their disciples without written records about Jesus. In them it is written: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near." And at that time there were no armies around Jerusalem, surrounding, encircling, and besieging it. That began while Nero was still reigning and lasted until the rule of Vespasian, whose son Titus destroyed Jerusalem—as Josephus writes, because of James the Just, the brother of Jesus called Christ, but as the truth shows, because of Jesus the Christ of God. ### Scripture references - Matt 10:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:32–33: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Luke 21:20: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus (Josephus (works)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 10:18, Matt 10:32–33, Matt 24:14, Rom 1:14, and Luke 21:20. On the statement attributed to Josephus about James see the note at 1.47; it is not in extant Josephus. The Sicarii here seem to be a Jewish group (or Samaritans) whom Roman law punished for circumcising; the identification is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/13/). ## Against Celsus 2.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/14/ - Source: Koetschau 1:143–144 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus refuses to grant Jesus foreknowledge, but even the pagan historian Phlegon admitted that Christ's predictions came true. ### Greek text Ἐδύνατο μέντοι παραδεξάμενος ἢ συγχωρήσας ὁ Κέλσος τὸ προεγνωκέναι αὐτὸν τὰ συμβησόμενα αὐτῷ ἐξευτελίζειν μὲν τοῦτο δοκεῖν, ὅπερ πεποίηκεν ἐπὶ τῶν δυνάμεων, γοητείᾳ φάσκων αὐτὰς γεγονέναι, καὶ ἐδύνατό γε λέγειν ὅτι πολλοὶ ἀπὸ μαντειῶν, τῶν ἐν οἰωνοῖς ἢ ὄρνισιν ἢ θυτικῇ ἢ γενεθλιαλογίᾳ, ἔγνωσαν τὰ ἀπαντησόμενα αὐτοῖς. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἠθέλησε συγχωρῆσαι ὡς μεῖζον, τὸ δὲ τὰς δυνάμεις πεποιηκέναι παραδεξάμενός πως δοκεῖ αὐτὸ προφάσει γοητείας διαβεβληκέναι. Φλέγων μέντοι ἐν τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἢ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ οἶμαι τῶν Χρονικῶν καὶ τὴν περί τινων μελλόντων πρόγνωσιν ἔδωκε τῷ Χριστῷ, συγχυθεὶς ἐν τοῖς περὶ Πέτρου ὡς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἐμαρτύρησεν ὅτι κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ λεγόμενα ἀπήντησε. πλὴν κἀκεῖνος καὶ διὰ τῶν κατὰ τὴν πρόγνωσιν ἄκων ὡσπερεὶ οὐ κενὸν θειοτέρας δυνάμεως ἀπεφήνατο εἶναι τὸν ἐν τοῖς πατράσι τῶν δογμάτων λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, however, could have accepted or granted that Jesus foreknew what would happen to him, and then made this seem trivial, as he did with the mighty works, saying that they were done by sorcery; and he could have said that many have known what would happen to them from divination by omens, or birds, or sacrifices, or horoscopes. But this he would not grant, as too great a thing, while he seems in a way to accept that Jesus did mighty works, but to slander them on the pretext of sorcery. Phlegon, however, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, even granted Christ foreknowledge of certain future events—though he confused things concerning Peter with things concerning Jesus—and testified that what was foretold came to pass as he had said. Yet he too, even through what concerns foreknowledge, declared, as if against his will, that the teaching in the founders of our doctrines was not empty of a more divine power. ### Extrabiblical texts - Phlegon, Chron. 13 or 14 (Phlegon of Tralles, Chronicles): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Phlegon of Tralles (2nd cent.), Chronicles (Olympiads), is lost; Origen cites it again in 2.33 and 2.59. Origen himself notes that Phlegon confused Peter with Jesus. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/14/). ## Against Celsus 2.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/15/ - Source: Koetschau 1:144 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The evangelists honestly recorded Peter's denial and the disciples' failure, which they would have hidden if they were inventing stories. ### Greek text Φησὶ δὲ ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ πράγματι περιφανεῖ μηδὲν ἔχοντες ἐπισκήψασθαι τοῦτο ἐπενόησαν, τὸ λέγειν αὐτὸν πάντα προεγνωκέναι, οὐκ ἐπιστήσας ἢ οὐ βουληθεὶς ἐπιστῆσαι τῷ φιλαλήθει τῶν γραψάντων, ὁμολογησάντων καὶ προειρηκέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὅτι „πάντες ὑμεῖς σκανδαλισθήσεσθε ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ“ καὶ ἠληθευκέναι σκανδαλισθέντων αὐτῶν πεπροφητευκέναι δὲ καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ· „ὅτι πρὸ ἀλεκτοροφωνίας ἀρνήσῃ με τρὶς“. καὶ ὅτι Πέτρος τρὶς ἠρνήσατο. εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦσαν φιλαλήθεις ἀλλʼ, ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, πλάσματα ἀναγράφοντες, οὐκ ἂν Πέτρον ἀνέγραψαν ἀρνησάμενον ἢ τοὺς μαθητὰς Ἰησοῦ σκανδαλιζομένους. τίς γὰρ, εἰ καὶ γέγονε ταῦτα, ἤλεγξε τὸν λόγον, ὅτι οὕτως ἀπήντησε; καίτοι γε κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐχρῆν σεσιωπῆσθαι ταῦτα ἀνθρώποις, βουλομένοις διδάσκειν τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις θανάτου καταφρονεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς ὁμολογίας τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ· νυνὶ δʼ ὁρῶντες ὅτι ὁ λόγος δυνάμει κρατήσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔθηκαν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως οὐ βλάψοντα τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας οὐδὲ πρόφασιν δώσοντα ἀρνήσεως. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus says that "the disciples of Jesus, having nothing to plead about an obvious fact, devised this: to say that he foreknew everything"—not noticing, or not wishing to notice, the truthfulness of the writers, who admitted both that Jesus foretold to the disciples, "All of you will be offended because of me this night," and that he spoke truly when they were offended; and that he prophesied to Peter, "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times," and that Peter denied him three times. For if they had not been lovers of truth, but, as Celsus thinks, were recording inventions, they would not have recorded Peter denying him or Jesus' disciples being offended. For even if these things happened, who would have proved the account wrong by showing that it happened so? Indeed, in all likelihood, such things should have been kept silent by men who wished to teach the readers of the Gospels to despise death for the confession of Christianity. But as it is, seeing that the teaching would prevail over human beings by its power, they set down even such things, which, I do not know how, would not harm the readers or give them an excuse for denial. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:31: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:69–75: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:31 and 26:34; Peter's denial is Matt 26:69–75. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/15/). ## Against Celsus 2.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/16/ - Source: Koetschau 1:144–146 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus that Jesus' death did not contradict his teaching, that his suffering and resurrection were real rather than apparent, and that he is immortal as the one risen from the dead. ### Greek text Πάνυ δʼ εὐήθως φησὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς πρὸς παραίτησιν τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀναγεγραφέναι περὶ αὐτοῦ τοιαῦτα· ὥσπερ, φησὶν, εἴ τις λέγων εἶναί τινα δίκαιον δεικνύει αὐτὸν ἀδικοῦντα, καὶ λέγων ὅσιον δεικνύει φονεύοντα, καὶ λέγων ἀθάνατον δεικνύει νεκρὸν, πᾶσι τούτοις ἐπιφέρων ὅτι προειρηκὼς αὐτὰ ἔτυχεν· αὐτόθεν γὰρ ἀνόμοιον αὐτοῦ τὸ παράδειγμα, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν ἄτοπόν ἐστιν ἀνειληφότα τὸν ἐσόμενον ἀνθρώποις ἐγκείμενον σκοπὸν περὶ τοῦ πῶς δεῖ βιοῦν ὑποδεδειχέναι ὡς δεῖ ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀποθνῄσκειν, χωρὶς τοῦ χρήσιμόν τι τῷ παντὶ γεγονέναι τὸ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων αὐτὸν ἀποθανεῖν, ὡς ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου ἐδείξαμεν λόγῳ. εἶτʼ οἴεται ὅτι πᾶσα ἡ τοῦ πάθους ὁμολογία βεβαιοῖ τὸν ἔλεγχον οὐ λύει, οὐ γὰρ εἶδεν, ὅσα περὶ τούτου καὶ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ πεφιλοσόφηται καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν λέλεκται· ἔλαθε δὲ αὐτὸν τὸ εἰρηκέναι τινὰ τῶν ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι δοκήσει τὸν Ἰησοῦν ταῦτα πεπονθέναι οὐ πεπονθότα. οὐ γὰρ ἐγνωκὼς εἶπε τό· οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο εἴπατε ὅτι ἐδόκει μὲν τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἀνθρώποις ταῦτα πάσχειν οὐκ ἔπασχε δὲ, ἀλλʼ ἄντικρυς παθεῖν ὁμολογεῖτε. ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς τὸ δοκεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ παθεῖν οὐ τάσσομεν. ἵνα μὴ ψευδὴς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις ᾖ ἀλλʼ ἀληθής. ὁ γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἀποθανὼν εἰ ἀνέστη, ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη, ὁ δὲ δοκῶν ἀποτεθνηκέναι οὐκ ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ χλευάζουσιν οἱ ἄπιστοι, παραθησόμεθα μὲν καὶ Πλάτωνα λέγοντα Ἦρα τὸν Ἀρμενίου μετὰ δώδεκα ἡμέρας ἐκ τῆς πυρᾶς ἐγηγέρθαι καὶ ἀπηγγελκέναι τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐν ᾅδου, ὡς πρὸς ἀπίστους δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς παρὰ τῷ Ἡρακλείδῃ ἄπνου οὐ πάντῃ ἔσται εἰς τόν τόπον ἄχρηστα. πολλοὶ δʼ ἱστόρηνται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν μνημείων ἐπανελθόντες οὐ μόνον αὐτῆς ἡμέρας ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τῇ ἑξῆς. τί οὖν θαυμαστὸν, εἰ ὁ παραδόξως πολλὰ ποιήσας καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον καὶ οὕτως ἐναργῆ, ὡς μὴ δυναμένους ἀντιβλέψαι τῷ γεγονέναι αὐτὰ κακίζειν διὰ τοῦ κοινοποιεῖν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὰς γοητείας, καὶ περὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τελευτὴν εἶχέ τι πλεῖον· ἵνα ἑκοῦσα μὲν τὸ σῶμα καταλίπῃ ἡ ψυχὴ οἰκονομησαμένη δέ τινα ἔξω αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἐπανέλθῃ. ὅτε βούλεται; τοιοῦτον δʼ ἀναγέγραπται παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ εἰρηκέναι ὁ Ἰησοῦς λόγον ἐν τῷ· „οὐδεὶς αἴρει τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τίθημι αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ. ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι αὐτὴν, καὶ πάλιν ἐξουσίαν ἔχω λαβεῖν αὐτήν.“ καὶ τάχα διὰ τοῦτο προλαβὼν ἐξελήλυθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ἵνα αὐτὸ τηρήσῃ καὶ μὴ καταχθῇ τὰ σκέλη ὡς τὰ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ σταυρωθέντων λῃστῶν. „τοῦ μὲν γὰρ πρώτου οἱ στρατιῶται κατέαξαν τὰ σκέλη καὶ τοῦ ἄλλου τοῦ συσταυρωθέντος αὐτῷ· ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐλθόντες καὶ ἰδόντες ὅτι ἐξέπνευσεν, οὐ κατέαξαν αὐτοῦ τὰ σκέλη.“ εἴπομεν οὖν καὶ πρὸς τό· πόθεν οὖν πιστὸν τὸ προειρηκέναι; τὸ δὲ πόθεν ἀθάνατος ὁ νεκρός; μανθανέτω ὁ βουλόμενος ὅτι οὐχ ὁ νεκρὸς ἀθάνατος ἀλλʼ ὁ ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν. οὐ μόνον οὖν οὐχ ὁ νεκρὸς ἀθάνατος, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ πρὸ τοῦ νεκροῦ Ἰησοῦς ὁ σύνθετος ἀθάνατος ἦν, ὅς γε ἔμελλε τεθνήξεσθαι. οὐδεὶς γὰρ τεθνηξόμενος ἀθάνατος ἀλλʼ ἀθάνατος, ὅτε οὐκέτι τεθνήξεται. „Χριστὸς δὲ ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν οὐκέτι ἀποθνῄσκει· θάνατος αὐτοῦ οὐκέτι κυριεύει“· κἂν μὴ βούλωνται οἱ ταῦτα πῶς εἴρηται νοῆσαι μὴ χωρήσαντες. ### English translation (Claude) He says, very foolishly, that the disciples wrote such things about Jesus to excuse what had happened to him: “As if,” he says, “someone who said that a man was just were to show him doing wrong, and who said he was holy were to show him committing murder, and who said he was immortal were to show him dead, adding to all this that he had foretold it.” His illustration is plainly unlike the case, since there is nothing absurd in one who had taken upon himself the task of setting before human beings a pattern of how they ought to live showing them how one ought to die for the sake of piety; quite apart from the fact that his dying for human beings was of some benefit to the whole universe, as we showed in the preceding book. Next he thinks that the whole admission of the passion confirms his refutation rather than dissolving it. For he has not seen all that Paul set out philosophically on this subject and what the prophets said. And it escaped him that one of those in the heresies said that Jesus underwent these things in appearance, not in reality. For he did not know this when he said: “For you do not even say that he seemed to impious men to suffer these things but did not suffer them; you openly admit that he suffered.” But we do not put “seeming” in the case of his suffering, so that his resurrection too may not be false but true. For if one who truly died rose, he truly rose; but one who only seemed to have died did not truly rise. And since unbelievers mock the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we shall cite Plato as well, who says that Er the son of Armenius rose from the pyre after twelve days and reported what he had seen in Hades; and, since we are addressing unbelievers, what Heraclides tells of the woman who lay without breath will not be wholly useless for the subject. Many are also recorded to have come back from their tombs, not only on the same day but even on the next. What wonder, then, if one who did many marvelous things beyond human power, and so evident that those who could not deny they had happened disparaged them by lumping them together with sorceries, had something more also in his own death, so that his soul left the body of its own will and, having accomplished certain things outside it, returned again when it wished? Such a word is recorded in John as spoken by Jesus: “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” And perhaps it was for this reason that he departed from the body beforehand, so as to preserve it and so that his legs should not be broken like those of the robbers crucified with him: “For the soldiers broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he had breathed his last, they did not break his legs.” We have already answered the question, “How then is it credible that he foretold it?” As to “How is a dead man immortal?”, let anyone who wishes learn that it is not the dead man who is immortal but the one who rose from the dead. Not only is the dead man not immortal, but not even the composite Jesus before his death was immortal, since he was going to die. For no one who is going to die is immortal, but only when he will die no more. “But Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has dominion over him,” even if those who cannot grasp how this is said do not wish to understand it. ### Scripture references - John 10:18: quotation, high confidence - John 19:32: quotation, high confidence - John 19:33: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:9: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 614b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are John 10:18, John 19:32–33, and Rom 6:9. The story of Er son of Armenius is Plato, Republic 10.614b; Heraclides Ponticus wrote of a woman who lay without breath (his work is lost). “One of those in the heresies” refers to docetists, who held that Christ only seemed to suffer. “The composite Jesus” (ὁ σύνθετος) means Jesus as a union of soul and body. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/16/). ## Against Celsus 2.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/17/ - Source: Koetschau 1:146–147 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Like Socrates, Leonidas, Paul, and many Christian martyrs, Jesus knowingly went to meet the death he foresaw rather than avoiding it. ### Greek text Σφόδρα δὲ μωρὸν καὶ τό· τίς ἂν ἢ θεὸς ἢ δαίμων ἢ ἄνθρωπος φρόνιμος προειδὼς αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα συμβησόμενα οὐκ ἂν. εἴ γε ἐδύνατο, ἐξέκλινεν ἀλλὰ συνέπιπτεν οἷς προηπίστατο; καὶ Σωκράτης γοῦν ᾔδει τὸ κώνειον πιόμενος καὶ τεθνηξόμενος καὶ ἐδύνατο, εἴπερ ἐπείσθη τῷ Κρίτωνι, ὑπεξελθὼν τὴν φυλακὴν μηδὲν τούτων παθεῖν, ἀλλʼ εἵλετο κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον αὐτῷ εὔλογον κρεῖττον αὐτῷ εἶναι φιλοσόφως ἀποθανεῖν ἢ ἀφιλοσόφως ζῆν. ἀλλὰ καὶ Λεωνίδας ὁ Λακεδαιμονίων στρατηγὸς εἰδὼς ὅσον οὐδέπω τεθνηξόμενος μετὰ τῶν ἐν Θερμοπύλαις οὐκ ἐπραγματεύσατο τὸ ζῆσαι αἰσχρῶς, ἀλλʼ εἶπε τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ· „ἀριστήσωμεν ὡς ἐν ᾅδου δειπνοποιησόμενοι.“ οἷς δὲ μέλει ἱστορίας τοιαύτας συναγαγεῖν πολλὰ εὑρήσουσι. καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν, εἰ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπιστάμενος τὰ συμβησόμενα οὐκ ἐξέκλινεν ἀλλὰ περιέπιπτεν οἷς καὶ προηπίστατο; ὅπου καὶ Παῦλος ὁ μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσας τὰ συμβησόμενα αὐτῷ ἀναβάντι εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ὁμόσε τοῖς κινδύνοις ἐχώρησεν, ἐπιπλήσσων καὶ τοῖς δεδακρυμένοις περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ κωλύουσιν ἀναβῆναι εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα. πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐπιστάμενοι, ὡς ὁμολογήσαντες μὲν χριστιανισμὸν ἀποθανοῦνται ἀρνησάμενοι δὲ ἀπολυθήσονται καὶ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ἀπολήψονται, κατεφρόνησαν μὲν τοῦ βίου ἑκουσίως δὲ τὸν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας θάνατον εἵλοντο. ### English translation (Claude) Very stupid too is this: “What god, or daemon, or sensible man, foreseeing that such things would happen to him, would not avoid them if he could, instead of falling into what he knew beforehand?” Socrates, at any rate, knew that he would drink the hemlock and die, and he could, if he had listened to Crito, have escaped from prison and suffered none of these things; but he chose, according to what seemed reasonable to him, that it was better for him to die as a philosopher than to live unworthy of philosophy. Leonidas too, the general of the Lacedaemonians, knowing that he was about to die with those at Thermopylae, did not contrive to live shamefully, but said to those with him: “Let us breakfast as men who will dine in Hades.” Those who care to collect such stories will find many. What wonder, then, if Jesus, knowing what would happen, did not avoid it but met what he also knew beforehand? When Paul too, his disciple, heard what would happen to him if he went up to Jerusalem, he went to meet the dangers, rebuking those who wept around him and tried to keep him from going up to Jerusalem. And many in our own time, knowing that if they confessed Christianity they would die, but if they denied it they would be released and recover their property, have despised life and willingly chosen death for the sake of piety. ### Scripture references - Acts 21:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Socrates and Crito: Plato, Crito. The saying of Leonidas is reported by Plutarch (Sayings of Spartans) and Diodorus. Paul's journey: Acts 21:10–14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/17/). ## Against Celsus 2.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/18/ - Source: Koetschau 1:147 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that if Jesus truly foreknew the betrayal and denial, they had to happen, and that neither Judas nor Peter acted with complete indifference to him. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ἄλλο εὔηθές φησιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος, ὅτι πῶς, εἴπερ προεῖπε καὶ τὸν προδώσοντα καὶ τὸν ἀρνησόμενον, οὐκ ἂν ὡς θεὸν ἐφοβήθησαν, ὡς τὸν μὲν μὴ προδοῦναι ἔτι τὸν δὲ μὴ ἀρνήσασθαι; καὶ οὐκ εἶδέ γε ὁ σοφώτατος Κέλσος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τὴν μάχην, ὅτι εἰ μὲν ὡς θεὸς προέγνω καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν αὐτοῦ τὴν πρόγνωσιν ψεύσασθαι, οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν οὔτε τὸν ἐγνωσμένον ὡς προδώσοντα μὴ προδοῦναι οὔτε τὸν ἐλεγχθέντα ἀρνησόμενον μὴ ἀρνήσασθαι· εἰ δʼ οἷόν τʼ ἦν τόνδε μὲν μὴ προδώσειν τόνδε δὲ μὴ ἀρνήσασθαι, ὡς καὶ γενέσθαι ἂν τὸ μὴ προδοῦναι καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀρνήσασθαι ἐν τοῖς ταῦτα προμεμαθηκόσιν, οὐκέτι ἀληθὴς ἦν ὁ λέγων ὅτι ὅδε μὲν προδώσει ὅδε δὲ ἀρνήσεται. καὶ γὰρ εἰ προέγνω προδώσοντα, τὴν πονηρίαν εἶδεν, ἀφʼ ἧς προδώσει, ἥτις οὐ πάντως ἐκ τῆς προγνώσεως ἀνετέτραπτο. πάλιν τε αὖ εἰ κατείληφε τὸν ἀρνησόμενον τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἰδὼν, ἀφʼ ἧς ἀρνήσεται, προεῖπεν ὅτι ἀρνήσεται· ἡ δʼ ἀσθένεια οὐκ ἔμελλεν ἀνατρέπεσθαι οὕτως ἀθρόως ἀπὸ τῆς προγνώσεως. πόθεν δὲ καὶ τό· ἀλλʼ αὐτοὶ προέδωκάν τε καὶ ἠρνήσαντο μηδὲν αὐτοῦ φροντίσαντες; ἐδείχθη γὰρ περὶ μὲν τοῦ προδόντος ὅτι ψεῦδος τὸ μηδαμῶς αὐτὸν πεφροντικότα τοῦ διδασκάλου προδεδωκέναι· οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀρνησαμένου τοῦτο δείκνυται, ὃς „ἐξελθὼν ἔξω“ μετὰ τὸ ἀρνήσασθαι „ἔκλαυσε πικρῶς.“ ### English translation (Claude) Next the Jew in Celsus says something else foolish: “How, if he foretold both who would betray him and who would deny him, did they not fear him as a god, so that the one would no longer betray him and the other would not deny him?” The most wise Celsus did not see the contradiction in this passage. If he foreknew as God, and his foreknowledge could not prove false, then it was impossible for the one known as the future betrayer not to betray, or for the one shown to be the future denier not to deny. But if it was possible for this one not to betray and that one not to deny, so that not betraying and not denying could have happened among those who had learned of it in advance, then the one who said, “This one will betray and that one will deny,” was no longer truthful. For if he foreknew the betrayer, he saw the wickedness from which he would betray, and that wickedness was by no means overturned by the foreknowledge. Again, if he recognized the one who would deny, seeing the weakness from which he would deny, he foretold that he would deny; and that weakness was not going to be overturned so suddenly by the foreknowledge. And where does he get this: “But they betrayed and denied him without caring for him at all”? For it has been shown about the betrayer that it is false that he betrayed his teacher without caring for him at all; and this is shown no less about the one who denied, who “went out” after denying and “wept bitterly.” ### Scripture references - Matt 26:75: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:62: quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 26:75 (also Luke 22:62). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/18/). ## Against Celsus 2.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/19/ - Source: Koetschau 1:147–148 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's argument that the betrayal and denial could not have been foretold, since a prediction is shown true by its fulfilment. ### Greek text Ἐπιπόλαιον δὲ καὶ τό· ἤδη γάρ που καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐπιβουλευόμενός τε καὶ προαισθόμενος ἐὰν προείπῃ τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύουσιν, ἀποτρέπονται καὶ φυλάσσονται· πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ προαισθομένοις τοῖς ἐπιβουλευομένοις ἐπεβούλευσαν. ἑξῆς ὡσπερεὶ τὸ συμπέρασμα ἐπάγων τῷ λόγῳ φησίν· οὔκουν ἐπειδὴ προείρητο ταῦτα, γέγονεν, ἀδύνατον γάρ· ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ γέγονε, ψεῦδος ἐλέγχεται τὸ προειρηκέναι· πάντῃ γὰρ ἀμήχανον τοὺς προακούσαντας ἔτι προδοῦναι καὶ ἀρνήσασθαι. ἀνατραπεῖσι δὲ τοῖς προειρημένοις συνανετράπη καὶ τὸ συμπέρασμα τό· (οὐκ) ἐπεὶ προείρητο ταῦτα, γέγονε. φαμὲν δʼ ὅτι καὶ γέγονεν, ὡς δυνατὸν, καὶ ἐπεὶ γέγονεν. ἀληθὲς δείκνυται τὸ προειρηκέναι· τὸ γὰρ περὶ μελλόντων ἀληθὲς ταῖς ἐκβάσεσι κρίνεται. ψεῦδος οὖν τὸ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ οὕτως εἰρημένον. ὅτι ψεῦδος ἐλέγχεται τὸ προειρηκέναι, καὶ μάτην λέλεκται τῷ Κέλσῳ τό· πάντῃ γὰρ ἀμήχανον τοὺς προακούσαντας ἔτι προδοῦναι καὶ ἀρνήσασθαι. ### English translation (Claude) Superficial too is this: “For already, surely, even a man who is plotted against, if he learns of it beforehand and tells the plotters in advance, turns them back and puts them on their guard.” For many have plotted against people who knew of it beforehand. Next, as if drawing the conclusion of his argument, he says: “So these things did not happen because they had been foretold, for that is impossible; but since they happened, the claim that they were foretold is proved false. For it is utterly impossible that those who heard it beforehand should still betray and deny.” Now that his premises have been overturned, the conclusion too is overturned with them: “(Not) because these things were foretold did they happen.” We say that they both happened, since it was possible, and that because they happened the foretelling is shown to be true; for what is said about the future is judged true by the outcome. His statement, then, is false: that the foretelling is proved false. And Celsus's words, “For it is utterly impossible that those who heard it beforehand should still betray and deny,” were said in vain. ### Translation notes - The bracketed “(not)” is the editor's supplement. The sentence introduced by φαμὲν (“we say”) is compressed in the Greek; the sense is that the events both happened and prove the prediction true. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/19/). ## Against Celsus 2.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/20/ - Source: Koetschau 1:148–151 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's charge that a foreknowing God made his disciples traitors, Origen argues that foreknowledge does not cause what it foresees, using Judas, the oracle to Laius, and the Stoic “idle argument.” ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ἴδωμεν, πῶς λέγει· ταῦτα θεὸς, φησὶν, ὢν προεῖπε, καὶ πάντως ἐχρῆν γενέσθαι τὸ προειρημένον. θεὸς οὖν τοὺς αὑτοῦ μαθητὰς καὶ προφήτας. μεθʼ ὧν συνεδείπνει καὶ συνέπινεν, εἰς τοῦτο περιήγαγεν. ὥστε ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀνοσίους γενέσθαι, ὃν ἐχρῆν μάλιστα πάντας ἀνθρώπους εὐεργετεῖν, διαφερόντως δὲ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ συνεστίους. ἢ ἀνθρώπῳ μὲν ὁ κοινωνήσας τραπέζης οὐκ ἂν ἔτι ἐπεβούλευσε, θεῷ δὲ συνευωχηθεὶς ἐπίβουλος ἐγίνετο; καὶ ὅπερ ἔτι ἀτοπώτερον, αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς τοῖς συντραπέζοις ἐπεβούλευσε, προδότας καὶ δυσσεβεῖς ποιῶν. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ, ἐπεὶ βούλει καὶ τοῖς ἐμοὶ φαινομένοις εὐτελέσι τοῦ Κέλσου ἐπιχειρήμασιν ἀπαντᾶν, τοιαῦτα φήσομεν. ὁ μὲν Κέλσος οἴεται διὰ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι τὸ ὑπό τινος προγνώσεως θεσπισθὲν, ἐπεὶ ἐθεσπίσθη· ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦτο οὐ διδόντες φαμὲν οὐχὶ τὸν θεσπίσαντα αἴτιον εἶναι τοῦ ἐσομένου, ἐπεὶ προεῖπεν αὐτὸ γενησόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐσόμενον, ἐσόμενον ἂν καὶ μὴ θεσπισθὲν, τὴν αἰτίαν τῷ προγινώσκοντι παρεσχηκέναι τοῦ αὐτὸ προειπεῖν. καὶ ὅλον γε τοῦτο ἐν τῇ προγνώσει τοῦ θεσπίζοντος αὐτὸ τυγχάνει· δυνατοῦ (δὲ) ὄντος τοῦδέ τινος γενέσθαι δυνατοῦ δὲ καὶ μὴ γενέσθαι, ἔσται τὸ ἕτερον αὐτῶν τόδε τι. καὶ οὔ φαμεν ὅτι ὁ προγινώσκων, ὑφελὼν τὸ δυνατὸν εἶναι γενέσθαι καὶ μὴ γενέσθαι, οἱονεὶ τοιοῦτόν τι λέγει· τόδε πάντως ἔσται, καὶ ἀδύνατον ἑτέρως γενέσθαι. καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτο φθάνει ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν τινος πρόγνωσιν, εἴτε κατὰ τὰς θείας γραφὰς εἴτε κατὰ τὰς Ἑλλήνων ἱστορίας. καὶ ὁ καλούμενός γε παρὰ τοῖς διαλεκτικοῖς ἀργὸς λόγος, σόφισμα τυγχάνων. οὐκ ἔσται μὲν σόφισμα ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ Κέλσῳ κατὰ δὲ τὸν ὑγιῆ λόγον σόφισμά ἐστιν. ἵνα δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτο νοηθῇ, ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς γραφῆς χρήσομαι ταῖς περὶ (τοῦ) Ἰούδα προφητείαις ἢ τῇ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς προδώσοντος προγνώσει· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἱστοριῶν τῷ πρὸς τὸν Λάϊον χρησμῷ, συγχωρῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἶναι αὐτὸν ἀληθῆ, ἐπεὶ μὴ λυπεῖ τὸν λόγον. περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα τοίνυν ἐν ἑκατοστῷ καὶ ὀγδόῳ λέγεται ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ σωτῆρος ψαλμῷ, οὗ ἡ ἀρχή· „ὁ θεὸς, τὴν αἴνεσίν μου μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς· ὅτι στόμα ἁμαρτωλοῦ καὶ στόμα δολίου ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἠνοίχθη.“ καὶ τηρήσας γε τὰ ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ γεγραμμένα εὑρήσεις ὅτι, ὡς προέγνωσται προδώσων τὸν σωτῆρα, οὕτως καὶ αἴτιος ὢν τῆς προδοσίας καὶ ἄξιος τῶν ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ λεγομένων διὰ τὴν κακίαν αὐτοῦ ἀρῶν. τάδε γὰρ παθέτω „ἀνθʼ ὧν, φησὶν, οὐκ ἐμνήσθη τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἔλεος καὶ κατεδίωξεν ἄνθρωπον πένητα καὶ πτωχόν.“ οὐκοῦν ἐδύνατο μνησθῆναι „τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἔλεος“ καὶ μὴ καταδιῶξαι ὃν κατεδίωξε· δυνάμενος δὲ οὐ πεποίηκεν ἀλλὰ προέδωκεν, ὥστε ἄξιος εἶναι τῶν ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἀρῶν. καὶ πρὸς Ἕλληνας δὲ χρησόμεθα τῷ εἰρημένῳ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον πρὸς τὸν Λάϊον, εἴτε αὐταῖς λέξεσιν εἴτε τὸ ἰσοδυναμοῦν αὐταῖς ἀναγράψαντος τοῦ τραγικοῦ. λέγεται τοίνυν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ προεγνωκότος δὴ τὰ ἐσόμενα· μὴ σπεῖρε παίδων ἄλοκα δαιμόνων βίᾳ· εἰ γὰρ τεκνώσεις παῖδʼ, ἀποκτενεῖ σʼ ὁ φύς, καὶ πᾶς σὸς οἶκος βήσεται διʼ αἱμάτων. καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τοίνυν (σαφῶς) δηλοῦται ὅτι δυνατὸν μὲν ἦν τῷ Λαΐῳ μὴ σπείρειν „παίδων ἄλοκα“· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ τὸ μὴ δυνατὸν προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ χρησμός· δυνατὸν δὲ ἦν καὶ τὸ σπείρειν, καὶ οὐδέτερον αὐτῶν κατηνάγκαστο. ἠκολούθησε δὲ τῷ μὴ φυλαξαμένῳ σπεῖραι „παίδων ἄλοκα“ παθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ ἐσπαρκέναι τὰ τῆς κατὰ Οἰδίποδα καὶ Ἰοκάστην καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τραγῳδίας. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ἀργὸς καλούμενος λόγος, σόφισμα ὢν, τοιοῦτός ἐστι λεγόμενος ἐπὶ ὑποθέσεως πρὸς τὸν νοσοῦντα καὶ ὡς σόφισμα ἀποτρέπων αὐτὸν χρῆσθαι τῷ ἰατρῷ πρὸς ὑγίειαν, καὶ ἔχει γε οὕτως ὁ λόγος· εἰ εἵμαρταί σοι ἀναστῆναι ἐκ τῆς νόσου, ἐάν τε εἰσαγάγῃς τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐάν τε μὴ εἰσαγάγῃς, ἀναστήσῃ· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ εἵμαρταί σοι μὴ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ τῆς νόσου, ἐάν τε εἰσαγάγῃς τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐάν τε μὴ εἰσαγάγῃς, οὐκ ἀναστήσῃ· ἤτοι δὲ εἵμαρταί σοι ἀναστῆναι ἐκ τῆς νόσου ἢ εἵμαρταί σοι μὴ ἀναστῆναι· μάτην ἄρα εἰσάγεις τὸν ἰατρόν. ἀλλὰ χαριέντως τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ τοιοῦτόν τι ἀντιπαραβάλλεται· εἰ εἵμαρταί σοι τεκνοποιῆσαι, ἐάν τε συνέλθῃς γυναικὶ ἐάν τε μὴ συνέλθῃς, τεκνοποιήσεις· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ εἵμαρταί σοι μὴ τεκνοποιῆσαι, ἐάν τε συνέλθῃς γυναικὶ ἢ μὴ συνέλθῃς, οὐ τεκνοποιήσεις· ἤτοι δὲ εἵμαρταί σοι τεκνοποιῆσαι ἢ μὴ τεκνοποιῆσαι· μάτην ἄρα συνέρχῃ γυναικί. ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτου, ἐπεὶ ἀμήχανον καὶ ἀδύνατον τεκνοποιῆσαι τὸν μὴ συνελθόντα γυναικὶ, οὐ μάτην παραλαμβάνεται τὸ συνελθεῖν γυναικί· οὕτως εἰ τὸ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ τῆς νόσου ὁδῷ τῇ ἀπὸ ἰατρικῆς γίνεται, ἀναγκαίως παραλαμβάνεται ὁ ἰατρὸς, καὶ ψεῦδος τὸ „μάτην εἰσάγεις τὸν ἰατρόν.“ ὅλα δὲ ταῦτα παρειλήφαμεν διʼ ἃ παρέθετο ὁ σοφώτατος Κέλσος εἰπών· θεὸς ὢν προεῖπε, καὶ πάντως ἐχρῆν γενέσθαι τὸ προειρημένον. εἰ γὰρ τοῦ πάντως ἀκούει ἀντὶ τοῦ κατηναγκασμένως, οὐ δώσομεν αὐτῷ· δυνατὸν γὰρ ἦν καὶ μὴ γενέσθαι. εἰ δὲ τὸ πάντως λέγει ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔσται. ὅπερ οὐ κωλύεται εἶναι ἀληθὲς. κἂν δυνατὸν ᾖ τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι. οὐδὲν λυπεῖ τὸν λόγον· οὐδὲ (γὰρ) ἠκολούθει τῷ προειρηκέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν (ἀληθῶς) τὰ περὶ τοῦ προδότου ἢ τὰ περὶ τοῦ ἀρνησαμένου τὸ αὐτὸν αὐτοῖς αἴτιον γενέσθαι ἀσεβείας καὶ ἀνοσίου πράξεως. ἰδὼν γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸ μοχθηρὸν ἦθος ὁ καθʼ ἡμᾶς γινώσκων, „τί ἦν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, “ καὶ ὁρῶν ἃ τολμήσει ἔκ τε τοῦ φιλάργυρος εἶναι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ βεβαίως περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου φρονεῖν ἃ ἐχρῆν εἶπε μετὰ πολλῶν καὶ τό· „ὁ ἐμβάψας μετʼ ἐμοῦ τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸ τρυβλίον. ἐκεῖνός με παραδώσει.“ ### English translation (Claude) After this let us see how he speaks: “He foretold these things,” he says, “being a god, and what was foretold had to happen in any case. A god, then, led his own disciples and prophets, with whom he ate and drank, into this, so that they became impious and unholy, when he above all ought to have done good to all people, and especially to those who shared his table. Or would a man who had shared a table with another no longer plot against him, whereas one who feasted with a god became his plotter? And what is still more absurd, the god himself plotted against those who shared his table, making them traitors and ungodly.” Since you wish me to answer even Celsus's arguments that seem to me trivial, we shall say the following to this too. Celsus thinks that what is declared by some foreknowledge happens because it was declared; we do not grant this, but say that the one who declared it is not the cause of what will be because he foretold that it would happen; rather what will be, which would have been even if it had not been declared, provided the foreknower with the reason for foretelling it. And this whole matter lies in the foreknowledge of the one who declares it: when it is possible for a certain thing to happen and possible also for it not to happen, one or the other of them will be the case. And we do not say that the foreknower, taking away the possibility of its happening or not happening, says something like this: “This will certainly be, and it is impossible for it to happen otherwise.” This applies to every foreknowledge of something that depends on us, whether in the divine Scriptures or in the histories of the Greeks. And what the dialecticians call the “idle argument,” which is a sophism, will not be a sophism as far as Celsus is concerned, but by sound reason it is a sophism. So that this may be understood, from Scripture I shall use the prophecies about Judas, or our Savior's foreknowledge of him as the one who would betray him; and from Greek history the oracle to Laius, granting for the present that it is true, since this does not harm the argument. About Judas, then, it is said in the hundred and eighth psalm, spoken in the person of the Savior, which begins: “O God, do not pass over my praise in silence; for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful has been opened against me.” And if you observe what is written in the psalm, you will find that, just as he was foreknown as the one who would betray the Savior, so he was also the cause of the betrayal and deserved, because of his wickedness, the curses spoken in the prophecy. For let him suffer these things, “because,” it says, “he did not remember to show mercy, and persecuted a man poor and needy.” So he was able to remember “to show mercy” and not to persecute the one he persecuted; but though he was able, he did not do so, but betrayed him, so as to deserve the curses against him in the prophecy. And against the Greeks we shall use what was said in this way to Laius, whether the tragedian recorded its very words or their equivalent. It is said to him by the one who foreknew what would be: “Do not sow the furrow of children against the will of the gods; for if you beget a child, your offspring will kill you, and your whole house will wade through blood.” In this, then, it is clearly shown that it was possible for Laius not to sow “the furrow of children”; for the oracle would not have commanded him what was not possible. But it was also possible to sow, and neither of the two was compelled. It followed for him who did not guard against sowing “the furrow of children” that, from having sown, he suffered the tragedy of Oedipus, Jocasta, and their sons. So too the so-called idle argument, being a sophism, runs like this when put hypothetically to a sick man, deterring him, as a sophism, from using the physician for his health. The argument goes thus: “If it is fated for you to recover from the illness, you will recover whether you call in the physician or not; but if it is fated for you not to recover, you will not recover whether you call in the physician or not. Either it is fated for you to recover or it is fated for you not to recover. So you call in the physician in vain.” But this argument is wittily met by one like it: “If it is fated for you to beget children, you will beget them whether you lie with a woman or not; but if it is fated for you not to beget children, you will not beget them whether you lie with a woman or not. Either it is fated for you to beget children or not to beget them. So you lie with a woman in vain.” For just as in this case, since it is impossible and cannot be that one who does not lie with a woman begets children, lying with a woman is not undertaken in vain, so, if recovery from illness comes by way of medicine, the physician is necessarily called in, and “you call in the physician in vain” is false. We have brought in all this because of what the most wise Celsus put forward when he said: “Being a god he foretold it, and what was foretold had to happen in any case.” For if he takes “in any case” to mean “by necessity,” we shall not grant it to him, since it was possible also for it not to happen. But if he means “in any case” in the sense of “it will be,” which may well be true even if it is possible for it not to happen, this does not harm the argument. Nor did it follow from Jesus' truly foretelling what concerned the betrayer or the one who denied that he himself became the cause of their impious and unholy act. For he who, as we believe, knew “what was in man,” saw his wicked character and what he would dare from being a lover of money and from not holding firmly the right convictions about his teacher, and among much else he said: “He who has dipped his hand with me in the dish, he will betray me.” ### Scripture references - Ps 109:1 (108:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 109:2 (108:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 109:16 (108:16 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 2:25: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:23: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Phoen. 18–20 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 109:1–2 (108:1–2 LXX), Ps 109:16 (108:16 LXX), John 2:25, and Matt 26:23. The oracle to Laius is Euripides, Phoenician Women 18–20. The “idle argument” (ἀργὸς λόγος) is the fatalist sophism discussed by the Stoics and reported by Cicero, On Fate 28–30. The words in parentheses in the Greek are editorial supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/20/). ## Against Celsus 2.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/21/ - Source: Koetschau 1:151–152 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that history is full of people who plotted against those whose table they had shared. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπιπόλαιον καὶ τὸ ἄντικρυς ψεῦδος τῆς τοιαύτης τοῦ Κέλσου λέξεως. ἀποφηναμένου ὅτι ἀνθρώπῳ μὲν ὁ κοινωνήσας τραπέζης οὐκ ἂν αὐτῷ ἐπιβουλεύσειεν· εἰ δὲ ἀνθρώπῳ οὐκ ἂν ἐπιβουλεύσειε. πολλῷ πλέον ὁ θεῷ συνευωχηθεὶς οὐκ ἂν αὐτῷ ἐπίβουλος ἐγίνετο. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν ὅτι πολλοὶ κοινωνήσαντες ἁλῶν καὶ τραπέζης ἐπεβούλευσαν τοῖς συνεστίοις; καὶ πλήρης ἐστὶν ἡ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων ἱστορία τοιούτων παραδειγμάτων· καὶ ὀνειδίζων γε ὁ Πάριος ἰαμβοποιὸς τὸν Λυκάμβην, μετὰ „ἅλας καὶ τράπεζαν“ συνθήκας ἀθετήσαντα. φησὶ πρὸς αὐτόν· ὅρκον δʼ ἐνοσφίσθης μέγαν ἅλας τε καὶ τράπεζαν. οἷς δὲ μέλει τῆς ἐν ἱστορίαις φιλομαθίας, ὅλοις γενομένοις αὐτῆς καὶ καταλιποῦσι τὰ ἀναγκαιότερα περὶ τοῦ ὡς δὴ βιωτέον μαθήματα. πλείονα παραθήσονται δεικνύντες ὡς οἱ κοινωνήσαντες τραπέζης τισὶν ἐπεβούλευσαν αὐτοῖς. ### English translation (Claude) See also how superficial and how plainly false is this statement of Celsus. He declared that a man who had shared another's table would not plot against him; and if he would not plot against a man, much more would one who had feasted with a god not become his plotter. For who does not know that many who shared salt and table have plotted against their companions at table? The history of Greeks and barbarians is full of such examples. And the iambic poet of Paros, reproaching Lycambes for breaking agreements made over “salt and table,” says to him: “You set aside a great oath, both salt and table.” Those who care for learning in histories, who have given themselves wholly to it and left aside the more necessary lessons about how one ought to live, will cite more examples showing that those who shared a table with some have plotted against them. ### Extrabiblical texts - Archilochus, fragment 173 (Archilochus): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The poet of Paros is Archilochus, whose attack on Lycambes is famous; the line is Archilochus, fragment 173 West. The digital text reads σλοις, evidently ὅλοις (“wholly”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/21/). ## Against Celsus 2.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/22/ - Source: Koetschau 1:152 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen dismisses Celsus's claim that Jesus plotted against his own disciples and made them traitors. ### Greek text Εἶτα ὡς συναγαγὼν ἀραρυίαις ἀποδείξεσι καὶ ἀκολουθίαις τὸν λόγον εἶπε τό· καὶ ὅπερ ἔτι ἀτοπώτερον, αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς τοῖς συντραπέζοις ἐπεβούλευε, προδότας καὶ δυσσεβεῖς ποιῶν. πῶς γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἢ ἐπεβούλευσεν ἢ προδότας καὶ δυσσεβεῖς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐποίησεν, οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι παραδεικνύειν εἰ μὴ ἐξ ἧς ἐνόμισεν ἀκολουθίας. ἣν καὶ ὁ τυχὼν εὐχερέστατα διελέγξαι ἄν. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as if he had concluded his argument with firmly fitted proofs and consequences, he said: “And what is still more absurd, the god himself plotted against those who shared his table, making them traitors and ungodly.” But how Jesus either plotted against his disciples or made them traitors and ungodly, he could not show, except from the chain of reasoning he imagined, which anyone at all could very easily refute. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/22/). ## Against Celsus 2.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/23/ - Source: Koetschau 1:152–153 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that Jesus, having truly taken a human body, truly felt pain, even though he freely chose to suffer for the benefit of all. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγει ὅτι. εἰ δέδοκτο αὐτῷ ταῦτα. καὶ τῷ πατρὶ πειθόμενος ἐκολάζετο, δῆλον ὅτι θεῷ γε ὄντι καὶ βουλομένῳ οὔτʼ ἀλγεινὰ οὔτʼ ἀνιαρὰ ἦν τὰ κατὰ γνώμην δρώμενα. καὶ οὐχ ἑώρακέ γε αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ παρὰ πόδας ἐναντία εἰπών. εἰ γὰρ ἔδωκεν ὅτι ἐκολάζετο. ἐπεὶ δέδοκτο αὐτῷ ταῦτα. καὶ τῷ πατρὶ πειθόμενος ἐμπαρεῖχεν ἑαυτὸν, δῆλον ὅτι ἐκολάζετο, καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν μὴ εἶναι ἀλγεινὰ τὰ προσαγόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν κολαστῶν· ἀπροαίρετον γὰρ ὁ πόνος. εἰ δὲ βουλομένῳ οὔτε ἀλγεινὰ οὔτε ἀνιαρὰ ἦν τὰ προσαγόμενα, πῶς ἔδωκε τὸ ἐκολάζετο; οὐχ ἑώρακε δὲ ὅτι ἅπαξ ἀναλαβὼν τὸ διὰ γενέσεως σῶμα ἀνείληφεν αὐτὸ καὶ πόνων δεκτικὸν τυγχάνον καὶ τῶν τοῖς ἐν σώμασι συμβαινόντων ἀνιαρῶν, εἰ τοῦ ἀνιαροῦ μὴ ὡς προαιρετικοῦ ἀκούοιμεν. ὥσπερ οὖν βουληθεὶς ἀνείληφε σῶμα οὐ πάντῃ ἄλλης φύσεως παρὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σάρκα. οὕτως συνανείληφε τῷ σώματι καὶ τὰ ἀλγεινὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἀνιαρὰ. ὧν πρὸς τὸ μὴ παθεῖν κύριος οὐκ ἦν, ἐπὶ τοῖς διατιθεῖσιν ὄντος προσάγειν αὐτῷ τὰ ἀνιαρὰ καὶ τὰ ἀλγεινά. προαπελογησάμεθα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὅτι βουληθεὶς μὴ ἥκειν εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἐληλύθει ἄν. ἦλθε δὲ. ἐπεὶ ἐβούλετο. διὰ τὸ προαποδεδομένον ἐκ τοῦ αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων ἀποθανεῖν τῷ παντὶ χρήσιμον. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says: “If he had decided on these things and was punished in obedience to his Father, it is clear that, since he was a god and willed it, what was done to him according to his own purpose was neither painful nor grievous to him.” He did not see that he was contradicting himself at once. For if he granted that he was punished, since he had decided on these things and in obedience to his Father gave himself up, it is clear that he was punished, and it was not possible for what the punishers inflicted not to be painful; for pain does not depend on the will. But if what was inflicted was neither painful nor grievous to one who willed it, how did he grant that “he was punished”? He did not see that, having once taken the body that comes through birth, he took a body capable of suffering pain and the grievous things that befall those in bodies, if we understand “grievous” as something not chosen. So then, just as he willingly took a body not wholly of another nature than human flesh, so together with the body he also took its pains and griefs. He was not master of not suffering these, since it lay with those who handled him to inflict on him what was grievous and painful. We have already made our defense above, that if he had not wished to come into human hands he would not have come; but he came, since he wished to, because of the benefit to the universe, stated earlier, from his dying for human beings. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/23/). ## Against Celsus 2.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/24/ - Source: Koetschau 1:153–154 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen accuses Celsus of quoting Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane selectively, omitting his submission to the Father's will, as the impious quote “I will kill” without “I will make alive.” ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις θέλων παραστῆσαι ὅτι ἀλγεινὰ καὶ ἀνιαρὰ ἦν τὰ συμβάντα αὐτῷ καὶ ὅτι οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν βουληθέντα αὐτὸν ποιῆσαι εἶναι αὐτὰ μὴ τοιαῦτα λέγει· τί οὖν ποτνιᾶται καὶ ὀδύρεται καὶ τὸν τοῦ ὀλέθρου φόβον εὔχεται παραδραμεῖν. λέγων ὧδέ πως· „ὦ πάτερ. εἰ δύναται τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο παρελθεῖν;“ καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὲ ὅρα τὸ τοῦ Κέλσου κακοῦργον, ὅτι μὴ ἀποδεξάμενος τὸ φιλάληθες τῶν ἀναγραψάντων τὰ εὐαγγέλια, δυνηθέντων μὲν παρασιωπῆσαι τὰ. ὡς Κέλσος οἴεται. ἔγκλητα οὐ σιωπησάντων δὲ διὰ πολλοὺς λόγους. οὓς ἐν καιρῷ τις ἀποδώσει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διηγούμενος. κατηγορεῖ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς λέξεως προσεκτραγῳδῶν καὶ τιθεὶς μὴ τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα· οὐ γὰρ εὑρίσκεται. πῶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὀδύρεται. καὶ παραφράζει μὲν τὸ „πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι, παρελθέτω τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τὸ αὐτόθεν ἐμφαῖνον τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα εὐσέβειαν αὐτοῦ καὶ μεγαλοψυχίαν ἑξῆς δὲ τούτῳ ἀναγεγραμμένον παρατίθεται οὕτως ἔχον· „πλὴν οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω. ἀλλʼ ὡς σύ.“ ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν πρὸς τὸ βούλημα τοῦ πατρὸς περὶ τῶν κεκριμένων αὐτὸν παθεῖν εὐπείθειαν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ δηλουμένην ἐν τῷ „εἰ οὐ δύναται τοῦτο παρελθεῖν. ἐὰν μὴ αὐτὸ πίω. γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου“ προσποιεῖται ἀνεγνωκέναι. ὅμοιόν τι ποιῶν τοῖς κακουργότερον ἀκούουσι τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἀσεβέσι καὶ „ἀδικίαν εἰς τὸ ὕψος“ λαλοῦσι. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι τοῦ μὲν „ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ“ δοκοῦσιν ἀκηκοέναι καὶ πολλάκις ἡμῖν αὐτὸ ὀνειδίζουσι. τοῦ δὲ „ζῆν ποιήσω“ οὐδὲ μέμνηνται· τοῦ ὅλου ῥητοῦ δηλοῦντος τοὺς ἐπὶ κοινῷ κακῷ ζῶντας καὶ ἐνεργοῦντας κατὰ κακίαν ἀποκτείννυσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. ζωὴν δʼ αὐτοῖς κρείττονα ἀντεισάγεσθαι καὶ ἣν δῴη ἂν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀποθανοῦσιν. οὕτω δʼ ἐκεῖνοι ἤκουσαν μὲν τοῦ „πατάξω“ οὐκέτι δὲ ὁρῶσι τὸ „κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι“· ὅ τι ὅμοιόν ἐστι λεγομένῳ ὑπὸ ἰατροῦ, διελόντος σώματα καὶ τραύματα χαλεπὰ ποιήσαντος ἐπὶ τῷ ἐξελεῖν αὐτῶν τὰ βλάπτοντα καὶ ἐμποδίζοντα τῇ ὑγιείᾳ, καὶ οὐ καταλήξαντος εἰς τοὺς πόνους καὶ τὴν διαίρεσιν ἀλλʼ ἀποκαθιστῶντος τῇ θεραπείᾳ τὸ σῶμα ἐπὶ τὴν προκειμένην αὐτῷ ὑγίειαν. ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν ὅλου τοῦ „αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀλγεῖν ποιεῖ καὶ πάλιν ἀποκαθίστησιν“ ἀλλὰ μόνου τοῦ „ἀλγεῖν ποιεῖ.“ οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ἐκτεθειμένος τὸ „ὦ πάτερ, εἴθε δύναιτο τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο παρελθεῖν, “ οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς καὶ τὰ παριστάντα τὴν Ἰησοῦ πρὸς τὸ πάθος παρασκευὴν καὶ εὐτονίαν. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ, πολλὴν ἔχοντα διήγησιν ἀπὸ σοφίας θεοῦ οἷς ὁ Παῦλος ὠνόμασε „τελείοις“ εὐλόγως παραδοθησομένην. λέγων· „σοφίαν δὲ λαλοῦμεν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις.“ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ὑπερτιθέμενοι ἐπʼ ὀλίγον ὑπομιμνησκόμεθα τῶν πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον χρησίμων. ### English translation (Claude) Next, wishing to show that what befell him was painful and grievous, and that it was not possible for him to make it otherwise by willing it, he says: “Why then does he cry out and lament and pray to escape the fear of destruction, saying something like this: ‘O Father, if this cup could pass by’?” Here too see Celsus's malice. He does not acknowledge the love of truth of those who wrote the Gospels, who could have passed over in silence what Celsus thinks blameworthy, yet did not keep silent, for many reasons which someone will set out at the proper time in expounding the Gospel. Instead he accuses the Gospel text, adding tragic exaggeration and putting down what is not written; for it is not found that Jesus laments. He paraphrases “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass,” but no longer cites what is written right after it, which plainly shows his reverence toward the Father and his greatness of soul, and which runs: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Nor does he pretend to have read the ready obedience of Jesus to his Father's will concerning what had been decided that he should suffer, shown in the words: “If this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” He is doing something like the impious who hear the divine Scriptures maliciously and “speak unrighteousness on high.” For they seem to have heard “I will kill,” and they often reproach us with it, but they do not even remember “I will make alive.” Yet the whole saying shows that those who live to the common harm and act in wickedness are killed by God, and a better life is brought in for them in exchange, one that God would give to those who have died to sin. So too they have heard “I will strike,” but do not see “and I will heal.” This is like what a physician says when he has cut into bodies and made severe wounds in order to remove what harms them and hinders their health, and does not stop at the pain and the cutting, but by his treatment restores the body to the health he intends for it. Nor have they heard the whole of “For he causes pain and restores again,” but only “he causes pain.” In the same way the Jew presented by Celsus has set out “O Father, if only this cup could pass by,” but not what follows, which displays Jesus' readiness and firmness toward his passion. These matters too, which admit of a long exposition from the wisdom of God, fittingly to be handed on to those whom Paul called “perfect” when he said, “We speak wisdom among the perfect,” we put off for the present and briefly recall only what is useful for the matter at hand. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:42: quotation, high confidence - Ps 73:8 (72:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:39: quotation, high confidence - Job 5:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:39 and 26:42 (with Celsus's paraphrase), Ps 73:8 (72:8 LXX), Deut 32:39, and Job 5:18; the closing quotation is 1 Cor 2:6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/24/). ## Against Celsus 2.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/25/ - Source: Koetschau 1:154–155 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that in Gethsemane Jesus spoke as a man, showing both the weakness of the flesh and the eagerness of the spirit, and that his real suffering is an example to believers. ### Greek text Ἐλέγομεν δὴ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὅτι αἱ μέν τινες εἰσὶ φωναὶ τοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ πρωτοτόκου „πάσης κτίσεως“ ὡς ἡ· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ αἱ τούτοις παραπλήσιαι, αἱ δὲ τοῦ κατʼ αὐτὸν νοουμένου ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἡ τοῦ· „νῦν δέ με ζητεῖτε ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον, ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα. ἣν ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός.“ καὶ ἐνθάδε τοίνυν διαγράφει ἐν τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σαρκὸς ἀσθενὲς καὶ τὸ τοῦ πνεύματος πρόθυμον. τὸ μὲν ἀσθενὲς ἐν τῷ „πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι, παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο.“ τὸ δὲ πρόθυμον τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν τῷ „πλὴν οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω, ἀλλʼ ὡς σύ.“ εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν τάξιν τῶν λελεγμένων τηρῆσαι δεῖ. πρόσχες ὅτι πρότερον μὲν εἴρηται τὸ. ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, κατὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ἓν τυγχάνον. ὕστερον δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὴν προθυμίαν τοῦ πνεύματος ὄντα πλείονα. ἓν μὲν γὰρ τὸ „πάτερ. εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι. παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ πλείονα δὲ τό τε „οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω, ἀλλʼ ὡς σὺ“ καὶ τὸ „πάτερ μου, εἰ οὐ δύναται τοῦτο παρελθεῖν, ἐὰν μὴ αὐτὸ πίω, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου.“ τηρητέον δὲ καὶ τὸ μὴ εἰρῆσθαι μέν· „ἀπελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ λελέχθαι δὲ εὐσεβῶς καὶ μεθʼ ὑποτιμήσεως ὅλον τοῦτο· „πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι. παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο.“ οἶδα δέ τινα καὶ τοιαύτην εἰς τὸν τόπον διήγησιν, ὅτι ὁρῶν ὁ σωτὴρ οἷα ὁ λαὸς καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πείσεται ἐπὶ τῇ ἐκδικήσει τῶν κατʼ αὐτοῦ τετολμημένων ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων, οὐ διʼ ἄλλο τι ἢ διὰ τὸ πρὸς ἐκείνους φιλάνθρωπον θέλων μὴ παθεῖν τὸν λαὸν ἃ ἔμελλε πάσχειν φησὶ τὸ „πάτερ. εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι. παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο“· ὡς εἰ ἔλεγεν· ἐπεὶ ἐκ τοῦ με πιεῖν τουτὶ τὸ τῆς κολάσεως ποτήριον ὅλον ἔθνος ὑπὸ σοῦ ἐγκαταλειφθήσεται, εὔχομαι. εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι, παρελθεῖν „ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ ἵνα μὴ ἡ μερίς σου τολμήσασα κατʼ ἐμοῦ πάντῃ ὑπὸ σοῦ ἐγκαταλειφθῇ. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Κέλσος. μήτʼ ἀλγεινόν τι μήτʼ ἀνιαρὸν τῷ Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐγίνετο, πῶς ἂν οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα παραδείγματι τοῦ ὑπομένειν τὰ διʼ εὐσέβειαν ἐπίπονα ἐδύναντο χρήσασθαι Ἰησοῦ. μὴ παθόντι μὲν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα μόνον δὲ δόξαντι πεπονθέναι; ### English translation (Claude) We said above too that some sayings are those of the firstborn “of all creation” in Jesus, such as “I am the way and the truth and the life” and others like it, while others are those of the man understood to be in him, such as “But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from the Father.” Here, then, in his human nature he portrays both the weakness of human flesh and the eagerness of the spirit: the weakness in “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,” and the eagerness of the spirit in “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” And if one must also observe the order of what was said, notice that first is said what belongs to the weakness of the flesh, being, so to speak, one thing, and afterward what belongs to the eagerness of the spirit, which is more. For there is one saying, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,” but more: both “not as I will, but as you will” and “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” It must also be observed that he did not say, “Let this cup go away from me,” but said this whole sentence reverently and with reserve: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” I also know of an interpretation of the passage like this: the Savior, seeing what the people and Jerusalem would suffer in punishment for what the Jews had dared against him, for no other reason than his love for them, wished that the people should not suffer what they were going to suffer, and said, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me”; as if he were saying: “Since, because I drink this cup of punishment, a whole nation will be forsaken by you, I pray, if it is possible, that this cup may pass from me, so that your portion, which has dared this against me, may not be wholly forsaken by you.” But if, as Celsus says, nothing painful or grievous happened to Jesus at that time, how could those who came afterward use Jesus as an example of enduring hardships for the sake of piety, if he had not suffered human things but only seemed to have suffered? ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - John 8:40: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:42: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:41: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Col 1:15, John 14:6, John 8:40, Matt 26:39, and Matt 26:42; “the weakness of the flesh” and “the eagerness of the spirit” echo Matt 26:41. Origen reports without adopting it an interpretation that Jesus prayed for the Jewish people. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/25/). ## Against Celsus 2.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/26/ - Source: Koetschau 1:155–156 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that the disciples could easily have hidden Jesus' distress by not recording it, and that they cannot have been both sincere believers and conscious liars. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ λέγει ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος πρὸς τοὺς Ἰησοῦ μαθητὰς ὡς πλασαμένους ταῦτα. ὅτι οὐδὲ ψευδόμενοι τὰ πλάσματα ὑμῶν πιθανῶς ἐπικαλύψαι ἠδυνήθητε. καὶ πρὸς τόδε λελέξεται ὅτι εὐχερὴς μὲν ἦν ὁδὸς πρὸς τὸ ἐπικαλύψαι τὰ τοιαῦτα τὸ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτὰ ἀναγράψαι. τίς γὰρ ἂν τῶν εὐαγγελίων ταῦτα μὴ περιεχόντων ὀνειδίσαι ἐδύνατο ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῷ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοιαῦτα παρὰ τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ λελαληκέναι; οὐ συνεῖδε δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἠπατῆσθαι περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὡς θεοῦ καὶ προφητευθέντος καὶ πλάσασθαι περὶ αὐτοῦ δηλονότι ἐγνωκότας ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ τὰ πλάσματα. ἤτοι οὖν οὐκ ἔπλασαν ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἐφρόνουν καὶ οὐ ψευδόμενοι ἀνέγραψαν. ἢ ψευσάμενοι ἀνέγραψαν καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐφρόνουν οὐδὲ ἀπατηθέντες θεὸν αὐτὸν ἐνόμιζον. ### English translation (Claude) The Jew in Celsus further says to Jesus' disciples, as if they had invented these things: “Even with your lies you could not cover up your fictions plausibly.” To this it will be said that an easy way of covering up such things was not to record them at all. For if the Gospels had not contained them, who could have reproached us with Jesus having said such things during his dispensation? Celsus did not see that it is not possible for the same people both to have been deceived about Jesus as God and as the one foretold by prophecy, and to have invented things about him, obviously knowing that the inventions were untrue. Either, then, they did not invent them, but thought so and wrote without lying; or they wrote lying, and did not think so, and were not deceived into believing him to be God. ### Translation notes - “Dispensation” (οἰκονομία) here means Jesus' incarnate life and passion. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/26/). ## Against Celsus 2.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/27/ - Source: Koetschau 1:156 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus's charge that Christians rewrote the Gospels: only heretics such as the followers of Marcion and Valentinus did so, and they no more discredit Christianity than bad philosophers discredit philosophy. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά τινας τῶν πιστευόντων φησὶν ὡς ἐκ μέθης ἥκοντας εἰς τὸ ἐφεστάναι αὑτοῖς μεταχαράττειν ἐκ τῆς πρώτης γραφῆς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τριχῇ καὶ τετραχῇ καὶ πολλαχῇ καὶ μεταπλάττειν, ἵνʼ ἔχοιεν πρὸς τοὺς ἐλέγχους ἀρνεῖσθαι. μεταχαράξαντας δὲ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἄλλους οὐκ οἶδα ἢ τοὺς ἀπὸ Μαρκίωνος καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Λουκάνου. τοῦτο δὲ λεγόμενον οὐ τοῦ λόγου ἐστὶν ἔγκλημα ἀλλὰ τῶν τολμησάντων ῥᾳδιουργῆσαι τὰ εὐαγγέλια. καὶ ὥσπερ οὐ φιλοσοφίας ἔγκλημά εἰσιν οἱ σοφισταὶ ἢ οἱ Ἐπικούρειοι ἢ οἱ Περιπατητικοὶ ἢ οἵτινές ποτʼ ἂν ὦσιν οἱ ψευδοδοξοῦντες, οὕτως οὐ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ ἔγκλημα οἱ μεταχαράττοντες τὰ εὐαγγέλια καὶ αἱρέσεις ξένας ἐπεισάγοντες τῷ βουλήματι τῆς Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίας. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says that some of the believers, as if coming from drunkenness to laying hands on themselves, have altered the Gospel from its first writing three and four and many times, and remodeled it, so as to be able to deny things in the face of refutations. I know of no others who have altered the Gospel than the followers of Marcion and those of Valentinus, and I think also those of Lucanus. But this, if said, is a charge not against the teaching but against those who dared to tamper with the Gospels. And just as sophists, Epicureans, Peripatetics, or whoever hold false opinions are not a charge against philosophy, so those who alter the Gospels and bring in heresies foreign to the intent of Jesus' teaching are not a charge against true Christianity. ### Translation notes - The Greek phrase ὡς ἐκ μέθης ἥκοντας εἰς τὸ ἐφεστάναι αὑτοῖς is obscure (perhaps “as if in drunkenness, to the point of turning against themselves”); rendered literally. Lucanus (Lucan) was a follower of Marcion. Origen names the Epicureans and Peripatetics among philosophers who “hold false opinions.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/27/). ## Against Celsus 2.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/28/ - Source: Koetschau 1:156–157 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen criticizes Celsus for dismissing the argument from prophecy without examining a single prophecy, and for putting into a Jew's mouth what no Jew would say. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὸ προφήταις χρῆσθαι Χριστιανοὺς προκηρύξασι τὰ περὶ Ἰησοῦ ὀνειδίζει ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος, φήσομεν πρὸς τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰς τοῦτο λελεγμένοις καὶ ὅτι ἐχρῆν αὐτὸν. ὥς φησι, φειδόμενον ἀνθρώπων, αὐτὰς ἐκθέσθαι τὰς προφητείας καὶ συναγορεύσαντα ταῖς πιθανότησιν αὐτῶν τὴν φαινομένην αὐτῷ ἀνατροπὴν τῆς χρήσεως τῶν προφητικῶν ἐκθέσθαι. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἔδοξε μὴ συναρπάζειν τηλικοῦτον κεφάλαιον διὰ λεξειδίων ὀλίγων, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπεί φησι μυρίοις ἄλλοις ἐφαρμοσθῆναι δύνασθαι πολὺ πιθανώτερον τὰ προφητικὰ ἢ τῷ Ἰησοῦ. καὶ ἐχρῆν γε αὐτὸν πρὸς τὴν κρατήσασαν Χριστιανῶν ταύτην ὡς ἰσχυροτάτην ἀπόδειξιν στῆναι ἐπιμελῶς καὶ καθʼ ἑκάστην προφητείαν ἐκθέσθαι, πῶς ἄλλοις ἐφαρμοσθῆναι δύναται πολὺ πιθανώτερον ἢ τῷ Ἰησοῦ. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ συνεῖδεν ὅτι τοῦτʼ εἰ ἄρα πιθανὸν ἦν ὑπό τινος λέγεσθαι κατὰ Χριστιανῶν. ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῶν προφητικῶν γραμμάτων πιθανὸν τάχα ἦν· νυνὶ δὲ ὅπερ Ἰουδαῖος ἂν οὐκ εἶπε περιέθηκεν ὁ Κέλσος τῷ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσώπῳ. οὐ συγκαταθήσεται γὰρ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι μυρίοις ἐφαρμοσθῆναι δύναται τὰ προφητικὰ πολὺ πιθανώτερον ἢ τῷ Ἰησοῦ. ἀλλὰ περὶ ἑκάστου τὴν φαινομένην αὐτῷ διήγησιν ἀποδιδοὺς στῆναι πειράσεται πρὸς τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐκδοχὴν. οὐ πάντως μὲν πιστικὰ λέγων πειρώμενος δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτο ποιεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Since after this the Jew in Celsus also reproaches Christians for appealing to the prophets who proclaimed beforehand what concerned Jesus, we shall say, in addition to what was said on this above, that he ought, sparing people as he claims, to have set out the prophecies themselves, and, after conceding their plausibility, to have set out what seemed to him the refutation of the use made of the prophetic writings. For in this way he would not have seemed to snatch at so great a question with a few trifling words, especially since he says that the prophecies can be applied to countless others much more plausibly than to Jesus. He ought to have taken a careful stand against this proof, which has prevailed among Christians as the strongest, and to have shown, prophecy by prophecy, how it can be applied to others much more plausibly than to Jesus. But he did not even see that, if this could plausibly be said against Christians by anyone, it could perhaps plausibly be said by those who are strangers to the prophetic writings; as it is, Celsus has put into the mouth of the Jew what a Jew would not say. For the Jew will not agree that the prophecies can be applied to countless others much more plausibly than to Jesus; but, giving what seems to him the interpretation of each, he will try to stand against the Christians' understanding, not saying things that are altogether convincing, but trying to do so. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/28/). ## Against Celsus 2.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/29/ - Source: Koetschau 1:157 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Since Christ's two comings have been explained, Origen answers only the insult that Jesus was a “pest”: no pest turns so many people from vice to virtue. ### Greek text Φθάσαντες δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν περὶ τοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν προφητεύεσθαι δύο ἐπιδημίαις χρησόμενον εἰς τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος· διόπερ οὐκέτι χρεία ἡμᾶς ἀπολογήσασθαι πρὸς τὸ λεγόμενον ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου, ὅτι μέγαν καὶ δυνάστην καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ στρατοπέδων κύριόν φασιν οἱ προφῆται εἶναι τὸν ἐπιδημήσοντα. Ἰουδαϊκῶς δʼ οἶμαι εἶπε καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνων χολὴν μετὰ τοῦ χωρὶς ἀποδείξεως κἂν πιθανῶς λοιδορεῖν τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ὅτι οὐχὶ (δὲ) τοιοῦτον ὄλεθρον κατήγγειλαν. καίτοι οὔτε Ἰουδαῖοι οὔτε Κέλσος οὔτε ἄλλος τις μετὰ ἀποδείξεως ἔχει παραστῆσαι ὅτι ὄλεθρος τοσούτους ἀνθρώπους ἐπιστρέφει ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῶν κακῶν ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ φύσιν μετὰ σωφροσύνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρετῶν βίον. ### English translation (Claude) We have already spoken above about the prophecy that the Christ would make two comings to the human race. So we no longer need to defend ourselves against what is said as if by the Jew, that the prophets say the one who will come will be great, a ruler, and lord of the whole earth and of all nations and armies. But I think he spoke in a Jewish manner and in keeping with their bitterness, in reviling Jesus without proof, not even plausibly, when he says that they did not proclaim “such a pest.” And yet neither the Jews nor Celsus nor anyone else can show with proof that a pest turns so many people from the flood of evils to a life according to nature, with self-control and the other virtues. ### Translation notes - The word ὄλεθρος (literally “destruction”) is used as an insult for a person, “a pest” or “a scourge.” The bracketed δὲ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/29/). ## Against Celsus 2.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/30/ - Source: Koetschau 1:157–158 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Answering Celsus that the Son of God should have shone like the sun, Origen says he did, for the peace of Augustus's empire prepared the world for the spread of Jesus' teaching. ### Greek text Παρέῤῥιψε δʼ ὁ Κέλσος καὶ τό· θεὸν δὲ καὶ θεοῦ υἱὸν οὐδεὶς ἐκ τοιούτων συμβόλων καὶ παρακουσμάτων οὐδʼ ἐξ οὕτως ἀγεννῶν τεκμηρίων συνίστησιν. ἐχρῆν δὲ αὐτὸν τὰ παρακούσματα ἐκθέμενον ἐλέγξαι καὶ τὰ ἀγεννῆ τεκμήρια λόγῳ παραστῆσαι· ἵνʼ εἴ τι πιθανὸν ἐδόκει λέγειν ὁ Χριστιανὸς. ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς αὐτὸ πειραθῇ καὶ ἀνατρέψαι τὸν λόγον. ὅπερ δὲ εἶπε περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀπήντησε μὲν ὡς περὶ μεγάλου, οὐκ ἐβουλήθη δὲ ἰδεῖν ὅτι τοῦτʼ ἀπήντησεν. ὡς ἡ ἐνάργεια παρίστησι περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. ὡς γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος, φησὶ. πάντα τὰ ἄλλα φωτίζων πρῶτον αὑτὸν δεικνύει. οὕτως ἐχρῆν πεποιηκέναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. εἴποιμεν ἂν οὖν ὅτι καὶ πεποίηκεν· „ἀνέτειλε“ γὰρ „ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης“ γέγονεν ἀρξάμενον ἀπὸ τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ, εὐτρεπίζοντος τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔθνη, ἵνʼ ὑπὸ ἕνα γένηται τῶν Ῥωμαίων βασιλέα, καὶ μὴ διὰ τὸ προφάσει τῶν πολλῶν βασιλειῶν ἄμικτον τῶν ἐθνῶν πρὸς ἄλληλα χαλεπώτερον γένηται τοῖς ἀποστόλοις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ ποιῆσαι ὅπερ προσέταξεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰπών· „πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη.“ καὶ σαφές γε ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Αὐγούστου βασιλείαν ὁ Ἰησοῦς γεγέννηται, τοῦ. ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ὁμαλίσαντος διὰ μιᾶς βασιλείας τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς. ἦν δʼ ἂν ἐμπόδιον τοῦ νεμηθῆναι τὴν Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην τὸ πολλὰς εἶναι βασιλείας οὐ μόνον διὰ τὰ προειρημένα ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀναγκάζεσθαι στρατεύεσθαι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν πατρίδων πολεμεῖν τοὺς πανταχοῦ· ὅ τε ἐγίνετο πρὸ τῶν Αὐγούστου χρόνων καὶ ἔτι γε ἀνωτέρω, ὅτε γε χρεία ἦν ὡς Πελοποννησίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων εἶναι πόλεμον οὕτω καὶ ἑτέρων πρὸς ἑτέρους. πῶς οὖν οἷόν τε ἦν τὴν εἰρηνικὴν ταύτην διδασκαλίαν καὶ μηδὲ ἐχθροὺς ἐπιτρέπουσαν ἀμύνεσθαι κρατῆσαι, εἰ μὴ τὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης τῇ Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημίᾳ μετεβέβλητο πανταχοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ἡμερώτερον; ### English translation (Claude) Celsus also threw in this: “No one proves a god and son of God from such signs and misunderstandings, nor from such ignoble evidences.” But he ought to have set out the misunderstandings and refuted them, and to have shown by argument that the evidences were ignoble, so that, if the Christian seemed to say anything plausible, he might try to contend against it and overturn the argument. What he did say about Jesus, as though of something great, did in fact come to pass, but he would not see that it came to pass, as the evidence shows concerning Jesus. “For as the sun,” he says, “by illuminating everything else first shows itself, so the Son of God ought to have done.” We would say, then, that he did so. For “in his days righteousness dawned, and an abundance of peace” came about, beginning from his birth, as God prepared the nations for his teaching, so that they might come under one king of the Romans, and so that, through the lack of intercourse among nations caused by many kingdoms, it might not be harder for Jesus' apostles to do what Jesus commanded them when he said: “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” It is clear that Jesus was born in the reign of Augustus, who, so to speak, leveled the many peoples of the earth into one kingdom. The existence of many kingdoms would have been a hindrance to the spread of Jesus' teaching through the whole inhabited world, not only for the reasons stated but also because people everywhere were compelled to serve as soldiers and fight for their countries. This happened before the times of Augustus and still earlier, when there had to be war, as between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, so also between other peoples. How then could this peaceful teaching, which does not allow even revenge on enemies, have prevailed, if the state of the world had not everywhere been changed to a gentler one at Jesus' coming? ### Scripture references - Ps 72:7 (71:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 72:7 (71:7 LXX) and Matt 28:19. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/30/). ## Against Celsus 2.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/31/ - Source: Koetschau 1:158–159 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen defends calling the Son of God the Word, who took a human body and soul, and notes that no Jew he has met actually approves that the Word is God's Son, as Celsus's Jew claims. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα Χριστιανοῖς ἐγκαλεῖ ὡς σοφιζομένοις ἐν τῷ λέγειν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἶναι αὐτολόγον, καὶ οἴεταί γε κρατύνειν τὸ ἔγκλημα, ἐπεὶ λόγον ἐπαγγελλόμενοι υἱὸν εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποδείκνυμεν οὐ λόγον καθαρὸν καὶ ἅγιον ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπον ἀτιμότατα ἀπαχθέντα καὶ ἀποτυμπανισθέντα. καὶ περὶ τούτου δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατηγορίας εἴρηται· ἐν οἷς ἀπεδείκνυτο ὁ „πάσης κτίσεως“ „πρωτότοκος“ ἀνειληφὼς σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, καὶ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο περὶ τῶν τοσούτων ἐν κόσμῳ, καὶ ἐκτίσθη. καὶ ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἐντολὴν λαβὼν ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἦν. καὶ ἐπεὶ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ταῦτα λέγων, οὐκ ἀτόπως χρησόμεθα τῷ· „ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν“· οὗ καὶ ἀνωτέρω ἐμνήσθημεν. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πολλοῖς Ἰουδαίοις καὶ σοφοῖς γε ἐπαγγελλομένοις εἶναι συμβαλὼν οὐδενὸς ἀκήκοα ἐπαινοῦντος τὸ λόγον εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος εἴρηκε, καὶ τοῦτο περιάπτων τῷ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσώπῳ λέγοντος· ὡς εἴ γε ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν ὑμῖν υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπαινοῦμεν. ### English translation (Claude) After this he accuses Christians of sophistry in saying that the Son of God is the very Word himself, and he thinks he strengthens the charge because, while announcing that the Son of God is the Word, we present not a pure and holy Word but a man most dishonorably arrested and put to death by torture. On this too we have spoken above, in summary, in reply to Celsus's accusations. There it was shown that the “firstborn” “of all creation” took a human body and soul, and that God gave the command concerning the many things in the world and they were created, and that the one who received the command was God the Word. And since the one saying these things in Celsus is a Jew, we shall not unfittingly use the words, “He sent out his Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions,” which we mentioned above too. But I have met many Jews, even ones who professed to be wise, and I have heard none approve the view that the Word is the Son of God, as Celsus has said, attributing this to the character of the Jew, who says: “As if, indeed, the Word is your son of God, we too approve it.” ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Ps 148:5: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Col 1:15 and Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX); the command by which things were created echoes Ps 148:5. Celsus's term αὐτολόγος means “the Word itself.” The verb ἀποτυμπανίζω denotes execution by beating or on a board; here of the crucifixion. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/31/). ## Against Celsus 2.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/32/ - Source: Koetschau 1:159 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus's objection to Jesus' royal genealogy: poor people can descend from kings, and Celsus ignores the real difficulties about the genealogies that Christians themselves discuss. ### Greek text Προείρηται δʼ ἡμῖν ὅτι οὔτʼ ἀλαζὼν οὔτε γόης δύναται εἶναι ὁ Ἰησοῦς· διὸ οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἐπαναλαμβάνειν τὰ εἰρημένα, ἵνα μὴ πρὸς τὰς ταυτολογίας Κέλσου καὶ ἡμεῖς ταυτολογῶμεν. ἐγκαλῶν δὲ τῇ γενεαλογίᾳ τὰ μὲν καὶ παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς ζητούμενα καὶ ὑπό τινων ὡς ἐγκλήματα προσαγόμενα τῇ διαφωνίᾳ τῶν γενεαλογιῶν οὐδαμῶς ὠνόμασεν. οὐ γὰρ ᾔδει ὁ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀλαζὼν Κέλσος καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι πάντα τὰ Χριστιανῶν φρονίμως ἐπαπορῆσαι τῇ γραφῇ. φησὶ δὲ ἀπηυθαδῆσθαι τοὺς γενεαλογήσαντας ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου φύντος καὶ τῶν ἐν Ἰουδαίοις βασιλέων τὸν Ἰησοῦν. καὶ οἴεταί τι εἰσφέρειν γενναῖον, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἡ τοῦ τέκτονος γυνὴ τηλικούτου γένους τυγχάνουσα ἠγνόει. τί γὰρ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν λόγον; ἔστω ὅτι οὐκ ἠγνόει· τί λυπεῖ τὰ προκείμενα; ἀλλὰ ἀγνοείτω· πόθεν, ὅτι ἠγνόει, οὐκ ἦν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἀνθρώπου καὶ οὐκ ἀνήγετο αὐτῆς τὸ γένος ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἰουδαίοις βασιλεύσαντας; ἢ ἀναγκαῖον οἴεται ὁ Κέλσος τοὺς πενεστέρους ἐκ πάντων πενεστέρων προγόνων γεγονέναι ἢ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἐκ βασιλέων; διατρίβειν οὖν περὶ τὸν λόγον δοκεῖ μοι εἶναι μάταιον, φανεροῦ ὄντος ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ἡμετέρους χρόνους ἐκ πλουσίων καὶ ἐνδόξων γεγόνασί τινες τῆς Μαρίας πενέστεροι καὶ ἐξ ἀσημοτάτων ἡγούμενοι ἐθνῶν καὶ βασιλεῖς. ### English translation (Claude) We have already said that Jesus cannot be either a braggart or a sorcerer; so it is not necessary to repeat what has been said, lest we too repeat ourselves in reply to Celsus's repetitions. In finding fault with the genealogy he did not mention at all the questions that are raised among Christians too, and that some bring as charges, concerning the disagreement between the genealogies. For Celsus, who is truly a braggart and professes to know everything about Christians, did not know how to raise difficulties about Scripture intelligently. He says that those who traced Jesus' genealogy from the first man and from the kings among the Jews were arrogant. And he thinks he brings forward something fine, that the carpenter's wife, if she had been of so great a lineage, would not have been unaware of it. What has this to do with the argument? Suppose she was not unaware: what harm does that do to our case? But let her be unaware: why, because she was unaware, was she not descended from the first man, and did her line not go back to those who reigned among the Jews? Or does Celsus think it necessary that poorer people are born from ancestors who were all poorer, or kings from kings? It seems to me idle to spend time on this argument, since it is plain that even in our own times some people poorer than Mary have been born of rich and famous families, and leaders and kings of the most obscure nations. ### Scripture references - Matt 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Luke 3:23: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The genealogies are Matt 1:1–17 and Luke 3:23–38 (the latter traced to Adam). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/32/). ## Against Celsus 2.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/33/ - Source: Koetschau 1:159–160 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen points to the signs at Jesus' death recorded in the Gospels and by the historian Phlegon, and to healings still done in Jesus' name, as his noble deeds. ### Greek text Τί δὲ, φησὶ, καὶ γενναῖον ἔδρασεν οἷον θεὸς, καταφρονῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διαγελῶν καὶ παίζων τὸ συμβαῖνον ὁ Ἰησοῦς; πυνθανομένῳ δὴ αὐτῷ πόθεν ἂν ἀποκρινοίμεθα. κἂν ἔχωμεν παριστάνειν τὸ γενναῖον καὶ τὸ παράδοξον ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν αὐτῷ. ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων. ὅτι „ἡ γῆ ἐσείσθη καὶ αἱ πέτραι ἐσχίσθησαν καὶ τὰ μνημεῖα ἠνεῴχθη“ „καὶ τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ ἐσχίσθη ἀπὸ ἄνωθεν ἕως κάτω“ „καὶ σκοτία ἐγένετο“ ἐν καιρῷ ἡμέρας „τοῦ ἡλίου ἐκλιπόντος“; ἀλλʼ ἐὰν πιστεύῃ μὲν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὁ Κέλσος, ὅπου κατηγορεῖν καὶ Χριστιανῶν οἴεται. ἀπιστῇ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν συνιστάντων τὴν ἐν Ἰησοῦ θεότητα, φήσομεν αὐτῷ· ὦ οὗτος, ἢ πᾶσιν ἀπίστει καὶ μηδʼ ἐγκαλεῖν νόμιζε. ἢ πιστεύων πᾶσι θαύμαζε θεοῦ λόγον ἐνανθρωπήσαντα καὶ ὅλον τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος ὠφελῆσαι βουληθέντα. γενναῖον δʼ ἔργον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ μέχρι σήμερον θεραπεύεσθαι τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ οὓς ὁ θεὸς βούλεται. περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐπὶ Τιβερίου Καίσαρος ἐκλείψεως, οὗ βασιλεύοντος καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἔοικεν ἐσταυρῶσθαι. καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγάλων τότε γενομένων σεισμῶν τῆς γῆς ἀνέγραψε καὶ Φλέγων ἐν τῷ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἢ τῷ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ οἶμαι τῶν Χρονικῶν. ### English translation (Claude) “What noble deed did Jesus do,” he says, “like a god, despising men and laughing and making sport of what befell him?” To his question, where should we answer from, even if we are able to show the noble and marvelous in what befell him, but from the Gospels? That “the earth shook and the rocks were split and the tombs were opened,” “and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom,” “and darkness came” in the daytime “as the sun failed.” But if Celsus believes the Gospels where he thinks he can accuse Christians, and disbelieves them where they establish the divinity in Jesus, we shall say to him: “Sir, either disbelieve them all and do not think to accuse us, or, believing them all, marvel at the Word of God who became man and wished to benefit the whole human race.” A noble deed of Jesus is that to this day those whom God wills are healed in his name. As for the eclipse in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus seems to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes that took place then, Phlegon too recorded them, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles. ### Scripture references - Matt 27:51: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:52: quotation, high confidence - Mark 15:38: quotation, medium confidence - Luke 23:44: quotation, high confidence - Luke 23:45: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Phlegon (Phlegon of Tralles, Chronicles): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 27:51–52, Matt 27:51 (Mark 15:38), and Luke 23:44–45. Phlegon of Tralles wrote Olympiads (Chronicles) in the second century; the work survives only in fragments, and Origen himself is unsure of the book number. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/33/). ## Against Celsus 2.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/34/ - Source: Koetschau 1:160–161 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus's taunts drawn from Euripides' Bacchae, pointing to the miraculous freeing of Peter and Paul, the judgment on the Jewish nation, Pilate's wife's dream, and Jesus' patient endurance of mockery. ### Greek text Παίζων δʼ, ὡς οἴεται, τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος εἰδέναι ἀναγέγραπται τὸν Εὐριπίδου Βάκχον λέγοντα· λύσει μʼ ὁ δαίμων αὐτὸς, ὅταν ἐγὼ θέλω. οὐ πάνυ μὲν οὖν Ἰουδαῖοι τὰ Ἑλλήνων φιλολογοῦσιν. ἀλλʼ ἔστω τινὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ φιλόλογον οὕτω γεγονέναι· πῶς οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἔλυσεν αὑτὸν δεδεμένον. οὐδὲ ἐδύνατο λῦσαι; ἦ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν γραφῶν πιστευέτω ὅτι καὶ Πέτρος δεδεμένος ἐν φυλακῇ ἀγγέλου λύσαντος τοὺς δεσμοὺς ἐξῆλθε, καὶ Παῦλος μετὰ τοῦ Σίλα ἐν Φιλίπποις τῆς Μακεδονίας ὑπὸ „ξύλον“ δεδεμένος ἐλύθη θείᾳ δυνάμει, ὅτε καὶ „θύραι“ τῆς φυλακῆς „ἠνοίχθησαν“. ἀλλʼ εἰκὸς ὅτι ταῦτα γελᾷ ὁ Κέλσος ἢ καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἀνέγνω τὴν ἱστορίαν· ἔδοξε γὰρ ἂν λέγειν πρὸς αὐτὴν ὅτι καὶ γόητές τινες ἐπῳδαῖς δεσμοὺς λύουσι καὶ θύρας ἀνοίγουσιν, ἵνα κοινοποιήσῃ τὰ τῶν γοήτων πρὸς τὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν ἱστορούμενα. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ καταδικάσας. φησὶν. αὐτὸν ἔπαθέ τι. οἷον ὁ Πενθεὺς μανεὶς ἢ σπαραχθείς. οὐκ εἶδε δʼ ὅτι οὐχ οὕτω Πιλᾶτος ἦν καταδικάσας αὐτὸν, ὅς γε „ᾔδει ὅτι διὰ φθόνον παρέδωκαν αὐτὸν“ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὡς τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος· ὅπερ καταδεδίκασται ὑπὸ θεοῦ σπαραχθὲν καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ὑπὲρ τὸν Πενθέως σπαραγμὸν διασπαρέν. διὰ τί δὲ καὶ ἑκὼν παρεπέμψατο τὰ περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς Πιλάτου. ἑωρακυίας ὄναρ καὶ οὕτω κεκινημένης ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, ὡς προσπέμψαι τῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ λέγειν· „μηδέν σοι καὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τούτῳ τῷ δικαίῳ· σήμερον γὰρ κατʼ ὄναρ πολλὰ ἔπαθον διʼ αὐτόν“; πάλιν τε αὖ σιωπῶν τὰ ἐμφαίνοντα τὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ θειότητα ὁ Κέλσος ὀνειδίζει ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. παρατιθέμενος τοὺς ἐμπαίξαντας αὐτῷ καὶ φοινικίδα περιθέντας καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀκανθῶν στέφανον καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ κάλαμον. πόθεν οὖν. ὦ Κέλσε. ταῦτα μεμάθηκας ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων; ἆρʼ οὖν σὺ μὲν ἑώρας ταῦτα ὀνειδισμοῦ ἄξια, οἱ δʼ ἀναγράφοντες αὐτὰ οὐ κατενόουν ὅτι σὺ μὲν καταγελάσῃ καὶ οἱ σοὶ παραπλήσιοι ἄλλοι δὲ παράδειγμα λήψονται τοῦ καταφρονεῖν γελώντων καὶ χλευαζόντων ἐπὶ εὐσεβείᾳ τὸν διʼ αὐτὴν ἑτοίμως ἀποθανόντα; μᾶλλον οὖν θαύμαζε αὐτῶν τὸ φιλάληθες καὶ τοῦ ταῦτα ἑκουσίως παθόντος ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων καὶ μετὰ πάσης ἀνεξικακίας καὶ μακροθυμίας αὐτὰ ὑπομείναντος· οὐ γὰρ ἀνεγέγραπτο ὅτι ὠδύρατο ἤ τι ἀγεννὲς ἐκ τοῦ καταδεδικάσθαι ἐνομίσθη (ἢ) ἀνεφθέγξατο. ### English translation (Claude) The Jew in Celsus, mocking Jesus, as he thinks, is represented as knowing the Bacchus of Euripides, who says: “The god himself will free me, whenever I wish.” Jews are not at all given to the study of Greek literature; but suppose some Jew had become so learned. How then does it follow that Jesus, because he did not free himself when bound, could not have freed himself? Let him believe from my Scriptures that Peter too, bound in prison, went out when an angel loosed his chains, and that Paul with Silas, bound in “the stocks” at Philippi in Macedonia, was freed by divine power, when also “the doors” of the prison “were opened.” But probably Celsus laughs at these things, or has not read the story at all; for he would have seemed to say in reply that some sorcerers too loose chains and open doors by incantations, so as to put what sorcerers do on the same level as what is recorded among us. “But,” he says, “not even the one who condemned him suffered anything, like Pentheus, who went mad or was torn apart.” He did not see that it was not so much Pilate who condemned him, since he “knew that out of envy” the Jews “had handed him over,” as the Jewish nation; which has been condemned by God, torn apart and scattered over the whole earth, beyond the tearing of Pentheus. And why did he deliberately pass over what concerns Pilate's wife, who had a dream and was so moved by it that she sent to her husband and said: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered much today in a dream because of him”? Again, keeping silent about what displays Jesus' divinity, Celsus reproaches Jesus with what is written about him in the Gospel, citing those who mocked him and put a purple robe on him, and the crown of thorns, and the reed in his hand. Where then, Celsus, did you learn these things but from the Gospels? Did you then see that these things deserved reproach, while those who recorded them did not perceive that you and those like you would laugh at them, but that others would take an example from him who readily died for piety, so as to despise those who laugh at and mock them for piety? Marvel rather at their love of truth, and at him who suffered these things willingly for human beings and endured them with all forbearance and patience. For it is not recorded that he lamented, or that because he had been condemned he thought or uttered anything ignoble. ### Scripture references - Acts 12:7: allusion, high confidence - Acts 16:24: quotation, high confidence - Acts 16:26: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:28: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:29: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Bacch. 498 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Euripides, Bacchae 498; Pentheus's madness and death are the subject of that play. The biblical passages are Acts 12:6–10, Acts 16:24–26, Matt 27:18, Matt 27:19, and Matt 27:28–29. Origen's statement that the Jewish nation was condemned and scattered reflects his own theology of history after AD 70; it is translated as written. The bracketed ἢ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/34/). ## Against Celsus 2.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/35/ - Source: Koetschau 1:161 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that the Greeks face the same question about why God does not punish blasphemers, and that divine signs at the crucifixion did show that Jesus was more than a man. ### Greek text Πρὸς δὲ τό· τί οὐκ εἰ μὴ πρόσθεν ἀλλὰ νῦν γοῦν θεῖόν τι ἐπιδείκνυται καὶ τῆς αἰσχύνης ταύτης ἑαυτὸν ῥύεται καὶ τοὺς ὑβρίζοντας εἰς ἑαυτόν τε καὶ τὸν πατέρα δικαιοῖ; λεκτέον ὅτι τὸ παραπλήσιον ἔστιν εἰπεῖν καὶ πρὸς Ἕλληνας. πρόνοιαν εἰσάγοντας καὶ θεοσημίας παραδεχομένους γενέσθαι. τί δή ποτε τοὺς ὑβρίζοντας τὸ θεῖον καὶ ἀναιροῦντας πρόνοιαν οὐ κολάζει ὁ θεός; ὡς γὰρ ἐὰν ἀπολογήσωνται πρὸς ταῦτα Ἕλληνες, καὶ ἡμεῖς τὰ ὅμοια ἢ καὶ κρείττονα ἐροῦμεν. γέγονε δὲ καὶ θεοσημία τις ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. ὁ ἐκλιπὼν ἥλιος, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ παράδοξα. ἐμφανίζοντα ὅτι θεῖόν τι καὶ πλεῖον τῶν πολλῶν εἶχεν ὁ σταυρωθείς. ### English translation (Claude) To this: “Why does he not, if not before, at least now show something divine, and rescue himself from this shame, and punish those who insult both him and his Father?” it must be said that the same thing can be said to the Greeks too, who bring in providence and accept that divine signs occur: why does God not punish those who insult the divine and do away with providence? For as the Greeks defend themselves on this, so shall we say similar or even better things. But there was indeed a divine sign from heaven, the failing of the sun, and the other marvels, which showed that the crucified one had something divine, something more than most people. ### Scripture references - Luke 23:45: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The failing of the sun refers to Luke 23:45. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/35/). ## Against Celsus 2.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/36/ - Source: Koetschau 1:161–162 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: To Celsus's jibe about divine “ichor,” Origen answers with the blood and water from Jesus' side and the centurion's confession. ### Greek text Εἶτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος· τί φησι καὶ ἀνασκολοπιζομένου τοῦ σώματος; ποῖος ἰχὼρ, οἷός περ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν; ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν παίζει, ἡμεῖς δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν σπουδαίων εὐαγγελίων, κἂν μὴ Κέλσος βούληται, παραστήσομεν ὅτι ἰχὼρ μὲν ὁ μυθικὸς καὶ Ὁμηρικὸς οὐκ ἔῤῥευσεν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος· ἤδη δʼ αὐτοῦ ἀποθανόντος „εἷς τῶν στρατιωτῶν λόγχῃ τὴν πλευρὰν ἔνυξε, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ. καὶ ὁ ἑωρακὼς μεμαρτύρηκε, καὶ ἀληθινὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ μαρτυρία. κἀκεῖνος οἶδεν ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγει.“ τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων νεκρῶν σωμάτων τὸ „αἷμα“ πήγνυται καὶ „ὕδωρ“ καθαρὸν οὐκ ἀποῤῥεῖ, τοῦ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν νεκροῦ σώματος τὸ παράδοξον καὶ περὶ τὸ νεκρὸν σῶμα ἦν „αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ“ ἀπὸ τῶν πλευρῶν προχυθέν. εἰ δʼ εἰς μὲν τὸ κατηγορεῖν Ἰησοῦ καὶ Χριστιανῶν φέρων ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὐδὲ καλῶς ἑρμηνευομένας λέξεις. σιωπῶν δὲ τὰ παριστάντα τὴν θεότητα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀκούειν βούλεται τὰς θεοσημίας. ἀναγνώτω τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ ὁράτω ὅτι καὶ „ὁ ἑκατοντάρχης καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ τηροῦντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδόντες τὸν σεισμὸν καὶ τὰ γινόμενα ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα, λέγοντες· θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος.“ ### English translation (Claude) Then Celsus says: “What does he say too while his body is being crucified? ‘What ichor, such as flows in the blessed gods’?” He, then, is jesting; but we, from the serious Gospels, even if Celsus does not wish it, will show that the mythical, Homeric ichor did not flow from his body; but when he was already dead, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out. And he who saw it has borne witness, and his witness is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.” In other dead bodies the “blood” congeals and pure “water” does not flow out; but in the dead body of Jesus there was this marvel even about the dead body, that “blood and water” poured from his side. If he brings words from the Gospel, not even rightly interpreted, in order to accuse Jesus and Christians, and keeps silent about what shows Jesus' divinity, and wishes to hear of divine signs, let him read the Gospel and see that “the centurion and those with him who were keeping watch over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and what took place, were very much afraid, saying: This was the Son of God.” ### Scripture references - John 19:34: quotation, high confidence - John 19:35: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:54: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 5.340 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus's quotation is Homer, Iliad 5.340 (of the wounded Aphrodite). The Gospel quotations are John 19:34–35 and Matt 27:54. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/36/). ## Against Celsus 2.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/37/ - Source: Koetschau 1:162 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus's mockery of the vinegar and gall by pointing to Psalm 69, which foretold them. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦθʼ ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἐκλαβὼν λέξεις, ὧν κατηγορεῖν νομίζει, τὸ ὄξος καὶ τὴν χολὴν ὀνειδίζει τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὡς χανδὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πιεῖν ὡρμημένῳ καὶ μὴ διακαρτερήσαντι τὴν δίψαν, ὡς καὶ ὁ τυχὼν ἄνθρωπος πολλάκις διακαρτερεῖ. καὶ τοῦτο ἰδίᾳ μὲν ἐν τῇ τροπολογίᾳ τυγχάνει διηγήσεως· νῦν δὲ κοινοτέρας ἂν τοιαύτης ἀποκρίσεως πρὸς τὰ ἐπηπορημένα ἔχοιτο τὸ λεγόμενον, ὅτι καὶ περὶ τούτου προφῆται προεῖπον. γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν ἑξηκοστῷ (καὶ) ὀγδόῳ ψαλμῷ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ· „καὶ ἔδωκαν εἰς τὸ βρῶμά μου χολὴν. καὶ εἰς τὴν δίψαν μου ἐπότισάν με ὄξος.“ ἢ λεγέτωσαν Ἰουδαῖοι. τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ ταῦτα λέγων, καὶ παραστησάτωσαν ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας τὸν ἀνειληφότα „εἰς τὸ βρῶμα“ ἑαυτοῦ „χολὴν“ καὶ ποτισθέντα „ὄξος“· ἢ κἂν τολμησάτωσαν λέγειν ὃν οἴονται ἐπιδημήσειν Χριστὸν μέλλειν ἐν τούτοις γίνεσθαι. ἵνʼ ἡμεῖς εἴπωμεν· τί οὖν λυπεῖ ἤδη γεγονέναι τὸ προφητευθέν; ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸ πρὸ τοσούτων λεχθὲν χρόνων ἱκανόν ἐστι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων προφητικῶν προγνώσεων κινῆσαι τὸν εὐγνωμόνως ὅλα τὰ πράγματα ἐξετάζοντα πρὸς τὸ συγκαταθέσθαι ὡς Χριστῷ προφητευθέντι καὶ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ Ἰησοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) After this he who has taken from the Gospel words he thinks he can accuse reproaches Jesus with the vinegar and gall, as if he rushed greedily to drink and did not endure his thirst, as even an ordinary man often endures it. This belongs by itself to exposition in the figurative sense; but now what is said would call for a more general answer to the objection, namely, that the prophets foretold this too. For it is written in the sixty-eighth psalm, in the person of the Christ: “And they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Or let the Jews say who it is in the prophet who says these things, and let them show from history the one who took “gall” into his “food” and was given “vinegar” to drink. Or let them even dare to say that the Christ whom they think will come is going to be in these circumstances; so that we may say: what harm is there in what was prophesied having already happened? This very thing, said so long before, is enough, together with the other prophetic foreknowledge, to move one who examines the whole matter fairly to agree that Jesus is the Christ who was prophesied and the Son of God. ### Scripture references - Ps 69:21 (68:22 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:34: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:48: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Ps 69:21 (68:22 LXX); the Gospel accounts are Matt 27:34 and 27:48. The bracketed καὶ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/37/). ## Against Celsus 2.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/38/ - Source: Koetschau 1:162–163 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains what Christians charge the Jews with: not answering the proof from prophecy, attributing Jesus' exorcisms to Beelzebul, and slandering his tireless preaching as vagrancy. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ἔτι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ Ἰουδαῖος· ταῦτʼ οὖν ἡμῖν ἐγκαλεῖτε, ὦ πιστότατοι, διότι τοῦτον οὐ νομίζομεν θεὸν οὐδὲ συντιθέμεθα ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων ὠφελείᾳ ταῦτα ὑπέμεινεν, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς κολάσεων καταφρονῶμεν; καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι ἐγκαλοῦμεν Ἰουδαίοις, ἐντραφεῖσι νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις τοῖς Χριστὸν προκαταγγέλλουσιν, ἐπεὶ μήτε τὰ προσαγόμενα αὐτοῖς ὑφʼ ἡμῶν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν περὶ τοῦ τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν λύουσιν. ἀπολογίαν ποριζόμενοι τοῦ μὴ πιστεύειν τὴν λύσιν, μήτε ὡς μὴ λύοντες πιστεύουσι τῷ προφητευθέντι, ἐναργῶς παραστήσαντι ἐν τοῖς μαθητεύσασιν αὐτῷ καὶ μετὰ τὸν χρόνον τῆς ἐνσωματώσεως ἑαυτοῦ ὅτι ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων ὠφελείᾳ ταῦθʼ ὑπέμεινε. σκοπὸν ἔχων τῆς πρώτης ἐπιδημίας οὐχὶ κρίνειν τὰ ἀνθρώπων καὶ πρὸ τοῦ διδάξαι καὶ μαρτύρασθαι περὶ τῶν πρακτέων καὶ μὴ τοὺς μὲν πονηροὺς κολάζειν τοὺς δʼ ἀγαθοὺς σῴζειν. ἀλλὰ σπεῖραι παραδόξως τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λόγον καὶ μετά τινος δυνάμεως θειοτέρας παντὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπων γένει, ὡς οἱ προφῆται καὶ ταῦτα παρέστησαν. ἔτι δʼ ἐγκαλοῦμεν αὐτοῖς, ἐπεὶ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν δύναμιν ἐπιδεικνυμένῳ οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν ἀλλʼ „ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ, τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων.“ εἰρήκασι τοὺς δαίμονας αὐτὸν ἀποβεβληκέναι τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχῆς. ἐγκαλοῦμεν δʼ ὅτι καὶ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον αὐτοῦ, μὴ ὑπερορῶντος οὐ μόνον πόλιν ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ κώμην τινὰ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἵνα πανταχοῦ ἀπαγγείλῃ τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, διαβάλλοντες πλάνην κατηγοροῦσιν αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀλωμένου καὶ ἀλύοντος ἐν ἀγεννεῖ σώματι· οὐ γὰρ ἀγεννὲς τὸ τοσούτους ὑπομεῖναν ὑπὲρ ὠφελείας τῶν πανταχοῦ ἀκούειν δυναμένων πόνους. ### English translation (Claude) After this the Jew says further to us: “Is this, then, what you charge us with, most faithful ones, that we do not think this man a god, nor agree with you that he endured these things for the benefit of mankind, so that we too might despise punishments?” To this we shall say that we charge the Jews, who were brought up on the law and the prophets who proclaimed the Christ beforehand, because they neither refute what we bring before them as proof that this is the Christ, offering the refutation as their defense for not believing, nor, while failing to refute it, believe in the one who was prophesied; who clearly showed in those who became his disciples, even after the time of his embodiment, that he endured these things for the benefit of mankind. The purpose of his first coming was not to judge human deeds, before teaching and testifying about what ought to be done, nor to punish the wicked and save the good, but to sow his own word marvelously and with a more divine power among the whole human race, as the prophets also showed. We further charge them because, when he displayed the power he had, they did not believe, but said that he cast demons out of people's souls “by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” And we charge them because they slander even his love for mankind, since he passed over not only no city but not even any village of Judea, so as to proclaim the kingdom of God everywhere, and accuse him of vagrancy, as a wanderer roving about in an ignoble body. For a body that endured so many labors for the benefit of those everywhere who could hear is not ignoble. ### Scripture references - Matt 12:24: quotation, high confidence - Luke 11:15: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 9:35: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 12:24 (Luke 11:15). “The time of his embodiment” refers to Jesus' earthly life. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/38/). ## Against Celsus 2.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/39/ - Source: Koetschau 1:163–164 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen denies that Jesus persuaded no one: crowds followed him, and his disciples, though frightened, did not abandon their faith and were strengthened by his resurrection appearances. ### Greek text Πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἄντικρυς ψεῦδος τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου λεγόμενον, ὅτι μηδένα πείσας μέχρι ἔζη ὅ γε μηδὲ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς ἐκολάσθη καὶ τοιαῦτα ὑπέμεινε; πόθεν γὰρ ὁ φθόνος ὑπὸ τῶν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἀρχιερέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων καὶ γραμματέων ἐκινήθη κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἢ ἐκ τοῦ πλήθη πειθόμενα ἀκολουθεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ εἰς τὰς ἐρημίας, κρατούμενα οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ ἀκολουθίας ἁρμόζοντα τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἀεὶ λέγοντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἐκπλήττοντος τοὺς μὴ τῇ τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ ἀκολουθίᾳ πιστεύοντας; πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἄντικρυς ψεῦδος ὅτι οὐδὲ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ ἔπεισε μαθητὰς, τοὺς παθόντας μὲν ἀνθρώπινόν τι ἀπὸ δειλίας τότε (οὐδέπω γὰρ ἦσαν πρὸς ἀνδρίαν ἠκονημένοι) οὐ μὴν τὰ κριθέντα αὐτοῖς ὡς περὶ Χριστοῦ ἀποθεμένους; ὁ μὲν γὰρ Πέτρος μετὰ τὸ ἀρνήσασθαι συναισθόμενος οἷ γέγονε κακῶν „ἐξελθὼν ἔξω ἔκλαυσε πικρῶς“· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ πεπληγότες ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἀθυμίας (ἔτι γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐθαύμαζον) ἐβεβαιώθησαν διὰ τῆς ἐπιφανείας αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸ πιστεύειν ἔτι μᾶλλον καὶ βεβαιότερον παρὰ τὸ πρότερον ὅτι υἱὸς ἦν τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) How is it not plainly false, what is said by the Jew in Celsus, that “having persuaded no one while he lived, not even his own disciples, he was punished and endured such things”? For where did the envy of the chief priests, elders, and scribes among the Jews against him come from, if not from the crowds who were persuaded to follow him even into the deserts, held not only by the coherence of his words, since he always spoke what suited his hearers, but also because he astonished by his miracles those who did not believe through the coherence of his word? And how is it not plainly false that he did not persuade even his own disciples, who then suffered something human from cowardice (for they were not yet sharpened to courage), yet did not lay aside their judgment about him as the Christ? For Peter, after denying him, realizing what evil he had come to, “went out and wept bitterly”; and the others, struck by their dejection over him (for they still admired him), were strengthened by his appearance to believe still more, and more firmly than before, that he was the Son of God. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:75: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 26:75. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/39/). ## Against Celsus 2.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/40/ - Source: Koetschau 1:164 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says Celsus wrongly thinks greatness means escaping death, whereas Jesus' death became an example for those who die for true piety. ### Greek text Καὶ ἀφιλόσοφον δέ τι παθὼν ὁ Κέλσος τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ὑπεροχὴν οὐκ ἐν λόγῳ σωτηρίῳ καὶ ἤθει καθαρῷ φαντάζεται εἶναι. ἀλλὰ ἐν τῷ παρὰ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν οὗ ἀνείληφε προσώπου ποιῆσαι καὶ ἀνειληφότα τὸ θνητὸν μὴ ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ ἀποθανεῖν μὲν οὐχὶ δὲ θάνατον τὸν δυνάμενον παράδειγμα γενέσθαι τοῖς καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἔργου εἰσομένοις ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀποθνῄσκειν καὶ παῤῥησιάζεσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ πρὸς τοὺς ἐσφαλμένους ἐν τῷ περὶ εὐσεβείας καὶ ἀσεβείας τόπῳ καὶ νομίζοντας τοὺς μὲν εὐσεβεῖς εἶναι ἀσεβεστάτους τοὺς δὲ πλανωμένους περὶ θεοῦ καὶ παντὶ μᾶλλον ἢ θεῷ ἐφαρμόζοντας τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀδιάστροφον ἔννοιαν ὑπολαμβάνοντας εἶναι εὐσεβεστάτους· καὶ μάλιστα ὅτε καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀναιρεῖν ὁρμῶσι τοὺς τῇ ἐναργείᾳ τοῦ ἑνὸς καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ ἑαυτοὺς ὅλῃ ψυχῇ „μέχρι θανάτου“ ἐπιδεδωκότας. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, in an unphilosophical way, imagines that pre-eminence among human beings lies not in saving teaching and a pure character, but in acting contrary to the part one has taken on, so that one who has taken on what is mortal should not die; or should die, but not a death able to become an example to those who would learn from the very deed to die for piety and to speak boldly for it before those who have gone astray in the matter of piety and impiety, who think the pious most impious, and suppose that those who err about God and apply their undistorted notion of him to anything rather than to God are most pious; and especially when they rush to kill those who, in the clear light of the one God over all, have given themselves with their whole soul “even to death.” ### Scripture references - Phil 2:8: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Even to death” echoes Phil 2:8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/40/). ## Against Celsus 2.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/41/ - Source: Koetschau 1:164–165 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that poverty and persecution are not true evils, as the examples of Socrates, Democritus, Crates, and Diogenes show; Celsus cannot point to any wickedness in Jesus. ### Greek text Ἔτι δʼ ἐγκαλεῖ τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὁ Κέλσος διὰ τοῦ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ προσώπου, ὡς μὴ δείξαντι ἑαυτὸν πάντων δὴ κακῶν καθαρεύοντα. ποίων δὴ κακῶν, λεγέτω ὁ Κέλσου λόγος, οὐκ ἔδειξεν ἑαυτὸν καθαρεύοντα ὁ Ἰησοῦς; εἰ μὲν γὰρ τῶν κυρίως κακῶν λέγει αὐτὸν μὴ κεκαθαρευκέναι, παραστησάτω ἐναργῶς κακίας ἔργον ἐν αὐτῷ· εἰ δὲ κακὰ νομίζει πενίαν καὶ σταυρὸν καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀτόπων ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβουλὴν, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ Σωκράτει φησὶ κακὰ συμβεβηκέναι, μὴ δυνηθέντι ἑαυτὸν ἀποδεῖξαι καθαρὸν ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν. ὅσος δὲ καὶ ἄλλος χορὸς πενήτων ἐστὶ παρʼ Ἕλλησι φιλοσοφησάντων καὶ ἑκούσιον πενίαν ἀναδεξαμένων, καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ Ἑλλήνων ἴσασιν ἐκ τῶν ἀναγραφέντων περὶ μὲν Δημοκρίτου, μηλόβοτον ἐάσαντος τὴν οὐσίαν, περὶ δὲ Κράτητος, ἑαυτὸν ἐλευθερώσαντος διὰ τοῦ τοῖς Θηβαίοις χαρίσασθαι τὸ ὑπὲρ πάσης τῆς κτήσεως πραθείσης δοθὲν αὐτῷ ἀργύριον· ἀλλὰ καὶ Διογένης διʼ ὑπερβάλλουσαν εὐτέλειαν πίθον ᾤκει, καὶ παρʼ οὐδενὶ τῶν νοῦν ἐχόντων κἂν μέτριον τούτου γε χάριν Διογένης ἐν κακοῖς ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus further accuses Jesus, through the character of the Jew, of not showing himself pure from all evils. From what evils, let Celsus's argument say, did Jesus not show himself pure? For if he says that he was not pure from evils in the proper sense, let him clearly show a deed of wickedness in him. But if he considers poverty, the cross, and the plotting of wicked men to be evils, it is clear that he says evils befell Socrates too, who could not show himself pure from evils. And how great a company of poor men there is besides among the Greeks, who practiced philosophy and accepted voluntary poverty, most Greeks know from what is recorded: of Democritus, who let his property become sheep pasture; of Crates, who freed himself by giving the Thebans the money paid to him for the sale of all his possessions. Diogenes too lived in a jar out of extreme frugality; yet among no one with even moderate sense was Diogenes, for this reason, in evil. ### Extrabiblical texts - Democritus (Democritus (fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The stories of Democritus, Crates, and Diogenes are told in Diogenes Laertius, Lives 9.36, 6.87, and 6.23. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/41/). ## Against Celsus 2.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/42/ - Source: Koetschau 1:165–166 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says no witness records anything blameworthy in Jesus, his fulfilled predictions confirm faith, and his sufferings are a noble example, not a disgrace, except to one who thinks pain the greatest evil. ### Greek text Ἔτι δʼ ἐπεὶ βούλεται μηδὲ ἀνεπίληπτον γεγονέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁ Κέλσος, παραστησάτω. τίς τῶν ἀρεσκομένων τῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀληθῶς ἐπίληπτον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀνέγραψεν· ἢ, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τούτων αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖ ὡς ἐπιλήπτου, δεικνύτω, πόθεν μαθὼν οὐκ ἀνεπίληπτον αὐτὸν εἴρηκεν. ἐποίησε μὲν οὖν ἃ ἐπηγγείλατο πιστὰ διʼ ὧν ὠφέλησε τοὺς προσέχοντας αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς. καὶ ἀεὶ ὁρῶντες πληρούμενα τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, πρὶν γένηται, τὸ „κηρυχθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον“ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ πορευθέντας αὐτοῦ τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰς „πάντα τὰ ἔθνη“ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ κατηγγελκέναι, ἔτι δὲ περὶ τοῦ „ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας καὶ βασιλεῖς“ ἀχθήσεσθαι μέλλειν διʼ οὐδεμίαν ἄλλην αἰτίαν ἢ τὴν διδασκαλίαν αὐτοῦ, τεθήπαμεν αὐτὸν καὶ ὁσημέραι βεβαιοῦμεν τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν. οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ἀπὸ ποίων μειζόνων καὶ ἐναργεστέρων ἐβούλετο αὐτὸν πιστὰ ποιῆσαι τὰ προειρημένα ὁ Κέλσος· εἰ μὴ ἄρα. ὡς φαίνεται. μὴ ἐπιστάμενος τὸν λόγον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον ἐβούλετο μηδὲν ἀνθρώπινον παθεῖν μηδὲ γενέσθαι ἀνθρώποις παράδειγμα γενναῖον περὶ τοῦ φέρειν τὰ συμβαίνοντα. κἂν οἴκτιστα τῷ Κέλσῳ ταῦτʼ εἶναι δοκῇ καὶ ἐπονειδιστότατα. ἐπεὶ πόνον μὲν τὸ μέγιστον οἶδε τῶν κακῶν ἡδονὴν δὲ τὸ τέλειον ἀγαθὸν, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς τῶν πρόνοιαν εἰσαγόντων φιλοσόφων καὶ ἀνδρίαν ὁμολογούντων εἶναι ἀρετὴν καὶ καρτερίαν καὶ μεγαλοψυχίαν παρεδέξατο· οὐ διέβαλεν οὖν τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς διʼ ὧν ὑπέμεινεν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς ἀνδρίαν ἀποδέξασθαι βουλομένοις ἐκράτυνε καὶ ἐν τοῖς διδαχθεῖσιν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τὸ μὲν κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς ζῆν τὸ μακάριον οὐκ εἶναι ἐνταῦθα ἀλλʼ „ἐν τῷ“ καλουμένῳ κατὰ τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ „μέλλοντι αἰῶνι, “ τὸ δʼ ἐν τῷ ἐνεστῶτι αἰῶνι λεγομένῳ ζῆν συμφορὰν εἶναι ἢ ἀγῶνα τὸν πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον τῆς ψυχῆς. ### English translation (Claude) Further, since Celsus will have it that Jesus was not blameless either, let him show which of those who accepted his teaching recorded anything truly blameworthy in Jesus; or, if he does not accuse him as blameworthy on the basis of these writings, let him show where he learned that he was not blameless when he said so. Jesus did do what he promised, things worthy of belief, by which he benefited those who paid heed to him. And as we continually see fulfilled what he said before it happened, that “the gospel would be preached” in the whole world, and that his disciples would go into “all the nations” and proclaim his word, and further that they would be brought “before governors and kings” for no other reason than his teaching, we are amazed at him and daily confirm our faith in him. I do not know by what greater and clearer proofs Celsus wished him to make his predictions credible; unless, as it seems, not understanding that the Word became the man Jesus, he wished him to suffer nothing human and not to become for human beings a noble example of bearing what befalls them. Even if these things seem to Celsus most pitiable and most shameful, that is because he regards pain as the greatest of evils and pleasure as the perfect good, a view that none of the philosophers who bring in providence and acknowledge courage, endurance, and greatness of soul to be virtues has accepted. Jesus, then, did not discredit faith in him by what he endured; rather he strengthened it among those who wish to embrace courage, and among those taught by him that to live properly and truly, the blessed life, is not here but “in the age to come,” as it is called in his words, while living in what is called “the present age” is a misfortune, or the first and greatest contest of the soul. ### Scripture references - Matt 24:14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 28:19: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:18: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:32: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Matt 24:14, Matt 28:19, Matt 10:18, and Matt 12:32. Origen implicitly attributes to Celsus the Epicurean view that pleasure is the highest good. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/42/). ## Against Celsus 2.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/43/ - Source: Koetschau 1:166 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen affirms that Jesus persuaded many during his life and that after death, as a soul without a body, he preached to the souls of the dead. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα λέγει πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὅτι οὐ δή που φήσετε περὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι μὴ πείσας τοὺς ὧδε ὄντας ἐστέλλετο εἰς ᾅδου πείσων τοὺς ἐκεῖ. κἂν μὴ βούληται οὖν, τοῦτό φαμεν, ὅτι καὶ ἐν σώματι ὢν οὐκ ὀλίγους ἔπεισεν ἀλλὰ τοσούτους. ὡς διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν πειθομένων ἐπιβουλευθῆναι αὐτὸν, καὶ γυμνὴ σώματος γενόμενος ψυχὴ ταῖς γυμναῖς σωμάτων ὡμίλει ψυχαῖς, ἐπιστρέφων κἀκείνων τὰς βουλομένας πρὸς αὐτὸν ἢ ἃς ἑώρα διʼ οὓς ᾔδει αὐτὸς λόγους ἐπιτηδειοτέρας. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says to us: “Surely you will not say of him that, having failed to persuade those who were here, he went to Hades to persuade those there.” Even if he does not wish it, we say this: that while he was in the body he persuaded not a few but so many that he was plotted against because of the number of those persuaded; and that, having become a soul stripped of the body, he conversed with souls stripped of bodies, turning to himself those of them that were willing, or those he saw to be more fit for reasons he himself knew. ### Scripture references - 1 Pet 3:19: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The descent to Hades alludes to 1 Pet 3:19. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/43/). ## Against Celsus 2.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/44/ - Source: Koetschau 1:166–167 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's comparison of Jesus with condemned sorcerers and robbers: Jesus was indeed crucified among robbers, as foretold, and his martyrs share his unjust condemnation. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως σφόδρα εὔηθες λέγει ὅτι, εἴπερ ἀτόπους ἀπολογίας εὑρίσκοντες, ἐφʼ αἷς καταγελάστως ἐξηπατήθητε, οἴεσθε ἀληθῶς ἀπολογεῖσθαι, τί κωλύει καὶ ἄλλους, ὅσοι καταγνωσθέντες κακοδαιμονέστερον ἀπήλλαξαν, μείζονας νομίζειν εἶναι καὶ θειοτέρους τούτους ἀγγέλους; ὅτι δʼ ἄντικρυς καὶ σαφῶς οὐδὲν ὅμοιον ἔχει ὁ παθὼν τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα Ἰησοῦς τοῖς κακοδαιμονέστερον ἀπαλλάξασι διὰ γοητείαν ἢ ὁτιδήποτε ἔγκλημα ἄλλο, παντί τῳ δῆλον. οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναταί τις παραστῆσαι γοήτων ἔργον ἐπιστρέψαν ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν κακίαν χύσεως. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ λῃσταῖς αὐτὸν παραβαλὼν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖός φησιν ὅτι δύναιτο ἄν τις ὁμοίως ἀναισχυντῶν καὶ περὶ λῃστοῦ καὶ ἀνδροφόνου κολασθέντος εἰπεῖν ὅτι οὗτός γε οὐχὶ λῃστὴς ἀλλὰ θεὸς ἦν· προεῖπε γὰρ τοῖς συλλῄσταις ὅτι πείσεται τοιαῦτα, οἷα δὴ πέπονθε· λέγοιτʼ ἂν πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι οὐ παρὰ τὸ προειρηκέναι αὐτὸν ταῦτα πείσεσθαι τοιαῦτα ὑπολαμβάνομεν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὁποῖα καὶ φρονοῦντες παῤῥησιαζόμεθα ἐν αὐτῷ ὡς ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἡμῖν κατεληλυθότι· δεύτερον δὲ καὶ ταῦτα λέγομεν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις προειρῆσθαί πως, ἐπεὶ „μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη“ ὁ θεὸς παρὰ τοῖς ἀνόμοις, λῃστὴν μᾶλλον τὸν „διὰ στάσιν“ „καὶ φόνον“ βληθέντα εἰς φυλακὴν βουλομένοις ἀπολυθῆναι τὸν δʼ Ἰησοῦν σταυρῶσαι, καὶ σταυρώσασιν αὐτὸν μεταξὺ λῃστῶν δύο. καὶ ἀεὶ δʼ ἐν τοῖς γνησίοις μαθηταῖς καὶ μαρτυροῦσι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ὁ Ἰησοῦς συσταυροῦται λῃσταῖς καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν αὐτοῖς παρὰ ἀνθρώποις καταδίκην πάσχει. καί φαμεν ὅτι, εἴπερ οὗτοι ὅμοιόν τι λῃσταῖς ἔχουσιν οἱ διὰ τὴν εἰς τὸν δημιουργὸν εὐσέβειαν, ἵνα αὐτὴν εἰλικρινῆ καὶ καθαρὰν διαφυλάξωσι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν, πᾶσαν αἰκίαν καὶ πάντας θανάτους ἀναδεχόμενοι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ὁ πατὴρ τῆς τοιαύτης διδασκαλίας, εὐλόγως ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου λῃστάρχαις παραβάλλεται. ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὸ κοινωνικὸν ἀποθνῄσκων οὔθʼ οὗτοι διʼ εὐσέβειαν ταῦτα πάσχοντες καὶ μόνοι πάντων ἀνθρώπων διὰ τὴν φανεῖσαν αὐτοῖς ὁδὸν τῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον τιμῆς ἐπιβουλευόμενοι οὐκ ἀδίκως ἀναιροῦνται, οὔθʼ ὁ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἀσεβῶς ἐπεβουλεύθη. ### English translation (Claude) Next to this he says, very foolishly, I do not know how: “If, finding absurd defenses by which you were ridiculously deceived, you think you are truly defending yourselves, what prevents others too, who were condemned and came to a more wretched end, from being thought greater and more divine messengers than he?” That Jesus, who suffered what is recorded, is plainly and clearly nothing like those who came to a more wretched end for sorcery or any other charge is clear to everyone. For no one can point to a work of sorcerers that has turned souls from the many sins among human beings and from the flood of wickedness. And since the Jew in Celsus compares him with robbers too, saying: “One could equally shamelessly say of a robber and murderer who was punished: ‘This man was no robber but a god; for he foretold to his fellow robbers that he would suffer such things as indeed he has suffered,’” it may be said first that we do not hold the views about Jesus that we hold, and speak boldly in him as one who came down to us from God, because he foretold that he would suffer such things. Second, we say that this too was in a way foretold in the Gospels, since God “was reckoned with the lawless” by the lawless, who wished rather that a robber, thrown into prison “for insurrection” “and murder,” be released and that Jesus be crucified, and who crucified him between two robbers. And always, in his genuine disciples who bear witness to the truth, Jesus is crucified with robbers and suffers the same condemnation among men as they. And we say that if those who, for the sake of piety toward the Creator, accept every outrage and every kind of death so as to keep that piety sincere and pure according to Jesus' teaching, have anything in common with robbers, then clearly Jesus too, the father of such teaching, is reasonably compared by Celsus with robber chiefs. But neither was he who died for the common good, nor are these who suffer these things for piety, and who alone of all human beings are plotted against because of the way of honoring the divine that has been revealed to them, put to death justly; nor was Jesus plotted against without impiety. ### Scripture references - Isa 53:12: quotation, high confidence - Luke 22:37: allusion, high confidence - Luke 23:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:38: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 53:12 (Luke 22:37; Mark 15:28) and Luke 23:19 (Barabbas); the crucifixion between two robbers is Matt 27:38. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/44/). ## Against Celsus 2.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/45/ - Source: Koetschau 1:167–168 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that the disciples' early failure is balanced by their later bold preaching, suffering, and martyrdom, which Celsus ignores. ### Greek text Πρόσχες δὲ καὶ τῷ ἐπιπολαίῳ τοῦ περὶ τῶν τότε μαθητῶν Ἰησοῦ λόγου, ἐν ᾧ φησιν· εἶτα οἱ μὲν τότε ζῶντι αὐτῷ συνόντες καὶ τῆς φωνῆς ἐπακούοντες αὐτοῦ καὶ διδασκάλῳ χρώμενοι κολαζόμενον καὶ ἀποθνῄσκοντα ὁρῶντες οὔτε συναπέθανον οὔτε ὑπεραπέθανον αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ κολάσεων καταφρονεῖν ἐπείσθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἠρνήσαντο εἶναι μαθηταί· νῦν δὲ ὑμεῖς αὐτῷ συναποθνῄσκετε. καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὲ τὸ μὲν ἔτι εἰσαγομένοις τοῖς μαθηταῖς καὶ ἀτελεστέροις οὖσιν ἁμαρτηθὲν καὶ γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις πιστεύει γεγονέναι, ἵνʼ ἐγκαλῇ τῷ λόγῳ, τὸ δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῖς κατορθωθὲν παῤῥησιασαμένοις ἐπὶ Ἰουδαίων καὶ μυρία ὅσα πεπονθόσιν ὑπʼ ἐκείνων καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀποθανοῦσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίας παρασιωπᾷ. οὔτε γὰρ Ἰησοῦ ἐβουλήθη ἀκοῦσαι προλέγοντος τῷ Πέτρῳ· „ὅταν δὲ γηράσῃς, ἐκτενεῖς τὰς χεῖράς σου“ καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς, ᾧ ἐπιφέρει ἡ γραφή· „τοῦτο δʼ εἶπε σημαίνων, ποίῳ θανάτῳ δοξάσει τὸν θεόν“ οὔθʼ ὅτι Ἰάκωβος ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἰωάννου, ἀπόστολος ἀποστόλου ἀδελφὸς, ἀνῃρέθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡρώδου διὰ τὸν λόγον Χριστοῦ „μαχαίρᾳ“· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅσα παῤῥησιαζόμενοι ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ πεποιήκασιν ὁ Πέτρος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ ὡς „ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ συνεδρίου“ ἐξῆλθον μετὰ τὸ μαστιγωθῆναι „χαίροντες, “ „ὅτι κατηξιώθησαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἀτιμασθῆναι, “ καὶ ὑπεραίροντες πολλὰ τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησιν ἱστορουμένων ἐπὶ τῇ καρτερίᾳ καὶ ἀνδρίᾳ τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων. ἀρχῆθεν οὖν τοῦτο μάλιστα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μάθημα ἐκρατύνετο παρὰ τοῖς ἀκούουσιν αὐτοῦ, διδάσκον καταφρονεῖσθαι μὲν τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν περιεπόμενον ζῆν, σπουδάζεσθαι δὲ τὸ παραπλήσιον τῷ ζῆν τοῦ θεοῦ ζῆν. ### English translation (Claude) Notice too the superficiality of his argument about Jesus' disciples at that time, where he says: “Then those who were with him while he lived, who heard his voice and had him as teacher, when they saw him punished and dying, neither died with him nor for him, nor were they persuaded to despise punishments, but even denied that they were his disciples. But now you die with him.” Here he believes that the sin committed by the disciples while they were still beginners and less perfect, and recorded in the Gospels, took place, so that he may accuse the teaching; but he passes over in silence what they did rightly after their sin, speaking boldly before the Jews, suffering countless things at their hands, and finally dying for Jesus' teaching. For he did not wish to hear Jesus foretelling to Peter, “But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands,” and what follows, on which the Scripture comments: “He said this to signify by what death he would glorify God”; nor that James the brother of John, an apostle and brother of an apostle, was killed by Herod “with the sword” for the word of Christ; nor all that Peter and the other apostles did, speaking boldly for the word, and how they went out “from the presence of the council” after being flogged, “rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for the name,” surpassing much of what is related among the Greeks of the endurance and courage of the philosophers. From the beginning, then, this teaching of Jesus above all prevailed among his hearers, teaching them to despise the life that the many cling to, and to strive for a life like the life of God. ### Scripture references - John 21:18: quotation, high confidence - John 21:19: quotation, high confidence - Acts 12:2: quotation, high confidence - Acts 5:41: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are John 21:18–19, Acts 12:2, and Acts 5:41. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/45/). ## Against Celsus 2.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/46/ - Source: Koetschau 1:168 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen refutes the claim that Jesus won only ten disreputable followers, pointing to the crowds of thousands, and argues that if his disciples persuaded many, he must have persuaded far more. ### Greek text Πῶς δʼ οὐ ψεύδεται ὁ λέγων παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι παρὼν δέκα ναύτας καὶ τελώνας τοὺς ἐξωλεστάτους μόνους εἷλε καὶ οὐδὲ τούτους ἅπαντας; σαφὲς γὰρ ὅτι καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι ὁμολογήσαιεν ἂν ὅτι οὐ δέκα μόνους εἷλεν οὐδὲ ἑκατὸν οὐδὲ χιλίους, ἀλλʼ ἀθρόως ὁτὲ μὲν πέντε χιλιάδας ὁτὲ δὲ τέσσαρας χιλιάδας· καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν γε εἷλεν, ὥστε καὶ εἰς τὰς ἐρημίας αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖν, τὰς μόνον χωρούσας ἀθρόον τι πλῆθος τῶν πιστευόντων τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐν αἷς οὐ μόνον λόγους ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργα αὐτοῖς ἐπεδείκνυτο. ἀναγκάζει δʼ ἡμᾶς ταυτολογῶν τὸ παραπλήσιον αὐτῷ ποιεῖν, ἐπεὶ φυλασσόμεθα ὑπολαμβάνεσθαι ὑπερβαίνειν τινὰ τῶν παρʼ αὐτῷ λεγομένων ἐγκλημάτων. καὶ ἐν τῷ προκειμένῳ τοίνυν λόγῳ καθʼ ἣν ἔχομεν τάξιν τῆς γραφῆς φησιν· εἰ ζῶν μὲν αὐτὸς μηδένα ἔπεισεν, ἀποθανόντος δʼ αὐτοῦ πείθουσιν οἱ βουλόμενοι τοσούτους, πῶς τοῦτο οὐχ ὑπεράτοπόν ἐστι; δέον λέγειν ἀκολουθίαν σῴζοντα ὅτι, εἴπερ ἀποθανόντος αὐτοῦ πείθουσιν οὐχ ἁπαξαπλῶς οἱ βουλόμενοι ἀλλʼ οἱ βουλόμενοι καὶ δυνάμενοι τοὺς τοσούτους, πόσῳ μᾶλλον εὔλογον αὐτὸν, ἡνίκα τῷ βίῳ ἐπεδήμει, πολλαπλασίους καὶ δυνατωτέρῳ λόγῳ καὶ πράξεσι πεπεικέναι; ### English translation (Claude) How is the Jew in Celsus not lying when he says that “while he was present he won over only ten sailors and tax collectors of the most accursed kind, and not even all of these”? For it is clear that even Jews would admit that he won over not only ten, nor a hundred, nor a thousand, but at once sometimes five thousand, sometimes four thousand; and he won them over to such an extent that they followed him even into the deserts, which alone could hold a great crowd of those who believed in God through Jesus, and there he showed them not only words but also deeds. His repetitions force us to do something similar, since we are careful not to be thought to pass over any of the charges he makes. In the passage before us, then, in the order of his writing that we are following, he says: “If, while he lived, he persuaded no one, but after his death those who wish persuade so many, how is this not utterly absurd?” He ought, keeping the logical sequence, to have said: “If after his death not simply those who wish, but those who both wish and are able, persuade so many, how much more reasonable is it that he, when he was living among us, persuaded many times more by a more powerful word and deeds?” ### Scripture references - Matt 14:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 15:38: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The crowds are those of the feedings of the five thousand and four thousand (Matt 14:21; 15:38). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/46/). ## Against Celsus 2.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/47/ - Source: Koetschau 1:168–169 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen denies that Christians believe Jesus is God's Son merely because he was punished; they have countless reasons, and they do not worship everyone who was crucified. ### Greek text Ἑαυτῷ δὲ λαμβάνει ὡς ἡμετέραν ἀπόκρισιν πρὸς πεῦσιν αὐτοῦ λεγομένην φήσαντος· τίνι προσήχθητε λογισμῷ τοῦτον νομίζειν υἱὸν θεοῦ; πεποίηκε γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἀποκρινομένους ὅτι τούτῳ προσήχθημεν, (ἐπ)εὶ καὶ ἴσμεν τὴν κόλασιν αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ καθαιρέσεως τοῦ πατρὸς τῆς κακίας γεγονυῖαν. ἄλλοις γὰρ μυρίοις προσήχθημεν, ὧν πολλοστημόριον ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων ἐξεθέμεθα καὶ θεοῦ διδόντος ἐκθησόμεθα οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς πρὸς τὸν νομιζόμενον Κέλσου ἀληθῆ λόγον πραγματευόμενοι ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις μυρίοις. καὶ ὡς ἡμῶν γε λεγόντων ὅτι υἱὸν αὐτὸν νομίζομεν θεοῦ, ἐπεὶ ἐκολάσθη, φησί· τί οὖν; οὐχὶ καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ ἐκολάσθησαν, καὶ οὐχ ἧττον ἀγεννῶς; ὅμοιον δʼ ἐν τούτῳ ποιεῖ ὁ Κέλσος τοῖς ἀνδραποδωδεστάτοις τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ λόγου καὶ οἰομένοις ὅτι ἀκολουθεῖ τῇ περὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἱστορίᾳ σταυρωθέντα τὸ σέβειν ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐσταυρωμένους. ### English translation (Claude) He takes as our answer to his question something he himself says, when he asks: “By what reasoning were you led to think this man the Son of God?” For he has made us answer that we were led to this because we know that his punishment took place for the overthrow of the father of wickedness. But we were led by countless other reasons, a very small part of which we have set out above, and, God granting, we shall set out, not only in dealing with what is regarded as Celsus's True Discourse but in countless other works. And as if we were saying that we think him the Son of God because he was punished, he says: “What then? Were not many others also punished, and no less ignobly?” In this Celsus behaves like the most servile of the enemies of the faith, who think it follows from the story of Jesus' crucifixion that we worship those who have been crucified. ### Translation notes - The True Discourse (Ἀληθὴς λόγος) is the title of Celsus's work. The bracketed (ἐπ) of (ἐπ)εὶ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/47/). ## Against Celsus 2.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/48/ - Source: Koetschau 1:169–170 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen defends Jesus' healings and raisings of the dead as foretold by Isaiah and credibly reported, and says the disciples do greater works in healing souls. ### Greek text Πολλάκις δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ἤδη μὴ δυνάμενος ἀντιβλέπειν αἷς ἀναγέγραπται πεποιηκέναι δυνάμεσιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς διαβάλλει αὐτὰς ὡς γοητείας· καὶ πολλάκις τῷ λόγῳ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἀντείπομεν. καὶ νῦν δέ φησιν οἱονεὶ ἡμᾶς ἀποκρίνασθαι ὅτι διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐνομίσαμεν αὐτὸν εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ, ἐπεὶ χωλοὺς καὶ τυφλοὺς ἐθεράπευσε. προστίθησι δὲ καὶ τό· ὡς ὑμεῖς φατε, ἀνίστη νεκρούς. ὅτι μὲν οὖν χωλοὺς καὶ τυφλοὺς ἐθεράπευσε, διόπερ Χριστὸν αὐτὸν καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ νομίζομεν, δῆλον ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ καὶ ἐν προφητείαις γεγράφθαι· „τότε ἀνοιχθήσονται ὀφθαλμοὶ τυφλῶν, καὶ ὦτα κωφῶν ἀκούσονται· τότε ἁλεῖται ὡς ἔλαφος ὁ χωλός.“ ὅτι δὲ καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνίστη καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλάσμα τῶν τὰ εὐαγγέλια γραψάντων, παρίσταται ἐκ τοῦ, εἰ μὲν πλάσμα ἦν, πολλοὺς (ἂν) ἀναγεγράφθαι τοὺς ἀναστάντας, καὶ τοὺς ἤδη χρόνους ἔχοντας πλείονας ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις· ἐπεὶ δʼ οὐκ ἔστι πλάσμα. πάνυ εὐαριθμήτους λελέχθαι, τήν τε τοῦ ἀρχισυναγώγου θυγατέρα (περὶ ἧς οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως εἶπεν· „οὐκ ἀπέθανεν ἀλλὰ καθεύδει, “ λέγων τι περὶ αὐτῆς, (ὃ) οὐ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀποθανοῦσι προσῆν, ) καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ τῆς χήρας υἱὸν, ἐφʼ ᾧ σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν, στήσας τοὺς φέροντας τὸν νεκρὸν, καὶ τρίτον Λάζαρον τετάρτην ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ μνημείῳ ἔχοντα. καὶ φήσομεν γʼ ἔτι (περὶ) τούτων τοῖς εὐγνωμονεστέροις καὶ μάλιστα τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ ὅτι, ὥσπερ „πολλοὶ λεπροὶ ἦσαν ἐν ἡμέραις Ἐλισσαίου τοῦ προφήτου, καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν ἐκαθαρίσθη εἰ μὴ Ναιμὰν ὁ Σύρος, “ καὶ „πολλαὶ χῆραι ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἠλίου“ τοῦ προφήτου, „καὶ πρὸς οὐδεμίαν αὐτῶν ἐπέμφθη χήραν ὁ Ἠλίας εἰ μὴ εἰς Σαραφθὰ τῆς Σιδωνίας“· ἀξία γὰρ ἐγεγόνει τοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου γεγενημένου τεραστίου ἐν τοῖς ἄρτοις κατά τινα θείαν κρίσιν· οὕτω πολλοὶ νεκροὶ ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἰησοῦ, ἀλλὰ μόνοι ἀνέστησαν, οὓς ἔγνω ὁ λόγος ἐπιτηδείους πρὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν, ἵνα μὴ μόνον σύμβολά τινων ᾖ τὰ γενόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτόθεν προσαγάγῃ πολλοὺς τῇ θαυμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου διδασκαλίᾳ. ἐγὼ δʼ εἴποιμʼ ἂν ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ ἐπαγγελίαν οἱ μαθηταὶ καὶ „μείζονα“ πεποιήκασιν ὧν Ἰησοῦς αἰσθητῶν πεποίηκεν. ἀεὶ γὰρ ἀνοίγονται ὀφθαλμοὶ τυφλῶν τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ ὦτα τῶν ἐκκεκωφημένων πρὸς λόγους ἀρετῆς ἀκούει προθύμως περὶ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ μακαρίας ζωῆς. πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ χωλοὶ τὰς βάσεις τοῦ, ὡς ἡ γραφὴ ὠνόμασεν, „ἔσω“ ἀνθρώπου, νῦν τοῦ λόγου ἰασαμένου αὐτοὺς, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἅλλονται ἀλλʼ „ὡς ἔλαφος, “ πολέμιον τῶν ὄφεων ζῷον καὶ κρεῖττον παντὸς ἰοῦ τῶν ἐχιδνῶν. καὶ οὗτοί γε οἱ θεραπευθέντες χωλοὶ λαμβάνουσιν ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ „ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν“ τοῖς ποσὶν, οἷς πρότερον ἦσαν χωλοὶ, „ἐπάνω“ τῶν τῆς κακίας „ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων“ καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς „ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, καὶ πατοῦντες οὐκ ἀδικοῦνται· κρείττους γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ γεγόνασι τοῦ πάσης κακίας καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων ἰοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus has often before, unable to face the miracles Jesus is recorded to have done, slandered them as sorceries; and we have often answered his argument as best we could. Now too he says, as if we had answered, that we thought him the Son of God because he healed the lame and the blind. He adds this too: “He raised the dead, as you say.” That he healed the lame and the blind, for which we consider him the Christ and the Son of God, is clear to us from its also being written in prophecies: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear; then the lame will leap like a deer.” That he also raised the dead, and that this is not an invention of those who wrote the Gospels, is shown by this: if it were an invention, many who rose would have been recorded, including those who had already been a long time in their tombs; but since it is no invention, very few are mentioned: the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue (of whom, I do not know why, he said, “She is not dead but sleeping,” saying something about her that did not apply to all the dead), the only son of the widow, whom he raised out of compassion, having stopped those who carried the dead man, and third, Lazarus, who had been four days in the tomb. And we shall say further about these things to the more fair-minded, and especially to the Jew, that just as “there were many lepers in the days of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian,” and “there were many widows in the days of Elijah” the prophet, “and Elijah was sent to none of them except to Zarephath in Sidon” (for she had become worthy, by a certain divine judgment, of the marvel the prophet worked with the loaves), so there were many dead in the days of Jesus, but only those rose whom the Word knew to be fit for the resurrection, so that what the Lord did might not only be symbols of certain things but might also by itself bring many to the wonderful teaching of the Gospel. I would say that, according to Jesus' promise, the disciples have done even “greater” works than the perceptible ones Jesus did. For the eyes of those blind in soul are always being opened, and the ears of those deaf to words of virtue hear eagerly about God and the blessed life with him. And many who were lame in the feet of what Scripture called the “inner” man, now that the Word has healed them, do not merely leap but leap “like a deer,” an animal hostile to serpents and stronger than all the poison of vipers. These healed lame men receive from Jesus “authority to tread,” with the feet on which they were formerly lame, “upon the serpents and scorpions” of wickedness, and in short “over all the power of the enemy,” and treading they are not harmed; for they too have become stronger than the poison of all wickedness and of the demons. ### Scripture references - Isa 35:5: quotation, high confidence - Isa 35:6: quotation, high confidence - Mark 5:39: quotation, high confidence - Luke 7:14: allusion, high confidence - John 11:39: allusion, high confidence - Luke 4:25: quotation, high confidence - Luke 4:26: quotation, high confidence - Luke 4:27: quotation, high confidence - John 14:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 10:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 35:5–6, Mark 5:39 (Matt 9:24), Luke 4:25–27, John 14:12, Rom 7:22 (“inner man”), and Luke 10:19. The raisings are Jairus's daughter (Mark 5), the widow's son at Nain (Luke 7:11–15), and Lazarus (John 11). The deer as enemy of serpents is a common ancient belief (e.g. Pliny, Natural History 8.118). The words in parentheses in the Greek are editorial supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/48/). ## Against Celsus 2.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/49/ - Source: Koetschau 1:170–172 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen shows that Jesus warned not against wonder-workers in general but against false christs, and that his warning, far from reducing his own miracles to sorcery, presupposes their divine character. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἰησοῦς ἐπιστρέφων τοὺς μαθητὰς οὐχὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ [μὴ] προσέχειν ἁπαξαπλῶς γόησι καὶ τοῖς ἐπαγγελλομένοις διʼ οἱασδήποτε ὁδοῦ ποιεῖν τεράστια (οὐ γὰρ ἐδέοντο τούτου οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ) ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ τοῖς ἀναγορεύουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πειρωμένοις διά τινων φαντασιῶν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιστρέφειν τοὺς Ἰησοῦ μαθητὰς ὅπου μὲν εἶπε· „τότε ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ· ἰδοὺ ὧδε ὁ Χριστὸς ἢ ὧδε, μὴ πιστεύετε. ἐγερθήσονται γὰρ ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται καὶ δώσουσι σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα μεγάλα. ὥστε πλανᾶσθαι εἰ δυνατὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς. ἰδοὺ προείρηκα ὑμῖν. ἐὰν οὖν εἴπωσιν ὑμῖν· ἰδοὺ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐστὶ, μὴ ἐξέλθητε· ἰδοὺ ἐν τοῖς ταμείοις, μὴ πιστεύσητε. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ ἀστραπὴ ἐξέρχεται ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν καὶ φαίνεται ἕως δυσμῶν, οὕτως ἔσται ἡ παρουσία τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου“· ὅπου δέ· „πολλοὶ ἐροῦσί μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ· κύριε, κύριε, οὐ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐφάγομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐπίομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν καὶ δυνάμεις πολλὰς ἐποιήσαμεν; καὶ ἐρῶ αὐτοῖς· ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ. ὅτι ἐστὲ ἐργάται ἀδικίας.“ ὁ δὲ Κέλσος κοινοποιῆσαι βουλόμενος τὰ τεράστια τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γοητείαν φησὶν αὐταῖς λέξεσιν· ὦ φῶς καὶ ἀλήθεια, τῇ αὐτοῦ φωνῇ διαῤῥήδην ἐξαγορεύει, καθὰ καὶ ὑμεῖς συγγεγράφατε, διότι παρέσονται ὑμῖν καὶ ἕτεροι δυνάμεσιν ὁμοίαις χρώμενοι, κακοὶ καὶ γόητες, καὶ σατανᾶν τινα τοιαῦτα παραμηχανώμενον ὀνομάζει· ὥστʼ οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἔξαρνός ἐστιν, ὡς ταῦτά γε οὐδὲν θεῖον ἀλλὰ πονηρῶν ἐστιν ἔργα. βιαζόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπεκάλυψε καὶ τὰ καθʼ αὑτὸν ἤλεγξε. πῶς οὖν οὐ σχέτλιον ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔργων τὸν μὲν θεὸν τοὺς δὲ γόητας ἡγεῖσθαι; τί γὰρ μᾶλλον ἀπό γε τούτων τοὺς ἄλλους πονηροὺς ἢ τοῦτον νομιστέον αὐτῷ χρωμένους μάρτυρι; ταῦτα μέν γε καὶ αὐτὸς ὡμολόγησεν οὐχὶ θείας φύσεως ἀλλʼ ἀπατεώνων τινῶν καὶ παμπονήρων εἶναι γνωρίσματα. ὅρα δὴ εἰ μὴ ἐν τούτοις σαφῶς ὁ Κέλσος ἐλέγχεται κακουργῶν τὸν λόγον, ἄλλο μὲν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντος περὶ τῶν ποιησόντων „σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα, “ ἄλλο δὲ τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου φάσκοντος. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν ἁπλῶς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἔλεγεν Ἰησοῦς φυλάσσεσθαι τοὺς τὰ τεράστια ἐπαγγελλομένους οὐ παρατιθέμενος, τί φήσουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι, τάχα χώραν εἶχεν ἂν ἡ ὑπόνοια αὐτοῦ· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀφʼ ὧν θέλει ἡμᾶς φυλάσσεσθαι ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπαγγέλλονται εἶναι „ὁ Χριστὸς, “ ὅπερ οὐ ποιοῦσιν οἱ γόητες, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ βιοῦντας κακῶς φησι τινὰς δυνάμεις ποιήσειν καὶ δαίμονας ἀποβαλεῖν ἀνθρώπων· μᾶλλον δʼ, εἰ δεῖ οὕτως εἰπεῖν, ἀποκηρύσσεται μὲν τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἡ γοητεία καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κατʼ αὐτῶν ὑπόνοια, εἰσάγεται δὲ ἡ θειότης τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θειότης τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι δυνατόν τινα τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ χρησάμενον καὶ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἐνεργηθέντα ὑπό τινος δυνάμεως πρὸς τὸ προσποιήσασθαι, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ Χριστὸς, δοκεῖν τὰ παραπλήσια ἐπιτελεῖν τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ ἄλλους τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὰ ὡσπερεὶ παραπλήσια τοῖς γνησίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς. ### English translation (Claude) Jesus, then, turned his disciples away, not from paying attention in general to sorcerers and to those who profess to do wonders by any means whatever (for his disciples did not need this), but from those who proclaim themselves to be the Christ of God and try by certain apparitions to turn Jesus' disciples to themselves. In one place he said: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There,’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert,’ do not go out; ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” In another: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not eat in your name and drink in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works?’ And I will say to them, ‘Depart from me, for you are workers of unrighteousness.’” But Celsus, wishing to put Jesus' wonders on the same level as human sorcery, says in these very words: “O light and truth! With his own voice he expressly declares, as you yourselves have written, that others too will come to you, using similar powers, wicked men and sorcerers, and he names a certain Satan as contriving such things; so that not even he denies that these things are in no way divine but are the works of wicked men. But compelled by the truth, he both revealed what others do and convicted himself. How then is it not wretched to consider him a god because of the same works, and them sorcerers? Why, on the basis of these, should we think the others wicked rather than him, when we use him as witness? He himself admitted that these are the marks not of a divine nature but of certain deceivers and utterly wicked men.” See whether in this Celsus is not clearly convicted of perverting the text, since Jesus says one thing about those who will do “signs and wonders,” and the Jew in Celsus claims another. For if Jesus had simply told his disciples to guard against those who profess to work wonders, without adding what they will claim to be, his suspicion might perhaps have had some ground. But since those Jesus wants us to guard against profess to be “the Christ,” which sorcerers do not do; and since he also says that some who live wickedly in the name of Jesus will do certain mighty works and cast demons out of people; rather, if one must put it so, sorcery is disowned for those in the passage, along with every suspicion against them, and the divinity of Christ and of his disciples is brought in: since it is possible for someone who uses his name, and is moved, I know not how, by some power to pretend that he is the Christ, to seem to perform things like Christ's, and for others, in the name of Jesus, to perform things seemingly like those of his genuine disciples. ### Scripture references - Matt 24:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:25: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:26: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:23: quotation, high confidence - Luke 13:26: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 24:23–27 and Matt 7:22–23 (with Luke 13:26). The editor deletes the square-bracketed μὴ (“not”) at the start; it is not translated. Celsus's phrase “O light and truth!” is ironic. The last sentence is loosely constructed in the Greek; its sense is kept. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/49/). ## Against Celsus 2.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/50/ - Source: Koetschau 1:172–173 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen shows from 2 Thessalonians that the deceptive signs foretold belong to the Antichrist, and that Christ's miracles, like Moses' against Egypt's magicians, are proven divine by their fruit in changed lives. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δʼ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς ἐπιστολῇ δευτέρᾳ ἀποφαίνεται. τίνα τρόπον ἀποκαλυφθήσεταί ποτε „ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστʼ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύοντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἐστὶ θεός.“ καὶ πάλιν φησὶ τοῖς Θεσσαλονικεῦσι· „καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ καιρῷ. τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται τῆς ἀνομίας, μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται· καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατʼ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις.“ ἐκτιθέμενος δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ ἐπιτρέπεσθαι τὸν ἄνομον ἐπιδημεῖν τῷ βίῳ φησίν· „ἀνθʼ ὧν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐδέξαντο εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτούς. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμπει αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει. ἵνα κριθῶσιν ἅπαντες οἱ μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀλλʼ εὐδοκήσαντες ἐν τῇ ἀδικίᾳ.“ λεγέτω τις οὖν ἡμῖν. εἰ δύναταί τι τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ἢ τῶν παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ χώραν παρέχειν ὑπονοίας γοητείας προαγορευομένης κατὰ τὸν τόπον. παρέσται δὲ τῷ βουλομένῳ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Δανιὴλ ἐκλαβεῖν τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου προφητείαν. καταψεύδεται δὲ τῶν λόγων Ἰησοῦ, ἐπεὶ μὴ εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ· διότι παρέσονται ἕτεροι δυνάμεσιν ὁμοίαις χρώμενοι, κακοὶ καὶ γόητες, αὐτός φησιν αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι τὸ τοιοῦτον. ὡς γὰρ οὐχ ὁμοία δύναμις ἡ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐπαοιδῶν τῇ ἐν τῷ Μωϋσεῖ παραδόξῳ χάριτι, ἀλλὰ τὸ τέλος διήλεγχε τὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὄντα μαγγανείας τὰ δὲ τοῦ Μωϋσέως θεῖα· οὕτως τὰ μὲν τῶν ἀντιχρίστων καὶ τῶν προσποιουμένων δυνάμεις ὡς μαθητῶν Ἰησοῦ σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα λέγεται εἶναι „ψεύδους.“ „ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις“ ἰσχύοντα, τὰ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ καρπὸν ἔσχεν οὐκ ἀπάτην ἀλλὰ σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν. Τίς γὰρ τὸν κρείττονα βίον καὶ συστέλλοντα τὰ τῆς κακίας ὁσημέραι ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον εὐλόγως φησὶν ἀπὸ ἀπάτης γίνεσθαι; ### English translation (Claude) Paul too, in the second letter to the Thessalonians, declares in what way there will one day be revealed “the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” And again he says to the Thessalonians: “And now you know what restrains him, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord God will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; the one whose coming is by the activity of Satan with all power and with signs and wonders of falsehood, and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who are perishing.” And setting out the reason why the lawless one is allowed to come into the world, he says: “Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God sends them a working of error, so that they believe the lie, in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” Let someone tell us, then, whether anything in the Gospel or in the apostle can give room for suspecting that sorcery is being foretold in the passage. Anyone who wishes can also take the prophecy about the Antichrist from Daniel. But he falsifies Jesus' words, since Jesus did not say, “Others will come using similar powers, wicked men and sorcerers,” yet he himself says that Jesus said this. For just as the power of the enchanters in Egypt was not like the marvelous grace in Moses, but the outcome proved that what the Egyptians did was trickery and what Moses did was divine, so the signs and wonders of the antichrists, and of those who pretend to powers as disciples of Jesus, are said to be “of falsehood,” prevailing “with all deception of unrighteousness among those who are perishing,” whereas those of Christ and his disciples bore fruit, not in deception but in the salvation of souls. For who can reasonably say that a better life, which daily reduces wickedness, comes from deception? ### Scripture references - 2 Thess 2:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:6: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:7: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:8: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:9: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:11: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Dan 11:36: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 7:11: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 2 Thess 2:3–4 and 2:6–12. The prophecy in Daniel is probably Dan 7–8 and 11:36. The Egyptian enchanters are those of Exod 7–8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/50/). ## Against Celsus 2.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/51/ - Source: Koetschau 1:173–175 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that if magic worked by demons exists, genuine miracles by divine power must exist too, and that the two are told apart by the life of the worker and the moral fruit, as the nations formed by Moses and Jesus show. ### Greek text Ὑπείδετο δὲ ὁ Κέλσος τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς ποιήσας τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἰρηκέναι ὅτι σατανᾶς τις τοιαῦτα παραμηχανήσεται. ἀλλὰ καὶ συναρπάζει τὸν λόγον φάσκων μὴ ἔξαρνον εἶναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὡς ταῦτα οὐδὲν θεῖον ἔχει ἀλλὰ πονηρῶν ἐστιν ἔργα· ὁμογενῆ γὰρ αὐτὰ πεποίηκεν ἑτερογενῆ τυγχάνοντα. καὶ ὥσπερ λύκος κυνὶ οὐχ ὁμογενὴς, κἂν δοκῇ ἔχειν τι παραπλήσιον ἐν τῷ τοῦ σώματος σχήματι καὶ τῇ φωνῇ, οὐδὲ φάσσα τῇ περιστερᾷ· οὕτως οὐδὲν ὅμοιον ἔχει τὸ δυνάμει θεοῦ ἐπιτελούμενον τῷ γινομένῳ ἀπὸ γοητείας. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κακουργίας ἐροῦμεν· ἆρα δυνάμεις γίνονται μὲν κατὰ γοητείαν ἀπὸ πονηρῶν δαιμόνων, οὐδεμία δὲ δύναμις ἐπιτελεῖται ἀπὸ τῆς θείας καὶ μακαρίας φύσεως, ἀλλʼ ὁ βίος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἤνεγκε μὲν τὰ χείρονα οὐδαμῶς δʼ ἐχώρησε τὰ κρείττονα; καὶ τοῦτο δὲ δοκεῖ μοι ὥσπερ ἐπὶ πάντων δεῖν παρατιθέναι, ὅτι ὅπου τι χεῖρον προσποιούμενον εἶναι ὁμογενὲς τῷ κρείττονι, ἐκεῖ πάντως ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἐστί τι κρεῖττον. οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ γοητείαν ἐπιτελούντων. ὅτι πάντως ἀνάγκη εἶναι καὶ ἀπὸ θείας ἐνεργείας ἐν τῷ βίῳ γινόμενα. καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἐξ ἀκολουθίας ἤτοι ἀμφότερα ἀναιρεῖν καὶ λέγειν μηδέτερον γίνεσθαι ἢ τιθέντα τὸ ἕτερον καὶ μάλιστα τὸ χεῖρον ὁμολογεῖν καὶ περὶ τοῦ κρείττονος. εἰ δέ τις τιθείη μὲν τὰ ἀπὸ γοητείας γίνεσθαι, μὴ τιθείη δὲ τὰ ἀπὸ θείας δυνάμεως, δοκεῖ μοι παραπλήσιος εἶναι τῷ τιθέναι μὲν ὅτι εἰσὶ σοφίσματα καὶ λόγοι πιθανοὶ, ἀποτυγχάνοντες τῆς ἀληθείας, προσποιούμενοι τἀληθῆ παριστάνειν, οὐδαμοῦ δὲ παρʼ ἀνθρώποις ἀλήθεια καὶ διαλεκτικὴ ἀλλοτρία σοφισμάτων πολιτεύεται. εἰ δʼ ἅπαξ παραδεξόμεθα ἀκόλουθον εἶναι τῷ ὑποστατὴν εἶναι μαγείαν καὶ γοητείαν, ἐνεργουμένην ὑπὸ πονηρῶν δαιμόνων, κατακλήσεσι περιέργοις θελγομένων καὶ ἀνθρώποις γόησιν ὑπακουόντων, τὸ καὶ ἀπὸ θείας δυνάμεως δεῖν εὑρίσκεσθαι ἐν ἀνθρώποις· διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ βεβασανισμένως τοὺς ἐπαγγελλομένους τὰς δυνάμεις ἐξετάσομεν ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου καὶ τοῦ ἤθους καὶ τῶν ἐπακολουθούντων ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἤτοι εἰς βλάβην τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἢ εἰς ἠθῶν ἐπανόρθωσιν, τίς μὲν δαίμοσι διακονούμενος διά τινων ἐπῳδῶν καὶ μαγγανειῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖ, τίς δʼ ἐν χώρᾳ καθαρᾷ καὶ ἁγίᾳ γενόμενος κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα, οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τὸ σῶμα, τῷ θεῷ, παραδεξάμενος θεῖόν τι πνεῦμα τὰ τοιαῦτα εἰς ὠφέλειαν ἀνθρώπων καὶ προτροπὴν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ πιστεύειν θεῷ ἀληθινῷ πράττει; εἰ δʼ ἅπαξ ζητεῖν δεῖ μὴ συναρπαζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν δυνάμεων, τίς μὲν ἀπὸ κρείττονος τίς δὲ ἀπὸ χείρονος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπιτελεῖ, ἵνα ἢ μὴ πάντα κακολογῶμεν ἢ μὴ πάντα ὡς θεῖα θαυμάζωμεν καὶ ἀποδεχώμεθα· πῶς οὐχὶ προφανὲς μὲν ἔσται ἐκ τῶν συμβάντων ἐπὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰησοῦ, ἐθνῶν ὅλων συστάντων μετὰ τὰ σημεῖα αὐτῶν, ὅτι θείᾳ δυνάμει πεποιήκασιν οὗτοι ἅπερ ἀναγέγραπται αὐτοὺς πεποιηκέναι; οὐκ ἂν γὰρ πονηρία καὶ μαγγανεία ὅλον ἔθνος συνέστησαν, ὑπερβὰν μὲν οὐ μόνον ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰ ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἱδρυμένα ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν γενητὴν φύσιν. ἀναβαῖνον δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀγένητον τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἀρχήν. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus had some inkling of Scripture when he made Jesus say that a certain Satan will contrive such things. But he also snatches at the argument, claiming that Jesus does not deny that these things have nothing divine but are the works of wicked men; for he has made them of one kind when they are of different kinds. And just as a wolf is not of one kind with a dog, even if it seems to have something similar in the shape of its body and its voice, nor a wood-pigeon with a dove, so what is accomplished by the power of God has nothing like what comes from sorcery. We shall say this too against Celsus's malicious tricks: do miracles happen by sorcery from wicked daemons, while no miracle is accomplished by the divine and blessed nature? Has human life borne the worse and in no way admitted the better? It seems to me one should set this down as a rule for all cases: where something worse pretends to be of the same kind as the better, there must certainly be, on the opposite side, something better. So too with those who perform things by sorcery: there must certainly also be things done in life by divine working. And it follows for the same person either to do away with both and say that neither happens, or, positing the one, and especially the worse, to acknowledge the better too. If anyone should posit that things happen by sorcery, but not posit that things happen by divine power, he seems to me like one who posits that there are sophisms and plausible arguments that miss the truth while pretending to present it, but that truth and a dialectic free of sophisms dwell nowhere among human beings. If we once accept that it follows from the real existence of magic and sorcery, worked by wicked daemons who are charmed by curious invocations and obey sorcerers, that there must also be found among human beings works of divine power, why should we not test those who profess miracles closely, by their life and character and by what follows their miracles, whether to people's harm or to the correction of their morals: who does such things serving daemons through certain incantations and trickery, and who, having come to a pure and holy standing before God in his soul and spirit, and I think in his body too, and having received some divine spirit, does such things for people's benefit and to turn them to believe in the true God? And if we must once inquire, without being carried away by the miracles, who does such things from the better and who from the worse, so that we neither slander all nor admire and accept all as divine, how will it not be evident from what happened in the case of Moses and of Jesus, when whole nations were formed after their signs, that these men did by divine power what they are recorded to have done? For wickedness and trickery would not have formed a whole nation that passed beyond not only images and things set up by human beings but all created nature, and rose to the uncreated source of the God of the universe. ### Scripture references - 1 Thess 5:23: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Soul and spirit, and I think body too” echoes 1 Thess 5:23. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/51/). ## Against Celsus 2.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/52/ - Source: Koetschau 1:175–176 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen asks Celsus's Jew why he accepts Moses' miracles as divine but rejects Jesus', when Jesus did a greater work in founding a new way of life among the nations. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ταῦτα λέγων. εἴποιμεν ἂν πρὸς αὐτόν· σὺ δὲ δὴ, ὦ οὗτος, τί δή ποτε τὰ μὲν παρὰ σοὶ γεγραμμένα ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐπιτελεσθέντα θεῖα εἶναι πεπίστευκας καὶ πειρᾷ πρὸς τοὺς διαβάλλοντας αὐτὰ ὡς κατὰ γοητείαν γεγενημένα ὁμοίως τοῖς παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων σοφῶν ἐπιτελουμένοις διαλέγεσθαι, τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ παρὰ σοὶ ὁμολογούμενα γεγονέναι τοὺς κατὰ σοῦ Αἰγυπτίους μιμούμενος κατηγορεῖς ὡς οὐ θεῖα; εἰ γὰρ τὸ τέλος καὶ ὅλον τὸ ἔθνος συστὰν διὰ τῶν ἐν Μωϋσεῖ τεραστίων τὴν ἐνάργειαν τοῦ θεὸν εἶναι τὸν ταῦτα ποιήσαντα γενέσθαι συνίστησιν ἐπὶ Μωϋσέως, πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ δειχθήσεται, μεῖζον ποιήσαντι παρὰ τὸ Μωϋσέως ἔργον; ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔθνους ἐκ σπέρματος Ἀβραὰμ κατὰ διαδοχὴν τὴν περιτομὴν φυλάξαντας καὶ τῶν ἐθῶν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ γενομένους ζηλωτὰς ἑτοιμοτέρους παραλαβὼν ἐξήγαγεν ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, τοὺς θείους, οὓς πεπίστευκας, παρατιθέμενος αὐτοῖς νόμους· οὗτος δὲ μεῖζόν τι τολμήσας ἐπεισήγαγε τῇ προκαταλαβούσῃ πολιτείᾳ καὶ ἔθεσι πατρῴοις καὶ ἀνατροφαῖς ταῖς κατὰ τοὺς κειμένους νόμους τὴν κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πολιτείαν. καὶ ὥσπερ ἔχρῃζεν, ἵνα Μωϋσῆς πιστευθῇ οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῆς γερουσίας ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ, σημείων ὧν πεποιηκέναι ἀναγέγραπται, διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ Ἰησοῦς. ἵνα πιστευθῇ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ μεμαθηκότων „σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα“ αἰτεῖν, δεήσεται τοιούτων δυνάμεων, αἳ διὰ τὸ μεῖζον καὶ θειότερον συγκρίσει τῶν διὰ Μωϋσέως οἷαί τε ἦσαν ἀποστῆσαι μὲν τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς μυθολογίας καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων παρʼ αὐτοῖς παραδόσεων ποιῆσαι δὲ παραδέξασθαι τὸν ταῦτα διδάσκοντα καὶ ἐπιτελοῦντα, ὅτι μείζων τῶν προφητῶν ἦν; πῶς γὰρ οὐ μείζων τῶν προφητῶν ἦν ὁ ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν ὡς Χριστὸς καὶ σωτὴρ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι κηρυσσόμενος; ### English translation (Claude) Since the one who says these things in Celsus is a Jew, we might say to him: “You, sir, why have you believed that what is written in your books as accomplished by God through Moses is divine, and try to argue against those who slander it as done by sorcery like the works of the wise men of Egypt, while you, imitating the Egyptians who oppose you, accuse what Jesus did, which even you admit happened, of not being divine? For if the outcome, and the whole nation formed through the wonders in Moses, establishes clearly that it was God who did these things in the time of Moses, how will this not be shown still more in the case of Jesus, who did a greater work than Moses? Moses took those of the nation descended from Abraham, who had kept circumcision by succession and were zealous for the customs of Abraham, and so were more ready, and led them out of Egypt, setting before them the divine laws which you have believed. But Jesus, daring something greater, brought in the way of life according to the gospel in place of the established way of life, ancestral customs, and upbringing according to the existing laws. And just as there was need, for Moses to be believed not only by the elders but also by the people, of the signs he is recorded to have done, why would Jesus not also, to be believed by those of the people who had learned to ask for ‘signs and wonders,’ need such miracles as, being greater and more divine than those through Moses, could draw them away from Jewish fables and the human traditions among them, and make them accept the one who taught and did these things as greater than the prophets? For how was he not greater than the prophets, who was proclaimed by the prophets as the Christ and Savior of the human race?” ### Scripture references - Exod 4:30: allusion, medium confidence - John 4:48: allusion, medium confidence - Mark 7:8: echo, medium confidence - Titus 1:14: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Exod 4:29–31 (belief of the elders and people) and John 4:48 (“signs and wonders”); “human traditions” echoes Mark 7:8. The phrase “Jewish fables” echoes Titus 1:14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/52/). ## Against Celsus 2.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/53/ - Source: Koetschau 1:176–177 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen shows that every objection Celsus's Jew raises against Jesus' warning about false wonder-workers can be turned against Moses, who gave a similar warning in Deuteronomy. ### Greek text Καὶ ὅλα δὲ, ἅπερ ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος λέγει πρὸς τοὺς πιστεύοντας εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, δύναται κοινοποιεῖσθαι εἰς τὴν Μωϋσέως κατηγορίαν· ὥστʼ ἢ μηδὲν διαφέρειν ἢ παραπλήσιον εἶναι λέγειν γοητείαν τὴν Ἰησοῦ τῇ Μωϋσέως, ἀμφοτέρων ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ λέξει τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου δυναμένων τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὑπάγεσθαι ἐγκλήμασιν. οἷον περὶ μὲν Χριστοῦ ὁ παρὰ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος λέγει· ἀλλʼ ὦ φῶς καὶ ἀλήθεια. τῇ αὐτοῦ φωνῇ διαῤῥήδην ἐξαγορεύει Ἰησοῦς ταῦτα, καθὰ καὶ ὑμεῖς συγγεγράφατε. διότι παρέσονται ὑμῖν καὶ ἕτεροι δυνάμεσιν ὁμοίαις χρώμενοι, κακοὶ καὶ γόητες· περὶ δὲ Μωϋσέως εἴποι ἂν ὁ ἀπιστῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον τοῖς Μωϋσέως εἴτʼ Αἰγύπτιος εἴθʼ ὁστισοῦν· ἀλλʼ ὦ φῶς καὶ ἀλήθεια, τῇ αὐτοῦ φωνῇ Μωϋσῆς διαῤῥήδην ἐξαγορεύει. καθὰ καὶ ὑμεῖς συγγεγράφατε, διότι παρέσονται ὑμῖν ἕτεροι δυνάμεσιν ὁμοίαις χρώμενοι, κακοὶ καὶ γόητες. γέγραπται γὰρ ὑμῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ· „ἐὰν δὲ ἀναστῇ ἐν σοὶ προφήτης ἢ ἐνυπνιαζόμενος ἐνύπνιον καὶ δῷ σοι σημεῖον ἢ τέρας, καὶ ἔλθῃ τὸ σημεῖον ἢ τὸ τέρας, ὃ ἐλάλησε πρός σε λέγων· πορευθῶμεν καὶ ἀκολουθήσωμεν θεοῖς ἑτέροις, οὓς οὐκ οἴδατε, καὶ λατρεύσωμεν αὐτοῖς. οὐκ ἀκούσεσθε τοὺς λόγους τοῦ προφήτου ἐκείνου ἢ τοῦ ἐνυπνιαζομένου τὸ ἐνύπνιον ἐκεῖνο“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ ὁ μὲν τοὺς λόγους τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διαβάλλων φησὶ καὶ σατανᾶν τινα τοιαῦτα παραμηχανώμενον ὀνομάζειν, ὁ δὲ κοινοποιῶν τοῦτο πρὸς Μωϋσέα ἐρεῖ καὶ προφήτην ἐνυπνιαζόμενον τοιαῦτα παραμηχανώμενον ὀνομάζειν. ὥσπερ δʼ ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖός φησι περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι ὥστε οὐδʼ αὐτὸς ἔξαρνός ἐστιν, ὡς ταῦτά γε οὐδὲν θεῖον ἀλλὰ πονηρῶν ἐστιν ἔργα. οὕτως ὁ τοῖς Μωϋσέως ἀπιστῶν φήσει πρὸς αὐτὸν τὰ προειρημένα ἐκτιθέμενος τὸ αὐτό· ὥστε οὐδʼ αὐτὸς Μωϋσῆς ἔξαρνός ἐστιν, ὡς ταῦτά γε οὐδὲν θεῖον ἀλλὰ πονηρῶν ἐστιν ἔργα. τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ ποιήσει καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου· βιαζόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπεκάλυψε καὶ τὰ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἤλεγξεν ὁ Μωϋσῆς. λέγοντι δὲ τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ καὶ τό· πῶς οὖν οὐ σχέτλιον ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔργων τὸν μὲν θεὸν τοὺς δὲ γόητας ἡγεῖσθαι; εἴποι τις ἂν πρὸς αὐτὸν διὰ τὰς Μωϋσέως ἐκτεθείσας λέξεις· πῶς οὖν οὐ σχέτλιον ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔργων τὸν μὲν προφήτην θεοῦ καὶ θεράποντα αὐτοῦ τοὺς δὲ γόητας ἡγεῖσθαι; ἐπεὶ δὲ προσδιατρίβων τῷ τόπῳ ὁ Κέλσος προσέθηκεν οἷς ἐξεθέμην κοινοποιηθεῖσι καὶ τό· τί γὰρ μᾶλλον ἀπό γε τούτων τοὺς ἄλλους πονηροὺς ἢ τοῦτον νομιστέον αὐτῷ χρωμένους μάρτυρι; προσθήσομεν τοῖς λεγομένοις καὶ ἡμεῖς τοιαῦτα· τί γὰρ μᾶλλον ἀπό γε τούτων, οἷς ἀπαγορεύει πείθεσθαι Μωϋσῆς ἐπιδεικνυμένοις σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα, ἐκείνους πονηροὺς νομιστέον ἢ Μωϋσέα ἐξ ὧν ἑτέρους περὶ σημείων καὶ τεράτων διέβαλε; πλείονα δʼ εἰς ταὐτὸν λέγων, ἵνα δόξῃ αὔξειν τὸ ἐπιχείρημα, φησί· ταῦτα μέν γε καὶ αὐτὸς ὡμολόγησεν οὐχὶ θείας φύσεως ἀλλʼ ἀπατεώνων τινῶν καὶ παμπονήρων εἶναι γνωρίσματα. τίς οὖν αὐτός; σὺ μὲν, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε. φῂς ὅτι ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ὁ δὲ ἐγκαλῶν σοι ὡς τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν ὑποκειμένῳ τὸ αὐτὸς ἀνάξει ἐπὶ τὸν Μωϋσέα. ### English translation (Claude) And everything the Jew in Celsus says to those who believe in Jesus can be turned equally into an accusation against Moses, so that one could say that Jesus' sorcery does not differ from Moses', or is like it, since both, as far as the words of the Jew in Celsus go, can be brought under the same charges. For example, about Christ the Jew in Celsus says: “But O light and truth! With his own voice Jesus expressly declares these things, as you yourselves have written, that others too will come to you using similar powers, wicked men and sorcerers.” But about Moses one who disbelieves the writings of Moses, whether an Egyptian or anyone else, might say to the Jew: “But O light and truth! With his own voice Moses expressly declares, as you yourselves have written, that others will come to you using similar powers, wicked men and sorcerers. For it is written in your law: ‘If a prophet or one who dreams a dream arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go and follow other gods whom you do not know, and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or of that dreamer of dreams,’” and what follows. And as the one who slanders Jesus' words says that he names a certain Satan as contriving such things, so the one who applies this equally to Moses will say that he names a prophet who dreams as contriving such things. And as the Jew in Celsus says about Jesus, “So that not even he denies that these things are in no way divine but are the works of wicked men,” so one who disbelieves Moses will say the same to him, setting out the passage quoted: “So that not even Moses himself denies that these things are in no way divine but are the works of wicked men.” And he will do the same with this: “Compelled by the truth, Moses both revealed what others do and convicted himself.” And when the Jew also says, “How then is it not wretched to consider him a god because of the same works, and them sorcerers?”, someone might say to him, because of the words of Moses that were set out: “How then is it not wretched to consider him a prophet and servant of God because of the same works, and them sorcerers?” And since Celsus, dwelling on the passage, added to what I have set out as applying equally, “Why, on the basis of these, should we think the others wicked rather than him, when we use him as witness?”, we too shall add to what has been said something like this: “Why, on the basis of these, should we think those wicked whom Moses forbids us to obey when they display signs and wonders, rather than Moses, from the things by which he slandered others concerning signs and wonders?” Saying more to the same effect, so as to seem to strengthen his argument, he says: “He himself admitted that these are the marks not of a divine nature but of certain deceivers and utterly wicked men.” Who, then, is “he himself”? You, Jew, say it is Jesus; but the one who accuses you as liable to the same charges will refer “he himself” to Moses. ### Scripture references - Deut 13:1: quotation, high confidence - Deut 13:2: quotation, high confidence - Deut 13:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Deut 13:1–3. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/53/). ## Against Celsus 2.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/54/ - Source: Koetschau 1:177–178 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that Celsus's Jew mocks Jesus' foretelling of his resurrection, yet Moses too wrote of his own mysterious, unknown burial. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά. φησι πρὸς ἡμᾶς δῆθεν (ἵνα τηρήσω τὸ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ προτεθὲν) ὁ τοῦ Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖος ἐν τῷ πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας ἑαυτοῦ λόγῳ πιστεύσαντας· τίνι οὖν προσήχθητε ἢ διότι προεῖπεν, ὡς ἀποθανὼν ἀναστήσεται; καὶ τοῦτο δʼ εἰς τὸ περὶ Μωϋσέως ὁμοίως τοῖς προτέροις κοινοποιηθήσεται. φήσομεν γὰρ πρὸς αὐτόν· τίνι οὖν προσήχθητε ἢ διότι ἀνέγραψε περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τελευτῆς τοιαῦτα· „καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν ἐκεῖ Μωϋσῆς οἰκέτης κυρίου ἐν γῇ Μωὰβ διὰ ῥήματος κυρίου· καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐν γῇ Μωάβ, ἐγγὺς οἴκου Φογώρ. Καὶ οὐδεὶς οἶδε τὴν ταφὴν αὐτοῦ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης" Ὡς γὰρ διαβάλλει ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι προεῖπεν, ὡς ἀποθανὼν ἀναστήσεται, πρὸς τὸν λέγοντα ταῦτα ὁ περὶ Μωϋσέως τὸ ὅμοιον φάσκων ἐρεῖ ὅτι καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἀνέγραψεν (αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐστι καὶ τὸ Δευτερονόμιον) ὅτι „Οὐδεὶς οἶδε τὴν ταφὴν αὐτοῦ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης, " σεμνύνων καὶ ἐπαίρων καὶ τὴν ταφὴν αὐτοῦ ὡς οὐκ ἐγνωσμένην ἀνθρώπων γένει. ### English translation (Claude) After this, the Jew of Celsus, in his speech to his fellow citizens who have believed (to keep the character originally assigned to the Jew), says to us, forsooth: “What then led you on, except that he foretold that he would rise after he died?” This too will be applied equally to Moses, like what went before. For we shall say to him: “What then led you on, except that he wrote such things about his own death: ‘And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab by the word of the Lord; and they buried him in the land of Moab, near the house of Phogor. And no one knows his burial place to this day’?” For just as the Jew disparages Jesus because he foretold that he would rise after he died, so one who says something similar about Moses will say in reply that Moses too wrote (for Deuteronomy too is his) that “no one knows his burial place to this day,” glorifying and exalting even his burial as unknown to the human race. ### Scripture references - Deut 34:5: quotation, high confidence - Deut 34:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Deut 34:5–6 (LXX, “Phogor” = Beth-peor). The digital text is garbled here (“ἀνέγραψενμδαση;” and “ὅτι θυοτ;”); the stray letters are removed as digitization noise. The words it sets in square brackets (“Moses too wrote, for Deuteronomy too is his”) cannot be an editorial deletion, since the sentence needs them and ANF also has them; the brackets evidently stand for Origen's own parenthesis, so they are corrected to parentheses and the words are translated. The phrase “to keep the character originally assigned to the Jew” is Origen's parenthesis. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/54/). ## Against Celsus 2.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/55/ - Source: Koetschau 1:178–179 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's Jew compares the resurrection to Greek tales of heroes returning from Hades and dismisses its witnesses; Origen answers that the same objections could be made against Moses, so that defending Moses defends Jesus even more. ### Greek text μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος πρὸς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ πολίτας τῷ Ἰησοῦ πιστεύοντας· φέρε δὴ καὶ πιστεύωμεν ὑμῖν τοῦτʼ εἰρῆσθαι. πόσοι δʼ ἄλλοι τοιαῦτα τερατεύονται, πειθοῦς ἕνεκα τῶν εὐήθως ἀκουόντων ἐνεργολαβοῦντες τῇ πλάνῃ; ὅπερ οὖν καὶ Ζάμολξιν ἐν Σκύθαις φασί, τὸν Πυθαγόρου δοῦλον, καὶ αὐτὸν Πυθαγόραν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ καὶ Ῥαμψίνιτον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ· τοῦτον μὲν καὶ „συγκυβεύειν“ ἐν ᾅδου „τῇ Δήμητρι“ καὶ ἀνελθεῖν „δῶρον“ „παρʼ αὐτῆς χειρόμακτρον χρυσοῦν“ φέροντα· καὶ μὴν καὶ Ὀρφέα ἐν Ὀδρύσαις καὶ Πρωτεσίλαον ἐν Θεσσαλίᾳ καὶ Ἡρακλέα ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ καὶ Θησέα. Ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο σκεπτέον, εἴ τις ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀποθανὼν ἀνέστη ποτὲ αὐτῷ σώματι]· ἢ οἴεσθε τὰ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων μύθους εἶναί τε καὶ δοκεῖν, ὑμῖν δὲ τὴν καταστροφὴν τοῦ δράματος εὐσχημόνως ἢ πιθανῶς ἐφευρῆσθαι, τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ σκόλοπος αὐτοῦ φωνήν, ὅτʼ ἀπέπνει, καὶ „τὸν σεισμὸν“ καὶ τὸν σκότον; ὅτι δὴ ζῶν μὲν οὐκ ἐπήρκεσεν ἑαυτῷ, νεκρὸς δʼ ἀνέστη καὶ τὰ σημεῖα τῆς κολάσεως ἔδειξε [καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ὡς ἦσαν πεπερονημέναι], τίς τοῦτο εἶδε; γυνὴ πάροιστρος, ὥς φατε, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος τῶν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς γοητείας, ἤτοι κατά τινα διάθεσιν ὀνειρώξας καὶ κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ βούλησιν δόξῃ πεπλανημένῃ φαντασιωθεὶς, ὅπερ ἤδη μυρίοις συμβέβηκεν, ἢ. ὅπερ μᾶλλον. ἐκπλῆξαι τοὺς λοιποὺς τῇ τερατείᾳ ταύτῃ θελήσας καὶ διὰ τοῦ τοιούτου ψεύσματος ἀφορμὴν ἄλλοις ἀγύρταις παρασχεῖν. ἐπεὶ οὖν Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν ὁ ταῦτα λέγων, ὡς πρὸς Ἰουδαῖον ἀπολογούμεθα περὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου Ἰησοῦ, κοινοποιοῦντες ἔτι τὸν λόγον περὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ λέγοντες αὐτῷ· πόσοι δʼ ἄλλοι τοιαῦτα τερατεύονται, ὁποῖα Μωϋσῆς, πειθοῦς ἕνεκα τῶν εὐήθως ἀκουόντων ἐνεργολαβοῦντες τῇ πλάνῃ; καὶ μᾶλλον κατὰ τὸν ἀπιστοῦντα Μωϋσεῖ ἐστι δυνατὸν παραθέσθαι τὸν Ζάμολξιν καὶ Πυθαγόραν τοὺς τερατευσαμένους ἤπερ τὸν Ἰουδαῖον. οὐ πάνυ φιλομαθῶς ἔχοντα πρὸς τὰς Ἑλλήνων ἱστορίας. καὶ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος δὲ ἀπιστῶν τοῖς περὶ Μωϋσέως παραδόξοις πιθανῶς παραθήσεται τὸν Ῥαμψίνιτον, λέγων πολλῷ τοῦτον εἶναι πιθανώτερον εἰς ᾅδου καταβεβηκέναι καὶ συγκεκυβευκέναι τῇ Δήμητρι καὶ χρυσοῦν χειρόμακτρον παρʼ αὐτῆς ἁρπάσαντα δεικνύναι σύμβολον τοῦ ἐν ᾅδου γεγονέναι κἀκεῖθεν ἀναβεβηκέναι Μωυσέως. ἑαυτὸν ἀναγράψαντος εἰσεληλυθέναι „εἰς τὸν γνόφον. ὅπου ἦν ὁ θεὸς.“ καὶ ὅτι μόνος ἤγγισε πρὸς τὸν θεὸν παρὰ τοὺς λοιπούς. ἀνέγραψε γὰρ οὕτως· „καὶ Μωϋσῆς μόνος ἐγγιεῖ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν. οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ οὐκ ἐγγιοῦσι.“ φήσομεν οὖν ἡμεῖς οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ πρὸς τὸν ταῦτα λέγοντα Ἰουδαῖον· ἀπολογοῦ δὴ ἡμῖν περὶ τῆς εἰς Ἰησοῦν πίστεως ἐγκαλῶν καὶ λέγε τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησι· τί φήσεις πρὸς ἃ ἤνεγκας κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἡμῶν ἐγκλήματα. φθάσαντα ἂν καὶ ἐπὶ Μωϋσέα; κἂν πάνυ δὲ ἀγωνίσῃ περὶ Μωϋσέως ἀπολογήσασθαι. ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἔχει πληκτικὸν λόγον καὶ ἐναργῆ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ, λήσεις σαυτὸν ἐν οἷς περὶ Μωϋσέως ἀπολογήσῃ, ἄκων συστήσας τὸν Ἰησοῦν Μωϋσέως θειότερον. ### English translation (Claude) After this the Jew says to his fellow citizens who believe in Jesus: “Come now, let us even believe you that this was said. How many others tell such marvels to persuade simple hearers, making profit from their deceit? This is what they say of Zamolxis among the Scythians, the slave of Pythagoras, and of Pythagoras himself in Italy, and of Rhampsinitus in Egypt: that he even ‘played dice with Demeter’ in Hades and came up bringing ‘a golden napkin’ as ‘a gift from her’; and indeed of Orpheus among the Odrysians, Protesilaus in Thessaly, Heracles at Taenarum, and Theseus. But this must be examined: whether anyone who truly died ever rose again with the same body. Or do you think that the stories of the others are myths and seem so, while you have invented the ending of your drama becomingly or plausibly: his cry on the stake as he breathed his last, and ‘the earthquake’ and the darkness? That, although he could not help himself while alive, when dead he rose and showed the marks of his punishment: who saw this? A frantic woman, as you say, and perhaps someone else of the same sorcery, who either dreamed in a certain state of mind and, according to his own wish, had a vision in deluded fancy, which has happened to countless people, or, what is more likely, wished to astonish the rest with this marvel-mongering and by such a lie to give an opening to other beggar-priests.” Since the one saying this is a Jew, we make our defense of our Jesus as to a Jew, still applying the argument equally to Moses, and say to him: “How many others tell such marvels as Moses did, to persuade simple hearers, making profit from their deceit?” And it is more possible for one who disbelieves Moses to cite Zamolxis and Pythagoras, who told marvels, than for the Jew, who is not at all studious of Greek histories. The Egyptian, too, who disbelieves the marvels about Moses, will plausibly cite Rhampsinitus, saying that it is much more credible that he went down to Hades, played dice with Demeter, and, having snatched a golden napkin from her, showed it as a token that he had been in Hades and had come up from there, than that Moses did so, who wrote of himself that he entered “into the darkness where God was,” and that he alone drew near to God apart from the rest. For he wrote thus: “And Moses alone shall draw near to God, but the others shall not draw near.” So we, the disciples of Jesus, shall say to the Jew who says these things: “Defend yourself to us, you who accuse our faith in Jesus, and tell the Egyptian and the Greeks what you will say to the charges you have brought against our Jesus, which would first apply to Moses. And even if you strive hard to defend Moses, as indeed the account of him has a striking and clear argument, you will without noticing it, in defending Moses, have unwillingly established Jesus as more divine than Moses.” ### Scripture references - Matt 27:51: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 27:45: allusion, high confidence - Luke 24:39: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:27: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:14: allusion, high confidence - Exod 20:21: quotation, high confidence - Exod 24:2: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.94–96 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 2.122 (Herodotus, Histories): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The stories of Zamolxis (Salmoxis) and Pythagoras are in Herodotus 4.94–96, and that of Rhampsinitus playing dice with Demeter in Herodotus 2.122. The heroes who returned from Hades (Orpheus, Protesilaus, Heracles, Theseus) are standard mythological examples. The “frantic woman” is Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; John 20:14–18). The biblical quotations are Matt 27:51 (earthquake), Exod 20:21, and Exod 24:2. The editor deletes “and his hands, how they had been pierced” (καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ὡς ἦσαν πεπερονημέναι), probably imported from 2.59, where Origen quotes Celsus with these words; they are not translated here. The square bracket after σώματι has no opening partner in the digital text. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/55/). ## Against Celsus 2.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/56/ - Source: Koetschau 1:179–181 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that Jesus' public crucifixion rules out comparison with heroes who merely disappeared and reappeared, and that the disciples' willingness to die shows they did not invent the resurrection. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰς ἡρωϊκὰς ἱστορίας περὶ τῶν εἰς ᾅδου καταβεβηκέναι λεγομένων κἀκεῖθεν ἀνεληλυθέναι τερατείας εἶναί φησιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος. ὡς τῶν ἡρώων ἀφανῶν γενομένων ἐπί τινα χρόνον καὶ ὑπεκκλεψάντων ἑαυτοὺς τῆς ὄψεως πάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδειξάντων. ὡς ἀπὸ ᾅδου ἀνεληλυθότων (τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἔοικε περὶ τοῦ ἐν Ὀδρύσαις Ὀρφέως καὶ τοῦ ἐν Θεσσαλίᾳ Πρωτεσιλάου καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ Ταινάρῳ Ἡρακλέος ἔτι δὲ καὶ περὶ Θησέως ἐμφαίνειν αὐτοῦ ἡ λέξις), φέρε παραστήσωμεν ὅτι οὐ δύναται τὸ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἱστορούμενον ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγηγέρθαι τούτοις παραβάλλεσθαι. ἕκαστος μὲν γὰρ τῶν λεγομένων κατὰ τοὺς τόπους ἡρώων βουληθεὶς ἂν ἐδυνήθη ἑαυτὸν ὑπεκκλέψαι τῆς ὄψεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πάλιν κρίνας ἐπανελθεῖν πρὸς οὓς καταλέλοιπεν· Ἰησοῦ δὲ σταυρωθέντος ἐπὶ πάντων Ἰουδαίων καὶ καθαιρεθέντος αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος ἐν ὄψει τοῦ δήμου αὐτῶν, πῶς οἷόν τε τὸ παραπλήσιον πλάσασθαι λέγειν αὐτὸν αὐτὸν τοῖς ἱστορουμένοις ἥρωσιν εἰς ᾅδου καταβεβηκέναι κἀκεῖθεν ἀνεληλυθέναι; φαμὲν δʼ ὅτι μή ποτε πρὸς ἀπολογίαν τοῦ ἐσταυρῶσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τοιοῦτον λέγοιτʼ ἂν, μάλιστα διὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἡρώων ἱστορηθέντα τῶν εἰς ᾅδου καταβεβηκέναι βίᾳ νομιζομένων, ὅτι εἰ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐτεθνήκει ἀσήμῳ θανάτῳ, οὐχ ὥστε δῆλος εἶναι ἀποθανὼν ὅλῳ τῷ δήμῳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, εἶτα μετὰ τοῦτʼ ἀληθῶς ἦν ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν, χώραν εἶχεν ἂν τὸ ὑπονοηθὲν περὶ τῶν ἡρώων καὶ περὶ τούτου λεχθῆναι. μή ποτʼ οὖν πρὸς ἄλλοις αἰτίοις τοῦ σταυρωθῆναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τοῦτο δύναται συμβάλλεσθαι τῷ αὐτὸν ἐπισήμως ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀποτεθνηκέναι, ἵνα μηδεὶς ἔχῃ λέγειν ὅτι ἑκὼν ὑπεξέστη τῆς ὄψεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἔδοξεν ἀποτεθνηκέναι οὐκ ἀποτέθνηκε δὲ (ἀλλ᾿), ὅτʼ ἐβουλήθη, πάλιν ἐπιφανεὶς ἐτερατεύσατο τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν; σαφὲς δʼ οἶμαι καὶ ἐναργὲς εἶναι τὸ ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπιχείρημα, ἐπικινδύνῳ ὡς πρὸς τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον διδασκαλίᾳ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδεδωκότων, ἣν οὐκ ἂν πλασσόμενοι τὸ ἐγηγέρθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ νεκρῶν οὕτως εὐτόνως ἐδίδαξαν, μετὰ τοῦ καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐ μόνον ἑτέρους παρασκευάζειν πρὸς τὸ θανάτου καταφρονεῖν ἀλλʼ αὐτοὶ πολὺ πρότερον τοῦτο ποιεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Since the Jew in Celsus says that the heroic stories about those said to have gone down to Hades and come up from there are marvel-mongering, as if the heroes vanished for a time, stole themselves away from the sight of all people, and afterward showed themselves as though they had come up from Hades (for his words seem to suggest this about Orpheus among the Odrysians, Protesilaus in Thessaly, Heracles at Taenarum, and also Theseus), let us show that the account of Jesus' rising from the dead cannot be compared with these. Each of the heroes said to be in those places could, if he wished, have stolen himself away from people's sight and, when he decided, returned to those he had left. But since Jesus was crucified before all the Jews and his body was taken down in full view of their people, how is it possible to invent a similar story, saying that he, like the heroes of the stories, went down to Hades and came up from there? We say that perhaps this too might be said in defense of Jesus' crucifixion, especially because of the stories about heroes thought to have gone down to Hades by force: that if, hypothetically, Jesus had died an obscure death, so that his death was not evident to the whole people of the Jews, and after that had truly risen from the dead, there would have been room to say of him too what was suspected about the heroes. Perhaps, then, besides other reasons for Jesus' crucifixion, this too may contribute to his having died conspicuously on the cross: that no one could say that he deliberately withdrew from people's sight and seemed to have died but had not died, (but,) when he wished, appeared again and made a marvelous show of rising from the dead. And I think the argument from his disciples is clear and evident: they gave themselves to a teaching that was dangerous to human life, which they would not have taught so vigorously if they had invented Jesus' rising from the dead; besides which they not only prepared others to despise death but did so themselves much earlier. ### Translation notes - The bracketed ἀλλʼ (“but”) is an editorial supplement. The phrase “he, like the heroes” renders αὐτὸν αὐτὸν (the second αὐτὸν is probably a repetition in the digital text, left unchanged). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/56/). ## Against Celsus 2.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/57/ - Source: Koetschau 1:181 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen notes that a Jew could not deny bodily resurrection, since Scripture tells of boys raised by Elijah and Elisha, and suggests Jesus came to the Jews because they were prepared for such marvels. ### Greek text Πρόσχες δὲ εἰ μὴ πάνυ τυφλῶς ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ὡς ἀδυνάτου ὄντος τοῦ ἀνίστασθαί τινα ἐκ νεκρῶν αὐτῷ σώματί φησιν· ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο σκεπτέον. εἴ τις ἀληθῶς ἀποθανὼν ἀνέστη ποτὲ αὐτῷ σώματι. οὐκ ἂν γὰρ εἶπεν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ταῦτα. πιστεύων τοῖς ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἀναγεγραμμένοις καὶ τῇ τετάρτῃ περὶ παιδαρίων, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἕτερον Ἠλίας ἀνέστησεν τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ὁ Ἐλισσαῖος. διὰ τοῦτο δʼ οἶμαι καὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν οὐκ ἄλλῳ ἔθνει ἢ Ἰουδαίοις ἐπιδεδημηκέναι, τοῖς ἐθάσι γενομένοις πρὸς τὰ παράδοξα. τῇ παραθέσει τῶν πεπιστευμένων πρὸς τὰ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γενόμενα καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἱστορούμενα ὅπως παραδέξωνται ὅτι οὗτος, περὶ ὃν γέγονε μείζονα καὶ ὑφʼ οὗ ἐπετελέσθη παραδοξότερα, πάντων ἐκείνων μείζων ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) Notice whether the Jew in Celsus does not speak very blindly, as if it were impossible for anyone to rise from the dead with the same body, when he says: “But this must be examined: whether anyone who truly died ever rose again with the same body.” For a Jew would not say this, believing what is recorded in the third and fourth books of Kingdoms about the boys, one of whom Elijah raised and the other Elisha. And for this reason, I think, Jesus came to no other nation than the Jews, who had become accustomed to marvels, so that by comparing what they already believed with what was done by him and recorded about him, they might accept that this one, about whom greater things happened and by whom more marvelous things were accomplished, was greater than all those. ### Scripture references - 1 Kgs 17:22: allusion, high confidence - 2 Kgs 4:35: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are 1 Kgs 17:17–24 (3 Kgdms LXX) and 2 Kgs 4:18–37 (4 Kgdms LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/57/). ## Against Celsus 2.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/58/ - Source: Koetschau 1:181–182 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that Christians count the Greek tales as myths but the shared Scriptures as true, and that Jesus' resurrection, worked by the Father himself, has had far greater effects than those worked by Elijah and Elisha. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μεθʼ ἃς παρέθετο ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἱστορίας Ἑλληνικὰς περὶ τῶν ὡσανεὶ τερατευσαμένων καὶ περὶ τῶν ὡς ἀναστάντων ἐκ νεκρῶν φησι πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων τῷ Ἰησοῦ πιστεύοντας· ἢ οἴεσθε τὰ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων μύθους εἶναί τε καὶ δοκεῖν, ὑμῖν δὲ τὴν καταστροφὴν τοῦ δράματος εὐσχημόνως ἢ πιθανῶς ἐφευρῆσθαι, τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ σκόλοπος αὐτοῦ φωνὴν, ὅτʼ ἀπέπνει; φήσομεν πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον ὅτι οὓς παρέθου μύθους εἶναι νενομίκαμεν. τὰ δὲ τῶν κοινῶν ἡμῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς γραφῶν, ἐν αἷς οὐχ ὑμεῖς μόνοι ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμεῖς σεμνυνόμεθα, οὐδαμῶς μύθους εἶναί φαμεν. διόπερ καὶ τοῖς περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ ἀναστάντων ἐκ νεκρῶν γράψασι πιστεύομεν ὡς μὴ τερατευομένοις καὶ τῷ ἐνταῦθα ὡς καὶ προειπόντι καὶ προφητευθέντι καὶ ἀναστάντι. τούτῳ δὲ παραδοξότερος οὗτος ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς παρʼ ἐκείνους, ὅτι ἐκείνους μὲν προφῆται ἀνέστησαν Ἠλίας καὶ Ἐλισσαῖος, τοῦτον δʼ οὐδεὶς τῶν προφητῶν ἀλλʼ ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς πατήρ. διόπερ καὶ μείζονα εἰργάσατο ἡ τούτου ἀνάστασις τῆς ἐκείνων ἀναστάσεως. τί γὰρ τηλικοῦτον τῷ κόσμῳ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀναστάντων παιδαρίων διʼ Ἠλίου καὶ Ἐλισσαίου γεγένηται, ὁποῖον διὰ τῆς κηρυσσομένης ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ. δυνάμει θείᾳ πεπιστευμένης; ### English translation (Claude) After the Greek stories he cited about those who, as it were, told marvels and those who supposedly rose from the dead, the Jew says to those of the Jews who believe in Jesus: “Or do you think that the stories of the others are myths and seem so, while you have invented the ending of your drama becomingly or plausibly: his cry on the stake as he breathed his last?” We shall say to the Jew that we have considered the stories you cited to be myths; but we say that the contents of the Scriptures common to us and you, in which not only you but we also take pride, are in no way myths. That is why we believe those who wrote about the people raised from the dead there, as not telling marvels, and believe that the one here both foretold it, was prophesied, and rose. And he rose from the dead more marvelously than they, in that prophets, Elijah and Elisha, raised them, but none of the prophets raised him, rather the Father in heaven. That is why his resurrection also accomplished greater things than theirs. For what so great a benefit has come to the world from the boys raised through Elijah and Elisha as through the resurrection of Jesus that is preached and believed by divine power? ### Scripture references - 1 Kgs 17:22: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Kgs 4:35: allusion, medium confidence - Gal 1:1: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The reference is to 1 Kgs 17 and 2 Kgs 4; “the Father in heaven” raised Jesus, cf. Gal 1:1. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/58/). ## Against Celsus 2.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/59/ - Source: Koetschau 1:182 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that Jesus did help himself in the way that matters, by keeping silent and virtuous in suffering as Isaiah foretold, and notes that Celsus disparages Mary Magdalene and the other witnesses of the resurrection. ### Greek text Οἴεται δὲ τερατείαν εἶναι καὶ τὸν σεισμὸν καὶ τὸν σκότον· περὶ ὧν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἀπελογησάμεθα, παραθέμενοι τὸν Φλέγοντα ἱστορήσαντα κατὰ τὸν χρόνον τοῦ πάθους τοῦ σωτῆρος τοιαῦτα ἀπηντηκέναι. καὶ ὅτι ζῶν μὲν οὐκ ἐπήρκεσεν ἑαυτῷ, νεκρὸς δʼ ἀνέστη καὶ τὰ σημεῖα τῆς κολάσεως ἔδειξεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ὡς ἦσαν πεπερονημέναι. καὶ πυνθανόμεθα αὐτοῦ, τί τὸ ἐπήρκεσεν ἑαυτῷ; εἰ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς ἀρετὴν. φήσομεν ὅτι καὶ πάνυ γε ἐπήρκεσεν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄτοπον οὔτʼ ἐφθέγξατο οὔτʼ ἐποίησεν, ἀλλʼ ἀληθῶς „ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη. καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος ἄφωνος“· καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὅτι „οὕτως οὐκ“ ἤνοιξε „τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ.“ εἰ δὲ τὸ ἐπήρκεσεν ἀπὸ τῶν μέσων καὶ σωματικῶν λαμβάνει, φαμὲν ὅτι ἀπεδείξαμεν ἐκ τῶν εὐαγγελίων ὅτι ἑκὼν ἐπὶ ταῦτʼ ἐλήλυθεν. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς τούτοις εἰπὼν τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ὅτι τὰ σημεῖα τῆς κολάσεως ἔδειξεν ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ὡς ἦσαν πεπερονημέναι, πυνθάνεται καὶ λέγει· τίς τοῦτο εἶδε· καὶ τὰ περὶ Μαρίας τῆς Μαγδαληνῆς διαβάλλων ἀναγραφομένης ἑωρακέναι εἶπε· γυνὴ πάροιστρος. ὥς φατε. καὶ ἐπεὶ μὴ μόνη αὕτη ἀναγέγραπται ἑωρακέναι ἀναστάντα τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοι. καὶ ταῦτα κακηγορῶν ὁ Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖός φησι· καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος τῶν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς γοητείας. ### English translation (Claude) He thinks that the earthquake and the darkness too are marvel-mongering; about these we have made our defense above as best we could, citing Phlegon, who records that such things occurred at the time of the Savior's passion. And he says that “though he could not help himself while alive, when dead Jesus rose and showed the marks of his punishment, and his hands, how they had been pierced.” We ask him what “help himself” means. If with regard to virtue, we shall say that he helped himself very well indeed; for he neither said nor did anything improper, but truly “was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent”; and the Gospel testifies that “so he did not” open “his mouth.” But if he takes “help himself” in terms of indifferent and bodily things, we say that we have shown from the Gospels that he came to these things willingly. Then, after citing from the Gospel that when he rose from the dead he showed the marks of his punishment and his hands, how they had been pierced, he asks, “Who saw this?” And disparaging what is said of Mary Magdalene, who is recorded as having seen him, he said: “A frantic woman, as you say.” And since not only she is recorded to have seen Jesus risen, but others too, the Jew of Celsus maligns this as well, saying: “And perhaps someone else of the same sorcery.” ### Scripture references - Isa 53:7: quotation, high confidence - Acts 8:32: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:20: allusion, high confidence - John 20:27: allusion, high confidence - John 20:14: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Phlegon (Phlegon of Tralles, Chronicles): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Phlegon's record of the earthquake and darkness: see 2.33. The quotation is Isa 53:7 (applied in Acts 8:32); the allusions are John 20:20, 25–27 (the marks of the nails) and John 20:14–18 (Mary Magdalene). “Indifferent” (μέσα) is the Stoic term for things neither good nor evil. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/59/). ## Against Celsus 2.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/60/ - Source: Koetschau 1:182–183 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies to Celsus's claim that the resurrection appearances were waking dreams: even appearances of the dead imply that the soul survives, and nothing in the Gospel suggests the witnesses were deranged. ### Greek text Εἶτα ὡς δυναμένου τούτου συμβῆναι, λέγω δὴ τοῦ φαντασίαν τινὶ γίνεσθαι περὶ τοῦ τεθνηκότος ὡς ζῶντος. ἐπιφέρει ὡς Ἐπικούρειος καὶ λέγει κατά τινα διάθεσιν ὀνειρώξαντά τινα ἢ κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ βούλησιν δόξῃ πεπλανημένῃ φαντασιωθέντα τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀπηγγελκέναι. ὅπερ. φησὶ. μυρίοις ἤδη συμβέβηκε. τοῦτο δὲ εἰ καὶ δεινότατα ἔδοξεν εἰρῆσθαι. οὐδὲν ἧττον κατασκευαστικόν ἐστιν ἀναγκαίου δόγματος. ὡς ἄρα ἡ ψυχὴ ὑφέστηκε τῶν ἀποθανόντων· καὶ οὐ μάτην πεπίστευκε περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας αὐτῆς ἢ κἂν τῆς διαμονῆς ὁ τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα ἀνειληφώς· ὡς καὶ Πλάτων ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς λέγει „σκιοειδῆ φαντάσματα“ περὶ μνημεῖά τισι γεγονέναι τῶν ἤδη τεθνηκότων. τὰ μὲν οὖν γινόμενα περὶ ψυχῆς τεθνηκότων „φαντάσματα“ ἀπό τινος ὑποκειμένου γίνεται. τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ὑφεστηκυῖαν ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ αὐγοειδεῖ σώματι ψυχήν. ὁ δὲ Κέλσος οὐ βουλόμενος τὸ τοιοῦτον θέλει καὶ ὕπαρ ὀνειρώττειν τινὰς καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν βούλησιν δόξῃ πεπλανημένῃ φαντασιοῦσθαι· ὅπερ ὄναρ μὲν πιστεύειν γίνεσθαι οὐκ ἄλογον. ὕπαρ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν μὴ πάντῃ ἐκφρόνων καὶ φρενιτιζόντων ἢ μελαγχολώντων οὐ πιθανόν. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ προειδόμενος ὁ Κέλσος παροιστρῶσαν εἶπε τὴν γυναῖκα· ὅπερ οὐκ ἐμφαίνει ἡ ἀναγραφεῖσα ἱστορία, ὅθεν λαβὼν κατηγορεῖ τῶν πραγμάτων. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as if this could happen, I mean that someone should have a vision of a dead man as living, he adds like an Epicurean that someone “dreamed in a certain state of mind, or, according to his own wish, had a vision in deluded fancy,” and reported such a thing, “which,” he says, “has happened to countless people.” Even if this seemed to be very cleverly said, it nonetheless establishes a necessary doctrine: that the soul of the dead subsists, and that one who has embraced this doctrine has not believed in vain in the soul's immortality, or at least its survival; as Plato too says in his work on the soul that “shadowy apparitions” of those already dead have appeared to some people around tombs. The “apparitions” that occur concerning the soul of the dead arise from something that really exists, from the soul subsisting in what is called the luminous body. Celsus, not wishing this, will have it that some people dream even while awake and, according to their own wish, have visions in deluded fancy. It is not unreasonable to believe that this happens in a dream; but that it happens while awake to those who are not wholly out of their minds, delirious, or melancholic is not credible. Celsus foresaw this and said the woman was frantic, which the recorded story, from which he takes his accusation, does not suggest. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaed. 81d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Plato, Phaedo 81d. The “luminous body” (αὐγοειδὲς σῶμα) is a Platonist term for the subtle vehicle of the soul. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/60/). ## Against Celsus 2.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/61/ - Source: Koetschau 1:183–184 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's view that the risen Jesus was an apparition, Origen points to Thomas, who doubted a bodily resurrection until Jesus invited him to touch his wounds. ### Greek text Ἦν οὖν καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς μετὰ θάνατον, ὡς μὲν ὁ Κέλσος οἴεται. φαντασίαν ἐξαποστέλλων τῶν ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρῷ τραυμάτων καὶ οὐκ ἀληθῶς τοιοῦτος ὢν τραυματίας· ὡς δὲ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διδάσκει. οὗ τισὶ μὲν μέρεσιν. οἷς βούλεται. ἵνα κατηγορῇ. πιστεύει ὁ Κέλσος. τισὶ δʼ ἀπιστεῖ. ὁ Ἰησοῦς προσεκαλέσατό τινα τῶν μαθητῶν ἀπιστοῦντα καὶ ἀδύνατον οἰόμενον τὸ παράδοξον. συγκατετέθειτο μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τῇ φασκούσῃ αὐτὸν ἑωρακέναι, ὡς οὐκ ἀδυνάτου ὄντος τοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ τεθνηκότος ὀφθῆναι. οὐκέτι δʼ ἐνόμιζεν ἀληθὲς εἶναι τὸ ἐν σώματι αὐτὸν ἀντιτύπῳ ἐγηγέρθαι. ὅθεν εἶπε μέν· „ἐὰν μὴ ἴδω, “ „οὐ μὴ πιστεύσω, “ προσέθηκε δὲ καὶ τό· „ἐὰν μὴ βάλω τὴν χεῖρά μου εἰς τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ ψηλαφήσω αὐτοῦ τὴν πλευρὰν, οὐ μὴ πιστεύσω.“ ταῦτα δʼ ἐλέγετο ὑπὸ τοῦ Θωμᾶ, κρίνοντος ὅτι δύναται ὀφθαλμοῖς αἰσθητοῖς φανῆναι ψυχῆς σῶμα. „πάντα“ τῷ προτέρῳ εἴδει „μέγεθός τε καὶ ὄμματα κάλʼ ἐϊκυίης καὶ φωνὴν“ πολλάκις δὲ „καὶ τοῖα περὶ χροῒ εἵματʼ ἐχούσης.“ καὶ προσκαλεσάμενός γε ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Θωμᾶν εἶπε· „φέρε τὸν δάκτυλόν σου ὧδε καὶ ἴδε τὰς χεῖράς μου. καὶ φέρε τὴν χεῖρά σου καὶ βάλε εἰς τὴν πλευράν μου, καὶ μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός.“ ### English translation (Claude) So, as Celsus thinks, Jesus after death sent out an image of the wounds on the cross, and was not truly so wounded. But as the Gospel teaches, which Celsus believes in some parts when he wishes, so as to accuse, and disbelieves in others, Jesus called to him one of the disciples who disbelieved and thought the marvel impossible. For that disciple had agreed with the woman who said she had seen him, as though it were not impossible for the soul of a dead man to be seen; but he no longer thought it true that he had been raised in a solid body. So he said, “Unless I see,” “I will not believe,” and added: “Unless I put my hand into the mark of the nails and touch his side, I will not believe.” These things were said by Thomas, who judged that a soul's body could appear to the eyes of sense, “like in all things” to its former form, “in stature, and fair eyes, and voice,” and often “with such garments about its skin.” And Jesus called Thomas and said: “Bring your finger here and see my hands; and bring your hand and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” ### Scripture references - John 20:25: quotation, high confidence - John 20:27: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 23.66–67 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are John 20:25 and 20:27; the description of a ghost is Homer, Iliad 23.66–67 (the shade of Patroclus). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/61/). ## Against Celsus 2.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/62/ - Source: Koetschau 1:184 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that the risen Jesus was in a state between an ordinary body and a disembodied soul, entering through shut doors and vanishing at Emmaus, as the Gospels record. ### Greek text Καὶ ἀκόλουθόν γε ἦν πᾶσι τοῖς τε προφητευθεῖσι περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐν οἷς καὶ τοῦτο ἦν, καὶ τοῖς πραχθεῖσιν αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι τοῦτο παρὰ πάντα παράδοξον γενέσθαι. προελέλεκτο γὰρ ἐκ προσώπου Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ· „ἡ σάρξ μου κατασκηνώσει ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι· καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, καὶ οὐ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν.“ καὶ ἦν γε κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ ὡσπερεὶ ἐν μεθορίῳ τινὶ τῆς παχύτητος τῆς πρὸ τοῦ πάθους σώματος καὶ τοῦ γυμνὴν τοιούτου σώματος φαίνεσθαι ψυχήν. ὅθεν. ὅτʼ ἦσαν „οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Θωμᾶς“ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ „μετʼ αὐτῶν, ἔρχεται ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ εἶπεν· εἰρήνη ὑμῖν. εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ· φέρε τὸν δάκτυλόν σου ὧδε“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Λουκᾶν δὲ εὐαγγελίῳ ὁμιλούντων „πρὸς ἀλλήλους“ Σίμωνος καὶ Κλεόπα „περὶ πάντων τῶν συμβεβηκότων“ αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπιστὰς αὐτοῖς „συνεπορεύετο μετʼ αὐτῶν. καὶ οἱ μὲν ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν ἐκρατοῦντο τοῦ μὴ ἐπιγνῶναι αὐτόν· ὁ δὲ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· τίνες οἱ λόγοι, οὓς ἀντιβάλλετε πρὸς ἀλλήλους περιπατοῦντες;“ καὶ ἡνίκα „διηνοίχθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ. καὶ ἐπέγνωσαν αὐτὸν, “ τότε αὐταῖς λέξεσί φησιν ἡ γραφή· „καὶ αὐτὸς ἄφαντος ἐγένετο ἀπʼ αὐτῶν.“ κἂν βούληται οὖν κοινοποιεῖν πρὸς ἕτερα φαντάσματα καὶ ἄλλους φαντασθέντας τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τοὺς ἰδόντας αὐτὸν μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ὁ Κέλσος, ἀλλὰ τοῖς εὐγνωμόνως καὶ φρονίμως ἐξετάζουσι τὰ πράγματα φανεῖται τὸ παραδοξότερον. ### English translation (Claude) And it was consistent with all the prophecies about him, among which was this one too, and with his deeds and what happened to him, that this should be marvelous beyond all. For it had been foretold in the person of Jesus in the prophet: “My flesh shall dwell in hope; for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your holy one see corruption.” And at his resurrection he was, as it were, on a borderline between the density of the body before the passion and a soul appearing stripped of such a body. So, when “his disciples” were together “and Thomas with them, Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Bring your finger here,” and what follows. And in the Gospel according to Luke, while Simon and Cleopas were talking “with each other about all that had happened” to them, Jesus came up to them and “went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him; and he said to them, What are these words that you are exchanging with each other as you walk?” And when “their eyes were opened and they recognized him,” then Scripture says in these very words: “And he vanished from their sight.” So even if Celsus wishes to put what concerns Jesus and those who saw him after the resurrection on the same level as other apparitions and others who saw visions, to those who examine the matter fairly and intelligently it will appear the more marvelous. ### Scripture references - Ps 16:9 (15:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 16:10 (15:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 20:26: quotation, high confidence - John 20:27: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:14: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:15: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:16: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:17: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 16:9–10 (15:9–10 LXX), John 20:26–27, and Luke 24:14–16, 17, 31. Origen names Luke's companion of Cleopas as Simon. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/62/). ## Against Celsus 2.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/63/ - Source: Koetschau 1:184–185 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen grants that the risen Jesus did not appear publicly to all, citing Acts, the Gospels, and Paul's list of witnesses, and proposes to explain why. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτως τὰ γεγραμμένα κακολογῶν φησιν ὅτι ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ ὄντως θείαν δύναμιν ἐκφῆναι ἤθελεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἐπηρεάσασι καὶ τῷ καταδικάσαντι καὶ ὅλως πᾶσιν ὀφθῆναι. ἀληθῶς γὰρ καὶ ἡμῖν φαίνεται κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον οὐχ οὕτω μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ὀφθεὶς, ὡς τὸ πρότερον δημοσίᾳ καὶ πᾶσιν ἐφαίνετο. ἀλλʼ ἐν μὲν ταῖς Πράξεσιν γέγραπται· „διʼ ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα ὀπτανόμενος“ τοῖς μαθηταῖς κατήγγελλε „τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ“· ἐν δὲ τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις οὐχ ὅτι ἀεὶ συνῆν αὐτοῖς. ἀλλʼ ὅπου μὲν διʼ ἡμερῶν ὀκτὼ ἐφάνη „τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων“ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν ὅπου δὲ κατά τινας τοιούτους τρόπους. καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δʼ ἐν τοῖς τελευταίοις τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρας. ὡς μὴ δημωδῶς αὐτοῦ ὀφθέντος ὁμοίως τῷ πρὸ τοῦ πάθους χρόνῳ, τοιαῦτα γράφει· „παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον. ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς, “ „καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς δώδεκα. ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ. ὧν οἱ πλείονες μένουσιν ἕως ἄρτι. τινὲς δὲ ἐκοιμήθησαν. ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ, ἔπειτα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν. ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι ὤφθη κἀμοί.“ μεγάλα μὲν οὖν τινα καὶ θαυμαστὰ καὶ μείζονα οὐ τῆς ἀξίας τῶν πολλῶν μόνον ἐν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πάνυ προκοπτόντων ὑπολαμβάνω εἶναι τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον. ἐν οἷς ἡ αἰτία δηλωθείη ἂν τοῦ ἀναστάντα αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν μὴ ὁμοίως πεφηνέναι τῷ πρότερον χρόνῳ. ἀπὸ πλειόνων δὲ ὡς ἐν τοιούτῳ συγγράμματι, γραφομένῳ πρὸς τὸν κατὰ Χριστιανῶν καὶ τῆς πίστεως αὐτῶν λόγον, ὅρα εἰ δυνησόμεθα εὐλόγως ὀλίγα παραθέμενοι καθικέσθαι τῶν ἀκουσομένων τῆς ἀπολογίας. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus, in a way not to be despised, disparages what is written, saying that, if Jesus really wished to show divine power, he ought to have appeared to those who had insulted him, to the one who condemned him, and in short to everyone. For truly it seems to us too, according to the Gospel, that after the resurrection he was not seen in the way he appeared before, publicly and to all. Rather, it is written in the Acts that, “appearing over forty days” to the disciples, he proclaimed “the things concerning the kingdom of God”; and in the Gospels, not that he was always with them, but that once, after eight days, he appeared among them “when the doors were shut,” and at other times in similar ways. And Paul, at the end of the first letter to the Corinthians, as if he had not been seen publicly as in the time before the passion, writes thus: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” “and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also.” I consider what concerns this passage to be great and wonderful things, beyond the capacity not only of most believers but even of those well advanced; in them the reason could be shown why, having risen from the dead, he did not appear as in the former time. From many things, as is fitting in such a work, written in reply to a treatise against Christians and their faith, see whether by setting out a few we shall be able reasonably to reach those who will hear this defense. ### Scripture references - Acts 1:3: quotation, high confidence - John 20:26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Acts 1:3, John 20:26, and 1 Cor 15:3–8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/63/). ## Against Celsus 2.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/64/ - Source: Koetschau 1:185–187 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen teaches that Jesus appeared differently to different people according to their capacity, as at the Transfiguration, and that after his victory over the powers not everyone could bear to see him. ### Greek text Ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἷς ὢν πλείονα τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ ἦν. καὶ τοῖς βλέπουσιν οὐχ ὁμοίως πᾶσιν ὁρώμενος. καὶ ὅτι μὲν τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ πλείονα ἦν, σαφὲς ἐκ τοῦ „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ τοῦ „ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος“ καὶ τοῦ „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα“ καὶ ἄλλων μυρίων. ὅτι δὲ καὶ βλεπόμενος οὐχ ὡσαύτως τοῖς βλέπουσιν ἐφαίνετο. ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐχώρουν οἱ βλέποντες, σαφὲς ἔσται τοῖς ἐφιστᾶσι, διὰ τί μέλλων μεταμορφοῦσθαι ἐν τῷ ὑψηλῷ ὄρει οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀποστόλους πάντας παρείληφεν ἀλλὰ μόνους τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τὸν Ἰάκωβον καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην. ὡς μόνους χωροῦντας τὴν τότε δόξαν αὐτοῦ θεωρῆσαι. δυναμένους δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὀφθέντας ἐν δόξῃ Μωϋσέα καὶ Ἠλίαν κατανοῆσαι καὶ ἀκοῦσαι συλλαλούντων αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς νεφέλης οὐρανόθεν φωνῆς. ἐγὼ δʼ οἶμαι ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἀναβῆναι εἰς τὸ ὄρος. ἔνθα προσῆλθον αὐτῷ μόνοι οἱ μαθηταὶ καὶ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς τὰ περὶ τῶν μακαρισμῶν. ἡνίκα κάτω που ὢν τοῦ ὄρους „ὀψίας“ „γενομένης“ ἐθεράπευε τοὺς προσαχθέντας αὐτῷ. ἀπαλλάσσων πάσης νόσου καὶ πάσης μαλακίας. οὐχ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐφαίνετο τοῖς κάμνουσι καὶ δεομένοις αὐτοῦ θεραπεύοντος καὶ τοῖς διὰ τὸ ὑγιαίνειν συναναβῆναι αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ ὄρος δυνηθεῖσιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ κατʼ ἰδίαν τοῖς ἰδίοις μαθηταῖς ἐπέλυεν τὰς παραβολὰς. μετʼ ἐπικρύψεως τοῖς ἔξω ὄχλοις εἰρημένας. ὥσπερ ταῖς ἀκοαῖς ἦσαν κρείττους οἱ ἀκούοντες τῆς λύσεως τῶν παραβολῶν παρὰ τοὺς ἀκούοντας τῶν χωρὶς λύσεων παραβολῶν. οὕτως καὶ ταῖς ὄψεσι πάντως μὲν τῆς ψυχῆς. ἐγὼ δʼ ἡγοῦμαι ὅτι καὶ τοῦ σώματος. δηλοῖ δὲ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ φαίνεσθαι τὸ Ἰούδαν μέλλοντα αὐτὸν προδιδόναι εἰρηκέναι ὡς μὴ εἰδόσιν αὐτὸν τοῖς συναπερχομένοις αὐτῷ ὄχλοις· „ὃν ἐὰν φιλήσω. αὐτός ἐστι.“ τοιοῦτο δʼ οἶμαι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν σωτῆρα ἐμφαίνειν διὰ τοῦ· „καθʼ ἡμέραν μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἤμην ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ διδάσκων. καὶ οὐκ ἐκρατήσατέ με.“ ὡς περὶ τηλικούτου οὖν φερόμενοι ἡμεῖς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν ἔνδον καὶ ἀποκεκρυμμένην τοῖς πολλοῖς θειότητα ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ μεταμορφούμενον σῶμα. ὅτʼ ἐβούλετο καὶ οἷς ἐβούλετο. φαμὲν ὅτι τὸν μὲν μὴ ἀπεκδυσάμενον „τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας“ Ἰησοῦν καὶ μηδέπω ἀποθανόντα „τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ“ πάντες βλέπειν ἐχώρουν. τὸν δʼ ἀπεκδυσάμενον „τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας“ καὶ μηκέτʼ ἔχοντά τι χωρητὸν ὁραθῆναι τοῖς πολλοῖς οὐχ οἷοί τε ἦσαν αὐτὸν βλέπειν οἱ πρότερον αὐτὸν ἰδόντες πάντες· ὅθεν φειδόμενος αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐφαίνετο πᾶσιν ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν. ### English translation (Claude) Jesus, though one, was many in aspect, and was not seen alike by all who saw him. That he was many in aspect is clear from “I am the way and the truth and the life,” “I am the bread,” “I am the door,” and countless others. That even when seen he did not appear in the same way to those who saw him, but according to their capacity, will be clear to those who consider why, when he was about to be transfigured on the high mountain, he did not take even all the apostles, but only Peter, James, and John, as alone able to behold his glory at that time, and able also to perceive Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and to hear them talking together and the voice from heaven out of the cloud. And I think that even before he went up the mountain, where only the disciples came to him and he taught them the Beatitudes, when he was somewhere below the mountain and, “evening having come,” healed those brought to him, delivering them from every disease and every sickness, he did not appear the same to the sick who needed his healing as to those who, being healthy, were able to go up the mountain with him. Moreover, if he privately explained to his own disciples the parables spoken with concealment to the crowds outside, then just as those who heard the explanation of the parables were superior in hearing to those who heard the parables without explanation, so too were they in seeing: certainly with the eyes of the soul, and I think also of the body. That he did not always appear the same is shown by Judas, when about to betray him, saying to the crowds who went with him, as to people who did not know him: “The one I kiss, he is the man.” I think the Savior himself also suggests something like this in the words: “Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.” Since we hold such a view of Jesus, not only regarding the divinity within him, hidden from the many, but also regarding his body, which was transformed when he wished and for whom he wished, we say that all were able to see Jesus while he had not yet stripped off “the principalities and the powers” and had not yet died “to sin”; but when he had stripped off “the principalities and the powers” and no longer had anything that could be seen by the many, not all those who had seen him before were able to see him. Therefore, sparing them, he did not appear to all when he had risen from the dead. ### Scripture references - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - John 6:35: quotation, high confidence - John 10:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:1: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:3: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:5: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:1: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:16: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 4:23: allusion, medium confidence - Mark 4:34: allusion, high confidence - Matt 26:48: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:55: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - ἐπίνοια (here “aspect”) refers to the many titles or aspects under which Christ is conceived. The quotations are John 14:6, John 6:35, John 10:9, Matt 8:16, Matt 26:48, Matt 26:55, Col 2:15, and Rom 6:10; the Transfiguration is Matt 17:1–5; the teaching on the mountain is Matt 5:1–12; private explanation of parables is Mark 4:34. The view that Jesus' body appeared differently to different people is Origen's own speculation. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/64/). ## Against Celsus 2.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/65/ - Source: Koetschau 1:187–188 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that even the apostles could not always behold the risen Christ, whose appearances were given to those able to see them, and that Christ died and rose to be Lord of both dead and living. ### Greek text Καὶ τί λέγω πᾶσιν; οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἀεὶ συνῆν ἢ ἀεὶ ἐφαίνετο. μὴ δυναμένοις αὐτοῦ χωρῆσαι τὴν θεωρίαν διηνεκῶς. λαμπροτέρα γὰρ τὴν οἰκονομίαν τελέσαντος ἡ θειότης ἦν αὐτοῦ, ἥντινα Κηφᾶς ὁ Πέτρος ὡσπερεὶ „ἀπαρχὴ“ τῶν ἀποστόλων δεδύνηται ἰδεῖν, καὶ μετʼ αὐτὸν οἱ δώδεκα, τοῦ Ματθίου ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα καταταχθέντος, καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνους „πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ.“ „ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ. ἔπειτα τοῖς“ ἑτέροις παρὰ τοὺς δώδεκα „ἀποστόλοις πᾶσι.“ τάχα τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα. „ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων“ Παύλῳ τῷ ὡσπερεὶ „ἐκτρώματι“ καὶ ἐπισταμένῳ. πῶς ἔλεγεν· „ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη.“ καὶ τάχα τὸ „ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ“ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ „ἐκτρώματι.“ ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ ἄν τις εὐκόλως ἐγκαλέσαι τῷ Ἰησοῦ μὴ παραλαμβάνοντι πάντας τοὺς ἀποστόλους εἰς τὸ ὑψηλὸν ὄρος ἀλλὰ μόνους τοὺς προειρημένους τρεῖς. ἡνίκα ἔμελλε μεταμορφοῦσθαι καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα δεικνύναι τῶν ἱματίων ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν δόξαν Μωϋσέως καὶ Ἠλίου συλλαλούντων αὐτῷ. οὕτως οὖν οὐκ ἂν τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς λόγοις μέμφοιτʼ ἄν τις εὐλόγως εἰσάγουσιν ὦφθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν οὐ πᾶσιν. ἀλλʼ οἷς εἶδεν ἀνειληφόσιν ὀφθαλμοὺς χωροῦντας ἰδεῖν τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ. χρήσιμον δʼ οἶμαι πρὸς ἀπολογίαν τῶν προκειμένων ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ οὕτως εἰρημένον περὶ αὐτοῦ· „εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε καὶ ἀνέστη. ἵνα καὶ νεκρῶν καὶ ζώντων κυριεύσῃ.“ ὅρα γὰρ ἐν τούτοις ὅτι „ἀπέθανεν“ Ἰησοῦς. „ἵνα νεκρῶν κυριεύσῃ.“ „καὶ ἀνέστη, ἵνα“ μὴ μόνον „νεκρῶν“ ἀλλὰ „καὶ ζώντων κυριεύσῃ.“ καὶ οἶδέ γε ὁ ἀπόστολος νεκροὺς μὲν. ὧν κυριεύει ὁ Χριστὸς. τοὺς οὕτως κατειλεγμένους ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρᾳ· „σαλπίσει γὰρ. καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι.“ ζῶντας δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀλλαγησομένους. ἑτέρους ὄντας τῶν ἐγερθησομένων νεκρῶν, ἔχει δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων ἡ λέξις οὕτως· „καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα.“ ἑξῆς εἰρημένη τῷ „οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται πρῶτον.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς προτέρᾳ ἐν ἑτέραις λέξεσι τὴν αὐτὴν διαφορὰν παριστὰς. φησὶν ἄλλους μὲν εἶναι τοὺς κοιμωμένους ἄλλους δὲ τοὺς ζῶντας λέγων· „οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοὶ, περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα. εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανε καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ. τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας.“ τὴν δὲ φανεῖσαν ἡμῖν εἰς τοὺς τόπους διήγησιν ἐξεθέμεθα ἐν οἷς ὑπηγορεύσαμεν ἐξηγητικοῖς τῆς πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς προτέρας ἐπιστολῆς. ### English translation (Claude) And why do I say to all? He was not always with even the apostles and disciples themselves, or always visible to them, since they could not bear to behold him continuously. For his divinity was more brilliant after he had completed the dispensation; Cephas, that is Peter, as it were the “firstfruits” of the apostles, was able to see it, and after him the Twelve, Matthias having been appointed in place of Judas, and after them “five hundred brothers at once.” “Then he appeared to James, then to all the” other “apostles” besides the Twelve, perhaps the Seventy; “and last of all” to Paul, as to one “untimely born,” who knew how he said: “To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given”; and perhaps “very least” is equivalent to “untimely born.” Just as no one could easily blame Jesus for not taking all the apostles onto the high mountain, but only the three already mentioned, when he was about to be transfigured and to show the brightness of his garments and the glory of Moses and Elijah talking with him, so no one could reasonably find fault with the apostolic writings for relating that after the resurrection Jesus was seen not by all, but by those whom he saw had received eyes able to see his resurrection. I think this too, said of him, is useful for the defense of our subject: “For to this end Christ died and rose, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” See in these words that Jesus “died, that he might be Lord of the dead,” “and rose, that he might be Lord” not only “of the dead” but also “of the living.” And the apostle knows as the dead of whom Christ is Lord those listed thus in the first letter to the Corinthians: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible”; and as the living, those who will be changed, who are other than the dead who will be raised. About them the text reads: “And we shall be changed,” said after “the dead will be raised first.” And in the first letter to the Thessalonians, presenting the same distinction in other words, he says that those who sleep are one group and the living another: “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.” The interpretation of these passages that seemed right to us we set out in the commentaries we dictated on the first letter to the Thessalonians. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:20: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 1:26: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:1: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 3:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:2: allusion, high confidence - Rom 14:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:52: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:16: quotation, medium confidence - 1 Thess 4:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:5–8, 1 Cor 15:20 (“firstfruits”), Eph 3:8, Rom 14:9, 1 Cor 15:52, and 1 Thess 4:13–15; the allusions are Acts 1:26 (Matthias), Luke 10:1 (the Seventy), and Matt 17:1–3. “The dead will be raised first” conflates 1 Cor 15:52 with 1 Thess 4:16. Origen's commentary on 1 Thessalonians is lost. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/65/). ## Against Celsus 2.66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/66/ - Source: Koetschau 1:188 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Just as Paul gave the Corinthians only what they could receive, and God appeared to Abraham only at times, so the risen Christ appeared by divine judgment only to those fitted to see him. ### Greek text Καὶ μὴ θαύμαζε, εἰ μὴ πάντες βλέπουσιν οἱ πεπιστευκότες ὄχλοι τῷ Ἰησοῦ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ· ὅτε ὡς μὴ χωροῦσι πλείονα Κορινθίοις ὁ Παῦλος γράφων φησίν· „ἐγὼ δὲ ἔκρινα μηδὲν εἰδέναι ἐν ὑμῖν εἰ μὴ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν καὶ τοῦτον ἐσταυρωμένον.“ τοιοῦτον δέ ἐστι καὶ τό· „οὔπω γὰρ ἐδύνασθε· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἔτι νῦν δύνασθε, ἔτι γὰρ σαρκικοί ἐστε.“ οὕτω τοίνυν πάντα κρίσει θείᾳ ποιῶν ὁ λόγος ἀνέγραψε περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, πρὸ μὲν τοῦ πάθους ἁπαξαπλῶς φανέντος τοῖς πλείοσι καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀεὶ. μετὰ δὲ τὸ πάθος οὐκέτι ὁμοίως ἐπιφαινομένου ἀλλὰ μετά τινος κρίσεως ἑκάστῳ μετρούσης τὰ δέοντα. ὥσπερ δʼ ἀναγέγραπται τὸ „ὤφθη ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἀβραὰμ“ ἤ τινι τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ τὸ „ὤφθη“ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀεὶ ἐγίνετο ἀλλʼ ἐκ διαλειμμάτων, καὶ οὐ πᾶσιν ἐφαίνετο· οὕτω μοι νόει καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὦφθαι τῇ παραπλησίᾳ περὶ ἐκείνων εἰς τὸ ὦφθαι αὐτοῖς τὸν θεὸν κρίσει. ### English translation (Claude) And do not be surprised if not all the crowds who have believed in Jesus see his resurrection, since Paul, writing to the Corinthians as to people unable to receive more, says: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Of the same kind is this: “For you were not yet able; indeed, even now you are not able, for you are still fleshly.” So the Word, doing all things by divine judgment, recorded of Jesus that before the passion he appeared in general to the many, and not even that always, but after the passion no longer appeared in the same way, but with a certain judgment that measured to each what was fitting. And just as it is recorded that “God appeared to Abraham” or to one of the saints, and this “appearing” did not happen continually but at intervals, and he did not appear to everyone, so understand that the Son of God too appeared by a judgment like that by which God appeared to them. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 12:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 2:2, 1 Cor 3:2–3, and Gen 12:7 (also 17:1; 18:1). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/66/). ## Against Celsus 2.67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/67/ - Source: Koetschau 1:188–189 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that Jesus spared his judges and persecutors by not appearing to them, as the men of Sodom were struck blind, and that he came both to be known and to remain partly hidden. ### Greek text Ἀπελογησάμεθα οὖν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν τοιούτῳ συγγράμματι πρὸς τὸ ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ ὄντως ἐκφῆναι θείαν δύναμιν ἤθελεν, αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἐπηρεάσασι καὶ τῷ καταδικάσαντι καὶ ὅλως πᾶσιν ὀφθῆναι. οὐκ ἐχρῆν οὖν τῷ καταδικάσαντι αὐτὸν ὀφθῆναι οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐπηρεάσασιν. ἐφείδετο γὰρ καὶ τοῦ καταδικάσαντος καὶ τῶν ἐπηρεασάντων ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ἵνα μὴ παταχθῶσιν „ἀορασίᾳ, “ ὁποίᾳ οἱ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐπατάχθησαν, ἡνίκα ἐπεβούλευον τῇ ὥρᾳ τῶν ξενισθέντων παρὰ τῷ Λὼτ ἀγγέλων. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ δηλοῦται διὰ τούτων· „ἐκτείναντες δὲ οἱ ἄνδρες τὰς χεῖρας ἐσπάσαντο τὸν Λὼτ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὸν οἶκον, καὶ τὴν θύραν ἀπέκλεισαν· τοὺς δὲ ἄνδρας τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ οἴκου ἐπάταξαν ἀορασίᾳ ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου· καὶ παρελύθησαν ζητοῦντες τὴν θύραν.“ ἐκφῆναι οὖν ἐβούλετο τὴν δύναμιν ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Ἰησοῦς θείαν οὖσαν ἑκάστῳ τῶν δυναμένων αὐτὴν ἰδεῖν, καὶ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον ἰδεῖν ἃ ἐχώρει. καὶ οὐ δή που διʼ ἄλλο ἐφυλάξατο ὀφθῆναι ἢ διὰ τὰς δυνάμεις τῶν μὴ χωρούντων αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν. καὶ μάτην παρελήφθη τῷ Κέλσῳ τὸ οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἔτι ἐφοβεῖτό τινα ἀνθρώπων ἀποθανὼν καὶ, ὥς φατε, θεὸς ὢν, οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τοῦτʼ ἐπέμφθη τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἵνα λάθῃ. ἐπέμφθη γὰρ οὐ μόνον. ἵνα γνωσθῇ, ἀλλʼ ἵνα καὶ λάθῃ, οὐ γὰρ πᾶν, ὃ ἦν, καὶ οἷς ἐγινώσκετο ἐγινώσκετο. ἀλλά τι αὐτοῦ ἐλάνθανεν αὐτούς· τισὶ δʼ οὐδʼ ὅλως ἐγινώσκετο. καὶ ἀνέῳξε δὲ „φωτὸς“ πύλας τοῖς γενομένοις μὲν „σκότους“ καὶ „νυκτὸς“ υἱοῖς, ἐπιδεδωκόσι δὲ ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι υἱοὺς „ἡμέρας“ καὶ „φωτός.“ καὶ ἦλθε σωτὴρ ὁ κύριος ἡμῖν μᾶλλον ὡς ἰατρὸς ἀγαθὸς τοῖς ἁμαρτιῶν μεστοῖς ἢ τοῖς δικαίοις. ### English translation (Claude) We have made our defense, as best we could in such a work, against the claim that “if he really wished to show divine power, he ought to have appeared to those who insulted him, to the one who condemned him, and in short to everyone.” He ought not, then, to have appeared to the one who condemned him or to those who insulted him. For Jesus was sparing both the one who condemned him and those who insulted him, so that they might not be struck with “blindness,” as the people in Sodom were struck when they plotted against the beauty of the angels who were guests with Lot. This is shown by these words: “But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door; and they struck the men at the door of the house with blindness, from small to great, and they wore themselves out looking for the door.” Jesus, then, wished to show his power, which was divine, to each of those able to see it, and according to the measure of what each could receive. And surely he avoided being seen for no other reason than the capacities of those unable to see him. And Celsus brought in to no purpose: “For he no longer feared any man, having died and being, as you say, a god; nor was he sent in the first place to be hidden.” He was sent not only to be known but also to be hidden; for not all that he was was known even to those by whom he was known, but something of him escaped them; and to some he was not known at all. And he opened the gates “of light” to those who had become sons “of darkness” and “of night,” but had given themselves to becoming sons “of the day” and “of light.” And the Lord came as Savior to us rather as a good physician to those full of sins than to the righteous. ### Scripture references - Gen 19:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 19:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:5: allusion, high confidence - Matt 9:12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 9:13: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Gen 19:10–11. “Sons of light … of the day” echoes 1 Thess 5:5; the physician saying echoes Matt 9:12–13. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/67/). ## Against Celsus 2.68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/68/ - Source: Koetschau 1:189–190 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that Celsus, like critics of providence, imagines a better world than the real one, and notes that Jesus could and did vanish at will, as at Emmaus. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ τίνα τρόπον φησὶν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι εἰ δʼ οὖν τό γε τοσοῦτον ὤφειλεν εἰς ἐπίδειξιν θεότητος, ἀπὸ τοῦ σκόλοπος γοῦν εὐθὺς ἀφανὴς γενέσθαι. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ δοκεῖ μοι ὅμοιον εἶναι τῷ λόγῳ τῶν ἀντιδιατασσόντων τῇ προνοίᾳ καὶ διαγραφόντων ἑαυτοῖς ἕτερα παρὰ τὰ ὄντα καὶ λεγόντων ὅτι βέλτιον ἦν, εἰ οὕτως εἶχεν ὁ κόσμος, ὡς διεγράψαμεν. ὅπου μὲν γὰρ δυνατὰ διαγράφουσιν, ἐλέγχονται χείρονα ποιοῦντες τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τῇ διαγραφῇ αὐτῶν τὸν κόσμον, ὅπου δὲ δοκοῦσι μὴ χείρονα ἀναζωγραφεῖν τῶν ὄντων, ἀποδείκνυνται τὰ τῇ φύσει ἀδύνατα βουλόμενοι· ὡς ἑκατέρως αὐτοὺς καταγελάστους εἶναι. καὶ ἐνθάδε τοίνυν ὅτι μὲν οὐκ ἀδύνατον ἥξειν ὡς ἐν τῇ θειοτέρᾳ φύσει, ἵνʼ ὅτε βούληται ἀφανὴς γένηται, καὶ αὐτόθεν μὲν δῆλον σαφὲς δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῖς μὴ τινὰ μὲν τῶν γεγραμμένων προσιεμένοις, ἵνα κατηγορήσωσι τοῦ λόγου, τινὰ δὲ πλάσματα οἰομένοις τυγχάνειν. γέγραπται δὲ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Λουκᾶν ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν „λαβὼν τὸν ἄρτον·“ ὁ Ἰησοῦς „εὐλόγησε καὶ κλάσας ἐπεδίδου“ τῷ Σίμωνι καὶ τῷ Κλεόπᾳ· λαβόντων δʼ αὐτῶν τὸν ἄρτον „διηνοίχθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ ἐπέγνωσαν αὐτόν· καὶ αὐτὸς ἄφαντος ἐγένετο ἀπʼ αὐτῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Let us see in what way the Jew in Celsus says: “If he really had to do so much to display his divinity, he ought at least to have vanished at once from the stake.” This seems to me like the argument of those who oppose providence and sketch for themselves things other than what exists, saying: “It would have been better if the world were as we have sketched it.” Where they sketch what is possible, they are shown, as far as it lies with them and their sketch, to make the world worse; where they seem not to paint something worse than what exists, they are shown to want what is impossible by nature; so that either way they are ridiculous. Here too, then, that it was not impossible for him, as one of a more divine nature, to vanish when he wished is clear in itself, and also plain from what is written about him, to those who do not accept some of what is written in order to accuse the teaching, and think the rest fictions. For it is written in the Gospel according to Luke that after the resurrection Jesus “took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it” to Simon and Cleopas; and when they had taken the bread, “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.” ### Scripture references - Luke 24:30: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Luke 24:30–31. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/68/). ## Against Celsus 2.69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/69/ - Source: Koetschau 1:190–192 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that Jesus' death and burial carry symbolic meaning for believers, who die and are buried with him in baptism, that his new rock-hewn tomb signifies his purity, and that vanishing from the cross would only have drawn other objections. ### Greek text Θέλομεν δὲ παραστῆσαι, πῶς οὐ χρησιμώτερον ἦν πρὸς τὴν οἰκονομίαν ὅλην τὸ εὐθὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ σκόλοπος αὐτὸν ἀφανῆ γενέσθαι σωματικῶς. τὰ συμβεβηκέναι ἀναγεγραμμένα τῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἐν ψιλῇ τῇ λέξει καὶ τῇ ἱστορίᾳ τὴν πᾶσαν ἔχει θεωρίαν τῆς ἀληθείας· ἕκαστον γὰρ αὐτῶν καὶ σύμβολόν τινος εἶναι παρὰ τοῖς συνετώτερον ἐντυγχάνουσι τῇ γραφῇ ἀποδείκνυται. ὥσπερ οὖν τὸ σταυρωθῆναι αὐτὸν ἔχει τὴν δηλουμένην ἀλήθειαν ἐν τῷ „Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι“ καὶ τῷ σημαινομένῳ ἐκ τοῦ „ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ κυρίου μου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, διʼ οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ, “ καὶ ὁ θάνατος αὐτοῦ ἀναγκαῖος διὰ τὸ „ὃ γὰρ ἀπέθανε, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀπέθανεν ἐφάπαξ“ καὶ διὰ τὸ τὸν δίκαιον λέγειν· „συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ“ καὶ τὸ „εἰ γὰρ (συν)απεθάνομεν, καὶ συζήσομεν“· οὕτως καὶ ἡ ταφὴ αὐτοῦ φθάνει ἐπὶ τοὺς συμμόρφους τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς συσταυρωθέντας αὐτῷ καὶ συναποθανόντας, καθὸ καὶ τῷ Παύλῳ λέλεκται τό· „συνετάφημεν γὰρ αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος“ καὶ συνανέστημεν αὐτῷ· ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ταφῆς καὶ τοῦ μνημείου καὶ τοῦ θάψαντος ἀναγεγραμμένα εὐκαιρότερον διὰ πλειόνων ἐν ἄλλοις. ἔνθα προηγουμένως ἔστι περὶ τούτων λέγειν, διηγησόμεθα. νυνὶ δʼ αὐτάρκης ἡ καθαρὰ σινδὼν, ἐν ᾗ ἔδει τὸ καθαρὸν ἐντυλιχθῆναι σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ τὸ καινὸν μνημεῖον, „ὃ ἐλατόμησε τῇ πέτρᾳ“ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ. „οὗ οὐκ ἦν οὔπω οὐδεὶς κείμενος.“ ἢ. ὡς ὁ Ἰωάννης φησὶν. „ἐν ᾧ οὐδέπω οὐδεὶς ἐτέθη.“ καὶ ἐπίστησον εἰ δύναται κινῆσαί τινα ἡ συμφωνία τῶν τριῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, φροντισάντων ἀναγράψαι τὸ λατομητὸν ἢ λαξευτὸν μνημεῖον ἐν πέτρᾳ, ἵνʼ ὁ τοὺς λόγους τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐξετάζων καὶ περὶ τούτων θεάσηταί τι λόγου ἄξιον καὶ περὶ τῆς καινότητος τοῦ μνημείου, ἥντινα Ματθαῖος καὶ Ἰωάννης ἱστόρησε, καὶ περὶ τοῦ μηδένα ἐκεῖ νεκρὸν γεγονέναι κατὰ τὸν Λουκᾶν καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην. ἔδει γὰρ τὸν μὴ τοῖς λοιποῖς νεκροῖς ὅμοιον ἀλλὰ ζωτικὰ σημεῖα καὶ ἐν τῇ νεκρότητι δείξαντα τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα καὶ καινὸν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ὄντα νεκρὸν ἐν καινῷ καὶ καθαρῷ γενέσθαι μνημείῳ· ἵνʼ, ὥσπερ ἡ γένεσις αὐτοῦ καθαρωτέρα πάσης γενέσεως ἦν τῷ μὴ ἀπὸ μίξεως ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ παρθένου γεννηθῆναι, οὕτως καὶ ἡ ταφὴ ἔχοι τὴν καθαρότητα. διὰ τοῦ συμβολικοῦ δηλουμένην ἐν τῷ ἀποτεθεῖσθαι αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἐν μνημείῳ καινῷ ὑφεστῶτι, οὐκ ἐκ λογάδων λίθων οἰκοδομηθέντι καὶ τὴν ἕνωσιν οὐ φυσικὴν ἔχοντι ἀλλʼ ἐν μιᾷ καὶ διʼ ὅλων ἡνωμένῃ πέτρᾳ λατομητῇ καὶ λαξευτῇ. τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς διηγήσεως καὶ τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν γεγονέναι ἀναγεγραμμένων ἀναβάσεως ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα, ὧν τὰ γενόμενα ἦν σημαντικὰ. καὶ μειζόνως ἄν τις καὶ θειοτέρως διηγήσαιτο, εὐκαιρότερον ἐκτιθέμενος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν προηγουμένῃ συντάξει· τὰ δὲ τῆς λέξεως καὶ οὕτως ἄν τις ἀποδῴη, ὅτι κατὰ τὸν κρίναντα ὑπομεῖναι τὸ ἐπὶ σκόλοπος κρεμασθῆναι ἦν καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τῇ ὑποθέσει τηρῆσαι, ἵνʼ ὡς ἄνθρωπος καθαιρεθεὶς τῷ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀποτεθνηκέναι ὡς ἄνθρωπος καὶ ταφῇ. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν ἐγέγραπτο ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὅτι ἀπὸ τοῦ σκόλοπος ἀφανὴς εὐθὺς ἐγένετο, ἐκάκιζεν ἂν τὸ γεγραμμένον ὁ Κέλσος καὶ οἱ ἄπιστοι, καὶ κατηγόρησαν ἂν καὶ οὕτω λέγοντες· τί δή ποτε μετὰ τὸν σταυρὸν γέγονεν ἀφανὴς, οὐ πρὸ τοῦ παθεῖν δὲ τοῦτʼ ἐπραγματεύσατο; εἴπερ οὖν ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων μεμαθηκότες ὅτι οὐ γέγονεν εὐθὺς ἀφανὴς ἀπὸ τοῦ σκόλοπος ἐγκαλεῖν οἴονται τῷ λόγῳ. μὴ πλασαμένῳ, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι ἠξίωσαν, τὸ εὐθὺς αὐτὸν ἀφανῆ γενέσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ σκόλοπος ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἱστορήσαντι, πῶς οὐκ εὔλογον πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ τῇ ἀναστάσει αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὡς βουληθεὶς ὁτὲ μὲν „τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων“ „ἔστη ἐν μέσῳ“ τῶν μαθητῶν, ὁτὲ δὲ δοὺς ἄρτον δυσὶ τῶν γνωρίμων εὐθὺς „ἄφαντος ἐγένετο ἀπʼ αὐτῶν“ μετά τινας, οὓς ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς, λόγους; ### English translation (Claude) We wish to show how it was not more useful for the whole dispensation for him to have vanished bodily at once from the stake. What is recorded to have happened to Jesus does not have the whole contemplation of the truth in the bare text and the history; for each of these things is shown, to those who read Scripture more intelligently, to be also a symbol of something. Just as his being crucified has the truth shown in “I have been crucified with Christ” and signified by “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”; and his death was necessary because of “For the death he died, he died to sin once for all,” and because the righteous man says, “being conformed to his death,” and “For if we have died with him, we shall also live with him”; so also his burial extends to those conformed to his death, crucified with him and dying with him, as Paul too said: “For we were buried with him through baptism,” and we rose with him. What is recorded about the burial, the tomb, and the one who buried him we shall explain more fittingly and at greater length elsewhere, where it is our principal task to speak of these things. For now it is enough to mention the clean linen cloth, in which the pure body of Jesus had to be wrapped, and the new tomb, “which” Joseph “had hewn in the rock,” “where no one had yet been laid,” or, as John says, “in which no one had yet been placed.” And consider whether the agreement of the three evangelists, who took care to record that the tomb was hewn or cut in rock, may move someone who examines the meanings of what is written to see something worthy of reflection both in these things and in the newness of the tomb, which Matthew and John report, and in no dead man having been there, according to Luke and John. For he who was not like the other dead, but showed signs of life even in death, the water and the blood, and was, so to speak, a new kind of dead man, had to be in a new and clean tomb; so that, just as his birth was purer than every birth, since he was born not from intercourse but from a virgin, so his burial too might have purity, shown symbolically in his body's being laid in a new tomb, not built of gathered stones with no natural unity, but hewn and cut in one rock united throughout. The exposition, and the ascent from what is recorded to have happened to the realities of which the events were signs, one might set out more grandly and more divinely, presenting such things more fittingly in a work devoted to them. As to the letter, one might explain it thus: it belonged to one who had decided to endure hanging on the stake to keep also what followed from that undertaking, so that, having been taken down as a man, since he had died as a man, he should also be buried as a man. But if, hypothetically, it had been written in the Gospels that he vanished at once from the stake, Celsus and the unbelievers would have found fault with the text and accused it thus: “Why did he vanish after the cross, but not arrange this before suffering?” If, then, having learned from the Gospels that he did not vanish at once from the stake, they think they can accuse the teaching because it did not invent, as they demanded, his vanishing at once from the stake, but reported the truth, how is it not reasonable for them to believe also in his resurrection, and that, when he wished, he once “stood in the midst” of the disciples “when the doors were shut,” and another time, having given bread to two of his acquaintances, at once “vanished from their sight” after speaking certain words to them? ### Scripture references - Gal 2:20: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:10: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:59: allusion, high confidence - Matt 27:60: quotation, high confidence - Luke 23:53: quotation, high confidence - John 19:41: quotation, high confidence - John 19:34: allusion, high confidence - John 20:19: quotation, high confidence - John 20:26: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gal 2:20 (2:19 in some editions), Gal 6:14, Rom 6:10, Phil 3:10, 2 Tim 2:11, Rom 6:4, Matt 27:60, Luke 23:53, John 19:41, John 20:19, 26, and Luke 24:31; the clean linen is Matt 27:59; water and blood, John 19:34. Origen calls the literal account “the letter” and the symbolic sense the “ascent” (ἀνάβασις) to the realities signified. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/69/). ## Against Celsus 2.70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/70/ - Source: Koetschau 1:192–193 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen denies that Jesus hid himself or appeared only to one woman after rising, citing Matthew's account of the two Marys, and points out the absurdity of Celsus's claim that the opposite should have happened. ### Greek text Πόθεν δὲ τῷ Κέλσου Ἰουδαίῳ λέλεκται ὅτι ἐκρύπτετο Ἰησοῦς; λέγει γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ· τίς δὲ πώποτε πεμφθεὶς ἄγγελος, δέον ἀγγέλλειν τὰ κεκελευσμένα, κρύπτεται; οὐ γὰρ ἐκρύπτετο ὁ εἰπὼν τοῖς ζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν συλλαβεῖν· „καθʼ ἡμέραν ἤμην ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ παῤῥησίᾳ διδάσκων, καὶ οὐκ ἐκρατήσατέ με, “ πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἑξῆς παλιλλογούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου ἡμεῖς ἅπαξ ἀπολογησάμενοι ἀρκεσθησόμεθα τοῖς προειρημένοις. γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἢ ὅτε μὲν ἠπιστεῖτο ἐν σώματι, πᾶσιν ἀνέδην ἐκήρυττεν· ὅτε δὲ πίστιν ἂν ἰσχυρὰν παρεῖχεν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς, ἑνὶ μόνῳ γυναίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ θιασώταις κρύβδην παρεφαίνετο; ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅτι ἑνὶ μόνῳ γυναίῳ ἐφάνη, ἀληθές ἐστιν· γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίῳ ὅτι „ὀψὲ σαββάτων. τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων, ἦλθε Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Μαρία, θεωρῆσαι τὸν τάφον. καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας· ἄγγελος γὰρ κυρίου καταβὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ προσελθὼν ἀπεκύλισε τὸν λίθον.“ καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγον φησὶν ὁ Ματθαῖος· „καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὑπήντησεν αὐταῖς“ (δῆλον δʼ ὅτι ταῖς προειρημέναις Μαρίαις) „λέγων· χαίρετε. αἱ δὲ προσελθοῦσαι ἐκράτησαν αὐτοῦ τοὺς πόδας καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ.“ λέλεκται δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸ κολαζόμενος μὲν ἄρα πᾶσιν ἑωρᾶτο, ἀναστὰς δὲ ἑνὶ, ὅτε ἀπελογούμεθα πρὸς τὸ οὐ πᾶσιν ἑωρᾶτο. καὶ νῦν δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἀνθρώπινα αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν ἦν ὁρατὰ. τὰ δὲ θειότερα (λέγω δὲ οὐ περὶ τῶν σχέσιν πρὸς ἕτερα ἐχόντων ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν κατὰ διαφορὰν) οὐ πᾶσι χωρητά. πρόσχες δὲ καὶ τῇ παρὰ πόδας τοῦ Κέλσου ἐναντιότητι πρὸς ἑαυτόν. προειπὼν γοῦν ἑνὶ γυναίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ θιασώταις κρύβδην αὐτὸν παραπεφάνθαι εὐθέως ἐπιφέρει· κολαζόμενος μὲν ἄρα πᾶσιν ἑωρᾶτο, ἀναστὰς δὲ ἑνὶ, οὗπερ ἐχρῆν τοὐναντίον. τί δὲ καὶ νομίζει τὸ ἐχρῆν. ἀκούσωμεν. ἐναντίον τοῦ μὲν κολαζόμενον πᾶσιν ἑωρᾶσθαι, ἀναστάντα δὲ ἑνί· ὅσον γὰρ ἐπὶ τῇ λέξει ἑαυτοῦ ἤθελε καὶ ἀδύνατον καὶ ἄλογον, κολαζόμενον μὲν ἑνὶ ὁρᾶσθαι, ἀναστάντα δὲ πᾶσιν· ἢ πῶς διηγήσῃ τὸ οὗπερ ἐχρῆν τοὐναντίον; ### English translation (Claude) Where did the Jew of Celsus get the statement that Jesus hid himself? For he says of him: “What messenger ever sent, when he ought to announce what he was commanded, hides himself?” He did not hide himself who said to those seeking to arrest him: “Day after day I was in the temple teaching openly, and you did not seize me.” To what follows, which Celsus repeats, we, having answered once, shall be content with what was said before. For above we have written also against this: “Or, when he was disbelieved while in the body, he preached to all without restraint; but when he would have provided strong faith by rising from the dead, he appeared secretly to one little woman alone and to his own band of followers?” But it is not even true that he appeared to one little woman alone. For it is written in the Gospel according to Matthew: “After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone.” And a little later Matthew says: “And behold, Jesus met them” (clearly the Marys already mentioned), “saying, Greetings. And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.” We have also answered this: “When he was being punished he was seen by all, but when he rose, by one,” when we replied to the objection that he was not seen by all. And now we shall say that his human attributes were visible to all, but his more divine attributes (I speak not of those that have a relation to other things, but of those by which he differs) were not accessible to all. Notice too Celsus's contradiction with himself in the very next words. Having said that he appeared secretly to one little woman and to his own band of followers, he immediately adds: “When he was being punished he was seen by all, but when he rose, by one; whereas the opposite should have happened.” Let us hear what he thinks “should have happened.” The opposite of being seen by all when punished and by one when risen: so far as his words go, he wanted what is both impossible and unreasonable, that when punished he should be seen by one, and when risen by all. Or how will you explain “whereas the opposite should have happened”? ### Scripture references - Matt 26:55: quotation, high confidence - John 18:20: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 28:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:2: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 26:55 (with Mark 14:49; “openly” recalls John 18:20), Matt 28:1–2, and Matt 28:9. θιασῶται (“band of followers”) is a term for members of a religious guild. The parenthesis on attributes contrasts relative titles of Christ with his distinctive divine properties. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/70/). ## Against Celsus 2.71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/71/ - Source: Koetschau 1:193–194 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says Jesus revealed the Father who sent him, as John's Gospel and letters show, and that the purposes of his mission are set out by prophets, evangelists, and apostles. ### Greek text Ἐδίδαξε δὲ ἡμᾶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ὅστις ἦν ὁ πέμψας ἐν τῷ „οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα. εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς, “ καὶ τῷ „θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε· καὶ μονογενής γε ὢν θεὸς. ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο, “ ἐκεῖνος θεολογῶν ἀπήγγειλε τὰ περὶ θεοῦ τοῖς γνησίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς· ὧν ἴχνη ἐν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις εὑρίσκοντες ἀφορμὰς ἔχομεν θεολογεῖν. ὅπου μὲν ἀκούοντες· „ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, καὶ σκοτία οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ οὐδεμία.“ ὅπου δέ· „πνεῦμα ὁ θεὸς, καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς ἔπεμψεν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ μυρία ἐστὶν. ἅτινα ὁ βουλόμενος μανθανέτω, πῇ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν προκηρυξάντων περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητῶν πῇ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν· οὐκ ὀλίγα δʼ εἴσεται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ μάλιστα Παύλου. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μὲν εὐσεβοῦντας οὗτος φωταγωγεῖ τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντας κολάσει, ὅπερ οὐκ ἰδὼν ὁ Κέλσος πεποίηκε· καὶ τοὺς μὲν εὐσεβοῦντας φωταγωγήσων τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντας ἢ μεταγνόντας ἐλεήσων. ### English translation (Claude) Jesus also taught us who the one was who sent him, in the words “No one knows the Father except the Son” and “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” He, speaking of God, declared to his genuine disciples the things concerning God; finding traces of these in the Scriptures, we have starting points for speaking of God, hearing in one place, “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all,” and in another, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” And the purposes for which the Father sent him are countless; let anyone who wishes learn them, partly from the prophets who proclaimed him beforehand, partly from the evangelists; and he will learn not a few from the apostles too, especially Paul. Moreover, he gives light to the pious and will punish sinners; Celsus did not see this, and wrote: “and to give light to the pious, and to have mercy on sinners, or on those who have repented.” ### Scripture references - Matt 11:27: quotation, high confidence - John 1:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 1:5: quotation, high confidence - John 4:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 11:27, John 1:18 (reading “only-begotten God”), 1 John 1:5, and John 4:24. The final words are Celsus's own phrasing, which Origen cites; the sense of the sentence is compressed in the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/71/). ## Against Celsus 2.72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/72/ - Source: Koetschau 1:194 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that God's voice at Jesus' baptism and Transfiguration was heard only by those meant to hear it, since the divine voice is perceived by spiritual, not bodily, hearing. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν· εἰ μὲν ἐβούλετο λανθάνειν, τί ἠκούετο ἡ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνὴ κηρύττουσα αὐτὸν υἱὸν θεοῦ; εἰ δʼ οὐκ ἐβούλετο λανθάνειν, τί ἐκολάζετο ἢ τί ἀπέθνῃσκε; καὶ οἴεται ἐν τούτοις διαφωνίαν ἐλέγχειν τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ γεγραμμένων, οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι οὔτε πάντα τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν ἐβούλετο πᾶσι καὶ οἷς ἔτυχε γινώσκεσθαι οὔτε πάντα λανθάνειν τὰ καθʼ ἑαυτόν. ἡ γοῦν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνὴ κηρύττουσα αὐτὸν εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ καὶ λέγουσα· „οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾧ ηὐδόκησα, “ οὐκ ἀναγέγραπται εἰς ἐπήκοον τοῖς ὄχλοις γεγονέναι, ὅπερ ᾠήθη ὁ Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ἐν τῷ ὑψηλοτάτῳ ὄρει ἀπὸ τῆς νεφέλης φωνὴ μόνοις ἠκούετο τοῖς συναναβᾶσιν αὐτῷ. καὶ γὰρ τοιαύτη ἐστὶν ἡ θεία φωνὴ, ἀκουομένη μόνοις ἐκείνοις, οὓς βούλεται ἀκούειν ὁ λέγων, οὐδέπω δὲ λέγω ὅτι οὐ πάντως ἐστὶν ἀὴρ πεπληγμένος ἢ πληγὴ ἀέρος ἢ ὅ τι ποτὲ λέγεται ἐν τοῖς περὶ φωνῆς ἡ ἀναγραφομένη φωνὴ τοῦ θεοῦ, διόπερ τῇ κρείττονι τῆς αἰσθητῆς ἀκοῆς καὶ θειοτέρᾳ ἀκούεται. καὶ ἐπὰν βούληται ὁ λέγων μὴ πᾶσιν ἐξάκουστον εἶναι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φωνὴν, ὁ μὲν „ἔχων“ τὰ κρείττονα „ὦτα“ ἀκούει θεοῦ, ὁ δὲ κεκωφωμένος τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀκοὴν ἀναισθητεῖ λέγοντος θεοῦ. ταῦτα μὲν διὰ τὸ τί ἠκούετο ἡ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ φωνὴ ἡ κηρύττουσα αὐτὸν υἱὸν θεοῦ; εἰς δὲ τὸ εἰ οὐκ ἐβούλετο λανθάνειν, τί ἐκολάζετο ἢ τί ἀπέθνῃσκεν; ἀρκεῖ τὰ περὶ τοῦ πάθους ἡμῖν διὰ πλειόνων ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω λελεγμένα. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says: “If he wished to be hidden, why was the voice from heaven heard proclaiming him Son of God? But if he did not wish to be hidden, why was he punished, or why did he die?” He thinks he shows a contradiction in what is written about him, not seeing that he neither wished everything about himself to be known to all and sundry, nor everything about himself to be hidden. At any rate, the voice from heaven proclaiming him to be the Son of God and saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” is not recorded to have been audible to the crowds, as the Jew of Celsus supposed; and the voice from the cloud on the very high mountain was heard only by those who had gone up with him. For such is the divine voice: it is heard only by those whom the speaker wishes to hear it. I do not yet say that the voice of God recorded in Scripture is certainly not struck air, or a striking of the air, or whatever is said in treatises on voice; that is why it is heard by a hearing better and more divine than the hearing of sense. And when the speaker wishes his voice not to be audible to all, the one who “has” the better “ears” hears God, while one whose soul's hearing is deafened does not perceive God speaking. So much for “why was the voice from heaven heard proclaiming him Son of God?” As for “if he did not wish to be hidden, why was he punished, or why did he die?”, what we said at greater length above about the passion is enough. ### Scripture references - Matt 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:5: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:15: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 3:17 and, for the voice from the cloud, Matt 17:5; “has ears” echoes Matt 11:15. “Struck air” is the Stoic definition of voice (Diogenes Laertius 7.55). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/72/). ## Against Celsus 2.73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/73/ - Source: Koetschau 1:194–195 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that Jesus had already called all to the light and taught why he came, in the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, his disputes, and John's Gospel. ### Greek text Ἐκτίθεται δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖος ὡς ἀκόλουθον τὸ μὴ ἀκόλουθον. οὐ γὰρ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ ἠθέλησεν ἡμᾶς διʼ ὧν πέπονθε κολάσεων διδάξαι καὶ θανάτου καταφρονεῖν τὸ ἀναστάντα αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν φανερῶς εἰς φῶς καλέσαι πάντας καὶ διδάξαι, οὗ χάριν κατεληλύθει. εἰς φῶς γὰρ πρότερον ἐκάλεσε πάντας εἰπών· „δεῦτε πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς.“ καὶ οὗ χάριν κατελήλυθεν, ἀναγέγραπται ἐν οἷς ἀποτάδην κεκίνηκε λόγοις ἐν μακαρισμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἑξῆς αὐτοῖς ἀπαγγελλομένοις καὶ ἐν παραβολαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαίους ὁμιλίαις. τὸ δὲ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγέλιον ὅσα ἐδίδαξεν ἔκκειται, παριστάντα τὴν Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἐν λέξεσιν ἀλλʼ ἐν πράγμασι μεγαλοφωνίαν· καὶ δῆλός ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν εὐαγγελίων ὅτι „ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ἦν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, “ ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ ἐθαύμαζον. ### English translation (Claude) After this the Jew of Celsus sets out as a consequence what is not a consequence. For it does not follow from “He wished to teach us, through the punishments he suffered, even to despise death” that, having risen from the dead, he should call all openly to the light and teach them why he had come down. For he had already called all to the light, saying: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And why he had come down is recorded in the words he spoke at length in the Beatitudes and in what is proclaimed after them, in parables, and in his discourses with the scribes and Pharisees. The Gospel according to John sets out all he taught, showing Jesus' grandeur not in words but in deeds; and it is clear from the Gospels that “his word was with authority,” at which they also marveled. ### Scripture references - Matt 11:28: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:3: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 4:32: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:28: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 11:28 and Luke 4:32 (cf. Matt 7:28–29). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/73/). ## Against Celsus 2.74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/74/ - Source: Koetschau 1:195 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Answering the claim that no god present among people is disbelieved, Origen points out that Israel disbelieved God's own manifest presence in the Exodus and made the golden calf, so their unbelief toward Jesus is in character. ### Greek text Καὶ πᾶσί γε τούτοις ἐπιλέγει ὁ Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖος· ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὑμῖν ἐκ τῶν ὑμετέρων συγγραμμάτων, ἐφʼ οἷς οὐδενὸς ἄλλου μάρτυρος χρῄζομεν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἑαυτοῖς περιπίπτετε, ἠλέγξαμεν δʼ ὅτι παρὰ τὰ ἡμέτερα τῶν εὐαγγελίων συγγράμματα πολλὰ πεφλυάρηται ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Ἰουδαίου εἴτε πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἴτε πρὸς ἡμᾶς λόγοις. καὶ οὐχ ἡγοῦμαί γε ὅτι παρέστησε, πῶς ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοῖς περιπίπτομεν, ἀλλὰ μόνον οἴεται, ἐπεὶ δὲ προστίθησι τούτοις ὁ Ἰουδαῖος αὐτοῦ ὅτι ὅλως, ὦ ὕψιστε καὶ οὐράνιε, τίς θεὸς παρὼν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀπιστεῖται; λεκτέον πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον θεὸς ἐναργέστατα παραγεγονέναι τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἀναγεγραμμένος οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ἔτι δὲ τὴν δίοδον τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης καὶ τὸν στῦλον „τοῦ πυρὸς“ καὶ τὴν νεφέλην τοῦ φωτὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡνίκα ἡ δεκάλογος ὅλῳ τῷ λαῷ ἀπηγγέλλετο, ἠπιστήθη ὑπὸ τῶν εἰδότων· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ, πιστεύοντες τῷ ἑωραμένῳ καὶ ἀκουσθέντι, μόσχον κατεσκεύασαν οὐδʼ „ἠλλάξαντο ἂν τὴν δόξαν ἑαυτῶν ἐν ὁμοιώματι μόσχου ἐσθίοντος χόρτον“ οὐδʼ ἔλεγον ἂν πρὸς ἀλλήλους περὶ τοῦ μόσχου· „οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ θεοί σου, Ἰσραὴλ, οἵτινες ἀνήγαγόν (σε) ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου.“ καὶ ὅρα εἰ μὴ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτούς ἐστι τηλικούτοις τεραστίοις καὶ τοσαύταις ἐπιφανείαις θεοῦ καὶ πρότερον ἀπιστῆσαι διʼ ὅλης τῆς ἐρήμου, ὡς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Ἰουδαίων γέγραπται, καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ παράδοξον ἐπιδημίαν μὴ ἁλῶναι ὑπὸ τῶν μετʼ ἐξουσίας αὐτῷ εἰρημένων λόγων καὶ τῶν παραδόξως αὐτῷ ἐν ὄψει παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ πεπραγμένων. ### English translation (Claude) And to all this the Jew of Celsus adds: “These things, then, we have set before you from your own writings, for which we need no other witness; for you fall foul of yourselves.” But we have shown that the Jew's speeches, whether against Jesus or against us, contain much nonsense contrary to our writings, the Gospels. And I do not think he has shown how we fall foul of ourselves; he only thinks so. And since his Jew adds to this: “In short, O most high and heavenly one, what god, being present among human beings, is disbelieved?”, it must be said to him that, even according to the law of Moses, God, recorded as having come most clearly to the Hebrews, not only in the signs and wonders in Egypt, and further the passage through the Red Sea, the pillar “of fire,” and the cloud of light, but also when the Ten Commandments were proclaimed to the whole people, was disbelieved by those who knew. For if they had believed what they saw and heard, they would not have made a calf, nor would they have “exchanged their glory for the likeness of a calf that eats grass,” nor would they have said to one another about the calf: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And see whether it is not characteristic of the same people both formerly to disbelieve, through the whole wilderness, such great wonders and such manifestations of God, as is written in the law of the Jews, and at the marvelous coming of Jesus not to be won over by the words he spoke with authority and the marvelous deeds he did in the sight of all the people. ### Scripture references - Exod 13:21: allusion, high confidence - Exod 14:22: allusion, high confidence - Exod 20:1: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 106:20 (105:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Exod 32:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 106:20 (105:20 LXX) and Exod 32:4; the allusions are Exod 13:21 and Exod 14 (Red Sea), Exod 20 (Decalogue). The editorial supplement (σε) is kept in the translation as “you.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.74 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/74/). ## Against Celsus 2.75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/75/ - Source: Koetschau 1:195–196 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that the Jews' rejection of Jesus matches their ancestors' unbelief in the wilderness, fulfilling Jesus' words and the prophecy of Deuteronomy about “your life hanging before your eyes.” ### Greek text Καὶ ἱκανά γε νομίζω ταῦτα εἶναι τῷ βουλομένῳ παραστῆσαι τὴν Ἰουδαίων πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπιστίαν, ὅτι ἀκόλουθος ἦν αὕτη τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένοις. εἴποιμι γὰρ ἂν πρὸς τὸν λέγοντα παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖον· τίς θεὸς παρὼν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἀπιστεῖται, καὶ ταῦτα οἷς ἐλπίζουσιν ἐπιφαίνεται; ἢ τί δή ποτε τοῖς πάλαι προσδεχομένοις οὐ γνωρίζεται; ὅτι βούλεσθε, ὦ οὗτοι, πρὸς τὰς πεύσεις ἡμῶν ἀποκρίνεσθαι; ποῖαι δυνάμεις μείζους ὅσον ἐπὶ ὑμετέρᾳ ὑπολήψει εἶναι ὑμῖν φαίνονται, αἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἢ ἃ ἔφαμεν ἡμεῖς πεποιηκέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν παρʼ ὑμῖν; εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖναι μείζους τούτων καθʼ ὑμᾶς εἰσιν, πῶς οὐκ αὐτόθεν δείκνυται ὅτι κατὰ τὸ ἦθος τῶν τοῖς μείζοσιν ἀπιστησάντων ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ τῶν ἡττόνων καταφρονεῖν; τοῦτο γὰρ ὑπολαμβάνεται περὶ ὧν λέγομεν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἴσαι λέγονται (αἱ) περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ταῖς ἀναγεγραμμέναις ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως, τί ξένον ἀπήντησε λαῷ κατʼ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς ἀρχὰς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπιστοῦντι; ἀρχὴ μὲν γὰρ νομοθεσίας ἐπὶ Μωϋσέως ἦν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῶν ἀπίστων καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ὑμῶν ἀναγέγραπται· ἀρχὴ δὲ νομοθεσίας καὶ διαθήκης δευτέρας κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἡμῖν γεγονέναι ὁμολογεῖται. καὶ μαρτυρεῖτε διʼ ὧν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἀπιστεῖτε ὅτι υἱοί ἐστε τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἀπιστησάντων ταῖς θείαις ἐπιφανείαις· καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἰρημένον καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς λελέξεται ἀπιστήσαντας αὐτῷ, ὅτι „ἄρα μάρτυρές ἐστε καὶ συνευδοκεῖτε τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν“· καὶ πληροῦται ἐν ὑμῖν ἡ λέγουσα προφητεία· „ἔσται ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κρεμαμένη ἐνώπιον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐ μὴ πιστεύσητε τῇ ζωῇ ὑμῶν“· οὐ γὰρ ἐπιστεύσατε τῇ ἐπιδεδημηκυίᾳ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωῇ. ### English translation (Claude) I think this is enough for anyone who wishes to show that the Jews' unbelief toward Jesus was consistent with what was recorded about the people from the beginning. For I would say to the Jew in Celsus who says, “What god, being present among human beings, is disbelieved, and that when he appears to those who hope for him? Or why is he not recognized by those who have long awaited him?”: “Sirs, how will you answer our questions? What miracles seem to you, by your own judgment, to be greater: those in Egypt and the wilderness, or those we say Jesus did among you? If by your reckoning the former are greater than the latter, how is it not shown at once that it belongs to the character of those who disbelieved the greater to despise the lesser too? For this is what is supposed about what we say concerning Jesus. But if those told of Jesus are said to be equal to those recorded by Moses, what strange thing has befallen a people who disbelieved at both beginnings of these events? For the beginning of lawgiving was in Moses' time, in which the sins of the unbelievers and sinners among you are recorded; and the beginning of lawgiving and of a second covenant is acknowledged to have come to us in the time of Jesus. And by your unbelief toward Jesus you bear witness that you are sons of those who in the wilderness disbelieved the divine manifestations; and what our Savior said will be said to you too, who disbelieved him: ‘So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your fathers’; and in you is fulfilled the prophecy that says: ‘Your life will hang before your eyes, and you will not believe in your life.’ For you did not believe in the Life that came to dwell among the human race.” ### Scripture references - Luke 11:48: quotation, high confidence - Deut 28:66: quotation, high confidence - John 14:6: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Luke 11:48 and Deut 28:66, the latter read by early Christians as a prophecy of the crucifixion; “the Life” refers to Christ (John 14:6). This is Origen's polemical reading, translated as written. The bracketed αἱ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/75/). ## Against Celsus 2.76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/76/ - Source: Koetschau 1:196–199 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that Jesus' “woes” are no different from God's in the prophets and the curses of the Law, spoken to bring people to repentance, and that even Greek sages could not persuade everyone. ### Greek text Οὐχ εὗρε δʼ ὁ Κέλσος προσωποποιῶν τὸν Ἰουδαῖον τοιαῦτα αὐτῷ περιθεῖναι ἐν τῷ λόγῳ, ὁποῖα οὐκ ἂν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τῶν νομίμων καὶ προφητικῶν προφέροιτο γραφῶν. μέμφεται γὰρ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοιαῦτα λέγων περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἀπειλεῖ καὶ λοιδορεῖ κούφως ὁπόταν λέγῃ· „οὐαὶ ὑμῖν“ καὶ „προλέγω ὑμῖν.“ ἐν γὰρ τούτοις ἄντικρυς ὁμολογεῖ ὅτι πεῖσαι ἀδυνατεῖ, ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν θεὸς ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἄνθρωπος φρόνιμος πάθοι. ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ ταῦτα ἄντικρυς ἀναστρέφει ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰουδαῖον. ἀπειλεῖ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς νομικαῖς καὶ προφητικαῖς γραφαῖς ὁ θεὸς καὶ λοιδορεῖ, ὁπόταν λέγῃ, οὐκ ἐλάττονα τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ „οὐαί·“ ὁποῖά ἐστι τὰ ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ οὕτως ἔχοντα· „οὐαὶ οἱ συνάπτοντες οἰκίαν πρὸς οἰκίαν, καὶ ἀγρὸν πρὸς ἀγρὸν ἐγγίζοντες“ καὶ „οὐαὶ οἱ ἐγειρόμενοι τὸ πρωῒ καὶ τὸ σίκερα διώκοντες“ καὶ „οὐαὶ οἱ ἐπισπώμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὡς σχοινίῳ μακρῷ“ καὶ „οὐαὶ οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρὸν“ καὶ „οὐαὶ οἱ ἰσχύοντες ὑμῶν, οἱ πίνοντες τὸν οἶνον.“ καὶ ἄλλα δʼ ἂν εὕροις μυρία. πῶς δʼ οὐ παραπλήσια αἷς λέγει ἀπειλαῖς ἐστι τὸ „οὐαὶ ἔθνος ἁμαρτωλὸν, λαὸς πλήρης ἁμαρτιῶν. σπέρμα πονηρὸν, υἱοὶ ἄνομοι“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς; οἷς ἐπιφέρει τηλικαύτας ἀπειλὰς. αἵ εἰσιν οὐκ ἐλάττους ὧν φησι τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἰρηκέναι. ἢ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπειλὴ καὶ μεγάλη γε ἡ φάσκουσα· „ἡ γῆ ὑμῶν ἔρημος. αἱ πόλεις ὑμῶν πυρίκαυστοι· τὴν χώραν ὑμῶν ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν ἀλλότριοι κατεσθίουσιν αὐτὴν, καὶ ἠρήμωται κατεστραμμένη ὑπὸ λαῶν ἀλλοτρίων“; πῶς δʼ οὐ λοιδορίαι καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιήλ εἰσι πρὸς τὸν λαὸν. ἔνθα ὁ κύριός ἐστι λέγων πρὸς τὸν προφήτην· „ἐν μέσῳ σκορπίων σὺ κατοικεῖς“; ἆρʼ οὖν, ὦ Κέλσε, συνῃσθημένος πεποίηκας τὸν Ἰουδαῖον λέγοντα περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι ἀπειλεῖ καὶ λοιδορεῖ κούφως, ὁπόταν λέγῃ· „οὐαὶ ὑμῖν„ καὶ „προλέγω ὑμῖν“; οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι ἅπερ κατηγορῶν λέγει ὁ παρὰ σοὶ Ἰουδαῖος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ταῦτα ἂν λέγοιτο πρὸς αὐτὸν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ; ἄντικρυς γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ὁμοίοις εὑρίσκεται ὢν, ὡς οἴεται ὁ Ἰουδαῖος, ἐγκλήμασιν ὁ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις θεὸς ὡς πεῖσαι ἀδυνατῶν. ἔτι δὲ φήσαιμʼ ἂν περὶ αὐτῶν τοῖς οἰομένοις τὸν παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖον εὖ ταῦτα τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐγκαλεῖν ὅτι ἀραὶ πλεῖσται ὅσαι ἀναγεγραμμέναι εἰσὶν ἐν Λευϊτικῷ καὶ Δευτερονομίῳ, περὶ ὧν ὡς ἐὰν ἀπολογήσηται ὁ Ἰουδαῖος παριστάμενος τῇ γραφῇ. ἢ τοιούτως ἢ καὶ ἔτι βέλτιον ἀπολογησόμεθα περὶ τῶν νομιζομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ εἰρῆσθαι λοιδοριῶν καὶ ἀπειλῶν. καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Μωϋσέως νόμου ἡμεῖς μᾶλλον δυνησόμεθα ἀπολογήσασθαι, ἅτε συνετώτερον διδαχθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀκούειν τῶν νομικῶν γραμμάτων ἤπερ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἐὰν ἴδῃ τὸ βούλημα τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων, παραστῆναι δυνήσεται τῷ μὴ κούφως ἀπειλεῖν καὶ λοιδορεῖν τὸν θεὸν λέγοντα τὸ „οὐαὶ“ καὶ „προλέγω ὑμῖν, “ καὶ πῶς θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἐπιστροφῆς ἀνθρώπων τὰ τοιαῦτα ἂν λέγοι, ἅπερ οἴεται οὐδὲ φρόνιμον ἄνθρωπον ποιῆσαι ὁ Κέλσος. καὶ Χριστιανοὶ δὲ ἕνα θεὸν γινώσκοντες. τὸν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τῷ κυρίῳ, παραστήσουσι τὸ εὔλογον τῶν νομιζομένων ἀπειλῶν καὶ λεγομένων παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ λοιδοριῶν. καὶ ὀλίγα εἰς τὸν τόπον λελέξεται πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον, ἐπαγγελλόμενον καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα εἰδέναι· ὅτι ἆρα. ὦ οὗτος, ἐὰν μὲν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Ὁμήρῳ Ἑρμῆς λέγῃ τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ· τίπτʼ αὖ, ὦ δύστηνε, διʼ ἄκριας ἔρχεαι οἶος; ἀνέχῃ ἀπολογίας, λεγούσης ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἐπιστροφῆς τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ τοιαῦτα προσδιαλέγεται ὁ Ὁμηρικὸς Ἑρμῆς (ἐπεὶ τὸ κολακεύειν καὶ κεχαρισμένα λέγειν Σειρήνων ἐστὶν, αἷς πάρεστιν ἀμφʼ ὀστεόφιν θὶς λεγούσαις· δεῦρʼ ἄγʼ ἰὼν, πολύαινʼ Ὀδυσεῦ, μέγα κῦδος Ἀχαιῶν)· ἐὰν δʼ οἱ παρʼ ἐμοὶ προφῆται καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὑπὲρ ἐπιστροφῆς τῶν ἀκουόντων λέγῃ τὸ οὐαὶ καὶ ἃς νομίζεις λοιδορίας. οὐδὲν οἰκονομεῖται πρὸς τοὺς ἀκούοντας διὰ τῶν τοιούτων λόγων οὐδὲ προσάγει αὐτοῖς ὡς Παιώνιον φάρμακον τὸν τοιοῦτον λόγον; εἰ μὴ ἄρα βούλει τὸν θεὸν ἢ τὸν θείας μετέχοντα φύσεως ἀνθρώποις διαλεγόμενον σκοπεῖν μὲν τὰ τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως καὶ τὰ κατʼ ἀξίαν ἑαυτοῦ μηκέτι δʼ ἐνορᾶν. τί πρέπει τοῖς οἰκονομουμένοις καὶ ἀγομένοις ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι καὶ ἑκάστῳ γε κατὰ τὸ ὑποκείμενον ἦθος διαλέγεσθαι. πῶς δὲ καὶ οὐ γελοῖον τὸ πεῖσαι ἀδυνατεῖν λεγόμενον περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ κοινοποιούμενον οὐ μόνον πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον. πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχοντα ἐν ταῖς προφητείαις. ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς Ἕλληνας, ἐν οἷς ἕκαστος τῶν μεγάλην δόξαν ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ ἀπενεγκαμένων οὐ δεδύνηται πεῖσαι τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας ἢ τοὺς δικαστὰς ἢ τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας παύσασθαι μὲν τῆς κακίας ὁδεῦσαι δὲ διὰ φιλοσοφίας ἐπʼ ἀρετήν; ### English translation (Claude) In giving the Jew his part, Celsus did not manage to put into his speech anything that could not be turned back on him from the writings of the law and the prophets. For he blames Jesus, saying of him: “He threatens and reviles lightly whenever he says, ‘Woe to you,’ and ‘I tell you beforehand.’ For in these words he openly admits that he is unable to persuade, which would not happen to a god, nor even to a sensible man.” See whether these words do not recoil directly on the Jew. For in the writings of the law and the prophets God threatens and reviles, whenever he says “woe,” no less than in the Gospel, as in these words in Isaiah: “Woe to those who join house to house and add field to field,” and “Woe to those who rise early in the morning and pursue strong drink,” and “Woe to those who draw sins after them as with a long rope,” and “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,” and “Woe to the mighty among you who drink wine.” And you could find countless others. How is “Woe, sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless sons,” and what follows, not like the threats he speaks of? To these he adds threats so great that they are no less than those he says Jesus spoke. Or is it not a threat, and a great one, that says: “Your land is desolate, your cities burned with fire; strangers devour your country before you, and it is laid waste, overthrown by foreign peoples”? And how are there not revilings of the people in Ezekiel too, where the Lord says to the prophet: “You dwell in the midst of scorpions”? Did you, Celsus, make the Jew say knowingly of Jesus that “he threatens and reviles lightly whenever he says, ‘Woe to you’ and ‘I tell you beforehand’”? Do you not see that what the Jew in your book says against Jesus could be said against him about God? For the God in the prophets is found, as the Jew thinks, plainly liable to the same charges, as being unable to persuade. I would further say to those who think the Jew in Celsus rightly accuses Jesus of these things that very many curses are recorded in Leviticus and Deuteronomy; and however the Jew defends them, standing by Scripture, in that way or even better we shall defend what are thought to be Jesus' revilings and threats. And we shall be better able than the Jew to defend the law of Moses itself, since we have been taught by Jesus to understand the writings of the law more intelligently. And the Jew too, if he sees the intent of the prophetic words, will be able to show that God does not threaten and revile lightly when he says “woe” and “I tell you beforehand,” and how God would say such things for the conversion of human beings, which Celsus thinks not even a sensible man would do. And Christians, who know one God, the same in the prophets and in the Lord, will show the reasonableness of what are thought to be threats and what Celsus calls revilings. And a few words on this passage will be said to Celsus, who professes to be a philosopher and to know our affairs: “Sir, if Homer's Hermes says to Odysseus, ‘Why again, unhappy man, do you go alone over the hilltops?’, you accept the defense that the Homeric Hermes speaks thus to Odysseus to turn him back (since flattery and pleasing words belong to the Sirens, around whom lies a heap of bones, who say: ‘Come here, much-praised Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans’); but if my prophets and Jesus himself say ‘woe,’ and what you consider revilings, for the conversion of their hearers, is nothing accomplished for the hearers by such words, and does such a word not bring them a healing, Paean-like remedy? Unless, perhaps, you want God, or one who shares in the divine nature, when he converses with human beings, to look only to what belongs to his own nature and is worthy of himself, and no longer to consider what is fitting to promise to those who are guided and led by his word, and to speak to each according to his existing character.” And how is it not ridiculous to say of Jesus that he was unable to persuade, when this applies equally not only to the Jew, who has many such things in the prophecies, but also to the Greeks, among whom each of those who won great fame for wisdom could not persuade those plotting against him, or his judges, or his accusers, to cease from wickedness and to travel through philosophy to virtue? ### Scripture references - Isa 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Isa 5:11: quotation, high confidence - Isa 5:18: quotation, high confidence - Isa 5:20: quotation, high confidence - Isa 5:22: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 1:4: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:7: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 23:13: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 24:25: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 10.281 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 12.45 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 12.184 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 5:8, 5:11, 5:18, 5:20, 5:22 (loosely), Isa 1:4, Isa 1:7, and Ezek 2:6; Jesus' words echo Matt 23:13 and Matt 24:25. The Homeric lines are Odyssey 10.281 (Hermes to Odysseus), Odyssey 12.45 (the heap of bones), and Odyssey 12.184 (the Sirens). “Paean-like remedy” alludes to Paean, the physician of the gods. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.76 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/76/). ## Against Celsus 2.77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/77/ - Source: Koetschau 1:199–200 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen notes that the Jew in Celsus himself believes in bodily resurrection, yet ignores that Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead,” and answers his demand to see Jesus by asking where the God of the prophets can now be seen. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Ἰουδαῖος αὐτῷ λέγει. δηλονότι κατὰ τὸ Ἰουδαίοις ἀρέσκον, ὅτι ἐλπίζομεν δή που ἀναστήσεσθαι ἐν σώματι καὶ βιοτὴν ἕξειν αἰώνιον. καὶ τούτου παράδειγμα καὶ ἀρχηγέτην τὸν πεμπόμενον ἡμῖν ἔσεσθαι. δεικνύντα ὅτι οὐκ ἀδύνατόν τινα τῷ θεῷ σὺν τῷ σώματι ἀναστῆσαι. οὐκ οἴδαμεν οὖν εἰ τὸν προσδοκώμενον Χριστὸν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἐρεῖ παράδειγμα τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐν ἑαυτῷ δεικνύναι· ἀλλʼ ἔστω, δεδόσθω τοῦτʼ αὐτὸν καὶ φρονεῖν καὶ λέγειν. καὶ ἀποκρινούμεθά γε πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων συγγραμμάτων ἡμῖν λελαληκέναι· ὅτι, ὦ οὗτος. ἆρʼ ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἀνέγνως. ἐν οἷς κατηγορεῖν ἡμῶν ὑπολαμβάνεις. τὴν δʼ ἀνάστασιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ὅτι „πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν“ ἐστιν. οὐ διεξελήλυθας; ἢ ἐπεὶ μὴ βούλει ταῦτα λελέχθαι, οὐδʼ εἴρηται; ἐπεὶ δʼ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἔτι λέγει καὶ προσίεται παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῶν σωμάτων. οὐχ ἡγοῦμαι νῦν εὔκαιρον εἶναι περὶ τούτου διεξελθεῖν πρὸς τὸν καὶ πιστεύοντα καὶ λέγοντα ἀνάστασιν εἶναι σωμάτων, καὶ εἴτε διαρθροῦντα τὸ τοιοῦτον παρʼ ἑαυτῷ καὶ δυνάμενον πρεσβεῦσαι περὶ τοῦ λόγου καλῶς εἴτε μὴ, ἀλλὰ μυθικώτερον συγκατατιθέμενον τῷ λόγῳ. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὕτως πρὸς τὸν Κέλσου Ἰουδαῖον λελέχθω. ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτά φησι· ποῦ οὖν ἐστιν; ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ πιστεύσωμεν, ἐροῦμεν πρὸς αὐτόν· ποῦ οὖν ἐστι νῦν ὁ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις λέγων καὶ ὁ τεράστια πεποιηκώς· ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ πιστεύσωμεν ὅτι μερίς ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ. ἢ ὑμῖν μὲν ἔξεστιν ἀπολογεῖσθαι περὶ τοῦ μὴ ἀεὶ ἐπιφαίνεσθαι τῷ γένει τῶν Ἑβραίων τὸν θεὸν, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐ δίδοται ἡ αὐτὴ ἀπολογία περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἅπαξ καὶ ἀναστάντος καὶ πείσαντος περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἀναστάσεως τοὺς μαθητὰς καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον πείσαντος, ὥστε διʼ ὧν πάσχουσι δεικνύναι πᾶσιν ὅτι βλέποντες τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν καὶ τὴν ὑποδεδειγμένην αὐτοῖς καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ ἀνάστασιν παίζουσι πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ βίῳ ἐπίπονα; ### English translation (Claude) After this the Jew says to him, evidently in keeping with what Jews hold: “We hope, of course, to rise in the body and to have eternal life, and that the one sent to us will be the example and pioneer of this, showing that it is not impossible for God to raise someone with the body.” We do not know whether the Jew will say that the expected Christ shows in himself an example of the resurrection; but let it be granted that he both thinks and says this. We shall answer him who said he had spoken to us from our own writings: “Sir, did you read those passages in which you suppose you accuse us, but not go through the resurrection of Jesus, and that he is ‘the firstborn from the dead’? Or, since you do not wish these things to have been said, have they not been said?” And since the Jew in Celsus still speaks of and accepts the resurrection of bodies, I do not think this the right time to discuss it with one who both believes and says that there is a resurrection of bodies, whether he articulates it for himself and can champion the doctrine well, or whether he assents to it in a more mythical way. So let this be said thus to Celsus's Jew. And since after this he says, “Where is he, then, that we may see and believe?”, we shall say to him: “Where now is the one who speaks in the prophets and who did wonders, that we may see and believe that you are God's portion? Or may you defend God's not always appearing to the Hebrew race, while the same defense is not granted to us concerning Jesus, who once rose and persuaded his disciples of his resurrection, and persuaded them so far that by what they suffer they show all that, looking to eternal life and to the resurrection shown them in word and deed, they make light of all the hardships of life?” ### Scripture references - Col 1:18: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:9: echo, medium confidence - Mark 15:32: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Col 1:18; “God's portion” echoes Deut 32:9. Celsus's phrase “that we may see and believe” echoes Mark 15:32. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/77/). ## Against Celsus 2.78 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/78/ - Source: Koetschau 1:200–201 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that Jesus did not come to cause the Jews' unbelief but foresaw it, and that God's providence used it to call the Gentiles, as the prophets and Paul foretold. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγει ὁ Ἰουδαῖος· ἢ ἐπὶ τούτῳ κατῆλθεν, ἵνʼ ἀπιστήσωμεν; πρὸς ὃν λελέξεται· οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μὲν ἦλθεν, ἵνʼ ἐργάσηται τὴν ἀπιστίαν Ἰουδαίοις, προγινώσκων δʼ αὐτὴν ἐσομένην προεῖπε καὶ συνεχρήσατο τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων πρὸς τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν. τῷ γὰρ ἐκείνων „παραπτώματι ἡ σωτηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσι“ γεγένηται, περὶ ὧν ὁ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Χριστός φησι· „λαὸς, ὃν οὐκ ἔγνων, ἐδούλευσέ μοι· εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήκουσέ μου, “ καὶ „εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσι.“ καὶ σαφὲς ὅτι καὶ τὴν ἐν βίῳ κόλασιν Ἰουδαῖοι μετὰ τὸ διαθεῖναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἃ διέθηκαν ἐκολάσθησαν. λεγέτωσαν δʼ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἐὰν ἡμῖν ἐγκαλοῦντες φάσκωσιν· θαυμαστή γε ὑμῖν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ πρόνοια καὶ φιλανθρωπία, κολαζομένοις καὶ στερηθεῖσι καὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τοῦ λεγομένου ἁγιάσματος καὶ τῆς σεμνοτάτης λατρείας· ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν εἴπωσιν ἀπολογούμενοι περὶ τῆς προνοίας τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡμεῖς μᾶλλον κατασκευάσομεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον λέγοντες θαυμαστὴν γεγονέναι πρόνοιαν τοῦ θεοῦ, συγχρησαμένην τῷ ἁμαρτήματι τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκείνου εἰς τὸ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦ κληθῆναι, τοὺς ξένους „τῶν διαθηκῶν“ καὶ ἀλλοτρίους τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν εἰς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείαν. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ προεῖπον οἱ προφῆται, ὡς ἄρα διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ τῶν Ἑβραίων λαοῦ ἐκλέξεται ὁ θεὸς οὐχὶ ἔθνος ἀλλὰ λογάδας πανταχόθεν, καὶ „τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου“ ἐκλεξάμενος ποιήσει τὸ ἀσύνετον ἔθνος γενέσθαι ἐν τοῖς θείοις λόγοις, αἰρομένης μὲν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείας τούτοις δὲ διδομένης. ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθέσθαι τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾠδῆς τοῦ Δευτερονομίου προφητείαν περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεως οὕτως ἔχουσαν. λεγομένην ἐκ προσώπου κυρίου· „αὐτοὶ γὰρ παρεζήλωσάν με ἐπʼ οὐ θεοῖς, παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν· κἀγὼ παραζηλώσω αὐτοὺς ἐπʼ οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπʼ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ αὐτούς.“ ### English translation (Claude) After this the Jew says: “Or did he come down for this, that we should disbelieve?” To him it will be said: he did not come to produce unbelief in the Jews; but foreknowing that it would happen, he foretold it, and made use of the Jews' unbelief for the calling of the nations. For by their “trespass salvation has come to the nations,” of whom the Christ in the prophets says: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me,” and “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became manifest to those who did not ask for me.” And it is clear that the Jews also suffered punishment in this life, after doing to Jesus what they did. Let the Jews speak, if they accuse us, saying: “Wonderful indeed is God's providence and love for mankind toward you, who have been punished and deprived of Jerusalem, of what is called the sanctuary, and of the most solemn worship.” Whatever they say in defense of God's providence, we shall establish more fully and better, saying that God's providence has been wonderful, making use of that people's sin so that those of the nations should be called through Jesus into God's kingdom, those who were strangers to “the covenants” and aliens to the promises. The prophets foretold this too: that because of the sins of the Hebrew people God would choose not a nation but select persons from everywhere, and, having chosen “the foolish things of the world,” would make the nation without understanding come to be in the divine oracles, the kingdom of God being taken from those and given to these. For the present it is enough, out of many, to cite the prophecy from the song of Deuteronomy about the calling of the nations, spoken in the person of the Lord: “They made me jealous with what is no god, they provoked me with their idols; and I will make them jealous with what is no nation, I will provoke them with a nation without understanding.” ### Scripture references - Rom 11:11: quotation, high confidence - Ps 18:43 (17:44 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 18:44 (17:45 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 65:1: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:43: allusion, high confidence - Deut 32:21: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 11:11, Ps 18:43–44 (17:44–45 LXX), Isa 65:1, Eph 2:12, 1 Cor 1:27, and Deut 32:21; “taken from those and given to these” echoes Matt 21:43. The references to the Jews' punishment and loss of Jerusalem reflect Origen's theology of history; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/78/). ## Against Celsus 2.79 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/79/ - Source: Koetschau 1:201–202 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen closes Book 2 by arguing that no mere man could have spread his teaching across the world against all opposition and transformed so many lives, since Christ is the power and wisdom of God. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπίλογος τοῦ Ἰουδαίου ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσί φησι περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἄνθρωπος ἦν, καὶ τοιοῦτος. οἷον αὐτὸ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐμφανίζει καὶ ὁ λόγος δείκνυσιν. οὐκ οἶδα δὲ εἰ ἄνθρωπος, τολμήσας ἐπισπεῖραι πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ τὴν κατʼ αὐτὸν θεοσέβειαν καὶ διδασκαλίαν, δύναται ἀθεεὶ ποιῆσαι ὃ βούλεται καὶ κρείττων γενέσθαι πάντων τῶν ἀντιπραττόντων τῇ νομῇ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ, βασιλέων τε καὶ ἡγουμένων καὶ συγκλήτου βουλῆς Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν πανταχοῦ ἀρχόντων καὶ δήμου. πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπου φύσις, μηδὲν ἔχουσα κρεῖττον ἐν ἑαυτῇ, δύναται τοσοῦτον ἐπιστρέψαι πλῆθος; καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ τῶν φρονίμων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀλογωτάτων καὶ τοῖς πάθεσιν ἐγκειμένων καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ ἀλογίᾳ χαλεπώτερον μετατιθεμένων εἰς τὸ σωφρονέστερον. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ Χριστὸς ἦν καὶ σοφία τοῦ πατρὸς. διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα πεποίηκε καὶ ἔτι ποιεῖ, κἂν μήτε Ἰουδαῖοι μήτε Ἕλληνες βούλωνται. οἱ ἀπιστοῦντες αὐτοῦ τῷ λόγῳ. ἡμεῖς οὖν οὐ παυσόμεθα πιστεύοντες τῷ θεῷ κατὰ τὰς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑποθήκας καὶ τοὺς τυφλώττοντας περὶ θεοσέβειαν ἐθέλοντες ἐπιστρέφειν, κἂν οἱ ἀληθῶς τυφλώττοντες λοιδορῶνται ἡμῖν ὡς τυφλώττουσι καὶ οἱ βουκολοῦντες, εἴτε Ἰουδαῖοι εἴτε Ἕλληνες. τοὺς συγκατατιθεμένους αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν ἐγκαλῶσιν ὡς βουκολοῦσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους· καλήν γε βουκόλησιν, ἵνʼ ἀντὶ ἀκολάστων σώφρονες γένωνται ἢ προκόπτοντές γε ἐπὶ σωφροσύνην, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀδίκων δίκαιοι ἢ προκόπτοντες ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀφρόνων φρόνιμοι ἢ ὁδεύοντες ἐπὶ τὴν φρόνησιν, καὶ ἀντὶ δειλῶν καὶ ἀγεννῶν καὶ ἀνάνδρων ἀνδρεῖοι καὶ καρτερικοὶ, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦτο ἐπιδεικνύμενοι ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας τῆς εἰς τὸν κτίσαντα ὅλα θεὸν ἀγῶσιν. ἦλθεν οὖν οὐχ ὑπὸ ἑνὸς προφήτου ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ πάντων προκηρυχθεὶς Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ τῆς ἀμαθίας ἦν Κέλσου, περιθεῖναι τῷ Ἰουδαϊκῷ προσώπῳ ἕνα προφήτην προειρηκέναι περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. καὶ ἐπεὶ ταῦτα ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος εἰσῆκται λέγων ὡς δῆθεν κατὰ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νόμον καὶ αὐτοῦ που κατέπαυσε τὸν λόγον. καὶ ἄλλα εἰπὼν οὐ μνήμης ἄξια. καὶ αὐτὸς ἐνθάδε καταπαύσω τὸ δεύτερον τῶν πρὸς τὸ σύγγραμμα αὐτοῦ ὑπαγορευθέντων μοι. θεοῦ δὲ διδόντος καὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ δυνάμεως τῇ ψυχῇ ἡμῶν ἐπιδημούσης. πειρασόμεθα ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ πρὸς τὰ ἑξῆς τῷ Κέλσῳ γραφέντα πραγματεύσασθαι. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as the Jew's conclusion to all this, he says of Jesus: “He, then, was a man, and such a man as the truth itself makes plain and reason shows.” I do not know whether a man who dared to sow throughout the whole world the worship of God and the teaching that he brought could, without God, do what he wishes and prevail over all who opposed the spread of his teaching: kings, governors, the Roman senate, rulers everywhere, and the people. And how could a human nature having nothing greater in itself convert so great a multitude? And it is no wonder if it converted the sensible; but it converted also the most irrational and those given over to their passions, who because of their irrationality are harder to change to a more self-controlled life. But since Christ was the power of God and the wisdom of the Father, for this reason he has done these things and still does them, even if neither Jews nor Greeks, who disbelieve his word, wish it. We then shall not cease believing in God according to the precepts of Jesus Christ and wishing to turn those who are blind concerning the worship of God, even if those who are truly blind revile us as blind, and those who lead astray, whether Jews or Greeks, accuse us, who seek to bring people to agree with us, of leading people astray. A fine leading astray indeed, that from being licentious they become self-controlled, or at least make progress toward self-control; from unjust, just, or making progress toward justice; from foolish, wise, or on the way to wisdom; and from cowardly, ignoble, and unmanly, brave and steadfast, showing this especially in their contests for piety toward God, who created all things. Jesus Christ, then, came, proclaimed beforehand not by one prophet but by all. And this too belonged to Celsus's ignorance, to make the Jewish character say that one prophet foretold the Christ. And since the Jew in Celsus is introduced saying these things, supposedly according to his own law, and there somewhere ended his speech, after saying other things not worth remembering, I too shall here end the second book dictated by me in reply to his treatise. God granting, and the power of Christ dwelling in our soul, we shall try in the third to deal with what Celsus wrote next. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “The power of God and the wisdom” alludes to 1 Cor 1:24. βουκολέω (literally “to herd cattle”) is used for leading people astray or beguiling; Origen plays on it as a “fine herding.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 2.79 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/79/). ## Against Celsus 3.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/1/ - Source: Koetschau 1:203–204 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Opening Book 3, Origen addresses Celsus's own claim that the dispute between Jews and Christians over whether the prophesied Savior has come is a quarrel over nothing. ### Greek text Ἐν μὲν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν πρὸς τὴν ἀλαζόνα ἐπιγραφὴν Κέλσου. ἐπιγράψαντος ἀληθῆ λόγον τὸ καθʼ ἡμῶν αὐτῷ συνταχθὲν βιβλίον. ὡς προσέταξας. κατὰ δύναμιν. πιστότατε Ἀμβρόσιε, διειλήφαμεν τὸ προοίμιον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἑξῆς ἕκαστον τῶν εἰρημένων βασανίζοντες. ἕως κατελήξαμεν εἰς τὴν παρʼ αὐτῷ δημηγορίαν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου. πεπλασμένην γεγονέναι πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ἐν δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ πρὸς ὅλα. ὡς οἷοί τʼ ἦμεν. ἀπαντήσαντες τὰ τῆς πρὸς ἡμᾶς. τοὺς διὰ Χριστοῦ πιστεύοντας τῷ θεῷ. δημηγορίας τοῦ παρʼ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίου. τρίτον τοῦτον ἐνιστάμεθα λόγον, ἐν ᾧ πρόκειται ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς ἃ ἐκτίθεται ὡς ἀπὸ ἰδίου προσώπου. φησὶ δὴ ὅτι εὐηθέστατα ἐρίζουσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους χριστιανοὶ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι. καὶ λέγει μηδὲν διαφέρειν ἡμῶν τὸν πρὸς ἀλλήλους διάλογον περὶ Χριστοῦ τῆς κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν καλουμένης ὄνου σκιᾶς μάχης· καὶ οἴεται μηδὲν σεμνὸν εἶναι ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ζητήσει. πιστευόντων μὲν ἀμφοτέρων ὅτι ἀπὸ θείου πνεύματος ἐπροφητεύθη τις ἐπιδημήσων σωτὴρ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐκέτι δʼ ὁμολογούντων περὶ τοῦ ἐληλυθέναι τὸν προφητευόμενον ἢ μή. Χριστιανοὶ μὲν γὰρ τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὡς κατὰ τὰ προφητευόμενα ἐληλυθότι πεπιστεύκαμεν· Ἰουδαίων δʼ οἱ πλεῖστοι τοσοῦτο δέουσι τοῦ πιστεύειν εἰς αὐτὸν. ὡς καὶ τοὺς μὲν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐπιβεβουλευκέναι τῷ Ἰησοῦ τοὺς δὲ νῦν εὐδοκοῦντας τοῖς ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων κατʼ αὐτοῦ τετολμημένοις τότε κακηγορεῖν τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ὡς διά τινος γοητείας πλασάμενον ὅτι ἄρα εἴη ὁ ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν κηρυχθεὶς ἐπιδημήσειν. καλούμενος κατὰ τὰ Ἰουδαίων πάτρια Χριστός. ### English translation (Claude) In the first book of our reply to the boastful title of Celsus, who entitled the book he composed against us True Discourse, we treated, as you commanded, most faithful Ambrose, and as well as we could, his preface, and then examined each of his statements in turn, until we came to the speech of the Jew in his book, fashioned against Jesus. In the second we answered, as best we were able, the whole speech of his Jew against us who believe in God through Christ. We now begin this third book, in which we are to contend with what he sets out in his own person. He says that Christians and Jews quarrel with each other most foolishly, and that our dialogue with one another about Christ is no different from what the proverb calls a fight over the shadow of an ass; and he thinks there is nothing worthy of respect in the inquiry of Jews and Christians with each other, since both believe that it was prophesied by a divine Spirit that a Savior would come to the human race, but no longer agree whether the one prophesied has come or not. For we Christians have believed in Jesus as having come according to the prophecies; but most of the Jews are so far from believing in him that those of that time plotted against Jesus, and those of the present day, approving what the Jews then dared against him, malign Jesus as one who by some sorcery pretended to be the one proclaimed by the prophets as coming, who according to the ancestral custom of the Jews is called Christ. ### Translation notes - Ambrose was Origen's patron, who had asked him to answer Celsus. “A fight over the shadow of an ass” is a Greek proverb for a pointless quarrel. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/1/). ## Against Celsus 3.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/2/ - Source: Koetschau 1:204–205 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that the Jewish prophecies of Christ are no trifle, and that a nation taught to reject pagan oracles must have had genuine prophets to keep it from turning to them. ### Greek text Λεγέτωσαν δὴ ἡμῖν ὁ Κέλσος καὶ οἱ ἀρεσκόμενοι τοῖς καθʼ ἡμῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεγομένοις, εἰ ὄνου σκιᾷ ἔοικε τὸ προειρηκέναι τοὺς Ἰουδαίων προφήτας τόπον γενέσεως τοῦ ἡγησομένου τῶν καλῶς βεβιωκότων καὶ τῶν χρηματιζόντων μερίδος θεοῦ καὶ παρθένον συλληψομένην τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ καὶ σημεῖα καὶ τεράστια ἐσόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητευομένου τοιάδε, καὶ ὅτι „ἕως τάχους δραμεῖται ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ.“ ὡς „εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν“ ἐξελθεῖν τὸν φθόγγον αὐτοῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων, τίνα τε πείσεται ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων καταδικαζόμενος καὶ πῶς ἀναστήσεται. ἆρα γὰρ ὡς ἔτυχε ταῦτʼ ἔλεγον οἱ προφῆται σὺν οὐδεμιᾷ πιθανότητι. τῇ κινούσῃ αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ μὴ μόνον εἰπεῖν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀναγραφῆς ἀξιῶσαι τὰ λεγόμενα; ἆρα δὲ τὸ τοσοῦτο τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος, πάλαι χώραν ἰδίαν εἰληφὸς οἰκεῖν. σὺν οὐδεμιᾷ πιθανότητι τινὰς μὲν ὡς προφήτας ἀνηγόρευον ἑτέρους δὲ ὡς ψευδοπροφήτας ἀπεδοκίμαζον; καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὸ προκαλούμενον συναριθμεῖν ταῖς ἱεραῖς εἶναι πεπιστευμέναις Μωϋσέως βίβλοις τοὺς λόγους τῶν ἑξῆς νενομισμένων εἶναι προφητῶν; καὶ δύνανται ἡμῖν παραστῆσαι οἱ εὐήθειαν ἐγκαλοῦντες Ἰουδαίοις καὶ Χριστιανοῖς ὅτι ἐδύνατο συνεστηκέναι τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος, μηδεμιᾶς ἐπαγγελίας προγνώσεων οὔσης παρʼ αὐτοῖς. καὶ ὅτι τὰ μὲν περὶ αὐτοὺς ἔθνη [ᾗ] ἕκαστον κατὰ τὰ πάτρια ἐπίστευε χρησμοὺς λαμβάνειν καὶ μαντείας ἀπὸ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς νομιζομένων θεῶν, οὗτοι δὲ μόνοι, οἱ διδαχθέντες πάντων τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσι νομιζομένων θεῶν καταφρονεῖν ὡς οὐ θεῶν ἀλλὰ δαιμονίων (ἐπεὶ ἔλεγον αὐτῶν οἱ προφῆται τὸ „πάντες οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια“), οὐδένα τὸν ἐπαγγελλόμενον εἶχον προφητεύειν καὶ δυνάμενον περισπᾶν τοὺς πόθῳ προγνώσεως τῶν μελλόντων αὐτομολεῖν (βουλομένους) πρὸς τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις δαίμονας; ἐπίστησον οὖν εἰ μὴ ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ὅλον ἔθνος διδασκόμενον καταφρονεῖν τῶν παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς θεῶν εὐπορηκέναι προφητῶν, τὸ μεῖζον αὐτόθεν ἐμφαινόντων καὶ τὸ ὑπερέχον τὰ πανταχοῦ χρηστήρια. ### English translation (Claude) Let Celsus and those who approve what he says against us tell us whether it is like the shadow of an ass that the prophets of the Jews foretold the place of birth of the one who would lead those who have lived well and are called God's portion; and a virgin who would conceive Emmanuel; and such signs and wonders to be done by the one prophesied; and that “his word will run swiftly,” so that the voice of his apostles went out “into all the earth”; and what he would suffer when condemned by the Jews, and how he would rise. Did the prophets say these things at random, with no plausibility to move them not only to speak but to think what they said worth recording? And did so great a nation as the Jews, long settled in its own land, with no plausible grounds proclaim some as prophets and reject others as false prophets? And was there nothing among them to lead them to number the words of those later held to be prophets with the books of Moses, believed to be sacred? And can those who charge Jews and Christians with foolishness show us that the Jewish nation could have held together with no promise of foreknowledge among them; and that, while the nations around them each believed, according to their ancestral customs, that they received oracles and divinations from those they considered gods, these alone, taught to despise all the gods worshiped among the nations as not gods but demons (since their prophets said, “All the gods of the nations are demons”), had no one who professed to prophesy and was able to hold back those who, from desire to foreknow the future, (wished) to desert to the demons of the others? Consider, then, whether it is not necessary that a whole nation taught to despise the gods of the rest should have had an abundance of prophets, who showed on their own something greater that surpassed the oracles everywhere. ### Scripture references - Mic 5:2: allusion, high confidence - Isa 7:14: allusion, high confidence - Ps 147:15 (147:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:18: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:9: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Mic 5:2 (place of birth), Isa 7:14 (Emmanuel), Ps 147:15 (147:4 LXX, “his word will run swiftly”), Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX, “into all the earth,” applied to the apostles in Rom 10:18), and Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX, “all the gods of the nations are demons”). “God's portion” echoes Deut 32:9. The editor deletes the square-bracketed ᾗ (not translated); (βουλομένους) is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/2/). ## Against Celsus 3.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/3/ - Source: Koetschau 1:205–206 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that Israel's faithfulness under persecution shows it had genuine signs and prophecies from God, since otherwise it would have turned to the pagan oracles and healing gods. ### Greek text Εἶτα πανταχοῦ μὲν ἢ πολλαχοῦ δυνάμεις ἐγίνοντο, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς παρατίθεται Ἀσκληπιὸν εὐεργετοῦντα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα προλέγοντα ὅλαις πόλεσιν ἀνακειμέναις αὐτῷ, οἷον τῇ Τρίκκῃ καὶ τῇ Ἐπιδαύρῳ καὶ τῇ Κῷ καὶ τῇ Περγάμῳ. καὶ Ἀριστέαν τὸν Προκοννήσιον καὶ Κλαζομένιόν τινα καὶ Ἀστυπαλαιέα Κλεομήδην· παρὰ δὲ μόνοις Ἰουδαίοις. φάσκουσιν ἀνακεῖσθαι τῷ τῶν ὅλων θεῷ. οὐδὲν ἦν σημεῖον ἢ τεράστιον, τὸ συνεργοῦν καὶ βεβαιοῦν αὐτῶν τὴν εἰς τὸν κτίσαντα τὰ ὅλα πίστιν μετὰ καὶ ἐλπίδος τῆς περὶ ἄλλου ζῆν μείζονος; ἀλλὰ πῶς οἷόν τε τὸ τοιοῦτον; εὐθέως γὰρ ἂν μετέστησαν ἐπὶ τὸ σέβειν τοὺς μαντευομένους καὶ θεραπεύοντας δαίμονας, καταλιπόντες τὸν μέχρι λόγου πεπιστευμένον αὐτοῖς βοηθεῖν θεὸν οὐδαμῶς δὲ παριστάντα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιφάνειαν. εἰ δὲ μὴ γέγονε τοῦτο ἀλλὰ καὶ μυρία ὅσα ὑπέμενον, ἵνα μὴ ἐξομόσωνται τὸν ἰουδαϊσμὸν καὶ τὸν κατʼ αὐτὸν νόμον, καὶ ὁτὲ μὲν πεπόνθασιν ἐν τῇ Ἀσσυρίᾳ ὁτὲ δὲ ἐν τῇ Περσίδι ὁτὲ δὲ ὑπὸ Ἀντιόχου, πῶς οὐχὶ ἐξ εἰκότων κατασκευάζεται τοῖς ἀπιστοῦσι ταῖς παραδόξοις ἱστορίαις καὶ προφητείαις ὅτι οὐ πλάσματα ἦν τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἀλλά τι θεῖον πνεῦμα ὡς ἐν καθαραῖς ψυχαῖς τυγχάνον ταῖς τῶν προφητῶν, πάντα πόνον ὑπὲρ ἀρετῆς ἀνειληφότων, ἐκίνει αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ προφητεύειν τινὰ μὲν τοῖς καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἄλλα δὲ τοῖς ὕστερον ἐξαιρέτως δὲ περί τινος ἐπιδημήσοντος σωτῆρος τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων; ### English translation (Claude) Next, miracles occurred everywhere or in many places, as Celsus himself later cites: Asclepius doing good and foretelling the future to whole cities dedicated to him, such as Tricca, Epidaurus, Cos, and Pergamum; and Aristeas of Proconnesus, a certain man of Clazomenae, and Cleomedes of Astypalaea. Was there, then, among the Jews alone, who say they are dedicated to the God of the universe, no sign or wonder to help and confirm their faith in the Creator of all things, together with the hope of another, greater life? How could that be? They would at once have gone over to worshiping the daemons who gave oracles and healings, abandoning the God they believed would help them only in word, who never showed his own manifestation. But if this did not happen, but they endured countless sufferings rather than forswear Judaism and its law, suffering now in Assyria, now in Persia, now under Antiochus, how is it not established with probability, for those who disbelieve the marvelous histories and prophecies, that these things were not fictions, but that some divine Spirit, dwelling in the pure souls of the prophets, who had undertaken every labor for virtue, moved them to prophesy some things to their contemporaries and others to later generations, and especially about a Savior who would come to the human race? ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.14–15 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence - 2 Macc 6–7 (2 Maccabees): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Aristeas of Proconnesus is told of in Herodotus 4.14–15; the man of Clazomenae is Hermotimus; Cleomedes of Astypalaea is told of by Pausanias 6.9.6–8. Celsus cites these later (3.22–33). The persecution under Antiochus IV is described in 1–2 Maccabees. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/3/). ## Against Celsus 3.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/4/ - Source: Koetschau 1:206 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen insists that the debate over the meaning of the prophecies is serious, since both Jews and Christians rightly accept that the prophets spoke from God. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει, πῶς περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ζητοῦσιν Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Χριστιανοὶ, ἐξετάζοντες ἀπὸ τῶν προφητειῶν. αἷς κοινῇ πεπιστεύκασι, πότερον ὁ προφητευόμενος ἐλήλυθεν ἢ οὐδαμῶς μὲν ἐπιδεδήμηκεν ἔτι δὲ προσδοκᾶται; κἂν καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν δὲ τῷ Κέλσῳ δοθῇ μὴ τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἶναι, ὃν κατήγγειλαν οἱ προφῆται, καὶ οὕτως οὐδὲν ἧττον οὐ περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ νοῦ τῶν προφητικῶν γραφῶν ζήτησις· ἵνʼ ἐναργῶς ἀποδειχθῇ ὁ προκηρυσσόμενος, ὁποῖός τε εἶναι ἐπροφητεύετο καὶ τί ποιήσων, εἰ δὲ οἷόν τε, καὶ πότε ἐπιδημήσων. ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀνωτέρω προείπομεν ὀλίγας ἀπὸ πλειόνων παραθέμενοι προφητείας περὶ τοῦ τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἶναι τὸν προφητευόμενον Χριστόν· οὐ σφάλλονται τοίνυν κατὰ τὸ προσίεσθαι θεόθεν τοὺς προφήτας λελαληκέναι οὔτε Ἰουδαῖοι οὔτε Χριστιανοὶ, ἀλλʼ οἱ σφαλλόμενοι περὶ τοῦ προφητευομένου προσδοκωμένου ψευδοδοξοῦσιν, ὅστις καὶ ποταπὸς κατὰ τὸν ἀληθῆ τῶν προφητῶν λόγον κεκήρυκται. ### English translation (Claude) If this is so, how is it a question about the shadow of an ass that Jews and Christians debate with each other, examining from the prophecies both believe whether the one prophesied has come, or has not come at all but is still expected? Even if it were granted to Celsus, for the sake of argument, that Jesus is not the one the prophets proclaimed, even so the inquiry into the meaning of the prophetic writings is no less not about the shadow of an ass: so that the one proclaimed beforehand may be clearly shown, what sort of person he was prophesied to be and what he would do, and, if possible, when he would come. Above we set out a few prophecies out of many to show that Jesus is the prophesied Christ. Neither Jews nor Christians, then, err in accepting that the prophets spoke from God; but those who err about the one prophesied and expected, as to who and what kind of person he was proclaimed to be according to the true meaning of the prophets, hold false opinions. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/4/). ## Against Celsus 3.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/5/ - Source: Koetschau 1:206–207 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's claim that the Jews were rebel Egyptians, replying that the Egyptians oppressed the Hebrew guests, were punished by God, and slandered Moses, who was a pious lawgiver and truthful historian. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος οἰόμενος τοὺς Ἰουδαίους. Αἰγυπτίους τῷ γένει τυγχάνοντας, καταλελοιπέναι τὴν Αἴγυπτον, στασιάσαντας πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τὸ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ σύνηθες περὶ τὰς θρησκείας ὑπερφρονήσαντας, φησὶν αὐτοὺς ἅπερ ἐποίησαν Αἰγυπτίοις πεπονθέναι ὑπὸ τῶν προσθεμένων τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ πιστευσάντων αὐτῷ ὡς Χριστῷ, καὶ ἀμφοτέροις αἴτιον γεγονέναι τῆς καινοτομίας τὸ στασιάζειν πρὸς τὸ κοινόν. τί δὴ πεποίηκεν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὁ Κέλσος. κατανοητέον. πολλὰ διαθέντες οἱ πάλαι Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ Ἑβραίων γένος, διὰ λιμὸν τὴν Ἰουδαίαν καταλαβόντα ἐπιδημήσαντας τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ. πεπόνθασιν ὡς ξένους καὶ ἱκέτας ἀδικήσαντες ἅπερ ἐχρῆν ὅλον ἔθνος ὑπὸ τῆς θείας προνοίας παθεῖν, συμφρονῆσαν κατὰ ὅλου τοῦ τῶν ἐπιξενωθέντων αὐτοῖς γένους μηδὲν αὐτοὺς ἀδικήσαντος· καὶ θεοῦ μάστιξιν πληγέντες μόλις καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ ἀπέλυσαν ὅποι ἐβούλοντο τοὺς οὐ δικαίως δουλαγωγουμένους. ἅτε οὖν φίλαυτοι καὶ τοὺς ὁποιωσδήποτε ὁμογενεῖς προτιμῶντες καὶ τῶν δικαιοτέρων ξένων, οὐχ ἔστιν ἥντινα κατηγορίαν καταλελοίπασιν, ἣν μὴ περὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων εἰρήκασι, τὰς μὲν διὰ Μωϋσέως τεραστίους δυνάμεις οὐ παντελῶς ἀρνούμενοι φάσκοντες δʼ αὐτὰς γοητείᾳ καὶ μὴ θείᾳ δυνάμει γεγονέναι. Μωϋσῆς δὲ [τὰ συμβεβηκότα] ὡς οὐ γόης ἀλλʼ εὐσεβὴς ἀνὴρ καὶ τῷ τῶν ὅλων ἀνακείμενος θεῷ καὶ μετέχων θειοτέρου πνεύματος καὶ νόμους ἔθετο τοῖς Ἑβραίοις. ὡς τὸ θεῖον αὐτῷ ὑπήχησε, καὶ τὰ συμβεβηκότα, ὡς ἀληθείας εἶχεν, ἀνέγραψεν. ### English translation (Claude) Next Celsus, thinking that the Jews were Egyptians by race who left Egypt after rebelling against the Egyptian state and despising the customary religion of Egypt, says that they suffered at the hands of those who followed Jesus and believed in him as Christ what they had done to the Egyptians, and that for both the cause of their innovation was rebellion against the state. We must consider what Celsus has done in this passage. The ancient Egyptians, who treated the Hebrew race badly after they came to live in Egypt because of a famine that struck Judea, suffered, for wronging strangers and suppliants, what a whole nation had to suffer at the hands of divine providence, since it had conspired against the whole race of its guests, who had done it no wrong. And struck by God's scourges, they reluctantly, and after not long, let go where they wished those who were being unjustly enslaved. Being then self-loving, and preferring those of their own race, whatever they were like, even to more righteous foreigners, there is no accusation they have not made against Moses and the Hebrews: not wholly denying the wonders done through Moses, but saying they were done by sorcery and not by divine power. But Moses, as no sorcerer but a pious man, dedicated to the God of the universe and sharing in a more divine Spirit, both gave laws to the Hebrews as the divine prompted him and recorded what happened as it truly was. ### Scripture references - Gen 42:5: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 1:11: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:31: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, C. Ap. 1.227–250 (Josephus (works)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The account is Gen 42–47 and Exod 1–12. The claim that the Jews were Egyptian rebels goes back to Manetho (reported by Josephus, Against Apion 1.227–250). The editor deletes the square-bracketed τὰ συμβεβηκότα (“what happened”) in its first occurrence; it is not translated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/5/). ## Against Celsus 3.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/6/ - Source: Koetschau 1:207 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that the Hebrews cannot have been rebel Egyptians, since they had their own language and script before going to Egypt, in which Moses wrote the Pentateuch. ### Greek text Ὁ τοίνυν Κέλσος, οὐ γενόμενος δίκαιος ἐξεταστὴς τῶν λεγομένων παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις ἑτέρως καὶ παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ἄλλως, ἀλλὰ προκαταληφθεὶς ὡς ὑπὸ φιλτέρων τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, τοῖς μὲν ἀδικήσασι τοὺς ξένους συγκατέθετο ὡς ἀληθέσι τοὺς δʼ ἀδικηθέντας Ἑβραίους στασιάζοντας εἶπε τὴν Αἴγυπτον καταλελοιπέναι, οὐχ ὁρῶν τίνα τρόπον οὐ δύναται τηλικοῦτο στασιῶδες πλῆθος Αἰγυπτίων. ἀρχὴν ἔχον τὴν στάσιν, γενέσθαι ἔθνος ἅμα τῷ στασιάζειν καὶ τὴν διάλεκτον ἀμεῖβον, ἵνʼ οἱ τέως τῇ Αἰγυπτίων φωνῇ χρώμενοι αἰφνίδιον τὴν Ἑβραίων διάλεκτον συμπληρῶσιν. Ἔστω δὲ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν καταλιπόντας αὐτοὺς τὴν Αἴγυπτον μεμισηκέναι καὶ τὴν σύντροφον φωνήν· πῶς οὖν τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο οὐχὶ μᾶλλον τῇ Σύρων ἐχρῶντο διαλέκτῳ ἢ τῇ Φοινίκων, ἀλλὰ τὴν Ἑβραΐδα ἑτέραν παρʼ ἀμφοτέρας συνεστήσαντο; τοῦτο δέ μοι βούλεται ὁ λόγος συνάγειν ὅτι ψεῦδος τὸ Αἰγυπτίους τὸ γένος ὄντας τινὰς ἐστασιακέναι πρὸς Αἰγυπτίους καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καταλελοιπέναι καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Παλαιστίνην ἐληλυθέναι τήν τε νῦν καλουμένην Ἰουδαίαν ᾠκηκέναι. Ἑβραίων γὰρ καὶ διάλεκτος πάτριος πρὸ τῆς εἰς Αἴγυπτον αὐτῶν καθόδου ἦν, καὶ Ἑβραϊκὰ γράμματα ἕτερα παρὰ τὰ Αἰγυπτίων ἦν, οἷς Μωϋσῆς χρησάμενος ἔγραψε τὰς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις πεπιστευμένας εἶναι ἱερὰς πέντε βίβλους. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, then, not being a fair examiner of what the Egyptians say one way and the Hebrews another, but prejudiced in favor of the Egyptians as dearer to him, agreed with those who wronged the strangers, as though they spoke the truth, and said that the wronged Hebrews left Egypt after rebelling. He did not see how so great a rebellious multitude of Egyptians, beginning in rebellion, could not become a nation at the same time as it rebelled and changed its language, so that those who until then spoke the Egyptian tongue suddenly completed a Hebrew language. Suppose, for argument's sake, that having left Egypt they came to hate the language they had grown up with: why then did they not afterward use the Syrian or the Phoenician language, but establish Hebrew, different from both? My argument means to conclude that it is false that some who were Egyptians by race rebelled against the Egyptians, left Egypt, came to Palestine, and settled in what is now called Judea. For the Hebrews had an ancestral language before their descent into Egypt, and Hebrew letters were different from those of the Egyptians; Moses used them to write the five books believed by the Jews to be sacred. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/6/). ## Against Celsus 3.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/7/ - Source: Koetschau 1:207–208 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen denies that Christianity arose from rebellion, since Christ forbade his followers to kill anyone and they accepted death like sheep; and he suggests the Hebrew language was God's gift at the Exodus. ### Greek text Ὁμοίως δὲ ψεῦδος τὸ Αἰγυπτίους ὄντας ἀπὸ στάσεως τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰληφέναι τοὺς Ἑβραίους, καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαίους ὄντας ἄλλους κατὰ τοὺς Ἰησοῦ χρόνους ἐστασιακέναι πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ κατηκολουθηκέναι. οὐδὲν γὰρ στάσεως ἔργον ἐπιδεῖξαι Χριστιανῶν ὁ Κέλσος ἢ οἱ ὁμονοοῦντες αὐτῷ δυνήσονται. καίτοι γε εἰ στάσις ἦν τῆς συστάσεως Χριστιανοῖς ἡ αἰτία, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων εἰληφόσιν, οἷς ἐξῆν καὶ ὅπλα ὑπὲρ τῶν οἰκείων ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ πολεμίους ἀναιρεῖν, οὔτʼ ἂν ὁ νομοθέτης Χριστιανῶν πάντῃ ἀναίρεσιν ἀνθρώπου ἀπηγόρευε, μή ποτε δίκαιον εἶναι διδάσκων τὸ κατʼ ἀνθρώπου τόλμημα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ μαθητῶν, κἂν ἀδικώτατος ἐκεῖνος ᾖ (οὐ γὰρ πρέπειν ἡγεῖτο τῇ ἐνθέῳ ἑαυτοῦ νομοθεσίᾳ τὸ συγχωρεῖν ὁποιανδήποτε ἀνθρώπου ἀναίρεσιν)· οὔτʼ ἂν Χριστιανοὶ οἱ ἀπὸ στάσεως ἀρξάμενοι τοὺς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἡμέρους προσήκαντο νόμους, διʼ ὧν „ὡς πρόβατα“ μὲν ἀναιρεῖσθαι αὐτοῖς ἐγίνετο μηδέ ποτε δὲ ἀμύνασθαι οἷοί τʼ ἦσαν τοὺς διώκοντας. καίτοι γε βαθύτερον ἐξετάζοντα τὰ πράγματα ἔστιν εἰπεῖν περὶ μὲν τῶν ἐξεληλυθότων ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ὅτι παραδόξως ὁ πᾶς λεὼς οἱονεὶ θεοδώρητον διάλεκτον ἀθρόως ἀνείληφε τὴν καλουμένην Ἑβραίαν· ὡς καὶ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς τις εἶπε προφητῶν ὅτι „ἐν τῷ ἐξελθεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου γλῶσσαν, ἣν οὐκ ἔγνω, ἤκουσεν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Equally false is it that the Hebrews, being Egyptians, originated from a rebellion, and that others, being Jews, rebelled in Jesus' time against the Jewish state and followed Jesus. For neither Celsus nor those who agree with him will be able to point to any act of rebellion by Christians. Indeed, if rebellion were the cause of the formation of Christians, who took their origin from the Jews, for whom it was lawful to take up arms for their own people and kill enemies, the lawgiver of Christians would not have entirely forbidden the killing of a human being, teaching that his disciples' violence against a man is never just, even if he is most unjust (for he did not think it fitting for his divinely inspired legislation to permit the killing of any human being whatever); nor would Christians, if they began in rebellion, have accepted such gentle laws, by which it befell them to be killed “like sheep” and never to be able to defend themselves against their persecutors. And indeed, examining things more deeply, one can say of those who came out of the land of Egypt that, marvelously, the whole people took up at once, as a gift of God, as it were, the language called Hebrew; as one of their prophets said: “When they came out of the land of Egypt, he heard a language which he did not know.” ### Scripture references - Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:36: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 81:5 (80:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:39: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 26:52: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX; also Rom 8:36) and Ps 81:5 (80:6 LXX). Origen's statement that Christ forbade all killing is his own reading of Jesus' teaching (e.g. Matt 5:39; 26:52). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/7/). ## Against Celsus 3.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/8/ - Source: Koetschau 1:208–209 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues from Hebrew names that the Israelites were not Egyptians, and says that Christians, forbidden to fight, have been protected by God, who has allowed only a few martyrs as examples while preserving the church. ### Greek text Καὶ οὕτω δὲ κατασκευαστέον ὅτι οὐκ Αἰγύπτιοι ἦσαν οἱ ἐξεληλυθότες μετὰ Μωϋσέως τὴν Αἴγυπτον· εἰ μὲν Αἰγύπτιοι ἦσαν, ἐχρῆν αὐτῶν τὰ ὀνόματα εἶναι Αἰγύπτια, ὡς ἑκάστῃ διαλέκτῳ συγγενεῖς εἰσιν αἱ προσηγορίαι· εἰ δʼ ἐκ τῶν ὀνομάτων Ἑβραϊκῶν ὄντων σαφὲς ὅτι οὐκ Αἰγύπτιοι ἦσαν (πλήρης γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τοιαῦτα θεμένων τοῖς υἱοῖς), δῆλον ὅτι ψεῦδος τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων. ὅτι Αἰγύπτιοι ὄντες ἀπηλάθησαν μετὰ Μωϋσέως ἀπὸ τῆς Αἰγύπτου· καὶ σαφῶς ἐναργές ἐστιν ὅτι ἐκ προγόνων Ἑβραίων κατὰ τὴν παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ ἀναγραφεῖσαν ἱστορίαν τὸ γένος ἔχοντες (ἰδίᾳ) διαλέκτῳ ἐχρῶντο, ἀφʼ ἧς καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τοῖς υἱοῖς ἐτίθεντο. περὶ δὲ Χριστιανῶν, ἐπεὶ διδαχθέντες μὴ ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐτήρησαν τὴν ἥμερον καὶ φιλάνθρωπον νομοθεσίαν, διὰ τοῦθʼ ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν ἐξουσίαν λαβόντες τοῦ πολεμεῖν, εἰ καὶ πάνυ ἦσαν δυνατοὶ, ἤνυσαν· τοῦτʼ ἀπὸ θεοῦ εἰλήφασι, τοῦ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν πολεμήσαντος ἀεὶ καὶ κατὰ καιροὺς παύσαντος τοὺς κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἱσταμένους καὶ ἀναιρεῖν αὐτοὺς θέλοντας. ὑπομνήσεως μὲν γὰρ χάριν, ἵνα ἐνορῶντες ὀλίγοις ἀγωνιζομένοις ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας δοκιμώτεροι γίνωνται καὶ θανάτου καταφρονῶσιν, ὀλίγοι κατὰ καιροὺς καὶ σφόδρα εὐαρίθμητοι ὑπὲρ τῆς Χριστιανῶν θεοσεβείας τεθνήκασι, κωλύοντος θεοῦ τὸ πᾶν ἐκπολεμηθῆναι αὐτῶν ἔθνος· συστῆναι γὰρ αὐτὸ ἐβούλετο καὶ πληρωθῆναι πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν τῆς σωτηρίου ταύτης καὶ εὐσεβεστάτης διδασκαλίας· πάλιν τε αὖ ἵνʼ οἱ ἀσθενέστεροι ἀναπνέωσιν ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τοῦ θανάτου φροντίδος, ὁ θεὸς προὐνοεῖτο τῶν πιστευόντων, μόνῳ τῷ βουλήματι διασκεδαννὺς πᾶσαν τὴν κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐπιβουλὴν, ἵνα μήτε βασιλεῖς μήτε οἱ κατὰ τόπους ἡγούμενοι μήτε οἱ δῆμοι ἐξαφθῆναι κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πλεῖον δυνηθῶσι, ταῦτα μὲν πρὸς τὰ ὑπὸ Κέλσου εἰρημένα περὶ τοῦ στάσιν γεγονέναι τὴν ἀρχὴν πάλαι μὲν τοῦ συστῆναι Ἰουδαίους ὕστερον δὲ τοῦ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς γενέσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) It must also be established in this way that those who left Egypt with Moses were not Egyptians. If they were Egyptians, their names would have had to be Egyptian, since the names in each language are akin to it. But if it is clear from their names, which are Hebrew, that they were not Egyptians (for Scripture is full of Hebrew names, including those given to their sons by people in Egypt), it is evident that what the Egyptians say is false, that they were Egyptians driven out of Egypt with Moses. And it is plainly clear that, having their descent from Hebrew ancestors according to the history recorded by Moses, they used (their own) language, from which they also gave names to their sons. As for Christians, since, taught not to defend themselves against enemies, they kept the gentle and humane legislation, they have for this reason received from God what they would not have achieved if they had been given the right to make war, even if they had been very powerful: God has always fought for them and at times stopped those who rose against Christians and wished to kill them. For the sake of reminder, so that by seeing a few contending for piety others might become more approved and despise death, a few at times, and very easily numbered, have died for the Christian worship of God, while God prevented their whole nation from being destroyed by war; for he wished it to stand firm and the whole earth to be filled with this saving and most pious teaching. And again, so that the weaker might breathe freely from anxiety about death, God provided for believers, scattering by his will alone every plot against them, so that neither kings, nor local governors, nor the people could be inflamed against them any further. So much in reply to what Celsus said about rebellion having been the origin, long ago, of the formation of the Jews, and later of the Christians' coming to be. ### Translation notes - Origen's remark that only a few, “easily numbered,” had died as martyrs reflects the situation around AD 248, before the Decian persecution. The bracketed ἰδίᾳ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/8/). ## Against Celsus 3.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/9/ - Source: Koetschau 1:209–210 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's claim that Christians would not want everyone to become Christian, Origen points to missionaries who travel through cities and villages without seeking wealth or glory. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς προφανῶς ψεύδεται, φέρε καὶ τὴν λέξιν αὐτοῦ ἐκθώμεθα λέγοντος· εἰ ἐθελήσουσι πάντες ἄνθρωποι εἶναι Χριστιανοὶ, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι οἵδε ἐθέλοιεν, ὅτι δὲ ψεῦδος τὸ τοιόνδε, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς Χριστιανοὺς μὴ ἀμελεῖν τοῦ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπισπείρειν τὸν λόγον, τινὲς γοῦν ἔργον πεποίηνται ἐκπεριέρχεσθαι οὐ μόνον πόλεις ἀλλὰ καὶ κώμας καὶ ἐπαύλεις, ἵνα καὶ ἄλλους εὐσεβεῖς τῷ θεῷ κατασκευάσωσι. καὶ οὐκ ἂν πλούτου τις ἕνεκα φήσαι αὐτοὺς τοῦτο πράττειν, ἔσθʼ ὅτε μὲν οὐδὲ τὰ πρὸς τροφὴν λαμβάνοντας, εἴ ποτε δὲ ἀναγκάζοιντο ὑπὸ τῆς ἀπορίας ταύτης, τῇ χρείᾳ μόνῃ ἀρκουμένους, κἂν πλείους αὐτοῖς κοινωνεῖν ἐθέλωσι καὶ μεταδιδόναι τὰ ὑπὲρ τὰς χρείας. νῦν μὲν οὖν τάχα, ὅτε διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν προσερχομένων τῷ λόγῳ καὶ πλούσιοι καί τινες τῶν ἐν ἀξιώμασι καὶ γύναια τὰ ἁβρὰ καὶ εὐγενῆ ἀποδέχονται τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου, τολμήσει τις λέγειν διὰ τὸ δοξάριον προΐστασθαί τινας τῆς κατὰ Χριστιανοὺς διδασκαλίας· οὐ μὴν κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν, ὅτε πολὺς ὁ κίνδυνος μάλιστα τοῖς διδάσκουσιν ἦν, οἷόν τε τὸ τοιοῦτον εὐλόγως ὑπονοεῖν. καὶ νῦν δὲ πλείων ἐστὶν ἡ παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀδοξία τῆς παρὰ τοῖς ὁμοδόξοις νομιζομένης δόξης, καὶ ταύτης οὐ πᾶσι. ψεῦδος οὖν αὐτόθεν ὅτι, εἰ ἐθελήσουσι πάντες ἄνθρωποι εἶναι Χριστιανοὶ, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι οἵδε ἐθέλοιεν. ### English translation (Claude) Since in what follows he plainly lies, let us set out his very words: “If all people wished to be Christians, these people would no longer wish it.” That this is false is clear from the fact that, as far as lies in them, Christians do not neglect to sow the word in every part of the world. Some, at any rate, have made it their work to travel around not only cities but also villages and farmsteads, so as to make others pious toward God too. And no one could say that they do this for the sake of wealth, since sometimes they do not even accept what they need for food, and if ever they are compelled by their want of it, they are content with what is needed alone, even if many wish to share with them and give them more than they need. Now, perhaps, when because of the number of those coming to the word even rich men, some persons of rank, and delicate, well-born women welcome those who come from the word, someone will dare to say that some lead in Christian teaching for the sake of a little glory. But at the beginning, when the danger was great, especially for teachers, it was not possible reasonably to suspect such a thing. And even now the disrepute among the rest is greater than what is thought to be glory among fellow believers, and not all have even that. It is therefore plainly false that “if all people wished to be Christians, these people would no longer wish it.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/9/). ## Against Celsus 3.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/10/ - Source: Koetschau 1:210–211 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus's claim that Christians were few and united at first: even then crowds of thousands, including women and children, followed Jesus, and being few says nothing about unwillingness to persuade all. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὲ καὶ τί φησιν εἶναι τούτου τεκμήριον· ὅτι ἀρχόμενοι μὲν, φησὶν, ὀλίγοι τε ἦσαν καὶ ἓν ἐφρόνουν· εἰς πλῆθος δὲ σπαρέντες αὖθις αὖ τέμνονται καὶ σχίζονται καὶ στάσεις ἰδίας ἔχειν ἕκαστοι θέλουσι· τούτου γὰρ ἀρχῆθεν ἔχρῃζον. ὅτι μὲν οὖν συγκρίσει τοῦ ἑξῆς πλήθους ὀλίγοι ἦσαν ἀρχόμενοι Χριστιανοὶ δῆλον, καίτοι οὐ πάντῃ ἦσαν ὀλίγοι, τὸ γὰρ κινῆσαν φθόνον τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ διερεθίσαν Ἰουδαίους πρὸς τὴν κατὰ τούτου ἐπιβουλὴν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἑπομένων αὐτῷ εἰς τὰς ἐρήμους ἦν, πεντακισχιλίων καὶ τετρακισχιλίων ἀνδρῶν αὐτῷ ἀκολουθούντων χωρὶς τοῦ τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ τῶν παιδίων ἀριθμοῦ, τοσαύτη γάρ τις ἴϋγξ ἦν ἐν τοῖς Ἰησοῦ λόγοις, ὡς οὐ μόνον ἄνδρας ἕπεσθαι θέλειν αὐτῷ εἰς τὰς ἐρημίας ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναῖκας, οὐχ ὑποτεμνομένας τὴν γυναικείαν ἀσθένειαν καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν ἐν τῷ ἀκολουθεῖν εἰς τὰς ἐρημίας τῷ διδασκάλῳ· ἀπαθέστατα δὲ παιδία, ἤτοι τοῖς γεννήσασιν ἑπόμενα ἢ τάχα καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς θειότητος αὐτοῦ ἀγόμενα, ἵνα αὐτοῖς ἐνσπαρῇ θειότης, ἠκολούθει μετὰ τῶν γεγεννηκότων, ἀλλʼ ἔστω ὀλίγους γεγονέναι κατὰ τὴν ἀρχήν· τί τοῦτο συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἂν ἐθελῆσαι Χριστιανοὺς ἐμποιῆσαι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις περὶ τοῦ λόγου πειθώ; ### English translation (Claude) See also what he says is the proof of this: “When they began,” he says, “they were few and of one mind; but having spread into a multitude, they are divided and split again and again, and each wish to have their own factions; for this is what they wanted from the beginning.” That Christians at the beginning were few compared with the later multitude is clear; yet they were not altogether few. For what stirred envy against Jesus and provoked the Jews to plot against him was the multitude of those who followed him into the deserts, five thousand and four thousand men following him, not counting women and children. For there was such a charm in Jesus' words that not only men wished to follow him into the deserts, but also women, not heeding their womanly weakness and appearances in following the Teacher into the deserts; and children too, least affected by such things, followed with their parents, either following those who begot them or perhaps also led by his divinity, so that divinity might be sown in them. But grant that there were few at the beginning: how does this contribute to showing that Christians would not wish to bring all people to be persuaded of the word? ### Scripture references - Matt 14:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 15:38: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The crowds are Matt 14:21 and 15:38. ἴϋγξ (“charm”) is literally a magic wheel used in love charms, here figurative. The word ἀπαθέστατα applied to the children is obscure; rendered “least affected by such things.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/10/). ## Against Celsus 3.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/11/ - Source: Koetschau 1:211 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that Christians disagreed from the beginning, as the apostolic dispute over Gentile believers and Paul's letters show, so divisions are not a later corruption caused by numbers. ### Greek text Φησὶ δὲ καὶ ὅτι ἓν ἐφρόνουν πάντες, οὐδʼ ἐν τούτῳ ὁρῶν ὅτι ἀρχῆθεν περὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πεπιστευμένοις θείοις εἶναι βιβλίοις ἐκδοχὴν γεγόνασι διαφωνίαι τῶν πιστευόντων, ἔτι γοῦν τῶν ἀποστόλων κηρυσσόντων καὶ τῶν αὐτοπτῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδασκόντων τὰ ἐκείνου μαθήματα, ζήτησις οὐκ ὀλίγη πρὸς ἀλλήλους γεγένηται παρὰ τοῖς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων πιστεύουσι περὶ τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐπερχομένων τῷ λόγῳ, πότερον δεῖ τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν ἔθη ἢ τὸ περὶ καθαρῶν καὶ ἀκαθάρτων βρωμάτων „βάρος“ ἀφαιρεῖν ὡς οὐκ ἐπεῖγον ἀπὸ τῶν τὰ πάτρια καταλιπόντων ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ πιστευόντων τῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς Παύλου ἐπιστολαῖς, γενομένου ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τῶν Ἰησοῦν ἑωρακότων, εὑρίσκεται λεγόμενά τινα ὡς ζητηθέντων τινῶν περὶ ἀναστάσεως καὶ περὶ τοῦ „ἤδη“ αὐτὴν „γεγονέναι“ καὶ περὶ ἡμέρας κυρίου, πότερον „ἐνέστηκεν“ ἢ μή, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ „ἐκτρεπόμενος τὰς βεβήλους κενοφωνίας καὶ ἀντιθέσεις τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ἥν τινες ἐπαγγελλόμενοι“ „περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἐναυάγησαν, “ δηλωτικόν ἐστιν ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς γεγόνασί τινες παρεκδοχαὶ, οὐδέπω, ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, πολλῶν τῶν πιστευόντων γεγενημένων. ### English translation (Claude) He says also that they were all of one mind, not seeing even in this that from the beginning there have been disagreements among believers about the interpretation of the books believed to be divine. While the apostles were still preaching, and the eyewitnesses of Jesus were teaching his lessons, there was no small dispute among the believers from the Jews about those from the nations who were coming to the word: whether they must keep the Jewish customs, or whether the “burden” concerning clean and unclean foods should be removed, as not binding, from those among the nations who had left their ancestral customs and believed in Jesus. Moreover, in the letters of Paul, who lived in the time of those who had seen Jesus, things are found said as if some questions had been raised about the resurrection and about its “having already taken place,” and about the day of the Lord, whether it “has come” or not. And the words, “avoiding the profane empty talk and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed” and “have made shipwreck concerning the faith,” show that from the beginning there were some misinterpretations, when believers had not yet become many, as Celsus thinks. ### Scripture references - Acts 15:28: quotation, high confidence - Acts 15:1: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:18: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions and quotations are Acts 15 (“burden,” Acts 15:28), 2 Tim 2:18, 2 Thess 2:2, 1 Tim 6:20–21, and 1 Tim 1:19. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/11/). ## Against Celsus 3.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/12/ - Source: Koetschau 1:211–212 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers Celsus's taunt about Christian divisions: every serious and useful discipline, such as medicine, philosophy, and Judaism, has its schools, so heresies are no argument against Christianity. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ ὡς κατηγορῶν τοῦ λόγου τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐν χριστιανισμῷ αἱρέσεων ὀνειδίζει ἡμῖν λέγων· εἰς πλῆθος δὲ σπαρέντες αὖθις αὖ σχίζονται καὶ τέμνονται καὶ στάσεις ἰδίας ἔχειν ἕκαστοι θέλουσι· φησὶ δʼ ὅτι καὶ ὑπὸ πλήθους πάλιν διϊστάμενοι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐλέγχουσιν· ἑνὸς ὡς εἰπεῖν ἔτι κοινωνοῦντες, εἴ γε κοινωνοῦσι, τοῦ ὀνόματος, καὶ τοῦτο μόνον ἐγκαταλιπεῖν ὅμως αἰσχύνονται· τὰ λοιπὰ δʼ ἄλλοι ἀλλαχῇ τετάχαται· καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο φήσομεν ὅτι οὐδενὸς πράγματος, οὗ μὴ σπουδαία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τῷ βίῳ χρήσιμος, γεγόνασιν αἱρέσεις διάφοροι, ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἰατρικὴ χρήσιμος καὶ ἀναγκαία τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πολλά τε τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ζητούμενα περὶ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς τῶν σωμάτων θεραπείας, διὰ τοῦτο αἱρέσεις ἐν ἰατρικῇ παρὰ μὲν Ἕλλησιν εὑρίσκονται ὁμολογουμένως πλείονες, ἐγὼ δʼ οἶμαι ὅτι καὶ παρὰ βαρβάροις, ὅσοι (γε) ἐπαγγέλλονται χρῆσθαι ἰατρικῇ, πάλιν τε αὖ ἐπεὶ φιλοσοφία ἀλήθειαν ἐπαγγελλομένη καὶ γνῶσιν τῶν ὄντων πῶς δεῖ βιοῦν ὑποτίθεται καὶ πειρᾶται διδάσκειν τὰ ὠφέλιμα ἡμῶν τῷ γένει, πολλὴν δʼ ἔχει τὰ ζητούμενα πράγματα διολκὴν, διὰ τοῦτο αἱρέσεις ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ συνέστησαν πλεῖσται ὅσαι, ὧν αἱ μέν εἰσι διασημότεραι αἱ δὲ οὐ τοιαῦται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἰουδαϊσμὸς πρόφασιν ἔσχε γενέσεως αἱρέσεων τὴν διάφορον ἐκδοχὴν τῶν Μωϋσέως γραμμάτων καὶ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων. οὕτω τοίνυν, ἐπεὶ σεμνόν τι ἐφάνη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χριστιανισμὸς, οὐ μόνοις, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος οἴεται, τοῖς ἀνδραποδωδεστέροις ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι φιλολόγων, ἀναγκαίως ὑπέστησαν οὐ πάντως διὰ (τὰς) στάσεις καὶ τὸ φιλόνεικον αἱρέσεις ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ σπουδάζειν συνιέναι τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ καὶ τῶν φιλολόγων πλείονας, τούτῳ δʼ ἠκολούθησε, διαφόρως ἐκδεξαμένων τοὺς ἅμα πᾶσι πιστευθέντας εἶναι θείους λόγους, τὸ γενέσθαι αἱρέσεις ἐπωνύμους τῶν θαυμασάντων μὲν τὴν τοῦ λόγου ἀρχὴν κινηθέντων δʼ ὅπως ποτʼ οὖν ὑπό τινων πιθανοτήτων πρὸς τὰς εἰς ἀλλήλους διαφωνίας. ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ ἰατρικὴν εὐλόγως ἄν τις φεύγοι διὰ τὰς ἐν αὐτῇ αἱρέσεις, οὔτε φιλοσοφίαν τοῦ πρέποντος στοχαζόμενός τις ἂν μισοῖ, πρόφασιν τοῦ μισεῖν αὐτὴν ποριζόμενος τὰς πολλὰς αἱρέσεις. οὕτως οὐδὲ διὰ τὰς ἐν Ἰουδαίοις αἱρέσεις καταγνωστέον τῶν Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἱερῶν βιβλίων. ### English translation (Claude) Then, since as if accusing our teaching he reproaches us with the heresies in Christianity, saying, “But having spread into a multitude, they are split and divided again and again, and each wish to have their own factions”; and he says that “being again divided by their multitude they refute one another, still sharing, so to speak, only one thing, if indeed they share it, the name; and this alone they are nevertheless ashamed to abandon; but in everything else they are ranged on different sides”: to this too we shall say that there have been different schools in no matter whose origin is not serious and useful to life. For since medicine is useful and necessary to the human race, and there are many questions in it about the method of treating bodies, schools are admittedly found in medicine among the Greeks, and I think also among the barbarians, as many (at least) as profess to use medicine. Again, since philosophy, which professes truth and the knowledge of what exists, sets forth how one ought to live and tries to teach what is beneficial to our race, and the questions it investigates allow great divergence, a great many schools have formed in philosophy, some more famous than others. Judaism too had an occasion for the rise of sects in the different interpretation of the writings of Moses and the words of the prophets. So, since Christianity appeared something worthy of respect to people, not only, as Celsus thinks, to the more servile, but also to many of the learned among the Greeks, heresies necessarily arose, not at all because of factions and contentiousness, but because many of the learned too were eager to understand the teachings of Christianity. From this it followed that, as they interpreted differently the words all believed to be divine, there arose heresies named after those who admired the origin of the teaching but were moved, in one way or another, by certain plausible arguments to disagree with one another. But no one would reasonably shun medicine because of its schools, nor would anyone who aims at what is fitting hate philosophy, making its many schools a pretext for hating it. So neither should the sacred books of Moses and the prophets be condemned because of the sects among the Jews. ### Translation notes - The Greek αἵρεσις means both a neutral “school” (as in medicine and philosophy) and a Christian “heresy”; Origen plays on both, and the translation uses “school” or “sect” where the sense is neutral. The bracketed (γε) and (τὰς) are editorial supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/12/). ## Against Celsus 3.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/13/ - Source: Koetschau 1:212–213 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen cites Paul's word that heresies must exist so that the approved may be revealed, and notes that Socrates' and Plato's schools also divided; groups like the Ophites and Cainites, who reject Jesus altogether, are not Christian at all. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ ταῦτʼ ἔχει ἀκολουθίαν, πῶς οὐχὶ ὁμοίως ἀπολογησόμεθα καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐν Χριστιανοῖς αἱρέσεων; περὶ ὧν πάνυ θαυμασίως ὁ Παῦλος εἰρηκέναι μοι δοκεῖ τό· „δεῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι, ἵνα οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται (ἐν ὑμῖν).“ ὡς γὰρ δόκιμος ἐν ἰατρικῇ ὁ διὰ τὸ γυμνάσασθαι ἐν ποικίλαις αἱρέσεσι καὶ εὐγνωμόνως ἐξητακέναι τὰς πλείονας ἑλόμενος τὴν διαφέρουσαν, καὶ ὡς ὁ πάνυ προκόπτων ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ἀπὸ τοῦ πλείονα ἐγνωκέναι ἐγγυμνασάμενος αὐτοῖς καὶ τῷ κρατήσαντι προσθέμενος λόγῳ· οὕτως εἴποιμʼ ἂν καὶ τὸν ἐπιμελῶς ἐνιδόντα ταῖς ἰουδαϊσμοῦ καὶ χριστιανισμοῦ αἱρέσεσι σοφώτατον Χριστιανὸν γενέσθαι. ὁ δʼ ἐγκαλῶν τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τὰς αἱρέσεις ἐγκαλέσαι ἂν καὶ τῇ Σωκράτους διδασκαλίᾳ, ἀφʼ οὗ τῆς διατριβῆς πολλαὶ γεγόνασιν οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ φρονούντων σχολαί· ἀλλὰ καὶ Πλάτωνος ἐγκαλέσαι ἄν τις τοῖς δόγμασι διʼ Ἀριστοτέλην, ἀποφοιτήσαντα τῆς διατριβῆς αὐτοῦ ἐν καινοτομίαις· περὶ οὗ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν. δοκεῖ δέ μοι ὁ Κέλσος ἐγνωκέναι τινὰς αἱρέσεις μηδὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κοινωνούσας ἡμῖν. τάχα γὰρ περιήχητο περὶ τῶν καλουμένων Ὀφιανῶν καὶ τῶν Καϊανῶν, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλη τοιαύτη ἐξ ὅλων ἀποφοιτήσασα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ συνέστη γνώμη· πλὴν οὐδὲν τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ ἐγκλητέον εἶναι τὸν Χριστιανῶν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) If this is consistent, how shall we not make the same defense concerning the heresies among Christians? About them Paul seems to me to have said, very wonderfully: “For there must also be heresies among you, so that those who are approved may become manifest (among you).” For just as he is approved in medicine who, having trained himself in various schools and examined most of them fairly, has chosen the best; and as the one who makes great progress in philosophy is he who, by knowing more of them, has trained himself in them and attached himself to the prevailing doctrine; so I would say that one who has carefully examined the sects of Judaism and Christianity becomes a very wise Christian. And one who accuses the teaching because of the heresies would also accuse the teaching of Socrates, from whose school many schools of people not holding the same views have come; and one might also accuse the doctrines of Plato because of Aristotle, who left his school with innovations, of whom we have spoken above. It seems to me that Celsus has known certain heresies that do not even share the name of Jesus with us. Perhaps he had heard of the so-called Ophites and Cainites, or any other such opinion that has arisen, having departed from Jesus altogether. But this has nothing to do with the Christian teaching being blameworthy. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 11:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 11:19. The Ophites and Cainites were Gnostic groups; Origen discusses the Ophites at length in Book 6. The bracketed ἐν ὑμῖν is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/13/). ## Against Celsus 3.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/14/ - Source: Koetschau 1:213–214 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that the Christian community rests not on rebellion or self-interest but on God's working, who foretold Christ through the prophets and established first Judaism and then Christianity. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησι· θαυμασιώτερον μὴν τὸ σύνθημα αὐτῶν τοσῷδε. ὅσῳ γε μᾶλλον ἐξ οὐδεμιᾶς ὑποθέσεως ἀξιόχρεω συνεστὸς ἐλέγχοιτο. ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἀξιόχρεως ὑπόθεσις ἡ στάσις καὶ ἡ διʼ αὐτὴν ὠφέλεια καὶ τὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν δέος· ταῦτα βεβαιοῖ τὴν πίστιν αὐτοῖς. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι οὕτως ἐξ ὑποθέσεως, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδʼ ὑποθέσεως ἀλλὰ θείας ἐνεργείας τὸ σύνθημα ἡμῶν ἐστιν, ὥστε τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ εἶναι θεὸν. ἐν προφήταις διδάσκοντα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐλπίσαι ἐπιδημίαν Χριστοῦ, σώσοντος τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ὅσον γὰρ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀληθῶς ἐλέγχεται, κἂν δοκῇ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπίστων ἐλέγχεσθαι. ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὁ λόγος ὡς θεοῦ λόγος συνίσταται, καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς υἱὸς ὢν θεοῦ καὶ πρὶν ἐνανθρωπῆσαι καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσας ἀποδείκνυται. ἐγὼ δέ φημι ὅτι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν ἀεὶ εὑρίσκεται τοῖς ἔχουσιν ὀφθαλμοὺς ψυχῆς ὀξυδερκεστάτους θεοπρεπέστατος καὶ ἀληθῶς θεόθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς κατελθὼν, καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ συνέσεως ἀνθρωπίνης τὴν ἀρχὴν ἢ τὰ ἑξῆς τῇ ἀρχῇ ἔχων ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιφανείας, ποικίλῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ ποικίλαις δυνάμεσι συστήσαντος πρότερον μὲν τὸν ἰουδαϊσμὸν μετὰ δʼ αὐτὸν τὸν χριστιανισμόν· ἠλέγχθη δὲ καὶ τὸ στάσιν νομίζεσθαι καὶ τὴν διὰ τὴν στάσιν ὠφέλειαν ἀρχὴν εἶναι τῷ τοσούτους ἐπιστρέψαντι καὶ βελτιώσαντι λόγῳ. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says: “Their association is the more marvelous, the more it can be shown to rest on no worthwhile foundation. But rebellion is a worthwhile foundation, and the advantage it brings, and fear of those outside; these confirm their faith.” To this we shall say that our association rests on a foundation, or rather not a foundation but divine working, so that its origin is God, who in the prophets taught people to hope for the coming of the Christ, who would save them. For insofar as this is not truly refuted, even if unbelievers think it is, to that extent the teaching is established as God's word, and Jesus is shown to be the Son of God, both before he became man and when he had become man. And I say that even after his becoming man he is always found, by those who have the most sharp-sighted eyes of the soul, most worthy of God and truly come down to us from God, having his origin and what followed it not from human intelligence but from the manifestation of God, who with manifold wisdom and manifold powers established first Judaism and after it Christianity. And the idea that rebellion and the advantage from rebellion are the origin of the teaching that has converted and improved so many people has been refuted. ### Scripture references - Eph 3:10: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Manifold wisdom” echoes Eph 3:10. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/14/). ## Against Celsus 3.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/15/ - Source: Koetschau 1:214 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says Christianity is not held together by fear of outsiders, since persecution has ceased for some time and may return, and that Christians openly teach converts to reject idols and worship the Creator. ### Greek text Ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲ τὸ (τῶν) ἔξωθεν δέος τὸ σύνθημα ἡμῶν διακρατεῖ δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ καὶ τοῦτο βουληθέντος θεοῦ πεπαῦσθαι ἤδη χρόνῳ πλείονι. καὶ εἰκὸς παύσεσθαι τὸ ὡς πρὸς τὸν βίον τοῦτον τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐγγενόμενον ἀδεὲς, ἐπὰν πάλιν οἱ παντὶ τρόπῳ διαβάλλοντες τὸν λόγον τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο νῦν στάσεως ἐν πλήθει τῶν πιστευόντων νομίσωσιν εἶναι. ἐν τῷ μὴ προσπολεμεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἡγουμένων ὁμοίως τοῖς πάλαι χρόνοις. μεμαθήκαμεν γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου μήτʼ ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐκλύεσθαι καὶ τῇ ἀνέσει ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδιδόναι μήτʼ ἐν τῷ πολεμεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ κόσμου ἐκκακεῖν καὶ ἀφίστασθαι τῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τῶν ὅλων ἐν Ἰησοῦ τῷ Χριστῷ ἀγάπης. σαφῶς δὴ τὸ σεμνὸν τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀρχῆς παριστῶμεν καὶ οὐχ. ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, ἀποκρύπτομεν, ἐπὰν καὶ τοῖς πρώτως εἰσαγομένοις καταφρόνησιν μὲν τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἐμποιήσωμεν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἐπαίροντες τὰ φρονήματα αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ δουλεύειν τοῖς κτισθεῖσιν ἀντὶ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν κτίσαντα τὰ ὅλα αὐτοὺς ἀναβιβάζωμεν· ἐμφανῶς παριστάντες τὸν προφητευθέντα ἔκ τε τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητειῶν (πολλαὶ δέ εἰσιν αὗται) καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐξητασμένως παραδιδομένων τοῖς δυναμένοις ἀκούειν συνετώτερον τῶν εὐαγγελίων καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν φωνῶν. ### English translation (Claude) That fear of those outside does not hold our association together either is clear from the fact that, by God's will, this too has now ceased for a considerable time. And it is likely that the freedom from fear, as far as this life goes, that believers now enjoy will cease, when those who slander the teaching in every way again think the cause of the present great rebellion, as they call it, to be the multitude of believers and their not being attacked by the rulers as in former times. For we have learned from the teaching neither to grow slack in peace and give ourselves up to ease, nor, when the world makes war on us, to lose heart and fall away from the love of the God of the universe in Jesus Christ. We clearly show, and do not hide, as Celsus thinks, the dignity of our origin, when we instill in those first being introduced a contempt for idols and all images, and in addition, raising their thoughts from serving created things instead of God, lead them up to the Creator of all things; plainly showing the one prophesied both from the prophecies about him (and they are many) and from what is handed down with careful examination, to those able to hear more intelligently, from the Gospels and the apostolic words. ### Scripture references - Rom 1:25: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Origen's expectation that the calm would end was fulfilled in the Decian persecution (AD 250). “Serving created things instead of God” echoes Rom 1:25. The bracketed τῶν is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/15/). ## Against Celsus 3.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/16/ - Source: Koetschau 1:214–215 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that the only “terrors” Christians teach are the doctrine of God's judgment, which Celsus himself admits must not be rejected, and that it is not a misunderstanding of ancient teaching. ### Greek text Ποῖα δὲ παντοδαπὰ ἐπισπώμεθα ἢ τίνα συμπλάσσομεν δείματα, ὡς ἀναποδείκτως γράφει ὁ Κέλσος, παραστησάτω ὁ βουλόμενος. εἰ μὴ ἄρα τὴν περὶ δικαστοῦ θεοῦ καὶ δικαζομένων ἀνθρώπων ἐφʼ οἷς ἔπραξαν πᾶσι διδασκαλίαν μετὰ κατασκευῆς ποικίλης, πῇ μὲν τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν πῇ δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ εἰκότος λόγου, δείματα βούλεται λέγειν ὁ Κέλσος συμπεπλασμένα. καίτοι γε (φίλη γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια) φησὶ πρὸς τοῖς τελευταίοις ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι μήτε τούτοις εἴη μήτʼ ἐμοὶ μήτε ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀποθέσθαι τὸ περὶ τοῦ κολασθήσεσθαι τοὺς ἀδίκους καὶ γερῶν ἀξιωθήσεσθαι τοὺς δικαίους δόγμα. ποῖα οὖν δείματα. ἐὰν ἀνέλῃς τὸν περὶ κολάσεως λόγον. συμπλάττοντες ἐπισπώμεθα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὰν λέγῃ ὅτι τὰ τοῦ παλαιοῦ λόγου παρακούσματα συμπλάττοντες τούτοις προκαταυλοῦμεν καὶ προκατηχοῦμεν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὡς οἱ τοὺς κορυβαντιζομένους περιβομβοῦντες, φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτόν· ποίου παλαιοῦ λόγου παρακούσματα; εἴτε γὰρ τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ, καὶ διδάξαντος περὶ τῶν ὑπὸ γῆν δικαστηρίων. εἴτε τοῦ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ, μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ περὶ τῆς ἑξῆς τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ ζωῆς προφητεύσαντος, οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι παραστῆσαι ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἐν παρακούσμασι γενόμενοι τῆς ἀληθείας, ὅσοι γε πειρώμεθα μετὰ λόγου πιστεύειν, πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα ζῶμεν δόγματα. ### English translation (Claude) What manifold things we use to draw people, or what terrors we invent, as Celsus writes without proof, let anyone who wishes show; unless Celsus means by invented terrors the teaching about God as judge and about human beings judged for all they have done, set out with various arguments, some from the Scriptures and some from probable reasoning. And yet (for truth is dear) Celsus says toward the end that “neither these people nor I nor any other human being should reject the doctrine that the unjust will be punished and the just deemed worthy of rewards.” What terrors, then, apart from the teaching about punishment, do we invent to draw people? And when he says that “inventing misunderstandings of the ancient doctrine, we play the flute to people beforehand and fill their ears, like those who make a din around people in Corybantic frenzy,” we shall say to him: “Misunderstandings of what ancient doctrine?” For whether he means the Greek doctrine, which taught about the courts beneath the earth, or the Jewish, which among other things prophesied about the life after this one, he could not show that we who try to believe with reason live by such doctrines because we have misunderstood the truth. ### Translation notes - The Corybantes were frenzied devotees of Cybele, whose rites used loud music. Celsus's own admission is later in his work (Origen cites it in Book 8). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/16/). ## Against Celsus 3.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/17/ - Source: Koetschau 1:215–216 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus compares Christianity to Egyptian temples that are grand outside but worship animals within; Origen replies that even Christ's human sufferings served the salvation of the whole world. ### Greek text Παραβάλλειν δὲ τὰ τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων θέλει πράγμασι· παρʼ οἷς προσιόντι μέν ἐστι λαμπρὰ τεμένη καὶ ἄλση καὶ προπυλαίων μεγέθη τε καὶ κάλλη καὶ νεῲ θαυμάσιοι καὶ σκηναὶ πέριξ ὑπερήφανοι καὶ θρησκεῖαι μάλα δεισιδαίμονες καὶ μυστηριώτιδες, ἤδη δὲ εἰσιόντι καὶ ἐνδοτέρω γινομένῳ θεωρεῖται προσκυνούμενος αἴλουρος ἢ πίθηκος ἢ κροκόδειλος ἢ τράγος ἢ κύων. τί γὰρ τὸ ἀνάλογον τοῖς πρὸς τοὺς προσιόντας σεμνοφανέσιν Αἰγυπτίων ἐστὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν, τί δὲ τὸ ἀνάλογον τοῖς ἔνδον μετὰ τὰ σεμνὰ προπύλαια ἀλόγοις ζῴοις προσκυνουμένοις; ἢ τὰς μὲν προφητείας καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν καὶ τὰ κατὰ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων †ἐστὶ τὰ καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸν σεμνὰ, Ἰησοῦς δὲ Χριστὸς ἐσταυρωμένος τὸ ἀνάλογον τῷ προσκυνουμένῳ ἀλόγῳ ζῴῳ; ἀλλʼ ἐὰν τοῦτο λέγῃ (οὐ γὰρ ἄλλο τι οἶμαι φήσειν αὐτὸν), ἀπαντήσομεν ὅτι πλείονα ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἡμῖν εἰς κατασκευὴν τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἴρηται, ὅτι καὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα κατʼ ἄνθρωπον αὐτῷ συμβεβηκέναι χρησίμως γέγονεν [ἐν] τῷ παντὶ καὶ σωτηρίως τῷ ὅλῳ κόσμῳ. ### English translation (Claude) He wishes to compare the things of our faith with those of the Egyptians. Among them, “as you approach, there are splendid precincts and groves, great and beautiful gateways, wonderful temples, magnificent tents around them, and very superstitious and mysterious rites; but when you have entered and come further inside, a cat or an ape or a crocodile or a goat or a dog is seen being worshiped.” What among us corresponds to the imposing things the Egyptians show those who approach, and what corresponds to the irrational animals worshiped inside after the imposing gateways? Or are the prophecies, the God over all, and the teaching against images … the things that are imposing even in his view, and Jesus Christ crucified what corresponds to the irrational animal that is worshiped? But if he says this (for I do not think he will say anything else), we shall answer that we have said a good deal above in support of what concerns Jesus: that even what seemed to befall him as a man has happened usefully for the universe and for the salvation of the whole world. ### Translation notes - The text is corrupt at “†ἐστὶ τὰ καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸν σεμνὰ”; κατʼ αὐτὸν is taken, as ANF also takes it, as “in his (Celsus's) view”; the sense is given, with “…” marking the corruption. The editor deletes the square-bracketed ἐν before “the universe”; it is not translated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/17/). ## Against Celsus 3.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/18/ - Source: Koetschau 1:216 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says Celsus credits Egyptian animal worship with hidden meaning but knows nothing of the wisdom and knowledge given by the Spirit to learned Christians. ### Greek text Εἶτα τὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, σεμνολογούντων καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων καὶ φασκόντων εἶναί τινα αὐτὰ θεοῦ σύμβολα ἢ ὅπως φίλον ὀνομάζειν τοῖς χρηματίζουσιν αὐτῶν προφήταις, φησὶ φαντασίαν ἐξαποστέλλειν τοῖς ταῦτα μεμαθηκόσιν, ὅτι μὴ μάτην μεμύηνται· τὰ δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις λόγοις ἀπὸ τοῦ καλουμένου παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ χαρίσματος ἐν τῷ „διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος“ λόγῳ σοφίας καὶ ἐν τῷ „κατὰ τὸ πνεῦμα“ λόγῳ γνώσεως παριστάμενα τοῖς ἐν χριστιανισμῷ πολυμαθέσιν οὐδὲ πεφαντάσθαι μοι ὁ Κέλσος δοκεῖ οὐ μόνον ἀπὸ τούτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ὧν ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς κατηγορῶν τοῦ συστήματος Χριστιανῶν λέγει, ὡς πάντα μὲν σοφὸν ἀπελαυνόντων τοῦ λόγου τῆς πίστεως αὐτῶν μόνους δὲ ἀνοήτους καὶ τοὺς ἀνδραποδώδεις καλούντων, περὶ ὧν κατὰ καιρὸν εἰσόμεθα. γενόμενοι κατὰ τὸν τόπον. ### English translation (Claude) Then he says that the doctrines of the Egyptians, who speak solemnly even about the irrational animals and say they are symbols of God, or whatever their so-called prophets like to call them, give those who have learned them the impression that they have not been initiated in vain. But what is presented to those in Christianity who are learned in our writings, from what Paul calls the gift of a word of wisdom “through the Spirit” and a word of knowledge “according to the Spirit,” Celsus seems to me not even to have imagined, not only from this, but also from what he says later in accusing the Christian community, as if they drove every wise man away from the teaching of their faith and invited only the foolish and servile. We shall consider these things in due course, when we come to the passage. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 12:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 12:8. Celsus's charge that Christians invite only the foolish is discussed at 3.44 ff. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/18/). ## Against Celsus 3.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/19/ - Source: Koetschau 1:216–217 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen objects that Celsus allows hidden meanings in Egyptian animal cults but denies any in Christian teaching, though Paul speaks of hidden wisdom taught to the mature. ### Greek text Καί φησι γε ἡμᾶς τῶν μὲν Αἰγυπτίων καταγελᾶν. καίτοι πολλὰ καὶ οὐ φαῦλα παρεχόντων αἰνίγματα, ἐπὰν ἰδεῶν ἀϊδίων καὶ οὐχ, ὡς δοκοῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ, ζῴων ἐφημερίων τιμὰς εἶναι τὰ τοιαῦτα διδάσκωσιν· εὐήθεις δʼ εἶναι μηδὲν σεμνότερον τράγων καὶ κυνῶν τῶν παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις εἰσάγοντας ἐν ταῖς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διηγήσεσι. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ φήσομεν· ἆρʼ. ὦ γενναῖε, τὸ μὲν Αἰγυπτίους πολλὰ καὶ οὐ φαῦλα παρέχεσθαι αἰνίγματα καὶ ἀσαφεῖς διηγήσεις περὶ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς ζῴων εὐλόγως ἐπαίρεις τῷ λόγῳ, οὐ δεόντως δὲ ποιεῖς ἡμῶν κατηγορῶν ὡς πειθόμενος μηδὲν ἡμᾶς λέγειν ἀλλὰ πάντα οὐδενὸς λόγου καὶ φαῦλα. ἐπὰν τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λόγου σοφίαν διεξοδεύωμεν τοῖς ὡς ἐν χριστιανισμῷ τελείοις· περὶ ὧν ὡς ἱκανῶν ἀκοῦσαι τῆς ἐν χριστιανισμῷ σοφίας διδάσκων ὁ Παῦλός φησι· „σοφίαν δὲ λαλοῦμεν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις. σοφίαν δὲ οὐ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου οὐδὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τῶν καταργουμένων· ἀλλὰ λαλοῦμεν θεοῦ σοφίαν ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην, ἣν προώρισεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς δόξαν ἡμῶν, ἣν οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἔγνωκε.“ ### English translation (Claude) And he says that we laugh at the Egyptians, although they present many enigmas that are not contemptible, when they teach that such things are honors paid to eternal ideas and not, as most think, to ephemeral animals; but that we are simpletons, bringing in nothing more dignified than the goats and dogs of the Egyptians in our narratives about Jesus. To this we shall say: “Good sir, do you reasonably exalt in your account the Egyptians' presenting many enigmas that are not contemptible and obscure narratives about their animals, while you do wrong in accusing us, as if persuaded that we say nothing, but everything we say is worthless and contemptible, when we expound what concerns Jesus according to the wisdom of the teaching to those who are perfect in Christianity?” Paul, teaching about them as able to hear the wisdom in Christianity, says: “We speak wisdom among the perfect, but a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age has known.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 2:6–8. The “eternal ideas” are Platonic Forms. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/19/). ## Against Celsus 3.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/20/ - Source: Koetschau 1:217 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen challenges Celsus to read Paul's letters attentively, confident that he would either admire Paul's profound thought in plain language or make himself ridiculous. ### Greek text Καί φαμεν τοῖς ὁμονοοῦσι τῷ Κέλσῳ ὅτι οὐδεμίαν ἆρα φανταζόμενος ὑπερέχουσαν σοφίαν ὁ Παῦλος ἐπηγγέλλετο „σοφίαν“ λαλεῖν „ἐν τοῖς τελείοις“; ἐπειδὰν δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ θρασὺ φήσῃ ὅτι οὐδὲν ἔχων σοφὸν ταῦτα ἐπηγγέλλετο, ἀνταποκρινούμεθα αὐτῷ λέγοντες· πρῶτον σαφήνισον τοῦ ταῦτα λέγοντος τὰς ἐπιστολὰς καὶ ἐνατενίσας τῷ βουλήματι ἑκάστης ἐν αὐταῖς λέξεως, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν τῇ πρὸς Ἐφεσίους καὶ πρὸς Κολασσαεῖς καὶ τῇ πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς καὶ Φιλιππησίους καὶ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους. ἀμφότερα δεῖξον, καὶ ὅτι νενόηκας τοὺς Παύλου λόγους καὶ ὅτι παραστῆσαι ἔχεις εὐήθεις τινὰς ἢ ἠλιθίους. ἐὰν γὰρ ἐπιδῷ ἑαυτὸν τῇ μετὰ τοῦ προσέχειν ἀναγνώσει, εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι ἢ θαυμάσεται τὸν νοῦν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, ἐν ἰδιωτικῇ λέξει μεγάλα περινοοῦντος. ἢ μὴ θαυμάσας αὐτὸς καταγέλαστος φανεῖται, εἴτε διηγούμενος ὡς νενοηκὼς τὸ βούλημα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἢ καὶ ἀντιλέγειν καὶ ἀνατρέπειν πειρώμενος ἃ ἐφαντάσθη αὐτὸν νενοηκέναι. ### English translation (Claude) And we say to those who agree with Celsus: did Paul, then, imagining no surpassing wisdom, profess to speak “wisdom among the perfect”? When, with his usual rashness, he says that Paul professed this while having nothing wise, we shall answer him, saying: “First explain the letters of the one who says this, and, fixing your eyes on the intent of each expression in them, say in the letter to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, and to the Romans, show both: that you have understood Paul's words, and that you can show some of them to be foolish or silly.” For if he gives himself to reading them attentively, I know well that either he will marvel at the man's mind, which comprehends great things in ordinary language, or, if he does not marvel, he himself will appear ridiculous, whether in expounding the man's intent as though he had understood it, or in trying to contradict and overturn what he imagined he had understood. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 2:6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/20/). ## Against Celsus 3.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/21/ - Source: Koetschau 1:217–218 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen points to the depth of the Gospels, with parables explained only to those “in the house” and Jesus' ascents of the mountain, as proof that Christianity's inner teaching is nothing like Egyptian animal worship. ### Greek text Καὶ οὔπω λέγω περὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις τηρήσεως πάντων τῶν γεγραμμένων· ὧν ἕκαστον πολὺν καὶ δυσθεώρητον οὐ μόνον τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ τισι τῶν συνετῶν περιέχει λόγον. ἔχοντα διήγησιν βαθυτάτην παραβολῶν, ὧν τοῖς „ἔξω“ ἐλάλησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, τηρῶν αὐτῶν τὴν σαφήνειαν τοῖς ὑπερβεβηκόσι τὰς ἐξωτερικὰς ἀκοὰς καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν αὐτῷ „ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ“ προσερχομένοις, θαυμάσεται δὲ νοήσας, τίνα λόγον ἔχει τὸ „ἔξω“ τινὰς ὀνομάζεσθαι καὶ ἄλλους „ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ.“ καὶ πάλιν τίς οὐκ ἂν καταπλαγείη τῶν δυναμένων βλέπειν τὰς Ἰησοῦ μεταβάσεις, ἀναβαίνοντος μὲν εἰς ὄρος ἐπὶ τοιοῖσδε λόγοις ἢ πράξεσιν ἢ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ μεταμορφώσει. κάτω δὲ θεραπεύοντος τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας καὶ μὴ δυναμένους ἀναβαίνειν ὅπου ἕπονται αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ; διηγεῖσθαι δὲ νῦν τὰ ἀληθῶς σεμνὰ καὶ θεῖα τῶν εὐαγγελίων ἢ τὸν ἐν τῷ Παύλῳ Χριστοῦ. τουτέστι τῆς σοφίας καὶ τοῦ λόγου, νοῦν οὐκ εὔκαιρον. ἀλλʼ αὐτάρκη καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν ἀφιλόσοφον χλεύην τοῦ Κέλσου. ὁμοιοῦντος τὰ ἔνδον καὶ μυστικὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων αἰλούροις ἢ πιθήκοις ἢ κροκοδείλοις ἢ τράγοις ἢ κυσίν. ### English translation (Claude) And I do not yet speak of the careful attention to everything written in the Gospels, each of which contains a meaning great and hard to discern, not only for the many but even for some of the intelligent. They include a most profound exposition of the parables which Jesus spoke to “those outside,” keeping their clear meaning for those who had passed beyond hearing from outside and came to him privately “in the house.” One will marvel, having understood it, at what reason there is for some being called “outside” and others “in the house.” And again, who among those able to see would not be amazed at the movements of Jesus, going up a mountain for certain words or deeds or for his own transfiguration, and below healing the sick who were unable to go up where his disciples follow him? But to expound now what is truly dignified and divine in the Gospels, or the mind of Christ in Paul, that is, of Wisdom and the Word, is not timely. These things are enough against Celsus's unphilosophical mockery, when he likens the inner mysteries of the church of God to the cats, apes, crocodiles, goats, or dogs of the Egyptians. ### Scripture references - Mark 4:11: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:36: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:1: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 2:16: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Mark 4:11 (“those outside”), Matt 13:36 (“in the house”), Matt 17:1–2, Matt 15:29–30, and 1 Cor 2:16 (“the mind of Christ”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/21/). ## Against Celsus 3.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/22/ - Source: Koetschau 1:218–219 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus contrasts the deified Greek heroes with the risen Jesus; Origen asks whether Celsus thinks those heroes exist at all, and argues from their own stories that they could not have become gods. ### Greek text Οὐδὲν δὲ εἶδος τοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν διασυρμοῦ καὶ καταγέλωτος καταλιπὼν ὁ βωμολόχος Κέλσος ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἡμῶν λόγῳ Διοσκούρους καὶ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν καὶ Διόνυσον ὀνομάζει, τοὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων πεπιστευμένους παρʼ Ἕλλησι γεγονέναι θεοὺς. καὶ φησιν οὐκ ἀνέχεσθαι μὲν ἡμᾶς τούτους νομίζειν θεοὺς. ὅτι ἄνθρωποι ἦσαν καὶ πρῶτοι. καίτοι πολλὰ ἐπιδειξαμένους καὶ γενναῖα ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων· τὸν δʼ Ἰησοῦν ἀποθανόντα ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων θιασωτῶν ὦφθαί φαμεν· προσκατηγορεῖ δʼ ἡμῶν καὶ ὡς λεγόντων αὐτὸν ὦφθαι, καὶ ταῦτα σκιάν. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι δεινῶς ὁ Κέλσος οὔτε σαφῶς παρέστησε μὴ σέβειν τούτους ὡς θεοὺς (εὐλαβεῖτο γὰρ τὴν δόξαν τῶν ἐντευξομένων αὐτοῦ τῇ γραφῇ. ὑποληψομένων αὐτὸν ἄθεον, εἴ τι τῆς φαινομένης αὐτῷ ἀληθείας ἐπρέσβευεν). οὔτʼ αὖ προσεποιήσατο καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτοὺς θεοὺς νομίζειν· πρὸς ἑκάτερον γὰρ ἂν αὐτῶν ἀπεκρινάμεθα. φέρε οὖν πρὸς μὲν τοὺς μὴ νομίζοντας αὐτοὺς εἶναι θεοὺς ταῦτʼ εἴπωμεν. ἆρʼ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχήν εἰσιν οὗτοι, ἀλλʼ, ὥσπερ οἴονταί τινες περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχῆς ὡς παραχρῆμα διαφθειρομένης, διεφθάρη καὶ τούτων ἡ ψυχή· ἢ κατὰ τὴν δόξαν τῶν λεγόντων ἐπιδιαμένειν ἢ ἀθάνατον αὐτὴν εἶναι ἐπιδιαμένουσιν οὗτοι ἢ ἀθάνατοί εἰσι, καὶ θεοὶ μὲν οὐκ εἰσὶν ἥρωες δέ· ἢ οὐδὲ ἥρωες ἀλλʼ ἁπαξαπλῶς ψυχαί; εἰ μὲν οὖν οὐκ εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνετε αὐτοὺς. τὸν προηγούμενον ἡμῖν περὶ ψυχῆς κατασκευαστέον λόγον· εἰ δὲ εἰσὶ, καὶ οὕτω τὸν περὶ ἀθανασίας ἀποδεκτέον οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν καλῶς περὶ αὐτῆς εἰπόντων Ἑλλήνων ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀρέσκον τοῖς θείοις μαθήμασι. καὶ δείξομεν ὅτι οὐχ οἷόν τε τούτους πολυθέους γενομένους ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ μερίδι κρείττονι γεγονέναι μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἀπαλλαγὴν, φέροντες τὰς περὶ αὐτῶν ἱστορίας, ἐν αἷς ἀναγέγραπται πολλὴ Ἡρακλέους ἀκολασία καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὴν Ὀμφάλην γυναικείως δουλεία, καὶ τὰ περὶ Ἀσκληπιοῦ ὡς κεραυνῷ βληθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς αὐτῶν. λελέξεται δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν Διοσκούρων, ὡς ἄλλοτε μὲν ζώουσʼ ἑτερήμεροι, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὖτε τεθνᾶσιν· τιμὴν δὲ λελόγχασιν ἶσα θεοῖσιν οἱ πολλάκις ἀποθνῄσκοντες. πῶς οὖν οἴονται κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον τούτων νομισθῆναί τινα θεὸν ἢ ἥρωα; ### English translation (Claude) Leaving no kind of disparagement and ridicule of us untried, the buffoon Celsus in his book against us names the Dioscuri, Heracles, Asclepius, and Dionysus, who are believed among the Greeks to have become gods from being men; and he says that “we cannot bear to consider these gods, because they were men at first, even though they displayed many noble deeds on behalf of mankind; but we say that Jesus, after he died, was seen by his own band of followers.” He further accuses us of saying that he was seen, “and that as a shadow.” To this we shall say that Celsus has cleverly neither made it plain that he does not worship these as gods (for he was wary of the opinion of those who would read his book, who would suppose him an atheist if he championed what seemed to him the truth), nor on the other hand pretended that he himself considers them gods; for we would have answered either position. Come, then, let us say this to those who do not consider them gods. “Do these not exist at all, but, as some think of the human soul, that it perishes immediately, did their soul too perish? Or, according to the opinion of those who say it survives or is immortal, do they survive or are they immortal, and are not gods but heroes? Or not even heroes, but simply souls? If you suppose that they do not exist, we must establish our principal doctrine about the soul; if they do exist, we must still accept the doctrine of immortality, not only from those Greeks who spoke well about it but also according to the divine teachings. And we shall show that it is not possible that these, who were polytheists, came to a better place and portion after their departure from here, citing the stories about them, in which is recorded much licentiousness of Heracles and his womanish servitude to Omphale, and the story that Asclepius was struck by a thunderbolt from their Zeus.” And the story of the Dioscuri will be cited too, that “now they live on alternate days, and now again they are dead; and they have received honor equal to the gods,” though they die many times. How then do they think any of these can reasonably be considered a god or a hero? ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 11.303–304 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - In Celsus's words καὶ πρῶτοι is taken as “at first” (they began as men), as the following καίτοι (“even though”) requires. The quotation about the Dioscuri is Homer, Odyssey 11.303–304. Heracles' servitude to Omphale and Zeus's thunderbolt against Asclepius are standard myths. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/22/). ## Against Celsus 3.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/23/ - Source: Koetschau 1:219–220 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen contrasts the blameless life and real death of Jesus with the scandalous stories of the Greek demigods, and asks why Celsus trusts those myths but not the eyewitness disciples who died for their testimony. ### Greek text Ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ περὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου Ἰησοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν δεικνύντες καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο παραβάλλοντες τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἱστορίαν ταῖς περὶ ἐκείνων ἱστορίαις..... ὅτι οὐδεμία τούτου φέρεται ἀκολασία. οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτοὶ οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες αὐτῷ καὶ ζητήσαντες κατʼ αὐτοῦ „ψευδομαρτυρίαν“ κἂν πιθανότητα εὗρον εἰς τὴν κατʼ αὐτοῦ „ψευδομαρτυρίαν, “ ἵνʼ ἀκολασίας ἕνεκεν αὐτοῦ κατηγορήσωσιν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ θάνατος αὐτοῦ ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἀνθρώπων γέγονε καὶ οὐδὲν ὅμοιον ἔσχε τῷ πρὸς τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν κεραυνῷ. τί δὲ σεμνὸν ἔχει ὁ μαινόλας Διόνυσος καὶ γυναικεῖα περιβεβλημένος. ἵνʼ ὡς θεὸς προσκυνηθῇ; ἐὰν δὲ καὶ οἱ περὶ τούτων ἀπολογούμενοι ἐπὶ ἀλληγορίας καταφεύγωσιν, ἰδίᾳ μὲν ἐξεταστέον τὰς ἀλληγορίας, εἰ τὸ ὑγιὲς ἔχουσιν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ, εἰ δύνανται ὑπόστασιν ἔχειν καὶ ἄξιοι εἶναι σεβασμῶν καὶ προσκυνήσεως σπαραττόμενοι ὑπὸ Τιτάνων καὶ καταβαλλόμενοι ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανίου θρόνου. ὁ δʼ ἡμέτερος Ἰησοῦς ὁ ὀφθεὶς τοῖς ἰδίοις θιασώταις (χρήσομαι γὰρ τῷ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ὀνόματι) ὤφθη μὲν κατʼ ἀλήθειαν, συκοφαντεῖ δὲ τὸν λόγον ὁ Κέλσος λέγων αὐτὸν ὦφθαι σκιάν. καὶ συνεξεταζέσθω γε τὰ τῶν περὶ ἐκείνων ἱστοριῶν τῇ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. ἢ ἐκεῖνα μὲν βούλεται ὁ Κέλσος εἶναι ἀληθῆ, ταῦτα δὲ ἀναγραφέντα ὑπὸ τῶν τεθεαμένων καὶ τῷ ἔργῳ δειξάντων τὴν ἐνάργειαν τῆς καταλήψεως περὶ τοῦ τεθεωρημένου καὶ παραστησάντων τὴν διάθεσιν ἐν οἷς προθύμως ὑπὲρ τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ πεπόνθασιν εἶναι πλάσματα; καὶ τίς ἂν κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον πάντα πράττειν θέλων ἀποκληρωτικῶς συγκαταθοῖτο μὲν (τοῖς) περὶ ἐκείνων εἰς δὲ τὰ περὶ τούτου ἀνεξετάστως ὁρμῶν ἀπιστήσαι τοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ; ### English translation (Claude) But we, showing from the prophetic writings what concerns our Jesus, and then comparing his story with the stories about them, … that no licentiousness of his is reported. For not even those who plotted against him and sought “false testimony” against him found anything plausible for their “false testimony” so as to accuse him of licentiousness. And his death came about from a human plot and had nothing like the thunderbolt against Asclepius. And what dignity has the raving Dionysus, dressed in women's clothes, that he should be worshiped as a god? If those who defend these beings take refuge in allegories, we must examine separately whether the allegories are sound, and separately whether beings torn apart by Titans and cast down from the heavenly throne can really exist and be worthy of reverence and worship. But our Jesus, who was seen by his own band of followers (for I shall use Celsus's term), was seen in truth; Celsus slanders the account when he says he was seen as a shadow. And let the stories about those beings be examined together with the story of Jesus. Or does Celsus want those to be true, but these, recorded by those who saw them and showed by their deeds the clarity of their grasp of what they had seen, and displayed their disposition in what they eagerly suffered for his word, to be fictions? And who that wishes to do everything reasonably would arbitrarily assent to the stories about those, and rushing without examination into what concerns this one, disbelieve the accounts of him? ### Scripture references - Matt 26:59: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The digital text marks a gap (“.....”) after “with the stories about them”; the lost words probably said “we show”; it is marked “…” in the translation. The quotation is Matt 26:59. Dionysus torn apart by the Titans is the Orphic myth. The bracketed τοῖς is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/23/). ## Against Celsus 3.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/24/ - Source: Koetschau 1:220–221 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that if Celsus credits the many witnesses to Asclepius, far more witness to Jesus, and that Christians still heal the sick and insane by invoking God and Jesus' name, as Origen himself has seen. ### Greek text Καὶ πάλιν ἐπὰν μὲν περὶ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ λέγηται ὅτι πολὺ ἀνθρώπων πλῆθος Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων ὁμολογεῖ πολλάκις ἰδεῖν καὶ ἔτι ὁρᾶν, οὐ φάσμα αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀλλὰ θεραπεύοντα καὶ εὐεργετοῦντα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα προλέγοντα. πιστεύειν ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος ἀξιοῖ καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαλεῖ τοῖς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πιστοῖς. ἐπὰν τούτοις πιστεύωμεν· ἐπὰν δὲ τοῖς μαθηταῖς καὶ τεθεαμένοις τὰ τεράστια τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ παριστᾶσιν ἐναργῶς τὸ εὔγνωμον τῆς ἑαυτῶν συνειδήσεως συγκαταθώμεθα, ὁρῶντες τὸ ἀπάνουργον αὐτῶν, ὅσον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν συνείδησιν ἀπὸ γραμμάτων, εὐήθεις τινὲς εἶναι παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ὀνομαζόμεθα, οὐκ ἔχοντι παραστῆσαι ἀμύθητον, ὥς φησι. πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων ὁμολογούντων Ἀσκληπιῷ. ἡμεῖς γὰρ, εἰ τοῦτο σεμνὸν εἶναι νομίζει, ἐναργῶς δείκνυμεν ἀμύθητόν τι πλῆθος Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων ὁμολογούντων τῷ Ἰησοῦ. τινὲς δὲ σημεῖα τοῦ εἰληφέναι τι διὰ τὴν πίστιν ταύτην παραδοξότερον ἐπιδείκνυνται ἐν οἷς θεραπεύουσιν. οὐδὲν ἄλλο καλοῦντες ἐπὶ τοὺς δεομένους θεραπείας ἢ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὄνομα μετὰ τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἱστορίας. τούτοις γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἑωράκαμεν πολλοὺς ἀπαλλαγέντας χαλεπῶν συμπτωμάτων καὶ ἐκστάσεων καὶ μανιῶν καὶ ἄλλων μυρίων, ἅπερ οὔτʼ ἄνθρωποι οὔτε δαίμονες ἐθεράπευσαν. ### English translation (Claude) Again, when it is said of Asclepius that a great multitude of people, Greeks and barbarians, acknowledge that they have often seen, and still see, not a phantom but him himself, healing and doing good and foretelling the future, Celsus asks us to believe it and does not accuse those who believe in Jesus when we believe these things. But when we assent to the disciples who saw Jesus' wonders and clearly show the good faith of their conscience, seeing their lack of guile as far as one can see a conscience from writings, we are called simpletons by Celsus, who cannot show the countless multitude, as he says, of Greeks and barbarians acknowledging Asclepius. For if he thinks this impressive, we clearly show a countless multitude of Greeks and barbarians acknowledging Jesus. And some show signs of having received something more marvelous through this faith in the healings they perform, invoking over those who need healing nothing other than the God over all and the name of Jesus, together with the story about him. For by these we too have seen many freed from grievous afflictions, derangements, madnesses, and countless other things, which neither human beings nor daemons had healed. ### Translation notes - Origen here testifies to healings he has witnessed in his own time. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/24/). ## Against Celsus 3.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/25/ - Source: Koetschau 1:221–222 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that healing and prophecy do not prove divinity, since Apollo's oracles honored a boxer and the licentious poet Archilochus, and the Pythia's inspiration was indecent, unlike anything Christians hold of Jesus. ### Greek text Ἵνα δὲ καὶ δῶ ἰατρόν τινα δαίμονα θεραπεύειν σώματα τὸν καλούμενον Ἀσκληπιὸν, εἴποιμʼ ἂν πρὸς τοὺς θαυμάζοντας τὸ τοιοῦτο ἢ τὴν Ἀπόλλωνος μαντείαν ὅτι. εἴπερ μέσον ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν σωμάτων ἰατρικὴ καὶ πρᾶγμα πίπτον οὐκ εἰς ἀστείους μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ φαύλους. μέσον δὲ καὶ ἡ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων πρόγνωσις (οὐ γὰρ πάντως ἐμφαίνει τὸ ἀστεῖον ὁ προγινώσκων), παραστήσατε πῶς οὐδαμῶς μέν εἰσι φαῦλοι οἱ θεραπεύοντες ἢ οἱ προγινώσκοντες παντὶ δὲ τρόπῳ ἀποδείκνυνται ἀστεῖοί τινες καὶ οὐ μακρὰν τοῦ ὑποληφθῆναι εἶναι θεοί. ἀλλʼ οὐ δυνήσονται ἀστείους ἀποδεῖξαι τοὺς θεραπεύοντας ἢ τοὺς προγινώσκοντας. πολλῶν καὶ ἀναξίων τοῦ ζῆν θεραπεύεσθαι λεγομένων, οὓς οὐκ ἂν οὐδʼ ὁ σοφὸς ἰατρὸς ὢν θεραπεῦσαι ἠθέλησεν ἀκαθηκόντως ζῶντας. καὶ ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς δὲ τοῦ Πυθίου εὕροις ἂν προστασσόμενά τινα οὐκ εὔλογα. ὧν δύο ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθήσομαι, ὅτι Κλεομήδην μὲν, οἶμαι τὸν πύκτην, ἰσοθέοις τιμαῖς ἐκέλευε τιμᾶσθαι. οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅ τι ποτὲ σεμνὸν ἰδὼν ἐν τῇ πυκτικῇ αὐτοῦ, οὔτε δὲ Πυθαγόραν οὔτε Σωκράτην ἐτίμησε ταῖς τιμαῖς τοῦ πύκτου. ἀλλὰ καὶ „Μουσῶν θεράποντα“ εἰπὼν τὸν Ἀρχίλοχον. ἄνδρα ἐν κακίστῃ καὶ ἀσελγεστάτῃ ὑποθέσει ἐπιδειξάμενον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ποιητικὴν καὶ ἦθος ἀσελγὲς καὶ ἀκάθαρτον παραστήσαντα. ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ „θεράποντα“ εἶναι „Μουσῶν, “ νομιζομένων εἶναι θεῶν. εὐσεβῆ τινα ἀνηγόρευσεν. οὐκ οἶδα δὲ εἰ καὶ ὁ τυχὼν τὸν εὐσεβῆ φήσει μὴ πάσῃ κεκοσμῆσθαι μετριότητι καὶ ἀρετῇ, καὶ κόσμιος τοιαῦτα λέγοι ἂν, ὁποῖα περιέχουσιν οἱ μὴ σεμνοὶ τοῦ Ἀρχιλόχου ἴαμβοι. εἰ δὲ μηδὲν θεῖον αὐτόθεν ἐμφαίνεται ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσκληπιοῦ ἰατρικῆς καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος μαντικῆς, πῶς εὐλόγως ἄν τις. ἵνα καὶ δῶ ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχειν. ὡς θεοὺς αὐτοὺς σέβοι ἂν καθαρούς τινας; καὶ μάλισθʼ ὅτε διὰ τοῦ Πυθίου στομίου περικαθεζομένῃ τῇ καλουμένῃ προφήτιδι πνεῦμα διὰ τῶν γυναικείων ὑπεισέρχεται τὸ μαντικὸν, ὁ Ἀπόλλων, τὸ καθαρὸν ἀπὸ γηΐνου σώματος. οὐδὲν δὲ τοιοῦτον ἡμεῖς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ δοξάζομεν. τὸ γὰρ γεγεννημένον ἀπὸ τῆς παρθένου σῶμα ἦν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ὕλης συνεστηκὸς, δεκτικὸν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τραυμάτων καὶ θανάτου. ### English translation (Claude) Even if I grant that a certain healing daemon called Asclepius heals bodies, I would say to those who admire this, or the divination of Apollo, that if the healing of bodies is an indifferent thing, falling to the lot not only of the good but also of the bad, and foreknowledge of the future is indifferent too (for the one who foreknows does not necessarily show goodness), then show how those who heal or foreknow are in no way bad, but are proved in every way to be good, and not far from being thought gods. But they will not be able to prove that those who heal or foretell are good, since many are said to be healed who are unworthy to live, whom not even a wise physician would have wished to heal, since they live improperly. And in the oracles of the Pythian god you would find some commands that are not reasonable. I shall cite two of them for the present. He ordered Cleomedes, the boxer I think, to be honored with honors equal to the gods, seeing I know not what dignity in his boxing; yet he did not honor Pythagoras or Socrates with the honors of the boxer. And by calling Archilochus “servant of the Muses,” a man who displayed his poetic art on the basest and most licentious subjects and showed a licentious and impure character, he proclaimed him pious, insofar as he was a “servant of the Muses,” who are considered goddesses. I doubt whether even an ordinary person would say that the pious man is not adorned with every moderation and virtue, and whether a decent man would say the kind of things the undignified iambics of Archilochus contain. If nothing divine is shown in itself by the healing of Asclepius and the divination of Apollo, how could anyone reasonably, even granting these things are so, worship them as gods who are pure? Especially when, through the Pythian cavern, the prophetic spirit, Apollo, the one who is pure of an earthly body, enters the so-called prophetess seated over it through her woman's parts. We hold nothing of this kind about Jesus and his power. For the body born of the virgin was composed of human matter, capable of human wounds and death. ### Extrabiblical texts - Archilochus (Archilochus): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The oracles about Cleomedes of Astypalaea (Pausanias 6.9.8) and Archilochus as “servant of the Muses” (reported by Eusebius and others) are traditional. The account of the Pythia is a hostile Christian description. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/25/). ## Against Celsus 3.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/26/ - Source: Koetschau 1:222–224 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen quotes Herodotus's account of Aristeas of Proconnesus, who vanished, reappeared, and was honored at Metapontum by command of Apollo, a story Celsus accepts without question. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ ἃ μετὰ ταῦτα λέγει ὁ Κέλσος, παρατιθέμενος ἀπὸ ἱστοριῶν παράδοξα καὶ καθʼ αὑτὰ μὲν ἀπίστοις ἐοικότα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ δὲ οὐκ ἀπιστούμενα ὅσον γε ἐπὶ τῇ λέξει αὐτοῦ. καὶ πρῶτόν γε τὰ περὶ τὸν Προκοννήσιον Ἀριστέαν, περὶ οὗ ταῦτά φησιν· εἶτʼ Ἀριστέαν μὲν τὸν Προκοννήσιον ἀφανισθέντα τε οὕτως δαιμονίως ἐξ ἀνθρώπων καὶ αὖθις ἐναργῶς φανέντα καὶ πολλοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις πολλαχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπιδημήσαντα καὶ θαυμαστὰ ἀγγείλαντα, καὶ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἐπισκήψαντος Μεταποντίνοις ἐν θεῶν μοίρᾳ νέμειν τὸν Ἀριστέαν, τοῦτον οὐδεὶς ἔτι νομίζει θεόν. ἔοικε δʼ εἰληφέναι τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀπὸ Πινδάρου καὶ Ἡροδότου. ἀρκεῖ δὲ νῦν τὴν Ἡροδότου παραθέσθαι λέξιν ἀπὸ τῆς τετάρτης τῶν ἱστοριῶν οὕτως περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔχουσαν. „καὶ ὅθεν μὲν ἦν Ἀριστέης ὁ ταῦτα εἴπας, εἴρηκα· ὃν δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγον ἤκουον ἐν Προκοννήσῳ καὶ Κυζίκῳ, λέξω. Ἀριστέην γὰρ λέγουσιν ἐόντα τῶν ἀστῶν οὐδενὸς γένει ὑποδεέστερον, εἰσελθόντα ἐς κναφήιον ἐν Προκοννήσῳ ἀποθανεῖν· καὶ τὸν κναφέα κατακληΐσαντα τὸ ἐργαστήριον οἴχεσθαι ἀγγελέοντα τοῖς προσήκουσι τῷ νέκυϊ. ἐσκεδασμένου δὲ ἤδη τοῦ λόγου ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν. ὡς τεθνεὼς εἴη (ὁ) Ἀριστέης, ἐς ἀμφισβασίας τοῖς λέγουσιν ἀπικέσθαι ἄνδρα Κυζικηνὸν ἥκοντα ἐξ Ἀρτάκης πόλιος, φάντα συντυχεῖν τε οἱ ἰόντι ἐπὶ Κυζίκου καὶ ἐς λόγους ἀπικέσθαι. καὶ τοῦτον μὲν ἐντεταμένως ἀμφισβατέειν, τοὺς δὲ προσήκοντας τῷ νέκυϊ ἐπὶ τὸ κναφήιον παρεῖναι ἔχοντας τὰ πρόσφορα ὡς ἀναιρησομένους· ἀνοιχθέντος δὲ τοῦ οἰκήματος οὔτε ζῶντα οὔτε τεθνεῶτα φαίνεσθαι Ἀριστέην. μετὰ δὲ ἑβδόμῳ ἔτεϊ φανέντα αὐτὸν ἐς Προκόννησον ποιῆσαι τὰ ἔπεα ταῦτα, ἃ δὴ νῦν ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων Ἀριμάσπεια καλέεται, ποιήσαντα δὲ ἀφανισθῆναι τὸ δεύτερον. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν αἱ πόλιες αὗται λέγουσι· τάδε δὲ οἶδα Μεταποντίνοις τοῖς ἐν Ἰταλίῃ συγκυρήσαντα μετὰ τὴν ἀφάνισιν τὴν δευτέρην Ἀριστέω ἔτεσι τεσσαράκοντα καὶ διακοσίοις, ὡς ἐγὼ συμβαλλόμενος ἐν Προκοννήσῳ καὶ Μεταποντίῳ εὕρισκον. Μεταποντῖνοι δέ φασιν αὐτὸν Ἀριστέην φανέντα σφιν ἐς τὴν χώρην κελεῦσαι βωμὸν Ἀπόλλωνος (ἱδρύσασθαι) καὶ Ἀριστέω τοῦ Προκοννησίου ἐπωνυμίην ἔχοντα ἀνδριάντα παραστῆσαι. φάναι γάρ σφιν τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα Ἰταλιωτέων μούνοισι δὴ ἀπικέσθαι ἐς τὴν χώρην, καὶ αὐτός οἱ ἕπεσθαι ὁ νῦν ἐὼν Ἀριστέης· τότε δὲ, ὅτε εἵπετο τῷ θεῷ, εἶναι κόραξ. καὶ τὸν μὲν εἰπόντα ταῦτα ἀφανισθῆναι, σφέας δὲ Μεταποντῖνοι λέγουσιν ἐς Δελφοὺς πέμψαντας τὸν θεὸν ἐπερωτᾶν, ὅ τι τὸ φάσμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἴη. τὴν δὲ Πυθίην σφέας κελεῦσαι πείθεσθαι τῷ φάσματι, πειθομένοισί τε ἄμεινον συνοίσεσθαι. καὶ σφέας δεξαμένους ταῦτα ποιῆσαι ἐπιτελέα. καὶ νῦν ἕστηκεν ἀνδριὰς ἐπωνυμίην ἔχων Ἀριστέω παρʼ αὐτῷ τῷ ἀγάλματι τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, πέριξ δὲ αὐτὸν δάφναι εἰσί· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐν τῇ ἀγορῇ ἵδρυται. Ἀριστέω μέν νυν πέρι τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω.“ ### English translation (Claude) Let us see also what Celsus says next, citing from histories marvels that seem incredible in themselves but are not disbelieved by him, as far as his words go. First, the story of Aristeas of Proconnesus, about whom he says this: “Then Aristeas of Proconnesus, who vanished from among men in so divine a way and appeared again clearly, and many years later visited many parts of the world and reported wonderful things, and whom Apollo commanded the Metapontines to count among the gods: this man no one any longer considers a god.” He seems to have taken the story from Pindar and Herodotus. It is enough now to cite Herodotus's words from the fourth book of his Histories, which run thus about him: “I have said where Aristeas, who said these things, came from; I shall now tell the story I heard about him in Proconnesus and Cyzicus. They say that Aristeas, who was inferior in birth to none of the citizens, went into a fuller's shop in Proconnesus and died; and the fuller locked the workshop and went to tell the dead man's relatives. When the report had already spread through the city that Aristeas was dead, a man of Cyzicus who had come from the town of Artace disputed with those who said so, declaring that he had met him going toward Cyzicus and spoken with him. While he was vehemently disputing, the dead man's relatives came to the fuller's shop with what was needed to take up the body; but when the building was opened, Aristeas was seen neither alive nor dead. In the seventh year afterward he appeared in Proconnesus and composed those verses which the Greeks now call the Arimaspea, and having composed them he vanished a second time. So these cities say; but I know that this happened to the Metapontines in Italy two hundred and forty years after the second disappearance of Aristeas, as I found by reckoning in Proconnesus and Metapontum. The Metapontines say that Aristeas himself appeared in their country and commanded them to (set up) an altar to Apollo and to set beside it a statue bearing the name of Aristeas of Proconnesus; for he said that Apollo had come to their country alone of the Italiots, and that he, who was now Aristeas, had followed him; but then, when he followed the god, he was a raven. Having said this he vanished; and the Metapontines say they sent to Delphi and asked the god what the apparition of the man might be. The Pythia bade them obey the apparition, saying that if they obeyed it would be better for them. They accepted this and carried it out. And now a statue bearing the name of Aristeas stands beside the image of Apollo itself, with laurels around it; and the image is set up in the marketplace. Let this much be said about Aristeas.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.14–15 (Herodotus, Histories): quotation, high confidence - Pindar (Pindar (odes and fragments)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Herodotus, Histories 4.14–15. Pindar's account of Aristeas is lost. The bracketed ὁ and ἱδρύσασθαι are editorial supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/26/). ## Against Celsus 3.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/27/ - Source: Koetschau 1:224–225 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen asks why Celsus believes the story of Aristeas on the word of Herodotus and Pindar, but dismisses the Gospel accounts written by disciples who died for them, when the moral fruit points to Jesus. ### Greek text Λεκτέον δὴ πρὸς τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἀριστέου ἱστορίαν ὅτι, εἰ μὲν ὁ Κέλσος ὡς ἱστορίαν αὐτὴν ἐξετίθετο, μὴ καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ συγκατάθεσιν ἐμφαίνων παραδεξαμένου αὐτὴν ὡς ἀληθῆ, ἄλλως ἂν πρὸς τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἀπηντήσαμεν· ἐπεὶ δὲ δαιμονίως αὐτὸν ἠφανίσθαι ἐναργῶς δʼ αὖθις φανῆναι καὶ πολλαχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπιδεδημηκέναι φησὶ καὶ θαυμαστὰ ἠγγελκέναι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ χρησμὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, ἐπισκήψαντος Μεταποντίνοις ἐν θεῶν μοίρᾳ νέμειν τὸν Ἀριστέαν, ὡς ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ συγκατατιθέμενος ἐκτίθεται, † λόγον τὸν πρὸς αὐτόν· καὶ πῶς ὅλως τε πλάσματα ὑπολαμβάνων τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰησοῦ μαθητῶν παράδοξα περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένα καὶ μεμφόμενος τοῖς πιστεύουσιν αὐτοῖς, ταῦτα οὔ(τε) τερατείαν οὔτε πλάσματα εἶναι νομίζεις; πῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄλλοις ἐγκαλῶν ὡς ἀλόγως πιστεύουσι τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παραδόξοις σὺ τοσούτοις ἐμφαίνῃ πεπιστευκέναι. οὐδεμίαν ἀπόδειξιν περὶ αὐτῶν ἢ κατασκευὴν περὶ τοῦ αὐτὰ γεγονέναι φέρων; ἢ Ἡρόδοτος μὲν καὶ Πίνδαρος ἀψευδεῖν παρὰ σοὶ νομίζονται, οἱ δʼ ἀποθνῄσκειν μελετήσαντες ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἰησοῦ μαθημάτων καὶ τοιαῦτα περὶ ὧν ἐπείσθησαν τοῖς ἑξῆς καταλιπόντες γράμματα, περὶ πλασμάτων, ὡς οἴει, καὶ μύθων καὶ τερατειῶν τοσοῦτον ἀγωνίζονται, ὡς καὶ ζῆν περιστατικῶς διʼ αὐτὰ καὶ ἀποθνῄσκειν βιαίως; μέσον τοίνυν σαυτὸν στήσας τῶν τε περὶ τοῦ Ἀριστέου γεγραμμένων καὶ τῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἱστορουμένων, ἴδε εἰ μὴ ἐκ τοῦ ἀποβάντος καὶ τῶν ὠφελουμένων εἰς ἠθῶν ἐπανόρθωσιν καὶ εὐλάβειαν τὴν πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅτι πιστευτέον μὲν ὡς οὐκ ἀθεεὶ γενομένοις τοῖς περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἱστορουμένοις οὐχὶ δὲ τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Προκοννησίου Ἀριστέου. ### English translation (Claude) It must be said about the story of Aristeas that, if Celsus had set it out as a story, without showing his own assent by accepting it as true, we would have answered his argument differently. But since he says that Aristeas vanished in a divine way and appeared again clearly, visited many parts of the world, and reported wonderful things, and further sets out the oracle of Apollo commanding the Metapontines to count Aristeas among the gods, as on his own account and assenting to it, … our reply to him: “How is it that you suppose the marvels recorded about Jesus by his disciples to be altogether fictions, and blame those who believe them, while you think these to be neither marvel-mongering nor fictions? And how is it that you, who accuse others of believing the marvels about Jesus irrationally, show that you have believed so many things, bringing no proof or argument that they happened? Are Herodotus and Pindar thought by you not to lie, while those who practiced dying for Jesus' teachings and left such writings to their successors about what they were persuaded of, contend so hard, as you think, for fictions, myths, and marvel-mongering, as to live in distress and die violently for them? Place yourself, then, between what is written about Aristeas and what is related about Jesus, and see whether, from the outcome and from those helped toward the correction of their morals and reverence for the God over all, it can be said that we must believe the accounts about Jesus as having happened not without God, but not those about Aristeas of Proconnesus.” ### Translation notes - The text is corrupt at “† λόγον τὸν πρὸς αὐτόν”; the sense is “we must direct our reply to him,” marked “…” in the translation. The bracketed (τε) in οὔ(τε) is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/27/). ## Against Celsus 3.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/28/ - Source: Koetschau 1:225–226 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen contrasts the pointless marvels of Aristeas with the saving purpose of Jesus' miracles, foretold by the prophets, and explains that in Christ divine and human nature began to be woven together so that believers too might become divine. ### Greek text Τί μὲν γὰρ βουλομένη ἡ πρόνοια τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἀριστέαν παράδοξα ἐπραγματεύετο, καὶ τί ὠφελῆσαι τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος βουλομένη τὰ τηλικαῦτα, ὡς οἴει, ἐπεδείκνυτο; οὐκ ἔχεις λέγειν. ἡμεῖς δὲ, ἐπὰν τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διηγώμεθα, οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν φέρομεν ἀπολογίαν περὶ τοῦ ταῦτα γεγονέναι, τὸ τὸν θεὸν βεβουλῆσθαι συστῆσαι τὸν διὰ Ἰησοῦ ὡς σωτήριον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις λόγον. βεβαιούμενον μὲν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ὡσπερεὶ θεμελίοις τῆς καταβαλλομένης οἰκοδομῆς τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ ἐπιδιδόντα δὲ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ἑξῆς χρόνους, ἐν οἷς οὐκ ὀλίγαι θεραπεῖαι τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὀνόματι καὶ ἄλλαι τινὲς ἐπιφάνειαι οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητοι ἐπιτελοῦνται. ποταπὸς δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόλλων, ἐπισκήπτων Μεταποντίνοις ἐν θεῶν μοίρᾳ νέμειν τὸν Ἀριστέαν; καὶ τί βουλόμενος τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ποίαν τε ὠφέλειαν ἐκ τῆς ὡς πρὸς θεὸν τιμῆς οἰκονομῶν τοῖς Μεταποντίνοις γενέσθαι, εἰ τὸν πρὸ ὀλίγου ἄνθρωπον νῦν θεὸν λογίζοιντο; ἀλλʼ Ἀπόλλωνος μὲν, τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς δαίμονος λαχόντος γέρας „λοιβῆς τε κνίσσης τε, “ αἱ περὶ τοῦ Ἀριστέου συστάσεις ἀξιόλογοί σοι φαίνονται εἶναι, αἱ δὲ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ διὰ προφητῶν οὐ μετὰ τὸ γεγονέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἐπιδημῆσαι τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων προαγορευόμεναι οὐ κινοῦσί σε πρὸς τὸ θαυμάσαι καὶ τοὺς χωρήσαντας θεῖον πνεῦμα προφήτας καὶ τὸν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν προφητευόμενον; οὗ τὴν εἰς τὸν βίον ἐπιδημίαν πολλοῖς πρότερον ἔτεσιν οὕτω διὰ πλειόνων κεκηρύχθαι συμβέβηκεν, ὥστε τὸ Ἰουδαίων ὅλον ἔθνος ἠρτημένον τῆς περὶ τοῦ ἐλπιζομένου ἐπιδημήσειν προσδοκίας εἰς τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ζήτησιν ἐληλυθέναι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημήσαντος, καὶ πολὺ μὲν πλῆθος αὐτῶν ὡμολογηκέναι Χριστὸν καὶ πεπιστευκέναι αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν προφητευόμενον τοὺς δὲ μὴ πιστεύοντας, καταφρονήσαντας τῆς πρᾳότητος τῶν διὰ τὰ Ἰησοῦ μαθήματα οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ τυχόντος στασιάζειν βουληθέντων, τολμῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοιαῦτα, ἅτινα φιλαλήθως καὶ εὐγνωμόνως ἀνέγραψαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ὑπεκκλέψαντες τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ παραδόξου ἱστορίας τὸ δοκοῦν τοῖς πολλοῖς αἰσχύνην τῷ λόγῳ Χριστιανῶν φέρειν. καὶ αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐβούλετο καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ μὴ μόνον τῇ θειότητι καὶ τοῖς παραδόξοις αὐτοῦ πιστεύειν τοὺς προσιόντας, ὡς οὐ κοινωνήσαντος τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει οὐδʼ ἀναλαβόντος τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις σάρκα ἐπιθυμοῦσαν „κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος“· ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὴν καταβᾶσαν εἰς ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν καὶ εἰς ἀνθρωπίνας περιστάσεις δύναμιν καὶ ἀναλαβοῦσαν ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀνθρώπινον ἑώρων ἐκ τοῦ πιστεύεσθαι μετὰ τῶν θειοτέρων συμβαλλομένην εἰς σωτηρίαν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, ὁρῶσιν ὅτι ἀπʼ ἐκείνου ἤρξατο θεία καὶ ἀνθρωπίνη συνυφαίνεσθαι φύσις, ἵνʼ ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη τῇ πρὸς τὸ θειότερον κοινωνίᾳ γένηται θεία οὐκ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς μετὰ τοῦ πιστεύειν ἀναλαμβάνουσι βίον, ὃν Ἰησοῦς ἐδίδαξεν, ἀνάγοντα ἐπὶ τὴν πρὸς θεὸν φιλίαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον κοινωνίαν πάντα τὸν κατὰ τὰς Ἰησοῦ ὑποθήκας ζῶντα. ### English translation (Claude) For what purpose did providence bring about the marvels concerning Aristeas, and what did it wish to benefit the human race by displaying such great things, as you think? You cannot say. But we, when we relate what concerns Jesus, bring no ordinary defense of these things having happened: that God wished to establish the word through Jesus as saving for mankind, made firm on the apostles as on the foundations of the building of Christianity that was being laid, and growing also in the times that followed, in which not a few healings are performed in the name of Jesus, and certain other manifestations not to be despised. And what sort of being is Apollo, commanding the Metapontines to count Aristeas among the gods? For what purpose does he do this, and what benefit does he arrange for the Metapontines from the honor paid to him as a god, if they should reckon a man of a little while ago as now a god? But the recommendations about Aristeas by Apollo, who in our view is a daemon that has obtained the privilege “of libation and the savor of sacrifice,” seem to you worthy of note; while those of the God over all and his holy angels, proclaimed through prophets not after Jesus came but before he came to dwell in human life, do not move you to admire both the prophets who received a divine Spirit and the one prophesied by them? His coming into the world was proclaimed so many years before by so many that the whole Jewish nation, hanging on the expectation of the one hoped to come, came to dispute among themselves when Jesus came; and a great multitude of them confessed Christ and believed him to be the one prophesied, while those who did not believe, despising the gentleness of those who, because of Jesus' teachings, would not rebel even in the least, dared such things against Jesus as his disciples truthfully and fairly recorded, not stealing away from his marvelous story what seems to most to bring shame on the Christian teaching. For Jesus himself and his disciples wished those who came to them to believe not only in his divinity and his marvels, as if he had not shared in human nature or taken the flesh that among human beings desires “against the Spirit”; but they saw that the power which came down into human nature and human circumstances, and took a human soul and body, contributes, by being believed together with the more divine things, to the salvation of believers. For they see that from him the divine and human natures began to be woven together, so that the human, by communion with what is more divine, might become divine, not in Jesus alone but also in all who with faith take up the life Jesus taught, which leads to friendship and communion with God everyone who lives according to Jesus' precepts. ### Scripture references - Gal 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:20: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 4.49 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Homeric phrase is Iliad 4.49 (24.70); “desires against the Spirit” is Gal 5:17. Origen's statement that human nature may “become divine” by communion with God is his teaching on deification. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/28/). ## Against Celsus 3.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/29/ - Source: Koetschau 1:226–227 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that demons opposed the spread of the gospel because it ended their sacrifices, but God made churches arise everywhere, which even at their worst are better than the civic assemblies around them. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον Ἀπόλλων βούλεται τοὺς Μεταποντίνους ἐν θεῶν μοίρᾳ νέμειν τὸν Ἀριστέαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ οἱ Μεταποντῖνοι τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἀριστέου ἀνθρώπου καὶ τάχα οὐ σπουδαίου ἐνάργειαν κρείττονα ἐνόμιζον εἶναι τοῦ περὶ αὐτοῦ χρησμοῦ ὡς θεοῦ ἢ θείων τιμῶν ἀξίου, διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐβούλοντο πείθεσθαι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι, καὶ οὕτως τὸν Ἀριστέαν οὐδεὶς νομίζει θεόν. περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ εἴποιμεν ἂν, ἐπεὶ συμφέρον ἦν τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει παραδέξασθαι αὐτὸν ὡς υἱὸν θεοῦ, θεὸν ἐληλυθότα ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι, καὶ οὐκ ἐδόκει τοῦτο τῇ λιχνείᾳ τῶν φιλοσωμάτων δαιμόνων καὶ τῶν νομιζόντων αὐτοὺς θεοὺς εἶναι λυσιτελὲς, διὰ τοῦθʼ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ γῆς δαίμονες. παρὰ τοῖς μὴ παιδευθεῖσι περὶ δαιμόνων νομιζόμενοι εἶναι θεοὶ. ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ θεραπεύοντες αὐτοὺς ἐβουλήθησαν κωλῦσαι τὴν νομὴν τῆς Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίας· ἑώρων γὰρ τὰς λοιβὰς καὶ τὰς κνίσσας, ἐφʼ αἷς λίχνως ἥδοντο, καθαιρουμένας ἐκ τοῦ κρατεῖν τὰ Ἰησοῦ μαθήματα. ὁ δὲ πέμψας τὸν Ἰησοῦν θεὸς ἐκλύσας πᾶσαν τὴν τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπιβουλὴν ἐποίησε πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιστροφῆς καὶ διορθώσεως κρατῆσαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον Ἰησοῦ καὶ γενέσθαι πανταχοῦ ἐκκλησίας ἀντιπολιτευομένας ἐκκλησίαις δεισιδαιμόνων καὶ ἀκολάστων καὶ ἀδίκων· τοιαῦτα γὰρ τὰ πανταχοῦ πολιτευόμενα ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῶν πόλεων πλήθη. αἱ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ Χριστῷ μαθητευθεῖσαι ἐκκλησίαι, συνεξεταζόμεναι ταῖς ὧν παροικοῦσι δήμων ἐκκλησίαις, „ὡς φωστῆρές“ εἰσιν „ἐν κόσμῳ.“ τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσαι καὶ τοὺς χείρους τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας καὶ συγκρίσει βελτιόνων ἐλάττους πολλῷ κρείττους τυγχάνειν τῶν ἐν τοῖς δήμοις ἐκκλησιῶν; ### English translation (Claude) Celsus's Apollo, then, wishes the Metapontines to count Aristeas among the gods. But since the Metapontines thought the evidence about Aristeas, a man and perhaps not a good one, stronger than the oracle about him as a god or worthy of divine honors, they would not obey Apollo, and so no one considers Aristeas a god. About Jesus we would say: since it was beneficial to the human race to accept him as the Son of God, God come in a human soul and body, and this did not seem advantageous to the gluttony of the body-loving daemons and of those who consider them gods, therefore the daemons on earth, thought to be gods by those not instructed about daemons, and also those who serve them, wished to prevent the spread of Jesus' teaching; for they saw the libations and the savor of sacrifice, in which they greedily delighted, being done away with as Jesus' teachings prevailed. But the God who sent Jesus, undoing every plot of the daemons, made the gospel of Jesus prevail everywhere in the world for the conversion and correction of mankind, and made churches arise everywhere, living as rival communities to the assemblies of the superstitious, licentious, and unjust; for such are the multitudes that everywhere take part in the assemblies of the cities. But the churches of God, made disciples by Christ, when compared with the assemblies of the peoples among whom they live as sojourners, are “as lights in the world.” For who would not acknowledge that even the worse members of the church, who are much inferior compared with the better, are far superior to the assemblies of the peoples? ### Scripture references - Phil 2:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Phil 2:15. Origen plays on ἐκκλησία, meaning both “church” and a city's “assembly”; the translation uses “church” and “assembly” accordingly. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/29/). ## Against Celsus 3.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/30/ - Source: Koetschau 1:227–228 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen compares the churches of Athens, Corinth, and Alexandria, and their councils and leaders, with the civic assemblies and magistrates of those cities, finding the church's members, even the weaker ones, morally superior. ### Greek text Ἐκκλησία μὲν γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν, ἡ Ἀθήνῃσι πρᾳεῖά τις καὶ εὐσταθὴς, ἅτε θεῷ ἀρέσκειν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι βουλομένη· ἡ δʼ Ἀθηναίων ἐκκλησία στασιώδης καὶ οὐδαμῶς παραβαλλομένη τῇ ἐκεῖ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ ἐρεῖς περὶ ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Κορίνθῳ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ δήμου Κορινθίων καὶ, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν, περὶ ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ καὶ ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Ἀλεξανδρέων δήμου. καὶ ἐὰν εὐγνώμων ᾖ ὁ τούτου ἀκούων καὶ φιλαλήθως ἐξετάζῃ τὰ πράγματα, θαυμάσεται τὸν καὶ βουλευσάμενον καὶ ἀνύσαι δυνηθέντα πανταχοῦ συστήσασθαι ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ, παροικούσας ἐκκλησίαις τῶν καθʼ ἑκάστην πόλιν δήμων. οὕτω δὲ καὶ βουλὴν ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ βουλῇ τῇ καθʼ ἑκάστην πόλιν συνεξετάζων εὕροις ἂν, τίνες μὲν τῆς ἐκκλησίας βουλευταὶ ἄξιοί εἰσιν, εἴ τις ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ παντὶ πόλις τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐν ἐκείνῃ πολιτεύεσθαι· οἱ δὲ πανταχοῦ βουλευταὶ οὐδὲν ἄξιον τῆς ἐκ κατατάξεως ὑπεροχῆς, ἣν ὑπερέχειν δοκοῦσι τῶν πολιτῶν, φέρουσιν ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἤθεσιν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἄρχοντα ἐκκλησίας ἑκάστης πόλεως ἄρχοντι τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει συγκριτέον· ἵνα κατανοήσῃς ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν σφόδρα ἀποτυγχανομένων βουλευτῶν καὶ ἀρχόντων ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ καὶ ῥᾳθυμότερον παρὰ τοὺς εὐτονωτέρως βιούντων οὐδὲν ἧττον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ὡς ἐπίπαν ὑπεροχὴν τὴν ἐν τῇ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρετὰς προκοπῇ παρὰ τὰ ἤθη τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι βουλευόντων καὶ ἀρχόντων. ### English translation (Claude) For the church of God, say, at Athens is gentle and orderly, since it wishes to please the God over all; but the assembly of the Athenians is factious and in no way comparable with the church of God there. You will say the same about the church of God at Corinth and the assembly of the people of Corinth, and, say, about the church of God at Alexandria and the assembly of the people of Alexandria. And if one who hears this is fair-minded and examines things with love of truth, he will marvel at the one who both planned and was able to establish everywhere churches of God, living as sojourners beside the assemblies of the peoples in each city. So too, comparing the council of the church of God with the council in each city, you would find that some councillors of the church are worthy, if there is a city of God anywhere in the universe, to be citizens of it, while the councillors everywhere else display in their characters nothing worthy of the pre-eminence of rank by which they seem to surpass their fellow citizens. So too the ruler of the church in each city should be compared with the ruler of those in the city, so that you may perceive that even among the councillors and rulers of the church of God who fall far short and live more carelessly than the more vigorous, one can nonetheless generally find a superiority in progress toward the virtues compared with the characters of the councillors and rulers in the cities. ### Scripture references - Heb 12:22: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “Council” (βουλή) and “ruler” (ἄρχων) of the church probably refer to the presbyters and the bishop; Origen uses civic terms for the comparison. “City of God” echoes Heb 11:10 and 12:22. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/30/). ## Against Celsus 3.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/31/ - Source: Koetschau 1:228 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen contrasts the purposeless marvel of Abaris riding an arrow with Jesus' ascension in glory, which served to commend his teaching and turn people to God. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει, πῶς οὐκ εὔλογον μὲν νομίζειν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, τοσαῦτα συστῆσαι δεδυνημένου, ὅτι οὐχ ἡ τυχοῦσα θειότης ἦν ἐν αὐτῷ, οὐκέτι δὲ οὔτε ἐν τῷ Προκοννησίῳ Ἀριστέᾳ. κἂν ὁ Ἀπόλλων αὐτὸν βούληται ἐν θεῶν μοίρᾳ νέμειν, οὔτʼ ἐν οἷς ἐξαριθμεῖται ὁ Κέλσος λέγων ὅτι οὐδεὶς νομίζει θεὸν Ἄβαριν τὸν Ὑπερβόρειον, ὃς δύναμιν εἶχε τοσήνδε, ὥστε ὀϊστῷ [βέλει] συμφέρεσθαι; τί γὰρ βουλομένη ἡ χαρισαμένη θειότης τῷ Ὑπερβορείῳ Ἀβάριδι ὀϊστῷ συμφέρεσθαι τὸ τηλικοῦτον αὐτῷ ἐδωρεῖτο· ἵνα τι ὠφεληθῇ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος; ἢ αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος τί ὤνατο ὀϊστῷ συμφέρεσθαι; ἵνα καὶ συγχωρηθῇ ταῦτα μηδαμῶς εἶναι πλάσματα ἀλλὰ κατά τινα δαιμονίου συνεργίαν γεγονέναι. ἐὰν δὲ ὁ ἐμὸς Ἰησοῦς ἀναλαμβάνεσθαι „ἐν δόξῃ“ λέγηται, ὁρῶ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, ὅτι τοῖς θεωρήσασι συνίστη τὸν διδάσκαλον ὁ τοῦτʼ ἐνεργήσας γενέσθαι θεός· ἵνʼ ὡς οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἀνθρωπίνων μαθημάτων ἀλλὰ θείας διδασκαλίας ἀγωνιζόμενοι ὅση δύναμις ἑαυτοὺς ἀναθῶσι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ καὶ πάντα πράττωσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἀρεσκείας, ὡς ἀποληψόμενοι κατʼ ἀξίαν ἐν θείῳ δικαστηρίῳ ἅπερ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ εὖ ἢ κακῶς πεποιήκασιν. ### English translation (Claude) If this is so, how is it not reasonable to think of Jesus, who was able to establish so much, that no ordinary divinity was in him, but not so in Aristeas of Proconnesus, even if Apollo wishes to count him among the gods, nor in those Celsus lists when he says that “no one considers a god Abaris the Hyperborean, who had such power that he was carried along on an arrow”? For with what purpose did the divinity that granted Abaris the Hyperborean to be carried on an arrow bestow so great a gift on him? So that the human race might be benefited in some way? Or what did he himself gain from being carried on an arrow? This even granting that these things are not fictions at all but happened through some cooperation of a daemon. But if my Jesus is said to have been taken up “in glory,” I see the dispensation: the God who brought this about commended the teacher to those who saw it, so that, contending not for human lessons but for divine teaching, they might dedicate themselves as far as possible to the God over all and do everything to please him, as those who will receive in the divine court according to their deserts what they have done well or badly in this life. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 3:16: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:10: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.36 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The legend of Abaris is in Herodotus 4.36. The quotation is 1 Tim 3:16; the judgment “according to what they have done” echoes 2 Cor 5:10. The editor deletes the square-bracketed βέλει (a gloss on ὀϊστῷ, “arrow”); it is not translated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/31/). ## Against Celsus 3.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/32/ - Source: Koetschau 1:228–229 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against the tale of Hermotimus of Clazomenae, whose soul left his body, Origen sets Jesus' own authority to lay down his life and take it again, shown in his death and resurrection as foretold. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τοῦ Κλαζομενίου ὁ Κέλσος εἶπε προσθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς κατʼ αὐτὸν ἱστορίας· μῶν οὐ τοῦτό φασιν, ὡς ἄρα ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ πολλάκις ἀπολιποῦσα τὸ σῶμα περιεπόλει ἀσώματος; καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἐνόμισαν θεὸν οἱ ἄνθρωποι. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο φήσομεν ὅτι τάχα πονηροί τινες δαίμονες τοιαῦτα ᾠκονόμησαν ἀναγραφῆναι (οὐ γὰρ πιστεύω ὅτι καὶ γενέσθαι ᾠκονόμησαν). ἵνα τὰ προφητευθέντα περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὰ λεχθέντα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἤτοι ὡς πλάσματα ὅμοια ἐκείνοις διαβάλληται, ἢ ὡς οὐδὲν πλεῖον ἑτέρων ἔχοντα μὴ πάνυ θαυμάζηται. ἔλεγε δὴ ὁ ἐμὸς Ἰησοῦς περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς. οὐ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον χρεὼν χωριζομένης τοῦ σώματος ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ καὶ περὶ τούτου παράδοξον ἐξουσίαν, τό· „οὐδεὶς αἴρει τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ τίθημι αὐτὴν ἀπʼ ἐμαυτοῦ. ἐξουσίαν ἔχω θεῖναι αὐτὴν, καὶ πάλιν ἐξουσίαν ἔχω λαβεῖν αὐτήν.“ ἐπεὶ γὰρ „ἐξουσίαν“ εἶχε „θεῖναι αὐτὴν.“ ἔθηκε μὲν. ἡνίκα εἶπε· „πάτερ, ἱνατί με ἐγκατέλιπες;“ καὶ „κράξας φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἀφῆκε τὸ πνεῦμα, “ προλαβὼν τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνασκολοπιζομένων δημίους. ὑποτέμνοντας τὰ σκέλη τῶν σταυρουμένων καὶ διὰ τοῦθʼ ὑποτέμνοντας, ἵνα μὴ ἐπὶ πλέον τιμωρίαν τίσωσιν. ἔλαβε δὲ „τὴν ψυχὴν“, ὅτε ἑαυτὸν ἐνεφάνισε τοῖς μαθηταῖς, προειπὼν ἐπʼ αὐτῶν τοῖς ἀπιστοῦσιν αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίοις· „λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, κἀγὼ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν.“ καὶ „ἔλεγέ γε τοῦτο περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ.“ καὶ τῶν προφητῶν προκηρυξάντων τὸ τοιοῦτο διὰ πλειόνων καὶ διὰ τοῦ· „ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου κατασκηνώσει ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι· ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς τὸν ᾅδην οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Since after this Celsus also spoke of the man of Clazomenae, adding to the story about him: “Do they not say this, that his soul often left his body and roamed about bodiless? Yet people did not consider him a god either,” we shall say to this that perhaps some wicked daemons arranged for such things to be written (for I do not believe they arranged for them to happen too), so that what was prophesied about Jesus and said by him might either be slandered as fictions like those, or, as having nothing more than others, not be greatly admired. My Jesus said about his own soul, which was separated from the body not by human necessity but by the marvelous authority given him in this too: “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again.” For since he had “authority to lay it down,” he laid it down when he said, “Father, why have you forsaken me?”, and, “crying with a loud voice, gave up his spirit,” anticipating the executioners of the crucified, who break the legs of those crucified, and break them so that they may not suffer punishment any longer. And he took “his life” again when he showed himself to the disciples, having foretold it in their presence to the Jews who disbelieved him: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And “he spoke this of the temple of his body”; the prophets too having proclaimed this in many places, including: “Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope; for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your holy one see corruption.” ### Scripture references - John 10:18: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:46: quotation, high confidence - Matt 27:50: quotation, high confidence - John 19:32: allusion, high confidence - John 2:19: quotation, high confidence - John 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 16:9 (15:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 16:10 (15:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The man of Clazomenae is Hermotimus (Pliny, Natural History 7.174). The quotations are John 10:18, Matt 27:46, Matt 27:50, John 2:19, 21, and Ps 16:9–10 (15:9–10 LXX); the breaking of legs is John 19:31–33. ψυχή is rendered “life” in John 10:18 and “soul” in Ps 16. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/32/). ## Against Celsus 3.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/33/ - Source: Koetschau 1:229–230 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that the tale of Cleomedes vanishing from a chest, even if true, served no purpose, whereas Jesus' divinity is shown by the churches, the prophecies, the healings, and the wisdom found in Scripture. ### Greek text Ἔδειξε δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι πλείονας ἀνέγνω ἱστορίας Ἑλληνικὰς, παραθέμενος καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἀστυπαλαιέως Κλεομήδους· ὃν ἱστόρησεν εἰς κιβωτὸν καταδύντα καὶ ἔνδοθεν αὐτῆς εἰλημμένον μὴ εὑρῆσθαι ἔνδον· ἀλλʼ ἔκτοθι δαιμονίᾳ τινὶ μοίρᾳ διαπτῆναι, ἡνίκα ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐτὸν συλλαβεῖν διέκοψάν τινες τὴν κιβωτόν. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ εἰ μὲν πλάσμα ἐστὶν, ὥσπερ ἔοικεν εἶναι πλάσμα, οὐ παραβάλλεται τοῖς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· ἐπείπερ ἐκείνων μὲν οὐδὲν τῆς ἱστορουμένης θειότητος ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων σύμβολον εὑρίσκεται, τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ αἱ τῶν ὠφελουμένων ἐκκλησίαι καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτοῦ λελεγμέναι προφητεῖαι καὶ αἱ ἐν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ γινόμεναι θεραπεῖαι καὶ ἡ κατʼ αὐτὸν μετὰ σοφίας γνῶσις καὶ λόγος εὑρισκόμενος παρὰ τοῖς φροντίσασιν ἀναβῆναι μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ψιλῆς πίστεως, ἐρευνῆσαι δὲ τὸν ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς νοῦν κατὰ τὰς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὑποθήκας εἰπόντος· „ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς γραφὰς, “ καὶ κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ διδάξαντος Παύλου δεῖν „εἰδέναι“ ἡμᾶς „ἑκάστῳ“ κατὰ τὸ δέον „ἀποκρίνεσθαι.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ εἰπόντος· „ἕτοιμοι ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀπολογίαν παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντι ὑμᾶς λόγον περὶ τῆς ἐν ὑμῖν πίστεως.“ εἰ δὲ βούλεται αὐτὸς συγχωρεῖσθαι μὴ εἶναι πλάσμα. λεγέτω. τί βουλομένη ἡ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον δύναμις πεποίηκεν ἔκτοθι τῆς κιβωτοῦ δαιμονίᾳ τινὶ μοίρᾳ διαπτῆναι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀξιόλογόν τι παραστήσει καὶ βούλημα θεοῦ ἄξιον τὸ δωρησάμενον τὸ τοιοῦτον τῷ Κλεομήδει, κρινοῦμεν, τί χρὴ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτόν· εἰ δʼ ἀπορήσει κἂν πιθανόν τι εἰς τὸν τόπον λέγειν. δηλονότι τὸ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι λόγον, ἤτοι διαβαλοῦμεν τοῖς αὐτὴν μὴ παραδεξαμένοις καὶ ἐγκαλέσομεν τῇ ἱστορίᾳ ὡς οὐκ ἀληθεῖ, ἢ δαιμόνιόν τι φήσομεν παραπλήσιον τοῖς ἐπιδεικνυμένοις γόησιν ἀπάτῃ ὀφθαλμῶν πεποιηκέναι καὶ περὶ τὸν Ἀστυπαλαιέα· περὶ οὗ οἴεται ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι θεοπρόπιόν τι ἐθέσπισεν. ὡς ἄρα μοίρᾳ τινὶ δαιμονίᾳ διέπτη ἀπὸ τῆς κιβωτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus showed that he had read quite a few Greek histories when he cited the story of Cleomedes of Astypalaea, who, he related, went into a chest and, though shut up inside it, was not found inside, but by some divine fate had flown out, when some people broke open the chest to seize him. If this is a fiction, as it seems to be, it is not comparable with what concerns Jesus. For no token of their reported divinity is found in human life, whereas for Jesus there are the churches of those who have been helped, the prophecies spoken about him, the healings done in his name, and the knowledge and word with wisdom concerning him found among those who have taken care to rise above bare faith and search out the meaning in the divine Scriptures, according to the precepts of Jesus, who said, “Search the Scriptures,” and according to the intent of Paul, who taught that we must “know how to answer each one” as is fitting, and also of the one who said: “Always ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you for a reason for the faith that is in you.” But if he wishes it to be granted that it is not a fiction, let him say for what purpose the superhuman power made him fly out of the chest by some divine fate. If he presents something worthy of note and a purpose worthy of God that bestowed such a thing on Cleomedes, we shall decide what to say to him. But if he is at a loss to say anything even plausible on the matter, clearly, since no reason is found, we shall either disparage the story to those who have not accepted it and charge it with being untrue, or we shall say that some daemon did something to the man of Astypalaea like what sorcerers show by deceiving the eyes; Celsus thinks that an oracle declared of him that by some divine fate he flew out of the chest. ### Scripture references - John 5:39: quotation, high confidence - Col 4:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 3:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The story of Cleomedes is in Pausanias 6.9.6–8. The quotations are John 5:39, Col 4:6, and 1 Pet 3:15 (loosely). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/33/). ## Against Celsus 3.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/34/ - Source: Koetschau 1:230–231 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's comparison of Christian worship with the hero cults of Zamolxis, Mopsus, and others: Christians build no temples or statues but, through Jesus as mediator and high priest, pray to the God over all. ### Greek text Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἡγοῦμαι ὅτι τούτους μόνους ἠπίστατο ὁ Κέλσος. καὶ ἵνα δοκῇ ἑκὼν παραλιπεῖν τὰ παραπλήσια, εἶπε τό· καὶ ἄλλους ἔχοι τις ἂν εἰπεῖν τοιούσδε πλείονας. ἔστω δʼ οὖν καὶ δεδόσθω τοιούσδε γεγονέναι πλείονας, μηδὲν ὠφεληκότας τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος. τί τούτων ἕκαστον εὑρεθείη ἂν πρὸς τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἔργον καὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ παράδοξα, περὶ ὧν ἐπὶ πλεῖον εἰρήκαμεν; μετὰ ταῦτα παραπλήσιον ἡμᾶς οἴεται πεποιηκέναι τὸν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Κέλσος, ἁλόντα καὶ ἀποθανόντα θρησκεύοντας τοῖς Γέταις σέβουσι τὸν Ζάμολξιν καὶ Κίλιξι τὸν Μόψον καὶ Ἀκαρνᾶσι τὸν Ἀμφίλοχον καὶ Θηβαίοις τὸν Ἀμφιάρεω καὶ Λεβαδίοις τὸν Τροφώνιον. καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὲ ἐλέγξομεν αὐτὸν οὐκ εὐλόγως ἡμᾶς ὁμοιώσαντα τοῖς προειρημένοις. οἱ μὲν γὰρ νεὼς καὶ ἀγάλματα κατεσκεύασαν τοῖς κατειλεγμένοις, ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν διὰ τῶν τοιούτων τιμὴν ἀνελόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου (ὡς ἁρμοζόντων μᾶλλον δαιμονίοις οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἱδρυμένοις ἔν τινι τόπῳ, ὃν ἤτοι προκαταλαμβάνουσιν ἢ διά τινων τελετῶν ἀχθέντες καὶ μαγγανειῶν ὥσπερ οἰκοῦσιν) τεθήπαμεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν νοῦν ἡμῶν μεταθέντα ἀπὸ παντὸς αἰσθητοῦ. ὡς οὐ μόνον φθαρτοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ φθαρησομένου, καὶ ἀνάγοντα ἐπὶ τὴν μετὰ ὀρθοῦ βίου πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν τιμὴν μετʼ εὐχῶν, ἃς προσάγομεν αὐτῷ ὡς διὰ μεταξὺ ὄντος τῆς τοῦ ἀγενήτου καὶ τῆς τῶν γενητῶν πάντων φύσεως, καὶ φέροντος μὲν ἡμῖν τὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς εὐεργεσίας διακομίζοντος δʼ ἡμῶν τρόπον ἀρχιερέως τὰς εὐχὰς πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεόν. ### English translation (Claude) I think these were the only ones Celsus knew; and so as to seem to have deliberately left out similar cases, he said, “And one could name many others of this kind.” Suppose it granted that there were many more of this kind, who did the human race no good: what would each of them be found to be compared with the work of Jesus and the marvels about him, of which we have spoken at length? After this he thinks we have done something similar in worshiping one who, as Celsus says, “was taken and died,” to the Getae who revere Zamolxis, the Cilicians Mopsus, the Acarnanians Amphilochus, the Thebans Amphiaraus, and the Lebadeans Trophonius. Here too we shall show that he has not reasonably likened us to those mentioned. For they built temples and statues to those listed, whereas we have removed from the divine the honor paid through such things (as more suited to daemons, who are somehow established in a certain place, which they either seize beforehand or, drawn by certain rites and charms, as it were inhabit), and we are amazed at Jesus, who transferred our minds from everything perceptible, as not only corruptible but destined to perish, and leads them up to the honor paid, with an upright life, to the God over all, with prayers which we offer to him through Jesus, as one who is between the nature of the unbegotten and that of all begotten things, who brings us the benefits from the Father and, like a high priest, conveys our prayers to the God over all. ### Scripture references - Heb 4:14: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 7:25: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 2:5: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.94–96 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Zamolxis (Herodotus 4.94–96), Mopsus, Amphilochus, Amphiaraus, and Trophonius were heroes with oracle-shrines. Christ as high priest is the language of Hebrews (e.g. Heb 4:14; 7:25). Origen's description of Christ as “between the nature of the unbegotten and that of all begotten things” is his own formulation, later debated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/34/). ## Against Celsus 3.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/35/ - Source: Koetschau 1:231–232 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen presses Celsus: either the hero-shrines have no power, making Celsus an Epicurean, or they do, in which case Jesus, who forbids their worship as demons, must be more powerful than all of them. ### Greek text Ἐβουλόμην δὲ πρὸς τὸν οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τοιαῦτα λέγοντα τοιαῦτά τινα πρεπόντως αὐτῷ ἀδολεσχῆσαι· ἆρʼ οὖν οὐδέν εἰσιν οὗτοι, οὓς κατέλεξας, καὶ οὐδεμία δύναμίς ἐστιν ἐν Λεβαδίᾳ κατὰ τὸν Τροφώνιον οὐδʼ ἐν Θήβαις περὶ τὸν τοῦ Ἀμφιάρεω νεὼν οὐδʼ ἐν Ἀκαρνανίᾳ περὶ τὸν Ἀμφίλοχον οὐδʼ ἐν Κιλικίᾳ περὶ τὸν Μόψον; ἢ ἐστί τις ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις εἴτε δαίμων εἴτε ἥρως εἴτε καὶ θεὸς, ἐνεργῶν τινα μείζονα ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον; εἰ μὲν γάρ φησι μηδὲν ἕτερον εἶναι μήτε δαιμόνιον μήτε θεῖον περὶ τούτους, κἂν νῦν ὁμολογησάτω τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γνώμην. Ἐπικούρειος ὢν καὶ μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι φρονῶν καὶ μήτε δαίμονας γινώσκων μήτε κἂν ὡς Ἕλληνες θεοὺς σέβων, καὶ ἐλεγχέσθω ὅτι μάτην καὶ τὰ προειρημένα ὡς παραδεξάμενος αὐτὰ εἶναι ἀληθῆ ἐκόμισε καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἐπιφερόμενα. εἰ δὲ φήσει εἴτε δαίμονας εἴτε ἥρωας εἴτε καὶ θεοὺς εἶναι τοὺς κατειλεγμένους, ὁράτω ὅτι ὅπερ οὐ βούλεται κατασκευάσει διʼ ὧν εἴρηκεν, ὡς καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοιοῦτόν τι ἦν· διὸ καὶ δεδύνηται ἑαυτὸν παραστῆσαι οὐκ ὀλίγοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων θεόθεν ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἅπαξ δὲ τοῦτʼ ἐὰν παραδέξηται, ὅρα εἰ μὴ ἀναγκασθήσεται ἰσχυρότερον αὐτὸν φῆσαι τούτων. οἷς αὐτὸν συγκατηρίθμησεν· ἐπεὶ ἐκείνων μέν γε οὐδεὶς κωλύει τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ἑτέρους τιμὰς, οὗτος δὲ ἑαυτῷ θαῤῥῶν ὡς πάντων ἐκείνων δυνατώτερος ἀπαγορεύει τὰς τούτων ἀποδοχὰς ὡς μοχθηρῶν δαιμόνων καὶ τόπους „ἐπὶ γῆς προκατειληφότων. ἐπεὶ τῆς καθαρωτέρας οὐ δύνανται ἐφάψασθαι χώρας καὶ θειοτέρας, ἔνθα μὴ φθάνουσιν αἱ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ μυρίων κακῶν παχύτητες. ### English translation (Claude) I would like to talk, as befits him, with one who, I know not how, says such things, in this way: “Are these beings you listed nothing at all, and is there no power at Lebadea in Trophonius, or at Thebes around the temple of Amphiaraus, or in Acarnania around Amphilochus, or in Cilicia around Mopsus? Or is there in such places some being, whether a daemon or a hero or even a god, working things greater than human?” If he says that there is nothing else, neither daemonic nor divine, about them, let him admit his opinion at least now, that he is an Epicurean who does not think the same as the Greeks, who neither recognizes daemons nor worships gods as the Greeks do; and let him be convicted of having brought forward in vain both what was said before, as if he accepted it as true, and what he adds later. But if he says that those listed are daemons or heroes or even gods, let him see that by what he has said he will establish what he does not wish, that Jesus too was something of this kind; which is why he was able to convince not a few people that he had come from God to the human race. And once he accepts this, see whether he will not be forced to say that he is more powerful than those with whom he has numbered him. For none of them forbids honors to the others, but this one, confident that he is more powerful than all of them, forbids their acceptance, as of wicked daemons who have seized places on earth, since they cannot reach the purer and more divine region, where the grossness of the earth and its countless evils does not reach. ### Translation notes - On Celsus as a supposed Epicurean, see Book 1. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/35/). ## Against Celsus 3.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/36/ - Source: Koetschau 1:232–233 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's comparison of Jesus with Hadrian's favorite Antinous, whose cult was set up by royal command and sustained by Egyptian sorcery, whereas God himself commended Jesus, whose name still drives out demons. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν παιδικῶν Ἀδριανοῦ (λέγω δὲ τὰ περὶ Ἀντινόου τοῦ μειρακίου καὶ τὰς εἰς αὐτὸν τῶν ἐν Ἀντινόου (πόλει) τῆς Αἰγύπτου τιμὰς) οὐδὲν οἴεται ἀποδεῖν τῆς ἡμετέρας πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν τιμῆς, φέρε καὶ τοῦτο ὡς φιλέχθρως λεγόμενον διελέγξωμεν. τί γὰρ κοινὸν ἔχει ὁ γενόμενος ἐν τοῖς Ἀδριανοῦ παιδικοῖς βίος, οὐδὲ τὸν ἄῤῥενα ἀπαθῇ γυναικείας νόσου φυλάξαντος. πρὸς τὸν σεμνὸν ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν, οὗ μηδὲ οἱ μυρία κατηγορήσαντες καὶ ψευδῆ ὅσα περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντες δεδύνηνται κατειπεῖν ὡς κἂν τὸ τυχὸν ἀκολασίας κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον γευσαμένου; ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ φιλαλήθως καὶ ἀδεκάστως τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἀντίνουν ἐξετάζοι τις, μαγγανείας ἂν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τελετὰς εὕροι τὰς αἰτίας τοῦ δοκεῖν τι αὐτὸν ποιεῖν ἐν Ἀντινόου πόλει καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν αὐτοῦ· ὅπερ καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλων νεὼν ἱστορεῖται ὑπὸ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινῶν γεγονέναι, ἔν τισι τόποις ἱδρυόντων δαίμονας μαντικοὺς ἢ ἰατρικοὺς πολλάκις δὲ καὶ βασανίζοντας τοὺς δοκοῦντάς τι παραβεβηκέναι περὶ τῶν τυχόντων βρωμάτων ἢ περὶ τοῦ θιγεῖν νεκροῦ σώματος ἀνθρωπίνου, ἵνα δοκοῖεν δεδίττεσθαι τὸν πολὺν καὶ ἀπαίδευτον. τοιοῦτος δέ ἐστι καὶ ἐν Ἀντινόου πόλει τῆς Αἰγύπτου νομισθεὶς εἶναι θεὸς, οὗ ἀρετὰς οἱ μέν τινες κυβευτικώτερον ζῶντες καταψεύδονται, ἕτεροι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐκεῖ ἱδρυμένου δαίμονος ἀπατώμενοι καὶ ἄλλοι ἀπὸ ἀσθενοῦς τοῦ συνειδότος ἐλεγχόμενοι οἴονται τίνειν θεήλατον ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀντινόου ποινήν. τοιαῦτα δέ ἐστι καὶ τὰ δρώμενα αὐτῶν μυστήρια καὶ αἱ δοκοῦσαι μαντεῖαι, ὧν πάνυ μακράν ἐστι τὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. οὐ γὰρ συνελθόντες γόητες, χάριν τίνοντες βασιλεῖ τινι κελεύοντι ἢ ἡγεμόνι προστάσσοντι, πεποιηκέναι ἔδοξαν αὐτὸν εἶναι θεὸν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς ἀκολούθως τῇ ἐν τῷ λέγειν τεραστίως πιστικῇ δυνάμει συνέστησεν αὐτὸν ὡς τιμῆς ἄξιον οὐ τοῖς εὐφρονεῖν ἐθέλουσι μόνον ἀνθρώποις ἀλλὰ καὶ δαίμοσι καὶ ἄλλαις ἀοράτοις δυνάμεσιν· αἵτινες μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο ἐμφαίνουσιν ἤτοι φοβούμεναι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὡς κρείττονος ἢ σεβασμίως ἀποδεχόμεναι ὡς κατὰ νόμους αὐτῶν ἄρχοντος. εἰ γὰρ μὴ θεόθεν ἦν αὐτῷ δοθεῖσα σύστασις, οὐκ ἂν καὶ δαίμονες τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἀπαγγελλομένῳ μόνον εἴκοντες ἀνεχώρουν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν πολεμουμένων. ### English translation (Claude) Since after this he thinks that what concerns Hadrian's favorite (I mean the youth Antinous and the honors paid him by the people of Antinoopolis in Egypt) falls in no way short of our honor for Jesus, come, let us refute this too as spoken out of hostility. For what has the life of Hadrian's favorite, who did not keep even his manhood free from womanish disease, in common with our dignified Jesus, against whom not even those who brought countless accusations and told so many lies could allege that he tasted even the least licentiousness, even for a little while? If one examines the case of Antinous truthfully and impartially, one would find that Egyptian sorceries and rites are the causes of his seeming to do something at Antinoopolis even after his death. The same is related by the Egyptians, and by those skilled in such things, of other temples: they establish in certain places daemons that give oracles or heal, and often also torment those thought to have transgressed about common foods or about touching a dead human body, so that they may seem to frighten the ignorant multitude. Such also is the one thought to be a god at Antinoopolis in Egypt, whose powers some who live rather like gamblers falsely proclaim, while others are deceived by the daemon established there, and others, convicted by a weak conscience, think they are paying a god-sent penalty from Antinous. Such are also their mysteries performed and their supposed oracles, from which the things of Jesus are very far removed. For it was not sorcerers meeting together, doing a favor to some king who ordered it or a governor who commanded it, who seemed to have made him a god; but the Creator of the universe himself, in keeping with the marvelously persuasive power of his speaking, commended him as worthy of honor not only to human beings who wish to think rightly but also to daemons and other invisible powers, which to this day show that they either fear the name of Jesus as stronger, or reverently accept him as their lawful ruler. For if his commendation had not been given him by God, daemons would not yield and withdraw from those they were attacking at the mere pronouncing of his name. ### Translation notes - Antinous, Hadrian's favorite, drowned in the Nile in AD 130 and was deified; Hadrian founded Antinoopolis in his honor. Origen's description of the relationship is his own hostile account, translated as written. The bracketed (πόλει) is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/36/). ## Against Celsus 3.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/37/ - Source: Koetschau 1:233–234 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says Christians refuse to compare Jesus with Zeus or Apollo, whom they know to be demons that feed on sacrifices, and explains that some fallen spirits, like deluded philosophers, proclaim themselves gods, so that one should trust only the God over all and Christ. ### Greek text Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν οὖν διδαχθέντες τὸν Ἀντίνουν σέβειν, ἐὰν παραβάλῃς (αὐτῷ) Ἀπόλλωνα ἢ Δία, ἀνέξονται, σεμνύνοντες τὸν Ἀντίνουν διὰ τοῦ ἐκείνοις αὐτὸν συναριθμεῖν· καὶ ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ὁ Κέλσος σαφῶς ψεύδεται λέγων· κἂν παραβάλῃς αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα ἢ τὸν Δία, οὐκ ἀνέξονται. Χριστιανοῖς δὲ μεμαθηκόσι τὴν αἰώνιον αὐτοῖς εἶναι ζωὴν ἐν τῷ γινώσκειν „τὸν μόνον“ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν „ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν“ ἐκεῖνος ἀπέστειλεν „Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, “ μαθοῦσι δὲ καὶ „ὅτι πάντες μὲν οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσι δαιμόνια“ λίχνα καὶ περὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰ αἵματα καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν θυσιῶν ἀποφορὰς καλινδούμενα ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ τῶν μὴ προσπεφευγότων τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ, οἱ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ θεῖοι καὶ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι ἄλλης εἰσὶ φύσεως καὶ προαιρέσεως παρὰ τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς πάντας δαίμονας, καὶ ὅτι οὗτοι σφόδρα ὀλίγοις γινώσκονται τοῖς περὶ τῶν τοιούτων συνετῶς καὶ ἐπιμελῶς ζητήσασιν, ἐὰν παραβάλῃς Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ Δία ἤ τινα τῶν μετὰ κνίσσης καὶ αἵματος καὶ θυσιῶν προσκυνουμένων, οὐκ ἀνέξονται· τινὲς μὲν διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἁπλότητα μὴ εἰδότες μὲν δοῦναι λόγον περὶ ὧν ποιοῦσιν εὐγνωμόνως δὲ τηροῦντες ἃ παρειλήφασιν, ἕτεροι δὲ μετʼ οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτων λόγων ἀλλὰ καὶ βαθυτέρων καὶ, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις Ἕλλην, ἐσωτερικῶν καὶ ἐποπτικῶν, ἐν οἷς πολύς ἐστι λόγος περὶ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν τετιμημένων ἀπὸ θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς θεοῦ λόγου μετοχῇ θεότητος διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὀνόματι. πολὺς δὲ ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν θείων ἀγγέλων καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν ἐναντίων μὲν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἠπατημένων δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἀπάτης αὐτοὺς ἀναγορευόντων θεοὺς ἢ ἀγγέλους θεοῦ ἢ δαίμονας ἀγαθοὺς ἢ ἥρωας ἐκ μεταβολῆς συστάντας ἀγαθῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ψυχῆς. οἱ δὲ τοιοῦτοι Χριστιανοὶ εἶναι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἤτοι ἑαυτοὺς ὥσπερ πολλοὶ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ δοκοῦσιν εἶναι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἤτοι ἑαυτοὺς κατασοφισάμενοι λόγοις πιθανοῖς ἢ τοῖς ὑφʼ ἑτέρων προσαγομένοις καὶ εὑρεθεῖσι συγκαταθέμενοι προπετῶς, οὕτως εἰσὶ καὶ [αἱ] ἐν ταῖς ἔξω σωμάτων ψυχαῖς καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ δαίμοσί τινες, ὑπὸ τῶν πιθανοτήτων ἑλκυσθέντες πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοὺς ἀναγορεῦσαι θεούς. καὶ διὰ τοὺς τοιούτους γε λόγους κατὰ τὸ ἀκριβὲς τελείως ἐν ἀνθρώποις μὴ δυναμένους εὑρεθῆναι ἀσφαλὲς ἐνομίσθη τὸ μηδενὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐμπιστεῦσαι ἄνθρωπον ὄντα ὡς θεῷ, πλὴν μόνου τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὡς διαιτητοῦ, τοῦ βαθύτατα ταῦτα καὶ θεωρήσαντος καὶ ὀλίγοις παραδόντος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) The Egyptians, then, taught to worship Antinous, will tolerate it if you compare Apollo or Zeus with (him), exalting Antinous by numbering him with them; for here too Celsus plainly lies when he says, “Even if you compare Apollo or Zeus with him, they will not tolerate it.” But Christians, who have learned that eternal life for them is to know “the only true God” over all “and Jesus Christ whom” he “has sent,” and have learned that “all the gods of the nations are demons,” gluttonous, rolling about sacrifices, blood, and the portions from the sacrifices, to deceive those who have not fled for refuge to the God over all, while the divine and holy angels of God are of another nature and will than all the demons on earth, and that these are known to very few who have inquired into such matters intelligently and carefully: Christians will not tolerate it if you compare Apollo and Zeus, or any of those worshiped with the savor of sacrifice, blood, and offerings. Some do so from great simplicity, not knowing how to give an account of what they do, but faithfully keeping what they have received; others with arguments not to be despised, deeper, and, as a Greek might say, esoteric and belonging to the higher initiation, in which there is much teaching about God and about those honored by God, through the only-begotten God the Word, with a share in divinity and therefore also in the name. There is much teaching too about the divine angels and about those who oppose the truth, who have been deceived and out of deception proclaim themselves gods, or angels of God, or good daemons, or heroes formed by a good transformation of a human soul. Such Christians … will show that, just as many in philosophy think they are in the truth, either deceiving themselves with plausible arguments or rashly assenting to those offered and devised by others, so also among souls outside bodies, angels, and daemons there are some who have been drawn by plausibilities to proclaim themselves gods. And because such matters cannot be found out with perfect exactness among human beings, it was considered safe that no one, being a man, should entrust himself to anyone as to God except to Jesus Christ alone, who is, as it were, the arbiter over all, and who contemplated these things most deeply and handed them on to a few. ### Scripture references - John 17:3: quotation, high confidence - Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 1:18: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are John 17:3 and Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX). “The only-begotten God the Word” echoes John 1:18. The digital text is disordered in the sentence beginning “οἱ δὲ τοιοῦτοι Χριστιανοὶ εἶναι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἤτοι ἑαυτοὺς ὥσπερ πολλοὶ…” (apparently a misplaced or doubled line); it is marked “…”, and the evident sense (“such Christians will show that, as many in philosophy…”), which ANF also gives, is translated. In the last sentence τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὡς διαιτητοῦ refers to Jesus Christ (“the one who is, as it were, arbiter over all”), not to the Father. The editor deletes the square-bracketed αἱ; the bracketed αὐτῷ is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/37/). ## Against Celsus 3.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/38/ - Source: Koetschau 1:234–235 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen reflects that what people believe often depends on the “fortune” of their teachers and upbringing, whose causes lie hidden in providence, and that faith in Jesus is well-founded, whether lucky for the many or tested by a few. ### Greek text Περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Ἀντινόου ἤ τινος ἄλλου τοιούτου. εἴτε παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις εἴτε παρʼ Ἕλλησι, πίστις ἐστὶν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀτυχής· περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἤτοι δόξασα ἂν εἶναι εὐτυχὴς ἢ καὶ βεβασανισμένως ἐξητασμένη, δοκοῦσα μὲν εὐτυχὴς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς βεβασανισμένως δὲ ἐξητασμένη παρὰ πάνυ ὀλιγωτάτοις. κἂν λέγω δέ τινα πίστιν εἶναι, ὡς ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ ὀνομάσαιεν, εὐτυχῆ, καὶ περὶ ταύτης ἀναφέρω τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὸν εἰδότα θεὸν τὰς αἰτίας τῶν ἑκάστῳ μεμερισμένων ἐπιδημοῦντι τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ Ἕλληνες δὲ φήσουσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς νομιζομένοις εἶναι σοφωτάτοις κατὰ πολλὰ τὴν εὐτυχίαν εἶναι αἰτίαν, οἷον περὶ διδασκάλων τοιῶνδε καὶ τοῦ περιπεσεῖν τοῖς κρείττοσιν, ὄντων καὶ τῶν τὰς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεις διδασκόντων, καὶ περὶ ἀνατροφῆς τῆς ἐν βελτίοσι. πολλοῖς γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀνατροφῆς ἐν τοιούτοις γεγένηται, ὡς μηδὲ φαντασίαν ἐπιτραπῆναι τῶν κρειττόνων λαβεῖν ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ καὶ ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας ἤτοι ἐν παιδικοῖς εἶναι ἀκολάστων ἀνδρῶν ἢ δεσποτῶν ἢ ἐν ἄλλῃ τινὶ κωλυούσῃ ἀναβλέπειν τὴν ψυχὴν κακοδαιμονίᾳ. τὰς δὲ περὶ τούτων αἰτίας πάντως μὲν εἰκὸς εἶναι ἐν τοῖς τῆς προνοίας λόγοις, πίπτειν δὲ αὐτὰς εἰς ἀνθρώπους οὐκ εὐχερές. ἔδοξε δέ μοι ταῦτα διὰ μέσου ἐν παρεκβάσει εἰρηκέναι διὰ τὸ τοσοῦτόν (τι) ποιεῖ πίστις ὁποία δὴ προκατασχοῦσα. ἐχρῆν γὰρ διὰ τὰς διαφόρους ἀνατροφὰς εἰπεῖν διαφορὰς τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις πίστεων, εὐτυχέστερον ἢ ἀτυχέστερον πιστεύουσι· καὶ ἐκ τούτου ἀναβῆναι ὅτι δόξαι ἂν καὶ τοῖς ἐντρεχεστέροις εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ δοκεῖν εἶναι λογικωτέροις καὶ λογικώτερον προστίθεσθαι τὰ πολλὰ δόγμασιν ἡ ὀνομαζομένη εὐτυχία καὶ ἡ λεγομένη ἀτυχία συνεργεῖν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τούτων ἅλις. ### English translation (Claude) Faith concerning Antinous, or any other such figure, whether among Egyptians or Greeks, is, if I may so call it, an unlucky faith; but faith concerning Jesus would seem either lucky or thoroughly examined: lucky among the many, thoroughly examined among very few. And if I say that a certain faith is, as the many would call it, lucky, in this too I refer the matter to God, who knows the causes of what is allotted to each who comes into human life. The Greeks too will say that even among those considered wisest, good fortune is in many respects the cause, for example regarding what teachers one had and falling in with the better ones, when there are also those who teach opposite doctrines, and regarding upbringing among better people. For many have had an upbringing in such circumstances that they were not allowed even to form an impression of better things, but always, from earliest youth, were either the favorites of licentious men or masters, or in some other misery that prevented the soul from looking up. The causes of these things are surely to be found in the reasons of providence, but they are not easily grasped by human beings. It seemed good to me to say this in a digression, because of how much a faith, of whatever kind, does when it takes hold first. For one had to say that differences in people's faiths arise from different upbringings, as they believe more or less fortunately; and from this to rise to the point that what is called good fortune and what is called misfortune would seem to contribute even for the more accomplished to their seeming more rational and to their more rationally adhering to most doctrines. But enough of this. ### Translation notes - The bracketed (τι) is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/38/). ## Against Celsus 3.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/39/ - Source: Koetschau 1:235–236 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen agrees that faith produces Christian assent, but argues that the plain, guileless Gospel writers could not have invented such a teaching, and that Jesus chose them so that their power would clearly be divine, not rhetorical. ### Greek text Τὰ δʼ ἑξῆς τοῦ Κέλσου κατανοητέον. ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμῖν φησι πίστιν ποιεῖν προκαταλαβοῦσαν ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοιάνδε συγκατάθεσιν. ἀληθῶς (μὲν) γὰρ πίστις ἡμῖν ποιεῖ τὴν τοιαύτην συγκατάθεσιν· ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ αὐτόθεν ἡ πίστις αὐτὴ τὸ ἐπαινετὸν παρίστησιν, ὅτε πιστεύομεν ἑαυτοὺς τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ, χάριν ὁμολογοῦντες τῷ εἰς τοιαύτην πίστιν ὁδηγῷ καὶ λέγοντες αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀθεεὶ τὸ τηλικοῦτον τετολμηκέναι καὶ ἠνυκέναι· πιστεύομεν δὲ καὶ ταῖς προαιρέσεσι τῶν γραψάντων τὰ εὐαγγέλια. καταστοχαζόμενοι τῆς εὐλαβείας αὐτῶν καὶ τοῦ συνειδότος, ἐμφαινομένων τοῖς γράμμασιν, οὐδὲν νόθον καὶ κυβευτικὸν καὶ πεπλασμένον καὶ πανοῦργον ἐχόντων, καὶ γὰρ παρίσταται ἡμῖν ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ψυχαὶ, μὴ μαθοῦσαι τὰ τοιαῦτα. ὁποῖα διδάσκει ἡ παρʼ Ἕλλησι πανοῦργος σοφιστεία, πολλὴν ἔχουσα τὴν πιθανότητα καὶ τὴν ὀξύτητα. καὶ ἡ ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις καλινδουμένη ῥητορικὴ. οὕτως πλάσαι οἷοί τʼ ἦσαν πράγματα, δυνάμενα ἀφʼ αὑτῶν ἔχειν τὸ πρὸς πίστιν καὶ τὸν ἀνάλογον τῇ πίστει βίον ἀγωγόν. οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν διὰ τοῦτο βεβουλῆσθαι διδασκάλοις τοῦ δόγματος χρῆσθαι τοιούτοις, ἵνα μηδεμίαν μὲν ἔχῃ χώραν ὑπόνοια πιθανῶν σοφισμάτων, λαμπρῶς δὲ τοῖς συνιέναι δυναμένοις ἐμφαίνηται ὅτι τὸ ἄδολον τῆς προαιρέσεως τῶν γραψάντων, ἐχούσης πολὺ τὸ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀφελὲς, ἠξιώθη θειοτέρας δυνάμεως, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἀνυούσης ἤπερ ἀνύειν δύνασθαι δοκεῖ περιβολὴ λόγων καὶ λέξεων σύνθεσις καὶ μετὰ διαιρέσεων καὶ τεχνολογίας Ἑλληνικῆς ἀκολουθία. ### English translation (Claude) We must consider what Celsus says next, in which he says that faith, having taken possession of our soul beforehand, produces in us such assent concerning Jesus. It is true that faith produces such assent in us; but see whether faith itself does not at once show what is praiseworthy, when we entrust ourselves to the God over all, giving thanks to the one who guides us to such faith and saying that he did not dare and accomplish so great a thing without God. And we trust also the intentions of those who wrote the Gospels, judging from their piety and conscience, which show in their writings, which have nothing spurious, gambling, fabricated, or crafty. For it is evident to us that souls which had not learned such things as are taught by the crafty sophistry among the Greeks, with its great plausibility and sharpness, and by the rhetoric that rolls about the law courts, could not have invented things able of themselves to lead to faith and to a life in keeping with that faith. I think that Jesus wished to use such men as teachers of his doctrine for this reason: so that no suspicion of plausible sophisms should have any room, but it should be brilliantly evident to those able to understand that the guilelessness of the writers' intention, which had much, so to speak, simplicity, was deemed worthy of a more divine power, which achieves much more than elaborate speech, composition of phrases, and a chain of argument with divisions and Greek technical rules seem able to achieve. ### Translation notes - The bracketed (μὲν) is an editorial supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/39/). ## Against Celsus 3.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/40/ - Source: Koetschau 1:236–237 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen argues that Christian teaching agrees with the common human notion that God is not a material image, so that the rational soul, hearing it, recognizes its Creator, abandons idols, and welcomes Christ. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ τὰ τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν ταῖς κοιναῖς ἐννοίαις ἀρχῆθεν συναγορεύοντα μετατίθησι τοὺς εὐγνωμόνως ἀκούοντας τῶν λεγομένων. εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡ διαστροφὴ δεδύνηται, πολλῆς αὐτῇ κατηχήσεως συναγορευούσης, τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐμφυτεῦσαι τὸν περὶ ἀγαλμάτων λόγον ὡς θεῶν καὶ τὸν περὶ τῶν γενομένων ἐκ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ ἐλέφαντος καὶ λίθου ὡς προσκυνήσεως ἀξίων· ἀλλʼ ἡ κοινὴ ἔννοια ἀπαιτεῖ ἐννοεῖν ὅτι θεὸς οὐδαμῶς ἐστιν ὕλη φθαρτὴ οὐδὲ τιμᾶται ἐν ἀψύχοις ὕλαις ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων μορφούμενος, ὡς „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ ἤ τινα σύμβολα ἐκείνου γινομέναις. διόπερ εὐθέως λέγεται τὰ περὶ ἀγαλμάτων, „ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶ θεοὶ, “ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων δημιουργημάτων, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶ συγκριτὰ πρὸς τὸν δημιουργὸν, ὀλίγα τε περὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ δημιουργήσαντος καὶ συνέχοντος καὶ κυβερνῶντος τὰ ὅλα. καὶ εὐθέως ὡσπερεὶ τὸ συγγενὲς ἐπιγνοῦσα ἡ λογικὴ ψυχὴ ἀποῤῥίπτει μὲν ἃ τέως ἐδόξαζεν εἶναι θεοὺς φίλτρον δʼ ἀναλαμβάνει φυσικὸν τὸ πρὸς τὸν κτίσαντα, καὶ διὰ τὸ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον φίλτρον ὑπεραποδέχεται καὶ τὸν ταῦτα πρῶτον πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι παραστήσαντα διʼ ὧν κατεσκεύασε μαθητῶν, οὓς ἐξέπεμψε μετὰ θείας δυνάμεως καὶ ἐξουσίας κηρύξαι τὸν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) See whether the teachings of our faith, agreeing from the beginning with the common notions, do not change those who hear what is said with good will. For even if perversion, aided by much instruction, has been able to implant in the many the doctrine that images are gods, and that things made of gold, silver, ivory, and stone are worthy of worship, yet the common notion requires one to think that God is in no way corruptible matter, and is not honored when shaped by human beings in lifeless materials made as his “image” or certain symbols of him. Therefore it is said at once of images “that they are not gods,” and of such works of craftsmen that they are not comparable with the Creator; and a little is said about the God over all, who created, holds together, and governs the universe. And at once, as if recognizing its kin, the rational soul casts away what it formerly thought to be gods and takes up a natural love for its Creator; and because of this love for him it welcomes all the more the one who first presented these things to all the nations through the disciples he trained, whom he sent out with divine power and authority to proclaim the word about God and his kingdom. ### Scripture references - Acts 19:26: quotation, medium confidence - Gen 1:26: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “Common notions” (κοιναὶ ἔννοιαι) is a Stoic term for concepts shared by all rational beings. “That they are not gods” echoes Acts 19:26 (cf. Gal 4:8); “image” echoes Gen 1:26. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/40/). ## Against Celsus 3.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/41/ - Source: Koetschau 1:237 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen answers that the eternal Son is the Word himself, and that his human body and soul, united with him, were changed into something divine, just as philosophers say matter can take on new qualities. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐγκαλεῖ ἡμῖν, οὐκ οἶδʼ ἤδη ὁποσάκις, περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι ἐκ θνητοῦ σώματος ὄντα θεὸν νομίζομεν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὅσια δρᾶν δοκοῦμεν, περισσὸν μὲν τὸ ἔτι πρὸς τοῦτο λέγειν, πλείονα γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω λέλεκται· ὅμως δὲ ἴστωσαν οἱ ἐγκαλοῦντες ὅτι. ὃν μὲν νομίζομεν καὶ πεπείσμεθα ἀρχῆθεν εἶναι θεὸν καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ, οὗτος ὁ αὐτολόγος ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ αὐτοσοφία καὶ ἡ αὐτοαλήθεια· τὸ δὲ θνητὸν αὐτοῦ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐν αὐτῷ ψυχὴν τῇ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον οὐ μόνον κοινωνίᾳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑνώσει καὶ ἀνακράσει τὰ μέγιστά φαμεν προσειληφέναι καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου θειότητος κεκοινωνηκότα εἰς θεὸν μεταβεβληκέναι. ἐὰν δέ τις προσκόπτῃ καὶ περὶ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ταῦθʼ ἡμῶν λεγόντων, ἐπιστησάτω τοῖς ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων λεγομένοις περὶ τῆς τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ ἀποίου ὕλης, ποιότητας ἀμφισκομένης, ὁποίας ὁ δημιουργὸς βούλεται αὐτῇ περιτιθέναι, καὶ πολλάκις τὰς μὲν προτέρας ἀποτιθεμένης κρείττονας δὲ καὶ διαφόρους ἀναλαμβανούσης. εἰ γὰρ ὑγιῆ τὰ τοιαῦτα. τί θαυμαστὸν τὴν ποιότητα τοῦ θνητοῦ κατὰ τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα προνοίᾳ θεοῦ βουληθέντος μεταβαλεῖν εἰς αἰθέριον καὶ θείαν ποιότητα; ### English translation (Claude) Since he accuses us, I no longer know how many times, concerning Jesus, that we consider one who was of a mortal body to be God and think that in this we act piously, it is superfluous to say anything more in reply, for more has been said above. Nevertheless, let those who accuse us know this: the one whom we consider and are persuaded to be from the beginning God and Son of God is the very Word, the very Wisdom, and the very Truth; but his mortal body and the human soul in him, we say, received the greatest gifts not only by communion with him but also by union and blending, and, having shared in his divinity, were changed into God. And if anyone takes offense that we say these things also about his body, let him consider what the Greeks say about matter, which by its own nature is without qualities and is clothed with such qualities as the Creator wishes to put around it, and which often lays aside its former qualities and takes on better and different ones. For if such teachings are sound, what wonder is it that the quality of mortality in the body of Jesus, by the providence of God who so willed, should have been changed into an ethereal and divine quality? ### Translation notes - “The very Word, the very Wisdom, and the very Truth” renders αὐτολόγος, αὐτοσοφία, αὐτοαλήθεια (Word, Wisdom, Truth in themselves). “Blending” renders ἀνάκρασις. The doctrine of quality-less matter is Stoic and Platonic. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/41/). ## Against Celsus 3.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/42/ - Source: Koetschau 1:237–238 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that the body is not defiled by nature, only by vice, and that the pagan heroes Asclepius, Dionysus, and Heracles made no one better and lived immorally, so they have no better claim than Jesus to divinity. ### Greek text Οὐχ ὡς διαλεκτικὸς μὲν οὖν εἶπεν ὁ Κέλσος, παραβάλλων τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σάρκας χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ λίθῳ, ὅτι αὗται ἐκείνων φθαρτότεραι. πρὸς γὰρ τὸν ἀκριβῆ λόγον οὔτʼ ἄφθαρτον ἀφθάρτου ἀφθαρτότερον οὔτε φθαρτὸν φθαρτοῦ φθαρτότερον. ἀλλʼ εἰ ἄρα φθαρτότερον, ὅμως δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο φήσομεν ὅτι, εἴπερ δυνατὸν ἀμείβειν ποιότητας τὴν ὑποκειμένην πάσαις ποιότησιν ὕλην, πῶς οὐ δυνατὸν καὶ τὴν σάρκα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀμείψασαν ποιότητας γεγονέναι τοιαύτην, ὁποίαν ἐχρῆν εἶναι τὴν ἐν αἰθέρι καὶ τοῖς ἀνωτέρω αὐτοῦ τόποις πολιτευομένην, οὐκέτι ἔχουσαν τὰ τῆς σαρκικῆς ἀσθενείας ἴδια καὶ ἅτινα μιαρώτερα ὠνόμασεν ὁ Κέλσος; οὐδὲ τοῦτο φιλοσόφως ποιῶν· τὸ γὰρ κυρίως μιαρὸν ἀπὸ κακίας τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· φύσις δὲ σώματος οὐ μιαρά· οὐ γὰρ ᾗ φύσις σώματός ἐστι, τὸ γεννητικὸν τῆς μιαρότητος ἔχει τὴν κακίαν. εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ ὑπιδόμενος τὴν παρʼ ἡμῶν ἀπολογίαν λέγει περὶ τῆς μεταβολῆς τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἀλλʼ ἀποθέμενος ταύτας ἄρα ἔσται θεός· τί οὖν οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς καὶ Διόνυσος καὶ Ἡρακλῆς; φήσομεν· τί τηλικοῦτον Ἀσκληπιὸς ἢ Διόνυσος ἢ Ἡρακλῆς εἰργάσαντο; καὶ τίνας ἕξουσιν ἀποδεῖξαι βελτιωθέντας τὰ ἤθη καὶ κρείττους γενομένους ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων καὶ τοῦ βίου αὐτῶν, ἵνα γένωνται θεοί; πολλὰς γὰρ τὰς περὶ αὐτῶν ἱστορίας ἀναγνόντες, ἴδωμεν εἰ ἐκαθάρευσαν ἀπὸ ἀκολασίας ἢ ἀδικίας ἢ ἀφροσύνης ἢ δειλίας. καὶ εἰ μὲν μηδὲν εὑρεθείη τοιοῦτον ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἰσχυρὸς ἂν εἴη ὁ τοῦ Κέλσου λόγος, ἐξισῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ τοὺς προειρημένους· εἰ δὲ δῆλόν ἐστι, κἄν τινα φέρηται περὶ αὐτῶν ὡς χρηστότερα, ὅτι μυρία ὅσα παρὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον πεποιηκέναι ἀναγεγραμμένοι εἰσὶ. πῶς ἔτι εὐλόγως μᾶλλον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φήσεις αὐτοὺς ἀποθεμένους τὸ θνητὸν σῶμα γεγονέναι θεούς; ### English translation (Claude) Celsus did not speak like a skilled dialectician, then, when he compared the human flesh of Jesus with gold, silver, and stone and said that it is more corruptible than they. For in strict reasoning, neither is an incorruptible thing more incorruptible than another incorruptible thing, nor a corruptible thing more corruptible than another corruptible thing. But even if it is more corruptible, we shall still say this in reply: if the matter that underlies all qualities can exchange its qualities, how is it not possible that the flesh of Jesus too, having exchanged its qualities, became such as it had to be to dwell in the ether and the places above it, no longer having the properties of fleshly weakness and those which Celsus called “more defiled”? Nor was he acting as a philosopher in this; for what is properly defiled is such because of vice, and the nature of a body is not defiled; for insofar as it is the nature of a body, it does not have vice, which is what generates defilement. Then, since he suspected our defense concerning the change of his body, he says: “But when he has laid these aside, then he will be a god? Why not rather Asclepius, Dionysus, and Heracles?” We shall say: What so great a thing did Asclepius or Dionysus or Heracles accomplish? And whom will they be able to show improved in character and made better by their words and life, so that they should become gods? For after reading the many stories about them, let us see whether they were pure of licentiousness, injustice, folly, or cowardice. And if nothing of the sort were found in them, Celsus's argument, which puts those just named on a level with Jesus, would be strong. But if it is clear that, even if some rather good things are reported of them, they are recorded to have done countless things contrary to right reason, how can you still reasonably say that they, rather than Jesus, became gods by laying aside the mortal body? ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/42/). ## Against Celsus 3.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/43/ - Source: Koetschau 1:238–239 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen turns Celsus's defense of Zeus's tomb in Crete against him, citing Callimachus, who called the Cretans liars yet admitted Zeus was born, while Celsus accepts Jesus' burial but denies his resurrection. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγει περὶ ἡμῶν ὅτι καταγελῶμεν τῶν προσκυνούντων τὸν Δία, ἐπεὶ τάφος αὐτοῦ ἐν Κρήτῃ δείκνυται, καὶ οὐδὲν ἧττον σέβομεν τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ τάφου. οὐκ εἰδότες, πῶς καὶ καθὸ Κρῆτες τὸ τοιοῦτον ποιοῦσιν. ὅρα οὖν ὅτι ἐν τούτοις ἀπολογεῖται μὲν περὶ Κρητῶν καὶ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ τοῦ τάφου αὐτοῦ. αἰνιττόμενος τροπικὰς ὑπονοίας, καθʼ ἃς πεπλάσθαι λέγεται ὁ περὶ τοῦ Διὸς μῦθος· ἡμῶν δὲ κατηγορεῖ, ὁμολογούντων μὲν τετάφθαι τὸν ἡμέτερον Ἰησοῦν φασκόντων δὲ καὶ ἐγηγέρθαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ τάφου, ὅπερ Κρῆτες οὐκέτι περὶ τοῦ Διὸς ἱστοροῦσιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ δοκεῖ συναγορεύειν τῷ ἐν Κρήτῃ τάφῳ τοῦ Διὸς λέγων· ὅπως μὲν καὶ καθότι Κρῆτες τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν, οὐκ εἰδότες, φήσομεν ὅτι καὶ ὁ Κυρηναῖος Καλλίμαχος, πλεῖστα ὅσα ἀναγνοὺς ποιήματα καὶ ἱστορίαν σχεδὸν πᾶσαν ἀναλεξάμενος Ἑλληνικὴν, οὐδεμίαν οἶδε τροπολογίαν ἐν τοῖς περὶ Διὸς καὶ τοῦ τάφου αὐτοῦ. διὸ καὶ ἐγκαλεῖ τοῖς Κρησὶν ἐν τῷ εἰς τὸν Δία γραφέντι αὐτῷ ὕμνῳ λέγων· Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται· καὶ γὰρ τάφον, ὦ ἄνα. σεῖο Κρῆτες ἐτεκτήναντο· σὺ δʼ οὐ θάνες. ἐσσὶ γὰρ αἰεί. καὶ ὁ εἰπὼν „σὺ δʼ οὐ θάνες, ἐσσὶ γὰρ αἰεὶ.“ ἀρνησάμενος τὴν ἐν Κρήτῃ ταφὴν τοῦ Διὸς, τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ θανάτου ἱστορεῖ γεγονέναι περὶ τὸν Δία. ἀρχὴ δὲ θανάτου ἡ ἐπὶ γῆς γένεσις· λέγει δὲ οὕτως· ἐν δέ σε Παῤῥασίοις Ῥείη τέκεν εὐνηθεῖσα. ἐχρῆν δʼ αὐτὸν, ὡς ἠρνήσατο τὴν ἐν Κρήτῃ γένεσιν τοῦ Διὸς διὰ τὸν τάφον αὐτοῦ, ὁρᾶν ὅτι ἠκολούθει τῇ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ γενέσει αὐτοῦ τὸ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν τὸν γεγεννημένον. τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων λέγει ὁ Καλλίμαχος· Ζεῦ. σὲ μὲν Ἰδαίοισιν ἐν οὔρεσί φασι γενέσθαι, Ζεῦ, σὲ δʼ ἐν Ἀρκαδίῃ· πότεροι, πάτερ, ἐψεύσαντο; Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται· καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. εἰς ταῦτα δʼ ἡμᾶς ἤγαγεν ὁ Κέλσος. ἀγνωμονῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ συγκατατιθέμενος μὲν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις, ὅτι ἀπέθανε καὶ ἐτάφη, πλάσμα δʼ ἡγούμενος εἶναι ὅτι καὶ ἀνέστη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ταῦτα μυρίων προφητῶν καὶ τοῦτο προειρηκότων καὶ πολλῶν ὄντων σημείων τῆς μετὰ θάνατον ἐπιφανείας αὐτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says of us that we laugh at those who worship Zeus because his tomb is shown in Crete, and yet we revere no less the one from the tomb, “not knowing how and in what sense the Cretans do such a thing.” Notice, then, that in these words he defends the Cretans, Zeus, and his tomb, hinting at figurative meanings according to which the myth about Zeus is said to have been fashioned; but he accuses us, who acknowledge that our Jesus was buried but declare that he also was raised from the tomb, which the Cretans do not go on to relate about Zeus. And since he seems to speak up for the tomb of Zeus in Crete when he says, “not knowing how and in what sense the Cretans do this,” we shall say that even Callimachus of Cyrene, who read a great many poems and gathered up nearly all Greek history, knows no figurative interpretation in what is said about Zeus and his tomb. That is why he accuses the Cretans in the hymn he wrote to Zeus, saying: “Cretans are always liars; for the Cretans even built a tomb, O lord, for you; but you did not die, for you are forever.” And he who said, “you did not die, for you are forever,” while denying the burial of Zeus in Crete, relates that the beginning of death happened to Zeus; for the beginning of death is birth on earth. He says this: “And in Parrhasia Rhea bore you, having lain in love.” But he should have seen, since he denied the birth of Zeus in Crete because of his tomb, that from his birth in Arcadia it followed that the one who was born also died. Callimachus says such things about these matters too: “Zeus, some say you were born on the Idaean mountains, Zeus, others in Arcadia; which of them, father, lied? Cretans are always liars,” and so on. Celsus has led us into these things by being unfair about Jesus, agreeing with what is written, that he died and was buried, but thinking it a fiction that he also rose from the dead, and that although countless prophets foretold this too, and there are many signs of his appearance after death. ### Extrabiblical texts - Callimachus, Hymn 1.6–10 (Callimachus (hymns and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Callimachus, Hymn to Zeus 8–9, 10, and 6–8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/43/). ## Against Celsus 3.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/44/ - Source: Koetschau 1:239–240 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus claims Christians invite only the ignorant; Origen answers that the ignorance of a few Christians must not be blamed on the teaching itself, which invites people to wisdom. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος τὰ ὑπὸ ὀλίγων πάνυ παρὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν Ἰησοῦ λεγόμενα νομιζομένων Χριστιανῶν. οὐ φρονιμωτέρων. ὡς οἴεται, ἀλλʼ ἀμαθεστάτων, φέρων φησὶ τοιαῦτα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν προστάσσεσθαι· μηδεὶς προσίτω πεπαιδευμένος. μηδεὶς σοφὸς, μηδεὶς φρόνιμος· κακὰ γὰρ ταῦτα νομίζεται παρʼ ἡμῖν· ἀλλʼ εἴ τις ἀμαθὴς, εἴ τις ἀνόητος, εἴ τις ἀπαίδευτος, εἴ τις νήπιος, θαῤῥῶν ἡκέτω. τούτους γὰρ ἀξίους (εἶναι) τοῦ σφετέρου θεοῦ αὐτόθεν ὁμολογοῦντες, δῆλοί εἰσιν ὅτι μόνους τοὺς ἠλιθίους καὶ ἀγεννεῖς καὶ ἀναισθήτους καὶ ἀνδράποδα καὶ γύναια καὶ παιδάρια πείθειν ἐθέλουσί τε καὶ δύνανται. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δέ φαμεν ὅτι. ὥσπερ εἴ τις. τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδάσκοντος τὰ περὶ σωφροσύνης καὶ λέγοντος· „ὃς ἐὰν ἐμβλέψῃ γυναικὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι. ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ“, ἑώρα (τινὰς) ὀλίγους ἀπὸ τῶν τοσούτων Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι νομιζομένους ἀκολάστως ζῶντας, εὐλογώτατα μὲν (ἂν) αὐτοῖς ἐνεκάλει παρὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ βιοῦσι διδασκαλίαν ἀλογώτατα δʼ ἂν ἐποίησεν, εἰ τὸ κατʼ ἐκείνων ἔγκλημα τῷ λόγῳ προσῆπτεν· οὕτως ἐὰν εὑρίσκηται οὐδενὸς ἧττον ὁ Χριστιανῶν λόγος ἐπὶ σοφίαν προκαλούμενος, ἐγκλητέον μὲν ἔσται τοῖς συναγορεύουσι τῇ σφῶν ἀμαθίᾳ καὶ λέγουσιν οὐ ταῦτα μὲν, ἅπερ ὁ Κέλσος ἀνέγραψεν (οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτως ἀναισχύντως. κἂν ἰδιῶταί τινες ὦσι καὶ ἀμαθεῖς, λέγουσιν), ἕτερα δὲ πολλῷ ἐλάττονα καὶ ἀποτρεπτικὰ τοῦ ἀσκεῖν σοφίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Then next Celsus, bringing forward what is said, contrary to the teaching of Jesus, by very few who are considered Christians (not, as he thinks, the more intelligent, but the most ignorant), says that commands like these are given by them: “Let no one educated approach, no one wise, no one sensible; for these things are thought evil among us. But if anyone is ignorant, if anyone is foolish, if anyone is uneducated, if anyone is a child, let him come with confidence.” “For by acknowledging outright that such people are worthy of their God, they show that they want and are able to persuade only the simple-minded, the ignoble, the dull, slaves, silly women, and little children.” To this too we say: just as, if someone, while Jesus teaches about chastity and says, “Whoever looks at a woman so as to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” were to see a few out of so many who are considered Christians living licentiously, he would very reasonably accuse them of living contrary to the teaching of Jesus, but would act most unreasonably if he attached the charge against them to the teaching itself; so, if the Christians' teaching is found to invite people to wisdom as much as any, the blame will belong to those who defend their own ignorance and say, not what Celsus recorded (for even if some are uneducated and ignorant, they do not speak so shamelessly), but other things much less serious, which yet turn people away from the pursuit of wisdom. ### Scripture references - Matt 5:28: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 5:28. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/44/). ## Against Celsus 3.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/45/ - Source: Koetschau 1:240–242 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen shows from the Old Testament, from David, Solomon, Hosea, Daniel, and Ezekiel, that God's word wants believers to be wise. ### Greek text Ὅτι δὲ βούλεται ἡμᾶς εἶναι σοφοὺς ὁ λόγος, δεικτέον καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ Ἰουδαϊκῶν γραμμάτων. οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς χρώμεθα· οὐχ ἧττον δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν μετὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν γραφέντων καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις θείων εἶναι πεπιστευμένων. ἀναγέγραπται δὴ ἐν πεντηκοστῷ ψαλμῷ Δαυὶδ ἐν τῇ πρὸς θεὸν εὐχῇ λέγων· „τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῆς σοφίας σου ἐδήλωσάς μοι.“ καὶ εἴ τις γε ἐντύχοι τοῖς ψαλμοῖς. εὕροι ἂν πολλῶν καὶ σοφῶν δογμάτων πλήρη τὴν βίβλον. καὶ Σολομὼν δὲ. ἐπεὶ σοφίαν ᾔτησεν, ἀπεδέχθη· καὶ τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ τὰ ἴχνη ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασι θεωρῆσαι, μεγάλην ἔχοντα ἐν βραχυλογίᾳ περίνοιαν· ἐν οἷς ἂν εὕροις πολλὰ ἐγκώμια τῆς σοφίας καὶ προτρεπτικὰ περὶ τοῦ σοφίαν δεῖν ἀναλαβεῖν. καὶ οὕτω γε σοφὸς ην Σολομὼν. ὥστε τὴν βασιλίδα Σαβὰ, ἀκούσασαν αὐτοῦ „τὸ ὄνομα“ „καὶ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου, “ ἐλθεῖν „πειράσαι αὐτὸν ἐν αἰνίγμασιν.“ ἥτις „καὶ ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ πάντα, ὅσα ἦν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς. καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῇ Σολομὼν πάντας τοὺς λόγους αὐτῆς· οὐκ ἦν λόγος παρεωραμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, ὃν οὐκ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῇ. καὶ εἶδε βασίλισσα Σαβὰ πᾶσαν φρόνησιν Σολομὼν“ καὶ τὰ κατʼ αὐτόν· „καὶ ἐξ αὑτῆς ἐγένετο. καὶ εἶπε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα· ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος. ὃν ἤκουσα ἐν τῇ γῇ μου περὶ σοῦ καὶ περὶ τῆς φρονήσεώς σου· καὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευσα τοῖς λαλοῦσί μοι, ἕως ὅτε παρεγενόμην καὶ ἑωράκασιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου· καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἔστι καθὼς ἀπήγγειλάν μοι τὸ ἥμισυ. προστέθεικας σοφίαν καὶ ἀγαθὰ πρὸς αὐτὰ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀκοὴν. ἣν ἤκουσα.“ γέγραπται δὴ περὶ (τοῦ) αὐτοῦ ὅτι „καὶ ἔδωκε κύριος φρόνησιν τῷ Σολομὼν καὶ σοφίαν πολλὴν σφόδρα καὶ χύμα καρδίας ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. καὶ ἐπληθύνθη σοφία ἐν Σολομὼν σφόδρα ὑπὲρ τὴν φρόνησιν πάντων ἀρχαίων καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντας φρονίμους Αἰγύπτου. καὶ ἐσοφίσατο ὑπὲρ πάντας ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐσοφίσατο ὑπὲρ Γεθὰν τὸν Ἐζαρίτην καὶ τὸν Ἐμὰδ καὶ τὸν Χαλκαδὶ καὶ Ἀραδὰ. υἱοὺς Μάδ· καὶ ἦν ὀνομαστὸς ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι κύκλῳ. καὶ ἐλάλησε Σολομὼν τρισχιλίας παραβολὰς, καὶ ἦσαν ᾠδαὶ αὐτοῦ πεντακισχίλιαι. καὶ ἐλάλησεν περὶ τῶν ξύλων ἀπὸ τῆς κέδρου τῆς ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ καὶ ἕως τῆς ὑσσώπου τῆς ἐκπορευομένης διὰ τοῦ τοίχου. καὶ ἐλάλησε περὶ τῶν ἰχθύων καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν· καὶ παρεγίνοντο πάντες οἱ λαοὶ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς σοφίας Σολομῶντος· καὶ περὶ πάντων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς. οἵ ἤκουον τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ.“ οὕτω δὲ βούλεται σοφοὺς εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ὁ λόγος, ὥστε ὑπὲρ τοῦ γυμνάσαι τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν ἀκουόντων τὰ μὲν (ἐν) αἰνίγμασι τὰ δὲ ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις σκοτεινοῖς λόγοις λελαληκέναι τὰ δὲ διὰ παραβολῶν καὶ ἄλλα διὰ προβλημάτων. καί φησι γέ τις τῶν προφητῶν, ὁ Ὠσηὲ. ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν λόγων ἑαυτοῦ· „τίς σοφὸς καὶ συνήσει ταῦτα; ἢ συνετὸς καὶ ἐπιγνώσεται αὐτά;“ Δανιὴλ δὲ καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ αἰχμαλωτισθέντες τοσοῦτον προέκοψαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς μαθήμασιν. ἅτινα ἤσκουν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι οἱ περὶ τὸν βασιλέα σοφοὶ, ὡς πάντων αὐτῶν διαφέροντας ἀποδειχθῆναι τούτους „δεκαπλασίως.“ λέγεται δὲ (καὶ) ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ πρὸς τὸν Τύρου ἄρχοντα, μέγα φρονοῦντα ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ· „μὴ σὺ σοφώτερος εἶ τοῦ Δανιήλ; πᾶν κρύφιον οὐκ ἐπεδείχθη σοι;“ ### English translation (Claude) That the teaching wants us to be wise must be shown both from the ancient Jewish writings, which we too use, and no less from those written after Jesus and believed in the churches to be divine. It is written in the fiftieth psalm that David, in his prayer to God, says: “The unseen and hidden things of your wisdom you have made known to me.” And anyone who reads the psalms will find the book full of many wise doctrines. And Solomon, since he asked for wisdom, was approved; and the traces of his wisdom can be seen in his writings, which hold great understanding in brevity of speech; in them you would find many praises of wisdom and exhortations to the need to take up wisdom. And so wise was Solomon that the queen of Sheba, having heard “his name” “and the name of the Lord,” came “to test him with riddles.” She “also spoke to him all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her words; there was no word overlooked by the king which he did not tell her. And the queen of Sheba saw all the understanding of Solomon” and the things belonging to him, “and she was beside herself. And she said to the king: The report is true which I heard in my land about you and about your understanding; and I did not believe those who told me until I came and my eyes have seen; and behold, it is not even half as they told me. You have added wisdom and good things to them beyond all the report which I heard.” And it is written about him that “the Lord gave understanding to Solomon and very great wisdom, and breadth of heart like the sand by the sea. And wisdom was multiplied in Solomon greatly, beyond the understanding of all the ancients and beyond all the wise men of Egypt. And he was wiser than all men, and he was wiser than Gethan the Ezrahite, and Emad, and Chalcadi, and Arada, sons of Mad; and he was renowned among all the nations round about. And Solomon spoke three thousand parables, and his songs were five thousand. And he spoke about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that comes out through the wall. And he spoke about fish and cattle; and all the peoples came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom.” So much does the teaching want there to be wise men among believers that, to exercise the understanding of the hearers, it has spoken some things in riddles, some in what are called dark sayings, some through parables, and others through problems. And one of the prophets, Hosea, says at the end of his words: “Who is wise, and will understand these things? Or intelligent, and will know them?” And Daniel and those taken captive with him made such progress even in the studies which the wise men around the king practiced in Babylon that they were shown to surpass them all “tenfold.” And in Ezekiel it is said to the ruler of Tyre, who was proud of his wisdom: “Are you wiser than Daniel? Has no secret been shown to you?” ### Scripture references - Ps 51:6 (50:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 3:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 10:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 10:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 4:29 (3 Kgdms 5:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 4:34 (3 Kgdms 5:14 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Hos 14:9 (14:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Dan 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 28:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 51:6 (50:8 LXX), 1 Kgs 10:1–7 (3 Kgdms 10:1–7 LXX), 1 Kgs 4:29–34 (3 Kgdms 5:9–14 LXX), Hos 14:9 (14:10 LXX), Dan 1:20, and Ezek 28:3. The names of the wise men follow the Greek (Hebrew: Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol, Darda, sons of Mahol). Solomon's request for wisdom is 1 Kgs 3:9–12. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/45/). ## Against Celsus 3.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/46/ - Source: Koetschau 1:242–243 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The New Testament too values wisdom: Jesus explained the parables privately to his disciples, promised to send wise men, and Paul ranked the word of wisdom first among the gifts, while Stephen praised Moses' learning. ### Greek text Ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ μετὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν γεγραμμένα ἔλθῃς βιβλία, εὕροις ἂν τοὺς μὲν ὄχλους τῶν πιστευόντων τῶν παραβολῶν ἀκούοντας ὡς ἔξω τυγχάνοντας καὶ ἀξίους μόνον τῶν ἐξωτερικῶν λόγων. τοὺς δὲ μαθητὰς κατʼ ἰδίαν τῶν παραβολῶν μανθάνοντας τὰς διηγήσεις· „κατʼ ἰδίαν“ γὰρ „τοῖς ἰδίοις μαθηταῖς ἐπέλυεν ἅπαντα“ ὁ Ἰησοῦς. προτιμῶν παρὰ τοὺς ὄχλους τοὺς τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ ἐπιδικαζομένους. ἐπαγγέλλεται δὲ τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύουσι πέμψαι „σοφοὺς καὶ γραμματεῖς“ λέγων· „ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστελῶ εἰς ὑμᾶς σοφοὺς καὶ γραμματεῖς, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποκτενοῦσι καὶ σταυρώσουσι.“ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δʼ ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ διδομένων χαρισμάτων πρῶτον ἔταξε τὸν λόγον τῆς σοφίας καὶ δεύτερον, ὡς ὑποβεβηκότα παρʼ ἐκεῖνον, τὸν λόγον τῆς γνώσεως τρίτον δέ που καὶ κατωτέρω τὴν πίστιν. καὶ ἐπεὶ τὸν λόγον προετίμα τῶν τεραστίων ἐνεργειῶν, διὰ τοῦτʼ „ἐνεργήματα δυνάμεων“ καὶ „χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων“ ἐν τῇ κατωτέρω τίθησι χώρᾳ παρὰ τὰ λογικὰ χαρίσματα. μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῇ Μωϋσέως πολυμαθείᾳ ὁ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων Στέφανος, πάντως ἀπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ μὴ εἰς πολλοὺς ἐφθακότων γραμμάτων λαβών· φησὶ γάρ· „καὶ ἐπαιδεύθη Μωϋσῆς ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ Αἰγυπτίων.“ διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς τεραστίοις ὑπενοεῖτο, μή ποτʼ οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ θεόθεν ἥκειν ἐποίει αὐτὰ ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὰ Αἰγυπτίων μαθήματα, σοφὸς ὢν ἐν αὐτοῖς. τοιαῦτα γὰρ ὑπονοῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκάλεσε τοὺς ἐπαοιδοὺς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τοὺς σοφιστὰς καὶ τοὺς φαρμακεῖς, οἵτινες ἠλέγχθησαν τὸ οὐδὲν ὄντες ὡς πρὸς τὴν ἐν Μωϋσεῖ σοφίαν ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν Αἰγυπτίων σοφίαν. ### English translation (Claude) And if you come also to the books written after Jesus, you would find that the crowds of believers hear the parables as being outside and worthy only of the outward words, but the disciples learn privately the explanations of the parables; for “privately” Jesus “explained everything to his own disciples,” honoring above the crowds those who laid claim to his wisdom. And he promises to send to those who believe in him “wise men and scribes,” saying: “Behold, I will send to you wise men and scribes, and some of them they will kill and crucify.” And Paul, in the list of the gifts given by God, placed first the word of wisdom, and second, as inferior to it, the word of knowledge, and third, somewhere lower, faith. And since he valued the word above miraculous workings, he therefore puts “workings of powers” and “gifts of healings” in a lower place than the gifts of speech. And Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles bears witness to Moses' great learning, surely taking it from ancient writings that had not reached many; for he says: “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” For this reason he was even suspected in his miracles of doing them, perhaps, not, as he professed, by coming from God, but by the learning of the Egyptians, being wise in it. For the king, suspecting such things about him, called the enchanters of the Egyptians, the sophists, and the sorcerers, who were proved to be nothing compared with the wisdom in Moses, which surpassed all the wisdom of the Egyptians. ### Scripture references - Mark 4:34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:11: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 23:34: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:8: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:10: allusion, high confidence - Acts 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Exod 7:11: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Mark 4:34, Matt 23:34, and Acts 7:22; the list of gifts is 1 Cor 12:8–10; the Egyptian magicians are Exod 7:11. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/46/). ## Against Celsus 3.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/47/ - Source: Koetschau 1:243–244 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul's criticism of the “wisdom of the world” targets materialist doctrines, not wisdom itself; he even admits that Greek sages knew God from the created world. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ εἰκὸς τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρᾳ τῷ Παύλῳ, ὡς πρὸς Ἕλληνας καὶ μέγα φυσῶντας ἐπὶ τῇ Ἑλληνικῇ σοφίᾳ, κεκινηκέναι τινὰς, ὡς τοῦ λόγου μὴ βουλομένου σοφούς. ἀλλʼ ἀκουέτω ὁ τὰ τοιαῦτα νομίζων ὅτι. ὥσπερ διαβάλλων ἀνθρώπους φαύλους ὁ λόγος φησὶν αὐτοὺς εἶναι οὐ περὶ τῶν νοητῶν καὶ ἀοράτων καὶ αἰωνίων σοφοὺς, ἀλλὰ περὶ μόνων τῶν αἰσθητῶν πραγματευσαμένους καὶ ἐν τούτοις τὰ πάντα τιθεμένους εἶναι σοφοὺς τοῦ κόσμου· οὕτως καὶ πολλῶν ὄντων δογμάτων. τὰ μὲν συναγορεύοντα ὕλῃ καὶ σώμασι καὶ πάντα φάσκοντα εἶναι σώματα τὰ προηγουμένως ὑφεστηκότα καὶ μηδὲν παρὰ ταῦτα εἶναι ἄλλο, εἴτε λεγόμενον ἀόρατον εἴτʼ ὀνομαζόμενον ἀσώματον. φησὶν εἶναι „σοφίαν τοῦ κόσμου“ καταργουμένην καὶ μωραινομένην καὶ σοφίαν τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου· τὰ δὲ μετατιθέντα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τῇδε πραγμάτων ἐπὶ τὴν παρὰ θεῷ μακαριότητα καὶ τὴν καλουμένην αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν. καὶ διδάσκοντα καταφρονεῖν μὲν ὡς προσκαίρων πάντων τῶν αἰσθητῶν καὶ βλεπομένων σπεύδειν δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ ἀόρατα καὶ σκοπεῖν τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα, ταῦτά φησι „σοφίαν“ εἶναι „θεοῦ“. φιλαλήθης δʼ ὢν ὁ Παῦλός φησι περί τινων ἐν Ἕλλησι σοφῶν, ἐν οἷς ἀληθεύουσιν. „ὅτι γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν.“ καὶ μαρτυρεῖ αὐτοῖς ἐγνωκέναι θεόν· λέγει δὲ καὶ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἀθεεὶ αὐτοῖς γεγονέναι ἐν οἷς γράφει τὸ „ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσεν.“ αἰνισσόμενος οἶμαι τοὺς ἀναβαίνοντας ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρατῶν ἐπὶ τὰ νοητὰ, ὅτε γράφει ὅτι „τὰ ἀόρατα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται. ἥ τε ἀΐδιος αὐτοῦ δύναμις καὶ θειότης, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους, διότι γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν.“ ### English translation (Claude) But it is likely that what Paul wrote in the first letter to the Corinthians, as to Greeks greatly puffed up with Greek wisdom, has moved some to think that the teaching does not want wise men. But let whoever thinks such things hear this: just as the teaching, when it censures bad men, says that they are wise not about intelligible, invisible, and eternal things, but, occupied only with things of sense and placing everything in them, are wise men of the world; so also, since there are many doctrines, those which speak for matter and bodies and say that all things that primarily subsist are bodies and that there is nothing else besides them, whether called invisible or named incorporeal, it calls “wisdom of the world,” which is being brought to nothing and made foolish, and wisdom of this age; but those which transfer the soul from the affairs of this world to the blessedness with God and to what is called his kingdom, and which teach to despise all things of sense and sight as temporary and to hasten to the invisible things and to look at the things that are not seen, these it calls the “wisdom of God.” And Paul, as a lover of truth, says of certain wise men among the Greeks, in the things in which they speak truly, “that, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks.” And he bears them witness that they knew God; and he says too that this did not come to them without God, where he writes, “For God has shown it to them,” hinting, I think, at those who ascend from visible things to intelligible ones when he writes that “the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made, both his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse; because, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:20: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 4:18: allusion, high confidence - Rom 1:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:21: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are 1 Cor 1:20, 2:6, 2 Cor 4:18, and Rom 1:19–21. The materialist doctrine described is chiefly Stoic and Epicurean. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/47/). ## Against Celsus 3.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/48/ - Source: Koetschau 1:244–245 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: “Not many wise” does not mean none; Paul requires a bishop to be able to teach and refute opponents, so the church welcomes the educated as well as the ignorant. ### Greek text Τάχα δὲ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ „βλέπετε δὲ τὴν κλῆσιν ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοὶ, ὅτι οὐ πολλοὶ σοφοὶ κατὰ σάρκα, οὐ πολλοὶ δυνατοὶ, οὐ πολλοὶ εὐγενεῖς· ἀλλὰ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεὸς. ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφοὺς, καὶ τὰ ἀγενῆ καὶ τὰ ἐξουθενημένα ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ἵνα τὰ ὄντα καταργήσῃ, ἵνα μὴ καυχήσηται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ“ ἐκινήθησάν τινες πρὸς τὸ οἴεσθαι ὅτι οὐδεὶς πεπαιδευμένος ἢ σοφὸς ἢ φρόνιμος προσέρχεται τῷ λόγῳ. καὶ πρὸς τὸν τοιοῦτον δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι οὐκ εἴρηται ὅτι οὐδεὶς σοφὸς „κατὰ σάρκα, “ ἀλλʼ „οὐ πολλοὶ σοφοὶ κατὰ σάρκα.“ καὶ δῆλον ὅτι ἐν τῷ χαρακτηριστικῷ τῶν καλουμένων ἐπισκόπων διαγράφων ὁ Παῦλος, ὁποῖον εἶναι χρὴ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον, ἔταξε καὶ τὸν διδάσκαλον, λέγων δεῖν αὐτὸν εἶναι δυνατὸν „καὶ τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν, “ ἵνα τοὺς ματαιολόγους καὶ φρεναπάτας ἐπιστομίζῃ διὰ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ σοφίας. καὶ ὥσπερ μονόγαμον μᾶλλον διγάμου αἱρεῖται εἰς ἐπισκοπὴν καὶ „ἀνεπίληπτον“ ἐπιλήπτου καὶ „νηφάλιον“ τοῦ μὴ τοιούτου καὶ „σώφρονα“ τοῦ μὴ σώφρονος καὶ „κόσμιον“ παρὰ τὸν κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον ἄκοσμον, οὕτως θέλει τὸν προηγουμένως εἰς ἐπισκοπὴν κατασταθησόμενον εἶναι διδακτικὸν καὶ δυνατὸν πρὸς τὸ „τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν.“ πῶς οὖν εὐλόγως ἐγκαλεῖ ὁ Κέλσος ἡμῖν ὡς φάσκουσι· μηδεὶς προσίτω πεπαιδευμένος. μηδεὶς σοφὸς. μηδεὶς φρόνιμος; ἀλλὰ προσίτω μὲν πεπαιδευμένος καὶ σοφὸς καὶ φρόνιμος ὁ βουλόμενος· οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον προσίτω καὶ εἴ τις ἀμαθὴς καὶ ἀνόητος καὶ ἀπαίδευτος καὶ νήπιος. καὶ γὰρ τοὺς τοιούτους προσελθόντας ἐπαγγέλλεται θεραπεύειν ὁ λόγος, πάντας ἀξίους κατασκευάζων τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Perhaps also from the words, “For consider your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many well-born; but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the ignoble and despised things, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before him,” some have been moved to think that no educated or wise or sensible person comes to the teaching. To such a person too we shall say that it is not said that no one is wise “according to the flesh,” but “not many are wise according to the flesh.” And it is clear that when Paul, in the characteristic description of those called bishops, sets out what sort of person the bishop must be, he also laid down that he be a teacher, saying that he must be able “also to refute those who contradict,” so that he may stop the mouths of empty talkers and deceivers by the wisdom in him. And just as he chooses for the office of bishop one married once rather than one married twice, and one “above reproach” rather than one open to reproach, and one “sober” rather than one who is not, and “self-controlled” rather than one not self-controlled, and “orderly” rather than one even slightly disorderly, so he wants the one who is to be appointed primarily to the office of bishop to be apt to teach and able “to refute those who contradict.” How then does Celsus reasonably accuse us as saying, “Let no one educated approach, no one wise, no one sensible”? No: let the educated, wise, and sensible man approach, whoever wishes; but no less let anyone approach who is ignorant, foolish, uneducated, and a child. For the teaching promises to heal such people too when they come, making them all worthy of God. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:27: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:29: quotation, high confidence - Titus 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Titus 1:10: allusion, high confidence - Titus 1:11: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 3:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 1:26–29 and Titus 1:9; the other qualifications are from 1 Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:10–11. “One married once rather than one married twice” renders μονόγαμον μᾶλλον διγάμου, Origen's reading of “husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3:2). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/48/). ## Against Celsus 3.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/49/ - Source: Koetschau 1:245–246 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ is Savior of all, the wise as well as the simple; true education is a road to virtue and helps, rather than hinders, the knowledge of God. ### Greek text Ψεῦδος δὲ καὶ τὸ μόνους ἠλιθίους καὶ ἀγεννεῖς καὶ ἀναισθήτους καὶ ἀνδράποδα καὶ γύναια καὶ παιδάρια πείθειν ἐθέλειν τοὺς διδάσκοντας τὸν θεῖον λόγον. καὶ τούτους μὲν γὰρ καλεῖ ὁ λόγος, ἵνα αὐτοὺς βελτιώσῃ· καλεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς πολλῷ τούτων διαφέροντας· ἐπεὶ „σωτήρ ἐστιν πάντων ἀνθρώπων“ ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ „μάλιστα πιστῶν.“ εἴτε συνετῶν εἴτε ἁπλουστέρων, καὶ „ἱλασμός ἐστι“ „πρὸς τὸν πατέρα“ „περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ μόνον δὲ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου.“ περισσὸν οὖν τὸ θέλειν μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἀπολογήσασθαι ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου λέξεις οὕτως ἐχούσας· τί γάρ ἐστιν ἄλλως κακὸν τὸ πεπαιδεῦσθαι καὶ λόγων τῶν ἀρίστων ἐπιμεμελῆσθαι καὶ φρόνιμον εἶναί τε καὶ δοκεῖν; τί δὲ κωλύει τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ γνῶναι θεόν; τί δʼ οὐχὶ προὔργου μᾶλλον καὶ διʼ οὗ μᾶλλόν τις ἂν ἐφικέσθαι δύναιτο ἀληθείας; τὸ μὲν οὖν ἀληθῶς πεπαιδεῦσθαι οὐ κακόν· ὁδὸς γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀρετήν ἐστιν ἡ παίδευσις· τὸ μέντοι γε ἐν πεπαιδευμένοις ἀριθμεῖν τοὺς ἐσφαλμένα δόγματα ἔχοντας οὐδʼ οἱ Ἑλλήνων σοφοὶ φήσουσι. πάλιν τʼ αὖ τίς οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσαι ὅτι λόγων τῶν ἀρίστων ἐπιμεμελῆσθαι ἀγαθόν ἐστιν; ἀλλὰ τίνας ἐροῦμεν τοὺς ἀρίστους λόγους ἢ τοὺς ἀληθεῖς καὶ ἐπʼ ἀρετὴν παρακαλοῦντας; ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ φρόνιμον εἶναι καλόν ἐστιν, οὐκέτι δὲ τὸ δοκεῖν, ὅπερ εἶπεν ὁ Κέλσος. καὶ οὐ κωλύει γε πρὸς τὸ γνῶναι θεὸν ἀλλὰ καὶ συνεργεῖ τὸ πεπαιδεῦσθαι καὶ λόγων ἀρίστων ἐπιμεμελῆσθαι καὶ φρόνιμον εἶναι. καὶ ἡμῖν μᾶλλον πρέπει τοῦτο λέγειν ἢ Κέλσῳ, καὶ μάλιστʼ ἐὰν Ἐπικούρειος ὢν ἐλέγχηται. ### English translation (Claude) It is also false that those who teach the divine word want to persuade only the simple-minded, the ignoble, the dull, slaves, silly women, and little children. The word does call these, in order to make them better; but it calls also those who far surpass them, since Christ is “the Savior of all men,” and “especially of believers,” whether intelligent or simpler, and he is “the propitiation” “with the Father” “for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world.” It is superfluous, then, for us after this to want to answer Celsus's words, which run: “For what evil is there otherwise in being educated, and in having studied the best teachings, and in being and appearing sensible? What hindrance is this to knowing God? Is it not rather an advantage, and something by which one might better be able to attain the truth?” Now, to be truly educated is not evil, for education is a road to virtue; but not even the wise men of the Greeks will say that those who hold erroneous doctrines should be counted among the educated. And again, who would not agree that to have studied the best teachings is good? But which shall we call the best teachings, if not those that are true and exhort to virtue? And to be sensible is also good, but no longer to appear so, which Celsus said. And being educated, having studied the best teachings, and being sensible do not hinder the knowledge of God, but even help it. And it befits us to say this more than Celsus, especially if he is shown to be an Epicurean. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 4:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Tim 4:10 and 1 John 2:1–2. Origen repeatedly suspects that Celsus is an Epicurean. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/49/). ## Against Celsus 3.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/50/ - Source: Koetschau 1:246–247 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus likens Christian teachers to marketplace showmen who avoid the wise; Origen replies that Christians exhort people to piety and virtue, as Cynic philosophers also preached publicly without blame. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς οὕτως ἔχοντα· ἀλλʼ ὁρῶμεν δή που καὶ τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς (τὰ) ἐπιῤῥητότατα ἐπιδεικνυμένους καὶ ἀγείροντας εἰς μὲν φρονίμων ἀνδρῶν σύλλογον οὐκ ἄν ποτε παρελθόντας οὐδʼ ἐν τούτοις τὰ ἑαυτῶν κατατολμήσαντας ἐπιδεικνύειν. ἔνθα δʼ ἂν ὁρῶσι μειράκια καὶ οἰκοτρίβων ὄχλον καὶ ἀνοήτων ἀνθρώπων ὅμιλον. ἐνταῦθα ὠθουμένους τε καὶ καλλωπιζομένους. ὅρα δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτοις, τίνα τρόπον ἡμᾶς συκοφαντεῖ, ἐξομοιῶν τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς τὰ ἐπιῤῥητότατα ἐπιδεικνυμένοις καὶ ἀγείρουσι. ποῖα δὴ ἐπιῤῥητότατα ἐπιδεικνύμεθα; ἢ τί τούτοις παραπλήσιον πράττομεν, οἱ καὶ διʼ ἀναγνωσμάτων καὶ διὰ τῶν εἰς τὰ ἀναγνώσματα διηγήσεων προτρέποντες μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν εἰς τὸν θεὸν τῶν ὅλων εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὰς συνθρόνους ταύτης ἀρετὰς. ἀποτρέποντες δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ καταφρονεῖν τοῦ θείου καὶ πάντων τῶν παρὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον πραττομένων; καὶ οἱ φιλόσοφοί γʼ ἂν εὔξαιντο ἀγείρειν τοσούτους ἀκροατὰς λόγων ἐπὶ τὸ καλὸν παρακαλούντων· ὅπερ πεποιήκασι μάλιστα τῶν Κυνικῶν τινες, δημοσίᾳ πρὸς τοὺς παρατυγχάνοντας διαλεγόμενοι. ἆρʼ οὖν καὶ τούτους, μὴ συναθροίζοντας μὲν τοὺς νομιζομένους πεπαιδεῦσθαι καλοῦντας δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς τριόδου καὶ συνάγοντας ἀκροατὰς, φήσουσι παραπλησίους εἶναι τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς τὰ ἐπιῤῥητότατα ἐπιδεικνυμένοις καὶ ἀγείρουσιν; ἀλλʼ οὔτε Κέλσος οὔτε τις τῶν ταὐτὰ φρονούντων ἐγκαλοῦσι τοῖς κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον αὐτοῖς φιλάνθρωπον κινοῦσι λόγους καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἰδιωτικοὺς δήμους. ### English translation (Claude) Let us see also his next words, which run: “But we see, surely, that those in the marketplaces who put on the most disreputable shows and go about collecting money would never come forward into a gathering of sensible men, nor dare to display their tricks among them; but wherever they see adolescents and a crowd of house-slaves and a throng of foolish people, there they push themselves in and show off.” See how in these words too he slanders us, likening us to those who put on the most disreputable shows in the marketplaces and collect money. What disreputable things, pray, do we display? Or what do we do that resembles them, we who, both through readings and through expositions of the readings, exhort people to piety toward the God of the universe and to the virtues enthroned with it, and turn them away from despising the divine and from all things done contrary to right reason? Philosophers too would pray to gather so many hearers of words that summon them to the good; which some of the Cynics in particular have done, conversing in public with whoever happened by. Will they then say that these men too, who do not assemble those thought to be educated but call hearers from the crossroads and gather them, are like those who put on the most disreputable shows in the marketplaces and collect money? But neither Celsus nor anyone of the same mind accuses those who, from what seems to them love of mankind, address their words even to the common people. ### Translation notes - “Readings” (ἀναγνώσματα) are the Scripture lessons read in Christian assemblies, followed by their exposition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/50/). ## Against Celsus 3.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/51/ - Source: Koetschau 1:247–248 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Unlike philosophers who preach to anyone, Christians examine and instruct inquirers before admitting them, expel the immoral, readmit the penitent only after a long probation, and bar the lapsed from church office. ### Greek text Εἰ δʼ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ ἔγκλητοι τοῦτο πράττοντες, ἴδωμεν εἰ μὴ Χριστιανοὶ μᾶλλον καὶ τούτων βέλτιον πλήθη ἐπὶ καλοκἀγαθίαν προκαλοῦνται. οἱ μὲν γὰρ δημοσίᾳ διαλεγόμενοι φιλόσοφοι οὐ φυλοκρινοῦσι τοὺς ἀκούοντας. ἀλλʼ ὁ βουλόμενος ἕστηκε καὶ ἀκούει· Χριστιανοὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν αὐτοῖς προβασανίσαντες τῶν ἀκούειν σφῶν βουλομένων τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν αὐτοῖς προεπᾴσαντες, ἐπὰν δοκῶσιν αὐτάρκως οἱ ἀκροαταὶ πρὶν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν εἰσελθεῖν ἐπιδεδωκέναι πρὸς τὸ θέλειν καλῶς βιοῦν, τὸ τηνικάδε αὐτοὺς εἰσάγουσιν, ἰδίᾳ μὲν ποιήσαντες τάγμα τῶν ἄρτι ἀρχομένων καὶ εἰσαγομένων καὶ οὐδέπω τὸ σύμβολον τοῦ ἀποκεκαθάρθαι ἀνειληφότων, ἕτερον δὲ τὸ τῶν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν παραστησάντων ἑαυτῶν τὴν προαίρεσιν οὐκ ἄλλο τι βούλεσθαι ἢ τὰ Χριστιανοῖς δοκοῦντα· παρʼ οἷς εἰσι τινὲς τεταγμένοι πρὸς τὸ φιλοπευστεῖν τοὺς βίους καὶ τὰς ἀγωγὰς τῶν προσιόντων, ἵνα τοὺς μὲν τὰ ἐπίῤῥητα πράττοντας ἀποκωλύσωσιν ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὸν κοινὸν αὐτῶν σύλλογον τοὺς δὲ μὴ τοιούτους ὅλῃ ψυχῇ ἀποδεχόμενοι βελτίους ὁσημέραι κατασκευάζωσιν. οἵα δʼ ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς ἀγωγὴ καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτανόντων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἀκολασταινόντων, οὓς ἀπελαύνουσι τοῦ κοινοῦ οἱ κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον παραπλήσιοι τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς τὰ ἐπιῤῥητότα(τα) ἐπιδεικνυμένοις. καὶ τὸ μὲν τῶν Πυθαγορείων σεμνὸν διδασκαλεῖον κενοτάφια τῶν ἀποστάντων τῆς σφῶν φιλοσοφίας κατεσκεύαζε. λογιζόμενον νεκροὺς αὐτοὺς γεγονέναι· οὗτοι δὲ ὡς ἀπολωλότας καὶ τεθνηκότας τῷ θεῷ τοὺς ὑπʼ ἀσελγείας ἤ τινος ἀτόπου νενικημένους ὡς νεκροὺς πενθοῦσι. καὶ ὡς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάντας. ἐὰν ἀξιόλογον ἐνδείξωνται μεταβολὴν, χρόνῳ πλείονι τῶν κατʼ ἀρχὰς εἰσαγομένων ὕστερόν ποτε προσίενται· εἰς οὐδεμίαν ἀρχὴν καὶ προστασίαν τῆς λεγομένης ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ καταλέγοντες τοὺς φθάσαντας μετὰ τὸ προσεληλυθέναι τῷ λόγῳ ἐπταικέναι. ### English translation (Claude) But if those men are not blameworthy for doing this, let us see whether Christians do not summon the multitudes to nobility of character even more, and better, than they. For the philosophers who converse in public do not sort their hearers; whoever wishes stands and listens. But Christians, as far as they can, first test the souls of those who want to hear them and first instruct them privately; and when the hearers, before entering the community, seem to have made sufficient progress in the will to live well, then they bring them in, forming one order apart of those just beginning and being introduced who have not yet received the sign of having been purified, and another of those who, as far as they can, have shown that their purpose is to want nothing other than what Christians approve. Among them some are appointed to inquire into the lives and conduct of those who come, so as to prevent those who do disreputable things from coming to their common assembly, but to welcome with all their soul those who are not such and make them better day by day. And such is their discipline toward sinners, and especially the licentious, whom they drive out of the community, these people whom Celsus likens to those who put on the most disreputable shows in the marketplaces! The revered school of the Pythagoreans used to build cenotaphs for those who had abandoned their philosophy, reckoning them to have become dead; but these mourn as dead those overcome by licentiousness or some other outrage, as lost and dead to God. And if they show a notable change, they receive them again later, as risen from the dead, after a longer time than those who are first being introduced; but they do not enroll in any office or leadership of what is called the church of God those who, after coming to the word, have fallen. ### Translation notes - This is an important early description of the catechumenate: those “who have not yet received the sign of having been purified” are catechumens not yet baptized. “Office or leadership” renders ἀρχή and προστασία. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/51/). ## Against Celsus 3.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/52/ - Source: Koetschau 1:248 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen denies Celsus's comparison: Christians seek intelligent hearers and share their deeper teaching with them, while giving only “milk” to the simpler. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου λεγόμενον· ὁρῶμέν που καὶ τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς (τὰ) ἐπιῤῥητότατα ἐπιδεικνυμένους καὶ ἀγείροντας εἰ μὴ ἄντικρυς ψευδῶς εἴρηται καὶ ἀνομοίως παραβέβληται. τούτους δὴ, οἷς ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος ὁμοιοῖ, τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς τὰ ἐπιῤῥητότατα ἐπιδεικνυμένοις καὶ ἀγείρουσι, φησὶν εἰς μὲν φρονίμων ἀνδρῶν σύλλογον οὐκ ἄν ποτε παρελθεῖν οὐδʼ ἐν τούτοις τὰ ἑαυτῶν κατατολμᾶν ἐπιδεικνύειν, ἔνθα δʼ ἂν ὁρῶσι μειράκια καὶ οἰκοτρίβων ὄχλον καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀνοήτων ὅμιλον, ἐνταῦθα ὠθουμένους τε καὶ καλλωπιζομένους, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ποιῶν ἢ λοιδορούμενος ἡμῖν παραπλησίως ταῖς ἐν ταῖς τριόδοις γυναιξὶ, σκοπὸν ἐχούσαις τὸ κακῶς ἀλλήλας λέγειν. ἡμεῖς γὰρ ὅση δύναμις πάντα πράττομεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ φρονίμων ἀνδρῶν γενέσθαι τὸν σύλλογον ἡμῶν, καὶ τὰ ἐν ἡμῖν μάλιστα καλὰ καὶ θεῖα τότε τολμῶμεν ἐν τοῖς πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν διαλόγοις φέρειν εἰς μέσον, ὅτʼ εὐποροῦμεν συνετῶν ἀκροατῶν· ἀποκρύπτομεν δὲ καὶ παρασιωπῶμεν τὰ βαθύτερα, (ἐπὰν ἁπλουστέρους θεωρῶμεν) τοὺς συνερχομένους καὶ δεομένους λόγων τροπικῶς ὀνομαζομένων „γάλα.“ ### English translation (Claude) See then, after this, whether what Celsus says, “We see, surely, that those in the marketplaces who put on the most disreputable shows and go about collecting money,” is not stated outright falsely and compared unfairly. These people to whom Celsus likens us, those who put on the most disreputable shows in the marketplaces and collect money, he says would never come forward into a gathering of sensible men, nor dare to display their tricks among them, but wherever they see adolescents and a crowd of house-slaves and a throng of foolish people, there they push themselves in and show off. In this he does nothing but revile us, like women at the crossroads whose aim is to speak ill of one another. For we do everything in our power to make our gathering one of sensible men, and we dare to bring forward in our public discourses the most beautiful and divine things among us when we have a good supply of intelligent hearers; but we conceal and pass over in silence the deeper things when we see that those who come together are simpler and need the teachings figuratively called “milk.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:2: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Milk” alludes to 1 Cor 3:2. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/52/). ## Against Celsus 3.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/53/ - Source: Koetschau 1:248–249 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul distinguished milk for beginners from solid food for the mature, which shows that Christians do not parade their highest teachings before the ignorant. ### Greek text Γέγραπται γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ἡμῶν Κορινθίοις ἐπιστέλλοντι, Ἕλλησι μὲν, οὐ κεκαθαρμένοις δέ πω τὰ ἤθη· „γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα, οὐ βρῶμα· οὔπω γὰρ ἐδύνασθε. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἔτι νῦν δύνασθε· ἔτι γὰρ σαρκικοί ἐστε. ὅπου γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ζῆλος καὶ ἔρις, οὐχὶ σαρκικοί ἐστε καὶ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον περιπατεῖτε;“ ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς οὗτος ἐπιστάμενος (τὰ) μέν τινα τροφὴν εἶναι τελειοτέρας ψυχῆς. τὰ δὲ τῶν εἰσαγομένων παραβάλλεσθαι γάλακτι νηπίων, φησί· „καὶ γεγόνατε χρείαν ἔχοντες γάλακτος. οὐ στερεᾶς τροφῆς. πᾶς γὰρ ὁ μετέχων γάλακτος ἄπειρος λόγου δικαιοσύνης, νήπιος γάρ ἐστι· τελείων δέ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφὴ. τῶν διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμένα ἐχόντων πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ.“ ἆρʼ οὖν οἱ τούτοις ὡς καλῶς εἰρημένοις πιστεύοντες ὑπολάβοιεν ἂν τὰ καλὰ τοῦ λόγου εἰς μὲν φρονίμων ἀνδρῶν σύλλογον οὐκ ἄν ποτε λεχθήσεσθαι, ἔνθα δʼ ἂν ὁρῶσι μειράκια καὶ οἰκοτρίβων ὄχλον καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀνοήτων ὅμιλον, ἐνταῦθα τὰ θεῖα καὶ σεμνὰ φέρειν εἰς μέσον καὶ παρὰ τοῖς τοιούτοις περὶ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλλωπίζεσθαι; ἀλλὰ σαφὲς τῷ ἐξετάζοντι ὅλον τὸ βούλημα τῶν ἡμετέρων γραμμάτων ὅτι ἀπεχθόμενος ὁμοίως τοῖς ἰδιωτικοῖς δήμοις ὁ Κέλσος πρὸς τὸ Χριστιανῶν γένος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνεξετάστως καὶ ψευδόμενος λέγει. ### English translation (Claude) For it is written in our Paul, writing to the Corinthians, who were Greeks but not yet purified in their character: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able, and even now you are not yet able; for you are still fleshly. For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and walking in a merely human way?” And this same man, knowing that some things are food for a more perfect soul, and that the teachings of beginners are compared to the milk of infants, says: “And you have come to need milk, not solid food. For everyone who partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant; but solid food is for the perfect, who by habit have their faculties trained to distinguish good and evil.” Would those who believe these words to be well spoken suppose, then, that the beautiful things of the word would never be spoken in a gathering of sensible men, but that wherever they see adolescents and a crowd of house-slaves and a throng of foolish people, there they bring forward the divine and holy things and show off about them before such people? But it is clear to anyone who examines the whole intention of our writings that Celsus, hating the Christian race like the common crowd, says such things without examination and falsely. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:12: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:13: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 3:2–3 and Heb 5:12–14 (cited as Paul's). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/53/). ## Against Celsus 3.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/54/ - Source: Koetschau 1:249–250 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians seek to heal the souls even of the foolish, as Wisdom invites them in Proverbs, just as philosophers like Pythagoras and Zeno taught slaves. ### Greek text Ὁμολογοῦμεν δὲ πάντας ἐθέλειν παιδεῦσαι τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ, κἂν μὴ βούληται Κέλσος, λόγῳ, ὥστε καὶ μειρακίοις μεταδιδόναι τῆς ἁρμοζούσης αὐτοῖς προτροπῆς καὶ οἰκότριψιν ὑποδεικνύναι. πῶς ἐλεύθερον ἀναλαβόντες φρόνημα ἐξευγενισθεῖεν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου. οἱ δὲ παρʼ ἡμῖν πρεσβεύοντες τὸν χριστιανισμὸν ἱκανῶς φασιν ὀφειλέται εἶναι „Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις, σοφοῖς καὶ ἀνοήτοις“· οὐ γὰρ ἀρνοῦνται τὸ καὶ ἀνοήτων δεῖν τὰς ψυχὰς θεραπεύειν, ἵνʼ ὅση δύναμις ἀποτιθέμενοι τὴν ἄγνοιαν ἐπὶ τὸ συνετώτερον σπεύδωσιν. ἀκούοντες καὶ Σολομῶντος λέγοντος· „οἱ δὲ ἄφρονες ἔνθεσθε καρδίαν“ καί· „ὅς ἐστιν ὑμῶν ἀφρονέστατος, ἐκκλινάτω πρός με, ἐνδεέσι δὲ φρενῶν παρακελεύομαι λέγουσα ἡ σοφία·“ „ἔλθετε. φάγετε τὸν ἐμὸν ἄρτον καὶ πίετε οἶνον. ὃν, ἐκέρασα ὑμῖν· ἀπολείπετε ἀφροσύνην, ἵνα ζήσητε, καὶ κατορθώσατε ἐν γνώσει σύνεσιν.“ εἴποιμι δʼ ἂν καὶ ταῦτα διὰ τὰ ἐγκείμενα πρὸς τὸν Κέλσου λόγον· ἆρα οἱ φιλοσοφοῦντες οὐ προκαλοῦνται μειράκια ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν; καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ κακίστου βίου νέους οὐ παρακαλοῦσιν ἐπὶ τὰ βελτίονα; τί δὲ τοὺς οἰκότριβας οὐ βούλονται φιλοσοφεῖν; ἢ καὶ ἡμεῖς μέλλομεν ἐγκαλεῖν φιλοσόφοις οἰκότριβας ἐπʼ ἀρετὴν προτρεψαμένοις, Πυθαγόρᾳ μὲν τὸν Ζάμολξιν Ζήνωνι δὲ τὸν Περσαῖον καὶ χθὲς καὶ πρώην τοῖς προτρεψαμένοις Ἐπίκτητον ἐπὶ τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν; ἢ ὑμῖν μὲν, ὦ Ἕλληνες, ἔξεστι μειράκια καὶ οἰκότριβας καὶ ἀνοήτους ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν καλεῖν· ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦτο ποιοῦντες οὐ φιλανθρώπως αὐτὸ πράττομεν, τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἰατρικῇ πᾶσαν λογικὴν φύσιν θεραπεῦσαι βουλόμενοι καὶ οἰκειῶσαι τῷ δημιουργήσαντι πάντα θεῷ; ἤρκει μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου λοιδορίας μᾶλλον ἢ κατηγορίας. ### English translation (Claude) We admit that we want to educate all people with the word of God, even if Celsus does not wish it, so that we give adolescents the exhortation suited to them and show house-slaves how, taking on a free spirit, they may be ennobled by the word. And those among us who are ambassadors of Christianity say plainly that they are debtors “to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish”; for they do not deny that the souls even of the foolish must be healed, so that, laying aside their ignorance as far as possible, they may hasten toward greater understanding, hearing Solomon too when he says, “And you foolish, take heart,” and, “Whoever of you is most foolish, let him turn aside to me; and to those lacking sense I give command,” says Wisdom: “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed for you; leave folly, that you may live, and direct understanding in knowledge.” I would also say this, because of what lies before us in Celsus's discourse: Do not those who practice philosophy invite adolescents to hear them? And do they not exhort young men from the worst life to better things? And why do they not want house-slaves to practice philosophy? Or are we too going to accuse philosophers who exhorted house-slaves to virtue: Pythagoras, Zamolxis; Zeno, Persaeus; and, just the other day, those who exhorted Epictetus to philosophy? Or is it permitted to you, Greeks, to call adolescents, house-slaves, and foolish people to philosophy, but when we do this, are we not acting from love of mankind, wanting to heal every rational nature with the medicine of the word and to bring it into fellowship with God who created all things? These things, then, suffice against Celsus's revilings, rather than accusations. ### Scripture references - Rom 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Prov 8:5: quotation, high confidence - Prov 9:4: quotation, high confidence - Prov 9:5: quotation, high confidence - Prov 9:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 1:14 (with “foolish” for “unwise”), Prov 8:5, and Prov 9:4–6. Zamolxis was said to be a slave of Pythagoras, Persaeus of Zeno; Epictetus was himself a slave. The digital text reads εἴποιμ(??) (unreadable characters); corrected to εἴποιμι. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/54/). ## Against Celsus 3.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/55/ - Source: Koetschau 1:250–251 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus caricatures Christian teachers as uneducated wool-workers, cobblers, and fullers who secretly lure children and women away from fathers and teachers. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐνηδόμενος τῷ τῶν καθʼ ἡμῶν λοιδοριῶν λόγῳ προσέθηκε καὶ ἕτερα, φέρε καὶ ταῦτα ἐκθέμενοι ἴδωμεν, πότερον Χριστιανοὶ ἀσχημονοῦσιν ἢ Κέλσος ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις, ὅς φησιν· ὁρῶμεν δὴ καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας οἰκίας ἐριουργοὺς καὶ σκυτοτόμους καὶ κναφεῖς καὶ τοὺς ἀπαιδευτοτάτους τε καὶ ἀγροικοτάτους ἐναντίον μὲν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ φρονιμωτέρων δεσποτῶν οὐδὲν φθέγγεσθαι τολμῶντας, ἐπειδὰν δὲ τῶν παίδων αὐτῶν ἰδίᾳ λάβωνται καὶ γυναίων τινῶν σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀνοήτων, θαυμάσιʼ ἄττα διεξιόντας, ὡς οὐ χρὴ προσέχειν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τοῖς διδασκάλοις σφίσι δὲ πείθεσθαι· (καὶ) τοὺς μέν γε ληρεῖν καὶ ἀποπλήκτους εἶναι καὶ μηδὲν τῷ ὄντι καλὸν μήτʼ εἰδέναι μήτε δύνασθαι ποιεῖν, ὕθλοις κενοῖς προκατειλημμένους, σφᾶς δὲ μόνους ὅπως δεῖ ζῆν ἐπίστασθαι, καὶ ἂν αὐτοῖς οἱ παῖδες πείθωνται, μακαρίους αὐτοὺς ἔσεσθαι καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἀποφαίνειν εὐδαίμονα· καὶ ἅμα λέγοντες ἐὰν ἴδωσί τινα παριόντα τῶν παιδείας διδασκάλων καὶ φρονιμωτέρων ἢ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν πατέρα. οἱ μὲν εὐλαβέστεροι αὐτῶν διέτρεσαν, οἱ δʼ ἰταμώτεροι τοὺς παῖδας ἀφηνιάζειν ἐπαίρουσι, τοιαῦτα ψιθυρίζοντες, ὡς παρόντος μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῶν διδασκάλων οὐδὲν αὐτοὶ ἐθελήσουσιν οὐδὲ δυνήσονται τοῖς παισὶν ἑρμηνεύειν ἀγαθὸν, ἐκτρέπεσθαι γὰρ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀβελτηρίαν καὶ σκαιότητα, πάντῃ διεφθαρμένων καὶ πόῤῥω κακίας ἡκόντων καὶ σφᾶς κολαζόντων· εἰ δὲ θέλοιεν. χρῆναι αὐτοὺς ἀφεμένους τοῦ πατρός τε καὶ τῶν διδασκάλων ἰέναι σὺν τοῖς γυναίοις καὶ τοῖς συμπαίζουσι παιδαρίοις εἰς τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν ἢ τὸ σκυτεῖον ἢ τὸ κναφεῖον, ἵνα τὸ τέλειον λάβωσι· καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντες πείθουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) But since, delighting in his discourse of abuse against us, he has added other things too, come, let us set these out also and see whether Christians behave disgracefully or Celsus in what he says. He says: “We see also in private houses wool-workers, cobblers, fullers, and the most uneducated and boorish people, who do not dare to utter a word in front of their elders and more sensible masters; but when they get hold of the children privately, and some foolish women with them, they tell marvelous things: that they must not pay attention to their father and their teachers but must obey them; that those others talk nonsense and are senseless, and neither know nor can do anything truly good, being preoccupied with empty chatter; but that they alone know how one ought to live, and if the children obey them they will be happy and will make the household prosperous. And while they are speaking, if they see one of the schoolteachers coming by, or one of the more sensible people, or even the father himself, the more cautious of them run off in fright, but the bolder urge the children to break loose, whispering such things as that while the father and the teachers are present they will not want, nor be able, to explain anything good to the children, since they turn away from their stupidity and coarseness, who are utterly corrupt and far gone in wickedness and would punish them; but if they wish, they must leave their father and their teachers and go with the women and their little playmates into the women's quarters, or the cobbler's shop, or the fuller's shop, so that they may receive perfection. And by saying these things they persuade them.” ### Translation notes - The whole section is a quotation of Celsus. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/55/). ## Against Celsus 3.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/56/ - Source: Koetschau 1:251–252 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christian teachers draw women away from licentiousness, the theater, and superstition, and train boys in chastity, rather than leading them into evil. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὴ καὶ ἐν τούτοις, τίνα τρόπον διασύρων τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῖν διδάσκοντας τὸν λόγον καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν παντὶ τρόπῳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναβιβάζειν πειρωμένους, παριστάντας δὲ καὶ ὡς χρὴ μὲν τῶν αἰσθητῶν καὶ προσκαίρων καὶ βλεπομένων πάντων καταφρονεῖν πάντα δὲ πράττειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τυχεῖν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κοινωνίας καὶ τῆς τῶν νοητῶν καὶ ἀοράτων θεωρίας καὶ μακαρίας μετὰ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν οἰκείων τοῦ θεοῦ διεξαγωγῆς, παραβάλλει αὐτοὺς τοῖς κατὰ τὰς οἰκίας ἐριουργοῖς καὶ τοῖς σκυτοτόμοις καὶ τοῖς κναφεῦσι καὶ τοῖς ἀγροικοτάτοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐπὶ τὰ φαῦλα προκαλουμένους παῖδας κομιδῇ νηπίους καὶ γύναια. ἵνʼ ἀποστῶσι μὲν πατρὸς καὶ διδασκάλων αὐτοῖς δὲ ἕπωνται. τίνος γὰρ πατρὸς σωφρονοῦντος ἢ τίνων διδασκάλων σεμνότερα διδασκόντων ἀφίσταμεν τοὺς παῖδας καὶ τὰ γύναια, παραστησάτω ὁ Κέλσος καὶ ἀντιπαραβαλέτω ἐπὶ τῶν προσιόντων τῷ λόγῳ ἡμῶν παίδων καὶ γυναίων, πότερά τινα ὧν ἤκουν βελτίονα τῶν ἡμετέρων. καὶ τίνα τρόπον καλῶν τινων καὶ σεμνῶν μαθημάτων ἀφιστάντες παῖδας καὶ γύναια ἐπὶ τὰ χείρονα προκαλούμεθα. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ἕξει παραστῆσαι τὸ τοιοῦτο καθʼ ἡμῶν· τοὐναντίον γὰρ τὰ μὲν γύναια ἀκολασίας καὶ διαστροφῆς τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν συνόντων ἀφίσταμεν καὶ πάσης θεατρομανίας καὶ ὀρχηστομανίας καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας. τοὺς δὲ παῖδας ἄρτι ἡβῶντας καὶ σφριγῶντας ταῖς περὶ τὰ ἀφροδίσια ὀρέξεσι σωφρονίζομεν, παρατιθέντες οὐ μόνον τὸ ἐν τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις αἰσχρὸν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν οἷς ἔσται διὰ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἡ τῶν φαύλων ψυχὴ, καὶ οἵας τίσει δίκας καὶ ὡς κολασθήσεται. ### English translation (Claude) See, then, in these words too, how he disparages those among us who teach the word and try in every way to raise the soul to the Creator of the universe, showing that we must despise all things of sense, temporary and visible, and do everything to attain communion with God and the contemplation of intelligible and invisible things, and a blessed life with God and with those who belong to God; he compares them to wool-workers in houses, cobblers, fullers, and the most boorish of men, who summon mere infant children and silly women to base things, so that they may leave father and teachers and follow them. From what sober-minded father, or from what teachers who teach more holy things, do we draw away children and women? Let Celsus show it, and let him compare, in the case of the children and women who come to our teaching, whether any of the teachings they heard were better than ours, and in what way we draw children and women away from beautiful and holy studies and summon them to worse. But he will not be able to show such a thing against us. On the contrary, we draw women away from licentiousness and from the perversion that comes from their companions, and from all mania for the theater and for dancing, and from superstition; and we bring to self-control boys just reaching puberty and swelling with sexual desires, setting before them not only the shamefulness of such sins but also the state in which the soul of the wicked will be because of such things, what penalties it will pay, and how it will be punished. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/56/). ## Against Celsus 3.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/57/ - Source: Koetschau 1:252 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not draw people away from good teachers; they openly promise blessedness to those who live by God's word as in his sight. ### Greek text Τίνας δὲ διδασκάλους λέγομεν ληρεῖν καὶ ἀποπλήκτους εἶναι, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὁ Κέλσος ἵσταται ὡς διδασκόντων τὰ κρείττονα; εἰ μὴ ἄρα καλοὺς οἴεται διδασκάλους γυναίων καὶ μὴ ληροῦντας τοὺς ἐπὶ δεισιδαιμονίαν καὶ τὰς ἀκολάστους θέας προκαλουμένους, ἔτι δὲ καὶ μὴ ἀποπλήκτους εἶναι τοὺς ἄγοντας καὶ φέροντας τοὺς νέους ἐπὶ πάντα, ὅσα ἴσμεν ἀτάκτως ὑπʼ αὐτῶν πολλαχοῦ γινόμενα. ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν φιλοσόφων δογμάτων ὅση δύναμις προκαλούμεθα ἐπὶ τὴν καθʼ ἡμᾶς θεοσέβειαν, τὸ ἐξαίρετον καὶ τὸ εἰλικρινὲς αὐτῆς παριστάντες, ἐπεὶ δὲ διʼ ὧν ἔλεγεν ὁ Κέλσος παρέστησε τοῦτο μὲν ἡμᾶς μὴ ποιεῖν μόνους δὲ τοὺς ἀνοήτους καλεῖν, εἴποιμεν ἂν πρὸς αὐτόν· εἰ μὲν ἐνεκάλεις ἡμῖν ὡς ἀφιστᾶσι φιλοσοφίας τοὺς ἤδη προκατειλημμένους ἐν αὐτῇ, ἀλήθειαν μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἔφασκες. πιθανότητα δʼ ἂν εἶχέ σου ὁ λόγος· νυνὶ δὲ λέγων ἡμᾶς ἀφιστᾶν διδασκάλων τοὺς προσιόντας ἀγαθῶν, παράστησον τοὺς διδασκάλους ἄλλους παρὰ τοὺς φιλοσοφίας διδασκάλους ἢ τοὺς κατά τι τῶν χρησίμων πεποιημένους. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἕξει τοιοῦτον δεικνύναι. μακαρίους δὲ ἔσεσθαι ἐπαγγελλόμεθα μετὰ παῤῥησίας καὶ οὐ κρύβδην τοὺς ζῶντας κατὰ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον καὶ πάντα εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἀφορῶντας καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ θεοῦ θεατοῦ πᾶν ὅ τι ποτʼ οὖν ἐπιτελοῦντας. ἆρʼ οὖν ταῦτα ἐριουργῶν καὶ σκυτοτόμων καὶ κναφέων καὶ ἀπαιδευτοτάτων ἀγροίκων ἐστὶ μαθήματα; ἀλλὰ τοῦτο δεικνύναι οὐ δυνήσεται. ### English translation (Claude) And which teachers do we say talk nonsense and are senseless, those on whose behalf Celsus stands up as teaching better things? Unless, perhaps, he thinks good teachers of women, and not talkers of nonsense, to be those who summon them to superstition and licentious spectacles, and not senseless those who lead and drive the young into all the disorderly things we know are done by them in many places. We, for our part, summon as far as we can even those from philosophical schools to our worship of God, showing its excellence and purity. But since Celsus by his words has represented that we do not do this but call only the foolish, we would say to him: If you accused us of drawing away from philosophy those already engaged in it, you would not be speaking the truth, but your argument would have some plausibility. But as it is, since you say that we draw those who come to us away from good teachers, show us teachers other than the teachers of philosophy, or those who have worked at some useful subject. But he will have nothing of the kind to show. And we promise openly, and not in secret, that those will be blessed who live according to the word of God, look to him in all things, and do whatever they do as with God looking on. Are these then the teachings of wool-workers, cobblers, fullers, and the most uneducated boors? But this he will not be able to show. ### Translation notes - The digital text reads παρὰ ποὺς, a slip for παρὰ τοὺς; corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/57/). ## Against Celsus 3.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/58/ - Source: Koetschau 1:252–253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians speak freely before good fathers and teachers; they turn youths away only from immoral teachers, and they build on a good philosophical education to lead students to the deeper wisdom of the prophets and apostles. ### Greek text Οἱ δὲ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ παραπλήσιοι τοῖς ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις ἐριουργοῖς ὅμοιοι δὲ καὶ τοῖς σκυτοτόμοις καὶ κναφεῦσι καὶ ἀπαιδευτοτάτοις ἀγροίκοις παρόντος μὲν πατρὸς καὶ διδασκάλων οὐδέν φησι λέγειν ἐθελήσουσιν οὐδὲ δυνήσονται τοῖς παισὶν ἑρμηνεύειν ἀγαθόν. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δʼ ἐροῦμεν· ποίου φῂς. ὦ οὗτος, πατρὸς καὶ ποίου διδασκάλου; εἰ μὲν τοῦ ἀρετὴν ἀποδεχομένου καὶ κακίαν ἀποστρεφομένου καὶ ἀσπαζομένου τὰ κρείττονα, ἄκουε ὅτι καὶ μάλα θαῤῥοῦντες ὡς εὐδοκιμοῦντες παρὰ τῷ τοιούτῳ κριτῇ ἐροῦμεν τοῖς παισὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα. εἰ δʼ ἐνώπιον πατρὸς διαβεβοημένου πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ καλοκἀγαθίαν σιωπῶμεν καὶ τῶν τὰ ἐναντία τῷ ὑγιεῖ λόγῳ διδασκόντων, τοῦτο μηδʼ ἡμῖν ἐγκάλει, οὐ γὰρ εὐλόγως ἐγκαλεῖς, καὶ σὺ γοῦν τὰ φιλοσοφίας ὄργια τοῖς νέοις καὶ υἱοῖς, πατέρων ἀργὸν πρᾶγμα καὶ ἀνωφελὲς νομιζόντων φιλοσοφίαν, παραδιδοὺς τοῖς παισὶν οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν φαύλων πατέρων ἐρεῖς· ἀλλὰ βουλόμενος χωρίζεσθαι τοὺς προτραπέντας ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν υἱοὺς τῶν μοχθηρῶν πατέρων ἐπιτηρήσεις καιροὺς, ἵνα καθίκωνται οἱ φιλοσοφίας λόγοι τῶν νέων, καὶ περὶ τῶν διδασκάλων δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ φήσομεν, εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀποτρέπομεν διδασκάλων διδασκόντων τὰ ἄσεμνα τῆς κωμῳδίας καὶ τοὺς ἀκολάστους τῶν ἰάμβων καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα, ἃ μήτε τὸν λέγοντα ἐπιστρέφει μήτε τοὺς ἀκούοντας ὠφελεῖ, καὶ μὴ εἰδότας φιλοσόφως ἀκούειν ποιημάτων καὶ ἐπιλέγειν ἑκάστοις τὰ συντείνοντα εἰς ὠφέλειαν τῶν νέων, τοῦτο ποιοῦντες οὐκ αἰσχυνόμεθα ὁμολογεῖν τὸ πραττόμενον· εἰ δὲ παραστήσεις μοι διδασκάλους πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν προπαιδεύοντας καὶ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ γυμνάζοντας, οὐκ ἀποτρέψω μὲν ἀπὸ τούτων τοὺς νέους πειράσομαι δὲ προγυμνασαμένους αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐν ἐγκυκλίοις μαθήμασι καὶ τοῖς φιλοσοφουμένοις ἀναβιβάσαι ἐπὶ τὸ σεμνὸν καὶ ὑψηλὸν τῆς λεληθυίας τοὺς πολλοὺς Χριστιανῶν μεγαλοφωνίας, περὶ τῶν μεγίστων καὶ ἀναγκαιοτάτων διαλαμβανόντων καὶ ἀποδεικνύντων καὶ παριστάντων αὐτὰ πεφιλοσοφῆσθαι παρὰ τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ προφήταις καὶ τοῖς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀποστόλοις. ### English translation (Claude) Those whom Celsus likens to wool-workers in houses, and compares to cobblers, fullers, and the most uneducated boors, “will not want,” he says, “nor be able, while the father and teachers are present, to explain anything good to the children.” To this too we shall say: What sort of father do you mean, sir, and what sort of teacher? If one who approves virtue, turns from vice, and embraces better things, hear that we shall speak our teachings to the children with great confidence, knowing we shall win approval before such a judge. But if we keep silent in the presence of a father notorious for hostility to virtue and nobility of character, and of those who teach things contrary to sound reason, do not blame us for this, for you would not blame us reasonably. You yourself, at any rate, when handing on the mysteries of philosophy to young men and sons whose fathers consider philosophy an idle and useless business, will not speak in front of the bad fathers; but, wishing to separate the sons who have been drawn to philosophy from their wretched fathers, you will watch for opportunities for the words of philosophy to reach the young. And we shall say the same about teachers. If we turn people away from teachers who teach the indecencies of comedy and the licentious iambics and whatever else neither improves the speaker nor benefits the hearers, and who do not know how to hear poetry philosophically and to pick out in each work what tends to the benefit of the young, we are not ashamed to admit that we do this. But if you present to me teachers who give a preparatory education for philosophy and train people in philosophy, I will not turn the young away from them, but will try, when they have been trained first as in the general studies and in philosophical subjects, to raise them to the majestic and lofty grandeur of Christian speech, hidden from the many, which treats the greatest and most necessary matters and demonstrates and shows that they were treated philosophically by the prophets of God and the apostles of Jesus. ### Translation notes - The “general studies” (ἐγκύκλια μαθήματα) are the standard liberal curriculum preparatory to philosophy. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/58/). ## Against Celsus 3.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/59/ - Source: Koetschau 1:253–254 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks Christians for inviting sinners, unlike the pagan mysteries; Origen answers that the sick are first called to healing, and only those purified are then initiated into the deeper mysteries. ### Greek text Εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα αἰσθόμενος ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Κέλσος πικρότερον ἡμῖν λοιδορησαμένου ὡσπερεὶ ἀπολογούμενος τοιαῦτά φησιν· ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲν πικρότερον ἐπαιτιῶμαι ἢ ἐφʼ ὅσον ἡ ἀλήθεια βιάζεται, τεκμαιρέσθω καὶ τοῖσδέ τις, οἱ μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὰς ἄλλας τελετὰς καλοῦντες προκηρύττουσι τάδε· ὅστις χεῖρας καθαρὸς καὶ φωνὴν συνετὸς, καὶ αὖθις ἕτεροι· ὅστις ἁγνὸς ἀπὸ παντὸς μύσους, καὶ ὅτῳ ἡ ψυχὴ οὐδὲν σύνοιδε κακὸν, καὶ ὅτῳ εὖ καὶ δικαίως βεβίωται, καὶ ταῦτα προκηρύττουσιν οἱ καθάρσια ἁμαρτημάτων ὑπισχνούμενοι, ἐπακούσωμεν δὲ τίνας ποτὲ οὗτοι καλοῦσιν· ὅστις, φασὶν, ἁμαρτωλὸς, ὅστις ἀσύνετος, ὅστις νήπιος, καὶ ὡς ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ὅστις κακοδαίμων, τοῦτον ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ δέξεται, τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἆρα οὐ τοῦτον λέγετε, τὸν ἄδικον καὶ κλέπτην καὶ τοιχωρύχον καὶ φαρμακέα καὶ ἱερόσυλον καὶ τυμβωρύχον; τίνας ἂν ἄλλους προκηρύττων λῃστὴς ἐκάλεσε; καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δέ φαμεν ὅτι οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστι νοσοῦντας τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπὶ θεραπείαν καλεῖν καὶ ὑγιαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν θειοτέρων γνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστήμην, καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀμφότερα ταῦτα γινώσκοντες, κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν προκαλούμενοι ἐπὶ τὸ θεραπευθῆναι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους προτρέπομεν τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἥκειν ἐπὶ τοὺς διδάσκοντας λόγους μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν καὶ τοὺς ἀσυνέτους ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐμποιοῦντας σύνεσιν καὶ τοὺς νηπίους εἰς τὸ ἀναβαίνειν φρονήματι ἐπὶ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τοὺς ἁπλῶς κακοδαίμονας ἐπὶ εὐδαιμονίαν ἢ, ὅπερ κυριώτερόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ἐπὶ μακαριότητα, ἐπὰν δʼ οἱ προκόπτοντες τῶν προτραπέντων παραστήσωσι τὸ κεκαθάρθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου καὶ ὅση δύναμις βέλτιον βεβιωκέναι, τὸ τηνικάδε καλοῦμεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς παρʼ ἡμῖν τελετάς· „σοφίαν γὰρ λαλοῦμεν ἐν τοῖς τελείοις“. ### English translation (Claude) Then after this Celsus, perceiving that he had reviled us rather bitterly, says something like this, as if defending himself: “That I make no more bitter charge than the truth compels, let anyone judge from the following. Those who invite people to the other mysteries proclaim beforehand: ‘Whoever has clean hands and wise speech’; and others again: ‘Whoever is pure from all defilement, and whose soul is conscious of no evil, and who has lived well and justly.’ And those who promise purifications from sins proclaim these things. But let us hear whom these people invite. ‘Whoever is a sinner,’ they say, ‘whoever is without understanding, whoever is a child,’ and, to put it simply, ‘whoever is wretched, him the kingdom of God will receive.’ Do you not mean by the sinner the unjust man, the thief, the housebreaker, the poisoner, the temple-robber, the grave-robber? Whom else would a robber invite by proclamation?” To this we say: it is not the same thing to call those sick in soul to healing and to call the healthy to the knowledge and understanding of more divine things. And we, knowing both these things, at first, inviting people to be healed, exhort sinners to come to the teachings that teach them not to sin, those without understanding to the teachings that produce understanding, children to rise in mind to manhood, and the simply wretched to happiness, or, to speak more properly, to blessedness. But when those of the exhorted who make progress show that they have been purified by the word and, as far as they can, have lived better, then we call them to our mysteries; “for we speak wisdom among the perfect.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Mark 2:17: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 2:6; Celsus's summary of the Christian invitation echoes Mark 2:17 and Matt 18:3. The formulas of the mysteries are quoted by Celsus; the first recalls the proclamation at Eleusis. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/59/). ## Against Celsus 3.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/60/ - Source: Koetschau 1:254–255 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen adapts the formulas of the mysteries: those with clean hands, wise speech, and a long-purified soul are admitted to Christianity's deeper mysteries, while the wicked are first called to healing. ### Greek text Καὶ διδάσκοντες „ὅτι εἰς κακότεχνον ψυχὴν οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται σοφία οὐδὲ κατοικήσει ἐν σώματι κατάχρεῳ ἁμαρτίας“ φαμέν· ὅστις χεῖρας καθαρὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐπαίρων „χεῖρας ὁσίους“ τῷ θεῷ καὶ παρὰ τὸ διηρμένα καὶ οὐράνια ἐπιτελεῖν δύναται λέγειν· „ἔπαρσις τῶν χειρῶν μου θυσία ἑσπερινὴ“, ἡκέτω πρὸς ἡμᾶς· καὶ ὅστις φωνὴν συνετὸς τῷ μελετᾶν τὸν νόμον κυρίου „ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς“ καὶ τῷ „διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμένα“ ἐσχηκέναι „πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ“ μὴ ὀκνείτω προσιέναι στερεαῖς λογικαῖς τροφαῖς καὶ ἁρμοζούσαις ἀθληταῖς εὐσεβείας καὶ πάσης ἀρετῆς, ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ „ἡ χάρις“ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστι „μετὰ πάντων τῶν ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ ἀγαπώντων“ τὸν διδάσκαλον τῶν τῆς ἀθανασίας μαθημάτων, ὅστις ἁγνὸς οὐ μόνον ἀπὸ παντὸς μύσους ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐλαττόνων εἶναι νομιζομένων ἁμαρτημάτων, θαῤῥῶν μυείσθω τὰ μόνοις ἁγίοις καὶ καθαροῖς εὐλόγως παραδιδόμενα μυστήρια τῆς κατὰ Ἰησοῦν θεοσεβείας, ὁ μὲν οὖν Κέλσου μύστης φησίν· ὅτῳ οὐδὲν ἡ ψυχὴ σύνοιδε κακὸν, ἡκέτω· ὁ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μυσταγωγῶν τῷ θεῷ τοῖς κεκαθαρμένοις τὴν ψυχὴν ἐρεῖ· ὅτῳ πολλῷ χρόνῳ ἡ ψυχὴ οὐδὲν σύνοιδε κακὸν, καὶ μάλιστα ἀφʼ οὗ προσελήλυθε τῇ τοῦ λόγου θεραπείᾳ, οὗτος καὶ τῶν κατʼ ἰδίαν λελαλημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῖς γνησίοις μαθηταῖς ἀκουέτω, οὐκοῦν καὶ ἐν οἷς ἀντιπαρατίθησι τὰ τῶν μυούντων ἐν Ἕλλησι τοῖς διδάσκουσι τὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ οἶδε διαφορὰν καλουμένων ἐπὶ μὲν θεραπείαν φαύλων ἐπὶ δὲ τὰ μυστικώτερα τῶν ἤδη καθαρωτάτων. ### English translation (Claude) And teaching “that wisdom will not enter a soul that devises evil, nor dwell in a body involved in sin,” we say: Whoever has clean hands, and for that reason lifts up “holy hands” to God, and because he offers lofty and heavenly things can say, “The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice,” let him come to us. And whoever has wise speech, through meditating on the law of the Lord “day and night,” and through having “by habit his faculties trained to distinguish good and evil,” let him not hesitate to come to the solid, rational food suited to athletes of piety and of every virtue. And since “the grace” of God is “with all who love” in incorruption the teacher of the lessons of immortality, whoever is pure not only from all defilement but also from what are thought to be lesser sins, let him boldly be initiated into the mysteries of the worship of God according to Jesus, which are reasonably handed on only to the holy and pure. Celsus's initiator says, “Whoever's soul is conscious of no evil, let him come”; but the one who, according to Jesus, leads people into the mysteries of God will say to those whose souls have been purified: “Whoever's soul has for a long time been conscious of no evil, especially since he came to the healing of the word, let him hear also the things spoken privately by Jesus to his genuine disciples.” So even in contrasting the practices of those who initiate among the Greeks with those who teach the things of Jesus, he does not know the difference between the wicked, who are called to healing, and those already most pure, who are called to the more mystical teachings. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 141:2 (140:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:24: quotation, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Wis 1:4, 1 Tim 2:8, Ps 141:2 (140:2 LXX), Ps 1:2, Heb 5:14, and Eph 6:24 (loosely applied). The meaning of παρὰ τὸ διηρμένα … ἐπιτελεῖν (“because he offers lofty things”) is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/60/). ## Against Celsus 3.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/61/ - Source: Koetschau 1:255–256 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians call the wicked not to the mysteries but to healing, as a physician calls the sick; unlike a robber, they call sinners in order to bind up their wounds. ### Greek text Οὐκ ἐπὶ μυστήρια οὖν καὶ κοινωνίαν σοφίας „ἐν μυστηρίῳ“ ἀποκεκρυμμένης, „ἣν προώρισεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς δόξαν“ τῶν δικαίων ἑαυτοῦ, καλοῦμεν τὸν ἄδικον καὶ κλέπτην καὶ τοιχωρύχον καὶ φαρμακέα καὶ ἱερόσυλον καὶ τυμβωρύχον καὶ ὅσους ἂν ἄλλους δεινοποιῶν ὁ Κέλσος ὀνομάσαι, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ θεραπείαν, ἔστι γὰρ ἐν τῇ τοῦ λόγου θειότητι ἄλλα μὲν τὰ θεραπευτικὰ τῶν „κακῶς“ ἐχόντων βοηθήματα, περὶ ὧν εἶπεν ὁ λόγος τό· „οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ ἀλλʼ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες.“ ἄλλα δὲ τὰ τοῖς καθαροῖς ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα παραδεικνύντα „ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίου, χρόνοις αἰωνίοις σεσιγημένου φανερωθέντος δὲ νῦν διά τε γραφῶν προφητικῶν“ καὶ „τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, “ ἑκάστῳ τῶν τελείων ἐπιφαινομένης καὶ φωτιζούσης εἰς ἀψευδῆ γνῶσιν τῶν πραγμάτων τὸ ἡγεμονικόν, ἐπεὶ δὲ δεινοποιῶν τὰ καθʼ ἡμῶν ἐγκλήματα ἐπιφέρει οἷς ὠνόμασεν ἐν ἀνθρώποις μιαρωτάτοις τὸ τίνας ἄλλους προκηρύττων λῃστὴς ἐκάλεσε; καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο φήσομεν ὅτι λῃστὴς μὲν τοὺς τοιούτους καλεῖ, χρώμενος αὐτῶν τῇ πονηρίᾳ κατʼ ἀνθρώπων, οὓς φονεύειν καὶ συλᾶν βούλεται· Χριστιανὸς δὲ κἂν καλῇ οὓς ὁ λῃστὴς καλεῖ, διάφορον κλῆσιν αὐτοὺς καλεῖ, ἵνʼ αὐτῶν καταδήσῃ „τὰ τραύματα“ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἐπιχέῃ τῇ φλεγμαινούσῃ ἐν κακοῖς ψυχῇ τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου φάρμακα, ἀνάλογον οἴνῳ καὶ ἐλαίῳ καὶ μαλάγματι καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀπὸ ἰατρικῆς ψυχῆς βοηθήμασιν. ### English translation (Claude) It is not, then, to mysteries and to fellowship in the wisdom hidden “in a mystery,” “which God predestined before the ages for the glory” of his righteous ones, that we call the unjust man, the thief, the housebreaker, the poisoner, the temple-robber, the grave-robber, and whatever others Celsus in his exaggeration might name, but to healing. For in the divinity of the word there are, on the one hand, aids that heal those who are “sick,” of which the Word said, “Those who are strong do not need a physician, but those who are sick”; and on the other hand, those that show to the pure in soul and body “the revelation of the mystery kept silent through eternal ages but now made manifest through the prophetic Scriptures” and “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who appears to each of the perfect and enlightens the ruling faculty for undeceived knowledge of realities. But since, exaggerating his charges against us, he adds to those whom he named among the most defiled of men the question, “Whom else would a robber invite by proclamation?”, to this too we shall say: a robber invites such people in order to use their wickedness against men whom he wants to murder and rob; but a Christian, even if he calls those whom the robber calls, calls them with a different calling, so that he may bind up their “wounds” with the word and pour upon the soul inflamed with evils the medicines of the word, like wine and oil and poultice and the other aids of the medicine of the soul. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 16:25: quotation, high confidence - Rom 16:26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 6:14: quotation, medium confidence - Luke 10:34: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations and allusions are 1 Cor 2:7, Matt 9:12, Rom 16:25–26, 1 Tim 6:14 (or 2 Tim 1:10), and the Good Samaritan's care in Luke 10:34. The “ruling faculty” (ἡγεμονικόν) is the Stoic term for the mind. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/61/). ## Against Celsus 3.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/62/ - Source: Koetschau 1:256–257 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ came as physician to sinners and as teacher to the purified; no one except Jesus has been sinless from the beginning, and God receives the sinner who repents and lives well. ### Greek text Εἶτα συκοφαντῶν τὰ προτροπῆς ἕνεκα εἰρημένα καὶ γεγραμμένα τῆς πρὸς τοὺς κακῶς βεβιωκότας καὶ καλοῦντα αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ μετάνοιαν καὶ διόρθωσιν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν, φησὶν ἡμᾶς λέγειν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς πεπέμφθαι τὸν θεόν, ὅμοιον δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ὡς εἰ ἐνεκάλει τισὶ λέγουσι διὰ τοὺς κακῶς διάγοντας ἐν τῇ πόλει πεπέμφθαι ὑπὸ φιλανθρωποτάτου βασιλέως τὸν ἰατρόν, ἐπέμφθη οὖν θεὸς λόγος καθὸ μὲν ἰατρὸς τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς, καθὸ δὲ διδάσκαλος θείων μυστηρίων τοῖς ἤδη καθαροῖς καὶ μηκέτι ἁμαρτάνουσιν. ὁ δὲ Κέλσος ταῦτα μὴ δυνηθεὶς διακρῖναι (οὐ γὰρ ἠβουλήθη φιλομαθῆσαι) φησί· τί δὲ τοῖς ἀναμαρτήτοις οὐκ ἐπέμφθη; τί κακόν ἐστι τὸ μὴ ἡμαρτηκέναι; καὶ πρὸς τοῦτό φαμεν ὅτι, εἰ μὲν ἀναμαρτήτους λέγει τοὺς μηκέτι ἁμαρτάνοντας, ἐπέμφθη καὶ τούτοις ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὡς ἰατρός· εἰ δʼ ἀναμαρτήτοις τοῖς μηδεπώποτε ἡμαρτηκόσιν (οὐ γὰρ διεστείλατο ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ λέξει), ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ἀδύνατον εἶναι οὕτως ἄνθρωπον ἀναμάρτητον, τοῦτο δέ φαμεν ὑπεξαιρουμένου τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν νοουμένου ἀνθρώπου, „ὃς ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησε.“ κακούργως δή φησιν ὁ Κέλσος περὶ ἡμῶν ὡς δὴ φασκόντων ὅτι τὸν μὲν ἄδικον, ἐὰν αὑτὸν ὑπὸ μοχθηρίας ταπεινώσῃ, δέξεται ὁ θεὸς, τὸν δὲ δίκαιον, ἐὰν μετʼ ἀρετῆς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἄνω πρὸς αὐτὸν βλέπῃ, τοῦτον οὐ δέξεται, ἀδύνατον (γάρ) φαμεν εἶναι ἄνθρωπον μετʼ ἀρετῆς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἄνω βλέπειν· κακίαν γὰρ ὑφίστασθαι ἀναγκαῖον πρῶτον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, καθὸ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος λέγει· „ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνέζησεν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέθανον“· ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐ διδάσκομεν περὶ τοῦ ἀδίκου ὅτι αὔταρκες αὐτῷ τὸ διὰ τὴν μοχθηρίαν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινοῦν πρὸς τὸ δεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἐὰν μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς προτέροις ἑαυτοῦ καταγνοὺς πορεύηται „ταπεινὸς“ ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις καὶ „κεκοσμημένος“ ἐπὶ τοῖς δευτέροις, τοῦτον παραδέξεται ὁ θεός. ### English translation (Claude) Then, slandering what has been said and written for the sake of exhortation to those who have lived badly, which calls them to repentance and the correction of their souls, he says that we claim that God was sent to sinners. He does something like accusing some people for saying that a physician had been sent by a most humane king because of those who were sick in the city. God the Word, then, was sent as physician to sinners, but as teacher of divine mysteries to those already pure and no longer sinning. But Celsus, unable to distinguish these things (for he did not wish to learn), says: “Why was he not sent to those without sin? What evil is it not to have sinned?” To this we say that if he calls “without sin” those who no longer sin, our Savior Jesus was sent to them too, but not as physician; but if he means by “without sin” those who have never sinned at all (for he did not make the distinction in his wording), we shall say that it is impossible for a man to be without sin in that sense. We say this excepting the man understood to be in Jesus, “who committed no sin.” Maliciously, then, Celsus says of us that we claim that “God will receive the unjust man if he humbles himself because of his wickedness, but will not receive the righteous man if he looks up to him with virtue from the beginning.” We say that it is impossible for a man to look up to God with virtue from the beginning; for wickedness must first exist in men, as Paul too says: “But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Nor do we teach about the unjust man that it suffices for him to humble himself because of his wickedness in order to be received by God; but if, condemning himself for his former deeds, he walks “humble” on their account and “well ordered” on account of the later ones, God will accept him. ### Scripture references - 1 Pet 2:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:10: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Leg. 716a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Pet 2:22 and Rom 7:9–10; “humble and well ordered” is from Plato, Laws 716a (see 3.63). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/62/). ## Against Celsus 3.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/63/ - Source: Koetschau 1:257–258 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God is not swayed by flattery; the penitent's humble confession turns sinners back, and since all sin, Christ calls all who labor to find rest in him. ### Greek text Εἶτα μὴ νοῶν, πῶς εἴρηται τὸ „πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, “ μηδὲ κἂν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος διδαχθεὶς ὅτι ὁ καλὸς καὶ ἀγαθὸς πορεύεται „ταπεινὸς καὶ κεκοσμημένος, “ μὴ εἰδὼς δὲ καὶ, ὥς φαμεν· „ταπεινώθητε οὖν ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα ὑμᾶς ὑψώσῃ ἐν καιρῷ, “ φησὶν ὅτι ἄνθρωποι μὲν ὀρθῶς δίκης προϊστάμενοι τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν ὀλοφυρομένους ἀποπαύουσι λόγων οἰκτρογόων, ἵνα μὴ πρὸς ἔλεον μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν δικασθῶσιν· ὁ θεὸς δʼ ἄρα οὐ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἀλλὰ πρὸς κολακείαν δικάζει. ποία γὰρ κολακεία, καὶ ποῖος λόγος οἰκτρόγοος κατὰ τὰς θείας γινόμενος γραφὰς, ἐπὰν ὁ ἁμαρτάνων λέγῃ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς θεὸν εὐχαῖς· „τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου ἐγνώρισα, καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου οὐκ ἐκάλυψα, εἶπα· ἐξαγορεύσω κατʼ ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου τῷ κυρίῳ“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς; ἀλλὰ δύναται παραστῆσαι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπιστρεπτικὸν τὸ τοιοῦτον τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων, ὑπὸ τὸν θεὸν ἑαυτοὺς ταπεινούντων ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς; καὶ συγκεχυμένος δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸ κατηγορεῖν ὁρμῆς ἑαυτῷ ἐναντία λέγει, ὅπου μὲν ἐμφαίνων εἰδέναι ἀναμάρτητον ἄνθρωπον καὶ δίκαιον, μετʼ ἀρετῆς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἄνω βλέποντα, ὅπου δʼ ἀποδεχόμενος τὸ λεγόμενον ὑφʼ ἡμῶν, ὅτι „τίς ἄνθρωπος τελέως δίκαιος, ἢ τίς ἀναμάρτητος;“ ὡς ἀποδεχόμενος γὰρ αὐτό φησι· τοῦτο μὲν ἐπιεικῶς ἀληθὲς, ὅτι πέφυκέ πως τὸ ἀνθρώπινον φῦλον ἁμαρτάνειν· εἶτα ὡς μὴ πάντων καλουμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου φησίν· ἐχρῆν οὖν ἁπλῶς πάντας καλεῖν. εἴ γε πάντες ἁμαρτάνουσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω δὲ παρεδείκνυμεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἰρηκέναι· „δεῦτε πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς.“ πάντες οὖν ἄνθρωποι διὰ τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας φύσιν „κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι“ καλοῦνται ἐπὶ τὴν παρὰ τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνάπαυσιν· ἐξαπέστειλε γὰρ ὁ θεὸς „τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Then, not understanding in what sense it is said, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,” and not having been taught even by Plato that the noble and good man walks “humble and well ordered,” and not knowing either that we say, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time,” he says: “Men who rightly preside over justice stop those who lament their crimes from making pitiful speeches, so that they may not judge from pity rather than from truth; but God, it seems, judges not by truth but by flattery.” What flattery, and what pitiful speech, is there in the divine Scriptures, when the sinner says in his prayers to God, “I made known my sin, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, I will confess my iniquity against myself to the Lord,” and so on? Can he show that such a thing does not turn sinners back when they humble themselves before God in their prayers? And confused by his eagerness to accuse, he contradicts himself: in one place showing that he knows of a sinless and righteous man who looks up to God with virtue from the beginning, in another accepting what we say, “What man is perfectly righteous, or who is without sin?” For he says as if accepting it: “This is fairly true, that the human race is somehow naturally inclined to sin.” Then, as though not all were called by the word, he says: “Then they ought simply to call all, if indeed all sin.” But in what precedes we showed that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” All men, then, because of the nature of sin, “laboring and heavy laden,” are called to the rest with the Word of God; for God “sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.” ### Scripture references - Luke 14:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 5:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 32:5 (31:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Prov 20:9: echo, low confidence - Eccl 7:20: echo, low confidence - Matt 11:28: quotation, high confidence - Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Leg. 716a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Luke 14:11 (18:14), Plato, Laws 716a, 1 Pet 5:6, Ps 32:5 (31:5 LXX), Matt 11:28, and Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX). “What man is perfectly righteous, or who is without sin?” is not an exact biblical quotation; compare Prov 20:9 and Eccl 7:20. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/63/). ## Against Celsus 3.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/64/ - Source: Koetschau 1:258 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A repentant sinner is preferred only to a self-satisfied man who thinks himself righteous, as in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δέ φησι καὶ τό· τίς οὖν αὕτη ποτὲ ἡ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν προτίμησις; καὶ ὅμοια τούτοις ἐπιφέρει, ἀποκρινούμεθα ὅτι καθάπαξ μὲν ἁμαρτωλὸς οὐ προτιμᾶται τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτωλοῦ· ἔστι δʼ ὅτε ἁμαρτωλὸς συναισθόμενος τῆς ἰδίας ἁμαρτίας καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ μετανοεῖν πορευόμενος ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις ταπεινὸς προτιμᾶται τοῦ ἔλαττον μὲν νομιζομένου εἶναι ἁμαρτωλοῦ, οὐκ οἰομένου δʼ αὐτὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἀλλʼ ἐπαιρομένου ἐπί τισιν, οἷς δοκεῖ συνειδέναι ἑαυτῷ κρείττοσι, καὶ πεφυσιωμένου ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς. καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τοῖς βουλομένοις εὐγνωμόνως ἐντυγχάνειν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἡ περὶ τοῦ εἰπόντος τελώνου παραβολή· „ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ“ καὶ περὶ τοῦ καυχησαμένου μετά τινος μοχθηροῦ οἰήματος Φαρισαίου καὶ φήσαντος· „εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὡς οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἅρπαγες, ἄδικοι, μοιχοὶ, ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης.“ ἐπιφέρει γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῷ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων λόγῳ τὸ „κατέβη οὗτος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ δεδικαιωμένος παρʼ ἐκεῖνον· ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται.“ οὐ βλασφημοῦμεν οὖν τὸν θεὸν οὐδὲ καταψευδόμεθα, διδάσκοντες πάνθʼ ὁντινοῦν συναισθέσθαι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης βραχύτητος ὡς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μεγαλειότητα καὶ ἀεὶ αἰτεῖν ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τὸ ἐνδέον τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν, τοῦ μόνου ἀναπληροῦν τὰ ἐλλιπῆ ἡμῖν δυναμένου. ### English translation (Claude) And since he also says, “What then is this preference for sinners?” and adds similar things, we shall answer that the sinner is not preferred absolutely to one who is not a sinner. But there are times when a sinner who is aware of his own sin, and for that reason goes to repentance humbled by his sins, is preferred to one who is thought to be less of a sinner, but who does not consider himself a sinner, and is elated over certain better things of which he seems to be conscious in himself, and is puffed up about them. This is shown, to those who wish to read the Gospels fairly, by the parable about the tax collector who said, “Be merciful to me, the sinner,” and about the Pharisee who boasted with a certain wicked conceit and said, “I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” For Jesus adds to the account of both: “This man went down to his house justified rather than that one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” We do not, then, blaspheme God or lie about him when we teach every person whatever to be aware of human smallness compared with God's greatness, and always to ask from him what is lacking to our nature, since he alone can fill up our deficiencies. ### Scripture references - Luke 18:11: quotation, high confidence - Luke 18:13: quotation, high confidence - Luke 18:14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Luke 18:11–14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/64/). ## Against Celsus 3.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/65/ - Source: Koetschau 1:258–259 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen denies that Christians attract only the worst people: most converts come from decent lives, while hardened sinners, held by conscience and habit, find conversion harder. ### Greek text Οἴεται δʼ ὅτι τοιαῦτα εἰς προτροπὴν τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων φαμὲν ὡς μηδένα ἄνδρα τῷ ὄντι χρηστὸν καὶ δίκαιον προσάγεσθαι δυνάμενοι, καὶ ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο τοῖς ἀνοσιωτάτοις καὶ ἐξωλεστάτοις τὰς πύλας ἀνοίγομεν. ἡμεῖς δὲ, εἴ τις κατανοήσαι ἡμῶν εὐγνωμόνως τὸ ἄθροισμα, πλείονας ἔχομεν παραστῆσαι τοὺς οὐκ ἀπὸ χαλεποῦ πάνυ βίου, ἤπερ τοὺς ἀπὸ ἐξωλεστάτων ἁμαρτημάτων ἐπιστρέψαντας. καὶ γὰρ πεφύκασιν οἱ τὰ κρείττονα ἑαυτοῖς συνεγνωκότες, εὐχόμενοι ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὰ κηρυσσόμενα περὶ τῆς ὑπὸ θεοῦ τοῖς κρείττοσιν ἀμοιβῆς, ἑτοιμότερον συγκατατίθεσθαι τοῖς λεγομένοις παρὰ τοὺς πάνυ μοχθηρῶς βεβιωκότας, ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ συνειδότος κωλυομένους παραδέξασθαι ὅτι κολασθήσονται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι δικαστοῦ κολάσει. ἥτις πρέποι ἂν τῷ τὰ τοσαῦτα ἡμαρτηκότι καὶ οὐ παρὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον προσάγοιτο ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι δικαστοῦ. ἔσθʼ ὅτε δὲ κἂν πάνυ ἐξώλεις παραδέξασθαι βούλωνται τὸν λόγον τὸν περὶ κολάσεως, διὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ μετανοίᾳ ἐλπίδα ἐπιμόνως βεβαμμένοι κωλύονται ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν συνηθείας, ὡσπερεὶ δευσοποιηθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας καὶ μηκέτι δυνάμενοι ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἀποστῆναι εὐχερῶς ἐπὶ τὸν καθεστηκότα καὶ τὸν κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον βίον. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ Κέλσος ἐννοήσας οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως λέγει ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς τοιαῦτα· καὶ μὴν παντί που δῆλον ὅτι τοὺς μὲν ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκότας τε καὶ εἰθισμένους οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲ κολάζων πάντῃ μεταβάλοι. μήτι γε ἐλεῶν· φύσιν γὰρ ἀμεῖψαι τελέως παγχάλεπον· οἱ δʼ ἀναμάρτητοι βελτίους κοινωνοὶ βίου. ### English translation (Claude) He thinks that we say such things to encourage sinners because we are unable to win over any man who is truly good and righteous, and that for this reason we open the gates to the most unholy and abandoned. But if anyone considers our gathering fairly, we can show more who were converted from a life not very bad than from the most abandoned sins. For those conscious of better things in themselves, praying that what is proclaimed about God's reward for the better is true, are naturally more ready to assent to what is said than those who have lived very wickedly, who are prevented by their very conscience from accepting that they will be punished by the Judge of all with a punishment that would befit one who has sinned so greatly, and would not be inflicted contrary to right reason by the Judge of all. And sometimes, even if the utterly abandoned wish to accept the teaching about punishment, because of the hope of repentance, being persistently steeped in the habit of sinning, they are held back, as though dyed fast by wickedness and no longer able to depart from it easily for a settled life according to right reason. Celsus too perceived this, and somehow says in what follows: “And indeed it is surely clear to everyone that no one could wholly change those who are by nature inclined and accustomed to sin, not even by punishing them, let alone by pitying them; for to change nature completely is extremely difficult. But those without sin are better partners in life.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/65/). ## Against Celsus 3.66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/66/ - Source: Koetschau 1:259 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Both philosophy and Scripture record people who were completely changed, like Heracles, Odysseus, Socrates, and Musonius, so Celsus is wrong that habitual sinners cannot change. ### Greek text Καὶ ἐν τούτοις δʼ ὁ Κέλσος πάνυ μοι ἐσφάλθαι δοκεῖ, μὴ διδοὺς τοῖς ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκόσι καὶ τοῦτο πράττειν εἰθισμένοις τὴν παντελῆ μεταβολὴν, ὅστις οὐδʼ ἀπὸ κολάσεων αὐτοὺς οἴεται θεραπεύεσθαι. σαφῶς γὰρ φαίνεται ὅτι πάντες μὲν ἄνθρωποι πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν πεφύκαμεν, ἔνιοι δὲ οὐ μόνον πεφύκασιν ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰθισμένοι εἰσὶν ἁμαρτάνειν· ἀλλʼ οὐ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἀπαράδεκτοί εἰσι τῆς παντελοῦς μεταβολῆς. εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν φιλοσοφίας αἵρεσιν καὶ κατὰ τὸν θεῖον λόγον οἱ τοσοῦτον μεταβεβληκέναι ἱστορούμενοι, ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἐγκεῖσθαι παράδειγμα τοῦ ἀρίστου βίου. καὶ φέρουσί τινες ἡρώων μὲν τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα, τῶν δʼ ὕστερον τὸν Σωκράτην, τῶν δὲ χθὲς καὶ πρώην γεγονότων τὸν Μουσώνιον. οὐ μόνον οὖν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐψεύσατο ὁ Κέλσος εἰπὼν παντί που δῆλον εἶναι τοὺς ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκότας καὶ εἰθισμένους ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἂν οὐδὲ κολαζομένους πάντῃ ἀχθῆναι πρὸς τὴν εἰς τὸ βέλτιον μεταβολὴν. ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς γενναίως φιλοσοφήσαντας καὶ μὴ ἀπογνόντας τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀνάληψιν εἶναι δυνατὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ μὴ μετὰ ἀκριβείας ὅπερ ἐβούλετο παρέστησεν. οὐδὲν ἧττον εὐγνωμόνως αὐτοῦ ἀκούοντες καὶ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐλέγξομεν οὐχ ὑγιῶς λέγοντα. εἶπε μὲν γάρ· τοὺς πεφυκότας ἁμαρτάνειν καὶ εἰθισμένους οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲ κολάζων πάντῃ μεταβάλοι· καὶ τὸ ἐξακουόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς λέξεως ὡς δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἀνετρέψαμεν. ### English translation (Claude) In this too Celsus seems to me to be greatly mistaken, not granting complete change to those by nature inclined to sin and accustomed to do it, since he thinks they are not healed even by punishments. For it plainly appears that all we men are by nature inclined to sin, and some are not only so inclined but also accustomed to sin; but not all men are incapable of complete change. For both in every school of philosophy and according to the divine word there are people recorded as having changed so much that they stand as an example of the best life. Some cite among the heroes Heracles and Odysseus, among later men Socrates, and among those of just the other day Musonius. So Celsus lied not only against us in saying that it is surely clear to everyone that those by nature inclined and accustomed to sin could not be brought by anyone, even by punishment, to a complete change for the better, but also against those who have practiced philosophy nobly and have not despaired of men's ability to take up virtue. But even if he did not express precisely what he meant, we shall hear him fairly and still refute him as speaking unsoundly. For he said, “No one could wholly change those who are by nature inclined and accustomed to sin, not even by punishing them”; and we have overturned, as far as we could, what is understood from the wording. ### Translation notes - Musonius Rufus was a Stoic philosopher of the first century. “School” renders αἵρεσις in its neutral sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/66/). ## Against Celsus 3.67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/67/ - Source: Koetschau 1:259–260 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Philosophy itself refutes Celsus: Phaedo, once forced into a brothel, became Plato's narrator of Socrates' death, and the drunken Polemo became head of Xenocrates' school. ### Greek text Εἰκὸς δʼ αὐτὸν τοιοῦτον βούλεσθαι δηλοῦν, ὅτι τοὺς πρὸς τὰ τοιάδε ἁμαρτήματα καὶ γινόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ἐξωλεστάτων οὐ μόνον πεφυκότας ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰθισμένους οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲ κολάζων πάντῃ μεταβάλοι. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ψεῦδος ἀπὸ τῆς περί τινων φιλοσοφησάντων ἱστορίας ἀποδείκνυται. τίς γὰρ ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἂν ἐν τοῖς ἐξωλεστάτοις τάσσοι τὸν ὅπως ποτὲ ὑπομείναντα εἶξαι δεσπότῃ, ἐπὶ τέγους αὐτὸν ἱστάντι, ἵνα πάντα τὸν θέλοντα αὐτὸν καταισχύνειν παραδέξηται; τοιαῦτα δὲ περὶ τοῦ Φαίδωνος ἱστορεῖται. τίς δὲ τὸν μετὰ αὐλητρίδος καὶ κωμαστῶν τῶν συνασωτευσαμένων εἰσβαλόντα εἰς τὴν τοῦ σεμνοτάτου Ξενοκράτους διατριβὴν, ἵνʼ ἐνυβρίσῃ ἄνδρα, ὃν καὶ οἱ ἑταῖροι ἐθαύμαζον, οὐ φήσει πάντων μιαρώτατον εἶναι ἀνθρώπων; ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἴσχυσε λόγος καὶ τούτους ἐπιστρέψας ποιῆσαι ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διαβεβηκέναι ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ. ὥστε τὸν μὲν ὑπὸ Πλάτωνος κριθῆναι ἄξιον τοῦ τὸν περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας διεξοδεῦσαι Σωκράτους λόγον καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ εὐτονίαν αὐτοῦ παραστῆσαι, οὐ φροντίσαντος τοῦ κωνείου ἀλλʼ ἀδεῶς καὶ μετὰ πάσης γαλήνης τῆς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ διεξοδεύσαντος τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα, οἷς μόγις παρακολουθεῖν καὶ οἱ πάνυ καθεστηκότες καὶ ὑπὸ μηδεμιᾶς ἐνοχλούμενοι περιστάσεως δύνανται· τὸν δὲ Πολέμωνα, ἐξ ἀσώτου γενόμενον σωφρονέστατον, διαδέξασθαι τὴν τοῦ διαβοήτου ἐπὶ σεμνότητι Ξενοκράτους διατριβήν. οὐκ ἄρα ἀληθεύει Κέλσος λέγων τοὺς πεφυκότας ἁμαρτάνειν καὶ εἰθισμένους οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲ κολάζων πάντῃ μεταβάλοι. ### English translation (Claude) It is likely that he means something like this: that no one could wholly change, not even by punishing them, those who are not only by nature inclined but also accustomed to sins such as the most abandoned commit. But this too is shown to be false from the history of certain men who became philosophers. For who would not rank among the most abandoned a man who somehow endured to yield to a master who set him in a brothel, so that he should receive anyone who wished to abuse him? Such things are related about Phaedo. And who will not say that the man who burst into the school of the most venerable Xenocrates with a flute-girl and a band of fellow revelers, to insult a man whom even his companions admired, was the most defiled of all men? Yet the word was strong enough to convert even these and make them advance so far in philosophy that the one was judged by Plato worthy to narrate Socrates' discourse on immortality and to portray his steadfastness in prison, as he paid no heed to the hemlock but fearlessly and with all calm of soul went through so many and such great arguments, which even the most settled people, troubled by no circumstance, can scarcely follow; and the other, Polemo, having become from a profligate a man of the greatest self-control, succeeded to the school of Xenocrates, famous for his dignity. So Celsus does not speak truly when he says that no one could wholly change those by nature inclined and accustomed to sin, not even by punishing them. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedo (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Phaedo of Elis narrates Plato's Phaedo; Polemo succeeded Xenocrates as head of the Academy. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/67/). ## Against Celsus 3.68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/68/ - Source: Koetschau 1:260–261 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The apostles' simple preaching, powered by the Spirit, changed whole multitudes from vice to virtue and even to contempt of death, far beyond what philosophy achieved. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν τάξιν καὶ σύνθεσιν καὶ φράσιν τῶν ἀπὸ φιλοσοφίας λόγων τοιαῦτα εἰς τοὺς προειρημένους πεποιηκέναι. καὶ ἄλλως κακῶς βεβιωκότας. οὐ πάνυ τι θαυμαστόν. ἐπὰν δὲ οὕς φησιν εἶναι ἰδιωτικοὺς λόγους ὁ Κέλσος κατανοήσωμεν, ὡσπερεὶ ἐπῳδὰς δυνάμεως πεπληρωμένους, καὶ τοὺς λόγους θεωρῶμεν, ἀθρόως προτρέποντας πλήθη ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀκολάστων εἰς τὸν εὐσταθέστατον βίον καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀδίκων εἰς τὸν χρηστότερον καὶ τὸν ἐκ δειλῶν ἢ ἀνάνδρων εἰς τὸν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εὔτονον, ὡς καὶ θανάτου διὰ τὴν φανεῖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς εὐσέβειαν καταφρονεῖν· πῶς οὐχὶ δικαίως θαυμάσομεν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ δύναμιν; „ὁ“ γὰρ „λόγος“ τῶν ταῦτα τὴν ἀρχὴν πρεσβευσάντων καὶ καμόντων, ἵνα συστήσωσιν ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ „τὸ κήρυγμα“ αὐτῶν ἐν πειθοῖ μὲν γέγονεν οὐ τοιαύτῃ δὲ, ὁποία ἐστὶ πειθὼ ἐν τοῖς σοφίαν Πλάτωνος ἐπαγγελλομένοις ἤ τινος τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων. ὄντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἐχόντων· ἡ δʼ ἀπόδειξις ἐν τοῖς Ἰησοῦ ἀποστόλοις θεόθεν δοθεῖσα πιστικὴ ἀπὸ „πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως.“ διόπερ τάχιστα καὶ ὀξύτατα ἔδραμεν ὁ λόγος αὐτῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ, διʼ αὐτῶν μεταβάλλων πολλοὺς τῶν ἁμαρτάνειν πεφυκότων καὶ εἰθισμένων· οὓς οὐδὲ κολάζων μὲν ἄν τις ἄνθρωπος μετέβαλεν, ὁ δὲ λόγος μετεποίησε μορφώσας καὶ τυπώσας αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ βούλημα. ### English translation (Claude) But that the order, composition, and style of philosophical discourses should have produced such effects in the men named above, who had otherwise lived badly, is not very surprising. But when we consider the words which Celsus calls those of common people, filled with power as if they were incantations, and see these words exhorting multitudes all at once to pass from licentiousness to the most stable life, from injustice to goodness, and from cowardice or unmanliness to such steadfastness that they despise even death for the sake of the piety that has appeared in them, how shall we not justly marvel at the power in them? For “the word” of those who first proclaimed these things and labored to establish churches of God, and also their “preaching,” came with persuasiveness, yet not such persuasiveness as is found in those who profess the wisdom of Plato or of some other philosopher, who were men and had nothing but human nature. The demonstration in the apostles of Jesus, given by God, was persuasive by “the Spirit and power.” That is why their word, or rather the word of God, ran most swiftly and keenly, changing through them many of those by nature inclined and accustomed to sin, whom no man could have changed even by punishment; but the word transformed them, shaping and molding them according to its own will. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 2:4. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/68/). ## Against Celsus 3.69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/69/ - Source: Koetschau 1:261–262 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: All rational souls share one nature and none was created evil; habits of vice can be changed through God's word, as practice enables even rope-walkers' feats, and no one becomes sinless without the Word. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ μὲν Κέλσος φησὶ τὰ ἀκόλουθα ἑαυτῷ ἐπιφέρων ὅτι φύσιν ἀμεῖψαι τελέως παγχάλεπον. ἡμεῖς δὲ, μίαν φύσιν ἐπιστάμενοι πάσης λογικῆς ψυχῆς καὶ μηδεμίαν φάσκοντες πονηρὰν ὑπὸ τοῦ κτίσαντος τὰ ὅλα δεδημιουργῆσθαι, γεγονέναι (δὲ) πολλοὺς κακοὺς παρὰ τὰς ἀνατροφὰς καὶ τὰς διαστροφὰς καὶ τὰς περιηχήσεις, ὥστε καὶ φυσιωθῆναι ἔν τισι τὴν κακίαν, πειθόμεθα ὅτι τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ ἀμεῖψαι κακίαν φυσιώσασάν ἐστιν οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀδύνατον ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐ πάνυ χαλεπὸν, ἐπὰν μόνον παραδέξηταί τις ὅτι πιστεύειν δεῖ ἑαυτὸν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ καὶ πάντα πράττειν κατʼ ἀναφορὰν τοῦ ἀρέσκειν ἐκείνῳ· παρʼ ᾧ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν δὲ ἰῇ τιμῇ ἠμὲν κακὸς ἠδὲ καὶ ἐσθλός· οὐδὲ κάτθανʼ ὁμῶς ὅ τʼ ἀεργὸς ἀνὴρ ὅ τε πολλὰ ἐοργώς. εἰ δὲ καί τισι πάνυ χαλεπόν ἐστι τὸ μεταβάλλειν. τὴν αἰτίαν λεκτέον εἶναι περὶ τὴν συγκατάθεσιν αὐτῶν, ὀκνοῦσαν παραδέξασθαι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν εἶναι ἑκάστῳ δίκαιον κριτὴν περὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ πεπραγμένων. μέγα γὰρ δύναται καὶ πρὸς τὰ δοκοῦντα εἶναι χαλεπώτατα καὶ, ἵνα καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν ὀνομάσω, ἐγγύς που ἀδύνατα προαίρεσις καὶ ἄσκησις. ἢ βουληθεῖσα ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἐπὶ κάλου βαίνειν, τεταμένου διὰ μέσου τοῦ θεάτρου ἐν μετεώρῳ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ φέρειν τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα βάρη δεδύνηται τῇ ἀσκήσει καὶ τῇ προσοχῇ τὸ τοιοῦτο ποιῆσαι· βουληθεῖσα δὲ κατʼ ἀρετὴν βιῶσαι ἀδυνάτως ἔχει, κἂν ᾖ πρότερον φαυλοτάτη γεγενημένη; ἀλλʼ ὅρα μή ποτε ὁ τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγων τῇ δημιουργῷ τοῦ λογικοῦ ζῴου φύσει ἐγκαλεῖ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ γεγενημένῳ. εἰ πρὸς μὲν τὰ οὕτω χαλεπὰ οὐδαμῶς ὄντα χρήσιμα πεποίηκε δυνατὴν τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσιν, ἀδύνατον δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν μακαριότητα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ φύσιν γὰρ ἀμεῖψαι τελέως παγχάλεπον. ἑξῆς δέ φησιν ὅτι οἱ ἀναμάρτητοι βελτίους κοινωνοὶ βίου. μὴ σαφηνίσας, τίνας φησὶ τοὺς ἀναμαρτήτους, πότερον τοὺς ἀρχῆθεν ἢ τοὺς ἐκ μεταβολῆς. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀρχῆθεν ἀδύνατοι, οἱ δʼ ἐκ μεταβολῆς σπανίως εἰσὶν εὑρισκόμενοι, οἵτινες ἐκ τοῦ προσεληλυθέναι λόγῳ σῴζοντι τοιοῦτοι γίνονται. οὐχὶ δὲ τοιοῦτοι ὄντες τῷ λόγῳ προσέρχονται· χωρὶς γὰρ λόγου καὶ ταῦτα τελείου ἀμήχανον ἀναμάρτητον γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπον. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, adding what follows from his own view, says that “to change nature completely is extremely difficult.” But we, knowing that there is one nature of every rational soul, and maintaining that none was created evil by the Creator of the universe, but that many have become evil through their upbringing, perversions, and surroundings, so that in some wickedness has even become second nature, are persuaded that for the divine Word to change wickedness that has become second nature is not only not impossible but not even very difficult, if only one accepts that he must entrust himself to the God over all and do everything with reference to pleasing him; with whom it is not true that “the bad and the noble are held in one honor,” nor that “the idle man and the man who has done much die alike.” And if for some it is very difficult to change, the cause must be said to lie in their assent, which hesitates to accept that the God over all is a just judge for each of everything done in life. For choice and practice can do much even toward things that seem most difficult and, to speak with exaggeration, almost impossible. Or has human nature, when it wished to walk on a rope stretched on high across the middle of a theater, and to carry so many and such heavy weights at the same time, been able to do such a thing by practice and attention, but when it wishes to live according to virtue, is it unable, even if it had formerly been most wicked? But see whether one who says such things does not accuse the nature that created the rational animal rather than the one created, if it made human nature capable of such difficult things that are of no use, but incapable of its own blessedness. But this suffices in reply to “for to change nature completely is extremely difficult.” Next he says that “those without sin are better partners in life,” without making clear whom he calls “without sin,” those so from the beginning or those so by change. Those from the beginning are impossible; those by change are rarely found, and they become such by coming to the saving word; they do not come to the word already being such. For without the word, and the perfect word at that, it is impossible for a man to become sinless. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 9.319–320 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Homeric lines are Iliad 9.319–320, which Origen negates: for God, unlike in Achilles' complaint, the bad and the good do not receive equal honor. “Become second nature” renders φυσιόω. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/69/). ## Against Celsus 3.70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/70/ - Source: Koetschau 1:262–263 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God can do all things consistent with being God, good, and wise; he cannot do injustice, just as sweetness cannot make bitter or light cannot darken. ### Greek text Εἶτα ἀνθυποφέρει ὡσπερεὶ λεγόμενον ὑφʼ ἡμῶν τὸ δυνήσεται πάντα ὁ θεὸς, οὐδὲ τοῦθʼ ὁρῶν πῶς λέλεκται, καὶ τίνα πάντα ἐν τούτῳ παραλαμβάνονται, καὶ πῶς δύναται. περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον νῦν λέγειν, οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς. καίτοι γε δυνάμενος πρὸς αὐτὸ στῆναι πιθανῶς. ἔστη· τάχα μηδὲ παρακολουθῶν τῇ λεχθησομένῃ ἂν κατὰ τούτου πιθανότητι, ἢ παρακολουθῶν μὲν θεωρῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸ λεγόμενον ἀπάντησιν. δύναται δὲ καθʼ ἡμᾶς πάντα ὁ θεὸς, ἅπερ δυνάμενος τοῦ θεὸς εἶναι καὶ τοῦ ἀγαθὸς εἶναι καὶ σοφὸς εἶναι οὐκ ἐξίσταται. ὁ δὲ Κέλσος φησὶν ὡς μὴ νοήσας, πῶς λέγεται ὁ θεὸς πάντα δύνασθαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐθελήσει οὐδὲν ἄδικον, διδοὺς ὅτι δύναται μὲν καὶ τὸ ἄδικον, οὐ θέλει δέ. ἡμεῖς δέ φαμεν ὅτι. ὥσπερ οὐ δύναται τὸ πεφυκὸς γλυκαίνειν τῷ γλυκὺ τυγχάνειν πικράζειν παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ μόνην αἰτίαν. οὐδὲ τὸ πεφυκὸς φωτίζειν τῷ εἶναι φῶς σκοτίζειν, οὕτως οὐδʼ ὁ θεὸς δύναται ἀδικεῖν· ἐναντίον γάρ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ τῇ θειότητι καὶ τῇ κατʼ αὐτὴν πάσῃ δυνάμει ἡ τοῦ ἀδικεῖν δύναμις. εἰ δέ τι τῶν ὄντων δύναται ἀδικεῖν τῷ καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀδικεῖν πεφυκέναι, δύναται ἀδικεῖν οὐκ ἔχον ἐν τῇ φύσει τὸ μηδαμῶς δύνασθαι ἀδικεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Then he raises as an objection, as if said by us, “God will be able to do all things,” not seeing even this, how it is said, what “all things” are included in it, and how he is able. It is not necessary to speak about these matters now, for he himself did not take a stand against it, though he could have done so plausibly; perhaps because he did not grasp the plausible argument that could be made against it, or because he grasped it but also saw the answer to it. In our view God can do all things which he can do without ceasing to be God, good, and wise. But Celsus, as one who has not understood in what sense God is said to be able to do all things, says that “he will not want anything unjust,” granting that he can do even what is unjust, but does not will it. We say that just as what is by nature sweetening, because it is sweet, cannot make bitter contrary to its own sole cause, and what is by nature illuminating, because it is light, cannot darken, so neither can God do injustice; for the power to do injustice is contrary to his divinity and to all the power that belongs to it. And if any being can do injustice because it is also by nature inclined to do injustice, it can do injustice because it does not have in its nature the utter inability to do injustice. ### Translation notes - The digital text reads περὶ ων; corrected to περὶ ὧν. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/70/). ## Against Celsus 3.71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/71/ - Source: Koetschau 1:263 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God does not pardon the wicked out of mere pity; he accepts those who condemn their sins and truly change, as virtue or real progress drives out their former wickedness. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ αὑτῷ λαμβάνει τὸ μὴ διδόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν λογικώτερον πιστευόντων, τάχα ὑπό τινων ἀνοήτων νομιζόμενον, ὡς ἄρα ὁμοίως τοῖς οἴκτῳ δουλεύουσι δουλεύσας οἴκτῳ τῶν οἰκτιζομένων ὁ θεὸς τοὺς κακοὺς κουφίζει καὶ μηδὲν τοιοῦτο δρῶντας τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἀποῤῥίπτει, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀδικώτατον. καθʼ ἡμᾶς γὰρ ἔτι οὐδένα μὴ προτετραμμένον ἐπʼ ἀρετὴν κακὸν κουφίζει ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐδένα ἤδη ἀγαθὸν ἀποῤῥίπτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐδένα οἰκτιζόμενον παρὰ τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι κουφίζει ἢ ἐλεεῖ. ἵνα κοινότερον τῷ ἐλέει χρήσωμαι. ἀλλὰ τοὺς σφόδρα ἑαυτῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις κατεγνωκότας, ὡς ἐπὶ τούτῳ οἱονεὶ πενθεῖν καὶ θρηνεῖν ἑαυτοὺς ὡς ἀπολωλότας ὅσον ἐπὶ τοῖς προπεπραγμένοις καὶ ἀξιόλογον ἐπιδεικνυμένους μεταβολὴν, προσίεται τῆς μετανοίας χάριν ὁ θεὸς. καὶ τοὺς ἐκ μεταβολῆς κακίστου βίου. ἀμνηστίαν γὰρ τοῖς τοιούτοις δίδωσιν ἀρετὴ. ἐπιδημοῦσα αὐτῶν ταῖς ψυχαῖς καὶ ἐκβεβληκυῖα τὴν προκαταλαβοῦσαν κακίαν. εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ ἀρετὴ ἀξιόλογος δὲ προκοπὴ ἐγγένοιτο τῇ ψυχῇ, ἱκανὴ καὶ αὕτη κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τοῦ πῶς εἶναι προκοπῆς ἐκβαλεῖν καὶ ἐξαφανίσαι τὴν τῆς κακίας χύσιν. ὥστʼ αὐτὴν ἐγγὺς τοῦ μηκέτι τυγχάνειν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. ### English translation (Claude) After this he assumes for himself what is not granted by those who believe more rationally, though perhaps it is held by some foolish people: that God, like those who are slaves to pity, is himself a slave to the pity of those who lament, relieves the wicked, and rejects the good who do nothing of the kind, which is most unjust. For in our view God relieves no wicked man who has not yet turned toward virtue, and rejects no one who is already good; nor does he relieve or have mercy on anyone who laments merely because he laments, to use “mercy” in a more common sense. But those who have strongly condemned themselves for their sins, so that on this account they as it were mourn and lament themselves as lost, as far as their former deeds are concerned, and who show a notable change, God accepts for the sake of their repentance, even those who come by change from the worst life. For virtue, coming to dwell in their souls and having driven out the wickedness that occupied them before, grants such people an amnesty. And even if not virtue, but notable progress takes place in the soul, this too, in proportion to its degree of progress, is enough to drive out and wipe away the flood of wickedness, so that it is nearly no longer in the soul. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/71/). ## Against Celsus 3.72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/72/ - Source: Koetschau 1:263–264 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: True wisdom, defined as knowledge of divine and human things or as the radiance of God's glory, never leads people away from Christ; only sophistry falsely called wisdom does. ### Greek text Εἶτα ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ διδάσκοντος τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον τοιαῦτά φησιν· οἱ σοφοὶ γὰρ ἀποτρέπονται τὰ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λεγόμενα. ὑπὸ τῆς σοφίας πλανώμενοι καὶ παραποδιζόμενοι. φήσομεν οὖν καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ὅτι, εἴπερ ἡ σοφία ἐπιστήμη „θείων“ ἐστὶ „καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων“ πραγμάτων καὶ τῶν τούτων αἰτίων ἢ. ὡς ὁ θεῖος λόγος ὁρίζεται, „ἀτμὶς“ „τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀπόῤῥοια τῆς τοῦ παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινὴς“ καὶ „ἀπαύγασμα“ „φωτὸς ἀϊδίου καὶ ἔσοπτρον ἀκηλίδωτον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνεργείας καὶ εἰκὼν τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ, “ οὐκ ἄν τις ὢν σοφὸς ἀποτρέποιτο τὰ ὑπὸ Χριστιανοῦ ἐπιστήμονος τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ λεγόμενα οὐδὲ πλανηθείη ἂν ἢ παραποδίζοιτο ὑπʼ αὐτῆς. ἡ γὰρ ἀληθὴς σοφία οὐ πλανᾷ ἀλλʼ ἡ ἀμαθία, καὶ μόνον τῶν ὄντων βέβαιον ἐπιστήμη, καὶ ἀλήθεια ἅπερ ἐκ σοφίας παραγίνεται. ἐὰν δὲ παρὰ τὸν τῆς σοφίας ὅρον τὸν ὅ τι ποτʼ οὖν δογματίζοντα μετά τινων σοφισμάτων λέγῃς σοφὸν, φήσομεν ὅτι ἀληθῶς ὁ κατὰ τὴν ὑπὸ σοῦ λεγομένην σοφίαν ποιὸς ἀποτρέπεται τοὺς λόγους τοῦ θεοῦ, πλανώμενος ὑπὸ τῶν πιθανοτήτων καὶ σοφισμάτων καὶ παραποδιζόμενος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον „οὐκ ἔστι σοφία πονηρίας ἐπιστήμη, “ „πονηρίας“ δὲ. ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, „ἐπιστήμη“ ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς ψευδοδοξοῦσι καὶ ὑπὸ σοφισματίων ἠπατημένοις, διὰ τοῦτο ἀμαθίαν εἴποιμι μᾶλλον ἢ σοφίαν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as if in the person of one who teaches our doctrine, he says something like this: “For the wise turn away from what we say, being led astray and hindered by their wisdom.” To this too we shall say that if wisdom is knowledge of “divine and human” things and their causes, or, as the divine word defines it, “a vapor of the power of God and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty” and “a radiance of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God and an image of his goodness,” no one who is wise would turn away from what is said by a Christian who understands Christianity, nor would he be led astray or hindered by wisdom. For it is not true wisdom that leads astray, but ignorance; and of all things only knowledge is firm, and truth, which come from wisdom. But if, contrary to the definition of wisdom, you call wise one who lays down any doctrine whatever with some sophistries, we shall say that indeed one who is wise according to the wisdom you speak of turns away from the words of God, led astray by plausibilities and sophistries and hindered by them. And since according to our teaching “the knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom,” and a “knowledge of wickedness,” if I may so name it, is in those who hold false opinions and are deceived by petty sophistries, I would call it ignorance rather than wisdom in such people. ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:25–26 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Sir 19:22 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first definition of wisdom is the Stoic one; the quotations are Wis 7:25–26 and Sir 19:22. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/72/). ## Against Celsus 3.73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/73/ - Source: Koetschau 1:264–265 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Like lawgivers who legislated for ordinary people too, God through Jesus leads even the unintelligent to better lives, while the “wise” who fell into idolatry are put to shame. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν λοιδορεῖται τῷ πρεσβεύοντι χριστιανισμὸν καὶ ἀποφαίνεται μὲν περὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς καταγέλαστα διεξιόντος, οὐκ ἀποδείκνυσι δὲ οὐδὲ ἐναργῶς παρίστησιν ἅ φησιν εἶναι καταγέλαστα. καὶ λοιδορούμενος οὐδένα φρόνιμόν φησι πείθεσθαι τῷ λόγῳ, περισπώμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν προσερχομένων αὐτῷ. ὅμοιον δὲ ποιεῖ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ (τῷ) φάσκοντι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἀγομένων ἰδιωτῶν ὅτι φρόνιμος οὐδεὶς, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν, Σόλωνι ἢ Λυκούργῳ πείθεται ἢ Ζαλεύκῳ ἤ τινι τῶν λοιπῶν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐὰν φρόνιμον λαμβάνῃ τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν ποιόν. ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτων κατὰ τὸ φανὲν αὐτοῖς χρήσιμον οἱ νομοθέται πεποιήκασι τὸ τοιαύτῃ ἀγωγῇ αὐτοὺς περιβαλεῖν καὶ νόμοις, οὕτως νομοθετῶν ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὁ θεὸς τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἀνθρώποις καὶ τοὺς μὴ φρονίμους ἄγει, ὡς οἷόν τε ἐστὶν ἄγεσθαι τοὺς τοιούτους ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον. ὅπερ. ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν, ἐπιστάμενος ὁ ἐν Μωϋσεῖ θεὸς λέγει τό· „αὐτοὶ παρεζήλωσάν με ἐπʼ οὐ θεῷ. παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν· κἀγὼ παραζηλώσω αὐτοὺς ἐπʼ οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπʼ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ αὐτούς, “ εἰδὼς δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος εἶπε· „τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεὸς, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφοὺς, “ „σοφοὺς“ κοινότερον λέγων πάντας τοὺς δοκοῦντας προβεβηκέναι μὲν ἐν μαθήμασιν ἀποπεπτωκότας δὲ εἰς τὴν ἄθεον πολυθεότητα· ἐπεὶ „φάσκοντες εἶναι σοφοὶ ἐμωράνθησαν, καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πετεινῶν καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) After this he again reviles the one who proclaims Christianity, and declares that he recounts ridiculous things, but does not demonstrate or clearly show what he says are ridiculous. And in his abuse he says that no sensible man is persuaded by the teaching, being distracted by the multitude of those who come to it. In this he does something like one who says that, because of the multitude of common people led by the laws, no sensible man obeys, say, Solon, or Lycurgus, or Zaleucus, or any of the rest, especially if he takes “sensible” to mean the man of virtue. For as the lawgivers, in the case of these people, did what seemed useful to them in surrounding them with such a way of life and laws, so God, giving laws in Jesus to men everywhere, leads even those who are not sensible, as far as such people can be led to what is better. Knowing this, as we said above, God says in Moses: “They made me jealous with what is no god, they provoked me with their idols; and I will make them jealous with what is no nation, with a foolish nation I will provoke them.” And knowing it, Paul too said: “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise,” using “wise” in a general sense of all who seem to have advanced in learning but have fallen into godless polytheism; since “claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” ### Scripture references - Deut 32:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:23: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 32:21, 1 Cor 1:27, and Rom 1:22–23. Solon (Athens), Lycurgus (Sparta), and Zaleucus (Locri) were famous lawgivers. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/73/). ## Against Celsus 3.74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/74/ - Source: Koetschau 1:265–266 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Every philosopher, like Christians, seeks to win “fools” in the sense of the morally bad, as a doctor seeks the sick; but Christians especially seek sharp minds able to grasp the hidden meanings of Scripture. ### Greek text Ἐγκαλεῖ δὲ τῷ διδάσκοντι καὶ ὡς ἀνοήτους ζητοῦντι. πρὸς ὃν εἴποιμεν ἄν· τίνας λέγεις τοὺς ἀνοήτους; κατὰ γὰρ τὸ ἀκριβὲς πᾶς φαῦλος ἀνόητός ἐστιν. εἰ τοίνυν λέγεις ἀνοήτους τοὺς φαύλους. ἆρα σὺ προσάγων ἀνθρώπους φιλοσοφίᾳ φαύλους ζητεῖς προσάγειν ἢ ἀστείους; ἀλλʼ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἀστείους, ἤδη γὰρ πεφιλοσοφήκασι· φαύλους ἄρα· εἰ δὲ φαύλους, ἀνοήτους. καὶ ζητεῖς πολλοὺς προσάγειν τοιούτους φιλοσοφίᾳ· καὶ σὺ ἄρα τοὺς ἀνοήτους ζητεῖς. ἐγὼ δὲ. κἂν τοὺς οὕτω λεγομένους ἀνοήτους ζητῶ. ὅμοιον ποιῶ. ὡς εἰ καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ἰατρὸς ἐζήτει τοὺς κάμνοντας, ἵνʼ αὐτοῖς προσαγάγοι τὰ βοηθήματα καὶ ῥώσῃ αὐτούς. εἰ δʼ ἀνοήτους λέγεις τοὺς μὴ ἐντρεχεῖς ἀλλὰ τερατωδεστέρους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀποκρινοῦμαί σοι ὅτι καὶ τούτους μὲν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν βελτιοῦν πειρῶμαι. οὐ μὴν ἐκ τούτων βούλομαι συστῆσαι τὸ Χριστιανῶν ἄθροισμα. ζητῶ γὰρ μᾶλλον τοὺς ἐντρεχεστέρους καὶ ὀξυτέρους ὡς δυναμένους παρακολουθῆσαι τῇ σαφηνείᾳ τῶν αἰνιγμάτων καὶ τῶν μετʼ ἐπικρύψεως εἰρημένων ἐν νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις καὶ εὐαγγελίοις, ὡς οὐδὲν ἀξιόλογον περιεχόντων καταπεφρόνηκας, οὐ βασανίσας τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς νοῦν μηδʼ εἰσελθεῖν πειραθεὶς εἰς τὸ βούλημα τῶν γραψάντων. ### English translation (Claude) He also accuses the teacher of seeking out the foolish. To him we would say: Whom do you call foolish? For strictly speaking every bad man is foolish. If then you call the bad foolish, when you bring men to philosophy, do you seek to bring the bad or the good? But you cannot bring the good, for they already practice philosophy; so it is the bad; and if the bad, the foolish. And you seek to bring many such people to philosophy; so you too seek the foolish. But I, even if I seek those who are called foolish in this sense, do something like a humane physician who seeks out the sick, to bring them remedies and strengthen them. But if you call foolish those who are not quick-witted but rather dull among men, I will answer you that I try to improve these too as far as possible; yet I do not wish to build up the Christian community from them. For I seek rather the quicker-witted and sharper, as able to follow the explanation of the riddles and of what is spoken with concealment in the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospels, which you have despised as containing nothing worthy of note, without testing their meaning or trying to enter into the intention of their writers. ### Translation notes - “Every bad man is foolish” is a Stoic maxim. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.74 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/74/). ## Against Celsus 3.75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/75/ - Source: Koetschau 1:266–268 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The only “physicians” Christians turn people from are philosophers with harmful doctrines, such as Epicureans, Peripatetics, Stoics, and believers in transmigration; Christians never despise knowledge and point pupils to God and Jesus, not to themselves. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα παραπλήσιόν φησι ποιεῖν τὸν τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ διδάσκοντα τῷ ὑπισχνουμένῳ μὲν ὑγιῆ ποιεῖν τὰ σώματα, ἀποτρέποντι δὲ τοῦ προσέχειν τοῖς ἐπιστήμοσιν ἰατροῖς τῷ ἐλέγχεσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τὴν ἰδιωτείαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα ἐροῦμεν· τίνας φῂς ἰατροὺς, ἀφʼ ὧν ἀποτρέπομεν τοὺς ἰδιώτας; οὐ γὰρ δὴ ὑπολαμβάνεις τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσι προσάγειν ἡμᾶς τὴν εἰς τὸν λόγον προτροπὴν, ἵνʼ ἐκείνους νομίσῃς εἶναι ἰατροὺς, ἀφʼ ὧν ἀποτρέπομεν οὓς ἐπὶ τὸν θεῖον καλοῦμεν λόγον. ἤτοι οὖν οὐκ ἀποκρίνεται μὴ ἔχων λέγειν τοὺς ἰατροὺς. ἢ ἀνάγκη αὐτὸν καταφεύγειν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἰδιώτας, οἳ καὶ αὐτοὶ περιηχοῦσιν ἀνδραποδωδῶς τὰ περὶ πολλῶν θεῶν καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα λέγοιεν ἂν ἰδιῶται. ἑκατέρως οὖν ἐλεγχθήσεται μάτην παραλαβὼν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τὸν ἀποτρέποντα τῶν ἐπιστημόνων ἰατρῶν. ἵνα δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐπικούρου φιλοσοφίας καὶ τῶν κατʼ Ἐπίκουρον νομιζομένων Ἐπικουρείων ἰατρῶν ἀποτρέπωμεν τοὺς ἐν ἐκείνοις ἀπατωμένους, πῶς οὐχὶ εὐλογώτατα ποιήσομεν ἀφιστάντες νόσου χαλεπῆς, ἣν ἐνεποίησαν οἱ Κέλσου ἰατροὶ. τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῆς προνοίας καὶ εἰσαγωγὴν τῆς ἡδονῆς ὡς ἀγαθοῦ; ἀλλʼ ἔστω ἰατρῶν ἡμᾶς ἄλλων φιλοσόφων ἀφιστάνειν τούτους, οὓς προτρέπομεν ἐπὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον. τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Περιπάτου. ἀναιρούντων τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς πρόνοιαν καὶ τὴν σχέσιν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ θείου· πῶς οὐχὶ εὐσεβεῖς μὲν ἡμεῖς κατασκευάσομεν καὶ θεραπεύσομεν τοὺς προτετραμμένους, πείθοντες αὐτοὺς ἀνακεῖσθαι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ, μεγάλων δὲ τραυμάτων, τῶν ἀπὸ λόγων νομιζομένων φιλοσόφων, ἀπαλλάσσομεν τοὺς πειθομένους ἡμῖν; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλους δεδόσθω ἡμᾶς ἀποτρέπειν ἀπὸ ἰατρῶν Στωϊκῶν θεὸν φθαρτὸν εἰσαγόντων καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ λεγόντων σῶμα τρεπτὸν διʼ ὅλων καὶ ἀλλοιωτὸν καὶ μεταβλητὸν. καί ποτε πάντα φθειρόντων καὶ μόνον τὸν θεὸν καταλειπόντων· πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ οὕτως κακῶν μὲν ἀπαλλάξομεν τοὺς πειθομένους. προσάξομεν δʼ εὐσεβεῖ λόγῳ τῷ περὶ τοῦ ἀνακεῖσθαι τῷ δημιουργῷ καὶ θαυμάζειν τὸν πατέρα τῆς Χριστιανῶν διδασκαλίας. φιλανθρωπότατα ἐπιστρεπτικὸν καὶ ψυχῶν μαθήματα οἰκονομήσαντα ἐπισπαρῆναι ὅλῳ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει; ἀλλὰ κἂν τοὺς πεπονθότας τὴν περὶ μετενσωματώσεως ἄνοιαν ἀπὸ ἰατρῶν, τῶν καταβιβαζόντων τὴν λογικὴν φύσιν ὁτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἄλογον πᾶσαν ὁτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀφάνταστον. θεραπεύωμεν· πῶς οὐ βελτίονας ταῖς ψυχαῖς κατασκευάσομεν τοὺς πειθομένους λόγῳ. οὐ διδάσκοντι μὲν ἐν κολάσεως μοίρᾳ τῷ φαύλῳ ἀποδίδοσθαι ἀναισθησίαν ἢ ἀλογίαν, παριστάντι δὲ εἶναί τινα φάρμακα ἐπιστρεπτικὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ θεοῦ τοῖς φαύλοις προσαγομένους πόνους καὶ τὰς κολάσεις; τοῦτο γὰρ οἱ φρονίμως Χριστιανοὶ ζῶντες φρονοῦντες οἰκονομοῦσι τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους. ὡς καὶ οἱ πατέρες τοὺς κομιδῇ νηπίους. οὐ γὰρ καταφεύγομεν οὖν ἐπὶ νηπίους καὶ ἠλιθίους ἀγροίκους λέγοντες αὐτοῖς· φεύγετε τοὺς ἰατροὺς. οὐδὲ λέγομεν· ὁρᾶτε μή ποτε τὶς ὑμῶν ἐπιστήμης ἐπιλάβηται. οὐδὲ φάσκομεν ὅτι κακόν ἐστιν ἐπιστήμη, οὐδὲ μεμήναμεν, ἵνʼ εἴπωμεν ὅτι γνῶσις σφάλλει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν ὑγείας. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀπόλλυσθαι ἀπὸ σοφίας εἴποιμεν ἄν τινα πώποτε, οἵτινες οὐδὲ τὸ ἐμοὶ προσέχετε. κἂν διδάσκωμεν. φαμὲν. ἀλλά· τῷ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων προσέχετε καὶ διδασκάλῳ τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ μαθημάτων τῷ Ἰησοῦ. οὐδεὶς δʼ ἡμῶν οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀλαζὼν, ἵνʼ ὅπερ Κέλσος περιέθηκε τῷ τοῦ διδάσκοντος προσώπῳ εἴποι πρὸς τοὺς γνωρίμους. τὸ ἐγὼ ὑμᾶς σώσω μόνος. ὅρα οὖν. πόσα ἡμῶν καταψεύδεται. ἀλλʼ οὐδέ φαμεν ὅτι οἱ ἀληθῶς ἰατροὶ φθείρουσιν οὓς ἐπαγγέλλονται θεραπεύειν. ### English translation (Claude) And since after this he says that the one who teaches Christianity does something like a man who promises to make bodies healthy but turns people away from heeding skilled physicians because his own lack of skill would be exposed by them, to this too we shall say: Which physicians do you mean, from whom we turn away ordinary people? For surely you do not suppose that we bring our exhortation to the word to philosophers, so that you should think them the physicians from whom we turn away those whom we call to the divine word. Either, then, he gives no answer, having no physicians to name, or he must take refuge in ordinary people, who themselves slavishly chatter about many gods and whatever else ordinary people might say. Either way he will be refuted as having brought in to no purpose, in his argument, the one who turns people away from skilled physicians. And if we turn away from the philosophy of Epicurus, and from those thought to be Epicurean physicians after Epicurus, those deceived by them, how shall we not act most reasonably in removing them from a grievous disease which Celsus's physicians have produced, that of abolishing providence and bringing in pleasure as the good? But suppose that we draw those whom we exhort to our teaching away from other physicians who are philosophers, those of the Peripatos, who abolish providence toward us and the relation of the divine to men: how shall we not make pious and heal those who have been won over, persuading them to devote themselves to the God over all, and free those who obey us from great wounds inflicted by the words of those considered philosophers? But let it be granted that we turn others away from Stoic physicians, who introduce a corruptible god and say that his substance is a body changeable throughout, alterable, and mutable, and who at some time destroy all things and leave God alone: how shall we not, in this case too, free those who obey us from evils, and bring them to the pious teaching about devoting oneself to the Creator and admiring the Father of the Christian teaching, who most humanely arranged for lessons that convert souls to be sown throughout the whole human race? And if we heal from physicians those who suffer from the folly of transmigration, who bring the rational nature down sometimes to every irrational nature and sometimes even to one without imagination, how shall we not make better in soul those who obey the word, which does not teach that insensibility or irrationality is given to the wicked as a portion of punishment, but shows that the toils and punishments brought upon the wicked by God are medicines that convert them? For Christians who live wisely, understanding this, deal with the simpler people as fathers deal with young children. We do not, then, take refuge with children and foolish rustics and say to them, “Flee the physicians”; nor do we say, “See that none of you lays hold of knowledge”; nor do we assert that knowledge is an evil; nor are we mad enough to say that knowledge trips men up from health of soul. Nor would we ever say that anyone perishes because of wisdom, we who, even when we teach, do not say, “Attend to me,” but, “Attend to the God of the universe and to Jesus, the teacher of the lessons about him.” And none of us is so boastful as to say to his pupils what Celsus put in the mouth of the teacher: “I alone will save you.” See, then, how many lies he tells about us. Nor do we say that true physicians destroy those whom they promise to heal. ### Translation notes - The digital text of the clause “admiring the Father … the whole human race” (θαυμάζειν τὸν πατέρα … γένει) is awkward and probably damaged; the translation gives the likely sense. Punishments as “medicines” reflect Origen's view that divine punishment is corrective. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/75/). ## Against Celsus 3.76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/76/ - Source: Koetschau 1:268 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christian teachers are not drunkards accusing the sober; rather, those who pray to lifeless images and worship statues or animals are drunk, and even mad. ### Greek text Καὶ δεύτερον δὲ φέρει καθʼ ἡμῶν παράδειγμα φάσκων ὅμοιον ποιεῖν τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν διδάσκαλον, (ὡς) εἴ τις μεθύων εἰς μεθύοντας παριὼν κακηγορεῖ τοὺς νήφοντας ὡς μεθύοντας. παραστησάτω γὰρ ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν. Παύλου ὅτι ἐμέθυεν ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀπόστολος καὶ οὐκ ἦσαν οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ νήφοντες, ἢ ἐξ ὧν ἔγραψεν Ἰωάννης ὅτι οὐχὶ σωφρονοῦντος καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένου τῆς ἀπὸ κακίας μέθης πνεῖ αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα. οὐδεὶς οὖν σωφρονῶν καὶ διδάσκων τὸν Χριστιανῶν λόγον μεθύει. ἀλλʼ ἀφιλοσόφως ἡμῖν λοιδορούμενος ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος. τίνας δὲ καὶ νήφοντας κακηγοροῦμεν οἱ πρεσβεύοντες τὰ Χριστιανῶν δόγματα. λεγέτω ὁ Κέλσος. πάντες γὰρ καθʼ ἡμᾶς μεθύουσιν οἱ τοῖς ἀψύχοις ὡς θεῷ προσλαλοῦντες. καὶ τί λέγω μεθύουσι; μᾶλλον γὰρ μεμήνασιν. εἰς τοὺς νεὼς σπεύδοντες καὶ ὡς θεοῖς τοῖς ἀγάλμασιν ἢ τοῖς ζῴοις προσκυνοῦντες. οὐχ ἧττον δὲ τούτων μαίνονται καὶ οἱ νομίζοντες εἰς τιμὴν θεῶν ἀληθινῶν κατεσκευάσθαι τὰ ὑπὸ βαναύσων καὶ φαυλοτάτων ἔσθʼ ὅτε ἀνδρῶν κατασκευαζόμενα. ### English translation (Claude) He also brings a second comparison against us, saying that the teacher among us does something like a drunkard who, going among drunkards, accuses the sober of being drunk. Let him show, then, from the writings of Paul, say, that the apostle of Jesus was drunk and his words were not sober; or from what John wrote, that his thoughts do not breathe of one who was self-controlled and free from the drunkenness of vice. No one, then, who is self-controlled and teaches the Christians' teaching is drunk; but Celsus says these things reviling us unphilosophically. And whom among the sober do we who proclaim the doctrines of Christians accuse? Let Celsus say. For in our view all are drunk who speak to lifeless things as to God. And why do I say drunk? Rather, they are mad, who hasten to temples and worship statues or animals as gods. And no less mad than these are those who think that things made by artisans, sometimes the most worthless of men, have been made in honor of true gods. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.76 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/76/). ## Against Celsus 3.77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/77/ - Source: Koetschau 1:268–269 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those truly blind are not Christians but those who fail to rise from the beauty of creation to worship its Creator alone, and who turn to temples, statues, and festivals. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐξομοιοῖ τὸν μὲν διδάσκοντα ὀφθαλμιῶντι τοὺς δὲ μανθάνοντας ὀφθαλμιῶσι καί φησι τοῦτον ἐπὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμιώντων αἰτιᾶσθαι τοὺς ὀξὺ βλέποντας ὡς πεπηρωμένους. τίνες οὖν † εἴποιμεν Ἕλληνες οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς οὐ βλέποντες ἢ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ τηλικούτου μεγέθους τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν δημιουργημάτων μὴ δυνάμενοι ἀναβλέψαι καὶ θεωρῆσαι ὅτι προσκυνεῖν καὶ θαυμάζειν καὶ σέβειν χρὴ μόνον τὸν ταῦτα πεποιηκότα, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις κατασκευαζομένων καὶ εἰς θεῶν τιμὴν παραλαμβανομένων καθηκόντως ἄν τις σέβοι. εἴτε χωρὶς τοῦ δημιουργοῦ θεοῦ εἴτε καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνου; τὰ γὰρ οὐδαμῶς συγκριτὰ συγκρίνειν τῷ ἀπείρῳ, ὑπεροχῇ ὑπερέχοντι πάσης γενητῆς φύσεως. τυφλῶν τὴν διάνοιάν ἐστιν ἔργον. οὐκ ὀφθαλμιῶντας οὖν τοὺς ὀξὺ βλέποντας λέγομεν εἶναι ἢ πεπηρωμένους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καλινδουμένους ἀγνοίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς νεὼς καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰς λεγομένας ἱερομηνίας φάσκομεν τετυφλῶσθαι τὸν νοῦν· καὶ μάλιστα ὅτε πρὸς τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ ἐν ἀσελγείᾳ ζῶσιν, ὅ τι ποτʼ ἐστὶν αἰδέσιμον ἔργον μηδὲ ζητοῦντες ἀλλὰ πάντʼ αἰσχύνης ἄξια πράττοντες. ### English translation (Claude) After this he likens the teacher to a man with diseased eyes and the learners to people with diseased eyes, and says that among the diseased-eyed he accuses the sharp-sighted of being blind. Who then, Greeks, would we say are the ones who in our view do not see, if not those who cannot look up from the great magnitude of the things in the world and the beauty of the works of creation and perceive that one must worship, admire, and revere only the one who made them, and that none of the things made among men and taken up for the honor of gods can be fittingly revered, whether apart from God the Creator or together with him? For to compare things in no way comparable with the infinite, who surpasses all created nature with transcendent superiority, is the work of those blind in understanding. We do not, then, say that the sharp-sighted have diseased eyes or are blind, but we declare that those whose mind is blinded are the ones who, in ignorance of God, roll toward temples and statues and so-called holy days; and especially when, besides their impiety, they also live in licentiousness, not even seeking any honorable work, but doing everything worthy of shame. ### Translation notes - The text is corrupt at the beginning (marked with a dagger in the edition); the translation gives the probable sense, “who then would we say are blind, if not…”. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/77/). ## Against Celsus 3.78 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/78/ - Source: Koetschau 1:269 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christianity attracts mainly simple people, not the wicked; moved by fear of punishment, they practice self-control, generosity, and even endure torture and death, which no wicked will could produce. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα τοσαῦθʼ ἡμᾶς αἰτιασάμενος θέλει ἐμφῆναι ὅτι καὶ ἕτερα ἔχων λέγειν παρασιωπᾷ αὐτά. ἔχει δʼ οὕτως αὐτοῦ ἡ λέξις· ταῦτα μὲν αἰτιῶμαι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἵνα μὴ πάντʼ ἀπαριθμῶ, καί φημι πλημμελεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπηρεάζοντας εἰς τὸν θεὸν, ἵνα πονηροὺς ἀνθρώπους ὑπάγωνται κούφαις ἐλπίσι καὶ παραπείσωσι καταφρονῆσαι τῶν κρειττόνων, ὡς, ἐὰν ἀπέχωνται αὐτῶν, ἄμεινον αὐτοῖς ἔσται. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ λέγοιτʼ ἂν ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τῶν προσερχομένων χριστιανισμῷ ἐνεργείας ὅτι οὐ πάνυ τι πονηροὶ ὑπάγονται τῷ λόγῳ ὅσον οἱ ἁπλούστεροι καὶ (ὡς ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ ὀνομάσαιεν) ἄκομψοι. οὗτοι γὰρ φόβῳ τῷ περὶ τῶν κολάσεων τῶν ἀπαγγελλομένων. κινοῦντι αὐτοὺς καὶ προτρέποντι ἐπὶ τὸ ἀπέχεσθαι τούτων, διʼ ἃ αἱ κολάσεις. πειρῶνται ἐπιδιδόναι ἑαυτοὺς τῇ κατὰ χριστιανισμὸν θεοσεβείᾳ· ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου κρατούμενοι, ὡς φόβῳ τῶν κατὰ τὸν λόγον ὀνομαζομένων αἰωνίων κολάσεων πάσης τῆς παρʼ ἀνθρώποις κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐπινοουμένης βασάνου καὶ μετὰ μυρίων πόνων θανάτου καταφρονεῖν· ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἂν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων φήσαι πονηρῶν προαιρέσεων ἔργον εἶναι. πῶς δʼ ἀπὸ προαιρέσεως πονηρᾶς ἐγκράτεια καὶ σωφροσύνη ἀσκεῖται ἢ τὸ μεταδοτικὸν καὶ κοινωνικόν; ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον φόβος, ἐφʼ ὃν ὡς χρήσιμον τοῖς πολλοῖς παρακαλεῖ ὁ λόγος τοὺς μηδέπω δυναμένους τὸ διʼ αὑτὸ αἱρετὸν βλέπειν καὶ αἱρεῖσθαι αὐτὸ ὡς μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἐπαγγελίαν· ἐξ ὧν οὐ τοῦτο τῷ κατὰ πονηρίαν αἱρουμένῳ ζῆν ἐγγενέσθαι πέφυκεν. ### English translation (Claude) After this, having brought so many charges against us, he wants to show that, though he could say other things, he passes over them in silence. His words run: “These things I blame, and others like them, not to list them all; and I say that they do wrong in insulting God so as to lead wicked men on with empty hopes and persuade them to despise better things, on the ground that if they keep away from them it will be better for them.” To this it might be said, from the actual effect on those who come to Christianity, that it is not so much the very wicked who are led by the teaching as the simpler and (as most people would call them) unsophisticated. For these, through fear of the punishments proclaimed, which moves them and urges them to abstain from the things that bring punishment, try to give themselves to the worship of God according to Christianity. And they are so held fast by the teaching that, through fear of what the teaching calls eternal punishments, they despise every torture devised against them among men, and death with countless pains; which no one in his right mind would say is the work of wicked choices. How can self-control and chastity, or generosity and sharing, be practiced from a wicked choice? Nor can the fear of the divine arise from wickedness: the teaching, as something useful to the many, urges this fear on those who are not yet able to see what is to be chosen for its own sake and to choose it as the greatest good, beyond every promise; and it is not natural for it to arise from such things in one who chooses to live in wickedness. ### Translation notes - The last sentence is compressed in the Greek; the translation gives the likely sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/78/). ## Against Celsus 3.79 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/79/ - Source: Koetschau 1:269–270 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Like a wise lawgiver, God gave the many the best teaching they could receive, including real, corrective punishments whose purpose is partly concealed from them. ### Greek text Ἐὰν δέ τις ἐν τούτοις δεισιδαιμονίαν μᾶλλον ἢ πονηρίαν περὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν πιστευόντων τῷ λόγῳ εἶναι φαντάζηται καὶ ἐγκαλῇ ὡς δεισιδαίμονας ποιοῦντι τῷ λόγῳ ἡμῶν, φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἔλεγέ τις τῶν νομοθετῶν πρὸς τὸν ἐρωτῶντα, εἰ τοὺς καλλίστους ἔθετο τοῖς πολίταις νόμους, ὅτι οὐ τοὺς καθάπαξ καλλίστους ἀλλʼ ὧν ἐδύναντο τοὺς καλλίστους· οὕτω λέγοιτο ἂν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ Χριστιανῶν λόγου ὅτι ὧν ἐδύναντο οἱ πολλοὶ εἰς βελτίωσιν ἠθῶν τοὺς καλλίστους ἐθέμην νόμους καὶ διδασκαλίαν, πόνους οὐ ψευδεῖς ἀπειλῶν καὶ κολάσεις τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν ἀλλʼ ἀληθεῖς μὲν καὶ ἀναγκαίους εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν τῶν ἀντιτεινόντων προσαγομένους, οὐ μὴν καὶ πάντως νοούντων τὸ τοῦ κολάζοντος βούλημα καὶ τὸ τῶν πόνων ἔργον· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ μετʼ ἐπικρύψεως συμφερόντως λέγεται. πλὴν ὡς ἐπίπαν οὐ πονηροὺς ὑπάγονται οἱ τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ πρεσβεύοντες. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐπηρεάζομεν εἰς τὸ θεῖον· λέγομεν γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς σαφῆ μὲν εἶναι δοκοῦντα οὐ σαφῆ δʼ ὄντα ἐκείνοις ὡς τοῖς ὀλίγοις, φιλοσοφεῖν ἀσκοῦσι τὰ κατὰ τὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) But if anyone imagines that in these matters there is superstition rather than wickedness in the many who believe the teaching, and accuses our teaching of making people superstitious, we shall say to him that, as one of the lawgivers said to the man who asked whether he had given the citizens the best laws, “Not the absolutely best, but the best of those they could receive,” so it might be said by the Father of the Christians' teaching: “I have given the best laws and teaching, of those which the many could receive, for the improvement of their character, threatening sinners not with false toils and punishments, but with true ones, necessary and applied for the correction of those who resist, though they do not wholly understand the intention of the one who punishes or the working of the toils.” For this too is said usefully and truly, and, for their benefit, with some concealment. But in general those who proclaim Christianity do not lead on wicked people. Nor do we insult the divine; for we say about him things that are true, and that seem clear to the many, but are not clear to them as they are to the few who practice philosophy in accordance with the word. ### Translation notes - The lawgiver is Solon (the anecdote is in Plutarch, Solon 15). Origen here hints at his view that divine punishment is corrective, a view he presents cautiously as not for all hearers. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.79 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/79/). ## Against Celsus 3.80 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/80/ - Source: Koetschau 1:270–271 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If Christian hope of blessed life is empty, so are the hopes of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle about the soul; only an Epicurean, who expects the soul to perish, could say so, and his own hope rests on pleasure of the flesh. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ κούφαις ἐλπίσι φησὶν ὑπάγεσθαι τοὺς χριστιανίζοντας ὁ Κέλσος, φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐγκαλοῦντα τῷ περὶ τῆς μακαρίας ζωῆς λόγῳ καὶ τῷ περὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον κοινωνίας ὅτι ὅσον ἐπὶ σοὶ, ὦ οὗτος, κούφαις ὑπάγονται ἐλπίσι καὶ οἱ τὸν Πυθαγόρου καὶ Πλάτωνος παραδεξάμενοι περὶ ψυχῆς λόγον, πεφυκυίας ἀναβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἁψῖδα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὑπερουρανίῳ τόπῳ θεωρεῖν τὰ τῶν εὐδαιμόνων θεατῶν θεάματα. κατὰ σὲ δὲ. ὦ Κέλσε, καὶ οἱ παραδεξάμενοι τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιδιαμονὴν καὶ βιοῦντες, ὥσθʼ ἥρωες γενέσθαι καὶ μετὰ θεῶν ἕξειν τὰς διατριβὰς, κούφαις ἐλπίσιν ὑπάγονται. τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ πεισθέντες περὶ τοῦ „θύραθεν“ νοῦ ὡς (ἀ)θανάτου, καὶ νοῦ διεξαγωγὴν ἕξοντος. κούφαις ἂν ὑπάγεσθαι λέγοιντο ὑπὸ Κέλσου ἐλπίσιν. ἀγωνισάσθω οὖν μηκέτι κρύπτων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ αἵρεσιν ἀλλʼ ὁμολογῶν Ἐπικούρειος εἶναι πρὸς τὰ παρʼ Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτως λεγόμενα περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας τῆς ψυχῆς ἢ τῆς ἐπιδιαμονῆς αὐτῆς ἢ τῆς τοῦ νοῦ ἀθανασίας, καὶ παραδεικνύτω ταῦτα μὲν εἶναι λόγους, κούφαις ἐλπίσιν ἀπατῶντας τοὺς συγκατατιθεμένους αὐτοῖς. τοὺς δὲ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φιλοσοφίας καθαροὺς εἶναι κούφων ἐλπίδων καὶ ἤτοι προσάγοντας ἐλπίσιν ἀγαθαῖς ἢ. ὅπερ μᾶλλον ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ, οὐδεμίαν ἐμποιοῦντας ἐλπίδα διὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς εὐθέως παντελῆ φθοράν. εἰ μὴ ἄρα Κέλσος καὶ οἱ Ἐπικούρειοι οὐ φήσουσι κούφην εἶναι ἐλπίδα τὴν περὶ τοῦ τέλους αὐτῶν τῆς ἡδονῆς, ἥτις κατʼ αὐτούς ἐστι τὸ ἀγαθὸν, τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς εὐσταθὲς κατάστημα καὶ τὸ περὶ ταύτης πιστὸν Ἐπικούρῳ ἔλπισμα. ### English translation (Claude) And since Celsus says that those who become Christians are led on by empty hopes, we shall say to him, since he finds fault with the teaching about the blessed life and about fellowship with the divine: As far as you are concerned, sir, those who have accepted the teaching of Pythagoras and Plato about the soul, that it is by nature able to ascend to the vault of heaven and in the place beyond the heavens to behold the sights seen by the blessed spectators, are also led on by empty hopes. And according to you, Celsus, those who have accepted the survival of the soul and live so as to become heroes and to spend their time with the gods are led on by empty hopes. And perhaps those persuaded that the mind that comes “from outside” is immortal and will have a life of its own as mind might be said by Celsus to be led on by empty hopes. Let him, then, no longer concealing his own school but confessing that he is an Epicurean, contend against the teachings, not easily despised, among Greeks and barbarians about the immortality of the soul, or its survival, or the immortality of the mind; and let him show that these are words that deceive with empty hopes those who assent to them, but that the words of his own philosophy are free of empty hopes and either lead to good hopes or (which is more consistent with it) produce no hope at all, because of the immediate and complete destruction of the soul. Unless, perhaps, Celsus and the Epicureans will not say that their hope concerning their end, pleasure, is empty, which according to them is the good: “the stable condition of the flesh and the confident hope concerning it,” as Epicurus says. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 247b–c (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence - Aristotle, Gen. an. 736b28 (Aristotle (works)): allusion, high confidence - Epicurus, frag. 68 (Epicurus (sayings and fragments)): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Plato, Phaedrus 247b–c (the vault of heaven and the place beyond the heavens), Aristotle's “mind from outside” (Generation of Animals 736b28), and Epicurus, fragment 68 Usener (the stable condition of the flesh). “School” renders αἵρεσις in its neutral sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.80 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/80/). ## Against Celsus 3.81 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/81/ - Source: Koetschau 1:271–272 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The blessed life belongs to those who worship God through Jesus, and nothing is better than to entrust oneself to God through his living Word; so ends the third book. ### Greek text Μὴ ὑπολάβῃς δέ με οὐχ ἁρμοζόντως τῷ Χριστιανῶν λόγῳ παρειληφέναι πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον τοὺς περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἢ τῆς ἐπιδιαμονῆς τῆς ψυχῆς φιλοσοφήσαντας· πρὸς οὓς κοινά τινα ἔχοντες εὐκαιρότερον παραστήσομεν ὅτι ἡ μέλλουσα μακαρία ζωὴ μόνοις ἔσται τοῖς (τὴν) κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν θεοσέβειαν καὶ εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν εὐσέβειαν εἰλικρινῆ καὶ καθαρὰν καὶ ἄμικτον πρὸς ὅτι ποτʼ οὖν γενητὸν παραδεξαμένοις. ποίων δὲ κρειττόνων καταφρονεῖν παραπείθομεν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, παραδεικνύτω ὁ βουλόμενος· καὶ ἀντιπαραθέτω τὸ καθʼ ἡμᾶς παρὰ θεῷ ἐν Χριστῷ, τουτέστι τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ πάσῃ ἀρετῇ. τέλος μακάριον τοῖς ἀμέμπτως καὶ καθαρῶς βιώσασι καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν ἀγάπην ἀδιαίρετον καὶ ἄσχιστον ἀνειληφόσι συμβησόμενον, καὶ δωρεᾷ θεοῦ ἀπαντησόμενον. τῷ καθʼ ἑκάστην φιλόσοφον αἵρεσιν ἐν Ἕλλησιν ἢ βαρβάροις ἢ μυστηριώδη ἐπαγγελίαν τέλει· καὶ δεικνύτω τὸ κατά τινα τῶν ἄλλων τέλος κρεῖττον τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀκόλουθον μὲν ὡς ἀληθὲς ἐκεῖνο τὸ δʼ ἡμέτερον οὐχ ἁρμόζον δωρεᾷ θεοῦ οὐδὲ τοῖς εὖ βιώσασιν. ἢ οὐχ ὑπὸ θείου πνεύματος. πληρώσαντος τὰς τῶν καθαρῶν προφητῶν ψυχὰς. ταῦτα λελέχθαι. δεικνύτω δʼ ὁ βουλόμενος κρείττονας τοὺς ὁμολογουμένους παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρωπίνους λόγους τῶν ἀποδεικνυμένων θείων καὶ ἐκ θεοφορίας ἀπηγγελμένων. τίνων δὲ καὶ κρειττόνων τοὺς ἀποδεχομένους διδάσκομεν ἄμεινον ἀπαλλάξειν; εἰ γὰρ μὴ φορτικὸν εἰπεῖν, αὐτόθεν φαίνεται ὅτι οὐδὲν οὐκ ἐπινοηθῆναι ὡς κρεῖττον εἶναι δύναται τοῦ ἐμπιστεῦσαι ἑαυτὸν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ καὶ ἀναθεῖναι διδασκαλίᾳ, παντὸς μὲν ἀφιστάσῃ γενητοῦ προσαγούσῃ δὲ διʼ ἐμψύχου καὶ ζῶντος λόγου, ὅς ἐστι καὶ σοφία ζῶσα καὶ υἱὸς θεοῦ, τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ. ἀλλὰ γὰρ αὐτάρκη περιγραφὴν ἐν τούτοις καὶ τοῦ τρίτου τόμου τῶν πρὸς τὸ Κέλσου σύγγραμμα ἡμῖν ὑπαγορευθέντων εἰληφότος, αὐτοῦ που καταπαύσομεν τὸν λόγον, ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς πρὸς τὰ μετὰ τοῦτο γεγραμμένα τῷ Κέλσῳ ἀγωνιούμενοι. ### English translation (Claude) Do not suppose that I have, in a way unsuited to the Christians' teaching, brought in against Celsus those who philosophized about the immortality or survival of the soul. Having certain things in common with them, we shall more conveniently show that the future blessed life will belong only to those who have accepted the worship of God according to Jesus and a piety toward the Creator of the universe that is sincere, pure, and unmixed with anything created. And let whoever wishes show what better things we persuade men to despise, and let him compare with the end proposed in each philosophical school among Greeks or barbarians, or in the promise of the mysteries, our end, which is with God in Christ, that is, in the Word, Wisdom, and every virtue; a blessed end that will come to those who have lived blamelessly and purely and taken up an undivided and unbroken love toward the God of the universe, and that will meet them as a gift of God. And let him show that the end according to some other school is better than ours, and that it follows as true, while ours is not fitting as a gift of God, nor to those who have lived well, or that these things were not spoken by the divine Spirit who filled the souls of the pure prophets. And let whoever wishes show that words which all admit to be human are better than those demonstrated to be divine and announced by divine inspiration. And from what better things do we teach those who accept our teaching that they will be better off turning away? For, if it is not tiresome to say so, it is plain at once that nothing can be conceived as better than to entrust oneself to the God over all and to devote oneself to a teaching that draws one away from everything created and brings one, through the living and ensouled Word, who is also living Wisdom and Son of God, to the God over all. But since the third book of what we have dictated against Celsus's treatise has reached a sufficient length with these words, we shall end our discourse here, and in what follows we shall contend against what Celsus wrote after this. ### Translation notes - The digital text reads τῆ σοφίᾳ; corrected to τῇ σοφίᾳ. Origen says he “dictated” the work. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 3.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/81/). ## Against Celsus 4.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/1/ - Source: Koetschau 1:273–274 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen opens Book 4 with a prayer, asking for words like Jeremiah's to uproot Celsus's errors and to build up the truth, and turns to Celsus's attack on the prophecies of Christ. ### Greek text Ἐν τρισὶ τοῖς πρὸ τούτων διεξελθόντες βιβλίοις τὰ πρὸς τὸ Κέλσου σύγγραμμα νοηθέντα ἡμῖν, ἱερὲ Ἀμβρόσιε, τέταρτον πρὸς τὰ ἑξῆς εὐξάμενοι διὰ Χριστοῦ τῷ θεῷ ὑπαγορεύομεν. δοθεῖεν δʼ ἡμῖν λόγοι, περὶ ὧν ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ γέγραπται, ὡς τοῦ κυρίου πρὸς τὸν προφήτην εἰπόντος· „ἰδοὺ δέδωκα τοὺς λόγους μου εἰς τὸ στόμα σου πῦρ. ἰδοὺ καθέστακά σε σήμερον ἐπὶ ἔθνη καὶ βασιλείας, ἐκριζοῦν καὶ κατασκάπτειν καὶ ἀπολύειν καὶ κατασπᾶν καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν καὶ καταφυτεύειν.“ καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς νῦν χρῄζομεν λόγων ἐκριζούντων τὰ κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπὸ πάσης ψυχῆς. βεβλαμμένης ἀπὸ τοῦ συγγράμματος Κέλσου ἢ τῶν παραπλησίων αὐτῷ νοημάτων. δεόμεθα δὲ καὶ νοημάτων, κατασκαπτόντων πάσης ψευδοδοξίας οἰκοδομὰς καὶ τῆς Κέλσου ἐν τῷ συγγράμματι αὐτοῦ οἰκοδομῆς παραπλήσια τῇ οἰκοδομῇ τῶν εἰπόντων· „δεῦτε οἰκοδομήσωμεν ἑαυτοῖς πόλιν καὶ πύργον, οὗ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἔσται ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“· ἀλλὰ καὶ χρῄζομεν σοφίας κατασπώσης πάντα τὰ ἐπαιρόμενα „κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ“ ὑψώματα καὶ τὸ Κέλσου „ἐπαιρόμενον“ καθʼ ἡμῶν τῆς ἀλαζονείας „ὕψωμα.“ εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ μὴ χρὴ καταλήγειν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὸ „ἐκριζοῦν καὶ κατασκάπτειν“ τὰ προειρημένα ἀλλʼ εἰς μὲν τὴν χώραν τῶν ἐκριζωθέντων „καταφυτεύειν“ φυτείαν τοῦ κατὰ θεὸν γεωργίου, εἰς δὲ τὸν τόπον τῶν κατασκαφέντων οἰκοδομεῖν θεοῦ οἰκοδομὴν καὶ ναὸν δόξης θεοῦ, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμῖν εὐκτέον ἐστὶ τῷ δεδωκότι κυρίῳ τὰ ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ γεγραμμένα, ἵνα καὶ ἡμῖν δῷ λόγους καὶ πρὸς τὸ οἰκοδομεῖν τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ „καταφυτεύειν“ τὸν πνευματικὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς ἀνάλογον αὐτῷ προφητικοὺς λόγους. καὶ μάλιστα χρεία ἡμῖν πρὸς τὰ νῦν ἑξῆς τοῖς προειρημένοις τῷ Κέλσῳ λεγόμενα κατασκευάσαι ὅτι καλῶς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πεπροφήτευται. ἅμα γὰρ πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους ἱστάμενος ὁ Κέλσος, Ἰουδαίους μὲν ἀρνουμένους γεγονέναι τὴν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν ἐλπίζοντας δʼ αὐτὴν ἔσεσθαι, Χριστιανοὺς δὲ ὁμολογοῦντας τὸν Ἰησοῦν εἶναι τὸν προφητευθέντα Χριστὸν, φησίν· ### English translation (Claude) Having gone through in the three books before this, holy Ambrose, what occurred to us in reply to Celsus's treatise, we now dictate a fourth in reply to what follows, having prayed to God through Christ. May words be given to us of which it is written in Jeremiah, where the Lord says to the prophet: “Behold, I have given my words into your mouth as fire. Behold, I have set you today over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to tear down, and to build and to plant.” For we too now need words that root out what is against the truth from every soul harmed by Celsus's treatise or by thoughts like it. And we need thoughts that pull down the buildings of every false opinion, and the building of Celsus in his treatise, like the building of those who said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top shall reach to heaven.” And we also need wisdom that tears down every high thing lifted up “against the knowledge of God,” and the “high thing” of Celsus's boastfulness “lifted up” against us. Then, since we must not stop at “rooting out and pulling down” what has been mentioned, but must “plant,” in the place of what has been rooted out, the planting of God's field, and in the place of what has been pulled down build God's building and a temple of God's glory, we too must therefore pray to the Lord who gave what is written in Jeremiah, that he may give us too words for building up the things of Christ and for “planting” the spiritual law and the prophetic words that correspond to it. And above all we need, in reply to what Celsus says next after the passages already treated, to establish that the things concerning Christ were rightly prophesied. For Celsus, standing against both at once, against the Jews who deny that the coming of Christ has taken place but hope that it will, and against the Christians who confess that Jesus is the prophesied Christ, says: ### Scripture references - Jer 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Jer 1:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 11:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:9: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Ambrose was Origen's patron, who asked him to write this reply. The quotations and allusions are Jer 1:9–10, Gen 11:4, 2 Cor 10:5, and 1 Cor 3:9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/1/). ## Against Celsus 4.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/2/ - Source: Koetschau 1:274–275 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks both Christians and Jews for expecting a divine judge to come to earth, but he never engages the actual prophecies about Christ; and Jews do not say the coming Messiah is God. ### Greek text Ὅτι δὲ καὶ Χριστιανῶν τινες καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι, οἱ μὲν καταβεβηκέναι (λέγουσιν, ) οἱ δὲ καταβήσεσθαι εἰς τὴν γῆν τινα θεὸν ἢ θεοῦ υἱὸν τῶν τῇδε δικαιωτὴν, τοῦτʼ αἴσχιστον, καὶ οὐδὲ δεῖται μακροῦ λόγου ὁ ἔλεγχος. καὶ δοκεῖ γε ἀκριβῶς περὶ μὲν Ἰουδαίων οὐ τινῶν ἀλλὰ πάντων λέγειν ὅτι οἴονταί τινα καταβήσεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, περὶ δὲ Χριστιανῶν ὅτι τινὲς αὐτῶν καταβεβηκέναι λέγουσιν. ἐμφαίνει γὰρ τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαϊκῶν γραφῶν κατασκευάζοντας τὴν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν ὡς ἤδη γεγενημένην, καὶ ἔοικεν εἰδέναι ὅτι εἰσί τινες αἱρέσεις ἀρνούμεναι Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν εἶναι τὸν πεπροφητευμένον. ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐν τοῖς προτέροις περὶ τοῦ πεπροφητεῦσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν κατὰ δύναμιν διειλήφαμεν, διὸ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν δυναμένων λέγεσθαι εἰς τὸν τόπον οὐκ ἐπαναλαμβάνομεν, ἵνα μὴ παλιλλογῶμεν. ὅρα δὴ ὅτι, εἴπερ μετά τινος κἂν δοκούσης ἀκολουθίας ἐβούλετο ἀνατρέπειν τὴν περὶ τῶν προφητειῶν (ἢ) περὶ τοῦ ἐπιδημήσειν ἢ ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τὸν Χριστὸν πίστιν, ἐχρῆν αὐτὸν αὐτὰς ἐκθέσθαι τὰς προφητείας. αἷς ἐν τῷ διαλέγεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους χρώμεθα Χριστιανοὶ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι· οὕτως γὰρ ἂν κἂν ἔδοξε τοὺς περισπωμένους ὑπὸ τῆς, ὡς οἴεται, πιθανότητος [δοκεῖν] ἀνατρέπειν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὰ προφητικὰ συγκαταθέσεως καὶ τῆς διὰ τὰ προφητικὰ εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὡς ὄντα Χριστὸν πίστεως· νυνὶ δὲ ἤτοι μὴ δυνάμενος ἀπαντῆσαι πρὸς τὰς περὶ Χριστοῦ προφητείας (ἢ) μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰδὼς, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητευόμενα, οὐδεμίαν μὲν λέξιν τίθησι προφητικὴν, καίτοι γε μυρίαι ὅσαι εἰσὶ περὶ Χριστοῦ, κατηγορεῖν δὲ οἴεται τῶν προφητικῶν, μηδʼ ἣν εἴποι ἂν ἐκεῖνος πιθανότητα αὐτῶν ἐκθέμενος. οὐκ οἶδε μέντοι γε ὅτι οὐ πάνυ τι Ἰουδαῖοι λέγουσι θεὸν ὄντα τὸν Χριστὸν καταβήσεσθαι ἢ θεοῦ υἱὸν, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν. ### English translation (Claude) “That some Christians and Jews say, the former that some god or son of God has come down to earth, the latter that he will come down, as judge of the things here, is most shameful, and the refutation does not need a long argument.” He seems to speak accurately about the Jews, not some but all, that they think someone will come down to earth; but about the Christians, that some of them say he has come down. For he is pointing to those who establish from the Jewish Scriptures that the coming of Christ has already taken place, and he seems to know that there are some heresies that deny that Christ Jesus is the one prophesied. We have already discussed, as far as we could, in the earlier books the prophecies of Christ; therefore we do not repeat much of what could be said on this subject, so as not to say the same things twice. But notice that if he wanted, with at least an appearance of consistency, to overturn faith in the prophecies, or in the coming or the having come of Christ, he ought to have set out the very prophecies which we Christians and Jews use in debating with one another. For in that way he might at least have seemed to turn those distracted by what he thinks is persuasive away from assent to the prophecies and from faith in Jesus as Christ on account of the prophecies. But as it is, either unable to answer the prophecies about Christ or not even knowing at all what the prophecies about him are, he quotes not a single prophetic saying, though there are countless ones about Christ, and thinks he is accusing the prophecies without setting out even the persuasiveness he might claim for his view. He does not know, however, that the Jews do not by any means say that the Christ who will come down is God or the Son of God, as we have said above too. ### Translation notes - The first sentence is Celsus's words. “Heresies” (αἱρέσεις) refers to groups such as the Marcionites, who denied that Jesus was the Christ foretold by the prophets. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/2/). ## Against Celsus 4.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/3/ - Source: Koetschau 1:275–276 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ came to call back the lost sheep of Israel and give the kingdom to others; God does not correct people by force, since virtue must be freely chosen, and he always corrects the willing through his Word. ### Greek text Καὶ εἰπὼν αὐτὸν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν μὲν λέγεσθαι καταβεβηκέναι ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων δὲ καταβήσεσθαι δικαιωτὴν, κατηγορεῖν αὐτόθεν οἴεται τοῦ λεγομένου ὡς αἰσχίστου καὶ οὐδὲ μακροῦ ἐλέγχου δεομένου καί φησι· τίς ὁ νοῦς τῆς τοιᾶσδε καθόδου τῷ θεῷ; οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐστι τῆς καθόδου ὁ νοῦς. προηγουμένως μὲν τὰ λεγόμενα ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ „ἀπολωλότα πρόβατα οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ“ ἐπιστρέψαι, δευτέρως δὲ τὸ διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀπείθειαν ἆραι ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τὴν ὀνομασθεῖσαν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ δοῦναι „ἄλλοις γεωργοῖς“ παρὰ τοὺς πάλαι Ἰουδαίους Χριστιανοῖς, „τοὺς καρποὺς“ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείας „ἀποδώσουσι“ τῷ θεῷ „ἐν τοῖς“ ἑκάστης πράξεως οὔσης καρποῦ τῆς βασιλείας „καιροῖς.“ ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ πλειόνων ὀλίγα εἴπομεν πρὸς τὴν Κέλσου πεῦσιν εἰπόντος· τίς γὰρ ὁ νοῦς τῆς τοιᾶσδε καθόδου τῷ θεῷ; Κέλσος δὲ τὰ μήτε ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων μήτε ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λεχθέντα ἂν ἑαυτῷ ἀποφαίνεται λέγων· ἢ ἵνα μάθῃ τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις; οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἡμῶν φησιν ὅτι, ἵνα μάθῃ τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις, Χριστὸς ἐπιδημεῖ τῷ βίῳ. εἶτα ὡς εἰπόντων ἄν τινων τὸ ἵνα μάθῃ τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἑαυτῷ ἀνθυποφέρει πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ οὐ γὰρ οἶδε πάντα; εἶτα ὡς ἀποκρινουμένων ὅτι οἶδε, πάλιν ἐπαπορεῖ λέγων ὅτι ἆρα οἶδε μὲν, οὐκ ἐπανορθοῖ δὲ, οὐδʼ οἷόν τε αὐτῷ θείᾳ δυνάμει ἐπανορθοῦν; καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πάντα εὐήθως λέγει. ἀεὶ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ λόγῳ, κατὰ γενεὰς εἰς ψυχὰς ὁσίας μεταβαίνοντι καὶ φίλους θεοῦ καὶ προφήτας κατασκευάζοντι, ἐπανορθοῖ τοὺς ἀκούοντας τῶν λεγομένων· καὶ ἐν τῇ Χριστοῦ δʼ ἐπιδημίᾳ ἐπανορθοῖ τῷ κατὰ χριστιανισμὸν λόγῳ οὐχὶ τοὺς μὴ βουλομένους ἀλλὰ τοὺς τὸν κρείττονα βίον καὶ ἀρέσκοντα τῷ θεῷ ἑλομένους. οὐκ οἶδα δὲ καὶ ποταπὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν βουλόμενος ὁ Κέλσος γενέσθαι ἐπηπόρησε λέγων· ἆρʼ οὐχ οἷόν τε αὐτῷ δυνάμει θείᾳ ἐπανορθοῦν, ἐὰν μὴ φύσει τινὰ ἐπὶ τοῦτο πέμψῃ; ἆρα γὰρ ἤθελε φαντασιουμένοις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ θεοῦ, ἀπειληφότος μὲν ἀθρόως τὴν κακίαν ἐμφύοντος δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν, τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν γενέσθαι; ἄλλος μὲν οὖν ζητήσει, εἰ ἀκόλουθον ἢ εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι τῇ φύσει τὸ τοιοῦτον· ἡμεῖς δὲ εἴποιμεν ἂν ὅτι ἔστω, καὶ δυνατὸν αὐτὸ εἶναι· ποῦ οὖν τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν, καὶ ποῦ ἐπαινετὴ συγκατάθεσις πρὸς τὸ ἀληθὲς ἢ ἀποδεκτὴ ἀνάνευσις ἀπὸ τοῦ ψεύδους; ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ ἅπαξ δοθείη καὶ δυνατὸν τοῦτο καὶ πρεπόντως γινόμενον, διὰ τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ζητήσει τις τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἀνάλογόν τι φάσκων τῷ Κέλσῳ, ὅτι οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν τῷ θεῷ θείᾳ δυνάμει μηδʼ ἐπανορθώσεως δεομένους ποιῆσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀλλʼ αὐτόθεν σπουδαίους καὶ τελείους, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑποστάσης τῆς κακίας; ταῦτα δʼ ἰδιώτας μὲν καὶ ἀσυνέτους δύναται συναρπάσαι οὐ μὴν καὶ τὸν ἐνορῶντα τῇ φύσει τῶν πραγμάτων· ὅτι ἀρετῆς μὲν ἐὰν ἀνέλῃς τὸ ἑκούσιον, ἀνεῖλες αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν. ὅλης δʼ εἰς ταῦτα πραγματείας χρεία· περὶ ἧς οὐκ ὀλίγα ἐν τοῖς περὶ προνοίας καὶ Ἕλληνες εἰρήκασιν, οἱ μὴ εἰπόντες ἂν ἅπερ ὁ Κέλσος ἐξέθετο λέγων· οἶδε μὲν, οὐκ ἐπανορθοῖ δὲ, οὐδʼ οἷόν τε αὐτῷ δυνάμει θείᾳ ἐπανορθοῦν. καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ πολλαχοῦ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν εἰρήκαμεν περὶ τούτων, καὶ οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι τοῖς ἀκούειν δυναμένοις αὐτῶν παρέστησαν. ### English translation (Claude) Having said that we say he has come down and the Jews that he will come down as judge, he thinks he can at once accuse the statement as most shameful and not needing a long refutation, and he says: “What is the purpose of such a descent for God?” He does not see that in our view the purpose of the descent is, first, to turn back what the Gospel calls “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and second, because of their disobedience, to take from them what is called the kingdom of God and give it “to other tenants” besides the Jews of old, the Christians, who “will render the fruits” of God's kingdom to God “in their seasons,” each action being a fruit of the kingdom. We, then, have said a little out of much in answer to Celsus's question, “For what is the purpose of such a descent for God?” But Celsus supplies himself with things that would be said neither by Jews nor by us, saying: “Or is it to learn what goes on among men?” For none of us says that Christ comes into life in order to learn what goes on among men. Then, as if some would say, “To learn what goes on among men,” he raises the objection to himself: “For does he not know all things?” Then, as if we would answer that he does know, he raises a further difficulty, saying: “Does he know, then, but not correct them, and is he unable to correct them by divine power?” All this too is said foolishly. For God always, by his own Word, who from generation to generation passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God and prophets, corrects those who hear what is said; and in the coming of Christ he corrects by the Christian teaching, not those unwilling, but those who have chosen the better life that pleases God. And I do not know what kind of correction Celsus wanted to happen when he raised the difficulty, “Is he not able to correct them by divine power, unless he sends someone specially endowed by nature for this?” Did he want correction to come to men by God's putting images into their minds, taking away wickedness all at once and implanting virtue? Another may inquire whether such a thing is consistent or possible by nature; but we would say: Suppose it is possible. Where then is what is in our power, and where is praiseworthy assent to the truth, or acceptable rejection of falsehood? And even if it were granted once that this is possible and fittingly done, why should one not rather ask about the beginning, saying something analogous to Celsus, “Was God not able by divine power to make men not needing correction at all, but good and perfect from the start, with wickedness never having come into existence?” These things can carry away ordinary and unintelligent people, but not one who looks into the nature of things: that if you take away the voluntary character of virtue, you take away its very being. A whole treatise is needed on these matters; and the Greeks too have said not a little about them in their works on providence, who would not have said what Celsus set out: “He knows, but he does not correct, nor is he able to correct by divine power.” We too have spoken about these things in many places as far as we could, and the divine words have made them plain to those able to hear them. ### Scripture references - Matt 15:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:41: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:43: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:27 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 15:24 and Matt 21:41, 43; “friends of God and prophets” is Wis 7:27. “Unless he sends someone specially endowed by nature” renders ἐὰν μὴ φύσει τινὰ ἐπὶ τοῦτο πέμψῃ; the sense is uncertain. The digital text repeats τὸ ἀληθὲς; the repetition is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/3/). ## Against Celsus 4.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/4/ - Source: Koetschau 1:276–277 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's objection applies equally to his own belief in providence; God always sends correctors like Moses and the prophets, and above all Jesus, Savior of all people everywhere. ### Greek text Λελέξεται οὖν ὅπερ ἡμῖν καὶ Ἰουδαίοις προσάγει ὁ Κέλσος καὶ πρὸς αὐτόν· ὅτι ἆρα, ὦ οὗτος, οἶδεν ὁ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸς τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἢ οὐκ οἶδεν; ἀλλʼ εἴπερ τίθης εἶναι θεὸν καὶ πρόνοιαν, ὡς ἐμφαίνει σου τὸ σύγγραμμα, ἀναγκαῖον αὐτὸν εἰδέναι. εἰ δʼ οἶδεν, διὰ τί οὐκ ἐπανορθοῖ; ἢ ἡμῖν μὲν ἀναγκαῖον ἀπολογεῖσθαι. διὰ τί εἰδὼς οὐκ ἐπανορθοῖ· σοὶ δὲ, μὴ πάνυ ἐμφαίνοντι διὰ τοῦ συγγράμματος τὸν Ἐπικούρειον ἀλλὰ προσποιουμένῳ πρόνοιαν εἰδέναι, οὐκ ἐπʼ ἴσης λελέξεται, διὰ τί εἰδὼς τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάντα ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐπανορθοῖ οὐδὲ θείᾳ δυνάμει ἀπαλλάσσει πάντας τῆς κακίας; ἀλλʼ οὐκ αἰσχυνόμεθα λέγειν ὅτι ἀεὶ μὲν πέμπει τοὺς ἐπανορθωσομένους· οἱ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ βέλτιστα προκαλούμενοι λόγοι, θεοῦ αὐτοὺς δεδωκότος. εἰσὶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις· ἤδη δὲ τῶν διακονουμένων τῷ θεῷ πολλαί εἰσι διαφοραὶ, καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ πάντῃ καὶ καθαρῶς πρεσβεύοντες τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὴν παντελῆ ἐπανόρθωσιν ἐργαζόμενοι, ὁποῖοι ἦσαν Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ προφῆται. παρὰ δὲ τούτους πάντας μεγάλη ἡ διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐπανόρθωσις, οὐ τοὺς ἐν μιᾷ γωνίᾳ τῆς οἰκουμένης βουληθέντος μόνους θεραπεύεσθαι ἀλλὰ τὸ ὅσον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ καὶ τοὺς πανταχοῦ· „σωτὴρ“ γὰρ ἦλθε „πάντων ἀνθρώπων.“ ### English translation (Claude) What Celsus brings against us and the Jews will, then, also be said against him: Does the God over all, sir, know what goes on among men, or does he not? If you hold that there is a God and providence, as your treatise indicates, he must know. And if he knows, why does he not correct them? Or must we give an account of why, knowing, he does not correct them, while you, who do not clearly show yourself an Epicurean in your treatise but pretend to acknowledge providence, will not equally be asked why God, knowing all that goes on among men, does not correct them or free all from wickedness by divine power? But we are not ashamed to say that he always sends people to correct them; for the words that summon to the best things, given by God, are among men. But there are already many differences among those who serve God, and few are those who proclaim the things of truth wholly and purely and bring about complete correction, such as Moses and the prophets were. But beyond all these, great is the correction through Jesus, who wished not only those in one corner of the world to be healed but, as far as it was up to him, those everywhere; for he came as “Savior of all men.” ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 4:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Tim 4:10. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/4/). ## Against Celsus 4.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/5/ - Source: Koetschau 1:277–278 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God fills heaven and earth, so his coming in Jesus does not mean leaving his place; he “departs” only from the wicked soul and fills the virtuous one, and the only change he brings is moral transformation. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦθʼ ὁ γενναιότατος Κέλσος οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόθεν λαβὼν ἐπαπορεῖ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὡς λέγοντας ὅτι αὐτὸς κάτεισι πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ὁ θεός· καὶ οἴεται ἀκολουθεῖν τούτῳ τὸ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἕδραν αὐτὸν καταλιπεῖν. οὐ γὰρ οἶδε δύναμιν θεοῦ καὶ „ὅτι πνεῦμα κυρίου πεπλήρωκε τὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ τὸ συνέχον τὰ πάντα γνῶσιν ἔχει φωνῆς, “ οὐδὲ συνιέναι δύναται τὸ „οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει κύριος, “ οὐδὲ βλέπει ὅτι κατὰ τὸν Χριστιανῶν λόγον οἱ πάντες „ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμὲν, “ ὡς καὶ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους δημηγορίᾳ ἐδίδαξε. κἂν ὁ θεὸς τοίνυν τῶν ὅλων τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμει συγκαταβαίνῃ τῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον, κἂν ὁ „ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν“ λόγος. „θεὸς“ καὶ αὐτὸς ὢν, ἔρχηται πρὸς ἡμᾶς. οὐκ ἔξεδρος γίνεται οὐδὲ καταλείπει τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἕδραν. ὡς τινὰ μὲν τόπον κενὸν αὐτοῦ εἶναι ἕτερον δὲ πλήρη, οὐ πρότερον αὐτὸν ἔχοντα. ἐπιδημεῖ δὲ δύναμις καὶ θειότης θεοῦ διʼ οὗ βούλεται καὶ ἐν ᾧ εὑρίσκει χώραν. οὐκ ἀμείβοντος τόπον οὐδʼ ἐκλείποντος χώραν αὐτοῦ κενὴν καὶ ἄλλην πληροῦντος. ἵνα γὰρ καὶ ἐκλείπειν αὐτὸν φῶμεν καὶ ἄλλον τινὰ πληροῦν, οὐ περὶ τόπου τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀποφανούμεθα· ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν τοῦ φαύλου καὶ κεχυμένου ἐν τῇ κακίᾳ ψυχὴν φήσομεν καταλείπεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὴν δὲ τοῦ βουλομένου ζῆν κατʼ ἀρετὴν ἢ καὶ προκόπτοντος ἢ καὶ ἤδη ζῶντος κατʼ αὐτὴν ἀποφανούμεθα πληροῦσθαι ἢ μετέχειν θείου πνεύματος. οὐ χρεία οὖν εἰς τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ κάθοδον ἢ εἰς τὴν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιστροφὴν τοῦ θεοῦ καταλείπεσθαι ἕδραν μείζονα καὶ μεταβάλλεσθαι τὰ τῇδε, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος οἴεται, λέγων· εἰ γὰρ ἕν τι τῶν τῇδε τοὐλάχιστον μεταβάλοις, ἀνατραπέντα οἰχήσεταί σοι τὰ πάντα. εἰ δὲ χρὴ λέγειν μεταβάλλειν παρουσίᾳ δυνάμεως θεοῦ καὶ ἐπιδημίᾳ τοῦ λόγου εἰς ἀνθρώπους τινὰ, οὐκ ὀκνήσομεν λέγειν μεταβάλλειν ἐκ φαύλου εἰς ἀστεῖον καὶ ἐξ ἀκολάστου εἰς σώφρονα καὶ ἐκ δεισιδαίμονος εἰς εὐσεβῆ τὸν παραδεξάμενον τὴν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιδημίαν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν. ### English translation (Claude) After this the most noble Celsus, taking it from I know not where, raises a difficulty against us as saying that God himself comes down to men; and he thinks it follows from this that he leaves his own seat. For he does not know the power of God, and that “the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which holds all things together has knowledge of every voice”; nor can he understand the words, “Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord”; nor does he see that according to the Christians' teaching we all “live and move and have our being in him,” as Paul too taught in his speech to the Athenians. So even if the God of the universe by his own power comes down with Jesus into human life, and even if the Word who was “in the beginning with God,” being himself “God,” comes to us, he does not become displaced or leave his own seat, so that one place is empty of him and another full that did not have him before. The power and divinity of God come to dwell through whom he wills and in whom he finds room, without his changing place or leaving his place empty and filling another. For even if we should say that he leaves one and fills another, we shall not be speaking of place; but we shall say that the soul of the bad man, poured out in wickedness, is left by God, and that the soul of one who wishes to live by virtue, or is making progress in it, or already lives by it, is filled with, or shares in, the divine Spirit. There is no need, then, for the descent of Christ or for God's turning toward men, that he should leave a greater seat and that things here should be changed, as Celsus thinks when he says, “For if you were to change even the least of the things here, everything would be overturned and gone.” But if we must speak of some being changed by the presence of God's power and the coming of the Word to men, we shall not hesitate to say that whoever has received the coming of the Word of God into his own soul is changed from bad to good, from licentious to self-controlled, and from superstitious to pious. ### Scripture references - Jer 23:24: quotation, high confidence - Acts 17:28: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - John 1:2: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 1:7 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Wis 1:7, Jer 23:24, Acts 17:28, and John 1:1–2. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/5/). ## Against Celsus 4.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/6/ - Source: Koetschau 1:278–279 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God does not seek recognition out of vanity like the newly rich; he makes himself known because knowing him frees people from misery and leaves unbelievers without excuse. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰ καταγελαστότατα τοῦ Κέλσου θέλεις ἡμᾶς ἀπαντᾶν, ἄκουε αὐτοῦ λέγοντος· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀγνοούμενος ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἀνθρώποις καὶ παρὰ τοῦτʼ ἔλαττον ἔχειν δοκῶν ἐθέλοι ἂν γνωσθῆναι καὶ τοὺς πιστεύοντάς τε καὶ ἀπιστοῦντας διαπειράσαι, καθάπερ οἱ νεόπλουτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεικτιῶντες; πολλὴν (γοῦν) τινα καὶ πάνυ θνητὴν φιλοτιμίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καταμαρτυροῦσι. φαμὲν οὖν ὅτι ἀγνοούμενος θεὸς ὑπὸ φαύλων ἀνθρώπων οὐ παρὰ τὸ αὐτὸς ἔλαττον ἔχειν δοκεῖν θέλοι ἂν γνωσθῆναι, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὴν γνῶσιν αὐτοῦ κακοδαιμονίας ἀπαλλάσσειν τὸν γινώσκοντα. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ διαπειράσαι θέλων τοὺς πιστεύοντας ἢ τοὺς ἀπιστοῦντας ἤτοι αὐτὸς ἀῤῥήτῳ καὶ θείᾳ δυνάμει ἔν τισιν ἐπιδημεῖ ἢ πέμπει τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτοῦ, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ πιστεύοντας μὲν καὶ καταλαμβάνοντας αὐτοῦ τὴν θεότητα ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι πάσης κακοδαιμονίας, ἀπιστοῦντας δὲ μηδʼ ἀπολογίας ἔτι χώραν ἔχειν. ὡς παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἀκηκοέναι καὶ δεδιδάχθαι οὐ πιστεύσαντας. τίς οὖν λόγος παρίστησιν ἀκολουθεῖν ἡμῖν τὸ τὸν θεὸν καθʼ ἡμᾶς εἶναι ὡς τοὺς νεοπλούτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεικτιῶντας; οὐ γὰρ ἐπιδεικτιᾷ ὁ θεὸς πρὸς ἡμᾶς, βουλόμενος ἡμᾶς συνιέναι καὶ νοεῖν αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπεροχήν· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ γινώσκεσθαι ἡμῖν αὐτὸν ἐγγινομένην ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν μακαριότητα ἐμφύεσθαι ἡμῖν θέλων, πραγματεύεται διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀεὶ ἐπιδημίας τοῦ λόγου ἀναλαμβάνειν ἡμᾶς τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἰκείωσιν. οὐδεμίαν οὖν θνητὴν φιλοτιμίαν ὁ Χριστιανῶν λόγος καταμαρτυρεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) And if you want us to answer the most ridiculous things of Celsus too, hear him saying: “But because God is unknown among men and for that reason seems to himself to be at a disadvantage, would he want to become known and to test those who believe and those who do not, like the newly rich among men who show off? They testify to a great and very mortal ambition in God.” We say, then, that God, being unknown by bad men, would want to be known, not because he seems to himself to be at a disadvantage, but because the knowledge of him frees the one who knows from unhappiness. Nor is it in order to test those who believe or those who do not that he either himself comes to dwell in some by an ineffable and divine power or sends his Christ, but in order that those who believe and grasp his divinity may be freed from all unhappiness, and that those who do not believe may no longer have room for excuse, as though they did not believe because they had not heard and been taught. What argument, then, shows that it follows from our teaching that God is like the newly rich among men who show off? For God does not show off toward us when he wants us to understand and perceive his greatness; but wishing to implant in us the blessedness that arises in our souls from our knowing him, he works through Christ and the continual coming of the Word so that we may take up our kinship with him. The Christians' teaching, then, testifies to no mortal ambition in God. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/6/). ## Against Celsus 4.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/7/ - Source: Koetschau 1:279 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God did not neglect humanity before Christ: in every generation his wisdom entered holy souls and made them friends of God and prophets. ### Greek text Οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως φλυαρήσας μάτην ἐφʼ οἷς ἐξεθέμεθα, ὕστερόν ποτε ἐκτίθεται ὅτι οὐ διʼ αὑτὸν δεόμενος γνωσθῆναι ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν γνῶσιν ἡμῖν παρασχεῖν ἑαυτοῦ βούλεται· ἵνʼ οἱ μὲν παραδεξάμενοι αὐτὴν χρηστοὶ γενόμενοι σωθῶσιν, οἱ δὲ μὴ παραδεξάμενοι ἀποδειχθέντες πονηροὶ κολασθῶσιν. καὶ ἐκθέμενός γε τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπαπορεῖ λέγων· νῦν ἆρα μετὰ τοσοῦτον αἰῶνα ὁ θεὸς ἀνεμνήσθη δικαιῶσαι τὸν ἀνθρώπων βίον, πρότερον δὲ ἠμέλει; καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτʼ οὐκ ἐβουλήθη δικαιῶσαι τὸν ἀνθρώπων βίον ὁ θεὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ ἐπεμελήθη διδοὺς ἀρετῆς ἀφορμὰς τοῦ ἐπανορθοῦσθαι τὸ λογικὸν ζῷον. κατὰ γὰρ ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἡ σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ψυχὰς. ἃς εὑρίσκει ὁσίας. μεταβαίνουσα φίλους θεοῦ καὶ προφήτας κατασκευάζει. καὶ εὑρεθεῖεν γʼ ἂν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς βίβλοις οἱ καθʼ ἑκάστην γενεὰν ὅσιοι καὶ δεκτικοὶ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος, καὶ ὡς ἐπέστρεφον τοὺς καθʼ αὑτοὺς ὅση δύναμις. ### English translation (Claude) I do not know how, after talking nonsense to no purpose in the words we have set out, he later sets out that “not because he needs to be known for his own sake, but for our salvation, he wishes to give us knowledge of himself, so that those who accept it, becoming good, may be saved, and those who do not accept it, being shown to be wicked, may be punished.” And having set out such a thing, he raises a difficulty, saying: “Did God then only now, after so long an age, remember to make human life just, having neglected it before?” To this too we shall say that there was never a time when God did not wish to make human life just, but he always took care, giving occasions of virtue for the correction of the rational animal. For in every generation the wisdom of God, passing into souls which it finds holy, makes them friends of God and prophets. And in the sacred books there might be found those in each generation who were holy and receptive of the divine Spirit, and how they converted their contemporaries as far as they could. ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:27 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The saying about wisdom is Wis 7:27. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/7/). ## Against Celsus 4.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/8/ - Source: Koetschau 1:279–280 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Why Christ came at a particular time is a deep mystery, tied to God's allotment of the nations to angels and of Israel to himself, and to his later gift of all nations to the Son. ### Greek text Οὐδὲν δὲ θαυμαστὸν τὸ γενεαῖς τισι προφήτας γεγονέναι, ὑπερέχοντας ἐν τῇ παραδοχῇ τῆς θειότητος διὰ τὸν ἐπὶ πλεῖον εὔτονον καὶ ἐῤῥωμένον βίον ἑτέρων προφητῶν, τινῶν μὲν κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἄλλων δὲ προγενεστέρων ἢ μεταγενεστέρων. οὕτω δὲ οὐ θαυμαστὸν καί τινα καιρὸν γεγονέναι, ὅτʼ ἐξαίρετόν τι χρῆμα ἐπιδεδήμηκε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διαφέρον παρὰ τοὺς προγενεστέρους αὐτοῦ ἢ καὶ μεταγενεστέρους. ἔχει δέ τι ὁ περὶ τούτων λόγος μυστικώτερον καὶ βαθύτερον καὶ μὴ πάνυ τι φθάνειν δυνάμενον ἐπὶ τὴν δημωδεστέραν ἀκοήν. καὶ δεῖ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ταῦτα σαφηνισθῆναι καὶ ἀπαντηθῆναι πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα περὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας. ὅτι νῦν ἆρα μετὰ τοσοῦτον αἰῶνα ὁ θεὸς ἀνεμνήσθη δικαιῶσαι τὸ ἀνθρώπων γένος, πρότερον δὲ ἠμέλει; ἅψασθαι τοῦ περὶ μερίδων λόγου καὶ σαφηνίσαι. διὰ τί „ὅτε διεμέριζεν ὁ ὕψιστος ἔθνη. ὡς διέσπειρεν υἱοὺς Ἀδὰμ, ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατʼ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ· καὶ ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ“· καὶ δεήσει τὴν αἰτίαν εἰπεῖν τῆς εἰς ἕκαστον ὅριον γενέσεως ὑπὸ τὸν κεκληρωμένον τὸ ὅριον, καὶ πῶς εὐλόγως „ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ“· καὶ διὰ τί πρότερον μὲν ἦν „μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, “ περὶ δὲ τῶν ὕστερον λέγεται πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός· „αἴτησαι παρʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς.“ εἰσὶ γάρ τινες εἱρμοὶ καὶ ἀκολουθίαι ἄφατοι καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητοι περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς διαφόρου οἰκονομίας. ### English translation (Claude) It is not surprising that in certain generations there have been prophets who surpassed other prophets, some their contemporaries and others earlier or later, in the reception of the divine, because of their more vigorous and strong life. So too it is not surprising that there was a certain time when something exceptional came to dwell with the human race, surpassing those before it and after it. But the account of these matters has something rather mystical and deep, which cannot at all reach the ears of the common crowd. To make these things clear and to answer what is said about the coming of Christ, “Did God then only now, after so long an age, remember to make the human race just, having neglected it before?”, we would need to touch on the account of the portions and make clear why “when the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God; and his people Jacob became the Lord's portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance.” And it will be necessary to state the cause of birth in each boundary under the one to whom that boundary was allotted, and how reasonably “his people Jacob became the Lord's portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance”; and why formerly “his people Jacob” was “the Lord's portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance,” but concerning later times the Father says to the Savior: “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.” For there are certain connections and sequences, unspeakable and indescribable, concerning the different dispensation for human souls. ### Scripture references - Deut 32:8: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:9: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 32:8–9 (LXX, “angels of God”) and Ps 2:8. Origen hints at his view that souls are born in particular nations according to their previous merits, which he declines to explain here. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/8/). ## Against Celsus 4.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/9/ - Source: Koetschau 1:280 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ came after the prophets to correct the whole world by teaching rather than punishment; the learned must prove the doctrine of the end and judgment, while simpler believers may trust the Savior's word. ### Greek text Ἦλθεν οὖν, κἂν μὴ βούληται Κέλσος, μετὰ πολλοὺς προφήτας ἐπανορθουμένους τὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκείνου ἐπανορθωτὴς ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου ὁ Χριστὸς, οὐ δεόμενος κατὰ τὴν προτέραν οἰκονομίαν τῆς κατʼ ἀνθρώπων χρήσεως μαστίγων καὶ δεσμῶν καὶ βασανιστηρίων· ἤρκει γὰρ ἡ διδασκαλία, ὅτε „ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπείρειν, “ ἵνα σπείρῃ τὸν λόγον πανταχοῦ. εἰ δʼ ἐπιστήσεταί τις χρόνος, περιγράφων τὸν κόσμον ἀναγκαίαν περιγραφὴν τῷ αὐτὸν ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκέναι, καὶ ἐπιστήσεταί τι τέλος τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ μετὰ τὸ τέλος δικαία περὶ πάντων κρίσις· δεήσει μὲν τὸν φιλοσοφοῦντα τὰ τοῦ λόγου κατασκευάζειν μετὰ παντοδαπῶν ἀποδείξεων, τῶν τε ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραμμάτων καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἀκολουθίας, δεήσει δὲ τὸν πολὺν καὶ ἁπλούστερον καὶ μὴ δυνάμενον παρακολουθεῖν τοῖς ποικιλωτάτοις τῆς σοφίας τοῦ θεοῦ θεωρήμασιν, ἐμπιστεύσαντα ἑαυτὸν θεῷ καὶ τῷ σωτῆρι τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν, τούτου μᾶλλον ἀρκεσθῆναι τῷ „αὐτὸς ἔφα“ ἢ ἄλλου οὑτινοσοῦν. ### English translation (Claude) So, whether Celsus likes it or not, after many prophets who corrected the affairs of that Israel, Christ came as the corrector of the whole world, not needing, as under the former dispensation, to use whips, chains, and tortures against men; for the teaching sufficed, when “the sower went out to sow,” to sow the word everywhere. And if a time will come that sets a limit to the world, a limit necessary because it had a beginning, and if an end will come to the world and after the end a just judgment of all, then the one who studies philosophy must establish the doctrines of the word with demonstrations of every kind, both from the divine writings and from the consistency of reasoning; but the ordinary and simpler person, unable to follow the most intricate speculations of the wisdom of God, must entrust himself to God and to the Savior of our race and be content with “he himself said it” from him rather than from anyone else. ### Scripture references - Matt 13:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 13:3. “He himself said it” (αὐτὸς ἔφα) was the Pythagoreans' formula for accepting their master's teaching. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/9/). ## Against Celsus 4.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/10/ - Source: Koetschau 1:280–281 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not frighten people with bogeymen like the Bacchic mysteries; they seek to correct humanity by warning of real punishments and promising the kingdom of God to the good. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν, ὡς σύνηθές ἐστιν αὐτῷ, μηδὲν κατασκευάσας μηδʼ ἀποδείξας ὁ Κέλσος, ὡσπερεὶ οὐχ ὁσίως ἡμῶν οὐδʼ εὐαγῶς περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ θρυλούντων, φησίν· ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐχ ὁσίως οὐδὲ εὐαγῶς ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ θρυλοῦσιν εὔδηλον, καὶ οἴεταί γε ἐπὶ θάμβει τῶν ἰδιωτῶν ταῦθʼ ἡμᾶς ποιεῖν, οὐχὶ δὲ τἀληθῆ περὶ κολάσεων λέγοντας ἀναγκαίων τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσι· διόπερ ἐξομοιοῖ ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἐν ταῖς Βακχικαῖς τελεταῖς τὰ φάσματα καὶ τὰ δείματα προεισάγουσι. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν Βακχικῶν τελετῶν εἴτε τις ἐστὶ πιθανὸς λόγος εἴτε μηδεὶς τοιοῦτος, λεγέτωσαν Ἕλληνες καὶ ἀκουέτω Κέλσος καὶ οἱ συνθιασῶται αὐτοῦ· ἡμεῖς δὲ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀπολογούμεθα, λέγοντες ὅτι τὸ προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἐπανορθοῦν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἴτε διὰ τῶν περὶ κολάσεων ἀπειλῶν, ἃς πεπείσμεθα ἀναγκαίας εἶναι τῷ παντὶ τάχα δὲ καὶ τοῖς πεισομένοις αὐτὰς οὐκ ἀχρήστους, εἴτε διὰ τῶν ἐπὶ τοὺς καλῶς βεβιωκότας ἐπαγγελιῶν, περιεχουσῶν τὰ περὶ τῆς μακαρίας ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς ἀξίοις ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ βασιλεύεσθαι διεξαγωγῆς. ### English translation (Claude) After this again, as is his habit, Celsus, without establishing or proving anything, says, as if we babbled about God in a way neither holy nor pure: “That they babble these things about God in a way neither holy nor pure is quite clear.” And he thinks that we do these things to astonish ordinary people, and do not speak the truth about the punishments necessary for those who have sinned; that is why he likens us to those who in the Bacchic mysteries bring in apparitions and terrors beforehand. Now whether there is some plausible account of the Bacchic mysteries or none, let the Greeks say, and let Celsus and his fellow worshipers listen; but we defend our own teaching, saying that our aim is to correct the human race, whether by threats of punishments, which we are persuaded are necessary for the whole, and perhaps not useless even for those who will suffer them, or by promises to those who have lived well, which include the blessed life in the kingdom of God for those worthy to be ruled by him. ### Translation notes - The remark that punishments may be “not useless even for those who will suffer them” reflects Origen's view of punishment as corrective. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/10/). ## Against Celsus 4.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/11/ - Source: Koetschau 1:281–282 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus claims Jews and Christians borrowed the idea of world floods and conflagrations from the Greeks; Origen answers that Moses is far older than the Greek sources, as Josephus showed. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα βουλόμενος ἡμᾶς παραδεῖξαι μηδὲν παράδοξον μηδὲ καινὸν λέγειν περὶ κατακλυσμοῦ ἢ ἐκπυρώσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρακούσαντας τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησιν ἢ βαρβάροις περὶ τούτων λεγομένων ταῖς ἡμετέραις πεπιστευκέναι περὶ αὐτῶν γραφαῖς, φησὶ ταῦτα· ἐπῆλθε δʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ ταῦτα ἐκείνων παρακούσασιν, ὅτι δὴ κατὰ χρόνων μακρῶν κύκλους καὶ ἄστρων ἐπανόδους τε καὶ συνόδους ἐκπυρώσεις καὶ ἐπικλύσεις συμβαίνουσι, καὶ ὅτι μετὰ τὸν τελευταῖον ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος κατακλυσμὸν ἡ περίοδος κατὰ τὴν τῶν ὅλων ἀμοιβὴν ἐκπύρωσιν ἀπαιτεῖ· ταῦτʼ αὐτοὺς ἐποίησεν ἐσφαλμένῃ δόξῃ λέγειν ὅτι ὁ θεὸς καταβήσεται δίκην βασανιστοῦ πῦρ φέρων. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ὁ πολλὰ ἀναγνοὺς καὶ ἱστορίας πολλὰς ἐπιδειξάμενος ἐγνωκέναι Κέλσος οὐκ ἐπέστησε τῇ Μωϋσέως ἀρχαιότητι, ἱστορουμένου ὑπό τινων Ἑλληνικῶν συγγραφέων κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους γεγονέναι Ἰνάχου τοῦ Φορωνέως· καὶ ὑπὸ Αἰγυπτίων δʼ ἀρχαιότατος εἶναι ὁμολογεῖται ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν τὰ Φοινικικὰ πραγματευσαμένων· καὶ ὁ βουλόμενός γε ἀναγνώτω τὰ Φλαυΐου Ἰωσήπου περὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίων ἀρχαιότητος δύο βιβλία, ἵνα γνῷ, τίνα τρόπον ἀρχαιότερος ἦν Μωϋσῆς τῶν κατὰ χρόνων μακρὰς περιόδους κατακλυσμοὺς καὶ ἐκπυρώσεις φησάντων γίνεσθαι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ· ὧν παρακηκοέναι λέγει ὁ Κέλσος Ἰουδαίους καὶ Χριστιανοὺς καὶ μὴ νοήσαντας τὰ περὶ ἐκπυρώσεως εἰρηκέναι ὅτι ὁ θεὸς καταβήσεται δίκην βασανιστοῦ πῦρ φέρων. ### English translation (Claude) After this, wanting to show us that we say nothing strange or new about the flood or the conflagration, but that, having misheard what is said about them among the Greeks or barbarians, we have believed our Scriptures about them, he says this: “This too occurred to them from misunderstanding those others: that in cycles of long periods of time, and at the returns and conjunctions of the stars, conflagrations and floods happen, and that after the last flood, in the time of Deucalion, the cycle, according to the alternation of the universe, requires a conflagration. This made them say, in their mistaken opinion, that God will come down like a torturer bearing fire.” To this we shall say that I do not know how Celsus, who has read much and displays knowledge of many histories, paid no attention to the antiquity of Moses, who is recorded by some Greek writers to have lived in the time of Inachus the father of Phoroneus, and is acknowledged by the Egyptians to be most ancient, and also by those who have written the history of Phoenicia. Let whoever wishes read the two books of Flavius Josephus on the antiquity of the Jews, so that he may learn in what way Moses was more ancient than those who said that floods and conflagrations happen in the world in long cycles of time; whom Celsus says the Jews and Christians misheard, and, not understanding the teaching about the conflagration, said that God will come down like a torturer bearing fire. ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, C. Ap. (Josephus (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The “two books of Flavius Josephus on the antiquity of the Jews” are Against Apion. The digital text reads Μω(??)σέως; the reading Μωϋσέως is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/11/). ## Against Celsus 4.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/12/ - Source: Koetschau 1:282 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The flood and the coming conflagration are caused by overflowing wickedness, not by star cycles; and when Scripture says God “comes down,” it speaks figuratively of his condescension to human affairs. ### Greek text Πότερον μὲν οὖν εἰσι περίοδοι καὶ κατὰ περιόδους κατακλυσμοὶ ἢ ἐκπυρώσεις, ἢ μὴ εἰσὶ, καὶ εἰ ἐπίσταται καὶ ταῦθʼ ὁ λόγος, ἐν πολλοῖς μὲν καὶ ἐν οἷς δὲ Σολομών φησι· „τί τὸ γεγονός; αὐτὸ τὸ γενησόμενον· καὶ τί τὸ πεποιημένον; αὐτὸ τὸ ποιηθησόμενον“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, οὐ τοῦ παρόντος ἐστὶ καιροῦ λέγειν. ἀρκεῖ γὰρ μόνον ἐπισημειώσασθαι ὅτι ἀρχαιότατοι ἄνδρες γενόμενοι Μωϋσῆς καί τινες τῶν προφητῶν οὐ παρʼ ἑτέρων εἰλήφασι τὰ περὶ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ἐκπυρώσεως ἀλλʼ, εἰ χρὴ ἐπιστήσαντα τοῖς χρόνοις εἰπεῖν, μᾶλλον τούτων ἕτεροι παρακούσαντες καὶ μὴ ἀκριβώσαντες τὰ ὑπὸ τούτων λεγόμενα ἀνέπλασαν κατὰ περιόδους ταυτότητας καὶ ἀπαραλλάκτους τοῖς ἰδίοις ποιοῖς καὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν αὐτοῖς. ἡμεῖς δὲ οὔτε τὸν κατακλυσμὸν οὔτε τὴν ἐκπύρωσιν κύκλοις καὶ ἀστέρων περιόδοις ἀνατίθεμεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τούτων αἰτίαν φαμὲν εἶναι κακίαν ἐπὶ πλεῖον χεομένην καὶ καθαιρομένην κατακλυσμῷ ἢ ἐκπυρώσει. θεὸν δὲ καταβαίνοντα ἐὰν λέγωσιν αἱ προφητικαὶ φωναὶ τὸν φήσαντα· „οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει κύριος, “ τροπολογοῦμεν. καταβαίνει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου μεγέθους καὶ ὕψους, ὅτε τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν φαύλων οἰκονομεῖ. καὶ ὥσπερ ἡ συνήθεια συγκαταβαίνειν φησὶ τοῖς νηπίοις τοὺς διδασκάλους καὶ τοῖς ἄρτι προτραπεῖσιν ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν νέοις τοὺς σοφοὺς ἢ τοὺς προκόπτοντας οὐ τῷ σωματικῶς αὐτοὺς καταβαίνειν, οὕτως εἴ που λέγεται ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς καταβαίνειν ὁ θεὸς, ἀνάλογον νοεῖται τῇ οὑτωσὶ χρωμένῃ τῷ ὀνόματι συνηθείᾳ, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἀναβαίνειν. ### English translation (Claude) Whether there are cycles, and floods or conflagrations in cycles, or not, and whether the Scripture knows of this too, both in many places and where Solomon says, “What is it that has been? The very thing that will be. And what is it that has been done? The very thing that will be done,” and so on, it is not the present occasion to say. It is enough only to note that Moses and some of the prophets, being most ancient men, did not take what they say about the conflagration of the world from others; but, if one must pay attention to the dates and say so, rather others, having misheard them and not understanding precisely what they said, invented periodic identities, indistinguishable in their individual qualities and their accidents. But we do not attribute either the flood or the conflagration to cycles and the revolutions of the stars; we say that their cause is wickedness poured out in excess and purged by flood or conflagration. And if the prophetic words say that God comes down, he who said, “Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord,” we interpret it figuratively. For God comes down from his own greatness and height when he manages the affairs of men, and especially of the wicked. And as ordinary usage says that teachers come down to the level of children, and the wise or those advanced come down to young men just turned to philosophy, not by descending bodily, so, if anywhere in the divine Scriptures God is said to come down, it is understood analogously to the usage that employs the word in this way; and so too with going up. ### Scripture references - Eccl 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Jer 23:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Eccl 1:9 and Jer 23:24. The “periodic identities” are the Stoic doctrine that the same world, with identical individuals, recurs after each conflagration. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/12/). ## Against Celsus 4.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/13/ - Source: Koetschau 1:282–284 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God is a “consuming fire” that burns up wickedness, the “wood, hay, and straw” built by the wicked, and refines the soul like gold and silver. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ χλευάζων ὁ Κέλσος φησὶν ἡμᾶς λέγειν τὸν θεὸν δίκην βασανιστοῦ πῦρ φέροντα καταβαίνειν καὶ ἀναγκάζει ἡμᾶς οὐ κατὰ καιρὸν βαθυτέρους ἐξετάζειν λόγους, ὀλίγα εἰπόντες, ὅσον γεῦσαι τοὺς ἀκροατὰς ἀπολογίας καθαιρούσης τὴν καθʼ ἡμῶν τοῦ Κέλσου χλεύην, ἐπὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τραπησόμεθα. φησὶ δὴ ὁ θεῖος λόγος τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν εἶναι „πῦρ καταναλίσκον, “ καὶ „ποταμοὺς πυρὸς ἕλκειν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, “ ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸν εἰσπορεύεσθαι „ὡς πῦρ χωνευτηρίου καὶ ὡς ποίαν πλυνόντων, “ ἵνα χωνεύσῃ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαόν, ἐπὰν οὖν λέγηται „πῦρ“ εἶναι „καταναλίσκον, “ ζητοῦμεν, τίνα πρέπει ὑπὸ θεοῦ καταναλίσκεσθαι, καί φαμεν ὅτι τὴν κακίαν καὶ τὰ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς πραττόμενα καὶ τροπικῶς λεγόμενα „ξύλα“ εἶναι καὶ „χόρτον“ καὶ „καλάμην“ καταναλίσκει ὁ θεὸς ὡς πῦρ, „ἐποικοδομεῖν“ γοῦν ὁ φαῦλος λέγεται τῷ προϋποβεβλημένῳ λογικῷ θεμελίῳ „ξύλα“ καὶ „χόρτον“ καὶ „καλάμην, “ εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔχει δεῖξαι ἄλλως νενοῆσθαι ταῦτα τῷ ἀναγράψαντι, καὶ σωματικῶς δύναταί τις παραστῆσαι ἐποικοδομοῦντα τὸν φαῦλον „ξύλα“ ἢ „χόρτον“ ἢ „καλάμην, “ δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὸ πῦρ ὑλικὸν καὶ αἰσθητὸν νοηθήσεται· εἰ δʼ ἄντικρυς τροπολογεῖται τὰ τοῦ φαύλου ἔργα, λεγόμενα εἶναι „ξύλα“ ἢ „χόρτος“ ἢ „καλάμη, “ πῶς οὐκ αὐτόθεν προπίπτει, ποδαπὸν πῦρ παραλαμβάνεται, ἵνα τὰ τοιαῦτα „ξύλα“ ἀναλωθῇ; „ἑκάστου“ γάρ φησι „τὸ ἔργον ὁποῖόν ἐστι, τὸ πῦρ αὐτὸ δοκιμάσει, εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον μένει, ὅ ἐπῳκοδόμησε, μισθὸν λήψεται· εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον κατακαήσεται, ζημιωθήσεται, “ ἔργον δὲ κατακαιόμενον ποῖον ἂν ἐν τούτοις λέγοιτο ἢ πᾶν τὸ ἀπὸ κακίας πραττόμενον; οὐκοῦν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν „πῦρ καταναλίσκον“ ἐστὶν, ὡς ἀποδεδώκαμεν, καὶ οὕτως „εἰσπορεύεται ὡς πῦρ χωνευτηρίου, “ χωνεύσων τὴν λογικὴν φύσιν, πεπληρωμένην τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας μολύβδου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀκαθάρτων ὑλῶν, τὴν τοῦ χρυσοῦ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, φύσιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἢ τὴν ἀργύρου δολωσάντων, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ποταμοὶ „πυρὸς“ „ἔμπροσθεν“ λέγονται εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦ ἐξαφανιοῦντος τὴν διʼ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς ἀνακεκραμένην κακίαν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ ταῦτʼ αὐτοὺς ἐποίησεν ἐσφαλμένῃ δόξῃ λέγειν ὅτι ὁ θεὸς καταβήσεται δίκην βασανιστοῦ πῦρ φέρων. ### English translation (Claude) And since Celsus says mockingly that we claim God comes down like a torturer bearing fire, and forces us to examine deeper doctrines out of season, we shall say a little, enough to give the hearers a taste of a defense that removes Celsus's mockery of us, and then turn to what follows. The divine word says that our God is “a consuming fire,” and that “rivers of fire flow before him,” and also that he himself enters “like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap,” to refine his own people. When, then, he is said to be “a consuming fire,” we ask what it is fitting for God to consume, and we say that God, as fire, consumes wickedness and what is done from it, which is figuratively called “wood,” “hay,” and “straw.” The bad man, at any rate, is said to “build upon” the rational foundation that has been laid “wood,” “hay,” and “straw.” If, then, anyone can show that the writer understood these things otherwise, and can present the bad man bodily building “wood” or “hay” or “straw,” clearly the fire too will be understood as material and perceptible. But if the works of the bad man, called “wood” or “hay” or “straw,” are plainly spoken of figuratively, how does it not at once appear what kind of fire is meant, so that such “wood” may be consumed? For he says: “The fire itself will test what sort of work each one's is. If anyone's work which he has built upon remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss.” And what work could be meant here as burned up, if not everything done from wickedness? Our God, then, is “a consuming fire,” in the sense we have explained, and so “enters like a refiner's fire,” to refine the rational nature filled with the lead of wickedness and the other impure materials that have adulterated the golden, if I may so call it, or silver nature of the soul. So too “rivers of fire” are said to be “before” God, who will wipe out the wickedness mixed through the whole soul. But this suffices in reply to “this made them say, in their mistaken opinion, that God will come down like a torturer bearing fire.” ### Scripture references - Deut 4:24: quotation, high confidence - Dan 7:10: quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 4:24, Dan 7:10, Mal 3:2–3, and 1 Cor 3:12–15. Origen reads the fire of judgment as purifying the soul. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/13/). ## Against Celsus 4.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/14/ - Source: Koetschau 1:284 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus argues that God cannot descend without changing for the worse; Origen replies that God remains unchangeable in his being while descending by providence, unlike the Epicurean and Stoic gods, which are bodily and changeable. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ ἅπερ ἑξῆς φησιν ὁ Κέλσος μετὰ μεγάλης ἀπαγγελίας τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· ἔτι δὲ, φησὶν, ἄνωθεν πλείοσιν ἀποδείξεσιν ἀναλάβωμεν τὸν λόγον, λέγω δὲ οὐδὲν καινὸν ἀλλὰ πάλαι δεδογμένα, ὁ θεὸς ἀγαθός ἐστι καὶ καλὸς καὶ εὐδαίμων καὶ ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ καὶ ἀρίστῳ· εἰ δὴ ἐς ἀνθρώπους κάτεισι, μεταβολῆς αὐτῷ δεῖ, μεταβολῆς δὲ ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν καὶ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν καὶ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀρίστου εἰς τὸ πονηρότατον, τίς ἂν οὖν ἕλοιτο τοιαύτην μεταβολήν; καὶ μὲν δὴ τῷ θνητῷ μὲν ἀλλάττεσθαι καὶ μεταπλάττεσθαι φύσις, τῷ δʼ ἀθανάτῳ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχειν, οὐκ ἂν οὖν οὐδὲ ταύτην τὴν μεταβολὴν θεὸς δέχοιτο, δοκεῖ δή μοι πρὸς ταῦτα λέγεσθαι τὰ δέοντα διηγησαμένῳ τὴν ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς λεγομένην κατάβασιν θεοῦ πρὸς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα· εἰς ἣν οὐ μεταβολῆς αὐτῷ δεῖ, ὡς Κέλσος οἴεται ἡμᾶς λέγειν, οὔτε τροπῆς τῆς ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν ἢ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν ἢ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ἀρίστου εἰς τὸ πονηρότατον, μένων γὰρ τῇ οὐσίᾳ ἄτρεπτος συγκαταβαίνει τῇ προνοίᾳ καὶ τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις πράγμασιν, ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ θεῖα γράμματα παρίσταμεν ἄτρεπτον λέγοντα τὸν θεὸν ἔν τε τῷ „σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ“ καὶ ἐν τῷ „οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι“· οἱ δὲ τοῦ Ἐπικούρου θεοὶ, σύνθετοι ἐξ ἀτόμων τυγχάνοντες καὶ τὸ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ συστάσει ἀναλυτοὶ, πραγματεύονται τὰς φθοροποιοὺς ἀτόμους ἀποσείεσθαι· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τῶν Στωϊκῶν θεὸς, ἅτε σῶμα τυγχάνων, ὁτὲ μὲν ἡγεμονικὸν ἔχει τὴν ὅλην οὐσίαν, ὅταν ἡ ἐκπύρωσις ᾖ· ὁτὲ δὲ ἐπὶ μέρους γίνεται αὐτῆς, ὅταν ᾖ διακόσμησις. οὐδὲ γὰρ δεδύνηνται οὗτοι τρανῶσαι τὴν φυσικὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἔννοιαν ὡς πάντῃ ἀφθάρτου καὶ ἁπλοῦ καὶ ἀσυνθέτου καὶ ἀδιαιρέτου. ### English translation (Claude) Let us see also what Celsus says next, with great pomp, in this way: “Yet further,” he says, “let us take up the argument from the beginning with more proofs. I say nothing new, but what has long been held. God is good and beautiful and happy, and exists in what is most beautiful and best. If then he comes down to men, he needs a change, and a change from good to bad, from beautiful to shameful, from happiness to unhappiness, and from what is best to what is most wicked. Who then would choose such a change? And indeed it is the nature of the mortal to be altered and remolded, but of the immortal to remain the same and unchanged. So God would not accept such a change either.” It seems to me that what is needed in reply to this is said by one who has explained the descent of God to human affairs spoken of in the Scriptures, for which he does not need a change, as Celsus thinks we say, nor an alteration from good to bad, or from beautiful to shameful, or from happiness to unhappiness, or from what is best to what is most wicked. For, remaining unchangeable in his being, he comes down by his providence and dispensation to human affairs. We, then, present the divine writings as saying that God is unchangeable, both in “But you are the same” and in “I have not changed”; whereas the gods of Epicurus, being composed of atoms and, as far as their structure goes, dissoluble, busy themselves shaking off the atoms that would destroy them; and the god of the Stoics, being a body, at one time has his whole substance as the ruling part, when the conflagration occurs, and at another comes to be in a part of it, when the world is ordered. For these men have not been able to make clear the natural notion of God as wholly incorruptible, simple, uncompounded, and indivisible. ### Scripture references - Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:6: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 380d–381c (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX) and Mal 3:6. Celsus's argument echoes Plato, Republic 380d–381c. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/14/). ## Against Celsus 4.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/15/ - Source: Koetschau 1:284–285 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ emptied himself in the form of God without sinning or losing his blessedness, as a physician touches disease out of kindness; the Word remains unchanged and becomes “flesh” for those who cannot yet see his divine glory. ### Greek text Τὸ δὲ καταβεβηκὸς εἰς ἀνθρώπους „ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ“ ὑπῆρχε καὶ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν „ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, “ ἵνα χωρηθῆναι ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων δυνηθῇ, οὐ δή που δʼ ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν γέγονεν αὐτῷ μεταβολὴ, „ἁμαρτίαν“ γὰρ „οὐκ ἐποίησεν, “ „οὐδʼ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν, οὐ γὰρ ἔγνω „ἁμαρτίαν, “ οὐδὲ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας ἦλθεν εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν, ἀλλʼ „ἑαυτὸν“ μὲν „ἐταπείνωσεν“ οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον μακάριος ἦν, καὶ ὅτε συμφερόντως τῷ γένει ἡμῶν ἑαυτὸν ἐταπείνου, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μεταβολή τις αὐτῷ γέγονεν ἐκ τοῦ ἀρίστου εἰς τὸ πονηρότατον· ποῦ γὰρ πονηρότατον τὸ χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον; ἢ ὥρα λέγειν καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν ὁρῶντα δεινὰ καὶ θιγγάνοντα ἀηδῶν, ἵνα τοὺς κάμνοντας ἰάσηται, ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ εἰς κακὸν ἢ ἐκ καλοῦ εἰς αἰσχρὸν ἢ ἐξ εὐδαιμονίας εἰς κακοδαιμονίαν ἔρχεσθαι, καίτοι γε ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁρῶν τὰ δεινὰ καὶ θιγγάνων τῶν ἀηδῶν οὐ πάντως ἐκφεύγει τὸ τοῖς αὐτοῖς δύνασθαι περιπεσεῖν· ὁ δὲ „τὰ τραύματα“ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν θεραπεύων διὰ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ λόγου θεοῦ αὐτὸς πάσης κακίας ἀπαράδεκτος ἦν, εἰ δὲ καὶ σῶμα θνητὸν καὶ ψυχὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀναλαβὼν ὁ ἀθάνατος θεὸς λόγος δοκεῖ τῷ Κέλσῳ ἀλλάττεσθαι καὶ μεταπλάττεσθαι, μανθανέτω ὅτι „ὁ λόγος“ τῇ οὐσίᾳ μένων λόγος οὐδὲν μὲν πάσχει ὧν πάσχει τὸ σῶμα ἢ ἡ ψυχὴ, συγκαταβαίνων δʼ ἔσθʼ ὅτε τῷ μὴ δυναμένῳ αὐτοῦ τὰς μαρμαρυγὰς καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς θειότητος βλέπειν οἱονεὶ „σὰρξ“ γίνεται, σωματικῶς λαλούμενος, ἕως ὁ τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν παραδεξάμενος κατὰ βραχὺ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου μετεωριζόμενος δυνηθῇ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, προηγουμένην μορφὴν θεάσασθαι. ### English translation (Claude) But the one who came down to men was “in the form of God” and out of love for mankind “emptied himself,” so that he could be received by men. Surely no change took place in him from good to bad, for he “committed no sin”; nor from beautiful to shameful, for he did not know “sin”; nor did he pass from happiness to unhappiness, but he “humbled himself,” and was nonetheless blessed, even when he humbled himself for the benefit of our race. Nor did any change take place in him from what is best to what is most wicked; for how is kindness and love for mankind most wicked? Or is it time to say that the physician too, who sees terrible sights and touches unpleasant things in order to heal the sick, passes from good to bad, or from beautiful to shameful, or from happiness to unhappiness? And yet the physician who sees terrible sights and touches unpleasant things does not altogether escape the possibility of falling into the same ills; but he who heals the “wounds” of our souls through the Word of God in him was himself incapable of receiving any wickedness. And if Celsus thinks that the immortal God the Word, by taking a mortal body and a human soul, is altered and remolded, let him learn that “the Word,” remaining Word in his being, suffers none of the things that the body or the soul suffers; but, coming down at times to one who cannot see the radiance and brightness of his divinity, he becomes as it were “flesh,” spoken of in bodily terms, until the one who has received him in this form, lifted up little by little by the Word, is able to behold even what I may call his primary form. ### Scripture references - Phil 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:21: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Phil 2:6–8, 1 Pet 2:22, 2 Cor 5:21, and John 1:14; the healing of “wounds” recalls Luke 10:34. Origen distinguishes the Word, who suffers nothing, from the body and soul he assumed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/15/). ## Against Celsus 4.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/16/ - Source: Koetschau 1:285–286 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Word appears differently to each person according to their spiritual progress, as at the Transfiguration, where only those who went up the mountain saw his glory. ### Greek text Εἰσὶ γὰρ διάφοροι οἱονεὶ τοῦ λόγου μορφαὶ, καθὼς ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰς ἐπιστήμην ἀγομένων φαίνεται ὁ λόγος, ἀνάλογον τῇ ἕξει τοῦ εἰσαγομένου ἢ ἐπʼ ὀλίγον προκόπτοντος ἢ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἢ καὶ ἐγγὺς ἤδη γινομένου τῆς ἀρετῆς ἢ καὶ ἐν ἀρετῇ γεγενημένου, ὅθεν οὐχ, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος καὶ οἱ παραπλήσιοι αὐτῷ βούλονται, „μετεμορφώθη“ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ „εἰς τὸ ὑψηλὸν ὄρος“ ἀναβὰς ἄλλην ἔδειξε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μορφὴν καὶ πολλῷ κρείττονα ἧς οἱ κάτω μένοντες καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι αὐτῷ εἰς ὕψος ἀκολουθεῖν ἐθεώρουν, οὐ γὰρ εἶχον οἱ κάτω ὀφθαλμοὺς δυναμένους βλέπειν τὴν τοῦ λόγου ἐπὶ τὸ ἔνδοξον καὶ θειότερον μεταμόρφωσιν· ἀλλὰ μόγις αὐτὸν ἐδύναντο χωρῆσαι τοιοῦτον, ὥστε λέγεσθαι ἂν περὶ αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τῶν μὴ δυναμένων τὸ κρεῖττον αὐτοῦ βλέπειν τό· „εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, “ καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς τὴν Κέλσου ὑπόληψιν, μὴ νοήσαντος τὰς ὡς ἐν ἱστορίαις λεγομένας μεταβολὰς ἢ μεταμορφώσεις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὸ θνητὸν ἢ ἀθάνατον αὐτοῦ, λελέχθω. ### English translation (Claude) For there are, as it were, different forms of the Word, according as the Word appears to each of those being led to knowledge, in proportion to the state of the one being introduced, or making a little progress, or more, or already coming near to virtue, or having come to be in virtue. Hence it is not, as Celsus and those like him would have it, that our God was transformed; but when he went up “the high mountain,” he showed another form of himself, far better than the one which those who stayed below and could not follow him to the height beheld. For those below did not have eyes able to see the transformation of the Word into what is glorious and more divine; they could scarcely receive him as he was, so that it might be said of him by those unable to see what is better in him: “We saw him, and he had no form or beauty, but his form was without honor, falling short of the sons of men.” Let this be said in reply to the supposition of Celsus, who did not understand the changes or transformations of Jesus spoken of as in histories, nor what in him was mortal or immortal. ### Scripture references - Matt 17:1: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:2: allusion, high confidence - Isa 53:2: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1–2); the quotation is Isa 53:2–3. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/16/). ## Against Celsus 4.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/17/ - Source: Koetschau 1:286–287 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Christian account of Christ's descent is far nobler than Greek myths like that of Dionysus torn by the Titans, which the Greeks allegorize; Christ came down in love to seek the lost sheep. ### Greek text Ἆρα δὲ οὐ πολλῷ ταῦτα, καὶ μάλιστα ὅτε ὃν δεῖ τρόπον νοεῖται, σεμνότερα φανεῖται Διονύσου ὑπὸ τῶν Τιτάνων ἀπατωμένου καὶ ἐκπίπτοντος ἀπὸ τοῦ Διὸς θρόνου καὶ σπαρασσομένου ὑπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν συντιθεμένου καὶ οἱονεὶ ἀναβιώσκοντος καὶ ἀναβαίνοντος εἰς οὐρανόν; ἢ Ἕλλησι μὲν ἔξεστι τὰ τοιαῦτα εἰς τὸν περὶ ψυχῆς ἀνάγειν λόγον καὶ τροπολογεῖν, ἡμῖν δʼ ἀποκέκλεισται θύρα ἀκολούθου διηγήσεως, καὶ πανταχοῦ συνᾳδούσης καὶ συμφωνούσης ἐν ταῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος γραφαῖς, γενομένου ἐν καθαραῖς ψυχαῖς; οὐδαμῶς οὖν ὁ Κέλσος εἶδε τὸ βούλημα τῶν ἡμετέρων γραμμάτων· διόπερ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐκδοχὴν καὶ οὐχὶ τὴν τῶν γραφῶν διαβάλλει. εἰ δὲ ἦν ἐννοήσας, τί ἀκολουθεῖ ψυχῇ ἐν αἰωνίῳ ἐσομένῃ ζωῇ καὶ τί χρὴ φρονεῖν περὶ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῆς καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀρχῶν αὐτῆς, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως διέσυρε τὸν ἀθάνατον εἰς θνητὸν ἐρχόμενον σῶμα, οὐ κατὰ τὴν Πλάτωνος μετενσωμάτωσιν ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἄλλην τινὰ ὑψηλοτέραν θεωρίαν, εἶδε δʼ ἂν καὶ μίαν ἐξαίρετον ἀπὸ πολλῆς φιλανθρωπίας κατάβασιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι τὰ, ὡς ἡ θεία ὠνόμασε μυστικῶς γραφὴ, „ἀπολωλότα πρόβατα οἴκου Ἰσραὴλ, “ καὶ καταβάντα ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν πρὸς ἃ ὁ ποιμὴν ἔν τισι παραβολαῖς καταβεβηκέναι λέγεται, καταλιπὼν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τὰ μὴ ἐσφαλμένα. ### English translation (Claude) Will not these things, especially when understood as they should be, appear far more dignified than Dionysus, deceived by the Titans, falling from the throne of Zeus, torn apart by them, and afterward put together again and, as it were, coming back to life and going up to heaven? Or are the Greeks permitted to refer such things to the doctrine of the soul and interpret them figuratively, while the door is shut to us for a consistent explanation, harmonious and in agreement everywhere in the Scriptures, which come from the divine Spirit present in pure souls? Celsus, then, did not at all see the intention of our writings; that is why he attacks his own interpretation and not that of the Scriptures. But if he had understood what follows for a soul that will be in eternal life, and what one must think about its being and its origins, he would not have so ridiculed the immortal coming into a mortal body, not according to Plato's transmigration but according to another, loftier contemplation. And he would have seen also one exceptional descent, from great love for mankind, in order to turn back what the divine Scripture mystically called “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” which had come down from the mountains, to which the shepherd in certain parables is said to have come down, leaving on the mountains those that had not gone astray. ### Scripture references - Matt 15:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 18:12: allusion, high confidence - Luke 15:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The myth of Dionysus and the Titans is Orphic. The quotation is Matt 15:24; the parable is Matt 18:12 (Luke 15:4). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/17/). ## Against Celsus 4.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/18/ - Source: Koetschau 1:287–288 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Word does not deceive but adapts himself to each person as milk, vegetables, or solid food; and the soul of Jesus freely entered human misfortunes out of love, as Philippians 2 describes. ### Greek text Προσδιατρίβων δʼ ὁ Κέλσος οἷς οὐ νενόηκεν αἴτιος ἡμῖν γίνεται ταυτολογίας, οὐ βουλομένοις κἂν τῷ δοκεῖν ἀβασάνιστον τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λελεγμένων τι καταλελοιπέναι, φησὶν οὖν ἑξῆς ὅτι ἤτοι ὡς ἀληθῶς μεταβάλλει ὁ θεὸς, ὥσπερ οὗτοί φασιν, εἰς σῶμα θνητὸν, καὶ προείρηται ὅτι ἀδυνατεῖ· ἢ αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ μεταβάλλει, ποιεῖ δὲ τοὺς ὁρῶντας δοκεῖν καὶ πλανᾷ καὶ ψεύδεται, ἀπάτη δὲ καὶ ψεῦδος ἄλλως μὲν κακὰ, μόνως δʼ ἂν ὡς ἐν φαρμάκου μοίρᾳ χρῷτό τις ἤτοι πρὸς φίλους νοσοῦντας καὶ μεμηνότας, ἰώμενος, ἢ πρὸς ἐχθροὺς, κίνδυνον ἐκφυγεῖν προμηθούμενος, οὔτε δὲ νοσῶν ἢ μεμηνὼς οὐδεὶς θεῷ φίλος, οὔτε φοβεῖταί τινα ὁ θεὸς, ἵνα πλανήσας κίνδυνον διαφύγῃ, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο λέγοιτʼ ἂν πῇ μὲν περὶ τῆς τοῦ θείου λόγου φύσεως, ὄντος θεοῦ, πῇ δὲ περὶ τῆς Ἰησοῦ ψυχῆς· περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς τοῦ λόγου φύσεως ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἡ τῶν τροφῶν ποιότης πρὸς τὴν τοῦ νηπίου φύσιν εἰς γάλα μεταβάλλει ἐν τῇ τρεφούσῃ, ἢ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰατροῦ κατασκευάζεται πρὸς τὸ τῆς ὑγείας χρειῶδες τῷ κάμνοντι, ἢ τῷ ἰσχυροτέρῳ ὡς δυνατωτέρῳ οὑτωσὶ εὐτρεπίζεται· οὕτως τὴν τοῦ πεφυκότος (τρέφειν) ἀνθρωπίνην ψυχὴν λόγου δύναμιν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἑκάστῳ κατʼ ἀξίαν μεταβάλλει, καὶ τινὶ μὲν, ὡς ὠνόμασεν ἡ γραφὴ, „λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα“ γίνεται, τινὶ δὲ ὡς ἀσθενεστέρῳ οἱονεὶ λάχανον, τινὶ δὲ τελείῳ „στερεὰ τροφὴ“ παραδίδοται, καὶ οὐ δή που ψεύδεται τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν ὁ λόγος, ἑκάστῳ τρόφιμος γινόμενος, ὡς χωρεῖ αὐτὸν παραδέξασθαι, καὶ οὐ πλανᾷ οὐδὲ ψεύδεται. εἰ δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰησοῦ ψυχῆς λαμβάνει τις τὴν μεταβολὴν, αὐτῆς εἰς σῶμα ἐλθούσης, πευσόμεθα, πῶς λέγει μεταβολήν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ τῆς οὐσίας, οὐ δίδοται οὐ μόνον ἐπʼ ἐκείνης ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ περὶ ἄλλου λογικῆς ψυχῆς· εἰ δʼ ὅτι πάσχει τι ὑπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἀνακεκραμένη αὐτῷ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου, εἰς ὃν ἐλήλυθε, καὶ τί ἄτοπον ἀπαντᾷ τῷ λόγῳ, ἀπὸ πολλῆς φιλανθρωπίας καταβιβάζοντι σωτῆρα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων; ἐπεὶ μηδεὶς τῶν πρότερον θεραπεύειν ἐπαγγειλαμένων τοσοῦτον ἐδύνατο, ὅσον αὐτὴ ἐπεδείξατο διʼ ὧν πεποίηκε, καὶ ἑκουσίως εἰς τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας κῆρας ὑπὲρ τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν καταβᾶσα. ταῦτα δʼ ἐπιστάμενος ὁ θεῖος λόγος πολλὰ πολλαχοῦ λέγει τῶν γραφῶν. ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος μίαν παραθέσθαι Παύλου λέξιν οὕτως ἔχουσαν· „τοῦτο φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, “ „καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσε καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα.“ ### English translation (Claude) By dwelling on things he has not understood, Celsus causes us to repeat ourselves, since we do not want to leave anything he has said, even in appearance, unexamined. He says next: “Either God really changes, as they say, into a mortal body, and it has been said already that this is impossible; or he does not himself change, but makes those who see him think so, and leads them astray and lies. Deceit and lying are otherwise evils, and one would use them only as a kind of medicine, either with friends who are sick and mad, to heal them, or with enemies, taking care to escape danger. But no one sick or mad is a friend to God, nor does God fear anyone, so as to escape danger by leading him astray.” To this one might reply partly about the nature of the divine Word, who is God, and partly about the soul of Jesus. About the nature of the Word: just as the quality of food changes into milk in the nurse to suit the nature of the infant, or is prepared by the physician for the sick man's need for health, or is made ready in this way for the stronger man as more capable, so God changes for men the power of the Word, which by nature nourishes the human soul, according to each one's worth. To one it becomes, as Scripture called it, “pure spiritual milk”; to another, as weaker, a kind of vegetables; to another, who is perfect, “solid food” is given. And surely the Word does not belie his own nature in becoming nourishment for each as he can receive him; nor does he lead astray or lie. But if one takes the change to refer to the soul of Jesus, when it came into a body, we shall ask what he means by change. If a change of being, it is not granted, not only of that soul, but of any other rational soul either. But if it is that it suffers something from the body with which it is mingled and from the place into which it has come, what absurdity results for the Word, who from great love for mankind brings down a Savior to the human race? For none of those who earlier professed to heal could do as much as this soul showed by what it did, having come down voluntarily into human misfortunes for the sake of our race. The divine word, knowing this, says much in many places of the Scriptures; but for the present it suffices to quote one passage of Paul, which runs: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.” ### Scripture references - 1 Pet 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 14:2: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 5:12: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Pet 2:2, Heb 5:12–14, Rom 14:2 (vegetables for the weak), and Phil 2:5–9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/18/). ## Against Celsus 4.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/19/ - Source: Koetschau 1:288–289 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians hold that Christ's incarnation was real, not an illusion; yet even on Celsus's terms, a healing deception would not be absurd, since Christ came for sinners and enemies to make them God's friends. ### Greek text Ἄλλοι μὲν οὖν διδότωσαν τῷ Κέλσῳ ὅτι οὐ μεταβάλλει μὲν, ποιεῖ δὲ τοὺς ὁρῶντας δοκεῖν αὐτὸν μεταβεβληκέναι· ἡμεῖς δὲ πειθόμενοι οὐ δόκησιν ἀλλʼ ἀλήθειαν εἶναι καὶ ἐνάργειαν κατὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιδημίαν, οὐχ ὑποκείμεθα τῇ Κέλσου κατηγορίᾳ. ὅμως δʼ ἀπολογησόμεθα ὅτι οὐ φῂς, ὦ Κέλσε, ὡς ἐν φαρμάκου μοίρᾳ ποτὲ δίδοται χρῆσθαι τῷ πλανᾶν καὶ τῷ ψεύδεσθαι; τί οὖν ἄτοπον, εἰ τοιοῦτόν τι ἔμελλε σῴζειν, τοιοῦτόν τι γεγονέναι; καὶ γάρ τινες τῶν λόγων τὰ τοιαδὶ ἤθη κατὰ τὸ ψεῦδος μᾶλλον λεγόμενοι ἐπιστρέφουσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν ἰατρῶν ποτε λόγοι τοιοίδε πρὸς τοὺς κάμνοντας. ἤπερ κατὰ τὸ ἀληθές. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ ἑτέρων ἀπολελογήσθω ἡμῖν. καὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἄτοπόν ἐστι τὸν ἰώμενον φίλους νοσοῦντας ἰάσασθαι τὸ φίλον τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος τοῖς τοιοῖσδε, οἷς οὐκ ἄν τις χρήσαιτο προηγουμένως ἀλλʼ ἐκ περιστάσεως. καὶ μεμηνὸς δὲ τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔδει θεραπευθῆναι διὰ μεθόδων, ὧν ἑώρα ὁ λόγος χρησίμων τοῖς μεμηνόσιν, ἵνα σωφρονήσωσι. φησὶ δʼ ὅτι καὶ τὰ τοιάδε τις ποιεῖ πρὸς ἐχθροὺς, κίνδυνον ἐκφυγεῖν προμηθούμενος. οὐ φοβεῖται δέ τινας ὁ θεὸς, ἵνα πλανήσας τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας κίνδυνον διαφύγῃ. πάντῃ δὲ περισσὸν καὶ ἄλογον ἀπολογήσασθαι πρὸς τὸ ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν λεγόμενον. προείρηται δʼ εἰς τὴν περὶ ἑτέρων ἡμῖν ἀπολογίαν πρὸς τὸ οὔτε δὲ νοσῶν ἢ μεμηνὼς οὐδεὶς φίλος τῷ θεῷ· ὁ γὰρ ἀπολογησάμενός φησιν οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἤδη φίλων νοσούντων ἢ μεμηνότων τὴν τοιάνδε οἰκονομίαν γίνεσθαι ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν διὰ νόσον τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ἔκστασιν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν λογισμοῦ ἔτι ἐχθρῶν. ἵνα γένωνται φίλοι τῷ θεῷ. καὶ γὰρ σαφῶς ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτωλῶν λέγεται πάντα ἀναδεδέχθαι ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ἵνʼ αὐτοὺς „ἀπαλλάξῃ“ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ ποιήσῃ „δικαίους.“ ### English translation (Claude) Let others, then, grant Celsus that he does not change, but makes those who see him think that he has changed. But we, being persuaded that in the coming of Jesus to men there was no appearance but truth and clear reality, are not subject to Celsus's accusation. Nevertheless we shall reply: Do you not say, Celsus, that it is sometimes permitted to use deceit and lying as a kind of medicine? What absurdity then, if something of the kind was going to save, that something of the kind should have happened? For some words, spoken rather in the manner of falsehood, convert such characters, as sometimes physicians' words of this kind do with the sick, rather than words spoken in the manner of truth. But let this defense be made by us on behalf of others. For it is not absurd that he who heals sick friends should heal the dear human race by such means as one would not use by preference but by force of circumstance. And the human race, being mad, had to be healed by methods which the Word saw to be useful for the mad, so that they might come to their senses. He also says that one does such things with enemies, taking care to escape danger. But God does not fear anyone, so as to escape danger by leading astray those who plot against him. It is altogether superfluous and unreasonable to answer what no one says about our Savior. And in our defense on behalf of others we have already answered, “But no one sick or mad is a friend to God”; for the one who made that defense says that such a dispensation took place not on behalf of those already friends who are sick or mad, but on behalf of those who, through sickness of soul and departure from natural reason, are still enemies, so that they may become friends of God. For it is clearly said that Jesus took everything upon himself for sinners, so that he might “free” them from sin and make them “righteous.” ### Scripture references - Rom 5:10: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 5:19: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 2:15: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - “Let others grant Celsus…” refers to docetists, who held that Christ only seemed to have a body. The closing allusion is to Rom 5:10, 19 and Heb 2:15. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/19/). ## Against Celsus 4.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/20/ - Source: Koetschau 1:289–290 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: There is nothing absurd in God sending one to purify a world overflowing with wickedness; the Greeks too, like Plato, speak of periodic purification by flood. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ προσωποποιεῖ ἰδίᾳ μὲν Ἰουδαίους αἰτιολογοῦντας τὴν κατʼ αὐτοὺς μέλλουσαν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν ἰδίᾳ δὲ Χριστιανοὺς λέγοντας περὶ τῆς ἤδη γεγενημένης ἐπιδημίας εἰς τὸν βίον τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ· φέρε καὶ ταῦτα, ὡς οἷόν τε ἐστὶ, διὰ βραχέων κατανοήσωμεν. Ἰουδαῖοι δὴ παρʼ αὐτῷ λέγουσι πληρωθέντα τὸν βίον πάσης κακίας δεῖσθαι τοῦ καταπεμπομένου ἀπὸ θεοῦ, ἵνʼ οἱ μὲν ἄδικοι κολασθῶσι, τὰ δὲ πάντα καθαρθῇ ἀνάλογον τῷ πρώτῳ συμβάντι κατακλυσμῷ. ἐπεὶ δὲ λέγονται καὶ Χριστιανοὶ τούτοις προστιθέναι ἕτερα. δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τούτοις φησὶ ταῦτα λέγεσθαι. καὶ τί ἄτοπον ἐπὶ τῇ χύσει τῆς κακίας ἐπιδημήσειν τὸν ἀποκαθαροῦντα τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἑκάστῳ κατʼ ἀξίαν χρησόμενον; οὐ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν θεὸν ἐστι μὴ στῆσαι τὴν τῆς κακίας νομὴν καὶ ἀνακαινῶσαι τὰ πράγματα. ἴσασι δὲ καὶ Ἕλληνες κατακλυσμῷ ἢ πυρὶ τὴν γῆν κατὰ περιόδους καθαιρομένην. ὡς καὶ Πλάτων που οὕτω λέγει· „ὅταν δʼ οἱ θεοὶ τὴν γῆν ὕδασι καθαίροντες κατακλύζωσιν, οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. λεκτέον οὖν ὅτι ἆρʼ ἐὰν μὲν ἐκεῖνοι ταῦτα φάσκωσι, σεμνά ἐστι καὶ λόγου ἄξια τὰ ἐπαγγελλόμενα, ἐὰν δʼ ἡμεῖς τάδε τινὰ ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἐπαινούμενα καὶ αὐτοὶ κατασκευάζωμεν, οὐκέτι καλά ἐστι ταῦτα δόγματα; καίτοι γε οἷς μέλει τῆς πάντων γεγραμμένων διαρθρώσεως καὶ ἀκριβείας πειράσονται δεικνύναι οὐ μόνον τὴν ἀρχαιότητα τῶν ταῦτα γραψάντων ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν σεμνότητα τῶν λελεγμένων καὶ τὸ ἀκόλουθον αὐτοῖς. ### English translation (Claude) Then, since he represents in their own persons the Jews explaining the reason for the coming of Christ which they expect, and the Christians speaking about the coming of the Son of God into human life which has already taken place, come, let us consider these things too briefly, as far as possible. The Jews in his work say that “life, being filled with every wickedness, needs one sent down from God, so that the unjust may be punished and all things purified, as in the first flood that happened.” And since the Christians are said to add other things to these, it is clear that he says these things are said by them too. What absurdity is there in one coming, when wickedness overflows, to purify the world and treat each according to his worth? For it is not in keeping with God not to stop the spread of wickedness and renew all things. The Greeks too know that the earth is purified periodically by flood or fire, as Plato somewhere says thus: “When the gods, purifying the earth with waters, flood it, those in the mountains,” and so on. It must be said, then: If they say these things, are the things promised dignified and worthy of consideration, but if we too establish some such things praised by the Greeks, are these no longer good doctrines? And yet those who care for the careful and accurate treatment of everything written will try to show not only the antiquity of those who wrote these things, but also the dignity of what was said and its consistency. ### Scripture references - Gen 6:17: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 22d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Plato, Timaeus 22d; the flood is Gen 6–8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/20/). ## Against Celsus 4.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/21/ - Source: Koetschau 1:290–291 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses' account of the tower of Babel and of Sodom is far older than the Greek myths of the Aloadae and Phaethon that Celsus says he copied; the prophets, proved true about the past, are to be trusted about the purifying fire to come. ### Greek text Οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως παραπλησίως τῷ κατακλυσμῷ καθήραντι τὴν γῆν, ὡς ὁ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν βούλεται λόγος, οἴεται καὶ τὴν τοῦ πύργου κατάῤῥιψιν γεγονέναι. ἵνα γὰρ μηδὲν αἰνίσσηται ἡ κατὰ τὸν πύργον ἱστορία κειμένη ἐν τῇ Γενέσει ἀλλʼ, ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, σαφὴς τυγχάνῃ, οὐδʼ οὕτως φαίνεται ἐπὶ καθαρσίῳ τῆς γῆς τοῦτο συμβεβηκέναι· εἰ μὴ ἄρα καθάρσιον τῆς γῆς οἴεται τὴν καλουμένην τῶν γλωσσῶν „σύγχυσιν“· περὶ ἧς ὁ δυνάμενος εὐκαιρότερον διηγήσεται, ἐπὰν τὸ προκείμενον ᾖ παραστῆσαι καὶ τὰ τῆς κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἱστορίας, τίνα ἔχοι λόγον, καὶ τὰ τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀναγωγῆς. ἐπεὶ δʼ οἴεται Μωϋσέα, τὸν ἀναγράψαντα τὰ περὶ τοῦ πύργου καὶ τῆς τῶν διαλέκτων συγχύσεως, παραφθείροντα τὰ περὶ τῶν Ἀλωέως υἱῶν ἱστορούμενα τοιαῦτα περὶ τοῦ πύργου ἀναγεγραφέναι, λεκτέον ὅτι τὰ μὲν περὶ τῶν Ἀλωέως υἱῶν οὐκ οἶμαι πρὸ Ὁμήρου τινὰ εἰρηκέναι, τὰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ πύργου, πολλῷ πρεσβύτερα Ὁμήρου ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν γραμμάτων εὑρέσεως ὄντα, τὸν Μωϋσέα ἀναγεγραφέναι πείθομαι. τίνες οὖν μᾶλλον τὰ τίνων παραφθείρουσιν; ἆρα τὰ περὶ τοῦ πύργου οἱ περὶ Ἀλωέως υἱῶν ἱστοροῦντες, ἢ τὰ τῶν Ἀλωειδῶν ὁ τὰ περὶ τοῦ πύργου καὶ τῆς συγχύσεως τῶν διαλέκτων γράψας; ἀλλὰ φαίνεται τοῖς ἀδεκάστοις ἀκροαταῖς ἀρχαιότερος Μωϋσῆς ὢν Ὁμήρου. καὶ τὰ περὶ Σοδόμων δὲ καὶ Γομόῤῥων ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως ἱστορούμενα ἐν τῇ Γενέσει, ὡς διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν πυρὶ ἐξαφανισθέντων. παραβάλλει ὁ Κέλσος τῇ κατὰ τὸν Φαέθοντα ἱστορίᾳ, ἑνὶ σφάλματι. τῷ περὶ τοῦ μὴ τετηρηκέναι τὰ τῆς Μωϋσέως ἀρχαιότητος. ἀκολούθως πάντα ποιήσας. οἱ γὰρ τὰ περὶ Φαέθοντος ἱστοροῦντες ἐοίκασι καὶ Ὁμήρου νεώτεροι, τοῦ πολλῷ Μωϋσέως νεωτέρου. οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα οὖν τὸ καθάρσιον πῦρ καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου φθορὰν ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς κακίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ παντὸς, λέγοντες παρὰ τῶν προφητῶν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν βιβλίων μεμαθηκέναι. ἐπὰν μέντοι. ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν, πολλὰ περὶ μελλόντων οἱ προφῆται λέγοντες ἀποδεικνύωνται περὶ πολλῶν παρεληλυθότων ἠληθευκέναι καὶ δεῖγμα διδόναι τοῦ θεῖον πνεῦμα ἐν αὐτοῖς γεγονέναι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων πιστευτέον αὐτοῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ τῷ ἐν αὐτοῖς θείῳ πνεύματι. ### English translation (Claude) I do not know how he thinks that the overthrow of the tower also took place like the flood that purified the earth, as the teaching of Jews and Christians holds. For even if the story about the tower in Genesis hints at nothing, but, as Celsus thinks, is plain, not even so does it appear that this happened for the purification of the earth; unless perhaps he thinks that the so-called “confusion” of tongues was a purification of the earth. About this, one who is able will give an account more opportunely when the task at hand is to show both what meaning the story of this passage has and what its higher sense is. And since he thinks that Moses, who wrote about the tower and the confusion of languages, corrupted the stories told about the sons of Aloeus and wrote such things about the tower, it must be said that I do not think anyone before Homer spoke about the sons of Aloeus, but I am persuaded that Moses wrote about the tower, things much older than Homer and even than the invention of Greek letters. Who then are the more likely to corrupt whose stories? Those who tell about the sons of Aloeus the stories about the tower, or the one who wrote about the tower and the confusion of languages the stories of the Aloadae? But to unbiased hearers Moses appears older than Homer. And the account given by Moses in Genesis of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by fire because of their sin, Celsus compares with the story of Phaethon, having done everything consistently with one mistake, that of not observing the antiquity of Moses. For those who tell the story of Phaethon seem to be even later than Homer, who is much later than Moses. We do not deny, then, the purifying fire and the destruction of the world for the removal of wickedness and the renewal of the universe, saying that we have learned it from the prophets out of the sacred books. When, as we said above, the prophets, who said much about the future, are shown to have spoken the truth about many things now past and to give evidence that the divine Spirit was in them, it is clear that they must be believed also about the future, or rather the divine Spirit in them must be. ### Scripture references - Gen 11:7: allusion, high confidence - Gen 19:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 11.305–320 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Aloadae (Otus and Ephialtes) piled mountains to reach heaven (Homer, Odyssey 11.305–320); Phaethon set the earth ablaze driving the Sun's chariot. The allusions are Gen 11:1–9 and Gen 19:24–25. The digital text reads οὐ δʼ οὕτως; corrected to οὐδʼ οὕτως. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/21/). ## Against Celsus 4.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/22/ - Source: Koetschau 1:291–292 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen sees the destruction of Jerusalem about forty years after the crucifixion, and the Jews' long exile from their temple worship, as evidence of Jesus' divine significance and of God's call passing to the Christians. ### Greek text Καὶ Χριστιανοὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον προστιθέντες τινὰς λόγους τοῖς ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων λεγομένοις φασὶ διὰ τὰς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἁμαρτίας ἤδη πεπέμφθαι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ὅτι Ἰουδαῖοι κολάσαντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ χολὴν ποτίσαντες ἐπὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐκ θεοῦ χόλον ἐπεσπάσαντο. ἐλεγχέτω δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον ὡς ψεῦδος ὁ βουλόμενος, εἰ μὴ ἀνάστατον τὸ πάντων Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος γεγένηται οὐδὲ μετὰ γενεὰν ὅλην μίαν τοῦ ταῦτα πεπονθέναι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τὸν Ἰησοῦν· τεσσαράκοντα γὰρ ἔτη καὶ δύο οἶμαι ἀφʼ οὗ ἐσταύρωσαν τὸν Ἰησοῦν γεγονέναι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἱεροσολύμων καθαίρεσιν. καὶ οὐδέ ποτε γε ἱστόρηται, ἐξ οὗ Ἰουδαῖοί εἰσι, τοσοῦτον αὐτοὺς χρόνον ἐκβεβλῆσθαι τῆς σεμνῆς ἁγιστείας καὶ λατρείας, κρατηθέντας ὑπὸ δυνατωτέρων· ἀλλʼ εἰ καί ποτε ἔδοξαν διʼ ἁμαρτίας καταλείπεσθαι. οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπεσκοπήθησαν καὶ ἐπανελθόντες τὰ ἴδια ἀπειλήφασιν, ἀκωλύτως ποιοῦντες τὰ νενομισμένα. ἓν οὖν τῶν παριστάντων θεῖόν τι καὶ ἱερὸν χρῆμα γεγονέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐστι καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαίοις ἐπʼ αὐτῷ τοσαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα πολλῷ ἤδη συμβεβηκέναι χρόνῳ. θαῤῥοῦντες δʼ ἐροῦμεν ὅτι οὐδʼ ἀποκατασταθήσονται. ἄγος γὰρ ἔπραξαν τὸ πάντων ἀνοσιώτατον. τῷ σωτῆρι τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβουλεύσαντες ἐν τῇ πόλει, ἔνθα τὰ νενομισμένα σύμβολα μεγάλων μυστηρίων ἐποίουν τῷ θεῷ. ἐχρῆν οὖν ἐκείνην τὴν πόλιν, ὅπου ταῦτα πέπονθεν Ἰησοῦς, ἄρδην ἀπολωλέναι καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος ἀνάστατον γεγονέναι καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλους τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς μακαριότητα κλῆσιν μεταβεβηκέναι, τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς λέγω, ἐφʼ οὓς ἐλήλυθεν ἡ περὶ τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ καθαρᾶς θεοσεβείας διδασκαλία, παραλαβόντας νόμους καινοὺς καὶ ἁρμόζοντας τῇ πανταχοῦ καθεστώσῃ πολιτείᾳ· ἐπεὶ μὴ οἱ πρότερον δοθέντες ὡς ἑνὶ ἔθνει, ὑπὸ οἰκείων καὶ ὁμοήθων βασιλευομένῳ, οἷοί τε ἦσαν πάντες νῦν ἐπιτελεῖσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) And the Christians, according to Celsus, adding some words to what the Jews say, claim that “because of the sins of the Jews the Son of God has already been sent, and that the Jews, having punished Jesus and given him gall to drink, drew upon themselves the wrath of God.” Let whoever wishes refute this statement as false, if the whole Jewish nation was not overthrown within one whole generation after Jesus suffered these things at their hands. For there were, I think, forty-two years from the time they crucified Jesus to the destruction of Jerusalem. And never, since the Jews have existed, is it recorded that they were cast out for so long a time from their holy worship and service, subdued by those more powerful; but even if at times they seemed to be forsaken because of sin, they were nonetheless visited, and returning they recovered their own and practiced their customary rites unhindered. One of the proofs, then, that Jesus was something divine and holy is that such great and grievous things have now for a long time befallen the Jews on his account. And we shall say with confidence that they will not even be restored. For they committed the most unholy crime of all in plotting against the Savior of the human race in the city where they performed for God the customary symbols of great mysteries. That city, then, where Jesus suffered these things, had to be utterly destroyed, the Jewish nation overthrown, and God's call to blessedness transferred to others, I mean the Christians, to whom came the teaching about sincere and pure worship of God, and who received new laws suited to the constitution established everywhere; since the laws given before, as to one nation ruled by kings of its own race and customs, could not all be carried out now. ### Scripture references - Matt 27:34: allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:43: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Origen's argument from the fall of Jerusalem reflects the anti-Jewish polemic common in early Christian apologetic; it is translated as written. The gall is Matt 27:34; the transfer of the kingdom echoes Matt 21:43. The destruction of Jerusalem was in AD 70. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/22/). ## Against Celsus 4.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/23/ - Source: Koetschau 1:292–293 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks Jews and Christians as bats, ants, frogs, and worms arguing in the mud, each claiming that God cares for them alone and made the world for their sake. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα συνήθως ἑαυτῷ γελῶν τὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν γένος πάντας παραβέβληκε νυκτερίδων ὁρμαθῷ ἢ μύρμηξιν ἐκ καλιᾶς προελθοῦσιν ἢ βατράχοις περὶ τέλμα συνεδρεύουσιν ἢ σκώληξιν ἐν βορβόρου γωνίᾳ ἐκκλησιάζουσι καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαφερομένοις, τίνες αὐτῶν εἶεν ἁμαρτωλότεροι, καὶ φάσκουσιν ὅτι πάντα ἡμῖν ὁ θεὸς προδηλοῖ καὶ προκαταγγέλλει, καὶ τὸν πάντα κόσμον καὶ τὴν οὐράνιον φορὰν ἀπολιπὼν καὶ τὴν τοσαύτην γῆν παριδὼν ἡμῖν μόνοις πολιτεύεται καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς μόνους ἐπικηρυκεύεται καὶ πέμπων οὐ διαλείπει καὶ ζητῶν, ὅπως ἀεὶ συνῶμεν αὐτῷ. καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀναπλάσματί γε ἑαυτοῦ παραπλησίους ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ σκώληξι, φάσκουσιν ὅτι ὁ θεός ἐστιν, εἶτα μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἡμεῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γεγονότες πάντῃ ὅμοιοι τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἡμῖν πάντα ὑποβέβληται, γῆ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ἀὴρ καὶ ἄστρα, καὶ ἡμῶν ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἡμῖν δουλεύειν τέτακται. λέγουσι δέ τι παρʼ αὐτῷ οἱ σκώληκες, ἡμεῖς δηλαδὴ, ὅτι νῦν, ἐπειδή τινες (ἐν) ἡμῖν πλημμελοῦσιν, ἀφίξεται θεὸς ἢ πέμψει τὸν υἱὸν. ἵνα καταφλέξῃ τοὺς ἀδίκους. καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ σὺν αὐτῷ ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχωμεν. καὶ ἐπιφέρει γε πᾶσιν ὅτι ταῦτα (μᾶλλον) ἀνεκτὰ. σκωλήκων καὶ βατράχων, ἢ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαφερομένων. ### English translation (Claude) After this, laughing in his usual way at the race of Jews and Christians, he has compared them all to “a cluster of bats, or ants coming out of their nest, or frogs holding council around a marsh, or worms in assembly in a corner of the mud, disputing with one another which of them are the greater sinners, and saying: ‘God reveals and announces everything to us beforehand; and, abandoning the whole world and the heavenly motion and disregarding the vast earth, he governs for us alone, and makes proclamations to us alone, and does not cease sending and seeking how we may be with him forever.’” And in his fiction he makes us like worms saying: “There is God, and after him we, who have been made by him wholly like God; and all things have been put under us, earth, water, air, and stars; and all things are for our sake, and have been appointed to serve us.” And the worms in his account, that is, we, say: “Now, since some among us do wrong, God will come or will send his Son to burn up the unjust, and the rest of us will have eternal life with him.” And he adds to all this that “these things would be more tolerable from worms and frogs than from Jews and Christians disputing with one another.” ### Translation notes - The section is almost entirely a quotation of Celsus. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/23/). ## Against Celsus 4.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/24/ - Source: Koetschau 1:293–294 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Human greatness is not measured by bodily size, or elephants would surpass humans; rational beings excel by reason, and angels by perfected reason and virtue. ### Greek text Πρὸς ταῦτα δὴ πυνθανόμεθα τῶν ἀποδεχομένων τὰ οὕτω καθʼ ἡμῶν εἰρημένα καί φαμεν· ἆρα πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁρμαθὸν εἶναι νυκτερίδων ἢ μύρμηκας ἢ βατράχους ἢ σκώληκας ὑπολαμβάνετε διὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπεροχήν; ἢ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους εἰς τὴν προκειμένην εἰκόνα μὴ παραλαμβάνετε ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ λογικὸν καὶ τοὺς καθεστῶτας νόμους τηρεῖτε αὐτοὺς ἀνθρώπους. Χριστιανοὺς δὲ καὶ Ἰουδαίους διὰ τὰ μὴ ἀρέσκοντα ὑμῖν αὐτῶν δόγματα ἐξευτελίζοντες τούτοις τοῖς ζῴοις παραβεβλήκατε; καὶ ὁπότερόν γε ἂν εἴπητε πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν ἡμῶν, ἀποκρινούμεθα ἀποδεικνύναι πειρώμενοι οὐ δεόντως λελέχθαι περὶ τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἢ περὶ ἡμῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἔστω γὰρ ὑμᾶς πρῶτον λέγειν ὅτι πάντες ἄνθρωποι ὡς πρὸς θεὸν τοῖς εὐτελέσι τούτοις παραβάλλονται ζῴοις. ἐπεὶ μηδαμῶς ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἡ μικρότης συγκριτὴ τῇ ὑπεροχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ. ποία δὴ μικρότης; ἀποκρίνασθέ μοι, ὦ οὗτοι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἡ τῶν σωμάτων, ἀκούσατε ὅτι τὸ ὑπερέχον καὶ τὸ ἐνδέον ὡς πρὸς ἀλήθειαν δικάζουσαν οὐκ ἐν σώματι κρίνεται· οὕτω γὰρ γρῦπες καὶ ἐλέφαντες ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔσονται κρείττους, καὶ γὰρ μείζους καὶ ἰσχυρότεροι καὶ πολυχρονιώτεροι οὗτοι· ἀλλʼ οὐδεὶς ἂν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων λέγοι κρείττονα εἶναι διὰ τὰ σώματα τάδε τὰ ἄλογα τῶν λογικῶν (πολὺ γὰρ εἰς ὑπεροχὴν ἀνάγει ὁ λόγος τὸ λογικὸν παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἄλογα) ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὰ σπουδαῖα καὶ μακάρια, εἴτε, ὡς ὑμεῖς φατε, οἱ ἀγαθοὶ δαίμονες εἴτε. ὡς ἡμῖν ἔθος ὀνομάζειν. οἱ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄγγελοι ἢ αἱ ὁποιαιδηποτοῦν ὑπερέχουσαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεις· ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς λογικὸν τετελείωται καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν πεποίωται. ### English translation (Claude) To this we ask those who accept what is said against us in this way, and we say: Do you consider all men a cluster of bats, or ants, or frogs, or worms, because of the greatness of God? Or do you not include other men in the image before us, but, because of their reason and the established laws, keep them as men, while you belittle Christians and Jews because of their doctrines that do not please you and compare them to these animals? Whichever of the two you give in answer to our question, we shall reply by trying to show that such things are not rightly said either about all men or about us. Suppose first that you say that all men, compared with God, are likened to these lowly animals, since their smallness is in no way comparable with God's greatness. What smallness, pray? Answer me, sirs. If that of their bodies, hear that superiority and inferiority, when truth is judge, are not decided by the body; for in that case griffins and elephants will be superior to us men, since they are larger, stronger, and longer-lived. But no one in his right mind would say that these irrational creatures are superior to rational ones because of their bodies (for reason raises the rational far above all irrational things); nor are the good and blessed beings superior because of their bodies, whether, as you say, the good daemons, or, as we are accustomed to call them, the angels of God, or whatever natures surpass men; but they are superior because the reason in them has been perfected and formed in every virtue. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/24/). ## Against Celsus 4.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/25/ - Source: Koetschau 1:294 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If wickedness makes one a worm, then wicked pagans, even famous orators, are as much worms as wicked Christians; but no rational being, bearing the seeds of virtue from God's Word, should be likened to such animals. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μικρότητα οὐ διὰ τὸ σῶμα ἐξευτελίζετε ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ψυχὴν, ὡς οὖσαν ὑποδεεστέραν τῶν λοιπῶν λογικῶν καὶ μάλιστα σπουδαίων καὶ διὰ τοῦθʼ ὑποδεεστέραν, ἐπείπερ ἡ κακία ἐστίν ἐν αὐτῇ, τί μᾶλλον οἱ ἐν Χριστιανοῖς φαῦλοι καὶ οἱ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις κακῶς βιοῦντες ὁρμαθός εἰσι νυκτερίδων ἢ μύρμηκες ἢ σκώληκες ἢ βάτραχοι, ἢ οἱ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι μοχθηροί; ὡς κατὰ τοῦτο πάνθʼ ὁντιναοῦν, μάλιστα κεχυμένῃ τῇ κακίᾳ χρώμενον, νυκτερίδα καὶ σκώληκα καὶ βάτραχον καὶ μύρμηκα εἶναι ὡς πρὸς τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀνθρώπους. κἂν Δημοσθένης τις οὖν ὁ ῥήτωρ ᾖ μετὰ τῆς παραπλησίας ἐκείνῳ κακίας καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ κακίας αὐτῷ πεπραγμένων, κἂν Ἀντιφῶν ἄλλος ῥήτωρ νομιζόμενος εἶναι, καὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἀναιρῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐπιγεγραμμένοις περὶ ἀληθείας παραπλησίως τῇ Κέλσου ἐπιγραφῇ· οὐδὲν ἧττόν εἰσιν οὗτοι σκώληκες ἐν βορβόρου γωνίᾳ τοῦ τῆς ἀμαθίας καὶ ἀγνοίας καλινδούμενοι. καίτοι γε ὁποῖον δὴ τὸ λογικὸν οὐκ ἂν εὐλόγως σκώληκι παραβάλλοιτο, ἀφορμὰς ἔχον πρὸς ἀρετήν. αὗται γὰρ αἱ πρὸς αὐτὴν ὑποτυπώσεις οὐκ ἐῶσι σκώληκι παραβάλλεσθαι τοὺς δυνάμει ἔχοντας τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὰ σπέρματα αὐτῆς πάντῃ ἀπολέσαι οὐ δυναμένους. οὐκοῦν ἀναφαίνεται ὅτι οὔθʼ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καθόλου σκώληκες ἂν εἶεν ὡς πρὸς θεόν· ὁ γὰρ λόγος τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχων ἀπὸ τοῦ παρὰ θεοῦ λόγου οὐκ ἐᾷ τὸ λογικὸν ζῷον πάντῃ ἀλλότριον νομισθῆναι θεοῦ· οὔτε μᾶλλον οἱ ἐν Χριστιανοῖς καὶ Ἰουδαίοις φαῦλοι. καὶ ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀληθὲς οὐ Χριστιανοὶ οὐδὲ Ἰουδαῖοι. τῶν λοιπῶν φαύλων παραβάλλοιντο ἐν γωνίᾳ βορβόρου καλινδουμένοις σκώληξιν. εἰ δʼ ἡ τοῦ λόγου φύσις οὐδὲ τοῦτο παραδέξασθαι ἐπιτρέπει, δηλονότι οὐχ ὑβρίσομεν τὴν πρὸς ἀρετὴν κατεσκευασμένην ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν, κἂν διʼ ἄγνοιαν ἐξαμαρτάνῃ. οὐδʼ ἐξομοιώσομεν αὐτὴν τοῖς τοιοῖσδε ζῴοις. ### English translation (Claude) But if you belittle the smallness of man not because of the body but because of the soul, as being inferior to the other rational beings, especially the good, and inferior for this reason, that wickedness is in it, why should the bad among Christians and those among the Jews who live badly be a cluster of bats or ants or worms or frogs, rather than the wicked among the other nations? In this sense everyone whatever who indulges in overflowing wickedness is a bat, a worm, a frog, and an ant compared with the rest of men. Even if someone is a Demosthenes the orator, with wickedness like his and the deeds he did from wickedness, or an Antiphon, another who was considered an orator, who abolished providence in his books entitled On Truth, like Celsus's title, these are no less worms rolling in a corner of the mud of stupidity and ignorance. And yet no rational being, of whatever kind, could reasonably be compared to a worm, since it has the starting points for virtue. For these rudiments of virtue do not allow those who have virtue potentially, and who can never wholly lose its seeds, to be compared to a worm. It appears, then, that neither men in general could be worms compared with God, for reason, which has its origin from the Word who is with God, does not allow the rational animal to be thought wholly alien from God; nor could the bad among Christians and Jews, who in truth are neither Christians nor Jews, be compared rather than the rest of the wicked to worms rolling in a corner of the mud. And if the nature of reason does not allow even this, clearly we shall not insult human nature, made for virtue, even if it sins through ignorance, nor liken it to such animals. ### Extrabiblical texts - Demosthenes (Demosthenes (orations)): allusion, low confidence - Antiphon, On Truth (Antiphon the Sophist): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Antiphon the sophist wrote On Truth; Celsus's work was titled The True Word (Ἀληθὴς λόγος). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/25/). ## Against Celsus 4.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/26/ - Source: Koetschau 1:294–296 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If anyone deserves to be called worms, it is idolaters and the sexually licentious, not Christians who rise from creation to the Creator, pray to him, endure death, and keep their bodies chaste as temples of God. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ διὰ τὰ μὴ ἀρέσκοντα Κέλσῳ Χριστιανῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων δόγματα. (ἃ) μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπίστασθαι φαίνεται. οὗτοι μὲν σκώληκες καὶ μύρμηκες οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ οὐ τοιοῦτοι. φέρε ἐξετάσωμεν καὶ τὰ αὐτόθεν πᾶσι προφαινόμενα δόγματα Χριστιανῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων τοῖς τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων, εἰ μὴ ἀναφανεῖται τοῖς ἅπαξ παραδεχομένοις εἶναί τινας ἀνθρώπους σκώληκας καὶ μύρμηκας ὅτι σκώληκες μὲν καὶ μύρμηκες καὶ βάτραχοι οἱ καταπεπτωκότες ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ θεοῦ ὑγιοῦς ὑπολήψεως φαντασίᾳ δʼ εὐσεβείας ἤτοι ἄλογα ζῷα ἢ ἀγάλματα σέβοντες ἢ καὶ τὰ δημιουργήματα, δέον ἐκ τοῦ κάλλους αὐτῶν θαυμάζειν τὸν πεποιηκότα κἀκεῖνον σέβειν, ἄνθρωποι δὲ καὶ εἴ τι ἀνθρώπων τιμιώτερον οἱ δυνηθέντες ἀναβῆναι ἀκολουθοῦντες τῷ λόγῳ ἀπὸ λίθων καὶ ξύλων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς νομιζομένης ὕλης εἶναι τιμιωτάτης ἀργύρου καὶ χρυσοῦ. ἀναβάντες δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ καλῶν ἐπὶ τὸν τὰ ὅλα ποιήσαντα καὶ ἐκείνῳ ἑαυτοὺς πιστεύσαντες καὶ ὡς μόνῳ διαρκεῖν δυναμένῳ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ὄντα καὶ ἐφορᾶν τοὺς πάντων λογισμοὺς καὶ ἀκούειν τῆς πάντων εὐχῆς τὰς εὐχὰς ἐκείνῳ ἀναπέμποντες καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ θεατοῦ αὐτοῦ τῶν γινομένων πάντα πράττοντες καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ ἀκροατοῦ τῶν λεγομένων φυλαττόμενοι λέγειν τὸ μὴ ἀρεσκόντως ἀπαγγελλόμενον τῷ θεῷ. εἰ μὴ ἄρα ἡ τηλικαύτη εὐσέβεια, οὔθʼ ὑπὸ πόνων οὔθʼ ὑπὸ κινδύνου θανάτου οὔθʼ ὑπὸ λογικῶν πιθανοτήτων νικωμένη. οὐδὲν βοηθεῖ τοῖς ἀνειληφόσιν αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸ μηκέτι αὐτοὺς παραβάλλεσθαι σκώληξιν, εἰ καὶ παρεβάλλοντο πρὸ τῆς τηλικαύτης εὐσεβείας· ἆρα δὲ οἱ νικῶντες τὴν δριμυτάτην πρὸς ἀφροδίσια ὄρεξιν, πολλῶν ποιήσασαν τοὺς θυμοὺς μαλθακοὺς καὶ κηρίνους, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο νικῶντες. ἐπείπερ ἐπείσθησαν μὴ ἄλλως οἰκειωθῆναι δύνασθαι τῷ θεῷ. ἐὰν μὴ καὶ διὰ σωφροσύνης ἀναβῶσι πρὸς αὐτὸν, σκωλήκων ἡμῖν δοκοῦσιν εἶναι ἀδελφοὶ καὶ μυρμήκων συγγενεῖς καὶ βατράχοις παραπλήσιοι; τί δὲ, τὸ λαμπρὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης. τηρούσης τὸ πρὸς τὸν πλησίον καὶ ὁμογενὲς κοινωνικὸν καὶ δίκαιον καὶ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ χρηστὸν, οὐδὲν ἀνύει πρὸς τὸ μὴ εἶναι νυκτερίδα τὸν τοιονδί; οἱ δὲ περὶ τὰς ἀκολασίας καλινδούμενοι, ὁποῖοί εἰσιν οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οἱ ταῖς χαμαιτύπαις ἀδιαφόρως προσιόντες διδάσκοντες δὲ καὶ μὴ πάντως παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον τοῦτο γίνεσθαι οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐν βορβόρῳ σκώληκες; καὶ μάλιστα συγκρινόμενοι τοῖς διδαχθεῖσι μὴ αἴρειν „τὰ μέλη τοῦ Χριστοῦ“ καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου οἰκούμενον σῶμα καὶ ποιεῖν αὐτὰ „πόρνης μέλη, “ μαθοῦσι δὲ ἤδη καὶ (ὅτι) τὸ τοῦ λογικοῦ καὶ τῷ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων ἀνακείμενον „σῶμα“ „ναός ἐστι“ τοῦ προσκυνουμένου ὑπʼ αὐτῶν θεοῦ, τοιοῦτον ἀπὸ τῆς καθαρᾶς περὶ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ἐννοίας γινόμενον· οἳ καὶ φυλαττόμενοι διὰ τῆς παρανόμου συνουσίας φθείρειν „τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ“ ὡς εἰς θεὸν εὐσέβειαν ἀσκοῦσι τὴν σωφροσύνην. ### English translation (Claude) But if, because of doctrines of Christians and Jews that do not please Celsus (which he seems not even to understand at all), these are worms and ants and the rest are not, come, let us compare the doctrines of Christians and Jews that are evident to all with those of the rest of mankind, and see whether it will not appear, to those who have once granted that some men are worms and ants, that the worms, ants, and frogs are those who have fallen from the sound conception of God and, in a semblance of piety, worship irrational animals, or statues, or even created things, when they ought to admire the Maker from their beauty and worship him; whereas men, and whatever is more honorable than men, are those who, following reason, have been able to ascend from stones and wood, and even from what is considered the most precious matter, silver and gold; and ascending also from the beautiful things in the world to the Maker of the universe, have entrusted themselves to him, and as to the one alone able to reach through all beings, to oversee the thoughts of all, and to hear the prayers of all, send up their prayers to him, and do everything as with him as spectator of what happens, and as with him as hearer of what is said, beware of saying anything that would be reported to God as displeasing. Unless, perhaps, such great piety, conquered neither by toils nor by danger of death nor by plausible arguments, does not help those who have taken it up so that they are no longer compared to worms, even if they were compared to them before such great piety! And do those who conquer the most violent desire for sexual pleasure, which has made the spirits of many soft and waxen, and who conquer it because they are persuaded that they cannot otherwise be brought near to God unless they ascend to him through chastity, seem to us brothers of worms, kinsmen of ants, and like frogs? And what of the splendor of justice, which keeps toward one's neighbor and kinsman what is sociable, just, humane, and kind: does it do nothing to keep such a man from being a bat? But are not those who wallow in licentiousness, as most men do, and who go indifferently to common prostitutes and teach that this is not altogether contrary to duty, worms in the mud? Especially when compared with those who have been taught not to take “the members of Christ” and the body inhabited by the Word and make them “members of a prostitute,” and who have already learned that the “body” of a rational being devoted to the God of the universe “is a temple” of the God they worship, becoming such from their pure conception of the Creator; and who, guarding against destroying “the temple of God” through unlawful intercourse, practice chastity as piety toward God. ### Scripture references - Rom 1:20: echo, medium confidence - 1 Cor 6:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:17: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 13:5 (Wisdom of Solomon): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 6:15, 6:19, and 3:17; the ascent from the beauty of creatures to their Maker recalls Wis 13:5 and Rom 1:20. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/26/). ## Against Celsus 4.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/27/ - Source: Koetschau 1:296 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: True Christians who share in the church's common prayers are free of the vices common elsewhere; only those who are pure in heart, gentle, peacemakers, and willing to suffer may say God has revealed all things to them. ### Greek text Καὶ οὔπω λέγω τὰ λοιπὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις κακὰ, ὧν οὐ ταχέως οὐδʼ οἱ φιλοσοφεῖν δοκοῦντες καθαρεύουσι (πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ οἱ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ νόθοι) οὐδέ φημι πω ὅτι πολλὰ μέν ἐστι τὰ τοιαῦτα παρὰ τοῖς μήτε Ἰουδαίοις μήτε Χριστιανοῖς· ἤτοι δὲ οὐδʼ ὅλως ὑπάρχει ἐν Χριστιανοῖς, εἰ κυρίως ἐξετάζοις, τίς ὁ Χριστιανὸς, ἢ εἰ καὶ εὑρεθείη, ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε ἐν τοῖς συνεδρεύουσι καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κοινὰς εὐχὰς ἐρχομένοις καὶ μὴ ἀποκλειομένοις ἀπʼ αὐτῶν· εἰ μὴ ἄρα τις σπανίως λανθάνων ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς εὑρίσκοιτο τοιοῦτος. οὐ σκώληκες οὖν ἐκκλησιάζοντές ἐσμεν οἱ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ἱστάμενοι ἀπὸ τῶν πεπιστευμένων αὐτοῖς εἶναι γραμμάτων ἱερῶν καὶ δεικνύντες τόν τε προφητευόμενον ἐπιδεδημηκέναι καὶ διὰ τὰ μέγιστα ἁμαρτήματα ἐκείνους ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι καὶ ἡμᾶς, τοὺς παραδεξαμένους τὸν λόγον, ἐλπίδας ἔχειν παρὰ θεῷ τὰς ἀρίστας ἔκ τε τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως καὶ τοῦ δυναμένου ἡμᾶς οἰκειῶσαι αὐτῷ καθαροὺς ἀπὸ πάσης πονηρίας καὶ κακίας βίου. οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὖν, εἴ τις Ἰουδαῖον ἑαυτὸν ἢ Χριστιανὸν ἀναγορεύει, οὗτος λέγοι ἂν ὅτι τὸν πάντα κόσμον καὶ τὴν οὐράνιον φορὰν ἡμῖν μάλιστα πεποίηκεν ὁ θεός. ἀλλʼ εἴ τις, ὡς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐδίδαξε, καθαρός ἐστι „τῇ καρδίᾳ“ καὶ πρᾷος καὶ εἰρηνοποιὸς καὶ προθύμως ὑπομένων τοὺς διὰ τὴν εὐσέβειαν κινδύνους, εὐλόγως ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος θαῤῥοίη τῷ θεῷ, συνιεὶς δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐν ταῖς προφητείαις λόγον φήσαι ἂν καὶ τό· πάντα ταῦτα ἡμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ὁ θεὸς προδεδήλωκε καὶ κατήγγειλεν. ### English translation (Claude) And I do not yet mention the other evils among men, from which not even those who seem to practice philosophy are quickly free (for many in philosophy too are bastards); nor do I say yet that many such things are found among those who are neither Jews nor Christians, but that they either do not exist at all among Christians, if you examine strictly who is a Christian, or, if they are found, at any rate not among those who meet together, come to the common prayers, and are not excluded from them, unless perhaps someone of that sort is found rarely, hidden among the many. We who hold assemblies are not worms, then, we who stand against the Jews on the basis of the writings they believe to be sacred and show both that the one prophesied has come and that they have been forsaken because of their very great sins, and that we who have accepted the word have the best hopes with God, from faith in him and from a life able to bring us near to him, pure from all wickedness and vice. It is not simply, then, if someone calls himself a Jew or a Christian, that he could say that God made the whole world and the heavenly motion especially for us. But if someone, as Jesus taught, is pure “in heart,” gentle, a peacemaker, and readily endures dangers for the sake of piety, such a one might reasonably have confidence toward God, and, understanding the word in the prophecies, might even say: “God has revealed and announced all these things beforehand to us who believe.” ### Scripture references - Matt 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:5: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 5:9: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 5:10: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is Matt 5:5, 8–10. Origen again argues from Jewish Scripture against Judaism; the polemic is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/27/). ## Against Celsus 4.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/28/ - Source: Koetschau 1:296–297 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not claim God cares for them alone: Scripture teaches that God loves all he made, shows mercy to all flesh, sends sun and rain on all, and that Christ died for the sins of the whole world. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ πεποίηκεν οὓς ἡγεῖται σκώληκας Χριστιανοὺς λέγοντας ὅτι τὴν οὐράνιον φορὰν ἀπολιπὼν ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὴν τοσαύτην γῆν παριδὼν ἡμῖν μόνοις πολιτεύεται καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπικηρυκεύεται καὶ πέμπων οὐ διαλείπει καὶ ζητῶν. ὅπως ἀεὶ συνῶμεν αὐτῷ, λεκτέον ὅτι τὰ μὴ λεγόμενα πρὸς ἡμῶν περιτίθησιν ἡμῖν, τοῖς καὶ ἀναγινώσκουσι καὶ γινώσκουσιν ὅτι ἀγαπᾷ πάντα τὰ ὄντα ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐδὲν βδελύσσεται ὧν ἐποίησεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν μισῶν τι κατεσκεύασεν. ἀνέγνωμεν δὲ καὶ τό· „φείδῃ δὲ πάντων, ὅτι σά ἐστι πάντα. φιλόψυχε. τὸ γὰρ ἄφθαρτόν (σου) πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσι· διὸ καὶ τοὺς παραπίπτοντας κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐλέγχεις. καὶ ἐν οἷς ἁμαρτάνουσιν ὑπομιμνήσκων νουθετεῖς.“ πῶς δὲ δυνάμεθα λέγειν τὴν οὐράνιον φορὰν καὶ τὸν πάντα κόσμον ἀπολιπόντα τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὴν τοσαύτην γῆν παριδόντα ἡμῖν μόνοις ἐμπολιτεύεσθαι; οἵτινες ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς εὕρομεν δεῖν τι λέγειν φρονοῦντας ὅτι „τοῦ ἐλέους κυρίου πλήρης ἡ γῆ, “ καὶ „ἔλεος κυρίου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα, “ καὶ ὅτι ἀγαθὸς ὢν ὁ θεὸς „ἀνατέλλει“ „τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους, “ καὶ ἡμᾶς, ἵνα γενώμεθα αὐτοῦ υἱοὶ, ἐπὶ τὰ παραπλήσια προτρέπων καὶ διδάσκων εἰς πάντας ἡμᾶς ἀνθρώπους κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐκτείνειν τὰς εὐποιΐας, καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς εἴρηται „σωτὴρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, μάλιστα πιστῶν, “ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς αὐτοῦ „ἱλασμὸς“ εἶναι „περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνων ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου, “ καὶ τάχα μὲν οὐ ταῦτα. ὅσα ἀνέγραψεν ὁ Κέλσος, ἄλλα δέ τινα ἰδιωτικὰ εἴποιεν ἂν Ἰουδαίων τινὲς, ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε καὶ Χριστιανοὶ, οἱ διδαχθέντες ὅτι „συνίστησι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς, ὅτι ἔτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄντων ἡμῶν Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανε.“ καίτοι γε „μόγις τις ὑπὲρ τοῦ δικαίου ἀποθανεῖται· ὑπὲρ γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τάχα τις καὶ τολμᾷ ἀποθανεῖν.“ νυνὶ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν πανταχοῦ ἁμαρτωλῶν. ἵνα καταλίπωσι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ πιστεύσωσι τῷ θεῷ ἑαυτοὺς, ἐπιδεδημηκέναι κεκήρυκται ὁ Ἰησοῦς, πατρίῳ τινὶ τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις συνηθείᾳ καὶ Χριστὸς εἶναι λεγόμενος τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) And since he has made the Christians, whom he regards as worms, say that “God, abandoning the heavenly motion and disregarding the vast earth, governs for us alone, and makes proclamations to us, and does not cease sending and seeking how we may be with him forever,” it must be said that he attributes to us what we do not say, we who read and know that God loves all things that exist and abhors nothing that he has made; for he would not have fashioned anything if he hated it. We have read too: “You spare all things, for they are yours, O lover of souls; for your incorruptible Spirit is in all things. Therefore you correct little by little those who fall, and admonish them by reminding them of the things in which they sin.” How can we say that God, abandoning the heavenly motion and the whole world and disregarding the vast earth, governs for us alone, we who have found that in our prayers we must say, with understanding, that “the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord,” and that “the mercy of the Lord is upon all flesh,” and that God, being good, “makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust,” urging us to similar things so that we may become his sons, and teaching us to extend our good deeds to all men as far as we can? For he himself is called “Savior of all men, especially of believers,” and his Christ is said to be “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Perhaps some of the Jews might say, not the things Celsus recorded, but some other unlearned things; but not the Christians, who have been taught that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” And yet “one will scarcely die for a righteous man; though perhaps for a good man someone might even dare to die.” But now Jesus, who by a custom traditional in these Scriptures is also called the Christ of God, is proclaimed to have come for sinners everywhere, so that they may leave sin and entrust themselves to God. ### Scripture references - Ps 33:5 (32:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:45: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 4:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:7: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:8: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:24–12.2 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Sir 18:13 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Wis 11:24 and 11:26–12:2, Ps 33:5 (32:5 LXX), Sir 18:13, Matt 5:45, 1 Tim 4:10, 1 John 2:2, and Rom 5:7–8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/28/). ## Against Celsus 4.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/29/ - Source: Koetschau 1:297–299 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians know that angels and heavenly powers surpass humans, though the righteous hope to become like angels and like God; if anyone says “after God come we,” it can only mean rational and virtuous beings. ### Greek text Τάχα δέ τινων παρήκουσεν ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι ὁ θεός ἐστιν, εἶτα μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἡμεῖς, οὓς ὠνόμασε σκώληκας. καὶ ὅμοιον ποιεῖ τοῖς ὅλῃ αἱρέσει φιλοσοφίας ἐγκαλοῦσι διά τινα λεγόμενα ὑπὸ προπετοῦς μειρακίου, τριῶν ἡμερῶν φοιτήσαντος εἰς φιλοσόφου καὶ ἐπαιρομένου κατὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ὡς ἐλαττόνων καὶ ἀφιλοσόφων. ἴσμεν γὰρ ὅτι πολλά ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου τιμιώτερα, καὶ ἀνέγνωμεν ὅτι „ὁ θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν, “ θεῶν δὲ οὐ τῶν προσκυνουμένων ὑπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν („πάντες γὰρ οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια“), καὶ ἀνέγνωμεν ὅτι „ὁ θεὸς“ στὰς „ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν ἐν μέσῳ θεοὺς διακρίνει“· οἴδαμεν δὲ καὶ ὅτι „εἴπερ εἰσὶ θεοὶ λεγόμενοι, εἴτʼ ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς, ὥσπερ εἰσὶ θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοὶ, ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτὸν, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς διʼ αὐτοῦ“· οἴδαμεν δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους οὕτως εἶναι ἀνθρώπων κρείττονας, ὥστε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τελειωθέντας ἰσαγγέλους γίνεσθαι· „ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν νεκρῶν οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτʼ ἐγγαμίζονται, ἀλλʼ εἰσὶν ὡς οἱ ἄγγελοι τῶν οὐρανῶν“ οἱ δίκαιοι καὶ γίνονται „ἰσάγγελοι“· οἴδαμεν δʼ ἐν τῇ διατάξει τῶν ὅλων εἶναί τινας τοὺς καλουμένους θρόνους καὶ ἄλλους κυριότητας καὶ ἄλλους ἐξουσίας καὶ ἄλλους ἀρχάς· καὶ ὁρῶμεν ὅτι πολὺ τούτων ἡμεῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἀπολειπόμενοι ἐλπίδας ἔχομεν ἐκ τοῦ καλῶς βιοῦν καὶ πάντα πράττειν κατὰ τὸν λόγον ἀναβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὴν τούτων πάντων ἐξομοίωσιν. καὶ τελευταῖον ἐπεὶ „μήπω ἐφανερώθη, τί ἐσόμεθα, οἴδαμεν ὅτι, ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ἐσόμεθα ὅμοιοι τῷ θεῷ καὶ ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν, καθώς ἐστιν.“ εἰ δέ τις τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπό τινων, εἴτε τῶν νοούντων εἴτε τῶν μὴ συνιέντων ἀλλὰ παρακουσάντων λόγου ὑγιοῦς, φάσκοι, ὅτι ὁ θεός ἐστιν, εἶτα μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἡμεῖς· καὶ τοῦτο γʼ ἂν ἑρμηνεύοιμι. τὸ ἡμεῖς λέγων ἀντὶ τοῦ οἱ λογικοὶ καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον οἱ σπουδαῖοι λογικοί· καθʼ ἡμᾶς γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ ἀρετή ἐστι τῶν μακαρίων πάντων, ὥστε καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ ἀρετὴ ἀνθρώπου καὶ θεοῦ. διόπερ γίνεσθαι „τέλειοι, ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστι.“ διδασκόμεθα. οὐδεὶς οὖν καλὸς καὶ ἀγαθὸς σκώληξ ἐστὶν ἐννηχόμενος βορβόρῳ καὶ οὐδεὶς εὐσεβὴς μύρμηξ καὶ οὐδεὶς δίκαιος βάτραχος, καὶ οὐδεὶς τῷ λαμπρῷ φωτὶ τῆς ἀληθείας καταυγαζόμενος τὴν ψυχὴν νυκτερίδι ἂν εὐλόγως παραβάλλοιτο. ### English translation (Claude) Perhaps Celsus misheard some who said, “There is God, and after him we,” the people he called worms. He does something like those who accuse a whole school of philosophy because of things said by a rash youth who has attended a philosopher's lectures for three days and is puffed up against the rest as inferior and unphilosophical. For we know that there are many things more honorable than man, and we have read that “God stood in the assembly of gods,” gods not those worshiped by the rest (“for all the gods of the nations are demons”); and we have read that “God,” standing “in the assembly of gods, judges gods in their midst.” We know also that “even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we through him.” We know too that the angels are so much superior to men that men, when perfected, become equal to angels; for “in the resurrection of the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but the righteous are like the angels in heaven” and become “equal to angels.” And we know that in the ordering of the universe there are some called thrones, others dominions, others authorities, and others principalities; and we see that we men, falling far short of these, have hopes, from living well and doing everything according to reason, of ascending to likeness with all of them. And finally, since “it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, we know that when it is revealed we shall be like God and shall see him as he is.” And if anyone should cite what is said by some, whether by those who understand or by those who do not understand but have misheard sound teaching, “There is God, and after him we,” I too might interpret it, taking “we” to mean rational beings, and still more the good among rational beings. For in our view the virtue of all the blessed is the same, so that the virtue of man and of God is the same. That is why we are taught to become “perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” No noble and good man, then, is a worm swimming in the mud; no pious man is an ant; no righteous man is a frog; and no one whose soul is illuminated by the bright light of truth could reasonably be compared to a bat. ### Scripture references - Ps 82:1 (81:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:30: quotation, high confidence - Luke 20:36: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 John 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:48: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 82:1 (81:1 LXX), Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX), 1 Cor 8:5–6, Matt 22:30 with Luke 20:35–36, Col 1:16, 1 John 3:2, and Matt 5:48. The claim that “the virtue of man and of God is the same” is a Stoic thesis Origen adopts. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/29/). ## Against Celsus 4.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/30/ - Source: Koetschau 1:299–300 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Humanity was made in God's image but not yet in his likeness, so Christians do not claim to be wholly like God; and Origen refuses to mock the philosophers as Celsus mocks Christians, while noting that they knew God yet fell into idolatry. ### Greek text Δοκεῖ δέ μοι παρακηκοέναι ὁ Κέλσος καὶ τοῦ „ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν“ καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι τοὺς σκώληκας λέγοντας ὅτι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγονότες πάντῃ ἐσμὲν αὐτῷ ὅμοιοι. εἰ μέντοι ἐγνώκει διαφορὰν τοῦ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ θεοῦ γεγονέναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον πρὸς τὸ „καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν.“ καὶ ὅτι ἀναγέγραπται εἰρηκέναι ὁ θεός· „ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν, “ ἐποίησε δʼ ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ θεοῦ ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ καὶ „καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν“ ἤδη· οὐκ ἂν ἐποίει ἡμᾶς λέγοντας ὅτι πάντῃ ὅμοιοί ἐσμεν τῷ θεῷ. οὐ λέγομεν δʼ ὅτι ὑποβέβληται ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ ἄστρα. ἐπεὶ ἡ τῶν δικαίων λεγομένη ἀνάστασις καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν σοφῶν νοουμένη παραβάλλεται ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις ὑπὸ τοῦ φάσκοντος· „ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης. καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων· ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ. οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν, “ καὶ τοῦ Δανιὴλ περὶ τούτων πάλαι προφητεύσαντος. φησὶ δʼ ἡμᾶς λέγειν ὅτι πάντα ἡμῖν δουλεύειν τέτακται. τάχα μὲν οὐκ ἀκούσας τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν συνετῶν τοιαῦτα λεγόντων τάχα δὲ καὶ μὴ ἐπιστάμενος, πῶς λέλεκται πάντων εἶναι δοῦλον τὸν ἐν ἡμῖν μείζονα. καὶ ἐὰν μὲν Ἕλληνες λέγωσιν· εἶθʼ ἥλιος μὲν νύξ τε δουλεύει βροτοῖς, ἐπαινέσαντες τὸ λεγόμενον καὶ διηγοῦνται αὐτό· ἐπὰν δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἢ μὴ λέγηται ἢ ἄλλως λέγηται, συκοφαντεῖ ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις. ἐλέγομεν δὲ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ἡμεῖς, οἱ κατʼ αὐτὸν σκώληκες, ὅτι ἐπεί τινες ἐν ἡμῖν πλημμελοῦσιν, ἀφίξεται πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἢ πέμψει τὸν υἱὸν ἑαυτοῦ, ἵνα καταφλέξῃ τοὺς ἀδίκους, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ βάτραχοι σὺν αὐτῷ βίον αἰώνιον ἔχωμεν. καὶ ὅρα πῶς ὡς βωμολόχος τὴν περὶ κρίσεως θείαν ἀπαγγελίαν καὶ περὶ κολάσεως μὲν τῆς „κατὰ τῶν ἀδίκων“ γέρως δὲ τοῦ εἰς τοὺς δικαίους εἰς χλεύην καὶ γέλωτα καὶ διασυρμὸν ἤνεγκεν ὁ σεμνὸς φιλόσοφος. καὶ ἐπιλέγει πᾶσι τούτοις ἀνεκτὰ εἶναι μᾶλλον ταῦτα ὑπὸ σκωλήκων καὶ βατράχων λεγόμενα ἢ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαφερομένων ἀπαγγελλόμενα. ἀλλʼ οὐ μιμησόμεθά γε αὐτὸν ἡμεῖς οὐδʼ ἐροῦμεν τὰ παραπλήσια περὶ τῶν τὴν τῶν ὅλων φύσιν ἐπαγγελλομένων εἰδέναι φιλοσόφων καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαλεγομένων περὶ τοῦ, τίνα τρόπον συνέστη τὰ ὅλα καὶ γέγονεν ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντα, καὶ ὡς αἱ ψυχαὶ ἤτοι ἀγέννητοι οὖσαι καὶ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ κτισθεῖσαι διακοσμοῦνται ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀμείβουσι σώματα, ἢ συσπαρεῖσαι τοῖς σώμασιν ἐπιδιαμένουσιν ἢ οὐκ ἐπιδιαμένουσιν. ἐδύνατο γάρ τις καὶ ταῦτα ἀντὶ τοῦ σεμνολογεῖν καὶ ἀποδέχεσθαι τὴν προαίρεσιν τῶν τῷ ἐξετάζειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἑαυτοὺς ἀνατεθεικότων χλευάζων καὶ κακολογῶν φάσκειν ὅτι σκώληκές εἰσιν οὗτοι ἐν γωνίᾳ τοῦ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βορβόρου ἑαυτοὺς μὴ μετροῦντες καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀποφαινόμενοι περὶ τῶν τηλικούτων ὡς κατειληφότες. καὶ ὅτι λέγουσι διατεινόμενοι ὡς τεθεωρηκότες περὶ πραγμάτων, τῶν μὴ δυναμένων χωρὶς ἐπιπνοίας κρείττονος καὶ θειοτέρας δυνάμεως θεωρηθῆναι. „οὐδεὶς γὰρ οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ· οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδεὶς ἔγνωκεν, εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ.“ ἀλλʼ οὐ μεμήναμεν οὐδὲ τὴν τηλικαύτην ἀνθρώπων σύνεσιν, κοινότερον δὲ λέγω σύνεσιν. ἀσχοληθεῖσαν οὐ περὶ τὰ τῶν πολλῶν ἀλλὰ περὶ τὴν ἐξέτασιν τῆς ἀληθείας, κινήμασι σκωλήκων ἢ ἄλλων τινῶν τοιούτων παραβάλλομεν· φιλαλήθως δὲ περί τινων μαρτυροῦμεν Ἑλλήνων φιλοσόφων ὅτι ἐπέγνωσαν τὸν θεὸν, ἐπεὶ „ὁ θεὸς αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσεν.“ εἰ καὶ μὴ „ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν ἀλλʼ ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, “ καὶ „φάσκοντες εἶναι σοφοὶ ἐμωράνθησαν καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πετεινῶν καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Celsus seems to me also to have misheard the words, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness,” and for this reason to have made the worms say that “having been made by God we are wholly like him.” If, however, he had known the difference between man's having been made “according to the image” of God and “according to the likeness,” and that God is recorded to have said, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness,” but that God made man “according to the image” of God and not yet also “according to the likeness,” he would not have made us say that we are wholly like God. Nor do we say that even the stars have been put under us; since the resurrection of the righteous, as it is called and as the wise understand it, is compared to the sun, moon, and stars by the one who says, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead,” and since Daniel prophesied about these things long ago. He says that we claim that “all things have been appointed to serve us,” perhaps not having heard the intelligent among us say such things, and perhaps not knowing in what sense it has been said that the greatest among us is the servant of all. And if the Greeks say, “Then sun and night serve mortals,” they praise the saying and explain it; but when such a thing is either not said or said in another sense, Celsus slanders us for this too. In Celsus's account we, whom he calls worms, said that “since some among us do wrong, God will come to us or will send his Son to burn up the unjust, and the rest of us frogs will have eternal life with him.” And see how, like a buffoon, the dignified philosopher has turned into mockery, laughter, and ridicule the divine announcement of judgment, of punishment “upon the unjust,” and of reward for the righteous. And he adds to all this that these things would be more tolerable said by worms and frogs than announced by Jews and Christians disputing with one another. But we shall not imitate him or say similar things about philosophers who profess to know the nature of the universe and debate with one another how the universe was put together, and how heaven and earth and all that is in them came to be, and how souls, being unbegotten and not created by God, are ordered by him and change bodies, or, sown together with bodies, survive or do not survive. For instead of speaking respectfully and approving the purpose of those who have devoted themselves to examining the truth, one could mock and revile these too, saying that they are worms in a corner of the mud of human life, not measuring themselves, and therefore pronouncing on such great matters as if they had grasped them, and insisting that they have contemplated things that cannot be contemplated without the inspiration of a higher and more divine power. “For no one among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him; so also no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God.” But we are not mad, nor do we compare such great understanding of men (I use “understanding” in a general sense), occupied not with the affairs of the many but with the examination of the truth, to the movements of worms or of any other such creatures. With love of truth we bear witness to certain Greek philosophers that they knew God, since “God made it plain to them,” even if “they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became futile in their thinking,” and “claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” ### Scripture references - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:27: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:41: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:3: allusion, high confidence - Mark 10:44: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:23: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Phoen. 546 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gen 1:26–27, 1 Cor 15:41–42, Dan 12:3 (allusion), Mark 10:44 (allusion), Euripides, Phoenician Women 546, 1 Cor 2:11, and Rom 1:19, 21–23. Origen distinguishes the “image” given at creation from the “likeness” to be attained by growth in virtue. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/30/). ## Against Celsus 4.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/31/ - Source: Koetschau 1:300–302 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's claim that the Jews were insignificant runaways, Origen praises ancient Israel as a shadow of heavenly life: worshiping one God, banning images, prostitutes, and effeminacy, with just judges and Sabbaths devoted to hearing God's law. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα βουλόμενος κατασκευάζειν ὅτι μηδὲν τῶν προειρημένων παρʼ αὐτῷ ζῴων διαφέρουσιν Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Χριστιανοί φησιν Ἰουδαίους ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου δραπέτας γεγονέναι, μηδὲν πώποτε ἀξιόλογον πράξαντας, οὔτʼ ἐν λόγῳ οὔτʼ ἐν ἀριθμῷ αὐτούς ποτε γεγενημένους. περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ μὴ δραπέτας αὐτοὺς γεγονέναι μηδʼ Αἰγυπτίους ἀλλʼ Ἑβραίους ὄντας παρῳκηκέναι ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἡμῖν λέλεκται· εἰ δὲ τὸ μήτʼ ἐν λόγῳ μήτʼ ἐν ἀριθμῷ αὐτοὺς γεγονέναι κατασκευάζεσθαι νομίζει ἐκ τοῦ μὴ πάνυ τι τὴν περὶ αὐτῶν ἱστορίαν εὑρίσκεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι, φήσομεν ὅτι εἴ τις ἐνατενίσαι τῇ ἀρχῆθεν αὐτῶν πολιτείᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν νόμων διατάξει, εὕροι ἂν ὅτι γεγόνασιν ἄνθρωποι σκιὰν οὐρανίου βίου παραδεικνύντες ἐπὶ γῆς· παρʼ οἷς οὐδὲν ἄλλο θεὸς νενόμιστο ἢ ὁ ἐπὶ πᾶσι, καὶ οὐδεὶς τῶν εἰκόνας ποιούντων ἐπολιτεύετο. οὔτε γὰρ ζωγράφος οὔτʼ ἀγαλματοποιὸς ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ αὐτῶν ἦν, ἐκβάλλοντος πάντας τοὺς τοιούτους ἀπʼ αὐτῆς τοῦ νόμου, ἵνα μηδεμία πρόφασις ᾖ τῆς τῶν ἀγαλμάτων κατασκευῆς, τοὺς ἀνοήτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπισπωμένης καὶ καθελκούσης ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς γῆν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς. ἦν οὖν παρʼ αὐτοῖς νόμος καὶ τοιοῦτος· „μὴ ἀνομήσητε καὶ ποιήσητε ὑμῖν ἑαυτοῖς γλυπτὸν ὁμοίωμα, πᾶσαν εἰκόνα ὁμοίωμα ἀρσενικοῦ ἢ θηλυκοῦ, ὁμοίωμα παντὸς κτήνους τῶν ὄντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὁμοίωμα παντὸς ὀρνέου πτερωτοῦ, ὃ πέταται ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν, ὁμοίωμα παντὸς ἑρπετοῦ, ὃ ἕρπει ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὁμοίωμα παντὸς ἰχθύος, ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς.“ καὶ ἐβούλετό γε ὁ νόμος τῇ περὶ ἑκάστου ἀληθείᾳ ὁμιλοῦντας αὐτοὺς μὴ ἀναπλάσσειν ἕτερα παρὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ψευδόμενα τὸ ἀληθῶς ἀρσενικὸν ἢ τὸ ὄντως θηλυκὸν ἢ τὴν κτηνῶν φύσιν ἢ τὸ ὀρνέων ἢ τὸ ἑρπετῶν γένος ἢ τὸ ἰχθύων. σεμνὸν δὲ καὶ μεγαλοφυὲς παρʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ „μὴ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πλανηθεὶς προσκυνήσῃς αὐτοῖς καὶ λατρεύσῃς αὐτοῖς.“ οἵα δὲ πολιτεία ἦν ὅλου ἔθνους, παρʼ ᾧ οὐδὲ φαίνεσθαι θηλυδρίαν οἷόν τʼ ἦν. θαυμαστὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ τὰ τῶν νέων ὑπεκκαύματα, τὰς ἑταίρας, ἀναιρεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς πολιτείας αὐτῶν. ἦν δὲ καὶ δικαστήρια τῶν δικαιοτάτων καὶ ἀπόδειξιν ὑγιοῦς βίου πολλῷ δεδωκότων χρόνῳ, πιστευομένων τὰς κρίσεις· οἵτινες διὰ τὸ καθαρὸν ἦθος καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐλέγοντο εἶναι θεοὶ πατρίῳ τινὶ Ἰουδαίων ἔθει. καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν ἔθνος ὅλον φιλοσοφοῦν, καὶ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀκούειν τῶν θείων νόμων σχολὴν τὰ καλούμενα σάββατα καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἱερέων καὶ θυσιῶν, μυρία σύμβολα περιεχουσῶν τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι σαφηνιζόμενα; ### English translation (Claude) After this, wanting to establish that Jews and Christians differ in no way from the animals mentioned before in his work, he says that “the Jews were runaways from Egypt, who never did anything worth mentioning and were never of any account or number.” That they were not runaways, nor Egyptians, but Hebrews who sojourned in Egypt, we have said above. And if he thinks that their having been of no account or number is established by the fact that their history is scarcely found among the Greeks, we shall say that if anyone looks closely at their way of life from the beginning and the arrangement of their laws, he would find that they were men who showed on earth a shadow of heavenly life. Among them nothing was held to be God except the One over all, and none of those who make images was a citizen. For there was neither painter nor sculptor in their commonwealth, since the law expelled all such from it, so that there might be no pretext for making statues, which attract foolish men and drag the eyes of the soul down from God to earth. They had, then, a law such as this: “Do not act lawlessly and make for yourselves a carved likeness, any image, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies under heaven, the likeness of any creeping thing that creeps on the earth, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters under the earth.” The law wanted them to deal with the truth of each thing and not to fashion other things contrary to the truth, falsifying what is truly male or really female, or the nature of beasts, or the race of birds or of creeping things or of fish. Dignified and lofty too among them was the command: “Do not, looking up to heaven and seeing the sun and the moon and the stars, all the array of heaven, be led astray and worship them and serve them.” And what a commonwealth there was for a whole nation, in which it was not even possible for an effeminate man to appear! Admirable too was the removal from their commonwealth of prostitutes, the kindlers of young men's passions. There were also courts of the most just men, who had given proof of a sound life over a long time and were entrusted with judgments, who, because of their pure character, surpassing the human, were called gods by an ancestral custom of the Jews. And one could see a whole nation practicing philosophy; and for the leisure to hear the divine laws there were the so-called Sabbaths and the other [festivals] among them. [And why speak of the orders] of priests and sacrifices, which contain countless symbols made clear to those who love learning? ### Scripture references - Deut 4:16: quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:18: quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:19: quotation, high confidence - Exod 22:28 (22:27 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Deut 23:17: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 4:16–18 and 4:19. The judges called “gods” allude to Exod 22:28 (22:27 LXX) and Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX). The banning of prostitutes recalls Deut 23:17. The digital text repeats οὔτʼ ἐν λόγῳ; the repetition is removed. At the end the Greek is defective after “the other” (αἱ λοιπαί); the words in square brackets supply the probable sense, as editors and translators do. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/31/). ## Against Celsus 4.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/32/ - Source: Koetschau 1:302–303 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Providence transferred the dignity of Israel's law to believers from all nations through Jesus, whose word prevailed despite demon-inspired persecution by rulers and peoples; Israel was protected while faithful and forsaken after killing Jesus. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν βέβαιον ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει, ἐχρῆν κἀκείνην τὴν πολιτείαν κατὰ βραχὺ καταφθειρομένην ἐκδιαιτηθῆναι. ἡ πρόνοια δὲ τὸ σεμνὸν τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν ἁρμοζόντως τοῖς πανταχοῦ κατὰ τὰ δεόμενα μεταποιήσεως μεταποιήσασα, ἀντʼ ἐκείνων τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν πανταχοῦ ἀνθρώπων πιστεύουσι παραδέδωκε τὴν σεμνὴν κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν θεοσέβειαν· ὅστις οὐ μόνον συνέσει ἀλλὰ καὶ θείᾳ μοίρᾳ κοσμηθεὶς καὶ καταβαλὼν τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς δαιμόνων λόγον, λιβανωτῷ καὶ αἵματι καὶ ταῖς ἀπὸ τῆς κνίσσης ἀναθυμιάσεσι χαιρόντων καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους κατασπώντων δίκην τῶν μυθευομένων Τιτάνων ἢ Γιγάντων ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ θεοῦ ἐννοίας, αὐτὸς οὐ φροντίσας τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς αὐτῶν, ἐπιβουλευόντων μάλιστα τοῖς βελτίοσιν, ἔθετο νόμους, καθʼ οὓς οἱ βιοῦντες μακάριοι ἔσονται, μηδαμῶς τοὺς δαίμονας διὰ τῶν θυσιῶν κολακεύοντες καὶ πάντῃ καταφρονοῦντες αὐτῶν διὰ τὸν βοηθοῦντα τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον τοῖς ἄνω καὶ πρὸς θεὸν βλέπουσι. καὶ ἐπεὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐβούλετο κρατῆσαι ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λόγον, οὐδὲν δεδύνηνται δαίμονες. καίτοι γε πάντα κάλων κινήσαντες, ἵνα μὴ Χριστιανοὶ μηκέτʼ ὦσι· τούς τε γὰρ βασιλεύοντας καὶ τὴν σύγκλητον βουλὴν καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας πανταχοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς δήμους αὐτοὺς. οὐκ αἰσθανομένους τῆς ἀλόγου καὶ πονηρᾶς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνεργείας, ἐξετάραξαν κατὰ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς αὐτόν· ἀλλʼ ὁ πάντων δυνατώτερος τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, καὶ κωλυόμενος ὡσπερεὶ τροφὴν πρὸς τὸ αὔξειν τὸ κωλύεσθαι λαμβάνων, προβαίνων πλείονας ἐνέμετο ψυχάς· θεὸς γὰρ τοῦτʼ ἐβούλετο. ταῦτα δʼ ἡμῖν εἰ καὶ ἐν παρεκβάσει λέλεκται. ἀλλὰ ἀναγκαίως οἶμαι. ἐβουλόμεθα γὰρ ἀπαντῆσαι πρὸς τὸ περὶ Ἰουδαίων ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου λεγόμενον, ὅτι δὴ ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου δραπέται γεγόνασι, καὶ ὅτι μηδὲν πώποτʼ ἀξιόλογον οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ θεοφιλεῖς ἔπραξαν. ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ οὔτʼ ἐν λόγῳ οὔτʼ ἐν ἀριθμῷ γεγόνασί φαμεν ὅτι ὡς „γένος ἐκλεκτὸν“ καὶ „βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα“ ἀναχωροῦντες καὶ ἐκκλίνοντες τὴν πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπιμιξίαν, ἵνα μὴ διαφθαρεῖεν τὰ ἤθη, ἐφρουροῦντο ὑπὸ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως· οὔτʼ ἐπιθυμοῦντες, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, προσλαβεῖν ἑαυτοῖς ἄλλας βασιλείας οὔτε καταλειπόμενοι, ὡς διὰ τὴν ὀλιγότητα εὐεπιβουλεύτους αὐτοὺς γενέσθαι καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ ὀλιγότητι ἄρδην ἀπολέσθαι. καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐγίνετο, ὅσον ἔτι ἦσαν ἄξιοι τῆς ἀπὸ θεοῦ φρουρᾶς· ὅτε δʼ ἐχρῆν αὐτοὺς ὡς ὅλον ἔθνος ἁμαρτάνον διὰ πόνων ἐπιστρέφεσθαι πρὸς τὸν θεὸν αὐτῶν, ὁτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ πλεῖον ὁτὲ δʼ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον ἐγκατελείποντο, ἕως ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίων τὴν μεγίστην ποιήσαντες ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῷ ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν τέλεον ἐγκατελείφθησαν. ### English translation (Claude) But since nothing is stable in human nature, that commonwealth too, gradually corrupted, had to be changed. And providence, having transformed the dignity of their teaching where it needed transformation to suit people everywhere, has handed over, in place of them, to those from all nations who believe, the dignified worship of God according to Jesus. He, adorned not only with understanding but also with a divine portion, and having overthrown the doctrine concerning the daemons on earth, who delight in frankincense and blood and the steam of burnt fat, and drag men down from the conception of God like the Titans or Giants of myth, himself heedless of their plotting, which is aimed especially at the better people, laid down laws by which those who live will be blessed, in no way flattering the daemons with sacrifices, but wholly despising them through the Word of God, who helps those who look up to God. And since God willed that the word of Jesus should prevail among men, the daemons have been able to do nothing, though they moved every rope so that Christians might no longer exist; for they stirred up kings, the senate, rulers everywhere, and even the peoples themselves, who did not perceive the irrational and wicked working of the daemons, against the word and those who believe in it. But the Word of God, more powerful than all, taking hindrance as it were for food for its growth, advanced and won more souls; for God willed this. We have said these things, though in a digression, necessarily, I think; for we wanted to answer what Celsus says about the Jews, that they were runaways from Egypt, and that these men beloved of God never did anything worth mentioning. And to the claim that “they were never of any account or number,” we say that as “a chosen race” and “a royal priesthood,” withdrawing and avoiding mixing with the many so that their character might not be corrupted, they were guarded by the divine power; neither desiring, as most men do, to gain other kingdoms for themselves, nor abandoned so that, because of their small numbers, they became easy to attack and, as far as their small numbers went, were utterly destroyed. And this happened as long as they were worthy of God's protection. But when they had to be turned back to their God through sufferings, as a whole nation that was sinning, they were forsaken, sometimes more and sometimes less, until, under the Romans, having committed the greatest sin in killing Jesus, they were forsaken completely. ### Scripture references - 1 Pet 2:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Pet 2:9 (Exod 19:6). The final claim reflects the anti-Jewish polemic of early Christian apologetic; it is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/32/). ## Against Celsus 4.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/33/ - Source: Koetschau 1:303–304 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus obscurely mocks the Jews' descent from “sorcerers”; Origen notes that the patriarchs' names, in the formula “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” are used even by pagan magicians against demons, showing their holiness. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος ἐπιτρέχων τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης βίβλου Μωϋσέως. ἥτις ἐπιγέγραπται Γένεσις, φησὶν ὡς ἄρα ἐπεχείρησαν γενεαλογεῖν αὑτοὺς ἀπὸ πρώτης σπορᾶς γοήτων καὶ πλάνων ἀνθρώπων, ἀμυδρὰς καὶ ἀμφιβόλους φωνὰς ἐν σκότῳ που κρυφίους ἐπιμαρτυρόμενοι καὶ τοῖς ἀμαθέσι καὶ ἀνοήτοις παρεξηγούμενοι, καὶ ταῦτα μηδὲ πώποτʼ ἐν πολλῷ τῷ πρόσθεν χρόνῳ τοῦ τοιοῦδε μηδʼ ἀμφισβητηθέντος. πάνυ δʼ ἀσαφῶς ἐν τούτοις δοκεῖ μοι εἰρηκέναι ὅπερ ἐβούλετο. εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ τὴν κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἀσάφειαν ἐπιτετηδευκέναι αὐτὸν, ἐπείπερ ἑώρα ἰσχυρὸν τὸν λόγον τὸν κατασκευάζοντα ἀπὸ τοιωνδὶ προγόνων εἶναι τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος· πάλιν τʼ αὖ ἐβουλήθη μὴ δοκεῖν ἀγνοεῖν πρᾶγμα περὶ Ἰουδαίων καὶ τοῦ γένους αὐτῶν οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητον. σαφὲς δὴ ὅτι καὶ γενεαλογοῦνται Ἰουδαῖοι ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν πατέρων τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ τοῦ Ἰακώβ· ὧν τοσοῦτον δύναται τὰ ὀνόματα συναπτόμενα τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ προσηγορίᾳ, ὡς οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔθνους χρῆσθαι ἐν ταῖς πρὸς θεὸν εὐχαῖς καὶ ἐν τῷ κατεπᾴδειν δαίμονας τῷ ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακὼβ ἀλλὰ γὰρ σχεδὸν καὶ πάντας τοὺς τὰ τῶν ἐπῳδῶν καὶ μαγειῶν πραγματευομένους. εὑρίσκεται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς μαγικοῖς συγγράμμασι πολλαχοῦ ἡ τοιαύτη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπίκλησις καὶ παράληψις τοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ὀνόματος ὡς οἰκείου τοῖς ἀνδράσι τούτοις εἰς τὰ κατὰ τῶν δαιμόνων. ταῦτʼ οὖν δοκεῖ μοι, ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν προσαγόμενα εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ ἱερούς τινας ἄνδρας γεγονέναι τὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ καὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ, τοὺς πατέρας τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους. μὴ πάντῃ μὲν ἠγνοηκέναι ὁ Κέλσος οὐ μὴν σαφῶς ἐκτεθεῖσθαι, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐδύνατο ἀπαντῆσαι πρὸς τὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) Next after this Celsus, running over what is in the first book of Moses, which is entitled Genesis, says that “they tried to trace their genealogy from the first seed of sorcerers and deceivers, calling to witness dim and ambiguous words hidden somewhere in darkness, and misinterpreting them to the ignorant and foolish; and this though in all the long time before no one had ever even disputed such a thing.” In these words he seems to me to have expressed very unclearly what he meant. It is likely that he deliberately made this passage unclear, since he saw the strength of the argument that the Jewish nation descends from such ancestors; and again he did not want to seem ignorant of something about the Jews and their race that is not to be despised. It is clear that the Jews trace their genealogy from the three fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; whose names, joined to the title of God, have such power that the formula “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” is used not only by those of that nation in their prayers to God and in exorcising daemons, but by almost all who practice incantations and magic. For such an invocation of God, and use of the name of God as belonging to these men, is found in many places in magical writings for use against daemons. These things, then, which are brought forward by Jews and Christians to prove that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of the Jewish nation, were holy men, Celsus seems to me not to have been wholly ignorant of, yet not to have set out clearly, since he could not answer the argument. ### Scripture references - Exod 3:6: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The formula is from Exod 3:6. On the power of divine names in exorcism see also Origen's discussion in Book 1. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/33/). ## Against Celsus 4.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/34/ - Source: Koetschau 1:304–305 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The power of the patriarchs' names in exorcism can only be explained from Genesis, and their Hebrew names prove that the Jewish nation truly descends from them. ### Greek text Πυνθανόμεθα γὰρ ἁπάντων τῶν χρωμένων ταῖς τοιαύταις τοῦ θεοῦ κατακλήσεσιν· εἴπατε ἡμῖν, ὦ οὗτοι, τίς ὁ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ πηλίκος ὁ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ποίας δυνάμεως γέγονεν ὁ Ἰακὼβ, ὡς τὴν θεὸς προσηγορίαν ἁρμοζομένην αὐτῶν τῷ ὀνόματι τηλικάσδε ποιεῖν δυνάμεις; καὶ παρὰ τίνων μεμαθήκατε ἢ δύνασθε μαθεῖν τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων; τίς δὲ καὶ ἐπραγματεύσατο ἀναγράψαι τὴν περὶ αὐτοὺς ἱστορίαν, εἴτε καὶ αὐτόθεν σεμνύνουσαν ἐν ἀποῤῥήτοις τοὺς ἄνδρας εἴτε καὶ διʼ ὑπονοιῶν αἰνισσομένην τινὰ μεγάλα καὶ θαυμάσια τοῖς θεωρῆσαι αὐτὰ δυναμένοις; εἶτʼ ἐπὰν πυθομένων ἡμῶν μηδεὶς ἔχῃ παραστῆσαι ἀφʼ οἵας δή ποτε ἱστορίας, εἴτε Ἑλληνικῆς εἴτε καὶ βαρβαρικῆς ἢ οὐχ ἱστορίας ἀλλά τινος μυστικῆς ἀναγραφῆς τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων· ἡμεῖς προσοίσομεν τὴν ἐπιγεγραμμένην Γένεσιν, περιέχουσαν τὰς πράξεις τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων καὶ τοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ χρησμοὺς πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἐροῦμέν τε ὅτι μή ποτε τὸ καὶ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν παραλαμβάνεσθαι τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν τριῶν τούτων γεναρχῶν τοῦ ἔθνους, τῇ ἐναργείᾳ καταλαμβανόντων οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητα ἀνύεσθαι ἐκ τῆς κατεπικλήσεως αὐτῶν, παρίστησι τὸ θεῖον τῶν ἀνδρῶν; οὓς οὐδαμόθεν ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις βιβλίων παραλαμβάνομεν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ὁ θεὸς τῶν Ἑβραίων καὶ ὁ θεὸς ὁ καταποντώσας ἐν τῇ ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ τὸν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους πολλάκις ὀνομάζεται παραλαμβανόμενος κατὰ δαιμόνων ἤ τινων πονηρῶν δυνάμεων. μανθάνομεν δὲ τὴν περὶ τὰ ὀνομαζόμενα ἱστορίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἑρμηνείαν ἀπὸ Ἑβραίων, τῶν τοῖς πατρίοις γράμμασι καὶ τῇ πατρίῳ διαλέκτῳ ταῦτα σεμνυνόντων καὶ διηγουμένων· πῶς οὖν Ἰουδαῖοι ταῦτʼ ἐπιχειρήσαντες ἑαυτοὺς γενεαλογεῖν ἀπὸ πρώτης σπορᾶς τούτων, οὓς γόητας καὶ πλανήτας ἀνθρώπους ὑπείληφεν εἶναι ὁ Κέλσος, ἀναισχύντως ἐπιχειροῦσιν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὑτῶν ἐπὶ τούτους ἀνάγειν, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα Ἑβραϊκὰ τυγχάνοντα μαρτυρεῖ Ἑβραίοις, τὰ ἱερὰ αὐτῶν βιβλία ἐν Ἑβραίων ἔχουσι διαλέκτῳ καὶ γράμμασιν. ὅτι οἰκεῖόν ἐστι τὸ ἔθνος αὐτῶν τοῖς ἀνδράσι τούτοις; καὶ γὰρ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ ὀνόματα, τῆς Ἑβραίων ἐχόμενα διαλέκτου. ἤτοι ἀπὸ τῶν γραμμάτων αὐτῶν ἐλήφθη ἢ καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀπὸ τῶν σημαινομένων ὑπὸ τῆς Ἑβραίων φωνῆς. ### English translation (Claude) For we ask all who use such invocations of God: Tell us, sirs, who was Abraham, how great was Isaac, and of what power was Jacob, that the title “God,” joined to their name, can work such wonders? And from whom have you learned, or can you learn, about these men? Who troubled to record their history, whether one that openly exalts the men in secret writings, or one that hints through hidden meanings at great and marvelous things for those able to contemplate them? Then, when we ask and no one can show from what history, Greek or barbarian, or, if not history, some mystical record, the facts about these men come, we shall bring forward the book entitled Genesis, which contains the deeds of these men and God's oracles to them, and we shall say: Does not the fact that you too use the names of these three founders of the nation, since you perceive by experience that no small effects are produced by invoking them, show the divine character of these men? And we know them from nowhere else than from the sacred books of the Jews. Moreover, “the God of Israel,” “the God of the Hebrews,” and “the God who drowned the king of the Egyptians and the Egyptians in the Red Sea” are often named and used against daemons or certain evil powers. And we learn the history of those named and the interpretation of the names from the Hebrews, who glorify and relate these things in their ancestral writings and their ancestral language. How then do the Jews, trying to trace their genealogy from the first seed of these men whom Celsus supposed to be sorcerers and deceivers, shamelessly try to trace themselves and their origin back to men whose names, being Hebrew, bear witness to the Hebrews, who have their sacred books in the Hebrew language and letters, that their nation is related to these men? For even to this day Jewish names, belonging to the Hebrew language, were taken either from their writings or simply from what the Hebrew language signifies. ### Scripture references - Exod 5:3: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 14:27: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The God of the Hebrews” is Exod 5:3; the drowning in the Red Sea is Exod 14:27–28. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/34/). ## Against Celsus 4.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/35/ - Source: Koetschau 1:305–306 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus should have argued properly against the Jewish genealogy instead of hinting; no one can prove the patriarchs contemptible or claim their Hebrew names for another people. ### Greek text Καὶ ὅρα ὁ ἐντυγχάνων τῇ Κέλσου γραφῇ εἰ μὴ ταῦτʼ αἰνίττεται τὸ καὶ ἐπεχείρησαν γενεαλογῆσαι αὑτοὺς ἀπὸ πρώτης σπορᾶς γοήτων καὶ πλάνων ἀνθρώπων, ἀμυδρὰς καὶ ἀμφιβόλους φωνὰς ἐν σκότῳ που κρυφίους ἐπιμαρτυρόμενοι. κρύφια γὰρ καὶ οὐκ ἐν φωτὶ καὶ γνώσει πολλῶν ἐστι τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα. καθʼ ἡμᾶς μὲν οὐκ ἀμφίβολα. κἂν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς ἡμετέρας θεοσεβείας παραλαμβάνηται· κατὰ δὲ Κέλσον, οὐ παριστάντα τὸ τῶν φωνῶν ἀμφίβολον, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως παρέῤῥιπται. καίτοι γε ἐχρῆν αὐτὸν, εἴπερ εὐγνωμόνως ἀνατρέπειν ἐβούλετο ἣν ᾠήθη ἀναισχυντότατα παρειλῆφθαι γενεαλογίαν Ἰουδαίοις αὐχοῦσι τὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τοὺς ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, ὅλα ἐκθέσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον καὶ πρότερον συναγορεῦσαι ᾗ ἐνόμιζε πιθανότητι καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο γενναίως ἀνατρέψαι τῇ φαινομένῃ αὐτῷ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ τοῖς ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς λογίοις τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον. ἀλλʼ οὔτε Κέλσος οὔτʼ ἄλλος τις δυνήσεται τὰ περὶ φύσεως ὀνομάτων εἰς δυνάμεις παραλαμβανομένων διαλαμβάνων τὸν ἀκριβῆ περὶ τούτων παραστῆσαι λόγον καὶ ἐλέγξαι, ὡς εὐκαταφρόνητοι γεγόνασιν ἄνθρωποι, ὧν καὶ αἱ ὀνομασίαι μόνον οὐ παρὰ τοῖς οἰκείοις μόνοις ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις δύνανται. ἔδει δʼ αὐτὸν παραθέσθαι, πῶς ἡμεῖς μὲν τοῖς ἀμαθέσι καὶ ἀνοήτοις παρεξηγούμενοι τὰ περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων ἀπατῶμεν, ὡς οἴεται, τοὺς ἀκούοντας, αὐτὸς δὲ, ὁ αὐχῶν εἶναι μὴ ἀμαθὴς μηδὲ ἀνόητος, τὴν ἀληθῆ λέγει περὶ τούτων ἑρμηνείαν. παρέῤῥιψε δʼ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα, ἀφʼ ὧν γενεαλογοῦνται Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι οὐδὲ πώποτʼ ἐν πολλῷ τῷ πρόσθεν χρόνῳ ἀμφισβήτησις γεγένηται περὶ τῶν τοιῶνδε ὀνομάτων, ἀλλὰ νῦν Ἰουδαῖοι πρὸς ἑτέρους τινὰς, οὓς οὐκ ὠνόμασε, περὶ τούτων ἀμφισβητοῦσι. δεικνύτω γὰρ ὁ βουλόμενος, τίνες οἱ ἐπιδικαζόμενοι καὶ κἂν πιθανότητι χρώμενοι κατὰ Ἰουδαίων πρὸς τὸ μὴ ὑγιῶς μὲν Ἰουδαίους καὶ Χριστιανοὺς τὰ περὶ τούτων ἀπαγγέλλειν, καθʼ ὧν κεῖται τὰ ὀνόματα, ἑτέρους δʼ εἶναι τοὺς (τὰ) σοφώτατα καὶ τὰ ἀληθέστατα περὶ τούτων διειληφότας. ἀλλὰ πεπείσμεθα ὅτι οὐ δυνήσονται τὸ τοιοῦτον ποιῆσαί τινες, ἐναργοῦς ὄντος τοῦ τὰ ὀνόματα ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑβραίων εἰλῆφθαι διαλέκτου, παρὰ μόνοις Ἰουδαίοις εὑρισκομένης. ### English translation (Claude) And let the reader of Celsus's book see whether he is not hinting at these things in the words, “They tried to trace their genealogy from the first seed of sorcerers and deceivers, calling to witness dim and ambiguous words hidden somewhere in darkness.” For these names are hidden, and not in the light and knowledge of many. In our view they are not ambiguous, even if they are used by those alien to our worship; but in Celsus's view, though he does not show the ambiguity of the words, they have somehow been tossed aside. And yet, if he wanted fairly to overturn the genealogy which he thought the Jews had most shamelessly adopted in boasting of Abraham and his descendants, he should have set out the whole passage, first argued for it with whatever plausibility he thought it had, and after that nobly overturned it with what seemed to him the truth and the arguments for it. But neither Celsus nor anyone else, discussing the nature of names used for works of power, will be able to present an accurate account of them and to prove that men whose very names have power not only among their own people but also among foreigners were contemptible. He should have shown how we deceive our hearers, as he thinks, by misinterpreting to the ignorant and foolish the facts about these names, while he himself, who boasts that he is neither ignorant nor foolish, gives the true interpretation of them. He also tossed out, concerning these names from which the Jews trace their genealogy, that “in all the long time before, no dispute had ever arisen” about such names, but that now the Jews dispute about them with certain others whom he did not name. Let whoever wishes show who these are who lay claim to them and use even plausible arguments against the Jews to show that the Jews and Christians do not report soundly about those to whom the names belong, and that others are the ones who have understood the wisest and truest things about them. But we are persuaded that no one can do such a thing, since it is evident that the names are taken from the Hebrew language, which is found among the Jews alone. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/35/). ## Against Celsus 4.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/36/ - Source: Koetschau 1:306–307 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus ridicules Genesis's creation of man and woman as tasteless compared with Hesiod, but Moses is far older than Hesiod, and even Plato banished such poets from his ideal state. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος ἐκτιθέμενος τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ἔξω τοῦ θείου λόγου ἱστορίας, τὰ περὶ τῶν ἐπιδικασαμένων ἀνθρώπων τῆς ἀρχαιότητος, οἷον Ἀθηναίων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἀρκάδων καὶ Φρυγῶν, καὶ γηγενεῖς τινας παρὰ σφίσιν γεγονέναι λεγόντων καὶ τεκμήρια τούτων παρεχομένων ἑκάστων, φησὶν ὡς ἄρα Ἰουδαῖοι ἐν γωνίᾳ που τῆς Παλαιστίνης συγκύψαντες, παντελῶς ἀπαίδευτοι καὶ οὐ προακηκοότες πάλαι ταῦτα Ἡσιόδῳ καὶ ἄλλοις μυρίοις ἀνδράσιν ἐνθέοις ὑμνημένα, συνέθεσαν ἀπιθανώτατα καὶ ἀμουσότατα, ἄνθρωπόν τινα ὑπὸ χειρῶν θεοῦ πλασσόμενόν τε καὶ ἐμφυσώμενον καὶ γύναιον ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς καὶ παραγγέλματα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὄφιν τούτοις ἀντιπράσσοντα καὶ περιγινόμενον τῶν θεοῦ προσταγμάτων τὸν ὄφιν, μῦθόν τινα ὡς γραυσὶ διηγούμενοι καὶ ποιοῦντες ἀνοσιώτατα τὸν θεὸν, εὐθὺς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἀσθενοῦντα καὶ μηδʼ ἕνʼ ἄνθρωπον, ὃν αὐτὸς ἔπλασε, πεῖσαι δυνάμενον. διὰ τούτων δὴ ὁ πολυΐστωρ καὶ πολυμαθὴς καὶ Ἰουδαίοις καὶ Χριστιανοῖς ἀμαθίαν ἐγκαλῶν καὶ ἀπαιδευσίαν Κέλσος σαφῶς παρίστησι, τίνα τρόπον ἀκριβῶς ᾔδει τοὺς ἑκάστου συγγραφέως χρόνους, Ἕλληνος καὶ βαρβάρου· ὅς γε οἴεται Ἡσίοδον καὶ ἄλλους μυρίους. οὓς ὀνομάζει ἄνδρας ἐνθέους. πρεσβυτέρους εἶναι Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν τούτου γραμμάτων. Μωϋσέως, τοῦ ἀποδεικνυμένου πολλῷ τῶν Ἰλιακῶν πρεσβυτέρου. οὐκ Ἰουδαῖοι οὖν συνέθεσαν ἀπιθανώτατα καὶ ἀμουσότατα τὰ περὶ τὸν γηγενῆ ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλʼ οἱ κατὰ Κέλσον ἄνδρες ἔνθεοι, Ἡσίοδος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι αὐτοῦ μυρίοι, τοὺς πολλῷ πρεσβυτέρους καὶ σεμνοτάτους ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ λόγους μήτε μαθόντες μήτʼ ἀκηκοότες. τοιαύτας ἔγραψαν ἱστορίας περὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων. ὁποίας καὶ θεογονίας. γένεσιν τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς περιτιθέντες θεοῖς. καὶ ἄλλα μυρία. εὐλόγως (οὖν) ἐκβάλλει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ πολιτείας Πλάτων ὡς ἐπιτρίβοντας τοὺς νέους τὸν Ὅμηρον καὶ τοὺς τοιαῦτα γράφοντας ποιήματα. ἀλλὰ Πλάτων μὲν δῆλός ἐστι μὴ φρονήσας ἐνθέους γεγονέναι ἄνδρας τοὺς τοιαῦτα ποιήματα καταλελοιπότας· ὁ δὲ κρίνειν μᾶλλον Πλάτωνος δυνάμενος, ὁ Ἐπικούρειος Κέλσος. εἴ γε οὗτός ἐστι καὶ ὁ κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἄλλα δύο βιβλία συντάξας, τάχα ἡμῖν φιλονεικῶν οὓς μὴ ἐφρόνει ἐνθέους ἐνθέους ὠνόμασεν. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus, setting out from history outside the divine word the claims of men who laid claim to antiquity, such as the Athenians, Egyptians, Arcadians, and Phrygians, who say that some among them were born from the earth and each offer proofs of this, says that “the Jews, huddled together in some corner of Palestine, utterly uneducated and not having heard long before what had been sung by Hesiod and countless other inspired men, composed a most implausible and tasteless story: that a man was formed by the hands of God and breathed into, and a woman from his side, and commands of God, and a serpent opposing them and prevailing over God's commands; telling a myth as if to old women, and most impiously making God weak from the very beginning and unable to persuade even one man whom he himself had formed.” By these words the widely read and learned Celsus, who accuses both Jews and Christians of ignorance and lack of education, clearly shows how accurately he knew the dates of each writer, Greek and barbarian, since he thinks that Hesiod and countless others, whom he calls inspired men, are older than Moses and his writings, Moses, who is shown to be much older than the Trojan War! It was not the Jews, then, who composed a most implausible and tasteless story about the earth-born man, but the men whom Celsus calls inspired, Hesiod and his countless others, who, neither learning nor hearing the much older and most dignified words in Palestine, wrote such stories about the ancients as their theogonies, attributing birth, as far as they could, to gods, and countless other things. Reasonably, then, Plato expels from his republic Homer and those who write such poems, as corrupting the young. But Plato clearly did not think the men who left such poems were inspired; whereas Celsus the Epicurean, who can judge better than Plato, if indeed he is also the one who composed two other books against the Christians, perhaps from contentiousness against us called inspired those whom he did not think inspired. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:7: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:21: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:1: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 398a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence - Hesiod, Theog. (Hesiod, Theogony): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 2:7, 2:21–22, and 3:1–6; Plato expels the poets in Republic 398a (and 377c–379a). Origen suspects that his opponent may be a different Celsus, an Epicurean who wrote other works against Christians. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/36/). ## Against Celsus 4.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/37/ - Source: Koetschau 1:307–308 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Genesis never speaks of God's “hands” in creating man; such expressions, like God's wings, are figurative, and God's “breathing” into Adam means sharing his incorruptible Spirit. ### Greek text Ἐγκαλεῖ δʼ ἡμῖν ὡς ὑπὸ χειρῶν θεοῦ πλασθέντα εἰσαγαγοῦσιν ἄνθρωπον. τοῦ μὲν τῆς Γενέσεως βιβλίου οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τῆς ποιήσεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τῆς πλάσεως χεῖρας παραλαβόντος θεοῦ. τοῦ δὲ Ἰὼβ καὶ τοῦ Δαυὶδ εἰπόντων τό· „αἱ χεῖρές σου ἐποίησάν με καὶ ἔπλασάν με, “ περὶ ὧν „πολὺς“ „ὁ λόγος“ εἰς τὸ παραστῆσαι τὰ νενοημένα τοῖς ταῦτα εἰρηκόσιν οὐ μόνον περὶ διαφορᾶς ποιήσεως καὶ πλάσεως ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ χειρῶν θεοῦ· ἃς οἱ μὴ νοήσαντες καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραφῶν φωνὰς οἴονται ἡμᾶς τοιοῦτον σχῆμα περιτιθέναι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ ὁποῖόν ἐστι τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, καθʼ οὓς καὶ πτέρυγας ἀκόλουθον νομίζειν ἡμᾶς εἶναι ἐν τῷ σώματι τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐπεὶ καὶ ταῦτα λέγουσιν αἱ κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν γραφαί. ταῦτα δὲ νῦν ἑρμηνεύειν οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖ ἡ προκειμένη πραγματεία· προηγουμένως γὰρ ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὴν Γένεσιν ἐξηγητικοῖς ταῦθʼ ἡμῖν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐξήτασται. εἶθʼ ὅρα κακοήθειαν τοῦ Κέλσου ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς. τῆς γὰρ γραφῆς ἡμῶν λεγούσης ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πλάσεως· „καὶ ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς. καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν, “ ὁ δὲ κακοήθως διασύρειν βουλόμενος τὸ „ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν (ζωῆς), “ ὅπερ οὐδὲ νενόηκε τίνα τρόπον λέλεκται, ἀνέγραψεν ὅτι συνέθεσαν ἄνθρωπον ὑπὸ χειρῶν θεοῦ πλασσόμενον (καὶ ἐμφυσώμενον), ἵνα τὸ ἐμφυσώμενον παραπλησίως τις νομίσας λελέχθαι τοῖς ἐμφυσωμένοις ἀσκοῖς γελάσῃ τὸ „ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς“ τροπικῶς εἰρημένον καὶ δεόμενον διηγήσεως, παριστάσης μεταδεδωκέναι τὸν θεὸν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου πνεύματος τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· καθὸ λέλεκται· „τὸ δὲ ἄφθαρτόν σου πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσιν.“ ### English translation (Claude) He accuses us of introducing a man formed by the hands of God, though the book of Genesis mentions God's hands neither for the making of man nor for his forming; but Job and David said, “Your hands made me and formed me,” concerning which “there is much to say” to show what was meant by those who said it, not only about the difference between making and forming but also about the hands of God. Those who have not understood these and similar expressions of the divine Scriptures think that we attribute to the God over all a shape like the human one; and by their reasoning it would follow that we think there are wings on God's body, since the Scriptures taken literally say this too of our God. The present work does not require us to interpret these things now; for we have examined them as best we could, primarily, in our exegetical works on Genesis. Then see Celsus's malice in what follows. For when our Scripture says of the forming of man, “And he breathed into his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul,” he, maliciously wishing to ridicule “he breathed into his face the breath of life,” which he did not even understand in what sense it is said, wrote that they composed a story of “a man formed by the hands of God and breathed into,” so that someone, thinking “breathed into” was said like bellows blown up, might laugh at “he breathed into his face the breath of life,” which is said figuratively and needs explanation, showing that God gave man a share of the incorruptible Spirit, as it is said: “Your incorruptible Spirit is in all things.” ### Scripture references - Job 10:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 119:73 (118:73 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:11: quotation, medium confidence - Ps 91:4: allusion, low confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 12:1 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Job 10:8, Ps 119:73 (118:73 LXX), Heb 5:11, Gen 2:7, and Wis 12:1; God's wings are e.g. Ps 91:4. Origen's commentary on Genesis survives only in fragments. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/37/). ## Against Celsus 4.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/38/ - Source: Koetschau 1:308–311 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks the creation of Eve from Adam's rib but admires Hesiod's myth of Pandora as allegory; Origen quotes Hesiod at length to show which story is more laughable read literally, and asks why only the Jews may not speak in allegory. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ προκείμενον ἦν αὐτῷ κακηγορεῖν τὰ γεγραμμένα, διεχλεύασε καὶ τὸ „ἐπέβαλεν ὁ θεὸς ἔκστασιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ ὕπνωσε. καὶ ἔλαβε μίαν τῶν πλευρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνεπλήρωσε σάρκα ἀντʼ αὐτῆς· καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τὴν πλευρὰν, ἣν ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, εἰς γυναῖκα“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, οὐδὲ τὴν λέξιν ἐκθέμενος. δυναμένην ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν ἀκούοντα ὅτι μετὰ τροπολογίας εἴρηται. καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησέ γε προσποιήσασθαι ἀλληγορεῖσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα, καίτοι γε ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς λέγων ὅτι οἱ ἐπιεικέστεροι Ἰουδαίων τε καὶ Χριστιανῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις αἰσχυνόμενοι πειρῶνταί πως ἀλληγορεῖν αὐτά. ἔστι δʼ εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτόν· ἆρα τὰ μὲν τῷ ἐνθέῳ σου Ἡσιόδῳ εἰρημένα ἐν μύθου σχήματι περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀλληγορεῖται. ὡς ἄρα δέδοται αὕτη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς „κακὸν“ „ἀντὶ τοῦ πυρός“· ἡ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς πλευρᾶς τοῦ μετʼ „ἔκστασιν“ κοιμηθέντος ληφθεῖσα γυνὴ καὶ οἰκοδομηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ χωρὶς παντὸς λόγου καί τινος ἐπικρύψεως λελέχθαι σοι φαίνεται; ἀλλʼ οὐκ εὔγνωμον ἐκεῖνα μὲν μὴ γελᾶν ὡς μῦθον ἀλλὰ θαυμάζειν ὡς ἐν μύθῳ φιλοσοφούμενα, ταῦτα δὲ μόνῃ τῇ λέξει τὴν διάνοιαν ἐναπερείσαντα μυχθίζειν καὶ μηδενὸς λόγου νομίζειν ἔσεσθαι. εἰ γὰρ ψιλῆς ἕνεκεν λέξεως χρὴ κατηγορεῖν τῶν ἐν ὑπονοίαις λελεγμένων, ὅρα εἰ μὴ τὰ Ἡσιόδου μᾶλλον γέλωτα μέλλει ὀφλεῖν, ἀνδρὸς, ὡς φῂς, ἐνθέου τοιαῦτα γράψαντος· τὸν δὲ χολωσάμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς· Ἰαπετιονίδη. πάντων πέρι μήδεα εἰδὼς, χαίρεις πῦρ κλέψας καὶ ἐμὰς φρένας ἠπεροπεύσας, σοί τʼ αὐτῷ μέγα πῆμα καὶ ἀνδράσιν ἐσσομένοισι. τοῖς δʼ ἐγὼ ἀντὶ πυρὸς δώσω κακὸν, ᾧ κεν ἅπαντες τέρπωνται κατὰ θυμὸν ἑὸν κακὸν ἀμφαγαπῶντες. ὣς ἔφατʼ· ἐκ δʼ ἐτέλεσσε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Ἥφαιστον δʼ ἐκέλευσε περικλυτὸν ὅττι τάχιστα γαῖαν ὕδει φύρειν, ἐν δʼ ἀνθρώπου θέμεν αὐδὴν καὶ σθένος, ἀθανάτοις δὲ θεοῖς εἰς ὦπα ἐΐσκειν παρθενικῆς καλὸν εἶδος ἐπήρατον· αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνην ἔργα διδασκέμεναι, πολυδαίδαλον ἱστὸν ὑφαίνειν· καὶ χάριν ἀμφιχέαι κεφαλῇ χρυσῆν Ἀφροδίτην καὶ πόθον ἀργαλέον καὶ γυιοκόρους μελεδῶνας· ἐν δὲ θέμεν κύνεόν τε νόον καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος (Ἑρμείην ἤνωγε. διάκτορον ἀργεϊφόντην.) ὣς ἔφαθʼ· οἱ δʼ ἐπίθοντο Διῒ Κρονίωνι ἄνακτι. αὐτίκα δʼ ἐκ γαίης πλάσσεν κλυτὸς Ἀμφιγυήεις παρθένῳ αἰδοίῃ ἴκελον Κρονίδεω διὰ βουλάς· ζῶσε δὲ καὶ κόσμησε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη· ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ Χάριτές τε θεαὶ καὶ πότνια Πειθὼ ὅρμους χρυσείους ἔθεσαν (χροΐ·) ἀμφὶ δὲ τήνδε Ὧραι καλλίκομοι στέφον ἄνθεσιν εἰαρινοῖσιν· πάντα δέ (οἱ) χροῒ κόσμον ἐφήρμοσε Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη· ἐν δʼ ἄρα οἱ στήθεσσι διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης ψεύδεά θʼ αἱμυλίους τε λόγους καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος τεῦξε Διὸς βουλῇσι βαρυκτύπου· ἐν δʼ ἄρα φωνὴν θῆκε θεῶν κῆρυξ, ὀνόμηνε δὲ τήνδε γυναῖκα Πανδώρη. ὅτι πάντες Ὀλύμπια δώματʼ ἔχοντες δῶρον ἐδώρησαν, πῆμʼ ἀνδράσιν ἀλφηστῇσι. γελοῖον δʼ αὐτόθεν καὶ τὸ περὶ τοῦ πίθου λεγόμενον, ὅτι πρὶν μὲν γὰρ ζώεσκον ἐπὶ χθονὶ φῦλʼ ἀνθρώπων νόσφιν ἄτερ τε κακῶν καὶ ἄτερ χαλεποῖο πόνοιο νούσων τʼ ἀργαλέων. αἵ τʼ ἀνδράσι κῆρας ἔδωκαν. ἀλλὰ γυνὴ χείρεσσι πίθου μέγα πῶμʼ ἀφελοῦσα ἐσκέδασʼ· ἀνθρώποισι δʼ ἐμήσατο κήδεα λυγρά. μούνη δʼ αὐτόθε Ἐλπὶς ἐν ἀῤῥήκτοισι δόμοισιν ἔνδον ἔμιμνε πίθου ὑπὸ χείλεσιν, οὐδὲ θύραζε ἐξέπτη· πρόσθεν γὰρ ἐπέμβαλε πῶμα πίθοιο. πρὸς δὲ τὸν ταῦτα σεμνῶς ἀλληγοροῦντα, εἴτʼ ἐπιτυγχάνοντα ἐν τῇ ἀλληγορίᾳ εἴτε καὶ μὴ, ἐροῦμεν· ἆρα μόνοις Ἕλλησιν ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ ἔξεστι φιλοσοφεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις, καὶ ὅσοι τῶν βαρβάρων σεμνύνονται ἐπὶ μυστηρίοις καὶ ἀληθείᾳ· μόνοι δὲ Ἰουδαῖοι ἔδοξάν σοι καὶ ὁ τούτων νομοθέτης καὶ οἱ συγγραφεῖς πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἶναι ἀνοητότατοι, καὶ μόνον τοῦτο τὸ ἔθνος οὐδεμιᾶς δυνάμεως θεοῦ μετειληφέναι. τὸ οὕτως μεγαλοφυέστατα δεδιδαγμένον ἀναβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγένητον τοῦ θεοῦ φύσιν κἀκείνῳ μόνῳ ἐνορᾶν καὶ τὰς ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ μόνου ἐλπίδας προσδοκᾶν; ### English translation (Claude) Then, since his aim was to disparage what is written, he also ridiculed the words, “God cast a trance upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs and filled up flesh in its place; and he built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman,” and so on, without even setting out the wording, which could make the hearer notice that it is spoken figuratively. And he did not choose even to let on that such things are interpreted allegorically, although he says in what follows that “the more reasonable of the Jews and Christians, ashamed of these things, try somehow to allegorize them.” One may say to him: Are the things said by your inspired Hesiod in the form of a myth about the woman allegorized, that she was given to men by Zeus as “an evil in exchange for fire,” while the woman taken from the side of the man who slept after a “trance,” and built by God, seems to you to have been said without any reason or hidden meaning? But it is not fair not to laugh at the former as myth but to admire it as philosophy in myth, while resting one's understanding on the bare wording of the latter, sneering and thinking it will have no meaning. For if one must accuse what is said in hidden meanings for the sake of the bare wording, see whether Hesiod's words will not rather incur laughter, a man, as you say, inspired, who wrote such things: “And Zeus the cloud-gatherer said to him in anger: ‘Son of Iapetus, knowing counsels beyond all others, you rejoice that you stole fire and deceived my mind, a great bane to yourself and to men who will come. To them in exchange for fire I will give an evil in which all may delight in their hearts, embracing their own evil.’ So he spoke; and the father of men and gods brought it to pass. And he bade famous Hephaestus as quickly as possible to mix earth with water, to put in it a human voice and strength, and to liken her in face to the immortal goddesses, the fair, lovely form of a maiden; and Athena to teach her works, to weave the intricate web; and golden Aphrodite to pour grace about her head, and painful longing and limb-wearying cares; and he bade Hermes, the guide, the slayer of Argus, to put in her a shameless mind and a thievish character. So he spoke, and they obeyed Zeus, son of Cronus, the lord. At once the famous Lame God formed from earth the likeness of a modest maiden, by the counsels of the son of Cronus; and the goddess, grey-eyed Athena, girded and adorned her; and the divine Graces and queenly Persuasion put golden necklaces about her body; and the fair-haired Hours crowned her with spring flowers; and Pallas Athena fitted every adornment to her body. And in her breast the guide, the slayer of Argus, fashioned lies and wily words and a thievish character, by the counsels of loud-thundering Zeus; and the herald of the gods put speech in her, and named this woman Pandora, because all who have homes on Olympus gave her a gift, a bane to men who eat bread.” Laughable at once too is what is said about the jar: “For before, the tribes of men lived on the earth apart from and without evils, and without hard toil and grievous diseases, which bring death to men. But the woman, taking the great lid from the jar with her hands, scattered them, and devised grievous cares for men. Hope alone remained there within, in the unbreakable house, under the lip of the jar, and did not fly out of doors; for before that she put back the lid of the jar.” To one who allegorizes these things solemnly, whether he succeeds in his allegory or not, we shall say: Is it permitted to the Greeks alone to philosophize in hidden meaning, and also to the Egyptians and to those barbarians who pride themselves on mysteries and truth, while the Jews alone, their lawgiver and their writers, seemed to you the most foolish of all men, and this nation alone has had no share of any power of God, a nation taught so nobly to ascend to the unbegotten nature of God, to look to him alone, and to expect hopes from him alone? ### Scripture references - Gen 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:22: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Op. 53–82, 90–98 (Hesiod, Works and Days): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The long quotation is Hesiod, Works and Days 53–82 and 90–98 (the line about Hermes is placed differently in modern texts); the rib is Gen 2:21–22. The digital text reads φρέ νας; corrected to φρένας. Where Hesiod has “laughed aloud” (ἐκ δʼ ἐγέλασσε), the text of Origen here reads “brought it to pass” (ἐκ δʼ ἐτέλεσσε). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/38/). ## Against Celsus 4.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/39/ - Source: Koetschau 1:311–313 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen sets the story of paradise and the serpent beside Plato's myth of Eros born of Poros and Penia in the garden of Zeus, arguing that both must be read for their hidden meaning, and suggests Plato may have learned from Jewish teaching in Egypt. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν ὄφιν ὡς ἀντιπράσσοντα τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον παραγγέλμασιν ὁ Κέλσος κωμῳδεῖ, μῦθόν τινα παραπλήσιον τοῖς παραδιδομένοις ταῖς γραυσὶν ὑπολαβὼν εἶναι τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἑκὼν οὔτε τὸν θεοῦ „παράδεισον“ ὠνόμασεν οὐδʼ ὡς πεφυτευκέναι λέγεται „ὁ θεὸς“ „ἐν Ἐδὲμ κατʼ ἀνατολὰς“ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐξανατεταλκέναι „ἐκ τῆς γῆς πᾶν ξύλον ὡραῖον εἰς ὅρασιν καὶ καλὸν εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς ἐν μέσῳ τῷ παραδείσῳ καὶ τὸ γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ ξύλον“ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις εἰρημένα, δυνάμενα αὐτόθεν κινῆσαι τὸν εὐμενῶς ἐντυγχάνοντα, ὅτι πάντα ταῦτα οὐκ ἀσέμνως τροπολογεῖται· φέρε ἀντιπαραθῶμεν ἐκ τοῦ Συμποσίου Πλάτωνος τὰ εἰρημένα περὶ τοῦ Ἔρωτος τῷ Σωκράτει καὶ ὡς σεμνότερα πάντων τῶν ἐν τῷ Συμποσίῳ εἰπόντων περὶ αὐτοῦ τῷ Σωκράτει περιτεθέντα. οὕτω δʼ ἔχει ἡ Πλάτωνος λέξις· „ὅτʼ ἐγένετο ἡ Ἀφροδίτη, εἱστιῶντο οἱ θεοὶ, οἵ τε ἄλλοι καὶ ὁ τῆς Μήτιδος υἱὸς Πόρος. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐδείπνησαν, προσαιτήσουσα οἷον δὴ εὐωχίας οὔσης ἀφίκετο ἡ Πενία καὶ ἦν περὶ τὰς θύρας. ὁ οὖν Πόρος μεθυσθεὶς τοῦ νέκταρος (οἶνος γὰρ οὔπω ἦν) εἰς τὸν τοῦ Διὸς κῆπον εἰσελθὼν βεβαρημένος εὗδεν. ἡ οὖν Πενία ἐπιβουλεύουσα διὰ τὴν αὑτῆς ἀπορίαν παιδίον ποιήσασθαι ἐκ τοῦ Πόρου, κατακλίνεταί τε παρʼ αὐτῷ καὶ ἐκύησε τὸν Ἔρωτα. διὸ δὴ καὶ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἀκόλουθος θεράπων γέγονεν ὁ Ἔρως, γεννηθεὶς ἐν τοῖς ἐκείνης γενεθλίοις καὶ ἅμα φύσει ἐραστὴς ὢν περὶ τὸ καλὸν, καὶ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης καλῆς οὔσης. ἅτε οὖν Πόρου καὶ Πενίας υἱὸς ὢν ὁ Ἔρως ἐν τοιαύτῃ τύχῃ καθέστηκε. πρῶτον μὲν πένης ἀεί ἐστι καὶ πολλοῦ δεῖ ἁπαλός τε καὶ καλὸς, οἷον οἱ πολλοὶ οἴονται, ἀλλὰ σκληρὸς καὶ αὐχμηρὸς καὶ ἀνυπόδητος καὶ ἄοικος, χαμαιπετὴς ἀεὶ ὢν καὶ ἄστρωτος, ἐπὶ θύραις καὶ ἐν ὁδοῖς ὑπαίθριος κοιμώμενος, τὴν τῆς μητρὸς φύσιν ἔχων ἀεὶ ἐνδείᾳ ξύνοικος. κατὰ δʼ αὖ τὸν πατέρα ἐπίβουλός ἐστι τοῖς καλοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς. ἀνδρεῖος ὢν καὶ ἴτης καὶ σύντονος, θηρευτὴς δεινὸς, ἀεὶ προσπλέκων μηχανὰς καὶ φρονήσεως ἐπιθυμητὴς καὶ πόριμος, φιλοσοφῶν διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου, δεινὸς γόης καὶ φαρμακεὺς καὶ σοφιστής· καὶ οὔτε ὡς ἀθάνατος πέφυκεν οὔτε ὡς θνητὸς, ἀλλὰ τοτὲ μὲν τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας θάλλει καὶ ζῇ, ὅταν εὐπορήσῃ, τοτὲ δʼ ἀποθνῄσκει [πάλιν], πάλιν δʼ ἀναβιώσκεται διὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς φύσιν. τὸ δὲ ποριζόμενον ἀεὶ ὑπεκρεῖ, ὥστε οὔτʼ ἀπορεῖ Ἔρως ποτὲ οὔτε πλουτεῖ. σοφίας δʼ αὖ καὶ ἀμαθίας ἐν μέσῳ ἐστίν.“ ἄρα γὰρ οἱ ἐντυγχάνοντες τούτοις ἐὰν μὲν τὴν κακοήθειαν τοῦ Κέλσου μιμῶνται, ὅπερ Χριστιανῶν ἀπείη, καταγελάσονται τοῦ μύθου καὶ ἐν χλεύῃ θήσονται τὸν τηλικοῦτον Πλάτωνα· ἐὰν δὲ τὰ ἐν μύθου σχήματι λεγόμενα φιλοσόφως ἐξετάζοντες δυνηθῶσιν εὑρεῖν τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Πλάτωνος...., τίνα τρόπον δεδύνηται τὰ μεγάλα ἑαυτῷ φαινόμενα δόγματα κρύψαι μὲν διὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐν τῷ τοῦ μύθου σχήματι, εἰπεῖν δʼ ὡς ἐχρῆν τοῖς εἰδόσιν ἀπὸ μύθων εὑρίσκειν τὸ περὶ ἀληθείας τοῦ ταῦτα συντάξαντος βούλημα. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν παρὰ Πλάτωνι μῦθον ἐξεθέμην διὰ „τὸν“ παρʼ αὐτῷ „τοῦ Διὸς κῆπον, “ παραπλήσιόν τι ἔχειν δοκοῦντα τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν Πενίαν, τῷ ἐκεῖ ὄφει παραβαλλομένην, καὶ τὸν ὑπὸ τῆς Πενίας ἐπιβουλευόμενον Πόρον τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπιβουλευομένῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως. οὐ πάνυ δὲ δῆλον, πότερον κατὰ συντυχίαν ἐπιπέπτωκε τούτοις ὁ Πλάτων ἢ, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, ἐν τῇ εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀποδημίᾳ συντυχὼν καὶ τοῖς τὰ Ἰουδαίων φιλοσοφοῦσι καὶ μαθών τινα παρʼ αὐτῶν τὰ μέν τινα τετήρηκε τὰ δὲ παρεποίησε, φυλαξάμενος προσκόψαι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐκ τοῦ πάντῃ τὰ τῆς Ἰουδαίων τηρῆσαι σοφίας. διαβεβλημένων παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς διὰ τὸ ξενίζον τῶν νόμων καὶ τὴν ἰδιότροπον κατʼ αὐτοὺς πολιτείαν. οὔτε δὲ τὸν Πλάτωνος μῦθον οὔτε τὰ περὶ τὸν ὄφιν καὶ τὸν παράδεισον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὅσα ἐν αὐτῷ ἀναγέγραπται γεγονέναι νῦν καιρὸς ἦν διηγήσασθαι· προηγουμένως γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐξηγητικοῖς τῆς Γενέσεως, ὡς οἷόν τʼ ἦν, εἰς ταῦτα ἐπραγματευσάμεθα. ### English translation (Claude) And since Celsus also ridicules the story of the serpent as opposing God's commands to man, supposing the account to be a myth like those handed down by old women, and deliberately did not name God's “paradise,” nor how “God” is said to have planted it “in Eden toward the east,” and after that to have made to grow “out of the earth every tree beautiful to see and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” and what is said after this, which could at once move a well-disposed reader to see that all these things are figuratively, and not unworthily, expressed: come, let us set beside it what is said about Eros by Socrates in Plato's Symposium, which is attributed to Socrates as more dignified than all that the speakers in the Symposium said about him. Plato's words are these: “When Aphrodite was born, the gods held a feast, and among them Poros, the son of Metis. When they had dined, Penia came to beg, as there was a banquet, and was about the doors. Now Poros, drunk with nectar (for there was not yet wine), went into the garden of Zeus and, heavy with drink, slept. Penia, then, plotting because of her own lack to have a child by Poros, lay down beside him and conceived Eros. That is why Eros has become the follower and attendant of Aphrodite, having been begotten on her birthday, and being by nature a lover of the beautiful, Aphrodite too being beautiful. Being then the son of Poros and Penia, Eros is in this condition. First, he is always poor, and far from being tender and beautiful, as most think, he is hard and parched and barefoot and homeless, always lying on the ground without bedding, sleeping in the open at doors and in the roads, having his mother's nature, always dwelling with want. But after his father he plots for the beautiful and the good, being brave, bold, and intense, a skilled hunter, always weaving some devices, desirous of understanding and resourceful, philosophizing all his life, a skilled sorcerer, poisoner, and sophist. And he is by nature neither immortal nor mortal, but on the same day he now flourishes and lives, when he has plenty, and now dies, and comes back to life again because of his father's nature. But what he acquires always slips away, so that Eros is never in want nor rich, and is in the middle between wisdom and ignorance.” If those who read this imitate Celsus's malice, which be far from Christians, they will laugh at the myth and mock the great Plato; but if, examining philosophically what is said in the form of a myth, they are able to find Plato's intention … how he was able to hide, for the sake of the many, in the form of a myth the doctrines that seemed great to him, but to speak as he should to those who know how to find from myths the intention of their author concerning the truth. I have set out this myth in Plato because of “the garden of Zeus” in it, which seems to have something like the paradise of God, and because of Penia, who is comparable to the serpent there, and Poros plotted against by Penia, comparable to the man plotted against by the serpent. It is not very clear whether Plato hit upon these things by chance, or, as some think, on his visit to Egypt met those who studied the philosophy of the Jews and, learning some things from them, kept some and altered others, taking care not to offend the Greeks by keeping the wisdom of the Jews entirely, since they were slandered among the many because of the strangeness of their laws and their peculiar way of life. But it was not now the occasion to explain either Plato's myth or the story of the serpent and the paradise of God and all that is recorded to have happened in it; for we have dealt with these things primarily, as best we could, in our exegetical works on Genesis. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:1: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Symp. 203b–e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gen 2:8–9 and Plato, Symposium 203b–e. An ellipsis in the edition marks a gap in the Greek after “Plato's intention.” The tradition that Plato learned from Jews in Egypt was common among Jewish and Christian apologists. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/39/). ## Against Celsus 4.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/40/ - Source: Koetschau 1:313–314 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The story of Adam concerns human nature as a whole: “Adam” means “man,” and in him all die; the garments of skin carry a mystical meaning deeper than Plato's image of the soul losing its wings. ### Greek text Ἐπὰν δὲ φάσκῃ ὡς ἄρα ἀνοσιώτατα τὸν θεὸν, εὐθὺς καὶ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἀσθενοῦντα καὶ μηδʼ ἕνα ἄνθρωπον, ὃν αὐτὸς ἔπλασε. πεῖσαι δυνάμενον. εἰσήγαγεν ὁ Μωϋσέως λόγος, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο φήσομεν ὅτι ὅμοιόν ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον, ὡς εἴ τις ἐνεκάλει ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς κακίας συστάσει, ἣν οὐδὲ ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου δεδύνηται κωλῦσαι ὁ θεὸς, ὥστε κἂν ἕνα τινὰ ἄνθρωπον εὑρεθῆναι ἀρχῆθεν ἄγευστον κακίας γεγενημένον. ὡς γὰρ περὶ τούτου οἷς μέλει ἀπολογεῖσθαι περὶ προνοίας ἀπολογοῦνται οὐ διʼ ὀλίγων οὐδὲ διʼ εὐκαταφρονήτων, οὕτω δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ φιλοσοφήσουσιν οἱ ἐγνωκότες ὅτι καθʼ Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἄνθρωπός ἐστι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς δοκοῦσι περὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ εἶναι φυσιολογεῖ Μωϋσῆς τὰ περὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσεως. καὶ „γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ, “ ὥς φησιν ὁ λόγος, „πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσι, “ καὶ κατεδικάσθησαν ἐν „τῷ ὁμοιώματι τῆς παραβάσεως Ἀδὰμ, “ οὐχ οὕτως περὶ ἑνός τινος ὡς περὶ ὅλου τοῦ γένους ταῦτα φάσκοντος τοῦ θείου λόγου. καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῇ τῶν λεγομένων ὡς περὶ ἑνὸς ἀκολουθίᾳ ἡ ἀρὰ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ κοινὴ πάντων ἐστί· καὶ τὰ κατὰ τῆς γυναικὸς οὐκ ἔστι καθʼ ἧς οὐ λέγεται. καὶ ὁ ἐκβαλλόμενος δὲ ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου ἄνθρωπος μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς, τοὺς „δερματίνους“ ἠμφιεσμένος „χιτῶνας, “ οὓς διὰ τὴν παράβασιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐποίησε τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασιν ὁ θεὸς, ἀπόῤῥητόν τινα καὶ μυστικὸν ἔχει λόγον, ὑπὲρ τὴν κατὰ Πλάτωνα κάθ(οδ)ον τῆς ψυχῆς, πτεροῤῥυούσης καὶ δεῦρο φερομένης, „ἕως ἂν στερεοῦ τινος λάβηται.“ ### English translation (Claude) And when he says that the account of Moses most impiously introduced God as “weak from the very beginning and unable to persuade even one man whom he himself had formed,” to this too we shall say that the statement is like accusing God because of the existence of wickedness, which he has not been able to prevent even from one man, so that at least one man might be found who from the beginning had never tasted wickedness. For as those who care to defend providence make a defense on this point with arguments neither few nor contemptible, so too those will philosophize about Adam and his sin who know that in Greek “Adam” means “man,” and that in what seems to be about Adam Moses is treating the nature of man. For “in Adam,” as the Scripture says, “all die,” and they were condemned “in the likeness of Adam's transgression,” the divine word saying these things not so much about one individual as about the whole race. For in the sequence of what is said as if about one person, the curse of Adam is common to all; and there is no woman against whom what is said against the woman is not said. And the man cast out of paradise with the woman, clothed in the “garments of skins,” which God made for those who had sinned because of the transgression of men, has a secret and mystical meaning, beyond Plato's descent of the soul, which sheds its wings and is borne here “until it lays hold of something solid.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:17: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 246c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:22, Rom 5:14, Gen 3:16–19 (the curses), Gen 3:21, and Plato, Phaedrus 246c. The “garments of skins” were often read by Origen's tradition as the mortal body. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/40/). ## Against Celsus 4.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/41/ - Source: Koetschau 1:314–315 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus calls Noah's ark monstrous but does not even know its true objection; Origen describes the ark as a marvel, built over a hundred years, tapering to a single cubit, vast in area, and preserving the seeds of all animals. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τοιαῦτά φησιν· εἶτα κατακλυσμόν τινα καὶ κιβωτὸν ἀλλόκοτον, ἅπαντα ἔνδον ἔχουσαν, καὶ περιστεράν τινα καὶ κορώνην ἀγγέλους, παραχαράττοντες καὶ ῥᾳδιουργοῦντες τὸν Δευκαλίωνα· οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι προσεδόκησαν ὅτι ταῦτʼ εἰς φῶς πρόεισιν, ἀλλʼ ἀτεχνῶς παισὶ νηπίοις ἐμυθολόγησαν. καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὴ ὅρα τὴν ἀφιλόσοφον ἀπέχθειαν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πρὸς τὴν ἀρχαιοτάτην Ἰουδαίων γραφήν. οὐ γὰρ ἔχων τὴν περὶ κατακλυσμοῦ ἱστορίαν κακολογεῖν οὐδʼ ἐπιστήσας οἷς ἐδύνατο λέγειν κατὰ τῆς κιβωτοῦ καὶ τῶν μέτρων αὐτῆς, καὶ ὡς οὐχ οἷόν τʼ ἦν κατὰ τὸν τῶν πολλῶν νοῦν ἐκλαμβάνοντα τὰ περὶ τῶν „τριακοσίων“ τοῦ μήκους „τῆς κιβωτοῦ“ „πήχεων“ „καὶ πεντήκοντα“ τοῦ πλάτους „καὶ τριάκοντα“ τοῦ ὕψους φάσκειν αὐτὴν κεχωρηκέναι τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ζῷα, καθαρὰ μὲν ἀνὰ τέσσαρα καὶ δέκα ἀκάθαρτα δὲ ἀνὰ τέσσαρα· ἁπλῶς εἶπεν ἀλλόκοτον, πάντʼ ἔχουσαν ἔνδον. τί γὰρ τὸ ἀλλόκοτον αὐτῆς, ἑκατὸν ἔτεσιν ἱστορουμένης γεγενῆσθαι καὶ συναγομένης ἀπὸ τῶν „τριακοσίων“ τοῦ μήκους „πήχεων“ καὶ τῶν „πεντήκοντα“ τοῦ πλάτους, ἕως οἱ τοῦ ὕψους πήχεις „τριάκοντα“ καταλήξουσιν εἰς ἕνα πῆχυν μήκους καὶ πλάτους; πῶς δʼ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον θαυμαστὸν ἦν τὸ κατασκεύασμα καὶ μεγίστῃ πόλει ἐοικὸς τῷ δυνάμει λέγεσθαι τὰ μέτρα, ὡς ἐννέα μὲν εἶναι μυριάδων τὸ μῆκος κατὰ τὴν βάσιν κατὰ δὲ τὸ πλάτος δισχιλίων πεντακοσίων; πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἦν θαυμάσαι τὴν ἐπίνοιαν τοῦ ἐρηρεισμένην γενέσθαι καὶ δυναμένην ὑπομεῖναι χειμῶνα κατακλυσμοῦ ποιητικόν; καὶ γὰρ οὐ πίσσῃ οὐδʼ ἄλλῃ τινὶ τοιαύτῃ ὕλῃ, ἀσφάλτῳ δὲ στεῤῥῶς ἐκέχριστο. πῶς δʼ οὐ θαυμαστὸν τὸ ζώπυρα παντὸς γένους εἰσάγεσθαι ἔνδον προνοίᾳ θεοῦ. ἵνʼ ἔχῃ πάντων σπέρματα ζῴων πάλιν ἡ γῆ, τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοτάτῳ ἀνδρὶ χρησαμένου, πατρὶ ἐσομένῳ τῶν μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμόν; ### English translation (Claude) Next he says this: “Then a flood and a monstrous ark holding everything inside, and a dove and a crow as messengers, counterfeiting and recklessly altering the story of Deucalion; for I do not think they expected these things would come to light, but they simply told myths to little children.” In these words too see the man's unphilosophical hatred of the most ancient Scripture of the Jews. For, having nothing to say against the story of the flood, and not noticing what he could have said against the ark and its measurements, namely that if one takes in the common sense what is said of the “three hundred cubits” of the length “of the ark,” the “fifty” of the breadth, and the “thirty” of the height, one could not say that it held the animals of the earth, fourteen of each clean kind and four of each unclean, he simply said “monstrous, holding everything inside.” For what is monstrous about it, when it is recorded to have been built over a hundred years and to have narrowed from the “three hundred cubits” of length and the “fifty” of breadth until the “thirty” cubits of height ended in one cubit of length and breadth? And was not the construction rather marvelous, like a very great city, when its measurements are taken in the sense of squares, so that the length at the base is ninety thousand and the breadth two thousand five hundred? And was it not admirable to conceive it so that it was made firm and could withstand a storm that produced a flood? For it was smeared firmly not with pitch or any other such material, but with asphalt. And is it not marvelous that by God's providence living sparks of every kind were brought inside, so that the earth might again have the seeds of all animals, God having used a most righteous man, who was to be father of those after the flood? ### Scripture references - Gen 6:14: allusion, high confidence - Gen 6:15: quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:16: allusion, high confidence - Gen 7:2: allusion, high confidence - Gen 8:8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 6:14–16 and 7:2–3; Deucalion's flood is the Greek parallel. Origen takes “clean by sevens” as seven pairs (fourteen) and the unclean as two pairs (four). “In the sense of squares” renders τῷ δυνάμει λέγεσθαι τὰ μέτρα: the ark's cubits are taken as square cubits (300² = 90,000; 50² = 2,500), a view Origen develops in his Homilies on Genesis. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/41/). ## Against Celsus 4.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/42/ - Source: Koetschau 1:315 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus garbles the raven of Genesis into a crow and claims the flood story was copied from Deucalion's, yet the Jewish Scriptures were meant to come to light, as Jesus himself foretold. ### Greek text Ἔῤῥιψε δʼ ὁ Κέλσος τὰ περὶ τῆς περιστερᾶς, ἵνα δόξῃ ἀνεγνωκέναι τὸ βιβλίον τὴν Γένεσιν, οὐδὲν δυνηθεὶς εἰπεῖν πρὸς τὸ ἐλέγξαι πλασματῶδες τὸ κατὰ τὴν περιστεράν. εἶθʼ ὡς ἔθος αὐτῷ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τὸ γελοιότερον μεταφράζειν τὰ γεγραμμένα, „τὸν κόρακα“ εἰς κορώνην μετείληφε καὶ οἴεται ταῦτα Μωϋσέα ἀναγεγραφέναι, ῥᾳδιουργοῦντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν παρʼ Ἕλλησι Δευκαλίωνα· εἰ μὴ ἄρα οὐδὲ Μωϋσέως οἴεται εἶναι τὴν γραφὴν ἀλλά τινων πλειόνων· τοιοῦτον γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ παραχαράττοντες καὶ ῥᾳδιουργοῦντες τὸν Δευκαλίωνα, καὶ τοῦτο· οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι προσεδόκησαν ὅτι ταῦτʼ εἰς φῶς πρόεισι. πῶς δʼ οἱ ὅλῳ ἔθνει διδόντες γράμματα οὐ προσεδόκησαν αὐτὰ εἰς φῶς προελθεῖν, οἳ καὶ ἐπροφήτευσαν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὴν θεοσέβειαν ταύτην κηρυχθήσεσθαι; ὁ δʼ Ἰησοῦς τὸ „ἀρθήσεται ἀφʼ ὑμῶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ δοθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς“ Ἰουδαίοις λέγων τί ἄλλο ᾠκονόμει ἢ εἰς φῶς αὐτὸς θείᾳ δυνάμει προαγαγεῖν πᾶσαν τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν γραφὴν, περιέχουσαν μυστήρια τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείας; εἶτα ἐὰν μὲν τὰς Ἑλλήνων θεογονίας καὶ τὰς περὶ θεῶν δώδεκα ἱστορίας ἀναγινώσκωσι, σεμνοποιοῦσιν αὐτὰς ταῖς ἀλληγορίαις, ἐὰν δὲ τὰ ἡμέτερα διασύρειν βούλωνται, ἀτεχνῶς φασι παισὶ νηπίοις αὐτὰ μεμυθολογῆσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus threw in the matter of the dove to seem to have read the book of Genesis, though he could say nothing to prove that the story of the dove was fictitious. Then, as is his custom, to paraphrase what is written in a more ridiculous way, he changed “the raven” into a crow, and thinks that Moses wrote these things by recklessly altering the story of Deucalion among the Greeks; unless perhaps he thinks the writing is not even Moses' but that of several people; for this is what “counterfeiting and recklessly altering the story of Deucalion” indicates, and this: “For I do not think they expected these things would come to light.” But how did those who gave writings to a whole nation not expect them to come to light, when they even prophesied that this worship of God would be proclaimed to all the nations? And when Jesus said to the Jews, “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits,” what else was he arranging than to bring to light himself, by divine power, the whole Jewish Scripture, which contains mysteries of the kingdom of God? Then, if they read the theogonies of the Greeks and the stories about the twelve gods, they dignify them with allegories; but if they want to ridicule ours, they say they were simply told as myths to little children. ### Scripture references - Gen 8:7: allusion, high confidence - Gen 8:8: allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:43: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 8:7–12; the quotation is Matt 21:43. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/42/). ## Against Celsus 4.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/43/ - Source: Koetschau 1:315–316 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus sneers at Genesis's family stories and at Jacob's flocks, but these events happened as types written for Christians; Jacob's marked flocks signify believers from the nations. ### Greek text Ἀτοπωτάτην δὲ λέγει καὶ ἔξωρον παιδοποιΐαν, εἰ καὶ μὴ ὠνόμασε, δῆλον δʼ ὅτι λέγων τὴν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τῆς Σάῤῥας. ῥίπτων δὲ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπιβουλὰς ἤτοι τὸν Κάϊν ἐπιβουλεύσαντα τῷ Ἄβελ λέγει ἢ πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ τὸν Ἠσαῦ τῷ Ἰακώβ· πατρὸς δὲ λύπην, τάχα μὲν καὶ τὴν Ἰσαὰκ ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἀποδημίᾳ τάχα δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ διὰ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ πραθέντα εἰς Αἴγυπτον. μητέρων δʼ οἶμαι ἐνέδρας ἀναγράφοντα αὐτὸν δηλοῦν τὴν Ῥεβέκκαν, οἰκονομήσασαν τὰς τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ εὐχὰς μὴ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἠσαῦ ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ φθάσαι. ἄγχιστα δὲ τούτοις πᾶσι συμπολιτευόμενον εἴ φαμεν τὸν θεὸν, τί ἄτοπον πράσσομεν πειθόμενοι μηδέ ποτε ἀφιστάνειν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θειότητα τῶν μετὰ τοῦ καλῶς καὶ ἐῤῥωμένως βιοῦν αὐτῷ ἀνακειμένων; ἐχλεύασε δὲ τὴν παρὰ τῷ Λάβαν κτῆσιν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ, μὴ νοήσας, ἐπὶ τί ἀναφέρεται τὸ „καὶ ἦν τὰ ἄσημα τοῦ Λάβαν, τὰ δὲ ἐπίσημα τοῦ Ἰακὼβ.“ καί φησι τὸν θεὸν τοῖς υἱοῖς ὀνάρια καὶ προβάτια καὶ καμήλους δεδωρῆσθαι· καὶ οὐχ ἑώρα ὅτι „ταῦτα πάντα τυπικῶς συνέβαινεν ἐκείνοις, ἐγράφη δὲ διʼ ἡμᾶς. εἰς οὓς τὰ τέλη τῶν αἰώνων κατήντησε“· παρʼ οἷς τὸ ποικίλα ἤθη „ἐπίσημα“ γινόμενα τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ πολιτεύεται, δοθέντα κτῆσις τῷ τροπικῶς καλουμένῳ Ἰακώβ. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν ἐθνῶν οἱ εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύοντες ἐδηλοῦντο διὰ τῶν ἀναγεγραμμένων περὶ Λάβαν καὶ Ἰακώβ. ### English translation (Claude) He speaks of “a most absurd and untimely begetting of children,” and though he did not name it, it is clear that he means that of Abraham and Sarah. And throwing in “the plots of brothers,” he means either Cain's plot against Abel or, besides this, Esau's against Jacob; and “a father's grief,” perhaps Isaac's at Jacob's departure, and perhaps also Jacob's because of Joseph's being sold into Egypt. And in recording “the treacheries of mothers” he means, I think, Rebecca, who contrived that Isaac's blessings should come not upon Esau but upon Jacob. If we say that God was very close to all these, living among them, what absurdity do we commit in being persuaded that he never withdraws his divinity from those devoted to him with a good and steadfast life? He mocked Jacob's acquisition of property with Laban, not understanding to what the words refer: “And the unmarked were Laban's, and the marked were Jacob's.” And he says that God gave his sons little donkeys and little sheep and camels; and he did not see that “all these things happened to them as types, and were written for our sake, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Among us the varied characters, made “marked” by the Word of God, live as citizens, given as a possession to the one figuratively called Jacob. For those from the nations who believe in him were signified by what is recorded about Laban and Jacob. ### Scripture references - Gen 21:2: allusion, high confidence - Gen 4:8: allusion, high confidence - Gen 27:41: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 27:6: allusion, high confidence - Gen 37:34: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 30:42: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:11: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 21:1–7 (Abraham and Sarah), Gen 4:8 (Cain), Gen 27 (Esau, Jacob, and Rebecca), Gen 37:34–35 (Jacob's grief), and Gen 30:42; the quotation is 1 Cor 10:11. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/43/). ## Against Celsus 4.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/44/ - Source: Koetschau 1:316–317 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The patriarchs' wells, marriages, and unions with maidservants carry spiritual meaning, as Paul himself allegorized Sarah and Hagar in Galatians, though the wells were also real. ### Greek text Πόῤῥω δὲ τυγχάνων τοῦ βουλήματος τῶν γεγραμμένων φησὶ τὸν θεὸν καὶ φρέατα τοῖς δικαίοις δεδωκέναι. οὐ γὰρ ἐτήρησεν ὅτι οἱ δίκαιοι λάκκους μὲν οὐ κατασκευάζουσι „φρέατα“ δὲ ὀρύσσουσι, τὴν ἐνυπάρχουσαν (πη)γὴν καὶ ἀρχὴν τῶν ποτίμων ἀγαθῶν ἐξευρεῖν ζητοῦντες, ἅτε καὶ τροπικὴν λαμβάνοντες ἐντολὴν τὴν φάσκουσαν· „πῖνε ὕδατα ἀπὸ σῶν ἀγγείων καὶ ἀπὸ σῶν φρεάτων πηγῆς. μὴ ὑπερεκχείσθω σοι ὕδατα ἔξω τῆς σῆς πηγῆς, εἰς δὲ σὰς πλατείας διαπορευέσθω τὰ σὰ ὕδατα. ἔστω σοι μόνῳ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ μηδεὶς ἀλλότριος μετασχέτω σοι.“ πολλαχοῦ δὲ ἱστορίαις γενομέναις συγχρησάμενος ὁ λόγος ἀνέγραψεν αὐτὰς εἰς παράστασιν μειζόνων καὶ ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ δηλουμένων· ὁποῖά ἐστι καὶ τὰ περὶ φρέατα καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς γάμους καὶ τὰς διαφόρους μίξεις τῶν δικαίων, περὶ ὧν εὐκαιρότερον ἐν τοῖς εἰς αὐτὰ ἐκεῖνα ἐξηγητικοῖς τις σαφηνίζειν πειράσεται. ὅτι δὲ καὶ φρέατα ἐν γῇ Φιλιστιαίων κατεσκεύασται ὑπὸ τῶν δικαίων, ὡς ἐν τῇ Γενέσει ἀναγέγραπται, δῆλον ἐκ τῶν δεικνυμένων ἐν τῇ Ἀσκάλωνι θαυμαστῶν φρεάτων καὶ ἱστορίας ἀξίων διὰ τὸ ξένον καὶ παρηλλαγμένον τῆς κατασκευῆς ὡς πρὸς τὰ λοιπὰ φρέατα. νύμφας τε καὶ θεραπαινίδας ἀνάγεσθαι ἐπὶ τροπολογίαν οὐχ ἡμεῖς διδάσκομεν, ἀλλʼ ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ σοφῶν παρειλήφαμεν· ὧν εἷς τις ἔφασκε διεγείρων τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἐπὶ τροπολογίας· „λέγετέ μοι, οἱ τὸν νόμον ἀναγινώσκοντες. τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀκούετε; γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ δύο υἱοὺς ἔσχεν, ἕνα ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης καὶ ἕνα ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται, ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας διὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα· αὗται γάρ εἰσι δύο διαθῆκαι, μία μὲν ἀπὸ ὄρους Σινᾶ. εἰς δουλείαν γεννῶσα, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἄγαρ“· καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα· „ἡ δʼ ἄνω, “ φησὶν, „Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν.“ ὁ δὲ βουλόμενος λαβεῖν τὴν πρὸς Γαλάτας ἐπιστολὴν εἴσεται, τίνα τρόπον ἠλληγόρηται τὰ κατὰ τοὺς γάμους καὶ τὰς μίξεις τῶν θεραπαινίδων, βουλομένου τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἡμᾶς οὐ τὰς σωματικὰς νομιζομένας πράξεις ζηλοῦν τῶν ταῦτα πεποιηκότων ἀλλʼ, ὡς καλεῖν εἰώθασιν οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀπόστολοι, τὰς πνευματικάς. ### English translation (Claude) Being far from the intention of what is written, he says that God also gave wells to the righteous. For he did not observe that the righteous do not construct cisterns but dig “wells,” seeking to find the spring and source of drinkable good things that lies within, taking figuratively the command which says: “Drink waters from your own vessels and from the spring of your own wells. Let not your waters overflow outside your spring, but let your waters pass into your own streets. Let them be yours alone, and let no stranger share them with you.” In many places the Scripture has used events that happened in history and recorded them to present greater things revealed in hidden meaning; such are the stories about wells, and about the marriages and various unions of the righteous, which someone will try to explain more opportunely in commentaries on those very passages. That wells were indeed constructed by the righteous in the land of the Philistines, as is recorded in Genesis, is clear from the marvelous wells shown at Ascalon, worth recording for the strangeness and peculiarity of their construction compared with other wells. That brides and maidservants are to be taken figuratively is not our own teaching, but we have received it from wise men of old, one of whom, rousing his hearer to figurative interpretation, said: “Tell me, you who read the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. But the son of the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son of the free woman through the promise. These things are allegorized; for these women are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery, which is Hagar”; and a little after, he says, “But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.” Whoever will take up the letter to the Galatians will know how the stories of the marriages and of the unions with maidservants have been allegorized, the Scripture wanting us too to imitate not the bodily actions, as they are thought, of those who did these things, but, as the apostles of Jesus are accustomed to call them, the spiritual ones. ### Scripture references - Prov 5:15: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:16: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 26:18: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:21: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:22: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:23: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:24: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:26: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Prov 5:15–17 (LXX) and Gal 4:21–24, 26; the wells are Gen 26:15–22. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/44/). ## Against Celsus 4.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/45/ - Source: Koetschau 1:317–319 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus calls Lot and his daughters worse than Thyestes; Origen, noting that Scripture neither praises nor blames them, observes that the Stoics defend such an act in a hypothetical end of the world, which Lot's daughters believed had come. ### Greek text Δέον δʼ αὐτὸν τὸ φιλάληθες τῶν ἀναγραψάντων τὰς θείας γραφὰς ἀποδεξάμενον. μὴ κρυψάντων καὶ τὰ ἀπεμφαίνοντα, προσαχθῆναι καὶ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ παραδοξοτέρων ὡς οὐ πεπλασμένων, ὁ δὲ τοὐναντίον πεποίηκε καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Λὼτ καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας, οὔτε κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν ἐξετάσας οὔτε κατὰ τὴν ἀναγωγὴν ἐρευνήσας. τῶν Θυεστείων εἶπε κακῶν ἀνομώτερα. τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς κατὰ τὸν τόπον τροπολογίας οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον νῦν λέγειν, τίνα τε τὰ Σόδομα. καὶ τίς ὁ πρὸς τὸν ἐκεῖθεν διασῳζόμενον τῶν ἀγγέλων λόγος, φασκόντων· „μὴ περιβλέψῃ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω μηδὲ στῇς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ περιχώρῳ· εἰς τὸ ὄρος σῴζου, μή ποτε συμπαραληφθῇς, “ καὶ τίς ὁ Λὼτ, τίς τε ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ, γενομένη „στήλη ἁλὸς“ διὰ τὸ ἐστράφθαι εἰς τοὐπίσω, καὶ τίνες αἱ θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ, καταμεθύσκουσαι τὸν πατέρα, ἵνα γένωνται ἐξ αὐτοῦ μητέρες· φέρε δὲ τὰ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀπεμφάσεως διʼ ὀλίγων παραμυθησώμεθα, τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν καὶ ἀδιαφόρων ἐζήτησαν καὶ Ἕλληνες φύσιν· καὶ οἱ ἐπιτυγχάνοντές γε αὐτῶν τὰ μὲν ἀγαθὰ καὶ κακὰ τίθενται ἐν προαιρέσει μόνῃ, πάντα δὲ ἀδιάφορα τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ φασὶν εἶναι τὰ χωρὶς προαιρέσεως ἐξεταζόμενα· τὴν δὲ προαίρεσιν τούτοις χρωμένην δεόντως μὲν ἐπαινετὴν εἶναι, οὐ δεόντως δὲ ψεκτήν, εἶπον οὖν ἐν τῷ περὶ ἀδιαφόρων τόπῳ ὅτι τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ θυγατράσι μίγνυσθαι ἀδιάφορόν ἐστιν, εἰ καὶ μὴ χρὴ ἐν ταῖς καθεστώσαις πολιτείαις τὸ τοιοῦτον ποιεῖν, καὶ ὑποθέσεως χάριν πρὸς παράστασιν τοῦ ἀδιάφορον εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτον παρειλήφασι τὸν σοφὸν μετὰ τῆς θυγατρὸς μόνης καταλελειμμένον, παντὸς τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους διεφθαρμένου, καὶ ζητοῦσιν εἰ καθηκόντως ὁ πατὴρ συνελεύσεται τῇ θυγατρὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἀπολέσθαι κατʼ αὐτὴν τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τὸ πᾶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος. ἆρʼ οὖν παρὰ μὲν Ἕλλησιν ὑγιῶς ταῦτα λέγεται, καὶ οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητος αὐτοῖς αἵρεσις ἡ τῶν Στωϊκῶν συναγορεύει· ἐπὰν δὲ κόρια, περὶ ἐκπυρώσεως τοῦ κόσμου μεμαθηκότα οὐ τετρανωκότα δὲ, ἰδόντα πῦρ διειληφὸς τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν χώραν, ὑπολαμβάνοντα ζώπυρον τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων καταλελεῖφθαι ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ αὐταῖς, βουληθῇ διὰ τὴν τοιανδὶ ὑπόληψιν συστήσασθαι τὸν κόσμον, ἐλάττονα ἔσται τοῦ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Στωϊκῶν ὑπόθεσιν σοφοῦ, καθηκόντως ἐν τῇ φθορᾷ τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων μιγνυμένου ταῖς θυγατράσιν; οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δʼ ὅτι προσκόψαντές τινες τῷ βουλήματι τῶν τοῦ Λὼτ θυγατέρων καὶ ἀνόσιον τὸ ἔργον εἶναι ὑπειλήφασι καὶ ὡς ἐξ ἀνοσίων μίξεων εἰρήκασι γεγονέναι ἔθνη ἐπάρατα, τὸ Μωαβιτῶν καὶ τὸ Ἀμμανιτῶν, καὶ ἀληθῶς γε οὐχ εὑρίσκεται ἡ θεία γραφὴ σαφῶς παραδεξαμένη ὡς καλῶς γεγενημένον τὸ τοιοῦτον ἢ αἰτιασαμένη καὶ μεμψαμένη· πλὴν ὅπως ποτὲ ἔχει τὸ γενόμενον, ἀνάγεται μὲν ἐπὶ τροπολογίαν ἔχει δέ τινα καὶ καθʼ αὑτὸ ἀπολογίαν. ### English translation (Claude) He ought to have accepted the love of truth of those who wrote the divine Scriptures, who did not hide even what is unseemly, and to have been drawn to accept the other and more marvelous things as not fictitious. But he did the opposite, and the story of Lot and his daughters, without examining it literally or investigating it according to the higher sense, he called “more lawless than the evils of Thyestes.” It is not necessary now to state the figurative meaning of the passage: what Sodom is, and what is meant by the angels' words to the one who escaped from there, “Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the surrounding country; escape to the mountain, lest you be taken along with them”; who Lot is, and who his wife, who became “a pillar of salt” because she turned back; and who his daughters are, who made their father drunk in order to become mothers by him. But let us briefly soften the unseemliness of the story. The Greeks too inquired into the nature of good, evil, and indifferent things; and those of them who succeed place good and evil in the will alone, and say that all things considered apart from the will are by their own nature indifferent, but that the will, when it uses these things as it should, is praiseworthy, and when it does not, blameworthy. So in the treatment of indifferent things they said that to have intercourse with one's daughters is by its own nature indifferent, even if one must not do such a thing in established states; and, for the sake of a hypothesis, to show that such a thing is indifferent, they have taken the case of the wise man left alone with his daughter, the whole human race having been destroyed, and they ask whether the father will fittingly unite with his daughter so that, on this hypothesis, the whole human race may not perish. Is this, then, soundly said among the Greeks, and does the not contemptible school of the Stoics argue for it; but when young girls, who had learned about the conflagration of the world but not clearly, seeing fire overwhelming their city and land, and supposing that the living spark of the human race was left in their father and themselves, wished on such a supposition to preserve the world, are they to be judged worse than the wise man of the Stoics' hypothesis, who fittingly unites with his daughters when all men have been destroyed? I am not unaware that some, offended by the intention of Lot's daughters, have supposed the act to be unholy, and have said that from unholy unions came accursed nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites. And in truth the divine Scripture is not found clearly approving such a thing as well done, nor charging or blaming it. But however the event stands, it is taken up into figurative interpretation, and it also has in itself a certain defense. ### Scripture references - Gen 19:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 19:26: quotation, high confidence - Gen 19:32: allusion, high confidence - Gen 19:37: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gen 19:17 and 19:26; the story is Gen 19:30–38. The Stoic hypothesis is attributed to Chrysippus. Thyestes unknowingly ate his own children and fathered a child by his daughter. Origen offers this as a partial defense of the daughters' motive, not as approval; “school” renders αἵρεσις in its neutral sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/45/). ## Against Celsus 4.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/46/ - Source: Koetschau 1:319 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus picks out the discreditable family stories of Genesis but ignores Joseph's chastity, which surpasses Bellerophon's, as he chose prison rather than sin and silently left his cause to God. ### Greek text Παραῤῥίπτει δʼ ὁ Κέλσος τὴν ἀπέχθειαν, οἶμαι τοῦ Ἠσαῦ πρὸς τὸν Ἰακὼβ, ἀνδρὸς κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν ὁμολογουμένου φαύλου· καὶ μὴ σαφῶς ἐκτιθέμενος τὰ περὶ τὸν Συμέων καὶ τὸν Λευῒ, ἐπεξελθόντας τῇ ὕβρει τῆς ἀδελφῆς βιασθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως Σικίμων, σφᾶς αἰτιᾶται· ἀδελφοὺς δὲ πωλοῦντας τοὺς υἱοὺς λέγει τοῦ Ἰακὼβ, καὶ ἀδελφὸν πιπρασκόμενον τὸν Ἰωσὴφ, καὶ πατέρα ἐξαπατώμενον τὸν Ἰακὼβ, ἐπεὶ μηδὲν ὑπονοήσας περὶ τῶν υἱῶν ἐπιδεικνύντων „τὸν ποικίλον χιτῶνα“ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἀλλὰ πιστεύσας αὐτοῖς „ἐπένθει ὡς ἀπολωλότα τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δουλεύοντα, ὅρα δὲ τινα τρόπον ἀπεχθῶς καὶ οὐ φιλαλήθως συνήγαγε τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας ὁ Κέλσος· ὥστε ὅπου μὲν ἐδόκει αὐτῷ κατηγορίαν περιέχειν ἡ ἱστορία, ἐκτίθεται αὐτὴν, ὅπου δὲ σωφροσύνης ἀξιολόγου ἐπίδειξις γεγένηται, τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ οὐκ ἐνδόντος πρὸς τὸν ἔρωτα τῆς νομιζομένης δεσποίνης πῇ μὲν παρακαλούσης πῇ δʼ ἀπειλούσης, οὐδʼ ὑπεμνήσθη τῆς ἱστορίας. πολλῷ γὰρ κρείττονα τῶν κατὰ τὸν Βελλεροφόντην ἱστορουμένων ἴδοιμεν ἂν τὸν Ἰωσὴφ, ἑλόμενον κατακλεισθῆναι ἐν φυλακῇ ἤπερ ἀπολέσαι νοῦν σώφρονα· δυνάμενος γοῦν ἀπολογίσασθαι καὶ δικαιολογήσασθαι πρὸς τὴν κατηγορήσασαν μεγαλοψύχως ἀπεσιώπησε τῷ θεῷ ἐπιτρέψας τὰ καθʼ ἑαυτόν. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus throws in the hatred, I think, of Esau for Jacob, a man admitted by Scripture to be wicked; and, without setting out clearly the story of Simeon and Levi, who avenged the outrage to their sister, violated by the son of the king of Shechem, he accuses them. He speaks of “brothers selling,” meaning the sons of Jacob, and of “a brother sold,” Joseph, and of “a father deceived,” Jacob, since he suspected nothing about his sons when they showed Joseph's “many-colored coat,” but believed them and “mourned for Joseph as lost,” while he was a slave in Egypt. See how hatefully and without love of truth Celsus has gathered material from the history: where the history seemed to him to contain an accusation, he sets it out; but where a notable display of chastity took place, when Joseph did not yield to the passion of his supposed mistress, who now entreated and now threatened, he did not even mention the story. For we might see Joseph as far better than what is recorded of Bellerophon, since he chose to be shut up in prison rather than lose his chaste mind; for though he could have defended himself and pleaded his case against the woman who accused him, he magnanimously kept silent, entrusting his cause to God. ### Scripture references - Gen 27:41: allusion, high confidence - Gen 34:25: allusion, high confidence - Gen 37:28: allusion, high confidence - Gen 37:32: quotation, high confidence - Gen 37:34: allusion, high confidence - Gen 39:12: allusion, high confidence - Gen 39:20: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 6.155–170 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 27:41 (Esau), Gen 34 (Simeon and Levi), Gen 37:28–34 (Joseph sold), and Gen 39:7–20 (Potiphar's wife). Bellerophon similarly refused the queen Anteia (Homer, Iliad 6.155–170). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/46/). ## Against Celsus 4.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/47/ - Source: Koetschau 1:319–320 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus lists the story of Joseph, his dreams, his kindness to his brothers, and the settlement in Goshen as if they were shameful, but gives no argument against any of it. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος ὁσίας ἕνεκεν μετὰ πάσης ἀσαφείας ὑπομιμνήσκεται τῶν ὀνειράτων τοῦ ἀρχισινοχόου καὶ τοῦ ἀρχισιτοποιοῦ καὶ τοῦ Φαραὼ καὶ τῆς λύσεως αὐτῶν ἐξ ἧς προήχθη ἀπὸ τῆς φυλακῆς ἐπὶ τὸ ἐμπιστευθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ Φαραὼ τὸν δεύτερον κατʼ Αἰγυπτίων θρόνον ὁ Ἰωσήφ τί οὖν ἄτοπον εἶχεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἱστορίας καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ὅτι αὐτὰ ἔθηκεν ἐν μέρει κατηγορίας ὁ ἀληθῆ λόγον ἐπιγράψας τὸν οὐ δόγματα ἐκτιθέμενον ἀλλὰ Χριστιανῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων κατηγορήσαντα; καὶ τοῖς πωλήσασί γε ἀδελφοῖς λιμώττουσι καὶ σταλεῖσι κατʼ ἐμπορίαν μετὰ τῶν ὄνων φησὶ χαριζόμενον τὸν πραθέντα πεποιηκέναι ἃ οὐδὲ παρέστησεν ὁ Κέλσος, καὶ τὸν ἀναγνωρισμὸν δὲ τίθησιν, οὐκ οἶδα τί βουλόμενος καὶ τί ἐμφαίνων ἄτοπον ἐκ τοῦ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ· οὐδὲ γὰρ, ὡς ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ Μώμῳ δυνατὸν ἦν τούτων εὐλόγως κατηγορεῖν, καὶ χωρὶς τῆς τροπολογίας ἐχόντων πολὺ τὸ ἀγωγόν, τίθησι δὲ καὶ τὸν εἰς δοῦλον πραθέντα Ἰωσὴφ ἐλευθερούμενον καὶ μετὰ πομπῆς ἐπανιόντα πρὸς τὸν τοῦ πατρὸς τάφον καὶ νομίζει κατηγορίαν περιέχειν τὸν λόγον εἰπὼν τό· ὑφʼ οὗ (δῆλον δʼ ὅτι τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ) τὸ λαμπρὸν καὶ θεσπέσιον Ἰουδαίων γένος, ἐπὶ πλῆθος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ σπαρὲν, ἔξω που παροικεῖν καὶ ποιμαίνειν ἐν τοῖς ἀτίμοις ἐκελεύσθη, καὶ προσέθηκεν ἀπὸ τῆς μισητικῆς ἑαυτοῦ προαιρέσεως τὸ ἐν ἀτίμοις αὐτοὺς κεκελεῦσθαι ποιμαίνειν, οὐ παραστήσας, πῶς Γεσὲμ ὁ Αἰγυπτίων νομὸς ἄτιμός ἐστι, τὴν δʼ ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἔξοδον τοῦ λαοῦ φυγὴν ὠνόμασεν, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπομνησθεὶς τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ γεγραμμένων περὶ τῆς ἐξόδου τῶν Ἑβραίων ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἐξεθέμεθα δὲ καὶ ταῦτα, παραδεικνύντες ὅτι καὶ τὰ μηδὲ κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν τοῦ κατηγορεῖσθαι φανέντα ἄξια ἔθηκεν ἐν μοίρᾳ κατηγορίας καὶ φλυαρίας ὁ Κέλσος, μὴ παραστήσας λόγῳ ὃ οἴεται μοχθηρὸν τῆς γραφῆς ἡμῶν. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus, for form's sake, mentions with complete obscurity the dreams of the chief cupbearer, the chief baker, and Pharaoh, and their interpretation, by which Joseph was brought from prison to be entrusted by Pharaoh with the second throne in Egypt. What absurdity, then, did the account of the story have even in itself, that he who entitled his book The True Word, which sets out no doctrines but accuses Christians and Jews, put these things forward as part of his accusation? And he says that the one who had been sold showed kindness to the brothers who had sold him, when they were starving and had been sent to trade with their donkeys; which Celsus did not even set out. And he includes the recognition, wanting I know not what, and showing no absurdity arising from the recognition; for not even Momus himself, so to speak, could reasonably accuse these things, which even without figurative interpretation have great charm. He includes also Joseph, sold as a slave, being set free and going up with a procession to his father's tomb, and thinks the account contains an accusation when he says: “by whom (clearly Joseph) the illustrious and divine race of the Jews, having grown to a multitude in Egypt, was ordered to live as sojourners somewhere outside and to pasture flocks in places of no honor.” From his hateful purpose he added that they were ordered to pasture flocks in places of no honor, without showing how Goshen, a district of Egypt, is without honor. And he called the people's exodus from Egypt a flight, not even mentioning at all what is written in Exodus about the departure of the Hebrews from the land of Egypt. We have set out these things too, to show that Celsus put in the category of accusation and nonsense things that did not appear worthy of accusation even literally, without showing by argument what he thinks is wrong in our Scripture. ### Scripture references - Gen 40:8: allusion, high confidence - Gen 41:40: allusion, high confidence - Gen 45:1: allusion, high confidence - Gen 50:7: allusion, high confidence - Gen 47:6: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:41: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 40–41 (the dreams), 42–45 (the brothers and the recognition), 50:7–14 (the procession to Jacob's tomb), and 46:34 and 47:6 (Goshen). Momus was the god of fault-finding. Celsus's book was titled The True Word (Ἀληθὴς λόγος). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/47/). ## Against Celsus 4.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/48/ - Source: Koetschau 1:320–321 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If any stories deserve shame, it is the Greek myths of gods castrating and devouring one another, which even Chrysippus allegorized obscenely; Christians therefore refuse to call God “Zeus” or give the sun and moon divine names. ### Greek text Εἶτα ὡς εἰς τὸ μισεῖν μόνον καὶ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι τῷ κατʼ Ἰουδαίους καὶ Χριστιανοὺς λόγῳ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδεδωκὼς, φησὶν ὅτι καὶ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν οἱ ἐπιεικέστεροι ταῦτʼ ἀλληγοροῦσι· λέγει δὲ αἰσχυνομένους ἐπὶ τούτοις καταφεύγειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλληγορίαν, εἶπε δʼ ἄν τις πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι, εἴπερ αἰσχύνης ἄξια τὰ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἐκδοχὴν χρὴ λέγειν μύθων καὶ ἀναπλασμάτων, εἴτε διʼ ὑπονοίας γεγραμμένων εἴτε ἄλλως ὁπωσοῦν· ἐπὶ τίνων τοῦτο ἢ ἐπὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν χρὴ λέγειν ἱστοριῶν; ἐν αἷς υἱοὶ θεοὶ πατέρας θεοὺς ἐκτέμνουσι καὶ πατέρες θεοὶ υἱοὺς θεοὺς καταπίνουσι, καὶ θεὰ μήτηρ ἀντιδίδωσιν υἱοῦ τῷ πατρὶ „ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε“ λίθον, καὶ πατὴρ θυγατρὶ μίγνυται, καὶ γυνὴ καταδεῖ τὸν ἄνδρα, συνεργοὺς εἰς τοὺς δεσμοὺς παραλαμβάνουσα τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ καταδουμένου καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τί με δεῖ καταλέγειν τὰς περὶ θεῶν ἀτόπους Ἑλλήνων ἱστορίας, αἰσχύνης αὐτόθεν ἀξίας καὶ ἀλληγορουμένας; ὅπου γε ὁ Σολεὺς Χρύσιππος, ὁ τὴν Στοὰν τῶν φιλοσόφων πολλοῖς συγγράμμασι συνετοῖς κεκοσμηκέναι νομιζόμενος, παρερμηνεύει γραφὴν τὴν ἐν Σάμῳ, ἐν ᾗ ἀῤῥητοποιοῦσα ἡ Ἥρα τὸν Δία ἐγέγραπτο, λέγει γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ συγγράμμασιν ὁ σεμνὸς φιλόσοφος ὅτι τοὺς σπερματικοὺς λόγους τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὕλη παραδεξαμένη ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῇ εἰς κατακόσμησιν τῶν ὅλων, ὕλη γὰρ ἡ ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὴν Σάμον γραφῇ ἡ Ἥρα καὶ ὁ θεὸς ὁ Ζεύς, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα δὴ ἡμεῖς καὶ διὰ τοὺς τοιούτους μύθους καὶ ἄλλους μυρίους οὐδὲ μέχρι ὀνόματος θέλομεν Δία καλεῖν τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν οὐδʼ Ἀπόλλωνα τὸν ἥλιον οὐδʼ Ἄρτεμιν τὴν σελήνην· ἀλλὰ καθαρὰν εὐσέβειαν εἰς τὸν δημιουργὸν ἀσκοῦντες καὶ τὰ καλὰ αὐτοῦ δημιουργήματα εὐφημοῦντες οὐδὲ μέχρι ὀνόματος χραίνομεν τὰ θεῖα, ἀποδεχόμενοι τοῦ Πλάτωνος τὸν ἐν Φιλήβῳ λόγον, μὴ βουληθέντος τὴν ἡδονὴν παραδέξασθαι θεόν· „τὸ γὰρ ἐμὸν, “ φησὶ, „δέος, ὦ Πρώταρχε, περὶ τὰ τῶν θεῶν ὀνόματα τοιόνδε ἐστίν, “ ἡμεῖς οὖν ἀληθῶς ἔχομεν „δέος“ περὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν καλῶν αὐτοῦ δημιουργημάτων, ὡς μηδὲ προφάσει τροπολογίας μῦθόν τινα παραδέξασθαι ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τῶν νέων. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as one who has given himself up only to hating and detesting the teaching of Jews and Christians, he says that “the more reasonable of the Jews and Christians allegorize these things”; and he says that, being ashamed of them, they take refuge in allegory. One might say to him: If the stories of myths and fictions in their first sense, whether written with hidden meaning or in any other way, must be called worthy of shame, to what should this be said if not to the Greek stories? In them sons who are gods castrate fathers who are gods, and fathers who are gods swallow sons who are gods, and a goddess mother gives to the father “of men and gods” a stone in place of her son, and a father has intercourse with his daughter, and a wife binds her husband, taking as helpers in the binding the brother of the one being bound and his daughter. And why must I list the absurd stories of the Greeks about the gods, obviously worthy of shame even when allegorized? For Chrysippus of Soli, who is thought to have adorned the Stoa of the philosophers with many intelligent writings, interprets a painting at Samos in which Hera was depicted performing an unspeakable act on Zeus. The dignified philosopher says in his writings that matter, having received the seminal principles of God, holds them in itself for the ordering of the universe; for in the painting at Samos Hera is matter and Zeus is God. For these reasons, then, and because of such myths and countless others, we do not want even to call the God over all by the name Zeus, nor the sun Apollo, nor the moon Artemis; but practicing pure piety toward the Creator and speaking well of his beautiful works, we do not defile divine things even by a name, accepting Plato's words in the Philebus, when he did not wish to admit pleasure as a goddess: “For my fear, Protarchus, about the names of the gods is such.” We truly have “fear,” then, about the name of God and of his beautiful works, so as not to accept any myth, even on the pretext of figurative meaning, to the harm of the young. ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Theog. 178–182, 459–491 (Hesiod, Theogony): allusion, high confidence - Homer, Il. 1.399–400 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence - Plato, Phileb. 12c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The myths are from Hesiod, Theogony (Cronus castrating Uranus, 178–182; swallowing his children, 459–491) and Homer, Iliad 1.399–400 (Hera, Poseidon, and Athena binding Zeus). Chrysippus's allegory of the Samian painting is also reported by Diogenes Laertius 7.187–188. The quotation is Plato, Philebus 12c. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/48/). ## Against Celsus 4.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/49/ - Source: Koetschau 1:321–323 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The biblical writers themselves read their histories figuratively: Paul allegorizes the ox, marriage, the Red Sea, the manna, and the rock, and the psalmist calls Israel's history parables and riddles. ### Greek text Εἰ δʼ ἀδεκάστως ἀνεγνώκει τὴν γραφὴν ὁ Κέλσος, οὐκ ἂν εἶπεν οὐχ οἷα ἀλληγορίαν ἐπιδέχεσθαι εἶναι τὰ γράμματα ἡμῶν, ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν προφητειῶν, ἐν αἷς τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας γέγραπται, οὐχ ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας ἔστι προσαχθῆναι καὶ ταῖς ἱστορίαις ὡς σκοπῷ τροπολογίας γεγραμμέναις καὶ σοφώτατα οἰκονομηθείσαις, ἐστοχασμένως τοῦ τε πλήθους τῶν ἁπλούστερον πιστευόντων καὶ τῶν ὀλίγων μετὰ συνέσεως ἐξετάζειν τὰ πράγματα βουλομένων ἢ καὶ δυναμένων, καὶ εἰ μὲν οἱ σήμερον νομιζόμενοι κατὰ Κέλσον ἐπιεικεῖς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν ἠλληγόρουν τὰ γεγραμμένα, τάχα ἂν πιθανόν τι λέγειν ὑπενοεῖτο ὁ Κέλσος· ἐπεὶ δʼ αὐτοὶ οἱ πατέρες τῶν δογμάτων καὶ συγγραφεῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα τροπολογοῦσι, τί ἐστιν ἄλλο ὑπονοῆσαι ἢ ὅτι οὕτως ἐγράφη, ὥστε τροπολογεῖσθαι αὐτὰ κατὰ τὸν προηγούμενον νοῦν; ὀλίγα δʼ ἀπὸ πάνυ πολλῶν παραθησόμεθα πρὸς τὸ δεῖξαι ὅτι μάτην συκοφαντεῖ τοὺς λόγους ὁ Κέλσος ὡς οὐχ οἵους τε ἐπιδέξασθαι ἀλληγορίαν, φησὶ δὴ ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος· „ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γέγραπται· οὐ φιμώσεις βοῦν ἀλοῶντα, μὴ τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ θεῷ; ἢ διʼ ἡμᾶς πάντως λέγει; διʼ ἡμᾶς γὰρ ἐγράφη ὅτι ὀφείλει ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ὁ ἀροτριῶν ἀροτριᾶν, καὶ ὁ ἀλοῶν ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι τοῦ μετέχειν, “ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν ὁ αὐτός· „γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι ἕνεκεν τούτου καταλείψει ἄνθρωπος τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ προσκολληθήσεται πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν, τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστὶν, ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν“· καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἄλλῳ τόπῳ· „οἴδαμεν δʼ ὅτι οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν πάντες ὑπὸ τὴν νεφέλην ἦσαν, καὶ πάντες διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης διῆλθον, καὶ πάντες εἰς τὸν Μωϋσῆν ἐβαπτίσαντο ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ.“ εἶθʼ ἑρμηνεύων τὴν περὶ τοῦ μάννα ἱστορίαν καὶ τὴν περὶ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐκ πέτρας ἐξεληλυθέναι ἀναγεγραμμένου παραδόξως τοιαῦτα λέγει· „καὶ πάντες τὸ αὐτὸ βρῶμα πνευματικὸν ἔφαγον, καὶ πάντες τὸ αὐτὸ πνευματικὸν ἔπιον πόμα· ἔπινον γὰρ ἐκ πνευματικῆς ἀκολουθούσης πέτρας, ἡ δὲ πέτρα ἦν ὁ Χριστός, “ παριστὰς δὲ ὁ Ἀσὰφ ὅτι „προβλήματα“ καὶ „παραβολαί“ εἰσιν αἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἔξοδον ἱστορίαι καὶ τοὺς Ἀριθμοὺς, ὡς ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν Ψαλμῶν γέγραπται, μέλλων αὐτῶν ὑπομιμνήσκεσθαι τοῦτον προοιμιάζεται τὸν τρόπον· „προσέχετε λαός μου τῷ νόμῳ μου, κλίνατε τὸ οὖς ὑμῶν εἰς τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ στόματός μου, ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου, φθέγξομαι προβλήματα ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ὅσα ἠκούσαμεν καὶ ἔγνωμεν αὐτὰ. καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν διηγήσαντο ἡμῖν.“ ### English translation (Claude) If Celsus had read the Scripture impartially, he would not have said that “our writings are not such as to admit allegory.” For from the prophecies, in which events of history are written, one can be brought, not from the history itself, to see that the histories too were written with the aim of figurative meaning and most wisely arranged, having regard both to the multitude of those who believe more simply and to the few who wish, or are able, to examine things with understanding. And if those who today are considered reasonable among the Jews and Christians, according to Celsus, were the ones who allegorized the Scriptures, Celsus might perhaps be thought to say something plausible; but since the very fathers of the doctrines and the writers themselves interpret such things figuratively, what else can one suppose than that they were written so as to be interpreted figuratively according to their primary sense? We shall set out a few out of very many passages to show that Celsus slanders the Scriptures in vain as not able to admit allegory. Paul the apostle of Jesus says: “It is written in the law, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.’ Is it for oxen that God cares? Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope and the thresher to thresh in hope of a share.” And elsewhere the same says: “For it is written, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is great; but I speak of Christ and the church.” And again in another place: “We know that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Then, interpreting the story of the manna and that of the water recorded to have come marvelously out of the rock, he says this: “And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed, and the rock was Christ.” And Asaph, showing that the stories of Exodus and Numbers are “problems” and “parables,” as is written in the book of Psalms, when about to recall them, begins in this way: “Attend, my people, to my law; incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter problems from the beginning, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 9:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:10: quotation, high confidence - Deut 25:4: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:31: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:32: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:1 (77:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:2 (77:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:3 (77:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 9:9–10 (Deut 25:4), Eph 5:31–32 (Gen 2:24), 1 Cor 10:1–4, and Ps 78:1–3 (77:1–3 LXX). The digital text reads εἰς τὸν Μωϋσῆς; corrected to Μωϋσῆν. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/49/). ## Against Celsus 4.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/50/ - Source: Koetschau 1:323–324 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The psalmist's prayer to see the wonders of God's law and the strange images of the prophets, like Ezekiel's dragon of Egypt, show that Scripture has hidden meanings; the Greek myths, by contrast, are silly and impious. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ ὁ Μωϋσέως νόμος μηδὲν εἶχεν ἐγγεγραμμένον διʼ ὑπονοιῶν δηλούμενον, οὐκ ἂν ὁ προφήτης εὐχόμενος ἔλεγε τῷ θεῷ· „ἀποκάλυψον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ κατανοήσω τὰ θαυμάσιά σου ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σου.“ νυνὶ δὲ ᾔδει ὅτι ἐστί τι „κάλυμμα“ ἀγνοίας ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῶν ἀναγινωσκόντων καὶ μὴ συνιέντων τὰ τροπολογούμενα ἐπικείμενον· ὅπερ „κάλυμμα περιαιρεῖται“ τοῦ θεοῦ δωρουμένου, ἐπὰν ἐπακούσῃ τῷ παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ πάντα ποιήσαντι καὶ διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γυμνάσαντι πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ καὶ ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ συνεχέστατα φήσαντι· „ἀποκάλυψον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ κατανοήσω τὰ θαυμάσιά σου ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σου.“ τίς δʼ ἀναγινώσκων δράκοντα ἐν τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ ποταμῷ ζῶντα καὶ τοὺς ἰχθύας ἐμφωλεύοντας αὐτοῦ ταῖς φολίσιν ἢ „ἀπὸ τῶν προχωρημάτων“ τοῦ Φαραὼ πληρούμενα τὰ Αἰγύπτου ὄρη, οὐ προάγεται αὐτόθεν πρὸς τὸ ζητῆσαι, τίς ὁ τοσούτων δυσωδῶν „προχωρημάτων“ αὐτοῦ πληρῶν τὰ Αἰγυπτίων ὄρη καὶ τίνα τὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὄρη καὶ τίνες οἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ποταμοὶ, περὶ ὧν αὐχῶν λέγει ὁ προειρημένος Φαραώ· „ἐμοί εἰσιν οἱ ποταμοὶ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐποίησα αὐτοὺς, “ καὶ τίς ὁ ἀνάλογον τοῖς ἀποδειχθησομένοις ἀπὸ τῆς ἑρμηνείας ποταμοῖς δράκων καὶ τίνες οἱ ἐν ταῖς φολίσιν αὐτοῦ ἰχθύες; καὶ τί με δεῖ ἐπὶ πλέον κατασκευάζειν τὰ μὴ δεόμενα κατασκευῆς. ἐφʼ οἷς λέγεται τὸ „τίς σοφὸς καὶ συνήσει ταῦτα; ἢ συνετὸς καὶ ἐπιγνώσεται αὐτά;“ ἐπὶ πλεῖον δʼ ἐξέτεινα τὸν λόγον βουλόμενος παραστῆσαι μὴ ὑγιῶς εἰρῆσθαι τῷ Κέλσῳ ὅτι οἱ ἐπιεικέστεροι Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν πειρῶνταί πως ἀλληγορεῖν αὐτὰ, ἔστι δʼ οὐχ οἷα ἀλληγορίαν ἐπιδέχεσθαί τινα ἀλλʼ ἄντικρυς εὐηθέστατα μεμυθολόγηται. πολλῷ γὰρ μᾶλλον τὰ Ἑλλήνων οὐ μόνον εὐηθέστατα ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσεβέστατα μεμυθολόγηται. τὰ γὰρ ἡμέτερα ἐστόχασται καὶ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἁπλουστέρων. ὅπερ οἱ τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ πλάσματα ποιήσαντες οὐκ ἐφυλάξαντο. διόπερ οὐκ ἀχαρίστως ὁ Πλάτων ἐκβάλλει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ πολιτείας τοὺς τοιουσδὶ μύθους καὶ τὰ τοιαδὶ ποιήματα. ### English translation (Claude) Moreover, if the law of Moses had nothing written in it that is revealed through hidden meanings, the prophet would not have said to God in prayer, “Uncover my eyes, and I will perceive the wonders of your law.” But as it is, he knew that there is a “veil” of ignorance lying on the heart of those who read and do not understand what is spoken figuratively; which “veil is taken away” by God's gift, when he hears the one who has done everything in his power, has trained his faculties by habit to distinguish good and evil, and has said most constantly in prayer, “Uncover my eyes, and I will perceive the wonders of your law.” And who, reading of a dragon living in the river of Egypt, and fish nestling in its scales, or of the mountains of Egypt filled “with the excrement” of Pharaoh, is not led at once to inquire who it is that fills the mountains of Egypt with such foul-smelling “excrement,” and what the mountains of the Egyptians are, and what the rivers in Egypt are, about which the aforesaid Pharaoh boasts, saying, “The rivers are mine, and I made them,” and who is the dragon corresponding to the rivers that will be shown by interpretation, and who are the fish in its scales? And why need I establish further what needs no establishing? Of such things it is said: “Who is wise, and will understand these things? Or intelligent, and will know them?” I have extended my discourse at some length because I wanted to show that Celsus did not speak soundly in saying that “the more reasonable of the Jews and Christians try somehow to allegorize these things, but they are not such as to admit any allegory, but are plainly very silly myths.” For far more are the Greek stories not only very silly but also very impious myths. For ours have regard also to the multitude of simpler people, which those who made the Greek fictions did not take care to do. That is why Plato, not without reason, expels such myths and such poems from his republic. ### Scripture references - Ps 119:18 (118:18 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:15: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:16: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:14: allusion, medium confidence - Ezek 29:3: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 29:4: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 32:6: allusion, medium confidence - Hos 14:9 (14:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 398a (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 119:18 (118:18 LXX), 2 Cor 3:15–16, Heb 5:14 (allusion), Ezek 29:3–4, Ezek 32:6 (LXX, “excrement”), and Hos 14:9 (14:10 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/50/). ## Against Celsus 4.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/51/ - Source: Koetschau 1:324–325 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus evidently never read the Jewish allegorists Philo and Aristobulus, whose work would impress Greek philosophers; even the Pythagorean Numenius quoted and allegorized Moses, the prophets, and a story about Jesus. ### Greek text Δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ ἀκηκοέναι ὅτι ἐστὶ συγγράμματα περιέχοντα τὰς τοῦ νόμου ἀλληγορίας, ἅπερ εἰ ἀνεγνώκει, οὐκ ἂν ἔλεγεν· αἱ γοῦν δοκοῦσαι περὶ αὐτῶν ἀλληγορίαι γεγράφθαι πολὺ τῶν μύθων αἰσχίους εἰσὶ καὶ ἀτοπώτεραι, τὰ μηδαμῆ μηδαμῶς ἁρμοσθῆναι δυνάμενα θαυμαστῇ τινι καὶ παντάπασιν ἀναισθήτῳ μωρίᾳ συνάπτουσαι. ἔοικε δὲ περὶ τῶν Φίλωνος συγγραμμάτων ταῦτα λέγειν ἢ καὶ τῶν ἔτι ἀρχαιοτέρων, ὁποῖά ἐστι τὰ Ἀριστοβούλου. στοχάζομαι δὲ τὸν Κέλσον μὴ ἀνεγνωκέναι τὰ βιβλία, ἐπεὶ πολλαχοῦ οὕτως ἐπιτετεῦχθαί μοι φαίνεται, ὥστε αἱρεθῆναι ἂν καὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἕλλησι φιλοσοφοῦντας ἀπὸ τῶν λεγομένων· ἐν οἷς οὐ μόνον φράσις ἐξήσκηται ἀλλὰ καὶ νοήματα καὶ δόγματα καὶ ἡ χρῆσις τῶν, ὡς οἴεται, ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν μύθων ὁ Κέλσος. ἐγὼ δʼ οἶδα καὶ Νουμήνιον τὸν Πυθαγόρειον. ἄνδρα πολλῷ κρεῖττον διηγησάμενον Πλάτωνα καὶ (περὶ) τῶν Πυθαγορείων δογμάτων πρεσβεύσαντα, πολλαχοῦ τῶν συγγραμμάτων αὐτοῦ ἐκτιθέμενον τὰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ οὐκ ἀπιθάνως αὐτὰ τροπολογοῦντα, ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Ἔποπι καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἀριθμῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ τόπου. ἐν δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ περὶ τἀγαθοῦ ἐκτίθεται καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἱστορίαν τινὰ, τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ οὐ λέγων, καὶ τροπολογεῖ αὐτήν· πότερον δʼ ἐπιτετευγμένως ἢ ἀποτετευγμένως, ἄλλου καιροῦ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν. ἐκτίθεται καὶ τὴν περὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ Ἰαννοῦ καὶ Ἰαμβροῦ ἱστορίαν. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐν ἐκείνῃ σεμνυνόμεθα, ἀποδεχόμεθα δʼ αὐτὸν μᾶλλον Κέλσου καὶ ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων βουληθέντα φιλομαθῶς καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα ἐξετάσαι καὶ κινηθέντα ὡς περὶ τροπολογουμένων καὶ οὐ μωρῶν συγγραμμάτων. ### English translation (Claude) He seems to me also to have heard that there are writings containing allegories of the law; had he read them, he would not have said: “At any rate, the allegories that seem to have been written about them are much more shameful and absurd than the myths, joining with some marvelous and utterly senseless folly things that can in no way be fitted together.” He seems to say this about the writings of Philo, or of those still older, such as those of Aristobulus. I conjecture that Celsus had not read the books, since in many places they seem to me so successful that even the philosophers among the Greeks would be won over by what is said; in them not only the style is polished, but also the thoughts and doctrines and the use of what Celsus thinks are the myths of the Scriptures. I know also that Numenius the Pythagorean, a man who expounded Plato far better and championed the Pythagorean doctrines, in many places in his writings sets out the words of Moses and the prophets and interprets them figuratively not implausibly, as in the work called Epops, and in his books On Numbers and On Place. And in the third book On the Good he sets out even a story about Jesus, without naming him, and interprets it figuratively; whether successfully or unsuccessfully, it is for another occasion to say. He sets out also the story of Moses, Jannes, and Jambres. We do not pride ourselves on it, but we approve of him more than Celsus and other Greeks, since he wished to examine our writings too with love of learning, and was moved by them as writings to be interpreted figuratively and not foolish. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 3:8: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Philo (Philo of Alexandria (works)): allusion, high confidence - Numenius (Numenius of Apamea): allusion, high confidence - Aristobulus, Aristob. (Aristobulus (fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Aristobulus was a Jewish philosopher of Alexandria (2nd century BC). Numenius of Apamea (2nd century AD) is known largely through fragments; On the Good is quoted by Eusebius. Jannes and Jambres are the Egyptian magicians named in 2 Tim 3:8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/51/). ## Against Celsus 4.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/52/ - Source: Koetschau 1:325 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus singles out the simple Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus as contemptible, and offers his own view that God made only immortal things and that human bodies do not differ from those of bats or frogs; Origen invites readers to judge the dialogue themselves. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ἐπιλεξάμενος ἀπὸ πάντων συγγραμμάτων. τῶν περιεχόντων ἀλληγορίας καὶ διηγήσεις μετὰ οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτου λέξεως, τὸ εὐτελέστερον καὶ δυνάμενον μέν τι πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ ἁπλουστέρους πίστεως χάριν συμβαλέσθαι οὐ μὴν οἷόν τε καὶ τοὺς συνετωτέρους κινῆσαι, φησίν· οἵαν δὴ καὶ Παπίσκου τινὸς καὶ Ἰάσονος ἀντιλογίαν ἔγνων, οὐ γέλωτος ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἐλέους καὶ μίσους ἀξίαν. ἔμοιγʼ οὖν οὐ ταῦτʼ ἐλέγχειν πρόκειται· ἔστι γὰρ παντί που δῆλα, καὶ μάλιστα εἴ τις ὑπομείναι καὶ ἀνάσχοιτο αὐτῶν ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν συγγραμμάτων. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο μᾶλλον ἐθέλω διδάξαι τὴν φύσιν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς οὐδὲν θνητὸν ἐποίησεν· ἀλλὰ θεοῦ μὲν ἔργα ὅσα ἀθάνατα. θνητὰ δʼ ἐκείνων. καὶ ψυχὴ μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον, σώματος δὲ ἄλλη φύσις. καὶ ταύτῃ γε οὐδὲν διοίσει νυκτερίδος ἢ εὐλῆς ἢ βατράχου ἢ ἀνθρώπου σῶμα· ὕλη γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ. καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν αὐτῶν ὅμοιον. οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον ἐβουλόμην πάνθʼ ὁντινοῦν. ἀκούσαντα δεινολογοῦντος Κέλσου καὶ φάσκοντος τὸ ἐπιγεγραμμένον σύγγραμμα Ἰάσονος καὶ Παπίσκου ἀντιλογίαν περὶ Χριστοῦ οὐ γέλωτος ἀλλὰ μίσους ἄξιον εἶναι, λαβεῖν εἰς χεῖρας τὸ συγγραμμάτιον καὶ ὑπομεῖναι καὶ ἀνασχέσθαι ἀκοῦσαι τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνʼ αὐτόθεν καταγνῶ τοῦ Κέλσου, μηδὲν εὑρίσκων μίσους ἄξιον ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ. ἐὰν δʼ ἀδεκάστως τις ἐντυγχάνῃ. εὑρήσει ὅτι οὐδʼ ἐπὶ γέλωτα κινεῖ τὸ βιβλίον. ἐν ᾧ ἀναγέγραπται Χριστιανὸς Ἰουδαίῳ διαλεγόμενος ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν γραφῶν καὶ δεικνὺς τὰς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προφητείας ἐφαρμόζειν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, καίτοι γε οὐκ ἀγεννῶς οὐδʼ ἀπρεπῶς τῷ Ἰουδαϊκῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ ἑτέρου ἱσταμένου πρὸς τὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) Next after this, picking out from all the writings that contain allegories and expositions in no contemptible style the one that is simpler, which can contribute something to the faith of the many and simpler people but cannot move the more intelligent, he says: “Such, for instance, is a certain dispute between one Papiscus and Jason which I came across, worthy not of laughter but rather of pity and hatred. It is not my task to refute these things; for they are surely clear to everyone, especially if one has the patience to endure listening to the writings themselves. But I want rather to teach this about nature: that God made nothing mortal, but the works of God are all that are immortal, and mortal things are theirs. And the soul is the work of God, but the nature of the body is different. And in this respect the body of a bat, or a worm, or a frog, or a man will not differ; for the matter is the same, and their corruptibility is alike.” Nonetheless I would want everyone who hears Celsus speaking vehemently and saying that the writing entitled the Dispute of Jason and Papiscus about Christ is worthy not of laughter but of hatred, to take the little work in his hands and have the patience to endure hearing what is in it, so that he may at once condemn Celsus, finding nothing worthy of hatred in the book. And if anyone reads it impartially, he will find that the book does not even move one to laughter; in it a Christian is recorded arguing with a Jew from the Jewish Scriptures and showing that the prophecies about Christ fit Jesus, although the other, in the person of the Jew, stands against the argument not ignobly or unfittingly. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 41a–d (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence - Aristo of Pella, Jas. Pap. (Aristo of Pella, Dispute of Jason and Papiscus): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Dispute of Jason and Papiscus, attributed to Aristo of Pella (2nd century), is lost. Celsus's view of the “immortal works of God” and “mortal things” made by them echoes Plato, Timaeus 41a–d. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/52/). ## Against Celsus 4.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/53/ - Source: Koetschau 1:325–326 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus contradicts himself in calling the dialogue worthy of both pity and hatred; Scripture's writers were sincere witnesses, and no teaching improves people as effectively as faith that God sees every word, deed, and thought. ### Greek text Οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως τὰ ἄμικτα καὶ οὐ πεφυκότα ἅμα συμβαίνειν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει συναγαγὼν εἶπε τὸ βιβλίον ἐκεῖνο ἐλέους καὶ μίσους ἄξιον εἶναι. πᾶς γὰρ ὁμολογήσει τὸν ἐλεούμενον μὴ μισεῖσθαι, ὅτʼ ἐλεεῖται, καὶ τὸν μισούμενον μὴ ἐλεεῖσθαι, ὅτε μισεῖται. διὰ τοῦτο δὲ μὴ προκεῖσθαι ἐλέγχειν φησὶ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος, ἐπεὶ οἴεται αὐτὰ παντί που δῆλα εἶναι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἐπαγομένου λογικῶς ἐλέγχου ὡς φαῦλα καὶ ἐλέους καὶ μίσους ἄξια. παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα τῇ ἀπολογίᾳ ταύτῃ πρὸς τὴν Κέλσου κατηγορίαν γεγραμμένῃ ἀνασχέσθαι καὶ ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν συγγραμμάτων ἡμῶν καὶ ὅση δύναμις ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων στοχάσασθαι τῆς προαιρέσεως τῶν γραψάντων καὶ τῆς συνειδήσεως καὶ τῆς διαθέσεως· εὑρήσει γὰρ ἄνδρας, διαπύρως περὶ ὧν ὑπειλήφασι διατεινομένους, τινὰς δὲ ἐμφαίνοντας καὶ τὸ ἱστορίαν ἑωραμένην καὶ καταληφθεῖσαν ἀναγράφειν ὡς παράδοξον καὶ γραφῆς ἀξίαν ἐπὶ ὠφελείᾳ τῶν ἀκουσομένων. ἢ τολμάτω τις λέγειν μὴ πάσης ὠφελείας εἶναι πηγὴν καὶ ἀρχὴν τὸ πιστεῦσαι τῷ τῶν ὅλων θεῷ καὶ πάντα πράττειν κατʼ ἀναφορὰν τοῦ ἐκείνῳ ἀρέσκειν περὶ οὑτινοσοῦν καὶ μηδὲν ἀπάρεστον αὐτῷ μηδʼ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι, ὡς οὐ μόνον λόγων καὶ ἔργων ἀλλὰ καὶ διαλογισμῶν κριθησομένων. καὶ τίς ἂν ἄλλος λόγος ἐπιστρεφέστερον προσάγοι τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν τῷ εὖ ζῆν ὡς ἡ πίστις ἢ ἡ διάληψις περὶ τοῦ πάντʼ ἐφορᾶν τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν τὰ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λεγόμενα καὶ πραττόμενα ἀλλὰ καὶ λογιζόμενα; παραβαλέτω γὰρ ὁ βουλόμενος ἄλλην ὁδὸν, ἐπιστρέφουσαν ἅμα καὶ βελτιοῦσαν οὐ μόνον ἕνα που καὶ δεύτερον ἀλλʼ ὅση δύναμις καὶ πλείστους ὅσους, ἵνα τις τῇ παραθέσει ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὁδῶν ἀκριβῶς κατανοήσῃ τὸν διατιθέντα πρὸς τὸ καλὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) I do not know how he combined things that cannot be mixed and do not naturally occur together in human nature, and said that book was worthy of pity and hatred. For everyone will admit that one who is pitied is not hated when he is pitied, and one who is hated is not pitied when he is hated. Celsus says that it is not his task to refute these things because he thinks they are surely clear to everyone as bad, and worthy of pity and hatred, even before a reasoned refutation is brought. But we urge the reader of this defense, written against Celsus's accusation, to have patience and to listen to our writings, and as far as possible to conjecture from what is written the purpose, conscience, and disposition of those who wrote them. For he will find men contending ardently for what they believed, and some showing that they are recording a history they saw and grasped as marvelous and worth writing for the benefit of those who would hear it. Or let anyone dare to say that it is not the source and beginning of every benefit to believe in the God of the universe, to do everything with reference to pleasing him in every matter whatever, and not even to think anything displeasing to him, since not only words and deeds but also thoughts will be judged. And what other teaching could bring human nature more effectively to a good life than the faith or conviction that the God over all sees what we say and do and even what we think? Let whoever wishes compare another way that turns and improves at once not just one or two people but as many as possible, so that by comparing both ways one may accurately perceive the teaching that disposes people toward the good. ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristo of Pella, Jas. Pap. (Aristo of Pella, Dispute of Jason and Papiscus): allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/53/). ## Against Celsus 4.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/54/ - Source: Koetschau 1:326–328 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus borrows from Plato's Timaeus the claim that God made only souls and lesser gods made bodies, but he gives no argument, whereas the Stoics and reason point to one God who made all things for a purpose. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐν ᾗ ἐξεθέμην τοῦ Κέλσου λέξει παραφραζούσῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ Τιμαίου τινὰ γέγραπται, ὡς ἄρα ὁ μὲν θεὸς οὐδὲν θνητὸν ἐποίησεν ἀλλὰ μόνα τὰ ἀθάνατα, τὰ δὲ θνητὰ ἄλλων ἐστὶν ἔργα. καὶ ψυχὴ μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον. σώματος δὲ ἄλλη φύσις. καὶ οὐδὲν διοίσει σῶμα ἀνθρώπου σώματος νυκτερίδος ἢ εὐλῆς ἢ βατράχου· ὕλη γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ, καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν αὐτῶν ὅμοιον· φέρε καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐπʼ ὀλίγον διαλάβωμεν, ἐλέγχοντες τὸν ἤτοι μὴ προσποιούμενον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ Ἐπικούρειον γνώμην ἢ, ὡς ἂν εἴποι ἄν τις, ὕστερον μεταθέμενον ἐπὶ τὰ βελτίω ἢ καὶ, ὡς ἂν (ἄλλος τις) λέγοι. τὸν ὁμώνυμον τῷ Ἐπικουρείῳ. τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἐχρῆν αὐτὸν ἀποφαινόμενον καὶ ἐναντία λέγειν οὐ μόνον ἡμῖν προθέμενον ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ἀγεννεῖ φιλοσόφων αἱρέσει τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Κιτιέως Ζήνωνος κατασκευάσαι ὅτι τὰ τῶν ζῴων σώματα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ὅτι ἡ τοσαύτη περὶ αὐτὰ τέχνη οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἐλήλυθε νοῦ. ἔδει δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ περὶ τῶν τοσούτων καὶ ὑπὸ ἐνυπαρχούσης ἀφαντάστου φύσεως διοικουμένων παντοδαπῶν φυτῶν καὶ πρὸς χρείαν γεγονότων οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητον ἐν τῷ παντὶ ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώποις διακονουμένων ζῴων, ὅπως ποτὲ ἄλλως ὄντων, μὴ ἀποφήνασθαι μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ διδάξαι ὅτι μὴ τέλειός τις νοῦς τὰς τοσαύτας ἐνεποίησε ποιότητας τῇ ὕλῃ τῶν φυτῶν. εἰ δʼ ἅπαξ θεοὺς ἐποίει δημιουργοὺς πάντων σωμάτων, ὡς μόνης ψυχῆς ἔργον οὔσης θεοῦ, πῶς οὐχὶ ἑξῆς ἦν τῷ μερίζοντι τὰ τοσαῦτα δημιουργήματα καὶ πολλοῖς διδόντι μετά τινος κατασκευάσαι οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτου λόγου θεῶν διαφορὰς. τῶνδε μὲν ἀνθρώπεια κατασκευαζόντων σώματα ἑτέρων δὲ φέρʼ εἰπεῖν κτήνεια καὶ ἄλλων θήρεια; ἐχρῆν δʼ αὐτὸν, ὁρῶντα θεοὺς δρακόντων καὶ ἀσπίδων καὶ βασιλίσκων δημιουργοὺς καὶ κατὰ ἄτομον εἶδος αὐτῶν τινας εἶναι δημιουργοὺς καὶ ἄλλους κατʼ εἶδος ἑκάστου φυτοῦ καὶ ἑκάστης βοτάνης, λέγειν τὰς αἰτίας τῶν μερισμῶν. ἴσως γὰρ ἂν ἐπιδοὺς ἑαυτὸν τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ τῆς τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον βασάνου ἤτοι ἐτήρει ἕνα θεὸν πάντων δημιουργὸν, πρός τι καὶ ἕνεκέν τινος ἕκαστον πεποιηκότα, ἢ μὴ τηρῶν ἑώρα τί χρὴ αὐτὸν ἀπολογήσασθαι περὶ ἀδιαφόρου τῇ αὐτοῦ φύσει πράγματος τοῦ φθαρτοῦ, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄτοπον τὸν ἐξ ἀνομοίων συνεστηκότα κόσμον ὑπὸ ἑνὸς γεγονέναι τεχνίτου, συμφερόντως τῷ ὅλῳ τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν εἰδῶν κατασκευάζοντος. ἢ τὸ ἔσχατόν γε ἔδει αὐτὸν περὶ τηλικούτου δόγματος μηδʼ ἀποφαίνεσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν, εἴπερ κατασκευάζειν οὐκ ἔμελλεν ἅπερ διδάσκειν ἐπηγγέλλετο· εἰ μὴ ἄρα ὁ ἐγκαλῶν τοῖς ψιλὴν πίστιν ἐπαγγελλομένοις αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς πιστεύειν ἐβούλετο οἷς ἀπεφήνατο, καίτοι γε οὐ τὸ ἀποφήνασθαι ἀλλὰ τὸ διδάξαι ἐπαγγειλάμενος. ### English translation (Claude) Since in the passage of Celsus I set out, which paraphrases certain things from the Timaeus, it is written that God made nothing mortal, but only immortal things, while mortal things are the works of others; and that the soul is the work of God, but the nature of the body is different; and that the body of a man will not differ from the body of a bat, or a worm, or a frog, for the matter is the same and their corruptibility is alike: come, let us discuss these things too for a little, refuting a man who either does not profess his own Epicurean opinion, or, as one might say, later changed to better views, or, as another might say, is a namesake of the Epicurean. For when he declared such things, he ought to have undertaken to contradict not only us but also the not ignoble school of philosophers descended from Zeno of Citium, and to establish that the bodies of animals are not works of God, and that the great skill shown in them did not come from the first Mind. He should also, about the many plants of every kind, governed by an indwelling nature without imagination and made for no contemptible use in the universe for men and for the animals that serve men, however else they may exist, not merely have declared but also have taught that it was not some perfect Mind that implanted such great qualities in the matter of plants. And if he once made gods the creators of all bodies, the soul alone being the work of God, how was it not consistent for one who divided up so many created things and gave them to many creators to establish, with some not contemptible argument, the differences among the gods, some making human bodies, others, say, the bodies of cattle, and others those of wild beasts? And seeing gods as creators of serpents, asps, and basilisks, and some as creators according to each individual species of them, and others according to the species of each plant and each herb, he should have stated the reasons for the divisions. For perhaps, if he had given himself to a precise examination of this subject, he would either have kept one God as creator of all things, who made each thing for some purpose and reason, or, not keeping to this, he would have seen what defense he had to make about corruptibility, a thing indifferent by its own nature, and that there is nothing absurd in a world composed of unlike things having been made by one craftsman, who formed the differences of species for the benefit of the whole. Or at the very least he should not have declared anything at all about so great a doctrine, if he was not going to establish what he professed to teach; unless, perhaps, he who accuses those who profess bare faith himself wanted us to believe what he declared, although he professed not to declare but to teach. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 41a–d (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus paraphrases Plato, Timaeus 41a–d and 42d–e. Origen repeatedly wonders whether this Celsus is the Epicurean of that name (see 4.36). “School” renders αἵρεσις in its neutral sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/54/). ## Against Celsus 4.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/55/ - Source: Koetschau 1:328 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Had Celsus read Genesis carefully, he would have noticed that “God made” is used for some creatures and not others, and asked to whom God's creative commands were addressed, rather than dismissing the account as meaningless. ### Greek text Οὔπω δὲ λέγω ὅτι, εἴπερ ὑπέμεινε καὶ ἠνέσχετο ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν, ὥς φησι, συγγραμμάτων Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, ἐπέστησεν ἂν, τί δήποτε τὸ μὲν „ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς“ ἐπʼ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς τέτακται καὶ τοῦ καλουμένου στερεώματος ἔτι δὲ καὶ φωστήρων καὶ ἀστέρων καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ κητῶν μεγάλων καὶ πάσης ψυχῆς „ζῴων ἑρπετῶν, ἃ ἐξήγαγε τὰ ὕδατα κατὰ γένη αὐτῶν, “ καὶ παντὸς πετεινοῦ πτερωτοῦ „κατὰ γένος“ καὶ ἑξῆς τούτοις ἐπὶ τῶν θηρίων „τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος“ καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν „κατὰ γένος“ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν „τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος“ αὐτῶν καὶ τελευταῖον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. μὴ εἰρημένου δὲ τοῦ „ἐποίησε“ περὶ ἑτέρων. ἀρκεῖται ὁ λόγος περὶ φωτὸς μὲν τῷ „ἐγένετο φῶς“ ἐπὶ δὲ συναγωγῆς μιᾶς παντὸς ὕδατος τοῦ ὑποκάτω παντὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ „ἐγένετο οὕτως“· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βλαστησάντων ἀπὸ γῆς, ὅτʼ „ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθʼ ὁμοιότητα καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπὸν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.“ καὶ ἐζήτησεν ἂν, εἰ αἱ γεγραμμέναι προστάξεις τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἕκαστον τοῦ κόσμου μέρος τίνι ἢ τίσιν εἴρηνται, καὶ οὐκ ἂν εὐχερῶς κατηγόρησεν ὡς ἀδιανοήτων καὶ μηδεμίαν σύνεσιν ἀπόῤῥητον ἐχόντων τῶν ἢ ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως ἐν τούτοις γεγραμμένων ἢ, ὡς ἡμεῖς εἴποιμεν ἂν, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν Μωϋσεῖ θείου πνεύματος, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ ἐπροφήτευσεν· ἐπεὶ μᾶλλον ᾔδει τά τʼ ἐόντα τά τʼ ἐσσόμενα πρό τʼ ἐόντα τῶν λεγομένων παρὰ τοῖς ποιηταῖς μάντεων ταῦτʼ ἐγνωκέναι. ### English translation (Claude) I do not yet say that if he had had the patience to endure listening to the writings, as he calls them, of Moses and the prophets, he would have noticed why the words “God made” are applied to heaven and earth, and to what is called the firmament, and further to the lights and stars, and after that to the great sea creatures and every soul “of creeping living things which the waters brought forth according to their kinds,” and every winged bird “according to its kind,” and next to the wild beasts “of the earth according to their kind,” and the cattle “according to their kind,” and all the creeping things “of the earth according to their kind,” and lastly to man; whereas “made” is not said of other things. For light the Scripture is content with “there was light”; for the gathering into one of all the water under the whole heaven, with “and it was so”; and likewise for the things that sprouted from the earth, when “the earth brought forth grass, plants yielding seed according to their kind and likeness, and fruit trees bearing fruit, whose seed is in it according to its kind on the earth.” And he would have inquired to whom, or to what beings, the recorded commands of God for the coming into being of each part of the world were spoken; and he would not easily have accused, as unintelligible and containing no secret meaning, what was written in these passages either by Moses or, as we would say, by the divine Spirit in Moses, from whom he also prophesied; since he knew “the things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were before” better than the seers spoken of by the poets are said to have known them. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:16: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:25: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 1.70 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gen 1:1, 7, 16, 21, 25, 27 (“God made”), and 1:3, 9, 12. “The things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were before” is Homer, Iliad 1.70, of the seer Calchas. Origen's point is that the commands “Let there be…” imply a hearer, namely the Word. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/55/). ## Against Celsus 4.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/56/ - Source: Koetschau 1:328–329 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If all bodies are the same because they share one matter, then human bodies are no different from the sun and stars, which the Greeks call gods; unless Celsus adopts Aristotle's fifth element, which Platonists and Stoics reject and which Scripture's perishing heavens contradict. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ ἐπεί φησιν ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι ψυχὴ μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον, σώματος δὲ ἄλλη φύσις. καὶ ταύτῃ γε οὐδὲν διοίσει νυκτερίδος ἢ εὐλῆς ἢ βατράχου ἢ ἀνθρώπου σῶμα· ὕλη γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ, καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν αὐτῶν ὅμοιον, λεκτέον καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον ὅτι εἴπερ. ἐπεὶ ἡ ὕλη ἡ αὐτὴ ὑπόκειται νυκτερίδος ἢ εὐλῆς ἢ βατράχου ἢ ἀνθρώπου σώματι. οὐδὲν διοίσει ἀλλήλων ταῦτα τὰ σώματα. δηλονότι οὐδὲν διοίσει τὰ τούτων σώματα ἡλίου ἢ σελήνης ἢ ἀστέρων ἢ οὐρανοῦ ἢ οὑτινοσοῦν ἄλλου λεγομένου παρʼ Ἕλλησιν αἰσθητοῦ θεοῦ. ὕλη γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ πᾶσι τοῖς σώμασιν ὑποκειμένη τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ ἄποιος καὶ ἀσχημάτιστος, τὰς ποιότητας οὐκ οἶδα κατὰ Κέλσον, τὸν μὴ θέλοντα φθαρτόν τι ἔργον εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ, ὑπὸ τίνος λαμβάνουσα. τὸ γὰρ φθαρτὸν ἀνάγκη παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποκειμένης ὕλης γεγενημένου ὅμοιον εἶναι κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον τῷ ἑαυτοῦ λόγῳ. εἰ μὴ ἄρα ἐνταῦθα ὁ Κέλσος θλιβόμενος ἀποπηδήσεται μὲν ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος, τοῦ ἔκ τινος κρατῆρος τὴν ψυχὴν ποιοῦντος, προσφεύξεται δὲ Ἀριστοτέλει καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ Περιπάτου, ἄϋλον φάσκουσιν εἶναι τὸν αἰθέρα, καὶ πέμπτης παρὰ τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα αὐτὸν εἶναι φύσεως· πρὸς ὃν λόγον οὐκ ἀγεννῶς καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς ἔστησαν. καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου καταφρονούμενοι στησόμεθα, ἀπαιτούμενοι διηγήσασθαι καὶ κατασκευάσαι τὸ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ λεγόμενον οὕτως· „οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμενεῖς· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς [ὡς ἱμάτιον], καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ.“ πλὴν ἀρκεῖ πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον καὶ ταῦτα ἀποφηνάμενον ὅτι ψυχὴ μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον, σώματος δὲ ἄλλη φύσις· οὗ τῷ λόγῳ ἠκολούθησε μηδὲν διαφέρειν νυκτερίδος ἢ εὐλῆς ἢ βατράχου σῶμα τοῦ αἰθερίου σώματος. ### English translation (Claude) Further, since Celsus says, “The soul is the work of God, but the nature of the body is different; and in this respect the body of a bat, a worm, a frog, or a man will not differ, for the matter is the same and their corruptibility is alike,” it must be said to this argument of his too: if, because the same matter underlies the body of a bat, a worm, a frog, or a man, these bodies will not differ from one another, then clearly the bodies of these will not differ from the sun, moon, stars, heaven, or any other of what the Greeks call perceptible gods. For the same matter underlies all bodies, by its own nature without quality and without shape; and from whom it receives its qualities, according to Celsus, who does not want anything corruptible to be the work of God, I do not know. For by Celsus's own argument the corruptibility of everything whatever that has come from the same underlying matter must be alike. Unless, perhaps, Celsus, hard pressed here, will leap away from Plato, who makes the soul from a kind of mixing bowl, and take refuge with Aristotle and the Peripatetics, who say that the ether is immaterial and of a fifth nature besides the four elements; against which view both the Platonists and the Stoics have stood firm, not ignobly. And we too, whom Celsus despises, will stand firm, when asked to explain and establish what is said in the prophet thus: “The heavens will perish, but you remain; and they will all grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same.” But this is enough against Celsus, who declared that “the soul is the work of God, but the nature of the body is different”; from whose argument it followed that the body of a bat, a worm, or a frog does not differ from the ethereal body. ### Scripture references - Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 41d (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence - Aristotle, Cael. 1.2–3 (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Plato's mixing bowl is Timaeus 41d; Aristotle's fifth element is in On the Heavens 1.2–3. The quotation is Ps 102:26–27 (101:27–28 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/56/). ## Against Celsus 4.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/57/ - Source: Koetschau 1:329–330 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul teaches that bodies differ in glory and that the resurrection body is raised in incorruption and power; God can change the qualities of matter, and even the popular belief that animals arise from corpses does not prove that bodies are not God's work. ### Greek text Ὅρα οὖν εἰ δεῖ τῷ μετὰ τοιούτων δογμάτων κατηγοροῦντι Χριστιανῶν προσθέσθαι καταλείποντα λόγον, διαφορὰν διδόντα διὰ τὰς ἐπικειμένας ποιότητας τοῖς σώμασι καὶ περὶ τὰ σώματα. ἴσμεν γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς ὅτι ἐστὶ „καὶ σώματα ἐπουράνια καὶ σώματα ἐπίγεια, “ καὶ ἄλλη μὲν „ἐπουρανίων“ σωμάτων „δόξα“ ἄλλη δὲ „ἐπιγείων, “ καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν „ἐπουρανίων“ ἡ αὐτή· „ἄλλη“ γὰρ „δόξα ἡλίου“ „καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων, “ καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς δὲ τοῖς ἄστροις „ἀστὴρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ.“ διὸ καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν „τῶν νεκρῶν“ ἀποδεχόμενοι μεταβολάς φαμεν γίνεσθαι ποιοτήτων τῶν ἐν σώμασιν· ἐπεὶ σπειρόμενά τινα αὐτῶν „ἐν φθορᾷ ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ, “ καὶ σπειρόμενα „ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ ἐγείρεται ἐν δόξῃ, “ καὶ σπειρόμενα „ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ ἐγείρεται ἐν δυνάμει, “ καὶ σπειρόμενα σώματα ψυχικὰ ἐγείρεται πνευματικά. περὶ δὲ τοῦ τὴν ὑποκειμένην ὕλην δεκτικὴν εἶναι ποιοτήτων, ὧν ὁ δημιουργὸς βούλεται, πάντες οἱ πρόνοιαν παραδεξάμενοι κατασκευάζομεν· καὶ βουλομένου μὲν θεοῦ ποιότης τοιαδὶ νῦν ἐστι περὶ τήνδε τὴν ὕλην ἑξῆς δὲ τοιαδὶ, φέρʼ εἰπεῖν, βελτίων καὶ διαφέρουσα. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ὁδοί εἰσι τεταγμέναι τῶν ἐν σώμασι μεταβολῶν, ἐξ οὗ κόσμος ἐστὶ καὶ ἐς ὅσον ἐστὶν, οὐκ οἶδα εἰ καινῆς διαδεξαμένης ὁδοῦ καὶ ἀλλοίας μετὰ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου φθορὰν, καὶ ἣν οἱ ἡμέτεροι λόγοι ὀνομάζουσι συντέλειαν, οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐξ ἀνθρώπου νεκροῦ μεταπλασσόμενος ὄφις, ὡς οἱ πολλοί φασι, γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ νωτιαίου μυελοῦ καὶ ἐκ βοὸς μέλισσα καὶ ἐξ ἵππου σφὴξ καὶ ἐξ ὄνου κάνθαρος καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἐκ τῶν πλείστων σκώληκες. οἴεται δὲ τοῦτο ὁ Κέλσος κατασκευαστικὸν εἶναι τοῦ μηδὲν τούτων ἔργον εἶναι θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὰς ποιότητας, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόθεν οὕτω τεταγμένας ἐκ τῶνδε τάσδε γίνεσθαι, οὐχὶ θείου τινὸς λόγου ἔργον εἶναι, τὰς ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ ποιότητας ἀμείβοντος. ### English translation (Claude) See, then, whether one must side with a man who accuses Christians with such doctrines, and abandon the teaching which grants a difference to bodies because of the qualities that lie upon and about them. For we too know that there are “heavenly bodies and earthly bodies,” and that the “glory” of the “heavenly” bodies is one and that of the “earthly” another; and not even that of the “heavenly” ones is the same, for “there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the stars,” and among the stars themselves “star differs from star in glory.” That is why, accepting the resurrection “of the dead,” we say that changes take place in the qualities in bodies; since some of them, sown “in corruption, are raised in incorruption,” and sown “in dishonor, are raised in glory,” and sown “in weakness, are raised in power,” and bodies sown natural are raised spiritual. That the underlying matter is receptive of whatever qualities the Creator wills, all of us who accept providence establish; and, God willing, there is now such and such a quality in this matter, and afterward such and such another, better, say, and different. And since there are set courses for the changes in bodies, from the time the world has existed and as long as it exists, and I do not know whether a new and different course will not follow after the destruction of the world, which our Scriptures call the consummation, it is not surprising if at present, as most people say, a serpent is formed from a dead man, coming from the spinal marrow, and a bee from an ox, a wasp from a horse, a beetle from a donkey, and, in a word, worms from most things. But Celsus thinks this establishes that none of these is the work of God, but that the qualities, ordered I know not from where, so that these come from those, are not the work of some divine Word who changes the qualities in matter. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:40: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:41: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:43: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:40–44. The generation of serpents from human marrow, bees from oxen, wasps from horses, and beetles from donkeys was a common ancient belief, reported here as what “most people say.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/57/). ## Against Celsus 4.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/58/ - Source: Koetschau 1:330–331 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus does not say whether every soul or only the rational soul is God's work; either way, since each body corresponds to its soul, a human body must differ from that of a bat or frog. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτό φαμεν τῷ Κέλσῳ εἰπόντι· ψυχὴ μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον, σώματος δὲ ἄλλη φύσις καὶ οὐ μόνον ἀκατασκευάστως τὸ τηλικοῦτον δόγμα ῥίψαντι ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀδιορίστως· οὐ γὰρ ἐσαφήνισε, πότερον πᾶσα ψυχὴ θεοῦ ἔργον ἢ μόνη ἡ λογική· φαμὲν τοίνυν πρὸς αὐτόν· εἰ μὲν πᾶσα ψυχὴ θεοῦ ἔργον, δηλονότι καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων καὶ εὐτελεστάτων, ἵνα καὶ παντὸς σώματος ἄλλη φύσις ᾖ παρὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς. ἔοικε μέντοι ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς. ἐν οἷς καὶ θεοφιλέστερα τὰ ἄλογα ζῷά φησιν ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ θείου τὴν ἔννοιαν ἔχειν καθαρωτέραν, παριστάνειν ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ψυχὴ ἔργον ἐστὶ τοῦ θεοῦ· τοῦτο γὰρ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ θεοφιλέστερα λέγεσθαι ἐκεῖνα ἡμῶν. εἰ δὲ μόνη ἡ λογικὴ ψυχὴ θεοῦ ἔργον ἐστὶ, πρῶτον μὲν οὐκ ἐσαφήνισε τὸ τοιοῦτον· δεύτερον δὲ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ ἀδιορίστως εἰρῆσθαι περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, ὡς οὐ πάσης ἀλλὰ μόνης τῆς λογικῆς οὔσης θεοῦ ἔργον. τὸ μηδὲ παντὸς σώματος (ἄλλην) εἶναι φύσιν. εἰ δὲ μὴ παντὸς σώματος ἄλλη φύσις, ἀλλʼ ἑκάστου ἐστὶ τὸ σῶμα ζῴου ἀνάλογον τῇ ψυχῇ, δῆλον ὅτι οὗ ψυχὴ θεοῦ ἔργον ἐστὶ, διαφέροι ἂν τὸ ταύτης σῶμα σώματος, ἐν ᾧ οἰκεῖ ψυχὴ οὐκ οὖσα ἔργον θεοῦ. καὶ οὕτω ψεῦδος ἔσται τὸ μηδὲν διοίσειν νυκτερίδος ἢ εὐλῆς ἢ βατράχου σῶμα παρὰ τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. ### English translation (Claude) We say this further to Celsus, who said, “The soul is the work of God, but the nature of the body is different,” and who threw out so great a doctrine not only without proof but also without definition; for he did not make clear whether every soul is the work of God, or only the rational soul. We say to him, then: If every soul is the work of God, clearly that of irrational and most worthless creatures is too, so that the nature of every body is different from that of the soul. He seems, however, in what follows, where he says that irrational animals are dearer to God than we are and have a purer notion of the divine, to represent not only the soul of men but much more that of irrational animals as the work of God; for this follows from saying that they are dearer to God than we are. But if only the rational soul is the work of God, first, he did not make this clear; and second, it follows from his speaking without definition about the soul, as if not every soul but only the rational one were the work of God, that the nature of every body is not different. And if the nature of every body is not different, but the body of each animal corresponds to its soul, clearly the body of the one whose soul is the work of God would differ from a body in which dwells a soul that is not the work of God. And so it will be false that the body of a bat, a worm, or a frog will not differ from that of a man. ### Translation notes - The claim that animals are dearer to God comes later in Celsus (see 4.88 and following). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/58/). ## Against Celsus 4.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/59/ - Source: Koetschau 1:331 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Just as buildings differ according to their use, so bodies differ according to the souls that dwell in them; no wise person would bury Socrates and his accuser Anytus with equal honor. ### Greek text Καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον λίθους μὲν λίθων καὶ οἰκοδομήματα οἰκοδομημάτων νομίζεσθαι εἶναι καθαρώτερα ἢ μιαρώτερα παρὰ τὸ εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ θείου κατεσκευάσθαι ἢ εἰς ἀτιμοτάτων σωμάτων καὶ ἐναγῶν ὑποδοχὴν, σώματα δὲ σωμάτων μὴ διαφέρειν παρὰ τὸ λογικὰ εἶναι τὰ ἐνοικήσαντα ἢ ἄλογα, καὶ λογικῶν τὰ σπουδαιότερα ἢ τοὺς φαυλοτάτους ἀνθρώπους. τὸ τοιοῦτόν γε πεποίηκε τολμῆσαί τινας ἀποθεῶσαι μὲν τὰ τῶν διαφερόντων σώματα ὡς δεξάμενα ψυχὴν σπουδαίαν. ἀποῤῥίψαι δὲ ἢ ἀτιμάσαι τὰ τῶν φαυλοτάτων· οὐχ ὅτι πάντως τὸ τοιοῦτον ὑγιῶς γεγένηται, ἀλλʼ ὅτι ἀπό τινος ἐννοίας ὑγιοῦς ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχήν. ἢ ὁμοίως ὁ σοφὸς μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν Ἀνύτου καὶ Σωκράτους φροντίσει τῆς ταφῆς τοῦ Σωκράτους σώματος καὶ τῆς Ἀνύτου καὶ τὸ παραπλήσιον ἀμφοτέροις κατασκευάσει ἠρίον ἢ τάφον; καὶ ταῦτα δὲ διὰ τὸ ὧν οὐδὲν ἔργον θεοῦ, τοῦ ὧν ἀναφερομένου ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου σῶμα ἢ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ὄφεων καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ βοὸς ἢ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος βοὸς μελισσῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἵππου ἢ ὄνου καὶ τῶν ἐξ ἵππου μὲν σφηκῶν ἐξ ὄνου δὲ κανθάρων, διʼ ἃ ἠναγκάσθημεν ἐπαναλαβεῖν καὶ τὸ ψυχὴ μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον, σώματος δὲ ἄλλη φύσις. ### English translation (Claude) For it is absurd that stones should be thought purer or more defiled than stones, and buildings than buildings, according as they have been built for the honor of the divine or to receive the most dishonorable and accursed bodies, while bodies should not differ from bodies according as their inhabitants are rational or irrational, and, among rational ones, according as they are the better people or the worst of men. Such a view has led some to dare to deify the bodies of eminent men as having received a good soul, and to cast out or dishonor those of the worst; not that such a thing has always been done soundly, but that it had its origin in a sound notion. Or will the wise man, after the death of Anytus and Socrates, care alike for the burial of the body of Socrates and that of Anytus, and build a similar monument or tomb for both? And we have said these things because of the phrase “of which none is the work of God,” the “of which” referring to the body of a man, or the serpents that come from the body, and to that of an ox, or the bees that come from the body of an ox, and to that of a horse or donkey, and the wasps from a horse and beetles from a donkey; on account of which we were compelled to take up again the statement, “The soul is the work of God, but the nature of the body is different.” ### Translation notes - Anytus was one of Socrates' accusers. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/59/). ## Against Celsus 4.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/60/ - Source: Koetschau 1:331–332 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's claim that all bodies share one changing nature applies equally to the heavenly bodies; whether matter itself endures depends on whether it is unbegotten or created, a question of natural philosophy Origen leaves aside. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς φησιν ὅτι κοινὴ ἡ πάντων τῶν προειρημένων σωμάτων φύσις καὶ μία ἐς ἀμοιβὴν παλίντροπον ἰοῦσα καὶ ἐπανιοῦσα. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ δῆλον ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων ὅτι οὐ μόνον τῶν προκατειλεγμένων σωμάτων κοινή ἐστιν ἡ φύσις ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν „ἐπουρανίων.“ καὶ εἴπερ τοῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει, δῆλον ὅτι κατʼ αὐτὸν, οὐκ οἶδα δὲ εἰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, μία ἐς ἀμοιβὴν παλίντροπον ἰοῦσά ἐστιν ἡ πάντων σωμάτων φύσις καὶ ἐπανιοῦσα. καὶ δῆλον μὲν ὅτι κατὰ τοὺς φθείροντας τὸν κόσμον τοῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει· πειράσονται δὲ δεικνύναι καὶ οἱ μὴ φθείροντες αὐτὸν μετὰ τοῦ μὴ προσίεσθαι „πέμπτον σῶμα“ ὅτι καὶ κατʼ αὐτοὺς μία ἐς ἀμοιβὴν παλίντροπον ἰοῦσα καὶ ἐπανιοῦσά ἐστιν ἡ πάντων σωμάτων φύσις. οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀπολλύμενον εἰς μεταβολὴν διαμένει· τὸ γὰρ ὑπο(κεί)μενον ἡ ὕλη ἀπολλυμένης τῆς ποιότητος διαμένει κατὰ τοὺς ἀγένητον αὐτὴν εἰσάγοντας. ἐὰν μέντοι γε δυνηθῇ τις παραδεῖξαι λόγος οὐκ ἀγένητον αὐτὴν ἀλλὰ πρός τινα χρείαν γεγονέναι, δῆλον ὅτι οὐχ ἕξει φύσιν περὶ διαμονῆς τὴν αὐτὴν τῷ ἀγένητος ὑποτεθεῖσθαι. ἀλλʼ οὐ ταῦτα νῦν πρόκειται ἀπαντῶσιν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατηγορίας φυσιολογεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Then next he says: “The nature of all the aforesaid bodies is common, and one, going and returning in a cycle of change.” To this too it is clear from what has been said that the nature is common not only to the bodies listed before but also to the “heavenly” ones. And if this is so, clearly, according to him (I do not know whether also according to the truth), the nature of all bodies is one, going and returning in a cycle of change. And it is clear that this is so according to those who make the world perishable; but those who do not make it perishable, while not admitting a “fifth body,” will also try to show that according to them too the nature of all bodies is one, going and returning in a cycle of change. So too what perishes remains in change; for the underlying matter remains when the quality perishes, according to those who hold that matter is unbegotten. But if some argument can show that matter is not unbegotten but was made for some use, clearly it will not have the same nature as regards permanence as it would if it were supposed unbegotten. But it is not our present task, in answering Celsus's accusations, to discuss natural philosophy. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:40: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The “fifth body” is Aristotle's ether (see 4.56). The heavenly bodies allude to 1 Cor 15:40. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/60/). ## Against Celsus 4.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/61/ - Source: Koetschau 1:332–333 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If nothing born of matter is immortal, then the world is either not born of matter or not immortal; either way Celsus's position leads to contradictions he cannot resolve. ### Greek text Φησὶ δʼ ὅτι καὶ ὕλης ἔκγονον οὐδὲν ἀθάνατον. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο λελέξεται ὅτι, εἴπερ ὕλης οὐδὲν ἔκγονον ἀθάνατον, ἤτοι ἀθάνατος ὅλος ὁ κόσμος καὶ οὐχ ὡς ὕλης ἐστὶν ἔκγονον ἢ οὐδʼ αὐτὸς χρῆμά ἐστιν ἀθάνατον. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀθάνατος ὁ κόσμος, ὅπερ ἀρέσκει καὶ τοῖς θεοῦ ἔργον εἰποῦσι μόνην τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ ἀπό τινος αὐτὴν κρατῆρος γεγονέναι λέγουσι. δεικνύτω ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ ἐξ ὕλης ἀποίου αὐτὸν γεγονέναι, τηρῶν τὸ ὕλης ἔκγονον οὐδὲν ἀθάνατον· εἰ δʼ, ἐπεὶ ὕλης ἔκγονόν ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀθάνατον ὁ κόσμος· θνητὸν ὁ κόσμος ἆρʼ οὖν καὶ φθειρόμενον ἢ μή; εἰ μὲν γὰρ φθειρόμενον, ὡς θεοῦ ἔργον ἔσται φθειρόμενον· εἶτʼ ἐν τῇ φθορᾷ τοῦ κόσμου τὸ ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ τί ποιήσει. λεγέτω ὁ Κέλσος· εἰ δὲ διαστρέφων τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ ἀθανάτου φήσει τῷ φθαρτῷ μὲν οὐ φθειρομένῳ δὲ ἀθάνατον αὐτὸν εἶναι, ὡς δεκτικὸν μὲν θανάτου οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ ἀποθνῄσκοντα. δῆλον ὅτι ἔσται τι κατʼ ἐκεῖνον θνητὸν ἅμα καὶ ἀθάνατον τῷ ἀμφοτέρων εἶναι δεκτικὸν, καὶ ἔσται θνητὸν οὐκ ἀποθνῇσκον, καὶ τὸ οὐ τῇ φύσει ἀθάνατον παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἀποθνῄσκειν ἰδίως λεγόμενον ἀθάνατον. κατὰ ποῖον οὖν σημαινόμενον διαστελλόμενος φήσει ὕλης ἔκγονον οὐδὲν ἀθάνατον; καὶ ὁρᾷς ὅτι πιεζόμενα αὐτὰ καὶ βασανιζόμενα τὰ ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι νοήματα διελέγχεται οὐκ ἐπιδεχόμενα τὸ γενναῖον καὶ ἀναντίῤῥητον. εἰπὼν δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐπιφέρει ὅτι τοῦδε μὲν πέρι ἀπόχρη τοσαῦτα· καὶ εἴ τις ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἀκούειν δύναιτο καὶ ζητεῖν. εἴσεται. ἴδωμεν οὖν ἡμεῖς οἱ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἀνόητοι, τί ἠκολούθησε τῷ κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν δυνηθῆναι καὶ ζητεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) He says also: “Nothing born of matter is immortal.” To this it will be said that if nothing born of matter is immortal, either the whole world is immortal and not as born of matter, or it too is not an immortal thing. If, then, the world is immortal, as is held even by those who said that only the soul is the work of God and say that it came from a certain mixing bowl, let Celsus show that it did not come from matter without qualities, if he keeps to “nothing born of matter is immortal.” But if, since the world is born of matter, it is not immortal, the world is mortal: is it then also perishing, or not? If perishing, it will perish as the work of God; then, in the perishing of the world, what will the soul, the work of God, do? Let Celsus say. But if, twisting the notion of the immortal, he says that it is immortal in the sense of being perishable but not perishing, as capable of death but not actually dying, clearly there will be something, according to him, both mortal and immortal at once, by being capable of both; and it will be a mortal thing that does not die, and what is not immortal by nature will be called immortal in a special sense because it does not die. In what distinct sense, then, will he say, “Nothing born of matter is immortal”? You see that the thoughts in his writings, when pressed and examined, are refuted, not admitting what is noble and incontestable. Having said these things, he adds: “On this subject so much is enough; and if anyone is able to hear and inquire further, he will know.” Let us then, whom he considers foolish, see what has followed from our being able to hear him and inquire even a little. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 41a–b (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The “mixing bowl” is Plato, Timaeus 41d; Timaeus 41a–b says the created gods are not immortal by nature but will not be dissolved, which Origen presses here. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/61/). ## Against Celsus 4.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/62/ - Source: Koetschau 1:333–334 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus claims the amount of evil in the world never changes, paraphrasing Plato's Theaetetus, but Plato's Timaeus implies that evils diminish after the earth is purified by flood. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς τούτοις τὰ διὰ πολλῶν καὶ οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτων λόγων ποικίλως ζητηθέντα περὶ φύσεως κακῶν καὶ διαφόρως ἑρμηνευθέντα διʼ ὀλίγων λεξειδίων οἴεται δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς μαθεῖν, φάσκων· κακὰ δʼ ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν οὔτε πρόσθεν οὔτε νῦν οὔτε αὖθις ἥττω καὶ πλείω γένοιτʼ ἄν· μία γὰρ ἡ τῶν ὅλων φύσις καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ, καὶ κακῶν γένεσις ἀεὶ ἡ αὐτή. ἔοικε δὲ καὶ ταῦτʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ Θεαιτήτῳ παραπεφράσθαι, ἐν οἷς ἔλεγεν ὁ παρὰ Πλάτωνι Σωκράτης· „ἀλλʼ οὔτε τὰ κακὰ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀπολέσθαι δυνατὸν οὔτε παρὰ θεοῖς αὐτὰ ἱδρύσθαι“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ δοκεῖ μοι μηδὲ Πλάτωνος ἀκριβῶς ἀκηκοέναι ὁ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐκπεριλαμβάνων ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ τούτῳ συγγράμματι καὶ ἐπιγράφων ἀληθῆ λόγον τὸ καθʼ ἡμῶν ἑαυτοῦ βιβλίον. ἡ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ λέξις φάσκουσα· „ὅταν δʼ οἱ θεοὶ τὴν γῆν ὕδατι καθαίρωσι“ δεδήλωκεν ὅτι καθαιρομένη ἡ γῆ τοῖς ὕδασιν ἥττονα ἔχει τὰ κακὰ παρὰ τὸν πρὸ τοῦ καθαίρεσθαι χρόνον. καὶ τοῦτό φαμεν κατὰ Πλάτωνα, τὸ ἥττονα εἶναί ποτε τὰ κακὰ, διὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ Θεαιτήτῳ λέξιν, φάσκουσαν μὴ δύνασθαι „ἀπολέσθαι ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τὰ κακά.“ ### English translation (Claude) Next after this he thinks that we can learn, through a few petty phrases, what has been variously investigated through many not contemptible arguments about the nature of evils and differently interpreted, saying: “Evils among beings could be neither fewer nor more, either before, or now, or again; for the nature of the universe is one and the same, and the origin of evils is always the same.” He seems to have paraphrased this too from the Theaetetus, where Socrates in Plato said: “But it is not possible for evils to perish from among men, nor for them to be established among the gods,” and so on. And it seems to me that he who includes the truth in this one treatise and entitles his book against us The True Word has not even listened to Plato accurately. For the passage in the Timaeus which says, “When the gods purify the earth with water,” has shown that the earth, when purified by the waters, has fewer evils than in the time before it was purified. And we say that according to Plato evils are at times fewer, because of the passage in the Theaetetus which says that “evils cannot perish from among men.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Theaet. 176a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Tim. 22d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Plato, Theaetetus 176a, and Timaeus 22d. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/62/). ## Against Celsus 4.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/63/ - Source: Koetschau 1:334 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen rejects Celsus's claim that the amount of evil is fixed, citing Chrysippus's history of how prostitution spread step by step into the cities. ### Greek text Οὐκ οἶδα δὲ τίνα τρόπον πρόνοιαν τιθεὶς ὅσον ἐπὶ ταῖς λέξεσι τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου οὔτε πλείονα οὔτʼ ἐλάττονα ἀλλʼ οἱονεὶ ὡρισμένα φησὶν εἶναι τὰ κακὰ, ἀναιρῶν δόγμα κάλλιστον περὶ τοῦ ἀόριστον εἶναι τὴν κακίαν καὶ τὰ κακὰ καὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ ἄπειρα. καὶ ἔοικε τῷ μήτε ἥττω μήτε πλείονα κακὰ γεγονέναι ἢ εἶναι ἢ ἔσεσθαι ἀκολουθεῖν ὅτι, ὥσπερ κατὰ τοὺς ἄφθαρτον τὸν κόσμον τηροῦντας τὸ ἰσοστάσιον τῶν στοιχείων ἀπὸ τῆς προνοίας γίνεται, οὐκ ἐπιτρεπούσης πλεονεκτεῖν τὸ ἕν αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ ὁ κόσμος φθαρῇ· οὕτως οἱονεὶ πρόνοιά τις ἐφέστηκε τοῖς κακοῖς, τοσοῖσδε τυγχάνουσιν, ἵνα μήτε πλείονα γένηται μήτε ἥττονα. καὶ ἄλλως δʼ ἐλέγχεται ὁ τοῦ Κέλσου περὶ τῶν κακῶν λόγος ἀπὸ τῶν ἐξετασάντων φιλοσόφων τὰ περὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν καὶ παραστησάντων καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν ἔξω πόλεως καὶ προσωπεῖα περικείμεναι αἱ ἑταῖραι ἐξεμίσθουν ἑαυτὰς τοῖς βουλομένοις. εἶθʼ ὕστερον καταφρονήσασαι ἀπέθεντο τὰ προσωπεῖα καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν νόμων μὴ ἐπιτρεπόμεναι εἰσιέναι εἰς τὰς πόλεις ἔξω ἦσαν αὐτῶν, πλείονος δὲ τῆς διαστροφῆς γινομένης ὁσημέραι ἐτόλμησαν καὶ εἰς τὰς πόλεις εἰσελθεῖν. ταῦτα δὲ Χρύσιππός φησιν ἐν τῇ περὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν εἰσαγωγῇ. ὅθεν ὡς τῶν κακῶν πλειόνων καὶ ἡττόνων γινομένων ἔστι λαβεῖν ὅτι οἱ καλούμενοι ἀμφίβολοι ἦσάν ποτε προεστηκότες, πάσχοντες καὶ διατιθέντες καὶ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῶν εἰσιόντων δουλεύοντες· ὕστερον δὲ οἱ ἀγορανόμοι τούτους ἐξῶσαν. καὶ περὶ μυρίων δʼ ἂν τῶν ἀπὸ κεχυμένης τῆς κακίας ἐπεισελθόντων τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅτι πρότερον οὐκ ἦν. αἱ γοῦν ἀρχαιόταται ἱστορίαι. καίτοι γε μυρία ὅσα κατηγοροῦσαι τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων, ἀῤῥητοποιοὺς οὐκ ἴσασι. ### English translation (Claude) I do not know how, while positing providence (at least as far as the words of this book go), he says that evils are neither more nor fewer but, as it were, fixed in number, doing away with the finest doctrine, that vice and evils are unlimited and by their own nature boundless. And it seems to follow from the claim that evils neither have been nor are nor will be fewer or more, that, just as according to those who hold the world to be indestructible the balance of the elements comes about by providence, which does not allow any one of them to gain the upper hand, so that the world may not perish, so, as it were, some providence presides over evils, which happen to be just so many, so that they become neither more nor fewer. Celsus's account of evils is refuted in another way too, by the philosophers who have examined questions of good and evil, and who have shown from history as well that at first courtesans hired themselves out to any who wished outside the city, wearing masks; then later, growing contemptuous, they laid the masks aside, and, not being permitted by the laws to enter the cities, they stayed outside them; but as corruption grew day by day, they dared to enter the cities too. Chrysippus says this in his Introduction to Goods and Evils. From this, since evils become more and fewer, one can gather that those called ambiguous once stood in public, suffering and inflicting outrage and serving the lusts of those who came in, but that later the market officials drove them out. And about countless things that have entered human life from the spreading of vice one could say that formerly they did not exist. At any rate, the most ancient histories, though they accuse sinners of countless things, do not know of those who commit unspeakable acts. ### Extrabiblical texts - Chrysippus, Introduction to Goods and Evils (Chrysippus): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Origen reports the lost Introduction to Goods and Evils of Chrysippus. The Greek ἀμφίβολοι ("ambiguous") is unusual; it apparently denotes male prostitutes, perhaps effeminate men, who took both roles; the exact sense is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/63/). ## Against Celsus 4.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/64/ - Source: Koetschau 1:334–335 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Though the nature of the universe is one, its states vary, as a man's moral state varies, so evils increase and decrease, and providence cleanses the world by flood and fire. ### Greek text Πῶς ἐκ τούτων καὶ τῶν παραπλησίων οὐ καταγέλαστος φαίνεται Κέλσος, οἰόμενος τὰ κακὰ μήτε πλείω μήτε ἥττω γενέσθαι ποτʼ ἄν; εἰ γὰρ καὶ μία τῶν ὅλων φύσις καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ, οὐ πάντως καὶ ἡ τῶν κακῶν γένεσις ἀεὶ ἡ αὐτή. ὡς γὰρ μιᾶς καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς οὔσης τῆς τοῦδέ τινος ἀνθρώπου φύσεως οὐκ ἀεὶ τὰ αὐτά ἐστι περὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς πράξεις, ὁτὲ μὲν οὔτε λόγον ἀνειληφότος ὁτὲ δὲ μετὰ τοῦ λόγου κακίαν, καὶ ταύτην ἤτοι ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἢ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον χεομένην, καὶ ἔστιν ὅτε προτραπέντος ἐπʼ ἀρετὴν καὶ προκόπτοντος ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἢ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον καὶ ἐνίοτε φθάνοντος καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐν πλείοσι θεωρίαις γινομένην ἢ ἐν ἐλάττοσιν. οὕτως ἔστιν εἰπεῖν μᾶλλον καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων φύσεως ὅτι, εἰ καὶ μία ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ τῷ γένει, ἀλλʼ οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ ἀεὶ οὐδʼ ὁμογενῆ συμβαίνει ἐν τοῖς ὅλοις· οὔτε γὰρ εὐφορίαι ἀεὶ οὔτʼ ἀφορίαι ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐπομβρίαι οὔτε αὐχμοί· οὕτω δὲ οὐδὲ ψυχῶν κρειττόνων εὐφορίαι τεταγμέναι ἢ ἀφορίαι, καὶ χειρόνων ἐπὶ πλεῖον χύσις ἢ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον. καὶ ἀναγκαῖός γε τοῖς ἀκριβοῦν πάντα κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν βουλομένοις ὁ περὶ τῶν κακῶν λόγος, οὐ μενόντων ἀεὶ ἐν ταὐτῷ διὰ τὴν ἤτοι τηροῦσαν τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς πρόνοιαν ἢ κατακλυσμοῖς καὶ ἐκπυρώσεσι καθαίρουσαν, καὶ τάχα οὐ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ. δεομένῳ καθαρσίου, ὅταν πολλὴ ἡ κακία γένηται ἐν αὐτῷ. ### English translation (Claude) How, from these and similar facts, does Celsus not appear ridiculous, thinking that evils could never become more or fewer? For even if the nature of the universe is one and the same, it does not follow at all that the origin of evils is always the same. For just as, though the nature of this or that particular man is one and the same, the state of his ruling faculty, his reason, and his actions is not always the same (at one time he has not yet acquired reason, at another he has vice together with reason, and this spread either more or less widely; and sometimes he has been turned toward virtue and makes more or less progress, and occasionally he even attains virtue itself, and that in more or in fewer contemplations), so one can say still more of the nature of the universe that, even if it is one and the same in kind, the same things, or things of the same kind, do not always happen in the universe. For there are not always good harvests, nor always bad ones, nor always floods of rain, nor always droughts; and in the same way neither the good harvests nor the bad of better souls are fixed, nor is the outpouring of worse souls always greater or less. And for those who wish to examine everything as precisely as possible, the account of evils is necessary: evils do not always remain at the same level, because of the providence that either preserves what is on earth or cleanses it by floods and conflagrations, and perhaps not only what is on earth but also what is in the whole world, when it needs cleansing because vice has become great in it. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/64/). ## Against Celsus 4.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/65/ - Source: Koetschau 1:335–336 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's claim that philosophers can explain evil, Origen says its origin can be known only by God's revelation, including the fall of the devil and his angels. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος· τίς ἡ τῶν κακῶν γένεσις, οὐ ῥᾴδιον μὲν γνῶναι τῷ μὴ φιλοσοφήσαντι, ἐξαρκεῖ δʼ εἰς πλῆθος εἰρῆσθαι ὡς ἐκ θεοῦ μὲν οὐκ ἔστι κακὰ, ὕλῃ δὲ πρόσκειται καὶ τοῖς θνητοῖς ἐμπολιτεύεται· ὁμοία δʼ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος ἡ τῶν θνητῶν περίοδος, καὶ κατὰ τὰς τεταγμένας ἀνακυκλήσεις ἀνάγκη τὰ αὐτὰ ἀεὶ καὶ γεγονέναι καὶ εἶναι καὶ ἔσεσθαι. καὶ ὁ μὲν Κέλσος φησὶ τὴν τῶν κακῶν γένεσιν οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἶναι γνῶναι τῷ μὴ φιλοσοφήσαντι, ὡς τοῦ μὲν φιλοσοφοῦντος γνῶναι τὴν γένεσιν αὐτῶν δυναμένου ῥᾳδίως, τοῦ δὲ μὴ φιλοσοφοῦντος οὐ ῥᾳδίως μὲν οἵου τε ὄντος θεωρεῖν τὴν γένεσιν τῶν κακῶν, πλὴν εἰ καὶ μετὰ καμάτου ἀλλά γε δυνατοῦ ὄντος γνῶναι. ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτό φαμεν ὅτι τὴν τῶν κακῶν γένεσιν οὐδὲ τῷ φιλοσοφήσαντι γνῶναι ῥᾴδιον, τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ τούτοις καθαρῶς αὐτὴν γνῶναι δυνατὸν, ἐὰν μὴ θεοῦ ἐπιπνοίᾳ καὶ τίνα τὰ κακὰ τρανωθῇ καὶ πῶς ὑπέστη δηλωθῇ καὶ τίνα τρόπον ἀφανισθήσεται νοηθῇ. ἐν κακοῖς γοῦν οὔσης καὶ τῆς περὶ θεοῦ ἀγνοίας, ὄντος δὲ μεγίστου κακοῦ καὶ τοῦ μὴ εἰδέναι τὸν τρόπον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ θεραπείας καὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐσεβείας, πάντως μὲν καὶ κατὰ Κέλσον τινὲς τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων οὐκ ἔγνωσαν, ὅπερ δῆλόν ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν διαφόρων ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ αἱρέσεων· καθʼ ἡμᾶς δὲ οὐδεὶς μὴ ἐγνωκὼς κακὸν εἶναι τὸ νομίζειν εὐσέβειαν σῴζεσθαι ἐν τοῖς καθεστηκόσι κατὰ τὰς κοινότερον νοουμένας πολιτείας νόμοις οἷός τε ἔσται τὴν γένεσιν γνῶναι τῶν κακῶν. καὶ οὐδεὶς μὴ διαλαβὼν τὰ περὶ τοῦ καλουμένου διαβόλου καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ, τίς τε πρὸ τοῦ διάβολος γεγενῆσθαι οὗτος ἦν καὶ πῶς γεγένηται διάβολος καὶ τίς ἡ αἰτία τοῦ συναποστῆναι αὐτῷ τοὺς καλουμένους αὐτοῦ ἀγγέλους, οἷός τε ἔσται γνῶναι τὴν γένεσιν τῶν κακῶν. δεῖ δὲ τὸν μέλλοντα ταύτην εἰδέναι καὶ περὶ δαιμόνων ἀκριβέστερον διειληφέναι ὅτι τε μή εἰσι, καθὸ δαίμονές εἰσι, δημιουργήματα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ μόνον καθὸ λογικοί τινες, καὶ πόθεν ἐληλύθασιν ἐπὶ τὸ τοιοῦτοι γενέσθαι, ὡς ἐν καταστάσει δαιμόνων αὐτῶν ὑποστῆναι τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. εἴπερ οὖν ἄλλος τις τόπος τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐξετάσεως δεόμενος δυσθήρατός ἐστι τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν, ἐν τούτοις καὶ ἡ τῶν κακῶν ταχθείη ἂν γένεσις. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus says: "What the origin of evils is, is not easy for one who has not studied philosophy to know; but it is enough to say to the multitude that evils do not come from God, but cleave to matter and dwell among mortals; and the cycle of mortal things is alike from beginning to end, and according to the appointed revolutions the same things must always have happened, be happening, and be going to happen." Celsus says that the origin of evils is not easy to know for one who has not studied philosophy, as though the philosopher could know their origin easily, while the non-philosopher cannot easily discern the origin of evils, though he can know it, if only with toil. But we say in reply to this too that the origin of evils is not easy to know even for one who has studied philosophy, and perhaps even for such people it is not possible to know it purely, unless by God's inspiration it is made clear what evils are, and shown how they came into being, and understood in what way they will be done away with. At any rate, since ignorance about God is among evils, and not to know the manner of worshipping God and of piety toward him is the greatest evil, certainly, even according to Celsus, some of those who studied philosophy did not know it, as is clear from the different schools in philosophy. But in our view no one who has not come to know that it is an evil to think piety is preserved in the laws established according to the commonly understood constitutions of states will be able to know the origin of evils. And no one who has not grasped the facts about the one called the devil and his angels (who this one was before he became the devil, how he became the devil, and what the cause was of those called his angels revolting along with him) will be able to know the origin of evils. And one who is to know it must also have understood more exactly about demons, that, insofar as they are demons, they are not God's creations, but only insofar as they are rational beings, and whence they came to be such that their ruling faculty took on the condition of demons. If, then, any other subject among those in human life that need examination is hard for our nature to track down, the origin of evils would be counted among them. ### Translation notes - On αἱρέσεις here: the "schools" of philosophy (neutral sense). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/65/). ## Against Celsus 4.66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/66/ - Source: Koetschau 1:336–337 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Evil does not come from God, but neither from matter: the only true evil is the vice each person's own mind produces, and the deeds that flow from it. ### Greek text Εἶτα, ὡς ἔχων μέν τινα περὶ τῆς τῶν κακῶν γενέσεως εἰπεῖν ἀποῤῥητότερα σιωπῶν δʼ ἐκεῖνα καὶ τὰ πλήθεσιν ἁρμόζοντα λέγων, φησὶ τὸ ἐξαρκεῖν εἰρῆσθαι εἰς πλῆθος περὶ τῆς τῶν κακῶν γενέσεως ὡς ἐκ θεοῦ μὲν οὐκ ἔστι κακὰ, ὕλῃ δὲ πρόσκειται καὶ τοῖς θνητοῖς ἐμπολιτεύεται. ἀληθὲς μὲν οὖν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι κακὰ ἐκ θεοῦ· καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν γὰρ ἡμῶν σαφὲς ὅτι „ἐκ στόματος κυρίου οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται τὰ κακὰ καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν“· τὸ δὲ τὴν ὕλην τοῖς θνητοῖς ἐμπολιτευομένην αἰτίαν εἶναι τῶν κακῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἀληθές. τὸ γὰρ ἑκάστου ἡγεμονικὸν αἴτιον τῆς ὑποστάσης ἐν αὐτῷ κακίας ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ τὸ κακόν· κακὰ δὲ καὶ αἱ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς πράξεις. καὶ ἄλλο οὐδὲν ὡς πρὸς ἀκριβῆ λόγον καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐστι κακόν. ἀλλʼ οἶδα τὸν λόγον δεόμενον πολλῆς ἐξεργασίας καὶ κατασκευῆς, χάριτι θεοῦ, φωτίζοντος τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν, δυναμένων γενέσθαι τῷ κριθέντι ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἀξίῳ καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον γνώσεως. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as one who could say something more secret about the origin of evils but keeps silent about it and says what suits the multitude, he says that it is enough to say to the multitude about the origin of evils that "evils do not come from God, but cleave to matter and dwell among mortals." It is true, then, that evils do not come from God; for according to our Jeremiah too it is plain that "out of the mouth of the Lord shall not come evil things and the good." But that matter dwelling among mortals is the cause of evils is not true in our view. For the ruling faculty of each person is the cause of the vice that exists in it, which is evil; and the actions that come from it are evils too. And nothing else, in our view, strictly speaking, is evil. But I know that this subject needs much working out and argument, which can come, by the grace of God who enlightens the ruling faculty, to the one judged by God worthy of knowledge on this topic as well. ### Scripture references - Lam 3:38: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Lam 3:38 (ascribed to Jeremiah); Origen's reading makes the verse a denial that evil comes from God's mouth. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/66/). ## Against Celsus 4.67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/67/ - Source: Koetschau 1:337–338 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If history repeats itself exactly in cycles, as Celsus claims, free will and moral praise and blame disappear, and Celsus himself must write his book endlessly again. ### Greek text Οὐκ οἶδα δὲ πῶς χρήσιμον ἔδοξε τῷ Κέλσῳ καθʼ ἡμῶν γράφοντι παραῤῥίψαι δόγμα, πολλῆς δεόμενον κἂν δοκούσης ἀποδείξεως, κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν παριστάσης ὅτι ὁμοία ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν θνητῶν περίοδος, καὶ κατὰ τὰς τεταγμένας ἀνακυκλήσεις ἀνάγκη τὰ αὐτὰ ἀεὶ καὶ γεγονέναι καὶ εἶναι καὶ ἔσεσθαι. ὅπερ ἐὰν ᾖ ἀληθὲς. τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἀνῄρηται. εἰ γὰρ κατὰ (τὰς) τεταγμένας ἀνακυκλήσεις ἀνάγκη τὰ αὐτὰ ἀεὶ καὶ γεγονέναι καὶ εἶναι καὶ ἔσεσθαι ἐν τῇ τῶν θνητῶν περιόδῳ. δῆλον ὅτι ἀνάγκη ἀεὶ Σωκράτη μὲν φιλοσοφήσειν καὶ κατηγορηθήσεσθαι ἐπὶ καινοῖς δαιμονίοις καὶ τῇ τῶν νέων διαφθορᾷ, Ἄνυτον δὲ καὶ Μέλητον ἀεὶ κατηγορήσειν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ βουλὴν καταψηφίσεσθαι αὐτοῦ τὸν διὰ τοῦ κωνείου θάνατον. οὕτω δὲ ἀνάγκη ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰς τεταγμένας περιόδους Φάλαριν τυραννήσειν καὶ τὸν Φεραῖον Ἀλέξανδρον τὰ αὐτὰ ὠμοποιήσειν, τούς τε εἰς τὸν Φαλάριδος ταῦρον καταδικασθέντας ἀεὶ ἐν αὐτῷ μυκήσεσθαι· ἅπερ ἐὰν δοθῇ. οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τὸ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν σωθήσεται καὶ ἔπαινοι καὶ ψόγοι εὐλόγως ἔσονται. λελέξεται δὲ πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ὑπόθεσιν τῷ Κέλσῳ ὅτι. εἴπερ ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος ἡ τῶν θνητῶν ἀεὶ περίοδος. καὶ κατὰ τὰς τεταγμένας ἀνακυκλήσεις ἀνάγκη τὰ αὐτὰ ἀεὶ καὶ γεγονέναι καὶ εἶναι καὶ ἔσεσθαι, ἀνάγκη ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰς τεταγμένας περιόδους Μωϋσέα μὲν μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου. Ἰησοῦν δὲ πάλιν ἐπιδημῆσαι τῷ βίῳ τὰ αὐτὰ ποιήσοντα, ἅπερ οὐχ ἅπαξ ἀλλʼ ἀπειράκις κατὰ περιόδους πεποίηκεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ Χριστιανοὶ οἱ αὐτοὶ ἔσονται ἐν ταῖς τεταγμέναις ἀνακυκλήσεσιν, καὶ πάλιν Κέλσος γράψει τὸ βιβλίον τοῦτο. ἀπειράκις αὐτὸ πρότερον γράψας. ### English translation (Claude) I do not know how it seemed useful to Celsus, writing against us, to throw in a doctrine that needs much demonstration, even plausible demonstration, showing as far as possible that "the cycle of mortal things is alike from beginning to end, and according to the appointed revolutions the same things must always have happened, be happening, and be going to happen." If this is true, free will is abolished. For if according to the appointed revolutions the same things must always have happened, be happening, and be going to happen in the cycle of mortal things, it is clear that Socrates must always practise philosophy and be accused of new divinities and of corrupting the young, and Anytus and Meletus must always accuse him, and the council on the Areopagus must always condemn him to death by hemlock. So too, according to the appointed cycles, Phalaris must always be tyrant, and Alexander of Pherae must commit the same cruelties, and those condemned to Phalaris's bull must always bellow in it. If this is granted, I do not know how free will can be preserved, or how praise and blame can be reasonable. And to such a hypothesis this will be said to Celsus: if the cycle of mortal things is always alike from beginning to end, and according to the appointed revolutions the same things must always have happened, be happening, and be going to happen, then, according to the appointed cycles, Moses must always come out of Egypt with the people of the Jews, and Jesus must again come to live among us to do the same things, which he has done not once but infinitely many times according to the cycles; and the same Christians will exist in the appointed revolutions, and Celsus will write this book again, having written it infinitely many times before. ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (τὰς) is the editor's supplement. Phalaris of Acragas roasted victims in a bronze bull; Alexander of Pherae was a notoriously cruel Thessalian tyrant. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/67/). ## Against Celsus 4.68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/68/ - Source: Koetschau 1:338 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen notes that the Stoics extend the doctrine of endlessly repeating world-cycles even to the gods, and mocks their attempt to say each cycle has only 'indistinguishable' copies. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν οὖν Κέλσος μόνην τὴν θνητῶν περίοδον κατὰ τὰς τεταγμένας ἀνακυκλήσεις ἐξ ἀνάγκης φησὶν ἀεὶ γεγονέναι καὶ εἶναι καὶ ἔσεσθαι· τῶν δὲ Στωϊκῶν οἱ πλείους οὐ μόνον τὴν τῶν θνητῶν περίοδον τοιαύτην εἶναί φασιν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀθανάτων καὶ τῶν κατʼ αὐτοὺς θεῶν. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἐκπύρωσιν, ἀπειράκις γενομένην καὶ ἀπειράκις ἐσομένην, ἡ αὐτὴ τάξις ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μέχρι τέλους πάντων γέγονέ τε καὶ ἔσται. πειρώμενοι μέντοι θεραπεύειν πως τὰς ἀπεμφάσεις οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἀπαραλλάκτους φασὶν ἔσεσθαι κατὰ περίοδον τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν προτέρων περιόδων πάντας, ἵνα μὴ Σωκράτης πάλιν γένηται, ἀλλʼ ἀπαράλλακτός τις τῷ Σωκράτει. γαμήσων ἀπαράλλακτον τῇ Ξανθίππῃ καὶ κατηγορηθησόμενος ὑπὸ ἀπαραλλάκτων Ἀνύτῳ καὶ Μελήτῳ. οὐκ οἶδα δὲ πῶς ὁ μὲν κόσμος ἀεὶ ὁ αὐτός ἐστι καὶ οὐκ ἀπαράλλακτος ἕτερος ἑτέρῳ, τὰ δʼ ἐν αὐτῷ οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ ἀλλὰ ἀπαράλλακτα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὁ προηγούμενος καὶ πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου λέξεις καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς λόγος εὐκαιρότερον ἐν ἄλλοις ἐξετασθήσεται, ἐπεὶ μὴ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν καὶ τὴν ἐνεστηκυῖαν πρόθεσιν ἁρμόζει ἐν τούτοις πλεονάσαι. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, then, says that only the cycle of mortal things must necessarily, according to the appointed revolutions, always have happened, be happening, and be going to happen; but most of the Stoics say that not only the cycle of mortal things is such, but also that of immortal things and of the gods they believe in. For after the conflagration of the universe, which has happened infinitely many times and will happen infinitely many times, the same order of all things from beginning to end has come about and will come about. Trying, however, to remedy the absurdities somehow, the Stoics say, I do not know how, that in each cycle all will be indistinguishable from those of the earlier cycles, so that Socrates does not come into being again, but someone indistinguishable from Socrates, who will marry a woman indistinguishable from Xanthippe and be accused by men indistinguishable from Anytus and Meletus. But I do not know how the world is always the same and not one world indistinguishable from another, while the things in it are not the same but indistinguishable. But the fundamental argument against both Celsus's words and those of the Stoics will be examined more suitably elsewhere, since it does not fit the present occasion and the purpose at hand to enlarge on these matters here. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/68/). ## Against Celsus 4.69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/69/ - Source: Koetschau 1:338–339 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God does not repair the world like a clumsy craftsman, but like a farmer through the seasons he heals vice in each age as it requires. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγει ὅτι οὔτε τὰ ὁρώμενα ἀνθρώπῳ δέδοται, ἀλλʼ ἕκαστα τοῦ ὅλου σωτηρίας εἵνεκα γίνεταί τε καὶ ἀπόλλυται καθʼ ἣν προεῖπον ἀμοιβὴν ἐξ ἀλλήλων εἰς ἄλληλα· περισσὸν δὲ τὸ προσδιατρίβειν τῇ τούτων ἀνατροπῇ, κατὰ δύναμιν ἡμῖν προεκτεθείσῃ. εἴρηται δὲ καὶ εἰς τοῦτο· οὔτε δὲ τὰ ἀγαθὰ οὔτε τὰ κακὰ ἐν τοῖς θνητοῖς ἐλάττω ἢ πλείω γένοιτʼ ἄν. λέλεκται καὶ εἰς τό· οὔτε τῷ θεῷ καινοτέρας δεῖ διορθώσεως. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὡς ἄνθρωπος τεκτηνάμενός τι ἐνδεῶς καὶ ἀτεχνότερον δημιουργήσας ὁ θεὸς προσάγει διόρθωσιν τῷ κόσμῳ, καθαίρων αὐτὸν κατακλυσμῷ ἢ ἐκπυρώσει, ἀλλὰ τὴν χύσιν τῆς κακίας κωλύων ἐπὶ πλεῖον νέμεσθαι, ἐγὼ δʼ οἶμαι ὅτι καὶ πάντῃ τεταγμένως αὐτὴν ἀφανίζων συμφερόντως τῷ παντί. εἰ δὲ μετὰ τὸν ἀφανισμὸν τῆς κακίας λόγον ἔχει τὸ πάλιν αὐτὴν ὑφίστασθαι ἢ μὴ, ἐν προηγουμένῳ λόγῳ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐξετασθήσεται. θέλει οὖν διὰ καινοτέρας διορθώσεως ἀεὶ ὁ θεὸς τὰ σφάλματα ἀναλαμβάνειν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τέτακται αὐτῷ πάντα κάλλιστα καὶ ἀσφαλέστατα κατὰ τὴν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργίαν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἰατρικῆς τινος αὐτῷ ἐδέησε τοῖς τὴν κακίαν νοσοῦσι καὶ παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, ὑπʼ αὐτῆς ὡσπερεὶ μολυνομένῳ, καὶ οὐδέν γε ἠμέληται τῷ θεῷ ἢ ἀμεληθήσεται, ποιοῦντι καθʼ ἕκαστον καιρὸν ὅπερ ἔπρεπεν αὐτὸν ποιεῖν ἐν τρεπτῷ καὶ μεταβλητῷ κόσμῳ. καὶ ὥσπερ γεωργὸς κατὰ τὰς διαφόρους τῶν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ὡρῶν διάφορα ἔργα γεωργικὰ ποιεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς φυόμενα, οὕτως ὁ θεὸς οἱονεὶ ἐνιαυτούς τινας, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω. οἰκονομεῖ ὅλους τοὺς αἰῶνας. καθʼ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ποιῶν ὅσα ἀπαιτεῖ αὐτὸ τὸ περὶ τὰ ὅλα εὔλογον, ὑπὸ μόνου θεοῦ ὡς ἀληθείας ἔχει τρανότατα καταλαμβανόμενον καὶ ἐπιτελούμενον. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says: "Nor were visible things given to man, but each thing comes into being and perishes for the sake of the preservation of the whole, according to the exchange I spoke of before, from one to another." It is superfluous to spend more time refuting these things, as we have already set out our view as best we could. It has also been said in answer to this: "Neither goods nor evils could become fewer or more among mortals." An answer has also been given to this: "Nor does God need new correction." But God does not bring correction to the world as a man who has built something defectively and made it unskilfully, cleansing it by flood or conflagration; rather he prevents the spread of vice from ranging further, and I think he also does away with it altogether, in an orderly way, to the benefit of the whole. Whether after the abolition of vice there is reason for it to come into being again or not will be examined in the fundamental treatise. God, then, does will always to take up errors by new correction. For even if everything has been ordered by him most beautifully and most securely in the creation of the universe, he nonetheless needed some healing art for those sick with vice and for the whole world, defiled as it were by it; and nothing has been or will be neglected by God, who at each time does what it befits him to do in a world that is changeable and mutable. And as a farmer does different farm work on the land and on what grows on it according to the different seasons of the year, so God administers whole ages as if they were years, so to speak, doing in each of them whatever reason concerning the universe requires, which is most clearly understood and carried out, as the truth holds, by God alone. ### Translation notes - "The fundamental treatise" (ἐν προηγουμένῳ λόγῳ) probably refers to a treatise written for its own sake rather than in controversy; the sense is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/69/). ## Against Celsus 4.70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/70/ - Source: Koetschau 1:339–340 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God may use the wicked for the good of the whole, as a city uses condemned criminals for public works, but they remain blameworthy, as Paul's vessels of honor and dishonor show. ### Greek text Ἔθηκε δέ τινα λόγον ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τῶν κακῶν τοιοῦτον, ὅτι κἂν σοί τι δοκῇ κακὸν, οὔπω δῆλον εἰ κακόν ἐστιν· οὐ γὰρ οἶσθα ὅ τι ἢ σοὶ ἢ ἄλλῳ ἢ τῷ ὅλῳ συμφέρει. καὶ ἔχει μέν τι ὁ λόγος εὐλαβὲς, ὑπονοεῖ δὲ καὶ τὴν τῶν κακῶν φύσιν οὐ πάντῃ εἶναι μοχθηρὰν διὰ τὸ ἐνδέχεσθαι τῷ ὅλῳ συμφέρειν τὸ νομιζόμενον ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστον εἶναι κακόν. πλὴν ἵνα μὴ παρακούσας τις τοῦ λεγομένου ἐπιτριβῆς εὕρῃ ἀφορμὴν. ὡς καὶ τῆς κακίας αὐτοῦ χρησίμου τυγχανούσης τῷ παντὶ ἢ δυναμένης γε εἶναι χρησίμου. λελέξεται ὅτι σῳζομένου τοῦ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἑκάστῳ κἂν συγχρήσηται τῇ κακίᾳ τῶν φαύλων εἰς τὴν διάταξιν τοῦ παντὸς ὁ θεὸς, κατατάσσων αὐτοὺς εἰς χρείαν τοῦ παντὸς, οὐδὲν ἧττον ψεκτός τε ἐστὶν ὁ τοιόσδε καὶ ὡς ψεκτὸς κατατέτακται εἰς χρείαν ἀπευκταίαν μὲν ἑκάστῳ χρήσιμον δὲ τῷ παντί. ὡς εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πόλεών τις ἔλεγε τὸν τάδε τινὰ ἡμαρτηκότα καὶ διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα εἴς τινα δημόσια ἔργα χρήσιμα τῷ παντὶ καταδικαζόμενον ποιεῖν μέν τι χρήσιμον τῇ ὅλῃ πόλει, αὐτὸν δὲ γεγονέναι ἐν ἀπευκταίῳ πράγματι καὶ ἐν ᾧ οὐδεὶς τῶν κἂν μέτριον νοῦν ἐχόντων ἐβούλετο γενέσθαι. καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ Παῦλος, διδάσκων ἡμᾶς συνοίσειν μὲν τῇ χρείᾳ τι τοῦ παντὸς καὶ τοὺς φαυλοτάτους, παρʼ ἑαυτοὺς δὲ ἔσεσθαι ἐν τοῖς ἀπευκτοῖς, χρησιμωτάτους δʼ ἔσεσθαι καὶ τοὺς σπουδαιοτάτους τῷ παντὶ, παρʼ ἑαυτῶν αἰτίαν ἐν καλλίστῃ χώρᾳ ταχθησομένους, φησίν· „ἐν μεγάλῃ δʼ οἰκίᾳ οὐκ ἔστι μόνον σκεύη χρυσᾶ καὶ ἀργυρᾶ ἀλλὰ καὶ ξύλινα καὶ ὀστράκινα, καὶ ἃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν ἃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν· ἐὰν οὖν τις ἐκκαθάρῃ ἑαυτὸν, ἔσται σκεῦος εἰς τιμὴν, ἡγιασμένον καὶ εὔχρηστον τῷ δεσπότῃ, εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἡτοιμασμένον.“ καὶ ταῦτα δʼ ἀναγκαίως ὑπολαμβάνω ἐκτεθεῖσθαι πρὸς τὸ κἂν σοί τι δοκῇ κακὸν, οὕπω δῆλον εἰ κακόν· οὐ γὰρ οἶσθα ὅ τι ἢ σοὶ ἢ ἄλλῳ συμφέρει, ἵνα μὴ ἀφορμὴν λαμβάνῃ τις ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν ὡς χρήσιμος τῷ ὅλῳ διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐσόμενος. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus put forward an argument about evils of this kind: "Even if something seems evil to you, it is not yet clear whether it is evil; for you do not know what benefits you or another or the whole." The argument has something cautious in it, but it also hints that the nature of evils is not wholly wicked, since what is thought to be evil in individual cases may benefit the whole. However, so that no one who misunderstands what is said may find an occasion for his own ruin, as though his vice too were useful to the universe or could be useful, it will be said that, free will being preserved for each person, even if God makes use of the wickedness of the bad for the ordering of the universe, assigning them to the service of the universe, such a person is no less blameworthy, and has been assigned, as blameworthy, to a service that is undesirable for each individual but useful to the whole. It is as if in cities someone said that a man who had committed certain sins and for his sins had been condemned to some public works useful to all does something useful to the whole city, while he himself has come into an undesirable condition, one in which no one with even moderate sense would wish to be. And Paul, the apostle of Jesus, teaching us that even the very worst will contribute something to the service of the universe but will be, through their own fault, among things undesirable, while the most earnest will be most useful to the universe, and will be placed in the finest position through their own doing, says: "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, some for honour and some for dishonour. If then anyone cleanses himself, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful to the master, prepared for every good work." I think it necessary to have set this out in answer to "Even if something seems evil to you, it is not yet clear whether it is evil; for you do not know what benefits you or another," so that no one takes occasion from the topic to sin, as though he will be useful to the whole through his sin. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 2:20–21: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 2 Tim 2:20–21. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/70/). ## Against Celsus 4.71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/71/ - Source: Koetschau 1:340–341 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As we speak simply to small children, God's Word in Scripture speaks of God in human terms for the weak, while the spiritual find a deeper sense in the same words. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα μὴ νοήσας τὰς περὶ θεοῦ ὡς ἀνθρωποπαθοῦς ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς λέξεις διασύρει ὁ Κέλσος ἐν αἷς ὀργῆς λέγονται κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν φωναὶ καὶ ἀπειλαὶ κατὰ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων, λεκτέον ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς τοῖς κομιδῇ νηπίοις διαλεγόμενοι οὐ τοῦ ἑαυτῶν ἐν τῷ λέγειν στοχαζόμεθα δυνατοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἁρμοζόμενοι πρὸς τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῶν ὑποκειμένων φαμὲν ταῦτα ἀλλὰ καὶ ποιοῦμεν ἃ φαίνεται ἡμῖν χρήσιμα εἰς τὴν τῶν παίδων ὡς παίδων ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ διόρθωσιν· οὕτως ἔοικεν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ᾠκονομηκέναι τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα, μετρήσας τῇ δυνάμει τῶν ἀκουόντων καὶ τῷ πρὸς αὐτοὺς χρησίμῳ τὸ ἐν τῇ ἀπαγγελίᾳ πρέπον, καὶ καθόλου γε περὶ τοῦ τοιούτου τρόπου τῆς ἀπαγγελίας τῶν περὶ θεοῦ ἐν τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ οὕτω λέλεκται· „ἐτροποφόρησέ σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου, ὡς εἴ τις τροποφορήσαι ἄνθρωπος τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ.“ οἱονεὶ ἀνθρώπου τρόπους πρὸς τὸ ἀνθρώποις λυσιτελὲς φορῶν ὁ λόγος τοιαῦτα λέγει· οὐ γὰρ ἐδέοντο οἱ πολλοὶ προσωποποιοῦντος θεοῦ ἁρμοζόντως ἑαυτῷ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς τοιούσδε λεχθησόμενα. ἀλλʼ ᾧ μέλει τῆς τῶν θείων γραμμάτων σαφηνείας εὑρήσει ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τὰ λεγόμενα πνευματικὰ τοῖς ὀνομαζομένοις πνευματικοῖς. συγκρίνων τὸ βούλημα τῶν τε πρὸς τοὺς ἀσθενετέρους λεγομένων καὶ τῶν τοῖς ἐντρεχεστέροις ἀπαγγελλομένων, πολλάκις ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ λέξει ἑκατέρων τῷ εἰδότι ἀκούειν αὐτῆς κειμένων. ### English translation (Claude) Since after this Celsus, not understanding the passages in the Scriptures about God as though he had human passions, ridicules those in which words of anger are spoken against the ungodly and threats against those who have sinned, it must be said that, just as we, when talking with very small children, do not aim at the full measure of our own ability in speaking, but adapting ourselves to the weakness of those in our charge say these things and also do what seems useful to us for the conversion and correction of children as children, so the Word of God seems to have arranged what is written, measuring what is fitting in the telling by the capacity of the hearers and by their benefit. And in general, about this manner of telling things about God, it is said in Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God bore with your ways, as a man would bear with the ways of his son." It is as though the Word, taking on human ways for the benefit of human beings, says such things; for the many did not need God, speaking in his own person, to say in a manner befitting himself what was to be said to such people. But one who cares for the clear understanding of the divine writings will find in them the things called spiritual for those who are named spiritual, comparing the intent of what is said to the weaker and of what is proclaimed to the more practised, both often lying in the same passage for one who knows how to hear it. ### Scripture references - Deut 1:31: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:13–15: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Deut 1:31 (LXX, ἐτροποφόρησε, "bore with your ways"; some manuscripts read ἐτροφοφόρησε, "carried/nursed"). "The Word of God" here means Scripture as God's speech, closely identified by Origen with the Logos. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/71/). ## Against Celsus 4.72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/72/ - Source: Koetschau 1:341–342 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's 'wrath' is not a passion but a figure for his stern discipline of sinners, as comparison of Scripture shows, just as his 'sleep' is not literal. ### Greek text Ὀργὴν μὲν οὖν ὀνομάζομεν θεοῦ, οὐ πάθος δʼ αὐτοῦ αὐτὴν εἶναί φαμεν ἀλλά τι παραλαμβανόμενον εἰς τὴν διὰ σκυθρωποτέρων ἀγωγῶν παίδευσιν τοῖς τὰ τοσάδε καὶ τοιάδε ἡμαρτηκόσιν. ὅτι γὰρ παιδεύει ἡ καλουμένη ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὁ ὀνομαζόμενος θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἀρέσκει τῷ λόγῳ, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ ἐν μὲν ἕκτῳ ψαλμῷ εἰρῆσθαι· „κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με“ ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ· „παίδευσον ἡμᾶς, κύριε, πλὴν ἐν κρίσει καὶ μὴ ἐν θυμῷ, ἵνα μὴ ὀλίγους ἡμᾶς ποιήσῃς.“ ἀναγνοὺς δέ τις ἐν μὲν τῇ δευτέρᾳ τῶν βασιλειῶν „ὀργὴν“ θεοῦ, ἀναπείθουσαν τὸν Δαυὶδ ἀριθμῆσαι τὸν λαὸν, ἐν δὲ τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν Παραλειπομένων τὸν „διάβολον, “ καὶ συνεξετάζων ἀλλήλοις τὰ ῥητὰ ὄψεται ἐπὶ τίνος τάσσεται ἡ ὀργή· ἧς καὶ „τέκνα“ πάντας ἀνθρώπους γεγονέναι φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· „ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί.“ ὅτι δʼ οὐ πάθος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ἡ ὀργὴ, ἀλλʼ ἕκαστος αὑτῷ ταύτην διʼ ὧν ἁμαρτάνει κατασκευάζει, δηλώσει ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῷ· „ἢ τοῦ πλούτου τῆς χρηστότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀνοχῆς καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας καταφρονεῖς, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς μετάνοιάν σε ἄγει; κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ.“ πῶς οὖν δύναται ἕκαστος „θησαυρίζειν ἑαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς, “ „ὀργῆς“ νοουμένης τοῦ πάθους; πῶς δὲ ὀργῆς πάθος παιδεύειν δύναται; ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ἂν ὁ διδάσκων λόγος ἡμᾶς μηδαμῶς ὀργίζεσθαι καὶ φάσκων ἐν τριακοστῷ ἕκτῳ ψαλμῷ· „παῦσαι ἀπὸ ὀργῆς καὶ ἐγκατάλιπε θυμὸν, “ λέγων δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Παύλῳ· „ἀπόθεσθε καὶ ὑμεῖς τὰ πάντα, ὀργὴν θυμὸν κακίαν βλασφημίαν αἰσχρολογίαν, “ αὐτῷ τῷ θεῷ περιῆπτεν τὸ πάθος, οὗ ἡμᾶς πάντῃ ἀπαλλάξαι βούλεται. δῆλον δὲ τὸ τροπολογεῖσθαι τὰ περὶ ὀργῆς θεοῦ ἐκ τοῦ καὶ ὕπνον αὐτοῦ ἀναγεγράφθαι, ἀφʼ οὗ ὥσπερ διϋπνίζων αὐτὸν ὁ προφήτης λέγει· „ἀνάστηθι, ἱνα τί ὑπνοῖς, κύριε“; καὶ πάλιν φησί· „καὶ ἐξηγέρθη ὡς ὁ ὑπνῶν κύριος, ὡς δυνατὸς κεκραιπαληκὼς ἐξ οἴνου.“ εἴπερ οὖν ὁ ὕπνος ἄλλο τι σημαίνει καὶ οὐχ ὅπερ ἡ πρόχειρος ἐκδοχὴ τῆς λέξεως δηλοῖ, διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ ἡ ὀργὴ παραπλησίως νοηθήσεται; καὶ αἱ ἀπειλαὶ δὲ ἀπαγγελίαι εἰσὶ περὶ τῶν ἀπαντησομένων τοῖς φαύλοις, ὡς εἰ ἀπειλάς τις ἔφασκεν εἶναι καὶ τοὺς τοῦ ἰατροῦ λόγους, λέγοντος τοῖς κάμνουσι· τεμῶ σε καὶ καυστῆρας προσάξω σοι, ἐὰν μὴ πεισθῇς μου τοῖς νόμοις καὶ οὑτωσὶ μὲν διαιτήσῃ οὑτωσὶ δὲ σαυτὸν ἀγάγῃς. οὐκ ἀνθρώπινα οὖν πάθη προσάπτομεν τῷ θεῷ οὐδὲ δυσσεβεῖς δόξας ἔχομεν περὶ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ πλανώμενοι τὰς περὶ τοῦτον διηγήσεις ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν γραμμάτων συνεξεταζομένων ἀλλήλοις παρίσταμεν· οὐδὲ τὸ προκείμενον τοῖς ἐν ἡμῖν συνετῶς πρεσβεύουσι τοῦ λόγου ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ εὐηθείας μὲν ἀπαλλάξαι κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν τοὺς ἀκούοντας ποιῆσαι δʼ αὐτοὺς φρονίμους. ### English translation (Claude) We do speak of God's wrath, but we say that it is not a passion of his, but something he uses to educate, by sterner ways, those who have committed so many and such sins. That what is called God's wrath and what is named his anger educates, and that this is the view of Scripture, is clear from what is said in the sixth psalm: "Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath," and in Jeremiah: "Discipline us, Lord, but with judgment and not in anger, lest you make us few." And whoever reads in the second book of Kingdoms of the "wrath" of God that moved David to number the people, and in the first book of Chronicles of "the devil," and compares the texts with one another, will see to whom the wrath is assigned: the wrath of which Paul says all human beings have become "children," saying: "We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest." That wrath is not a passion of God, but each person prepares it for himself by his sins, Paul will show in the words: "Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness leads you to repentance? But by your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revelation of God's righteous judgment." How then can each person "store up wrath for himself on the day of wrath," if "wrath" is understood as a passion? And how can a passion of wrath educate? Moreover, the Word that teaches us never to be angry, and says in the thirty-sixth psalm, "Cease from wrath and forsake anger," and in Paul, "Put away all these things yourselves: wrath, anger, malice, slander, foul talk," would not attach to God himself the passion from which it wishes to free us altogether. It is clear that what is said about God's wrath is figurative from the fact that sleep too is recorded of him, from which the prophet, as though waking him, says: "Arise; why do you sleep, Lord?" And again he says: "And the Lord awoke as one asleep, like a mighty man who has been drunk with wine." If, then, sleep means something else, and not what the obvious understanding of the word shows, why should not wrath also be understood in a similar way? And threats are announcements of what will happen to the wicked, as if someone called threats the words of a doctor telling his patients: "I will cut you and apply cauteries to you, unless you obey my rules and follow this diet and conduct yourself in this way." We therefore do not attach human passions to God, nor do we hold impious opinions about him, nor do we go astray when we set out the accounts about him from the writings themselves compared with one another. Nor is the purpose of those among us who wisely represent the Word anything other than to free the hearers from simple-mindedness as far as possible and to make them wise. ### Scripture references - Ps 6:1 (6:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Jer 10:24: quotation, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:1: allusion, high confidence - 1 Chr 21:1: allusion, high confidence - Eph 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 37:8 (36:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Col 3:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 44:23 (43:24 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:65 (77:65 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 6:1 (6:2 LXX), Jer 10:24, 2 Sam 24:1 with 1 Chr 21:1, Eph 2:3, Rom 2:4–5, Ps 37:8 (36:8 LXX), Col 3:8, Ps 44:23 (43:24 LXX), and Ps 78:65 (77:65 LXX). "The second book of Kingdoms" is 2 Samuel. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/72/). ## Against Celsus 4.73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/73/ - Source: Koetschau 1:342–343 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks the idea of an angry God sending his Son to suffer; Origen answers that the Jews' ruin came from the wrath they stored up for themselves, and that the Son suffered willingly for our salvation. ### Greek text Ἀκολούθως δὲ τῷ μὴ νενοηκέναι τὰ περὶ ὀργῆς ἀναγεγραμμένα θεοῦ φησιν· ἢ γὰρ οὐ καταγέλαστον· εἰ ἄνθρωπος μὲν ὀργισθεὶς Ἰουδαίοις πάντας αὐτοὺς ἡβηδὸν ἀπώλεσεν καὶ ἐπυρπόλησεν, οὕτως οὐδὲν ἦσαν· θεὸς δʼ ὁ μέγιστος. ὥς φασιν, ὀργιζόμενος καὶ θυμούμενος καὶ ἀπειλῶν πέμπει τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοιαῦτα πάσχει; εἴπερ οὖν Ἰουδαῖοι μετὰ τὸ διαθεῖναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἅπερ ἐτόλμησαν κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἡβηδὸν ἀπώλοντο καὶ ἐπυρπολήθησαν, οὐκ ἀπʼ ἄλλης ὀργῆς ἢ ἧς ἑαυτοῖς ἐθησαύρισαν ταῦτα πεπόνθασι. τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κατʼ αὐτῶν κρίσεως θεοῦ καταστήματι γεγενημένης. ὀνομαζομένης ὀργῆς πατρίῳ τινὶ Ἑβραίων ἔθει. καὶ πάσχει γε ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ βουληθεὶς ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν λέλεκται. μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν· ἀλλʼ ὅπως μὴ περὶ μόνων Ἰουδαίων (οὐ γὰρ τοῦτο λέγω) ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς ὅλης φύσεως, ὅπερ ἐπηγγειλάμην. ὁ λόγος ᾖ. σαφέστερον ἐμφανιῶ τὰ προειρημένα. τίς δʼ οὐκ ἂν τούτοις ἐντυγχάνων μέτριος καὶ αἰσθανόμενος τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθενείας οὐκ ἂν περισταίη τὸ ἐπαχθὲς τοῦ περὶ ὅλης τῆς φύσεως ἐπαγγειλαμένου ἀποδοῦναι λόγον καὶ ἀλαζονευσαμένου ὁμοίως ᾗ ἐτόλμησεν ἐπιγράψαι ἐπιγραφῇ τοῦ βιβλίου; ἴδωμεν δὴ τίνα ἐστὶν ἃ περὶ ὅλης τῆς φύσεως ἐπαγγέλλεται λέξειν καὶ τίνα ἐμφανίσειν. ### English translation (Claude) In keeping with his failure to understand what is written about God's wrath, he says: "Is it not ridiculous that a man, angered at the Jews, destroyed them all, young and old, and burned their city, so that they were nothing; while God the greatest, as they say, being angry and wrathful and threatening, sends his Son, and he suffers such things?" If, then, the Jews, after doing to Jesus what they dared against him, perished young and old and were burned, they suffered these things from no other wrath than that which they stored up for themselves, God's judgment against them having come about by God's decree, which is named wrath by a certain ancestral custom of the Hebrews. And the Son of the greatest God does suffer, by his own will, for the salvation of human beings, as has been said above as well as we could. After this he says: "But so that the argument may not be about the Jews alone (for that is not what I am saying) but about the whole of nature, as I promised, I will make plainer what I said before." Who, reading this, if he were modest and aware of human weakness, would not shrink from the offensiveness of one who promised to give an account of the whole of nature and boasted in the same way as in the title he dared to give his book? Let us see, then, what it is he promises to say about the whole of nature and what he will make plain. ### Scripture references - Rom 2:5: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "A man" is presumably Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. The phrase θεοῦ καταστήματι ("by God's decree") is unusual; the sense is uncertain. Celsus's book was titled The True Word (Ἀληθὴς λόγος). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/73/). ## Against Celsus 4.74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/74/ - Source: Koetschau 1:343–344 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's claim that the world was made no more for humans than for animals, Origen sides with the Stoics: providence cares chiefly for rational beings, and animals benefit incidentally, like dogs in a market. ### Greek text Διὰ πολλῶν δʼ ἑξῆς ἐγκαλεῖ ἡμῖν ὡς τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ φάσκουσι πάντα πεποιηκέναι τὸν θεόν. (καὶ) βούλεται ἐκ τῆς περὶ τῶν ζῴων ἱστορίας καὶ τῆς ἐμφαινομένης αὐτοῖς ἀγχινοίας δεικνύναι ὅτι οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἀνθρώπων ἢ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἕνεκεν γέγονε τὰ πάντα. καὶ δοκεῖ μοι ὅμοιόν τι εἰπεῖν τοῖς διὰ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς μισουμένους ἔχθος κατηγοροῦσιν αὐτῶν ἐφʼ οἷς οἱ φίλτατοι αὐτῶν ἐπαινοῦνται. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτων τυφλοῖ τὸ ἔχθος πρὸς τὸ μὴ συνορᾶν ὅτι καὶ φιλτάτων κατηγοροῦσιν διʼ ὧν κακῶς λέγειν νομίζουσι τοὺς ἐχθροὺς. τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ Κέλσος συγχυθεὶς τὸν λογισμὸν οὐχ ἑώρακεν ὅτι καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς φιλοσόφων κατηγορεῖ. οὐ κακῶς προταττόντων τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τὴν λογικὴν φύσιν πάντων τῶν ἀλόγων καὶ διὰ ταύτην λεγόντων προηγουμένως τὴν πρόνοιαν πάντα πεποιηκέναι. καὶ λόγον μὲν ἔχει τὰ λογικὰ, ἅπερ ἐστὶ προηγούμενα. παίδων γεννωμένων· τὰ δʼ ἄλογα καὶ τὰ ἄψυχα χορίου συγκτιζομένου τῷ παιδίῳ. καὶ ἡγοῦμαί γε ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν οἱ προνοούμενοι τῶν ὠνίων καὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς διʼ οὐδὲν ἄλλο προνοοῦνται ἢ διὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, παραπολαύουσι δὲ τῆς δαψιλείας καὶ κύνες καὶ ἄλλα τῶν ἀλόγων· οὕτως ἡ πρόνοια τῶν μὲν λογικῶν προηγουμένως προνοεῖ, ἐπηκολούθησε δὲ τὸ καὶ τὰ [ἄλλα] ἄλογα ἀπολαύειν τῶν διʼ ἀνθρώπους γινομένων. καὶ ὥσπερ ἁμαρτάνει ὁ λέγων τοὺς ἀγορανόμους προνοεῖν οὐ μᾶλλον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἢ τῶν κυνῶν, ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ κύνες παραπολαύουσι τῆς δαψιλείας τῶν ὠνίων, οὕτω πολλῷ μᾶλλον Κέλσος καὶ οἱ τὰ αὐτὰ φρονοῦντες αὐτῷ ἀσεβοῦσιν εἰς τὸν προνοοῦντα τῶν λογικῶν θεὸν. φάσκοντες· τί μᾶλλον ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι ταῦτα πρὸς τροφὴν ἢ τοῖς φυτοῖς δένδροις τε καὶ πόαις καὶ ἀκάνθαις; ### English translation (Claude) Next he accuses us at length of saying that God made all things for man. And he wishes to show from natural history about animals, and from the sagacity that appears in them, that all things came into being no more for human beings than for the irrational animals. He seems to me to say something like those who, out of hatred for people they detest, accuse them of the very things for which their dearest friends are praised. For just as in their case hatred blinds them so that they do not see that they are also accusing their dearest friends by what they think are slanders against their enemies, in the same way Celsus too, his reasoning confused, has not seen that he is also accusing the Stoic philosophers, who rightly put man, and in a word rational nature, ahead of all irrational beings, and say that providence made all things principally for its sake. And rational beings have the place of the principal things, like children being born; while irrational and inanimate things have the place of the afterbirth created together with the child. And I think that, just as in cities those who oversee the goods for sale and the market oversee them for no other reason than for human beings, yet dogs and other irrational animals also share incidentally in the abundance, so providence cares principally for rational beings, and it has followed that irrational beings too enjoy what comes about for human beings. And just as a person errs who says that the market overseers care no more for human beings than for dogs, since dogs too share incidentally in the abundance of the goods for sale, so much more are Celsus and those who think as he does impious toward God, who cares for rational beings, when they say: "Why are these things produced as food for human beings rather than for plants, trees, grass, and thorns?" ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (καὶ) is the editor's supplement; the editor deletes [ἄλλα] ("other"), which is not translated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.74 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/74/). ## Against Celsus 4.75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/75/ - Source: Koetschau 1:344–346 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus speaks like an Epicurean who denies providence; Christians thank the Creator for preparing the earth for humans and their animals, as the Psalm and Sirach say. ### Greek text Οἴεται γὰρ πρῶτον μὲν μὴ ἔργα θεοῦ εἶναι βροντὰς καὶ ἀστραπὰς καὶ ὑετοὺς. ἤδη σαφέστερον Ἐπικουρίζων· δεύτερον δέ φησιν ὅτι. εἰ καὶ διδῴη τις ταῦτα ἔργα εἶναι θεοῦ, οὐ μᾶλλον ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ταῦτα γίνεται πρὸς τροφὴν ἢ τοῖς φυτοῖς δένδροις τε καὶ πόαις καὶ ἀκάνθαις. συντυχικῶς διδοὺς καὶ οὐ κατὰ πρόνοιαν ὡς ἀληθῶς Ἐπικούρειος ταῦτα συμβαίνειν. εἰ γὰρ οὐ μᾶλλον ἡμῖν ἢ φυτοῖς καὶ δένδροις καὶ πόαις καὶ ἀκάνθαις ταῦτʼ ἐστι χρήσιμα, δῆλον ὅτι οὐδʼ ἀπὸ προνοίας ταῦτʼ ἔρχεται ἢ ἀπὸ προνοίας οὐ μᾶλλον ἡμῶν προνοουμένης ἢ δένδρων καὶ πόας καὶ ἀκάνθης. ἑκάτερον δʼ αὐτόθεν ἀσεβὲς. καὶ τὸ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀντιλέγειν ἱστάμενον πρὸς τὸν ἀσέβειαν ἡμῶν κατηγοροῦντα εὔηθες· παντὶ γὰρ δῆλον ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων, τίς ὁ ἀσεβής. εἶτά φησιν ὅτι κἂν ταῦτα λέγῃς ἀνθρώποις φύεσθαι (δῆλον δʼ ὅτι τὰ φυτὰ καὶ δένδρα καὶ πόας καὶ ἀκάνθας). τί μᾶλλον αὐτὰ ἀνθρώποις φήσεις φύεσθαι ἢ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις τοῖς ἀγριωτάτοις; σαφῶς οὖν λεγέτω ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι ἡ τοσαύτη τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς φυομένων διαφορὰ οὐ προνοίας ἐστὶν ἔργον. ἀλλὰ συντυχία τις ἀτόμων τὰς τοσαύτας ποιότητας πεποίηκε, καὶ κατὰ συντυχίαν τοσαῦτα εἴδη φυτῶν καὶ δένδρων καὶ πόας παραπλήσιά ἐστιν ἀλλήλοις. καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς λόγος τεχνικὸς ὑπέστησεν αὐτὰ, οὐδʼ ἀπὸ νοῦ ἔχει τὴν ἀρχὴν. πάντα θαυμασμὸν ὑπερβεβηκότος. ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς οἱ τῷ ταῦτα κτίσαντι μόνῳ ἀνακείμενοι θεῷ Χριστιανοὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις χάριν οἴδαμεν τῷ καὶ τούτων δημιουργῷ, ὅτι ἡμῖν τηλικαύτην ἑστίαν εὐτρέπισε καὶ διʼ ἡμᾶς τοῖς δουλεύουσιν ἡμῖν ζῴοις· „ὁ ἐξανατέλλων χόρτον τοῖς κτήνεσι καὶ χλόην τῇ δουλείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, (τοῦ) ἐξαγαγεῖν ἄρτον ἐκ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἵνʼ οἶνος εὐφραίνῃ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἱλαρύνηται πρόσωπον ἐν ἐλαίῳ. καὶ ἄρτος στηρίζῃ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου.“ εἰ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀγριωτάτοις τῶν ζῴων τροφὰς κατεσκεύασεν, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ ζῷα καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων εἰρήκασι γυμνασίου ἕνεκα γεγονέναι τῷ λογικῷ ζῴῳ. φησὶ δέ που τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς τις σοφῶν· „μὴ εἴπῃς· τί τοῦτο, εἰς τί τοῦτο; πάντα γὰρ εἰς χρείαν αὐτῶν ἔκτισται“ καὶ „μὴ εἴπῃς· τί τοῦτο, εἰς τί τοῦτο; πάντα γὰρ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτῶν ζητηθήσεται.“ ### English translation (Claude) For he thinks, first, that thunders and lightnings and rains are not works of God, being by now more openly an Epicurean; and second he says that, even if one were to grant that these are works of God, they are produced as food no more for us human beings than for plants, trees, grass, and thorns, granting, like a true Epicurean, that these things happen by chance and not by providence. For if they are no more useful to us than to plants, trees, grass, and thorns, it is clear that they do not come from providence either, or else from a providence that cares no more for us than for trees, grass, and thorns. Each of these views is plainly impious; and to stand up and contradict such things against one who accuses us of impiety is simple-minded, for it is clear to everyone from what has been said who is the impious one. Then he says: "Even if you say that these grow for human beings" (clearly meaning plants, trees, grass, and thorns), "why will you say that they grow for human beings rather than for the wildest irrational animals?" Let Celsus say plainly, then, that the great variety of things growing on earth is not the work of providence, but some chance concourse of atoms has made so many qualities, and that by chance so many species of plants and trees and grass resemble one another; and that no craftsmanlike reason brought them into being, nor do they have their origin from a mind that surpasses all wonder. But we Christians, devoted to the only God who created these things, give thanks for these too to their maker, because he prepared so great a home for us, and, for our sake, for the animals that serve us: "He who makes grass spring up for the cattle, and green plants for the service of human beings, to bring forth bread from the earth, and that wine may gladden the heart of man, and his face be made cheerful with oil, and bread strengthen the heart of man." And if he has also prepared food for the wildest animals, there is nothing surprising in that; for other philosophers too have said that these animals came into being to exercise the rational animal. And one of the wise men among us says somewhere: "Do not say, 'What is this? Why is this?' For all things were created for their use," and "Do not say, 'What is this? Why is this?' For all things will be sought out in their time." ### Scripture references - Ps 104:14–15 (103:14-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 39:21 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 39:17 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 104:14–15 (103:14–15 LXX) and Sir 39:21 and 39:17. The parenthetical (τοῦ) in the Psalm is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/75/). ## Against Celsus 4.76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/76/ - Source: Koetschau 1:346–347 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God made humans needier than animals on purpose, so that want would drive them to invent the arts of farming, building, weaving, and navigation. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος, θέλων μὴ μᾶλλον ἡμῖν τὴν πρόνοιαν πεποιηκέναι τὰ φυόμενα ἐπὶ γῆς ἢ τοῖς τῶν ζῴων ἀγριωτάτοις, φησίν· ἡμεῖς μέν γε κάμνοντες καὶ προσταλαιπωροῦντες μόλις καὶ ἐπιπόνως τρεφόμεθα· τοῖς δʼ „ἄσπαρτα καὶ ἀνήροτα πάντα φύονται, “ οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι πανταχοῦ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σύνεσιν γυμνάζεσθαι βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς, ἵνα μὴ μένῃ ἀργὴ καὶ ἀνεπινόητος τῶν τεχνῶν, πεποίηκε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπιδεῆ· ἵνα διʼ αὐτὸ τὸ ἐπιδεὲς αὐτοῦ ἀναγκασθῇ εὑρεῖν τέχνας, τινὰς μὲν διὰ τὴν τροφὴν ἄλλας δὲ διὰ τὴν σκέπην. καὶ γὰρ κρεῖττον ἦν τοῖς μὴ μέλλουσι τὰ θεῖα ζητεῖν καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν τὸ ἀπορεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τῇ συνέσει χρήσασθαι πρὸς εὕρεσιν τεχνῶν. ἤπερ ἐκ τοῦ εὐπορεῖν πάντῃ τῆς συνέσεως ἀμελεῖν. ἡ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον γοῦν χρειῶν ἀπορία συνέστησε τοῦτο μὲν γεωργικὴν τοῦτο δὲ ἀμπελουργικὴν τοῦτο δὲ τὰς περὶ τοὺς κήπους τέχνας τοῦτο δὲ τεκτονικὴν καὶ χαλκευτικὴν, ποιητικὰς ἐργαλείων ταῖς ὑπηρετουμέναις τέχναις τὰ πρὸς τροφήν· ἡ δὲ τῆς σκέπης ἀπορία τοῦτο μὲν ὑφαντικὴν τὴν μετὰ τὴν ξαντικὴν καὶ τὴν νηστικὴν εἰσήγαγε τοῦτο δὲ οἰκοδομικὴν. καὶ οὕτως ἀναβέβηκεν ἡ σύνεσις καὶ ἐπὶ ἀρχιτεκτονικήν. ἡ δὲ τῶν χρειῶν ἔνδεια πεποίηκε καὶ τὰ ἐν ἑτέροις τόποις γεννώμενα φέρεσθαι διὰ ναυτικῆς καὶ κυβερνητικῆς πρὸς τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας ἐκεῖνα· ὥστε καὶ τούτων ἕνεκεν θαυμάσαι τις ἂν τὴν πρόνοιαν, συμφερόντως παρὰ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ἐνδεὲς ποιήσασαν τὸ λογικόν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλογα ἑτοίμην ἔχει τὴν τροφὴν. ἅτε οὐδʼ ἀφορμὴν πρὸς τέχνας ἔχοντα· καὶ φυσικὴν δʼ ἔχει τὴν σκέπην. τετρίχωται γὰρ ἢ ἐπτέρωται ἢ πεφολίδωται ἢ ὠστράκωται. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς ἀπολογίαν ἡμῖν λελέχθω τῆς φασκούσης λέξεως παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ· ἡμεῖς μὲν κάμνοντες καὶ προσταλαιπωροῦντες μόλις τρεφόμεθα· τοῖς δʼ „ἄσπαρτα καὶ ἀνήροτα πάντα φύονται.“ ### English translation (Claude) Next, Celsus, wishing to show that providence made the things that grow on earth no more for us than for the wildest animals, says: "We, toiling and labouring hard, are fed with difficulty and pain; but for them 'all things grow unsown and unploughed.'" He does not see that God, wishing human understanding to be exercised everywhere, so that it would not remain idle and without invention of the arts, made man needy, so that by his very neediness he would be compelled to discover arts, some for food and others for shelter. For it was better for those who would not seek divine things and pursue philosophy to be in want, so as to use their understanding to discover arts, than, having everything in abundance, to neglect understanding altogether. At any rate, want of the necessities of life established agriculture, vine-dressing, the arts of gardening, carpentry and smithing, which make tools for the arts that serve the production of food; and want of shelter introduced weaving, after carding and spinning, and building; and so understanding has risen even to architecture. And lack of necessities has caused the products of other places to be carried by seamanship and navigation to those who do not have them; so that for these reasons too one might admire providence, which, to our benefit, made the rational being needier than the irrational animals. For the irrational animals have their food ready to hand, since they do not have the capacity for arts; and they have natural covering too, for they are covered with hair, or feathers, or scales, or shells. Let this be said in our defence against the passage in Celsus that says: "We, toiling and labouring hard, are fed with difficulty; but for them 'all things grow unsown and unploughed.'" ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 9.109 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus's quotation is Homer, Odyssey 9.109 (of the Cyclopes). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.76 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/76/). ## Against Celsus 4.77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/77/ - Source: Koetschau 1:347 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus attacks Euripides' line that sun and night serve mortals; Origen defends it: day and night exist for rational beings, and ants and flies only share in them. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ἐπιλαθόμενος ὅτι τὸ προκείμενον αὐτῷ ἐστιν Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν κατηγορεῖν, ἑαυτῷ ἀνθυποφέρει Εὐριπίδειον ἰαμβεῖον. ἐναντιούμενον αὐτοῦ τῇ γνώμῃ· καὶ ὁμόσε χωρήσας τῷ λελεγμένῳ κατηγορεῖ ὡς κακῶς εἰρημένου. ἔχει δʼ οὕτως ἡ τοῦ Κέλσου λέξις· εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸ Εὐριπίδειον ἐρεῖς, ὅτι ἥλιος μὲν νύξ τε δουλεύει βροτοῖς. τί μᾶλλον ἡμῖν ἢ τοῖς μύρμηξι καὶ ταῖς μυίαις; καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνοις ἡ μὲν „νὺξ“ γίνεται πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν ἡ δʼ ἡμέρα πρὸς τὸ ὁρᾶν τε καὶ ἐνεργεῖν. σαφὲς δὴ ὅτι οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν τινες εἰρήκασιν ἡμῖν δουλεύειν ἥλιον καὶ τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ κατά τινας σκηνικὸς φιλόσοφος καὶ φυσιολογίας τῆς Ἀναξαγόρου γενόμενος ἀκροατής· ὅστις ἀπὸ ἑνὸς λογικοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου συνεκδοχικῶς πᾶσι τοῖς λογικοῖς (τὰ) τεταγμένα ἐν τῷ παντί φησι δουλεύειν. δηλούμενα πάλιν συνεκδοχικῶς ἐκ τοῦ· ἥλιος μὲν νύξ τε. ἢ τάχα καὶ ὁ τραγικὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ποιοῦντος τὴν ἡμέραν ἡλίου ὠνόμασε τὴν ἡμέραν, διδάσκων ὅτι τὰ μάλιστα χρῄζοντα ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς τὰ ὑπὸ σελήνην ἐστὶ. καὶ οὐχ οὕτως ἄλλα ὡς τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς. ἡμέρα οὖν καὶ „νὺξ δουλεύει βροτοῖς, “ γενόμεναι διὰ τὰ λογικά. εἰ δὲ παραπολαύουσι μύρμηκες καὶ μυῖαι. ἐνεργοῦντες μὲν ἡμέρας νυκτὸς δὲ διαναπαυόμενοι. τῶν διʼ ἀνθρώπους γεγενημένων, οὐχὶ καὶ διὰ μύρμηκας καὶ μυίας λεκτέον ἡμέραν γίνεσθαι καὶ νύκτα οὐδὲ διʼ οὐδὲν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πρόνοιαν ἀνθρώπων ἕνεκεν ταῦτα χρὴ νομίζειν γεγονέναι. ### English translation (Claude) Next, forgetting that his purpose is to accuse Jews and Christians, he raises against himself an iambic line of Euripides that opposes his view, and, closing with what was said, accuses it of being wrongly said. Celsus's passage runs thus: "And if you quote the line of Euripides, that 'sun and night are servants to mortals,' why to us rather than to ants and flies? For to them too 'night' comes for rest, and day for seeing and working." It is clear, then, that not only some Jews and Christians have said that the sun and the things in heaven serve us, but also the one some call the philosopher of the stage, who had been a hearer of Anaxagoras's natural philosophy; he says, by synecdoche from the one rational being, man, that the things ordered in the universe serve all rational beings, which again are indicated by synecdoche in "sun and night." Or perhaps the tragedian also named the day from the sun, which makes the day, teaching that the things that most need day and night are those beneath the moon, and others not so much as those on earth. Day, then, and "night serve mortals," having come into being for the sake of rational beings. And if ants and flies, working by day and resting by night, share incidentally in what came into being for human beings, it must not be said that day and night come into being for ants and flies too, nor for no reason at all; rather one must believe that these things came into being by providence for the sake of human beings. ### Extrabiblical texts - Euripides, Phoen. 546 (Euripides (plays and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The line is Euripides, Phoenissae 546. Euripides is called "the philosopher of the stage" and was reputed a pupil of Anaxagoras. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/77/). ## Against Celsus 4.78 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/78/ - Source: Koetschau 1:347–348 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says animals hunt us as much as we hunt them; Origen replies that human understanding, stronger than any weapon, has made all animals serve us, even the wild ones by exercising our courage. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ἑαυτῷ ἀνθυποφέρει τὰ ὡς ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων λεγόμενα, ὅτι διʼ αὐτοὺς τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα δεδημιούργηται. καί φησιν ὅτι. εἴ τις ἡμᾶς λέγοι ἄρχοντας τῶν ζῴων. ἐπεὶ ἡμεῖς τὰ ἄλλα ζῴα θηρῶμέν τε καὶ δαινύμεθα. φήσομεν ὅτι τί δʼ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς διʼ ἐκεῖνα γεγόναμεν. ἐπεὶ ἐκεῖνα θηρᾶται ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐσθίει; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμῖν μὲν ἀρκύων καὶ ὅπλων δεῖ καὶ ἀνθρώπων πλειόνων βοηθῶν καὶ κυνῶν κατὰ τῶν θηρευομένων· ἐκείνοις δʼ αὐτίκα καὶ καθʼ αὑτὰ ἡ φύσις ὅπλα δέδωκεν. εὐχερῶς ἡμᾶς ὑπάγουσα ἐκείνοις. καὶ ἐνταῦθα δὲ ὁρᾷς. τίνα τρόπον ἡ σύνεσις μέγα βοήθημα ἡμῖν δέδοται καὶ παντὸς ὅπλου κρεῖττον. οὗ δοκεῖ ἔχειν τὰ θηρία. ἡμεῖς γοῦν οἱ πολλῷ τῷ σώματι τῶν ζῴων ἀσθενέστεροι τινῶν δὲ καὶ εἰς ὑπερβολὴν βραχύτεροι κρατοῦμεν διὰ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν θηρίων καὶ τοὺς τηλικούτους ἐλέφαντας θηρεύομεν. τὰ μὲν πεφυκότα τιθασσεύεσθαι ὑποτάσσοντες τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἡμερότητι. κατὰ δὲ τῶν μὴ πεφυκότων ἢ μὴ δοκούντων ἡμῖν χρείαν παρέχειν ἐκ τῆς τιθασσείας οὕτω μετὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἱστάμεθα ἀσφαλείας. ὥστε. ὅτε μὲν βουλόμεθα. ἔχομεν τὰ τηλικαῦτα θηρία κατακεκλεισμένα. ὅτε δὲ χρῄζομεν τροφῆς τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων αὐτῶν. οὕτως αὐτὰ ἀναιροῦμεν ὡς καὶ τὰ μὴ ἄγρια τῶν ζῴων. δοῦλα οὖν πάντα τοῦ λογικοῦ ζῴου καὶ τῆς φυσικῆς αὐτοῦ συνέσεως κατεσκεύασεν ὁ δημιουργός. καὶ εἰς ἄλλα μὲν κυνῶν χρῄζομεν. φέρʼ εἰπεῖν. εἰς φυλακὴν ποιμνίων ἢ βουκολίων ἢ αἰπολίων ἢ οἰκιῶν. εἰς ἄλλα δὲ βοῶν οἷον εἰς γεωργίαν. εἰς ἄλλα δʼ ὑποζυγίοις χρώμεθα ἢ ἀχθοφόροις. οὕτως εἰς γυμνάσιον τῶν τῆς ἀνδρείας ἐν ἡμῖν σπερμάτων δεδόσθαι ἡμῖν λέγεται τὸ λεόντων καὶ ἄρκτων παρδάλεών τε καὶ συῶν καὶ τῶν τοιούτων γένος. ### English translation (Claude) Next he raises against himself what is said on behalf of human beings, that the irrational animals were made for them. And he says: "If someone should call us rulers of the animals, since we hunt the other animals and feast on them, we will say: why were we not rather made for them, since they hunt us and eat us? Moreover, we need nets and weapons and many men to help us, and dogs, against the animals we hunt; but to them nature has given weapons at once and of themselves, easily subjecting us to them." Here too you see in what way understanding has been given to us as a great help, better than any weapon the wild beasts seem to have. At any rate, we who are far weaker in body than the animals, and than some of them exceedingly smaller, master the wild beasts through understanding, and hunt even such enormous elephants. Those that are by nature capable of being tamed we subject to our tameness; against those that are not, or that do not seem to us to provide any use from taming, we take our stand with such security that when we wish we keep such great beasts shut up, and when we need food from their bodies we kill them just as we do the animals that are not wild. The Creator, then, made all things servants of the rational animal and of its natural understanding. For some purposes we need dogs, for example to guard flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, flocks of goats, or houses; for others oxen, for example for farming; for others we use yoke-animals or beasts of burden. So too the race of lions and bears, leopards and boars, and the like is said to have been given to us to exercise the seeds of courage in us. ### Translation notes - Where the digital text reads ὑποζυγίοις χρώμεθα ἂ ἀχθοφόροις, the sense requires ἢ ("or"): "yoke-animals or beasts of burden." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/78/). ## Against Celsus 4.79 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/79/ - Source: Koetschau 1:348–350 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says early humans were prey to beasts before cities and arts existed; Origen notes this contradicts Celsus's own eternal world and argues that providence protected the first humans, who even associated with the divine. ### Greek text Εἶτα λέγει πρὸς τὸ τῶν αἰσθανομένων τῆς ἑαυτῶν ὑπεροχῆς ἀνθρώπων γένος. ἣν ὑπερέχει τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων. ὅτι πρὸς ὅ ὑμεῖς φατε, ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῖν δέδωκεν αἱρεῖν τὰ θηρία δύνασθαι καὶ καταχρήσασθαι, ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ὡς εἰκὸς. πρὶν πόλεις εἶναι καὶ τέχνας καὶ τοιαύτας ἐπιμιξίας καὶ ὅπλα καὶ δίκτυα. ἄνθρωποι μὲν ὑπὸ θηρίων ἡρπάζοντο καὶ ἠσθίοντο. θηρία δʼ ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἥκιστα ἡλίσκετο. ὅρα δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ὅτι, εἰ καὶ αἱροῦσιν ἄνθρωποι θηρία καὶ θηρία ἀνθρώπους ἁρπάζει. πολλή ἐστι διαφορὰ τῶν συνέσει κρατούντων παρὰ τὰ ἀγριότητι καὶ ὠμότητι περιγινόμενα τῶν οὐ χρωμένων τῇ συνέσει πρὸς τὸ μηδὲν ὑπὸ θηρίων παθεῖν. τὸ δὲ πρὶν πόλεις εἶναι καὶ τέχνας καὶ τοιαύτας ἐπιμιξίας ἐπιλελησμένου οἶμαι εἶναι ὧν ἀνωτέρω προεῖπεν. ὡς ἀγενήτου ὄντος τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ἀφθάρτου. καὶ μόνων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς κατακλυσμοὺς καὶ ἐκπυρώσεις πασχόντων, καὶ οὐ πάντων ἅμα τούτοις περιπιπτόντων. ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν τοῖς ἀγένητον ὑφισταμένοις τὸν κόσμον ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ εἰπεῖν. οὕτως οὐδὲ χρόνον. ὅτʼ οὐδαμῶς ἦσαν πόλεις οὐδὲ τέχναι πω εὕρηντο. ἀλλʼ ἔστω καὶ ταῦτα ἡμῖν μὲν συνᾳδόντως αὐτῷ συγχωρεῖν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λελεγμένοις οὐκέτι· τί οὖν τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ πάντως κατʼ ἀρχὰς τοὺς μὲν ἀνθρώπους ὑπὸ θηρίων ἁρπάζεσθαι καὶ ἐσθίεσθαι. μηκέτι δὲ τὰ θηρία ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἁλίσκεσθαι; εἴπερ γὰρ κατὰ πρόνοιαν ὁ κόσμος γεγένηται, καὶ θεὸς ἐφέστηκε τοῖς ὅλοις, ἀναγκαῖον ἦν τὰ ζώπυρα τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀρξάμενα ὑπό τινα γεγονέναι φρουρὰν τὴν ἀπὸ κρειττόνων. ὥστε κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐπιμιξίαν γεγονέναι τῆς θείας φύσεως πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ἅπερ καὶ ὁ Ἀσκραῖος ποιητὴς ἐννοῶν εἶπε· ξυναὶ γὰρ τότε δαῖτες ἔσαν, ξυνοὶ δὲ θόωκοι ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι καταθνητοῖς τʼ ἀνθρώποις. ### English translation (Claude) Then he says to the race of human beings, who are aware of their superiority over the irrational animals: "To what you say, that God has given us the power to catch wild beasts and use them, we will say that probably, before there were cities and arts and such associations, and weapons and nets, human beings were seized and eaten by wild beasts, while wild beasts were very rarely caught by human beings." See, in reply to this, that even if human beings catch wild beasts and wild beasts seize human beings, there is a great difference between those who prevail by understanding and those who get the upper hand by savagery and cruelty over people who do not use understanding to avoid suffering from wild beasts. As for "before there were cities and arts and such associations," I think he has forgotten what he said above, that the world is uncreated and indestructible, and that only things on earth suffer floods and conflagrations, and not all of them fall into these at once. So, just as those who hold the world uncreated cannot speak of its beginning, neither can they speak of a time when there were no cities at all and arts had not yet been discovered. But suppose we grant him this, consistently with our view though no longer with what he himself said above: what has this to do with the claim that at the beginning human beings were in every case seized and eaten by wild beasts, while wild beasts were no longer caught by human beings? For if the world came into being by providence, and God presides over the universe, the first sparks of the human race must, at their beginning, have come under some protection from higher beings, so that at the beginning there was an association of the divine nature with human beings. The poet of Ascra had this in mind when he said: "For then feasts were shared, and seats were shared, between the immortal gods and mortal human beings." ### Extrabiblical texts - Hesiod, Cat. fr. 1.6–7 (Hesiod, Catalogue of Women): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The poet of Ascra is Hesiod; the lines are from the Catalogue of Women (fragment 1.6–7 Merkelbach–West), not the Theogony or Works and Days. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.79 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/79/). ## Against Celsus 4.80 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/80/ - Source: Koetschau 1:350 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Scripture shows the first humans guided by God's voice and angels until they could manage on their own; God did not subject humans to beasts but gave them the understanding to master them. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ θεῖος δὲ κατὰ Μωϋσέα λόγος εἰσήγαγε τοὺς πρώτους ἀκούοντας θειοτέρας φωνῆς καὶ χρησμῶν καὶ ὁρῶντας ἔσθʼ ὅτε ἀγγέλων θεοῦ ἐπιδημίας γεγενημένας πρὸς αὐτούς. καὶ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ κόσμου ἐπὶ πλεῖον βεβοηθῆσθαι τὴν ἀνθρώπων φύσιν· ἕως προκοπῆς γενομένης εἰς σύνεσιν καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς ἀρετὰς καὶ τὴν εὕρεσιν τῶν τεχνῶν δυνηθῶσι καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ζῆν, οὐ χρῄζοντες ἀεὶ ἐπιτροπευόντων καὶ οἰκονομούντων αὐτοὺς μετὰ παραδόξου ἐπιφανείας τῶν ὑπηρετουμένων τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ βουλήματι. ἀκόλουθον δὲ τούτοις τὸ ψεῦδος εἶναι ὅτι κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἄνθρωποι μὲν ὑπὸ θηρίων ἡρπάζοντο καὶ ἠσθίοντο, θηρία δʼ ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἥκιστα ἡλίσκετο. ἐκ δὴ τούτων φανερὸν ὅτι ψεῦδος καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου οὕτως λεγόμενον· ὥστε ταύτῃ γε ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλον τοῖς θηρίοις ὑπέβαλεν. οὐ γὰρ ὑπέβαλε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοῖς θηρίοις ὁ θεὸς, ἀλλὰ τῇ συνέσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁλωτὰ δέδωκεν εἶναι τὰ θηρία καὶ ταῖς ἀπὸ συνέσεως ὑφισταμέναις κατʼ ἐκείνων τέχναις. οὐ γὰρ ἀθεεὶ ἐμηχανήσαντο σφίσιν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι σωτηρίαν ἀπὸ τῶν θηρίων καὶ τὴν κατʼ ἐκείνων ἐπικράτειαν. ### English translation (Claude) And the divine word according to Moses also presented the first human beings as hearing a more divine voice and oracles, and sometimes seeing visits of God's angels made to them. For it is likely that at the beginning of the world human nature was helped to a greater degree, until, having made progress in understanding and the other virtues and in the discovery of the arts, they were able to live on their own as well, not always needing those who serve God's will to guide and manage them with a wondrous appearance. It follows from this that it is false that at the beginning human beings were seized and eaten by wild beasts, while wild beasts were very rarely caught by human beings. From this it is plain that what Celsus says in these words is false too: "So that in this way at least God subjected human beings rather to the wild beasts." For God did not subject human beings to the wild beasts, but gave the wild beasts to be caught by human understanding and by the arts that understanding produces against them. For it was not without God that human beings contrived for themselves safety from wild beasts and mastery over them. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:8: allusion, low confidence - Gen 18:1–2: allusion, low confidence ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.80 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/80/). ## Against Celsus 4.81 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/81/ - Source: Koetschau 1:350–352 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says bees and ants have cities and governments like humans; Origen replies that they act by instinct, not reason, and that God gave them this likeness of order to teach and shame rational beings. ### Greek text Οὐχ ὁρῶν δʼ ὁ γεννάδας, ὅσων φιλοσόφων. τὴν πρόνοιαν εἰσαγόντων καὶ διὰ τὰ λογικὰ πάντα ποιεῖν αὐτὴν λεγόντων, συναναιρεῖ τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ αὑτῷ χρήσιμα δόγματα τῇ Χριστιανῶν κατὰ ταῦτα πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν συμφωνίᾳ, οὐδʼ ὅση βλάβη κωλυτικὴ γίνεται εὐσεβείας ἐκ τοῦ παραδέξασθαι ὅτι οὐδὲν μυρμήκων ἢ μελισσῶν διαφέρει ὁ ἄνθρωπος παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, φησὶν ὅτι, εἰ διὰ τοῦθʼ οἱ ἄνθρωποι διαφέρειν δοκοῦσι τῶν ἀλόγων, ἐπεὶ πόλεις ᾤκησαν καὶ χρῶνται πολιτείᾳ καὶ ἀρχαῖς καὶ ἡγεμονίαις, τοῦτʼ οὐδὲν πρὸς ἔπος ἐστὶ, καὶ γὰρ οἱ μύρμηκες καὶ αἱ μέλισσαι. μελίσσαις γοῦν ἐστιν ἡγεμὼν, ἔστι δʼ ἀκολουθία τε καὶ θεραπεία καὶ πόλεμοι καὶ νῖκαι καὶ τῶν ἡττημένων αἱρέσεις καὶ πόλεις καὶ προπόλεις γε καὶ ἔργων διαδοχὴ καὶ δίκαι κατὰ τῶν ἀργῶν τε καὶ πονηρῶν· τοὺς γοῦν κηφῆνας ἀπελαύνουσί τε καὶ κολάζουσιν. οὐδʼ ἐν τούτοις δὲ ἑώρακε, τίνι διαφέρει τὰ ἀπὸ λόγου καὶ λογικῆς ἐπιτελούμενα τῶν ἀπʼ ἀλόγου φύσεως καὶ κατασκευῆς ψιλῆς γινομένων. ὧν τὴν αἰτίαν οὐδεὶς μὲν ἐνυπάρχων τοῖς ποιοῦσι λόγος ἀναδέχεται (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχουσιν αὐτὸν), ὁ πρεσβύτατος δὲ καὶ υἱὸς μὲν τοῦ θεοῦ πάντων δὲ τῶν ὑποκειμένων βασιλεὺς φύσιν ἄλογον πεποίηκε, βοηθοῦσαν ὡς ἄλογον τοῖς οὐκ ἀξιωθεῖσι λόγου. πόλεις οὖν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις μετὰ πολλῶν ὑπέστησαν τεχνῶν καὶ διατάξεως νόμων· πολιτεῖαι δὲ καὶ ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἡγεμονίαι ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἤτοι αἳ κυρίως εἰσὶν οὕτως καλούμεναι σπουδαῖαί τινες ἕξεις καὶ ἐνέργειαι. ἢ καὶ αἱ καταχρηστικώτερον οὕτως ὀνομαζόμεναι πρὸς τὴν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐκείνων μίμησιν· ἐκείναις γὰρ ἐνορῶντες οἱ ἐπιτετευγμένως νομοθετήσαντες συνεστήσαντο τὰς ἀρίστας πολιτείας καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἡγεμονίας. ὧν οὐδὲν ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, κἂν ὁ Κέλσος τὰ λογικὰ ὀνόματα καὶ ἐπὶ λογικῶν τεταγμένα, πόλιν καὶ πολιτείας καὶ ἀρχὰς καὶ ἡγεμονίας, ἀναφέρῃ καὶ ἐπὶ μύρμηκας καὶ μελίσσας, ἐφʼ οἷς οὐδαμῶς μὲν τοὺς μύρμηκας ἢ τὰς μελίσσας ἀποδεκτέον (οὐ γὰρ σὺν λογισμῷ ποιοῦσι), τὴν θείαν δὲ φύσιν θαυμαστέον, μέχρι τῶν ἀλόγων ἐκτείνασαν τὸ οἱονεὶ πρὸς τὰ λογικὰ μίμημα, τάχα πρὸς δυσωπίαν τῶν λογικῶν, ἵνʼ ἐνορῶντες μύρμηξιν ἐργατικώτεροι γίνωνται καὶ ταμιευτικώτεροι τῶν ἑαυτοῖς χρησίμων, κατανοοῦντές τε μελίσσας πείθωνται μὲν ἡγεμονίαις διαιρῶνται δὲ τὰ χρήσιμα τῆς πολιτείας ἔργα πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῶν πόλεων. ### English translation (Claude) The noble fellow does not see how many philosophers, who introduce providence and say it does all things for the sake of rational beings, he does away with, as far as in him lies, together with useful doctrines in which Christians agree with philosophy; nor how much harm, hindering piety, comes from accepting that man differs in no way before God from ants or bees. He says: "If human beings seem to differ from the irrational animals because they have built cities and use a constitution and offices and positions of command, this is nothing to the point; for ants and bees do too. Bees, at any rate, have a leader, and there is following and service, wars and victories, and the capture of the defeated, and cities and suburbs too, and succession of work, and punishments against the idle and wicked; at any rate they drive out the drones and punish them." Here too he has not seen the difference between things accomplished by reason and reasoning and things that come about from an irrational nature and mere constitution. For these no reason present in those who do them accounts (for they do not have it); but the most ancient one, the Son of God and King of all subject things, made an irrational nature that helps, as irrational, those not counted worthy of reason. Among human beings, then, cities came into being with many arts and an ordering of laws; and constitutions and offices and positions of command among human beings are either those properly so called, certain earnest dispositions and activities, or those so named by a looser use of words, in imitation of those as far as possible. For those who have made laws successfully looked to those and established the best constitutions, offices, and positions of command. None of these can be found among irrational beings, even if Celsus applies to ants and bees the rational names that are assigned to rational beings: city, constitutions, offices, and positions of command. In these matters we must in no way praise the ants or the bees (for they do not act with reasoning), but we must admire the divine nature, which extended even to irrational beings a kind of imitation, as it were, of rational beings, perhaps to shame rational beings, so that looking at ants they may become more industrious and more careful to store up what is useful to them, and considering bees they may obey those in command and divide among themselves the useful works of the state for the preservation of cities. ### Scripture references - Prov 6:6–8: echo, medium confidence - John 1:3: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "The most ancient one" is the Word (Logos), the Son of God, through whom the irrational creation was made. The lesson from ants recalls Prov 6:6–8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.81 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/81/). ## Against Celsus 4.82 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/82/ - Source: Koetschau 1:352 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The bees' orderly 'wars' may teach humans to wage only just wars, but bees exist for humanity's sake, and it is man who works together with God's providence. ### Greek text Τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ οἱονεὶ πόλεμοι τῶν μελισσῶν διδασκαλία ἔγκειται πρὸς τὸ δικαίους καὶ τεταγμένους πολέμους. εἴ ποτε δέοι, γίνεσθαι ἐν ἀνθρώποις. καὶ οὐ πόλεις μὲν καὶ προπόλεις ἐν μελίσσαις, ἀλλʼ οἱ σίμβλοι καὶ τὰ ἑξάγωνα καὶ (τὰ) τῶν μελισσῶν ἔργα καὶ ἡ παρʼ ἐκείναις διαδοχὴ αὐτῶν διὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς πολλὰ τοῦ μέλιτος χρῄζοντας. θεραπείας τε σωμάτων πεπονθότων καὶ τροφὴν καθάριον. οὐ παραβλητέον δὲ τὰ (κατὰ) τῶν κηφήνων ὑπὸ τῶν μελισσῶν ἐπιτελούμενα ταῖς κατὰ τῶν ἀργῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ πονηρῶν δίκαις καὶ ταῖς κατʼ αὐτῶν κολάσεσιν. ἀλλʼ, ὡς προεῖπον, τὴν μὲν φύσιν ἐν τούτοις θαυμαστέον· τὸν δʼ ἄνθρωπον, ἐπιλογίσασθαι τὰ περὶ πάντων δυνάμενον καὶ κοσμῆσαι τὰ πάντων, ἅτε συνεργοῦντα τῇ προνοίᾳ ἀποδεκτέον, καὶ οὐ μόνης προνοίας θεοῦ ἔργα ἐπιτελοῦντα ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) And perhaps the so-called wars of the bees are set there as a lesson that wars among human beings, if ever they must happen, should be just and orderly. And bees do not have cities and suburbs; rather, the hives and the hexagonal cells and the works of the bees and the succession among them exist for the sake of human beings, who need honey for many purposes, for the treatment of bodies that are ailing and as pure food. Nor should what the bees do against the drones be compared with the punishments in cities against the idle and wicked and the penalties inflicted on them. But, as I said before, in these things nature is to be admired; while man, who is able to reason about all things and to set all things in order, is to be approved as a fellow worker with providence, accomplishing the works not of God's providence alone but also of his own. ### Translation notes - The parentheses (τὰ) and (κατὰ) are the editor's supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/82/). ## Against Celsus 4.83 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/83/ - Source: Koetschau 1:352–355 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's praise of ants that share burdens would undermine human compassion and imply that human and animal souls are alike, but Christians hold that the human soul is made in God's image. ### Greek text Εἰπὼν δʼ ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τῶν μελισσῶν, ἵνα τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ ἐξευτελίσῃ ἡμῶν οὐ Χριστιανῶν μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων τὰς πόλεις καὶ τὰς πολιτείας καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἡγεμονίας καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν πατρίδων πολέμους, ἑξῆς ἐπιφέρει διεξιὼν μυρμήκων ἐγκώμιον· ὅπως τῷ περὶ ἐκείνων ἐγκωμίῳ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων περὶ τὴν τροφὴν οἰκονομικὸν καταβάλῃ τῷ λόγῳ (τῷ) πρὸς τοὺς μύρμηκας καὶ τὸ τῶν χειμαδίων προνοητικὸν καταῤῥίψῃ ὡς οὐδὲν πλέον ἔχον τῆς ἀλόγου τῶν μυρμήκων ἐν οἷς ἐκεῖνος νομίζει προνοίας. τίνα δʼ οὐκ ἂν τῶν ἁπλουστέρων ἀνθρώπων καὶ οὐκ ἐπισταμένων ἐνορᾶν τῇ φύσει πάντων πραγμάτων ἀποτρέψαι τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ ὁ Κέλσος ἀπὸ τοῦ (τοῖς) βαρουμένοις ὑπὸ φορτίων βοηθεῖν καὶ κοινωνεῖν ἐκείνοις τῶν καμάτων, λέγων περὶ μυρμήκων ὡς ἂν ἀλλήλοις τῶν φορτίων, ἐπειδάν τινα κάμνοντα ἴδωσιν, ἐπιλαμβάνωνται; ἐρεῖ γὰρ ὁ δεόμενος τῆς διὰ λόγου παιδεύσεως καὶ μηδαμῶς ἐπαΐων αὐτῆς· ἐπεὶ τοίνυν μηδὲν διαφέρομεν μυρμήκων, καὶ ὅτε τοῖς κάμνουσι διὰ τὸ φέρειν βαρύτατα φορτία βοηθοῦμεν, τί μάτην τὸ τοιοῦτον ποιοῦμεν; καὶ οἱ μὲν μύρμηκες, ἅτε ἄλογα ζῷα τυγχάνοντες, οὐκ ἂν ἐπαρθεῖεν πρὸς τὸ μέγα φρονῆσαι διὰ τὸ παραβάλλεσθαι ἀνθρώποις τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν· οἱ δʼ ἄνθρωποι διὰ τὸν λόγον ἀκοῦσαι δυνηθέντες, τίνα τρόπον εὐτελίζεται αὐτῶν τὸ κοινωνικὸν. βλαβεῖεν ἂν τὸ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ Κέλσῳ καὶ τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἰδόντι ὅτι χριστιανισμοῦ ἀποτρέψαι θέλων τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας αὐτοῦ τῇ γραφῇ ἀποτρέπει καὶ τῶν οὐ Χριστιανῶν τὸ πρὸς τοὺς φέροντας τὰ βαρύτατα τῶν φορτίων συμπαθές. ἐχρῆν δʼ αὐτὸν, εἴπερ ἦν κἂν φιλόσοφος αἰσθανόμενος τοῦ κοινωνικοῦ, πρὸς τῷ (μὴ) συναναιρεῖν τῷ χριστιανισμῷ τὰ χρήσιμα τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις καὶ συνεργεῖν, εἰ οἷόν τʼ ἦν, τοῖς κοινοῖς ἐν χριστιανισμῷ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους καλοῖς. εἰ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀποτιθεμένων καρπῶν τὰς ἐκφύσεις ἀπεκτιθέασιν οἱ μύρμηκες, ἵνα μὴ σπαργῷεν. μένοιεν δὲ διʼ ἔτους αὐτοῖς εἰς τροφὴν, οὐ λογισμὸν εἶναι ἐν μύρμηξι τούτων αἴτιον ὑπονοητέον ἀλλὰ τὴν παμμήτορα φύσιν, καὶ τὰ ἄλογα κοσμήσασαν, ὡς μηδὲ τοὐλάχιστον καταλιπεῖν, μηδαμῶς φέρον ἴχνος τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως λόγου. εἰ μὴ ἄρα διὰ τούτων λεληθότως βούλεται ὁ Κέλσος (καὶ γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖς Πλατωνίζειν θέλει) ὁμοειδῆ εἶναι πᾶσαν ψυχὴν, καὶ μηδὲν διαφέρειν τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τῆς τῶν μυρμήκων καὶ τῶν μελισσῶν· ὅπερ κατάγοντός ἐστι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἁψίδων τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον σῶμα μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ λοιπά. τούτοις δʼ οὐ πείσονται Χριστιανοὶ. προκατειληφότες τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ γεγονέναι θεοῦ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ψυχὴν καὶ ὁρῶντες ὅτι ἀμήχανόν ἐστι τὴν „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ θεοῦ δεδημιουργημένην φύσιν πάντῃ ἀπαλεῖψαι τοὺς χαρακτῆρας αὐτῆς καὶ ἄλλους ἀναλαβεῖν οὐκ οἶδα κατʼ εἰκόνας τίνων γεγενημένους ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις. ### English translation (Claude) Having spoken about bees, so as to belittle, as far as in him lies, the cities, constitutions, offices, positions of command, and wars for native lands, not of us Christians only but of all human beings, Celsus next adds a detailed eulogy of ants, so that by his eulogy of them he may bring down, in his argument about the ants, human management in the matter of food, and cast aside human foresight for winter quarters as having nothing more than what he supposes is the irrational foresight of the ants. Which of the simpler people, who do not know how to look into the nature of all things, would Celsus not turn away, as far as in him lies, from helping those weighed down by burdens and sharing their toil, when he says of ants that they take over one another's burdens whenever they see one tired? For someone who needs education through reason and has no understanding of it will say: "Since, then, we differ in no way from ants, even when we help those who are tired from carrying very heavy burdens, why do we do such a thing in vain?" The ants, being irrational animals, would not be puffed up to think great things of themselves because their works are compared to those of human beings; but human beings, who can hear through reason how their fellowship is being belittled, might be harmed, as far as Celsus and his words can do it. He does not see that in wishing to turn his readers away from Christianity he turns away even non-Christians from compassion toward those who carry the heaviest burdens. He ought, if he were even a philosopher aware of human fellowship, not only not to do away, along with Christianity, with what is useful among human beings, but also to cooperate, if possible, with the goods that Christianity shares with other human beings. And if ants cut off the sprouts of the grain they store away, so that it does not swell but remains as food for them through the year, one must not suppose that reasoning in ants is the cause of this, but nature, mother of all, which has ordered even irrational beings so as not to leave even the least thing without some trace of the reason that comes from nature. Unless, of course, by this Celsus covertly wants (for in many things he likes to play the Platonist) every soul to be of the same kind, and a man's to differ in no way from that of ants and bees; which is the view of one who brings the soul down from the vault of heaven not to the human body only but to the other bodies as well. Christians will not be persuaded by this, since they have already grasped that the human soul was made "in the image" of God, and see that it is impossible for a nature created "in the image" of God to wipe out its features altogether and take on others, made in the images of I know not what, among the irrational animals. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:26–27: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 247b (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "The vault of heaven" echoes Plato, Phaedrus 247b; Origen links Celsus's view to the Platonist doctrine of souls passing into animal bodies. The allusion is to Gen 1:26–27. The parentheses (τῷ), (τοῖς), (μὴ) are the editor's supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.83 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/83/). ## Against Celsus 4.84 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/84/ - Source: Koetschau 1:355 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's praise of ants' burials only magnifies the Word who ordered nature, and his claim that ants converse with reason and speech is absurd. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀποθνῄσκουσιν μύρμηξί φησι τοὺς ζῶντας ἴδιόν τι ἀποκρίνειν χωρίον. κἀκεῖνο αὐτοῖς εἶναι πάτρια μνήματα, λεκτέον ὅτι ὅσῳ πλείονα λέγει τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἐγκώμια, τοσούτῳ πλεῖον. κἂν μὴ θέλῃ, αὔξει τὸ τοῦ πάντα κοσμήσαντος λόγου ἔργον καὶ δείκνυσι τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐντρέχειαν, δυναμένην κοσμεῖν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὰ πλεονεκτήματα τῆς φύσεως τῶν ἀλόγων. (τί δὲ λέγω τῶν ἀλόγων.) ἐπεὶ Κέλσῳ δοκεῖ μηδʼ ἄλογα εἶναι τὰ κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς πάντων ἐννοίας ἄλογα καλούμενα; οὐδὲ τοὺς μύρμηκας γοῦν οἴεται εἶναι ἀλόγους ὁ περὶ τῆς ὅλης φύσεως ἐπαγγειλάμενος λέγειν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν τῇ ἐπιγραφῇ τοῦ βιβλίου αὐχήσας. φησὶ γὰρ περὶ τῶν μυρμήκων ὡς διαλεγομένων ἀλλήλοις τοιαῦτα· καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ ἀπαντῶντες ἀλλήλοις διαλέγονται, ὅθεν οὐδὲ τῶν ὁδῶν ἁμαρτάνουσιν· οὐκοῦν καὶ λόγου συμπλήρωσίς ἐστι παρʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ κοιναὶ ἔννοιαι καθολικῶν τινων καὶ φωνὴ καὶ τυγχάνοντα καὶ σημαινόμενα. τὸ γὰρ διαλέγεσθαί τινα πρὸς ἕτερον ἐν φωνῇ γίνεται δηλούσῃ τι σημαινόμενον. πολλάκις δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν καλουμένων τυγχανόντων ἀπαγγελλούσῃ· ἅπερ καὶ ἐν μύρμηξι λέγειν εἶναι πῶς οὐ πάντων ἂν εἴη καταγελαστότατον; ### English translation (Claude) And since he says that the living ants set apart a special place for those that die, and that this is their ancestral burial ground, it must be said that the more praises he utters of the irrational animals, the more, even against his will, he magnifies the work of the Word who ordered all things, and shows the skill in human beings that is able by reason to set in order even the advantages of the nature of irrational beings. (But why do I say irrational, since Celsus thinks that the beings called irrational according to the common notions of all people are not irrational at all?) At any rate, the man who promised to speak about the whole of nature, and boasted of the truth in the title of his book, does not think even ants are irrational. For he says of ants, as though they converse with one another, something like this: "Indeed, when they meet one another they converse, and so they do not lose their way; so there is among them a fulness of reason, and common notions of certain universals, and speech, and objects and meanings." For conversing with another takes place in speech that shows some meaning, and often reports about what are called objects; and to say that these exist in ants too, how would it not be the most ridiculous thing of all? ### Translation notes - "Objects and meanings" (τυγχάνοντα καὶ σημαινόμενα) are Stoic technical terms of logic: the external thing and the meaning signified. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.84 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/84/). ## Against Celsus 4.85 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/85/ - Source: Koetschau 1:355–356 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: One looking down from heaven would see not bodies but minds, and would see how far rational humans, made in God's image, surpass ants and even elephants. ### Greek text Καὶ οὐκ αἰδεῖταί γε ἐπιφέρων τούτοις, ἵνα καὶ τοῖς μετʼ αὐτὸν ἐσομένοις ἐπιδεικνύηται τὴν τῶν δογμάτων ἑαυτοῦ ἀσχημοσύνην, λέγων· φέρʼ οὖν, εἴ τις ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐπιβλέποι, τί ἂν δόξαι διαφέρειν τὰ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἢ τὰ ὑπὸ μυρμήκων καὶ μελισσῶν δρώμενα; ὁ ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ δὴ ἐπὶ γῆν κατὰ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν αὐτοῦ βλέπων τὰ δρώμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν μυρμήκων γινόμενα πότερον ἐνορᾷ μὲν ἀνθρώπων καὶ μυρμήκων σώμασιν, οὐ κατανοεῖ δὲ τὸ λογικὸν ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ λογισμῷ κινούμενον πάλιν τε αὖ τὸ ἄλογον ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ ὑπὸ ὁρμῆς καὶ φαντασίας ἀλόγως κινούμενον μετά τινος φυσικῆς ὑποκατασκευῆς; ἀλλʼ ἄτοπον τὸν ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ βλέποντα (τὰ) ἐπὶ γῆς ἐνορᾶν μὲν θέλειν σώμασιν ἀνθρώπων καὶ μυρμήκων ἀπὸ τοσούτου διαστήματος, μὴ πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον βλέπειν ἡγεμονικῶν φύσεις καὶ πηγὴν ὁρμῶν λογικὴν ἢ ἄλογον. εἰ δʼ ἅπαξ βλέπει τὴν πασῶν ὁρμῶν πηγὴν, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὴν διαφορὰν ἴδοι ἂν καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐ μόνον παρὰ τοὺς μύρμηκας ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοὺς ἐλέφαντας. ὁ γὰρ βλέπων ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀλόγοις, κἂν μεγάλα ᾖ αὐτῶν τὰ σώματα. οὐκ ἄλλην ὄψεται ἀρχὴν ἢ τὴν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀλογίαν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς λογικοῖς λόγον τὸν κοινὸν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὰ θεῖα καὶ ἐπουράνια τάχα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν, διὸ καὶ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ γεγονέναι ὠνόμασται τοῦ θεοῦ· „εἰκὼν“ γὰρ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) And he is not ashamed to add to these things, so as to display to those who come after him the unseemliness of his own doctrines, saying: "Come then, if someone were to look down from heaven upon the earth, how would what we do seem to differ from what ants and bees do?" Does the one who, on his hypothesis, looks down from heaven upon the earth at what human beings do and what ants do look at the bodies of human beings and ants, but not perceive the rational ruling faculty moved by reasoning, and on the other hand the irrational ruling faculty moved irrationally by impulse and impression, with a certain natural constitution underneath? It would be absurd for one looking from heaven at things on earth to want to look at the bodies of human beings and ants from so great a distance, and not much rather to see the natures of their ruling faculties and the source of their impulses, rational or irrational. And if he once sees the source of all impulses, it is clear that he would also see the difference and the superiority of man, not only over ants but also over elephants. For one looking from heaven will see in the irrational beings, even if their bodies are large, no other principle than, if I may so call it, irrationality; but in rational beings reason, which human beings share with divine and heavenly beings, and perhaps with the God over all himself; which is why man is said to have been made "in the image" of God; for the "image" of the God over all is his Word. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:27: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:15: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 1:27 and Col 1:15 (the Word as God's image). The parenthetical (τὰ) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.85 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/85/). ## Against Celsus 4.86 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/86/ - Source: Koetschau 1:356–357 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says snakes and eagles are wiser than humans because they know natural remedies, but they act by instinct, while humans discovered and use the same remedies by reason. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ὡσπερεὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖον καταβιβάσαι ἀγωνιζόμενος τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος καὶ ἐξομοιῶσαι τοῖς ἀλόγοις καὶ μηδὲν ὅ τι καταλιπεῖν θέλων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ἱστορουμένων ἐμφαινόντων τὸ μεῖζον, καὶ τὰ τῆς γοητείας φησὶν εἶναι καὶ ἔν τισι τῶν ἀλόγων· ὡς μηδʼ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐξαιρέτως σεμνύνεσθαι μηδὲ θέλειν ἔχειν τὴν πρὸς τὰ ἄλογα ὑπεροχήν· καί φησι ταῦτα· εἰ δέ τι καὶ (ἐπὶ) γοητείᾳ φρονοῦσιν ἄνθρωποι, ἤδη καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο σοφώτεροι ὄφεις καὶ ἀετοί· πολλὰ γοῦν ἴσασιν ἀλεξιφάρμακα καὶ ἀλεξίκακα καὶ δὴ καὶ λίθων τινῶν δυνάμεις ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν νεοσσῶν. οἷς ἂν ἐπιτύχωσιν ἄνθρωποι, θαυμαστόν τι κτῆμα ἔχειν νομίζουσι. καὶ πρῶτόν γε οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τὴν τῶν ζῴων περὶ τὰ φυσικὰ ἀλεξιφάρμακα εἴτε ἐμπειρίαν εἴτε φυσικήν τινα κατάληψιν γοητείαν ὠνόμασεν· ἐπʼ ἄλλου γὰρ τέτριπται τὸ τῆς γοητείας τάσσεσθαι ὄνομα· εἰ μὴ ἄρα λεληθότως διαβάλλειν βούλεται ὡς Ἐπικούρειος πᾶσαν τὴν τῶν τοιούτων χρῆσιν ὡς ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ γοήτων κειμένην. πλὴν ἀλλὰ δεδόσθω αὐτῷ τὸ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους φρονεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων γνώσει μέγα, εἴτε γόητας ὄντας εἴτε καὶ μή· πῶς ὅτι σοφώτεροι κατὰ τοῦτο ἀνθρώπων εἰσὶν ὄφεις τῷ μαράθῳ εἰς ὀξυωπίαν καὶ ταχυτῆτα κινήσεως χρώμενοι. μόνον τοῦτο φυσικὸν οὐκ ἐξ ἐπιλογισμοῦ καταλαμβάνοντες ἀλλʼ ἐκ κατασκευῆς; ἄνθρωποι δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ ψιλῆς φύσεως ἐπὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον ὁμοίως ὄφεσιν ἔρχονται· ἀλλὰ πῇ μὲν ἐκ πείρας πῇ δʼ ἐκ λόγου. ἔσθʼ ὅτε δʼ ἐξ ἐπιλογισμοῦ καὶ κατʼ ἐπιστήμην. ὡς εἰ καὶ ἀετοὶ πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῶν ἐν τῇ καλιᾷ νεοσσῶν τὸν λεγόμενον ἀετίτην λίθον εὑρόντες φέρουσιν ἐπʼ αὐτὴν, πόθεν ὅτι σοφοὶ ἀετοὶ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων σοφώτεροι, τῶν ἐκ πείρας τὸ τοῖς ἀετοῖς δοθὲν φυσικὸν βοήθημα εὑρόντων διὰ τὸν λογισμὸν καὶ μετὰ νοῦ χρησαμένων; ### English translation (Claude) Next, as though striving to bring the human race down still further and make it like the irrational animals, and wishing to leave out nothing of what is reported of irrational animals that shows something greater, he says that the arts of sorcery too exist in some irrational animals, so that human beings may not pride themselves especially on this either, or wish to have superiority over the irrational animals. He says this: "And if human beings think something of themselves for sorcery, here too snakes and eagles are wiser; at any rate they know many antidotes and charms against harm, and indeed the powers of certain stones for the protection of their young; and when human beings chance upon these, they think they have a wonderful possession." First, I do not know how he called sorcery the animals' experience, or some natural apprehension, of natural antidotes; for the name sorcery is customarily applied to something else. Unless perhaps, as an Epicurean, he covertly wants to disparage all use of such things as belonging to the professions of sorcerers. But let it be granted to him that human beings pride themselves on knowing these things, whether they are sorcerers or not: how does it follow that snakes are wiser than human beings in this, because they use fennel for sharpness of sight and quickness of movement, grasping only this natural thing not by reasoning but by their constitution? Human beings do not come to such a thing from bare nature like snakes, but partly from experience and partly from reason, and sometimes by reasoning and according to science. So too, if eagles find the so-called eagle-stone and carry it to their nest for the protection of their young, how does it follow that eagles are wise, and wiser than human beings, who found by experience the natural help given to eagles and used it by reasoning and with understanding? ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (ἐπὶ) is the editor's supplement. The "eagle-stone" (aetites) was believed to protect eaglets and ease childbirth. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.86 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/86/). ## Against Celsus 4.87 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/87/ - Source: Koetschau 1:357–359 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Animals' fixed instincts show nature, not reason, at work; even Solomon's praise of the wise ants in Proverbs is a riddle with a hidden sense, as Jesus spoke in 'proverbs.' ### Greek text Ἔστω δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ὑπὸ τῶν ζῴων γινώσκεσθαι ἀλεξιφάρμακα. τί οὖν τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ μὴ φύσιν ἀλλὰ λόγον εἶναι τὸν εὑρίσκοντα ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις; εἰ μὲν γὰρ λόγος ἦν ὁ εὑρίσκων, οὐκ ἂν ἀποτεταγμένως τόδε τι μόνον εὑρίσκετο ἐν ὄφεσιν, ἔστω καὶ δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον, καὶ ἄλλο τι ἐν ἀετῷ καὶ οὕτως ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ζῴοις. ἀλλὰ τοσαῦτα ἂν, ὅσα καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις· νυνὶ δὲ φανερὸν ἐκ τοῦ ἀποτεταγμένως πρός τινα ἑκάστου φύσιν ζῴου νενευκέναι βοηθήματα ὅτι οὐ σοφία οὐδὲ λόγος ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀλλά τις φυσικὴ πρὸς τὰ τοιάδε σωτηρίας ἕνεκεν τῶν ζῴων κατασκευὴ, ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου γεγενημένη. καίτοι γε εἰ ἐβουλόμην ὁμόσε χωρεῖν τῷ Κέλσῳ κατὰ ταῦτα, ἐχρησάμην ἂν Σολομῶντος λέξει ἀπὸ τῶν Παροιμιῶν οὕτως ἐχούσῃ· „τέσσαρα δʼ ἐστὶν ἐλάχιστα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ταῦτα δέ ἐστι σοφώτερα τῶν σοφῶν· οἱ μύρμηκες, οἷς μὴ ἔστιν ἰσχὺς, οἳ ἑτοιμάζονται ἐν θέρει τὴν τροφήν· καὶ οἱ χοιρογρύλλιοι. ἔθνος οὐκ ἰσχυρὸν, οἳ ἐποιήσαντο ἐν πέτραις τοὺς ἑαυτῶν οἴκους· ἀβασίλευτός ἐστιν ἡ ἀκρὶς, καὶ στρατεύει ἀπὸ ἑνὸς κελεύσματος εὐτάκτως· καὶ ἀσκαλαβώτης χερσὶν ἐρειδόμενος καὶ εὐάλωτος ὢν οἰκεῖ ἐν ὀχυρώμασι βασιλέως.“ ἀλλʼ οὐ συγχρῶμαι ὡς σαφέσι τοῖς ῥητοῖς, ἀκολούθως δὲ τῇ ἐπιγραφῇ (ἐπιγέγραπται γὰρ τὸ βιβλίον Παροιμίαι) ζητῶ ταῦτα ὡς αἰνίγματα. ἔθος γὰρ τοῖς ἀνδράσι τούτοις τὰ ἕτερον μέν τι αὐτόθεν δηλοῦντα ἕτερον δὲ ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ ἀπαγγέλλοντα διαιρεῖν εἰς εἴδη πολλὰ, ὧν (ἓν) εἶναι τὰς παροιμίας. διὸ καὶ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἡμῶν γέγραπται ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν εἰρηκέναι· „ταῦτʼ ἐν παροιμίαις λελάληκα ὑμῖν· ἔρχεται ὥρα ὅτε οὐκέτι ἐν παροιμίαις λαλήσω ὑμῖν.“ οὐχ οἱ αἰσθητοὶ τοίνυν μύρμηκες σοφώτεροι καὶ „τῶν σοφῶν“ εἰσιν ἀλλʼ οἱ δηλούμενοι ὡς ἐν εἴδει παροιμιῶν. οὕτω δὲ λεκτέον καὶ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ζῴων· ἀλλὰ πάνυ ἁπλούστατα νομίζει εἶναι καὶ ἰδιωτικὰ ὁ Κέλσος τὰ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Χριστιανῶν βιβλία καὶ οἴεται τοὺς ἀλληγοροῦντας αὐτὰ βιαζομένους τὸ βούλημα τῶν γραψάντων τοῦτο ποιεῖν. ἐληλέγχθω οὖν καὶ διὰ τούτων ὁ Κέλσος μάτην ἡμᾶς διαβάλλων· ἐληλέγχθω δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ περὶ ὄφεων καὶ ἀετῶν λόγος, ἀποφηνάμενος εἶναι τούτους ἀνθρώπων σοφωτέρους. ### English translation (Claude) Let it be granted that other antidotes too are known by animals. What has this to do with showing that it is not nature but reason that discovers these things in animals? For if it were reason that discovered them, not just this one thing alone would be found, fixed, in snakes (let there be a second and a third), and something else in the eagle, and so with the other animals; rather, as many things as in human beings. But as it is, it is plain from the fact that each animal's nature has been inclined, in a fixed way, toward certain helps, that there is no wisdom or reason in them, but a certain natural constitution toward such things for the preservation of the animals, brought about by the Word. And yet, if I wished to close with Celsus on these matters, I would have used the saying of Solomon from Proverbs, which runs thus: "There are four things that are least on the earth, but these are wiser than the wise: the ants, which have no strength, but prepare their food in summer; and the rock-badgers, a people not strong, who made their houses in the rocks; the locust has no king, yet marches in good order at one command; and the gecko, which supports itself on its hands and is easily caught, lives in the strongholds of the king." But I do not use these sayings as though their sense were plain; rather, in keeping with the title (for the book is titled Proverbs), I examine them as riddles. For it is the custom of these men to divide things that show one thing on the surface but convey another in a hidden sense into many kinds, one of which is proverbs. That is why in our Gospels too our Saviour is written to have said: "I have spoken these things to you in proverbs; the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in proverbs." It is not, then, the perceptible ants that are wiser even "than the wise," but those indicated as in the form of proverbs. And the same must be said of the other animals. But Celsus thinks the books of the Jews and Christians are altogether very simple and unlearned, and supposes that those who interpret them allegorically do so by forcing the intent of the writers. Let Celsus, then, be refuted by this too as slandering us in vain; and let his argument about snakes and eagles, which declared them wiser than human beings, be refuted as well. ### Scripture references - Prov 30:24–28: quotation, high confidence - John 16:25: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Prov 30:24–28 (LXX) and John 16:25. The parenthetical (ἓν) is the editor's supplement. Origen plays on παροιμία ("proverb", also "figure of speech"). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.87 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/87/). ## Against Celsus 4.88 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/88/ - Source: Koetschau 1:359–360 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus claims birds and elephants know God better than humans because they give omens and keep oaths; Origen notes that even the philosophers dispute whether augury exists at all. ### Greek text Θέλων δʼ ἔτι διὰ πλειόνων μηδὲ τὰς περὶ τοῦ θείου ἐννοίας ἐξαιρέτους εἶναι παρὰ τὰ θνητὰ πάντα ἐν τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τινὰ ἀποφῆναι ἐννοοῦντα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ. περὶ οὗ τοιαῦται διαφωνίαι γεγόνασι καὶ τοῖς ὀξυτέροις τῶν πανταχοῦ ἀνθρώπων, Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων, φησὶν ὅτι εἰ δʼ, ὅτι θείας ἐννοίας ἄνθρωπος ἐπείληπται, νομίζεται ὑπερέχειν τῶν λοιπῶν ζῴων· ἴστωσαν οἱ τοῦτο φάσκοντες ὅτι καὶ τούτου πολλὰ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἀντιποιηθήσεται· καὶ μάλʼ εἰκότως· τί γὰρ ἂν φαίη τις θειότερον τοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα προγινώσκειν τε καὶ προδηλοῦν; τοῦτο τοίνυν ἄνθρωποι παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων καὶ μάλιστα παρʼ ὀρνίθων μανθάνουσιν· καὶ ὅσοι τῆς ἐκείνων ἐνδείξεως ἐπαΐουσιν, οὗτοι μαντικοί. εἰ δʼ ὄρνιθες ἄρα καὶ ὅσα (ἄλλα) ζῷα μαντικὰ ἐκ θεοῦ προγινώσκοντα διὰ συμβόλων ἡμᾶς διδάσκει, τοσοῦτον ἔοικεν ἐγγυτέρω τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας ἐκεῖνα πεφυκέναι καὶ εἶναι σοφώτερα καὶ θεοφιλέστερα. φασὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ συνετοὶ καὶ ὁμιλίας ἐκείνοις εἶναι, δηλονότι τῶν ἡμετέρων ἱερωτέρας, καὶ αὐτοί που γνωρίζειν τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ ἔργῳ δεικνύειν ὅτι γνωρίζουσιν, ὅταν προειπόντες ὅτι ἔφασαν οἱ ὄρνιθες ὡς ἀπίασί ποι καὶ ποιήσουσι τόδε ἢ τόδε δεικνύωσιν ἀπελθόντας ἐκεῖ καὶ ποιοῦντας ἃ δὴ προεῖπον. ἐλεφάντων δὲ οὐδὲν εὐορκότερον οὐδὲ πρὸς τὰ θεῖα πιστότερον εἶναι δοκεῖ, πάντως δή που διότι γνῶσιν αὐτοῦ ἔχουσιν. ὅρα δὲ ἐν τούτοις, ὅσα ζητούμενα παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν οὐ μόνον Ἑλλήνων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐν βαρβάροις, εἴθʼ εὑρόντων εἴτε παρά τινων δαιμόνων μαθόντων τὰ περὶ οἰωνῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων, ἀφʼ ὧν μαντεῖαί τινες ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι λέγονται, συναρπάζει καὶ ὡς ὁμολογούμενα ἐκτίθεται. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἐζήτηται, πότερον ἔστι τις τέχνη οἰωνιστικὴ καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἡ διὰ ζῴων μαντικὴ ἢ οὐκ ἔστι· δεύτερον δὲ παρὰ τοῖς παραδεξαμένοις εἶναι τὴν διʼ ὀρνίθων μαντικὴν οὐ συμπεφώνηται ἡ αἰτία τοῦ τρόπου τῆς μαντείας· ἐπειδήπερ οἱ μὲν ἀπό τινων δαιμόνων ἢ θεῶν μαντικῶν φασι γίνεσθαι τὰς κινήσεις τοῖς ζῴοις, ὄρνισι μὲν εἰς διαφόρους πτήσεις καὶ εἰς διαφόρους φωνὰς τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς εἰς τὰς τοιασδὶ κινήσεις ἢ τοιασδὶ, ἄλλοι δὲ θειοτέρας αὐτῶν καὶ πρὸς τοῦτʼ ἐπιτηδείους [αὐτῶν] εἶναι τὰς ψυχὰς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀπιθανώτατον. ### English translation (Claude) Wishing further to show at length that not even notions about the divine are exclusive to the human race among all mortal beings, but that some of the irrational animals too have notions about God (about whom such disagreements have arisen even among the sharper-witted of human beings everywhere, Greeks and barbarians), he says: "If man is thought superior to the other animals because he has grasped notions of the divine, let those who say this know that many of the other animals will lay claim to this too; and with good reason. For what could one call more divine than to foreknow and foretell the future? Human beings learn this from the other animals, and especially from birds; and those who understand their indications are the diviners. If, then, birds, and whatever other prophetic animals there are, foreknowing from God, teach us by signs, it seems that they are by nature so much nearer to divine converse, and wiser and dearer to God. And the intelligent among human beings say that they have conversations too, evidently holier than ours, and that they themselves somehow understand what is said and show by the deed that they understand, when, having said beforehand that the birds said they would go somewhere and do this or that, they show them going there and doing what they had foretold. And nothing seems to keep oaths better than elephants, or to be more faithful to divine things, surely because they have knowledge of him." See in this how many questions debated among philosophers, not only of the Greeks but also of those among barbarians, who either discovered or learned from certain demons the facts about omens from birds and other animals, from which certain divinations are said to come to human beings, he seizes upon and sets out as agreed. For first it has been debated whether there is an art of augury, and in general divination through animals, or not. Second, among those who have accepted that there is divination through birds, the cause of the manner of divination has not been agreed upon; for some say that the movements of the animals come from certain demons or prophetic gods, to birds for different flights and different cries, and to the others for such and such movements; while others say that their souls are more divine and suited to this, which is most unconvincing. ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (ἄλλα) is the editor's supplement; the bracketed [αὐτῶν] is deleted by the editor. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.88 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/88/). ## Against Celsus 4.89 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/89/ - Source: Koetschau 1:360–362 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus should have proved bird-divination before claiming birds know God better than people; on his view birds outrank Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato, and he should take them as his teachers. ### Greek text Ἐχρῆν οὖν τὸν Κέλσον, διὰ τῶν προκειμένων βουλόμενον θειότερα καὶ σοφώτερα ἀποδεῖξαι τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατασκευάσαι διὰ πλειόνων ὡς ὑπάρχουσαν τὴν τοιάνδε μαντικὴν καὶ τὴν ἀπολογίαν μετὰ τοῦτʼ ἐναργεστέρως ἀποδεῖξαι καὶ ἀποδεικτικῶς ἀποδοκιμάσαι μὲν τοὺς λόγους τῶν ἀναιρούντων τὰς τοιασδὶ μαντείας ἀποδεικτικῶς δʼ ἀνατρέψαι καὶ τοὺς λόγους τῶν εἰπόντων ἀπὸ δαιμόνων ἢ θεῶν γίνεσθαι τὰς κινήσεις τοῖς ζῴοις πρὸς τὸ μαντεύσασθαι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα κατασκευάσαι περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ψυχῆς ὡς θειοτέρας. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν πρὸς τὰ πιθανὰ αὐτοῦ, ἐπιδειξαμένου φιλόσοφον περὶ τῶν τηλικούτων ἕξιν, κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἐνέστημεν· ἀνατρέποντες μὲν τὸ ὅτι σοφώτερα τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ψευδοποιοῦντες δὲ καὶ ὅτι ἐννοίας ἔχει τοῦ θείου ἱερωτέρας ἡμῶν καὶ ὅτι ὁμιλίας ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα ἱεράς τινας. νυνὶ δʼ ὁ ἐγκαλῶν ἡμῖν ὅτι πιστεύομεν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ ἀξιοῖ ἡμᾶς πιστεύειν ὅτι αἱ ψυχαὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων θειοτέρας ἔχουσιν ἐννοίας καὶ τρανοτέρας ἀνθρώπων. ὅπερ εἰ ἀληθές ἐστιν. ὄρνιθες μᾶλλον τρανοτέρας Κέλσου ἔχουσι περὶ θεοῦ ἐννοίας· καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ Κέλσου. τοῦ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐξευτελίζοντος. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὅσον ἐπὶ Κέλσῳ οἱ ὄρνιθες μείζονας καὶ θειοτέρας ἔχουσιν ἐννοίας οὐ λέγω ἡμῶν Χριστιανῶν ἢ τῶν ταῖς αὐταῖς ἡμῖν γραφαῖς χρωμένων Ἰουδαίων ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι θεολόγων· ἄνθρωποι γὰρ ἦσαν. μᾶλλον οὖν κατὰ Κέλσον κατείληφε τὴν τοῦ θείου φύσιν τὸ τῶν δῆθεν μαντικῶν ὀρνίθων γένος ἢ Φερεκύδης καὶ Πυθαγόρας καὶ Σωκράτης καὶ Πλάτων. καὶ ἐχρῆν γε ἡμᾶς πρὸς τοὺς ὄρνιθας φοιτᾶν διδασκάλους· ἵνʼ. ὥσπερ κατὰ τὴν Κέλσου ὑπόληψιν διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς μαντικῶς τὰ ἐσόμενα. οὕτω καὶ [περὶ] τοῦ ἀμφιβάλλειν περὶ τοῦ θείου ἀπαλλάξωσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ἣν κατειλήφασι τρανὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔννοιαν παραδιδόντες. Κέλσῳ μὲν οὖν ἀκολουθεῖ, τῷ διαφέρειν ἡγουμένῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς ὄρνιθας, διδασκάλοις αὐτὸν χρᾶσθαι ὄρνισι καὶ μηδενὶ οὕτως τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων παρʼ Ἕλλησιν· ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, then, wishing by what he put forward to show that irrational animals are more divine and wiser than human beings, ought to have established at length that such divination exists, and after that to have shown his defence more clearly: to reject by demonstration the arguments of those who do away with such divinations, to overturn by demonstration also the arguments of those who said that the movements for divining come to the animals from demons or gods, and after that to establish his view about the soul of the irrational animals as more divine. For then, since he would have displayed a philosophical competence on such great matters, we would have opposed his plausible arguments as best we could, overturning the claim that irrational animals are wiser than human beings, and exposing as false both that they have holier notions of the divine than we do and that they have some holy conversations with one another. But as it is, the one who accuses us for believing in the God over all asks us to believe that the souls of birds have more divine and clearer notions than human beings. If this is true, birds have clearer notions of God than Celsus; and it is no wonder if they have clearer notions than Celsus, who belittles man so much. But, as far as Celsus is concerned, birds have greater and more divine notions, I do not say than we Christians, or than the Jews who use the same Scriptures as we do, but even than the theologians among the Greeks; for they were human beings. According to Celsus, then, the race of supposedly prophetic birds has grasped the nature of the divine better than Pherecydes and Pythagoras and Socrates and Plato. And we ought to go to the birds as teachers, so that, as on Celsus's supposition they teach us the future by divination, so too they may free human beings from doubting about the divine, by handing on the clear notion they have grasped of him. It follows, then, that Celsus, who thinks birds surpass human beings, should use birds as his teachers, and none of the philosophers among the Greeks. ### Translation notes - The bracketed [περὶ] is deleted by the editor. The section ends mid-sentence; it continues in 4.90. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.89 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/89/). ## Against Celsus 4.90 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/90/ - Source: Koetschau 1:362–363 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even granting that augury exists, birds that could foresee the future would avoid snares and arrows, so they cannot be wiser or more divine than humans. ### Greek text ἡμῖν δʼ ὀλίγα πρὸς τὰ προκείμενα ἀπὸ πολλῶν λεκτέον, διελέγχουσι τὴν ἀχάριστον ψευδοδοξίαν πρὸς τὸν πεποιηκότα αὐτόν· „ἄνθρωπος“ γὰρ καὶ Κέλσος ὢν „ἐν τιμῇ ὢν οὐ συνῆκε, “ διὸ οὐδὲ „παρασυνεβλήθη“ τοῖς ὄρνισι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις (ἀλόγοις) ζῴοις, οἷς νομίζει εἶναι μαντικοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνοις παραχωρήσας τὰ πρωτεῖα ὑπὲρ Αἰγυπτίους, τοὺς τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ὡς θεοὺς προσκυνοῦντας, ἑαυτὸν ὑπέταξε τὸ δʼ ὅσον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ καὶ πᾶν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος ὡς χεῖρον καὶ ἔλαττον νοοῦν περὶ τοῦ θείου τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις. προηγουμένως μὲν οὖν ζητείσθω, πότερον ὑπάρχει ἡ διʼ ὀρνίθων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ζῴων, πεπιστευμένων εἶναι μαντικῶν, μαντικὴ ἢ μὴ ὑπάρχει. καὶ γὰρ οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητός ἐστιν εἰς ἑκάτερα ἐπιχειρούμενος ὁ λόγος· ὅπου μὲν δυσωπῶν μὴ παραδέξασθαι τὸ τοιοῦτον, ἵνα μὴ τὸ λογικὸν ἀντὶ τῶν δαιμονίων χρηστηρίων ὄρνισι χρήσηται, καταλιπὸν ἐκεῖνα, ὅπου δὲ διὰ μαρτυρουμένης ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἐναργείας παριστὰς ὅτι πολλοὶ ἀπὸ μεγίστων διεσώθησαν κινδύνων, πεισθέντες τῇ διʼ ὀρνίθων μαντικῇ. ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ παρόντος δεδόσθω ὑπαρκτὸν εἶναι τὴν οἰωνιστικὴν, ἵνα καὶ οὕτως δείξω τοῖς προκαταληφθεῖσιν ὅτι καὶ τούτου διδομένου πολλή ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παρὰ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα καὶ παρʼ αὐτὰ τὰ μαντικὰ ὑπεροχὴ καὶ οὐδαμῶς πρὸς ἐκεῖνα συγκριτή. λεκτέον οὖν ὅτι, εἴπερ τις θεία φύσις ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς τῶν μελλόντων προγνωστικὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον πλουσία, ὡς ἐκ περιουσίας καὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων δηλοῦν τὰ ἐσόμενα, δηλονότι πολὺ πρότερον τὰ περὶ ἑαυτῶν ἐγίνωσκον· (γινώσκον)τα δὲ τὰ περὶ ἑαυτῶν ἐφυλάξατο (αν) ἀναπτῆναι κατὰ τοῦδε τοῦ τόπου, ἐφʼ οὗ παγίδας καὶ δίκτυα ἄνθρωποι ἔστησαν κατʼ αὐτῶν, ἢ τοξόται σκοπῷ χρώμενοι τοῖς ἱπταμένοις βέλη ἐπʼ αὐτὰ ἀπέλυον. πάντως δʼ ἂν καὶ προγινώσκοντες ἀετοὶ τὴν κατὰ τῶν νεοσσῶν ἐπιβουλὴν, εἴτε τῶν ἀναβαινόντων πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὄφεων καὶ διαφθειρόντων αὐτοὺς, εἴτε καί τινων ἀνθρώπων εἴτʼ εἰς παιδιὰν εἴτε καὶ εἰς ἄλλην τινὰ χρείαν καὶ θεραπείαν λαμβανόντων αὐτοὺς, οὐκ ἂν ἐνόσσευσαν ἔνθα ἔμελλον ἐπιβουλεύεσθαι· καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς οὐκ ἄν ποτε τῶν ζῴων τι τούτων ἁλωτὸν ἀνθρώποις ἦν ὡς ἀνθρώπων θειότερον καὶ σοφώτερον. ### English translation (Claude) but we must say a few things out of many in reply to what has been put forward, refuting his ungrateful false opinion toward the one who made him. For Celsus too, being "a man, when he was in honour, did not understand"; therefore he was not even "compared" to the birds and the other irrational animals that he thinks prophetic, but, yielding them first place, more than the Egyptians who worship irrational animals as gods, he subjected himself, and as far as in him lies the whole human race, to the irrational animals, as worse and understanding less about the divine. Let it first be examined, then, whether divination through birds and the other animals believed to be prophetic exists or not. For the argument attempted on either side is not to be despised: on one side it urges us not to accept such a thing, so that the rational being may not abandon the oracles of demons only to use birds instead; on the other it shows, by evidence attested by many, that many have been saved from the greatest dangers by trusting divination through birds. For the present, let augury be granted to exist, so that even so I may show to those who are prejudiced that, even granting this, the superiority of man over the irrational animals, even over the prophetic ones themselves, is great, and in no way comparable to them. It must be said, then, that if there were some divine nature in them able to foreknow the future, and so rich that out of its abundance it could show the future even to any human being who wished, clearly they would have known their own affairs much earlier; and knowing their own affairs they would have taken care not to fly up over the place where human beings had set snares and nets against them, or where archers, taking the flying creatures as their target, loosed arrows at them. And eagles, if they foreknew the plot against their young, whether of snakes climbing up to them and destroying them, or of some human beings taking them for sport or for some other use or service, would surely not have nested where they would be plotted against. And in a word, none of these animals would ever have been caught by human beings, if it were more divine and wiser than human beings. ### Scripture references - Ps 49:20 (48:21 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Ps 49:20 (48:21 LXX; the LXX reads "man, being in honour, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts"). The parentheses (ἀλόγοις), (γινώσκον)τα, and (αν) are the editor's supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.90 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/90/). ## Against Celsus 4.91 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/91/ - Source: Koetschau 1:363–365 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Homer's own omen stories, of a snake devouring sparrows and an eagle wounded by a snake, show that the animals themselves foresee nothing; on the poet's view a god sends the sign. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴπερ οἰωνοὶ οἰωνοῖς μάχονται (καὶ, ) ὥς φησιν ὁ Κέλσος, θείαν φύσιν ἔχοντες οἱ μαντικοὶ ὄρνεις καὶ τὰ (ἄλλα) ἄλογα ζῷα καὶ ἐννοίας τοῦ θείου καὶ πρόγνωσιν περὶ μελλόντων τὰ τοιαῦτα ἑτέροις προεδήλουν· οὔτʼ ἂν ἡ καθʼ Ὅμηρον στρουθὸς ἐνόσσευσεν ὅπου δράκων ἔμελλεν αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ τέκνα ἀφανίσειν, οὔτʼ ἂν ὁ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ποιητὴν δράκων οὐκ ἐφυλάξατο ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀετοῦ ληφθῆναι. φησὶ γὰρ ὁ ἐν ποιήσει θαυμαστὸς Ὅμηρος περὶ μὲν τοῦ προτέρου τοιαῦτα· ἔνθʼ ἐφάνη μέγα σῆμα· δράκων ἐπὶ νῶτα δαφοινὸς, σμερδαλέος, τὸν δʼ αὐτὸς Ὀλύμπιος ἧκε φόωσδε, βωμοῦ ὑπαΐξας πρός ῥα πλατάνιστον ὄρουσεν. ἔνθα δʼ ἔσαν στρουθοῖο νεοσσοὶ, νήπια τέκνα, ὄζῳ ἐπʼ ἀκροτάτῳ πετάλοις ὑποπεπτηῶτες, ὀκτὼ. ἀτὰρ μήτηρ ἐνάτη ἦν. ἣ τέκε τέκνα. ἔνθʼ ὅ γε τοὺς ἐλεεινὰ κατήσθιε τετριγῶτας· μήτηρ δʼ ἀμφεποτᾶτο ὀδυρομένη φίλα τέκνα· τὴν δʼ ἐλελιξάμενος πτέρυγος λάβεν ἀμφιαχυῖαν. αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ τέκνʼ ἔφαγε στρουθοῖο καὶ αὐτὴν, τὸν μὲν ἀρίζηλον θῆκεν θεὸς, ὅσπερ ἔφηνεν· λᾶαν γάρ μιν θῆκε Κρόνου παῖς ἀγκυλομήτεω. ἡμεῖς δʼ ἑσταότες θαυμάζομεν οἷον ἐτύχθη. ὡς οὖν δεινὰ πέλωρα θεῶν εἰσῆλθʼ ἑκατόμβας, περὶ δὲ τοῦ δευτέρου ὅτι ὄρνις γάρ σφιν ἐπῆλθε περησέμεναι μεμαῶσιν, αἰετὸς ὑψιπέτης, ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ λαὸν ἐέργων, φοινήεντα δράκοντα φέρων ὀνύχεσσι πέλωρον, ζωὸν. ἔτʼ ἀσπαίροντα· ὁ δʼ οὔπω λήθετο χάρμης. κόψε γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔχοντα κατὰ στῆθος παρὰ δειρὴν, ἰδνωθεὶς ὀπίσω· ὁ δʼ ἀπὸ ἕθεν ἧκε χαμᾶζε. ἀλγήσας ὀδύνῃσι, μέσῳ δʼ ἐγκάββαλʼ ὁμίλῳ· αὐτὸς δὲ κλάγξας πέτετο πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο. Τρῶες δʼ ἐῤῥίγησαν, ὅπως ἴδον αἰόλον ὄφιν κείμενον ἐν μέσσοισι, Διὸς τέρας αἰγιόχοιο. ἆρʼ οὖν ὁ μὲν ἀετὸς ἦν μαντικὸς, ὁ δὲ δράκων, ἐπεὶ καὶ τούτῳ χρῶνται τῷ ζῴῳ οἱ οἰωνοσκόποι, οὐκ ἦν μαντικός; τί δὲ, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἀποκληρωτικὸν εὐέλεγκτόν ἐστιν, οὐχὶ καὶ τὸ ἀμφοτέρους εἶναι μαντικοὺς ἐλεγχθείη ἄν; οὐκ ἂν γὰρ ὁ δράκων ὢν μαντικὸς οὐκ ἐφυλάξατο τάδε τινὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀετοῦ παθεῖν; καὶ ἄλλα δʼ ἂν μυρία τοιαῦτα εὕροι τις παραδείγματα, παριστάντα ὅτι οὐ τὰ ζῷα μέν ἐστιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἔχοντα μαντικὴν ψυχήν· ἀλλὰ κατὰ μὲν τὸν ποιητὴν καὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων αὐτὸς Ὀλύμπιος ἧκε φόωσδε, κατὰ δέ τι σημεῖον καὶ Ἀπόλλων ἀγγέλῳ χρῆται ἱέρακι· „κίρκος“ (γὰρ) „Ἀπόλλωνος“ εἶναι λέγεται „ταχὺς ἄγγελος.“ ### English translation (Claude) Moreover, if omen-birds fight omen-birds, and if, as Celsus says, the prophetic birds and the other irrational animals, having a divine nature and notions of the divine and foreknowledge of the future, foretold such things to others, then neither would Homer's sparrow have nested where a serpent was going to destroy her and her young, nor would the serpent in the same poet have failed to guard against being seized by the eagle. For Homer, admirable in poetry, says this about the first: "Then a great sign appeared: a serpent, blood-red on its back, terrible, whom the Olympian himself sent into the light, darting from beneath the altar, rushed to the plane tree. There were the young of a sparrow, tender nestlings, on the topmost bough, cowering beneath the leaves, eight of them, and the mother that bore the young was the ninth. There he devoured them as they cheeped piteously, while the mother fluttered round, lamenting her dear young; but he coiled himself and seized her by the wing as she shrieked. But when he had eaten the sparrow's young and herself, the god who had shown him made him conspicuous: the son of crooked-counselling Cronus turned him to stone. And we stood and marvelled at what had happened. So the dread portents of the gods came in among the hecatombs." And about the second: "For a bird came upon them as they were eager to cross, a high-flying eagle, skirting the host on the left, carrying in its talons a blood-red serpent, monstrous, alive and still writhing; and it had not yet forgotten the fight. For it struck the eagle that held it on the breast beside the neck, bending itself back; and the eagle, stung with pain, let it fall from him to the ground and dropped it in the midst of the throng, and itself, with a cry, flew off on the blasts of the wind. And the Trojans shuddered when they saw the gleaming snake lying in their midst, a portent of Zeus who bears the aegis." Was the eagle, then, prophetic, and the serpent, since augurs use this animal too, not prophetic? And since it is easy to refute the choice of one over the other, would not the claim that both are prophetic be refuted too? For would the serpent, if it were prophetic, not have guarded against suffering this from the eagle? And one could find countless other such examples showing that it is not the animals that have a prophetic soul in themselves; rather, according to the poet and most people, "the Olympian himself sent it into the light," and for a certain sign Apollo too uses a hawk as messenger; for "the falcon" is said to be "Apollo's swift messenger." ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 2.308–320 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 12.200–209 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 15.526 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Homer, Iliad 2.308–320, Iliad 12.200–209, and Odyssey 15.526. The parentheses (καὶ), (ἄλλα), and (γὰρ) are the editor's supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.91 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/91/). ## Against Celsus 4.92 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/92/ - Source: Koetschau 1:365–366 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Fallen demons, able to foresee some things, enter savage and cunning animals and steer their movements to draw people away from the true God through divination. ### Greek text Κατὰ δὲ ἡμᾶς δαίμονές τινες φαῦλοι καὶ. ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, τιτανικοὶ ἢ γιγάντιοι, ἀσεβεῖς πρὸς τὸ ἀληθῶς θεῖον καὶ τοὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀγγέλους γεγενημένοι καὶ πεσόντες ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ περὶ τὰ παχύτερα τῶν σωμάτων καὶ ἀκάθαρτα ἐπὶ γῆς καλινδούμενοι. ἔχοντές τι περὶ τῶν μελλόντων διορατικὸν. ἅτε γυμνοὶ τῶν γηΐνων σωμάτων τυγχάνοντες, καὶ περὶ (τὸ) τοιοῦτον ἔργον καταγινόμενοι, βουλόμενοι ἀπάγειν τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ θεοῦ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος, ὑποδύνονται τῶν ζῴων τὰ ἁρπακτικώτερα καὶ ἀγριώτερα καὶ ἄλλα πανουργότερα καὶ κινοῦσιν αὐτὰ πρὸς ὃ βούλονται. ὅτε βούλονται. ἢ τὰς φαντασίας τῶν τοιωνδὶ ζῴων τρέπουσιν ἐπὶ πτήσεις καὶ κινήσεις τοιάσδε· ἵνʼ ἄνθρωποι διὰ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις ἁλισκόμενοι μαντικῆς θεὸν μὲν τὸν περιέχοντα τὰ ὅλα μὴ ζητῶσι μηδὲ τὴν καθαρὰν θεοσέβειαν ἐξετάσωσι, πέσωσι δὲ τῷ λογισμῷ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν (καὶ) τοὺς ὄρνεις καὶ τοὺς δράκοντας ἔτι δʼ ἀλώπεκας καὶ λύκους. καὶ γὰρ παρατετήρηται τοῖς περὶ ταῦτα δεινοῖς ὅτι αἱ ἐναργέστεραι προγνώσεις διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ζῴων γίνονται. ἅτε μὴ δυναμένων τῶν δαιμόνων ἐν τοῖς ἡμερωτέροις τῶν ζῴων τοσοῦτον, ὅσον δύνανται διὰ τὸ παραπλήσιον τῆς κακίας καὶ οὐ κακίαν μὲν οἱονεὶ δὲ κακίαν οὖσαν ἐν τοῖς τοιοισδὶ τῶν ζῴων ἐνεργῆσαι τάδε τὰ ζῷα. ### English translation (Claude) In our view, certain wicked demons, of the Titanic or Gigantic kind, if I may so call them, who have become impious toward what is truly divine and toward the angels in heaven, and have fallen from heaven and roll about the grosser and unclean bodies on earth, having some power of discerning the future, since they are bare of earthly bodies, and occupying themselves with this kind of work, wishing to lead the human race away from the true God, slip into the more rapacious and savage animals and others that are more cunning, and move them to whatever they wish, when they wish; or they turn the impressions of such animals toward such flights and movements, so that human beings, caught by the divination in irrational animals, may not seek the God who encompasses the universe, nor examine pure worship of God, but may fall in their reasoning to the earth, and to birds and serpents, and even to foxes and wolves. For it has been observed by those skilled in these matters that the clearer foreknowledge comes through such animals, since the demons cannot do as much in the tamer animals as they can, because of the likeness of vice (not vice, but something like vice) in such animals, to make these animals act. ### Translation notes - The parentheses (τὸ) and (καὶ) are the editor's supplements. "Titanic or Gigantic" alludes to the Greek myths of the Titans and Giants who warred against the gods. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.92 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/92/). ## Against Celsus 4.93 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/93/ - Source: Koetschau 1:366–367 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses wisely declared unclean the very animals pagans use for divination, since particular demons are linked with particular animals; it is unclean spirits, not God, that move them. ### Greek text Ὅθεν εἴπερ ἄλλο τι Μωϋσέως τεθαύμακα, καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον θαύματος ἀποφανοῦμαι ἄξιον εἶναι, ὅτι φύσεις κατανοήσας ζῴων διαφόρους καὶ εἴτʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου μαθὼν τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν ἑκάστῳ ζῴῳ συγγενῶν δαιμόνων εἴτε καὶ αὐτὸς ἀναβαίνων τῇ σοφίᾳ εὑρὼν, ἐν τῇ περὶ ζῴων διατάξει πάντα μὲν ἀκάθαρτα ἔφησεν εἶναι τὰ νομιζόμενα παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι μαντικὰ, ὡς ἐπίπαν δὲ εἶναι καθαρὰ τὰ μὴ τοιαῦτα. καὶ ἐν ἀκαθάρτοις παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ ἐστι λύκος καὶ ἀλώπηξ καὶ δράκων ἀετός (τε) καὶ ἱέραξ καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις, καὶ ὡς ἐπίπαν οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις εὕροις ἂν ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα εἰς παράδειγμα τῶν κακίστων παραλαμβανόμενα, οὐδέ ποτε δὲ εἰς χρηστὸν πρᾶγμα ὀνομαζόμενον λύκον ἢ ἀλώπεκα. ἔοικεν οὖν τις εἶναι ἑκάστῳ δαιμόνων εἴδει κοινωνία πρὸς ἕκαστον εἶδος ζῴων. καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἄνθρωποι ἀνθρώπων ἰσχυρότεροί τινες εἰσὶν οὐ πάντως διὰ τὸ ἦθος. τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον δαίμονες δαιμόνων εἶεν ἂν ἐν μέσοις δυνατώτεροι· καὶ οἵδε μὲν τοῖσδε τοῖς ζῴοις χρώμενοι εἰς ἀπάτην τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ καλουμένου ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἡμῶν ἄρχοντος „τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, “ ἕτεροι δὲ διʼ ἄλλου εἴδους προδηλοῦντες. καὶ ὅρα ἐφʼ ὅσον εἰσὶν οἱ δαίμονες μιαροὶ. ὡς καὶ γαλᾶς ὑπό τινων παραλαμβάνεσθαι πρὸς τὸ δηλοῦν τὰ μέλλοντα. καὶ σὺ δὲ παρὰ σαυτῷ κρῖνον ὁπότερόν ἐστι βέλτιον παραδέξασθαι, ὅτι ὁ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸς καὶ ὁ τούτου υἱὸς κινοῦσι τοὺς ὄρνιθας καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ζῷα εἰς μαντικὴν. ἢ οἱ κινοῦντες τὰ τοιαδὶ τῶν ζῴων καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπους παρόντων ἀνθρώπων δαίμονές εἰσι φαῦλοι καὶ, ὡς ὠνόμασε τὰ ἱερὰ ἡμῶν γράμματα, „ἀκάθαρτοι.“ ### English translation (Claude) Hence, if I have admired anything else in Moses, I will declare this too worthy of admiration: that, having understood the different natures of animals, and whether he learned from the divine about them and the demons akin to each animal, or found it out himself, rising up by wisdom, in his ordinance about animals he said that all those thought prophetic by the Egyptians and the rest of humanity are unclean, and that, in general, those that are not such are clean. And among the unclean in Moses are the wolf, the fox, the serpent, the eagle, the hawk, and those like them. And in general, not only in the law but also in the prophets, you would find these animals taken as examples of the worst things, and never a wolf or a fox named for a good thing. It seems, then, that there is some fellowship between each kind of demon and each kind of animal. And just as among human beings some are stronger than others, not at all because of their character, in the same way some demons would be more powerful than others in matters indifferent; and some use these animals to deceive human beings, according to the will of the one called in our writings "the ruler of this age," while others foretell through another kind. And see how foul the demons are, so that even weasels are used by some to show the future. And do you judge for yourself which is better to accept: that the God over all and his Son move birds and the other animals to divination, or that those who move such animals, and not human beings though human beings are present, are wicked demons, and, as our holy writings have called them, "unclean." ### Scripture references - Lev 11:13–19: allusion, high confidence - Deut 14:12–18: allusion, medium confidence - John 12:31: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: allusion, medium confidence - Mark 1:23: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The references are to the food laws of Lev 11 and Deut 14; "the ruler of this age" combines John 12:31 and 1 Cor 2:6; "unclean" spirits as in the Gospels (e.g. Mark 1:23). The parenthetical (τε) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.93 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/93/). ## Against Celsus 4.94 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/94/ - Source: Koetschau 1:367–368 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If birds are divine because they give omens, so must be the maidservant in Homer whose words became an omen, and even anyone who sneezes, since sneezes too were taken as omens. ### Greek text Εἴπερ δὲ θεία ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν ὀρνίθων ψυχὴ διὰ τὸ διʼ αὐτῶν προλέγεσθαι τὰ μέλλοντα, πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον. ὅπου κληδόνες ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων λαμβάνονται, θείαν εἶναι φήσομεν τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκείνων, διʼ ὧν αἱ κληδόνες ἀκούονται; θεία οὖν τις ἦν κατὰ τοὺς τοιούσδε ἡ παρὰ τῷ Ὁμήρῳ „ἀλετρὶς.“ περὶ τῶν μνηστήρων εἰποῦσα· ὕστατα καὶ πύματα νῦν ἐνθάδε δειπνήσειαν. κἀκείνη μὲν θεία ἦν· ὁ δὲ τηλικοῦτος Ὀδυσσεὺς, ὁ τῆς Ὁμηρικῆς Ἀθηνᾶς φίλος. οὐκ ἦν θεῖος ἀλλὰ συνεὶς τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θείας ἀλετρίδος εἰρημένων κληδόνων ἔχαιρεν, ὡς ὁ ποιητής φησι· χαῖρε δὲ κλεηδόνι δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς. ἤδη δὲ ὅρα, εἴπερ οἱ ὄρνιθες θείαν ἔχουσι ψυχὴν καὶ αἰσθάνονται τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος ὀνομάζει. τῶν θεῶν· δηλονότι καὶ ἡμεῖς πταρνύμενοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἀπό τινος ἐν ἡμῖν οὔσης θειότητος καὶ μαντικῆς περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν πταρνύμεθα. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο μαρτυρεῖται ὑπὸ πολλῶν· διὸ καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς λέγει τό· ὁ δʼ ἐπέπταρεν εὐχομένοιο. διὸ καὶ ἡ Πηνελόπη φησίν· οὐχ ὁράᾳς. ὅ μοι υἱὸς ἐπέπταρε σοῖσιν ἔπεσσι; ### English translation (Claude) If the soul of birds is divine because the future is foretold through them, why should we not say rather, where omens are taken from human beings, that the soul of those through whom the omens are heard is divine? On this view, then, the "grinding woman" in Homer was divine, who said of the suitors: "May they now dine here for the last and final time." And she was divine, while great Odysseus, the friend of Homer's Athena, was not divine, but understanding the omens spoken by the divine grinding woman he rejoiced, as the poet says: "And noble Odysseus rejoiced at the omen." Now see: if birds have a divine soul and perceive God, or, as Celsus calls them, the gods, clearly we human beings too, when we sneeze, sneeze from some divinity in us and a prophetic power in our soul. For this too is attested by many; which is why the poet says: "and he sneezed as he prayed." Which is why Penelope too says: "Do you not see that my son sneezed at your words?" ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 20.116–120 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 17.545 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Homer, Odyssey 20.116–119 (the grinding woman), 20.120, and 17.545 (Penelope; Homer reads πᾶσιν ἔπεσσι, "at all your words"). The source of "and he sneezed as he prayed" is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/94/). ## Against Celsus 4.95 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/95/ - Source: Koetschau 1:368 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: True foreknowledge comes through God inspiring pure human prophets, not through animals; Moses forbade augury, and Christians guard their hearts so that only God's Spirit shapes their imagination. ### Greek text Τὸ δʼ ἀληθῶς θεῖον εἰς τὴν περὶ τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν οὔτε τοῖς ἀλόγοις χρῆται ζῴοις οὔτε τοῖς τυχοῦσι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ ψυχαῖς ἀνθρώπων ἱερωτάταις καὶ καθαρωτάταις, ἅστινας θεοφορεῖ καὶ προφήτας ποιεῖ. διόπερ εἴ τι ἄλλο θαυμασίως εἴρηται ἐν τῷ Μωϋσέως νόμῳ, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις κατατακτέον· „οὐκ οἰωνιεῖσθε οὐδʼ ὀρνιθοσκοπήσετε, “ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· „τὰ γὰρ ἔθνη, οὓς κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐξολοθρεύσει ἀπὸ προσώπου σου, οὗτοι κληδόνων καὶ μαντειῶν ἀκούσονται· σοὶ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἔδωκε κύριος ὁ θεός σου“· εἶθʼ ἑξῆς φησι· „προφήτην ἀναστήσει σοι κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου.“ βουληθεὶς δέ ποτε ὁ θεὸς διʼ οἰωνοσκόπου ἀποτρέψαι ἀπὸ τῆς οἰωνιστικῆς πεποίηκε πνεῦμα ἐν τῷ οἰωνοσκόπῳ εἰπεῖν· „οὐ γάρ ἐστιν οἰωνισμὸς ἐν Ἰακὼβ, οὐδὲ μαντεία ἐν Ἰσραήλ· κατὰ καιρὸν ῥηθήσεται τῷ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, τί ἐπιτελέσει ὁ θεός.“ ταῦτα δὴ γινώσκοντες ἡμεῖς καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια τηρεῖν βουλόμεθα μυστικῶς εἰρημένην ἐντολὴν τήν· „πάσῃ φυλακῇ τήρει σὴν καρδίαν“· ἵνα μὴ ἐπιβῇ τι τῶν δαιμονίων τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ ἡμῶν, ἢ πνεῦμά τι τῶν ἐναντίων πρὸς ἃ βούλεται τρέψῃ τὸ φανταστικὸν ἡμῶν. εὐχόμεθα δὲ λάμψαι „ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν“ τὸν „φωτισμὸν τῆς γνώσεως τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ, “ ἐπιδημοῦντος ἡμῶν τῷ φανταστικῷ πνεύματος θεοῦ καὶ φαντάζοντος ἡμᾶς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ· ἐπεὶ „ὅσοι πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοι υἱοί εἰσι θεοῦ.“ ### English translation (Claude) What is truly divine, for knowledge of the future, uses neither irrational animals nor ordinary human beings, but the holiest and purest human souls, which it inspires and makes prophets. Therefore, if anything else is admirably said in the law of Moses, such things as these must be counted among them: "You shall not practise augury, nor watch birds for omens"; and elsewhere: "For the nations whom the Lord your God will destroy from before you, these will listen to omens and divinations; but the Lord your God has not given it so to you"; and then next he says: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers." And once, when God wished to turn people away from augury through an augur, he made the Spirit say in the augur: "For there is no augury in Jacob, nor divination in Israel; in due time it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God will accomplish." Knowing these things and others like them, we wish to keep the commandment spoken in a mystery: "Keep your heart with all vigilance," so that none of the demons may lay hold of our ruling faculty, and no spirit of the adversaries may turn our imagination to what it wishes. And we pray that "the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God" may shine "in our hearts," as the Spirit of God dwells in our imagination and shows us the things of God; since "all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." ### Scripture references - Lev 19:26: quotation, high confidence - Deut 18:14–15: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:23: quotation, high confidence - Prov 4:23: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Lev 19:26, Deut 18:14–15, Num 23:23 (Balaam, the augur), Prov 4:23, 2 Cor 4:6, and Rom 8:14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.95 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/95/). ## Against Celsus 4.96 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/96/ - Source: Koetschau 1:368–369 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Foreknowledge is not in itself divine, since wicked doctors and sailors have it too; only the truly wise and pious, like Moses and the prophets, draw near to God. ### Greek text Χρὴ δʼ εἰδέναι ὅτι τὸ τὰ μέλλοντα προγινώσκειν οὐ πάντως θεῖόν ἐστι· καθʼ αὑτὸ γὰρ μέσον ἐστὶ καὶ πῖπτον εἰς φαύλους καὶ ἀστείους. καὶ ἰατροὶ γοῦν ἀπὸ ἰατρικῆς προγινώσκουσί τινα, κἂν φαῦλοι τὸ ἦθος τυγχάνωσιν· οὕτω δὲ καὶ κυβερνῆται. κἂν μοχθηροὶ τυγχάνωσιν ὄντες, προγινώσκουσιν ἐπισημασίας καὶ ἀνέμων σφοδρότητας καὶ τροπὰς περὶ τὸ περιέχον ἔκ τινος πείρας καὶ τηρήσεως· καὶ οὐ δή που παρὰ τοῦτο θείους τις αὐτοὺς εἶναι φήσει, ἂν τύχωσι μοχθηροὶ εἶναι τὸ ἦθος· ψεῦδος οὖν τὸ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ λεγόμενον, τό· τί ἂν φαίη τις θειότερον τοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα προγινώσκειν τε καὶ προδηλοῦν; ψεῦδος δὲ καὶ τὸ πολλὰ τῶν ζῴων ἀντιποιεῖσθαι θείας ἐννοίας· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀλόγων ἔννοιαν ἔχει τοῦ θεοῦ. ψεῦδος δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐγγυτέρω τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας εἶναι τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα· ὅπου γε καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ ἔτι φαῦλοι, κἂν ἐπʼ ἄκρον προκόπτωσι, πόῤῥω εἰσὶ τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας. μόνοι δὴ ἄρα οἱ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν σοφοὶ καὶ ἀψευδῶς εὐσεβεῖς ἐγγυτέρω τῆς θείας ὁμιλίας εἰσίν· ὁποῖοί εἰσιν οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς προφῆται καὶ Μωϋσῆς. ᾧ μεμαρτύρηκε διὰ τὴν πολλὴν καθαρότητα ὁ λόγος εἰπών· „ἐγγιεῖ Μωϋσῆς μόνος πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ οὐκ ἐγγιοῦσι.“ ### English translation (Claude) One must know that to foreknow the future is not in every case divine; for in itself it is indifferent and falls to both the wicked and the good. Doctors, at any rate, foreknow certain things by medicine, even if they happen to be wicked in character; and so also helmsmen, even if they happen to be depraved, foreknow the signs of weather, the violence of winds, and changes in the atmosphere, from some experience and observation; and surely no one will say for this reason that they are divine, if they happen to be depraved in character. False, then, is what Celsus says: "What could one call more divine than to foreknow and foretell the future?" False also that many animals lay claim to notions of the divine; for none of the irrational animals has a notion of God. False also that irrational animals are nearer to divine converse; since even those human beings who are still wicked, even if they make the utmost progress, are far from divine converse. Only those, then, who are truly wise and genuinely pious are nearer to divine converse, such as our prophets and Moses, to whom Scripture bore witness because of his great purity, saying: "Moses alone shall come near to God, but the rest shall not come near." ### Scripture references - Exod 24:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Exod 24:2. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.96 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/96/). ## Against Celsus 4.97 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/97/ - Source: Koetschau 1:369–371 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's claim that animals are dearer to God and hold holier conversations than humans would rank them above Socrates and Plato; any real bird-omens are demonic deceptions. ### Greek text Πῶς δʼ ἀσεβῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀσέβειαν ἡμῖν ἐγκαλοῦντος εἴρηται τὸ οὐ μόνον σοφώτερα εἶναι τὰ ἄλογα τῶν ζῴων τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεως ἀλλὰ καὶ θεοφιλέστερα; καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀποτραπείη προσέχων ἀνθρώπῳ, λέγοντι δράκοντα καὶ ἀλώπεκα καὶ λύκον καὶ ἀετὸν καὶ ἱέρακα τῆς (τῶν) ἀνθρώπων φύσεως εἶναι θεοφιλέστερα; ἀκολουθεῖ δʼ αὐτῷ τὸ λέγειν ὅτι, εἴπερ θεοφιλέστερα τάδε τὰ ζῷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων. δῆλον ὅτι καὶ Σωκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ Φερεκύδου καὶ ὧν πρὸ βραχέος ὕμνησε θεολόγων θεοφιλέστερά ἐστι ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα. καὶ ἐπεύξαιτό γʼ ἄν τις αὐτῷ λέγων· εἴπερ θεοφιλέστερά ἐστι τάδε τὰ ζῷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, γένοιο μετʼ ἐκείνων θεοφιλὴς καὶ ἐξομοιωθείης τοῖς κατὰ σὲ ἀνθρώπων θεοφιλεστέροις. καὶ μὴ ὑπολαμβανέτω γε ἀρὰν εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτον· τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν εὔξαιτο οἷς πείθεται εἶναι θεοφιλεστέροις γενέσθαι πάντῃ παραπλήσιος, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς ἐκεῖνοι γένηται θεοφιλής; θέλων δὲ τὰς ὁμιλίας τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων εἶναι τῶν ἡμετέρων ἱερωτέρας ὁ Κέλσος οὐ τοῖς τυχοῦσιν ἀνατίθησι τὴν ἱστορίαν ταύτην ἀλλὰ τοῖς συνετοῖς. συνετοὶ δὲ κατὰ ἀλήθειάν εἰσιν οἱ σπουδαῖοι, οὐδεὶς γὰρ φαῦλος συνετός. λέγει τοίνυν τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον, ὅτι φασὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ συνετοὶ καὶ ὁμιλίας ἐκείνοις εἶναι, δηλονότι τῶν ἡμετέρων ἱερωτέρας, καὶ αὐτοί που γνωρίζειν τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ ἔργῳ δεικνύειν ὅτι οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσιν, ὅταν προειπόντες ὅτι ἔφασαν οἱ ὄρνιθες ὡς ἀπίασί ποι καὶ ποιήσουσι τόδε ἢ τόδε δεικνύωσιν ἀπελθόντας ἐκεῖ καὶ ποιοῦντας ἃ ἤδη προεῖπον. κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὸ ἀληθὲς οὐδεὶς συνετὸς τοιαῦτα ἱστόρησε, καὶ οὐδεὶς σοφὸς ἱερωτέρας εἶπεν εἶναι τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ὁμιλίας τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. εἰ δʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἐξετάσαι τὰ Κέλσου τἀκόλουθον σκοποῦμεν, δῆλον ὅτι κατʼ αὐτὸν ἱερώτεραι τῶν σεμνῶν Φερεκύδου καὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ Σωκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων ὁμιλιῶν εἰσιν αἱ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων· ὅπερ ἐστὶ καὶ αὐτόθεν οὐ μόνον ἀπεμφαῖνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀτοπώτατον. ἵνα δὲ καὶ πιστεύσωμέν τινας, ἐκ τῆς ἀσήμου φωνῆς τῶν ὀρνίθων μαθόντας ὅτι ἀπίασί ποι οἱ ὄρνιθες καὶ ποιήσουσι τόδε ἢ τόδε. προδηλοῦν, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐροῦμεν ἀπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων συμβολικῶς ἀνθρώποις δεδηλῶσθαι κατὰ σκοπὸν τὸν περὶ τοῦ ἀπατηθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ κατασπασθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὸν νοῦν ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ καὶ θεοῦ ἐπὶ γῆν καὶ τὰ ἔτι κατωτέρω. ### English translation (Claude) How impiously has the one who charges us with impiety said that irrational animals are not only wiser than human nature but also dearer to God! And who would not be turned away, if he paid attention to a man who says that the serpent, the fox, the wolf, the eagle, and the hawk are dearer to God than human nature? It follows for him to say that, if these animals are dearer to God than human beings, clearly these animals are dearer to God than Socrates and Plato and Pythagoras and Pherecydes and the theologians he praised a little earlier. And one might pray for him, saying: "If these animals are dearer to God than human beings, may you become dear to God with them, and be made like those who, in your view, are dearer to God than human beings." And let him not suppose such a thing to be a curse; for who would not pray to become wholly like those he is convinced are dearer to God, so that he himself may become dear to God as they are? Celsus, wishing the conversations of irrational animals to be holier than ours, does not attribute this report to ordinary people but to the intelligent. But the intelligent in truth are the good, for no wicked person is intelligent. He speaks, then, in this way: "And the intelligent among human beings say that they have conversations too, evidently holier than ours, and that they themselves somehow understand what is said and show by the deed that they are not ignorant, when, having said beforehand that the birds said they would go somewhere and do this or that, they show them going there and doing what they had already foretold." In truth no intelligent person has reported such things, and no wise person has said that the conversations of irrational animals are holier than those of human beings. But if, to examine Celsus's views, we look at what follows from them, it is clear that on his view the conversations of irrational animals are holier than the venerable conversations of Pherecydes, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and the philosophers; which is plainly not only incongruous but most absurd. But even if we should believe that some people, learning from the inarticulate cry of birds that the birds will go somewhere and do this or that, foretell it, we will say that this too has been shown to human beings symbolically by the demons, with the aim that man should be deceived by the demons and his mind dragged down from heaven and God to earth and to things still lower. ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (τῶν) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.97 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/97/). ## Against Celsus 4.98 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/98/ - Source: Koetschau 1:371–372 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Elephants keep no oaths, and storks feeding their parents and the phoenix burying its father act by nature, not piety; providence made them to teach humans and to point to the Creator. ### Greek text Οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ὅπως ὁ Κέλσος καὶ ὅρκου ἐλεφάντων ἤκουσε, καὶ ὅτι εἰσὶν οὗτοι πιστότεροι πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ἡμῶν καὶ γνῶσιν ἔχουσι τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐγὼ γὰρ πολλὰ μὲν καὶ θαυμαστὰ οἶδα περὶ τῆς φύσεως τοῦ ζῴου καὶ τῆς ἡμερότητος ἱστορούμενα. οὐ μὴν καὶ περὶ ὅρκων ἐλέφαντος σύνοιδα εἰρῆσθαι παρά τινι· εἰ μὴ ἄρα τὸ ἥμερον καὶ τὴν ὡσπερεὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους αὐτῶν συνθήκην ἅπαξ γενομένων ὑπʼ αὐτοῖς εὐορκίαν τηρουμένην ὠνόμασεν, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸ ψεῦδός ἐστιν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ σπανίως, ἀλλʼ οὖν γε ἱστόρηται ὅτι μετὰ τὴν δοκοῦσαν ἡμερότητα ἐξηγριώθησαν ἐλέφαντες κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων (καὶ φόνους ἐποίησαν) καὶ διὰ τοῦτο κατεδικάσθησαν ἀναιρεθῆναι ὡς οὐκέτι χρήσιμοι. ἐπεὶ δὲ παραλαμβάνει μετὰ ταῦτα εἰς τὸ κατασκευάσαι, ὡς οἴεται, εὐσεβεστέρους εἶναι τοὺς πελαργοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ περὶ τοῦ ζῴου ἱστορούμενα, ἀντιπελαργοῦντος καὶ τροφὰς φέροντος τοῖς γεγεννηκόσι· λεκτέον ὅτι καὶ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἀπὸ θεωρήματος τοῦ περὶ τοῦ καθήκοντος ποιοῦσιν οἱ πελαργοὶ οὐδʼ ἀπὸ λογισμοῦ ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ φύσεως. βουληθείσης τῆς κατασκευαζούσης αὐτοὺς φύσεως παράδειγμα ἐν ἀλόγοις ζῴοις δυσωπῆσαι δυνάμενον ἀνθρώπους ἐκθέσθαι περὶ τοῦ χάριτας ἀποτιννύειν τοῖς γεγεννηκόσιν. εἰ δὲ ᾔδει Κέλσος, ὅσῳ διαφέρει λόγῳ ταῦτα ποιεῖν τοῦ ἀλόγως καὶ φυσικῶς αὐτὰ ἐνεργεῖν, οὐκ ἂν εὐσεβεστέρους εἶπε τοὺς πελαργοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἔτι δὲ ὡς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἱστάμενος ὁ Κέλσος παραλαμβάνει τὸ Ἀράβιον ζῷον, τὸν φοίνικα. διὰ πολλῶν ἐτῶν ἐπιδημοῦν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ φέρον ἀποθανόντα τὸν πατέρα καὶ ταφέντα ἐν σφαίρᾳ σμύρνης καὶ ἐπιτιθὲν ὅπου τὸ τοῦ ἡλίου τέμενος, καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἱστόρηται μὲν δύναται δὲ, ἐάνπερ ᾖ ἀληθὲς, καὶ αὐτὸ φυσικὸν τυγχάνειν, ἐπιδαψιλευσαμένης τῆς θείας προνοίας καὶ ἐν ταῖς διαφοραῖς τῶν ζῴων παραστῆσαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸ ποικίλον τῆς τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ κατασκευῆς φθάνον καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρνεα· καὶ ζῷόν τι „μονογενὲς“ ὑπέστησεν. ἵνα καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσῃ θαυμασθῆναι οὐ τὸ ζῷον ἀλλὰ τὸν πεποιηκότα αὐτό. ### English translation (Claude) I do not know how Celsus heard of an oath of elephants, and that they are more faithful than we are toward the divine and have knowledge of God. For I know many wonderful things reported about the nature of this animal and its tameness, but I am not aware that anything about the oaths of an elephant has been said by anyone; unless perhaps he called their tameness, and their keeping of a kind of compact with human beings once they have come under them, faithfulness to an oath; and this itself is false. For even if rarely, it has nonetheless been reported that after apparent tameness elephants have turned savage against human beings and committed murders, and for this reason were condemned to be killed as no longer useful. And since after this he takes up, to establish, as he thinks, that storks are more pious than human beings, what is reported about this animal, that it repays its parents' care and brings food to those who begot it, it must be said that storks do this too not from a principle of duty nor from reasoning, but from nature, the nature that formed them having wished to set forth, among irrational animals, an example able to shame human beings into repaying gratitude to their parents. If Celsus had known how different it is to do these things by reason from doing them irrationally and naturally, he would not have called storks more pious than human beings. Further, as though standing up for the piety of irrational animals, Celsus takes up the Arabian animal, the phoenix, which after many years visits Egypt, carrying its dead father buried in a ball of myrrh, and places it where the precinct of the sun is. This too is reported; but, if it is true, it may also be natural, divine providence having been generous in setting before human beings, in the differences among animals, the variety of the structure of things in the world, reaching even to birds; and it made a certain "only-begotten" animal, so as to make people admire in this too not the animal but the one who made it. ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 2.73 (Herodotus, Histories): echo, medium confidence - 1 Clem. 25 (1 Clement): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The parenthesis (καὶ φόνους ἐποίησαν) is the editor's supplement. The phoenix story is told by Herodotus 2.73 and used in 1 Clem. 25. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.98 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/98/). ## Against Celsus 4.99 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/99/ - Source: Koetschau 1:372–375 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus, Origen holds that the world was made chiefly for rational beings, whom God cares for, warns, and corrects so that he may turn the whole creation back to himself; Book 4 ends with a prayer. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ οὖν τούτοις πᾶσιν ἐπιφέρει ὁ Κέλσος τό· οὔκουν ἀνθρώπῳ πεποίηται τὰ πάντα, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ λέοντι οὐδὲ ἀετῷ οὐδὲ δελφῖνι, ἀλλʼ ὅπως ὅδε ὁ κόσμος ὡς ἂν θεοῦ ἔργον ὁλόκληρον καὶ τέλειον ἐξ ἁπάντων γένηται· τούτου χάριν μεμέτρηται τὰ πάντα, οὐκ ἀλλήλων ἀλλʼ, εἰ μὴ πάρεργον, [ἀλλὰ] τοῦ ὅλου. καὶ μέλει τῷ θεῷ τοῦ ὅλου, καὶ τοῦτʼ οὔ ποτʼ ἀπολείπει πρόνοια, οὐδὲ κάκιον γίνεται, οὐδὲ διὰ χρόνου πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐπιστρέφει, οὐδʼ ἀνθρώπων ἕνεκα ὀργίζεται, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ πιθήκων οὐδὲ μυῶν· οὐδὲ τούτοις ἀπειλεῖ, ὧν ἕκαστον ἐν τῷ μέρει τὴν αὐτοῦ μοῖραν εἴληφε· φέρε κἂν διὰ βραχέων πρὸς ταῦτʼ ἀπαντήσωμεν. οἶμαι δὴ ἀποδεδειχέναι ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων, πῶς ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ παντὶ λογικῷ τὰ πάντα πεποίηται· προηγουμένως γὰρ διὰ τὸ λογικὸν ζῷον τὰ πάντα δεδημιούργηται. Κέλσος μὲν οὖν λεγέτω ὅτι οὕτως οὐκ ἀνθρώπῳ (ὡς) οὐδὲ λέοντι οὐδʼ οἷς ὀνομάζει· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἐροῦμεν· οὐ λέοντι ὁ δημιουργὸς οὐδʼ ἀετῷ οὐδὲ δελφῖνι ταῦτα πεποίηκεν, ἀλλὰ πάντα διὰ τὸ λογικὸν ζῷον, καὶ ὅπως [ἂν] ὅδε ὁ κόσμος ὡς ἂν θεοῦ ἔργον ὁλόκληρον καὶ τέλειον ἐξ ἁπάντων γένηται. τούτῳ γὰρ συγκαταθετέον (ὡς) καλῶς εἰρημένῳ. μέλει δὲ τῷ θεῷ οὐχ, ὡς Κέλσος οἴεται, μόνου τοῦ ὅλου ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὸ ὅλον ἐξαιρέτως παντὸς λογικοῦ. καὶ οὐδέ ποτε ἀπολείψει πρόνοια τὸ ὅλον· οἰκονομεῖ γὰρ, κἂν κάκιον γίνηται διὰ τὸ λογικὸν ἁμαρτάνον μέρος τι τοῦ ὅλου, καθάρσιον αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν καὶ διὰ χρόνου ἐπιστρέφειν τὸ ὅλον πρὸς ἑαυτόν. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ πιθήκων μὲν ἕνεκα ὀργίζεται οὐδὲ μυῶν· ἀνθρώποις δὲ ἐπάγει, ἅτε παραβᾶσι τὰς φυσικὰς ἀφορμὰς, δίκην καὶ κόλασιν, καὶ τούτοις διὰ προφητῶν ἀπειλεῖ καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἐπιδημήσαντος ὅλῳ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτῆρος· ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἀπειλῆς ἐπιστραφῶσι μὲν οἱ ἀκούσαντες, οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες τῶν ἐπιστρεπτικῶν λόγων δίκας κατʼ ἀξίαν τίσωσιν, ἃς πρέπον θεὸν ἐπιτιθέναι κατὰ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ συμφερόντως τῷ παντὶ βούλημα τοῖς τοιαύτης καὶ οὕτως ἐπιπόνου δεομένοις θεραπείας καὶ διορθώσεως. ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ τετάρτου τόμου αὐτάρκη περιγραφὴν εἰληφότος, αὐτοῦ που καταπαύσομεν τὸν λόγον. θεὸς δὲ δῴη διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅς ἐστι θεὸς λόγος καὶ σοφία καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ δικαιοσύνη καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ποτὲ θεολογοῦσαι περὶ αὐτοῦ φασιν αἱ ἱεραὶ γραφαὶ, ἄρξασθαι ἡμᾶς καὶ τοῦ πέμπτου τόμου ἐπʼ ὠφελείᾳ τῶν ἐντευξομένων καὶ διανύσαι κἀκεῖνον μετὰ τῆς τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν ψυχὴν ἐπιδημίας καλῶς. ### English translation (Claude) Since, then, to all these things Celsus adds: "So all things have not been made for man, any more than for the lion, or the eagle, or the dolphin, but so that this world, as God's work, might come to be complete and perfect in all its parts. For this reason all things have been measured out, not with a view to one another, except incidentally, but with a view to the whole. And God cares for the whole, and providence never abandons it, nor does it become worse, nor does God turn it back to himself after a time, nor is he angry on account of human beings, any more than on account of apes or mice; nor does he threaten these, each of which has received its own lot in its part," come, let us reply to this, if only briefly. I think I have shown from what was said before how all things have been made for man and for every rational being; for all things have been created principally for the sake of the rational animal. Let Celsus, then, say that they were made no more for man than for the lion or the others he names; but we will say: the Creator did not make these things for the lion, nor for the eagle, nor for the dolphin, but all things for the sake of the rational animal, and "so that this world, as God's work, might come to be complete and perfect in all its parts." For we must agree with this as well said. But God cares, not, as Celsus thinks, only for the whole, but beyond the whole, especially for every rational being. And providence will never abandon the whole; for even if some part of the whole becomes worse because the rational being sins, he arranges to cleanse it and after a time to turn the whole back to himself. And he is not angry on account of apes or mice; but on human beings, since they have transgressed their natural starting points, he brings judgment and punishment, and he threatens them through the prophets and through the Saviour who came to the whole human race, so that through the threat those who hear may turn back, while those who neglect the words calling them to turn may pay the penalty they deserve, which it befits God to impose, according to his own will and for the benefit of the whole, on those who need such painful treatment and correction. But since the fourth book has reached a sufficient length, we will end our discussion here. May God grant, through his Son, who is God the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and Righteousness, and everything else that the holy Scriptures say of him in their teaching about God, that we may begin the fifth book too for the benefit of those who will read it, and finish it well also, with the coming of his Word into our soul. ### Scripture references - John 1:1: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 1:30: allusion, medium confidence - John 14:6: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The titles of the Son echo John 1:1, 1 Cor 1:24, 30, and John 14:6. The parentheses (ὡς) and brackets [ἀλλὰ], [ἂν] are the editor's supplements and deletions. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 4.99 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/99/). ## Against Celsus 5.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/1/ - Source: Koetschau 2:1–2 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Opening Book 5, Origen tells his patron Ambrose he will answer every argument of Celsus, and prays that God, not human wisdom, will make his words effective. ### Greek text Οὐ τὴν ἀπηγορευμένην πολυλογίαν μεταδιώκοντες, ἀφʼ ἧς οὐκ ἔστι φυγεῖν τὴν „ἁμαρτίαν“, ἤδη πέμπτου ἀρχόμεθα βιβλίου πρὸς τὸ Κέλσου σύγγραμμα, ἱερὲ Ἀμβρόσιε, ἀλλʼ ὅση δύναμις πειρώμενοι μηδὲν τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεχθέντων παρελθεῖν ἀβασάνιστον, καὶ μάλιστα ἐν οἷς δόξαι ἄν τισι συνετῶς ἡμῶν ἢ Ἰουδαίων κατηγορηκέναι. καὶ εἰ μὲν οἷόν τʼ ἦν μετὰ τοῦ λόγου εἰσελθόντας εἰς τὴν παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν συνείδησιν τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων τῷ ἐκείνου συγγράμματι ἕκαστον ἐξελκύσαι βέλος, τιτρῶσκον τὸν οὐ πάντῃ πεφραγμένον τῇ πανοπλίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐπιθεῖναι λογικὸν φάρμακον, θεραπεῦον τὸ ἀπὸ Κέλσου τραῦμα, ποιοῦν μὴ ὑγιαίνειν „τῇ πίστει“ τοὺς προσέχοντας αὐτοῦ τοῖς λόγοις, τοῦτʼ ἂν πεποιήκειμεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο μὲν θεοῦ ἔργον ἐστὶν, ἀοράτως ἐπιδημεῖν κατὰ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ πνεῦμα μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος Χριστοῦ οἷς κρίνει δεῖν ἐπιδημεῖν, ἡμῖν δὲ, διὰ λόγων καὶ συγγραμμάτων πειρωμένοις ἀνθρώπους πιστοποιεῖν, πρόκειται πάντα πράττειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ χρηματίσαι ἐργάτας ἀνεπαισχύντους, ὀρθοτομοῦντας „τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας“, ἓν δὲ τῶν πάντων εἶναι ἡμῖν φαίνεται καὶ τὰ πιθανὰ τοῦ Κέλσου κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν λῦσαι, πιστῶς ποιοῦσι τὸ προστεταγμένον ὑπὸ σοῦ· φέρʼ ἐκθέμενοι τὰ ἑξῆς τοῖς Κέλσου λόγοις, πρὸς οὓς φθάσαντες ἀπηντήσαμεν (κρινεῖ δὲ ὁ ἐντυγχάνων, εἰ καὶ ἀνετρέψαμεν), τὰ πρὸς αὐτὰ ἐπαγάγωμεν. θεὸς δὲ δῴη μὴ ψιλῷ καὶ γυμνῷ θειότητος τῷ ἡμετέρῳ νῷ καὶ λόγῳ (πρὸς) τὸ προκείμενον γενέσθαι· „ἵνʼ ἡ πίστις“ τῶν, οὓς εὐχόμεθα ὠφεληθῆναι. „μὴ ᾖ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων, “ „νοῦν“ δὲ „Χριστοῦ“ λαβόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ μόνου διδόντος αὐτὸν πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς τὴν μετοχὴν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ βοηθηθέντες „πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ“ καθέλοιμεν καὶ τὸ οἴημα Κέλσου, καθʼ ἡμῶν καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἡμῶν ἐπαιρομένου ἔτι δὲ κατὰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν· ἵνα τοῦ διδόντος „ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ“ καὶ ἡμῖν τοῦτʼ ἐπιχορηγοῦντος καὶ τὴν πολλὴν δύναμιν δωρουμένου, ἐγγένηται πίστις τοῖς ἐντευξομένοις ἐν λόγῳ καὶ δυνάμει τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Not pursuing the forbidden wordiness, from which one cannot escape "sin," we now begin a fifth book against Celsus's treatise, holy Ambrose, but trying as far as we can to let nothing he said pass unexamined, and especially those points where some might think he has accused us or the Jews shrewdly. And if it were possible to enter with our argument into the conscience of each and every reader of his treatise, and draw out every arrow that wounds one not fully protected by the whole armour of God, and apply a rational remedy to heal the wound from Celsus, which makes those who attend to his words not "sound in the faith," we would have done so. But since this is God's work, to come invisibly by his own Spirit, with the Spirit of Christ, to those to whom he judges he must come, while it is set before us, who try to make people believers through words and writings, to do everything in order to be called workmen who need not be ashamed, "rightly handling the word of truth," and one of these things seems to us to be to refute Celsus's plausible arguments as best we can, faithfully doing what you have commanded: come, let us set out what follows the words of Celsus that we have already answered (the reader will judge whether we have also overturned them), and add our reply to them. May God grant that we do not come to the task with a mind and word bare and stripped of divinity, "so that the faith" of those we pray may be helped "may not rest on the wisdom of men," but that, receiving "the mind of Christ" from his Father, who alone gives it, and helped toward sharing in the Word of God, we may pull down "every high thing raised up against the knowledge of God," and also the conceit of Celsus, raised up against us and against our Jesus, and further against Moses and the prophets; so that, as the one who gives "a word to those who proclaim the good news with great power" supplies it to us too and grants the great power, faith may come to those who will read, in the word and power of God. ### Scripture references - Prov 10:19: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:11: allusion, high confidence - Titus 1:13: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:16: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:11 (67:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Ambrose was Origen's patron, who commissioned the work. The quotations and allusions are Prov 10:19, Eph 6:11, Titus 1:13, 2 Tim 2:15, 1 Cor 2:5, 1 Cor 2:16, 2 Cor 10:5, Ps 68:11 (67:12 LXX), and 1 Cor 2:4. The parenthetical (πρὸς) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/1/). ## Against Celsus 5.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/2/ - Source: Koetschau 2:2–3 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's claim that no god or son of God ever comes down would also rule out Apollo and Asclepius, whom pagans believe visit earth, or reduce them to demons. ### Greek text Πρόκειται οὖν νῦν τὴν οὕτως ἔχουσαν αὐτοῦ ἀνατρέψαι λέξιν· θεὸς μὲν. ὦ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ θεοῦ παῖς οὐδεὶς οὔτε κατῆλθεν οὔτε κατέλθοι. εἰ δέ τινας ἀγγέλους φατὲ, τίνας τούτους λέγετε, θεοὺς ἢ ἄλλο τι γένος; ἄλλο τι ὡς εἰκὸς, τοὺς δαίμονας. πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ παλιλλογοῦντι τῷ Κέλσῳ (ἀνωτέρω γὰρ ἤδη πολλάκις ταῦτʼ αὐτῷ λέλεκται) οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἐπὶ πλεῖον διαλεχθῆναι· ἀρκέσει γὰρ τὰ εἰς τοῦθʼ ἡμῖν λελεγμένα. ὀλίγα δʼ ἀπὸ πλειόνων, ἃ δοκοῦμεν εἶναι συνᾴδοντα μὲν τοῖς προειρημένοις οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ πάντῃ ἐκείνοις ἔχοντα νοῦν, ἐκθησόμεθα· ἐν οἷς παραστήσομεν ὅτι καθολικῶς ἀποφηνάμενος θεὸν οὐδένα πρὸς ἀνθρώπους κατεληλυθέναι ἢ θεοῦ παῖδα ἀναιρεῖ καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν περὶ θεοῦ ἐπιφανείας δοξαζόμενα καὶ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω προειρημένα. εἰ γὰρ καθόλου λελεγμένον τὸ θεὸς καὶ θεοῦ παῖς οὐδεὶς κατῆλθεν οὐδὲ κατέλθοι ἀληθῶς τῷ Κέλσῳ εἴρηται, δηλονότι ἀνῄρηται τὸ εἶναι θεοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς, κατελθόντας ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. ἵνα ἤτοι μαντεύσωνται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἢ διὰ χρησμῶν θεραπεύσωσι, καὶ οὔτε ὁ Πύθιος οὔτʼ Ἀσκληπιὸς οὔτʼ ἄλλος τις τῶν νενομισμένων τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν θεὸς ἂν εἴη καταβὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἢ θεὸς μὲν εἴη ἂν ἀεὶ δὲ λαχὼν οἰκεῖν τὴν γῆν καὶ ὡσπερεὶ φυγὰς τοῦ τόπου τῶν θεῶν, ἤ τις τῶν μὴ ἐξουσίαν ἐχόντων κοινωνεῖν τοῖς ἐκεῖ θείοις εἴη ἂν. ἢ οὐ θεοὶ εἶεν ὁ Ἀπόλλων καὶ ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς καὶ ὅσοι ἐπὶ γῆς τι ποιεῖν πεπιστευμένοι εἰσὶν ἀλλά τινες δαίμονες, τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις σοφῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁψῖδα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀναβαινόντων πολλῷ χείρους. ### English translation (Claude) Our task now, then, is to overturn his passage, which runs thus: "O Jews and Christians, no god and no child of God has come down or would come down. And if you speak of certain angels, whom do you call these, gods or some other race? Some other race, probably: the demons." Since Celsus repeats himself here (for he has already said this many times above), there is no need to discuss it further; what we have said on this will suffice. We will set out a few things out of many, which we think agree with what was said before but do not have wholly the same sense; in them we will show that, by declaring universally that no god or child of God has come down to human beings, he also does away with what most people believe about God's appearances, and what he himself said earlier. For if the universal statement "no god and no child of God has come down or would come down" has been truly said by Celsus, then clearly the existence of gods on earth, who came down from heaven either to give oracles to human beings or to heal them through oracles, has been done away with; and neither the Pythian nor Asclepius nor any other of those believed to do such things would be a god who came down from heaven; or else he would be a god who has always been allotted to dwell on earth, like an exile from the place of the gods, or one of those who have no right to share with the divine beings there. Or else Apollo and Asclepius and all those believed to do something on earth would not be gods, but certain demons, much worse than the wise among human beings who by virtue ascend even to the vault of heaven. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 247b (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - "The Pythian" is Apollo of Delphi. "The vault of heaven" echoes Plato, Phaedrus 247b. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/2/). ## Against Celsus 5.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/3/ - Source: Koetschau 2:3–4 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's denial that any god comes down is Epicurean; anyone who does believe in providence should ask whether Jesus or the oracle-giving gods better fits the description of a God who came down. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὴ ὅτι βουλόμενος τὰ ἡμέτερα ἀνελεῖν ὁ μὴ ὁμολογήσας διʼ ὅλου τοῦ συγγράμματος Ἐπικούρειος εἶναι πρὸς τὸν Ἐπίκουρον αὐτομολῶν ἐλέγχεται. ὥρα δή σοι τῷ ἐντυγχάνοντι τοῖς Κέλσου λόγοις καὶ συγκατατιθεμένῳ τοῖς προκειμένοις ἤτοι ἀναιρεῖν τὸ θεὸν ἐπιδημεῖν, προνοούμενον ἀνθρώπων τῶν καθʼ ἕνα, ἢ τιθέντι τὸ τοιοῦτον ψευδοποιεῖν τὸν Κέλσου λόγον. εἰ μὲν οὖν πάντῃ πρόνοιαν ἀναιρεῖς, ψευδοποιήσεις αὐτοῦ τοὺς λόγους, ἐν οἷς τίθησι θεοὺς καὶ πρόνοιαν, ἵνα ταῦτα φήσῃς εἶναι ἀληθῆ· εἰ δὲ τίθης οὐδὲν ἧττον πρόνοιαν, ὡς οὐ συγκατατιθέμενος Κέλσῳ λέγοντι μήτε θεὸν μήτε θεοῦ παῖδα κατεληλυθέναι ἢ κατέρχεσθαι πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, διὰ τί οὐχὶ ἐπιμελῶς ἐξετάσεις ἐκ τῶν περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἡμῖν λελεγμένων καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητευομένων, τίνα μᾶλλον χρὴ νομίζειν θεὸν καὶ θεοῦ παῖδα κατεληλυθέναι πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, τὸν τοσαῦτα οἰκονομήσαντα καὶ ποιήσαντα Ἰησοῦν ἢ τοὺς προφάσει χρησμῶν καὶ μαντειῶν μὴ ἐπανορθοῦντας μὲν τὰ ἤθη τῶν θεραπευομένων καὶ προσέτι δʼ ἀποστάντας τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ καθαρᾶς πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων ποιητὴν σεβασμίου τιμῆς καὶ σχίζοντας τὴν τῶν προσεχόντων αὐτοῖς ψυχὴν προφάσει τιμῆς πλειόνων θεῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου ἐναργοῦς καὶ ἀληθινοῦ θεοῦ; ### English translation (Claude) See, then, how the man who throughout his treatise did not admit to being an Epicurean is shown, in wishing to destroy our teaching, to be deserting to Epicurus. Now is the time, then, for you who read Celsus's words and agree with what he puts forward either to do away with God's coming to watch over individual human beings, or, if you hold such a thing, to show Celsus's argument to be false. If, then, you do away with providence altogether, you will show his words to be false in which he posits gods and providence, so that you may say these things are true; but if you nonetheless posit providence, as not agreeing with Celsus when he says that neither a god nor a child of God has come down or comes down to human beings, why will you not examine carefully, from what we have said about Jesus and what was prophesied about him, whom one should rather believe to be God and a child of God who came down to human beings: Jesus, who arranged and did so many things, or those who, on the pretext of oracles and divinations, do not reform the characters of those they heal, and who moreover have fallen away from the sincere and pure reverence toward the Maker of the universe, and split the souls of those who attend to them, on the pretext of honouring many gods, away from the one and only manifest and true God? ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/3/). ## Against Celsus 5.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/4/ - Source: Koetschau 2:4 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians believe in angels who carry prayers up and blessings down, and who are sometimes called 'gods' in Scripture, but prayer and worship go to God alone through Christ the High Priest. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα, ὡς ἀποκριναμένων ἂν Ἰουδαίων ἢ Χριστιανῶν περὶ τῶν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους καταβαινόντων ὅτι εἶεν ἄγγελοι, φησίν· εἰ δέ τινας ἀγγέλους φατὲ, καὶ προσεπερωτᾷ λέγων· τίνας τούτους λέγετε; θεοὺς ἢ ἄλλο τι γένος; εἶτα πάλιν οἱονεὶ ἀποκριναμένους ἄγει ὅτι ἄλλο τι ὡς εἰκὸς, τοὺς δαίμονας· φέρε καὶ ταῦτα κατανοήσωμεν. ὁμολογουμένως μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀγγέλους φαμὲν, „λειτουργικὰ“ ὄντας „πνεύματα“ καὶ „εἰς διακονίας ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν“, ἀναβαίνειν μὲν προσάγοντας τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐντεύξεις ἐν τοῖς καθαρωτάτοις τοῦ κόσμου χωρίοις ἐπουρανίοις ἢ καὶ τοῖς τούτων καθαρωτέροις ὑπερουρανίοις, καταβαίνειν δʼ αὖ ἐκεῖθεν φέροντας ἑκάστῳ κατʼ ἀξίαν τῶν ἀπὸ θεοῦ τι αὐτοῖς διακονεῖν τοῖς εὐεργετουμένοις προστασσομένων. τούτους δὴ ἀγγέλους ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔργου αὐτῶν μεμαθηκότες καλεῖν, εὑρίσκομεν αὐτοὺς διὰ τὸ θείους εἶναι καὶ „θεοὺς“ ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς ποτε ὀνομαζομένους γραφαῖς, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὥστε προστάσσεσθαι ἡμῖν τοὺς διακονοῦντας καὶ φέροντας ἡμῖν τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σέβειν καὶ προσκυνεῖν ἀντὶ τοῦ θεοῦ. πᾶσαν μὲν γὰρ δέησιν καὶ προσευχὴν καὶ ἔντευξιν καὶ εὐχαριστίαν ἀναπεμπτέον τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ διὰ τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων ἀγγέλων ἀρχιερέως, ἐμψύχου λόγου καὶ θεοῦ. δεησόμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἐντευξόμεθα αὐτῷ καὶ εὐχαριστήσομεν καὶ προσευξόμεθα δὲ, ἐὰν δυνώμεθα κατακούειν τῆς περὶ προσευχῆς κυριολεξίας καὶ καταχρήσεως. ### English translation (Claude) Since after this, as if Jews or Christians would answer about those who come down to human beings that they are angels, he says: "And if you speak of certain angels," and asks further: "Whom do you call these, gods or some other race?" and then again brings us in as though answering: "Some other race, probably: the demons," come, let us consider this too. We do indeed acknowledge that there are angels, "ministering spirits sent out for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation," who ascend bearing the petitions of human beings to the purest heavenly regions of the world, or even to the super-heavenly regions purer still, and who descend again from there bearing to each, according to his worth, something of what God commands them to minister to those who receive his benefits. These, having learned to call them angels from their work, we find sometimes named even "gods" in the holy Scriptures because they are divine; but not in such a way that we are commanded to reverence and worship, instead of God, those who minister and bring us the things of God. For every request, prayer, petition, and thanksgiving must be sent up to the God over all through the High Priest who is above all angels, the living Word and God. And we will make requests of the Word himself, and petition him, and give thanks, and also pray to him, if we are able to understand the proper and the looser use of the term "prayer." ### Scripture references - Heb 1:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:1: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 4:14: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Heb 1:14. The four kinds of prayer echo 1 Tim 2:1; "High Priest" echoes Heb 4:14. Origen distinguishes prayer in the strict sense (to the Father) from its looser sense, as in his On Prayer 15. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/4/). ## Against Celsus 5.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/5/ - Source: Koetschau 2:4–5 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Angels need not be invoked; prayer goes to God through the Son, and the angels favor those who imitate them; 'demons,' unlike 'angels,' always means evil powers. ### Greek text Ἀγγέλους γὰρ καλέσαι μὴ ἀναλαβόντας τὴν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπους περὶ αὐτῶν ἐπιστήμην οὐκ εὔλογον. ἵνα δὲ καὶ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν ἡ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐπιστήμη θαυμάσιός τις οὖσα καὶ ἀπόῤῥητος καταληφθῇ, αὕτη ἡ ἐπιστήμη, παραστήσασα τὴν φύσιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς εἰσιν ἕκαστοι τεταγμένοι, οὐκ ἐάσει ἄλλῳ θαῤῥεῖν εὔχεσθαι ἢ τῷ πρὸς πάντα διαρκεῖ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ διὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν υἱοῦ θεοῦ· ὅς ἐστι „λόγος“ καὶ σοφία καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα λέγουσι περὶ αὐτοῦ αἱ τῶν προφητῶν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γραφαί. ἀρκεῖ δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἵλεως ἡμῖν τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγγέλους εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πάντα πράττειν αὐτοὺς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν διάθεσις ἡμῶν, ὅση δύναμις ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει, μιμουμένη τὴν ἐκείνων προαίρεσιν, μιμουμένων αὐτῶν τὸν θεόν· καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ λόγον κατὰ τὸ ἐφικτὸν ἡμῖν διάληψις, οὐκ ἐναντιουμένη τῇ τρανοτέρᾳ περὶ αὐτοῦ διαλήψει τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἐκείνην ὁσημέραι τῇ τρανότητι καὶ διαρθρώσει σπεύδουσα. ὡς μὴ ἀναγνοὺς δὲ τὰς ἱερὰς ἡμῶν γραφὰς ὁ Κέλσος ἑαυτῷ ἀποκρίνεται ὡς ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ὅτι ἄλλο τι γένος παρὰ θεοῦ φαμεν τοὺς καταβαίνοντας ἐπʼ εὐεργεσίᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀγγέλους καί φησιν ὡς τὸ εἰκὸς λεχθῆναι ἂν αὐτοὺς ὑφʼ ἡμῶν δαίμονας· οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι τὸ τῶν δαιμόνων ὄνομα οὐδὲ μέσον ἐστὶν ὡς τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐν οἷς τινὲς μὲν ἀστεῖοι τινὲς δὲ φαῦλοί εἰσιν, οὔτʼ ἀστεῖον, ὁποῖόν ἐστι τὸ τῶν θεῶν, τασσόμενον οὐκ ἐπὶ φαύλων, ἐπὶ δαιμονίων ἢ ἐπὶ ἀγαλμάτων ἢ ἐπὶ ζῴων. ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῶν τὰ θεοῦ ἐγνωκότων ἐπὶ τῶν ἀληθῶς θειοτέρων καὶ μακαρίων. ἀεὶ δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν φαύλων ἔξω τοῦ παχυτέρου σώματος δυνάμεων τάσσεται τὸ τῶν δαιμόνων ὄνομα, πλανώντων καὶ περισπώντων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ καθελκόντων ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ὑπερουρανίων ἐπὶ τὰ τῇδε πράγματα. ### English translation (Claude) For it is not reasonable to invoke angels without having acquired a knowledge about them that is beyond human capacity. And even if, by hypothesis, the knowledge about them, being something wonderful and secret, were grasped, this very knowledge, having shown their nature and the tasks to which each is assigned, will not allow one to dare to pray to anyone other than the God over all, who is sufficient for all things, through our Saviour, the Son of God, who is the "Word," and Wisdom, and Truth, and whatever else the writings of God's prophets and of Jesus's apostles say of him. To make the holy angels of God gracious to us and to have them do everything on our behalf, it is enough that our disposition toward God, as far as human nature can, imitate their choice, since they imitate God; and that our understanding of his Son, the Word, as far as we can attain it, not be opposed to the holy angels' clearer understanding of him, but press on toward it day by day in clarity and distinctness. But Celsus, as though he had not read our holy Scriptures, answers himself as if on our behalf, that we call the angels who come down to benefit human beings a race other than God, and says that they would probably be called demons by us. He does not see that the name demons is not neutral, like the name human beings, among whom some are good and some bad; nor is it good, like the name gods, which is applied, not to the wicked, nor to demons, nor to statues, nor to animals, but by those who know the things of God to beings that are truly more divine and blessed. The name demons is always applied to wicked powers outside the grosser body, which lead human beings astray and distract them and drag them down from God and the super-heavenly things to the affairs of this world. ### Scripture references - John 1:1: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, medium confidence - John 14:6: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The titles of the Son echo John 1:1, 1 Cor 1:24, and John 14:6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/5/). ## Against Celsus 5.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/6/ - Source: Koetschau 2:5–6 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus charges the Jews with worshipping heaven and angels but not the sun and stars; Origen replies that the Law forbids worshipping any created thing, heavenly bodies and angels alike. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ τοιαύτην ἐκτίθεται περὶ Ἰουδαίων λέξιν· πρῶτον οὖν τῶν Ἰουδαίων θαυμάζειν ἄξιον, εἰ τὸν μὲν οὐρανὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷδε ἀγγέλους σέβουσι, τὰ σεμνότατα δὲ αὐτοῦ μέρη καὶ δυνατώτατα, ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀστέρας ἀπλανεῖς τε καὶ πλανήτας, ταῦτα παραπέμπουσιν· ὡς ἐνδεχόμενον τὸ μὲν ὅλον εἶναι θεὸν, τὰ δὲ μέρη αὐτοῦ μὴ θεῖα. ἢ τοὺς μὲν ἐν σκότῳ που ἐκ γοητείας οὐκ ὀρθῆς τυφλώττουσιν ἢ διʼ ἀμυδρῶν φασμάτων ὀνειρώττουσιν ἐγχρίμπτειν λεγομένους εὖ μάλα θρησκεύειν, τοὺς δʼ ἐναργῶς οὕτως καὶ λαμπρῶς ἅπασι προφητεύοντας, διʼ ὧν ὑετούς τε καὶ θάλπη καὶ νέφη καὶ βροντὰς, ἃς προσκυνοῦσι, καὶ ἀστραπὰς καὶ καρποὺς καὶ γονὰς ἁπάσας ταμιεύεσθαι, διʼ ὧν αὐτοῖς ἀνακαλύπτεσθαι τὸν θεὸν, τοὺς φανερωτάτους τῶν ἄνω κήρυκας, τοὺς ὡς ἀληθῶς οὐρανίους ἀγγέλους, τούτους ἡγεῖσθαι τὸ μηδέν, ἐν τούτοις δὲ δοκεῖ μοι συγκεχύσθαι ὁ Κέλσος καὶ ἀπὸ παρακουσμάτων ἃ μὴ ᾔδει γεγραφέναι· σαφὲς γὰρ τοῖς τὰ Ἰουδαίων ἐξετάζουσι καὶ τὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐκείνοις συνάπτουσιν ὅτι τῷ μὲν νόμῳ ἀκολουθοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι, λέγοντι ἐκ προσώπου θεοῦ· „οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι (θεοὶ) ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ, οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς· οὐ προσκυνήσεις αὐτοῖς οὐδὲ μὴ λατρεύσῃς αὐτοῖς, “ οὐδὲν ἄλλο σέβουσιν ἢ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν, ὃς ἐποίησε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα, δῆλον δʼ ὅτι οἱ κατὰ τὸν νόμον βιοῦντες σέβοντες τὸν ποιήσαντα τὸν οὐρανὸν οὐ συσσέβουσι τῷ θεῷ τὸν οὐρανόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἀγγέλους οὐδεὶς τῶν δουλευόντων τῷ Μωϋσέως νόμῳ προσκυνεῖ· ὁμοίως δὲ τῷ μὴ προσκυνεῖν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, „τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“, ἀπέχονται τοῦ προσκυνεῖν οὐρανὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγγέλους, πειθόμενοι τῷ λέγοντι νόμῳ· „καὶ μὴ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πλανηθεὶς προσκυνήσῃς αὐτοῖς καὶ λατρεύσῃς αὐτοῖς, ἃ ἀπένειμε κύριος ὁ θεός σου αὐτὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.“ ### English translation (Claude) After this he sets out a passage about the Jews such as this: "First, then, one may wonder at the Jews, that they revere heaven and the angels in it, but pass over its most venerable and powerful parts, the sun and moon and the other stars, fixed and wandering, as though it were possible for the whole to be God but its parts not divine; or that they worship very devoutly those who are said to approach people who are blinded in darkness somewhere by crooked sorcery or who dream through dim phantoms, while those who prophesy so clearly and brightly to all, through whom rains and heat, clouds and thunders (which they worship), lightnings, crops, and all generation are dispensed, through whom God is revealed to them, the most manifest heralds of the things above, the truly heavenly angels, these they count as nothing." In this Celsus seems to me to be confused, and to have written, from things he misheard, what he did not know. For it is clear to those who examine the practices of the Jews and compare those of the Christians with them that the Jews, following the law, which says in the person of God: "You shall have no other gods besides me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or a likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not worship them nor serve them," revere nothing other than the God over all, who made heaven and all the rest. And it is clear that those who live according to the law, revering the one who made heaven, do not revere heaven together with God; and none of those who serve the law of Moses worships the angels in heaven either. In the same way that they do not worship the sun and moon and the stars, "the ornament of heaven," they refrain from worshipping heaven and the angels in it, obeying the law that says: "And lest, looking up to heaven and seeing the sun and the moon and the stars, all the ornament of heaven, you be led astray and worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has allotted to all the nations." ### Scripture references - Exod 20:3–5: quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Exod 20:3–5 and Deut 4:19. The parenthetical (θεοὶ) is the editor's supplement. Celsus's "heralds" (κήρυκας) and "angels" play on the literal sense of ἄγγελος, "messenger." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/6/). ## Against Celsus 5.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/7/ - Source: Koetschau 2:6–8 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Neither Jews nor Christians call heaven God, and Celsus's principle that the parts of a divine whole must be divine would make even flies and worms gods, which no Greek would admit. ### Greek text Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑαυτῷ λαβὼν, ὡς ἄρα θεὸν νομίζουσι τὸν οὐρανὸν Ἰουδαῖοι, τούτῳ ὡς ἄτοπον ἐπιφέρει, ἐγκαλῶν τοῖς προσκυνοῦσι μὲν τὸν οὐρανὸν οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, ὅτι τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν Ἰουδαῖοι ὡς ἐνδεχόμενον τὸ μὲν ὅλον εἶναι (θεὸν), τὰ μέρη δʼ αὐτοῦ μὴ θεῖα· καὶ ὅλον μὲν ἔοικε λέγειν τὸν οὐρανὸν μέρη δʼ αὐτοῦ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας. οὐ λέγουσι μὲν οὖν σαφῶς οὔτε Ἰουδαῖοι οὔτε Χριστιανοὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν θεόν. ἀλλὰ δεδόσθω κατʼ αὐτὸν λέγεσθαι ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων θεὸν εἶναι τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἔστω δὲ καὶ μέρη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ ἀστέρες (ὅπερ οὐ πάντως ἐστὶν ἀληθὲς. οὐδὲ γὰρ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ζῷα καὶ φυτὰ μέρη γῆς)· πόθεν δὴ καὶ καθʼ Ἕλληνας ἀληθὲς ὅτι, ἐὰν ὅλον τι θεὸς ᾖ, ἤδη καὶ τὰ μέρη αὐτοῦ ἐστι θεῖα; σαφῶς δὴ τὸν ὅλον κόσμον λέγουσιν εἶναι θεὸν, Στωϊκοὶ μὲν τὸν πρῶτον οἱ δʼ ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος τὸν δεύτερον τινὲς δʼ αὐτῶν τὸν τρίτον. ἆρʼ οὖν κατὰ τοὺς τοιούτους. ἐπεὶ τὸ ὅλον ὁ κόσμος θεός ἐστιν, ἤδη καὶ τὰ μέρη αὐτοῦ θεῖα· ὡς εἶναι θεῖα οὐ μόνον ἀνθρώπους ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντα τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα. μέρη ὄντα τοῦ κόσμου, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ φυτά; εἰ δὲ μέρη τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ αἱ θάλασσαι, ἆρʼ ἐπεὶ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος θεός ἐστιν, ἤδη καὶ οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ αἱ θάλασσαι θεοί εἰσιν; ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῦτο φήσουσιν Ἕλληνες· τοὺς δʼ ἐπιστατοῦντας εἰ ἄρα δαίμονας (ἢ θεοὺς, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι ὀνομάζουσι) ποταμοῖς καὶ θαλάσσαις, τούτους ἂν λέγοιεν θεούς· καὶ τὸ καθολικὸν Κέλσου γίνεται καὶ καθʼ Ἕλληνας, τοὺς τὴν πρόνοιαν εἰσάγοντας. ψεῦδος, ὅτι ἐάν τι ὅλον ᾖ θεὸς. πάντως τὰ μέρη τούτου ἐστὶ θεῖα. ἀκολουθεῖ δὲ τῷ Κέλσου λόγῳ. ἐὰν θεὸς ᾖ ὁ κόσμος, πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ εἶναι θεῖα, μέρη ὄντα τοῦ κόσμου. καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο θεῖα ἔσται ζῷα μυῖαι καὶ σκνίφες καὶ σκώληκες καὶ πᾶν τὸ τῶν ὄφεων εἶδος ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τῶν ὀρνέων καὶ τὸ τῶν ἰχθύων· ἅπερ οὐδʼ οἱ λέγοντες θεὸν εἶναι τὸν κόσμον φήσουσιν. οἱ (δὲ) κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Μωϋσέως νόμον βιοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι, κἂν μηδὲν εἰδῶσιν ἐκδέχεσθαι κεκρυμμένως εἰρημένον τοῦ νόμου βούλημα καὶ ἀπόῤῥητόν τι ἐμφαῖνον, οὔτε τὸν οὐρανὸν φήσουσιν εἶναι θεὸν οὔτε τοὺς ἀγγέλους. ### English translation (Claude) But taking it for granted that the Jews regard heaven as God, he adds, as though it were absurd, a charge against those who worship heaven but not also the sun and the moon and the stars, that the Jews do this "as though it were possible for the whole to be God but its parts not divine"; and he seems to call heaven the whole, and the sun and moon and stars its parts. Neither Jews nor Christians plainly say that heaven is God. But let it be granted, on his view, that the Jews say heaven is God, and let the sun and moon and stars be parts of heaven (which is not at all true; for neither are the animals and plants on earth parts of the earth): how is it true, even according to the Greeks, that if some whole is God, its parts too are thereby divine? The Greeks plainly say that the whole world is God: the Stoics, the first God; the Platonists, the second; and some of them, the third. Is it, then, according to such people, since the world as a whole is God, that its parts too are thereby divine, so that not only human beings but also all the irrational animals are divine, being parts of the world, and besides these the plants too? And if mountains and rivers and seas are parts of the world, then since the whole world is God, are rivers and seas also gods? But not even the Greeks will say this; rather they might call gods those who preside, as demons (or gods, as they name them), over rivers and seas. And Celsus's universal claim proves false even according to the Greeks who introduce providence: that if some whole is God, its parts are in every case divine. It follows from Celsus's argument that, if the world is God, everything in it is divine, being parts of the world; and on this reasoning flies, gnats, worms, every kind of snake, and indeed every kind of bird and fish will be divine animals; which not even those who say the world is God will say. But the Jews who live according to the law of Moses, even if they do not know how to interpret the intent of the law spoken in a hidden way and showing something secret, will say neither that heaven nor that the angels are God. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 92c (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The parentheses (θεὸν) and (δὲ) are the editor's supplements. The Stoics identified the world with the supreme God; Platonists spoke of the world as a "second" or "third" god (cf. Plato, Timaeus 34b, 92c). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/7/). ## Against Celsus 5.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/8/ - Source: Koetschau 2:8–9 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Worship of heaven and angels is not Judaism but a violation of it, as Jeremiah, Stephen in Acts, and Paul in Colossians show. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ φάσκομεν αὐτὸν συγκεχύσθαι ἔκ τινων παρακουσμάτων, φέρε καὶ ταῦτα ἡμεῖς κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν τρανώσωμεν καὶ παραστήσωμεν ὅτι, Κέλσου νομίζοντος Ἰουδαϊκὸν εἶναι τὸ προσκυνεῖν οὐρανῷ καὶ τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγγέλοις, οὐκ Ἰουδαϊκὸν μὲν τὸ τοιοῦτον, παραβατικὸν δὲ ἰουδαϊσμοῦ ἐστιν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ προσκυνεῖν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀγάλμασιν. εὑρήσεις γοῦν μάλιστα ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, διὰ τοῦ προφήτου μεμφόμενον τῷ Ἰουδαίων λαῷ ὡς προσκυνοῦντι τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ θύοντι „τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“ καὶ „πάσῃ τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.“ δηλοῦσι δὲ καὶ οἱ Χριστιανῶν λόγοι, κατηγοροῦντες τῶν ἐν Ἰουδαίοις ἁμαρτανομένων, ὅτι θεοῦ ἐγκαταλιπόντος τὸν λαὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐπί τισιν ἁμαρτήμασι καὶ ταῦτʼ αὐτοῖς ἡμαρτάνετο. ἐν μὲν γὰρ ταῖς Πράξεσι γέγραπται τῶν ἀποστόλων περὶ Ἰουδαίων ὅτι „ἔστρεψε δὲ ὁ θεὸς καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς λατρεύειν τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ τῶν προφητῶν· μὴ σφάγια καὶ θυσίας προσηνέγκατέ μοι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη, οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν Μολὸχ καὶ τὸ ἄστρον τοῦ θεοῦ ῾Ρομφᾶ. τοὺς τύπους, οὓς ἐποιήσατε προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς;“ παρὰ δὲ τῷ Παύλῳ, ἀκριβῶς τὰ Ἰουδαίων παιδευθέντι καὶ ὕστερον ἐκ παραδόξου ἐπιφανείας Ἰησοῦ χριστιανίσαντι. τοιαῦτʼ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κολασσαεῖς λέλεκται· „μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καὶ θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἃ ἑώρακεν ἐμβατεύων, εἰκῇ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλὴν, ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ.“ ταῦτα δὲ μήτʼ ἀναγνοὺς μήτε μαθὼν ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως πεποίηκεν ὡς οὐ παρανομοῦντας Ἰουδαίους προσκυνεῖν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγγέλοις. ### English translation (Claude) Since we claim he has been confused by certain things he misheard, come, let us make these matters clear as best we can, and show that, while Celsus thinks it Jewish to worship heaven and the angels in it, such a thing is not Jewish but a transgression of Judaism, just like worshipping the sun and moon and stars, and indeed statues. At any rate, you will find especially in Jeremiah the word of God, through the prophet, reproaching the Jewish people for worshipping such things and sacrificing "to the queen of heaven" and "to all the host of heaven." And the writings of the Christians too, accusing the sins committed among the Jews, show that these sins were committed by them when God had forsaken that people for certain sins. For in the Acts of the Apostles it is written about the Jews: "But God turned and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: Did you offer me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel? And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship them." And in Paul, who was exactly trained in Jewish ways and later became a Christian through a wondrous appearance of Jesus, the following is said in the letter to the Colossians: "Let no one disqualify you, insisting on humility and the worship of angels, taking his stand on what he has seen, puffed up without reason by the mind of his flesh, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, supplied and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth that is from God." Celsus, having neither read nor learned these things, has somehow represented the Jews as not breaking the law by worshipping heaven and the angels in it. ### Scripture references - Jer 7:18: quotation, high confidence - Jer 44:17 (51:17 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Jer 8:2: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 7:42–43: quotation, high confidence - Amos 5:25–27: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:18–19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Jer 7:18 and 44:17–18 (51:17–18 LXX), Jer 8:2 ("host of heaven"), Acts 7:42–43 (citing Amos 5:25–27), and Col 2:18–19. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/8/). ## Against Celsus 5.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/9/ - Source: Koetschau 2:9 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Magical invocation of angels is also forbidden by the Law, so Celsus cannot consistently say the Jews keep the Law against star-worship yet worship heaven and angels. ### Greek text Ἔτι δʼ ὑποσυγκεχυμένος καὶ μὴ ἐπιμελῶς ἰδὼν τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον ᾠήθη ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν μαγγανείαις καὶ γοητείαις ἐπῳδῶν προτραπέντας Ἰουδαίους ἔκ τινων κατὰ τὰς ἐπῳδὰς φασμάτων ἐπιφαινομένων τοῖς ἐπᾴδουσι προσκυνεῖν τοὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀγγέλους. οὐ συνιδὼν ὅτι καὶ τοῦτο παρὰ τὸν νόμον τοῖς γε ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν ἐγίνετο λέγοντα· „οὐκ ἐπακολουθήσετε ἐγγαστριμύθοις, καὶ τοῖς ἐπαοιδοῖς οὐ προσκολληθήσεσθε ἐκμιανθῆναι ἐν αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν.“ ἐχρῆν οὖν ἢ μηδʼ ὅλως ταῦτʼ εἰς Ἰουδαίους ἀναφέρειν τὸν τηροῦντα Ἰουδαίους ὡς φυλάσσοντας τὸν νόμον καὶ λέγοντα αὐτοὺς εἶναι τοὺς κατὰ τὸν νόμον βιοῦντας, ἢ ἀναφέροντα παραστῆσαι ὅτι τὰ τοιαῦτα οἱ παρανομοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι ἐποίουν. ἀλλὰ πάλιν ὥσπερ παρανομοῦσιν οἱ τοὺς ἐν σκότῳ που καὶ ἐκ γοητείας θρησκεύοντες. τυφλώττοντες καὶ διʼ ἀμυδρῶν φασμάτων ὀνειρώττοντες, προσκυνοῦντες τοὺς ἐγχρίμπτειν λεγομένους καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις· οὕτως καὶ οἱ ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις θύοντες εὖ μάλα παρανομοῦσι. καὶ οὐκ ἦν κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λέγειν Ἰουδαίους καὶ φυλαττομένους προσκυνεῖν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἄστρα, καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον μὴ φυλαττομένους ἐπὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀγγέλων. ### English translation (Claude) Still somewhat confused, and not having looked carefully into the subject, he supposed that the Jews, urged on by the incantations used in magic and sorcery, worship the angels in heaven because of certain phantoms that appear to those who chant the incantations. He did not see that this too, for those who did such things, was contrary to the law, which says: "You shall not follow ventriloquists, nor cling to enchanters so as to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God." He ought, then, either not to have attributed these things to the Jews at all, since he observes that the Jews keep the law and says they are those who live according to the law, or, if he attributed them, to have shown that it was Jews who broke the law who did such things. But again, just as those break the law who, blinded in darkness somewhere and by sorcery, and dreaming through dim phantoms, worship "those said to approach" such people, so too those who sacrifice to the sun and moon and stars break the law very much. And it was not consistent for the same man to say that the Jews guard against worshipping the sun and moon and stars, and do not guard against such worship of heaven and angels. ### Scripture references - Lev 19:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Lev 19:31 (LXX; ἐγγαστρίμυθοι, "ventriloquists," i.e. mediums). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/9/). ## Against Celsus 5.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/10/ - Source: Koetschau 2:9–11 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God allotted the heavenly bodies to the nations but chose Israel for himself; his people, promised to shine like stars in the resurrection and possessing the true light of Christ, have no reason to worship sun, moon, or stars. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ χρὴ ἀπολογήσασθαι ἡμᾶς, ἐπʼ ἴσης μὴ προσκυνοῦντας ἀγγέλους καὶ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἄστρα, περὶ τοῦ μηδὲ τοὺς λεγομένους ὑφʼ Ἑλλήνων ἐμφανεῖς θεοὺς καὶ αἰσθητοὺς προσκυνεῖν, φήσομεν ὅτι καὶ ὁ Μωϋσέως νόμος ἐπίσταται τούτους ἀπονεμηθέντας μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ „πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“ οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τοῖς εἰς ἐξαίρετον μερίδα ληφθεῖσι τῷ θεῷ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἔθνη. γέγραπται γοῦν ἐν Δευτερονομίῳ· „καὶ μή ποτε ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πλανηθεὶς προσκυνήσῃς αὐτοῖς καὶ λατρεύσῃς αὐτοῖς, ἃ ἀπένειμε κύριος ὁ θεός σου πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς ὑποκάτω παντὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. ἡμᾶς δʼ ἔλαβε κύριος ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἐξήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς καμίνου τῆς σιδηρᾶς, ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, εἶναι λαὸν αὐτῷ ἔγκληρον ὡς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ.“ „γένος“ τοίνυν „ἐκλεκτὸν“ καὶ „βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα“ καὶ „ἔθνος ἅγιον“ καὶ „λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν“ κληθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἶναι ὁ Ἑβραίων λαὸς, περὶ οὗ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ προείρητο ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν τοῦ κυρίου φωνῆς· „ἀνάβλεψον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀρίθμησον τοὺς ἀστέρας, εἰ δυνήσῃ ἐξαριθμῆσαι αὐτούς. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· οὕτως. ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου, “ οὐκ ἔμελλε τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχων οὕτω γενέσθαι ὡς οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀστέρες προσκυνεῖν ἐκείνους, οἷς ἐκ τοῦ συνιέναι καὶ τηρεῖν τὸν νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐξομοιοῦσθαι ἔμελλον. καὶ γὰρ λέλεκται πρὸς αὐτούς· „κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν ἐπλήθυνεν ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἰδού ἐστε σήμερον ὡσεὶ τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ πλήθει.“ καὶ ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ δὲ προφητεύεται τοιαῦτα περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν· „καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ σωθήσεται ὁ λαός σου πᾶς ὁ γεγραμμένος ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ· καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν καθευδόντων ἐν γῆς χώματι ἐξεγερθήσονται, οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὗτοι εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον· καὶ οἱ συνιέντες ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ἡ λαμπρότης τοῦ στερεώματος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν δικαίων τῶν πολλῶν ὡς οἱ ἀστέρες εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας καὶ ἔτι.“ ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος λαβὼν ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἀναστάσεώς φησι· „καὶ σώματα ἐπουράνια καὶ σώματα ἐπίγεια· ἀλλʼ ἑτέρα μὲν ἡ τῶν ἐπουρανίων δόξα, ἑτέρα δὲ ἡ τῶν ἐπιγείων. ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων· ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ. οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν.“ οὐ τοίνυν ἦν εὔλογον τοὺς διδαχθέντας μεγαλοφυῶς ὑπεραναβαίνειν πάντα τὰ δημιουργήματα καὶ ἐλπίζειν τὰ ἄριστα περὶ αὐτῶν παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τῷ καλλίστῳ βίῳ καὶ ἀκούσαντας τὸ „ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου“ καὶ τὸ „λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσι τὰ καλὰ ὑμῶν ἔργα καὶ δοξάσωσι τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, “ ἀσκοῦντας ἔχειν τὴν λαμπρὰν καὶ ἀμάραντον σοφίαν ἢ καὶ ἀνειληφότας αὐτὴν οὖσαν „ἀπαύγασμα“ „φωτὸς ἀϊδίου, “ καταπλαγῆναι τὸ αἰσθητὸν ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων φῶς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε διὰ τὸ αἰσθητὸν φῶς ἐκείνων νομίσαι ἑαυτοὺς κάτω που εἶναι, ἔχοντας τηλικοῦτον νοητὸν γνώσεως φῶς καὶ „φῶς ἀληθινὸν“ καὶ „φῶς τοῦ κόσμου“ καὶ „φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, “ κἀκείνοις προσκυνῆσαι· οὓς εἰ ἄρα προσκυνεῖσθαι ἐχρῆν. οὐ διὰ τὸ θαυμαζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν αἰσθητὸν φῶς ἐχρῆν προσκυνεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ νοητὸν καὶ ἀληθινὸν, εἴπερ καὶ οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀστέρες ζῷά εἰσι λογικὰ καὶ σπουδαῖα καὶ ἐφωτίσθησαν τῷ φωτὶ τῆς γνώσεως ὑπὸ τῆς σοφίας, ἥτις ἐστὶν „ἀπαύγασμα“ „φωτὸς ἀϊδίου.“ καὶ γὰρ τὸ μὲν αἰσθητὸν φῶς αὐτῶν ἔργον ἐστὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ· τὸ δὲ νοητὸν τάχα καὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐν αὐτοῖς αὐτεξουσίου ἐληλυθός. ### English translation (Claude) And if we must defend ourselves, since we equally do not worship angels, or sun, moon, and stars, for not worshipping even those whom the Greeks call the manifest and perceptible gods, we will say that the law of Moses too knows that these have been allotted by God "to all the nations under heaven," but not to those who have been taken as God's special portion in preference to all the nations on earth. At any rate, it is written in Deuteronomy: "And lest, looking up to heaven and seeing the sun and the moon and the stars, all the ornament of heaven, you be led astray and worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has allotted to all the nations under the whole heaven. But the Lord God took us and brought us out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his inheritance, as on this day." The people of the Hebrews, then, called by God "a chosen race" and "a royal priesthood" and "a holy nation" and "a people for his own possession," of whom it was said beforehand to Abraham by the voice of the Lord to him: "Look up to heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And he said to him: So shall your offspring be," were not, while having the hope of becoming like the stars in heaven, going to worship those whom, by understanding and keeping the law of God, they would come to resemble. For it has been said to them: "The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today like the stars of heaven in multitude." And in Daniel too such things are prophesied about the resurrection: "And at that time your people shall be saved, everyone who is written in the book; and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame; and those who understand shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and some of the many righteous like the stars, for ever and ever." Hence Paul too, taking this up, says in his discussion of the resurrection: "There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." It was not reasonable, then, that those who had been taught to rise nobly above all created things and to hope for the best things from God for a most beautiful life, and who had heard "You are the light of the world" and "Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven," who train themselves to have the bright and unfading wisdom, or have already received it, which is "the radiance of eternal light," should be so struck with amazement at the perceptible light of the sun, moon, and stars as to think themselves somewhere beneath them because of their perceptible light, when they have so great an intelligible light of knowledge, and "the true light," and "the light of the world," and "the light of human beings," and should worship them. If they ought to be worshipped at all, they ought to be worshipped not for the perceptible light admired by the many, but for the intelligible and true light, if indeed the stars in heaven are rational and good living beings, and have been enlightened with the light of knowledge by Wisdom, which is "the radiance of eternal light." For their perceptible light is the work of the Creator of the universe; but their intelligible light has perhaps come from themselves as well, from the free will in them. ### Scripture references - Deut 4:19–20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 15:5: quotation, high confidence - Deut 1:10: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:1–3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:40–42: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:16: quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:3: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence - John 8:12: quotation, high confidence - John 1:4: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:26 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 4:19–20, 1 Pet 2:9 (echoing Exod 19:6), Gen 15:5, Deut 1:10, Dan 12:1–3 (Theodotion), 1 Cor 15:40–42, Matt 5:14, 16, Wis 7:26 (also Heb 1:3), John 1:9, 8:12, and 1:4. Origen's suggestion that the stars are rational beings is his own speculative view. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/10/). ## Against Celsus 5.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/11/ - Source: Koetschau 2:11–13 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who know God and his Son as the true light will not worship sun and stars, which themselves pray to God through the Son; as Jesus sent praise on to the Father, so the sun would say, 'Worship God alone.' ### Greek text Οὐ χρὴ δὲ οὐδʼ αὐτὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ βλέποντος καὶ συνιέντος τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς, οὗ μετοχῇ καὶ ταυτὶ ἄρα πεφώτισται, οὐδʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ βλέποντος τὸν πατέρα τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ φωτὸς θεὸν. περὶ οὗ καλῶς λέλεκται τό· „ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία.“ καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ διὰ τὸ φῶς αἰσθητὸν καὶ οὐράνιον εἶναι προσκυνοῦντες ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἄστρα οὐκ ἂν προσκυνήσαιεν σπινθῆρα πυρὸς ἢ λύχνον ἐπὶ γῆς, ὁρῶντες τὴν ἀσύγκριτον ὑπεροχὴν τῶν νομιζομένων ἀξίων προσκυνεῖσθαι παρὰ τὸ τῶν σπινθήρων καὶ τῶν λύχνων φῶς· οὕτως οἱ νοήσαντες, πῶς „ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, “ καταλαβόντες δὲ, πῶς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ „φῶς ἀληθινόν“ ἐστιν, „ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, “ συνιέντες δὲ καὶ, πῶς οὗτός φησι τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου, “ οὐκ ἂν εὐλόγως προσκυνήσαιεν τὸν οἱονεὶ βραχὺν σπινθῆρα ὡς πρὸς φῶς τὸν θεὸν ἀληθινοῦ φωτὸς ἐν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις. καὶ οὐκ ἀτιμάζοντές γε τὰ τηλικαῦτα τοῦ θεοῦ δημιουργήματα οὐδʼ Ἀναξαγορείως „μύδρον διάπυρον“ λέγοντες εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας τοιαῦτά φαμεν περὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἀστέρων, ἀλλʼ αἰσθανόμενοί τε τῆς ἀφάτῳ ὑπεροχῇ ὑπερεχούσης θειότητος τοῦ θεοῦ ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ ὑπερέχοντος τὰ λοιπά. πειθόμενοι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας εὔχεσθαι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ, κρίνομεν μὴ δεῖν εὔχεσθαι τοῖς εὐχομένοις· ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀναπέμπειν ἡμᾶς βούλονται μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν, ᾧ εὔχονται. ἢ κατάγειν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἢ μερίζειν ἡμῶν τὴν εὐκτικὴν δύναμιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτούς. χρήσομαι δὲ καὶ τούτῳ περὶ αὐτῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον παραδείγματι· ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ κύριος ἀκούσας ποτέ· „διδάσκαλε ἀγαθὲ, “ ἀναπέμπων τὸν λέγοντα τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα φησί· „τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεὸς ὁ πατήρ.“ εἴπερ δὲ τοῦτʼ εὐλόγως ὡς „εἰκὼν“ τῆς ἀγαθότητος τοῦ θεοῦ τυγχάνων εἴρηκεν ὁ υἱὸς „τῆς ἀγάπης“ τοῦ πατρὸς, πῶς οὐχὶ εὐλογώτερον ἂν τοῖς προσκυνοῦσιν εἶπεν ἥλιος· τί με προσκυνεῖς; „κύριον γὰρ τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις·“ ᾧ κἀγὼ καὶ πάντες οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ προσκυνοῦμεν καὶ λατρεύομεν. κἂν μὴ τηλικοῦτος δέ τις ᾖ, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ ὁ τοιοῦτος εὐχέσθω τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, δυναμένῳ αὐτὸν ἰάσασθαι, καὶ πολλῷ πλέον τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ, ὃς καὶ τοῖς πρότερον δικαίοις „ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Nor should even this light be worshipped by one who sees and understands the true light, by sharing in which these lights too have been enlightened, nor by one who sees God, the Father of the true light, of whom it has been well said: "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." And just as those who worship sun and moon and stars because their light is perceptible and heavenly would not worship a spark of fire or a lamp on earth, seeing the incomparable superiority of what they consider worthy of worship over the light of sparks and lamps, so those who have understood how "God is light," and grasped how the Son of God is "the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world," and understood also how he says "I am the light of the world," could not reasonably worship what is, as it were, a small spark in sun and moon and stars compared with God, the light of the true light. And it is not in dishonour of such great works of God, nor saying with Anaxagoras that sun and moon and stars are "a red-hot mass," that we speak thus of sun and moon and stars; but, perceiving the divinity of God, which surpasses them with unspeakable superiority, and also that of his Only-begotten, which surpasses all the rest, and being persuaded that sun and moon and stars themselves pray to the God over all through his Only-begotten, we judge that we ought not to pray to those who themselves pray; since they themselves wish rather to send us up to the God to whom they pray, than to bring us down to themselves or divide our power of prayer between God and themselves. And on this subject I will use this example concerning them: our Saviour and Lord, once hearing "Good teacher," sent the one who said this up to his own Father, saying: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, God the Father." If the Son of the Father's "love," being the "image" of God's goodness, said this reasonably, how much more reasonably would the sun say to those who worship it: "Why do you worship me? For 'you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve,' whom I too and all who are with me worship and serve." And even if someone is not so great, let such a person nonetheless pray to the Word of God, who is able to heal him, and much more to his Father, who also for the righteous of former times "sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction." ### Scripture references - 1 John 1:5: quotation, high confidence - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence - John 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Mark 10:17–18: quotation, high confidence - Luke 18:18–19: quotation, medium confidence - Col 1:13: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 4:10: quotation, high confidence - Deut 6:13: quotation, medium confidence - Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:26 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, medium confidence - Anaxagoras, A1 (Anaxagoras): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 John 1:5, John 1:9, John 8:12, Mark 10:17–18 (Luke 18:18–19; Origen adds "the Father"), Matt 4:10 (Deut 6:13), and Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX). "Son of his love" is Col 1:13; "image of his goodness" is Wis 7:26. Anaxagoras's "red-hot mass" is reported by Diogenes Laertius 2.8 (59 A1 Diels–Kranz). Origen's view that the stars pray is his own speculation. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/11/). ## Against Celsus 5.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/12/ - Source: Koetschau 2:13–14 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God is present everywhere by providence, and Christ is always with his disciples, so it is absurd to pray to the stars; even if they announce the weather, their Lord, not his heralds, deserves worship. ### Greek text Θεὸς οὖν κατὰ τὴν χρηστότητα αὐτοῦ οὐ τοπικῶς ἀλλὰ προνοητικῶς συγκαταβαίνει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. καὶ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς οὐ τότε μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων μαθητῶν ἐστι, πληρῶν τὸ „ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.“ καὶ εἴπερ „κλῆμα καρπὸν οὐ δύναται φέρειν, “ „ἐὰν μὴ ἐμμείνῃ τῇ ἀμπέλῳ, “ δῆλον ὅτι καὶ οἱ τοῦ λόγου μαθηταὶ, τὰ νοητὰ τῆς ἀληθινῆς ἀμπέλου τοῦ λόγου „κλήματα, “ οὐ δύνανται φέρειν τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἐὰν μὴ μένωσιν ἐν τῇ ἀληθινῇ ἀμπέλῳ, τῷ Χριστῷ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μεθʼ ἡμῶν τῶν τοπικῶς κάτω ἐπὶ γῆς τυγχάνοντι, ὃς μετὰ τῶν πανταχοῦ προσπεφυκότων αὐτῷ ὢν, ἤδη δὲ καὶ μετὰ τῶν οὐκ εἰδότων αὐτὸν πανταχοῦ ἐστι. καὶ τοῦτό γε ὁ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον γράψας Ἰωάννης ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου δηλοῖ, λέγοντος· „μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε, ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος.“ ἄτοπον δʼ ἐστὶν, τοῦ πληρώσαντος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εἰπόντος· „οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει κύριος“ ὄντος μεθʼ ἡμῶν καὶ πλησίον ἡμῶν τυγχάνοντος (πιστεύω γὰρ αὐτῷ λέγοντι· „θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐ θεὸς πόῤῥωθεν. λέγει κύριος“), ζητεῖν εὔχεσθαι τῷ μὴ φθάνοντι ἐπὶ τὰ σύμπαντα ἡλίῳ ἢ σελήνῃ ἤ τινι τῶν ἀστέρων. ἔστω δὲ, ἵνα αὐταῖς ταῖς λέξεσι Κέλσου χρήσωμαι, προφητεύοντας εἶναι ὑετοὺς καὶ θάλπη καὶ νέφη καὶ βροντὰς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας· ἆρʼ οὖν, εἰ προφητεύουσιν οὗτοι τὰ τηλικαῦτα, οὐχὶ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ, ᾧ ὑπουργοῦντες προφητεύουσι, προσκυνητέον κἀκεῖνον σεπτέον ἤπερ τοῖς προφήταις αὐτοῦ; προφητευέτωσαν οὖν καὶ ἀστραπὰς καὶ καρποὺς καὶ γονὰς ἁπάσας, καὶ πάντα ταμιευέσθωσαν τὰ τοιαῦτα· ἀλλʼ οὐ διὰ τοῦτο προσκυνήσομεν τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας ὡς οὐδὲ Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτὸν ἐκ θεοῦ προφητεύσαντας τὰ κρείττονα ὑετῶν τε καὶ θάλπους καὶ νεφῶν καὶ βροντῶν καὶ ἀστραπῶν καὶ καρπῶν καὶ πασῶν γονῶν αἰσθητῶν. ἀλλὰ κἂν ἔχωσιν ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ ἀστέρες προφητεύειν προφητείας κρείττονας ὑετῶν, οὐδʼ οὕτως αὐτοὺς ἀλλὰ τὸν πατέρα τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς προφητειῶν καὶ τὸν διάκονον αὐτῶν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ προσκυνήσομεν. ἀλλʼ ἔστω καὶ κήρυκας αὐτοῦ εἶναι καὶ ἀληθῶς οὐρανίους ἀγγέλους, πῶς οὖν οὐχὶ καὶ οὕτως τὸν κηρυσσόμενον ὑπʼ αὐτῶν θεὸν καὶ τὸν ἀγγελλόμενον μᾶλλον προσκυνητέον ἢ τοὺς κήρυκας καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ; ### English translation (Claude) God, then, in his goodness comes down to human beings not in place but in providence. And the child of God is not only then but always with his own disciples, fulfilling "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." And if "a branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine," it is clear that the disciples of the Word too, the intelligible "branches" of the true vine, the Word, cannot bear the fruits of virtue unless they abide in the true vine, the Christ of God, who is with us who are locally down here on earth, who, being with those everywhere who have grown into him, is also already everywhere with those who do not know him. This John, who wrote the Gospel, shows in the person of John the Baptist, who says: "Among you stands one whom you do not know, who comes after me." It is absurd, when the one who has filled heaven and earth and said, "Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord," is with us and near us (for I believe him when he says: "I am a God near at hand, and not a God far off, says the Lord"), to seek to pray to the sun, or moon, or any of the stars, which do not reach to all things. But let it be granted, to use Celsus's very words, that the sun and moon and stars prophesy rains and heat and clouds and thunders: if these prophesy such great things, should not the God whom they serve in prophesying be worshipped and revered rather than his prophets? Let them prophesy lightnings too, and crops, and all generation, and dispense all such things; but we will not for that reason worship those who themselves worship, just as we do not worship Moses and those after him who by God's gift prophesied better things than rains and heat and clouds and thunders and lightnings and crops and all perceptible generation. Even if sun and moon and stars could utter prophecies better than those about rain, not even so will we worship them, but the Father of the prophecies in them, and his minister, the Word of God. But let them even be his heralds and truly heavenly angels: even so, how should not the God proclaimed and announced by them be worshipped rather than his heralds and his angels? ### Scripture references - Matt 28:20: quotation, high confidence - John 15:4–5: quotation, high confidence - John 1:26–27: quotation, high confidence - Jer 23:24: quotation, high confidence - Jer 23:23: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 28:20, John 15:4–5, John 1:26–27, Jer 23:24, and Jer 23:23 (LXX, "a God near at hand"). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/12/). ## Against Celsus 5.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/13/ - Source: Koetschau 2:14–15 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not regard the heavenly bodies as nothing: Scripture calls them to praise God and says they too await creation's liberation, but they are not to be worshipped. ### Greek text Ἑαυτῷ δὲ λαμβάνει Κέλσος ὅτι ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας ἡγούμεθα εἶναι τὸ μηδέν. περὶ ὧν ὁμολογοῦμεν ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ „τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ“ ἀπεκδέχονται, „τῇ“ τῶν ὑλικῶν σωμάτων „ματαιότητι“ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ὑποτεταγμένοι, „διὰ τὸν ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ὑποτάξαντα.“ εἰ δʼ ἀνεγνώκει ὁ Κέλσος καὶ ἄλλα μὲν μυρία. ὅσα περὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων φαμὲν, καὶ τὸ „αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ ἄστρα καὶ τὸ φῶς“ καὶ τὸ „αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν, “ οὐκ ἂν περὶ ἡμῶν ἀπεφήνατο ὅτι λέγομεν τὰ τηλικαῦτα, αἰνοῦντα μεγάλως τὸν θεὸν, εἶναι τὸ μηδέν. οὐκ οἶδε δʼ ὁ Κέλσος οὐδὲ τὸ „ἡ γὰρ ἀποκαραδοκία τῆς κτίσεως τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται. τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα, ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ.“ καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὴ τέλος ἐχέτω ἡ περὶ τοῦ μὴ σέβειν ἡμᾶς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας ἀπολογία. ἐκθώμεθα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς λέξιν, ἵνα μετὰ τοῦτο πρὸς αὐτὴν θεοῦ διδόντος εἴπωμεν τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας φωτὸς δοθησόμενα ἡμῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus takes it for granted that we regard the sun and moon and stars as nothing. About them we acknowledge that they too await "the revelation of the sons of God," being subjected for the present "to the futility" of material bodies, "because of the one who subjected them in hope." If Celsus had read the countless other things we say about the sun and moon and stars, and "Praise him, all you stars and light," and "Praise him, you heavens of heavens," he would not have declared that we say such great beings, which greatly praise God, are nothing. Nor does Celsus know this: "For the eager longing of the creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." With this let our defence for not revering the sun and moon and stars come to an end. Let us set out the next passage too, so that after this we may say in reply to it, God granting, what will be given us from the light of truth. ### Scripture references - Rom 8:19–21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 148:3–4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Rom 8:19–21 and Ps 148:3–4. Origen held that the heavenly bodies are subject to 'futility' through their bodies. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/13/). ## Against Celsus 5.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/14/ - Source: Koetschau 2:15–16 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus ridicules the Christian hope of bodily resurrection as 'the hope of worms,' calling it impossible and unworthy of God, who cannot act against reason. ### Greek text Λέγει οὖν ταῦτα· ἠλίθιον δʼ αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ νομίζειν, ἐπειδὰν ὁ θεὸς ὥσπερ μάγειρος ἐπενέγκῃ τὸ πῦρ, τὸ μὲν ἄλλο πᾶν ἐξοπτήσεσθαι γένος, αὐτοὺς δὲ μόνους διαμενεῖν, οὐ μόνον τοὺς ζῶντας ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πάλαι ποτὲ ἀποθανόντας αὐταῖς σαρξὶν ἐκείναις ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀναδύντας, ἀτεχνῶς σκωλήκων ἡ ἐλπίς. ποία γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ ποθήσειεν ἔτι σῶμα σεσηπός; ὁπότε μηδʼ ὑμῶν τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα καὶ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐνίοις κοινόν ἐστι, καὶ τὸ σφόδρα μιαρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπόπτυστον ἅμα καὶ ἀδύνατον ἀποφαίνειν· ποῖον γὰρ σῶμα πάντῃ διαφθαρὲν οἷόν τε ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς φύσιν καὶ αὐτὴν ἐκείνην, ἐξ ἧς ἐλύθη, τὴν πρώτην σύστασιν; οὐδὲν ἔχοντες ἀποκρίνασθαι καταφεύγουσιν εἰς ἀτοπωτάτην ἀναχώρησιν, ὅτι πᾶν δυνατὸν τῷ θεῷ. ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε τὰ αἰσχρὰ ὁ θεὸς δύναται οὐδὲ τὰ παρὰ φύσιν βούλεται· οὐδʼ ἂν σύ τι ἐπιθυμήσῃς κατὰ τὴν σαυτοῦ μοχθηρίαν βδελυρὸν, ὁ θεὸς τοῦτο δυνήσεται, καὶ χρὴ πιστεύειν εὐθὺς ὅτι ἔσται. οὐ γὰρ τῆς πλημμελοῦς ὀρέξεως οὐδὲ τῆς πεπλανημένης ἀκοσμίας ἀλλὰ τῆς ὀρθῆς καὶ δικαίας φύσεως ὁ θεός ἐστιν ἀρχηγέτης. καὶ ψυχῆς μὲν αἰώνιον βιοτὴν δύναιτʼ ἂν παρασχεῖν· „νέκυες δὲ, “ φησὶν Ἡράκλειτος, „κοπρίων ἐκβλητότεροι.“ σάρκα δὴ, μεστὴν ὧν οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν καλὸν, αἰώνιον ἀποφῆναι παραλόγως οὔτε βουλήσεται ὁ θεὸς οὔτε δυνήσεται. αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πάντων τῶν ὄντων λόγος· οὐδὲν οὖν οἷός τε παράλογον οὐδὲ παρʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐργάσασθαι. ### English translation (Claude) He says, then, this: "It is also foolish of them to think that when God, like a cook, brings on the fire, all the rest of the race will be roasted, while they alone will remain, not only the living but also those who died long ago, rising up from the earth with those very same bodies of flesh: plainly the hope of worms. For what sort of human soul would still long for a body that has rotted? Especially as this doctrine of yours is not shared even by some of the Christians, and they declare it very foul, abominable, and at the same time impossible. For what sort of body, utterly corrupted, could return to its original nature, and to that very first composition from which it was dissolved? Having nothing to answer, they take refuge in a most absurd escape, that everything is possible for God. But God cannot do shameful things, nor does he will what is contrary to nature; nor is it the case that, if you desire something loathsome in your own wickedness, God will be able to do it and one must believe at once that it will be. For God is the author not of faulty appetite nor of wandering disorder, but of right and just nature. He could provide everlasting life for the soul; but 'corpses,' says Heraclitus, 'are more fit to be thrown out than dung.' As for flesh, full of things it is not even decent to name, God will neither wish nor be able to make it everlasting contrary to reason. For he himself is the reason of all things that exist; so he cannot do anything contrary to reason or contrary to himself." ### Extrabiblical texts - Heraclitus, B96 (Heraclitus (fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The saying of Heraclitus is fragment B96 Diels–Kranz. "Some of you Christians" probably refers to Gnostic groups who denied the resurrection of the flesh. Celsus's closing play on λόγος ("reason"/"Word") is his own. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/14/). ## Against Celsus 5.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/15/ - Source: Koetschau 2:16–17 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The final fire is not God cooking the world but a purifying and healing fire that burns away only the 'wood, hay, and straw' of sin, as Paul, Malachi, Ezekiel, and Isaiah indicate. ### Greek text Ὅρα δὴ ἐντεῦθεν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς πῶς τὴν καὶ παρʼ Ἑλλήνων τισὶν οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτως φιλοσοφήσασιν εἰσαγομένην τοῦ κόσμου ἐκπύρωσιν μετὰ χλεύης διαβάλλων θέλει ἡμᾶς ὡσπερεὶ μάγειρον ποιοῦντας τὸν θεὸν εἰσάγειν τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐκπυρώσεως· οὐ συνιδὼν ὅτι, ὥσπερ Ἑλλήνων τισὶν ἔδοξε (τάχα παρὰ τοῦ ἀρχαιοτάτου ἔθνους Ἑβραίων λαβοῦσι), τὸ πῦρ καθάρσιον ἐπάγεται τῷ κόσμῳ εἰκὸς δʼ ὅτι καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν δεομένων τῆς διὰ τοῦ πυρὸς δίκης ἅμα καὶ ἰατρείας· καίοντος μὲν καὶ οὐ κατακαίοντος τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας ὕλην δεομένην ἀναλοῦσθαι ὑπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ πυρὸς, καίοντος δὲ καὶ κατακαίοντος τοὺς ἐν τῇ διὰ τῶν πράξεων καὶ λόγων καὶ νοημάτων τροπικῶς λεγομένῃ οἰκοδομῇ „ξύλα, χόρτον ἢ καλάμην“ οἰκοδομήσαντας. φασὶ δʼ οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι τὸν κύριον „ὡς πῦρ χωνευτηρίου καὶ ὡς ποίαν πλυνόντων“ ἑκάστῳ τῶν δεομένων ἐπιδημήσειν διὰ τὸ ἀναμεμῖχθαι οἱονεὶ φαύλην χυτὴν ὕλην τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας, δεομένων δὲ λέγω πυρὸς, οἱονεὶ χωνεύοντος τοὺς ἀναμεμιγμένους „χαλκῷ“ „καὶ κασσιτέρῳ καὶ μολίβδῳ.“ καὶ ταῦτα τὸν βουλόμενον ἔστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ προφήτου Ἰεζεκιὴλ μαθεῖν. ὅτι δὲ οὐχ ὡς μάγειρόν φαμεν τὸ πῦρ ἐπιφέρειν τὸν θεὸν ἀλλʼ ὡς θεὸν εὐεργέτην τῶν χρῃζόντων πόνου καὶ πυρὸς, μαρτυρήσει καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας ἐν ᾧ γέγραπται λελέχθαι πρός τι ἔθνος ἁμαρτωλόν· „ὅτι ἔχεις ἄνθρακας πυρὸς, καθίσαι ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς· οὗτοι ἔσονταί σοι βοήθεια.“ οἰκονομούμενος δʼ ὁ λόγος ἁρμόζοντα πλήθεσιν ἐντευξομένοις τῇ γραφῇ ἐπικεκρυμμένως μετὰ σοφίας λέγει τὰ σκυθρωπὰ εἰς φόβον τῶν μὴ δυναμένων ἄλλως ἐπιστρέψειν ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων· πλὴν καὶ οὕτως ὁ τηρῶν εὑρήσει ἐμφαινόμενον τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν σκυθρωπῶν καὶ ἐπιπόνων ἐπαγόμενον τοῖς ἀλγοῦσι τέλος. ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθέσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου τό· „ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὀνόματος δείξω σοι τὸν θυμόν μου, καὶ τὰ ἔνδοξά μου ἐπάξω ἐπὶ σὲ, ἵνα μὴ ἐξολοθρεύσω σε.“ ἠναγκάσθημεν δὲ τὰ μὴ ἁρμόζοντα τοῖς ἁπλούστερον πιστεύουσι καὶ δεομένοις τῆς ἁπλουστέρας ἐν λόγοις οἰκονομίας αἰνίξασθαι, ἵνα μὴ δοκῶμεν ἀνεξέλεγκτον ἐᾶν τὴν τοῦ Κέλσου κατηγορίαν, λέγοντος· ἐπειδὰν ὁ θεὸς ὥσπερ μάγειρος ἐπενέγκῃ τὸ πῦρ. ### English translation (Claude) See, then, from the very beginning how, slandering with mockery the conflagration of the world that is also introduced by some of the Greeks who have philosophized in no contemptible way, he wishes us to be introducing the doctrine of the conflagration as though we made God a cook. He does not see that, as some of the Greeks thought (perhaps having taken it from the most ancient nation of the Hebrews), fire is brought upon the world as a purifier, and probably also upon each of those who need both punishment and healing through fire: a fire that burns but does not consume those who have no material that needs to be destroyed by that fire, but burns and consumes those who, in the building spoken of figuratively, made of actions and words and thoughts, have built with "wood, hay, or straw." The divine words say that the Lord will come to each of those who need it "like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap," because there has been mixed in with them, as it were, a base molten material from vice; those needing fire, I mean, as it were melting down those mixed with "bronze and tin and lead." Whoever wishes can learn this from the prophet Ezekiel. And that we do not say God brings fire like a cook, but as God the benefactor of those who need toil and fire, the prophet Isaiah too will testify, in whom it is written that it was said to a sinful nation: "Because you have coals of fire, sit upon them; these will be a help to you." But the Word, arranging things suitably for the multitudes who will read Scripture, speaks the grim things with wisdom in a hidden way, to frighten those who cannot otherwise turn from the flood of their sins; yet even so the attentive reader will find indicated the end brought about for those who suffer through grim and painful things. It is enough for the present to cite from Isaiah: "For my name's sake I will show you my anger, and I will bring my glorious things upon you, so that I may not utterly destroy you." We have been compelled to hint at things not suited to those who believe more simply and who need a simpler handling in words, so that we might not seem to leave unrefuted Celsus's accusation when he says: "when God, like a cook, brings on the fire." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:12: quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 22:18–22: allusion, high confidence - Isa 47:14–15: quotation, high confidence - Isa 48:9–11: quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations and allusions are 1 Cor 3:12, Mal 3:2, Ezek 22:18–22, Isa 47:14–15 (LXX), and Isa 48:9–11 (LXX, loosely). The Stoics taught a periodic world-conflagration. Origen's view that the fire heals is his own; he signals that it is not for simple believers. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/15/). ## Against Celsus 5.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/16/ - Source: Koetschau 2:17–18 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Simple believers take the fire of judgment literally, which suits them as fear suits children; in truth only the fully purified escape the fire, and the rest pass through it toward an end fitting creatures made in God's image. ### Greek text Ἐκ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων τοῖς συνετώτερον ἀκούουσι δῆλον, πῶς ἀπαντητέον καὶ πρὸς τό· τὸ μὲν ἄλλο πᾶν ἐξοπτήσεσθαι γένος, αὐτοὺς δὲ μόνους διαμενεῖν. οὐ θαυμαστὸν δʼ εἰ τοιαῦτα νενόηκε „τὰ“ ἐν ἡμῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου „μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου“ ὀνομαζόμενα καὶ „ἀγενῆ“ καὶ „ἐξουδενωμένα“ καὶ „μὴ ὄντα, “ ἅτινα „διὰ τῆς μωρίας τοῦ κηρύγματος εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς σῶσαι τοὺς πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἔγνω ὁ κόσμος διὰ τῆς σοφίας τὸν θεὸν, “ οὐ δυνάμενα διαρθρῶσαι τὰ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους οὐδὲ βουληθέντα σχολάσαι τῇ ἐρεύνῃ τῆς γραφῆς, καίτοι γε τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντος· „ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς γραφὰς, “ καὶ τοιαῦτα ὑπείληφε περὶ τοῦ ἐπαγομένου πυρὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ περὶ τῶν συμβησομένων τοῖς ἁμαρτήσασι. καὶ τάχα ὥσπερ τοῖς παισὶν ἁρμόζει τινὰ λέγεσθαι κατάλληλα τῇ νηπιότητι αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸ ὡς παῖδας κομιδῇ νηπίους ἐπιστρέφειν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον, οὕτως οἷς ὠνόμασεν ὁ λόγος μωροῖς τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ἀγενέσι καὶ ἐξουδενωμένοις ἡ πρόχειρος ἁρμόζει περὶ τῶν κολάσεων ἐκδοχὴ, οὐ χωροῦσιν ἄλλην ἢ τὴν διὰ φόβου καὶ φαντασίας τῶν κολάσεων ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ τῶν πολλῶν κακῶν ἀποχήν. ὁ λόγος οὖν μόνους μὲν ἀγεύστους τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τῶν κολάσεών φησι διαμενεῖν τοὺς τὰ δόγματα καὶ τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ἄκρως κεκαθαρμένους· τοὺς δὲ μὴ τοιούτους, κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν χρῄζοντας τῆς διὰ πυρὸς κολάσεως οἰκονομίας, ἐν τούτοις ἐπί τινι τέλει φησὶν ἔσεσθαι, ὃ τῷ θεῷ ἁρμόζει ἐπάγειν τοῖς „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ αὐτοῦ πεποιημένοις καὶ παρὰ τὸ βούλημα τῆς „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ φύσεως βεβιωκόσι. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς τό· τὸ μὲν ἄλλο πᾶν ἐξοπτήσεσθαι γένος, αὐτοὺς δὲ μόνους διαμενεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) From what has been said it is clear to those who listen more intelligently how one must answer this too: "All the rest of the race will be roasted, while they alone will remain." It is no wonder if those among us whom the Word calls "the foolish things of the world," and "low-born," and "despised," and "things that are not," whom "God was pleased to save, those who believe in him, through the foolishness of the preaching, since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom," being unable to articulate the meaning of these passages, and unwilling to devote time to searching the Scripture, though Jesus says, "Search the Scriptures," have understood such things, and have supposed such things about the fire brought by God and about what will happen to sinners. And perhaps, just as it is fitting to say certain things to children suited to their infancy, to turn them to what is better as very small children, so to those whom the Word called the foolish of the world, and low-born, and despised, the obvious interpretation of the punishments is fitting, since they are not capable of any other turning, and abstinence from many evils, than that which comes through fear and the imagination of punishments. The Word, then, says that only those will remain untouched by the fire and the punishments who are utterly purified in doctrines, in character, and in their ruling faculty; while those who are not such, who according to their deserts need the dispensation of punishment through fire, it says will be in these things for a certain end, which it befits God to bring upon those made "in his image" who have lived contrary to the will of the nature made "in his image." This, too, is in reply to: "All the rest of the race will be roasted, while they alone will remain." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:27–28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:21: quotation, high confidence - John 5:39: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 1:27–28, 1 Cor 1:21, John 5:39, and Gen 1:26. "For a certain end" (ἐπί τινι τέλει) reflects Origen's view that punishment is remedial; the phrase is deliberately guarded. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/16/). ## Against Celsus 5.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/17/ - Source: Koetschau 2:18–19 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus misunderstood the Christian teaching on the last day; Paul's words in 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians about the dead raised and the living changed carry a hidden meaning. ### Greek text Εἶτα τούτοις ἑξῆς παρακούσας ἤτοι τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἢ τῶν μὴ νενοηκότων τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματά φησιν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λέγεσθαι μόνους διαμενεῖν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ ἐπαχθησομένου τῷ κόσμῳ διὰ πυρὸς καθαρσίου οὐ μόνον τοὺς ζῶντας τότε ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πάλαι ποτὲ ἀποθανόντας· οὐχ ὑπολαβὼν μετά τινος ἀποῤῥήτου σοφίας λελέχθαι παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τό· „οὐ πάντες κοιμηθησόμεθα, πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα ἐν ἀτόμῳ, ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι· σαλπίσει γὰρ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα.“ ἐχρῆν δʼ αὐτὸν ἐπιστῆσαι, τί νοήσας ὁ λέγων ταῦτα ὡς οὐδαμῶς νεκρὸς χωρίσας ἑαυτὸν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων καὶ τοὺς παραπλησίους ἑαυτῷ ἔλεγε μετὰ τὸ „καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι“· „καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα.“ εἰς δὲ βεβαίωσιν τοῦ τοιαῦτά τινα νενοηκότα τὸν ἀπόστολον γεγραφέναι. ἃ παρεθέμην ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρας, παραθήσομαι καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς προτέρας, ἐν ᾗ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος ὡς ζῶν καὶ ἐγρηγορὼς καὶ ἕτερος ὢν τῶν κοιμηθέντων τοιαῦτα· „τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ.“ εἶτα πάλιν ἑξῆς τούτοις ἄλλους ἐπιστάμενος τοὺς ἐν Χριστῷ νεκροὺς παρʼ ἑαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παραπλησίους αὐτῷ ἐπιφέρει λέγων· „οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον, ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα.“ ### English translation (Claude) Next, having misheard either the holy writings or those who have not understood the holy writings, he says that we say that, at the time when the purifying fire is brought upon the world, not only those then living will remain, but also those who died long ago. He did not grasp that it was with a certain secret wisdom that the apostle of Jesus said: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." He ought to have considered what the one who said this meant when, separating himself and those like him from them, as though he were in no way dead, he said after "and the dead will be raised incorruptible": "and we shall be changed." And to confirm that the apostle wrote what I cited from the First Letter to the Corinthians with some such meaning, I will cite also the passage from the First Letter to the Thessalonians, in which Paul, as one living and awake and different from those who have fallen asleep, says: "For this we declare to you by a word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God." Then again, next, knowing that the dead in Christ are others besides himself and those like him, he adds: "The dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:51–52: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:15–17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:51–52 and 1 Thess 4:15–17. Origen hints that Paul's "we" (the living) and "the dead" may have a spiritual sense, without explaining it. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/17/). ## Against Celsus 5.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/18/ - Source: Koetschau 2:19 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not teach that the dead rise in the same unchanged flesh; Paul compares the resurrection to a seed that dies and is given a new body by God. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐπὶ πλέον κεκωμῴδηκε τὴν κεκηρυγμένην μὲν τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν συνετωτέρων τρανότερον νενοημένην. καὶ οὐ χρὴ αὖθις ἐκτίθεσθαι τὴν λέξιν αὐτοῦ ἅπαξ προειρημένην· φέρε καὶ περὶ τοῦ προβλήματος τούτου. ὡς ἐν τῇ πρὸς ἀλλότριον τῆς πίστεως ἀπολογίᾳ γραφομένῃ διὰ τοὺς ἔτι νηπίους καὶ κλυδωνιζομένους καὶ περιφερομένους „παντὶ ἀνέμῳ διδασκαλίας ἐν τῇ κυβείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, (ἐν πανουργίᾳ) πρὸς τὴν μεθοδίαν τῆς πλάνης.“ ὀλίγα ἐστοχασμένως τῶν ἐντευξομένων κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἐκθώμεθα καὶ παραστήσωμεν. οὔτε μὲν οὖν ἡμεῖς οὔτε τὰ θεῖα γράμματα αὐταῖς φησι σαρξὶ, μηδεμίαν μεταβολὴν ἀνειληφυίαις τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον, ζήσεσθαι τοὺς πάλαι ἀποθανόντας, ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀναδύντας· ὁ δὲ Κέλσος ἡμᾶς συκοφαντεῖ ταῦτα λέγων. ἀκούομεν γὰρ καὶ πολλῶν γραφῶν περὶ ἀναστάσεως ἀξίως θεοῦ λεγουσῶν, ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τὴν Παύλου παραθέσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρας λέξιν, φάσκοντος· „ἀλλʼ ἐρεῖ τις· πῶς ἐγείρονται οἱ νεκροί; ποίῳ δὲ σώματι ἔρχονται; ἄφρον. σὺ ὃ σπείρεις οὐ ζωοποιεῖται, ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ· καὶ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ τὸ σῶμα τὸ γενησόμενον σπείρεις ἀλλὰ γυμνὸν κόκκον, εἰ τύχοι, σίτου ἤ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν· ὁ δὲ θεὸς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ σῶμα, καθὼς ἠθέλησε, καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν σπερμάτων ἴδιον σῶμα.“ ὅρα γὰρ τίνα τρόπον ἐν τούτοις „οὐ τὸ γενησόμενον σῶμά“ φησι σπείρεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπειρομένου καὶ γυμνοῦ βαλλομένου ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν λέγει διδόντος τοῦ θεοῦ „ἑκάστῳ τῶν σπερμάτων ἴδιον σῶμα“ οἱονεὶ ἀνάστασιν γίνεσθαι, ἀπὸ τοῦ καταβεβλημένου σπέρματος ἐγειρομένου στάχυος ἐν τοῖς τοιοῖσδε, οἱονεὶ ἐν νάπυϊ ἢ ἐπὶ μείζονος δένδρου ἐν ἐλαίας πυρῆνι ἤ τινι τῶν ἀκροδρύων. ### English translation (Claude) Since he has further mocked the resurrection of the flesh, which is preached in the churches but understood more clearly by the more intelligent, and there is no need to set out again his passage, already quoted once, come, let us set out and present a few things on this problem too, as best we can, aiming at those who will read, since this is a defence written against a man alien to the faith, for the sake of those who are still infants and tossed to and fro and carried about "by every wind of doctrine, by human trickery, by craftiness in deceitful scheming." Neither we nor the divine writings say that those who died long ago will rise from the earth and live in the very same flesh, having undergone no change for the better; Celsus slanders us in saying this. For we hear many scriptures speaking about the resurrection in a way worthy of God, but it is enough for the present to cite Paul's passage from the First Letter to the Corinthians, where he says: "But someone will say: How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each of the seeds its own body." See how he says in these words that it is "not the body that is to be" that is sown, but that from what is sown and thrown bare onto the earth, with God giving "to each of the seeds its own body," a kind of resurrection takes place, an ear rising from the seed cast down, in such things as these, or, as it were, in mustard, or, with a larger tree, in an olive stone or one of the fruit trees. ### Scripture references - Eph 4:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:35–38: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Eph 4:14 and 1 Cor 15:35–38. The parenthetical (ἐν πανουργίᾳ) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/18/). ## Against Celsus 5.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/19/ - Source: Koetschau 2:19–21 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul teaches that the resurrection body is spiritual, incorruptible, and glorious, not the rotted flesh, and speaks of it as a 'mystery'; Christians hope that the mortal will be clothed with immortality and death's sting destroyed. ### Greek text „Ὁ θεὸς“ οὖν „δίδωσιν“ „ἑκάστῳ“ „σῶμα, καθὼς ἐθέλησεν, “ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν σπειρομένων οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν οἱονεὶ σπειρομένων ἐν τῷ ἀποθνῄσκειν καὶ καιρῷ ἐπιτηδείῳ ἀναλαμβανόντων ἐκ τῶν σπειρομένων τὸ περιτιθέμενον ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν „σῶμα“ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἀκούομεν δὲ καὶ τοῦ διὰ πλειόνων διδάσκοντος λόγου τὴν διαφορὰν τοῦ οἱονεὶ σπειρομένου πρὸς τὸ ὡσπερεὶ ἐγειρόμενον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγοντος· „σπείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ· σπείρεται ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δόξῃ· σπείρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δυνάμει· σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικὸν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν.“ ὁ δὲ δυνάμενος ἔτι καταλαμβανέτω, τί νενόηται τῷ λέγοντι· „οἷος ὁ χοϊκὸς, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ χοϊκοί· καὶ οἷος ὁ ἐπουράνιος, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ ἐπουράνιοι. καὶ καθὼς ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ, οὕτω φορέσωμεν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου.“ καίτοι δὲ βουλόμενος κρύπτειν ὁ ἀπόστολος τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἀπόῤῥητα καὶ μὴ ἁρμόζοντα τοῖς ἁπλουστέροις καὶ τῇ πανδήμῳ ἀκοῇ τῶν διὰ τοῦ πιστεύειν ἀγομένων ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον, ὅμως ἠναγκάσθη ὕστερον ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ παρακοῦσαι ἡμᾶς τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ εἰπεῖν μετὰ τὸ „φορέσωμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου“ τὸ „τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοὶ, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, οὐδʼ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ.“ εἶτʼ ἐπιστάμενος ἀπόῤῥητόν τι καὶ μυστικὸν κατὰ τὸν τόπον, ὡς ἔπρεπε διὰ γραμμάτων καταλιπόντι τοῖς μετʼ αὐτὸν τὰ νενοημένα εἰρημένα ἐπιφέρει καὶ λέγει· „ἰδοὺ μυστήριον ὑμῖν λέγω, “ ὅ τι περ ἔθος ἐστὶν ἐπιφέρεσθαι τοῖς βαθυτέροις καὶ μυστικωτέροις καὶ καθηκόντως ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν κρυπτομένοις· ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῷ Τωβὴτ γέγραπται· „μυστήριον βασιλέως καλόν ἐστι κρύπτειν, “ πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἔνδοξον καὶ ἁρμόζον τοῖς πολλοῖς μετὰ τοῦ οἰκονομικῶς ἀληθοῦς „τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνακαλύπτειν ἐνδόξως“ „καλόν.“ οὐ σκωλήκων οὖν ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν οὐδὲ ποθεῖ ἡμῶν ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ σεσηπὸς σῶμα, ἀλλὰ, κἂν δέηται σώματος διὰ τὰς τοπικὰς μεταβάσεις, νοεῖ ἡ μεμελετηκυῖα τὴν „σοφίαν“ κατὰ τὸ „στόμα δικαίου μελετήσει σοφίαν“ διαφορὰν ἐπιγείου οἰκίας, ἐν ᾗ ἐστι τὸ σκῆνος, καταλυομένης καὶ σκήνους, ἐν ᾧ „οἱ ὄντες“ δίκαιοι στενάζουσι „βαρούμενοι, “ μὴ θέλοντες τὸ σκῆνος ἀπεκδύσασθαι ἀλλὰ τῷ σκήνει „ἐπενδύσασθαι, “ ἵνʼ ἐκ τοῦ „ἐπενδύσασθαι“ „καταποθῇ τὸ θνητὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς.“ „δεῖ γὰρ“ τῷ πᾶσαν φύσιν σώματος εἶναι φθαρτὴν „τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο“ σκῆνος „ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν, “ καὶ τὸ ἕτερον αὐτοῦ, τυγχάνον „θνητὸν“ καὶ δεκτικὸν τοῦ ἐπακολουθοῦντος τῷ ἁμαρτάνειν θανάτου, „ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν“· ἵνʼ, ὅτε „τὸ φθαρτὸν“ „ἐνδύσεται τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τὴν ἀθανασίαν. τότε γενήσεται“ τὸ πάλαι ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν προειρημένον. ἀναίρεσις τῆς νίκης τοῦ θανάτου, καθὸ νικήσας ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ ὑπέταξε, καὶ τοῦ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ κέντρου, ᾧ κεντῶν τὴν οὐ πάντῃ πεφραγμένην ψυχὴν ἐμποιεῖ αὐτῇ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τραύματα. ### English translation (Claude) "God," then, "gives to each a body as he has chosen," as with things that are sown, so also with those who are, as it were, sown in dying, and who at the appropriate time receive from what is sown the "body" that God puts upon each according to his worth. We hear also the Word teaching at greater length the difference between what is, as it were, sown and what is, as it were, raised from it, and saying: "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." Let one who is able grasp further what is meant by the one who says: "As was the man of dust, so are those who are of dust; and as is the heavenly man, so are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so let us also bear the image of the heavenly man." And although the apostle wished to conceal the secret meanings of the passage, which are not suited to the simpler and to the common hearing of those led to what is better by believing, he was nevertheless compelled afterwards, so that we might not misunderstand his words, to say after "let us bear the image of the heavenly man": "But I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption." Then, knowing that there was something secret and mystical in the passage, as befitted one leaving his meaning in writing to those after him, he adds: "Behold, I tell you a mystery," which is the customary formula for things that are deeper and more mystical and are rightly hidden from the many; as it is written in Tobit too: "It is good to hide the secret of a king," while, as regards what is glorious and suited to the many, with what is true in the manner of the dispensation, it is "good" "to reveal the works of God gloriously." Our hope, then, is not that of worms, nor does our soul long for the body that has rotted; but, even if it needs a body for moving from place to place, the soul that has meditated on "wisdom," according to "the mouth of the righteous will meditate on wisdom," understands the difference between the earthly house, in which the tent is, which is being destroyed, and the tent in which the righteous, "being" in it, groan, "being burdened," not wishing to put off the tent but to "put on" over the tent, so that by "putting on" over it "what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." For since every nature of body is corruptible, "this corruptible" tent "must put on incorruption," and the other part of it, being "mortal" and liable to the death that follows sin, "must put on immortality"; so that when "the corruptible puts on incorruption and the mortal immortality, then" there "will come about" what was foretold long ago by the prophets: the abolition of the victory of death, by which it conquered us and subjected us to itself, and of its sting, with which it stings the soul that is not fully protected and inflicts on it the wounds of sin. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:38: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42–44: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:48–51: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:53–56: quotation, high confidence - Ps 37:30 (36:30 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:1–4: quotation, high confidence - Isa 25:8: allusion, medium confidence - Hos 13:14: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Tob 12:7 (Tobit): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:38, 42–44, 48–51, 53–55; Tob 12:7; Ps 37:30 (36:30 LXX); and 2 Cor 5:1–4. The prophets cited by Paul are Isa 25:8 and Hos 13:14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/19/). ## Against Celsus 5.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/20/ - Source: Koetschau 2:21–22 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Stoic doctrine of endlessly repeated world-cycles, in which Socrates is born, tried, and condemned again and again, is far more absurd than the Christian resurrection, yet Celsus does not mock it. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τὰ μὲν ἡμέτερα περὶ ἀναστάσεως, ὡς ἐνεχώρει, ἀπὸ τοῦ μέρους ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος λέλεκται (συντέτακται γὰρ ἡμῖν περὶ ἀναστάσεως ἐν ἄλλοις, ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐξετάσασι τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον). τὰ δὲ τοῦ Κέλσου νῦν χρὴ κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον διαλαβεῖν, μήτε νοήσαντος τὸ παρʼ ἡμῖν γεγραμμένον μήτε κρῖναι δυναμένου ὅτι οὐ δεῖ τὸ βούλημα τῶν σοφῶν ἐκείνων ἀνδρῶν νομίζειν πρεσβεύεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν πλεῖον πίστεως μηδὲν ἐπαγγελλομένων τῆς πρὸς τὸν Χριστιανῶν λόγον· φέρε παραστήσωμεν ὅτι ἀνδράσιν οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτοις τῆς λογικῆς ἕνεκεν θεωρίας καὶ τῶν διαλεκτικῶν σκεμμάτων σφόδρα ἀπεμφαίνοντα λέλεκται. καὶ εἰ χρὴ μυχθίζειν ὡς ταπεινοὺς καὶ γραώδεις λόγους, ἐκείνους μᾶλλον χρὴ ἢ τοὺς ἡμετέρους. φασὶ δὴ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς κατὰ περίοδον ἐκπύρωσιν τοῦ παντὸς γίνεσθαι καὶ ἑξῆς αὐτῇ διακόσμησιν, πάντʼ ἀπαράλλακτα ἔχουσαν ὡς πρὸς τὴν προτέραν διακόσμησιν. ὅσοι δʼ αὐτῶν ᾐδέσθησαν τὸ δόγμα, ὀλίγην εἰρήκασι παραλλαγὴν καὶ σφόδρα βραχεῖαν γίνεσθαι κατὰ περίοδον τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς πρὸ αὐτῆς περιόδου. οὗτοι δʼ οἱ ἄνδρες φασὶ τῇ ἑξῆς περιόδῳ τοιαῦτα ἔσεσθαι, καὶ Σωκράτην μὲν πάλιν Σωφρονίσκου υἱὸν καὶ Ἀθηναῖον ἔσεσθαι, καὶ τὴν Φαιναρέτην γημαμένην Σωφρονίσκῳ πάλιν αὐτὸν γεννήσειν. κἂν μὴ ὀνομάζωσιν οὖν τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὄνομα, τὸ πρᾶγμά γε δηλοῦσιν, ὅτι Σωκράτης ἀπὸ σπερμάτων ἀρξάμενος ἀναστήσεται τῶν Σωφρονίσκου καὶ ἐν τῇ ὑστέρᾳ Φαιναρέτης διαπλασθήσεται καὶ ἀνατραφεὶς Ἀθήνῃσι φιλοσοφήσει, οἱονεὶ καὶ τῆς πρότερον φιλοσοφίας ἀνισταμένης καὶ ὁμοίως ἀπαραλλάκτου τῇ προτέρᾳ ἐσομένης. καὶ Ἄνυτος δὲ καὶ Μέλητος ἀναστήσονται πάλιν Σωκράτους κατήγοροι, καὶ ἡ ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλὴ καταδικάσεται τὸν Σωκράτην. τὸ δὲ τούτων γελοιότερον, τὰ ἀπαράλλακτα ἱμάτια τοῖς ὡς πρὸς τὴν προτέραν περίοδον Σωκράτης ἐνδύσεται, ἐν ἀπαραλλάκτῳ πενίᾳ καὶ ἀπαραλλάκτῳ πόλει ταῖς Ἀθήναις τῇ πρὸς τὴν προτέραν περίοδον ἐσόμενος. καὶ Φάλαρις μὲν τυραννήσει πάλιν, ὁ δὲ χάλκεος αὐτοῦ ταῦρος τῶν ἀπαραλλάκτων τῇ προτέρᾳ ἀνθρώπων περιόδῳ κατακριθέντων μυκήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἔνδον φωνῆς. Ἀλέξανδρός τε ὁ Φεραῖος πάλιν τυραννήσει, τὴν ἀπαράλλακτον ἔχων ὠμότητα τῇ προτέρᾳ καὶ τοὺς ἀπαραλλάκτους καταδικάζων ὡς καὶ τοὺς προτέρους. καὶ τί με δεῖ καταλέγειν τὸ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων δόγμα τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς πεφιλοσοφημένον καὶ μὴ γελώμενον ὑπὸ Κέλσου ἀλλὰ τάχα καὶ σεμνυνόμενον, ἐπεὶ δοκεῖ αὐτῷ ὁ Ζήνων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ εἶναι σοφώτερος; ### English translation (Claude) But since our views on the resurrection have now been stated in part, as far as the occasion allowed (for we have composed a work on the resurrection elsewhere, examining the subject at greater length), we must now reasonably take up Celsus's views. He neither understood what is written among us nor could judge that one must not think the meaning of those wise men is represented by people who profess nothing more than faith in the Christian message. Come, let us show that men not to be despised for their rational contemplation and dialectical inquiries have said things that are very incongruous; and if anyone must be scorned for low and old-wives' talk, it should be they rather than we. The Stoics say that periodically a conflagration of the universe takes place, and after it a new ordering, which has everything indistinguishable from the previous ordering. Those of them who were ashamed of the doctrine have said that there is a slight and very small difference in each cycle from those in the cycle before it. These men say that in the next cycle things will be such that Socrates will again be the son of Sophroniscus and an Athenian, and Phaenarete, married to Sophroniscus, will again bear him. So even if they do not use the word resurrection, they indicate the thing: that Socrates, starting from the seed of Sophroniscus, will rise again and be formed in the womb of Phaenarete, and, brought up in Athens, will practise philosophy, as though his former philosophy too were rising again and would be likewise indistinguishable from the former. And Anytus and Meletus will rise again as Socrates's accusers, and the council of the Areopagus will condemn Socrates. And what is more ridiculous than these, Socrates will wear clothes indistinguishable from those of the former cycle, and will live in indistinguishable poverty and in a city, Athens, indistinguishable from that of the former cycle. And Phalaris will again be tyrant, and his bronze bull will bellow with the voices of those inside, men indistinguishable from those condemned in the former cycle. And Alexander of Pherae will again be tyrant, with a cruelty indistinguishable from the former, condemning men indistinguishable from the former ones. And why must I list the doctrine on such matters taught by the Stoics, which is not mocked by Celsus but perhaps even revered, since he thinks Zeno wiser than Jesus? ### Translation notes - Origen's lost treatise On the Resurrection is referred to. Zeno of Citium founded the Stoic school. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/20/). ## Against Celsus 5.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/21/ - Source: Koetschau 2:22–23 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Pythagoreans and Platonists teach that when the stars return to the same positions history, including Socrates' trial, repeats itself; yet Celsus mocks only the Christians, who hold that God guides free creatures toward the better. ### Greek text Καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου δὲ καὶ Πλάτωνος εἰ καὶ δοκοῦσιν ἄφθαρτον τηρεῖν τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλὰ τοῖς παραπλησίοις γε περιπίπτουσι. τῶν γὰρ ἀστέρων κατά τινας περιόδους τεταγμένας τοὺς αὐτοὺς σχηματισμοὺς καὶ σχέσεις πρὸς ἀλλήλους λαμβανόντων, πάντα τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ὁμοίως ἔχειν φασὶ τοῖς ὅτε τὸ αὐτὸ σχῆμα τῆς σχέσεως τῶν ἀστέρων περιεῖχεν ὁ κόσμος. ἀνάγκη τοίνυν κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον τῶν ἀστέρων ἐκ μακρᾶς περιόδου ἐλθόντων ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν σχέσιν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὁποίαν εἶχον ἐπὶ Σωκράτους, πάλιν Σωκράτη γενέσθαι ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ παθεῖν, κατηγορούμενον ὑπὸ Ἀνύτου καὶ Μελήτου καὶ καταδικαζόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλῆς. καὶ Αἰγυπτίων δὲ οἱ λόγιοι τοιαῦτα παραδιδόντες σεμνοί εἰσι καὶ οὐ γελῶνται ὑπὸ Κέλσου καὶ τῶν παραπλησίων, ἡμεῖς δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς σχέσεως τῶν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἑκάστου οἰκονομεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ λέγοντες τὸ πᾶν καὶ ἀεὶ ἄγεσθαι κατὰ τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν φύσιν γινώσκοντες ἐνδεχομένου ἃ ἐνδέχεται (οὐ γὰρ δύναται χωρῆσαι τὸ πάντῃ ἄτρεπτον τοῦ θεοῦ) οὐ δοκοῦμεν ἄξια λέγειν βασάνου καὶ ἐξετάσεως· ### English translation (Claude) And the followers of Pythagoras and Plato, even if they seem to keep the world indestructible, fall into similar absurdities. For since the stars, at certain appointed periods, take up the same configurations and relations to one another, they say that everything on earth is in the same state as when the world contained the same configuration of the stars' relation. By this reasoning, then, when the stars, after a long period, come to the same relation to one another that they had in the time of Socrates, Socrates must be born again of the same parents and suffer the same things, accused by Anytus and Meletus and condemned by the council of the Areopagus. And the learned among the Egyptians, who hand down such things, are held in honour and not mocked by Celsus and those like him; while we, who say that the universe is administered by God in proportion to the free will of each person, and is always being led, as far as possible, toward what is better, and who know the nature of our free will, which admits of what it admits (for it cannot hold the complete unchangeableness of God), are not thought to say anything worthy of testing and examination. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/21/). ## Against Celsus 5.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/22/ - Source: Koetschau 2:23–24 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen distances himself from Christians who deny the resurrection: following Paul's seed image, he holds that God raises a transformed, incorruptible body, and that the 'words' of things, rooted in the divine Word, never pass away. ### Greek text Μὴ ὑπονοείτω δέ τις ἡμᾶς ταῦτα λέγοντας ἀπʼ ἐκείνων εἶναι τῶν λεγομένων μὲν Χριστιανῶν ἀθετούντων δὲ τὸ περὶ ἀναστάσεως κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς δόγμα. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ τὸν οἱονεὶ ἀπὸ κόκκου „σίτου ἤ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν“ ἀνιστάμενον στάχυν ἢ δένδρον οὐδαμῶς παραστῆσαι ἔχουσιν. ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ ἀρέσκοντι ἑαυτῶν· ἡμεῖς δὲ πειθόμενοι ὅτι τὸ σπειρόμενον „οὐ ζωοποιεῖται, ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ, “ καὶ ὅτι „οὐ τὸ γενησόμενον σῶμα“ σπείρεται (ὁ γὰρ „θεὸς αὐτῷ δίδωσι σῶμα, καθὼς ἠθέλησε, “ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „ἐν φθορᾷ“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ“ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „ἐν δόξῃ“ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „ἐν δυνάμει“ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „σῶμα ψυχικὸν“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „πνευματικὸν“), τηροῦμεν καὶ τὸ βούλημα τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τοῦ θεοῦ, παριστάντες αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ δυνατὸν οὐκ ἀποφάσει ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγῳ· εἰδότες ὅτι κἂν „οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ“ παρέλθῃ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλʼ οἱ περὶ ἑκάστου „λόγοι“ ὄντες ὡς ἐν ὅλῳ μέρη ἢ ὡς ἐν γένει εἴδη τοῦ „ἐν ἀρχῇ“ λόγου „πρὸς τὸν θεὸν“ θεοῦ λόγου οὐδαμῶς παρελεύσονται. θέλομεν γὰρ ἀκούειν τοῦ εἰπόντος· „ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσεται, οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ μὴ παρέλθωσιν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Let no one suspect, because we say these things, that we are among those who are called Christians but reject the doctrine of the resurrection according to the Scriptures. For they, as far as their own opinion goes, can in no way show the ear or the tree rising, as it were, from a grain "of wheat or of some other kind"; but we, persuaded that what is sown "does not come to life unless it dies," and that "not the body that is to be" is sown (for "God gives it a body as he has chosen," raising it "in incorruption" after it has been sown "in corruption," raising it "in glory" after it has been sown "in dishonour," raising it "in power" after it has been sown "in weakness," and raising it "spiritual" after it has been sown "a natural body"), keep both the mind of the church of Christ and the greatness of God's promise, showing its possibility not by bare assertion but also by reason; knowing that even if "heaven and earth" and what is in them pass away, yet the "words" (logoi) concerning each thing, being like parts in a whole or species in a genus of the Word who was "in the beginning with God," God the Word, will never pass away. For we wish to heed the one who said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:36–38: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42–44: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1–2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 24:35: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:36–38, 42–44, John 1:1–2, and Matt 24:35. Origen plays on λόγοι ("words", also the rational principles of things) and the Logos. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/22/). ## Against Celsus 5.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/23/ - Source: Koetschau 2:24–25 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not claim the decayed body returns as it was, as the Stoics do; like wheat from a grain, a new incorruptible body rises from a principle in the old; and God's power, though limitless, never acts shamefully or against reason. ### Greek text Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν οὔ φαμεν τὸ διαφθαρὲν σῶμα ἐπανέρχεσθαι εἰς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς φύσιν, ὡς οὐδὲ τὸν διαφθαρέντα „κόκκον“ τοῦ „σίτου“ ἐπανέρχεσθαι εἰς τὸν „κόκκον“ τοῦ „σίτου.“ λέγομεν γὰρ, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ κόκκου τοῦ „σίτου“ ἐγείρεται στάχυς. οὕτως λόγος τις ἔγκειται τῷ σώματι, ἀφʼ οὗ μὴ φθειρομένου „ἐγείρεται“ τὸ σῶμα „ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ.“ οἱ μέντοι ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς τὸ πάντῃ διαφθαρὲν σῶμά φασιν ἐπανέρχεσθαι εἰς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς φύσιν διὰ τὰ δεδογμένα αὐτοῖς περὶ τῶν κατὰ περίοδον ἀπαραλλάκτων, καὶ αὐτὴν ἐκείνην, ἐξ ἧς ἐλύθη, τὴν πρώτην σύστασιν πάλιν φασὶ συστήσεσθαι, διαλεκτικαῖς (ὡς οἴονται) ἀνάγκαις ταῦτα παριστάντες. καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἀτοπωτάτην γε ἀναχώρησιν ἀναχωροῦμεν λέγοντες ὅτι πᾶν δυνατὸν τῷ θεῷ· οἴδαμεν γὰρ ἀκούειν τοῦ πᾶν οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνυπάρκτων οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδιανοήτων. φαμὲν δὲ καὶ ὅτι οὐ δύναται αἰσχρὰ ὁ θεὸς, ἐπεὶ ἔσται ὁ θεὸς δυνάμενος μὴ εἶναι θεός· εἰ γὰρ αἰσχρόν τι δρᾷ θεὸς, οὐκ ἔστι θεός. ἐπεὶ δὲ τίθησιν ὅτι καὶ τὰ παρὰ φύσιν ὁ θεὸς οὐ βούλεται, διαστελλόμεθα τὸ λεγόμενον· ὅτι εἰ μὲν παρὰ φύσιν τὴν κακίαν τις λέγει, καὶ ἡμεῖς λέγομεν ὅτι οὐ βούλεται τὰ παρὰ φύσιν ὁ θεὸς, οὔτε τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας οὔτε τὰ ἀλόγως γινόμενα· εἰ δὲ τὰ κατὰ λόγον θεοῦ καὶ βούλησιν αὐτοῦ γινόμενα, ἀναγκαῖον εὐθέως εἶναι μὴ παρὰ φύσιν· οὐ (γὰρ) παρὰ φύσιν τὰ πραττόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, κἂν παράδοξα ᾖ ἢ δοκοῦντά τισι παράδοξα. εἰ δὲ χρὴ βεβιασμένως ὀνομάσαι, ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ὡς πρὸς τὴν κοινοτέραν νοουμένην φύσιν ἐστί τινα ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν, ἃ ποιήσαι ἄν ποτε θεὸς, ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ἀναβιβάζων τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ποιῶν αὐτὸν μεταβάλλειν ἐπὶ φύσιν κρείττονα καὶ θειοτέραν καὶ τηρῶν τοιοῦτον, ὅσον καὶ ὁ τηρούμενος διʼ ὧν πράττει παρίστησιν ὅτι βούλεται. ### English translation (Claude) We, then, do not say that the body that has been corrupted returns to its original nature, just as the corrupted "grain" of "wheat" does not return to being the "grain" of "wheat." For we say that, just as an ear rises from the grain of "wheat," so a certain principle (logos) is present in the body, from which, since it is not corrupted, the body "is raised in incorruption." It is the Stoics who say that the body utterly corrupted returns to its original nature, because of their doctrines about indistinguishable things in each cycle, and they say that the very first composition, from which it was dissolved, will be composed again, establishing this, as they think, by dialectical necessities. Nor do we flee to "a most absurd escape" in saying that "everything is possible for God"; for we know how to understand "everything" as not applying to things that do not exist, or to things that are inconceivable. And we also say that God cannot do shameful things, since then God would be able not to be God; for if God does something shameful, he is not God. And since he states that God does not will "what is contrary to nature" either, we distinguish what is said: if someone calls vice contrary to nature, we too say that God does not will what is contrary to nature, whether what comes from vice or what happens irrationally; but if things happen according to God's reason and will, it follows at once that they are not contrary to nature; for what God does is not contrary to nature, even if it is marvellous or seems marvellous to some. And if we must use a forced expression, we will say that, in relation to what is more commonly understood as nature, there are some things above nature which God might sometimes do, raising man above human nature and making him change into a better and more divine nature, and keeping him such, as long as the one kept shows by his actions that he wishes it. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:37: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:26: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are 1 Cor 15:37, 42 and Matt 19:26. The parentheses (γὰρ) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/23/). ## Against Celsus 5.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/24/ - Source: Koetschau 2:25 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen agrees that God does nothing shameful and gives the soul eternal life; human corpses deserve honorable burial because of the soul that lived in them, and what God makes eternal is the new body raised from the seed. ### Greek text Ἅπαξ δʼ εἰπόντες ὅτι οὐδὲν μὴ πρέπον ἑαυτῷ ὁ θεὸς βούλεται, ἀναιρετικὸν τυγχάνον τοῦ εἶναι αὐτὸν θεὸν, φήσομεν ὅτι, ἐάν τι κατὰ τὴν μοχθηρίαν ἑαυτοῦ ἄνθρωπος βδελυρὸν βούληται, τοῦτο οὐ δυνήσεται ὁ θεός. οὕτω δὲ οὐκ ἐσμὲν φιλόνεικοι πρὸς τὰ ὑπὸ Κέλσου λεγόμενα, ἀλλὰ φιλαλήθως αὐτὰ ἐξετάζοντες συμφήσομεν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι τῆς πλημμελοῦς ὀρέξεως οὐδὲ τῆς πεπλανημένης ἀκοσμίας ἀλλὰ τῆς ὀρθῆς καὶ δικαίας φύσεως ὁ θεὸς, ἅτε ἀρχηγέτης τυγχάνων παντὸς καλοῦ· καὶ ἄλλο ὅτι ψυχῆς αἰώνιον βιοτὴν δύναται παρασχεῖν ὁμολογοῦμεν, καὶ οὐ μόνον δύναται ἀλλὰ καὶ παρέχει. οὐδὲν δὲ μάλιστα διὰ τὰ προειρημένα λυπεῖ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲ τὸ ὑπὸ Ἡρακλείτου λεγόμενον, ὅπερ Κέλσος παρείληφεν, ὅτι „νέκυές εἰσι κοπρίων ἐκβλητότεροι“· καίτοι γε εἴποι τις ἂν καὶ περὶ τούτου ὅτι τὰ μὲν κόπρια ἐκβλητά ἐστιν, οἱ δʼ ἐξ ἀνθρώπου νέκυες διὰ τὴν ἐνοικήσασαν ψυχὴν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐὰν ᾖ ἀστειοτέρα, οὐκ ἐκβλητοί. κατὰ γὰρ τοὺς ἀστειοτέρους τῶν νόμων μετὰ τῆς ἐνδεχομένης ὡς πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα τιμῆς ταφῆς ἀξιοῦνται· ἵνα μὴ ὑβρίζωμεν τῇ δυνάμει τὴν ἐνοικήσασαν ψυχὴν, ἀποῤῥιπτοῦντες μετὰ τὸ ἐξελθεῖν ἐκείνην τὸ σῶμα ὡς καὶ τὰ τῶν κτηνῶν σώματα. μὴ βουλέσθω οὖν ὁ θεὸς παραλόγως αἰώνιον ἀποφῆναι μήτε τὸν τοῦ „σίτου“ „κόκκον“ ἀλλʼ ἢ ἄρα τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ στάχυν, μηδὲ τὸ σπειρόμενον „ἐν φθορᾷ“ ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγειρόμενον „ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τῶν πάντων λόγος ἐστὶ κατὰ μὲν Κέλσον αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς, κατὰ δὲ ἡμᾶς ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ· περὶ οὗ φιλοσοφοῦντες λέγομεν τό· „ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲν οἷός τε παράλογον οὐδὲ παρʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐργάσασθαί ἐστιν ὁ θεός. ### English translation (Claude) Having said once that God wills nothing unbefitting himself, which would do away with his being God, we will say that, if a man in his wickedness wills something loathsome, God will not be able to do it. We are not contentious toward what Celsus says, but, examining it with love of truth, we will agree that God is the author not of faulty appetite nor of wandering disorder, but of right and just nature, since he is the founder of everything good. And we also acknowledge that he can provide everlasting life for the soul; and not only can, but does provide it. And, especially because of what was said before, we are not at all troubled by the saying of Heraclitus that Celsus quoted, that "corpses are more fit to be thrown out than dung." Yet one might say of this too that dung is fit to be thrown out, but human corpses, because of the soul that dwelt in them, and especially if it was a better one, are not fit to be thrown out. For according to the better laws they are thought worthy of burial with such honour as is possible for such things, so that we may not, as far as in us lies, insult the soul that dwelt in the body by throwing the body away, after the soul has left it, like the bodies of cattle. Let God, then, not will to make everlasting, contrary to reason, the "grain" of "wheat," but rather the ear that comes from it; nor what is sown "in corruption," but what is raised from it "in incorruption." But the Reason (Logos) of all things is, according to Celsus, God himself; according to us, his Son, concerning whom we say in our philosophy: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But according to us too, God cannot do anything contrary to reason or contrary to himself. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Heraclitus, B96 (Heraclitus (fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The saying is Heraclitus, fragment B96 Diels–Kranz. The quotations are 1 Cor 15:37, 42 and John 1:1. Origen answers Celsus's claim that God is "the reason (logos) of all things" by identifying the Logos with the Son. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/24/). ## Against Celsus 5.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/25/ - Source: Koetschau 2:25–26 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says the Jews, like every nation, rightly keep their ancestral laws, since each land has its own divine overseers who guided its lawgivers. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς τοῦ Κέλσου λέξιν, οὕτως ἔχουσαν· Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν οὖν ἔθνος ἴδιον γενόμενοι καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἐπιχώριον νόμους θέμενοι καὶ τούτους ἐν σφίσιν ἔτι νῦν περιστέλλοντες καὶ θρησκείαν ὁποίαν δὴ, πάτριον δʼ οὖν, φυλάσσοντες ὅμοια τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις δρῶσιν, ὅτι ἕκαστοι τὰ πάτρια, ὁποῖά ποτʼ ἂν τύχῃ (καθεστηκότα), περιέπουσι. δοκεῖ δʼ οὕτως καὶ συμφέρειν, οὐ μόνον καθότι ἐπὶ νοῦν ἦλθεν ἄλλοις ἄλλως νομίσαι καὶ δεῖ φυλάττειν τὰ ἐς κοινὸν κεκυρωμένα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι ὡς εἰκὸς τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄλλα ἄλλοις ἐπόπταις νενεμημένα καὶ κατά τινας ἐπικρατείας διειλημμένα ταύτῃ καὶ διοικεῖται. καὶ δὴ τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστοις ὀρθῶς ἂν πράττοιτο ταύτῃ δρώμενα, ὅπῃ ἐκείνοις φίλον· παραλύειν δὲ οὐχ ὅσιον εἶναι τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατὰ τόπους νενομισμένα. ἐν τούτοις δὴ ὁ Κέλσος ἐμφαίνει ὅτι οἱ πάλαι Αἰγύπτιοι Ἰουδαῖοι ὕστερον ἔθνος ἐγίνοντο ἴδιον, καὶ νόμους θέμενοι τούτους περιστέλλουσι. καὶ ἵνα μὴ ἐπαναλάβωμεν τὰς ἐκκειμένας τοῦ Κέλσου λέξεις, φησὶ καὶ συμφέρειν τούτοις τὰ πάτρια θρησκεύειν ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσι τὰ ἴδια περιέπουσι. καὶ βαθυτέραν τινὰ ἐκτίθεται περὶ τοῦ συμφέρειν Ἰουδαίοις περιέπειν τὰ πάτρια αἰτίαν, αἰνισσόμενος ὅτι τοὺς ἑκάστων νόμους οἱ λαχόντες ἐπόπται εἶναι τῆς γῆς τῶν νομοθετουμένων συνεργοῦντες τοῖς νομοθέταις ἔθεντο. ἔοικεν οὖν δηλοῦν ὅτι καὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίων χώραν καὶ τὸ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἔθνος ἐποπτεύει τις ἤ τινες, ὑφʼ οὗ ἢ ὑφʼ ὧν οἱ Ἰουδαίων νόμοι συνεργοῦντος ἢ συνεργούντων Μωϋσεῖ ἐτέθησαν. ### English translation (Claude) Let us look also at Celsus's next passage, which runs thus: "The Jews, then, having become a nation of their own and made laws according to their country's custom, and still maintaining these among themselves, and keeping a worship, whatever sort it may be, but at any rate ancestral, act like other human beings, since each people cherishes its ancestral customs, whatever they happen to be. And this seems to be beneficial, not only because it has occurred to different peoples to think differently and one must keep what has been established for the community, but also because, as is likely, the parts of the earth were from the beginning allotted to different overseers and divided into certain dominions, and are administered in this way. And indeed, the things done among each people would be rightly done in the way that pleases those overseers; while it is not holy to abolish what has been customary in each place from the beginning." In this Celsus shows that the Jews, formerly Egyptians, later became a nation of their own, and having made laws they maintain them. And, not to repeat Celsus's words set out above, he says it is beneficial for them to practise their ancestral worship, as other nations cherish their own. And he sets out a deeper reason why it is beneficial for the Jews to cherish their ancestral customs, hinting that the laws of each people were made by those allotted to be overseers of the earth, who cooperated with the lawgivers of the lands being given laws. He seems, then, to indicate that someone, or some beings, oversee the land of the Jews and the nation in it, by whose cooperation Moses made the Jews' laws. ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (καθεστηκότα) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/25/). ## Against Celsus 5.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/26/ - Source: Koetschau 2:26–27 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen asks Celsus who allotted the nations to their overseers: if Zeus, did he approve Jewish law or not? And if no one did, providence is denied. ### Greek text Καὶ χρὴ, φησὶ, τοὺς νόμους τηρεῖν, οὐ μόνον καθότι ἐπὶ νοῦν ἦλθεν ἄλλοις ἄλλως νομίσαι καὶ ὅτι δεῖ φυλάσσειν τὰ ἐς κοινὸν κεκυρωμένα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι ὡς εἰκὸς τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄλλα ἄλλοις ἐπόπταις νενεμημένα καὶ κατά τινας ἐπικρατείας διειλημμένα ταύτῃ καὶ διοικεῖται. εἶθʼ ὡσπερεὶ ἐπιλαθόμενος ὁ Κέλσος ὧν εἶπε κατὰ Ἰουδαίων, νῦν ἐν τῷ καθολικῷ περὶ πάντων τῶν τὰ πάτρια τηρούντων ἐπαίνῳ καὶ τούτους περιλαμβάνει λέγων· καὶ δὴ τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστοις ὀρθῶς ἂν πράττοιτο ταύτῃ δρώμενα, ὅπῃ ἐκείνοις φίλον. καὶ ὅρα εἰ μὴ ἄντικρυς τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ τὸν Ἰουδαῖον ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις νόμοις βούλεται βιοῦντα μὴ ἀφίστασθαι αὐτῶν, ὡς οὐχ ὅσιον πράττοντα, ἐὰν ἀποστῇ· λέγει γὰρ ὅτι παραλύειν οὐχ ὅσιον εἶναι τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατὰ τόπους νενομισμένα. ἐβουλόμην δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα αὐτοῦ ἢ τῶν συμφρονούντων αὐτῷ πυθέσθαι, τίς ἄρα εἴη ὁ τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄλλα ἄλλοις ἐπόπταις διανείμας καὶ δηλονότι τὴν Ἰουδαίων χώραν καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τῷ λαχόντι ἢ τοῖς λαχοῦσιν αὐτήν. ἆρα γὰρ. ὡς ὀνομάσαι ἂν ὁ Κέλσος, ὁ Ζεύς τινι ἤ τισι διένειμε τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐβούλετο τὸν λαχόντα τὴν Ἰουδαίαν τοιούτους θέσθαι ἐν Ἰουδαίοις νόμους; ἢ παρὰ τὸ βούλημα αὐτοῦ τὸ τοιοῦτον γεγένηται; ὡς δʼ ἂν ἀποκρίνηται. ὁρᾷς ὅτι ὁ λόγος στενοχωρηθήσεται. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀπό τινος ἑνὸς διανενέμηται τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς τοῖς ἐπόπταις αὐτῶν, ἄρα ἀποκληρωτικῶς καὶ χωρὶς ἐπιστάτου ἕκαστος ὡς ἔτυχε διενείματο τὴν γῆν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτʼ ἄτοπον καὶ μετρίως τῆς τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ προνοίας ἀναιρετικόν ἐστι. ### English translation (Claude) "And one must keep the laws," he says, "not only because it has occurred to different peoples to think differently and one must keep what has been established for the community, but also because, as is likely, the parts of the earth were from the beginning allotted to different overseers and divided into certain dominions, and are administered in this way." Then, as though forgetting what he said against the Jews, Celsus now includes them in his general praise of all who keep their ancestral customs, saying: "And indeed, the things done among each people would be rightly done in the way that pleases those overseers." And see whether he does not, as far as in him lies, plainly wish the Jew living by his own laws not to depart from them, as though he would act unholily if he did; for he says that "it is not holy to abolish what has been customary in each place from the beginning." I would like to ask him, or those who agree with him, in reply to this, who it was that from the beginning allotted the parts of the earth to different overseers, and clearly the land of the Jews and the Jews themselves to the one or ones to whom it fell. Did Zeus, as Celsus might call him, allot the Jewish nation and their land to someone or some beings, and did he wish the one to whom Judaea fell to make such laws among the Jews? Or did this happen against his will? Whichever way he answers, you see that the argument will be hemmed in. And if the parts of the earth were not allotted to their overseers by some one being, then each took a share of the earth by lot, as it happened, without anyone presiding; but this too is absurd, and in some measure does away with the providence of the God over all. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/26/). ## Against Celsus 5.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/27/ - Source: Koetschau 2:27–28 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If every nation's customs are right as Celsus says, then parricide, incest, human sacrifice, and animal worship would all be holy, and holiness would be mere convention, which is absurd. ### Greek text Πῶς δὲ καὶ κατὰ τίνας ἐπικρατείας διειλημμένα τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς διοικεῖται ὑπὸ τῶν ἐποπτευόντων αὐτὰ, ὁ βουλόμενος διηγησάσθω· ἀπαγγειλάτω δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ πῶς ὀρθῶς πράττεται τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστοις δρώμενα, ὅπῃ τοῖς ἐπόπταις ἐστὶ φίλον, καὶ εἰ ὀρθῶς ἔχουσι φέρʼ εἰπεῖν οἱ Σκυθῶν περὶ ἀναιρέσεως πατέρων νόμοι ἢ οἱ Περσῶν, μὴ κωλύοντες γαμεῖσθαι τοῖς (οἰκείοις) παισὶ τὰς μητέρας μηδὲ ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων τὰς ἑαυτῶν θυγατέρας. καὶ τί με δεῖ ἐπιλεγόμενον ἀπὸ τῶν πραγματευσαμένων περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς διαφόροις ἔθνεσι νόμων προσαπορεῖν, πῶς παρʼ ἑκάστοις ὀρθῶς πράττονται, καθὼς τοῖς ἐπόπταις φίλον, οἱ νόμοι; λεγέτω δʼ ἡμῖν ὁ Κέλσος, πῶς οὐχ ὅσιον παραλύειν νόμους πατρίους περὶ τοῦ γαμεῖν μητέρας καὶ θυγατέρας. ἢ περὶ τοῦ μακάριον εἶναι ἀγχόνῃ τὸν βίον ἐξελθεῖν, ἢ πάντως καθαίρεσθαι τοὺς ἑαυτοὺς παραδιδόντας τῷ πυρὶ καὶ τῇ διὰ πυρὸς ἀπαλλαγῇ τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου· καὶ πῶς οὐχ ὅσιον παραλύειν νόμους τοὺς φέρʼ εἰπεῖν παρὰ Ταύροις περὶ τοῦ ἱερεῖα τοὺς ξένους προσάγεσθαι τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι, ἢ παρὰ Λιβύων τισὶ περὶ τοῦ καταθύειν τὰ τέκνα τῷ Κρόνῳ. πλὴν ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ Κέλσῳ τὸ μὴ ὅσιον εἶναι Ἰουδαίοις παραλύειν νόμους πατρίους τοὺς περὶ τοῦ μὴ δεῖν ἄλλον τινὰ σέβειν θεὸν παρὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργόν. καὶ ἔσται κατʼ αὐτὸν οὐ φύσει τὸ ὅσιον ἀλλά τινι θέσει καὶ νομίσει θεῖον· ὅσιον γὰρ παρὰ τοῖσδε μὲν σέβειν κροκόδειλον καὶ ἐσθίειν τῶν παρʼ ἄλλοις τι προσκυνουμένων, καὶ ὅσιον ἑτέροις τὸ σέβειν τὸν μόσχον, καὶ παρʼ ἄλλοις τὸν τράγον νομίζειν θεόν. οὕτως δʼ ἔσται (ὁ) αὐτὸς ὅσια μὲν ποιῶν ὡς πρὸς τούσδε τοὺς νόμους, ἀνόσια δὲ ὡς πρὸς ἑτέρους· ὅπερ ἐστὶ πάντων ἀτοπώτατον. ### English translation (Claude) Let anyone who wishes explain how, and according to what dominions, the parts of the earth are divided and administered by those who oversee them; and let him tell us also how the things done among each people are rightly done, in the way that pleases the overseers, and whether, for example, the laws of the Scythians about killing fathers are right, or those of the Persians, which do not forbid mothers to be married by their own sons nor daughters by their fathers. And why need I, selecting from those who have written about the laws among different nations, raise further difficulties about how the laws among each people are rightly practised as it pleases the overseers? Let Celsus tell us how it is unholy to abolish ancestral laws about marrying mothers and daughters, or about its being blessed to depart from life by hanging, or about those who give themselves up to the fire and to release from life by fire being wholly purified; and how it is unholy to abolish laws, for example, among the Taurians about offering strangers as sacrifices to Artemis, or among some of the Libyans about sacrificing children to Cronus. Yet it follows for Celsus that it is not holy for the Jews to abolish their ancestral laws about not worshipping any other God besides the Creator of the universe. And on his view holiness will be divine not by nature but by some convention and custom: for among some it is holy to revere the crocodile and to eat something that others worship; for others it is holy to revere the calf, and among others to consider the goat a god. So the same person will act holily with regard to these laws and unholily with regard to others; which is the most absurd of all. ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.103 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The parentheses (οἰκείοις) and (ὁ) are the editor's supplements. The Taurians' sacrifice of strangers to Artemis is told by Herodotus 4.103; Libyan (Carthaginian) child sacrifice to Cronus (Baal) was a common charge. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/27/). ## Against Celsus 5.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/28/ - Source: Koetschau 2:28–29 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If holiness depends only on local custom, all virtues become relative, which is absurd; Origen now turns to a deeper, mystical account of how the nations were allotted to angelic overseers. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ εἰκὸς ὅτι φήσουσι πρὸς ταῦτα ὅσιον εἶναι τὸν τὰ πάτρια φυλάττοντα καὶ μηδαμῶς ἀνόσιον, ἐπεὶ μὴ (καὶ) τὰ ἑτέρων οὐ τηρεῖ· πάλιν τε αὖ τὸν νομισθέντα ἀνόσιον εἶναι παρὰ τοῖσδέ τισι μὴ εἶναι ἀνόσιον, ὅταν κατὰ τὰ πάτρια τὰ μὲν ἴδια σέβῃ τὰ δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἐναντίους ἔχουσι νόμους προσπολεμῇ καὶ καταθοινᾶται. ταῦτα δὲ ὅρα εἰ μὴ πολλὴν ἐμφαίνει τὴν περὶ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ ὁσίου καὶ εὐσεβείας ταραχὴν, οὐ διαρθρουμένης οὐδὲ φύσιν τινὰ ἰδίαν ἐχούσης καὶ εὐσεβεῖς εἶναι χαρακτηριζούσης τοὺς τὰ κατʼ αὐτὴν πράττοντας. εἴπερ οὖν ἡ εὐσέβεια καὶ ἡ ὁσιότης καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη τῶν πρός τι ἐστὶν, ὡς τὸ αὐτὸ εἶναι ὅσιον καὶ ἀνόσιον παρὰ τὰς διαφόρους σχέσεις καὶ τοὺς νόμους, ὅρα εἰ μὴ καὶ ἡ σωφροσύνη τῶν πρός τι ἀκολούθως ἔσται καὶ ἡ ἀνδρεία καὶ ἡ φρόνησις καὶ ἡ ἐπιστήμη καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ ἀρεταί· ὧν οὐδὲν ἂν εἴη ἀτοπώτερον. ἁπλούστερον μὲν οὖν καὶ κοινότερον ἱσταμένοις πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου ἐκκειμένας λέξεις αὐτάρκη τὰ εἰρημένα· ἐπεὶ δὲ νομίζομεν καὶ τῶν ἐξεταστικωτέρων τινὰς ἐντεύξεσθαι τῇδε τῇ γραφῇ, φέρε ὀλίγα τῶν βαθυτέρων παρακινδυνεύοντες ἐκθώμεθα, ἔχοντά τινα μυστικὴν καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον θεωρίαν, περὶ τοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄλλα ἄλλοις ἐπόπταις νενεμῆσθαι χωρία τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς· καὶ τῶν κατειλεγμένων ἀτόπων φέρε ὅση δύναμις καθαρὸν παραστήσωμεν τὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) But perhaps they will say in reply to this that one who keeps his ancestral customs is holy and in no way unholy, since he does not also keep those of others; and again that one thought unholy by certain people is not unholy when, according to his ancestral customs, he reveres his own objects of worship and makes war on, and feasts on, those revered among people with contrary laws. But see whether this does not show great confusion about justice, holiness, and piety, as if piety were not clearly defined, nor had any nature of its own that marks out as pious those who act according to it. If, then, piety, holiness, and justice are relative, so that the same thing is holy and unholy according to different relations and laws, see whether self-control too will not consequently be relative, and courage, and prudence, and knowledge, and the other virtues; than which nothing could be more absurd. For those who take their stand more simply and in common terms against Celsus's passages, what has been said is sufficient. But since we think that some of the more inquiring will also read this work, come, let us venture to set out a few of the deeper matters, which contain a certain mystical and secret contemplation, concerning the allotment from the beginning of different regions of the earth to different overseers; and, as far as we can, let us show that the doctrine is clear of the absurdities listed. ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (καὶ) is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/28/). ## Against Celsus 5.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/29/ - Source: Koetschau 2:29–31 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The allotting of lands to gods, half-remembered in Greek and Egyptian lore, is taught truly by Moses: God divided the nations among his angels at Babel but kept Israel as his own portion; the deeper meaning is a mystery not to be exposed. ### Greek text Δοκεῖ δή μοι παρακηκοέναι τινῶν ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τῆς διανεμήσεως τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς μυστικωτέρων λόγων, ὧν ἐφάπτεται μέν πως καὶ ἡ Ἑλληνικὴ ἱστορία, εἰσαγαγοῦσά τινας τῶν νομιζομένων θεῶν περὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἡμιλλῆσθαι, ποιοῦσα δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ποιηταῖς τινας τῶν λεγομένων θεῶν ὁμολογεῖν τινας τόπους οἰκειοτέρους αὐτοῖς. καὶ ἡ βαρβαρικὴ δὲ ἱστορία καὶ μάλιστα ἡ Αἰγυπτίων τοιαῦτά τινα ἐμφαίνει περὶ τοῦ μερισμοῦ τῶν τῆς Αἰγύπτου καλουμένων νομῶν, λέγουσα ὅτι ἡ λαχοῦσα τὴν Σάϊν Ἀθηνᾶ ἡ αὐτὴ ἔχει καὶ τὴν Ἀττικήν. Αἰγυπτίων δὲ οἱ λόγιοι μυρία ὅσα τοιαῦτα φήσουσιν, οὐκ οἶδα δʼ εἰ καὶ Ἰουδαίους συμπαραλαμβάνοντες καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν τῇ πρός τινα διανεμήσει. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἔξω τοῦ θείου λόγου λεγομένων εἰς ταῦτα ἅλις ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος. φαμὲν δʼ ὅτι ὁ καθʼ ἡμᾶς προφήτης τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ γνήσιος θεράπων αὐτοῦ Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῇ τοῦ Δευτερονομίου ᾠδῇ ἐκτίθεται περὶ τοῦ μερισμοῦ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς τοιαῦτα λέγων· „ὅτε διεμέριζεν ὁ ὕψιστος ἔθνη, ὡς διέσπειρεν υἱοὺς Ἀδὰμ, ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ, καὶ ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ.“ τὰ δὲ περὶ τῆς διανεμήσεως τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁ αὐτὸς Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῷ ἐπιγεγραμμένῳ βιβλίῳ Γένεσις ἐν ἱστορίας τρόπῳ φησὶν οὕτως· „καὶ ἦν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ χεῖλος ἓν, καὶ φωνὴ μία πᾶσι. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ κινῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν εὗρον πεδίον ἐν γῇ Σενναὰρ, καὶ κατῴκησαν ἐκεῖ“· καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα· „κατέβη, φησὶ, κύριος ἰδεῖν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν πύργον, ὃν ᾠκοδόμησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ εἶπε κύριος· ἰδοὺ γένος ἓν καὶ χεῖλος ἓν πάντων· καὶ τοῦτο ἤρξαντο ποιῆσαι, καὶ νῦν οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἀπʼ αὐτῶν πάντα, ὅσα ἂν ἐπιθῶνται ποιεῖν· δεῦτε καὶ καταβάντες συγχέωμεν ἐκεῖ τὴν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν. ἵνα μὴ ἀκούσωσιν ἕκαστος τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ. καὶ διέσπειρεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐπαύσαντο οἰκοδομοῦντες τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν πύργον. διὰ τοῦτο ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Σύγχυσις, ὅτι ἐκεῖ συνέχεε κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὰ χείλη πάσης τῆς γῆς, κἀκεῖθεν διέσπειρεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς.“ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπιγεγραμμένῃ δὲ Σολομῶντος Σοφίᾳ περὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν σύγχυσιν τῶν διαλέκτων, ἐν ᾗ γεγένηται ὁ μερισμὸς τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. τοιαῦτα περὶ τῆς σοφίας εἴρηται· „αὕτη καὶ ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ πονηρίας ἐθνῶν συγχυθέντων ἔγνω τὸν δίκαιον, καὶ ἐφύλαξεν αὐτὸν ἄμεμπτον τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τέκνου σπλάγχνοις ἰσχυρὸν ἐφύλαξε.“ πολὺς δʼ ὁ λόγος καὶ μυστικὸς ὁ περὶ τούτων, ᾧ ἁρμόζει τό· „μυστήριον βασιλέως κρύπτειν καλόν“· ἵνα μὴ εἰς τὰς τυχούσας ἀκοὰς ὁ περὶ ψυχῶν οὐκ ἐκ μετενσωματώσεως εἰς σῶμα ἐνδουμένων λόγος ῥιπτῆται, μηδὲ τὰ ἅγια διδῶται „τοῖς κυσὶ, “ μηδʼ οἱ μαργαρῖται παραβάλλωνται χοίροις. ἀσεβὲς γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτο, προδοσίαν περιέχον τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίας λογίων, περὶ ἧς καλῶς γέγραπται· „εἰς κακότεχνον ψυχὴν οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται σοφία οὐδὲ κατοικήσει ἐν σώματι κατάχρεῳ ἁμαρτίας.“ ἀρκεῖ δὲ τὰ κεκρυμμένως ὡς ἐν ἱστορίας τρόπῳ εἰρημένα κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἱστορίας παραστῆσαι τρόπον, ἵνʼ οἱ δυνάμενοι ἑαυτοῖς ἐπεξεργάσωνται τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus seems to me to have misheard certain more mystical accounts of the distribution of things on earth, which Greek history also touches on in a way, when it presents some of those considered gods as contending with one another over Attica, and when in the poets it makes some of the so-called gods acknowledge certain places as more their own. And barbarian history too, especially that of the Egyptians, shows something of this sort about the division of the so-called nomes of Egypt, saying that Athena, to whom Sais fell, is the same who also has Attica. The learned among the Egyptians will say countless things of this kind, though I do not know whether they also include the Jews and their land in the distribution to some being. But about what is said on these matters outside the divine word, enough for the present. We say that Moses, the prophet of God according to us and his genuine servant, sets out in the Song of Deuteronomy the following about the division of things on earth: "When the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God; and the Lord's portion became his people Jacob, Israel the lot of his inheritance." And the same Moses, in the book entitled Genesis, speaks of the distribution of the nations in the form of a narrative thus: "And the whole earth was one lip, and there was one speech for all. And it came to pass, as they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there"; and a little later: "The Lord came down," it says, "to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said: Behold, they are one race and all have one lip; and this they have begun to do, and now nothing that they set out to do will fail them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they may not understand each one the speech of his neighbour. And the Lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city and the tower. Therefore its name was called Confusion, because there the Lord God confused the lips of all the earth, and from there the Lord God scattered them over the face of all the earth." And in the book entitled the Wisdom of Solomon, concerning wisdom and the events at the confusion of languages, at which the division of those on the earth took place, the following is said about wisdom: "She too, when the nations had been confused in their wicked agreement, recognized the righteous man and kept him blameless before God, and kept him strong against his compassion for his child." The account of these things is long and mystical, and to it applies: "It is good to hide the secret of a king," so that the doctrine of souls bound into a body, not by transmigration, may not be thrown to any chance hearers, nor holy things be given "to the dogs," nor pearls cast before swine. For such a thing would be impious, involving betrayal of the secret oracles of God's wisdom, of which it is well written: "Wisdom will not enter a soul that plots evil, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin." It is enough to present what is said in a hidden way, as in the form of a narrative, according to the manner of the narrative, so that those who are able may work out for themselves the meaning of the passage. ### Scripture references - Deut 32:8–9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 11:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Gen 11:5–9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:6: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 10:5 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Tob 12:7 (Tobit): quotation, high confidence - Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Deut 32:8–9 (LXX, "angels of God"), Gen 11:1–2, 5–9, Wis 10:5, Tob 12:7, Matt 7:6, and Wis 1:4. The contest over Attica is that of Athena and Poseidon. Origen distances his own doctrine of souls entering bodies from Platonic transmigration. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/29/). ## Against Celsus 5.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/30/ - Source: Koetschau 2:31–32 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen reads Babel as a hidden account of souls that leave the 'east' of divine light, build pridefully with material things, and are handed over, according to their guilt, to angels who assign them languages and lands. ### Greek text Νοείσθωσαν τοίνυν πάντες οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς μιᾷ τινι διαλέκτῳ θείᾳ χρώμενοι, καὶ ὅσον γε συμφωνοῦσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τηρείσθωσαν ἐν τῇ θείᾳ διαλέκτῳ· καὶ ἔστωσαν ἀκίνητοι „τῶν ἀνατολῶν.“ ἐς ὅσον εἰσὶ τὰ τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ „φωτὸς ἀϊδίου“ ἀπαυγάσματος φρονοῦντες. καὶ οὗτοι, ἐπὰν κινήσωσιν „ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνατολῶν“ ἑαυτοὺς ἀλλότρια „ἀνατολῶν“ φρονοῦντες, εὑρισκέτωσαν „πεδίον ἐν γῇ Σενναὰρ, “ ὅπερ ἑρμηνεύεται ὀδόντων ἐκτιναγμὸς κατὰ σύμβολον τοῦ ἀπολλύναι αὐτοὺς τὰ διʼ ὧν τρέφονται, καὶ κατοικείτωσαν ἐκεῖ. εἶτα τὰ τῆς ὕλης συναγαγεῖν θέλοντες καὶ κολλᾶν τὰ μὴ πεφυκότα κολλᾶσθαι οὐρανῷ, ἵνα διὰ τῶν ὑλικῶν ἐπιβουλεύσωσι τοῖς ἀΰλοις, λεγέτωσαν· „δεῦτε πλινθεύσωμεν πλίνθους καὶ ὀπτήσωμεν αὐτὰς πυρί.“ ὡς οὖν κρατύνοντες καὶ πηγνύντες τὰ πήλινα καὶ ὑλικὰ καὶ τὴν πλίνθον λίθον ποιεῖν θέλοντες καὶ τὸν πηλὸν ἄσφαλτον καὶ διὰ τούτων οἰκοδομεῖν „πόλιν καὶ πύργον, οὗ“ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ ὑπολήψει αὐτῶν „ἔσται ἡ κεφαλὴ ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“ κατὰ τὰ ὑπεραιρόμενα ὑψώματα κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, παραδιδόσθωσαν ἕκαστος κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς „ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν“ κινήσεως, ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἢ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον αὐτοῖς γεγενημένης, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς κατασκευῆς τῶν πλίνθων εἰς λίθους καὶ τοῦ πηλοῦ εἰς ἄσφαλτον καὶ τῆς ἐκ τούτων οἰκοδομῆς ἀγγέλοις, ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἢ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον χαλεπωτέροις καὶ τοιοῖσδε ἢ τοιοῖσδε, ἕως τίσωσι δίκας ἐφʼ οἷς τετολμήκασι· καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἀγέσθωσαν ἕκαστος τῶν ἐμποιησάντων τὴν οἰκείαν ἑαυτοῖς διάλεκτον ἐπὶ τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀξίαν, οἵδε μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν φέρʼ εἰπεῖν καυσώδη χώραν ἄλλοι δʼ ἐπὶ τὴν διὰ τὸ κατεψῦχθαι κολάζουσαν τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν δυσγεωργητοτέραν ἄλλοι δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἔλαττον τοιαύτην, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν πεπληρωμένην θηρίων οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἔλαττον ἔχουσαν αὐτά. ### English translation (Claude) Let all those on earth, then, be understood as using one divine language, and as long as they are in harmony with one another, let them be kept in the divine language; and let them remain unmoved "from the east," as long as they think the thoughts of the light and of the radiance from "eternal light." And these, when they move themselves "from the east," thinking thoughts foreign to "the east," let them find "a plain in the land of Shinar," which is interpreted "shaking out of teeth," as a symbol of their losing the means by which they are nourished; and let them settle there. Then, wishing to gather together the things of matter and to join to heaven what cannot by nature be joined to it, so as to plot against immaterial things by means of material ones, let them say: "Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire." So, as they harden and set fast the clay and material things, wishing to make brick into stone and clay into bitumen, and by these to build "a city and a tower whose" (as far as their supposition goes) "top will reach to heaven," according to the lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God, let them each be handed over, in proportion to their movement "from the east," which has happened to a greater or lesser degree, and in proportion to their making bricks into stones and clay into bitumen and building from these, to angels, harsher to a greater or lesser degree, and of this kind or that, until they pay the penalty for what they have dared. And let them be led by the angels, each of whom produced for them their own language, to the parts of the earth according to their deserts: some, for example, to a scorching land, others to one that punishes its inhabitants by its cold, some to one harder to farm and others to one less so, some to one full of wild beasts and others to one with fewer. ### Scripture references - Gen 11:2–4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:26 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 11:2–4, Wis 7:26 ("radiance of eternal light"), and 2 Cor 10:5. The etymology of Shinar ("shaking out of teeth") is traditional Hebrew-name lore. This allegory of souls' descent is Origen's speculative teaching. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/30/). ## Against Celsus 5.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/31/ - Source: Koetschau 2:32–33 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Continuing the allegory, Israel is the people that stayed in the 'east' under the Lord's own care; their growing sins led to exile among other nations, after which their Lord in turn drew people from the nations to himself. ### Greek text Εἶτα εἴ τις δύναται ὡς ἐν ἱστορίας σχήματι, ἐχούσης μέν τι καὶ καθʼ αὑτὴν ἀληθὲς ἐμφαινούσης δέ τι καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον, ἰδέτω καὶ τοὺς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς διάλεκτον τετηρηκότας, τῷ μὴ κεκινηκέναι „ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν“ μένοντας ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ καὶ τῇ ἀνατολικῇ διαλέκτῳ· καὶ νοείτω τούτους μόνους γεγονέναι μερίδα κυρίου καὶ λαὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν καλούμενον „Ἰακὼβ, “ γεγονέναι δὲ καὶ „σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ“· καὶ οὗτοι μόνοι ἐπιστατείσθωσαν ὑπὸ ἄρχοντος, οὐκ ἐπὶ κολάσει παρειληφότος τοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτῷ ὥσπερ οἱ ἄλλοι. βλεπέτω δʼ ὁ δυνάμενος ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐν τῇ τούτων πολιτείᾳ τῶν τεταγμένων κατὰ τὴν διαφέρουσαν μερίδα τῷ κυρίῳ γινομένας ἁμαρτίας, πρότερον μὲν ἀνεκτὰς καὶ τοιαύτας, ὡς μὴ πάντῃ ἀξίους εἶναι αὐτοὺς τοῦ ἐγκαταλείπεσθαι, ὕστερον δὲ πλείονας μὲν ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἀνεκτάς· καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐπὶ πλείονα χρόνον νοῶν γινόμενον καὶ ἀεὶ θεραπείαν προσαγομένην καὶ ἐκ διαλειμμάτων τούτους ἐπιστρέφοντας, ὁράτω αὐτοὺς καταλειπομένους κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων τοῖς λαχοῦσι τὰς ἄλλας χώρας, πρότερον μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον αὐτοὺς κολασθέντας καὶ τίσαντας δίκην, ὡσπερεὶ παιδευθέντας, ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα· ὕστερον δὲ βλεπέτω αὐτοὺς παραδιδομένους χαλεπωτέροις ἄρχουσιν, ὡς ἂν ὀνομάσαιεν αἱ γραφαὶ, Ἀσσυρίοις εἶτα Βαβυλωνίοις. εἶτα προσαγομένων θεραπειῶν ὁράτω τούτους οὐδὲν ἧττον αὔξοντας τὰ ἁμαρτανόμενα καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐπισπειρομένους ὑπὸ τῶν διαρπαζόντων αὐτοὺς ἀρχόντων τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν ταῖς ἄλλαις μερίσιν. ὁ δʼ ἄρχων αὐτῶν ἐπίτηδες παροράτω διαρπαζομένους αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀρχόντων· ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς εὐλόγως, ὡσπερεὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐκδικῶν, λαβὼν ἐξουσίαν ἀποσπάσαι τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν οὓς ἂν δύνηται, τὸ τοιοῦτο ποιήσῃ καὶ νόμους τε αὐτοῖς θῆται καὶ βίον ὑποδείξῃ καθʼ ὃν βιωτέον· ἵνα αὐτοὺς ἀναγάγῃ ἐπὶ τέλος, ἐφʼ ὅπερ ἀνῆγε τοὺς μὴ ἁμαρτάνοντας ἀπὸ τοῦ προτέρου ἔθνους. ### English translation (Claude) Then, if anyone can, as in the form of a narrative, which has something true in itself but also indicates something secret, let him see also those who have kept the original language, remaining in the east and in the eastern language because they did not move "from the east"; and let him understand that these alone became the Lord's portion and his people called "Jacob," and became "Israel the lot of his inheritance"; and let these alone be governed by a ruler who did not receive those under him for punishment, as the others did. And let one who is able see, as among human beings, sins arising in the commonwealth of those assigned to the Lord as his distinct portion: at first tolerable, and such that they were not wholly deserving to be forsaken; later more numerous, but still tolerable. And understanding that this went on for a long time, with healing always applied and these people turning back at intervals, let him see them left, in proportion to their sins, to those to whom the other lands fell: at first punished to a lesser degree and paying the penalty, as though disciplined, and returning to their own land; but later let him see them handed over to harsher rulers, as the Scriptures would name them, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. Then, as healing is applied, let him see them nonetheless increasing their sins, and for this reason scattered by the rulers of the other nations who plunder them among the other portions. And let their ruler deliberately overlook their being plundered by the rulers in the other nations, so that he too, with good reason, as though avenging himself, having received authority to draw away from the other nations whomever he can, may do so, and give them laws and show them a life by which to live, so as to lead them up to the end to which he used to lead those of the former nation who did not sin. ### Scripture references - Deut 32:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is Deut 32:9. The exile under Assyria and Babylon is read as part of the allegory; the ruler who draws in the nations is Christ, as 5.32 makes clear. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/31/). ## Against Celsus 5.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/32/ - Source: Koetschau 2:33–34 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ, the Lord who kept Israel, is mightier than the angels of the nations and frees people from their bondage; so it is holy, not unholy, for Christians to leave ancestral customs for his better law. ### Greek text Καὶ διὰ τούτου μανθανέτωσαν οἱ δυνάμενοι τὰ τηλικαῦτα βλέπειν ὅτι πολλῷ δυνατώτερος ὁ λαχὼν τοὺς πρότερον μὴ ἡμαρτηκότας τῶν λοιπῶν ἐστιν· ἐπεὶ δεδύνηται ἀπὸ τῆς πάντων μερίδος ἐπιλέκτους λαβὼν ἀποστῆσαι μὲν αὐτοὺς τῶν ἐπὶ κολάσει παρειληφότων, προσαγαγεῖν δὲ νόμοις καὶ βίῳ συμβαλλομένῳ εἰς ἀμνηστίαν τῶν προημαρτημένων αὐτοῖς. ἀλλʼ ὡς προείπομεν, ταῦτα ἡμῖν ἐπικεκρυμμένως λελέχθω. παριστᾶσιν ὧν παρήκουσαν οἱ φήσαντες τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄλλα ἄλλοις ἐπόπταις νενεμημένα, κατά τινας ἐπικρατείας διειλημμένα, ταύτῃ διοικεῖσθαι· ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ ὁ Κέλσος (λαβὼν) τὰς ἐκκειμένας εἶπε λέξεις. ἐπεὶ δʼ οἱ κινήσαντες „ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν“ διʼ ἃ ἥμαρτον παρεδόθησαν „εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν“ καὶ „εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας“ καὶ „ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῶν καρδιῶν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀκαθαρσίαν, “ ἵνα κορεσθέντες τῆς ἁμαρτίας μισήσωσιν αὐτὴν, οὐχ ὑποκεισόμεθα τῷ Κέλσου ἀρέσκοντι φάσκοντος διὰ τοὺς νενεμημένους ἐπόπτας τοῖς μέρεσι τῆς γῆς τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστοις ὀρθῶς πράττεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ βουλόμεθα οὐχ ὅπῃ ᾖ ἐκείνοις φίλον ποιεῖν τὰ (παρ᾿) ἐκείνων. ὁρῶμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὅσιον μὲν τὰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατὰ τόπους νενομισμένα λύειν ἐστὶ νόμοις κρείττοσι καὶ θειοτέροις, οἷς ὡς δυνατώτατος ἔθετο Ἰησοῦς, ἐξελόμενος „ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ“ καὶ „τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου τῶν καταργουμένων“· ἀνόσιον δὲ τὸ μὴ ἐπιῤῥῖψαι αὑτὸν τῷ πάντων ἀρχόντων φανέντι καὶ ἀποδειχθέντι (καθαρωτέρῳ καὶ) δυνατωτέρῳ. πρὸς ὃν εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς, ὡς οἱ προφῆται πρὸ πολλῶν προεῖπον γενεῶν· „αἴτησαι παρʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς.“ καὶ γὰρ „αὐτὸς“ γέγονε „προσδοκία“ ἡμῶν. τῶν ἀπὸ „ἐθνῶν“ πιστευσάντων εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) And from this let those who are able to see such great things learn that the one to whom fell those who formerly had not sinned is far more powerful than the others; since he has been able, taking chosen ones from the portion of all, to withdraw them from those who received them for punishment, and to bring them to laws and a life that contributes to the forgetting of their former sins. But, as we said before, let these things be said by us in a hidden way. They show what was misheard by those who said that "the parts of the earth were from the beginning allotted to different overseers and divided into certain dominions, and are administered in this way"; from whom Celsus too took the words set out above. But since those who moved "from the east" were, because of their sins, handed over "to a base mind" and "to dishonourable passions" and "in the desires of their hearts to impurity," so that, glutted with sin, they might hate it, we will not submit to Celsus's opinion when he says that because of the overseers allotted to the parts of the earth the things done among each people are rightly done; rather, we wish not to do what is done among them in the way that pleases those overseers. For we see that it is holy to abolish what has been customary in each place from the beginning by better and more divine laws, which Jesus, as the most powerful, laid down, rescuing "us from the present evil age" and from "the rulers of this age who are being brought to nothing"; and that it is unholy not to throw oneself upon the one who has appeared and been shown to be purer and more powerful than all rulers, to whom God said, as the prophets foretold many generations before: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession." For "he himself" has become the "expectation" of us who are from "the nations" and have believed in him and in the God over all, his Father. ### Scripture references - Rom 1:28: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:24: quotation, high confidence - Gal 1:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 49:10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations and allusions are Rom 1:28, 26, 24, Gal 1:4, 1 Cor 2:6, Ps 2:8, and Gen 49:10 (LXX, "he shall be the expectation of the nations"). The parentheses (λαβὼν), (παρ᾿), and (καθαρωτέρῳ καὶ) are the editor's supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/32/). ## Against Celsus 5.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/33/ - Source: Koetschau 2:34–36 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus asks where Christians come from and who founded their laws; Origen answers with Isaiah's prophecy of the nations streaming to the Lord's mountain: Christians are a people of peace founded by Jesus, who came from the Jews. ### Greek text Ταῦτα δὲ οὐ μόνον πρὸς τὰ ἐκκείμενα περὶ τῶν ἐποπτῶν ἡμῖν λέλεκται, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετρίως προλαμβάνουσι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου πρὸς ἡμᾶς λεγόμενα. ἐν οἷς φησιν· ἴτω δὲ ὁ δεύτερος· ἐρήσομαι δὲ αὐτοὺς, πόθεν ἥκουσιν ἢ τίνα ἔχουσιν ἀρχηγέτην πατρίων νόμων. οὐδένα φήσουσιν, οἵ γε ἐκεῖθεν μὲν ὥρμηνται καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὸν διδάσκαλόν τε καὶ χοροστάτην οὐκ ἄλλοθέν ποθεν φέρουσιν· ὅμως δʼ ἀφεστήκασιν Ἰουδαίων. ἥκομεν οὖν ἡμεῖς ἕκαστος „ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις, “ ὅτε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἡμῶν ἐπιδεδήμηκεν, εἰς „τὸ ἐμφανὲς ὄρος κυρίου, “ τὸν „ὑπεράνω“ παντὸς λόγου λόγον, καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον „τοῦ θεοῦ.“ ὅς „ἐστιν ἐκκλησία θεοῦ ζῶντος, στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας.“ καὶ ὁρῶμεν τίνα τρόπον οὗτος οἰκοδομεῖται „ἐπὶ ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων, “ πάντων τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων, οἵτινες αὐτοῦ θεμέλιός εἰσιν. ὑψοῦται δʼ οὗτος „ὁ οἶκος“ „ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν, “ τῶν δοκούντων τι ἐξαίρετον παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐν σοφίᾳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι. καὶ ἐρχόμεθα „πάντα τὰ ἔθνη“ ἐπʼ αὐτὸ, καὶ πορευόμεθα τὰ πολλὰ ἔθνη, καὶ λέγομεν ἀλλήλοις, προτρέποντες ἐπὶ τὴν „ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις“ ἀναλάμψασαν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ θεοσέβειαν· „δεῦτε καὶ ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ κυρίου καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακὼβ. καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ ἡμῖν τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πορευσόμεθα ἐν αὐτῇ.“ ἐξῆλθε γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν „Σιὼν“ „νόμος“ καὶ μετέστη ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς πνευματικός. ἀλλὰ καὶ „ὁ λόγος κυρίου“ ἐξῆλθεν ἀπʼ ἐκείνης τῆς „Ἱερουσαλὴμ, “ ἵνα πανταχοῦ νεμηθῇ καὶ κρίνῃ „ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ἐθνῶν, “ ἐκλεγόμενος μὲν οὓς ὁρᾷ εὐπειθεῖς ἐλέγχῃ δὲ „λαὸν πολὺν“ τὸν ἀπειθῆ. καί φαμεν γε πρὸς τοὺς ἐρομένους ἡμᾶς, πόθεν ἥκομεν ἢ τίνα ἔχομεν ἀρχηγέτην, ὅτι ἤλθομεν κατὰ τὰς Ἰησοῦ ὑποθήκας συγκόψαι „τὰς“ πολεμικὰς ἡμῶν λογικὰς „μαχαίρας“ καὶ ὑβριστικὰς „εἰς ἄροτρα, “ καὶ „τὰς“ κατὰ τὸ πρότερον ἡμῶν μάχιμον „ζιβύνας εἰς δρέπανα“ μετασκευάζομεν. οὐκέτι γὰρ λαμβάνομεν „ἐπʼ ἔθνος μάχαιραν“ οὐδὲ μανθάνομεν „ἔτι πολεμεῖν, “ γενόμενοι διὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν υἱοὶ τῆς εἰρήνης, ὅς ἐστιν ἡμῶν ἀρχηγὸς, ἀντὶ τῶν πατρίων, ἐν οἷς „ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν“ ἐτυγχάνομεν, λαμβάνοντες νόμον, ἐφʼ ᾧ χάριτας ὁμολογοῦντες τῷ ἡμᾶς ῥυσαμένῳ ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης λέγομεν· „ὡς ψευδῆ ἐκτήσαντο οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν εἴδωλα, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑετίζων.“ ὁ χοροστάτης οὖν ἡμῶν καὶ διδάσκαλος ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων ἐξελθὼν ὅλην νέμεται τῷ λόγῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας, ἑαυτοῦ τὴν οἰκουμένην. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν προλαβόντες πολλοῖς ἐπιφερομένην τοῦ Κέλσου λέξιν ὅση δύναμις ἀνετρέψαμεν, συνάπτοντες τοῖς ἐκκειμένοις αὐτοῦ ῥητοῖς. ### English translation (Claude) These things have been said by us not only in reply to what was set out about the overseers, but they also go some way toward anticipating what Celsus says against us, where he says: "Let the second group come forward; I will ask them where they have come from, or what founder of ancestral laws they have. They will say none, since they themselves started from there, and they bring their teacher and chorus-leader from nowhere else; yet they have broken away from the Jews." We have come, then, each of us, "in the last days," when our Jesus came to live among us, to "the manifest mountain of the Lord," the Word that is "above" every word, and to the house "of God," which "is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." And we see in what way this house is built "on the tops of the mountains," all the prophetic words, which are its foundation. And this "house" is lifted up "above the hills," those who seem among human beings to profess something exceptional in wisdom and truth. And we, "all the nations," come to it, and we, the many nations, go and say to one another, urging each other on to the worship of God that shone forth "in the last days" through Jesus Christ: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will tell us his way, and we will walk in it." For the "law" went out from those in "Zion" and passed over to us, spiritual. And "the word of the Lord" also went out from that "Jerusalem," so that it might spread everywhere and judge "between the nations," choosing those it sees are obedient and rebuking "many people," the disobedient. And to those who ask us where we have come from or what founder we have, we say that we have come, according to the counsels of Jesus, to beat our rational "swords," warlike and insolent, "into ploughshares," and we refashion the "spears" of our former fighting "into pruning hooks." For we no longer take up "sword against nation," nor do we learn "war any more," having become sons of peace through Jesus, who is our founder, instead of the ancestral customs in which we were "strangers to the covenants"; receiving a law for which, giving thanks to the one who rescued us from error, we say: "How false are the idols our fathers acquired, and there is none among them who gives rain." Our chorus-leader and teacher, then, having come out from the Jews, holds the whole world as his own by the word of his teaching. And having anticipated these things, we have overturned as best we could a passage of Celsus that comes many pages later, joining it to the passages of his set out here. ### Scripture references - Isa 2:2–4: quotation, high confidence - Mic 4:1–3: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 3:15: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Jer 16:19: quotation, high confidence - Jer 14:22: quotation, medium confidence - Luke 10:6: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 2:2–4 (cf. Mic 4:1–3), 1 Tim 3:15, Eph 2:12, and Jer 16:19 combined with Jer 14:22. "Sons of peace" echoes Luke 10:6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/33/). ## Against Celsus 5.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/34/ - Source: Koetschau 2:36–38 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus cites Herodotus to show that every nation clings to its own customs, however strange, and endorses Pindar's line that 'custom is king of all.' ### Greek text Ἵνα δὲ μὴ παρέλθωμεν τὰ ἐν τοῖς μεταξὺ λελεγμένα τῷ Κέλσῳ, φέρʼ ἐκθώμεθα καὶ ταῦτα. χρήσαιτο δʼ ἄν τις καὶ Ἡροδότῳ πρὸς τόδε μάρτυρι, λέγοντι ὧδε· „οἱ γὰρ δὴ ἐκ Μαρέης τε πόλιος καὶ Ἄπιος οἰκέοντες Αἰγύπτου τὰ πρόσουρα Λιβύῃ. αὐτοί τε δοκέοντες εἶναι Λίβυες καὶ οὐκ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ ἀχθόμενοι τῇ περὶ τὰ ἱερὰ θρησκείῃ, βουλόμενοι θηλέων βοῶν μὴ ἔργεσθαι, ἔπεμψαν ἐς Ἄμμωνα φάμενοι οὐδὲν σφίσι τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίοισι κοινὸν εἶναι· οἰκέειν γὰρ ἔξω τοῦ Δέλτα καὶ οὐχ ὁμολογέειν αὐτοῖσι, βούλεσθαί τε πάντων σφίσιν ἐξεῖναι γεύεσθαι. ὁ δὲ θεὸς οὐκ ἔα σφέας ποιέειν ταῦτα, φὰς Αἴγυπτον εἶναι ταύτην, τὴν ὁ Νεῖλος ἐπιὼν ἄρδει. καὶ Αἰγυπτίους εἶναι τούτους, οἳ ἔνερθεν Ἐλεφαντίνης πόλιος οἰκέοντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τούτου πίνουσιν.“ Ἡροδότῳ μὲν τάδε ἱστόρηται. ὁ δʼ Ἄμμων οὐδέν τι κακίων διαπρεσβεῦσαι τὰ δαιμόνια ἢ οἱ Ἰουδαίων ἄγγελοι· ὥστε οὐδὲν ἄδικον ἑκάστους τὰ σφέτερα νόμιμα θρησκεύειν. ἀμέλει πλεῖστον αὐτῶν εὑρήσομεν κατὰ ἔθνη τὸ διαφέρον, καὶ ὅμως ἕκαστοι αὐτοὶ μάλιστα εὖ νομίζειν δοκοῦσιν· Αἰθιόπων μὲν οἱ Μερόην οἰκοῦντες „Δία καὶ Διόνυσον μόνους“ σέβοντες, Ἀράβιοι δὲ τὴν Οὐρανίαν καὶ Διόνυσον τούτους μόνους. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ πάντες μὲν Ὄσιρίν τε καὶ Ἶσιν, Σαῗται δὲ Ἀθηνᾶν, Ναυκρατῖται δὲ, οὐ πάλαι ἀρξάμενοι, ὠνόμασαν Σάραπιν, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ κατὰ νομοὺς ὡς ἕκαστοι. καὶ οἱ μὲν ὀΐων ἀπέχονται, σέβοντες ὡς ἱεροὺς, οἱ δὲ αἰγῶν, οἱ δὲ κροκοδείλων. οἱ δὲ βοῶν θηλειῶν, συῶν δὲ ἀπέχονται βδελυττόμενοι. Σκύθαις γε μὴν καὶ ἀνθρώπους δαίνυσθαι καλόν· Ἰνδῶν δέ εἰσιν οἳ καὶ τοὺς πατέρας ἐσθίοντες ὅσια δρᾶν νομίζουσι. καὶ που φησὶν ὁ αὐτὸς Ἡρόδοτος· χρήσομαι δὲ αὖθις αὐταῖς ἐκείνου λέξεσι πίστεως εἵνεκα· ἱστορεῖ δὲ ὧδε· „εἰ γάρ τις προθείη πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποισιν ἐκλέξασθαι κελεύων νόμους τοὺς καλλίστους ἐκ (τῶν) πάντων νόμων, διασκεψάμενοι ἂν ἑλοίατο (ἕκαστοι τοὺς ἑωυτῶν· οὕτω νομίζουσι) πολλόν τι καλλίστους (τοὺς) ἑωυτῶν νόμους ἕκαστοι εἶναι. οὔκων εἰκός ἐστιν ἄλλον γε ἢ μαινόμενον ἄνδρα (γέλωτα) τὰ τοιαῦτα τίθεσθαι. ὡς δʼ οὕτως νενομίκασι τὰ περὶ τοὺς νόμους οἱ πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πολλοῖσι καὶ ἄλλοισι τεκμηρίοισι πάρεστι σταθμώσασθαι, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ (τῷδε). Δαρεῖος ἐπὶ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ ἀρχῆς καλέσας Ἑλλήνων τοὺς παρεόντας εἴρετο ἐπὶ κόσῳ ἂν χρήματι βουλοίατο τοὺς πατέρας ἀποθνῄσκοντας κατασιτέεσθαι· οἱ δὲ ἔφασαν ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ ἕρδειν ἂν τοῦτο. Δαρεῖος δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καλέσας Ἰνδῶν τοὺς καλεομένους Καλατίας, οἳ τοὺς γονέας κατεσθίουσιν, εἴρετο, παρεόντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ διʼ ἑρμηνέος μανθανόντων τὰ λεγόμενα, ἐπὶ τίνι χρήματι δεξαίατʼ ἂν τελευτέοντας τοὺς πατέρας κατακαίειν πυρί· οἱ δὲ ἀμβώσαντες μέγα εὐφημέειν μιν ἐκέλευον. οὕτω μὲν νῦν ταῦτα νενόμισται, καὶ ὀρθῶς μοι δοκέει Πίνδαρος ποιῆσαι, νόμον πάντων βασιλέα φήσας εἶναι.“ ### English translation (Claude) So as not to pass over what Celsus says in between, come, let us set that out too: "One might also use Herodotus as a witness on this point, who says: 'For the people of the city of Marea and of Apis, who live in the parts of Egypt bordering on Libya, thinking themselves Libyans and not Egyptians, and vexed at the religious rules about sacrifices, and wishing not to be barred from cows, sent to Ammon saying that they had nothing in common with the Egyptians; for they lived outside the Delta and did not agree with them, and they wished to be allowed to eat everything. But the god would not let them do this, saying that Egypt was the land that the Nile reaches and waters, and that those were Egyptians who live below the city of Elephantine and drink from this river.' This is what Herodotus reports. And Ammon is no worse at conveying the will of the divine powers than the angels of the Jews; so it is not at all unjust for each people to practise its own customs. Indeed, we will find the greatest difference among them from nation to nation, and yet each people thinks itself to be best at holding customs: of the Ethiopians, those who live in Meroe revere 'Zeus and Dionysus alone,' the Arabians Urania and Dionysus, these alone; all the Egyptians revere Osiris and Isis, the people of Sais Athena, and the people of Naucratis, not long ago, began to name Sarapis, and the rest according to their nomes, each in their own way. And some abstain from sheep, revering them as sacred, others from goats, others from crocodiles, others from cows, while they abstain from pigs, loathing them. For the Scythians, indeed, it is a fine thing even to feast on human beings; and there are Indians who think they act piously in eating even their fathers. And somewhere the same Herodotus says (I will again use his own words for the sake of trustworthiness), he reports thus: 'For if someone were to set it before all mankind, bidding them choose the finest customs of all customs, after examining them each would choose their own; so much does each think its own customs the finest by far. It is not likely, then, that anyone but a madman would make a mockery of such things. That all human beings think thus about customs one can judge by many other proofs, and in particular by this. Darius, during his reign, summoned the Greeks who were present and asked them for what price they would be willing to eat their fathers when they died; and they said they would not do it for anything. After this Darius summoned those Indians called Callatiae, who eat their parents, and asked them, in the presence of the Greeks, who understood what was said through an interpreter, for what price they would agree to burn their fathers with fire when they died; and they cried out loudly and bade him speak no evil. So these things are customary now, and Pindar seems to me to have been right when he wrote that custom is king of all.'" ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 2.18 (Herodotus, Histories): quotation, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 3.38 (Herodotus, Histories): quotation, high confidence - Pindar, fr. 169 (Pindar (odes and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Herodotus 2.18 and 3.38; Celsus's survey of cults draws on Herodotus (e.g. 2.29, 3.8, 2.42, 1.216). Pindar's line is fragment 169 Snell–Maehler. The parentheses (τῶν), (ἕκαστοι … νομίζουσι), (τοὺς), (γέλωτα), and (τῷδε) are the editor's supplements from Herodotus. Here νόμος and νόμιμα mean "custom" (also "law"). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/34/). ## Against Celsus 5.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/35/ - Source: Koetschau 2:38–39 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If philosophers may rightly abandon superstitious ancestral taboos, so may Christians; to keep them anyway would make a philosopher as ridiculous as an Egyptian who fears to eat an onion. ### Greek text Διὰ τούτων δὲ ὁδεύειν δοκεῖ τῷ Κέλσῳ ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖν πάντας ἀνθρώπους κατὰ τὰ πάτρια ζῆν, οὐκ ἂν μεμφθέντας ἐπὶ τούτῳ· Χριστιανοὺς δὲ τὰ πάτρια καταλιπόντας καὶ οὐχ ἕν τι τυγχάνοντας ἔθνος ὡς Ἰουδαῖοι ἐγκλήτως προστίθεσθαι τῇ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ. λεγέτω ουν ἡμῖν, πότερον καθηκόντως οἱ φιλοσοφοῦντες καὶ διδασκόμενοι μὴ δεισιδαιμονεῖν καταλείψουσι τὰ πάτρια, ὡς καὶ φαγεῖν τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων ἐν ταῖς πατρίσιν αὐτῶν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον τοῦτο πράξουσιν; εἰ μὲν γὰρ διὰ φιλοσοφίαν καὶ τὰ κατὰ δεισιδαιμονίας μαθήματα οὐ φυλάττοντες τὰ πάτρια καὶ φάγοιεν ἂν τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων αὐτοῖς ἐκ πατέρων, διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ Χριστιανοὶ, λόγου αἱροῦντος μὴ τευτάζειν περὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰ ἱδρύματα ἢ καὶ περὶ τὰ δημιουργήματα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλʼ ὑπεραναβαίνειν καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν παριστάνειν τῷ δημιουργῷ, τὸ ἀνάλογον ποιοῦντες τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν ἀνεγκλήτως τοῦτο πράττοιεν; εἰ δʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ φυλάξαι τὴν προκειμένην ἑαυτῷ ὑπόθεσιν ὁ Κέλσος ἐρεῖ ἢ οἱ εὐδοκοῦντες τοῖς αὐτοῦ ὅτι καὶ φιλοσοφήσας τις τηρήσει τὰ πάτρια· ὥρα φιλοσόφους γελοιοτάτους φέρʼ εἰπεῖν ἐν Αἰγυπτίοις γενέσθαι φυλαττομένους ἐμφαγεῖν κρομύου, ἵνα τὰ πάτρια τηρῶσιν, ἢ μορίων τινῶν τοῦ σώματος οἷον κεφαλῆς καὶ ὤμου, ἵνα μὴ παραβαίνωσι τὰ ὑπὸ πατέρων αὐτοῖς παραδοθέντα. καὶ οὔπω λέγω περὶ τῶν τὰς τοῦ σώματος φλυαρίας ἐν φύσαις φριττόντων τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὅτι, ἐὰν ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων τις φιλοσοφήσῃ καὶ τηρήσῃ τὰ πάτρια, γελοῖος ἂν εἴη φιλόσοφος ἀφιλόσοφα πράττων. οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου προσαχθεὶς ἐπὶ τὸ σέβειν τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν καὶ διὰ τὰ πάτρια κάτω που μένων παρὰ τοῖς ἀγάλμασι καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ἱδρύμασι καὶ μὴ βουλόμενος ἀναβῆναι τῇ προαιρέσει πρὸς τὸν δημιουργὸν παραπλήσιος ἂν γένοιτο τοῖς μαθοῦσι μὲν τὰ φιλοσοφίας φοβουμένοις δὲ τὰ μὴ φοβερὰ καὶ νομίζουσιν ἀσέβειαν εἶναι τὸ τοιῶνδε ἐμφαγεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Through these words Celsus's argument seems to be heading toward the claim that all human beings should live according to their ancestral customs and would not be blamed for this; but that Christians, having abandoned their ancestral customs, and not being a single nation as the Jews are, are culpable in attaching themselves to the teaching of Jesus. Let him tell us, then, whether those who study philosophy and are taught not to be superstitious will rightly abandon their ancestral customs, so as even to eat what is forbidden in their native lands, or whether they will do this contrary to what is right. For if, because of philosophy and the teachings against superstition, they do not keep their ancestral customs and would eat what their fathers forbade them, why should not Christians too, since reason chooses not to fuss about statues and shrines, or even about the created works of God, but to rise above them and present the soul to the Creator, do the same as the philosophers and do it without blame? But if, to preserve the thesis he has set himself, Celsus or those who approve his views say that even one who has studied philosophy will keep his ancestral customs, it is time for philosophers, among the Egyptians for example, to become utterly ridiculous, guarding against eating an onion so as to keep their ancestral customs, or certain parts of the body, such as the head and the shoulder, so as not to transgress what their fathers handed down to them. And I do not yet speak of those Egyptians who shudder at the body's trifling noises of wind, that if one of them becomes a philosopher and keeps his ancestral customs, he would be a ridiculous philosopher acting unphilosophically. So too, then, the one who has been brought by reason to worship the God of the universe, but because of ancestral customs remains down below among statues and human-made shrines, and is unwilling to rise up in his choice to the Creator, would be like those who have learned philosophy but fear what is not to be feared and think it impiety to eat such and such things. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/35/). ## Against Celsus 5.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/36/ - Source: Koetschau 2:39–40 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Ammon's ban on eating cows is arbitrary, unlike the Jewish laws about animals, which carry a deeper meaning; and Celsus's principle would excuse Scythian cannibalism and Indians who eat their fathers. ### Greek text Οἷος δὲ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Ἡροδότου ἐστὶν Ἄμμων, οὗ τὰς λέξεις ὁ Κέλσος παρείληφεν, ὡς εἰς ἀπόδειξιν περὶ τοῦ δεῖν ἕκαστον τὰ πάτρια τηρεῖν; ὁ γὰρ Ἄμμων αὐτῶν τοῖς τῶν ἀπὸ Μαρέης πόλεως καὶ Ἄπιος οἰκοῦσι τὰ πρόσουρα τῇ Λιβύῃ οὐκ ἐᾷ ἀδιαφορεῖν πρὸς τὴν χρῆσιν τῶν θηλέων βοῶν· ὅπερ πρᾶγμα οὐ μόνον τῇ φύσει ἑαυτοῦ ἀδιάφορόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐ κωλύει καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν εἶναί τινα. καὶ εἰ μὲν ὁ Ἄμμων αὐτῶν ἀπηγόρευε τὴν χρῆσιν τῶν θηλειῶν βοῶν διὰ τὸ εἰς γεωργίαν τοῦ ζῴου χρήσιμον καὶ πρὸς τούτῳ διὰ τὸ διὰ τῶν θηλέων μάλιστα αὔξειν τὸ γένος αὐτῶν, τάχα ἂν εἶχε πιθανότητα ὁ λόγος· νυνὶ δὲ ἅπαξ βούλεται αὐτοὺς ἐμπίνοντας τοῦ Νείλου δεῖν τηρεῖν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίων περὶ θηλειῶν βοῶν νόμους. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ γε τωθάζων ὁ Κέλσος τοὺς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἀγγέλους πρεσβεύοντας τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐ κακίονα ἔφησεν εἶναι τὸν Ἄμμωνα πρὸς τὸ διαπρεσβεῦσαι τὰ δαιμόνια ἢ οἱ Ἰουδαίων ἄγγελοι· ὧν οὐκ ἐξήτασε τοὺς λόγους καὶ τὰς ἐπιφανείας, τί βούλονται. ἑωράκει γὰρ ἂν ὅτι οὐ „τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ θεῷ, “ ἔνθα καὶ δοκεῖ περὶ βοῶν ἢ ἀλόγων ζῴων νομοθετεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὰ διʼ ἀνθρώπους γραφέντα ἐν προσχήματι τῷ περὶ ἀλόγων ζῴων φυσιολογίαν τινὰ περιέχει. Κέλσος μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν ἄδικόν φησι ποιεῖν ἕκαστον, τὰ σφέτερα νόμιμα θρησκεύειν ἐθέλοντα· καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ κατʼ αὐτὸν μηδὲν ἄδικον ποιεῖν Σκύθας, ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὰ πάτρια δαίνυνται ἀνθρώπους. καὶ Ἰνδῶν δὲ οἱ τοὺς πατέρας ἐσθίοντες ὅσια δρᾶν νομίζουσι, καὶ κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον, ἢ οὐκ ἄδικά γε. ἐκτίθεται γοῦν Ἡροδότου λέξιν συναγορεύουσαν τὸ ἕκαστον τοῖς πατρίοις νόμοις καθηκόντως χρῆσθαι, καὶ ἔοικεν ἀποδεχομένῳ τοὺς ἐπὶ Δαρείου Καλατίας καλουμένους Ἰνδοὺς τοὺς γονεῖς κατεσθίοντας, ἐπεὶ πρὸς τὸν Δαρεῖον πυνθανόμενον, ἐπὶ πόσῳ χρήματι ἀποθέσθαι τοῦτον τὸν νόμον βούλονται, ἀναβοήσαντες μέγα εὐφημεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκέλευον. ### English translation (Claude) And what sort of god is Herodotus's Ammon, whose words Celsus has adopted as proof that each should keep his ancestral customs? For their Ammon does not allow the people of the city of Marea and of Apis, who live in the parts bordering on Libya, to be indifferent about eating cows; a thing that is not only indifferent by its own nature, but also does not prevent anyone from being noble and good. And if their Ammon had forbidden the eating of cows because the animal is useful for farming, and moreover because their kind increases chiefly through the females, perhaps the argument would have had some plausibility; but as it is, he simply wants them, because they drink from the Nile, to keep the laws of the Egyptians about cows. And in this Celsus, mocking the angels among the Jews who convey the will of God, said that "Ammon is no worse at conveying the will of the divine powers than the angels of the Jews"; but he did not examine their words and appearances, and what they mean. For he would have seen that "it is not for oxen that God cares," even where he seems to legislate about oxen or irrational animals, but that what was written for the sake of human beings contains, under the guise of laws about irrational animals, a certain teaching about nature. Celsus, then, says that no one does anything unjust in wishing to practise his own customs; and it follows on his view that the Scythians do nothing unjust when they feast on human beings according to their ancestral customs. And those Indians who eat their fathers think they act piously, and according to Celsus they at least do nothing unjust. At any rate, he sets out a passage of Herodotus arguing that each rightly uses his ancestral customs, and he seems to approve the Indians called Callatiae in the time of Darius, who ate their parents, since, when Darius asked for what price they would be willing to give up this custom, they cried out loudly and bade him speak no evil. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 9:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 9:9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/36/). ## Against Celsus 5.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/37/ - Source: Koetschau 2:40–41 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: When a city's law contradicts God's natural law, God's law must be obeyed even at the cost of death; so Christians reject the local gods, and Christ, unlike the newly invented Sarapis, is older than all creation. ### Greek text Δύο τοίνυν νόμων προκειμένων γενικῶς, καὶ τοῦ μὲν ὄντος τῆς φύσεως νόμου, ὃν θεὸς ἂν νομοθετήσαι, ἑτέρου δὲ τοῦ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι γραπτοῦ, καλὸν ὅπου μὲν μὴ ἐναντιοῦται ὁ γραπτὸς νόμος τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ μὴ λυπεῖν τοὺς πολίτας προφάσει ξένων νόμων· ἔνθα δὲ τὰ ἐναντία τῷ γραπτῷ νόμῳ προστάσσει ὁ τῆς φύσεως τουτέστι τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅρα εἰ μὴ ὁ λόγος αἱρεῖ μακρὰν μὲν χαίρειν εἰπεῖν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις καὶ τῷ βουλήματι τῶν νομοθετῶν, ἐπιδιδόναι δὲ ἑαυτὸν τῷ θεῷ νομοθέτῃ καὶ κατὰ τὸν τούτου λόγον αἱρεῖσθαι βιοῦν, κἂν μετὰ κινδύνων καὶ μυρίων πόνων καὶ θανάτων καὶ ἀδοξίας τοῦτο δέῃ ποιεῖν. καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον, τῶν ἀρεσκόντων τῷ θεῷ ἑτέρων ὄντων παρὰ τὰ ἀρέσκοντά τισι τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι νόμων, καὶ ἀμηχάνου τυγχάνοντος ἀρέσκειν θεῷ καὶ τοῖς πρεσβεύουσι τοὺς τοιούσδε νόμους, καταφρονεῖν μὲν πράξεων, διʼ ὧν ἀρέσει τις τῷ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργῷ, αἱρεῖσθαι δὲ ἐκείνας, ἐξ ὧν ἀπάρεστος μέν τις ἔσται τῷ θεῷ, ἀρεστὸς δὲ τοῖς οὐ νόμοις νόμοις καὶ τοῖς τούτων φίλοις. εἴπερ δὲ εὔλογον ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τὸν τῆς φύσεως προτιμᾶν νόμον, ὄντα νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ, παρὰ τὸν γεγραμμένον καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐναντίως τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ νενομοθετημένον. πῶς οὐχὶ τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς περὶ θεοῦ νόμοις ποιητέον; καὶ οὔτε ὡς Αἰθίοπες, [ὡς] οἱ τὰ περὶ τὴν Μερόην οἰκοῦντες, Δία καὶ Διόνυσον, ὡς ἐκείνοις ἀρέσκει, μόνους προσκυνήσομεν, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅλως Αἰθιοπικοὺς θεοὺς Αἰθιοπικῶς τιμήσομεν· οὔθʼ ὡς οἱ Ἀράβιοι τὴν Οὐρανίαν καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον μόνους ἡγησόμεθα θεοὺς, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅλως θεοὺς. ἐν οἷς τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄῤῥεν δεδόξασται (ὡς θήλειαν γὰρ Ἀράβιοι τὴν Οὐρανίαν προσκυνοῦσι καὶ ὡς ἄῤῥενα τὸν Διόνυσον)· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὡς πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι θεοὺς νομίσομεν Ὄσιριν καὶ Ἶσιν. οὐδὲ τούτοις συγκατατάξομεν κατὰ τὰ τοῖς Σαΐταις (δοκοῦντα) τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν. εἰ δὲ καὶ Ναυκρατίταις ἄλλα μὲν ἔδοξε σέβειν τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις. τὸν Σάραπιν δὲ τοῖς χθὲς καὶ πρώην ἀρξαμένοις. τὸν οὐ πώποτε γενόμενον θεὸν, προσκυνεῖν· οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς νέον τὸν οὐ πρότερον ὄντα θεὸν οὐδὲ γνωσθέντα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φήσομεν εἶναι. ὁ γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ υἱὸς, ὁ „πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, “ εἰ καὶ νεωστὶ ἐνηνθρωπηκέναι ἔδοξεν. ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε διὰ τοῦτο νέος ἐστί. πρεσβύτατον γὰρ αὐτὸν πάντων τῶν δημιουργημάτων ἴσασιν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι, καὶ αὐτῷ τὸν θεὸν περὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου δημιουργίας εἰρηκέναι· „ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Since, then, there are in general two laws before us, one being the law of nature, which God would lay down, and the other the written law in cities, it is good, where the written law does not oppose the law of God, not to trouble the citizens on the pretext of foreign laws; but where the law of nature, that is, of God, commands things contrary to the written law, see whether reason does not choose to bid a long farewell to what is written and to the intent of the lawgivers, and to give oneself to God the lawgiver and choose to live according to his word, even if one must do this with dangers and countless toils and deaths and disgrace. For it is absurd, when what pleases God is different from what pleases some of the laws in cities, and it is impossible to please both God and those who uphold such laws, to despise the actions by which one will please the Creator of the universe and choose those by which one will be displeasing to God, but pleasing to laws that are no laws and to their friends. And if in other matters it is reasonable to prefer the law of nature, which is the law of God, to the law written and enacted by human beings contrary to God's law, how much more must this be done in the laws about God? And we will not, like the Ethiopians who live around Meroe, worship Zeus and Dionysus alone, as pleases them; nor will we honour Ethiopian gods at all in the Ethiopian way. Nor, like the Arabians, will we consider Urania and Dionysus alone gods, nor gods at all, in whom female and male have been glorified (for the Arabians worship Urania as female and Dionysus as male). Nor, like all the Egyptians, will we consider Osiris and Isis gods; nor will we rank Athena with them according to the opinion of the people of Sais. And if the older people of Naucratis chose to worship other gods, and those who began only yesterday or the day before to worship Sarapis, a god who never existed, we will not for that reason say that there is a new god who did not exist before and was not known to human beings. For the Son of God, "the firstborn of all creation," even if he appeared to have become man recently, is not for that reason new. For the divine words know him to be the oldest of all created things, and that it was to him that God said concerning the creation of man: "Let us make man in our image and likeness." ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Col 1:15 and Gen 1:26. The bracketed [ὡς] is deleted and (δοκοῦντα) supplied by the editor. On the placement of the Son among "created things," Origen's wording (δημιουργήματα) reflects pre-Nicene usage following Col 1:15. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/37/). ## Against Celsus 5.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/38/ - Source: Koetschau 2:41–43 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's rule fails when people of different customs meet: must an Ethiopian among Arabians die or betray his gods? The Egyptian gods are nature allegories, and Sarapis a recent magical invention. ### Greek text Βούλομαι δὲ παραστῆσαι, τίνα τρόπον οὐκ εὐλόγως ὁ Κέλσος φησὶν ἕκαστον τὰ οἰκεῖα καὶ πάτρια σέβειν. φησὶ γὰρ οὗτος τοὺς οἰκοῦντας τὴν Μερόην Αἰθίοπας δύο μόνους εἰδέναι θεοὺς, Δία καὶ Διόνυσον, καὶ αὐτοὺς μόνους σέβειν τοὺς δʼ Ἀραβίους καὶ αὐτοὺς δύο μόνους, Διόνυσον μὲν ὡς καὶ Αἰθίοπες, Οὐρανίαν δὲ ἰδίαν. κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν αὐτοῦ οὔτʼ Αἰθίοπες Οὐρανίαν σέβουσιν οὔτε Ἀράβιοι Δία. ἆρʼ οὖν ἐάν τις Αἰθιόπων, ἔκ τινος περιστάσεως γενόμενος παρὰ τοῖς Ἀραβίοις, ἀσεβὴς εἶναι νομισθῇ ὡς τὴν Οὐρανίαν οὐ σέβων καὶ παρὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ κινδυνεύῃ, καθήξει τῷ Αἰθίοπι ἀποθανεῖν ἢ παρὰ τὰ πάτρια ποιεῖν καὶ προσκυνεῖν τὴν Οὐρανίαν; εἰ μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τὰ πάτρια ποιεῖν αὐτὸν καθήξει, οὐχ ὅσιον ποιήσει ὅσον ἐπὶ τοῖς τοῦ Κέλσου λόγοις· εἰ δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ἀπαχθείη, παραστησάτω τὸ εὔλογον τοῦ αἱρεῖσθαι θάνατον, οὐκ οἶδα εἰ τοῦ Αἰθιόπων λόγου φιλοσοφεῖν διδάσκοντος περὶ ψυχῆς ἀθανασίας καὶ τιμῆς τῆς ἐπὶ εὐσεβείᾳ, εἰ (κατὰ) τοὺς πατρίους νόμους σέβοιεν νομιζομένους θεούς. τὸ δʼ ὅμοιον ἔστιν εἰπεῖν καὶ περὶ Ἀραβίων, ἔκ τινος περιστάσεως ἐπιδημησάντων Αἰθίοψι τοῖς περὶ Μερόην. καὶ οὗτοι γὰρ μόνους διδαχθέντες σέβειν Οὐρανίαν καὶ Διόνυσον οὐ προσκυνήσουσι τὸν Δία μετὰ τῶν Αἰθιόπων· καὶ ἀσεβεῖν νομισθέντες εἰ τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ [ἂν] ἀπάγοιντο, τί ἂν εὐλόγως ποιήσαιεν, λεγέτω ὁ Κέλσος. τοὺς δὲ περὶ Ὄσιριν καὶ Ἶσιν μύθους περισσόν ἐστιν ἡμῖν νῦν καταλέγειν καὶ οὐκ εὔκαιρον. κἂν τροπολογῶνται δὲ οἱ μῦθοι. τὸ ἄψυχον ἡμᾶς ὕδωρ σέβειν διδάξουσι καὶ τὴν ὑποκειμένην ἀνθρώποις καὶ πᾶσι ζῴοις γῆν. οὕτω γὰρ οἶμαι μεταλαμβάνουσι τὸν μὲν Ὄσιριν εἰς ὕδωρ τὴν δὲ Ἶσιν εἰς γῆν. περὶ δὲ Σαράπιδος πολλὴ καὶ διάφωνος ἱστορία, χθὲς καὶ πρώην εἰς μέσον ἐλθόντος κατά τινας μαγγανείας τοῦ βουληθέντος Πτολεμαίου οἱονεὶ ἐπιφανῆ δεῖξαι τοῖς ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ θεόν. ἀνέγνωμεν δὲ παρὰ Νουμηνίῳ τῷ Πυθαγορείῳ περὶ τῆς κατασκευῆς αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἄρα πάντων τῶν ὑπὸ φύσεως διοικουμένων μετέχει οὐσίας ζῴων καὶ φυτῶν· ἵνα δόξῃ μετὰ τῶν ἀτελέστων τελετῶν καὶ τῶν καλουσῶν δαίμονας μαγγανειῶν οὐχ ὑπὸ ἀγαλματοποιῶν μόνων κατασκευάζεσθαι θεὸς ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ μάγων καὶ φαρμακῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπῳδαῖς αὐτῶν κηλουμένων δαιμόνων. ### English translation (Claude) I wish to show how unreasonably Celsus says that each should revere his own and ancestral gods. For he says that the Ethiopians who live in Meroe know only two gods, Zeus and Dionysus, and revere them alone; and the Arabians also only two, Dionysus, as the Ethiopians do, and Urania, their own. According to his account, neither do the Ethiopians revere Urania nor the Arabians Zeus. If, then, an Ethiopian, finding himself among the Arabians by some circumstance, were thought impious for not revering Urania, and were in danger of death for this, would it be right for the Ethiopian to die, or to act contrary to his ancestral customs and worship Urania? If it is right for him to act contrary to his ancestral customs, he will act unholily, as far as Celsus's words go; but if he were led off to death, let him show the reasonableness of choosing death, when I do not know whether the Ethiopian doctrine teaches them to philosophize about the immortality of the soul and the honour for piety, if they revere the gods held such according to their ancestral laws. The same can be said about Arabians who by some circumstance stay among the Ethiopians around Meroe. For they too, taught to revere Urania and Dionysus alone, will not worship Zeus with the Ethiopians; and if, thought to be impious, they were led off to death, let Celsus say what they would reasonably do. As for the myths about Osiris and Isis, it is superfluous and untimely for us to list them now. Even if the myths are interpreted figuratively, they will teach us to revere lifeless water and the earth that lies beneath human beings and all animals; for so, I think, they take Osiris as water and Isis as earth. About Sarapis there is a long and conflicting story: he came onto the scene only yesterday or the day before, through certain magical practices of Ptolemy, who wished to show the people of Alexandria a god, as it were, made manifest. We have read in Numenius the Pythagorean about his construction, that he shares in the substance of all the animals and plants administered by nature; so that he might seem to be made a god, with impious rites and magic that invokes demons, not by sculptors alone but also by magicians and sorcerers and by the demons charmed by their incantations. ### Extrabiblical texts - Numenius, fr. 53 (Numenius of Apamea): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The parenthetical (κατὰ) is the editor's supplement, and the bracketed [ἂν] is deleted. Origen draws on a lost work of Numenius of Apamea (2nd c.), the Pythagorean-Platonist (fragment 53 des Places). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/38/). ## Against Celsus 5.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/39/ - Source: Koetschau 2:43–44 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus approves of Egyptians who revere man-eating crocodiles but blames Christians who honor Virtue itself, the Son of God, who is God's Wisdom and Righteousness, uniquely united with the soul of Jesus. ### Greek text Χρὴ οὖν ζητεῖν τὸ ἁρμοζόντως τῷ λογικῷ καὶ ἡμέρῳ ζῴῳ καὶ λελογισμένως πάντα πράττοντι βρωτὸν καὶ οὐ βρωτὸν. καὶ μὴ κατὰ ἀποκλήρωσιν σέβειν ὄϊς ἢ αἶγας ἢ τὰς θηλείας βοῦς. καὶ τούτων μὲν ἀπέχεσθαι μέτριον, πολὺ γὰρ χρήσιμον ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ζῴων ἀνθρώποις γίνεται· τὸ δὲ καὶ κροκοδείλων φείδεσθαι, καὶ εἶναι ἱεροὺς αὐτοὺς οὐκ οἶδα τίνος μυθολογουμένου θεοῦ, πῶς οὐκ ἔστι πάντων ἠλιθιώτατον; σφόδρα γὰρ ἐμβροντήτων ἐστὶ τὸ φείδεσθαι ζῴων οὐ φειδομένων καὶ περιέπειν ζῷα ἀνθρώπους καταθοινώμενα. ἀλλὰ Κέλσῳ ἀρέσκουσι μὲν οἱ κατά τινα πάτρια κροκοδείλους σέβοντες καὶ περιέποντες, καὶ οὐδεὶς λόγος κατʼ ἐκείνων αὐτῷ γέγραπται· ψεκτοὶ δʼ εἶναι φαίνονται Χριστιανοὶ, τὴν κακίαν βδελύσσεσθαι διδασκόμενοι καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας ἔργα ἐκτρέπεσθαι, τὴν δʼ ἀρετὴν σέβειν καὶ τιμᾶν ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγενημένην καὶ οὖσαν υἱὸν θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ παρὰ τὸ θηλυκὸν ὄνομα καὶ τῇ οὐσίᾳ θήλειαν νομιστέον εἶναι τὴν σοφίαν καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ἅπερ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς ὁ γνήσιος αὐτοῦ μαθητὴς παρέστησε λέγων περὶ αὐτοῦ· „ὃς ἐγενήθη σοφία ἡμῖν ἀπὸ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη τε καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ ἀπολύτρωσις.“ κἂν δεύτερον οὖν λέγωμεν θεὸν, ἴστωσαν ὅτι τὸν δεύτερον θεὸν οὐκ ἄλλο τι λέγομεν ἢ τὴν περιεκτικὴν πασῶν ἀρετῶν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὸν περιεκτικὸν παντὸς οὑτινοσοῦν λόγου τῶν κατὰ φύσιν καὶ προηγουμένως γεγενημένων καὶ εἰς χρήσιμον τοῦ παντὸς λόγον· ὅντινα τῇ Ἰησοῦ μάλιστα παρὰ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ᾠκειῶσθαι καὶ ἡνῶσθαί φαμεν, μόνου τελείως χωρῆσαι δεδυνημένου τὴν ἄκραν μετοχὴν τοῦ αὐτολόγου καὶ τῆς αὐτοσοφίας καὶ τῆς αὐτοδικαιοσύνης. ### English translation (Claude) One must therefore inquire what is edible and what is not in a way fitting for a rational and civilized animal that does everything by reasoning, and not revere sheep, or goats, or cows arbitrarily. To abstain from these is moderate, for much benefit comes to human beings from these animals; but to spare even crocodiles, and to hold them sacred to some mythological god or other, how is this not the most foolish thing of all? For it is the mark of people quite thunderstruck to spare animals that do not spare us, and to cherish animals that feast on human beings. But Celsus approves of those who revere and cherish crocodiles according to some ancestral custom, and he has written no word against them; while Christians appear to him blameworthy, who are taught to loathe vice and turn away from the works of vice, and to revere and honour virtue as begotten by God and as being the Son of God. For we must not think that Wisdom and Righteousness, which in our view are the Son of God, are female in substance because their names are feminine, as his genuine disciple showed when he said of him: "who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." So even if we speak of a second God, let them know that by the second God we mean nothing other than the virtue that comprises all virtues, and the Reason (Logos) that comprises every reason of the things that have come into being according to nature and principally, and for the benefit of the universe; which Reason, we say, was joined and united to the soul of Jesus above every other soul, since he alone was able to receive perfectly the highest share in Reason itself, Wisdom itself, and Righteousness itself. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:30: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 1 Cor 1:30. "Second God" is Origen's pre-Nicene expression for the Son's subordinate rank; he explains it as Virtue, Reason (Logos), Wisdom, and Righteousness "itself." His teaching that the Logos united with the pre-existent soul of Jesus is his own. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/39/). ## Against Celsus 5.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/40/ - Source: Koetschau 2:44 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Pindar's 'law is king of all' is true only of the natural law of God, not of the many laws of cities; Christians live by God's law and reject laws that are no laws. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοιαῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τῶν διαφόρων νόμων ἐπιφέρει ὅτι ὀρθῶς μοι δοκεῖ Πίνδαρος ποιῆσαι, νόμον πάντων βασιλέα φήσας εἶναι, φέρε καὶ περὶ τούτου διαλεχθῶμεν. τίνα φῂς, ὦ οὗτος, νόμον πάντων εἶναι βασιλέα; εἰ μὲν τοὺς κατὰ πόλιν, ψεῦδος τὸ τοιοῦτον· οὐ γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ νόμου πάντες βασιλεύονται· καὶ χρῆν, εἰ ἄρα, λελέχθαι· νόμοι πάντων βασιλεῖς, ἑκάστου γὰρ ἔθνους τῶν πάντων νόμος τις βασιλεύς. εἰ δὲ κυρίως ἀκούεις τοῦ νόμου, ὁ φύσει βασιλεὺς τῶν πάντων οὗτός ἐστιν· εἰ καί τινες δίκην λῃστῶν, ἀποστάντων τοῦ νόμου. τοῦτον μὲν ἀρνοῦνται λῃστρικῶς δὲ καὶ ἀδικητικῶς διαζῶσιν. ἡμεῖς οὖν οἱ Χριστιανοὶ τὸν τῇ φύσει πάντων βασιλέα ἐπιγνόντες νόμον, τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, κατʼ αὐτὸν βιοῦν πειρώμεθα, μακρὰν χαίρειν φράσαντες τοῖς οὐ νόμοις νόμοις. ### English translation (Claude) And since, having said such things about the different laws, Celsus adds: "Pindar seems to me to have been right when he wrote that custom is king of all," come, let us discuss this too. What law do you say, sir, is king of all? If you mean the laws of each city, this is false; for not all are ruled by the same law. It should rather have been said, "laws are kings of all," since some law is king of each nation among all. But if you understand law in the proper sense, this is by nature king of all things; even if some, like robbers who have revolted from the law, deny it and live lawlessly and unjustly. We Christians, then, having recognized the law that is by nature king of all, which is the same as the law of God, try to live by it, bidding a long farewell to laws that are no laws. ### Extrabiblical texts - Pindar, fr. 169 (Pindar (odes and fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Pindar, fragment 169 Snell–Maehler. Origen plays on νόμος as both "custom" and "law." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/40/). ## Against Celsus 5.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/41/ - Source: Koetschau 2:44–45 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says the Jews have no special claim: others worship the heavens as God under different names, and others also practise circumcision and food taboos; their ruined state shows God has no special favor for them. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τῷ Κέλσῳ λεγόμενα. ἐν οἷς σφόδρα μὲν ἐλάχιστά ἐστι τὰ περὶ Χριστιανῶν πλεῖστα δὲ ὅσα περὶ Ἰουδαίων. φησὶν οὖν· εἰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ ταῦτα περιστέλλοιεν Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν ἴδιον νόμον, οὐ μεμπτὰ αὐτῶν, ἐκείνων δὲ μᾶλλον, τῶν καταλιπόντων τὰ σφέτερα καὶ τὰ Ἰουδαίων προσποιουμένων. εἰ δʼ ὥς τι σοφώτερον εἰδότες σεμνύνονταί τε καὶ τὴν ἄλλων κοινωνίαν (ὡς) οὐκ ἐξ ἴσου καθαρῶν ἀποστρέφονται, ἤδη ἀκηκόασιν ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸ περὶ οὐρανοῦ δόγμα ἴδιον λέγουσιν ἀλλʼ, ἵνα πάντα ἐάσω, καὶ Πέρσαις, ὥς που δηλοῖ καὶ Ἡρόδοτος, πάλαι δεδογμένον. „νομίζουσι γὰρ, “ φησὶ, „Διῒ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλότατα τῶν ὀρέων ἀναβαίνοντες θυσίας ἔρδειν, τὸν κύκλον πάντα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Δία καλέοντες.“ οὐδὲν οὖν οἶμαι διαφέρειν Δία Ὕψιστον καλεῖν ἢ Ζῆνα ἢ Ἀδωναῖον ἢ Σαβαὼθ ἢ Ἀμοῦν, ὡς Αἰγύπτιοι, ἢ Παπαῖον, ὡς Σκύθαι. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ κατὰ ταῦτα ἁγιώτεροι τῶν ἄλλων ἂν εἶεν. ὅτι περιτέμνονται· τοῦτο γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Κόλχοι πρότεροι· οὐδʼ ὅτι συῶν ἀπέχονται· καὶ γὰρ τοῦτʼ Αἰγύπτιοι, καὶ προσέτι αἰγῶν τε καὶ οἰῶν καὶ βοῶν (τε) καὶ ἰχθύων, καὶ κυάμων γε Πυθαγόρας τε καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ καὶ ἐμψύχων ἁπάντων. οὐ μὴν οὐδʼ εὐδοκιμεῖν παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ στέργεσθαι διαφόρως τι τῶν ἄλλων τούτους εἰκὸς, καὶ πέμπεσθαι μόνοις αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἀγγέλους. οἷον δή τινα μακάρων χώραν λαχοῦσιν· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ αὐτούς τε καὶ τὴν χώραν τίνων ἠξίωνται. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ χορὸς ἀπίτω δίκην ἀλαζονείας ὑποσχὼν, οὐκ εἰδὼς τὸν μέγαν θεὸν ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῆς Μωϋσέως γοητείας ὑπαχθείς τε καὶ ψευσθεὶς κἀκείνης οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τέλει γεγονὼς μαθητής. ### English translation (Claude) Let us look also at what Celsus says next, in which there is very little about Christians and a great deal about Jews. He says: "If, then, the Jews maintain their own law on these grounds, they are not to be blamed, but rather those who have abandoned their own customs and adopted those of the Jews. But if they pride themselves as knowing something wiser, and turn away from fellowship with others as not equally pure, they have already heard that not even their doctrine about heaven is their own, but, to pass over everything else, was held long ago by the Persians too, as Herodotus shows somewhere. 'For they are accustomed,' he says, 'to go up to the highest mountains and offer sacrifices to Zeus, calling the whole circle of the heaven Zeus.' I think, then, that it makes no difference whether one calls the Most High Zeus, or Zen, or Adonai, or Sabaoth, or Amoun, as the Egyptians do, or Papaeus, as the Scythians do. Nor would they be holier than others on this account, that they are circumcised; for the Egyptians and Colchians did this before them; nor because they abstain from pigs; for the Egyptians do this too, and besides from goats and sheep and oxen and fish, and Pythagoras and his disciples from beans and from all living things. Nor is it likely that they are in favour with God and loved in any way differently from others, and that angels are sent from there to them alone, as though they had been allotted some land of the blessed; for we see what sort of fortune both they and their land have been thought worthy of. Let this chorus, then, depart, having paid the penalty for its boasting, not knowing the great God, but led on and deceived by the sorcery of Moses, and having become his disciples for no good end." ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 1.131 (Herodotus, Histories): quotation, high confidence - Herodotus, Hist. 2.104 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Herodotus 1.131 and 2.104 (circumcision among Egyptians and Colchians). The parentheses (ὡς) and (τε) are the editor's supplements. Papaeus is the Scythian Zeus (Herodotus 4.59). "What sort of fortune" refers to the defeat of the Jewish revolts and the loss of Jerusalem. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/41/). ## Against Celsus 5.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/42/ - Source: Koetschau 2:45–46 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus, Origen praises the ancient Jewish commonwealth: no games or prostitution, children taught to seek God beyond the material world and to believe in the soul's immortality and judgment, and prophecy instead of divination. ### Greek text Δῆλον δʼ ὅτι ἐν τούτοις ἐγκαλεῖ Ἰουδαίοις ὡς ψευδῶς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι ἐκλεκτὴν μερίδα παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ. καὶ ἀλαζονείας γοῦν αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖ ὡς αὐχούντων μὲν τὸν μέγαν θεὸν, οὐκ εἰδότων δʼ αὐτὸν ἀλλʼ ὑπαχθέντων τῇ Μωϋσέως γοητείᾳ καὶ ψευσθέντων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τέλει μαθητευθέντων αὐτῷ. ἀπὸ μέρους μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων λέλεκται τὰ τῆς σεμνῆς καὶ ἐξαιρέτου Ἰουδαίων πολιτείας, ἡνίκα αὐτοῖς συνειστήκει τὸ σύμβολον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἱερατικῆς λατρείας· εἰ δέ τις ἐπερείσας τὴν διάνοιαν τῷ τοῦ νομοθέτου βουλήματι καὶ τῇ κατʼ αὐτὸν πολιτείᾳ ἐξετάζων τὰ κατʼ αὐτοὺς συγκρίνοι τῇ νῦν ἀγωγῇ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν, οὐδένας μᾶλλον ἂν θαυμάσαι ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάντα μὲν τὰ μὴ χρήσιμα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων περιῃρημένους μόνα δὲ τὰ εὔχρηστα παραδεξαμένους. διὸ οὐδʼ ἀγῶνες ἦσαν γυμνικοὶ ἢ θυμελικοὶ ἢ ἱππικοὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ γυναῖκες πιπράσκουσαι τὴν ὥραν παντὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ σπείρειν κενῶς καὶ ἐνυβρίζειν τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σπερμάτων. ὁποῖον δʼ ἦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὸ ἐξ ἔτι ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων διδάσκεσθαι ὑπεραναβαίνειν μὲν πᾶσαν τὴν αἰσθητὴν φύσιν καὶ μηδαμοῦ αὐτῆς νομίζειν ἱδρῦσθαι τὸν θεὸν, ἄνω δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ σώματα ζητεῖν αὐτόν; πηλίκον δὲ τὸ σχεδὸν ἅμα γενέσει καὶ συμπληρώσει τοῦ λόγου διδάσκεσθαι αὐτοὺς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀθανασίαν καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ γῆν δικαιωτήρια καὶ τὰς τιμὰς τῶν καλῶς βεβιωκότων; ἅπερ ἔτι μυθικώτερον μὲν παισὶ καὶ τὰ παίδων φρονοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐκηρύσσετο, ἤδη δὲ ζητοῦσι τὸν λόγον καὶ βουλομένοις ἐν αὐτῷ προκόπτειν οἱ τέως μῦθοι, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω. μετεμορφοῦντο εἰς τὴν ἐναποκεκρυμμένην αὐτοῖς ἀλήθειαν. ἐγὼ δὲ νομίζω ἀξίως τοῦ χρηματίζειν αὐτοὺς μερίδα θεοῦ πάσης μὲν μαντείας ὡς μάτην κηλούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταπεφρονηκέναι, καὶ ἀπὸ δαιμόνων μοχθηρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπό τινος κρείττονος φύσεως ἐρχομένης. ζητεῖν δὲ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν ἐν ψυχαῖς. διʼ ἄκραν καθαρότητα παραδεξαμέναις πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) It is clear that here he accuses the Jews of falsely supposing themselves to be the chosen portion of the God over all in preference to all the nations. He accuses them of boasting, as though they boast of the great God, yet do not know him, but were led on by the sorcery of Moses and deceived by him, and were made his disciples for no good end. We have already spoken in part, in what went before, about the venerable and exceptional commonwealth of the Jews, when the symbol of the city of God, and of his temple, and of the priestly worship at it and at the altar, still stood among them. And if anyone, fixing his mind on the intent of the lawgiver and the commonwealth he established, were to examine their way of life and compare it with the present conduct of the other nations, he would admire none more, as far as human beings go, for having removed everything not useful to the human race and accepted only what is beneficial. That is why there were among them no athletic, theatrical, or horse-racing contests, nor women selling their bloom to anyone who wished to sow in vain and outrage the nature of human seed. And how great a thing it was among them to be taught from their tender years to rise above all perceptible nature, and never to think that God is set up anywhere in it, but to seek him above and beyond bodies! And how great to be taught, almost as soon as they were born and their reason was complete, the immortality of the soul, the courts of judgment beneath the earth, and the honours of those who have lived well! These things were proclaimed in a more mythical form to those who were still children and thought as children; but to those already seeking the meaning and wishing to advance in it, what had till then been myths, if I may call them that, were transformed into the truth hidden in them. And I think that, in a manner worthy of their being called God's portion, they despised all divination, as bewitching human beings in vain and coming from wicked demons rather than from some higher nature, and sought the knowledge of the future in souls that, through their utmost purity, had received the Spirit of the God over all. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/42/). ## Against Celsus 5.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/43/ - Source: Koetschau 2:46–47 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Jewish law, such as its release of slaves after six years, is far better than other nations' laws; even the least Jew worships the one God while philosophers bow to idols, and had Israel not killed the prophets and plotted against Jesus it would model the heavenly city Plato sought. ### Greek text Τὸ δὲ μὴ ἐξεῖναι δουλεύειν τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ὁρμώμενον δογμάτων πλεῖον ἐτῶν ἓξ πῶς ἐστι λελογισμένον καὶ οὔτε τὸν δεσπότην οὔτε τὸν δοῦλον ἀδικοῦν, τί χρὴ λέγειν; οὐ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ οὖν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι περιστέλλοιεν ἂν Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν ἴδιον νόμον. μεμπτὸν γάρ ἐστιν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀναισθησίας ἔγκλημα ἐπάγον τῆς περὶ τῆς τῶν νόμων ὑπεροχῆς. εἰ νομίζοιεν αὐτοὺς ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις γεγράφθαι τοῖς κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη. κἂν μὴ βούληται δὲ Κέλσος, σοφώτερόν τι εἰσὶν εἰδότες Ἰουδαῖοι οὐ μόνον τῶν πολλῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν φιλοσοφεῖν δοκούντων. ὅτι οἱ μὲν φιλοσοφοῦντες μετὰ τοὺς σεμνοὺς ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ λόγους καταπίπτουσιν ἐπὶ τὰ εἴδωλα καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας, Ἰουδαίων δὲ καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος μόνῳ ἐνορᾷ τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ· καὶ καλῶς γε ὅσον ἐπὶ τούτῳ σεμνύνονται καὶ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ὡς ἐναγῶν καὶ ἀσεβῶν ἐκτρέπονται κοινωνίαν. καὶ εἴθε αὐτοῖς μὴ ἡμάρτητο παρανομήσασι καὶ πρότερον μὲν „τοὺς προφήτας“ ἀποκτείνασιν ὕστερον δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπιβουλεύσασιν· ἵνʼ ἔχωμεν παράδειγμα πόλεως οὐρανίας, ἣν ἐζήτησε μὲν διαγράψαι καὶ Πλάτων οὐκ οἶδα δὲ εἰ τοσοῦτον δεδύνηται, ὅσον Μωϋσῆς ἴσχυσε καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτὸν, „γένος τι ἐκλεκτὸν“ καὶ „ἔθνος ἅγιον“ καὶ θεῷ ἀνακείμενον ἐντρέφοντες λόγοις καθαροῖς ἀπὸ πάσης δεισιδαιμονίας. ### English translation (Claude) And what need is there to say how reasonable it is, and unjust neither to master nor to slave, that one who starts from the same doctrines may not be kept a slave for more than six years? The Jews, then, would not maintain their own law on the same grounds as the other nations. For it is blameworthy of them, and brings a charge of insensibility to the superiority of their laws, if they were to think them written in the same way as the others among the nations. And even if Celsus does not wish it, the Jews know something wiser, not only than the many, but also than those who seem to philosophize; because the philosophers, after their venerable words in philosophy, fall down before idols and demons, while even the least of the Jews looks to the God over all alone. And in this respect they rightly pride themselves and turn away from fellowship with others as defiled and impious. And would that they had not sinned by breaking the law, and first killed "the prophets" and later plotted against Jesus too, so that we might have an example of the heavenly city, which Plato too sought to describe, though I do not know whether he was as able as Moses and those after him proved to be, who nurtured "a chosen race" and "a holy nation," dedicated to God, with words pure of all superstition. ### Scripture references - Exod 21:2: allusion, high confidence - Deut 15:12: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Thess 2:15: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Pet 2:9: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Exod 21:2 (Deut 15:12), 1 Thess 2:15 (cf. Matt 23:37), and 1 Pet 2:9. Plato's ideal city is described in the Republic. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/43/). ## Against Celsus 5.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/44/ - Source: Koetschau 2:47–48 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jewish worship, with its one temple, altar, and high priest, has nothing in common with Persian mountain-top sacrifices, and neither Jews nor Christians identify heaven with God. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ βούλεται Κέλσος κοινοποιεῖν τὰ σεμνὰ Ἰουδαίων ἐθνῶν τινων νόμοις. φέρε καὶ ταῦτα θεωρήσωμεν. νομίζει τοίνυν τὸ περὶ οὐρανοῦ δόγμα μηδὲν διαφέρειν τοῦ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καί φησι παραπλησίως τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τοὺς Πέρσας τῷ Διῒ θυσίας ἐπιτελεῖν. ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλότατα τῶν ὀρέων ἀναβαίνοντας οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι Ἰουδαῖοι ὡς ἕνα θεὸν ἠπίσταντο. οὕτως ἕνα τὸν τῆς προσευχῆς ἅγιον οἶκον καὶ ἓν τὸ τῶν ὁλοκαρπωμάτων θυσιαστήριον καὶ ἓν τὸ τῶν θυμιαμάτων θυμιατήριον καὶ ἕνα τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀρχιερέα. οὐδὲν οὖν κοινὸν πρὸς Πέρσας ἦν Ἰουδαίοις, ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλότατα τῶν ὀρέων, πλειόνων ὄντων, ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ θυσίας ἐπιτελοῦντας, οὐδὲν παραπλήσιον ἐχούσας ταῖς κατὰ τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον· καθʼ ὃν „ὑποδείγματι καὶ σκιᾷ“ ἐλάτρευον „τῶν ἐπουρανίων“ οἱ Ἰουδαίων ἱερεῖς, ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ διηγούμενοι τὸ τοῦ νόμου περὶ τῶν θυσιῶν βούλημα καὶ ὧν σύμβολα ἦσαν αὗται. Πέρσαι τοίνυν πάντα τὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κύκλον Δία καλείτωσαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὔτε Δία οὔτε τὸν θεόν φαμεν εἶναι τὸν οὐρανὸν, οἵ γε ἐπιστάμεθα καὶ τινα τῶν ἡττόνων τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπεραναβεβηκέναι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ πᾶσαν αἰσθητὴν φύσιν. καὶ οὕτω γε συνίεμεν τοῦ· „αἰνεῖτε τὸν θεὸν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν· αἰνεσάτωσαν τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου.“ ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus wishes to make the venerable things of the Jews common with the laws of certain nations, come, let us consider these too. He thinks that the doctrine about heaven differs in no way from that about God, and says that the Persians, like the Jews, perform sacrifices to Zeus, going up to the highest mountains. He does not see that, as the Jews knew one God, so they had one holy house of prayer, one altar of whole burnt offerings, one altar of incense, and one high priest of God. The Jews, then, had nothing in common with the Persians, who go up to the highest mountains, which are many, and perform sacrifices that have nothing like those under the law of Moses, according to which the priests of the Jews served "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things," explaining in secret the intent of the law concerning the sacrifices and what they were symbols of. Let the Persians, then, call the whole circle of heaven Zeus; but we say that heaven is neither Zeus nor God, since we know that even some beings lower than God have risen above the heavens and all perceptible nature. And so we understand: "Praise God, you heavens of heavens, and the water above the heavens; let them praise the name of the Lord." ### Scripture references - Heb 8:5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 148:4–5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Heb 8:5 and Ps 148:4–5. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/44/). ## Against Celsus 5.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/45/ - Source: Koetschau 2:48–50 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Celsus's view that divine names are interchangeable, Origen argues that names have power by nature, not convention: 'the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' works against demons, but translated or replaced names do not. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ Κέλσος οἴεται μηδὲν διαφέρειν Δία Ὕψιστον καλεῖν ἢ Ζῆνα ἢ Ἀδωναῖον ἢ Σαβαὼθ ἢ, ὡς Αἰγύπτιοι, Ἀμοῦν ἢ, ὡς Σκύθαι, Παπαῖον, φέρε καὶ περὶ τούτων ὀλίγα διαλεχθῶμεν, ὑπομιμνήσκοντες ἅμα τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα καὶ τῶν ἀνωτέρω εἰς τὸ τοιοῦτον πρόβλημα εἰρημένων, ὅτʼ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ἡ Κέλσου λέξις ἐπὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. καὶ νῦν οὖν φαμεν ὅτι ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων φύσις οὐ θεμένων εἰσὶ νόμοι, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης οἴεται. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσιν αἱ ἐν ἀνθρώποις διάλεκτοι, ὡς δῆλον τοῖς ἐφιστάνειν δυναμένοις φύσει ἐπῳδῶν, οἰκειουμένων κατὰ τὰς διαφόρους διαλέκτους καὶ τοὺς διαφόρους φθόγγους τῶν ὀνομάτων τοῖς πατράσι τῶν διαλέκτων· περὶ ὧν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἐπʼ ὀλίγον διειλήφαμεν, λέγοντες ὅτι καὶ μεταλαμβανόμενα εἰς ἄλλην διάλεκτον τὰ πεφυκότα δύνασθαι ἐν τῇ δεῖνα διαλέκτῳ οὐκέτι ἀνύει τι, ὡς ἤνυσεν ἐν ταῖς οἰκείαις φωναῖς. ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων τὸ τοιοῦτον εὑρίσκεται· τὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ γενέσεως Ἑλλάδι διαλέκτῳ καλούμενον τὸν δεῖνα οὐκ ἂν μεταλαβόντες εἰς διάλεκτον Αἰγυπτίων ἢ Ῥωμαίων ἤ τινος ἄλλου ποιήσαιμεν παθεῖν ἢ δρᾶσαι, ἅπερ πάθοι ἢ δράσαι ἂν καλούμενος τῇ πρώτῃ θέσει τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ῥωμαίων κληθέντα φωνῇ εἰ μεταλάβοιμεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα διάλεκτον, ποιήσαιμεν ἂν, ὅπερ ποιεῖν ἐπαγγέλλεται ἡ ἐπῳδὴ, τηροῦσα τὸ κατονομασθὲν αὐτῷ πρῶτον ὄνομα. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα περὶ ἀνθρωπίνων ὀνομάτων λεγόμενά ἐστιν ἀληθῆ, τί χρὴ νομίζειν ἐπὶ τῶν διʼ ἡνδήποτε αἰτίαν ἀναφερομένων ἐπὶ τὸ θεῖον ὀνομάτων; μεταλαμβάνεται γάρ (τι) φέρʼ εἰπεῖν εἰς Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ὀνόματος καὶ σημαίνεταί τι ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰσαὰκ προσηγορίας καὶ δηλοῦταί τι ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰακὼβ φωνῆς. καὶ ἐὰν μὲν ὁ καλῶν ἢ ὁ ὁρκῶν ὀνομάζῃ θεὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ θεὸν Ἰσαὰκ καὶ θεὸν Ἰακὼβ, τόδε τι ποιήσαι ἂν ἤτοι διὰ τὴν τούτων (τῶν ὀνομάτων) φύσιν ἢ καὶ δύναμιν αὐτῶν, καὶ δαιμόνων νικωμένων καὶ ὑποταττομένων τῷ λέγοντι ταῦτα· ἐὰν δὲ λέγῃ· ὁ θεὸς πατρὸς ἐκλεκτοῦ τῆς ἠχοῦς καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοῦ γέλωτος καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοῦ πτερνιστοῦ, οὕτως οὐδὲν ποιεῖ τὸ ὀνομαζόμενον ὡς οὐδʼ ἄλλο τι τῶν μηδεμίαν δύναμιν ἐχόντων. οὕτω δὲ κἂν μὲν μεταλάβωμεν τὸ Ἰσραὴλ ὄνομα εἰς Ἑλλάδα ἢ ἄλλην διάλεκτον, οὐδὲν ποιήσομεν· ἐὰν δὲ τηρήσωμεν αὐτὸ, προσάπτοντες οἷς οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοὶ συμπλέκειν αὐτὸ ᾠήθησαν, τότε γένοιτʼ ἄν τι κατὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τῶν τοιωνδὶ ἐπικλήσεων ἐκ τῆς τοιασδὶ φωνῆς. τὸ δʼ ὅμοιον ἐροῦμεν καὶ περὶ τῆς Σαβαὼθ φωνῆς, πολλαχοῦ τῶν ἐπῳδῶν παραλαμβανομένης, ὅτι μεταλαμβάνοντες μὲν τὸ ὄνομα εἰς τὸ „κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων“ ἢ „κύριος στρατιῶν“ ἢ „παντοκράτωρ“ (διαφόρως γὰρ αὐτὸ ἐξεδέξαντο οἱ ἑρμηνεύοντες αὐτὸ), οὐδὲν ποιήσομεν· τηροῦντες δʼ αὐτὸ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις φθόγγοις, ποιήσομέν τι, ὥς φασιν οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοί. τὸ δʼ ὅμοιον ἐροῦμεν καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἀδωναΐ. εἴπερ οὖν οὔτε τὸ Σαβαὼθ οὔτε τὸ Ἀδωναῒ, μεταλαμβανόμενα εἰς ἃ δοκεῖ σημαίνειν ἐν Ἑλλάδι φωνῇ, ἀνύει τι, πόσῳ πλέον οὐδὲν ἂν ποιήσαι οὐδὲ δυνηθείη παρὰ τοῖς μηδὲν διαφέρειν οἰομένοις Δία Ὕψιστον καλεῖν ἢ Ζῆνα ἢ Ἀδωναῖον ἢ Σαβαώθ; ### English translation (Claude) But since Celsus thinks it makes no difference whether one calls the Most High Zeus, or Zen, or Adonai, or Sabaoth, or, as the Egyptians do, Amoun, or, as the Scythians do, Papaeus, come, let us discuss these matters briefly too, reminding the reader at the same time of what was said above on this problem, when Celsus's words called us to such matters. We say now too that the nature of names is not a matter of conventions made by those who assign them, as Aristotle thinks. For the languages among human beings do not have their origin from human beings, as is clear to those who can attend to the nature of incantations, which are appropriated, according to the different languages and the different sounds of the names, by the fathers of those languages. About these we spoke briefly above, saying that what naturally has power in a given language, when translated into another language, no longer accomplishes anything as it did in its own sounds. This is found even with human beings: for if someone has been called by a certain name from birth in the Greek language, we would not, by translating it into the language of the Egyptians or the Romans or any other people, make him suffer or do what he would suffer or do when called by the original form of his name. Nor, if we translated into Greek the name of someone called from the beginning in the Roman tongue, would we accomplish what the incantation promises to do while keeping the name first given him. If these things said about human names are true, what must we think about names that are for whatever reason referred to the divine? For something is translated into Greek, for example, from the name Abraham, and something is signified by the name Isaac, and something shown by the word Jacob. And if the one who invokes or adjures names "the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob," he may accomplish a certain thing, whether through the nature of these names or through their power, demons being overcome and made subject to the one who says them; but if he says "the God of the chosen father of the echo, and the God of laughter, and the God of the heel-grabber," what is named accomplishes nothing, like anything else without power. So too, if we translate the name Israel into Greek or another language, we will accomplish nothing; but if we keep it, attaching it to what those skilled in these things thought fit to combine it with, then something might happen, according to the promise of such invocations, from such a word. We will say the same about the word Sabaoth too, which is used in many incantations: if we translate the name as "Lord of the powers" or "Lord of hosts" or "Almighty" (for its interpreters have understood it differently), we will accomplish nothing; but if we keep it in its own sounds, we will accomplish something, as those skilled in these things say. We will say the same about Adonai too. If, then, neither Sabaoth nor Adonai, translated into what they seem to mean in the Greek tongue, accomplishes anything, how much less would it accomplish or have any power among those who think it makes no difference whether one calls the Most High Zeus, or Zen, or Adonai, or Sabaoth? ### Scripture references - Exod 3:6: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Int. 16a (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Aristotle's view that names are conventional is in On Interpretation 2 (16a19–29). "Chosen father of the echo," "laughter," and "heel-grabber" translate the meanings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The parentheses (τι) and (τῶν ὀνομάτων) are the editor's supplements. Origen treats the power of divine names in incantations as a real phenomenon. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/45/). ## Against Celsus 5.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/46/ - Source: Koetschau 2:50–51 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses forbids naming other gods; Christians would die rather than call Zeus or Amoun God, since these are names of demons, though one may call God by the common word for 'God' in any language. ### Greek text Ταῦτα δὴ καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀνάλογον ἀπόῤῥητα ἐπιστάμενοι Μωϋσῆς καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπαγορεύουσιν „ὄνομα θεῶν ἑτέρων“ ὀνομάζειν ἐν στόματι, μελετήσαντι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι μόνῳ εὔχεσθαι θεῷ, καὶ ἀναμνημονεύειν ἐν καρδίᾳ, διδασκομένῃ καθαρεύειν ἀπὸ πάσης ματαιότητος νοημάτων καὶ λέξεων. καὶ διὰ τὰ τοιαῦτα πᾶσαν αἰκίαν ὑπομένειν μᾶλλον αἱρούμεθα ἢ τὸν Δία ὁμολογῆσαι θεόν. οὐ γὰρ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνομεν Δία καὶ Σαβαὼθ, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅλως θεῖόν τι τὸν Δία, δαίμονα δέ τινα χαίρειν οὕτως ὀνομαζόμενον, οὐ φίλον ἀνθρώποις οὐδὲ τῷ ἀληθινῷ θεῷ. κἂν Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ τὸν Ἀμοῦν ἡμῖν προτείνωσιν κόλασιν ἀπειλοῦντες, τεθνηξόμεθα μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν Ἀμοῦν ἀναγορεύσομεν θεὸν, παραλαμβανόμενον ὡς εἰκὸς ἔν τισιν Αἰγυπτίαις καλούσαις τὸν δαίμονα τοῦτον ἐπῳδαῖς. λεγέτωσαν δὲ καὶ Σκύθαι τὸν Παπαῖον θεὸν εἶναι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν· ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς οὐ πεισόμεθα. τιθέντες μὲν τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν. ὡς δὲ φίλον τῷ λαχόντι τὴν Σκυθῶν ἐρημίαν καὶ τὸ ἔθνος αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν διάλεκτον οὐκ ὀνομάζοντες τὸν θεὸν ὡς κυρίῳ ὀνόματι τῷ Παπαῖον. Σκυθιστὶ γὰρ τὸ προσηγορικὸν τὸν θεὸν καὶ Αἰγυπτιστὶ καὶ πάσῃ διαλέκτῳ, ᾗ ἕκαστος ἐντέθραπται. ὀνομάζων οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται. ### English translation (Claude) Knowing these and similar secret matters, Moses and the prophets forbid us to name "the name of other gods" with a mouth trained to pray to the God over all alone, or to call them to mind in a heart taught to be pure of all vanity of thoughts and words. And for such reasons we choose to endure every outrage rather than acknowledge Zeus as God. For we do not suppose Zeus and Sabaoth to be the same; indeed we do not think Zeus divine at all, but a certain demon who delights in being so named, no friend to human beings or to the true God. And even if the Egyptians hold out Amoun to us, threatening punishment, we will die rather than proclaim Amoun a god, who is probably invoked in certain Egyptian incantations that call up this demon. And let the Scythians say that Papaeus is the God over all; but we will not be persuaded. We do acknowledge the God over all, but we do not name God by Papaeus as a proper name, as pleases the one to whom the Scythian wilderness and their nation and language fell. For one who names God by the common noun in Scythian, or Egyptian, or any language in which he has been brought up, will not sin. ### Scripture references - Exod 23:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 16:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Exod 23:13 (cf. Ps 16:4). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/46/). ## Against Celsus 5.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/47/ - Source: Koetschau 2:51–52 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jewish circumcision differs from that of Egyptians and Colchians because its purpose and law differ, just as 'justice' and 'courage' mean different things to Epicureans, Stoics, and Platonists. ### Greek text Τὸ δʼ αἴτιον τῆς Ἰουδαίων περιτομῆς οὐ ταὐτὸν ἐστι τῷ αἰτίῳ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων περιτομῆς ἢ Κόλχων· διὸ οὐχ ἡ αὐτὴ νομισθείη ἂν περιτομή. καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ θύων οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ θύει, εἰ καὶ ὁμοίως θύειν δοκεῖ. καὶ ὁ εὐχόμενος οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ εὔχεται, εἰ καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς ἀξιοῖ· οὕτως οὐδʼ εἴ τις περιτέμνεται, ἀδιαφορεῖ πάντως τῆς πρὸς ἕτερον περιτομῆς. ἡ γὰρ πρόθεσις καὶ ὁ νόμος καὶ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ περιτέμνοντος ἀλλοῖον ποιεῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα. ἵνα δʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον νοηθῇ τὸ κατὰ τὸν τόπον, λεκτέον ὅτι τὸ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ὄνομα ταὐτὸν μέν ἐστι παρὰ πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν· ἤδη δὲ ἀποδείκνυται ἄλλη μὲν ἡ κατʼ Ἐπίκουρον δικαιοσύνη, ἄλλη δὲ ἡ κατὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, ἀρνουμένους τὸ τριμερὲς τῆς ψυχῆς, ἄλλη δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος, ἰδιοπραγίαν τῶν μερῶν τῆς ψυχῆς φάσκοντας εἶναι τὴν δικαιοσύνην. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἄλλη μὲν ἡ Ἐπικούρου ἀνδρεία, ὑπομένοντος πόνους διὰ φυγὴν πόνων πλειόνων, ἄλλη δʼ ἡ τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, διʼ αὐτὴν αἱρουμένου πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν. ἄλλη δʼ ἡ ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος, τοῦ θυμικοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς φάσκοντος αὐτὴν εἶναι ἀρετὴν καὶ ἀποτάσσοντος αὐτῇ τόπον τὸν περὶ τὸν θώρακα. οὕτως δʼ εἴη ἂν κατὰ τὰ διάφορα τῶν περιτεμνομένων δόγματα διάφορος ἡ περιτομὴ, περὶ ἧς ἐν τοιούτῳ συγγράμματι οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον νῦν λέγειν· ὅτῳ γὰρ φίλον ἰδεῖν τὰ κινήσαντα ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸν τόπον, ἀναγνώτω περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἐπιστολὴν Παύλου πραγματευθεῖσιν ἡμῖν. ### English translation (Claude) The reason for the circumcision of the Jews is not the same as the reason for the circumcision of the Egyptians or the Colchians; so it would not be considered the same circumcision. And just as one who sacrifices does not sacrifice to the same being, even if he seems to sacrifice in the same way, and one who prays does not pray to the same being, even if he asks for the same things in his prayers, so, if someone is circumcised, it is not at all indifferent compared with another's circumcision. For the purpose, the law, and the intent of the one who circumcises make the thing different. To make the subject still more understood, it must be said that the name of justice is the same among all the Greeks; yet it is shown that justice according to Epicurus is one thing, according to the Stoics, who deny that the soul has three parts, another, and according to the Platonists, who say that justice is each part of the soul doing its own work, another. So too Epicurus's courage, who endures pains to escape greater pains, is one thing; that of the Stoic, who chooses every virtue for its own sake, another; and that of the Platonist, who says it is the virtue of the spirited part of the soul and assigns it a place about the chest, another. So too circumcision would differ according to the different doctrines of those circumcised; but there is no need to speak of it now in such a treatise. Whoever wishes to see what moved us on this subject, let him read about it in what we have written on Paul's Letter to the Romans. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 4.433a (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Platonic definitions are from Plato, Republic 4 (433a–b, 441e–442c). Origen refers to his Commentary on Romans (on Rom 2:25–29). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/47/). ## Against Celsus 5.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/48/ - Source: Koetschau 2:52–53 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jewish circumcision on the eighth day differs even from Ishmaelite practice; Origen suggests, from Zipporah's story, that it guarded against a hostile angel whose power Christ destroyed by his own circumcision, so Christians need not be circumcised. ### Greek text Κἂν σεμνύνωνται τοίνυν Ἰουδαῖοι τῇ περιτομῇ, χωρίσουσιν αὐτὴν οὐ μόνον τῆς Κόλχων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων περιτομῆς ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς Ἰσμαηλιτῶν Ἀράβων, καίτοι γε ἀπὸ τοῦ προπάτορος αὐτῶν Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ Ἰσμαὴλ γεγενημένου καὶ σὺν ἐκείνῳ περιτεμνομένου. λέγουσι δὲ Ἰουδαῖοι τὴν μὲν ὀκταήμερον περιτομὴν εἶναι τὴν προηγουμένην, τὴν δὲ μὴ τοιαύτην ἐκ περιστάσεως· καὶ τάχα διά τινα πολέμιον τῷ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει ἄγγελον αὐτὴ ἐτελεῖτο, δυνάμενον μὲν σίνεσθαι τοὺς μὴ περιτεμνομένους αὐτῶν, ἀτονοῦντα δὲ ἐν τοῖς περιτεμνομένοις. ὅπερ φήσει τις δηλοῦσθαι ἐκ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ γεγραμμένων, ἐν οἷς ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸ μὲν τῆς περιτομῆς τοῦ Ἐλιάζαρ ἐνεργεῖν ἐδύνατο κατὰ Μωϋσέως, περιτμηθέντος δʼ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲν ἴσχυσε. καὶ τοιαῦτά γε μαθοῦσα ἡ „Σεπφώρα λαβοῦσα ψῆφον περιέτεμε“ τὸ παιδίον ἑαυτῆς, κατὰ μὲν τὰ κοινὰ τῶν ἀντιγράφων λέγειν ἀναγεγραμμένη τό· „ἔστη τὸ αἷμα τῆς περιτομῆς τοῦ παιδίου μου, “ κατὰ δὲ τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν αὐτό· „νυμφίος αἱμάτων σύ μοι.“ ᾔδει γὰρ τὸν περὶ τοῦ τοιουδὶ ἀγγέλου λόγον, δυναμένου πρὸ τοῦ αἵματος καὶ παυομένου διὰ τὸ τῆς περιτομῆς αἷμα· ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ ἐλέχθη αὐτῷ τό· „νυμφίος αἱμάτων σύ μοι.“ ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν περιεργότερά πως εἶναι δοκοῦντα καὶ οὐ κατὰ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἀκοὴν παρακεκινδυνευμένως ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον λελέχθω, οἷς ἔτι ἓν ὡς Χριστιανῷ πρέπον προσθεὶς ἐπὶ τὰ ἑξῆς μεταβήσομαι. ἐδύνατο γὰρ οὗτος οἶμαι ὁ ἄγγελος κατὰ τῶν μὴ περιτεμνομένων ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς πάντων τῶν σεβόντων μόνον τὸν δημιουργὸν, καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν γε ἐδύνατο, ὅσον οὐκ ἀνειλήφει σῶμα ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ὅτε δʼ ἀνείληφε, καὶ περιετέμνετο τὸ ἐκείνου σῶμα, καθῃρέθη πᾶσα ἡ κατὰ τῶν ἐν τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ ταύτῃ περιτεμνομένων δύναμις αὐτοῦ· ἀφάτῳ γὰρ θειότητι καθεῖλεν ἐκεῖνον ὁ Ἰησοῦς. διὸ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ἀπείρηται περιτέμνεσθαι καὶ λέγεται αὐτοῖς· „ὅτι ἐὰν περιτέμνησθε, Χριστὸς οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς ὠφελήσει.“ ### English translation (Claude) Even if the Jews pride themselves on circumcision, they will distinguish it not only from the circumcision of the Colchians and Egyptians but also from that of the Ishmaelite Arabs, although Ishmael was born of their forefather Abraham and was circumcised with him. The Jews say that circumcision on the eighth day is the principal one, and that which is not so is from circumstance; and perhaps it was performed because of an angel hostile to the Jewish nation, who was able to harm those of them who were not circumcised but was powerless against those who were circumcised. Someone will say this is shown by what is written in Exodus, where the angel was able to act against Moses before the circumcision of Eliezer, but when he was circumcised had no strength. And having learned such things, "Zipporah took a stone and circumcised" her child; according to the common copies she is recorded to have said, "The blood of my child's circumcision is stanched," but according to the Hebrew itself, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me." For she knew the account of this angel, who had power before the blood and ceased because of the blood of circumcision; for which reason it was said to him: "You are a bridegroom of blood to me." But let these matters, which seem rather curious and not suited to the hearing of the many, be ventured thus far; I will add one thing to them, as befits a Christian, and pass on to what follows. This angel, I think, had power against those of the people who were not circumcised, and in general against all who worship the Creator alone, and had power as long as Jesus had not taken a body. But when he took one, and his body was circumcised, all this angel's power against those circumcised in this religion was destroyed; for Jesus destroyed him by his unspeakable divinity. That is why his disciples are forbidden to be circumcised, and it is said to them: "If you are circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you." ### Scripture references - Gen 17:23–26: allusion, high confidence - Exod 4:24–26: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:21: allusion, medium confidence - Gal 5:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The references are Gen 17:23–26, Exod 4:24–26 (LXX and Hebrew readings compared), Luke 2:21, and Gal 5:2. Origen names Moses's son Eliezer (Exod 18:4). He presents the angel explanation as a tentative speculation. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/48/). ## Against Celsus 5.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/49/ - Source: Koetschau 2:53–54 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Jewish food laws were symbols until Christ declared all foods clean; Christians, unlike Pythagoreans who fear eating reincarnated kin, abstain from meat only as a discipline to master the body. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῷ συῶν ἀπέχεσθαι ὡς μεγάλῳ τινὶ Ἰουδαῖοι σεμνύνονται, ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ τὴν καθαρῶν καὶ ἀκαθάρτων ζῴων φύσιν μεμαθηκότες καὶ τὴν τούτου αἰτίαν ἐγνωκέναι καὶ τὸν σῦν ἐν ἀκαθάρτοις τετάχθαι. καὶ ταῦτα δὲ σύμβολά τινων ἦν μέχρι τῆς Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημίας, μεθʼ ὃν τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ λέλεκται, μηδέπω νοοῦντι τὸν περὶ τούτων λόγον καὶ φάσκοντι· „οὐδὲν κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ στόμα μου, “ τό· „ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἐκαθάρισε σὺ μὴ κοίνου.“ οὔτʼ οὖν πρὸς Ἰουδαίους οὔτε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐστι τὸ οὐ μόνον συῶν ἀλλὰ προσέτι αἰγῶν καὶ οἰῶν καὶ βοῶν καὶ ἰχθύων ἀπέχεσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίων ἱερεῖς. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ „οὐ τὰ εἰσερχόμενα εἰς τὸ στόμα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον.“ καὶ „βρῶμα ἡμᾶς οὐ παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ, “ οὐ μέγα φρονοῦμεν μὴ ἐσθίοντες οὐδʼ ἀπὸ γαστριμαργίας ἥκομεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἐσθίειν. διόπερ τὸ ὅσον ἐφʼ ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπὸ Πυθαγόρου ἐμψύχων ἀπεχόμενοι χαιρόντων. ὅρα δὲ καὶ τὴν διαφορὰν τοῦ αἰτίου τῆς τῶν ἐμψύχων ἀποχῆς τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου καὶ τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀσκητῶν. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὸν περὶ ψυχῆς μετενσωματουμένης μῦθον ἐμψύχων ἀπέχονται· καὶ τίς φίλον υἱὸν ἀείρας σφάξει ἐπευχόμενος μέγα νήπιος; ἡμεῖς δὲ κἂν τὸ τοιοῦτο πράττωμεν, ποιοῦμεν αὐτὸ, ἐπεὶ ὑπωπιάζομεν „τὸ σῶμα“ καὶ δουλαγωγοῦμεν καὶ βουλόμεθα νεκροῦν „τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν, ἀσέλγειαν, πάθος, ἐπιθυμίαν κακήν“· καὶ πάντα γε πράττομεν, ἵνα „τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος“ θανατώσωμεν. ### English translation (Claude) Nor do the Jews pride themselves on abstaining from pigs as something great, but on having learned the nature of clean and unclean animals and known the reason for it, and that the pig is placed among the unclean. These things too were symbols of certain realities until the coming of Jesus; after him it was said to his disciple, who did not yet understand the meaning of these things and said, "Nothing common or unclean has entered my mouth": "What God has cleansed, do not call common." It is nothing, then, either to the Jews or to us, that the priests of the Egyptians abstain not only from pigs but also from goats, sheep, oxen, and fish. But since "it is not what enters the mouth that defiles a man," and "food will not commend us to God," we do not think much of ourselves for not eating, nor do we come to eating out of gluttony. Therefore, as far as we are concerned, let the followers of Pythagoras, who abstain from living things, go their way. And see the difference between the reason for abstaining from living things among the followers of Pythagoras and among the ascetics among us. They abstain from living things because of the myth of the soul's transmigration: "And who, lifting up his dear son, will slay him with a prayer, the great fool?" But we, if we do such a thing, do it because we pommel "the body" and bring it into subjection, and wish to put to death "the members that are on earth: sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, passion, evil desire"; and we do everything in order to put to death "the deeds of the body." ### Scripture references - Acts 10:14–15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:27: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:13: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Empedocles, B137 (Empedocles (fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Acts 10:14–15, Matt 15:11, 1 Cor 8:8, Empedocles fragment B137 Diels–Kranz, 1 Cor 9:27, Col 3:5, and Rom 8:13. Here πορνεία is "sexual immorality." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/49/). ## Against Celsus 5.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/50/ - Source: Koetschau 2:54–55 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Jews were once favored and protected by God, as Alexander's homage to the high priest shows; that favor has now passed to Christians, whom Rome cannot destroy because God defends them. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ περὶ Ἰουδαίων ἀποφαινόμενος ὁ Κέλσος φησίν· οὐδʼ εὐδοκιμεῖν παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ στέργεσθαι διαφόρως τι τῶν ἄλλων τούτους εἰκὸς, καὶ πέμπεσθαι μόνοις αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἀγγέλους, οἷον δή τινα μακάρων χώραν λαχοῦσιν· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν χώραν τίνων ἠξίωνται. ἐλέγξομεν οὖν καὶ τοῦτο, λέγοντες ὅτι τὸ εὐδοκιμηκέναι τὸ ἔθνος τοῦτο παρὰ θεῷ δηλοῦται καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς ἡμετέρας πίστεως Ἑβραίων καλεῖσθαι θεόν. καὶ ὡς εὐδοκιμοῦντές γε ὅσον οὐκ ἐγκατελείποντο, καίτοι γε ὀλίγοι τυγχάνοντες τὸν ἀριθμὸν, διετέλουν φρουρούμενοι ὑπὸ θείας δυνάμεως, ὡς μηδʼ ἐπὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος παθεῖν τι αὐτοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, καίτοι γε μὴ βουληθέντας διά τινας συνθήκας καὶ ὅρκους ἀναλαμβάνειν ὅπλα κατὰ τοῦ Δαρείου. τότε φασὶ καὶ τὸν Ἰουδαίων ἀρχιερέα ἐνδύντα τὴν ἱερατικὴν στολὴν προσκεκυνῆσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου, φάσκοντος ὦφθαι αὐτῷ τούτῳ τῷ σχήματι † ἑωρακέναι τινὰ, ἐπαγγελλόμενον αὐτῷ „κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους“ ὑποτάξειν τὴν Ἀσίαν ὅλην. ἡμεῖς οὖν οἱ Χριστιανοί φαμεν τὸ μὲν εὐδοκιμεῖν παρὰ τῷ θεῷ καὶ στέργεσθαι διαφόρως τι τῶν ἄλλων πάνυ ἐκείνοις συμβεβηκέναι, ταύτην δὲ τὴν οἰκονομίαν μεταβεβηκέναι καὶ τὴν χάριν ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, μεταστήσαντος τὴν ἐν Ἰουδαίοις δύναμιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν πιστεύσαντας (αὐ)τῷ Ἰησοῦ. διὸ πολλὰ βουληθέντες Ῥωμαῖοι κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐπὶ τῷ κωλῦσαι αὐτοὺς ἔτι εἶναι οὐ δεδύνηνται· ἦν γὰρ ὑπερμαχοῦσα αὐτῶν θεία χεὶρ καὶ βουλομένη τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἀπὸ μιᾶς τῆς κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν γῆν γωνίας ἐπισπεῖραι ὅλῳ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ### English translation (Claude) Still pronouncing on the Jews, Celsus says: "Nor is it likely that they are in favour with God and loved in any way differently from others, and that angels are sent from there to them alone, as though they had been allotted some land of the blessed; for we see what sort of fortune both they and their land have been thought worthy of." We will refute this too, saying that this nation's being in favour with God is shown also by the fact that the God over all is called the God of the Hebrews even by those alien to our faith. And, being in favour, as long as they were not forsaken, although they were few in number, they continued to be guarded by divine power, so that not even in the time of Alexander of Macedon did they suffer anything from him, although, because of certain treaties and oaths, they had refused to take up arms against Darius. They say that at that time the high priest of the Jews, having put on his priestly robe, was even bowed to by Alexander, who said that someone in this very dress had appeared to him and promised him "in his sleep" that he would subdue all Asia. We Christians, then, say that being in favour with God and loved in a way different from others did indeed belong to them; but that this dispensation and the grace have passed over to us, since Jesus transferred the power that was among the Jews to those from the nations who believed in him. That is why the Romans, though they have wished to do much against the Christians to prevent their continuing to exist, have not been able to; for a divine hand was fighting for them, wishing to sow the Word of God from one corner of the land of Judaea among the whole human race. ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, Ant. 11.329–336 (Josephus (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The story of Alexander and the high priest is told by Josephus, Antiquities 11.329–336. The text is corrupt at the dagger (†): ὦφθαι αὐτῷ ("had appeared to him") is followed by ἑωρακέναι τινὰ ("had seen someone"), probably a doublet or the remnant of a lost phrase; the translation gives the sense, which is clear. The parenthetical (αὐ)τῷ is the editor's supplement. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/50/). ## Against Celsus 5.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/51/ - Source: Koetschau 2:55–56 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians do not boast and were not bewitched; they follow the God who spoke through Moses and honor Jesus, attested by prophecy and by his mighty works, as the Son of God. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν λέλεκται πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον κατηγοροῦντα Ἰουδαίων καὶ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν τὰ ἐκκείμενα. φέρε τὰ ἑξῆς ἐκθέμενοι παραστήσωμεν ὅτι οὔτε ἀλαζονευόμεθα ἐπαγγελλόμενοι εἰδέναι τὸν μέγαν θεὸν οὔτε γοητείᾳ. ὡς Κέλσος οἴεται. ὑπήχθημεν Μωϋσέως ἢ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τέλει καὶ τοῦ ἐν Μωϋσεῖ θεοῦ ἀκούομεν καὶ τὸν μαρτυρούμενον ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ θεὸν Ἰησοῦν ὡς υἱὸν θεοῦ παρεδεξάμεθα, τὰ ἄριστα ἐλπίζοντες, ἐπὰν κατὰ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ βιώσωμεν. ἑκόντες δʼ ὑπερβησόμεθα εἰπεῖν εἰς ἃ προλαβόντες ἐξεθέμεθα. διδάσκοντες πόθεν ἥκομεν καὶ τίνα ἀρχηγὸν ἔχομεν, καὶ τίς ὁ ἀπὸ τούτου νόμος. κἂν βούληταί γε ἡμᾶς μηδὲν διαφέρειν τῶν τὸν τράγον ἢ τὸν κριὸν ἢ τὸν κροκόδειλον ἢ τὸν βοῦν ἢ τὸν ἵππον ποτάμιον ἢ τὸν κυνοκέφαλον ἢ αἴλουρον σεβόντων Αἰγυπτίων ὁ Κέλσος, αὐτὸς ἂν εἰδείη καὶ εἴ τις αὐτῷ περὶ τούτου ὁμοδοξεῖ. ἡμεῖς δὲ ὅση δύναμις διὰ πολλῶν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἡμῶν τιμῆς ἀπελογησάμεθα, δεικνύντες ὅτι κρεῖττον εὕρομεν· καὶ μόνοι ἡμεῖς τὸ καθαρῶς καὶ ἀμιγὲς πρὸς τὸ ψεῦδος ἀληθὲς ἐν τῇ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ ἀποφαινόμενοι εἶναι οὐχ αὑτοὺς ἀλλὰ τὸν διδάσκαλον συνίσταμεν, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ διὰ πλειόνων μαρτυρηθέντα καὶ τῶν προφητικῶν ἐν Ἰουδαίοις λόγων καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ἐναργείας· δείκνυται γὰρ οὐκ ἀθεεὶ τὰ τηλικαῦτα δεδυνημένος. ### English translation (Claude) But since what was set out has been answered as best we could against Celsus's accusation of the Jews and their doctrine, come, let us set out what follows and show that we are not boasting when we profess to know the great God, nor were we led on, as Celsus thinks, by the sorcery of Moses, or even of our Saviour Jesus himself; but for a good end we both listen to the God who spoke in Moses and have received Jesus, to whom he bears witness as God, as the Son of God, hoping for the best things if we live according to his word. We will willingly pass over saying again what we set out in anticipation, teaching where we have come from, and whom we have as founder, and what law comes from him. And if Celsus wishes us to differ in no way from the Egyptians who revere the goat, or the ram, or the crocodile, or the ox, or the hippopotamus, or the baboon, or the cat, he and anyone who agrees with him about this may know it for themselves. But we, as best we could, have defended at length in what went before our honour toward our Jesus, showing that we have found something better; and we alone, declaring the truth pure and unmixed with falsehood to be in the teaching of Jesus Christ, commend not ourselves but our teacher, who has been attested by the God over all in many ways, both by the prophetic words among the Jews and by the plain evidence itself; for it is shown that he did not accomplish such great things without God. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/51/). ## Against Celsus 5.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/52/ - Source: Koetschau 2:56 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus asks whether Jesus, granted to be an angel, was the first or one of many, citing the fallen angels of Enoch, the angels at the tomb, and those who appeared to Joseph. ### Greek text Ἥν δὲ βουλόμεθα ἐξετάσαι νῦν τοῦ Κέλσου λέξιν οὕτως ἔχει· καὶ δὴ παραλείπομεν ὅσα περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου διελέγχονται. καὶ δοκείτω τις ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄγγελος. ἧκε δὲ πότερον οὗτος πρῶτος καὶ μόνος, ἢ καὶ ἄλλοι πρότερον; εἰ μὲν φαῖεν ὅτι μόνος, ἐλέγχοιντο ἂν ἐναντία σφίσι ψευδόμενοι. ἐλθεῖν γὰρ καὶ ἄλλους λέγουσι πολλάκις, καὶ ὁμοῦ γε ἑξήκοντα ἢ ἑβδομήκοντα· οὓς δὴ γενέσθαι κακοὺς καὶ κολάζεσθαι δεσμοῖς ὑποβληθέντας ἐν γῇ, ὅθεν καὶ τὰς θερμὰς πηγὰς εἶναι τὰ ἐκείνων δάκρυα. καὶ μὴν καὶ πρὸς τὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦ τοῦδε τάφον ἐλθεῖν ἄγγελον, οἱ μὲν ἕνα, οἱ δὲ δύο, τοὺς ἀποκρινομένους ταῖς γυναιξὶν ὅτι ἀνέστη. ὁ γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἀνοῖξαι τὸν τάφον, ἀλλʼ ἐδεήθη ἄλλου ἀποκινήσοντος τὴν πέτραν. ἔτι μὴν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς Μαρίας κυούσης πρὸς τὸν τέκτονα ἧκεν ἄγγελος, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸ βρέφος ἐξαρπάσαντας φυγεῖν ἄλλος ἄγγελος. καὶ τί δεῖ πάντα ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι καὶ τοὺς Μωϋσεῖ τε καὶ ἄλλοις αὐτῶν πεμφθῆναι λεγομένους ἀπαριθμεῖν; εἰ τοίνυν ἐπέμφθησαν καὶ ἄλλοι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ὅδε παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ θεοῦ. πλεῖον δέ τι ἀγγέλλειν δοκείτω, φέρε, ὥσπερ πλημμελούντων τι Ἰουδαίων ἢ παραχαραττόντων τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἢ οὐχ ὅσια δρώντων· ταῦτα γὰρ αἰνίττονται. ### English translation (Claude) The passage of Celsus that we now wish to examine runs thus: "Let us pass over, then, the arguments by which they are refuted about their teacher; and let him be regarded as truly an angel. Did he come first and alone, or did others come before? If they said that he alone came, they would be convicted of lying and contradicting themselves. For they say that others too came often, and indeed sixty or seventy together, who became wicked and are punished, being cast in chains under the earth, whence also the hot springs are their tears. And moreover an angel came to this man's own tomb (some say one, others two) who answered the women that he had risen. For the child of God, it seems, could not open the tomb, but needed another to roll away the rock. And again, about Mary's pregnancy an angel came to the carpenter, and another angel so that they might snatch up the infant and flee. And why need I go through everything in detail, and count up those said to have been sent to Moses and others among them? If, then, others too were sent, it is clear that this one also came from the same God. But let him be regarded as announcing something more, as though the Jews were doing wrong, or debasing piety, or not doing holy things; for this is what they hint." ### Scripture references - Matt 28:2: allusion, high confidence - Mark 16:5: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 24:4: allusion, medium confidence - John 20:12: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 1:20: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:13: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - 1 En. 6–10 (1 Enoch): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus alludes to the fallen Watchers of 1 En. 6–10 (the hot springs, cf. 1 En. 67), to the angels at the tomb (Matt 28:2; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:4; John 20:12), and to Matt 1:20 and 2:13. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/52/). ## Against Celsus 5.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/53/ - Source: Koetschau 2:56–57 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen will answer briefly: Christ is not merely an angel but, as Isaiah says, the 'angel of great counsel' who announced God's plan for humanity, and no Christian claims he was the only messenger ever sent. ### Greek text Ἤρκει μὲν οὖν τὰ προειρημένα ἐν τοῖς ἰδίᾳ περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐξετασθεῖσι πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου λέξεις· ἵνα δὲ μὴ δοκῶμεν τόπον τινὰ αὐτοῦ τῆς γραφῆς ὑπερβαίνειν ἑκόντες ὡς μὴ δεδυνημένοι λέγειν πρὸς αὐτὸν, φέρε, εἰ καὶ ταυτολογεῖν μέλλομεν, ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς τοῦ Κέλσου προκαλουμένου, ὅση δύναμις ἐπιτεμώμεθα τὸν λόγον, ἐὰν ἄρα τι ὑποπέσῃ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἢ ἐναργέστερον ἢ καινότερον. φησὶ δὴ παραλιπεῖν ὅσα περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου Χριστιανοὶ διελέγχονται, οὐ παραλιπών (τι) ὧν ἐδύνατο λέγειν· ὅπερ ἐστὶ φανερὸν ἐκ τῶν ἀνωτέρω αὐτῷ λελεγμένων· ἄλλως δὲ ῥητορικῇ ἐγχειρήσει κατακολουθῶν τὸ τοιοῦτο ποιεῖ. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι οὐ διελεγχόμεθα περὶ τοῦ τηλικούτου σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, κἂν δοκῇ ὁ ἐγκαλῶν διελέγχειν, δῆλον ἔσται τοῖς φιλαλήθως καὶ ἐξεταστικῶς ὅλοις τοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητευομένοις καὶ ἀναγεγραμμένοις ἐντυγχάνουσιν. ἑξῆς δὲ, ἐπεὶ νομίζεται συγχωρητικῶς λέγειν περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ὅτι δοκείτω τις ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄγγελος οὗτος εἶναι, φαμὲν ὅτι τοῦτʼ οὐχ ὡς συγχωρούμενον ἀπὸ Κέλσου λαμβάνομεν, τῷ δʼ ἔργῳ αὐτοῦ ἐνορῶντες ὅλῳ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεδημηκότος κατὰ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λόγον καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν, ὡς ἕκαστος ἐχώρει τῶν προσιεμένων αὐτόν. ὅπερ ἔργον ἦν τοῦ, ὡς ὠνόμασεν ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητεία, οὐχ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀγγέλου ἀλλὰ τοῦ τῆς „μεγάλης βουλῆς“ ἀγγέλου· ἤγγελλε γὰρ ἀνθρώποις τὴν μεγάλην τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων περὶ αὐτῶν βουλὴν, εἰκόντων μὲν τῷ βιοῦν ἐν καθαρᾷ θεοσεβείᾳ ὡς ἀναβαινόντων διὰ τῶν μεγάλων πράξεων πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, μὴ προσιεμένων δὲ ὡς ἑαυτοὺς μακρυνόντων ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπώλειαν διὰ τῆς περὶ θεοῦ ἀπιστίας ὁδευόντων. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς φησιν· εἰ καὶ ἄγγελος οὗτος πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἦλθεν. ἆρα πρῶτος ἧκε καὶ μόνος, ἤ καὶ ἄλλοι πρότερον; καὶ πρὸς ἑκάτερον δὲ διὰ πλειόνων οἴεται ἀπαντᾶν, οὐδενὸς δὴ τῶν ὡς ἀληθῶς Χριστιανῶν λέγοντος μόνον τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τῷ (γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων·) καὶ ἄλλους ὦφθαί φησιν ἀνθρώποις ὁ Κέλσος, εἰ μὲν δὴ φαῖεν ὅτι μόνος. ### English translation (Claude) What was said earlier, in our separate examination of Celsus's words about our Saviour Jesus Christ, would suffice; but so that we may not seem to pass over any part of his writing deliberately, as though unable to answer him, come, even if we are going to repeat ourselves, since Celsus challenges us to it, let us cut the discussion as short as we can, in case something clearer or newer on the same subjects occurs to us. He says that he passes over the arguments by which Christians are refuted about their teacher, though he has passed over nothing he could say, as is evident from what he said above; he does this simply following a rhetorical device. But that we are not refuted about so great a Saviour of ours, even if the accuser seems to refute us, will be clear to those who read, with love of truth and careful examination, all that has been prophesied and recorded about him. Next, since he is thought to speak by way of concession about the Saviour, "let him be regarded as truly an angel," we say that we do not accept this as conceded by Celsus, but look to the work of the one who came to the whole human race according to his own word and teaching, as each of those who received him could contain it. This was the work of one who, as the prophecy about him named him, is not simply an angel but the angel "of great counsel"; for he announced to human beings the great counsel of God, the Father of the universe, concerning them: of those who yield to live in pure worship of God, as ascending to God through great deeds, and of those who do not receive it, as putting themselves far from God and travelling toward destruction through unbelief concerning God. Then he says next: "If this one too came to human beings as an angel, did he come first and alone, or did others come before?" And he thinks he answers both alternatives at length, though no true Christian says that Christ alone came to the human race; and Celsus says that others too appeared to human beings, "if they said that he alone came." ### Scripture references - Isa 9:6 (9:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The title is Isa 9:6 (9:5 LXX: μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος). The parentheses (τι) and (γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων·) are the editor's supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/53/). ## Against Celsus 5.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/54/ - Source: Koetschau 2:57–58 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Only heretics like Apelles, Marcion's pupil, say Jesus alone came from God; Celsus garbled his story of the fallen angels from the Book of Enoch, which the churches do not accept as divine Scripture. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ ἀπαντᾷ ἑαυτῷ, ὡς βούλεται· οὕτω δʼ οὐ μόνος ἱστόρηται ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ὡς καὶ τοὺς προφάσει τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἰησοῦ ἀποστάντας τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ὡς ἐλάττονος καὶ προσεληλυθότας ὡς κρείττονί τινι θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ τοῦ ἐπιδημήσαντος φάσκειν ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τούτου ἐπεδήμησάν τινες ἀπὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἐπεὶ δὲ φιλαλήθως τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἐξετάζομεν, φήσομεν ὅτι ὁ Μαρκίωνος γνώριμος Ἀπελλῆς, αἱρέσεώς τινος γενόμενος πατὴρ καὶ μῦθον ἡγούμενος εἶναι τὰ Ἰουδαίων γράμματα. φησὶν ὅτι μόνος οὗτος ἐπιδεδήμηκε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. οὐδὲ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον οὖν, λέγοντα μόνον ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, εὐλόγως ἂν ὁ Κέλσος φέροι τὰ περὶ τοῦ καὶ ἄλλους ἐληλυθέναι, ἀπιστοῦντα. ὡς προείπομεν, ταῖς παραδοξότερα ἀπαγγελλούσαις Ἰουδαίων γραφαῖς· πολλῷ δὲ πλέον οὐ προσήσεται ἅπερ ἔοικε παρακούσας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ Ἐνὼχ γεγραμμένων τεθεικέναι ὁ Κέλσος. οὐδεὶς τοίνυν ἐλέγχει ἡμᾶς ψευδομένους καὶ τὰ ἐναντία τιθέντας, ὅτι τε μόνος ἦλθεν ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ ὅτι, ἐπεὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ πολλάκις ἐληλύθασι. πάνυ δὲ συγκεχυμένως ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν ἐληλυθότων πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἀγγέλων ἐξετάσει τίθησι τὰ ἀτρανώτως ἐλθόντα εἰς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ Ἐνὼχ γεγραμμένων· ἅτινα οὐδʼ αὐτὰ φαίνεται ἀναγνοὺς οὐδὲ γνωρίσας ὅτι ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις οὐ πάνυ φέρεται ὡς θεῖα τὰ ἐπιγεγραμμένα τοῦ Ἐνὼχ βιβλία· ὅθεν νομισθείη ἂν ἐῤῥιφέναι τὸ ὁμοῦ ἑξήκοντα ἢ ἑβδομήκοντα καταβεβηκέναι, κακοὺς γενομένους. ### English translation (Claude) Then he answers himself as he wishes; yet he is not reported to have come to the human race alone, so that even those who, on the pretext of the teaching of the name of Jesus, have departed from the Creator as an inferior being and gone over to some supposedly higher God, Father of the one who came, say that even before him some came to the human race from the Creator. But since we examine the subject with love of truth, we will say that Apelles, the pupil of Marcion, who became the father of a certain heresy and considered the writings of the Jews a myth, says that this one alone came to the human race. Not even against him, then, who says that Jesus alone came to human beings from God, could Celsus reasonably bring the claim that others too have come, since Apelles, as we said before, disbelieves the Jewish Scriptures that tell of more marvellous things; and much less will he accept what Celsus seems to have set down having misheard it from what is written in Enoch. No one, then, convicts us of lying and contradicting ourselves, both that our Saviour alone came and that many others have often come. And in examining the angels who have come to human beings, Celsus sets down, very confusedly, what came to him indistinctly from what is written in Enoch; he does not seem to have read these writings himself, nor to know that the books inscribed with the name of Enoch are not at all accepted as divine in the churches. Hence he might be thought to have thrown out the "sixty or seventy together" who came down and became wicked. ### Extrabiblical texts - 1 En. 6–10 (1 Enoch): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Apelles (2nd c.) was a disciple of Marcion who founded his own school (αἵρεσις, here "heresy"). On 1 Enoch, see 1 En. 6–10; Origen notes that the churches do not generally receive it as Scripture. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/54/). ## Against Celsus 5.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/55/ - Source: Koetschau 2:58–59 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen mentions an earlier interpreter who read the 'sons of God' and 'daughters of men' of Genesis 6 as souls desiring bodies, and mocks Celsus's claim that hot springs are fallen angels' tears, since tears are salty. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ ἵνα καὶ εὐγνωμονέστερον αὐτῷ δῶμεν ἃ μὴ ἑώρακεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῇ Γενέσει γεγραμμένων. ὅτι „ἰδόντες οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅτι καλαί εἰσιν, ἔλαβον ἑαυτοῖς γυναῖκας ἀπὸ πασῶν ὧν ἐξελέξαντο“· οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ περὶ τούτων τοῖς δυναμένοις ἀκούειν προφητικοῦ βουλήματος πείσομεν ὅτι καὶ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν τις ταῦτα ἀνήγαγεν εἰς τὸν περὶ ψυχῶν λόγον, ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ γενομένων τοῦ ἐν σώματι ἀνθρώπων βίου. ἅπερ τροπολογῶν ἔφασκε λελέχθαι „θυγατέρας ἀνθρώπων.“ πλὴν ὅπως ποτʼ ἂν ἔχῃ καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς ἐπιθυμήσαντας θυγατέρων ἀνθρώπων υἱοὺς θεῶν, οὐδὲν αὐτῷ συμβάλλεται ὁ λόγος πρὸς τὸ μὴ μόνον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὡς ἄγγελον ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, σωτῆρα καὶ εὐεργέτην ἐναργῶς πάντων τῶν μεταβαλλόντων ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῆς κακίας γεγενημένον. εἶτα φύρων καὶ συγχέων ἃ ὅπως ποτὲ ἤκουσε καὶ τὰ ὅπου ποτʼ οὖν γεγραμμένα, εἴτε δεδογμένα θεῖα εἶναι παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς εἴτε καὶ μὴ, φησὶ τοὺς ὁμοῦ καταβεβηκότας ἑξήκοντα ἢ ἑβδομήκοντα κολάζεσθαι δεσμοῖς ὑποβληθέντας ἐν γῇ. καὶ φέρει ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἐνὼχ, οὐκ ὀνομάζων αὐτὸν, τό· ὅθεν καὶ τὰς θερμὰς πηγὰς εἶναι τὰ ἐκείνων δάκρυα, πρᾶγμα οὔτε λεγόμενον οὔτʼ ἀκουόμενον ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνόητος οὕτως τις ἦν. ἵνα σωματοποιήσῃ δάκρυα παραπλήσια τοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐν τοῖς καταβεβηκόσιν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἀγγέλοις. καὶ εἰ χρή γε παίζειν πρὸς τὰ καθʼ ἡμῶν σπουδαζόμενα τῷ Κέλσῳ, λεκτέον ὅτι οὐκ ἄν τις εἶπε τὰς θερμὰς πηγὰς, ὧν αἱ πλεῖσται γλυκεῖαί εἰσι, δάκρυα εἶναι τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἐπεὶ ἡ φύσις τῶν δακρύων ἐστὶν ἁλμυρά· εἰ μὴ ἄρα οἱ κατὰ τὸν Κέλσον ἄγγελοι γλυκέα δακρύουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) But, to grant him more generously what he did not see in what is written in Genesis, that "the sons of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took for themselves wives from all whom they chose," we will nonetheless persuade those able to hear the prophetic intent on this subject too that one of those before us referred these words to the doctrine of souls that came to desire life in a human body, which, he said, is figuratively called "daughters of men." However things stand concerning the sons of God who desired the daughters of men, the account contributes nothing to Celsus's claim that Jesus was not the only one who came to human beings as an angel, having clearly become the Saviour and benefactor of all who turn from the flood of vice. Then, mixing and confusing whatever he heard in whatever way, and what is written wherever it may be, whether considered divine among Christians or not, he says that the sixty or seventy who came down together are punished, being cast in chains under the earth. And he brings in, as from Enoch, without naming him: "whence also the hot springs are their tears," a thing neither said nor heard in the churches of God. For no one was so foolish as to give bodily form to tears like those of human beings in the angels who came down from heaven. And if we may jest in reply to what Celsus earnestly urges against us, it must be said that no one would have said that hot springs, most of which are fresh, are the tears of angels, since the nature of tears is salty; unless perhaps Celsus's angels weep fresh tears. ### Scripture references - Gen 6:2: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - 1 En. 67 (1 Enoch): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Gen 6:2. "One of those before us" is unidentified (possibly Philo, On the Giants 6–18). The hot-springs detail is attributed to Enoch (cf. 1 En. 67). The stray raised dot in the digital text before ἐν σώματι is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/55/). ## Against Celsus 5.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/56/ - Source: Koetschau 2:59–60 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Gospels' one angel and two angels at Jesus' tomb do not contradict each other, since they describe different moments; their deeper meaning belongs to commentary on the Gospels. ### Greek text Εἶτα ἑξῆς τὰ ἄμικτα καὶ ἀνόμοια μιγνὺς καὶ ἐξομοιῶν ἀλλήλοις ἐπιφέρει τῷ περὶ τῶν, ὥς φησι, καταβεβηκότων ἑξήκοντα ἢ ἑβδομήκοντα ἀγγέλων λόγῳ. πηγὰς θερμῶν κατὰ αὐτὸν δακρυσάντων, ὅτι καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸν τάφον ἱστόρηνται ἐληλυθέναι ὑπό τινων μὲν ἄγγελοι δύο ὑπό τινων δὲ εἷς· οὐκ οἶμαι τηρήσας Ματθαῖον μὲν καὶ Μάρκον ἕνα ἱστορηκέναι, Λουκᾶν δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννην δύο. ἅπερ οὐκ ἦν ἐναντία. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀναγράφαντες ἕνα τὸν ἀποκυλίσαντα „τὸν λίθον“ ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου τοῦτόν φασιν εἶναι, οἱ δὲ τοὺς δύο τοὺς ἐπιστάντας „ἐν ἐσθῆτι ἀστραπτούσῃ“ ταῖς γενομέναις ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον γυναιξὶν ἢ τοὺς θεωρηθέντας ἔνδον „ἐν λευκοῖς καθεζομένους.“ ἕκαστον δὲ τούτων νῦν παραδεικνύναι δυνατὸν καὶ γεγενημένον καὶ δηλωτικόν τινος εἶναι τροπολογίας, τῆς περὶ τῶν προφαινομένων τοῖς τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ λόγου θεωρεῖν παρεσκευασμένοις, οὐ τῆς παρούσης ἐστὶ πραγματείας ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τῶν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἐξηγητικῶν. ### English translation (Claude) Then, next, mixing and likening things that cannot be mixed and are unlike, he adds to his account of the sixty or seventy angels who, as he says, came down and wept hot springs, as he would have it, that some report two angels and some one as having come to the tomb of Jesus himself. He did not observe, I think, that Matthew and Mark reported one, and Luke and John two; which are not contradictory. For those who recorded one say that this is the one who rolled away "the stone" from the tomb; the others speak of the two who stood by the women who came to the tomb "in dazzling clothing," or who were seen inside "sitting in white." To show now that each of these both happened and indicates some figurative meaning, concerning what appears to those prepared to contemplate the resurrection of the Word, belongs not to the present treatise but rather to commentaries on the Gospel. ### Scripture references - Matt 28:2: allusion, high confidence - Mark 16:5: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:4: quotation, high confidence - John 20:12: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The references are Matt 28:2, Mark 16:5, Luke 24:4, and John 20:12. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/56/). ## Against Celsus 5.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/57/ - Source: Koetschau 2:60–61 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Greek philosophers like Chrysippus, Plutarch, and Numenius report supernatural appearances and are believed; Christians who would rather die than lie about God deserve at least equal credence when they report angels. ### Greek text Παράδοξα δὲ πράγματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιφαίνεσθαί ποτε καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἱστόρησαν οὐ μόνον οἱ ὑπονοηθέντες ἂν ὡς μυθοποιοῦντες ἀλλὰ καὶ (οἱ) οἷον πολὺ ἐπιδειξάμενοι γνησίως φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ φιλαλήθως ἐκτίθεσθαι τὰ εἰς αὐτοὺς φθάσαντα. τοιαῦτα δʼ ἀνέγνωμεν παρὰ τῷ Σολεῖ Χρυσίππῳ, τινὰ δὲ παρὰ Πυθαγόρᾳ, ἤδη δὲ καὶ παρά τισι τῶν νεωτέρων καὶ χθὲς καὶ πρώην γεγενημένων, ὥσπερ παρὰ τῷ Χαιρωνεῖ Πλουτάρχῳ ἐν τοῖς περὶ ψυχῆς καὶ τῷ Πυθαγορείῳ Νουμηνίῳ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ περὶ ἀφθαρσίας ψυχῆς. ἢ Ἕλληνες μὲν ἐὰν τοιαῦτα διηγῶνται καὶ μάλιστα οἱ ἐν αὐτοῖς φιλοσοφοῦντες, οὐ χλεύη οὐδὲ γέλως τὰ λεγόμενα οὐδὲ πλάσματα καὶ μῦθοί εἰσιν, ἐὰν δʼ οἱ τῷ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων ἀνακείμενοι καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδὲ μέχρι φωνῆς ψεῦδος εἰπεῖν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ πᾶσαν αἰκίαν μέχρι θανάτου ἀναδεχόμενοι ὡς ἰδόντες ἀπαγγέλλωσιν ἀγγέλων ἐπιφανείας, οὐκ ἄξιοι τοῦ πιστεύεσθαι κρίνονται οὐδὲ οἱ λόγοι αὐτῶν ἐν ἀληθέσι κατατάττονται; ἀλλʼ οὐκ εὔλογον οὕτω κρίνειν τὰ περὶ ἀληθευόντων ἢ ψευδομένων. οἱ γὰρ τὸ ἀνεξαπάτητον ἀσκοῦντες μετὰ πολλῆς καὶ ἀκριβοῦς ἐρεύνης καὶ ἐξετάσεως τῶν κατὰ τοὺς τόπους βράδιον καὶ ἀσφαλῶς ἀποφαίνονται περὶ τοῦ τοὺς τοιουσδὶ μὲν ἀληθεύειν τοὺς τοιουσδὶ δὲ ψεύδεσθαι ἐν οἷς ἱστοροῦσι παραδόξοις, οὔτε πάντων τὸ τοῦ πιστεύεσθαι ἄξιον ἐπιδεικνυμένων οὔτε πάντων [τῶν] ἐναργῶς ἀποδεικνυμένων πλάσματα καὶ μύθους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παραδεδωκέναι. ἔτι δὲ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως καὶ ταῦτα λεκτέον, ὅτι τότε μὲν ἕνα ἢ δεύτερον ὦφθαι ἄγγελον, ἀγγέλλοντα αὐτὸν ἐγηγέρθαι καὶ προνοεῖσθαι τῶν ἐπὶ ὠφελείᾳ ἑαυτῶν περὶ τοῦ τοιούτου πιστευόντων, οὐ θαυμαστόν· ἀεὶ δὲ τοὺς τοιούτους τῷ ἐγηγέρθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν πιστεύοντας, καρπὸν τοῦ πιστεύειν οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητον ἐπιδεικνυμένους τὸν ἐῤῥωμένον βίον καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς χύσεως τῶν κακῶν μεταβολὴν, οὐ χωρὶς ἐφαπτομένων τῶν βοηθούντων αὐτῶν τῇ πρὸς θεὸν ἐπιστροφῇ ἀγγέλων γίνεσθαι, οὐκ ἄλογον εἶναί μοι φαίνεται. ### English translation (Claude) That marvellous things have sometimes appeared to human beings has been reported even by the Greeks, not only by those who might be suspected of making up myths, but also by those who have shown in many ways that they practise philosophy genuinely and set out truthfully what reached them. We have read such things in Chrysippus of Soli, some in Pythagoras, and even in some more recent writers who lived only yesterday or the day before, such as Plutarch of Chaeronea in his work On the Soul and Numenius the Pythagorean in the second book of On the Incorruptibility of the Soul. Or is it that if Greeks, and especially the philosophers among them, narrate such things, what they say is not mockery or laughter, nor fictions and myths; but if those devoted to the God of the universe, who for the sake of not uttering even with their voice a falsehood about God accept every outrage even to death, report appearances of angels as having seen them, they are judged unworthy of belief and their words are not ranked among true ones? But it is not reasonable to judge thus about those who tell the truth or lie. For those who train themselves not to be deceived, after much careful research and examination of each subject, declare more slowly and securely that such people are truthful and such others lie in the marvels they report, since not all show themselves worthy of belief, nor are all plainly shown to have handed down fictions and myths to human beings. Further, concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, this too must be said: that at that time one or two angels were seen, announcing that he had risen and caring for those who believed this to their own benefit, is no wonder. And it seems to me not unreasonable that those who always so believe that Jesus has risen, and who show as a fruit of their belief, not to be despised, a vigorous life and a change from the flood of evils, do not live without angels who help them in their turning to God taking hold of them. ### Extrabiblical texts - Chrysippus (Chrysippus): allusion, medium confidence - Numenius, On the Incorruptibility of the Soul 2 (Numenius of Apamea): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Chrysippus's report, Plutarch's On the Soul, and Numenius's On the Incorruptibility of the Soul are lost. The parenthetical (οἱ) and the deleted [τῶν] are the editor's. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/57/). ## Against Celsus 5.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/58/ - Source: Koetschau 2:61–62 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: It is more fitting that a servant angel, not the risen Lord himself, rolled away the stone; the other angels Celsus mentions do nothing for his case, since Christ alone came to turn all humanity from sin and gave God's kingdom to the church. ### Greek text Κατηγορεῖ δʼ ὁ Κέλσος καὶ τοῦ φάσκοντος λόγου ἄγγελον ἀποκεκυλικέναι τοῦ τάφου, ἔνθα ἦν τὸ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα, „τὸν λίθον“ ὥσπερ μειράκιον, ἐν διατριβῇ λαβὸν τοπικῶς κατηγορῆσαί τινος, καί φησιν ὡς σοφόν τι κατὰ τοῦ λόγου εὑρὼν [καί φησιν] ὅτι ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἀνοῖξαι τὸν τάφον, ἀλλʼ ἐδεήθη ἄλλου ἀποκινήσοντος τὴν πέτραν. καὶ ἵνα γε μηδὲν περιεργάσωμαι περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον μηδὲ τροπολογίαν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐκτιθέμενος δόξω ἀκαίρως εἰς ταῦτα φιλοσοφεῖν, περὶ αὐτῆς ἐρῶ τῆς ἱστορίας ὅτι σεμνότερον αὐτόθεν φαίνεται τὸ τὸν ἐλάττονα καὶ ὑπηρέτην ἀποκεκυλικέναι „τὸν λίθον“ ἢ τὸν ἐπὶ ὠφελείᾳ ἀνθρώπων ἀνιστάμενον τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι. οὐ λέγω δʼ ὅτι οἱ μὲν τῷ λόγῳ ἐπιβουλεύοντες καὶ ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτὸν βουληθέντες καὶ δεῖξαι πᾶσι νεκρὸν καὶ τὸ μηδὲν τυγχάνοντα βούλονται αὐτοῦ μηδαμῶς ἀνοιχθῆναι τὸν τάφον, ἵνα μηδεὶς τὸν λόγον μετὰ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν αὐτῶν ζῶντα θεάσηται· ὁ δὲ ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδημῶν συνεργὸς τοῦ ἀγγέλου ἄγγελος θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερος ὢν τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων ἀποκυλίει τὸν βαρὺν λίθον· ἵνα πεισθῶσιν οἱ νομίζοντες τεθνηκέναι τὸν λόγον ὅτι „οὐκ ἔστι“ „μετὰ τῶν νεκρῶν“ ἀλλὰ ζῇ καὶ „προάγει“ τοὺς βουλομένους αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖν, ἵνα ἐπιδείξηται τὰ ἑξῆς οἷς ἐπεδείξατο πρότερον, τοῖς μὴ χωροῦσί πω αὐτῶν μείζονα κατὰ τὸν πρότερον τῆς εἰσαγωγῆς αὐτῶν χρόνον. εἶτʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως μετὰ ταῦτα παραῤῥίπτει, οὐκ οἶδα εἰς τί τῇ προθέσει αὐτοῦ χρήσιμον εἶναι δοκοῦν, τὸ περὶ τῆς Μαρίας κυούσης ἐληλυθέναι πρὸς τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἄγγελον καὶ πάλιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸ βρέφος γεννηθὲν καὶ ἐπιβουλευόμενον ἐξαρπάσαντας φυγεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον. περὶ τούτων δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω πρὸς τὰ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένα διελέχθημεν. τί δὲ βούλεται Κέλσῳ (τὸ) καὶ Μωϋσεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱστορεῖσθαι κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς ἀγγέλους πέμπεσθαι; οὐδὲν γάρ μοι φαίνεται συμβάλλεσθαι αὐτῷ πρὸς ὃ βούλεται, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπεὶ οὐδεὶς μὲν ἐκείνων περὶ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἠγωνίσατο, ἵνʼ αὐτὸ ἐπιστρέψῃ ὅση δύναμις ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. καὶ ἄλλοι οὖν πεπέμφθωσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οὗτός τι πλέον ἀπαγγελλέτω, καὶ πλημμελούντων Ἰουδαίων καὶ μεταχαραττόντων τὴν εὐσέβειαν καὶ οὐχ ὅσια δρώντων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ μεταδεδωκέτω „ἄλλοις γεωργοῖς, “ τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἑαυτῶν ἐπιμελουμένοις καὶ πάντα πράττουσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀφορμὰς προσαγαγεῖν διὰ βίου καθαροῦ καὶ λόγου ἀκολούθου τῷ βίῳ πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεόν. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus also accuses the account that says an angel rolled "the stone" away from the tomb where Jesus's body was, like a youth who has seized on something in a school exercise to accuse, as a set topic; and, as though he had found something clever against the account, he says: "The child of God, it seems, could not open the tomb, but needed another to roll away the rock." So as not to be overly curious about the passage, or seem to philosophize unseasonably by setting out a figurative interpretation at present, I will say about the narrative itself that it is plainly more dignified for the lesser being and servant to have rolled away "the stone" than for the one rising for the benefit of human beings to have done it. I will not dwell on the point that those who plotted against the Word, and wished to kill him and show him to all as dead and of no account, wanted his tomb never to be opened, so that no one might see the Word alive after their plot; while the angel of God, who came as fellow-worker with the Angel for the salvation of human beings and was stronger than the plotters, rolls away the heavy stone, so that those who think the Word has died may be persuaded that he "is not" "among the dead," but lives and "goes before" those who wish to follow him, so as to show them what comes next after what he showed before, to those who during the earlier period of their instruction could not yet contain greater things. Then, I do not know how, after this he throws in, for I know not what useful purpose to his aim, that when Mary was pregnant an angel came to Joseph, and again that they might snatch up the child who had been born and was being plotted against, and flee to Egypt. We have discussed these things above too, in reply to what he said. And what does Celsus mean by the fact that the Scriptures report angels sent to Moses and the others? It seems to me to contribute nothing to what he wants, especially since none of them struggled for the human race to turn it, as far as possible, from its sins. Let others, then, have been sent from God, and let this one announce something more; and since the Jews were doing wrong, debasing piety, and not doing holy things, let him give the kingdom of God "to other tenants," those everywhere in the churches who take care of themselves and do everything to bring the starting points given by Jesus's teaching to the God of the universe through a pure life and a word consistent with that life. ### Scripture references - Matt 28:2: allusion, high confidence - Luke 24:5: allusion, high confidence - Matt 28:7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 1:20: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:13–14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:41: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The references are Matt 28:2, Luke 24:5, Matt 28:7, Matt 1:20, Matt 2:13–14, and Matt 21:41. "The Angel" is probably Christ, "the angel of great counsel" (5.53); the angel at the tomb is his fellow-worker. The Greek word order is ambiguous. The deleted [καί φησιν] and the supplement (τὸ) are the editor's. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/58/). ## Against Celsus 5.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/59/ - Source: Koetschau 2:62–63 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus notes that the 'great church' shares the Jews' God and Genesis; Origen agrees, corrects Celsus's reading of God's 'rest' on the seventh day, and notes his silence about the plagues of Egypt. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς φησιν ὁ Κέλσος· οὐκοῦν ὁ αὐτὸς θεὸς Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ τοῖσδε, δῆλον δʼ ὅτι τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς· καὶ ὡσπερεὶ τὸ οὐκ ἂν διδόμενον συνάγων τοῦτό φησι· σαφῶς γε τῶν ἀπὸ μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας τοῦτο ὁμολογούντων καὶ τὰ τῆς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις φερομένης κοσμογονίας προσιεμένων ὡς ἀληθῆ περί γε τῶν ἓξ ἡμερῶν καὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης, ἐν ᾗ, ὡς μὲν ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, „κατέπαυσεν“ „ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων ἑαυτοῦ“ ὁ θεὸς ἀναχωρῶν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ περιωπὴν, ὡς δʼ ὁ Κέλσος μὴ τηρήσας τὰ γεγραμμένα μηδὲ συνιεὶς αὐτά φησιν, ἀναπαυσάμενος, ὅπερ οὐ γέγραπται. περὶ δὲ τῆς κοσμοποιΐας καὶ τοῦ μετʼ αὐτὴν ἀπολειπομένου σαββατισμοῦ τῷ λαῷ τοῦ θεοῦ „πολὺς“ ἂν εἴη καὶ μυστικὸς καὶ βαθὺς καὶ „δυσερμήνευτος λόγος.“ εἶτα δοκεῖ μοι τὸ βιβλίον συμπληρῶσαι θέλων καὶ μέγα δοκεῖν εἶναι ποιῶν εἰκῇ προστιθέναι τινὰ, ὁποῖά ἐστι καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον, ὡς ἄρα λέγομεν τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι ὡς καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τὴν ἀπʼ ἐκείνου διαδοχὴν ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς γενεαλογοῦμεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς ἀλλήλους μὲν ἐπιβουλὴν ἀδελφῶν οὐκ ἴσμεν, τὸν δὲ Κάϊν ἐπιβεβουλευκέναι τῷ Ἄβελ καὶ τὸν Ἠσαῦ τῷ Ἰακώβ· οὐ γὰρ Ἄβελ τῷ Κάϊν ἐπεβούλευσεν οὐδὲ ὁ Ἰακὼβ τῷ Ἠσαῦ· ὅπερ εἰ ἐγεγόνει, ἀκολούθως ἂν εἶπεν ὁ Κέλσος τὰς εἰς ἀλλήλους τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπιβουλὰς τὰς αὐτὰς ἡμᾶς Ἰουδαίοις ἱστορεῖν. ἔστω δὲ καὶ τὴν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἡμᾶς ἀποδημίαν τὴν αὐτὴν λέγειν ἐκείνοις καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἐπάνοδον καὶ οὐ φυγὴν, ὡς ὁ Κέλσος νομίζει· τί οὖν ταῦτα συμβάλλεται πρὸς τὴν καθʼ ἡμῶν ἢ κατὰ Ἰουδαίων κατηγορίαν; ἔνθα μὲν οὖν ᾤετο χλευάσειν ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων λόγῳ, φυγὴν ὠνόμαζεν· ὅπου δʼ ἦν τὸ πραγματικὸν ἐξετάσαι περὶ τῶν ἀναγεγραμμένων μαστίγων ἐπεληλυθέναι τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦθʼ ἑκὼν ἐσιώπησεν. ### English translation (Claude) Then next Celsus says: "So the same God is God both of the Jews and of these," meaning clearly the Christians; and, as though drawing a conclusion that would not be granted, he says this: "Clearly those of the great church admit this, and accept as true the cosmogony current among the Jews, at least about the six days and the seventh," on which, as the Scripture says, God "rested from his works," withdrawing to his own watchtower, but, as Celsus says, not having observed or understood what is written, "took a rest," which is not written. About the making of the world, and the sabbath rest that remains after it for the people of God, there would be "much" to say, and it is mystical and deep and "hard to explain." Then, it seems to me, wishing to fill up his book and make it seem large, he adds some things at random, such as those about the first man, that we say he is the same as the Jews do, and trace the descent from him in the same way as they. And we know of no plots of brothers against one another, except that Cain plotted against Abel and Esau against Jacob; for Abel did not plot against Cain nor Jacob against Esau; if that had happened, Celsus would consistently have said that we report the same plots of brothers against one another as the Jews do. Let it be granted that we also speak of the same journey into Egypt as they do, and the return from there, and not a flight, as Celsus thinks: what, then, do these things contribute to the accusation against us or against the Jews? Where he thought he could mock us in his account of the Hebrews, he called it a flight; but where the substance lay, to examine the recorded plagues brought upon Egypt by God, he deliberately kept silent. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:9: allusion, high confidence - Heb 5:11: quotation, high confidence - Gen 4:8: allusion, high confidence - Gen 27:41: allusion, high confidence - Exod 7:14–12:30: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 2:2, Heb 4:9, Heb 5:11, Gen 4:8, and Gen 27:41. "The great church" is Celsus's term for the main body of Christians, distinct from the sects. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/59/). ## Against Celsus 5.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/60/ - Source: Koetschau 2:63–64 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians and Jews agree the Scriptures are inspired but differ in interpretation: for Christians the literal law is veiled until one turns to the Lord, who is the Spirit, and sees its hidden glory. ### Greek text Εἰ δʼ ἀκριβῶς χρὴ ἡμᾶς λέγειν τὰ πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον, οἰόμενον τὰ αὐτὰ ἡμᾶς Ἰουδαίοις περὶ τῶν ἐκκειμένων δοξάζειν, φήσομεν ὅτι τὰ μὲν βιβλία θείῳ γεγράφθαι πνεύματι ὁμολογοῦμεν ἀμφότεροι, περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐκδοχῆς τῶν ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις οὐκέτι τὰ ὅμοιά φαμεν, οἵ γε οὐδὲ βιοῦμεν ὡς Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ φρονεῖν οὐ τὴν κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν ἐκδοχὴν τῶν νόμων εἶναι τὴν περιέχουσαν τὸ βούλημα τῆς νομοθεσίας. καὶ λέγομεν δʼ ὅτι, „ἡνίκα ἂν ἀναγινώσκηται Μωϋσῆς, κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν κεῖται“ τῷ τοῖς τὴν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μὴ ἀσπασαμένοις ὁδὸν ἐπικεκρύφθαι τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Μωϋσέως νόμου. ἴσμεν δʼ ὅτι, „ἐὰν ἐπιστρέψῃ τις πρὸς τὸν κύριον“ („ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι“), περιαιρεθεὶς „τὸ κάλυμμα“ „ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν“ ἐν τοῖς κεκρυμμένοις νοήμασι κατὰ τὰ γράμματα „δόξαν τοῦ κυρίου“ ὡσπερεὶ κατοπτρίζεται καὶ μεταλαμβάνει τῆς καλουμένης θείας δόξης εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δόξαν (τροπικῶς μὲν λεγομένου προσώπου γυμνότερον δʼ, ὡς ἂν ὀνομάσαι τις, τοῦ νοῦ). ἐν ᾧ ἐστι τὸ [τοῦ] „κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον“ πρόσωπον, πληρούμενον φωτὸς καὶ δόξης ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τῶν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἀληθείας. ### English translation (Claude) If we must answer Celsus precisely, since he thinks we hold the same views as the Jews on the matters set out, we will say that we both agree that the books were written by the divine Spirit, but about the interpretation of what is in the books we no longer say the same things, since we do not even live as the Jews do, because we think that the literal interpretation of the laws is not what contains the intent of the legislation. And we say that "whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over the heart," because the intent of the law of Moses has been hidden from those who have not embraced the way through Jesus Christ. And we know that "if anyone turns to the Lord" ("and the Lord is the Spirit"), having had "the veil" removed, he beholds as in a mirror, "with unveiled face," "the glory of the Lord" in the thoughts hidden in the letter, and shares in what is called the divine glory for his own glory ("face" being said figuratively, and, as one might put it more plainly, meaning the mind), in which is the face "of the inner man," filled with light and glory from the truth contained in the laws. ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 3:15–18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 2 Cor 3:15–18 and Rom 7:22. The deleted [τοῦ] is the editor's. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/60/). ## Against Celsus 5.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/61/ - Source: Koetschau 2:64–65 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Divisions among Christian sects no more discredit Christianity than rival schools discredit philosophy or medicine; Origen distinguishes the church from Valentinians, Gnostics, and the two kinds of Ebionites. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις φησί· μή με οἰηθῇ τις ἀγνοεῖν, ὡς οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν συνθήσονται τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι σφίσιν ὅνπερ Ἰουδαίοις θεὸν, οἱ δʼ ἄλλον, ᾧ τοῦτον ἐναντίον, παρʼ ἐκείνου τε ἐλθεῖν τὸν υἱόν. εἴπερ δὲ τὸ εἶναι αἱρέσεις πλείονας ἐν Χριστιανοῖς κατηγορίαν οἴεται χριστιανισμοῦ εἶναι, διὰ τί οὐχὶ καὶ φιλοσοφίας κατηγορία κατὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον νομισθείη ἂν ἡ ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι τῶν φιλοσοφούντων διαφωνία οὐ περὶ μικρῶν καὶ τῶν τυχόντων ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων; ὥρα δὲ καὶ ἰατρικὴν κατηγορεῖσθαι διὰ τὰς ἐν αὐτῇ αἱρέσεις. ἔστωσαν οὖν ἐν ἡμῖν οἱ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν λέγοντες τῷ Ἰουδαίων θεῷ θεόν· ἀλλʼ οὔ τι γε παρὰ τοῦτο κατηγορητέοι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν γραμμάτων ἀποδεικνύντες ὅτι εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς θεὸς Ἰουδαίων ἐστὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν· ὡς καὶ τὸν Παῦλον λέγειν σαφῶς, ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων προσελθόντα χριστιανισμῷ· „χάριν ἔχω τῷ θεῷ μου, ᾧ λατρεύω ἀπὸ προγόνων ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει.“ ἔστω δέ τι καὶ τρίτον γένος τῶν ὀνομαζόντων ψυχικούς τινας καὶ πνευματικοὺς ἑτέρους· οἶμαι δʼ αὐτὸν λέγειν τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου. καὶ τί τοῦτο πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, κατηγοροῦντας τῶν εἰσαγόντων φύσεις ἐκ κατασκευῆς σῳζομένας ἢ ἐκ κατασκευῆς ἀπολλυμένας; ἔστωσαν δέ τινες καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενοι εἶναι Γνωστικοὶ, ἀνάλογον τοῖς ἑαυτοὺς ἀναγορεύουσι φιλοσόφους Ἐπικουρείοις. ἀλλʼ οὔτε οἱ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἀναιροῦντες φιλόσοφοι εἶεν ἂν ἀληθῶς, οὔτε οἱ τὰ ἀλλόκοτα ἀναπλάσματα καὶ μὴ ἀρέσκοντα τοῖς τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διαδοχῆς ἐπεισαγαγόντες εἶεν ἂν Χριστιανοί. ἔστωσαν δέ τινες καὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀποδεχόμενοι ὡς παρὰ τοῦτο Χριστιανοὶ εἶναι αὐχοῦντες, ἔτι δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἰουδαίων νόμον ὡς τὰ Ἰουδαίων πλήθη βιοῦν ἐθέλοντες· οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ διττοὶ Ἐβιωναῖοι, ἤτοι ἐκ παρθένου ὁμολογοῦντες ὁμοίως ἡμῖν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἢ οὐχ οὕτω γεγεννῆσθαι ἀλλὰ ὡς τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀνθρώπους· τί τοῦτο φέρει ἔγκλημα τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, οὓς ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ὠνόμασεν ὁ Κέλσος; εἶπε δέ τινας εἶναι καὶ Σιβυλλιστὰς, τάχα παρακούσας τινῶν ἐγκαλούντων τοῖς οἰομένοις προφῆτιν γεγονέναι τὴν Σίβυλλαν καὶ Σιβυλλιστὰς τοὺς τοιούτους καλεσάντων. ### English translation (Claude) Next he says: "Let no one think that I am unaware that some of them will agree that their God is the same as that of the Jews, while others say he is another, to whom this one is opposed, and that the Son came from that other." If he thinks that the existence of many sects among Christians is an accusation against Christianity, why should not, by analogy, the disagreement among the schools of philosophers, not about small and ordinary matters but about the most essential, be thought an accusation against philosophy? It is time for medicine too to be accused because of its schools. Let there be among us, then, those who say that God is not the same as the God of the Jews; but those who show from the same writings that the God of the Jews and of the nations is one and the same are not therefore to be accused, as Paul too plainly says, who came over to Christianity from the Jews: "I thank my God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience." Let there be also a third kind, those who call some people natural and others spiritual; I think he means the followers of Valentinus. And what has this to do with us of the church, who accuse those who introduce natures saved by their constitution or lost by their constitution? Let there be also some who profess to be Gnostics, like the Epicureans who proclaim themselves philosophers. But neither would those who do away with providence truly be philosophers, nor would those who have introduced strange fabrications, which do not please those in the succession from Jesus, be Christians. Let there be also some who accept Jesus and on that account boast of being Christians, yet still wish to live according to the Jewish law like the multitudes of the Jews; these are the two kinds of Ebionites, who either confess, as we do, that Jesus was born of a virgin, or that he was not born so but like other human beings: what charge does this bring against those of the church, whom Celsus named after their great number ("the great church")? He said that there are also some Sibyllists, perhaps having misheard some who accuse those who think the Sibyl was a prophetess and call such people Sibyllists. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 1:3: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 2 Tim 1:3. Here αἱρέσεις is rendered "sects"/"schools" (neutral sense, applied to philosophy and medicine as well as Christian groups). The Valentinians divided humans into "natural" (psychic) and "spiritual" natures. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/61/). ## Against Celsus 5.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/62/ - Source: Koetschau 2:65–66 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus lists many sects, including Simonians, who are not Christians at all since they exalt Simon rather than Jesus, and others Origen has never even encountered. ### Greek text Εἶτα σωρὸν καταχέων ἡμῶν ὀνομάτων φησὶν εἰδέναι τινὰς καὶ Σιμωνιανοὺς, οἳ τὴν Ἑλένην ἤτοι διδάσκαλον Ἕλενον σέβοντες Ἑλενιανοὶ λέγονται. ἀλλὰ λανθάνει τὸν Κέλσον ὅτι οὐδαμῶς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁμολογοῦσιν υἱὸν θεοῦ Σιμωνιανοὶ, ἀλλὰ δύναμιν θεοῦ λέγουσι τὸν Σίμωνα, τερατευόμενοι περὶ αὐτοῦ τινα, οἰηθέντος ὅτι, ἐὰν τὰ παραπλήσια προσποιήσηται οἷς ἔδοξε προσπεποιῆσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, δυνήσεται καὶ αὐτὸς παρʼ ἀνθρώποις τοσοῦτον ὅσον Ἰησοῦς τοῖς πολλοῖς. ἀλλʼ οὔτε Κέλσος οὔτε Σίμων ἐδυνήθησαν νοῆσαι, πῶς Ἰησοῦς ὡς καλὸς „γεωργὸς“ λόγου θεοῦ δεδύνηται τὴν πολλὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν πολλὴν βάρβαρον ἐπισπεῖραι καὶ πληρῶσαι λόγων, μετατιθέντων τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ καὶ ἀναγόντων πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργόν. Κέλσος μὲν οὖν οἶδε καὶ Μαρκελλιανοὺς ἀπὸ Μαρκελλίνας καὶ Ἁρποκρατιανοὺς ἀπὸ Σαλώμης καὶ ἄλλους ἀπὸ Μαριάμμης καὶ ἄλλους ἀπὸ Μάρθας· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ διὰ τὴν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν φιλομάθειαν οὐ μόνα τὰ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἐξετάσαντες, ἀλλʼ ὅση δύναμις καὶ τὰ τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων φιλαλήθως ἐρευνήσαντες οὐδέ ποτε τούτοις ὡμιλήσαμεν. ἐμνήσθη δʼ ὁ Κέλσος καὶ Μαρκιωνιστῶν, προϊσταμένων Μαρκίωνα. ### English translation (Claude) Then, pouring a heap of names over us, he says he knows also of some Simonians, who, revering Helena or a teacher Helenus, are called Helenians. But it escapes Celsus that the Simonians in no way confess Jesus as the Son of God, but call Simon the power of God, telling marvels about him, since he thought that if he pretended to do things like those Jesus seemed to have done, he too would have as much power among human beings as Jesus had among the many. But neither Celsus nor Simon could understand how Jesus, as a good "farmer" of the word of God, was able to sow much of Greece and much of the barbarian world and fill it with words that transfer the soul from all evil and lead it up to the Creator of the universe. Celsus, then, knows also of Marcellians from Marcellina, and Harpocratians from Salome, and others from Mariamme, and others from Martha; but we, who out of love of learning, as far as we could, have examined not only the contents of our faith and the differences within it, but also, as far as possible, investigated with love of truth the views of the philosophers, have never met these. Celsus also mentioned Marcionites, who have Marcion as their head. ### Scripture references - Acts 8:9–10: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:3: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Simon Magus (Acts 8:9–10, "the power of God") and his companion Helena; the Marcellians follow Marcellina, a Carpocratian teacher at Rome. The groups named after Salome, Mariamme, and Martha are otherwise unknown. "Farmer" echoes the parable of the sower (Matt 13:3). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/62/). ## Against Celsus 5.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/63/ - Source: Koetschau 2:66–67 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says Christian sects curse and hate one another; true followers of Jesus bless those who revile them, try to win back those in error, and only avoid a persistent heretic, as Paul commands. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἵνα δοκῇ καὶ ἄλλους εἰδέναι παρʼ οὓς ὠνόμασε, φησὶν ἑαυτῷ συνήθως ὅτι ἄλλοι ἄλλον διδάσκαλόν τε καὶ δαίμονα, κακῶς πλαζόμενοι καὶ καλινδούμενοι κατὰ σκότον πολὺν τῶν Ἀντίνου τοῦ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον θιασωτῶν ἀνομώτερόν τε καὶ μιαρώτερον. καὶ δοκεῖ μοι ἐπαφώμενος τῶν πραγμάτων ἀληθές τι εἰρηκέναι, ὅτι τινὲς ἄλλοι ἄλλον δαίμονα κακῶς πλαζόμενοι καὶ καλινδούμενοι εὕραντο προστάτην κατὰ πολὺν τὸν τῆς ἀγνοίας σκότον. περὶ δὲ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἀντίνουν, παραβαλλόμενον ἡμῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων εἰπόντες οὐ παλιλλογήσομεν. καὶ βλασφημοῦσι δὲ, φησὶν, εἰς ἀλλήλους οὗτοι πάνδεινα ῥητὰ καὶ ἄῤῥητα· καὶ οὐκ ἂν εἴξαιεν οὐδὲ καθʼ ὁτιοῦν εἰς ὁμόνοιαν, πάντῃ ἀλλήλους ἀποστυγοῦντες. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δʼ ἡμῖν εἴρηται ὅτι καὶ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν αἱρέσεις αἱρέσεσι πολεμούσας καὶ ἐν ἰατρικῇ. οἱ μέντοι τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀκολουθοῦντες καὶ μεμελετηκότες αὐτοῦ τοὺς λόγους φρονεῖν καὶ λέγειν καὶ ποιεῖν „λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα, δυσφημούμενοι παρακαλοῦμεν·“ καὶ οὐκ ἂν ῥητὰ καὶ ἄῤῥητα λέγοιμεν τοὺς ἄλλα δοξάζοντας παρʼ ἃ ὑπειλήφαμεν· ἀλλʼ, εἰ μὲν δυνάμεθα, πάντα ἂν πράττοιμεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐτοὺς μεταστῆσαι ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον διὰ τοῦ προσανέχειν μόνῳ τῷ δημιουργῷ καὶ πάντα πράττειν ὡς κριθησομένους. εἰ δὲ μὴ πείθοιντο οἱ ἑτερόδοξοι, τηροῦμεν τὸν προστάξαντα αὐτοῖς λόγον τοιαῦτα· „αἱρετικὸν ἄνθρωπον μετὰ μίαν καὶ δευτέραν νουθεσίαν παραιτοῦ, εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐξέστραπται ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ ἁμαρτάνει ὢν αὐτοκατάκριτος.“ ἔτι δὲ (οἱ) τὸ „μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοὶ“ νοήσαντες καὶ τὸ „μακάριοι οἱ πρᾳεῖς“ οὐκ ἂν ἀποστυγήσαιεν τοὺς παραχαράττοντας τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ οὐδὲ Κίρκας καὶ κύκηθρα αἱμύλα λέγοιεν τοὺς πεπλανημένους. ### English translation (Claude) Then, so as to seem to know others besides those he named, he says, in his usual way, that "some have one teacher and demon, others another, wandering miserably and rolling about in great darkness, more lawless and foul than the revellers of Antinous in Egypt." And in touching on the facts he seems to me to have said something true: that some, wandering miserably and rolling about in the great darkness of ignorance, have found one demon or another as their patron. About Antinous, who is compared with our Jesus, we have spoken earlier and will not repeat ourselves. "And these people," he says, "utter against one another dreadful blasphemies, speakable and unspeakable; and they would not yield in the slightest to agreement, loathing one another utterly." To this too we have said that in philosophy and in medicine one can find schools warring with schools. But we who follow the word of Jesus, and have trained ourselves to think and say and do his words, "when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat"; and we would not say things speakable and unspeakable against those who hold views different from ours; but, if we can, we would do everything to change them for the better, by attaching themselves to the Creator alone and doing everything as those who will be judged. And if those of other opinions are not persuaded, we keep the word that commanded such things about them: "After a first and a second warning, have nothing more to do with a heretical man, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned." Further, those who have understood "Blessed are the peacemakers" and "Blessed are the meek" would not loathe those who debase the things of Christianity, nor would they call those who have gone astray Circes and wily deceivers. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 4:12–13: quotation, high confidence - Titus 3:10–11: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:5: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 10 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 4:12–13, Titus 3:10–11, and Matt 5:9, 5. Antinous was Hadrian's favourite, deified after his death in Egypt (AD 130); Origen discussed him in 3.36–38. The parenthetical (οἱ) is the editor's supplement. Origen here seems to answer epithets Celsus reported ("Circes," "wily deceivers"); the exact source of κύκηθρα αἱμύλα is uncertain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/63/). ## Against Celsus 5.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/64/ - Source: Koetschau 2:67–68 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus garbled Christian polemical terms, such as 'seared consciences' from 1 Timothy, and claims all sects quote 'the world is crucified to me'; as if Paul had written nothing else. ### Greek text Παρακηκοέναι δέ μοι φαίνεται τῆς τε ἀποστολικῆς λέξεως φασκούσης· „ἐν ὑστέροις καιροῖς ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς πίστεως, προσέχοντες πνεύμασι πλάνοις καὶ διδασκαλίαις δαιμονίων, ἐν ὑποκρίσει ψευδολόγων, κεκαυστηριασμένων τὴν οἰκείαν συνείδησιν, κωλυόντων γαμεῖν, ἀπέχεσθαι βρωμάτων, ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἔκτισεν εἰς μετάληψιν μετʼ εὐχαριστίας τοῖς πιστοῖς, “ παρακηκοέναι δὲ καὶ τῶν ταύταις τοῦ ἀποστόλου ταῖς λέξεσι χρησαμένων κατὰ τῶν παραχαραξάντων τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ· διόπερ εἶπεν ὁ Κέλσος ἀκοῆς καυστήριά τινας ὀνομάζεσθαι παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς. αὐτὸς δέ φησι τινὰς καλεῖσθαι αἰνίγματα, ὅπερ ἡμεῖς οὐχ ἱστορήσαμεν. ἀληθῶς δὲ τὸ τοῦ σκανδάλου ὄνομα πολὺ ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι τούτοις ἐστὶν, ὅπερ εἰώθαμεν λέγειν περὶ τῶν διαστρεφόντων ἀπὸ τῆς ὑγιοῦς διδασκαλίας τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους καὶ εὐεξαπατήτους. Σειρῆνας δέ τινας ἐξορχουμένας καὶ σοφιστρίας, κατασφραγιζομένας τὰ ὦτα καὶ ἀποσυοκεφαλούσας τοὺς πειθομένους. ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἴσμεν ὀνομαζομένους, οἶμαι δʼ ὅτι οὐδʼ ἄλλος τις τῶν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ οὐδʼ ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσιν. ἀλλʼ οὗτος ὁ πάντʼ εἰδέναι ἐπαγγελλόμενος καὶ τοιαῦτά φησι· πάντων δὲ, φησὶν, ἀκούσει τῶν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διεστηκότων καὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ταῖς ἔρισιν αἴσχιστα διελεγχόντων λεγόντων τό· „ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ.“ τοῦτο γὰρ μόνον ἀπὸ τοῦ Παύλου ἔοικεν ἐμνημονευκέναι ὁ Κέλσος· διὰ τί γὰρ οὔ φαμεν καὶ ἄλλα μυρία τῶν γεγραμμένων ὡς τό· „ἐν σαρκὶ γὰρ ζῶντες οὐ κατὰ σάρκα στρατευόμεθα, τὰ γὰρ ὅπλα τῆς στρατείας ἡμῶν οὐ σαρκικὰ ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ πρὸς καθαίρεσιν ὀχυρωμάτων, λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ“; ### English translation (Claude) He seems to me to have misheard both the apostle's words that say, "In later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose own conscience is seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful," and those who have used these words of the apostle against those who have debased the things of Christianity. That is why Celsus said that some among the Christians are called "cauteries of the ear." He says also that some are called "riddles," which we have not come across. It is true that the word "stumbling block" occurs often in these writings, which we are accustomed to use of those who pervert the simpler and easily deceived from sound teaching. As for "certain Sirens dancing lewdly and sophistical, sealing up the ears and giving swine's heads to those who obey them," we do not know of any so named, nor, I think, does anyone else among those of our faith or in the sects. But this man, who professes to know everything, says such things too: "And you will hear," he says, "all of them, though so divided and refuting one another most shamefully in their quarrels, saying: 'The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.'" This seems to be the only thing Celsus remembers from Paul; for why do we not also quote countless other things written, such as: "For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful for God for the destruction of strongholds, destroying reasonings and every high thing raised up against the knowledge of God"? ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 4:1–3: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:3–5: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 12 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Tim 4:1–3, Gal 6:14, and 2 Cor 10:3–5. The "Sirens" who give swine's heads mix Homer's Sirens (Odyssey 12) and Circe (Odyssey 10). The 1 Tim passage concerns those who forbid marriage (Encratites). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/64/). ## Against Celsus 5.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/65/ - Source: Koetschau 2:68–69 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Not all sects quote Paul, since the Ebionites and Encratites reject him; Celsus next claims that Christianity's best ideas were said better by the philosophers, which Origen will answer in Book 6. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δέ φησιν ὅτι πάντων ἀκούσει τῶν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διεστηκότων λεγόντων τό· „ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ, “ καὶ τοῦτο ψεῦδος διελέγξομεν. εἰσὶ γάρ τινες αἱρέσεις τὰς Παύλου ἐπιστολὰς τοῦ ἀποστόλου μὴ προσιέμεναι, ὥσπερ Ἐβιωναῖοι ἀμφότεροι καὶ οἱ καλούμενοι Ἐγκρατηταί. οὐκ ἂν οὖν οἱ μὴ χρώμενοι τῷ ἀποστόλῳ ὡς μακαρίῳ τινὶ καὶ σοφῷ λέγοιεν τό· „ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ κόσμῳ“· διὸ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὁ Κέλσος ψεύδεται. καὶ ἐπιδιατρίβει γε κατηγορῶν τῆς ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι διαφορᾶς· οὐ πάνυ δέ μοι δοκεῖ διαρθροῦν ἃ λέγει οὐδʼ ἐπιμελῶς αὐτὰ τεθεωρηκέναι οὐδὲ κατανενοηκέναι, πῶς πλεῖον Ἰουδαίων ἐπίστασθαι λέγουσιν ἑαυτοὺς οἱ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις διαβεβηκότες Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ πότερον τοῖς μὲν βιβλίοις συγκατατιθέμενοι τὸν δὲ νοῦν ἀντεξηγούμενοι, ἢ οὐδὲ συγκατατιθέμενοι τοῖς ἐκείνων γράμμασιν· ἑκάτερα γὰρ εὕροιμεν ἂν ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσι. μετὰ ταῦτά φησι· φέρʼ οὖν, εἰ καὶ μηδεμίαν ἀρχὴν τοῦ δόγματος ἔχουσιν, αὐτὸν ἐξετάσωμεν τὸν λόγον· πρότερον δὲ ὅσα παρακηκοότες ὑπʼ ἀγνοίας διαφθείρουσιν, οὐκ ἐμμελῶς ἐν ἀρχαῖς εὐθὺς ἀπαυθαδιαζόμενοι περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἴσασι, λεκτέον· ἔστι δὲ τάδε. καὶ εὐθέως λέξεσί τισι, τοῖς πιστεύουσι τῷ Χριστιανῶν λόγῳ συνεχῶς ὀνομαζομέναις, ἀντιπαρατίθησιν ἀπὸ τῶν φιλοσόφων, βουλόμενος τὰ καλὰ τῶν νομιζομένων Κέλσῳ παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς λέγεσθαι καὶ βέλτιον καὶ τρανότερον εἰρῆσθαι παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν, ἵνα περισπάσῃ ἐπὶ φιλοσοφίαν τοὺς ἁλισκομένους ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτόθεν ἐμφαινόντων δογμάτων τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ εὐσεβές. καὶ τὸν πέμπτον δὴ τόμον αὐτόθι καταπαύσαντες ἀρξώμεθα τοῦ ἕκτου ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς. ### English translation (Claude) And since he says "you will hear all of them, though so divided, saying: 'The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,'" we will refute this falsehood too. For there are some sects that do not accept the letters of the apostle Paul, such as both kinds of Ebionites and those called Encratites. Those who do not use the apostle as a blessed and wise man would not, then, say "The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world"; so Celsus lies in this too. And he dwells on accusing the differences among the sects; but he does not seem to me to distinguish at all clearly what he says, nor to have considered it carefully, nor to have understood how the Christians advanced in learning say they know more than the Jews, and whether they do so while accepting the books but interpreting their sense differently, or not even accepting their writings; for we would find both among the sects. After this he says: "Come then, even if they have no foundation for their doctrine, let us examine the doctrine itself. But first we must state what they have misheard and corrupt through ignorance, arrogantly overbearing, without good taste, right from the beginning about things they do not know; these are the following." And at once, against certain expressions constantly used by those who believe in the Christian doctrine, he sets passages from the philosophers, wishing to show that the good things that Celsus supposes are said among Christians have been said both better and more clearly among the philosophers, so as to draw toward philosophy those who are captivated by doctrines that plainly display what is noble and pious. And ending the fifth book here, let us begin the sixth from what follows. ### Scripture references - Gal 6:14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Gal 6:14. The Encratites rejected marriage and meat; here αἱρέσεις means "sects." ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 5.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/65/). ## Against Celsus 6.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/1/ - Source: Koetschau 2:70–71 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that his sixth book will not fight Plato's philosophy as such, and that a teacher who wants to help everyone, not only the educated, must speak plainly. ### Greek text Ἕκτον τοῦτον ἐνιστάμενοι λόγον πρὸς τὰς Κέλσου κατὰ Χριστιανῶν κατηγορίας χρῄζομεν ἐν αὐτῷ, ἱερὲ Ἀμβρόσιε. ἀγωνίσασθαι οὐ πρὸς τὰ ἀπὸ φιλοσοφίας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐκτιθέμενα, ὡς οἰηθείη ἄν τις. παρέθετο γὰρ πλείονα μάλιστα Πλάτωνος ὁ Κέλσος, κοινοποιῶν τὰ δυνάμενα ἑλεῖν τινα καὶ συνετὸν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων, φάσκων βέλτιον αὐτὰ παρʼ Ἕλλησιν εἰρῆσθαι καὶ χωρὶς ἀνατάσεως καὶ ἐπαγγελίας τῆς ὡς ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἢ υἱοῦ θεοῦ. φαμὲν οὖν ὅτι, εἴπερ τὸ προκείμενόν ἐστι τοῖς πρεσβεύουσι (τὰ) τῆς ἀληθείας πλείους ὅση δύναμις ὠφελεῖν καὶ προσάγειν, ὡς οἷόν τε ἐστὶν, αὐτῇ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν πάνθʼ ὅντινʼ οὖν οὐ μόνον ἐντρεχῆ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνόητον, πάλιν δʼ αὖ οὐχὶ Ἕλληνας μὲν οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ βαρβάρους πολὺ δὲ τὸ ἥμερον, ἐὰν καὶ τοὺς ἀγροικοτάτους καὶ ἰδιώτας οἷός τε τις γένηται ἐπιστρέφειν· δῆλόν ἐστιν ὅτι (καὶ) χαρακτῆρος ἐν τῷ λέγειν φροντιστέον αὐτῷ κοινωφελοῦς καὶ δυναμένου πᾶσαν ἐπαγαγέσθαι ἀκοήν. ὅσοι δὲ, πολλὰ χαίρειν φράσαντες ὡς ἀνδραπόδοις τοῖς ἰδιώταις καὶ μὴ οἵοις τε κατακούειν τῆς ἐν φράσει λόγων καὶ τάξει ἀπαγγελλομένων ἀκολουθίας, μόνων ἐφρόντισαν τῶν ἀνατραφέντων ἐν λόγοις καὶ μαθήμασιν, οὗτοι τὸ κοινωνικὸν εἰς κομιδῇ στενὸν καὶ βραχὺ συνήγαγον. ### English translation (Claude) In beginning this sixth book against Celsus's accusations against the Christians, holy Ambrose, we do not intend to contend in it against the things he sets out from philosophy, as someone might suppose. For Celsus has quoted a great many passages, chiefly from Plato, setting side by side with them those passages from the sacred writings that can impress even an intelligent man, and claiming that these things were said better among the Greeks, and without exaggerated claims and the profession that they come from God or the Son of God. We say, then, that if the aim of those who are ambassadors of the truth is to benefit as many as possible and, so far as they can, to bring to it out of love for mankind everyone whatever, not only the clever but also the foolish, and again not only Greeks but also barbarians (and it is a great mark of gentleness if one is able to convert even the most boorish and unlearned), it is plain that such a person must take care to use a style of speaking that is of common benefit and able to win over every hearer. But those who have bidden a long farewell to the unlearned as though they were slaves, unable to follow a train of thought set out in polished phrasing and ordered arrangement, and have cared only for those brought up in literature and learning, have confined what is meant for all into a very narrow and small compass. ### Translation notes - Ambrose is Origen's patron, to whom the work is dedicated. The parenthesized words in the Greek are editorial supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/1/). ## Against Celsus 6.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/2/ - Source: Koetschau 2:71–72 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Plain Scripture has helped far more people than Plato's polished prose, because God gives power to those who preach, as Paul and the Psalms say. ### Greek text Ταῦτα δέ μοι λέλεκται ἀπολογουμένῳ περὶ τῆς κατηγορουμένης ὑπὸ Κέλσου καὶ ἑτέρων ἐν λέξεσιν εὐτελείας τῶν γραφῶν, ἀμαυροῦσθαι δοκούσης ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν συνθέσει λέξεως λαμπρότητος· ἐπεὶ οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς προφῆται Ἰησοῦς τε καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι αὐτοῦ ἐνεῖδον τρόπῳ ἀπαγγελίας, οὐ τὰ ἀληθῆ μόνον περιεχούσης ἀλλὰ καὶ δυναμένης ἐπαγαγέσθαι τοὺς πολλοὺς, ἕως προτραπέντες καὶ εἰσαχθέντες ἕκαστος κατὰ δύναμιν ἀναβῶσιν ἐπὶ τὰ ἐν ταῖς δοκούσαις εἶναι εὐτελέσι λέξεσιν ἀποῤῥήτως εἰρημένα. καὶ εἰ χρή γε τολμήσαντα εἰπεῖν, ὀλίγους μὲν ὤνησεν, εἴ γε ὤνησεν, ἡ περικαλλὴς καὶ ἐπιτετηδευμένη Πλάτωνος καὶ τῶν παραπλησίως φρασάντων λέξις· πλείονας δὲ ἡ τῶν εὐτελέστερον ἅμα καὶ πραγματικῶς καὶ ἐστοχασμένως τῶν πολλῶν διδαξάντων καὶ γραψάντων. ἔστι γοῦν ἰδεῖν τὸν μὲν Πλάτωνα ἐν χερσὶ τῶν δοκούντων εἶναι φιλολόγων μόνον, τὸν δὲ Ἐπίκτητον καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων καὶ ῥοπὴν πρὸς τὸ ὠφελεῖσθαι ἐχόντων θαυμαζόμενον, αἰσθομένων τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ βελτιώσεως. καὶ ταῦτά γε οὐκ ἐγκαλοῦντες Πλάτωνί φαμεν (ὁ γὰρ πολὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων κόσμος χρησίμως καὶ τοῦτον ἤνεγκεν) ἀλλὰ καὶ δεικνύντες τὸ βούλημα τῶν εἰπόντων τό· „καὶ ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως, ἵνʼ ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν μὴ ᾖ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλʼ ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ.“ φησὶ δʼ ὁ θεῖος λόγος οὐκ αὔταρκες εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον, κἂν καθʼ αὐτὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ πιστικώτατον ᾖ, πρὸς τὸ καθικέσθαι ἀνθρωπίνης ψυχῆς, ἐὰν μὴ καὶ δύναμίς τις θεόθεν δοθῇ τῷ λέγοντι καὶ χάρις ἐπανθήσῃ τοῖς λεγομένοις, καὶ αὕτη οὐκ ἀθεεὶ ἐγγινομένη τοῖς ἀνυσίμως λέγουσι. φησὶ γοῦν ὁ προφήτης ἐν ἑξηκοστῷ καὶ ἑβδόμῳ ψαλμῷ ὅτι „κύριος δώσει ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ.“ ἵνʼ οὖν ἐπί τινων δοθῇ τὰ αὐτὰ δόγματα εἶναι Ἕλλησι καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἡμῶν, ἀλλʼ οὔτι γε καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ δύναται πρὸς τὸ ὑπαγαγέσθαι καὶ διαθεῖναι ψυχὰς κατὰ ταῦτα. διόπερ οἱ ἰδιῶται ὡς πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν Ἑλληνικὴν μαθηταὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκπεριῆλθον πολλὰ ἔθνη τῆς οἰκουμένης, διατιθέντες, ὡς ὁ λόγος ἐβούλετο, κατʼ ἀξίαν ἕκαστον τῶν ἀκουόντων· (οἳ) καὶ ἀνάλογον τῇ ῥοπῇ τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου αὐτῶν πρὸς ἀποδοχὴν τοῦ καλοῦ πολλῷ βελτίους ἐγένοντο. ### English translation (Claude) I have said this in defence against the charge brought by Celsus and others concerning the plainness of style in the Scriptures, which seems to be put in the shade by the brilliance of elegant composition. For our prophets, Jesus and his apostles, had regard to a manner of expression that not only contains the truth but is also able to win over the many, until, once encouraged and brought in, each according to his ability ascends to the things spoken in an ineffable way in words that seem plain. And if one may venture to say it, the very beautiful and studied style of Plato and of those who wrote in a similar way has benefited few, if indeed it has benefited any; but the style of those who taught and wrote more plainly, yet practically and with an eye to the many, has benefited more. One can see, at any rate, that Plato is in the hands only of those who are thought to be lovers of letters, while Epictetus is admired even by ordinary people who have an inclination to be helped, since they perceive the improvement that comes from his discourses. We say this not to find fault with Plato (for the great world of mankind has usefully produced him too), but to show the intention of those who said: “My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that our faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” The divine word says that what is spoken, even if it is true in itself and most persuasive, is not sufficient to reach the human soul unless some power is also given from God to the speaker and grace blossoms on what is said, and this grace itself does not come to those who speak effectively without God. So the prophet says in the sixty-seventh Psalm: “The Lord will give a word to those who preach the good news with great power.” Grant, then, that in some cases the same doctrines are found among the Greeks and among those of our faith; yet they do not have the same power to win souls and dispose them accordingly. That is why the disciples of Jesus, unlearned as far as Greek philosophy is concerned, went round many nations of the world, disposing each of their hearers, as the Word wished, according to his worth; and these, in proportion to the inclination of their free will toward accepting the good, became much better. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:11 (67:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 2:4–5 (Origen reads “our faith”) and Ps 68:11 (67:12 LXX). Epictetus is the Stoic teacher (d. ca. 135). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/2/). ## Against Celsus 6.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/3/ - Source: Koetschau 2:72–73 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Plato rightly said that the highest good cannot be put into words but dawns on the soul like a spark, yet, as Paul says in Romans, those who know the truth about God without worshipping him rightly are without excuse. ### Greek text Παλαιοὶ τοίνυν ἄνδρες καὶ σοφοὶ δηλούσθωσαν τοῖς ἐπίστασθαι δυναμένοις, καὶ δὴ καὶ Πλάτων ὁ τοῦ Ἀρίστωνος τὰ περὶ τοῦ πρώτου ἀγαθοῦ διασημαινέτω ἔν τινι τῶν ἐπιστολῶν καὶ φασκέτω μηδαμῶς εἶναι „ῥητὸν“ τὸ πρῶτον ἀγαθὸν, „ἀλλʼ ἐκ πολλῆς συνουσίας“ ἐγγινόμενον καὶ „ἐξαίφνης οἷον ἀπὸ πυρὸς πηδήσαντος ἐξαφθὲν φῶς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ“· ὧν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀκούσαντες συγκατατιθέμεθα ὡς καλῶς λεγομένοις, „ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς“ ταῦτα καὶ ὅσα καλῶς λέλεκται „ἐφανέρωσε.“ διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τοὺς τὰ ἀληθῆ περὶ θεοῦ ὑπολαβόντας καὶ μὴ τὴν ἀξίαν τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀληθείας θεοσέβειαν ἀσκήσαντάς φαμεν ὑποκεῖσθαι ταῖς τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων κολάσεσιν. αὐταῖς γὰρ λέξεσί φησι περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὁ Παῦλος ὅτι „ἀποκαλύπτεται ὀργὴ θεοῦ ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ἀσέβειαν καὶ ἀδικίαν ἀνθρώπων τῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν ἀδικίᾳ κατεχόντων, διότι τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φανερόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσε. τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται, ἥ τε ἀίδιος αὐτοῦ δύναμις καὶ θειότης, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους, διότι γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν, ἀλλʼ ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐσκοτίσθη ἡ ἀσύνετος αὐτῶν καρδία. φάσκοντες εἶναι σοφοὶ ἐμωράνθησαν, καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πετεινῶν καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν.“ καὶ „ἀλήθειαν“ γοῦν κατέχουσιν, ὡς καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος μαρτυρεῖ λόγος, οἱ φρονοῦντες ὅτι „ῥητὸν οὐδαμῶς ἐστι“ τὸ πρῶτον ἀγαθὸν καὶ λέγοντες ὡς „ἐκ πολλῆς συνουσίας γινομένης περὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα αὐτὸ καὶ τοῦ συζῆν ἐξαίφνης οἷον ἀπὸ πυρὸς πηδήσαντος ἐξαφθὲν φῶς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ γενόμενον αὐτὸ ἑαυτὸ ἤδη τρέφει.“ ### English translation (Claude) Let the ancient and wise men, then, make themselves known to those who are able to understand; and let Plato, the son of Ariston, point out what concerns the first good in one of his letters, and say that the first good is in no way “expressible,” “but from long association” it comes to be, and “suddenly, like light kindled from a leaping fire, in the soul.” When we hear these words we too agree with them as well said, “for God revealed” these things “to them,” and whatever else has been well said. For this very reason we say that those who have grasped the truth about God, but have not practised the piety worthy of the truth about him, are liable to the punishments of sinners. For Paul says of such people in these very words: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness, because what can be known of God is manifest among them; for God revealed it to them. For his invisible things are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, both his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse; because, although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.” So those who hold that the first good is “in no way expressible,” and who say that “from long association with the matter itself and living with it, suddenly, like light kindled from a leaping fire, it comes to be in the soul and then nourishes itself,” do “hold” the “truth,” as our own Scripture also testifies. ### Scripture references - Rom 1:18–23: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 7.341c–d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Platonic quotations are Plato, Letter 7, 341c–d. The Pauline quotation is Rom 1:18–23. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/3/). ## Against Celsus 6.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/4/ - Source: Koetschau 2:73–74 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The philosophers who wrote nobly about the highest good still worshipped idols, so God chose the simple, while Moses and the prophets taught that God is seen by the pure in heart. ### Greek text Ἀλλʼ οἱ τοιαῦτα περὶ τοῦ πρώτου ἀγαθοῦ γράψαντες καταβαίνουσιν „εἰς Πειραιέα, “ προσευξόμενοι ὡς θεῷ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι καὶ ὀψόμενοι τὴν ὑπὸ ἰδιωτῶν ἐπιτελουμένην πανήγυριν· καὶ τηλικαῦτά γε φιλοσοφήσαντες περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τὴν διαγωγὴν τῆς καλῶς βεβιωκυΐας διεξελθόντες, καταλιπόντες τὸ μέγεθος ὧν „αὐτοῖς“ „ὁ θεὸς“ „ἐφανέρωσεν“ εὐτελῆ φρονοῦσι καὶ μικρὰ, „ἀλεκτρυόνα“ „τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ“ ἀποδιδόντες· καὶ „τὰ“ „ἀόρατα“ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰς ἰδέας φαντασθέντες „ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ κόσμου“ καὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν, ἀφʼ ὧν ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐπὶ τὰ νοούμενα, τήν τε ἀΐδιον αὐτοῦ δύναμιν καὶ θειότητα οὐκ ἀγεννῶς ἰδόντες οὐδὲν ἧττον „ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, “ καὶ ὡς „ἀσύνετος αὐτῶν (ἡ) καρδία“ ἐν σκότῳ καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ καλινδεῖται τῇ περὶ τοῦ θεραπεύειν τὸ θεῖον. καὶ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τοὺς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ μέγα φρονοῦντας καὶ θεολογίᾳ „ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου“ προσκυνοῦντας, εἰς τιμήν φησιν ἐκείνου, ἔσθʼ ὅτε δὲ καὶ καταβαίνοντας μετʼ Αἰγυπτίων ἐπὶ τὰ πετεινὰ ἢ τετράποδα ἢ ἑρπετά. ἵνα δὲ καὶ δοκῶσί τινες ταῦτα ὑπεραναβεβηκέναι, ἀλλʼ εὑρεθήσονται ἀλλάξαντες „τὴν ἀλήθειαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ψεύδει“ καὶ σέβοντες καὶ λατρεύοντες „τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα.“ διόπερ τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησι σοφῶν καὶ πολυμαθῶν τοῖς ἔργοις περὶ τὸ θεῖον πλανωμένων „ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεὸς“ „τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου, “ „ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφοὺς, “ „καὶ τὰ ἀγενῆ“ „καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ“ „καὶ τὰ ἐξουθενημένα“ καὶ „τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ἵνα τὰ ὄντα καταργήσῃ“· καὶ ἀληθῶς, ἵνα „μὴ καυχήσηται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ.“ πρῶτον δὲ ἡμῶν σοφοὶ, Μωϋσῆς ὁ ἀρχαιότατος καὶ οἱ ἑξῆς αὐτῷ προφῆται, „οὐδαμῶς“ „ῥητὸν“ ἐπιστάμενοι τὸ πρῶτον ἀγαθὸν ἔγραψαν μὲν, ὡς θεοῦ (ἑαυτὸν) ἐμφανίζοντος τοῖς ἀξίοις καὶ ἐπιτηδείοις, ὅτι „ὤφθη“ ὁ θεὸς (φέρʼ εἰπεῖν) τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἢ τῷ Ἰσαὰκ ἢ τῷ Ἰακώβ. τίς δὲ ὢν ὤφθη καὶ ποταπὸς καὶ τίνα τρόπον καὶ τίνι τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν, καταλελοίπασιν ἐξετάζειν τοῖς δυναμένοις ἑαυτοὺς ἐμπαρέχειν παραπλησίους ἐκείνοις, οἷς ὤφθη ὁ θεός· ὀφθεὶς αὐτῶν οὐ τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀλλὰ τῇ καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ. καὶ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἡμῶν „μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται.“ ### English translation (Claude) But those who wrote such things about the first good go down “to the Piraeus” to pray to Artemis as to a god and to watch the festival held by ordinary people. And after philosophizing so loftily about the soul and describing the way of life of the soul that has lived well, they abandon the greatness of what “God revealed to them” and think mean and small thoughts, paying “a cock to Asclepius.” And though they imagined God's “invisible things” and the Ideas “from the creation of the world” and from sensible things, from which they ascend to the things known by the mind, and saw not ignobly his eternal power and divinity, they nonetheless “became futile in their reasonings,” and their “senseless heart,” so to speak, wallows in darkness and ignorance about the worship of the divine. And one can see men who pride themselves greatly on wisdom and theology worshipping “the likeness of an image of corruptible man,” in his honour, they say, and at times even going down with the Egyptians to birds or four-footed beasts or creeping things. And even if some seem to have risen above these things, they will nonetheless be found to have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” and to “worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.” Therefore, since the wise and learned among the Greeks go astray in their practice concerning the divine, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise,” and “the low-born” and “the weak” and “the despised” and “the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,” and truly “that no flesh might boast before God.” But our first wise men, Moses, the most ancient, and the prophets after him, knowing that the first good is “in no way expressible,” wrote, as though God showed himself to those who are worthy and fitted for it, that God “appeared,” for example, to Abraham or to Isaac or to Jacob. But who he was that appeared, and of what kind, and in what manner, and to which of the faculties within us, they left to be examined by those able to make themselves like those to whom God appeared; for he was seen by them not with the eyes of the body but with the pure heart. For according to our Jesus, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” ### Scripture references - Rom 1:20–25: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:27–29: quotation, high confidence - Gen 12:7: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 26:2: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 35:9: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 5:8: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 327a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence - Plato, Phaed. 118a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are to Plato, Republic 327a (Socrates goes down to the Piraeus to pray to the goddess) and Phaedo 118a (the cock owed to Asclepius). The biblical passages are Rom 1:20–25, 1 Cor 1:27–29, Gen 12:7; 26:2; 35:9, and Matt 5:8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/4/). ## Against Celsus 6.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/5/ - Source: Koetschau 2:74–75 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Bible spoke of God's light kindled in the soul long before Plato, and unlike Plato's words its plain speech has actually made readers devout. ### Greek text Τὸ δʼ „ἐξαίφνης οἷον ἀπὸ πυρὸς πηδήσαντος“ ἐξάπτεσθαι „φῶς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ“ πρότερος οἶδεν ὁ λόγος, εἰπὼν ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ· „φωτίσατε ἑαυτοῖς φῶς γνώσεως.“ καὶ Ἰωάννης δὲ ὕστερον ἐκείνου γενόμενος λέγει ὅτι „ὃ γέγονεν“ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ „ζωὴ“ ἦν, „καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, “ ὅπερ „φῶς ἀληθινὸν“ „φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν“ ἀληθινὸν καὶ νοητὸν „κόσμον, “ καὶ ποιεῖ αὐτὸν „φῶς τοῦ κόσμου.“ „ἔλαμψε“ γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ φῶς „ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν πρὸς φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ Χριστοῦ.“ διό φησιν ἀρχαιότατος προφήτης πρὸ πολλῶν γενεῶν τῆς Κύρου βασιλείας προφητεύσας (ὑπὲρ τὰς τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα γὰρ γενεὰς πρεσβύτερος αὐτοῦ ἦν) τό· „κύριος φωτισμός μου καὶ σωτήρ μου, τίνα φοβηθήσομαι;“ καί· „λύχνος τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου, καὶ φῶς ταῖς τρίβοις μου, “ καί· „ἐσημειώθη ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, κύριε, “ καί· „ἐν τῷ φωτί σου ὀψόμεθα φῶς.“ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ φῶς τοῦτο προτρέπων ἡμᾶς ὁ ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ λόγος φησί· „φωτίζου, φωτίζου Ἱερουσαλήμ· ἥκει γάρ σου τὸ φῶς, καὶ ἡ δόξα κυρίου ἐπὶ σὲ ἀνέτειλεν.“ ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς οὗτος προφητεύων περὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημίας, ἀφιστάντος τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ ἀγαλμάτων καὶ δαιμόνων θεραπείας, φησὶν ὅτι „καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς, “ καὶ πάλιν· „λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει φῶς εἶδε μέγα.“ ὅρα οὖν τὴν διαφορὰν τοῦ καλῶς λελεγμένου ὑπὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος περὶ τοῦ πρώτου ἀγαθοῦ καὶ τῶν εἰρημένων ἐν τοῖς προφήταις περὶ τοῦ φωτὸς τῶν μακαρίων· καὶ ὅρα ὅτι ἡ μὲν ἐν Πλάτωνι περὶ τούτου ἀλήθεια οὐδὲν ὡς πρὸς εἰλικρινῆ εὐσέβειαν ὤνησε τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ αὐτὸν τὸν τοιαῦτα περὶ τοῦ πρώτου ἀγαθοῦ φιλοσοφήσαντα, ἡ δὲ τῶν θείων γραμμάτων εὐτελὴς λέξις ἐνθουσιᾶν πεποίηκε τοὺς γνησίως ἐντυγχάνοντας αὐτῇ· παρʼ οἷς τρέφεται τοῦτο τὸ φῶς τῷ ἔν τινι παραβολῇ εἰρημένῳ ἐλαίῳ, τηροῦντι τῶν δᾴδων τὸ φῶς ἐν ταῖς φρονίμοις πέντε παρθένοις. ### English translation (Claude) But that “suddenly, like light kindled from a leaping fire,” light is kindled “in the soul,” the word of God knew first, when it said in the prophet: “Light for yourselves the light of knowledge.” And John, who lived later than he, says that “what came to be” in the Word “was life, and the life was the light of men,” which “true light enlightens every man coming into the” true and intelligible “world,” and makes him “the light of the world.” For this light “shone in our hearts to give the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” That is why a very ancient prophet, who prophesied many generations before the reign of Cyrus (for he was older than him by more than fourteen generations), says: “The Lord is my light and my saviour; whom shall I fear?” and “Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths,” and “The light of your face has been signed upon us, O Lord,” and “In your light we shall see light.” And the word in Isaiah, urging us to this light, says: “Be enlightened, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” And this same prophet, prophesying about the coming of Jesus, who would turn men away from the worship of idols and statues and demons, says: “To those who sat in the region and shadow of death a light has risen,” and again: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” See, then, the difference between what Plato said well about the first good and what is said in the prophets about the light of the blessed; and see that the truth about this in Plato did not help his readers toward pure piety, nor even the man himself who philosophized so about the first good, whereas the plain style of the divine writings has filled with divine inspiration those who read them sincerely. In them this light is nourished by the oil spoken of in a certain parable, which keeps the light of the torches burning in the five wise virgins. ### Scripture references - Hos 10:12: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3–4: quotation, high confidence - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 27:1 (26:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 119:105 (118:105 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 4:6 (4:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 60:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 9:2 (9:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:16: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 25:1–13: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 7.341c–d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Hos 10:12 LXX, John 1:3–4, 9, Matt 5:14, 2 Cor 4:6, Ps 27:1 (26:1 LXX), Ps 119:105 (118:105 LXX), Ps 4:6 (4:7 LXX), Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX), Isa 60:1, and Isa 9:2 (9:1 LXX; cf. Matt 4:16), with an allusion to the parable in Matt 25:1–13. The “very ancient prophet” is David. Origen's punctuation of John 1:3–4 joins “what came to be” to the following clause. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/5/). ## Against Celsus 6.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/6/ - Source: Koetschau 2:75–76 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Like Plato, who said the deepest truths cannot be written for the many, the prophets, Paul, and Jesus himself knew things they deliberately did not write down. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλην λέξιν οὕτως ἔχουσαν ἐκτίθεται ἀπὸ τῆς Πλάτωνος ἐπιστολῆς ὁ Κέλσος· „εἰ δέ μοι ἐφαίνετο γραπτέα τε ἱκανῶς εἶναι πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ ῥητὰ, τί κάλλιον ἐπέπρακτο ἂν ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ βίῳ ἢ τοῖς τε ἀνθρώποις μέγα ὄφελος γράψαι καὶ τὴν φύσιν εἰς φῶς τοῖς πᾶσι προαγαγεῖν;“ φέρε καὶ περὶ τούτου βραχέα διαλεχθῶμεν, πότερον μὲν εἶχέ τι Πλάτων σεμνότερον ὧν ἔγραψε καὶ θειότερον ὧν κατέλιπεν ἢ μὴ, καταλιπόντες ἑκάστῳ ἐξετάζειν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν, δεικνύντες (δ᾿) ὅτι καὶ οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς προφῆται ἐφρόνουν τινὰ μείζονα γραμμάτων, ἅπερ οὐκ ἔγραψαν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἰεζεκιὴλ κεφαλίδα λαμβάνει „βιβλίου, “ γεγραμμένην „ἔμπροσθεν“ καὶ ὄπισθεν, ἐν ᾗ „θρῆνος“ ἦν „καὶ μέλος καὶ οὐαὶ, “ καὶ προστάξαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ λόγου κατεσθίει τὴν βίβλον, ἵνʼ αὐτὴν μὴ γράψῃ καὶ προδῷ ἀναξίοις· καὶ ὁ Ἰωάννης δὲ τὸ παραπλήσιον ἀναγέγραπται ἑωρακέναι καὶ πεποιηκέναι· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος „ἤκουσεν ἄῤῥητα ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι.“ ὁ δὲ πάντων τούτων κρείσσων Ἰησοῦς ὅτι μὲν „ἐλάλει“ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον „τοῖς μαθηταῖς“ „κατʼ ἰδίαν“ καὶ μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς ἀναχωρήσεσιν εἴρηται, τίνα δʼ ἦν ἃ ἔλεγεν, οὐκ ἀναγέγραπται. οὐ γὰρ „ἐφαίνετο“ αὐτοῖς „γραπτέα ἱκανῶς εἶναι“ ταῦτα „πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς“ οὐδὲ „ῥητά.“ καὶ, εἰ μὴ φορτικὸν εἰπεῖν περὶ τῶν τηλικούτων ἀνδρῶν τὸ ἀληθὲς, φημὶ ὅτι μᾶλλον Πλάτωνος οὗτοι ἑώρων ἀφʼ ὧν ἐλάμβανον χάριτι θεοῦ νοημάτων, τίνα μὲν τὰ „γραπτέα“ καὶ πῶς „γραπτέα“ τίνα δὲ οὐδαμῶς „γραπτέα“ τοὺς πολλοὺς, “ καὶ τίνα μὲν „ῥητὰ“ τίνα δὲ οὐ τοιαῦτα. πάλιν τε αὖ ὁ Ἰωάννης, διδάσκων ἡμᾶς γραπτέων καὶ οὐ γραπτέων διαφορὰν, ἑπτὰ βροντῶν φησιν ἀκηκοέναι περί τινων διδασκουσῶν αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπαγορευουσῶν γραφῇ παραδοῦναι τοὺς λόγους αὐτῶν. ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus also sets out another passage from Plato's letter, which runs thus: “If it had seemed to me that these things could be adequately written or spoken for the many, what finer thing could I have done in my life than to write something of great benefit to mankind and to bring the nature of things to light for all?”, let us discuss this too briefly. Whether Plato held something more sacred than what he wrote and more divine than what he left behind, or not, we leave to each to examine as he can; but we will show that our prophets too had in mind certain things greater than what is written, which they did not write. For Ezekiel receives a roll “of a book” written “in front” and behind, in which were “lamentation and song and woe,” and at the command of the Word he eats the book, so that he might not write it and betray it to the unworthy. And John too is recorded to have seen and done something similar. Moreover, Paul “heard inexpressible words, which it is not permitted for a man to speak.” And Jesus, who is greater than all these, is said to have spoken the word of God “to his disciples privately,” and especially in his withdrawals; but what he said has not been recorded. For it did not “seem” to them that these things “could be adequately written for the many” or “spoken.” And if it is not tiresome to speak the truth about such great men, I say that, from the thoughts they received by the grace of God, these men saw better than Plato what things are “to be written” and how, and what are in no way “to be written for the many,” and what are “to be spoken” and what are not. And again John, teaching us the difference between what is to be written and what is not, says that he heard seven thunders instructing him about certain things and forbidding him to commit their words to writing. ### Scripture references - Ezek 2:9–3:3: allusion, high confidence - Rev 10:9–10: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:4: quotation, high confidence - Mark 4:34: allusion, high confidence - Rev 10:4: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 7.341d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus quotes Plato, Letter 7, 341d. The biblical passages are Ezek 2:9–3:3, Rev 10:9–10, 2 Cor 12:4, Mark 4:34, and Rev 10:4. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/6/). ## Against Celsus 6.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/7/ - Source: Koetschau 2:76–77 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses and the prophets could not have borrowed from Plato, who lived later, and Scripture itself commends searching inquiry and argument. ### Greek text Πολλὰ δʼ ἂν καὶ παρὰ τῷ Μωϋσεῖ εὑρεθείη καὶ τοῖς προφήταις, οὐ μόνον Πλάτωνος ἀλλὰ καὶ Ὁμήρου καὶ τῆς τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι γραμμάτων εὑρέσεως πρεσβυτέροις, ἄξια τῆς εἰς αὐτοὺς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μεγαλονοίας πεπληρωμένα· οἵτινες οὐχ, ὡς οἴεται Κέλσος, παρακούσαντες τοῦ Πλάτωνος τοιαῦτʼ εἰρήκασι. πῶς γὰρ οἷόν τʼ ἦν τοῦ μηδέπω γενομένου αὐτοὺς ἀκηκοέναι; ἵνα δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰησοῦ ἀποστόλους τις, νεωτέρους γενομένους Πλάτωνος, ἀναγάγῃ τὸν Κέλσου λόγον, ὅρα εἰ μὴ αὐτόθεν ἀπίθανόν ἐστι τὸ λέγειν Παῦλον τὸν σκηνοποιὸν καὶ Πέτρον τὸν ἁλιέα καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν καταλιπόντα τὰ δίκτυα τοῦ πατρὸς, παρακούσαντας τῶν Πλάτωνι ἐν ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς εἰρημένων, τοιαῦτα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ παραδεδωκέναι. πολλάκις δὲ ἤδη ὁ Κέλσος θρυλήσας ὡς ἀξιούμενον εὐθέως πιστεύειν, ὡς καινόν τι παρὰ τὰ πρότερον εἰρημένα πάλιν αὐτό φησιν· ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἡμῖν τὰ εἰς ταῦτα λελεγμένα. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλην λέξιν ἐκτίθεται Πλάτωνος διʼ ὧν φησιν, „ἐρωτήσεσι καὶ ἀποκρίσεσι χρωμένων“ ἐλλάμπειν φρόνησιν τοῖς κατʼ αὐτὸν φιλοσοφοῦσι, φέρε παραδείξωμεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ὅτι προτρέπει καὶ ὁ θεῖος λόγος ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ διαλεκτικὴν, ὅπου μὲν Σολομῶντος λέγοντος· „παιδεία δὲ ἀνεξέλεγκτος πλανᾶται, “ ὅπου δὲ τοῦ τὸ σύγγραμμα τὴν Σοφίαν ἡμῖν καταλιπόντος Ἰησοῦ υἱοῦ Σιρὰχ φάσκοντος· „γνῶσις ἀσυνέτου ἀδιεξέταστοι λόγοι.“ εὐμενεῖς οὖν ἔλεγχοι παρʼ ἡμῖν εἰσι μᾶλλον. τοῖς μαθοῦσιν ὅτι δεῖ τὸν προϊστάμενον τοῦ λόγου δυνατὸν εἶναι „τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν.“ εἰ δὲ ῥᾳθυμοῦσί τινες, οὐκ ἀσκοῦντες προσέχειν ταῖς θείαις ἀναγνώσεσι καὶ ἐρευνᾶν „τὰς γραφὰς“ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ζητεῖν τὴν διάνοιαν τῶν γραφῶν καὶ αἰτεῖν περὶ αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κρούειν αὐτῶν τὰ κεκλεισμένα, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ὁ λόγος κενός ἐστι σοφίας. ### English translation (Claude) And many things may be found in Moses and the prophets, who are older not only than Plato but also than Homer and the invention of writing among the Greeks, that are worthy of the grace of God given to them and full of greatness of mind; and they did not say such things, as Celsus supposes, because they had misunderstood Plato. For how could they have heard a man who had not yet been born? And even if someone applies Celsus's argument to the apostles of Jesus, who lived later than Plato, see whether it is not plainly unconvincing to say that Paul the tentmaker, and Peter the fisherman, and John who left his father's nets, handed down such teachings about God because they had misunderstood what Plato says in his letters. Celsus has already harped many times on our being required to believe at once, and he says it again as though it were something new beside what he had said before; what we have said on these points is enough for us. But since he also sets out another passage of Plato, in which he says that wisdom shines upon those who philosophize after his manner “as they use questions and answers,” let us show from the sacred writings that the divine word too urges us to dialectic: in one place Solomon says, “Instruction that is not examined goes astray,” and in another Jesus the son of Sirach, who left us the book called Wisdom, says, “The knowledge of the senseless is words that have not been examined.” Kindly refutations are, then, rather to be found among us, who have learned that the one who presides over the word must be able “to refute those who contradict.” And if some are negligent, not training themselves to attend to the divine readings and to “search the Scriptures,” and, according to the commandment of Jesus, to seek the meaning of the Scriptures, to ask God about them, and to knock at what is shut in them, that does not make the word empty of wisdom. ### Scripture references - Prov 10:17: quotation, high confidence - Titus 1:9: quotation, high confidence - John 5:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:7: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 7.344b (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Sir 21:18 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Platonic phrase is from Plato, Letter 7, 344b. The quotations are Prov 10:17 LXX, Sir 21:18 (Origen calls the book “Wisdom”), Titus 1:9, and John 5:39, with an allusion to Matt 7:7. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/7/). ## Against Celsus 6.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/8/ - Source: Koetschau 2:77–79 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus praises Plato for not telling marvels or demanding faith in a Son of God, but Origen points to the marvellous legends told of Plato, Pythagoras, and Socrates, and to Plato's own mention of a Father of the world's ruler. ### Greek text Εἶτά φησι μετὰ ἄλλας λέξεις Πλατωνικὰς, δηλούσας ὅτι „ὀλίγοις“ ἐστὶ γνωστὸν τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἐπεὶ οἱ πολλοὶ μετὰ „καταφρονήσεως οὐκ ὀρθῆς“ „ὑψηλῆς καὶ χαύνης ἐλπίδος“ πληρωθέντες „ὡς σεμνὰ ἄττα“ μεμαθηκότες λέγουσί τινα ὡς ἀληθῆ, ὅτι ταῦτα προειρηκὼς ὁ Πλάτων ὅμως οὐ τερατεύεται οὐδʼ ἀποφράττει τοῦ προαιρεῖσθαι βουλομένου, τί ποτε ἐστὶν ὃ ἐπαγγέλλεται, τὴν γλῶτταν, οὐδʼ αὐτόθεν κελεύει φθάσαντας πιστεύειν ὅτι τοιόσδε ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς καὶ υἱὸν ἔχει τοιόνδε, καὶ οὗτος κατελθὼν ἐμοὶ διελέξατο. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτά φημι ὅτι περὶ μὲν Πλάτωνος Ἀρίστανδρος οἶμαι ἀνέγραψεν ὡς οὐκ Ἀρίστωνος υἱοῦ ἀλλὰ φάσματος, ἐν Ἀπόλλωνος εἴδει προσελθόντος τῇ Ἀμφικτιόνῃ· καὶ ἄλλοι δὲ πλείονες τῶν Πλατωνικῶν ἐν τῷ Πλάτωνος βίῳ τοιαῦτʼ εἰρήκασι· περὶ δὲ Πυθαγόρου, πλεῖστα ὅσα τερατευσαμένου καὶ δείξαντος μὲν ἐν πανηγύρει Ἑλλήνων ἐλεφάντινον τὸν μηρὸν ἀνεγνωρικέναι δὲ φήσαντος τὴν ἀσπίδα, ᾗ ἐχρῆτο, ὅτʼ Εὔφορβος ἦν, καὶ ἐν μιᾷ λεγομένου ἡμέρᾳ ἐν δύο πεφηνέναι πόλεσι, τί χρὴ καὶ λέγειν; ὁ δὲ βουλόμενος κατηγορεῖν ὡς τερατείας ἱστορουμένης περὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ Σωκράτους ἐκθήσεται καὶ τὸν συνιστάμενον Σωκράτει καθʼ ὕπνον κύκνον καὶ τὸν διδάσκαλον εἰπόντα ἐπὶ τῇ συστάσει τοῦ νεανίσκου· „οὗτος ἄρα ὁ κύκνος ἦν.“ ἀλλὰ καὶ ὃν τρίτον εἶδεν ὀφθαλμὸν ἑαυτὸν ἔχοντα ὁ Πλάτων εἰς τερατείαν ἀναλήψεται. οὐ λείψει δὲ τοὺς κακοήθεις καὶ κακηγορεῖν βουλομένους τὰ τοῖς κρείττοσι παρὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπιφανέντα, διαβολὴ καὶ κακηγορία· οἵτινες καὶ τὸ Σωκράτους δαιμόνιον ὡς πλάσμα χλευάσουσιν. οὐ τερατευόμεθα οὖν τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διηγούμενοι, οὐδʼ οἱ γνήσιοι αὐτοῦ μαθηταὶ τοιούτους ἀνέγραψαν λόγους περὶ αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ πάντʼ ἐπαγγελλόμενος εἰδέναι Κέλσος καὶ πολλὰ τῶν Πλάτωνος παρατιθέμενος ἑκὼν οἶμαι σιωπᾷ τὸν περὶ υἱοῦ θεοῦ λόγον, τὸν παρὰ Πλάτωνι λελεγμένον ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑρμείαν καὶ Κορίσκον ἐπιστολῇ. οὕτω δὲ ἔχει ἡ τοῦ Πλάτωνος λέξις· „καὶ τὸν τῶν πάντων θεὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν τε ὄντων καὶ τῶν μελλόντων, τοῦ τε ἡγεμονικοῦ καὶ αἰτίου πατέρα καὶ κύριον ἐπομνύντας· ὃν, ἂν ὄντως φιλοσοφῶμεν, εἰσόμεθα πάντες (σαφῶς) εἰς δύναμιν ἀνθρώπων εὐδαιμόνων.“ ### English translation (Claude) Then, after other Platonic passages which show that the good is known “to few,” since the many, filled “with an improper contempt” and “a lofty and empty hope,” say certain things as true “as though they had learned something sacred,” Celsus says: Although Plato said this beforehand, he nevertheless does not tell marvels, nor does he stop the tongue of the one who wishes to inquire what it is that he professes; nor does he command people to believe at the outset that God is of such a kind and has such a Son, and that this Son came down and conversed with me. To this I say that about Plato, Aristander, I believe, wrote that he was not the son of Ariston but of a phantom that approached Amphictione in the form of Apollo; and a good many other Platonists have said such things in their Life of Plato. And about Pythagoras, who told a great many marvels, who showed his ivory thigh at a festival of the Greeks and said he had recognized the shield he had used when he was Euphorbus, and who is said to have appeared in two cities on one day, what need is there even to speak? And anyone who wishes to accuse the stories about Plato and Socrates of marvel-mongering will set out the swan that was introduced to Socrates in his sleep, and the teacher saying, when the youth was introduced to him, “So this was the swan.” And he will count as a marvel the third eye that Plato saw himself as having. Nor will slander and abuse be lacking to the malicious who wish to disparage the things that have appeared to superior men beyond the many; such people will also mock Socrates' divine sign as a fiction. We, then, are not telling marvels when we relate the things about Jesus, nor did his genuine disciples write such stories about him. But Celsus, who professes to know everything and quotes much of Plato, deliberately, I think, passes over in silence the saying about a son of God found in Plato in his letter to Hermias and Coriscus. The words of Plato run as follows: “and swearing by the God of all things, the ruler of what is and of what is to be, and the Father and Lord of the ruler and cause, whom, if we truly philosophize, we shall all know clearly, so far as is possible for fortunate men.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 7.341e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Ep. 6.323d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Platonic phrases are Plato, Letter 7, 341e; the closing quotation is Letter 6, 323d. The legends of Plato's birth (his mother was Perictione; the text has “Amphictione”), of Pythagoras's ivory (usually golden) thigh and his former life as Euphorbus, and of Socrates' dream of the swan are known from later biographers such as Diogenes Laertius; the “Aristander” named here is uncertain, and the story of Plato's third eye is unidentified. “Divine sign” renders τὸ δαιμόνιον. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/8/). ## Against Celsus 6.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/9/ - Source: Koetschau 2:79 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen compares Plato's five steps to knowledge (name, definition, image, knowledge, the thing itself) with John the Baptist, Christ the Word, Christ formed in the soul, and Christ as wisdom. ### Greek text Καὶ ἄλλην δὲ τοῦ Πλάτωνος λέξιν ἐκτίθεται ὁ Κέλσος οὕτως ἔχουσαν· „ἔτι δὲ μακρότερα περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν νῷ μοι γέγονεν εἰπεῖν· τάχα γὰρ ἂν ὧν πέρι λέγω σαφέστερον ἂν εἴη τι λεχθέντων αὐτῶν· ἔστι γάρ τις λόγος ἀληθὴς, ἐναντίος τῷ τολμήσαντι γράφειν τῶν τοιούτων (καὶ) ὁτιοῦν, πολλάκις μὲν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ πρότερον λεχθεὶς, ἔοικε δʼ οὖν εἶναι καὶ νῦν λεκτέος. ἔστι τῶν ὄντων ἑκάστῳ, διʼ ὧν τὴν ἐπιστήμην ἀνάγκη παραγίνεσθαι, τρία, τέταρτον δὲ αὕτη, πέμπτον δὲ αὐτὸ τιθέναι δεῖ, ὅ δὴ γνωστόν τε καὶ ἀληθές ἐστιν· ὧν ἓν μὲν ὄνομα, δεύτερον δὲ λόγος, τὸ δὲ τρίτον εἴδωλον, τὸ τέταρτον δὲ ἐπιστήμη.“ καὶ κατὰ ταῦτα δὲ εἴποιμεν ἂν ὅτι „φωνὴ μὲν βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ“ εἰσῆκται ὁ Ἰωάννης πρὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀνάλογον τῷ παρὰ Πλάτωνι ὀνόματι, δεύτερος δὲ μετὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην δεικνύμενος ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ᾧ ἐφαρμόζει τὸ „ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο“, ἀνάλογον ὂν τῷ παρὰ Πλάτωνι λόγῳ. Πλάτων μὲν οὖν τὸ τρίτον φησὶν εἴδωλον. ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ εἰδώλου ἐπʼ ἄλλου τάττοντες τρανότερον φήσομεν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ γινόμενον μετὰ τὸν λόγον τῶν τραυμάτων τύπον, τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν ἐν ἑκάστῳ Χριστὸν ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ λόγου. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀνάλογόν ἐστι τῷ τετάρτῳ ὄντι ἐπιστήμη ἡ „ἐν τοῖς“ καθʼ ἡμᾶς „τελείοις“ σοφία ὁ Χριστὸς, ἐπιστήσει ὁ δυνάμενος. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus also sets out another passage of Plato which runs thus: “I have it in mind to speak about these things at still greater length; for perhaps what I am saying would be clearer if this were said. There is a true argument that stands against anyone who dares to write anything at all about such matters, an argument I have often stated before, but it seems that it must be stated now too. For each of the things that exist there are three things through which knowledge must come; knowledge itself is the fourth; and as fifth one must posit the thing itself, which is knowable and truly real. Of these, one is the name, the second the definition, the third the image, and the fourth knowledge.” Along these lines we might say that John, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” was brought in before Jesus as the counterpart of Plato's name; and second, after John and pointed out by him, is Jesus, to whom applies “The Word became flesh,” being the counterpart of Plato's definition (logos). Plato says the third is the image. But we, assigning the term image to something else, will say more clearly that the imprint of the wounds which comes to be in the soul after the Word, that is, the Christ in each person that comes from Christ the Word, is the third. And whether Christ, the wisdom “among” our “perfect,” is the counterpart of the fourth, which is knowledge, anyone who is able will consider. ### Scripture references - Isa 40:3: quotation, high confidence - John 1:23: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:17: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 7.342a–b (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus quotes Plato, Letter 7, 342a–b. The biblical passages are Isa 40:3 (John 1:23), John 1:14, and 1 Cor 2:6. Origen plays on λόγος, Plato's “definition” and Christ the Word. “The imprint of the wounds” (τῶν τραυμάτων τύπον) is obscure; it may refer to the marks of Christ's passion formed in the believer (cf. Gal 6:17), or the text may be faulty. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/9/). ## Against Celsus 6.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/10/ - Source: Koetschau 2:79–80 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says Plato gives reasons and makes no boastful claims, but Origen answers that Plato's Zeus boasts in the Timaeus, that Scripture condemns thoughtless belief, and that Christians suit their teaching to each hearer, often with reasoned argument. ### Greek text Εἶτά φησιν ὅτι ὁρᾷς ὅπως Πλάτων, καίτοι διαβεβαιωσάμενος ὅτι „ῥητὸν“ οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅμως, ἵνα μὴ εἰς ἀνεξέλεγκτον ἀναχωρεῖν δόξῃ, λογισμὸν ὑπέχει ταύτης τῆς ἀπορίας· εἴη γὰρ ἂν τυχὸν „ῥητὸν“ καὶ τὸ μηδέν. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τοῦτο φέρει εἰς κατασκευὴν τοῦ δεῖν μὴ ἁπλῶς πιστεύειν ἀλλὰ λογισμὸν ὑπέχειν τῶν πιστευομένων, χρησόμεθα καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦ Παύλου λέξει ἐγκαλούσῃ τῷ εἰκῇ πιστεύοντι, ἐν ᾗ φησιν· „ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ εἰκῇ ἐπιστεύσατε.“ τὸ ὅσον δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ἀναγκάζει ἡμᾶς ταυτολογεῖν ταυτολογῶν ὁ Κέλσος, λέγων μετὰ τὰς εἰρημένας ὥσπερ ἀλαζόνων ἀλαζονείας ὅτι ὁ Πλάτων οὐκ ἀλαζονεύεται καὶ ψεύδεται φάσκων αὐτὸς καινόν τι εὑρίσκειν ἢ ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ παρὼν ἀγγέλλειν, ἀλλʼ ὁπόθεν ἐστὶ ταῦθʼ ὁμολογεῖ. εἴποι ἄν τις οὖν καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα. βουλόμενος ἀπαντᾶν τῷ Κέλσῳ, ὅτι καὶ Πλάτων ἀλαζονεύεται ἐν τῇ τοῦ Διὸς κατὰ τὸν Τίμαιον δημηγορίᾳ λέγων· „θεοὶ θεῶν, ὧν ἐγὼ δημιουργὸς καὶ πατὴρ“, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ἀλλʼ εἰ ἀπολογήσεταί τις περὶ τούτων διὰ τὸν νοῦν τοῦ δημηγοροῦντος παρὰ τῷ Πλάτωνι Διὸς, διὰ τί ὁ ἐξετάζων τὸν νοῦν τῶν λόγων τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ τῶν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις τοῦ δημιουργοῦ οὐχὶ καὶ πλεῖόν τι ἐρεῖ παρὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ τοῦ Διὸς δημηγορίαν; τὸ γὰρ χαρακτηρίζον τὴν θεότητα ἡ περὶ μελλόντων ἐστὶν ἀπαγγελία, οὐ κατʼ ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν λεγομένων καὶ ταῖς ἐκβάσεσι κρινομένων ὅτι θεῖον πνεῦμα ἦν τὸ ταῦτα ἀπαγγέλλον. οὐ πρὸς πάντα οὖν τὸν προσιόντα φαμὲν ὅτι πρῶτον πίστευσον ὃν εἰσηγοῦμαί σοι τοῦτον εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ πρέπον αὐτοῦ τῷ ἤθει καὶ τῇ καταστάσει προσάγομεν τὸν λόγον, μαθόντες „εἰδέναι, πῶς δεῖ ἡμᾶς ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ ἀποκρίνασθαι.“ καὶ εἰσὶν οἷς πλεῖον μὴ δυναμένοις τοῦ προτραπῆναι εἰς τὸ πιστεύειν τοῦτο κηρύττομεν, ἄλλοις δὲ ὅση δύναμις ἀποδεικτικῶς διʼ ἐρωτήσεων καὶ ἀποκρίσεων προσερχόμεθα. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ λέγομεν τὸ μετὰ χλεύης ὑπὸ τοῦ Κέλσου εἰρημένον. ὅτι πίστευσον ὃν εἰσηγοῦμαί σοι τοῦτον εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ, κἂν ᾖ δεδεμένος ἀτιμότατα ἢ κεκολασμένος αἴσχιστα, κἂν χθὲς καὶ πρώην ἐν τοῖς πάντων ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπονειδιστότατα κεκαλινδημένος. οὐδέ φαμεν· ταύτῃ καὶ μᾶλλον πίστευσον. εἰς ἕκαστον γὰρ πειρώμεθα λέγειν καὶ πλείονα ὧν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἐξεθέμεθα. ### English translation (Claude) Then Celsus says: You see how Plato, although he firmly declared that the good is not “expressible,” nevertheless, so as not to seem to take refuge in what cannot be examined, gives a reasoned account of this difficulty; for perhaps even “nothing” might be “expressible.” But since he brings this forward to establish that one should not simply believe but should give a reasoned account of what is believed, we too shall use a saying of Paul that rebukes the person who believes at random, in which he says: “unless you believed in vain.” Celsus, so far as it rests with him, forces us to repeat ourselves by repeating himself, saying, after the boasts he spoke of as those of boasters, that Plato does not boast and lie by claiming that he himself has discovered something new or has come from heaven to announce it, but acknowledges where these things come from. Someone wishing to answer Celsus might say to this too that Plato also boasts in the speech of Zeus in the Timaeus, where he says: “Gods of gods, whose maker and father I am,” and so on. But if someone defends these words by the meaning of the Zeus who makes the speech in Plato, why should not one who examines the meaning of the words of the Son of God, or of those spoken by the Creator in the prophets, say something even greater than the speech of Zeus in the Timaeus? For what marks divinity is the announcement of future things, spoken not according to human nature, which are shown by their fulfilment to have been announced by a divine Spirit. We do not, then, say to everyone who comes to us, “First believe that the one I am introducing to you is the Son of God”; but we bring the word to each one in the way suited to his character and condition, since we have learned “to know how we ought to answer each one.” And there are some to whom, since they can do no more than be urged to believe, we preach this; but others we approach, so far as possible, by demonstration through questions and answers. Nor do we say what Celsus mockingly says, “Believe that the one I am introducing to you is the Son of God, even though he was bound most dishonourably and punished most shamefully, even though only yesterday or the day before he was rolled about most disgracefully before the eyes of all.” Nor do we say, “For this reason believe all the more.” For on each point we try to say even more than we set out above. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:2: quotation, high confidence - Col 4:6: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 41a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 15:2, Plato, Timaeus 41a, and Col 4:6. The first remark attributed to Celsus paraphrases Plato, Letter 7. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/10/). ## Against Celsus 6.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/11/ - Source: Koetschau 2:80–82 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus asks how a seeker could choose among rival Christian saviours, but Origen replies that only Jesus is preached worldwide as Son of God, while pretenders like Simon Magus, Dositheus, Theudas, and Judas the Galilean came to nothing. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι, ἐὰν οἵδε μὲν (λέγων Χριστιανοὺς) εἰσηγῶνται τόνδε, ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλον, κοινὸν δὲ πάντων ᾖ καὶ πρόχειρον· πίστευσον, εἰ σωθῆναι θέλεις, ἢ ἄπιθι· τί ποιήσουσιν οἱ ἀληθῶς σῴζεσθαι θέλοντες; ἦ κύβους ἀναῤῥίψαντες μαντεύσονται, ποῖ τράπωνται καὶ τίσι προσθῶνται; καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναργείας ὁρμώμενοι ταῦτα φήσομεν· εἰ μὲν πλείους ἦσαν ὁμοίως τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἱστορούμενοι τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεδημηκέναι ὡς υἱοὶ θεοῦ, καὶ ἕκαστος αὐτῶν περισπάσας τινὰς εἰς αὑτὸν, ὥστʼ ἀμφήριστον εἶναι διὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας περὶ τοῦ υἱὸν εἶναι θεοῦ τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν πιστευόντων αὐτῷ μαρτυρούμενον. χώραν ἂν εἶχε τὸ ἐὰν οἵδε μὲν εἰσηγῶνται τόνδε, ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλον, καὶ κοινὸν δὲ πάντων ᾖ καὶ πρόχειρον· πίστευσον. εἰ σωθῆναι θέλεις. ἢ ἄπιθι καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· νυνὶ δὲ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην Ἰησοῦς κεκήρυκται. ἐπιδημήσας τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων μόνος υἱὸς θεοῦ. οἱ γὰρ ὁμοίως Κέλσῳ ὑπολαβόντες τετερατεῦσθαι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο βουληθέντες ὁμοίως τερατεύσασθαι, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὶ παραπλησίως κρατήσοντες τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸ οὐδὲν εἶναι ἐξηλέγχθησαν. Σίμων τε ὁ Σαμαρεὺς μάγος καὶ Δοσίθεος ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς χώρας ἐκείνῳ τυγχάνων. ἐπεὶ ὁ μὲν ἔφασκεν αὑτὸν εἶναι δύναμιν θεοῦ τὴν καλουμένην μεγάλην. ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ τῆς οἰκουμένης Σιμωνιανοί· καίτοι γε ὑπὲρ τοῦ πλείονας ὑπαγαγέσθαι ὁ Σίμων τὸν περὶ τοῦ θανάτου κίνδυνον. ὃν Χριστιανοὶ αἱρεῖσθαι ἐδιδάχθησαν, περιεῖλε τῶν μαθητῶν, ἐναδιαφορεῖν αὐτοὺς διδάξας πρὸς τὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν Σιμωνιανοὶ ἐπεβουλεύθησαν· ᾔδει γὰρ ὁ ἐπιβουλεύων δαίμων πονηρὸς τῇ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ οὐδὲν τῶν ἰδίων παραλυθησόμενον βούλημα ἐκ τῶν Σίμωνος μαθημάτων. οἱ δὲ Δοσιθεηνοὶ οὐδὲ πρότερον ἤκμασαν· νῦν δὴ παντελῶς ἐπιλελοίπασιν, ὥστε τὸν ὅλον αὐτῶν ἱστορεῖσθαι ἀριθμὸν οὐκ εἶναι ἐν τοῖς τριάκοντα. καὶ „Ἰούδας“ δὲ „ὁ Γαλιλαῖος“, ὡς ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων ἔγραψεν, ἐβουλήθη ἑαυτόν τινα εἰπεῖν μέγαν, καὶ πρὸ ἐκείνου „Θευδᾶς“· ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἦν ἐκ θεοῦ αὐτῶν ἡ διδαχὴ, ἀνῃρέθησαν, „καὶ πάντες ὅσοι ἐπείθοντο“ αὐτοῖς παραχρῆμα διεσκεδάσθησαν. οὐ κύβους οὖν ἀναῤῥιπτοῦντες μαντευόμεθα, ποῖ τραπώμεθα καὶ τίνι προσθώμεθα, ὡς δυναμένων πλειόνων περισπάσαι ἡμᾶς τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ τοῦ θεόθεν ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ περὶ τούτων ἅλις. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus says: If these (meaning the Christians) introduce this one, and others another, and the common and ready word of all is “Believe, if you wish to be saved, or go away,” what will those do who truly wish to be saved? Will they throw dice and divine where to turn and whom to join? To this too, starting from what is evident, we shall say the following. If there had been several who, like Jesus, were recorded to have come into human life as sons of God, and each of them had drawn some people to himself, so that because of the likeness of their claims it was disputed which one, attested by those who believed in him, was the Son of God, then there would be room for “If these introduce this one, and others another, and the common and ready word of all is ‘Believe, if you wish to be saved, or go away,’” and the rest. But as it is, Jesus has been preached to the whole world as the only Son of God who has come to the human race. For those who, like Celsus, supposed that marvels had been invented, and for that reason wished to invent marvels in the same way, thinking that they too would gain power over men in a similar way, were proved to be nothing: Simon the Samaritan magician, and Dositheus, who came from the same country as he; for the one claimed that he was the power of God that is called great, and the other that he himself was the Son of God. For nowhere in the world are there Simonians; and yet, to win over more followers, Simon removed from his disciples the danger of death, which Christians have been taught to choose, by teaching them that idolatry is a matter of indifference. But the Simonians were never plotted against at all, for the evil demon who plots against the teaching of Jesus knew that none of his own purposes would be undone by the teachings of Simon. And the Dositheans did not flourish even before; now they have died out entirely, so that their whole number is said not to reach thirty. And “Judas the Galilean,” as Luke wrote in the Acts of the Apostles, wished to call himself someone great, and before him “Theudas”; but since their teaching was not from God, they were destroyed, and “all who obeyed” them were at once scattered. We do not, then, throw dice to divine where to turn and whom to join, as though several could draw us away by claiming to have come from God to the human race. But enough of these matters. ### Scripture references - Acts 8:9–10: allusion, high confidence - Acts 5:36–37: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The biblical passages are Acts 8:9–10 (Simon, “the power of God that is called great”) and Acts 5:36–37 (Theudas and Judas the Galilean). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/11/). ## Against Celsus 6.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/12/ - Source: Koetschau 2:82–83 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus claims Paul's contrast between worldly and divine wisdom was borrowed from Heraclitus and Plato; Origen notes that Plato himself distinguished true wisdom from merely human wisdom. ### Greek text Διὸ μεταβαίνομεν ἐπʼ ἄλλην Κέλσου κατηγορίαν. οὐδὲ τὰς λέξεις ἡμῶν εἰδότος ἀλλʼ ἐκ παρακουσματίων φήσαντος ὅτι φαμὲν τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις σοφίαν μωρίαν εἶναι παρὰ θεῷ, τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος· „ἡ σοφία τοῦ κόσμου μωρία παρὰ θεῷ ἐστι.“ καί φησιν ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι ἡ τούτου αἰτία καὶ πάλαι εἴρηται. οἴεται δὲ αἰτίαν εἶναι τὸ βούλεσθαι ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς λέξεως ταύτης τοὺς ἀπαιδεύτους καὶ ἠλιθίους προσάγεσθαι μόνους. ἀλλʼ ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐσημειώσατο, ταὐτὸ εἶπεν ἀνωτέρω, καὶ ἡμεῖς πρὸς τὸν λόγον κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἀπηντήσαμεν. ὅμως μέντοι ἐβουλήθη καὶ τοῦτο δεῖξαι πεπλασμένον ἡμῖν καὶ ληφθὲν ἀπὸ τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι σοφῶν. ἄλλην μὲν εἶναι φησάντων τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σοφίαν ἄλλην δὲ τὴν θείαν. καὶ ἐκτίθεταί γε Ἡρακλείτου λέξεις, μίαν μὲν, ἐν ᾗ φησιν· „ἦθος γὰρ ἀνθρώπειον μὲν οὐκ ἔχει γνώμας, θεῖον δὲ ἔχει, “ ἑτέραν δέ· „ἀνὴρ νήπιος ἤκουσε πρὸς δαίμονος ὅκως περ παῖς πρὸς ἀνδρός.“ ἐκτίθεται δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Πλάτωνος γεγραμμένης Σωκράτους ἀπολογίας ταῦτα· „ἐγὼ γὰρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, διʼ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ διὰ σοφίαν τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα ἔσχηκα. ποίαν δὲ σοφίαν ταύτην; ἥπερ ἐστὶν ἴσως ἀνθρωπίνη σοφία· τῷ ὄντι γὰρ κινδυνεύω ταύτην εἶναι σοφός.“ ἃ μὲν οὖν ἐκτίθεται ὁ Κέλσος ταῦτά ἐστιν. ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς Ἑρμείαν καὶ Ἔραστον καὶ Κορίσκον Πλάτωνος ἐπιστολῆς καὶ ταῦτα παραθήσομαι· „Ἐράστῳ δὲ καὶ Κορίσκῳ πρὸς τῇ τῶν εἰδῶν σοφίᾳ τῇ καλῇ ταύτῃ φημὶ ἐγὼ καίπερ γέρων ὢν προσδεῖν σοφίας τῆς περὶ τοὺς πονηροὺς καὶ ἀδίκους φυλακτικῆς καί τινος ἀμυντικῆς δυνάμεως. ἄπειροι γάρ εἰσι διὰ τὸ μεθʼ ἡμῶν μετρίων ὄντων καὶ οὐ κακῶν συχνὸν διατετριφέναι τοῦ βίου· διὸ δὴ τούτων προσδεῖν εἶπον, ἵνα μὴ ἀναγκάζωνται τῆς ἀληθινῆς μὲν ἀμελεῖν σοφίας, τῆς δʼ ἀνθρωπίνης τε καὶ ἀναγκαίας ἐπιμελεῖσθαι μειζόνως ἢ δεῖ.“ ### English translation (Claude) So we pass on to another accusation of Celsus, who does not even know our words but says, from things he has half-heard, that we say that wisdom among men is foolishness with God, since Paul says: “The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God.” And Celsus says that the reason for this was stated long ago. He thinks the reason is that by this saying we wish to attract only the uneducated and the simple-minded. But, as he himself noted, he said the same thing above, and we have answered the argument as well as we could. Yet he wished to show that this too was invented by us and taken from the wise men among the Greeks, who said that human wisdom is one thing and divine wisdom another. And he sets out sayings of Heraclitus: one in which he says, “For human character has no insight, but divine character has,” and another, “A man is called childish by a divinity, just as a child is by a man.” He also sets out these words from Plato's Apology of Socrates: “For I, men of Athens, have gained this name through nothing other than a kind of wisdom. What kind of wisdom is this? The kind that is perhaps human wisdom; for in this I really may be wise.” These, then, are the passages Celsus sets out. But I will add these words from Plato's letter to Hermias, Erastus, and Coriscus: “To Erastus and Coriscus, besides this fine wisdom of the Forms, I say, old man though I am, that they also need wisdom that guards against wicked and unjust men, and a certain power of self-defence. For they are inexperienced, because they have spent much of their life with us, who are moderate and not wicked. That is why I said that they need these, so that they may not be compelled to neglect the true wisdom and to attend more than they should to the human and necessary kind.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:19: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Heraclitus, frag. 78 (Heraclitus (fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Heraclitus, frag. 79 (Heraclitus (fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Apol. 20d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Ep. 6.322d–e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 3:19, Heraclitus, fragments 78 and 79 (Diels–Kranz), Plato, Apology 20d, and Plato, Letter 6, 322d–e. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/12/). ## Against Celsus 6.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/13/ - Source: Koetschau 2:83–84 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen distinguishes human wisdom, a training for the soul, from divine wisdom, a gift of God given only to the mature, and ranks wisdom, knowledge, and faith as gifts of the Spirit. ### Greek text Οὐκοῦν κατὰ ταῦτα ἡ μέν τις θεία σοφία ἐστὶν, ἡ δʼ ἀνθρωπίνη. καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀνθρωπίνη ἐστὶν ἡ καθʼ ἡμᾶς λεγομένη „σοφία τοῦ κόσμου“. ἥτις ἐστὶ „μωρία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ“· ἡ δὲ θεία καὶ ἑτέρα παρὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, εἴπερ ἐστὶ θεία, χάριτι θεοῦ δωρουμένου αὐτὴν τοῖς ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιτηδείους πρὸς παραδοχὴν αὐτῆς κατασκευάσασι παραγίνεται, καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἐγνωκέναι τὴν διαφορὰν ἑκατέρας σοφίας πρὸς τὴν ἑτέραν ἐν ταῖς πρὸς θεὸν εὐχαῖς λέγουσι· „κἂν γάρ τις τέλειος ἐν υἱοῖς ἀνθρώπων, τῆς ἀπὸ σοῦ σοφίας ἀπούσης εἰς οὐδὲν λογισθήσεται.“ καὶ γυμνάσιον μέν φαμεν εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σοφίαν, τέλος δὲ τὴν θείαν· ἥτις καὶ „στερεὰ“ λέγεται τῆς ψυχῆς εἶναι „τροφὴ“ παρὰ τῷ φήσαντι· „τελείων δέ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφὴ, τῶν διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμένα ἐχόντων πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ.“ καὶ ἀρχαία μὲν ἀληθῶς ἐστιν ἥδε ἡ δόξα. οὐχ, ὡς οἴεται δὲ Κέλσος, τῆς περὶ αὐτῶν ἀρχαιότητος εἰς Ἡράκλειτον καὶ Πλάτωνα ἀναφερομένης. ἀνωτέρω γὰρ τούτων οἱ προφῆται διέστειλαν τὸ περὶ ἑκατέρας σοφίας· ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἰπεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων τοῦ Δαυῒδ τὸ περὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν θείαν σοφίαν σοφοῦ λεγόμενον, ὅστις „οὐκ ὄψεται καταφθορὰν, “ φησὶν, „ὅταν ἴδῃ σοφοὺς ἀποθνῄσκοντας.“ ἡ θεία τοίνυν σοφία, ἑτέρα οὖσα τῆς πίστεως, πρῶτόν ἐστι τῶν καλουμένων· „χαρισμάτων“ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνην δεύτερον τοῖς ἀκριβοῦν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπισταμένοις ἡ καλουμένη γνῶσις, καὶ τρίτον, ἐπεὶ σῴζεσθαι χρὴ καὶ τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους προσιόντας κατὰ δύναμιν τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ, ἡ πίστις. διὸ λέγεται παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ· „ᾧ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος δίδοται λόγος σοφίας, ἄλλῳ δὲ λόγος γνώσεως κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα, ἑτέρῳ δὲ πίστις ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ πνεύματι.“ διόπερ οὐ τοὺς τυχόντας εὕροις ἂν μετειληφότας τῆς θείας σοφίας ἀλλὰ τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας καὶ διαφέροντας πάντων τῶν χριστιανισμῷ προσεχόντων, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἀπαιδευτοτάτοις ἢ ἀνδραπόδοις ἢ ἀμαθεστάτοις διέξεισί τις τὰ περὶ τῆς θείας σοφίας. ### English translation (Claude) Accordingly, then, there is a divine wisdom and a human wisdom. The human is what we call “the wisdom of the world,” which is “foolishness with God”; but the divine, which is different from the human, if indeed it is divine, comes by the grace of God, who gives it to those who have made themselves fit to receive it, and especially to those who, knowing the difference between the one wisdom and the other, say in their prayers to God: “For even if someone is perfect among the sons of men, when the wisdom that comes from you is absent he will be counted as nothing.” And we say that human wisdom is a training ground for the soul, but divine wisdom is its goal; and the latter is also called the “solid food” of the soul by the one who said: “Solid food is for the perfect, who because of practice have their faculties trained to distinguish good and evil.” This view is indeed truly ancient; not, as Celsus supposes, in that its antiquity goes back to Heraclitus and Plato. For before these the prophets distinguished the two kinds of wisdom. For the present it is enough to quote from the words of David what is said about the man who is wise with divine wisdom, who “will not see corruption,” he says, “when he sees wise men dying.” Divine wisdom, then, being different from faith, is the first of the so-called “gifts” of God; after it, second, for those who know how to make such distinctions precisely, is what is called knowledge; and third, since even the simpler people who come to piety as well as they can must be saved, is faith. That is why Paul says: “To one is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit.” Therefore you would find that it is not ordinary people who have received divine wisdom, but those who excel and stand out among all who are devoted to Christianity; nor does anyone expound the matters of divine wisdom to the most uneducated or to slaves or to the most ignorant. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Ps 49:9–10 (48:10-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:8–9: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 9:6 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Heraclitus (Heraclitus (fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 3:19, Wis 9:6, Heb 5:14, Ps 49:9–10 (48:10–11 LXX; Origen reads it of the wise man), and 1 Cor 12:8–9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/13/). ## Against Celsus 6.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/14/ - Source: Koetschau 2:84–85 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that the truly uneducated are those who pray to idols, and that the Church, like Moses and Daniel of old, includes learned people who have moved on from human to divine wisdom. ### Greek text Καίτοι γε ἄλλους μέν φησιν ἀπαιδευτοτάτους εἶναι καὶ ἀνδράποδα καὶ ἀμαθεστάτους ὁ Κέλσος, τοὺς μὴ ἐπισταμένους αὐτοῦ τὰ προστάγματα μηδὲ παιδευθέντας τὰ Ἑλλήνων μαθήματα· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀπαιδευτοτάτους φαμὲν τοὺς μὴ αἰσχυνομένους ἐν τῷ τοῖς ἀψύχοις προσλαλεῖν καὶ περὶ μὲν ὑγείας τὸ ἀσθενὲς ἐπικαλουμένους περὶ δὲ ζωῆς τὸ νεκρὸν ἀξιοῦντας περὶ δʼ ἐπικουρίας τὸ ἀπορώτατον ἱκετεύοντας. κἄν τινες δὲ μὴ ταῦτα φῶσιν εἶναι τοὺς θεοὺς ἀλλὰ μιμήματα τῶν ἀληθινῶν κἀκείνων σύμβολα. οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ οὗτοι. ἐν βαναύσων χερσὶ τὰ μιμήματα τῆς θειότητος φανταζόμενοι εἶναι. ἀπαίδευτοί εἰσι καὶ ἀνδράποδα καὶ ἀμαθεῖς· ὡς τοὺς ἐσχάτους τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀπηλλάχθαι ταύτης τῆς ἀπαιδευσίας καὶ τῆς ἀμαθίας, καὶ φρονιμωτάτοις δὲ τὴν θείαν ἐλπίδα νοεῖσθαι καὶ καταλαμβάνεσθαί φαμεν. λέγομεν δὲ καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τʼ εἶναι μὴ ἐγγυμνασάμενον τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ σοφίᾳ χωρεῖν τὴν θειοτέραν, καὶ μωρίαν πᾶσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην σοφίαν ὡς πρὸς τὴν θείαν ὁμολογοῦμεν. εἶτα δέον αὐτὸν ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ τοῦ λόγου, ὁ δὲ γόητας ἡμᾶς καλεῖ καί φησιν ὅτί φεύγομεν τοὺς χαριεστέρους προτροπάδην ὡς οὐχ ἑτοίμους ἀπατᾶσθαι. παλεύομεν δὲ τοὺς ἀγροικοτέρους. οὐ γὰρ εἶδεν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν μαθήμασι πεπαιδευμένους τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῖν σοφοὺς, Μωϋσέα μὲν „πάσῃ Αἰγυπτίων σοφίᾳ, “ Δανιὴλ δὲ καὶ Ἀνανίαν καὶ Ἀζαρίαν καὶ Μισαὴλ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἀσσυρίων γράμμασιν, ὥστʼ αὐτοὺς εὑρεθῆναι πάντων τῶν ἐκεῖ σοφῶν δεκαπλασίους. καὶ νῦν δὲ αἱ ἐκκλησίαι ἔχουσι μὲν ἀνάλογον τοῖς πλήθεσιν ὀλίγους σοφοὺς προσελθόντας καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς καλουμένης παρʼ ἡμῖν „κατὰ σάρκα“ σοφίας, ἔχουσι δὲ καὶ τοὺς διαβεβηκότας ἀπʼ ἐκείνης ἐπὶ τὴν θείαν σοφίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Yet Celsus says that others are the most uneducated, slaves, and most ignorant, meaning those who do not know his precepts and have not been trained in the learning of the Greeks. But we say that the most uneducated are those who are not ashamed to talk to lifeless things, who call on what is weak for health, ask what is dead for life, and beg what is utterly helpless for help. And even if some say that these are not the gods but imitations of the true gods and symbols of them, these too are no less uneducated, slaves, and ignorant, since they imagine that imitations of the divinity can be in the hands of craftsmen. So we say that the lowest among us have been set free from this lack of education and ignorance, and that the divine hope is understood and grasped by the most intelligent. We also say that it is not possible for one who has not been trained in human wisdom to receive the more divine; and we acknowledge that all human wisdom is foolishness compared with the divine. Then, when he ought to argue about the doctrine, Celsus calls us sorcerers and says that we flee headlong from the more cultivated, because they are not ready to be deceived, and lure the more boorish. For he did not see that from the very beginning our wise men were educated in outside learning too: Moses “in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,” and Daniel, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael in all the letters of the Assyrians, so that they were found ten times better than all the wise men there. And now too the churches have, in proportion to their numbers, a few wise men who have come even from what we call wisdom “according to the flesh,” and they also have those who have passed from that to the divine wisdom. ### Scripture references - Acts 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Dan 1:17–20: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The biblical passages are Acts 7:22, Dan 1:17–20, and 1 Cor 1:26. Ananias, Azarias, and Misael are the Greek names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/14/). ## Against Celsus 6.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/15/ - Source: Koetschau 2:85–86 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says Christian humility is a garbled borrowing from Plato's Laws, but Origen shows it is older, from the Psalms, and was taught above all by Christ, who humbled himself to death on a cross. ### Greek text Εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος ὡς περιηχηθεὶς τὰ περὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ μὴ ἐπιμελῶς αὐτὴν νοήσας βούλεται μὲν τὴν παρʼ ἡμῖν κακολογεῖν. οἴεται δʼ αὐτὴν παράκουσμα εἶναι τῶν Πλάτωνος λόγων, ὅς φησι ποὺ ἐν τοῖς Νόμοις· „ὁ μὲν δὴ θεὸς, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς λόγος, ἀρχήν τε καὶ τελευτὴν καὶ μέσα τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων ἔχων εὐθείᾳ περαίνει κατὰ φύσιν περιπορευόμενος· τῷ δʼ ἀεὶ ξυνέπεται δίκη τῶν ἀπολελειμμένων τοῦ θείου νόμου τιμωρὸς, ἧς ὁ μὲν εὐδαιμονήσειν μέλλων ἐχόμενος ξυνέπεται ταπεινὸς καὶ κεκοσμημένος“· οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι παρὰ τοῖς πολὺ Πλάτωνος ἀρχαιοτέροις λέλεκται ἐν εὐχῇ τό· „κύριε, οὐχ ὑψώθη μου ἡ καρδία, οὐδὲ ἐμετεωρίσθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, οὐδὲ ἐπορεύθην ἐν μεγάλοις οὐδὲ ἐν θαυμασίοις ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ, εἰ μὴ ἐταπεινοφρόνουν.“ ἅμα δὲ δηλοῦται διὰ τούτων ὅτι οὐ πάντως ὁ ταπεινοφρονῶν ἀσχημόνως καὶ ἀπαισίως ταπεινοῦται, χαμαιπετὴς ἐπὶ τῶν γονάτων καὶ πρηνὴς ἐῤῥιμμένος, ἐσθῆτα δυστήνων ἀμφισκόμενος καὶ κόνιν ἐπαμώμενος. ὁ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν προφήτην ταπεινοφρονῶν, πορευόμενος „ἐν μεγάλοις καὶ θαυμασίοις“ τοῖς ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν, τοῖς ἀληθῶς „μεγάλοις“ δόγμασι καὶ τοῖς „θαυμασίοις“ νοήμασι, ταπεινοῖ ἑαυτὸν „ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ.“ εἰ δέ τινες διὰ τὴν ἰδιωτείαν μὴ τρανώσαντες τὸ περὶ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης δόγμα τοιαῦτα ποιοῦσιν, οὐ τὸν λόγον αἰτιατέον, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἰδιωτείᾳ τῶν προθεμένων μὲν τὰ κρείττονα διὰ δὲ τὸν ἰδιωτισμὸν ἀποτυγχανόντων συγγνωστέον. μᾶλλον γὰρ τοῦ κατὰ Πλάτωνα ταπεινοῦ καὶ κεκοσμημένου „ταπεινὸς καὶ κεκοσμημένος“ ἐστὶν ὁ κεκοσμημένος μὲν διὰ τὸ πορεύεσθαι „ἐν μεγάλοις“ καὶ „θαυμασίοις“ ὑπὲρ αὐτόν· ταπεινὸς δὲ, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν τούτοις ὢν ταπεινοῦται ἑκὼν. οὐχ ὑπὸ τὸν τυχόντα ἀλλʼ „ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ, “ διὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου τῶν τοιούτων μαθημάτων Ἰησοῦ· „ὃς“ „οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, “ „καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ.“ καὶ οὕτω μέγα δόγμα τὸ περὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης ἐστὶν, ὡς μὴ τὸν τυχόντα διδάσκαλον ἔχειν περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν λέγειν τὸν τηλικοῦτον ἡμῶν σωτῆρα· „μάθετε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πρᾷός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ. καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Then, after this, Celsus, as though he had merely heard talk about humility and had not carefully understood it, wishes to disparage the humility we teach; he thinks it is a misunderstanding of the words of Plato, who says somewhere in the Laws: “God, as the ancient saying has it, holding the beginning and end and middle of all things that are, accomplishes his course straightforwardly, going round according to nature; and justice always follows him, the avenger of those who fall short of the divine law; and the one who is to be happy holds fast to her and follows her, humble and orderly.” He does not see that among men far older than Plato it was said in prayer: “Lord, my heart has not been lifted up, nor have my eyes been raised high; nor have I walked among great things, nor among wonderful things above me, unless I was humble-minded.” At the same time these words show that the humble-minded person does not in every case humble himself in an unseemly and ill-omened way, as Celsus puts it, falling on his knees, flinging himself headlong, wearing the clothes of wretches, and heaping dust upon himself. For the one who is humble-minded according to the prophet, while walking “among great and wonderful things” above him, that is, among truly “great” doctrines and “wonderful” thoughts, humbles himself “under the mighty hand of God.” And if some, through lack of education, have not grasped the doctrine of humility clearly and do such things, the teaching is not to be blamed; rather we must pardon the lack of education of those who aim at better things but miss them through simplicity. For more truly “humble and orderly” than the humble and orderly man of Plato is the one who is orderly because he walks “among great” and “wonderful things” above him, and humble because, even while among them, he willingly humbles himself, not under any chance person but “under the mighty hand of God,” through Jesus, the teacher of such lessons, “who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,” “and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” And the doctrine of humility is so great that it has no ordinary teacher, but our great Saviour himself says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” ### Scripture references - Ps 131:1–2 (130:1-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 5:6: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:6–8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:29: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Leg. 715e–716a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Plato, Laws 715e–716a, Ps 131:1–2 (130:1–2 LXX), 1 Pet 5:6, Phil 2:6–8, and Matt 11:29. The description of grovelling penitents is Celsus's. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/15/). ## Against Celsus 6.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/16/ - Source: Koetschau 2:86–87 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus claims Jesus garbled Plato's saying about the rich, but Origen finds it absurd that the unlettered Jesus read Plato, and hints at the deeper meaning of the camel and the needle. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν κατὰ τῶν πλουσίων ἀπόφασιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, εἰπόντος· „εὐκοπώτερον κάμηλον εἰσελθεῖν διὰ τρήματος ῥαφίδος ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, “ φησὶν ἄντικρυς ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος εἰρῆσθαι, τοῦ Ἰησοῦ παραφθείροντος τὸ Πλατωνικὸν, ἐν οἷς εἶπεν ὁ Πλάτων ὅτι „ἀγαθὸν ὄντα διαφόρως καὶ πλούσιον εἶναι διαφερόντως εἶναι ἀδύνατον.“ τίς δʼ οὐκ ἂν καὶ μετρίως ἐφιστάνειν τοῖς πράγμασι δυνάμενος τὸν Κέλσον γελάσαι, οὐ τῶν πιστευόντων τῷ Ἰησοῦ μόνων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἀκούων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις γεγενημένος καὶ ἀνατεθραμμένος καὶ Ἰωσὴφ „τοῦ τέκτονος“ νομισθεὶς εἶναι υἱὸς καὶ μηδὲ γράμματα μεμαθηκὼς οὐ μόνον τὰ Ἑλλήνων ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὰ Ἑβραίων, ὅπερ καὶ αἱ φιλαλήθεις μαρτυροῦσι γραφαὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν, ἀνέγνω Πλάτωνα καὶ ἀρεσθεὶς τῇ περὶ τῶν πλουσίων ἀποφαινομένῃ αὐτοῦ λέξει, ὡς „ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἀγαθὸν εἶναι διαφερόντως καὶ πλούσιον, “ παρέφθειρεν αὐτὴν καὶ πεποίηκε τὸ „εὐκοπώτερον κάμηλον διὰ τρήματος ῥαφίδος εἰσελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ“; εἰ δὲ μὴ μετὰ τοῦ μισεῖν καὶ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι ἐντυχὼν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις φιλαλήθης ἦν ὁ Κέλσος, ἐπέστησεν ἂν, τί δή ποτε παρελήφθη κάμηλος, τὸ τῶν ζῴων ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ κατασκευῇ σκολιὸν, παραβαλλόμενον τῷ πλουσίῳ, καὶ τί αὐτῷ ἐβούλετο ἡ στενὴ „τῆς ῥαφίδος“ τρυμαλιὰ, στενὴν φάσκοντι εἶναι καὶ τεθλιμμένην τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἀπάγουσαν „εἰς τὴν ζωὴν, “ καὶ τὸ κατὰ τὸν νόμον δὲ „ἀκάθαρτον“ τὸ ζῷον ἀναγεγράφθαι τοῦτο, ἔχον μέν τι ἀποδεκτὸν τὸ μαρυκᾶσθαι, ἔχον δὲ καὶ ψεκτὸν τὸ μὴ διχηλεῖν· ἐξήτασεν ἂν καὶ ὁσάκις ἐν ταῖς θείαις παρελήφθη κάμηλος γραφαῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τίνων, ἵνα θεωρήσῃ τὸ περὶ τῶν πλουσίων τοῦ λόγου βούλημα· οὐκ εἴασεν ἂν ἀβασάνιστον καὶ τὸ μακαρίζεσθαι μὲν τοὺς πτωχοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ταλανίζεσθαι δὲ τοὺς πλουσίους πότερον ἐπὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν αὐτῷ ταῦτα.... πτωχῶν καὶ πλουσίων, ἢ οἶδέ τινα πτωχείαν πάντως μακαριζομένην ὁ λόγος καὶ πλοῦτον πάντως ψεκτόν· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ οὐδʼ ὁ τυχὼν ἀκρίτως τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἐπῄνεσεν, ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ φαυλόττοί εἰσι τὰ ἤθη. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ταύτῃ. ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus says that Jesus' pronouncement against the rich, when he said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” was plainly taken from Plato, Jesus having corrupted the Platonic saying in which Plato said that “it is impossible to be exceptionally good and exceptionally rich.” Who that is able to attend to the facts even moderately would not laugh at Celsus, not only among those who believe in Jesus but among the rest of mankind as well, on hearing that Jesus, who was born and brought up among the Jews, who was thought to be the son of Joseph “the carpenter,” and who had not learned letters, not only those of the Greeks but not even those of the Hebrews, as the truthful writings about him also testify, read Plato, and, pleased with his saying about the rich, that “it is impossible to be exceptionally good and rich,” corrupted it and made it “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”? But if Celsus had read the Gospels as a lover of truth and not with hatred and hostility, he would have considered why the camel, of all animals the most crooked in build, was taken as a comparison for the rich man, and what was meant by the narrow eye “of the needle” for him who says that the way that leads “to life” is narrow and hard; and why this animal is recorded in the law as “unclean,” having something acceptable, in that it chews the cud, and something blameworthy, in that it does not divide the hoof. He would also have examined how often the camel is mentioned in the divine Scriptures and of whom, so as to see the meaning of the word about the rich. Nor would he have left unexamined why the poor are blessed by Jesus and the rich pitied, whether he says this of the poor and rich in the sensible sense … or whether the word knows a certain poverty that is in every way blessed and a wealth that is in every way blameworthy. For not even an ordinary person would indiscriminately praise the poor, most of whom are of very bad character. But so much for this. ### Scripture references - Matt 19:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:55: allusion, high confidence - John 7:15: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 7:14: allusion, high confidence - Lev 11:4: allusion, high confidence - Luke 6:20: allusion, high confidence - Luke 6:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Leg. 743a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 19:24 and Plato, Laws 743a, with allusions to Matt 13:55, John 7:15, Matt 7:14, Lev 11:4, and Luke 6:20, 24. The text has a gap (“…”) where a word or two is lost. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/16/). ## Against Celsus 6.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/17/ - Source: Koetschau 2:87–88 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against Plato's lofty words Origen sets the Scriptures' teaching that God hides in darkness and depth, known fully only by the Son and by those to whom the Son reveals him. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἑξῆς ἐξευτελίσαι βουλόμενος τὰ περὶ βασιλείας θεοῦ γεγραμμένα παρʼ ἡμῖν τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν παρέθετο ὡς οὐδὲ τῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ ἄξιον ἀναγραφῆς, τάχα ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ᾔδει αὐτὰ, Πλάτωνος δὲ λέξεις ἐκτίθεται ἀπό τε τῶν ἐπιστολῶν καὶ τοῦ Φαίδρου, ὡς τούτων μὲν ἐνθέως εἰρημένων, οὐδὲν δὲ τοιοῦτον ἐχόντων τῶν ἡμετέρων γραμμάτων· φέρε ὀλίγα παραβάλωμεν παραθέσεως ἕνεκεν τῆς πρὸς τὰ Πλάτωνι οὐκ ἀπιθάνως μὲν εἰρημένα, οὐ μὴν καὶ διαθέντα τὸν φιλόσοφον ἀξίως κἂν αὐτῷ ἀναστραφῆναι ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων εὐσεβείᾳ· ἣν ἐχρῆν μὴ νοθεύειν μηδὲ μιαίνειν τῇ, ὡς ἡμεῖς ὀνομάζομεν, εἰδωλολατρείᾳ. ὡς δὲ καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ λέγοιεν ἂν χρώμενοι τῷ ὀνόματι, καὶ τῇ δεισιδαιμονίᾳ. τρόπῳ δὴ Ἑβραϊκῷ τινι λέγεται περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἑπτακαιδεκάτῳ ψαλμῷ ὅτι „ἔθετο σκότος ἀποκρυφὴν ὁ θεός“· ἵνα δηλωθῇ ὅτι ἀφανῆ καὶ ἄγνωστά ἐστι τὰ κατʼ ἀξίαν νοηθέντα ἄν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀποκρύψαντος ἑαυτὸν οἱονεὶ ἐν σκότῳ τοῖς μὴ φέρουσι τὰς τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ μαρμαρυγὰς μηδὲ δυναμένοις αὐτὸν ὁρᾶν πῇ μὲν διὰ τὸν μιασμὸν τοῦ νοῦ, σώματι „ταπεινώσεως“ ἀνθρώπων ἐνδεδεμένου, πῇ δὲ διὰ τὴν βραχυτέραν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ τῆς κατανοήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ. ἵνα δὲ δηλωθῇ τὸ σπανίως εἰς ἀνθρώπους φθάνον καὶ ἐν πάνυ ὀλίγοις εὑρισκόμενον τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, Μωϋσῆς ἀναγέγραπται εἰσεληλυθέναι „εἰς τὸν γνόφον, ὅπου ἦν ὁ θεός“· καὶ περὶ Μωϋσέως πάλιν· „ἐγγιεῖ Μωϋσῆς μόνος πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ οὐκ ἐγγιοῦσι.“ πάλιν τε αὖ ἵνα τὸ βάθος παραστήσῃ ὁ προφήτης τῶν περὶ θεοῦ δογμάτων, ἄληπτον τυγχάνον τοῖς μὴ ἔχουσι „πνεῦμα“ τὸ πάντʼ ἐρευνῶν, ἐρευνῶν δὲ „καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ, “ εἶπε τό· „ἄβυσσος ὡς ἱμάτιον τὸ περιβόλαιον αὐτοῦ.“· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ κύριος λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ μέγεθος παριστὰς τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ πατρὸς. ὅτι κατʼ ἀξίαν προηγουμένως αὐτῷ μόνῳ. λαμβάνεται καὶ γινώσκεται. δευτέρως δὲ τοῖς ἐλλαμπομένοις τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ λόγου καὶ θεοῦ, φησίν· „οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ, οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ.“ οὔτε γὰρ τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ πάσης γενητῆς φύσεως πρωτότοκον κατʼ ἀξίαν εἰδέναι τις δύναται ὡς ὁ γεννήσας αὐτὸν πατὴρ, οὔτε τὸν πατέρα ὡς ὁ ἔμψυχος λόγος καὶ σοφία αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀλήθεια· οὗ μετοχῇ περιαιροῦντος ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τὸ λεγόμενον „σκότος, “ ὃ „ἔθετο ἀποκρυφὴν αὐτοῦ, “ καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον „περιβόλαιον“ αὐτοῦ, τὴν ἄβυσσον, καὶ ἀποκαλύπτοντος οὕτω τὸν πατέρα ὅστις ποτʼ ἂν χωρῇ γινώσκειν αὐτὸν γινώσκει. ### English translation (Claude) Next, wishing to belittle what is written among us about the kingdom of God, Celsus quotes none of it, as though it were not worth recording in his book (perhaps because he did not even know it), but sets out passages of Plato from the letters and the Phaedrus, as though these were spoken under divine inspiration while our writings contain nothing of the kind. Let us, then, set a few things beside them for comparison with what Plato said, not unpersuasively indeed, yet without disposing the philosopher himself to conduct himself worthily of them in piety toward the Maker of the universe, a piety that he ought not to have adulterated or defiled with what we call idolatry, or, as the many might say, using their own word, with superstition. In a Hebrew manner of speech it is said of God in the seventeenth Psalm that “God made darkness his hiding place,” to show that the thoughts about God that would be worthy of him are hidden and unknown, since he has hidden himself as it were in darkness from those who cannot bear the radiance of the knowledge of him and are unable to see him, partly because of the defilement of the mind bound to a human body “of humiliation,” and partly because of its too limited capacity to comprehend God. And to show that knowledge of God rarely reaches men and is found in very few, Moses is recorded to have entered “into the thick darkness where God was”; and again of Moses: “Moses alone shall come near to God, but the rest shall not come near.” And again, to set forth the depth of the doctrines about God, which is incomprehensible to those who do not have “the Spirit” that searches all things, and searches “even the depths of God,” the prophet said: “The abyss like a garment is his covering.” And our Saviour and Lord, the Word of God, showing the greatness of the knowledge of the Father, which is received and known worthily first of all by himself alone, and secondarily by those whose governing faculty is illumined by the Word and God himself, says: “No one has known the Son except the Father, nor the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son reveals him.” For no one can know worthily the uncreated one, the firstborn of all created nature, as the Father who begot him does; nor can anyone know the Father as his living Word and Wisdom and Truth does. By participation in him, who removes from the Father what is called the “darkness” which “he made his hiding place,” and what is called his “covering,” the abyss, and so reveals the Father, whoever is able to know him knows him. ### Scripture references - Ps 18:11 (17:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:21: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 20:21: quotation, high confidence - Exod 24:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:10: quotation, high confidence - Ps 104:6 (103:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:27: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:15: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Ps 18:11 (17:12 LXX), Phil 3:21, Exod 20:21, Exod 24:2, 1 Cor 2:10, Ps 104:6 (103:6 LXX), Matt 11:27, and Col 1:15. The text reads ἀγένητον, “uncreated” (from γίνομαι; not ἀγέννητον, “unbegotten”), of the Son, and it is translated as it stands; some read γενητόν, “created,” instead. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/17/). ## Against Celsus 6.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/18/ - Source: Koetschau 2:88–89 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says the prophets hold loftier thoughts about God than the passage from Plato Celsus quotes, but declines to expound the mysteries of the seraphim and cherubim here. ### Greek text Ταῦτα δʼ ἡγησάμην βραχέα ἀπὸ πλείστων ὅσων τῶν περὶ θεοῦ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀνδράσι νενοημένων παραθέσθαι, δεικνὺς ὅτι τῶν θαυμασθέντων ὑπὸ Κέλσου Πλατωνικῶν λόγων ἔχει τι σεμνότερον τοῖς ἔχουσιν ὀφθαλμοὺς, βλέπειν τὰ σεμνὰ τῶν γραφῶν δυναμένους, τὰ ἱερὰ τῶν προφητῶν γράμματα. ἔχει δʼ ἡ Πλάτωνος λέξις, ἣν ὁ Κέλσος ἐξέθετο, τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· „περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα πάντʼ ἐστὶ, καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον ἁπάντων καλῶν. δεύτερον δὲ περὶ τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ τρίτον περὶ τὰ τρίτα. ἡ οὖν ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ περὶ αὐτὰ ὀρέγεται μαθεῖν, ποῖα ἄττα ἐστὶ, βλέπουσα εἰς τὰ αὑτῆς συγγενῆ, ὧν οὐδὲν ἱκανῶς ἔχει. τοῦ δὴ βασιλέως πέρι καὶ ὧν εἶπον, οὐδέν ἐστι τοιοῦτον.“ ἐδυνάμην δὲ παραθέσθαι τὰ περὶ τῶν παρʼ Ἑβραίοις καλουμένων „σεραφὶμ, “ ἀναγεγραμμένων ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ, καλυπτόντων „τὸ πρόσωπον“ καὶ „τοὺς πόδας“ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν. ὀνομαζομένων „χερουβὶμ, “ ἃ διέγραψεν ὁ Ἰεζεκιὴλ, καὶ τῶν ὡσανεὶ σχημάτων αὐτῶν, καὶ τίνα τρόπον ὀχεῖσθαι λέγεται ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβὶμ ὁ θεός· ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ πάνυ κεκρυμμένως εἴρηται διὰ τοὺς ἀναξίους καὶ ἀσέμνους, μὴ δυναμένους παρακολουθῆσαι μεγαλονοίᾳ καὶ σεμνότητι θεολογίας, οὐχ ἡγησάμην πρέπον εἶναι ἐν τῷ συγγράμματι τούτῳ περὶ αὐτῶν διαλεχθῆναι. ### English translation (Claude) I thought it right to set out these few examples from a great many thoughts about God conceived by holy men, to show that the sacred writings of the prophets contain something more sublime than the Platonic words admired by Celsus, for those who have eyes able to see the sublime things of the Scriptures. The passage of Plato which Celsus set out runs thus: “All things are about the King of all, and all things are for his sake, and he is the cause of all beautiful things. And second things are about the second, and third things about the third. The human soul, then, longs to learn about them, of what sort they are, looking to what is akin to itself, none of which is adequate. But about the King and the things I have mentioned there is nothing of this sort.” I could also set out what is written in Isaiah about those whom the Hebrews call “seraphim,” who cover “the face” and “the feet” of God, and about those named “cherubim,” whom Ezekiel described, and their shapes, as it were, and in what manner God is said to ride upon the cherubim. But since these things are spoken in a very hidden way because of the unworthy and irreverent, who cannot follow the grandeur and sublimity of theology, I did not think it fitting to discuss them in this treatise. ### Scripture references - Isa 6:2: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 1:4–28: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 10:1–22: allusion, high confidence - Ps 18:10 (17:11 LXX): allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 2.312e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Celsus quotes Plato, Letter 2, 312e. The biblical allusions are Isa 6:2 (Origen reads the seraphim as covering God's face and feet), Ezek 1 and 10, and Ps 18:10 (17:11 LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.18 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/18/). ## Against Celsus 6.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/19/ - Source: Koetschau 2:89–90 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christians did not borrow the idea of a realm above the heavens from Plato; David, Paul, and the prophets spoke of it first, and Plato may even have learned it from the Hebrews. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις φησὶν ὁ Κέλσος παρακούσαντάς τινας Χριστιανοὺς Πλατωνικῶν λέξεων αὐχεῖν τὸν ὑπερουράνιον θεὸν, ὑπεραναβαίνοντας τὸν Ἰουδαίων οὐρανόν. ἐν τούτοις δὲ οὐ διασαφεῖ, πότερον καὶ τὸν Ἰουδαίων θεὸν ὑπεραναβαίνουσιν ἢ μόνον ὃν ὀμνύουσιν οὐρανόν. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἕτερον ἐπαγγελλομένων θεὸν παρὰ τὸν καὶ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων προσκυνούμενον οὐ πρόκειται νῦν ἡμῖν λέγειν, περὶ δὲ ἑαυτῶν ἀπολογεῖσθαι καὶ δεικνύναι ὅτι οὐ δύνανται οἱ παρʼ ἡμῖν Ἰουδαίων προφῆται ἀπὸ Πλάτωνός τι εἰληφέναι· πρεσβύτεροι γὰρ ἦσαν αὐτοῦ. οὔτʼ οὖν τὴν φάσκουσαν λέξιν· „περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα πάντʼ ἐστὶ. καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα“ ἀπὸ Πλάτωνος εἰλήφαμεν, ἀλλὰ τούτων κρειττόνως εἰρημένα ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν μεμαθήκαμεν, σαφηνίσαντος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις πνεύματος (ὅπερ οὐκ ἄλλο ἦν τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ), οὔτε τὰ περὶ τοῦ ὑπερουρανίου τόπου πρῶτος ὁ φιλόσοφος παρίστησιν, ἀλλὰ Δαυῒδ τὴν βαθύτητα τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὑπεραναβεβηκόσι τὰ αἰσθητὰ τῶν περὶ θεοῦ θεωρημάτων πάλαι παρέστησεν εἰπὼν ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν ψαλμῶν· „αἰνεῖτε τὸν θεὸν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν· αἰνεσάτωσαν τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου.“ ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἀπογινώσκω τὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ Φαίδρου λέξεις ἀπό τινων Ἑβραίων μεμαθηκότα τὸν Πλάτωνα, ὡς δέ τινες ἀνέγραψαν, ἔτι καὶ τοῖς προφητικοῖς ἐντυχόντα λόγοις ἐκτεθεῖσθαι, ἐν οἷς ἔλεγεν· „τὸν ὑπερουράνιον τόπον οὔτε τις ὕμνησε τῶν τῇδε ποιητὴς οὔτε ὑμνήσει κατʼ ἀξίαν“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἐν οἷς ἐστι καὶ τὸ„ἡ γὰρ ἀχρώματός τε καὶ ἀσχημάτιστος καὶ ἀναφὴς οὐσία ὄντως οὖσα ψυχῆς κυβερνήτῃ νῷ μόνῳ θεατὴ, περὶ ὅν τὸ τῆς ἀληθοῦς ἐπιστήμης γένος τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τόπον.“ καὶ ἀπʼ ἐκείνων γε τῶν λόγων παιδευθεὶς ὁ Παῦλος ἡμῶν καὶ ποθῶν τὰ ὑπερκόσμια καὶ ὑπερου ράνια καὶ διʼ ἐκεῖνα πάντα πράττων, ἵνʼ αὐτῶν τύχῃ, φησὶν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐπιστολῇ· „τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης κατεργάζεται ἡμῖν. μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα· τὰ γὰρ βλεπόμενα πρόσκαιρα, τὰ δὲ μὴ βλεπόμενα αἰώνια.“ ### English translation (Claude) Next Celsus says that certain Christians, having misunderstood some Platonic sayings, boast of the God above the heavens, going up beyond the heaven of the Jews. Here he does not make clear whether they go beyond the God of the Jews too, or only beyond the heaven by which they swear. It is not our present business to speak about those who proclaim another God besides the one worshipped by the Jews too, but to defend ourselves and to show that the prophets of the Jews whom we accept could not have taken anything from Plato, for they were older than he. So we did not take from Plato the saying that “all things are about the King of all, and all things are for his sake”; rather we have learned from the prophets things said better than this, since Jesus and his disciples made clear the intention of the Spirit in the prophets, which was none other than the Spirit of Christ. Nor was the philosopher the first to set forth what concerns the place above the heavens; David long ago set forth the depth and the multitude of the contemplations about God among those who have risen above sensible things, when he said in the book of Psalms: “Praise God, you heavens of heavens, and the water that is above the heavens; let them praise the name of the Lord.” And I do not rule out that Plato learned the words in the Phaedrus from certain Hebrews, or, as some have recorded, that he set them out after reading the prophetic writings, where he said: “No poet here below has ever sung, or ever will sing, worthily of the place above the heavens,” and what follows, among which is this: “For the being that truly is, without colour, without shape, intangible, visible only to mind, the soul's pilot, is the object of the true kind of knowledge, and occupies this place.” And our Paul, educated by those words and longing for what is beyond the world and above the heavens, and doing everything for their sake in order to attain them, says in the second letter to the Corinthians: “For our momentary light affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, while we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.” ### Scripture references - Ps 148:4–5: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:17–18: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 2.312e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Phaedr. 247c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Plato, Letter 2, 312e, Ps 148:4–5, Plato, Phaedrus 247c, and 2 Cor 4:17–18. “Those who proclaim another God” are Marcion and similar groups. “Those words” in the last sentence are the prophetic writings. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/19/). ## Against Celsus 6.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/20/ - Source: Koetschau 2:90–91 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul, longing for unseen eternal things, found all affliction light, and Christians hope through Jesus, the high priest who passed through the heavens, to contemplate God face to face. ### Greek text Ἄντικρυς γὰρ τοῖς ἀκούειν δυναμένοις παρίστησι τὰ μὲν αἰσθητὰ λέγων αὐτὰ „βλεπόμενα, “ τὰ δὲ νοητὰ καὶ νῷ μόνῳ καταληπτὰ ὀνομάζων „μὴ βλεπόμενα.“ οὗτος δὲ καὶ „πρόσκαιρα“ μὲν οἶδε τὰ αἰσθητὰ καὶ „βλεπόμενα, “ „αἰώνια“ δὲ τὰ νοητὰ καὶ „μὴ βλεπόμενα“· καὶ βουλόμενος πρὸς τῇ ἐκείνων θέᾳ γενέσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ πρὸς ἐκεῖνα πόθου βοηθούμενος πᾶσαν θλῖψιν τὸ οὐδὲν καὶ ἐλαφράν τινα ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι· καὶ παρʼ αὐτὸν τὸν „τῆς θλίψεως“ καὶ τῶν πόνων καιρὸν μηδαμῶς μὲν βαρούμενος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν, ἐπελαφρίζων δὲ διὰ τὴν περὶ ἐκεῖνα θέαν πᾶσαν περίστασιν· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἔχομεν ἡμεῖς „ἀρχιερέα μέγαν“ τῷ μεγέθει τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τοῦ νοῦ αὐτοῦ „διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, “ ἐπαγγειλάμενον τοῖς γνησίως μαθοῦσι τὰ θεῖα καὶ ἀξίως αὐτῶν βιώσασι προάξειν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ ὑπερκόσμια· φησὶ γάρ· „ἵνʼ ὅπου ἐγὼ ὑπάγω καὶ ὑμεῖς ἦτε.“ διὰ τοῦτο ἡμεῖς μετὰ τοὺς ἐνταῦθα πόνους καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἐλπίζομεν πρὸς ἄκροις γενέσθαι τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ πηγὰς „ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον“ ἀναλαβόντες κατὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν ποταμούς τε χωρήσαντες τῶν θεωρημάτων σὺν τοῖς λεγομένοις ὕδασιν „ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν.“ αἰνοῦσι „τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου, “ ἔσεσθαι. καὶ ὅσον γε αἰνοῦμεν αὐτὸν, οὐ περιαχθησόμεθα ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ περιφορᾶς, ἀεὶ δὲ πρὸς τῇ θέᾳ ἐσόμεθα τῶν ἀοράτων τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐκέτι „ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι“ νοουμένων ἡμῖν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ὠνόμασεν ὁ γνήσιος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθητὴς λέγων· „τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον“ καὶ τό· „ἐὰν ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται.“ ### English translation (Claude) For to those able to hear, he plainly presents sensible things, calling them “things that are seen,” and names the intelligible things, grasped by the mind alone, “things that are not seen.” He also knows that sensible and “seen” things are “temporary,” but intelligible and “unseen” things are “eternal”; and wishing to attain the contemplation of these, helped by his longing for them, he considered every affliction as nothing and light. Even in the very time “of affliction” and labours he was in no way weighed down by them, but made every hardship light through his contemplation of those things. For we too have “a great high priest,” great in the greatness of his power and his mind, “who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,” who has promised to lead on to what is beyond the world those who have genuinely learned divine things and lived worthily of them; for he says: “that where I am going you also may be.” For this reason we hope, after the labours and struggles here, to come to the summits of the heavens, and, having received according to the teaching of Jesus springs “of water welling up to eternal life,” and having taken in rivers of contemplation, to be with the waters said to be “above the heavens,” which praise “the name of the Lord.” And as long as we praise him, we shall not be carried round by the revolution of the heaven, but shall always be engaged in the contemplation of the invisible things of God, no longer understood by us “from the creation of the world through the things that are made,” but, as the genuine disciple of Jesus put it when he said, “but then face to face,” and, “When the perfect comes, what is in part will be done away.” ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 4:17–18: quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:14: quotation, high confidence - John 14:3: quotation, medium confidence - John 4:14: quotation, high confidence - John 7:38: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 148:4–5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are 2 Cor 4:17–18, Heb 4:14, John 14:3 (freely), John 4:14, John 7:38, Ps 148:4–5, Rom 1:20, and 1 Cor 13:12, 10. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/20/). ## Against Celsus 6.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/21/ - Source: Koetschau 2:91 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Scripture speaks of “heavens” but never of seven; for the soul's passage between earth and heaven Origen points to Jacob's ladder rather than to the planetary path of Plato and Celsus. ### Greek text Ἑπτὰ δὲ οὐρανοὺς ἢ ὅλως περιωρισμένον ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν αἱ φερόμεναι ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἀπαγγέλλουσι γραφαὶ, ἀλλʼ οὐρανοὺς, εἴτε τὰς σφαίρας τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι λεγομένων πλανήτων εἴτε καὶ ἄλλο τι ἀποῤῥητότερον ἐοίκασι διδάσκειν οἱ λόγοι. καὶ τὸ ὁδὸν δὲ εἶναι ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἐς γῆν καὶ ἀπὸ γῆς Κέλσος μὲν κατὰ Πλάτωνά φησι γίνεσθαι διὰ τῶν πλανήτων· Μωϋσῆς δὲ, ὁ ἀρχαιότατος ἡμῶν προφήτης. ἐν ὄψει τοῦ πατριάρχου ἡμῶν Ἰακώβ φησιν ἑωρᾶσθαι θεῖον ἐνύπνιον, κλίμακα „εἰς οὐρανὸν“ φθάνουσαν καὶ ἀγγέλους „τοῦ θεοῦ“ ἀναβαίνοντας καὶ καταβαίνοντας ἐπʼ αὐτῆς, τὸν δὲ κύριον ἐπεστηριγμένον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄκροις αὐτῆς, εἴτε ταῦτα εἴτε τινὰ μείζονα τούτων αἰνιττόμενος ἐν τῷ περὶ τῆς κλίμακος λόγῳ· περὶ ἧς καὶ τῷ Φίλωνι συντέτακται βιβλίον, ἄξιον φρονίμου καὶ συνετῆς παρὰ τοῖς φιλαλήθεσιν ἐξετάσεως. ### English translation (Claude) The Scriptures that are current in the churches of God do not speak of seven heavens or of any fixed number of them at all; but the words seem to teach “heavens,” whether they mean the spheres of what the Greeks call the planets or something else more secret. And Celsus says, following Plato, that the path of souls to earth and from earth passes through the planets. But Moses, our most ancient prophet, says that a divine dream was seen in a vision by our patriarch Jacob: a ladder reaching “to heaven,” and angels “of God” ascending and descending on it, and the Lord standing firm at its top; whether in the account of the ladder he was hinting at these things or at something greater than these. Philo too composed a book about it, which deserves wise and intelligent examination by lovers of truth. ### Scripture references - Gen 28:12–13: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Philo, Somn. 1 (Philo of Alexandria (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The biblical passage is Gen 28:12–13. Philo's book is On Dreams, Book 1. Celsus's Platonic source is uncertain (perhaps Timaeus 41d–42b). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/21/). ## Against Celsus 6.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/22/ - Source: Koetschau 2:91–93 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus describes the Mithraic seven-gated ladder of the planets, but Origen asks why he drags this, rather than any other mystery cult, into an attack on Christians and Jews. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις βουλόμενος ὁ Κέλσος πολυμάθειαν ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιδείξασθαι ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἡμῶν λόγῳ ἐκτίθεταί τινα καὶ Περσικὰ μυστήρια ἐν οἷς φησιν· αἰνίττεται ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Περσῶν λόγος, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Μίθρου τελετὴ, (ἣ) παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐστιν. ἔστι γάρ τι ἐν αὐτῇ σύμβολον τῶν δύο τῶν ἐν οὐρανῷ περιόδων, τῆς τε ἀπλανοῦς καὶ τῆς εἰς τοὺς πλανήτας αὖ νενεμημένης, καὶ τῆς διʼ αὐτῶν τῆς ψυχῆς διεξόδου. τοιόνδε τὸ σύμβολον· κλῖμαξ ἑπτάπυλος, ἐπὶ δʼ αὐτῇ πύλη ὀγδόη. ἡ πρώτη τῶν πυλῶν μολίβδου, ἡ δευτέρα κασσιτέρου, ἡ τρίτη χαλκοῦ, ἡ τετάρτη σιδήρου, ἡ πέμπτη κεραστοῦ νομίσματος, ἡ ἕκτη ἀργύρου, χρυσοῦ δὲ ἡ ἑβδόμη. τὴν πρώτην τίθενται Κρόνου, τῷ μολίβδῳ τεκμηριούμενοι τὴν βραδυτῆτα τοῦ ἀστέρος, τὴν δευτέραν Ἀφροδίτης, παραβάλλοντες αὐτῇ τὸ φαιδρόν τε καὶ μαλακὸν τοῦ κασσιτέρου, τὴν τρίτην τοῦ Διὸς, τὴν χαλκοβατῆ καὶ στεῤῥὰν, τὴν τετάρτην Ἑρμοῦ, τλήμονα γὰρ ἔργων ἁπάντων καὶ χρηματιστὴν καὶ πολύκμητον εἶναι τόν τε σίδηρον καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν, τὴν πέμπτην Ἄρεος, τὴν ἐκ τοῦ κράματος ἀνώμαλόν τε καὶ ποικίλην, ἕκτην Σελήνης τὴν ἀργυρᾶν, ἑβδόμην Ἡλίου τὴν χρυσῆν, μιμούμενοι τὰς χρόας αὐτῶν. ἑξῆς ἐξετάζει τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς οὕτω κατειλεγμένης τάξεως τῶν ἀστέρων, δηλουμένης διὰ συμβόλων ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασι τῆς λοιπῆς ὕλης, καὶ μουσικοὺς λόγους προσάπτει ᾗ ἐκτίθεται Περσῶν θεολογίᾳ· προσφιλοτιμεῖται δὲ τούτοις καὶ δευτέραν ἐκθέσθαι διήγησιν, πάλιν ἐχομένην μουσικῶν θεωρημάτων. ἔδοξε δέ μοι τὸ ἐκθέσθαι τὴν λέξιν ἐν τούτοις τοῦ Κέλσου ἄτοπον εἶναι καὶ ὅμοιον ᾧ αὐτὸς πεποίηκεν, εἰς τὴν περὶ Χριστιανῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων κατηγορίαν ἀκαίρως παραλαβὼν οὐ μόνον τὰ Πλάτωνος, ὡς ἐκείνοις ἀρκεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ, ὥς φησι, Περσῶν τοῦ Μίθρου μυστήρια καὶ τὴν διήγησιν αὐτῶν. ὅπως ποτὲ γὰρ ἐχέτω ταῦτα, εἴτε ψευδῶς εἴτʼ ἀληθῶς, τοῖς τὰ τοῦ Μίθρου πρεσβεύουσι καὶ Πέρσαις· τί δὴ οὖν μᾶλλον ταῦτʼ ἐξέθετο ἤ τι τῶν λοιπῶν μυστηρίων μετὰ τῆς διηγήσεως αὐτῶν; οὐ γὰρ δοκεῖ παρʼ Ἕλλησιν εἶναι ἐξαίρετα τὰ τοῦ Μίθρου παρὰ τὰ Ἐλευσίνια ἢ τὰ παραδιδόμενα τοῖς ἐν Αἰγίνῃ μυουμένοις τὰ τῆς Ἑκάτης. τί δὲ μᾶλλον εἴπερ βαρβαρικὰ ἐβούλετο μυστήρια ἐκτίθεσθαι μετὰ τῆς διηγήσεως αὐτῶν, οὐ μᾶλλον τὰ Αἰγυπτίων, ἐν οἷς πολλοὶ σεμνύνονται, ἢ τὰ Καππαδοκῶν περὶ τῆς ἐν Κομάνοις Ἀρτέμιδος ἢ τὰ Θρᾳκῶν ἢ καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων αὐτῶν, τελούντων τοὺς εὐγενεστάτους τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς; ἀλλʼ εἰ ἄκαιρον αὐτῷ ἔδοξεν ἐκείνων τι παραβαλεῖν ὡς μηδαμῶς συμβαλλόμενον εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἢ Χριστιανῶν κατηγορίαν, πῶς οὐχὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἄκαιρον καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκθέσεως τῶν Μιθραϊκῶν αὐτῷ ἐφαίνετο; ### English translation (Claude) Next, wishing to display his wide learning in his book against us, Celsus also sets out certain Persian mysteries, where he says: These things are hinted at by the account of the Persians too, and by the rite of Mithras that is among them. For in it there is a symbol of the two revolutions in heaven, that of the fixed stars and that assigned to the planets, and of the soul's passage through them. The symbol is this: a ladder with seven gates, and above it an eighth gate. The first of the gates is of lead, the second of tin, the third of bronze, the fourth of iron, the fifth of an alloy, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold. They assign the first to Kronos, indicating by the lead the slowness of the star; the second to Aphrodite, comparing her to the brightness and softness of tin; the third to Zeus, the bronze-floored and solid one; the fourth to Hermes, for both iron and Hermes endure all works, make money, and labour much; the fifth to Ares, the one that is uneven and varied because of the mixture; the sixth to the Moon, the silver one; and the seventh to the Sun, the golden one, imitating their colours. Next he examines the reason for the stars being arranged in this order, which is indicated through symbols in the names of the rest of the materials, and he attaches musical theories to the theology of the Persians that he sets out; and he is ambitious enough to set out a second account as well, again connected with musical theories. But it seemed to me absurd to set out Celsus's words on these matters, and like what he himself did when, in his accusation against Christians and Jews, he brought in irrelevantly not only the writings of Plato, as though he were content with these, but also what he calls the Persian mysteries of Mithras and their explanation. However these things stand, whether falsely or truly, for the Persians and those who revere the rites of Mithras, why did he set out these rather than some other mysteries with their explanation? For the mysteries of Mithras do not seem to be held in special honour among the Greeks above the Eleusinian mysteries, or those of Hecate handed on to those initiated at Aegina. And if he wished to set out barbarian mysteries with their explanation, why not rather those of the Egyptians, in which many take pride, or those of the Cappadocians about Artemis at Comana, or those of the Thracians, or even those of the Romans themselves, who initiate the noblest members of the Senate? But if it seemed to him irrelevant to set out any of these, since they contributed nothing to his accusation of Jews or Christians, why did the same not seem irrelevant to him when he set out the Mithraic rites? ### Translation notes - Celsus's description of the Mithraic ladder is otherwise unknown; “bronze-floored” is a Homeric epithet of Zeus's house. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/22/). ## Against Celsus 6.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/23/ - Source: Koetschau 2:93–94 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: For a deeper teaching on the soul's ascent Origen points to Ezekiel's temple gates, the heavenly Jerusalem of Revelation, and Israel's camps in Numbers, and insists Scripture never mentions seven heavens. ### Greek text Εἰ δέ τις βούλοιτο μὴ ἀφʼ ἧς παρέθετο αἱρέσεως ἀσημοτάτης ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ βιβλίων πῇ μὲν Ἰουδαϊκῶν καὶ ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς αὐτῶν ἀναγινωσκομένων, ἅπερ Χριστιανοὶ προσίενται, πῇ δὲ Χριστιανῶν μόνων λαβεῖν ἀφορμὰς τῆς μυστικωτέρας περὶ εἰσόδου ψυχῶν εἰς τὰ θεῖα θεωρίας, ἀναγνώτω τὰ ἐπὶ τέλει τῆς τοῦ Ἰεζεκιὴλ προφητείας ἑωραμένα τῷ προφήτῃ, ἐν οἷς διάφοροι πύλαι καταγεγραμμέναι εἰσὶν, αἰνισσόμεναί τινα περὶ τῆς διαφόρου εἰσόδου τῶν θειοτέρων ψυχῶν ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττονα· ἀναγνώτω δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἰωάννου Ἀποκαλύψεως τὰ περὶ τῆς πόλεως τοῦ θεοῦ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίον καὶ τῶν θεμελίων καὶ τῶν πυλῶν αὐτῆς. εἰ δὲ δύναται διὰ συμβόλων καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν δεδηλωμένην τῶν ὁδευσόντων ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα μαθεῖν, ἀναγνώτω τοὺς ἐπιγεγραμμένους Ἀριθμοὺς Μωϋσέως καὶ ζητησάτω τὸν δυνάμενον αὐτὸν μυσταγωγῆσαι ἐπὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν παρεμβολῶν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἀναγεγραμμένα, ποῖαι μὲν κατὰ τὰ ἀνατολικὰ τεταγμέναι εἰσὶ μέρη ὡς πρῶται, ποῖαι δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ κατὰ λίβα (ἢ) κατὰ νότον, καὶ τίνες αἱ κατὰ θάλασσαν, καὶ τίνες αἱ τελευταῖαι κατὰ βοῤῥᾶν. ὄψεται γὰρ θεωρήματα οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητα ἐν τοῖς τόποις οὐδʼ, ὡς Κέλσος οἴεται, μωρῶν τινων ἀκροατῶν καὶ ἀνδραπόδων δεόμενα· διαλήψεται γὰρ, τίνες ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ (τίνα) τὰ περὶ τῆς φύσεως τῶν κατειλεγμένων ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀριθμῶν καὶ ἐφαρμοσθέντων ἑκάστῃ φυλῇ, περὶ ὧν νῦν ἡμῖν ἐκθέσθαι ἔδοξεν οὐκ εὔκαιρον εἶναι. ἴστω δὲ Κέλσος καὶ οἱ ἐντυγχάνοντες αὐτοῦ τῷ βιβλίῳ ὅτι οὐδαμοῦ τῶν γνησίων καὶ θείων πεπιστευμένων γραφῶν ἑπτὰ εἴρηνται οὐρανοί· οὔτʼ ἀπὸ Περσῶν ἢ Καβείρων λαβόντες ἡμῶν οἱ προφῆται λέγουσί τινα οὐδʼ οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀπόστολοι οὐδʼ αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) But if anyone wishes to take occasions for a more mystical contemplation of the entry of souls into divine things, not from the utterly obscure sect Celsus cited but from books that are partly Jewish, read in their synagogues and accepted by Christians, and partly Christian only, let him read what was seen by the prophet at the end of the prophecy of Ezekiel, where different gates are described, hinting at something about the different entry of more divine souls into better things. Let him also read in the Revelation of John what is said about the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and its foundations and gates. And if he is able to learn, through symbols, the way also shown for those who will travel to divine things, let him read the book of Moses entitled Numbers, and let him seek someone able to initiate him into what is written about the camps of the children of Israel: which were placed first, toward the east; which toward the southwest or the south; which toward the sea; and which last, toward the north. For he will see in these passages contemplations that are not contemptible, nor, as Celsus thinks, in need of foolish hearers and slaves. For he will grasp who are among them and what concerns the nature of the numbers listed in them and assigned to each tribe; but it did not seem to me timely to set these out now. Let Celsus and those who read his book know that nowhere in the genuine Scriptures believed to be divine are seven heavens mentioned; nor do our prophets say anything taken from the Persians or the Cabiri, nor do the apostles of Jesus, nor the Son of God himself. ### Scripture references - Ezek 40:1–48:35: allusion, high confidence - Rev 21:10–27: allusion, high confidence - Num 2:1–34: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Ezek 40–48 (the gates of the temple), Rev 21:10–27, and Num 2. The Cabiri were gods of a mystery cult centred on Samothrace. The parenthesized words in the Greek are editorial supplements. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/23/). ## Against Celsus 6.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/24/ - Source: Koetschau 2:94–95 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus compares Mithraism with a Christian “diagram,” which Origen identifies as belonging to the obscure Ophite sect, a teaching he has never found anyone actually holding. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τῷ ἀπὸ τῶν Μιθραϊκῶν ληφθέντι λόγῳ ἐπαγγέλλεται ὁ Κέλσος τελετήν τινα Χριστιανῶν τελετῇ προειρημένῃ Περσῶν τὸν βουλόμενον συνεξετάσαι, ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις παραβαλόντα καὶ γυμνώσαντα καὶ τὰ Χριστιανῶν, οὕτω θεάσασθαι τὴν διαφορὰν αὐτῶν. καὶ ὅπου μὲν ᾔδει ὀνόματα εἰπεῖν αἱρέσεων, οὐκ ὤκνησεν ἐκθέσθαι ἃς ἐδόκει εἰδέναι· ὅπου δὲ μᾶλλον ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ ἠπίστατο, τοῦτο ποιῆσαι καὶ διδάξαι, ποία αἵρεσις χρῆται τῷ διατυπωθέντι διαγράμματι, τοῦτʼ οὐ πεποίηκε. δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἐκ παρακουσμάτων ἀσημοτάτης αἱρέσεως Ὀφιανῶν οἶμαι ἐκτεθεῖσθαι τὰ τοῦ διαγράμματος ἀπὸ μέρους. τούτῳ δʼ ἡμεῖς κατὰ τὸ φιλομαθὲς ἡμῶν περιτετεύχαμεν, ἐν ᾧ εὕρομεν πλάσματα ἀνθρώπων, ὡς ὁ Παῦλος ὠνόμασεν, ἐνδυνόντων „εἰς τὰς οἰκίας καὶ“ αἰχμαλωτιζόντων „γυναικάρια σεσωρευμένα ἁμαρτίαις, ἀγόμενα ἐπιθυμίαις ποικίλαις, πάντοτε μανθάνοντα καὶ μηδέποτε εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν δυνάμενα.“ οὕτω δὲ πᾶσαν ἀπιθανότητα εἶχε τὸ διάγραμμα, ὡς μηδὲ τὰ εὐεξαπάτητα „γυναικάρια“ μηδὲ τοὺς ἀγροικοτάτους καὶ ὑφʼ οὑτινοσοῦν πιθανοῦ ἑτοίμως ἔχοντας ἄγεσθαι συγκατατεθεῖσθαι τῷ διαγράμματι. οὐδενὶ γοῦν, καίτοι γε πολλοὺς ἐκπεριελθόντες τόπους τῆς γῆς καὶ τοὺς πανταχοῦ ἐπαγγελλομένους τι εἰδέναι ζητήσαντες, περιτετεύχαμεν πρεσβεύοντι τὰ τοῦ διαγράμματος. ### English translation (Claude) Next, after the account taken from the Mithraic rites, Celsus promises that anyone who wishes to investigate a certain Christian rite together with the Persian rite already described, comparing them with one another and laying bare the Christian one too, will thus see the difference between them. Where he knew names of sects to mention, he did not hesitate to set out those he thought he knew; but where he ought rather to have done so, if he knew it, and to have taught which sect uses the diagram he describes, this he has not done. It seems to me that here too he has set out the contents of the diagram in part from things half-heard about the utterly obscure sect of the Ophites, I believe. We ourselves, out of our love of learning, have come across this diagram, and in it we found the fictions of men who, as Paul put it, creep “into households” and captivate “silly women laden with sins, led away by various desires, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And the diagram was so wholly unconvincing that not even easily deceived “silly women,” nor the most boorish people who are ready to be led by anything plausible, would have assented to it. At any rate, though we have travelled through many parts of the earth and sought out those everywhere who profess to know something, we have never met anyone who upheld the teachings of the diagram. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 3:6–7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is 2 Tim 3:6–7. The Ophites were a Gnostic group who honoured the serpent of Genesis; their “diagram” was a chart of the heavenly regions. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.24 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/24/). ## Against Celsus 6.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/25/ - Source: Koetschau 2:95–96 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen describes the Ophite diagram, with its world-soul called Leviathan, and explains the biblical meaning of Gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom, as pointing to purifying punishment. ### Greek text Ἐν ᾧ ἦν διαγραφὴ κύκλων, ἀπολελυμένων μὲν ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων δέκα συνδουμένων δὲ ὑφʼ ἑνὸς κύκλου, ὃς ἐλέγετο εἶναι ἡ τῶν ὅλων ψυχὴ καὶ ὠνομάζετο Λευϊαθὰν, ὅντινα αἱ Ἰουδαίων γραφαὶ ὅ τι ποτʼ οὖν αἰνισσόμεναι ἔλεγον πεπλάσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ παίγνιον. ἐν γὰρ ψαλμοῖς εὕρομεν· „πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας· ἐπληρώθη ἡ γῆ τῆς κτίσεώς σου. αὕτη ἡ θάλασσα ἡ μεγάλη καὶ εὐρύχωρος· ἐκεῖ πλοῖα διαπορεύονται, ζῷα μικρὰ μετὰ μεγάλων, δράκων οὗτος, ὃν ἔπλασας ἐμπαίζειν αὐτῷ.“ ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ „δράκων“ Λευϊαθὰν ἦν ἐν τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ. τὸ τοίνυν ἀσεβὲς διάγραμμα τὸν σαφῶς οὕτως κατηγορηθέντα ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ Λευϊαθὰν ἔλεγεν εἶναι τὴν διὰ τῶν ὅλων πεφοιτηκυῖαν ψυχήν. εὕρομεν δʼ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν Βεημὼν ὀνομαζόμενον ὡσπερεὶ τεταγμένον τινὰ μετὰ τὸν κατωτάτω κύκλον. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν Λευϊαθὰν ὁ τὸ μιαρὸν ἐκεῖνο διάγραμμα ἀναπλάσας ἐπὶ τοῦ κύκλου καὶ τοῦ κέντρου αὐτοῦ κατέγραψε, δὶς ἐκθέμενος αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα. ἔτι δὲ ὁ Κέλσος μελαίνῃ γραμμῇ παχείᾳ φησὶ διειλημμένον εἶναι τὸ διάγραμμα, καὶ ταύτην ἔφασκεν εἰρῆσθαι αὐτῷ τὴν Γέενναν, οὖσαν καὶ Τάρταρον. τὴν δὲ Γέενναν ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ γεγραμμένην ὡς κολαστήριον εὑρόντες, ἐζητήσαμεν, εἴ που τῶν παλαιῶν γραμμάτων ὠνομάσθη, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπείπερ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι χρῶνται τῷ ὀνόματι. εὕρομεν δὲ ὅπου μὲν Φάραγξ „υἱοῦ Ἐννὸμ“ ὀνομαζομένην ἐν τῇ γραφῇ, ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ ἀντὶ τοῦ Φάραγξ μεμαθήκαμεν ὅτι κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὑποκειμένου ἐλέγετο ἡ Φάραγξ Ἐννὸμ καὶ ἡ Γέεννα. ἐπιτηροῦντες δὲ τὰ ἀναγνώσματα εὑρίσκομεν καὶ ἐν τῷ κλήρῳ τῆς φυλῆς Βενιαμὶν τὴν Γέενναν ἢ Φάραγγα Ἐννὸμ κατειλεγμένην, οὗ ἦν καὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ. καὶ ἐξετάζοντες τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τοῦ εἶναι ἐπουράνιον Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἀπὸ τοῦ κλήρου Βενιαμὶν καὶ τῆς Φάραγγος Ἐννὸμ εὑρίσκομέν τι εἰς τὸν περὶ κολάσεων τόπον, μεταλαμβανομένων εἰς τὴν μετὰ βασάνου κάθαρσιν τῶν τοιωνδὶ ψυχῶν κατὰ τὸ „ἰδοὺ κύριος εἰσπορεύεται ὡς πῦρ χωνευτηρίου καὶ ὡς ποία πλυνόντων· καὶ καθιεῖται χωνεύων καὶ καθαρίζων (ὡς) τὸ χρυσίον καὶ ὡς τὸ ἀργύριον“ ### English translation (Claude) In it there was a drawing of circles, ten of them separate from one another but bound together by one circle, which was said to be the soul of the universe and was named Leviathan; the Jewish Scriptures, whatever they may be hinting at, said that he was formed by God as a plaything. For in the Psalms we find: “You made all things in wisdom; the earth was filled with your creation. This is the great and wide sea; there ships pass through, small creatures with great ones; this is the dragon you formed to sport with.” In place of “dragon” the Hebrew had Leviathan. The impious diagram, then, said that this Leviathan, who is so plainly condemned in the prophet, is the soul that has pervaded the universe. We also found in it the one named Behemoth, placed as it were below the lowest circle. The man who fabricated that abominable diagram wrote this Leviathan on the circle and at its centre, setting down his name twice. Further, Celsus says that the diagram was divided by a thick black line, and he said that he was told this was Gehenna, which is also Tartarus. But finding Gehenna written in the Gospel as a place of punishment, we inquired whether it was named anywhere in the ancient writings, especially since the Jews too use the name. We found that in one place Scripture speaks of the Valley “of the son of Ennom,” and we have learned that in the Hebrew, in place of “Valley,” the same thing was called both the Valley of Ennom and Gehenna. And studying the readings closely we find that Gehenna, or the Valley of Ennom, is listed in the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, in which Jerusalem also was. And examining the connection between the existence of a heavenly Jerusalem and the lot of Benjamin and the Valley of Ennom, we find something bearing on the doctrine of punishments, since souls of such a kind are taken to be purified through torment, according to the saying: “Behold, the Lord comes in like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; and he will sit refining and purifying as gold and as silver” ### Scripture references - Ps 104:24–26 (103:24-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Job 40:15: allusion, low confidence - Matt 5:22: allusion, low confidence - Josh 15:8: allusion, medium confidence - Josh 18:16: allusion, high confidence - Mal 3:2–3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Ps 104:24–26 (103:24–26 LXX), Josh 15:8 and 18:16 (the Valley of the son of Hinnom, “Ennom” in the Greek, on the border of Benjamin), and Mal 3:1–3 LXX. On Behemoth see Job 40:15. Origen's view that punishment purifies is his own and was later disputed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/25/). ## Against Celsus 6.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/26/ - Source: Koetschau 2:96 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen says the deeper teaching on punishment is not for everyone, since most people need the simple fear of eternal punishment, and he refuses to defend the Ophite diagram, which no Christian holds. ### Greek text καὶ κατὰ τὸ περὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ γίνεσθαι κολάσεις χωνευομένων, τῶν ἀναλαβόντων εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπόστασιν τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας, τροπικῶς που ὀνομαζομένης μολίβδου· διὸ ἡ ἀνομία παρὰ τῷ Ζαχαρίᾳ ἐπὶ „τάλαντον μολίβδου“ ἐκαθέζετο. Ὅσα δʼ εἰς τὸν τόπον λεχθείη ἂν, οὔτε πᾶσιν οὔτε τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ ἐστι διηγήσασθαι· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀκίνδυνον τὴν τῶν τοιούτων σαφήνειαν πιστεῦσαι γραφῇ. ἅτε τῶν πολλῶν οὐ χρῃζόντων πλείονος διδασκαλίας παρὰ τὴν περὶ τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων κολάσεως. εἰς γὰρ τὰ ὑπερέκεινα αὐτῆς οὐ χρήσιμον ἀναβαίνειν διὰ τοὺς μόγις φόβῳ τῆς αἰωνίου κολάσεως κἂν συστέλλοντας ἐπὶ ποσὸν τῆς κακίας καὶ τῶν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἁμαρτανομένων χύσιν. οὔτʼ οὖν τὸ διάγραμμα οὔτε Κέλσος οἶδε τὸν περὶ Γεέννης λόγον· ἐπεὶ οὔτʼ ἂν ἐκεῖνοι ζωγραφίας καὶ διαγράμματα ἐσεμνοποίουν ὡς διʼ αὐτῶν παριστάντες τὸ ἀληθὲς. οὔτʼ ἂν ὁ Κέλσος ἐν τῷ κατὰ Χριστιανῶν συγγράμματι τὰ μηδαμῶς ὑπὸ Χριστιανῶν λεγόμενα ἀλλά τινων, τάχα οὐδʼ ἔτι ὄντων ἀλλὰ πάντῃ ἐκλελοιπότων καὶ εἰς πάνυ ὀλίγους καὶ εὐαριθμήτους καταστάντων, ἐνετίθει ταῖς κατὰ Χριστιανῶν κατηγορίαις. καὶ ὥσπερ οὐ καθήκει τοῖς τὰ Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφοῦσιν ἀπολογεῖσθαι περὶ Ἐπικούρου καὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν αὐτοῦ δογμάτων, οὕτως οὐδʼ ἡμῖν περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ διαγράμματι καὶ τῶν κατʼ αὐτοῦ λεγομένων ὑπὸ Κέλσου. διόπερ ὡς περισσὰ καὶ μάτην ἐκκείμενα ἐῶμεν τὰ ὑπὸ Κέλσου εἰς ταῦτα λελεγμένα· μᾶλλον γὰρ Κέλσου ἡμεῖς αὐτῶν παρὰ τοῖς κεκρατημένοις ὑπὸ τοιούτων λόγων κατηγορήσομεν. ### English translation (Claude) and according to the saying that punishments take place around Jerusalem for those who are refined, who have taken into the very substance of their soul the things that come from wickedness, which is somewhere called, figuratively, lead; that is why in Zechariah lawlessness sat upon “a talent of lead.” But all that might be said on this subject is neither for everyone nor for the present occasion. Nor is it without danger to commit the clear explanation of such things to writing, since the many need no further teaching than that about the punishment of sinners. For it is not useful to go beyond this, because of those who are barely restrained, even by fear of eternal punishment, from at least some of the flood of wickedness and the sins that come from it. So neither the diagram nor Celsus knows the teaching about Gehenna; for otherwise those people would not make much of pictures and diagrams as though they presented the truth by them, nor would Celsus, in his treatise against Christians, have put among his accusations against Christians things that are in no way said by Christians but by some people who perhaps no longer even exist, having entirely died out and dwindled to a very few who can easily be counted. And just as it is not the business of those who follow Plato's philosophy to make a defence for Epicurus and his impious doctrines, so it is not ours to defend what is in the diagram and what Celsus says against it. Therefore we leave aside what Celsus said about these matters as superfluous and pointless; for we would accuse those who are held by such teachings more than Celsus does. ### Scripture references - Zech 5:7–8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to Zech 5:7–8 (the woman called Lawlessness sitting on a lead weight, “talent of lead” in the LXX). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.26 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/26/). ## Against Celsus 6.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/27/ - Source: Koetschau 2:96–98 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus invents a rite of the Christian “seal” and says Christians call the Creator accursed; Origen rejects this as slander like the old tales of child-eating and orgies spread about Christians. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τοῖς περὶ τοῦ διαγράμματος μηδὲ παρακούσας τῶν περὶ τῆς καλουμένης παρὰ τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς σφραγῖδος ἑαυτῷ τινα ἐκτίθεται ἀλλόκοτα καὶ ἀμοιβαίας φωνὰς, ὡς τοῦ μὲν τὴν σφραγῖδα περιτιθέντος καλουμένου πατρὸς, τοῦ δὲ σφραγιζομένου λεγομένου νέου καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἀποκρινομένου· κέχρισμαι χρίσματι λευκῷ ἐκ ξύλου ζωῆς, ὅπερ οὐδʼ ἐν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων ἠκούσαμεν γίνεσθαι. εἶτα καὶ ἀριθμὸν ὁρίζει λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν παραδιδόντων τὴν σφραγῖδα ἀγγέλων ἑπτὰ, ἑκατέρωθεν τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ ἀπαλλαττομένου σώματος ἐφισταμένων, τῶν μὲν τοῦ φωτὸς ἑτέρων δὲ τῶν ὀνομαζομένων ἀρχοντικῶν, καὶ λέγει τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν ὀνομαζομένων ἀρχοντικῶν λέγεσθαι θεὸν κατηραμένον. εἶτʼ ἐπιλαβόμενος τῆς λέξεως εὐλόγως κατηγορεῖ τῶν τοῦτο τολμώντων λέγειν· τούτου δʼ ἕνεκα καὶ ἡμεῖς συναγανακτοῦμεν τοῖς μεμφομένοις τοὺς τοιούτους. εἰ δή τινες εἰσὶ λέγοντες θεὸν κατηραμένον τὸν Ἰουδαίων, τὸν ὕοντα καὶ βροντῶντα καὶ τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργὸν καὶ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῆς κατʼ αὐτὸν κοσμοποιΐας θεόν. ἀλλʼ ἔοικε βεβουλῆσθαί τι διὰ τούτων ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ εὔγνωμον ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ καθʼ ἡμῶν ἀφιλοσόφου μίσους πάνυ ἀγνωμονέστατον. ἐβουλήθη γὰρ τοὺς ἀπείρους τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐντυχόντας αὐτοῦ τῇ γραφῇ πολεμῶσαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὡς θεὸν κατηραμένον λέγοντας τὸν τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου καλὸν δημιουργόν. καὶ δοκεῖ μοι παραπλήσιον Ἰουδαίοις πεποιηκέναι, τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν (τῆς) τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ διδασκαλίας κατασκεδάσασι δυσφημίαν τοῦ λόγου, ὡς ἄρα καταθύσαντες παιδίον μεταλαμβάνουσιν αὐτοῦ τῶν σαρκῶν, καὶ πάλιν ὅτι οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου τὰ τοῦ σκότου πράττειν βουλόμενοι σβεννύουσι μὲν τὸ φῶς. ἕκαστος δὲ τῇ παρατυχούσῃ μίγνυται· ἥτις δυσφημία παραλόγως πάλαι μὲν πλείστων ὅσων ἐκράτει πείθουσα τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τοῦ λόγου ὅτι τοιοῦτοί εἰσι Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ νῦν δὲ ἔτι ἀπατᾷ τινας ἀποτρεπομένους διὰ τὰ τοιαῦτα κἂν εἰς κοινωνίαν ἁπλουστέραν λόγων ἥκειν πρὸς Χριστιανούς. ### English translation (Claude) Next, after the matters of the diagram, Celsus, without even having half-heard anything about what churchmen call the seal, sets out certain strange ideas of his own and a dialogue of question and answer, in which the one who applies the seal is called father, and the one being sealed is called young man and son and answers: “I have been anointed with white ointment from the tree of life,” something we have not heard happens even among the sects. Then he also fixes a number said by those who hand on the seal: seven angels standing on either side of the soul as it departs from the body, some of light and others of those called archontic; and he says that the ruler of those called archontic is called an accursed god. Then, seizing on the phrase, he reasonably accuses those who dare to say this; and for this reason we too share the indignation of those who blame such people, if indeed there are some who call the God of the Jews accursed, the God who sends rain and thunder, the Creator of this world, the God of Moses and of the creation he describes. But Celsus seems to have intended something by this that was not fair-minded but, from his unphilosophical hatred of us, utterly unfair. For he wished to make those unacquainted with our teachings, when they read his book, fight against us, as though we called the good Creator of this world an accursed god. And he seems to me to have done something like the Jews who, at the beginning of the teaching of Christianity, spread slander against the faith, saying that Christians sacrifice a child and partake of its flesh, and again that those of the faith, wishing to do the works of darkness, put out the light and each has intercourse with whatever woman is at hand. This slander, absurd as it is, long ago prevailed over a great many people, persuading those outside the faith that Christians are like this; and even now it still deceives some, who are turned away by such things from coming even to simple conversation with Christians. ### Translation notes - The “seal” is baptism with its anointing. “Archontic” refers to the archons, the hostile planetary rulers of Gnostic systems. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.27 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/27/). ## Against Celsus 6.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/28/ - Source: Koetschau 2:98–99 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus confuses Christians with the Ophites, who side with the serpent against the Creator, curse Jesus, and cannot be called Christians at all. ### Greek text Τοιοῦτόν τι δή μοι φαίνεται ὁ Κέλσος οἰκονομῶν ἐκτεθεῖσθαι, ὡς ἄρα Χριστιανοὶ λέγουσι κατηραμένον θεὸν τὸν δημιουργὸν, ἵνʼ ὁ πιστεύων αὐτῷ ταῦτα καθʼ ἡμῶν λέγοντι εἰ δυνατὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ αἱρεῖν ὁρμήσαι Χριστιανοὺς ὡς πάντων ἀσεβεστάτους. φύρων δὲ τὰ πράγματα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐκτίθεται τοῦ κατηραμένον λέγεσθαι τὸν τῆς κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐας θεὸν φάσκων ὅτι τοιοῦτός ἐστιν καὶ ἀρᾶς ἄξιος κατὰ τοὺς ταῦτα περὶ αὐτοῦ δοξάζοντας, ἐπείπερ τῷ ὄφει, γνῶσιν καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ τοῖς πρώτοις ἀνθρώποις εἰσηγουμένῳ, κατηράσατο. εἰδέναι δʼ αὐτὸν ἐχρῆν ὅτι οἱ τὰ τοῦ ὄφεως ἑλόμενοι ὡς καλῶς τοῖς πρώτοις ἀνθρώποις συμβουλεύσαντος καὶ Τιτᾶνας καὶ Γίγαντας τοὺς μυθικοὺς ὑπερβαλόντες καὶ Ὀφιανοὶ διὰ τοῦτο καλούμενοι τοσοῦτον ἀποδέουσι τοῦ εἶναι Χριστιανοὶ, ὥστʼ οὐκ ἔλαττον Κέλσου κατηγορεῖν αὐτοὺς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ μὴ πρότερον προσίεσθαί τινα ἐπὶ τὸ συνέδριον ἑαυτῶν. ἐὰν μὴ ἀρὰς θῆται κατὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. ὅρα γοῦν πῶς ἀλογώτατον πεποίηκεν ὁ Κέλσος ἐν τοῖς κατὰ Χριστιανῶν λόγοις παραλαβὼν ὡς Χριστιανοὺς τοὺς μηδʼ ἀκούειν θέλοντας τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, κἂν ὅτι σοφός τις ἢ μέτριος τὰ ἤθη ἢ ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν. τί οὖν εἴη ἂν ἠλιθιώτερον ἢ μανικώτερον οὐ μόνον τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως ὡς ἀρχηγοῦ τῶν καλῶν χρηματίσαι βουληθέντων ἀλλὰ καὶ Κέλσου, νομίσαντος κατὰ Χριστιανῶν εἶναι κατηγορίας τὰς κατὰ τῶν Ὀφιανῶν; πάλαι μὲν οὖν ὁ τὴν εὐτέλειαν ἀγαπήσας φιλόσοφος Ἑλλήνων καὶ παράδειγμα ἐκθεὶς εὐδαίμονος βίου, ὡς οὐ κωλυόμενος εὐδαιμονεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς παντελοῦς ἀκτημοσύνης, Κυνικὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀνηγόρευσεν· οὗτοι δὲ οἱ ἀνόσιοι ἀπὸ τοῦ πολεμιωτάτου ἀνθρώποις ὄφεως καὶ φρικτοτάτου ὡς οὐκ ἄνθρωποι, ὧν ἐχθρός ἐστιν ὄφις, ἀλλʼ ὡς ὄφεις σεμνύνονται ἐπὶ τῷ Ὀφιανοὶ καλεῖσθαι, Εὐφράτην τινὰ εἰσηγητὴν τῶν ἀνοσίων αὐχοῦντες λόγων. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus seems to me to have set out some such thing deliberately, that Christians say the Creator is an accursed god, so that anyone who believed him when he said this against us might, if possible, even be moved to kill Christians as the most impious of all. Confusing matters, he also sets out the reason why the God of the creation according to Moses is called accursed, saying that he is such and deserves a curse, according to those who hold these opinions about him, because he cursed the serpent that brought the knowledge of good and evil to the first human beings. But he ought to have known that those who have taken the serpent's side, as though it gave good advice to the first human beings, outdoing the Titans and Giants of myth, and are for this reason called Ophites, are so far from being Christians that they accuse Jesus no less than Celsus does, and do not admit anyone to their assembly until he has pronounced curses against Jesus. See, then, how utterly unreasonable Celsus has been in his books against Christians, treating as Christians those who do not even wish to hear the name of Jesus, not even that he was a wise man or a person of moderate character. What could be more foolish or more mad, not only than those who wished to take their name from the serpent as the author of good things, but also than Celsus, who thought the accusations against the Ophites were accusations against Christians? Long ago the philosopher of the Greeks who loved simplicity and set out an example of a happy life, showing that he was not hindered from happiness by complete poverty, called himself a Cynic; but these impious men, as though they were not human beings, whose enemy the serpent is, but serpents, pride themselves on being called Ophites after the serpent, the most hostile and horrible of creatures to men, and boast of a certain Euphrates as the founder of their impious teachings. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to Gen 3:14. The Cynic philosopher is Diogenes of Sinope. Euphrates is named elsewhere as an Ophite (Peratic) teacher. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.28 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/28/). ## Against Celsus 6.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/29/ - Source: Koetschau 2:99 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus accuses Christians of both honouring and cursing the Creator; Origen answers that Christians always worship the one God of the Jews, and that the resurrection body is not the same flesh and blood that was sown. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ὡς Χριστιανοῖς λοιδορούμενος καὶ κατηγορῶν τῶν κατηραμένον εἰπόντων τὸν Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῦ κατʼ αὐτὸν νόμου θεὸν καὶ οἰόμενος Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ταῦτα λέγοντάς φησι· τί ἂν ἠλιθιώτερον ἢ μανικώτερον ταύτης τῆς ἀναισθήτου σοφίας γένοιτο; τί γὰρ ἐσφάλετο ὁ Ἰουδαίων νομοθέτης; καὶ πῶς τὴν ἐκείνου κοσμογένειαν σαυτῷ διά τινος, ὡς φῂς, τυπώδους ἀλληγορίας λαμβάνεις ἢ τὸν Ἰουδαίων νόμον, ἐπαινεῖς δὲ ἄκων, ὦ δυσσεβέστατε, τὸν τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργὸν, τὸν πάντα ὑποσχόμενον αὐτοῖς, τὸν τὸ γένος αὐτῶν αὐξήσειν μέχρι περάτων γῆς ἐπαγγειλάμενον καὶ ἀναστήσειν ἐκ νεκρῶν αὐτῇ σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματι καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἐμπνέοντα. καὶ πάλιν τοῦτον λοιδορεῖς; ἀλλʼ ὅταν μὲν ὑπὸ τούτων βιάζῃ, τὸν αὐτὸν θεὸν σέβειν ὁμολογεῖς· ὅταν δὲ τὰ ἐναντία ὁ σὸς διδάσκαλος Ἰησοῦς καὶ ὁ Ἰουδαίων Μωϋσῆς νομοθετῇ, θεὸν ἄλλον ἀντὶ τούτου καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ζητεῖς. καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὴ ὁ γενναιότατος φιλόσοφος Κέλσος σαφῶς Χριστιανοὺς συκοφαντεῖ. λέγων τοὺς αὐτοὺς, ἡνίκα μὲν ἂν Ἰουδαῖοι αὐτοὺς βιάζωνται, τὸν αὐτὸν αὐτοῖς θεὸν ὁμολογεῖν· ὅταν δὲ τὰ ἐναντία Ἰησοῦς Μωϋσεῖ νομοθετῇ, ἄλλον ἀντὶ τούτου ζητεῖν. εἴτε γὰρ Ἰουδαίοις διαλεγόμενοι εἴτε καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ὄντες ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἴσμεν, ὃν καὶ πάλαι ἔσεβον Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ νῦν σέβειν ἐπαγγέλλονται θεὸν, οὐδαμῶς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀσεβοῦντες. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἀναστήσειν ἐκ νεκρῶν αὐτῇ σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματί φαμεν τὸν θεὸν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω λέλεκται· οὐ γὰρ τὸ σπειρόμενον „ἐν φθορᾷ“ καὶ „ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ“ καὶ „ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ“ „σῶμα ψυχικόν“ φαμεν ἀνίστασθαι, ὁποῖον ἐσπάρη. ἀλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τούτων ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω μετρίως ἡμῖν λέλεκται. ### English translation (Claude) Then next, reviling and accusing, as though they were Christians, those who called the God of Moses and of his law accursed, and thinking that those who say this are Christians, Celsus says: What could be more foolish or more mad than this senseless wisdom? For what mistake did the lawgiver of the Jews make? And how is it that you take his account of the creation of the world, or the Jewish law, for yourself by what you call a figurative allegory, and yet, most impious man, praise unwillingly the Creator of the world, who promised them everything, who announced that he would increase their race to the ends of the earth and would raise them from the dead with the same flesh and blood, and who inspired the prophets; and then again you revile him? But when you are pressed hard by them, you admit that you worship the same God; yet when your teacher Jesus and the Jews' Moses legislate contrary things, you look for another God instead of this one and the Father. Here too the most noble philosopher Celsus plainly slanders Christians, saying that the same people, when the Jews press them, acknowledge the same God as they, but when Jesus legislates contrary to Moses, look for another in his place. For whether we are discussing with Jews or are by ourselves, we know one and the same God, whom the Jews too worshipped of old and profess to worship now, and we are in no way impious toward him. Nor do we say that God will raise men from the dead with the same flesh and blood, as was said above; for we do not say that what is sown “in corruption” and “in dishonour” and “in weakness,” the “natural body,” rises such as it was sown. But we have spoken on these matters adequately above. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:42–44: quotation, high confidence - Gen 22:17: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to 1 Cor 15:42–44. Origen refers back to his earlier discussion of the resurrection (Against Celsus 5.18–23). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/29/). ## Against Celsus 6.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/30/ - Source: Koetschau 2:99–100 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen compares Celsus's list of seven animal-faced ruling demons with the Ophite diagram he himself had seen, to show that these are not Christian teachings. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἐπαναλαμβάνει τὰ περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀρχόντων δαιμόνων, μηδαμῶς μὲν ὑπὸ Χριστιανῶν ὀνομαζομένων οἶμαι δʼ ὑπὸ Ὀφιανῶν παραλαμβανομένων. καὶ εὕρομέν γε ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἡμεῖς διʼ ἐκείνους ἐκτησάμεθα διαγράμματι τὴν τάξιν ὁμοίως ἐκκειμένην οἷς ὁ Κέλσος ἐξέθετο. ὁ μὲν οὖν Κέλσος ἔλεγε τὸν πρῶτον ἰδέᾳ λέοντος μεμορφωμένον, οὐκ ἐκθέμενος, τίνα αὐτὸν ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ ἀληθῶς δυσσεβέστατοι· ἡμεῖς δὲ εὕρομεν ὅτι τὸν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς εὐφημούμενον ἄγγελον τοῦ δημιουργοῦ, τοῦτον τὸ μιαρὸν ἐκεῖνο διάγραμμα ἔλεγεν εἶναι Μιχαὴλ τὸν λεοντοειδῆ. πάλιν τʼ αὖ μὲν Κέλσος ἔφασκε τὸν ἑξῆς καὶ δεύτερον εἶναι ταῦρον· ὃ δʼ εἴχομεν διάγραμμα τὸν Σουριὴλ ἔλεγεν εἶναι τὸν ταυροειδῆ. εἶτα ὁ μὲν Κέλσος τρίτον ἀμφίβιόν τινα καὶ φρικῶδες ἐπισυρίζοντα· τὸ δὲ διάγραμμα τρίτον Ῥαφαὴλ ἔλεγεν εἶναι δρακοντοειδῆ. πάλιν τε αὖ ὁ μὲν Κέλσος τὸν τέταρτον ἀετοῦ ἔφασκεν ἔχειν μορφήν· τὸ δὲ διάγραμμα Γαβριὴλ ἔλεγεν εἶναι τὸν ἀετοειδῆ. εἶθʼ μὲν Κέλσος τὸν πέμπτον ἔφασκεν εἶναι ἄρκου πρόσωπον ἔχοντα· τὸ δὲ διάγραμμα τὸν Θαυθαβαὼθ ἔφασκεν εἶναι τὸν ἀρκοειδῆ. εἶθʼ ὁ μὲν Κέλσος τὸν ἕκτον κυνὸς πρόσωπον ἔλεγεν ἱστορεῖσθαι ἔχειν παρʼ ἐκείνοις· τὸ δὲ διάγραμμα ἔφασκεν εἶναι αὐτὸν Ἐραθαώθ. εἶθʼ ὁ μὲν Κέλσος τὸν ἕβδομον ἔφασκεν ὄνου ἔχειν πρόσωπον, καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι αὐτὸν Θαφαβαὼθ ἢ Ὀνοήλ· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἐν τῷ διαγράμματι εὕρομεν ὅτι οὗτος καλεῖται Ὀνοὴλ ἢ Θαρθαραὼθ, ὀνοειδής τις τυγχάνων. ἔδοξε δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν ἀκριβῶς ἐκθέσθαι τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἵνα μὴ δοκῶμεν ἀγνοεῖν ἃ Κέλσος ἐπηγγέλλετο εἰδέναι· ἀλλὰ καὶ παραστήσωμεν ἀκριβέστερον ἐκείνου αὐτὰ ἐγνωκότες οἱ Χριστιανοὶ, ὡς οὐ Χριστιανῶν λόγους ἀλλὰ πάντῃ ἀλλοτρίων σωτηρίας καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐπιγραφομένων Ἰησοῦν ἢ σωτῆρα ἢ θεὸν ἢ διδάσκαλον ἢ υἱὸν θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Then next he takes up again the matter of the seven ruling demons, who are in no way named by Christians but are, I believe, accepted by the Ophites. And in the diagram which we too acquired because of them we found the order set out in the same way as Celsus set it out. Celsus said that the first is shaped in the form of a lion, without stating what these truly most impious people call him; but we found that the angel of the Creator who is honoured in the sacred Scriptures is the one that abominable diagram said was Michael, the lion-shaped. Again Celsus said that the next, the second, is a bull; the diagram we had said that the bull-shaped one was Suriel. Then Celsus said the third was an amphibious creature hissing horribly; the diagram said the third was Raphael, the serpent-shaped. Again Celsus said that the fourth had the form of an eagle; the diagram said that the eagle-shaped one was Gabriel. Then Celsus said that the fifth had the face of a bear; the diagram said that the bear-shaped one was Thauthabaoth. Then Celsus said that the sixth is recorded among them to have the face of a dog; the diagram said that he was Erathaoth. Then Celsus said the seventh had the face of an ass and was named Thaphabaoth or Onoel; but we found in the diagram that he is called Onoel or Thartharaoth, being ass-shaped. We too thought it right to set out these things precisely, so that we may not seem ignorant of what Celsus professed to know, but may show that we Christians know these things more precisely than he, and know that they are not the teachings of Christians but of people wholly estranged from salvation, who in no way acknowledge Jesus as Saviour or God or Teacher or Son of God. ### Translation notes - The names of the archons are given as the Greek spells them. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.30 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/30/). ## Against Celsus 6.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/31/ - Source: Koetschau 2:100–102 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen quotes the passwords that the Ophites taught their members to say to each of the seven archons as the soul ascends through their gates. ### Greek text Εἰ δέ τις βούλεται καὶ τὰ πλάσματα τῶν γοήτων ἐκείνων μαθεῖν, διʼ ὧν ἐβουλήθησαν μὲν ὑπάγειν ἀνθρώπους ἑαυτῶν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ ὡς ἀπόῤῥητά τινα ἔχοντες οὐ πάνυ δʼ ἐδυνήθησαν, ἀκουέτω ὃ διδάσκονται λέγειν μετὰ τὸ διελθεῖν ὃν ὀνομάζουσι „φραγμὸν κακίας“, πύλας ἀρχόντων αἰῶνι δεδεμένας· „βασιλέα μονότροπον, δεσμὸν ἀβλεψίας, λήθην ἀπερίσκεπτον ἀσπάζομαι, πρώτην δύναμιν, πνεύματι προνοίας καὶ σοφίᾳ τηρουμένην· ἔνθεν εἰλικρινὴς πέμπομαι, φωτὸς ἤδη μέρος υἱοῦ καὶ πατρός· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, ναὶ πάτερ, συνέστω.“ καί φασι τῆς ὀγδοάδος τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐντεῦθεν εἶναι. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς διδάσκονται λέγειν διερχόμενοι ὅν φασιν Ἰαλδαβαώθ· „σὺ δὲ μετὰ πεποιθήσεως πρῶτε καὶ ἕβδομε γεγονὼς κρατεῖν Ἰαλδαβαὼθ, ἄρχων λόγος ὑπάρχων νοὸς εἰλικρινοῦς, ἔργον τέλειον υἱῷ καὶ πατρὶ, χαρακτῆρι τύπου ζωῆς σύμβολον ἐπιφέρων, ἣν ἔκλεισας αἰῶνι σῷ πύλην κόσμῳ ἀνοίξας. παροδεύω τὴν σὴν ἐλεύθερος πάλιν ἐξουσίαν· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, ναὶ πάτερ, συνέστω.“ φασὶ δὲ τῷ λεοντοειδεῖ ἄρχοντι συμπαθεῖν ἄστρον τὸν Φαίνοντα. εἶτα οἴονται τὸν διελθόντα τὸν Ἰαλδαβαὼθ καὶ φθάσαντα ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰα(ὼ) δεῖν λέγειν· „σὺ δὲ κρυπτομένων μυστηρίων υἱοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἄρχων νυκτοφαὴς δεύτερε Ἰαὼ καὶ πρῶτε δέσποτα θανάτου, μέρος ἀθώου. φέρων ἤδη τὴν ἰδίαν ὑπήνην σύμβολον, παροδεύων σὴν ἕτοιμος ἀρχήν· κατίσχυσας τὸν ἀπὸ σοῦ γενόμενον λόγῳ ζῶντι· ἡ χάρις συνέστω, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ εἶθʼ ἑξῆς τὸν Σαβαὼθ, πρὸς ὃν οἴονται λέξειν· „πέμπτης ἐξουσίας ἄρχων, δυνάστα Σαβαὼθ. προήγορε νόμου τῆς σῆς κτίσεως χάριτι λυομένης, πεντάδι δυνατωτέρᾳ, πάρες με, σύμβολον ὁρῶν σῆς τέχνης ἀνεπίληπτον, εἰκόνι τύπου τετηρημένον, πεντάδι λυθὲν σῶμα· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ ἑξῆς δὲ αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀσταφαιὸν, ᾧ πιστεύουσι τοιαῦτα ἐρεῖν· „τρίτης ἄρχων πύλης Ἀσταφαιὲ, ἐπίσκοπε πρώτης ὕδατος ἀρχῆς, ἕνα βλέπων μύστην πάρες με παρθένου πνεύματι κεκαθαρμένον, ὁρῶν οὐσίαν κόσμου· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι. πάτερ, συνέστω.“ μετὰ δʼ αὐτὸν τὸν Αἰλωαιὸν, ᾧ τοιαῦτα λέγειν οἴονται· „δευτέρας ἄρχων πύλης Αἰλωαιὲ, πάρες με τῆς σῆς μητρὸς φέροντά σοι σύμβολον, χάριν κρυπτομένην δυνάμεσιν ἐξουσιῶν· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ τελευταῖον δὲ τὸν Ὡραῖον ὀνομάζουσι καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγειν οἴονται· „ὑπερβὰς φραγμὸν πυρὸς ἀφόβως. πρώτης λαχὼν ἀρχὴν πύλης Ὡραῖς, πάρες με, σῆς ὁρῶν δυνάμεως σύμβολον καταλυθὲν τύπῳ ζωῆς ξύλου, εἰκόνι καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν ληφθὲν ἀθώου· ἡ χάρις συνέστω μοι, πάτερ, συνέστω.“ ### English translation (Claude) If anyone wishes to learn also the fictions of those sorcerers, by which they wished to draw people to their teaching as though they possessed some secrets, but were not at all able to, let him hear what they are taught to say after passing through what they call “the barrier of wickedness,” the gates of the archons bound for ever: “I greet the solitary king, the bond of blindness, heedless forgetfulness, the first power, guarded by the spirit of providence and by wisdom; from here I am sent pure, already a part of the light of Son and Father. Grace be with me; yes, Father, let it be with me.” And they say that the beginnings of the Ogdoad are from here. Then next they are taught to say, as they pass through the one they call Ialdabaoth: “And you, Ialdabaoth, first and seventh, born to rule with confidence, being the ruling word of a pure mind, a perfect work for Son and Father, I bring a symbol marked with the imprint of life, and open to the world the gate that you closed for your age; I pass by your authority free again. Grace be with me; yes, Father, let it be with me.” And they say that the star Phainon (Saturn) is in sympathy with the lion-shaped archon. Then they think that the one who has passed through Ialdabaoth and reached Iao must say: “And you, ruler of the hidden mysteries of Son and Father, shining by night, second Iao, and first lord of death, portion of the innocent, bearing now my own beard as a symbol, I pass by your dominion, ready; having prevailed by the living word over the one born of you. Grace be with me; Father, let it be with me.” Then next comes Sabaoth, to whom they think they will say: “Ruler of the fifth authority, sovereign Sabaoth, advocate of the law of your creation, which is undone by grace, by a mightier pentad, let me pass, seeing an unblemished symbol of your art, preserved by the image of an imprint, a body undone by the pentad. Grace be with me; Father, let it be with me.” After him comes Astaphaeus, to whom they believe they will say such things: “Ruler of the third gate, Astaphaeus, overseer of the first source of water, looking upon one who is an initiate, let me pass, purified by the spirit of a virgin, seeing the being of the world. Grace be with me; Father, let it be with me.” After him comes Ailoaeus, to whom they think they should say such things: “Ruler of the second gate, Ailoaeus, let me pass, bringing you a symbol of your mother, grace hidden by the powers of the authorities. Grace be with me; Father, let it be with me.” Last they name Horaeus and think they should say to him: “You who fearlessly crossed the barrier of fire, who received the rule of the first gate, Horaeus, let me pass, seeing the symbol of your power undone by the imprint of the tree of life, taken in the image, after the likeness, of the innocent. Grace be with me; Father, let it be with me.” ### Translation notes - These formulas are obscure, and the Greek is uncertain in places; the translation is literal. The Ogdoad is the eighth, highest region above the seven planetary spheres. The archon names (Ialdabaoth, Iao, Sabaoth, Astaphaeus, Ailoaeus, Horaeus) are transliterated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/31/). ## Against Celsus 6.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/32/ - Source: Koetschau 2:102 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that he describes these Ophite teachings only to expose them, and that their archons mix names from magic with Hebrew names that all belong to the one God. ### Greek text Ἐπὶ ταῦτα δὲ ἡμᾶς ἡ Κέλσου νομιζομένη μὲν πολυμάθεια, μᾶλλον δʼ οὖσα περιεργία καὶ φλυαρία, προεκαλέσατο βουλομένους παραστῆσαι τῷ ἐντυχόντι τῇ ἐκείνου γραφῇ καὶ τοῖς ἡμῖν πρὸς αὐτὴν γεγραμμένοις ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπορία ἡμῖν τῶν Κέλσου μαθημάτων, ἐφʼ οἷς καταψεύδεται Χριστιανῶν, οὔτε φρονούντων οὔτʼ εἰδότων τὰ τοιαῦτα, εἰ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐβουλήθημεν καὶ ταῦτα γνῶναι καὶ ἐκθέσθαι· ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ τοῦ εἰδέναι τι πλεῖον ἡμῶν οἱ γόητες ἐξαπατῶσι τοὺς ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων φαντασίας συναρπαζομένους. ἐδυνάμην δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πλείονα παραθέμενος παραστῆσαι ὅτι ἴσμεν μὲν τὰ τῶν ἀπατεώνων, ἀρνούμεθα δὲ αὐτὰ ὡς ἀλλότρια καὶ ἀσεβῆ καὶ οὐ συνυπάρχοντα τοῖς μέχρι θανάτου ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ὁμολογουμένοις ἀληθῶς Χριστιανῶν λόγοις. χρὴ μέντοι εἰδέναι ὅτι οἱ ταῦτα συνταξάμενοι, οὔτε τὰ μαγείας νοήσαντες οὔτε τὰ τῶν θείων γραφῶν διακρίναντες. πάντʼ ἔφυραν· ἀπὸ μὲν μαγείας τὸν Ἰαλδαβαὼθ καὶ τὸν Ἀσταφαιὸν καὶ τὸν Ὡραῖον, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν γραφῶν τὸν Ἰαωΐα παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ὀνομαζόμενον καὶ τὸν Σαβαὼθ καὶ τὸν Ἀδωναῖον καὶ τὸν Ἐλωαῖον. τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν ληφθέντα ὀνόματα ἐπώνυμά ἐστι τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἑνὸς θεοῦ· ὅπερ μὴ συνέντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ θεῷ, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὁμολογοῦσιν, ᾠήθησαν ἄλλον μὲν εἶναι τὸν Ἰαὼ ἕτερον δὲ τὸν Σαβαὼθ καὶ τρίτον παρὰ τοῦτον τὸν Ἀδωναῖον, ὃν λέγουσιν αἱ γραφαὶ Ἀδωναῒ, καὶ ἄλλον τὸν Ἐλωαῖον, ὃν οἱ προφῆται ὀνομάζουσιν Ἑβραϊστὶ Ἐλωαΐ. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus's supposed wide learning, which is rather meddlesome curiosity and nonsense, has led us on to these matters, since we wish to show anyone who reads his book and what we have written against it that we are not at a loss about the lore Celsus uses to slander Christians, who neither hold nor know such things; for we too wished to know these things and to set them out, so that the sorcerers may not, by professing to know something more than we do, deceive those who are carried away by the impressiveness of names. I could have added a great deal more to show that we know the teachings of the deceivers but reject them as foreign and impious and incompatible with the truly Christian doctrines which we confess even to death. One should know, however, that those who composed these things, understanding neither magic nor the divine Scriptures, mixed everything together. From magic they took Ialdabaoth, Astaphaeus, and Horaeus; from the Hebrew Scriptures, the one named Iao among the Hebrews, Sabaoth, Adonaeus, and Eloaeus. But the names taken from the Scriptures are titles of one and the same God. Not understanding this, the enemies of God, as they themselves admit they are, supposed that Iao was one, Sabaoth another, a third besides him Adonaeus, whom the Scriptures call Adonai, and another Eloaeus, whom the prophets name in Hebrew Eloai. ### Translation notes - Iao, Sabaoth, Adonai, and Eloai (Elohim) are Hebrew names or titles of God. Origen's claim that the Ophites call themselves “enemies of God” refers to their hostility to the Creator. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.32 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/32/). ## Against Celsus 6.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/33/ - Source: Koetschau 2:102–103 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen describes more of the Ophite diagram, including a picture of the flaming sword guarding paradise, and says he has given their formulas to show how alien they are to Christianity. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἄλλους μύθους ὁ Κέλσος ἐκτίθεται, ὥς τινων εἰς τὰς ἀρχοντικὰς μορφὰς ἐπανερχομένων, ὥστε τινὰς μὲν γίνεσθαι λέοντας ἄλλους δὲ ταύρους καὶ ἄλλους δράκοντας ἢ ἀετοὺς ἢ ἄρκους ἢ κύνας. εὕρομεν δὲ ἐν ᾧ εἴχομεν διαγράμματι καὶ ὃ ὠνόμασε Κέλσος τετράγωνον σχῆμα καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τῶν τοῦ παραδείσου πυλῶν λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀθλίων ἐκείνων. ἐζωγραφεῖτο δὲ ὡς διάμετρος κύκλου τινὸς πυροειδοῦς ἡ φλογίνη ῥομφαία ὡς δορυφορουμένη τῷ τε τῆς γνώσεως ξύλῳ καὶ τῆς ζωῆς. ὁ μὲν οὖν Κέλσος οὐκ ἠθέλησε τὰς δημηγορίας ἢ οὐκ ἐδυνήθη ἐκθέσθαι, ἃς καθʼ ἑκάστην πύλην κατὰ τοὺς τῶν ἀσεβῶν μύθους ἐροῦσιν οἱ διϊόντες αὐτάς· ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ τοῦτο πεποιήκαμεν, ἵνα τὸ τῆς ἀτελέστου τελετῆς πέρας δείξωμεν τῷ Κέλσῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι τῇ γραφῇ ἐγνωκέναι ὡς ἀλλότριον τῆς Χριστιανῶν περὶ τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείας. ### English translation (Claude) Then next Celsus sets out other myths, about some people returning to the archontic forms, so that some become lions, others bulls, others serpents or eagles or bears or dogs. We also found in the diagram we had what Celsus called the square figure, and what those wretched people say about the gates of paradise. The flaming sword was painted as the diameter of a fiery circle, as though it were guarding the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. Celsus either did not wish or was not able to set out the speeches which, according to the myths of the impious, those who pass through each gate will make; but we have done this too, in order to show Celsus and the readers of his book that we know the end of this rite which is no rite, and know it as foreign to the piety of Christians toward God. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to Gen 3:24. “This rite which is no rite” renders a play on ἀτελέστου τελετῆς (an “uninitiating initiation”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/33/). ## Against Celsus 6.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/34/ - Source: Koetschau 2:103–104 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks a jumble of sayings he attributes to Christians, including resurrection “from the tree” because Jesus was crucified and a carpenter; Origen says he is stringing together half-heard scraps from various sects. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἐκθέσθαι τὰ προειρημένα καὶ τὰ ἀνάλογον αὐτοῖς. ἅτινα ἡμεῖς προσεθήκαμεν, τοιαῦτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος· οἱ δʼ ἔτι προστιθέασιν ἄλλα ἐπʼ ἄλλοις, προφητῶν λόγους καὶ κύκλους ἐπὶ κύκλοις καὶ ἀποῤῥοίας ἐκκλησίας ἐπιγείου καὶ περιτομῆς καὶ Προυνικοῦ τινος ῥέουσαν δύναμιν παρθένου καὶ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν καὶ σφαζόμενον οὐρανὸν, ἵνα ζήσῃ, καὶ γῆν σφαζομένην μαχαίρᾳ καὶ πολλοὺς σφαζομένους. ἵνα ζήσωσι, καὶ παυόμενον ἐν κόσμῳ θάνατον, ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ ἡ τοῦ κόσμου ἁμαρτία, καὶ κάθοδον αὖθις στενὴν καὶ αὐτομάτως ἀνοιγομένας πύλας· πανταχοῦ δὲ ἐκεῖ τὸ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλον καὶ ἀνάστασιν σαρκὸς ἀπὸ ξύλου, διότι οἶμαι ὁ διδάσκαλος αὐτῶν σταυρῷ ἐνηλώθη καὶ ἦν τέκτων τὴν τέχνην. ὡς εἰ ἔτυχεν ἐκεῖνος ἀπὸ κρημνοῦ ἐῤῥιμμένος ἢ εἰς βάραθρον ἐωσμένος ἢ ἀγχόνῃ πεπνιγμένος ἢ σκυτοτόμος ἢ λιθοξόος ἢ σιδηρεὺς. ἦν ἂν ὑπὲρ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς κρημνὸς ζωῆς ἢ βάραθρον ἀναστάσεως ἢ σχοινίον ἀθανασίας ἢ λίθος μακάριος ἢ σίδηρος ἀγάπης ἢ σκῦτος ἅγιόν [ἐστιν]. ἢ τίς γραῦς, ἐπὶ τῷ βαυκαλῆσαι παιδίον μῦθον ἐπᾴδουσα, τοιαῦτα ψιθυρίζειν οὐκ ἂν ᾐσχύνθη; ἐν τούτοις δὲ δοκεῖ μοι φύρειν τὰ παρακούσματα ὁ Κέλσος. εἰκὸς γὰρ ὅτι, εἴ τι ἤκουσεν οἱασδηποτοῦν αἱρέσεως λεξείδιον, μὴ τρανώσας αὐτὸ κἂν κατὰ τὸ βούλημα ἐκείνης ἀλλὰ τὰ ῥημάτια συμφορήσας, ἐπεδείκνυτο ἐν τοῖς μηδὲν ἐπισταμένοις μήτε τῶν ἡμετέρων μήτε τῶν ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσιν ὡς ἄρα πάντα τὰ Χριστιανῶν γινώσκοι. τοῦτο δὲ δῆλον ποιεῖ καὶ ἡ προκειμένη λέξις. ### English translation (Claude) After setting out what we have quoted and things similar to what we added, Celsus says this: And they add still more on top of this, words of prophets, and circles upon circles, and emanations of an earthly church and of circumcision, and a power flowing from a certain virgin Prunicus, and a living soul, and heaven slain that it may live, and earth slain with a sword, and many slain that they may live, and death ceasing in the world when the sin of the world dies, and again a narrow way down, and gates that open of themselves. And everywhere there is the tree of life, and a resurrection of the flesh from the tree, because, I suppose, their teacher was nailed to a cross and was a carpenter by trade. So that if he had happened to be thrown from a cliff, or pushed into a pit, or strangled by a noose, or had been a cobbler or a stonemason or a blacksmith, there would be a cliff of life above the heavens, or a pit of resurrection, or a rope of immortality, or a blessed stone, or iron of love, or holy leather. What old woman, humming a story to lull a child to sleep, would not have been ashamed to whisper such things? In this, it seems to me, Celsus is jumbling things he half-heard. For it is likely that if he heard some little phrase of any sect whatever, without making it clear even according to that sect's meaning, he strung the scraps of words together and paraded them before those who know nothing either of our teachings or of those of the sects, as though he knew everything about Christians. The passage before us makes this plain. ### Translation notes - “Prunicus” (literally “lewd” or “wanton”) was a name some Gnostics gave to fallen Wisdom (Sophia). The editor deletes ἐστιν (“is”) after “holy leather.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/34/). ## Against Celsus 6.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/35/ - Source: Koetschau 2:104–105 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen tries to trace Celsus's jumbled phrases to particular sects, such as the Valentinians' fallen Wisdom, and suspects Celsus invented some of them. ### Greek text Τὸ μὲν γὰρ χρῆσθαι προφητῶν λόγοις ἡμῶν ἐστι, τῶν παριστάντων Ἰησοῦν εἶναι τὸν προκεκηρυγμένον ὑπʼ αὐτῶν Χριστὸν καὶ ἀποδεικνύντων ἐκ τῶν προφητικῶν τὰ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πληρωθέντα. τὸ δὲ κύκλους ἐπὶ κύκλοις λέγειν τάχα μὲν καὶ τῆς προειρημένης ἐστὶν αἱρέσεως, κύκλῳ περιλαμβανούσης ἑνὶ, ἥν φασιν εἶναι τὴν τῶν ὅλων ψυχὴν καὶ Λευϊαθὰν, τοὺς ἑπτὰ τῶν ἀρχοντικῶν κύκλους. τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἐκκλησιαστοῦ ἐστι παράκουσμα λέγοντος· „κυκλοῖ κυκλῶν πορεύεται τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἐπὶ κύκλους αὐτοῦ ἐπιστρέφει τὸ πνεῦμα.“ τὸ δʼ ἀποῤῥοίας ἐκκλησίας ἐπιγείου καὶ περιτομῆς τάχα ἐλήφθη ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑπό τινων λέγεσθαι ἐκκλησίας τινὸς ἐπουρανίου καὶ κρείττονος αἰῶνος ἀπόῤῥοιαν εἶναι τὴν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ περιτομῆς τινος ἐν καθαρσίῳ τινὶ ἐκεῖ γεγενημένης σύμβολον εἶναι τὴν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένην. Προυνικὸν δέ τινα σοφίαν οἱ ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου ὀνομάζουσι κατὰ τὴν πεπλανημένην ἑαυτῶν σοφίαν, ἧς σύμβολον εἶναι βούλονται καὶ δώδεκα ἔτεσιν αἱμοῤῥοοῦσαν· ἣν παρακούσας ὁ ἅμα πάντα φύρων τὰ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων καὶ τῶν ἐν ταῖς αἱρέσεσιν εἶπε τό· Προυνικοῦ τινος δύναμιν ῥέουσαν παρθένου. ψυχὴ δὲ ζῶσα τάχα μὲν ἐν ἀποῤῥήτοις λέλεκται παρά τισι τῶν ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου εἰς τὸν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὀνομαζόμενον „ψυχικὸν δημιουργὸν, “ τάχα δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν ψυχῆς νεκρᾶς ἡ ζῶσα ψυχὴ οὐκ ἀγεννῶς παρά τισι λέλεκται ἡ τοῦ σῳζομένου. σφαζόμενον δʼ οὐκ οἶδα οὐρανὸν λελεγμένον ἢ γῆν σφαζομένην μαχαίρᾳ καὶ πολλοὺς σφαζομένους, ἵνα ζήσωσι. καὶ οὐκ ἀπεικός ἐστιν ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ ταῦτα κεκομικέναι τὸν Κέλσον. ### English translation (Claude) For to use the words of prophets is our practice, since we show that Jesus is the Christ proclaimed beforehand by them and demonstrate from the prophetic writings that what is recorded about Jesus in the Gospels was fulfilled. To speak of circles upon circles perhaps belongs to the sect mentioned above, which encloses the seven circles of the archons in one circle, which they say is the soul of the universe and Leviathan. Or perhaps it is a misunderstanding of Ecclesiastes, who says: “Circling, circling goes the wind, and on its circles the wind returns.” Emanations of an earthly church and of circumcision were perhaps taken from what some say, that the church on earth is an emanation of a heavenly church and a higher age, and that the circumcision written in the law is a symbol of a circumcision that took place there in some purification. The followers of Valentinus, in accordance with their own misguided wisdom, give the name Prunicus to a certain Wisdom, of whom they would have the woman with a flow of blood for twelve years be a symbol. Having misunderstood this, the man who jumbles together everything of Greeks and barbarians and sects said: “a power flowing from a certain virgin Prunicus.” The living soul perhaps is spoken of in secret by some of the followers of Valentinus with reference to what they call “the psychic Creator”; or perhaps the living soul, in contrast to the dead soul, is spoken of by some, not ignobly, as the soul of one who is being saved. But I do not know of heaven being called slain, or earth slain with a sword, or many slain that they may live; and it is not unlikely that Celsus made these up himself. ### Scripture references - Eccl 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Mark 5:25: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:7: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Eccl 1:6. The woman with a flow of blood is Mark 5:25–34. In Valentinian teaching the “psychic Creator” (Demiurge) is a lower maker of the world, formed of soul rather than spirit. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/35/). ## Against Celsus 6.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/36/ - Source: Koetschau 2:105–106 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen gives biblical meanings for some of Celsus's phrases, such as death being destroyed and the gates of righteousness, and points out that the tree of life comes from Genesis, not from Jesus' trade. ### Greek text Παυόμενον δὲ ἐν κόσμῳ θάνατον, ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ ἡ τοῦ κόσμου ἁμαρτία, λέγοιμεν ἂν ἡμεῖς τὸ παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ μυστικὸν διηγούμενοι οὕτως ἔχον· ὅταν δὲ „πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς“ ὑποτάξῃ „ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ“. τότε „ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ θάνατος.“ λέλεκται δὲ καί· „ὅταν τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσηται ἀφθαρσίαν“, „τότε γενήσεται ὁ λόγος ὁ γεγραμμένος· κατεπόθη ὁ θάνατος εἰς νῖκος.“ κάθοδον δὲ αὖθις στενὴν τάχα οἱ τὴν μετενσωμάτωσιν εἰσάγοντες φήσουσιν. αὐτομάτως δὲ ἀνοιγομένας πύλας λελέχθαι οὐκ ἀπίθανόν ἐστιν ὑπό τινων αἰνισσομένων καὶ διηγουμένων τὸ „ἀνοίξατέ μοι πύλας δικαιοσύνης. ἵνʼ εἰσελθὼν ἐν αὐταῖς ἐξομολογήσωμαι τῷ κυρίῳ· αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ κυρίου. δίκαιοι εἰσελεύσονται ἐν αὐτῇ.“ καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἐνάτῳ ψαλμῷ λέγεται· „ὁ ὑψῶν με ἐκ τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου, ὅπως ἂν ἐξαγγείλω πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις σου ἐν ταῖς πύλαις τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών.“ πύλας δὲ „θανάτου“ τὰς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπώλειαν φερούσας ἁμαρτίας φησὶν εἶναι ὁ λόγος, ὥσπερ καὶ „πύλας Σιὼν“ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου τὰς καλὰς πράξεις· οὕτω δὲ καὶ „πύλας δικαιοσύνης“, ὅπερ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ „τὰς πύλας τῆς ἀρετῆς“· αὗται δὲ ἐξ ἑτοίμου ἀνοίγονται τῷ μεταδιώκοντι τὰς κατʼ ἀρετὴν πράξεις. περὶ δὲ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλου εὐκαιρότερόν τις διηγήσεται ἑρμηνεύων τὰ περὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ Γενέσει ἀναγεγραμμένον παράδεισον τοῦ θεοῦ φυτευόμενον ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ. πολλάκις μὲν οὖν ἐχλεύασεν ὁ Κέλσος ἣν οὐκ ἐνόησεν ἀνάστασιν· νῦν δʼ οὐκ ἀρκεσθεὶς τοῖς εἰρημένοις φησὶ λέγεσθαι ἀνάστασιν σαρκὸς ἀπὸ ξύλου, παρακούσας οἶμαι τοῦ συμβολικῶς εἰρημένου, ὅτι διὰ ξύλου θάνατος καὶ διὰ ξύλου ζωὴ, θάνατος μὲν κατὰ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ζωὴ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Χριστόν. εἶτα παίζων τὰ περὶ τοῦ ξύλου ἀπὸ δύο τόπων αὐτὸ χλευάζει λέγων διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸ παραλαμβάνεσθαι, ἤτοι ἐπεὶ σταυρῷ ἐνηλώθη ὁ διδάσκαλος ἡμῶν ἢ ἐπεὶ τέκτων ἦν τὴν τέχνην, οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς ἐν τοῖς Μωϋσέως ἀναγέγραπται γράμμασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐ βλέπων ὅτι οὐδαμοῦ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις φερομένων εὐαγγελίων „τέκτων“ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀναγέγραπται. ### English translation (Claude) As for death ceasing in the world when the sin of the world dies, we might say this ourselves, expounding the mystical saying of the apostle, which runs: when “he has put all enemies under his feet,” then “the last enemy, death, is destroyed.” It is also said: “When this corruptible puts on incorruption,” “then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.” A narrow way down again perhaps those who introduce the transmigration of souls will speak of. And it is not unlikely that gates opening of themselves are spoken of by some who interpret figuratively the saying: “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter by them and give thanks to the Lord; this is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter by it.” And again in the ninth Psalm it is said: “You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion.” The word says that the gates “of death” are the sins that lead to destruction, just as, conversely, the “gates of Zion” are good actions; and so also “gates of righteousness,” which is equivalent to “the gates of virtue”; and these are readily opened to the one who pursues virtuous actions. As for the tree of life, someone will discuss it more appropriately when interpreting what is recorded in Genesis about the paradise planted by God. Celsus has often mocked the resurrection, which he did not understand; but now, not content with what he has said, he says that a resurrection of the flesh from the tree is spoken of, having misunderstood, I think, the symbolic saying that through a tree came death and through a tree life: death in Adam, life in Christ. Then, making fun of what concerns the tree, he mocks it from two sides, saying that it is brought in for this reason, either because our teacher was nailed to a cross or because he was a carpenter by trade. He does not see that the tree of life is recorded in the writings of Moses, nor does he notice that nowhere in the Gospels current in the churches is Jesus himself described as a carpenter. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:25–26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:54: quotation, high confidence - Ps 118:19–20 (117:19-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 9:13–14 (9:14-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:22: allusion, medium confidence - Mark 6:3: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 13:55: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are 1 Cor 15:25–26, 1 Cor 15:54, Ps 118:19–20 (117:19–20 LXX), Ps 9:13–14 (9:14–15 LXX), Gen 2:9, and 1 Cor 15:22. Origen's claim that no Gospel calls Jesus a carpenter reflects his text of Mark 6:3, which apparently read “the son of the carpenter” (as Matt 13:55); most manuscripts of Mark read “the carpenter.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.36 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/36/). ## Against Celsus 6.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/37/ - Source: Koetschau 2:106 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's jibe about a “cliff of life” fits only the inventors of the Ophite myths, not the Church, whose teachings are understood by those who give their lives to studying Scripture. ### Greek text Οἴεται δὲ καὶ τροπολογοῦντας ἡμᾶς περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀναπεπλακέναι τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἀκολούθως ἑαυτοῦ τῷ περὶ τούτου σφάλματί φησιν ὅτι, εἴπερ ἔτυχεν ἐκεῖνος κατὰ κρημνοῦ ἐῤῥιμμένος ἢ (εἰς) βάραθρον ἐωσμένος ἢ ἀγχόνῃ πεπνιγμένος, ἦν ἂν ὑπὲρ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἀναπεπλασμένος κρημνὸς ζωῆς ἢ βάραθρον ἀναστάσεως ἢ σχοινίον ἀθανασίας. πάλιν τε αὖ φησιν ὅτι, εἴπερ διὰ τὸ τέκτονα αὐτὸν γεγονέναι ἀναπέπλασται τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, ἠκολούθησεν ἂν, εἰ μὲν σκυτοτόμος ἦν, λέγεσθαί τινα περὶ σκύτους ἁγίου, εἰ δὲ λιθοξόος, περὶ λίθου μακαρίου, εἰ δὲ σιδηρεὺς, περὶ σιδήρου ἀγάπης. τίς οὖν οὐχ ὁρᾷ αὐτόθεν τὸ εὐτελὲς αὐτοῦ τῆς κατηγορίας, διαλοιδορουμένου ἀνθρώπους, οὓς ἐπηγγείλατο ἐπιστρέφειν ὡς ἀπατωμένους; ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις λέγει ἁρμόζοντα μὲν τοῖς ἀναπλάσασι τούς τε λεοντοειδεῖς καὶ ὀνοκεφάλους καὶ δρακοντοειδεῖς ἄρχοντας, καὶ εἴ τις ἐκείνοις παραπλησίως ἐμυθολόγησεν, οὐ μὴν καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. ἀληθῶς γὰρ καὶ γραῦς ἐπὶ τῷ βαυκαλῆσαι παιδίον μεθύουσα μῦθον ἐπᾴδειν τοιοῦτον καὶ ψιθυρίζειν τῷ παιδίῳ ἐπῃσχύνθη, ὁποῖον οἱ τοὺς ὀνοκεφάλους ἀναπλάσαντες καὶ τὰς καθʼ ἑκάστην πύλην ὡσπερεὶ δημηγορίας. τὰ δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ ἐπίσταται, ἅπερ πάνυ ὀλίγοι ἠσκήκασι συνιέναι, οἱ πάντα τὸν βίον ἑαυτῶν ἀναθέντες κατὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ ἐντολὴν τῷ ἐρευνᾶν „τὰς γραφὰς“ καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων Ἑλλήνων περί τινος νομιζομένης ἐπιστήμης ἀνάληψιν κεκμηκότες περὶ τὴν ἐξέτασιν τοῦ βουλήματος τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων. ### English translation (Claude) He supposes also that we, interpreting the cross figuratively, invented the tree of life; and, consistently with his own error about this, he says that if that man had happened to be thrown down a cliff, or pushed into a pit, or strangled with a noose, there would have been invented a cliff of life above the heavens, or a pit of resurrection, or a rope of immortality. And again he says that if the tree of life had been invented because he was a carpenter, it would have followed that, had he been a cobbler, something would be said about holy leather; had he been a stonemason, about a blessed stone; had he been a blacksmith, about iron of love. Who, then, does not at once see the cheapness of his accusation, as he reviles people whom he professed to convert as being deceived? Next he says things that fit those who invented the lion-shaped, ass-headed, and serpent-shaped archons, and anyone who has told similar myths to theirs, but not those of the Church. For truly even a drunken old woman, lulling a child to sleep, would have been ashamed to sing and whisper to the child such a myth as those who invented the ass-headed archons and the speeches, so to call them, at each gate. But Celsus does not know the teachings of those of the Church, which very few have trained themselves to understand, those who have devoted their whole life, according to Jesus' commandment, to searching “the Scriptures,” and have laboured over the investigation of the meaning of the sacred writings more than the Greek philosophers laboured to acquire some supposed knowledge. ### Scripture references - John 5:39: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to John 5:39. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.37 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/37/). ## Against Celsus 6.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/38/ - Source: Koetschau 2:106–107 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen describes further inscriptions in the Ophite diagram, such as circles labelled Father and Son, Love, Life, and Wisdom, to show that he knows it better than Celsus and rejects it. ### Greek text Οὐκ ἀρκεσθεὶς δʼ ὁ γεννάδας τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ διαγράμματος ἐβουλήθη ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐξῆσαι τὰς καθʼ ἡμῶν κατηγορίας, τῶν μηδὲν ἐχόντων κοινὸν πρὸς ἐκεῖνο, διὰ μέσου ἄλλʼ ἄττα εἰπεῖν, ἐπαναλαβὼν τὰ ἐκείνων ὡσπερεὶ (ἡμ)ετέρων. φησὶ γάρ· θαῦμα δʼ αὐτῶν οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐκεῖνο· ἐξηγοῦνται γάρ τινα μεταξὺ τῶν ὑπερουρανίων ἀνωτέρω κύκλων ἐπιγεγραμμένα, ἄλλα τε καὶ δύο ἄττα, μεῖζόν τε καὶ μικρότερον υἱοῦ καὶ πατρός. εὕρομεν δʼ ἡμεῖς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ διαγράμματι τὸν μείζονα κύκλον καὶ τὸν μικρότερον, ὧν ἐπὶ τῆς διαμέτρου ἐπεγέγραπτο „πατὴρ καὶ υἱὸς“, καὶ μεταξὺ τοῦ μείζονος, ἐν ᾧ ὁ μικρότερος ἦν, καὶ ἄλλου συγκειμένου ἐκ δύο κύκλων, τοῦ μὲν ἐξωτέρου ξανθοῦ τοῦ δὲ ἐνδοτέρω κυανοῦ, τὸ ἐπιγεγραμμένον διάφραγμα πελεκοειδεῖ σχήματι, καὶ ἀνωτέρω μὲν αὐτοῦ κύκλον βραχὺν ἐχόμενον τοῦ μείζονος τῶν προτέρων, ἐγγεγραμμένον ἔχοντα „ἀγάπην“· κατωτέρω δὲ ἐχόμενον τοῦ κύκλου γεγραμμένον ἔχοντα „ζωήν“· τῷ δὲ δευτέρῳ κύκλῳ ἐνεγέγραπτο, περιπεπλεγμένῳ καὶ ἐμπεριειληφότι ἄλλους δύο κύκλους καὶ ἄλλο σχῆμα ῥομβοειδὲς, „σοφίας πρόνοια, “ καὶ ἔνδον μὲν τῆς κοινῆς αὐτῶν τομῆς „σοφίας φύσις, “ ἀνωτέρω δὲ τῆς κοινῆς αὐτῶν τομῆς κύκλος ἦν. ἐν ᾧ ἐπεγέγραπτο „γνῶσις, “ κατωτέρω δὲ ἄλλος, ἐν ᾧ ἐπεγέγραπτο „σύνεσις.“ καὶ ταῦτα δὲ παρειλήφαμεν εἰς τὸν κατὰ Κέλσου λόγον, ἵνα παραστήσωμεν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι τρανότερον ἐκείνου ἐγνωκέναι καὶ οὐκ ἐκ παρακουσμάτων τὰ καὶ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν κατηγορούμενα. εἰ δὲ καὶ ὑπισχνοῦνται οἱ ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις σεμνυνόμενοι μαγικήν τινα γοητείαν, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς τὸ τῆς σοφίας κεφάλαιον, ἡμεῖς μὲν οὐ διαβεβαιούμεθα. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἱστορήσαμεν τὸ τοιοῦτον· Κέλσος δʼ ἂν εἰδείη, ὁ πολλάκις ἤδη ἁλοὺς ψευδομαρτυριῶν καὶ ἀλόγων κατηγοριῶν, πότερον καὶ ἐν τούτοις ψεύδεται, εἴ τι περί τινων ξένων καὶ ἀλλοτρίων τῆς πίστεως τοιοῦτον καταλαβὼν ἐξέθετο ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ συγγράμματι. ### English translation (Claude) Not content with what came from the diagram, the fine fellow wished, to increase his accusations against us, who have nothing in common with it, to add some other things in between, repeating what belongs to those people as though it were ours. For he says: A marvel of theirs, and not the least, is this: they explain certain things written between the upper circles above the heavens, among others two in particular, a greater and a smaller, of Son and Father. We found in this diagram the greater circle and the smaller, on whose diameter was written “Father and Son”; and between the greater, in which the smaller was, and another made up of two circles, the outer yellow and the inner blue, the barrier inscribed in the shape of an axe. Above it was a small circle joined to the greater of the first two, with “Love” written in it; and below, touching the circle, one with “Life” written in it. In the second circle, which was intertwined with and enclosed two other circles and another rhomboid figure, was written “Providence of Wisdom”; inside their common section, “Nature of Wisdom”; above their common section was a circle in which “Knowledge” was written, and below another in which “Understanding” was written. We have included these things too in our book against Celsus, to show readers that we know more clearly than he, and not from things half-heard, the things that we too condemn. If those who pride themselves on such things also profess some magical sorcery, and this is for them the sum of wisdom, we do not affirm it, for we have not found out any such thing. But Celsus, who has often been caught already in false witness and unreasonable accusations, would know whether he is lying here too, if he found such a thing about certain people who are strangers and aliens to the faith and set it out in his treatise. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/38/). ## Against Celsus 6.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/39/ - Source: Koetschau 2:107–109 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen disputes Celsus's claim, taken from Herodotus, that different nations merely give different names to the same gods, and declines to answer for magic charms that have nothing to do with Christians. ### Greek text Εἶτα πρὸς τοὺς χρωμένους, ὥς φησι, μαγείᾳ τινὶ καὶ γοητείᾳ καὶ καλοῦντας ὀνόματα βαρβαρικὰ δαιμόνων τινῶν τοιαῦτα, ὅτι ὅμοιον οὗτοι πράττουσι τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὑποκειμένοις τερατευομένοις πρὸς τοὺς μὴ εἰδότας ἄλλα μὲν αὐτῶν εἶναι τὰ ὀνόματα παρʼ Ἕλλησιν ἄλλα δὲ παρὰ Σκύθαις. εἶτʼ ἐκτίθεται ἀπὸ Ἡροδότου λαβὼν ὡς τὸν μὲν Ἀπόλλωνα Γογγόσυρον καλοῦσι Σκύθαι, τὸν δὲ Ποσειδῶνα Θαγιμάσαδα, τὴν δʼ Ἀφροδίτην Ἀργίμπασαν, Ἑστίαν δὲ Ταβιτί. ἐξετάσει δὲ ὁ δυνάμενος, μή πῃ καὶ περὶ τούτων σὺν Ἡροδότῳ ὁ Κέλσος ψεύδεται, ἅτε μὴ ἐπισταμένων Σκυθῶν τὰ αὐτὰ Ἕλλησιν ὑποκείμενα περὶ τῶν νομιζομένων θεῶν. ποία γὰρ πιθανότης τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα Γογγόσυρον παρὰ Σκύθαις καλεῖσθαι; οὐ γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι ὅτι μεταλαμβανόμενος εἰς Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ὁ Γογγόσυρος τὴν ἐτυμολογίαν παρίστησι τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, ἢ ὁ Ἀπόλλων εἰς τὴν Σκυθῶν διάλεκτον τὸν Γογγόσυρον σημαίνει. οὕτω δὲ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ταὐτόν τι ἐρεῖ· ἄλλων γὰρ ὁρμώμενοι Ἕλληνες πραγμάτων καὶ ἐτυμολογιῶν οὕτως ὠνόμασαν τοὺς παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς νομιζομένους θεοὺς, ἀπʼ ἄλλων δὲ Σκύθαι, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἀπʼ ἄλλων μὲν Πέρσαι ἀπʼ ἄλλων δὲ Ἰνδοὶ ἢ Αἰθίοπες ἢ Λίβυες, ἢ ὅπως φίλον ἑκάστοις ὀνομάζειν, μὴ μείνασιν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης καὶ καθαρᾶς ἐννοίας τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ. αὐτάρκως δʼ ἡμῖν εἴρηται καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων, βουλομένοις παραστῆσαι μὴ ταὐτὸν εἶναι Σαβαὼθ ἢ Δία, ὅτε καὶ περὶ τῶν διαλέκτων τι ἀπὸ τῶν θείων παρετιθέμεθα γραμμάτων. ἑκόντες οὖν ὑπερβαίνομεν ταῦτα, ἐν οἷς ἐπὶ ταυτολογίαν ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος καλεῖ. εἶτα πάλιν φύρων τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς μαγικῆς γοητείας καὶ προσάπτων τάχα μὲν οὐδενὶ τῷ μὴ εἶναι τοὺς μαγγανεύοντας προφάσει τῆς κατὰ τὸν χαρακτῆρα τοῦτον θεοσεβείας, τάχα δέ τισι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς εὐεξαπατήτους χρωμένοις τοιούτοις, ἵνα δοκοῖεν θείᾳ δυνάμει τι ποιεῖν, ἐκτίθεταί τινα λέγων· τί με δεῖ καταριθμεῖν ὅσοι καθαρμοὺς ἐδίδαξαν ἢ λυτηρίους ᾠδὰς ἢ ἀποπομπίμους φωνὰς ἢ κτύπους ἢ δαιμονίους σχηματισμοὺς, ἐσθήτων ἢ ἀριθμῶν ἢ λίθων ἢ φυτῶν ἢ ῥιζῶν καὶ ὅλως παντοδαπῶν χρημάτων παντοῖα ἀλεξιφάρμακα; περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖ ἡμᾶς ἀπολογήσασθαι τὸ εὔλογον, ἅτε οὐδὲ κατὰ ποσὸν ἐνεχομένους τοιαύταις ὑπονοίαις. ### English translation (Claude) Then, against those who, as he says, use a kind of magic and sorcery and invoke barbarous names of certain demons, he says such things, that these people act like those who tell marvels about the same beings to those who do not know that their names are different among the Greeks and among the Scythians. Then he sets out, taking it from Herodotus, that the Scythians call Apollo Gongosyrus, Poseidon Thagimasadas, Aphrodite Argimpasa, and Hestia Tabiti. Anyone who is able will examine whether here too Celsus, along with Herodotus, is not mistaken, since the Scythians do not understand the same things as the Greeks about those whom they consider gods. For what likelihood is there that Apollo is called Gongosyrus among the Scythians? For I do not think that Gongosyrus, translated into Greek, gives the etymology of Apollo, or that Apollo in the Scythian language means Gongosyrus. Nor will one say the same about the rest: for the Greeks named those they considered gods starting from certain things and etymologies, the Scythians from others, and likewise the Persians from others, and the Indians or Ethiopians or Libyans from others, or as each chose to name them, since they did not remain in the first and pure conception of the Creator of the universe. We have said enough on this earlier too, when we wished to show that Sabaoth and Zeus are not the same, and quoted something from the divine writings about languages. So we willingly pass over these things, in which Celsus calls us to repeat ourselves. Then again, jumbling together matters of magical sorcery, and attaching them perhaps to no one, since there are no sorcerers who practise under the pretext of this form of piety, or perhaps to some who use such things with the easily deceived so as to seem to do something by divine power, he sets out certain things, saying: Why need I list all those who have taught purifications, or releasing songs, or averting cries, or rattlings, or demonic figures, or all kinds of protective remedies made of clothes or numbers or stones or plants or roots, and in general of every sort of thing? Reason does not require us to answer for these, since we are not in the least involved in such suspicions. ### Extrabiblical texts - Herodotus, Hist. 4.59 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Scythian names come from Herodotus, Histories 4.59. Origen refers back to Against Celsus 1.24–25 and 5.41–46. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/39/). ## Against Celsus 6.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/40/ - Source: Koetschau 2:109 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus's claim to have seen Christian presbyters with magic books is a slander like the old tales of Christian cannibalism, easily disproved by anyone who has lived among Christians. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα παραπλήσιόν τι ποιεῖν μοι δοκεῖ τοῖς διὰ πολλὴν τὴν πρὸς Χριστιανοὺς ἀπέχθειαν διαβεβαιουμένοις πρὸς τοὺς μηδαμῶς εἰδότας τὰ Χριστιανῶν, ὅτι ἄρα τῇ πείρᾳ κατειλήφασι Χριστιανοὺς ἐσθίοντας σάρκας παιδίων καὶ μίξεσι ταῖς πρὸς τὰς παρʼ αὐτοῖς γυναῖκας ἀνέδην χρωμένους. ὡς γὰρ ταῦτα λεγόμενα ἤδη καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ πάντῃ ἀλλοτρίων τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς θεοσεβείας καταγινώσκεται ὡς κατεψευσμένα Χριστιανῶν, οὕτως εὑρεθείη ἂν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῷ Κέλσῳ κατεψευσμένως εἰρημένα, ἐν οἷς ἔφησεν ἑωρακέναι παρὰ τισι πρεσβυτέροις τῆς ἡμετέρας δόξης τυγχάνουσι βιβλία βάρβαρα, δαιμόνων ὀνόματα ἔχοντα καὶ τερατείας· καὶ ἔφασκε τούτους (τοὺς δῆθεν πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἡμετέρας δόξης) οὐδὲν μὲν χρηστὸν ὑπισχνεῖσθαι πάντα δʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων βλάβαις. καὶ εἴθε πάντα τὰ ὑπὸ Κέλσου κατὰ Χριστιανῶν λεγόμενα τοιαῦτα ἦν, ἵνʼ ὑπὸ τῶν πλείστων ἐλέγχηται. πείρᾳ καταλαβόντων τὰ τοιαῦτα εἶναι ψευδῆ ἐκ τοῦ καὶ συμβεβιωκέναι Χριστιανῶν τοῖς πλείστοις καὶ μηδὲν τοιοῦτο περὶ αὐτῶν μηδʼ ἀκηκοέναι. ### English translation (Claude) After this he seems to me to do something like those who, out of great hatred of Christians, assure people who know nothing of Christian teaching that they have found out by experience that Christians eat the flesh of children and freely have intercourse with the women among them. For just as these charges are now condemned, even by the many who are wholly strangers to our religion, as slanders against Christians, so these statements of Celsus too would be found to be slanderous, where he said that he had seen among certain presbyters of our faith barbarous books containing names of demons and marvels; and he said that these men (so-called presbyters of our faith) promise nothing good but everything for the harm of men. I wish that everything Celsus says against Christians were of this sort, so that it might be refuted by most people, who have learned by experience that such things are false, since they have lived among very many Christians and have never even heard anything of the kind about them. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/40/). ## Against Celsus 6.41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/41/ - Source: Koetschau 2:109–110 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says magic cannot touch philosophers, but Origen notes that philosophers fell under Apollonius's spell, whereas Christians who pray faithfully are protected by God's angels from magic and demons. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταῦτα ὡσπερεὶ ἐπιλαθόμενος ὅτι κατὰ Χριστιανῶν αὐτῷ πρόκειται γράφειν φησὶ Διονύσιόν τινα μουσικὸν Αἰγύπτιον συγγενόμενον αὐτῷ εἰρηκέναι περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν μαγείαν ὅτι πρὸς ἀπαιδεύτους μὲν αὐτὴ δύναται καὶ πρὸς διαφθαρέντας τὰ ἤθη, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς φιλοσοφήσαντας οὐδὲν οἵα τε ἐστὶν ἐνεργεῖν, ἅτε τῆς ὑγιεινῆς διαίτης προνοησαμένους. εἰ μὲν οὖν προέκειτο περὶ μαγείας νῦν ἡμῖν διαλαβεῖν, κἂν προσεθήκαμεν [ἐν] οἷς ἀνωτέρω περὶ αὐτῆς εἰρήκαμεν εἰς τοῦτο ὀλίγα· ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἐπικαιρότερα χρὴ λέγειν πρὸς τὸ Κέλσου σύγγραμμα, περὶ μαγείας φαμὲν ὅτι ὁ βουλόμενος ἐξετάσαι, πότερόν ποτε καὶ φιλόσοφοι ἁλωτοί εἰσιν αὐτῇ ἢ μὴ, ἀναγνώτω τὰ γεγραμμένα Μοιραγένει τῶν Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Τυανέως μάγου καὶ φιλοσόφου ἀπομνημονευμάτων· ἐν οἷς ὁ μὴ Χριστιανὸς ἀλλὰ φιλόσοφος ἔφησεν ἁλῶναι ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν Ἀπολλωνίῳ μαγείας οὐκ ἀγεννεῖς τινας φιλοσόφους ὡς πρὸς γόητα αὐτὸν εἰσελθόντας· ἐν οἷς οἶμαι καὶ περὶ Εὐφράτου (τοῦ) πάνυ διηγήσατο καί τινος Ἐπικουρείου. διαβεβαιούμεθα δὲ ἡμεῖς καὶ τῇ πείρᾳ παραλαβόντες ὅτι οἱ κατὰ χριστιανισμὸν διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεραπεύοντες θεὸν καὶ βιοῦντες κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτοῦ ταῖς προσταχθείσαις τε εὐχαῖς συνεχέστερον καὶ δεόντως νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας χρώμενοι οὔτε μαγείᾳ οὔτε δαιμονίοις εἰσὶν ἁλωτοί. ἀληθῶς γὰρ „παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγγελος κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτοὺς“ ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ· καὶ „οἱ ἄγγελοι“ τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ μικρῶν καὶ τεταγμένοι εἰς τὸ προΐστασθαι αὐτῶν „διὰ παντὸς“ λέγονται βλέπειν „τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς πατρὸς, “ ὅ τι ποτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ ὅ τι ποτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ βλέπειν. ### English translation (Claude) After this, as though he had forgotten that his task is to write against Christians, he says that a certain Dionysius, an Egyptian musician, who had met him, told him about magic that it has power over the uneducated and those of corrupt character, but can do nothing against those who have studied philosophy, since they have taken care to live a healthy life. If our task now were to discuss magic, we would have added a little on this to what we said about it above. But since we must say what is more to the point against Celsus's treatise, we say about magic that anyone who wishes to examine whether philosophers too can be caught by it or not should read what Moeragenes wrote in his memoirs of Apollonius of Tyana, the magician and philosopher. In them Moeragenes, who was not a Christian but a philosopher, said that some philosophers of no mean standing were caught by the magic of Apollonius, having come to him as to a sorcerer; among them, I believe, he told of the famous Euphrates and a certain Epicurean. But we affirm, having learned it by experience too, that those who, according to Christianity, worship the God over all through Jesus, live according to his gospel, and use the prayers commanded, continually and as they ought, night and day, are caught neither by magic nor by demons. For truly “the angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear him and will deliver them” from every evil; and “the angels” of the little ones in the Church, who are appointed to watch over them, are said “always” to see “the face of the Father in heaven,” whatever the face is and whatever the seeing is. ### Scripture references - Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 18:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX) and Matt 18:10. Moeragenes' memoirs of Apollonius of Tyana are lost. Euphrates of Tyre was a Stoic philosopher and opponent of Apollonius. The editor deletes ἐν before οἷς (“to what”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/41/). ## Against Celsus 6.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/42/ - Source: Koetschau 2:110–113 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus mocks the Christian belief in Satan as a garbled version of Greek myths of divine war in Heraclitus, Pherecydes, Homer, and the Titans, which he reads as allegories. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ἀπὸ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς ὁ Κέλσος τοιαῦτά φησι καθʼ ἡμῶν· σφάλλονται δὲ ἀσεβέστατα ἄττα καὶ περὶ τήνδε τὴν μεγίστην ἄγνοιαν, ὁμοίως ἀπὸ θείων αἰνιγμάτων πεπλανημένην, ποιοῦντες τῷ θεῷ ἐναντίον τινὰ, διάβολόν τε καὶ γλώττῃ Ἑβραίᾳ Σατανᾶν ὀνομάζοντες τὸν αὐτόν. ἄλλως μὲν οὖν παντελῶς θνητὰ ταῦτα καὶ οὐδʼ ὅσια λέγειν, ὅτι δὴ ὁ μέγιστος θεὸς, βουλόμενός τι ἀνθρώπους ὠφελῆσαι, τὸν ἀντιπράσσοντα ἔχει καὶ ἀδυνατεῖ. ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς ἄρα ἡττᾶται ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, καὶ κολαζόμενος ὑπʼ διδάσκει καὶ ἡμᾶς τῶν. ὑπὸ τούτῳ κολάσεων καταφρονεῖν, προαγορεύων ὡς ἄρα ὁ Σατανᾶς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμοίως φανεὶς ἐπιδείξεται μεγάλα ἔργα καὶ θαυμαστὰ, σφετεριζόμενος τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δόξαν· οἷς οὐ χρὴ (πλανηθῆ)ναι βουληθέντας ἀποτρέπεσθαι πρὸς ἐκεῖνον, ἀλλὰ μόνῳ πιστεύειν ἑαυτῷ. ταῦτα μέν γε ἐστὶν ἄντικρυς ἀνθρώπου γόητος, ἐργολαβοῦντος καὶ προφυλαττομένου τοὺς ἀντιδοξοῦντάς τε καὶ ἀνταγείροντας. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς τούτοις (ἐκτίθεσθαι) βουλόμενος τὰ αἰνίγματα, ὧν οἴεται παρακηκοότας ἡμᾶς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Σατανᾶ εἰσάγειν, φησὶ θεῖόν τινα πόλεμον αἰνίττεσθαι τοὺς παλαιοὺς, Ἡράκλειτον μὲν λέγοντα ὧδε· „εἰδέ(ναι) χρὴ τὸν πόλεμον ἐόντα ξυνὸν καὶ δίκην ἔριν, καὶ γινόμενα πάντα κατʼ ἔριν καὶ χωρεόμενα“· Φερεκύδην δὲ πολλῷ ἀρχαιότερον γενόμενον Ἡρακλείτου μυθοποιΐαν, στρατείαν στρατείᾳ παραταττομένην. καὶ τῆς μὲν ἡγεμόνα Κρόνον διδόναι τῆς ἑτέρας δὲ Ὀφιονέα, προκλήσεις τε καὶ ἁμίλλας αὐτῶν ἱστορεῖν. συνθήκας τε αὐτοῖς γίνεσθαι, ἵνʼ ὁπότεροι αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν Ὠγηνὸν ἐμπέσωσι, τούτους μὲν εἶναι νενικημένους, τοὺς δʼ ἐξώσαντας καὶ νικήσαντας τούτους ἔχειν τὸν οὐρανόν. τούτου δὲ τοῦ βουλήματός φησιν ἔχεσθαι καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς Τιτᾶνας καὶ Γίγαντας μυστήρια. θεομαχεῖν ἀπαγγελλομένους, καὶ τὰ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις περὶ Τυφῶνος καὶ Ὥρου καὶ Ὀσίριδος. εἶτʼ ἐκθέμενος τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ μὴ παραμυθησάμενος, τίνα τρόπον ἐκεῖνα μὲν λόγου ἔχεται κρείττονος ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ἐκείνων παρακούσματα, διαλοιδορεῖται ἡμῖν λέγων μὴ εἶναι ἐκεῖνα ὅμοια τοῖς περὶ διαβόλου δαίμονος ἢ (ὅπερ φασὶν ἀληθέστερον) ἀνθρώπου γόητος ἀντιδοξοῦντος. οὕτω δʼ ἀκούει καὶ Ὁμήρου, ὡς τὰ παραπλήσια τῷ Ἡρακλείτῳ καὶ Φερεκύδῃ καὶ τοῖς τὰ περὶ Τιτᾶνας καὶ Γίγαντας μυστήρια εἰσάγουσιν αἰνισσομένου ἐν τούτοις (τοῖς) τοῦ Ἡφαίστου πρὸς τὴν Ἥραν λόγοις, φάσκοντος· ἤδη γάρ (με) καὶ ἄλλοτʼ ἀλεξέμεναι μεμαῶτα ῥῖψε ποδὸς τεταγὼν ἀπὸ βηλοῦ θεσπεσίοιο, καὶ τοῖς τοῦ Διὸς πρὸς τὴν Ἥραν οὕτως· ἦ οὐ μέμνῃ, ὅτε τʼ ἐκρέμω ὑψόθεν, ἐκ δὲ ποδοῖιν ἄκμονας ἧκα δύω, περὶ χερσὶ δὲ δεσμὸν ἴηλα χρύσεον ἄῤῥηκτον; σὺ δʼ ἐν αἰθέρι καὶ νεφέλῃσιν ἐκρέμω· ἠλάστεον δὲ θεοὶ κατὰ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον. λῦσαι δʼ οὐκ ἐδύναντο παρασταδόν· ὃν δὲ λάβοιμι, ῥίπτασκον τεταγὼν ἀπὸ βηλοῦ, ὄφρʼ ἂν ἵκοιτο γῆν ὀλιγηπελέων· καὶ διηγούμενός γε τὰ Ὁμηρικὰ ἔπη φησὶ λόγους εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν ὕλην τοὺς λόγους τοῦ Διὸς πρὸς τὴν Ἥραν, τοὺς δὲ πρὸς τὴν ὕλην λόγους αἰνίττεσθαι ὡς ἄρα ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτὴν πλημμελῶς ἔχουσαν διαλαβὼν ἀναλογίαις τισὶ συνέδησε καὶ ἐκόσμησεν ὁ θεὸς, καὶ ὅτι τοὺς περὶ αὐτὴν δαίμονας, ὅσοι ὑβρισταὶ, τούτους ἀποῤῥιπτεῖ κολάζων αὐτοὺς τῇ δεῦρο ὁδῷ. ταῦτα δὲ τὰ Ὁμήρου ἔπη οὕτω νοηθέντα τὸν Φερεκύδην φησὶν εἰρηκέναι τό· „κείνης δὲ τῆς μοίρας ἔνερθέν ἐστιν ἡ ταρταρίη μοῖρα· φυλάσσουσι δʼ αὐτὴν θυγατέρες Βορέου Ἅρπυιαί τε καὶ Θύελλα, ἔνθα Ζεὺς ἐκβάλλει θεῶν ὅταν τις ἐξυβρίσῃ.“ τῶν τοιούτων δέ φησιν ἔχεσθαι νοημάτων καὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς πέπλον ἐν τῇ πομπῇ τῶν Παναθηναίων ὑπὸ πάντων θεωρούμενον. δηλοῦται γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἀμήτωρ τις καὶ ἄχραντος δαίμων ἐπικρατεῖ θρασυνομένων τῶν γηγενῶν. ἀποδεξάμενος δὲ τὰ Ἑλλήνων πλάσματα ἐπιλέγει κατηγορῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων τοιαῦτα, ὅτι θεοῦ υἱὸν ὑπὸ διαβόλου κολάζεσθαι καὶ ἡμᾶς διδάσκει, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κολαζόμενοι καρτεροῖμεν. καὶ ταῦτα τὰ πάντῃ καταγέλαστα· ἐχρῆν γὰρ οἶμαι κολάσαι τὸν διάβολον ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ διαβεβλημένοις ἀνθρώποις ἀπειλεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Next, starting from another point, Celsus says such things against us: They also err most impiously in this, the greatest ignorance, which has likewise strayed from divine riddles, in making someone opposed to God, calling the same one devil and, in the Hebrew tongue, Satan. Otherwise, these things are utterly mortal notions and not holy to say, that the greatest God, wishing to benefit men in some way, has one who works against him and is powerless. The Son of God, then, is defeated by the devil, and, being punished by him, teaches us too to despise the punishments inflicted by him, announcing beforehand that Satan too will likewise appear and display great and marvellous works, appropriating the glory of God; that those who wish to be led astray by these must not be turned toward him, but must believe in him alone. These are plainly the words of a sorcerer, who is out for gain and guards himself beforehand against those who hold opposing views and gather rival crowds. Then next, wishing to set out the riddles which he thinks we misunderstood when we introduce the teaching about Satan, he says that the ancients hinted at a divine war: Heraclitus, saying this: “One must know that war is common, and justice strife, and that all things come about by strife and necessity”; and Pherecydes, who was much older than Heraclitus, telling a myth of one army ranged against another, giving Kronos as leader of one and Ophioneus of the other, and relating their challenges and contests; and that they made an agreement that whichever of them fell into Ogenos should be the vanquished, and those who drove them out and conquered should hold heaven. He says that the mysteries about the Titans and Giants, who are declared to fight against the gods, have this meaning too, as do the Egyptian stories about Typhon, Horus, and Osiris. Then, having set out such things without explaining how those contain a better meaning while ours are misunderstandings of them, he reviles us, saying that those stories are not like what is said about a devil-demon or (as they say more truly) a sorcerer holding opposing views. He understands Homer in the same way, as hinting at things similar to Heraclitus and Pherecydes and those who introduce the mysteries about Titans and Giants, in these words of Hephaestus to Hera, where he says: “For once before, when I was eager to defend you, he seized me by the foot and hurled me from the divine threshold”; and in these words of Zeus to Hera: “Do you not remember when you hung on high, and from your feet I let down two anvils, and around your hands threw an unbreakable golden chain? And you hung in the air and the clouds; and the gods throughout high Olympus were indignant, but could not come near and free you; whomever I caught I would seize and hurl from the threshold, until he reached the earth, faint.” And interpreting the Homeric verses, he says that the words of Zeus to Hera are words of God to matter, and that the words to matter hint that from the beginning it was in a disordered state, and God took it in hand, bound it together by certain proportions and ordered it; and that the demons around it who were insolent he hurls down, punishing them with the road hither. He says that Pherecydes, understanding these verses of Homer in this way, said: “Below that portion is the portion of Tartarus; the daughters of Boreas, the Harpies and Thyella, guard it; there Zeus casts out any of the gods when he behaves insolently.” He says that the robe of Athena, seen by all in the procession of the Panathenaea, has the same meaning. For, he says, it shows that a motherless and undefiled divinity masters the presumptuous earth-born. Having accepted the fictions of the Greeks, he adds, accusing our teachings, such things as this: that the Son of God is punished by the devil and teaches us too that when we are punished by the same one we should endure it. And these things are wholly ridiculous; for it was necessary, I suppose, to punish the devil, not to threaten the men who have been slandered by him. ### Scripture references - Mark 13:22: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Thess 2:9: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 24:24: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Heraclitus, frag. 80 (Heraclitus (fragments)): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 1.590–591 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Il. 15.18–24 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Pherecydes of Syros, Pherecydes frag. B4 (Pherecydes of Syros (fragments)): allusion, high confidence - Pherecydes of Syros, Pherecydes frag. B5 (Pherecydes of Syros (fragments)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Heraclitus, fragment 80 (Diels–Kranz), and Homer, Iliad 1.590–591 and 15.18–24, and Pherecydes of Syros, fragments B4 and B5 (Diels–Kranz). The allusions are to Mark 13:22 and 2 Thess 2:9. Celsus's phrase “utterly mortal notions” (θνητὰ) is odd; the text may be faulty. The Greek has a lacuna after “being punished by” (ὑπʼ … ), probably “him.” “Ogenos” is Ocean. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/42/). ## Against Celsus 6.43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/43/ - Source: Koetschau 2:113–114 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen replies that the Bible, older than all the Greek writers, already taught about the fallen evil one: the serpent of Genesis, the destroyer of Exodus, Azazel, Belial, Satan in Job, and the figures lamented in Ezekiel and Isaiah. ### Greek text Ὅρα οὖν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐγκαλῶν ἡμῖν (ὡς) σφαλλομένοις ἀσεβέστατα καὶ ἀποπεπλανημένοις θείων αἰνιγμάτων αὐτὸς σαφῶς σφάλλεται, μὴ κατανοήσας ὅτι τὰ πολλῷ οὐ μόνον Ἡρακλείτου καὶ Φερεκύδου ἀρχαιότερα ἀλλὰ καὶ Ὁμήρου Μωϋσέως γράμματα εἰσήγαγε τὸν περὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ τούτου καὶ ἐκπεσόντος τῶν οὐρανίων λόγον. ὁ γὰρ „ὄφις“ παρʼ ὃν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Φερεκύδῃ γέγονεν Ὀφιονεὺς, αἴτιος γενόμενος τοῦ ἐκβληθῆναι τοῦ θείου παραδείσου τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τοιαῦτά τινα αἰνίσσεται, ἐπαγγελίᾳ θεότητος καὶ μειζόνων ἀπατήσας τὸ θηλύτερον γένος· ᾧ συνηκολουθηκέναι λέγεται καὶ ὁ ἀνήρ. καὶ ὁ ἐν τῇ Μωϋσέως δὲ Ἐξόδῳ ὀλεθρευτὴς τίς ἄλλος εἴη ἢ ὁ τοῦ ὀλέθρου τοῖς πειθομένοις αὐτῷ καὶ μὴ ἀνθισταμένοις αὐτοῦ τῇ κακίᾳ καὶ μὴ ἀνταγωνιζομένοις αἴτιος; ἔτι δὲ (ὁ) ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ ἀποπομπαῖος, ὃν ἡ Ἑβραϊκὴ γραφὴ ὠνόμασεν Ἀζαζὴλ, οὐδεὶς ἕτερος ἦν· (ὃν) ἀποπέμπεσθαι καὶ ἀποτροπιάζεσθαι ἔδει τὸν κλῆρον ἔχοντα ἐν ἐρήμῳ· πάντες γὰρ οἱ τῆς τοῦ χείρονος διὰ τὴν κακίαν μερίδος ἐναντίοι ὄντες τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ κλήρου τοῦ θεοῦ ἔρημοί εἰσι θεοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἐν τοῖς Κριταῖς υἱοὶ Βελίαρ τίνος ἄλλου ἢ τούτου λέγονται εἶναι υἱοὶ διὰ τὴν πονηρίαν; σαφῶς δὲ παρὰ ταῦτα πάντα ἐν τῷ ἀρχαιοτέρῳ καὶ Μωϋσέως αὐτοῦ Ἰὼβ „ὁ διάβολος“ ἀναγέγραπται παρίστασθαι τῷ θεῷ καὶ αἰτεῖν τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἐξουσίαν, ἵνʼ αὐτὸν περιβάλῃ περιστάσεσι βαρυτάταις, πρώτῃ μὲν τῇ κατὰ πάντων τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ καὶ τῶν τέκνων αὐτοῦ ἀπωλείᾳ, δευτέρᾳ δὲ κατὰ τὸ περιβαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἀγρίῳ ἐλέφαντι, τῷ οὕτω καλουμένῳ νοσήματι, πᾶν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰώβ. ἐῶ γὰρ τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων περὶ τοῦ πειράζοντος τὸν σωτῆρα διαβόλου, ἵνα μὴ δόξω ἀπὸ νεωτέρων γραφῶν φέρειν τὰ περὶ τοῦ ζητουμένου πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον. καὶ ἐν τοῖς τελευταίοις δὲ τοῦ Ἰὼβ, ἐν οἷς ὁ κύριος διὰ λαίλαπος καὶ νεφελῶν εἶπε τῷ Ἰὼβ τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα ἐν τῇ ὁμωνύμῳ βίβλῳ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ὀλίγα ἐστὶ περὶ δράκοντος εἰρημένα λαβεῖν. οὔπω λέγω καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ὡς περὶ „Φαραὼ“ ἢ „Ναβουχοδονόσορ“ ἢ ἄρχοντος „Τύρου“, ἢ τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου, ἐν οἷς θρηνεῖται ὁ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος· ἀφʼ ὧν οὐκ ὀλίγα τις ἂν μανθάνοι περὶ τῆς κακίας, ποίαν ἔσχεν ἀρχὴν καὶ γένεσιν, καὶ ὅτι ἀπό τινων πτεροῤῥυησάντων καὶ κατακολουθησάντων τῷ πρώτῳ πτεροῤῥυήσαντι ὑπέστη ἡ κακία. ### English translation (Claude) See, then, whether the man who charges us with erring most impiously and straying from divine riddles does not clearly err himself, not perceiving that the writings of Moses, which are much older not only than Heraclitus and Pherecydes but also than Homer, introduced the account of this evil one who fell from heavenly things. For the “serpent,” from which Pherecydes' Ophioneus came, having been the cause of man's expulsion from the divine paradise, hints at something like this, since he deceived the weaker sex with a promise of divinity and greater things; and the man is said to have followed her. And the destroyer in Moses' Exodus, who else could he be than the one who is the cause of destruction for those who obey him and do not resist or fight against his wickedness? Further, the scapegoat in Leviticus, whom the Hebrew Scripture named Azazel, was none other; he who had the lot had to be sent away and banished into the wilderness; for all who belong to the portion of the worse one because of their wickedness, being opposed to those of God's lot, are deserted by God. And the sons of Belial in Judges, whose sons are they said to be because of their wickedness, if not his? And, most clearly of all, in Job, who is older even than Moses himself, “the devil” is recorded to present himself before God and ask for authority over Job, to encompass him with the heaviest trials: first, the destruction of all his possessions and his children; second, covering the whole body of Job with savage elephantiasis, the disease so called. I pass over what the Gospels say about the devil who tempted the Saviour, so that I may not seem to bring against Celsus, on the point in question, evidence from more recent writings. And in the last chapters of Job, where the Lord spoke to Job through whirlwind and clouds what is recorded in the book named after him, not a few things may be found said about a dragon. I do not yet mention what is in Ezekiel, as though about “Pharaoh” or “Nebuchadnezzar” or the ruler “of Tyre,” or what is in Isaiah, where the king of Babylon is lamented; from these one might learn not a little about wickedness, what beginning and origin it had, and that wickedness came into being through certain beings who shed their wings and followed the first one who shed his wings. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:1–6: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:23–24: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:23: allusion, high confidence - Lev 16:8–10: allusion, high confidence - Judg 19:22: allusion, high confidence - Job 1:6–12: allusion, high confidence - Job 2:1–7: allusion, high confidence - Job 40:15–41:34: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 4:1–11: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 29:3: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 28:2–19: allusion, high confidence - Isa 14:4–21: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 246c (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence - Pherecydes of Syros, Pherecydes frag. B4 (Pherecydes of Syros (fragments)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Gen 3:1–6, 23–24, Exod 12:23, Lev 16:8–10, Judg 19:22 (“sons of Belial”; the Greek has “Beliar”), Job 1:6–12 and 2:1–7, Job 40–41, Matt 4:1–11, Ezek 29:3, Ezek 28:2–19, and Isa 14:4–21. Origen's view that Job lived before Moses was common in his time. The image of beings shedding their wings is Plato's (Phaedrus 246c–248c). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/43/). ## Against Celsus 6.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/44/ - Source: Koetschau 2:114–115 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Only God is good by nature; creatures who neglect the bread of life fall, and Satan, the “adversary,” is the first being who fell from blessedness, as Ezekiel describes. ### Greek text Οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τʼ ἦν ὁμοίως εἶναι τῷ οὐσιωδῶς ἀγαθῷ ἀγαθὸν τὸ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς καὶ ἐξ ἐπιγενήματος ἀγαθόν· ὅπερ τῷ μὲν, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, τὸν ζῶντα ἄρτον ἀναλαμβάνοντι εἰς τὴν τήρησιν ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἀποσυμβαίῃ. εἰ δέ τινι ἀποσυμβαίνει, παρὰ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐκείνου ἀποσυμβαίνει, ῥᾳθυμήσαντος περὶ τὸ (μετα)λαμβάνειν τοῦ ζῶντος ἄρτου καὶ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ποτοῦ· ἀφʼ ὧν τρεφόμενον καὶ ἀρδόμενον ἐπισκευάζεται τὸ πτερὸν καὶ κατὰ τὸν σοφώτατον Σολομῶντα, εἰπόντα περὶ τοῦ κατʼ ἀλήθειαν πλουσίου ὅτι „κατεσκεύασεν γὰρ αὐτῷ πτέρυγας ὥσπερ ἀετὸς, καὶ ἐπιστρέφει εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ προεστηκότος ἑαυτοῦ.“ ἐχρῆν γὰρ τὸν ἐπιστάμενον συγχρῆσθαι θεὸν εἰς δέον καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ κακίας ὑποστᾶσιν κατατάξαι που τοῦ παντὸς τοὺς οὑτωσὶ κακοὺς καὶ γυμνάσιον τὸ ὑπὲρ ἀρετῆς ποιῆσαι ἐκκεῖσθαι τοῖς βουλομένοις „νομίμως“ ἀθλεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐτὴν ἀναλαβεῖν· ἵνʼ ὡς χρυσὸς ἐν πυρὶ τῇ τῶνδε κακίᾳ βασανισθέντες καὶ πάντα πράξαντες, ἵνα μηδὲν κίβδηλον πρόωνται ἐπὶ τὴν λογικὴν ἑαυτῶν φύσιν, ἄξιοι φανέντες, τῆς εἰς τὰ θεῖα ἀναβάσεως ἀνιμηθῶσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἐπὶ τὴν ἀνωτάτω πάντων μακαριότητα καὶ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀκρώρειαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν. ὁ δʼ Ἑβραίων διαλέκτῳ Σατᾶν καὶ Ἑλληνικώτερον ὑπό τινων ὀνομασθεὶς Σατανᾶς μεταλαμβανόμενος εἰς Ἑλλάδα φωνήν ἐστιν ἀντικείμενος. πᾶς δὲ ὁ τὴν κακίαν ἑλόμενος καὶ τὸν κατʼ αὐτὴν βίον ὡς τὰ ἐναντία πράττων τῇ ἀρετῇ Σατανᾶς ἐστι, τουτέστιν ἀντικείμενος τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὄντι δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ σοφία. κυριώτερον δὲ ἀντικείμενός ἐστιν ὁ πρῶτος πάντων εἰρηνευόντων καὶ μακαρίως διαγόντων πτεροῤῥυήσας καὶ ἐκπεσὼν τῆς μακαριότητος· ὃς κατὰ τὸν Ἰεζεκιὴλ περιεπάτησεν „ἄμωμος“ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ, ἕως εὑρεθῇ ἀνομία ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ ὢν „ἀποσφράγισμα ὁμοιώσεως καὶ στέφανος κάλλους“ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οἱονεὶ κορεσθεὶς τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐν ἀπωλείᾳ ἐγένετο κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα μυστικῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν λόγον· „ἀπώλεια ἐγένου καὶ οὐχ ὑπάρξεις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.“ ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὀλίγα ἀποτετολμημένως καὶ παρακεκινδυνευμένως τῇδε τῇ γραφῇ πιστεύσαντες ἐξεθέμεθα τάχα οὐδέν· εἰ δέ τις σχολάσας τῇ βασάνῳ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων πανταχόθεν σωματοποιήσαι τὸν περὶ τῆς κακίας λόγον, καὶ ὡς ὑπέστη πρῶτον καὶ τίνα τρόπον καταλύεται, ἴδοι ἂν ὅτι οὐδʼ ὄναρ ἐφαντάσθη τὸ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν περὶ τοῦ Σατανᾶ βούλημα οὔτε Κέλσος οὔτε τις τῶν ὑπὸ τούτου τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος καθελκομένων καὶ κατασπωμένων ἀπὸ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ ὀρθῆς ἐννοίας καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχήν. ### English translation (Claude) For it was not possible for what is good by accident and as an addition to be good in the same way as what is good in its very being. Goodness would never fall away from one who, so to speak, takes the living bread to preserve himself; and if it does fall away from anyone, it falls away through his own fault, because he has been negligent about partaking of the living bread and the true drink, by which the wing, nourished and watered, is restored, as the most wise Solomon says of the one who is truly rich: “For he has made himself wings like an eagle and returns to the house of the one who is set over him.” For it was necessary that God, who knows how to use for a needful end even those who have come into being through wickedness, should place those who are so evil somewhere in the universe and make a training ground for virtue available to those who wish to strive “lawfully” to attain it; so that, being tested like gold in the fire by the wickedness of these, and doing everything so as to admit nothing counterfeit into their rational nature, they may be shown worthy and be drawn up by the Word to the ascent to divine things, to the highest blessedness of all and, so to speak, the summit of good things. The one called Satan in the language of the Hebrews, and by some in a more Greek form Satanas, is, translated into Greek, the adversary. Everyone who has chosen wickedness and the life that goes with it, doing what is contrary to virtue, is a Satan, that is, an adversary of the Son of God, who is righteousness and truth and wisdom. But in the proper sense the adversary is the first of all beings living in peace and blessedness who shed his wings and fell from blessedness; who, according to Ezekiel, walked “blameless” in all his ways until iniquity was found in him, and being “a seal of likeness and a crown of beauty” in the paradise of God, as though sated with good things, came to destruction, according to the word that mystically says to him: “You have become destruction, and you shall not exist for ever.” These few things we have set out, perhaps boldly and at some risk, in entrusting them to this writing, though perhaps they are nothing. But if anyone who has leisure for testing the sacred writings were to gather from every part of them a full account of wickedness, how it first came to be and in what manner it is destroyed, he would see that neither Celsus nor any of those who are dragged down and drawn away in soul by this evil demon from God, from the right conception of him, and from his word, has even dreamed of the meaning of Moses and the prophets concerning Satan. ### Scripture references - John 6:51: allusion, high confidence - Prov 23:5: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 1:7: echo, low confidence - Ezek 28:12–19: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 3:6 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, medium confidence - Plato, Phaedr. 246c (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are John 6:51, Prov 23:5 LXX, 2 Tim 2:5, Wis 3:6 (and 1 Pet 1:7), and Ezek 28:12–19. The “wing” and “shedding wings” echo Plato, Phaedrus 246c–248c. The views on the origin of evil are Origen's own speculative account, which he offers tentatively. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.44 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/44/). ## Against Celsus 6.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/45/ - Source: Koetschau 2:115–117 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Just as Jesus is the height of goodness, the Antichrist will be the height of evil, working false wonders with the devil's help, as the prophets and Paul foretold. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ καλουμένου ἀντιχρίστου παραῤῥιπτεῖ ὁ Κέλσος, οὔτε τὰ ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ οὔτε τὰ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ἀναγνοὺς περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένα οὔτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος προφητευθέντα περὶ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, ὀλίγα καὶ περὶ τούτου λεκτέον. ὅτι „ὥσπερ οὐχ ὅμοια πρόσωπα προσώποις. οὕτως οὐδὲ αἱ καρδίαι ὅμοιαι ταῖς καρδίαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων.“ δῆλον ὅτι εἶεν ἂν ἐν „ταῖς καρδίαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων“ διαφοραὶ καὶ τῶν πρὸς τὸ καλὸν νενευκότων, οὐκ ἐπʼ ἴσης καὶ παραπλησίως ἀλλήλοις πάντων τυπωθέντων καὶ μορφωθέντων πρὸς αὐτὸ, καὶ τῶν διʼ ἀμέλειαν τοῦ καλοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ ἐναντία ᾀττόντων· καὶ ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ἐν οἷς μέν ἐστι σφόδρα κεχυμένη ἡ κακία ἐν οἷς δʼ ἐπʼ ἔλαττον· τί οὖν ἄτοπον δύο, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἀκρότητας. τὴν μὲν τοῦ καλοῦ τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐναντίου, ἐν ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι, ὥστε τὴν μὲν τοῦ καλοῦ ἀκρότητα εἶναι ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν νοουμένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ, ἀφʼ οὗ ἡ τοσαύτη ἔῤῥευσε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιστροφὴ καὶ θεραπεία καὶ βελτίωσις, τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὸν ὀνομαζόμενον ἀντίχριστον; πάντα δὲ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ προγνώσει ἐκπεριλαβὼν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἰδὼν τὰ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων ἐβουλήθη περὶ τούτων γνωρίσαι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἵνα οἱ συνιέντες τῶν λόγων αὐτῶν οἰκειωθῶσι μὲν τῷ κρείττονι. φυλάξωνται δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐναντίου. ἐχρῆν δὲ τὸν μὲν ἕτερον τῶν ἄκρων καὶ βέλτιστον υἱὸν ἀναγορεύεσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν, τὸν δὲ τούτῳ κατὰ διάμετρον ἐναντίον υἱὸν τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος καὶ Σατανᾶ καὶ διαβόλου. εἶτʼ ἐπεὶ τότε μάλιστα τὸ φαῦλον ἐν τῇ χύσει τῆς κακίας καὶ τῇ ἀκρότητι αὐτῆς εἶναι χαρακτηρίζεται, ὅτε ὑποκρίνεται τὸ κρεῖττον, διὰ τοῦτο περὶ τὸν χείρονα γίνεται ἐκ συνεργίας τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ διαβόλου σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα καὶ δυνάμεις ψεύδους. ὑπὲρ γὰρ τὰς εἰς τοὺς γόητας γινομένας ἀπὸ δαιμόνων συνεργίας πρὸς τὰ φαυλότατα τῶν ἀνθρώπους ἀπατώντων γίνεται συνεργία ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Λέγει δὲ ὁ Παῦλος περὶ τούτου τοῦ καλουμένου ἀντιχρίστου διδάσκων καὶ παριστὰς μετά τινος ἐπικρύψεως, τίνα τρόπον ἐπιδημήσει καὶ πότε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διὰ τί· καὶ ὅρα εἰ μὴ σεμνότατα περὶ τούτων ὁ Παῦλος ἐκτίθεται καὶ οὐκ ἀξίως χλεύης τινὸς κἂν ἐλαχίστης· ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus also throws in the matter of the so-called Antichrist, without having read what is said about him in Daniel or in Paul, or what was prophesied by the Saviour in the Gospels about his coming, a few words must be said on this too. Since “as faces are not like faces, so neither are the hearts of men like one another's hearts,” it is plain that there are differences in “the hearts of men,” both among those who incline to the good, since not all are shaped and formed to it equally or in the same way, and among those who, through neglect of the good, rush to the opposite; for in these too wickedness is poured out very greatly in some and less in others. What absurdity, then, is there in there being among men two extremes, so to speak, one of good and the other of its opposite, so that the extreme of good is in the man understood to be Jesus, from whom so great a conversion, healing, and improvement has flowed to the human race, and the extreme of the opposite in the one named Antichrist? God, embracing all things in his foreknowledge and seeing what concerns both of these, wished to make it known to men through the prophets, so that those who understand their words may attach themselves to the better and guard against the opposite. And it was fitting that one of the extremes, the best, should be proclaimed Son of God because of his pre-eminence, and the one diametrically opposed to him son of the evil demon, Satan and the devil. Then, since evil is most marked in its outpouring and its extreme when it pretends to be the better, for this reason signs and wonders and powers of falsehood occur around the worse one through the cooperation of his father the devil. For beyond the help given by demons to sorcerers, who deceive men for the basest ends, there comes a cooperation from the devil himself for the deception of the human race. Paul speaks of this so-called Antichrist, teaching and setting forth with a certain reserve in what manner he will come to the human race, and when, and why; and see whether Paul does not set these matters out most solemnly, and in a way not deserving even the slightest mockery. ### Scripture references - Prov 27:19: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:3–12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 24:15–24: allusion, high confidence - Dan 8:23–25: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Prov 27:19 LXX. The references are to Daniel (7–9, 11), 2 Thess 2:3–12, and Matt 24:15–24. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/45/). ## Against Celsus 6.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/46/ - Source: Koetschau 2:117–118 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen quotes Paul on the “man of sin” and Daniel's prophecy of a fierce king and the abomination of desolation as the Scripture's teaching on the Antichrist. ### Greek text λέγει δὲ οὕτως· „ἐρωτῶμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ, ὑπὲρ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ (Χριστοῦ) καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπισυναγωγῆς ἐπʼ αὐτὸν, εἰς τὸ μὴ σαλευθῆναι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ νοὸς μηδὲ θροεῖσθαι, μήτε διὰ πνεύματος μήτε διὰ λόγου μήτε διὰ ἐπιστολῆς ὡς διʼ ἡμῶν, ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου. μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον, ὅτι, ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἐστὶ θεός. οὐ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ἔτι ὢν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ταῦτʼ ἔλεγον ὑμῖν; καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ καιρῷ· τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται τῆς ἀνομίας, μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι, ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται· καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀναλοῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατʼ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασι ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις, ἀνθʼ ὧν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐδέξαντο εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτούς. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμπει αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει, ἵνα κριθῶσιν ἅπαντες οἱ μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀλλʼ εὐδοκήσαντες ἐν τῇ ἀδικίᾳ.“ ἕκαστον δὲ τούτων σαφηνίσαι οὐ τῇ παρούσῃ ἁρμόζει πραγματείᾳ. ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ προφητεία ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ λέλεκται, δυναμένη τὸν φρονίμως καὶ εὐγνωμόνως ἀναγινώσκοντα ἐπιστρέψαι ἐπὶ τὸ θαυμάσαι τοὺς λόγους ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐνθέους καὶ προφητικοὺς, ἐν οἷς λέλεκται τὰ περὶ τῶν μελλουσῶν βασιλειῶν, ἀρξάμενα ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων Δανιὴλ μέχρι τῆς φθορᾶς τοῦ κόσμου. ἐνέσται δὲ τῷ βουλομένῳ ἐντυχεῖν αὐτῇ· πλὴν τὰ περὶ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ὅρα εἰ μὴ τοιαῦτά ἐστι· „καὶ ἐπʼ ἐσχάτῳ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτῶν. πληρουμένων τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν, ἀναστήσεται βασιλεὺς ἀναιδὴς προσώπῳ καὶ συνιῶν προβλήματα· καὶ κραταιὰ ἡ ἰσχὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ θαυμαστὰ διαφθερεῖ καὶ κατευθυνεῖ καὶ ποιήσει καὶ διαφθερεῖ ἰσχυροὺς καὶ λαὸν ἅγιον. καὶ ὁ ζυγὸς τοῦ κλοιοῦ αὐτοῦ κατευθυνεῖ· δόλος ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ μεγαλυνθήσεται, καὶ δόλῳ διαφθερεῖ πολλοὺς, καὶ ἐπὶ ἀπωλείας πολλῶν στήσεται, καὶ ὡς ὠὰ χειρὶ συντρίψει.“ ὅπερ δὲ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ λέλεκται ἐν ᾗ ἐξεθέμην αὐτοῦ λέξει, φασκούσῃ· „ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἐστὶ θεὸς, “ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ τοῦτον εἴρηται τὸν τρόπον· „καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδέλυγμα τῶν ἐρημώσεων, καὶ ἕως συντελείας καιροῦ συντέλεια δοθήσεται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐρήμωσιν.“ τοσαῦτα δὴ ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἔδοξεν εὔλογον εἶναί μοι παραθέσθαι εἰς τὸ κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον συνιέναι τὸν ἀκροατὴν περὶ τοῦ βουλήματος τῶν θείων λόγων, διδασκόντων τὰ περὶ τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου· οἷς εἰς ταῦτα ἀρκεσθέντες ἴδωμεν καὶ ἄλλην τοῦ Κέλσου λέξιν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἀγωνισώμεθα. ### English translation (Claude) He says this: “Now we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter as though from us, as though the day of the Lord had come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what restrains him, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the appearing of his coming; the one whose coming is by the working of Satan with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, and with all deception of unrighteousness for those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God sends them a working of error, so that they may believe the lie, in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” To explain each of these points is not suited to the present treatise. The prophecy about him is also given in Daniel, and it can move one who reads it intelligently and fair-mindedly to admire the words as truly inspired and prophetic, in which is foretold what concerns the kingdoms to come, beginning from the times of Daniel down to the destruction of the world. Anyone who wishes may read it; but see whether what concerns the Antichrist is not as follows: “And at the latter end of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full, there shall arise a king bold of face and understanding riddles; and his strength shall be mighty, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and prosper, and act, and destroy mighty men and the holy people. And the yoke of his collar shall prosper; deceit is in his hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by deceit he shall destroy many, and he shall stand up for the destruction of many, and he shall crush them in his hand like eggs.” And what is said in Paul, in the passage of his I have set out, which says, “so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God,” is also said in Daniel in this way: “And upon the temple an abomination of desolations, and until the end of the time an end shall be put to the desolation.” I thought it reasonable to set out these few out of many passages, so that the hearer may understand at least a little of the meaning of the divine words that teach about the devil and the Antichrist. Content with these on this subject, let us look at another passage of Celsus and contend against it as best we can. ### Scripture references - 2 Thess 2:1–12: quotation, high confidence - Dan 8:23–25: quotation, high confidence - Dan 9:27: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 2 Thess 2:1–12, Dan 8:23–25 (Origen's Greek text), and Dan 9:27. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/46/). ## Against Celsus 6.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/47/ - Source: Koetschau 2:118–119 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says Christians took the idea of a Son of God from pagan talk of the world as God's child, but Origen replies that the prophets spoke of the Son long before, and that Jesus' soul is so united with the Word that they are not two. ### Greek text Ἔλεγε δὴ μετὰ τὰ ἐκκείμενα τοιαῦτα· ὁπόθεν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐπῆλθεν αὐτοῖς θεοῦ υἱὸν καλεῖν, σημαίνω. ἄνδρες παλαιοὶ τόνδε τὸν κόσμον ὡς ἐκ θεοῦ γενόμενον παῖδά τε αὐτοῦ καὶ ἠΐθεον προσεῖπον. πάνυ γοῦν ὅμοιος οὗτός τε κἀκεῖνος παῖς θεοῦ. ᾠήθη δὴ υἱὸν θεοῦ ἡμᾶς λέγειν, παραποιήσαντας τὰ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου ὡς ἐκ θεοῦ γενομένου καὶ υἱοῦ ὄντος αὐτοῦ καὶ θεοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἐδυνήθη ἐπιστήσας τοῖς χρόνοις Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἰδεῖν ὅτι καθόλου τὸ εἶναί τινα υἱὸν θεοῦ πρὸ Ἑλλήνων καὶ ὧν φησιν ὁ Κέλσος παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν οἱ παρʼ Ἰουδαίοις προφῆται ἐπροφήτευσαν. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐβουλήθη τὸ παρὰ Πλάτωνι ἐν ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς λελεγμένον, οὗ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἐμνήσθημεν, περὶ τοῦ διακοσμήσαντος τόδε τὸ πᾶν ὡς ὄντος υἱοῦ θεοῦ παραθέσθαι· ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος, ὃν πολλάκις ἐσέμνυνεν, ἀναγκασθῇ παραδέξασθαι ὅτι ὁ μὲν δημιουργὸς τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς υἱός ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ δὲ πρῶτος καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸς πατήρ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ. εἰ δὲ τῷ τηλικούτῳ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡνῶσθαι φάσκοντες τῇ ἄκρᾳ μετοχῇ ἐκείνου τὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ψυχὴν οὐκέτι χωρίζομεν ἀπʼ ἐκείνου αὐτὴν, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν. οἴδασι γὰρ οἱ ἱεροὶ τῶν θείων γραμμάτων λόγοι καὶ ἄλλα, δύο τῇ ἑαυτῶν φύσει τυγχάνοντα, εἰς ἓν ἀλλήλοις εἶναι λελογισμένα καὶ ὄντα. οἷον περὶ μὲν ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς λέλεκται· „οὐκέτι εἰσὶ δύο ἀλλὰ σὰρξ μία, “ περὶ δὲ τοῦ τελείου καὶ κολλωμένου τῷ ἀληθινῷ κυρίῳ, λόγῳ καὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, ὅτι „ὁ κολλώμενος τῷ κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστιν.“ εἰ δʼ „ὁ κολλώμενος τῷ κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστι.“ τίς μᾶλλον τῆς Ἰησοῦ ψυχῆς ἢ κἂν παραπλησίως κεκόλληται τῷ κυρίῳ, τῷ αὐτολόγῳ καὶ αὐτοσοφίᾳ καὶ αὐτοαληθείᾳ καὶ αὐτοδικαιοσύνῃ; ὅπερ εἰ οὕτως ἔχει, οὐκ εἰσὶ δύο ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρὸς τὸν „πάσης κτίσεως“ πρωτότοκον θεὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) After the passages set out above he said this: I will point out where this very idea of calling him Son of God came to them. Men of old called this world, as having come from God, his child and a youth. Very like indeed are this one and that one as child of God! He thought that we speak of a Son of God by distorting what is said about the world as having come from God and being his son and a god. For he was not able, by paying attention to the times of Moses and the prophets, to see that the prophets among the Jews prophesied in general that there is a Son of God before the Greeks and the men of old of whom Celsus speaks. Nor did he wish to quote what Plato says in the letters, which we mentioned above, about the one who ordered this universe as being the Son of God, lest he too should be compelled by Plato, whom he often extolled, to accept that the Maker of this universe is the Son of God, and the first God over all is his Father. And it is nothing surprising if, saying that the soul of Jesus has been united with so great a Son of God by the highest participation in him, we no longer separate it from him. For the sacred words of the divine writings know of other things too which, though two in their own nature, are counted as and are one with each other. So it is said of husband and wife: “They are no longer two but one flesh”; and of the perfect man who is joined to the true Lord, the Word and Wisdom and Truth: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” And if “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit,” who has been joined to the Lord, to the Word himself and Wisdom itself and Truth itself and Righteousness itself, more than, or even as closely as, the soul of Jesus? If this is so, the soul of Jesus and God the Word, the firstborn “of all creation,” are not two. ### Scripture references - Matt 19:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Ep. 6.323d (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Matt 19:6 (Gen 2:24), 1 Cor 6:17, and Col 1:15. Origen refers back to Plato, Letter 6, 323d (see 6.8). Celsus's words “very like indeed” are sarcastic. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/47/). ## Against Celsus 6.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/48/ - Source: Koetschau 2:119–120 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus accepts the Stoic claim that a wise man equals God in happiness yet mocks the Christian teaching that Jesus is one with the Word, which Origen illustrates by the Church as Christ's body animated by the Word. ### Greek text Εἶτα ἐὰν μὲν τὴν αὐτὴν ἀρετὴν λέγοντες ἀνθρώπου καὶ θεοῦ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς φιλόσοφοι μὴ εὐδαιμονέστερον λέγωσιν εἶναι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν τοῦ ἐν ἀνθρώποις κατʼ αὐτοὺς σοφοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἴσην εἶναι τὴν ἀμφοτέρων εὐδαιμονίαν, Κέλσος οὐ καταγελᾷ οὐδὲ χλευάζει τὸ δόγμα· ἐὰν δʼ ὁ θεῖος λόγος φάσκῃ κολλᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ ἑνοῦσθαι τῷ αὐτολόγῳ τὸν τέλειον, ὡς κατὰ τοῦτο ἀναβεβηκότας μὴ χωρίζειν ἡμᾶς τὴν Ἰησοῦ ψυχὴν τοῦ πρωτοτόκου „πάσης κτίσεως.“ γελᾷ τὸ λέγεσθαι υἱὸν θεοῦ Ἰησοῦν, οὐχ ὁρῶν, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ μυστικῶς ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς λεγόμενα. ἵνα δὲ προσαγάγωμεν τῇ παραδοχῇ τοῦ λεγομένου τὸν βουλόμενον ἀκολουθίαις δογμάτων ἕπεσθαι καὶ ὠφελεῖσθαι, λέγομεν ὅτι σῶμα Χριστοῦ φασιν εἶναι οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι ὑπὸ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ψυχούμενον τὴν πᾶσαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίαν, μέλη δὲ τούτου τοῦ σώματος εἶναι ὡς ὅλου τούσδε τινὰς τοὺς πιστεύοντας· ἐπείπερ ὥσπερ ψυχὴ ζῳοποιεῖ καὶ κινεῖ τὸ σῶμα οὐ πεφυκὸς ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κινεῖσθαι ζωτικῶς. οὕτως ὁ λόγος κινῶν ἐπὶ τὰ δέοντα καὶ ἐνεργῶν τὸ ὅλον σῶμα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν κινεῖ καὶ ἕκαστον μέλος τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, οὐδὲν χωρὶς λόγου πράττοντα. εἴπερ οὖν τοῦτο οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητον ὡς οἶμαι ἔχει ἀκολουθίαν, τί χαλεπὸν τῇ ἄκρᾳ καὶ ἀνυπερβλήτῳ κοινωνίᾳ πρὸς τὸν αὐτολόγον τὴν Ἰησοῦ ψυχὴν καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τὸν Ἰησοῦν μὴ κεχωρίσθαι τοῦ μονογενοῦς καὶ πρωτοτόκου „πάσης κτίσεως“ μηδʼ ἕτερον ἔτι τυγχάνειν αὐτοῦ; ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ταύτῃ. ### English translation (Claude) Next: if the Stoic philosophers, who say that the virtue of man and of God is the same, say that the God over all is not happier than their wise man among men, but that the happiness of both is equal, Celsus does not laugh at or mock the doctrine. But if the divine word says that the perfect man is joined through virtue to the Word himself and made one with him, so that on this basis we do not separate the soul of Jesus from the firstborn “of all creation,” he laughs at Jesus being called Son of God, not seeing what is said about him mystically and secretly in the divine Scriptures. And to bring to acceptance of what is said anyone who wishes to follow the consistency of doctrines and be helped, we say that the divine words declare that the whole Church of God is the body of Christ, animated by the Son of God, and that those who believe are members of this body as of a whole. For just as the soul gives life to and moves the body, which by nature cannot move itself with life, so the Word, moving the whole body, the Church, toward what is needful and acting on it, moves both the Church and each member of those belonging to the Church, who do nothing apart from the Word. If this, as I think, is a consistent argument not to be despised, what difficulty is there in the soul of Jesus, and Jesus as a whole, not being separated from the only-begotten and firstborn “of all creation,” because of its highest and unsurpassable communion with the Word himself, nor being any longer other than he? But so much for this. ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:27: allusion, high confidence - Eph 1:23: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are to Col 1:15, 1 Cor 12:12–27, and Eph 1:23. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/48/). ## Against Celsus 6.49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/49/ - Source: Koetschau 2:120–121 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus dismisses the Genesis creation story as silly without argument; Origen points to his own commentaries on Genesis and insists that Moses wrote with deep meaning, not as a comic poet. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἐν οἷς μιᾷ λέξει ἀποφηνάμενος καὶ μηδὲ κατὰ τὸ πιθανόν τι λέγων κατηγορεῖ τῆς κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐας εἰπών· ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ ἡ κοσμογένεια μάλα εὐηθική. εἰ μὲν οὖν τὸν φαινόμενον αὐτῷ τρόπον τοῦ εὐηθικὴν εἶναι αὐτὴν καί τινας πιθανότητας προηνέγκατο, κἂν ἠγωνισάμεθα πρὸς αὐτάς· οὐκ εὔλογον δέ μοι φαίνεται πρὸς τὴν ἀπόφασιν αὐτοῦ κατασκευάσαι, τίνα τρόπον οὐκ ἔστιν εὐηθική. εἰ δέ τις βούλεται τὰ κινήσαντα ἡμᾶς καὶ μετὰ τῆς φανείσης ἀποδείξεως κατασκευασθέντα περὶ τῆς κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐας θεωρῆσαι, λαβέτω τὰ πραγματευθέντα ἡμῖν εἰς τὴν Γένεσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ βιβλίου μέχρι τοῦ „αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως ἀνθρώπων, “ ἐν οἷς πεπειράμεθα ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν θείων γραμμάτων κατασκευάσαι, τίς ὁ „ἐν ἀρχῇ“ γενόμενος οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ καὶ τὸ τῆς γῆς ἀόρατον καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστον, καὶ τίς ἡ ἄβυσσος καὶ τὸ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς σκότος, τί τε τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ ἐπιφερόμενον αὐτῷ „πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ, “ καὶ τί τὸ γενητὸν „φῶς, “ τί τε „τὸ στερέωμα“ παρὰ τὸν „ἐν ἀρχῇ“ γενόμενον οὐρανὸν, καὶ οὕτω τὰ ἑξῆς. ἀπεφήνατο δὲ μάλα εὐηθικὴν εἶναι καὶ τὴν περὶ ἀνθρώπων γενέσεως γραφὴν, μήτε τιθεὶς τὰς δείξεις μήτʼ ἀγωνιζόμενος πρὸς αὐτάς· οὐ γὰρ εἶχεν οἶμαι λόγους ἀνατρέψαι δυναμένους τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ“ πεποιῆσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ συνίει τὸν ὑπὸ θεοῦ φυτευθέντα „παράδεισον“ καὶ τὴν προηγουμένην ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ζωὴν καὶ τὴν ἐκ περιστάσεως γενομένην, ἐκβληθέντος διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ κατοικισθέντος ἐναντίον „τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς.“ ὁ δὲ λέγων μάλα εὐηθικῶς ταῦτʼ εἰρῆσθαι πρῶτον ἐπιστησάτω καὶ ἑκάστῳ μὲν καὶ τῷδε· „ἔταξε τὰ χερουβὶμ καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν τὴν στρεφομένην, φυλάσσειν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς.“ εἰ δʼ ἄρα μηδὲν νοήσας Μωϋσῆς ἀνέγραψε ταῦτα ἀλλὰ παραπλήσιόν τι ποιῶν οἷς παίζοντες οἱ τῆς ἀρχαίας κωμῳδίας ποιηταὶ ἀνεγράψαντο· Προῖτος ἔγημε Βελλεροφόντην, ὁ δὲ Πήγασος ἦν ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας· ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γελωτοποιεῖν θέλοντες τοιαῦτα συνέταττον, οὐ πιθανὸν δὲ τὸν ὅλῳ ἔθνει γραφὰς καταλιπόντα περὶ ὧν ἐβούλετο πεῖσαι τοὺς νομοθετουμένους ὅτι εἶεν ἐκ θεοῦ, ἀπρόσλογα γεγραφέναι καὶ χωρίς τινος νοῦ εἰρηκέναι τό· „ἔταξε τὰ χερουβὶμ καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν τὴν στρεφομένην, φυλάσσειν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς“ ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν περὶ τῆς ἀνθρώπων γενέσεως εἰρημένων καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν παρʼ Ἑβραίοις σοφῶν πεφιλοσοφημένων. ### English translation (Claude) Let us look also at what follows, in which, pronouncing in a single phrase and not saying anything even plausible, he accuses the account of the creation of the world according to Moses, saying: Furthermore, their cosmogony is very silly. If he had put forward the way in which it seemed to him silly, and some plausible arguments, we would have contended against them; but it does not seem reasonable to me to argue, against his bare assertion, in what way it is not silly. If anyone wishes to consider what has moved us and what we have established with apparent demonstration concerning the account of creation according to Moses, let him take our treatises on Genesis from the beginning of the book up to “This is the book of the generation of men,” in which we have tried to establish from the divine writings themselves what the heaven and earth are that came to be “in the beginning,” and what the invisible and unformed state of the earth is, and what the abyss and the darkness upon it are, and what the water is and the “Spirit of God” moving over it, and what the created “light” is, and what “the firmament” is as distinct from the heaven made “in the beginning,” and so on. He also declared that the account of the creation of men is very silly, neither stating proofs nor contending against them; for he had, I think, no arguments able to overthrow the statement that man was made “in the image of God.” Nor did he understand the “paradise” planted by God, and man's original life in it, and the life that came about through circumstances when he was cast out because of sin and made to dwell opposite “the paradise of delight.” Let the man who says that these things are spoken very sillily first consider each of them, and this in particular: “He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword that turned, to guard the way of the tree of life.” Did Moses, then, write these things without understanding anything, doing something like what the poets of the Old Comedy wrote in jest: “Proetus married Bellerophon, and Pegasus came from Arcadia”? But they composed such things wishing to raise a laugh; it is not credible that one who left writings to a whole nation, and wished to persuade those to whom he gave laws that they came from God, wrote irrelevant things and said without any meaning, “He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword that turned, to guard the way of the tree of life,” or anything else said about the creation of men and made the subject of philosophy by the wise among the Hebrews. ### Scripture references - Gen 5:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:1–7: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:8: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:23–24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Gen 5:1, Gen 1:1–7, Gen 1:27, Gen 2:8, and Gen 3:23–24 LXX. Origen's Commentary on Genesis is largely lost. The comic line about Proetus and Bellerophon is unidentified. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.49 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/49/). ## Against Celsus 6.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/50/ - Source: Koetschau 2:121–122 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus calls the creation account nonsense without argument; Origen notes that Moses himself shows the six “days” are not ordinary days, since light and the sun came after the first day. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις συμφορήσας ἐν ψιλαῖς ἀποφάσεσι τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν περὶ κόσμου καὶ ἀνθρώπων γενέσεώς τισι τῶν ἀρχαίων εἰρημένας φησὶ τοὺς τὰ ἡμέτερα συγγράμματα λιπόντας Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, οὐκ εἰδότας ἥτις ποτέ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσις, συνθεῖναι λῆρον βαθύν. εἰ μὲν οὖν εἰρήκει τὸν δοκοῦντα αὐτῷ τρόπον περὶ τοῦ λῆρον εἶναι βαθὺν τὰ θεῖα γράμματα, κἂν ἐπειράθημεν ἀνασκευάσαι τὰς φανείσας ἐκείνῳ πιθανότητας περὶ τοῦ λῆρον αὐτὰ εἶναι βαθύν· νυνὶ δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον ἐκείνῳ πράττοντες καὶ παίζοντες καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀποφανούμεθα ὅτι τίς ποτε ἐστὶν ἡ φύσις τοῦ νοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις λόγου οὐδαμῶς ὁ Κέλσος εἰδὼς λῆρον συνέθηκε βαθὺν, ἀλαζονικῶς αὐτὸν ἐπιγράψας ἀληθῆ λόγον. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὡς σαφῆ καὶ ἀκριβῶς αὐτῷ νενοημένα προφέρει εἰς κατηγορίαν τὰ περὶ τῶν τῆς κοσμοποιΐας ἡμερῶν, ὧν τινὲς μὲν πρὶν φῶς καὶ οὐρανὸν γενέσθαι ἥλιόν τε καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας παρεληλύθασι, τινὲς δὲ μετὰ τὴν τούτων γένεσιν, τοῦτο μόνον ἐπισημειωσόμεθα πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἆρʼ ἔλαθε Μωϋσέα τὸ προειρηκέναι ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις συντετελέσθαι τὸν κόσμον δημιουργούμενον, καὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιλαθόμενος τούτοις ἐπιφέρει τὸ „αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως ἀνθρώπων, ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν“; ἀλλʼ οὐδεμία πιθανότης ἐστὶ μηδὲν νενοηκότα Μωϋσέα εἰρηκέναι μετὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἓξ ἡμερῶν τό· „ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν.“ ἐὰν δέ τις νομίζῃ δύνασθαι ταῦτʼ ἀναφέρεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ „ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, “ ἐπιστησάτω ὅτι πρὸ τοῦ „γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς“ καὶ τοῦ „ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν“ λέλεκται τό· „ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Next, having piled together in bare assertions the differing views some of the ancients held about the origin of the world and of men, he says that Moses and the prophets, who left us our writings, not knowing what the nature of the world and of men is, composed utter nonsense. If he had said in what way he thought the divine writings were utter nonsense, we would have tried to refute the arguments that seemed plausible to him for their being utter nonsense. But as it is, doing the same as he and jesting too, we shall declare that Celsus, in no way knowing what the nature of the meaning and the word in the prophets is, composed utter nonsense, boastfully entitling it The True Word. And since he brings forward as an accusation, as though it were clear and precisely understood by him, the matter of the days of creation, some of which passed before light and heaven, sun, moon, and stars came to be, and some after they came to be, we shall only point out this to him: did Moses forget that he had just said that the world was completed in its making in six days, and, forgetting himself, did he add to these words, “This is the book of the generation of men, in the day when God made the heaven and the earth”? But it is not at all credible that Moses said, after the account of the six days, “in the day when God made the heaven and the earth,” without meaning anything. And if anyone thinks this can refer to “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth,” let him note that “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth” is said before “Let there be light, and there was light,” and before “God called the light day.” ### Scripture references - Gen 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 5:1: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Gen 2:4 combined with Gen 5:1 (Origen's form of the verse), Gen 1:1, Gen 1:3, and Gen 1:5. The True Word (Ἀληθὴς Λόγος) is the title of Celsus's book. The digital text has unread characters in the name Moses, which is certain. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.50 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/50/). ## Against Celsus 6.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/51/ - Source: Koetschau 2:122–123 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen declines to repeat his earlier commentary on the six days and dismisses Celsus's jibes about the Creator borrowing light as attacks on heretical sects that Christians themselves reject. ### Greek text Νῦν δὲ διηγήσασθαι τὸν περὶ νοητῶν καὶ αἰσθητῶν λόγον, καὶ τίνα τρόπον διανενέμηνται αἱ φύσεις τῶν ἡμερῶν εἰς ἀμφότερα τὰ εἴδη, οὐ πρόκειται οὐδὲ τὰ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους ἐξετάσαι· ὅλων γὰρ ἡμῖν συντάξεων χρεία εἰς τὴν διήγησιν τῆς κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐας· ὅπερ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν πρὸ πλείονος χρόνου τῆς ἐνεστηκυίας πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον συντάξεως πεποιήκαμεν, ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸ πλειόνων ἐτῶν ἕξεως, ἧς ἐχωροῦμεν τότε, διαλαβόντες περὶ τῶν κατὰ Μωϋσέα [τῶν] ἓξ τῆς κοσμοποιΐας ἡμερῶν. εἰδέναι μέντοι γε χρὴ ὅτι τοῖς δικαίοις διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου ὁ λόγος ἐπαγγέλλεται ἐν καταστάσει ἔσεσθαι ἡμέρας, ἐν ᾗ μὴ ἥλιος ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ὁ „κύριος φῶς“ ἔσται αὐτοῖς „αἰώνιον, καὶ ὁ θεὸς δόξα“ αὐτῶν. παρακούσας δʼ οἶμαι μοχθηρᾶς αἱρέσεώς τινος καὶ κακῶς διηγησαμένης τὸ „γενηθήτω φῶς“ ὡς εὐκτικῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ εἰρημένον εἶπεν· οὐ γὰρ δὴ καθάπερ οἱ τοὺς λύχνους ἐκ γειτόνων ἐναυόμενοι φῶς ὁ δημιουργὸς ἄνωθεν ἐχρήσατο. καὶ ἄλλης δʼ ἀσεβοῦς αἱρέσεως παρακούσας εἶπε καὶ τό· εἰ μὲν ἐναντίος τις ἦν τῷ μεγάλῳ θεῷ θεὸς κατηραμένος ὁ ταῦτα ποιῶν παρὰ γνώμην τὴν ἐκείνου, τί αὐτῷ τὸ φῶς ἐκίχρα; πρὸς ἃ τοσοῦτον ἀποδέομεν ἀπολογεῖσθαι, ὥστε τρανότερον ἡμᾶς ἐθέλειν τῆς ἐκείνων δόξης ὡς ἐσφαλμένων κατηγορεῖν καὶ ἵστασθαι οὐ πρὸς ἃ μὴ οἴδαμεν αὐτῶν ὡς ὁ Κέλσος ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἃ ἀκριβῶς γινώσκομεν, πῇ μὲν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν, ἀκολουθήσαντες, πῇ δὲ τοῖς συγγράμμασιν αὐτῶν ἐπιμελῶς ἐντυχόντες. ### English translation (Claude) But it is not our present purpose to expound the doctrine of intelligible and sensible things, and in what way the natures of the days are distributed to both kinds, nor to examine the passages; for whole treatises would be needed for an exposition of the creation according to Moses. We did this, as far as we could, long before the present treatise against Celsus, discussing the six days of creation according to Moses with the capacity we had some years ago. One should know, however, that through Isaiah the Word promises the righteous that there will be days in a state in which not the sun but the “Lord” himself will be their “everlasting light, and God their glory.” But Celsus, having misunderstood, I think, some wretched sect that wrongly interpreted “Let there be light” as spoken by the Creator in the form of a wish, said: For the Creator did not borrow light from above, like those who kindle their lamps from their neighbours. And having misunderstood another impious sect, he also said: If there was an accursed god opposed to the great God, who did these things against his will, why did the great God lend him the light? We are so far from making a defence on these points that we would rather accuse the opinion of those sects more clearly as mistaken, and oppose not, as Celsus does, what we do not know about them, but what we know precisely, partly from having heard them in person and partly from having carefully read their writings. ### Scripture references - Isa 60:19: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Isa 60:19 and Gen 1:3. Origen's early work on the six days is his Commentary on Genesis (largely lost). The editor deletes a repeated article (τῶν) before “six days.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/51/). ## Against Celsus 6.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/52/ - Source: Koetschau 2:123 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen leaves aside the question of the world's origin and rejects as heretical, not Christian, the idea of a lower Creator to whom the high God lent his Spirit, which Celsus attacks. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Κέλσος φησίν· ἐγὼ δὲ περὶ μὲν γενέσεως κόσμου καὶ φθορᾶς, ἢ ὡς ἀγένητος καὶ ἄφθαρτος, ἢ ὡς γενητὸς μὲν ἄφθαρτος δὲ, ἢ ὡς τὸ ἔμπαλιν, οὐδὲν περὶ τοῦδε νυνὶ λέγω. διόπερ οὐδʼ ἡμεῖς περὶ τῶνδε νυνὶ λέγομεν· οὐ γὰρ ἡ προκειμένη σύνταξις τοῦτʼ ἀπαιτεῖ. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ φαμεν ὡς ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις τοῖς τῇδε γεγονέναι κατὰ τὸ „πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος, “ οὐδὲ κακῶς μηχανώμενά τινα ὡς ὑπὸ ἑτέρου τοῦ δημιουργοῦ παρὰ τὸν μέγαν θεὸν κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ φαμεν, ἀνεχομένου τοῦ ἀνωτέρω θεοῦ, δεδεῆσθαι καθαιρέσεως. διόπερ μακρὰν χαιρέτωσαν οἱ ταῦτα λέγοντες καὶ ὁ μὴ πραγματικῶς αὐτῶν κατηγορῶν Κέλσος· ἐχρῆν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἢ μὴ μνημονεῦσαι τῶν τοιούτων ἢ κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτῷ φιλάνθρωπον ἐκθέσθαι αὐτὰ ἐπιμελῶς καὶ ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς τὰ ἀσεβῶς ὑπʼ αὐτῶν λεγόμενα. οὐδʼ ὅτι δεδωκὼς ὁ μέγας θεὸς τῷ δημιουργῷ τὸ πνεῦμα ἀπαιτεῖ αὐτὸ ἀκηκόαμεν πώποτε. εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἀσεβέσι λόγοις μωρῶς ἐγκαλῶν φησι· τίς θεὸς δίδωσί τι ὡς ἀπαιτήσων; δεομένου γὰρ τὸ ἀπαιτεῖν, δεῖται δὲ οὐδενὸς ὁ θεός. καὶ τούτοις προστίθησιν ὡς σοφὸν δή τι κατά τινων λέγων· διὰ τί, ὁπηνίκα ἐκίχρα, κακῷ κιχρῶν ἠγνόει; λέγει δὲ καὶ τό· τί περιορᾷ πονηρὸν δημιουργὸν ἀντιπράττοντα ἑαυτῷ; ### English translation (Claude) After this Celsus says: About the origin and destruction of the world, whether it is ungenerated and indestructible, or generated but indestructible, or the reverse, I say nothing about this now. Therefore we too say nothing about these things now, for the present treatise does not require it. But neither do we say that the Spirit of the God over all came to be in the things here as though in things alien to him, according to the words “the Spirit of God moved over the water”; nor do we say that certain things contrived wickedly against his Spirit by another, the Creator, distinct from the great God, with the higher God putting up with it, needed to be destroyed. Therefore let those who say such things go their way, far off, and Celsus too, who does not accuse them in a businesslike way; for he ought either not to have mentioned such things at all, or, in keeping with what he regards as love of mankind, to have set them out carefully and contended against the impious things they say. Nor have we ever heard that the great God, having given the Spirit to the Creator, asks for it back. Then next, foolishly charging these impious teachings, he says: What god gives something in order to ask it back? For asking back belongs to one in need, but God needs nothing. And he adds to this, as though saying something clever against certain people: Why, when he lent it, did he not know he was lending to an evil being? He also says: Why does he overlook an evil Creator working against him? ### Scripture references - Gen 1:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Gen 1:2. The views Celsus attacks resemble those of Marcion and some Gnostic groups. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.52 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/52/). ## Against Celsus 6.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/53/ - Source: Koetschau 2:123–125 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus confuses the church's arguments against Marcion with Christianity itself, and then charges Christians with making God the author of evil, a charge that applies equally to his own views. ### Greek text Εἶτʼ οἶμαι φύρων αἱρέσεις αἱρέσεσι καὶ μὴ ἐπισημειούμενος ὅτι τάδε μὲν ἄλλης αἱρέσεώς ἐστι τάδε δὲ ἄλλης, τὰ πρὸς Μαρκίωνα ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἀπορούμενα προφέρει, τάχα καὶ τούτων παρακούσας ἀπό τινων εὐτελῶς καὶ ἰδιωτικῶς [ἐγκαλεῖ τῶν] ἐγκαλούντων λόγῳ. οὐ μὴν πάνυ συνετῶς. ἐκτιθέμενος οὖν τὰ κατὰ Μαρκίωνος λεγόμενα καὶ μὴ ἐπισημειωσάμενος ὅτι πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγει φησί· τί δὲ λάθρα πέμπει καὶ διαφθείρει τὰ τούτου δημιουργήματα; τί δὲ εἰσβιάζεται κρύφα καὶ παραπείθει καὶ πλανᾷ; τί δὲ τοὺς ὑπὸ τούτου κατεγνωσμένους ἢ κατηραμένους, ὥς φατε, ψυχαγωγεῖ καὶ δίκην ἀνδραποδιστοῦ τινος ὑπεξάγει; τί δὲ ἀποδιδράσκειν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου διδάσκει; τί δὲ φεύγειν τὸν πατέρα; τί δʼ αὐτὸς εἰσποιεῖται, μὴ συγχωροῦντος τοῦ πατρός; τί δʼ ἐπαγγέλλεται τῶν ἀλλοτρίων εἶναι πατήρ; καὶ ἐπιφέρει γε αὐτοῖς οἱονεὶ θαυμαστικῶς τό· σεμνός γε ὁ θεὸς τῶν παρʼ ἄλλῳ καταδίκων ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ ἀκλήρων καὶ, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι, σκυβάλων ἐπιθυμῶν εἶναι πατὴρ, καὶ ὅν γε ἐξέπεμψεν, αὐτοῦ ὑπεξάγοντα, τοῦτον ἁλόντα ἐκδικῆσαι μὴ δυνάμενος. ἑξῆς δὲ τούτοις ὡσπερεὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ὁμολογοῦντας οὐκ ἀλλοτρίου τινὸς εἶναι καὶ ξένου θεοῦ τόνδε τὸν κόσμον, τοιαῦτά φησιν· εἰ δὲ (αὐτοῦ) ταῦτʼ ἔστιν ἔργα, πῶς μὲν κακὰ ὁ θεὸς ἐποίει; πῶς δὲ πείθειν καὶ νουθετεῖν ἀδυνατεῖ; πῶς δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἀχαρίστοις καὶ πονηροῖς γενομένοις μεταμέλει καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τέχνην μέμφεται καὶ μισεῖ καὶ ἀπειλεῖ καὶ φθείρει τὰ ἴδια ἔκγονα; ἢ ποῖ ποτε ὑπεξάγει τοῦ κόσμου τοῦδε ὃν ἐποίησεν αὐτός; δοκεῖ δή μοι καὶ ἐν τούτοις μὴ σαφηνίζων, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ κακὰ, καίτοι γε καὶ ἐν Ἕλλησι πολλῶν αἱρέσεων γενομένων περὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν, συναρπάζων ὡς ἀκόλουθον ἡμῖν, τοῖς φάσκουσιν ἔργα τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ εἶναι καὶ τόνδε τὸν κόσμον, τὸ καθʼ ἡμᾶς κακῶν εἶναι ποιητὴν τὸν θεόν. ἐχέτω μὲν οὖν ὅπως ποτὲ ἔχει τὰ περὶ τῶν κακῶν, πότερον ὁ θεὸς αὐτὰ πεποίηκεν ἢ μὴ, ἀλλʼ ἐκ παρακολουθήσεως γεγένηται τῆς πρὸς τὰ προηγούμενα· θαυμάζω δὲ εἰ μὴ ὅπερ ἡμῖν, τοῖς φάσκουσιν ἔργα εἶναι τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ καὶ τόνδε τὸν κόσμον, οἴεται ἀκολουθεῖν περὶ τοῦ τὸν θεὸν τὰ κακὰ πεποιηκέναι, ἀκολουθεῖ ὅσον ἐφʼ οἷς λέγει καὶ αὐτός. εἴποι γὰρ ἄν τις πρὸς τὸν Κέλσον· εἰ αὐτοῦ ταῦτʼ ἔστιν ἔργα, πῶς μὲν κακὰ ὁ θεὸς ἐποίει; πῶς δὲ πείθειν καὶ νουθετεῖν ἀδυνατεῖ; κακία δὲ ἡ μεγίστη ἐν λόγοις ἐστὶν, ὅτε ἐγκαλεῖ τις τοῖς ἑτεροδόξοις περί τινων δογμάτων ὡς οὐχ ὑγιῶν, πολλῷ πρότερον αὐτὸς ἔχων τὰ ἐγκλήματα ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις δόγμασιν. ### English translation (Claude) Then, I think, mixing sects with sects and not noting that these views belong to one sect and those to another, he brings forward the objections we raise against Marcion, perhaps having misunderstood these too from some who argue against him in a cheap and unlearned way, not very intelligently. Setting out, then, what is said against Marcion, and not noting that he is speaking against him, he says: Why does he send secretly and destroy the works of this one? Why does he force his way in stealthily and lead astray and deceive? Why does he beguile those who, as you say, have been condemned or cursed by this one, and carry them off like a slave-dealer? Why does he teach them to run away from their master? Why to flee from their father? Why does he adopt them himself, without the father's consent? Why does he profess to be the father of strangers? And he adds to these, as though in astonishment: A fine god indeed, who desires to be the father of sinners condemned by another, of the disinherited, and, as they themselves say, of refuse, and who is unable to punish the one he sent to carry them off from him when he was caught. Next, as though addressing us who confess that this world belongs to no alien or strange god, he says such things as this: If these are his works, how did God make evil things? How is he unable to persuade and admonish? How does he repent when men become ungrateful and wicked, and find fault with his own art, and hate and threaten and destroy his own offspring? Or where will he carry them off to out of this world, which he himself made? Here too, it seems to me, without making clear what evils are, although among the Greeks too there have been many schools of thought about goods and evils, he snatches at it as though it followed for us, who say that this world too is the work of the God over all, that in our view God is the maker of evils. Let the matter of evils be as it may, whether God made them or not, or whether they came about as a consequence of his principal works; but I wonder whether what he thinks follows for us, who say that this world too is the work of the God over all, namely that God made evils, does not follow also from what he himself says. For one might say to Celsus: If these are his works, how did God make evil things? How is he unable to persuade and admonish? And the greatest fault in argument is when someone accuses those of other views of holding unsound doctrines, while he himself has the same faults in his own doctrines much more. ### Scripture references - Phil 3:8: echo, low confidence - Gen 6:6–7: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are to Phil 3:8 (“refuse”) and Gen 6:6–7 (God's repentance). The editor deletes the words ἐγκαλεῖ τῶν, a repetition before “who argue against him.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/53/). ## Against Celsus 6.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/54/ - Source: Koetschau 2:125 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In Scripture, good and evil in the proper sense are virtue and vice of the soul, as the Psalm “Turn away from evil and do good” shows. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν οὖν ἡμεῖς διὰ βραχέων τὰ περὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν, τῶν κατὰ τὰς θείας γραφὰς, καὶ τίνα ἡμῖν λεκτέον πρὸς τό· πῶς μὲν κακὰ (ὁ) θεὸς ἐποίει; πῶς δὲ πείθειν καὶ νουθετεῖν ἀδυνατεῖ; κυρίως δὴ κατὰ τὰς θείας γραφὰς ἀγαθά εἰσιν αἱ ἀρεταὶ καὶ αἱ κατὰ ταύτας πράξεις, ὥσπερ κυρίως κακὰ τὰ ἐναντία τούτοις. ἀρκεσθησόμεθα δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος λέξεσι ταῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ τριακοστοῦ τρίτου ψαλμοῦ, τοῦτο παριστάσαις οὕτως· „οἱ δὲ ἐκζητοῦντες τὸν κύριον οὐκ ἐλαττωθήσονται παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ. δεῦτε τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου, φόβον κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὁ θέλων ζωὴν, ἀγαπῶν ἡμέρας ἰδεῖν ἀγαθάς; παῦσον τὴν γλῶσσάν σου ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καὶ χείλη σου τοῦ μὴ λαλῆσαι δόλον. ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθόν.“ τὸ γὰρ „ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθὸν“ οὔτε περὶ τῶν σωματικῶν λέγεται ἀγαθῶν ἢ κακῶν, οὕτως ὀνομαζομένων παρά τισιν, οὔτε περὶ τῶν ἐκτὸς, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν κατὰ ψυχὴν ἀγαθῶν ἢ κακῶν· ἐπείπερ ὁ ἐκκλίνας μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν οὕτως κακῶν ποιήσας δὲ τὰ τοιάδε ἀγαθὰ ὡς θέλων τὴν ἀληθινὴν ζωὴν γένοιτʼ ἂν ἐν αὐτῇ, „ἀγαπῶν ἡμέρας ἰδεῖν ἀγαθὰς, “ ὧν ὁ λόγος τῆς „δικαιοσύνης“ ἐστὶν „ἥλιος, “ (καὶ) φθάσαι ἂν ἐπʼ ἐκείνας. ἐξαιρουμένου αὐτὸν τοῦ θεοῦ „ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος αἰῶνος πονηροῦ“ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν ἡμερῶν, περὶ ὧν εἶπεν ὁ Παῦλος τό· „ἐξαγοραζόμενοι τὸν καιρὸν, ὅτι αἱ ἡμέραι πονηραί εἰσιν.“ ### English translation (Claude) Let us, then, look briefly at what the divine Scriptures say about good and evil things, and what we should say in reply to: How did God make evil things? How is he unable to persuade and admonish? According to the divine Scriptures, good things in the proper sense are the virtues and the actions that accord with them, just as evils in the proper sense are their opposites. For the present we shall be content with the words of the thirty-third Psalm, which show this: “But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, who loves to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good.” For “Turn away from evil and do good” is not said of bodily goods or evils, as some call them, nor of external ones, but of the goods and evils of the soul. For the one who turns away from such evils and does such goods, as one who desires the true life, would come to it, “loving to see good days,” whose “sun” is the Word “of righteousness,” and would reach them, since God rescues him “from the present evil age” and from the evil days of which Paul said: “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” ### Scripture references - Ps 34:10–14 (33:11-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Gal 1:4: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:16: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Ps 34:10–14 (33:11–15 LXX; Origen calls it the thirty-third Psalm, by the Greek numbering), Mal 4:2 (3:20 LXX), Gal 1:4, and Eph 5:16. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.54 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/54/). ## Against Celsus 6.55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/55/ - Source: Koetschau 2:125–126 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Scripture sometimes calls hardships “evils” sent by God, but God does not make moral evil; at most, some evils follow incidentally from his good works, as shavings fall from a carpenter's work. ### Greek text Εὑρεθείη δʼ ἂν καταχρηστικώτερον καὶ τὰ σωματικὰ καὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς, τὰ μὲν συμβαλλόμενα εἰς τὸν κατὰ φύσιν βίον νομιζόμενα ἀγαθὰ τὰ δʼ ἐναντιούμενα τούτῳ κακά. οὕτω γὰρ ὁ Ἰὼβ λέγει πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα τό· „εἰ γὰρ τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐδεξάμεθα ἐκ χειρὸς κυρίου, τὰ κακὰ οὐχ ὑποίσομεν“; ἐπεὶ οὖν εὑρίσκεται ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς ὅπου μὲν ἐκ προσώπου θεοῦ τὸ „ἐγὼ ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακὰ, “ ὅπου δὲ πάλιν περὶ αὐτοῦ „ὅτι κατέβη κακὰ παρὰ κυρίου ἐπὶ πύλας Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ψόφος ἁρμάτων καὶ ἱππευόντων, “ ἅπερ ἐτάραξε πολλοὺς τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων τῇ γραφῇ, μὴ δυναμένους καθορᾶν τὰ κατʼ αὐτὴν περὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν σημαινόμενα· εἰκὸς ἐντεῦθεν ἤτοι τὸν Κέλσον ἐπαποροῦντα εἰρηκέναι· πῶς μὲν κακὰ (ὁ) θεὸς ἐποίει; ἢ ἀκούσαντά τινος ἰδιωτικώτερον πρεσβεύοντος περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον τὴν ἐκκειμένην λέξιν τεθεικέναι. ἡμεῖς δέ φαμεν ὅτι κακὰ μὲν, τὴν κακίαν καὶ τὰς ἀπʼ αὐτῆς πράξεις, ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐποίησε. πῶς γὰρ οἷόν τʼ ἦν τὸ περὶ κρίσεως κήρυγμα παῤῥησίαν ἔχειν, διδάσκον κολάζεσθαι μὲν ἐπὶ ταῖς κατὰ κακίαν πράξεσι κατʼ ἀναλογίαν τῶν ἡμαρτημένων τοὺς φαύλους, μακαρίους δʼ εἶναι καὶ τεύξεσθαι τῶν ἀπὸ θεοῦ γερῶν τοὺς κατʼ ἀρετὴν βιώσαντας ἢ τὰς κατʼ ἀρετὴν πράξεις ποιήσαντας, εἰ τὰ ὄντως κακὰ πεποιήκει ὁ θεός; εὖ οἶδα ὅτι ῥητά τινα παραλήψονται τῆς γραφῆς οἱ καὶ ταῦτα βουλόμενοι τολμᾶν φάσκειν ἀπὸ θεοῦ γεγονέναι, μὴ δυνάμενοι ἓν ὕφος ἀποδεῖξαι τῆς γραφῆς, αἰτιωμένης μὲν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας ἀποδεχομένης δὲ τοὺς εὖ πράττοντας καὶ οὐδὲν ἧττον κἀκεῖνα λεγούσης, ἅτινα περισπᾶν δοκεῖ (οὐκ) ὀλίγα ὄντα τοὺς ἀμαθῶς τὰ θεῖα γράμματα ἀναγινώσκοντας. ἐκτίθεσθαι δὲ νῦν τὰς περισπώσας λέξεις, πολλὰς τυγχανούσας, καὶ τὰς ἑρμηνείας αὐτῶν πολλῆς κατασκευῆς δεομένας οὐχ ἡγησάμην εἶναι ἁρμόζον τῇ προκειμένῃ συντάξει. κακὰ τοίνυν, εἰ μὲν τὰ κυρίως οὕτως ὀνομαζόμενα ἐξακούοι τις, ὁ θεὸς οὐ πεποίηκεν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς προηγουμένοις αὐτοῦ ἔργοις ὀλίγα ὡς πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὅλων διάταξιν τυγχάνοντα ἐπηκολούθησεν, ὥσπερ ἐπακολουθεῖ τοῖς προηγουμένοις τοῦ τέκτονος ἔργοις τὰ ἑλικοειδῆ ξέσματα καὶ πρίσματα καὶ τοῖς οἰκοδόμοις ποιεῖν δοκεῖν τὰ παρακείμενα ταῖς οἰκοδομαῖς ὡσπερεὶ κόπρια ἀποπίπτοντα τῶν λίθων καὶ τῆς κονίας. ### English translation (Claude) But bodily and external things might be found, in a looser sense, to be called goods when they contribute to life according to nature, and evils when they oppose it. So Job says to his wife: “If we received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not bear evil things?” Since, then, it is found in the divine Scriptures, in one place, spoken in the person of God, “I am the one who makes peace and creates evils,” and in another place again about him, “that evils came down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem, the noise of chariots and horsemen,” sayings that have troubled many readers of Scripture who cannot discern what it means by good and evil, it is likely that from this Celsus raised the difficulty and said, How did God make evil things? or that he heard someone with a rather simple view of the passage and set down the words quoted. But we say that God did not make evils, meaning wickedness and the actions that come from it. For how could the preaching of judgment speak with confidence, teaching that the wicked are punished for their wicked actions in proportion to their sins, and that those who have lived virtuously or done virtuous actions are blessed and will receive rewards from God, if God had made what is truly evil? I know well that those who want to dare to say that these too come from God will adduce certain texts of Scripture, being unable to show the one consistent thread of Scripture, which blames sinners and approves those who do well, and nonetheless also says those things, not few in number, that seem to distract those who read the divine writings ignorantly. I did not think it suited to the present treatise to set out now the distracting texts, which are many, and their interpretations, which need much argument. Evils, then, if one understands those properly so called, God has not made; but some, few in comparison with the order of the universe, have followed as consequences of his principal works, just as the spiral shavings and sawdust follow as consequences of the carpenter's principal works, and as builders seem to make the rubbish of stones and mortar that falls off and lies beside the buildings. ### Scripture references - Job 2:10: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:7: quotation, high confidence - Mic 1:12–13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Job 2:10, Isa 45:7, and Mic 1:12–13. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.55 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/55/). ## Against Celsus 6.56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/56/ - Source: Koetschau 2:126–127 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: When God sends suffering, it is like a parent's discipline or a surgeon's knife, meant to correct and heal those who would not learn otherwise. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ τὰ καταχρηστικῶς οὕτως ὀνομαζόμενα, λεγόμενα σωματικὰ κακὰ καὶ ἐκτὸς, τίς φησι, δεδόσθω ἔσθʼ ὅτε τούτων τινὰ πεποιηκέναι τὸν θεὸν, ἵνα διὰ τούτων ἐπιστρέψῃ τινάς, καὶ τί ἄτοπον ὁ λόγος ἔχειν δύναται; ὥσπερ γὰρ, εἰ καταχρηστικῶς ἀκουόντων ἡμῶν κακὰ τοὺς προσαγομένους πόνους τοῖς παιδευομένοις ὑπὸ πατέρων καὶ διδασκάλων καὶ παιδαγωγῶν, ἢ ὑπὸ ἰατρῶν τοῖς θεραπείας ἕνεκεν τεμνομένοις ἢ καυτηριαζομένοις. λέγομεν τὸν πατέρα κακοποιεῖν τοῖς υἱοῖς ἢ τοὺς παιδαγωγοὺς ἢ τοὺς διδασκάλους ἢ τοὺς ἰατροὺς, οὐδὲν ἂν κατηγοροῖντο οἱ τύπτοντες ἢ οἱ τέμνοντες· οὕτως. εἰ ὁ θεὸς λέγεται τὰ τοιαδὶ ἐπάγειν ἐπιστροφῆς καὶ θεραπείας ἕνεκεν τῶν δεομένων τοιούτων πόνων, οὐδὲν ἂν ἄτοπον ὁ λόγος ἔχοι· οὔτʼ ἂν καταβαίνῃ „κακὰ παρὰ κυρίου ἐπὶ πύλας Ἱερουσαλὴμ, “ τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἔχοντα ἐν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν πολεμίων πόνοις. προσαγομένοις αὐτοῖς εἰς ἐπιστροφὴν. οὔτʼ ἂν ἐπισκέπτηται „ἐν ῥάβδῳ τὰς ἀνομίας“ τῶν ἐγκαταλιπόντων „τὸν νόμον“ τοῦ θεοῦ „καὶ ἐν μάστιξι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν, “ οὔτʼ ἂν λέγῃ τό· „ἔχεις ἄνθρακας πυρὸς, κάθισαι ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς, οὗτοι ἔσονταί σοι βοήθεια.“ τοῦτον δὲ τὸν τρόπον καὶ τὸ „ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακὰ“ διηγούμεθα· κτίζει γὰρ τὰ σωματικὰ ἢ τὰ ἐκτὸς κακὰ, καθαίρων καὶ παιδεύων τοὺς μὴ βουληθέντας παιδευθῆναι λόγῳ καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ ὑγιεῖ. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τὸ πῶς μὲν ὁ θεὸς κακὰ ἐποίει; ### English translation (Claude) But if one means the things called evils in a looser sense, the so-called bodily and external evils, let it be granted, someone says, that God sometimes makes some of these in order to convert some people through them; and what absurdity can the statement contain? For just as, if we loosely call evils the pains inflicted on those being disciplined by fathers, teachers, and tutors, or by physicians on those who are cut or cauterized for the sake of healing, and we say that the father does evil to his sons, or the tutors or teachers or physicians do, those who beat or cut would not be accused of anything; so if God is said to bring such things for the conversion and healing of those who need such pains, the statement would contain nothing absurd. Nor would it if “evils come down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem,” consisting in the pains inflicted by enemies, brought on them for their conversion; nor if he visits “with a rod the iniquities” of those who have forsaken “the law” of God, “and with scourges their sins”; nor if he says: “You have coals of fire; sit upon them; these will be a help to you.” In this way we also explain “who makes peace and creates evils”: for he creates bodily or external evils, purifying and disciplining those who were unwilling to be disciplined by reason and sound teaching. So much in answer to “How did God make evil things?” ### Scripture references - Mic 1:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 89:30–32 (88:31-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 47:14–15: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Mic 1:12, Ps 89:30–32 (88:31–33 LXX), Isa 47:14–15 LXX, and Isa 45:7. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.56 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/56/). ## Against Celsus 6.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/57/ - Source: Koetschau 2:127–128 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God does admonish and persuade through Scripture and teachers, but being persuaded requires the hearer's own free consent, as Paul, Isaiah, and Deuteronomy show. ### Greek text Εἰς δὲ τὸ πῶς πείθειν καὶ νουθετεῖν ἀδυνατεῖ; προείρηται μὲν ὅτι πᾶσιν ἂν, εἴπερ ἔγκλημά ἐστι τὸ τοιοῦτον, προσάγοιτο ἡ τοῦ Κέλσου λέξις τοῖς ἀποδεχομένοις πρόνοιαν· ἀπολογήσαιτο δʼ ἄν τις ὅτι νουθετεῖν μὲν οὐκ ἀδυνατεῖ ὁ θεὸς. νουθετεῖ γὰρ διὰ πάσης γραφῆς καὶ διὰ τῶν χάριτι διδασκόντων θεοῦ τοὺς ἀκούοντας· εἰ μὴ ἄρα ἴδιόν τι σημαινόμενον ἐξακούοιτο εἰς τὸ νουθετεῖν τὸ καὶ ἐπιτυγχάνειν ἐν τῷ νουθετουμένῳ καὶ ἀκούειν τὸν τοῦ διδάσκοντος λόγον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ παρὰ τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ τετριμμένου ἐν τῇ συνηθείᾳ σημαινομένου. εἰς δὲ τὸ πῶς πείθειν ἀδυνατεῖ; καὶ αὐτὸ προσαχθὲν ἂν πᾶσι τοῖς πρόνοιαν παραδεχομένοις, ταῦτα λεκτέον. ἐπειδὴ τὸ πείθεσθαι ὡσπερεὶ τῶν καλουμένων ἀντιπεπονθότων ἐστὶν, ἀνάλογον τῷ κείρεσθαι ἄνθρωπον. ἐνεργοῦντα τὸ παρέχειν ἑαυτὸν τῷ κείροντι· διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μόνης δεῖται τῆς τοῦ πείθοντος ἐνεργείας ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ὑποπτώσεως πρὸς τὸν πείθοντα ἢ παραδοχῆς τῶν λεγομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ πείθοντος. διὰ τοῦτο οὐ παρὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν θεὸν πείθειν λεκτέον τοὺς μὴ πειθομένους μὴ πείθεσθαι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὸ ἐκείνους μὴ δέχεσθαι τοὺς πειστικοὺς λόγους τοῦ θεοῦ. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων λέγων τις, ὀνομαζομένων πειθοῦς δημιουργῶν, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι· δυνατὸν γὰρ καὶ τὸν ἄκρως κατειληφότα τὰ τῆς ῥητορικῆς θεωρήματα καὶ δεόντως αὐτοῖς χρώμενον πάντα μὲν ποιεῖν πρὸς τὸ πείθειν, μὴ τυγχάνοντα δὲ τῆς προαιρέσεως τοῦ ὀφείλοντος πείθεσθαι δοκεῖν μὴ πείθειν. ὅτι δὲ, κἂν τὸ πειστικοὺς λέγεσθαι λόγους ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἔρχηται, τό γε πείθεσθαι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπὸ θεοῦ, σαφῶς ὁ Παῦλος διδάσκει λέγων· „ἡ πεισμονὴ οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦντος ὑμᾶς.“ τοιοῦτόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ „ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλητε μηδὲ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται.“ ἵνα γάρ τις θέλῃ ἅπερ λέγει ὁ νουθετῶν καὶ εἰσακούσας αὐτῶν ἄξιος γένηται τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπαγγελιῶν, τῆς προαιρέσεως τοῦ ἀκούοντος δεῖ καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα ἐπινεύσεως. διόπερ ἐν Δευτερονομίῳ ἐμφαντικῶς εἰρῆσθαί μοι δοκεῖ τό· „καὶ νῦν Ἰσραὴλ, τί κύριος ὁ θεός σου αἰτεῖ παρὰ σοῦ ἀλλʼ ἢ φοβεῖσθαι κύριον τὸν θεόν σου (καὶ) πορεύεσθαι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀγαπᾶν αὐτὸν καὶ“ „φυλάσσειν τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ;“ ### English translation (Claude) To “How is he unable to persuade and admonish?” it has been said already that, if this is a charge at all, Celsus's words could be brought against all who accept providence. But one might reply in defence that God is not unable to admonish; for he admonishes his hearers through all of Scripture and through those who teach by the grace of God; unless, indeed, one were to understand “admonish” in a special sense, as including success with the one admonished and his heeding the teacher's word, which is contrary to the ordinary meaning in common use. And to “How is he unable to persuade?”, which could also be brought against all who accept providence, this must be said. Since being persuaded belongs, as it were, to what are called correlative terms, like a man's having his hair cut, when he acts by offering himself to the barber, it requires not only the action of the one persuading but also, so to speak, the submission to the persuader, or the acceptance of what the persuader says. Therefore it must not be said that those who are not persuaded are not persuaded because God is unable to persuade, but because they do not accept the persuasive words of God. One would not be wrong to say this of men, too, who are called craftsmen of persuasion; for it is possible that one who has mastered the principles of rhetoric perfectly and uses them properly may do everything to persuade, yet, failing to win the will of the one who ought to be persuaded, seem not to persuade. That, even if persuasive words come from God, being persuaded does not come from God, Paul teaches clearly when he says: “This persuasion is not from him who calls you.” Such also is the saying: “If you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you are not willing and do not listen to me, the sword shall devour you.” For a person to will what the one admonishing says, and, having heeded it, to become worthy of God's promises, the choice of the hearer and his assent to what is said are needed. That is why, it seems to me, it is said with emphasis in Deuteronomy: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways and to love him and to keep his commandments?” ### Scripture references - Gal 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:19–20: quotation, high confidence - Deut 10:12–13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Gal 5:8, Isa 1:19–20, and Deut 10:12–13. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/57/). ## Against Celsus 6.58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/58/ - Source: Koetschau 2:128–129 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus misrepresents the flood story as God repenting and hating his work; Origen says the threat was meant to convert and the flood purified the earth, as even Plato said. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἐστιν ἀπαντῆσαι πρὸς τὸ πῶς δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἀχαρίστοις καὶ πονηροῖς γενομένοις μεταμέλει καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τέχνην μέμφεται καὶ μισεῖ καὶ ἀπειλεῖ καὶ φθείρει τὰ ἴδια ἔκγονα; συκοφαντεῖ δʼ ἐν τούτοις καὶ καταψεύδεται τῶν ἐν τῇ Γενέσει γεγραμμένων τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· „ἰδὼν δὲ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἐπληθύνθησαν αἱ κακίαι τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ πᾶς τις διανοεῖται ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐπιμελῶς ἐπὶ τὰ πονηρὰ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, ἐνεθυμήθη ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἐποίησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ διενοήθη ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· ἀπαλείψω τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὃν ἐποίησα, ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἀπὸ ἑρπετῶν ἕως τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· ὅτι ἐθυμώθην, ὅτι ἐποίησα αὐτοὺς, “ τὰ μὴ γεγραμμένα ἐκτιθέμενος ὡς δηλούμενα ἀπὸ τῶν γεγραμμένων. μεταμέλεια γὰρ ἐν τούτοις οὐκ ὠνομάσθη θεοῦ οὐδʼ ὅτι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τέχνην μέμφεται καὶ μισεῖ. εἰ δὲ δοκεῖ ὁ θεὸς ἀπειλεῖν τὰ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ καὶ φθείρειν ἐν αὐτῷ τὰ ἴδια ἔκγονα, λεκτέον ὅτι, ἀθανάτου τῆς ψυχῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τυγχανούσης, ἡ μὲν νομιζομένη ἀπειλὴ ἐπιστρέφειν βούλεται τοὺς ἀκούοντας, ἡ δʼ ἐν τῷ κατακλυσμῷ διαφθορὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καθάρσιόν ἐστι τῆς γῆς, ὡς καὶ Ἑλλήνων οἱ μὴ εὐκαταφρονήτως φιλοσοφήσαντες εἰρήκασιν ἐν τῷ· „ὅταν δʼ οἱ θεοὶ τὴν γῆν καθαίρωσι.“ περὶ δὲ τῶν ὡσπερεὶ ἀνθρωποπαθῶν λέξεων ἀναφερομένων ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν οὐκ ὀλίγα ἡμῖν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω λέλεκται. ### English translation (Claude) Next we must answer: How does he repent when they become ungrateful and wicked, and find fault with his own art, and hate and threaten and destroy his own offspring? Here he slanders and misrepresents what is written in Genesis, which runs thus: “And the Lord God, seeing that the wickednesses of those on the earth were multiplied, and that each one was intently thinking evil in his heart all the days, considered that he had made man on the earth; and he pondered in his heart, and God said: I will wipe out man whom I made from the face of the earth, from man to beast, and from creeping things to the birds of heaven; for I was angry that I made them.” He sets out things that are not written as though they were indicated by what is written. For in these words neither repentance of God is named nor that he finds fault with his own art and hates it. And if God seems to threaten the flood and to destroy his own offspring in it, it must be said that, since the human soul is immortal, the supposed threat is meant to convert the hearers, and the destruction of men in the flood is a purification of the earth, as those of the Greeks who philosophized in no contemptible way also said in the words: “When the gods purify the earth.” About expressions that attribute human feelings, as it were, to God, we have said not a little above as well. ### Scripture references - Gen 6:5–7: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 22d (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Gen 6:5–7 LXX and Plato, Timaeus 22d. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/58/). ## Against Celsus 6.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/59/ - Source: Koetschau 2:129–130 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Those who died in the flood were taken not out of the universe but out of earthly life, for Scripture often calls the earth “the world.” ### Greek text Ὑπιδόμενος δʼ ἑξῆς ὁ Κέλσος τάχα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς συνιδὼν, ὅ τι δύναται λεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπολογουμένων περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ κατακλυσμῷ διαφθαρέντων, φησίν· εἰ δὲ μὴ διαφθείρει τὰ ἴδια ἔκγονα, ποῖ ποτε αὐτὰ ὑπεξάγει τοῦ κόσμου τοῦδε, ὃν ἐποίησεν αὐτός; καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ λέγομεν ὅτι τοῦ μὲν παντὸς κόσμου, συνεστῶτος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, οὐ πάντως ὑπεξάγει τοὺς τὸν κατακλυσμὸν πεπονθότας, ἀπαλλάττει δʼ αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐν σαρκὶ ζωῆς καὶ ἀπολύσας τῶν σωμάτων ἀπολύει ἅμα καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς τυγχάνειν, ἣν πολλαχοῦ τῶν γραφῶν ἔθος ὀνομάζεσθαι κόσμον. μάλιστα δʼ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγελίῳ πολλάκις ἔστιν εὑρεῖν κόσμον τὸν περίγειον ὀνομαζόμενον τόπον, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῷ „ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, “ καὶ „ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ θλῖψιν ἔχετε· ἀλλὰ θαρσεῖτε, ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον.“ εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀκούει τις τοῦ ὑπεξάγει τοῦ κόσμου τοῦδε τοῦ περιγείου τόπου, οὐδὲν ἄτοπον ἀπαντᾷ τῷ λόγῳ· εἰ δὲ κόσμον τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς σύστημα ὀνομάζει τις, οὐ πάντως οἱ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν παθόντες ὑπεξάγονται ἀπὸ τοῦ οὕτως ὀνομαζομένου κόσμου. καίτοι γε εἴποι ἄν τις, νοήσας τὸ „μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα“ καὶ τὸ „τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται, “ ὅτι πρὸς τοῖς ἀοράτοις καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ὀνομαζομένοις μὴ βλεπομένοις τυγχάνων ὑπεξῆλθε τὸν κόσμον, τοῦ λόγου αὐτὸν ὑπεξάγοντος ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ὑπερουράνιον ἐπὶ τῇ θέᾳ τῶν καλῶν μετατιθέντος τόπον. ### English translation (Claude) Next, Celsus, suspecting or perhaps perceiving for himself what could be said by those who defend the matter of the people destroyed in the flood, says: But if he does not destroy his own offspring, where does he carry them off to out of this world which he himself made? To this too we say that he does not at all carry those who suffered the flood out of the whole world composed of heaven and earth, but frees them from life in the flesh, and releasing them from their bodies, at the same time releases them from being on the earth, which in many places of Scripture is customarily called the world. Especially in the Gospel according to John one can often find the region around the earth called the world, as in “It was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world,” and “In the world you have tribulation; but take courage, I have overcome the world.” If, then, one understands “carries them off out of this world” as the region around the earth, the statement meets with no absurdity; but if one calls the system of heaven and earth the world, those who suffered the flood are not at all carried off out of the world so named. And yet one might say, understanding the words “while we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are not seen,” and “For his invisible things are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made,” that one who is occupied with the invisible things, and in general with what are called things not seen, has departed from the world, since the Word leads him out from here and transfers him to the place above the heavens, to contemplate the things that are beautiful. ### Scripture references - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence - John 16:33: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are John 1:9, John 16:33, 2 Cor 4:18, and Rom 1:20. The “place above the heavens” echoes Plato, Phaedrus 247c. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.59 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/59/). ## Against Celsus 6.60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/60/ - Source: Koetschau 2:130–131 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus again mocks the six days of creation, and Origen again answers that the Father made the world through the Word and that the “days” are not literal periods of time. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐξετασθεῖσαν λέξιν ὡσπερεὶ σκοπὸν ἔχων τὸ ὅπως ποτὲ πολλῶν λόγων πληρῶσαι τὸ βιβλίον, ἄλλαις λέξεσι τὰ παραπλήσιά φησι τοῖς ὀλίγῳ ἀνωτέρω ἐξετασθεῖσιν, ἐν οἷς ἔλεγε· μακρῷ δʼ εὐηθέστερον τὸ καὶ ἡμέρας τινὰς ἐπιδιανεῖμαι τῇ κοσμογονίᾳ, πρὶν εἶναι ἡμέρας· οὐρανοῦ γὰρ οὔπω γεγονότος οὐδὲ γῆς πω ἐρηρεισμένης οὐδʼ ἡλίου πω τῇδε φερομένου, πῶς ἡμέραι ἦσαν; τί γὰρ διαφέρει ταῦτα τοῦ ἔτι δʼ ἄνωθεν λαβόντες ἐπισκεψώμεθα, πῶς οὐκ ἂν ἄτοπος εἴη θεὸς ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ μέγιστος κελεύων· γενέσθω τόδε καὶ ἕτερον τόδε ἢ τόδε, καὶ μιᾷ μὲν ἡμέρᾳ τοσόνδε τεκταινόμενος τῇ δευτέρᾳ δʼ αὖθις τοσῷδε πλέον καὶ τρίτῃ καὶ τετάρτῃ καὶ πέμπτῃ καὶ ἕκτῃ; δυνάμει δʼ εἴπομεν καὶ εἰς τὸ κελεύων· γενέσθω τόδε καὶ ἕτερον τόδε ἢ τόδε, ὅτε παρετιθέμεθα τὸ „αὐτὸς εἶπε καὶ ἐγενήθησαν, αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν, “ λέγοντες τὸν μὲν προσεχῶς δημιουργὸν εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον καὶ ὡσπερεὶ αὐτουργὸν τοῦ κόσμου, τὸν δὲ πατέρα τοῦ λόγου τῷ προστεταχέναι τῷ υἱῷ ἑαυτοῦ λόγῳ ποιῆσαι τὸν κόσμον εἶναι πρώτως δημιουργόν. περὶ δὲ τοῦ μιᾷ μὲν ἡμέρᾳ γεγονέναι „τὸ φῶς“ δευτέρᾳ δὲ „τὸ στερέωμα, “ τρίτῃ δὲ συνῆχθαι τὰ „ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“ (ὕδατα) εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ οὕτω βεβλαστηκέναι τὴν γῆν τὰ ὑπὸ μόνης φύσεως διοικούμενα, καὶ τετάρτῃ τοὺς „φωστῆρας“ καὶ „ἀστέρας“ καὶ πέμπτῃ τὰ νηκτὰ καὶ ἕκτῃ τὰ χερσαῖα καὶ „τὸν ἄνθρωπον, “ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς πραγματευθεῖσιν εἰς τὴν Γένεσιν εἰρήκαμεν· καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω δὲ ἐγκαλοῦντες τοῖς κατὰ τὴν προχειροτέραν ἐκδοχὴν φήσασι χρόνους ἓξ ἡμερῶν διεληλυθέναι εἰς τὴν κοσμοποιΐαν παρετιθέμεθα τὸ „αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς. ὅτε ἐγένετο· ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν.“ ### English translation (Claude) After the passage we have examined, as though his aim were somehow to fill his book with many words, he says in other words things similar to those examined a little earlier, where he said: Much more silly is it to distribute certain days to the making of the world before there were days. For when heaven had not yet come to be, nor the earth yet been fixed, nor the sun yet borne round here, how were there days? For how does this differ from: Let us take it again from the beginning and consider how it would not be absurd for the first and greatest God to command, “Let this come to be,” and another thing, “this or that,” and on one day to fashion so much, and on the second again so much more, and on the third and fourth and fifth and sixth? We have in effect answered “commanding, ‘Let this come to be,’ and another thing, ‘this or that’” when we cited “He spoke and they came to be; he commanded and they were created,” saying that the immediate Creator, and as it were the very maker of the world, is the Word, the Son of God, while the Father of the Word, by having commanded his own Son, the Word, to make the world, is Creator in the primary sense. As for “light” being made on one day, “the firmament” on the second, the gathering of the waters “under the heaven” into their gatherings on the third, and so the earth's bringing forth the things governed by nature alone, and the “lights” and “stars” on the fourth, the swimming creatures on the fifth, and the land animals and “man” on the sixth, we have spoken as well as we could in our treatises on Genesis. And above, too, when we found fault with those who said, following the more obvious interpretation, that a period of six days passed in the making of the world, we cited: “This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when it came to be, in the day when God made the heaven and the earth.” ### Scripture references - Ps 148:5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Gen 1:3–27: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Ps 148:5 (also Ps 33:9), Gen 1:3–27, and Gen 2:4. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/60/). ## Against Celsus 6.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/61/ - Source: Koetschau 2:131–132 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's “rest” on the seventh day does not mean he was tired; it points to the eternal sabbath of the blessed, and God's “hands” and “commands” are figurative expressions. ### Greek text Εἶτα πάλιν μὴ κατακούσας τοῦ „καὶ συνετέλεσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἕκτῃ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, ἃ ἐποίησε· καὶ κατέπαυσεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἐποίησε. καὶ εὐλόγησεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἑβδόμην καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτὴν, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῇ κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ θεὸς ποιῆσαι“ καὶ οἰηθεὶς ταὐτὸν εἶναι τὸ „κατέπαυσε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ“ καὶ τὸ „ἀνεπαύσατο τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ“ φησί· μετὰ τοῦτο μὴν ὥσπερ τις ἀτεχνῶς πονηρὸς χειροτέχνης ἐκκαμὼν καὶ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν ἀργίας δεηθείς. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἶδε, τίς ἡ μετὰ τὴν ὅσον ὁ κόσμος συνέστηκεν ἐνεργουμένην κοσμοποιΐαν, ἡ τοῦ σαββάτου καὶ τῆς καταπαύσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρα, ἐν ᾗ ἑορτάσουσιν ἅμα τῷ θεῷ οἱ πάντα τὰ ἔργα ἑαυτῶν ταῖς ἓξ ἡμέραις πεποιηκότες καὶ διὰ τὸ μηδὲν παραλελοιπέναι τῶν ἐπιβαλλόντων ἀναβαίνοντες ἐπὶ τὴν θεωρίαν καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ τῶν δικαίων καὶ μακαρίων πανήγυριν. εἶτα ὡς ἤτοι τῶν γραφῶν οὕτω λεγουσῶν ἢ καὶ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν οὕτως διηγουμένων περὶ θεοῦ, ὅτι καμὼν ἀνεπαύσατο, φησὶν ὅτι οὐ θέμις τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν κάμνειν οὔτε χειρουργεῖν οὔτε κελεύειν. ὁ μὲν οὖν Κέλσος φησὶν ὅτι οὐ θέμις τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν κάμνειν· ἡμεῖς δὲ εἴποιμεν ἂν ὅτι οὐδʼ ὁ θεὸς λόγος κάμνει οὐδʼ ὅσοι τῆς κρείττονος ἤδη καὶ θειοτέρας τάξεως ἔχονται· τὸ γὰρ κάμνειν ἐστὶ τῶν ἐν σώματι. ζητήσεις δὲ, πότερον ἢ τῶν ἐν οἱῳποτοῦν σώματι ἢ τῶν ἐν τῷ γηΐνῳ καὶ ὀλίγον τούτου βελτίονι. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ θέμις τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν χειρουργεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ κυρίως ἀκούῃς τοῦ χειρουργεῖν, οὐδὲ τὸν δεύτερον οὐδʼ ἄλλο τι τῶν θειοτέρων. ἀλλʼ ἔστω καταχρηστικῶς λέγεσθαι τὸ χειρουργεῖν ἢ τροπικῶς, ἵνα διηγησώμεθα καὶ τὸ „ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα“ καὶ „αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἔστησαν τὸν οὐρανὸν“ καὶ εἴ τι τούτοις εἴρηται παραπλησίως, τροπολογούντων ἡμῶν χεῖρας καὶ μέλη τοῦ θεοῦ· τί οὖν ἄτοπον οὕτω χειρουργεῖν θεόν; ὡς οὐκ ἄτοπον δὲ οὕτω χειρουργεῖν θεὸν, οὕτως οὐδὲ τὸ κελεύειν αὐτὸν, ἵνα καλὰ καὶ ἐπαινετὰ ᾖ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ κελευομένου ἐπιτελούμενα τῷ θεὸν εἶναι τὸν κεκελευκότα περὶ αὐτῶν. ### English translation (Claude) Then again, having misunderstood “And on the sixth day God finished his works which he had made; and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it he ceased from all his works which God began to make,” and thinking that “he ceased on the seventh day” is the same as “he rested on the seventh day,” he says: After this, like some thoroughly bad workman, he grew weary and needed a holiday to rest. For he does not know what the day of the sabbath and of God's ceasing is, which follows the making of the world that goes on as long as the world lasts, the day on which those who have done all their works in the six days will keep festival with God, and, because they have left undone nothing that falls to them, will ascend to contemplation and to the festal assembly of the righteous and blessed in it. Then, as though either the Scriptures said so or we ourselves explained it so, that God grew weary and rested, he says that it is not lawful for the first God to grow weary, or to work with his hands, or to give orders. Celsus says that it is not lawful for the first God to grow weary; but we would say that neither does God the Word grow weary, nor any of those who already belong to the better and more divine order; for growing weary belongs to beings in a body. You will inquire whether it belongs to those in any body whatever, or to those in an earthly body and one a little better than this. Nor is it lawful for the first God to work with his hands; and if you understand working with hands in the proper sense, neither for the second God nor for any other of the more divine beings. But let working with hands be spoken of loosely or figuratively, so that we may explain “The firmament proclaims the work of his hands” and “His hands established the heaven,” and anything said similarly, interpreting figuratively the hands and limbs of God. What is absurd, then, in God's working with his hands in this way? And as it is not absurd for God to work with his hands in this way, so neither is it absurd for him to command, so that what is accomplished by the one commanded may be good and praiseworthy, because the one who commanded them is God. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:2–3: quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:1 (18:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:12: quotation, medium confidence - Heb 4:9–10: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Gen 2:2–3 LXX, Ps 19:1 (18:2 LXX), and Isa 45:12 (cf. Isa 48:13). The eternal sabbath echoes Heb 4:9–10. Origen calls the Word “the second God,” as he does elsewhere in this work. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/61/). ## Against Celsus 6.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/62/ - Source: Koetschau 2:132–133 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God has no literal mouth or voice; his “voice” is perceived spiritually, and none of our categories fit him, for, as the prophets say, God does not change. ### Greek text Πάλιν τε αὖ ὁ Κέλσος τάχα μὲν παρακούσας τοῦ „τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα“ τάχα δὲ καὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν προπετευσαμένων περὶ τῆς τῶν τοιούτων διηγήσεως, μὴ νοήσας τε, ἐπὶ τίνων τάσσεται τὰ ὀνόμασι σωματικῶν μελῶν ἐπὶ τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ θεοῦ λεγόμενα, φησίν· οὐδὲ στόμα αὐτῷ ἐστιν οὐδὲ φωνή. ἀληθῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἔσται τῷ θεῷ φωνὴ, εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἡ φωνὴ ἀὴρ πεπληγμένος ἢ πληγὴ ἀέρος ἢ εἶδος ἀέρος ἢ ὅ τι δήποτε ὁρίζονται εἶναι τὴν φωνὴν οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοί· ἀλλʼ ἡ λεγομένη φωνὴ θεοῦ ὡς θεοῦ φωνὴ ὁρᾶσθαι λέγεται ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ ἐν τῷ „πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἑώρα τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ θεοῦ, “ τοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι λαμβανομένου, ἵνα κατὰ τὴν συνήθειαν ὀνομάσω τῆς γραφῆς, πνευματικῶς. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἄλλο φησὶν εἶναι τῷ θεῷ ὧν ἡμεῖς ἴσμεν· τίνων δʼ ἡμεῖς ἴσμεν, οὐ σαφηνίζει. εἰ μὲν γὰρ μελῶν, σύμφαμεν αὐτῷ προσυπακούοντες ὧν ἴσμεν σωματικῶς καὶ κοινότερον ὀνομαζομένων· εἰ δὲ καθόλου ἀκούοιμεν· τοῦ ὧν ἡμεῖς ἴσμεν, πολλῶν ἡμεῖς ἴσμεν ἐξακουομένου· ἔστι γὰρ αὐτῷ ἀρετὴ καὶ μακαριότης καὶ θειότης. εἰ δέ τις ἀκούοι ὑψηλότερον τοῦ ὧν ἡμεῖς ἴσμεν, ἐπεὶ πάντα ἃ ἴσμεν ἐλάττονά ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ· οὐδὲν ἄτοπον καὶ ἡμᾶς παραδέξασθαι ὅτι οὐδέν ἐστι τῷ θεῷ ὧν ἡμεῖς ἴσμεν. κρείττονα γάρ ἐστι πάντων ὧν οἶδεν οὐ μόνη ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ὑπεραναβεβηκότων αὐτὴν τὰ προσόντα τῷ θεῷ. εἰ δʼ ἀνεγνώκει τὰς τῶν προφητῶν λέξεις, τοῦ μὲν Δαυῒδ λέγοντος· „σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, “ τοῦ δὲ Μαλαχίου οἶμαι· „καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι, “ ἑώρα ἂν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν φησιν εἶναι μεταβολὴν ἐν τῷ θεῷ οὔτʼ ἔργῳ οὔτʼ ἐπινοίᾳ. μένων γὰρ „ὁ αὐτὸς“ διοικεῖ τὰ μεταβλητὰ, ὡς πέφυκε, καὶ λόγος αὐτοῦ αἱρεῖ διοικεῖσθαι αὐτά. ### English translation (Claude) And again Celsus, perhaps having misunderstood “For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things,” or perhaps because unlearned people have been rash in explaining such things, and not understanding to what the terms for bodily members applied to the powers of God refer, says: Neither has he a mouth nor a voice. Truly God will have no voice, if voice is air that has been struck, or a striking of air, or a form of air, or whatever those skilled in these matters define voice to be. But what is called the voice of God is said, as the voice of God, to be seen by the people in the words “All the people saw the voice of God,” the seeing being understood, to use the customary language of Scripture, spiritually. He says also that God has nothing else of what we know; but he does not make clear of what things we know. If he means members, we agree with him, understanding “of what we know” as the things named in a bodily and more common sense. But if we take “of what we know” in general, since we know many things, then he has virtue, blessedness, and divinity. And if one takes “of what we know” in a loftier sense, since all that we know is less than God, there is nothing absurd in our too accepting that God has nothing of what we know. For the attributes of God are greater than everything known not only to human nature but also to the beings that have risen above it. If he had read the words of the prophets, David saying, “But you are the same,” and, I think, Malachi, “and I have not changed,” he would have seen that none of us says there is any change in God, either in act or in thought. For remaining “the same” he governs changeable things according to their nature, and his reason chooses to govern them so. ### Scripture references - Isa 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:18: quotation, high confidence - Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Mal 3:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Isa 1:20, Exod 20:18 LXX (the people “saw the voice”), Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX), and Mal 3:6. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.62 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/62/). ## Against Celsus 6.63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/63/ - Source: Koetschau 2:133–134 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus denies man is God's image, but Origen explains that Christ alone is God's image, and man is made “according to” that image in the inner self, renewed by becoming holy and like God. ### Greek text Εἶτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος, μὴ ἐνιδὼν τῇ διαφορᾷ τοῦ „κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ“ καὶ „τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ, “ ὅτι „εἰκὼν“ μὲν „τοῦ θεοῦ“ ὁ „πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεώς“ ἐστιν ὁ αὐτολόγος καὶ ἡ αὐτοαλήθεια ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ αὐτοσοφία, „εἰκὼν“ οὖσα „τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ, “ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ δὲ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ ὁ ἄνθρωπος πεποίηται. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὅτι πᾶς ἀνὴρ, οὗ „Χριστός ἐστι κεφαλὴ, “ „εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα θεοῦ“ ὑπάρχει· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐπιστήσας, ἐν τίνι τῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ χαρακτηρίζεται, καὶ ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἢ μὴ ἐσχηκυίᾳ ἢ μηκέτι ἐχούσῃ ψυχῇ „τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ, “ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ἔχειν ταῦτα χρηματιζούσῃ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ κτίσαντος, φησὶ τό· οὐδʼ ἄνθρωπον ἐποίησεν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ· οὐ γὰρ τοιόσδε ὁ θεὸς οὔτʼ ἄλλῳ εἴδει οὐδενὶ ὅμοιος. οἷον δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ συνθέτου ἀνθρώπου τῷ χείρονι μέρει, λέγω δὲ τῷ σώματι, νομίζειν ἐνυπάρχειν τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ, “ ὡς δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ἐξείληφεν, αὐτὸ εἶναι τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ αὐτοῦ; εἰ γὰρ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ ἐν τῷ σώματί ἐστι μόνῳ, ἐστέρηται τὸ κρεῖττον, ἡ ψυχὴ, τοῦ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ καὶ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ φθαρτῷ σώματι, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν λέγει. εἰ δʼ ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ συναμφοτέρῳ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ, “ ἀνάγκη σύνθετον εἶναι τὸν θεὸν καὶ οἱονεὶ συνεστῶτα καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, ἵνα τὸ μὲν „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τὸ κρεῖττον ᾖ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, τὸ δʼ ἔλαττον καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἐν τῷ σώματι, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν φησι. λείπεται δὴ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἡμᾶς λεγομένῳ ἔσω ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ ἀνακαινουμένῳ καὶ πεφυκότι γίνεσθαι „κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος“ νοεῖσθαι [τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“], ὅτε γίνεταί τις „τέλειος“, „ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστι“, καὶ ἀκούει ὅτι „ἅγιοι ἔσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἅγιος κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν, “ καὶ μανθάνων τὸ „μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεσθε“ ἀναλαμβάνει εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐνάρετον ψυχὴν τοὺς χαρακτῆρας τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅτε καὶ „ναός“ ἐστι τοῦ ἐν τῷ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ ἀνειληφότος τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ „τὸ σῶμα, “ τοῦ τοιαύτην ἔχοντος ψυχὴν καὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τὸν θεόν. ### English translation (Claude) Then Celsus, not having noticed the difference between “in the image of God” and “his image,” that “the image of God” is “the firstborn of all creation,” the Word himself and Truth itself and also Wisdom itself, being “the image of his goodness,” whereas man has been made “in the image” of “God”; and further that every man of whom “Christ is the head” is “the image and glory of God”; and without considering in which part of man being “in the image” of “God” is marked, and that it is in the soul that either has not had, or no longer has, “the old man with his deeds,” and which, from not having these, is called “in the image” of its Creator, says: Nor did he make man his image; for God is not like this, nor like any other form. Is it conceivable that being “in the image” of “God” should exist in the worse part of man, who is composite, I mean in the body, and that this, as Celsus has taken it, is itself what is “in his image”? For if being “in the image” of “God” is in the body alone, the better part, the soul, has been deprived of being “in the image,” and it is in the corruptible body, which none of us says. And if being “in the image” of “God” is in both together, then God must be composite and must himself consist, as it were, of soul and body, so that the better part of being “in the image” may be in the soul, and the lesser, corresponding to the body, in the body, which none of us says. It remains, then, that being “in the image” of “God” is to be understood in what we call the inner man, who is renewed and is by nature able to become “in the image of the Creator,” when one becomes “perfect,” “as the heavenly Father is perfect,” and hears, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” and, learning “Be imitators of God,” takes up into his virtuous soul the features of God. Then too “the body” of one who has taken up what is God's in being “in the image” is a “temple” of God, since he has such a soul, and has God in the soul because of being “in the image.” ### Scripture references - Gen 1:26–27: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:7: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:9–10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:48: quotation, high confidence - Lev 19:2: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:26 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Gen 1:26–27, Col 1:15, Wis 7:26, 1 Cor 11:3, 7, Col 3:9–10, 2 Cor 4:16, Matt 5:48, Lev 19:2, Eph 5:1, and 1 Cor 6:19. Origen distinguishes Christ, who is the image of God, from man, made “according to the image.” The editor deletes a repeated “in the image” (τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“) after “to be understood.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/63/). ## Against Celsus 6.64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/64/ - Source: Koetschau 2:134–135 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God has no shape, colour, or motion; he is not a partaker of being but is partaken of, and Origen raises the question whether God is even beyond being, with the Son as the being of beings. ### Greek text Πάλιν δὲ αὖ ἑαυτῷ συνείρει πλείονα λέγων ὡς ὑφʼ ἡμῶν διδόμενα, ἅπερ οὐδεὶς τῶν ἐν Χριστιανοῖς νοῦν ἐχόντων δίδωσιν. οὐ γάρ φησι τὶς ἡμῶν ὅτι μετέχει σχήματος ὁ θεὸς ἢ χρώματος, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ κινήσεως μετέχει ὁ διὰ τὸ ἑστηκέναι καὶ βεβαίαν εἶναι τὴν φύσιν αὐτοῦ προκαλούμενος καὶ τὸν δίκαιον ἐπὶ τὰ παραπλήσια καὶ λέγων· „σὺ δὲ αὐτοῦ στῆθι μετʼ ἐμοῦ.“ εἰ δέ τινες λέξεις οἱονεὶ κίνησίν τινα παριστᾶσιν αὐτοῦ, ὡς καὶ ἡ λέγουσα· „ἤκουσαν κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ περιπατοῦντος ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τὸ δειλινὸν, “ οὕτως ἀκουστέον τῶν τοιούτων ὡς κινουμένου νοουμένου τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσιν, ἢ οὕτως ἀκουστέον τῶν τοιούτων ὡς καὶ ὕπνου θεοῦ τροπικῶς λεγομένου ἢ ὀργῆς ἤ τινος τῶν παραπλησίων. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ οὐσίας μετέχει ὁ θεός· μετέχεται γὰρ μᾶλλον ἢ μετέχει, καὶ μετέχεται ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχόντων „πνεῦμα θεοῦ“. καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν οὐ μετέχει μὲν δικαιοσύνης, „δικαιοσύνη“ δὲ ὢν μετέχεται ὑπὸ τῶν δικαίων. πολὺς δʼ ὁ περὶ τῆς οὐσίας λόγος καὶ δυσθεώρητος καὶ μάλιστα, ἐὰν ἡ κυρίως οὐσία ἡ ἑστῶσα καὶ ἀσώματος ᾖ· ἵνʼ εὑρεθῇ, πότερον ἐπέκεινα οὐσίας ἐστὶ πρεσβείᾳ καὶ δυνάμει ὁ θεὸς μεταδιδοὺς οὐσίας οἷς μεταδίδωσι κατὰ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λόγον καὶ αὐτῷ λόγῳ, ἢ καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν οὐσία, πλὴν τῇ φύσει ἀόρατος λέγεται ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος λόγῳ φάσκοντι· „ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, “ σημαίνεται δὲ ἐκ τῆς „ἀοράτου“ φωνῆς ὁ ἀσώματος. ζητητέον δὲ καὶ, εἰ οὐσίαν μὲν οὐσιῶν λεκτέον καὶ ἰδέαν ἰδεῶν καὶ ἀρχὴν τὸν μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον „πάσης κτίσεως“ ἐπέκεινα δὲ πάντων τούτων τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ θεόν. ### English translation (Claude) Again, he strings together for himself many things as though granted by us, which none of the Christians who have sense grants. For none of us says that God partakes of shape or colour. Nor does he partake even of motion, he who because he stands firm and his nature is stable calls the righteous man too to something similar, saying: “But you, stand here with me.” And if some expressions seem to represent a kind of motion in him, like the one that says, “They heard the Lord God walking in the paradise in the evening,” such things must be understood as God being thought of as moving by those who have sinned, or understood in the same way as sleep or anger or something similar is said of God figuratively. Nor does God partake of being; for he is partaken of rather than partakes, and he is partaken of by those who have “the Spirit of God.” And our Saviour does not partake of righteousness, but, being “righteousness,” is partaken of by the righteous. The subject of being is vast and hard to contemplate, especially if being in the proper sense is that which is stable and incorporeal: so as to find whether God is beyond being in dignity and power, giving a share of being to those to whom he gives it according to his Word, and to the Word himself; or whether he himself too is being, yet is said to be invisible by nature in the passage about the Saviour which says, “who is the image of the invisible God,” where by the word “invisible” the incorporeal is meant. One must also inquire whether the only-begotten and firstborn “of all creation” should be called being of beings, idea of ideas, and first principle, and his Father and God beyond all these. ### Scripture references - Deut 5:31: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:9: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 1:30: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 509b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Deut 5:31, Gen 3:8, Rom 8:9, 1 Cor 1:30, and Col 1:15. “Beyond being in dignity and power” echoes Plato, Republic 509b. οὐσία is rendered “being.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.64 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/64/). ## Against Celsus 6.65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/65/ - Source: Koetschau 2:135–136 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen qualifies Celsus's claims that God cannot be reached by reason or named: God is known through the divine Word, and though no name captures him, words can point toward him. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν οὖν Κέλσος περὶ θεοῦ φησιν ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὰ πάντα, ἀπολύσας οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως τὰ πάντα αὐτοῦ· ὁ δʼ ἡμέτερος Παῦλος „ἐξ αὐτοῦ“ λέγει „καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα, “ παριστὰς τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς τῶν πάντων ὑποστάσεως ἐν τῷ „ἐξ αὐτοῦ“ καὶ τὴν συνοχὴν ἐν τῷ „διʼ αὐτοῦ“ καὶ τὸ τέλος ἐν τῷ „εἰς αὐτόν.“ ἀληθῶς δὲ ἐξ οὐδενὸς ὁ θεός. ἐπεὶ δέ φησιν ὅτι οὐδὲ λόγῳ ἐφικτὸς, διαστέλλομαι τὸ σημαινόμενον καί φημι· εἰ μὲν λόγῳ τῷ ἐν ἡμῖν, εἴτε ἐνδιαθέτῳ εἴτε καὶ προφορικῷ, καὶ ἡμεῖς φήσομεν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐφικτὸς τῷ λόγῳ ὁ θεός· εἰ δὲ νοήσαντες τὸ „ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος“ ἀποφαινόμεθα ὅτι τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ἐφικτός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς, οὐ μόνῳ αὐτῷ καταλαμβανόμενος ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾧ ἂν αὐτὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ τὸν πατέρα, ψευδοποιήσομεν τὴν Κέλσου λέξιν φάσκοντος· οὐδὲ λόγῳ ἐφικτός ἐστιν ὁ θεός. καὶ τὸ οὐκ ὀνομαστὸς δὲ διαστολῆς δεῖται. εἰ μὲν γὰρ, ὅτι οὐδὲν τῶν ἐν λέξεσι καὶ σημαινομένοις δύναται παραστῆσαι τὰς ἰδιότητας τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀληθές ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον, εἴ γε καὶ πολλαὶ ποιότητες οὐκ εἰσὶν ὀνομασταί. τίς γὰρ δύναται ὀνόμασι διαφορὰν δοῦναι ποιότητος γλυκύτητος φοίνικος καὶ γλυκύτητος ἰσχάδος; τίς δὲ ὀνόματι δύναται διαστείλασθαι καὶ παραστῆσαι τὴν ἑκάστου ἰδίαν ποιότητα; οὐδὲν οὖν θαυμαστὸν, εἰ οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτως ὀνομαστὸς ὁ θεός. εἰ δὲ τὸ ὀνομαστὸν λαμβάνεις καθὸ οἷόν τε ἐστὶν ὀνόμασι παραστῆσαί τι τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ χειραγωγῆσαι τὸν ἀκροατὴν καὶ ποιῆσαι νοῆσαι περὶ θεοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἐφικτὸν τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τινὰ τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲν ἄτοπον λέγειν αὐτὸν ὀνομαστόν. οὕτω δὲ διαστελούμεθα καὶ τὸ οὐδὲν γὰρ πέπονθεν ὀνόματι καταληπτόν. ἀληθὲς δὲ καὶ τὸ ἔξω παντὸς πάθους εἶναι τὸν θεόν. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ταύτῃ. ### English translation (Claude) Celsus, then, says of God that all things come from him, having detached, I do not know how, “all things” from him. But our Paul says: “From him and through him and to him are all things,” showing the beginning of the existence of all things in “from him,” their holding together in “through him,” and their end in “to him.” And truly God himself is derived from nothing. And since Celsus says, Nor is he attainable by reason, I distinguish the meaning and say: if he means by the reason within us, whether the inward or the spoken word, we too will say that God is not attainable by reason. But if, understanding “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” we declare that God is attainable by this Word, being comprehended not by him alone but also by anyone to whom he reveals the Father, we shall prove false Celsus's saying, Nor is God attainable by reason. The words He is not nameable also need distinguishing. If it means that nothing in words and meanings can express the properties of God, the statement is true, since even many qualities cannot be named. For who can express by names the difference between the quality of sweetness of a date and the sweetness of a dried fig? Who can distinguish by a name and represent the particular quality of each? It is not surprising, then, if God is not nameable in this sense. But if you take nameable to mean that it is possible to represent something about him by names, so as to lead the hearer by the hand and make him understand some things about God so far as is attainable by human nature, there is nothing absurd in saying he is nameable. In the same way we shall distinguish the words For he has experienced nothing that can be grasped by a name. It is true too that God is beyond all passion. So much for this. ### Scripture references - Rom 11:36: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:27: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Rom 11:36, John 1:1, and Matt 11:27. The short phrases “all things come from him,” “nor is he attainable by reason,” “he is not nameable,” and “he has experienced nothing that can be grasped by a name” are Celsus's. Logos plays on “reason” and “the Word.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.65 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/65/). ## Against Celsus 6.66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/66/ - Source: Koetschau 2:136–137 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus imagines a seeker blinded by the light of true teaching, but Origen replies that it is idol-worshippers who sit in darkness, while Christians, following Christ the way, already know God. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς αὐτοῦ λέξιν, διʼ ἧς οἱονεὶ προσωποποιεῖταί τινα, μετὰ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι τούτων τοιαῦτα λέγοντα· πῶς οὖν γνῶ τὸν θεόν; καὶ πῶς τὴν ἐκεῖσε ὁδὸν μάθω; καὶ πῶς αὐτόν μοι δεικνύεις; ὡς νῦν γε σκότον μου τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προβάλλεις, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐναργὲς βλέπω. εἶτα πρὸς τὸν οὕτως ἐπαπορήσαντα οἱονεὶ ἀποκρίνεται, καί [φησι] τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ σκότον [εἶναι] τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν κατακεχύσθαι τοῦ εἰπόντος τὰ προειρημένα ἀποδιδόναι νομίζει φάσκων· οὓς ἄν τις εἰς λαμπρὸν φῶς ἐκ σκότους προαγάγῃ, τούτους μὴ δυναμένους ἀντέχειν ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς κολάζεσθαι τὴν ὄψιν καὶ βλάπτεσθαι καὶ νομίζειν πηροῦσθαι. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν καθῆσθαι μὲν ἐν σκότῳ καὶ ἱδρῦσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ πάντας τοὺς εἰς τὰς τῶν ζωγράφων καὶ πλαστῶν τῶν καὶ ἀνδριαντοποιῶν ἐνορῶντας κακοτεχνίας, μὴ βουλομένους δʼ ἀναβλέψαι καὶ ἀναβῆναι τῷ νῷ ἀπὸ ὁρατῶν καὶ πάντων αἰσθητῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ὅλων δημιουργὸν, ὅς ἐστι φῶς· ἐν φωτὶ δὲ τυγχάνειν πάντα τὸν ταῖς τοῦ λόγου αὐγαῖς ἀκολουθήσαντα, δείξαντος ἀφʼ ὅσης ἀγνοίας καὶ ἀσεβείας καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον ἀμαθίας ταῦτα ἀντὶ τοῦ θεοῦ προσεκυνεῖτο, καὶ χειραγωγήσαντος τὸν τοῦ βουλομένου σῴζεσθαι νοῦν πρὸς τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεόν. „λαὸς“ γὰρ „ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκοτίᾳ“, ὁ τῶν ἐθνῶν, „φῶς εἶδε μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν, “ ὁ θεὸς Ἰησοῦς. οὐδεὶς οὖν Χριστιανὸς ἀποκρίνεται τῷ Κέλσῳ ἤ τινι τῶν κατηγορούντων τοῦ θείου λόγου φάσκων· πῶς γνῶ τὸν θεόν; ἕκαστος γὰρ αὐτῶν, ὡς ἐγχωρεῖ, ἔγνω τὸν θεόν. καὶ οὐδείς φησι· πῶς τὴν ἐκεῖσε ὁδὸν μάθω; ἅτε ἀκούσας τοῦ εἰπόντος· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ γευσάμενος ἐν τῷ ὁδεύειν τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁδεύειν ὠφελείας. καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν Χριστιανῶν λέγοι Κέλσῳ· πῶς μοι δεικνύεις τὸν θεόν; ### English translation (Claude) Let us look also at his next passage, in which he as it were introduces someone who, after hearing these things, says: How, then, shall I know God? And how shall I learn the way there? And how do you show him to me? For now you cast darkness over my eyes, and I see nothing clearly. Then he, as it were, answers the one who raised this difficulty, and thinks he gives the reason why darkness has been poured over the eyes of the one who said this, saying: Those whom one leads out of darkness into bright light, being unable to withstand its brilliance, suffer in their sight, are harmed, and think they have been blinded. To this we shall say that all who look to the evil arts of painters, modellers, and sculptors sit in darkness and are settled in it, not wishing to look up and ascend with the mind from visible and all sensible things to the Creator of the universe, who is light; but that everyone who has followed the rays of the Word is in light, since the Word has shown from what ignorance, impiety, and lack of learning about the divine these things were worshipped instead of God, and has led by the hand the mind of the one who wishes to be saved to the uncreated God over all. For “the people who sat in darkness,” the people of the Gentiles, “saw a great light, and on those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has risen,” God Jesus. No Christian, then, answers Celsus or any of those who accuse the divine word by saying, “How shall I know God?” For each of them, as far as he can, has known God. And no one says, “How shall I learn the way there?” since he has heard the one who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” and has tasted, in travelling it, the benefit of travelling. And no Christian would say to Celsus, “How do you show God to me?” ### Scripture references - Matt 4:16: quotation, high confidence - Isa 9:2 (9:1 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Resp. 515e–516a (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Matt 4:16 (Isa 9:2) and John 14:6. Celsus's image of eyes dazzled by light recalls Plato's cave (Republic 515e–516a). The editor deletes φησι (“he says”) and εἶναι (“to be”) in the sentence introducing Celsus’s answer. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/66/). ## Against Celsus 6.67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/67/ - Source: Koetschau 2:137–138 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: It is Celsus who plunges people into darkness; Christ, the true light, opens the eyes of the soul, as he healed the blind who cried to him for mercy. ### Greek text Τοῦτο δʼ ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις ὁ Κέλσος εἶπεν ἀληθὲς. ὅτι ἀκούσας τις αὐτοῦ τῶν λόγων ἀποκρίνεται, ἰδὼν δʼ ὅτι λόγοι σκότους εἰσὶν οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι σκότος μου τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προβάλλεις. Κέλσος μὲν οὖν καὶ οἱ παραπλήσιοι αὐτῷ προβάλλειν σκότον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἡμῶν θέλουσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ τῷ φωτὶ τοῦ λόγου ἐξαφανίζομεν τὸ σκότος τῶν ἀσεβῶν δογμάτων. εἴποι δʼ ἂν ὁ Χριστιανὸς πρὸς Κέλσον οὐδὲν ἐναργὲς καὶ πληκτικὸν λέγοντα τό· οὐδὲν ἐναργὲς βλέπω ἐν τοῖς σοῖς λόγοις. οὐκ ἐκ σκότου τοίνυν εἰς λαμπρὸν φῶς προάγει ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος, ἀλλὰ βούλεται ἐκ φωτὸς μεταστῆσαι εἰς σκότον, τιθεὶς „τὸ σκότος“ εἶναι „φῶς καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος“ καὶ ὑποκείμενος τῷ καλῶς εἰρημένῳ ὑπὸ Ἡσαΐου τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· „οὐαὶ οἱ τιθέντες τὸ σκότος φῶς καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος.“ ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς. ἀνοίξαντος τοῦ λόγου τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ὁρῶντες διαφορὰν φωτὸς καὶ σκότους ἐν φωτὶ μὲν παντὶ τρόπῳ ἵστασθαι προαιρούμεθα, τῷ δὲ σκότῳ οὐδαμῶς προσεῖναι βουλόμεθα. ἔμψυχον δὲ τυγχάνον τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς ἐπίσταται, τίνι μὲν δεικτέον ἔσται τὰς μαρμαρυγὰς τίνι δὲ φῶς, οὐ παριστάντος αὐτοῦ τὴν λαμπρότητα ἑαυτοῦ διὰ τὴν ἔτι ἀσθένειαν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐκείνου. εἰ δʼ ὅλως χρὴ λέγειν κολάζεσθαι καὶ βλάπτεσθαι ὄψιν. τίνος ἂν ἄλλου φήσωμεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ταῦτα πάσχειν ἢ τοῦ ὑπὸ τῆς περὶ θεοῦ ἀγνοίας συνεχομένου καὶ τοῦ ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν ἐμποδιζομένου βλέπειν ἀλήθειαν; Χριστιανοὶ μὲν οὖν οὐδαμῶς νομίζουσι πηροῦσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν Κέλσου ἤ τινος ἀλλοτρίου θεοσεβείας λόγων· οἱ δʼ αἰσθανόμενοι ἑαυτῶν πηρουμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ κατακολουθεῖν ὄχλοις πλανωμένων καὶ ἔθνεσιν ἑορταζόντων δαιμονίοις προσίτωσαν τῷ χαριζομένῳ ὀφθαλμοὺς λόγῳ, ἵνʼ ὁμοίως τοῖς παρὰ τῇ ὁδῷ ἐῤῥιμμένοις πτωχοῖς καὶ τυφλοῖς. ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ θεραπευθεῖσι διὰ τὸ εἰρηκέναι αὐτῷ· „υἱὲ Δαυΐδ, ἐλέησόν με, “ ἐλεηθέντες ἀπολάβωσι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καινοὺς καὶ καλοὺς, ὁποίους λόγος θεοῦ δημιουργήσαι ἄν. ### English translation (Claude) Here Celsus said something true: that someone, having heard his words, answers, seeing that his words are words of darkness, “You cast darkness over my eyes.” Celsus and those like him wish to cast darkness over our eyes; but we, by the light of the Word, dispel the darkness of impious doctrines. A Christian might say to Celsus, who says nothing clear or striking, “I see nothing clearly in your words.” Celsus, then, does not lead us out of darkness into bright light, but wishes to move us from light into darkness, making “darkness light and light darkness,” and falling under what Isaiah well said in this way: “Woe to those who make darkness light and light darkness.” But we, since the Word has opened the eyes of our soul, seeing the difference between light and darkness, choose by every means to stand in the light and do not wish to be near the darkness at all. The true light, being living, knows to whom its brilliance should be shown and to whom only light, not displaying its own brightness because of the weakness that still remains in the other's eyes. And if we must speak at all of sight suffering and being harmed, whose eyes should we say suffer this but those of the one held fast by ignorance of God and hindered by his passions from seeing the truth? Christians, then, by no means think they are blinded by the words of Celsus or of anyone estranged from piety. But let those who perceive that they are being blinded by following crowds that go astray and nations that keep festival to demons come to the Word who gives eyes, so that, like the poor and blind men lying by the road who were healed by Jesus because they said to him, “Son of David, have mercy on me,” they too may receive mercy and get back their eyes, new and beautiful, such as the Word of God would create. ### Scripture references - Isa 5:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 20:30–34: allusion, high confidence - Mark 10:46–52: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Isa 5:20 and Matt 20:30–34 (cf. Mark 10:46–52). The digital text repeats “δὲ φῶς, οὐ” inside the phrase διὰ τὴν ἔτι ἀσθένειαν, “because of the weakness that still remains”; the repeated words are removed and ἔτι is kept. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/67/). ## Against Celsus 6.68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/68/ - Source: Koetschau 2:138 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Word became flesh so that those bound to the flesh might receive him, and then leads them up, as on the mount of Transfiguration, to see his divine glory. ### Greek text Διόπερ ἐὰν ἔρηται ἡμᾶς Κέλσος, πῶς οἰόμεθα γνωρίζειν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ πῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν σωθήσεσθαι· ἀποκρινούμεθα ὅτι ἱκανός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, γενόμενος τοῖς ζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἢ τοῖς ἐπιφαινόμενον αὐτὸν παραδεχομένοις, γνωρίσαι καὶ ἀποκαλύψαι τὸν πατέρα, πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ οὐχ ὁρώμενον. τίς δʼ ἄλλος σῶσαι καὶ προσαγαγεῖν τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ δύναται τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴν ἢ ὁ θεὸς λόγος; ὅστις „ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν“ ὢν διὰ τοὺς κολληθέντας τῇ σαρκὶ καὶ γενομένους ὅπερ „σὰρξ“ „ἐγένετο“ „σὰρξ, “ ἵνα χωρηθῇ ὑπὸ τῶν μὴ δυναμένων αὐτὸν βλέπειν καθὸ „λόγος“ ἦν καὶ „πρὸς θεὸν“ ἦν „καὶ θεὸς ἦν.“ καὶ σωματικῶς γε λαλούμενος καὶ ὡς „σὰρξ“ ἀπαγγελλόμενος ἐφʼ ἑαυτὸν καλεῖ τοὺς ὄντας σάρκα, ἵνʼ αὐτοὺς ποιήσῃ πρῶτον μορφωθῆναι κατὰ λόγον τὸν γενόμενον σάρκα, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς ἀναβιβάσῃ ἐπὶ τὸ ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν, ὅπερ ἦν πρὶν γένηται „σάρξ“· ὥστε αὐτοὺς ὠφεληθέντας καὶ ἀναβάντας ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα εἰσαγωγῆς εἰπεῖν τό· „εἰ καὶ Χριστόν ποτε κατὰ σάρκα ἐγνώκαμεν, ἀλλὰ νῦν οὐκέτι γινώσκομεν.“ „σὰρξ“ οὖν „ἐγένετο, “ καὶ γενόμενος „σὰρξ“ „ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν“ οὐκ ἔξω γινόμενος ἡμῶν, σκηνώσας δὲ καὶ γενόμενος ἐν ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔμεινεν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης μορφῆς, ἀλλʼ ἀναβιβάσας ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὸ λογικὸν „ὑψηλὸν ὄρος“ ἔδειξεν ἡμῖν τὴν ἔνδοξον μορφὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῶν ἐνδυμάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐχ ἑαυτοῦ γε μόνου ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ γε νόμου, ὅς ἐστιν „ἐν δόξῃ“ ὀφθεὶς μετὰ Ἰησοῦ „Μωϋσῆς“. ἔδειξε δʼ ἡμῖν καὶ πᾶσαν προφητείαν, οὐδὲ μετὰ τὸ ἐνανθρωπῆσαι ἀποθνῄσκουσαν ἀλλʼ ἀναλαμβανομένην εἰς οὐρανὸν, ἧς σύμβολον Ἠλίας ἦν. ὁ δὲ ταῦτα θεωρήσας εἴποι ἂν τό· „ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρὸς, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.“ Κέλσος μὲν οὖν ἰδιωτικώτερον ἀνέπλασεν ἃ οἴεται ἡμᾶς λέξειν πρὸς τὸ πύσμα αὐτοῦ· πῶς οἰόμεθα γνωρίσειν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ πῶς σωθήσεσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν; ἡμεῖς δὲ εἴποιμεν ἂν τὰ προεκκείμενα. ### English translation (Claude) Therefore, if Celsus asks us how we think we know God, and how we shall be saved by him, we shall answer that the Word of God is able, when he comes to those who seek him or who receive him when he appears, to make known and reveal the Father, who was not seen before his coming. And who else can save the soul of man and bring it to the God over all but God the Word? He, being “in the beginning with God,” for the sake of those who had cleaved to the flesh and become what flesh is, “became flesh,” so that he might be received by those unable to see him as he was, the “Word,” “with God,” and “God.” And being spoken of in bodily terms and proclaimed as “flesh,” he calls to himself those who are flesh, so as first to make them be formed according to the Word who became flesh, and after this to lead them up to see him as he was before he became “flesh”; so that, having been helped and having ascended from the introduction according to the flesh, they may say: “Even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer.” He “became flesh,” then, and having become “flesh” he “dwelt among us,” not coming to be outside us; and having dwelt and come to be among us, he did not remain in his first form, but, leading us up to the spiritual “high mountain,” he showed us his glorious form and the brightness of his garments, and not only his own but also that of the spiritual law, which is “Moses,” seen “in glory” with Jesus. He also showed us all prophecy, which did not die even after he became man but was taken up into heaven, of which Elijah was a symbol. And the one who has seen these things could say: “We beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Celsus, then, rather naively fabricated what he thinks we will say to his question how we think we shall know God and how we shall be saved by him; but we would say what has been set out above. ### Scripture references - John 1:1–2: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:16: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:1–8: allusion, high confidence - Luke 9:30–31: allusion, high confidence - 2 Kgs 2:11: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are John 1:1–2, 14, 2 Cor 5:16, the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1–8; Luke 9:30–31), and 2 Kgs 2:11. Origen reads Moses and Elijah as symbols of the law and the prophets. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/68/). ## Against Celsus 6.69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/69/ - Source: Koetschau 2:138–139 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Son shares the Father's greatness and is as hard to see as the Father, who can be seen only by the pure in heart; the Son did not come as an easier substitute for an invisible God. ### Greek text Πλήν φησιν ὁ Κέλσος ἡμᾶς ἀποκρίνεσθαι εἰκότι στοχασμῷ, ὁμολογῶν ἀναγράφειν ἡμῶν τὴν ἀπόκρισιν οὕτως ἔχουσαν· ἐπειδὴ μέγας ἐστὶ καὶ δυσθεώρητος ὁ θεὸς, πνεῦμα ἴδιον ἐμβαλὼν εἰς σῶμα ἡμῖν ὅμοιον δεῦρο κατέπεμψεν, ὡς ἂν δυνηθείημεν ἀκοῦσαι παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθεῖν. οὐ μόνος δὲ μέγας καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς καὶ πατήρ· μετέδωκε γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῆς μεγαλειότητος τῷ μονογενεῖ καὶ πρωτοτόκῳ „πάσης κτίσεως“· ἵνʼ „εἰκὼν“ αὐτὸς τυγχάνων „τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ“ καὶ ἐν τῷ μεγέθει σῴζῃ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ πατρός. οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τʼ ἦν εἶναι σύμμετρον, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, καὶ καλὴν εἰκόνα „τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ, “ μὴ καὶ τοῦ μεγέθους παριστᾶσαν τὴν εἰκόνα. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ θεὸς καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῷ μὲν μὴ εἶναι σῶμα ἀόρατός ἐστιν· τοῖς δὲ θεωρητικοῖς καρδίᾳ θεωρητὸς, τουτέστι νῷ, καρδίᾳ δὲ οὐ τῇ τυχούσῃ ἀλλὰ τῇ καθαρᾷ. οὐ γὰρ θέμις μεμολυσμένην καρδίαν ἐνορᾶν θεῷ, ἀλλὰ δεῖ καθαρὸν εἶναι τὸ τοῦ καθαροῦ κατʼ ἀξίαν θεωρητικόν. ἔστω δὴ καὶ δυσθεώρητος ὁ θεός· ἀλλʼ οὐ μόνος δυσθεώρητός ἐστι τινὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ. δυσθεώρητος γὰρ ὁ θεὸς λόγος, δυσθεώρητος δὲ οὑτωσὶ καὶ σοφία ἐστὶν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ πάντα πεποίηκεν ὁ θεός. τίς γὰρ δύναται καθʼ ἕκαστον τῶν πάντων τὴν σοφίαν, ἐν ᾗ ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἕκαστον τῶν πάντων πεποίηκε, (θεωρῆσαι); οὐ διὰ τὸ δυσθεώρητος οὖν ὁ θεὸς εἶναι ὡς εὐθεώρητον τὸν υἱὸν ἔπεμψεν. ἅπερ μὴ νοήσας ὁ Κέλσος εἶπεν ὡς ἐκ προσώπου ἡμῶν· διὰ τὸ δυσθεώρητος εἶναι πνεῦμα ἴδιον ἐμβαλὼν εἰς σῶμα ἡμῖν ὅμοιον δεῦρο κατέπεμψεν, ὡς ἂν δυνηθείημεν ἀκοῦσαί τε παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθεῖν. ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀποδεδώκαμεν, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς δυσθεώρητος ὢν, ἅτε λόγος θεὸς, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, „καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν.“ ### English translation (Claude) But Celsus says that we answer by a plausible conjecture, and he professes to record our answer as follows: Since God is great and hard to see, he put his own spirit into a body like ours and sent it down here, so that we might be able to hear and learn from him. But in our view the God and Father of the universe is not alone great; for he has given a share of himself and of his greatness to the only-begotten and firstborn “of all creation,” so that, being himself “the image of the invisible God,” he might preserve the image of the Father in greatness too. For it was not possible to be a well-proportioned, so to speak, and beautiful image “of the invisible God” without also representing the image of his greatness. And in our view God is invisible because he is not a body, but can be seen by those able to see with the heart, that is, with the mind; not with any heart at all, but with a pure heart. For it is not lawful for a defiled heart to look upon God; that which is to see the pure one worthily must itself be pure. Let it be granted that God is hard to see; but he is not alone hard for anyone to see; his only-begotten is so too. For God the Word is hard to see, and so also is the Wisdom in which God made all things. For who can see, in each and every thing, the Wisdom in which God made each and every thing? It is not, then, because God is hard to see that he sent his Son as easy to see. Not understanding this, Celsus said as though in our person: Because he is hard to see, he put his own spirit into a body like ours and sent it down here, so that we might be able to hear and learn from him. But, as we have explained, the Son too, being hard to see, as God the Word through whom all things came to be, also “dwelt among us.” ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX): allusion, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Col 1:15, Matt 5:8, Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX), and John 1:3, 14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.69 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/69/). ## Against Celsus 6.70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/70/ - Source: Koetschau 2:139–141 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's Spirit is not a body but is shared with the worthy; Scripture calls God fire and spirit figuratively, and Jesus taught worship in spirit and truth rather than through bodily rites. ### Greek text Εἰ δὲ συνίει Κέλσος ἃ λέγομεν περὶ πνεύματος θεοῦ, καὶ ὅτι „ὅσοι πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοι υἱοὶ θεοῦ εἰσιν, “ οὐκ ἂν ἑαυτῷ ὡς ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ἀπεφήνατο ὅτι πνεῦμα ἴδιον ἐμβαλὼν εἰς σῶμα ὁ θεὸς δεῦρο κατέπεμψεν. ἀεὶ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς μεταδίδωσι τοῖς δυναμένοις μετέχειν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἰδίου πνεύματος, οὐ κατʼ ἀποτομὴν καὶ διαίρεσιν ἐγγινομένου τοῖς ἀξίοις. οὐδὲ γὰρ σῶμα τὸ καθʼ ἡμᾶς πνεῦμα, ὡς οὐδὲ σῶμα τὸ πῦρ, ὅπερ εἶναι λέγεται θεὸς ἐν τῷ· „ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον.“ πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τροπικῶς λέγεται εἰς παράστασιν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν συνήθων καὶ σωματικῶν ὀνομάτων τῆς νοητῆς φύσεως. καὶ ὥσπερ, ἐὰν λέγηται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ξύλα εἶναι καὶ χόρτος καὶ καλάμη, οὐκ ἐροῦμεν εἶναι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα σώματα, καὶ ἐὰν λέγηται τὰ ἀνδραγαθήματα χρυσὸς εἶναι καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ λίθος τίμιος, οὐ φήσομεν εἶναι τὰ ἀνδραγαθήματα σώματα· οὕτω κἂν λέγηται ὁ θεὸς εἶναι „πῦρ καταναλίσκον“ τὰ „ξύλα“ καὶ τὸν „χόρτον“ καὶ τὴν „καλάμην“ καὶ πᾶσαν οὐσίαν ἁμαρτίας, οὐ σῶμα αὐτὸν νοήσομεν. ὡς δʼ ἐὰν λέγηται „πῦρ, “ οὐ σῶμα νοοῦμεν αὐτὸν, οὕτως ἐὰν λέγηται „πνεῦμα“ ὁ θεὸς, οὐ σῶμα αὐτὸν λέγομεν εἶναι. πρὸς γὰρ ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἔθος τῇ γραφῇ τὰ νοητὰ ὀνομάζειν πνεύματα καὶ πνευματικά· οἷον ἐὰν λέγῃ ὁ Παῦλος· „ἀλλʼ ἡ ἱκανότης ἡμῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος ἀλλὰ πνεύματος· τὸ γὰρ γράμμα ἀποκτέννει, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζῳοποιεῖ, “ „γράμμα“ μὲν τὴν αἰσθητὴν ὠνόμασεν ἐκδοχὴν τῶν θείων γραμμάτων „πνεῦμα“ δὲ τὴν νοητήν. οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ ἐν τῷ „πνεῦμα ὁ θεός“· ἐπεὶ καὶ Σαμαρεῖς καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι σωματικῶς καὶ τυπικῶς ἐποίουν τὰ προσταττόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου, εἶπεν ὁ σωτὴρ πρὸς τὴν Σαμαρεῖτιν· „ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα, ὅτε οὔτε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις οὔτε ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προσκυνήσουσι τῷ πατρί· πνεῦμα ὁ θεὸς, καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν.“ διʼ ὧν ἐδίδαξεν ὅτι οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ „δεῖ προσκυνεῖν“ καὶ σαρκίναις θυσίαις τὸν θεὸν ἀλλʼ „ἐν πνεύματι.“ καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀνάλογον (τῷ) „ἐν πνεύματι“ καὶ νοητῶς λατρεύειν τινὰ αὐτῷ „πνεῦμα“ νοηθείη ἄν. ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐκ ἐν τύποις „προσκυνεῖν δεῖ“ τῷ πατρὶ ἀλλʼ „ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, “ ἥτις „διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο“ μετὰ τὸ δοθῆναι τὸν νόμον „διὰ Μωϋσέως.“ „ἡνίκα“ γὰρ „ἐὰν ἐπιστρέψωμεν πρὸς κύριον“ („ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι“), „περιαιρεῖται τὸ“ τῇ καρδίᾳ „κάλυμμα“ ἐπικείμενον, „ἡνίκα ἂν ἀναγινώσκηται Μωϋσῆς.“ ### English translation (Claude) If Celsus had understood what we say about the Spirit of God, and that “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God,” he would not have declared for himself, as though from us, that God put his own spirit into a body and sent it down here. For God always gives a share of his own Spirit to those able to partake of him, the Spirit coming to be in the worthy not by cutting off and division. For the Spirit, in our view, is not a body, just as fire is not a body, which God is said to be in the words, “Our God is a consuming fire.” For all these things are said figuratively, to represent intelligible nature by familiar and bodily names. And just as, if sins are said to be wood and hay and straw, we shall not say that sins are bodies, and if good deeds are said to be gold and silver and precious stone, we shall not say that good deeds are bodies, so too if God is said to be “a consuming fire” of the “wood” and “hay” and “straw” and all the substance of sin, we shall not think of him as a body. And as, when he is called “fire,” we do not think of him as a body, so when God is called “spirit,” we do not say that he is a body. For Scripture customarily calls intelligible things spirits and spiritual, in contrast to sensible things; as when Paul says: “But our sufficiency is from God, who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” he called the sensible interpretation of the divine writings “letter,” and the intelligible interpretation “Spirit.” So too in “God is spirit.” Since both Samaritans and Jews carried out the commands of the law bodily and typologically, the Saviour said to the Samaritan woman: “The hour is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will they worship the Father. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” By these words he taught that God must be worshipped not in the flesh and with fleshly sacrifices but “in spirit.” For he himself would be understood as “spirit” in proportion as one serves him “in spirit” and intelligibly. And the Father must be worshipped not in types but “in truth,” which “came through Jesus Christ” after the law was given “through Moses.” For “whenever we turn to the Lord” (“and the Lord is the Spirit”), “the veil” lying on the heart “is taken away,” “whenever Moses is read.” ### Scripture references - Rom 8:14: quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:24: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:29: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 3:12: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:5–6: quotation, high confidence - John 4:21: quotation, high confidence - John 4:24: quotation, high confidence - John 1:17: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:15–17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Rom 8:14, Deut 4:24 (Heb 12:29), 1 Cor 3:12, 2 Cor 3:5–6, John 4:21, 24, John 1:17, and 2 Cor 3:15–17. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/70/). ## Against Celsus 6.71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/71/ - Source: Koetschau 2:141 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: When Christians call God “spirit” they do not mean, like the Stoics, a bodily breath pervading the world; God, the Word, and even the rational soul are incorporeal and imperishable. ### Greek text Ὡς μὴ νοήσας δὴ τὰ περὶ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ Κέλσος („ψυχικὸς γὰρ ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ· μωρία γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐστι, καὶ οὐ δύναται γνῶναι, ὅτι πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται“) ἑαυτῷ συνάπτει, οἰόμενος ἡμᾶς λέγοντας „πνεῦμα“ εἶναι τὸν θεὸν μηδὲν ἐν τούτῳ διαφέρειν τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι Στωϊκῶν, φασκόντων ὅτι ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμά ἐστι διὰ πάντων διεληλυθὸς καὶ πάντʼ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιέχον. διήκει μὲν γὰρ ἡ ἐπισκοπὴ καὶ ἡ πρόνοια τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ πάντων ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὡς τὸ τῶν Στωϊκῶν πνεῦμα· καὶ πάντα μὲν περιέχει τὰ προνοούμενα ἡ πρόνοια καὶ περιείληφεν αὐτὰ, οὐχ ὡς σῶμα δὲ περιέχον περιέχει, ὅτε καὶ σῶμά ἐστι τὸ περιεχόμενον, ἀλλʼ ὡς δύναμις θεία καὶ περιειληφυῖα τὰ περιεχόμενα. κατὰ μὲν οὖν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς, σωματικὰς λέγοντας εἶναι τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντα φθείροντας κινδυνεύοντας δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν φθεῖραι τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν, εἰ μὴ πάνυ ἀπεμφαῖνον τοῦτʼ αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει τυγχάνειν, καὶ ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ μέχρι ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἐλαχίστων καταβαίνων οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ πνεῦμα σωματικόν· κατὰ δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ τὴν λογικὴν ψυχὴν πειρωμένους ἀποδεικνύναι κρείττονα πάσης σωματικῆς φύσεως καὶ οὐσίαν ἀόρατον καὶ ἀσώματον οὐκ ἂν σῶμα εἴη ὁ θεὸς λόγος, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντʼ ἐγένετο, ὁ φθάνων, ἵνα πάντα διὰ λόγου γίνηται, οὐχ ἕως ἀνθρώπων μόνων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐλαχίστων εἶναι νομιζομένων καὶ ὑπὸ φύσεως διοικουμένων. πάντα μὲν οὖν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς ἐκπυρούτωσαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀσώματον οὐσίαν οὐκ ἴσμεν ἐκπυρουμένην οὐδʼ εἰς πῦρ ἀναλυομένην τὴν ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴν ἢ τὴν ἀγγέλων ἢ θρόνων ἢ κυριοτήτων ἢ ἀρχῶν ἢ ἐξουσιῶν ὑπόστασιν. ### English translation (Claude) Since Celsus has not understood what concerns the Spirit of God (“for the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned”), he goes on to join things together for himself, supposing that when we say God is “spirit” we differ in no way from the Stoics among the Greeks, who say that God is a spirit that has passed through all things and contains all things in itself. The oversight and providence of God do indeed pervade all things, but not as the spirit of the Stoics does; and providence does contain and encompass all the things it provides for, yet not as a containing body contains, when what is contained is also a body, but as a divine power that encompasses what it contains. According to the Stoics, who say that the first principles are bodily and for that reason make all things perishable, and who run the risk of making even the God over all perishable, had this not seemed to them too glaringly absurd, even the Word of God, who comes down to men and to the least of things, is nothing other than a bodily spirit. But according to us, who try to show that even the rational soul is superior to all bodily nature and is an invisible and incorporeal being, God the Word, through whom all things came to be, would not be a body; he reaches, so that all things may come to be through the Word, not only as far as men but also to things thought to be the least and governed by nature. Let the Stoics, then, consume everything in their conflagration; but we do not know of any incorporeal being that is consumed by fire, nor that the soul of man, or the substance of angels or thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, is dissolved into fire. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:14: quotation, high confidence - John 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are 1 Cor 2:14, John 1:3, and Col 1:16. The Stoics taught that the world is periodically consumed in a universal conflagration (ἐκπύρωσις). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.71 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/71/). ## Against Celsus 6.72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/72/ - Source: Koetschau 2:141–142 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus attacks views Christians do not hold, such as that the Son's spirit would be defiled by a body; God is a “consuming fire” only in that he burns away sin. ### Greek text Διόπερ μάτην λέλεκται τῷ Κέλσῳ, ὡς μὴ εἰδότι τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτι ἐπείπερ πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ υἱὸς ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ γεγονὼς σώματι, οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὸς εἴη ἀθάνατος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ υἱός. εἶτα πάλιν ἑαυτῷ φύρει τὸν λόγον, ὥς τινων ἀφʼ ἡμῶν οὐχ ὁμολογησόντων πνεῦμα εἶναι τὸν θεὸν ἀλλὰ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἴεται ἀπαντᾶν λέγων ὅτι οὐδεμία τοιαύτη φύσις ἐστὶ πνεύματος, ὥστʼ ἀεὶ διαμένειν· ὡσεὶ καὶ, λεγόντων ἡμῶν ὅτι ὁ θεὸς „πῦρ“ ἐστι „καταναλίσκον, “ ἔλεγεν ὅτι οὐδεμία τοιαύτη φύσις ἐστὶ πυρὸς, ὥστʼ ἀεὶ διαμένειν· οὐχ ὁρῶν πῶς λέγομεν εἶναι „πῦρ“ τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ τίνων ἀναλωτικὸν, ὅτι ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ τῆς κακίας. πρέπει γὰρ θεῷ ἀγαθῷ μετὰ τὸ ἕκαστον φανῆναι ἀγωνισάμενον, ὁποῖος γέγονεν ἀγωνιστὴς, ἀναλῶσαι τῷ πυρὶ τῶν κολάσεων τὴν κακίαν. εἶτα πάλιν ἑαυτῷ τὸ μὴ λεγόμενον ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λαμβάνει. ὅτι ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι τὸ ἀναπεπνευκέναι τὸν θεόν. καὶ τούτῳ ἀκόλουθον τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι ἀναστῆναι μετὰ τοῦ σώματος τὸν Ἰησοῦν· οὐκ ἂν γὰρ ἀπειλήφει ὃ δέδωκε πνεῦμα ὁ θεὸς καταμεμολυσμένον τῇ τοῦ σώματος φύσει. εὔηθες οὖν ἀπαντᾶν ἡμᾶς πρὸς τοὺς λόγους ὡς ἡμετέρους τοὺς μὴ ἡμετέρους. ### English translation (Claude) Therefore Celsus, as one who does not know the things of the Spirit of God, has said to no purpose that, since the Son is a spirit from God that came to be in a human body, the Son of God himself would not be immortal. Then again he confuses the argument for himself, as though some of us would not acknowledge that God is spirit, but only his Son, and he thinks he answers by saying that there is no nature of spirit such that it lasts for ever. It is as if, when we say that God is “a consuming fire,” he were to say that there is no nature of fire such that it lasts for ever, not seeing in what sense we say that our God is “fire,” and what he consumes, namely sins and wickedness. For it befits a good God, after each person has shown what kind of contestant he has been, to consume wickedness with the fire of punishments. Then again he takes for himself something not said by us: that God must necessarily have breathed out his spirit again; and following from this, that Jesus could not rise with his body, for God would not have taken back the spirit he had given, defiled by the nature of the body. It is foolish, then, for us to answer arguments that are not ours as though they were ours. ### Scripture references - Deut 4:24: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:29: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to Deut 4:24 (Heb 12:29). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/72/). ## Against Celsus 6.73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/73/ - Source: Koetschau 2:142–143 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus asks why God's Spirit needed a virgin's womb, but Origen answers that the pure divine nature is not defiled by a body, as sunlight is not defiled by mud, and that a body formed without birth would not have looked any different. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ταυτολογῶν μετὰ τὸ πολλὰ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰπεῖν καὶ χλευάσαι τὴν ἐκ παρθένου γέννησιν τοῦ θεοῦ, πρὸς ἣν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ἀπηντήσαμεν, φησίν· εἰ δʼ ἐβούλετο πνεῦμα ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ καταπέμψαι, τί ἐδεῖτο εἰς γυναικὸς γαστέρα ἐμπνεῖν; ἐδύνατο γὰρ ἤδη πλάσσειν ἀνθρώπους εἰδὼς καὶ τούτῳ περιπλάσαι σῶμα καὶ μὴ τὸ ἴδιον πνεῦμα εἰς τοσοῦτον μίασμα ἐμβαλεῖν· οὕτως μέν τʼ ἂν οὐδʼ ἠπιστεῖτο, εἰ ἄνωθεν εὐθὺς ἔσπαρτο. καὶ ταῦτʼ εἶπεν, ἐπεὶ μὴ εἶδε τὴν παρθενικὴν καὶ καθαρὰν γέννησιν καὶ ἀπὸ μηδεμιᾶς φθορᾶς τοῦ μέλλοντος ὑπηρετήσασθαι τῇ ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίᾳ σώματος. οἴεται δὲ ὁ τὸν Στωϊκὸν λόγον ἐκτιθέμενος καὶ μὴ προσποιούμενος τὰ περὶ ἀδιαφόρων μεμαθηκέναι εἰς μίασμα ἐμβεβλῆσθαι τὴν θείαν φύσιν καὶ μεμιάσθαι εἴτε γενομένην ἐν γυναικὸς σώματι, ἕως περιπλασθῇ αὐτῇ τὸ σῶμα, εἴτε σῶμα ἀνειληφυῖαν· παραπλήσιόν τι ποιῶν τοῖς οἰομένοις τὰς αὐγὰς τοῦ ἡλίου μιαίνεσθαι ἐν τοῖς βορβόροις καὶ τοῖς δυσώδεσι σώμασι καὶ μὴ μένειν κἀκεῖ καθαράς. καὶ εἰ κατὰ τὴν Κέλσου δὲ ὑπόθεσιν χωρὶς γεννήσεως περιεπλάσατο τὸ σῶμα τῷ Ἰησοῦ. (οὐκ) εὐθὺς ἂν οἱ βλέποντες τὸ σῶμα ἐπίστευον ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ γεννήσεως ἦν· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ βλεπόμενον ἀπαγγέλλει καὶ τὴν φύσιν, ὅθεν γεγένηται. οἷον εἰ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν μέλι ἦν τι μὴ ἀπὸ μελισσῶν, οὐκ ἂν τοῦτό τις ἀπήγγελλεν ἀπὸ τῆς γεύσεως ἢ τῆς ὄψεως. ὅτι μὴ ἀπὸ μελισσῶν ἐστιν· ὡς οὐδὲ τὸ ἀπὸ μελισσῶν δείκνυσι τῇ αἰσθήσει τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἀλλʼ ἡ πεῖρα δείκνυσιν ὅτι τοῦτʼ μελισσῶν ἐστιν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἡ πεῖρα διδάσκει ὅτι ἀπὸ ἀμπέλου ὁ οἶνος· οὐ γὰρ ἀναφέρει ἡ γεῦσις τὸ ἀπὸ ἀμπέλου. τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον τοίνυν τὸ αἰσθητὸν σῶμα οὐκ ἀπαγγέλλει τὸν τρόπον τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ. προσαχθήσῃ δὲ τῷ λεγομένῳ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὧν τῆς ὑποστάσεως καὶ τῆς λαμπρότητος αἰσθόμεθα βλέποντες ἀλλʼ οὐ δή που ἡ αἴσθησις ἡμῖν ὑποβάλλει, πότερον γενητὰ ἢ ἀγένητά ἐστιν. αἱρέσεις γοῦν καὶ περὶ τούτων συνέστησαν· ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ λέγοντες αὐτὰ γενητὰ οὐχ ὁμονοοῦσι περὶ τοῦ πῶς ἐστι γενητά· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑποβάλλει ἡ αἴσθησις αὐτῶν. κἂν βιασάμενος ὁ λόγος εὕρῃ ὅτι γενητά ἐστι. περὶ τοῦ τίνα τρόπον γεγένηται. ### English translation (Claude) Next, repeating himself after having said much above and mocked the birth of God from a virgin, to which we replied as well as we could, he says: If he wanted to send down a spirit from himself, why did he need to breathe it into a woman's womb? For since he already knew how to form men, he could have formed a body for this one too, and not have thrown his own spirit into so great a defilement. In that way he would not even have been disbelieved, if he had been produced directly from above. He said this because he did not see the virginal and pure birth, free from any corruption, of the body that was to serve for the salvation of men. And the man who sets out the Stoic doctrine, and does not pretend to have learned about things indifferent, thinks that the divine nature was thrown into defilement and was defiled, whether in coming to be in a woman's body until a body was formed around it, or in taking up a body. He does something like those who think that the rays of the sun are defiled in mud and foul-smelling bodies and do not remain pure even there. And even if, according to Celsus's supposition, a body had been formed for Jesus without birth, those who saw the body would not at once have believed that it did not come from birth; for what is seen does not also announce the nature from which it came. For example, if hypothetically there were some honey not from bees, no one would declare from taste or sight that it was not from bees; just as honey from bees does not show its origin to the senses, but experience shows that it comes from bees. So too experience teaches that wine comes from the vine; for taste does not trace it back to the vine. In the same way, then, a sensible body does not announce the manner of its coming into being. You will be led to accept this from the heavenly bodies, whose substance and brightness we perceive by seeing them, yet sense certainly does not tell us whether they are generated or ungenerated. There have in fact been rival schools of thought about these; and even those who say they are generated do not agree about how they are generated; for sense does not tell them, even if reason, by force of argument, finds that they are generated, how they came to be. ### Translation notes - “Things indifferent” (ἀδιάφορα) is a Stoic term for things neither good nor bad, such as the body. The last sentence of the section is elliptical in the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/73/). ## Against Celsus 6.74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/74/ - Source: Koetschau 2:143–144 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus rehearses Marcion's views and ridicules the idea of rival sons of rival gods fighting like quails, but Origen says such buffoonery only shows that Celsus lacks serious arguments. ### Greek text Εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἐπαναλαμβάνει πολλάκις ἤδη εἰπὼν τὰ περὶ τῆς γνώμης Μαρκίωνος, καὶ πῇ μὲν ἀληθῶς τὰ Μαρκίωνος ἐκτίθεται πῇ δὲ κἀκείνων παρήκουσεν· πρὸς ἣν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἡμᾶς ἀπαντᾶν ἢ καὶ ἐλέγχειν. εἶτα πάλιν ἑαυτῷ ἐπιφέρει τὰ ὑπὲρ Μαρκίωνος καὶ τὰ κατʼ αὐτοῦ λέγων, τίνα μὲν ἐκφεύγουσι τῶν ἐγκλημάτων τίσι δὲ περιπίπτουσι· καὶ ὅτε βούλεται συναγορεύειν τῷ φάσκοντι λόγῳ πεπροφητεῦσθαι αὐτὸν, ἵνα κατηγορήσῃ Μαρκίωνος καὶ τῶν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. σαφῶς φησιν ὅτι πόθεν ἀποδειχθήσεται θεοῦ παῖς ὁ τοιαῦτα κολασθεὶς. εἰ μὴ περὶ τούτου προείρηται; εἶτα πάλιν παίζει καὶ, ὡς ἔθος αὐτῷ, χλευάζει δύο εἰσάγων υἱοὺς θεῶν, τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ἕνα καὶ τοῦ κατὰ Μαρκίωνα θεοῦ ἕτερον, καὶ ἀναζωγραφεῖ αὐτῶν μονομαχίας, λέγων αὐτὰς εἶναι ὡς τῶν ὀρτύγων, καὶ τῶν πατέρων θεομαχίας· ἢ διὰ γῆρας ἀχρήστους αὐτοὺς ὄντας καὶ ληροῦντας μηδὲν μὲν ἀλλήλους διατιθέναι, ἐᾶν δὲ τοὺς παῖδας μάχεσθαι. ὅπερ οὖν εἶπεν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω, τοῦτο φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτόν· ποία γραῦς καταβαυκαλῶσα παιδίον οὐκ αἰδεσθήσεται τοιαῦτα λέγειν, ὁποῖα οὗτος ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ ἀληθεῖ λόγῳ; δέον γὰρ αὐτὸν πραγματικῶς στῆναι πρὸς τοὺς λόγους, ὁ δὲ ἐάσας τὰ πράγματα παίζει καὶ βωμολοχεῖ οἰόμενος μίμους γράφειν ἤ τινα σκώμματα, οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι ἡ τοιαύτη ἀγωγὴ τῶν λόγων παρὰ τὴν πρόθεσιν τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐστι, βουλομένου καταλιπόντας ἡμᾶς χριστιανισμὸν προσέχειν αὐτοῦ τοῖς δόγμασιν· ἅτινα εἰ μὲν ἐσεμνολόγει, τάχα πιθανώτερα ἦν· ἐπεὶ δὲ χλευάζει καὶ παίζει καὶ βωμολοχεῖ, φήσομεν ὅτι ἀπορίᾳ σεμνῶν λόγων (οὐ γὰρ εἶχεν αὐτοὺς οὐδὲ ἠπίστατο) εἰς τοσαύτην ἐνέπεσε φλυαρίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Next he repeats what he has already said many times about the opinion of Marcion; in part he sets out Marcion's views truly, and in part he has misunderstood them too. We need not answer or refute this. Then again he brings up for himself what may be said for Marcion and against him, saying which charges they escape and which they fall into; and when he wishes to support the argument that says Jesus was prophesied, so as to accuse Marcion and his followers, he says plainly: How will one who was punished in this way be shown to be the child of God, unless this had been foretold about him? Then again he jests and, as is his habit, mocks, bringing in two sons of gods, one of the Creator and the other of Marcion's god, and paints their single combats, saying they are like those of quails, and the battles of their fathers, who, being useless from old age and doting, do nothing to each other but let their sons fight. What he said above we shall say to him: What old woman lulling a child to sleep would not be ashamed to say such things as he says in the book entitled The True Word? For he ought to have stood up to the arguments in a businesslike way; but he leaves aside the matters themselves and jests and plays the buffoon, thinking he is writing mimes or lampoons, not seeing that such a way of arguing is contrary to his own purpose, since he wishes us to abandon Christianity and pay attention to his doctrines. If he had set these out seriously, they might perhaps have been more persuasive; but since he mocks, jests, and plays the buffoon, we shall say that it was for lack of serious arguments (for he did not have them and did not know them) that he fell into such nonsense. ### Translation notes - Marcion taught that the good Father of Jesus was a different god from the Creator of the Old Testament. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.74 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/74/). ## Against Celsus 6.75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/75/ - Source: Koetschau 2:144–145 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus says a divine being would have looked impressive, whereas Jesus was said to be small and ugly; Origen notes Isaiah says he had no beauty, but a Psalm speaks of his beauty too. ### Greek text Ἑξῆς τούτοις λέγει ὅτι ἐπειδὴ θεῖον πνεῦμα ἦν ἐν σώματι, πάντως τι παραλλάττειν αὐτὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐχρῆν (ἢ) κατὰ μέγεθος ἢ κάλλος ἢ ἀλκὴν ἢ φωνὴν ἢ κατάπληξιν ἢ πειθώ. ἀμήχανον γὰρ ὅτῳ θεῖόν τι πλέον τῶν ἄλλων προσῆν μηδὲν ἄλλου διαφέρειν· τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲν ἄλλου διέφερεν, ἀλλʼ, ὥς φασι, μικρὸν καὶ δυσειδὲς καὶ ἀγεννὲς ἦν. φαίνεται δὴ καὶ ἐν τούτοις ὅτι, ἐὰν μὲν κατηγορεῖν θέλῃ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὡς πιστεύων ταῖς παρέχειν δοκούσαις αὐτῷ γραφαῖς ἀφορμὰς κατηγορίας λέγει τὰ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν· ὅπου δὲ κατὰ τὰς αὐτὰς γραφὰς δόξαι ἄν τις τὰ ἐναντία λέγεσθαι τοῖς εἰς κατηγορίαν παραλαμβανομένοις, ταῦτα οὐδὲ προσποιεῖται εἰδέναι. ὁμολογουμένως τοίνυν γέγραπται τὰ περὶ τοῦ δυσειδὲς γεγονέναι τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα, οὐ μὴν ὡς ἐκτέθειται καὶ ἀγεννὲς. οὐδὲ σαφῶς δηλοῦται ὅτι μικρὸν ἦν. ἔχει δὲ ἡ λέξις οὕτως παρὰ τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ ἀναγεγραμμένη, προφητεύοντι αὐτὸν ἐπιδημήσοντα τοῖς πολλοῖς οὐκ ἐν ὡραίῳ εἴδει οὐδέ τινι ὑπερέχοντι κάλλει· „κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ· οὐκ ἔστιν εἶδος αὐτῷ (οὐδὲ δόξα· καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος) οὐδὲ κάλλος· ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. “ ἆρʼ οὖν τούτων μὲν ὁ Κέλσος ἤκουεν, ἐπεὶ ᾤετο αὐτῷ χρήσιμα εἶναι εἰς τὸ κατηγορεῖσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, οὐκέτι δὲ προσέσχε τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐν τεσσαρακοστῷ τετάρτῳ ψαλμῷ, τίνα τρόπον λέγεται· „περίζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατὲ, τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου· καὶ ἔντεινον καὶ κατευοδοῦ καὶ βασίλευε;“ ### English translation (Claude) Next he says: Since a divine spirit was in the body, it must certainly have differed somewhat from the others in size, or beauty, or strength, or voice, or impressiveness, or persuasiveness. For it is impossible that one to whom something divine belonged more than to others should differ in no way from another; but this body differed in no way from another, but, as they say, was small, ugly, and ignoble. Here too it is plain that when he wishes to accuse Jesus, he quotes from the Scriptures as though he believed those that seem to give him grounds for accusation; but where, according to the same Scriptures, things might seem to be said contrary to what he takes up for his accusation, he does not even pretend to know them. It is admittedly written that the body of Jesus was ugly, but not, as he has set out, ignoble too; nor is it clearly shown that he was small. The passage is recorded in Isaiah, who prophesies that he will come to the many not in a comely form or with any surpassing beauty, as follows: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We announced before him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land; he has no form (nor glory; and we saw him, and he had no form) nor beauty; but his form was without honour, failing beyond the sons of men.” Did Celsus, then, listen to these words because he thought them useful to him for accusing Jesus, but pay no more attention to what is said in the forty-fourth Psalm, where it is said: “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your comeliness and your beauty; and bend your bow, and prosper, and reign”? ### Scripture references - Isa 53:1–3: quotation, high confidence - Ps 45:3–4 (44:4-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Isa 53:1–3 LXX and Ps 45:3–4 (44:4–5 LXX; Origen calls it the forty-fourth Psalm, by the Greek numbering). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.75 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/75/). ## Against Celsus 6.76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/76/ - Source: Koetschau 2:145–146 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Celsus accepts Isaiah's prophecy of Jesus' plain appearance but ignores the Transfiguration and the Psalm on his beauty, and in accepting the prophecy he concedes that Jesus fulfilled it. ### Greek text Ἔστω δὲ μὴ ἀνεγνωκέναι αὐτὸν τὴν προφητείαν ἢ ἀνεγνωκότα περιεσπᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν παρερμηνευόντων αὐτὴν ὡς οὐ περὶ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ προφητευομένην· τί φήσει καὶ περὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου. ἐν ᾧ ἀναβὰς „εἰς ὑψηλὸν ὄρος“ „μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν“ τῶν μαθητῶν καὶ ὤφθη ἐν δόξῃ, ὅτε καὶ „Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἠλίας“ „ὀφθέντες ἐν δόξῃ ἔλεγον τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἔμελλε πληροῦν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ;“ ἢ ἐὰν μὲν προφήτης λέγῃ· „εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος“ καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς, καὶ ὁ Κέλσος παραδέχεται τὴν προφητείαν ταύτην ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀναφέρεσθαι, τυφλώττων περὶ τὴν παραδοχὴν τοῦ λεγομένου καὶ οὐχ ὁρῶν ὅτι μεγάλη κατασκευή ἐστι τοῦ τὸν ἄμορφον εἶναι δοκοῦντα Ἰησοῦν υἱὸν εἶναι θεοῦ τὸ πρὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶν τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ πεπροφητεῦσθαι καὶ περὶ τοῦ εἴδους αὐτοῦ· ἐὰν δὲ ἄλλος προφήτης ὡραιότητα καὶ κάλλος εἶναι λέγῃ περὶ αὐτὸν, οὐκέτι βούλεται τὴν προφητείαν εἰς (Ἰησοῦν) Χριστὸν ἀναφέρεσθαι; καὶ εἰ μὲν σαφῶς ἦν ἀπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελίων λαβεῖν ὅτι „οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον ἦν, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, “ εἶπεν ἄν τις οὐ κατὰ (τὸ) προφητικὸν εἰρηκέναι ταῦτα τὸν Κέλσον ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγελικόν· νυνὶ δὲ οὔτε τῶν εὐαγγελίων ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐμφαινόντων ὅτι „οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, “ σαφὲς ὅτι τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς προφητείας ἀναγκάζεται παραδέχεσθαι ὡς ἀληθευόμενον περὶ Χριστοῦ· ὅπερ οὐκέτι ἐπιτρέπει τὰς περὶ Ἰησοῦ κατηγορίας προβαίνειν. ### English translation (Claude) But suppose he had not read the prophecy, or, having read it, had been led astray by those who misinterpret it as not prophesied about Jesus Christ. What will he say about the Gospel, in which Jesus went up “on a high mountain” and “was transfigured before” the disciples and was seen in glory, when also “Moses and Elijah,” “appearing in glory, spoke of his departure, which he was about to fulfil in Jerusalem”? Or, when a prophet says, “We saw him, and he had no form nor beauty,” and so on, does Celsus accept that this prophecy refers to Jesus, being blind in accepting what is said, and not seeing that it is a great proof that Jesus, who seemed to be without form, is the Son of God, that even his appearance was prophesied many years before his birth; but when another prophet says that he has comeliness and beauty, does he no longer wish the prophecy to refer to Jesus Christ? And if it were clearly to be gathered from the Gospels that “he had no form nor beauty, but his form was without honour, failing beyond the sons of men,” one might say that Celsus said this not on the basis of the prophecy but of the Gospel. But as it is, since neither the Gospels nor the apostles show that “he had no form nor beauty,” it is plain that he is compelled to accept what comes from the prophecy as true of Christ; and this no longer allows his accusations against Jesus to proceed. ### Scripture references - Matt 17:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Luke 9:30–31: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:2–3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The passages are Matt 17:1–2, Luke 9:30–31, and Isa 53:2–3 LXX. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Cels. 6.76 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/76/). ## Against Celsus 6.77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/77/ - Source: Koetschau 2:146–149 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jesus appeared differently to different people according to what they could bear, and this points to the Word of God and the Scriptures, which seem plain to the many but are transfigured in glory for those who climb higher. ### Greek text Πάλιν τε αὖ ὁ λέγων· ἐπειδὴ θεῖον πνεῦμα ἦν ἐν σώματι, πάντως τι παραλλάττειν αὐτὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐχρῆν ἢ κατὰ μέγεθος ἢ φωνὴν ἢ ἀλκὴν ἢ κατάπληξιν ἢ πειθὼ πῶς οὐχ ἑώρα τὸ παραλλάττον τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸ τοῖς ὁρῶσι δυνατὸν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο χρήσιμον τοιοῦτο φαινόμενον, ὁποῖον ἔδει ἑκάστῳ βλέπεσθαι; καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν τὴν φύσει τρεπτὴν καὶ ἀλλοιωτὴν καὶ εἰς πάντα ἃ βούλεται ὁ δημιουργὸς ὕλην μεταβλητὴν καὶ πάσης ποιότητος, ἣν ὁ τεχνίτης βούλεται, δεκτικὴν, ὁτὲ μὲν ἔχειν ποιότητα, καθʼ ἣν λέγεται τό· „οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, “ ὁτὲ δὲ οὕτως ἔνδοξον καὶ καταπληκτικὴν καὶ θαυμαστὴν, ὡς „ἐπὶ πρόσωπον“ πεσεῖν τοὺς θεατὰς τοῦ τηλικούτου κάλλους συνανελθόντας τῷ Ἰησοῦ· τρεῖς ἀποστόλους. ἀλλʼ ἐρεῖ ταῦτʼ εἶναι πλάσματα καὶ μύθων οὐδὲν διαφέροντα, ὡς καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν περὶ Ἰησοῦ παραδόξων. πρὸς τόδε (μὲν οὖν) διὰ πλειόνων ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων ἀπελογησάμεθα· ἔχει δέ τι καὶ μυστικώτερον ὁ λόγος, ἀπαγγέλλων τὰς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διαφόρους μορφὰς ἀναφέρεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θείου λόγου φύσιν, οὐχ ὁμοίως φαινομένου τοῖς τε πολλοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀκολουθεῖν αὐτῷ „εἰς ὑψηλὸν, “ ὃ ἀποδεδώκαμεν, „ὄρος“ δυναμένοις. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἔτι κάτω τυγχάνουσι καὶ μηδέπω ἐπὶ τὸ ἀναβαίνειν παρεσκευασμένοις ὁ λόγος „οὐκ ἔχει εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος“· τὸ γὰρ „εἶδος αὐτοῦ“ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐστὶν „ἄτιμον καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς „ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων γεγενημένους λόγους, τροπικῶς ἐν τούτοις καλουμένους „υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων.“ εἴποιμεν γὰρ ἂν πολλῷ ὡραιοτέρους φαίνεσθαι τοὺς τῶν φιλοσοφούντων λόγους, ὄντας „υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων, “ παρὰ τὸν τοῖς πολλοῖς κηρυσσόμενον θεοῦ λόγον, ὃς ἐμφαίνει καὶ μωρίαν „κηρύγματος“· καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐμφαινομένην μωρίαν „τοῦ κηρύγματος“ λέγουσιν οἱ τοῦτο μόνον θεωροῦντες· „εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος.“ τοῖς μέντοι (ἐκ τοῦ) ἀκολουθεῖν αὐτῷ δύναμιν ἀνειληφόσι πρὸς τὸ ἕπεσθαι καὶ ἀναβαίνοντι αὐτῷ „εἰς τὸ ὑψηλὸν ὄρος“ θειοτέραν μορφὴν ἔχει· ἣν βλέπουσιν, εἴ τις ἐστὶ „Πέτρος, “ χωρήσας τὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐν αὑτῷ οἰκοδομὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τοσαύτην ἕξιν ἀναλαβὼν, ὡς μηδεμίαν πύλην ᾅδου κατισχύσειν αὐτοῦ, ὑψωθέντος διὰ τὸν λόγον „ἐκ τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου, ὅπως ἂν“ ἐξαγγείλῃ „πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις“ τοῦ θεοῦ „ἐν ταῖς πύλαις τῆς θυγατρὸς Σιών“· καὶ εἴ τινες εἰσὶν ἐκ λόγων τὴν γένεσιν λαβόντες μεγαλοφώνων, οἵτινες οὐδὲν ἀποδέουσι νοητῆς „βροντῆς.“ <καὶ „τὰ ἱμάτια“ δὲ „αὐτοῦ“ κάτω ἄλλα ἐστὶν, οὐκ ἔστι „λευκὰ, “ οὐκ ἔστιν „ὡς τὸ φῶς“· ἐὰν ἀναβῇς „εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ ὑψηλὸν, “ ὄψει αὐτοῦ φῶς καὶ „τὰ ἱμάτια.“ „τὰ ἱμάτια“ τοῦ λόγου αἱ λέξεις εἰσὶ τῆς γραφῆς, ἔνδυμα τῶν θείων νοημάτων τὰ ῥήματά ἐστι ταῦτα. ὡς οὖν αὐτὸς κάτω ἀλλοῖος φαίνεται καὶ ἀναβὰς μεταμορφοῦται καὶ γίνεται „τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, “ οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἐνδύματα αὐτοῦ, οὕτω καὶ „τὰ ἱμάτια“· ὅταν δὲ ᾖς κάτω, οὐκ ἔστι λαμπρὰ, οὐκ ἔστι „λευκά“· ἐὰν δὲ ἀναβῇς, ὄψει τὸ κάλλος καὶ „τὸ φῶς“ τῶν ἱματίων, καὶ „τὸ πρόσωπον“ θαυμάσεις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μεταμορφωθέν. ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ ὅμοιόν ἐστι καὶ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος μαθεῖν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ, γενεαλογουμένου ἐξ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ „γεννωμένου ἐκ σπέρματος Δαυῒδ κατὰ σάρκα, “ „βίβλος“ ἐστὶ „γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ“· τὰ δὲ θειότερα καὶ μείζονα τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ λεχθησομένων ἂν καὶ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἀπαγγελλομένων φησὶν ὁ Ἰωάννης, ὡς ἄρα „οὐδὲ τὸν κόσμον οἶμαι χωρεῖν τὰ γραφόμενα βιβλία.“ τὸ γὰρ μὴ „χωρεῖν τὸν κόσμον τὰ γραφόμενα βιβλία“ οὐ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν γραμμάτων, ὥς τινες, ἐκδεκτέον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν πραγμάτων· τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν πραγμάτων οὐ μόνον οὐ δυναμένου γράφεσθαι ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ διὰ γλώσσης σαρκίνης ἀπαγγέλλεσθαι οὐδὲ ἐν διαλέκτοις καὶ φωναῖς ἀνθρωπίναις σημαίνεσθαι. ὅθεν καὶ Παῦλος, ἐπὰν μανθάνειν μέλλῃ τὰ θειότερα, ἔξω τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς περιγείου κόσμου γίνεται καὶ εἰς τρίτον οὐρανὸν ἁρπάζεται, ἵνα τὰ ἐκεῖθεν „ἄῤῥητα ῥήματα“ ἀκοῦσαι δυνηθῇ. τὰ γὰρ ἐνθάδε λαλούμενα καὶ λόγος εἶναι θεοῦ νομιζόμενα, τοῦ λόγου σαρκωθέντος καὶ καθὸ „θεός“ ἐστι „πρὸς τὸν θεὸν“ ἑαυτὸν κενοῦντος, ἀπαγγέλλεται. διόπερ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἐπὶ „γῆς, ἐπεὶ ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ἀνθρώπινον βλέπομεν· ἀεὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς „ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, “ ἵνα κατασκηνώσῃ „ἐν ἡμῖν“· ἀλλʼ ἐὰν εἰς „τὸ στῆθος“ τοῦ σαρκωθέντος λόγου ἀνακλιθῶμεν καὶ ἀνιόντι αὐτῷ „εἰς τὸ ὑψηλὸν ὄρος“ ἀκολουθῆσαι δυνηθῶμεν, ἐροῦμεν τό· „εἴδομεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ“· τάχα μέν τινων καὶ ἑτέρων παρὰ τοὺς ἀνακλιθέντας ἐπὶ τοῦ στήθους αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθήσαντας αὐτῷ „εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ ὑψηλὸν“ λεξόντων τό· „εἴδομεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, “ οὐκέτι δὲ προσθησόντων τό· „δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρὸς. πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας“· Ἰωάννῃ γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ὁμοίοις πρέπουσα αὕτη ἡ φωνή. καὶ καθʼ ἑτέραν δὲ ὑψηλοτέραν διήγησιν οἱ δυνηθέντες τοῖς ἴχνεσιν Ἰησοῦ κατακολουθεῖν, ἀναβαίνοντος καὶ μεταμορφουμένου ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπὶ γῆς ὄψεως, ὄψονται αὐτοῦ τὴν μεταμόρφωσιν καθʼ ἑκάστην γραφήν· οἱονεὶ τοῦ μὲν τοῖς πολλοῖς φαινομένου Ἰησοῦ τῆς προχείρου λέξεως ὄντος, τοῦ δὲ „εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν“ ἀνιόντος καὶ μεταμορφουμένου σφόδρα ὀλίγοις τῶν μαθητῶν καὶ τοῖς ἀκολουθῆσαι εἰς τὰ ὑψηλὰ δεδυνημένοις τοῦ ἀνωτάτου καὶ ὑψηλοτάτου νοῦ, περιέχοντος λόγια τῆς „ἐν μυστηρίῳ“ ἀποκεκρυμμένης σοφίας, „ἣν προώρισεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς δόξαν“ τῶν δικαίων αὐτοῦ.> ἀλλὰ πόθεν Κέλσῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς τοῦ θείου λόγου καὶ μὴ φιλαλήθως τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ ἐξετάσασιν εἰδέναι τὸ βούλημα τῶν διαφόρων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μορφῶν; ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω καὶ ἡλικιῶν, καὶ εἴ τι τῶν πρὸ τοῦ παθεῖν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένων καὶ τῶν μετὰ τὸ ἀναστῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν. ### English translation (Claude) Again, the man who says, Since a divine spirit was in the body, it must certainly have differed somewhat from the others in size or voice or strength or impressiveness or persuasiveness, how did he not see that his body differed according to what the beholders could bear, and for that reason appeared in a useful way, such as each needed to see it? And it is not surprising that matter, which is by nature changeable and alterable, transformable into whatever the Creator wishes and receptive of every quality the craftsman wishes, should at one time have the quality according to which it is said, “He had no form nor beauty,” and at another time one so glorious, impressive, and wonderful that the three apostles who had gone up with Jesus and saw such beauty fell “on their faces.” But he will say that these are fictions differing in no way from myths, like the rest of the wonders about Jesus. We have answered this at length earlier. But the account has also a more mystical meaning, declaring that the different forms of Jesus are to be referred to the nature of the divine Word, who does not appear in the same way to the many and to those able to follow him up the “high mountain” we have spoken of. For to those who are still below and not yet prepared to ascend, the Word “has no form nor beauty”; for to such his “form” is “without honour and failing” beside the words produced by men, which are figuratively called here “sons of men.” For we might say that the words of the philosophers, being “sons of men,” appear much more comely than the Word of God preached to the many, which displays even the foolishness “of preaching”; and because of the apparent foolishness “of preaching,” those who see only this say: “We saw him, and he had no form nor beauty.” But to those who, by following him, have received power to go after him even as he ascends “the high mountain,” he has a more divine form. They see it if one is a “Peter,” who has received in himself the building of the Church from the Word and has acquired such a habit that no gate of Hades will prevail against him, since he has been lifted up through the Word “from the gates of death, so that he may” proclaim “all the praises” of God “in the gates of the daughter of Zion”; and those too see it who have taken their birth from words of great voice, who fall in no way short of spiritual “thunder.”