Letter Against Celsus - Origen - Book VIII
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Translated by the Rev. Frederick Crombie, D.D.
Text edited by Rev. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson and
first published by T&T Clark in Edinburgh in 1867. Additional
introductionary material and notes provided for the American
edition by A. Cleveland Coxe, 1886.
Book VIII
Chapter I.
Having completed seven books, I now propose to begin the eighth. And may God
and His Only-begotten Son the Word be with us, to enable us effectively to
refute the falsehoods which Celsus has published under the delusive title of
A True Discourse, and at the same time to unfold the truths of Christianity
with such fulness as our purpose requires. And as Paul said, "We are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us," [4590] so
would we in the same spirit and language earnestly desire to be ambassadors
for Christ to men, even as the Word of God beseeches them to the love of
Himself, seeking to win over to righteousness truth, and the other virtues,
those who, until they receive the doctrines of Jesus Christ, live in
darkness about God and in ignorance of their Creator. Again, then, I would
say, may God bestow upon us His pure and true Word, even "the Lord strong
and mighty in battle" [4591] against sin. We must now proceed to state the
next objection of Celsus, and afterwards to answer it.
Chapter II.
In a passage previously quoted Celsus asks us why we do not worship demons,
and to his remarks on demons we gave such an answer as seemed to us in
accordance with the divine word. After having put this question for the
purpose of leading us to the worship of demons, he represents us as
answering that it is impossible to serve many masters. "This," he goes on to
say, "is the language of sedition, and is only used by those who separate
themselves and stand aloof from all human society. Those who speak in this
way ascribe," as he supposes, "their own feelings and passions to God. It
does hold true among men, that he who is in the service of one master cannot
well serve another, because the service which he renders to the one
interferes with that which he owes to the other; and no one, therefore, who
has already engaged himself to the service of one, must accept that of
another. And, in like manner, it is impossible to serve at the same time
heroes or demons of different natures. But in regard to God, who is subject
to no suffering or loss, it is," he thinks, "absurd to be on our guard
against serving more gods, as though we had to do with demi-gods, or other
spirits of that sort." He says also, "He who serves many gods does that
which is pleasing to the Most High, because he honours that which belongs to
Him." And he adds, "It is indeed wrong to give honour to any to whom God has
not given honour." "Wherefore," he says, "in honouring and worshipping all
belonging to God, we will not displease Him to whom they all belong."
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Chapter III.
Before proceeding to the next point, it may be well for us to see whether we
do not accept with approval the saying, "No man can serve two masters," with
the addition, "for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other," and further, "Ye cannot
serve God and mammon." [4592] The defence of this passage will lead us to a
deeper and more searching inquiry into the meaning and application of the
words "gods" and "lords." Divine Scripture teaches us that there is "a great
Lord above all gods." [4593] And by this name "gods" we are not to
understand the objects of heathen worship (for we know that "all the gods of
the heathen are demons" [4594] ), but the gods mentioned by the prophets as
forming an assembly, whom God "judges," and to each of whom He assigns his
proper work. For "God standeth in the assembly of the gods: He judgeth among
the gods." [4595] For "God is Lord of gods," who by His Son "hath called the
earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof." [4596] We are
also commanded to "give thanks to the God of gods." [4597] Moreover, we are
taught that "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." [4598] Nor
are these the only passages to this effect; but there are very many others.
Chapter IV.
The sacred Scriptures teach us to think, in like manner, of the Lord of
lords. For they say in one place, "Give thanks to the God of gods, for His
mercy endureth for ever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy
endureth for ever; "and in another, "God is King of kings, and Lord of
lords." For Scripture distinguishes between those gods which are such only
in name and those which are truly gods, whether they are called by that name
or not; and the same is true in regard to the use of the word "lords." To
this effect Paul says, "For though there be that are called gods, whether in
heaven or in earth, as there are gods many, and lords many." [4599] But as
the God of gods calls whom He pleases through Jesus to his inheritance,
"from the east and from the west," and the Christ of God thus shows His
superiority to all rulers by entering into their several provinces, and
summoning men out of them to be subject to Himself, Paul therefore, with
this in view, goes on to say, "But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by Him; "adding, as if with a deep sense of the marvellous and
mysterious nature of the doctrine, "Howbeit there is not in every man that
knowledge." When he says, "To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom
are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things," by
"us" he means himself and all those who have risen up to the supreme God of
gods and to the supreme Lord of lords. Now he has risen to the supreme God
who gives Him an entire and undivided worship through His Son'the word and
wisdom of God made manifest in Jesus. For it is the Son alone who leads to
God those who are striving, by the purity of their thoughts, words, and
deeds, to come near to God the Creator of the universe. I think, therefore,
that the prince of this world, who "transforms himself into an angel of
light," [4600] was referring to this and such like statements in the
words, "Him follows a host of gods and demons, arranged in eleven bands."
[4601] Speaking of himself and the philosophers, he says, "We are of the
party of Jupiter; others belong to other demons."
Chapter V.
Whilst there are thus many gods and lords, whereof some are such in reality,
and others are such only in name, we strive to rise not only above those
whom the nations of the earth worship as gods, but also beyond those spoken
of as gods in Scripture, of whom they are wholly ignorant who are strangers
to the covenants of God given by Moses and by our Saviour Jesus, and who
have no part in the promises which He has made to us through them. That man
rises above all demon-worship who does nothing that is pleasing to demons;
and he rises to a blessedness beyond that of those whom Paul calls "gods,"
if he is enabled, like them, or in any way he may, "to look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen." And he who
considers that" the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God, not willingly, but by reason of him who
subjected the same in hope," whilst he praises the creature, and sees how
"it shall be freed altogether from the bondage of corruption, and restored
to the glorious liberty of the children of God," [4602] 'such a one cannot
be induced to combine with the service of God the service of any other, or
to serve two masters. There is therefore nothing seditious or factious in
the language of those who hold these views, and who refuse to serve more
masters than one. To them Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Lord, who
Himself instructs them, in order that when fully instructed He may form them
into a kingdom worthy of God, and present them to God the Father. But indeed
they do in a sense separate themselves and stand aloof from those who are
aliens from the commonwealth of God and strangers to His covenants, in order
that they may live as citizens of heaven, "coming to the living God, and to
the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven." [4603]
Chapter VI.
But when we refuse to serve any other than God through His word and wisdom,
we do so, not as though we would thereby be doing any harm or injury to God,
in the same way as injury would be done to a man by his servant entering
into the service of another, but we fear that we ourselves should suffer
harm by depriving ourselves of our portion in God, through which we live in
the participation of the divine blessedness, and are imbued with that
excellent spirit of adoption which in the sons of the heavenly Father cries,
not with words, but with deep effect in the inmost heart, "Abba, Father."
The Lacedaemonian ambassadors, when brought before the king of Persia,
refused to prostrate themselves before him, when the attendants endeavoured
to compel them to do so, out of respect for that which alone had authority
and lordship over them, namely, the law of Lycurgus. [4604] But they who
have a much greater and diviner embassy in "being ambassadors for Christ"
should not worship any ruler among Persians, or Greeks or Egyptians, or of
any nation whatever, even although their officers and ministers, demons and
angels of the devil, should seek to compel them to do so, and should urge
them to set at nought a law which is mightier than all the laws upon earth.
For the Lord of those who are "ambassadors for Christ" is Christ Himself,
whose ambassadors they are, and who is "the Word, who was in the beginning,
was with God, and was God." [4605]
Chapter VII.
But when Celsus speaks of heroes and demons, he starts a deeper question
than he is aware of. For after the statement which he made in regard to
service among men, that" the first master is injured when any of his
servants wishes at the same time to serve another," he adds, that "the same
holds true of heroes, and other demons of that kind." Now we must inquire of
him what nature he thinks those heroes and demons possess of whom he affirms
that he who serves one hero may not serve another, and he who serves one
demon may not serve another, as though the former hero or demon would be
injured in the same way as men are injured when they who serve them first
afterwards give themselves to the service of others. Let him also state what
loss he supposes those heroes or demons will suffer. For he will be driven
either to plunge into endless absurdities, and first repeat, then retract
his previous statements; or else to abandon his frivolous conjectures, and
confess that he understands nothing of the nature of heroes and demons. And
in regard to his statement, that men suffer injury when the servant of one
man enters the service of a second master, the question arises: "What is the
nature of the injury which is done to the former master by a servant who,
while serving him, wishes at the same time to serve another? "
Chapter VIII.
For if he answers, as one who is unlearned and ignorant of philosophy, that
the injury sustained is one which regards things that are outside of us, it
will be plainly manifest that he knows nothing of that famous saying of
Socrates, "Anytus and Melitus may kill me, but they cannot injure me; for it
is impossible that the better should ever be injured by the worse." But if
by injury he means a wicked impulse or an evil habit, it is plain that no
injury of this kind would befall the wise, by one man serving two wise men
in different places. If this sense does not suit his purpose, it is evident
that his endeavours are vain to weaken the authority of the passage, "No man
can serve two masters; "for these words can be perfectly true only when they
refer to the service which we render to the Most High through His Son, who
leadeth us to God. And we will not serve God as though He stood in need of
our service, or as though He would be made unhappy if we ceased to serve
Him; but we do it because we are ourselves benefited by the service of God,
and because we are freed from griefs and troubles by serving the Most High
God through His only-begotten Son, the Word and Wisdom.
Chapter IX.
And observe the recklessness of that expression, "For if thou worship any
other of the things in the universe," as though he would have us believe
that we are led by our service of God to the worship of any other things
which belong to God, without any injury to ourselves. But, as if feeling his
error, he corrects the words, "If thou worship any other of the things in
the universe," by adding, "We may honour none, however, except those to whom
that right has been given by God." And we would put to Celsus this question
in regard to those who are honoured as gods, as demons, or as heroes: "Now,
sir, can you prove that the right to be honoured has been given to these by
God, and that it has not arisen from the ignorance and folly of men who in
their wanderings have fallen away from Him to whom alone worship and service
are properly due? You said a little ago, O Celsus, that Antinous, the
favourite of Adrian, is honoured; but surely you will not say that the right
to be worshipped as a god was given to him by the God of the universe? And
so of the others, we ask proof that the right to be worshipped was given to
them by the Most High God." But if the same question is put to us in regard
to the worship of Jesus, we will show that the right to be honoured was
given to Him by God, "that all may honour the Son, even as they honour the
Father." [4606] For all the prophecies which preceded His birth were
preparations for His worship. And the wonders which He wrought'through no
magical art, as Celsus supposes, but by a divine power, which was foretold
by the prophets'have served as a testimony from God in behalf of the worship
of Christ. He who honours the Son, who is the Word and Reason, acts in
nowise contrary to reason, and gains for himself great good; he who honours
Him, who is the Truth, becomes better by honouring truth: and this we may
say of honouring wisdom, righteousness, and all the other names by which the
sacred Scriptures are wont to designate the Son of God.
Chapter X.
But that the honour which we pay to the Son of God, as well as that which we
render to God the Father, consists of an upright course of life, is plainly
taught us by the passage, "Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through
breaking the law dishonourest thou God? " [4607] and also, "Of how much
sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace? " [4608] For if he who transgresses the law dishonours
God by his transgression, and he who treads under foot the word treads under
foot the Son of God, it is evident that he who keeps the law honours God,
and that the worshipper of God is he whose life is regulated by the
principles and precepts of the divine word. Had Celsus known who they are
who are God's people, and that they alone are wise,'and who they are who are
strangers to God, and that these are all the wicked who have no desire to
give themselves to virtue, he would have considered before he gave
expression to the words, "How can he who honours any of those whom God
acknowledges as His own be displeasing to God, to whom they all belong? "
Chapter XI.
He adds, "And indeed he who, when speaking of God, asserts that there is
only one who may be called Lord, speaks impiously, for he divides the
kingdom of God, and raises a sedition therein, implying that there are
separate factions in the divine kingdom, and that there exists one who is
His enemy." He might speak after this fashion, if he could prove by
conclusive arguments that those who are worshipped as gods by the heathens
are truly gods, and not merely evil spirits, which are supposed to haunt
statues and temples and altars. But we desire not only to understand the
nature of that divine kingdom of which we are continually speaking and
writing, but also ourselves to be of those who are under the rule of God
alone, so that the kingdom of God may be ours. Celsus, however, who teaches
us to worship many gods, ought in consistency not to speak of "the kingdom
of God," but of "the kingdom of the gods." There are therefore no factions
in the kingdom of God, nor is there any god who is an adversary to Him,
although there are some who, like the Giants and Titans, in their wickedness
wish to contend with God in company with Celsus, and those who declare war
against Him who has by innumerable proofs established the claims of Jesus,
and against Him who, as the Word, did, for the salvation of our race, show
Himself before all the world in such a form as each was able to receive Him.
Chapter XII.
In what follows. some may imagine that he says something plausible against
us. "If," says he, "these people worshipped one God alone, and no other,
they would perhaps have some valid argument against the worship of others.
But they pay excessive reverence to one who has but lately appeared among
men, and they think it no offence against God if they worship also His
servant." To this we reply, that if Celsus had known that saying," I and My
Father are one," [4609] and the words used in prayer by the Son of God,
"As Thou and I are one, [4610] he would not have supposed that we worship
any other besides Him who is the Supreme God. "For," says He, "My Father is
in Me, and I in Him." [4611] And if any should from these words be afraid
of our going over to the side of those who deny that the Father and the Son
are two persons, let him weigh that passage, "And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of one soul," [4612] that he may understand
the meaning of the saying, "I and My Father are one." We worship one God,
the Father and the Son, therefore, as we have explained; and our argument
against the worship of other gods still continues valid. And we do not
"reverence beyond measure one who has but lately appeared," as though He did
not exist before; [4613] for we believe Himself when He says, "Before
Abraham was, I am." [4614] Again He says, "I am the truth; " [4615] and
surely none of us is so simple as to suppose that truth did not exist before
the time when Christ appeared. [4616] We worship, therefore, the Father of
truth, and the Son, who is the truth; and these, while they are two,
considered as persons or subsistences, are one in unity of thought, in
harmony and in identity of will. So entirely are they one, that he who has
seen the Son, "who is the brightness of God's glory, and the express image
of His person," [4617] has seen in Him who is the image, of God, God
Himself.
Chapter XIII.
He further supposes, that "because we join along with the worship of God the
worship of His Son, it follows that, in our view, not only God, but also the
servants of God, are to be worshipped." If he had meant this to apply to
those who are truly the servants of God, after His only-begotten Son,'to
Gabriel and Michael, and the other angels and archangels, and if he had said
of these that they ought to be worshipped,'if also he had clearly defined
the meaning of the word "worship," and the duties of the worshippers,'we
might perhaps have brought forward such thoughts as have occurred to us on
so important a subject. But as he reckons among the servants of God the
demons which are worshipped by the heathen, he cannot induce us, on the plea
of consistency, to worship such as are declared by the word to be servants
of the evil one, the prince of this world, who leads astray from God as many
as he can. We decline, therefore, altogether to worship and serve those whom
other men worship, for the reason that they are not servants of God. For if
we had been taught to regard them as servants of the Most High, we would not
have called them demons. Accordingly, we worship with all our power the one
God, and His only Son, the Word and the Image of God, by prayers and
supplications; and we offer our petitions to the God of the universe through
His only-begotten Son. To the Son we first present them, and beseech Him, as
"the propitiation for our sins," [4618] and our High Priest, to offer our
desires, and sacrifices, and prayers, to the Most High. Our faith,
therefore, is directed to God through His Son, who strengthens it in us;
anti Celsus can never show that the Son of God is the cause of any sedition
or disloyalty in the kingdom of God. We honour the Father when we admire His
Son, the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and Righteousness, and all that He who
is the Son of so great a Father is said in Scripture to be. So much on this
point.
Chapter XIV.
Again Celsus proceeds: "If you should tell them that Jesus is not the Son of
God, but that, God is the Father of all, and that He alone: ought to be
truly worshipped, they would not consent to discontinue their worship of him
who is their leader in the sedition. And they call him Son of God, not out
of any extreme reverence for God, but from an extreme desire to extol Jesus
Christ." We, however, have learned who the Son of God is, and know that He
is "the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person," and
"the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory
of the Almighty; "moreover, "the brightness of the everlasting light, the
unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of His goodness."
[4619] We know, therefore, that He is the Son of God, and that God is His
father. And there is nothing extravagant or unbecoming the character of God
in the doctrine that He should have begotten such an only Son; and no one
will persuade us that such a one is not a Son of the unbegotten God and
Father. If Celsus has heard something of certain persons holding that the
Son of God is not the Son of the Creator of the universe, that is a matter
which lies between him and the supporters of such an opinion. Jesus is,
then, not the leader of any seditious movement, but the promoter of peace.
For He said to His disciples, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto
you; "and as He knew that it would be men of the world, and not men of God,
who would wage war against us, he added, "Not as the world giveth peace, do
I give peace unto you." [4620] And even although we are oppressed in the
world, we have confidence in Him who said, "In the world ye shall have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And it is He
whom we call Son of God'Son of that God, namely, whom, to quote the words of
Celsus, "we most highly reverence; "and He is the Son who has been most
highly exalted by the Father. Grant that there may be some individuals among
the multitudes of believers who are not in entire agreement with us, and who
incautiously assert that the Saviour is the Most High God; however, we do
not hold with them, but rather believe Him when He says, "The Father who
sent Me is greater than I." [4621] We would not therefore make Him whom we
call Father inferior'as Celsus accuses us of doing'to the Son of God.
Chapter XV.
Celsus goes on to say: "That I may give a true representation of their
faith, I will use their own words, as given in what is called A Heavenly
Dialogue: 'If the Son is mightier than God, and the Son of man is Lord over
Him, who else than the Son can be Lord over that God who is the ruler over
all things? How comes it, that while so many go about the well, no one goes
down into it? Why art thou afraid when thou hast gone so far on the way?
Answer: Thou art mistaken, for I lack neither courage nor weapons.' Is it
not evident, then, that their views are precisely such as I have described
them to be? They suppose that another God, who is above the heavens, is the
Father of him whom with one accord they honour, that they may honour this
Son of man alone, whom they exalt under the form and name of the great God,
and whom they assert to be stronger than God, who rules the world, and that
he rules over Him. And hence that maxim of theirs, 'It is impossible to
serve two masters, 'is maintained for the purpose of keeping up the party
who are on the side of this Lord." Here, again, Celsus quotes opinions from
some most obscure sect of heretics, and ascribes them to all Christians. I
call it "a most obscure sect; "for although we have often contended with
heretics, yet we are unable to discover from what set of opinions he has
taken this passage, if indeed he has quoted it from any author, and has not
rather concocted it himself, or added it as an inference of his own. For we
who say that the visible world is under the government to Him who created
all things, do thereby declare that the Son is not mightier than the Father,
but inferior to Him. And this belief we ground on the saying of Jesus
Himself, "The Father who sent Me is greater than I." And none of us is so
insane as to affirm that the Son of man is Lord over God. But when we regard
the Saviour as God the Word, and Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Truth, we
certainly do say that He has dominion over all things which have been
subjected to Him in this capacity, but not that His dominion extends over
the God and Father who is Ruler over all. [4622] Besides, as the Word
rules over none against their will, there are still wicked beings'not only
men, but also angels, and all demons'over whom we say that in a sense He
does not rule, since they do not yield Him a willing obedience; but, in
another sense of the word, He rules even over them, in the same way as we
say that man rules over the irrational animals,'not by persuasion, but as
one who tames and subdues lions and beasts of burden. Nevertheless, he
leaves no means untried to persuade even those who are still disobedient to
submit to His authority. So far as we are concerned, therefore, we deny the
truth of that which Celsus quotes as one of our sayings, "Who else than He
can be Lord over Him who is God over all? "
Chapter XVI
The remaining part of the extract given by Celsus seems to have been taken
from some other form of heresy, and the whole jumbled together in strange
confusion: "How is it, that while so many go about the well, no one goes
down into it? Why dost thou shrink with fear when thou hast gone so far on
the way? Answer: Thou art mistaken, for I lack neither courage nor
weapons." We who belong to the Church which takes its name from Christ,
assert that none of these statements are true. For he seems to have made
them simply that they might harmonize with what he had said before; but they
have no reference to us. For it is a principle with us, not to worship any
god whom we merely "suppose" to exist, but Him alone who is the Creator of
this universe, and of all things besides which are unseen by the eye of
sense. These remarks of Celsus may apply to those who go on another road and
tread other paths from us,'men who deny the Creator, and make to themselves
another god under a new form, having nothing but the name of God, whom they
esteem higher than the Creator; and with these may be joined any that there
may be who say that the Son is greater than the God who rules all things. In
reference to the precept that we ought not to serve two masters, we have
already shown what appears to us the principle contained in it, when we
proved that no sedition or disloyalty could be charged against the followers
of Jesus their Lord, who confess that they reject every other lord, and
serve Him alone who is the Son and Word of God.
Chapter XVII.
Celsus then proceeds to say that "we shrink from raising altars, statues,
and temples; and this," he thinks, "has been agreed upon among us as the
badge or distinctive mark of a secret and forbidden society." He does not
perceive that we regard the spirit of every good man as an altar from which
arises an incense which is truly and spiritually sweet-smelling, namely, the
prayers ascending from a pure conscience. Therefore it is said by John in
the Revelation, "The odours are the prayers of saints; " [4623] and by the
Psalmist, "Let my prayer come up before Thee as incense." [4624] And the
statues and gifts which are fit offerings to God are the work of no common
mechanics, but are wrought and fashioned in us by the Word of God, to wit,
the virtues in which we imitate "the First-born of all creation," who has
set us an example of justice, of temperance, of courage, of wisdom, of
piety, and of the other virtues. In all those, then, who plant and cultivate
within their souls, according to the divine word, temperance, justice,
wisdom, piety, and other virtues, these excellences are their statues they
raise, in which we are persuaded that it is becoming for us to honour the
model and prototype of all statues: "the image of the invisible God," God
the Only-begotten. And again, they who "put off the old man with his deeds,
and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him
that hath created him," in taking upon them the image of Him who hath
created them, do raise within themselves a statue like to what the Most High
God Himself desires. And as among statuaries there are some who are
marvellously perfect in their art, as for example Pheidias and Polycleitus,
and among painters, Zeuxis and Apelles, whilst others make inferior statues,
and others, again, are inferior to the second-rate artists,'so that, taking
all together, there is a wide difference in the execution of statues and
pictures,'in the same way there are some who form images of the Most High in
a better manner and with a more perfect skill; so that there is no
comparison even between the Olympian Jupiter of Pheidias and the man who has
been fashioned according to the image of God the Creator. But by far the
most excellent of all these throughout the whole creation is that image in
our Saviour who said, "My Father is in Me."
Chapter XVIII.
And every one who imitates Him according to his ability, does by this very
endeavour raise a statue according to the image of the Creator for in the
contemplation of God with a pure heart they become imitators of Him. And, in
general, we see that all Christians strive to raise altars and statues as we
have described them and these not of a lifeless and senseless kind and not
to receive greedy spirits intent upon lifeless things, but to be filled with
the Spirit of God who dwells in the images of virtue of which we have
spoken, and takes His abode in the soul which is conformed to the image of
the Creator. Thus the Spirit of Christ dwells in those who bear, so to say,
a resemblance in form and feature to Himself. And the Word of God, wishing
to set this clearly before us, represents God as promising to the righteous,
"I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and
they shall be My people." [4625] And the Saviour says, "If any man hear My
words, and do them, I and My Father will come to him, and make Our abode
with him." [4626] Let any one, therefore, who chooses compare the altars
which I have described with those spoken of by Celsus, and the images in the
souls of those who worship the Most High God with the statues of Pheidias,
Polycleitus, and such like, and he will clearly perceive, that while the
latter are lifeless things, and subject to the ravages of time, the former
abide in the immortal spirit as long as the reasonable soul wishes to
preserve them.
Chapter XIX.
And if, further, temples are to be compared with temples, that we may prove
to those who accept the opinions of Celsus that we do not object to the
erection of temples suited to the images and altars of which we have spoken,
but that we do refuse to build lifeless temples to the Giver of all life,
let any one who chooses learn how we are taught, that our bodies are the
temple of God, and that if any one by lust or sin defiles the temple of God,
he will himself be destroyed, as acting impiously towards the true temple.
Of all the temples spoken of in this sense, the best and most excellent was
the pure and holy body of our Saviour Jesus Christ. When He knew that wicked
men might aim at the destruction of the temple of God in Him, but that their
purposes of destruction would not prevail against the divine power which had
built that temple, He says to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it again. This He said of the temple of His body." [4627]
And in other parts of holy Scripture where it speaks of the mystery of the
resurrection to those whose ears are divinely opened, it says that the
temple which has been destroyed shall be built up again of living and most
precious stones, thereby giving us to understand that each of those who are
led by the word of God to strive together in the duties of piety, will be a
precious stone in the one great temple of God. Accordingly, Peter says, "Ye
also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ; "
[4628] and Paul also says, "Being built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ our Lord being the chief cornerstone." [4629]
And there is a similar hidden allusion in this passage in Isaiah, which is
addressed to Jerusalem: "Behold, I will lay thy stones with carbuncles, and
lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy battlements of
jasper, and thy gates of crystal, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the
peace of thy children. In righteousness shall thou be established." [4630]
Chapter XX.
There are, then, among the righteous some who are carbuncles, others
sapphires, others jaspers, and others crystals, and thus there is among the
righteous every kind of choice and precious stone. As to the spiritual
meaning of the different stones,'what is their nature, and to what kind of
soul the name of each precious stone especially applies,'we cannot at
present stay, to examine. We have only felt it necessary to show thus
briefly what we understand by temples, and what the one Temple of God built
of precious stones truly means. For as if in some cities a dispute should
arise as to which had the finest temples, those who thought their own were
the best would do their utmost to show the excellence of their own temples
and the inferiority of the others,'in like manner, when they reproach us for
not deeming it necessary to worship the Divine Being by raising lifeless
temples, we set before them our temples, and show to such at least as are
not blind and senseless, like their senseless gods, that there is no
comparison between our statues and the statues of the heathen, nor between
our altars, with what we may call the incense ascending from them, and the
heathen altars, with the fat and blood of the victims; nor, finally, between
the temples of senseless gods, admired by senseless men, who have no divine
faculty for perceiving God, and the temples, statues, and altars which are
worthy of God. It is not therefore true that we object to building altars,
statues, and temples, because we have agreed to make this the badge of a
secret and forbidden society; but we do so, because we have learnt from
Jesus Christ the true way of serving God, and we shrink from whatever, under
a pretence of piety, leads to utter impiety those who abandon the way marked
out for us by Jesus Christ. For it is He who alone is the way of piety, as
He truly said, "I am the way, the truth, the life."
Chapter XXI.
Let us see what Celsus further says of God, and how he urges us to the use
of those things which are properly called idol offerings, or, still better,
offerings to demons, although, in his ignorance of what true sanctity is,
and what sacrifices are well-pleasing to God, he call them "holy
sacrifices." His words are, "God is the God of all alike; He is good, He
stands in need of nothing, and He is without jealousy. What, then, is there
to hinder those who are most devoted to His service from taking part in
public feasts. I cannot see the connection which he fancies between God's
being good, and independent, and free from jealousy, and His devoted
servants taking part in public feasts. I confess, indeed, that from the fact
that God is good, and without want of anything, and free from jealousy, it
would follow as a consequence that we might take part in public feasts, if
it were proved that the public feasts had nothing wrong in them, and were
grounded upon true views of the character of God, so that they resulted
naturally from a devout service of God. If, however, the so-called public
festivals can in no way be shown to accord with the service of God, but may
on the contrary be proved to have been devised by men when occasion offered
to commemorate some human events, or to set forth certain qualities of water
or earth, or the fruits of the earth,'in that case, it is clear that those
who wish to offer an enlightened worship to the Divine Being will act
according to sound reason, and not take part in the public feasts. For "to
keep a feast," as one of the wise men of Greece has well said, "is nothing
else than to do one's duty; " [4631] and that man truly celebrates a feast
who does his duty and prays always, offering up continually bloodless
sacrifices in prayer to God. That therefore seems to me a most noble saying
of Paul, "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of
you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." [4632]
Chapter XXII.
If it be objected to us on this subject that we ourselves are accustomed to
observe certain days, as for example the Lord's day, the Preparation, the
Passover, or Pentecost, I have to answer, that to the perfect Christian, who
is ever in his thoughts, words, and deeds serving his natural Lord, God the
Word, all his days are the Lord's, and he is always keeping the Lord's day.
He also who is unceasingly preparing himself for the true life, and
abstaining from the pleasures of this life which lead astray so many,'who is
not indulging the lust of the flesh, but "keeping under his body, and
bringing it into subjection,"'such a one is always keeping Preparation-day.
Again, he who considers that "Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us,"
and that it is his duty to keep the feast by eating of the flesh of the
Word, never ceases to keep the paschal feast; for the pascha means a
"passover," and he is ever striving in all his thoughts, words, and deeds,
to pass over from the things of this life to God, and is hastening towards
the city of God. And, finally, he who can truly say, "We are risen with
Christ," and "He hath exalted us, and made us to sit with Him in heavenly
places in Christ," is always living in the season of Pentecost; and most of
all, when going up to the upper chamber, like the apostles of Jesus, he
gives himself to supplication and prayer, that he may become worthy of
receiving "the mighty wind rushing from heaven," which is powerful to
destroy sin and its fruits among men, and worthy of having some share of the
tongue of fire which God sends.
Chapter XXIII.
But the majority of those who are accounted believers are not of this
advanced class; but from being either unable or unwilling to keep every day
in this manner, they require some sensible memorials to prevent spiritual
things from passing altogether away from their minds. It is to this practice
of setting apart some days distinct from others, that Paul seems to me to
refer in the expression, "part of the feast; " [4633] and by these words
he indicates that a life in accordance with the divine word consists not "in
a part of the feast," but in one entire and never ceasing festival. [4634]
Again, compare the festivals, observed among us as these have been described
above, with the public feasts of Celsus and the heathen, and say if the
former are not much more sacred observances than those feasts in which the
lust of the flesh runs riot, and leads to drunkenness and debauchery. It
would be too long for us at present to show why we are required by the law
of God to keep its festivals by eating "the bread of affliction," [4635]
or "unleavened with bitter herbs," [4636] or why it says, "Humble your
souls," [4637] and such like. For it is impossible for man, who is a
compound being, in which "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh," [4638] to keep the feast with his whole nature;
for either he keeps the feast with his spirit and afflicts the body, which
through the lust of the flesh is unfit to keep it along with the spirit, or
else he keeps it with the body, and the spirit is unable to share in it. But
we have for the present said enough on the subject of feasts.
Chapter XXIV.
Let us now see on what grounds Celsus urges us to make use of the idol
offerings and the public sacrifices in the public feasts. His words are, "If
these idols are nothing, what harm will there be in taking part in the
feast? On the other hand, if they are demons, it is certain that they too
are God's creatures, and that we must believe in them, sacrifice to them
according to the laws, and pray to them that they may be propitious." In
reference to this statement, it would be profitable for us to take up and
clearly explain the whole passage of the first Epistle to the Corinthians,
in which Paul treats of offerings to idols. [4639] The apostle draws from
the fact that "an idol is nothing in the world," the consequence that it is
injurious to use things offered to idols; and he shows to those who have
ears to hear on such subjects, that he who partakes of things offered to
idols is worse than a murderer, for he destroys his own brethren, for whom
Christ died. And further, he maintains that the sacrifices are made to
demons; and from that he proceeds to show that those who join the table of
demons become associated with the demons; and he concludes that a man cannot
both be a partaker of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. But
since it would require a whole treatise to set forth fully all that is
contained on this subject in the Epistle to the Corinthians, we shall
content ourselves with this brief statement of the argument; for it will be
evident to any one who carefully considers what has been said, that even if
idols are nothing, nevertheless it is an awful thing to join in idol
festivals. And even supposing that there are such beings as demons to whom
the sacrifices are offered, it it has been clearly shown that we are
forbidden to take part in these festivals, when we know the difference
between the table of the Lord and the table of demons. And knowing this, we
endeavour as much as we can to be always partakers of the Lord's table, and
beware to the utmost of joining at any time the table of demons.
Chapter XXV.
Celsus says that "the demons belong to God, and are therefore to be
believed, to be sacrificed to according to laws, and to be prayed to that
they may be propitious." Those who are disposed to learn, must know that the
word of God nowhere says of evil things that they belong to God, for it
judges them unworthy of such a Lord. Accordingly, it is not all men who bear
the name of "men of God," but only those who are worthy of God,'such as
Moses and Elias, and any others who are so called, or such as resemble those
who are so called in Scripture. In the same way, all angels are not said to
be angels of God, but only those that are blessed: those that have fallen
away into sin are called "angels of the devil," just as bad men are called
"men of sin," "sons of perdition," or "sons of iniquity." Since, then, among
men some are good and others bad, and the former are said to be God's and
the latter the devil's, so among angels some are angels of God, and others
angels of the devil. But among demons there is no such distinction, for all
are said to be wicked. We do not therefore hesitate to say that Celsus is
false when he says, "If they are demons, it is evident that they must also
belong to God." He must either show that this distinction of good and bad
among angels and men has no foundation, or else that a similar distinction
may be shown to hold among demons. If that is impossible, it is plain that
demons do not belong to God; for their prince is not God, but, as holy
Scripture says, "Beelzebub."
Chapter XXVI.
And we are not to believe in demons, although Celsus urges us to do so; but
if we are to obey God, we must die, or endure anything, sooner than obey
demons. In the same way, we are not to propitiate demons; for it is
impossible to propitiate beings that are wicked and that seek the injury of
men. Besides, what are the laws in accordance with which Celsus would have
us propitiate the demons? For if he means laws enacted in states, he must
show that they are in agreement with the divine laws. But if that cannot be
done, as the laws of many states are quite inconsistent with each other,
these laws, therefore, must of necessity either be no laws at all in the
proper sense of the word, or else the enactments of wicked men; and these we
must not obey, for "we must obey God rather than men." Away, then, with this
counsel, which Celsus gives us, to offer prayer to demons: it is not to be
listened to for a moment; for our duty is to pray to the Most High God
alone, and to the Only-begotten, the First-born of the whole creation, and
to ask Him as our High Priest to present the prayers which ascend to Him
from us, to His God and our God, to His Father and the Father of those who
direct their lives according to His word. [4640] And as we would have no
desire to enjoy the favour of those men who wish us to follow their wicked
lives, and who give us their favour only on condition that we choose nothing
opposed to their wishes, because their favour would make us enemies of God,
who cannot be pleased with those who have such men for their friends,'in the
same way those who are acquainted with the nature, the purposes, and the
wickedness of demons, can never wish to obtain their favour.
Chapter XXVII.
And Christians have nothing to fear, even if demons should not be
well-disposed to them; for they are protected by the Supreme God, who is
well pleased with their piety, and who sets His divine angels to watch over
those who are worthy of such guardianship, so that they can suffer nothing
from demons. He who by his piety possesses the favour of the Most High, who
has accepted the guidance of Jesus, the "Angel of the great counsel,"
[4641] being well contented with the favour of God through Christ Jesus, may
say with confidence that he has nothing to suffer from the whole host of
demons. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord
is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should
encamp against me, my heart shall not fear." [4642] So much, then, in
reply to those statements of Celsus: "If they are demons, they too evidently
belong to God, and they are to be believed, to be sacrificed to according to
the laws, and prayers are to be offered to them that they may be
propitious."
Chapter XXVIII.
We shall now proceed to the next statement of Celsus, and examine it with
care: "If in obedience to the traditions of their fathers they abstain from
such victims, they must also abstain from all animal food, in accordance
with the opinions of Pythagoras, who thus showed his respect for the soul
and its bodily organs. But if, as they say, they abstain that they may not
eat along with demons, I admire their wisdom, in having at length
discovered, that whenever they eat they eat with demons, although they only
refuse to do so when they are looking upon a slain victim; for when they eat
bread, or drink wine, or taste fruits, do they not receive these things, as
well as the water they drink and the air they breathe, from certain demons,
to whom have been assigned these different provinces of nature? "Here I
would observe that I cannot see how those whom he speaks of as abstaining
from certain victims, in accordance with the traditions of their fathers,
are consequently bound to abstain from the flesh of all animals. We do not
indeed deny that the divine word does seem to command something similar to
this, when to raise us to a higher and purer life it says, "It is good
neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother
stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak; " [4643] and again, "Destroy
not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died; " [4644] and again, "If meat
make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth,
lest I make my brother to offend." [4645]
Chapter XXIX.
But it is to be observed that the Jews, who claim for themselves a correct
understanding of the law of Moses, carefully restrict their food to such
things as are accounted clean, and abstain from those that are unclean. They
also do not use in their food the blood of an animal nor the flesh of an
animal torn by wild beasts, and some other things which it would take too
long for us at present to detail. But Jesus, wishing to lead all men by His
teaching to the pure worship and service of God, and anxious not to throw
any hindrance in the way of many who might be benefited by Christianity,
through the imposition of a burdensome code of rules in regard to food, has
laid it down, that "not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but
that which cometh out of the mouth; for whatsoever entereth in at the mouth
goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught. But those things
which proceed out of the mouth are evil thoughts when spoken, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." [4646] Paul
also says, "Meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we
the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse." [4647] Wherefore,
as there is some obscurity about this matter, without some explanation is
given, it seemed good to the apostles of Jesus and the elders assembled
together at Antioch, [4648] and also, as they themselves say, to the Holy
Spirit, to write a letter to the Gentile believers, forbidding them to
partake of those things from which alone they say it is necessary to
abstain, namely, "things offered to idols, things strangled, and blood."
[4649]
Chapter XXX.
For that which is offered to idols is sacrificed to demons, and a man of God
must not join the table of demons. As to things strangled, we are forbidden
by Scripture to partake of them, because the blood is still in them; and
blood, especially the odour arising from blood, is said to be the food of
demons. Perhaps, then, if we were to eat of strangled animals, we might have
such spirits feeding along with us. And the reason which forbids the use of
strangled animals for food is also applicable to the use of blood. And it
may not be amiss, as bearing on this point, to recall a beautiful saying in
the writings of Sextus, [4650] which is known to most Christians: "The
eating of animals," says he, "is a matter of indifference; but to abstain
from them is more agreeable to reason." It is not, therefore, simply an
account of some traditions of our fathers that we refrain from eating
victims offered to those called gods or heroes or demons, but for other
reasons, some of which I have here mentioned. it is not to be supposed,
however, that we are to abstain from the flesh of animals in the same way as
we are bound to abstain from all race and wickedness: we are indeed to
abstain not only from the flesh of animals, but from all other kinds of
food, if we cannot partake of them without incurring evil, and the
consequences of evil. For we are to avoid eating for gluttony, or for the
mere gratification of the appetite, without regard to the health and
sustenance of the body. We do not believe that souls pass from one body to
another, and that they may descend so low as to enter the bodies of the
brutes. If we abstain at times from eating the flesh of animals, it is
evidently, therefore, not for the same reason as Pythagoras; for it is the
reasonable soul alone that we honour, and we commit its bodily organs with
due honours to the grave. For it is not right that the dwelling-place of the
rational soul should be cast aside anywhere without honour, like the
carcases of brute beasts; and so much the more when we believe that the
respect paid to the body redounds to the honour of the person who received
from God a soul which has nobly employed the organs of the body in which it
resided. In regard to the question, "How are the dead raised up, and with
what body do they come? " [4651] we have already answered it briefly, as
our purpose required.
Chapter XXXI.
Celsus afterwards states what is adduced by Jews and Christians alike in
defence of abstinence from idol sacrifices, namely, that it is wrong for
those who have dedicated themselves to the Most High God to eat with demons.
What he brings forward against this view, we have already seen. In our
opinion, a man can only be said to eat and drink with demons when he eats
the flesh of what are called sacred victims, and when he drinks the wine
poured out to the honour of the demons. But Celsus thinks that we cannot eat
bread or drink wine in any way whatever, or taste fruits, or even take a
draught of water, without eating and drinking with demons. He adds also,
that the air which we breathe is received from demons, and that not an
animal can breathe without receiving the air from the demons who are set
over the air. If any one wishes to defend this statement of Celsus, let him
show that it is not the divine angels of god, but demons, the whole race of
whom are bad, that have been appointed to communicate all those blessings
which have been mentioned. We indeed also maintain with regard not only to
the fruits of the earth, but to every flowing stream and every breath of air
that the ground brings forth those things which are said to grow up
naturally,'that the water springs in fountains, and refreshes the earth with
running streams,'that the air is kept pure, and supports the life of those
who breathe it, only in consequence of the agency and control of certain
beings whom we may call invisible husbandmen and guardians; but we deny that
those invisible agents are demons. And if we might speak boldly, we would
say that if demons have any share at all in these things, to them belong
famine, blasting of the vine and fruit trees, pestilence among men and
beasts: all these are the proper occupations of demons, who in the capacity
of public executioners receive power at certain times to carry out the
divine judgments, for the restoration of those who have plunged headlong
into wickedness, or for the trial and discipline of the souls of the wise.
For those who through all their afflictions preserve their piety pure and
unimpaired, show their true character to all spectators, whether visible or
invisible, who behold them; while those who are otherwise minded, yet
conceal their wickedness, when they have their true character exposed by
misfortunes, become manifest to themselves as well as to those whom we may
also call spectators.
Chapter XXXII.
The Psalmist bears witness that divine justice employs certain evil angels
to inflict calamities upon men: "He cast upon them the fierceness of His
anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, sent by evil angels." [4652]
Whether demons ever go beyond this when they are suffered to do what they
are ever ready, though through the restraint put upon them they are not
always able to do, is a question to be solved by that man who can conceive,
in so far as human nature will allow, how it accords with the divine
justice, that such multitudes of human souls are separated from the body
while walking in the paths which lead to certain death. "For the judgments
of God are so great," that a soul which is still clothed with a mortal body
cannot comprehend them; "and they cannot be expressed: therefore by
unnurtured souls" [4653] they are not in any measure to be understood. And
hence, too, rash spirits, by their ignorance in these matters, and by
recklessly setting themselves against the Divine Being, multiply impious
objections against providence. It is not from demons, then, that men receive
any of those things which meet the necessities of life, and least of all
ourselves, who have been taught to make a proper use of these things. And
they who partake of corn and wine, and the fruits of trees, of water and of
air, do not feed with demons, but rather do they feast with divine angels,
who are appointed for this purpose, and who are as it were invited to the
table of the pious man, who hearkens to the precept of the word, which says,
"Whether ye eat or drink, or whatever y.e do, do all to the glory of God."
[4654] And again, in another place it is written, "Do all things in the name
of God." [4655] When, therefore, we eat and drink and breathe to the glory
of God, and act in all things according to what is right, we feast with no
demons, but with divine angels: "For every creature is good, and nothing to
be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the
word of God and prayer." [4656] But it could not be good, and it could not
be sanctified, if these things were, as Celsus supposes, entrusted to the
charge of demons.
Chapter XXXIII.
From this it is evident that we have already met the next statement of
Celsus, which is as follows: "We must either not live, and indeed not come
into this life at all, or we must do so on condition that we give thanks and
first-fruits and prayers to demons, who have been set over the things of
this world: and that we must do as long as we live, that they may prove good
and kind." We must surely live, and we must live according to the word of
God, as far as we are enabled to do so. And we are thus enabled to live,
when, "whether we eat or drink, we do all to the glory of God; "and we are
not to refuse to enjoy those things which have been created for our use, but
must receive them with thanksgiving to the Creator. And it is under these
conditions, and not such as have been imagined by Celsus, that we have been
brought into life by God; and we are not placed under demons, but we are
under the government of the Most High God, through Him who hath brought us
to God'Jesus Christ. It is not according to the law of God that any demon
has had a share in worldly affairs, but it was by their own lawlessness that
they perhaps sought out for themselves places destitute of the knowledge of
God and of the divine life, or places where there are many enemies of God.
Perhaps also, as being fit to rule over and punish them, they have been set
by the Word, who governs all things, to rule over those who subjected
themselves to evil and not to God. For this reason, then, let Celsus, as one
who knows not God, give thank-offerings to demons. But we give thanks to the
Creator of all, and, along with thanksgiving and prayer for the blessings we
have received, we also eat the bread presented to us; and this bread becomes
by prayer a sacred body, which sanctifies those who sincerely partake of it.
Chapter XXXIV.
Celsus would also have us to offer first-fruits to demons. But we would
offer them to Him who said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed
is in itself upon the earth." [4657] And to Him to whom we offer
first-fruits we also send up our prayers, "having a great high priest, that
is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God," and "we hold fast this
profession" [4658] as long as we live; for we find God and His
only-begotten Son, manifested to us in Jesus; to be gracious and kind to us.
And if we would wish to have besides a great number of beings who shall ever
prove friendly to us, we are taught that "thousand thousands stood before
Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand ministered unto Him." [4659] And
these, regarding all as their relations and friends who imitate their piety
towards God, and in prayer call upon Him with sincerity, work along with
them for their salvation, appear unto them, deem it their office and duty to
attend to them, and as if by common agreement they visit with all manner of
kindness and deliverance those who pray to God, to whom they themselves also
pray: "For they are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
those who shall be heirs of salvation." [4660] Let the learned Greeks say
that the human soul at its birth is placed under the charge of demons: Jesus
has taught us not to despise even the little ones in His Church, saying,
"Their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven."
[4661] And the prophet says, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about
them that fear Him, and delivereth them." [4662] We do not, then, deny
that there are many demons upon earth, but we maintain that they exist and
exercise power among the wicked, as a punishment of their wickedness. But
they have no power over those who "have put on the whole armour of God," who
have received strength to "withstand the wiles of the devil," [4663] and
who are ever engaged in contests with them, knowing that "we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places." [4664]
Chapter XXV.
Now let us consider another saying of Celsus, which is as follows: "The
satrap of a Persian or Roman monarch, or ruler or general or governor, yea,
even those who fill lower offices of trust or service in the state, would be
able to do great injury to those who despised them; and will the satraps and
ministers of earth and air be insulted with impunity? "Observe now how he
introduces servants of the Most High'rulers, generals, governors, and those
filling lower offices of trust and service'as, after the manner of men,
inflicting injury upon those who insult them. For he does not consider that
a wise man would not wish to do harm to any, but would strive to the utmost
of his power to change and amend them; unless, indeed, it be that those whom
Celsus makes servants and rulers appointed by the Most High are behind
Lycurgus, the lawgiver of the Lacedaemonians, or Zeno of Citium. For when
Lycurgus had had his eye put out by a man, he got the offender into his
power; but instead of taking revenge upon him, he ceased not to use all his
arts of persuasion until he induced him to become a philosopher. And Zeno,
on the occasion of some one saying, "Let me perish rather than not have my
revenge on thee," answered him, "But rather let me perish if I do not make a
friend of thee." And I am not yet speaking of those whose characters have
been formed by the teaching of Jesus, and who have heard the words, "Love
your enemies, and pray for them which despitefully use you, that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust." [4665] And in the prophetical writings the righteous man says,
"O Lord my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I
have returned evil to those who have done evil to me, let me fall helpless
under mine enemies: let my enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let
him tread down my life upon the earth." [4666]
Chapter XXXVI.
But the angels, who are the true rulers and generals and ministers of God,
do not, as Celsus supposes, "injure those who offend them; "and if certain
demons, whom Celsus had in mind, do inflict evils, they show that they are
wicked, and that they have received no office of the kind from God. And they
even do injury to those who are under them, and who have acknowledged them
as their masters; and accordingly, as it would seem that those who break
through the regulations which prevail in any country in regard to matters of
food, suffer for it if they are under the demons of that place, while those
who are not under them, and have not submitted to their power, are free from
all harm, and bid defiance to such spirits; although if, in ignorance of
certain things, they have come under the power of other demons, they may
suffer punishment from them. But the Christian'the true Christian, I
mean'who has submitted to God alone and His Word, will suffer nothing from
demons, for He is mightier than demons. And the Christian will suffer
nothing, for "the angel of the Lord will encamp about them that fear Him,
and will deliver them," [4667] and his "angel," who "always beholds the
face of his Father in heaven," [4668] offers up his prayers through the
one High Priest to the God of all, and also joins his own prayers with those
of the man who is committed to his keeping. Let not, then, Celsus try to
scare us with threats of mischief from demons, for we despise them. And the
demons, when despised, can do no harm to those who are under the protection
of Him who can alone help all who deserve His aid; and He does no less than
set His own angels over His devout servants, so that none of the hostile
angels, nor even he who is called "the prince of this world," [4669] can
effect anything against those who have given themselves to God.
Chapter XXXVII.
In the next place, Celsus forgets that he is addressing Christians, who pray
to God alone through Jesus; and mixing up other notions with theirs, he
absurdly attributes them all to Christians. "If," says he, "they who are
addressed are called upon by barbarous names, they will have power, but no
longer will they have any if they are addressed in Greek or Latin." Let him,
then, state plainly whom we call upon for help by barbarous names. Any one
will be convinced that this is a false charge which Celsus brings against
us, when he considers that Christians in prayer do not even use the precise
names which divine Scripture applies to God; but the Greeks use Greek names,
the Romans Latin names, and every one prays and sings praises to God as he
best can, in his mother tongue. For the Lord of all the languages of the
earth hears those who pray to Him in each different tongue, hearing, if I
may so say, but one voice, expressing itself in different dialects. [4670]
For the Most High is not as one of those who select one language, Barbarian
or Greek, knowing nothing of any other, and caring nothing for those who
speak in other tongues.
Chapter XXXVIII.
He next represents Christians as saying what he never heard from any
Christian; or if he did, it must have been from one of the most ignorant and
lawless of the people. "Behold," they are made to say, "I go up to a statue
of Jupiter or Apollo, or some other god: I revile it, and beat it, yet it
takes no vengeance on me." He is not aware that among the prohibitions of
the divine law is this, "Thou shalt not revile the gods," [4671] and this
is intended to prevent the formation of the habit of reviling any one
whatever; for we have been taught, "Bless, and curse not," [4672] and it
is said that "revilers shall not inherit the kingdom of God." [4673] And
who amongst us is so foolish as to speak in the way Celsus describes, and to
fail to see that such contemptuous language can be of no avail for removing
prevailing notions about the gods? For it is matter of observation that
there are men who utterly deny the existence of a God or of an overruling
providence, and who by their impious and destructive teaching have founded
sects among those who are called philosophers, and yet neither they
themselves, nor those who have embraced their opinions, have suffered any of
those things which mankind generally account evils: they are both strong in
body and rich in possessions. And yet if we ask what loss they have
sustained, we shall find that they have suffered the most certain injury.
For what greater injury can befall a man than that he should be unable
amidst the order of the world to see Him who has made it? and what sorer
affliction can come to any one than that blindness of mind which prevents
him from seeing the Creator and Father of every soul?
Chapter XXXIX
After putting such words into our mouth, and maliciously charging Christians
with sentiments which they never held, he then proceeds to give to this
supposed expression of Christian feeling an answer, which is indeed more a
mockery than an answer, when he says, "Do you not see, good sir, that even
your own demon is not only reviled, but banished from every land and sea,
and you yourself, who are as it were an image dedicated to him, are bound
and led to punishment, and fastened to the stake, whilst your demon'or, as
you call him, 'the Son of God''takes no vengeance on the evil-doer? "This
answer would be admissible if we employed such language as he ascribes to
us; although even then he would have no right to call the Son of God a
demon. For as we hold that all demons are evil, He who turns so many men to
God is in our view no demon, but God the Word, and the Son of God. And I
know not how Celsus has so far forgotten himself as to call Jesus Christ a
demon, when he nowhere alludes to the existence of any evil demons. And
finally, as to the punishments threatened against the ungodly, these will
come upon them after they have refused all remedies, and have been, as we
may say, visited with an incurable malady of sinfulness.
Chapter XL.
Such is our doctrine of punishment; and the inculcation of this doctrine
turns many from their sins. But let us see, on the other hand, what is the
response given on this subject by the priest of Jupiter or Apollo of whom
Celsus speaks. It is this: "The mills of the gods grind slowly." [4674]
Another describes punishment as reaching "to children's children, and to
those who came after them." [4675] How much better are those words of
Scripture: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own
sin." [4676] And again, "Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth
shall be set on edge." [4677] And, "The son shall not bear the iniquity of
the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him." [4678] If any shall say that the response, "To
children's children, and to those who come after them," corresponds with
that passage, "Who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me," [4679] let him
learn from Ezekiel that this language is not to be taken literally; for he
reproves those who say, "Our fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge," [4680] and then he adds, "As I live,
saith the Lord, every one shall die for his own sin." As to the proper
meaning of the figurative language about sins being visited unto the third
and fourth generation, we cannot at present stay to explain.
Chapter XLI.
He then goes on to rail against us after the manner of old wives. "You,"
says he, "mock and revile the statues of our gods; but if you had reviled
Bacchus or Hercules in person, you would not perhaps have done so with
impunity. But those who crucified your God when present among men, suffered
nothing for it, either at the time or during the whole of their lives. And
what new thing has there happened since then to make us believe that he was
not an impostor, but the Son of God? And forsooth, he who sent his Son with
certain instructions for mankind, allowed him to be thus cruelly treated,
and his instructions to perish with him, without ever during all this long
time showing the slightest concern. What father was ever so inhuman?
Perhaps, indeed, you may say that he suffered so much, because it was his
wish to bear what came to him. But it is open to those whom you maliciously
revile, to adopt the same language, and say that they wish to be reviled,
and therefore they bear it with patience; for it is best to deal equally
with both sides,'although these (gods) severely punish the scorner, so that
he must either flee and hide himself, or be taken and perish." Now to these
statements I would answer that we revile no one, for we believe that
"revilers will not inherit the kingdom of God." [4681] And we read, "Bless
them that curse you; bless, and curse not; "also, "Being reviled, we
bless." And even although the abuse which we pour upon another may seem to
have some excuse in the wrong which we have received from him, yet such
abuse is not allowed by the word of God. And how much more ought we to
abstain from reviling others, when we consider what a great folly it is! And
it is equally foolish to apply abusive language to stone or gold or silver,
turned into what is supposed to be the form of God by those who have no
knowledge of God. Accordingly, we throw ridicule not upon lifeless images,
but upon those only who worship them. Moreover, if certain demons reside in
certain images, and one of them passes for Bacchus, another for Hercules, we
do not vilify them: for, on the one hand, it would be useless; and, on the
other, it does not become one who is meek, and peaceful, and gentle in
spirit, and who has learnt that no one among men or demons is to be reviled,
however wicked he may be.
Chapter XLII.
There is an inconsistency into which, strangely enough, Celsus has fallen
unawares. Those demons or gods whom he extolled a little before, he now
shows to be in fact the vilest of creatures, punishing more for their own
revenge than for the improvement of those who revile them. His words are,
"If you had reviled Bacchus or Hercules when present in person, you would
not have escaped with impunity." How any one can hear without being present
in person, I leave any one who will to explain; as also those other
questions, "Why he is sometimes present, and sometimes absent? "and, "What
is the business which takes demons away from place to place? "Again, when he
says, "Those who crucified your God himself, suffered no harm for doing
so," he supposes that it is the body of Jesus extended on the cross and
slain, and not His divine nature, that we call God; and that it was as God
that Jesus was crucified and slain. As we have already dwelt at length on
the sufferings which Jesus suffered as a man, we shall. purposely say no
more here, that we may not repeat what we have said already. But when he
goes on to say that "those who inflicted death upon Jesus suffered nothing
afterwards through so long a time," we must inform him, as well as all who
are disposed to learn the truth, that the city in which the Jewish people
called for the crucifixion of Jesus with shouts of" Crucify him, crucify
him," [4682] preferring to have the robber set free, who had been cast
into prison for sedition and murder and Jesus, who had been delivered
through envy, to be crucified,'that this city not long afterwards was
attacked, and, after a long siege, was utterly overthrown and laid waste;
for God judged the inhabitants of that place unworthy of living together the
life of citizens. And yet, though it may seem an incredible thing to say,
God spared this people in delivering them to their enemies; for He saw that
they were incurably averse to any amendment, and were daily sinking deeper
and deeper into evil. And all this befell them, because the blood of Jesus
was shed at their instigation and on their land; and the land was no longer
able to bear those who were guilty of so fearful a crime against Jesus.
Chapter XLIII.
Some new thing, then, has come to pass since the time that Jesus
suffered,'that, I mean, which has happened to the city, to the whole nation,
and in the sudden and general rise of a Christian community. And that, too,
is a new thing, that those who were strangers to the covenants of God, with
no part in His promises, and far from the truth, have by a divine power been
enabled to embrace the truth. These things were not the work of an impostor,
but were the work of God, who sent His Word, Jesus Christ, to make known His
purposes. [4683] The sufferings and death which Jesus endured with such
fortitude and meekness, show the cruelty and injustice of those who
inflicted them, but they did not destroy the announcement of the purposes of
God; indeed, if we may so say, they served rather to make them known. For
Jesus Himself taught us this when He said, "Except a grain of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth by itself alone: but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit." [4684] Jesus, then, who is this grain of
wheat, died, and brought forth much fruit. And the Father is ever looking
forward for the results of the death of the grain of wheat, both those which
are arising now, and those which shall arise hereafter. The Father of Jesus
is therefore a tender and loving Father, though "He spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up" as His lamb "for us all," [4685] that so "the Lamb
of God," by dying for all men, might "take away the sin of the world." It
was not by compulsion, therefore, but willingly, that He bore the reproaches
of those who reviled Him. Then Celsus, returning to those who apply abusive
language to images, says: "Of those whom you load with insults, you may in
like manner say that they voluntarily submit to such treatment, and
therefore they bear insults with patience; for it is best to deal equally
with both sides. Yet these severely punish the scorner, so that he must
either flee and hide himself, or be taken and perish." It is not, then,
because Christians cast insults upon demons that they incur their revenge,
but because they drive them away out of the images, and from the bodies and
souls of men. And here, although Celsus perceives it not, he has on this
subject spoken something like the truth; for it is true that the souls of
those who condemn Christians, and betray them, and rejoice in persecuting
them, are filled with wicked demons.
Chapter XLIV.
But when the souls of those who die for the Christian faith depart from the
body with great glory, they destroy the power of the demons, and frustrate
their designs against men. Wherefore I imagine, that as the demons have
learnt from experience that they are defeated and overpowered by the martyrs
for the truth, they are afraid to have recourse again to violence. And thus,
until they forget the defeats they have sustained, it is probable that the
world will be at peace with the. Christians. But when they recover their
power, and, with eyes blinded by sin, wish again to take their revenge on
Christians, and persecute them, then again they will be defeated, and then
again the souls of the godly, who lay down their lives for the cause of
godliness, shall utterly destroy the army of the wicked one. And as the
demons perceive that those who meet death victoriously for the sake of
religion destroy their authority, while those who give way under their
sufferings, and deny the faith, come under their power, I imagine that at
times they feel a deep interest in Christians when on their trial, and
keenly strive to gain them over to their side, feeling as they do that their
confession is torture to them, and their denial is a relief and
encouragement to them. And traces of the same feeling may be seen in the
demeanour of the judges; for they are greatly distressed at seeing those who
bear outrage and torture with patience, but are greatly elated when a
Christian gives way under it. Yet it is from no feeling of humanity that
this arises. They see well, that, while "the tongues" of those who are
overpowered by the tortures "may take the oath, the mind has not sworn.",
[4686] And this may serve as an answer to the remark of Celsus: "But they
severely punish one who reviles them, so that he must either flee and hide
himself, or be taken and perish." If a Christian ever flees away, it is not
from fear, but in obedience to the command of his Master, that so he may
preserve himself, and employ his strength for the benefit of others.
Chapter XLV.
Let us see what Celsus next goes on to say. It is as follows: "What need is
there to collect all the oracular responses, which have been delivered with
a divine voice by priests and priestesses, as wall as by others, whether men
or women, who were under a divine influence?'all the wonderful things that
have been heard issuing from the inner sanctuary?'all the revelations that
have been made to those who consulted the sacrificial victims?'and all the
knowledge that has been conveyed to men by other signs and prodigies? To
some the gods have appeared in visible forms. The world is full of such
instances. How many cities have been built in obedience to commands received
from oracles; how often, in the same way, delivered from disease and famine!
Or again, how many cities, from disregard or forgetfulness of these oracles,
have perished miserably! How many colonies have been established and made to
flourish by following their orders! How many princes and private persons
have, from this cause, had prosperity or adversity! How many who mourned
over their childlessness, have obtained the blessing they asked for! How
many have turned away from themselves. the anger of demons! How many who
were maimed in their limbs, have had them restored! And again, how many have
met with summary punishment for showing want of reverence to the
temples'some being instantly seized with madness, others openly confessing
their crimes, others having put an end to their lives, and others having
become the victims of incurable maladies! Yea, some have been slain by a
terrible voice issuing from the inner sanctuary." I know not how it comes
that Celsus brings forward these as undoubted facts, whilst at the same time
he treats as mere fables the wonders which are recorded and handed down to
us as having happened among the Jews, or as having been performed by Jesus
and His disciples. For why may not our accounts be true, and those of Celsus
fables and fictions? At least, these latter were not believed by the
followers of Democritus, Epicurus, and Aristotle, although perhaps these
Grecian sects would have been convinced by the evidence in support of our
miracles, if Moses or any of the prophets who wrought these wonders, or
Jesus Christ Himself, had come in their way.
Chapter XLVI.
It is related of the priestess of Apollo, that she at times allowed herself
to be influenced in her answers by bribes; but our prophets were admired for
their plain truthfulness, not only by their contemporaries, but also by
those who lived in later times. For through the commands pronounced by the
prophets cities were founded, men were cured, and plagues were stayed.
Indeed, the whole Jewish race went out as a colony from Egypt to Palestine,
in accordance with the divine oracles. They also, when they followed the
commands of God, were prosperous; when they departed from them, they
suffered reverses. What need is there to quote all the princes and private
persons in Scripture history who fared well or ill according as they obeyed
or despised the words of the prophets? If we refer to those who were unhappy
because they were childless, but who, after offering prayers to the Creator
of all, became fathers and mothers, let any one read the accounts of Abraham
and Sarah, to whom at an advanced age was born Isaac, the father of the
whole Jewish nation: and there are other instances of the same thing. Let
him also read the account of Hezekiah, who not only recovered from his
sickness, according to the prediction of Isaiah, but was also bold enough to
say, "Afterwards I shall beget children, who shall declare Thy
righteousness." [4687] And in the fourth book of Kings we read that the
prophet Elisha made known to a woman who had received him hospitably, that
by the grace of God she should have a son; and through the prayers of Elisha
she became a mother. [4688] The maimed were cured by Jesus in great
numbers. And the books of the Maccabees relate what punishments were
inflicted upon those who dared to profane the Jewish service in the temple
at Jerusalem.
Chapter XLVII.
But the Greeks Will say that these accounts are fabulous, although two whole
nations are witnesses to their truth. But why may we not consider the
accounts of fife Greeks as fabulous rather than those? Perhaps some one,
however, wishing not to appear blindly to accept his own statements and
reject those of others, would conclude, after a close examination of the
matter, that the wonders mentioned by the Greeks were performed by certain
demons; those among the Jews by prophets or by angels, or by God through the
means of angels; and those recorded by Christians by Jesus Himself, or by
His power working in His apostles. Let us, then, compare all these accounts
together; let us examine into the aim and purpose of those who performed
them; and let us inquire what effect was produced upon the persons on whose
account these acts of kindness were performed, whether beneficial or
hurtful, or neither the one nor the other. The ancient Jewish people, before
they sinned against God, and were for their great wickedness cast off by
Him, must evidently have been a people of great wisdom. [4689] But
Christians, who have in so wonderful a manner formed themselves into a
community, appear at first to have been more induced by miracles than by
exhortations to forsake the institutions of their fathers, and to adopt
others which were quite strange to them. And indeed, if we were to reason
from what is probable as to the first formation of the Christian society, we
should say that it is incredible that the apostles of Jesus Christ, who were
unlettered men of humble life, could have been emboldened to preach
Christian truth to men by anything else than the power which was conferred
upon them, and the grace which accompanied their words and rendered them
effective; and those who heard them would not have renounced the
old-established usages of their fathers, and been induced to adopt notions
so different from those in which they had been brought up, unless they had
been moved by some extraordinary power, and by the force of miraculous
events.
Chapter XLVIII.
In the next place, Celsus, after referring to the enthusiasm with which men
will contend unto death rather than abjure Christianity, adds strangely
enough some remarks, in which he wishes to show that our doctrines are
similar to those delivered by the priests at the celebration of the heathen
mysteries. He says, "Just as you, good sir, believe in eternal punishments,
so also do the priests who interpret and initiate into the sacred mysteries.
The same punishments with which you threaten others, they threaten you. Now
it is worthy of examination, which of the two is more firmly established as
true; for both parties contend with equal assurance that the truth is on
their side. But if we require proofs, the priests of the heathen gods
produce many that are clear and convincing, partly from wonders performed by
demons, and partly from the answers given by oracles, and various other
modes of divination." He would, then, have us believe that we and the
interpreters of the mysteries equally teach the doctrine of eternal
punishment, and that it is a matter for inquiry on which side of the two the
truth lies. Now I should say that the truth lies with those who are able to
induce their hearers to live as men who are convinced of the truth of what
they have heard. But Jews and Christians have been thus affected by the
doctrines they hold about what we speak of as the world to come, and the
rewards of the righteous, and the punishments of the wicked. Let Celsus
then, or any one who will, show us who have been moved in this way in regard
to eternal punishments by the teaching of heathen priests and mystagogues.
For surely the purpose of him who brought to light this doctrine was not
only to reason upon the subject of punishments, and to strike men with
terror of them, but to induce those who heard the truth to strive with all
their might against those sins which are the causes of punishment. And those
who study the prophecies with care, and are not content with a cursory
perusal of the predictions contained in them, will find them such as to
convince the intelligent and sincere reader that the Spirit of God was in
those men, and that with their writings there is nothing in all the works of
demons, responses of oracles, or sayings of soothsayers, for one moment to
be compared.
Chapter XLIX.
Let us see in what terms Celsus next addresses us: "Besides, is it not most
absurd and inconsistent in you, on the one hand, to make so much of the body
as you do'to expect that the same body will rise again, as though it were
the best and most precious part of us; and yet, on the other, to expose it
to such tortures as though it were worthless? But men who hold such notions,
and are so attached to the body, are not worthy of being reasoned with; for
in this and in other respects they show themselves to be gross, impure, and
bent upon revolting without any reason from the common belief. But I shall
direct my discourse to those who hope for the enjoyment of eternal life with
God by means of the soul or mind, whether they choose to call it a spiritual
substance, an intelligent spirit, holy and blessed, or a living soul, or the
heavenly and indestructible offspring of a divine and incorporeal nature, or
by whatever name they designate the spiritual nature of man. And they are
rightly persuaded that those who live well shall be blessed, and the
unrighteous shall all suffer everlasting punishments. And from this doctrine
neither they nor any other should ever swerve." Now, as he has often already
reproached us for our opinions on the resurrection, and as we have on these
occasions defended our opinions in what seemed to us a reasonable way, we do
not intend, at each repetition of the one objection, to go into a repetition
of our defence. Celsus makes an unfounded charge against us when he ascribes
to us the opinion that "there is nothing in our complex nature better or
more precious than the body; "for we hold that far beyond all bodies is the
soul, and especially the reasonable soul; for it is the soul, and not the
body, which bears the likeness of the Creator. For, according to us, God is
not corporeal, unless we fall into the absurd errors of the followers of
Zeno and Chrysippus.
Chapter L.
But since he reproaches us with too great an anxiety about the body, let him
know that when that feeling is a wrong one we do not share in it, and when
it is indifferent we only long for that which God has promised to the
righteous. But Celsus considers that we are inconsistent with ourselves when
we count the body worthy of honour from God, and therefore hope for its
resurrection, and yet at the same time expose it to tortures as though it
were not worthy of honour. But surely it is not without honour for the body
to suffer for the sake of godliness, and to choose afflictions on account of
virtue: the dishonourable thing would be for it to waste its powers in
vicious indulgence. For the divine word says: "What is an honourable seed?
The seed of man. What is a dishonourable seed? The seed of man." [4690]
Moreover, Celsus thinks that he ought not to reason with those who hope for
the good of the body, as they are unreasonably intent upon an object which
can never satisfy their expectations. He also calls them gross and impure
men, bent upon creating needless dissensions. But surely he ought, as one of
superior humanity, to assist even the rude and depraved. For society does
not exclude from its pale the coarse and uncultivated, as it does the
irrational animals, but our Creator made us on the same common level with
all mankind. It is not an undignified thing, therefore, to reason even with
the coarse and unrefined, and to try to bring them as far as possible to a
higher state of refinement'to bring the impure to the highest practicable
degree of purity'to bring the unreasoning multitude to reason, and the
diseased in mind to spiritual health.
Chapter LI
In the next place, he expresses his approval of those who "hope that eternal
life shall be enjoyed with God by the soul or mind, or, as it is variously
called, the spiritual nature, the reasonable soul, intelligent, holy, and
blessed; "and he allows the soundness of the doctrine, "that those who had a
good life shall be happy, and the unrighteous shall suffer eternal
punishments." And yet I wonder at what follows, more than at anything that
Celsus has ever said; for he adds, "And from this doctrine let not them or
any one ever swerve." For certainly in writing against Christians, the very
essence of whose faith is God, and the promises made by Christ to the
righteous, and His warnings of punishment awaiting the wicked, he must see
that, if a Christian were brought to renounce Christianity by his arguments
against it, it is beyond doubt that, along with his Christian faith, he
would cast off the very doctrine from which he says that no Christian and no
man should ever swerve. But I think Celsus has been far surpassed in
consideration for his fellow-men by Chrysippus in his treatise, On the
Subjugation of the Passions. For when he sought to apply remedies to the
affections and passions which oppress and distract the human spirit, after
employing such arguments as seemed to himself to be strong, he did not
shrink from using in the second and third place others which he did not
himself approve of. "For," says he, "if it were held by any one that there
are three kinds of good, we must seek to regulate the passions in accordance
with that supposition; and we must not too curiously inquire into the
opinions held by a person at the time that he is under the influence of
passion, lest, if we delay too long for the purpose of overthrowing the
opinions by which the mind is possessed, the opportunity for curing the
passion may pass away." And he adds, "Thus, supposing that pleasure were the
highest good, or that he was of that opinion whose mind was under the
dominion of passion, we should not the less give him help, and show that,
even on the principle that pleasure is the highest and final good of man,
all passion is disallowed." And Celsus, in like manner, after having
embraced the doctrine, "that the righteous shall be blessed, and the wicked
shall suffer eternal punishments," should have followed out his subject;
and, after having advanced what seemed to him the chief argument, he should
have proceeded to prove and enforce by further reasons the truth that the
unjust shall surely suffer eternal punishment, and those who lead a good
life shall be blessed.
Chapter LII.
For we who have been persuaded by many, yea by innumerable, arguments to
lead a Christian life, are especially anxious to bring all men as far as
possible to receive the whole system of Christian truth; but when we meet
with persons who are prejudiced by the calumnies thrown out against
Christians, and who, from a notion that Christians are an impious people,
will not listen to any who offer to instruct them in the principles of the
divine word, then, on the common principles of humanity, we endeavour to the
best of our ability to convince them of the doctrine of the punishment of
the wicked, and to induce even those who are unwilling to become Christians
to accept that truth. And we are thus anxious to persuade them of the
rewards of right living, when we see that many things which we teach about a
healthy moral life are also taught by the enemies of our faith. For you will
find that they have not entirely lost the common notions of right and wrong,
of good and evil. Let all men, therefore, when they look upon the universe,
observe the constant revolution of the unerring stars, the converse motion
of the planets, the constitution of the atmosphere, and its adaptation to
the necessities of the animals, and especially of man, with all the
innumerable contrivances for the well-being of mankind; and then, after thus
considering the order of the universe, let them beware of doing ought which
is displeasing to the Creator of this universe, of the soul and its
intelligent principle; and let them rest assured that punishment shall be
inflicted on the wicked, and rewards shall be bestowed upon the righteous,
by Him who deals with every one as he deserves, and who will proportion His
rewards to the good that each has done, and to the account of himself that
he is able to give. [4691] And let all men know that the good shall be
advanced to a higher state, and that the wicked shall be delivered over to
sufferings and torments, in punishment of their licentiousness and
depravity, their cowardice, timidity, and all their follies.
Chapter LIII.
Having said so much on this subject, let us proceed to another statement of
Celsus: "Since men are born united to a body, whether to suit the order of
the universe, or that they may in that way suffer the punishment of sin; or
because the soul is oppressed by certain passions until it is purged from
these at the appointed period of time,'for, according to Empedocles, all
mankind must be banished from the abodes of the blessed for 30, 000 periods
of time,'we must therefore believe that they are entrusted to certain beings
as keepers of this prison-house." You will observe that Celsus, in these
remarks, speaks of such weighty matters in the language of doubtful human
conjecture. He adds also various opinions as to the origin of man, and shows
considerable reluctance to set down any of these opinions as false. When he
had once come to the conclusion neither indiscriminately to accept nor
recklessly to reject the opinions held by the ancients, would it not have
been in accordance with that same rule of judging, if, when he found himself
not disposed to believe the doctrines taught by the Jewish prophets and by
Jesus, at any rate to have held them as matters open to inquiry? And should
he not have considered whether it is very probable that a people who
faithfully served the Most High God, and who ofttimes encountered numberless
dangers, and even death, rather than sacrifice the honour of God, and what
they believed to be the revelations of His will, should have been wholly
overlooked by God? Should it not rather be thought probable that people who
despised the efforts of human art to represent the Divine Being, but strove
rather to rise in thought to the knowledge of the Most High, should have
been favoured with some revelation from Himself? Besides, he ought to have
considered that the common Father and Creator of all, who sees and hears all
things, and who duly esteems the intention of every man who seeks Him and
desires to serve Him, will grant unto these also some of the benefits of His
rule, and will give them an enlargement of that knowledge of Himself which
He has once bestowed upon them. If this had been remembered by Celsus and
the others who hate Moses and the Jewish prophets, and Jesus, and His
faithful disciples, who endured so much for the sake of His word, they would
not thus have reviled Moses, and the prophets, and Jesus, and His apostles;
and they would not have singled out for their contempt the Jews beyond all
the nations of the earth, and said they were worse even than the
Egyptians,'a people who, either from superstition or some other form of
delusion, went as far as they could in degrading the Divine Being to the
level of brute beasts. And we invite inquiry, not as though we wished to
lead any to doubt regarding the truths of Christianity, but in order to show
that it would be better for those who in every way revile the doctrines of
Christianity, at any rate to suspend their judgment, and not so rashly to
state about Jesus and His apostles such things as they do not know, and as
they cannot prove, either by what the Stoics call" apprehensive
perception," [4692] or by any other methods used by different sects of
philosophers as criteria of truth.
Chapter LIV.
When Celsus adds, "We must therefore believe that men are entrusted to
certain beings who are the keepers of this prison-house," our answer is,
that the souls of those who are called by Jeremiah "prisoners of the
earth," [4693] when eager in the pursuit of virtue, are even in this life
delivered from the bondage of evil; for Jesus declared this, as was foretold
long before His advent by the prophet Isaiah, when he said that "the
prisoners would go forth, and they that were in darkness would show
themselves." [4694] And Jesus Himself, as Isaiah also foretold of Him,
arose as "a light to them that sat in darkness and in the shadow of
death," [4695] so that we may therefore say, "Let us break their bands
asunder, and cast their cords from us." [4696] If Celsus, and those who
like him are opposed to us, had been able to sound the depths of the Gospel
narratives, they would not have counselled us to put our confidence in those
beings whom they call "the keepers of the prison-house." It is written in
the Gospel that a woman was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up
herself. And when Jesus beheld her, and perceived from what cause she was
bowed together, he said, "Ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has
bound, lo, these eighteen years, to be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath
day? " [4697] And how many others are still bowed down and bound by
Satan, who hinders them from looking up at all, and who would have us to
look down also! And no one can raise them up, except the Word, that came by
Jesus Christ, and that aforetime inspired the prophets: And Jesus came to
release those who were under the dominion of the devil; and, speaking of
him, He said with that depth of meaning which characterized His words, "Now
is the prince of this world judged." We are, then, indulging in no baseless
calumnies against demons, but are condemning their agency upon earth as
destructive to mankind, and show that, under cover of oracles and bodily
cures, and such other means, they are seeking to separate from God the soul
which has descended to this "body of humiliation; "and those who feel this
humiliation exclaim, "0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? " [4698] It is not in vain, therefore, that we
expose our bodies to be beaten and tortured; for surely it is not in vain
for a man to submit to such sufferings, if by that means he may avoid
bestowing the name of gods on those earthly spirits that unite with their
worshippers to bring him to destruction. Indeed, we think it both reasonable
in itself and well-pleasing to God, to suffer pain for the sake of virtue,
to undergo torture for the sake of piety, and even to suffer death for the
sake of holiness; for "precious in the sight of God is the death of His
saints; " [4699] and we maintain that to overcome the love of life is to
enjoy a great good. But when Celsus compares us to notorious criminals, who
justly suffer punishment for their crimes, and does not shrink from placing
so laudable a purpose as that which we set before us upon the same level
with the obstinacy of criminals, he makes himself the brother and companion
of those who accounted Jesus among criminals, fulfilling the Scripture,
which saith, "He was numbered with transgressors." [4700]
Chapter LV.
Celsus goes on to say: "They must make their choice between two
alternatives. If they refuse to render due service to the gods, and to
respect those who are set over this service, let them not come to manhood,
or marry wives, or have children, or indeed take any share in the affairs of
life; but let them depart hence with all speed, and leave no posterity
behind them, that such a race may become extinct from the face of the earth.
Or, on the other hand, if they will take wives, and bring up children, and
taste of the fruits of the earth, and partake of all the blessings of life,
and bear its appointed sorrows (for nature herself hath allotted sorrows to
all men; for sorrows must exist, and earth is the only place for them), then
must they discharge the duties of life until they are released from its
bonds, and render due honour to those beings who control the affairs of this
life, if they would not show themselves ungrateful to them. For it would be
unjust in them, after receiving the good things which they dispense, to pay
them no tribute in return." To this we reply, that there appears to us to be
no good reason for our leaving this world, except when piety and virtue
require it; as when, for example, those who are set as judges, and think
that they have power over our lives, place before us the alternative either
to live in violation of the commands of Jesus, or to die if we continue
obedient to them. But God has allowed us to marry, because all are not fit
for the higher, that is, the perfectly pure life; and God would have us to
bring up all our children, and not to destroy any of the offspring given us
by His providence. And this does not conflict with our purpose not to obey
the demons that are on the earth; for, "being armed with the whole armour of
God, we stand" [4701] as athletes of piety against the race of demons
that plot against us.
Chapter LVI.
Although, therefore, Celsus would, in his own words, "drive us with all
haste out of life," so that "such a race may become extinct from the earth;
"yet we, along with those who worship the Creator, will live according to
the laws of God, never consenting to obey the laws of sin. We will marry if
we wish, and bring up the children given to us in marriage; and if need be,
we will not only partake of the blessings of life, but bear its appointed
sorrows as a trial to our souls. For in this way is divine Scripture
accustomed to speak of human afflictions, by which, as gold is tried in the
fire, so the spirit of man is tried, and is found to be worthy either of
condemnation or of praise. For those things which Celsus calls evils we are
therefore prepared, and are ready to say, "Try me, O Lord, and prove me;
purge my reins and my heart." [4702] For "no one will be crowned," unless
here upon earth, with this body of humiliation, "he strive lawfully."
[4703] Further, we do not pay honours supposed to be due to those whom
Celsus speaks of as being set over the affairs of the world. For we worship
the Lord our God, and Him only do we serve, and desire to be followers of
Christ, who, when the devil said to Him, "All these things will I give thee
if thou wilt fall down and worship me," answered him by the words, "Thou
shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve." [4704]
Wherefore we do not render the honour supposed to be due to those who.
according to Celsus, are set over the affairs of this world; for "no man can
serve two masters," and we "cannot serve God and mammon," whether this name
be applied to one or more. Moreover, if any one "by transgressing the law
dishonours the lawgiver," it seems clear to us that if the two laws, the law
of God and the law of mammon, are completely opposed to each other, it is
better for us by transgressing the law of mammon to dishonour mammon, that
we may honour God by keeping His law, than by transgressing the law of God
to dishonour God, that by obeying the law of mammon we may honour mammon.
Chapter LVII.
Celsus supposes that men "discharge the duties of life until they are
loosened from its bonds," when, in accordance with commonly received
customs, they offer sacrifices to each of the gods recognised in the state;
and he fails to perceive the true duty which is fulfilled by an earnest
piety. For we say that he truly discharges the duties of life who is ever
mindful who is his Creator, and what things are agreeable to Him, and who
acts in all things so that he may please God. Again, Celsus wishes us to be
thankful to these demons, imagining that we owe them thank-offerings. But
we, while recognising the duty of thankfulness, maintain that we show no
ingratitude by refusing to give thanks to beings who do us no good, but who
rather set themselves against us when we neither sacrifice to them nor
worship them. We are much more concerned lest we should be ungrateful to
God, who has loaded us with His benefits, whose workmanship we are, who
cares for us in whatever condition we may be, and who has given us hopes of
things beyond this present life. And we have a symbol of gratitude to God in
the bread which we call the Eucharist. Besides, as we have shown before, the
demons have not the control of those things which have been created for our
use; we commit no wrong, therefore, when we partake of created things, and
yet refuse to offer sacrifices to beings who have no concern with them.
Moreover, as we know that it is not demons, but angels, who have been set
over the fruits of the earth, and over the birth of animals, it is the
latter that we praise and bless, as having been appointed by God over the
things needful for our race; yet even to them we will not give the honour
which is due to God. For this would not be pleasing to God, nor would it be
any pleasure to the angels themselves to whom these things have been
committed. Indeed, they are much more pleased if we refrain from offering
sacrifices to them than if we offer them; for they have no desire for the
sacrificial odours which rise from the earth.
Chapter LVIII.
Celsus goes on to say: "Let any one inquire of the Egyptians, and he will
find that everything, even to the most insignificant, is committed to the
care of a certain demon. The body of man is divided into thirty-six parts,
and as many demons of the air are appointed to the care of it, each having
charge of a different part, although others make the number much larger. All
these demons have in the language of that country distinct names; as
Chnoumen, Chnachoumen, Cnat, Sicat, Biou, Erou, Erebiou, Ramanor, Reianoor,
and other such Egyptian names. Moreover, they call upon them, and are cured
of diseases of particular parts of the body. What, then, is there to prevent
a man from giving honour to these or to others, if he would rather be in
health than be sick, rather have prosperity than adversity, and be freed as
much as possible from all plagues and troubles? "In this way, Celsus seeks
to degrade our souls to the worship of demons, under the assumption that
they have possession of our bodies, and that each one has power over a
separate member. And he wishes us on this ground to put confidence in these
demons of which he speaks, and to serve them, in order that we may be in
health rather than be sick, have prosperity rather than adversity, and may
as far as possible escape all plagues and troubles. The honour of the Most
High God, which cannot be divided or shared with another, is so lightly
esteemed by him, that he cannot believe in the ability of God, if called
upon and highly honoured, to give to those who serve Him a power by which
they may be defended from the assaults directed by demons against the
righteous. For he has never beheld the efficacy of those words, "in the name
of Jesus," when uttered by the truly faithful, to deliver not a few from
demons and demoniacal possessions and other plagues.
Chapter LIX.
Probably those who embrace the views of Celsus will smile at us when we say,
"At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, of things
on earth, and of things under the earth, and every tongue" is brought to
"confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
[4705] But although they may ridicule such a statement, yet they will
receive much more convincing arguments in support of it than Celsus brings
in behalf of Chnoumen, Chnachoumen, Cnat, Sicat, and the rest of the
Egyptian catalogue, whom he mentions as being called upon, and as healing
the diseases of different pans of the human body. And observe how, while
seeking to turn us away from our faith in the God of all through Jesus
Christ, he exhorts us for the welfare of our bodies to faith in
six-and-thirty barbarous demons, whom the Egyptian magi alone call upon in
some unknown way, and promise us in return great benefits. According to
Celsus, then, it would be better for us now to give ourselves up to magic
and sorcery than to embrace Christianity, and to put our faith in an
innumerable multitude of demons than in the almighty, living, self-revealing
God, who has manifested Himself by Him who by His great power has spread the
true principles of holiness among all men throughout the world; yea, I may
add without exaggeration, He has given this knowledge to all beings
everywhere possessed of reason, and needing deliverance from the plague and
corruption of sin.
Chapter LX.
Celsus, however, suspecting that the tendency of such teaching as he here
gives is to lead to magic, and dreading that harm may arise from these
statements, adds: "Care, however, must be taken lest any one, by
familiarizing his mind with these matters, should become too much engrossed
with them, and lest, through an excessive regard for the body, he should
have his mind turned away from higher things, and allow them to pass into
oblivion. For perhaps we ought not to despise the opinion of those wise men
who say that most of the earth-demons are taken up with carnal indulgence,
blood, odours, sweet sounds, and other such sensual things; and therefore
they are unable to do more than heal the body, or foretell the fortunes of
men and cities, and do other such things as relate to this mortal life." If
there is, then, such a dangerous tendency in this direction, as even the
enemy of the truth of God confesses, how much better is it to avoid all
danger of giving ourselves too much up to the power of such demons, and of
becoming turned aside from higher things, and suffering them to pass into
oblivion through an excessive attention to the body; by entrusting ourselves
to the Supreme God through Jesus Christ, who has given us such instruction,
and asking of Him all help, and the guardianship of holy and good angels, to
defend us from the earth-spirits intent on lust, and blood, and sacrificial
odours, [4706] and strange sounds, and other sensual things! For even, by
the confession of Celsus, they can do nothing more than cure the body. But,
indeed, I would say that it is not clear that these demons, however much
they are reverenced, can even cure the body. But in seeking recovery from
disease, a man must either follow the inure ordinary and simple method, and
have recourse to medical art; or if he would go beyond the common methods
adopted by men, he must rise to the higher and better way of seeking the
blessing of Him who is God over all, through piety and prayers.
Chapter LXI.
For consider with yourself which disposition of mind will be more acceptable
to the Most High, whose power is supreme and universal, and who directs all
for the welfare of mankind in body, and in mind, and in outward
things,'whether that of the man who gives himself up to God in all things,
or that of the man who is curiously inquisitive about the names of demons,
their powers and agency, the incantations, the herbs proper to them, and the
stones with the inscriptions graven on them, corresponding symbolically or
otherwise to their traditional shapes? It is plain even to the least
intelligent, that the disposition of the man who is simpleminded and not
given to curious inquiries, but in all things devoted to the divine will,
will be most pleasing to God, and to all those who are like God; but that of
the man who, for the sake of bodily health, of bodily enjoyment, and outward
prosperity, busies himself about the names of demons, and inquires by what
incantations he shall appease them, will be condemned by God as bad and
impious, and more agreeable to the nature of demons than of men, and will be
given over to be torn and otherwise tormented by demons. For it is probable
that they, as being wicked creatures, and, as Celsus confesses, addicted to
blood, sacrificial odours, sweet sounds, and such like, will not keep their
most solemn promises to those who supply them with these things. For if
others invoke their aid against the persons who have already called upon
them, and purchase their favour with a larger supply of blood, and odours,
and such offerings as they require, they will take part against those who
yesterday sacrificed and presented pleasant offerings to them.
Chapter LXII.
In a former passage, Celsus had spoken at length on the subject of oracles,
and had referred us to their answers as being the voice of the gods; but now
he makes amends, and confesses that "those who foretell the fortunes of men
and cities, and concern themselves about mortal affairs, are earth-spirits,
who are given up to fleshly lust, blood, odours, sweet sounds, and other
such things, and who are unable to rise above these sensual objects."
Perhaps, when we opposed the theological teaching of Celsus in regard to
oracles, and the honour done to those called gods, some one might suspect us
of impiety when we alleged that these were stratagems of demoniacal powers,
to draw men away to carnal indulgence. But any who entertained this
suspicion against us, may now believe that the statements put forth by
Christians were well-founded, when they see the above passage from the
writings of one who is a professed adversary of Christianity, but who now at
length writes as one who has been overcome by the spirit of truth. Although,
therefore, Celsus says that "we must offer sacrifices to them, in so far as
they are profitable to us, for to offer them indiscriminately is not allowed
by reason," yet we are not to offer sacrifices to demons addicted to blood
and odours; nor is the Divine Being to be profaned in our minds, by being
brought down to the level of wicked demons. If Celsus had carefully weighed
the meaning of the word "profitable," and had considered that the tritest
profit lies in virtue and in virtuous action, he would not have applied the
phrase "as far as it is profitable" to the service of such demons, as he has
acknowledged them to be. If, then, health of body and success in life were
to come to us on condition of our serving such demons, we should prefer
sickness and misfortune accompanied with the consciousness of our being
truly devoted to the will of God. For this is preferable to being mortally
diseased in mind, and wretched through being separate and outcasts from God,
though healthy in body and abounding in earthly prosperity. And we would
rather go for help to one who seeks nothing whatever but the well-being of
men and of all rational creatures, than to those who delight in blood and
sacrificial odours.
Chapter LXIII.
After having said so much of the demons, and of their fondness for blood and
the odour of sacrifices, Celsus adds, as though wishing to retract the
charge he had made: "The more just opinion is, that demons desire nothing
and need nothing, but that they take pleasure in those who discharge towards
them offices of piety." If Celsus believed this to be true, he should have
said so, instead of making his previous statements. But, indeed, human
nature is never utterly forsaken by God and His only-begotten Son, the
Truth. Wherefore even Celsus spoke the truth when he made the demons take
pleasure in the blood and smoke of victims; although, by the force of his
own evil nature, he falls back into his errors, and compares demons with men
who rigorously discharge every duty, even to those who show no gratitude;
while to those who are grateful they abound in acts of kindness. Here Celsus
appears to me to get into confusion. At one time his judgment is darkened by
the influence of demons, and at another he recovers from their deluding
power, and gets some glimpses of the truth. For again he adds: "We must
never in any way lose our hold of God, whether by day or by night, whether
in public or in secret, whether in word or in deed, but in whatever we do,
or abstain from doing." That is, as I understand it, whatever we do in
public, in all our actions, in all our words, "let the soul be constantly
fixed upon God." And yet again, as though, after struggling in argument
against the insane inspirations of demons, he were completely overcome by
them, he adds: "If this is the case, what harm is there in gaining the
favour of the rulers of the earth, whether of a nature different from ours,
or human princes and kings? For these have gained their dignity through the
instrumentality of demons." In a former part, Celsus did his utmost to
debase our souls to the worship of demons; and now he wishes us to seek the
favour of kings and princes, of whom, as the world and all history are full
of them. I do not consider it necessary to quote examples.
Chapter LXIV.
There is therefore One whose favour we should seek, and to whom we ought to
pray that He would be gracious to us'the Most High God, whose favour is
gained by piety and the practice of every virtue. And if he would have us to
seek the favour of others after the Most High God, let him consider that, as
the motion of the shadow follows that of the body which casts it, so in like
manner it follows, that when we have the favour of God, we have also the
good-will of all angels and spirits who are friends of God. For they know
who are worthy of the divine approval, and they are not only well disposed
to them, but they co-operate with them in their endeavours to please God:
they seek His favour on their behalf; with their prayers they join their own
prayers and intercessions for them. We may indeed boldly say, that men who
aspire after better things have, when they pray to God, tens of thousands of
sacred powers upon their side. These, even when not asked, pray with them,
they bring succour to our mortal race, and if I may so say, take up arms
alongside of it: for they see demons warring and fighting most keenly
against the salvation of those who devote themselves to God, and despise the
hostility of demons; they see them savage in their hatred of the man who
refuses to serve them with the blood and fumes of sacrifices, but rather
strives in every way, by word and deed, to be in peace and union with the
Most High through Jesus, who put to flight multitudes of demons when He went
about "heating," and delivering "all who were oppressed by the devil."
[4707]
Chapter LXV.
Moreover, we are to despise ingratiating ourselves with kings or any other
men, not only if their favour is to be won by murders, licentiousness, or
deeds of cruelty, but even if it involves impiety towards God, or any
servile expressions of flattery and obsequiousness, which things are
unworthy of brave and high-principled men, who aim at joining with their
other virtues that highest of virtues, patience and fortitude. But whilst we
do nothing which is contrary to the law and word of God, we are not so mad
as to 'stir up against us the wrath of kings and princes, which will bring
upon us sufferings and tortures, or even death. For we read: "Let every soul
be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the
powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,
resisteth the ordinance of God." [4708] These words we have in our
exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, to the best of our ability,
explained at length, and with various applications; but for the present we
have taken them in their more obvious and generally received acceptation, to
meet the saying of Celsus, that "it is not without the power of demons that
kings have been raised to their regal dignity." Here much might be said on
the constitution of kings and rulers, for the subject is a wide one,
embracing such rulers as reign cruelly and tyrannically, and such as make
the kingly office the means of indulging in luxury and sinful pleasures. We
shall therefore, for the present, passover the full consideration of this
subject. We will, however, never swear by "the fortune of the king," nor by
ought else that is considered equivalent to God. For if the word "fortune"
is nothing but an expression for the uncertain course of events, as some
say, although they seem not to be agreed, we do not swear by that as God
which has no existence, as though it did really exist and was able to do
something, lest we should bind ourselves by an oath to things which have no
existence. If, on the other hand (as is thought by others, who say that to
swear by the fortune of the king of the Romans is to swear by his demon),
what is called the fortune of the king is in the power of demons, then in
that case we must die sooner than swear by a wicked and treacherous demon,
that ofttimes sins along with the man of whom it gains possession, and sins
even more than he.
Chapter LXVI.
Then Celsus, following the example of those who are under the influence of
demons'at one time recovering, at another relapsing, as though he were again
becoming sensible'says: "If, however, any worshipper of God should be
ordered to do anything impious, or to say anything base, such a command
should in no wise be regarded; but we must encounter all kinds of torment,
or submit to any kind of death, rather than say or even think anything
unworthy of God." Again, however, from ignorance of our principles, and in
entire confusion of thought, he says: "But if any one commands you to
celebrate the sun, or to sing a joyful triumphal song in praise of Minerva,
you will by celebrating their praises seem to render the higher praise to
God; for piety, in extending to all things, becomes more perfect." To this
our answer is, that we do not wait for any command to celebrate the praises
of the sun; for we have been taught to speak well not only of those
creatures that are obedient to the will of God, but even of our enemies. We
therefore praise the sun as the glorious workmanship of God, which obeys His
laws and hearkens to the call, "Praise the Lord, sun and moon," [4709]
and with all your powers show forth the praises of the Father and Creator of
all. Minerva, however, whom Celsus classes with the sun, is the subject of
various Grecian myths, whether these contain any hidden meaning or not. They
say that Minerva sprang fully armed from the brain of Jupiter; that when she
was pursued by Vulcan, she fled from him to preserve her honour; and that
from the seed which fell to the ground in the heat of Vulcan's passion,
there grew a child whom Minerva brought up and called Erichthonius,
"That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth." [4710]
It is therefore evident, that if we admit Minerva the daughter of Jupiter,
we must also admit many fables and fictions which can be allowed by no one
who discards fables and seeks after truth.
Chapter LXVII.
And to regard these myths in a figurative sense, and consider Minerva as
representing prudence, let any one show what were the actual facts of her
history, upon which this allegory is based. For, supposing honour was given
to Minerva as having been a woman of ancient times, by those who instituted
mysteries and ceremonies for their followers, and who wished her name to be
celebrated as that of a goddess, much more are we forbidden to pay divine
honours to Minerva, if we are not permitted to worship so glorious an object
as the sun, although we may celebrate its glory. Celsus, indeed, says that
"we seem to do the greater honour to the great God when we sing hymns in
honour of the sun and Minerva; "but we know it to be the opposite of that.
For we sing hymns to the Most High alone, and His Only-begotten, who is the
Word and God; and we praise God and His Only-begotten, as do also the sun,
the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven. [4711] For these all
form a divine chorus, and unite with the just among men in celebrating the
praises of the Most High God and His Only-begotten. We have already said
that we must not swear by a human king, or by what is called "the fortune of
the king." It is therefore unnecessary for us again to refute these
statements: "If you are commanded to swear by a human king, there is nothing
wrong in that. For to him has been given whatever there is upon earth; and
whatever you receive in this life, you receive from him." We deny, however,
that all things which are on the earth have been given to the king, or that
whatever we receive in this life we receive from him. For whatever we
receive rightly and honourably we receive from God, and by His providence,
as ripe fruits, and "corn which strengtheneth man's heart, and the pleasant
vine, and wine which rejoiceth the heart of man." [4712] And moreover,
the fruit of the olive-tree, to make his face to shine, we have from the
providence of God.
Chapter LXVIII.
Celsus goes on to say: "We must not disobey the ancient writer, who said
long ago, 'Let one be king, whom the son of crafty Saturn appointed; '"
[4713] and adds: "If you set aside this maxim, you will deservedly suffer
for it at the hands of the king. For if all were to do the same as you,
there would be nothing to prevent his being left in utter solitude and
desertion, and the affairs of the earth would fall into the hands of the
wildest and most lawless barbarians; and then there would no longer remain
among men any of the glory of your religion or of the true wisdom." If,
then, "there shall be one lord, one king," he must be, not the man "whom the
son of crafty Saturn appointed," but the man to whom He gave the power, who
"removeth kings and setteth up kings," [4714] and who "raiseth up the
useful man in time of need upon earth." [4715] For kings are not
appointed by that son of Saturn, who, according to Grecian fable, hurled his
father from his throne, and sent him down to Tartarus (whatever
interpretation may be given to this allegory), but by God, who governs all
things, and who wisely arranges whatever belongs to the appointment of
kings. We therefore do set aside the maxim contained in the line,
"Whom the son of crafty Saturn appointed; "
for we know that no god or father of a god ever devises anything crooked or
crafty. But we are far from setting aside the notion of a providence, and of
things happening directly or indirectly through the agency of providence.
And the king will not "inflict deserved punishment" upon us, if we say that
not the son of crafty Saturn gave him his kingdom, but He who "removeth and
setteth up kings." And would that all were to follow my example in rejecting
the maxim of Homer, maintaining the divine origin of the kingdom, and
observing the precept to honour the king! In these circumstances the king
will not "be left in utter solitude and desertion," neither will "the
affairs of the world fall into the hands of the most impious and wild
barbarians." For if, in the words of Celsus," they do as I do," then it is
evident that even the barbarians, when they yield obedience to the word of
God, will become most obedient to the law, and most humane; and every form
of worship will be destroyed except the religion of Christ, which will alone
prevail. And indeed it will one day triumph, as its principles take
possession of the minds of men more and more every day.
Chapter LXIX.
Celsus, then, as if not observing that he was saying anything inconsistent
with the words he had just used, "if all were to do the same as you," adds:
"You surely do not say that if the Romans were, in compliance with your
wish, to neglect their customary duties to gods and men, and were to worship
the Most High, or whatever you please to call him, that he will come down
and fight for them, so that they shall need no other help than his. For this
same God, as yourselves say, promised of old this and much more to those who
served him, and see in what way he has helped them and you! They, in place
of being masters of the whole world, are left with not so much as a patch of
ground or a home; and as for you, if any of you transgresses even in secret,
he is sought out and punished with death." As the question started is, "What
would happen if the Romans were persuaded to adopt the principles of the
Christians, to despise the duties paid to the recognised gods and to men,
and to worship the Most High? "this is my answer to the question. We say
that "if two" of us "shall agree on earth as touching anything that they
shall ask, it shall be done for them of the Father" of the just, "which is
in heaven; " [4716] for God rejoices in the agreement of rational beings,
and turns away from discord. And what are we to expect, if not only a very
few agree, as at present, but the whole of the empire of Rome? For they will
pray to the Word, who of old said to the Hebrews, when they were pursued by
the Egyptians, "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace;
" [4717] and if they all unite in prayer with one accord, they will be
able to put to flight far more enemies than those who were discomfited by
the prayer of Moses when he cried to the Lord, and of those who prayed with
him. Now, if what God promised to those who keep His law has not come to
pass, the reason of its nonfulfilment is not to be ascribed to the
unfaithfulness of God. But He had made the fulfilment of His promises to
depend on certain conditions,'namely, that they should observe and live
according to His law; and if the Jews bare not a plot of ground nor a
habitation left to them, although they had received these conditional
promises, the entire blame is to be laid upon their crimes, and especially
upon their guilt in the treatment of Jesus.
Chapter LXX.
But if all the Romans, according to the supposition of Celsus, embrace the
Christian faith, they will, when they pray, overcome their enemies; or
rather, they will not war at all, being guarded by that divine power which
promised to save five entire cities for the sake of fifty just persons. For
men of God are assuredly the salt of the earth: they preserve the order of
the world; [4718] and society is held together as long as the salt is
uncorrupted: for "if the salt have lost its savour, it is neither fit for
the land nor for the dunghill; but it shall be cast out, and trodden under
foot of men. He that hath ears, let him hear" [4719] the meaning of these
words, When God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we
suffer persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even
in the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting
in the protection of Him who said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world." [4720] And truly He has overcome the world. Wherefore the world
prevails only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the
Father power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take courage.
Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for our religion, let
the enemy come against us, and we will say to them, "I can do all things,
through Christ Jesus our Lord, which strengtheneth me." [4721] For of
"two sparrows which are sold for a farthing," as the Scripture says, "not
one of them falls on the ground without our Father in heaven." [4722] And
so completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things, that not even
the hairs of our head fail to be numbered by Him.
Chapter LXXI.
Celsus again, as is usual with him, gets confused, and attributes to us
things which none of us have ever written. His words are: "Surely it is
intolerable for you to say, that if our present rulers, on embracing your
opinions, are taken by the enemy, you will still be able to persuade those
who rule after them; and after these have been taken you will persuade their
successors and so on, until at length, when all who have yielded to your
persuasion have been taken some prudent ruler shall arise, with a foresight
of what is impending, and he will destroy you all utterly before he himself
perishes." There is no need of any answer to these allegations: for none of
us says of our present rulers, that if they embrace our opinions, and are
taken by the enemy, we shall be able to persuade their successors; and when
these are taken, those who come after them, and so on in succession. But on
what does he ground the assertion, that when a succession of those who have
yielded to our persuasion have been taken because they did not drive back
the enemy, some prudent ruler shall arise, with a foresight of what is
impending, who shall utterly destroy us? But here he seems to me to delight
in inventing and uttering the wildest nonsense.
Chapter LXXII.
Afterwards he says: "If it were possible," implying at the same time that he
thought it most desirable, "that all the inhabitants of Asia, Europe, and
Libya, Greeks and Barbarians, all to the uttermost ends of the earth, were
to come under one law; "but judging this quite impossible, he adds, "Any one
who thinks this possible, knows nothing." It would require careful
consideration and lengthened argument to prove that it is not only possible,
but that it will surely come to pass, that all who are endowed with reason
shall come under one law. However, if we must refer to this subject, it will
be with great brevity. The Stoics, indeed, hold that, when the strongest of
the elements prevails, all things shall be turned into fire. But our belief
is, that the Word shall prevail over the entire rational creation, and
change every soul into His own perfection; in which state every one, by the
mere exercise of his power, will choose what he desires, and obtain what he
chooses. For although, in the diseases and wounds of the body, there are
some which no medical skill can cure, yet we hold that in the mind there is
no evil so strong that it may not be overcome by the Supreme Word and God.
For stronger than all the evils in the soul is the Word, and the healing
power that dwells in Him; and this healing He applies, according to the will
of God, to every man. The consummation of all things is the destruction of
evil, although as to the question whether it shall be so destroyed that it
can never anywhere arise again, it is beyond our present purpose to say.
Many things are said obscurely in the prophecies on the total destruction of
evil, and the restoration to righteousness of every soul; but it will be
enough for our present purpose to quote the following passage from
Zephaniah: "Prepare and rise early; all the gleanings of their vineyards are
destroyed. Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, on the day that I rise
up for a testimony; for My determination is to gather the nations, that I
may assemble the kings, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My
fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My
jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent. From
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of My
dispersed, shall bring My offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed
for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against Me: for then I
will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride; and
thou shalt no more be haughty because of My holy mountain. I will also leave
in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in
the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak
lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they
shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." [4723] I leave
it to those who are able, after a careful study of the whole subject, to
unfold the meaning of this prophecy, and especially to inquire into the
signification of the words, "When the whole earth is destroyed, there will
be turned upon the peoples a language according to their race," [4724] as
things were before the confusion of tongues. Let them also carefully
consider the promise, that all shall call upon the name of the Lord, and
serve Him with one consent; also that all contemptuous reproach shall be
taken away, and there shall be no longer any injustice, or vain speech, or a
deceitful tongue. And thus much it seemed needful for me to say briefly, and
without entering into elaborate details, in answer to the remark of Celsus,
that he considered any agreement between the inhabitants of Asia, Europe,
and Libya, as well Greeks as Barbarians, was impossible. And perhaps such a
result would indeed be impossible to those who are still in the body, but
not to those who are released from it.
Chapter LXXIII.
In the next place, Celsus urges us "to help the king with all our might, and
to labour with him in the maintenance of justice, to fight for him; and if
he requires it, to fight under him, or lead an army along with him." To this
our answer is, that we do, when occasion requires, give help to kings, and
that, so to say, a divine help, "putting on the whole armour of God."
[4725] And this we do in obedience to the injunction of the apostle, "I
exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are
in authority; " [4726] and the more any one excels in piety, the more
effective help does he render to kings, even more than is given by soldiers,
who go forth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. And to
those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth,
and to slay men, we can reply: "Do not those who are priests at certain
shrines, and those who attend on certain gods, as you account them, keep
their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free
from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when
war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is
a laudable custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in
battle, these too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping
their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are
fighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns righteously, that
whatever is opposed to those who act righteously may be destroyed!" And as
we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the
violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more
helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And
we do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we
join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise
pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the
king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it;
but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army'an army of piety'by
offering our prayers to God.
Chapter LXXIV.
And if Celsus would have us to lead armies in defence of our country, let
him know that we do this too, and that not for the purpose of being seen by
men, or of vainglory. For "in secret," and in our own hearts, there are
prayers which ascend as from priests in behalf of our fellow-citizens. And
Christians are benefactors of their country more than others. For they train
up citizens, and inculcate piety to the Supreme Being; and they promote
those whose lives in the smallest cities have been good and worthy, to a
divine and heavenly city, to whom it may be said, "Thou hast been faithful
in the smallest city, come into a great one," [4727] where "God standeth
in the assembly of the gods, and judgeth the gods in the midst; "and He
reckons thee among them, if thou no more "die as a man, or fall as one of
the princes." [4728]
Chapter LXXV.
Celsus also urges us to "take office in the government of the country, if
that is required for the maintenance of the laws and the support of
religion." But we recognise in each state the existence of another national
organization founded by the Word of God, and we exhort those who are mighty
in word and of blameless life to rule over Churches. Those who are ambitious
of ruling we reject; but we constrain those who, through excess of modesty,
are not easily induced to take a public charge in the Church of God. And
those who rule over us well are under the constraining influence of the
great King, whom we believe to be the Son of God, God the Word. And if those
who govern in the Church, and are called rulers of the divine nation'that
is, the Church'rule well, they rule in accordance with the divine commands,
and never suffer themselves to be led astray by worldly policy. And it is
not for the purpose of escaping public duties that Christians decline public
offices, but that they may reserve themselves for a diviner and more
necessary service in the Church of God'for the salvation of men. And this
service is at once necessary and right. They take charge of all'of those
that are within, that they may day by day lead better lives, and of those
that are without, that they may come to abound in holy words and in deeds of
piety; and that, while thus worshipping God truly, and training up as many
as they can in the same way, they may be filled with the word of God and the
law of God, and thus be united with the Supreme God through His Son the
Word, Wisdom, Truth, and Righteousness, who unites to God all who are
resolved to conform their lives in all things to the law of God.
Chapter LXXVI.
You have here, reverend Ambrosius, the conclusion of what we have been
enabled to accomplish by the power given to us in obedience to your command.
In eight books we have embraced all that we considered it proper to say in
reply to that book of Celsus which he entitles A True Discourse. And now it
remains for the readers of his discourse and of my reply to judge which of
the two breathes most of the Spirit of the true God, of piety towards Him,
and of that truth which leads men by sound doctrines to the noblest life.
You must know, however, that Celsus had promised another treatise as a
sequel to this one, in which he engaged to supply practical rules of living
to those who felt disposed to embrace his opinions. If, then, he has not
fulfilled his promise of writing a second book, we may well be contented
with these eight books which we have written in answer to his discourse. But
if he has begun and finished that second book, pray obtain it and send it to
us, that we may answer it as the Father of truth may give us ability, and
either overthrow the false teaching that may be in it, or, laying aside all
jealousy, we may testify our approval of whatever truth it may contain.Glory
Be to Thee, Our God; Glory Be to Thee.parparpar [4729]
Footnotes
[4590] 2 Cor. v. 20.
[4591] Ps. xxiv. 8.
[4592] Matt. vi. 24.
[4593] Ps. xcvii. 9.
[4594] Ps. xcvi. 5.
[4595] Ps. lxxxii. 1.
[4596] Ps. l. 1.
[4597] Ps. cxxxvi. 2.
[4598] Matt. xxii. 32.
[4599] 1 Cor. viii. 5, etc.
[4600] 2 Cor. xi. 14.
[4601] Plato, Phaedrus, p. 246.
[4602] Rom. viii. 19, 20.
[4603] Heb. xii. 22, 23.
[4604] Herod., vii. 136.
[4605] John i. 1.
[4606] John v. 23.
[4607] Rom. ii. 23.
[4608] Heb. x. 29.
[4609] John x. 30.
[4610] John xvii. 22.
[4611] John xiv. 11, and xvii. 21.
[4612] Acts iv. 32.
[4613] [See note infra, cap. xxvi. S.]
[4614] John viii. 58.
[4615] John xiv. 6.
[4616] [ see Neander's History of the Church,
vol. ii. pp. 282, 283; also note supra, book vi. cap. lxiv. p. 603. S.]
[4617] Heb. i. 3.
[4618] 1 John ii. 2.
[4619] Wisd. vii. 25, 26.
[4620] John xiv. 27.
[4621] John xiv. 28.
[4622] [See note, book ii. cap. ix. p. 433. S.]
[4623] Rev. v. 8.
[4624] Ps. cxli. 2.
[4625] 2 Cor. vi. 16.
[4626] John xiv. 23.
[4627] John ii. 19, 21.
[4628] 1 Pet. ii. 5.
[4629] Eph. ii. 20.
[4630] Isa. liv. 11-14.
[4631] Thucyd., book i. sect. lxx.
[4632] Gal. iv. 10, 11.
[4633] Col. ii. 16. The whole passage in the English version is, "Let no
man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday" Origen's interpretation is not followed by any modern expositors.
It is adopted by Chrysostom and Theodoret.
[4634] [Dr. Hessey notes this as "a curious comment" of Origen's on St.
Paul's language: Bampton Lectures, On Sunday: its Origin, History, and
Present Obligation, pp. 48, 286-289, 4th ed. S.]
[4635] Deut. xvi. 3.
[4636] Ex. xii. 8.
[4637] Lev. xvi. 29.
[4638] Gal. v. 17.
[4639] 1 Cor. viii. 4, 11.
[4640] [See Liddon's Bampton Lectures on The Divinity of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, p. 383, where it is pointed out that "Origen often
insists upon the worship of Christ as being a Christian duty." S.]
[4641] Isa. ix. 6 (LXX.).
[4642] Ps. xxvii. 1, 3.
[4643] Rom. xiv. 21.
[4644] Rom. xiv. 15.
[4645] 1 Cor. viii. 13.
[4646] Matt. xv. 11, 17-19.
[4647] 1 Cor. viii. 8.
[4648] Acts xv. 28, 29. It was at Jerusalem.
[4649] Acts xv. 28, 29. It was at Jerusalem.
[4650] [Sextus, or Xystus. See note of Spencer in Migne. S.]
[4651] [1 Cor. xv. 35. S.]
[4652] Ps. lxxviii. 49.
[4653] Wisdom of Sol. xvii. 1.
[4654] 1 Cor. x. 31.
[4655] Col. iii. 17.
[4656] 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5.
[4657] Gen. i. 11.
[4658] Heb. iv. 14.
[4659] Dan. vii. 10.
[4660] Heb. i. 14.
[4661] Matt. xviii. 10.
[4662] Ps. xxxiv. 7.
[4663] Eph. vi. 11.
[4664] Eph. vi. 12.
[4665] Matt. v. 44, 45.
[4666]Ps. vii. 3-5.
[4667]Ps. xxxiv. 7.
[4668] Matt. xviii. 10.
[4669] John xviii. 30.
[4670] [A very express testimony in favour "of speaking in the
congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth" (Art. XXIV. of
Church of England). See Rev. H. Cary's Testimonies of the Fathers of the
First Four Centuries, etc., p. 287, Oxford, 1835. S.]
[4671] Ex. xxii. 28 [ Sept. S.].
[4672] Rom. xii. 14.
[4673] 1 Cor. vi. 10.
[4674] "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind to powder"
(Plutarch): [De Sera Numinis Vindicta, sect. iii. S.]
[4675] Hom. Il., xx. 308.
[4676] Deut. xxiv. 16.
[4677] Jer. xxxi. 30.
[4678]Ezek. xviii. 20.
[4679] Ex. xx. 5.
[4680] Ezek. xviii. 2-4.
[4681] 1 Cor. vi. 10.
[4682] Luke xxiii. 21, 25.
[4683] Spencer reads in this and the following
sentences.
[4684] John xii. 24.
[4685] Rom. viii. 32.
[4686] Euripides, Hippolytus, 612.
[4687] Isa. xxxviii. 19 (according to the LXX.).
[4688] [2 Kings iv. 17, 4 Kings, Sept. and Vulg. S.]
[4689]
[4690] Ecclus. x. 19. In the LXX. the last clause is, "What is a
dishonourable seed? They that transgress the commandments."
[4691] [Eccles. viii. 11. See cap. xl., supra. De Maistre has admirably
annotated Plutarch's Delay of the Divine Judgment.]
[4692]
[4693] Lam. iii. 34.
[4694] Isa. xlix. 9.
[4695] Isa. ix. 2.
[4696] Ps. ii. 3.
[4697] Luke xiii. 11, 16.
[4698] Rom. vii. 24.
[4699] Ps. cxvi. 15.
[4700] Isa. liii. 12.
[4701]Eph. vi. 11.
[4702] Ps. xxvi. 2.
[4703] 2 Tim. ii. 5.
[4704]Matt. iv. 9, 10.
[4705] Phil. ii. 10, 11.
[4706] [Observe this traditional objection to incense. Comp. vol. ii. p.
532.]
[4707] Acts x. 38.
[4708] Rom. xiii. 1, 2.
[4709] Ps. cxlviii. 3.
[4710] Homer's Iliad, ii. 547, 548.
[4711] ["Origen pointed out that hymns were addressed only to God and to
His Only-begotten Word, who is also God The hymnody of the primitive Church
protected and proclaimed the truths which she taught and cherished." '
Liddon's Bampton Lectures, On the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, pp. 385, 386. S.]
[4712] Ps. civ. 15.
[4713] Homer's Iliad, ii. 205.
[4714] Dan. ii. 21.
[4715] Ecclus. x. 4. (LXX.).
[4716] Matt. xviii. 19.
[4717] Ex. xiv. 14.
[4718] [Comp. Cowper, Task, book vi., sub finem.]
[4719] Luke xiv. 34, 35; Matt. v. 13.
[4720] John xvi. 33.
[4721] Phil. iv. 13.
[4722] Matt. x. 29, 30.
[4723] Zeph. iii. 7-13.
[4724] "A language to last as long as the world." ' Bouhereau.
[4725] Eph. vi. 11.
[4726] 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.
[4727] Luke xix. 17.
[4728] Ps. lxxxii. 1, 7.
[4729] Roberts, Alexander and Donaldson, James, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume
IV, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1997.
Also, see links to 3500 other Manuscripts:
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