Letter Against Celsus - Origen - Book V
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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 V
Chapter I.
It is not, my reverend Ambrosius, because we seek after many words'a thing
which is forbidden, and in the indulgence of which it is impossible to avoid
sin [3824] 'that we now begin the fifth book of our reply to the treatise of
Celsus, but with the endeavour, so far as may be within our power, to leave
none of his statements without examination, and especially those in which it
might appear to some that he had skilfully assailed us and the Jews. If it
were possible, indeed, for me to enter along with my words into the
conscience of every one without exception who peruses this work, and to
extract each dart which wounds him who is not completely protected with the
"whole armour" of God, and apply a rational medicine to cure the wound
inflicted by Celsus, which prevents those who listen to his words from
remaining "sound in the faith," I would do so. But since it is the work of
God alone, in conformity with His own Spirit, and along with that of Christ,
to take up His abode invisibly in those persons whom He judges worthy of
being visited; so, on the other hand, is our object to try, by means of
arguments and treatises, to confirm men in their faith, and to earn the name
of "workmen needing not to be ashamed, tightly dividing the word of
truth." [3825] And there is one thing above all which it appears to us we
ought to do, if we would discharge faithfully the task enjoined upon us by
you, and that is to overturn to the best of our ability the confident
assertions of Celsus. Let us then quote such assertions of his as follow
those which we have already refuted (the reader: must decide whether we have
done so successfully or not), and let us reply to them. And may God grant
that we approach not our subject with our understanding and reason empty and
devoid of divine inspiration, that the faith of those whom we wish to aid
may not depend upon human wisdom, but that, receiving the "mind" of Christ
from His Father, who alone can bestow it, and being strengthened by
participating in the word of God, we may pull down "every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God," [3826] and the imagination of
Celsus, who exalts himself against us, and against Jesus, and also against
Moses and the prophets, in order that He who "gave the word to those who
published it with great power" [3827] may supply us also, and bestow upon us
"great power," so that faith in the word and power of God may be implanted
in the minds of all who will peruse our work.
Chapter II.
We have now, then, to refute that statement of his which runs as follows:
"O Jews and Christians, no God or son of a God either came or will come down
(to earth). But if you mean that certain angels did so, then what do you
call them? Are they gods, or some other race of beings? Some other race of
beings (doubtless), and in all probability demons." Now as Celsus here is
guilty of repeating himself (for in the preceding pages such assertions have
been frequently advanced by him), it is unnecessary to discuss the matter at
greater length, seeing what we have already said upon this point may
suffice. We shall mention, however, a few considerations out of a greater
number, such as we deem in harmony with our former arguments, but which have
not altogether the same bearing as they, and by which we shall show that in
asserting generally that no God, or son of God, ever descended (among men),
he overturns not only the opinions entertained by the majority of mankind
regarding the manifestation of Deity, but also what was formerly admitted by
himself. For if the general statement, that "no God or son of God has come
down or will come down," be truly maintained by Celsus, it is manifest that
we have here overthrown the belief in the existence of gods upon the earth
who had descended from heaven either to predict the future to mankind or to
heal them by means of divine responses; and neither the Pythian Apollo, nor
Aesculapius, nor any other among those supposed to have done so, would be a
god descended from heaven. He might, indeed, either be a god who had
obtained as his lot (the obligation) to dwell on earth for ever, and be thus
a fugitive, as it were, from the abode of the gods, or he might be one who
had no power to share in the society of the gods in heaven; [3828] or else
Apollo, and Aesculapius, and those others who are believed to perform acts
on earth, would not be gods, but only certain demons, much inferior to those
wise men among mankind, who on account of their virtue ascend to the vault
[3829] of heaven.
Chapter III.
But observe how, in his desire to subvert our opinions, he who never
acknowledged himself throughout his whole treatise to be an Epicurean, is
convicted of being a deserter to that sect. And now is the time for you,
(reader), who peruse the works of Celsus, and give your assent to what has
been advanced, either to overturn the belief in a God who visits the human
race, and exercises a providence over each individual man, or to grant this,
and prove the falsity of the assertions of Celsus. If you, then, wholly
annihilate providence, you will falsify those assertions of his in which he
grants the existence of "God and a providence," in order that you may
maintain the truth of your own position; but if, on the other hand, you
still admit the existence of providence, because you do not assent to the
dictum of Celsus, that "neither has a God nor the son of a God come down nor
is to come down [3830] to mankind," why not rather carefully ascertain from
the statements made regarding Jesus, and the prophecies uttered concerning
Him, who it is that we are to consider as having come down to the human race
as God, and the Son of God?'whether that Jesus who said and ministered so
much, or those who under pretence of oracles and divinations, do not reform
the morals of their worshippers, but who have besides apostatized from the
pure and holy worship and honour due to the Maker of all things, and who
tear away the souls of those who give heed to them from the one only visible
and true God, under a pretence of paying honour to a multitude of deities?
Chapter IV.
But since he says, in the next place, as if the Jews or Christians had
answered regarding those who come down to visit the human race, that they
were angels: "But if ye say that they are angels, what do you call them? "he
continues, "Are they gods, or some other race of beings? "and then again
introduces us as if answering, "Some other race of beings, and probably
demons,"'let us proceed to notice these remarks. For we indeed acknowledge
that angels are "ministering spirits," and we say that "they are sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation; " [3831] and that they
ascend, bearing the supplications of men, to the purest of the heavenly
places in the universe, or even to supercelestial regions purer still;
[3832] and that they come down from these, conveying to each one, according
to his deserts, something enjoined by God to be conferred by them upon those
who are to be the recipients of His benefits. Having thus learned to call
these beings "angels" from their employments, we find that because they are
divine they are sometimes termed "god" in the sacred Scriptures, [3833]
but not so that we are commanded to honour and worship in place of God those
who minister to us, and bear to us His blessings. For every prayer, and
supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving, is to be sent up to the
Supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living
Word and God. And to the Word Himself shall we also pray and make
intercessions, and offer thanksgivings and supplications to Him, if we have
the capacity of distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of prayer.
[3834]
Chapter V.
For to invoke angels without having obtained a knowledge of their nature
greater than is possessed by men, would be contrary to reason. But,
conformably to our hypothesis, let this knowledge of them, which is
something wonderful and mysterious, be obtained. Then this knowledge, making
known to us their nature, and the offices to which they are severally
appointed, will not permit us to pray with confidence to any other than to
the Supreme God, who is sufficient for all things, and that through our
Saviour the Son of God, who is the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and
everything else which the writings of God's prophets and the apostles of
Jesus entitle Him. And it is enough to secure that the holy angels of God be
propitious to us, [3835] and that they do all things on our behalf, that
our disposition of mind towards God should imitate as far as it is within
the power of human nature the example of these holy angels, who again follow
the example of their God; and that the conceptions which we entertain of His
Son, the Word, so far as attainable by us, should not be opposed to the
clearer conceptions of Him which the holy angels possess, but should daily
approach these in clearness and distinctness. But because Celsus has not
read our holy Scriptures, he gives himself an answer as if it came from us,
saying that we "assert that the angels who come down from heaven to confer
benefits on mankind are a different race from the gods," and adds that "in
all probability they would be called demons by us: "not observing that the
name "demons" is not a term of indifferent meaning like that of "men," among
whom some are good and some bad, nor yet a term of excellence like that of
"the gods," which is applied not to wicked demons, or to statues, or to
animals, but (by those who know divine things) to what is truly divine and
blessed; whereas the term "demons" is always applied to those wicked powers,
freed from the encumbrance of a grosser body, who lead men astray, and fill
them with distractions and drag them down from God and supercelestial
thoughts to things here below.
Chapter VI.
He next proceeds to make the following statement about the Jews:'"The first
point relating to the Jews which is fitted to excite wonder, is that they
should worship the heaven and the angels who dwell therein, and yet pass by
and neglect its most venerable and powerful parts, as the sun, the moon, and
the other heavenly bodies, both fixed stars and planets, as if it were
possible that 'the whole' could be God, and yet its parts not divine; or (as
if it were reasonable) to treat with the greatest respect those who are said
to appear to such as are in darkness somewhere, blinded by some crooked
sorcery, or dreaming dreams through the influence of shadowy spectres,
[3836] while those who prophesy so clearly and strikingly to all men, by
means of whom rain, and heat, and clouds, and thunder (to which they offer
worship), and lightnings, and fruits, and all kinds of productiveness, are
brought about,'by means of whom God is revealed to them,'the most prominent
heralds among those beings that are above,'those that are truly heavenly
angels,'are to be regarded as of no account!" In making these statements,
Celsus appears to have fallen into confusion, and to have penned them from
false ideas of things which he did not understand; for it is patent to all
who investigate the practices of the Jews, and compare them with those of
the Christians, that the Jews who follow the law, which, speaking in the
person of God, says, "Thou shall have no other gods before Me: thou shalt
not make unto thee an image, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the
earth; thou shall not bow down to them, nor serve them," [3837] worship
nothing else than the Supreme God, who made the heavens, and all things
besides. Now it is evident that those who live according to the law, and
worship the Maker of heaven, will not worship the heaven at the same time
with God. Moreover, no one who obeys the law of Moses will bow down to the
angels who are in heaven; and, in like manner, as they do not bow down to
sun, moon, and stars, the host of heaven, they refrain from doing obeisance
to heaven and its angels, obeying the law which declares: "Lest thou lift up
thine eyes to heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the
stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldst be driven to worship them, and
serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations." [3838]
Chapter VII.
Having, moreover, assumed that the Jews consider the heaven to be God, he
adds that this is absurd; finding fault with those who bow down to the
heaven, but not also to the sun, and moon, and stars, saying that the Jews
do this, as if it were possible that "the whole" should be God, and its
several parts not divine. And he seems to call the heaven "a whole," and
sun, moon, and stars its several parts. Now, certainly neither Jews nor
Christians call the "heaven" God. Let it be granted, however, that, as he
alleges, the heaven is called God by the Jews, and suppose that sun, moon,
and stars are parts of "heaven,"'which is by no means true, for neither are
the animals and plants upon the earth any portion of it,'how is it true,
even according to the opinions of the Greeks, that if God be a whole, His
parts also are divine? Certainly they say that the Cosmos taken as the
whole [3839] is God, the Stoics calling it the First God, the followers of
Plato the Second, and some of them the Third. According to these
philosophers, then, seeing the whole Cosmos is God, its parts also are
divine; so that not only are human beings divine, but the whole of the
irrational creation, as being "portions" of the Cosmos; and besides these,
the plants also are divine. And if the rivers, and mountains, and seas are
portions of the Cosmos, then, since the whole Cosmos is God, are the riven
and seas also gods? But even this the Greeks will not assert. Those,
however, who preside over rivers and seas (either demons or gods, as they
call them), they would term gods. Now from this it follows that the general
statement of Celsus, even according to the Greeks, who hold the doctrine of
Providence, is false, that if any "whole" be a god, its parts necessarily
are divine. But it follows from the doctrine of Celsus, that if the Cosmos
be God, all that is in it is divine, being parts of the Cosmos. Now,
according to this view, animals, as flies, and gnats, and worms, and every
species of serpent, as well as of birds and fishes, will be divine,'an
assertion which would not be made even by those who maintain that the Cosmos
is God. But the Jews, who live according to the law of Moses, although they
may not know how to receive the secret meaning of the law, which is conveyed
in obscure language, will not maintain that either the heaven or the angels
are God.
Chapter VIII.
As we allege, however, that he has fallen into confusion in consequence of
false notions which he has imbibed, come and let us point them out to the
best of our ability, and show that although Celsus considers it to be a
Jewish custom to bow down to the heaven and the angels in it, such a
practice is not at all Jewish, but is in violation of Judaism, as it also is
to do obeisance to sun, moon, and stars, as well as images. You will find at
least in the book of Jeremiah the words of God censuring by the mouth of the
prophet the Jewish people for doing obeisance to such objects, and for
sacrificing to the queen of heaven, and to all the host of heaven. [3840]
The writings of the Christians, moreover, show, in censuring the sins
committed among the Jews, that when God abandoned that people on account of
certain sins, these sins (of idol-worship) also were committed by them. For
it is related in the Acts of the Apostles regarding the Jews, that "God
turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in
the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to Me slain
beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye
took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures
which you made to worship them." [3841] And in the writings of Paul, who
was carefully trained in Jewish customs, and converted afterwards to
Christianity by a miraculous appearance of Jesus, the following words may be
read in the Epistle to the Colossians: "Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into
those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind;
and not holding the Head, from which all the body by joint and bands having
nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of
God." [3842] But Celsus, having neither read these verses, nor having
learned their contents from any other source, has represented, I know not
how, the Jews as not transgressing their law in bowing down to the heavens,
and to the angels therein.
Chapter IX.
And still continuing a little confused, and not taking care to see what was
relevant to the matter, he expressed his opinion that the Jews were induced
by the incantations employed in jugglery and sorcery (in consequence of
which certain phantoms appear, in obedience to the spells employed by the
magicians) to bow down to the angels in heaven, not observing that this was
contrary to their law, which said to them who practised such observances:
"Regard not them which have familiar spirits, [3843] neither seek after
wizards, [3844] to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God." [3845]
He ought, therefore, either not to have at all attributed this practice to
the Jews, seeing he has observed that they keep their law, and has called
them "those who live according to their law; "or if he did attribute it, he
ought to have shown that the Jews did this in violation of their code. But
again, as they transgress their law who offer worship to those who are said
to appear to them who are involved in darkness and blinded by sorcery, and
who dream dreams, owing to obscure phantoms presenting themselves; so also
do they transgress the law who offer sacrifice to sun, moon, and stars.
[3846] And there is thus great inconsistency in the same individual saying
that the Jews are careful to keep their law by not bowing down to sun, and
moon, and stars, while they are not so careful to keep it in the matter of
heaven and the angels.
Chapter X.
And if it be necessary for us to offer a defence of our refusal to recognise
as gods, equally with angels, and sun, and moon, and stars, those who are
called by the Greeks "manifest and visible" divinities, we shall answer that
the law of Moses knows that these latter have been apportioned by God among
all the nations under the heaven, but not amongst those who were selected by
God as His chosen people above all the nations of the earth. For it is
written in the book of Deuteronomy: "And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto
heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all
the host of heaven, shouldst be driven to worship them, and serve them,
which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations unto the whole heaven.
But the Lord hath taken us, and brought as forth out of the iron furnace,
even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this
day." [3847] The Hebrew people, then, being called by God a "chosen
generation, and a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, and a purchased
people," [3848] regarding whom it was foretold to Abraham by the voice of
the Lord addressed to him, "Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if
thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be; "
[3849] and having thus a hope that they would become as the stars of heaven,
were not likely to bow down to those objects which they were to resemble as
a result of their understanding and observing the law of God. For it was
said to them: "The Lord our God hath multiplied us; and, behold, ye are this
day as the stars of heaven for multitude." [3850] In the book of Daniel,
also, the following prophecies are found relating to those who are to share
in the resurrection: "And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every
one that has been written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the
dust [3851] of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some
to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the firmament, and (those) of the many righteous [3852] as
the stars for ever and ever," [3853] etc. And hence Paul, too, when
speaking of the resurrection, says: "And there are also celestial bodies,
and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory
of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another
glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth
from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead."
[3854] It was not therefore consonant to reason that those who had been
taught sublimely [3855] to ascend above all created things, and to hope
for the enjoyment of the most glorious rewards with God on account of their
virtuous lives, and who had heard the words, "Ye are the light of I the
world," [3856] and, "Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing
your good works, may glorify your Father who is in heaven," [3857] and who
possessed through practice this brilliant and unfading wisdom, or who had
secured even the "very reflection of everlasting light," [3858] should be
so impressed with the (mere) visible light of sun, and moon, and stars,
that, on account of that sensible light of theirs, they should deem
themselves (although possessed of so great a rational light of knowledge,
and of the true light, and the light of the world, and the light of men) to
be somehow inferior to them, and to bow down to them; seeing they ought to
be worshipped, if they are to receive worship at all, not for the sake of
the sensible light which is admired by the multitude, but because of the
rational and true light, if indeed the stars in heaven are rational and
virtuous beings, and have been illuminated with the light of knowledge by
that wisdom which is the "reflection of everlasting light." For that
sensible light of theirs is the work of the Creator of all things, while
that rational light is derived perhaps from the principle of free-will
within them. [3859]
Chapter XI.
But even this rational light itself ought not to be worshipped by him who
beholds and understands the true light, by sharing in which these also are
enlightened; nor by him who beholds God, the Father of the true light,'of
whom it has been said, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at
all." [3860] Those, indeed, who worship sun, moon, and stars because their
light is visible and celestial, would not bow down to a spark of fire or a
lamp upon earth, because they see the incomparable superiority of those
objects which are deemed worthy of homage to the light of sparks and lamps.
So those who understand that God is light, and who have apprehended that the
Son of God is "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world," and who comprehend also how He says, "I am the light of the
world," would not rationally offer worship to that which is, as it were, a
spark in sun, moon, and stars, in comparison with God, who is light of the
true light. Nor is it with a view to depreciate these great works of God's
creative power, or to call them, after the fashion of Anaxagoras, "fiery
masses," [3861] that we thus speak of sun, and moon, and stars; but
because we perceive the inexpressible superiority of the divinity of God,
and that of His only-begotten Son, which surpasses all other things. And
being persuaded that the sun himself, and moon, and stars pray to the
Supreme God through His only-begotten Son, we judge it improper to pray to
those beings who themselves offer up prayers (to God), seeing even they
themselves would prefer that we should send up our requests to the God to
whom they pray, rather than send them downwards to themselves, or apportion
our power of prayer [3862] between God and them. [3863] And here I may
employ this illustration, as beating upon this point: Our Lord and Saviour,
heating Himself on one occasion addressed as "Good Master," [3864]
referring him who used it to His own Father, said, "Why callest thou Me
good? There is none good but one, that is, God the Father." [3865] And
since it was in accordance with sound reason that this should be said by the
Son of His Father's love, as being the image of the goodness of God, why
should not the sun say with greater reason to those that bow down to him,
Why do you worship me? "for thou wilt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only
shalt thou serve; " [3866] for it is He whom I and all who are with me
serve and worship. And although one may not be so exalted (as the sun),
nevertheless let such an one pray to the Word of God (who is able to heal
him), and still more to His Father, who also to the righteous of former
times "sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their
destructions." [3867]
Chapter XII.
God accordingly, in His kindness, condescends to mankind, not in any local
sense, but through His providence; [3868] while the Son of God, not only
(when on earth), but at all times, is with His own disciples, fulfilling the
promise, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." [3869]
And if a branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine, it is evident
that the disciples also of the Word, who are the rational branches of the
Word's true vine, cannot produce the fruits of virtue unless they abide in
the true vine, the Christ of God, who is with us locally here below upon the
earth, and who is with those who cleave to Him in all parts of the world,
and is also in all places with those who do not know Him. Another is made
manifest by that John who wrote the Gospel, when, speaking in the person of
John the Baptist, he said, "There standeth one among you whom ye know not;
He it is who cometh after me." [3870] And it is absurd, when He who fills
heaven and earth, and who said, "Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the
Lord," [3871] is with us, and near us (for I believe Him when He says, "I
am a God nigh at hand, and not afar off, saith the Lord" [3872] to seek to
pray to sun or moon, or one of the stars, whose influence does not reach the
whole of the world. [3873] But, to use the very words of Celsus, let it be
granted that "the sun, moon, and stars do foretell rain, and heat, and
clouds, and thunders," why, then, if they really do foretell such great
things, ought we not rather to do homage to God, whose servant they are in
uttering these predictions, and show reverence to Him rather than His
prophets? Let them predict, then, the approach of lightnings, and fruits,
and all manner of productions, and let all such things be under their
administration; yet we shall not on that account worship those who
themselves offer worship, as we do not worship even Moses, and those
prophets who came from God after him, and who predicted better things than
rain, and heat, and clouds, and thunders, and lightnings, and fruits, and
all sorts of productions visible to the senses. Nay, even if sun, and moon,
and stars were able to prophesy better things than rain, not even then shall
we worship them, but the Father of the prophecies which are in them, and the
Word of God, their minister. But grant that they are His heralds, and truly
messengers of heaven, why, even then ought we not to worship the God whom
they only proclaim and announce, rather than those who are the heralds and
messengers?
Chapter XIII.
Celsus, moreover, assumes that sun, and moon, and stars are regarded by us
as of no account. Now, with regard to these, we acknowledge that they too
are "waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God," being for the
present subjected to the "vanity" of their material bodies, "by reason of
Him who has subjected the same in hope." [3874] But if Celsus had read the
innumerable other passages where we speak of sun, moon, and stars, and
especially these,'"Praise Him, all ye stars, and thou, O light," and,
"Praise Him, ye heaven of heavens," [3875] 'he would not have said of us
that we regard such mighty beings, which "greatly praise" the Lord God, as
of no account. Nor did Celsus know the passage: "For the earnest expectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the
creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who
hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God." [3876] And with these words let us terminate our defence
against the charge of not worshipping sun, moon, and stars. And let us now
bring forward those statements of his which follow, that we may, God
willing, address to him in reply such arguments as shall be suggested by the
light of truth.
Chapter XIV.
The following, then, are his words: "It is folly on their part to suppose
that when God, as if He were a cook, [3877] introduces the fire (which is
to consume the world), all the rest of the human race will be burnt up,
while they alone will remain, not only such of them as are then alive, but
also those who are long since dead, which latter will arise from the earth
clothed with the self-same flesh (as during life); for such a hope is simply
one which might be cherished by worms. For what sort of human soul is that
which would still long for a body that had been subject to corruption?
Whence, also, this opinion of yours is not shared by some of the Christians,
and they pronounce it to be exceedingly vile, and loathsome, and impossible;
for what kind of body is that which, after being completely corrupted, can
return to its original nature, and to that self-same first condition out of
which it fell into dissolution? Being unable to return any answer, they
betake themselves to a most absurd refuge, viz., that all things are
possible to God. And yet God cannot do things that are disgraceful, nor does
He wish to do things that are contrary to His nature; nor, if (in accordance
with the wickedness of your own heart) you desired anything that was evil,
would God accomplish it; nor must you believe at once that it will be done.
For God does not rule the world in order to satisfy inordinate desires, or
to allow disorder and confusion, but to govern a nature that is upright and
just. [3878] For the soul, indeed, He might be able to provide an
everlasting life; while dead bodies, on the contrary, are, as Heraclitus
observes, more worthless than dung. God, however, neither can nor will
declare, contrary to all reason, that the flesh, which is full of those
things which it is not even honourable to mention, is to exist for ever. For
He is the reason of all things that exist, and therefore can do nothing
either contrary to reason or contrary to Himself."
Chapter XV.
Observe, now, here at the very beginning, how, in ridiculing the doctrine of
a conflagration of the world, held by certain of the Greeks who have treated
the subject in a philosophic spirit not to be depreciated, he would make us,
"representing God, as it were, as a cook, hold the belief in a general
conflagration; "not perceiving that, as certain Greeks were of opinion
(perhaps having received their information from the ancient nation of the
Hebrews), it is a purificatory fire which is brought upon the world, and
probably also on each one of those who stand in need of chastisement by the
fire and healing at the same time, seeing it burns indeed, but does not
consume, those who are without a material body, [3879] which needs to be
consumed by that fire, and which burns and consumes those who by their
actions, words, and thoughts have built up wood, or hay, or stubble, in that
which is figuratively termed a "building." [3880] And the holy Scriptures
say that the Lord will, like a refiner's fire and fullers' soap, [3881]
visit each one of those who require purification, because of the
intermingling in them of a flood of wicked matter proceeding from their evil
nature; who need fire, I mean, to refine, as it were, (the dross of) those
who are intermingled with copper, and tin, and lead. And he who likes may
learn this from the prophet Ezekiel. [3882] But that we say that God
brings fire upon the world, not like a cook, but like a God, who is the
benefactor of them who stand in need of the discipline of fire, [3883]
will be testified by the prophet Isaiah, in whose writings it is related
that a sinful nation was thus addressed: "Because thou hast coals of fire,
sit upon them: they shall be to thee a help." [3884] Now the Scripture is
appropriately adapted to the multitudes of those who are to peruse it,
because it speaks obscurely of things that are sad and gloomy, [3885] in
order to terrify those who cannot by any other means be saved from the flood
of their sins, although even then the attentive reader will dearly discover
the end that is to be accomplished by these sad and painful punishments upon
those who endure them. It is sufficient, however, for the present to quote
the words of Isaiah: "For My name's sake will I show Mine anger, and My
glory I will bring upon thee, that I may not destroy thee." [3886] We have
thus been under the necessity of referring in obscure terms to questions not
fitted to the capacity of simple believers, [3887] who require a simpler
instruction in words, that we might not appear to leave unrefuted the
accusation of Celsus, that "God introduces the fire (which is to destroy the
world), as if He were a cook."
Chapter XVI.
From what has been said, it will be manifest to intelligent hearers how we
have to answer the following: "All the rest of the race will be completely
burnt up, and they alone will remain." It is not to be wondered at, indeed,
if such thoughts have been entertained by those amongst us who are called in
Scripture the "foolish things" of the world, and "base things," and "things
which are despised," and "things which are not," because "by the foolishness
of preaching it pleased God to save them that believe on Him, after that, in
the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God," [3888] 'because such
individuals are unable to see distinctly the sense of each particular
passage, [3889] or unwilling to devote the necessary leisure to the
investigation of Scripture, notwithstanding the injunction of Jesus, "Search
the Scriptures." [3890] The following, moreover, are his ideas regarding
the fire which is to be brought upon the world by God, and the punishments
which are to befall sinners. And perhaps, as it is appropriate to Children
that some things should be addressed to them in a manner befitting their
infantile condition, to convert them, as being of very tender age, to a
better course of life; so, to those whom the word terms "the foolish things
of the world," and "the base," and "the despised," the just and obvious
meaning of the passages relating to punishments is suitable, inasmuch as
they cannot receive any other mode of conversion than that which is by fear
and the presentation of punishment, and thus be saved from the many evils
(which would befall them). [3891] The Scripture accordingly declares that
only those who are unscathed by the fire and the punishments are to
remain,'those, viz., whose opinions, and morals, and mind have been purified
to the highest degree; while, on the other hand, those of a different
nature'those, viz., who, according to their deserts, require the
administration of punishment by fire'will be involved in these sufferings
with a view to an end which it is suitable for God to bring upon those who
have been created in His image, but who have lived in opposition to the will
of that nature which is according to His image. And this is our answer to
the statement, "All the rest of the race will be completely burnt up, but
they alone are to remain."
Chapter XVII.
Then, in the next place, having either himself misunderstood the sacred
Scriptures, or those (interpreters) by whom they were not understood, he
proceeds to assert that "it is said by us that there will remain at the time
of the visitation which is to come upon the world by the fire of
purification, not only those who are then alive, but also those who are long
ago dead; "not observing that it is with a secret kind of wisdom that it was
said by the apostle of Jesus: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed." [3892] Now he ought to have noticed what was the
meaning of him who uttered these words, as being one who was by no means
dead, who made a distinction between himself and those like him and the
dead, and who said afterwards, "The dead shall be raised incorruptible," and
"we shall be changed." And as a proof that such was the apostle's meaning in
writing those words which I have quoted from the first Epistle to the
Corinthians, I will quote also from the first to the Thessalonians, in which
Paul, as one who is alive and awake, and different from those who are
asleep, speaks as follows: "For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall
not prevent them who are asleep; for the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God." [3893] Then, again, after this, knowing that there were others dead
in Christ besides himself and such as he, he subjoins the words, "The dead
in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." [3894]
Chapter XVIII.
But since he has ridiculed at great length the doctrine of the resurrection
of the flesh, which has been preached in the Churches, and which is more
clearly understood by the more intelligent believer; and as it is
unnecessary again to quote his words, which have been already adduced, let
us, with regard to the problem [3895] (as in an apologetic work directed
against an alien from the faith, and for the sake of those who are still
"children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive" [3896] ), state and establish to the best of our ability a few
points expressly intended for our readers. Neither we, then, nor the holy
Scriptures, assert that with the same bodies, without a change to a higher
condition, "shall those who were long dead arise from the earth and live
again; "for in so speaking, Celsus makes a false charge against us. For we
may listen to many passages of Scripture treating of the resurrection in a
manner worthy of God, although it may, suffice for the present to quote the
language of Paul from the first Epistle to the Corinthians, where he says:
"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do
they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it
die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain; but God
giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body."
[3897] Now, observe how in these words he says that there is sown, "not that
body that shall be; "but that of the body which is sown and cast naked into
the earth (God giving to each seed its own body), there takes place as it
were a resurrection: from the seed that was east into the ground there
arising a stalk, e.g., among such plants as the following, viz., the mustard
plant, or of a larger tree, as in the olive, [3898] or one of the
fruit-trees.
Chapter XIX.
God, then, gives to each thing its own body as He pleases: as in the case of
plants that are sown, so also in the case of those beings who are, as it
were, sown in dying, and who in due time receive, out of what has been
"sown," the body assigned by God to each one according to his deserts. And
we may hear, moreover, the Scripture teaching us at great length the
difference between that which is, as it were, "sown," and that which is, as
it were, "raised" from it in these words: "It is sown in corruption, it is
raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body." [3899] And let him who has the capacity
understand the meaning of the words: "As is the earthy, such are they also
that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly." [3900] And although the apostle wished to
conceal the secret meaning of the passage, which was not adapted to the
simpler class of believers, and to the understanding of the common people,
who are led by their faith to enter on a better course of life, he was
nevertheless obliged afterwards to say (in order that we might not
misapprehend his meaning), after "Let us bear the image of the heavenly,"
these words also: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."
[3901] Then, knowing that there was a secret and mystical meaning in the
passage, as was becoming in one who was leaving, in his Epistles, to those
who were to come after him words full of significance, he subjoins the
following, "Behold, I show you a mystery; " [3902] which is his usual
style in introducing matters of a profounder and more mystical nature, and
such as are fittingly concealed from the multitude, as is written in the
book of Tobit: "It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but
honourable to reveal the works of God," [3903] 'in a way consistent with
truth and God's glory, and so as to be to the advantage of the multitude.
Our hope, then, is not" the hope of worms, nor does our soul long for a body
that has seen corruption; "for although it may require a body, for the sake
of moving from place to place, [3904] yet it understands'as having
meditated on the wisdom (that is from above), agreeably to the declaration,
"The mouth of the righteous will speak wisdom" [3905] 'the difference
between the "earthly house," in which is the tabernacle of the building that
is to be dissolved, and that in which the righteous do groan, being
burdened,'not wishing to "put off" the tabernacle, but to be "clothed
therewith," that by being clothed upon, mortality might be swallowed up of
life. For, in virtue of the whole nature of the body being corruptible, the
corruptible tabernacle must put on incorruption; and its other part, being
mortal, and becoming liable to the death which follows sin, must put on
immortality, in order that, when the corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and the mortal immortality, then shall come to pass what was
predicted of old by the prophets,'the annihilation of the "victory" of death
(because it had conquered and subjected us to his sway), and of its
"sting," with which it stings the imperfectly defended soul, and inflicts
upon it the wounds which result from sin.
Chapter XX.
But since our views regarding the resurrection have, as far as time would
permit, been stated in part on the present occasion (for we have
systematically examined the subject in greater detail in other parts of our
writings); and as now we must by means of sound reasoning refute the
fallacies of Celsus, who neither understands the meaning of our Scripture,
nor has the capacity of judging that the meaning of our wise men is not to
be determined by those individuals who make no profession of anything more
than of a (simple) faith in the Christian system, let us show that men, not
to be lightly esteemed on account of their reasoning powers and dialectic
subtleties, have given expression to very absurd [3906] opinions. And if
we must sneer [3907] at them as contemptible old wives' fables, it is at
them rather than at our narrative that we must sneer. The disciples of the
Porch assert, that after a period of years there will be a conflagration of
the world, and after that an arrangement of things in which everything will
be unchanged, as compared with the former arrangement of the world. Those of
them, however, who evinced their respect for this doctrine have said that
there will be a change, although exceedingly slight, at the end of the
cycle, from what prevailed during the preceding. [3908] And these men
maintain, that in the succeeding cycle the same things will occur, and
Socrates will be again the son of Sophroniscus, and a native of Athens; and
Phaenarete, being married to Sophroniscus, will again become his mother. And
although they do not mention the word "resurrection," they show in reality
that Socrates, who derived his origin from seed, will spring from that of
Sophroniscus, and will be fashioned in the womb of Phaenarete; and being
brought up at Athens, will practise the study of philosophy, as if his
former philosophy had arisen again, and were to be in no respect different
from what it was before. Anytus and Melitus, too, will arise again as
accusers of Socrates, and the Council of Areopagus will condemn him to
death! But what is more ridiculous still, is that Socrates will clothe
himself with garments not at all different from those which he wore during
the former cycle, and will live in the same unchanged state of poverty, and
in the same unchanged city of Athens! And Phalaris will again play the
tyrant, and his brazen bull will pour forth its bellowings from the voices
of victims within, unchanged from those who were condemned in the former
cycle! And Alexander of Pherae, too, will again act the tyrant with a
cruelty unaltered from the former time, and will condemn to death the same
"unchanged" individuals as before. But what need is there to go into detail
upon the doctrine held by the Stoic philosophers on such things, and which
escapes the ridicule of Celsus, and is perhaps even venerated by him, since
he regards Zeno as a wiser man than Jesus?
Chapter XXI.
The disciples of Pythagoras, too, and of Plato, although they appear to hold
the incorruptibility of the world, yet fall into similar errors. For as the
planets, after certain definite cycles, assume the same positions, and hold
the same relations to one another, all things on earth will, they assert, be
like what they were at the time when the same state of planetary relations
existed in the world. From this view it necessarily follows, that when,
after the lapse of a lengthened cycle, the planets come to occupy towards
each other the same relations which they occupied in the time of Socrates,
Socrates will again be born of the same parents, and suffer the same
treatment, being accused by Anytus and Melitus, and condemned by the Council
of Areopagus! The learned among the Egyptians, moreover, hold similar views,
and yet they are treated with respect, and do not incur the ridicule of
Celsus and such as he; while we, who maintain that all things are
administered by God in proportion to the relation of the free-will of each
individual, and are ever being brought into a better condition, so far as
they admit of being so, [3909] and who know that the nature of our
free-will admits of the occurrence of contingent events [3910] (for it is
incapable of receiving the wholly unchangeable character of God), yet do not
appear to say anything worthy of a testing examination.
Chapter XXII.
Let no one, however, suspect that, in speaking as we do, we belong to those
who are indeed called Christians, but who set aside the doctrine of the
resurrection as it is taught in Scripture. For these persons cannot, so far
as their principles apply, at all establish that the stalk or tree which
springs up comes from the grain of wheat, or anything else (which was cast
into the ground); whereas we, who believe that that which is "sown" is not
"quickened" unless it die, and that there is sown not that body that shall
be (for God gives it a body as it pleases Him, raising it in incorruption
after it is sown in corruption; and after it is sown in dishonour, raising
it in glory; and after it is sown in weakness, raising it in power; and
after it is sown a natural body, raising it a spiritual),'we preserve both
the doctrine [3911] of the Church of Christ and the grandeur of the divine
promise, proving also the possibility of its accomplishment not by mere
assertion, but by arguments; knowing that although heaven and earth, and the
things that are in them, may pass away, yet His words regarding each
individual thing, being, as parts of a whole, or species of a genus, the
utterances of Him who was God the Word, who was in the beginning with God,
shall by no means pass away. For we desire to listen to Him who said:
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."
[3912]
Chapter XXIII.
We, therefore, do not maintain that the body which has undergone corruption
resumes its original nature, any more than the gain of wheat which has
decayed returns to its former condition. But we do maintain, that as above
the gain of wheat there arises a stalk, so a certain power [3913] is
implanted in the body, which is not destroyed, and from which the body is
raised up in incorruption. The philosophers of the Porch, however, in
consequence of the opinions which they hold regarding the unchangeableness
of things after a certain cycle, assert that the body, after undergoing
complete corruption, will return to its original condition, and will again
assume that first nature from which it passed into a state of dissolution,
establishing these points, as they think, by irresistible arguments.
[3914] We, however, do not betake ourselves to a most absurd refuge, saying
that with God all things are possible; for we know how to understand this
word "all" as not referring either to things that are "non-existent" or that
are inconceivable. But we maintain, at the same time, that God cannot do
what is disgraceful, since then He would be capable of ceasing to be God;
for if He do anything that is disgraceful, He is not God. Since, however, he
lays it down as a principle, that "God does not desire what is contrary to
nature," we have to make a distinction, and say that if any one asserts that
wickedness is contrary to nature, while we maintain that "God does not
desire what is contrary to nature,"'either what springs from wickedness or
from an irrational principle,'yet, if such things happen according to the
word and will of God, we must at once necessarily hold that they are not
contrary to nature. Therefore things which are done by God, although they
may be, or may appear to some to be incredible, are not contrary to nature.
And if we must press the force of words, [3915] we would say that, in
comparison with what is generally understood as "nature," there are certain
things which are beyond its power, which God could at any time do; as, e.g.,
in raising man above the level of human nature, and causing him to pass into
a better and more divine condition, and preserving him in the same, so long
as he who is the object of His care shows by his actions that he desires
(the continuance of His help).
Chapter XXIV.
Moreover, as we have already said that for God to desire anything unbecoming
Himself would be destructive of His existence as Deity, we will add that if
man, agreeably to the wickedness of his nature, should desire anything that
is abominable, [3916] God cannot grant it. And now it is from no spirit of
contention that we answer the assertions of Celsus; but it is in the spirit
of truth that we investigate them, as assenting to his view that "He is the
God, not of inordinate desires, nor of error and disorder, but of a nature
just and upright," because He is the source of all that is good. And that He
is able to provide an eternal life for the soul we acknowledge; and that He
possesses not only the "power," but the "will." In view, therefore, of these
considerations, we are not at all distressed by the assertion of Heraclitus,
adopted by Celsus, that "dead bodies are to be cast out as more worthless
than dung; "and yet, with reference even to this, one might say that dung,
indeed, ought to be cast out, while the dead bodies of men, on account of
the soul by which they were inhabited, especially if it had been virtuous,
ought not to be cast out. For, in harmony with those laws which are based
upon the principles of equity, bodies are deemed worthy of sepulture, with
the honours accorded on such occasions, that no insult, so far as can be
helped, may be offered to the soul which dwelt within, by casting forth the
body (after the soul has departed) like that of the animals. Let it not then
be held, contrary to reason, that it is the will of God to declare that the
grain of wheat is not immortal, but the stalk which springs from it, while
the body which is sown in corruption is not, but that which is raised by Him
in incorruption. But according to Celsus, God Himself is the reason of all
things, while according to our view it is His Son, of whom we say in
philosophic language, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God; " [3917] while in our judgment also, God cannot
do anything which is contrary to reason, or contrary to Himself. [3918]
Chapter XXV.
Let us next notice the statements of Celsus, which follow the preceding, and
which are as follow: "As the Jews, then, became a peculiar people, and
enacted laws in keeping with the customs of their country, [3919] and
maintain them up to the present time, and observe a mode of worship which,
whatever be its nature, is yet derived from their fathers, they act in these
respects like other men, because each nation retains its ancestral customs,
whatever they are, if they happen to be established among them. And such an
arrangement appears to be advantageous, not only because it has occurred to
the mind of other nations to decide some things differently, but also
because it is a duty to protect what has been established for the public
advantage; and also because, in all probability, the various quarters of the
earth were from the beginning allotted to different superintending
spirits, [3920] and were thus distributed among certain governing
powers, [3921] and in this manner the administration of the world is
carried on. And whatever is done among each nation in this way would be
rightly done, wherever it was agreeable to the wishes (of the superintending
powers), while it would be an act of impiety to get rid of [3922] the
institutions established from the beginning in the various places." By these
words Celsus shows that the Jews, who were formerly Egyptians, subsequently
became a "peculiar people," and enacted laws which they carefully preserve.
And not to repeat his statements, which have been already before us, he says
that it is advantageous to the Jews to observe their ancestral worship, as
other nations carefully attend to theirs. And he further states a deeper
reason why it is of advantage to the Jews to cultivate their ancestral
customs, in hinting dimly that those to whom was allotted the office of
superintending the country which was being legislated for, enacted the laws
of each land in co-operation with its legislators. He appears, then, to
indicate that both the country of the Jews, and the nation which inhabits
it, are superintended by one or more beings, who, whether they were one or
more, co-operated with Moses, and enacted the laws of the Jews.
Chapter XXVI.
"We must," he says, "observe the laws, not only because it has occurred to
the mind of others to decide some things differently, but because it is a
duty to protect what has been enacted for the public advantage, and aim
because, in all probability, the various quarters of the earth were from the
beginning allotted to different superintending spirits, and were distributed
among certain governing powers, and in this manner the administration of the
world is carried on." Thus Celsus, as if he had forgotten what he had said
against the Jews, now includes them in the general eulogy which he passes
upon all who observe their ancestral customs, remarking: "And whatever is
done among each nation in this way, would be rightly done whenever agreeable
to the wishes (of the superintendents)." And observe here, whether he does
not openly, so far as he can, express a wish that the Jew should live in the
observance of his own laws, and not depart from them, because he would
commit an act of impiety if he apostatized; for his words are: "It would be
an act of impiety to get rid of the institutions established from the
beginning in the various places." Now I should like to ask him, and those
who entertain his views, who it was that distributed the various quarters of
the earth from the beginning among the different superintending spirits; and
especially, who gave the country of the Jews, and the Jewish people
themselves, to the one or more superintendents to whom it was allotted? Was
it, as Celsus would say, Jupiter who assigned the Jewish people and their
country to a certain spirit or spirits? And was it his wish, to whom they
were thus assigned, to enact among them the laws which prevail, or was it
against his will that it was done? You will observe that, whatever be his
answer, he is in a strait. But if the various quarters of the earth were not
allotted by some one being to the various superintending spirits, then each
one at random, and without the superintendence of a higher power, divided
the earth according to chance; and yet such a view is absurd, and
destructive in no small degree of the providence of the God who presides
over all things.
Chapter XXVII.
Any one, indeed, who chooses, may relate how the various quarters of the
earth, being distributed among certain governing powers, are administered by
those who superintend them; but let him tell us also how what is done among
each nation is done rightly when agreeable to the wishes of the
superintendents. Let him, for example, tell us whether the laws of the
Scythians, which permit the murder of parents, are right laws; or those of
the Persians, which do not forbid the marriages of sons with their mothers,
or of daughters with their own fathers. But what need is there for me to
make selections from those who have been engaged in the business of enacting
laws among the different nations, and to inquire how the laws are rightly
enacted among each, according as they please the superintending powers? Let
Celsus, however, tell us how it would be an act of impiety to get rid of
those ancestral laws which permit the marriages of mothers and daughters; or
which pronounce a man happy who puts an end to his life by hanging, or
declare that they undergo entire purification who deliver themselves over to
the fire, and who terminate their existence by fire; and how it is an act of
impiety to do away with those laws which, for example, prevail in the Tauric
Chersonese, regarding the offering up of strangers in sacrifice to Diana, or
among certain of the Libyan tribes regarding the sacrifice of children to
Saturn. Moreover, this inference follows from the dictum of Celsus, that it
is an act of impiety on the part of the Jews to do away with those ancestral
laws which forbid the worship of any other deity than the Creator of all
things. And it will follow, according to his view, that piety is not divine
by its own nature, but by a certain (external) arrangement and appointment.
For it is an act of piety among certain tribes to worship a crocodile, and
to eat what is an object of adoration among other tribes; while, again, with
others it is a pious act to worship a calf, and among others, again, to
regard the goat as a god. And, in this way, the same individual will be
regarded as acting piously according to one set of laws, and impiously
according to another; and this is the most absurd result that can be
conceived!
Chapter XXVIII.
It is probable, however, that to such remarks as the above, the answer
returned would be, that he was pious who kept the laws of his own country,
and not at all chargeable with impiety for the non-observance of those of
other lands; and that, again, he who was deemed guilty of impiety among
certain nations was not really so, when he worshipped his own gods,
agreeably to his country's laws, although he made war against, and even
feasted on, [3923] those who were regarded as divinities among those
nations which possessed laws of an opposite kind. Now, observe here whether
these statements do not exhibit the greatest confusion of mind regarding the
nature of what is just, and holy, and religious; since there is no accurate
definition laid down of these things, nor are they described as having a
peculiar character of their own, and stamping as religious those who act
according to their injunctions. If, then, religion, and piety, and
righteousness belong to those things which are so only by comparison, so
that the same act may be both pious and impious, according to different
relations and different laws, see whether it will not follow that
temperance [3924] also is a thing of comparison, and courage as well, and
prudence, and the other virtues, than which nothing could be more absurd!
What we have said, however, is sufficient for the more general and simple
class of answers to the allegations of Celsus. But as we think it likely
that some of those who are accustomed to deeper investigation will fall in
with this treatise, let us venture to lay down some considerations of a
profounder kind, conveying a mystical and secret view respecting the
original distribution of the various quarters of the earth among different
superintending spirits; and let us prove to the best of our ability, that
our doctrine is free from the absurd consequences enumerated above.
Chapter XXIX.
It appears to me, indeed, that Celsus has misunderstood some of the deeper
reasons relating to the arrangement of terrestrial affairs, some of which
are touched upon [3925] even in Grecian history, when certain of those
who are considered to be gods are introduced as having contended with each
other about the possession of Attica; while in the writings of the Greek
poets also, some who are called gods are represented as acknowledging that
certain places here are preferred by them [3926] before others. The
history of barbarian nations, moreover, and especially that of Egypt,
contains some such allusions to the division of the so-called Egyptian
homes, when it states that Athena, who obtained Sais by lot, is the same who
also has possession of Attica. And the learned among the Egyptians can
enumerate innumerable instances of this kind, although I do not know whether
they include the Jews and their country in this division. And now, so far as
testimonies outside the word God bearing on this point are concerned, enough
have been adduced for the present. We say, moreover, that our prophet of God
and His genuine servant Moses, in his song in the book of Deuteronomy, makes
a statement regarding the portioning out of the earth in the following
terms: "When the Most High divided the nations, when He dispersed the sons
of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the
angels of God; and the portion was His people Jacob, and Israel the cord of
His inheritance." [3927] And regarding the distribution of the nations,
the same Moses, in his work entitled Genesis, thus expresses himself in the
style of a historical narrative: "And the whole earth was of one language
and of one speech; and it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east,
that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there."
[3928] A little further on he continues: "And the Lord came down to see the
city and the tower, which the children of men had built. And the Lord said,
Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they
have begun to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they
have imagined to do. Go to, let Us go down, and there confound their
language, that they may not understand one another's speech. And the Lord
scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they
left off to build the city and the tower. Therefore is the name of it called
Confusion; [3929] because the Lord did there confound the language of all
the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of
all the earth." [3930] In the treatise of Solomon, moreover, on
"Wisdom," and on the events at the time of the confusion of languages, when
the division of the earth took place, we find the following regarding
Wisdom: "Moreover, the nations in their wicked conspiracy being confounded,
she found out the righteous, and preserved him blameless unto God, and kept
him strong in his tender compassion towards his son." [3931] But on these
subjects much, and that of a mystical kind, might be said; in keeping with
which is the following: "It is good to keep close the secret of a king,"
[3932] 'in order that the doctrine of the entrance of souls into bodies
(not, however, that of the transmigration from one body into another) may
not be thrown before the common understanding, nor what is holy given to the
dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine. For such a procedure would be
impious, being equivalent to a betrayal of the mysterious declarations of
God's wisdom. of which it has been well said: "Into a malicious soul wisdom
shall not enter, nor dwell in a body subject to sin." [3933] It is
sufficient, however, to represent in the style of a historic narrative what
is intended to convey a secret meaning in the garb of history, that those
who have the capacity may work out for themselves all that relates to the
subject. (The narrative, then, may be understood as follows.)
Chapter XXX.
All the people upon the earth are to be regarded as having used one divine
language, and so long as they lived harmoniously together were preserved in
the use of this divine language, and they remained without moving from the
east so long as they were imbued with the sentiments of the "light," and of
the "reflection" of the eternal light. [3934] But when they departed from
the east, and began to entertain sentiments alien to those of the east,
[3935] they found a place in the land of Shinar (which, when interpreted,
means "gnashing of teeth," by way of indicating symbolically that they had
lost the means of their support), and in it they took up their abode. Then,
desiring to gather together material things, [3936] and to join to heaven
what had no natural affinity for it, that by means of material things they
might conspire against such as were immaterial, they said, "Come, let us
made bricks, and burn them with fire." Accordingly, when they had hardened
and compacted these materials of clay and matter, and had shown their desire
to make brick into stone, and clay into bitumen, and by these means to build
a city and a tower, the head of which was, at least in their conception, to
reach up to the heavens, after the manner of the "high things which exalt
themselves against the I knowledge of God," each one was handed over (in
proportion to the greater or less departure from the east which had taken
place among them, and in proportion to the extent in which bricks had been
converted into stones, and clay into bitumen, and building carried on out of
these materials) to angels of character more or less severe, and of a nature
more or less stern, until they had paid the penalty of their daring deeds;
and they were conducted by those angels, who imprinted on each his native
language, to the different parts of the earth according to their deserts:
some, for example, to a region of burning heat, others to a country which
chastises its inhabitants by its cold; others, again, to a land exceedingly
difficult of cultivation, others to one less so in degree; while a fifth
were brought into a land filled with wild beasts, and a sixth to a country
comparatively free of these.
Chapter XXXI.
Now, in the next place, if any one has the capacity, let him understand that
in what assumes the form of history, and which contains some things that are
literally true, while yet it conveys a deeper meaning, those who preserved
their original language continued, by reason of their not having migrated
from the east, in possession of the east, and of their eastern language. And
let him notice, that these alone became the portion of the Lord, and His
people who were called Jacob, and Israel the cord of His inheritance; and
these alone were governed by a ruler who did not receive those who were
placed under him for the purpose of punishment, as was the case with the
others. Let him also, who has the capacity to perceive as far as mortals
may, observe that in the body politic [3937] of those who were assigned
to the Lord as His pre-eminent portion, sins were committed, first of all,
such as might be forgiven, and of such a nature as not to make the sinner
worthy of entire desertion while subsequently they became more numerous
though still of a nature to be pardoned. And while remarking that this state
of matters continued for a considerable time, and that a remedy was always
applied, and that after certain intervals these persons returned to their
duty, let him notice that they were given over, in proportion to their
transgressions, to those to whom had been assigned the other quarters of the
earth; and that, after being at first slightly punished, and having made
atonement, [3938] they returned, as if they had undergone discipline,
[3939] to their proper habitations. Let him notice also that afterwards they
were delivered over to rulers of a severer character'to Assyrians and
Babylonians, as the Scriptures would call them. In the next place,
notwithstanding that means of healing were being applied, let him observe
that they were still multiplying their transgressions, and that they were on
that account dispersed into other regions by the rulers of the nations that
oppressed them. And their own ruler intentionally overlooked their
oppression at the hands of the rulers of the other nations, in order that he
also with good reason, as avenging himself, having obtained power to tear
away from the other nations as many as he can, may do so, and enact for them
laws, and point out a manner of life agreeably to which they ought to live,
that so he may conduct them to the end to which those of the former people
were conducted who did not commit sin.
Chapter XXXII.
And by this means let those who have the capacity of comprehending truths so
profound, learn that he to whom were allotted those who had not formerly
sinned is far more powerful than the others, since he has been able to make
a selection of individuals from the portion of the whole, [3940] and to
separate them from those who received them for the purpose of punishment,
and to bring them under the influence of laws, and of a mode of life which
helps to produce an oblivion of their former transgressions. But, as we have
previously observed, these remarks are to be understood as being made by us
with a concealed meaning, by way of pointing out the mistakes of those who
asserted that "the various quarters of the earth were from the beginning
distributed among different superintending spirits, and being allotted among
certain governing powers, were administered in this way; "from which
statement Celsus took occasion to make the remarks referred to. But since
those who wandered away from the east were delivered over, on account of
their sins, to "a reprobate mind," and to "vile affections," and to
"uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts," [3941] in order
that, being sated with sin, they might hate it, we shall refuse our assent
to the assertion of Celsus, that "because of the superintending spirits
distributed among the different parts of the earth, what is done among each
nation is rightly done; "for our desire is to do what is not agreeable to
these spirits. [3942] For we see that it is a religious act to do away
with the customs originally established in the various places by means of
laws of a better and more divine character, which were enacted by Jesus, as
one possessed of the greatest power, who has rescued us "from the present
evil world," and "from the princes of the world that come to nought; "and
that it is a mark of irreligion not to throw ourselves at the feet of Him
who has manifested Himself to be holier and more powerful than all other
rulers, and to whom God said, as the prophets many generations before
predicted: "Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession."
[3943] For He, too, has become the "expectation" of us who from among the
heathen have believed upon Him, and upon His Father, who is God over all
things.
Chapter XXXIII.
The remarks which we have made not only answer the statements of Celsus
regarding the superintending spirits, but anticipate in some measure what he
afterwards brings forward, when he says: "Let the second party come forward;
and I shall ask them whence they come, and whom they regard as the
originator of their ancestral customs. They will reply, No one, because they
spring from the same source as the Jews themselves, and derive their
instruction and superintendence [3944] from no other quarter, and
notwithstanding they have revolted from the Jews." Each one of us, then, is
come "in the last days," when one Jesus has visited us, to the "visible
mountain of the Lord," the Word that is above every word, and to the "house
of God," which is "the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of
the truth." [3945] And we notice how it is built upon "the tops of the
mountains," i.e., the predictions of all the prophets, which are its
foundations. And this house is exalted above the hills, i.e., those
individuals among men who make a profession of superior attainments in
wisdom and truth; and all the nations come to it, and the "many nations" go
forth, and say to one another, turning to the religion which in the last
days has shone forth through Jesus Christ: "Come ye, and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us
of His ways, and we will walk in them." [3946] For the law came forth
from the dwellers in Sion, and settled among us as a spiritual law.
Moreover, the word of the Lord came forth from that very Jerusalem, that it
might be disseminated through all places, and might judge in the midst of
the heathen selecting those whom it sees to be submissive and rejecting
[3947] the disobedient, who are many in number. And to those who inquire of
us whence we come, or who is our founder, [3948] we reply that we are
come, agreeably to the counsels of Jesus, to "cut down our hostile and
insolent 'wordy' [3949] swords into ploughshares, and to convert into
pruning-hooks the spears formerly employed in war." [3950] For we no
longer take up "sword against nation," nor do we "learn war any more,"
having become children of peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader,
instead of those whom our fathers followed, among whom we were "strangers to
the covenant," and having received a law, for which we give thanks to Him
that rescued us from the error (of our ways), saying, "Our fathers honoured
lying idols, and there is not among them one that causeth it to rain."
[3951] Our Superintendent, then, and Teacher, having come forth from the
Jews, regulates the whole world by the word of His teaching. And having made
these remarks by way of anticipation, we have refuted as well as we could
the untrue statements of Celsus, by subjoining the appropriate answer.
Chapter XXXIV.
But, that we may not pass without notice what Celsus has said between these
and the preceding paragraphs, let us quote his words: "We might adduce
Herodotus as a witness on this point, for he expresses himself as follows:
'For the people of the cities Mares and Apis, who inhabit those parts of
Egypt that are adjacent to Libya, and who look upon themselves as Libyans,
and not as Egyptians, finding their sacrificial worship oppressive, and
wishing not to be excluded from the use of cows' flesh, sent to the oracle
of Jupiter Ammon, saying that there was no relationship between them and the
Egyptians, that they dwelt outside the Delta, that there was no community of
sentiment between them and the Egyptians, and that they wished to be allowed
to partake of all kinds of food. But the god would not allow them to do as
they desired, saying that that country was a part of Egypt, which was
watered by the inundation of the Nile, and that those were Egyptians who
dwell to the south of the city of Elephantine, and drink of the river
Nile.' [3952] Such is the narrative of Herodotus. But," continues Celsus,
"Ammon in divine things would not make a worse ambassador than the angels of
the Jews, [3953] so that there is nothing wrong in each nation observing
its established method of worship. Of a truth, we shall find very great
differences prevailing among the nations, and yet each seems to deem its own
by far the best. Those inhabitants of Ethiopia who dwell in Meroe worship
Jupiter and Bacchus alone; the Arabians, Urania and Bacchus only; all the
Egyptians, Osiris and Isis; the Saites, Minerva; while the Naucratites have
recently classed Serapis among their deities, and the rest according to
their respective laws. And some abstain from the flesh of sheep, and others
from that of crocodiles; others, again, from that of cows, while they regard
swine's flesh with loathing. The Scythians, indeed, regard it as a noble act
to banquet upon human beings. Among the Indians, too, there are some who
deem themselves discharging a holy duty in eating their fathers, and this is
mentioned in a certain passage by Herodotus. For the sake of credibility, I
shall again quote his very words, for he writes as follows: 'For if any one
were to make this proposal to all men, viz., to bid him select out of all
existing laws the best, each would choose, after examination, those of his
own country. Men each consider their own laws much the best, and therefore
it is not likely than any other than a madman would make these things a
subject of ridicule. But that such are the conclusions of all men regarding
the laws, may be determined by many other evidences, and especially by the
following illustration. Darius, during his reign, having summoned before him
those Greeks who happened to be present at the time, inquired of them for
how much they would be willing to eat their deceased fathers? their answer
was, that for no consideration would they do such a thing. After this,
Darius summoned those Indians who are called Callatians. who are in the
habit of eating their parents, and asked of them in the presence of these
Greeks, who learned what passed through an interpreter, for what amount of
money they would undertake to burn their deceased fathers with fire? on
which they raised a loud shout, and bade the king say no more.' [3954]
Such is the way, then, in which these matters are regarded. And Pindar
appears to me to be right in saying that 'law' is the king of all
things." [3955]
Chapter XXXV.
The argument of Celsus appears to point by these illustrations to this
conclusion: that it is "an obligation incumbent on all men to live according
to their country's customs, in which case they will escape censure; whereas
the Christians, who have abandoned their native usages, and who are not one
nation like the Jews, are to be blamed for giving their adherence to the
teaching of Jesus." Let him then tell us whether it is a becoming thing for
philosophers, and those who have been taught not to yield to superstition,
to abandon their country's customs, so as to eat of those articles of food
which are prohibited in their respective cities? or whether this proceeding
of theirs is opposed to what is becoming? For if, on account of their
philosophy, and the instructions which they have received against
superstition, they should eat, in disregard of their native laws, what was
interdicted by their fathers, why should the Christians (since the Gospel
requires them not to busy themselves about statues and images, or even about
any of the created works of God but to ascend on high, and present the soul
to the Creator); when acting in a similar manner to the philosophers, be
censured for so doing? But if, for the sake of defending the thesis which he
has proposed to himself, Celsus, or those who think with him, should say,
that even one who had studied philosophy would keep his country's laws, then
philosophers in Egypt, for example, would act most ridiculously in avoiding
the eating of onions, in order to observe their country's laws, or certain
parts of the body, as the head and shoulders, in order not to transgress the
traditions of their fathers. And I do not speak of those Egyptians who
shudder with fear at the discharge of wind from the body, because if any one
of these were to become a philosopher, and still observe the laws of his
country, he would be a ridiculous philosopher, acting very
unphilosophically. [3956] In the same way, then, he who has been led by
the Gospel to worship the God of all things, and, from regard to his
country's laws, lingers here below among images and statues of men, and does
not desire to ascend to the Creator, will resemble those who have indeed
learned philosophy, but who are afraid of things which ought to inspire no
terrors, and who regard it as an act of impiety to eat of those things which
have been enumerated.
Chapter XXXVI.
But what sort of being is this Ammon of Herodotus, whose words Celsus has
quoted, as if by way of demonstrating how each one ought to keep his
country's laws? For this Ammon would not allow the people of the cities of
Marea and Apis, who inhabit the districts adjacent to Libya, to treat as a
matter of indifference the use of cows' flesh, which is a thing not only
indifferent in its own nature, but which does not prevent a man from being
noble and virtuous. If Ammon, then, forbade the use of cows' flesh, because
of the advantage which results from the use of the animal in the cultivation
of the ground, and in addition to this, because it is by the female that the
breed is increased, the account would possess more plausibility. But now he
simply requires that those who drink of the Nile should observe the laws of
the Egyptians regarding kine. And hereupon Celsus, taking occasion to pass a
jest upon the employment of the angels among the Jews as the ambassadors of
God, says that "Ammon did not make a worse ambassador of divine things than
did the angels of the Jews," into the meaning of whose words and
manifestations he instituted no investigation; otherwise he would have seen,
that it is not for oxen that God is concerned, even where He may appear to
legislate for them, or for irrational animals, but that what is written for
the sake of men, under the appearance of relating to irrational animals,
contains certain truths of nature. [3957] Celsus, moreover, says that no
wrong is committed by any one who wishes to observe the religious worship
sanctioned by the laws of his country; and it follows, according to his
view, that the Scythians commit no wrong, when, in conformity with their
country's laws, they eat human beings. And those Indians who eat their own
fathers are considered, according to Celsus, to do a religious, or at least
not a wicked act. He adduces, indeed, a statement of Herodotus which favours
the principle that each one ought, from a sense of what is becoming, to obey
his country's laws; and he appears to approve of the custom of those Indians
called Callatians, who in the time of Darius devoured their parents, since,
on Darius inquiring for how great a sum of money they would be willing to
lay aside this usage, they raised a loud shout, and bade the king say no
more.
Chapter XXXVII.
As there are, then, generally two laws presented to us, the one being the
law of nature, of which God would be the legislator, and the other being the
written law of cities, it is a proper thing, when the written law is not
opposed to that of God, for the citizens not to abandon it under pretext of
foreign customs; but when the law of nature, that is, the law of God,
commands what is opposed to the written law, observe whether reason will not
tell us to bid a long farewell to the written code, and to the desire of its
legislators, and to give ourselves up to the legislator God, and to choose a
life agreeable to His word, although in doing so it may be necessary to
encounter dangers, and countless labours, and even death and dishonour. For
when there are some laws in harmony with the will of God, which are opposed
to others which are in force in cities, and when it is impracticable to
please God (and those who administer laws of the kind referred to), it would
be absurd to contemn those acts by means of which we may please the Creator
of all things, and to select those by which we shall become displeasing to
God, though we may satisfy unholy laws, and those who love them. But since
it is reasonable in other matters to prefer the law of nature, which is the
law of God, before the written law, which has been enacted by men in a
spirit of opposition to the law of God, why should we not do this still more
in the case of those laws which relate to God? Neither shall we, like the
Ethiopians who inhabit the parts about Meroe, worship, as is their pleasure,
Jupiter and Bacchus only; nor shall we at all reverence Ethiopian gods in
the Ethiopian manner; nor, like the Arabians, shall we regard Urania and
Bacchus alone as divinities; nor in any degree at all deities in which the
difference of sex has been a ground of distinction (as among the Arabians,
who worship Urania as a female, and Bacchus as a male deity); nor shall we,
like all the Egyptians, regard Osiris and Isis as gods; nor shall we
enumerate Athena among these, as the Saites are pleased to do. And if to the
ancient inhabitants of Naucratis it seemed good to worship other divinities,
while their modern descendants have begun quite recently to pay reverence to
Serapis, who never was a god at all, we shall not on that account assert
that a new being who was not formerly a god, nor at all known to men, is a
deity. For the Son of God, "the First-born of all creation," although He
seemed recently to have become incarnate, is not by any means on that
account recent. For the holy Scriptures know Him to be the most ancient of
all the works of creation; [3958] for it was to Him that God said
regarding the creation of man, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our
likeness." [3959]
Chapter XXXVIII.
I wish, however, to show how Celsus asserts without any good reason, that
each one reveres his domestic and native institutions. For he declares that
"those Ethiopians who inhabit Meroe know only of two gods, Jupiter and
Bacchus, and worship these alone; and that the Arabians also know only of
two, viz., Bacchus, who is also an Ethiopian deity, and Urania, whose
worship is confined to them." According to his account, neither do the
Ethiopians worship Urania, nor the Arabians Jupiter. If, then, an Ethiopian
were from any accident to fall into the hands of the Arabians, and were to
be judged guilty of impiety because he did not worship Urania, and for this
reason should incur the danger of death, would it be proper for the
Ethiopian to die, or to act contrary to his country's laws, and do obeisance
to Urania? Now, if it would be proper for him to act contrary to the laws of
his country, he will do what is not right, so far as the language of Celsus
is any standard; while, if he should be led away to death, let him show the
reasonableness of selecting such a fate. I know not whether, if the
Ethiopian doctrine taught men to philosophize on the immortality of the
soul, and the honour which is paid to religion, they would reverence those
as deities who are deemed to be such by the laws of the country. [3960] A
similar illustration may be employed in the case of the Arabians, if from
any accident they happened to visit the Ethiopians about Meroe. For, having
been taught to worship Urania and Bacchus alone, they will not worship
Jupiter along with the Ethiopians; and if, adjudged guilty of impiety, they
should be led away to death, let Celsus tell us what it would be reasonable
on their part to do. And with regard to the fables which relate to Osiris
and Isis, it is superfluous and out of place at present to enumerate them.
For although an allegorical meaning may be given to the fables, they will
nevertheless teach us to offer divine worship to cold water, and to the
earth, which is subject to men, and all the animal creation. For in this
way, I presume, they refer Osiris to water, and Isis to earth; while with
regard to Serapis the accounts are numerous and conflicting, to the effect
that very recently he appeared in public, agreeably to certain juggling
tricks performed at the desire of Ptolemy, who wished to show to the people
of Alexandria as it were a visible god. And we have read in the writings of
Numenius the Pythagorean regarding his formation, that he partakes of the
essence of all the animals and plants that are under the control of nature,
that he may appear to have been fashioned into a god, not by the makers of
images alone, with the aid of profane mysteries, and juggling tricks
employed to invoke demons, but also by magicians and sorcerers, and those
demons who are bewitched by their incantations. [3961]
Chapter XXXIX.
We must therefore inquire what may be fittingly eaten or not by the rational
and gentle [3962] animal, which acts always in conformity with reason;
and not worship at random, sheep, or goats, or kine; to abstain from which
is an act of moderation, [3963] for much advantage is derived by men from
these animals. Whereas, is it not the most foolish of all things to spare
crocodiles, and to treat them as sacred to some fabulous divinity or other?
For it is a mark of exceeding stupidity to spare those animals which do not
spare us, and to bestow care on those which make a prey of human beings. But
Celsus approves of those who, in keeping with the laws of their country,
worship and tend crocodiles, and not a word does he say against them, while
the Christians appear deserving of censure, who have been taught to loath
evil, and to turn away from wicked works, and to reverence and honour virtue
as being generated by God, and as being His Son. For we must not, on account
of their feminine name and nature, regard wisdom and righteousness as
females; [3964] for these things are in our view the Son of God, as His
genuine disciple has shown, when he said of Him, "Who of God is made to us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." [3965]
And although we may call Him a "second" God, let men know that by the term
"second God" we mean nothing else than a virtue capable of including all
other virtues, and a reason capable of containing all reason whatsoever
which exists in all things, which have arisen naturally, directly, and for
the general advantage, and which "reason," we say, dwelt in the soul of
Jesus, and was united to Him in a degree far above all other souls, seeing
He alone was enabled completely to receive the highest share in the absolute
reason, and the absolute wisdom, and the absolute righteousness.
Chapter XL.
But since, after Celsus had spoken to the above effect of the different
kinds of laws, he adds the following remark, "Pindar appears to me to be
correct in saying that law is king of all things," let us proceed to discuss
this assertion. What law do you mean to say, good sir, is "king of all
things? "If you mean those which exist in the various cities, then such an
assertion is not true. For all men are not governed by the same law. You
ought to have said that "laws are kings of all men," for in every nation
some law is king of all. But if you mean that which is law in the proper
sense, then it is this which is by nature "king of all things; "although
there are some individuals who, having like robbers abandoned the law, deny
its validity, and live lives of violence and injustice. We Christians, then,
who have come to the knowledge of the law which is by nature "king of all
things," and which is the same with the law of God, endeavour to regulate
our lives by its prescriptions, having bidden a long farewell to those of an
unholy kind.
Chapter XLI.
Let us notice the charges which are next advanced by Celsus, in which there
is exceedingly little that has reference to the Christians, as most of them
refer to the Jews. His words are: "If, then, in these respects the Jews were
carefully to preserve their own law, they are not to be blamed for so doing,
but those persons rather who have forsaken their own usages, and adopted
those of the Jews. And if they pride themselves on it, as being possessed of
superior wisdom, and keep aloof from intercourse with others, as not being
equally pure with themselves, they have already heard that their doctrine
concerning heaven is not peculiar to them, but, to pass by all others, is
one which has long ago been received by the Persians, as Herodotus somewhere
mentions. 'For they have a custom, 'he says, 'of going up to the tops of the
mountains, and of offering sacrifices to Jupiter, giving the name of Jupiter
to the whole circle of the heavens.' [3966] And I think," continues
Celsus, "that it makes no difference whether you call the highest being
Zeus, or Zen, or Adonai, or Sabaoth, or Ammoun like the Egyptians, or
Pappaeus like the Scythians. Nor would they be deemed at all holier than
others in this respect, that they observe the rite of circumcision, for this
was done by the Egyptians and Colchians before them; nor because they
abstain from swine's flesh, for the Egyptians practised abstinence not only
from it, but from the flesh of goats, and sheep, and oxen, and fishes as
well; while Pythagoras and his disciples do not eat beans, nor anything that
contains life. It is not probable, however, that they enjoy God's favour, or
are loved by Him differently from others, or that angels were sent from
heaven to them alone, as if they had had allotted to them 'some region of
the blessed, ' [3967] for we see both themselves and the country of which
they were deemed worthy. Let this band, [3968] then, take its departure,
after paying the penalty of its vaunting, not having a knowledge of the
great God, but being led away and deceived by the artifices of Moses, having
become his pupil to no good end."
Chapter XLII.
It is evident that, by the preceding remarks, Celsus charges the Jews with
falsely giving themselves out as the chosen portion of the Supreme God above
all other nations. And he accuses them of boasting, because they gave out
that they knew the great God, although they did not really know Him, but
were led away by the artifices of Moses, and were deceived by him, and
became his disciples to no good end. Now we have in the preceding pages
already spoken in part of the venerable and distinguished polity of the
Jews, when it existed amongst them as a symbol of the city of God, and of
His temple, and of the sacrificial worship offered in it and at the altar of
sacrifice. But if any one were to turn his attention to the meaning of the
legislator, and to the constitution which he established, and were to
examine the various points relating to him, and compare them with the
present method of worship among other nations, there are none which he would
admire to a greater degree; because, so far as can be accomplished among
mortals, everything that was not of advantage to the human race was withheld
from them, and only those things which are useful bestowed. [3969] And
for this reason they had neither gymnastic contests, nor scenic
representations, nor horse-races; nor were there among them women who sold
their beauty to any one who wished to have sexual intercourse without
offspring, and to cast contempt upon the nature of human generation. And
what an advantage was it to be taught from their tender years to ascend
above all visible nature, and to hold the belief that God was not fixed
anywhere within its limits, but to look for Him on high, and beyond the
sphere of all bodily substance! [3970] And how great was the advantage
which they enjoyed in being instructed almost from their birth, and as soon
as they could speak, [3971] in the immortality of the soul, and in the
existence of courts of justice under the earth, and in the rewards provided
for those who have lived righteous lives! These truths, indeed, were
proclaimed in the veil of fable to children, and to those whose views of
things were childish; while to those who were already occupied in
investigating the truth, and desirous of making progress therein, these
fables, so to speak, were transfigured into the truths which were concealed
within them. And I consider that it was in a manner worthy of their name as
the "portion of God" that they despised all kinds of divination, as that
which bewitches men to no purpose, and which proceeds rather from wicked
demons than from anything of a better nature; and sought the knowledge of
future events in the souls of those who, owing to their high degree of
purity, received the spirit of the Supreme God.
Chapter XLIII.
But what need is there to point out how agreeable to sound reason, and
unattended with injury either to master or slave, was the law that one of
the same faith [3972] should not be allowed to continue in slavery more
than six years? [3973] The Jews, then, cannot be said to preserve their
own law in the same points with the other nations. For it would be
censurable in them, and would involve a charge of insensibility to the
superiority of their law, if they were to believe that they had been
legislated for in the same way as the other nations among the heathen. And
although Celsus will not admit it, the Jews nevertheless are possessed of a
wisdom superior not only to that of the multitude, but also of those who
have the appearance of philosophers; because those who engage in
philosophical pursuits, after the utterance of the most venerable
philosophical sentiments, fall away into the worship of idols and demons,
whereas the very lowest Jew directs his look to the Supreme God alone; and
they do well, indeed, so far as this point is concerned, to pride themselves
thereon, and to keep aloof from the society of others as accursed and
impious. And would that they had not sinned, and transgressed the law, and
slain the prophets in former times, and in these latter days conspired
against Jesus, that we might be in possession of a pattern of a heavenly
city which even Plato would have sought to describe; although I doubt
whether he could have accomplished as much as was done by Moses and those
who followed him, who nourished a "chosen generation," and "a holy
nation," dedicated to God, with words free from all superstition.
Chapter XLIV.
But as Celsus would compare the venerable customs of the Jews with the laws
of certain nations, let us proceed to look at them. He is of opinion,
accordingly, that there is no difference between the doctrine regarding
"heaven" and that regarding "God; "and he says that "the Persians, like the
Jews, offer sacrifices to Jupiter upon the tops of the mountains,"'not
observing that, as the Jews were acquainted with one God, so they had only
one holy house of prayer, and one altar of whole burnt-offerings, and one
censer for incense, and one high priest of God. The Jews, then, had nothing
in common with the Persians, who ascend the summits of their mountains,
which are many in number, and offer up sacrifices which have nothing in
common with those which are regulated by the Mosaic code,'in conformity to
which the Jewish priests "served unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things," explaining enigmatically the object of the law regarding the
sacrifices, and the things of which these sacrifices were the symbols. The
Persians therefore may call the "whole circle of heaven" Jupiter; but we
maintain that "the heaven" is neither Jupiter nor God, as we indeed know
that certain beings of a class inferior to God have ascended above the
heavens and all visible nature: and in this sense we understand the words,
"Praise God, ye heaven of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens:
let them praise the name of the Lord." [3974]
Chapter XLV.
As Celsus, however, is of opinion that it matters nothing whether the
highest being be called Jupiter, or Zen, or Adonai, or Sabaoth, or Ammoun
(as the Egyptians term him), or Pappaeus (as the Scythians entitle him), let
us discuss the point for a little, reminding the reader at the same time of
what has been said above upon this question, when the language of Celsus led
us to consider the subject. And now we maintain that the nature of names is
not, as Aristotle supposes, an enactment of those who impose them. [3975]
For the languages which are prevalent among men do not derive their origin
from men, as is evident to those who are able to ascertain the nature of the
charms which are appropriated by the inventors of the languages differently,
according to the various tongues, and to the varying pronunciations of the
names, on which we have spoken briefly in the preceding pages, remarking
that when those names which in a certain language were possessed of a
natural power were translated into another, they were no longer able to
accomplish what they did before when uttered in their native tongues. And
the same peculiarity is found to apply to men; for if we were to translate
the name of one who was called from his birth by a certain appellation in
the Greek language into the Egyptian or Roman, or any other tongue, we could
not make him do or suffer the same things which he would have done or
suffered under the appellation first bestowed upon him. Nay, even if we
translated into the Greek language the name of an individual who had been
originally invoked in the Roman tongue, we could not produce the result
which the incantation professed itself capable of accomplishing had it
preserved the name first conferred upon him. And if these statements are
true when spoken of the names of men, what are we to think of those which
are transferred, for any cause whatever, to the Deity? For example,
something is transferred [3976] from the name Abraham when translated
into Greek, and something is signified by that of Isaac, and also by that of
Jacob; and accordingly, if any one, either in an invocation or in swearing
an oath, were to use the expression, "the God of Abraham," and "the God of
Isaac," and "the God of Jacob," he would produce certain effects, either
owing to the nature of these names or to their powers, since even demons are
vanquiShed and become submissive to him who pronounces these names; whereas
if we say, "the god of the chosen father of the echo, and the god of
laughter, and the god of him who strikes with the heel," [3977] the
mention of the name is attended with no result, as is the case with other
names possessed of no power. And in the same way, if we translate the word
"Israel" into Greek or any other language, we shall produce no result; but
if we retain it as it is, and join it to those expressions to which such as
are skilled in these matters think it ought to be united, there would then
follow some result from the pronunciation of the word which would accord
with the professions of those who employ such invocations. And we may say
the same also of the pronunciation of "Sabaoth," a word which is frequently
employed in incantations; for if we translate the term into "Lord of
hosts," or "Lord of armies," or "Almighty" (different acceptation of it
having been proposed by the interpreters), we shall accomplish nothing;
whereas if we retain the original pronunciation, we shall, as those who are
skilled in such matters maintain, produce some effect. And the same
observation holds good of Adonai. If, then, neither "Sabaoth" nor
"Adonai," when rendered into what appears to be their meaning in the Greek
tongue, can accomplish anything, how much less would be the result among
those who regard it as a matter of indifference whether the highest being be
called Jupiter, or Zen, or Adonai, or Sabaoth!
Chapter XLVI.
It was for these and similar mysterious reasons, with which Moses and the
prophets were acquainted, that they forbade the name of other gods to be
pronounced by him who bethought himself of praying to the one Supreme God
alone, or to be remembered by a heart which had been taught to be pure from
all foolish thoughts and words. And for these reasons we should prefer to
endure all manner of suffering rather than acknowledge Jupiter to be God.
For we do not consider Jupiter and Sabaoth to be the same, nor Jupiter to be
at all divine, but that some demon, unfriendly to men and to the true God,
rejoices under this title. [3978] And although the Egyptians were to hold
Ammon before us under threat of death, we would rather die than address him
as God, it being a name used in all probability in certain Egyptian
incantations in which this demon is invoked. And although the Scythians may
call Pappaeus the supreme God, vet we will not yield our assent to this;
granting, indeed, that there is a Supreme Deity, although we do not give the
name Pappaeus to Him as His proper title, but regard it as one which is
agreeable to the demon to whom was allotted the desert of Scythia, with its
people and its language. He, however, who gives God His title in the
Scythian tongue, or in the Egyptian or in any language in which he has been
brought up, will not be guilty of sin. [3979]
Chapter XLVII.
Now the reason why circumcision is practised among the Jews is not the same
as that which explains its existence among the Egyptians and Colchians, and
therefore it is not to be considered the same circumcision. And as he who
sacrifices does not sacrifice to the same god, although he appears to
perform the rite of sacrifice in a similar manner, and he who offers up
prayer does not pray to the same divinity, although he asks the same things
in his supplication; so, in the same way, if one performs the rite of
circumcision, it by no means follows that it is not a different act from the
circumcision performed upon another. For the purpose, and the law, and the
wish of him who performs the rite, place the act in a different category.
But that the whole subject may be still better understood, we have to remark
that the term for "righteousness" [3980] is the same among all the
Greeks; but righteousness is shown to be one thing according to the view of
Epicurus; and another according to the Stoics, who deny the threefold
division of the soul; and a different thing again according to the followers
of Plato, who hold that righteousness is the proper business of the parts of
the soul. [3981] And so also the "courage" [3982] of Epicures is one
thing, who would undergo some labours in order to escape from a greater
number; and a different thing that of the philosopher of the Porch, who
would choose all virtue for its own sake; and a different thing still that
of Plato, who maintains that virtue itself is the act of the irascible part
of the soul, and who assigns to it a place about the breast. [3983] And
so circumcision will be a different thing according to the varying opinions
of those who undergo it. But on such a subject it is unnecessary to speak on
this occasion in a treatise like the present; for whoever desires to see
what led us to the subject, can read what we have said upon it in the
Epistle of Paul to the Romans.
Chapter XLVIII.
Although the Jews, then, pride themselves on circumcision, they will
separate it not only from that of the Colchians and Egyptians, but also from
that of the Arabian Ishmaelites; and yet the latter was derived from their
ancestor Abraham, the father of Ishmael, who underwent the rite of
circumcision along with his father. The Jews say that the circumcision
performed on the eighth day is the principal circumcision, and that which is
performed according to circumstances is different; and probably it was
performed on account of the hostility of some angel towards the Jewish
nation, who had the power to injure such of them as were not circumcised,
but was powerless against those who had undergone the rite. This may be said
to appear from what is written in the book of Exodus, where the angel before
the circumcision of Eliezer [3984] was able to work against [3985]
Moses, but could do nothing after his son was circumcised. And when Zipporah
had learned this, she took a pebble and circumcised her child, and is
recorded, according to the reading of the common copies, to have said, "The
blood of my child's circumcision is stayed," but according to the Hebrew
text, "A bloody husband art thou to me." [3986] For she had known the
story about a certain angel having power before the shedding of the blood,
but who became powerless through the blood of circumcision. For which reason
the words were addressed to Moses, "A bloody husband art thou to me." But
these things, which appear rather of a curious nature, and not level to the
comprehension of the multitude, I have ventured to treat at such length; and
now I shall only add, as becomes a Christian, one thing more, and shall then
pass on to what follows. I For this angel might have had power, I think,
over those of the people who were not circumcised, and generally over all
who worshipped only the Creator; and this power lasted so long as Jesus had
not assumed a human body. But when He had done this, and had undergone the
rite of circumcision in His own person, all the power of the angel over
those who practise the same worship, but are not circumcised, [3987] was
abolished; for Jesus reduced it to nought by (the power of) His unspeakable
divinity. And therefore His disciples are forbidden to circumcise
themselves, and are reminded (by the apostle): "If ye be circumcised, Christ
shall profit you nothing." [3988]
Chapter XLIX.
But neither do the Jews pride themselves upon abstaining from swine's flesh,
as if it were some great thing; but upon their having ascertained the nature
of clean and unclean animals, and the cause of the distinction, and of swine
being classed among the unclean. And these distinctions were signs of
certain things until the advent of Jesus; after whose coming it was said to
His disciple, who did not yet comprehend the doctrine concerning these
matters, but who said, "Nothing that is common or unclean hath entered into
my mouth," [3989] "What God hath cleansed, call not thou common." It
therefore in no way affects either the Jews or us that the Egyptian priests
abstain not only from the flesh of swine, but also from that of goats, and
sheep, and oxen, and fish. But since it is not that "which entereth into the
mouth that defiles a man," and since "meat does not commend us to God," we
do not set great store on refraining from eating, nor yet are we induced to
eat from a gluttonous appetite. And therefore, so far as we are concerned,
the followers of Pythagoras, who abstain from all things that contain life
may do as they please; only observe the different reason for abstaining from
things that have life on the part of the Pythagoreans and our ascetics. For
the former abstain on account of the fable about the transmigration of
souls, as the poet says:'
"And some one, lifting up his beloved son,
Will slay him after prayer; O how foolish he!" [3990]
We, however, when we do abstain, do so because "we keep under our body, and
bring it into subjection," [3991] and desire "to mortify our members that
are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence; " [3992] and we use every effort to "mortify the deeds of
the flesh." [3993]
Chapter L.
Celsus, still expressing his opinion regarding the Jews, says: "It is not
probable that they are in great favour with God, or are regarded by Him with
more affection than others, or that angels are sent by Him to them alone, as
if to them had been allotted some region of the blessed. For we may see both
the people themselves, and the country of which they were deemed worthy." We
shall refute this, by remarking that it is evident that this nation was in
great favour with God, from the fact that the God who presides over all
things was called the God of the Hebrews, even by those who were aliens to
our faith. And because they were in favour with God, they were not abandoned
by Him; [3994] but although few in number, they continued to enjoy the
protection of the divine power, so that in the reign of Alexander of Macedon
they sustained no injury from him, although they refused, on account of
certain covenants and oaths, to take up arms against Darius. They say that
on that occasion the Jewish high priest, clothed in his sacred robe,
received obeisance from Alexander, who declared that he had beheld an
individual arrayed in this fashion, who announced to him in his sleep that
he was to be the subjugator of the whole of Asia. [3995] Accordingly, we
Christians maintain that "it was the fortune of that people in a remarkable
degree to enjoy God's favour, and to be loved by Him in a way different from
others; "but that this economy of things and this divine favour were
transferred to us, after Jesus had conveyed the power which had been
manifested among the Jews to those who had become converts to Him from among
the heathen. And for this reason, although the Romans desired to perpetrate
many atrocities against the Christians, in order to ensure their
extermination, they were unsuccessful; for there was a divine hand which
fought on their behalf, and whose desire it was that the word of God should
spread from one comer of the land of Judea throughout the whole human race.
Chapter LI.
But seeing that we have answered to the best of our ability the charges
brought by Celsus against the Jews and their doctrine, let us proceed to
consider what follows, and to prove that it is no empty boast on our part
when we make. a profession of knowing the great God, and that we have not
been led away by any juggling tricks [3996] of Moses (as Celsus
imagines), or even of our own Saviour Jesus; but that for a good end we
listen to the God who speaks in Moses, and have accepted Jesus, whom he
testifies to be God, as the Son of God, in hope of receiving the best
rewards if we regulate our lives according to His word. And we shall
willingly pass over what we have already stated by way of anticipation on
the points, "whence we came and who is our leader, and what law proceeded
from Him." And if Celsus would maintain that there is no difference between
us and the Egyptians, who worship the goat, or the ram, or the crocodile, or
the ox, or the river-horse, or the dog-faced baboon, [3997] or the cat,
he can ascertain if it be so, and so may any other who thinks alike on the
subject. We, however, have to the best of our ability defended ourselves at
great length in the preceding pages on the subject of the honour which we
render to our Jesus, pointing out that we have found the better part;
[3998] and that in showing that the truth which is contained in the teaching
of Jesus Christ is pure and unmixed with error, we are not commending
ourselves, but our Teacher, to whom testimony was borne through many
witnesses by the Supreme God and the prophetic writings among the Jews, and
by the very clearness of the case itself, for it is demonstrated that He
could not have accomplished such mighty works without the divine help.
Chapter LII.
But the statement of Celsus which we wish to examine at present is the
following: "Let us then pass over the refutations which might be adduced
against the claims of their teacher, and let him be regarded as really an
angel. But is he the first and only one who came (to men), or were there
others before him? If they should say that he is the only one, they would be
convicted of telling lies against themselves. For they assert that on many
occasions others came, and sixty or seventy of them together, and that these
became wicked, and were cast under the earth and punished with chains, and
that from this source originate the warm springs, which are their tears;
and, moreover, that there came an angel to the tomb of this said
being'according to some, indeed, one, but according to others, two'who
answered the women that he had arisen. For the Son of God could not himself,
as it seems, open the tomb, but needed the help of another to roll away the
stone. And again, on account of the pregnancy of Mary, there came an angel
to the carpenter, and once more another angel, in order that they might take
up the young Child and flee away (into Egypt). But what need is there to
particularize everything, or to count up the number of angels said to have
been sent to Moses, and others amongst them? If, then, others were sent, it
is manifest that he also came from the same God. But he may be supposed to
have the appearance of announcing something of greater importance (than
those who preceded him), as if the Jews had been committing sin, or
corrupting their religion, or doing deeds of impiety; for these things are
obscurely hinted at."
Chapter LIII.
The preceding remarks might suffice as an answer to the charges of Celsus,
so far as regards those points in which our Saviour Jesus Christ is made the
subject of special investigation. But that we may avoid the appearance of
intentionally passing over any portion of his work, as if we were unable to
meet him, let us, even at the risk of being tautological (since we are
challenged to this by Celsus), endeavour as far as we can with all due
brevity to continue our discourse, since perhaps something either more
precise or more novel may occur to us upon the several topics. He says,
indeed, that "he has omitted the refutations which have been adduced against
the claims which Christians advance on behalf of their teacher," although he
has not omitted anything which he was able to bring forward, as is manifest
from his previous language, but makes this statement only as an empty
rhetorical device. That we are not refuted, however, on the subject of our
great Saviour, although the accuser may appear to refute us, will be
manifest to those who peruse in a spirit of truth-loving investigation all
that is predicted and recorded of Him. And, in the next place, since he
considers that he makes a concession in saying of the Saviour, "Let him
appear to be really an angel," we reply that we do not accept of such a
concession from Celsus; but we look to the work of Him who came to visit the
whole human race in His word and teaching, as each one of His adherents was
capable of receiving Him. And this was the work of one who, as the prophecy
regarding Him said, was not simply an angel, but the "Angel of the great
counsel: " [3999] for He announced to men the great counsel of the God
and Father of all things regarding them, (saying) of those who yield
themselves up to a life of pure religion, that they ascend by means of their
great deeds to God; but of those who do not adhere to Him, that they place
themselves at a distance from God, and journey on to destruction through
their unbelief of Him. He then continues: "If even the angel came to men, is
he the first and only one who came, or did others come on former occasions?
"And he thinks he can meet either of these dilemmas at great length,
although there is not a single real Christian who asserts that Christ was
the only being that visited the human race. For, as Celsus says, "If they
should say the only one," there are others who appeared to different
individuals.
Chapter LIV.
In the next place, he proceeds to answer himself as he thinks fit in the
following terms: "And so he is not the only one who is recorded to have
visited the human race, as even those who, under pretext of teaching in the
name of Jesus, have apostatized from the Creator as an inferior being, and
have given in their adherence to one who is a superior God and father of him
who visited (the world), assert that before him certain beings came from the
Creator to visit the human race." Now, as it is in the spirit of truth that
we investigate all that relates to the subject, we shall remark that it is
asserted by Apelles, the celebrated disciple of Marcion, who became the
founder of a certain sect, and who treated the writings of the Jews as
fabulous, that Jesus is the only one that came to visit the human race. Even
against him, then, who maintained that Jesus was the only one that came from
God to men, it would be in vain for Celsus to quote the statements regarding
the descent of other angels, seeing Apelles discredits, as we have already
mentioned, the miraculous narratives of the Jewish Scriptures; and much more
will he decline to admit what Celsus has adduced, from not understanding the
contents of the book of Enoch. No one, then, convicts us of falsehood, or of
making contradictory assertions, as if we maintained both that our Saviour
was the only being that ever came to men, and yet that many others came on
different occasions. And in a most confused manner, moreover, does be
adduce, when examining the subject of the visits of angels to men, what he
has derived, without seeing its meaning, from the contents of the book of
Enoch; for he does not appear to have read the passages in question, nor to
have been aware that the books whichbear the name Enoch [4000] do not at
all circulate in the Churches as divine, although it is from this source
that he might be supposed to have obtained the statement, that "sixty or
seventy angels descended at the same time, who fell into a state of
wickedness."
Chapter LV.
But, that we may grant to him in a spirit of candour what he has not
discovered in the contents of the book of Genesis, that "the sons of God,
seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to them wives of all
whom they chose," [4001] we shall nevertheless even on this point
persuade those who are capable of understanding the meaning of the prophet,
that even before us there was one who referred this narrative to the
doctrine regarding souls, which became possessed with a desire for the
corporeal life of men, and this in metaphorical language, he said, was
termed "daughters of men." But whatever may be the meaning of the "sons of
God desiring to possess the daughters of men," it will not at all contribute
to prove that Jesus was not the only one who visited mankind as an angel,
and who manifestly became the Saviour and benefactor of all those who depart
from the flood of wickedness. Then, mixing up and confusing whatever he had
at any time heard, or had anywhere found written'whether held to be of
divine origin among Christians or not'he adds: "The sixty or seventy who
descended together were cast under the earth, and were punished with
chains." And he quotes (as from the book of Enoch, but without naming it)
the following: "And hence it is that the tears of these angels are warm
springs,"'a thing neither mentioned nor heard of in the Churches of God! For
no one was ever so foolish as to materialize into human tears those which
were shed by the angels who had come down from heaven. And if it were right
to pass a jest upon what is advanced against us in a serious spirit by
Celsus, we might observe that no one would ever have said that hot springs,
the greater part of which are fresh water, were the tears of the angels,
since tears are saltish in their nature, unless indeed the angels, in the
opinion of Celsus, shed tears which are fresh.
Chapter LVI.
Proceeding immediately after to mix up and compare with one another things
that are dissimilar, and incapable of being united, he subjoins to his
statement regarding the sixty or seventy angels who came down from heaven,
and who, according to him, shed fountains of warm water for tears, the
following: "It is related also that there came to the tomb of Jesus himself,
according to some, two angels, according to others, one; "having failed to
notice, I think, that Matthew and Mark speak of one, and Luke and John of
two, which statements are not contradictory. For they who mention "one," say
that it was he who rolled away the stone from the sepulchre; while they who
mention "two," refer to those who appeared in shining raiment to the women
that repaired to the sepulchre, or who were seen within sitting in white
garments. Each of these occurrences might now be demonstrated to have
actually taken place, and to be indicative of a figurative meaning existing
in these "phenomena," (and intelligible) to those who were prepared to
behold the resurrection of the Word. Such a task, however, does not belong
to our present purpose, but rather to an exposition of the Gospel. [4002]
Chapter LVII.
Now, that miraculous appearances have sometimes been witnessed by human
beings, is related by the Greeks; and not only by those of them who might be
suspected of composing fabulous narratives, but also by those who have given
every evidence of being genuine philosophers, and of having related with
perfect truth what had happened to them. Accounts of this kind we have read
in the writings of Chrysippus of Soli, and also some things of the same kind
relating to Pythagoras; as well as in some of the more recent writers who
lived a very short time ago, as in the treatise of Plutarch of Chaeronea "on
the Soul," and in the second book of the work of Numenius the Pythagorean on
the "Incorruptibility of the Soul." Now, when such accounts are related by
the Greeks, and especially by the philosophers among them, they are not to
be received with mockery and ridicule, nor to be regarded as fictions and
fables; but when those who are devoted to the God of all things, and who
endure all kinds of injury, even to death itself, rather than allow a
falsehood to escape their lips regarding God, announce the appearances of
angels which they have themselves witnessed, they are to be deemed unworthy
of belief, and their words are not to be regarded as true! Now it is opposed
to sound reason to judge in this way whether individuals are speaking truth
or falsehood. For those who act honestly, only after a long and careful
examination into the details of a subject, slowly and cautiously express
their opinion of the veracity or falsehood of this or that person with
regard to the marvels which they may relate; since it is the case that
neither do all men show themselves worthy of belief, nor do all make it
distinctly evident that they are relating to men only fictions and fables.
Moreover, regarding the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we have this
remark to make, that it is not at all wonderful if, on such an occasion,
either one or two angels should have appeared to announce that Jesus had
risen from the dead, and to provide for the safety of those who believed in
such an event to the advantage of their souls. Nor does it appear to me at
all unreasonable, that those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and
who manifest, as a fruit of their faith not to be lightly esteemed, their
possession of a virtuous [4003] life, and their withdrawal from the flood
of evils, should not be unattended by angels who lend their help in
accomplishing their conversion to God.
Chapter LVIII.
But Celsus challenges the account also that an angel rolled away the stone
from the sepulchre where the body of Jesus lay, acting like a lad at school,
who should bring a charge against any one by help of a string of
commonplaces. And, as if he had discovered some clever objection to the
narrative, he remarks: "The Son of God, then, it appears, could not open his
tomb, but required the aid of another to roll away the stone." Now, not to
overdo the discussion. of this matter, or to have the appearance of
unreasonably introducing philosophical remarks, by explaining the figurative
meaning at present, I shall simply say of the narrative alone, that it does
appear in itself a more respectful proceeding, that the servant and inferior
should have rolled away the stone, than that such an act should have been
performed by Him whose resurrection was to be for the advantage of mankind.
I do not speak of the desire of those who conspired against the Word, and
who wished to put Him to death, and to show to all men that He was dead and
non-existent, [4004] that His tomb should not be opened, in order that no
one might behold the Word alive after their conspiracy; but the "Angel of
God" who came into the world for the salvation of men, with the help of
another angel, proved more powerful than the conspirators, and rolled away
the weighty stone, that those who deemed the Word to be dead might be
convinced that He is not with the "departed," but is alive, and precedes
those who are willing to follow Him, that He may manifest to them those
truths which come after those which He formerly showed them at the time of
their first entrance (into the school of Christianity), when they were as
yet incapable of receiving deeper instruction. In the next place, I do not
understand what advantage he thinks will accrue to his purpose when he
ridicules the account of "the angel's visit to Joseph regarding the
pregnancy of Mary; "and again, that of the angel to warn the parents "to
take up the new-born Child, whose life was in danger, and to flee with it
into Egypt." Concerning these matters, however, we have in the preceding
pages answered his statements. But what does Celsus mean by saying, that
"according to the Scriptures, angels are recorded to have been sent to
Moses, and others as well? "For it appears to me to contribute nothing to
his purpose, and especially because none of them made any effort to
accomplish, as far as in his power, the conversion of the human race from
their sins. Let it be granted, however, that other angels were sent from
God, but that he came to announce something of greater importance (than any
others who preceded him); and when the Jews had fallen into sin, and
corrupted their religion, and had done unholy deeds, transferred the kingdom
of God to other husbandmen, who in all the Churches take special care of
themselves, [4005] and use every endeavour by means of a holy life, and
by a doctrine conformable thereto, to win over to the God of all things
those who would rush away from the teaching of Jesus. [4006]
Chapter LIX.
Celsus then continues: "The Jews accordingly, and these (clearly meaning the
Christians), have the same God; "and as if advancing a proposition which
would not be conceded, he proceeds to make the following assertion: "It is
certain, indeed, that the members of the great Church [4007] admit this,
and adopt as true the accounts regarding the creation of the world which are
current among the Jews, viz., concerning the six days and the seventh; "on
which day, as the Scripture says, God "ceased" [4008] from His works,
retiring into the contemplation of Himself, but on which, as Celsus says
(who does not abide by the letter of the history, and who does not
understand its meaning), God "rested," [4009] 'a term which is not found
in the record. With respect, however, to the creation of the world, and the
"rest [4010] which is reserved after it for the people of God," the
subject is extensive, and mystical, and profound, and difficult of
explanation. In the next place, as it appears to me, from a desire to fill
up his book, and to give it an appearance of importance, he recklessly adds
certain statements, such as the following, relating to the first man, of
whom he says: "We give the same account. as do the Jews, and deduce the same
genealogy from him as they do." However, as regards "the conspiracies of
brothers against one another," we know of none such, save that Cain
conspired against Abel, and Esau against Jacob; but not Abel against Cain,
nor Jacob against Esau: for if this had been the case, Celsus would have
been correct in saying that we give the same accounts as do the Jews of "the
conspiracies of brothers against one another." Let it be granted, however,
that we speak of the same descent into Egypt as they, and of their return
[4011] thence, which was not a "flight," [4012] as Celsus considers it to
have been, what does that avail towards founding an accusation against us or
against the Jews? Here, indeed, he thought to cast ridicule upon us, when,
in speaking of the Hebrew people, he termed their exodus a "flight; "but
when it was his business to investigate the account of the punishments
inflicted by God upon Egypt, that topic he purposely passed by in silence.
Chapter LX.
If, however, it be necessary to express ourselves with precision in our
answer to Celsus, who thinks that we hold the same opinions on the matters
in question as do the Jews, we would say that we both agree that the books
(of Scripture) were written by the Spirit of God, but that we do not agree
about the meaning of their contents; for we do not regulate our lives like
the Jews, because we are of opinion that the literal acceptation of the laws
is not that which conveys the meaning of the legislation. And we maintain,
that "when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart," [4013] because
the meaning of the law of Moses has been concealed from those who have not
welcomed [4014] the way which is by Jesus Christ. But we know that if one
turn to the Lord (for "the Lord is that Spirit"), the veil being taken away,
"he beholds, as in a mirror with unveiled face, the glory of the Lord" in
those thoughts which are concealed in their literal expression, and to his
own glory becomes a participator of the divine glory; the term "face" being
used figuratively for the "understanding," as one would call it without a
figure, in which is the face of the "inner man," filled with light and
glory, flowing from the true comprehension of the contents of the law.
Chapter LXI.
After the above remarks he proceeds as follows: "Let no one suppose that I
am ignorant that some of them will concede that their God is the same as
that of the Jews, while others will maintain that he is a different one, to
whom the latter is in opposition, and that it was from the former that the
Son came," Now, if he imagine that the existence of numerous heresies among
the Christians is a ground of accusation against Christianity, why, in a
similar way, should it not be a ground of accusation against philosophy,
that the various sects of philosophers differ from each other, not on small
and indifferent points, but upon those of the highest importance? Nay,
medicine also ought to be a subject of attack, on account of its many
conflicting schools. Let it be admitted, then, that there are amongst us
some who deny that our God is the same as that of the Jews: nevertheless, on
that account those are not to be blamed who prove from the same Scriptures
that one and the same Deity is the God of the Jews and of the Gentiles
alike, as Paul, too, distinctly says, who was a convert from Judaism to
Christianity, "I thank my God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure
conscience." [4015] And let it be admitted also, that there is a third
class who call certain persons "carnal," and others "spiritual,"'I think he
here means the followers of Valentinus,'yet what does this avail against us,
who belong to the Church, and who make it an accusation against such as hold
that certain natures are saved, and that others perish in consequence of
their natural constitution? [4016] And let it be admitted further, that
there are some who give themselves out as Gnostics, in the same way as those
Epicureans who call themselves philosophers: yet neither will they who
annihilate the doctrine of providence be deemed true philosophers, nor those
true Christians who introduce monstrous inventions, which are disapproved of
by those who are the disciples of Jesus. Let it be admitted, moreover, that
there are some who accept Jesus, and who boast on that account of being
Christians, and yet would regulate their lives, like the Jewish multitude,
in accordance with the Jewish law,'and these are the twofold sect of
Ebionites, who either acknowledge with us that Jesus was born of a virgin,
or deny this, and maintain that He was begotten like other human
beings,'what does that avail by way of charge against such as belong to the
Church, and whom Celsus has styled "those of the multitude? " [4017] He
adds, also, that certain of the Christians are believers in the Sibyl,
[4018] having probably misunderstood some who blamed such as believed in the
existence of a prophetic Sibyl, and termed those who held this belief
Sibyllists.
He next pours down upon us a heap of names, saying that he knows of the
existence of certain Simonians who worship Helene, or Helenus, as their
teacher, and are called Helenians. But it has escaped the notice of Celsus
that the Simonians do not at all acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, but
term Simon the "power" of God, regarding whom they relate certain marvellous
stories, saying that he imagined that if he could become possessed of
similar powers to those with which be believed Jesus to be endowed, he too
would become as powerful among men as Jesus was amongst the multitude. But
neither Celsus nor Simon could comprehend how Jesus, like a good husbandman
of the word of God, was able to sow the greater part of Greece, and of
barbarian lands, with His doctrine, and to fill these countries with words
which transform the soul from all that is evil, and bring it back to the
Creator of all things. Celsus knows, moreover, certain Marcellians, so
called from Marcellina, and Harpocratians from Salome, and others who derive
their name from Mariamme, and others again from Martha. We, however, who
from a love of learning examine to the utmost of our ability not only the
contents of Scripture, and the differences to which they give rise, but have
also, from love to the truth, investigated as far as we could the opinions
of philosophers, have never at any time met with these sects. He makes
mention also of the Marcionites, whose leader was Marcion.
Chapter LXIII.
In the next place, that he may have the appearance of knowing still more
than he has yet mentioned, he says, agreeably to his usual custom, that
"there are others who have wickedly invented some being as their teacher and
demon, and who wallow about in a great darkness, more unholy and accursed
than that of the companions of the Egyptian Antinous." And he seems to me,
indeed, in touching on these matters, to say with a certain degree of truth,
that there are certain others who have wickedly invented another demon, and
who have found him to be their lord, as they wallow about in the great
darkness of their ignorance. With respect, however, to Antinous, who is
compared with our Jesus, we shall not repeat what we have already said in
the preceding pages. "Moreover," he continues, "these persons utter against
one another dreadful blasphemies, saying all manner of things shameful to be
spoken; nor will they yield in the slightest point for the sake of harmony,
hating each other with a perfect hatred." Now, in answer to this, we have
already said that in philosophy and medicine sects are to be found warring
against sects. We, however, who are followers of the word of Jesus, and have
exercised ourselves in thinking, and saying, and doing what is in harmony
with His words, "when reviled, bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being
defamed, we entreat; " [4019] and we would not utter "all manner of
things shameful to be spoken" against those who have adopted different
opinions from ours, but, if possible, use every exertion to raise them to a
better condition through adherence to the Creator alone, and lead them to
perform every act as those who will (one day) be judged. And if those who
hold different opinions will not be convinced, we observe the injunction
laid down for the treatment of such: "A man that is a heretic, after the
first and second admonition, reject, knowing that he that is such is
subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." [4020] Moreover, we
who know the maxim, "Blessed are the peacemakers," and this also, "Blessed
are the meek," would not regard with hatred the corrupters of Christianity,
nor term those who had fallen into error Circes and flattering deceivers.
[4021]
Chapter LXIV.
Celsus appears to me to have misunderstood the statement of the apostle,
which declares that "in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in
hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to
marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be
received with thanksgiving of them who believe; " [4022] and to have
misunderstood also those who employed these declarations of the apostle
against such as had corrupted the doctrines of Christianity. And it is owing
to this cause that Celsus has said that "certain among the Christians are
called 'cauterized in the ears; '" [4023] and also that some are termed
"enigmas," [4024] 'a term which we have never met. The expression
"stumbling-block" [4025] is, indeed, of frequent occurrence in these
writings,'an appellation which we are accustomed to apply to those who turn
away simple persons, and those who are easily deceived, from sound doctrine.
But neither we, nor, I imagine, any other, whether Christian or heretic,
know of any who are styled Sirens, who betray and deceive, [4026] and
stop their ears, and change into swine those whom they delude. And yet this
man, who affects to know everything, uses such language as the following:
"You may hear," he says, "all those who differ so widely, and who assail
each other in their disputes with the most shameless language, uttering the
words, 'The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.'" And this is
the only phrase which, it appears, Celsus could remember out of Paul's
writings; and yet why should we not also employ innumerable other quotations
from the Scriptures, such as, "For though we do walk in the flesh, we do not
war after the flesh; (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,) casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God? " [4027]
Chapter LXV.
But since he asserts that "you may hear all those who differ so widely
saying, 'The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world, '" we shall
show the falsity of such a statement. For there are certain heretical sects
which do not receive the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, as the two sects of
Ebionites, and those who are termed Encratites. [4028] Those, then, who
do not regard the apostle as a holy and wise man, will not adopt his
language, and say, "The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world." And
consequently in this point, too, Celsus is guilty of falsehood. He
continues, moreover, to linger over the accusations which he brings against
the diversity of sects which exist, but does not appear to me to be accurate
in the language which he employs, nor to have carefully observed or
understood how it is that those Christians who have made progress in their
studies say that they are possessed of greater knowledge than the Jews; and
also, whether they acknowledge the same Scriptures, but interpret them
differently, or whether they do not recognise these books as divine. For we
find both of these views prevailing among the sects. He then continues:
"Although they have no foundation for the doctrine, let us examine the
system itself; and, in the first place, let us mention the corruptions which
they have made through ignorance and misunderstanding, when in the
discussion of elementary principles they express their opinions in the most
absurd manner on things which they do not understand, such as the
following." And then, to certain expressions which are continually in the
mouths of the believers in Christianity, he opposes certain others from the
writings of the philosophers, with the object of making it appear that the
noble sentiments which Celsus supposes to be used by Christians have been
expressed in better and clearer language by the philosophers, in order that
he might drag away to the study of philosophy those who are caught by
opinions which at once evidence their noble and religious character. We
shall, however, here terminate the fifth book, and begin the sixth with what
follows.
Footnotes
(Mostly in Greek. You can examine the SOURCE text to see them)
Also, see links to 3500 other Manuscripts:
/believe/txv/earlychs.htm
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