Letter Against Celsus - Origen - Book VI
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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 VI
Chapter I.
In beginning this our sixth book, we desire, my reverend Ambrosius, to
answer in it those accusations which Celsus brings against the Christians,
not, as might be supposed, those objections which he has adduced from
writers on philosophy. For he has quoted a considerable number of passages,
chiefly from Plato, and has placed alongside of these such declarations of
holy Scripture as are fitted to impress even the intelligent mind;
subjoining the assertion that "these things are stated much better among the
Greeks (than in the Scriptures). and in a manner which is free from all
exaggerations [4029] and promises on the part of God, or the Son of God."
Now we maintain, that if it is the object of the ambassadors of the truth to
confer benefits upon the greatest possible number, and, so far as they can,
to win over to its side, through their love to men, every one without
exception'intelligent as well as simple'not Greeks only, but also Barbarians
(and great, indeed, is the humanity which should succeed in converting the
rustic and the ignorant [4030] ), it is manifest that they must adopt a
style of address fitted to do good to all, and to gain over to them men of
every sort. Those, on the other hand, who turn away [4031] from the ignorant
as being mere slaves, [4032] and unable to understand the flowing periods of
a polished and logical discourse, and so devote their attention solely to
such as have been brought up amongst literary pursuits, [4033] confine their
views of the public good within very strait and narrow limits.
Chapter II.
I have made these remarks in reply to the charges which Celsus and others
bring against the simplicity of the language of Scripture, which appears to
be thrown into the shade by the splendour of polished discourse. For our
prophets, and Jesus Himself, and His apostles, were careful to adopt [4034]
a style of address which should not merely convey the truth, but which
should be fitted to gain over the multitude, until each one, attracted and
led onwards, should ascend as far as he could towards the comprehension of
those mysteries which are contained in these apparently simple words. For,
if I may venture to say so, few have been benefited (if they have indeed
been benefited at all) by the beautiful and polished style of Plato, and
those who have written like him; [4035] while, on the contrary, many have
received advantage from those who wrote and taught in a simple and practical
manner, and with a view to the wants of the multitude. It is easy, indeed,
to observe that Plato is found only in the hands of those who profess to be
literary men; [4036] while Epictetus is admired by persons of ordinary
capacity, who have a desire to be benefited, and who perceive the
improvement which may be derived from his writings. Now we make these
remarks, not to disparage Plato (for the great world of men has found even
him useful), but to point out the aim of those who said: "And my speech and
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that our faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." [4037] For the word of God
declares that the preaching (although in itself true and most worthy of
belief) is not sufficient to reach the human heart, unless a certain power
be imparted to the speaker from God, and a grace appear upon his words; and
it is only by the divine agency that this takes place in those who speak
effectually. The prophet says in the Psalms 67, that "the Lord will give a
word with great power to them who preach." [4038] If, then, it should be
granted with respect to certain points, that the same doctrines are found
among the Greeks as in our own Scriptures, yet they do not possess the same
power of attracting and disposing the souls of men to follow them. And
therefore the disciples of Jesus, men ignorant so far as regards Grecian
philosophy, yet traversed many countries of the world, impressing, agreeably
to the desire of the Logos, each one of their hearers according to his
deserts, so that they received a moral amelioration in proportion to the
inclination of their will to accept of that which is good.
Chapter III.
Let the ancient sages, then, make known their sayings to those who are
capable of understanding them. Suppose that Plato, for example, the son of
Ariston, in one of his Epistles, is discoursing about the "chief good," and
that he says, "The chief good can by no means be described in words, but is
produced by long habit, and bursts forth suddenly as a light in the soul, as
from a fire which had leapt forth." We, then, on hearing these words, admit
that they are well said, for it is God who revealed to men these as well as
all other noble expressions. And for this reason it is that we maintain that
those who have entertained correct ideas regarding God, but who have not
offered to Him a worship in harmony with the truth, are liable to the
punishments which fall on sinners. For respecting such Paul says in express
words: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto
them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they
knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and four-looted beasts, and creeping things." [4039] The truth, then, is
verily held (in unrighteousness), as our Scriptures testify, by those who
are of opinion that "the chief good cannot be described in words," but who
assert that, "after long custom and familiar usage, [4040] a light becomes
suddenly kindled in the soul, as if by a fire springing forth, and that it
now supports itself alone."
Chapter IV.
Notwithstanding, those who have written in this manner regarding the "chief
good" will go down to the Piraeus and offer prayer to Artemis, as if she
were God, and will look (with approval) upon the solemn assembly held by
ignorant men; and after giving utterance to philosophical remarks of such
profundity regarding the soul, and describing its passage (to a happier
world) after a virtuous life, they pass from those great topics which God
has revealed to them, and adopt mean and trifling thoughts, and offer a cock
to Aesculapius! [4041] And although they had been enabled to form
representations both of the "invisible things" of God and of the "archetypal
forms" of things from the creation of the world, and from (the contemplation
of) sensible things, from which they ascend to those objects which are
comprehended by the understanding alone,'and although they had no mean
glimpses of His "eternal power and Godhead," [4042] they nevertheless
became "foolish in their imaginations," and their "foolish heart" was
involved in darkness and ignorance as to the (true) worship of God.
Moreover, we may see those who greatly pride themselves upon their wisdom
and theology worshipping the image of a corruptible man, in honour, they
say, of Him, and sometimes even descending, with the Egyptians, to the
worship of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things! And although
some may appear to have risen above such practices, nevertheless they will
be found to have changed the truth of God into a lie, and to worship and
serve the "creature more than the Creator." [4043] As the wise and learned
among the Greeks, then, commit errors in the service which they render to
God, God "chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and
base things of the world, and things that are weak, and things which are
despised, and things which are nought, to bring to nought things that are;
"and this, truly, "that no flesh should glory in the presence of God."
[4044] Our wise men, however,'Moses, the most ancient of them all, and the
prophets who followed him,'knowing that the chief good could by no means be
described in words, were the first who wrote that, as God manifests Himself
to the deserving, and to those who are qualified to behold Him, [4045] He
appeared to Abraham, or to Isaac, or to Jacob. But who He was that appeared,
and of what form, and in what manner, and like to which of mortal beings,
[4046] they have left to be investigated by those who are able to show that
they resemble those persons to whom God showed Himself: for He was seen not
by their bodily eyes, but by the pure heart. For, according to the
declaration of our Jesus, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." [4047]
Chapter V.
But that a light is suddenly kindled in the soul, as by a fire leaping
forth, is a fact known long ago to our Scriptures; as when the prophet said,
"Light ye for yourselves the light of knowledge." [4048] John also, who
lived after him, said, "That which was in the Logos was life, and the life
was the light of men; " [4049] which "true light lighteneth every man that
cometh into the world" (i.e., the true world, which is perceived by the
understanding [4050] ), and maketh him a light of the world: "For this
light shone in our hearts, to give the light of the glorious Gospel of God
in the face of Christ Jesus." [4051] And therefore that very ancient
prophet, who prophesied many generations before the reign of Cyrus (for he
was older than he by more than fourteen generations), expressed himself in
these words: "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? "
[4052] and, "Thy law is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path; "
[4053] and again, "The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, was manifested
towards us; " [4054] and, "In Thy light we shall see light." [4055] And
the Logos, exhorting us to come to this light, says, in the prophecies of
Isaiah: "Enlighten thyself, enlighten thyself, O Jerusalem; for thy light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." [4056] The same
prophet also, when predicting the advent of Jesus, who was to turn away men
from the worship of idols, and of images, and of demons, says, "To those
that sat in the land and shadow of death, upon them hath the light arisen;
" [4057] and again, "The people that sat in darkness saw a great light."
[4058] Observe now the difference between the fine phrases of Plato
respecting the "chief good," and the declarations of our prophets regarding
the "light" of the blessed; and notice that the truth as it is contained in
Plato concerning this subject did not at all help his readers to attain to a
pure worship of God, nor even himself, who could philosophize so grandly
about the "chief good," whereas the simple language of the holy Scriptures
has led to their honest readers being filled with a divine spirit; [4059]
and this light is nourished within them by the oil, which in a certain
parable is said to have preserved the light of the torches of the five wise
virgins. [4060]
Chapter VI.
Seeing, however, that Celsus quotes from an epistle of Plato another
statement to the following effect, viz.: "If it appeared to me that these
matters could be adequately explained to the multitude in writing and in
oral address, what nobler pursuit in life could have been followed by me,
than to commit to writing what was to prove of such advantage to human
beings, and to lead the nature of all men onwards to the light? "'let us
then consider this point briefly, viz., whether or not Plato were acquainted
with any doctrines more profound than are contained in his writings, or more
divine than those which he has left behind him, leaving it to each one to
investigate the subject according to his ability, while we demonstrate that
our prophets did know of greater things than any in the Scriptures, but
which they did not commit to writing. Ezekiel, e.g., received a roll,
[4061] written within and without, in which were contained "lamentations,"
and "songs," and "denunciations; " [4062] but at the command of the Logos
he swallowed the book, in order that its contents might not be written, and
so made known to unworthy persons. John also is recorded to have seen and
done a similar thing. [4063] Nay, Paul even heard "unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter." [4064] And it is related of
Jesus, who was greater than all these, that He conversed with His disciples
in private, and especially in their sacred retreats, concerning the Gospel
of God; but the words which He uttered have not been preserved, because it
appeared to the evangelists that they could not be adequately conveyed to
the multitude in writing or in speech. And if it were not tiresome to repeat
the truth regarding these illustrious individuals, I would say that they saw
better than Plato (by means of the intelligence which they received by the
grace of God), what things were to be committed to writing, and how this was
to be done, and what was by no means to be written to the multitude, and
what was to be expressed in words, and what was not to be so conveyed. And
once more, John, in teaching us the difference between what ought to be
committed to writing and what not, declares that he heard seven thunders
instructing him on certain matters, and forbidding him to commit their words
to writing. [4065]
Chapter VII.
There might also be found in the writings of Moses and of the prophets, who
are older not only than Plato, but even than Homer and the invention of
letters among the Greeks, passages worthy of the grace of God bestowed upon
them, and filled with great thoughts, to which they gave utterance, but not
because they understood Plato imperfectly, as Celsus imagines. For how was
it possible that they should have heard one who was not yet born? And if any
one should apply the words of Celsus to the apostles of Jesus, who were
younger than Plato, say whether it is not on the very face of it an
incredible assertion, that Paul the tentmaker, and Peter the fisherman, and
John who left his father's nets, should, through misunderstanding the
language of Plato in his Epistles, have expressed themselves as they have
done regarding God? But as Celsus now, after having often required of us
immediate assent (to his views), as if he were babbling forth something new
in addition to what he has already advanced, only repeats himself, [4066]
what we have said in reply may suffice. Seeing, however, he produces another
quotation from Plato, in which he asserts that the employment of the method
of question and answer sheds light on the thoughts of those who philosophize
like him, let us show from the holy Scriptures that the word of God also
encourages us to the practice of dialectics: Solomon, e.g., declaring in one
passage, that "instruction unquestioned goes astray; " [4067] and Jesus
the son of Sirach, who has left us the treatise called "Wisdom," declaring
in another, that "the knowledge of the unwise is as words that will not
stand investigation." [4068] Our methods of discussion, however, are
rather of a gentle kind; for we have learned that he who presides over the
preaching of the word ought to be able to confute gainsayers. But if some
continue indolent, and do not train themselves so as to attend to the
reading of the word, and "to search the Scriptures," and, agreeably to the
command of Jesus, to investigate the meaning of the sacred writings, and to
ask of God concerning them, and to keep "knocking" at what may be closed
within them, the Scripture is not on that account to be regarded as devoid
of wisdom.
Chapter VIII.
In the next place, after other Platonic declarations, which demonstrate that
"the good" can be known by few, he adds: "Since the multitude, being puffed
up with a contempt for others, which is far from right, and being filled
with vain and lofty hopes, assert that, because they have come to the
knowledge of some venerable doctrines, certain things are true." "Yet
although Plato predicted these things, he nevertheless does not talk
marvels, [4069] nor shut the mouth of those who wish to ask him for
information on the subject of his promises; nor does he command them to come
at once and believe that a God of a particular kind exists, and that he has
a son of a particular nature, who descended (to earth) and conversed with
me." Now, in answer to this we have to say, that with regard to Plato, it is
Aristander, I think, who has related that he was not the son of Ariston, but
of a phantom, which approached Amphictione in the guise of Apollo. And there
are several other of the followers of Plato who, in their lives of their
master, have made the same statement. What are we to say, moreover, about
Pythagoras, who relates the greatest possible amount of wonders, and who, in
a general assembly of the Greeks, showed his ivory thigh, and asserted that
he recognised the shield which he wore when he was Euphorbus, and who is
said to have appeared on one day in two different cities! He, moreover, who
will declare that what is related of Plato and Socrates belongs to the
marvellous, will quote the story of the swan which was recommended to
Socrates while he was asleep, and of the master saying when he met the young
man, "This, then, was the swan!" [4070] Nay, the third eye which Plato saw
that he himself possessed, he will refer to the category of prodigies.
[4071] But occasion for slanderous accusations will never be wanting to
those who are ill-disposed, and who wish to speak evil of what has happened
to such as are raised above the multitude. Such persons will deride as a
fiction even the demon of Socrates. We do not, then, relate marvels when we
narrate the history of Jesus, nor have His genuine disciples recorded any
such stories of Him; whereas this Celsus, who professes universal knowledge,
and who quotes many of the sayings of Plato, is, I think, intentionally
silent on the discourse concerning the Son of God which is related in
Plato's Epistle to Hermeas and Coriscus. Plato's words are as follows: "And
calling to witness the God of all things'the ruler both of things present
and things to come, father and lord both of the ruler and cause'whom, if we
are philosophers indeed, we shall all clearly know, so far as it is possible
for happy human beings to attain such knowledge." [4072]
Chapter IX.
Celsus quotes another saying of Plato to the following effect: "It has
occurred to me to speak once more upon these subjects at greater length, as
perhaps I might express myself about them more clearly than I have already
done for there is a certain 'real' cause, which proves a hindrance in the
way of him who has ventured, even to a slight extent, to write on such
topics; and as this has been frequently mentioned by me on former occasions,
it appears to me that it ought to be stated now. In each of existing things,
which are necessarily employed in the acquisition of knowledge, there are
three elements; knowledge itself is the fourth; and that ought to be laid
down as the fifth which is both capable of being known and is true. Of
these, one is 'name; 'the second is 'word; 'the third, 'image; 'the fourth,
'knowledge.'" [4073] Now, according to this division, John is introduced
before Jesus as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, so as to
correspond with the "name" of Plato; and the second after John, who is
pointed out by him, is Jesus, with whom agrees the statement, "The Word
became flesh; "and that corresponds to the "word" of Plato. Plato terms the
third "image; "but we, who apply the expression "image" to something
different, would say with greater precision, that the mark of the wounds
which is made in the soul by the word is the Christ which is in each one of
us and this mark is impressed by Christ the Word. [4074] And whether
Christ, the wisdom which is in those of us who are perfect, correspond to
the "fourth" element'knowledge'will become known to him who has the capacity
to ascertain it.
Chapter X.
He next continues: "You see how Plato, although maintaining that (the chief
good) cannot be described, in words, yet, to avoid the appearance of
retreating to an irrefutable position, subjoins a reason in explanation of
this difficulty, as even 'nothing' [4075] might perhaps be explained in
words." But as Celsus adduces this to prove that we ought not to yield a
simple assent, but to furnish a reason for our belief, we shall quote also
the words of Paul, where he says, in censuring the hasty [4076] believer,
"unless ye have believed inconsiderately." [4077] Now, through his
practice of repeating himself, Celsus, so far as he can, forces us to be
guilty of tautology, reiterating, after the boastful language which has been
quoted, that "Plato is not guilty of boasting and falsehood, giving out that
he has made some new discovery, or that he has come down from heaven to
announce it, but acknowledges whence these statements are derived." Now, if
one wished to reply to Celsus, one might say in answer to such assertions,
that even Plato is guilty of boasting, when in the Timaeus [4078] he puts
the following language in the month of Zeus: "Gods of gods, whose creator
and father I am," and so on. And if any one will defend such language on
account of the meaning which is conveyed under the name of Zeus, thus
speaking in the dialogue of Plato, why should not he who investigates the
meaning of the words of the Son of God, or those of the Creator ( [4079]
in the prophets, express a profounder meaning than any conveyed by the words
of Zeus in the Timaeus? For the characteristic of divinity is the
announcement of future events, predicted not by human power, but shown by
the result to be due to a divine spirit in him who made the announcement.
Accordingly, we do not say to each of our hearers, "Believe, first of all,
that He whom I introduce to thee is the Son of God; "but we put the Gospel
before each one, as his character and disposition may fit him to receive it,
inasmuch as we have learned to know "how we ought to answer every man."
[4080] And there are some who are capable of receiving nothing more than an
exhortation to believe, and to these we address that alone; while we
approach others, again, as far as possible, in the way of demonstration, by
means of question and answer. Nor do we at all say, as Celsus scoffingly
alleges, "Believe that he whom I introduce to thee is the Son of God,
although he was shamefully bound, and disgracefully punished, and very
recently [4081] was most contumeliously treated before the eyes of all
men; "neither do we add, "Believe it even the more (on that account)." For
it is our endeavour to state, on each individual point, arguments more
numerous even than we have brought forward in the preceding pages.
Chapter XI.
After this Celsus continues: "If these (meaning the Christians) bring
forward this person, and others, again, a different individual (as the
Christ), while the common and ready cry [4082] of all parties is,
'Believe, if thou wilt be saved, or else begone,' what shall those do who
are in earnest about their salvation? Shall they cast the dice, in order to
divine whither they may betake themselves, and whom they shall join? "Now we
shall answer this objection in the following manner, as the clearness of the
case impels us to do. If it had been recorded that several individuals had
appeared in human life as sons of God in the manner in which Jesus did, and
if each of them had drawn a party of adherents to his side, so that, on
account of the similarity of the profession (in the case of each individual)
that he was the Son of God, he to whom his followers bore testimony to that
effect was an object of dispute, there would have been ground for his
saying, "If these bring forward this person, and others a different
individual, while the common and ready cry of all parties is, 'Believe, if
thou wilt be saved, or else begone, '" and so on; whereas it has been
proclaimed to the entire world that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God who
visited the human race: for those who, like Celsus, have supposed that (the
acts of Jesus) were a series of prodigies, [4083] and who for that reason
wished to perform acts of the same kind, [4084] that they, too, might gain
a similar mastery over the minds of men, were convicted of being utter
nonentities. [4085] Such were Simon, the Magus of Samaria, and Dositheus,
who was a native of the same place; since the former gave out that he was
the power of God that is called great, [4086] and the latter that he was
the Son of God. Now Simonians are found nowhere throughout the world; and
yet, in order to gain over to himself many followers, Simon freed his
disciples from the danger of death, which the Christians were taught to
prefer, by teaching them to regard idolatry as a matter of indifference. But
even at the beginning of their existence the followers of Simon were not
exposed to persecution. For that wicked demon who was conspiring against the
doctrine of Jesus, was well aware that none of his own maxims would be
weakened by the teaching of Simon. The Dositheans, again, even in former
times, did not rise to any eminence, and now they are completely
extinguished, so that it is said their whole number does not amount to
thirty. Judas of Galilee also, as Luke relates in the Acts of the
Apostles, [4087] wished to call himself some great personage, as did
Theudas before him; but as their doctrine was not of God, they were
destroyed, and all who obeyed them were immediately dispersed. We do not,
then, "cast the dice in order to divine whither we shall betake ourselves,
and whom we shall join," as if there were many claimants able to draw us
after them by the profession of their having come down from God to visit the
human race. On these points, however, we have said enough.
Chapter XII.
Accordingly, let us pass on to another charge made by Celsus, who is not
even acquainted with the words (of our sacred books), but who, from
misunderstanding them, has said that "we declare the wisdom that is among
men to be foolishness with God; "Paul having said that "the wisdom of the
world is foolishness with God." [4088] Celsus says that "the reason of
this has been stated long ago." And the reason he imagines to be, "our
desire to win over by means of this saying the ignorant and foolish
alone." But, as he himself has intimated, he has said the same thing before;
and we, to the best of our ability, replied to it. Notwithstanding this,
however, he wished to show that this statement was an invention [4089] of
ours, and borrowed from the Grecian sages, who declare that human wisdom is
of one kind, and divine of another. And he quotes the words of Heraclitus,
where he says in one passage, that "man's method of action is not regulated
by fixed principles, but that of God is; " [4090] and in another, that "a
foolish man listens to a demon, as a boy does to a man." He quotes,
moreover, the following from the Apology of Socrates, of which Plato was the
author: "For I, O men of Athens, have obtained this name by no other means
than by my wisdom. And of what sort is this wisdom? Such, probably, as is
human; for in that respect I venture to think that I am in reality wise."
[4091] Such are the passages adduced by Celsus. But I shall subjoin also the
following from Plato's letter to Hermeas, and Erastus, and Coriscus: "To
Erastus and Coriscus I say, although I am an old man, that, in addition to
this noble knowledge of 'forms' (which they possess), they need a wisdom,
with regard to the class of wicked and unjust persons, which may serve as a
protective and repelling force against them. For they are inexperienced, in
consequence of having passed a large portion of their lives with us, who are
moderate [4092] individuals, and not wicked. I have accordingly said that
they need these things, in order that they may not be compelled to neglect
the true wisdom, and to apply themselves in a greater degree than is proper
to that which is necessary and human."
Chapter XIII.
According to the foregoing, then, the one kind of wisdom is human, and the
other divine. Now the "human" wisdom is that which is termed by us the
wisdom of the "world," which is "foolishness with God; "whereas the
"divine"'being different from the "human," because it is "divine"'comes,
through the grace of God who bestows it, to those who have evinced their
capacity for receiving it, and especially to those who, from knowing the
difference between either kind of wisdom, say, in their prayers to God,
"Even if one among the sons of men be perfect, while the wisdom is wanting
that comes from Thee, he shall be accounted as nothing." [4093] We
maintain, indeed, that "human" wisdom is an exercise for the soul, but that
"divine" wisdom is the "end," being also termed the "strong" meat of the
soul by him who has said that "strong meat belongeth to them that are
perfect, [4094] even those who by reason of use have their senses
exercised to discern both good and evil." [4095] This opinion, moreover,
is truly an ancient one, its antiquity not being referred back, as Celsus
thinks, merely to Heraclitus and Plato. For before these individuals lived,
the prophets distinguished between the two kinds of wisdom. It is sufficient
for the present to quote from the words of David what he says regarding the
man who is wise, according to divine wisdom, that "he will not see
corruption when he beholds wise men dying." [4096] Divine wisdom,
accordingly, being different from faith, is the "first" of the so-called
"charismata" of God; and the "second" after it'in the estimation of those
who know how to distinguish such things accurately'is what is called
"knowledge; " [4097] and the "third"'seeing that even the more simple
class of men who adhere to the service of God, so far as they can, must be
saved'is faith. And therefore Paul says: "To one is given by the Spirit the
word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to
another faith by the same Spirit." [4098] And therefore it is no ordinary
individuals whom you will find to have participated in the "divine" wisdom,
but the more excellent and distinguished among those who have given in their
adherence to Christianity; for it is not "to the most ignorant, or servile,
or most uninstructed of mankind," that one would discourse upon the topics
relating to the divine wisdom.
Chapter XIV.
In designating others by the epithets of "uninstructed, and servile, and
ignorant," Celsus, I suppose, means those who are not acquainted with his
laws, nor trained in the branches of Greek learning; while we, on the other
hand, deem those to be "uninstructed" who are not ashamed to address
(supplications) to inanimate objects, and to call upon those for health that
have no strength, and to ask the dead for life, and to entreat the helpless
for assistance. [4099] And although some may say that these objects are
not gods, but only imitations and symbols of real divinities, nevertheless
these very individuals, in imagining that the hands of low mechanics
[4100] can frame imitations of divinity, are "uninstructed, and servile, and
ignorant; "for we assert that the lowest [4101] among us have been set
free from this ignorance and want of knowledge, while the most intelligent
can understand and grasp the divine hope. We do not maintain, however, that
it is impossible for one who has not been trained in earthly wisdom to
receive the "divine," but we do acknowledge that all human wisdom is
"folly" in comparison with the "divine." In the next place, instead of
endeavouring to adduce reasons, as he ought, for his assertions, he terms us
"sorcerers," [4102] and asserts that "we flee away with headlong speed
[4103] from the more polished [4104] class of persons, because they are
not suitable subjects for our impositions, while we seek to decoy [4105]
those who are more rustic." Now he did not observe that from the very
beginning our wise men were trained in the external branches of learning:
Moses, e.g., in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; Daniel, and Ananias, and
Azariah, and Mishael, in all Assyrian learning, so that they were found to
surpass in tenfold degree all the wise men of that country. At the present
time, moreover, the Churches have, in proportion to the multitudes (of
ordinary believers), a few "wise" men, who have come over to them from that
wisdom which is said by us to be "according to the flesh; " [4106] and
they have also some who have advanced from it to that wisdom which is
"divine."
Chapter XV.
Celsus, in the next place, as one who has heard the subject of humility
greatly talked about; [4107] but who has not been at the pains to
understand it, [4108] would wish to speak evil of that humility which is
practised among us, and imagines that it is borrowed from some words of
Plato imperfectly understood, where he expresses himself in the Laws as
follows: "Now God, according to the ancient account, having in Himself both
the beginning and end and middle of all existing things, proceeds according
to nature, and marches straight on. [4109] He is constantly followed by
justice, which is the avenger of all breaches of the divine law: he who is
about to become happy follows her closely in humility, and becomingly
adorned." [4110] He did not observe, however, that in writers much older
than Plato the following words occur in a prayer: "Lord, my heart is not
haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I walk in great matters, nor in
things too wonderful for me; if I had not been humble," [4111] etc. Now
these words show that he who is of humble mind does not by any means humble
himself in an unseemly or inauspicious manner, falling down upon his knees,
or casting himself headlong on the ground, putting on the dress of the
miserable, or sprinkling himself with dust. But he who is of humble mind in
the sense of the prophet, while "walking in great and wonderful things,"
which are above his capacity'viz., those doctrines that are truly great, and
those thoughts that are wonderful'"humbles himself under the mighty hand of
God." If there are some, however, who through their stupidity [4112] have
not clearly understood the doctrine of humiliation, and act as they do, it
is not our doctrine which is to be blamed; but we must extend our
forgiveness to the stupidity [4113] of those who aim at higher things, and
owing to their fatuity of mind [4114] fail to attain them. He who is
"humble and becomingly adorned," is so in a greater degree than Plato's
"humble and becomingly adorned" individual: for he is becomingly adorned, on
the one hand, because "he walks in things great and wonderful," which are
beyond his capacity; and humble, on the other hand, because, while being in
the midst of such, he yet voluntarily humbles himself, not under any one at
random, but under "the mighty hand of God," through Jesus Christ, the
teacher of such instruction, "who did not deem equality with God a thing to
be eagerly clung to, but made Himself of no reputation, and took on Him the
form of a servant, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." [4115] And so
great is this doctrine of humiliation, that it has no ordinary individual as
its teacher; but our great Saviour Himself says: "Learn of Me, for I am meek
and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls." [4116]
Chapter XVI.
In the next place, with regard to the declaration of Jesus against rich men,
when He said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God," [4117] Celsus
alleges that this saying manifestly proceeded from Plato, and that Jesus
perverted the words of the philosopher, which were, that "it was impossible
to be distinguished for goodness, and at the same time for riches." [4118]
Now who is there that is capable of giving even moderate attention to
affairs'not merely among the believers on Jesus, but among the rest of
mankind'that would not laugh at Celsus, on hearing that Jesus, who was born
and brought up among the Jews, and was supposed to be the son of Joseph the
carpenter, and who had not studied literature'not merely that of the Greeks,
but not even that of the Hebrews'as the truth-loving Scriptures testify
regarding Him, [4119] had read Plato, and being pleased with the opinion
he expressed regarding rich men, to the effect that "it was impossible to be
distinguished for goodness and riches at the same time," had perverted this,
and changed it into, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God!" Now, if
Celsus had not perused the Gospels in a spirit of hatred and dislike, but
had been imbued with a love of truth, he would have turned his attention to
the point why a camel'that one of animals which, as regards its physical
structure, is crooked'was chosen as an object of comparison with a rich man,
and what signification the "narrow eye of a needle" had for him who saw that
"strait and narrow was the way that leadeth unto life; [4120] and to this
point also, that this animal. according to the law, is described as
"unclean," having one element of acceptability, viz. that it ruminates, but
one of condemnation, viz., that it does not divide the hoof. He would have
inquired, moreover, how often the camel was adduced as an object of
comparison in the sacred Scriptures, and in reference to what objects, that
he might thus ascertain the meaning of the Logos concerning the rich men.
Nor would he have left without examination the fact that "the poor" are
termed "blessed" byJesus, while "the rich" are designated as "miserable;
"and whether these words refer to the rich and poor who are visible to the
senses, or whether there is any kind of poverty known to the Logos which is
to be deemed "altogether blessed," and any rich man who is to be wholly
condemned. For even a common individual would not thus indiscriminately have
praised the poor, many of whom lead most wicked byes. But on this point we
have said enough.
Chapter XVII.
Since Celsus, moreover, from a desire to depreciate the accounts which our
Scriptures give of the kingdom of God, has quoted none of them, as if they
were unworthy of being recorded by him (or perhaps because he was
unacquainted with them), while, on the other hand, he quotes the sayings of
Plato, both from his Epistles and the Phaedrus, as if these were divinely
inspired, but our Scriptures were not, let us set forth a few points, for
the sake of comparison with these plausible declarations of Plato, which did
not however, dispose the philosopher to worship in a manner worthy of him
the Maker of all things. For he ought not to have adulterated or polluted
this worship with what we call "idolatry," but what the many would describe
by the term "superstition." Now, according to a Hebrew figure of speech, it
is said of God in the Psalms 18, that "He made darkness His secret place,"
[4121] to signify that those notions which should be worthily entertained of
God are invisible and unknowable, because God conceals Himself in darkness,
as it were, from those who cannot endure the splendours of His knowledge, or
are incapable of looking at them, partly owing to the pollution of their
understanding, which is clothed with the body of mortal lowliness, and
partly owing to its feebler power of comprehending God. And in order that it
may appear that the knowledge of God has rarely been vouch-safed to men, and
has been found in very few individuals, Moses is related to have entered
into the darkness where God was. [4122] And again, with regard to Moses it
is said: "Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but the rest shall not come
nigh." [4123] And again, that the prophet may show the depth of the
doctrines which relate to God, and which is unattainable by those who do not
possess the "Spirit which searcheth all things, even the deep things of
God," he added: "The abyss like a garment is His covering." [4124] Nay,
our Lord and Saviour, the Logos of God, manifesting that the greatness of
the knowledge of the Father is appropriately comprehended and known
pre-eminently by Him alone, and in the second place by those whose minds are
enlightened by the Logos Himself and God, declares: "No man knoweth the Son,
but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." [4125] For no one can worthily know
the "uncreated" [4126] and first-born of all created nature like the
Father who begat Him, nor any one the Father like the living Logos, and His
Wisdom and Truth. [4127] By sharing in Him who takes away from the Father
what is called "darkness," which He "made His secret place," and "the
abyss," which is called His "covering," and in this way unveiling the
Father, every one knows the Father who [4128] is capable of knowing Him.
Chapter XVIII.
I thought it right to quote these few instances from a much larger number of
passages, in which our sacred writers express their ideas regarding God, in
order to show that, to those who have eyes to behold the venerable character
of Scripture, the sacred writings of the prophets contain things more worthy
of reverence than those sayings of Plato which Celsus admires. Now the
declaration of Plato, quoted by Celsus, runs as follows: "All things are
around the King of all, and all things exist for his sake, and he is the
cause of all good things. With things of the second rank he is second, and
with those of the third rank he is third. The human soul, accordingly, is
eager to learn what these things are, looking to such things as are kindred
to itself, none of which is perfect. But as regards the King and those
things which I mentioned, there is nothing which resembles them." [4129]
I might have mentioned, moreover, what is said of those beings which are
called seraphim by the Hebrews, and described in Isaiah, [4130] who cover
the face and feet of God, and of those called cherubim, whom Ezekiel
[4131] has described, and the postures of these, and of the manner in which
God is said to be borne upon the cherubim. But since they are mentioned in a
very mysterious manner, on account of the unworthy and the indecent, who are
unable to enter into the great thoughts and venerable nature of theology, I
have not deemed it becoming to discourse of them in this treatise.
Chapter XIX.
Celsus in the next place alleges, that "certain Christians, having
misunderstood the words of Plato, loudly boast of a 'super-celestial' God
thus ascending beyond the heaven of the Jews." By these words, indeed, he
does not make it clear whether they also ascend beyond the God of the Jews,
or only beyond the heaven by which they swear. It is not our purpose at
present, however, to speak of those who acknowledge another god than the one
worshipped by the Jews, but to defend ourselves, and to show that it was
impossible for the prophets of the Jews, whose writings are reckoned among
ours, to have borrowed anything from Plato, because they were older than he.
They did not then borrow from him the declaration, that "all things are
around the King of all, and that all exist on account of him; "for we have
learned that nobler thoughts than these have been uttered by the prophets,
by Jesus Himself and His disciples, who have clearly indicated the meaning
of the spirit that was in them, which was none other than the spirit of
Christ. Nor was the philosopher the first to present to view the
"super-celestial" place; for David long ago brought to view the profundity
and multitude of the thoughts concerning God entertained by those who have
ascended above visible things, when he said in the book of Psalms: "Praise
God, ye heaven of heavens and ye waters that be above the heavens, let them
praise the name of the Lord." [4132] I do not indeed, deny that Plato
learned from certain Hebrews the words quoted from the Phaedrus, or even, as
some have recorded, that he quoted them from a perusal of our prophetic
writings, when he said: "No poet here below has ever sung of the
super-celestial place, or ever will sing in a becoming manner," and so on.
And in the same passage is the following: "For the essence, which is both
colourless and formless, and which cannot be touched, which really exists,
is the pilot of the soul, and is beheld by the understanding alone; and
around it the genus of true knowledge holds this place." [4133] Our Paul,
moreover, educated by these words, and longing after things
"supra-mundane" and "super-celestial," and doing his utmost for their sake
to attain them, says in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: "For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are
seen are temporal; but the things which are unseen are eternal." [4134]
Chapter XX.
Now, to those who are capable of understanding him, the apostle manifestly
presents to view "things which are the objects of perception," calling them
"things seen; "while he terms "unseen," things which are the object of the
understanding, and cognisable by it alone. He knows, also, that things
"seen" and visible are "temporal," but that things cognisable by the mind,
and "not seen," are "eternal; "and desiring to remain in the contemplation
of these. and being assisted by his earnest longing for them, he deemed all
affliction as "light" and as "nothing," and during the season of afflictions
and troubles was not at all bowed down by them, but by his contemplation of
(divine) things deemed every calamity a light thing, seeing we also have "a
great High Priest," who by the greatness of His power and understanding "has
passed through the heavens, even Jesus the Son of God," who has promised to
all that have truly learned divine things, and have lived lives in harmony
with them, to go before them to the things that are supra-mundane; for His
words are: "That where I go, ye may be also." [4135] And therefore we
hope, after the troubles and struggles which we suffer here, to reach the
highest heavens, [4136] and receiving, agreeably to the teaching of
Jesus, the fountains of water that spring up unto eternal life, and being
filled with the rivers of knowledge, [4137] shall be united with those
waters that are said to be above the heavens, and which praise His name. And
as many of us [4138] as praise Him shall not be carried about by the
revolution of the heaven, but shall be ever engaged in the contemplation of
the invisible things of God, which are no longer understood by us through
the things which He hath made from the creation of the world, but seeing, as
it was expressed by the true disciple of Jesus in these words, "then face to
face; " [4139] and in these, "When that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part will be done away." [4140]
Chapter XXI.
The Scriptures which are current in the Churches [4141] of God do not
speak of "seven" heavens, or of any definite number at all, [4142] but
they do appear to teach the existence of "heavens," whether that means the
"spheres" of those bodies which the Greeks call "planets," or something more
mysterious. Celsus, too, agreeably to the opinion of Plato, [4143]
asserts that souls can make their way to and from the earth through the
planets; while Moses, our most ancient prophet, says that a divine vision
was presented to the view of our prophet Jacob, [4144] 'a ladder
stretching to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon
it, and the Lord supported [4145] upon its top,'obscurely pointing, by
this matter of the ladder, either to the same truths which Plato had in
view, or to something greater than these. On this subject Philo has composed
a treatise which deserves the thoughtful and intelligent investigation of
all lovers of truth.
Chapter XXII.
After this, Celsus, desiring to exhibit his learning in his treatise against
us, quotes also certain Persian mysteries, where he says: "These things are
obscurely hinted at in the accounts of the Persians, and especially in the
mysteries of Mithras, which are celebrated amongst them. For in the latter
there is a representation of the two heavenly revolutions,'of the movement,
viz., of the fixed [4146] stars, and of that which take place among the
planets, and of the passage of the soul through these. The representation is
of the following nature: There is a ladder with lofty gates, [4147] and
on the top of it an eighth gate. The first gate consists of lead, the second
of tin, the third of copper, the fourth of iron, the fifth of a mixture of
metals, [4148] the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold. The first
gate they assign to Saturn, indicating by the 'lead' the slowness of this
star; the second to Venus, comparing her to the splendour and softness of
tin; the third to Jupiter, being firm [4149] and solid; the fourth to
Mercury, for both Mercury and iron are fit to endure all things, and are
money-making and laborious; [4150] the fifth to Mars, because, being
composed of a mixture of metals, it is varied and unequal; the sixth, of
silver, to the Moon; the seventh, of gold, to the Sun,'thus imitating the
different colours of the two latter." He next proceeds to examine the reason
of the stars being arranged in this order, which is symbolized by the names
of the rest of matter. [4151] Musical reasons, moreover, are added or
quoted by the Persian theology; and to these, again, he strives to add a
second explanation, connected also with musical considerations. But it seems
to me, that to quote the language of Celsus upon these matters would be
absurd, and similar to what he himself has done, when, in his accusations
against Christians and Jews, he quoted, most inappropriately, not only the
words of Plato; but, dissatisfied even with these, [4152] he adduced in
addition the mysteries of the Persian Mithras, and the explanation of them.
Now, whatever be the case with regard to these,'whether the Persians and
those who conduct the mysteries of Mithras give false or true accounts
regarding them,'why did he select these for quotation, rather than some of
the other mysteries, with the explanation of them? For the mysteries of
Mithras do not appear to be more famous among the Greeks than those of
Eleusis, or than those in Aegina, where individuals are initiated in the
rites of Hecate. But if he must introduce barbarian mysteries with their
explanation, why not rather those of the Egyptians, which are highly
regarded by many, [4153] or those of the Cappadocians regarding the
Comanian Diana, or those of the Thracians, or even those of the Romans
themselves, who initiate the noblest members of their senate? [4154] But
if he deemed it inappropriate to institute a comparison with any of these,
because they furnished no aid in the way of accusing Jews or Christians, why
did it not also appear to him inappropriate to adduce the instance of the
mysteries of Mithras?
Chapter XXIII.
If one wished to obtain means for a pro-founder contemplation of the
entrance of souls into divine things, not from the statements of that very
insignificant sect from which he quoted, hut from books'partly those of the
Jews, which are read in their synagogues, and adopted by Christians, and
partly from those of Christians alone'let him peruse, at the end of
Ezekiel's prophecies, the visions beheld by the prophet, in which gates of
different kinds are enumerated, [4155] which obscurely refer to the
different modes in which divine souls enter into a better world; [4156]
and let him peruse also, from the Apocalypse of John, what is related of the
city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and of its foundations and gates.
[4157] And if he is capable of finding out also the road, which is indicated
by symbols, of those who will march on to divine things, let him read the
book of Moses entitled Numbers, and let him seek the help of one who is
capable of initiating him into the meaning of the narratives concerning the
encampments of the children of Israel; viz., of what sort those were which
were arranged towards the east, as was the case with the first; and what
those towards the south-west. and south; and what towards the sea; and what
the last were, which were stationed towards the north. For he will see that
there is in the respective places a meaning [4158] not to be lightly
treated, nor, as Celsus imagines, such as calls only for silly and servile
listeners: but he will distinguish in the encampments certain things
relating to the numbers that are enumerated, and which are specially adapted
to each tribe, of which the present does not appear to us to be the proper
time to speak. Let Celsus know, moreover, as well as those who read his
book, that in no part of the genuine and divinely accredited Scriptures are
"seven" heavens mentioned; neither do our prophets, nor the apostles of
Jesus, nor the Son of God Himself, repeat anything which they borrowed from
the Persians or the Cabiri.
Chapter XXIV.
After the instance borrowed from the Mithraic mysteries, Celsus declares
that he who would investigate the Christian mysteries, along with the
aforesaid Persian, will, on comparing the two together, and on unveiling the
rites of the Christians, see in this way the difference between them. Now,
wherever he was able to give the names of the various sects, he was nothing
loth to quote those with which he thought himself acquainted; but when he
ought most of all to have done this, if they were really known to him, and
to have informed us which was the sect that makes use of the diagram he has
drawn, he has not done so. It seems to me, however, that it is from some
statements of a very insignificant sect called Ophites, [4159] which he
has misunderstood, that, in my opinion, he has partly borrowed what he says
about the diagram. [4160] Now, as we have always been animated by a love
of learning, [4161] we have fallen in with this diagram, and we have
found in it the representations of men who, as Paul says, "creep into
houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts; ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth." [4162] The diagram was, however, so destitute of all credibility,
that neither these easily deceived women, nor the most rustic class of men,
nor those who were ready to be led away by any plausible pretender whatever,
ever gave their assent to the diagram. Nor, indeed, have we ever met any
individual, although we have visited many parts of the earth, and have
sought out all those who anywhere made profession of knowledge, that placed
any faith in this diagram.
Chapter XXV.
In this diagram were described ten circles, distinct from each other, but
united by one circle, which was said to be the soul of all things, and was
called "Leviathan." [4163] This Leviathan, the Jewish Scriptures say,
whatever they mean by the expression, was created by God for a plaything;
[4164] for we find in the Psalms: "In wisdom hast Thou made all things: the
earth is full of Thy creatures; so is this great and wide sea. There go the
ships; small animals with great; there is this dragon, which Thou hast
formed to play therein." [4165] Instead of the word "dragon," the term
"leviathan" is in the Hebrew. This impious diagram, then, said of this
leviathan, which is so clearly depreciated by the Psalmist, that it was the
soul which had travelled through all things! We observed, also, in the
diagram, the being named "Behemoth," placed as it were under the lowest
circle. The inventor of this accursed diagram had inscribed this leviathan
at its circumference and centre, thus placing its name in two separate
places. Moreover, Celsus says that the diagram was "divided by a thick black
line, and this line he asserted was called Gehenna, which is Tartarus." Now
as we found that Gehenna was mentioned in the Gospel as a place of
punishment, we searched to see whether it is mentioned anywhere in the
ancient Scriptures, and especially because the Jews too use the word. And we
ascertained that where the valley of the son of Ennom was named in Scripture
in the Hebrew, instead of "valley," with fundamentally the same meaning, it
was termed both the valley of Ennom and also Geenna. And continuing our
researches, we find that what was termed "Geenna," or "the valley of
Ennom," was included in the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, in which Jerusalem
also was situated. And seeking to ascertain what might be the inference from
the heavenly Jerusalem belonging to the lot of Benjamin and the valley of
Ennom, we find a certain confirmation of what is said regarding the place of
punishment, intended for the purification of such souls as are to be
purified by torments, agreeably to the saying: "The Lord cometh like a
refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver and of gold." [4166]
Chapter XXVI.
It is in the precincts of Jerusalem, then, that punishments will be
inflicted upon those who undergo the process of purification, [4167] who
have received into the substance of their soul the elements of wickedness,
which in a certain place [4168] is figuratively termed "lead," and on
that account iniquity is represented in Zechariah as sitting upon a "talent
of lead." [4169] But the remarks which might be made on this topic are
neither to be made to all, nor to be uttered on the present occasion; for it
is not unattended with danger to commit to writing the explanation of such
subjects, seeing the multitude need no further instruction than that which
relates to the punishment of sinners; while to ascend beyond this is not
expedient, for the sake of those who are with difficulty restrained, even by
fear of eternal punishment, from plunging into any degree of wickedness, and
into the flood of evils which result from sin. [4170] The doctrine of
Geenna, then, is unknown both to the diagram and to Celsus: for had it been
otherwise, the framers of the former would not have boasted of their
pictures of animals and diagrams, as if the truth were represented by these;
nor would Celsus, in his treatise against the Christians, have introduced
among the charges directed against them statements which they never uttered
instead of what was spoken by some who perhaps are no longer in existence,
but have altogether disappeared, or been reduced to a very few individuals,
and these easily counted. And as it does not beseem those who profess the
doctrines of Plato to offer a defence of Epicurus and his impious opinions,
so neither is it for us to defend the diagram, or to refute the accusations
brought against it by Celsus. We may therefore allow his charges on these
points to pass as superfluous and useless, [4171] for we would censure
more severely than Celsus any who should be carried away by such opinions.
Chapter XXVII.
After the matter of the diagram, he brings forward certain monstrous
statements, in the form of question and answer, [4172] regarding what is
called by ecclesiastical writers the "seal," statements which did not arise
from imperfect information; such as that "he who impresses the seal is
called father, and he who is sealed is called young man and son; "and who
answers, "I have been anointed with white ointment from the tree of
life,"'things which we never heard to have occurred even among the heretics.
In the next place, he determines even the number mentioned by those who
deliver over the seal, as that "of seven angels, who attach themselves to
both sides of the soul of the dying body; the one party being named angels
of light, the others 'archontics; '" [4173] and he asserts that the
"ruler of those named 'archontics' is termed the 'accursed' god." Then,
laying hold of the expression, he assails, not without reason; those who
venture to use such language; and on that account we entertain a similar
feeling of indignation with those who censure such individuals, if indeed
there exist any who call the God of the Jews'who sends rain and thunder, and
who is the Creator of this world, and the God of Moses, and of the cosmogony
which he records'an "accursed" divinity. Celsus, however, appears to have
had in view in employing these expressions, not a rational [4174] object,
but one of a most irrational kind, arising out of his hatred towards us,
which is so unlike a philosopher. For his aim was, that those who are
unacquainted with our customs should, on perusing his treatise, at once
assail us as if we called the noble Creator of this world an "accursed
divinity." He appears to me, indeed, to have acted like those Jews who, when
Christianity began to be first preached, scattered abroad false reports of
the Gospel, such as that "Christians offered up an infant in sacrifice, and
partook of its flesh; "and again, "that the professors of Christianity,
wishing to do the 'works of darkness, 'used to extinguish the lights (in
their meetings), and each one to have sexual intercourse with any woman whom
he chanced to meet." These calumnies have long exercised, although
unreasonably, an influence over the minds of very many, leading those who
are aliens to the Gospel to believe that Christians are men of such a
character; and even at the present day they mislead some, and prevent them
from entering even into the simple intercourse of conversation with those
who are Christians.
Chapter XXVIII.
With some such object as this in view does Celsus seem to have been
actuated, when he alleged that Christians term the Creator an "accursed
divinity; "in order that he who believes these charges of his against us,
should, if possible, arise and exterminate the Christians as the most
impious Of mankind. Confusing, moreover, things that are distinct, [4175]
he states also the reason why the God of the Mosaic cosmogony is termed
"accursed," asserting that "such is his character, and worthy of execration
in the opinion of those who so regard him, inasmuch as he pronounced a curse
upon the serpent, who introduced the first human beings to the knowledge of
good and evil." Now he ought to have known that those who have espoused the
cause of the serpent, because he gave good advice to the first human beings,
and who go far beyond the Titans and Giants of fable, and are on this
account called Ophites, are so far from being Christians, that they bring
accusations against Jesus to as great a degree as Celsus himself; and they
do not admit any one into their assembly [4176] until he has uttered
maledictions against Jesus. See, then, how irrational is the procedure of
Celsus, who, in his discourse against the Christians, represents as such
those who will not even listen to the name of Jesus, or omit even that He
was a wise man, or a person of virtuous [4177] character! What, then,
could evince greater folly or madness, not only on the part of those who
wish to derive their name from the serpent as the author of good, [4178]
but also on the part of Celsus, who thinks that the accusations with which
the Ophites [4179] are charged, are chargeable also against the
Christians! Long ago, indeed, that Greek philosopher who preferred a state
of poverty, [4180] and who exhibited the pattern of a happy life, showing
that he was not excluded from happiness although he was possessed of
nothing, [4181] termed himself a Cynic; while these impious wretches, as
not being human beings, whose enemy the serpent is, but as being serpents,
pride themselves upon being called Ophites from the serpent, which is an
animal most hostile to and greatly dreaded by man, and boast of one
Euphrates [4182] as the introducer of these unhallowed opinions.
Chapter XXIX.
In the next place, as if it were the Christians whom he was calumniating, he
continues his accusations against those who termed the God of Moses and of
his law an "accursed" divinity; and imagining that it is the Christians who
so speak, he expresses himself thus: "What could be more foolish or insane
than such senseless [4183] wisdom? For what blunder has the Jewish
lawgiver committed? and why do you accept, by means, as you say, [4184]
of a certain allegorical and typical method of interpretation, the cosmogony
which he gives, and the law of the Jews, while it is with unwillingness, O
most impious man, that you give praise to the Creator of the world, who
promised to give them all things; who promised to multiply their race to the
ends of the earth, and to raise them up from the dead with the same flesh
and blood, and who gave inspiration [4185] to their prophets; and, again,
you slander Him! When you feel the force of such considerations, indeed, you
acknowledge that you worship the same God; but when your teacher Jesus and
the Jewish Moses give contradictory decisions, [4186] you seek another
God, instead of Him, and the Father!" Now, by such statements, this
illustrious philosopher Celsus distinctly slanders the Christians, asserting
that, when the Jews press them hard, they acknowledge the same God as they
do; but that when Jesus legislates differently from Moses, they seek another
god instead of Him. Now, whether we are conversing with the Jews, or are
alone with ourselves, we know of only one and the same God, whom the Jews
also worshipped of old time, and still profess to worship as God, and we are
guilty of no impiety towards Him. We do not assert, however; that God will
raise men from the dead with the same flesh and blood, as has been shown in
the preceding pages; for we do not maintain that the natural [4187] body,
which is sown in corruption, and in dishonour, and in weakness, will rise
again such as it was sown. On such subjects, however, we have spoken at
adequate length in the foregoing pages.
Chapter XXX.
He next returns to the subject of the Seven ruling Demons, [4188] whose
names are not found among Christians, but who, I think, are accepted by the
Ophites. We found, indeed, that in the diagram, which on their account we
procured a sight of, the same order was laid down as that which Celsus has
given. Celsus says that "the goat was shaped like a lion," not mentioning
the name given him by those who are truly the most impious of individuals;
whereas we discovered that He who is honoured in holy Scripture as the angel
of the Creator is called by this accursed diagram Michael the Lion-like.
Again, Celsus says that the "second in order is a bull; "whereas the diagram
which we possessed made him to be Suriel, the bull-like. Further, Celsus
termed the third "an amphibious sort of animal, and one that hissed
frightfully; "while the diagram described the third as Raphael, the
serpent-like. Moreover, Celsus asserted that the "fourth had the form of an
eagle; "the diagram representing him as Gabriel, the eagle-like. Again, the
"fifth," according to Celsus, "had the countenance of a bear; "and this,
according to the diagram, was Thauthabaoth, [4189] the bear-like. Celsus
continues his account, that the "sixth was described as having the face of a
dog; "and him the diagram called Erataoth. The "seventh," he adds, "had the
countenance of an ass, and was named Thaphabaoth or Onoel; "whereas we
discovered that in the diagram he is called Onoel, or Thartharaoth, being
somewhat asinine in appearance. We have thought it proper to be exact in
stating these matters, that we might not appear to be ignorant of those
things which Celsus professed to know, but that we Christians, knowing them
better than he, may demonstrate that these are not the words of Christians,
but of those who are altogether alienated from salvation, and who neither
acknowledge Jesus as Saviour, nor God, nor Teacher, nor Son of God.
Chapter XXXI.
Moreover, if any one would wish to become acquainted with the artifices of
those sorcerers, through which they desire to lead men away by their
teaching (as if they possessed the knowledge of certain secret rites), but
are not at all successful in so doing, let him listen to the instruction
which they receive after passing through what is termed the "fence of
wickedness," [4190] 'gates which are subjected to the world of ruling
spirits. [4191] (The following, then, is the manner in which they
proceed): "I salute the one-formed [4192] king, the bond of blindness,
complete [4193] oblivion, the first power, preserved by the spirit of
providence and by wisdom, from whom I am sent forth pure, being already part
of the light of the son and of the father: grace be with me; yea, O father,
let it be with me." They say also that the beginnings of the Ogdoad
[4194] are derived from this. In the next place, they are taught to say as
follows, while passing through what they call Ialdabaoth: "Thou, O first and
seventh, who art born to command with confidence, thou, O Ialdabaoth, who
art the rational ruler of a pure mind, and a perfect work to son and father,
bearing the symbol of life in the character of a type, and opening to the
world the gate which thou didst close against thy kingdom, I pass again in
freedom through thy realm. Let grace be with me; yea, O father, let it be
with me." They say, moreover, that the star Phaenon [4195] is in
sympathy [4196] with the lion-like ruler. They next imagine that he who
has passed through Ialdabaoth and arrived at Iao ought thus to speak: "Thou,
O second Iao, who shinest by night [4197] who art the ruler of the secret
mysteries of son and father, first prince of death, and portion of the
innocent, bearing now mine own beard as symbol, I am ready to pass through
thy realm, having strengthened him who is born of thee by the living word.
Grace be with me; father, let it be with me." They next come to Sabaoth, to
whom they think the following should be addressed: "O governor of the fifth
realm, powerful Sabaoth, defender of the law of thy creatures, who are
liberated by thy grace through the help of a more powerful Pentad, [4198]
admit me, seeing the faultless symbol of their art, preserved by the stamp
of an image, a body liberated by a Pentad. Let grace be with me, O father,
let grace be with me." And after Sabaoth they come to Astaphaeus, to whom
they believe the following prayer should be offered: "O Astaphaeus, ruler of
the third gate, overseer of the first principle of water, look upon me as
one of thine initiated, [4199] admit me who am purified with the spirit
of a virgin, thou who seest the essence of the world. Let grace be with me,
O father, let grace be with me." After him comes Aloaeus, who is to be thus
addressed: "O Aloaeus, governor of the second gate, let me pass, seeing I
bring to thee the symbol of thy mother, a gracewhich is hidden by the powers
of the realms. [4200] Let grace be with me, O father, let it be with
me." And last of all they name Horaeus, and think that the following prayer
ought to be offered to him: "Thou who didst fearlessly overleap the rampart
of fire, O Horaeus, who didst obtain the government of the first gate, let
me pass, seeing thou beholdest the symbol of thine own power, sculptured
[4201] on the figure of the tree of life, and formed after this image, in
the likeness of innocence. Let grace be with me, O father, let grace be with
me."
Chapter XXXII.
The supposed great learning of Celsus, which is composed, however, rather of
curious trifles and silly talk than anything else, has made us touch upon
these topics, from a wish to show to every one who peruses his treatise and
our reply, that we have no lack of information on those subjects, from which
he takes occasion to calumniate the Christians, who neither are acquainted
with, nor concern themselves about, such matters. For we, too, desired both
to learn and set forth these things, in order that sorcerers might not,
under pretext of knowing more than we, delude those who are easily carried
away by the glitter [4202] of names. And I could have given many more
illustrations to show that we are acquainted with the opinions of these
deluders, [4203] and that we disown them, as being alien to ours, and
impious, and not in harmony with the doctrines of true Christians, of which
we are ready to make confession even to the death. It must be noticed, too,
that those who have drawn up this array of fictions, have, from neither
understanding magic, nor discriminating the meaning of holy Scripture,
thrown everything into confusion; seeing that they have borrowed from magic
the names of Ialdabaoth, and Astaphaeus, and Horaeus, and from the Hebrew
Scriptures him who is termed in Hebrew Iao or Jah, and Sabaoth, and
Adonaeus, and Eloaeus. Now the names taken from the Scriptures are names of
one and the same God; which, not being understood by the enemies of God, as
even themselves acknowledge, led to their imagining that Iao was a different
God, and Sabaoth another, and Adonaeus, whom the Scriptures term Adonai, a
third besides, and that Eloaeus, whom the prophets name in Hebrew Eloi, was
also different.
Chapter XXXIII.
Celsus next relates other fables, to the effect that "certain persons return
to the shapes of the archontics, [4204] so that some are called lions,
others bulls, others dragons, or eagles, or bears, or dogs." We found also
in the diagram which we possessed, and which Celsus called the "square
pattern," the statements [4205] made by these unhappy beings concerning
the gates of Paradise. The flaming sword was depicted as the diameter of a
flaming circle, and as if mounting guard over the tree of knowledge and of
life. Celsus, however, either would not or could not repeat the harangues
which, according to the fables of these impious individuals, are represented
as spoken at each of the gates by those who pass through them; but this we
have done in order to show to Celsus and those who read his treatise, that
we know the depth of these unhallowed mysteries, [4206] and that they are
far removed from the worship which Christians offer up to God.
Chapter XXXIV.
After finishing the foregoing, and those analogous matters which we
ourselves have added, Celsus continues as follows: "They continue to heap
together one thing after another,'discourses of prophets, and circles upon
circles, and effluents [4207] from an earthly church, and from
circumcision; and a power flowing from one Prunicos, a virgin and a living
soul; and a heaven slain in order to live, and an earth slaughtered by the
sword, and many put to death that they may live, and death ceasing in the
world, when the sin of the world is dead; and, again, a narrow way, and
gates that open spontaneously. And in all their writings (is mention made)
of the tree of life, and a resurrection of the flesh by means [4208] of
the 'tree, 'because, I imagine, their teacher was nailed to a cross, and was
a carpenter by craft; so that if he had chanced to have been cast from a
precipice, or thrust into a pit, or suffocated by hanging, or had been a
leather-cutter, or stone-cutter, or worker in iron, there would have been
(invented) a precipice of life beyond the heavens, or a pit of resurrection,
or a cord of immortality, or a blessed stone, or an iron of love, or a
sacred leather! Now what old woman would not be ashamed to utter such things
in a whisper, even when making stories to lull an infant to sleep? "In using
such language as this, Celsus appears to me to confuse together matters
which he has imperfectly heard. For it seems likely that, even supposing
that he had heard a few words traceable to some existing heresy, he did not
clearly understand the meaning intended to be conveyed; but heaping the
words together, he wished to show before those who knew nothing either of
our opinions or of those of the heretics, that he was acquainted with all
the doctrines of the Christians. And this is evident also from the foregoing
words.
Chapter XXXV.
It is our practice, indeed, to make use of the words of the prophets, who
demonstrate that Jesus is the Christ predicted by them, and who show from
the prophetic writings the events in the Gospels regarding Jesus have been
fulfilled. But when Celsus speaks of "circles upon circles," (he perhaps
borrowed the expression) from the aforementioned heresy, which includes in
one circle (which they call the soul of all things, and Leviathan) the seven
circles of archontic demons, or perhaps it arises from misunderstanding the
preacher, when he says: "The wind goeth in a circle of circles, and
returneth again upon its circles." [4209] The expression, too, "effluents
of an earthly church and of circumcision," was probably taken from the fact
that the church on earth was called by some an effluent from a heavenly
church and a better world; and that the circumcision described in the law
was a symbol of the circumcision performed there, in a certain place set
apart for purification. The adherents of Valentinus, moreover, in keeping
with their system of error, [4210] give the name of Prunicos to a certain
kind of wisdom, of which they would have the woman afflicted with the twelve
years' issue of blood to be the symbol; so that Celsus, who confuses
together all sorts of opinions'Greek, Barbarian, and Heretical'having heard
of her, asserted that it was a power flowing forth from one Prunicos, a
virgin. The "living soul," again, is perhaps mysteriously referred by some
of the followers of Valentinus to the being whom they term the psychic
[4211] creator of the world; or perhaps, in contradistinction to a "dead"
soul, the "living" soul is termed by some, not inelegantly, [4212] the
soul of "him who is saved." I know nothing, however, of a "heaven which is
said to be slain," or of an "earth slaughtered by the sword," or of many
persons slain in order that they might live; for it is not unlikely that
these were coined by Celsus out of his own brain.
Chapter XXXVI.
We would say, moreover, that death ceases in the world when the sin of the
world dies, referring the saying to the mystical words of the apostle, which
run as follows: "When He shall have put all enemies under His feet, then the
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." [4213] And also: "When this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." [4214] The
"strait descent," [4215] again, may perhaps be referred by those who hold
the doctrine of transmigration of souls to that view of things. And it is
not incredible that the gates which are said to open spontaneously are
referred obscurely by some to the words, "Open to me the gates of
righteousness, that I may go into them, and praise the Lord; this gate of
the Lord, into it the righteous shall enter; " [4216] and again, to what
is said in the ninth psalm, "Thou that liftest me up from the gates of
death, that I may show forth all Thy praise in the gates of the daughter of
Zion." [4217] The Scripture further gives the name of "gates of death" to
those sins which lead to destruction, as it terms, on the contrary, good
actions the "gates of Zion." So also "the gates of righteousness," which is
an equivalent expression to "the gates of virtue," and these are ready to be
opened to him who follows after virtuous pursuits. The subject of the "tree
of life" will be more appropriately explained when we interpret the
statements in the book of Genesis regarding the paradise planted by God.
Celsus, moreover, has often mocked at the subject of a resurrection,'a
doctrine which he did not comprehend; and on the present occasion, not
satisfied with what he has formerly said, he adds, "And there is said to be
a resurrection of the flesh by means of the tree; "not understanding, I
think, the symbolical expression, that "through the tree came death, and
through the tree comes life," [4218] because death was in Adam, and life
in Christ. He next scoffs at the "tree," assailing it on two grounds, and
saying, "For this reason is the tree introduced, either because our teacher
was nailed to a cross, or because he was a carpenter by trade; "not
observing that the tree of life is mentioned in the Mosaic writings, and
being blind also to this, that in none of the Gospels current in the
Churches [4219] is Jesus Himself ever described as being a carpenter.
[4220]
Chapter XXXVII.
Celsus, moreover, thinks that we have invented this "tree of life" to give
an allegorical meaning to the cross; and in consequence of his error upon
this point, he adds: "If he had happened to be cast down a precipice, or
shoved into a pit, or suffocated by hanging, there would have been invented
a precipice of life far beyond the heavens, or a pit of resurrection, or a
cord of immortality." And again: "If the 'tree of life' were an invention,
because he'Jesus'(is reported) to have been a carpenter, it would follow
that if he had been a leather-cutter, something would have been said about
holy leather; or had he been a stone-cutter, about a blessed stone; or if a
worker in iron, about an iron of love." Now, who does not see at once
[4221] the paltry nature of his charge, in thus calumniating men whom he
professed to convert on the ground of their being deceived? And after these
remarks, he goes on to speak in a way quite in harmony with the tone of
those who have invented the fictions of lion-like, and ass-headed, and
serpent-like ruling angels, [4222] and other similar absurdities, but
which does not affect those who belong to the Church. Of a truth, even a
drunken old woman would be ashamed to chaunt or whisper to an infant, in
order to lull him to sleep, any such fables as those have done who invented
the beings with asses' heads, and the harangues, so to speak, which are
delivered at each of the gates. But Celsus is not acquainted with the
doctrines of the members of the Church, which very few have been able to
comprehend, even of those who have devoted all their lives, in conformity
with the command of Jesus, to the searching of the Scriptures, and have
laboured to investigate the meaning of the sacred books, to a greater degree
than Greek philosophers in their efforts to attain a so-called wisdom.
Chapter XXXVIII.
Our noble (friend), moreover, not satisfied with the objections which he has
drawn from the diagram, desires, in order to strengthen his accusations
against us, who have nothing in common with it, to introduce certain other
charges, which he adduces from the same (heretics), but yet as if they were
from a different source. His words are: "And that is not the least of their
marvels, for there are between the upper circles'those that are above the
heavens'certain inscriptions of which they give the interpretation, and
among others two words especially, 'a greater and a less, 'which they refer
to Father and Son." [4223] Now, in the diagram referred to, we found the
greater and the lesser circle, upon the diameter of which was inscribed
"Father and Son; "and between the greater circle (in which the lesser was
contained) and another [4224] composed of two circles,'the outer one of
which was yellow, and the inner blue,'a barrier inscribed in the shape of a
hatchet. And above it, a short circle, close to the greater of the two
former, having the inscription "Love; "and lower down, one touching the same
circle, with the word "Life." And on the second circle, which was
intertwined with and included two other circles, another figure, like a
rhomboid, (entitled) "The foresight of wisdom." And within their point of
common section was "The nature of wisdom." And above their point of common
section was a circle, on which was inscribed "Knowledge; "and lower down
another, on which was the inscription, "Understanding." We have introduced
these matters into our reply to Celsus, to show to our readers that we know
better than he, and not by mere report, those things, even although we also
disapprove of them. Moreover, if those who pride themselves upon such
matters profess also a kind of magic and sorcery,'which, in their opinion,
is the summit of wisdom,'we, on the other hand, make no affirmation about
it, seeing we never have discovered anything of the kind. Let Celsus,
however, who has been already often convicted of false witness and
irrational accusations, see whether he is not guilty of falsehood in these
also, or whether he has not extracted and introduced into his treatise,
statements taken from the writings of those who are foreigners and strangers
to our Christian faith.
Chapter XXXIX.
In the next place, speaking of those who employ the arts of magic and
sorcery, and who invoke the barbarous names of demons, he remarks that such
persons act like those who, in reference to the same things, [4225]
perform marvels before those who are ignorant that the names of demons among
the Greeks are different from what they are among the Scythians. He then
quotes a passage from Herodotus, stating that "Apollo is called Gongosyrus
by the Scythians; Poseidon, Thagimasada; Aphrodite, Argimpasan; Hestia,
Tabiti." [4226] Now, he who has the capacity can inquire whether in these
matters Celsus and Herodotus are not both wrong; for the Scythians do not
understand the same thing as the Greeks, in what relates to those beings
which are deemed to be gods. For how is it credible [4227] that Apollo
should be called Gongosyrus by the Scythians? I do not suppose that
Gongosyrus, when transferred into the Greek language, yields the same
etymology as Apollo; or that Apollo, in the dialect of the Scythians, has
the signification of Gongosyrus. Nor has any such assertion hitherto been
made regarding the other names, [4228] for the Greeks took occasion from
different circumstances and etymologies to give to those who are by them
deemed gods the names which they bear; and the Scythians, again, from
another set of circumstances; and the same also was the case with the
Persians, or Indians, or Ethiopians, or Libyans, or with those who delight
to bestow names (from fancy), and who do not abide by the just and pure idea
of the Creator of all things. Enough, however, has been said by us in the
preceding pages, where we wished to demonstrate that Sabaoth and Zeus were
not the same deity, and where also we made some remarks, derived from the
holy Scriptures, regarding the different dialects. We willingly, then, pass
by these points, on which Celsus would make us repeat ourselves. In the next
place, again, mixing up together matters which belong to magic and sorcery,
and referring them perhaps to no one,'because of the non-existence of any
who practise magic under pretence of a worship of this character,'and yet,
perhaps, having in view some who do employ such practices in the presence of
the simple (that they may have the appearance of acting by divine power), he
adds: "What need to number up all those who have taught methods of
purification, or expiatory hymns, or spells for averting evil, or (the
making of) images, or resemblances of demons, or the various sorts of
antidotes against poison (to be found) [4229] in clothes, or in numbers,
or stones, or plants, or roots, or generally in all kinds of things? "In
respect to these matters, reason does not require us to offer any defence,
since we are not liable in the slightest degree to suspicions of such a
nature.
Chapter XL.
After these things, Celsus appears to me to act like those who, in their
intense hatred of the Christians, maintain, in the presence of those who are
utterly ignorant of the Christian faith, that they have actually ascertained
that Christians devour the flesh of infants, and give themselves without
restraint to sexual intercourse with their women. Now, as these statements
have been condemned as falsehoods invented against the Christians, and this
admission made by the multitude and those altogether aliens to our faith; so
would the following statements of Celsus be found to be calumnies invented
against the Christians, where he says that "he has seen in the hands of
certain presbyters belonging to our faith [4230] barbarous books,
containing the names and marvellous doings of demons; "asserting further,
that "these presbyters of our faith professed to do no good, but all that
was calculated to injure human beings." Would, indeed, that all that is said
by Celsus against the Christians was of such a nature as to be refuted by
the multitude, who have ascertained by experience that such things are
untrue, seeing that most of them have lived as neighbours with the
Christians, and have not even heard of the existence of any such alleged
practices!
Chapter XLI.
In the next place, as if he had forgotten that it was his object to write
against the Christians, he says that, "having become acquainted with one
Dionysius, an Egyptian musician, the latter told him, with respect to magic
arts, that it was only over the uneducated and men of corrupt morals that
they had any power, while on philosophers they were unable to produce any
effect, because they were careful to observe a healthy manner of life." If,
now, it had been our purpose to treat of magic, we could have added a few
remarks in addition to what we have already said on this topic; but since it
is only the more important matters which we have to notice in answer to
Celsus, we shall say of magic, that any one who chooses to inquire whether
philosophers were ever led captive by it or not, can read what has been
written by Moiragenes regarding the memoirs of the magician and philosopher
Apollonius of Tyana, in which this individual, who is not a Christian, but a
philosopher, asserts that some philosophers of no mean note were won over by
the magic power possessed by Apollonius, and resorted to him as a sorcerer;
and among these, I think, he especially mentioned Euphrates and a certain
Epicurean. Now we, on the other hand, affirm, and have learned by
experience, that they who worship the God of all things in conformity with
the Christianity which comes by Jesus, and who live according to His Gospel,
using night and day, continuously and becomingly, the prescribed prayers,
are not carried away either by magic or demons. For verily "the angel of the
Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them" [4231]
from all evil; and the angels of the little ones in the Church, who are
appointed to watch over them, are said always to behold the face of their
Father who is in heaven, [4232] whatever be the meaning of "face" or of
"behold."
Chapter XLII.
After these matters, Celsus brings the following charges against us from
another quarter: "Certain most impious errors," he says, "are committed by
them, due to their extreme ignorance, in which they have wandered away from
the meaning of the divine enigmas, creating an adversary to God, the devil,
and naming him in the Hebrew tongue, Satan. Now, of a truth, such statements
are altogether of mortal invention, [4233] and not even proper to be
repeated, viz., that the mighty God, in His desire to confer good upon men,
has yet one counterworking Him, and is helpless. The Son of God, it follows,
is vanquished by the devil; and being punished by him, teaches us also to
despise the punishments which he inflicts, telling us beforehand that Satan,
after appearing to men as He Himself had done, will exhibit great and
marvellous works, claiming for himself the glory of God, but that those who
wish to keep him at a distance ought to pay no attention to these works of
Satan, but to place their faith in Him alone. Such statements are manifestly
the words of a deluder, planning and manoeuvring against those who are
opposed to his views, and who rank themselves against them." In the next
place, desiring to point out the "enigmas," our mistakes regarding which
lead to the introduction of our views concerning Satan, he continues: "The
ancients allude obscurely to a certain war among the gods, Heraclitus
speaking thus of it: 'If one must say that there is a general war and
discord, and that all things are done and administered in strife.'
Pherecydes, again, who is much older than Heraclitus, relates a myth of one
army drown up in hostile array against another, and names Kronos as the
leader of the one, and Ophioneus of the other, and recounts their challenges
and struggles, and mentions that agreements were entered into between them,
to the end that whichever party should fall into the ocean [4234] should
be held as vanquished, while those who had expelled and conquered them
should have possession of heaven. The mysteries relating to the Titans and
Giants also had some such (symbolical) meaning, as well as the Egyptian
mysteries of Typhon, and Horus, and Osiris." After having made such
statements, and not having got over the difficulty [4235] as to the way
in which these accounts contain a higher view of things, while our accounts
are erroneous copies of them, he continues his abuse of us, remarking that
"these are not like the stories which are related of a devil, or demon, or,
as he remarks with more truth, of a man who is an impostor, who wishes to
establish an opposite doctrine." And in the same way he understands Homer,
as if he referred obscurely to matters similar to those mentioned by
Heraclitus, and Pherecydes, and the originators of the mysteries about the
Titans and Giants, in those words which Hephaestus addresses to Hera as
follows:'
"Once in your cause I felt his matchless might,
Hurled headlong downward from the ethereal height." [4236]
And in those of Zeus to Hera:'
"Hast thou forgot, when, bound and fix'd on high,
From the vast concave of the spangled sky,
I hung thee trembling in a golden chain,
And all the raging gods opposed in vain?
Headlong I hurled them from the Olympian hall,
Stunn'd in the whirl, and breathless with the fall." [4237]
Interpreting, moreover, the words of Homer, he adds: "The words of Zeus
addressed to Hera are the words of God addressed to matter; and the words
addressed to matter obscurely signify that the matter which at the beginning
was in a state of discord (with God), was taken by Him, and bound together
and arranged under laws, which may be analogically compared to chains;
[4238] and that by way of chastising the demons who create disorder in it,
he hurls them down headlong to this lower world." These words of Homer, he
alleges, were so understood by Pherecydes, when he said that beneath that
region is the region of Tartarus, which is guarded by the Harpies and
Tempest, daughters of Boreas, and to which Zeus banishes any one of the gods
who becomes disorderly. With the same ideas also are closely connected the
peplos of Athena, which is beheld by all in the procession of the
Panathenaea. For it is manifest from this, he continues, that a motherless
and unsullied demon [4239] has the mastery over the daring of the Giants.
While accepting, moreover, the fictions of the Greeks, he continues to heap
against us such accusations as the following, viz., that "the Son of God is
punished by the devil, and teaches us that we also, when punished by him,
ought to endure it. Now these statements are altogether ridiculous. For it
is the devil, I think, who ought rather to be punished, and those human
beings who are calumniated by him ought not to be threatened with
chastisement."
Chapter XLIII.
Mark now, whether he who charges us with having committed errors of the most
impious kind, and with having wandered away from the (true meaning) of the
divine enigmas, is not himself clearly in error, from not observing that in
the writings of Moses, which are much older not merely than Heraclitus and
Pherecydes, but even than Homer, mention is made of this wicked one, and of
his having fallen from heaven. For the serpent [4240] 'from whom the
Ophioneus spoken of by Pherecydes is derived'having become the cause of
man's expulsion from the divine Paradise, obscurely shadows forth something
similar, having deceived the woman [4241] by a promise of divinity and of
greater blessings; and her example is said to have been followed also by the
man. And, further, who else could the destroying angel mentioned in the
Exodus of Moses [4242] be, than he who was the author of destruction to
them that obeyed him, and did not withstand his wicked deeds, nor struggle
against them? Moreover (the goat), which in the book of Leviticus [4243]
is sent away (into the wilderness), and which in the Hebrew language is
named Azazel, was none other than this; and it was necessary to send it away
into the desert, and to treat it as an expiatory sacrifice, because on it
the lot fell. For all who belong to the "worse" part, on account of their
wickedness, being opposed to those who are God's heritage, are deserted by
God. [4244] Nay, with respect to the sons of Belial in the book of
Judges, [4245] whose sons are they said to be, save his, on account of
their wickedness? And besides all these instances, in the book of Job, which
is older even than Moses himself, the devil is distinctly described as
presenting himself before God, [4246] and asking for power against Job,
that he might involve him in trials [4247] of the most painful kind; the
first of which consisted in the loss of all his goods and of his children,
and the second in afflicting the whole body of Job with the so-called
disease of elephantiasis. [4248] I pass by what might be quoted from the
Gospels regarding the devil who tempted the Saviour, that I may not appear
to quote in reply to Celsus from more recent writings on this question. In
the last (Chapter) [4249] also of Job, in which the Lord utters to Job
amid tempest and clouds what is recorded in the book which bears his name
there are not a few things referring to the serpent. I have not yet
mentioned the passages in Ezekiel, [4250] where he speaks, as it were, of
Pharaoh, or Nebuchadnezzar, or the prince of Tyre; or those in Isaiah,
[4251] where lament is made for the king of Babylon, from which not a little
might be learned concerning evil, as to the nature of its origin and
generation, and as to how it derived its existence from some who had lost
their wings, [4252] and who had followed him who was the first to lose
his own.
Chapter XLIV.
For it is impossible that the good which is the result of accident, or of
communication, should be like that good which comes by nature; and yet the
former will never be lost by him who, so to speak, partakes of the
"living" bread with a view to his own preservation. But if it should fail
any one, it must be through his own fault, in being slothful to partake of
this "living bread" and "genuine drink," by means of which the wings,
nourished and watered, are fitted for their purpose, even according to the
saying of Solomon, the wisest of men, concerning the truly rich man, that
"he made to himself wings like an eagle, and returns to the house of his
patron. [4253] For it became God, who knows how to turn to proper account
even those who in their wickedness have apostatized from Him, to place
wickedness of this sort in some part of the universe, and to appoint a
training-school of virtue, wherein those must exercise themselves who would
desire to recover in a "lawful manner " [4254] the possession (which they
had lost); in order that being tested, like gold in the fire, by the
wickedness of these, and having exerted themselves to the utmost to prevent
anything base injuring their rational nature, they may appear deserving of
an ascent to divine things, and may be elevated by the Word to the
blessedness which is above all things, and so to speak, to the very summit
of goodness. Now he who in the Hebrew language is named Satan, and by some
Satanas'as being more in conformity with the genius of the Greek
language'signifies, when translated into Greek, "adversary." But every one
who prefers vice and a vicious life, is (because acting in a manner contrary
to virtue) Satanas, that is, an "adversary" to the Son of God, who is
righteousness, and truth, and wisdom. [4255] With more propriety,
however, is he called "adversary," who was the first among those that were
living a peaceful and happy life to lose his wings, and to fall from
blessedness; he who, according to Ezekiel, walked faultlessly in all his
ways, "until iniquity was found in him," [4256] and who being the "seal
of resemblance" and the "crown of beauty" in the paradise of God, being
filled as it were with good things, fell into destruction, in accordance
with the word which said to him in a mystic sense: "Thou hast fallen into
destruction, and shalt not abide for ever." [4257] We have ventured
somewhat rashly to make these few remarks, although in so doing we have
added nothing of importance to this treatise. If any one, however, who has
leisure for the examination of the sacred writings, should collect together
from all sources and form into one body of doctrine what is recorded
concerning the origin of evil, and the manner of its dissolution, he would
see that the views of Moses and the prophets regarding Satan had not been
even dreamed of either by Celsus or any one of those whose soul had been
dragged down, and torn away from God, and from right views of Him, and from
His word, by this wicked demon.
Chapter XLV.
But since Celsus rejects the statements concerning Antichrist, as it is
termed, having neither read what is said of him in the book of Daniel
[4258] nor in the writings of Paul, [4259] nor what the Saviour in the
Gospels [4260] has predicted about his coming, we must make a few remarks
upon this subject also; because, "as faces do not resemble faces," [4261]
so also neither do men's "hearts" resemble one another. It is certain, then,
that there will be diversities amongst the hearts of men,'those which are
inclined to virtue not being all modelled and shaped towards it in the same
or like degree; while others, through neglect of virtue, rash to the
opposite extreme. And amongst the latter are some in whom evil is deeply
engrained, and others in whom it is less deeply rooted. Where is the
absurdity, then, in holding that there exist among men, so to speak, two
extremes, [4262] 'the one of virtue, and the other of its opposite; so
that the perfection of virtue dwells in the man who realizes the ideal given
in Jesus, from whom there flowed to the human race so great a conversion,
and healing, and amelioration, while the opposite extreme is in the man who
embodies the notion of him that is named Antichrist? For God, comprehending
all things by means of His foreknowledge, and foreseeing what consequences
would result from both of these, wished to make these known to mankind by
His prophets, that those who understand their words might be familiarized
with the good, and be on their guard against its opposite. It was proper,
moreover, that the one of these extremes, and the best of the two, should be
styled the Son of God, on account of His pre-eminence; and the other, who is
diametrically opposite, be termed the son of the wicked demon, and of Satan,
and of the devil. And, in the next place, since evil is specially
characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it
simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and
marvels, and lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the
co-operation of its father the devil. For, far surpassing the help which
these demons give to jugglers (who deceive men for the basest of purposes),
is the aid which the devil himself affords in order to deceive the human
race. Paul, indeed, speaks of him who is called Antichrist, describing,
though with a certain reserve, [4263] both the manner, and time, and
cause of his coming to the human race. And notice whether his language on
this subject is not most becoming, and undeserving of being treated with
even the slightest degree of ridicule.
Chapter XLVI.
It is thus that the apostle expresses himself: "We beseech you, brethren, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by word, nor by
spirit, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I
told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be
revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he
who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall
that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him, whose
coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying
wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness." [4264] To explain each particular here
referred to does not belong to our present purpose. The prophecy also
regarding Antichrist is stated in the book of Daniel, and is fitted to make
an intelligent and candid reader admire the words as truly divine and
prophetic; for in them are mentioned the things relating to the coming
kingdom, beginning with the times of Daniel, and continuing to the
destruction of the world. And any one who chooses may read it. Observe,
however, whether the prophecy regarding Antichrist be not as follows: "And
at the latter time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full,
there shall arise a king, bold in countenance, and understanding riddles.
And his power shall be great, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and prosper,
and practise; and shall destroy mighty men, and the holy people. And the
yoke of his chain shall prosper: there is craft in his hand, and he shall
magnify himself in his heart, and by craft shall destroy many; and he shall
stand up for the destruction of many, and shall crush them as eggs in his
hand." [4265] What is stated by Paul in the words quoted from him, where
he says, "so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he
is God," [4266] is in Daniel referred to in the following fashion: "And
on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations, and at the end of the
time an end shall be put to the desolation." [4267] So many, out of a
greater number of passages, have I thought it right to adduce, that the
hearer may understand in some slight degree the meaning of holy Scripture,
when it gives us information concerning the devil and Antichrist; and being
satisfied with what we have quoted for this purpose, let us look at another
of the charges of Celsus, and reply to it as we best may.
Chapter XLVII.
Celsus, after what has been said, goes on as follows: "I can tell how the
very thing occurred, viz., that they should call him 'Son of God.' Men of
ancient times termed this world, as being born of God, both his child and
his son. [4268] Both the one and other 'Son of God, 'then, greatly
resembled each other." He is therefore of opinion that we employed the
expression "Son of God," having perverted [4269] what is said of the
world, as being born of God, and being His "Son," and "a God." For he was
unable so to consider the times of Moses and the prophets, as to see that
the Jewish prophets predicted generally that there was a "Son of God" long
before the Greeks and those men of ancient time of whom Celsus speaks. Nay,
he would not even quote the passage in the letters of Plato, to which we
referred in the preceding pages, concerning Him who so beautifully arranged
this world, as being the Son of God; lest he too should be compelled by
Plato, whom he often mentions with respect, to admit that the architect of
this world is the Son of God, and that His Father is the first God and
Sovereign Ruler over all things. [4270] Nor is it at all wonderful if we
maintain that the soul of Jesus is made one with so great a Son of God
through the highest union with Him, being no longer in a state of separation
from Him For the sacred language of holy Scripture knows of other things
also, which, although "dual" in their own nature, are considered to be, and
really are, "one" in respect to one another. It is said of husband and wife,
"They are no longer twain, but one flesh; " [4271] and of the perfect
man, and of him who is joined to the true Lord, Word, and Wisdom, and Truth,
that "he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." [4272] And if he who
"is joined to the Lord is one spirit," who has been joined to the Lord, the
Very Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and Righteousness, in a more intimate
union, or even in a manner at all approaching to it than the soul of Jesus?
And if this be so, then the soul of Jesus and God the Word'the first-born of
every creature'are no longer two, (but one).
Chapter XLVIII.
In the next place, when the philosophers of the Porch, who assert that the
virtue of God and man is the same, maintain that the God who is over all
things is not happier than their wise man, but that the happiness of both is
equal, Celsus neither ridicules nor scoffs at their opinion. If, however,
holy Scripture says that the perfect man is joined to and made one with the
Very Word by means of virtue, so that we infer that the soul of Jesus is not
separated from the first-born of all creation, he laughs at Jesus being
called "Son of God," not observing what is said of Him with a secret and
mystical signification in the holy Scriptures. But that we may win over to
the reception of our views those who are willing to accept the inferences
which flow from our doctrines, and to be benefited thereby, we say that the
holy Scriptures declare the body of Christ, animated by the Son of God, to
be the whole Church of God, and the members of this body'considered as a
whole'to consist of those who are believers; since, as a soul vivifies and
moves the body, which of itself has not the natural power of motion like a
living being, so the Word, arousing and moving the whole body, the Church,
to befitting action, awakens, moreover, each individual member belonging to
the Church, so that they do nothing apart from the Word. Since all this,
then, follows by a train of reasoning not to be depreciated, where is the
difficulty in maintaining that, as the soul of Jesus is joined in a perfect
and inconceivable manner with the very Word, so the person of Jesus,
generally speaking, [4273] is not separated from the only-begotten and
first-born of all creation, and is not a different being from Him? But
enough here on this subject.
Chapter XLIX.
Let us notice now what follows, where, expressing in a single word his
opinion regarding the Mosaic cosmogony, without offering, however, a single
argument in its support, he finds fault with it, saying: "Moreover, their
cosmogony is extremely silly." [4274] Now, if he had produced some
credible proofs of its silly character, we should have endeavoured to answer
them; but it does not appear to me reasonable that I should be called upon
to demonstrate, in answer to his mere assertion, that it is not "silly." If
any one, however, wishes to see the reasons which led us to accept the
Mosaic account, and the arguments by which it may be defended, he may read
what we have written upon Genesis, from the beginning of the book up to the
passage, "And this is the book of the generation of men," [4275] where we
have tried to show from the holy Scriptures themselves what the "heaven" was
which was created in the beginning; and what the "earth," and the "invisible
part of the earth," and that which was "without form; " [4276] and what
the "deep" was, and the "darkness" that was upon it; and what the "water"
was, and the "Spirit of God" which was "borne over it; "and what the
"light" which was created, and what the "firmament," as distinct from the
"heaven" which was created in the beginning; and so on with the other
subjects that follow. Celsus has also expressed his opinion that the
narrative of the creation of man is "exceedingly silly," without stating any
proofs, or endeavouring to answer our arguments; for he had no evidence, in
my judgment, which was fitted to overthrow the statement that "man has been
made in the image of God." [4277] He does not even understand the meaning
of the "Paradise" that was planted by God, and of the life which man first
led in it; and of that which resulted from accident, [4278] when man was
cast forth on account of his sin, and was settled opposite the Paradise of
delight. Now, as he asserts that these are silly statements, let him turn
his attention not merely to each one of them (in general), but to this in
particular, "He placed the cherubim, and the flaming sword, which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life," [4279] and say whether
Moses wrote these words with no serious object in view, but in the spirit of
the writers of the old Comedy, who have sportively related that "Proetus
slew Bellerophon," and that "Pegasus came from Arcadia." Now their object
was to create laughter in composing such stories; whereas it is incredible
that he who left behind him laws [4280] for a whole nation, regarding
which he wished to persuade his subjects that they were given by God, should
have written words so little to the purpose, [4281] and have said without
any meaning, "He placed the cherubim, and the flaming sword, which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life," or made any other statement
regarding the creation of man, which is the subject of philosophic
investigation by the Hebrew sages.
Chapter L.
In the next place, Celsus, after heaping together, simply as mere
assertions, the varying opinions of some of the ancients regarding the
world, and the origin of man, alleges that "Moses and the prophets, who have
left to us our books, not knowing at all what the nature of the world is,
and of man, have woven together a web of sheer nonsense." [4282] If he
had shown, now, how it appeared to him that the holy Scriptures contained
"sheer nonsense," we should have tried to demolish the arguments which
appeared to him to establish their nonsensical character; but on the present
occasion, following his own example, we also sportively give it as our
opinion that Celsus, knowing nothing at all about the nature of the meaning
and language of the prophets, [4283] composed a work which contained
"sheer nonsense," and boastfully gave it the title of a "true discourse."
And since he makes the statements about the "days of creation" ground of
accusation,'as if he understood them clearly and correctly, some of which
elapsed before the creation of light and heaven, and sun, and moon, and
stars, and some of them after the creation of these,'we shall only make this
observation, that Moses must then have forgotten that he had said a little
before, "that in six days the creation of the world had been finished," and
that in consequence of this act of forgetfulness he subjoins to these words
the following: "This is the book of the creation of man, in the day when God
made the heaven and the earth!" But it is not in the least credible, that
after what he had said respecting, the six days, Moses should immediately
add, without a special meaning, the words, "in the day that God made the
heavens and the earth; "and if any one thinks that these words may be
referred to the statement, "In the beginning God made the heaven and the
earth," let him observe that before the words, "Let there be light, and
there was light," and these, "God called the light day," it has been stated
that "in the beginning God made the heaven and the earth."
Chapter LI.
On the present occasion, however, it is not our object to enter into an
explanation of the subject of intelligent and sensible beings, [4284] nor
of the manner in which the different kinds [4285] of days were allotted
to both sorts, nor to investigate the details which belong to the subject,
for we should need whole treatises for the exposition of the Mosaic
cosmogony; and that work we had already performed, to the best of our
ability, a considerable time before the commencement of this answer to
Celsus, when we discussed with such measure of capacity as we then possessed
the question of the Mosaic cosmogony of the six days. We must keep in mind,
however, that the Word promises to the righteous through the mouth of
Isaiah, that days will come [4286] when not the sun, but the Lord
Himself, will be to them an everlasting light, and God will be their
glory. [4287] And it is from misunderstanding, I think, some pestilent
heresy which gave an erroneous interpretation to the words, "Let there be
light," as if they were the expression of a wish [4288] merely on the
part of the Creator, that Celsus made the remark: "The Creator did not
borrow light from above, like those persons who kindle their lamps at those
of their neighbours." Misunderstanding, moreover, another impious heresy, he
has said: "If, indeed, there did exist an accursed god opposed to the great
God, who did this contrary to his approval, why did he lend him the light?
"So far are we from offering a defence of such puerilities, that we desire,
on the contrary, distinctly to arraign the statements of these heretics as
erroneous, and to undertake to refute, not those of their opinions with
which we are unacquainted, as Celsus does, but those of which we have
attained an accurate knowledge, derived in part from the statements of their
own adherents, and partly from a careful perusal of their writings.
Chapter LII.
Celsus proceeds as follows: "With regard to the origin of the world and its
destruction, whether it is to be regarded as uncreated and indestructible,
or as created indeed, but not destructible, or the reverse, I at present say
nothing." For this reason we too say nothing on these points, as the work in
hand does not require it. Nor do we allege that the Spirit of the universal
God mingled itself in things here below as in things alien to itself,
[4289] as might appear from the expression, "The Spirit of God moved upon
the water; "nor do we assert that certain wicked devices directed against
His Spirit as if by a different creator from the great God, and which were
tolerated by the Supreme Divinity, needed to be completely frustrated. And,
accordingly, I have nothing further to say to those [4290] who utter such
absurdities; nor to Celsus, who does not refute them with ability. For he
ought either not to have mentioned such matters at all, or else, in keeping
with that character for philanthropy which he assumes, have carefully set
them forth, and then endeavoured to rebut these impious assertions. Nor have
we ever heard that the great God, after giving his spirit to the creator,
demands it back again. Proceeding next foolishly to assail these impious
assertions, he asks: "What god gives anything with the intention of
demanding it back? For it is the mark of a needy person to demand back (what
he has given), whereas God stands in need of nothing." To this he adds, as
if saying something clever against certain parties: "Why, when he lent (his
spirit), was he ignorant that he was lending it to an evil being? "He asks,
further: "Why does he pass without notice [4291] a wicked creator who was
counter-working his purposes? "
Chapter LIII.
In the next place, mixing up together various heresies, and not observing
that some statements are the utterances of one heretical sect, and others of
a different one, he brings forward the objections which we raised against
Marcion. [4292] And, probably, having heard them from some paltry and
ignorant individuals, [4293] he assails the very arguments which combat
them, but not in a way that Shows much intelligence. Quoting then our
arguments against Marcion, and not observing that it is against Marcion that
he is speaking, he asks: "Why does he send secretly, and destroy the works
which he has created? Why does he secretly employ force, and persuasion, and
deceit? Why does he allure those who, as ye assert, have been condemned or
accused by him, and carry them away like a slave-dealer? Why does he teach
them to steal away from their Lord? Why to flee from their father? Why does
he claim them for himself against the father's will? Why does he profess to
be the father of strange children? "To these questions he subjoins the
following remark, as if by way of expressing his surprise: [4294]
"Venerable, indeed, is the god who desires to be the father of those sinners
who are condemned by another (god), and of the needy, [4295] and, as
themselves say, of the very offscourings [4296] (of men), and who is
unable to capture and punish his messenger, who escaped from him!" After
this, as if addressing us who acknowledge that this world is not the work of
a different and strange god, he continues in the following strain: "If these
are his works, how is it that God created evil? And how is it that he cannot
persuade and admonish (men)? And how is it that he repents on account of the
ingratitude and wickedness of men? He finds fault, moreover, with his own
handwork, [4297] and hates, and threatens, and destroys his own
offspring? Whither can he transport them out of this world, which he himself
has made? "Now it does not appear to me that by these remarks he makes clear
what "evil" is; and although there have been among the Greeks many sects who
differ as to the nature of good and evil, he hastily concludes, as if it
were a consequence of our maintaining that this world also is a work of the
universal God, that in our judgment God is the author of evil. Let it be,
however, regarding evil as it may'whether created by God or not'it
nevertheless follows only as a result when you compare the principal
design. [4298] And I am greatly surprised if the inference regarding
God's authorship of evil, which he thinks follows from our maintaining that
this world also is the work of the universal God, does not follow too from
his own statements. For one might say to Celsus: "If these are His works,
how is it that God created evil? and how is it that He cannot persuade and
admonish men? "It is indeed the greatest error in reasoning to accuse those
who are of different opinions of holding unsound doctrines, when the accuser
himself is much more liable to the same charge with regard to his own.
Chapter LIV.
Let us see, then, briefly what holy Scripture has to say regarding good and
evil, and what answer we are to return to the questions, "How is it that God
created evil? "and, "How is He incapable of persuading and admonishing men?
"Now, according to holy Scripture, properly speaking, virtues and virtuous
actions are good, as, properly speaking, the reverse of these are evil. We
shall be satisfied with quoting on the present occasion some verses from the
Psalms 34, to the following effect: "They that seek the Lord shall not want
any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the
fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days,
that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking
guile. Depart from evil, and do good." [4299] Now, the injunctions to
"depart from evil, and to do good," do not refer either to corporeal evils
or corporeal blessings, as they are termed by some, nor to external things
at all, but to blessings and evils of a spiritual kind; since he who departs
from such evils, and performs such virtuous actions, will, as one who
desires the true life, come to the enjoyment of it; and as one loving to see
"good days," in which the word of righteousness will be the Sun, he will see
them, God taking him away from this "present evil world," [4300] and from
those evil days concerning which Paul said: "Redeeming the time, because the
days are evil." [4301]
Chapter LV.
Passages, indeed, might be found where corporeal and external (benefits) are
improperly [4302] called "good,"'those things, viz., which contribute to
the natural life, while those which do the reverse are termed "evil." It is
in this sense that Job says to his wife: "If we have received good at the
hand of the Lord, shall we not also receive evil!" [4303] Since, then,
there is found in the sacred Scriptures, in a certain passage, this
statement put into the mouth of God, "I make peace, and create evil; "
[4304] and again another, where it is said of Him that "evil came down from
the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem, the noise of chariots and horsemen,"
[4305] 'passages which have disturbed many readers of Scripture, who are
unable to see what Scripture means by "good" and "evil,"'it is probable that
Celsus, being perplexed thereby, gave utterance to the question, "How is it
that God created evil? "or, perhaps, having heard some one discussing the
matters relating to it in an ignorant manner, he made this statement which
we have noticed. We, on the other hand, maintain that "evil," or
"wickedness," and the actions which proceed from it, were not created by
God. For if God created that which is really evil, how was it possible that
the proclamation regarding (the last) judgment should be confidently
announced, [4306] which informs us that the wicked are to be punished for
their evil deeds in proportion to the amount of their wickedness, while
those who have lived a virtuous life, or performed virtuous actions, will be
in the enjoyment of blessedness, and will receive rewards from God? I am
well aware that those who would daringly assert that these evils were
created by God will quote certain expressions of Scripture (in their
support), because we are not able to show one consistent series [4307] of
passages; for although Scripture (generally) blames the wicked and approves
of the righteous, it nevertheless contains some statements which, although
comparatively [4308] few in number, seem to disturb the minds of ignorant
readers of holy Scripture. I have not,however, deemed it appropriate to my
present treatise to quote on the present occasion those discordant
statements, which are many in number, [4309] and their explanations,
which would require a long array of proofs. Evils, then, if those be meant
which are properly so called, were not created by God; but some, although
few in comparison with the order of the whole world, have resulted from His
principal works, as there follow from the chief works of the carpenter such
things as spiral shavings and sawdust, [4310] or as architects might
appear to be the cause of the rubbish [4311] which lies around their
buildings in the form of the filth which drops from the stones and the
plaster.
Chapter LVI.
If we speak, however, of what are called "corporeal" and "external"
evils,'which are improperly so termed,'then it may be granted that there are
occasions when some of these have been called into existence by God, in
order that by their means the conversion of certain individuals might be
effected. And what absurdity would follow from such a course? For as, if we
should hear those sufferings [4312] improperly termed "evils" which are
inflicted by fathers, and instructors, and pedagogues upon those who are
under their care, or upon patients who are operated upon or cauterized by
the surgeons in order to effect a cure, we were to say that a father was
ill-treating his son, or pedagogues and instructors their pupils, or
physicians their patients, no blame would be laid upon the operators or
chastisers; so, in the same way, if God is said to bring upon men such evils
for the conversion and cure of those who need this discipline, there would
be no absurdity in the view, nor would "evils come down from the Lord upon
the gates of Jerusalem," [4313] 'which evils consist of the punishments
inflicted upon the Israelites by their enemies with a view to their
conversion; nor would one visit "with a rod the transgressions of those who
forsake the law of the Lord, and their iniquities with stripes; " [4314]
nor could it be said, "Thou hast coals of fire to set upon them; they shall
be to thee a help." [4315] In the same way also we explain the
expressions, "I, who make peace, and create evil; " [4316] for He calls
into existence "corporeal" or "external" evils, while purifying and training
those who would not be disciplined by the word and sound doctrine. This,
then, is our answer to the question, "How is it that God created evil? "
Chapter LVII.
With respect to the question, "How is he incapable of persuading and
admonishing men? "it has been already stated that, if such an objection were
really a ground of charge, then the objection of Celsus might be brought
against those who accept the doctrine of providence. Any one might answer
the charge that God is incapable of admonishing men; for He conveys His
admonitions throughout the whole of Scripture, and by means of those persons
who, through God's gracious appointment, are the instructors of His hearers.
Unless, indeed, some peculiar meaning be understood to attach to the word
"admonish," as if it signified both to penetrate into the mind of the person
admonished, and to make him hear the words of his [4317] instructor,
which is contrary to the usual meaning of the word. To the objection, "How
is he incapable of persuading? "'which also might be brought against all who
believe in providence,'we have to make the following remarks. Since the
expression "to be persuaded" belongs to those words which are termed, so to
speak, "reciprocal" [4318] (compare the phrase "to shave a man," when he
makes an effort to submit himself to the barber [4319] , there is for
this reason needed not merely the effort of him who persuades, but also the
submission, so to speak, which is to be yielded to the persuader, or the
acceptance of what is said by him. And therefore it must not be said that it
is because God is incapable of persuading men that they are not persuaded,
but because they will not accept the faithful words of God. And if one were
to apply this expression to men who are the "artificers of persuasion,"
[4320] he would not be wrong; for it is possible for a man who has
thoroughly learned the principles of rhetoric, and who employs them
properly, to do his utmost to persuade, and yet appear to fail, because he
cannot overcome the will of him who ought to yield to his persuasive arts.
Moreover, that persuasion does not come from God, although persuasive words
may be uttered by him, is distinctly taught by Paul, when he says: "This
persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you." [4321] Such also is the
view indicated by these words: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat
the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, a sword shall devour
you." [4322] For that one may (really) desire what is addressed to him by
one who admonishes, and may become deserving of those promises of God which
he hears, it is necessary to secure the will of the hearer, and his
inclination to what is addressed to him. And therefore it appears to me,
that in the book of Deuteronomy the following words are uttered with
peculiar emphasis: "And now, O Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of
thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to walk in all His ways, and to love
Him, and to keep His commandments? " [4323]
Chapter LVIII.
There is next to be answered the following query: "And how is it that he
repents when men become ungrateful and wicked; and finds fault with his own
handwork, and hates, and threatens, and destroys his own offspring? "Now
Celsus here calumniates and falsities what is written in the book of Genesis
to the following effect: "And the Lord God, seeing that the wickedness of
men upon the earth was increasing, and that every one in his heart carefully
meditated to do evil continually, was grieved [4324] He had made man upon
the earth. And God meditated in His heart, and said, I will destroy man,
whom I have made, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and
creeping thing, and fowl of the air, because I am grieved [4325] that I
made them; " [4326] quoting words which are not written in Scripture, as
if they conveyed the meaning of what was actually written. For there is no
mention in these words of the repentance of God, nor of His blaming and
hating His own handwork. And if there is the appearance of God threatening
the catastrophe of the deluge, and thus destroying His own children in it,
we have to answer that, as the soul of man is immortal, the supposed
threatening has for its object the conversion of the hearers, while the
destruction of men by the flood is a purification of the earth, as certain
among the Greek philosophers of no mean repute have indicated by the
expression: "When the gods purify the earth." [4327] And with respect to
the transference to God of those anthropopathic phrases, some remarks have
been already made by us in the preceding pages.
Chapter LIX.
Celsus, in the next place, suspecting, or perhaps seeing clearly enough, the
answer which might be returned by those who defend the destruction of men by
the deluge, continues: "But if he does not destroy his own offspring,
whither does he convey them out of this world [4328] which he himself
created? "To this we reply, that God by no means removes out of the whole
world, consisting of heaven and earth, those who suffered death by the
deluge, but removes them from a life in the flesh, and, having set them free
from their bodies, liberates them at the same time from an existence upon
earth, which in many parts of Scripture it is usual to call the "world." In
the Gospel according to John especially, we may frequently find the regions
of earth [4329] termed "world," as in the passage, "He was the true
Light, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the 'world; '" [4330]
as also in this, "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world." [4331] If, then, we understand by
"removing out of the world" a transference from "regions on earth," there is
nothing absurd in the expression. If, on the contrary, the system of things
which consists of heaven and earth be termed "world," then those who
perished in the deluge are by no means removed out of the so-called
"world." And yet, indeed, if we have regard to the words, "Looking not at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; " [4332]
and also to these, "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,"
[4333] 'we might say that he who dwells amid the "invisible" things, and
what are called generally "things not seen,"is gone out of the world, the
Word having removed him hence, and transported him to the heavenly regions,
in order to behold all beautiful things.
Chapter LX.
But after this investigation of his assertions, as if his object were to
swell his book by many words, he repeats, in different language, the same
charges which we have examined a little ago, saying: "By far the most silly
thing is the distribution of the creation of the world over certain days,
before days existed: for, as the heaven was not yet created, nor the
foundation of the earth yet laid, [4334] nor the sun yet revolving,
[4335] how could there be days? "Now, what difference is there between these
words and the following: "Moreover, taking and looking at these things from
the beginning, would it not be absurd in the first and greatest God to issue
the command, Let this (first thing) come into existence, and this second
thing, and this (third); and after accomplishing so much on the first day,
to do so much more again on the second, and third, and fourth, and fifth,
and sixth? "We answered to the best of our ability this objection to God's
"commanding this first, second, and third thing to be created," when we
quoted the words, "He said, and it was done; He commanded, and all things
stood fast; " [4336] remarking that the immediate [4337] Creator, and,
as it were, very Maker [4338] of the world was the Word, the Son of God;
while the Father of the Word, by commanding His own Son'the Word'to create
the world, is primarily Creator. And with regard to the creation of the
light upon the first day, and of the firmament upon the second, and of the
gathering together of the waters that are under the heaven into their
several reservoirs [4339] on the third (the earth thus causing to sprout
forth those (fruits) which are under the control of nature alone [4340] ,
and of the (great) lights and stars upon the fourth, and of aquatic
[4341] animals upon the fifth, and of land animals and man upon the sixth,
we have treated to the best of our ability in our notes upon Genesis, as
well as in the foregoing pages, when we found fault with those who, taking
the words in their apparent signification, said that the time of six days
was occupied in the creation of the world, and quoted the words: "These are
the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in
the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." [4342]
Chapter LXI.
Again, not understanding the meaning of the words, "And God ended [4343]
on the sixth day His works which He had made, and ceased [4344] on the
seventh day from all His works which He had made: and God blessed the
seventh day, and hollowed it, because on it He had ceased [4345] from all
His works which He had begun to make; " [4346] and imagining the
expression," He ceased on the seventh day," to be the same as this, "He
rested [4347] on the seventh day," he makes the remark: "After this,
indeed, he is weary, like a very bad workman, who stands in need of rest to
refresh himself!" For he knows nothing of the day of the Sabbath and rest of
God, which follows the completion of the world's creation, and which lasts
during the duration of the world, and in which all those will keep festival
with God who have done all their works in their six days, and who, because
they have omitted none of their duties, [4348] will ascend to the
contemplation (of celestial things), and to the assembly of righteous and
blessed beings. In the next place, as if either the Scriptures made such a
statement, or as if we ourselves so spoke of God as having rested from
fatigue, he continues: "It is not in keeping with the fitness of things
[4349] that the first God should feel fatigue, or work with His hands,
[4350] or give forth commands." Celsus says, that" it is not in keeping with
the fitness of things that the first God should feel fatigue. Now we would
say that neither does God the Word feel fatigue, nor any of those beings who
belong to a better and diviner order of things, because the sensation of
fatigue is peculiar to those who are in the body. You can examine whether
this is true of those who possess a body of any kind, or of those who have
an earthly body, or one a little better than this. But "neither is it
consistent with the fitness of things that the first God should work with
His own hands." If you understand the words" work with His own hands"
literally, then neither are they applicable to the second God, nor to any
other being partaking of divinity. But suppose that they are spoken in an
improper and figurative sense, so that we may translate the following
expressions, "And the firmament showeth forth His handywork," [4351] and
"the heavens are the work of Thy hands," [4352] and any other similar
phrases, in a figurative manner, so far as respects the "hands" and
"limbs" of Deity, where is the absurdity in the words, "God thus working
with His own hands? "And as there is no absurdity in God thus working, so
neither is there in His issuing "commands; "so that what is done at His
bidding should be beautiful and praiseworthy, because it was God who
commanded it to be performed.
Chapter LXII.
Celsus, again, having perhaps misunderstood the words, "For the mouth of the
Lord hath spoken it," [4353] or perhaps because some ignorant individuals
had rashly ventured upon the explanation of such things, and not
understanding, moreover, on what principles parts called after the names of
the bodily members are assigned to the attributes [4354] of God, asserts:
"He has neither mouth nor voice." Truly, indeed, God can have no voice, if
the voice is a concussion of the air, or a stroke on the air, or a species
of air, or any other definition which may be given to the voice by those who
are skilled in such matters; but what is called the "voice of God" is said
to be seen as "God's voice" by the people in the passage; "And all the
people saw the voice of God; " [4355] the word "saw" being taken,
agreeably to the custom of Scripture, in a spiritual sense. Moreover, he
alleges that "God possesses nothing else of which we have any knowledge;
"but of what things we have knowledge he gives no indication. If he means
"limbs," we agree with him, understanding the things "of which we have
knowledge" to be those called corporeal, and pretty generally so termed. But
if we are to understand the words "of which we have knowledge" in a
universal sense, then there are many things of which we have knowledge, (and
which may be attributed to God); for He possesses virtue, and blessedness,
and divinity. If we, however, put a higher meaning upon the words, "of which
we have knowledge," since all that we know is less than God, there is no
absurdity in our also admitting that God possesses none of those things" of
which we have knowledge." For the attributes which belong to God are far
superior to all things with which not merely the nature of man is
acquainted, but even that of those who have risen far above it. And if he
had read the writings of the prophets, David on the one hand saying, "But
Thou art the same," [4356] and Malachi on the other, "I am (the Lord),
and change not," [4357] he would have observed that none of us assert
that there is any change in God, either in act or thought. For abiding the
same, He administers mutable things according to their nature, and His word
elects to undertake their administration.
Chapter LXIII.
Celsus, not observing the difference between "after the image of God" and
"God's image," next asserts that the "first-born of every creature" is the
image of God,'the very word and truth, and also the very wisdom, being the
image of His goodness, while man has been created after the image of God;
moreover, that every man whose head is Christ is the image and glory of
God;'and further, not observing to which of the characteristics of humanity
the expression "after the image of God" belongs, and that it consists in a
nature which never had nor longer has "the old man with his deeds," being
called "after the image of Him who created it," from its not possessing
these qualities,'he maintains: "Neither did He make man His image; for God
is not such an one, nor like any other species of (visible) being." Is it
possible to suppose that the element which is "after the image of God"
should exist in the inferior part'I mean the body'of a compound being like
man, because Celsus has explained that to be made after the image of God?
For if that which is "after the image of God" be in the body only, the
better part, the soul, has been deprived of that which is "after His
image," and this (distinction) exists in the corruptible body,'an assertion
which is made by none of us. But if that which is "after the image of God"
be in both together, then God must necessarily be a compound being, and
consist, as it were, of soul and body, in order that the element which is
"after God's image," the better part, may be in the soul; while the inferior
part, and that which "is according to the body," may be in the body,'an
assertion, again, which is made by none of us. It remains, therefore, that
that which is "after the image of God" must be understood to be in our
"inner man," which is also renewed, and whose nature it is to be "after the
image of Him who created it," when a man becomes "perfect," as "our Father
in heaven is perfect," and hears the command, "Be ye holy, for I the Lord
your God am holy," [4358] and learning the precept, "Be ye followers of
God," [4359] receives into his virtuous soul the traits of God's image.
The body, moreover, of him who possesses such a soul is a temple of God; and
in the soul God dwells, because it has been made after His image. [4360]
Chapter LXIV.
Celsus, again, brings together a number of statements, which he gives as
admissions on our part, but which no intelligent Christian would allow. For
not one of us asserts that "God partakes of form or colour." Nor does He
even partake of "motion," because He stands firm, and His nature is
permanent, and He invites the righteous man also to do the same, saying:
"But as for thee, stand thou here by Me." [4361] And if certain
expressions indicate a kind of motion, as it were, on His part, such as
this, "They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day," [4362] we must understand them in this way, that it is
by sinners that God is understood as moving, or as we understand the
"sleep" of God, which is taken in a figurative sense, or His "anger," or any
other similar attribute. But "God does not partake even of substance."
[4363] For He is partaken of (by others) rather than that Himself partakes
of them, and He is partaken of by those who have the Spirit of God. Our
Saviour, also, does not partake of righteousness; but being Himself
"righteousness," He is partaken of by the righteous. A discussion about
"substance" would be protracted and difficult, and especially if it were a
question whether that which is permanent and immaterial be "substance "
properly so called, so that it would be found that God is beyond"
substance," communicating of His "substance," by means of office and
power, [4364] to those to whom He communicates Himself by His Word, as He
does to the Word Himself; or even if He is "substance," yet He is said be in
His nature "invisible," in these words respecting our Saviour, who is said
to be "the image of the invisible God," [4365] while from the term
"invisible" it is indicated that He is "immaterial." It is also a question
for investigation, whether the "only-begotten" and "first-born of every
creature" is to be called "substance of substances," and "idea of ideas,"
and the "principle of all things," while above all there is His Father and
God. [4366]
Chapter LXV.
Celsus proceeds to say of God that "of Him are all things," abandoning (in
so speaking), I know not how, all his principles; [4367] while our Paul
declares, that "of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things,"
[4368] showing that He is the beginning of the substance of all things by
the words "of Him," and the bond of their subsistence by the expression
"through Him," and their final end by the terms "to Him." Of a truth, God is
of nothing. But when Celsus adds, that "He is not to be reached by word,"
[4369] I make a distinction, and say that if he means the word that is in
us'whether the word conceived in the mind, or the word that is uttered
[4370] 'I, too, admit that God is not to be reached by word. If, however, we
attend to the passage, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God," [4371] we are of opinion that God is to be
reached by this Word, and is comprehended not by Him only, but by any one
whatever to whom He may reveal the Father; and thus we shall prove the
falsity of the assertion of Celsus, when he says, "Neither is God to be
reached by word." The statement, moreover, that "He cannot be expressed by
name," requires to be taken with a distinction. If he means, indeed, that
there is no word or sign [4372] that can represent the attributes of God,
the statement is true, since there are many qualities which cannot be
indicated by words. Who, for example, could describe in words the difference
betwixt the quality of sweetness in a palm and that in a fig? And who could
distinguish and set forth in words the peculiar qualities of each individual
thing? It is no wonder, then, if in this way God cannot be described by
name. But if you take the phrase to mean that it is possible to represent by
words something of God's attributes, in order to lead the hearer by the
hand, [4373] as it were, and so enable him to comprehend something of
God, so far as attainable by human nature, then there is no absurdity in
saying that "He can be described by name." And we make a similar distinction
with regard to the expression, "for He has undergone no suffering that can
be conveyed by words." It is true that the Deity is beyond all suffering.
And so much on this point.
Chapter LXVI.
Let us look also at his next statement, in which he introduces, as it were,
a certain person, who, after hearing what has been said expresses himself in
the following manner, "How, then, shall I know God? and how shall I learn
the way that leads to Him? And how will you show Him to me? Because now,
indeed, you throw darkness before my eyes, and I see nothing distinctly." He
then answers, as it were, the individual who is thus perplexed, and thinks
that he assigns the reason why darkness has been poured upon the eyes of him
who uttered the foregoing words, when he asserts that "those whom one would
lead forth out of darkness into the brightness of light, being unable to
withstand its splendours, have their power of vision affected [4374] and
injured, and so imagine that they are smitten with blindness." In answer to
this, we would say that all those indeed sit in darkness, and are rooted in
it, who fix their gaze upon the evil handiwork of painters, and moulders and
sculptors, and who will not look upwards, and ascend in thought from all
visible and sensible things, to the Creator of all things, who is light;
while, on the other hand, every one is in light who has followed the
radiance of the Word, who has shown in consequence of what ignorance, and
impiety, and want of knowledge of divine things these objects were
worshipped instead of God, and who has conducted the soul of him who desires
to be saved towards the uncreated God, who is over all. For "the people that
sat in darkness'the Gentiles'saw a great light, and to them who sat in the
region and shadow of death light is sprung up," [4375] 'the God Jesus. No
Christian, then, would give Celsus, or any accuser of the divine Word, the
answer, "How shall I know God? "for each one of them knows God according to
his capacity. And no one asks, "How shall I learn the way which leads to
Him? "because he has heard Him who says, "I am the way, and the truth, and
the life," [4376] and has tasted, in the course of the journey, the
happiness which results from it. And not a single Christian would say to
Celsus, "How will you show me God? "
Chapter LXVII.
The remark, indeed, was true which Celsus made, that any one, on hearing his
words, would answer, seeing that his words are words of darkness, "You pour
darkness before my eyes." Celsus verily, and those like him, do desire to
pour darkness before our eyes: we, however, by means of the light of the
Word, disperse the darkness of their impious opinions. The Christian,
indeed, could retort on Celsus, who says nothing that is distinct or true,
"I see nothing that is distinct among all your statements." It is not,
therefore, "out of darkness" into "the brightness of light" that Celsus
leads us forth: he wishes, on the contrary, to transport us from light into
darkness, making the darkness light and the light darkness, and exposing
himself to the woe well described by the prophet Isaiah in the following
manner: "Woe unto them that put darkness for light, and light for
darkness." [4377] But we, the eyes of whose soul have been opened by the
Word, and who see the difference between light and darkness, prefer by all
means to take our stand "in the light," and will have nothing to do with
darkness at all. The true light, moreover, being endued with life, knows to
whom his full splendours are to be manifested, and to whom his light; for he
does not display his brilliancy on account of the still existing weakness in
the eyes of the recipient. And if we must speak at all of "sight being
affected and injured," what other eyes shall we say are in this condition,
than his who is involved in ignorance of God, and who is prevented by his
passions from seeing the truth? Christians, however, by no means consider
that they are blinded by the words of Celsus, or any other who is opposed to
the worship of God. But let those who perceive that they are blinded by
following multitudes who are in error, and tribes of those who keep
festivals to demons, draw near to the Word, who can bestow the gift of
sight, [4378] in order that, like those poor and blind who had thrown
themselves down by the wayside, and who were healed by Jesus because they
said to Him, "Son of David, have mercy upon me," they too may receive mercy
and recover their eyesight, [4379] fresh and beautiful, as the Word of
God can create it.
Chapter LXVIII.
Accordingly, if Celsus were to ask us how we think we know God, and how we
shall be saved by Him, we would answer that the Word of God, which entered
into those who seek Him, or who accept Him when He appears, is able to make
known and to reveal the Father, who was not seen (by any one) before the
appearance of the Word. And who else is able to save and conduct the soul of
man to the God of all things, save God the Word, who, "being in the
beginning with God," became flesh for the sake of those who had cleaved to
the flesh, and had become as flesh, that He might be received by those who
could not behold Him, inasmuch as He was the Word, and was with God, and was
God? And discoursing in human form, [4380] and announcing Himself as
flesh, He calls to Himself those who are flesh, that He may in the first
place cause them to be transformed according to the Word that was made
flesh, and afterwards may lead them upwards to behold Him as He was before
He became flesh; so that they, receiving the benefit, and ascending from
their great introduction to Him, which was according to the flesh, say,
"Even if we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we Him no
more." [4381] Therefore He became flesh, and having become flesh, "He
tabernacled among us," [4382] not dwelling without us; and after
tabernacling and dwelling within us, He did not continue in the form in
which He first presented Himself, but caused us to ascend to the lofty
mountain of His word, and showed us His own glorious form, and the splendour
of His garments; and not His own form alone, but that also of the spiritual
law, which is Moses, seen in glory along with Jesus. He showed to us,
moreover, all prophecy, which did not perish even after His incarnation, but
was received up into heaven, and whose symbol was Elijah. And he who beheld
these things could say, "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." [4383] Celsus,
then, has exhibited considerable ignorance in the imaginary answer to his
question which he puts into our mouth, "How we think we can know God? and
how we know we shall be saved by Him? "for our answer is what we have just
stated.
Chapter LXIX.
Celsus, however, asserts that the answer which we give is based upon a
probable conjecture, [4384] admitting that he describes our answer in the
following terms: "Since God is great and difficult to see, [4385] He put
His own Spirit into a body that resembled ours, and sent it down to us, that
we might be enabled to hear Him and become acquainted with Him." But the God
and Father of all things is not the only being that is great in our
judgment; for He has imparted (a share) of Himself and His greatness to His
Only-begotten and First-born of every creature, in order that He, being the
image of the invisible God, might preserve, even in His greatness, the image
of the Father. For it was not possible that there could exist a
well-proportioned, [4386] so to speak, and beautiful image of the
invisible God, which did not at the same time preserve the image of His
greatness. God, moreover, is in our judgment invisible, because He is not a
body, while He can be seen by those who see with the heart that is, the
understanding; not indeed with any kind of heart, but with one which is
pure. For it is inconsistent with the fitness of things that a polluted
heart should look upon God; for that must be itself pure which would
worthily behold that which is pure. Let it be granted, indeed, that God is
"difficult to see," yet He is not the only being who is so; for His
Only-begotten also is "difficult to see." For God the Word is "difficult to
see," and so also is His [4387] wisdom, by which God created all things.
For who is capable of seeing the wisdom which is displayed in each
individual part of the whole system of things, and by which God created
every individual thing? It was not, then, because God was "difficult to
see" that He sent God His Son to be an object "easy to be seen." [4388]
And because Celsus does not understand this, he has represented us as
saying, "Because God was 'difficult to see,' He put His own Spirit in a body
resembling ours, and sent it down to us, that we might be enabled to hear
Him and become acquainted with Him." Now, as we have stated, the Son also is
"difficult to see," because He is God the Word, through whom all things were
made, and who "tabernacled amongst us."
Chapter LXX.
If Celsus, indeed, had understood our teaching regarding the Spirit of God,
and had known that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the
sons of God," [4389] he would not have returned to himself the answer
which he represents as coming from us, that "God put His own Spirit into a
body, and sent it down to us; "for God is perpetually bestowing of His own
Spirit to those who are capable of receiving it, although it is not by way
of division and separation that He dwells in (the hearts of) the deserving.
Nor is the Spirit, in our opinion, a "body," any more than fire is a
"body," which God is said to be in the passage, "Our God is a consuming
fire." [4390] For all these are figurative expressions, employed to
denote the nature of "intelligent beings" by means of familiar and corporeal
terms. In the same way, too, if sins are called "wood, and straw, and
stubble," we shall not maintain that sins are corporeal; and if blessings
are termed "gold, and silver, and precious stones," [4391] we shall not
maintain that blessings are "corporeal; "so also, if God be said to be a
fire that consumes wood, and straw, and stubble, and all substance [4392]
of sin, we shall not understand Him to be a "body," so neither do we
understand Him to be a body if He should be called "fire." In this way, if
God be called "spirit," [4393] we do not mean that He is a "body." For it
is the custom of Scripture to give to "intelligent beings" the names of
"spirits" and "spiritual things," by way of distinction from those which are
the objects of "sense; "as when Paul says, "But our sufficiency is of God;
who hath also made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the
letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth
life," [4394] where by the "letter" he means that "exposition of
Scripture which is apparent to the senses," [4395] while by the
"spirit" that which is the object of the "understanding." It is the same,
too, with the expression, "God is a Spirit." And because the prescriptions
of the law were obeyed both by Samaritans and Jews in a corporeal and
literal [4396] manner, our Saviour said to the Samaritan woman, "The hour
is coming, when neither in Jerusalem, nor in this mountain, shall ye worship
the Father. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth." [4397] And by these words He taught men that God
must be worshipped not in the flesh, and with fleshly sacrifices, but in the
spirit. And He will be understood to be a Spirit in proportion as the
worship rendered to Him is rendered in spirit, and with understanding. It is
not, however, with images [4398] that we are to worship the Father, but
"in truth," which "came by Jesus Christ," after the giving of the law by
Moses. For when we turn to the Lord (and the Lord is a Spirit [4399] ),
He takes away the veil which lies upon the heart when Moses is read.
Chapter LXXI.
Celsus accordingly, as not understanding the doctrine relating to the Spirit
of God ("for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned" [4400] ), weaves together (such a web) as
pleases himself, [4401] imagining that we, in calling God a Spirit,
differ in no respect in this particular from the Stoics among the Greeks,
who maintain that "God is a Spirit, diffused through all things, and
containing all things within Himself." Now the superintendence and
providence of God does extend through all things, but not in the way that
spirit does, according to the Stoics. Providence indeed contains all things
that are its objects, and comprehends them all, but not as a containing body
includes its contents, because they also are "body," [4402] but as a
divine power does it comprehend what it contains. According to the
philosophers of the Porch, indeed, who assert that principles are
"corporeal," and who on that account make all things perishable, and who
venture even to make the God of all things capable of perishing, the very
Word of God, who descends even to the lowest of mankind, would be'did it not
appear to them to be too gross an incongruity [4403] 'nothing else than a
"corporeal" spirit; whereas, in our opinion,'who endeavour to demonstrate
that the rational soul is superior to all "corporeal" nature, and that it is
an invisible substance, and incorporeal,'God the Word, by whom all things
were made, who came, in order that all things might be made by the Word, not
to men only, but to what are deemed the very lowest of things, under the
dominion of nature alone, would be no body. The Stoics, then, may consign
all things to destruction by fire; we, however, know of no incorporeal
substance that is destructible by fire, nor (do we believe) that the soul of
man, or the substance of "angels," or of "thrones," or dominions," or
"principalities," or "powers," can be dissolved by fire.
Chapter LXXII.
It is therefore in vain that Celsus asserts, as one who knows not the nature
of the Spirit of God, that "as the Son of God, who existed in a human body,
is a Spirit, this very Son of God would not be immortal." He next becomes
confused in his statements, as if there were some of us who did not admit
that God is a Spirit, but maintain that only with regard to His Son, and he
thinks that he can answer us by saying that there "is no kind of spirit
which lasts for ever." This is much the same as if, when we term God a
"consuming fire," he were to say that there "is no kind of fire which lasts
for ever; "not observing the sense in which we say that our God is a fire,
and what the things are which He consumes, viz., sins, and wickedness. For
it becomes a God of goodness, after each individual has shown, by his
efforts, what kind of combatant he has been, to consume vice by the fire of
His chastisements. He proceeds, in the next place, to assume what we do not
maintain, that "God must necessarily have given up the ghost; "from which
also it follows that Jesus could not have risen again with His body. For God
would not have received back the spirit which He had surrendered after it
had been stained by contact with the body. It is foolish, however, for us to
answer statements as ours which were never made by us.
Chapter LXXIII.
He proceeds to repeat himself, and after saying a great deal which he had
said before, and ridiculing the birth of God from a virgin,'to which we have
already replied as we best could,'he adds the following: "If God had wished
to send down His Spirit from Himself, what need was there to breathe it into
the womb of a woman? For as one who knew already how to form men, He could
also have fashioned a body for this person, without casting His own Spirit
into so much pollution; [4404] and in this way He would not have been
received with incredulity, if He had derived His existence immediately from
above." He had made these remarks, because he knows not the pure and virgin
birth, unaccompanied by any corruption, of that body which was to minister
to the salvation of men. For, quoting the sayings of the Stoics, [4405]
and affecting not to know the doctrine about "things indifferent," he thinks
that the divine nature was cast amid pollution, and was stained either by
being in the body of a woman, until a body was formed around it, or by
assuming a body. And in this he acts like those who imagine that the sun's
rays are polluted by dung and by foul-smelling bodies, and do not remain
pure amid such things. If, however, according to the view of Celsus, the
body of Jesus had been fashioned without generation, those who beheld the
body would at once have believed that it had not been formed by generation;
and yet an object, when seen, does not at the same time indicate the nature
of that from which it has derived its origin. For example, suppose that
there were some honey (placed before one) which had not been manufactured by
bees, no one could tell from the taste or sight that it was not their
workmanship, because the honey which comes from bees does not make known its
origin by the senses, [4406] but experience alone can tell that it does
not proceed from them. In the same way, too, experience teaches that wine
comes from the vine, for taste does not enable us to distinguish (the wine)
which comes from the vine. In the same manner, therefore, the visible
[4407] body does not make known the manner of its existence. And you will be
induced to accept this view, [4408] by (regarding) the heavenly bodies,
whose existence and splendour we perceive as we gaze at them; and yet, I
presume, their appearance does not suggest to us whether they are created or
uncreated; and accordingly different opinions have existed on these points.
And yet those who say that they are created are not agreed as to the manner
of their creation, for their appearance does not suggest it, although the
force of reason [4409] may have discovered that they are created, and how
their creation was effected.
Chapter LXXIV.
After this he returns to the subject of Marcion's opinions (having already
spoken frequently of them), and states some of them correctly, while others
he has misunderstood; these, however, it is not necessary for us to answer
or refute. Again, after this he brings forward the various arguments that
may be urged on Marcion's behalf, and also against him, enumerating what the
opinions are which exonerate him from the charges, and what expose him to
them; and when he desires to support the statement which declares that Jesus
has been the subject of prophecy,'in order to found a charge against Marcion
and his followers,'he distinctly asks, "How could he, who was punished in
such a manner, be shown to be God's Son, unless these things had been
predicted of him? "He next proceeds to jest, and, as his custom is, to pour
ridicule upon the subject, introducing "two sons of God, one the son of the
Creator, [4410] and the other the son of Marcion's God; and he portrays
their single combats, saying that the Theomachies of the Fathers are like
the battles between quails; [4411] or that the Fathers, becoming useless
through age, and falling into their dotage [4412] do not meddle at all
with one another, but leave their sons to fight it out." The remark which he
made formerly we will turn against himself: "What old woman would not be
ashamed to lull a child to sleep with such stories as he has inserted in the
work which he entitles A True Discourse? For when he ought seriously
[4413] to apply himself to argument, he leaves serious argument aside, and
betakes himself to jesting and buffoonery, imagining that he is writing
mimes or scoffing verses; not observing that such a method of procedure
defeats his purpose, which is to make us abandon Christianity and give in
our adherence to his opinions, which, perhaps, had they been stated with
some degree of gravity, [4414] would have appeared more likely to
convince, whereas since he continues to ridicule, and scoff, and play the
buffoon, we answer that it is because he has no argument of weight [4415]
(for such he neither had, nor could understand) that he has betaken himself
to such drivelling." [4416]
Chapter LXXV.
To the preceding remarks he adds the following: "Since a divine Spirit
inhabited the body (of Jesus), it must certainly have been different from
that of other beings, in respect of grandeur, or beauty, or strength, or
voice, or impressiveness, [4417] or persuasiveness. For it is impossible
that He, to whom was imparted some divine quality beyond other beings,
should not differ from others; whereas this person did not differ in any
respect from another, but was, as they report, little, and ill-favoured, and
ignoble." [4418] Now it is evident by these words, that when Celsus
wishes to bring a charge against Jesus, he adduces the sacred writings, as
one who believed them to be writings apparently fitted to afford a handle
for a charge against Him; but wherever, in the same writings, statements
would appear to be made opposed to those charges which are adduced, he
pretends not even to know them! There are, indeed, admitted to be recorded
some statements respecting the body of Jesus having been "ill-favoured;
"not, however, "ignoble," as has been stated, nor is there any certain
evidence that he was "little." The language of Isaiah runs as follows, who
prophesied regarding Him that He would come and visit the multitude, not in
comeliness of form, nor in any surpassing beauty: "Lord, who hath believed
our report, and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? He made
announcement before Him, as a child, as a root in a thirsty ground. He has
no form nor glory, and we beheld Him, and He had no form nor beauty; but His
form was without honour, and inferior to that of the sons of men." [4419]
These passages, then, Celsus listened to, because he thought they were of
use to him in bringing a charge against Jesus; but he paid no attention to
the words of the Psalms 45, and why it is then said, "Gird Thy sword upon
Thy thigh, O most mighty, with Thy comeliness and beauty; and continue, and
prosper, and reign." [4420]
Chapter LXXVI.
Let it be supposed, however, that he had not read the prophecy, or that he
had read it, but had been drawn away by those who misinterpreted it as not
being spoken of Jesus Christ. What has he to say of the Gospel, in the
narratives of which Jesus ascended up into a high mountain, and was
transfigured before the disciples, and was seen in glory, when both Moses:
and Elias, "being seen in glory, spake of the decease which He was about to
accomplish at Jerusalem? " [4421] or when the prophet says, "We beheld
Him, and He had no form nor beauty," etc.? and Celsus accepts this prophecy
as referring to Jesus, being blinded in so accepting it, ! and not seeing
that it is a great proof that the Jesus who appeared to be "without form"
was the Son of God, that His very appearance should have been made the
subject of prophecy many years before His birth. But if another prophet
speak of His comeliness and beauty, he will no longer accept the prophecy as
referring to Christ And if it were to be clearly ascertained from the
Gospels that "He had no form nor beauty, but that His appearance was without
honour, and inferior to that of the sons of men," it might be said that it
was not with reference to the prophetic writings, but to the Gospels, that
Celsus made his remarks. But now, as neither the Gospels nor the apostolic
writings indicate that "He had no form nor beauty," it is evident that we
must accept the declaration of the prophets as true of Christ, and this will
prevent the charge against Jesus from being advanced. [4422]
Chapter LXXVII.
But again, how did he who said, "Since a divine Spirit inhabited the body
(of Jesus), it must certainly have been different from that of other beings
in respect of grandeur, or voice, or strength, or impressiveness, or
persuasiveness," not observe the changing relation of His body according to
the capacity of the spectators (and therefore its corresponding utility),
inasmuch as it appeared to each one of such a nature as it was requisite for
him to behold it? Moreover it is not a subject of wonder that the matter,
which is by nature susceptible of being altered and changed, and of being
transformed into anything which the Creator chooses, and is capable of
receiving all the qualities which the Artificer desires, should at one time
possess a quality, agreeably to which it is said, "He had no form nor
beauty," and at another, one so glorious, and majestic, and marvellous, that
the spectators of such surpassing loveliness'three disciples who had
ascended (the mount) with Jesus'should fall upon their faces. He will say,
however, that these are inventions, and in no respect different from myths,
as are also the other marvels related of Jesus; which objection we have
answered at greater length in what has gone before. But there is also
something mystical in this doctrine, which announces that the varying
appearances of Jesus are to be referred to the nature of the divine Word,
who does not show Himself in the same manner to the multitude as He does to
those who are capable of following Him to the high mountain which we have
mentioned; for to those who still remain below, and are not yet prepared to
ascend, the Word "has neither form nor beauty," because to such persons His
form is "without honour," and inferior to the words given forth by men,
which are figuratively termed "sons of men." For we might say that the words
of philosophers'who are "sons of men"'appear far more beautiful than the
Word of God, who is proclaimed to the multitude, and who also exhibits (what
is called) the "foolishness of preaching," and on account of this apparent
"foolishness of preaching" those who look at this alone say, "We saw Him;
but He had no form nor beauty." To those, indeed, Who have received power to
follow Him, in order that they may attend Him even when He ascends to the
"lofty mount," He has a diviner appearance, which they behold, if there
happens to be (among them) a Peter, who has received within himself the
edifice of the Church based upon the Word, and who has gained such a habit
(of goodness) that none of the gates of Hades will prevail against him,
having been exalted by the Word from the gates of death, that he may
"publish the praises of God in the gates of the daughter of Sion," and any
others who have derived their birth from impressive preaching, [4423] and
who are not at all inferior to "sons of thunder." But how can Celsus and the
enemies of the divine Word, and those who have not examined the doctrines of
Christianity in the spirit of truth, know the meaning of the different
appearances of Jesus? And I refer also to the different stages of His life,
and to any actions performed by Him before His sufferings, and after His
resurrection from the dead.
Chapter LXXVIII.
Celsus next makes certain observations of the following nature: "Again, if
God, like Jupiter in the comedy, should, on awaking from a lengthened
slumber, desire to rescue the human race from evil, why did He send this
Spirit of which you speak into one corner (of the earth)? He ought to have
breathed it alike into many bodies, and have sent them out into all the
world. Now the comic poet, to cause laughter in the theatre, wrote that
Jupiter, after awakening, despatched Mercury to the Athenians and
Lacedaemonians; but do not you think that you have made the Son of God more
ridiculous in sending Him to the Jews? "Observe in such language as this the
irreverent character of Celsus, who, unlike a philosopher, takes the writer
of a comedy, whose business is to cause laughter, and compares our God, the
Creator of all things, to the being who, as represented in the play, on
awaking, despatches Mercury (on an errand)! We stated, indeed, in what
precedes, that it was not as if awakening from a lengthened slumber that God
sent Jesus to the human race, who has now, for good reasons, fulfilled the
economy of His incarnation, but who has always conferred benefits upon the
human race. For no noble deed has ever been performed amongst men, where the
divine Word did not visit the souls of those who were capable, although for
a little time, of admitting such operations of the divine Word. Moreover,
the advent of Jesus apparently to one corner (of the earth) was founded on
good reasons, since it was necessary that He who was the subject of prophecy
should make His appearance among those who had become acquainted with the
doctrine of one God, and who perused the writings of His prophets, and who
had come to know the announcement of Christ, and that He should come to them
at a time when the Word was about to be diffused from one corner over the
whole world.
Chapter LXXIX.
And therefore there was no need that there should everywhere exist many
bodies, and many spirits like Jesus, in order that the whole world of men
might be enlightened by the Word of God. For the one Word was enough, having
arisen as the "Sun of righteousness," to send forth from Judea His coming
rays into the soul of all who were willing to receive Him. But if any one
desires to see many bodies filled with a divine Spirit, similar to the one
Christ, ministering to the salvation of men everywhere, let him take note of
those who teach the Gospel of Jesus in all lands in soundness of doctrine
and uprightness of life, and who are themselves termed "christs" by the holy
Scriptures, in the passage, "Touch not Mine anointed, [4424] and do not
My prophets any harm." [4425] For as we have heard that Antichrist
cometh, and yet have learned that there are many antichrists in the world,
in the same way, knowing that Christ has come, we see that, owing to Him,
there are many christs in the world, who, like Him, have loved righteousness
and hated iniquity, and therefore God, the God of Christ, anointed them also
with the "oil of gladness." But inasmuch as He loved righteousness and hated
iniquity above those who were His partners, [4426] He also obtained the
first-fruits of His anointing, and, if we must so term it, the entire
unction of the oil of gladness; while they who were His partners shared also
in His unction, in proportion to their individual capacity. Therefore, since
Christ is the Head of the Church, so that Christ and the Church form one
body, the ointment descended from the head to the beard of Aaron,'the
symbols of the perfect man,'and this ointment in its descent reached to the
very skirt of his garment. This is my answer to the irreverent language of
Celsus when he says, "He ought to have breathed (His Spirit) alike into many
bodies, and have sent it forth into all the world." The comic poet, indeed,
to cause laughter, has represented Jupiter asleep and awaking from slumber,
and despatching Mercury to the Greeks; but the Word, knowing that the nature
of God is unaffected by sleep, may teach us that God administers in due
season, and as right reason demands, the affairs of the world. It is not,
however, a matter of surprise that, owing to the greatness and
incomprehensibility [4427] of the divine judgments, ignorant persons
should make mistakes, and Celsus among them. There is therefore nothing
ridiculous in the Son of God having been sent to the Jews, amongst whom the
prophets had appeared, in order that, making a commencement among them in a
bodily shape, He might arise with might and power upon a world of souls,
which no longer desired to remain deserted by God.
Chapter LXXX.
After this, it seemed proper to Celsus to term the Chaldeans a most
divinely-inspired nation from the very earliest times, [4428] from whom
the delusive system of astrology [4429] has spread abroad among men. Nay,
he ranks the Magi also in the same category, from whom the art of magic
derived its name and has been transmitted to other nations, to the
corruption and destruction of those who employ it. In the preceding part of
this work, (we mentioned) that, in the opinion even of Celsus, the Egyptians
also were guilty of error, because they had indeed solemn enclosures around
what they considered their temples, while within them there was nothing save
apes, or crocodiles, or goats, or asps, or some other animal; but on the
present occasion it pleases him to speak of the Egyptian people too as most
divinely inspired, and that, too, from the earliest times,'perhaps because
they made war upon the Jews from an early date. The Persians, moreover, who
marry their own mothers, [4430] and have intercourse with their own
daughters, are, in the opinion of Celsus, an inspired race; nay, even. the
Indians are so, some of whom, in the preceding, he mentioned as eaters of
human flesh. To the Jews, however, especially those of ancient times, who
employ none of these practices, he did not merely refuse the name of
inspired, but declared that they would immediately perish. And this
prediction he uttered respecting them, as being doubtless endued with
prophetic power, not observing that the whole history of the Jews, and their
ancient and venerable polity, were administered by God; and that it is by
their fall that salvation has come to the Gentiles, and that "their fall is
the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the
Gentiles," [4431] until the fulness of the Gentiles come, that after that
the whole of Israel, whom Celsus does not know, may be saved.
Chapter LXXXI.
I do not understand, however, how he should say of God, that although
"knowing all things, He was not aware of this, that He was sending His Son
amongst wicked men, who were both to be guilty of sin, and to inflict
punishment upon Him." Certainly he appears, in the present instance, to have
forgotten that all the sufferings which Jesus was to undergo were foreseen
by the Spirit of God, and foretold by His prophets; from which it does not
follow that "God did not know that He was sending His Son amongst wicked and
sinful men, who were also to inflict punishment upon Him." He immediately
adds, however, that "our defence on this point is that all these things were
predicted." But as our sixth book has now attained sufficient dimensions, we
shall stop here, and begin, God willing, the argument of the seventh, in
which we shall consider the reasons which he thinks furnish an answer to our
statement, that everything regarding Jesus was foretold by the prophets; and
as these are numerous, and require to be answered at length, we wished
neither to cut the subject short, in consequence of the size of the present
book, nor, in order to avoid doing so, to swell this sixth book beyond its
proper proportions.
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