Against Celsus 1.60
Summary: At Christ's birth the angels' praise broke the power of the magi's demons; guided by Balaam's prophecy of the star, the magi came to worship a greater power, with gifts fit for a king, a mortal, and God.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:110–111
Πρὸς μὲν οὖν Ἕλληνας, ὅτι μάγοι δαίμοσιν ὁμιλοῦντες καὶ τούτους ἐφʼ ἃ μεμαθήκασι καὶ βούλονται καλοῦντες ποιοῦσι μὲν τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὅσον οὐδὲν θειότερον καὶ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν δαιμόνων καὶ τῆς καλούσης αὐτοὺς ἐπῳδῆς ἐπιφαίνεται ἢ λέγεται· ἐὰν δὲ θειοτέρα τις ἐπιφάνεια γένηται, καθαιροῦνται αἱ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνέργειαι, μὴ δυνάμεναι ἀντιβλέψαι τῷ τῆς θειότητος φωτί. εἰκὸς οὖν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γένεσιν, ἐπεὶ „πλῆθος στρατιᾶς οὐρανίου, “ ὡς ὁ Λουκᾶς ἀνέγραψε κἀγὼ πείθομαι, ᾔνεσε τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἔλεγε· „δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία, “ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ δαίμονες ἠτόνησαν καὶ ἐξησθένησαν, ἐλεγχθείσης αὐτῶν τῆς γοητείας καὶ καταλυθείσης τῆς ἐνεργείας, οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιδημησάντων τῷ περιγείῳ τόπῳ ἀγγέλων διὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ γένεσιν καθαιρεθέντες ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ θειότητος. οἱ τοίνυν μάγοι τὰ συνήθη πράττειν θέλοντες, ἅπερ πρότερον διά τινων ἐπῳδῶν καὶ μαγγανειῶν ἐποίουν, ἐζήτησαν τὴν αἰτίαν, μεγάλην αὐτὴν εἶναι τεκμαιρόμενοι, καὶ ἰδόντες θεοσημίαν ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐβούλοντο τὸ σημαινόμενον ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἰδεῖν. δοκεῖ μοι οὖν ὅτι ἔχοντες τοῦ Βαλαὰμ ἃς καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἀνέγραψε προφητείας, ὡς καὶ αὐτοῦ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα γενομένου δεινοῦ, καὶ εὑρόντες ἐκεῖ περὶ τοῦ ἄστρου καὶ τὸ „δείξω αὐτῷ. καὶ οὐχὶ νῦν· μακαρίζω, καὶ οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ“ ἐστοχάσαντο τὸν μετὰ τοῦ ἄστρου προφητευόμενον ἄνθρωπον ἐπιδεδημηκέναι τῷ βίῳ, καὶ ὡς πάντων δαιμόνων καὶ τῶν ἐν ἔθει αὐτοῖς φανταζομένων καὶ ἐνεργούντων κρείττονα προλαβόντες „προσκυνῆσαι“ ἠθέλησαν. ἧκον οὖν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ὅτι μὲν „βασιλεύς“ τις γεγέννηται πειθόμενοι ἢ ποῦ γεννηθήσεται γινώσκοντες, τίνα δὲ βασιλείαν βασιλεύσων οὐκ ἐπιστάμενοι· φέροντες μὲν „δῶρα“, (ἃ), ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, συνθέτῳ τινὶ ἐκ θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπου θνητοῦ „προσήνεγκαν“, σύμβολα μὲν ὡς βασιλεῖ τὸν „χρυσὸν“ ὡς δὲ τεθνηξομένῳ τὴν „σμύρναν“, ὡς δὲ θεῷ τὸν λιβανωτόν· „προσήνεγκαν“ δὲ μαθόντες τὸν τόπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ. ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ ὑπὲρ τοὺς βοηθοῦντας ἀνθρώποις ἀγγέλους ἐνυπάρχων σωτὴρ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἄγγελος ἠμείψατο τὴν τῶν μάγων ἐπὶ τὸ προσκυνῆσαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν εὐσέβειαν, χρηματίσας αὐτοῖς μὴ ἥκειν πρὸς τὸν Ἡρώδην ἀλλʼ ἐπανελθεῖν ἄλλῃ ὁδῷ εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα.
English · Claude translation
To the Greeks, then, we say that magi, having dealings with demons and summoning them for the purposes they have learned and wish, do such things so long as nothing more divine and more powerful than the demons and the incantation summoning them appears or is spoken; but if a more divine manifestation occurs, the activities of the demons are brought down, unable to face the light of divinity. It is likely, then, that at the birth of Jesus too, since "a multitude of the heavenly host," as Luke recorded and I believe, praised God and said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men," the demons for this reason lost their strength and were weakened, their sorcery refuted and their activity destroyed, being brought down not only by the angels who came to the region around the earth because of Jesus' birth but also by the soul of Jesus and the divinity in him. So the magi, wishing to do their usual things, which they formerly did by certain incantations and tricks, sought the cause, judging it to be great; and seeing a divine sign in heaven, they wished to see what it signified. It seems to me, then, that having the prophecies of Balaam, which Moses also recorded, since he too had been skilled in such matters, and finding there the passage about the star and the words "I will show him, but not now; I call him blessed, but he will not come near," they guessed that the man prophesied along with the star had come into life; and, anticipating that he was stronger than all the demons and than what usually appeared to them and worked for them, they wished "to worship" him. So they came to Judea, persuaded that some "king" had been born, and knowing where he would be born, but not understanding what kingdom he would rule. They brought "gifts," which they "offered" to one who was, so to speak, composite of God and mortal man: gold as symbols to a king, myrrh to one who would die, and frankincense to God; and they "offered" them after learning the place of his birth. But since the Savior of the human race was God, above the angels who help human beings, an angel repaid the magi's piety in worshiping Jesus by warning them not to go to Herod but to return to their own country by another way.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Luke 2:13–14 and Num 24:17 (LXX); the gifts and warning are Matt 2:2, 11–12. The symbolism of the three gifts (gold for a king, myrrh for one who would die, frankincense for God) is also found in Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.9.2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent): προφητεύομενον → προφητευόμενον.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 1.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/60/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 1.60 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/60/).
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