Against Celsus 2.67
Summary: Origen argues that Jesus spared his judges and persecutors by not appearing to them, as the men of Sodom were struck blind, and that he came both to be known and to remain partly hidden.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:188–189
Ἀπελογησάμεθα οὖν κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν τοιούτῳ συγγράμματι πρὸς τὸ ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ ὄντως ἐκφῆναι θείαν δύναμιν ἤθελεν, αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἐπηρεάσασι καὶ τῷ καταδικάσαντι καὶ ὅλως πᾶσιν ὀφθῆναι. οὐκ ἐχρῆν οὖν τῷ καταδικάσαντι αὐτὸν ὀφθῆναι οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐπηρεάσασιν. ἐφείδετο γὰρ καὶ τοῦ καταδικάσαντος καὶ τῶν ἐπηρεασάντων ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ἵνα μὴ παταχθῶσιν „ἀορασίᾳ, “ ὁποίᾳ οἱ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐπατάχθησαν, ἡνίκα ἐπεβούλευον τῇ ὥρᾳ τῶν ξενισθέντων παρὰ τῷ Λὼτ ἀγγέλων. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ δηλοῦται διὰ τούτων· „ἐκτείναντες δὲ οἱ ἄνδρες τὰς χεῖρας ἐσπάσαντο τὸν Λὼτ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὸν οἶκον, καὶ τὴν θύραν ἀπέκλεισαν· τοὺς δὲ ἄνδρας τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ οἴκου ἐπάταξαν ἀορασίᾳ ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου· καὶ παρελύθησαν ζητοῦντες τὴν θύραν.“ ἐκφῆναι οὖν ἐβούλετο τὴν δύναμιν ἑαυτοῦ ὁ Ἰησοῦς θείαν οὖσαν ἑκάστῳ τῶν δυναμένων αὐτὴν ἰδεῖν, καὶ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον ἰδεῖν ἃ ἐχώρει. καὶ οὐ δή που διʼ ἄλλο ἐφυλάξατο ὀφθῆναι ἢ διὰ τὰς δυνάμεις τῶν μὴ χωρούντων αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν. καὶ μάτην παρελήφθη τῷ Κέλσῳ τὸ οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἔτι ἐφοβεῖτό τινα ἀνθρώπων ἀποθανὼν καὶ, ὥς φατε, θεὸς ὢν, οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τοῦτʼ ἐπέμφθη τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἵνα λάθῃ. ἐπέμφθη γὰρ οὐ μόνον. ἵνα γνωσθῇ, ἀλλʼ ἵνα καὶ λάθῃ, οὐ γὰρ πᾶν, ὃ ἦν, καὶ οἷς ἐγινώσκετο ἐγινώσκετο. ἀλλά τι αὐτοῦ ἐλάνθανεν αὐτούς· τισὶ δʼ οὐδʼ ὅλως ἐγινώσκετο. καὶ ἀνέῳξε δὲ „φωτὸς“ πύλας τοῖς γενομένοις μὲν „σκότους“ καὶ „νυκτὸς“ υἱοῖς, ἐπιδεδωκόσι δὲ ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι υἱοὺς „ἡμέρας“ καὶ „φωτός.“ καὶ ἦλθε σωτὴρ ὁ κύριος ἡμῖν μᾶλλον ὡς ἰατρὸς ἀγαθὸς τοῖς ἁμαρτιῶν μεστοῖς ἢ τοῖς δικαίοις.
English · Claude translation
We have made our defense, as best we could in such a work, against the claim that “if he really wished to show divine power, he ought to have appeared to those who insulted him, to the one who condemned him, and in short to everyone.” He ought not, then, to have appeared to the one who condemned him or to those who insulted him. For Jesus was sparing both the one who condemned him and those who insulted him, so that they might not be struck with “blindness,” as the people in Sodom were struck when they plotted against the beauty of the angels who were guests with Lot. This is shown by these words: “But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door; and they struck the men at the door of the house with blindness, from small to great, and they wore themselves out looking for the door.” Jesus, then, wished to show his power, which was divine, to each of those able to see it, and according to the measure of what each could receive. And surely he avoided being seen for no other reason than the capacities of those unable to see him. And Celsus brought in to no purpose: “For he no longer feared any man, having died and being, as you say, a god; nor was he sent in the first place to be hidden.” He was sent not only to be known but also to be hidden; for not all that he was was known even to those by whom he was known, but something of him escaped them; and to some he was not known at all. And he opened the gates “of light” to those who had become sons “of darkness” and “of night,” but had given themselves to becoming sons “of the day” and “of light.” And the Lord came as Savior to us rather as a good physician to those full of sins than to the righteous.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Gen 19:10–11. “Sons of light … of the day” echoes 1 Thess 5:5; the physician saying echoes Matt 9:12–13.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 2.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/67/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.67 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/67/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text