Against Celsus 3.41
Summary: Origen answers that the eternal Son is the Word himself, and that his human body and soul, united with him, were changed into something divine, just as philosophers say matter can take on new qualities.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:237
Ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐγκαλεῖ ἡμῖν, οὐκ οἶδʼ ἤδη ὁποσάκις, περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι ἐκ θνητοῦ σώματος ὄντα θεὸν νομίζομεν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὅσια δρᾶν δοκοῦμεν, περισσὸν μὲν τὸ ἔτι πρὸς τοῦτο λέγειν, πλείονα γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω λέλεκται· ὅμως δὲ ἴστωσαν οἱ ἐγκαλοῦντες ὅτι. ὃν μὲν νομίζομεν καὶ πεπείσμεθα ἀρχῆθεν εἶναι θεὸν καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ, οὗτος ὁ αὐτολόγος ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ αὐτοσοφία καὶ ἡ αὐτοαλήθεια· τὸ δὲ θνητὸν αὐτοῦ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐν αὐτῷ ψυχὴν τῇ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον οὐ μόνον κοινωνίᾳ ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑνώσει καὶ ἀνακράσει τὰ μέγιστά φαμεν προσειληφέναι καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου θειότητος κεκοινωνηκότα εἰς θεὸν μεταβεβληκέναι. ἐὰν δέ τις προσκόπτῃ καὶ περὶ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ταῦθʼ ἡμῶν λεγόντων, ἐπιστησάτω τοῖς ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων λεγομένοις περὶ τῆς τῷ ἰδίῳ λόγῳ ἀποίου ὕλης, ποιότητας ἀμφισκομένης, ὁποίας ὁ δημιουργὸς βούλεται αὐτῇ περιτιθέναι, καὶ πολλάκις τὰς μὲν προτέρας ἀποτιθεμένης κρείττονας δὲ καὶ διαφόρους ἀναλαμβανούσης. εἰ γὰρ ὑγιῆ τὰ τοιαῦτα. τί θαυμαστὸν τὴν ποιότητα τοῦ θνητοῦ κατὰ τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα προνοίᾳ θεοῦ βουληθέντος μεταβαλεῖν εἰς αἰθέριον καὶ θείαν ποιότητα;
English · Claude translation
Since he accuses us, I no longer know how many times, concerning Jesus, that we consider one who was of a mortal body to be God and think that in this we act piously, it is superfluous to say anything more in reply, for more has been said above. Nevertheless, let those who accuse us know this: the one whom we consider and are persuaded to be from the beginning God and Son of God is the very Word, the very Wisdom, and the very Truth; but his mortal body and the human soul in him, we say, received the greatest gifts not only by communion with him but also by union and blending, and, having shared in his divinity, were changed into God. And if anyone takes offense that we say these things also about his body, let him consider what the Greeks say about matter, which by its own nature is without qualities and is clothed with such qualities as the Creator wishes to put around it, and which often lays aside its former qualities and takes on better and different ones. For if such teachings are sound, what wonder is it that the quality of mortality in the body of Jesus, by the providence of God who so willed, should have been changed into an ethereal and divine quality?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “The very Word, the very Wisdom, and the very Truth” renders αὐτολόγος, αὐτοσοφία, αὐτοαλήθεια (Word, Wisdom, Truth in themselves). “Blending” renders ἀνάκρασις. The doctrine of quality-less matter is Stoic and Platonic.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 3.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/41/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 3.41 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/41/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text