Against Celsus 3.77
Summary: Those truly blind are not Christians but those who fail to rise from the beauty of creation to worship its Creator alone, and who turn to temples, statues, and festivals.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:268–269
Μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐξομοιοῖ τὸν μὲν διδάσκοντα ὀφθαλμιῶντι τοὺς δὲ μανθάνοντας ὀφθαλμιῶσι καί φησι τοῦτον ἐπὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμιώντων αἰτιᾶσθαι τοὺς ὀξὺ βλέποντας ὡς πεπηρωμένους. τίνες οὖν † εἴποιμεν Ἕλληνες οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς οὐ βλέποντες ἢ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ τηλικούτου μεγέθους τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν δημιουργημάτων μὴ δυνάμενοι ἀναβλέψαι καὶ θεωρῆσαι ὅτι προσκυνεῖν καὶ θαυμάζειν καὶ σέβειν χρὴ μόνον τὸν ταῦτα πεποιηκότα, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις κατασκευαζομένων καὶ εἰς θεῶν τιμὴν παραλαμβανομένων καθηκόντως ἄν τις σέβοι. εἴτε χωρὶς τοῦ δημιουργοῦ θεοῦ εἴτε καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνου; τὰ γὰρ οὐδαμῶς συγκριτὰ συγκρίνειν τῷ ἀπείρῳ, ὑπεροχῇ ὑπερέχοντι πάσης γενητῆς φύσεως. τυφλῶν τὴν διάνοιάν ἐστιν ἔργον. οὐκ ὀφθαλμιῶντας οὖν τοὺς ὀξὺ βλέποντας λέγομεν εἶναι ἢ πεπηρωμένους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καλινδουμένους ἀγνοίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς νεὼς καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰς λεγομένας ἱερομηνίας φάσκομεν τετυφλῶσθαι τὸν νοῦν· καὶ μάλιστα ὅτε πρὸς τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ ἐν ἀσελγείᾳ ζῶσιν, ὅ τι ποτʼ ἐστὶν αἰδέσιμον ἔργον μηδὲ ζητοῦντες ἀλλὰ πάντʼ αἰσχύνης ἄξια πράττοντες.
English · Claude translation
After this he likens the teacher to a man with diseased eyes and the learners to people with diseased eyes, and says that among the diseased-eyed he accuses the sharp-sighted of being blind. Who then, Greeks, would we say are the ones who in our view do not see, if not those who cannot look up from the great magnitude of the things in the world and the beauty of the works of creation and perceive that one must worship, admire, and revere only the one who made them, and that none of the things made among men and taken up for the honor of gods can be fittingly revered, whether apart from God the Creator or together with him? For to compare things in no way comparable with the infinite, who surpasses all created nature with transcendent superiority, is the work of those blind in understanding. We do not, then, say that the sharp-sighted have diseased eyes or are blind, but we declare that those whose mind is blinded are the ones who, in ignorance of God, roll toward temples and statues and so-called holy days; and especially when, besides their impiety, they also live in licentiousness, not even seeking any honorable work, but doing everything worthy of shame.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The text is corrupt at the beginning (marked with a dagger in the edition); the translation gives the probable sense, “who then would we say are blind, if not…”.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 3.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/77/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 3.77 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/77/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text