Against Celsus 3.78
Summary: Christianity attracts mainly simple people, not the wicked; moved by fear of punishment, they practice self-control, generosity, and even endure torture and death, which no wicked will could produce.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:269
Μετὰ ταῦτα τοσαῦθʼ ἡμᾶς αἰτιασάμενος θέλει ἐμφῆναι ὅτι καὶ ἕτερα ἔχων λέγειν παρασιωπᾷ αὐτά. ἔχει δʼ οὕτως αὐτοῦ ἡ λέξις· ταῦτα μὲν αἰτιῶμαι καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἵνα μὴ πάντʼ ἀπαριθμῶ, καί φημι πλημμελεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπηρεάζοντας εἰς τὸν θεὸν, ἵνα πονηροὺς ἀνθρώπους ὑπάγωνται κούφαις ἐλπίσι καὶ παραπείσωσι καταφρονῆσαι τῶν κρειττόνων, ὡς, ἐὰν ἀπέχωνται αὐτῶν, ἄμεινον αὐτοῖς ἔσται. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ λέγοιτʼ ἂν ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τῶν προσερχομένων χριστιανισμῷ ἐνεργείας ὅτι οὐ πάνυ τι πονηροὶ ὑπάγονται τῷ λόγῳ ὅσον οἱ ἁπλούστεροι καὶ (ὡς ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ ὀνομάσαιεν) ἄκομψοι. οὗτοι γὰρ φόβῳ τῷ περὶ τῶν κολάσεων τῶν ἀπαγγελλομένων. κινοῦντι αὐτοὺς καὶ προτρέποντι ἐπὶ τὸ ἀπέχεσθαι τούτων, διʼ ἃ αἱ κολάσεις. πειρῶνται ἐπιδιδόναι ἑαυτοὺς τῇ κατὰ χριστιανισμὸν θεοσεβείᾳ· ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου κρατούμενοι, ὡς φόβῳ τῶν κατὰ τὸν λόγον ὀνομαζομένων αἰωνίων κολάσεων πάσης τῆς παρʼ ἀνθρώποις κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐπινοουμένης βασάνου καὶ μετὰ μυρίων πόνων θανάτου καταφρονεῖν· ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἂν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων φήσαι πονηρῶν προαιρέσεων ἔργον εἶναι. πῶς δʼ ἀπὸ προαιρέσεως πονηρᾶς ἐγκράτεια καὶ σωφροσύνη ἀσκεῖται ἢ τὸ μεταδοτικὸν καὶ κοινωνικόν; ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον φόβος, ἐφʼ ὃν ὡς χρήσιμον τοῖς πολλοῖς παρακαλεῖ ὁ λόγος τοὺς μηδέπω δυναμένους τὸ διʼ αὑτὸ αἱρετὸν βλέπειν καὶ αἱρεῖσθαι αὐτὸ ὡς μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἐπαγγελίαν· ἐξ ὧν οὐ τοῦτο τῷ κατὰ πονηρίαν αἱρουμένῳ ζῆν ἐγγενέσθαι πέφυκεν.
English · Claude translation
After this, having brought so many charges against us, he wants to show that, though he could say other things, he passes over them in silence. His words run: “These things I blame, and others like them, not to list them all; and I say that they do wrong in insulting God so as to lead wicked men on with empty hopes and persuade them to despise better things, on the ground that if they keep away from them it will be better for them.” To this it might be said, from the actual effect on those who come to Christianity, that it is not so much the very wicked who are led by the teaching as the simpler and (as most people would call them) unsophisticated. For these, through fear of the punishments proclaimed, which moves them and urges them to abstain from the things that bring punishment, try to give themselves to the worship of God according to Christianity. And they are so held fast by the teaching that, through fear of what the teaching calls eternal punishments, they despise every torture devised against them among men, and death with countless pains; which no one in his right mind would say is the work of wicked choices. How can self-control and chastity, or generosity and sharing, be practiced from a wicked choice? Nor can the fear of the divine arise from wickedness: the teaching, as something useful to the many, urges this fear on those who are not yet able to see what is to be chosen for its own sake and to choose it as the greatest good, beyond every promise; and it is not natural for it to arise from such things in one who chooses to live in wickedness.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The last sentence is compressed in the Greek; the translation gives the likely sense.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 3.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/78/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 3.78 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/3/78/).
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