Against Celsus 4.9
Summary: Christ came after the prophets to correct the whole world by teaching rather than punishment; the learned must prove the doctrine of the end and judgment, while simpler believers may trust the Savior's word.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:280
Ἦλθεν οὖν, κἂν μὴ βούληται Κέλσος, μετὰ πολλοὺς προφήτας ἐπανορθουμένους τὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκείνου ἐπανορθωτὴς ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου ὁ Χριστὸς, οὐ δεόμενος κατὰ τὴν προτέραν οἰκονομίαν τῆς κατʼ ἀνθρώπων χρήσεως μαστίγων καὶ δεσμῶν καὶ βασανιστηρίων· ἤρκει γὰρ ἡ διδασκαλία, ὅτε „ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπείρειν, “ ἵνα σπείρῃ τὸν λόγον πανταχοῦ. εἰ δʼ ἐπιστήσεταί τις χρόνος, περιγράφων τὸν κόσμον ἀναγκαίαν περιγραφὴν τῷ αὐτὸν ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκέναι, καὶ ἐπιστήσεταί τι τέλος τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ μετὰ τὸ τέλος δικαία περὶ πάντων κρίσις· δεήσει μὲν τὸν φιλοσοφοῦντα τὰ τοῦ λόγου κατασκευάζειν μετὰ παντοδαπῶν ἀποδείξεων, τῶν τε ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραμμάτων καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἀκολουθίας, δεήσει δὲ τὸν πολὺν καὶ ἁπλούστερον καὶ μὴ δυνάμενον παρακολουθεῖν τοῖς ποικιλωτάτοις τῆς σοφίας τοῦ θεοῦ θεωρήμασιν, ἐμπιστεύσαντα ἑαυτὸν θεῷ καὶ τῷ σωτῆρι τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν, τούτου μᾶλλον ἀρκεσθῆναι τῷ „αὐτὸς ἔφα“ ἢ ἄλλου οὑτινοσοῦν.
English · Claude translation
So, whether Celsus likes it or not, after many prophets who corrected the affairs of that Israel, Christ came as the corrector of the whole world, not needing, as under the former dispensation, to use whips, chains, and tortures against men; for the teaching sufficed, when “the sower went out to sow,” to sow the word everywhere. And if a time will come that sets a limit to the world, a limit necessary because it had a beginning, and if an end will come to the world and after the end a just judgment of all, then the one who studies philosophy must establish the doctrines of the word with demonstrations of every kind, both from the divine writings and from the consistency of reasoning; but the ordinary and simpler person, unable to follow the most intricate speculations of the wisdom of God, must entrust himself to God and to the Savior of our race and be content with “he himself said it” from him rather than from anyone else.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Matt 13:3. “He himself said it” (αὐτὸς ἔφα) was the Pythagoreans' formula for accepting their master's teaching.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/9/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/9/).
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