Against Celsus 5.42
Summary: Against Celsus, Origen praises the ancient Jewish commonwealth: no games or prostitution, children taught to seek God beyond the material world and to believe in the soul's immortality and judgment, and prophecy instead of divination.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:45–46
Δῆλον δʼ ὅτι ἐν τούτοις ἐγκαλεῖ Ἰουδαίοις ὡς ψευδῶς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι ἐκλεκτὴν μερίδα παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ. καὶ ἀλαζονείας γοῦν αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖ ὡς αὐχούντων μὲν τὸν μέγαν θεὸν, οὐκ εἰδότων δʼ αὐτὸν ἀλλʼ ὑπαχθέντων τῇ Μωϋσέως γοητείᾳ καὶ ψευσθέντων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τέλει μαθητευθέντων αὐτῷ. ἀπὸ μέρους μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων λέλεκται τὰ τῆς σεμνῆς καὶ ἐξαιρέτου Ἰουδαίων πολιτείας, ἡνίκα αὐτοῖς συνειστήκει τὸ σύμβολον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς παρʼ αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἱερατικῆς λατρείας· εἰ δέ τις ἐπερείσας τὴν διάνοιαν τῷ τοῦ νομοθέτου βουλήματι καὶ τῇ κατʼ αὐτὸν πολιτείᾳ ἐξετάζων τὰ κατʼ αὐτοὺς συγκρίνοι τῇ νῦν ἀγωγῇ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν, οὐδένας μᾶλλον ἂν θαυμάσαι ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάντα μὲν τὰ μὴ χρήσιμα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων περιῃρημένους μόνα δὲ τὰ εὔχρηστα παραδεξαμένους. διὸ οὐδʼ ἀγῶνες ἦσαν γυμνικοὶ ἢ θυμελικοὶ ἢ ἱππικοὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ γυναῖκες πιπράσκουσαι τὴν ὥραν παντὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ σπείρειν κενῶς καὶ ἐνυβρίζειν τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σπερμάτων. ὁποῖον δʼ ἦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὸ ἐξ ἔτι ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων διδάσκεσθαι ὑπεραναβαίνειν μὲν πᾶσαν τὴν αἰσθητὴν φύσιν καὶ μηδαμοῦ αὐτῆς νομίζειν ἱδρῦσθαι τὸν θεὸν, ἄνω δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ σώματα ζητεῖν αὐτόν; πηλίκον δὲ τὸ σχεδὸν ἅμα γενέσει καὶ συμπληρώσει τοῦ λόγου διδάσκεσθαι αὐτοὺς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀθανασίαν καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ γῆν δικαιωτήρια καὶ τὰς τιμὰς τῶν καλῶς βεβιωκότων; ἅπερ ἔτι μυθικώτερον μὲν παισὶ καὶ τὰ παίδων φρονοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐκηρύσσετο, ἤδη δὲ ζητοῦσι τὸν λόγον καὶ βουλομένοις ἐν αὐτῷ προκόπτειν οἱ τέως μῦθοι, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω. μετεμορφοῦντο εἰς τὴν ἐναποκεκρυμμένην αὐτοῖς ἀλήθειαν. ἐγὼ δὲ νομίζω ἀξίως τοῦ χρηματίζειν αὐτοὺς μερίδα θεοῦ πάσης μὲν μαντείας ὡς μάτην κηλούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταπεφρονηκέναι, καὶ ἀπὸ δαιμόνων μοχθηρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπό τινος κρείττονος φύσεως ἐρχομένης. ζητεῖν δὲ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν ἐν ψυχαῖς. διʼ ἄκραν καθαρότητα παραδεξαμέναις πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ.
English · Claude translation
It is clear that here he accuses the Jews of falsely supposing themselves to be the chosen portion of the God over all in preference to all the nations. He accuses them of boasting, as though they boast of the great God, yet do not know him, but were led on by the sorcery of Moses and deceived by him, and were made his disciples for no good end. We have already spoken in part, in what went before, about the venerable and exceptional commonwealth of the Jews, when the symbol of the city of God, and of his temple, and of the priestly worship at it and at the altar, still stood among them. And if anyone, fixing his mind on the intent of the lawgiver and the commonwealth he established, were to examine their way of life and compare it with the present conduct of the other nations, he would admire none more, as far as human beings go, for having removed everything not useful to the human race and accepted only what is beneficial. That is why there were among them no athletic, theatrical, or horse-racing contests, nor women selling their bloom to anyone who wished to sow in vain and outrage the nature of human seed. And how great a thing it was among them to be taught from their tender years to rise above all perceptible nature, and never to think that God is set up anywhere in it, but to seek him above and beyond bodies! And how great to be taught, almost as soon as they were born and their reason was complete, the immortality of the soul, the courts of judgment beneath the earth, and the honours of those who have lived well! These things were proclaimed in a more mythical form to those who were still children and thought as children; but to those already seeking the meaning and wishing to advance in it, what had till then been myths, if I may call them that, were transformed into the truth hidden in them. And I think that, in a manner worthy of their being called God's portion, they despised all divination, as bewitching human beings in vain and coming from wicked demons rather than from some higher nature, and sought the knowledge of the future in souls that, through their utmost purity, had received the Spirit of the God over all.
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Origen, Cels. 5.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/42/).
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Origen, Cels. 5.42 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/42/).
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