Against Celsus 6.38

Not content with what came from the diagram, the fine fellow wished, to increase his accusations against us, who have nothing in common with it, to add some other things in between, repeating what belongs to those people as though it were ours. For he says: A marvel of theirs, and not the least, is this: they explain certain things written between the upper circles above the heavens, among others two in particular, a greater and a smaller, of Son and Father. We found in this diagram the greater circle and the smaller, on whose diameter was written “Father and Son”; and between the greater, in which the smaller was, and another made up of two circles, the outer yellow and the inner blue, the barrier inscribed in the shape of an axe. Above it was a small circle joined to the greater of the first two, with “Love” written in it; and below, touching the circle, one with “Life” written in it. In the second circle, which was intertwined with and enclosed two other circles and another rhomboid figure, was written “Providence of Wisdom”; inside their common section, “Nature of Wisdom”; above their common section was a circle in which “Knowledge” was written, and below another in which “Understanding” was written. We have included these things too in our book against Celsus, to show readers that we know more clearly than he, and not from things half-heard, the things that we too condemn. If those who pride themselves on such things also profess some magical sorcery, and this is for them the sum of wisdom, we do not affirm it, for we have not found out any such thing. But Celsus, who has often been caught already in false witness and unreasonable accusations, would know whether he is lying here too, if he found such a thing about certain people who are strangers and aliens to the faith and set it out in his treatise.