Against Celsus 6.66
Summary: Celsus imagines a seeker blinded by the light of true teaching, but Origen replies that it is idol-worshippers who sit in darkness, while Christians, following Christ the way, already know God.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:136–137
Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς αὐτοῦ λέξιν, διʼ ἧς οἱονεὶ προσωποποιεῖταί τινα, μετὰ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι τούτων τοιαῦτα λέγοντα· πῶς οὖν γνῶ τὸν θεόν; καὶ πῶς τὴν ἐκεῖσε ὁδὸν μάθω; καὶ πῶς αὐτόν μοι δεικνύεις; ὡς νῦν γε σκότον μου τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προβάλλεις, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐναργὲς βλέπω. εἶτα πρὸς τὸν οὕτως ἐπαπορήσαντα οἱονεὶ ἀποκρίνεται, καί [φησι] τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ σκότον [εἶναι] τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν κατακεχύσθαι τοῦ εἰπόντος τὰ προειρημένα ἀποδιδόναι νομίζει φάσκων· οὓς ἄν τις εἰς λαμπρὸν φῶς ἐκ σκότους προαγάγῃ, τούτους μὴ δυναμένους ἀντέχειν ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς κολάζεσθαι τὴν ὄψιν καὶ βλάπτεσθαι καὶ νομίζειν πηροῦσθαι. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν καθῆσθαι μὲν ἐν σκότῳ καὶ ἱδρῦσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ πάντας τοὺς εἰς τὰς τῶν ζωγράφων καὶ πλαστῶν τῶν καὶ ἀνδριαντοποιῶν ἐνορῶντας κακοτεχνίας, μὴ βουλομένους δʼ ἀναβλέψαι καὶ ἀναβῆναι τῷ νῷ ἀπὸ ὁρατῶν καὶ πάντων αἰσθητῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ὅλων δημιουργὸν, ὅς ἐστι φῶς· ἐν φωτὶ δὲ τυγχάνειν πάντα τὸν ταῖς τοῦ λόγου αὐγαῖς ἀκολουθήσαντα, δείξαντος ἀφʼ ὅσης ἀγνοίας καὶ ἀσεβείας καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον ἀμαθίας ταῦτα ἀντὶ τοῦ θεοῦ προσεκυνεῖτο, καὶ χειραγωγήσαντος τὸν τοῦ βουλομένου σῴζεσθαι νοῦν πρὸς τὸν ἀγένητον καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεόν. „λαὸς“ γὰρ „ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκοτίᾳ“, ὁ τῶν ἐθνῶν, „φῶς εἶδε μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν, “ ὁ θεὸς Ἰησοῦς. οὐδεὶς οὖν Χριστιανὸς ἀποκρίνεται τῷ Κέλσῳ ἤ τινι τῶν κατηγορούντων τοῦ θείου λόγου φάσκων· πῶς γνῶ τὸν θεόν; ἕκαστος γὰρ αὐτῶν, ὡς ἐγχωρεῖ, ἔγνω τὸν θεόν. καὶ οὐδείς φησι· πῶς τὴν ἐκεῖσε ὁδὸν μάθω; ἅτε ἀκούσας τοῦ εἰπόντος· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ γευσάμενος ἐν τῷ ὁδεύειν τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁδεύειν ὠφελείας. καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν Χριστιανῶν λέγοι Κέλσῳ· πῶς μοι δεικνύεις τὸν θεόν;
English · Claude translation
Let us look also at his next passage, in which he as it were introduces someone who, after hearing these things, says: How, then, shall I know God? And how shall I learn the way there? And how do you show him to me? For now you cast darkness over my eyes, and I see nothing clearly. Then he, as it were, answers the one who raised this difficulty, and thinks he gives the reason why darkness has been poured over the eyes of the one who said this, saying: Those whom one leads out of darkness into bright light, being unable to withstand its brilliance, suffer in their sight, are harmed, and think they have been blinded. To this we shall say that all who look to the evil arts of painters, modellers, and sculptors sit in darkness and are settled in it, not wishing to look up and ascend with the mind from visible and all sensible things to the Creator of the universe, who is light; but that everyone who has followed the rays of the Word is in light, since the Word has shown from what ignorance, impiety, and lack of learning about the divine these things were worshipped instead of God, and has led by the hand the mind of the one who wishes to be saved to the uncreated God over all. For “the people who sat in darkness,” the people of the Gentiles, “saw a great light, and on those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has risen,” God Jesus. No Christian, then, answers Celsus or any of those who accuse the divine word by saying, “How shall I know God?” For each of them, as far as he can, has known God. And no one says, “How shall I learn the way there?” since he has heard the one who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” and has tasted, in travelling it, the benefit of travelling. And no Christian would say to Celsus, “How do you show God to me?”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The passages are Matt 4:16 (Isa 9:2) and John 14:6. Celsus's image of eyes dazzled by light recalls Plato's cave (Republic 515e–516a). The editor deletes φησι (“he says”) and εἶναι (“to be”) in the sentence introducing Celsus’s answer.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong case ending in the digital text): εἰς λαμπρὸς φῶς → εἰς λαμπρὸν φῶς.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 6.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/66/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 6.66 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/66/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text