Against Celsus 7.51
Summary: Celsus ignores the distinction between the spirit given to all and the fuller gift of the Holy Spirit; Christians, seeing with the soul's eyes, pray to guide the blind to the Word and be light to the world.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:201–202
Καὶ τί με δεῖ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἀντιπαρατιθέναι τῇ λέξει Κέλσου. ὡς πολλῷ πρότερον τούτων παρʼ ἡμῖν λελεγμένων, ὅτε καὶ ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων σαφές ἐστι τὸ βούλημα ἡμῶν; ἐν τούτοις δὲ καὶ οἱονεὶ τίθησιν, εἰπὼν πνεῦμα θεῖον κατιὸν ἐκ θεοῦ προαγγέλλειν τὰ θεῖα, τοῦτʼ ἂν εἴη τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ταῦτα κηρύττον. οὗ δὴ πλησθέντες ἄνδρες παλαιοὶ πολλὰ κἀγαθὰ ἤγγειλαν. οὐκ εἶδε δὲ διαφορὰν τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν ἠκριβωμένων. τοῖς λέγουσιν ὅτι καὶ „τὸ ἄφθαρτόν σου πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἐν πᾶσι. διὸ τοὺς παραπίπτοντας κατʼ ὀλίγον“ ἐλέγχει ὁ θεὸς, φάσκουσι δὲ ἄλλα καὶ τὸ „λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον“ τὴν ποσότητα τοῦ διδομένου ἑτέραν ἐμφαίνειν παρὰ τὴν δηλουμένην ἐκ τοῦ „βαπτισθήσεσθε ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ οὐ μετὰ πολλὰς ταύτας ἡμέρας.“ ἔργον δέ ἐστι ταῦτʼ ἐπιμελῶς νοήσαντα ἰδεῖν διαφορὰν τῶν ἐκ διαλειμμάτων πλειόνων χωρησάντων τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας κατάληψιν (καὶ) βραχεῖαν ἐπίνοιαν θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ πλεῖον θεοφορηθέντων καὶ ἀεὶ μετὰ θεοῦ ἑστηκότων καὶ διὰ παντὸς ὑπὸ θείου πνεύματος ἀγομένων· ὅπερ εἰ ἦν ἐξετασθὲν καὶ νενοημένον Κέλσῳ, οὐκ (ἂν) ἀμαθίαν ἡμῖν ἐνεκάλει οὐδὲ προσέταττε μὴ λέγειν τυφλώττειν τοὺς ἐν ὑλικαῖς τέχναις ἀνθρώπων, ταῖς κατὰ τὰ ἀγάλματα, οἰομένους ἐνδείκνυσθαι τὴν εὐσέβειαν. οὐδεὶς γὰρ βλέπων τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ σέβει τὸ θεῖον παρὰ τὸν ὑποδεικνύντα ἐνορᾶν ἀεὶ τῷ τοῦ παντὸς δημιουργῷ καὶ πᾶσαν εὐχὴν ἀναφέρειν ἐκείνῳ καὶ πάντα πράττειν ὡς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς θεοῦ, ἐπὶ θεατοῦ, ἐνορῶντος ἡμῶν καὶ τοῖς λογισμοῖς. εὐχόμεθα οὖν ἡμεῖς καὶ βλέπειν καὶ ὁδηγοὶ εἶναι τυφλῶν, ἕως προσελθόντες τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπολάβωσι τὰς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγνοίας τυφλωθείσας ὄψεις τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ποιῶμεν ἄξια τοῦ εἰπόντος τοῖς μαθηταῖς· „ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου“ καὶ τοῦ διδάξαντος λόγου ὅτι „τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, “ ἐσόμεθα καὶ „φῶς“ τῶν ἐν σκότει καὶ παιδεύσομεν τοὺς ἄφρονας καὶ διδάξομεν τοὺς νηπίους.
English · Claude translation
And why need I set more passages against the words of Celsus, to show that these things were said among us long before, when our meaning is clear from what has been said? In these words he also makes a kind of supposition, saying that if a divine spirit coming down from God foretells divine things, “this would be the spirit that proclaims these things, filled with which men of old announced many good things.” But he did not see the distinction drawn precisely among us by those who say that “your incorruptible spirit is in all things; therefore” God convicts “little by little those who fall away,” and who say also that “Receive the Holy Spirit” indicates a different measure of what is given from that shown by “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” It is a task, after careful reflection on these things, to see the difference between those who at long intervals have received an apprehension of the truth and some brief notion of God, and those who have been more fully inspired by God, who stand always with God, and who are continually led by the divine Spirit. If Celsus had examined and understood this, he would not have charged us with ignorance, nor ordered us not to say that those are blind who think they show their piety in the material crafts of men, those that make images. For no one who sees with the eyes of the soul worships the divine in any other way than as the one who teaches us always to look to the Creator of the universe, to send up every prayer to him, and to do everything as in the eyes of God, as before a spectator who looks even into our thoughts. We pray, then, both to see and to be guides of the blind, until by coming to the Word of God they recover the sight of their souls, blinded by ignorance. And if we act worthily of him who said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world,” and of the Word who taught that “the light shines in the darkness,” we shall be “a light” to those in darkness, and shall instruct the foolish and teach the young.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Wis 12:1–2, John 20:22, Acts 1:5, Matt 5:14, John 1:5, and Rom 2:19–20.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 7.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/51/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 7.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/51/).
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