Against Celsus 8.25
Summary: Only the good are said to belong to God, like the men and angels of God; since all demons are wicked, they do not belong to God but to their ruler Beelzebul.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:241–242
Ἐπεὶ δέ φησιν ἐν τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος ὅτι καὶ οἱ δαίμονές εἰσι τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πιστευτέον ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς καὶ καλλιερητέον κατὰ νόμους καὶ προσευκτέον, ἵνʼ εὐμενεῖς ὦσι, διδακτέον καὶ περὶ τούτου τοὺς βουλομένους ὅτι ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος οὐδὲν τῶν φαύλων ἀναγορεύειν βούλεται κτῆμα θεοῦ τυγχάνειν, ἀνάξιον αὐτὸ κρίνων τηλικούτου κυρίου. διόπερ οὐ πάντες μὲν ἄνθρωποι χρηματίζουσιν ἄνθρωποι θεοῦ, μόνοι δὲ οἱ ἄξιοι τοῦ θεοῦ· ὁποῖος ἦν Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἠλίας, καὶ εἴ τις, ἄλλος ἀναγέγραπται „ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ“ ἢ παραπλήσιός ἐστι τοῖς ἀναγεγραμμένοις. οὕτως δὲ καὶ οὐ πάντες ἄγγελοι „ἄγγελοι“ λέγονται εἶναι „τοῦ θεοῦ“ ἀλλὰ μόνοι οἱ μακάριοι, οἱ δʼ ἐκτραπέντες ἐπὶ τὴν κακίαν ἄγγελοι τοῦ διαβόλου ὀνομάζονται, ὥσπερ οἱ φαῦλοι ἄνθρωποι ἄνθρωποι ἁμαρτίας ἢ υἱοὶ λοιμοὶ ἢ υἱοὶ ἀδικίας. ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ ἄνθρωποι οἱ μέν εἰσι σπουδαῖοι οἱ δὲ φαῦλοι, διὸ καὶ οἱ μὲν „τοῦ θεοῦ“ οἱ δὲ τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι λέγονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ „ἄγγελοι“ οἱ μὲν „τοῦ θεοῦ“ οἱ δὲ τοῦ πονηροῦ, δαίμονες δὲ οὐκέτι διχῶς, πάντες γὰρ ἀποδείκνυνται εἶναι φαῦλοι· διὰ τοῦτο φήσομεν ψευδῆ εἶναι τὸν Κέλσου λόγον εἰπόντος τό· εἰ δʼ εἰσί τινες δαίμονες. δηλονότι καὶ οὗτοι τοῦ θεοῦ· ἢ δεικνύτω ὁ βουλόμενος μὴ λόγον ὑγιῆ εἶναι τὴν περὶ ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀγγέλων διαίρεσιν, ἢ λόγον ἔχοντα παραπλήσιον δύνασθαι ἀποδείκνυσθαι καὶ ἐπὶ δαιμόνων. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτʼ ἀμήχανον, δῆλον ὅτι οὔτε τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσιν οἱ δαίμονες· οὐ γὰρ ἄρχων αὐτῶν ὁ θεὸς ἀλλʼ, ὥς φασιν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι, ὁ „Βεελζεβούλ“·
English · Claude translation
Since Celsus says in these words that the demons too belong to God, and therefore one must trust them, sacrifice to them according to the laws, and pray to them so that they may be favourable, we must teach those who wish to learn about this too that the Word of God will not declare anything wicked to be God's possession, judging it unworthy of so great a Lord. That is why not all men are called men of God, but only those worthy of God, such as Moses and Elijah, and any other recorded as a “man of God,” or who is like those recorded. So too not all angels are said to be “angels of God,” but only the blessed ones, while those who have turned aside to wickedness are named angels of the devil, just as wicked men are called men of sin, or sons of pestilence, or sons of injustice. Since, then, among men some are good and some wicked, and therefore some are said to be “of God” and others of the devil, and among “angels” some are “of God” and others of the evil one, but demons are not divided in two, since all of them are shown to be wicked, we shall therefore say that Celsus's statement is false when he says, “And if there are some demons, clearly these too belong to God.” Otherwise let whoever wishes show either that the division concerning men and angels is not sound, or that a similar division can be shown to hold for demons too. If this is impossible, it is clear that the demons do not belong to God; for their ruler is not God but, as the divine words say, “Beelzebul.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Deut 33:1 and 2 Kgs 1:9 (“man of God”), Matt 25:41 (angels of the devil), 2 Thess 2:3 (“man of sin”), 1 Sam 2:12 LXX (“sons of pestilence”), and Matt 12:24 (Beelzebul, ruler of the demons).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray punctuation in the digital text): τὸν Κέλσου· λόγον → τὸν Κέλσου λόγον.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 8.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/25/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 8.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/25/).
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