Against Celsus 8.43
Summary: Since Jesus' death a whole new nation of Christians has arisen; like a grain of wheat his death bore much fruit, and the Father gave his Son willingly for the world, while the demons avenge themselves on Christians who expel them.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:257–258
Καινὸν οὖν γέγονεν, ἐξ οὗ πέπονθε χρόνου ὁ Ἰησοῦς, κἀκεῖνο, λέγω δὲ τὸ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ πᾶν τὸ κατὰ τὸ ἔθνος καὶ τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀθρόαν γένεσιν ἔθνους Χριστιανῶν ὡσπερεὶ τεχθέντος εἰσάπαξ· καινὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ τοὺς ξένους „τῶν διαθηκῶν“ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀλλοτρίους τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοὺς μακρὰν τῆς ἀληθείας δυνάμει τινὶ θείᾳ παραδέχεσθαι αὐτήν. ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου γόητος ἦν ἀλλʼ ἔργα θεοῦ, πέμψαντος τῶν αὑτοῦ ἀγγελμάτων ἕνεκα τὸν αὑτοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ λόγον, (οὕτως) ὠμῶς κολασθέντι, ὡς τὴν ὠμότητα κατηγορεῖσθαι τῶν ἀδίκως αὐτὸν κολασάντων, καὶ ἀνδρειότατα ὑπομείναντα καὶ μετὰ πάσης πρᾳότητος· οὐ διέφθειρε δὲ ἡ κόλασις αὐτοῦ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγγέλματα ἀλλʼ, εἰ δεῖ οὕτως ὀνομάσαι, εἰς γνῶσιν αὐτὰ ἤγαγεν· ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· „ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ, αὐτὸς μόνος μένει· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ, πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει.“ ἀποθανὼν οὖν „ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου“ Ἰησοῦς „πολὺν καρπὸν“ ἤνεγκε, καὶ ἀεὶ ὁ πατὴρ προνοεῖ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ κόκκου „τοῦ σίτου“ γεγενημένων καὶ γινομένων ἔτι καὶ ἐσομένων καρπῶν. ὅσιος οὖν πατὴρ ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πατὴρ, „τοῦ ἰδίου“ μὴ φεισάμενος „υἱοῦ“ „ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων“ παραδοὺς „αὐτὸν“ ἀμνὸν ὄντα ἑαυτοῦ. ἵνʼ ἄρῃ „τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου“ ὁ ὑπὲρ παντὸς αὐτοῦ ἀποθνῄσκων „ἀμνὸς θεοῦ“· διʼ ὃν οὐκ ἀναγκαζόμενος ἀλλʼ ἑκὼν ὑπέμεινε τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑβριστῶν αὐτῷ προσαγόμενα. εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος, ἐπαναλαμβάνων τὸν πρὸς τοὺς βλασφημοῦντας τὰ ἀγάλματα λόγον, φησίν· οἵδε δὲ, οὓς σὺ βλασφημεῖς, ἐνῆν μὲν εἰπεῖν ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ βούλονται (καὶ) διὰ τοῦτʼ ἀνέχονται βλασφημούμενοι· τὰ γὰρ ἴσα τοῖς ἴσοις παραβαλεῖν κράτιστον· ἀλλʼ οὗτοί γε καὶ σφόδρα ἀμύνονται τὸν βλασφημοῦντα, ἤτοι γε φεύγοντα διὰ τοῦτο καὶ κρυπτόμενον ἢ ἁλισκόμενον καὶ ἀπολλύμενον. οὐ βλασφημοῦντας οὖν ἀλλʼ ἀπελαύνοντας ἀπὸ τῶν ξοάνων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σωμάτων καὶ ψυχῶν Χριστιανοὺς ἀμύνεσθαι νομίζουσιν οἱ δαίμονες. μὴ νοῶν γὰρ τὸ γινόμενον ἀληθές τι κατὰ τὸν τόπον ὁ Κέλσος εἴρηκεν· ἀληθὲς γὰρ τὸ φαύλων δαιμόνων πληρουμένας τὰς τῶν καταδικαζόντων Χριστιανοὺς ψυχὰς καὶ τῶν προδιδόντων καὶ τῶν εὐδοκούντων Χριστιανοῖς προσπολεμεῖν.
English · Claude translation
Something new, then, has happened since the time Jesus suffered: that, I mean, which concerns the city and the whole nation, and the sudden birth of a nation of Christians, born as it were all at once; new too is that the strangers “to the covenants” of God and aliens from the promises, those far from the truth, have received it by a certain divine power. These were not the works of a sorcerer of a man but of God, who sent his Word in Jesus for the sake of his messages, the Word who was so cruelly punished that the cruelty condemns those who punished him unjustly, and who endured most bravely and with all gentleness. His punishment did not destroy God's messages but, if one may put it so, brought them to knowledge; as Jesus himself taught, saying, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” So Jesus, “the grain of wheat,” having died, bore “much fruit”; and the Father always cares for the fruits that have come, still come, and will come from the death of the grain “of wheat.” The Father of Jesus, then, is a holy father, who did not spare “his own Son,” “but gave him up for us all,” who was his own lamb, so that “the Lamb of God,” dying for the whole world, might take away “the sin of the world”; and for this cause he endured, not under compulsion but willingly, what those who outraged him inflicted. Then after this Celsus, returning to the argument about those who blaspheme the images, says: “But these whom you blaspheme, one could say that they too wish it and that is why they endure being blasphemed; for it is best to compare like with like. But these at least take severe vengeance on the blasphemer, who either flees and hides for this reason, or is caught and destroyed.” It is not Christians who blaspheme them, but Christians who drive them out of statues and human bodies and souls, on whom the demons think they are taking vengeance. For Celsus, not understanding what happens, has said something true here; for it is true that the souls of those who condemn Christians, and of those who betray them, and of those who delight in making war on Christians, are filled with wicked demons.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Eph 2:12, John 12:24, Rom 8:32, and John 1:29. “A nation … born all at once” echoes Isa 66:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing breathing and accent in the digital text; stray period in the digital text): μετὰ πάσης. πρᾳότητος → μετὰ πάσης πρᾳότητος; εἰ δεῖ ουτως → εἰ δεῖ οὕτως; βλασφημοῦντας ουν → βλασφημοῦντας οὖν.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 8.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/43/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 8.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/8/43/).
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