Against Celsus, preface 3
Summary: Origen writes his reply reluctantly, since no true believer should be shaken by Celsus; Paul's list of things that cannot separate us from God's love does not even include arguments.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:52–53
Τολμῶ μὲν οὖν καί φημι ὅτι ἣν ἀξιοῖς ποιήσασθαι ἡμᾶς ἀπολογίαν ὑπεκλύει τὴν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀπολογίαν καὶ τὴν ἐπιφανῆ τοῖς οὐκ ἀναισθήτοις δύναμιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. ὅμως δʼ ἵνα μὴ δοκῶμεν ὀκνεῖν πρὸς τὸ ἐπιταχθὲν ὑπὸ σοῦ, πεπειράμεθα ὑπαγορεῦσαι κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν δύναμιν πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ὑπὸ Κέλσου γεγραμμένων τὸ φανὲν ἡμῖν ἀνατρεπτικὸν τῶν πιστὸν οὐδένα δυναμένων σεῖσαι λόγων αὐτοῦ. καὶ μὴ εἴη γε εὑρεθῆναί τινα τοιαύτην ἀνειληφότα ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ „ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ“, ὡς ὑπὸ τῶν ῥημάτων Κέλσου ἤ τινος τῶν ὁμοίων σεισθῆναι τὴν προαίρεσιν αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ Παῦλος μυρία ὅσα καταλέγων τὰ εἰωθότα χωρίζειν „ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ“ καὶ „ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ“, ὧν πάντων κρείττων ἦν ἡ ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγάπη, λόγον οὐ κατέταξεν ἐν τοῖς χωρίζουσι. πρόσχες γὰρ ὅτι πρότερον μέν φησι· „τίς ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ; θλῖψις ἢ στενοχωρία ἢ διωγμὸς ἢ λιμὸς ἢ γυμνότης ἢ κίνδυνος ἢ μάχαιρα; καθάπερ γέγραπται ὅτι ἕνεκεν σοῦ θανατούμεθα πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς. ἀλλʼ ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικῶμεν διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς.“ δεύτερον δὲ ἄλλο τάγμα ἐκτιθέμενος τῶν πεφυκότων χωρίζειν τοὺς ἀνερματίστους ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ λέγει· „πέπεισμαι γὰρ ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος οὔτε ζωὴ, οὔτε ἄγγελοι οὔτε ἀρχαὶ, οὔτε ἐνεστῶτα οὔτε μέλλοντα, οὔτε δυνάμεις οὔτε ὕψωμα, οὔτε βάθος οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν.“
English · Claude translation
I venture, then, to say that the defense you ask me to make weakens the defense that lies in the facts and the power of Jesus that is evident to all who are not without perception. Nevertheless, so that I may not seem reluctant about the task you set me, I have tried, as far as my present ability allows, to dictate against each thing Celsus wrote what seemed to me to overturn his arguments, which cannot shake any believer. And may no one be found who has received such love of God "in Christ Jesus" that his resolve could be shaken by the words of Celsus or of anyone like him. Paul, listing countless things that usually separate people "from the love of Christ" and from "the love of God in Christ Jesus," all of which the love in him surpassed, did not rank argument among the things that separate. Notice that first he says: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written: For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." And second, setting out another class of things that by nature separate those who are unsteady in godliness, he says: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Rom 8:35–39, which itself quotes Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the quotation of Rom 8:38; stray period inside the sentence): ἀγάπη. λόγον → ἀγάπη, λόγον; ζωὴ. οὔτε → ζωὴ, οὔτε; μέλλοντα. οὔτε → μέλλοντα, οὔτε.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 0.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/3/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 0.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/3/).
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