Against Celsus, preface 4
Summary: The apostles are above all danger to faith; yet because some believers may be shaken by Celsus, Origen agrees to answer his book, which is no "true word" at all.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:53–54
Καὶ ἀληθῶς ἄξιον μὲν ἡμᾶς σεμνύνεσθαι ἐπὶ θλίψει μὴ χωριζούσῃ ἢ τοῖς ἑξῆς αὐτῇ κατειλεγμένοις, οὐχὶ δὲ Παῦλον καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους. καὶ εἴ τις ἐκείνοις γέγονε παραπλήσιος, διὰ τὸ πάνυ ὑπεράνω τῶν τοιούτων εἶναι λέγοντα τό· „ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικῶμεν διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς·“ ὅπερ μεῖζόν ἐστι τοῦ νικᾶν. εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ ἀποστόλους σεμνύνεσθαι μὴ χωριζομένους „ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν“, σεμνύνοιντο ἂν, „ὅτι οὔτε θάνατος οὔτε ζωὴ, οὔτε ἄγγελοι οὔτε ἀρχαὶ“ οὔτε τι τῶν ἑξῆς δύναται αὐτοὺς „χωρίσαι (ἀπὸ) τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν“. τοίνυν οὐ συνήδομαι τῷ πιστεύσαντι εἰς Χριστὸν, ὡς δύνασθαι σαλευθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὴν πίστιν ὑπὸ Κέλσου, τοῦ οὐδὲ κοινοτέραν ζωὴν ζῶντος ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἔτι ἀλλʼ ἤδη καὶ πάλαι νεκροῦ, ἤ τινος πιθανότητος λόγου. οὐκ οἶδα δʼ ἐν ποίῳ τάγματι λογίσασθαι χρὴ τὸν δεόμενον λόγων πρὸς τὰ Κέλσου κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐγκλήματα ἐν βίβλοις ἀναγραφομένων, ἀποκαθιστάντων αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν πίστιν σεισμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆναι ἐν αὐτῇ. ὅμως δʼ ἐπεὶ ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν πιστεύειν νομιζομένων εὑρεθεῖεν ἄν τινες τοιοῦτοι, ὡς σαλεύεσθαι μὲν καὶ ἀνατρέπεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν Κέλσου γραμμάτων θεραπεύεσθαι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὰ ἀπολογίας, ἐὰν ἔχῃ χαρακτῆρά τινα καθαιρετικὸν τῶν Κέλσου καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας παραστατικὸν τὰ λεγόμενα, ἐλογισάμεθα πεισθῆναί σου τῇ προστάξει καὶ ὑπαγορεῦσαι πρὸς ὃ ἔπεμψας ἡμῖν σύγγραμμα· ὅπερ οὐκ οἶμαί τινα τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ κἂν ἐπʼ ὀλίγον προκοψάντων συγκαταθέσθαι εἶναι λόγον ἀληθῆ, ὡς ἐπέγραψεν ὁ Κέλσος.
English · Claude translation
And truly it would be fitting for us to take pride in a tribulation that does not separate us, or in the things listed after it; but not so Paul and the apostles, and anyone who has become like them, because they are far above such things, saying: "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us," which is greater than conquering. And if apostles too must take pride in not being separated "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," they would take pride that "neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities," nor any of the things that follow, can "separate" them "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So I do not rejoice with a believer in Christ whose faith can be shaken by Celsus—who no longer even lives the common life among men but has long been dead—or by any plausibility of argument. I do not know in what class to reckon one who needs arguments against the charges Celsus writes in his books against Christians to restore him from wavering in faith to standing firm in it. Nevertheless, since among the mass of those reckoned believers some might be found who are shaken and overturned by Celsus's writings, but are healed by a defense against them, if what is said has a character that pulls down Celsus's views and establishes the truth, I decided to obey your command and to dictate an answer to the treatise you sent me. I do not think anyone who has made even a little progress in philosophy would agree that it is a "true word," as Celsus entitled it.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Rom 8:37–39. Celsus's work was entitled The True Word (Ἀληθὴς λόγος), probably written ca. 175–180; Origen plays on the title.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period inside the clause; stray period inside the sentence): σεμνύνεσθαι. μὴ → σεμνύνεσθαι μὴ; ἀναγραφομένων. ἀποκαθιστάντων → ἀναγραφομένων, ἀποκαθιστάντων.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 0.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/4/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 0.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/0/4/).
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