Against Celsus 1.43
Summary: A Jew who believes the visions of Ezekiel and Isaiah cannot reject the dove at Jesus' baptism; Jesus' power, still at work in the churches, makes him more credible than the prophets.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:93–94
Φήσομεν οὖν πρῶτον ὅτι, εἰ μὲν ὁ ἀπιστῶν τῷ περὶ τοῦ εἴδους τῆς περιστερᾶς φάσματι τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἀνεγέγραπτο Ἐπικούρειος εἶναι ἢ Δημοκρίτειος ἢ Περιπατητικὸς, χώραν ἂν εἶχεν ἀκόλουθον τῷ προσωποποιουμένῳ τὸ λεγόμενον· νυνὶ δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦθʼ ὁ σοφώτατος Κέλσος ἑώρακεν, ὅτι Ἰουδαίῳ, πλείονα πιστεύοντι καὶ παραδοξότερα ἐκ τῶν προφητικῶν γραφῶν τῆς περὶ τοῦ εἴδους τῆς περιστερᾶς ἱστορίας, τὸν τοιοῦτον περιέθηκε λόγον. εἴποι γὰρ ἄν τις τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ, περὶ τοῦ φάσματος ἀπιστοῦντι καὶ οἰομένῳ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ ὡς πλάσματος· σὺ δὲ πόθεν, ὦ οὗτος, ἀποδεῖξαι ἂν ἔχοις ὅτι εἶπε κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἢ τῇ Εὔᾳ ἢ τῷ Κάϊν ἢ τῷ Νῶε ἢ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἢ τῷ Ἰσαὰκ ἢ τῷ Ἰακὼβ τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι τοῖς ἀνδράσι τούτοις; ἵνα δὲ τῇ ἱστορίᾳ ταύτῃ ἱστορίαν παραβάλω, εἴποιμʼ ἂν πρὸς τὸν Ἰουδαῖον· καὶ ὁ σὸς Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἀνέγραψε λέγων· „ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ εἶδον ὅρασιν θεοῦ, “ ἥντινα διηγησάμενος ἐπιφέρει αὐτῇ· „αὕτη ἡ ὅρασις ὁμοιώματος δόξης κυρίου· καὶ εἶπε πρός με.“ εἰ γὰρ ψευδῆ τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένα, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἔχομεν, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνεις, ἐναργῶς παραστῆσαι, πῶς ταῦτά ἐστιν ἀληθῆ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μόνου ἑωραμένα ἢ ἀκουσθέντα καὶ, ὡς ἔδοξας τετηρηκέναι, καὶ ὑπὸ ἑνὸς τῶν κολασθέντων· τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸν Ἰεζεκιὴλ φήσομεν τερατευόμενον εἰρηκέναι τὸ „ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ὁ Ἡσαΐας φάσκῃ· „εἶδον τὸν κύριον Σαβαὼθ καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου· καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ εἱστήκεισαν κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ, ἓξ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ ἓξ πτέρυγες τῷ ἑνὶ“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, πόθεν, ὅτι ἀληθῶς ἑώρακε; πεπίστευκας γὰρ, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, τούτοις ὡς ἀψευδέσι καὶ ὑπὸ θειοτέρου πνεύματος οὐ μόνον ἑωραμένοις τῷ προφήτῃ ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰρημένοις καὶ ἀναγεγραμμένοις. τίνι δὲ καὶ πιστεύειν μᾶλλον ἄξιον, φάσκοντι ἀνεῷχθαι αὐτῷ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ φωνῆς ἀκηκοέναι ἢ ἑωρακέναι „τὸν κύριον Σαβαὼθ καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, “ Ἡσαΐᾳ καὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἢ τῷ Ἰησοῦ; ἐκείνων μὲν γὰρ ἔργον οὐδὲν τηλικοῦτον εὑρίσκεται· τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ τὸ ἀνδραγάθημα οὐ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐνσωματώσεως μόνους γέγονε χρόνους. ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο ἡ Ἰησοῦ δύναμίς ἐστιν ἐνεργοῦσα τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ τὴν βελτίωσιν ἐν τοῖς πιστεύουσι διʼ αὐτοῦ τῷ θεῷ. ἐναργὲς δὲ δεῖγμα τοῦ δυνάμει αὐτοῦ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι τὸ, ὡς αὐτός φησι καὶ καταλαμβάνεται, μὴ ὄντων ἐργατῶν τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὸν θερισμὸν τῶν ψυχῶν, τοσοῦτον εἶναι θερισμὸν συγκομιζομένων καὶ συναγομένων εἰς τὰς πανταχοῦ ἅλωνας τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐκκλησίας.
English · Claude translation
We will say first, then, that if the one who disbelieves the apparition of the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove had been described as an Epicurean, a Democritean, or a Peripatetic, what is said would have been consistent with the character portrayed. But as it is, not even this did the most wise Celsus see: that he attached such an argument to a Jew, who believes things more numerous and more extraordinary, from the prophetic writings, than the story about the form of the dove. For one might say to the Jew who disbelieves the apparition and thinks he can accuse it as a fiction: How, sir, could you prove that the Lord God said to Adam, or Eve, or Cain, or Noah, or Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob what he is recorded to have said to these men? And to set story beside story, I might say to the Jew: Your Ezekiel too wrote, saying: "The heavens were opened, and I saw a vision of God"; and after describing it he adds: "This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord; and he spoke to me." If what is recorded of Jesus is false because, as you suppose, we cannot clearly prove how these things are true that were seen or heard by him alone and, as you thought you had noticed, by one of those who were punished, why shall we not rather say that Ezekiel too was telling marvels when he said, "The heavens were opened," and so on? And if Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the Seraphim stood around him, six wings to the one and six wings to the other," and so on, how do you know he truly saw it? For you have believed these things, O Jew, as free from falsehood, and as not only seen by the prophet by a more divine spirit but also spoken and written down. Whom is it more worthy to believe when he says that the heavens were opened to him and that he heard a voice, or saw "the Lord Sabaoth sitting on a high and lofty throne"—Isaiah and Ezekiel, or Jesus? For no work of theirs so great is found; but the noble achievement of Jesus did not happen only in the time of his embodiment; even to this day the power of Jesus is working conversion and improvement in those who believe in God through him. A clear proof that these things happen by his power is that, as he himself says and as is evident, though there are not workers to work the harvest of souls, there is so great a harvest being gathered and brought together into the threshing floors of God everywhere, the churches.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ezek 1:1, 1:28–2:1, and Isa 6:1–2; the harvest alludes to Matt 9:37–38.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing breathing and accent): ηντινα → ἥντινα.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 1.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/43/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 1.43 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/43/).
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