Against Celsus 2.9
Summary: Christians do not call Jesus' visible body or human soul God, but the divine Word who spoke in him, who created all things at the Father's command and is not confined to Jesus' body, though united with it.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:135–137
Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος· πῶς δʼ ἐμέλλομεν τοῦτον νομίζειν θεὸν, ὃς τά τε ἄλλα, ὥσπερ ἐπηκούετο, οὐδὲν ὧν ἐπηγγέλλετο ἐπεδείκνυτο, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἡμεῖς ἐλέγξαντες αὐτὸν καὶ καταγνόντες ἠξιοῦμεν κολάζεσθαι, κρυπτόμενος μὲν καὶ διαδιδράσκων ἐπονειδιστότατα ἑάλω, ὑπʼ αὐτῶν δὲ ὧν ὠνόμαζε μαθητῶν προὐδόθη; καίτοι θεὸν, φησίν, ὄντα οὔτε φεύγειν ἐνῆν οὔτε δεθέντα ἀπάγεσθαι. ἥκιστα δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν συνόντων αὐτῷ καὶ παντὸς ἰδίᾳ κεκοινωνηκότων καὶ διδασκάλῳ χρωμένων σωτῆρα νομιζόμενον καὶ θεοῦ τοῦ μεγίστου παῖδα καὶ ἄγγελον ἐγκαταλείπεσθαί τε καὶ ἐκδίδοσθαι. πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ φήσομεν ὅτι οὐδʼ ἡμεῖς ὑπολαμβάνομεν τὸ βλεπόμενον τότε καὶ αἰσθητὸν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα εἶναι θεόν. καὶ τί λέγω τὸ σῶμα; ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν ψυχὴν, περὶ ἧς λέλεκται τό· „περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου.“ ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ κατὰ μὲν τὸν Ἰουδαίων λόγον ὁ λέγων· „ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς πάσης σαρκὸς“ καὶ τό· „ἔμπροσθέν μου οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος θεὸς, καὶ μετʼ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔσται“ ὁ θεὸς εἶναι πεπίστευται, ὀργάνῳ τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τῷ σώματι τοῦ προφήτου χρώμενος, κατὰ δὲ Ἕλληνας ὁ λέγων· οἶδα δʼ ἐγὼ ψάμμου τʼ ἀριθμὸν καὶ μέτρα θαλάσσης. καὶ κωφοῦ ξυνίημι, καὶ οὐ λαλέοντος ἀκούω θεὸς νενόμισται διὰ τῆς Πυθίας λέγων καὶ ἀκουόμενος· οὕτω καθʼ ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος θεὸς καὶ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων υἱὸς ἔλεγεν ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα“ καὶ τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβὰς.“ καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τούτοις παραπλήσιον. ἐγκαλοῦμεν οὖν Ἰουδαίοις τοῦτον μὴ νομίσασι θεὸν, ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν πολλαχοῦ μεμαρτυρημένον ὡς μεγάλην ὄντα δύναμιν καὶ θεὸν κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν καὶ πατέρα. τούτῳ γάρ φαμεν ἐν τῇ κατὰ Μωϋσέα κοσμοποιΐᾳ προστάττοντα τὸν πατέρα εἰρηκέναι τό· „γενηθήτω φῶς“ καὶ „γενηθήτω στερέωμα“ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ, ὅσα προσέταξεν ὁ θεὸς γενέσθαι, καὶ τούτῳ εἰρηκέναι τό· „ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν“· προσταχθέντα δὲ τὸν λόγον πεποιηκέναι πάντα, ὅσα ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῷ ἐνετείλατο. καὶ ταῦτα λέγομεν οὐκ αὐτοὶ ἐπιβάλλοντες ἀλλὰ ταῖς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις φερομέναις προφητείαις πιστεύοντες· ἐν αἷς λέγεται περὶ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν δημιουργημάτων αὐταῖς λέξεσι τὰ οὕτως ἔχοντα· „ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε καὶ ἐγενήθησαν, αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν.“ εἰ γὰρ ἐνετείλατο ὁ θεὸς, καὶ ἐκτίσθη τὰ δημιουργήματα, τίς ἂν κατὰ τὸ ἀρέσκον τῷ προφητικῷ πνεύματι εἴη ὁ τὴν τηλικαύτην τοῦ πατρὸς ἐντολὴν ἐκπληρῶσαι δυνηθεὶς ἢ ὁ, ἵνʼ οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ἔμψυχος λόγος καὶ „ἀλήθεια“ τυγχάνων; ὅτι δὲ τὸν ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντα τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ οὐδὲ τὰ εὐαγγέλια οἶδε περιγεγραμμένον τινὰ γεγονέναι, ὡς οὐδαμοῦ ἔξω τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τυγχάνοντα, δῆλον μὲν καὶ ἀπὸ πολλῶν καὶ ἐξ ὀλίγων δὲ ὧν παραθησόμεθα οὕτως ἐχόντων. ὁ βαπτιστὴς Ἰωάννης προφητεύων ὅσον οὐδέπω ἐνστήσεσθαι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐκ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ τυγχάνοντα ἀλλὰ γὰρ φθάνοντα πανταχοῦ, λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· „μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε, ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος.“ εἴπερ οὖν ἐνόει ἐκεῖ μόνον εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅπου τὸ βλεπόμενον ἦν σῶμα Ἰησοῦ, πῶς ἔφασκεν ἂν τό· „μέσος ὑμῶν στήκει, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε“; καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπαίρων τὸ φρόνημα τῶν μαθητευόντων αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ μείζονα φρονεῖν περὶ υἱοῦ θεοῦ φησιν· „ὅπου δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.“ τοιαύτη δʼ αὐτοῦ ἐστι καὶ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐπαγγελία λέγοντος· „καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος.“ ταῦτα δέ φαμεν οὐ χωρίζοντες τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· ἓν γὰρ μάλιστα μετὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν γεγένηται πρὸς τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα Ἰησοῦ. εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν Παύλου διδασκαλίαν λέγοντος· „ὁ κολλώμενος τῷ κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστι“ πᾶς ὁ νοήσας, τί τὸ κολλᾶσθαι τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ κολληθεὶς αὐτῷ ἕν ἐστι πνεῦμα πρὸς τὸν κύριον, πῶς οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον θειοτέρως καὶ μειζόνως ἕν ἐστι τό ποτε σύνθετον πρὸς τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ; οὗτος δὴ ἐπεδείξατο ἐν Ἰουδαίοις „θεοῦ δύναμις“ ὢν τὸ τοιοῦτον διʼ ὧν παραδόξων ἐποίησεν, ὑπονοηθέντων ὑπὸ μὲν Κέλσου γοητείᾳ γεγονέναι ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν τότε Ἰουδαίων, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόθεν τὰ περὶ Βεελζεβοὺλ μεμαθηκότων, „ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ, ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων, “ ἐκβάλλειν „τὰ δαιμόνια.“ οὓς ἤλεγξεν ἀτοπώτατα λέγοντας ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἐκεῖ τῷ μηδέπω τέλος ἔχειν τὴν τῆς κακίας βασιλείαν· ὅπερ ἔσται δῆλον τοῖς φρονίμως ἐντυγχάνουσι τῇ εὐαγγελικῇ γραφῇ, ἣν οὐ καιρὸς νῦν διηγήσασθαι.
English · Claude translation
After this the Jew says: "How were we to think this man a god, who in other respects too, as was commonly heard, showed nothing of what he professed, and when we had convicted and condemned him and judged him worthy of punishment, was caught hiding and running away most disgracefully, and was betrayed by those very people whom he called disciples? Yet," he says, "if he was a god, it was not possible for him to flee, nor to be bound and led away; least of all for one thought to be a savior and the son of the greatest God and his messenger to be deserted and handed over by those who were with him, shared everything with him privately, and had him as their teacher." To this we will say that we too do not suppose that the body of Jesus, then seen and perceptible, was God. And why do I say the body? Not even the soul, about which it is said, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death." But just as, according to the Jewish account, the one who says, "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh," and "Before me there was no other god, and after me there will be none," is believed to be God, using the soul and body of the prophet as an instrument; and, according to the Greeks, the one who says, "I know the number of the sand and the measures of the sea, and I understand the dumb and hear the one who does not speak," is thought to be a god speaking and heard through the Pythia; so in our view the Word, God and Son of the God of all, said in Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life," and "I am the door," and "I am the living bread that came down from heaven," and anything else similar. We blame the Jews, then, for not thinking him God, who is attested in many places by the prophets as being a great power and God next to the God and Father of all. For we say that it was to him that the Father gave the command, in the account of creation according to Moses, saying, "Let there be light," and "Let there be a firmament," and all the other things God commanded to come into being; and to him that he said, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness"; and that the Word, having been commanded, made all things that the Father enjoined on him. And we say this not on our own initiative, but believing the prophecies current among the Jews, in which it is said about God and the things he made, in these very words: "For he spoke, and they came into being; he commanded, and they were created." For if God commanded and the creatures were created, who, according to the mind of the prophetic Spirit, could be the one able to fulfill so great a command of the Father, if not the one who is, so to speak, the living Word and "the truth"? That the Gospels do not know the one who says in Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life," to have been circumscribed, as though he existed nowhere outside the soul and body of Jesus, is clear from many passages, and from a few that we will set out, which run thus. John the Baptist, prophesying that the Son of God would soon appear—not existing only in that body and soul but reaching everywhere—says of him: "Among you stands one whom you do not know, who comes after me." If he had thought that the Son of God was only where the visible body of Jesus was, how could he have said, "Among you stands one whom you do not know"? And Jesus himself, raising the thoughts of his disciples to think greater things about the Son of God, says: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." Such too is his promise to the disciples, saying: "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." We say these things not separating the Son of God from Jesus; for after the incarnation the soul and body of Jesus became, in the highest degree, one with the Word of God. For if, according to the teaching of Paul, who says, "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit," everyone who has understood what it is to be joined to the Lord, and has been joined to him, is one spirit with the Lord, how much more divinely and greatly is that composite being one with the Word of God? He showed among the Jews that he was "the power of God" by the wonders he did, which Celsus suspected were done by sorcery, and the Jews of that time—who had learned the things about Beelzebul I know not where—thought he cast out "the demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." Our Savior refuted them there for speaking most absurdly, since the kingdom of wickedness had not yet come to an end; this will be clear to those who read the Gospel text with understanding, which there is no time to explain now.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Matt 26:38, Jer 32:27 (39:27 LXX), Isa 43:10, the Delphic oracle to Croesus (Herodotus 1.47), John 14:6, 10:9, 6:51, Gen 1:3, 6, 26, Ps 148:5 (cf. Ps 33:9), John 1:26–27, Matt 18:20, Matt 28:20, 1 Cor 6:17, 1 Cor 1:24, and Matt 12:24–26. "God next to the God and Father of all" (θεὸν κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεόν) may also mean "God in accordance with" the Father; the phrase is ambiguous.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent; stray period inside the quotation; stray period inside the quotation of Isa 43:10; stray period inside the sentence; stray periods around a parenthetical φησίν): τά τε ἄλλα. ὥσπερ → τά τε ἄλλα, ὥσπερ; θεὸν. φησὶν. ὄντα → θεὸν, φησίν, ὄντα; ἄλλος θεὸς. καὶ μετʼ → ἄλλος θεὸς, καὶ μετʼ; ὑπο τῶν προφητῶν → ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν; Βεελζεβοὺλ. ἄρχοντι → Βεελζεβοὺλ, ἄρχοντι.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 2.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/9/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/9/).
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