Against Celsus 4.8
Summary: Why Christ came at a particular time is a deep mystery, tied to God's allotment of the nations to angels and of Israel to himself, and to his later gift of all nations to the Son.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:279–280
Οὐδὲν δὲ θαυμαστὸν τὸ γενεαῖς τισι προφήτας γεγονέναι, ὑπερέχοντας ἐν τῇ παραδοχῇ τῆς θειότητος διὰ τὸν ἐπὶ πλεῖον εὔτονον καὶ ἐῤῥωμένον βίον ἑτέρων προφητῶν, τινῶν μὲν κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἄλλων δὲ προγενεστέρων ἢ μεταγενεστέρων. οὕτω δὲ οὐ θαυμαστὸν καί τινα καιρὸν γεγονέναι, ὅτʼ ἐξαίρετόν τι χρῆμα ἐπιδεδήμηκε τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διαφέρον παρὰ τοὺς προγενεστέρους αὐτοῦ ἢ καὶ μεταγενεστέρους. ἔχει δέ τι ὁ περὶ τούτων λόγος μυστικώτερον καὶ βαθύτερον καὶ μὴ πάνυ τι φθάνειν δυνάμενον ἐπὶ τὴν δημωδεστέραν ἀκοήν. καὶ δεῖ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ταῦτα σαφηνισθῆναι καὶ ἀπαντηθῆναι πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα περὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας. ὅτι νῦν ἆρα μετὰ τοσοῦτον αἰῶνα ὁ θεὸς ἀνεμνήσθη δικαιῶσαι τὸ ἀνθρώπων γένος, πρότερον δὲ ἠμέλει; ἅψασθαι τοῦ περὶ μερίδων λόγου καὶ σαφηνίσαι. διὰ τί „ὅτε διεμέριζεν ὁ ὕψιστος ἔθνη. ὡς διέσπειρεν υἱοὺς Ἀδὰμ, ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατʼ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ· καὶ ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ“· καὶ δεήσει τὴν αἰτίαν εἰπεῖν τῆς εἰς ἕκαστον ὅριον γενέσεως ὑπὸ τὸν κεκληρωμένον τὸ ὅριον, καὶ πῶς εὐλόγως „ἐγενήθη μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραήλ“· καὶ διὰ τί πρότερον μὲν ἦν „μερὶς κυρίου λαὸς αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ, σχοίνισμα κληρονομίας αὐτοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, “ περὶ δὲ τῶν ὕστερον λέγεται πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός· „αἴτησαι παρʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς.“ εἰσὶ γάρ τινες εἱρμοὶ καὶ ἀκολουθίαι ἄφατοι καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητοι περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς διαφόρου οἰκονομίας.
English · Claude translation
It is not surprising that in certain generations there have been prophets who surpassed other prophets, some their contemporaries and others earlier or later, in the reception of the divine, because of their more vigorous and strong life. So too it is not surprising that there was a certain time when something exceptional came to dwell with the human race, surpassing those before it and after it. But the account of these matters has something rather mystical and deep, which cannot at all reach the ears of the common crowd. To make these things clear and to answer what is said about the coming of Christ, “Did God then only now, after so long an age, remember to make the human race just, having neglected it before?”, we would need to touch on the account of the portions and make clear why “when the Most High divided the nations, when he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God; and his people Jacob became the Lord's portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance.” And it will be necessary to state the cause of birth in each boundary under the one to whom that boundary was allotted, and how reasonably “his people Jacob became the Lord's portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance”; and why formerly “his people Jacob” was “the Lord's portion, Israel the lot of his inheritance,” but concerning later times the Father says to the Savior: “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.” For there are certain connections and sequences, unspeakable and indescribable, concerning the different dispensation for human souls.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Deut 32:8–9 (LXX, “angels of God”) and Ps 2:8. Origen hints at his view that souls are born in particular nations according to their previous merits, which he declines to explain here.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 4.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/8/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 4.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/4/8/).
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