Against Celsus 5.11
Summary: Those who know God and his Son as the true light will not worship sun and stars, which themselves pray to God through the Son; as Jesus sent praise on to the Father, so the sun would say, 'Worship God alone.'
Greek text · Koetschau 2:11–13
Οὐ χρὴ δὲ οὐδʼ αὐτὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ βλέποντος καὶ συνιέντος τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς, οὗ μετοχῇ καὶ ταυτὶ ἄρα πεφώτισται, οὐδʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ βλέποντος τὸν πατέρα τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ φωτὸς θεὸν. περὶ οὗ καλῶς λέλεκται τό· „ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, καὶ σκοτία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία.“ καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ διὰ τὸ φῶς αἰσθητὸν καὶ οὐράνιον εἶναι προσκυνοῦντες ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἄστρα οὐκ ἂν προσκυνήσαιεν σπινθῆρα πυρὸς ἢ λύχνον ἐπὶ γῆς, ὁρῶντες τὴν ἀσύγκριτον ὑπεροχὴν τῶν νομιζομένων ἀξίων προσκυνεῖσθαι παρὰ τὸ τῶν σπινθήρων καὶ τῶν λύχνων φῶς· οὕτως οἱ νοήσαντες, πῶς „ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστι, “ καταλαβόντες δὲ, πῶς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ „φῶς ἀληθινόν“ ἐστιν, „ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, “ συνιέντες δὲ καὶ, πῶς οὗτός φησι τό· „ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου, “ οὐκ ἂν εὐλόγως προσκυνήσαιεν τὸν οἱονεὶ βραχὺν σπινθῆρα ὡς πρὸς φῶς τὸν θεὸν ἀληθινοῦ φωτὸς ἐν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις. καὶ οὐκ ἀτιμάζοντές γε τὰ τηλικαῦτα τοῦ θεοῦ δημιουργήματα οὐδʼ Ἀναξαγορείως „μύδρον διάπυρον“ λέγοντες εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας τοιαῦτά φαμεν περὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἀστέρων, ἀλλʼ αἰσθανόμενοί τε τῆς ἀφάτῳ ὑπεροχῇ ὑπερεχούσης θειότητος τοῦ θεοῦ ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ ὑπερέχοντος τὰ λοιπά. πειθόμενοι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας εὔχεσθαι τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ, κρίνομεν μὴ δεῖν εὔχεσθαι τοῖς εὐχομένοις· ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀναπέμπειν ἡμᾶς βούλονται μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν, ᾧ εὔχονται. ἢ κατάγειν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἢ μερίζειν ἡμῶν τὴν εὐκτικὴν δύναμιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτούς. χρήσομαι δὲ καὶ τούτῳ περὶ αὐτῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον παραδείγματι· ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ κύριος ἀκούσας ποτέ· „διδάσκαλε ἀγαθὲ, “ ἀναπέμπων τὸν λέγοντα τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα φησί· „τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεὸς ὁ πατήρ.“ εἴπερ δὲ τοῦτʼ εὐλόγως ὡς „εἰκὼν“ τῆς ἀγαθότητος τοῦ θεοῦ τυγχάνων εἴρηκεν ὁ υἱὸς „τῆς ἀγάπης“ τοῦ πατρὸς, πῶς οὐχὶ εὐλογώτερον ἂν τοῖς προσκυνοῦσιν εἶπεν ἥλιος· τί με προσκυνεῖς; „κύριον γὰρ τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις·“ ᾧ κἀγὼ καὶ πάντες οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ προσκυνοῦμεν καὶ λατρεύομεν. κἂν μὴ τηλικοῦτος δέ τις ᾖ, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ ὁ τοιοῦτος εὐχέσθω τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, δυναμένῳ αὐτὸν ἰάσασθαι, καὶ πολλῷ πλέον τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ, ὃς καὶ τοῖς πρότερον δικαίοις „ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν.“
English · Claude translation
Nor should even this light be worshipped by one who sees and understands the true light, by sharing in which these lights too have been enlightened, nor by one who sees God, the Father of the true light, of whom it has been well said: "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." And just as those who worship sun and moon and stars because their light is perceptible and heavenly would not worship a spark of fire or a lamp on earth, seeing the incomparable superiority of what they consider worthy of worship over the light of sparks and lamps, so those who have understood how "God is light," and grasped how the Son of God is "the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world," and understood also how he says "I am the light of the world," could not reasonably worship what is, as it were, a small spark in sun and moon and stars compared with God, the light of the true light. And it is not in dishonour of such great works of God, nor saying with Anaxagoras that sun and moon and stars are "a red-hot mass," that we speak thus of sun and moon and stars; but, perceiving the divinity of God, which surpasses them with unspeakable superiority, and also that of his Only-begotten, which surpasses all the rest, and being persuaded that sun and moon and stars themselves pray to the God over all through his Only-begotten, we judge that we ought not to pray to those who themselves pray; since they themselves wish rather to send us up to the God to whom they pray, than to bring us down to themselves or divide our power of prayer between God and themselves. And on this subject I will use this example concerning them: our Saviour and Lord, once hearing "Good teacher," sent the one who said this up to his own Father, saying: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, God the Father." If the Son of the Father's "love," being the "image" of God's goodness, said this reasonably, how much more reasonably would the sun say to those who worship it: "Why do you worship me? For 'you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve,' whom I too and all who are with me worship and serve." And even if someone is not so great, let such a person nonetheless pray to the Word of God, who is able to heal him, and much more to his Father, who also for the righteous of former times "sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 John 1:5, John 1:9, John 8:12, Mark 10:17–18 (Luke 18:18–19; Origen adds "the Father"), Matt 4:10 (Deut 6:13), and Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX). "Son of his love" is Col 1:13; "image of his goodness" is Wis 7:26. Anaxagoras's "red-hot mass" is reported by Diogenes Laertius 2.8 (59 A1 Diels–Kranz). Origen's view that the stars pray is his own speculation.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 5.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/11/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 5.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/11/).
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