Against Celsus 5.17
Summary: Celsus misunderstood the Christian teaching on the last day; Paul's words in 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians about the dead raised and the living changed carry a hidden meaning.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:18–19
Εἶτα τούτοις ἑξῆς παρακούσας ἤτοι τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἢ τῶν μὴ νενοηκότων τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματά φησιν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λέγεσθαι μόνους διαμενεῖν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ ἐπαχθησομένου τῷ κόσμῳ διὰ πυρὸς καθαρσίου οὐ μόνον τοὺς ζῶντας τότε ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πάλαι ποτὲ ἀποθανόντας· οὐχ ὑπολαβὼν μετά τινος ἀποῤῥήτου σοφίας λελέχθαι παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τό· „οὐ πάντες κοιμηθησόμεθα, πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα ἐν ἀτόμῳ, ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι· σαλπίσει γὰρ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα.“ ἐχρῆν δʼ αὐτὸν ἐπιστῆσαι, τί νοήσας ὁ λέγων ταῦτα ὡς οὐδαμῶς νεκρὸς χωρίσας ἑαυτὸν ἀπʼ ἐκείνων καὶ τοὺς παραπλησίους ἑαυτῷ ἔλεγε μετὰ τὸ „καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι“· „καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα.“ εἰς δὲ βεβαίωσιν τοῦ τοιαῦτά τινα νενοηκότα τὸν ἀπόστολον γεγραφέναι. ἃ παρεθέμην ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρας, παραθήσομαι καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς προτέρας, ἐν ᾗ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος ὡς ζῶν καὶ ἐγρηγορὼς καὶ ἕτερος ὢν τῶν κοιμηθέντων τοιαῦτα· „τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ.“ εἶτα πάλιν ἑξῆς τούτοις ἄλλους ἐπιστάμενος τοὺς ἐν Χριστῷ νεκροὺς παρʼ ἑαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς παραπλησίους αὐτῷ ἐπιφέρει λέγων· „οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον, ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα.“
English · Claude translation
Next, having misheard either the holy writings or those who have not understood the holy writings, he says that we say that, at the time when the purifying fire is brought upon the world, not only those then living will remain, but also those who died long ago. He did not grasp that it was with a certain secret wisdom that the apostle of Jesus said: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." He ought to have considered what the one who said this meant when, separating himself and those like him from them, as though he were in no way dead, he said after "and the dead will be raised incorruptible": "and we shall be changed." And to confirm that the apostle wrote what I cited from the First Letter to the Corinthians with some such meaning, I will cite also the passage from the First Letter to the Thessalonians, in which Paul, as one living and awake and different from those who have fallen asleep, says: "For this we declare to you by a word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God." Then again, next, knowing that the dead in Christ are others besides himself and those like him, he adds: "The dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 Cor 15:51–52 and 1 Thess 4:15–17. Origen hints that Paul's "we" (the living) and "the dead" may have a spiritual sense, without explaining it.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 5.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/17/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 5.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/17/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text