Against Celsus 5.22
Summary: Origen distances himself from Christians who deny the resurrection: following Paul's seed image, he holds that God raises a transformed, incorruptible body, and that the 'words' of things, rooted in the divine Word, never pass away.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:23–24
Μὴ ὑπονοείτω δέ τις ἡμᾶς ταῦτα λέγοντας ἀπʼ ἐκείνων εἶναι τῶν λεγομένων μὲν Χριστιανῶν ἀθετούντων δὲ τὸ περὶ ἀναστάσεως κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς δόγμα. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ τὸν οἱονεὶ ἀπὸ κόκκου „σίτου ἤ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν“ ἀνιστάμενον στάχυν ἢ δένδρον οὐδαμῶς παραστῆσαι ἔχουσιν. ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ ἀρέσκοντι ἑαυτῶν· ἡμεῖς δὲ πειθόμενοι ὅτι τὸ σπειρόμενον „οὐ ζωοποιεῖται, ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ, “ καὶ ὅτι „οὐ τὸ γενησόμενον σῶμα“ σπείρεται (ὁ γὰρ „θεὸς αὐτῷ δίδωσι σῶμα, καθὼς ἠθέλησε, “ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „ἐν φθορᾷ“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ“ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „ἐν δόξῃ“ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „ἐν δυνάμει“ καὶ μετὰ τὸ σπαρῆναι „σῶμα ψυχικὸν“ ἐγείρων αὐτὸ „πνευματικὸν“), τηροῦμεν καὶ τὸ βούλημα τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τοῦ θεοῦ, παριστάντες αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ δυνατὸν οὐκ ἀποφάσει ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγῳ· εἰδότες ὅτι κἂν „οὐρανὸς καὶ γῆ“ παρέλθῃ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλʼ οἱ περὶ ἑκάστου „λόγοι“ ὄντες ὡς ἐν ὅλῳ μέρη ἢ ὡς ἐν γένει εἴδη τοῦ „ἐν ἀρχῇ“ λόγου „πρὸς τὸν θεὸν“ θεοῦ λόγου οὐδαμῶς παρελεύσονται. θέλομεν γὰρ ἀκούειν τοῦ εἰπόντος· „ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσεται, οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ μὴ παρέλθωσιν.“
English · Claude translation
Let no one suspect, because we say these things, that we are among those who are called Christians but reject the doctrine of the resurrection according to the Scriptures. For they, as far as their own opinion goes, can in no way show the ear or the tree rising, as it were, from a grain "of wheat or of some other kind"; but we, persuaded that what is sown "does not come to life unless it dies," and that "not the body that is to be" is sown (for "God gives it a body as he has chosen," raising it "in incorruption" after it has been sown "in corruption," raising it "in glory" after it has been sown "in dishonour," raising it "in power" after it has been sown "in weakness," and raising it "spiritual" after it has been sown "a natural body"), keep both the mind of the church of Christ and the greatness of God's promise, showing its possibility not by bare assertion but also by reason; knowing that even if "heaven and earth" and what is in them pass away, yet the "words" (logoi) concerning each thing, being like parts in a whole or species in a genus of the Word who was "in the beginning with God," God the Word, will never pass away. For we wish to heed the one who said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 Cor 15:36–38, 42–44, John 1:1–2, and Matt 24:35. Origen plays on λόγοι ("words", also the rational principles of things) and the Logos.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (duplicated quotation mark in the digital text): ἀποθάνῃ, “ “καὶ → ἀποθάνῃ, “ καὶ.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 5.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/22/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 5.22 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/22/).
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