Against Celsus 5.58
Summary: It is more fitting that a servant angel, not the risen Lord himself, rolled away the stone; the other angels Celsus mentions do nothing for his case, since Christ alone came to turn all humanity from sin and gave God's kingdom to the church.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:61–62
Κατηγορεῖ δʼ ὁ Κέλσος καὶ τοῦ φάσκοντος λόγου ἄγγελον ἀποκεκυλικέναι τοῦ τάφου, ἔνθα ἦν τὸ Ἰησοῦ σῶμα, „τὸν λίθον“ ὥσπερ μειράκιον, ἐν διατριβῇ λαβὸν τοπικῶς κατηγορῆσαί τινος, καί φησιν ὡς σοφόν τι κατὰ τοῦ λόγου εὑρὼν [καί φησιν] ὅτι ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἀνοῖξαι τὸν τάφον, ἀλλʼ ἐδεήθη ἄλλου ἀποκινήσοντος τὴν πέτραν. καὶ ἵνα γε μηδὲν περιεργάσωμαι περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον μηδὲ τροπολογίαν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐκτιθέμενος δόξω ἀκαίρως εἰς ταῦτα φιλοσοφεῖν, περὶ αὐτῆς ἐρῶ τῆς ἱστορίας ὅτι σεμνότερον αὐτόθεν φαίνεται τὸ τὸν ἐλάττονα καὶ ὑπηρέτην ἀποκεκυλικέναι „τὸν λίθον“ ἢ τὸν ἐπὶ ὠφελείᾳ ἀνθρώπων ἀνιστάμενον τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι. οὐ λέγω δʼ ὅτι οἱ μὲν τῷ λόγῳ ἐπιβουλεύοντες καὶ ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτὸν βουληθέντες καὶ δεῖξαι πᾶσι νεκρὸν καὶ τὸ μηδὲν τυγχάνοντα βούλονται αὐτοῦ μηδαμῶς ἀνοιχθῆναι τὸν τάφον, ἵνα μηδεὶς τὸν λόγον μετὰ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν αὐτῶν ζῶντα θεάσηται· ὁ δὲ ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδημῶν συνεργὸς τοῦ ἀγγέλου ἄγγελος θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερος ὢν τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων ἀποκυλίει τὸν βαρὺν λίθον· ἵνα πεισθῶσιν οἱ νομίζοντες τεθνηκέναι τὸν λόγον ὅτι „οὐκ ἔστι“ „μετὰ τῶν νεκρῶν“ ἀλλὰ ζῇ καὶ „προάγει“ τοὺς βουλομένους αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖν, ἵνα ἐπιδείξηται τὰ ἑξῆς οἷς ἐπεδείξατο πρότερον, τοῖς μὴ χωροῦσί πω αὐτῶν μείζονα κατὰ τὸν πρότερον τῆς εἰσαγωγῆς αὐτῶν χρόνον. εἶτʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως μετὰ ταῦτα παραῤῥίπτει, οὐκ οἶδα εἰς τί τῇ προθέσει αὐτοῦ χρήσιμον εἶναι δοκοῦν, τὸ περὶ τῆς Μαρίας κυούσης ἐληλυθέναι πρὸς τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἄγγελον καὶ πάλιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸ βρέφος γεννηθὲν καὶ ἐπιβουλευόμενον ἐξαρπάσαντας φυγεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον. περὶ τούτων δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω πρὸς τὰ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένα διελέχθημεν. τί δὲ βούλεται Κέλσῳ (τὸ) καὶ Μωϋσεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱστορεῖσθαι κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς ἀγγέλους πέμπεσθαι; οὐδὲν γάρ μοι φαίνεται συμβάλλεσθαι αὐτῷ πρὸς ὃ βούλεται, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπεὶ οὐδεὶς μὲν ἐκείνων περὶ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἠγωνίσατο, ἵνʼ αὐτὸ ἐπιστρέψῃ ὅση δύναμις ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. καὶ ἄλλοι οὖν πεπέμφθωσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οὗτός τι πλέον ἀπαγγελλέτω, καὶ πλημμελούντων Ἰουδαίων καὶ μεταχαραττόντων τὴν εὐσέβειαν καὶ οὐχ ὅσια δρώντων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ μεταδεδωκέτω „ἄλλοις γεωργοῖς, “ τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἑαυτῶν ἐπιμελουμένοις καὶ πάντα πράττουσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀφορμὰς προσαγαγεῖν διὰ βίου καθαροῦ καὶ λόγου ἀκολούθου τῷ βίῳ πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεόν.
English · Claude translation
Celsus also accuses the account that says an angel rolled "the stone" away from the tomb where Jesus's body was, like a youth who has seized on something in a school exercise to accuse, as a set topic; and, as though he had found something clever against the account, he says: "The child of God, it seems, could not open the tomb, but needed another to roll away the rock." So as not to be overly curious about the passage, or seem to philosophize unseasonably by setting out a figurative interpretation at present, I will say about the narrative itself that it is plainly more dignified for the lesser being and servant to have rolled away "the stone" than for the one rising for the benefit of human beings to have done it. I will not dwell on the point that those who plotted against the Word, and wished to kill him and show him to all as dead and of no account, wanted his tomb never to be opened, so that no one might see the Word alive after their plot; while the angel of God, who came as fellow-worker with the Angel for the salvation of human beings and was stronger than the plotters, rolls away the heavy stone, so that those who think the Word has died may be persuaded that he "is not" "among the dead," but lives and "goes before" those who wish to follow him, so as to show them what comes next after what he showed before, to those who during the earlier period of their instruction could not yet contain greater things. Then, I do not know how, after this he throws in, for I know not what useful purpose to his aim, that when Mary was pregnant an angel came to Joseph, and again that they might snatch up the child who had been born and was being plotted against, and flee to Egypt. We have discussed these things above too, in reply to what he said. And what does Celsus mean by the fact that the Scriptures report angels sent to Moses and the others? It seems to me to contribute nothing to what he wants, especially since none of them struggled for the human race to turn it, as far as possible, from its sins. Let others, then, have been sent from God, and let this one announce something more; and since the Jews were doing wrong, debasing piety, and not doing holy things, let him give the kingdom of God "to other tenants," those everywhere in the churches who take care of themselves and do everything to bring the starting points given by Jesus's teaching to the God of the universe through a pure life and a word consistent with that life.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The references are Matt 28:2, Luke 24:5, Matt 28:7, Matt 1:20, Matt 2:13–14, and Matt 21:41. "The Angel" is probably Christ, "the angel of great counsel" (5.53); the angel at the tomb is his fellow-worker. The Greek word order is ambiguous. The deleted [καί φησιν] and the supplement (τὸ) are the editor's.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 5.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/58/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 5.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/5/58/).
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