Against Celsus 6.63
Summary: Celsus denies man is God's image, but Origen explains that Christ alone is God's image, and man is made “according to” that image in the inner self, renewed by becoming holy and like God.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:133–134
Εἶτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος, μὴ ἐνιδὼν τῇ διαφορᾷ τοῦ „κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ“ καὶ „τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ, “ ὅτι „εἰκὼν“ μὲν „τοῦ θεοῦ“ ὁ „πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεώς“ ἐστιν ὁ αὐτολόγος καὶ ἡ αὐτοαλήθεια ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ αὐτοσοφία, „εἰκὼν“ οὖσα „τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ, “ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ δὲ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ ὁ ἄνθρωπος πεποίηται. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὅτι πᾶς ἀνὴρ, οὗ „Χριστός ἐστι κεφαλὴ, “ „εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα θεοῦ“ ὑπάρχει· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐπιστήσας, ἐν τίνι τῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ χαρακτηρίζεται, καὶ ὅτι ἐν τῇ ἢ μὴ ἐσχηκυίᾳ ἢ μηκέτι ἐχούσῃ ψυχῇ „τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ, “ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ἔχειν ταῦτα χρηματιζούσῃ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ κτίσαντος, φησὶ τό· οὐδʼ ἄνθρωπον ἐποίησεν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ· οὐ γὰρ τοιόσδε ὁ θεὸς οὔτʼ ἄλλῳ εἴδει οὐδενὶ ὅμοιος. οἷον δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ συνθέτου ἀνθρώπου τῷ χείρονι μέρει, λέγω δὲ τῷ σώματι, νομίζειν ἐνυπάρχειν τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ, “ ὡς δʼ ὁ Κέλσος ἐξείληφεν, αὐτὸ εἶναι τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ αὐτοῦ; εἰ γὰρ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ ἐν τῷ σώματί ἐστι μόνῳ, ἐστέρηται τὸ κρεῖττον, ἡ ψυχὴ, τοῦ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ καὶ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ φθαρτῷ σώματι, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν λέγει. εἰ δʼ ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ συναμφοτέρῳ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ, “ ἀνάγκη σύνθετον εἶναι τὸν θεὸν καὶ οἱονεὶ συνεστῶτα καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, ἵνα τὸ μὲν „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τὸ κρεῖττον ᾖ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ, τὸ δʼ ἔλαττον καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα ἐν τῷ σώματι, ὅπερ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν φησι. λείπεται δὴ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τοῦ „θεοῦ“ ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἡμᾶς λεγομένῳ ἔσω ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ ἀνακαινουμένῳ καὶ πεφυκότι γίνεσθαι „κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος“ νοεῖσθαι [τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“], ὅτε γίνεταί τις „τέλειος“, „ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστι“, καὶ ἀκούει ὅτι „ἅγιοι ἔσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἅγιος κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν, “ καὶ μανθάνων τὸ „μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεσθε“ ἀναλαμβάνει εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐνάρετον ψυχὴν τοὺς χαρακτῆρας τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅτε καὶ „ναός“ ἐστι τοῦ ἐν τῷ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ ἀνειληφότος τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ „τὸ σῶμα, “ τοῦ τοιαύτην ἔχοντος ψυχὴν καὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“ τὸν θεόν.
English · Claude translation
Then Celsus, not having noticed the difference between “in the image of God” and “his image,” that “the image of God” is “the firstborn of all creation,” the Word himself and Truth itself and also Wisdom itself, being “the image of his goodness,” whereas man has been made “in the image” of “God”; and further that every man of whom “Christ is the head” is “the image and glory of God”; and without considering in which part of man being “in the image” of “God” is marked, and that it is in the soul that either has not had, or no longer has, “the old man with his deeds,” and which, from not having these, is called “in the image” of its Creator, says: Nor did he make man his image; for God is not like this, nor like any other form. Is it conceivable that being “in the image” of “God” should exist in the worse part of man, who is composite, I mean in the body, and that this, as Celsus has taken it, is itself what is “in his image”? For if being “in the image” of “God” is in the body alone, the better part, the soul, has been deprived of being “in the image,” and it is in the corruptible body, which none of us says. And if being “in the image” of “God” is in both together, then God must be composite and must himself consist, as it were, of soul and body, so that the better part of being “in the image” may be in the soul, and the lesser, corresponding to the body, in the body, which none of us says. It remains, then, that being “in the image” of “God” is to be understood in what we call the inner man, who is renewed and is by nature able to become “in the image of the Creator,” when one becomes “perfect,” “as the heavenly Father is perfect,” and hears, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” and, learning “Be imitators of God,” takes up into his virtuous soul the features of God. Then too “the body” of one who has taken up what is God's in being “in the image” is a “temple” of God, since he has such a soul, and has God in the soul because of being “in the image.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The passages are Gen 1:26–27, Col 1:15, Wis 7:26, 1 Cor 11:3, 7, Col 3:9–10, 2 Cor 4:16, Matt 5:48, Lev 19:2, Eph 5:1, and 1 Cor 6:19. Origen distinguishes Christ, who is the image of God, from man, made “according to the image.” The editor deletes a repeated “in the image” (τὸ „κατʼ εἰκόνα“) after “to be understood.”
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 6.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/63/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 6.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/6/63/).
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