Against Celsus 7.68

Because of the many things we have said above about Jesus, we need not now repeat ourselves in answer to “So they are clearly convicted of worshipping not a god, nor even a demon, but a corpse.” Leaving this aside for that reason, let us see Celsus's next words, in which he says: “But first I will ask: why must demons not be served? Are not all things administered according to the will of God, and does not all providence come from him? And whatever there is in the universe, whether the work of God or of angels or of other demons or of heroes, do not all these things have a law from the greatest God, and has not each been appointed over something, having been allotted a power, whoever has been judged worthy? Will not the one who worships God justly serve this being who has received authority from there? For it is not possible,” he says, “for the same person to ‘serve’ many ‘masters.’” See how much he seizes on in these words, matters needing no slight examination but also knowledge of deeper and more secret truths about the administration of the universe. For we must examine in what sense it is said that all things are administered according to God's will, and whether the administration extends to sins or not. If the administration extends to sins, not only among men but also among demons and any other incorporeal being capable of sinning, let whoever says so see the absurdity of saying that all things are administered according to God's will; for it follows from the argument that sins and everything that comes from wickedness are administered according to God's will, which is not the same as “happens without God's preventing it.” But if one takes “administered” in its proper sense, then he says that things done from wickedness are administered (plainly, all are administered according to God's will), and no one who sins transgresses against God's administration. The same distinction must be made about providence, and we must say that “all providence comes from him” expresses something true when providence is something good; but if we say that absolutely everything that happens is by providence, even if something happens badly, then “all providence comes from him” will be false; unless one were to say that even what follows as a consequence of the works of God's providence is from God's providence. He declares also that “whatever there is in the universe, whether the work of God or of angels or of other demons or of heroes, all these have a law from the greatest God”; and what he declares is not true. For those who transgress do not transgress while following a law from the greatest God. And the Word shows that not only wicked men but also wicked demons and wicked angels transgress.