Against Celsus 8.45

Let us see also what follows, which runs thus: “Why need I list all that has been foretold, from oracles, by prophets and prophetesses, and by other men and women possessed, with inspired voice? And all the wonderful things heard from the inner shrines themselves? And all that has been revealed to those who consult them from victims and sacrifices, and all from other marvellous signs? To some, clear apparitions have appeared. All of life is full of these things. How many cities have been raised up by oracles and rid of plagues and famines, and how many, neglecting or forgetting them, have been miserably destroyed? How many have been sent out to found colonies and, following what was commanded, have prospered? How many rulers, how many private persons, have fared better or worse because of this? How many, distressed at childlessness, have obtained what they asked for and escaped the wrath of demons? How many have been healed of bodily maladies? And how many, on the other hand, having committed outrage at the temples, have been caught at once, some seized with madness on the spot, others confessing what they had done, others having killed themselves, others bound by incurable diseases? And already a terrible voice from the inner shrines themselves has struck some down.” I do not know how Celsus puts forward these things as clearly evident, while he has thought the marvels recorded among us, whether Jewish or concerning Jesus and his disciples, to be myths. Why are not ours true, and what Celsus speaks of mythical fictions? Not even the philosophical schools of the Greeks have believed in them, such as those of Democritus, Epicurus, and Aristotle; and they would perhaps have believed ours because of their evidence, if they had met Moses or one of the prophets who did marvellous things, or Jesus himself.