hopes, and that they indeed lead to hopes of good, or—what is more in keeping with his opinions—give birth to no hope at all, on account of the immediate and complete destruction of the soul [after death]. Unless, perhaps, Celsus and the Epi- cureans will deny that it is a vain hope which they entertain regarding their end,—pleasure,— which, according to them, is 1 ἁψῖδα.
3 Τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ πεισθέντες περὶ τοῦ θύραθεν νοῦ, ὡς θανάτου καινοὺ διεξ- “-γωγὴν ἕξοντος, etc. Locus certe obecurus, cui lucem afferre conatur Bohe- rellus, legendo divisim ὦ; θανάτου καὶ νοῦ διεξαγωγὴν ἕξοντος, ut Bensus sit * morti etiam mentem subductum iri." Nam si θύραθεν ἥκει νοῦς, consequens est ut dardrov καὶ νοῦς διεξαγωγὴν ἔχη. Cf. Aristot. lib. ii. c. 8, de genera- tione animalium.—SPENCER.
8 ἢ τῆς ToU νοῦ ἀθανασίας.
Book ut ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 139 the supreme good, and which consists in the permanent health of the body, and the hope regarding it which is entertained by Epicurus.!
CHAPTER LXXXI.
And do not suppose that it is not in keeping with the Christian religion for me to have accepted, against Celsus, the opinions of those philosophers who have treated of the immor- tality or after-duration of the soul; for, holding certain views in common with them, we shall more conveniently establish our position, that the future life of blessedness shall be for those only who have accepted the religion which is according to Jesus, and that devotion towards the Creator of all things which is pure and sincere, and unmingled with any created thing whatever. And let him who likes show what “ better things" we persuade men to despise, and let him compare the blessed end with God in Christ,—that is, the word, and the wisdom, and all virtue, —which, according to our view, shall be ' bestowed, by the gift of God, on those who have lived a pure and blameless life, and who have felt a single and undivided love for the God of all things, with that end which is to . follow according to the teaching of each philosophic sect, whether it be Greek or barbarian, or according to the pro- fessions of religious mysteries;^ and let him prove that the end which is predicted by any of the others is superior to that which we promise, and consequently that that is true, and ours not befitting the gift of God, nor those who have lived a good life; or let him prove that these words were not spoken by the divine Spirit, who filled the souls of the holy prophets. And let him who likes show that those words which are acknow- ledged among all men to be human, are superior to those which are proved to be divine, and uttered by inspiration. And what are the “better” things from which we teach those who receive them that it would be better to abstain? For if it be not 1 Ej μὴ ὥρα Κέλσο; xal ol "Exixovpesos οὐ φήσουσι κούφην εἶναι ἐλπίδα τὴν api τοῦ τέλους αὐτῶν τῆς ἡδονῆ;, ἥτις κατ᾽ αὐτούς ἐστι τὸ ἀγαθὸν, τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς εὐσταθὲς κατάστημα, καὶ τὸ περὶ ταύτης πιστὸν ᾿Ἐπικούρῳ ἔλπισμα.
3 τῷ καθ᾽ ἐχάστην Φιλοσόφων αἵρεσιν ἐν Ἕλλησιν ἢ βαρβάροις, ἢ μυστηριώδη ἐπαγγελίαν, τέλει. ' 160 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boox m1.
arrogant so to speak, it is self-evident that nothing can be denied which is better than to entrust oneself to the God of all, and yield oneself up to the doctrine which raises us above all created things, and brings us, through the animate and living word—which is also living wisdom and the Son of God—to God who is over all. However, as the third book of our answers to the treatise of Celsus has extended to a sufficient length, we shall here bring our present remarks to a close, and in what is to follow shall meet what Celsus has subsequently written.
BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
SAA VING, in the three preceding books, fully stated M| what occurred to us by way of answer to the treatise of Celsus, we now, reverend Ambrosius, with prayer to God through Christ, offer this fourth book as a reply to what follows. And we pray that words may be given us, as it is written in the book of Jeremiah that the Lord said to the prophet: “ Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth as fire. See, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build and to plant."! For we need words now which will root out of every wounded soul the reproaches uttered against the truth by this treatise of Celsus, or which proceed from opinions like his. And we need also thoughts which will pull down all edifices based on false opinions, and especially the edifice raised by Celsus. in his work, which resembles the building of those who said, “ Come, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top shall reach to heaven.”* Yea, we even require a wisdom which will throw down all high things that rise against the knowledge of Godj and especially that height of arrogance which Celsus displays against us. And in the next place, as we must not stop with rooting out and pulling down the hindrances which have just been mentioned, but must, in room of what has been rooted out, plant the plants of * God's husbandry;" * and in place of what has been pulled down, rear up the building of God, and the temple of His glory,—we must for that reason pray also to the Lord, who bestowed the gifts named in the book of Jeremiah, that He may grant even to us words adapted both for building up the [temple] of Christ, and for planting the spiritual law, ORIG.—VOL. II. L 162 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boos tv.
and the prophetic words referring to the same.! ' And above allis it necessary to show, as against the assertions of Celsus which follow those he has already made, that the prophecies regarding Christ are true predictions. For, arraying himself at the same time against both parties—against the Jews on the one hand, who deny that the advent of Christ has taken place, but who expect it as future, and against Christians on the other, who acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ spoken of in prophecy—he makes the f ollowing statement:— CHAPTER II.
« But that certain Christians and [all] Jews should main- tain, the former that there Aas already descended, the latter that there will descend, upon the earth a certain God, or Son of a God, who will make the inhabitants of the earth righteous,” is a most shameless assertion, and one the refuta- tion of which does not need many words.” Now here he appears to pronounce correctly regarding not “certain” of the Jews, but all of them, that they imagine that there is a certain [God] who will descend upon the earth; and with regard to Christians, that certain of them say that he has already come down. For he means those who prove from the Jewish Scrip- tures that the advent of Christ has already taken place, and he seems to know that there are certain heretical sects which deny that Christ Jesus was predicted by the prophets. In the preceding pages, however, we have already discussed, to the best of our ability, the question of Christ having been the sub- ject of prophecy, and therefore, to avoid tautology, we do not repeat much that might be advanced upon this head. Observe, now, that if he had wished with a kind of apparent force? to Subvert faith in the prophetic writings, either with regard to the future or past advent of Christ, he ought to have set forth the prophecies themselves which we Christians and Jews quote in our discussions with each other. For in this way he would have appeared to turn aside those who are carried away by the plausible character* of the prophetic statements, as he regards it, from assenting to their truth, and from believing, on account 1 τοὺς ἀνάλογον αὐτῷ προφητικοὺς λόγους. 2 οικαιωτὴ;.
3 ἀκολουθίας. 4 πιθανύτητο;.
Book Iv. ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 163 of these prophecies, that Jesus is the Christ; whereas now, being unable to answer the prophecies relating to Christ, or else not knowing at all what are the prophecies relating to Him, he brings forward no prophetic declaration, although there are countless numbers which refer to Christ; but he thinks that he prefers an accusation against the prophetic Scriptures, while he does not even state what he himself would call their “ plausible character!” He is not, however, aware that it is not at all the Jews who say that Christ will descend as a God, or the Son of a God, as we have shown in the foregoing pages. And when he asserts that “he is said by us to have already come, but by the Jews that his advent as Messiah’ is still future," he appears by the very charge to censure our statement as one that is most shameless, and which needs no lengthened refutation.
CHAPTER III.
And he continues: “ What is the meaning of such a descent upon the part of God?" not observing that, according to our teaching, the meaning of the descent is pre-eminently to con- vert what are called in the Gospel the lost “sheep of the house of Israel;" and secondly, to take away from them, on account of their disobedience, what is called the “kingdom of God,” and to give to other husbandmen than the ancient Jews, viz.
to the Christians, who will render to God the fruits of His sete ΥΜι in due season (each action being a “fruit of the kingdom")? We shall therefore, out of a greater number, select a few remarks by way of answer to the question of Celsus, when he says, “ What is the meaning of such a descent upon the part of God?” And Celsus here returns to himself an answer which would have been given neither by Jews nor by us, when he asks, * Was it in order to learn what goes on amongst men?" For not one of us asserts that it was in order tolearn what goes on amongst men that Christ entered into this life. Immediately after, however, as if some would reply that it was “‘in order to learn what goes on among men,” he makes this objection to his own statement: * Does he not know ‘ 7 Δικοιώτὴς, ποὺ Δικειστῆς. 3 Tous καρποὺς THs ToU Θεοῦ βασιλείως dro τῷ Θεῷ, i» Toig ἑκάστης “ράξιω; οὔσης καρποῦ τῆς βασιλεία; xoupoig.
164 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Book tv.
all things?” Then, as if we were to answer that He does know all things, he raises a new question, saying, * Then he does know, but does not make [men] better, nor is it possible for him by means of his divine power to make [men] better." Now all this on his part is silly talk;! for God, by means of His word, which is continually passing from generation to generation into holy souls, and constituting them friends of God and prophets, does improve those who listen to His words; and by the coming of Christ He improves, through the doctrine of Christianity, not those who are unwilling, but those who have chosen the better life, and that which is pleasing to God. I do not know, moreover, what kind of improvement Celsus wished to take place when he raised the objection, asking, * Is it then not possible for him, by means of his divine power, to make [men] better, unless he send some one for that special purpose?"? Would he then have the improvement to take place by God's filling the minds of men with new ideas, removing at once the [inherent] wickedness, and implanting virtue [in its stead]?° Another person now would inquire whether this was not inconsistent or impossible in the very nature of things; we, however, would say, “Grant it to be so, and let it be possible.” Where, then, is our free will?* and what credit is there in assenting to the truth? or how is the rejection of what is false praiseworthy? But even if it were once granted that such a course was not only possible, but could be accomplished with propriety [by God], why would not one rather inquire (asking a question like that of Celsus) why it was not possible for God, by means of His divine power, to create men who needed no improvement, but who were of themselves virtuous and perfect, evil being altogether non- existent? These questions may perplex ignorant and foolish individuals, but not him who sees into the nature of things; 1 εὐύθως.
3 The word @vees which is found in the text seems out of place, and has been omitted in the translation, agreeably to the emendation of Boherellus.
8" Apa yep ἤθελε φαντασιουμένοις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, ἀπειληφοτος pi? dÓpoug τὴν κακίαν, ip Qvoyrog δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν, τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν γενέσθαι; 4 ποὺ οὖν τὸ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν; Book tv. ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 165 for if you take away the spontaneity of virtue, you destroy its essence. But it would need an entire treatise to discuss these matters; and on this subject the Greeks have expressed them- selves at great length in their works on providence. They truly would not say what Celsus has expressed in words, that * God knows [all things] indeed, but does not make [men] better, nor is able to do so by His divine power.” We our- selves have spoken in many parts of our writings on these points to the best of our ability, and the Holy Scriptures have established the same to those who are able to understand them.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
The argument which Celsus employs against us and the Jews will be turned against himself thus: My good sir, does the God who is over all things know what takes place among men, or does He not know? Now if you admit the existence of a God and of providence, as your treatise indicates, He must of necessity know. And if He does know, why does He not make [men] better? Is it obligatory, then, on us to defend God’s procedure in not making men better, although He knows their state, but not equally binding on you, who do not dis- tinctly show by your treatise that you are an Epicurean, but pretend to recognise a providence, to explain why God, although knowing all that takes place among men, does not make them better, nor by divine power liberate all men from evil? We are not ashamed, however, to say that God is con- stantly sending [instructors] in order to make men better; for there are to be found amongst men reasons! given by God which exhort them to enter on a better life. But there are many diversities amongst those who serve God, and they are few in number who are perfect and pure ambassadors of the truth, and who produce a complete reformation, as did Moses and the prophets. But above all these, great was the reforma- tion effected by Jesus, who desired to heal not only those who lived in one corner of the world, but as far as in Him lay, men in every country, for He came as the Saviour of all men.
l οἱ yap ἐπὶ τὼ βέλτιστα προκαλούμενοι λέγοι, Θεοῦ αὐτοὺς δεδωχότος, εἰσὶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις.
166 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boor rr.
‘CHAPTER V.
The illustrious’ Celsus, taking occasion I know not from what, next raises an additional objection against us, as if we asserted that * God Himself will come down to men.” He imagines also that it follows from this, that “‘ He has left His own abode;” for he does not know the power of God, and that “the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world, and that which upholdeth all things hath knowledge of the voice.”* Nor is he able to understand the words, * Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord."? Nor does he see that, according to the doctrine of Christianity, we all “in Him live, and move, and have our beirig,"* as Paul also taught in his address to the Athenians; and therefore, although the God of the universe should through His own power descend with Jesus into the life of men, and although the Word which was in the beginning with God, which is also God Himself, should come to us, He does not give His place or vacate His own seat, so that one place should be empty of Him, and another which did not formerly contain Him be filled. But the power and divinity of God comes through him whom God chooses, and resides in him in whom it finds a place, not changing its situation, nor leaving its own place empty and filling another: for, in speak- ing of His quitting one place and occupying another, we do not mean such expressions to be taken topically; but we say that the soul of the bad man, and of him who is over- ‘whelmed in wickedness, is abandoned by God, while we mean that the soul of him who wishes to live virtuously, or of him who is making progress [in a virtuous life], or who is already living conformably thereto, is filled with or becomes a partaker of the Divine Spirit. It is not necessary, then, for the descent of Christ, or for the coming of God to men, that He should abandon a greater seat, and that things on earth should be changed, as Celsus imagines when he says, “If you were fo change a single one, even the least, of things on earth, al things would be overturned and disappear. And if we must l γενναιότατος.
2 Wisd. Solom. i. 7, καὶ τὸ συνέχον ra πάντα γνῶσιν ἔχει Paving. | 3 Cf. Jer. xxiii. 24. * Cf. Acts xvii. 28.
Book rv. ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 167 speak of a change in any one by the appearing of the power of God, and by the entrance of the word among men, we shall not be reluctant to speak of changing from a wicked to a virtuous, from a dissolute to a temperate, and from a super- stitious to a religious life, the person who has allowed the word of God to find entrance into his soul.
CHAPTER VI.
But if you will have us to meet the most ridiculous among the charges of Celsus, listen to him when he says: * Now God, being unknown amongst men, and deeming himself on that account to have less than his due,’ would desire to make him- self known, and to make trial both of those who believe upon him and of those who do not, like those of mankind who have recently come into the possession of riches, and who make a display of their wealth; and thus they testify to an excessive but very mortal ambition on the part of God."? We answer, then, that God, not being known by wicked men, would desire to make Himself known, not because He thinks that He meets with less than His due, but because the knowledge of Him will free the possessor from unhappiness. Nay, not even with the desire to try those who do or who do not believe upon Him, does He, by His unspeakable and divine power, Himself take up His abode in certain individuals, or send His Christ; but He does this in order to liberate from all their wretchédness those who do believe upon Him, and who accept His divinity, and that those who do not believe may no longer have this as a ground of excuse, viz. that their unbelief is the consequence of their not having heard the word of instruction. What argu- ment, then, proves that it follows from our views that God, according to our representations, is “like those of mankind who. have recently come into the possession of riches, and who make a display of their wealth?” For God makes no display towards us, from a desire that we should understand and consider His pre-eminence; but desiring that the blessedness which results from His being known by us should be implanted in our souls, 1 zai cape τοῦτ᾽ ἔλαττον ἔχειν δοκῶν.
* καθάπερ οἱ νεόπλουτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδειχτιῶντες, πολλήν tive καὶ wavy θνητὴν Φιλοτιμίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καταροαρτυοουῦσι.
168 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Book rv.
He brings it to pass through Christ, and His ever-indwelling word, that we come to an intimate fellowship! with Him. No mortal ambition, then, does the Christian doctrine testify as existing on the part of God.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
I do not know how it is, that after the foolish remarks which he has made upon the subject which we have just been discuss- ing, he should add the following, that “ God does not desire to make himself known for his own sake, but because he wishes to bestow upon us the knowledge of himself for the sake of our salvation, in order that those who accept it may become virtuous and be saved, while those who do not accept may be shown to be wicked and be punished." And yet, after making such a statement, he raises a new objection, saying: “ After so long a period of time,” then, did God now bethink himself of making men live righteous lives? but neglect to do so be- fore?” "To which we answer, that there never was a time when God did not wish to make men live righteous lives; but He continually evinced His care for the improvement of the rational animal, by affording him occasions for the exercise of virtue. For in every generation the wisdom of God, passing into those souls which it ascertains to be holy, converts them into friends and prophets of God. And there may be found in the sacred books [the names of] those who in each generation were holy, and were recipients of the Divine Spirit, and who strove to convert their contemporaries so far as in their power.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
And it is not matter of surprise that in certain generations there have existed prophets who, in tle reception of divine influence, surpassed, by means of their stronger and more powerful [religious] life, other prophets who were their contem- poraries, and others also who lived before and after them. And so it is not at all wonderful that there should also have been a time when something of surpassing excellence? took up l οἰκείωσιν. 2 μετοὶ τοσοῦτον mias. 3 δικαιῶσαι, 4 τὸ λογικὸν ζῶον. δ iy τῇ παραδοχῇ τῆς θειότητος. € ἐξωίρετον τί χρῆμ.
Book rv.] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 169 its abode among the human race, and which was distinguished above all that preceded or even that followed it. But there is an element of profound mystery in the account of these things, and one which is incapable of being received by the popular understanding. And in order that these difficulties should be made to disappear, and that the objections raised against the advent of Christ should be answered—viz. that, “after so long a period of time, then, did God now bethink himself of making men live righteous lives, but neglect to do so before? "—it is necessary to touch upon the narrative of the divisions [of the nations], and to make it evident why it was, that “when the Most High divided the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and the portion of the Lord was His people Jacob, Israel the cord of His inheritance;"! and it will be necessary to state the reason why the birth of each man took place within each particular boundary, under him who obtained the boundary by lot, and how it rightly happened that * the portion of the Lord was His people Jacob, and Israel the cord of His inheritance," and why formerly the portion of the Lord was His people Jacob, and Israel the cord of His inheritance. But with respect to those who come after, it is said to the Saviour by the Father, * Ásk of me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost, parts of the earth for Thy possession."? For there are certain connected and related reasons, bearing upon the different treatment of human souls, which are difficult to state and to investigate.
CHAPTER IX.
There came, then, although Celsus may not wish to admit it, after the numerous prophets who were the reformers of that well-known Israel, the Christ, the Reformer of the whole world, who did not need tó employ against men whips, and chains, and tortures, as was the case under the former economy. For when the sower went forth to sow, the doctrine sufficed to sow 1 Deut. xxxii. 8, 9 (according to the LXX.).? Cf. Ps. ii. 8. 3 Εἰσὶ γάρ τινες sipjsol καὶ ἐκολουθίαι ἄφατοι καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητοι περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὰ; ἀνθρωπίνας Luxus διαζόρον oinovowias.
170. ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Book rv.
the word everywhere. But if there is a time coming which will necessarily circumscribe the duration of the world, by reason of its having had a beginning, and if there is to be an end to the world, and after the end a just judgment of all things, it will be incumbent on him who treats the declarations of the Gospels philosophically, to establish these doctrines by arguments of all kinds, not only derived directly from the sacred Scriptures, but also by inferences deducible from them; while the more numerous and simpler class of believers, and those who are unable to comprehend the many varied aspects of the divine wisdom, must entrust themselves to God, and to the Saviour of our race, and be contented with His * ipse dixit"! instead of this or any other demonstration whatever.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
In the next place, Celsus, as is his custom, having neither proved nor established anything, proceeds to say, as if we talked of God in a manner that was neither holy nor pious, that *it is perfectly manifest that they babble about God in a way that is neither holy nor reverential;” and he imagines that we do these things to excite the astonishment of the ignorant, and that we do not speak the truth regarding the necessity of punishments for those who have sinned. And accordingly he likens us to those who “in the Bacchic mysteries introduce phantoms and objects of terror. With respect to the mys- teries of Bacchus, whether there is any reliable account of them, or none that is such, let the Greeks tell, and let Celsus and his boon-companions? listen. But we defend our own pro- cedure, when we say that our object is to reform the human race, either by the threats of punishments which we are per- suaded are necessary for the whole world and which perhaps are not without use* to those who are to endure them; or by the promises made to those who have lived virtuous lives, and in which are contained the statements regarding the blessed termination which is to be found in the kingdom of God, reserved for those who are worthy of becoming His subjects.
αὐτὸς ἔφα. 3 συνθιειισῶται. ὃ τῷ carri.
4 οὐκ ἀχοήστον;. On Origen's views respecting rewards and punishments, cf. Huct's Origeniana, Book ii. question xi.
Book tv. | ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 171 CHAPTER XI.
After this, being desirous to show that it is nothing either wonderful or new which we state regarding floods or conflagra- tions, but that, from misunderstanding the accounts of these things which are current among Greeks or barbarous nations, we have accorded our belief to our own Scriptures when treat- ing of them, he writes as follows: “ The belief has spread among. them, from a misunderstanding of the accounts of these occurrences, that after lengthened cycles of time, and the returns and conjunctions of planets, conflagrations and floods are wont to happen, and because after the last flood, which took place in the time of Deucalion, the lapse of time, agree- ably to the vicissitude of all things, requires a conflagration; and this made them give utterance to the erroneous opinion that God will descend, bringing fire like a torturer.” Now in answer to this we say, that I do not understand how Celsus, who lias read a great deal, and who shows that he has per- used many histories, had not his attention arrested? by the antiquity of Moses, who is related by certain Greek historians to have lived about the time of Inachus the son of Phoxoneus, and is acknowledged by the Egyptians to be a man of great antiquity, as well as by those who have studied the history of the Phoenicians. And any one who likes may peruse the two books of Flavius Josephus on the antiquities of the Jews, in order that he may see in what way Moses was more ancient