CHAPTER XV.
After assuming that some things were foretold which are impossible in themselves, and inconsistent with the character of God, he says: “If these things were predicted of the Most High God, are we bound to believe them of God simply be- cause they were predicted?” And thus he thinks he proves, that although the prophets may have foretold truly such things of the Son of God, yet it is impossible for us to believe in those prophecies declaring that He would do or suffer such things. To this our answer is that the supposition is absurd, for it com- bines two lines of reasoning which are opposed to each other, and 438 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boox vu.
therefore mutually destructive. This may be shown as follows. The one argument is: “If any true prophets of the Most High say that God will become a slave, or suffer sickness, or die, these things will come to God; for it is impossible that the prophets of the great God should utter lies.’ The other is: “If even true prophets of the Most High God say that these same things shall come to pass, seeing that these things fore- told are by the nature of things impossible, the prophecies are not true, and therefore those things which have been foretold will not happen to God.” When, then, we find two processes of reasoning in both of which the major premiss is the same, leading to two contradictory conclusions, we use the form of argument called * the theorem of two propositions,"! to prove that the major premiss is false, which in the case before us is this, “ that the prophets have foretold that the great God should become a slave, suffer sickness, or die We conclude, then, that the prophets never foretold such things; and the argument is formally expressed as follows: 1st, Of two things, if the first is true, the second is true; 2d, if the first is? true, the second is not true, therefore the first is not true. The concrete example which the Stoics give to illustrate this form of argument is the following: 1st, If you know that you are dead, you are dead; 2d, if. you know that you are dead, you are not dead. And the conclusion is—‘ you do not know that you are dead." ‘These propositions are worked out as follows: If you know that you are dead, that which you know is certain; therefore you are dead. Again, if you know that you are dead, your death is an object of knowledge; but as the dead know nothing, your knowing this proves that you are not dead. Accordingly, by joining the two arguments together, you arrive at the con- clusion— you do not know that you are dead.” Now the hypothesis of Celsus which we have given above is much of the same kind.
CHAPTER XVI.
But besides, the prophecies which he introduces into his argu-- 1 dred δύο τροπικῶν θεωρήμα.
: 3 We follow Bouhereau and Valesius, who expunge the negative particle in this clause.
Book vn. ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 489 ment are very different from what the prophets actually foretold of Jesus Christ. For the prophecies do not foretell that God will be crucified, when they say of Him who should suffer, “ We beheld Him, and He had no form or comeliness; but His form | was dishonoured and marred more than the sons of men; He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief! Observe, then, how distinctly they say that it was a man who should endure these human sufferings. And Jesus Himself, who knew perfectly that one who was to die must be a man, said to His accusers: “ But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath spoken unto you the truth which I heard of God.”? And if in that. man as He appeared among men there was something divine, namely the only-begotten Son of God, the first-born of all creation, one who said of Himself, “1 am the truth," “I am the life,” ** I am the door," “1 am the way,” “I am the living bread which came down from heaven,” of this Being and His nature we must judge and reason in a way quite different from that in which we judge of the man who was seen in Jesus Christ. Accordingly, you will find no Christian, however simple he may be, and however little versed in critical studies, who would say that He who died was “the truth,” “ the life,” * the way," “ the living bread which came down from heaven," * the resurrection;"' for it was He who appeared to us in the form of the man Jesus, who taught us, saying, *I am the resurrection." There is no one amongst us, I say, so extravagant as to affirm “the Life died,” “the Resurrection died.” The supposition of Celsus would have some foundation if we were to say that it had been foretold by the prophets that death would befall God the Word, the Truth, the Life, the Resurrection, or any other name which is assumed by the Son of God.
CHAPTER XVII.
In one point alone is Celsus correct in his statements on this subject. It is that in which he says: “The prophets would not foretell this, because it involves that which is wicked and impious,"— namely, that the great God should become a slave or suffer death. But that which is predicted by the prophets is worthy of God, that He who is the brightness and express 440 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boox vn.
image of the divine nature should come into the world with the holy human soul which was to animate the body of Jesus, to sow the seed of His word, which might bring all who received and cherished it into union with the Most High God, and which would lead to perfect blessedness all those who felt within them the power of God the Word, who was to be in the body and soul of a man. He was to be in it indeed, but not in such a way as to confine therein all the rays of His glory; and we are not to suppose that the light of Him who is God the Word is shed forth in no other way than in this. If, then, we consider Jesus in relation to the divinity that was in Him, the things which He did in this capacity present nothing to offend our ideas of God, nothing but what is holy; and if we consider Him as man, distinguished beyond all other men by an intimate communion with the Eternal Word, with absolute Wisdom, He suffered as one who was wise and perfect, whatever it behoved Him to suffer who did all for the good of the human race, yea, even for the good of allintelligent beings. And there is nothing absurd in a man having died, and in His death being not only an example of death endured for the sake of piety, but also the first blow in the conflict which is to overthrow the power of that evil spirit the devil, who had obtained dominion over the whole world. For we have signs and pledges of the destruc- tion of his empire, in those who through the coming of Christ are everywhere escaping from the power of demons, and who, after their deliverance from this bondage in which they were held, consecrate themselves to God, and earnestly devote them- selves day by day to advancement in a life of piety.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Celsus adds: “ Will they not besides make this reflection? If the prophets of the God of the Jews foretold that he who should come into the world would be the Son of this same God, how could he command them through Moses to gather wealth, to extend their dominion, to fill the earth, to put their enemies of every age to the sword, and to destroy them utterly, which indeed he himself did—as Moses says—threatening them, moreover, that if they did not obey his commands, he would treat them as his avowed enemies; whilst, on the other hand, Book vu. | ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 441 his Son, the man of Nazareth, promulgated laws quite opposed to these, declaring that no one can come to the Father who loves power, or riches, or glory; that men ought not to be more careful in providing food than the ravens; that they were to be less concerned about their raiment than the lilies; that to him who has given them one blow, they should offer to receive another? Whether is it Moses or Jesus who teaches falsely? Did the Father, when he sent Jesus, forget the commands which he had given to Moses? Or did he change his mind, condemn his own laws, and send forth a messenger with counter instructions?” Celsus, with all his boasts of universal knowledge, has here fallen into the most vulgar of errors, in supposing that in the law and the prophets there is not a meaning deeper than that afforded by a literal rendering of the words. He does not see how manifestly incredible it is that worldly riches should be promised to those who lead upright lives, when it is a matter of common observation that the best of men have lived in extreme poverty. Indeed, the prophets themselves, who for the purity of their lives received the Divine Spirit, “wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented: they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”' For, as the Psalmist says, “ many are the afflictions of the righteous.”? If Celsus had read the writings of Moses, he would, I daresay, have supposed that when it is said to him who kept the law, « Thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou thyself shalt not borrow,"? the promise is made to the just man, that his temporal riches should be so abundant, that he would be able to lend not only to the Jews, not only to two or three nations, but “Sto many nations.” What, then, must have been the wealth which the just man received according to the law for his righteousness, if he could lend to many nations? And must we not suppose also, in accordance with this interpretation, that the just man would never borrow anything? For it is written, * and thou shalt thyself borrow nothing." Did then that nation remain for so long a period attached to the religion which was taught by Moses, whilst, according to the supposi- tion of Celsus, they saw themselves so grievously deceived by Heb. xi. 37, 38. 3 Ps. xxxiv. 19. > Deut. xxviii. 12.
442 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. _[Boox vu.
that lawgiver? For nowhere is it said of any one that he was so rich as to lend to many nations. It is not to be be- lieved that they would have fought so zealously in defence of a law whose promises had proved glaringly false, if they under- stood them in the sense which Celsus gives to them. And if any one should say that the sins which are recorded to have been committed by the people are a proof that they despised the law, doubtless from the feeling that they had been deceived by it, we may reply that we have only to read the history of the times in order to find it shown that the whole people, after having done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, returned afterwards to their duty, and to the religion prescribed by the law.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
Now if these words in the law, “Thou shalt have dominion over many nations, and no one shall rule over thee,” were simply a promise to them of dominion, and if they contain no deeper meaning than this, then it is certain that the people would have had still stronger grounds for despising the promises of the law. Celsus brings forward another passage, although he changes the terms of it, where it is said that the whole earth shall be filled with the Hebrew race; which indeed, according to the testimony of history, did actually happen after the coming of Christ, although rather as a result of God's anger, if I may so say, than of His blessing. As to the pro- mise made to the Jews that they should slay their enemies, it may be answered that any one who examines carefully into the meaning of this passage will find himself unable to interpret it literally. It is sufficient at present to refer to the manner in which in the Psalms the just man is represented as saying, among other things, “ Every morning will I destroy the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of J ehovah."! Judge, then, from the words and spirit of the speaker, whether it is conceivable that, after having in the preceding part of the Psalm, as any one may read for himself, uttered the noblest thoughts and purposes, he should in the Seque according to the literal rendering of his words, Book vir. ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 443 say that in the morning, and at no other period of the day, he would destroy all sinners from the earth, and leave none of them alive, and that he would slay every one in Jerusalem who did iniquity. And there are many similar expressions to be found in the law, as this, for example: “ We left not anything alive."!
CHAPTER Xx.
Celsus adds, that it was foretold to the J'ews, that if they did not obey the law, they would be treated in the same way as they treated their enemies; and then he quotes from the teach- ing of Christ some precepts which he considers contrary to those of the law, and uses that as an argument against us. But before proceeding to this point, we must speak of that which precedes. We hold, then, that the law has a twofold sense,— the one literal, the other spiritual, — as has been shown by some before us. Of the first or literal sense it is said, not by us, but by God, speaking in one of the prophets, that “ the statutes are not good, and the judgments not good;”? whereas, taken in a spiritual sense, the same prophet makes God say that “His statutes are good, and His judgments good.” Yet evidently the prophet is not saying things which are contradictory of each other. Paul in like manner says, that “ the letter killeth, and the spirit giveth life,"? meaning by “the letter” the literal sense, and by “the spirit" the spiritual sense of Scripture. We may therefore find in Paul, as well as in the prophet, apparent contradictions. Indeed, if Ezekiel says in one place, “I gave them commandments which were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live,” and in another, “1 gave them good commandments and judg- ments, which if a man shall do, he shall live by them,” Paul in like manner, when he wishes to disparage the law taken literally, says, “If the ministration of death, written and en- graven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?"* But 444 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Book vir.
when in another place he wishes to praise and recommend the law, he calls it “spiritual,” and says, “ We know that the law is spiritual;" and, * Wherefore the law is holy, and the com- mandment holy, and just, and good."!
CHAPTER XXI.
When, then, the letter of the law promises riches to the just, Celsus may follow the letter which killeth, and understand it of worldly riches, which blind men; but we say that it refers to those riches which enlighten the eyes, and which enrich a man *in all utterance and in all knowledge." And in this sense we * charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, will- ing to communicate."? For, as Solomon says, “riches” are the true good, which “are the ransom of the life of a man;” but the poverty which is the opposite of these riches is destruc- tive, for by it “the poor cannot bear rebuke.”* And what has been said of riches applies to dominion, in regard to which it is said, * The just man shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.”* Now if riches are to be taken in the sense we have just explained, consider if it is not according to God’s promise that he who is rich in all utter- ance, in all knowledge, in all wisdom, in all good works, may not out of these treasures of utterance, of wisdom, and of knowledge, lend to many nations. It was thus that Paul lent to all the nations that he visited, “carrying the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem, and round about unto lIllyricum."? And as the divine knowledge was given to him by revelation, and his mind was illumined by the Divine Word, he himself therefore needed to borrow from no one, and required not the ministry of any man to teach him the word of truth. Thus, as it had been written, “Thou shalt have dominion over many nations, and they shall not have dominion over thee,” he ruled over the Gentiles whom he brought under the teaching of Jesus Christ; and he never “ gave place by subjection to men, * Deut. xxxii. 30. 5 Rom. xv. 19.
Boox vit. ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 445 no, not for an hour,"! as being himself mightier than they. And thus also he “filled the earth.”
CHAPTER XXII.
If I must now explain how the just man “slays his enemies,” and prevails everywhere, it is to be observed that, when he says, 4 Every morning will I destroy the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah,” by “the land” he means the flesh whose lusts are at enmity with God; and by “‘the city of Jehovah” he desig- nates his own soul, in which was the temple of God, containing the true idea and conception of God, which makes it to be admired by all who look upon it. As soon, then, as the rays of the Sun of righteousness shine into his soul, feeling strengthened and invigorated by their influence, he sets himself to destroy all the lusts of the flesh, which are called “the wicked of the land,” and drives out of that city of the Lord which is in his soul all thoughts which work iniquity, and all suggestions which are opposed to the truth. And in this way also the just give up to destruction all their enemies, which are their vices, so that they do not spare even the children, that is, the early beginnings and promptings of evil. In this sense also we understand the language of the 137th Psalm: “O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us: happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”* For *the little ones” of Babylon (which signifies confusion) are those troublesome sinful thoughts which arise in the soul; and he who subdues them by striking, as it were, their heads against the firm and solid strength of reason and truth, is the man who * dasheth the little ones against the stones;” and he is there- fore truly blessed. God may therefore have commanded men to destroy all their vices utterly, even at their birth, without having enjoined anything contrary to the teaching of Christ; and He may Himself have destroyed before the eyes of those who were “ Jews inwardly ”® all the offspring of evil as His enemies. And, in like manner, those who disobey the law and word of God may well be compared to His enemies led astray 446 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boox vu.
by sin; and they may well be said to suffer the same fate as they deserve who have proved traitors to the trath of God.
CHAPTER XXIII.
From what has been said, it is clear then that Jesus, * the man of Nazareth,” did not promulgate laws opposed to those just considered in regard to riches, when He said, “It is hard for the rich man to enter into the kingdom of God;"! whether we take the word “ rich” in its simplest sense, as referring to the man whose mind is distracted by his wealth, and, as it were, entangled with thorns, so that he brings forth no spiritual fruit; or whether it is the man who is rich in the sense of abounding in false notions, of whom it is written in the Proverbs, “ Better is the poor man who is just, than the rich man who is false."? Perhaps it is the following passages which have led Celsus to suppose that Jesus forbids ambition to His disciples: * Who- ever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all; "? “ The princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,"* and “they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.” 5 But there is nothing here inconsistent with the promise, * Thou shalt rule over many nations, and they shall not rule over thee,” especially after the explanation which we have given of these words. Celsus next throws in an expression in regard to wis- dom, as though he thought that, according to the teaching of Christ, no wise man could come to the Father. But we would ask in what sense he speaks of a wise man. For if he means one who is wise in “the wisdom of this world," as it is called, “which is foolishness with God,"* then we would agree with him in saying that access to the Father is denied to one who is wise in that sense. But if by wisdom any one means Christ, who is “the power and wisdom of God,” far from such a wise man being refused access to the Father, we hold that he who is adorned by the Holy Spirit with that gift which is called *the word of wisdom," far excels all those who have not received the same grace.
Boox vi. ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 447 CHAPTER XXIV.
The pursuit of human glory, we maintain, is forbidden not only by the teaching of Jesus, but also by the Old Testament. Accordingly we find one of the prophets, when imprecating upon himself certain punishments for the commission of certain sins, includes among the punishments this one of earthly glory. He says, “O Lord my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, rather, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy;) let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and set my glory up on high! And these precepts of our Lord, * Take no thought what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. Behold the fowls of the air, or behold the ravens: for they sow not, neither do they reap; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. How much better are ye than they! And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field;"? —these precepts, and those which follow, are not inconsistent with the promised blessings of the law, which teaches that the just “shall eat their bread to the full;"? nor with that saying of Solomon, * The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked shall want.”* For we must consider the food promised in the law as the food of the soul, which is to satisfy not both parts of man's nature, but the soul only. And the words of the Gospel, although probably containing a deeper meaning, may yet be taken in their more simple and obvious sense, as teaching us not to be disturbed with anxieties about our food and clothing, but, while living in plainness, and desiring only what is needful, to put our trust in the providence of God.
CHAPTER XXV.
Celsus then extracts from the Gospel the precept, “To him who strikes thee once, thou shalt offer thyself to be struck again," although without giving any passage.from the Old Testament 1 Pg. vii 3-5. Origen follows the reading εἰς χοῦν instead of εἰς χνοῦν, ** make my glory abide in the dust." 2 Matt. vi. 25-28. 3 Lev. xxvi. 5. 4 Prov. xiii. 25.
448 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS [Booz vir.