to them are the same as theirs. We must inquire into the principles on which the objection to temples and images is founded, in order that we may approve of those who object on sound principles, and condemn those whose principles are false. For one and the same thing may be done for different reasons. For example, the philosophers who follow Zeno of Citium abstain from committing adultery, the followers of Epicurus do so too, as well as others again who do so on no philosophical principles; but observe what different reasons determine the conduct of these different classes. The first consider the inte- rests of society, and hold it to be forbidden by nature that a man who is a reasonable being should corrupt a woman whom the laws have already given to another, and should thus break up the household of another man. The Epicureans do not reason in this way; but if they abstain from adultery, it is because, regarding pleasure as the chief end of man, they per- ceive that one who gives himself up to adultery, encounters for the sake of this one pleasure a multitude of obstacles to pleasure, such as imprisonment, exile, and death itself. They often, indeed, run considerable risk at the outset, while watching for the departure from the house of the master and those in his interest. So that, supposing it possible for a man to com- init adultery, and escape the knowledge of the husband, of his servants, and of others whose esteem he would forfeit, then the Epicurean would yield to the commission of the crime for the sake of pleasure. The man of no philosophical system, again, who abstains from adultery when the opportunity comes to him, does so generally from dread of the law and its penalties, and not for the sake of enjoying a greater number of other pleasures. You see, then, that an act which passes for being one and the same—namely, abstinence from adultery—is not the same, but differs in different men according to the motives which actuate it: one man refraining for sound reasons, another for such bad and impious ones as those of the Epicurean, and the common person of whom we have spoken.
CHAPTER LXIV.
As, then, this act of self-restraint, which in appearance is one and the same, is found in fact to be different in different Book vir. | ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 485 persons, according to the principles and motives which lead to it; so in the same way with those who cannot allow in the worship of the Divine Being altars, or temples, or images. The Scythians, the nomadic Libyans, the godless Seres, and the Persians, agree in this with the Christians and Jews, but they are actuated by very different principles. For none of these former abhor altars and images on the ground that they are afraid of degrading the worship of God, and reducing it to the worship of material things wrought by the hands of men. Neither do they object to them from a belief that the demons choose certain forms and places, whether because they are detained there by virtue of certain charms, or because for some other possible reason they have selected these haunts, where they may pursue their criminal pleasures, in partaking of the smoke of sacrificial victims. But Christians and Jews have regard to this command, “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him alone;"! and this other, * Thou shalt have no other gods before me: thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them;"? and again, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve"? It is in consideration of these and many other such commands, that they not only avoid temples, altars, and images, but are ready to suffer death when it is necessary, rather than debase by any such impiety the conception which they have of the Most High God.
CHAPTER LXv.
In regard to the Persians, we have already said that though they do not build temples, yet they worship the sun and the other works of God. This is forbidden to us, for we have been taught not to worship the creature instead of the Creator, but to know that “the creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God;" and “the earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God;" and "the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason 1 Deut. vi. 13.? Ex. xx. 9, 4. 3 Matt, iv. 10.
486 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boor vir.
of him who made it subject, in hope.” We believe, therefore, that things “under the bondage of corruption,” and “subject to vanity,’ which remain in this condition “in hope” of a better state, ought not in our worship to hold the place of God, the all-sufficient, and of His Son, the first-born of all creation. Let this suffice, in addition to what we have already said of the Persians, who abhor altars and images, but who serve the creature instead of the Creator. As to the passage quoted by Celsus from Heraclitus, the purport of which he represents as being, “that it is childish folly for one to offer prayers to images, whilst he knows not who the gods and heroes are,” we may reply that it is easy to know that God and the only-be- gotten Son of God, and those whom God has honoured with the title of God, and who partake of His divine nature, are very different from all the gods of the nations which are demons; but it is not possible at the same time to know God and to address prayers to images.
CHAPTER LXVI.
CHAPTER LXVI.
And the charge of folly applies not only to those who offer prayers to images, but also to such as pretend to do so in com- pliance with the example of the multitude: and to this class belong the Peripatetic philosophers and the followers of Epi- curus and Democritus. For there is no falsehood or pretence in the soul which is possessed with true piety towards God. Another reason also why we abstain from doing honour to images, is that we may give no support to the notion that the images are gods. It is onthis ground that we condemn Celsus, and all others who, while admitting that they are not gods, yet, with the reputation of being wise men, render to them what passes for homage. In this way they lead into sin the multi- tude who follow their example, and who worship these images not simply out of deference to custom, but from a belief into which they have fallen that they are true gods, and that those are not to be listened to who hold that the objects of their worship are not true gods. Celsus, indeed, says that “ they do not take them for gods, but only as offerings dedicated to the gods.” But he does not prove that they are not rather Boox vit.] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 487 dedicated to men than, as he says, to the honour of the gods themselves; for it is clear that they are the offerings of men who were in error in their views of the Divine Being. More- over, we do not imagine that these images are representations of God, for they cannot represent a being who is invisible and incorporeal. But as Celsus supposes that we fall into a con- tradiction, whilst on the one hand we say that God has not a human form, and on the other we profess to believe that God made man the image of Himself, and created man the image of God; our answer is the same as has been given already, that we hold the resemblance to God to be preserved in the reasonable soul, which is formed to virtue, although Celsus, who does not see the difference between * being the image of God,” and “being created after the image of God,” pretends that we said, “God made man His own image, and gave him a form like to His own.” But this also has been examined before.
CHAPTER LXVII.
CHAPTER LXVII.
His next remark upon the Christians is: * They will admit that these images, whether they are like or not, are made and dedicated to the honour of certain beings; but they will hold that the beings to whom they are dedicated are not gods, but demons, and that a worshipper of God ought not to worship demons.” If he had been acquainted with the nature of demons, and with their several operations, whether led on to them by the conjurations of those who are skilled in the art, or urged on by their own inclination to act according to their power and inclination; if, Isay, he had thoroughly understood this subject, which is both wide in extent and difficult for human compre- hension, he would not have condemned us for saying that those who worship the Supreme Being should not serve demons. For ourselves, so far are we from wishing to serve demons, that by the use of prayers and other means which we learn from Scripture, we drive them out of the souls of men, out of places where they have established themselves, and even some- times from the bodies of animals; for even these creatures often suffer from injuries inflicted upon them by demons.
488 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Book vit.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
After all that we have already said concerning Jesus, it would be a useless repetition for us to answer these words of Celsus: * It is easy to convict them of worshipping not a god, not even demons, but a dead person.” Leaving, then, this ob- jection for the reason assigned, let us pass on to what follows: “In the first place, I would ask why we are not to serve demons? Is it not true that all things are ordered according to God's will, and that His providence governs all things? Is not everything which happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, regulated by the law of the Most High God? Have these not had assigned them various departments of which they were severally deemed worthy? Is it not just, therefore, that he who worships God should serve those also to whom God has assigned such power? Yet it is impossible, he says, for a man to serve many masters.” Observe here again how he settles at once a number of questions which require considerable research, and a profound acquaintance with what is most mysterious in the government of the universe. For we must inquire into the meaning of the statement, that “all things are ordered accord- ing to God’s will,” and ascertain whether sins are or are not included among the things which God orders. For if God's government extends to sins not only in men, but also in demons and in any other spiritual beings who are eapable of sin, it is for those who speak in this manner to see how inconvenient is the expression that “all things are ordered by the will of God.” For it follows from it that all sins and all their consequences are ordered by the will of God, which is a different thing from saying that they come to pass with God’s permission. For if we take the word “ordered” in its proper signification, and say that ‘all the results of sin were ordered,” then it is evident that all things are ordered according to God's will, and that all, therefore, who do evil do not offend against His government. And the same distinction holds in regard to “ providence.” When we say that “ the providence of God regulates all things,” we utter a great truth if we attribute to that providence no- thing but what is just and right. But if we ascribe to the Book vi]. ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 489 providence of God all things whatsoever, however unjust they may be, then it is no longer true that the providence of God regulates all things, unless we refer directly to God's providence things which flow as results from His arrangements. Celsus maintains also, that * whatever happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, is regulated by the law of the Most High God." But this also is incorrect; for we cannot say that transgressors follow the law of God when they transgress; and Scripture declares that it is not only wicked men who are transgressors, but also wicked demons and wicked angels.
CHAPTER LXIX.
And it is not we alone who speak of wicked demons, but almost all who acknowledge the existence of demons. Thus, then, it is not true that all observe the law of the Most High; for all who fall away from the divine law, whether through heedlessness, or through depravity and vice, or through igno- rance of what is right, all such do not keep the law of God, but, to use a new phrase which we find in Scripture, “ the law of sin.” I say, then, that in the opinion of most of those who believe in the existence of demons, some of them are wicked; and these, instead of keeping the law of God, offend against it. But, according to our belief, it is true of all demons, that they were not demons originally, but they became so in departing from the true way; so that the name “demons” is given to those beings who have fallen away from God. Accordingly, those who worship God must not serve demons. We may also learn the true nature of demons if we consider the practice of those who call upon them by charms to prevent certain things, or for many other purposes. For this is the method they adopt, in order by means of incantations and magical arts to invoke the demons, and induce them to further their wishes. Wherefore the worship of all demons would be inconsistent in us who worship the supreme God; and the service of demons is the service of so-called gods, for “all the gods of the heathen are demons.” The same thing also appears from the fact that the dedication of the most famous of the so-called sacred places, 1 Ps, xcvi. 5 (LX X).
490 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boox vir whether temples or statues, was accompanied by curious magical incantations,which were performed by those who zealously served the demons with magical arts. Hence we are determined to avoid the worship of demons even as we would avoid death; and we hold that the worship, which is supposed among the Greeks to be rendered to gods at the altars, and images, and temples, is in reality offered to demons.
CHAPTER Lxx.
His next remark was, “ Have not these inferior powers had assigned to them by God different departments, according as each was deemed worthy?” But this is a question which re- quires a very profound knowledge. For we must determine whether the Word of God, who governs all things, has appointed wicked demons for certain employments, in the same way as in states executioners are appointed, and other officers with cruel but needful duties to discharge; or whether as among robbers, who infest desert places, it is customary for them to choose out of their number one who may be their leader,—so the demons, who are scattered as it were in troops in different parts of the earth, have chosen for themselves a chief under whose command they may plunder and pillage the souls of men. To explain this fully, and to justify the conduct of the Christians in refusing homage to any object except the Most High God, and the First-born of all creation, who is His Word and God, we must quote this from Scripture, * All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them;" and again, *'The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy;"! and other similar passages, as, “ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you;"? and again, “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”* But of these things Celsus knew nothing, or he would not have made use of language like this: * Is not everything which happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, regu- lated by the law of the Most High God? Have these not Book vi] § ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 491 had assigned to them various departments of which they were severally deemed worthy? Is it not just, therefore, that he who serves God should serve those also to whom God has assigned such power?” To which he adds, “It is impossible, they say, for a man to serve many masters.” This last point we must postpone to the next book; for this, which is the seventh book which we have written in answer to the treatise of Celsus, is already of sufficient length.
BOOK VIII. CHAPTER I.
Sane @AVING completed seven books, I now propose to ἢ "S3 M begin the eighth. And may God and His only- begotten Son the Word be with us, to enable us effectively to refute the falsehoods which Celsus has published under the delusive title of A True Discourse, and at the same time to unfold the truths of Christianity with such fulness as our purpose requires. And as Paul said, “ We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us"! so would we in the same spirit and language earnestly desire to be ambassadors for Christ to men, even as the Word of God beseeches them to the love of Himself, seeking to win over to righteousness, truth, and the other virtues, those who, unti] they receive the doctrines of Jesus Christ, live in darkness about God and in ignorance of their Creator. Again, then, I would say, may God bestow upon us His pure and true Word, even *the Lord strong and mighty in battle"? against sin. We must now proceed to state the next objection of Celsus, and afterwards to answer it.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
In a passage previously quoted Celsus asks us why we do not worship demons, and to his remarks on demons we gave such an answer as seemed to us in accordance with the divine word. After having put this question for the purpose of leading us to the worship of demons, he represents us as answering that it is impossible to serve many masters. “ὁ This,” he goes on to say, “‘is the language of sedition, and is only used by those who separate themselves and stand aloof from all human society. Those who speak in this way ascribe,” as he supposes, “ their Book vit. | ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 493 own feelings and passions to God. It does hold true among men, that he who is in the service of one master cannot well serve another, because the service which he renders to the one interferes with that which he owes to the other; and no one, therefore, who has already engaged himself to the service of one, must accept that of another. And, in like manner, it is impos- sible to serve at the same time heroes or demons of different natures. But in regard to God, who is subject to no suffering or loss, it is,” he thinks, * absurd to be on our guard against serving more gods, as though we had to do with demi-gods, or other spirits of that sort. He says also, * He who serves many gods does that which is pleasing to the Most High, because he honours that which belongs to Him.” And he adds, * [t is indeed wrong to give honour to any to whom God has not given honour." ‘ Wherefore,” he says, “in honouring and worshipping all belonging to God, we will not displease Him to whom they all belong."
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
Before proceeding to the next point, it may be well for us to see whether we do not accept with approval the saying, “ No man can serve two masters,” with the addition, “ for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other," and further, “ Ye cannot serve God and mammon."! The defence of this passage will lead us to a deeper and more searching inquiry into the meaning and application of the words * gods" and “lords.” Divine Scrip- ture teaches us that there is * a great Lord above all gods."? And by this name “ gods” we are not to understand the objects of heathen worship (for we know that “all the gods of the heathen are demons”), but the gods mentioned by the prophets as forming an assembly, whom God “ judges,” and to each of whom He assigns his proper work. For “ God standeth in the assembly of the gods: He judgeth among the gods."* For ‘¢ God is Lord of gods," who by His Son * hath called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof." We are also commanded to “give thanks to the God of gods."* 494 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Book vni.
Moreover, we are taught that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."! Nor are these the only passages to this effect; but there are very many others.
CHAPTER IV.
The sacred Scriptures teach us to think, in like manner, of the Lord of lords. For they say in one place, * Give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endureth for ever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth for ever;" and in another, “God is King of kings, and Lord of lords." For Scripture distinguishes between those gods which are such only in name and those which are truly gods, whether they are called by that name or not; and the same is true in regard to the use of the word “lords.” To this effect Paul says, * For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there are gods many, and lords many"? But as the God of gods calls whom He pleases through Jesus to his in- heritance, “from the east and from the west,” and the Christ of God thus shows His superiority to all rulers by entering into their several provinces, and summoning men out of them to be subject to Himself, Paul therefore, with this in view, goes on to say, “ But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him;" adding, as if with a deep sense of the marvellous and mysterious nature of the doctrine, * Howbeit, there is not in every man that knowledge" When he says, “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things" by * us" he means himself and all those who have risen up to the supreme God of gods and to the supreme Lord of lords. Now he has risen to the supreme God who gives Him an entire and undivided worship through His Son—the word and wisdom of God made manifest in Jesus. For it is the Son alone who leads to God those who are striving, by the purity of their thoughts, words, and deeds, to come near to God the Creator of the universe. I think, therefore, that the prince of this world, who “transforms himself into an angel of light,"! was referring to this and such like statements in the words, 1 Matt. xxii. 32. 31 Cor. viii. δ, etc. 3 2 Gor. xi. 14.
Book vu. ] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 495 * Him follows a host of gods and demons, arranged in eleven bands.” Speaking of himself and the philosophers, he says, * We are of the party of Jupiter; others belong to other demons." * CHAPTER V.
Whilst there are thus many gods and lords, whereof some are such in reality, and others are such only in name, we strive to rise not only above those whom the nations of the earth worship as gods, but also beyond those spoken of as gods in Scripture, of whom they are wholly ignorant who are strangers to the cove- nants of God given by Moses and by our Saviour Jesus, and who have no part in the promises which He has made to us through them. That man rises above all demon-worship who does nothing that is pleasing to demons; and he rises to a blessedness beyond that of those whom Paul calls “ gods,” if he is enabled, like them, or in any way he may, “ to look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen." And he who considers that “the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope,” whilst he praises the creature, and sees how * it shall be freed altogether from the bondage of corruption, and restored to the glorious liberty of the children of God,”?—such a one cannot be induced to combine with the service of God the service of any other, or to serve two masters. There is therefore nothing seditious or factious in the language of those who hold these views, and who refuse to serve more masters than'one. To them Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Lord, who Himself in- structs them, in order that when fully instructed He may form them into a kingdom worthy of God, and present them to God the Father. But indeed they do in a sense separate themselves and stand aloof from those who are aliens from the common- wealth of God'and strangers to His covenants, in order that they may live as citizens of heaven, “ coming to the living God, and to the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven.” ὃ 1 Plato, Phaedrus, p. 246. 3 Rom. vii. 19, 20. —?* Heb. xii. 22, 23.
496 ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. [Boo& vir.
CiIIAPTER VI.
But when we refuse to serve any other than God through His word and wisdom, we do so, not as though we would thereby be doing any harm or injury to God, in the same way as injury would be done to a man by his servant entering into the service of another, but we fear that we ourselves should suffer harm by depriving ourselves of our portion in God, through which we live in the participation of the divine blessedness, and are imbued with that excellent spirit of adoption which in the sons of the heavenly Father cries, not with words, but with deep effect in the inmost heart, ** Abba, Father." The Lacedsemonian ambassadors, when brought before the king of Persia, refused to prostrate themselves before him, when the attendants endeavoured to compel them to do so, out of respect for that which alone had authority and lordship over them, namely, thelaw of Lycurgus! Butthey who have a much greater and diviner embassy in * being ambassadors for Christ " should not worship any ruler among Persians, or Greeks, or Egyptians, or of any nation whatever, even although their officers and ministers, demons and angels of the devil, should seek to compel them to do so, and should urge them to set at nought a law which is mightier than all the laws upon earth. For the Lord of those who are “ambassadors for Christ" is Christ Himself, whose ambassadors they are, and who is “the Word, who was in the beginning, was with God, and was God.”?
CHAPTER VII.
But when Celsus speaks of heroes and demons, he starts a deeper question than he is aware of. For after the statement which he made in regard to service among men, that “ the first master is injured when any of his servants wishes at the same time to serve another,” he adds, that “the same holds true of heroes, and other demons of that kind.” Now we must in- quire of him what nature he thinks those heroes and demons possess of whom he affirms that he who serves one hero may not serve another, and he who serves one demon may not serve another, as though the former hero or demon would be injured Book vri.] ORIGEN AGAINST CELSUS. 497 in the same way as men are injured when they who serve them first afterwards give themselves to the service of others. Let him also state what loss he supposes those heroes or demons will suffer. For he will be driven either to plunge into endless absurdities, and first repeat, then retract his previous statements; or else to abandon his frivolous conjectures, and confess that he understands nothing of the nature of heroes and demons. And in regard to his statement, that men suffer injury when the servant of one man enters the service of a second master, the question arises: “ What is the nature of the injury which is done to the former master by a servant who, while serving him, wishes at the same time to serve another? ᾿ CHAPTER VIII.