Origen: Against Celsus, Books I–VIII

This individual is mentioned by Eusebius ( Eccles. Hist ., vi. c. 18) as having been converted from the heresy of Valentinus to the faith of the Church by the efforts of Origen. [Lardner ( Credib ., vii. 210–212) is inclined to “place” Celsus in the year 176. Here and elsewhere this learned authority is diffuse on the subject, and merits careful attention.]

Cf. Matt. xxvi. 59–63 .

Cf. Matt. xxvii. 11–14 .

Μεγαλοφυῶς ὑπερεωρακέναι τοὺς κατηγόρους .

Cf. Matt. xxvii. 17 .

Cf. Matt. xxvii. 18 .

Rom. viii. 35–37 .

Rom. viii. 38, 39 .

Rom. viii. 37 , ὑπερνικῶμεν .

ἤ τινος πιθανότητος λόγου .

Col. ii. 8 .

Cf. Jer. xx. 7 .

Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν τῶν ψευδομένων ἐν γεωμετρικοῖς θεωρήμασι ψευδογραφούμενόν τις ἂν λέγοι, ἢ καὶ ἀναγράφοι γυμνασίου ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἀπὸ τοιούτων . Cf. note of Ruæus in loc .

Rom. xiv. 1 .

σωματοποιῆσαι .

τὴν καλουμένην ἀγάπην .

ἀθέσμους .

παρανομίαν .

τῷ λόγῳ .

τὸν ἠθικὸν τόπον .

τὸ βούλημα τοῦ νόμου .

ὁ λόγος .

Cf. Matt. vii. 22 .

The words, as they stand in the text of Lommatzsch, are, ἀλλὰ καὶ μὴν νοηθὲν τὸ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μυστήριον . Ruæus would read μή instead of μήν . This emendation has been adopted in the translation.

δεινότητος .

λόγῳ καὶ λογικῷ ὁδηγῷ .

συμβολικῶς γεγενημένων, ἢ νενομοθετημένων .

σφόδρα ὀλίγων ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον ᾀττόντων .

ἀποκληρωτικῶς .

μᾶλλον εὐγνωμόνως .

ἀπὸ πρώτης προσβολῆς .

Παρ᾽ οἶς εἰσι τελεταὶ, πρεσβευόμεναι μὲν λογικῶς ὑπὸ τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς λογίων, συμβολικῶς δὲ γινόμεναι ὑπὸ τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς πολλῶν καὶ ἐπιπολαιοτέρων . For γινόμεναι Ruæus prefers γινωσκόμεναι , which is adopted in the translation.

1 Cor. iii. 18, 19 .

μετενσωματώσεως .

῎Ετι δε ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τὸ τῷ λόγῳ ἀρέσκον, πολλῷ διαφέρει μετὰ λόγου καὶ σοφίας συγκατατίθεσθαι τοῖς δόγμασιν, ἤπερ μετὰ ψιλῆς τῆς πίστεως· καὶ ὅτι κατὰ περίστασιν καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐβουλήθη ὁ Λόγος, ἵνα μὴ πάντη ἀνωφελεῖς ἐάσῃ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, δηλοῖ ὁ τοῦ ᾽Ιησοῦ γνήσιος μαθητής , etc.

1 Cor. i. 23, 24 .

[ ἀρχαιότητος . See Josephus’s Works , for the treatise in two books, usually designated, as written, Against Apion . S.]

[See vol. ii. pp. 80, 81. S.]

Οἱονεὶ κωλύεται, κατηγορήσας ὡς βούλεται, ἀπολογεῖσθαι τοὺς δυναμένους ὡς πέφυκεν ἔχειν τὰ πράγματα . We have taken κωλύεται as middle. Some propose κωλύει . And we have read βούλονταί , a lection which is given by a second hand in one ms.

᾽Επιτρίψαι . Other readings are ἐπιστρέψαι and ἀποστρέψαι , which convey the opposite meaning.

αὐτόθεν .

[See Dr. Waterland’s charge to the clergy, on “The Wisdom of the Ancients borrowed from Divine Revelation,” Works , vol. v. pp. 10, 24. S.]

Ps. cii. 27 .

Mal. iii. 6 .

ἀναπλάσματα .

τὴν ἀπλανῆ .

᾽Επὶ τὸν τυφλὸν πλοῦτον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν σαρκῶν καὶ αἱμάτων καὶ ὀστέων συμμετρίαν ἐν ὑγιείᾳ καὶ εὐεξίᾳ, ἢ την νομιζομένην εὐγένειαν .

Lev. xix. 31 .

῾Ως γενομένου ἡγεμόνος τῇ καθὸ Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν γενέσει ἡμῶν .

οὐ κολακεύων .

ἰδιωτικήν .

σεῖσαι .

[This striking chapter is cited, as a specimen of Christian eloquence, in the important work of Guillon, Cours d’ Eloquence Sacrèe , Bruxelles, 1828].

Gelenius reads ὁπλίζων (instead of ἀλείφων ), which has been adopted in the translation.

Cf. Homer’s Iliad , v. 2, 3.

Cf. Isa. vii. 10–14 with Matt. i. 23 .

νεᾶνις .

νεᾶνιν .

Cf. Deut. xxii. 23, 24 .

τῇ νεάνιδι .

Cf. Isa. vii. 11 .

Isa. vii. 14 .

Cf. Eph. iv. 10 .

Cf. Deut. xviii. 14 .

Cf. Deut. xviii. 14 .

Cf. Deut. xviii. 15 .

Cf. 1 Sam. ix. 10 .

Cf. 1 Kings xiv. 12 . [See note 3, supra , p. 362. S.]

Cf. 2 Kings i. 3 .

Πεποίηκεν ἀντὶ σπερματικοῦ λόγου, τοῦ ἐκ μίξεως τῶν ἀῤῥένων ταῖς γυναιξὶ, ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ γενέσθαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ τεχθησομένου .

This difficult passage is rendered in the Latin translation: “but that, after they had believed (in Christ), they with no adequate supply of arguments, such as is furnished by the Greek dialectics, gave themselves up,” etc.

Cf. Ezek. i. 1 .

Cf. Ezek. i. 28 and ii. 1 .

Cf. Isa. vi. 1, 2 .

χαρίσματι .

Cf. Isa. xlviii. 16 .

[ ἀρχαιολογίας . S.] Cf. Joseph., Antiq ., book xviii. c. v. sec. 2.

[ Ibid ., b. xx. c. ix. § 1. S.]

Cf. Gal. i. 19 .

Cf. Prov. ii. 5 .

Cf. 2 Cor. ii. 15 .

Cf. 1 John i. 1 .

Cf. Ezek. iii. 2, 3 .

᾽Ωσφράνθη τῆς ὀσμῆς τῶν τοῦ υἱοῦ θειοτέρων ἱματίων .

Cf. Gen. xxvii. 27 .

Cf. Matt. viii. 3 .

Cf. John i. 32–34 .

Cf. John i. 51 .

Cf. 2 Cor. xii. 2 .

Cf. Matt. xvii. 9 .

John v. 31 .

John x. 24 .

παντοδαπῶς προεῖπον .

Cf. Mic. v. 2. and Matt. ii. 6 .

[See Dr. Spencer’s The East: Sketches of Travel in Egypt and the Holy Land , pp. 362–365, London, Murray, 1850, an interesting work by my esteemed collaborator.]

[Concerning this, besides Dr. Robinson (ii. 159), consult Dean Stanley, Sinai and Palestine , p. 433. But compare Van Lennep, Bible Lands , p. 804; Roberts’ Holy Land , capp. 85, 87, vol. ii., London.]

Cf. John vii. 42 .

Cf. Matt. xxviii. 13, 14 .

Cf. Gen. xlix. 10 , ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ . This is one of the passages of the Septuagint which Justin Martyr charges the Jews with corrupting; the true reading, according to him, being ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται . Cf. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho , vol. i. p. 259.

Cf. Gen. xlix. 10 .

Isa. xlii. 4 . (Sept.).

Cf. Isa. xlix. 8, 9 .

Isa. xlix. 9 .

ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν .

Cf. Isa. lii. 13–15 in the Septuagint version (Roman text).

Cf. Isa. liii. 1–8 in the Septuagint version (Roman text).

[ Col. ii. 15 . S.]

Ps. xlv. 2–5 .

Ps. xlv. 6, 7 .

πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν .

Rom. viii. 15 .

Cf. Acts v. 38, 39 .

Cf. Num. xxiv. 17 (Septuag.).

Cf. Num. xxiv. 17 (Septuag.).

Cf. John xviii. 36 .

Λέβης .

Cf. Mark iii. 18 with Matt. x. 3 .

Matt. iv. 19 .

Cf. 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5 .

Cf. Ps. lxviii. 11 (Septuag.).

Ps. cxlvii. 15 .

Ps. xix. 4 .

Matt. ix. 37, 38 .

Epistle of Barnabas , chap. v. vol. i. p. 139.

Luke v. 8 .

Cf. 1 Tim. i. 15 .

ἀπὸ οἰκήματος . Such is the reading in the text of Lommatzsch. Hoeschel and Spencer read ἀπὸ οἰκήματος ἐτείου , and Ruaus proposes ἑταιρίου .

Cf. Tit. iii. 3–6 .

Cf. Ps. cvii. 20 .

Cf. Matt. x. 23 .

Cf. Iliad, v. 340.

John xiv. 6 .

Cf. John viii. 40 .

Cf. Matt. i. 20 .

Cf. Matt. ii. 13 .

[Note the words, “The whole habitable world,” and comp. cap. iii., supra , “the defeat of the whole world.” In cap. vii. is another important testimony. “Countless numbers” is the phrase in cap. xxvii. See cap. xxix. also, ad finem . Such evidence cannot be explained away.]

ὡς δικαιωθησομένους .

μέγαν ἀγωνιστήν .

[ 1 Pet. ii. 22; 2 Cor. v. 21 . S.]

Ps. liv. 5 .

[Comp. Justin, Dial. with Trypho ( passim ), vol. i., this series.]

πιθανώτατος .

ןוֹיבְאֶ .

Cf. Acts x. 9–15 .

Cf. Gal. ii. 12 .

Cf. Acts xxi. 26 .

John xvi. 12, 13 .

Gal. iv. 21, 22, 24 .

1 Cor. ix. 8–10 .

Rom. xvi. 25, 26 .

τῶν ἐπιπολαιότερον καὶ μυθικώτερον αὐτοῖς ἐντυγχανόντων .

John v. 46, 47 .

Mark i. 1, 2 .

ἕωλα .

μύθους καὶ λήρους .

τοῖς κάτω ᾽Ιουδαίοις .

μυθολογίας .

Ps. lxxviii. 2 .

Ps. cxix. 18 .

ἀλαζονεία .

Matt. xi. 29 .

John xiii. 8 .

Luke xxii. 27 .

Isa. vi. 9 .

[“The Fathers, while they refer to extraordinary divine agency going on in their own day, also with one consent represent miracles as having ceased since the apostolic era.”— Mozley’s Bampton Lectures, On Miracles , p. 165. See also, Newman’s Essay on the Miracles of the Early Ages , quoted by Mozley. S.]

Matt. xxvi. 38 .

Herodot., i. cap. 47.

καὶ Θεὸν κατὰ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν καὶ πατέρα . “Ex mente Origenis, inquit Boherellus, vertendum ‘Secundo post universi Deum atque parentem loco;” non cum interprete Gelenio, ‘Ipsius rerum universarum Dei atque Parentis testimonio.’ Nam si hic esset sensus, frustra post ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν , adderetur κατὰ τὸν Θεόν . Præterea, hæc epitheta, τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν καὶ πατέρα , manifestam continent antithesin ad ista, μεγάλην ὄντα δύναμιν καὶ Θεόν , ut Pater supra Filium evehatur, quemadmodum evehitur, ab Origene infra libro octavo, num. 15. Τοῦ, κατά , inferiorem ordinem denotantis exempla afferre supersedeo, cum obvia sint.”— Ruæus . [See also Liddon’s Bampton Lectures on The Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , p. 414, where he says, “Origen maintains Christ’s true divinity against the contemptuous criticisms of Celsus” (book ii. 9, 16, seq.; vii. 53, etc.). S.]

Ps. cxlviii. 5 .