Origen: Against Celsus, Books I–VIII

τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτόν .

καὶ ἐξ αὑτῆς ἐγένετο .

Cf. 1 Kings x. 1–9 .

Cf. 1 Kings iv. 29–34 . The text reads, περὶ πάντων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς , for which παρά has been substituted.

καὶ ἄλλα διὰ προβλημάτων .

Hos. xiv. 9 .

Cf. Ezek. xxviii. 3 .

Cf. Matt. xxiii. 34 .

Cf. 1 Cor. xii. 8 .

Acts vii. 22 .

Cf. 1 Cor. i. 18 , etc.

τὰ μὲν συναγορεύοντα ὑγῇ καὶ σώμασι .

τὰ προηγουμένως ὑφεστηκότα .

Cf. Rom. i. 21 .

Rom. i. 19 .

Cf. Rom. i. 20–22 .

Cf. 1 Cor. i. 26–28 .

Cf. Tit. i. 9, 10 .

Μονόγαμον . Cf. Can. Apost ., c. xvii.: “ ὁ δυσὶ γάμοις συμπλακεὶς μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα, ἢ παλλακὴν κτησάμενος, οὐ δύναται εἶναι ἐπίσκοπος, ἢ πρεσβύτερος, ἢ διάκονος, ἢ ὅλως τοῦ καταλόγου τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ .” Cf. note in Benedictine ed.

[Origen agrees with Tertullian, passim , on this subject. Hippolytus makes Callistus, Bishop of Rome, the first to depart from this principle,—accepting “digamists and trigamists.”]

Cf. 1 John ii. 2 .

προεπᾴσαντες .

[ 1 Cor. iii. 2, 3 . S.]

[See note supra , p. 239. S.]

νηπίων .

Heb. v. 12–14 .

ἐλεύθερον ἀναλαβόντες φρόνημα .

Cf. Rom. i. 14 .

Cf. Prov. viii. 5 .

Cf. Prov. ix. 4 .

Cf. Prov. ix. 5, 6 .

διὰ τὰ ἐγκείμενα .

λοιδορίας μᾶλλον ἢ κατηγορίας .

The allusion is to the practice of wealthy Greeks and Romans having among their slaves artificers of various kinds, for whose service there was constant demand in the houses and villas of the rich, and who therefore had their residence in or near the dwelling of their master. Many of these artificers seem, from the language of Celsus, to have been converts to Christianity.

Παράστησον τοὺς διδασκάλους ἄλλους παρὰ τοὺς φιλοσοφίας διδασκάλους, ἢ τοὺς κατά τι τῶν χρησίμων πεποιημένους .

φωνὴν συνετός .

[Much is to be gathered from this and the following chapters, of the evangelical character of primitive preaching and discipline.]

ἁπλῶς .

εὐδαιμονίαν .

μακαριότητα .

Cf. 1 Cor. ii. 6 .

Wisd. Solom. i. 4 .

Cf. Ps. cxli. 2 .

Cf. 1 Cor. ii. 7 .

Matt. ix. 12 .

Rom. xvi. 25, 26 .

Cf. 2 Tim. i. 10 .

τὸ ἡγεμονικόν .

ἀψευδῆ .

συκοφαντῶν .

[The reproaches of the scoffer are very instructive as to the real nature of the primitive dealing with sinners and with sin.]

ὑπεξαιρομένου τοῦ κατὰ τὸν ᾽Ιησοῦν νοουμένου ἀνθρώπου .

Rom. vii. 9 .

Cf. Matt. xxiii. 12 .

1 Pet. v. 6 .

προς κολακείαν .

In the text it is put interrogatively: τίς ἄνθρωπος τελέως δίκαιος; ἢ τίς ἀναμάρτητος ; The allusion seems to be to Job xv. 14 (Sept.): τίς γὰρ ὢν βροτὸς, ὅτι ἔσται ἄμεμπτος; ἢ ὡς ἐσόμενος δίκαιος γεννητὸς γυναικός;

Matt. xi. 28 .

Ps. cvii. 20 .

Luke xviii. 13 .

Luke xviii. 11 .

Luke xviii. 14 .

και οὐ παρὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον προσάγοιτο ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι δικαστοῦ . [See infra , book iv. cap. lxxix, and Elucidations there named.]

[ ἐπιμόνως βεβαμμένοι . S.]

[ ὡσπεγεὶ δευσοποιηθέντες απὸ τῆς κακίας . S.]

[Let us note this in passing, as balancing some other expressions which could not have been used after the Pelagian controversy.]

He is said to have been either a Babylonian or Tyrrhenian, and to have lived in the reign of Nero. Cf. Philostratus, iv. 12.— Ruæus .

καὶ τὸ ἐξακουόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς λέξεως ὡς δυνατὸν ἡμῖν, ἀνετρέψαμεν .

ἐπὶ τέγους . [“Ut quidam scripserunt,” says Hoffmann.]

μιαρώτατον ἀνθρώπων .

᾽Αλλὰ τὴν μὲν τάξιν καὶ σύνθεσιν καὶ φράσιν τῶν ἀπὸ φιλοσοφίας λόγων .

The reading in the text is ἄλλως , for which ἄλλους has been conjectured by Ruæus and Boherellus, and which has been adopted in the translation.

ιδιωτικούς .

εὐσταθέστατον .

πιστικὴ ἀπὸ πνεύματος .

παρὰ τὰς ἀνατροφὰς, καὶ τὰς διαστροφὰς, καὶ τὰς περιηχήσεις .

φυσιωθῆναι .

[ παρ᾽ ὧ οὐκ ἔστιν . S.]

Cf. Iliad , ix. 319, 320.

προαίρεσις καὶ ασκησις .

τοῦ λογικοῦ ζώου .

ὥσπερ οὐ δύναται τὸ πεφυκὸς γλυκαίνειν τῷ γλυκυ τυγχάνειν πικράζειν, παρὰ την αὐτοῦ μόνην αἰτίαν .

ἵνα κοινότερον τῷ ἐλέει χρήσωμαι .

Cf. Wisd. of Solom. vii. 25, 26 .

Cf. Deut. xxxii. 21 .

Cf. 1 Cor. i. 27 .

Rom. i. 22, 23 .

ἀστείους .

τοὺς μὴ ἐντρεχεῖς .

The reading in the text is τερατωδεστέρους , of which Ruæus remarks, “Hic nullum habet locum.” Καταδεεστέρους has been conjectured instead, and has been adopted in the translation.

For εὐσεβεῖς in the text, Boherellus conjectures εὐσεβῶς .

θεὸν φθαρτὸν εἰσαγόντων, καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ λεγόντων σῶμα τρεπτὸν διόλου καὶ ἀλλοιωτὸν καὶ μεταβλητόν .

The words in the text are, φιλανθρωτότατα ἐπιστρεπτικόν, καὶ ψυχῶν μαθήματα οἰκονομήσαντα , for which we have adopted in the translation the emendation of Boherellus, φιλανθρωπότατα καὶ ψυχῶν ἐπιστρεπτικὰ μαθήματα .

ἀλλὰ κἂν τοὺς πεπονθότας τὴν περὶ τῆς μετενσωματώσεως ἄνοιαν ἀπὸ ἰατρῶν, τῶν καταβιβαζόντων τὴν λογικὴν φύσιν ὁτε μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλογον πᾶσαν, ὁτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀφάνταστον .

Instead of οἱ φρονίμωςΧριστιανοὶ ζῶντες , as in the text, Ruæus and Boherellus conjecture οι φρονίμως Χριστιανιζοντες , etc.

τους κομιδῇ νηπίους .

ἀλαζών .

[See vol. iii. Elucidation I. p. 76, this series; and as against the insanity of the Deutero-Nicene Council ( a.d. 787) note this prophetic protest. Condemned at Frankfort ( a.d. 794) by Anglicans and Gallicans. See Sir W. Palmer, Treatise on the Church , part iv. 10, sect. 4. The Council of Frankfort is the pivot of history as to the division between East and West, the rise of Gallicanism, and of the Anglican Reformation.]

ειτε χωρὶς τοῦ δημιουργοῦ θεοῦ εἴτε καὶ μετ᾽ ἐκείνου .

ἱερομηνίας .

The reading in the text is κομψοί , which is so opposed to the sense of the passage, that the conjecture of Guietus, ακομψοι , has been adopted in the translation.

[i.e., Solon. S.]

[See Gieseler’s Church History , vol. i. p. 212 (also 213), with references there. But see Elucidation IV. p. 77, vol. iii., this series, and Elucidation at close of this book. See also Robertson’s History of the Church , vol. i. p. 156. S.]

ἁψῖδα .

Τάχα δὲ καὶ οἱ πεισθέντες περὶ τοῦ θύραθεν νοῦ, ὡς θανάτου καινοῦ διεξαγωγὴν ἕξοντος , etc. Locus certe obscurus, cui lucem afferre conatur Boherellus, legendo divisim ὡς θανάτου καὶ νοῦ διεξαγωγὴν ἕξοντος , ut sensus sit “morti etiam mentem subductum iri.” Nam si θύραθεν ἥκει νοῦς , consequens est ut θανάτου καὶ νοῦς διεξαγωγὴν ἔχῃ . Cf. Aristot, lib. ii. c. 3, de generatione animalium .— Spencer .

ἢ τῆς τοῦ νοῦ ἀθανασίας .

Εἰ μὴ ἄρα Κέλσος καὶ οἱ ᾽Ετικούρειοι οὐ φήσουσι κούφην εἶναι ἐλπίδα τὴν περὶ τοῦ τέλους αὐτῶν τῆς ἡδονῆς, ἥτις κατ᾽ αὐτούς ἐστι τὸ ἀγαθὸν, τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς εὐσταθὲς κατάστημα, καὶ τὸ περὶ ταύτης πιστὸν ᾽Επικούρῳ ἔλπισμα .

τῷ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην φιλοσόφων αἵρεσιν ἐν ῞Ελλησιν ἢ βαρβάροις, ἢ μυστηριώδη ἐπαγγελίαν, τέλει .

[Note the testimony to divine inspiration.]

Cf. Jer. i. 9, 10 .

Cf. Gen. xi. 4 .

Cf. 2 Cor. x. 5 .

Cf. 1 Cor. iii. 9 .

τοὺς ἀνάλογον αὐτῷ προφητικοὺς λόγους .

δικαιωτής .

ἀκολουθίας .

πιθανότητος .

Δικαιωτής not Δικαστής .

τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείας ἀποδώσουσι τῷ Θεῷ, ἐν τοῖς ἑκάστης πράξεως οὔσης καρποῦ τῆς βασιλείας καιροῖς .

εὐήθως .

The word φύσει which is found in the text seems out of place, and has been omitted in the translation, agreeably to the emendation of Boherellus.

῏Αρα γὰρ ἤθελε φαντασιουμένοις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, ἀπειληφότος μὲν ἀθρόως τὴν κακίαν, ἐμφύοντος δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν, τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν γενέσθαι ;

ποῦ οὖν τὸ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν;

οἱ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ βέλτιστα προκαλούμενοι λόγοι, Θεοῦ αὐτοὺς δεδωκότος, εἰσὶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις .

γενναιότατος .

Wisd. Solom. i. 7 , καὶ τὸ συνέχον τὰ πάντα γνῶσιν ἔχει φωνῆς .

Cf. Jer. xxiii. 24 .

Cf. Acts xvii. 28 .

καὶ παρὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἔλαττον ἔχειν δοκῶν .

καθάπερ οἱ νεόπλουτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιδεικτιῶντες, πολλήν τινα καὶ πάνυ θνητὴν φιλοτμίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καταμαρτυροῦσι .

οἱκείωσιν .

μετὰ τοσοῦτον αἰῶνα .

δικαιῶσαι .

τὸ λογικὸν ζῶον .

ἐν τῇ παραδοχῇ τῆς θειότητος .

ἐξαίρετόν τι χρῆμα .

Deut. xxxii. 8, 9 (according to the LXX.).

Cf. Ps. ii. 8 .

Εἰσὶ γάρ τινες εἱρμοὶ καὶ ἀκολουθίαι ἄφατοι καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητοι περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς διαφόρου οἰκονομίας .

αὐτὸς ἔφα .

[The word “reliable” is used here. I cannot let it stand, and have supplied an English word instead].

συνθιασῶται .

τῷ παντί .

οὐκ ἀχρήστους . On Origen’s views respecting rewards and punishments, cf. Huet’s Origeniana , book ii. question xi.

οὐκ ἐπέστη .

δίκην βασανιστοῦ πῦρ φέρων .

[Note this testimony to the authorship of Koheleth , and that it is Scripture.]

Cf. Eccles. i. 9 .

εἰ χρν ἐπιστήσαντα τοῖς χρόνοις εἰπεῖν .

ἀνέτλασαν κατὰ περιόδους ταυτότητας, καὶ ἀπαραλλάκτους τοῖς ἰδίοις ποιοῖς καὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν αὐτοῖς .

κακίαν ἐτὶ πλεῖον χεομένην .

Cf. Jer. xxiii. 24 .

συγκαταβαίνειν .

[On this figure ( anthropopathy ) see vol. ii. p. 363, this series.]

γεῦσαι .