Judgment and the Second Coming
Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus 8.48
I do not know how Celsus, after pointing to the eagerness of those who struggle to the death rather than renounce Christianity, brings this forward as if he were comparing our claims to those made by the performers and initiators of the mysteries. He says: "Most of all, best of men, just as you think there are eternal punishments, so also do the interpreters, performers, and initiators of those sacred rites; you threaten them to others, they threaten them to you. For it is permissible to consider which of them are more true or more powerful. For in word they both guarantee their own claims equally; but if proofs are needed, they show many clear works of certain demonic powers, and oracles, and from various prophecies they bring them forth." Therefore, through these things, he wants us to say and to examine the eternal punishments on an equal basis—both us and the performers—in order to see which of them speak more truthfully. I would say that those who are able to dispose the hearers of their words to live in such a way that they possess these things are the ones speaking the truth. Jews and Christians are disposed concerning the coming age they call by that name and the things in it—rewards for the righteous, punishments for the unjust. Let Celsus, then, or whoever wishes, show which ones were disposed concerning eternal punishments by the performers and initiators. For it is likely that the will of the Father of the things spoken is not only to threaten and speak about punishments, but to dispose those who hear to work at guarding themselves against the causes of the punishments, as far as their power allows. But also the prophecies seem to me to be sufficient for the one who does not inquire idly into the foreknowledge in them, to persuade the one who reads intelligently and gratefully at the same time, that the Spirit of God was in those men; to these prophecies none of the shown works of demons, nor of the powers from oracles, nor of the prophecies can be compared, even if they are put side by side.
Greek
Εἶτ᾿ οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως ὁ Κέλσος τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν μέχρι θανάτου ἀγωνιζομένων ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἐξομόσασθαι χριστιανιασμὸν παρατιθέμενος ἐπιφέρει ὡσπερεὶ ἐξισῶν τὰ ἡμέτερα τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν τελεστῶν καὶ μυσταγωγῶν λεγομένοις καί φησι· μάλιστα μὲν, ὦ βέλτιστε, ὥσπερ σὺ κολάσεις αἰωνίους νομίζεις, οὕτως καὶ οἱ τῶν ἱερῶν ἐκείνων ἐξηγηταὶ τελεσταί τε καὶ μυσταγωγοί· ἃς σὺ μὲν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀπειλεῖς, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ σοί. πότερα γὰρ αὐτῶν ἀληθέστερα ἢ ἐπικρατέστερα, ἔξεστι σκοπεῖν. λόγῳ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἴσου περὶ τῶν σφετέρων σφίσιν ἑκάτεροι διαβεβαιοῦσθε· τεκμηρίων δὲ εἰ δέοι. πολλὰ ἐκεῖνοι καὶ ἐναργῆ δεικνύουσιν ἔργα τε δαιμονίων τινῶν δυνάμεων καὶ χρηστηρίων καὶ ἐκ παντοδαπῶν μαντείων προκομίζοντες. οὐκοῦν διὰ τούτων τὰς αἰωνίους κολάσεις ἐπ᾿ ἴσης βούλεται καὶ ἡμᾶς λέγειν καὶ τοὺς τελεστὰς καὶ ἐξετάζειν, ὁπότεροι μᾶλλον ἀληθεύουσιν. εἴποιμι δ᾿ ἂν ἀληθεύειν τοὺς δυνηθέντας διαθεῖναι τοὺς ἀκροατὰς τῶν λεγομένων οὕτως βιοῦντας, ὡς τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων. διατίθενται Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Χριστιανοὶ περὶ τοῦ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν καλουμένου μέλλοντος αἰῶνος καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ γερῶν μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς δικαίους κολάσεων δὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς. δεικνύτω οὖν καὶ Κέλσος ἢ ὁ βουλόμενος, τίνες διετέθησαν περὶ αἰωνίων κολάσεων ὑπὸ τῶν τελεστῶν καὶ μυσταγωγῶν. εἰκὸς γάρ ἐστι τὸ βούλημα τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν λεγομένων εἶναι οὐ τὸ ἀφοσιοῦσθαι μόνον καὶ εἰπεῖν περὶ κολάσεων ἀλλὰ τὸ διαθεῖναι τοὺς ἀκούοντας πρὸς τὸ ὅση δύναμις φυλάξασθαι τὰ τῶν κολάσεων αἴτια αὐτοὺς ἐργάσασθαι. ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ προφητεῖαι τοῖς μὴ παρέργως ἐντυγχάνουσι τῇ ἐν αὐταῖς προγνώσει ἱκαναί μοι εἶναι δοκοῦσι πρὸς τὸ πεῖσαι τὸν συνετῶς ἅμα καὶ εὐγνωμόνως ἀναγινώσκοντα ὅτι θεοῦ πνεῦμα ἦν ἐν τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐκείνοις· αἷς οὐδὲν τῶν δεικνυμένων ἔργων δαιμονίων οὐδὲ τῶν ἐκ χρηστηρίων δυνάμεων οὐδὲ τῶν μαντειῶν κἂν ἐπὶ ποσὸν παραβάλλεσθαι δύναται.