Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus 1.62
Celsus does not even know how many apostles Jesus had — he says ten or eleven — and he describes them as uneducated men, tax collectors and sailors, 'the most wicked' sort, who ran from place to place scavenging food in a shameful, sordid way. Let us examine these claims as carefully as we can. Anyone who actually reads the Gospels — which Celsus appears not to have done — can see that Jesus chose twelve apostles. Matthew was a tax collector. The ones Celsus vaguely calls 'sailors' were probably James and John, who left their boat and 'their father Zebedee' to follow Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11). Peter and his brother Andrew used a dragnet to catch fish for their livelihood, so Scripture counts them as fishermen, not sailors (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11). Levi was also a tax collector who followed Jesus, but he was not numbered among the Twelve unless one follows certain copies of Mark's Gospel. As for the rest, we have no record of what work they did before becoming disciples to support themselves.
I say, then, that anyone able to examine the apostles of Jesus wisely and fairly will see that they taught Christianity with divine power and persuaded people to follow the word of God. Their effectiveness did not come from rhetorical skill or Greek dialectic — from the power of speaking and the order of proclamation — lying underneath them to sway listeners. One might think Jesus would have been wiser, by common standards, to pick men regarded as wise and capable of thinking and speaking persuasively to crowds, men who could serve as teachers of a philosophical school. Had he done so, the claim that the word is divine would never have surfaced, because the message and the preaching would have rested on 'the persuasions of wisdom in the phrase and composition of words.' Faith would then have been 'in human wisdom,' like the faith of the world's philosophers in their dogmas, not 'in the power of God' (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).
But look at what actually happened: fishermen and tax collectors who had not even learned their letters — the Gospels say this about them, and Celsus believes it, attesting to their obscurity — spoke persuasively to Jews about faith in Jesus and proclaimed him among the nations, enduring every hardship. Who would not ask where they got such persuasive power? It was not the ordinary kind. Who would not say that Jesus fulfilled his promise, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,' by divine power working in his apostles? Paul makes the same point, as we noted earlier: 'My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God' (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).
The prophets foretold this: 'The Lord gave the word to those who proclaim the Gospel with great power, the King of the powers of the Beloved,' so that the saying 'his word will run swiftly' might be fulfilled. And we see it fulfilled: 'their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.' Therefore, those who hear the word proclaimed with power are filled with power — power they show in their disposition, their life, and their willingness to struggle to the death for the truth. But some are empty: even if they claim to believe in God through Jesus, they seem to lack the divine power that draws people to the word of God.
Though I cited a Gospel saying of the Savior earlier, I will use it now at the proper moment, to show both the Savior's divine foreknowledge about the Gospel's proclamation and the power of the word to prevail over believers through divine persuasion, without human teachers. Jesus says: 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.'
Greek
Μετὰ ταῦτα δ᾿ ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐπιστάμενος δέκα εἶπεν ἢ ἕνδεκά τινας ἐξαρτησάμενον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἑαυτῷ ἐπιῤῥήτους ἀνθρώπους, τελώνας καὶ ναύτας τοὺς πονηροτάτους, μετὰ τούτων τῇδε κἀκεῖσε αὐτὸν ἀποδεδρακέναι, αἰσχρῶς καὶ γλίσχρως τροφὰς συνάγοντα, φέρε καὶ περὶ τούτων κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν διαλάβωμεν. φανερὸν δέ ἐστι τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν εὐαγγελικοῖς λόγοις, οὓς οὐδ᾿ ἀνεγνωκέναι ὁ Κέλσος φαίνεται, ὅτι δώδεκα ἀποστόλους ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπελέξατο, τελώνην μὲν τὸν Ματθαῖον, οὓς δ᾿ εἶπε συγκεχυμένως ναύτας τάχα τὸν Ἰάκωβον καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην φησὶν, ἐπεὶ καταλιπόντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ „τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον“ ἠκολούθησαν τῷ Ἰησοῦ. τὸν γὰρ Πέτρον καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Ἀνδρέαν, ἀμφιβλήστρῳ χρωμένους διὰ τὰς ἀναγκαίας τροφὰς, οὐκ ἐν ναύταις ἀλλ᾿, ὡς ἀνέγραψεν ἡ γραφὴ, ἐν ἁλιεῦσιν ἀριθμητέον. ἔστω δὲ καὶ ὁ Λευὴς τελώνης ἀκολουθήσας τῷ Ἰησοῦ· ἀλλ᾿ οὔτι γε τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ ἦν εἰ μὴ κατά τινα τῶν ἀντιγράφων τοῦ κατὰ Μάρκον εὐαγγελίου. τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν οὐ μεμαθήκαμεν τὰ ἔργα, ὅθεν πρὸ τῆς μαθητείας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ περιεποίουν ἑαυτοῖς τὰς τροφάς. φημὶ οὖν καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα ὅτι τοῖς δυναμένοις φρονίμως καὶ εὐγνωμόνως ἐξετάζειν τὰ περὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φαίνεται ὅτι δυνάμει θείᾳ ἐδίδασκον οὗτοι τὸν χριστιανισμὸν καὶ ἐπετύγχανον ὑπάγοντες ἀνθρώπους τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ ἡ εἰς τὸ λέγειν δύναμις καὶ τάξις ἀπαγγελίας κατὰ τὰς Ἑλλήνων διαλεκτικὰς ἢ ῥητορικὰς τέχνας ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπαγομένη τοὺς ἀκούοντας. δοκεῖ δέ μοι ὅτι σοφοὺς μέν τινας ὡς πρὸς τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ὑπόληψιν καὶ ἱκανοὺς πρὸς τὸ νοεῖν ἀρεσκόντως πλήθεσι καὶ λέγειν ἐπιλεξάμενος καὶ χρησάμενος αὐτοῖς διακόνοις τῆς διδασκαλίας ὁ Ἰησοῦς εὐλογώτατ᾿ ἂν ὑπενοήθη ὁμοίᾳ φιλοσόφοις κεκηρύχθαι ἀγωγῇ, αἱρέσεώς τινος προϊσταμένοις· καὶ οὐκέτ᾿ ἂν ἡ περὶ τοῦ θεῖον εἶναι τον λόγον ἐπαγγελία ἀνεφαίνετο, ἅτε τοῦ λόγου ὄντος καὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἐν πειθοῖς τῆς ἐν φράσει καὶ συνθέσει τῶν λέξεων σοφίας· καὶ ἦν ἂν „ἡ πίστις“ ὁμοίως τῇ τῶν τοῦ κόσμου φιλοσόφων περὶ τῶν δογμάτων πίστει „ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων“ καὶ οὐκ „ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ“· νυνὶ δὲ τίς βλέπων ἁλιεῖς καὶ τελώνας μηδὲ τὰ πρῶτα γράμματα μεμαθηκότας (ὡς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἀναγράφει περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ Κέλσος κατὰ ταῦτα πεπίστευκεν αὐτοῖς, ἀληθεύουσι περὶ τῆς ἰδιωτείας αὐτῶν), τεθαῤῥηκότως οὐ μόνον Ἰουδαίοις ὁμιλοῦντας περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πίστεως ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσι κηρύσσοντας αὐτὸν καὶ ἀνύοντας, οὐκ ἂν ζητήσαι, πόθεν ἦν αὐτοῖς δύναμις πειστική; οὐ γὰρ ἡ νενομισμένη τοῖς πολλοῖς. καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν λέγοι ὅτι τὸ „δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων“ δυνάμει τινὶ θείᾳ ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ ἐπλήρωσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς; ἥντινα καὶ ὁ Παῦλος παριστὰς, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν, φησί· „καὶ ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις ἀλλ᾿ ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως, ἵν᾿ ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν μὴ ᾖ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἁνθρώπων ἀλλ᾿ ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ.“ κατὰ γὰρ τὰ εἰρημένα ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, προγνωστικῶς ἀπαγγέλλουσι περὶ τῆς κηρύξεως τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, „κύριος ἔδωκε ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ,“ ἵνα καὶ ἡ λέγουσα προφητεία· „ἕως τάχους δραμεῖται ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ“ πληρωθῇ. καὶ βλέπομέν γε ὅτι „εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ“ τῶν ἀποστόλων Ἰησοῦ „φθόγγος, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν.“ διὰ τοῦτο δυνάμεως μὲν πληροῦνται οἱ λόγου τοῦ μετὰ δυνάμεως ἀπαγγελλομένου ἀκούοντες, ἣν ἐπιδείκνυνται τῇ τε διαθέσει καὶ τῷ βίῳ καὶ τῷ ἕως θανάτου ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας· διάκενοι δέ τινες εἰσὶ, κἂν ἐπαγγέλλωνται πιστεύειν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, οἱ μὴ δύναμιν θείαν ἔχοντες προσάγεσθαι δοκοῦντες τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ καὶ ἀνωτέρω δ᾿ ἐμνήσθην εὐαγγελικοῦ ῥητοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένου, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ νῦν αὐτῷ κατὰ καιρὸν χρήσομαι, παριστὰς καὶ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν περὶ τῆς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κηρύξεως πρόγνωσιν θειότατα δηλουμένην καὶ τὴν τοῦ λόγου ἰσχὺν, χωρὶς διδασκάλων κρατοῦσαν τῶν πιστευόντων τῇ μετὰ δυνάμεως θείας πειθοῖ. φησὶ δὴ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· „ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολὺς, οἱ δὲ ἐργάται ὀλίγοι· δεήθητε οὖν τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ θερισμοῦ, ὅπως ἐκβάλῃ ἐργάτας εἰς τὸν θερισμὸν αὐτοῦ.“