Virgin Birth

Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus 1.69

Origen of Alexandria · c. 185–c. 254 AD

After this, Celsus brings forward the discourse and the charges that some heresy levels as common faults of Christians, addressing them to everyone who draws near to the divine discourse, and he declares that God would never have a body like yours. We, on the other hand, confess that he took on a body by coming from a woman to dwell in human life, making it capable of human death. That is why, among other things, we also call him a great athlete: his human body was tested in the same way as every other human being in all respects, yet not as humans with sin, but in every way without sin. For it is perfectly clear to us that he committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22); and God handed him over, though he knew no sin, as a pure offering on behalf of all who had sinned. Then Celsus asserts that a body sown in such a way could not be God's body, just as you, Jesus, were sown. He concedes, however, that if, as it is written, he had been born, his body might somehow be more divine than most and be called God's body in some sense. But because he disbelieves the accounts written about his conception by the Holy Spirit and instead believes that he was sown by a certain Panther who corrupted the virgin, he concludes that such a body could not be God's. We have already said more about these matters above.

Greek

Μετὰ ταῦτα φύρων τὸν λόγον καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ αἱρέσεώς τινος λεγόμενα ὡς κοινὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐγκλήματα πᾶσι τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου προσάγων λόγου φησὶν ὅτι θεοῦ οὐκ ἂν εἴη τοιοῦτον σῶμα, οἷον τὸ σόν. ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς πρὸς ταῦτα σῶμα αὐτὸν λέγομεν ἀνειληφέναι ὡς ἀπὸ θηλείας τῷ βίῳ ἐπιδημήσαντα ἀνθρώπινον καὶ θανάτου ἀνθρωπίνου δεκτικόν. διὸ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις αὐτόν φαμεν καὶ μέγαν ἀγωνιστὴν γεγονέναι, διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον σῶμα „πεπειρασμένον“ μὲν ὁμοίως πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις „κατὰ πάντα“ οὐκέτι δ᾿ ὡς ἄνθρωποι μεθ᾿ ἁμαρτίας ἀλλὰ πάντῃ „χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας.“ τρανῶς γὰρ ἡμῖν φαίνεται „ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ“· καὶ „μὴ γνόντα“ αὐτὸν „ἁμαρτίαν“ ὡς καθαρὸν παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων ὁ θεός. εἶτα ὁ Κέλσος φησὶν ὅτι οὐκ ἂν εἴη θεοῦ σῶμα τὸ οὕτω σπαρὲν, ὡς σὺ, ὦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐσπάρης. πλὴν ὑπείδετο ὅτι εἰ, ὡς γέγραπται, γεγέννητο, δύναταί πως εἶναι τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ θειότερον παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ κατά τι σημαινόμενον θεοῦ σῶμα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀπιστεῖ τοῖς ἀναγραφεῖσι περὶ τῆς ἐξ ἁγίου πνεύματος συλλήψεως αὐτοῦ καὶ πιστεύει αὐτὸν ὑπό τινος Πανθήρα φθείραντος τὴν παρθένον ἐσπάρθαι· διόπερ εἶπεν ὅτι οὐκ ἂν εἴη θεοῦ σῶμα οὕτω σπαρὲν, ὡς σὺ ἐσπάρης. ἀλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τούτων ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω πλείονα εἰρήκαμεν.

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