Against Celsus, Book I · §50 · Origen of Alexandria

Prophets spoke of Christ in many ways

Then, as though this alone had been foretold, that he would be judge of the holy and punisher of the unrighteous, and as though neither the place of his birth, nor the suffering he would undergo at the hands of the Jews, nor his resurrection, nor the wonderful works of power he would do had been foretold, he says: "Why should you, rather than the countless others who have lived after the prophecy, be the one about whom these things were foretold?" And, I do not know how, wishing to allow that others too might be suspected of being the ones foretold, he says that "some in a frenzy and others going about begging say that a Son of God has come from above." For we have not found it recorded that the Jews admit such things to have happened.

First, then, it must be said that many prophets foretold the things about Christ in every kind of way: some through riddles, others through allegory or in some other manner, and some even in so many words. Later on, in the speech he gives his Jew addressed to those of his own people who believe, he says that the prophecies referred to the events of Jesus' life can be fitted to other events as well. Since he says this cleverly and with ill intent, we shall set out a few prophecies out of many. Let anyone who wishes say something compelling against them to overthrow them, something able to move those who believe with understanding away from the faith.

Greek

Εἶτα, ὡς [οὐ] μόνου προφητευθέντος τούτου, ὁσίων αὐτὸν εἶναι κριτὴν καὶ τῶν ἀδίκων κολαστὴν, καὶ μήτε τόπου γενέσεως αὐτοῦ μήτε πάθους αὐτοῦ οὗ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων πείσεται μήτ᾿ ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ μήτε τεραστίων δὲ ὧν ποιήσει δυνάμεων προειρημένων, φησί· τί μᾶλλον σὺ ἢ ἄλλοι μυρίοι οἱ μετὰ τὴν προφητείαν γε νόμενοί εἰσι. περὶ ὧν ταῦτα ἐπροφητεύετο; καὶ οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως βουλόμενος καὶ ἑτέροις περιθεῖναι τὸ δύνασθαι ὑπονοεῖσθαι ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἦσαν οἱ προφητευθέντες φησὶν ὅτι οἱ μὲν ἐνθουσιῶντες οἱ δὲ ἀγείροντές φασιν ἥκειν ἄνωθεν υἱὸν θεοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἱστορήσαμεν ταῦθ᾿ ὁμολογεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις γεγονέναι. λεκτέον οὖν πρῶτον ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται παντοδαπῶς προεῖπον τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ, οἱ μὲν δι᾿ αἰνιγμάτων οἱ δὲ δι᾿ ἀλληγορίας ἢ ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ τινὲς δὲ καὶ αὐτολεξεί. καὶ ἐπεὶ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς φησιν ἐν τῇ τοῦ Ἰουδαίου πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ πιστεύοντας προσωποποιΐᾳ τὰς εἰς τὰ περὶ τούτου ἀναφερομένας προφητείας δύνασθαι καὶ ἄλλοις ἐφαρμόζειν πράγμασι, δεινῶς καὶ κακούργως τοῦτο λέγων, ὀλίγας ἀπὸ πλειόνων ἐκθησόμεθα· περὶ ὧν ὁ βουλόμενος ἀναγκαστικόν τι εἰς ἀνατροπὴν αὐτῶν εἰπάτω καὶ δυνάμενον ἐντρεχῶς πιστεύοντας μεταστῆσαι ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως.

Report a mistake in this passage