Abuse is not argument
Then, abusing Jesus, this man, who for his impiety and his depraved doctrines is, if I may say so, hateful to God, says: “These were the doings of a depraved sorcerer, hateful to God.” And yet, if names and things are examined strictly, it will be impossible for a human being to be hateful to God, since God loves all things that exist and abhors none of the things he has made; for he did not make anything that he hated (Wisdom of Solomon 11:24). And if some prophetic expressions say something of this kind, they will be explained by this general principle: that Scripture uses expressions about God as about one who has human feelings.
But what need is there to say anything in defence against a man who thinks that, in what he professes to be persuasive arguments, he must use slander and abuse, as though Jesus were a depraved man and a sorcerer? For this is the work not of one who demonstrates, but of one who has given way to an unschooled and unphilosophical passion, when he ought to set out the matter, examine it fairly, and say in reply to it, as far as he can, whatever occurs to him.
But since Celsus's Jew has ended his speech to Jesus here, we too shall close our first book in reply to him at about this point. And if God grants the truth that destroys false arguments, according to the prayer that says, “In your truth destroy them” (Psalm 54:5), we shall begin in what follows on the second speech that Celsus puts into a character's mouth, in which he has made his Jew say what comes next to those who have been persuaded by Jesus.
Greek
Εἶτά φησι λοιδορούμενος τῷ Ἰησοῦ ὁ διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν καὶ τὰ μοχθηρὰ δόγματα, ἵν᾿ οὕτως εἴπω, θεομισὴς ὅτι ταῦτα θεομισοῦς ἦν τινος καὶ μοχθηροῦ γόητος. καίτοι γε, ἐὰν κυρίως ἐξετάζηται τὰ ὀνόματα καὶ τὰ πράγματα, ἀδύνατον ἔσται ἄνθρωπος θεομισὴς, ἐπεὶ ὁ θεὸς ἀγαπᾷ τὰ ὄντα πάντα καὶ οὐδὲν βδελύσσεται ὧν ἐποίησεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ μισῶν τι κατεσκεύασεν. εἰ δέ τινες λέξεις προφητικαὶ τὸ τοιοῦτο λέγουσι, καθολικῷ λόγῳ διηγήσεως τεύξονται τῷδε, ὅτι ὡς περὶ ἀνθρωποπαθοῦς λέξεσι χρῆται ἡ γραφὴ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ. τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν ἀπολογούμενον πρὸς τὸν οἰόμενον ἐν οἷς ἐπαγγέλλεται πιστικοῖς λόγοις δεῖν χρῆσθαι δυσφημίαις καὶ λοιδορίαις ὡς περὶ μοχθηροῦ καὶ γόητος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ; τοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ ἀποδεικνύντος ἀλλ᾿ ἰδιωτικὸν καὶ ἀφιλόσοφον πάθος πεπονθότος ἔργον ἐστὶ, δέον ἐκτιθέμενον τὸ πρᾶγμα εὐγνωμόνως αὐτὸ ἐξετάζειν καὶ κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν λέγειν πρὸς αὐτὸ τὰ ὑποπίπτοντα. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις καταπαύσαντος τὸν λόγον τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοῦ που καταπαύσομεν τὴν περιγραφὴν τοῦ πρώτου πρὸς αὐτὸν βιβλίου. θεοῦ δὲ διδόντος τὴν ἐξολοθρεύουσαν τοὺς ψευδεῖς λόγους ἀλήθειαν κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν εὐχήν· „ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου ἐξολόθρευσον αὐτοὺς,“ ἀρξόμεθα ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς δευτέρας προσωποποιΐας, ἐν ᾗ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος αὐτῷ πεποίηται λέγων πρὸς τοὺς πεισθέντας τῷ Ἰησοῦ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα.