Against Celsus, Book II · §5 · Origen of Alexandria

The kingdom given to the Gentiles

After this, although Celsus repeats himself about Jesus, saying now for the second time that he did wrong and paid the penalty at the hands of the Jews, we will not repeat our defence, but rest content with what we said before.

Next, his Jew belittles as stale the teaching about the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of God, and honour for the righteous but fire for the unrighteous; and by claiming that Christians are taught nothing new in these matters, he thinks he overturns Christianity. We must say to him that our Jesus, seeing that the Jews were doing nothing worthy of the lessons in the prophets, taught by a parable that “the kingdom of God” would be “taken away” from them “and given” to those from the Gentiles (Matthew 21:43). That is why one can truly see that all the teachings of the Jews of today are myths and idle talk, for they do not have the light of the knowledge of the Scriptures, while the teachings of Christians are truth. These are able to lift up and raise on high the soul and mind of a human being, and they persuade him to have a “citizenship” not like that of the Jews, somewhere here below, but “in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). This is evident among those who contemplate the greatness of the meanings in the law and the prophets, and who are able to present them to others.

Greek

Μετὰ ταῦτα εἰ καὶ ταυτολογεῖ ὁ Κέλσος περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. δεύτερον ἤδη λέγων πλημμελήσαντα αὐτὸν δεδωκέναι παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις δίκην, ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐπαναληψόμεθα τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἀρκούμενοι τῇ προειρημένῃ. εἶτ᾿ ἐπεὶ ὡς ἕωλα τὰ περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν καὶ κρίσεως θεοῦ καὶ τιμῆς μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς δικαίους πυρὸς δ᾿ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους εὐτελίζει ὁ παρ᾿ αὐτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, μηδὲν δὲ καινὸν ἐν τούτοις διδάσκεσθαι φάσκων χριστιανοὺς οἴεται ἀνατρέπειν χριστιανισμόν· λεκτέον πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἡμῶν, ὁρῶν Ἰουδαίους μηδὲν ἄξιον τῶν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις μαθημάτων πράττοντας, ἐδίδαξε διὰ παραβολῆς ὅτι „ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ“ „ἀρθήσεται“ μὲν ἀπ᾿ ἐκείνων „καὶ δοθήσεται“ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν. διὸ καὶ ἔστιν ἀληθῶς ἰδεῖν πάντα μὲν τὰ Ἰουδαίων τῶν νῦν μύθους καὶ λήρους (οὐ γὰρ ἔχουσι τὸ φῶς τῆς γνώσεως τῶν γραφῶν), τὰ δὲ Χριστιανῶν ἀλήθειαν, ἐπᾶραι καὶ μετεωρίσαι ἀνθρώπου που ψυχὴν καὶ νοῦν δυνάμενα καὶ πείθοντα ἔχειν τι „πολίτευμα“ οὐχ ὅμοιον τοῖς κάτω Ἰουδαίοις κάτω που ἀλλ᾿ „ἐν οὐρανοῖς“· ὅπερ φαίνεται παρὰ τοῖς τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ καὶ τοῖς προφήταις νοημάτων θεωροῦσι καὶ ἄλλοις παραστῆσαι δυναμένοις.

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About this text

Origen answers the Jew whom Celsus brings on stage to speak against the Jews who believe in Jesus, and shows that they have not left the law of their fathers. He goes on to defend Jesus’ foreknowledge of his betrayal, the reality of his suffering and death, and his resurrection, and argues that no mere man could have won so much of the world.

Base text: Koetschau, GCS 2–3 (1899), via the Perseus digital text. The English is a fresh translation from that Greek, chapter by chapter (2.1–79), with an independent clause-by-clause review against the Greek. Crombie and Chadwick were not used.

Printed text used

Translated from Koetschau GCS 2 – 3 (1899) — Greek (Greek · Book II, chapters 1 – 79)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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