Why the risen Jesus was not seen by all
After this Celsus, in a way not to be lightly dismissed, finds fault with what is written and says that “if Jesus really wished to show divine power, he ought to have appeared to those very men who had abused him, and to the one who condemned him, and in short to everyone.”
For indeed it is plain to us too, from the Gospel, that after the resurrection he was not seen in the way he formerly appeared, publicly and to all. Rather, in the Acts it is written that, “appearing over forty days,” he proclaimed to the disciples “the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). And in the Gospels it is not said that he was always with them; but in one place, after eight days, he appeared in their midst “when the doors were shut” (John 20:26), and in another in some other such way.
Paul too, at the end of the First Letter to the Corinthians, implying that he was not seen publicly as in the time before the passion, writes: “For I delivered to you first of all what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” “and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also” (1 Corinthians 15:3–8).
I take it that what this passage contains is great and wonderful, beyond the merit not only of the many among believers but even of those who have advanced far; in it the reason might be made plain why, after rising from the dead, he did not appear in the same way as in the former time. But out of many points, as befits such a work as this, written against the treatise attacking the Christians and their faith, see whether, by setting out a few with good reason, we shall be able to reach those who will hear our defence.
Greek
Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτως τὰ γεγραμμένα κακολογῶν φησιν ὅτι ἐχρῆν, εἴπερ ὄντως θείαν δύναμιν ἐκφῆναι ἤθελεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἐπηρεάσασι καὶ τῷ καταδικάσαντι καὶ ὅλως πᾶσιν ὀφθῆναι. ἀληθῶς γὰρ καὶ ἡμῖν φαίνεται κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον οὐχ οὕτω μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ὀφθεὶς, ὡς τὸ πρότερον δημοσίᾳ καὶ πᾶσιν ἐφαίνετο. ἀλλ᾿ ἐν μὲν ταῖς Πράξεσιν γέγραπται· „δι᾿ ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα ὀπτανόμενος“ τοῖς μαθηταῖς κατήγγελλε „τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ“· ἐν δὲ τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις οὐχ ὅτι ἀεὶ συνῆν αὐτοῖς. ἀλλ᾿ ὅπου μὲν δι᾿ ἡμερῶν ὀκτὼ ἐφάνη „τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων“ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν ὅπου δὲ κατά τινας τοιούτους τρόπους. καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δ᾿ ἐν τοῖς τελευταίοις τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους προτέρας. ὡς μὴ δημωδῶς αὐτοῦ ὀφθέντος ὁμοίως τῷ πρὸ τοῦ πάθους χρόνῳ, τοιαῦτα γράφει· „παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον. ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς,“ „καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς δώδεκα. ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ. ὧν οἱ πλείονες μένουσιν ἕως ἄρτι. τινὲς δὲ ἐκοιμήθησαν. ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ, ἔπειτα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν. ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι ὤφθη κἀμοί.“ μεγάλα μὲν οὖν τινα καὶ θαυμαστὰ καὶ μείζονα οὐ τῆς ἀξίας τῶν πολλῶν μόνον ἐν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πάνυ προκοπτόντων ὑπολαμβάνω εἶναι τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον. ἐν οἷς ἡ αἰτία δηλωθείη ἂν τοῦ ἀναστάντα αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν μὴ ὁμοίως πεφηνέναι τῷ πρότερον χρόνῳ. ἀπὸ πλειόνων δὲ ὡς ἐν τοιούτῳ συγγράμματι, γραφομένῳ πρὸς τὸν κατὰ Χριστιανῶν καὶ τῆς πίστεως αὐτῶν λόγον, ὅρα εἰ δυνησόμεθα εὐλόγως ὀλίγα παραθέμενοι καθικέσθαι τῶν ἀκουσομένων τῆς ἀπολογίας.