Against Celsus, Book III · §79 · Origen of Alexandria

The best laws the many could bear

But suppose someone imagines that, in these matters, it is superstition rather than wickedness that marks most of those who believe the word, and he charges our word with making people superstitious. We shall say to him that one of the lawgivers, when asked whether he had laid down the best laws for his citizens, replied, “Not the best absolutely, but the best of those they could receive” (Plutarch, Life of Solon 15). So too the father of the Christian doctrine might say: “I have laid down the best laws and teaching that the many could receive for the improvement of their character. I threaten sinners with pains and punishments that are not false, but true and necessary, and brought to bear for the correction of those who resist, even though they do not wholly understand the purpose of the one who punishes, or what the pains are meant to do.” For this too is spoken for their benefit, both in keeping with the truth and, to good purpose, with something held back.

Yet, on the whole, those who uphold the teachings of Christianity do not lead on the wicked. Nor do we insult the divine. For what we say about it is true; and to the many it seems clear, though it is not as clear to them as it is to the few who give themselves to studying the things of the word with philosophy.

Greek

Ἐὰν δέ τις ἐν τούτοις δεισιδαιμονίαν μᾶλλον ἢ πονηρίαν περὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν πιστευόντων τῷ λόγῳ εἶναι φαντάζηται καὶ ἐγκαλῇ ὡς δεισιδαίμονας ποιοῦντι τῷ λόγῳ ἡμῶν, φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἔλεγέ τις τῶν νομοθετῶν πρὸς τὸν ἐρωτῶντα, εἰ τοὺς καλλίστους ἔθετο τοῖς πολίταις νόμους, ὅτι οὐ τοὺς καθάπαξ καλλίστους ἀλλ᾿ ὧν ἐδύναντο τοὺς καλλίστους· οὕτω λέγοιτο ἂν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ Χριστιανῶν λόγου ὅτι ὧν ἐδύναντο οἱ πολλοὶ εἰς βελτίωσιν ἠθῶν τοὺς καλλίστους ἐθέμην νόμους καὶ διδασκαλίαν, πόνους οὐ ψευδεῖς ἀπειλῶν καὶ κολάσεις τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν ἀλλ᾿ ἀληθεῖς μὲν καὶ ἀναγκαίους εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν τῶν ἀντιτεινόντων προσαγομένους, οὐ μὴν καὶ πάντως νοούντων τὸ τοῦ κολάζοντος βούλημα καὶ τὸ τῶν πόνων ἔργον· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ μετ᾿ ἐπικρύψεως συμφερόντως λέγεται. πλὴν ὡς ἐπίπαν οὐ πονηροὺς ὑπάγονται οἱ τὰ χριστιανισμοῦ πρεσβεύοντες. ἀλλ᾿ οὐδὲ ἐπηρεάζομεν εἰς τὸ θεῖον· λέγομεν γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς σαφῆ μὲν εἶναι δοκοῦντα οὐ σαφῆ δ᾿ ὄντα ἐκείνοις ὡς τοῖς ὀλίγοις, φιλοσοφεῖν ἀσκοῦσι τὰ κατὰ τὸν λόγον.

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About this text

Origen answers the charges Celsus makes in his own voice: that Jews and Christians quarrel over an ass’s shadow, that the Church began in revolt and splits into sects, and that Jesus is no greater than the heroes and wonder-workers of the Greeks. He then defends the Gospel’s call to sinners and the unlearned, showing that Christians welcome the wise as well and lead each hearer from healing to the deeper teaching.

Translated from the Greek of Koetschau, GCS 2–3 (1899), via the Perseus digital text, which serves as the base text. Each chapter was translated from the Greek and then checked clause by clause against it in an independent review. No earlier English translation was consulted.

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Translated from Koetschau GCS 2 – 3 (1899) — Greek (Greek · Book III, chapters 1 – 81)

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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