Celsus says no God comes down
Our task now, then, is to overturn his statement, which runs as follows: “No god, O Jews and Christians, and no son of God has come down, or would come down. But if you speak of certain angels, what do you call them: gods, or some other kind of being? Some other kind, presumably: the demons.”
Celsus is repeating himself here (for he has said these things many times already above), so there is no need to discuss them at greater length; what we have said on the point will suffice. Out of many things we shall set out a few, which we think agree with what was said before, yet do not carry entirely the same sense. In them we shall show that, by declaring universally that no god or son of God has come down to men, he does away both with what the multitude believe about the appearing of a god and with what he himself said earlier.
For if the statement Celsus has made universally, “No god and no son of God has come down, or would come down,” is true, then plainly it is ruled out that there are gods on earth, come down from heaven either to give oracles to men or to heal them through oracles. Then neither the Pythian god nor Asclepius nor any other of those believed to do such things could be a god who came down from heaven. Or else he would be a god, but one who had always had the earth as his allotted dwelling, like an exile from the place of the gods; or he would be one of those who have no right to share in the company of the divine beings there. Or else Apollo and Asclepius, and all who are believed to do anything on earth, would not be gods but some kind of demons, far worse than those wise men among mankind who, by their virtue, ascend even to the vault of heaven.
Greek
Πρόκειται οὖν νῦν τὴν οὕτως ἔχουσαν αὐτοῦ ἀνατρέψαι λέξιν· θεὸς μὲν. ὦ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ θεοῦ παῖς οὐδεὶς οὔτε κατῆλθεν οὔτε κατέλθοι. εἰ δέ τινας ἀγγέλους φατὲ, τίνας τούτους λέγετε, θεοὺς ἢ ἄλλο τι γένος; ἄλλο τι ὡς εἰκὸς, τοὺς δαίμονας. πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ παλιλλογοῦντι τῷ Κέλσῳ (ἀνωτέρω γὰρ ἤδη πολλάκις ταῦτ᾿ αὐτῷ λέλεκται) οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἐπὶ πλεῖον διαλεχθῆναι· ἀρκέσει γὰρ τὰ εἰς τοῦθ᾿ ἡμῖν λελεγμένα. ὀλίγα δ᾿ ἀπὸ πλειόνων, ἃ δοκοῦμεν εἶναι συνᾴδοντα μὲν τοῖς προειρημένοις οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ πάντῃ ἐκείνοις ἔχοντα νοῦν, ἐκθησόμεθα· ἐν οἷς παραστήσομεν ὅτι καθολικῶς ἀποφηνάμενος θεὸν οὐδένα πρὸς ἀνθρώπους κατεληλυθέναι ἢ θεοῦ παῖδα ἀναιρεῖ καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν περὶ θεοῦ ἐπιφανείας δοξαζόμενα καὶ ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω προειρημένα. εἰ γὰρ καθόλου λελεγμένον τὸ θεὸς καὶ θεοῦ παῖς οὐδεὶς κατῆλθεν οὐδὲ κατέλθοι ἀληθῶς τῷ Κέλσῳ εἴρηται, δηλονότι ἀνῄρηται τὸ εἶναι θεοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς, κατελθόντας ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. ἵνα ἤτοι μαντεύσωνται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἢ διὰ χρησμῶν θεραπεύσωσι, καὶ οὔτε ὁ Πύθιος οὔτ᾿ Ἀσκληπιὸς οὔτ᾿ ἄλλος τις τῶν νενομισμένων τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν θεὸς ἂν εἴη καταβὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ἢ θεὸς μὲν εἴη ἂν ἀεὶ δὲ λαχὼν οἰκεῖν τὴν γῆν καὶ ὡσπερεὶ φυγὰς τοῦ τόπου τῶν θεῶν, ἤ τις τῶν μὴ ἐξουσίαν ἐχόντων κοινωνεῖν τοῖς ἐκεῖ θείοις εἴη ἂν. ἢ οὐ θεοὶ εἶεν ὁ Ἀπόλλων καὶ ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς καὶ ὅσοι ἐπὶ γῆς τι ποιεῖν πεπιστευμένοι εἰσὶν ἀλλά τινες δαίμονες, τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις σοφῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁψῖδα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀναβαινόντων πολλῷ χείρους.