Celsus asks whether Jesus was the only angel
The passage of Celsus that we now wish to examine runs as follows: “And indeed we pass over all the points on which they are refuted about their teacher. Let him be taken to be truly an angel. But did he come first and alone, or did others come before him too? If they should say that he alone came, they would be convicted of lying and contradicting themselves. For they say that others too have often come, and indeed sixty or seventy together; that these became wicked and are punished by being put in bonds in the earth; and that this is why the hot springs are their tears. What is more, they say that an angel came to the very tomb of this man (some say one, others two), the ones who answered the women that he had risen (Matthew 28:5–6; Luke 24:4–6). For the child of God, it seems, could not open the tomb, but needed someone else to move the rock away (Matthew 28:2).
“Again, concerning Mary when she was with child, an angel came to the carpenter (Matthew 1:20), and another angel came so that they might snatch up the baby and flee (Matthew 2:13). And why need one go through everything in detail and count up those said to have been sent to Moses and to others of theirs? If, then, others too were sent, it is clear that this one also was sent by the same God. But let him be taken, if you like, to bring some greater message, as though the Jews were doing wrong, or debasing piety, or doing unholy things; for this is what they hint at.”
Greek
Ἥν δὲ βουλόμεθα ἐξετάσαι νῦν τοῦ Κέλσου λέξιν οὕτως ἔχει· καὶ δὴ παραλείπομεν ὅσα περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου διελέγχονται. καὶ δοκείτω τις ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄγγελος. ἧκε δὲ πότερον οὗτος πρῶτος καὶ μόνος, ἢ καὶ ἄλλοι πρότερον; εἰ μὲν φαῖεν ὅτι μόνος, ἐλέγχοιντο ἂν ἐναντία σφίσι ψευδόμενοι. ἐλθεῖν γὰρ καὶ ἄλλους λέγουσι πολλάκις, καὶ ὁμοῦ γε ἑξήκοντα ἢ ἑβδομήκοντα· οὓς δὴ γενέσθαι κακοὺς καὶ κολάζεσθαι δεσμοῖς ὑποβληθέντας ἐν γῇ, ὅθεν καὶ τὰς θερμὰς πηγὰς εἶναι τὰ ἐκείνων δάκρυα. καὶ μὴν καὶ πρὸς τὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦ τοῦδε τάφον ἐλθεῖν ἄγγελον, οἱ μὲν ἕνα, οἱ δὲ δύο, τοὺς ἀποκρινομένους ταῖς γυναιξὶν ὅτι ἀνέστη. ὁ γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἀνοῖξαι τὸν τάφον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐδεήθη ἄλλου ἀποκινήσοντος τὴν πέτραν. ἔτι μὴν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς Μαρίας κυούσης πρὸς τὸν τέκτονα ἧκεν ἄγγελος, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸ βρέφος ἐξαρπάσαντας φυγεῖν ἄλλος ἄγγελος. καὶ τί δεῖ πάντα ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι καὶ τοὺς Μωϋσεῖ τε καὶ ἄλλοις αὐτῶν πεμφθῆναι λεγομένους ἀπαριθμεῖν; εἰ τοίνυν ἐπέμφθησαν καὶ ἄλλοι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ὅδε παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ θεοῦ. πλεῖον δέ τι ἀγγέλλειν δοκείτω, φέρε, ὥσπερ πλημμελούντων τι Ἰουδαίων ἢ παραχαραττόντων τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἢ οὐχ ὅσια δρώντων· ταῦτα γὰρ αἰνίττονται.