The law in letter and in meaning
Celsus also cites the warning given them beforehand, that if they did not obey the law they would suffer the same things they were doing to their enemies. Before Celsus sets beside these passages, and puts to use, what he thinks are contradictions of the law drawn from the teaching of Christ, we must speak about what has been said so far.
We say, then, that the law is twofold: one law according to the letter, the other according to the meaning, as some of those before us have also taught. The law according to the letter is said to be “statutes not good” and “commandments not good” (Ezekiel 20:25), not so much by us as by God, who speaks in one of the prophets; but the law according to the meaning is said by the same prophet, speaking in the person of God, to be “good statutes” and “good commandments” (Ezekiel 20:11). For the prophet does not openly contradict himself in the same place. In keeping with this, Paul too said that “the letter” kills, which is the same as the law according to the letter, but “the spirit” gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6), which is equivalent to the law according to the meaning.
Indeed, one can find in Paul something that answers to what might be thought contradictions in the prophet. In one place Ezekiel says, “I gave them statutes that were not good and commandments that were not good, by which they shall not live” (Ezekiel 20:25), and in another, “I gave them good statutes and good commandments, by which they shall live” (Ezekiel 20:11), or at any rate words equivalent to these. So too Paul, where he wishes to disparage what belongs to the letter of the law, says: “If the ministry of death, carved in letters on stones, came in glory, so that the children of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, a glory that was passing away, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be in glory?” (2 Corinthians 3:7–8). But where he admires and approves the law, he calls it spiritual, saying, “We know that the law is spiritual” (Romans 7:14); and he approves it in the words, “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12).
Greek
Φέρει δ ὁ Κέλσος καὶ τὸ προειρῆσθαι αὐτοῖς μὴ πειθομένοις τῷ νόμῳ τὰ αὐτὰ πείσεσθαι, ἅπερ ἔδρων τοὺς πολεμίους. καὶ πρὶν ἄν τι παρατιθεὶς τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος χρήσηται οἷς νομίζει ἐναντιώμασι πρὸς τὸν νόμον ἀπὸ τῆς Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας, λεκτέον περὶ τῶν προειρημένων. φαμὲν τοίνυν ὅτι ὁ νόμος διττός ἐστιν, ὁ μέν τις πρὸς ῥητὸν ὁ δὲ πρὸς διάνοιαν, ὡς καὶ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν τινες ἐδίδαξαν. καὶ ὁ μὲν πρὸς τὸ ῥητὸν οὐ τοσοῦτον ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ὅσον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔν τινι τῶν προφητῶν λέγοντος θεοῦ εἴρηται εἶναι „δικαιώματα οὐ καλὰ“ καὶ „προστάγματα οὐ καλά“· ὁ δὲ πρὸς διάνοιαν κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν προφήτην ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ λέγεται εἶναι „δικαιώματα καλὰ“ καὶ „προστάγματα καλά“· οὐ γὰρ προφανῶς ἐναντία λέγει ὁ προφήτης ἐν ταὐτῷ. ᾧ ἀκολούθως καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τὸ μὲν „γράμμα“ εἶπεν ἀποκτέννειν, ὅπερ ἴσον ἐστὶ τῷ (πρὸς) τὸ ῥητόν· „τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα“ ζῳοποιεῖν, ὅπερ ἰσοδυναμεῖ τῷ πρὸς διάνοιαν. ἔστι γοῦν παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ἀνάλογόν τι εὑρεῖν τοῖς νομισθεῖσιν ἂν ἐναντιώμασι κατὰ τὸν προφήτην. ὡς γὰρ ὅπου μὲν Ἰεζεκιὴλ λέγει· „ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς δικαιώματα οὐ καλὰ καὶ προστάγματα οὐ καλὰ, ἐν οἷς οὐ ζήσονται ἐν αὐτοῖς“ ὅπου δέ· „ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς δικαιώματα καλὰ καὶ προστάγματα καλὰ, ἐν οἷς ζήσονται ἐν αὐτοῖς,“ ἤτοι ἰσοδυναμοῦν γε τούτοις· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, ὅπου μὲν τὸ τοῦ νομικοῦ γράμματος διαβαλεῖν θέλει, φησίν· „εἰ δὲ ἡ διακονία τοῦ θανάτου (ἐν) γράμμασιν ἐντετυπω μένη λίθοις ἐγενήθη ἐν δόξῃ, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἀτενίσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον Μωϋσέως διὰ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ τὴν καταργουμένην, πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἡ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος ἔσται ἐν δόξῃ;“ ὅπου δὲ θαυμάζει τὸν νόμον καὶ ἀποδέχεται, πνευματικὸν αὐτὸν ὀνομάζει λέγων· „οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν,“ ἀποδέχεται δὲ ἐν τῷ· „ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος, καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή.“