The wealth that sees
If, then, the wording of the law promises wealth to the righteous, let Celsus, following the “letter” that kills (2 Corinthians 3:6), suppose that the promise speaks of blind wealth; but we take it to mean the wealth that sees sharply (Plato, Laws 631c): the wealth by which a man is rich “in all speech and all knowledge” (1 Corinthians 1:5), and the wealth meant when we charge “those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides all things for enjoyment; to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share” (1 Timothy 6:17–18). For “the wealth” that consists in true goods “is the ransom of a man’s soul”, according to Solomon, while the poverty opposed to it is ruinous; because of it “the poor man does not stand up to a threat” (Proverbs 13:8).
We must speak about dominion in the same way as we have spoken about wealth: the dominion by which “one” righteous man is said to pursue “a thousand, and two” to put “tens of thousands” to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30). If this is how the passages about wealth are understood, see whether it is not in keeping with God’s promise that the man who is rich “in all speech and all knowledge” (1 Corinthians 1:5), and in all wisdom, and in every good work, lends “to many nations” (Deuteronomy 15:6) out of his wealth in the word and in wisdom and knowledge, just as Paul lent when, “from Jerusalem and round about” as far as “Illyricum”, he fully preached “the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19) to all the nations he visited. And since divine things were made known to him by revelation (Ephesians 3:3), his soul being enlightened by the divinity of the Word, for this reason he himself did not borrow, nor did he need any man to minister the word to him.
And since it is also written in the same way, “You shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you” (Deuteronomy 15:6), Paul, by the dominion that comes from the word, brought those from the nations under the teaching of Christ Jesus and ruled over them, never standing in the place of one subject to men as though they were his betters. In this way, too, he filled the earth.
Greek
Ἐὰν οὖν ἡ λέξις τοῦ νόμου πλοῦτον ἐπαγγέλλεται τοῖς δικαίοις, Κέλσος μὲν κατὰ τὸ ἀποκτέννον „γράμμα“ νομιζέτω τὸν τυφλὸν πλοῦτον λέγεσθαι ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸν ὀξὺ βλέποντα, καθὸ πλουτεῖ τις „ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ καὶ πάσῃ γνώσει,“ καὶ καθὸ παραγγέλλομεν „τοῖς πλουσίοις ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι μὴ ὑψηλὰ φρονεῖν μηδ᾿ ἠλπικέναι ἐπὶ πλούτου ἀδηλότητι ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ θεῷ, τῷ παρέχοντι πάντα πλουσίως εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν, ἀγαθοεργεῖν, πλουτεῖν ἐν ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, εὐμεταδότους εἶναι, κοινωνικούς.“ καὶ γὰρ „ὁ“ ἐν ἀληθινοῖς ἀγαθοῖς „πλοῦτος“ „λύτρον ἐστὶν ἀνδρὸς ψυχῆς“ κατὰ τὸν Σολομῶντα, ἡ δ᾿ ἐναντία τούτῳ πτωχεία ὀλέθριον, δι᾿ ἣν „ὁ πτωχὸς οὐχ ὑφίσταται ἀπειλήν.“ ἀνάλογον δὲ τοῖς ἀποδεδομένοις περὶ τοῦ πλούτου λεκτέον καὶ περὶ τῆς δυναστείας, καθ᾿ ἣν „εἷς“ δίκαιος διώξεσθαι λέγεται „χιλίους, καὶ δύο“ μετακινεῖν „μυριάδας.“ εἴπερ δὲ ταῦτα νενόηται ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὸν πλοῦτον, ὅρα εἰ μὴ ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν ἐπαγγελίᾳ θεοῦ τὸν πλουτοῦντα „ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ καὶ πάσῃ γνώσει“ καὶ πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ δανείζειν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν λόγον καὶ τὴν σοφίαν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν πλούτου „ἔθνεσι πολλοῖς,“ ὡς ἐδάνεισε Παῦλος „κύκλῳ“ „ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ“ ἕως „τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ“ πληρῶν „τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ“ πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν, οἷς ἐπιδεδήμηκε. καὶ ἐπεὶ κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν αὐτῷ ἐγνωρίζετο τὰ θεῖα, φωτιζομένῳ τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ λόγου θειότητος, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς οὐκ ἐδανείζετο οὐδὲ χρείαν εἶχεν ἀνθρώπου διακονουμένου αὐτῷ τὸν λόγον. οὕτω δὲ γεγραμμένου καὶ τοῦ· „ἄρξεις σὺ ἐθνῶν πολλῶν, σοῦ δὲ οὐκ ἄρξουσι,“ κατὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου δυναστείαν ὑποτάσσων τῇ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἦρχεν αὐτῶν, οὐδέ ποτε ἐν χώρᾳ ὑποτεταγμένος ἀνθρώποις ὡς κρείττοσι γινομένοις· οὕτω δὲ καὶ κατεπίμπλα τὴν γῆν.