Against Celsus, Book VII · §52 · Origen of Alexandria

Who is lame and who runs

Celsus must not be indignant when we call lame, crippled in the feet of the soul, those who hurry to the places reputed to be sacred as though they were truly sacred, and who do not see that no work of artisans can be sacred. But those who are devout according to the teaching of Jesus also run, until, having reached the end of the race, they say in a strong and truthful frame of mind: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; from now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7–8). And each of us runs in this way, “not aimlessly”, and boxes against wickedness in this way, “not as one beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26), but beating those who are under “the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).

Let Celsus say that we “live by the dead body”, we who hear, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13), and who learn, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). And may we show by our deeds that the one who says of us that we live by the dead body is lying.

Greek

Μὴ ἀγανακτείτω δὲ Κέλσος, ἐπὰν χωλοὺς λέγωμεν καὶ τὰς βάσεις τῆς ψυχῆς πεπηρωμένους τοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα ἱερὰ ὡς ἀληθινὰ ἱερὰ σπεύδοντας καὶ μὴ ὁρῶντας ὅτι οὐδὲν βαναύσων ἔργον δύναται εἶναι ἱερόν. τρέχουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ κατὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν Ἰησοῦ εὐσεβοῦντες, ἕως ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος φθάσαντες δρόμου εἴπωσιν ἐῤῥωμένῃ καὶ ἀληθευούσῃ τῇ διαθέσει· „τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν καλὸν ἠγώνισμαι, τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα, τὴν πίστιν τετήρηκα· λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος.“ καὶ ἕκαστός γε ἡμῶν „οὕτως“ τρέχει „ὡς οὐκ ἀδήλως“ καὶ „οὕτω“ πρὸς τὴν κακίαν πυκτεύει „ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων“ ἀλλὰ τοὺς ὑπὸ „τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας.“ λεγέτω δ᾿ ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος σώματι τῷ νεκρῷ ζῶντας. ἀκούοντας· „εἰ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε,“ καὶ μανθάνοντας τὸ „εἰ πνεύματι ζῶμεν, πνεύματι καὶ στοιχῶμεν“· εἴη τε τοῖς ἔργοις ἡμᾶς δεικνύναι ψευδόμενον τὸν λέγοντα περὶ ἡμῶν ὅτι τῷ σώματι ζῶμεν τῷ νεκρῷ.

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About this text

Celsus ranks the oracles of Apollo above the Hebrew prophets, claims that Moses and Jesus taught opposite laws, and tells Christians to seek God through Plato and to honour the gods and demons with altars and images. Origen answers that the prophets spoke by the Spirit of God and foretold Christ, that the law and the Gospel agree when read in the spirit, that God is known by a mind made in His image, and that Christians may serve no demon and worship no image.

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 VII, chapters 1 – 70)

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