A holy Father and a grain of wheat
So something new has indeed happened since the time when Jesus suffered: I mean what befell the city and the whole nation, and the sudden birth of a nation of Christians, born, as it were, all at once (Isaiah 66:8). New too is this, that those who were strangers to “the covenants” of God and aliens from the promises (Ephesians 2:12), those far from the truth, have received it by a certain divine power. These were not the doings of a human sorcerer but the works of God. He sent, for the sake of his messages, his own Word in Jesus, who was punished so cruelly that the cruelty is charged against those who punished him unjustly, and who bore it with the greatest courage and with all gentleness.
His punishment did not destroy God’s messages but, if it must be put this way, made them known; as Jesus himself taught when he said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). So by dying, Jesus, “the grain of wheat,” bore “much fruit,” and the Father always takes care of the fruits that have come, still come, and will yet come from the death of the grain “of wheat.” A holy father, then, is the Father of Jesus, who did not spare “his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32), him who was his own lamb, so that “the Lamb of God,” who dies for the whole world, might take away “the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And for the world’s sake he endured, not under compulsion but willingly, the things the insolent inflicted on him.
Then, after this, Celsus takes up again his argument against those who blaspheme the statues, and says: “But as for these whom you blaspheme, one could have said that they too wish it, and for that reason bear being blasphemed; for it is best to compare like with like. But these at least take vigorous vengeance on the one who blasphemes them, so that he either flees for this reason and hides, or is caught and perishes.” It is not, then, as blasphemers that the demons think they take vengeance on Christians, but as those who drive them out of the images and out of human bodies and souls. For without understanding what happens, Celsus has said something true on this point. It is true that the souls of those who condemn Christians, of those who betray them, and of those who delight in making war on Christians, are filled with wicked demons.
Greek
Καινὸν οὖν γέγονεν, ἐξ οὗ πέπονθε χρόνου ὁ Ἰησοῦς, κἀκεῖνο, λέγω δὲ τὸ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ πᾶν τὸ κατὰ τὸ ἔθνος καὶ τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀθρόαν γένεσιν ἔθνους Χριστιανῶν ὡσπερεὶ τεχθέντος εἰσάπαξ· καινὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ τοὺς ξένους „τῶν διαθηκῶν“ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀλλοτρίους τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοὺς μακρὰν τῆς ἀληθείας δυνάμει τινὶ θείᾳ παραδέχεσθαι αὐτήν. ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου γόητος ἦν ἀλλ᾿ ἔργα θεοῦ, πέμψαντος τῶν αὑτοῦ ἀγγελμάτων ἕνεκα τὸν αὑτοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ λόγον, (οὕτως) ὠμῶς κολασθέντι, ὡς τὴν ὠμότητα κατηγορεῖσθαι τῶν ἀδίκως αὐτὸν κολασάντων, καὶ ἀνδρειότατα ὑπομείναντα καὶ μετὰ πάσης. πρᾳότητος· οὐ διέφθειρε δὲ ἡ κόλασις αὐτοῦ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγγέλματα ἀλλ᾿, εἰ δεῖ ουτως ὀνομάσαι, εἰς γνῶσιν αὐτὰ ἤγαγεν· ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· „ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ, αὐτὸς μόνος μένει· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ, πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει.“ ἀποθανὼν οὖν „ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου“ Ἰησοῦς „πολὺν καρπὸν“ ἤνεγκε, καὶ ἀεὶ ὁ πατὴρ προνοεῖ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ κόκκου „τοῦ σίτου“ γεγενημένων καὶ γινομένων ἔτι καὶ ἐσομένων καρπῶν. ὅσιος οὖν πατὴρ ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πατὴρ, „τοῦ ἰδίου“ μὴ φεισάμενος „υἱοῦ“ „ἀλλ᾿ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων“ παραδοὺς „αὐτὸν“ ἀμνὸν ὄντα ἑαυτοῦ. ἵν᾿ ἄρῃ „τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου“ ὁ ὑπὲρ παντὸς αὐτοῦ ἀποθνῄσκων „ἀμνὸς θεοῦ“· δι᾿ ὃν οὐκ ἀναγκαζόμενος ἀλλ᾿ ἑκὼν ὑπέμεινε τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑβριστῶν αὐτῷ προσαγόμενα. εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος, ἐπαναλαμβάνων τὸν πρὸς τοὺς βλασφημοῦντας τὰ ἀγάλματα λόγον, φησίν· οἵδε δὲ, οὓς σὺ βλασφημεῖς, ἐνῆν μὲν εἰπεῖν ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ βούλονται (καὶ) διὰ τοῦτ᾿ ἀνέχονται βλασφημούμενοι· τὰ γὰρ ἴσα τοῖς ἴσοις παραβαλεῖν κράτιστον· ἀλλ᾿ οὗτοί γε καὶ σφόδρα ἀμύνονται τὸν βλασφημοῦντα, ἤτοι γε φεύγοντα διὰ τοῦτο καὶ κρυπτόμενον ἢ ἁλισκόμενον καὶ ἀπολλύμενον. οὐ βλασφημοῦντας ουν ἀλλ᾿ ἀπελαύνοντας ἀπὸ τῶν ξοάνων καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σωμάτων καὶ ψυχῶν Χριστιανοὺς ἀμύνεσθαι νομίζουσιν οἱ δαίμονες. μὴ νοῶν γὰρ τὸ γινόμενον ἀλη θές τι κατὰ τὸν τόπον ὁ Κέλσος εἴρηκεν· ἀληθὲς γὰρ τὸ φαύλων δαιμόνων πληρουμένας τὰς τῶν καταδικαζόντων Χριστιανοὺς ψυχὰς καὶ τῶν προδιδόντων καὶ τῶν εὐδοκούντων Χριστιανοῖς προσπολεμεῖν.