Chapter LVIII.

After these matters this Jew of Celsus, instead of the Magi mentioned in the Gospel, says that “Chaldeans are spoken of by Jesus as having been induced to come to him at his birth, and to worship him while yet an infant as a God, and to have made this known to Herod the tetrarch; and that the latter sent and slew all the infants that had been born about the same time, thinking that in this way he would ensure his death among the others; and that he was led to do this through fear that, if Jesus lived to a sufficient age, he would obtain the throne.”  See now in this instance the blunder of one who cannot distinguish between Magi and Chaldeans, nor perceive that what they profess is different, and so has falsified the Gospel narrative.  I know not, moreover, why he has passed by in silence the cause which led the Magi to come, and why he has not stated, according to the scriptural account, that it was a star seen by them in the east.  Let us see now what answer we have to make to these statements.  The star that was seen in the east we consider to have been a new star, unlike any of the other well-known planetary bodies, either those in the firmament above or those among the lower orbs, but partaking of the nature of those celestial bodies which appear at times, such as comets, or those meteors which resemble beams of wood, or beards, or wine jars, or any of those other names by which the Greeks are accustomed to describe their varying appearances.  And we establish our position in the following manner.

Μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ἀντὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ μάγων Χαλδαίους φησὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λελέχθαι κινηθέντας ἐπὶ τῇ γενέσει αὐτοῦ ἐληλυθέναι, προσκυνήσοντας αὐτὸν ἔτι νήπιον ὡς θεόν· καὶ Ἡρώδῃ τῷ τετράρχῃ τοῦτο δεδηλωκέναι· τὸν δὲ πέμψαντα ἀποκτεῖναι τοὺς ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ χρόνῳ γεγεννημένους, οἰόμενον καὶ τοῦτον ἀνελεῖν σὺν αὐτοῖς, μή πως τὸν αὐτάρκη ἐπιβιώσας χρόνον βασιλεύσῃ. Ὅρα οὖν ἐν τούτῳ τὸ παράκουσμα τοῦ οὐ διακρίναντος μάγους Χαλδαίων μηδὲ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας διαφόρους οὔσας αὐτῶν θεωρήσαντος καὶ διὰ τοῦτο κατα ψευσαμένου τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς γραφῆς. Οὐκ οἶδα δ' ὅπως καὶ τὸ κινῆσαν τοὺς μάγους σεσιώπηκε καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν αὐτὸ εἶναι "ἀστέρα" ὀφθέντα ὑπ' αὐτῶν "ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ" κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Ἴδωμεν οὖν καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τί λεκτέον. Τὸν ὀφθέντα "ἀστέρα ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ" καινὸν εἶναι νομίζομεν καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν συνήθων παραπλήσιον, οὔτε τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀπλανεῖ οὔτε τῶν ἐν ταῖς κατωτέρω σφαίραις, ἀλλὰ τῷ γένει τοιοῦτον γεγονέναι, ὁποῖοι κατὰ καιρὸν γινόμενοι κομῆται ἢ δοκίδες ἢ πωγωνίαι ἢ πίθοι ἢ ὅπως ποτὲ φίλον Ἕλλησιν ὀνομάζειν τὰς διαφορὰς αὐτῶν. Κατα σκευάζομεν δὲ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον τὸ τοιοῦτον.