Chapter XIII.

This Jew of Celsus continues, after the above, in the following fashion:  “Although he could state many things regarding the events of the life of Jesus which are true, and not like those which are recorded by the disciples, he willingly omits them.”  What, then, are those true statements, unlike the accounts in the Gospels, which the Jew of Celsus passes by without mention?  Or is he only employing what appears to be a figure of speech,188    δοκούσῃ δεινότητι ῥητορικῇ. in pretending to have something to say, while in reality he had nothing to produce beyond the Gospel narrative which could impress the hearer with a feeling of its truth, and furnish a clear ground of accusation against Jesus and His doctrine?  And he charges the disciples with having invented the statement that Jesus foreknew and foretold all that happened to Him; but the truth of this statement we shall establish, although Celsus may not like it, by means of many other predictions uttered by the Saviour, in which He foretold what would befall the Christians in after generations.  And who is there who would not be astonished at this prediction:  “Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles;”189    Matt. x. 18. and at any others which He may have delivered respecting the future persecution of His disciples?  For what system of opinions ever existed among men on account of which others are punished, so that any one of the accusers of Jesus could say that, foreseeing the impiety or falsity of his opinions to be the ground of an accusation against them he thought that this would redound to his credit, that he had so predicted regarding it long before?  Now if any deserve to be brought, on account of their opinions, before governors and kings, what others are they, save the Epicureans, who altogether deny the existence of providence?  And also the Peripatetics, who say that prayers are of no avail, and sacrifices offered as to the Divinity?  But some one will say that the Samaritans suffer persecution because of their religion.  In answer to whom we shall state that the Sicarians,190    Modestinus, lib. vi. Regularum, ad legem Corneliam de Sicariis:  “Circumcidere filios suos Judæis tantum rescripto divi Pii permittitur:  in non ejusdem religionis qui hoc fecerit, castrantis pœna irrogatur.” on account of the practice of circumcision, as mutilating themselves contrary to the established laws and the customs permitted to the Jews alone, are put to death.  And you never hear a judge inquiring whether a Sicarian who strives to live according to this established religion of his will be released from punishment if he apostatizes, but will be led away to death if he continues firm; for the evidence of the circumcision is sufficient to ensure the death of him who has undergone it.  But Christians alone, according to the prediction of their Saviour, “Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake,” are urged up to their last breath by their judges to deny Christianity, and to sacrifice according to the public customs; and after the oath of abjuration, to return to their homes, and to live in safety.  And observe whether it is not with great authority that this declaration is uttered:  “Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father who is in heaven.  And whosoever shall deny Me before men,”191    Matt. x. 18. etc.  And go back with me in thought to Jesus when He uttered these words, and see His predictions not yet accomplished.  Perhaps you will say, in a spirit of incredulity, that he is talking folly, and speaking to no purpose, for his words will have no fulfilment; or, being in doubt about assenting to his words, you will say, that if these predictions be fulfilled, and the doctrine of Jesus be established, so that governors and kings think of destroying those who acknowledge Jesus, then we shall believe that he utters these prophecies as one who has received great power from God to implant this doctrine among the human race, and as believing that it will prevail.  And who will not be filled with wonder, when he goes back in thought to Him who then taught and said, “This Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles,”192    Matt. xxiv. 14. and beholds, agreeably to His words, the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached in the whole world under heaven to Greeks and Barbarians, wise and foolish alike?  For the word, spoken with power, has gained the mastery over men of all sorts of nature, and it is impossible to see any race of men which has escaped accepting the teaching of Jesus.  But let this Jew of Celsus, who does not believe that He foreknew all that happened to Him, consider how, while Jerusalem was still standing, and the whole Jewish worship celebrated in it, Jesus foretold what would befall it from the hand of the Romans.  For they will not maintain that the acquaintances and pupils of Jesus Himself handed down His teaching contained in the Gospels without committing it to writing, and left His disciples without the memoirs of Jesus contained in their works.193    [“Celsus quotes the writings of the disciples of Jesus concerning His life, as possessing unquestioned authority; and that these were the four canonical Gospels is proved both by the absence of all evidence to the contrary, and by the special facts which he brings forward.  And not only this, but both Celsus and Porphyry appear to have been acquainted with the Pauline Epistles” (Westcott’s History of the Canon of the New Testament, pp. 464, 465, 137, 138, 401, 402).  See also infra, cap. lxxiv.  S.]  Now in these it is recorded, that “when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed about with armies, then shall ye know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”194    [Luke xxi. 20.  S.]  But at that time there were no armies around Jerusalem, encompassing and enclosing and besieging it; for the siege began in the reign of Nero, and lasted till the government of Vespasian, whose son Titus destroyed Jerusalem, on account, as Josephus says, of James the Just, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ, but in reality, as the truth makes clear, on account of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Μετὰ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος ὅτι πολλὰ ἔχων λέγειν περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν γενομένων καὶ ἀληθῆ καὶ οὐ παραπλήσια τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γραφεῖσιν ἑκὼν ἐκεῖνα παραλείπω. Τίνα οὖν ἄρα τἀληθῆ καὶ οὐχ ὁποῖα ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις γέγραπται, ἃ παραλείπει ὁ παρὰ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος; Ἢ δοκούσῃ δεινότητι ῥητορικῇ χρησάμενος προσποιεῖται μὲν ἔχειν λέγειν οὐδὲν δὲ εἶχεν ἔξωθεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου φέρειν, δυνάμενον πλῆξαι ὡς ἀληθὲς τὸν ἀκούοντα καὶ ὡς ἐναργῶς κατηγοροῦν Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ; Ἐγκαλεῖ δὲ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὡς πλασαμένοις ὅτι πάντα τὰ συμβάντα αὐτῷ ἐκεῖνος προῄδει καὶ προειρήκει. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἀληθὲς ὄν, κἂν μὴ Κέλσος βούληται, παραστήσομεν ἀπὸ πολλῶν καὶ ἄλλων προφητικῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένων, ἐν οἷς προεῖπε τὰ Χριστιανοῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὕστερον γενόμενα γενεαῖς. Καὶ τίς γε οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσαι τὸ προειρημένον τὸ "Καὶ ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας δὲ καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀχθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι", καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο περὶ τοῦ διωχθήσεσθαι τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ προεῖπε. ∆ιὰ ποῖον γὰρ δόγμα τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γεγενημένων κολάζονται καὶ ἄλλοι, ἵνα τις τῶν κατηγορούντων Ἰησοῦ λέγῃ ὅτι ὁρῶν τὰ ἀσεβῆ ἢ τὰ ψευδῆ τῶν δογμάτων κατηγορούμενα ἔδοξε καὶ τοῦτο σεμνύνειν διὰ τοῦ προλέγειν δῆθεν περὶ αὐτοῦ; Εἴπερ γὰρ ἐχρῆν διὰ δόγματα "ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας καὶ βασιλεῖς" ἄγεσθαί τινας, καὶ τίνας ἐχρῆν ἄλλους ἢ Ἐπικου ρείους, τοὺς πάντῃ πρόνοιαν ἀναιροῦντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ Περιπάτου, μηδὲν φάσκοντας ἀνύειν εὐχὰς καὶ τὰς ὡς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον θυσίας; Ἀλλὰ φήσει τις ὅτι καὶ Σαμαρεῖς διὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν θεοσέβειαν διώκονται. Πρὸς ὃν τοιαῦτα ἐροῦμεν· οἱ Σικάριοι διὰ τὴν περιτομὴν ὡς ἀκρωτηριάζοντες παρὰ τοὺς καθεστῶτας νόμους καὶ τὰ Ἰουδαίοις συγκεχωρημένα μόνοις ἀναιροῦνται. Καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι δικαστοῦ πυνθανομένου, εἰ κατὰ τήνδε τὴν νομιζομένην θεοσέβειαν ὁ Σικάριος ἀγωνιζόμενος βιοῦν μεταθέμενος μὲν ἀπολυθήσεται ἐμμένων δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ἀπαχθήσεται· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀρκεῖ δειχθεῖσα ἡ περιτομὴ πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ πεπονθότος αὐτήν. Χριστιανοὶ δὲ μόνοι κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτῶν λέγοντος· "Ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀχθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ" μέχρι τελευταίας ἀναπνοῆς ὑπὸ τῶν δικαστῶν ἐπιτρέπονται ἐξομοσάμενοι τὸν χριστιανισμὸν καὶ κατὰ τὰ κοινὰ ἔθη θύσαντες καὶ ὀμόσαντες οἴκοι γενέσθαι καὶ ζῆν ἀκινδύνως. Ὅρα δὲ εἰ μὴ μετὰ πολλῆς ἐξουσίας λέγεται τὸ "Πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κἀγὼ ὁμολογήσω ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· καὶ πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων", καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Καὶ ἀνάβα μοι τῷ λόγῳ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν λέγοντα ταῦτα, καὶ ὅρα μηδέπω γενόμενα προφητευόμενα εἰ μὴ φήσεις ἀπιστῶν μὲν αὐτῷ ὅτι ταῦτα φλυαρεῖ καὶ μάτην λέγει– οὐ γὰρ ἔσται τὰ λεγόμενα–, ἀμφιβάλλων δὲ περὶ τοῦ συγκαταθέσθαι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ εἰ μὴ ὅτι, ἐὰν ταῦτα πληρωθῇ καὶ συστῇ ἡ διδασκαλία τῶν λόγων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὡς φροντίζειν τοὺς ἡγεμόνας καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἀναιρεῖν τοὺς ὁμολογοῦντας τὸν Ἰησοῦν, τότε πιστεύσομεν ὅτι ὡς μεγάλην ἐξουσίαν λαβὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὸ σπεῖραι τοῦτον τὸν λόγον τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πειθόμενος κρατήσειν ταῦτά φησι. Τίς δ' οὐ θαυμάσεται ἀναβαίνων τῷ λόγῳ ἐπ' ἐκεῖνον διδάσκοντα τότε καὶ λέγοντα· "Κηρυχθήσεται τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦτο ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι" καὶ θεωρῶν κατὰ τὰ ὑπ' ἐκείνου εἰρημένα κεκηρυγμένον τὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εὐαγ γέλιον "ἐν [πάσῃ κτίσει] τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν", "Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις, σοφοῖς καὶ ἀνοήτοις"; Πᾶσαν γὰρ φύσιν ἀνθρώπων ὁ μετὰ δυνάμεως λαληθεὶς λόγος κεκράτηκε· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τι γένος ἰδεῖν ἀνθρώπων, ὃ ἐκπέφευγε παραδέξασθαι τὴν Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίαν. Ὁ δὲ ἀπιστῶν παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι πάντα τὰ συμβάντα αὐτῷ προῄδει, κατανοησάτω, τίνα τρόπον ἔτι συνεστώσης τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ πάσης τῆς ἰουδαϊκῆς λατρείας γινομένης ἐν αὐτῇ προεῖπεν Ἰησοῦς τὰ συμβησόμενα αὐτῇ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοὺς αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ γνωρίμους καὶ ἀκροατὰς φήσουσι χωρὶς γραφῆς τὴν τῶν εὐαγγελίων παραδεδωκέναι διδασκαλίαν καὶ καταλιπεῖν τοὺς μαθητὰς χωρὶς τῶν περὶ Ἰησοῦ ἐν γράμμασιν ὑπομνη μάτων. Γέγραπται δὴ ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸ "Ὅταν δὲ ἴδητε κυκλου μένην ὑπὸ στρατοπέδων τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τότε γνῶτε ὅτι ἤγγισεν ἡ ἐρήμωσις αὐτῆς." Καὶ οὐδαμῶς τότε ἦν στρατό πεδα περὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ κυκλοῦντα αὐτὴν καὶ περιέχοντα καὶ πολιορκοῦντα. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἤρξατο μὲν ἔτι Νέρωνος βασιλεύοντος παρέτεινε δὲ ἕως τῆς Οὐεσπασιανοῦ ἡγεμονίας· οὗ ὁ υἱὸς Τίτος καθεῖλε τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, ὡς μὲν Ἰώσηπος γράφει, διὰ Ἰάκωβον τὸν δίκαιον, τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰησοῦ τοῦ λεγομένου Χριστοῦ, ὡς δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια παρίστησι, διὰ Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ.