Chapter XLIX.

Jesus, accordingly, in turning away the minds of His disciples, not merely from giving heed to sorcerers in general, and those who profess in any other manner to work miracles—for His disciples did not need to be so warned—but from such as gave themselves out as the Christ of God, and who tried by certain apparent251    φαντασιῶν. miracles to gain over to them the disciples of Jesus, said in a certain passage:  “Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.  Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not.  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.”252    Matt. xxiv. 23–27.  And in another passage:  “Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in Thy name, and by Thy name have cast out demons, and done many wonderful works?  And then will I say unto them, Depart from Me, because ye are workers of iniquity.”253    Cf. Matt. vii. 22, 23, with Luke xiii. 26, 27.  But Celsus, wishing to assimilate the miracles of Jesus to the works of human sorcery, says in express terms as follows:  “O light and truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of a similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and he calls him who makes use of such devices, one Satan.  So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts.  Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the other sorcerers?  Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself?  For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men.”  Observe, now, whether Celsus is not clearly convicted of slandering the Gospel by such statements, since what Jesus says regarding those who are to work signs and wonders is different from what this Jew of Celsus alleges it to be.  For if Jesus had simply told His disciples to be on their guard against those who professed to work miracles, without declaring what they would give themselves out to be, then perhaps there would have been some ground for his suspicion.  But since those against whom Jesus would have us to be on our guard give themselves out as the Christ—which is not a claim put forth by sorcerers—and since He says that even some who lead wicked lives will perform miracles in the name of Jesus, and expel demons out of men, sorcery in the case of these individuals, or any suspicion of such, is rather, if we may so speak, altogether banished, and the divinity of Christ established, as well as the divine mission254    θειότης, lit. divinity. of His disciples; seeing that it is possible that one who makes use of His name, and who is wrought upon by some power, in some way unknown, to make the pretence that he is the Christ, should seem to perform miracles like those of Jesus, while others through His name should do works resembling those of His genuine disciples.

Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἰησοῦς ἀποστρέφων τοὺς μαθητὰς οὐχὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσέχειν ἁπαξαπλῶς γόησι καὶ τοῖς ἐπαγγελλο μένοις δι' οἱασδήποτε ὁδοῦ ποιεῖν τεράστια–οὐ γὰρ ἐδέοντο τούτου οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ–ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τοῦ τοῖς ἀναγορεύουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πειρωμένοις διά τινων φαντασιῶν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιστρέφειν τοὺς Ἰησοῦ μαθητὰς ὅπου μὲν εἶπε· "Τότε ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ· Ἰδοὺ ὧδε ὁ Χριστὸς ἢ ὧδε, μὴ πιστεύετε. Ἐγερθήσονται γὰρ ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται καὶ δώσουσι σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα μεγάλα, ὥστε πλανᾶσθαι εἰ δυνατὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς. Ἰδοὺ προείρηκα ὑμῖν. Ἐὰν οὖν εἴπωσιν ὑμῖν· Ἰδοὺ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐστί, μὴ ἐξέλθητε· ἰδοὺ ἐν τοῖς ταμείοις, μὴ πιστεύσητε. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ ἀστραπὴ ἐξέρχεται ἀπ' ἀνα τολῶν καὶ φαίνεται ἕως δυσμῶν, οὕτως ἔσται ἡ παρουσία τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου"· ὅπου δέ· "Πολλοὶ ἐροῦσί μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ· Κύριε, κύριε, οὐ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐφάγομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐπίομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν καὶ δυνάμεις πολλὰς ἐποιήσαμεν; Καὶ ἐρῶ αὐτοῖς· Ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι ἐστὲ ἐργάται ἀδικίας." Ὁ δὲ Κέλσος κοινοποιῆσαι βουλόμενος τὰ τεράστια τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γοητείαν φησὶν αὐταῖς λέξεσιν· Ὦ φῶς καὶ ἀλήθεια, τῇ αὐτοῦ φωνῇ διαρρήδην ἐξαγορεύει, καθὰ καὶ ὑμεῖς συγγεγράφατε, διότι παρέσονται ὑμῖν καὶ ἕτεροι δυνάμεσιν ὁμοίαις χρώμενοι, κακοὶ καὶ γόητες, καὶ Σατανᾶν τινα τοιαῦτα παραμηχανώμενον ὀνο μάζει· ὥστ' οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἔξαρνός ἐστιν, ὡς ταῦτά γε οὐδὲν θεῖον ἀλλὰ πονηρῶν ἐστιν ἔργα. Βιαζόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπεκάλυψε καὶ τὰ καθ' αὑτὸν ἤλεγξε. Πῶς οὖν οὐ σχέτλιον ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔργων τὸν μὲν θεὸν τοὺς δὲ γόητας ἡγεῖσθαι; Τί γὰρ μᾶλλον ἀπό γε τούτων τοὺς ἄλλους πονηροὺς ἢ τοῦτον νομιστέον αὐτῷ χρωμένους μάρτυρι; Ταῦτα μέν γε καὶ αὐτὸς ὡμολό γησεν οὐχὶ θείας φύσεως ἀλλ' ἀπατεώνων τινῶν καὶ παμπο νήρων εἶναι γνωρίσματα. Ὅρα δὴ εἰ μὴ ἐν τούτοις σαφῶς ὁ Κέλσος ἐλέγχεται κακουργῶν τὸν λόγον, ἄλλο μὲν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντος περὶ τῶν ποιησόντων "σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα", ἄλλο δὲ τοῦ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαίου φάσκοντος. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν ἁπλῶς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἔλεγεν Ἰησοῦς φυλάσσεσθαι τοὺς τὰ τεράστια ἐπαγγελλομένους οὐ παρατιθέμενος, τί φήσουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι, τάχα χώραν εἶχεν ἂν ἡ ὑπόνοια αὐτοῦ· ἐπεὶ δ' ἀφ' ὧν θέλει ἡμᾶς φυλάσσεσθαι ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπαγγέλλονται εἶναι "ὁ Χριστός", ὅπερ οὐ ποιοῦσιν οἱ γόητες, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ βιοῦντας κακῶς φησι τινὰς δυνάμεις ποιήσειν καὶ δαίμονας ἀποβαλεῖν ἀνθρώπων· μᾶλλον δή, εἰ δεῖ οὕτως εἰπεῖν, ἀποκηρύσσεται μὲν τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἡ γοητεία καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κατ' αὐτῶν ὑπόνοια, εἰσάγεται δὲ ἡ θειότης τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θειότης τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι δυνατόν τινα τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ χρησάμενον καὶ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἐνεργηθέντα ὑπό τινος δυνάμεως πρὸς τὸ προσποιήσασθαι, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ Χριστός, δοκεῖν τὰ παρα πλήσια ἐπιτελεῖν τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ ἄλλους τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὰ ὡσπερεὶ παραπλήσια τοῖς γνησίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς.