Chapter LXXIX.

The conclusion of all these arguments regarding Jesus is thus stated by the Jew:  “He was therefore a man, and of such a nature, as the truth itself proves, and reason demonstrates him to be.”  I do not know, however, whether a man who had the courage to spread throughout the entire world his doctrine of religious worship and teaching,364    τὴν κατ᾽ αὐτὸν θεοσέβειαν καὶ διδασκαλίαν. could accomplish what he wished without the divine assistance, and could rise superior to all who withstood the progress of his doctrine—kings and rulers, and the Roman senate, and governors in all places, and the common people.  And how could the nature of a man possessed of no inherent excellence convert so vast a multitude?  For it would not be wonderful if it were only the wise who were so convened; but it is the most irrational of men, and those devoted to their passions, and who, by reason of their irrationality, change with the greater difficulty so as to adopt a more temperate course of life.  And yet it is because Christ was the power of God and the wisdom of the Father that He accomplished, and still accomplishes, such results, although neither the Jews nor Greeks who disbelieve His word will so admit.  And therefore we shall not cease to believe in God, according to the precepts of Jesus Christ, and to seek to convert those who are blind on the subject of religion, although it is they who are truly blind themselves that charge us with blindness:  and they, whether Jews or Greeks, who lead astray those that follow them, accuse us of seducing men—a good seduction, truly!—that they may become temperate instead of dissolute, or at least may make advances to temperance; may become just instead of unjust, or at least may tend to become so; prudent instead of foolish, or be on the way to become such; and instead of cowardice, meanness, and timidity, may exhibit the virtues of fortitude and courage, especially displayed in the struggles undergone for the sake of their religion towards God, the Creator of all things.  Jesus Christ therefore came announced beforehand, not by one prophet, but by all; and it was a proof of the ignorance of Celsus, to represent a Jew as saying that one prophet only had predicted the advent of Christ.  But as this Jew of Celsus, after being thus introduced, asserting that these things were indeed in conformity with his own law, has somewhere here ended his discourse, with a mention of other matters not worthy of remembrance, I too shall here terminate this second book of my answer to his treatise.  But if God permit, and the power of Christ abide in my soul, I shall endeavour in the third book to deal with the subsequent statements of Celsus.

Εἶτ' ἐπίλογος τοῦ Ἰουδαίου ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσί φησι περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· Ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἄνθρωπος ἦν, καὶ τοιοῦτος, οἷον αὐτὸ τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐμφανίζει καὶ ὁ λόγος δείκνυσιν. Οὐκ οἶδα δὲ εἰ ἄνθρωπος, τολμήσας ἐπισπεῖραι πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ τὴν κατ' αὐτὸν θεοσέβειαν καὶ διδασκαλίαν, δύναται ἀθεεὶ ποιῆσαι ὃ βούλεται καὶ κρείττων γενέσθαι πάντων τῶν ἀντιπραττόντων τῇ νομῇ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ, βασιλέων τε καὶ ἡγουμένων καὶ συγκλήτου βουλῆς Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν πανταχοῦ ἀρχόντων καὶ δήμων. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπου φύσις, μηδὲν ἔχουσα κρεῖττον ἐν ἑαυτῇ, δύναται τοσοῦτον ἐπιστρέψαι πλῆθος; Καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ τῶν φρονίμων ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀλογωτάτων καὶ τοῖς πάθεσιν ἐγκειμένων καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ ἀλογίᾳ χαλεπώτερον μετατιθε μένων εἰς τὸ σωφρονέστερον. Ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ Χριστὸς ἦν καὶ σοφία τοῦ πατρός, διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα πεποίηκε καὶ ἔτι ποιεῖ, κἂν μήτε Ἰουδαῖοι μήτε Ἕλληνες βούλωνται, οἱ ἀπιστοῦντες αὐτοῦ τῷ λόγῳ. Ἡμεῖς οὖν οὐ παυσόμεθα πιστεύοντες τῷ θεῷ κατὰ τὰς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑποθήκας καὶ τοὺς τυφλώττοντας περὶ θεοσέβειαν ἐθέλοντες ἐπιστρέφειν, κἂν οἱ ἀληθῶς τυφλώτ τοντες λοιδορῶνται ἡμῖν ὡς τυφλώττουσι καὶ οἱ βουκο λοῦντες, εἴτε Ἰουδαῖοι εἴτε Ἕλληνες, τοὺς συγκατατιθεμένους αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν ἐγκαλῶσιν ὡς βουκολοῦσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους· καλήν γε βουκόλησιν, ἵν' ἀντὶ ἀκολάστων σώφρονες γένωνται ἢ προκόπτοντές γε ἐπὶ σωφροσύνην, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀδίκων δίκαιοι ἢ προκόπτοντες ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀφρόνων φρόνιμοι ἢ ὁδεύοντες ἐπὶ τὴν φρόνησιν, καὶ ἀντὶ δειλῶν καὶ ἀγεννῶν καὶ ἀνάνδρων ἀνδρεῖοι καὶ καρτερικοί, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦτο ἐπιδεικνύμενοι ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας τῆς εἰς τὸν κτίσαντα ὅλα θεὸν ἀγῶσιν. Ἦλθεν οὖν οὐχ ὑπὸ ἑνὸς προφήτου ἀλλ' ὑπὸ πάντων προκηρυχθεὶς Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ τῆς ἀμαθίας ἦν Κέλσου, περιθεῖναι τῷ ἰουδαϊκῷ προσώπῳ ἕνα προφήτην προειρηκέναι περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ ἐπεὶ ταῦτα ὁ παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ Ἰουδαῖος εἰσῆκται λέγων ὡς δῆθεν κατὰ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νόμον καὶ αὐτοῦ που κατέπαυσε τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἄλλα εἰπὼν οὐ μνήμης ἄξια, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐνθάδε καταπαύσω τὸ δεύτερον τῶν πρὸς τὸ σύγγραμμα αὐτοῦ ὑπαγορευθέντων μοι. Θεοῦ δὲ διδόντος καὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ δυνάμεως τῇ ψυχῇ ἡμῶν ἐπιδημούσης, πειρασόμεθα ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ πρὸς τὰ ἑξῆς τῷ Κέλσῳ γραφέντα πραγμα τεύσασθαι.