Chapter XXIV.

And again, when it is said of Æsculapius that a great multitude both of Greeks and Barbarians acknowledge that they have frequently seen, and still see, no mere phantom, but Æsculapius himself, healing and doing good, and foretelling the future; Celsus requires us to believe this, and finds no fault with the believers in Jesus, when we express our belief in such stories, but when we give our assent to the disciples, and eye-witnesses of the miracles of Jesus, who clearly manifest the honesty of their convictions (because we see their guilelessness, as far as it is possible to see the conscience revealed in writing), we are called by him a set of “silly” individuals, although he cannot demonstrate that an incalculable434    ἀμύθητον. number, as he asserts, of Greeks and Barbarians acknowledge the existence of Æsculapius; while we, if we deem this a matter of importance, can clearly show a countless multitude of Greeks and Barbarians who acknowledge the existence of Jesus.  And some give evidence of their having received through this faith a marvellous power by the cures which they perform, revoking no other name over those who need their help than that of the God of all things, and of Jesus, along with a mention of His history.  For by these means we too have seen many persons freed from grievous calamities, and from distractions of mind,435    ἐκστάσεων. and madness, and countless other ills, which could be cured neither by men nor devils.

Καὶ πάλιν ἐπὰν μὲν περὶ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ λέγηται ὅτι πολὺ ἀνθρώπων πλῆθος Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων ὁμολογεῖ πολλάκις ἰδεῖν καὶ ἔτι ὁρᾶν, οὐ φάσμα αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀλλὰ θεραπεύοντα καὶ εὐεργετοῦντα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα προλέγοντα, πιστεύειν ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος ἀξιοῖ καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαλεῖ τοῖς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν πιστοῖς, ἐπὰν τούτοις πιστεύωμεν· ἐπὰν δὲ τοῖς μαθηταῖς καὶ τεθεαμένοις τὰ τεράστια τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ παριστᾶσιν ἐναργῶς τὸ εὔγνωμον τῆς ἑαυτῶν συνειδήσεως συγκαταθώμεθα, ὁρῶντες τὸ ἀπάνουργον αὐτῶν, ὅσον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν συνείδησιν ἀπὸ γραμμάτων, εὐήθεις τινὲς εἶναι παρὰ τῷ Κέλσῳ ὀνομαζόμεθα, οὐκ ἔχοντι παραστῆσαι ἀμύθητον, ὥς φησι, πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρ βάρων ὁμολογούντων Ἀσκληπιῷ. Ἡμεῖς γάρ, εἰ τοῦτο σεμνὸν εἶναι νομίζει, ἐναργῶς δείκνυμεν ἀμύθητόν τι πλῆθος Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων ὁμολογούντων τῷ Ἰησοῦ. Τινὲς δὲ σημεῖα τοῦ εἰληφέναι τι διὰ τὴν πίστιν ταύτην παραδο ξότερον ἐπιδείκνυνται ἐν οἷς θεραπεύουσιν, οὐδὲν ἄλλο καλοῦντες ἐπὶ τοὺς δεομένους θεραπείας ἢ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὄνομα μετὰ τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἱστορίας. Τούτοις γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἑωράκαμεν πολλοὺς ἀπαλλαγέντας χαλεπῶν συμπτωμάτων καὶ ἐκστάσεων καὶ μανιῶν καὶ ἄλλων μυρίων, ἅπερ οὔτ' ἄνθρωποι οὔτε δαίμονες ἐθερά πευσαν.