Chapter XXXVII.

The Egyptians, then, having been taught to worship Antinous, will, if you compare him with Apollo or Zeus, endure such a comparison, Antinous being magnified in their estimation through being classed with these deities; for Celsus is clearly convicted of falsehood when he says, “that they will not endure his being compared with Apollo or Zeus.”  Whereas Christians (who have learned that their eternal life consists in knowing the only true God, who is over all, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent; and who have learned also that all the gods of the heathen are greedy demons, which flit around sacrifices and blood, and other sacrificial accompaniments,484    ἀποφοράς. in order to deceive those who have not taken refuge with the God who is over all, but that the divine and holy angels of God are of a different nature and will485    προαιρέσεως. from all the demons on earth, and that they are known to those exceedingly few persons who have carefully and intelligently investigated these matters) will not endure a comparison to be made between them and Apollo or Zeus, or any being worshipped with odour and blood and sacrifices; some of them, so acting from their extreme simplicity, not being able to give a reason for their conduct, but sincerely observing the precepts which they have received; others, again, for reasons not to be lightly regarded, nay, even of a profound description, and (as a Greek would say) drawn from the inner nature of things;486    ἐσωτερικῶν καὶ ἐποπτικῶν. and amongst the latter of these God is a frequent subject of conversation, and those who are honoured by God, through His only-begotten Word, with participation in His divinity, and therefore also in His name.  They speak much, too, both regarding the angels of God and those who are opposed to the truth, but have been deceived; and who, in consequence of being deceived, call them gods or angels of God, or good demons, or heroes who have become such by the transference into them of a good human soul.487    ἢ ἥρωας ἐκ μεταβολῆς συστάντας ἀγαθῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ψυχῆς.  And such Christians will also show, that as in philosophy there are many who appear to be in possession of the truth, who have yet either deceived themselves by plausible arguments, or by rashly assenting to what was brought forward and discovered by others; so also, among those souls which exist apart from bodies, both angels and demons, there are some which have been induced by plausible reasons to declare themselves gods.  And because it was impossible that the reasons of such things could be discovered by men with perfect exactness, it was deemed safe that no mortal should entrust himself to any being as to God, with the exception of Jesus Christ, who is, as it were, the Ruler over all things, and who both beheld these weighty secrets, and made them known to a few.

Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν οὖν διδαχθέντες τὸν Ἀντίνουν σέβειν, ἐὰν παραβάλῃς [αὐτῷ] Ἀπόλλωνα ἢ ∆ία, ἀνέξονται, σεμνύνοντες τὸν Ἀντίνουν διὰ τοῦ ἐκείνοις αὐτὸν συναριθ μεῖν· καὶ ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ὁ Κέλσος σαφῶς ψεύδεται λέγων· Κἂν παραβάλῃς αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα ἢ τὸν ∆ία, οὐκ ἀνέ ξονται. Χριστιανοῖς δὲ μεμαθηκόσι τὴν αἰώνιον αὐτοῖς εἶναι ζωὴν ἐν τῷ γινώσκειν "τὸν μόνον" ἐπὶ πᾶσιν "ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν" ἐκεῖνος ἀπέστειλεν "Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν", μαθοῦσι δὲ καὶ "ὅτι πάντες μὲν οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσι δαιμόνια" λίχνα καὶ περὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰ αἵματα καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν θυσιῶν ἀποφορὰς καλινδούμενα ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ τῶν μὴ προσπεφευγότων τῷ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεῷ, οἱ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ θεῖοι καὶ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι ἄλλης εἰσὶ φύσεως καὶ προαιρέσεως παρὰ τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς πάντας δαίμονας, καὶ ὅτι οὗτοι σφόδρα ὀλίγοις γινώσκονται τοῖς περὶ τῶν τοιούτων συνετῶς καὶ ἐπι μελῶς ζητήσασιν, ἐὰν παραβάλῃς Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ ∆ία ἤ τινα τῶν μετὰ κνίσσης καὶ αἵματος καὶ θυσιῶν προσκυνουμένων, οὐκ ἀνέξονται· τινὲς μὲν διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἁπλότητα μὴ εἰδότες μὲν δοῦναι λόγον περὶ ὧν ποιοῦσιν εὐγνωμόνως δὲ τηροῦντες ἃ παρειλήφασιν, ἕτεροι δὲ μετ' οὐκ εὐκαταφρονήτων λόγων ἀλλὰ καὶ βαθυτέρων καί, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις Ἕλλην, ἐσωτερικῶν καὶ ἐποπτικῶν, ἐν οἷς πολύς ἐστι λόγος περὶ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν τετιμημένων ἀπὸ θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς θεοῦ λόγου μετοχῇ θεότητος διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὀνόματι. Πολὺς δὲ ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν θείων ἀγγέλων καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν ἐναντίων μὲν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἠπατημένων δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἀπάτης ἑαυτοὺς ἀναγορευόντων θεοὺς ἢ ἀγγέλους θεοῦ ἢ δαίμονας ἀγαθοὺς ἢ ἥρωας ἐκ μεταβολῆς συστάντας ἀγαθῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ψυχῆς. Οἱ δὲ τοιοῦτοι Χριστιανοὶ καὶ κατασκευάσουσιν ὅτι, ὥσπερ πολλοὶ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ δοκοῦσιν εἶναι ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἤτοι ἑαυτοὺς κατασοφισάμενοι λόγοις πιθανοῖς ἢ τοῖς ὑφ' ἑτέρων προσαγομένοις καὶ εὑρεθεῖσι συγκαταθέμενοι προ πετῶς, οὕτως εἰσὶ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἔξω σωμάτων ψυχαῖς καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ δαίμοσί τινες, ὑπὸ τῶν πιθανοτήτων ἑλκυσθέντες πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοὺς ἀναγορεῦσαι θεούς. Καὶ διὰ τοὺς τοιούτους γε λόγους κατὰ τὸ ἀκριβὲς τελείως ἐν ἀνθρώποις μὴ δυνα μένους εὑρεθῆναι ἀσφαλὲς ἐνομίσθη τὸ μηδενὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐμπιστεῦσαι ἄνθρωπον ὄντα ὡς θεῷ, πλὴν μόνου τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὡς διαιτητοῦ, τοῦ βαθύτατα ταῦτα καὶ θεωρήσαντος καὶ ὀλίγοις παραδόντος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.