Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus

After these points Celsus quotes some objections against the doctrine of Jesus, made by a very few individuals who are considered Christians, not of the more intelligent, as he supposes, but of the more ignorant class, and asserts that “the following are the rules laid down by them. Let no one come to us who has been instructed, or who is wise or prudent (for such qualifications are deemed evil by us); but if there be any ignorant, or unintelligent, or uninstructed, or foolish persons, let them come with confidence. By which words, acknowledging that such individuals are worthy of their God, they manifestly show that they desire and are able to gain over only the silly, and the mean, and the stupid, with women and children.”501 [The sarcastic raillery of Celsus in regard to the ignorance and low social scale of the early converts to Christianity is in keeping with his whole tone and manner. On the special value of the evidence of early Christian writers, such as Justin Martyr , Clement, Origen, etc., to the truth and power, among men of all classes, of the Gospel of our Lord, see Rawlinson’s Bampton Lectures, The Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records, Lect. viii. pp. 207, 420, et seqq. (Amer. ed. 1860). S.] In reply to which, we say that, as if, while Jesus teaches continence, and says, “Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart,” one were to behold a few of those who are deemed to be Christians living licentiously, he would most justly blame them for living contrary to the teaching of Jesus, but would act most unreasonably if he were to charge the Gospel with their censurable conduct; so, if he found nevertheless that the doctrine of the Christians invites men to wisdom, the blame then must remain with those who rest in their own ignorance, and who utter, not what Celsus relates (for although some of them are simple and ignorant, they do not speak so shamelessly as he alleges), but other things of much less serious import, which, however, serve to turn aside men from the practice of wisdom.

Εἶθ' ἑξῆς τούτοις ὁ Κέλσος τὰ ὑπὸ ὀλίγων πάνυ παρὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν Ἰησοῦ λεγόμενα νομιζομένων Χριστιανῶν, οὐ φρονιμωτέρων, ὡς οἴεται, ἀλλ' ἀμαθεστάτων, φέρων φησὶ τοιαῦτα ὑπ' αὐτῶν προστάσσεσθαι· μηδεὶς προσίτω πεπαιδευμένος, μηδεὶς σοφός, μηδεὶς φρόνιμος· κακὰ γὰρ ταῦτα νομίζεται παρ' ἡμῖν· ἀλλ' εἴ τις ἀμαθής, εἴ τις ἀνόητος, εἴ τις ἀπαίδευτος, εἴ τις νήπιος, θαρρῶν ἡκέτω. Τούτους γὰρ ἀξίους εἶναι τοῦ σφετέρου θεοῦ αὐτόθεν ὁμολο γοῦντες, δῆλοί εἰσιν ὅτι μόνους τοὺς ἠλιθίους καὶ ἀγεννεῖς καὶ ἀναισθήτους καὶ ἀνδράποδα καὶ γύναια καὶ παιδάρια πείθειν ἐθέλουσί τε καὶ δύνανται. Καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα δέ φαμεν ὅτι, ὥσπερ εἴ τις, τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδάσκοντος τὰ περὶ σωφρο σύνης καὶ λέγοντος· "Ὃς ἐὰν ἐμβλέψῃ γυναικὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ", ἑώρα τινὰς ὀλίγους ἀπὸ τῶν τοσούτων Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι νομιζομένους ἀκολάστως ζῶντας, εὐλογώτατα μὲν ἂν αὐτοῖς ἐνεκάλει παρὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ βιοῦσι διδασκαλίαν ἀλογώ τατα δ' ἂν ἐποίησεν, εἰ τὸ κατ' ἐκείνων ἔγκλημα τῷ λόγῳ προσῆπτεν· οὕτως ἐὰν εὑρίσκηται οὐδενὸς ἧττον ὁ Χριστια νῶν λόγος ἐπὶ σοφίαν προκαλούμενος, ἐγκλητέον μὲν ἔσται τοῖς συναγορεύουσι τῇ σφῶν ἀμαθίᾳ καὶ λέγουσιν οὐ ταῦτα μέν, ἅπερ ὁ Κέλσος ἀνέγραψεν–οὐδὲ γὰρ οὕτως ἀναισχύν τως, κἂν ἰδιῶταί τινες ὦσι καὶ ἀμαθεῖς, λέγουσιν–, ἕτερα δὲ πολλῷ ἐλάττονα καὶ ἀποτρεπτικὰ τοῦ ἀσκεῖν σοφίαν.