Chapter LIII.

For the word is used by our Paul in writing to the Corinthians, who were Greeks, and not yet purified in their morals:  “I have fed you with milk, not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal:  for whereas there is among you envying and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”526    [1 Cor. iii. 2, 3.  S.]  Now the same writer,527    [See note supra, p. 239.  S.] knowing that there was a certain kind of nourishment better adapted for the soul, and that the food of those young528    νηπίων. persons who were admitted was compared to milk, continues:  “And ye are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”529    Heb. v. 12–14.  Would then those who believe these words to be well spoken, suppose that the noble doctrines of our faith would never be mentioned in an assembly of wise men, but that wherever (our instructors) see young men, and a mob of slaves, and a collection of foolish individuals, they bring publicly forward divine and venerable truths, and before such persons make a display of themselves in treating of them?  But it is clear to him who examines the whole spirit of our writings, that Celsus is animated with a hatred against the human race resembling that of the ignorant populace, and gives utterance to these falsehoods without examination.

Γέγραπται γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ἡμῶν Κορινθίοις ἐπιστέλλοντι, Ἕλλησι μέν, οὐ κεκαθαρμένοις δέ πω τὰ ἤθη· "Γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα, οὐ βρῶμα· οὔπω γὰρ ἐδύνασθε. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἔτι νῦν δύνασθε· ἔτι γὰρ σαρκικοί ἐστε. Ὅπου γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ζῆλος καὶ ἔρις, οὐχὶ σαρκικοί ἐστε καὶ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον περιπατεῖτε;" Ὁ δ' αὐτὸς οὗτος ἐπιστάμενος τὰ μέν τινα τροφὴν εἶναι τελειοτέρας ψυχῆς, τὰ δὲ τῶν εἰσαγομένων παραβάλλεσθαι γάλακτι νηπίων, φησί· "Καὶ γεγόνατε χρείαν ἔχοντες γάλακτος, οὐ στερεᾶς τροφῆς. Πᾶς γὰρ ὁ μετέχων γάλακτος ἄπειρος λόγου δικαιοσύνης, νήπιος γάρ ἐστι· τελείων δέ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφή, τῶν διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμένα ἐχόντων πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ." Ἆρ' οὖν οἱ τούτοις ὡς καλῶς εἰρημένοις πιστεύοντες ὑπολάβοιεν ἂν τὰ καλὰ τοῦ λόγου εἰς μὲν φρονίμων ἀνδρῶν σύλλογον οὐκ ἄν ποτε λεχθήσεσθαι, ἔνθα δ' ἂν ὁρῶσι μειράκια καὶ οἰκοτρίβων ὄχλον καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀνοήτων ὅμιλον, ἐνταῦθα τὰ θεῖα καὶ σεμνὰ φέρειν εἰς μέσον καὶ παρὰ τοῖς τοιούτοις περὶ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλλωπίζεσθαι; Ἀλλὰ σαφὲς τῷ ἐξετάζοντι ὅλον τὸ βούλημα τῶν ἡμετέρων γραμμάτων ὅτι ἀπεχθόμενος ὁμοίως τοῖς ἰδιωτικοῖς δήμοις ὁ Κέλσος πρὸς τὸ Χριστιανῶν γένος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνεξετάστως καὶ ψευδόμενος λέγει.