Chapter XCVII.

How impious, indeed, is the assertion of this man, who charges us with impiety, that “not only are the irrational animals wiser than the human race, but that they are more beloved by God (than they)!”  And who would not be repelled (by horror) from paying any attention to a man who declared that a serpent, and a fox, and a wolf, and an eagle, and a hawk, were more beloved by God than the human race?  For it follows from his maintaining such a position, that if these animals be more beloved by God than human beings, it is manifest that they are dearer to God than Socrates, and Plato, and Pythagoras, and Pherecydes, and those theologians whose praises he had sung a little before.  And one might address him with the prayer:  “If these animals be dearer to God than men, may you be beloved of God along with them, and be made like to those whom you consider as dearer to Him than human beings!”  And let no one suppose that such a prayer is meant as an imprecation; for who would not pray to resemble in all respects those whom he believes to be dearer to God than others, in order that he, like them, may enjoy the divine love?  And as Celsus is desirous to show that the assemblies of the irrational animals are more sacred than ours, he ascribes the statement to that effect not to any ordinary individuals, but to persons of intelligence.  Yet it is the virtuous alone who are truly wise, for no wicked man is so.  He speaks, accordingly, in the following style:  “Intelligent men say that these animals hold assemblies which are more sacred than ours, and that they know what is spoken at them, and actually prove that they are not without such knowledge, when they mention beforehand that the birds have announced their intention of departing to a particular place, or of doing this thing or that, and then show that they have departed to the place in question, and have done the particular thing which was foretold.”  Now, truly, no person of intelligence ever related such things; nor did any wise man ever say that the assemblies of the irrational animals were more sacred than those of men.  But if, for the purpose of examining (the soundness of) his statements, we look to their consequences, it is evident that, in his opinion, the assemblies of the irrational animals are more sacred than those of the venerable Pherecydes, and Pythagoras, and Socrates, and Plato, and of philosophers in general; which assertion is not only incongruous994    ἀπεμφαῖνον. in itself, but full of absurdity.  In order that we may believe, however, that certain individuals do learn from the indistinct sound of birds that they are about to take their departure, and do this thing or that, and announce these things beforehand, we would say that this information is imparted to men by demons by means of signs, with the view of having men deceived by demons, and having their understanding dragged down from God and heaven to earth, and to places lower still.

Πῶς δ' ἀσεβῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀσέβειαν ἡμῖν ἐγκαλοῦντος εἴρηται τὸ οὐ μόνον σοφώτερα εἶναι τὰ ἄλογα τῶν ζῴων τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεως ἀλλὰ καὶ θεοφιλέστερα; Καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀποτραπείη προσέχων ἀνθρώπῳ, λέγοντι δράκοντα καὶ ἀλώπεκα καὶ λύκον καὶ ἀετὸν καὶ ἱέρακα τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεως εἶναι θεοφιλέστερα; Ἀκολουθεῖ δ' αὐτῷ τὸ λέγειν ὅτι, εἴπερ θεοφιλέστερα τάδε τὰ ζῷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ Σωκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ Φερεκύδου καὶ ὧν πρὸ βραχέος ὕμνησε θεολόγων θεοφιλέστερά ἐστι ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα. Καὶ ἐπεύξαιτό γ' ἄν τις αὐτῷ λέγων· εἴπερ θεοφιλέστερά ἐστι τάδε τὰ ζῷα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, γένοιο μετ' ἐκείνων θεοφιλὴς καὶ ἐξομοιωθείης τοῖς κατὰ σὲ ἀνθρώπων θεοφιλεστέροις. Καὶ μὴ ὑπολαμβανέτω γε ἀρὰν εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτον· τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν εὔξαιτο οἷς πείθεται εἶναι θεοφιλεστέροις γενέσθαι πάντῃ παραπλήσιος, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς ἐκεῖνοι γένηται θεοφιλής; Θέλων δὲ τὰς ὁμιλίας τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων εἶναι τῶν ἡμετέρων ἱερωτέρας ὁ Κέλσος οὐ τοῖς τυχοῦσιν ἀνατίθησι τὴν ἱστορίαν ταύτην ἀλλὰ τοῖς συνετοῖς. Συνετοὶ δὲ κατὰ ἀλήθειάν εἰσιν οἱ σπουδαῖοι, οὐδεὶς γὰρ φαῦλος συνετός. Λέγει τοίνυν τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον, ὅτι φασὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ συνετοὶ καὶ ὁμιλίας ἐκείνοις εἶναι, δηλονότι τῶν ἡμετέρων ἱερωτέρας, καὶ αὐτοί που γνωρίζειν τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ ἔργῳ δεικνύειν ὅτι οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσιν, ὅταν προειπόντες ὅτι ἔφασαν οἱ ὄρνιθες ὡς ἀπίασί ποι καὶ ποιήσουσι τόδε ἢ τόδε δεικνύωσιν ἀπελθόντας ἐκεῖ καὶ ποιοῦντας ἃ ἤδη προεῖπον. Κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὸ ἀληθὲς οὐδεὶς συνετὸς τοιαῦτα ἱστόρησε, καὶ οὐδεὶς σοφὸς ἱερωτέρας εἶπεν εἶναι τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ὁμιλίας τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Εἰ δ' ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἐξετάσαι τὰ Κέλσου τἀκόλουθον σκοποῦμεν, δῆλον ὅτι κατ' αὐτὸν ἱερώτεραι τῶν σεμνῶν Φερεκύδου καὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ Σωκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος καὶ τῶν φιλοσόφων ὁμιλιῶν εἰσιν αἱ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων· ὅπερ ἐστὶ καὶ αὐτόθεν οὐ μόνον ἀπεμφαῖνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀτοπώτατον. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ πιστεύσωμέν τινας, ἐκ τῆς ἀσήμου φωνῆς τῶν ὀρνίθων μαθόντας ὅτι ἀπίασί ποι οἱ ὄρνιθες καὶ ποιήσουσι τόδε ἢ τόδε, προδηλοῦν, καὶ τοῦτ' ἐροῦμεν ἀπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων συμβολικῶς ἀνθρώποις δεδηλῶσθαι κατὰ σκοπὸν τὸν περὶ τοῦ ἀπατηθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ κατασπασθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὸν νοῦν ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ καὶ θεοῦ ἐπὶ γῆν καὶ τὰ ἔτι κατωτέρω.