Chapter XLII.

It is evident that, by the preceding remarks, Celsus charges the Jews with falsely giving themselves out as the chosen portion of the Supreme God above all other nations.  And he accuses them of boasting, because they gave out that they knew the great God, although they did not really know Him, but were led away by the artifices of Moses, and were deceived by him, and became his disciples to no good end.  Now we have in the preceding pages already spoken in part of the venerable and distinguished polity of the Jews, when it existed amongst them as a symbol of the city of God, and of His temple, and of the sacrificial worship offered in it and at the altar of sacrifice.  But if any one were to turn his attention to the meaning of the legislator, and to the constitution which he established, and were to examine the various points relating to him, and compare them with the present method of worship among other nations, there are none which he would admire to a greater degree; because, so far as can be accomplished among mortals, everything that was not of advantage to the human race was withheld from them, and only those things which are useful bestowed.1143    [Note this eulogy on the law, even though it “made nothing perfect.”]  And for this reason they had neither gymnastic contests, nor scenic representations, nor horse-races; nor were there among them women who sold their beauty to any one who wished to have sexual intercourse without offspring, and to cast contempt upon the nature of human generation.  And what an advantage was it to be taught from their tender years to ascend above all visible nature, and to hold the belief that God was not fixed anywhere within its limits, but to look for Him on high, and beyond the sphere of all bodily substance!1144    ὑπὲρ τὰ σώματα.  And how great was the advantage which they enjoyed in being instructed almost from their birth, and as soon as they could speak,1145    συμπληρώσει τοῦ λόγου. in the immortality of the soul, and in the existence of courts of justice under the earth, and in the rewards provided for those who have lived righteous lives!  These truths, indeed, were proclaimed in the veil of fable to children, and to those whose views of things were childish; while to those who were already occupied in investigating the truth, and desirous of making progress therein, these fables, so to speak, were transfigured into the truths which were concealed within them.  And I consider that it was in a manner worthy of their name as the “portion of God” that they despised all kinds of divination, as that which bewitches men to no purpose, and which proceeds rather from wicked demons than from anything of a better nature; and sought the knowledge of future events in the souls of those who, owing to their high degree of purity, received the spirit of the Supreme God.

∆ῆλον δ' ὅτι ἐν τούτοις ἐγκαλεῖ Ἰουδαίοις ὡς ψευδῶς ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι ἐκλεκτὴν μερίδα παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ. Καὶ ἀλαζονείας γοῦν αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖ ὡς αὐχούντων μὲν τὸν μέγαν θεόν, οὐκ εἰδότων δ' αὐτὸν ἀλλ' ὑπαχθέντων τῇ Μωϋσέως γοητείᾳ καὶ ψευσ θέντων ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἐπ' ἀγαθῷ τέλει μαθητευθέντων αὐτῷ. Ἀπὸ μέρους μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων λέλεκται τὰ τῆς σεμνῆς καὶ ἐξαιρέτου Ἰουδαίων πολιτείας, ἡνίκα αὐτοῖς συνειστήκει τὸ σύμβολον τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς παρ' αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἱερατικῆς λατρείας· εἰ δέ τις ἐπερείσας τὴν διάνοιαν τῷ τοῦ νομοθέτου βουλήματι καὶ τῇ κατ' αὐτὸν πολιτείᾳ ἐξετάζων τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς συγκρίνοι τῇ νῦν ἀγωγῇ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν, οὐδένας μᾶλλον ἂν θαυμάσαι ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις πάντα μὲν τὰ μὴ χρήσιμα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων περιῃρη μένους μόνα δὲ τὰ εὔχρηστα παραδεξαμένους. ∆ιὸ οὐδ' ἀγῶνες ἦσαν γυμνικοὶ ἢ θυμελικοὶ ἢ ἱππικοὶ παρ' αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ γυναῖκες πιπράσκουσαι τὴν ὥραν παντὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ σπείρειν κενῶς καὶ ἐνυβρίζειν τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σπερμάτων. Ὁποῖον δ' ἦν παρ' αὐτοῖς τὸ ἐξ ἔτι ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων διδάσκεσθαι ὑπεραναβαίνειν μὲν πᾶσαν τὴν αἰσθητὴν φύσιν καὶ μηδαμοῦ αὐτῆς νομίζειν ἱδρῦσθαι τὸν θεόν, ἄνω δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ σώματα ζητεῖν αὐτόν; Πηλίκον δὲ τὸ σχεδὸν ἅμα γενέσει καὶ συμπληρώσει τοῦ λόγου διδάσκεσθαι αὐτοὺς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀθανασίαν καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ γῆν δικαιωτήρια καὶ τὰς τιμὰς τῶν καλῶς βεβιωκότων; Ἅπερ ἔτι μυθικώτερον μὲν παισὶ καὶ τὰ παίδων φρονοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐκηρύσσετο, ἤδη δὲ ζητοῦσι τὸν λόγον καὶ βουλομένοις ἐν αὐτῷ προκόπτειν οἱ τέως μῦθοι, ἵν' οὕτως ὀνομάσω, μετεμορφοῦντο εἰς τὴν ἐναποκεκρυμμένην αὐτοῖς ἀλήθειαν. Ἐγὼ δὲ νομίζω ἀξίως τοῦ χρηματίζειν αὐτοὺς μερίδα θεοῦ πάσης μὲν μαντείας ὡς μάτην κηλούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταπεφρονηκέναι, καὶ ἀπὸ δαιμόνων μοχθηρῶν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀπό τινος κρείττονος φύσεως ἐρχομένης, ζητεῖν δὲ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν ἐν ψυχαῖς, δι' ἄκραν καθαρότητα παραδεξαμέναις πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεοῦ.