Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus

In the next place, as if it were the Christians whom he was calumniating, he continues his accusations against those who termed the God of Moses and of his law an “accursed” divinity; and imagining that it is the Christians who so speak, he expresses himself thus: “What could be more foolish or insane than such senseless1357 ἀναισθήτου. wisdom? For what blunder has the Jewish lawgiver committed? and why do you accept, by means, as you say,1358 Boherellus proposes φῇς for the textual reading φησί. of a certain allegorical and typical method of interpretation, the cosmogony which he gives, and the law of the Jews, while it is with unwillingness, O most impious man, that you give praise to the Creator of the world, who promised to give them all things; who promised to multiply their race to the ends of the earth, and to raise them up from the dead with the same flesh and blood, and who gave inspiration1359 καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἐμπνέοντα. to their prophets; and, again, you slander Him! When you feel the force of such considerations, indeed, you acknowledge that you worship the same God; but when your teacher Jesus and the Jewish Moses give contradictory decisions,1360 ὅταν δὲ τὰ ἐναντία ὁ σὸς διδάσκαλος ᾽Ιησοῦς, καὶ ὁ ᾽Ιουδαίων Μωϋσῆς, νομοθετῇ. you seek another God, instead of Him, and the Father!” Now, by such statements, this illustrious philosopher Celsus distinctly slanders the Christians, asserting that, when the Jews press them hard, they acknowledge the same God as they do; but that when Jesus legislates differently from Moses, they seek another god instead of Him. Now, whether we are conversing with the Jews, or are alone with ourselves, we know of only one and the same God, whom the Jews also worshipped of old time, and still profess to worship as God, and we are guilty of no impiety towards Him. We do not assert, however, that God will raise men from the dead with the same flesh and blood, as has been shown in the preceding pages; for we do not maintain that the natural1361 ψυχικόν. body, which is sown in corruption, and in dishonour, and in weakness, will rise again such as it was sown. On such subjects, however, we have spoken at adequate length in the foregoing pages.

Εἶθ' ἑξῆς ὡς Χριστιανοῖς λοιδορούμενος καὶ κατηγορῶν τῶν κατηραμένον εἰπόντων τὸν Μωϋσέως καὶ τοῦ κατ' αὐτὸν νόμου θεὸν καὶ οἰόμενος Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ταῦτα λέγοντάς φησι· Τί ἂν ἠλιθιώτερον ἢ μανικώτερον ταύτης τῆς ἀναισθήτου σοφίας γένοιτο; Τί γὰρ ἐσφάλη ὁ Ἰουδαίων νομοθέτης; Καὶ πῶς τὴν ἐκείνου κοσμογένειαν σαυτῷ διά τινος, ὡς φῄς, τυπώδους ἀλληγορίας λαμβάνεις ἢ τὸν Ἰουδαίων νόμον, ἐπαινεῖς δὲ ἄκων, ὦ δυσσεβέστατε, τὸν τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργόν, τὸν πάντα ὑποσχόμενον αὐτοῖς, τὸν τὸ γένος αὐτῶν αὐξήσειν μέχρι περάτων γῆς ἐπαγ γειλάμενον καὶ ἀναστήσειν ἐκ νεκρῶν αὐτῇ σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματι καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἐμπνέοντα, καὶ πάλιν τοῦτον λοιδορεῖς; Ἀλλ' ὅταν μὲν ὑπὸ τούτων βιάζῃ, τὸν αὐτὸν θεὸν σέβειν ὁμολογεῖς· ὅταν δὲ τὰ ἐναντία ὁ σὸς διδάσκαλος Ἰησοῦς καὶ ὁ Ἰουδαίων Μωϋσῆς νομοθετῇ, θεὸν ἄλλον ἀντὶ τούτου καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ζητεῖς. Καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὴ ὁ γενναιότατος φιλόσοφος Κέλσος σαφῶς Χριστιανοὺς συκοφαντεῖ, λέγων τοὺς αὐτούς, ἡνίκα μὲν ἂν Ἰουδαῖοι αὐτοὺς βιάζωνται, τὸν αὐτὸν αὐτοῖς θεὸν ὁμολογεῖν· ὅταν δὲ τὰ ἐναντία Ἰησοῦς Μωϋσεῖ νομοθετῇ, ἄλλον ἀντὶ τούτου ζητεῖν. Εἴτε γὰρ Ἰουδαίοις διαλεγόμενοι εἴτε καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ὄντες ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἴσμεν, ὃν καὶ πάλαι ἔσεβον Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ νῦν σέβειν ἐπαγγέλλονται θεόν, οὐδαμῶς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀσεβοῦντες. Ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἀναστήσειν ἐκ νεκρῶν αὐτῇ σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματί φαμεν τὸν θεόν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω λέλεκται· οὐ γὰρ τὸ σπειρόμενον "ἐν φθορᾷ" καὶ "ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ" καὶ "ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ" "σῶμα ψυχικόν" φαμεν ἀνίστασθαι, ὁποῖον ἐσπάρη. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τούτων ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω μετρίως ἡμῖν λέλεκται.