Chapter XLI.

But let us consider who those persons are whose guidance Celsus would have us to follow, so that we may not be in want of guides who are recommended both by their antiquity and sanctity.  He refers us to divinely inspired poets, as he calls them, to wise men and philosophers, without mentioning their names; so that, after promising to point out those who should guide us, he simply hands us over in a general way to divinely inspired poets, wise men, and philosophers.  If he had specified their names in particular, we should have felt ourselves bound to show him that he wished to give us as guides men who were blinded to the truth, and who must therefore lead us into error; or that if not wholly blinded, yet they are in error in many matters of belief.  But whether Orpheus, Parmenides, Empedocles, or even Homer himself, and Hesiod, are the persons whom he means by “inspired poets,” let any one show how those who follow their guidance walk in a better way, or lead a more excellent life, than those who, being taught in the school of Jesus Christ, have rejected all images and statues, and even all Jewish superstition, that they may look upward through the Word of God to the one God, who is the Father of the Word.  Who, then, are those wise men and philosophers from whom Celsus would have us to learn so many divine truths, and for whom we are to give up Moses the servant of God, the prophets of the Creator of the world, who have spoken so many things by a truly divine inspiration, and even Him who has given light and taught the way of piety to the whole human race, so that no one can reproach Him if he remains without a share in the knowledge of His mysteries?  Such, indeed, was the abounding love which He had for men, that He gave to the more learned a theology capable of raising the soul far above all earthly things; while with no less consideration He comes down to the weaker capacities of ignorant men, of simple women, of slaves, and, in short, of all those who from Jesus alone could have received that help for the better regulation of their lives which is supplied by his instructions in regard to the Divine Being, adapted to their wants and capacities.

Τίνι δὲ καὶ ἕπεσθαι ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος βούλεται ὡς οὐκ ἀπορήσοντας παλαιῶν ἡγεμόνων καὶ ἱερῶν ἀνδρῶν κατανο ητέον. Ἀναπέμπει ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ ἐνθέους, ὡς λέγει, ποιητὰς καὶ σοφοὺς [καὶ] φιλοσόφους, μὴ τιθεὶς αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα, καὶ τοὺς ὁδηγοὺς δείξειν ἐπαγγελλόμενος ἀορίστως ἀποφαίνεται τοὺς ἐνθέους ποιητὰς καὶ σοφοὺς καὶ φιλοσόφους. Εἰ δ' ἐτίθει τὰ ὀνόματα ἑκάστου τούτων, κἂν ἀγωνίζεσθαι εὔλογον ἡμῖν ἐφαίνετο, ὅτι τυφλώττοντας περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὁδηγοὺς ἡμῖν δίδωσιν, ἵνα σφάλωμεν, ἢ εἰ καὶ μὴ πάνυ τυφλώττοντας, περὶ πολλά γε τῆς ἀληθείας δόγματα ἐσφαλμένους. Εἴτ' οὖν Ὀρφέα βούλεται ἔνθεον εἶναι ποιητὴν εἴτε Παρμενίδην εἴτ' Ἐμπεδοκλέα εἴτε καὶ αὐτὸν Ὅμηρον ἢ καὶ Ἡσίοδον,δεικνύτω ὁ βουλόμενος, πῶς βέλτιον ὁδεύσουσιν οἱ τοιούτοις ὁδηγοῖς χρώμενοι καὶ ὠφέληνται περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον παρὰ τοὺς καταλιπόντας διὰ τὴν Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασ καλίαν πάντα ἀγάλματα καὶ ἱδρύματα ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν ἰουδαϊκὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν καὶ πρὸς μόνον ἀναβλέποντας διὰ τοῦ λόγου τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν πατέρα τοῦ λόγου θεόν. Τίνες δὲ καὶ οἱ σοφοὶ ἢ οἱ φιλόσοφοι, παρ' ὧν βούλεται πολλὰ καὶ θεῖα ἀκοῦσαι ἡμᾶς ὁ Κέλσος, καταλιπόντας θεράποντα θεοῦ Μωϋσέα καὶ προφήτας τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ, ἀληθῶς ἐνθέως μυρία ὅσα εἰρηκότας, καὶ αὐτὸν [τὸν] ἐπιλάμψαντα τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ καταγγεί λαντα ὁδὸν θεοσεβείας καὶ μηδένα τὸ ὅσον ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ ἄγευστον καταλιπόντα τῶν ἰδίων μυστηρίων, ἀλλὰ δι' ὑπερβάλλουσαν φιλανθρωπίαν ἔχοντα μὲν διδόναι τοῖς συνετωτέροις θεολο γίαν, ἐπᾶραι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τῇδε πραγμάτων δυναμένην, οὐδὲν [δ'] ἧττον συγκαταβαίνοντα καὶ ταῖς ὑποδεεστέραις ἕξεσιν ἰδιωτῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἁπλουστέρων γυναικῶν οἰκετῶν τε καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς τῶν ὑπὸ μηδενὸς ἢ Ἰησοῦ μόνου βεβοη θημένων πρὸς τό, ὡς ἐνεχώρει, βέλτιον αὐτοὺς βιοῦν μετὰ δογμάτων ὧν ἐδύναντο περὶ θεοῦ χωρεῖν;