Chapter LXX.

His next remark was, “Have not these inferior powers had assigned to them by God different departments, according as each was deemed worthy?”  But this is a question which requires a very profound knowledge.  For we must determine whether the Word of God, who governs all things, has appointed wicked demons for certain employments, in the same way as in states executioners are appointed, and other officers with cruel but needful duties to discharge; or whether as among robbers, who infest desert places, it is customary for them to choose out of their number one who may be their leader,—so the demons, who are scattered as it were in troops in different parts of the earth, have chosen for themselves a chief under whose command they may plunder and pillage the souls of men.  To explain this fully, and to justify the conduct of the Christians in refusing homage to any object except the Most High God, and the First-born of all creation, who is His Word and God, we must quote this from Scripture, “All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers:  but the sheep did not hear them;” and again, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy;”1762    John x. 8–10. and other similar passages, as, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you;”1763    Luke x. 19. and again, “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:  the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”1764    Ps. xci. 13.  But of these things Celsus knew nothing, or he would not have made use of language like this:  “Is not everything which happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, regulated by the law of the Most High God?  Have these not had assigned to them various departments of which they were severally deemed worthy?  Is it not just, therefore, that he who serves God should serve those also to whom God has assigned such power?”  To which he adds, “It is impossible, they say, for a man to serve many masters.”  This last point we must postpone to the next book; for this, which is the seventh book which we have written in answer to the treatise of Celsus, is already of sufficient length.

∆εῖται δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸ τέτακται δὲ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ δύναμιν λαχὼν τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ ὅστις ἠξίωται οὑτινοσοῦν ἔργου πάνυ βαθυτέρας ἐπιστήμης καὶ δυναμένης παραστῆσαι, πότερόν ποτε ὡς οἱ δήμιοι ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ οἱ τεταγμένοι ἐπὶ τῶν σκυθρωπῶν μὲν ἀναγκαίων δὲ ἐν ταῖς πολιτείαις πραγμάτων οὕτως εἰσὶ τεταγμένοι μοχθηροὶ δαίμονες ἐπί τινων ὑπὸ τοῦ διοικοῦντος τὰ ὅλα λόγου θεοῦ, ἢ ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν ταῖς ἐρημίαις λῃστεύοντες καὶ ἕνα τινὰ προστησάμενοι ἄρχειν αὐτῶν οὕτως οἱ δαίμονες οἱονεὶ κατὰ τόπους τῆς γῆς συστήματα γενόμενοι ἄρχοντά τινα ἑαυτοῖς πεποιήκασι, τὸν ἡγησόμενον αὐτῶν εἰς τὰς πράξεις, ἃς εἵλαντο ὑπὲρ τοῦ κλέπτειν καὶ λῃστεύειν ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς. Χρεία δὲ τῷ μέλλοντι εἰς ταῦτα λέγειν καλῶς, ἵνα περὶ Χριστιανῶν ἀπολογήσηται, ἐκτρεπομένων ἄλλο τι σέβειν παρὰ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι θεὸν καὶ τὸν πρωτότοκον "πάσης κτίσεως" λόγον αὐτοῦ, διηγήσασθαι καὶ τὸ "Πάντες, ὅσοι ἦλθον πρὸ ἐμοῦ, κλέπται εἰσὶ καὶ λῃσταί, καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσεν αὐτῶν τὰ πρόβατα" καὶ τὸ "Ὁ κλέπτης οὐκ ἔρχεται, εἰ μὴ ἵνα κλέψῃ καὶ θύσῃ καὶ ἀπολέσῃ", καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τούτοις εἴρηται παραπλήσιον ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ "Ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν ἐξουσίαν πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς οὐ μὴ ἀδικήσῃ" καὶ τὸ "Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δρά κοντα". Ἀλλ' οὐδαμῶς ᾔδει ταῦτα ὁ Κέλσος· εἰ γὰρ ᾔδει, οὐκ ἂν εἶπε· Καὶ ὅ τι περ ἂν ᾖ ἐν τοῖς ὅλοις, εἴτε θεοῦ ἔργον εἴτ' ἀγγέλων εἴτ' ἄλλων δαιμόνων εἴτε ἡρώων, ταῦτ' ἔχει νόμον ἐκ τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ, τέτακται δὲ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ δύναμιν λαχὼν ὅστις ἠξίωται; Τοῦτον οὖν τὸν ἐκεῖθεν ἐξουσίας τετυχηκότα οὐ θεραπεύσει δικαίως ὁ σέβων τὸν θεόν; Τούτοις δ' ἐπιφέρει τὸ οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε "δουλεύειν" τὸν αὐτὸν πλείοσι "κυρίοις"· περὶ οὗ ἐν τῷ ἑξῆς βιβλίῳ διαληψόμεθα, ἅτε αὐτάρκη περιγραφὴν εἰληφότος τοῦ ἑβδόμου τόμου, πρὸς τὸ σύγγραμμα Κέλσου ἡμῖν γεγραμ μένου.