Contra celsum

 Capable of overthrowing any of the faithful, being unable to shake his words. and may there not be found anyone who has received such a love of god i

 To be called an empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world. p.6 and it seemed good to us to place th

 And it must be said further in response to this that there is a certain proper demonstration of the word, more divine than the greek one from dialecti

 To be separated from men, and especially when those who speak them do so from a sound and genuinely believing disposition. so powerful, however, is th

 To begging priests of cybele and to wonder-workers, to mithras and sabadios, and to whomever one happened to meet, apparitions of hecate or of some ot

 Teaching that one must worship him alone, and disregard the rest, either as not existing or as existing indeed and worthy of honor, but not of adorati

 Is. therefore the apostle does not say simply: wisdom is foolishness with god, but the wisdom of this world. and again, not if any man among you

 Has treated, he also included among them the jews, not hesitating in his writing to use prophetic words and to allegorize them. and hermippus is said,

 There are the more reasonable ones having made his accusation as he wishes, he, as it were, prevents those who are able from defending themselves, as

 But also bringing the divinity down to irrational creatures, beyond the mythical transmigration concerning the soul that falls from the vaults of heav

 More effective and better than all these fictions is that which from things seen persuades us to worship the creator of the cosmos according to its we

 The fathers of celsus's doctrines and the ancient theologians of the greeks. for what is the distinction, that zeus should be spoken of literally but

 Not flattering the account but trying to examine the matters with careful consideration, i would say that not even those who treat many ailing bodies

 It contributes to one becoming distinguished and glorious and their name a famous family, when the parents happen to be in a position of pre-eminence

 Of noble nature, and the death which seems to be dishonorable was sufficient for one crucified both to wipe out the glory that had preceded and been a

 Strange that he did not have a birth, but the most lawless and most shameful of all births? but i shall speak as to greeks and especially to celsus, w

 A man lie with her in the city, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of their city, and they shall be stoned with stones, and they shall die

 That their own prophets have spoken beforehand for the consolation of those desiring such things, so that samuel prophesied even concerning the lost

 Disciples, whom he was about to use as ministers of his own teaching. for did those men, having been taught so to perform miracles, win over their hea

 To establish it as having happened and to create a convincing impression about it is one of the most exceedingly difficult things, and in some cases i

 That, as he himself says and it is understood, there being no workers to work the harvest of souls, the harvest is so great, with people being gathere

 Many as if unwilling have come to christianity, some spirit having suddenly turned their ruling faculty from hating the word to dying for it and havin

 To have been opened and that his body being opened had been divided, so that ezekiel might record such a thing. perhaps then, also in the case of the

 However, since you say and bring on one of those punished with you, it is necessary to point out to him that he has not fittingly assigned this to the

 Bethlehem, coming to be leader of the people. but concerning the birth of jesus in bethlehem, if anyone wishes, after the prophecy of micah and after

 If one of the unbelievers were to reflect upon the prophecy spoken by moses, he would wonder how moses was able to foretell that the rulers of the jew

 They might happen on the pretext that jews were scattered among the other nations. and thus he would explain your appearance shall be inglorious amon

 Being disciplined by fear but choosing it for its own sake is a son of god but this one differs much and greatly from every son of god who is so call

 In the same way sometimes comets have also appeared for good things to come, and he sets forth the history concerning these things. if, then, for new

 Observing the sequence of events, even if celsus does not believe it, to withdraw with the child and his mother into egypt but herod destroyed al

 The gospel records concerning them, and celsus in accordance with this has believed them, speaking the truth concerning their ignorance-, confidently

 But if we are to reproach those who have changed for their former life, it is time for us also to accuse phaedo even after he became a philosopher, si

 Commanding you and your household to flee, lest being left behind you die. but was he not able to protect you there, the great god who had already sen

 The churches of god through jesus, of those who have been changed from countless evils. and furthermore the name of jesus removes distractions of the

 Many and in some sense the body of god. but indeed he disbelieves the things written about his conception by the holy spirit, and believes that he was

 Believing in jesus have not abandoned the ancestral law. for they live according to it, having been named from the poverty of the law according to the

 Doctrines born and brought up with them until the age of manhood, and which had persuaded those who received them that these things are divine but to

 After this, it seems to me that there is a certain cleverness in the charge: how is it that you begin from our sacred writings, but as you go on you d

 Let them show where even an emphasis of speech proceeding from arrogance is found in jesus. for how is he arrogant who says: learn from me, for i am

 Of their metropolis and of their proper place to their ancestral religion than the jews alone? and they have suffered this as being most ignoble, even

 Is spirit: every one who has understood what it is to be joined to the lord, and having been joined to him is one spirit with the lord, how is not th

 Gave to the crowd that had come to arrest jesus a sign, saying, 'the one i kiss is the man seize him,' saving some respect for him for if he had

 That after aristotle graduated, he spoke against the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and called plato's ideas triflings? and still raising

 Go up with me in thought to jesus saying these things, and see things prophesied which have not yet happened, unless you will say, disbelieving him, t

 Seeing that the word by its power would take hold of men, they set down such things also, i know not how, so as not to harm those who encounter them n

 They will find many things to collect. and what is surprising, if jesus, knowing what was going to happen, did not turn aside but fell into the circum

 Of a certain thing being possible to happen and also not to happen, one of them will be this specific thing. and we do not say that the one foreknowin

 In the man, and seeing what he would dare, both from being a lover of money and from not thinking securely about the teacher as he ought, he said amo

 They listen to the divine scriptures impiously and speak injustice against the most high. for they seem to have heard the i will kill and often re

 The same men were both deceived about jesus as god and as one prophesied, and also fabricated things about him, obviously knowing that the fabrication

 God preparing the nations for his teaching, so that they might come under one roman emperor, and that it might not, on the pretext of the multitude of

 He considers himself one of christians, but disbelieves in the things that establish the divinity in jesus, we shall say to him: o you, either disbeli

 He knows that he tells the truth.” of the dead bodies of other men, then, the blood coagulates and pure water does not flow out but from the dead

 And how is it not an outright falsehood that he did not even persuade his own disciples, who indeed suffered something human from cowardice then—for t

 To the so-called, according to his words, age to come, but to live in the so-called present age is a misfortune or the first and greatest struggle o

 After being scourged, rejoicing, that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name, and far surpassing many of the things recorded amo

 Of zarephath in sidon for she had become worthy of the miracle performed by the prophet with the loaves, according to some divine judgment thus the

 Of some power to pretend that he himself is the christ, to seem to perform things similar to christ and others in the name of jesus things as it were

 That since magic and sorcery, which are effected by evil demons who are charmed by elaborate incantations and obey human sorcerers, have real substanc

 He expressly declares, as you yourselves have written, that others will come to you, using similar powers, evil men and sorcerers. for it is written i

 His voice from the stake, when he expired, and the earthquake and the darkness? that while living he did not help himself, but dead he rose again an

 Of men who have dedicated themselves to teaching a way of life, which they would not have taught so vigorously if they were fabricating the story that

 Of a necessary dogma, that the soul of the dead subsists and not in vain has he who has accepted this dogma believed in its immortality or even its c

 He announced to his disciples the things concerning the kingdom of god but in the gospels it is not that he was always with them, but that in one p

 Matthias having been ranked in place of judas, and after them to more than five hundred brethren at once, then he appeared to james, then to the o

 Being for each of those able to see it, and to see according to the measure which they could contain. and surely he did not guard against being seen f

 A new thing, so to speak, that being a dead body he should be in a new and pure tomb that just as his birth was purer than any birth, in that he was

 He announced the things concerning god to his genuine disciples whose traces we find in the written records and have starting points for theologizing

 In the likeness of a calf that eats grass nor would they have said to one another about the calf: these are your gods, o israel, who brought <you> u

 Could be said to him concerning god? for the god of the prophets is found to be in similar circumstances, as the jew thinks, with the charge of being

 Has done? so that we might see and believe that he is a portion of god. or is it permitted for you to make an apology for god's not always appearing t

 Contests of piety toward the god who created all things. therefore jesus christ came, proclaimed beforehand not by one prophet but by all. and this to

 Of the foreknowledge of future events to those <wishing> to desert to the demons among the others? consider then if it is not necessary for a whole na

 And dedicated to the god of all things and partaking of a diviner spirit, he also set down laws for the hebrews, as the divine inspired him, and recor

 And a very small number have died for the christian piety, as god prevented their entire nation from being warred out of existence for he willed it t

 To have come and concerning the day of the lord, whether it is at hand or not. but also the phrase avoiding the profane empty chatter and contrad

 Might be proved to be established on a credible foundation. but the sedition and the benefit derived from it, and the fear of outsiders, are a credibl

 And to one who goes further inside, a cat or a monkey or a crocodile or a goat or a dog is seen being worshipped. for what among us is analogous to th

 To those who came to him privately in the house. but <one> will wonder, having understood, what is the meaning of some being called outside and ot

 A shadow appeared. and let the stories concerning those men be compared with the story of jesus. or does celsus wish those stories to be true, but the

 Celsus says these things, adducing from histories things that are marvelous and in themselves seem incredible, but are not disbelieved by him, at leas

 And strive so much for marvels, that they both live a life of turmoil on account of them and die violently? therefore, place yourself between the thin

 Profitable for demons and for those who consider them to be gods, for this reason the demons on earth, who are considered to be gods by those not inst

 Contrived-, in order that the things prophesied concerning jesus and the things said by him might either be slandered as fictions similar to those, or

 From the divine—as things more fitting for demons established i know not how in some place, which they either occupy beforehand, or, being brought by

 Not only to men who wish to be of sound mind but also to demons and to other invisible powers who even until now show themselves either fearing the n

 Faith of whatever kind, having preoccupied [us]. for it was necessary, on account of the various upbringings, to speak of the differences in the faith

 Wishes to place around it, and often, having laid aside the former ones, it takes up better and different ones. for if such things are sound, what is

 The things said by a very few, who are considered christians, contrary to the teaching of jesus—not more prudent, as he thinks, but most ignorant—he b

 Of his own words: who is wise and will understand these things? or prudent and will know them? and daniel and those with him who were taken captive

 God has chosen the despised things and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should boast before him, so

 These men, who do not assemble those who are considered educated, but call and gather listeners from the crossroads, will they say they are similar to

 Of those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. would those, then, who believe these words as having been we

 Trying in every way to lead the soul up to the creator of all things, showing also that one must despise all things sensible and temporary and visible

 For we turn away from teachers who teach the indecencies of comedy and the licentious iambics and all other such things, which neither convert the one

 Of the wicked, but to the more mystical things of those who are already most pure. 3.61 we do not, then, call to mysteries and to fellowship of wisdom

 I have not hidden my iniquity. i said, ‘i will confess my iniquity against myself to the lord,’” and so on? but can he show that such a thing does not

 He seems to be mistaken, by not granting complete change to those who are by nature prone to sin and are accustomed to doing it, whoever thinks they c

 Or rather, the word of god, changing through them many of those who are by nature and habit prone to sin whom no man could have changed even by punis

 I should use by mercy, but those who have strongly condemned themselves for their sins, so as on this account to, as it were, mourn and lament thems

 But i, even if i seek the so-called unintelligent, do a similar thing, as if a philanthropic physician sought the sick, in order to bring them remedie

 To jesus, the teacher of the doctrines concerning himself. but none of us is so arrogant as to say to his acquaintances what celsus has attributed to

 He may imagine there to be superstition rather than wickedness among the many who believe in the word, and should he accuse our word of making men sup

 Remaining divine and delivered from inspiration. from what better things do we teach those who abstain to depart in a better way? for if it is not bur

 Faith in christ, he ought to have set forth the prophecies themselves, which we christians and jews use when we dispute with one another for in this

 But if you posit that there is a god and a providence, as your writing indicates, it is necessary for him to know. and if he knows, why does he not co

 To us that god is among us like the newly rich among men, making a show? for god does not make a show to us, wishing us to comprehend and understand h

 Whatsoever. 4.10 after this again, as is his custom, having constructed nothing nor proven anything, celsus, as if we were not piously nor devoutly sp

 Using the name by custom, and thus also to ascend. 4.13 but since celsus, mocking, says that we say that god comes down like a torturer bringing fire

 Philanthropy emptied himself, so that he might be able to be received by men. surely there was no change for him from good to evil, for he did no s

 That god truly changes, as these men say, into a mortal body, and the impossibility of this has been stated before or he himself does not change, but

 Jesus is said to have undertaken all things of sinners, in order to release them from sin and make them righteous. 4.20 then, since he personifies

 Let anyone who wishes consider this a falsehood, if the entire nation of the jews has not been overthrown not even one whole generation after jesus su

 Reason elevates the rational above all irrational creatures—but not even the excellent and blessed, whether, as you say, the good demons, or, as it is

 Like frogs? what then, does the brightness of righteousness, which maintains what is social and just and philanthropic and good toward one’s neighbor

 Having been taught that god demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, christ died for us. and yet scarcely for a ri

 Whether such a thing is not said, or is said differently, celsus slanders us also in these matters. we used to say, according to celsus, we who are wo

 That they should not fashion other things contrary to the truth, falsifying what is truly masculine or what is truly feminine or the nature of cattle

 And misinterpreted by the ignorant and foolish, and this, though in the long time before such a thing was never even disputed. but it seems to me that

 These names are, for us, not ambiguous, even if they are taken up by those foreign to our piety but according to celsus, who does not represent the a

 Having composed two other books against christians, perhaps contending with us, he called those divinely inspired whom he did not consider divinely in

 Like a modest maiden through the counsels of the son of cronos and the goddess, bright-eyed athene, girded and adorned her > and around her the divin

 Imitate, which god forbid christians should do, they will laugh at the myth and hold in derision so great a man as plato but if, by philosophically e

 Will end in one cubit of length and breadth? and how was not the structure more wonderful, and like a very great city, in that its measurements were s

 The various unions of the righteous, concerning which it will be more opportune for one to try to clarify in the exegetical works on these very things

 But however the event occurred, it is referred to a tropical sense, but it also has a certain defense in itself. 4.46 celsus then casts aside the hatr

 To recount the absurd histories of the greeks concerning the gods, which are worthy of shame in themselves and are allegorized? where chrysippus of so

 Lying upon those who read and do not understand the things spoken figuratively which veil is taken away when god grants it, whenever he hearkens to

 But the nature of the body is different. and in this respect, the body of a bat or a worm or a frog or a man will differ in no way for the matter is

 So many created works, and in giving to many gods the task of fashioning, with some not contemptible reason, the differences between them, so that som

 Spoken thus by the prophet: the heavens shall perish, but thou remainest and they all shall wax old as doth a garment and as a vesture shalt thou f

 Had its origin in a sound conception. or will the wise man, after the death of anytus and socrates, care equally for the burial of the body of socrate

 Saying: but when the gods purify the earth with water, has shown that the earth, being purified by waters, has fewer evils than the time before it w

 To know what is. but we also say to this that to know the origin of evils is not easy even for one who has philosophized, and perhaps it is not even p

 Will write this book, having written it countless times before. 4.68 celsus, then, says that only the cycle of mortals, according to its appointed rev

 Paul, teaching us that even the most worthless will contribute something to the needs of the whole, but that they will be in the category of things to

 A prophet says, arise, why do you sleep, lord? and again he says, and the lord was aroused as one sleeping, as a mighty man who has been overcome w

 Thunders and lightnings and rains, already more clearly assisting but secondly he says that, even if one should grant these to be works of god, they

 He brings up by way of objection a euripidean iambic verse, opposed to his own opinion and coming to close quarters with what has been said, he denou

 A time, when there were no cities at all, nor had arts yet been invented. but let it be that we agree with him on these points yet he no longer agree

 And are more frugal with things useful to themselves, and observing the bees, they obey their leaders and divide up the useful tasks of their state fo

 Wishes, he increases the work of the word that has ordered all things and shows the skill in men, able to order by reason even the advantages of the n

 Wiser than men, who from experience found through reason the natural remedy given to eagles and used it with understanding? 4.87 and let it be that ot

 Whether the art of augury and, in general, divination by animals exists or does not exist and secondly, among those who have accepted the existence o

 The things that will be, clearly they knew much earlier the things concerning themselves and knowing the things concerning themselves, they would hav

 Happen, since demons are unable to work so powerfully in the tamer animals as they are in these others, which they activate because of their likeness

 Our imaginative faculty. and we pray for the light of the knowledge of the glory of god to shine in our hearts, when the spirit of god visits our

 To anyone unless perhaps he has called their tameness and their, as it were, compact with men, once they have come under their control, the keeping o

 Soul's visit well. 5.t against the so-called true doctrine of celsus by origen book five 5.1 it is not because we are pursuing that forbidden talkati

 To deny that god visits, taking forethought for men one by one, or, by positing such a thing, to falsify the argument of celsus. if, therefore, you de

 The name of demons is ranked among the powers of a grosser body, who lead men astray and distract them, and drag them down from god and heavenly thing

 Worms and every kind of serpent, but also of birds and of fish which not even those who say the world is god will say. the jews, however, who live ac

 The lord your god for all the nations that are under the whole heaven. but us the lord god took and brought us out of the iron furnace, out of egypt,

 By the pre-eminence of the surpassing divinity of god, and also by his only-begotten surpassing the rest. but being persuaded that the sun and moon an

 All the stars and the light and praise him, you heavens of heavens, he would not have pronounced concerning us that we say such great things, which

 You, lest i destroy you. but we have been compelled to allude to matters not suited to those who believe more simply and who require the simpler econ

 Let us set forth and present a few things, according to our ability, with due consideration for our readers. neither we, then, nor the divine writings

 Of his own sting, with which he stings the soul that is not entirely fenced in, and produces in it the wounds that come from sin. 5.20 but since our o

 They are by no means able to establish, so far as their own pleasure is concerned but we, being persuaded that what is sown is not made alive, unles

 But that which is raised from it in incorruption. but also the word of all things is, according to celsus, god himself, but according to us, his son

 To repeal ancestral laws about marrying mothers and daughters, or about it being blessed to depart this life by hanging, or that those who give themse

 Their tongue, so that each one might not hear the voice of his neighbor. and the lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and th

 More numerous, but still tolerable and understanding this to happen for a longer time, and that therapy is always being applied, and that these men a

 The piety of jesus christ come and let us go up to the mountain of the lord and to the house of the god of jacob, and he will announce to us his way

 They ordered him to speak auspiciously. so, then, these things have been established by custom, and pindar seems to me to have composed correctly, whe

 The written law is opposed to the law of god not to distress the citizens on the pretext of foreign laws but where the law of nature, that is, of god

 A god in alexandria. and we have read in numenius the pythagorean about its construction, how it partakes of the substance of all things governed by n

 It is likely that these people are approved by god and are loved in a manner different from others, and that angels are sent from thence to them alone

 The highest of the mountains <ascending> not seeing that as the jews knew one god, so they had one holy house of prayer and one altar of whole burnt

 Could do nothing nor have any power among those who think it makes no difference to call zeus most high, or zen, or adonai, or sabaoth? 5.46 knowing

 Let so much be said, to which i will add one more thing fitting for a christian, and then i will move on to what follows. for this angel, i think, had

 We listen to moses of god and have accepted jesus, the god testified to by him, as son of god, hoping for the best things, when we have lived accordin

 But he thinks to counter each through many arguments, since indeed no one who is truly a christian says that christ alone has visited the <human race

 To the women who came to the tomb or those seen within sitting in white garments. now it is possible to show that each of these things both happened

 We have discussed above the things said by him. but what does celsus mean by <the fact> that according to the scriptures angels are recorded to have b

 Would the disagreement in the sects of the philosophers be considered analogous, a disagreement not about small and random matters but about the most

 We beseech and we would not say things spoken and unspoken against those who hold different opinions from what we have supposed but if we were able

 Having ceased, let us begin the sixth from what follows. 6.t origen's sixth book against the work of celsus entitled 'true discourse' 6.1 in setting f

 We assent to what is well said, that for god to them these things and whatever has been well said has revealed. for this reason we also say that t

 Of the glory of god in the face of christ. wherefore, the most ancient prophet, prophesying many generations before the reign of cyrus—for he was mor

 To have handed down such things concerning god. but celsus, having already often repeated the charge that we demand immediate belief, says this again

 By name in plato, but jesus is shown by him as second after john, to whom the word became flesh applies, being analogous to the word in plato. plato

 For nowhere in the world are there simonians and yet in order to win over more people, simon removed from his disciples the danger of death, which ch

 Spoken of the one wise according to divine wisdom, who will not see corruption, it says, when he sees wise men dying. divine wisdom, therefore, be

 According to plato of one humble and ordered, he is humble and ordered who is ordered by walking in great and wondrous things beyond him but hu

 His lesser power of understanding god. and that the rarity with which the knowledge of god reaches men and is found in very few might be shown, moses

 They recorded, and moreover, that having encountered the prophetic words, he set them forth, in which it was said: the super-celestial place no poet

 And soft, of tin the third of zeus, brass-based and firm the fourth of hermes, for both iron and hermes are enduring of all works, and concerned wit

 I think the things of the diagram have been set forth in part from the misrepresentations of the most insignificant heresy of the ophites. and we, in

 It is not fitting for those who philosophize according to plato to make an apology concerning epicurus and his impious doctrines, so neither is it for

 Of a serpent most hostile to men and most dreadful, not as men, of whom the serpent is an enemy, but as serpents they pride themselves on being called

 I greet the uncircumspect, the first power, preserved by a spirit of providence and by wisdom from whence i am sent, pure, already a part of the ligh

 The flaming sword is the diameter of a certain fiery circle, as if it were a guard to the tree of knowledge and of life. celsus, then, was unwilling o

 Those who introduce reincarnation will say. and it is not unlikely that gates opening of their own accord has been said by some who were speaking al

 Having life and on the second circle was inscribed, which was intertwined with and contained two other circles and another rhomboid figure, provid

 The things said by celsus against christians were of such a kind, so as to be refuted by the majority, who learned by experience that such things are

 Thus he hears also homer, as hinting at things similar to heraclitus and pherecydes and those who introduce the mysteries concerning the titans and gi

 What beginning and origin it had, and that wickedness came into existence from some who shed their wings and followed the first one who shed his wings

 But let them be on guard against the contrary. and it was necessary that the one of the extremes, the best, should be proclaimed son of god because of

 And from where this very thing occurred to them, to call him the son of god, i shall explain. men of old called this world, as having come into being

 Heaven and earth having come into being and the earth being invisible and unformed, and what the abyss is and the darkness upon it, and what the water

 The lord shall be to them an everlasting light, and god their glory. but i think, having misheard some wicked heresy which badly explained the

 Antecedents but i wonder if what he thinks follows for us, who say that this world also is the work of the god over all, concerning god having made e

 For builders <to> seem to make the things lying beside the buildings as if they were dung falling from the stones and the plaster. 6.56 but if someone

 In this manner: but the lord god, seeing that the evils of those on the earth were multiplied, and every one in his heart thinks diligently upon evil

 Stars, and on the fifth the swimming creatures, and on the sixth the land animals and man, we have spoken to the best of our ability in our treati

 Nor by thought. for while remaining the same, he administers mutable things, as is their nature, and reason itself chooses for them to be administer

 Attainable, i distinguish the meaning and say: if by the word which is in us, whether immanent or expressed, we too will say that god is not attainabl

 We choose to stand by every means, but we in no way wish to be with the darkness. but the true light, being animate, knows to whom its flashes must be

 To anyone, but also his only-begotten. for the word of god is hard to see, and in this way wisdom is also hard to see, in which god has made all thing

 To happen, and the word of god which descends even to men and the least of creatures is nothing other than a corporeal spirit but according to us, wh

 Having already spoken of the opinion of marcion, and how in one way he truly sets forth the views of marcion, and in another has misheard them to whi

 A prophet speaks of comeliness and beauty about him, he no longer wants the prophecy to be referred to jesus christ? and if it were possible to learn

 Comparing hermes to our god, the creator of the universe. we have indeed said in the preceding passages that god did not send jesus to the human race

 To mention also the nation of the egyptians, and most divinely inspired from the beginning, perhaps because from the beginning they have been hostile

 Let us make our defense in addition to what has been said above. 7.3 he says, therefore: the things foretold by the pythia or the priestesses of dodon

 To be defeated and having yielded to depart from the soul of a man and body of some wise and powerful person in the rational proofs concerning the fai

 Of things said by the poet, having read that the words of chryses to apollo and the plague sent by apollo upon the greeks teaches that homer knew cert

 Having acted impiously towards god and the one prophesied by the prophets among them. but signs of the holy spirit at first <at the time> of jesus' te

 To prove that celsus is lying in these matters and that the prophecies are inspired yet we too have done so as far as was in our power, by explaining

 To the they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, having spoken before in the preceding sections we are forced

 Prophecies. for the prophecies did not foretell that god would be crucified, which speak concerning the one who accepted death: and we saw him, and h

 That one should care no more for food and a storehouse than the ravens, and less for clothing than the lilies, and to the one who has struck once,

 To those not obeying the law, that they would suffer the same things which they did to their enemies. and before celsus, adding something to these, us

 Admired by all who saw it. therefore, at the same time as the rays of the sun of righteousness shone upon his soul, as if being empowered and streng

 And why are you anxious about clothing? consider the lilies of the field and the things that follow are contrary to the blessings in the law, which

 7.27 next to these things, celsus, through many words, setting down things not said by us as if they were said by us concerning god, as if he were cor

 Of a good and great land situated in a pure heaven, in which is the heavenly jerusalem concerning which the apostle, having discussed it as one rais

 And he says simply, in contrast to sensible things, of which nothing is true, the saying: god, his works are true, placing the works of god among tr

 God. 7.34 but not even as if god were in a place will we ask anyone and say: how shall we go to him? for god is greater than every place and contains

 As a cowardly and body-loving race if, having closed your eyes to sense-perception, you look up with the mind, and having turned away from the flesh,

 We have presented to our members. and man, then, that is, a soul using a body, called the inner man but also soul, answers not what celsus wrote d

 Deceivers and sorcerers and those who court idols. and not even knowing that such men, as sorcerers, no less than celsus, speak evil of jesus with him

 It is impossible to declare to all. then he adds to these, saying: see how the way of truth is sought by prophets and <philosophers>, and how plato k

 To come but the word of god, having said: no one has known the father except the son, and to whomsoever the son chooses to reveal him, declares tha

 Indeed, ancient men, being filled, announced many and good things of which if you are not able to hear, be silent and cover up your own ignorance and

 They are given over by god to the lusts of their hearts to impurity, and their bodies are dishonored in indecencies and licentiousness, because th

 You have brought me down to the dust of death wherefore it has also been said, who will deliver me from this body of death? and who will transfo

 The men of old who were glorified, you had orpheus, a man who confessedly used a holy spirit and who himself died a violent death. but perhaps he had

 And we have rendered. but that we may hear what has been said more simply, see if the prayer is not spoken with piety towards god, by one who does not

 He should suffer anything from them. plato says these things, and again these: consider then very carefully yourself, whether you agree and it seems

 To him who has eaten, how would a discourse which produces multitudes of patient and meek people, or at least of those advancing toward these virtues,

 For the doctrines, from which those who do not tolerate them, do not tolerate temples and statues so that if one does not tolerate them from sound do

 Of him who is without need or of his son and firstborn of all creation. therefore, in addition to those things, these also are sufficient concerning

 Of the greatest god, and is each one who has been deemed worthy appointed, having been allotted a power? will not the one who reveres god then rightly

 Just as those who commit robbery in the deserts, and set one man over them as their ruler, so the demons, having become, as it were, bands in various

 We accept the saying, no one can serve two masters, to which is added, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to

 Praising creation and seeing, in what way all will be set free from the bondage of corruption and will attain to the freedom of the glory of the

 We will worship god not as needing it, nor as being grieved if we do not worship him, but as ourselves being benefited from the worship towards god an

 Each one proceeds, having made progress. 8.12 and next to these things, someone might seem to say something plausible against us in this: if, indeed,

 Unspotted from the activity of god and an image of his goodness, we know that this one is son of that one, and that one is father of this one. and th

 He adduces the saying, <why> are there many around the well, but no one in the well? and, why, when you have come so far on the road, are you timid

 Saying: i will dwell in them and walk among them, and i will be their god, and they shall be my people, and the savior: if anyone hears my words an

 A perception, by which one perceives god and his statues and temples and altars, which are fitting for god. it is not, then, because of a pledge of an

 That paul, having perceived, named the festival on days set apart from others a part of a festival, but that it was hinted from this statement that

 Wicked for this reason we shall say that the argument of celsus is false, who said this: but if there are certain demons, clearly these also are of g

 By which your brother stumbles and again: do not destroy with your food that one for whom christ died, and again: if meat causes my brother to stu

 Dedicated to the god over all to which he said what is set forth. we, then, so far as it relates to food and drink, know of no other ways of feasting

 The word of god and prayer. but it would not be good nor possible to be sanctified, if, as celsus thinks, these things were appointed to demons. 8.

 A governor, and furthermore also those who have lesser authorities or charges or services, could do great harm if neglected, while the aerial and terr

 Roman, and thus each one according to his own dialect prays to god and praises him as he is able and the lord of every dialect hears those who pray f

 To explain what the saying means about sins being visited <unto> the third and fourth generation. 8.41 then, reviling us like old women, he says:

 Their plot against their own land, no longer able to contain those who had dared such a great pollution against jesus. 8.43 therefore, a new thing has

 Flees because of cowardice, but keeping the commandment of the teacher and preserving himself pure for the salvation of others who will be helped. 8.4

 Of those who have received supposed benefits, unless he shall see that the nation of the jews was of old philosophical, before they committed outrage

 Often said, often to be defended. but celsus slanders us, as if we considered nothing in our constitution to be better or more honorable than the body

 To do for himself and, if it were possible, after his primary argument that was apparent to him, to build upon it and to prove through more arguments

 Thus they reviled moses and the prophets and jesus and his apostles and not only did they reject the jews among all the nations on earth, saying that

 To depart from here all together, leaving behind no seed, so that such a race might be completely desolated from the earth but if they will take wive

 We owe them thanks and we, clarifying the argument concerning thanksgiving, say to those who confer no benefits but even stand on the opposite side,

 Having with great power sown the pure word of piety upon the whole inhabited world of men, and i will not lie in adding and saying that also of the ot

 Being bound to them, able to do nothing better than these things. and it is likely that, when we stand against celsus, who treats as divine the oracle

 Become worthy, but also cooperate with those who wish to serve the god over all, and are reconciled and pray together and count worthy together so th

 The lord, sun and moon, and with as much power as they can praising the father and the creator of the universe. however, the stories of the greeks ha

 Honor by keeping them safe and yet, in such a hypothetical case, neither will the king be left alone, nor will he be deserted, nor will earthly affa

 To have been numbered of him. 8.71 then again, as is the custom for celsus, he causes confusion in what follows, saying things which none of us has wr

 That all call upon the name of the lord, to serve him under one yoke, so that the vile things of insolence might be removed, and there might no lo

 Forcing, whom we are persuaded is the son of god, the word of god. and if the rulers in the church of the fatherland which is according to god—i mean

forcing, whom we are persuaded is the son of God, the Word of God. And if the rulers in the church of the fatherland which is according to God—I mean the church—rule well, being called or <forced>, and rule according to the commands of God, in no way staining the divine laws by so doing. And it is not in shirking the more common public duties of life that Christians avoid such things, but keeping themselves for a more divine and necessary public service of the church of God for the salvation of men. And both by necessity and rightfully they take the lead and are concerned for all men, for those within, that they may live better day by day, and for those who are seemingly without, that they may come to be in the sacred words and deeds of piety and thus truly worship God and instruct as many as possible, that they may be blended with the word of God and the divine law and thus be united with the God who is over all through His Son who unites them to Him, the Word of God and wisdom and truth and righteousness, every one who has been converted to live according to God in all things. 8.76 And in these things, sacred Ambrose, you have the conclusion, according to the power present with us and given to us, of the things you commanded. And we have set forth in eight books all that we thought it fitting to dictate against the work of Celsus entitled 'A True Discourse'. It is for the one who reads his treatise and what we have dictated against it to judge which of the two breathes more of the true God and of the manner of piety towards Him and of the truth that reaches men with sound doctrines that exhort to the best life. Know, however, that Celsus promises to write another treatise after this one, in which he engaged to teach how those who wish and are able to obey him ought to live. If, then, after his promise he has not written the second discourse, we may well be content with the eight books dictated against his discourse; but if he also began and completed that one, seek out and send the treatise, so that we may also dictate against that one whatever the Father of truth may grant to us, and may refute the false opinion in that one, and if anything true is said somewhere, may we bear witness to it without contention as being well said.