Ante-Nicene Fathers • VOLUME 4
Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodian & Origen
SECTION 361
Chapter LIV.
Chapter LIV. In the next place, he proceeds to answer himself as he thinks fit in the following terms: "And so he is not the only one who is recorded to have visited the human race, as even those who, under pretext of teaching in the name of Jesus, have apostatized from the Creator as an inferior being, and have given in their …
729 wordsSECTION 362Chapter LVI.
Chapter LVI. Proceeding immediately after to mix up and compare with one another things that are dissimilar, and incapable of being united, he subjoins to his statement regarding the sixty or seventy angels who came down from heaven, and who, according to him, shed fountains of warm water for tears, the following: "It is relate…
713 wordsSECTION 363Chapter LVIII.
Chapter LVIII. But Celsus challenges the account also that an angel rolled away the stone from the sepulchre where the body of Jesus lay, acting like a lad at school, who should bring a charge against any one by help of a string of commonplaces. And, as if he had discovered some clever objection to the narrative, he remarks: "T…
995 wordsSECTION 364Chapter LX.
Chapter LX. If, however, it be necessary to express ourselves with precision in our answer to Celsus, who thinks that we hold the same opinions on the matters in question as do the Jews, we would say that we both agree that the books (of Scripture) were written by the Spirit of God, but that we do not agree about the meaning of…
737 wordsSECTION 365Chapter LXII.
Chapter LXII. He next pours down upon us a heap of names, saying that he knows of the existence of certain Simonians who worship Helene, or Helenus, as their teacher, and are called Helenians. But it has escaped the notice of Celsus that the Simonians do not at all acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, but term Simon the "pow…
1,032 wordsSECTION 366Chapter LXV.
Chapter LXV. But since he asserts that "you may hear all those who differ so widely saying, The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world,'" we shall show the falsity of such a statement. For there are certain heretical sects which do not receive the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, as the two sects of Ebionites, and those wh…
1,221 wordsSECTION 367Chapter III.
Chapter III. Let the ancient sages, then, make known their sayings to those who are capable of understanding them. Suppose that Plato, for example, the son of Ariston, in one of his Epistles, is discoursing about the "chief good," and that he says, "The chief good can by no means be described in words, but is produced by long h…
922 wordsSECTION 368Chapter V.
Chapter V. But that a light is suddenly kindled in the soul, as by a fire leaping forth, is a fact known long ago to our Scriptures; as when the prophet said, "Light ye for yourselves the light of knowledge." [4298] John also, who lived after him, said, "That which was in the Logos was life, and the life was the light of men;" …
953 wordsSECTION 369Chapter VII.
Chapter VII. There might also be found in the writings of Moses and of the prophets, who are older not only than Plato, but even than Homer and the invention of letters among the Greeks, passages worthy of the grace of God bestowed upon them, and filled with great thoughts, to which they gave utterance, but not because they und…
1,008 wordsSECTION 370Chapter IX.
Chapter IX. Celsus quotes another saying of Plato to the following effect: "It has occurred to me to speak once more upon these subjects at greater length, as perhaps I might express myself about them more clearly than I have already done for there is a certain real' cause, which proves a hindrance in the way of him who has ven…
858 wordsSECTION 371Chapter XI.
Chapter XI. After this Celsus continues: "If these (meaning the Christians) bring forward this person, and others, again, a different individual (as the Christ), while the common and ready cry [4332] of all parties is, Believe, if thou wilt be saved, or else begone,' what shall those do who are in earnest about their salvation?…
1,059 wordsSECTION 372Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIII. According to the foregoing, then, the one kind of wisdom is human, and the other divine. Now the "human" wisdom is that which is termed by us the wisdom of the "world," which is "foolishness with God;" whereas the "divine"--being different from the "human," because it is "divine"--comes, through the grace of God w…
870 wordsSECTION 373Chapter XV.
Chapter XV. Celsus, in the next place, as one who has heard the subject of humility greatly talked about, [4357] but who has not been at the pains to understand it, [4358] would wish to speak evil of that humility which is practised among us, and imagines that it is borrowed from some words of Plato imperfectly understood, wher…
1,092 wordsSECTION 374Chapter XVII.
Chapter XVII. Since Celsus, moreover, from a desire to depreciate the accounts which our Scriptures give of the kingdom of God, has quoted none of them, as if they were unworthy of being recorded by him (or perhaps because he was unacquainted with them), while, on the other hand, he quotes the sayings of Plato, both from his Ep…
894 wordsSECTION 375Chapter XIX.
Chapter XIX. Celsus in the next place alleges, that "certain Christians, having misunderstood the words of Plato, loudly boast of a super-celestial' God, thus ascending beyond the heaven of the Jews." By these words, indeed, he does not make it clear whether they also ascend beyond the God of the Jews, or only beyond the heaven…
865 wordsSECTION 376Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXI. The Scriptures which are current in the Churches [4391] of God do not speak of "seven" heavens, or of any definite number at all, [4392] but they do appear to teach the existence of "heavens," whether that means the "spheres" of those bodies which the Greeks call "planets," or something more mysterious. Celsus, too…
835 wordsSECTION 377Chapter XXIII.
Chapter XXIII. If one wished to obtain means for a profounder contemplation of the entrance of souls into divine things, not from the statements of that very insignificant sect from which he quoted, but from books--partly those of the Jews, which are read in their synagogues, and adopted by Christians, and partly from those of …
703 wordsSECTION 378Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXV. In this diagram were described ten circles, distinct from each other, but united by one circle, which was said to be the soul of all things, and was called "Leviathan." [4413] This Leviathan, the Jewish Scriptures say, whatever they mean by the expression, was created by God for a plaything; [4414] for we find in t…
777 wordsSECTION 379Chapter XXVII.
Chapter XXVII. After the matter of the diagram, he brings forward certain monstrous statements, in the form of question and answer, [4422] regarding what is called by ecclesiastical writers the "seal," statements which did not arise from imperfect information; such as that "he who impresses the seal is called father, and he who…
880 wordsSECTION 380Chapter XXIX.
Chapter XXIX. 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 se…
762 wordsSECTION 381Chapter XXXI.
Chapter XXXI. Moreover, if any one would wish to become acquainted with the artifices of those sorcerers, through which they desire to lead men away by their teaching (as if they possessed the knowledge of certain secret rites), but are not at all successful in so doing, let him listen to the instruction which they receive afte…
721 wordsSECTION 382Chapter XXXII.
Chapter XXXII. The supposed great learning of Celsus, which is composed, however, rather of curious trifles and silly talk than anything else, has made us touch upon these topics, from a wish to show to every one who peruses his treatise and our reply, that we have no lack of information on those subjects, from which he takes o…
833 wordsSECTION 383Chapter XXXV.
Chapter XXXV. It is our practice, indeed, to make use of the words of the prophets, who demonstrate that Jesus is the Christ predicted by them, and who show from the prophetic writings the events in the Gospels regarding Jesus have been fulfilled. But when Celsus speaks of "circles upon circles," (he perhaps borrowed the expres…
887 wordsSECTION 384Chapter XXXVII.
Chapter XXXVII. Celsus, moreover, thinks that we have invented this "tree of life" to give an allegorical meaning to the cross; and in consequence of his error upon this point, he adds: "If he had happened to be cast down a precipice, or shoved into a pit, or suffocated by hanging, there would have been invented a precipice of …
761 wordsSECTION 385Chapter XXXIX.
Chapter XXXIX. In the next place, speaking of those who employ the arts of magic and sorcery, and who invoke the barbarous names of demons, he remarks that such persons act like those who, in reference to the same things, [4475] perform marvels before those who are ignorant that the names of demons among the Greeks are differen…
744 wordsSECTION 386Chapter XLI.
Chapter XLI. In the next place, as if he had forgotten that it was his object to write against the Christians, he says that, "having become acquainted with one Dionysius, an Egyptian musician, the latter told him, with respect to magic arts, that it was only over the uneducated and men of corrupt morals that they had any power,…
1,234 wordsSECTION 387Chapter XLIII.
Chapter XLIII. Mark now, whether he who charges us with having committed errors of the most impious kind, and with having wandered away from the (true meaning) of the divine enigmas, is not himself clearly in error, from not observing that in the writings of Moses, which are much older not merely than Heraclitus and Pherecydes,…
1,196 wordsSECTION 388Chapter XLV.
Chapter XLV. But since Celsus rejects the statements concerning Antichrist, as it is termed, having neither read what is said of him in the book of Daniel [4509] nor in the writings of Paul, [4510] nor what the Saviour in the Gospels [4511] has predicted about his coming, we must make a few remarks upon this subject also; becau…
1,112 wordsSECTION 389Chapter XLVII.
Chapter XLVII. Celsus, after what has been said, goes on as follows: "I can tell how the very thing occurred, viz., that they should call him Son of God.' Men of ancient times termed this world, as being born of God, both his child and his son. [4519] Both the one and other Son of God,' then, greatly resembled each other." He i…
787 wordsSECTION 390Chapter XLIX.
Chapter XLIX. Let us notice now what follows, where, expressing in a single word his opinion regarding the Mosaic cosmogony, without offering, however, a single argument in its support, he finds fault with it, saying: "Moreover, their cosmogony is extremely silly." [4525] Now, if he had produced some credible proofs of its sill…
944 wordsSECTION 391Chapter LI.
Chapter LI. On the present occasion, however, it is not our object to enter into an explanation of the subject of intelligent and sensible beings, [4535] nor of the manner in which the different kinds [4536] of days were allotted to both sorts, nor to investigate the details which belong to the subject, for we should need whole…
1,263 wordsSECTION 392Chapter LIV.
Chapter LIV. Let us see, then, briefly what holy Scripture has to say regarding good and evil, and what answer we are to return to the questions, "How is it that God created evil?" and, "How is He incapable of persuading and admonishing men?" Now, according to holy Scripture, properly speaking, virtues and virtuous actions are …
822 wordsSECTION 393Chapter LVI.
Chapter LVI. If we speak, however, of what are called "corporeal" and "external" evils,--which are improperly so termed,--then it may be granted that there are occasions when some of these have been called into existence by God, in order that by their means the conversion of certain individuals might be effected. And what absur…
892 wordsSECTION 394Chapter LVIII.
Chapter LVIII. There is next to be answered the following query: "And how is it that he repents when men become ungrateful and wicked; and finds fault with his own handwork, and hates, and threatens, and destroys his own offspring?" Now Celsus here calumniates and falsities what is written in the book of Genesis to the followin…
1,140 wordsSECTION 395Chapter LXI.
Chapter LXI. Again, not understanding the meaning of the words, "And God ended [4594] on the sixth day His works which He had made, and ceased [4595] on the seventh day from all His works which He had made: and God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because on it He had ceased [4596] from all His works which He had begun…
970 wordsSECTION 396Chapter LXIII.
Chapter LXIII. Celsus, not observing the difference between "after the image of God" and "God's image," next asserts that the "first-born of every creature" is the image of God,--the very word and truth, and also the very wisdom, being the image of His goodness, while man has been created after the image of God; moreover, that …
948 wordsSECTION 397Chapter LXV.
Chapter LXV. Celsus proceeds to say of God that "of Him are all things," abandoning (in so speaking), I know not how, all his principles; [4618] while our Paul declares, that "of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things," [4619] showing that He is the beginning of the substance of all things by the words "of Him," and th…
878 wordsSECTION 398Chapter LXVII.
Chapter LXVII. The remark, indeed, was true which Celsus made, that any one, on hearing his words, would answer, seeing that his words are words of darkness, "You pour darkness before my eyes." Celsus verily, and those like him, do desire to pour darkness before our eyes: we, however, by means of the light of the Word, disperse…
846 wordsSECTION 399Chapter LXIX.
Chapter LXIX. Celsus, however, asserts that the answer which we give is based upon a probable conjecture, [4635] admitting that he describes our answer in the following terms: "Since God is great and difficult to see, [4636] He put His own Spirit into a body that resembled ours, and sent it down to us, that we might be enabled …
1,048 wordsSECTION 400Chapter LXXI.
Chapter LXXI. Celsus accordingly, as not understanding the doctrine relating to the Spirit of God ("for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" [4651] ), weaves together (such a web) as pleases himself, [4…
1,156 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.